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Thursday, June 24, 2010

Canon patent application takes in-camera HDR to the pixel level

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/23/canon-patent-application-takes-in-camera-hdr-to-the-pixel-level/

There's certainly cameras out there that offer in-camera HDR (or High Dynamic Range), but none that go quite as far as what Canon has detailed in a recently published patent application. The short of it is that Canon's proposed method would alter exposure values at the individual pixel level, which should effectively emulate what's now possible but stitching together multiple photographs taken at different exposure settings -- and, for that matter, even open up some new possibilities since those single-pixel exposure values could be tweaked at will. Of course, there's no indication as to what type of camera the method would be used in, or any evidence that Canon has actually taken it beyond the patent application stage, so we wouldn't recommend getting too excited about the possibilities just yet.

Canon patent application takes in-camera HDR to the pixel level originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Jun 2010 11:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola Droid X for Verizon official: July 15 for $200

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/23/motorola-droid-x-for-verizon-official-july-15-for-200/

There was little about the mighty Droid X that we hadn't already known -- but for what it's worth, Verizon and Motorola have teamed up today to expose everything we want to know about the next Android beast for Big Red. The 4.3-inch 854 x 480 handset features Android 2.1 with an all-new UI skin, a TI OMAP3630 processor galloping along at 1GHz, HDMI out, 8 megapixel camera with dual LED flash and 720p video capture, and 8GB of onboard storage with expansion of up to 32GB (you get a 16GB card in the box) all stuffed in a package 9.9mm thick. Software wise, you've also got an integrated mobile hotspot with support for up to 5 devices connected over WiFi, DLNA support, and a legit multitouch keyboard with Swype built-in. It won't launch with Froyo, but that'll come later in the Summer as an upgrade along with Flash 10.1 support; the phone will be available on July 15 for $199.99 on contract after rebate, while the mobile hotspot service will run $20 extra a month with a 2GB cap and 5 cent per MB overage (data consumed on the phone itself is unlimited). Mirroring AT&T's move with the iPhone 4, all Verizon customers with upgrade dates in 2010 will be pulled up so they're eligible for the Droid X as soon as it's available. Follow the break for the full press release.

Continue reading Motorola Droid X for Verizon official: July 15 for $200

Motorola Droid X for Verizon official: July 15 for $200 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Jun 2010 13:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tokyo Institute of Technology announces SSD-packing, 2.39 petaflop supercomputer

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/23/tokyo-institute-of-technology-announces-ssd-packing-2-39-petafl/

IBM has announced plans to start using SandForce SSDs in its enterprise machines, and now it looks like the Tokyo Institute of Technology is doing one better, working with NEC and HP to produce Tsubame 2.0. This next-gen supercomputer will reportedly operate at 2.39 petaflops (that's a lot of flops!) and uses a new multilevel storage architecture consisting of DRAM as well as SSDs. Not only will this bad boy have thirty times the computing capacity of Tsubame 1.0 (due in part to its some 2,816 Intel Westmere microprocessors and 4,224 NVIDIA Tesla M2050 GPUs), its power draw should be some 1/25th of its predecessor's. If all goes according to plan, it should be in operation this fall, at a cost of ¥3.2 billion (approx $35.5 million).

[Thanks, Dylan]

Tokyo Institute of Technology announces SSD-packing, 2.39 petaflop supercomputer originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Jun 2010 14:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Eye tracking Tobii Glasses enable 'fully valid research' from a bodaciously styled pair of shades

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/23/eye-tracking-tobii-glasses-enable-fully-valid-research-from-a/

Eye tracking Tobii Glasses enable 'fully valid research' from a bodaciously styled pair of shades

If you're looking to get in touch with some styling cues you left behind in the '80s, or perhaps just perform a study on effective product packaging, Tobii Technology would like you to get a load of these. They're called Tobii Glasses, a pair of eye-tracking specs that look a little less obtrusive than some others we've seen, but despite that are also a bit less practical. These glasses pack a VGA camera, write to a hip-mounted unit with SDHC storage, and rely on IR emitters ~~that apparently must be~~ scattered about the field of vision that the researcher is looking to study. Those emitters enable very accurate and reliable monitoring of where the research participant is looking, but also seem to restrict the glasses' to use in rather contrived circumstances. So, perhaps not the best solution for seeing just how far your husband's eyes wander on an average day, but possibly an ideal accessory for all you marketing research managers out there.

