What the Girl From That Google Chrome Ad Might Say to Her Ex [Video]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5921126/the-girl-from-the-google-chrome-ad-has-a-lot-to-say-to-her-ex

Remember that Google Chrome ad where some guy named Mark is goes all-out to try to get a second chance with his ex, Jen? It's sweet enough to give you diabetes. But every story has two sides, and Jen's response—in this parody from UCB Comedy—paints a very different picture.

Below is the original video for reference (watch it first if you haven't seen it). As Shakespeare said, "The course of true love never did run smooth." That goes double when you can't pick up a phone and just call somebody. [UCB Comedy]

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Classy or Not Classy: A $450 Polyester Burberry Blazer That Folds Into Its Own Pouch [Fashion]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5921128/classy-or-not-classy-a-450-polyester-burberry-blazer-that-folds-into-its-own-pouch

Here's something potentially useful but probably useless: a polyester blazer, made by Burberry, that can be folded into a convenient little pouch that zips itself up. It's great for travel! Burberry promises that the polyester suit won't crease from the folding and would still look great.

Maybe Burberry is right! The cut of the suit looks tailored with its slim lapels and single vent but I don't know if I can get over the plastic sheen of polyester that turns an otherwise great looking suit into a trash bag rain coat better suited for homeless people. This is an expensive gimmick. And can you imagine all the crackling noise you'd make while your arms moved? By wearing this suit, you're letting it literally announce your shoddy fashion sense. It's a bad idea.

But man, the suit in a folding pouch feature is pretty freaking sweet. Can you imagine all your other friends traveling with their poofy garment bags trying to clear airport security while you're just wistfully carrying a pouch no bigger than your phone? You'll have more hands to have fun. And it's always about having fun. $450 [MR PORTER via Uncrate]

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You Can Now Build Virtual Lego in Chrome [Video]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5921316/you-can-now-build-virtual-lego-in-chrome

If you were planning to have a productive start to your work day: forget it. Instead, you're going to spend hours playing with Lego online, because Google has teamed up with the toy maker to release a simulator which allows you build its bricks in Chrome.

The application, called Build, is actually the brainchild of Google Australia and Lego. It splits up a Google map of Australia and New Zealand, dividing it up into tiny lego plots, 32 x 32 studs in size. When you visit the site, you can choose a patch and then build upon it with 12 different types of 3D lego bricks (120 if you include the 10 different color options).

The plan is to roll out the app to cover other countries soon, but in the meantime there's a lot of land in Australia, and anybody can snag a plot to build on. What are you waiting for? You've got important procrastination to get on with. [Build with Chrome via The Next Web]

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Samsung Galaxy Note for T-Mobile pops up in claimed press shots, we try to feign surprise

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/25/samsung-galaxy-note-for-t-mobile-pops-up-in-claimed-press-shots/

There's been demo units, FCC filings and the obligatory blurry photos, so it was only a matter of time before leaked press imagery completed our picture of a Galaxy Note for T-Mobile USA. As long as they're not cosmetic makeovers by wishful T-Mobile fans, the CellPhoneSignal images portray... well, a Galaxy Note. No exotic colors, no obvious clues supporting talk that it ships with a preloaded Android 4.0 upgrade. Most of the hardware changes, then, should be all about adapting the HSPA+ 3G to support T-Mobile's airwaves. Unconfirmed talk has the Galaxy Note reaching Magenta on July 11th; that's nine months after the original version popped up, but we're sure some will be thankful just to have more choices than AT&T for that phablet fix.

Samsung Galaxy Note for T-Mobile pops up in claimed press shots, we try to feign surprise originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jun 2012 13:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.!

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Microsoft buying Yammer to beef up enterprise social networking efforts

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/25/microsoft-buying-yammer/

So, what exactly is a Yammer? Well, it's a simple social network designed not to connect you with family or college roommates, but with with your coworkers. The platform has had some success, but its most high profile moment may be today's announcement that Microsoft had purchased the company. Rumors had been circulating for about a week, but now Redmond has made it official and issued a press release announcing its plan to purchase the startup for $1.2 billion in cash. Yammer will continue to live on as a stand alone service, which should make its 5 million users and countless Fortune 500 customers happy. But Microsoft will certainly be looking to fold its features into its own suite of enterprise offerings, like SharePoint and Office 365. For more info check out the PR after the break.

