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Saturday, August 25, 2012

LG teases its new quad-core superphone: Snapdragon S4 Pro is awesome, device still vague (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/24/lg-teases-its-new-quad-core-superphone-snapdragon-s4-pro-is-awe/

While Qualcomm let the Snapdragon out of the bag a little early, LG's now caught up and launched a (Korean-only) teaser site for its next LTE smartphone. Promising a second-generation quad-core experience, the new flagship device will offer better power management and graphics performance thanks to the Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset beating away at its core. There's space on the site for another five videos, which should hopefully give us a little more detail than what we've been able to glean from FCC filings. Thumb your Korean dictionary ready and check out LG's first taster after the break.

Continue reading LG teases its new quad-core superphone: Snapdragon S4 Pro is awesome, device still vague (video)

Filed under: Cellphones

LG teases its new quad-core superphone: Snapdragon S4 Pro is awesome, device still vague (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Aug 2012 08:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Verge | source

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LG Korean (translated) | Email this | Comments

Arduino GSM/GPRS Shield gets helping hand from Telefonica for data, remote control

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/24/arduino-gsm-gprs-shield-gets-helping-hand-from-telefonica/

Arduino devices have had the option of a GSM linkup for awhile, but getting that cellular link to truly strut its stuff hasn't always been easy, even for those of us who'd be inclined to program an Arduino in the first place. Enter Telefonica, which wants to be the backbone of your internet of things. It's backing a new version of the GSM/GPRS Shield add-on (shown here) by offering both the expected machine-to-machine SIMs for the cellular connection as well as freshly added remote control of the board through the carrier's BlueVia pages. The Shield itself is getting a quiet upgrade in the process -- the software both takes up a smaller footprint and can now talk to the world in the background while the Arduino keeps on keepin' on. If you happen to be in Berlin, the new Shield is making the rounds at Campus Party workshops until April 25th. Neither side has said how readily available the new part will be available after that; for now, you can familiarize yourself with the current technology at the source link.

Continue reading Arduino GSM/GPRS Shield gets helping hand from Telefonica for data, remote control

Filed under: Peripherals, Wire less

Arduino GSM/GPRS Shield gets helping hand from Telefonica for data, remote control originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Aug 2012 11:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lexibook kids-tablet coming to the US, makes fifth-graders dream of an Aakash

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/24/lexibook-coming-to-the-us/

French educational tech maker Lexibook is bringing its eponymous kiddy-tablet to the US from next month. It's not talking specs or price, but we're expecting it to be close to the Lexibook First currently available in Europe. The seven-inch slate packs a 600MHz processor, 256MB RAM, 4GB storage (expandable to 16GB with an microSD card), parental controls and 802.11 b/g WiFi. The FroYo-running device retails for £150 ($237) over the pond, but if the company tries something similar over here, we suspect people might plump for something a little more powerful, or less expensive, or both.

Continue reading Lexibook kids-tablet coming to the US, makes fifth-graders dream of an Aakash

Filed under: Tablets

Lexibook kids-tablet coming to the US, makes fifth-graders dream of an Aakash originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Aug 2012 23:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Harvard makes distortion-free lens from gold and silicon, aims for the perfect image (or signal)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/25/harvard-makes-distortion-free-lenses-from-gold-and-silicon/

Imaging has been defined by glass lenses for centuries, and even fiber optics haven't entirely escaped the material's clutch. Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences might have just found a way to buck those old (and not-so-old) traditions. A new 60-nanometer thick silicon lens, layered with legions of gold nanoantennas, can catch and refocus light without the distortion or other artifacts that come with having to use the thick, curved pieces of glass we're used to -- it's so accurate that it nearly challenges the laws of diffraction. The lens isn't trapped to bending one slice of the light spectrum, either. It can range from near-infrared to terahertz ranges, suiting it both to photography and to shuttling data. We don't know what obstacles might be in the way to production, which leads us to think that we won't be finding a gold-and-silicon lens attached to a camera or inside a network connection anytime soon. If the technology holds up under scrutiny, though, it could ultimtately spare us from the big, complicated optics we often need to get just the right shot.

