Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Next Xbox console to be six times more powerful, headed for fall 2013 release?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/24/next-xbox-console-to-be-six-times-more-powerful-headed-for-fall/

Xbox 720, Xbox Loop -- whatever Microsoft ends up calling it, that hot rod of a console looks to be on deck for a late fall 2013 release. According to IGN's sources, this successor to the Redmond gaming throne is purported to pack a GPU based on AMD's 6000 series of chips and will boast silicon circuitry that catapults its performance past Nintendo's upcoming Wii U by 20 percent. If you're looking for a more apples to green X's comparison, this next-gen console's graphical capabilities are also reportedly six times greater than its 360 progenitor. While MS is likely holding back its monstrous new platform for a big E3 reveal, it appears the company's still whittling down its spec list, with dev kits to be issued later this August. No mention was made of its rumored Kinect 2 integration, but we're more than certain that famous hacking tech will be front and center.

[Image credit: Joseph Dumary]

Next Xbox console to be six times more powerful, headed for fall 2013 release? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google updates ToS, shares your data across its services (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/24/google-new-privacy-policy/

Google updates ToS, shares your data across your services (video)

You're you, right? Of course you are. If you have an Account, Google knows that too and now, with an updated and streamlined Google Terms of Service, you're even more you than ever before. The company is consolidating most of its more than 70 separate privacy documents into a single Privacy Policy that is so important it gets capitalized. The biggest change? If you have a Google Account, your information will now be shared across the company's many services. Scary? Don't fear -- the company is taking this time to re-iterate its pledge to never sell your personal information, never share it externally and to continue to support the Data Liberation Front. Viva transparency.

Continue reading Google updates ToS, shares your data across its services (video)

Google updates ToS, shares your data across its services (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Researchers develop 'wireless optical brain router' to manipulate brain cells

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/24/researchers-develop-wireless-optical-brain-router-to-manipulat/

Optogenetics might be a relatively unknown area of neuroscience, but it's one that, thanks to some new research, could soon find itself (and its rodental subjects) in the spotlight. For the uninitiated, it's the practice of manipulating animal cells using light (with a little help from gene therapy). Until now, optogenetic equipment has been large and unwieldy, making testing on subjects (read: rats) painstaking. Startup, Kendall Research, has changed all this, creating wireless prototypes that weigh just three grams (0.11 ounces). By eschewing bulky Lasers for LEDs and Laser diodes, the equipment is small enough that it can be attached to the rodents. At that point, their brain function can be manipulated with the touch of a button, and different parts can be stimulated without breeding mutant variants -- a controversial practice that doesn't even yield results in real time. The "router" is powered wirelessly by super capacitors below test area, and researchers can conduct experiments remotely, even automatically. Human applications for this are still some way off, but we're sure our future overlords will make good use of it.

Researchers develop 'wireless optical brain router' to manipulate brain cells originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cisco unveils Linksys HomePlug AV Powerline solutions, converts outlets into network connection points

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/24/cisco-unveils-linksys-homeplug-av-powerline-solutions/

Cisco unveils Linksys HomePlug AV Powerline solutions, converts outlets into network connection points

Looking to boost network range in remote areas of your humble abode? Cisco is now offering an option that turns your electrical outlets into wired network connections with speeds up to 200Mbps. Each Linksys HomePlug AV Powerline option includes an Ethernet adapter that connects to your router and a second adapter for your wired devices elsewhere -- both of which are plugged into sockets of your choosing to get things started. The Powerline then uses your home's electrical wiring for the system, saving the headache of hiding cables for that home office. The company says that the kit will play nice with most household appliances and 1-port and 4-port adapters are available now for $100 each. Want to connect sans wires? A Powerline 1-port Wireless Extender is coming in March that will create a WiFi signal for the HomePlug system. Hopefully wandering peepers won't be able to monitor activity remotely. Fingers crossed.

