Monday, May 14, 2012

Visualized: 121-megapixel satellite photos show Earth in glorious, psychedelic detail (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/14/visualized-121-megapixel-satellite-photos-show-earth/

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We're starting to think the Russians have an inside track on high-resolution space photos. When Nokia's 41-megapixel photo of Earth's horizon was just a twinkle in the 808 PureView designers' eyes, the Russian Federal Space Agency had long since finished taking 121-megapixel photos of the whole planet that we're just now seeing in earnest. Unlike NASA photos, which are usually composites of multiple shots, the Elektro-L weather satellite's images display the entire planet in one ridiculously detailed take from 22,369 miles away. Why the trippy colors? Instead of just displaying Earth as-is -- real colors are so passé, dahling -- the satellite layers on near-infrared imagery that paints vegetation in wide swaths of rust-like orange.

You can get a peep of what a day-night cycle looks like for Elektro-L in the video below, and hop over to the sources to get an inkling of just how insanely detailed the images can be. You can also be slightly jealous of the satellite's network connection: at a minimum 2.6Mbps and maximum 16.4Mbps for bandwidth, odds are that it has faster broadband than you do.

Continue reading Visualized: 121-megapixel satellite photos show Earth in glorious, psychedelic detail (video)

Visualized: 121-megapixel satellite photos show Earth in glorious, psychedelic detail (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 May 2012 04:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Gizmodo  |  sourcePlanet Earth, Russian Federal Space Agency  | Email this | Comments

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Sunday, May 13, 2012

Seraku's Android mirror lets you reflect on your operating system

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/13/serakus-android-mirror-lets-you-reflect-on-your-operating-syste/

Seraku's Android mirror lets you reflect on your operating system

Phones, watches, TVs and in-car entertainment. Android has been put to work in many corners of our technological world. Now, it's reached another, less expected one -- mirrors. The Verge spotted itself the Smart Wash Basin prototype at Smartphone and Mobile Expo, and took a good look into it. The heavy lifting is done by a hidden Android tablet, and the reflective display is actually a separate monitor with a semitransparent piece of reflective glass. If you're thinking "smudges," hang fire, as RF proximity sensors are used, so you interact with it without smearing your paws across the shiny surface. The show prototype had water monitoring functions, and was coupled up to a set of scales in the floor. The manufacturer hopes one of the uses for the invention could be reading the news at the hairdresser. What we want to know is, when did salons suddenly go al! l futuri stico?

Seraku's Android mirror lets you reflect on your operating system originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 May 2012 13:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Verge  |  sourceSeraku (Japanese)  | Email this | Comments

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Here's The Super-Cool Transparent TV Concept From The German Company Apple Might Buy

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/loewe-invisio-transparent-tv-apple-might-buy-2012-5

Apple is rumored to be in talks to acquire Loewe AG, a small German manufacturer of high-end TVs and audio equipment.

Loewe's products look really slick--Apple-like.

The one everyone's buzzing about, though, is the transparent TV below.

This concept, designed by Michael Friebe, does not appear to be in Loewe's current product catalog (we're not sure it's actually for sale--anyone know?)

But it certainly is cool looking. And it also resembles the "sheet of glass" concepts that analysts have discussed with respect to the forthcoming Apple TV.

Loewe Invisio

See more pictures here, at Yanko Design >

SEE ALSO: APPLE'S TV DREAM REVEALED: Embarrass Hardware Makers, Squeeze Content Cos, Kill Cable

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Apple's iPad WiFi + 4G renamed 'iPad WiFi + Cellular' across many of its stores

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/12/apple-new-ipad-wifi-4g-now-ipad-cellular/

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Remember Apple's new iPad WiFi + 4G? Well, forget that moniker, as this variant of the company's latest slate has been quietly re-dubbed as the iPad WiFi + Cellular. As noticed by 9to5Mac, the change occurred within the last "24-48 hours" across many of Apple's region-specific webstores (update: and retail locations), including (but not limited to) those for the US, UK, Australia, Canada and various countries in Asia. If you'll recall, in many regions the best you'll get out of the slate is HSPA-connectivity, even though it's also equipped for LTE -- something that Apple itself had considered good enough to market it as 4G despite offering refunds to customers in Australia who (like many others) couldn't officially partake in its LTE. Interestingly, 9to5Mac also notes that a similar change hasn't made its way over to the iPad 2, which still has its cellular-equipped variant named, iPad 2 WiFi + 3G. We've reached out to Apple for comment, but the meantime, feel free to hit up the source links below for more insight.

Apple's iPad WiFi + 4G renamed 'iPad WiFi + Cellular' across many of its stores originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 12 May 2012 17:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink 9to5Mac, Twitter (@markgurman)  |  sourceApple  | Email this | Comments

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MIPS unveils new Aptiv mobile chip design, vows more speed in a tiny space

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/12/mips-unveils-new-aptiv-mobile-chips/

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MIPS has only had a slight amount of traction in smartphones and tablets given that its best friend is Ainovo. It might get a better footing in an ARM-dominated world with a new range of processors in the Aptiv line. The highest-end chip of the bunch, the ProAptiv, is reportedly much smaller than its ARM opponents across the aisle while managing the same speed, goosing the floating-point math, memory addressing and multi-core support to where it's as much as 75 percent faster over the previous generation. That's good news for mobile devices and set-top boxes where space is tight. MIPS isn't leaving embedded gear like 4G LTE modems alone, either, as the mid-size InterAptiv and tiny MicroAptiv are getting similar improvements. If you're eager to get cracking on a processor of your own, you can license MIPS' new work right away -- and us plebeians who simply buy the devices can expect Aptiv to be ready for gadget use by the middle of the year.

Continue reading MIPS unveils new Aptiv mobile chip design, vows more speed in a tiny space

MIPS unveils new Aptiv mobile chip design, vows more speed in a tiny space originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 12 May 2012 19:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceMIPS Aptiv  | Email this | Comments

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