Monday, October 27, 2008

Canon PowerShot G10 reviewed

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/433763992/

We've always had a soft spot for Canon's G-series of prosumer compacts, and it looks like the new G10 won't be any exception -- Photography Blog just put the boxy camera through its paces and found that it's "undoubtedly the best ever" in the line. High marks were particularly given to the new wider-angle 28-140mm lens (which suffers less barrel distortion than the G9), higher-res LCD screen, and the new exposure dial, which allows you to fine-tune exposure settings without a trip to the menus. The new 14.7 megapixel sensor didn't receive the same praise, however: ISO 400 images were quite noisy, and the 800 and 1600 settings were "virtually unusable." That's not exactly news for the G-series, but it's pretty unfortunate -- especially considering that the G10's $499 pricetag edges into low-end DSLR territory. Still, if you're looking for a compact with deep manual controls and real optics, it sounds like the G10 is worth a look -- hit the read link for the full review.

Canon PowerShot G10 reviewed originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Oct 2008 12:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASUS rolls out Eee PC 1002HA, still mum about next week's model

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/433791974/

Filed under: Laptops

Still haven't found an Eee PC to your liking? Then perhaps ASUS's new 10-inch Eee PC 1002HA model will be more to your liking, with it bringing some of the S101's stylings to the company's standard 1000 series. Otherwise, you can expect most of the usual specs that now haunt our dreams, including a 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor,1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive and, apparently, a two-cell, 4200 mAh battery. No word on a release 'round here just yet, but it looks like this one will be available in Europe in the not too distant future for €449, or about $565.

ASUS rolls out Eee PC 1002HA, still mum about next week's model originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Oct 2008 13:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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JHU researchers create self-assembling organic wires

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/433820214/

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Once more it looks like Johns Hopkins has taken humanity a step closer to full-blown Borg-hood. A research team at the school has created water-soluble electronic materials that spontaneously assemble themselves into wires some 10,000 times smaller than a human hair, for potential uses that include regulating cell-to-cell communication, re-engineering neural networks, repairing damaged spinal cords and transforming individuals into cybernetically enhanced drones. The researchers also point out that the self-assembly principles used to create the nano-scale wires are based on those of beta-amyloid plaques (which have been associated with Alzheimers), so the research may someday lead to a better understanding of the disease. This is definitely good news, but we can't help but think that once we've been assimilated into the hive mind Alzheimer's will be the least of our concerns.

[Via TG Daily]

JHU researchers create self-assembling organic wires originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Oct 2008 13:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AUO debuts 15-inch multi-touch panel, screens aplenty

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/433895685/

Filed under: Displays

AUO is never one to rest on its laurels when it comes to displays of all shapes and sizes and, if its latest batch is any indication, it looks like it's not showing any signs of letting up. One of the stand-outs here is a 15-inch multi-touch panel which, like the company's 8-inch model, has all the necessary multi-touch technology built onto the panel itself, and is able to recognize light pens in addition to fingers (it's also rolled out new 4.3-inch and 12.1-inch models for good measure). As if that wasn't enough, AUO has also taken the wraps off a new borderless 2.2-inch display (pictured above), which it hopes will soon find its way into a whole host of cellphones and portable media players, as well as 2.8-inch display that can also double as a fingerprint scanner, a 24-inch LCD that promises to display 3D images without glasses, a slightly larger 8.9-inch version of its curved display and, lastly, a 6.5-inch 800 x 480 display with a 2,000:1 contrast ratio. No word of any actual products set to use the displays, of course, but they'll apparently all be on display at the FPD International Forum in Yokohama, Japan later this week.

[Via Electronista]

AUO debuts 15-inch multi-touch panel, screens aplenty originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Oct 2008 14:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft gets official with Windows Azure cloud OS, platform

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/433969825/

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Networking

Steve Ballmer himself first dropped word of this one earlier this month, but Microsoft has now finally gotten official about its new cloud computing operating system, and its name: Windows Azure. What's more, the OS is apparently just one component of Microsoft's larger Azure cloud computing platform, which will eventually be fully rolled out alongside Windows 7, and will encompass Microsoft's existing Live services, SQL services, and .NET services, among other things. If that's got you excited, you can find plenty more details at the link below, and even a few SDKs ready for downloading.

