Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Google announces Search by Image and Voice Search for desktop, revamped mobile search

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/14/google-announces-search-by-image-search-by-voice-for-desktop/

Google's done a ton of talking about search at its Inside Search event today, and two of the biggest new developments are on the desktop. It's just announced that Android-style Voice Search is headed to Chrome (with support for English only, initially), and that it will be joined by a new Search by Image feature (also available in Chrome, or Firefox with an extension). To use that latter feature, you simply drag and drop an image or cut and paste an image URL in the search box, and then Google tries its best to recognize it and deliver relevant results -- including identifying the location in an old vacation photo, for instance (though Google notes it isn't doing face recognition). Both features will be rolling out over the next few days, but you can get a glimpse of them now in the demo videos after the break.

In other news, Google's announced Instant Pages (also demoed after the break), which promises to speed up browsing by prerendering results when its "confident you're going to click them." It's available in the latest developer version of Chrome today, and will also be included in the next public beta. Lastly, Google took the wraps off a number of revisions to its mobile search offerings, including a new set of icons and enhanced local features when browsing on a phone, as well as some revamped search and image results that have been specifically tailored to tablets -- all of which are also rolling out today.

Continue reading Google announces Search by Image and Voice Search for desktop, revamped mobile search

Google announces Search by Image and Voice Search for desktop, revamped mobile search originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Jun 2011 13:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sustainable Mercedes Roadster

Source: http://www.yankodesign.com/2011/06/14/sustainable-mercedes-roadster/

Combine modern power with classic Mercedes styling reminiscent of the 1930s Silver Arrow and you’ve got this dynamic electric concept sports car, the latest from designer Ali Khanzadi. The lightweight modern roadster’s body is formed using a composite of recycled plastic & carbon fiber & the chassis a composite of carbon fiber & aluminum. Lacking traditional brakes, it utilizes the same electricity & magnetic system in braking that is used to propel the vehicle.

Designer: Ali Khanzadi

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Here's Every 3D Movie Ever Made [Image Cache]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5811506/heres-every-3d-movie-ever-made

Some day in the not-so-distant future, there's going to be a bizarro Criterion Collection that goes about destroying the very worst that Hollywood has provided us. They'd be wise to start with this (gigundo) graphic that lays out every single 3D movie ever. BURN IT. BURN IT ALL.

It looks as though Sony made this chart in an effort to promote 3D, but my goodness, what a rogue's gallery of terrible. Which is fine if we're talking the intentionally terrible B-movies that 3D was made for. But how many of these movies, other than maybe Avatar, can you say was genuinely improved by slapping an extra dimension on there? [Electropig UK, Graphic credit: Sony Professional; via The High Definite]

NVIDIA Can Soon Build Its Own All-In-One Chipsets With Icera Purchase [Blip]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5811573/nvidia-can-soon-build-its-own-all+in+one-chipsets-with-icera-purchase

NVIDIA completed its purchase of Icera, a wireless modem company. With this technology under its belt, NVIDIA can build a mobile processor with a cellular radio and a baseband applications processor. Icera already develops a product that combines NVIDIA's Tegra processor with an HSPA+ radio and support for Android. The perfect combination for the next generation Android tablet and the main reason NVIDIA shelled out $367 million for this UK-based company. [Betanews]

Google Wants to Make Internet Faster...Again [Google]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5811579/google-wants-to-make-internet-fasteragain

Last year, Google launched their own DNS servers in an attempt to speed up internet load times for those who trusted them enough to handle their web routing. Now, they want to speed up those load times again using SPDY, a new optimization protocol.

According to Technology Review, SPDY has been around since late 2009. But now, Google is making the protocol, which negotiates and optimizes data transfer between a server and browser, available as a commercial product.

Website optimization company Strangeloop has built SPDY into its flagship product Site Optimizer, software that sits in between a website and its users, and adjusts the site's code to make pages load more quickly. Strangeloop's customers will have the ability to turn the protocol on easily; in tests, the protocol has sped up websites by 10 to 20 percent.

