ASUS gets Computex 2011 started early with a tablet teaser, asks us 'pad or phone?'

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/23/asus-gets-computex-2011-started-early-with-a-tablet-teaser/

Oh ASUS, what are you up to now? The company that brought us the wildly popular Eee Pad Transformer has another new tablet brewing in its design labs, which we're promised we'll get to witness for the first time at Computex 2011. Until then, we've been provided with a trio of images to pore over and get the guessing games going. The slate device, whose size and software remain unspecified, is said to feature a bump (above left) and a clip (above right), though there are no explanations given about the function of either. You may see both images in their full size after the break, along with a teaser image from ASUS' Facebook page with the slogan "break the rules: pad or phone?" stood in front of a tablet silhouette. That provides plenty of clues for aspiring Sherlocks out there, but little concrete knowledge. Ah well, Computex is just a week away.

Continue reading ASUS gets Computex 2011 started early with a tablet teaser, asks us 'pad or phone?'

ASUS gets Computex 2011 started early with a tablet teaser, asks us 'pad or phone?' originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 May 2011 04:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Five Best Services for Quick Image Sharing [Hive Five]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5804337/five-best-services-for-quick-image-sharing

When you want to share an image on Twitter, over IM, or in the comments of your favorite blog, full-fledged gallery webapps like Flickr or Picasa are overkill. That's where these quick sharing services come in, filling your need for quick, almost disposable image sharing. Here's a look at five of the most popular services for quickly and easily sharing images on the web.

On Thursday, we asked you which services you used when you needed to share images with friends quickly and easily. You answered, we tallied the votes, and now we're back with the five most popular apps you nominated.

Dropbox

If you're already using the popular file-syncing application Dropbox, you can simply drop any image into your public folder, grab the public link (which you can do from the right-click context menu), and share. While it's not strictly for image sharing, Dropbox certainly does the trick. Dropbox has mobile apps for iOS and Android, and easy-to-access folders on your Mac or PC.

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CloudApp/FluffyApp

CloudApp was designed to be the quickest possible way to share images (and other files) with others. While CloudApp is Mac only, its Windows counterpart, FluffyApp, brings the same features to Windows. Drag and drop an image to the CloudApp icon in your menu bar, or on Windows, to FluffyApp in your system tray, and the file is instantly uploaded, and the short URL to that image gets copied to your clipboard, ready for sharing. Plus, you can make the files you share as private or as public as you choose, so it's another great app to share images but also does much more.

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ImageShack/Yfrog

ImageShack is probably the quintessential image sharing site and service on the web. It started as a way to post images to the web and send links to friends in just three clicks (browse, select, and upload,) and has since grown into a service complete with user accounts, video hosting, an iOS app, and a very popular mobile image hosting service (complete with short URLs) called Yfrog. Yfrog is almost universally supported among Twitter clients, and is almost as popular as TwitPic was before its controversial ToS change.

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Imgur

Imgur's star has risen in the past few years because it provides a clean, free, and open alternative to other services like ImageShack and Photobucket. Uploading from your desktop is simple as clicking browse and selecting your image. Re-sharing an image already on the web elsewhere is as easy as copy/pasting its URL. Imgur has Firefox and Chrome extensions, a Wordpress plugin, and even image uploaders for Mac, Windows, and Linux. Plus, each image tracks views and allows for comments from the community, which is a plus and a minus depending on your perspective.

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Min.us

Drag and drop your images, music, or video onto your browser window at Min.us, and they'll be instantly uploaded. Sign-ups are as easy as filling in two or three fields. For a service as new as min.us is, it's taking the right approach to simple and quick image sharing. To streamline how you share your photos, Min.us has browser extensions for Firefox and Chrome, desktop uploaders for Windows, Mac, and Linux, and mobile uploaders for Android, iOS, and Windows Phone 7. If you want a service with a short URL and not a lot of traffic, Min.us is worth a try.

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Now that you've seen the best options, it's time to vote for a favorite.

What's the Best Service for Quick Image Sharing?online surveys

This week's honorable mentions to go PicPlz and TinyPic, two other excellent services with a lot of fans. You'll need an account to use it, but PicPlz combines social image sharing and tons of great filter effects for your photos with quick uploads and mobile apps for iOS and Android. On your phone or desktop, just select the image you want to share, apply a filter, and click upload. TinyPic is a bit more bare-bones, but it also offers two-click uploads and has mobile support in a number of services, including Twitter apps – partially because it was born from PhotoBucket.

Did we leave out your favorite? Have one that you think everyone should try? Let's hear it in the comments. Photo by Ed Castillo.

