Ambarella's Cortex A9-based iOne is the smartphone processor of your dreams... but it's for your camera originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Dec 2010 03:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Continue reading LG Optimus 2X dual-core Android phone hits Europe in January
LG Optimus 2X dual-core Android phone hits Europe in January originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Dec 2010 05:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Google's Honeycomb Android tablet release slated for March? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Dec 2010 06:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Continue reading Pioneer's 3D Blu-ray compatible, Netflix streaming player triumvirate now shipping
Filed under: Home Entertainment
Pioneer's 3D Blu-ray compatible, Netflix streaming player triumvirate now shipping originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Dec 2010 09:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Iain Sinclair Poco Pro: little camcorder, big expectations originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Dec 2010 09:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Kinect rumored to have PC support in waiting originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 17:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Panasonic has offered the best 3D since the technology started appearing on HDTVs, and they still do today. The TC-P50VT25 is their second generation 3D HDTV and it's currently the best 3D HDTV on the market. The 3D effect holds up well, even in areas of high contrast or fast motion. Panasonic also has their active shutter glasses technology down pat: we didn't notice any flickering at all.
The Samsung UN46C8000 is a beautifully designed TV with great 3D. Its effect holds up pretty well under most conditions, and the active shutter glasses didn't flicker. On top of the good 3D performance, this is a really solid TV, with excellent picture quality and an expansive array of online features.
The Sony XBR-52HX909's 3D effect is a bit inconsistent, but when it's working it's amazing. The 3D effect for background and mid-range objects is great, and the TV really only has a problem with things in the immediate foreground and the cliché "popping out of the screen" effect. The best part: even without 3D, this is a great TV. The XBR-52HX909 has great picture quality and Sony's incredible line-up of online content.
The Panasonic TC-P50VT20 might be a first generation 3D HDTV, but it's still one of the best we've seen. The 3D effect holds up in all the problem spots, like areas of high contrast or fine details. Since the TV has been on shelves since early this year, it's also one of the less expensive 3D options out there.
The Samsung UN55C7000 is another good-looking Samsung that sports 3D emulation. Its 3D effect holds up well under most conditions, but it did break down a bit in areas of high contrast. While it's not a perfect 3D experience, it is significantly better than most models. On top of it all, the UN55C7000 has a great picture and an expansive suite of online content.
By last count, that means we can likely expect to see LTE Android phones from HTC, Samsung and Motorola, possibly all announced at CES in just a couple of weeks. We can't wait after seeing what Verizon's LTE can do, but we can only wonder what the battery life is gonna be like on these things. [Thanks tipster!]
SIP voice-over-internet calling is one of the quiet new features of Android 2.3 a.k.a. "Gingerbread". Without any third-party apps, you can set up any SIP-compatible phone service to make calls over your data network. This video shows the steps, and now we're intrigued as to whether a free SIP client, like the SIPGate we used in our Google Voice setup, works in Android as well. We'll try it out, but have you already given it a go? Tell us in the comments. [via Android and Me]
Looks like Toshiba's Cell processor ambitions didn't quite pan out -- Japanese news sources are reporting that the company's selling its Nagasaki manufacturing plant back to Sony for 50 billion yen, or roughly $597 million in US money. Considering that Toshiba originally purchased the semiconductor facility for Sony buys back Tos! hiba's C ell plant for 50 billion yen, makes a killing and plans a CMOS fab originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 14:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Continue reading Acer's Android tablet (and its gyroscope) previewed on video
Acer's Android tablet (and its gyroscope) previewed on video originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 16:06:00 EDT. Please see ! our terms for use of feeds.
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Samsung Epic 4G getting post-Christmas Froyo treat? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 08:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Elliptic Labs set to save your iPad from smudges with 3D gesture-sensing dock (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 09:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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This map, along with a related bar-style chart, drew in part from the latest Census data release that included figures on how many people drive alone, carpool, and otherwise get to work. When taking into account both fuel and long-term maintenance inevitabilities, you arrive at a figure that isn't usually factored into the "affordability" analysis and rankings you'll see around this time.
