Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

ViewSonic VSD220 Smart Display with Android 4.0 comes to US in October, dips to $399

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/11/viewsonic-vsd220-smart-display-with-android-4-0-comes-to-us/

You might remember ViewSonic's slightly strange VCD22 Smart Display from our journey to Computex. If the sight of that 22-inch, Android-based all-in-one desktop set your heart aflutter, you'll be glad to know the finished version is coming to the US as the VSD220 by mid-to-late October. It's decidedly less portable what we saw in Taipei this June and strips out the battery we suspect most buyers wouldn't have used. For better or worse, though, most everything else is the same: while we didn't expect a change to the TI OMAP 4 processor, the VSD220 will be clinging to Android 4.0 instead of upgrading to Android 4.1 for its trip across the Pacific. The micro-HDMI video input, 1.2-megapixel front camera, microSD slot, three USB ports and Ethernet (yes, Ethernet) do help justify a space on the desk, especially for those who want a secondary display for another mobile device or PC. The VSD220 faces a stiff fight from traditional all-in-ones that don't always cost much more -- but we'll at least get a price drop to a more palatable $399 in return for our patience.

Continue reading ViewSonic VS! D220 Sma rt Display with Android 4.0 comes to US in October, dips to $399

Filed under: Desktops, Displays

ViewSonic VSD220 Smart Display with Android 4.0 comes to US in October, dips to $399 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Sep 2012 06:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Scientists develop robotic tentacle that can pick flowers, make us thumb our collars

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/11/scientists-develop-robotic-tentacle-that-can-pick-flowers/

Okay, it's a little too late for Johnny 5's grass hopper, but thanks to new "gentle" robotic tentacles developed at Harvard University, future generations of insects could escape a similar demise. Researchers have created a new soft appendage made from flexible plastic, that uses three compartmentalized air channels to achieve a snake-like range of movement. The touch of the tentacle is so light, that it is able to pick flowers without damage. While suggested applications include working with fragile objects, or in hard to reach locations, the team also experimented by adding cameras, suction cups and -- most terrifyingly -- syringes to the tip. The only limitation, apparently, is that the air channels prevent it from being scaled down. So while our insect friends are safe from strangle-bot, we might not be so lucky.

Filed under: Science, Alt

Scientists develop robotic tentacle that can pick flowers, make us thumb our collars originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Sep 2012 07:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CyanogenMod 10 now available in 'M-Series' monthly builds

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/11/cyanogenmod-10-now-available-in-m-series-monthly-builds/

If keeping up with those CyanogenMod 10 nightly builds was hard work, or just a little too bleeding-edge, then you might be interested to hear about the introduction of "M-Series" releases for CM10. Once a month, the team will release a more stable version for your downloading pleasure, though they are also keen to point out they will be available under the experimental tag. The list of handsets that will get the new builds includes variants of the Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy S, Galaxy SIII, Nexus S, Nexus 7, Galaxy Note and Sony Xperia S. Support for more phones is promised, but for now, head over to the official site for the comprehensive list and a link to the downloads.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

CyanogenMod 10 now available in 'M-Series' monthly builds originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Sep 2012 04:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Monday, September 10, 2012

This Ridiculous Bike Mutates While You Ride It [Wish You Were Here]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5941993/this-ridiculous-bike-mutates-while-you-ride-it

There are a million different bike designs out there, each suited to a different terrain. The Continuously Ergonomic Race Vehicle—Or CERV—is Cannondale's attempt at making a single bicycle that can adapt to the course you're on. It's a bonkers concept that looks just as crazy as it sounds.

Immediately upon looking at CERV you know there's something weird about it. The actual working prototype of the chainless, forkeless concept was built by Priority Designs for the EuroBike 2012 design show. The bike's front end is adjustable to different heights depending on whether you're in the middle of a tough climb or a downhill sprint. The key to the design is that even as the handles rise and fall, the distance between the saddle and the crank remains the same.
The problem, of course, is that on most bicycles, the fork is essential for steering. That means that the mechanics of the bike's steering had to be completely reengineered to suit the adjustable design.

Could this bike be the future of the Tour de France? For now we can only dream-first Cannondale has to convince people to abandon long-trusted mantras of bicycle design in favor of a revolution. [Priority Designs]

Tiny Floating Donut Turns a Glass Of Water Into a Humidifier [Video]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5941946/tiny-floating-donut-turns-a-glass-of-water-into-a-humidifier

Tiny Floating Donut Turns a Glass Of Water Into a Humidifier The next time you travel to a particularly dry part of the world, you'll wish you could bring along this tiny plastic Fogring donut to ensure your sinuses aren't destroyed while you're supposed to be relaxing. It floats on water and uses ultrasonic vibrations to turn liquids into refreshing vapors—humidifying a room with nothing but a full drinking glass and a USB connection.

The ultrasonic transducer technology it uses isn't new, but its extremely compact form factor is. The Fogring's even small enough to be used on an plane, if you think personal comfort far outweighs the panic as other passengers see a cloud of mist rising from your seat. There's no pricing or availability details yet, but it's currently being exhibited at a design show in Paris so the odds are good that this will eventually make its way into consumer's hands.