Filed under: Cameras, Science

Harvard makes! distort ion-free lens from gold and silicon, aims for the perfect image (or signal) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Aug 2012 00:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Phys.org | source

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Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3 now working on Linux through Google Chrome, more or less

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/25/epic-games-unreal-engine-3-now-working-on-linux-through-chrome/

A Holy Grail of Linux gaming has been an Unreal Engine 3 port. Getting one for the OS would unlock a world of games that has been the province of, well, just about any other mainstream platform. Thanks to Google preserving Flash on Linux through Chrome, that dream is alive in at least a rudimentary form. Experimenters at the Phoronix forums have found that Chrome 21 has support for the Stage 3D hardware acceleration needed to drive Epic Games' Flash conversion of UE3. Tell Chrome to enable support as well as ignore a graphics chip blacklist, and suddenly you're running Epic Citadel from your Linux install. When we say "running," however, we're taking a slight amount of poetic license. Performance isn't that hot, and certain configurations might not show the medieval architecture in all its glory. We've confirmed with Epic that it works, but it's still firm on the stance that there's no plans for official UE3 support on Linux "at this time." It's still promising enough that maybe, just maybe, gamers can embrace an open-source platform without having to give up the games they love.

Filed under: Gaming, Software

Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3 now working on Linux through Google Chrome, more or less originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Aug 2012 01:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ITU approves NHK's Super Hi-Vision as 8K standard, sets the UHDTV ball rolling very slowly

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/25/itu-approves-nhk-super-hi-vision-as-8k-standard/

We'd heard that the International Telecommunication Union was close to approving Super Hi-Vision as an Ultra High Definition TV standard, and the UN agency hasn't waited long to confirm the rumors. The recommendation to use NHK's 7,680 x 4,320 format has gone unopposed and should define the parameters for incredibly detailed 8K video worldwide. This shouldn't lead anyone to return that 4K TV just yet -- once again, it's important to remember that NHK still won't start any kind of wider testing until 2020. That's also assuming that the first 8K sets are down to Earth instead of the incredibly expensive 145-inch variety.

Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment, HD

ITU approves NHK's Super Hi-Vision as 8K standard, sets the UHDTV ball rolling very slowly originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Aug 2012 05:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

BBC |

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ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity TF700KL coming to Germany, that's L for LTE

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/25/asus-transformer-pad-infinity-tf700kl-coming-to-germany/

If you've ever had the pleasure of cruising on Germany's Autobahns, you'll know the locals like to go fast. This hold true for technology too, it seems. A recent press release from Vodafone has revealed that the LTE variant of the TF700 Transformer Pad will be joining its equally 4G-enabled sibling in the land of beer and wurst. No word on whether it'll be showing up on other networks just yet, but if you want a slice of the action you'll have to open up the ~~throttle~~ wallet to the tune of €820 (about $1,000 sans commitment,) or €170 ($210) is you're willing to sign on the dotted line.

Continue reading ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity TF700KL coming to Germany, that's L for LTE

Filed under: Tablets

ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity TF700KL coming to Germany, that's L for LTE originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Aug 2012 07:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Friday, August 24, 2012

This Specialty Crop Generates The Highest Profit Per Acre

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/specialty-crop-profit-per-acre-is-2012-8

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture has released a report, summarized by the Minneapolis Fed, showing strawberries are far and away the most profitable "specialty" crop planted by Midwest farmers. Here's the full chart.

Minnfed

The report used farm records from 2008 to 2011 from in-state producers to find out average financial performance for nine crops. At least five farms had to have grown the crop for it to be included in the analysis.

"Just as strawberries are often the first crop out of the field, so too are they first in financial returns after direct expenses and overhead are paid, followed by assorted vegetables," the Fed notes. "In some cases, they didn't have much competition; four of the nine categories did not recover their basic costs or merely broke even."

