Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Over 50 ARM-based tablets launching this year

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/10/over-50-arm-based-tablets-launching-this-year/

While the verdict is still out with regard to consumer appetites for a 3rd portable computing device, PC makers are betting the farm on consumer interest in tablets that fill the gap between small-screened smartphones and bulky (by comparison) netbooks/laptops. We've already seen an uptick in tablet devices on display at the big CES and CeBIT trade shows, now tablet and MID device vendors look ready to blow out Computex when it kicks off on June 1st in Taipei. According to Roy Chen, ARM's ODM manager for worldwide mobile computing, more than 50 ARM-based tablet PCs will launch in 2010 starting in Q2 with "a lot more" landing in the third quarter -- a date that just happens to line up with the most optimistic Chrome OS launch schedule. ARM's seeing so much interest that it had to rent additional floor space to show off the devices. Chen said that many of the tablets are slated for China although all of the world's top 10 carriers have signed up as well. ARM was showing off two Android based tablets at the press event, including the 7-inch Compal device (pictured above) we gave a whirl at CES. Let's just hope that tablet makers have plans for some compelling content and service hook-ups with a focus on the user experience -- 50 near-identical slabs of touchscreen computing won't generate much enthusiasm around here.

Over 50 ARM-based tablets launching this year originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Manymoon, an Online Project Management Software for Google Users

Source: http://www.labnol.org/software/google-project-management/12840/

When you create a Google Account, you automatically get access to web-based office apps, email, calendar, file storage, tasks list and instant messaging but one piece that’s still missing from the Google cloud is “project management.”

Even Google Apps, a service that is so popular among businesses, doesn’t have any project management related features to help teams plan and coordinate better. Some people use spreadsheets in Google Docs and Gmail for co-ordinating tasks but isn’t that complicated.

If you are a Gmail or Google Apps user and are looking for an online project management app that can integrate with your other Google services (mainly Google Docs and Google Calendar), Manymoon could be a good choice.

create project online create task for project members

Getting started is easy. You can sign-up using your standard Gmail Account or Google Apps account. Then create a project and add users to the project by manually entering their email addresses or you can even import contacts directly from your Google Apps, Outlook, LinkedIn, or Yahoo accounts.

Once your project is setup, you can add tasks and assign them to yourself or other team members. You can attach existing Google documents to individual tasks or upload new files from your desktop into Manymoon and the service will automatically save a copy of these files into your Google Docs account.

Similarly, once you associate your Google Calendar with your project, all events, pending tasks and project milestones that you create inside Manymoon will automatically show up in your Google Calendar.

google project calendarYou can then view your project calendar from within the Manymoon project or the regular Google Calendar interface.

Manymoon also offers time-sheets to help project teams track the time team members spent on tasks and other project items.

The basic version of Manymoon is free and still offers unlimited users and projects but you only get 5MB space for storing files and one project calendar. If you are a Google Apps Premier user, you can get up to 1 GB of storage space for free.

Though the programs lacks some advanced features (Gantt Charts and Invoicing for example), what I really liked about Manymoon is the uncluttered interface and every feature that’s there just works as you would expect.

Zoho Projects is another useful web-based project management software that, like Manymoon, also integrates well with Google Apps.

Manymoon, an Online Project Management Software for Google Users

Originally published at Digital Inspiration by Amit Agarwal.

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Keep Your Passwords Safe on a Piece of Paper

Source: http://www.labnol.org/software/write-passwords-safely-on-paper/12972/

Important Passwords on Paper If you use the same password on multiple websites, your may be in for some trouble.

Say your password for website badwebsite.com is the same as the password for goodwebsite.com. Now if the website badwebsite.com gets compromised (or the owner is malign to start with), they'll know your password. Chances are that your username is the same (email address) for both websites so the badwebsite.com people can can easily log in to your goodwebsite.com account and impersonate you.

