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Monday, October 03, 2011

drag2share: Google Maps adds 3D bird's eye route previews for high-flying navigators

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/03/google-maps-adds-3d-birds-eye-route-previews-for-high-flying-na/

Sure, you could use Google Maps to find the shortest path from point A to point B, but what if you're interested in going from A to B via scenic route C? That's where Google's new 'helicopter view' comes in. Unveiled last week, this feature allows online navigators to visualize any driving, walking or mass transit route with a 3D, bird's-eye animation. All you have to do is enter your starting point, destination and mode of transportation, and click the new "3D" button that will appear next to each route. From there, you'll be launched into a Google Earth-powered flight, displaying all the buildings, mountains and other terrain that you'd encounter during your real-life journey. You can also pause the flight at any moment to check out any sights of interest, along with any geo-linked photos, videos or other online content. Buckle up and check out the source link below for more details and images.

Google Maps adds 3D bird's eye route previews for high-flying navigators originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Oct 2011 07:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

PC World | source

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Sunday, October 02, 2011

drag2share: Text 2 Folder Creates Many Folders at Once [Windows Downloads]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5845820/text-2-folder-creates-many-folders-at-once

Windows: Text 2 Folder is a simple, portable app that creates multiple nested folders. All you need to do is create a text file with the folder structure you plan on using and feed both that file and the root folder path to Text 2 Folder. If you need to create a lot of folders at once it can save a decent chunk of time.

This app is the fruit of software development site DonationCoder. The forums on this site have a section for custom-made freeware ideas. The original purpose for Text 2 Folder was to help a photographer organize his photos by client, but it would seem to work well anytime a new file folder organization setup is required.

Text 2 Folder is a freeware app available from the developer's site at the below link.

Text 2 Folders | Skywire Empire via Cybernet News

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drag2share: Samsung releases 1.5GHz Exynos processor and 16MP CMOS for mobiles, if you're nice

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/01/samsung-releases-1-5ghz-exynos-processor-and-16mp-cmos-for-mobil/

Samsung's just announced the newest and fastest version of its Exynos mobile processor. The 4212 is a dual-core ARM Cortex A9 clocked to 1.5GHz, built using a 32mn process that makes it 30 percent more efficient and 25 percent faster than the 4210. Last year's model was capable of many impressive feats, but its 3D abilities were hampered by the limits imposed by its HDMI 1.3 controller. The new boy gets version 1.4 and hence the freedom to run stereoscopic imagery at an impressive 70fps. The chips will be available in Q4 of this year, but only to "select customers" who -- we guess -- look after Mr and Mrs. Samsung's cats over the holidays. The chip comes too late for the Galaxy S II LTE but we can expect to see it in future superphones before too long.

At the same time, the company released a 16 megapixel CMOS sensor designed for mobile devices. It can shoot stills at the quoted figure and is theoretically capable of 30fps video at around half that, although we're unlikely to see a device that can record 8 megapixel video in the near future. If you hadn't guessed, "select customers" will get their extra-polite hands on the Samsung S5K2P1 in November, other OEMs will have to wait outside, in the snow. Of course, as everyone knows, it's not about how big your megapixel count is, it's what you do with 'em that really counts.

Continue reading Samsung releases 1.5GHz Exynos processor and 16MP CMOS for mobiles, if you're nice

Samsung releases 1.5GHz Exynos processor and 16MP CMOS for mobiles, if you're nice originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 01 Oct 2011 02:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

BusinessWire (Exynos), BusinessWire (S5K2P1) | source

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Samsung (S5K2P1), Samsung (Exynos) | Email this | Comments

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drag2share: Mobile Miscellany: week of September 26, 2011

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/01/mobile-miscellany-week-of-september-26-2011/

This week was packed with news on the mobile front, so it was easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of September 26, 2011:

