Friday, October 08, 2010

AT&T debuts slim, AMOLED-equipped Pantech Laser slider

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/08/atandt-debuts-slim-amoled-equipped-pantech-laser-slider/

Well, it looks like Pantech may not be dropping AMOLED screens just yet after all -- the company has just rolled out its new Laser slider on AT&T complete with, you guessed it, a 3.1-inch AMOLED display. Set to be available on October 17th, the phone is also the thinnest QWERTY slider available on AT&T at just 9.95 millimeters thick, but things unfortunately get decidedly less interesting from there. The Laser is simply a "quick messaging phone," for starters, and you'll only get AT&T's own apps for navigation, social networking, and other basic tasks -- though it does have a somewhat unique "Drawing Commander" feature that lets you draw shapes to make phone calls or launch apps. That doesn't mean the Laser comes with quick messaging phone price, however -- it'll set you back $100 after a $50 mail-in rebate on a two-year contract (placing it right in line with some of AT&T's newest mid-range Android phones). Hit up the gallery below for a closer look, and head on past the break for the full press release.

Continue reading AT&T debuts slim, AMOLED-equipped Pantech Laser slider

AT&T debuts slim, AMOLED-equipped Pantech Laser slider originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Oct 2010 09:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You Can Create Holograms Right Now, Using This $1 iPad App and a DSLR [Video]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5658151/you-can-create-holograms-right-now-using-this-1-ipad-app-and-a-dslr

You Can Create Holograms Right Now, Using This src=Shooting long exposure photos of an iPad in motion magics up stunning "holograms"—and all for just $1. It's one of the most futuristic, wackiest apps I've seen yet, and will impress anyone you show it to.

Any word or phrase can be turned into a hologram (said in the loosest description of the word) using the app, with adjustables including the color, font, size, angle and so forth all available for tinkering. Once the chosen word has been created, the countdown begins, which is when you drag an iPad or iPhone in a straight line (watch the video below to see exactly what I mean) in front of the set-up DSLR, which is shooting long-exposure photos.

The shapes and patterns dancing across the iPad screen are actually single frames of a 3D animation, with the long exposures later turned into a stop-motion movie, where the frames are pieced together to create something like you see above.

At the moment the app is only capable of making words, but a later version will let you draw objects.

It costs $1, but be warned that this app is only for someone possessing a DSLR and an infinite amount of time up their sleeve. [iTunes via Core77]

Making Future Magic: iPad light painting from Dentsu London on Vimeo.

Now Available: Adobe AIR for Android [Android]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5658931/now-available-adobe-air-for-android

Now Available: Adobe AIR for Android Adobe AIR is now available for download in the Android Market for Android those with devices running Froyo. This means that Android users can look forward to new types of apps, including cross-platform ones. AIR apps will not install differently from other Android apps. [Android Central]

Universal Display ships eight wrist-worn OLED displays to military, too late to help Noble Team

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/07/universal-display-ships-eight-wrist-worn-oled-displays-to-milita/

Universal Display ships eight wrist-worn OLED displays to military, a little too late to help Noble Team
We had a little fun with Universal Display Corporation's flexible OLED display at CES a few years back, ruggedized and militarized and destined for Army wrists of the future. Little did we know that future would be so close. The company has just confirmed that it has delivered eight of the 4.3-inch, 320 x 240 screens to the US Army for "military evaluation and testing" and, while it doesn't sound like there's a specific purpose in mind at the moment, we're pretty sure they'll come up with something to do with them. We know we sure would.

