Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Friday, March 09, 2012

Thunderbolt is everywhere, now let's make it faster with PCI-Express 3.0

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/09/thunderbolt-could-get-faster-with-pci-express-3/

Things are different on Planet Intel. Over there, Thunderbolt drives and peripherals are as cheap and abundant as artificial intelligences in a Culture novel, so the population's attention has already turned to what comes next. Some are prepared to wait for a promised 50Gbps optical interconnect by 2015, but an impatient few are trying to make Thunderbolt exploit the new PCI-Express 3.0 standard for more immediate thrills. PCWorld claims the latest form of PCI-Express found in Sandy Bridge E, Ivy Bridge and Xeon E5 chipsets could make 10Gbps Thunderbolt run "significantly faster", thanks to a 60 percent speed boost over PCIe 2.0. Maybe they're right, but back on this planet we're still 33 percent of the way through transferring The Best of Leo Sayer to our USB 2.0-equipped Xperia S.

Thunderbolt is everywhere, now let's make it faster with PCI-Express 3.0 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Mar 2012 06:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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FujiFilm's $1,700 X100 Black Edition now shipping, limited to 10K units worldwide

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/09/fujifilms-1-700-x100-black-edition-now-shipping-limited-to-10/

We somehow missed this retro-styled gem at back at CES, but no matter -- Fujifilm's X100 Black Premium Edition is now shipping and available for purchase. This is exactly the same 12.3-megapixel camera that's been pleasing photographers for nearly a year, albeit in a darker, single-tone finish that's limited to a run of 10,000 units worldwide. Priced at $1,700, the black X100 is 500 more bones than the standard-issue variant and features the same 23mm fixed lens, but it comes with a lens hood, leather case, clear lens filter and an adapter ring; all of which are all painted to match. We'd say this blacked-out shooter gives the NEX-7 a run for its money in the dapper looks department, but you can decide for yourself at the source link below. Full press release past the break.

Continue reading FujiFilm's $1,700 X100 Black Edition now shipping, limited to 10K units worldwide

FujiFilm's $1,700 X100 Black Edition now shipping, limited to 10K units worldwide originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Mar 2012 08:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Orange's Santa Clara Medfield phone gets benchmarked, well, the browser does

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/09/oranges-santa-clara-medfield-phone-gets-benchmarked/

Santa Clara Vellamo

Wondering how those Medfield handsets stack up to their ARM-powered competition? Well, we can't promise a full suite of benchmarks just yet, but we do have a peek at a pair of browser-centric tests. The German Caschys Blog managed to get a hold of Orange's upcoming Santa Clara device at CeBit and ran Qualcomm's Vellamo and Rightware's BrowserMark on the Atom handset. In both metrics the Z2460 more than holds its own, scoring an 89,180 on the web-based BrowserMark -- putting it just ahead of the iPhone 4S which clocks in at 87,801, but well behind the Galaxy Nexus' 98,272. Things look just as promising on the slightly more hardware-intensive Vellamo where it trounced the latest Nexus and was hot on the heels of the Xiaomi Mi-One Plus and Transformer Prime. Of course, neither of these tests really tax the CPU or measure 3D graphics performance. We're not even sure what the clock speed on chip inside the handset is. We were originally led to believe 1.6GHz, though, Caschy is reporting the model he manhandled was running at just 1.4GHz. Then, there's perhaps the biggest question of all -- battery life. For that, we'll just have to wait and see.

Orange's Santa Clara Medfield phone gets benchmarked, well, the browser does originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Mar 2012 09:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Netbooknews, The Verge | source

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Download Any MP3 from SoundCloud with This Bookmarklet [Music]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5891635/download-any-mp3-from-soundcloud-with-this-bookmarklet

Download Any MP3 from SoundCloud with This Bookmarklet Music-hosting service SoundCloud makes it easy to share your voice, music, or any other audio with a few clicks. It's great, but sometimes you're desperate to actually download and save a track from SoundCloud. This handy bookmarklet, courtesy of github user pheuter, adds a Download MP3 link to any track on SoundCloud.

