Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Monday, April 22, 2013

Google Earth gets Leap Motion support, lets you explore the planet with touch-free control

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/22/google-earth-leap-motion/

How are you celebrating Earth Day? If you're one of 10,000 Leap Motion devs with an early unit, you could very well be exploring Mount Everest or venturing through the Amazon, just by waving your hands. Google's Earth app, which has reportedly been downloaded more than a billion times, just scored a refresh today -- version 7.1 -- delivering Leap Motion gesture control to your desktop. Both the free and paid versions now support touch-free navigation through the USB desktop device, which is expected in stores next month. The update, however, available for Windows, Mac and Linux, is yours for the taking now.

Filed under: Peripherals, Google

Source: Leap Motion (YouTube)

Photojojo's telephoto lens brings up to 12x of optical zoom to your iPad

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/22/photojojo-ipad-telephoto-lens/

After creating the Photorito lens wrap that makes your zoom like a burrito, Photojojo has pulled off another feat: making iPad photographers look even wackier than normal. But the company's iPad telephoto lens is pretty useful if you're willing to hold a slab to your face to grab images. It brings a useful 10x zoom to the iPad 3 and 4, and 12x to the iPad Mini, giving you un-pixelated closeups along with "slight vignetting, a lo-fi look and all around interest to your photos." You're not going to make your iPad any less conspicuous as a camera than it already is, so you can grab the wee lens for $25 at the source.

Filed under: Cameras, Tablets

Via: Cult of Mac

Source: Photojojo

Acer teases May 3rd reveal of a tilt-screen laptop deemed worthy of Star Trek (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/22/acer-teases-may-3rd-reveal-of-a-tilt-screen-laptop/

Our eyebrows are officially raised. Acer has revealed that it's going all-in with a promotional connection to Star Trek Into Darkness, and it's hinting at the May 3rd unveiling of a "unique" laptop that it believes would be at home in Captain Kirk's universe. We doubt that many people will still use Windows 8 in the 23rd century, but there may be some truth to the claims of novelty: a brief clip shows a clamshell design whose display can tilt outward like that of a desktop monitor, most likely to improve the comfort of touchscreen input without going the full convertible route of PCs like the Dell XPS 12. We'll know soon enough whether or not Acer's PC is the stuff of sci-fi or remains firmly grounded in reality.

Filed under: Laptops, Acer

Source: Acer

LG's NYC press event aims to 'share the genius' of the Optimus G Pro

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/22/lg-nyc-press-event-optimus-g/

LG's just shed some much needed light on its May 1st New York event. Turns out the "genius" the company will be celebrating stands for Atlas Genius -- as in the band -- and the star of this fete: the Optimus G Pro. We've already seen and very favorably reviewed the global model of LG's performance flagship (for the G's successor, you'll have to wait until Q3) and now it looks like the US is in store for a potential carrier-branded version of its own. If it arrives internally unmolested, we're looking at a 5.5-inch 1080p True HD IPS+ display, Snapdragon 600 and a 2.1-megapixel / 13-megapixel camera setup capable of dual video recording. We'll be on-site for this stateside debut, so stay tuned for the fully monty.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, LG

Energizer Light Fusion LED Lantern Lightning Review: A Light for Every Emergency

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5994989/energizer-light-fusion-led-lantern-lightning-review-a-light-for-every-emergency

It's the middle of the night and you're in the middle of nowhere when—whumpa, whumpa, whumpa—you get a flat. Rather than fumble through the tire change in the dark, why not keep this portable LED lantern in the boot should the need arise?

What Is It?

A 300-lumen area light from Energizer's Light Fusion Technology line.

Who's it For?

Backpackers and campers looking for an alternative to bulky and explosive propane lanterns, DIY mechanics tired of singeing themselves on white-hot drop lights.

Design

A radical departure from the conventional gas lanterns you took camping as a kid (looking at you, Coleman), the dimmable 300-lumen LED light source spreads evenly across a roughly 4.5-inch square translucent fold-out plate hinged at the unit's top rubberized handle. An integrated kickstand flips out from the opposite end of the case (which houses the AA batteries under a locking cover plate) just below the power switch.

