Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Google Street View adds 1,001 new destinations, lets you explore from afar

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/13/google-street-view-new-destinations/

Google wants to take you on a journey with 1,001 new destinations in Street View

The folks from Mountain View are constantly adding more and more features to Street View -- and, well, today's no exception. Via its Maps blog, Google announced that it's giving Street View a hefty boost by adding over 1,000 fresh destinations to the mix, noting that the idea is to make it "more comprehensive and useful for you." There's new imagery from places in Asia, Europe, Latin America, Canada and, of course, the US, allowing users to check out sites like the Seville Cathedral (Spain), Bosque de Chapultepec (Mexico), The Mark Twain House (USA) and many, many others. Google's highlighted some of these new destinations on its website, so pay the source link below a visit if you're interested in a quick, virtual tour around the world.

Filed under: Internet, Google

Source: Google

Twitter Now Shows You All Your Tweet and Follower Stats (Updated)

Source: http://gizmodo.com/twitter-now-shows-you-all-your-tweet-and-follower-stats-513105917

Twitter Now Shows You All Your Tweet and Follower Stats (Updated)

Originally limited to advertisers upon launching in 2011, Twitter Analytics has finally opened its stat-tracking doors to all users. Although without a formal announcement, there's always the possibility that it's all a glitch—in which case, get it while it's hot/broken.

Upon signing in with your normal Twitter account and authorizing the app, the Analytics dashboard is supposed to offer all sorts of helpful numbers and graphs that show which of your tweets did best and when. But as of right now, attempts to check our stats haven't give us full results, mostly in falsely claiming zero retweets, replies, or favorites along the top chart.

Twitter Now Shows You All Your Tweet and Follower Stats (Updated)

If this really is open to the public, you should also be able to eventually get full statistics on your followers. Will Oremus of Slate was able to get full location, gender, and overall count data on his, but so far, this screen is the best we've got:

Twitter Now Shows You All Your Tweet and Follower Stats (Updated)

Of course, there's a good chance that this sort of information would take quite a while to roll out and perhaps just got turned on a little too soon. We've reached out to Twitter for comment on the matter, but until we know if this helpful little tool here to stay, might as well suck up whatever data you can.

Update: Twitter gave us the following statement about the newly opened Analytics—looks like it could be here to stay, after all:

We've been experimenting giving the analytics feature to a small groups of users outside our advertising clients. We've been happy with the response thus far, and will determine next steps after the conclusion of these tests.

Broadcom announces quad-core HSPA+ chipset destined for budget Android phones

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/13/broadcom-quad-core-hspa/

Broadcom is no stranger to the budget-friendly lineup for carriers and OEMs around the globe -- especially in emerging markets -- but quad-core chipsets are just gaining traction in this arena. Granted, companies like MediaTek have already begun cranking out low-cost four-core Cortex-A7 SoCs for markets like China and India, but a little friendly competition doesn't hurt anyone, right? This is the case with the BCM23550, a 1.2GHz A7 quad-core processor capable of HSPA+ speeds up to 21Mbps down and 5Mbps up and is optimized to run on Android 4.2 devices. The new piece of silicon also supports HD Voice and 12MP cameras with H.264 1080p video capture and playback, and offers the usual litany of connectivity options such as NFC, Bluetooth, 5G WiFi, RFID and GPS. It even features dual HD (720p) display support which is compatible with Miracast. Lastly, it's also pin-to-pin compatible with Broadcom's dual-core BCM21664T, which means manufacturers already using that particular chipset can reduce the amount of time spent on R&D and handset design. If you're curious, expect the chips to begin production in early Q3, right around the corner.

Filed under: Mobile

Twitter launches #FollowMe: highlight reels based on tweets, photos and Vines

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/13/twitter-launches-followme/

It's common for Twitter regulars to get a stream of new followers, but it's not always clear why they should follow back -- how do you summarize a person's post history in a few seconds? Twitter wants to solve this by launching its #FollowMe tool. The service uses Vizify to build a short, HTML5-based highlight clip from a person's followers, photos, tweets and Vine videos. Most of the legwork is automatic; users only have to edit the clip if they want to fine-tune the results, and any tweet with the relevant link will show the animation in-line. The #FollowMe rollout won't guarantee any additional popularity in the Twittersphere, but it should at least make for a stronger sales pitch.

