Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Thursday, June 24, 2010

RT @ClickZ - think of the ecosystem around your product, not just the product itself #IntegratedMarketing - http://bit.ly/cSPdvX

iPhone 4 and the Top Android Phones: Compared on Cost-to-Own and Features [Infographic]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5570803/iphone-4-and-the-top-android-phones-compared-on-cost-and-features

iPhone 4 and the Top Android Phones: Compared on Cost-to-Own and Features Cost analysis geeks BillShrink have given the iPhone 4 and all of its top Android the side-by-side treatment, putting their features and performance up against their long-term costs. You might be surprised at the cheapest and most expensive offerings.

BillShrink's offered up this kind of smartphone comparison before, and the product is equally impressive. Each category of performance (battery life, screen resolution) and cost is granted a winner, but you'll probably skip down to the two-year cost of a data plan. With an "unlimited" (read: almost-all-you-can-eat) data plan, the Nexus One on T-Mobile is the cheapest option, but the iPhone 4 on a 200 MB plan is the cheapest option, all told.

Here's the full breakdown, which you can click for a larger view (at BillShrink's own post):

Smartphones: The Latest Generation [BillShrink]

Who knew? You CAN launch without large ad budgets (it's actually better that way) - http://bit.ly/cSPdvX

Swype is Developing an App for iPhone, But Will Apple Allow It? [Cellphones]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5571609/swype-is-developing-an-app-for-iphone-but-will-apple-allow-it

Swype is Developing an App for iPhone, But Will Apple Allow It? It's not just Android that Swype, the company which pioneered an ultra-fast texting method, has its eyes on—they're apparently developing an iPhone version, which they're hoping Apple will have no objections to.

Considering it's in the Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest way to text message, Apple shouldn't have any problems with OK-ing it for the App Store. Unless they see it as being competitive to their own virtual keyboard.

Swype's CEO Mike McSherry said to Reuters that it "remains to be seen" as to whether they'll be able to launch the app or not. I don't think I've heard a single bad word said about Swype, so maybe Apple should consider buying the company—and then license the software out to HTC, Motorola, Samsung et al. [Reuters]

Mitsubishi's LaserVue HDTV makes triumphant 75-inch return, becomes 3D-ready

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/23/mitsubishis-laservue-hdtv-makes-triumphant-75-inch-return-beco/

Ah, the LaserVue. Launched way back in the heyday that was 2008, Mitsubishi's 65-inch monster didn't exactly fly off shelves being priced at seven large, but we still maintain that it's the best looking consumer-level set we've ever laid eyes on. 'Course, the fat-backed design didn't exactly do it any favors in a world dominated by flatscreens, but we've always been willing to bend a little on the design for beautiful execution in the image quality department. To that end, we're downright elated to hear that the forgotten line has been revived for 2010, with an all new 75-inch model (L75-A91) being introduced for those who just can't find a television big enough to fill their 8,000 square foot den. The behemoth measures in at 41.7- x 66.4- x 15-inches (so yeah, it's still got some junk in the trunk), and as you'd expect, it's fully 3D ready. Mistu's 3D Starter Pack is being sold alongside of it, containing a 3D emitter, 3D Adapter with remote, an HDMI cable and a Blu-ray Disc with a collection of clips to really show off your new purchase. Other specs include web connectivity (StreamTV can hit up VUDU, Pandora, Flickr, Picasa and more), four HDMI-CEC inputs, a wired IR output, 1080p native resolution and a price tag of "only" $5,999, not including the $399 3D Starter Pack and $99 3D Adapter. Oh, and be sure to call a buddy or four when it arrives -- you know, considering that you can't lift a 154 pound television on your own.

Gallery: Mitsubishi L75-A91 LaserVue HDTV

Mitsubishi's LaserVue HDTV makes triumphant 75-inch return, becomes 3D-ready originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Jun 2010 10:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Canon patent application takes in-camera HDR to the pixel level

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/23/canon-patent-application-takes-in-camera-hdr-to-the-pixel-level/

There's certainly cameras out there that offer in-camera HDR (or High Dynamic Range), but none that go quite as far as what Canon has detailed in a recently published patent application. The short of it is that Canon's proposed method would alter exposure values at the individual pixel level, which should effectively emulate what's now possible but stitching together multiple photographs taken at different exposure settings -- and, for that matter, even open up some new possibilities since those single-pixel exposure values could be tweaked at will. Of course, there's no indication as to what type of camera the method would be used in, or any evidence that Canon has actually taken it beyond the patent application stage, so we wouldn't recommend getting too excited about the possibilities just yet.