To install the bookmarklet, first drag and drop the link below to your browser's bookmark toolbar:

SoundCloud Download

Right-click the bookmark and select Edit (Chrome) or Properties (Firefox). Copy and paste the text below into the URL field (Chrome) or Location field (Firefox):

 javascript:(function(b){var a=b.createElement("a");a.innerText="Download MP3";a.href="http://media.soundcloud.com/stream/"+b.querySelector("#main-content-inner img[class=waveform]").src.match(/\.com\/(.+)\_/)[1];a.download=b.querySelector("em").innerText+".mp3";b.querySelector(".primary").appendChild(a);a.style.marginLeft="10px";a.style.color="red";a.style.fontWeight=700})(document);

Click Save and your SoundCloud bookmarklet is ready to roll. Next time you'd like to download any piece of audio from SoundCloud but downloading isn't enabled, just click your handy bookmarklet and a red Download MP3 link will magically appear in the player. Don't abuse it, and everyone wins.

Bookmarklet that generates download link for a Soundcloud upload | github

(Apologies for the extra bookmarklet installation steps beyond just dragging and dropping—our publishing platform mungs up the code in bookmarklet links.)

Whoever Wrote the Duqu Trojan's Framework Wrote It in an Unknown Programming Language [Hacking]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5891789/whoever-wrote-the-duqu-framework-wrote-it-with-an-unknown-programming-language

The Duqu Trojan is one nasty piece of code, rivaled in sophistication only by its relative, the Stuxnet Worm. A new analysis of the Trojan, however, has revealed just how advanced it really is.

Russian security firm Kaspersky Lab performed the analysis and discovered that portions of the the suspiciously-named Payload DLL file were written in an unknown programming language. What's more, these sections, dubbed the Duqu Framework, were responsible for operating the program's Command and Control functions that allow it to receive further instructions once it's infiltrated a system.

The rest of the program is written and compiled in C++, but not the Duqu Framework. It "is definitely object-oriented," wrote Igor Soumenkov but certainly not anything the analysts had ever seen before.

This discovery only further fuels speculation that both Duqu and Stuxnet are the results of a very advanced, very well-funded organization's or, more likely, nation's efforts. As Alexander Gostev, chief security expert at Kaspersky Lab, speculated,

With the extremely high level of customization and exclusivity that the programming language was created with, it is also possible that it was made not only to prevent external parties from understanding the cyber-espionage operation and the interactions with the C&Cs, but also to keep it separate from other internal Duqu teams who were responsible for writing the additional parts of the malicious program.

Duqu first surfaced last September after the Stuxnet attacks against Iranian nuclear development facilities. Duqu too appeared to target state interests in Iran as well as multiple industrial control systems. [Secure List via CBR]

Verizon-bound LG Lucid reveals itself in leaked press shots

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/08/verizon-bound-lg-lucid-reveals-itself-in-leaked-press-shots/

Aside from the Optimus Vu, last week's MWC didn't reveal all that many LTE-capable handsets from LG. Fortunately, the Life's Good crowd still have plans for Verizon -- and this is one of them. According to Pocketnow, this is the LG Lucid and it wants to nestle itself squarely in the middle ground of Verizon's smartphone catalogue. Alongside those 4G chops, the phone purportedly wields a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 800×480 resolution NOVA display and an 8-megapixel camera capable of 1080p video capture. It also appears to run an LG-laced version of Gingerbread -- presumably something the company will attempt to elbow aside with vague promises of ICS when it all goes official.

Verizon-bound LG Lucid reveals itself in leaked press shots originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Mar 2012 11:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple ups the resolution on iTunes U and iBooks 2 for new iPad

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/08/apple-ups-the-resolution-on-itunes-u-and-ibooks-2-for-new-ipad/

Apple certainly had a lot of bases to cover at yesterday's new iPad unveiling, so some minor details were bound to slip through the cracks. While app suites like iLife and iWork got to bask in the Yerba Buena spotlight touting enhanced resolutions for that Retina Display, the company's decidedly less high-profile education software was also treated a face-lift -- just without the fanfare. According to a report on CNET, prospective owners of Cupertino's latest tablet will get to download an upgraded version of iBooks 2 and iTunes U that take advantage of the new 2048 x 1536 9.7-inch screen. Aside from the visual tweaks, only iBooks 2 has been imbued with extra features, adding a touch-to-highlight function and a refined page search that unites both print and ebook layouts. You'll be able to check out the 264ppi panache for yourself when those slates ship out next week.

