Friday, March 02, 2012

KIRF MacBook Air is the prettiest netbook we've seen today

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/02/kirf-macbook-air-is-the-prettiest-netbook-weve-seen-today/

This is the Netbook Navigator NAV13X Windows 7 Ultrabook and if we're honest, we think it's a very attractive looking device. That said, we're not so sure it's going to be on sale for too long, which is a genuine shame. Despite being called an Ultrabook, it's not an Intel-sanctioned device, which won't go down well with Santa Clara's lawyers. Secondly, it's actually a Netbook running a 1.86GHz dual-core Atom CPU with 2GB of RAM and a 32GB SSD, with build to-order options running to larger memory and storage. Thirdly, we're fairly sure we've seen industrial design like this before, and given the litigious nature of the company involved, we expect a metric ton of cease-and-desist notices to be delivered to Navigator's New Jersey HQ before the weekend's over. However, if it can survive the barrage of paperwork from two of the industry's biggest companies, it'll arrive very soon, setting you back a slight $500 sans OS or $600 with Windows 7 Home Premium.

KIRF MacBook Air is the prettiest ! netbook we've seen today originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Mar 2012 10:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 10:31 AM

Unofficial VLC beta hits Android, no video format is safe

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/02/unofficial-vlc-beta-hits-android-no-video-format-is-safe/

VLC is the Swiss Army knife (nope, not you Perian) of media players and it has never baulked at any of the increasingly weird and wonderful formats we've thrown at it -- which is good because now it's available on Android. The unsupported, unofficial beta by user adridu59 is tailored to run on selected Gingerbread and Ice Cream Sandwich handsets. It's available to grab from the source link, with the caveat that as an unofficial build, it'll require a little bit of tinkering at your end

Unofficial VLC beta hits Android, no video format is safe originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Mar 2012 08:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 8:41 AM

Thursday, March 01, 2012

How Fab.com Convinced Its Board To Completely Pivot The Company, And Then Raised $51 Million

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/fab-pivot-change-business-investors-2012-3


It only took one year for Fab.com to attract 2.5 million members.

It's proof that co-founders Jason Goldberg and Bradford Shellhammer made the right decision when they asked their board if they could shut down Fabulous.com and create an entirely new site.

"We had a wake-up moment," Goldberg told us. "Why were we building a company that isn't the company we want to be building?"

They pivoted and created a home decor flash sales site, attracting 165,000 members even before launching, and have raised $51 million to date. They're set to generate twice as much in 2012.

Watch below Goldberg and Shellhammer talk about how they made the decision to pivot and how they told their investors.

Produced by Kamelia Angelova, Robert Libetti and Dan Goodman

Don't Miss:

• Trulia's CEO Reveals The Most Important Thing To Consider Before Having An IPO

• Here's What Life Is Like When You're 22 And You've Sold A Company For $100 Million

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Posted by Augustine at 8:39 PM

NSA builds own model of Android phone, wants you to do the same

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/01/nsa-builds-own-model-of-android-phone-wants-you-to-do-the-same/

The NSA decided it wanted to have its own go at producing a secure Android smartphone that could encrypt communications to levels necessary for national security. Project "Fishbowl" constructed 100 handsets from off-the-shelf components that were secure enough that staffers could use them without speaking in code. All conversations are conducted across an IPsec VPN with a secure, real-time transport protocol for encrypting the voice at both ends, with the VoIP server being housed inside an NSA facility. It's part of a program to get handset makers to build this kit so the Information Assurance Directorate doesn't have to navigate the interoperability hurdles between each company's tech. The agency has launched a how-to for any manufacturer looking for a large Government contract to produce Fishbowl phones on a larger scale, although they'll probably have to change the name to something more threatening like MK-Ultraphone or the Phoneadelphia Experiment.

NSA builds own model of Android phone, wants you to do the same originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Mar 2012 15:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 6:30 PM

Android and iOS expose your photos to third party apps, promise fixes

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/01/android-and-ios-expose-your-photos-to-third-party-apps-promise/

Oops
2012 is still young, yet it's already shaping up to be a bad year for privacy and security on the mobile front. Apple found itself embroiled in a bit of a brouhaha over the iPhone address book and an app called Path. And, of course, Google was put under the microscope when mobile Safari was found to have a security flaw that its mobile ads were exploiting. Then, earlier this week, it was discovered that granting iOS apps access to your location could also expose your photos. Now it's been discovered that Android also exposes your images, though, it's doing so without asking for any permissions at all. While Apple was masking photo access with other permissions, Google is simply leaving your pics vulnerable as a part of a design quirk that came from the OS's reliance on microSD cards. Both companies have acknowledged the flaws and have said they're currently working on fixes. We're just hoping things start to quiet down soon, though -- our mobile operating systems are running out of personal data to expose. Check out the source links for more details.

