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Wednesday, May 08, 2013

Kwikset introduces Kevo, a smartphone-friendly lock powered by UniKey

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/08/kwikset-introduces-kevo-a-smartphone-friendly-lock-powered-by-u/

It's not the first time that Kwikset's dabbled in wireless locks, but today the company's introducing Kēvo, a smartphone- (and tablet-) friendly lock powered by UniKey. The concept is pretty simple: pair a handset (running a special app) with Kēvo via Bluetooth, and simply touch the deadbolt to lock or unlock your door. A keychain fob is also available for those who have not yet joined the smartphone revolution. Kēvo only responds to touch when an authorized device or fob is detected nearby. A triple tap lets anyone lock your door, which is useful if a visitor leaves after you. The deadbolt is battery-powered using four AA cells that last more than a year with normal operation. It features a ring of RGB LEDs for feedback and a standard physical key for backup.

Most of the magic is made possible by tech developed by UniKey. The key (natch) to the entire system is the Kēvo app which lets you manage eKeys. Once logged into the app, you can send and delete eKeys, or transfer them to another device (this also deletes the eKeys associated with a lost handset, for example) -- you can even create eKeys that only work once. Currently, the app is only available for iOS, which is a major limitation, but it supports push, email and SMS notifications and keeps a detailed log of which eKeys have accessed Kēvo and when. Pricing and availability remain a mystery, but all in all the system looks pretty neat. Stay tuned for more details, and check out link below.

Filed under: Cellphones, Household, Tablets, Wireless, Software, Mobile, Apple

Source: Kwikset

ASRock's new Haswell motherboards will be waterproof, of course (update: video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/08/asrock-waterproof-motherboard/

If your current motherboard has more Mountain Dew than CPU, you might be interested in ASRock's forthcoming Haswell offerings. Among the usual features like dual-band 802.11ac-flavored WiFi, HDMI input and a Home Cloud service, Tom's Hardware spotted a mention of "Waterproof by Conformal Coating." The company's sub-site doesn't give too much else away, like how extensive the protection will be, instead simply telling us to "A-Style our lifestyle." The only feature with any amount of detail is a Pure Sound audio system (7.1 channel audio, Realtek ALC1150 audio codec and a TI 5532 pre-amp if you're interested) that we've already seen. Still, if fluid has been getting between you and your high scores, keep an eye on the source for more info.

Update: And just like that, ASRock has added more info about the HDMI input, including a demo video which you can find after the break.

Filed under: Desktops

Via: Tom's Hardware

Source: ASRock

Tuesday, May 07, 2013

This Animation Based on Oscillating Sine Waves Is Utterly Entrancing

Source: http://gizmodo.com/this-animation-based-on-oscillating-sine-waves-is-utter-493970700

Are your eyes bored today? Look at this right now. It's a computer animation by computer artist Daniel Sierra, and it will mesmerize you, if only for a few minutes.

Sierra just got his MFA from New York's School of Visual Arts, and Oscillate was his thesis project. He was inspired by the motion of sine waves, upon which he built a tapestry of color and sound:

The concept of universal building blocks that can be assembled to form complex structures is something I find very exciting and alluring. Sound follows this concept in that any sound, for example a snare drum or a human voice, can be deconstructed as the summation of varying sine waves; hence making sine waves the building blocks of sound so to speak. This concept, which comes from the Fourier Series (named after Joseph Fourier) was the inspiration for my thesis, "Oscillate".

Sierra used Houdini to compose the animation, Reason to create the music, Nuke for compositing, and After Effects for the final render. It's pretty amazing that the sound and visuals were all the work of one person. [Daniel Sierra via Faith is Torment]

Sony VAIO Fit 15 review (2013): Sony's mainstream notebooks get a makeover

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/07/sony-vaio-fit-15-review-2013/

And it begins: back-to-school season. Even though some students are still embroiled in finals, and even though Intel has yet to formally launch Haswell, the next few weeks will see multiple PC makers unveiling their summer lineups. First up: Sony. The company just introduced some new mainstream notebooks, dubbed the "Fit" family. These laptops, which replace the current E series and most of the T line, include the lower-end Fit 14E / Fit 15E, which are made of plastic, and the Fit 14 / Fit 15, which step up to a thinner aluminum chassis and optional SSDs. Either way, Sony is standardizing on certain specs across its entire summer lineup, including 1080p displays, backlit keyboards, NFC and Exmor R webcams for better low-light images. We've just spent a week testing the Fit 15, which will be available later this month for $700 and up. (The rest of the Fit line starts as low as $550.) Head past the break to see if it's worth a closer look once it hits store shelves.