Continue reading Cisco unveils Linksys HomePlug AV Powerline solutions, converts outlets into network connection points

Cisco unveils Linksys HomePlug AV Powerline solutions, converts outlets into network connection points originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:12:00 ! EDT. Pl ease see our terms for use of feeds.

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Delawareans rejoice as DuPont builds OLED TV testing plant in Newark

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/24/delawareans-rejoice-as-dupont-builds-oled-tv-testing-plant-in-ne/

Delewareans rejoice as DuPont builds OLED TV testing plant in Newark

The State of Delaware has bust out a grant of $920,000 for DuPont's obsessed project to bring OLED TVs to the masses. It's building a facility at the Stine-Haskell Research Center in Newark with the chemicals-giant stumping $30 million out of its own back pocket. The new unit will employ 35 people to investigate the possibility of producing Organic Light Emitting Diodes for use in televisions for a fraction of the current cost. In comparison, the OLED TVs we saw at CES could retail for as much as $10,000, enough to make sure you don't ask Grandma for one next Christmas. The line will be used to test the "spray printing" methods that can print a 50-inch TV in under two minutes we saw in 2010. DuPont's obliged to keep the facility open for five years, or it'll expect angry civil servants to storm the building looking for a million dollars worth of stationery in return.

Delawareans rejoice as DuPont builds OLED TV testing plant ! in Newar k originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tuesday, January 24, 2012

drag2share: eye3 hexicopter helps your DSLR take flight for $999

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/24/eye3-hexicopter-helps-your-dslr-take-flight-for-999/

Your camera wants to take flight -- trust us, it does -- and an ambitious new project aims to make your DSLR's aeronautic ambitions a reality. The eye3 hexacopter is a six-armed carbon-fiber unmanned arial vehicle (UAV) that hopes to make aerial photography accessible to the masses. Designed by a couple with a hankering for robotics, the flying machine is modular (for easy repair) and navigates using a combination of Google Maps and open-source code. Those without a pilot license need not worry: the eye3 utilizes the oft-improving APM2 software for a "compact yet powerful" autopilot experience. The UAV can carry a payload of five to ten pounds, boasts three CPUs and has a 350-watt motor strapped to each tentacle. Fly past the break to watch a video from eye3's creators... get to the choppa'!

Continue reading eye3 hexicopter helps your DSLR take flight for $999

eye3 hexicopter helps your DSLR take flight for $999 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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drag2share: Google Is Betraying Itself [Blockquote]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5878799/google-is-betraying-itself

From a 2004 Playboy interview with Larry Page, in which the Google co-founder describes a very different company from the one we use now:

PLAYBOY: Portals attempt to create what they call sticky content to keep a user as long as possible.

PAGE: That's the problem. Most portals show their own content above content elsewhere on the web. We feel that's a conflict of interest, analogous to taking money for search results. Their search engine doesn't necessarily provide the best results; it provides the portal's results. Google conscientiously tries to stay away from that. We want to get you out of Google and to the right place as fast as possible. It's a very different model.

A lot changes in eight years. [PandoDaily via Gruber]

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drag2share: Murtazin: 'Nokia Lumia 910 will arrive in May, pack 12MP camera'

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/24/nokia-lumia-910-12mp-camera-eldar-murtazin/

Ah, Eldar Murtazin. Sometimes he's (sort of) right, sometimes he's wrong. But he manged to predict the Nokia-WinPho love-in ahead of any official announcement and that still counts for something, right? His latest missive concerns the news of the Lumia 900's likely summer-time flight across the Atlantic. While it's not going to tout the LTE radios of the American edition, Eldar's more concerned about a phone that no-one's yet heard of. Yes, the Lumia 910, which according to the thorn in Nokia's side, will land in the old country sometime in May -- ahead of the posited June launch for the Lumia 900 in the UK. Murtazin is keeping any other details close to his chest for now, aside from the tantalizing mention of a whopping 12 megapixel camera. We know that Nokia knows exactly how to craft a good cameraphone, but we're keeping this rumor firmly in the maybe-could-be-possibly camp, right next to the salt mines.