Yeah, there are quite a few reliable Password Managers that serve as a strong room for your complex passwords but that they require you to install specific software on the computer. What do you do when you want to check your web email on a different computer where you do not have your security tools installed and you do not remember your secure, random, email password?

In addition, I doubt you can memorize all your passwords for each and every website, if they are secure from brute-forcing and unique, that is.

Write your passwords down on a paper

What I am trying to solve is to give users a simple way of generating strong passwords unique to every website they visit using just a piece of paper, credit card-sized, that you can carry in your wallet.

password_card

What you need is just a piece that has a unique (per card) combination of secret letters to help you create a unique password for each website. You may use the RAND() function in an Excel spreadsheet to generate unique password cards.

To create a password, take each letter of the website you want to create a password for and then take the corresponding code from the table. For example, if you want to create a password for www.amazon.com, it would be:

1st letter is a –> a (Column 2, Row 1)
2nd letter is m –> jv (Column 7, Row 2)
3rd letter is a -> AN6
4th letter is z -> xs7
5th letter is o –> enb

So the password for your Amazon website becomes ajvAN6xs7enb.

You can optionally (make sure you do this with all your passwords) intertwine the generated password with a memorized password – it could the city name where you were born, your childhood hero, name of your favorite author or anything memorable.

For instance, if you were born in Philadelphia, the password for Amazon.com would be ajvAN6xs7enb intertwined with Philadelphia: PahjviAN6lxs7aenbdelphia. This would ensure that your identity consists of something you know (Philadelphia) and something you have (the paper password card).

Even if a malicious administrator of website badwebsite.com retrieves your password for that website, they cannot impersonate you on say PayPal or Amazon because you aren't reusing passwords anymore.

It is a bit cumbersome to use if you had to use it to type in passwords each time, but when used in conjunction with your everyday "remember password" feature found in every browser, you get extra security at the cost of just tiny real state in your wallet.

Security involves trade-offs, in this case is between usability, portability and robustness against collusion or more sophisticated attacks. Arguably though, for a vast majority of people, this is more realistic than carrying an electronic password generator.

The writer, Andres Torrubia, is the co-founder and CEO of Fixr, an eBay like online marketplace for homeowners and contractors.

Related: How Strong is your Password ?

Keep Your Passwords Safe on a Piece of Paper

Originally published at Digital Inspiration by Amit Agarwal.

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New Plastic Conducts Heat Better Than Metals, But Only in One Direction

Source: http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-03/new-polymer-conducts-better-metals-only-one-direction

Polymers are generally put to work as insulators, but a team of researchers at MIT has devised a way to turn polyethylene -- the most commonly used polymer -- into a conductor that transfers heat better than many pure metals. But the conversion of insulator to conductor is only half of the breakthrough; by coaxing all the polymer molecules into precise alignment, the researchers have created a polyethylene that conducts heat in only one direction. The plastic material remains an electrical insulator.

Getting a bunch of polymer molecules to fall in line is no easy task -- left to their own devices, the molecules will settle into a chaotic arrangement that is resistant to heat transfer. But the MIT team found that by drawing polyethylene fibers slowly out of a solution they could get the molecules to line up facing the same way, creating a material that will let heat pass in one direction but not the other.

This kind of one-way conductor is ripe for myriad applications in devices where heat must be drawn away from a certain place, such as heat exchangers, computer processors or portable electronics. With a thermal conductivity 300 times greater than conventional polyethylene, the polymer is actually more conductive than about half of all pure metals, meaning it could potentially replace metal conductors in several common devices.

Of course, all that is dependent on scaling the process to create conductive polyethylene at market-feasible prices and quantities, something the team has not yet done. But should they find a way to produce the stuff in bulk, it could quickly jump from lab bench to commercial applications, providing a cheap alternative to certain metals used in heat exchange -- metals that add cost and sometimes an environmental toll to common devices.

