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Wednesday, July 02, 2014

NVIDIA's Shield successor is a tablet

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/07/02/nvidia-shield-tablet/

The next version of NVIDIA's funky handheld Shield console will actually be called the Shield Tablet, according to a listing from a testing body called the Global Certification Forum (GCF). There's been much speculation about the device, especially after a diagram of what looks like the controller showed up at the FCC. That's usually a sign that a product is imminent, and we were told last year that a new model could come sooner than expected by NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang himself (see the video below). As a reminder, the original Shield is a portable, Tegra-powered console, with a built in controller and 5-inch screen that can run Android games and apps. But it's main raison d'etre is to wirelessly stream games from your NVIDIA-equipped PC, making it a rather nichey device. The GCF page confirms the "Shield Tablet" name that NVIDIA posted by mistake on its own site, and adds the fact that it'll have 4G capability.

So why a tablet? The original Shield is just a tablet with a controller (permanently) attached, so separating them makes sense. That way, NVIDIA could market it as a high-end tablet, a handheld gaming device and possibly a home console that'd plug into your TV. It's also feasible that more than one Shield device is coming, though that seems less likely. Either way, a mysterious benchmark for an NVIDIA Mocha tablet gives us a clue about the specs, which are identical to the new Xiaomi Mii pad. That device has a 7.9-inch, 2,048 x 1,536 screen, with 2GB of RAM and NVIDIA's new Tegra K1 quad-core CPU. If the Shield Tablet is similarly equipped, it'd be much more capable of running serious games than the original, as shown in the video below (which features NVIDIA's reference Tegra K1 tablet, by the way). 4G connectivity would also make it much more usable on the road. If all this pans out, it'd make sense -- allowing the Shield to be a standalone tablet might be the final carrot to entice gamers into throwing their cash at it.

Filed under: Tablets, NVIDIA

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LEAKED: This Might Be Google's Next Major Tablet Release (GOOG)

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/google-nexus-tablet-2014-specs-rumors-2014-7

GoogleTablet

Google hasn't updated its Nexus line of tablets since it introduced the latest Nexus 7 about one year ago.

It's about time for an upgrade, but don't expect another standard Nexus successor this year.

A new leak suggests that HTC is working on a new tablet codenamed Volantis.

This tablet is expected to be released under Google's branding, which means it's either a new Nexus tablet or one of the first devices to launch under the company's rumored Android Silver program.

Even if it is a new Nexus device, it probably won't look much like Google's current Nexus tablets based on reports we've seen.

The photo shown in this story is said to be a leaked press image of the tablet obtained by Android news blog Android Police.

However, Twitter account @evleaks, which has a strong track record for leaking products before their unveiling, claims that this image is fake. We won't know for sure until Google officially unveils its next tablet.

Evleaks also claims to have revealed the tablet's specifications, which suggest that Volantis could be a strong competitor to other Android tablets out there. It's expected to come with a sharp 8.9-inch 2560 x 1600 resolution display, which would pack 281 pixels per inch. Android Police, however, reports that the display resolution will be 2048 x 1440.

The higher the pixel density, the sharper the image. So, this would make the Volantis' screen slightly less sharp than those of the iPad Mini (326 ppi) and 8-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab S (360 ppi) if @evleaks' information is true.

The tablet is also expected to run on a 64-bit processor, which could enable performance that's f! aster, m ore efficient, and better at multitasking than 32-bit processors. This seems plausible since Google announced at its most recent developer's conference that devices running on Android L will support 64-bit processing by the end of the year.

If you're a fan of the HTC One's design, chances are you'll take a liking to Volantis. Rumors from both @evleaks and Android Police suggest that the HTC tablet will feature the same zero-gap aluminum construction found in the HTC One. It'll have the company's signature BoomSound speakers too, which deliver audio that's superior to other phones on the market.

There are a few inconsistencies between @evleaks' newest report and previous rumors. While @evleaks reports that this is probably one of Google's first Android Silver devices, Android Police's report calls it the Nexus 9. Regardless of what it's called at launch, it seems likely that HTC's tablet will be sold under Google's brand.

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Optical illusion painting changes its perspective as you move around it

Source: http://sploid.gizmodo.com/optical-illusion-painting-changes-perspective-as-you-mo-1598919895/+caseychan

Optical illusion painting changes its perspective as you move around it

When I started to watch this video I thought I wasn't looking at a painting but a high definition flat display that tracked your eyes, modifying a 3D model to give you the illusion of real depth. And then the magics finally get revealed. It's so simple and so damn cool.

