Saturday, April 03, 2010

ASUS, EVGA, Gigabyte, Intel and MSI do battle for P55 motherboard throne

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/03/asus-evga-gigabyte-intel-and-msi-do-battle-for-p55-motherboar/

Look, we know you've got choices, and when it comes to motherboards, you've got options galore. If you've been eying a new Core i5 or Core i7 rig to replace that aging Pentium 4 486 system of yours, but aren't quite feeling the pre-fabricated thing, a whole slew of mobo makers have pushed through new boards to support Intel's P55 Express chipset. The gurus over at Hot Hardware -- gluttons for pain no like other, it seems -- rounded up mainboards from ASUS, EVGA, Gigabyte, Intel and MSI in order to see which ruled the roost, and more importantly, which was right for you. Options ranging from $140 to $340 were taken into account, and while the top-end EVGA P55 Classified obviously performed well under pressure, just about every single contender had a little something special to offer. There's no cut and dry "winner" when it comes to something like this, only detailed explanations as to which board suits what kind of buyer. Tired of paging through Froogle without actually knowing what you're looking for? Tap that source link and get some enlightenment.

ASUS, EVGA, Gigabyte, Intel and MSI do battle for P55 motherboard throne originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 03 Apr 2010 04:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceHot Hardware  | Email this | Comments

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Netflix coming to the iPhone and iPod touch

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/03/netflix-coming-to-the-iphone-and-ipod-touch/

This one needs very little explication indeed. Netflix has just officially confirmed that its currently iPad-only app will be trickling down to the smaller iPhone OS devices. It's all very teasing and noncommittal as far as the timeframe goes, but who's not excited about getting the "dessert" to the iPad's main course?

[Thanks, drmm3r41]

Netflix coming to the iPhone and iPod touch originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 03 Apr 2010 05:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceNetflix  | Email this | Comments

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Friday, April 02, 2010

How Can I Send an Email via Text Message? [Ask Lifehacker]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5506326/how-can-i-send-an-email-via-text-message

How Can I Send an Email via Text Message?Dear Lifehacker,
I like to keep a to-do list by emailing myself, but I don't have a data plan for my phone. Is it possible to send an email to myself via SMS?

Signed,
SMS 4 Life

Photo by C y r i l l i c u s.

Hey there SMS,
It seems like there should be an easy answer to this question, but unfortunately we're not aware of a single service designed explicitly for the purpose of sending email via SMS, and luckily, there is! (Thanks commenters!) We've listed the best option first, followed by a few helpful alternatives that might come in handy depending on your situation.

1) Just Enter Your Email Address as the SMS Recipient

Okay, so this method is actually dead simple, and from what our commenters are saying, it appears to work with most carriers:

Fire up SMS on your phone, but instead of entering in a number you want to text, enter an email address. Any email address. Compose your text like normal, hit Send, and your carrier will convert the message to an email. When it's delivered, it'll look something like you see in the screenshot below:

How Can I Send an Email via Text Message?

Simple, right? I was completely unaware that this was even an option before our readers pointed it out (Lifehacker readers are awesome), and it works like a charm. I've got three other methods for you to try out below, and since you're interested in using your text messages as a to-do list, I particularly like method #3 below, since it adds a to-do-specific subject to the email. But if the above method works for you, you can stop there.

2) Google Voice

If you're able to get your hands on a Google Voice invitation (we've got a dedicated thread here for handing out extras if you've got one and you're feeling kind), Voice has a very simple solution to your problem:

How Can I Send an Email via Text Message?

If you're logged into your Google account, just point your browser to the Voicemail and SMS settings page and tick the checkbox below Alert me when I have new voicemails and pick the address you'd like to email the message to. (See the screenshot above.) Once enabled, you can email anything to yourself via SMS by simply texting your Google Voice number from any phone. Your text message will end up in your inbox and look similar to the email you see below.

How Can I Send an Email via Text Message?