Continue reading Microsoft buying Yammer to beef up enterprise social networking efforts

Microsoft buying Yammer to beef up enterprise social networking efforts originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jun 2012 14:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nest partners with Texas utility, offers intelligent thermostat to energy-conscious households

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/25/nest-partners-with-texas-utility-offers-intelligent-thermostat/

What's next for an energy-efficient thermostat designed by ex-Apple engineers? A limited promotion with a utilities provider to make it even more legit, that's what. Now that Nest has broached online mega-retailer Amazon's virtual shelves, the next stop on its trendy household domination tour's taking it to Reliant, a Texas-based electricity company. Bundled into the utility's "Learn & Conserve" plan, qualifying residents that sign-up for a two-year rate will receive one of the stylish, WiFi-enabled units, making the business of managing their energy settings a stylish and remotely controllable (via Android or iOS app) affair. Of course, you don't need to be a resident of The Lone Star state to call one of these your own -- Best Buy, Apple and Lowe's will also eagerly claim your cash in exchange for this home-monitoring wündergadget.

Nest partners with Texas utility, offers intelligent thermostat to energy-conscious households originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jun 2012 14:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Boingo, Google Offers bring free WiFi to select Manhattan subway stations, let you tweet the heat

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/25/boingo-google-offers-bring-free-wifi-to-select-manhattan-subway/

Boingo has surely overestimated New York City's desire to "soa[k] up the warm weather" this summer, but when it comes to complaining about the heat, no one does it like the Big Apple. And now, thanks to the hotspot provider (with some promotional help from the folks at Google Offers), Manhattanites will be able to do just that all over Twitter from the convenience of a handful of subway stations on 14th and 23rd street. The promotion begins today and runs through September 7th. Including the hashtag #FreeNYCWiFi puts you in the running for Boingo rewards. We also recommend #wheresthatdamnEtrain, which will surely be trending for the next few months. For a full list of stations, check out the source link below.

Boingo, Google Offers bring free WiFi to select Manhattan subway stations, let you tweet the heat originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jun 2012 15:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hands-on with G-Technology's Mac-friendly, USB 3.0-packing G-Drive slim

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/25/g-technology-g-drive-slim-hands-on/

When we set out to get hands-on with a hard drive, of all things, you can bet we're going to do more than just pick it up and marvel at how lightweight it is. Here at a gdgt event in New York City, we spotted G-Technology's new Mac-friendly USB 3.0 drives on display and immediately got to work running some speed tests on the thinnest of the bunch, the G-Drive slim. Though transfer rates varied, both download and upload speeds tended to hover around 95 MB/s, and that was after ten or so runs in the Blackmagic benchmark. (Next time we'll bring a USB 2.0 cable to test a backward-compatible setup.)

According to a company rep staffing the event, the other drives in the lineup, the G-Drive mini, mobile and mobile USB 3.0, should deliver similar performance. Really, the differences here are in the specs: the G-Drive mobile and mini have FireWire ports, and all three offer more storage (750GB to 1TB, as opposed to 500GB for the slim). Design-wise, all the drives on display here seemed fairly impervious to scratches, and that rubberized band around the edges also makes the devices feel a little less delicate. On that point, you can check out the hands-on photos to see what we're talking about, though you'll just have to take our word on the speed testing.

Gallery: G-Technology USB 3.0 G-Drive Slim hands-on

Zach Honig contributed to this report.