How does your city fare? What do you do to curtail the cost of commuting?
This works in any browser that allows you to add search engines (like Firefox), but here's how to do it in Chrome. Right-click on the Omnibar and hit "Edit Search Engines". Hit the plus sign to create a new search engine, naming it "Add Event" (or whatever you want), making the keyword whatever you want (I've used cal) and making the link http://www.google.com/calendar/event?ctext=+%s+&action=TEMPLATE&pprop=HowCreated%3AQUICKADD.
When you're done, you should be able to type something like cal dinner at david's house from five to six pm tomorrow in the Omnibar and hit Enter. Google Calendar will open up a new page, creating an event with those qualities. Handy, huh?
This actually works with a myriad of sites, you just need to find the right link. For example, if you want to add a new task to Remember the Milk, just enter http://www.rememberthemilk.com/services/ext/addtask.rtm?d=&t=%s as the link for a new search engine. Got any other ideas of how this could be used? Share them in the comments.
While you can repurpose an old computer into pretty much anything, there comes a time when we all just have too much tech in the house and it all just becomes clutter. Hopefully we've taught you that recycling that tech is much better than just letting it head to a landfill, but if you're going to recycle it, you might as well let someone else use it until it dies.
Even if it's already dead, it hasn't reached the end of its usefulness. There are a lot of great charities out there (and we've mentioned quite a few in the past), but a partnership between Dell and Goodwill called Reconnect has found a way to use nearly anything—even dead technology—to contribute to charity. If it's working, you can donate pretty much anything, from monitors to computers to scanners, hard drives, speakers, cables, Xboxes and Zunes, and they'll give it to those in need. If they can't put your tech back into service, though, they'll recycle it for you and Goodwill will put its value toward finding jobs for other people. You'll even get a receipt for tax purposes, which is always a nice plus.
So, while we here at Lifehacker are always looking for ways to repurpose stuff, if you don't have the time or the energy this year and need to give your tech a new home (or if it's broken beyond repair), Dell Reconnect can probably make something good happen with it—just make sure to properly erase everything before you donate. Hit the link to read more.
The gift of synchronicity is free, low-hassle, and it's a gift to yourself in fewer tech support questions. It may not sound like not much of a gift—just installing some stuff, right? But what might seem like second nature to you is going to be astounding to those who are used to clicking "Yes" about four dozen times while setting up their computer, only to find all those "protection" and "safeguard" packages don't do much at all. When you give this gift, the recipient doesn't need to head home at lunch time to retrieve a file, doesn't forget the password to an online store they shopped at years ago, and can always find that spreadsheet with their holiday card addresses.
Not necessarily in-person, though. You can use an app like TeamViewer—an easy-to-use remote desktop app—to install a few apps on that person's system, configure what's needed, and give them occasional support if necessary. You might be able to have the person pre-install the apps themselves, leaving you to step in and do the configuration.
• Dropbox: It's 2 GB of free space, it keeps previous versions of files, and it's just quietly, constantly working in the background. By default, it works as a kind of "magic folder," into which you can consciously drop files for syncing between systems. But with a little configuration, it can also sync other folders, including the Desktop where so many users stash important stuff that's easily lost, or substitute as the My Documents folder.
• Mozy: Dropbox is great for the immediate stuff—the things people are working on at the moment. For backing up deeper files outside of the "magic folder," Mozy offers another 2 GB of free space that can selectively back up files across an entire computer—Microsoft Office documents, image files, whatever is needed. If 2 GB isn't enough, the unlimited Home plans are fairly cheap for the peace of mind they provide. What's more, Mozy can also work (for free) with an external USB drive to back up their entire hard drive.
• TeamViewer: A VNC client that makes it pretty easy for any computer user to let another person control their system—just share the access code.
If you're fixing up a Windows system, you can grab an all-in-one installer for these first three apps from Ninite—just download this all-in-one installer, which has all three apps ready to roll.