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You can follow Alan Henry, the author of this post, on Twitter.

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NC governor will let cable-backed bill restricting municipal broadband become law

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/22/nc-governor-will-let-cable-backed-bill-restricting-municipal-bro/

We've repeatedly hammered Time Warner Cable (and its big-cable cronies) for crying to the North Carolina legislature about municipal broadband. TWC claims it can't compete with taxpayer-backed ISPs such as Wilson, NC's Greenlight -- and that it shouldn't have to. In fact, Greenlight and four other municipal providers came about specifically because corporate players refused to provide inexpensive, fast broadband. And now that local governments have proven they can provide it, the cable companies have cried foul, pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into select political pockets all the while. That's the drama so far, and now a bill restricting municipal broadband -- mandating that providers pay taxes similar to private companies, for example -- has landed on the desk of Governor Bev Perdue. She won't veto the bill, meaning it will soon become a law; for whatever it's worth (read: not much), she also refuses to sign it. The reason? Here it is from the horse's mouth:

I will neither sign nor veto this bill. Instead, I call on the General Assembly to revisit this issue and adopt rules that not only promote fairness but also allow for the greatest number of high quality and affordable broadband options for consumers.

The legislation strikes a blow against public ISPs in a country that ranks ninth in the world for broadband adoption and download speeds. And that, apparently, is what "fair competition" looks like in the US.

[Image courtesy of IndyWeek]

NC governor will let cable-backed bill restricting municipal broadband become law originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 May 2011 02:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TMS RamSan-70 SSD packs 2GB-per-second throughput, up to 900GB capacity

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/22/tms-ramsan-70-ssd-packs-2gb-per-second-throughput-up-to-900gb-c/

There are SSDs and then there are SSDs -- the Texas Memory Systems (TMS) RamSan-70 is definitely the latter, packing 900GB of high-speed SLC NAND flash onto a single half-length PCIe card. Boasting an incredible 2GB-per-second sustained external throughput, this near-terabyte solid state drive is clearly overkill for most of us, considering that it's guaranteed to have a sky-high price (once details are released). Instead, the "900GB Gorilla," as it's come to be known around TMS HQ, is destined for high-end servers -- though we certainly wouldn't object to clearing out a slot in our desktop, if by some miracle we can afford this monster when it starts shipping in four to eight weeks.

Continue reading TMS RamSan-70 SSD packs 2GB-per-second throughput, up to 900GB capacity

TMS RamSan-70 SSD packs 2GB-per-second throughput, up to 900GB capacity originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 May 2011 08:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Protect IP Act: Google's Eric Schmidt squares off against RIAA and MPAA

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/22/the-protect-ip-act-googles-eric-schmidt-squares-off-against-ri/

Protecting intellectual property sounds like such a noble cause that you'd have to be a anarchistic free-market extremist to be against the idea, right? Actually, we don't think Google CEO Eric Schmidt is particularly extreme in any definable way, yet this past week he spoke with gusto, railing against the proposed Protect IP Act, which is was designed to "prevent online threats to economic creativity and theft of intellectual property." If passed into law, it would give the government the right to shut down any "Internet site dedicated to infringing activities" -- "infringing activities" largely being of the sort that allows dude A to download copyrighted item B from dude C when it's unclear whether dude C has legal rights to be distributing B in the first place.

So, you know, it's targeting the Pirate Bay and its ilk, giving government officials greater power to sweep in and snag the domains of such sites. Schmidt calls this approach a set of "arbitrarily simple solutions to complex problems" that "sets a very bad precedent." The precedent? That it's okay for democratic governments to go and kill any site they don't like, something Schmidt says would only encourage restrictive policies in countries like China. While we don't think China really needs any sort of encouragement at all to keep on building up its Great Firewall, we tend to agree that this is a much more complicated problem than the Act makes it out to be. That said, one must admit that Schmidt's opinions are necessarily somewhat swayed by the knowledge that any such law would also have a negative impact on the business of search engines in general.

But of course no such volley of words could go unanswered from the two shining knights of copyright protection, the MPAA and RIAA, which mounted up their corporate blogs, rode down from twin castles full of lawyers, and collectively told Schmidt he's full of it. The MPAA spun Schmidt's comments into some sort of act of civil disobedience, saying that "Google seems to think it's above America's laws." Meanwhile, the RIAA called the statement "a confusing step backwards by one of the most influential internet companies." Obviously it's only going to get nastier from here, so buckle your seatbelts, place your bets, and hang on to your BitTorrent clients.