Stuntmen in LED Suits Made This Impossible Parkour Run a Reality

Source: http://gizmodo.com/stuntmen-in-led-suits-made-this-impossible-parkour-run-1598488091

Stuntmen in LED Suits Made This Impossible Parkour Run a Reality

The advent of CGI has allowed us to realize things on-screen we never thought would be possible—from living, breathing dinosaurs , to giant transforming robots . But it's become so over-used that over-the-top practical effects now draw the biggest wows from audiences, like Lexus' use of countless LED-suit clad stuntmen to create one unbelievable parkour run across Kuala Lumpur.

drag2share: Googleâs killer Android L feature: Up to 36% more battery life thanks to Project Volta

source: http://gigaom.com/2014/07/02/googles-killer-android-l-feature-up-to-36-more-battery-life-thanks-to-project-volta/

When the next version of Android arrives, don't be surprised if your phone can run longer on a single charge. Project Volta, part of Android L, is the reason. Google devoted an entire session at Google I/O to Project Volta, which optimizes power consumption on an Android device and also provides some developer tools to help make more battery-efficient apps.

While Android L is only available in a developer preview, we can already see the potential of Project Volta thanks to Ars Technica's Ron Amadeo. He used the same standard and repeatable battery test Ars typically uses to measure Android device battery life. The findings with Android L? Amadeo's Nexus 5 phone lasted two hours longer with Android L as compared to Android KitKat, a gain of 36 percent.

So what's the secret sauce in Project Volta that makes Android L more power-efficient? It's a number of different things that quickly add up to more battery life. In the Project Volta session at Google I/O, Google said it scrutinized how different components use power, and for how long, in various but typical circumstances.

Passing data through the cellular radio obviously causes a spike in power usage, for example, but the radio doesn't drop back to a sleep state for several seconds. Turning on the phone's display just to check for new notifications can quickly gobble up battery power as well. After examining these and other use-cases, Google determined that for every one second of "active" use on a typical phone, standby time is reduced by a full two minutes. If you have 50 apps that are active for a second, then — say for synching, polling or showing notifications — that's 100 minutes of standby time gone.

Enter Project Volta, which groups and schedules certain tasks in a more efficient manner. It also includes new APIs for developers to take a similar approach and reduce the overall number of power-intensive activities needed for their apps to work. There's a new network activity awareness API, for example, so that apps can determine if the cellular radio is active, in which case an app can "piggyback" on the connection instead of later waking up a sleeping radio.

That's just one of many Project Volta enhancements; you can hear about all of them in this recording of the Project Volta session from Google I/O 2014.

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drag2share - drag and drop RSS news items on your email contacts to share (click SEE DEMO)

Apple May Be Killing iPhoto, But It Sounds Like The New Photo App Will Be A Lot More Powerful

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-apple-will-upgrade-photos-for-os-x-2014-7

photos app mac

Last week, Apple announced it would halt development on two of the company’s signature photography applications, Aperture and iPhoto, instead shifting its focus to the new Photos app introduced at WWDC last month.

For those worried the Photos app might not be robust enough to handle the needs of professional users, Ars Technica’s Sam Machkovech learned from an Apple representative that the new Photos app will include “professional-grade features such as image search, editing, effects, and most notably, third-party extensibility.”

Here’s the full statement from Apple:

With the introduction of the new Photos app and iCloud Photo Library, enabling you to safely store all of your photos in iCloud and access them from anywhere, there will be no new development of Aperture. When Photos for OS X ships next year, users will be able to migrate their existing Aperture libraries to Photos for OS X.

You read that correctly: Though Photos may eventually introduce some great features for professional and casual photographers alike, Photos for the Mac won’t be available when OS X Yosemite ships this fall. It will instead release at some point in 2015.

However, the inclusion of third-party extensibility in the new Photos app will be a nice touch.

For those uninitiated, Apple introduced “extensibility,” or app extensions, at its WWDC keynote last month, which is Apple’s way of letting applications talk to each other and even project software elements into other ! apps whi le still maintaining a highly secure environment.

In the case of Photos, this means app developers will soon be able to build sharing options within the Photos app to link to their own applications. For example, this could let users apply photo-filters from third party apps that aren’t available in the new Photos app.

The new Photos app will offer plenty of tools to keep your photos looking beautiful and organized, and it’s all tied together with a search engine that lets you explore your photos based on the date or time the photo was taken, its location, or by albums or favorites. You can also drag and drop your photos to customize the order in which they’re displayed, and all of your changes will immediately auto-sync across all your devices.