[Via Pocket-lint]

Microsoft gets official with Windows Azure cloud OS, platform originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Oct 2008 16:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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More changes to Gmail contact manager

source: http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/more-changes-to-gmail-contact-manager.html
Posted by Benjamin Grol, Product Manager, Google Contacts

After hearing consistent feedback that you wanted more control over your contacts, we've changed the way Gmail suggests contacts to you. Up to this point, if you emailed someone five times, we'd automatically move them into My Contacts. Now, we'll no longer automatically add contacts to your My Contacts group. Instead, you can go to Suggested Contacts, select the contacts you'd like and move them into My Contacts. All of your contacts -- whether they're in My Contacts or Suggested Contacts -- will continue to show in auto-complete as you're composing messages.

As part of this change, we're moving previously auto-added contacts back into Suggested Contacts. Only contacts that you've edited, imported or added to a group will remain in My Contacts. This will provide everyone with a clean slate and, we hope, a better point for syncing contacts with mobile devices (for example with Android). We'll be rolling this change out to everyone over the next few days.

We realize there's a lot we can do to make Gmail contacts even more useful, and the feedback we received last time we updated the contact manager was helpful, so keep letting us know what you think.

Gmail for mobile: faster, smoother, and now in more languages

Source: http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/gmail-for-mobile-faster-smoother-and.html

Posted by Peter Baldwin, Software Engineer, Google mobile team

When I joined the Gmail for mobile team a year ago, the mobile client worked like a web application designed for networks that were always available. This was fine on a fast and reliable network, but when you hopped on the subway, network reliability could be a big problem. Today, we're happy to announce Gmail for mobile 2.0 for J2ME-supported and BlackBerry phones. For this version, we changed our fundamental assumption about the network. We re-thought every action that you might perform with the app and tried to solve for the case where there is no signal. We wanted to make the mobile client faster and more reliable and added some other new features along the way.

If you haven't tried Gmail on your phone in a while, try this new version and let us know what you think. Gmail for mobile 2.0 is designed to be more reliable in low signal areas and provides basic offline support for phones like the Nokia N95, Sony Ericsson W910i, and BlackBerry Curve. You can now log into multiple accounts (including both Gmail and Google Apps email accounts) at the same time. Switching between them is as easy as a few button clicks or just hitting + j on phones that have a QWERTY keyboard. We've also added support for multiple mobile drafts, undo (using the menu or the z shortcut), and sending mail in the background (no more staring at the "Sending..." dialog until it finally gets sent). Be sure to check the help page from Gmail for mobile's main menu for a list of all keyboard shortcuts.

To download Gmail for mobile version 2.0, just go to m.google.com/mail in your mobile browser.

Parlez-vous frança! is? ¿Ha bla usted español? Gmail for mobile 2.0 supports over 35 languages, and the application language will automatically match your phone's language setting.

A picture is worth a thousand words

Source: http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/picture-is-worth-thousand-words.html

Posted by Darren Lewis, Gmail engineer

Here on the Gmail team, we're always thinking of ways to help you communicate. Back in the day, we put chat right inside Gmail. Then along came group chat and more emoticons. And when we realized that late night communication had its downsides, we created a state-of-the-art lucidity test for after-hours email. Anyway, the black and white days of text-based emails have had their day. Following the evolutionary path blazed by colored labels, we present, in all their technicolor glory, emoticons in your mail.

No more will you have to settle for a ;) when you can have a

. Out with the "XOXO" and in with the

. And of course, when the bad news smells really bad,

transcends all words.

So raise your

and welcome in the colorful new world of Gmail

P.S. For those of you who love our chat smileys,
we've also added a whole new set for your enjoyment.

T-Mobile G1 Security Flaw Found, But It's All Under Control, People [Android]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/432072131/t+mobile-g1-security-flaw-found-but-its-all-under-control-people

A group of security researchers, including former NSA computer security expert Charles A. Miller, has discovered a security flaw in the G1's web browser. The flaw could allow a hacker to trick a G1 user into visiting a malicious website that could install some nasty bugs on the smartphone (or com). Google was made aware earlier this week, and is working to release a patch to fix the flaw, but Android's architecture inherently limits such a flaw's potential damage.

