Tuesday, March 26, 2013

The 8 Best Smart TVs You Can Buy

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/best-smart-tvs-2013-3

panasonic smart tv interface

Smart TVs have become more prevalent as the technology becomes cheaper and more widely available. 

These are web-connected TVs that come prepackaged with apps and streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, meaning you don't need to buy a separate box like an Apple TV or Roku.

Just about every major manufacturers has its own take on a Smart TV. 

We rounded up our favorites here.

The Samsung LED F8000 is one of the company's flagship models for 2013

Samsung recently announced its 2013 line up of Smart TVs.

Samsung's Smart TV technology is some of the most advanced around. Users can interact with their television using voice, gestures, or the remote control.

But what really makes Samsung's 2013 models stand out is built-in software called S Recommendation that helps you find shows to watch and the integrated web cameras and sensors for motion and voice control.

Price: The LED F8000 comes in three sizes: 46 inches, 55 inches, and 65 inches, and are priced at, $2,199, $2,699, and $2,999, respectively.



Samsung's 2013 Plasma Smart TV is the company's other flagship.

Samsung's other 2013 flagship TV, is the the F8500 Plasma. 

Samsung promises the F8500 will offer the ultimate picture quality with the deepest blacks and the brightest picture available.

"The F8500 delivers the same brightness levels and eight times the black expression of regular LED TVs, thanks to new luminance enhancements and Samsung’s proprietary Deep Black Algorithm and Real Black Pro II for improved black expression," according to Mark Hodgkinson.

But besides hardware features, the F8500 is also packed with all of Samsung's current SmartTV software. Users will have access to the SmartHub, five panels that show: what's on TV, Movies & TV Shows, Photos, Videos, and Music, Social, and Apps.

Besides these intuitive hubs, the television can give viewers recommendations tailored to what they like and you can speak with it telling it to change the channel to ESPN for example.

You'll be able to buy it at the end of March.

Price: The set comes in two sizes: 60 inches and 64 inches, and sells for $3,199 and $3,699, respectively.



LG's 60-inch 3D LED SmartTV is easy to set up and comes with a "Magic Remote"

LG's Smart TVs are some of the most advanced around. Each set has built-in WiFi and comes with LG's Magic Remote Control.

The Magic Remote Control allows you to simply wave and click while browsing the Internet or using the LG Dashboard t! hat mana ges apps and content.

Price: Currently on sale at Best Buy $1,299.99



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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Article: Researchers create hollow fiber optic cable, almost reach the speed of light

Fiber optic cables are usually made of glass or plastic but those materials actually slow down the transmission of light ever so slightly. Researchers at the University of Southampton in the UK have created a hollow fiber optic cable filled with air that's 1000 times faster than current cables. S...

http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/26/researchers-create-hollow-fiber-optic-cable-almost-reach-the-sp/

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Hon Hai shows record profits, keeps making money from making iPhones

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/26/hon-hai-profits/

Hon Hai Precision, also known as Foxconn Technology, has reported its earnings for the year and notched a net income of $3.2 billion according to the Financial Times. Most familiar as the manufacturing muscle behind Apple's iPhones, iPads and the like, the Taiwan-based manufacturer beat analyst predictions on high margins for those products. Its subsidiary, Foxconn International Holdings, is the world's largest cellphone maker and produces devices for companies including Nokia and Motorola, but suffered a net loss of $316.4 million. As a result, some are concerned about Foxconn's heavy reliance on Apple as a customer going forward.Still, the company is reportedly continuing a plan to increase vertical integration, by manufacturing the parts for devices and not just putting them together -- we'll see if anyone notices changes in the final product anytime soon.