But Google Voice SMS-to-email forwarding may be overkill if you're only interested in sending email to yourself, since any text messages other people send to your Voice number will also end up in your inbox. That may be more inbox clutter than you're interested in. You could always set up filters, but that starts to get rather convoluted. Instead, consider the following solution:

3) Text yourself via email, then reply to that to email via SMS

Okay, this one may sound a little bit complicated, but overall it's actually really simple and effective. As you may or may not know, you can send text messages to most phones from your email account, provided you know the right email address for your carrier. For example, to send a text message to an AT&T phone via email, you'd simply append the 10-digit phone number to @txt.att.net (e.g., 5551234567@txt.att.net). We've highlighted this before, but as a quick reminder, some of the most popular carriers' email-to-SMS addresses are:

  • Alltel: phonenumber@message.alltel.com
  • AT&T: phonenumber@txt.att.net
  • T-Mobile: phonenumber@tmomail.net
  • Virgin Mobile: phonenumber@vmobl.com
  • Sprint: phonenumber@messaging.sprintpcs.com
  • Verizon: phonenumber@vtext.com
  • Nextel: phonenumber@messaging.nextel.com
  • US Cellular: phonenumber@mms.uscc.net

To use this method, compose a message in your email account to the proper email address for your phone and carrier (it should work with any email provider) with a subject like Mobile To-Do List, then send the message.

How Can I Send an Email via Text Message?

In a few seconds, you should get a text message from a strange number (for AT&T, the number is 1010100001 for the first email you send to your phone); the message will look something like the image below:

How Can I Send an Email via Text Message?

Once you've sent the initial text message via email, you can now reply to that number from your phone any time you want, and the reply will end up in your email inbox with the same subject you used in the original email.

How Can I Send an Email via Text Message?

As far as I can tell, this method works for quite some time, though I could imagine that it varies from carrier to carrier. If your replies stop going back to your email address, just send another text from your email to refresh the replies.

4) Twitter

If you use Twitter, you can set up your account to notify you of direct messages via email (point your browser to the notifications page and tick the checkbox next to Direct Text Emails).

How Can I Send an Email via Text Message?

Since Twitter is built specifically so you can update your account via SMS, just send a text message to 40404 with d yourusername Item you want to add to your to-do list in the message ('d' stands for direct, and you'd naturally replace yourusername with your actual username and add your to-do text after that.

How Can I Send an Email via Text Message?

In a few seconds, the message will end up in your inbox:

How Can I Send an Email via Text Message?


At the end of the day, the first method will probably best satisfy most people's SMS-to-email needs. While the latter three methods aren't necessarily perfect, any of these methods should work.

Love and email,
Lifehacker

P.S. Know of a better method for accomplishing the same task? Please, share it in the comments!

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Alt+Tab Tuner Makes Windows 7's Task Switcher Thumbnails Larger and Much More [Downloads]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5507473/alt%252Btab-tuner-makes-windows-7s-task-switcher-thumbnails-larger-and-much-more

Alt+Tab Tuner Makes Windows 7's Task Switcher Thumbnails Larger and Much MoreWindows 7 only: System tweaking utility Alt+Tab Tuner customizes everything about the Windows 7 Alt-Tab dialog, from setting the transparency to increasing the size of the thumbnails.

To customize the settings, all you have to do is unzip and launch the utility, drag the sliders to suit your preferences, and click the Apply button. You can even use the utility to switch back to the old XP-style Alt+Tab dialog if you were so inclined. Alt+Tab Tuner is a free download for Windows 7 only.

If you aren't happy with the built-in Alt+Tab system, and even tweaking it won't help, make sure to check out the awesome VistaSwitcher alternative, which even includes the Alt+` key combination to switch between specific application windows.

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Marketing success is when users remember you, remember to look for you, and remember to tell their friends about you - http://bit.ly/cFZy6q

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University of Washington's Prefab tool promises to 'unlock the desktop'

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/01/university-of-washingtons-prefab-tool-promises-to-unlock-the-d/

The University of Washington may be overstating things a just a tad with a headline like "what if all software was open source," but the so-called "Prefab" software tool developed by some researchers at the university does indeed manage to pull of some fairly impressive tricks. The short of it is that the tool promises to you let you (or developers) modify any application without actually modifying it. To do that, the software constantly looks for easily identifiable elements of an application (dialog boxes, scroll bars, buttons, etc.) and then "alters their behavior" by effectively taking over your display, leaving the actual program running in the background and displaying the augmented version instead. According to the researchers, the possibilities from there on out are virtually endless, and include things like adding iTunes buttons to your Word toolbar and tweaking Photoshop to display previews for a whole range of effects at once. Head on past the break for a quick demo video, and look for more to be unveiled at the CHI 2010 conference in Atlanta next month.

