Wednesday, June 09, 2010

Nexus One steps up to 720p HD video thanks to latest hack (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/09/nexus-one-steps-up-to-720p-hd-video-thanks-to-latest-hack-video/

Just more evidence that rooting is the only true path of the geek. The indefatigable coders over at xda-developers have just pushed out a download that allows the Nexus One to start shooting video at 720p resolution. You'll need to have at least CyanogenMod version 5.0.8test3, but once you get your house in order, you'll be enjoying one of the big touted features of the latest handsets on your five-month old Googlephone. Pretty neat, and what's even better is that work is already underway to improve audio and the fps rate, as well as making the code compatible with Android Froyo, it all just requires a bit more tinkering. So, hit the source link to get the download or join us after the break for a quick sample video.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Nexus One steps up to 720p HD video thanks to latest hack (video)

Nexus One steps up to 720p HD video thanks to latest hack (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Jun 2010 03:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Panasonic's 152-inch 4K-resolution 3D plasma ships this fall

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/09/panasonics-152-inch-4k-resolution-3d-plasma-ships-this-fall/

Say goodbye to the former king of Panasonic plasmas, the old 103-inch that toured the country and took center stage in presidential elections is old news, moved aside for a new family of commercial displays including the 152-inch 4K resolution 3DTV towered over all at this year's CES. Just in case 4096 x 2160 is too much resolution, there are 103- and 85-inch 1080p versions available as well, but seriously, look at that thing. You know Mark Cuban is going to buy one -- why shouldn't you? Because you don't have $500,000+ laying around, because it can't possibly fit in your house, because you'd never go outside again if you owned one -- stop making excuses, it's unbecoming.

Continue reading Panasonic's 152-inch 4K-resolution 3D plasma ships this fall

Panasonic's 152-inch 4K-resolution 3D plasma ships this fall originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Jun 2010 03:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia's 16 model house reveals a smokin' S series, N9 MeeGo?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/09/nokias-17-model-house-reveals-a-smokin-s-series-n9-meego/

Lovely home except for those pesky leaks. This Nokia house built (circa 2010) upon on a foundation of Symbian with a MeeGo roof is also sporting an interesting looking S-series smokestack. Most of the building blocks we've already seen including the flagship N8. The N9 is almost certainly Nokia's followup to the N900 and Espoo's first handset to feature its new MeeGo OS. But what's with the business-class E7, mainstream C7, and socially entertaining X7? None of these handsets have been announced, yet all three are at the top-end of their respective series meaning mean more functionality at a higher price. Still, the most interesting revelation is the S-series which Nokia has never referenced under its new naming scheme. The translated text from the S-series bullet describes it as, "A name reserved for limited phones. Mobiles that do not fit in other categories come in here." The first Moorestown phone to run MeeGo, perhaps? Hey, we can dream.

[Thanks, Mark]

Nokia's 16 model house reveals a smokin' S series, N9 MeeGo? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Jun 2010 05:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC EVO 4G meets magnetic macro lens, shoots gorgeous closeups

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/09/htc-evo-4g-meets-magnetic-macro-lens-shoots-gorgeous-closeups/

As phone accessories go, protruding lens attachments are rarely top of our wishlist, but this one here might just alter our perspective a little bit. Good and EVO have gone to the trouble of obtaining a magnetically mountable macro lens to test out how well the EVO 4G's camera performs with a little more optical prowess. The answer is that in spite of the inevitably goofy appearance, the jumbo Android handset delivered some highly impressive imagery, getting really up close and personal with its subjects and picking out exquisitely tiny details. The results are certainly of a caliber unobtainable with the default optics and well worth checking out -- the source link is where that party's at.

HTC EVO 4G meets magnetic macro lens, shoots gorgeous closeups originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Jun 2010 09:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Western Digital announces WD TV Live Plus HD with Netflix streaming

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/09/western-digital-announces-wd-tv-live-plus-hd-with-netflix-stream/

We have even more news from Western Digital regarding its WD TV line (and this time around it doesn't involve bricking your set-top box with a firmware update). Besides the usual suspects (including Pandora, Live365, and YouTube), the WD TV Live Plus HD is shipping with Netflix. Get ready to browse titles, manage your Instant Queue, and stream your favorite episodes of Degrassi: The Next Generation on your HDTV -- in addition to accessing your sizable collection of legally purchased digital media via the device's USB connection and / or Windows 7 "Play To" functionality. Available now for $150. PR after the break.