Tiny Floating Donut Turns a Glass Of Water Into a Humidifier

[Neotizen via Freshome]

The Tiny Yellow Sticker That Detects Accidents and Alerts Your Emergency Contacts [Safety]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5941994/this-tiny-yellow-sticker-detects-an-accident-and-alerts-your-emergency-contacts

Expanding on its product line which makes it easy for someone to find your emergency contacts if you're injured, ICEdot (In Case of Emergency) is taking the idea one step further. Working with a company called SenseTech LLC, it's developing a tiny helmet sensor that knows when you've been in an accident, how severe it was, and automatically triggers your phone to call for help.

When it's available sometime next year with an estimated price tag of around $200, the advanced ICEdot monitor will attach to any bike helmet and use motion and impact sensors to intelligently determine if the wearer has been involved in an accident. Using the new Bluetooth low-energy profile it maintains a constant connection to a smartphone app so that when an accident occurs, it can automatically alert the rider's emergency contacts with the time and GPS coordinates of the incident.

And to avoid false positives, since there's always the chance a dropped helmet could be misconstrued as a nasty tumble, the app initiates an emergency countdown which can be manually aborted in the event nothing actually happened. If you ride in a big city where the 'mind your own business' mentality prevails, this could be the perfect accessory if no one comes to your rescue after a crash. [ICEdot via GearJunkie]

HTC One X Cushnie et Ochs available on eBay, mobile-minded fashionistas ready their wallets

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/10/htc-one-x-cushnie-et-ochs-ebay-auction/

Remember that special edition One X for AT&T with the Cushnie et Ochs-approved exterior, and how HTC said it would never go on sale? Well, while HTC is sticking to its word, one of the 150 souls who grabbed one at New York Fashion Week has decided to give the rest of us a crack at buying it via eBay auction. For folks interested in owning the half ebony, half ivory handset, the bidding currently starts at $360 -- though you can expect the phone to fetch a far greater price when the auction ends six days from now on September 17th.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

HTC One X Cushnie et Ochs available on eBay, mobile-minded fashionistas ready their wallets originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Sep 2012 19:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Vonage mobile apps get international roaming, let users chat for free on both sides of the border

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/10/vonage-mobile-international-roaming/

For the past year or so, Vonage has been adding to its international VoIP game, and the latest new feature is roaming. That's right, the company's iOS and Android apps will soon have Vonage Mobile Roaming, meaning folks can take all their incoming calls over WiFi wherever they go without fear of ringing up a ridiculous cellphone bill. The catch? The service is in its trial phase and you've gotta reside in the UK, Netherlands, Spain or Italy to take advantage of this frugal feature. Those interested (and eligible) can sign up to get in on the action at the source below.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Vonage mobile apps get international roaming, let users chat for free on both sides of the border originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Sep 2012 20:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AT&T announces budget-friendly LG Escape, available September 16th for $50

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/10/att-lg-escape/

AT&T announces budgetfriendly LG Escape, available September 16th for $50

The LG Escape, which we saw leaked out yesterday, is now official on AT&T. We can expect to see the budget-friendly smartphone available on September 16th for $50 with a new two-year commitment. It features a 4.3-inch qHD true-color IPS screen, Ice Cream Sandwich, a 5MP rear camera with 1080p video recording, NFC, a 1.2GHz dual-core CPU (most likely the MSM8960 Snapdragon S4, but we've reached out for confirmation) and LTE. It also features 4GB onboard storage with microSD expansion, an above-average 2,150mAh battery, Bluetooth 4.0, a 1.3MP front-facing camera and a new feature called Skyfire Horizon, which is a browser toolbar extension that promises fast access to social media pages. Check out the press release below for all the info.

Continue reading AT&T announces budget-friendly LG Escape, available September 16th for $50

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile

AT&T announces budget-friendly LG Escape, available September 16th for $50 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Sep 2012 13:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung Galaxy S Relay 4G bringing keyboard, longwinded name to T-Mobile September 19th

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/10/samsung-galaxy-s-relay-4g-bringing-keyboard-longwinded-name-to/

We knew it was arriving soon, but until now, we weren't exactly sure what T-Mobile meant when it said the Relay 4G was hitting in the "coming weeks." Now the magenta carrier is putting the release of the QWERTY handset formerly known as the also verbose Galaxy S Blaze Q at September 19th. The slider will run you and your thumbs $150 with a two-year contract, after a $50 mail-in rebate.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Samsung Galaxy S Relay 4G bringing keyboard, longwinded name to T-Mobile September 19th originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Sep 2012 14:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Insert Coin: Impossible Instant Lab makes iPhone photos tangible

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/10/insert-coin-impossible-instant-lab-makes-iphone-photos-tangible/

In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line.