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The Wacky Words That Are Now in the Oxford Dictionaries Online: LOLZ, Photobomb, Mwahahaha and More [Wtf]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5937502/the-wacky-words-that-are-now-in-the-oxford-dictionaries-online-lolz-photobomb-mwahahaha-and-more

Dictionaries exist in between a rock and a hard place: jump on new words too late and they look like a dinosaur, add in words too early and they're made into a mockery. Words are hard, yes, but some words don't exactly need defining like some of these just added to the Oxford Dictionaries Online.

Surprisingly (or I guess, not really anymore), there were a lot of wacky tech and Internet words that made the cut to be included inside the Oxford Dictionaries Online. But here's the thing about adding words we use on the Internet to the English dictionary: we're not really talking English. It may sound like it, it may look like it but it's a whole 'nother lingo altogether. Anyways:

lolz
mwahahaha (seriously?)
photobomb
ridic
tweeps
ethical hacker (this cracks me up)
hackathon
hat tip
lifecasting
inbox (just now?)
UX
video chat
Wikipedian
See, I can totally understand how some of those words need defining. UX, inbox, video chat, even hackathon. But words like mwahahaha and ridic are well, ridic. Come on now. Here are some none tech words that are now part of the dictionary and they're even more ridiculous:
date night
dirty martini (what?)
douche (they're an official breed now!)
DW
genius (what the fuck?)
group hug
guilty pleasure
hosepipe ban (wait this is seriously what the fuck)
micropig (a pig of a very small, docile, hairless variety)
OH
ripped
soul patch
vajazzle
vote someone/thing off the island (what is this Y2K?
I need to learn a new language. [Oxford Dictionaries, Image Credit: sergign/Shutterstock]

Freescale's new industrial touchscreen tech even works in the rain

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/24/freescale-xtrinsic-touchscreen/

Freescale is announcing a new industrial touch sensing technology that'll even sense your swipes and prods through a film of water. Xtrinsic 3.0 is designed to be used in industrial, medical and in-car systems, with pre-built user interfaces ready to be added to any device its jammed inside. In addition to being able to work through water, it can withstand noise, detect electrical interference and reduce false touches. It's being demonstrated at the company's technology forum in India from today, presumably ready to be licensed by passing equipment manufacturers in short order.

Continue reading Freescale's new industrial touchscreen tech even works in the rain

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Freescale's new industrial touchscreen tech even works in the rain originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Aug 2012 01:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Thursday, August 23, 2012

Make Fresh Bread in Minutes in a Pressure Cooker [Cooking]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5937291/make-fresh-bread-in-minutes-in-a-pressure-cooker

Make Fresh Bread in Minutes in a Pressure Cooker One of our favorite food hacks is making fresh bread without a bread maker. If you own a pressure cooker, you can get make delicious and rich-tasting loaves at home in under twenty minutes.

Laura at Hip Pressure Cooking (the same smart site that showed us how to cook eggs in a pressure cooker) reveals this new bread-making technique. You'll need some sort of container, like a coffee can or heat-proof glass measuring cup, and just a few simple ingredients (e.g., flour, baking soda, yogurt). After pressure cooking for fifteen to twenty minutes you should get a warm loaf (even faster than baking bread in a crock pot). The bread doesn't come out crunchy, but you can quickly grill a few slices or put them under the broiler for some crust.

The pressure cooker is a wonderfully versatile kitchen tool. One of the best things about this, besides the time savings, is you avoid heating up your kitchen with the oven.

Pressure Cooker Bread: Less energy, less time, REAL bread! | Hip Pressure Cooking

Gigabyte P2542G gaming laptop hands-on (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/23/gigabyte-p2542g-gaming-laptop-hands-on/

While we managed to get our hands on Gigabyte's latest graphics card-toting Ultrabook back at CeBIT, we've just finished handling the P2542G (its high-end gaming sibling) at the laptop and motherboard maker's UK launch event. Packing a 15.6-inch 1,920 x 1,080 display, it runs on an Ivy Bridge Core i7-3610QM, with a 2GB NVIDIA GTX 660M card to power PC gaming's latest and greatest. Add in a Blu-ray player and THX-certified dual-woofer sound system and you have the makings of pretty capable beast -- not to mention looking the part with a yellow paint job and dual exhaust vents along the back edge. Read up on our impressions and check out our video hands-on after the break.