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Google snatches up streaming service Songza

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/07/01/google-buys-songza/

Google has just purchased music streaming service Songza and, while the exact terms of the deal have yet to be disclosed, it reportedly involves what financial experts refer to as "a boat load of money." Apple boosted its streaming music presence by picking up Beats. So it only makes sense that Google would have to fire back with an acquisition of its own. Like Beats, Songza relies pretty heavily on actual human curation to build playlists. The newest member of the Mountain View family uses contextual data about you to decide the best playlist for you at any given time. These lists are put together by DJs, musicians and music critics rather than some algorithm that looks at meta data like genre or BPM. These lists can get you pumped for a work out or just get you through a slow work day, but what they're not is a Pandora style infinite radio station.

For now, the service will continue as normal, but expect to see it curated lists and powerful data stores brought to bear on Play Music and YouTube. See, Songza knows not just what people listen to, but when they listen to it, what the weather is like and where they are. Imagine this coming together with the rest of Google's contextually-driven services. You could wake up one morning and Google Now will have already selected a playlist for you from All Access. Seeing as how it was a rainy Monday morning and you had along commute ahead of you, Google decided a set of tunes hand picked by Morrissey would perfectly match your mood.

Filed under: Software, Mobile, Google

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Source: Google, Songza

drag2share: Swatch's robot-made wristwear offers classic Swiss time at a tiny price

source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/07/01/swatch-sistem51/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

For many watch lovers, Swiss mechanical movement is the gold standard. However, it's also staggeringly expensive -- it's all too common to spend several hundred (if not several thousand) dollars just to see "Genève" on your wrist. That's what makes the US launch of Swatch's Sistem51 so special. While the watch still behaves like a conventional Swiss automatic with visible mechanisms, it's built using a fully robotic process that gets rid of the elaborate hand-crafting that drives up the price. As a result, you'll only pay $150 for the privilege, or about as much as an ordinary quartz timekeeper.

The Sistem51's transparent, brightly-hued look isn't for everyone; you probably wont wear it to a high-brow social function. However, it does have a few technical advantages over some pricier watches. There's a 90-hour power reserve to keep it ticking when idle, and the sealed body should keep out the dust or moisture that could lead to a costly repair. Just be ready to make a pilgrimage if you want one as soon as possible. The Sistem51 is only available at Swatch's Times Square store in New York as we write this, and the West coast will have to sit tight until the July 8th launch in San Francisco. It may take considerably more time to reach other parts of the country. If you've already been waiting ages to brag about owning a watch with Swiss mechanicals, though, it won't hurt to hold out for a little while longer.

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drag2share - drag and drop RSS news items on your email contacts to share (click SEE DEMO)

drag2share: Google's trippy Cube experiment lets you play DJ with six videos at once

source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/07/02/googles-cube-experiment-presets/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

If you're bored with regular music videos, there's now something a little more interactive from Google called The Cube. It sprang from the Creative Labs division, which has done similar experiments in the past. As shown in the embed below, you can manipulate the box by grabbing it with a mouse or finger and revealing different videos on each face, along with different parts of the music mix. As you move between several bizarre scenarios -- like a psychedelic face and a woman on the phone in a bath -- the music also mixes in rhythmic sync. Google cooked up the idea at a conference earlier, and hopes to demo more projects on it in the future. It works on a computer or recent Android handset with the latest version of Chrome. After trying it ourselves on a Nexus 5 with Chromecast, we'd recommend sitting down first, though.

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drag2share - drag and drop RSS news items on your email contacts to share (click SEE DEMO)

Yahoo's New App Is About To Make Your Android Phone A Whole Better

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/android-launcher-review-2014-7

In early 2014, Marissa Mayer declared that she would usher a "mobile first" mindset into Yahoo.

That influence has made itself present through Yahoo's recent acquisitions and the apps it's released over the past few months — including Aviate.

Yahoo's Aviate launcher for Android, which the company acquired in January for an undisclosed price, just officially exited the beta phase days ago. This means it's in the Google Play Store and ready for full-time use.

A launcher is an app for Android phones that replaces your phone's lock screen — or the hub from which you launch apps.

Aviate is a slick Android launcher that seeks to not only add additional features to your home screen, but also provide contextually aware information.

Aviate claims that it will cater certain information depending on the time of day and where you are. After spending some time with Yahoo's new launcher, here are some first impressions I came away with.