Android and iOS expose your photos to third party apps, promise fixes originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Mar 2012 17:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 6:30 PM

At A Strange New Restaurant In Times Square, Diners Eat In Pitch Black Darkness

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/at-a-strange-new-restaurant-in-times-square-diners-eat-in-pitch-black-darkness-2012-3


black, dark, Dans Le Noir NYC's several-year journey to open in New York City is now over. The dining-in-the-dark restaurant is officially open in Times Square, according to Eater.

Originally, the restaurant had scouted a Flatiron location, but then moved to the Lower East Side, then considered Chelsea before deciding on the crossroads of the world.

Finally after delays dating to 2009, the spot opened this week.

Patrons are told not to wear fancy clothes, so if something spills in the dark, the damage is not severe. Fortunately waiters are deft in the dark; they're all blind.

Sample menus show items such as tournedos of crocodile and "surprise wine" and "surprise cocktails."

And if you get to drunk, it's back to the daylight for you.

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Posted by Augustine at 5:49 PM

Hands-on demo with TI's OMAP5 platform at MWC (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/01/hands-on-demo-with-ti-omap5-at-mwc-video/

Hands-on demo with TI's OMAP5 platform at MWC (video)
It's TI's time to brag. We first met OMAP5 when the company's VP of the OMAP division, Remi El-Ouazzane, unveiled the developer's reference platform on our stage at CES. While there, he boasted OMAP5 as "the greatest platform on Earth right now," but we were given only a few insights into the platform's capabilities. Now, TI is back with a new wave of demos that better show the prowess of OMAP5 -- a system-on-chip design that houses a dual-core ARM Cortex-A15 CPU clocked at just 800MHz, two Cortex-M4 cores for low-power processes, along with a PowerVR SGX 544 GPU that handles 3D compositions, and a number of accelerators such as TI's IVA-HD, which supports both video encoding and decoding and plays 1080p video at a whopping 60fps. We were shown a demo of all these capabilities humming in unison on a 1080p display, along with a complex HTML5 mashup that adds credence to the company's latest benchmark report. Photography geeks should know the system supports up to 14 megapixel cameras, and is able to process ten shots per second at that setting. We're told to expect devices based on the OMAP5 platform by the end of the year, and if you're anything like us, it's going to be one hell of a wait. Hop the break for the demo.

Continue reading Hands-on demo with TI's OMAP5 platform at MWC (video)

Hands-on demo with TI's OMAP5 platform at MWC (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Mar 2012 13:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 1:35 PM

Redbox deal with Universal keeps DVDs, Blu-rays on 28-day delay through 2014

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/01/redbox-universal-28-day-rental-delay/

So far, Redbox has maintained that it's only willing to delay rentals of new releases a maximum of one month, but while Warner pushes for a longer window the rental kiosk chain has reached an agreement with Universal Studios Home Entertainment. The new deal keeps the delay window at 28 days, and promises to keep the discs flowing through August 2014. Despite Redbox's threat to start offering Warner movies day and date due to their dispute, so far it's still taken a couple of weeks for new releases like Harold & Kumar and J Edgar to make their way into kiosks. So far there's no word of other studios backing Warner's push for a 56-day delay between the date movies go on sale at retail and the earliest budget renters like Redbox and Netflix will offer them, which is a good sign. Not mentioned in the press release? Whether or not this deal could affect the availability of content for Redbox's internet streaming service that's on the way with Verizon.

Continue reading Redbox deal with Universal keeps DVDs, Blu-rays on 28-day delay through 2014

Redbox deal with Universal keeps DVDs, Blu-rays on 28-day delay through 2014 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Mar 2012 08:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 12:21 PM

Novero's Solana is an $800 netbook running Windows 7 and Android, we go hands-on

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/01/noveros-solana-is-an-800-netbook-running-windows-7-and-android/

The last time we saw the Novero Solana, we were prowling Intel's booth at CES in search of prototypes. Because it was Intel, not Novero, showing the device, the emphasis was on that Cedar Trail processor inside, as well as that kooky form factor -- a netbook with a titling, easel-like touchscreen. What we didn't know then was that the Solana also runs Android, and that it's almost ready for prime time: it's expected to hit Europe and North America within the next two to three months, priced at about €699 or $799, respectively. We had a chance to play with some more polished hardware here at Mobile World Congress, and also see the machine running Gingerbread. Follow past the break for some early impressions or, if it's too early in the US to stomach reading, have a gander at our quickie demo video.

