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Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Fujitsu Lifebook T580 Tablet PC now on sale in North America

It took awhile for Fujitsu's Lifebook T580 to hit the US market, but at last, the 10.1-inch, three-pound Tablet PC has landed on this side of the Atlantic. The netvertible, if we can even call it that, is about double the price of the usual convertible netbook, and for good reason -- the system eschews Atom for Core i3 / i5 processor options and also has an capacitive display with an N-trig digitizer, which can support both pen and finger input. The $1,149 "Express Buy" model packs a Core i3-380UM processor, 2GB of RAM, 160GB of storage, and a 5,800mAh six-cell battery, while going on up to the Core i5-560UM CPU adds an extra $250. The T580 sure does seem to fill a pretty niche market these days, which is why we're guessing Fujitsu dropped the early "slate-beating" descriptor, but there's got to be some out there that still want the power of a mainstream system in a shrunken Tablet PC form factor, right?

Fujitsu Lifebook T580 Tablet PC now on sale in North America originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Dec 2010 08:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TRENDnet TEW-690AP wireless access point has a theoretical 450Mbps top speed, a real $200 price

It's a sad fact of our digital lives that no matter how stylish we make our daily-used devices, we'll still need some antenna-riddled ogre in the corner of the room to blast out the WiFi goodness. Enter TRENDnet's latest contender, the TEW-690AP (even its name betrays an absolute lack of charisma), which has three spatial streams per antenna to deliver a max theoretical throughput of 450Mbps. It goes up to a full gigabit should you find any reason to connect via its wired Ethernet port, while a few extra bells and whistles -- like a repeater mode, WiFi Protected Setup with compatible devices, and up to four unique, encrypted SSIDs per wireless band -- complete the $200 value proposition. Whether you say yay or nay, look out for more from these guys at CES, they're promising to announce some more "first to market" wireless innovations.

Continue reading TRENDnet TEW-690AP wireless access point has a theoretical 450Mbps top speed, a real $200 price

TRENDnet TEW-690AP wireless access point has a theoretical 450Mbps top speed, a real $200 price originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Dec 2010 08:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Monday, December 20, 2010

Phone Loves to Tan

The first thing you notice about the Double phone are the solar cells across its facade. The second thing you notice is the 360º hinge. Pretty cool looking concept with the added benefit of never running out of power as long as the sun is up. Spec wise, the 3.2 inch LCD screen, touch interface and transparent panel for notifications is more than enough to keep up with the big boys in the market.

The Double is a Red Dot Concept Design winning entry.

Designer: ZTE Corporation

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Xerox shows off Smart Document Review table, a Surface that sifts through billions of docs (video)

You have a lot of documents you've acquired over the years, hundreds or thousands in some semblance of order thanks to folders and whatnot. Now, imagine taking the output from hundreds or thousands of others, all with their own ideas about organization, and finding only those pages relevant to a certain topic. That's what legal aides have to do in cases where a major corporation is being investigated, and we're thinking that's a major target market for Xerox's Smart Document Review. It's a prototype touchscreen table that enables users to collaboratively filter documents, starting by indexing a giant pool and then allowing for the creation of "magnets" that contain keywords or other heuristics and dynamically pull out matches, all happening courtesy of animations that look only slightly less sophisticated than those seen in Hackers. Search results can then be dumped to a thumb drive. The prototype table dates back to earlier this year, but Xerox is now making them available as part of a pilot program exclusively for trendy law offices with unisex bathrooms.

[Thanks, Pradeep]

Continue reading Xerox shows off Smart Document Review table, a Surface that sifts through billions of docs (video)

Xerox shows off Smart Document Review table, a Surface that sifts through billions of docs (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Dec 2010 10:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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'Molecular torch' between carbon nanotubes emits electroluminescence

(PhysOrg.com) -- A single molecule bridging a "broken" single-walled carbon nanotube (CNT) is barely visible through a powerful scanning electron microscope, but the precisely assembled system can act as a functional solid-state electronics device. These CNT-molecule-CNT junctions have been developed only in the past few years, and measuring their optical characteristics has been a difficult task. In a new study, scientists have observed for the first time that the molecule between the nanotubes can emit light due to an electric current passing through it, a phenomenon called electroluminescence.

10. Yahoo! Answers

Whether you want to know how babby is formed or have a legitimate question, Yahoo! Answers has a wealth of information. When you ask a question you're bound to get a healthy serving of snark, but you'll generally get a few good (if not great) answers as well. These results are thanks to the popularity of Yahoo! Answers. Even if you don't always get the answer you're looking for, you're pretty much guaranteed a response due to how many people use the service.

