Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Refine Your Image Search With Google Image Swirl [Image Search]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/od39mGMXYpY/refine-your-image-search-with-google-image-swirl

Google released Image Swirl today, a new experimental Labs feature designed to make it easier to find related images on the internet and tease out elusive images from the millions already on the web.

(Click the image above for a closer look.)

Like its cousin Image Search, Image Swirl is super easy to use. Type in one of more than 200,000 search terms and the webapp serves up thumbnail images grouped in batches of other images with broadly similar qualities. As you drill down, each batch is then sub-grouped with even more relevant attributes, and so on.

This is a pretty spiffy idea, and appears at least as useful as the current image search methods—if not more. It's perfect for those times when you want a specific type of picture—the Statue of Liberty, for instance—but want to eliminate certain attributes, like photos taken at night.

Is this experimental feature something you'd like to see graduate from Labs? Let us know in the comments.




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Nokia's N-Series Will Ditch Symbian for Maemo by 2012 [Nokia]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/GtA9b_B0XKw/nokias-n+series-will-ditch-symbian-for-maemo-by-2012

At an official N900 meet-up in London last night, the Maemo marketing team appears to have let slip that Nokia will use the Linux-based OS instead of S60 on all its future flagship N-Series handsets. About time, no?

The S60 5th edition OS (as used on the N97 and N97 mini) might be mature, but it's pretty damn woeful. Maemo 5 (used by the N900) definitely has a better user experience, and though it's not perfect either, it's definitely headed in the right direction. Speaking of which, Nokia's next OS, Maemo 6, could look like this. [The Reality Mobile Project]




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Of Course, Microsoft Denies Those Project Natal Pricing 'Rumors' [Rumors]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/me9fpFS3I_M/of-course-microsoft-denies-those-project-natal-pricing-rumors

I trust a mole more than a company spokesperson any day, but Microsoft has officially denied the Project Natal "impulse buy" pricing with 14 games by offering a simple "[the alleged leaks] weren't accurate, they were rumors." [Gamesindustry via Kotaku]




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The Asus G51J 3D Laptop Is '3D Done Right' [Laptops]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/wfx5He-CcFc/the-asus-g51j-3d-laptop-is-3d-done-right

We reviewed Acer's 3D laptop not so long ago. We found it fun, but reeking of gen 1 quirks. Now Laptop Mag has played with a new 3D laptop by Asus and found it to be pretty fantastic.

The Asus G51J 3D is the first laptop to feature NVIDIA's new 3D vision technology, and it takes advantage of a high performance, 15.6-inch 120Hz LCD that, when coupled with shutter glasses (yup, you still need glasses) garnered these praises from Laptop:

...unlike the TriDef technology that powers Acer's 3D laptop, titles optimized for 3D vision give you a great sense of depth without negatively affecting gameplay. On first person shooters, for example, we found it difficult to aim when using the Acer 5738DG. On the Asus G51J 3D, you don't make any compromises in terms of control or accuracy.

For the 3D tech, you'll take a resolution hit (there's no 3D 1080P display option) and pay a $200 premium, making the full gaming $1,700.

Keep in mind that Acer's system, while utilizing only rudimentary polarized glasses 3D, costs under $800. [Laptop Mag]




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Google-branded phone coming early next year?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/18/google-branded-phone-coming-early-next-year/

We've been hearing talk of thoroughly Google-branded phones since before Android was announced -- and if you want to get really technical about it, you could argue that it's already happened twice in the form of the Dev Phone 1 and the Ion. Thing is, those are strictly developer-oriented one-offs based on existing models, and TechCrunch is reporting in a rather authoritative tone today that Google's just about to launch a consumer phone all its own designed to in-house, no-compromise specifications with signs suggesting that either Samsung or LG would be responsible for OEM duties. Allegedly, the device was supposed to be at retail in time for the holidays but ended up getting pushed back into early 2010, at which point we can expect a big marketing push -- but the question is, why? Google had a heavy hand in the design and development of the chunky, geeky HTC Dream, so we already know they're probably better off leaving the details of the industrial design to the guys who've been doing this for a while -- and with strong new partnerships with Verizon and Motorola just now bearing fruit, it's safe to say that Big Red wouldn't be a launch partner. Our most interesting theory here is that AT&T -- which has gone totally radio-silent for all things Android in the past six months -- is responding to the probable impending loss of its iPhone exclusivity by scoring a coup on a gorgeous, aspirational device with the Google logo all over it. Given the time frame that TC's suggesting, it sounds like we wouldn't have to wait long to find out what's what.

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Google-branded phone coming early next year? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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