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Source: FT, BBC, Bloomberg

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T-Mobile's 4G LTE goes live in Phoenix, San Jose

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/26/t-mobiles-4g-lte-goes-live-in-phoenix-san-jose/

TMobile's LTE goes live in Phoenix, Bay area

T-Mobile has started to roll out 4G services in the Phoenix and San Jose ahead of a press gathering today, according to our tipsters. Screen grabs show the service alive and kicking out speeds in the 20-30Mbps range, though we've yet to verify it for ourselves. The company already outed its "UnCarrier" plans on its site earlier featuring non-subsidized smartphones -- including LTE models -- along with unlimited voice, text and basic data plans. We should be able to color in the rest of the details later this morning.

[Thanks Nick, Dustin]

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NVIDIA's GTX 650 Ti Boost lives up to its name for $149

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/26/nvidia-gtx-650-ti-boost/

NVIDIAs GTX 650 Ti Boost brings 1080p gaming to the budget crowd for $TKTK

By NVIDIA's own admission, the lower registers of its Kepler-based GeForce graphics cards "couldn't always tackle [their] originally stated goal" of powering 1080p games with the settings amped up to high. So, after the GeForce GTX 650 and 650 Ti, maybe the third time's a charm. The latest card goes by the name GTX 650 Ti Boost, reflecting the fact that it brings NVIDIA's GPU Boost technology into the mix, which can vary the chip's clock speed as need allows. Stacked against the 650 Ti, this unit's got 782 CUDA cores (up from 768), a base clock of 980MHz (up from 928MHz) and a TDP of 140W, (compared to 110W). Another big draw is two-way SLI, so you can pair up cards when your wallet regains its strength. On the benchmark front, NVIDIA promises you can run Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm at highest settings and get a frame rate of 62fps, an order of magnitude higher than the 39fps promised on the 650 Ti. Sitting above the 650 Ti and below the GeForce 660, the 1GB version will set you back $149 (£124), with the 2GB edition priced at $169 (£144). In behind-closed-doors tests, the company has found that it comes out on top against AMD's $249 Radeon 7850, but we'll be rounding up independent reviews shortly in o! rder to verify that claim -- as well as seeing if it can make the 7790 think twice about getting out of bed.

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Monday, March 25, 2013

Unreal Engine 3 adding Oculus Rift support this April, Epic Citadel demo packed in

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/25/unreal-engine-3-oculus-rift/

The engine that powered the vast majority of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3's hit games, Unreal Engine 3, is getting a development kit update to support the soon-to-be-released Oculus Rift VR headset. Of course, the model of the Rift that's soon-to-be-released is intended for developers, so the Unreal Engine 3 UDK update is right on time; it arrives at some point in "early April," soon after the headset itself arrives for Kickstarter backers. Beyond UDK integration, full UE3 licensees will also get an update for integrating the headset into their games.

That said, if you snagged yourself a Rift dev kit and have no intention of actually developing games with it, the upcoming UDK release also includes a "VR Mode" version of the software's sample Unreal Tournament game, as well as a summer version of the Epic Citadel demo we were shown at CES 2013. Paired with Valve's offering of Team Fortress 2 VR Mode, that brings the grand total of playable things with the Rift headset to ... five or six (depending on what you define as a "demo"). Upcoming PC mech shooter Hawken is also promising Rift support, though it won't launch until mid-December. The Oculus folks are saying that Rift dev kits will begin shipping to Kickstarter backers this month, with orders fulfilled by mid-April.

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Jabra's Revo, Revo Wireless and Vox headphones get priced, now shipping

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/25/jabra-revo-wireless-vox-headphones-price-now-available/

Jabra's Revo, Revo Wireless and Vox headphones get priced, now shipping

Jabra's fresh batch of stereo headphones were first trotted out at CES, and now they've just been graced with price tags and are up for grabs. The Revo Wireless over-ear headphone rings up at $249, while the wired flavor will set folks back $199. Jabra's in-ear Vox hardware hits wallets with a little less force thanks to a $99 asking price. If you're in need a refresher, the gear was designed with durability in mind, sports Dolby Digital Plus tech and works with its manufacturer's Sound App for iOS and Android, which promises souped-up audio quality. Pining for a set of the cans? You'll have to head over to Amazon or Dell's online storefront to pick one up.