Universal Display ships eight wrist-worn OLED displays to military, too late to help Noble Team originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Oct 2010 20:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink OLED-Display.net  |  sourceUniversal Display Corporation  | Email this | Comments

Firefox 4 for mobile goes beta on Android and Maemo

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/07/firefox-4-for-mobile-goes-beta-on-android-and-maemo/

After a healthy alpha (and pre-alpha) period, Mozilla is taking the mobile version of Firefox 4 to beta on Android and Maemo this week, promising improvements in stability, performance, and functionality. Actually, this represents a shift in branding for Maemo, where Firefox 1.1 has already been gold for some time -- but odds are good you're going to want to upgrade in any event, since this new version nets you the so-called Layers framework that aims to improve scrolling and zooming responsiveness. As you might expect, you get built-in Firefox Sync -- basically making this a superset of Firefox Home -- and support for HTML5. Makes that ol' N900 look a little shinier, doesn't it? Follow the break for Mozilla's announcement video.

Continue reading Firefox 4 for mobile goes beta on Android and Maemo

Firefox 4 for mobile goes beta on Android and Maemo originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Oct 2010 21:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PCD's $99 wireless streaming adapter will beam iOS or older-gen iPod nano content onto your TV

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/08/pcds-99-wireless-streaming-adapter-will-beam-ios-or-older-gen/

In case you've got some fundamental issue with Apple's upcoming AirPlay, or just a fifth-gen iPod nano you're unwilling to part with, here's a handy little adapter for you. Produced by Cywee and likely to be sold for around $99 by PCD in the US, this RF streamer plugs straight into your iDevice's dock connector and then beams video, pictures, games and the like over to its nearby base station, which in turn hooks up to your television by a set of RGB cables. Any app that utilizes Apple's video output API is a candidate for having its visuals sent over, though resolution is unfortunately capped at 480p and you'll need line of sight at a distance of no more than 15 feet for everything to work correctly. Just to make sure we're all appropriately underwhelmed by its current product, Cywee promises an 802.11n WiFi variant that'll handle 1080p and output via HDMI for next year. Great, we'll just wait for that one, why don't we?

Continue reading PCD's $99 wireless streaming adapter will beam iOS or older-gen iPod nano content onto your TV

PCD's $99 wireless streaming adapter will beam iOS or older-gen iPod nano content onto your TV originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Oct 2010 01:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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KDDI's 'smARt' television viewing concept links phones to consumerism at long last

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/08/kddis-smart-television-viewing-concept-links-phones-to-consum/

Say you're watching a cooking show on television and you see some ketchup. Tasty, right? Salivating? Need some ketchup right this second? Look no further than KDDI's "smARt" television viewing concept, which uses your phone as a tool to get more information on stuff you're seeing on the boob tube in real time. Using an Android-powered Sharp IS01 to demonstrate, KDDI's crack team of presenters showed some delicious-looking food on screen then captured it with the phone's camera, which ultimately resulted in being redirected to a site where you could purchase a bottle of Hunt's for ¥650 (about $7.83). Of course, considering that TV itself can be interactive in a variety of ways, it seems a bit much to bother getting your phone involved while you're trying to zone out on the couch... but hey, whatever gets us to our Utopian dream of real-time ketchup purchases the fastest is where we want to be. Follow the break for video.

Continue reading KDDI's 'smARt' television viewing concept links phones to consumerism at long last

KDDI's 'smARt' television viewing concept links phones to consumerism at long last originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Oct 2010 04:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gamma Dynamics high-contrast, high-speed electrofluidic e-paper gets closer to reality

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/08/gamma-dynamics-high-contrast-high-speed-electrofluidic-e-paper/

Gamma Dynamics high-contrast, high-speed electrofluidic e-paper gets closer to reality
E Ink more or less has a lock on the e-reader market, as competitor after competitor sees delays or simply disappears altogether. Today we have an update from another would-be foe, and there's some real potential here. It's electrofluidic e-paper from Gamma Dynamics and the University of Cincinnati, which we first heard about last April. The tech is similar to that in E Ink but, instead of simple microcapsules having both black and white ink plus a clear oil, the Gamma Dynamics pixels have a colored fluid in a pixel that's split by a reflective sheet. Using voltage applied to these pixels the ink can be forced up above or pulled down below the reflective separator, forming an image in a video-capable 20ms and delivering a near paper-matching 70 percent reflectivity. There's a picture below showing how the tech works and, thanks to confirmation that it can be produced in an LCD manufacturing facility, it's looking closer to production than ever. How close is that? Oh, about three years, meaning E Ink still has that market cornered -- for now.

