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Sunday, February 24, 2013

Build Your Own Power-Efficient DIY Remote Storage System

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5986177/build-your-own-power+efficient-diy-remote-storage-system

Build Your Own Power-Efficient DIY Remote Storage System Cloud storage is everywhere, but if you don't want to mess around with keeping your data on someone else's computer, or you simply don't want to pay for it, DIYer Dominic came up with a solution to use his own computer as a DIY remote storage system over Wi-Fi.

Wake-on-LAN has existed for a while to make it easy to access your computer from anywhere, but it doesn't always work that well unless you have the right hardware, and waking on Wi-Fi is still a little iffy. Dominic needed a system to remotely back up his photos on vacation to safe space on his phone, so he installed Open WRT on a cheap router, and then wired the router to power up the PC when it's pinged. It's an interesting way to roll your own power-efficient storage system, but it's certainly not the only solution. Head over to Dominic's site for a full guide.

Dropping Dropbox + Hardware Hacking | Dom's blog via Hack a Day

Samsung's HomeSync Android Box Brings a Whopping 1TB of Storage to Your TV

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5986544/samsungs-homesync-brings-1tb-of-android-to-your-tv

Samsung's HomeSync Android Box Brings a Whopping 1TB of Storage to Your TV Set top boxes aren't exactly mobile tech, but Samsung has unveiled its new one at this year's Mobile World Congress. The HomeSync aims to work with your mobile devices and serve has a hefty little Android-powered box for all your media. A 1TB box.

Running Android Jelly Bean (version unspecified) the HomeSync will let users push apps, games, and other media to the an HDTV. No one's actually saying "Google TV" here, but the box will have access to the Google Play store, and can push all that goodness through to your TV at 1080p through its HDMI 1.4 connection.

Inside, the HomeSync has an 8GB SSD for OS and basic storage and a gig of RAM, but behind that sits a massive 1TB hard drive that should be enough to satisfy even the most ardent digital pack-rats. Samsung has no illuisions that one person would endeavor to fill that space (or should endeavor), so the HomeSync can support up to 8 different accounts, each of which gets its own little slice, separate from the others, complete with encryption if you want.

The HomeSync will be available in the US sometime April 2013, but there's no world on how much it'll cost, or whether or not it can handle streaming protocols like Miricast, so don't lay down all your judgement quite yet. But if nothing else, it's bound to be the spiffiest 1TB hard drive out there. [CNET]

Benchmarks Are In: Nvidia's Tegra 4 Really Cooks

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5986554/benchmarks-are-in-nvidias-tegra-4-really-cooks

When Nvida announced the Tegra 4 back at CES, they laid down the claim it was the world's fastest mobile processor. Now Nvidia's got some prototype devices at Mobile World Congress, the benchmarks are coming in and there's no questioning it. The Tegra 4 is a total speed-demon.

A generation better than the Tegra 3 and Qualcomm S4 processors common now, it shouldn't be a surprise that the Tegra 4 can demolish the processor in just about every other phone on the market, but now the proof is in. And Apple's peppy A6 is no exclusion. Then again, the Tegra 4's got a bit of a head start.

Benchmarks Are In: Nvidia's Tegra 4 Really Cooks

Samsung and Qualcomm have competition in the works though, with the Exynos 5 Octa and Snapdragon 800 respectively. And like Nvidia boasted with the Tegra 4, Qualcomm is behind its Spadragon 800 as "the fastest." But until we see some benchmarks, the Tegra 4 is taking the cake, and handily. You can expect to see that puppy in Nvidia's Project Shield when it launches in this spring, and you'll find its cousin, the T4i, folded into mobile phones late this year. Get ready for a rocket ride. [PC Mag]

Alcatel Idol X hands-on (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/24/alcatel-idol-x-hands-on-video/

Alcatel converted its One Touch Idol line from a duo to a trio with today's launch of yet another set at Mobile World Congress: the Idol X. While not quite as thin as its 6.45mm-thin Idol Ultra sibling, at 7mm thick with a tiny 2.4mm bezel it is definitely is about as small as a 5" set can get. The Idol X's giant 1080p IPS display is fantastic to look at and Jelly Bean is snappy driven by a quad core MediaTek MT6589 1.2GHz CPU. Like many of Alcatel's other sets the range of config option varies by market and the same is true here as we'll see both 13 and 8-megapixel variants -- both with 1080p front facing cameras -- and dual or single-SIM, with the single variety getting a bonus microSD slot. While the Idol X is not equipped with LTE it does have 42Mbps HSPA+ connectivity, quad-band GSM and offers dual-band UMTS in both 900MHz / 2100MHz or 850MHz / 2100MHz frequencies.

Alcatel's all about mass market, it isn't chasing the likes of Apple or Samsung but rather is quite happy to simply make "devices for people." So while 2012 marked its first foray into smartphones, judging by what we've seen so far in 2013 from them it seems they've nailed affordability while maintaining a surprising amount of quality, a great combination. Join Myriam just after the break for a quick video tour.

Gallery: Alcatel OneTouch Idol X hands-on

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PowerbyProxi debuts wireless charging solution, aims to fully integrate it into future smartphones (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/24/powerbyproxi-wireless-charging-solution-demo-mwc-2013-video/

The pathway to innovation is paved with failed attempts to produce wireless charging solutions that a) actually work and b) people genuinely want to use, but we've got yet another upstart here at Mobile World Congress willing to give it a go. PowerbyProxi's solution looks pretty similar to renditions we've seen from Fulton Innovation, but it's quick to point out the differences. The loosely-coupled method uses a bantam receiver that's "efficient enough to be integrated into the processor board of a smartphone without causing over-heating."

While previous industry designs have resulted in longer charging times than if the device were plugged into a wall socket, PowerbyProxi's solution reportedly "provides charging at the same speed as wired charging." In fact, it claims to offer the only system that can rejuvenate up to three devices at the same time at full power. If you're wondering what working group these guys are going to side with, that much is still up in the air -- it's remaining "agnostic towards the selection of an ultimate standard" for now.

We spoke with the company here at Mobile World Congress, and it confirmed to us that it's working with the top five major battery manufacturers, and we should see wireless AA and AAA cells "within 12 months." It wouldn't confirm how soon we'd see it in phones, tablets or laptops (yeah, it'll work in all of 'em), but it's clearly working with some of the ! top OEMs and hoping for the best. In the demo we witnessed, specially equipped Galaxy S III handsets charged alongside one another, even when barely clinging to the charging pad. Despite a bunch of metallic objects being heaped on the pad, it was intelligent enough to only send power to the phones, keeping gum boxes and coins cool, calm and collected. Head on past the break for quick video tour as well as a press release.

Dana Murph contributed to this report.

Gallery: PowerbyProxi debuts wireless charging solution at MWC 2013 (hands-on)