Technology Review also raises a good point that Google wants the entire internet to speed up in the interest of their Chrome OS, which runs almost entirely on web apps. It also has the ability make mobile browsers that support the protocol faster as well. But for now, it's only compatible with desktop versions of Chrome. And as we wait for the new tech to trickle down, we just sit and play the waiting game. [Google via Technology Review]

New Cable Technology Promises 4.5 Gbps Download, 575 Mbps Upload Speeds [Internet]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5811629/new-cable-technology-promises-45-gbps-download-575-mbps-upload-speeds

Watch out DSL providers, your fancy, schmancy fiber optic technology is about to be blown away by a cable telecommunications company from Suwanee, Georgia.

At the Cable Show 2011 conference in Chicago, ARRIS is demoing a new technology that delivers 4.5 Gbps download and 575 Mbps upload speeds over a cable connection. The system steals its bandwidth from DOCSIS cable channels, about 128 channels are pilfered for the downstream and 24 for the upstream connection.

Yes, that means you will receive 848 channels instead of 1,000, but who's complaining. By the time this proof of concept technology makes it to your cable router, most of us will be watching all our TV on Hulu, Netflix or some other IPTV provider anyway. [MaximumPC]

Apple Is Now Selling Unlocked iPhone 4 Handsets From $650 [Apple]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5811673/apple-is-now-selling-unlocked-iphone-4s-from-650

Can you believe that an iRumor has come true, for once—and early? Apple's started selling unlocked iPhone 4 phones in the US, with the 16GB model (in both black and white) costing $650, and the 32GB models coming in at $750.

While this is a step forward in the right direction for Apple (after they started selling unlocked iPhones in the UK last year), US customers can still only use them for 3G on the AT&T network. They can, however, use them with T-Mobile microSIMs, but only on EDGE. Business-travellers will now also be able to pop a microSIM in there if abroad, and take advantage of their host country's new rates. [Apple via SlashGear]

Moneta Onyx phase-change memory prototype can write some data 7x faster than traditional SSDs

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/13/moneta-onyx-phase-change-memory-prototype-can-write-some-data-7x/

As file sizes for many data types continue to grow, smaller chunks are also becoming more ubiquitous, particularly on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, and search tools like Google. These high-volume, small-size blocks of data may soon be served up from a specific type of SSD, like the Moneta Onyx prototype developed by a team at the University of California, San Diego. Onyx uses phase-change memory (PCM), which can rewrite single bits of data (1s and 0s) on demand, rather than rewriting data in larger chunks, yielding sustained 327 megabyte per second (MB/s) reads and 91MB/s writes with smaller file types -- two to seven times faster than the most efficient commercial SSDs. PCM specifically benefits granular data, rather than large files that must be transferred completely (like photos and documents), so the tech is more likely to appear on devices serving up short text-based messages. Traditional SSDs can write larger files faster than the Onyx prototype, though the new drive offers speedier read speeds across the board. It'll be at least a couple years before PCM becomes commercially available, but once (and if) it does, you'll be reading about your coworker's breakfast or college buddy's traffic jam milliseconds faster than before.

Moneta Onyx phase-change memory prototype can write some data 7x faster than traditional SSDs originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Jun 2011 14:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung Galaxy Tab spreads wings, flies to premium seats on American Airlines

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/13/samsung-galaxy-tab-spreads-wings-flies-to-premium-seats-on-amer/

http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/13/samsung-galaxy-tab-spreads-wings-flies-to-premium-seats-on-amer/

Move on over, Delta. The 200 iPads at your JFK terminal may entertain some folks waiting to board, but before the year's out American Airlines will start switching out 6,000 in-flight entertainment systems with Samsung 10.1-inch Galaxy Tabs. Sammy will be customizing the Honeycomb slates with flight related "features" including AA's streaming service mentioned last month, and possibly even adding "expanded memory" for the devices -- no word on how, though. Panasonic's console has some competition it seems. It's notable that these will only be available in "premium cabins" on a handful of long-distance routes, and unless you're flying in a 767-200, WiFi access -- a separate purchase, by the way -- may not be available. We've embedded some PR with the details for all you jet-setting tablet enthusiasts after the break.