Continue reading Gamma Dynamics high-contrast, high-speed electrofluidic e-paper gets closer to reality

Gamma Dynamics high-contrast, high-speed electrofluidic e-paper gets closer to reality originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Oct 2010 07:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink geek.com  |  sourceGamma Dynamics, University of Cincinnati  | Email this | Comments

Thursday, October 07, 2010

A Revolution In Mobile Cup Holder Technology [Cupholders]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5658018/revolutionary-mobile-cup-holder-technology

A Revolution In Mobile Cup Holder TechnologyVersion 1.0: Carrying a bunch of drinks around with your hands. Version 2.0: Those shallow egg carton trays that always make you think your drinks are about to tip over. Version 3.0: This magnificent beverage buggy.

Where can I sign up to be a beta tester? [Damn That's Whack via Daily What]

Simple Hack Allows American Androids to Skype Over 3G [Android Apps]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5658175/simple-hack-allows-americans-to-skype-over-3g-on-androids

Simple Hack Allows American Androids to Skype Over 3GAndroid users (except for those on Verizon) were understandably excited to hear that the Skype app was now available—until they discovered that it can only be used over Wi-Fi in the US. Fear not, friends, there's a hack!

A Droid Forums poster released a new version of the app allowing for free Skype-to-Skype calls over 3G, like the rest of the world is allowed. The best news is that you don't even have to root your phone to download it—instead, you just download the Sideload program onto your Windows, Mac or Linux computer, and can load apps thattaway instead. [Droid Forums via Engadget]

Displax Overlay Multitouch turns your LCD or plasma into a touchscreen, demands a pretty penny

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/07/displax-overlay-multitouch-turns-your-lcd-or-plasma-into-a-touch/

Remember when Displax teased us earlier in the year with a polymer film that could take any conventional LCD, plasma or RPTV and turn it into a touchscreen? Yeah, well now that very technology is shipping to Average Joes and Janes like yourself your good pal Jim. Starting nowish, the outfit's customizable Overlay Multitouch will be heading out to screens ranging from 32- to 103-inches in size in order to add multitouch capabilities to a screen that previously hated even the thought of being groped. Of course, with a starting tag of €1,300 ($1,805), we get the impression that most of the orders (at least initially) will be coming from corporations looking to jazz up their boardrooms. In related news, the company is also debuting a 42-inch Windows 7-based multitouch table that can detect up to four independent touches at once. The Oqtopus uses a specific kind of optical technology that allows bare fingers, styluses and even gloved hands to operate it, but with a starting price of €4,500 ($6,250), we're guessing your own personal Santa is already signaling "no."

Displax Overlay Multitouch turns your LCD or plasma into a touchscreen, demands a pretty penny originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Oct 2010 09:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Future-Predicting Search Engine Reveals Some of the Analytical Tricks Inside Its Crystal Ball

Source: http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-10/predictive-search-engine-reveals-some-analytical-tricks-behind-its-crystal-ball

Remember Recorded Future, the future-predicting information analysis company that made a splash earlier this year when it scored investments from both Google and the CIA? The company has recently revealed a bit more about how its technology works and just how well the firm has done recording events before they happen. And, presumably, how well it will continue to do in coming days.

Speaking to Technology Review, company founder Christopher Ahlberg described how its software goes deeper than search engines like Google that simply rank the relevance of results by links. Rather, it analyzes the more nuanced, invisible connections between events and people that shape the future. Doing so, he says, lets Recorded Future look for patterns that suggest certain outcomes, like when a product might release or when a company might clear a patent hurdle or offer an IPO.