Yahoo! Answers

9. Ask Reddit

For the more casual and fun questions, you have Ask Reddit. If you're not familiar with Reddit, it's a social news site with a dedicated user base. Those users make Ask Reddit a good tool to get answers, but most of the questions you find tend to fall on the light side of things. You can learn how to cope with putting down your old cat, combat your extreme paranoia, and find out how many people feel Christmas isn't worth it anymore, making the tool more interesting to read when you're bored than the best tool to find the answer you're looking for. In the event you have a question that fits the topics floating around Ask Reddit, however, you'll have plenty of people to join in and answer.

Ask Reddit

8. Duck Duck Go

Duck Duck Go is a clever search engine that provides tons of shortcuts to help you find what you're looking for very quickly. The idea is to get you your information without the need to click around too much. Need a color swatch for a particular HEX value? Just enter the HEX value in Duck Duck Go and you'll get it. It can even help you quickly generate a strong, random password. Although search, in general, is pretty fast, Duck Duck Go has a tool set to help you get answers and information as quickly as possible.

Duck Duck Go

7. Wolfram Alpha

You can't ask Wolfram Alpha anything, but you can ask it for information you can't find anywhere else. It's full of information and calculations that no other search engine can provide. For example, you can use Wolfram Alpha to calculate activity-specific calorie burn, analyze illness symptoms and generic drug options, and make sense of your confusing family relationships. For more ideas, check out our full Wolfram Alpha coverage, or just play around with it yourself.

Wolfram Alpha

6. Wikipedia

You might be thinking, "duh." For that reason it's pretty much impossible to keep Wikipedia off of a Top 10 list about finding better answers online. Wikipedia contains an enormous wealth of information and it ought to be your primary destination when you want quick information on a given topic. While you can't ask it a specific question, if you know what you're looking for you're bound to find it on Wikipedia. It doesn't have an article on everything, but if it did there would be no need for this Top 10.

Wikipedia

5. Blekko

While the name is just about charmless, Blekko is a very neat search engine that's quickly growing in popularity. What makes Blekko interesting is a feature it calls slash tag search. For example, if you are looking for a cure for a headache you can just search for that on Google and probably do alright. If you're looking for a cure for a headache but only a homeopathic cure, you can enter "cure for headaches /homeopathy" and that's all you'll get. Slash tag search aim to guarantee that your results will be tailored to categories you specify (via slash tags). It's a really neat way to search and a great way to find answers.

Blekko

4. Quora

Our intern Arvin Dang is very fond of Quora, and for good reason. It's a really nice way to get answers, provide answers, and come across answers in your everyday web search. Quora's goal is to use the internet community to build great answer pages on every subject so when you need information it will be the first place you look. While Quora's still new and it has a ways to go before it gets there, it will only get better with time if people keep using it. Quora seems to be frequented by quite a few smart people with thoughtful answers, and hopefully it will only continue to improve.

Quora

3. Ask Metafilter

In and of itself, Ask Metafilter is really nothing special. You post a question, people answer it, and it all shows up in one long page of text. There really isn't a user interface to speak of, it's not particularly nice to look at, and there's information everywhere. What's so great about it? The content. First at foremost, content wins. Somehow, Metafilter has managed to create a community that breeds good information. Even if you aren't in search for a particular answer, some of the questions are just so interesting that you can go on reading for hours...or maybe even answer a few.

Ask Metafilter

2. Twitter

I was always against Twitter until I started using it and began to realize what a helpful tool it can be to find good information. For Twitter to be effective, you have to have a reasonable number of followers so that when you ask a question there's bound to be a few people who have good answers. Twitter tends to be particularly effective because it isn't just anybody answering a question. Just like you follow people who interest you, or are your friends, or have things in common with you, your followers presumably do the same While I don't have a huge number of followers (feel free to help me change that), I've always gotten good answers when I've asked questions. There are plenty of tools online that are effective at providing you with information, but Twitter helps you get answers from a selection of people that are relevant to you.

Twitter

1. Aardvark

Aardvark is one of my favorite answer sites, letting you ask just about any question and receive an answer in under a minute—for free. Aardvark aims to keep the process simple by keeping your questions short and sweet. You ask a question that's about the length of a tweet and you get an answer that isn't much longer from helpers whose interests match that of the question. In return, you're encouraged to answer questions that fall into your area of expertise. Aardvark is possible because of this information exchange and generally works very well, although it did fail to find a good soft-serve ice cream shop in Los Angeles. I guess I'll have to settle for Tasti D-Lite, whenever it finally shows up. But why is Aardvark number one? Because it effectively does the same thing as Twitter, but without the need for a base of followers. It does a fantastic job at matching your question with relevant, helpful people and it does it fast. Even though it couldn't do the impossible and find soft server ice cream in Los Angeles, it's probably the best question and answer service you could ask for.