Continue reading Western Digital announces WD TV Live Plus HD with Netflix streaming

Western Digital announces WD TV Live Plus HD with Netflix streaming originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Jun 2010 10:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acclaim Android slider revealed by Samsung's own site

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/09/acclaim-android-slider-revealed-by-samsungs-own-site/

We know you've been kept awake at night by this question: just what does the Samsung Acclaim look like? Well, thanks to one of our awesome readers, we now the first official pic of the handset. This was discovered on Samsung's site without too much effort, which might indicate just how excited the Korean manufacturer is about the whole thing. Clearly running Android as its OS, this slider offers a full QWERTY keypad with a dedicated number row and quite the curious coloration. Assuming Sammy didn't run out of dark navy paint halfway through, the cross pattern highlighted on the left may be indicative of some gaming inclinations to the R880. Earlier rumors peg the Acclaim's US Cellular-exclusive release at some time in July and also indicate a 3.2-inch screen gracing its visage. Can't wait.

[Thanks, Jason]

Acclaim Android slider revealed by Samsung's own site originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Two examples of NO-media-cost launches which blow away expensive paid-media supported launches (pic) http://bit.ly/aJXGAS

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Tuesday, June 08, 2010

Sony's NEX-3, NEX-5 interchangeable lens cameras get reviewed

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/07/sonys-nex-3-nex-5-interchangeable-lens-cameras-get-reviewed/

Sony's NEX-3 and NEX-5 cameras certainly boast the features to get any camera nerd excited -- interchangeable lenses in a form factor smaller than Micro Four Thirds but with an image sensor 50% bigger -- but the big question remaining is how they'll actually hold up in use. Unfortunately, according to Digital Photography Review at least, the cameras seem to be a bit of a mixed bag. While the site says that they are unquestionably a "brave and interesting attempt to redefine the camera," it says that they also represent a "distinctly unsteady first step." The biggest problem with them, it seems, is that the much of the high-end capabilities of the cameras are hindered by "one of the strangest interfaces" seen in some time, which the site says is confusing at times and "actively unhelpful" at others. Both cameras are also said to suffer from poor startup and shot-to-shot times, lackluster battery life, and a video mode that offers high quality video but decidedly limited controls. On the upside, the cameras do apparently mostly deliver the goods when it comes to image quality (especially with their high ISO capabilities), and the build quality is said to be solid, particularly on the NEX-5. Still looking for more? Hit up the link below for the full review.

Sony's NEX-3, NEX-5 interchangeable lens cameras get reviewed originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Jun 2010 21:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alienware M11x gets overseas Core i3 / i5 / i7 and NVIDIA Optimus update, US version due tomorrow?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/07/alienware-m11x-gets-overseas-core-i3-i5-i7-and-nvidia-optimu/

We've been hearing about an impending CPU update to Alienware's M11x for some time now, and now Dell Malaysia has quietly updated its website with options to order the revised not-quite-netbook. So what's new? Well, there's NVIDIA Optimus for starters, and the Intel Core 2 Duo processor has been thanked for its time and shown the door in lieu of Core i3, i5, and i7 CPUs on a QS57 chipset. Prices start at RM 3,699, or about $1,110 in US bills. Speaking of which, while Dell's US site has yet to update, we've seen what's purported to be some internal documentation that pinpoints the official stateside launch for the revised M11x as tomorrow (technically, it's already Tuesday in Malaysia). No confirmation yet, but hey, it'd make for a pretty nice pre-E3 gift.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Update: UK Alienware lovers can now also get their Core i5/i7 M11x fix, as the new hardware options have gone live on the laptop's local microsite. Yes, Optimus is there too. [Thanks, Mike]

Alienware M11x gets overseas Core i3 / i5 / i7 and NVIDIA Optimus update, US version due tomorrow? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Jun 2010 21:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Now THIS is how you launch a product: Apple's Retina Display - made-up word advertising yields no cost impressions - http://bit.ly/aJXGAS

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Monday, June 07, 2010

The One Hundred Trillion Dollars Hard Drive [Infographics]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5557676/how-much-money-would-a-yottabyte-hard-drive-cost

The One Hundred Trillion Dollars Hard DriveA yottabyte is one septillion bytes. To save all those bytes you need a data center as big as the states of Delaware and Rhode Island. It doesn't seem like much, until they tell you the price tag: $100 trillion.