Canon patent application takes in-camera HDR to the pixel level originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Jun 2010 11:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Digital Home Thoughts | source

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Motorola Droid X for Verizon official: July 15 for $200

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/23/motorola-droid-x-for-verizon-official-july-15-for-200/

There was little about the mighty Droid X that we hadn't already known -- but for what it's worth, Verizon and Motorola have teamed up today to expose everything we want to know about the next Android beast for Big Red. The 4.3-inch 854 x 480 handset features Android 2.1 with an all-new UI skin, a TI OMAP3630 processor galloping along at 1GHz, HDMI out, 8 megapixel camera with dual LED flash and 720p video capture, and 8GB of onboard storage with expansion of up to 32GB (you get a 16GB card in the box) all stuffed in a package 9.9mm thick. Software wise, you've also got an integrated mobile hotspot with support for up to 5 devices connected over WiFi, DLNA support, and a legit multitouch keyboard with Swype built-in. It won't launch with Froyo, but that'll come later in the Summer as an upgrade along with Flash 10.1 support; the phone will be available on July 15 for $199.99 on contract after rebate, while the mobile hotspot service will run $20 extra a month with a 2GB cap and 5 cent per MB overage (data consumed on the phone itself is unlimited). Mirroring AT&T's move with the iPhone 4, all Verizon customers with upgrade dates in 2010 will be pulled up so they're eligible for the Droid X as soon as it's available. Follow the break for the full press release.

Continue reading Motorola Droid X for Verizon official: July 15 for $200

Motorola Droid X for Verizon official: July 15 for $200 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Jun 2010 13:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tokyo Institute of Technology announces SSD-packing, 2.39 petaflop supercomputer

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/23/tokyo-institute-of-technology-announces-ssd-packing-2-39-petafl/

IBM has announced plans to start using SandForce SSDs in its enterprise machines, and now it looks like the Tokyo Institute of Technology is doing one better, working with NEC and HP to produce Tsubame 2.0. This next-gen supercomputer will reportedly operate at 2.39 petaflops (that's a lot of flops!) and uses a new multilevel storage architecture consisting of DRAM as well as SSDs. Not only will this bad boy have thirty times the computing capacity of Tsubame 1.0 (due in part to its some 2,816 Intel Westmere microprocessors and 4,224 NVIDIA Tesla M2050 GPUs), its power draw should be some 1/25th of its predecessor's. If all goes according to plan, it should be in operation this fall, at a cost of ¥3.2 billion (approx $35.5 million).

[Thanks, Dylan]

Tokyo Institute of Technology announces SSD-packing, 2.39 petaflop supercomputer originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Jun 2010 14:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Eye tracking Tobii Glasses enable 'fully valid research' from a bodaciously styled pair of shades

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/23/eye-tracking-tobii-glasses-enable-fully-valid-research-from-a/

If you're looking to get in touch with some styling cues you left behind in the '80s, or perhaps just perform a study on effective product packaging, Tobii Technology would like you to get a load of these. They're called Tobii Glasses, a pair of eye-tracking specs that look a little less obtrusive than some others we've seen, but despite that are also a bit less practical. These glasses pack a VGA camera, write to a hip-mounted unit with SDHC storage, and rely on IR emitters ~~that apparently must be~~ scattered about the field of vision that the researcher is looking to study. Those emitters enable very accurate and reliable monitoring of where the research participant is looking, but also seem to restrict the glasses' to use in rather contrived circumstances. So, perhaps not the best solution for seeing just how far your husband's eyes wander on an average day, but possibly an ideal accessory for all you marketing research managers out there.

Update: We got a note from Rasmus Petersson at Tobii Technology indicating that, indeed, the glasses can be used without the IR transmitters -- you just lose some automation when it comes to data aggregation at the end of the study. So, married dudes, look out if your wife buys you a new set of specs for your birthday.

Eye tracking Tobii Glasses enable 'fully valid research' from a bodaciously styled pair of shades originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Jun 2010 15:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola Droid X first (official) hands-on and unboxing! Update: video!

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/23/motorola-droid-x-first-official-hands-on-and-unboxing/

Yeah, we kind of already saw this phone, but if you don't tell Motorola and Verizon, we won't. We just got our hands on an official, final Droid X at the NY launch event, and it tastes just as sweet. Here are a few notes:

It's built of basically the same material as the Droid, but there's something almost kind of "taut" about the phone, where when you thwack it with a finger it resounds like a drum. The phone vibration seems to work on this same principle, giving it much less of the typical buzz (in the funky, cheap sense) you expect.
There are three mics, and in video mode you can select between "scenes" based on which mic you want to use: outward facing for regular shoots, inward facing for narration. The third mic is up top for noise cancellation during calls.
Yeah, there's not kickstand, but the EVO 4G really does seem chunky up against the Droid X, and the camera bulge on the latter is not annoying at all.
PHYSICAL BUTTONS.
You get your choice between Swype and Motorola's multitouch keyboard, which is really pretty great. We were typing at speed within a few seconds of using it.
You can tell that the processor is fast, but the UI still has a jerky quality to it -- it's not totally fluid. We'd say that's more of an Android thing, though.
The new version of Motoblur is much, much more attractive than before -- the widgets are sleeker, smaller, and less in your face. You can also resize them, and they rearrange themselves somewhat intelligently.

Update: Video after the break!

Gallery: Motorola Droid X unboxing

Gallery: Droid X vs. Evo 4G... fight!