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Tab spreads wings, flies to premium seats on American Airlines

Samsung Galaxy Tab spreads wings, flies to premium seats on American Airlines originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Jun 2011 18:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola Televation turns cable TV into IPTV streams for the whole home

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/13/motorola-televation-turns-cable-tv-into-iptv-streams-for-the-who/

Motorola's latest wares are on display at the 2011 Cable Show (we suspect the sluggish cable boxes actually in service right now are rarely mentioned) including this "Live Streaming Device" aka Televation. Functioning as a cable company provided, in-home-only Slingbox, it transcodes the MPEG-2 TV broadcasts into MPEG-4 IP streams for viewing on other devices (Android or iOS tablets, IP-connected TVs, etc) that are on the same local network at whatever bitrate or resolution they can handle. Motorola figures this cuts out legal disputes like those encircling Time Warner's TWCable TV iPad app since it uses existing TV broadcasts. Collaborating on the project were engineers from Comcast, which could make for an existing branch on its existing plans for new boxes, IPTV, and mobile apps. Sling / Echostar has been trying to crack the cable box market with its more flexible solution for years and is expected to announce the new Aria platform tomorrow, so may the best platform -- and not just the one with the cheapest / sweetest deal for the cable company -- win.

Continue reading Motorola Televation turns cable TV into IPTV streams for the whole home

Motorola Televation turns cable TV into IPTV streams for the whole home originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Jun 2011 19:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Swype 3.0 gets Honeycomb support, intense promo video (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/13/swype-3-0-gets-honeycomb-support-intense-promo-video-video/

Swype: Get to da choppa

The folks at Swype sure know how to get our attention. The Android keyboard app has always inspired us to get a bit dramatic, but we had no idea that predictive text and moveable QWERTY pads were this intense. To celebrate the beta release of Swype 3.0 it appears the company hired Doug Liman (or at least some one who has studied the Bourne Identity very closely) to whip up a promo video. Enjoy the thrills of a resizable input area! Be wowed by the Honeycomb support! Get stunned by the auto-correct! Oh, and don't forget to head after the break to watch the clip.

Continue reading Swype 3.0 gets Honeycomb support, intense promo video (video)

Swype 3.0 gets Honeycomb support, intense promo video (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Jun 2011 23:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AMD's Fusion A-Series chips official: 10.5-hour battery life, DirectX11 graphics, and USB 3.0 support (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/13/amds-fusion-a-series-for-mainstream-laptops-official-10-5-hour/

AMD's Llano platform has been on our radar for more than two years, and finally, the company has come clean with its latest class of hybrid CPU / GPU chips, officially dubbed the Fusion A-Series. Unlike the low-power flavor of Fusion accerlated processing units already on the market, these 32-nanometer APUs were designed with desktops and mainstream laptops in mind, taking direct aim at Intel's Core 2011 processors with the promise of superior processing and discrete-level graphics, and 10-plus hours of battery life.

Aside from the assorted performance and battery life claims the company is making (much more on that in a moment), what this means is that as far as laptops go, AMD is completely stepping away from the standalone-CPU-plus-GPU paradigm. But, the company will still make dedicated Radeon cards, which can be coupled with an APU for a 75 percent boost in graphics performance -- a setup AMD is calling "Dual Graphics." All told, these chips measure just 228 square millimeters. To put this in context, check out the gallery of hands-on shots below, featuring the A-series next to a standalone CPU, discrete graphics card, and, for the sake of scale, the kind of low-power Fusion chip introduced back at CES.

A-Series-equipped PCs are already shipping, and AMD says we can expect to see at least 150 of them this year. That sounds promising indeed, but we've still got lots of technical details to rehash. Head on past the break for the full spill on what these APUs pledge to do, along with a video of AMD senior product marketing manager Raymond Dumbeck showing off some A-series laptops in action.

Gallery: AMD Fusion A Series hands-on

Continue reading AMD's Fusion A-Series chips official: 10.5-hour battery life, DirectX11 graphics, and USB 3.0 support (video)

AMD's Fusion A-Series chips official: 10.5-hour battery life, DirectX11 graphics, and USB 3.0 support (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Jun 2011 23:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toshiba outs blingtastic Qosmio X770 for the US market, new P, C, and L series laptops

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/14/toshiba-outs-blingtastic-qosmio-x770-for-the-us-market-new-p-c/

See that refined beast? You're looking at the Toshiba Qosmio X770 -- that European gaming behemoth we ogled from afar last month -- and in a matter of weeks, it'll continue its world tour to land on US shores. To recap, the company shrunk the screen from 18.4 inches to a more manageable 17.3, gave it a paint job that ever-so-subtly fades from red to gunmetal gray, and added a matching red backlit keyboard. This beefy guy comes in $1,199 and $1,899 configurations, with the higher-end model packing a 3D display, quad-core Core i7 CPU, and a 1.25TB hybrid hard drive, and the lower end offering a dual-core Core i5 CPU and a 750GB HDD. Either way, though, you'll get NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M graphics, 1.5GB of video memory, and MaxxAudio3 sound enhancement software.