[Thanks, Keith]

Continue reading University of Washington's Prefab tool promises to 'unlock the desktop'

University of Washington's Prefab tool promises to 'unlock the desktop' originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Apr 2010 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink CBC  |  sourceUniversity of Washington  | Email this | Comments

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Olympus E-PL1 review

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/01/olympus-e-pl1-review/

It seems like such a simple thing now, but it took Olympus three revisions to finally get its "Pen" Micro Four Thirds series down below (or even close to) the magical $600 mark. Lucky for us, the E-PL1 doesn't skimp on functionality, and in fact expands on the capabilities of the E-P1 and E-P2 with an integrated pop-up flash. We already rounded up some reviews from the big boys, so check out those in-depth walkthroughs if you're looking to get nerdy, but if you'd still like to hear our thoughts on this new shooter, follow along in our mini-review after the break.

Continue reading Olympus E-PL1 review

Olympus E-PL1 review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Apr 2010 14:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fujitsu debuts thin-and-light LifeBook MH330 netbook

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/01/fujitsu-debuts-thin-and-light-lifebook-mh330-netbook/

We just got a chance to check out Fujitsu's MH380 netbook in February, but the company has now already followed it up with a new, thinner and lighter model: the LifeBook MH330. In addition to getting the weight down to 2.4 pounds (with a three-cell battery), the netbook sports a slightly more angular design than its counterpart, but remains mostly unchanged when it comes to specs, That includes the same 10-inch screen as before (albeit WSVGA instead of WXGA), along with an Atom N450 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, and the usual niceties like built-in Bluetooth and an integrated memory card reader. Still no official word on a release over here, but it looks like this one is now at least available in Singapore for the local equivalent of $500.

Fujitsu debuts thin-and-light LifeBook MH330 netbook originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Apr 2010 15:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Far East Gizmos  |  sourceFujitsu, Notebook Italia  | Email this | Comments

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Motorola patent application offers new option for 3D cellphones

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/01/motorola-patent-application-offers-new-option-for-3d-cellphones/

Flip phones may be somewhat on the outs these days (at least among those demanding the latest and greatest), but they may well be the key to future 3D cellphones -- at least if this Motorola patent application is any indication. The basic idea is actually a fairly simple one: you'd see a regular 2D image on the screen when the cover is open, but when it's closed you'd be able to look through the transparent lid and see the images with a "three dimensional appearance." As you can probably figure out, that screen would be a touchscreen that takes the place of a keypad, and another illustration also shows that the same idea could be applied to a slider phone. Of course, what the illustrations don't show is how effective that three dimensional appearance would actually be, although it seems like it could give Motoblur a whole new meaning.

Motorola patent application offers new option for 3D cellphones originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Apr 2010 15:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Go Rumors  |  sourcePatent Application  | Email this | Comments

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Netflix iPad app now available in the App Store (update: ABC Player, too)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/01/netflix-ipad-app-now-available-in-the-app-store/

We'd gotten wind of the Netflix iPad app earlier this morning, but when it wasn't included in the first batch of apps to hit the App Store we just assumed it was coming on Saturday -- or possibly even later. But fear not, movie fans: it's just gone live, complete with screenshot confirmation that it'll do streaming video. That's a huge win for Apple and the iPad, given the restrictions on mobile devices Netflix has traditionally operated under -- remember, Microsoft was only allowed to say the Windows Phone 7 Series Netflix app was a "prototype" when it was demoed at MIX. We're guessing the blurry line between the iPad and regular laptops / netbooks worked in Netflix's favor here, but that's just a semantic debate -- we're much more amused by the fact that the app itself is rated 12+ in the App Store for "Simulated Gambling," "Fantasy Violence," and "Suggestive Themes," simply because it plays back movies from your queue that might have such scandalous content. Oh, App Store -- you truly are a paradise of misapplied bureaucratic intent unequaled in the tragic history of our civilization.

Update: Looks like the ABC Player (opens iTunes) is now also available in the app store for the low, low price of nada.

Netflix iPad app now available in the App Store (update: ABC Player, too) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Apr 2010 19:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceApp Store (opens iTunes)  | Email this | Comments

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Think to start selling City electric vehicle in New York, other locales this year

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/01/think-to-start-selling-city-electric-vehicle-in-new-york-other/

Talk about a revival story. Recently saved from the brink of disaster, Think Electric is back in a big way. Fittingly announced around the New York Auto Show, the company has revealed that it will begin selling its Think City -- one of the planet's first highway-capable electric vehicles, it'll have you know! -- in New York and "other select cities" later on in 2010. Think's currently working in conjunction with the US Department of Energy's local Clean Cities chapters to make it happen in the Big Apple, but exact details (you know, like an on sale date and MSRPs) are nowhere to be found. Considering this company's position just six months ago, though, we'll take whatever progress we can get.