Gallery: Droid X car dock hands-on

Continue reading Motorola Droid X first (official) hands-on and unboxing! Update: video!

Motorola Droid X first (official) hands-on and unboxing! Update: video! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Jun 2010 16:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HP buys Melodeo, brings Nutsie music streaming service into the fold

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/23/hp-buys-melodeo-brings-nutsie-music-streaming-service-into-the/

Well, it looks like HP's year of acquisitions isn't showing any signs of letting up just yet -- it's now reportedly bought Melodeo, the parent company of the Nutsie music streaming service, for between $30 and $35 million. While the service doesn't exactly have the name recognition of the now Apple-owned Lala, Nutsie's mobile applications (for iPhone, Android and Blackberry) have reportedly been downloaded more than two million times, and the company already has partnerships with a range of carriers and cellphone companies including Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint. As TechCrunch reports, however, what might be most interesting is what the company has in store for Nutsie 3.0 -- it will apparently let you copy your entire iTunes library to the cloud and access any song on demand (it currently offers a more limited service that only offers a shuffle mode). We'll let you take the Palm / WebOS speculation from there.

HP buys Melodeo, brings Nutsie music streaming service into the fold originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Jun 2010 18:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone 4 and iPhone 3G screens go head-to-head under the microscope

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/23/iphone-4-and-iphone-3g-screens-go-head-to-head-under-the-microsc/

We got up pretty close to the iPhone 4's retina display in our review, but we can't say we got quite as close as PhD candidates Ryan White and Bryan Gauntt of Penn State University, who have kindly provided us with some images of the screen under a microscope (along with an iPhone 3G for comparison). According to their measurements, the iPhone 3G's pixels measure 13 x 40 microns, while the iPhone 4's measure 6.5 x 20 microns, which adds up to exactly four times as many pixels. As impressive as sounds that sounds, however, it's the pictures that really tell the story -- hit up the gallery below to check them out.

Gallery: iPhone 4 vs. iPhone 3G under the microscope

iPhone 4 and iPhone 3G screens go head-to-head under the microscope originally appeared on Engadge t on Wed, 23 Jun 2010 23:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SD cards branded with an upper-case 'I' are faster, yo

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/24/sd-cards-branded-with-an-upper-case-i-are-faster-yo/

Since they're theoretically capable of 300 megabyte per second transfer rates, we knew SDXC cards wouldn't stay slow forever. How will we separate wheat from chaff when faster models do appear, though? You're looking at it. This week, the SD Association unveiled the UHS-I specification for SDXC and SDHC cards capable of transferring data at up to 104 megabytes per second -- reportedly fast enough to record HD videos in real time. Why the association chose the phrasing "up to" is a little iffy, as we thought the point of such specifications was quality control, but considering how many Class 4 and Class 6 SD cards we've tossed that didn't match up to spec, we suppose we'll make do with a ballpark estimate... until the inevitable UHS-II makes the rounds. PR after the break.

Continue reading SD cards branded with an upper-case 'I' are faster, yo

SD cards branded with an upper-case 'I' are faster, yo originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Jun 2010 03:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LCDs can be transformed from e-waste to infection fighters, says new research

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/24/lcds-can-be-transformed-from-e-waste-to-infection-fighters-says/

Researchers at the University of York have discovered a possible use for discarded LCDs which should come as a relief to anyone familiar with the world's rampant e-waste problem. According to the report, which will be presented today at the Green Chemistry and Engineering Conference in Washington, D.C., a process of heating, then cooling and dehydrating the PVA (polyvinyl-alcohol, the key component of LCDs) with ethanol produces a surface area of mesoporous material with great potential for use in biomedicine. The resultant product's anti-microbial properties can now be enhanced by adding silver nanoparticles, producing something which is anti-bacterial and can kill things like E.coli. The potential application of course, is that hospital surfaces could be made of it in the future. This is just one (major) step in a long-term project, so don't expect to see it in real life anytime soon.

LCDs can be transformed from e-waste to infection fighters, says new research originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Jun 2010 05:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Inhabitat | source

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Kleer teams up with Mercedes Benz to untether in-car headphones

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/24/kleer-teams-up-with-mercedes-benz-to-untether-in-car-headphones/

We hate wires. We can't count the number of times that our headphones were unceremoniously yanked from our heads (or ear canals) because the wire got snagged while ordering our Brazilian man-servant about. Kleer solved this problem years ago but still haven't broken into the mainstream thanks in no small part to the preponderance of low-cost (and low-quality) Bluetooth headphones. That could change with the visibility provided by a new partnership with Mercedes to replace line-of-site infrared technology the company had been using. The deal will equip 2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class and S-Class models with Kleer's proprietary, low-power, CD-quality digital wireless audio emitted from a pair of video screens on the back of the seats. Occupants wearing the Mercedes-provided Kleer headphones or any compatible pair can then select which audio stream their headphones receive without interfering with Bluetooth or WiFi connected devices. Win, win.

Gallery: Kleer teams up with Mercedes Benz to untether in-car headphones