Murtazin: 'Nokia Lumia 910 will arrive in May, pack 12MP camera' originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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drag2share: Apple now the largest buyer of semiconductors according to Gartner

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/24/apple-now-the-largest-buyer-of-semiconductors-according-to-gartn/

Gartner

No one would be shocked to learn that Apple is a major purchaser of semiconductors. Heck, hearing that the company is number one on that list might not even raise too many eyebrows. But, what if you we told you last year the Cupertino crew wasn't the biggest purchaser, or even the second. In 2010 the House that Jobs Built was a distant third behind Samsung and HP but, following a significant surge thanks to the iPad 2 and the updated MacBook Air, its bumped those companies back a slot. In 2011 Apple increased its semiconductor spending by 34.6 percent, from $12.8 billion to $17.3 billion. Samsung stayed in the number two spot with a 9.2 percent jump in spending to $16.68 billion. Meanwhile HP dropped from first, spending only $16.62 billion and settling for the bronze. Check out the source link for the complete rankings from Gartner.

Continue reading Apple now the largest buyer of semiconductors according to Gartner

Apple now the largest buyer of semiconductors according to Gartner originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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drag2share: Klipsch Mode M40 noise-cancelling headphones review

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/24/klipsch-mode-m40-noise-cancelling-headphones-review/

Around these parts, we've generally had favorable opinions of Klipsch's audio products. Whether it's been something as small as its S4 line of smartphone oriented in-ears or grand speaker systems like its AirPlay-enabled G-17 Air, we've usually ended up awarding the brand our highest praise. If you'll recall, it was little over a year ago that Klipsch introduced its $150 Image One on-ear headphones -- the company's first set ever that weren't of the intra-aural variety, and a favorite of our own James Trew.

Fast forward to the present, and the company's unleashed its second proper over-the-head headphone, the Klipsch Mode M40 with active noise-cancellation. In recent years, headphones have exploded in popularity -- many companies have been furiously trying to blend good sound with fashion-forward looks. It's safe to say that's Klipsch's end game here, and is asking that you part ways with 350 bones to get in on the action.

Put simply, these aren't a follow-up to the Image Ones, but rather, a luxury pair that takes cues from the company's reference series headphones. Of course, as we've come to expect from Klipsch, the M40s do have some notable tricks up their yokes aside from their debatably fashionable looks -- the ! company promises they'll cancel noise for a massively long 45 hours on a single AAA battery, and both earcups feature an interesting dual-driver array with a 15mm tweeter and a 40mm woofer. So, have the M40s made us smitten with Klipsch all over again? Or not? Maybe something a bit more complicated? Click on past the break to find out!

Gallery: Klipsch Mode M40 noise-cancelling headphones review

Continue reading Klipsch Mode M40 noise-cancelling headphones review

Klipsch Mode M40 noise-cancelling headphones review originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 J! an 2012 13:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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drag2share: Boxee Box Live TV starts shipping, Boxee 1.5 software update now rolling out

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/24/boxee-box-live-tv-starts-shipping-boxee-1-5-software-update-now/

Boxee Live TV now shipping, Boxee 1.5 rolling out to existing Boxee Boxes

Both have been promised as coming soon in recent weeks, and now Boxee has confirmed that two fairly big new rollouts are underway. The first is the Boxee Box Live TV dongle, which is now shipping and will let you augment your Boxee Box with some OTA TV channels for $50. You can get a closer look at it in our hands-on from CES earlier this month. Alongside it, Boxee is also rolling out its Boxee 1.5 software update, which boasts a new UI and a number of other refinements including better search, new library screens and filtering options, browser pop-up management, and the addition of Rotten Tomatoes listings. Boxee says it's staggering the release over the next 72 hours, but those eager to check it out can find instructions for a manual update at the support link below.