What It Does

AviateHome Like most Android launches, Aviate is focused on presenting your favorite apps and content in a more accessible and cleaner package.

When you set up Aviate, you'll be asked to select the apps you use the most as well as your favorite app categories.

This tells Aviate which apps to include at the bottom of your new home screen and how to organize your other apps.

The home screen itself looks clean, tight, and organized. By default, Android offers up a ton of different home screens for storing your favorite widgets and apps.

Aviate eliminates the need for excessive home screens, and presents similar information in a menu-based format that I find to be more neat and efficient.

The look and feel of Aviate maintains the flat yet colorful design language we've seen in other apps from Yahoo, such as Yahoo Weather and Yahoo News Digest.

It's a nice change from the cluttered user interface you'll find on certain Android phones.

How It Works

Aviate displays a ton of information, but neatly tucks most of it away behind menus that can be accessed with a quick swipe.

The standard Aviate home screen displays the time stamp at the top sandwiched in between an icon that looks like a rising sun and an app menu icon. That rising sun icon is the symbol for Aviate's Today space, which I'll explain in further detail below.

A photo of your choosing takes up most of the screen, and the apps you use most frequently are listed in rows at the bottom.

AviateSpaces Remember those app categories you chose earlier?

Swiping to the left reveals what Aviate calls Collections, which sorts apps into the genres you chose during the setup process.

If you want to view all of your apps, tapping the app grid icon will break them down in alphabetical order. It looks more like the app menu in Windows Phone than Android.

Swiping to the right presents daily information that Aviate thinks is relevant to you.

By default, the Today tab is shown when you swipe to the right, but you can change this by tapping the menu icon. Aviate calls these "spaces."

The Today space, for example, includes options like setting your phone to "Do Not Disturb," setting an alarm, or finding directions to work. The Listening space provides a music players and lists all of your music apps. Most spaces access your calendar to pull up events happening throughout the day too.

You can also add widgets to any of these spaces to further customize the information displayed.

Aviate uses these spaces to display contextually relevant information throughout the day.

Conclusion

Aviate is an attractive yet simple home screen replacement for Android phones. It's ideal for those who want a less cluttered interface but are still seeking the same access to widgets and apps you'd get from multiple home screens. Like Yahoo's other apps, the interface is simple, clean, and colorful.

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Tuesday, July 01, 2014

T-Mobile brings the LG G3 to the US on July 16th for $599 up front

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/30/lg-g3-reaches-t-mobile-july-16th/

Americans, your wait for LG's G3 is (nearly) over. T-Mobile has become the first big US carrier to take pre-orders for the 2K-capable Android smartphone, and now expects the device to hit retail shops on July 16th. Be prepared to fork over a lot of cash if you want that pixel-packed display as soon as possible, though. The G3 will cost $599 if you buy it outright, and it doesn't currently qualify for an easier-to-swallow installment plan. Other stateside carriers haven't revealed their plans to carry LG's brawny handset, but we'd expect matching announcements from at least the larger networks before long.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, LG, T-Mobile

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Source: T-Mobile (1), (2)

Spying malware leaves countries' energy grids open to attack

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/30/dragonfly-spy-malware/

Cyberwarfare campaigns against Western energy grids aren't just the stuff of action movies these days -- they're very, very real. Symantec has discovered a likely state-sponsored hacking group, nicknamed Dragonfly, that has been using phishing sites and trojans to compromise energy suppliers in the US and several other countries. Unlike targeted, destruction-focused malware like Stuxnet, this appears to be a broader spying effort bent on collecting information about national infrastructure. However, it still creates a back door that leaves companies vulnerable to full-fledged attacks if they don't spot the intrusions; it wouldn't take much to create real problems.

Symantec hasn't tracked down those behind Dragonfly, but it has plenty of evidence that they're professionals. Most of the attacks occur on weekdays between 9AM and 6PM Eastern European time, and they're primarily hitting Western European targets. They "think strategically," too. They first focused on aviation and defense agencies around 2011, and switched to power-related companies in early 2013; also, the suppliers under attack are smaller and less secure than the energy providers they're serving. If there's any consolation, it's that companies can shut down individual attacks, and that Symantec has already let affected companies and security response centers know what's happening. Let's just hope that the revelations get firms to tighten their security before there's some major damage.