Using It

This lantern only has two moving parts: the lamp plate and the kickstand. Extend both of these, press the power button, and boom—illumination.

The Best Part

This lamp runs forever. Even at maximum brightness, it lasted 6 hours with eight NiMH 1.2V, 3 hours with eight 1.5V alkalines, 3.5 hours with four NiMH 1.2V, and 1.5 hours with four 1.5V alkalines. Lowering the brightness, which at full power gets a bit glarey anyway, dramatically extends its run-time.

Tragic Flaw

The battery compartment cover is secured by a pair of quarter-turn plastic screws that cannot be opened by hand. You'll need a flat head screwdriver to release them, though nickles work in a pinch.

This Is Weird...

The lantern accepts batteries in sets of four or eight. This doesn't affect the brightness, only the runtime.

Test Notes

It's got an IPX4 water resistance rating meaning it can endure minor splashes and downpours but can't be submerged
Press and hold the power button to dim, press and hold again to brighten. The lamp will blink in shortening intervals as it gets really low on power.
The lantern can use both disposable alkaline and rechargable NiMH batteries

Should You Buy It?

Yes. It's only $35, runs on the most common battery size, and is small enough to stash in a car trunk or go-bag. It's a sensible, low cost, long-lasting solution to emergency lighting, what more do you want?

Energizer Light Fusion LED Lantern Specs

• Bulb Type: LED
• Brightness: 15 (est) - 300 lumen
• Dimensions: 11 x 1.6 x 8 inches
• Power: 4 or 8 AA
• Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Price: $35 at Amazon

SES demos first Ultra HD transmission in more efficient HEVC standard

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/20/ses-demos-first-ultra-hd-transmission-in-more-efficient-hevc-sta/

We're still a bit away from Ultra HD becoming the standard for television. One of the things standing in the way is just how much bandwidth pushing that many pixels demands. SES recently demonstrated an Ultra HD transmission that uses the up and coming HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) standard, as opposed to the more established H.264. It's demonstrated 4K broadcasts before, as seen above at its IBC booth last year, but those were using older codecs. The 3,840 x 2,160 image was broadcast at a data rate of 20 Mbps, roughly a 50-percent improvement in encoding efficiency over H.264-based MPEG-4. The demonstration was performed with support from SES's partners, Harmonic and Broadcom, the latter of which provided the BCM7445-based decoding box used for pulling in the video. The tech still isn't quite ready for prime time, but we'd say a 4K House of Cards stream is probably closer than any of us realized.

Filed under: HD

Adapteva shows off production Parallella mini 'supercomputer' boards

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/20/adapteva-shows-of-its-first-parallella-mini-supercomputer-bo/

With its ambitious Parallella computing project funded on Kickstarter since last October, Adapteva's now showing off its first mass-production boards. These Raspberry Pi-esque devices are capable of supercomputer-like parallel computing performance thanks to power-sipping Epiphany multi-core accelerators. As proposed, both the $99 13GHz 16-core (26 gigaflops) and $199 45GHz 64-core accelerator (90 gigaflops) variants make an appearance in the pictures. The company is tweaking this initial batch of 10 to test various functionalities, with its current update noting that getting Linux to boot off the boards is the next step in testing. Final units are still slated to arrive on doorsteps during the summer, and hardware schematics will eventually be available as open source-info -- after all, the Parallella has always been pitched as an open undertaking. Those enthused by circuits and the boards they live on will find a path to more info at the source link.

Via: Tech2

Source: Adapteva (Kickstarter), Parallella.org

Friday, April 19, 2013

DARPA flaunts HD heat vision camera small enough to carry into battle

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/19/darpa-small-heat-vision-infrared-camera/

Thermal imaging cameras are highly useful tools for military and law enforcement types, letting them see humans inside buildings or land a helicopter in the fog. High-definition models are too heavy for servicemen to tote, however, so DARPA and a private partner have built a 1,280 x 720 LIWR (long-wave infrared) imager with pixels a mere five microns in diameter. That's smaller than infrared light's wavelength, allowing for a slighter device without giving up any resolution or sensitivity while costing much less, to boot. Researchers say that three functional prototypes have performed as well as much larger models, allowing them to see through a simulated dust storm, among other tests. If DARPA ever lets such goodies fall into civvy hands, count us in -- you can never have too much security.