Last week we heard the rumor that Sprint would be launching the BlackBerry Curve 9350 on October 2nd, and we've finally received the official confirmation. The device will be hitting stores tomorrow for $80 with a two-year contract. [PhoneArena]
The Motorola Photon WiMAX, referred to as the Photon 4G in the US, is now making its way to Japan as KDDI announced the launch of the device this past Monday. [Motorola]
Verizon Wireless launched the Pantech Jest 2 this week, which is a feature phone with a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard. [Verizon Wireless]
The Samsung Galaxy Y is now listed as "coming soon" on O2's website, which makes it the second carrier to announce upcoming availability in the UK. The actual date of release, however, is still unofficial. [O2]
Softbank (Japan) looks ready to land the ZTE Lord V882, which appears to be an Android device running on Gingerbread, and comes packed with a 1GHz CPU, 512MB of RAM, 3.8-inch LCD at WVGA resolution and a 5MP camera. [LandofDroid]
NTT DoCoMo and Orange have teamed up to offer the Sharp AQUOS SH80F, which features dual 8MP stereoscopic cameras and claims to be the world's first Android device capable of converting 2D content into 3D in real time. It'll first be launched in France on October 6th and will follow to other European and Asian countries shortly after. [Softpedia]
Maybe Microsoft Canada just assumed nobody actually reads terms and conditions, because the company outed the names of a few upcoming Windows Phones in the T&C for a developer contest: the Nokia Sabre and a duo of Samsungs named the Yukon and Wembley. The Nokia Searay was also named in the list, indicating the Sabre is a second device running on Mango. [Nokia HDBlog (translated)]
In preparation for its Windows Phone debut, Nokia is also rumored to be featuring a new voice navigation system with 3D maps, according to some leaked marketing materials. [WinRumors]
Here's a rendering of the HTC EVO Design 4G, also known as the Kingdom or Hero S. [Pocketnow]
Samsung may have a midrange device coming soon to AT&T's lineup as a complement to the Galaxy S II. We've already seen the I857 pass through the FCC and show up in a leaked roadmap, and now it appears to have been dubbed the Doubletime, according to uncovered Cellebrite records. [Pocketnow]
Also appearing in Cellebrite records are the HTC Vigor (PH98100), Motorola Droid HD (XT912), and the Samsung Nexus Prime (SCH-i515). [Droid-Life]

Mobile Miscellany: week of September 26, 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 01 Oct 2011 11:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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drag2share: Sony cuts the VAIO SA's starting price to $1,000, starts shipping the 15-inch VAIO SE

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/02/sony-cuts-the-vaio-sas-starting-price-to-999-starts-shipping/

Lots of PC news flowing out of Sony Electronics' US headquarters this fine Sunday morning. First, the company slashed the starting price of the 13-inch VAIO SA laptop from $1,250 to $1,000, while the lower-end SB series now starts at $780 (it had been going for $800 after instant savings). We asked Sony's PR team what that means for folks who recently purchased either of these through Sony's online store, and still haven't gotten a response, but the company was quick to remind us that it's up to retailers such as Best Buy to set their own price protection policies. (Thanks, Sony!)

Moving along, that 15.5-inch VAIO SE series we reviewed a month ago is at last up for sale, beautiful 1080p display and all. You can find her on Sony's site starting at a thousand bucks with a Core i5-2430M processor, 4GB of RAM, a 640GB 5,400RPM hard drive, DVD burner and, of course, that 1920 x 1080 panel. So, is all that worth a flaky trackpad and poor battery life (sans $150 slice)? That, friends, is a decision you'll have to make for yourself. Finally, in more granular news, the 14-inch C and E series are getting expanded Sandy Bridge processor options, while the 16-inch F series and L series all-in-ones will come with Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum, Sound Forge Audio Studio and ACID Music Studio pre-installed. In addition, the SA, L, F and E series are all getting speed bumps, as are pre-configured SB and Z series laptops. Oh, and the SB is now available in red. Got it? Good. Lots of up to date specs at the source link.