Recorded Future's software does this semantically, using linguistic tools that identify certain types of events and the sentiment conveyed in the wording. It aims for articles with some degree of established veracity, like government filings, news articles, and speeches by leaders or heads of industry, but the software also scans Twitter updates and other measures of general feeling or sentiment surrounding an event, person, company, or product.

In other words, it's less a matter of Recorded Future wagering an educated guess about a future event and more like an aggregation of predictions that have already been made. That aggregate collated prediction about the future is influenced by all the factors listed above and gives, say, a stock analyst a reasonable measure of when an event is likely to happen.

Right now Recorded Future has fewer than 100 clients paying to use its tools, but those that are using them aren't lightweights – Ahlberg tells TR a mix of government analysts and financial firms are taking advantage of the insight the company offers. Those are players whose decisions are tied to serious stakes in both security and finance, lending Recorded Future an air of serious credibility. Indeed, studies of its past performance have shown its models tended show increased strength of activity around an event or entity that correlated to real time market activity.

Which means Recorded Future, and analytic tools like it, might have a future after all.

[Technology Review]

Who Is Really Winning the Smartphone Race? [Chart]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5657699/who-is-really-winning-the-smartphone-race

Who Is Really Winning the Smartphone Race?Apple fanboys vs HTC fandroids. Crackberry junkies vs Nokia cheerleaders. All of them have their arguments and neverending doses of absurdly blind faith in a corporation. But who is really winning this race? Who is really the dominant smartphone manufacturer?

It's hard to tell.

See, when you take into consideration more than one factor, you get a different picture of how things are. Here you can see that Samsung is gaining market share faster than all its competitors, but their profit share growth is going down. Then you can see that Apple is gaining market share at a good rate, but their profit share growth dwarfs everyone else. The iPhone is one popular smartphone, with a hefty profit.

Asymco, who produced these graphics, argues that you can pair manufacturers according to their current growth vectors (in the chart above, you can see those pairs by color). According to them, Apple is destroying Nokia, while RIM is crunching Sony Ericsson, and Samsung is doing the same with Motorola. HTC and LG are doing something down there too, but both are doing it slowly, so let's ignore them for a while.

The fight for true domination

When you look at their 2007 vs 2010 comparison, things get even better:

Who Is Really Winning the Smartphone Race?

Why better? Because despite its star status, Apple is still not the dominant player. Nobody is. Unlike with computers—where Microsoft still dominates—there is still no emperor in the smartphone empire. Apple is in a great position to claim that crown, but the game is still open.

One last thought: Looking at Nokia, I can't help to think that the CEO and his execs were complete imbeciles. If they had snatched Palm before Hewlett Packard—and scrap their stupid, outdated, horrible Symbian—they could have probably retained the dominant position they lost so quickly. Which is too bad, because they always made good hardware. [Asymco]

Hitachi-LG unveils 2nd generation hybrid optical drive with flash-based storage to boot

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/07/hitachi-lg-unveils-2nd-generation-hybrid-optical-drive-with-flas/

The Hitachi-LG Data Storage joint venture has itself fostered yet another mixed product, combining both an optical disk drive and flash storage into a single form factor. The 2nd generation of its Hybrid Drive uses Micron's 25nm NAND flash memory in 16GB, 32GB, 64GB capacities (with those figures to rise in later iterations, naturally) and can be united with either DVD or Blu-ray players -- perfect for laptops and other portable devices with just one drive to spare. (The one stretched out on display, pictured above, was a 12.7mm slim DVD-RW tray type). Hitachi housed samples of the drive at its CEATEC booth and even showed off a few example products (first generation drive, too). Care to see what could be under the hood of a future purchase? Pictures below.

Hitachi-LG unveils 2nd generation hybrid optical drive with flash-based storage to boot originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Oct 2010 08:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Whatâs the Difference Between JPG, PNG, and GIF? [Images]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5656669/whats-the-difference-between-jpg-png-and-gif

What's the Difference Between JPG, PNG, and GIF?As we keep building on old image technology, types of file formats keep piling up, each with their own nuances and uses. JPG, PNG, and GIF have become the most common, but what sets them apart from each other?