Gallery: Sony VAIO Fit 15 review

Filed under: Laptops, Sony

Seagate launches the 600 SSD, its first solid-state drive for consumers

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/07/seagate-launches-the-600-ssd-as-its-first-client-side-ssd/

Seagate has come a long way in its attitude toward solid-state drives: it went from fighting the future to embracing SSDs with open arms, albeit only in enterprise at first. Now, it's launching its first-ever flash drive for end users, the 600 SSD. The storage will seem familiar to those who've gone shopping for regular SSDs, offering a 480GB max capacity, a laptop-friendly width and a 6Gbps SATA interface. Also, it may be just the perfect fit for those with extra-slim PCs: one 600 SSD variant will have the same 5mm height as Western Digital's Blue UltraSlim. Seagate hasn't disclosed its pricing, but the 600 SSD as well as the server-oriented 600 Pro SSD, 1200 SSD and X8 Accelerator should be available now.

Filed under: Storage

Source: Seagate

Huawei P6-U06 super slim smartphone poses for more leaked pictures, this time in black

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/07/huawei-p6-u06-leaked-again/

At the beginning of last week, we learned of a Huawei smartphone, model number P6-U06, by way of the TENAA in China (their FCC equivalent). In addition to some pictures of the handset and a few internal components listed by the TENAA, its thickness, or rather, its thinness was the most interesting spec -- at 6.18mm, it could be the super-slim P series model a Huawei exec has been teasing all year. While the company remains tight-lipped, the folks at NowhereElse have received what are thought to be some in-the-wild shots of the P6-U06, this time in black. The French site admits it can't verify the legitimacy of the pictures, and there's none of the back that should show the Huawei logo, but they do marry up with what we saw at the TENAA, and it looks pretty trim. We wouldn't be surprised if Huawei made it official sometime soon, if only to stop the leaks before we know it all and lose interest. There are a couple more pictures after the break, and luckily, it appears Mr. Blurrycam was on another job.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Source: NowhereElse

Vivo Xplay boasts 5.7-inch 1080p screen, dedicated audio chips and nifty single-hand mode

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/07/vivo-xplay-phone/

Another 1080p quad-core Android phone, you say? Well, there's a bit more to it. Launched by BBK spin-off Vivo in Beijing just now, this 5.7-inch Xplay goes one step further than its smaller X1 and X1S cousins by packing one extra audio chip, the OPA2604 op amp from Texas Instruments, in order to add extra oomph to Cirrus Logic's CS4398 DAC and CS8422 stereo asynchronous sample-rate converter -- both of which are featured on the X1 series. If you're a DIY audio enthusiast, you might have already tinkered with an OPA2604 while making your own headphone amplifier; so in other words, Vivo is trying to save you the hassle.

Before we dive into the audio performance, let's quickly look at the rest of the phone first. Underneath the 500 nits LTPS display lies a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad-core SoC (1.7GHz, 2GB RAM and Adreno 320 graphics engine), 16GB or 32GB of built-in storage, 3,400mAh battery and NFC. On the back you'll find the increasingly common Sony 13-megapixel imager next to a pair of speakers (FLAC playback is supported natively, by the way), but flip the phone over and you'll be looking at a surprisingly generous 5-megapixel front-facing camera -- much like the one on Oppo's mid-range Ulike 2. Vivo's somehow managed to pack all of this into a 7.99mm-thick body, while boasting a screen bezel of just 2.3mm thick (sorry, Pantech!) and a large viewable-to-total area ratio of 75.11 percent. Alas, for 3G there's only WCDMA 2100, meaning the phone may have to rely more on GSM 850/900/1800/1900 or WiFi in many parts of the world. More after the break.

Gallery: Vivo Xplay launch event

Gallery: Vivo Xplay hands-on

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Source: Vivo

Apple Devices No Longer Completely Dominate Tablet-Based Web Traffic

Source: https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/welcome

Even with the launch of the iPad Mini — aimed at the lower end of the tablet market — Apple has not been able to beat back the rise of Android tablets.

Let's look at Apple's share of tablet-generated Web traffic.

In March 2013, Apple iPad devices still accounted for the lion's share of that traffic at 81.9%, according to online advertising network, Chitika. Those numbers sound great. Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer even cited them in Apple's recent earnings call.

But what he did not say was that the iPad's share is down ten percentage points from October 2012, when it was 92%.