Sony cuts the VAIO SA's starting price to $1,000, starts shipping the 15-inch VAIO SE originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 02 Oct 2011 08:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony Store (VAIO home page) | ! ;Email this | Comments

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drag2share: LiveLens MFT adapter brings aperture control to Canon EF lenses

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/02/livelens-mft-adapter-brings-aperture-control-to-canon-ef-lenses/

It may be serving a somewhat small niche, but we're guessing that niche will be plenty pleased that something like the LiveLens MFT adapter now exists. That's MFT as in Micro Four Thirds, and the adapter is for Canon EF lenses. Nothing too special there, but this particular adapter now also allows for aperture control for the first time, which is actually done on the adapter itself, not the camera -- the only remaining drawback is a lack of autofocus. Expectedly that ability comes at quite a premium -- you'll have to fork over $442 for the adapter and an extra $52 for the necessary 9V battery cable.

LiveLens MFT adapter brings aperture control to Canon EF lenses originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 02 Oct 2011 09:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Wired Gadget Lab | source

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Redrock Micro | Email this | Comments

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drag2share: Google and ITA's OnTheFly app update puts flexible flight planning in your pocket

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/02/google-and-itas-onthefly-app-update-puts-flexible-flight-planni/

Google went through a lot to buy ITA and its travel software, and we saw the acquisition first bear fruit in the form of Mountain View's web-based Flight Search. Now the partnership has produced version 1.2 of the OnTheFly airfare booking app for Android, iOS and BlackBerry. What's new? Flexible date searches that let you peruse departures 35 days at a time, plus a price graph that shows the most fiscally prudent times to travel. Additionally, globetrotters can access their itinerary search history and see price changes for those fares throughout the year. Nice job fellas, now let's work on bringing bargain-basement fare finding for the final frontier in the next revision.

Google and ITA's OnTheFly app update puts flexible flight planning in your pocket originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 02 Oct 2011 19:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Android Central | source

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Google Mobile Blog | Email this | Comments

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Friday, September 30, 2011

drag2share: Untapped Mobile Apps Let You Share Your Favorite Beers and Find New Ones [Downloads]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5845540/untapped-mobile-apps-let-you-share-your-favorite-beers-and-find-new-ones

Android and iOS: Untappd, the social network for beer lovers, is now available as a free download for Android and iOS. At its core Untappd is a beer rating and recommendation system. Using the service's searchable database of brews you can rate each beer you drink, add a comment, and upload a photo of the brew. The service will recommend similar beers based on your rankings and share your reviews with your contacts.

There is Twitter-like stream of your ratings and a location check-in feature showing you all the beer ratings submitted from your current location (which is a great way to make a decision when presented with a tap list full of breweries you are unfamiliar with). You will unlock badges as you rate beers and check-in at bars, but these features borrowed from other social networks take a back seat to the app's central focus of giving you a place to record which brews you love and which beers you are on the look-out for.

If you are a fan of the bourgeoning craft brew scene who has been looking for something to replace an Evernote notebook full of pictures of beer labels from your cell phone, then Untappd is a promising solution that knows beer is supposed to be social.

Untappd | iTunes App Store and Android Market

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drag2share: How Microsoft and Kapersky Labs Neutralized a Spam Botnet [Security]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5845448/this-is-how-microsoft-and-kapersky-labs-neutralized-a-spam-botnet

Botnets are feared not only for what they can do, but also for their resiliant nature (they're virtually impossible to completely disband). Still, Microsoft and Kapersky Labs teamed up recently to foil a particularly malevolent botnet called Kelihos. Here's how.