Apple ups the resolution on iTunes U and iBooks 2 for new iPad originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Mar 2012 12:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Angry Birds Space gameplay gets revealed -- briefly (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/08/angry-birds-space-gameplay-video/

We've already gleaned that the extra-terrestrial edition of Angry Birds will involve some sort of gameplay departure from the add-on style of previous versions, but gameplay-wise there's been less information. Fortunately, makers Rovio has now leaked out a very brief taster in its lastest video. You'll have to skip to the three-minute marker, but you'll get a glimpse at some anti-gravity avians, bubbles, explosions and atmosphere re-entries. Take a look for yourself after the break.

[Thanks Ville]

Continue reading Angry Birds Space gameplay gets revealed -- briefly (video)

Angry Birds Space gameplay gets revealed -- briefly (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Mar 2012 11:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC One X gets rooted before retail debut

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/08/htc-one-x-gets-rooted-before-retail-debut/

You didn't think the modders that form the very underpinnings of Android's base would let a little unicorn like the One X slide by unscathed, did ya? That polycarbonate überphone hasn't even made it out of the official launch gate and yet, thanks to MoDaCo, it's already been rooted. Sidestepping the usual dense how-to's typically associated with achieving root on non-Nexus devices, our eager beaver hacker's compiled Superboot: a one-step, no fuss boot image that automates the process for you sans the need for adb commands. The hack is said to work with retail versions of the handset and should play friendly with Mac, Windows and Linux operating systems, though it will require S-OFF or an unlocked bootloader courtesy of HTCdev. So if you were tantalized by the possibilities of this quad-core phone, but not quite convinced you could handle another skinned UX, this might help to ease your quandary.

HTC One X gets rooted before retail debut originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Mar 2012 12:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Verizon will support Mobile Hotspot on the new iPad, AT&T still working on it

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/08/mobile-hotspot-new-ipad/

It's no secret that the new iPad will offer the ability to share a data connection with other devices through a mobile hotspot, but the feature doesn't do any good if your wireless network doesn't offer it. Representatives from Verizon and AT&T sent tweets this morning that raised more questions than they answered, leaving us concerned that both companies had decided not to allow the hotspot capability at all. After reaching out to the carriers, however, we're able to shed some light on the subject: Verizon killed the rumor, telling us it has "every intention of supporting Mobile Hotspot on the new iPad," while AT&T stated that it is "working with Apple to enable this feature in the future, but we currently do not offer it."

In other words, Verizon has everything settled and ready to go when the first iPad shipments arrive next week, while AT&T and Apple are supposedly still at the negotiation table. Are the two companies trying to hash out some kind of revenue sharing deal as we sit idly by, yearning for the coveted option to magically appear? Whatever the reason, AT&T's answer isn't a full-out no -- but it's not a yes, either.

Update: In regards to pricing, Verizon also stated: "All of our tablet data plans include Mobile Hotspot so customers do not have to pay an additional fee for the service on tablets."

Verizon will support Mobile Hotspot on the new iPad, AT&T still working on it originally appeared on Engad get on Thu, 08 Mar 2012 13:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

9to5Mac | source

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Twitter (VZW), (AT&T) | Email this | Comments

Samsung Galaxy S II (GT-I9100) to get ICS on March 10th (update: recalled)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/08/samsung-galaxy-s-ii-ics/

Two days. That's the amount of time remaining for you, dear Samsung Galaxy S II owner, before the long-awaited upgrade to Android 4.0 -- the dessert known as Ice Cream Sandwich -- becomes readily available for your device through Kies. Naturally, this is going to be adorned with Sammy's TouchWiz UI, and it's only going to be ready on the GT-I9100 (global version) for now. According to the notes, we can expect to see Face Unlock, Android Beam and data usage included, and multitasking and some apps will be improved. We're sure this is just the tip of the feature iceberg, however. Curiously, the site specifies that because of "ICS OS feature," Flash and Bluetooth 3.0 HS won't be supported.