Update: We got a note from Rasmus Petersson at Tobii Technology indicating that, indeed, the glasses can be used without the IR transmitters -- you just lose some automation when it comes to data aggregation at the end of the study. So, married dudes, look out if your wife buys you a new set of specs for your birthday.

Eye tracking Tobii Glasses enable 'fully valid research' from a bodaciously styled pair of shades originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Jun 2010 15:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola Droid X first (official) hands-on and unboxing! Update: video!

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/23/motorola-droid-x-first-official-hands-on-and-unboxing/

Yeah, we kind of already saw this phone, but if you don't tell Motorola and Verizon, we won't. We just got our hands on an official, final Droid X at the NY launch event, and it tastes just as sweet. Here are a few notes:

It's built of basically the same material as the Droid, but there's something almost kind of "taut" about the phone, where when you thwack it with a finger it resounds like a drum. The phone vibration seems to work on this same principle, giving it much less of the typical buzz (in the funky, cheap sense) you expect.
There are three mics, and in video mode you can select between "scenes" based on which mic you want to use: outward facing for regular shoots, inward facing for narration. The third mic is up top for noise cancellation during calls.
Yeah, there's not kickstand, but the EVO 4G really does seem chunky up against the Droid X, and the camera bulge on the latter is not annoying at all.
PHYSICAL BUTTONS.
You get your choice between Swype and Motorola's multitouch keyboard, which is really pretty great. We were typing at speed within a few seconds of using it.
You can tell that the processor is fast, but the UI still has a jerky quality to it -- it's not totally fluid. We'd say that's more of an Android thing, though.
The new version of Motoblur is much, much more attractive than before -- the widgets are sleeker, smaller, and less in your face. You can also resize them, and they rearrange themselves somewhat intelligently.

Update: Video after the break!

Gallery: Motorola Droid X unboxing

Gallery: Droid X vs. Evo 4G... fight!

Gallery: Droid X car dock hands-on

Continue reading Motorola Droid X first (official) hands-on and unboxing! Update: video!

Motorola Droid X first (official) hands-on and unboxing! Update: video! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Jun 2010 16:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HP buys Melodeo, brings Nutsie music streaming service into the fold

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/23/hp-buys-melodeo-brings-nutsie-music-streaming-service-into-the/

Well, it looks like HP's year of acquisitions isn't showing any signs of letting up just yet -- it's now reportedly bought Melodeo, the parent company of the Nutsie music streaming service, for between $30 and $35 million. While the service doesn't exactly have the name recognition of the now Apple-owned Lala, Nutsie's mobile applications (for iPhone, Android and Blackberry) have reportedly been downloaded more than two million times, and the company already has partnerships with a range of carriers and cellphone companies including Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint. As TechCrunch reports, however, what might be most interesting is what the company has in store for Nutsie 3.0 -- it will apparently let you copy your entire iTunes library to the cloud and access any song on demand (it currently offers a more limited service that only offers a shuffle mode). We'll let you take the Palm / WebOS speculation from there.

HP buys Melodeo, brings Nutsie music streaming service into the fold originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Jun 2010 18:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone 4 and iPhone 3G screens go head-to-head under the microscope

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/23/iphone-4-and-iphone-3g-screens-go-head-to-head-under-the-microsc/

We got up pretty close to the iPhone 4's retina display in our review, but we can't say we got quite as close as PhD candidates Ryan White and Bryan Gauntt of Penn State University, who have kindly provided us with some images of the screen under a microscope (along with an iPhone 3G for comparison). According to their measurements, the iPhone 3G's pixels measure 13 x 40 microns, while the iPhone 4's measure 6.5 x 20 microns, which adds up to exactly four times as many pixels. As impressive as sounds that sounds, however, it's the pictures that really tell the story -- hit up the gallery below to check them out.