Kelihos is a botnet that, at its peak, was sending 4 billion spam messages a day. According to the security blog ThreatPost, the botnet wasn't so much shut down as it was "sinkholed." The botnet is still operational, but it's 100% controlled by Kapersky Labs (who, by the way, failed to receive recognition from Microsoft for their efforts). Botnets of course, function by infecting computers of random people with internet connections, then using those compromised machines to do their evil bidding over a private peer-to-peer network. Kapersky gained control of the botnet by getting the machines to talk to their servers more than the actual botnet servers.

This Monday, we started to propagate a special peer address. Very soon, this address became the most prevalent one in the botnet, resulting in the bots talking to our machine, and to our machine only. Experts call such an action sinkholing – bots communicate with a sinkhole instead of its real controllers. At the same time, we distributed a specially crafted list of job servers to replace the original one with the addresses mentioned before and prevent the bots from requesting commands. From this point on, the botnet could not be commanded anymore.

But here's the tricky part: since Kapersky can't shut down each individual infected computer, they can't shutdown the botnet. They think they could have the botnet push an update to every machine that would remove the infection and shutdown the network, but they say such a move is quite illegal. Oh well! [ThreatPost]

Image Credit: James Cridland/(CC BY 2.0)

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drag2share: Samsung announces the Series 7 all-in-one, its first desktop for the US market

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/30/samsung-announces-the-series-7-all-in-one-its-first-desktop-for/

There must be something in the water: first Toshiba decides to give this all-in-one thing a whirl and a few months later, Samsung's jumping on the bandwagon, too. The company just added a desktop to its Series 7 lineup, making it Sammy's first all-in-one for the US market. It'll be available in two configurations, but either way you're in for a 23-inch, 250-nit display with 1080p resolution and support for two-finger gestures. Other specs include four USB 2.0 ports built into the base (along with one of the 3.0 persuasion), a 1TB 7,200RPM hard drive, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, Bluetooth 3.0 and dual four-watt speakers. And, depending on which config you choose, you'll get either a 2.6GHz Core i3-2120T CPU and 6GB of RAM or a 2.7GHz Core i5-2390T processor with 8GB of memory. Sadly, both models cap the graphics off with Intel's integrated option, which means this may or may not be the right choice for game-loving Samsung fans. Look for them on October 10th for $999 and $1,199, depending on the model. Oddly, the company isn't issuing a press release until Monday (we'll update this post when we see it) but for now, skip past the break for one extra pic.

Continue reading Samsung announces the Series 7 all-in-one, its first desktop for the US market

Filed under: Desktops

Samsung announces the Series 7 all-in-one, its first desktop for the US market originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Sep 2011 11:16:00 EDT. Please see our ter! ms for u se of feeds.

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drag2share: Sharp's Aquos 104SH monster phone hits Softbank next spring, colors it blue like an orange

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/30/sharps-aquos-104sh-monster-phone-hits-softbank-next-spring-col/

Softbank's on a roll -- doling out the updated mobile kit to lucky denizens of Japan. After treating us to news of Dell's dual-core beastie and Sharp's comparatively lower end Aquos 102SH, comes word of this true wireless brute -- the Aquos 104SH. Rocking a dual-core 1.5GHz TI OMAP4460 processor beneath a 4.5-inch 1280 x 720 HD LCD display, this handset's certainly no forward-looking specced slouch. Prospective owners can mark their calendars for a spring 2012 debut, at which point you'll get to enjoy speeds of up to 21Mbps down, useful for recording and uploading HD video on its 12.1 megapixel rear camera. Oh, and did we mention the device's loaded with tri-band GSM / WCDMA radios for that global roaming trip around the continents you've been putting off? We haven't yet seen pricing for Sharp's orange and blue (a Syracuse fan, we presume) wonder, so sit tight and wait for a future announcement.