Filed under: Cameras, Science, Alt

Via: Gizmag

Source: DARPA

Facebook launches real-time graphs to highlight its data center efficiency

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/19/facebook-pue-real-time-charts/

Curious as to the effect that your poking wars are having on the planet? Facebook is outing power and water usage data for its Oregon and North Carolina data centers to show off its sustainability chops. The information is updated in near-real time, and the company will add its Swedish facility to the charts as soon as it's built. The stats for the Forest City, NC plant show a very efficient power usage effectiveness ratio of 1.09 -- thanks, in part, to that balmy (North) Carolina air.

Filed under: Internet, Facebook

Via: GigaOm

Source: Facebook, Open Compute Project

Ridiculously thin and light laptop unveiled in Taiwan: the 10.7mm, 1.9-pound Inhon Blade 13 Carbon

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/19/inhon-blade-13-carbon/

Never heard of Inhon? That might change with the Taiwanese computer maker's Blade 13 Carbon laptop, which it claims is now the world's thinnest and lightest. Tipping the scale at 870g (1.9 pounds) and 10.7mm, the company says it undercuts NEC's 12.8mm Lavie X by a whopping 2mm, while nipping the 875g LaVie Z by 5g. There are still weighty specs crammed into the package, however: a Core i5 or i7 CPU, 1080p screen, 128GB or 256GB SSD and 4GB of RAM. If you're looking for that kind of unencumbered power, the Carbon will also lighten your pocketbook to the respectable tune of $1,350, while a dialed-back 1,600 x 900 fiberglass version -- still radically lean at 12.6mm and 1,195g (2.6 pounds) -- will run a grand or so. These models will arrive in Taiwan in June, with no sign that it'll come to relieve us overburdened laptop users stateside.

Gallery: Inhon Blade 13 Carbon

Filed under: Laptops

Source: Engadget Chinese

Thursday, April 18, 2013

drag2share: Butt-On With the Magical Machine That Finds the Perfect Pair of Jeans

source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/vip/~3/5NQaCi3GM3M/butt+on-with-the-magical-machine-that-finds-the-perfect-pair-of-jeans

Butt-On With the Magical Machine That Finds the Perfect Pair of Jeans

Apr 18, 2013

Butt-On With the Magical Machine That Finds the Perfect Pair of Jeans Anyone with legs and a butt knows finding a pair of pants that fits just right is challenging. No two bodies—or jeans for that matter—are alike. But Me-Ality is a magical machine that takes just 10 seconds to tell you exactly which brands, styles, and sizes are your perfect match.

Bloomingdale's recently installed Me-Ality sizing booths in the women's denim departments of several of its locations. I made a trip up to the 59th Street store in Manhattan this morning to give the virtual tailor a try. And it might have changed my life.

Here's how it works: You stand still inside a big white, glass-windowed booth that looks like an adapted version of the elevator from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with y! our hand s by your side. A big wand passes by you twice to collect 200,000 measurements. The booth uses light radio waves (the equivalent of 1/1000th of a phone call, says Me-Ality's PR head) to detect the moisture in your skin to sniff out your size. You don't have to strip down or wear any special suit or anything, but if you're wearing heels, you'll have to slip them off because it will throw the height detection off.

---
drag2share - drag and drop RSS news items on your email contacts to share (click SEE DEMO)

Archos dips into smartphones with the 35 Carbon, 50 Platinum and 53 Platnium

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/18/archos-dips-into-android-smartphones/

While Archos has long held dreams of expanding into smartphones, we've seen it run into its fair share of roadblocks along the way. Thanks in part to a sharpened corporate focus, that vision is at last becoming real with the company's first, honest-to-goodness smartphone range. The 35 Carbon, 50 Platinum and 53 Platinum all cater to the budget, carrier-independent crowd with common foundations of unlocked 7.2Mbps HSPA 3G, dual SIM slots (only one being 3G) and stock Android. We also see a rather skimpy 4GB of storage, although a microSD slot on each phone helps make up for the difference.