[Science Daily]

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MIT Media Lab Extension: The New Home of Face-Melting Research [MIT Media Lab]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/TB8ZnPq--nA/mit-media-lab-extension-the-new-home-of-face+melting-research

The world-renown MIT Media Lab is a place where every project is an amazing, unbelievable glimpse into humanity's technological future. Now, thanks to a massive $90 million extension, the architecture can match the wondrous excitement created within.

In case you haven't had the opportunity to swing by this particular block in Cambridge, Massachusetts, here's what the old Media Lab looks like. It's still there. In fact, you can see the extension under construction, and marvel at the stark contrast in design.

Mensa Tetris

The six-level, interconnected extension, the work of the famed, award-winning architectural firm Fumihiko Maki and Associates, is like an immense Tetris puzzle. Every piece represents a functional element that is tightly connected to others, giving anyone inside the feeling of being inside a finished puzzle. Maki, himself the winner of a Pritzker Prize, was on hand over the weekend to officially open the MIT Media Lab. (It's technically been in operation since December.)

As he described it, each piece of this six-level building connects to the next. Balcony offices overlook open air labs and work spaces. Colorful stairways bisect the central atrium, their red, blue and yellow coloring inspired by Piet Mondrian's Composition with Yellow, Blue and Red.

Color aside, the trait hitting visitors in the face before they even walk through the door is glass. Cambridge building codes prevented a 100% glass exterior, so Maki came up with a loophole: bamboo. Inspired by translucent Japanese bamboo screens, Maki covered the remaining exterior with a mix of glass and aluminum tubes.

The result is at the same time beautiful and energy efficient, but also functional. We're constantly reminded that this is one incredibly open, collaborative working environment.

From the street, especially at night, passers-by can literally see lab work happening within. Maki called this "filtered views," inspired by the work of the pointillist artist George Seurat (lots of dots!). MIT played a part too, having provided Maki with an image of the Visible Man to further drive home the point that this lab space be open.

But enough architecture? What kind of world-changing stuff can we expect this multimillion dollar, 163,000-sq. ft. incubator to pump out in the future?

Well, if the past is any indication, plenty. The place that saw the beginnings of Guitar Hero, e-ink displays, OLPC and Lego Mindstorms is still driving much of the stuff that gets the Gizmodo editors, at least, sweating profusely in their blogging sweatpants.

The Media Lab will help "plumb the depths of how technology can have a greater impact on industry, society and business," said Media Lab director Frank Moss.

To net denizens and geeks like you and me, that boils down to robotics, prosthetic limbs, AI and the obligatory Minority Report UI reference that any article mentioning 3D interfaces must include.

Fluid Media

As part of the opening, I was lucky enough to get a tour or some, but not all of the departments at the Media Lab. Departments like Biomechatronics, Cognitive Machines, Fluid Interfaces, Molecular Machines, Personal Robots, Smart Cities, Synthetic Neurobiology. It reads like Stephen Hawkings' shopping list.

In any event, Fluid Media was one of the labs I got to tour first.

If you know Arduino, you'd be at home here, alongside the luminescent wallpaper, smart fabrics, "sewable computing" and inexpensive 3D fabricators that had me waxing nostalgic about Cory Doctorow's Makers.

Above: No, not coasters or doilies. Sewable computers. If you aren't wearing your mp3 player now, you will be soon.

Kindergarten Kids, Forever

The sense of play felt throughout the Media Lab's open spaces owes itself to the students, of course, but it's certainly assisted by the design. Moss called the atmosphere "serious fun," in a building where bright minds "design by serendipity." It's pretty spot on. One lab leads into the other, encouraging social and professional interaction. Artists huddle with biomechanical engineers. Sometimes the union is short-lived, and sometimes it's Guitar Hero.

But it's serious fun: There's a mission here, one that's produced limbs for soldiers maimed in war; helped children learn robotics with crazy new Lego software; and created a paint brush, simply called I/O, that captures the essence of whatever you point it at—visual, musical or otherwise.