Gallery: iPhone 4 vs. iPhone 3G under the microscope

iPhone 4 and iPhone 3G screens go head-to-head under the microscope originally appeared on Engadge t on Wed, 23 Jun 2010 23:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SD cards branded with an upper-case 'I' are faster, yo

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/24/sd-cards-branded-with-an-upper-case-i-are-faster-yo/

Since they're theoretically capable of 300 megabyte per second transfer rates, we knew SDXC cards wouldn't stay slow forever. How will we separate wheat from chaff when faster models do appear, though? You're looking at it. This week, the SD Association unveiled the UHS-I specification for SDXC and SDHC cards capable of transferring data at up to 104 megabytes per second -- reportedly fast enough to record HD videos in real time. Why the association chose the phrasing "up to" is a little iffy, as we thought the point of such specifications was quality control, but considering how many Class 4 and Class 6 SD cards we've tossed that didn't match up to spec, we suppose we'll make do with a ballpark estimate... until the inevitable UHS-II makes the rounds. PR after the break.

Continue reading SD cards branded with an upper-case 'I' are faster, yo

SD cards branded with an upper-case 'I' are faster, yo originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Jun 2010 03:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LCDs can be transformed from e-waste to infection fighters, says new research

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/24/lcds-can-be-transformed-from-e-waste-to-infection-fighters-says/

Researchers at the University of York have discovered a possible use for discarded LCDs which should come as a relief to anyone familiar with the world's rampant e-waste problem. According to the report, which will be presented today at the Green Chemistry and Engineering Conference in Washington, D.C., a process of heating, then cooling and dehydrating the PVA (polyvinyl-alcohol, the key component of LCDs) with ethanol produces a surface area of mesoporous material with great potential for use in biomedicine. The resultant product's anti-microbial properties can now be enhanced by adding silver nanoparticles, producing something which is anti-bacterial and can kill things like E.coli. The potential application of course, is that hospital surfaces could be made of it in the future. This is just one (major) step in a long-term project, so don't expect to see it in real life anytime soon.

LCDs can be transformed from e-waste to infection fighters, says new research originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Jun 2010 05:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kleer teams up with Mercedes Benz to untether in-car headphones

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/24/kleer-teams-up-with-mercedes-benz-to-untether-in-car-headphones/

We hate wires. We can't count the number of times that our headphones were unceremoniously yanked from our heads (or ear canals) because the wire got snagged while ordering our Brazilian man-servant about. Kleer solved this problem years ago but still haven't broken into the mainstream thanks in no small part to the preponderance of low-cost (and low-quality) Bluetooth headphones. That could change with the visibility provided by a new partnership with Mercedes to replace line-of-site infrared technology the company had been using. The deal will equip 2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class and S-Class models with Kleer's proprietary, low-power, CD-quality digital wireless audio emitted from a pair of video screens on the back of the seats. Occupants wearing the Mercedes-provided Kleer headphones or any compatible pair can then select which audio stream their headphones receive without interfering with Bluetooth or WiFi connected devices. Win, win.

Gallery: Kleer teams up with Mercedes Benz to untether in-car headphones

Continue reading Kleer teams up with Mercedes Benz to untether in-car headphones

Kleer teams up with Mercedes Benz to untether in-car headphones originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Jun 2010 07:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Graphene rolled out in 30-inch sheets, makes for one durable touchscreen (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/22/graphene-rolled-out-in-30-inch-sheets-makes-for-one-durable-tou/

Whether they're slated to power terahertz chips or transparent electrodes, graphene sheets have garnered tremendous excitement, but the scientific community has had great trouble making the single-atom-thick pencil lead lattices large enough for industrial use. Thankfully, the same South Korean scientists who brought us 10 centimeter film never abandoned their post, and now Sungkyunkwan University has composited 30-inch sheets of the stuff and prototyped a working touchscreen panel as well. Using a modified version of the popular chemical vapor disposition (CVD) technique that grows the graphene on top of copper foil, they were able to produce a four-ply graphene stack with 90 percent transparency, plus resistance and durability reportedly superior to the dwindling indium supplies currently used in displays. Now let's see some 300mm wafers, eh? Watch one of the world's first graphene digitizers make its video debut after the break.