How much is $100 trillion? Too much to imagine but ,to give you some sense of scale, the gross domestic product for the United States was $14 trillion in 2008. The word GDP: $61 trillion. And yet, one day we will look back at this figures and shrug, as we order a 4 yottabyte memory card to save a few hours of our life with our 5-senses brain impulse recording device. For $19.99. [Backblaze]

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How To Use Your Canon DSLR As A Webcam [Photography]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5557265/how-to-use-your-canon-dslr-as-a-webcam

How To Use Your Canon DSLR As A WebcamIf the Canon EOS 5D Mark II was good enough to film the entire season finale of House on, there it should be more than adequate to use as a Skype webcam. But how?

Fortunately, Canon fanblog Planet5D has put together a video how-to explaining just how you use it for Skype, or as a livestreaming camera for Ustream. They recommend using it with Macs, as they prefer the CamTwist software—but apparently there is a Windows equivalent. You'll also need the Canon EOS Utility program (from the software CD bundled with your camera) and a download of Skype naturally.

With any luck that'll clean your cluttered desk up a tad. [Planet5D]

Using a Canon HDSLR (5D Mark II) as a webcam for skype or ustream from planetMitch on Vimeo.

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Safari 5 Clips Chrome and Apes Instapaper With Safari Reader [Apple]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5557673/safari-5-clips-chrome-and-apes-instapaper-with-safari-reader

It didn't warrant a keynote mention, apparently, but Safari 5 is here. The big new feature, besides speed—it's a whole 3 percent faster than Chrome—is Safari Reader, which reformats web articles into a single view, sorta like Instapaper.

Oh, and extensions, finally! It should be rolling out like nowish according to the release—though the Apple site is still full-blown Safari 4.

Apple Releases Safari 5

SAN FRANCISCO, June 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple® today released Safari® 5, the latest version of the world's fastest and most innovative web browser, featuring the new Safari Reader for reading articles on the web without distraction, a 30 percent performance increase over Safari 4,* and the ability to choose Google, Yahoo! or Bing as the search service powering Safari's search field. Available for both Mac® and Windows, Safari 5 includes improved developer tools and supports more than a dozen new HTML5 technologies that allow web developers to create rich, dynamic websites. With Safari 5, developers can now create secure Safari Extensions to customize and enhance the browsing experience.

"Safari continues to lead the pack in performance, innovation and standards support," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "Safari now runs on over 200 million devices worldwide and its open source WebKit engine runs on over 500 million devices."

Safari Reader makes it easy to read single and multipage articles on the web by presenting them in a new, scrollable view without any additional content or clutter. When Safari 5 detects an article, users can click on the Reader icon in the Smart Address Field to display the entire article for clear, uninterrupted reading with options to enlarge, print or send via email.

Powered by the Nitro JavaScript engine, Safari 5 on the Mac runs JavaScript 30 percent faster than Safari 4, three percent faster than Chrome 5.0, and over twice as fast as Firefox 3.6.* Safari 5 loads new webpages faster using Domain Name System (DNS) prefetching, and improves the caching of previously viewed pages to return to them more quickly.

Safari 5 adds more than a dozen powerful HTML5 features that allow web developers to create media-rich experiences, including full screen playback and closed captions for HTML5 video. Other new HTML5 features in Safari 5 include HTML5 Geolocation, HTML5 sectioning elements, HTML5 draggable attribute, HTML5 forms validation, HTML5 Ruby, HTML5 AJAX History, EventSource and WebSocket.

The new, free Safari Developer Program allows developers to customize and enhance Safari 5 with extensions based on standard web technologies like HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript. The Extension Builder, new in Safari 5, simplifies the development, installation and packaging of extensions. For enhanced security and stability, Safari Extensions are sandboxed, signed with a digital certificate from Apple and run solely in the browser.