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Use Wolfram Alpha to Convert Obscure Technical Measurements Into Layman's Terms

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5992239/use-wolfram-alpha-to-convert-obscure-technical-measurements-into-laymans-terms

Use Wolfram Alpha to Convert Obscure Technical Measurements Into Layman's TermsIf you've ever found yourself reading a science article and had no idea what the heck a measurement means than you know it takes away from your understanding of an article. Write Ben Young Landis suggests one way to deal with this is to use Wolfram Alpha to convert that measurement into something you can understand.

If you type a measurement into Wolfram Alpha, say, 50 microns, you'll get the usual unit conversions that you'd expect. However, you also get results like, ".04 x length of a dust mite," or ".46 x thickness of a US dollar bill." It's a lot more useful to most people to think of "about half the thickness of a dollar bill" than it is "50 microns." If you ever find yourself stuck on the measurements when reading an article, this quick search might be a helpful way to understand it a little more.

How to Describe Obscure Technical Measurements | Ben Young Landis

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Google starts a TV white space trial in South Africa to wirelessly link schools

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/25/google-starts-a-tv-white-space-trial-in-south-africa/

Google starts a TV white space trial in South Africa to wirelessly link schools

Google has been a strong advocate of white space wireless as democratizing broadband access: its long-range nature can bring people online when the local internet framework isn't always reliable, if it exists at all. The company is about to illustrate that potential through a new trial in South Africa. A trio of base stations at Stellenbosch University in Cape Town will supply ten nearby primary and secondary schools with internet access to prove that white space access can work without affecting TV signals. To make sure it won't, Google is picking the safest frequencies from a database and is measuring the results for the sake of both nervous broadcasters and the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa. If all goes well, it should make a case for full approval of white space use across the country and deliver internet access to remote areas that risk being left by the technological wayside.

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Source: Google Africa Blog

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Growler/Keg Combo Keeps Beer Cold and Carbonated, Thinks Of Everything

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5992185/growlerkeg-combo-keeps-beer-cold-and-carbonated-maximizes-awesome

Growler/Keg Combo Keeps Beer Cold and Carbonated, Thinks Of Everything Look, the majesty of nature is great and all, but camping would be a lot better if you had cold, carbonated beer at the end of a trek. And DrinkTanks has a growler on the way to help.

The double-walled stainless steel growler keeps 64 ounces of beer cold all day. It has two cap options, a normal wire bale cap and a keg tap cap that has a tap hose and lets you inject CO2 and release excess pressure. There's also a handle for easy carrying.

The DrinkTanks Growler has already collected more than three times its Kickstarter goal, with three weeks left, but we'll have to wait for hands on. The growler is $65 and up depending on things like color, and the keg tap cap is an extra $30, but with this setup you'll never be able to say keg tap cap correctly again, so it's probably worth it. [Kickstarter via Cool Material]

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Saturday, March 23, 2013

Myriad Social TV brings social networking to your cable box (hands-on video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/23/myriad-social-tv-hands-on/

Myriad Social TV brings social networking to your cable box hands on video

The marriage of social networking and television is nothing new, but Myriad recently launched Social TV, a white label solution which allows TV service providers to roll out their own custom social networking platform on your cable box. It complements services like Twitter, Facebook and Google+ by offering a more contextual way for viewers to interact with their friends while watching TV. Social TV provides an integrated HTML5 experience that's consistent across both television and companion devices (phones and tablets). Viewers can chose between receiving alerts on their TVs, mobile devices or both and can create show- or series-specific virtual communities that automatically expire when the program ends. The system is even mindful of time zones and time-shifts messages to prevent spoilers. More after the break.