Going back to a physical medium isn't just for vinyl lovers. The Impossible Project (TIP) wants to make our iPhone photos equally concrete through its extra-simple Impossible Instant Lab. Don't worry about setting up AirPrint or otherwise jumping through software hoops: the Lab captures the screen and prints it to Polaroid-compatible instant film as a keepsake. The design is even collapsible and battery-powered in the event you'd like to hand out hard copies on the spot. It's no hobbyist effort, either, with a Leica designer and a former Polaroid factory both involved in making the Lab a reality. TIP is planning to move beyond its initial iPhone 4 and 4S support to include future iPhones and, if all goes well, more commonplace Android hardware.

Investing in this Kickstarter project sidesteps novelties like t-shirts in favor of the real product -- and provides a very strong incentive to buy early. Backers quick on the trigger can pay as little as $149 for a Lab with a voucher for free film, or about half the $299 retail price. Pay the full cost and you'll get a special black version with an extra voucher, while $2,000 will pr! ovide bo th a gold edition and a trip to the ex-Polaroid factory in Enschede, The Netherlands. Cameras could be in retro photographers' hands as soon as February, but only if TIP reaches its $250,000 funding goal by October 8th. If your parents would like a little more than a Facebook photo gallery as a souvenir, or Instagram just isn't nostalgic enough, you can hit the source link to show support and make the Instant Lab real.

Continue reading Insert Coin: Impossible Instant Lab makes iPhone photos tangible

Filed under: Cellphones, Cameras

Insert Coin: Impossible Instant Lab makes iPhone photos tangible originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Sep 2012 15:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Drive mobile app updated, brings editing to iOS

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/10/google-drive-mobile-app-updated-brings-editing-to-ios/

The mobile Google Drive app just keeps getting better and better. Are we ready to ditch the desktop web app for its iOS and Android package? Hardly, but with ever decimal point upgrade the disparity between the two keeps getting smaller. The latest round of updates finally delivers document editing to your iPad and iPhone, including the ability to format text and see live changes made by your collaborators. You can also now view presentations, including speaker notes. The Android version also got a few nice tweaks today, most notable being the ability to see and reply to comments on docs. Google is also promising that real-time updates will be coming to spreadsheets very soon -- which should excite on-the-go number crunchers. Check out the video after the break.

Continue reading Google Drive mobile app updated, brings editing to iOS

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Mobile

Google Drive mobile app updated, brings editing to iOS originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Sep 2012 16:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nielsen: more than half of US teens now own smartphones

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/10/nielsen-more-than-half-of-us-teens-now-own-smartphones/

Yes, we know Android is holding steady at about 52 percent of US smartphone market share. What's interesting is just who's driving growth as a whole. According to Nielsen, 58 percent of American teens between 13 and 17 now have a smartphone -- that's a big jump from 36 percent a year earlier and a sign that the youngest owners have a significant sway over where the market is going. Not that young adults don't have an impact. Although the 25-to-34 crowd isn't making as big a comparative leap, its smartphone ownership has climbed from 59 percent to a dominating 74 percent in the same space of time.

No matter how much youth set the pace, it's clear Android is still having an effect. Among the US smartphone buyers Nielsen tracked in the three months leading up to July, 58.6 percent went Google's direction. Most of that gain came from BlackBerry owners switching allegiances, which doesn't bode well when RIM is counting on existing owners to fuel BlackBerry 10 demand. We'd be careful about citing a one-point shrink in iPhone sales as a shift in the balance of power, however -- while it could be part of a trend, it could also represent the habitual lull in Apple's sales during the weeks before a major iPhone introduction.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Nielsen: more than half of US teens now own smartphones originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Sep 2012 17:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intuition by LG hands-on: a pen-enabled competitor to the Galaxy Note for Verizon (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/10/intuition-by-lg-hands-on/

It's a silly name as smartphones go (and one that conjures images of lady-focused razors), but regardless, LG's Intuition is now officially a member of Verizon's lineup. The 4G LTE device, shown off today at the manufacturer's launch event, is nigh unchanged from the South Korean model we reviewed this past July (known as the Optimus Vu). With a 5-inch 1,024 x 768 True-XGA IPS capacitive display, dual-core S3 CPU clocked at 1.5GHz, 8-megapixel rear camera, NFC, 2080mAh battery and that Rubberdium pen, the only thing separating this stateside iteration from its SK Telecom cousin is the skinned Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS onboard and $199 on contract price. So how does it fare in this Big Red debut? Follow along as we attempt to find what's been lost, if anything, in translation.

Gallery: Intuition by LG

Continue reading Intuition by LG hands-on: a pen-enabled competitor to the Galaxy Note for Verizon (video)

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile

Intuition by LG hands-on: a pen-enabled competitor to the Galaxy Note for Verizon (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Sep 2012 17:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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America Never Looked More Stunningly Beautiful Than This Timelapse [Video]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5941875/america-never-looked-more-stunningly-beautiful-than-this-timelapse

Photographer and Gizmodo fan John Eklund made this extraordinary time-lapse movie of the Pacific Northwest. I thought I was getting tired of these videos, but some of his shots really push it to a new level.

"I started the project from July 2011 to August 2012," he said in an email, "I took approximately 260,000 photos to make this" using Canon 5D Mark II and Mark III cameras with various lenses. The whole project used 6.3 terabytes of hard drive space.

Well worth the painstaking effort, John.

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