These formats have become the most popular because of their compatibility with modern browsers, broadband speeds, and the needs of average users. Join us as we take a detailed look at each format, and cover the strengths and weaknesses of each.

JPG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)

JPG was a filetype developed by the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) to be a standard for professional photographers. Like the method ZIP files use to find redundancies in files to compress data, JPGs compress image data by reducing sections of images to blocks of pixels or "tiles." JPG compression has the unfortunate side effect of being permanent, however, as the technology for the file was created for storing large photographic image files in surprisingly small spaces, and not for photo editing.

KeizersgrachtReguliersgrachtAmsterdam compressed

JPGs have become the de facto standard image of the internet because they can be compressed so much. A typical JPG can be compressed at a ratio of anywhere from 2:1 to as high as 100:1, depending on your settings. Particularly back in the days of dial-up internet, JPGs were the only viable way to send image information.

However, because of the lossy nature of JPG, it is not an ideal way to store art files. Even the highest quality setting for JPG is compressed, and will change the look of your image, if only slightly. JPG is also not an ideal medium for typography, crisp lines, or even photographs with sharp edges, as they are often blurred or smeared out by anti-aliasing. What is potentially worse, is that this loss can accumulate-saving multiple versions of artwork can cause degradation with every save. Even so, it is common to see these things saved as JPG, simply because the filetype is so ubiquitous.

24bitJPGClose up of a high quality JPG

JPGcompressedClose up of a very lossy JPG.

The Joint Photographic Experts Group developed lossless JPG technology to combat this serious problem of quality degradation. However, because of dial-up speeds and general lack of interest in high quality non-degrading files, the JPG-LS standard never caught on.

It is possible to download plugins that allow users to open and save the lossless JPG2000, and some programs, like Apple's Preview application, can read and save JPG2000 directly out of the box.

JPGs support 24-bit RGB and CMYK, as well as 8-bit Grayscale. I personally do not recommend using CMYK color spaces in JPGs. It's also important to note that Grayscale JPGs do not compress nearly as much as color ones do.

GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)

GIF, like JPG, is an older filetype, and one generally associated with the internet as opposed to photography. GIF stands for "Graphics Interchange Format" and employs the same lossless LZW compression that TIFF images use. This technology was once controversial (for patent enforcement issues) but has become an accepted format since all patents have expired.

8bitClose up of an 8-bit color GIF.

GIF is by nature an 8-bit color file, meaning they are limited to a palette of 256 colors, which can be picked from the RGB color model and saved to a Color Look Up Table (CLUT), or simply "Color Table." There are, however, standard color palettes, like the "Web Safe" palette. An important note is that Grayscale images are by nature an 8-bit palette, so saving them as GIF is fairly ideal.

Apart from support for transparency, GIF also is supports animations, limiting every frame to 256 preselected colors.

DANCING_BABY

While GIF is not lossy like JPG, conversion to 8-bit color distorts many images, using dither filters to optically blend, or "diffuse," colors, similar to halftone dots or pointilism. This can radically alter an image for the worse, or, in some cases, be used to create an interesting effect.

Because of this non-lossy format, GIF can be used to keep tight lines on typography and geometric shapes, although these things are better suited to vector graphic files like SVG or the Adobe Illustrator native format, AI.

GIF is not ideal for modern photography, nor image storage. At small sizes with very limited color tables, GIF images can be smaller than JPG files. But at most ordinary sizes, JPG compression will create a smaller image. They are largely out of date, useful only to create dancing babies or to sometimes create rough transparencies.

PNG (Portable Network Graphics)

What's the Difference Between JPG, PNG, and GIF?