The flaw affects only the G1's browser, and the "sandbox" nature of Android limits the potential damage to only that one program. Interestingly, Miller is just now releasing the (admittedly limited) information to the press, stating that he feels smartphone users are not adequately aware of how risk-prone their devices can be. Google is a bit annoyed at Miller's forthrightness, implying that "they believed that Mr. Miller had violated an unwritten code between companies and researchers that is intended to give companies time to fix problems before they are publicized."

Google, T-Mobile, and HTC are all working together to fix the flaw, but Google is emphasizing that the overall security of the phone is just fine, and a patch will be released as soon as possible. [New York Times]

Dell Inspiron Mini 12 Officially the Biggest Netbook on the Block [Dell Inspiron Mini 12]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/433105811/dell-inspiron-mini-12-officially-the-biggest-netbook-on-the-block

A truly bizarre day to announce a new notebook, Dell's Inspiron Mini 12 is officially the most gargantuan netbook on the block. I wasn't exactly blown away by it when I scoped it briefly a couple months ago, but Laptop was sufficiently impressed in its more in-depth hands on to compare it to the MacBook Air and Voodoo Envy—but you know, 0.2 inches thicker, more ports and you know, a thousand dollars cheaper at only $599.

Under the hood, it's a standard netbook kit—1.6GHz Atom (though the more energy efficient next-gen one that lets it live for up to three hours on a 3-cell battery), smallish 40, 60 or 80GB hard drive, not a whole lotta RAM—though you've got a full-sized keyboard and 1280x800 12-inch screen. Unfortunately, it's only available with Vista at launch (which, also oddly, is only in Japan initially). Since Vista historically runs like garbage on these things, holding out through the late November debut here for the XP and Ubuntu variants coming by year's end would probably be more prudent.

That said, the Mini 12 is definitely an interesting little experiment from Dell—a mutant mashup of netbook and notebook that might hit some heretofore undiscovered sweet spot, or simply look verrry attractive to some given the current economic climate. Updat e: Full press release below—apparently it's a Twitter machine too:

Slim, Stylish and Well-Connected: Introducing the Dell Inspiron Mini 12

* New Addition to the Dell Inspiron Mini Line Expands Personalization Options
* Available First in Japan Through Bic Camera, Kojima and Sofmap Stores
* Includes Windows Vista Home Basic, Webcam and Bluetooth

ROUND ROCK, Texas—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Dell today introduced the Inspiron™ Mini 12, a small, easy-to-carry Internet companion that you can fine tune to fit your specific needs and deeds. Like its counterpart the Inspiron Mini 9, the Mini 12 is ideal for teens, tweens, travelers and "Tweeters" to surf the Web1, chat with friends, blog, stream content, upload photos or enjoy online videos, music and games.

The Inspiron Mini 12 is available initially only in Japan through Bic Camera, Kojima and Sofmap stores and other retail outlets. It will launch online globally by late November with configurations starting under $600 (U.S.). Ubuntu and Windows XP® operating systems also will be available before the end of the year.

The News:

* With a starting weight of only 2.72 lbs.1 and only 0.92 in. thick1, current standard features on the Inspiron Mini 12 include:
o Windows Vista® Home Basic, built-in webcam, 1GB of RAM and a choice of 60 GB or 80 GB hard drive1, providing ample capacity for mobile applications, content creation and storage.
o Built-in Bluetooth® and 802.11b/g wireless.
o A sharp 12.1-inch WXGA display, offering wider viewing angles and exceptional brightness.
* Dell provides a variety of service offerings and add-on options to help ensure devices are easy to use and maintain optimal performance, including:
o Dell Support Center: Quickly access Dell service and support from an icon on your desktop that provides automated fixes, software upgrades and tools to help keep your system up-to-date and running efficiently.
o DellConnect™ Remote Assis! tance1: Dell experts help diagnose and solve PC problems via an Internet connection (available only on Windows-based systems).

If you are on Twitter and would like to join the conversation about the Inspiron Mini 12, follow www.twitter.com/hashtags, type your comment and end your tweet with #mini12.