• LastPass: This is the any-browser password manager that we're huge fans of at Lifehacker. If you're not quite sure which browser someone uses on their system, you could download the Universal Windows Installer, which installs extensions for Firefox, Chrome, and Internet Explorer. There's a Safari extension for single-platform Mac users, and individual extensions for every browser—be sure to grab the "binary" version whenever possible, as this makes it easier to import passwords.
• Xmarks: This is the any-browser bookmark syncing tool. Versions of Xmarks are available for Internet Explorer on Windows, Safari on Mac, and Firefox and Chrome on both Windows and Mac.
• Optional—Mobile Apps for Dropbox, LastPass, Xmarks: LastPass and Xmarks each require a Premium subscription to use their Android or iOS apps for more than a trial period; you can bundle them together for $20. Dropbox has a free mobile app for iOS, Android, and BlackBerry.
Note: To get the full benefit, you may be setting these apps up on both your gift recipient's laptop and desktop; after all, that's what' synchronicity is all about.
Install Dropbox as you normally would—let it create a My Dropbox folder in the Documents/My Documents folder. The tricky part comes in lowering the barrier in getting your user's documents into Dropbox on the regular. A few ways to do that, in ascending order of hack-iness:
Use Dropbox as the My Documents folder: In Windows Vista or 7, right-click on the Documents folder (in a file window or the Start menu), select Properties, then select the Location tab. In that tab, you can add in the location of the Dropbox folder, then click the Move button. It's a similar process in XP.
C:\Users\[username]\Documents\My Dropbox.ln -s ~/Desktop ~/Dropbox/Desktop Backup
That creates a "hard link" between the Deskop and a Dropbox folder, so that everything on the Desktop is instantaneously backed up to Dropbox. Add the Dropbox site to their bookmarks, and add their password to LastPass, and now they've got backup copies, un-delete, and multiple versions of everything they do on the most common file dump. Note: If there's a huge folder or two on the desktop that your giftee just can't seem to get rid of, you can prevent that folder from hogging all the Dropbox space with the new selective sync.
Mozy will walk you through its initial setup, and its tabbed interface is fairly easy to get a handle on, but our guide to setting up a foolproof and fireproof automatic backup plan with Mozy can help you with the full setup. If you're using a free 2 GB account, the tricky part is trying to figure out exactly which files you want backed up. You'll need to do some Q&A with your recipient, or someone who knows them, to figure out which file types are the most important to always have backed up to the cloud. Once that's settled (or you convince them that $40/year is worth it), you can set up Mozy to keep tabs on the hard drive at all times, checking in and uploading matching files whenever it has a chance. The tax shouldn't be too much on most computers, as Mozy has made a lot of strides in reducing bandwidth and resource usage.
Make sure you've got the "binary" version of LastPass installed on your browsers, if offered. While setting up LastPass for a new user, the software should ask you to import passwords from that browser's standard password pile. You'll want to install and import passwords from any and all browsers the user may have them stashed inside. If there's another password system in place, LastPass can likely grab from it—press the extension button, choose Tools, then select "Import from ..." You'll arrive at a secure web page with a big list of services to import from, along with detailed instructions.
Dig into LastPass a bit, and you'll find tools for auditing and updating weak passwords. You can also dig into our beginner and intermediate guides for tips on creating bookmarklets, one-time passwords, and other extra security features.
One thing you'll want to do is make LastPass less noisy. By default, it notifies the user about everything it does—filling forms, saving passwords, detecting password changes or new passwords being entered, etc. Head to the extension's preferences, choose the Notifications category, and set up notifications akin to what I've entered in the screenshot above: check only "Show notifications," "Show Save Site Notifications," "Show certain notifications only after click," and "Show Change Password Notification Bar." This keeps LastPass from popping up on every page where an empty box exists, and only spins its icon when a new password can be saved. You could keep the "Save Site Notification Bar" in place if you'd like, to make LastPass more apparent to a new user.