PNG stands for Portable Network Graphics (or, depending on whom you ask, the recursive "PNG-Not-GIF"). It was developed as an open alternative to GIF, which used the proprietary LZW compression algorithm discussed earlier. PNG is an excellent filetype for internet graphics, as it supports transparency in browsers with an elegance that GIF does not possess. Notice how the transparent color changes and blends with the background. Right-click the image to see. This is actually one image that is on four different background colors. (Ed. Note: As our system decided it didn't want to play along with the images, this isn't actually a PNG. You can check out the original image on How-To Geek.)

PNG supports 8-bit color like GIF, but also supports 24-bit color RGB, like JPG does. They are also non-lossy files, compressing photographic images without degrading image quality. PNG tends to be the biggest of the three filetypes and isn't supported by some (usually older) browsers.

In addition to being an excellent format for transparency, the non-lossy nature of 24-bit PNG is ideal for screenshot software, allowing pixel for pixel reproduction of your desktop environment.

Which to use?

What's the Difference Between JPG, PNG, and GIF?

From left to right, these files are: 24-bit JPG Compressed, 8-bit GIF, 8-bit PNG, Full Quality 24-bit JPG, and 24-bit PNG. Note that the file sizes increase in this same direction.

PNG is the largest image type for bigger images, often containing information you may or may not find useful, depending on your needs. 8-bit PNG is an option, but GIF is smaller. Neither are optimal options for photography, as JPG is much smaller than lossless PNG with only minimal loss of quality. And for storage of high resolution files, JPG compresses to tiny proportions, with quality loss only visible on close inspection.

In short: PNG is good option for transparency and non-lossy, smaller files. Larger files, not so much, unless you demand non-lossy images. GIF is largely a novelty and only useful for animation, but can produce small 8-bit images. JPG is still the king for photographs and photo-like images on the internet, but be careful, as your file can degrade with every save.

Image of Keizersgracht, in Amsterdam by Massimo Catarinella via Wikipedia, released under Creative Commons license. Derivative images available under the same license. I don't care to know who created the dancing baby.

What's the Difference Between JPG, PNG, and GIF?The How-To Geek explains the technology that geeks love. You can catch daily updates on Twitter or Facebook.

Concept Phone Made From Copper Charges in Pockets Using a Thermogenerator [Concepts]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5657903/concept-phone-made-from-copper-charges-in-pockets-using-a-thermogenerator

Concept Phone Made From Copper Charges in Pockets Using a ThermogeneratorWhat would you sacrifice for a phone that charges by inducting heat from your body? An OS? A brand-name you can be proud of? A touchscreen? That's the question I pose to you, after spotting this concept Nokia phone.

It's been dreamed up by English designer Patrick Hyland, who envisions the phone to be made from copper and capable of drawing heat from your body (or something like an overheating laptop), converting it to energy. That's by way of a thermogenerator that's been placed in the copper E-Cu phone ("E" for environment, and "Cu" for copper, naturally).

I'm not so sure the increasing prices (and demand) for copper will ever make this phone a reality, but in the meantime it's nice to see someone use the Nokia name for good. Unlike, err, Nokia. [Dezeen via Recombu]

RIM pushes out software update for BlackBerry Torch, promises speed improvements aplenty

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/06/rim-pushes-out-software-update-for-blackberry-torch-promises-sp/

Well, it looks RIM hasn't been ignoring all those complaints about its less than speedy BlackBerry Torch -- the company has just pushed out an updated version of BlackBerry 6 for the device that promises a whole host of speed improvements. That includes faster page loading and improved panning in the browser, improved responsiveness after unlocking the device, faster application launching, exiting and switching, faster rendering and smoother transitions on the home screen, faster rendering of thumbnails in the picture application, and faster and smoother scrolling in the message list and when reading email -- oh, and improved audio quality too. Look for the update (v6.0.0.695) to begin rolling out directly to devices over the next week and a half, or simply hit up either RIM or AT&T below to skip the wait and download the update right now.

RIM pushes out software update for BlackBerry Torch, promises speed improvements aplenty originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Oct 2010 15:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceRIM, AT&T  | Email this | Comments