Pricing & Availability

Safari 5 is available for both Mac OS® X and Windows as a free download at www.apple.com/safari. Safari 5 for Mac OS X requires Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.8 or Mac OS X Snow Leopard® 10.6.2 or later. Safari 5 for Windows requires Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista or Windows 7, a minimum 256MB of memory and a system with at least a 500 MHz Intel Pentium processor. Full system requirements and more information on Safari 5 can be found at www.apple.com/safari. The Safari Developer Program is free to join at developer.apple.com/programs/safari.

[Apple]

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iPhone 4 announced, launching June 24 for $199 with new FaceTime video chat

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/07/iphone-4-announced/

Digg this! Apple has unveiled its new iPhone 4 after a couple wild, unprecedented months of leaks. Sure, it looks exactly like we expected it to (Steve compares it to an old Leica camera), with a glass front and back, but it's what's on the inside that counts, kids. The stainless steel band that goes around the phone is an antenna system, while also providing the main structure of the phone, though it's plugged into the same old GSM / UMTS radio you all know and love -- there's a reason they didn't call it the iPhone 4G. There's also of course that front facing camera we were all anticipating, a rear camera with LED flash, and a new high resolution display that doubles the pixels in each direction (960 x 640) for a 4X overall pixel count increase -- Apple calls it a "Retina Display." It's rated at 326ppi, which Apple claims is beyond the human eye's limit of distinction. Check out an example of the new screen up against the iPhone 3G after the break. Similar to the iPad, it's an IPS display, offering 800:1 contrast. Naturally, it's still the same old 3.5-inch size. Under the hood is the A4 processor that runs the iPad. Despite the new engine (and the 25% thinner chassis), Apple managed to make the battery slightly larger, and the new handset is rated at 7 hours of 3G talk, 6 hours of 3G browsing, 10 hours of WiFi browsing, 10 hours of video, and 40 hours of music. Oh, and that WiFi? It's 802.11n now. The camera has been bumped to 5 megapixels, with 5X digital zoom and a "backside illuminated sensor," which now can also record HD video at 720p / 30fps.

On the software front, applications will automatically get high resolution text and buttons as part of iOS 4 (the OS previously known as iPhone OS 4), and with "a little bit of work" developers can make their entire app compatible with the new resolution display. Developers will also get access to a new gyroscope, giving devs "six axis" motion control between the gyroscope, accelerometer, and compass, with a new "Core Motion" API to deal with it all. Users won't be left out in the cold, however: they can mess around with that new HD video using a brand new iMovie app, if they shell out $4.99 for it. If anyone's feeling particularly frisky, iOS 4 even lets you switch your default search provider to Bing. Last but certainly not least, that new front camera is enabled for video chat using the new "FaceTime" feature. It's a WiFi-only (for now) video calling feature that works from iPhone 4 to iPhone 4 with "no setup" involved, and can flip over to the rear camera if your grandparents get tired of your face.

The phone will be available in white or black, retailing at $199 for the 16GB model and $299 for 32GB. They go on sale June 24th, and AT&T will be giving some extra grace upgrade timing -- up to six months early. The 3GS will be dropped to $99 and the 3G will disappear completely. Pre-orders start in a week, with 5 countries at launch (US, France, Germany, UK, Japan), with 18 more following in July. Apple will also be selling a first party case for $29, and a dock for the same price. PR is after the break, promo videos can be found here, and we got hands-on right here.


Check out more from WWDC 2010 in our liveblog!

Continue reading iPhone 4 announced, launching June 24 for $199 with new FaceTime video chat

iPhone 4 announced, launching June 24 for $199 with new FaceTime video chat originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Jun 2010 13:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone 4 vs. iPhone 3GS: the tale of the tape

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/07/iphone-4-vs-iphone-3gs-the-tale-of-the-tape/

Digg this! Apple's claiming that the iPhone 4 represents the platform's biggest advance since the original model's intro back in 2007 -- but does the argument hold water? Follow the break for a comprehensive rundown of the key differences between the newest member of the iPhone model and last year's king of the hill, the 3GS!

Continue reading iPhone 4 vs. iPhone 3GS: the tale of the tape

iPhone 4 vs. iPhone 3GS: the tale of the tape originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Jun 2010 15:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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