Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Friday, September 28, 2012

This $50 Stick Turns Any HDTV Into an Android-Powered Smart TV [TV]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5947223/this-50-stick-turns-any-hdtv-into-an-android+powered-smart-tv

If you're wondering how you can breathe life into that old TV set, the FAVI SmartStick might be what you're looking for. For $50, you get a dongle that provides your TV with Android and access to streaming movies and music.

The stick, which runs Jelly Bean and packs 4GB of storage, plugs into any HDMI port and uses baked-in Wi-Fi to provide access to the likes of Netflix, Hulu, Epix, YouTube, and Pandora. It comes as standard with a full internet browser, but because it runs Android you can download anything from the Play store, too.

The stick also lets you stream media wirelessly from another computer elsewhere in your pad, though you have to use a proprietary MediaSHARE app. You can also get a mini wireless keyboard and touchpad mouse for $40 for easier navigation.

Sure, you could get a Roku dongle for $100, but if you want to do more than just stream video then this little guy might be a better bet. And it does only cost $50. [FAVI vai Engadget]

Brian Eno's Bonkers New iPad App Thinks for Itself [Video]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5947115/brian-enos-most-bonkers-music-ipad-app-yet-thinks-for-itself

Brian Eno has made some trippy iOS music apps before but the latest, Scape, takes Tiger Mountain by wackiness. Look at the video above. What are all those strange symbols and shapes? Is this a music app or a weird new age religion? Or Scientology?

In Scape (a collaboration with Peter Chilvers) you make generative music by stacking various building blocks—called elements—onto a flat background tone. The elements all behave and sound different. They're bizarre programmed instruments, basically. What's more, as you add more facets to the sound landscape (SOUNDSCAPE??), the compositions take on a life and mood of their own. Eno and Chilvers use some thought creation alchemy doesn't quite make sense to us, but we love the results anyway. You can save your creations and play them again later, but because of all of randomness built into the way the elements sound each particular performance will sound different every time you play it. Does your brain hurt yet? Play with this app for a while and let it soothe you. Or drive you crazy. Scape is available for $6 in the iTunes store. [iTunes]

Sony Tablet S gets chunky update: better multi-tasking and IR, 'guest mode', new media apps (correction)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/28/sony-xperia-tablet-s-gets-chunky-update-better-multi-tasking-an/

The original Tablet S has already absorbed a few interesting updates and now it's getting one more: devices are waking up to an Android 4.0.3 update that brings significant additions like a Guest Mode for creating restricted user accounts, revamped media and social aggregation apps, and six assignable macro buttons on the IR Remote Control app. Sony has also bolstered its Small Apps function, allowing you to overlay a browser, IR remote and other utilities in a window on top of another app. What this update isn't is Jelly Bean, which is headed to the Tablet S's similarly-named replacement, the Xperia Tablet S.

Correction: We originally confused the Tablet S with the newer Xperia-branded model. Thanks to all who spotted the error.

Filed under: Tablets

Sony Tablet S gets chunky update: better multi-tasking and IR, 'guest mode', new media apps (correction) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Sep 2012 05:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feed! s.

Permalink | source

Sony | Email this | Comments

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Simple.TV clarifies shipping dates, tells backers units will start arriving October 10th

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/27/simple-tv-kickstarter-shipping-dates/

According to Simple.TV, there have been articles circulating around the interwebs that may have caused confusion amongst parties interested about the shipping dates of its facile white puck. So, in order to induce some clarity, the folks behind the project have posted a Kickstarter update to let its backers know their Simple.TVs will be arriving soon -- somewhere between October 10th and 15th, to be precise. On the other hand, Simple.TV is also set to start taking pre-orders on its website tomorrow from folks who missed out on the crowd-funded party, with these particular units estimated to ship "within 20 days" after the order has been placed. The good news is we're only a couple of weeks away from its long-overdue arrival; in the meantime, however, don't forget we have our own hands-on for you to graciously pore over.

Filed under: Misc, Home Entertainment, HD

Simple.TV clarifies shipping dates, tells backers units will start arriving October 10th originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Sep 2012 19:27:00 EDT. Please see our term s for use of feeds.

Permalink

CNET |

Kickstarter (Simple.tv) | Email this | Comments

BlueStacks teams with AMD to optimize Android App Player for Fusion, Radeon chips (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/27/bluestacks-teams-with-amd-to-optimize-its-android-app-player/

AMD has a disproportionately large $6.4 million investment in BlueStacks, and now we're seeing one clear reason why. The two companies have teamed up to create a special version of the BlueStacks App Player that's tuned for AMD's Fusion-based processors and Radeon graphics cards, running Android apps with the full help of the chip desgner's hardware in Windows 7 and 8 PCs. Accordingly, over 500,000 Android apps are invading AMD's new AppZone portal without any needed tweaks of their own, giving the service a much larger catalog than if it had gone with Windows alone. Both companies have a clear incentive to this melding of desktop and mobile: BlueStacks suddenly gets exposure to as many as 100 million AMD-running users, while AMD can tout a giant app catalog that may be preloaded on future PCs using its components. We don't know if the world needs yet another avenue for playing Angry Birds, especially when many AMD-based PCs won't have touchscreens, but the BlueStacks partnership could be a strong lure for new PC buyers who'd like an instant software library.

Continue reading BlueStacks teams with AMD to optimize Android App Player for Fusion, Radeon chips (video)

Filed under: Cellphones, Software

BlueStacks teams with AMD to optimize Android App Player for Fusion, Radeon chips (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Sep 2012 14:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

TechCrunch | source

AMD AppZone | Email this | Comments