Hands-on with G-Technology's Mac-friendly, USB 3.0-packing G-Drive slim originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jun 2012 18:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google: Chromebooks now serve web-happy students in over 500 European, US school districts

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/25/google-chromebooks-now-serve-web-happy-students-in-over-500-schools/

Whatever you think of the latest round of Chromebooks, school districts have clearly latched on to existing models. Over 500 school districts across Europe and the US are currently deploying the Google-powered laptops for learning the web way. Specialized web app packs and that rare leasing model are already keeping the material relevant and the hardware evergreen, but new certification for US ready-for-college criteria will go a long way towards making sure principals everywhere take a shine to Chrome OS in the future. That still leaves a lot of schools going the more traditional Mac or Windows PC route, with the occasional tablet strategy thrown in; regardless, we're sure Google doesn't mind taking any noticeable chunk of the market in a relatively brief period of time. We'll see if there's more reasons for Mountain View to get excited in a few days.

Google: Chromebooks now serve web-happy students in over 500 European, US school districts originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jun 2012 19:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bing Maps gets another 165TB of satellite images, Google Earth seen sulking in a corner

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/25/bing-maps-gets-another-165tb-of-satellite-images-google-earth-g/

Thought that Google had cornered the market on free, overhead-view photo mapping solutions? You clearly don't reside in Redmond, because Bing Maps' aerial image library just got another 165TB worth of hi-res data that covers an additional 38 million square kilometers of the globe. To put that in perspective, Microsoft's mapping solution previously had but 129TB worth of such eye-in-the-sky imagery, so this new batch of satellite shots more than doubles your viewing pleasure. Go ahead, check out all the new visuals at the source link below, we promise not to tell the folks in Mountain View.

Bing Maps gets another 165TB of satellite images, Google Earth seen sulking in a corner originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jun 2012 20:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Custom PC desk / case combo ditches glass, metal for wood

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/26/desk-case-pc-mod-ditches-glass-metal-for-wood/

Desk case PC mods have lit up our radar before, but a modder by the name of Pirate -- who's no stranger to us -- has dropped the typical glass and metal enclosure for medium-density fiberboard. Though the material choice was an effort to avoid buying a new desk, it created a need for a robust cooling system. Five fans (three exhaust, two intake), a radiator and a liquid-cooling system keep the rig at roughly 88 F (31 C) with ambient temperatures hovering around 79 F (26 C). As for horsepower, the workstation features a Core-i5-2000k processor and a Radeon HD 7950 graphics card sporting a water cooling block on an Asus Gene IV microATX motherboard. Visuals are piped to three displays in an Eyefinity configuration that are held by a modded ergonomic stand. Pictures of the build process in excruciating detail await you at the source.

Custom PC desk / case combo ditches glass, metal for wood originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jun 2012 02:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wolfson confirms the Samsung Galaxy S III uses its audio chip

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/26/wolfson-samsung-galaxy-s-iii/

The Galaxy S III was widely tipped to possess a Wolfson digital-to-analog converter for high quality audio output -- a feature not seen in this range since the first Galaxy S. That notion has just been confirmed by the Scottish electronics firm itself, which says its WM1811 Audio Hub has been selected for use in Sammy's flagship. The chip promises "crystal clear voice call quality" and "enriched audio playback for music and video" thanks to its 24-bit hi-fi DAC, active noise reduction circuits and other wizardry. The GS II, meanwhile, used a Yamaha DAC to convert digital data (e.g. in an mp3 file) into an analog signal that could drive a speaker (for example in your headphones), but even if most people couldn't hear the difference, audiophiles have insisted they preferred the sound in the older Galaxy. The only question remaining, which the PR after the break does not expand upon, is whether the Wolfson hardware is found in all variants of the new phone. Check out the More Coverage links for further reading.

Continue reading Wolfson confirms the Samsung Galaxy S III uses its audio chip

Wolfson confirms the Samsung Galaxy S III uses its audio chip originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jun 2012 05:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Facebook Just Changed Your Default Email Address Without Telling You (FB)

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-changes-users-primary-email-addresses-2012-6

Way back in 2010 Facebook relaunched its Messages feature to include @facebook.com email addresses for all users. The service never really took off as an email replacement, but it's still there.