Continue reading Novero's Solana is an $800 netbook running Windows 7 and Android, we go hands-on

Novero's Solana is an $800 netbook running Windows 7 and Android, we go hands-on ori! ginally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Mar 2012 08:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 12:21 PM

Wacom announces Intuos5 graphics tablets, we go hands-on! (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/29/wacom-intuos5-hands-on/

Wacom announces Intuos5 pen tablets, we go hands-on!
It's a couple of months since we spotted paperwork for a mysterious "PTK-450" device at the FCC and now Wacom has finally revealed the gadget that goes with the label. The Intuos5 tablet is available to purchase immediately in Small (4 x 6 inches), Medium (6 x 8) and Large (13 x 8) sizes, priced at £200, £330 and £430 respectively. We're still waiting on confirmation of US pricing, but it'll no doubt be less than what a straight currency conversion suggests (i.e. somewhere below $320, $525 and $680). There's actually a fourth variant to add to the trio, but it's not an XL -- Wacom is hoping to up-sell you to a Cintiq 21UX or Cintiq 24HD if you want something bigger. Instead, the fourth tablet is a version of the Medium that comes without touch sensitivity, bringing the price down to £270 if you're able to live with pen-only input. Opting for this particular model will remove one of the biggest upgrades in this three-year product cycle: the ability of the Intuos5 to sense up to 16 finger-touches simultaneously, rather than just the nib of the pen. But there have been other revisions since the Intuos4 aside from touch, and you only have to read on to discover what those are.

Update: There was a problem with the embedded video -- sorry folks. It's working properly now, alon! g with m ore gallery pics below.

Update: Just got word on US pricing. $230, $350 and $470 for the touch sensitive models. $300 for the Medium without touch. Also coming to the US is a pen-only version of the Small tablet -- we're not sure how much that'll cost (and Wacom's site seems to be down right now), but it'll be the cheapest upgrade of the bunch.


Continue reading Wacom announces Intuos5 graphics tablets, we go hands-on! (video)

Wacom announces! Intuos5 graphics tablets, we go hands-on! (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Feb 2012 21:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 8:02 AM

Withings Baby Monitor makes its official, expensive US debut

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/29/withings-baby-monitor-makes-its-official-expensive-us-debut/

Withings Baby Monitor
The Withings Baby Monitor has already been available in the UK for sometime now and recently made a splash over at the FCC. Now the iOS accessory is finally for sale here in the good ol' US-of-A, for the rather staggering price of $299. That's right, this sensor-packed web cam probably costs more than your handset. Then again, that $20 set of audio-only monitors you picked up at Walmart can't keep you abreast of the temperature and humidity in your child's sleeping quarters or let you watch your newborn sleep with the aid of a night vision mode. You can get the associated WithBaby app for free in the iTunes App Store now. The only question is, whether or not you love your baby enough to spend $300 on an iPhone accessory. We won't judge you either way. Check out the PR after the break.

Continue reading Withings Baby Monitor makes its official, expensive US debut

Withings Baby Monitor makes its official, expensive US debut originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Feb 2012 23:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 8:02 AM

Foursquare.com checks in with OpenStreetMap, checks out of Google Maps API

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/01/foursquare-replaces-google-maps-with-openstreetmap-mapboxstreets/

Foursquare's been quite the active startup lately, adding NFC support for Android 4.0 and releasing its app for the PlayStation Vita. The company isn't quite done being the mayor of Busyville, though, announcing a switch from Google Maps API to OpenStreetMap data-based MapBox Streets for Foursquare.com. Foursquare cited greater flexibility and support for other startups as reasons for the switch, although it also admits that Google's decision to start charging for its Maps API spurred the search for an alternative. Meanwhile, a quick check of the Foursquare app still yielded Google Maps results, so it appears the change is limited to the web site for now. Also, no word on whether Foursquare's awarding MapBox Streets a BFF badge.

Foursquare.com checks in with OpenStreetMap, checks out of Google Maps API originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Mar 2012 03:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 8:02 AM

Galaxy S II does work and personal phone duties at once with Telefonica's Dual Persona service

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/01/galaxy-s-ii-does-work-and-personal-phone-duties-at-once-with-tel/

It wasn't so long ago that the corporate world was ruled by RIM, but with the rise of Android and iOS, more folks are wanting to use their personal handsets both for work and play. Enter Telefonica's Dual Persona service that's making its debut on the Galaxy S II. It's powered by VMWare's Horizon Mobile technology that lets you jump between home and work profiles with the tap of an app, and provides notifications for both profiles no matter which one you're currently using. Basically, the work profile is an instance of virtualized Android based in the cloud, meaning your company's IT folks can manage corporate information on your phone without compromising your personal privacy. Samsung plans to give more of its mobile phones Dual Persona in the coming months, so if you don't own a GSII, there's still a chance your phone could get a split-personality, too. PR's after the break.

Continue reading Galaxy S II does work and personal phone duties at once with Telefonica's Dual Persona service

Galaxy S II does work and personal phone duties at once with Telefonica's Dual Persona service originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Mar 2012 04:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 8:02 AM

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