This one's fairly straightforward. Once Xmarks is installed and the browser is restarted, you should see a pop-out window asking you to set it up. Do so, and import the bookmarks from each browser that your giftee regularly uses. Don't bother asking Xmarks to sync passwords—that's what we've got LastPass for.
During setup, you can run TeamViewer as just a one-time app for this setup, which is fairly convenient, but you can also set it up so the recipients' computer is accessible from anywhere, with the proper password. You'll have to decide whether you want to keep regular remote support as an option. If you're creating a permanent option to connect, you'll also have to create a TeamViewer account and confirm it in an email.
Generally, though, you can have your recipient simply launch TeamViewer and share their user ID and password with you—over phone, email, IM, SMS, what have you. It's then easy to connect and configure, fix, and update.
All this setup is very handy, but only if the person being helped knows how to get at the files, bookmarks, and passwords when they're at their computer or anywhere else in the world. They all tie in together, luckily.
Set up these links on a browser's main bookmarks bar, or in a folder named something like "Handy Backup Links." Because you're syncing bookmarks with Xmarks, you only have to set up on one browser.
Says the New York Times about Comscore's findings:
The numbers testify to the trend. The number of total unique visitors in the United States to major e-mail sites like Yahoo and Hotmail is now in steady decline, according to the research company comScore. Such visits peaked in November 2009 and have since slid 6 percent; visits among 12- to 17-year-olds fell around 18 percent. (The only big gainer in the category has been Gmail, up 10 percent from a year ago.)
The chart above shows the wider range of findings, with those over 55 actually spending more time at web-based email sites, and a wide divide between those 17 and under and slightly older young adults. There are some notable question marks in the survey, including the lack of accounting for email through mobile devices like BlackBerry phones, and the perhaps limited scope of looking at just Gmail, Yahoo, and Hotmail usage. And if younger users are actually adopting Facebook's messaging system in any number, that muddies the waters when it comes to defining "email."
Still, the numbers are intriguing. Do you see yourself moving away from email more and more? Will email always be available for you, or could you see another messaging platform replacing it?
After getting a bit overzealous with the iPhone 4's volume buttons, Camera+, my favorite iPhone photography app, was booted from the App Store. Thankfully it's back Apple's good graces, and it's just been updated with more photo-fancifying features than ever.
Camera+, iPhone, $2. Even during its brief hiatus from the world of sanctioned App Store apps, Camera+ remained my favorite all-around photography app for the iPhone. Of course, it has all the photo effects you'd expect—HDR, miniaturize, polarize, color dodge, '70s, toy camera, sepia, and one or two dozen more—as well as a variety of presets for various scenes—cloudy, fluorescent, portrait, concert, etc. But it's also got some less obvious stuff for both before and after you shoot: touch focus and exposure, white balance lock, timer mode, burst mode, and plenty of borders and cropping options. It pretty much does it all. And it's on sale for a buck. OH, and, with its reintroduction into the realm of the living, the beloved volume button-shutter button feature is gone. So don't update if you wanna keep that around.
People who don't want to switch between a bunch of different apps to get their photos looking just right; people who find MMS and email adequate for sharing those photos; people who are fed up with Hipstamatic's authentic-to-a-fault UI.
Well, it does just about everything you could want it to, it's only $2, and, in my estimation, it's got some of nicest looking effects of any iOS photo app. The update also does some nice things under the hood, like maintaing meta data and geographic info when you export shots to the camera roll.
This new and improved version of Camera+ is noticeably slower than the previous version, which I wouldn't have described as snappy to begin with. Hopefully that'll be addressed in the next update. And with so many features and options, it'd be nice to be able to save a custom workflow that you could quickly apply to photos on the run without doing all that tapping.
You can grab Camera+ in the App Store for $2. Scratch that! Currently on sale for $1
We're always looking for cool apps—for iOS, Android, Windows Phone or whatever else—to feature as App of the Day (yes, apps for other platforms will start popping up soon!) If you come across one you think we should take a look at, please let us know.
For more apps, check out our weekly app roundups for iPhone, iPad, and Android
Video music: Kevin MacLeod
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