Gallery: Gigabyte P2542G gaming laptop hands-on

Continue reading Gigabyte P2542G gaming laptop hands-on (video)

Filed under: Gaming, Laptops

Gigabyte P2542G gaming laptop hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Aug 2012 12:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tencent and TCL unveil Ice Screen: a 26-inch Android-based smart TV

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/23/tencent-tcl-ice-screen-smart-tv/

Chinese web titan Tencent and TCL Multimedia have torn the wraps off the Ice Screen, a jointly developed 26-inch smart TV with a 1,366 x 768 display that allows users to browse the web, access videos, music and games through QQ services. Under the hood, the Android-powered television houses a dual-core Cortex A9 1GHz processor, a Mali 400 GPU, 4GB of RAM and support for a memory card of up to 32GB in size. An IR remote and an app for devices sporting version 2.2 or higher of Google's OS can be used to control the tube, which can sit horizontally or vertically in its stand. On the connectivity front, the panel packs Wi-Fi, a pair of USB ports, HDMI and a 3.5mm headphone jack. You can plunk down ¥1,999 (roughly $315) for an online pre-order before its September 3rd launch. More details await in the press release after the jump.

Continue reading Tencent and TCL unveil Ice Screen: a 26-inch Android-based smart TV

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Tencent and TCL unveil Ice Screen: a 26-inch Android-based smart TV originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Aug 2012 10:11:00 ED! T. Plea se see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google mapping out Canada's Nunavut territory with local community, Street View trike

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/23/google-mapping-Nunavut-territory/

Looking for somewhere remote, quiet and cold for retirement? You can't get much further out than Cambridge Bay -- hidden away in Canada's arctic Nunavut territory, this sleep town is only reachable by plane, boat or Google Maps. Navigating its streets on the latter option is about to get a whole lot more detailed, too. The Maps team has started working with residents like Chris Kalluk to build what it hopes will be the most comprehensive map of the region to date. Mountain View's digital cartographers are training residents to use equipment like the Street View tricycle to take in the isolated territory's natural beauty while letting locals fill in the finer details (like roads, lakes and rivers) at community Map Up gatherings. "This is a place with a vast amount of local knowledge and a rich history," says Kalluk. "By putting these tools in the hands of our people, we will tell Nunavut's story to the world." Fittingly, the community's first mapping event saw local landmarks mapped out in both English and Inuktitut, one of the territory's official languages. Check the project out for yourself at the source link below.

Filed under: Internet, Software

Google mapping out Canada's Nunavut territory with local community, Street View trike originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Aug 2012 10:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MasterCard denies BitCoin card rumors, BitInstant says it's still on track

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/22/mastercard-denies-bitcoin-card-rumors/

Well, BitInstant is insistent that it will launch a BitCoin debit card, but MasterCard is claiming it will not be part of the plans. After a mock up of the plastic made the rounds featuring the company's logo, the financial powerhouse felt it necessary to reach out to us, clarifying its non-involvement.

"MasterCard has no relationship with BitInstant. There are issuers who allow the conversion of Bitcoins to US dollars and other currencies, delivered on prepaid cards. However, we're not aware of this particular programme from BitInstant."

Of course, if you read the transcript of Charlie Shrem's chat announcing the plans, he never actually names MasterCard. The logo was likely meant as a placeholder -- one that some outlets took a little too literally.

Interestingly, this doesn't actually mean that MasterCard won't be involved... just that the company isn't at this point in the process. BitInstant released its own statement, just hours after the card house contacted us, saying that it has been working with MasterCard affiliates, but had yet to submit to the financial firm directly.

"The card program is moving forward and the arrangement with MasterCard will be handled in due time at the proper stage of the process by the partners who work directly with that company."

So, what have we learned today? Not a whole heck of a lot actually, other than the fact that putting out a debit card is a complicated business. You'll just ha! ve to st ay tuned to see how this shakes out.

Filed under: Internet

MasterCard denies BitCoin card rumors, BitInstant says it's still on track originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 19:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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