Aardvark

These are our top ten, but if you're looking for more you should check out how your fellow readers like to ask the internet. Got any great question and answer resources you love that didn't make the list? Let's hear 'em in the comments.

You can contact Adam Dachis, the author of this post, at adachis@lifehacker.com. You can also follow him on Twitter and Facebook.

Lenshero Catalogs Camera Lenses for Easy Comparison [Photography]

Lenses, even those of the budget variety, aren't cheap. Lenshero catalogs lens of all shapes and sizes, along with reviews and ratings, to help you find the best lens for your needs and your budget.

Click on the image above for a closer look.

At Lenshero you start the search process by specifying the camera you are shopping for and your budget. You then further narrow the search by indicating what kind of photography you need the lens for such as landscape, portrait, low-light, sports, or other situations. Lenshero kicks back search results that include specs on the lenses like whether or not it has a focus motor, the minimum and maximum focal length, minimum aperture, and more.

Click on an individual lens for a more detailed view including reviews, compatibility charts, how the angle of view changes on DSLRs with full frame sensors and without—seen in the screenshot above—and how it compares to other similar lenses. Although you'll still want to do some more research before plunking down $500+ for a new lens, Lenshero will help you cut through the sheer number of lenses out there to find the few you want to read more about.

Lenshero is a free service and requires no registration; visit the link below to take it for a spin and find some new glass for your favorite DSLR.

Lenshero

Five Best Virtual Machine Applications [Hive Five]

Most modern computers are powerful enough to run entire operating systems within your main operating systems, which means virtual machines are more commonplace today than ever. Here's a look at the five most popular virtual machine applications.

Virtual machines allow you to run one operating system emulated within another operating system. Your primary OS can be Windows 7 64-bit, for example, but with enough memory and processing power, you can run Ubuntu and OS X side-by-side within it. Earlier this week we asked you to share your favorite virtual machine application, and now we're back to highlight the five most popular picks.

VirtualBox (Windows/Mac/Linux, Free)

VirtualBox has a loyal following thanks to a combination of a free-as-in-beer price tag, cross-platform support, and a huge number of features that make running and maintaining virtual machines a breeze. Virtual machine descriptions and parameters are stored entirely in plain-text XML files for easy portability and easy folder sharing. Its "Guest Additions" feature, available for Windows, Linux, and Solaris virtual machines, makes VirtualBox user friendly, allowing you to install software on the virtual machine that grants extra privileges to the host machine for tasks like sharing files, sharing drives and peripherals, and more. You can read about additional VirtualBox features here..

Parallels (Windows/Mac/Linux, $79.99)

Although best known for the Mac version of their virtual machine software, Parallels also runs virtualization on Windows and Linux. The Parallels software boasts a direct link, thanks to optimization on Intel and AMD chips, to the host computer's hardware with selective focus—when you jump into the virtual machine to work the host machine automatically relinquishes processing power to it. Parallels also offers clipboard sharing and synchronization, shared folders, and transparent printer and peripheral support. Read more about the Mac features here and the Windows/Linux features here.

VMware (Windows/Linux, Basic: Free, Premium: $189)

VMware for desktop users comes in two primary flavors: VMware Player and VMware Workstation. VMware Player is a free solution aimed at casual users who need to create and run virtual machines but don't need advanced enterprise-level solutions. VMware Workstation includes all the features of VMWare Player—easy virtual machine creation, hardware optimization, driver-less guest OS printing—and adds in the ability to clone machines, take multiple snapshots of the guest OS, and a replay changes made to the guest OS for testing software and recording the results within the virtual machine. You can read more about VMware Player here and VMware Workstation here.

QEMU (Linux, Free)

QEMU is a powerful virtualization tool for Linux machines built upon the back of the KVM system (Kernel-based Virtual Machine). QEMU executes guest code directly on the host hardware, can emulate machines across hardware types with dynamic translation, and supports auto-resizing virtual disks. Where QEMU really shines, especially among those who like the push the limits of virtualization and take their virtual machines with them, is running on hosts without administrative privileges. Unlike nearly every emulator out there QEMU does not require admin access to run, making it a perfect candidate for building thumb-drive based portable virtual machines.

