NY approves Cornell Tech's applied sciences campus on Roosevelt Island

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/21/ny-approves-cornell-tech-campus-roosevelt-island/

While Cornell has given its researchers the resources to build spider-like robots and move Pong paddles with the power of the mind, students more interested in the software side of engineering have not been getting as much love. That's about to change, however, with the recent City Planning Commission approval of Cornell Tech, a project to build an applied sciences campus on New York City's Roosevelt Island. Now the next step would be to get a blessing from the City Council. After all is said and done, we'll hopefully see the 12-acre site break ground in 2014, the campus opening its doors in 2017 and a full build-out by 2037. As they await their new home, Cornell is holding classes for aspiring computer whiz-kids at Google's Chelsea campus, where we're sure they'll get an inspiration or two. To see what else Cornell Tech has in store, check out the source link below.

Filed under: Science

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Via: < a target="_blank" href="http://thenextweb.com/us/2013/03/20/nys-cornell-tech-campus-approved-by-city-planning-commission-for-2014-groundbreaking/?utm_medium=Spreadus&utm_campaign=social%20media&awesm=tnw.to_a0WQu&utm_source=Twitter">The Next Web

Source: Cornell Tech

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Google's Note-Taking Service Keep Is Live, And It's Wonderful

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5991578/googles-note-taking-service-keep-is-live-again-for-now

Google Keep is live. You can go check out Google's answer to Evernote at http://drive.google.com/keep.

Google officially announced the note-taking product some time ago, and after it cropped up briefly over the weekend, Google Keep is now really truly officially a real thing on the Internet that you can use. Oh, and it looks terrific.

Right now, the feature set seems relatively straight-forward and limited. Google basically wants to help you Keep track of what you're thinking about and doing. In addition to creating simple notes like the ones above, Google Keep also has a list tracking feature:

There's also an Android app for the service which is live:

The whole app is colorful and fun and the mobile interface in particular is crisco slick when it's working.

In trying it out so far, we've noticed that Keep has experiencing early life jitters and errors. But it's good enough when it is working that it might depose Evernote as the king of thought capture mountain. One thing you definitely notice is that the service is really lightweight. And some obvious features are missing. For example, you can share notes from the Android app but there's not obvious share feature on the web interface. [Google Blog]

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Google Keep note taking service officially launches on web and Android (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/20/google-keep-note-taking-service-officially-launches-on-web-and-a/

The Google Keep note taking service that leaked out a few days ago has officially launched. There's a website and an Android app for now, and a post on the Google Drive blog it's intended for users to quickly jot down ideas. They're saved on Google Drive -- which probably explains why this exists instead of the axed Google Notebook service -- and on Android 4.2.2 there's a lock screen widget available for even easier access. Check after the break for a trailer explaining the new service's features, or just hit the links below to try it out for yourself to see if it can best alternatives like Evernote. That is, is if you can get in. While it was working for us initially, many are seeing "error encountered" messages now as the masses flood the service.

Filed under: Software, Mobile, Google

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Source: Google Drive blog, Google Keep, Google Play

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Google Currents for Android now supports audio playback, improves syncing between devices

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/20/google-currents-for-android-update/

We don't see the Android -- or iOS, for that matter -- version of Google Currents get quite as many updates as, say, Google+ or Maps, but today its Mountain View creators have stuffed the app with some tidbits that are sure to come in handy to those using it on a daily basis. Most notably, Currents for Android is now more friendly with editions including audio content, adding a media bar which will allow for easy playback of such files within the application. Additionally, Google also gave its magazine-like app a boost by enhancing syncing between devices, making it rather facile for folks to pick up where they left off on a story. Go on and grab the updated version now from Google Play -- in the meantime, we'll still be pondering whether or not we should insert a shameless plug.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Mobile, Google

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Via: Android Central

Source: Google Play

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Tiger Woods: I Posted Those Facebook Photos With Lindsey Vonn To Crush The Paparazzi

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/why-tiger-woods-posted-facebook-photos-with-lindsey-vonn-2013-3

When Tiger Woods decided to post glamour shot photos of him and his new ladyfriend, Lindsey Vonn, it was unexpected. 

Woods is normally very private. This very public declaration of his personal life didn't make sense. And, frankly, the whole thing just seemed weird.

Today, during a press conference at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, he explained why he did it.

Basically, he wanted to take money out of the pocket of paparazzi who were stalking him.

"It's very simple. We're very happy where we're at, but also we wanted to limit the stalkarazzi and all those sleazy websites that are out there following us,'' Woods said, according to ESPN.

Last night, Fox Sports' Robert Lusetich reported Woods has been surreptitiously seeing Vonn since November. During that time, photographers have been trying desperately to get photos of the pair together.