Even as the iPad slipped, the Samsung Galaxy Tab, which runs on Android, increased its share of Web traffic from 2.1% to 4.3% over the same six months.

Android-based devices have also made gains in unit sales recently. Apple iPads sold well last quarter, but lower-priced Android tablets like the Tab and the Kindle line from Amazon have gained market share globally.

In the smartphone arena, Samsung remains a formidable competitor to Apple, but Chitika's data indicates that in addition to its recent smartphone success, Samsung is slowly gaining ground in the dynamic tablet market.

Apple, on the other hand, may have to find new ways to regain the unchallenged stronghold it once had in tablets.

Chitika's data drew on mobile browser-based Web traffic from all tablet devices in the U.S. and Canada over a six month period. Traffic from mobile applications was not covered in the study.

Click here for a larger version of this chart. Tablet-Based Web Traffic

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AT&T Beam is a USB LTE modem with built-in LCD, due May 10th for $20

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/06/att-beam-usb-modem/

With the onset of MiFis, smartphone hotspots and other methods of tethering your computer to the 'net, USB modems aren't exactly the most popular devices on the block anymore. It doesn't mean they're not desirable to business folk, however, so most carriers keep at least one or two in their lineup. AT&T just introduced the Beam, its latest dongle from Sierra Wireless, which offers the usual LTE domestically (700/AWS) along with tri-band HSPA+ (850/1900/2100) and quad-band GSM / EDGE.

The key feature here is its built-in 96x64 black-and-white LCD panel, which displays signal strength, data usage and other stats. Finally, it offers mobile hotspot capability, GPS and microSD card support (up to 32GB), and will work on Win 8 / RT laptops and tablets. Dimension-wise, it weighs 1.91 ounces and measures a stout 1.97 x 2.58 x 0.46 inches (50 x 65.5 x 11.7mm). If that fits your purposes, the Beam can be all yours starting May 10th for $20 and a two-year commitment.

Filed under: Peripherals, Wireless, Mobile, AT&T

Source: AT&T

Google Drive desktop app adds in-app file sharing, catches up to 2010's Dropbox

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/06/google-drive-app-file-sharing/

Google Drive desktop app adds inapp file sharing, catches up to 2010's Dropbox

Sure, you could see and manage your Google Drive files from within the comfort of your PC / Mac file management system, but you couldn't publicly share them with friends -- until now. Google Drive files are now sharable via right click directly on your desktop, meaning the Drive desktop app now has one more feature that Dropbox already had several years ago. We hope you'll forgive our lack of enthusiasm for Google's catchup effort, but it's hard to get all jazzed up about functionality that should've probably been there at launch. Anyway, if you're not seeing the new feature pop up on your dashboard yet, Google says it's "rolling out over the next few days." Hold tight!

Filed under: Internet, Software, Google

Source: Google

Sony's mainstream laptops now named 'Fit,' arrive ahead of back-to-school season

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/07/sony-vaio-fit-series-announced/

At some point -- we're not sure when -- Sony's naming scheme for laptops got confusing. There was the C series and the E series. The S, T, Z and even the F (RIP). Fortunately, Sony's been working to clear things up: its first Windows 8 products all had descriptive names like "Duo" or "Tap." Now, it's streamlining its mainstream notebooks too. The company just unveiled some redesigned models for back-to-school season, and they're all named 'Fit.' As the replacement to the entry-level E series and most of the T line, the Fit family includes both lower-end models (the Fit 14E / Fit 15E) and premium ones (the Fit 14 / Fit 15). They'll be available this month, starting at $550 and going all the way up to $2,210, depending on how many upgrades you check off during the configuration process.

Regardless, there are certain specs you'll find across the board - not just on the Fit machines, mind you, but on every Sony PC announced this season. These include NFC, backlit keyboards and webcams with Sony's Exmor R imaging tech for better low-light performance. They'll all have 1080p screens, too, with the exception of the 14-inch Fits, which start at 1,600 x 900. Both the Fit and Fit E will be offered with optional NVIDIA GT 740M GPUs (1GB or 2GB), touchscreens, optical drives and a choice of Core i3, i5 and i7 processors (Ivy Bridge for now). Ultimately, then, the difference between the two comes down to build quality: the Fit E is made of plastic, whereas the Fit has a thinner aluminum chassis, with the fans hidden above the keyboard, and a lid that covers the hinge. Also, the Fit will be offered with SSDs, with hybrid drives being the base option; the Fit E comes standard with a regular HDD and can be upgraded to a hybrid drive. And in any event, all of these laptops will be available later this month. For now, check out the press shots below for a closer look.