What you're mostly paying for is performance and screen size. The 35 Carbon ships with an HVGA 3.5-inch screen, a single-core 1GHz Snapdragon S1, 512MB of RAM, VGA cameras and Ice Cream Sandwich; move up to the 50 or 53 Platinum and you'll get their respective 5- and 5.3-inch qHD screens, a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Play, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera, a 2-megapixel front camera and Jelly Bean. No, we're not bowled over by the performance any more than you are -- but the respective contract-free prices of $100, $220 and $250 may have at least some trying Archos' first effort, even if the company's late May launch will only include Europe at first.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Source: Archos (1), (2), (3)

PanaCast brings panoramic HD video to conference calls in the palm of your hand for $599 (hands-on)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/17/panacast-panoramic-hd-video-conferencing/

Video chats have become quite popular these days, whether you're using Facetime, Skype or are attending a Google Hangout. One problem with those platforms is that they provide a limited field of view and that view is static for attendees. PanaCast solves that problem with some unique hardware and software that provides a 200 degree FOV and a virtualized camera for each viewer. Its camera has six imagers, an SoC with dual ARM11 cores and a custom-built multi-imaging video processor (MIVP), along with an Ethernet port and a USB 2.0 port.

The MIVP, with an assist from some custom firmware, stitches all of the input images together to form a single 2700 x 540 video stream. That feed has enterprise-grade encryption and can run at up to 60fps over faster connections, but streams lower framerates over 3G as well. It works over the open internet and streams using a high-speed codec developed by Cavium Networks that needs only 350kb of bandwidth to function. After you're done perusing our gallery below, join us after the break to learn more about how the PanaCast system works.

Gallery: PanaCast panoramic HD video conferencing camera hands-on

Filed under: Cameras, Mobile

Source: Altia Systems

LG's curved OLED displays to arrive in the second half of 2013

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/17/lg-curved-oled-launch-second-half-of-2013/

Alongside its wafer-thin 4K TVs, LG's curved OLED display was another product that occupies a special place in our CES memories. Fortunate, then, that the product has taken a step away from vaporware, with the company's Vice President of Home Entertainment Europe, Thomas Lee, confirming that its "world-first" curved OLED TVs will launch in the second half of this year. Given the Korean firm's tendency to test new models closer to home, we'd suspect this would be a native launch, but given that the company's 55-inch OLED display made it into at least one store outside of Korea, we wouldn't count out seeing an overseas retail appearance soon after.

Filed under: Displays, HD, LG

Lynx A 3D point-and-shoot camera/tablet does motion capture and 3D modeling, we go hands-on

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/17/lynx-a-3d-point-and-shoot-camera-tablet-hands-on/

Earlier this year, a group of enterprising students from the University of Texas unveiled the Lynx A 3D camera and asked for money to fund its construction on Kickstarter. Since then, they've soared past their funding goal of $50,000, and are getting ready to ship out their first set of cameras. Today at DEMO Mobile SF, we finally got to see a prototype unit for ourselves and watch it scan someone's head in real-time. For the uninitiated, the Lynx A is billed as a point-and-shoot 3D camera that uses Kinect-esque hardware to obtain depth mapping and imaging info from your surroundings. Using GPU computing power and some custom code, it turns that data into 3D scene and object models or motion capture, and it displays the finished models on its 14-inch screen a minute or two after it's finished recording -- all for $1,799.

The Lynx A we witnessed working in person today was a prototype unit, so fit and finish were far from being retail ready, as wide gaps and exposed screws abounded. Lynx assured us that the units going out to its backers will not only have a more polished appearance, but also be six times more accurate and 30 percent smaller due to newer hardware components. Despite the prototype's rough appearance, the modeling process went off without a hitch. It was able to scan 2/3 of a human head in about a minute and within a couple minutes more it was displaying a 3D model ready to be manipulated and printed out by a Replicator or a Form 1. Don't believe us? See for yourself in the video after the break.

Gallery: Lynx A 3D camera/tablet hands-on

Filed under: Cameras, Tablets

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)