Wednesday, December 02, 2009

Intel crams 48 cores onto stamp-sized processor, wants to do what Cell did

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/02/intel-crams-48-cores-onto-stamp-sized-processor-wants-to-do-wha/

Just when we thought Intel's yet-to-release six-core Core i9 would be the future, the silicon giant drops the bomb yet again with more multi-core madness -- the experimental 48-core Single-chip Cloud Computer (SCC), a.k.a. Rock Creek. While it looks like Intel still has a long way from their 80-core target in 2011, this bad boy packs an impressive 1.3 billion transistors on a 45nm fabrication, but sucks up just 125 watts which is a far cry from Core i9's 130 watts. Intel's stated that their main goal is to use SCC's parallel computation -- a field where high clock speed isn't necessary -- to enhance gesture control. Sounds familiar? Yes, it was Toshiba's SpursEngine, but there's no harm in having a new contender for the challenge. You go, girl!

Intel crams 48 cores onto stamp-sized processor, wants to do what Cell did originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Time Inc. shows off magazine tablet demo, plans future anger about 70/30 profit split

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/02/time-inc-shows-off-magazine-tablet-demo-plans-future-anger-abo/

You know that Condé Nast tablet / digital magazine demo we saw recently (non-ironically paging through a copy of Wired)? Well now Time Inc. has gotten in on the same game, showing off its version of a digimag running a touch-friendly issue of Sports Illustrated. The company not only buzzed everyone with the charming walkthough video -- a floating hand paging through SI on a sleek, black tablet (embedded after the break) -- but also had a live, functioning variation of the product up and running on a touchscreen HP laptop. The gist of the project seems to be that the publisher will be able to offer this digitized version of its magazines in some sort of agnostic format, one that would be accessible to PCs and phantom Apple tablets alike. Peter Kafka over at All Things D says that he had a chance to play with the demo and it was, "quite a bit of fun." While it's clear that both Time and Condé Nast are taking parallel routes to online publishing (the former is purely in concept mode, the latter is working with Adobe on digital versions of its titles as we speak), one thing is painfully clear: both companies have shockingly similar ideas about what the future of magazine publishing looks like. We hope Apple has been informed.

Continue reading Time Inc. shows off magazine tablet demo, plans future anger about 70/30 profit split

Time Inc. shows off magazine tablet demo, plans future anger about 70/30 profit split originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft giving Bing Maps a 3D overhaul, tacking on apps for good measure

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/02/microsoft-giving-bing-maps-a-3d-overhaul-tacking-on-apps-for-go/

Google's not the only one in the game when it comes to wild mapping tech, and while Microsoft's excellent collection of bird's eye photos has never gotten it quite the attention of Google's Street View, the hope is that lasers and its much-lauded Photosynth tool can do the trick. Microsoft has done up a Street View-style canvassing of 56 US cities with cars that not only snap photos but include range-finding lasers to map out the architecture in 3D. The Silverlight-based viewer for this view (dubbed Streetside) is similar in interface to Google Maps, a tad slower, and rather visually impressive. In addition, Microsoft is leaning on its Photosynth technology to collect navigable panoramas of scenery and even building interiors. Finally, Microsoft has tacked on "apps" of sorts, little overlays that include traffic cameras, restaurants, a Twitter API and so forth. All of this coupled with an improved version of the bird's eye view is quite a visual treat, but the Silverlight requirement and non-Google-ness of it all might might keep away the Bing-averse among us. But really, with all this tit-for-tat going on between Microsoft and Google, we have to wonder what sort of stone age we'd be stuck in if we didn't have these two behemoths going at each other like this. The "Beta" is live now at the source link.

[Thanks Aimee]

Microsoft giving Bing Maps a 3D overhaul, tacking on apps for good measure originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Via Mobile-ITX Platform is Half the Size of the Pico-ITX, Still Powerful [Motherboards]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/y3Ezl-TT8uo/via-mobile+itx-platform-is-half-the-size-of-the-pico+itx-still-powerful

Via's Pico-ITX motherboard was small and powerful to begin with, but their new Mobile-ITX platform is about half the size and supposedly still packs a punch while keeping power consumption low.