Even so, the fun, relaxed environment is apparent in this lab that director Moss says will change our futures. He and others, like Lifelong Kindergarten Department grad student Karen Brennan, were genuinely having fun while working with these high concepts and brain-bending experiments. The future, wild as it will be, looks pretty fun. Seriously.

Image credits: The Visible Man is a well-known see-through anatomy model from Craft House Corp. Composition in Yellow, Blue and Red from Wikipedia.



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Record Live HD TV On Your Mac or Windows 7 PC With The Updated Elgato EyeTV Hybrid [Tuners]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/FxrW-pXU06k/record-live-hd-tv-on-your-mac-or-windows-7-pc-with-the-updated-elgato-eyetv-hybrid

The German company's released a few tuner sticks here and there in the US, but like cheese, David Hasselhoff and soccer, Elgato's far bigger in Europe. Having said that, their latest EyeTV Hybrid dongle could change their situation.

The EyeTV Hybrid stick is now both Mac and Windows 7 compatible, with the EyeTV software bundled for Mac users, whereas Windows users can watch TV through Windows Media Center or the old Terratec software. It's apparently the world's smallest hybrid TV tuner, and works just like the previous model, recording live TV on a PC which can be paused and rewound. Entire seasons can be scheduled for recording too—which is most handy if you don't have cable or Tivo.

It's available now in the US and Canada for $149.95, and is also sold at Apple stores. [Elgato]



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Samsung's 2010 3DTVs priced from $1,700 to ridiculous and everywhere in between

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/09/samsungs-2010-3dtvs-priced-from-1-700-to-ridiculous-and-everyw/

Enjoy your CES peek at Samsung's ultrathin 9000 series LED-lit LCD HDTV, with its touchscreen, video displaying remote control (also available as a $350 add-on for the 7000, 8000,and 750 series televisions) and 3D capability? That's good, because bringing the 55-inch UN55C9000 home in April will cost you a cool $6,999 (the thrifty can slum it with the 46-inch version for $5,999.) Still, if you're just looking to jump in on 3D without spending the max money, the cheapest model available at first will be the standard LCD LN46C750 available in May. In between, there's all manner of LED or old-school CCFL backlit LCDs plus a healthy lineup of plasmas arriving over the next few months, so with a note that grabbing 3D Blu-ray player and display at the same time will net a couple free pairs of active shutter glasses and a copy of the Monsters vs. Aliens 3D Blu-ray, check Samsung's site for each type to see what your budget can handle.

Samsung's 2010 3DTVs priced from $1,700 to ridiculous and everywhere in between originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceSamsung 2010 LED LCDs, Samsung 2010 plasmas, Samsung 2010 CCFL LCDs  | Email this | Comments

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Cellphone Overshare [Infographics]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/Cfgxn0LJSh8/cellphone-overshare

In Taiwan, there are more cellphones than people. About 7% of all mobile data goes to movie information. And Google owns nearly 100% of the mobile search market. These, and more fun facts in this handy infographic! [DataViz via ChartPorn]



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Shuttle's ION 2-equipped XS35 shows off its slimline nettop credentials in hands-on video

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/09/shuttles-ion-2-equipped-xs35-shows-off-its-slimline-nettop-cred/

In the market for a new HTPC? Then you'll probably be wanting the slimmest possible enclosure that can still fit an optical drive and the grunt to power through HD video. Set aside some of your attention for Shuttle's XS35, in that case, as this 3.3cm-thick slab of engineering contains an Atom D510 (yawn) paired with NVIDIA Ion 2 graphics (yay!), which should in concert deliver buttery smooth 1080p playback, whether through Flash or Blu-ray discs. The integrated optical drive can't run those fancy discs from what we know, but you could easily swap it out with a slimline BR burner, jack your favorite HDMI cable into the back, and have the perfect little movie box. It's passively cooled so there'll be no fan noise, and its price should be pretty endearing considering the aggressively priced competition from Zotac and Acer. See the XS35 in its metallic flesh after the break.