[Image credit: Bjorn Kindler/Getty]

Filed under: Internet

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Via: Ars Technica

Source: Symantec

GE promises smart light bulbs without the usual steep prices

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/07/01/ge-link/

Many smartphone-controlled light bulbs cost a pretty penny, even if you're not interested in mood-setting colors or other elaborate tricks. How are you supposed to afford enough bulbs to illuminate your entire abode? That's where GE's new Link bulbs could save the day. While you'll need a hub ($30 by itself) to get everything connected, the LED-based white lights cost just $15 to $25 each -- in contrast, Philips' upcoming Lux models are $40 a pop. There's also a kit that includes two 60W-equivalent bulbs and a hub for $50, or half as much as you'd pay for an equivalent Lux bundle.

Before you start planning your home's new ambiance, understand that you're paying less because you get a bit less... so long as you're only concerned with lighting, anyway. While the necessary Wink mobile app gives you full control over brightness and scheduling, you don't get luxuries like Philips' electricity-free control switch or LG's light-based phone alerts. Link might be a better deal if you don't want those extras, though, and the Wink support could save you from buying additional hubs (or using additional apps) to steer other household gadgets. No matter what, you'll have to be patient if you want to try GE's approach for yourself. Although Home Depot is taking pre-orders today, the Link bulbs don't ship until the fall -- that's a long time to wait just to save some money.

Filed under: Household

Comments

Via: The Verge

Source: GE Reports, Home Depot

Samsung's new consumer SSDs shoot to the top of the benchmark league

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/07/01/samsung-850-pro-v-nand-ssd-review-roundup/

For the last year or so, Samsung has been touting a "paradigm shift" in the way it constructs flash memory: from a horizontal to a vertical arrangement of cells, or what it calls 3D V-NAND. Now, judging from reviews of the first V-NAND consumer SSDs, the 850 Pro range, it looks like this shift has resulted in a geniune and unequivocal boost to performance. Compared to synthetic and real-world scores from rival drives, made by the likes of Intel and Crucial, Sammy's 850 Pro "led the pack almost across the board," according to HotHardware.

Then again, Tom's Hardware noted that Samsung is now pushing the limits of the SATA interface, such that other products are "within a stone's throw" of the the 850 Pro's scores (at least until a PCI Express version comes around). What's more, all the reviews listed below highlighted the fact that the new line-up comes at a significant premium, even when you factor in Samsung's nice 10-year warranty. The 128GB drive costs $130, while the maxed-out 1TB option costs $730, equating to a cost per gigabyte that is almost twice as high as other recent drives that lack the cutting-edge NAND (such as Crucial's MX100). Actual street pricing, meanwhile, will only be established over the course of this month, as the 850 Pro starts to become widely available.

Reviews of the Samsung 850 Pro SSD:

Filed under: Storage, Samsung

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Barclays brings Pingit phone number payments to Windows Phone

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/07/01/barclays-pingit-windows-phone-app/

Windows Phone users often have to resign themselves to getting apps months, if not years after their iOS- and Android-toting counterparts. That's especially the case for Barclays' Pingit app, which after more than two years has finally made its way to Microsoft's mobile platform. If you're not familiar, Pingit allows users to send money using only a recipient's phone number regardless of who either bank with. Banking customers have been able to check their balance and pay bills using Barclays' mobile banking app, but with new initiatives like Paym aiming to streamline mobile payments, Pingit could enjoy great momentum as a result. Despite being late to the party, Barclays' new app is still likely to enjoy some early-mover advantage, as only a handful of other banks have dedicated Windows Phone apps.

Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Wednesday, July 02, 2014

NVIDIA's Shield successor is a tablet

LEAKED: This Might Be Google's Next Major Tablet Release (GOOG)

Optical illusion painting changes its perspective as you move around it

Stuntmen in LED Suits Made This Impossible Parkour Run a Reality

drag2share: Googleâs killer Android L feature: Up to 36% more battery life thanks to Project Volta

Apple May Be Killing iPhoto, But It Sounds Like The New Photo App Will Be A Lot More Powerful

Google snatches up streaming service Songza

drag2share: Swatch's robot-made wristwear offers classic Swiss time at a tiny price

drag2share: Google's trippy Cube experiment lets you play DJ with six videos at once

Yahoo's New App Is About To Make Your Android Phone A Whole Better

What It Does

How It Works

Conclusion

Tuesday, July 01, 2014

T-Mobile brings the LG G3 to the US on July 16th for $599 up front

Spying malware leaves countries' energy grids open to attack

GE promises smart light bulbs without the usual steep prices

Samsung's new consumer SSDs shoot to the top of the benchmark league

Barclays brings Pingit phone number payments to Windows Phone

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Tuesday, July 01, 2014

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