Meanwhile, Toshiba streamlined its consumer laptops for those non-gamers in the back-to-school crowd, axing the A and M lines, and leaving just the P series, for "premium." It'll include 14-, 15.6-, and 17.3-inch models, all decked out in a textured, two-tone Fuxion X2 finish and featuring USB sleep-and-charge ports, HDMI-out, Harman Kardon speakers, and that same MaxxAudio 3 utility. Depending on the configuration, you can also score NVIDIA GeForce GT540M graphics, Intel Wireless Display, a 4G radio, a Blu-ray drive, and a 3D screen (only on the 15-incher). On the inside, you've got your choice of Intel Core i3, i5, and i7 CPUs or a spankin' new A6-3400M accelerated processing unit from AMD. Look for the 14-inch P745 with a starting price of $699, and 15-inch P755 and the 17-inch P775 for $629 and up.

And, rounding out its portfolio, Toshiba refreshed its budget Satellite L700 series with Core 2011 processors and new AMD A4 and A6 APUs, while the entry-level Satellite C800 gets AMD Fusion C-50 and E-350 APU options. None of these laptops go on sale until later this month, so for now you can content yourself with those up-close-and-personal hands-on shots below.

Gallery: Toshiba Qosmio X770

Gallery: Toshiba Satellite P700 Series

Continue reading Toshiba outs blingtastic Qosmio X770 for the US market, new P, C, and L series laptops

Toshiba outs blingtastic Qosmio X770 for the US market, new P, C, and L series laptops originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Jun 2011 03:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Project Blox is like any other toy that comes with 300 pages of documentation (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/14/project-blox-is-like-any-other-toy-that-comes-with-300-pages-of/

If your kid (or inner kid) turns their nose up at those delectable Sifteo Cubes, it'll obviously be because they want open source smart building blocks instead. So oblige the budding geek with Project Blox, courtesy of electrical engineering students at the University of Texas at Austin. Every toddler-friendly block has its own LCD and touch panels, plus motion sensors and wireless comms that let it interact with other blocks in weird and wonderful ways -- like the maze game you'll see in the video after the break. Project Blox is still very much a project, unfortunately, but its creators have put all their code and schematics online so baby Einstein can have a go at building his own.

Continue reading Project Blox is like any other toy that comes with 300 pages of documentation (video)

Project Blox is like any other toy that comes with 300 pages of documentation (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Jun 2011 05:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Comcast invites Skype into its cable boxes, mobile apps

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/14/comcast-invites-skype-into-its-cable-boxes-mobile-apps/

The latest announcement at the 2011 Cable Show comes from the seemingly unlikely pairing of Comcast and Skype, who have arranged to enable video calls through the cable box. All it takes is a camera, adapter and 'specially-designed remote' to turn HDMI-equipped Comcast boxes into Skype-on-TV machines when they start trials in the next few months. Senior Comcast VP Cathy Avgiris tells the Seattle Times that video will max out at 720p to start but will be ugraded to 1080p eventually. The tie-in will also means Skype features for the Comcast Xfinity apps on tablets and phones, but according to Avgiris it won't "necessarily be limited to triple-play" (TV, phone and internet) customers only. Skype has already partnered with several TV manufacturers for HD calling in the living room, but working through cable boxes means a much greater prospective installed base. Beyond the still-unanswered questions of pricing and release dates, we've already seen enough Cable Show demos that didn't amount to much (*cough* tru2way) so this will goes on the shelf with the others until it's spotted in the wild.

Continue reading Comcast invites Skype into its cable boxes, mobile apps

Comcast invites Skype into its cable boxes, mobile apps originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Jun 2011 06:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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