Today, Facebook has changed users primary email addresses listed in their profiles from the ones they selected to @facebook.com emails, as Gizmodo points out. 

Here's what it looks like now: 

Luckily, it's pretty easy to fix.

To change your email back do this:

1. Head to Account Settings by clicking the arrow in the top right hand corner.
2. You'll see your Primary email address. Click Edit to change it.
3. Select the email you originally had or choose a new one.

Don't Miss: Here Is How To Turn Off Facebook's Creepy New Find Friends Nearby Feature 

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Meizu MX 4-core and Flyme OS 1.0 formally announced, available on June 30th

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/25/meizu-mx-4-core-and-flyme-hands-on/

Forget that "MX Quad-core" moniker, because Meizu's just formally introduced its first quad core Android phone as the "MX 4-core" in Hong Kong event jam-packed with balloons and local celebrities (we really should've brought our sunglasses). For those who care, this is the first time ever for Meizu to collaborate with a carrier -- that being Hong Kong's PCCW, who's offering the HK$3,099 (US$400) 32GB model for free on various tariffs, while details are light on the HK$4,099 (US$530) 64GB version. Once the stage cleared we had a chance to take a closer look at the international variant of the MX 4-core. Aside from the disappearance of the Chinese logo above the screen plus the duller logo on the back (but accompanied by an extra capacity label), the 4-inch HSPA+ phone looks identical to its dual-core sibling. Additionally, Hong Kong and mainland China customers who pre-order between now and the launch on June 30th will get to pick a colored back crystal shell for free, including ivory white, milky lime, lilac purple and misty pink to replace the original white.

Software-wise Flyme -- Meizu's heavily customized Ice Cream Sandwich -- is also very similar to its Gingerbread predecessor, except for its slicker responsiveness (especially the camera app) and the odd interface tweaks here and there. There are also a few new features that are worth a mention: on top of the new native stopwatch, countdown timer and multi-segmented timed task lists, there's Flyme Voicemail which is essentially a native recorder for incoming calls that you reject (think of it as a neat alternative t! o conven tional visual voicemail), and there's Flyme Message which is Meizu's take on SIP services like Whatsapp and Line. We shall dig deeper in our full review, but for now, you can check out a quick hands-on video after the break. And for those who still possess Meizu's older Android phones, we were told to expect Flyme to be delivered over the air in early July (as opposed to the original June date), so keep an eye out for that little update icon.

Update: We mentioned in our video that the China version of the MX 4-core doesn't come with the Play Store, but it turns out that we were mistaken. Hooray!

Update 2: By the way, it's pronounced "fly-me."

Gallery: Meizu MX 4-core hands-on

Continue reading Meizu MX 4-core and Flyme OS 1.0 form! ally ann ounced, available on June 30th

Meizu MX 4-core and Flyme OS 1.0 formally announced, available on June 30th originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jun 2012 09:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony, Panasonic OLED partnership is official, aims for mass production in 2013

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/25/sony-panasonic-oled-partnership-is-official-aims-for-mass-prod/

The rumor that Japanese electronic giants Panasonic and Sony would team up on OLED HDTV technology has been confirmed by a press release (included after the break), and the two plan to establish mass production in 2013. Together, they'll be able to utilize the core and printing techniques that each has so far developed separately to roll out HDTV-sized OLED panels. Still, while they will be BFFs behind the scenes don't expect any crazy cross-branding of releases, as the release notes each company plans to "develop and commercialize its own competitive, high-performance, next-generation OLED televisions and large-sized displays." Can this combination help them catch up to Korean counterparts Samsung and LG? Those two will individually put super-skinny, ultra high contrast ratio OLED HDTVs on store shelves this year, but if Panasonic / Sony can get prices down from the $10k~ range then we're sure most consumers will be able to overlook their tardiness to market.

Continue reading Sony, Panasonic OLED partnership is official, aims for mass production in 2013

Sony, Panasonic OLED partnership is offici! al, aims for mass production in 2013 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jun 2012 02:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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