Because of that low power consumption and tiny package, the Mobile-ITX should be great for always-on devices and even smaller gadgets. As far as whta features it brings to the table, it looks like there's support for "core CPU, chipset and memory functionality and I/O that includes the CRT, DVP and TTL display support, HD Audio, IDE, USB 2.0, as well as PCI Express, SMBus, GPIO, LPC, SDIO and PS2 signals." Wowza. Quite a lot for such a small fellow. [Hot hardware via Engadget]

The Truth About Plasma Screen Burn-In [TVs]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/3QLXk9KOlNM/the-truth-about-plasma-screen-burn+in

People are still talking about plasma burn-in, even though it's a non-issue. Actually, two very rare separate non-issues, permanent burn-in and temporary image retention. Gary at HD Guru decided to put the matter to rest:

Gary decided the best way to illustrate this issue is to figure out what it takes to create image retention or burn-in.

In his trials, he was able to cause retention, "a faint ghost image of previously viewed content," by tuning to a SMPTE color bar test pattern for 15 minutes and then switching to an all white screen. The resulting effect dissipated after a few minutes and is definitely of no concern to plasma display owners.

Burn-in, a "faint outline of a previously viewed image caused by uneven phosphor wear," turned out to be far more difficult to cause. Gary couldn't do it by freezing a frame for ten hours, nor by seeking out showroom demo plasma HDTVs that might have been on a burn-causing loop. In the end he concluded that the effect might be created in a "worst case scenario" which involves "100% viewing of 4:3 content with black side bars [instead of gray], or exclusive viewing of 2.35:1 aspect ratio movies (without using one of the zoom modes to eliminate the black bars) and leaving it on that way continuously for weeks."

So basically, unless you're seriously obsessed with a particular image that you'd stare at it for weeks at a time, or only watch 2.35:1 movies (in which case who cares if the burn is uneven in the unused pixels?), you can skip worrying about burn-in and enjoy your plasma. If you want more on the science of all of this, check out Gary's full story. [HD Guru]

HTC 'Touch.B' is an Android-powered Touch2?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/01/htc-touch-b-is-an-android-powered-touch2/

If you glance at this thing for just a fleeting instant, you might actually mistake it for a Touch2 -- but it's not. A closer look at the button layout shows a decided lack of keys required by WinMo 6.5, which leads us to the logical conclusion that the so-called Touch.B here -- previously known under the codename "Rome" -- runs Android. MobiFrance doesn't have any additional details on the phone, its specs, or where it might launch, but if it does in fact run on the Google juice, it's looking like a possible successor (or kissing cousin, perhaps) of the Tattoo. Now that we look at it, we're not actually seeing the buttons that'd be required of an Android device, either -- and we have heard rumors for ages now that HTC would be releasing devices running a homegrown dumbphone platform -- but we'll hold off on the conclusion-jumping until we get just a little more detail.

[Thanks, clo75]

HTC 'Touch.B' is an Android-powered Touch2? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Square iPhone payment system gets itself a website, showcased in public

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/01/square-iphone-payment-system-gets-itself-a-website-showcased-in/

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and the quiet startup formerly known as Squirrel are finally opening up a bit. The company now called Square, as we noted back in October, has launched a website for its iPhone payment dongle, although it's still in somewhat private beta testing. TechCrunch managed to catch up with Dorsey, who gave a brief overview of the product and then showed it off by charging $4 for a cup of coffee -- so it goes in San Francisco. See Square in action after the break.

Continue reading Square iPhone payment system gets itself a website, showcased in public

Filed under: Cellphones

Square iPhone payment system gets itself a website, showcased in public originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Comcast deal to buy NBC is done, will be announced Thursday

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/01/comcast-deal-to-buy-nbc-is-done-will-be-announced-thursday/

We told you we had a feeling this thing was happening -- less than a day after GE consolidated ownership of NBC Universal in preparation to spin it off and sell a controlling stake to Comcast, CNBC is reporting that the deal is actually done and will be announced Thursday morning. As rumored from the start, Comcast will now own 51 percent of NBC to GE's 49 percent, and the new company will fold in Comcast's various content assets, which means the new NBC will rival Disney in size. That's a big enchilada, and it should make the future of Comcast initiatives like TV Everywhere extremely interesting. Of course, all this still has to go through the FCC and FTC, and we wouldn't expect anything to be approved and finalized for a year, but none of that takes away from the magnitude of this deal. We'll obviously know more in a couple days, stay tuned.

Comcast deal to buy NBC is done, will be announced Thursday originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Energizer promises new and improved zinc-air battery for summer 2010

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/01/energizer-promises-new-and-improved-zinc-air-battery-for-summer/

Energizer has been working on zinc-air batteries for quite some time now (along with plenty of others), but it looks like its now finally set to deliver with a new "standard battery" that's said to be on track for a launch sometime in the summer of next year. What's more, while some of the company's previous attempts at zinc-air batteries have only been able to manage average run times of between one and three months, Energizer says it's recently been able to triple things in time for the batteries' big debut. That will first come in the form of some AAAA batteries from Energizer itself, which will apparently be priced similarly to "special lithium batteries," and will eventually be followed by zinc-air batteries in a range of different sizes. During the same time, we should also start to see some of the first products with integrated zinc-air batteries from some of the 30 odd OEMs now working with Energizer, who are working to put the batteries into everything from Bluetooth headsets to remote controls to portable audio players.