Boxee Box Live TV starts shipping, Boxee 1.5 software update now rolling out originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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drag2share: Why Won't This Still Life Painting Just Stay Put? [Video]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5878600/interactive-paintings-would-make-art-galleries-a-lot-more-fun

Imagine re-arranging the blossoms in Van Gogh's Sunflowers, or really giving Munch's The Scream something to scream about. Visiting art galleries would be far more entertaining, and Scott Garner is clearly trying to make that happen with his Interactive Still Life project.

To be fair, the only paint that's involved is on the wall where this piece hangs. It's actually an LCD display attached to a rotating mount equipped with a Phidgets tilt sensor, that's all tied into a PC feeding the image.

Why Won't This Still Life Painting Just Stay Put? When hanging normally, the piece appears to be a still life painting of some fruit and pottery, but it's actually a 3D image generated in real-time by a piece of software called Unity3D. So when the frame is rotated, the contents of the scene all tumble towareds the side of the frame like they're being affected by gravity. The concept looks like a lof of fun, and I can't think of a single painting I wouldn't want to try this on. Who's smirking now Mona Lisa now that your world's been turned upside-down? [Scott Garner via Make]

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drag2share: Artist Captures the Beauty of Disintegration via Pellet Gun [Image Cache]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5878678/artist-captures-beauty-mid+disintegration/gallery/1

Artist Captures the Beauty of Disintegration via Pellet Gun It's amazing what some high-speed photography and a few well-placed BB's can accomplish. Artist Ian Sailer created this stunning series, dubbed, Color Explosion Photos. Who know a simple pellet gun could cause all this Technicolor destruction? [Flickr via Faith is Torment via Buzzfeed]

Artist Captures the Beauty of Disintegration via Pellet Gun

Artist Captures the Beauty of Disintegration via Pellet Gun

Artist Captures the Beauty of Disintegration via Pellet Gun

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drag2share: The "Don't Be Evil" Bookmarklet Lets You See a Web Without Google's Search Plus Your World [Video]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5878735/the-dont-be-evil-bookmarklet-lets-you-see-a-web-without-googles-search-plus-your-world

Facebook, Twitter and Myspace engineers have developed a browser plug-in that helps you skirt the horrible intrusion that is Google's new Search Plus Your World. It should send a pretty clear message: it's called "Don't Be Evil".

The tool, actually a bookmarklet, is available from the Focus On The User web site, and was created by a team of engineers from numerous social networking sites — though only Facebook, Twitter and Myspace are named.

These three companies all feel aggrieved by Google's new search system, claiming that it attenuates their importance in search results. But the bookmarklet they've written lets you compare what the new results look like compared to good ol'fashioned Google search. The creators say:

"We wanted to see how much better social search could be for consumers if Google chose to use all of the information already in its index. We think the results speak for themselves. All of the information in this demo comes from Google itself, and all of the ranking decisions are made by Google's own algorithms. No other services or APIs are accessed."

The video above pretty clearly demonstrates the stark deference between vanilla Google and its Search Plus Your World. How long before we see a backtrack? [Focus On The User via Search Engine Land]

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drag2share: How To Turn Your Wall Into a Touchscreen Phone Using a Kinect [Video]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5878748/how-to-turn-your-wall-into-a-touchscreen-phone-using-a-kinect

Okay, this isn't going to be easy, but a developer has posted a video on YouTube showing how it's possible to use an Android handset, a projector, a Kinect and a computer to create the future. In your living room. Now.

In the video, he shows how, by hooking his Galaxy Nexus up to a PC, projector and Kinect, he can use simple gestures on the wall to control the handset. That is pretty freakin' awesome. As you might expect, though, it's not particularly straightforward.

In fact, he had to compile a custom Android ROM from the Android Open Source Project source code for the job. That was needed to let the PC feed the phone information about gestures, which themselves have to be translated on the PC when they arrive from the Kinect. So, as I say, it really is very involved. But it works, and it is frankly incredible. [DDRBoxman via Phandroid via MAKE]

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