Filed under: Laptops, Sony

Monday, May 06, 2013

Intel's Silvermont CPUs Herald a Serious Push into Mobile

Source: http://gizmodo.com/intels-silvermont-cpus-helard-a-serious-push-into-mobi-493160769

Intel's Atom cores have caught a lot of guff, mainly thanks to bad memories of the netbook days. But its latest incarnation, the new Silvermont CPU architecture, is low-powered and packs a performance punch, positioning Intel to make a big push into mobile.

The 22-nanometer System-on-a-Chip platform boasts a three times performance increase over the previous Saltwell Atom CPUs and at five times less the power consumption thanks in no small part to the 3D transistors Intel's been cooking up for years now. The first Atom CPUs to be designed specifically for smartphones and tablets, Silvermonts allow for scalablity up to 8-core SoCs, giving the architecture the freedom it needs to fill in the space below Haswell on the device hierarchy with no gaps. Bay-Trail tablets with Silvermont CPUs for brains are due to start rolling out toward the end of this year. Smartphones based on the new architecture will be following in early 2014.

While Silvermont is the first Atom chip aimed squarely at phones and tablets, it's certainly not going to be the last; Intel's going to be iterating on this CPU yearly and creeping further and further into the mobile space with each push. It will still be a while before we can actually get our hands on anything Silvermont's inside, but this could be the start of a much more mobile Intel. [AllThingsD]

Intel Silvermont: next-gen mobile CPU's three times as fast and more energy efficient

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/06/intel-silvermont-22nm-soc/

ARM's long been the dominant form of silicon in mobile devices, but Intel aims to change that with its next-generation Atom chip design codenamed Silvermont. According to Intel, the new architecture will enable CPUs that operate at up to three times the speed of existing models, while (in some cases) also offering chips that sip just one-fifth the amount of electricity to get computational jobs done. The keys to those improvements are Intel's 22nm process and Tri-Gate transistors tuned for SoCs. While Silvermont was designed with mobile in mind, the architecture supports up to eight cores and will find its way into data centers and Ultrabooks in addition to phones and tablets. When? Intel's not telling yet, but rest assured when Silvermont shows up in an actual product, we'll be there to put it through its paces.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, Intel

Via: ZDNet

Source: Intel

Amazon Leaks the World's First Small-Screen Windows 8 Tablet

Source: http://gizmodo.com/amazon-leaks-the-worlds-first-small-screen-windows-8-t-493096100

Rumors have swirled recently suggesting that a new breed of small Windows 8 tablets would soon appear in the wild. Now, Amazon has managed to accidentally leak the first tablet of its kind.

The Acer Iconia W3, previously rumored to be the first small-screen Windows 8 tablet, made a brief appearance on the website of Bezos and co. With a 1280 x 800 resolution 8.1-inch screen and Intel dual-core Atom processor, PC World claims that its list price was $380. Otherwise, details are scant.

Obviously the tablet was listed as Out of Stock, and there was no release date published, but it should be enough to convince people that little Windows tablets are indeed on the way. [PC World]

HP redesigns its ProBook laptops for small businesses, prices start at $499

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/06/hp-redesigns-its-probook-laptops-for-small-businesses-prices-st/

Last fall, HP took a small step toward refreshing its ProBook business notebooks when it started offering some of them with AMD Trinity chips. Eight months later, it's time for a real makeover: the company just announced a handful of new models with a thinner, lighter design and a fresh look. The ProBook 430, 440, 455 and 470 range in size from 13.3 inches to 17.3, and are made of aluminum, with spill-resistant keyboards and a soft-touch paint job. With the exception of the 430, which ships in July with Haswell, they'll arrive this month with a mix of Ivy Bridge CPUs and AMD Richland chips. (Specifically, only the 14- and 15-inch models will be offered with AMD.)

Other particulars: they all have 1,366 x 768 matte displays (non-touch), with the 17-inch model stepping up to 1,600 x 900. All but the 430 can be had with an optional optical drive; if you skip it, there's a weighted placeholder sitting where the DVD burner would be. Additionally, the 440, 450 and 470 can be used with a six- or nine-cell user-replaceable battery. Everything comes standard with a hybrid hard drive, but the 430 also has an SSD option. Again, all but the 13-incher will be available this month, for $499 and up. So, you can bide your time until then, or you can tide yourself over with that handful of photos below.

Gallery: HP ProBook 430, 440, 450 and 470

Filed under: Laptops, HP

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