The update will come to individual carriers and their own GSII variants eventually, after a hefty amount of testing on their end, but at least this -- combined with HTC's rollout of Sense 3.6 to the Nordic countries today -- means the ICS ball is officially rolling for custom skins. Let's just hope it's going down a steep hill. If you happen to be packing a GT-I9100, be sure to check the links below for the full set of instructions, and let us know what you find.

[Thanks, Argel and Roger]

Update: Samsung's just tweeted that March 10th date is (sadly) wrong. It added that once the upgrade schedule is concrete, it'll confirm through its dedicated Twitter account.

Samsung Galaxy S II (GT-I9100) to get ICS on March 10th (update: recalled) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Mar 2012 17:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Super Talent teases whip-fast RAIDDrive UpStream PCIe SSD

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/08/super-talent-raiddrive-upstream/

Super Talent's developed a PCI Express flash storage system that's far faster than your current SSD yet promises to be cheaper than the company's current PCIe offerings. The RAIDDrive UpStream uses a Sandforce controller to push around 1GBps of data at twice the speed of a SATA unit. Available to buy in 220GB, 460GB and 960GB editions, it sandwiches in four RAID drives to competitor OCZ's two, and is promised to be an "upsetter" by marketing director Peter Carcione. The company's hoping to get the devices into boxes and onto shelves by the end of April, for a price that's yet to be decided. Just remember, powerful SSDs are like having a butler: desirable, yes, but also a little pricey if your surname isn't Abramovitch or Buffett.

Super Talent teases whip-fast RAIDDrive UpStream PCIe SSD originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Mar 2012 20:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Vizio welcomes YouTube as part of its Internet Apps arsenal

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/08/vizio-tvs-add-youtube-internet-app/

Vizio welcomes YouTube as part of its Internet Apps arsenal

Not long after bringing some Redmond vid-calling to your living room, Vizio's introducing another app that may just enhance your couch entertainment. Via its Twitter account, the outfit announced YouTube will now be a part of its Internet App portfolio. Though, it's worth mentioning the Tweet didn't specify if it'll support all internet-ready TV models. The Tube (as the cool kids are calling it) is joining the likes of Hulu Plus and Blockbuster On Demand as part of Vizio's entertainment offerings. We know you can't wait to make yourself cry watching Kony 2012, so be on the lookout for the Google-owned video service to hit your smart TV shortly.

Vizio welcomes YouTube as part of its Internet Apps arsenal originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Mar 2012 21:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toshiba builds scanner that can identify fruit without a barcode, yup (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/08/toshiba-fruit-scanner/

During our hurried supermarket sweeps, we're aiming for the Granny Smith, yet somehow always come away with French Jonagold. That's why we're in awe of this new supermarket scanner from Toshiba-Tech that can identify individual species of fruit and veg from sight. Rather than a cashier keying in a produce code, a camera with optical pattern recognition technology filters out "visual noise" before identifying the genus of your apple by shape, surface pattern and coloration. It's also able to scan labels and coupons, but so far the database only contains a handful of items. It'll take over a year (when each thing has been harvested and scanned) to build a database necessary to make it commercially useful. Still, if you can't bear to wait those precious seconds as your server finds the right code for lettuce, head on past the break to watch your future in action.

Continue reading Toshiba builds scanner that can identify fruit without a barcode, yup (video)

Toshiba builds scanner that can identify fruit without a barcode, yup (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Mar 2012 22:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Thursday, March 08, 2012

NVIDIA joins Linux Foundation, doesn't mention driver development

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/08/nvidia-linux-foundation/

It's a big day for open source fans now that NVIDIA, the last member of the "big three" chip makers with AMD and Intel, has signed on with the Linux foundation. The company has previously kept the system at arms length, with users relying on reverse-engineering to get things working nicely with Linus' baby. It's joining Fluenco, Lineo and Mocana, three companies who also became signatories to the foundation at the same time. Whilst there's no commitment to provide drivers for its chipsets, at least there's a glimmer of hope that the company will contribute -- especially given the growing popularity of its mobile platforms.

Continue reading NVIDIA joins Linux Foundation, doesn't mention driver development

NVIDIA joins Linux Foundation, doesn't mention driver development originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Mar 2012 09:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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