Continue reading Graphene rolled out in 30-inch sheets, makes for one durable touchscreen (video)

Graphene rolled out in 30-inch sheets, makes for one durable touchscreen (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Jun 2010 02:17:00 EDT. Pl! ease see our terms for use of feeds.

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Marshal's new media drive is no laughing matter, plays Blu-ray and DVD ISOs

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/22/marshals-new-media-drive-is-no-laughing-matter-plays-blu-ray-a/

Yes, it's just a hard drive that plays 1080p content, but this one can connect to your PS3; according to some machine translated Japanese, Marshal's new "Media Joker" can also act as an external hard drive for your Sony game console or a Toshiba REGZA TV. While you won't be able to install games on the up-to-2TB hard drive that you'll provide yourself, the black box can notably play Blu-ray ISOs -- though that, the company carefully cautions, will surely void your warranty. The case admirably provides most all ports you could want, including component, composite, both flavors of S/PDIF, HDMI 1.3, LAN, an SD card slot and a pair of USB sockets, and supports a host of audiovisual formats, the full list available at the more coverage link. Find it retailing for ¥16,800 (about $184) this Saturday in some neon-lit corner of Japan.

Marshal's new media drive is no laughing matter, plays Blu-ray and DVD ISOs originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Jun 2010 04:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toshiba looking to standardize wireless memory cards, crash Eye-Fi's party

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/22/toshiba-looking-to-standardize-wireless-memory-cards-crash-eye/

Toshiba looking to standardize wireless memory cards, crash Eye-Fi's party

We're big fans of Eye-Fi's wireless memory cards, which enable you to toss that card reader out the window and download all your pictures wirelessly. So far Eye-Fi is about the only player in that little niche, but Toshiba's looking to blow it wide open with charmingly titled "Standard Promotion Forum for Memory Cards Embedding Wireless LAN," which could be given the equally catchy abbreviation SPFfMCEWLAN (a name that is, thankfully, subject to change). Toshiba's forum, which also includes Singapore-based flash company Trek 2000, will look to create a standardized 8GB SDHC card with integrated 802.11b/g, able to transfer JPEG and RAW images either from camera to a server or directly to another camera. Toshiba is hoping other camera and flash manufacturers will join in the standardization fun and we certainly do too -- just like we hope they move past 8GB quickly.

Continue reading Toshiba looking to standardize wireless memory cards, crash Eye-Fi's party

Toshiba looking to standardize wireless memory cards, crash Eye-Fi's party originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Jun 2010 07:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google setting up music store later this year, looking for search and Android synergy

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/22/google-setting-up-music-store-later-this-year-looking-for-searc/

Remember that chart that pointed out the differences between Google, Apple and Microsoft? Well, it's looking increasingly like Google is intent on filling any and all gaps in its portfolio. Those good old unnamed sources have been talking, originally to CNET last week and to the Wall Street Journal today, and disclosing Google's supposed intent to introduce its very own music store. This would initially encompass a web store where you can stream or download tracks, with a search tie-in that'll get your money into Google's pocket in the fastest possible way. Subsequent plans are said to include Android integration in 2011 -- something that Google rather nonchalantly demoed at its I/O conference last month. Of course, none of this is as yet confirmed, but it looks like Apple and Google will be competing across yet another front -- hold on tight.

Google setting up music store later this year, looking for search and Android synergy originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Jun 2010 08:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Stop paying Kim Kardashian $10,000 per tweet; sheâ€™s NOT Influential; nor are most celebrities for that matter -- http://bit.ly/dszRUu

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