Energizer promises new and improved zinc-air battery for summer 2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dell Mini 3iX shown off in Brazil, works on tan, leaves Android Market in the dust?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/01/dell-mini-3ix-shown-off-in-brazil-works-on-tan-leaves-android/

Hey, Dell: looking for the absolute quickest way to screw up your first entry into the dog-eat-dog smartphone industry? Well, removing the Market app from your Android load is a solid way to start. Yeah, you heard that right -- according to Brazilian site Zumo, the all-important Android Market was nowhere to be found on the Mini 3iX it had an opportunity to play with, rendering software discovery and installation about as easy as a WinMo device from three years ago. It seems that Dell's "strategy" here is to have users download apps directly from their sources -- a practice that typically needs to be manually enabled on an Android device as a security override -- and get the rest of their wares from proprietary stores, presumably operated by the carrier, Dell, or both. On the bright side, the 3iX includes the WiFi radio that its Chinese doppelganger lacks and features a generous 3.5-inch display, 3 megapixel camera, 3G support, and a completely button-free face that looks particularly sexy in this low-light shot. Dell's apparently commenting that Brazilians can expect the 3iX in shops in 2010 -- possibly in the first quarter -- which should give 'em just enough time to un-make that deal-breaking Market mistake prior to launch.

Dell Mini 3iX shown off in Brazil, works on tan, leaves Android Market in the dust? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Flip Video FlipShare TV beams video to the big screen

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/01/flip-video-flipshare-tv-beams-video-to-the-big-screen/

We first saw the Cisco FlipShare TV hit the FCC just over a month ago, and now that's it's official (well, official in the sense that Walt Mossberg broke the embargo by two hours) we're still sort of underwhelmed and a little befuddled -- although it's made by Cisco, the Flip-focused media player doesn't actually connect to your home WiFi network. Instead, the FlipShare software transmits data from your computer using a proprietary USB dongle, which means the player itself is useless unless your computer is on with Flip's funky FlipShare software running and the dongle connected. Flip tells us the decision to go proprietary was made to make things easier for non-technical users to set up (like Flip's cameras, the FlipShare software is preloaded on the dongle) but we can't help but think it's actually a bit more complicated, since Gran won't be able to just turn the thing on and subscribe to your new Flip user channels enabled by FlipShare 5.0. Instead, she'll have to get out her laptop, plug in the dongle, launch the software (which pulls the content from the internet), and then start using the FlipShare TV's RF remote to get at your videos, which seems pretty complicated to us. Yeah, we're just not sure, especially at $149 -- we've actually got one here for review, we'll let you know how we feel in the next couple days.

Continue reading Flip Video FlipShare TV beams video to the big screen

Flip Video FlipShare TV beams video to the big screen originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer to launch first Chrome OS netbook, Android-based Aspire One sales disappoint

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/02/acer-to-launch-first-chrome-os-netbook-android-based-aspire-one/

Acer loves it some Google. And unless Google's trying to stamp out your revenue stream, who doesn't? Now Acer chairman, JT Wang, says that he expects to be first to market with an official Chrome OS netbook -- sometime in the second half of 2010 according to DigiTimes' sources. In fact, JT says that Acer's been working on a Chrome OS device since mid-2009. This despite admittedly weaker than expected demand for its dual-boot Android netbook, the Aspire One AOD250. Guess even the Google halo isn't enough to shoehorn its smartphone OS into a market dominating position on cheap ultra-portables. It's worth pointing out that DigiTimes' moles aren't saying anything new with the launch time-frame since Google's target for its gold Chrome OS build has been 2H of 2010 ever since the lightweight OS was announced. Not that the timing matters too much since we'll likely be seeing plenty of Chromium OS netbooks flooding the grey market long before the second half of 2010.

