Samsung's Beautiful Curved OLED TV Comes to the USA for a Mere $15,000
Source: http://gizmodo.com/samsungs-beautiful-curved-oled-tv-comes-to-the-usa-for-868113547
Back at CES we were floored
Monday, July 22, 2013
Ubuntu Edge smartphone announced with $32 million Indiegogo campaign, aims to hit market in May 2014
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/22/ubuntu-edge-smartphone/
Ubuntu's plan to merge the desktop computer and mobile device is taking shape today in form of the Edge, which it's aiming to bring to market in May of next year for $830 outright. True to Canonical's community driven roots, the company is turning to crowd-funding to get the device on its feet. It's aiming to raise $32 million, and to that end, Canonical's launching a campaign on Indiegogo today, which provides early backers the opportunity to snag the phone for $600. According to company founder, Mark Shuttleworth, the Indiegogo route isn't meant to compete with its strategy of courting carriers for its mainstream smartphone project. Rather, it's meant to solve an "innovation gap" that's arisen during talks with manufacturers over its grander vision.
The Ubuntu Edge is a very ambitious smartphone that'll be capable of running a full-fledged Ubuntu desktop operating system alongside Android. While specs are currently tentative, the company is aiming to outfit the Edge with a quad-core CPU, 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Meanwhile, the phone itself will sport a 4.5-inch, 1,280 x 720 display that's constructed of sapphire crystal glass, an 8MP rear / 2MP front-facing camera and stereo speakers. As for connectivity, Canonical's eyeing LTE, dual-band WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC, along with MHL support.
If the converged device strategy strikes your fancy, you'll find good incentive to be among the early backers. According to Shuttleworth, the Edge will only come to market if backers make it happen, as "none of the phone manufacturers are yet ambitious enough to try to put both things in one package." Regardless of whether the Indiegogo campaigns succeeds -- it'd be a record, if so -- Canonical will continue pursuing its strategy to bring a more basic Ubuntu smartphone to market. Recently, the company announced the first of its partner carriers, which includes Verizon, Deutsche Telecom, EE, SK Telecom, China Unicom and others. We're still waiting to see what type of smartphone might be offered through the carriers, but it's now clear that if you believe in the open source / converged device philosophy, you'll need to vote with your wallet.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Source: Indiegogo
Verizon FiOS rolls out 500/100 Mbps broadband, its highest speed tier yet
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/22/verizon-fios-quantum-500-mbps/
The broadband speed wars continue to rage, and today, Verizon announced that it's throwing down with its fastest tier yet. With a download speed of 500 megabits per second (and an upload speed of 100Mbps), the leap forward marks the latest evolution of the company's fiber-optic Quantum Internet Service, which rolled out last summer. To put those numbers into perspective, you'll be able to download a 5GB HD movie in 1.4 minutes or upload a 100MB file in eight seconds, assuming you're operating at full speed. Verizon is hoping to gradually introduce its newest speed tier to all FiOS markets by 2014, with limited availability starting today. To hear what Big Red has to say about it, check out the video after the break.
Filed under: Internet, Verizon
LG's 55-inch curved OLED TV hits Best Buy for $14,999
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/22/lgs-curved-oled-tv/
Remember that curved OLED HDTV that LG was teasing way back at CES? Well, it's just begun shipping here in the US. A Best Buy store in Richfield, Minnesota is the first retailer to stock the 55-inch set, which is available beginning today for just shy of 15 grand. It's due to hit Magnolia stores at select Best Buys in Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Houston, Dallas, San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle and San Antonio over the next few weeks. The curved design is intended to provide a more immersive experience for viewers, though $14,999 is a bit too steep any way you look at it. Samsung, meanwhile, has a curved 55-incher of its own -- that OLED screen arrived in Korea late last month, and is rolling out to (very) select US retailers this week, too.
Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment, HD, LG
Belkin ships WeMo Light Switch for $50, launches matching Android app
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/22/belkin-ships-wemo-connected-light-switch-for-50/
Belkin promised a simple approach to connected lighting when it unveiled the WeMo Light Switch back at CES, and the company is making good on its word by releasing the switch today. The WiFi-based controller is now available both online and at retail shops for $50. It isn't arriving alone, either -- Belkin is simultaneously launching the finished version of its free WeMo app for Android to complement the existing iOS release. If you'd rather have smart switches than smart light bulbs, the new WeMo hardware awaits at the source link; the companion Android app should be available shortly.