Windows Virtual PC (Windows, Free)

Compared to the other any-OS-under-the-sun virtual machine applications in this week's Hive Five, Windows Virtual PC is a tame offering. Windows Virtual PC exists solely to emulate other—usually earlier—versions of Windows. If you need to run an app that only works under Windows XP or test software for backwards compatibility with Vista, Windows Virtual Machine has you covered. It's limited, true, but for people working in a strictly Windows environment—and most of the world still is—it gets the job done. Note: Virtual PC is availabls as Virtual PC 2004, Virtual PC 2007, and Windows Virtual PC, use this host and guest OS compatibility chart to figure out which one fits your needs.

Now that you've had a chance to look over the five contender's for Best Virtual Machine Application, it's time to cast a vote for your favorite.

Which Virtual Machine Application Is Best?customer surveys

Want to share a great feature of your favorite virtual machine app? Let's hear it in the comments. Have an idea for the next Hive Five? Shoot us an email at tips@lifehacker.com with "Hive Five" in the subject line and we'll do our best to see that your idea gets the attention it deserves.

Google PowerMeter comes to Blue Line Innovations' PowerCost Monitor

Energy conservation isn't just good for the environment, it's also good for the family budget. Being aware of your energy consumption can help you cut costs by as much as 5 to 15 percent, according to some estimates. One product that can help with real time power monitoring of your consumption habits is the Power Cost Monitor, a device we got to spend some quality time with over the summer after Blue Line Innovation kicked off a partnership with Microsoft HOHM. The partnerships are expected to widen today when BLI announces support for Google's competing PowerMeter web monitoring solution. As such, owners of the $249ish PowerCost Monitor WiFi Edition kit will have yet another method for measuring their carbon footprint from a PC or smartphone -- and that's a good thing.

Update: We have the official PR after the break.

Continue reading Google PowerMeter comes to Blue Line Innovations' PowerCost Monitor

Google PowerMeter comes to Blue Line Innovations' PowerCost Monitor originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Dec 2010 03:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone 4 hits new low of $147 on contract at Sam's Club this week

Radio Shack's $149 price for the 16GB iPhone 4 just got undercut by a whole two bucks. We've been tipped off to Sam's Club now offering the AT&T-locked device for a $147 fee, subject to the usual two-year agreement. This offer will run all the way until Christmas day, so if you have to have the cheapest possible fourth-gen iPhone, this'll probably be it. The 3GS is also up for grabs at a thrifty $47, emulating its younger sibling's $52 price cut. Is there anyone left who isn't discounting smartphones this month?

iPhone 4 hits new low of $147 on contract at Sam's Club this week originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Dec 2010 04:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intel Sandy Bridge CPUs and motherboards now on sale in Malaysia, what Consumer Electronics Show?

Let us all warmly greet the Core i5-2300, the i5-2400, and the Core i7-2600, three desktop-bound members of Intel's upcoming Sandy Bridge CPU brigade. You'll note that all three are fully dressed in their retail attire in an image coming from Malaysian electronics store Compuzone, which also has a full pricing and speed breakdown for these central processing units. The 3.4GHz Core i7 part costs 939RM ($301), followed by 609RM ($195) for the 3.1GHz 2400, and 585RM ($188) for the 2.8GHz 2300. It seems like Intel's up to its old tricks again, letting some stock roll out early in distant Asian locales. At least this should mean there'll be plenty to go around once the CES 2011 launch of these chips is out of the way. Hit the source for more details and to scope out pricing for the new LGA1155 motherboards.

[Thanks, Melantha]

Intel Sandy Bridge CPUs and motherboards now on sale in Malaysia, what Consumer Electronics Show? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Dec 2010 06:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Two Kinects join forces to make 3D telepresence, enable virtual light saber battles (video)

UC Davis's Oliver Kreylos has been responsible for two of our most impressive Kinect hacks yet. He was one of the first to get proper 3D video out of the thing, following that up by pairing up two of the cameras, one to fill in the gaps of the other. You might have thought he was just playing around but no -- oh no. There was a method to the madness and his ulterior motive has been revealed: 3D telepresence. This is what he's been working on all along and he has an early version operational, using the output from two Kinects in a remote office to beam a 3D representation of another person to his display, which he can navigate around (and through) using a Wiimote. Meanwhile, the viewer can see the position of Oliver in real-time, a virtual camera floating around and enabling them to maintain eye contact despite her not actually looking at either physical camera. That demonstration is embedded after the break along with a somewhat fanciful follow-up in which Kreylos engages in a rather... protracted lightsaber battle against the forces of evil.