Acer to launch first Chrome OS netbook, Android-based Aspire One sales disappoint originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 04:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASUS Eee PC Seashell 2 spotted with removable battery, pretty in pink styling

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/02/asus-eee-pc-seashell-2-spotted-with-removable-battery-pretty-in/

ASUS Eee PC Seashell 2 spotted with removable battery, pretty in pink styling

We've seen ASUS playing with various textures on its Seashell line before, but we haven't seen anything quite this... dramatic from the company before. It's the Eee PC 1008P, the Seashell 2 not due to be unveiled until CES, but these images captured by HardwareZone give us plenty of info to tide us over. Inside that charmingly garish exterior (designed by Karim Rashid) is Intel's Pine Trail architecture with an N450 processor, the standard 1GB of RAM, and 160GB of storage. There's now room for a removable battery, hidden behind a cover and sliding out the side, the VGA port is provided by what looks to be a mini-USB adapter nestled in the bottom, and all the other ports are tucked away behind little doors that look prone to snapping off given the slightest provocation. That's all we know for now, but we should be bringing you much, much more info about this one in about a month's time.

ASUS Eee PC Seashell 2 spotted with removable battery, pretty in pink styling originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 06:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Aviary Extension Brings Snappy Web Image Editing to Chrome [Downloads]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/cYNaRYJ8BFc/aviary-extension-brings-snappy-web-image-editing-to-chrome

Chrome/Chromium: If you're running a daily build or development version of Chrome that can install extensions, online editing suite Aviary has a really handy one. It takes snapshots of web pages and transports them to its online editing tools.

Aviary's online image editor, Phoenix, is a favorite of Lifehacker readers, and their other tools, like the Myna audio editor, are none too shabby, either. Aviary's Chrome extension makes it easy to push that image to its markup, image, color, effects, or vector editor, and there's a link to Myna included for good measure. Once the image is in Aviary's editor, it's easy to download it, broadcast it to Twitter or Facebook, or perform any of the other tasks Aviary's apps offer.

The Aviary extension is a free download, and should install wherever Chrome extensions can—generally, that means daily builds on Mac and Linux systems, and the Dev version on Windows.

Aviary releases Google Chrome screen capture extension! [Aviary via Download Squad]

Asus O!Play Review: Best-Priced HD Video Player Is the New Champ [Review]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/kbuT9xlzNpo/asus-oplay-review-best+priced-hd-video-player-is-the-new-champ

Battlemodos give you a clear sense of what's good and bad in a gadget category, but there's no way to include everything. Consider the $99 Asus O!Play the new champ of HD video players—better late than never.

The Old Champs

If you remember the HD media player battlemodo, I awarded WDTV Live and Seagate FreeAgent Theater+ the two top spots. The WD is still best for people who want a smooth interface and a hopefully increasing number of online services for streamed media. (YouTube and Pandora now, who knows what else?) It's actually the Seagate that gets KO'd by Asus.

The New Buttkicker

More functional than frilly, both the O!Play and the Theater+ handle every video file I could throw their way, they both read Mac- and PC-formatted drives, they both browse the local network well, they both read DVD menus from ripped ISO files, they both have superb video output—and they both suffer from having stupid punctuation characters in their name. But one costs $30 less than the other, according to Amazon's current prices. Not only is the O!Play cheaper, but its second USB jack is also an eSATA port which might come in handy when you start getting 1080p rips of all your favorite movies, and it has a file-copy function that lets you dump stuff from one drive to another, or to drives on the network.

I had only one major complaint with the Asus: Every time I watched a v! ideo rip ped from DVD, it showed chapter numbers in a big white font for an extended period, about 15 seconds. Not only did pushing every single button I could think of not help this, but I couldn't even advance from one chapter to another by using the skip-forward button, so why do I need to know what chapter it is in the first place? A shame, but probably a bug that can be fixed really easily.

The Final Score

As I said in the battlemodo:

• If you want a full-on pirate kit, with torrent client built-in and everything, go with the Popcorn Hour (or the cheaper, quirky Patriot Box Office).
• If you want something with a nice interface and Pandora streaming music, go with WDTV.
• If you're choosing something to work with your iTunes collection of music and video, or something for your parents, probably still better to pick Apple TV—and tell them to buy or rent all their videos.

But if you want something that can play a ton of home-ripped video, or stuff you've acquired in some other high-bandwidth way, Asus is a better deal than Seagate—just as tough to stump in my battery of file format tests, with a few extra nice features. That's my best and final recommendation for HD video file playback—at least until Roku figures out what the USB jack on the HD-XR is really for. [Asus]

Great price for a high-def HDMI video player

Plays every video file I could throw at it, including DivX 7 MKVs, high-def H.264, even obscure home movies from out-of-date cameras

A bit larger than some products out there, but not by much

No streaming internet services

Annoying bug that shows chapter numbers in a large white font as you watch movies ripped from DVD

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