The Protect IP Act: Google's Eric Schmidt squares off against RIAA and MPAA originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 May 2011 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remove Press Releases from Google News for More Useful News [News]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5804203/remove-press-releases-from-google-news-for-more-useful-news

Google News is great, but a side effect of indexing thousands of sources for news means sometimes you'll stumble on promotional press releases and not actual news. Thankfully, Google has given us a new way to turn off press releases or blogs from your Google News feed. Here's how.

Head into your Google News preferences and you'll see some new options to help you customize which news sources are included in your feed and which ones are always excluded. You've always been able to add sites that you want to see more, less, or no news from in Google News, but you now have the same control for blogs and press releases.

At the bottom of your preferences, there are radio buttons for more, fewer, and no news at all for each option. Just toggle the Press Releases button to none to eliminate them from your news feed, and enjoy more articles from actual news sources in your Google News stream.

Hide Blogs and Press Releases from Google News | Digital Inspiration

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You can follow Alan Henry, the author of this post, on Twitter.

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Google's CR-48 apparently shipping again, doing the prototype death rattle

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/21/googles-cr-48-apparently-shipping-again-doing-the-prototype-de/

Reports are trickling in that Google has begun shipping the CR-48 to eager testers who've thus far been empty-handed after signing up for the units back in December. Could it be? Is the plucky prototype Chrome OS laptop getting a stay of execution after being declared all dried up back in March? That's pretty unlikely, given the impending release of the Samsung and Acer netbooks that we saw announced during Google I/O. It seems a lot more plausible that the company is just exhausting the supply, so if you signed up late last year and haven't received one yet, we wouldn't recommend holding your breath.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Google's CR-48 apparently shipping again, doing the prototype death rattle originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 21 May 2011 09:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC Evo 3D, View 4G available for pre-order at Sprint

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/21/htc-evo-3d-view-4g-available-for-pre-order-at-sprint/

Sprint customers holding out for the HTC Evo 3D can now inch slightly closer to that glasses-free display -- without dropping by RadioShack. The carrier has confirmed that you can reserve the WiMAX handset by visiting a Sprint-owned retail store and plunking down $50 for a gift card. There's still no word on when you'll be able to get the device in-hand (and the 3D's exclusive carrier is mum on pricing), but, if you don't mind reserving a phone without any hint as to how much you'll eventually need to pay, then Sprint seems happy enough to swap your Grant for a spot on the list. It's also taking names for the Evo View 4G tablet and, like the 3D, that $50 deposit can be used to take a bite out of a 2D handset. You know, in case you decide that a third dimension is too hot to handle.

[Thanks, Brett]

HTC Evo 3D, View 4G available for pre-order at Sprint originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 21 May 2011 10:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dutchman integrates a 4.5GHz water-cooled rig into his d3sk

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/20/dutchman-integrates-a-4-5ghz-water-cooled-rig-into-his-d3sk/

Cooler Master's 2011 Case Mod Competition looks to be the gift that keeps on giving. After serving up a Tron lightcycle and an architectural marvel, it's now playing host to a mod that redefines the idea of an all-in-one PC. Peter from the Netherlands has managed to fit a pretty bombastic set of components -- 4.5GHz Core i7-980X, two ASUS GeForce GTX 580 graphics cards in SLI, over 12TB of storage with an SSD boot disk, and two PSUs providing 1,500W of power in total -- together with a water-cooling setup and the inevitable glowing lights inside one enclosure, which just so happens to also serve as his desk. The three-piece monitor setup is also a custom arrangement, with a 27-inch U2711 IPS panel being flanked by two 17-inchers. Admittedly, this isn't the first water-cooled and over-powered desk we've laid eyes on, but that shouldn't prevent you from giving the links below a bash and checking out the amazingly neat design of Peter's l3p d3sk.

Continue reading Dutchman integrates a 4.5GHz water-cooled rig into his d3sk

Dutchman integrates a 4.5GHz water-cooled rig into his d3sk originally appe! ared on Engadget on Fri, 20 May 2011 08:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intel goes ULV for laptops to combat the oncoming tablet horde

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/20/intel-goes-ulv-for-laptops-to-combat-the-oncoming-tablet-horde/

Intel has been talking up its x86-powered smartphones and battery-sipping Atoms for tablets quite a bit recently, but the company hasn't forgotten its roots in traditional PC form-factors. At an investor event in San Francisco, CEO Paul Otellini announced a significant change to its line of notebook CPUs -- ultra low voltage will be the new norm, not just a niche chip for high-end ultra-portables. The baseline TDP for future CPUs will be in the 10 to 15 watt range, a huge drop from the 35w design of the mainstream Core line and lower than even current-gen ULV chips (which bottom out at 17w). The company also plans to make NVIDIA eat its words by putting the pedal to the metal on die shrinks -- releasing a 22nm Atom next year followed by a 14nm version in 2013. That could mean our fantasy of true all-day battery life in a sleek and sexy laptop will finally come true. Don't crush our dreams Intel!