[Thanks, JC]

Continue reading Shuttle's ION 2-equipped XS35 shows off its slimline nettop credentials in hands-on video

Shuttle's ION 2-equipped XS35 shows off its slimline nettop credentials in hands-on video originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Gadget Reviews  |  sourceNewGadgets.de  | Email this | Comments

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Samsung Super AMOLED explained in pretty moving pictures (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/09/samsung-super-amoled-explained-in-pretty-moving-pictures-video/

Using "super" to describe your new display technology just begs for criticism. Especially when the word is affixed to a handheld display technology as notoriously difficult (if near impossible) to see in direct sunlight as OLED. Fortunately, Samsung's Super AMOLED appears to have licked the outdoor readability issue while bettering the features that made us fall in love with AMOLEDs in the first place. First off, it's thinner since the touch sensors are now integrated into the display; colors are more vivid due to the removal of the obfuscating touch sensor layer that sits on top of TFT LCD and traditional AMOLED touchscreen displays; and even the viewing angle has been improved. You won't find a soundtrack in the video posted after the break because the technology is already booming enough.

Continue reading Samsung Super AMOLED explained in pretty moving pictures (video)

Samsung Super AMOLED explained in pretty moving pictures (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 07:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink OLED-Display  |  sourceYouTube  | Email this | Comments

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Isn't it ironic that people with few ideas sue, but people with plentiful ideas share?

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Pivot Shows Again that Microsoft Is Kicking Serious Ass [Web]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/B7OGueUdSnI/pivot-shows-again-that-microsoft-is-kicking-serious-ass

According to Microsoft, Pivot's "a new way to browse and arrange massive amounts of images and data online," enabling "spectacular zooms in and out of web databases, and the discovery of [invisible] patterns and links." According to me, it's awesome.

Pivot allows you to create and access data collections made from massive amounts of web information in a visual way. It keeps the same interface independently of the content of the collection, allowing you to dive in the data with ease, zoom out, reorder the collection in any way you want, filter data with one click, and establish relationships between different data sets with ease.

To do this, it uses meta-information within an open XML structure to make those collections—which vary in complexity. Then it allows the user to manipulate the data view using Seadragon, a display technology specifically designed to move around titanic amounts of data and graphics in real time.

Like Windows Phone 7 or Natal, Pivot shows that Microsoft is using those research doublons in creating truly amazing stuff these days. Download and try it in your PC now. Unfortunately, there's no Mac OS X version yet. [Microsoft Pivot]



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Dell jazzes up Vostro lineup with new look and Core 2010 processors, keeps prices in check

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/09/dell-jazzes-up-vostro-lineup-with-new-look-and-core-2010-process/

We're starting to bank on the small business-oriented Vostro for a really compelling blend of features and price. Sure, it's usually not the sexiest kit on the block (though the Vostro V13 would beg to differ), but it's hard to argue with the stellar pricetags. Dell's just thrown down a big 3000 series refresh to the Vostro lineup, with the Core i5 and Core i7 options across the line, and even a Core i7 Quad Core option for the 17-inch Vostro 3700. And it isn't just spec upgrades -- the 13-, 14-, 15- and 17-inch boxes all are available in silver, red or bronze, and are made of fairly sturdy stuff. Though the 17-inch 3700 is the mightiest of the bunch, we're particularly taken with the 13-inch 3300 which starts at $699 and boasts a rather thin chassis, onboard optical drive and Core i5 power. Thankfully, all of the models are available with discrete graphics options, ramping up to a 1GB NVIDIA graphics option on the 3700. It sounds as if there will be some killer deals to be had, and you should be able to configure these puppies on Dell.com starting today. In the meantime feast your eyes on the colorful systems below and hit the break for the official press release.

Continue reading Dell jazzes up Vostro lineup with new look and Core 2010 processors, keeps prices in check

Dell jazzes up Vostro lineup with new look and Core 2010 processors, keeps prices in check originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nothing is unhackable - http://bit.ly/dcg8K1

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