Lusetich estimates the first photos of Vonn and Woods could have fetched $500,000 from tabloids.

By preempting the paparazzi from getting the first photos of the couple, Woods and Vonn popped the market. The hope is that they'll be left alone now.

"I've had situations where it's been very dangerous for my kids and the extent they'll go to. We basically devalued the first photos," he said, a! ccording to ESPN, "Unfortunately, that's just the way it is in our society right now, and we felt like it was the best thing to do. I'm very happy about it.''

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NVIDIA's GRID VCA now available to graphic crunching pros at a cool $24,900

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/20/nvidias-grid-vca-now-available/

While it won't supercharge Crysis or other games like its upcoming Cloud Gaming device may, NVIDIA's GRID Visual Computing Appliance is now up for grabs to designers, animators and visual production types for $24,900 plus a $2,400 yearly software license fee. That sum will merely get you the starter model consisting of 8 GPUs, 16 threads of CPU and 192GB of RAM to service up to 8 users, while the 16 GPU model -- which doubles all that up -- is hitting the dreaded "contact us" price point. For reasonable-sized studios with multiple designers or artists, though, it'd allow humdrum machines to link up via a network and still crunch complex models -- making the price rather beside the point for us individual users. For more info, hit the PR after the jump.

Filed under: Desktops, Networking, NVIDIA

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Samsung announces pricing for S9 UHD TV: $39,999, shipping in late March

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/20/samsung-s9-uhd-tv-pricing/

At its home entertainment event in New York City today, Samsung filled in the details about the HDTV lineup we first glimpsed at CES 2013 in January. If you recall, several high-profile sets were first unveiled at the show, and pricing is unsurprisingly steep to match. The 85-inch S9 UHD TV, with a slick, easel-style frame and "Precision Black Pro" display tech, will go for $39,999 when it launches at the end of March.

Samsung also announced pricing for its Smart Evolution Kit, a hardware set of products -- including a quad-core processor, GPU and memory -- that plugs into the back of a Sammy-designed TV to keep hardware and software up to date as new models are released. The kit will go for $300 when it debuts in May, and it wil come bundled with the latest Smart Touch Remote. And finally -- because what ultra-luxe home entertainment system is complete without high-end audio? -- there's the HW-F750 soundbar, which incorporates the company's vacuum tube technology and boasts a wireless subwoofer. The HW-F750 will connect with select Samsung Smart TVs via Bluetooth, and it will set you back $799 when it goes on sale in March. Hit up the press release past the break for more info.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD< /a>, Samsung

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Half Of What Advertisers Think They Know About You Is Wrong

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/advertisers-hilariously-wrong-2013-3

Considering that they’ve never explicitly asked us about our preferences, it’s a minor miracle of big data that web advertising companies know anything about us at all.

But at least half of the things they think they know about you—from your political preferences to your affinity for ladies’ fashion—could be wrong, and sometimes hilariously so.

Or at least, that’s what data from a survey put out by a firm called Enliken would suggest.

Because Enliken’s business is getting people to give up more-accurate data about themselves in exchange for access to content, and because the survey wasn’t very big—covering just 116 people and about 9,000 data points—I took the survey myself in order to see whether ad targeting firms’ notions about my preferences were as inaccurate as Enliken suggested.

The survey included more than 50 different data points gathered by a variety of tracking companies, from my interest in travel to my preference (or not) for Skyy Vodka. My own results weren’t as damning as Enliken’s overall numbers—only 26% of the data about me was obviously wrong—but many individual data points were laughably wrong.

I am anything but, for example, an auto fanatic and a hard core sports fan—whereas some ad targeting firms (Enliken doesn’t say which) pegged me as such.

 

Data from the overall survey of 116 people also suggests that not all tracking firms are created equal.

If these numbers are accurate, last-place finisher Yahoo was almost twice as likely to be wrong about a pe! rson&rsq uo;s preferences as first-place Google. (We’ve reached out to Yahoo for comment, and will update this once we hear back from them.)

 

Enliken is part of a larger trend, including “data locker” companies like Personal.com, that think people will give advertisers what they crave—accurate information about who they are and what they might like to buy—if people trust the intermediaries who gather that data.

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EPFL mixes graphene and molybdenite to make very efficient, flexible flash memory

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/20/epfl-combines-graphene-and-molybdenite-for-super-efficient-memory/

We've seen graphene chips, and we've seen molybdenite chips. What would happen if we combined the two? If EPFL's experimental flash memory is any clue, we might get one of the better blends since chocolate met peanut butter. The chip uses graphene's high conductivity for the memory itself, as well as for electrodes, but stuffs molybdenite in between to rapidly switch electrical states (such as what you'd see in write commands) while using little power. The hybrid is theoretically both faster and more power-efficient than conventional silicon designs, but that's just the start: the extra-thin nature of either material is better-suited to flexible electronics on top of shrinking the chip footprint. If there's anything at this stage that would sour EPFL's dreams of a storage utopia, it's time. There's no immediate mention of commercialization plans for the mutant memory, which could leave us stuck on silicon for awhile.