Think to start selling City electric vehicle in New York, other locales this year originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Apr 2010 22:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink CNET  |  sourcePR Newswire  | Email this | Comments

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Nintendo 3DS to feature 3.4-inch Sharp parallax barrier display?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/02/nintendo-3ds-to-feature-3-4-inch-sharp-parallax-barrier-display/

There aren't many mass production options on the market when it comes to glasses-less 3D displays for Nintendo's forthcoming 3DS handheld gaming console. And according to early leaks from Japan, the special Nintendo 3DS display is supposedly built by Hitachi and Sharp using a parallax barrier system. So guess where this new 3.4-inch, 480 x 854 pixel display is likely headed? While Sharp doesn't say for sure, it's a good bet that this parallax barrier 3D LCD will be fronting the user interface on the 3DS. Unlike the 3D displays you'll find in modern 3D HDTVs requiring the viewer to wear active or passive glasses, Sharp's display uses a parallax barrier system to create a sense of depth by using a series of vertical slits in an ordinary LCD to direct light to the right and left eyes. The panel offers a 500nit brightness, 1,000:1 contrast, and is available with or without a touchscreen. A non-touchscreen version of the display goes into mass production before June but there's no specific mention of the touchscreen timeline (but we imagine it won't be far behind). In other words, we could have a Nintendo 3DS on the market before the holidays. Just saying. Guess we'll find out for sure at E3 in June.

Update: Akihabara News went eyes-on with the display and came away impressed with the colors and brightness. Better yet, it says, "Sharp succeed to do what Sony and Panasonic does with 3D Glasses!" Well, that sounds hopeful.

Nintendo 3DS to feature 3.4-inch Sharp parallax barrier display? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Apr 2010 01:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Engadget Japanese  |  sourceSharp  | Email this | Comments

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Toshiba UX600 series: first HDTVs certified Windows 7 compatible

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/02/toshibas-ux600-series-wifi-tvs-feature-windows-7-logo/

Here's something you don't see every day: a Windows 7 certified 55-inch TV. Toshiba's 120Hz UX600 series is just such a beast, the first on the market to receive official Microsoft certification thanks in part to DLNA support over Ethernet or WiFi. The logo's a nice touch that takes the guess work out of the purchase equation for the average consumer looking to stream media to the living room. Just don't let us catch any retailers slapping a "Compatible with Windows 7" sticker on the bezel ok; this ain't no Best Buy laptop.

Toshiba UX600 series: first HDTVs certified Windows 7 compatible originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Apr 2010 04:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceThe Windows Blog  | Email this | Comments

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HP and Dell said to be investing less in 10-inch netbooks, looking to bigger and better things

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/02/hp-and-dell-said-to-be-investing-less-in-10-inch-netbooks-looki/

The latest word from our favorite rumor rag DigiTimes suggests that HP and Dell are both curtailing investment in the 10-inch netbook market, with their sights now set on the chunkier 11.6-inch size class. Additionally, with profits from machines built on Intel's Pine Trail platform appearing lower than expected, both are also said to be contemplating AMD's alternatives, presumably in the shape of the Neo CPU and Radeon integrated graphics. HP is even claimed to be considering quitting the 10-inch space entirely, which wouldn't be that unusual given the progressive obsolescence we've witnessed with the 7- and 9-inch predecessors of the current de facto netbook standard. Not to worry, though, Acer, ASUS and Samsung are still deeply involved, and the 10-inch mini laptop isn't about to disappear on us anytime soon. What may happen, according to the source, is that we could see fewer smartbooks popping up as a result, which just means we'll have to find some other way to sate those media consumption needs.

HP and Dell said to be investing less in 10-inch netbooks, looking to bigger and better things originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Apr 2010 07:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |&nb! sp; sourceDigiTimes  | Email this | Comments

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#FollowFriday - digital gurus I learn from @glenngabe, @dberkowitz, @wiltonbound, @christianbusch, @gregverdino, @jonathanmendez

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