Continue reading Two Kinects join forces to make 3D telepresence, enable virtual light saber battles (video)

Two Kinects join forces to make 3D telepresence, enable virtual light saber battles (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Dec 2010 10:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Best Buy offering free mobile hotspots with iPad purchase

Planning to pay Verizon an extra $130 for an iPad + MiFi 2200 bundle? Hold on a sec, because Best Buy's planning to give away hotspots free of charge when you purchase Apple's tablet. This advertisement, obtained by 9to5 Mac, does mention that you'll need to shackle yourself to a carrier for two years to qualify -- unlike Verizon's original arrangement -- but in exchange you get a free Verizon FiveSpot, AT&T MiFi, or perhaps most excitingly, a WiMax-capable Sprint Overdrive. Fine print in the lower-right hand corner suggests that the promo will begin immediately and run through January 2nd. What better way to spend your leftover Hanukkah gelt than on gigabytes of wireless data?

Best Buy offering free mobile hotspots with iPad purchase originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Dec 2010 23:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sunday, December 19, 2010

A $670,000 X-Ray Camera That Sees Through Melting Metal [Video]

A new high-speed X-ray video camera, now the fastest in the world, can see through molten metal and watch weld-weakening flaws form in real-time. Take a look at sample footage from the device.

The $670,000 device successfully captured X-ray footage on Nov. 23 at 5,000 frames-per-second (fps), or five times faster than previous X-ray cameras (and 83 times faster than a consumer camcorder). The high-speed video above shows a laser welding solid aluminum in visible light, followed by the new X-ray-light welding clips.

"With visible light, we could only see the surface of the welding process. You couldn't see what was happening inside," said Felix Abt, one of the camera's designers at the University of Stuttgart. "The only way to see pores that weaken weld seams was to cut the metal into pieces."

Automotive companies use robots equipped with high-powered lasers to seam cars together with extreme speed and precision. As laser welding continues to get "more powerful, move faster, go deeper" and increase in use, Abt says, it's increasingly important to understand the dynamics involved.

"Laser welding creates very high-pressure, high-velocity, fluctuating environments. You're boiling metal that's cooling almost instantly," Abt said. "This leads to instabilities that weaken your weld."

A 0,000 X-Ray Camera That Sees Through Melting Metal To capture the welding process in action, Abt and his colleague Rudolph Weber use an industrial-strength 4-kilowatt laser, which is roughly 400,000 times more powerful than a DVD drive's beam. As their laser pummels a hunk of metal moving on a track, a cathode fires X-rays through the weld and toward a high-speed video camera.

As a frame of reference, the first clip shows 10,000 fps visible light footage zoomed in on a small 10-by-5-millimeter frame. The fuzzy 1,000 fps and 5,000 fps clips that follow are the new ones filmed in X-ray light.

"The white structure on left is where the laser hits. That's a capillary of metallic steam," Abt said, noting aluminum boils at 4,400 degrees Fahrenheit. Whitish globules that break off the capillary are weld-weakening pores that become invisible as they cool, typically in a matter of microseconds.

The new X-ray footage isn't pretty, Abt says, but in a few months he and Weber will tune the camera to increase its clarity. They also plan to imbue welding samples with tracer materials, such as tungsten carbide, that emit X-rays at high temperatures.

"This is really only the beginning, but we now have the ability to watch processes that lead to porosity in real time while we're welding," Abt said.

Video: A 4-kilowatt laser melts solid aluminum. The first clip is 10,000 fps in visible light, followed by 1,000 fps and 5,000 fps in X-ray light. Credit: Felix Abt, Rudolph Weber/University of Stuttgart

Image: The device Abt and Weber constructed to record laser welding in X-ray light. The laser hangs from the ceiling, the X-ray cathode is on the left (as the welding itself doesn't produce X-rays) and the digital video camera is on the right. An exhaust vent pulls fumes away from the rig during welding and a track below moves a metal sample during recording. Credit: Felix Abt/University of Stuttgart

Wired.com has been expanding the hive mind with technology, science and geek culture news since 1995.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Monday, December 20, 2010

10. Yahoo! Answers

9. Ask Reddit

8. Duck Duck Go

7. Wolfram Alpha

6. Wikipedia

5. Blekko

4. Quora

3. Ask Metafilter

2. Twitter

1. Aardvark

VirtualBox (Windows/Mac/Linux, Free)

Parallels (Windows/Mac/Linux, $79.99)

VMware (Windows/Linux, Basic: Free, Premium: $189)

QEMU (Linux, Free)

Windows Virtual PC (Windows, Free)

Sunday, December 19, 2010

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