Sharp's Aquos 104SH monster phone hits Softbank next spring, colors it blue like an orange originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Electronista | source

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Softbank (Translated) | Email this | Comments

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drag2share: IBM's THINK Exhibit invades NYC, aims to inspire (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/30/ibms-think-exhibit-invades-nyc-aims-to-inspire-video/

Leaving the confines of a Manhattan apartment, Lincoln Center has the uncanny ability to make one feel dwarfed. Home to the performing arts and haunt to New York City's glitterati, the landmark received the IBM makeover as part of the company's THINK exhibit -- an interactive installation designed to weave the story of technology as it applies to the fabric of life, achievement and change.

The first thing that catches the eye is IBM's sparkling 123-foot long, 12-foot high LCD wall lining a tunnel leading into the bowels of the NYC landmark. The "living" wall thrives off the surrounding environment, visualizing traffic patterns and analyzing corresponding air quality from nearby Broadway. It also shows the solar potential of every rooftop in the city, financial transactions and the amount of water leaking from the main aqueduct. As the event's producer Lee Green simply put it, the idea behind the set up is to "delegate understanding" to "intrigue and inspire" even the least technologically-inclined.

Gallery: IBM THINK Exhibit NYC September 2011

Continue reading IBM's THINK Exhibit invades NYC, aims to inspire (video)

IBM's THINK Exhibit invades NYC, aims to inspire (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Sep 2011 14:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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drag2share: Turn a Lamp On and Off Just by Touching It with This DIY Tweak [DIY]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5845247/turn-a-lamp-on-and-off-just-by-touching-it-with-this-diy-tweak

Lamp switches can be kind of a pain—either you can't reach them comfortably, they break within a few months, or they just take a lot of force. With an inexpensive touch switch, you can turn any metal lamp on and off just by touching it with your finger.

DIY web site Instructables has a guide to hooking a touch switch up to your metal lamp, and it's a pretty cool tweak—not to mention surprisingly useful. The touch switch requires digging into the wiring of the lamp, but it shouldn't be too hard, even if you aren't an electronics guru—the tutorial on Instructables coupled with the touch switch's manual should be more than enough to get you set up. Hit the link to see more about how it works.

"Simple" Conversion of Metal Lamp to Use Touch Switch | Instructables

You can contact Whitson Gordon, the author of this post, at whitson@lifehacker.com. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and lurking around our #tips page.

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drag2share: Is Digital Money the New Way to Buy Drugs? [Drugs]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5845229/is-digital-money-the-new-way-to-buy-drugs

I'm not gonna name names, but someone just mentioned paying for weed with a Square account. It'd be equally easy to use Paypal, Venmo, Bitcoin (RIP) or any of the myriad mobile payment systems that allow you to send money from your phone.

I mean, think about it: As long as you don't put some idiotic note on your account like "drugs," virtual currency would be a really easy way for drug dealers to take one very dangerous aspect of trafficking out of the equation—as long as they took some precautions.

So have you ever bought drugs using a mobile payment system? Is this a really tired scheme that a innocent lad like me just hadn't ever heard of? Let us know in the poll.

Have you ever bought drugs with virtual currency?

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drag2share: iPhone 5 to have 21Mbps HSPA+ data? China Unicom says so

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/29/iphone-5-to-have-21mbps-hspa-data-china-unicom-says-so/

We know that Apple won't be unveiling its next superphone for a few more days, but we may have a tasty tidbit about the iPhone 5 ahead of schedule. So the story goes, China Unicom's Deputy Director Huang Wenlian was making a presentation at Macworld Asia, and stated that the new iPhone would utilize the company's HSPA+ 21Mbps network. Now, we aren't saying it's a sure thing, but it appears that Tim Cook could deliver a handset with thrice the data speeds of its predecessor next week. Fingers crossed, ya'll.

Update: We removed the original picture at the request of PC Watch. It was a presentation slide showing a timeline of iPhone models, with a simple line drawing in place of the iPhone 5 and a mention of HSPA+ 21Mbps underneath.

iPhone 5 to have 21Mbps HSPA+ data? China Unicom says so originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Sep 2011 12:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Electronista | source

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PC Watch (Japanese) | Email this | Comments

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