Filed under: Household
Source: Belkin
SanDisk Connect is a new series of wireless storage and streaming devices starting at $50
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/22/sandisk-connect-wireless-storage-streaming/
Flash drives these days, no matter how fast, are a dime a dozen. A jump drive that does double duty as a wireless streaming dongle? Not so common. SanDisk's new Connect lineup can pull off the streaming trick whether it's the flash drives with 16 or 32GB sizes for $50 and $60, respectively, or the Media Drives that pack 32 or 64GB of storage for either $80 or $100. Both sets of devices can stream movies, music or other data to PCs, Macs, iOS and Android devices or even Kindle Fires. All you need to do is grab the SanDisk Connect app for your device, and transferring files is a drag-and-drop affair.
Where the Flash and Media Drives differ, however, is that the latter can serve up to eight devices at a time with regular data, or send out five simultaneous streams of 720p video. Plus, it's got an SDHC/SDXC slot for further storage expansion, should 64 gigs be insufficient. Sound good? Folks in the US can pre-order either drive today from Amazon, and if you aren't a Bezos fan, Newegg and Micro Center are taking Flash Drive preorders, too. Save that, you can always go pick one up from Best Buy in August.
This Arduino hackaphone was never going to be pretty, but it does the job
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/22/arduino-hackaphone/
Okay, we'll admit that it looks a bit like a baby monitor. But in contrast to those over-engineered pieces of parenting paraphernalia, this DIY cellphone can actually make calls and send texts over GPRS. More importantly, Hackaday claims it was put together by a lone hacker ("Victorzie") from an assortment of off-the-shelf and modded parts, including a TFT touchscreen, lithium ion battery, charging circuit, GPRS module and shield. These components were hooked up to an Arduino Uno microcontroller running a barebones UI and then jammed into a 3D printed case, which makes the device look far more pocketable than some previous hackaphone efforts. The end result inspires big respect for the creator, but also, more grudgingly, for the pro engineers at places like Nokia, who can pull all this stuff together and even get it FCC-approved for just a few dollars.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Source: Hackaday
Freeze Half-Cooked French Fries For Extra Crunch
Source: http://lifehacker.com/freeze-half-cooked-french-fries-for-extra-crunch-844089555
Nothing beats a french fry that's crispy on the outside, and still soft and warm on the inside, but it's tough to get it just right when you cook them at home. Oddly enough, the secret to that restaurant-style crunch might be your freezer.
MiniFlux is a Secure, Minimal News Reader
Source: http://lifehacker.com/miniflux-is-a-secure-minimal-news-reader-850246201
If you still haven't settled on a Google Reader alternative
Leap Motion controller review
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/22/leap-motion-controller-review/
When the Leap Motion controller was revealed to the world, it brought with it the promise of a new and unique computer user experience. And, ever since we first got to see what the Leap Motion controller could do -- grant folks the ability to interact with a computer by waving their fingers and fists -- we've wanted one of our own to test out. Well, our wish was granted: we've gotten to spend several days with the controller and a suite of apps built to work with it. Does the device really usher in a new age of computing? Is it worth $80 of your hard-earned cash? Patience, dear reader, all will be revealed in our review.
Filed under: Peripherals
Gateway unveils slimmer NE laptops, updates DX, SX and One ZX desktops
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/22/gateway-ne-dx-sx-one-zx-2013/
Gateway may live in the shadow of its parent company Acer, but it's getting the spotlight today with refreshed versions of its entry-level PCs. New versions of its 15.6-inch and 17.3-inch NE Series laptops are slimmer than their ancestors, carry Kabini-based AMD A4 and A6 processors and offer up to 1TB of storage. Desktops remain largely the same on the outside, but there's a few welcome tweaks on the inside. Although the small SX Series isn't radically different, regular DX Series towers now have the option of a Haswell-era Intel Core i5 alongside recent AMD A-series chips; there's also a new entry-level version of the One ZX all-in-one that puts a 3GHz Pentium behind the 21.5-inch LCD. Gateway is now shipping the two NE portables at baseline prices of $380 (15.6-inch) and $450 (17.3-inch), while the DX, SX and One Z lines respectively start at $298, $398 and $530. A KX Series of desktop displays is shipping at the same time, starting at $99 for a 19.5-inch screen.
Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, AMD, Intel, Acer
Source: Gateway (1), (2), (3)
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Disney Research's AIREAL creates haptic feedback out of thin air
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/21/siggraph-disney-research-aireal-haptic-feedback/
Disney Research is at it again. The arm of Walt's empire responsible for interactive house plants wants to add haptic feedback not to a seat cushion, but to thin air. Using a combination of 3D-printed components -- thank the MakerBots for those -- with five actuators and a gaggle of sensors, AIREAL pumps out tight vortices of air to simulate tactility in three dimensional space. The idea is to give touchless experiences like motion control a form of physical interaction, offering the end user a more natural response through, well, touch.
Like most of the lab's experiments this has been in the works for awhile, and the chances of it being used outside of Disneyworld anytime soon are probably slim. AIREAL will be on display at SIGGRAPH in Anaheim from Sunday to Wednesday this week. Didn't register? Check out the video after the break.
Via: Gizmodo (Australia)
Source: Disney Research
Nokia Cinemagraph update brings 720p, improved desktop quality and color pop feature
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/21/cinemagraph-lumia-hd-gif/
Lumia users have no need for low-quality-GIF makers, thank you very much. Why? Because they can now use the new version of Cinemagraph to create animated images in full 1,080 x 720 glory. What's more, HD cat mems made with the updated app -- not to be confused with the similar Cinemagram -- can be viewed as short high-res video clips instead of GIFs when accessed on computers. As a nice bonus, the developers also threw in a new color pop feature that lets you highlight one hue and render the rest of the image black and white. Sure, the style's been overdone, but we'll bet many WP8 users are thankful the app's expanding its filter offerings in the absence of Instagram.
Filed under: Misc, Mobile, Nokia
Source: Conversations by Nokia
Hasselblad Stellar reportedly leaked, adds aura of luxury to Sony's RX100
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/21/hasselblad-stellar-leak/
Hasselblad's strategy of sprucing up Sony cameras must be paying off -- that would explain Photo Rumors' apparent leak of the Stellar, a Hasselblad take on the RX100. The already high-end compact cam will reportedly switch to a tan metallic body and offer several choices of exotic grip material, including carbon fiber and padouk wood. There's no mention of functional upgrades over the Sony original, though. As with the Lunar, we're more likely to see a price hike instead -- Photo Rumors claims the Stellar should launch on July 26th for between $1,600 to $3,200, which would limit it to particularly well-heeled photographers.
Source: Photo Rumors
Mark Zuckerberg 'Google Glassed' By Amateur Filmmaker Who Secretly Recorded Their Conversation (FB)
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-secretly-recorded-2013-7
Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook is all about giving up a little bit of your privacy in exchange for more information and a better way to connect with friends.
But recently, a filmmaker wanted to find out how Zuckerberg really felt about privacy.
The Daily Telegraph reports that, "filmmaker Cullen Hoback approached [Mark Zuckerberg] outside of his home for a documentary, called Terms and Conditions May Apply." Hoback questioned the CEO asking him, 'Do you still think privacy is dead?' 'What are your real thoughts on privacy?' Zuckerberg asked Hoback to stop filming, and he promptly switched off his video camera, causing Zuckerberg to relax ... "
Hoback may have switched off his camera but he had another camera disguised in his glasses, which kept recording Zuckerberg.
The scene will be included in Hoback's film, Terms and Conditions May Apply. The filmmaker says his main motivation for filming Zuckerberg was to have him say, "Look, I don't want you to record me."
Hoback's film is shedding light on a serious issue that affects every Internet user, privacy. The more open and free the Internet becomes, the less privacy users will have.
Hoback didn't say exactly what Zuckerberg said to him, but did say that from the statistics and information he has learned from making this film has turned it into a "horror film."
SEE ALSO: Mark Zuckerberg Runs A Giant Spy Machine In Palo Alto, California
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