Filed under: Storage, Science

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Source: ACS Nano

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Send to Kindle buttons now available for web publishers and Wordpress bloggers

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/20/send-to-kindle-buttons-web-publishers-wordpress-bloggers/

Up until now, if you wanted to send content from a website directly to your Kindle for later reading, you had to install a browser extension. Now, however, you don't necessarily have to if the site in question has implemented Amazon's new "Send to Kindle" button. Made just for web publishers and Wordpress bloggers, you can already see it on The Washington Post, TIME and Boing Boing websites. Publishers can design how they want the button to look to a certain degree via limited customization of the font, color, size and theme. Like all the other Send to Kindle shortcuts, all readers need to do is select the article they want to ship over, hit the button and they'll see it on their favorite Kindle reader, be it the app or the device. Site owners can head over to the sources below to see how they can participate.

Filed under: Software, Amazon

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Via: PaidContent

Source: Send to Kindle for websites, Send to Kindle Wordpress plugin, Kindle Daily Post

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Wireless 'under the skin' prototype implant beams instant blood test read-outs to your smartphone

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/20/wireless-under-the-skin-implant-can-beam-instant-blood-test-re/

A new blood-testing subdermal sensor has been developed by a team of scientists in Switzerland. While that may not sound particularly notable, this half-inch prototype can instantly beam several health metrics to smart devices over Bluetooth, monitoring cholesterol, blood sugar levels as well as the impact of medical treatments like chemotherapy using five built-in sensors.

The device has already been tested on animals and while the researchers hope to begin testing soon on patients that would typically require a lot of blood tests and monitoring, the module is still several years from a commercial release. According to the EPFL's video, the sensor can even predict heart attacks several hours before they occur, sensing minute changes in the bloodstream ahead of time. We've 'implanted' the explanation after the break, but if you're looking for some more medical-minded specifics, head to the source.

Filed under: Science, Alt

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Via: BBC

Source: EPFL

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Amazon Whispercast for Kindle now lets organizations manage mass app distribution on Fire tablets

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/19/amazon-whispercast-for-kindle-bulk-app-distribution/

When Amazon introduced its Kindle Whispercast service back in October, it did so with the promise that '"bulk app distribution" would be coming soon for Fire tablets. Fast forward to today and that feature is now live, giving organizations the ability to push purchased applications from an administration account to all managed Kindle Fire tablets. Yes, that even includes BYOD devices, although those users will have to accept an opt-in prompt to participate. If your school or business already participates in the service, there's no need to take any further action -- the ability should be enabled right now. But if you'd still like to sign-up, you can do so at the source.

Filed under: Tablets, Amazon

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Via: TechCrunch

Source: Amazon, (2)

Source: Jeremy Ng (Google+)

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Skitch 2.0 for Windows improves layout, performance, adds social sharing

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/20/skitch-2-0-windows-desktop/

It's only been a few short months since the last Skitch for Windows 8 update, but before you can say "spring equinox," it's time for another one. Release 2.0 boasts a number of improvements over its predecessor that include an improved and streamlined layout which showcases the Capture menu, enhanced sharing with services like Twitter and Facebook, and a snappier performance overall. It's available today from Evernote.com or you can wait to snag one from the Windows Store in a few days.

Filed under: Internet

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Source: Evernote Blog

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This leaked 5-inch ZTE handset could be headed to Sprint's LTE lineup

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/19/zte-handset-leak-sprint-lte/

Much of ZTE's MWC 2013 focus was its desire to go from white label to global brand name. And from the looks of these leaked shots, the Chinese OEM's taking that goal seriously, purportedly prepping a new handset for Sprint. Going by the rumored name "Quantum," the handset falls below flagship status, allegedly running Android Jelly Bean and bearing a Snapdragon S4 processor, 5-inch 720p display, 1GB RAM and a 13-megapixel rear camera housed in an outsized circular module. There's no visible carrier branding anywhere on the device to confirm its possible Sprint LTE destiny -- only a logo in the notification pane and an anonymous tip, as reported to Android Police, pegs it for that. If this leak does indeed pan out, then that's good news for Sprint subs looking for more hardware choice, giant screens and 4G. And if not, well, no one will know the difference. Check out the source for additional shots.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Sprint

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Source: Android Police

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