Intel goes ULV for laptops to combat the oncoming tablet horde originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 May 2011 10:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fabrice Bellard builds PC emulator in JavaScript to run Linux in a browser

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/20/fabrice-bellard-builds-pc-emulator-in-javascript-to-run-linux-in/

Tired of playing around with Android apps in your web browser courtesy of Amazon's virtual machine? Well, thanks to super hero programmer Fabrice Bellard, you can now try your hand at something a little more challenging. "For fun," he built a complete PC emulator in JavaScript, and then used it to run a fully functioning version of Linux in a web browser. How did it turn out? You can hit up the source link below to try it out for yourself.

[Thanks, el burro]

Fabrice Bellard builds PC emulator in JavaScript to run Linux in a browser originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 May 2011 13:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MVS California's Volumetric Head Up Display is a 3D laser show for your car's windshield (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/20/mvs-californias-volumetric-head-up-display-is-a-3d-laser-show-f/

Your windshield is good for more than just keeping bugs out of your mouth. It's also a big blank canvas waiting to display helpful info like directions, traffic notifications, and safety information. A number big name manufacturers like GM and Pioneer have offered up heads-up display concepts over the past few years, but what makes MVS California's Volumetric Head Up Display really neat is its impressive implementation of the volumetric aspect, using lasers to project images on the windshield in a such a way that gives the illusion of depth. So, if the system is being used to give driving direction via GPS -- its main application, at present -- it can make a turn arrow appear lined up with an exit half a mile down the road. The prototype showcased at this week's Augmented Reality Event 2011 projected in red only, though the company says it's capable of full color. How long do we have to wait for the future? MVS is hoping to get the thing into cars as a premium option in the next few years for around the same price of current high-end navigation systems. Surprisingly dull video of reality augmenting 3D lasers after the break.

Continue reading MVS California's Volumetric Head Up Display is a 3D laser show for your car's windshield (video)

MVS California's Volumetric Head Up Display is a 3D laser show for your car's windshield (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 May 2011 14:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sharp Aquos Android clamshell tricks friends into thinking you can't afford a smartphone

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/20/sharp-aquos-android-clamshell-tricks-friends-into-thinking-you-c/

Looking for a handset that harkens back to simpler, pre-smartphone era, without losing the Googley luster of Android? We've got the perfect phone for you, and all you've got to do is move to Japan and get a Softbank Mobile account. Sharp, one of the largest smartphone manufacturers in its native country, rolled out the retro-future Gingerbread-packing Aquos Phone Hybrid 007SH, an Android 2.3 flip phone with a 180-degree swiveling touchscreen above the hinge and a numeric dial pad below that all the cool kids in Shibuya crave. It's also got some pretty solid specs, so far are clamshell phones go, including a 6MP camera and a 3D-capable display. The handset will hit Softbank in mid-June followed shortly by Sharp's rotary Honeycomb tablet.

Continue reading Sharp Aquos Android clamshell tricks friends into thinking you can't afford a smartphone

Sharp Aquos Android clamshell tricks friends into thinking you can't afford a smartphone originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 May 2011 21:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google News Archives stops digitizing old newspapers, picks great day to do it

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/21/google-news-archives-stops-digitizing-old-newspapers-picks-grea/

Ain't like you'll be reading 'em anyway after today's over.

Google News Archives stops digitizing old newspapers, picks great day to do it originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 21 May 2011 00:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HP rolls out budget-minded Pavilion g6s laptop with Sandy Bridge

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/21/hp-rolls-out-budget-minded-pavilion-g6s-laptop-with-sandy-bridge/

HP has already rolled out a few new Sandy Bridge laptops this month, but it's now back with yet another: the Pavilion g6s. Like the still-available g6t and g6x, this one packs a 15.6-inch display with a rather lowly 1,366 x 768 resolution, but you can now get that paired with your choice of Core i3, i5 or i7 Sandy Bridge processors. Otherwise, you'll get some fairly respectable specs across the board, including up 6GB of RAM, up to a 750GB hard drive, and optional Radeon HD 6470M graphics -- not to mention your choice of four different color options. Of course, cost is still the main concern with the g6 series, and this one keeps things in check with a starting price of $550.

HP rolls out budget-minded Pavilion g6s laptop with Sandy Bridge originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 21 May 2011 06:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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