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NVIDIA details how its Jetson development kit creates smart, seeing cars

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/23/nvidia-details-how-its-new-jetson-development-kit-creates-smart-cars/

NVIDIA details how its Jetson development kit puts a Tegra in your car

Developing a high-end in-car infotainment system can present challenges that don't exist in other platforms -- you're juggling core car systems, a myriad of sensors and media playback in a testbed on wheels. NVIDIA has just explained how it's uniting those elements with its new, lengthily-titled Jetson Automotive Development Platform. While it looks like a single-DIN car stereo laid bare, the configurable kit incorporates a Tegra processor (for usual infotainment functions), multiple car-friendly interfaces and a Kepler-based graphics chipset that can power car detection, lane departure and other computer vision systems by using CUDA or OpenCV code. The net effect should be a much simpler development process: automakers can consolidate some of their test hardware in one Jetson unit that they can upgrade or swap out if newer technology comes along. NVIDIA isn't naming the handful of designers and suppliers that are already building car electronics using Jetson, although history offers a few possible candidates.

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Source: NVIDIA (1), (2)

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Article: Panasonic 2013 Smart TVs wield Nuance Dragon TV for voice control, text-to-speech

Panasonic and Nuance have been close partners on TV voice recognition in the past; we now know that they're getting a bit cozier for Panasonic's 2013 Smart TVs. The company's newer LCDs and plasmas with voice recognition use Nuance's Dragon TV for voice-only control of basics like volume as well ...

http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/23/panasonics-2013-smart-tvs-lean-on-nuance-dragon-tv-for-voice/

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Friday, March 22, 2013

AMD intros Radeon HD 7790 graphics card for $149, promises cooler and quieter 1080p gaming

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/22/amd-radeon-hd-7790/

AMD intros Radeon HD 7790 graphics card for $149, promises cooler and quieter 1080p gaming

We were half expecting AMD's next graphics card to be some sort of supercomputing colossus, given all the buzz around NVIDIA's GTX Titan. As it turns out, though, we're looking at something more subtle and just slightly more affordable: the new Radeon HD 7790. It slots into a cosy niche between the 7770 and the 7850, targeting gamers who want a good helping of 28nm silicon and potential for CrossFire expansion but who don't want to stretch beyond $149. Efficiency tweaks allow the 7790 to offer almost 50 percent more processing power than the 7770 while only demanding a smidgen of extra wattage (85 W instead of 80 W), which bodes well for cooling and decibels. Relative to the 7850, which can now be had for under $200, you'd be getting a card with half the power consumption, half the memory (1GB GDDR5), half the memory bandwidth (128-bit) and around 30 percent less processing power.

Compare it to the closest rival from NVIDIA, the GTX 650 Ti, which currently fetches upwards of $140, and AMD claims the Radeon HD 7790 offers an average 20 percent advantage in frame rates at 1080p -- enough that you shouldn't need to worry about games like Tomb Raider or Hitman: Absolution at that resolution. Check out the slide deck for further details and official frame-rate charts, and expect to see the card reach retailers starting April 2nd.

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Thursday, March 21, 2013

A Solar-Powered Hand-Cranked Digital Camera Laughs At Your Limited Battery Life

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5991746/a-solar+powered-hand+cranked-digital-camera-laughs-at-your-limited-battery-life

A Solar-Powered Hand-Cranked Digital Camera Laughs At Your Limited Battery LifeWhat this $200, three-magapixel digital camera lacks in features, functionality, and image quality; it more than makes up for in battery life. Because in theory, as long as you've got sunlight or at least one arm, you can keep it powered indefinitely.

As its namesake implies, what really sets the Sun & Cloud digital camera apart from its competition is the inclusion of a solar panel on top, and a retractable generator crank on the side. So with a lot of sunlight and/or elbow grease, you can perpetually keep its battery charged. Besides a microSD memory card slot and 15 built-in digital filters, the camera unfortunately mostly disappoints with its limited photo resolution and basic 640x480 video capabilities. So while the Sun & Cloud can in theory run forever, will you really want it to?

A Solar-Powered Hand-Cranked Digital Camera Laughs At Your Limited Battery Life

[AC Gears]

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