Filed under: Internet

Source: Vizify, Twitter

ASUS' new ViVoPC mini PC can take up to 16GB of RAM, your choice of Intel CPU

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/12/asus-vivopc-specs/

ASUS' new ViVoPC mini PC can take up to 16GB of RAM, your choice of Intel CPU

It's only been a few days since we first laid eyes on that newly introduced ASUS ViVoPC, but the Taiwanese company kept details short back at Computex, leaving us with the desire to learn a little more about the device. The good news is ASUS has just posted a spec sheet on its website, which lets us (and you) know that its mini PC will have a number of customizable options. Aside from being 802.11ac- and Windows 8-ready, the diminutive ViVoPC can be loaded with an Intel processor (presumably a shiny new Haswell), a maximum of 16GB RAM and your preference of either a HDD or SSD. There are also two USB 3.0 and four USB 2.0 ports, HDMI, VGA, Ethernet and integrated speakers, which ASUS is dubbing SonicMaster. Mum's the word on pricing and availability, but we'll let you know as soon as we come across those specifics.

Gallery: ASUS ViVoPC

Filed under: Desktops, ASUS

Source: ASUS

Google's latest Chrome Experiment lets you slam a cube at a friend's face (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/12/google-cube-slam/

Google has cobbled together yet another fun Chrome Experiment, and this time it's Cube Slam, a Pong-inspired tennis-style game with video chat support built-in. It was developed with WebRTC, an open source project that lets you enable video conferencing in the browser without plug-ins. This way, you can initiate a game with a friend just by sharing a link. The idea here is to propel a cube at your friend three times in a row until the screen collapses. Various power-ups like fireballs, lasers and shields are available along the way and every level presents an increasingly difficult set of obstacles and challenges.

If you're feeling anti-social, you can also play against a computer character called Bob the Bear (seen above). Indeed, as WebRTC is not available on mobile just yet, the Bear will be your only opponent if you want to play the game on your phone or tablet. We were able to play a single-player game on Safari and Firefox, but Chrome is required for multi-player. Offline play is also available by downloading the app from the Chrome Web Store. Head on past the break to watch a demo of the game in action, or just click on the appropriate source to start playing.

Filed under: Internet, Google

Source: Google Blog, Chromium Blog, Cube Slam (Chrome Store), Cube Slam

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

How The iPhone's Home Screen Has Evolved Over Time (AAPL)

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-home-screen-evolution-2013-6

Earlier this week Apple announced a drastic change for the iPhone's software.

iOS 7 brings a new look that is nothing like what we've seen before. Reddit user iKurac created this graphic which shows the evolution of the iPhone's home screen over the years.

Click for a larger image:

iphone evolution

SEE ALSO: 15 Companies That Are Dominating Mobile Design Right Now >

Join the conversation about this story »

Look At Facebook's Gorgeous Newest Data Center Built With Its Game-Changing Servers (FB)

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/facebooks-newest-data-center-2013-6

Facebook Lulea data center

Facebook's newest data center, built at the edge of the arctic circle in Luleå, Sweden, came online today.

Look at the picture. Notice what's missing? Not a single logo from a single manufacturer.

Instead, this new data is filled entirely with the funky-looking custom servers and other hardware that Facebook designed itself with its game-changing Open Compute Project.

Facebook, via the OCP, gives away those designs for free to any enterprise that wants to build "vanity free" hardware, meaning super fast servers without a lot of bells, whistles, and design waste.

The OCP project is about two years old now and it has become a phenom that has grown far beyond Facebook and far beyond servers. OCP is also tackling storage and network gear.

Facebook's ultimate goal is to do for hardware what Linux did for software: create open source hardware where users are calling the shots, not just hardware vendors.

The Luleå data center is cool for another reason. It's 100% powered by renewable hydro-electric energy.

SEE ALSO: 24 Mind-Blowing Facts About The Size Of The Internet

SEE ALSO: Inside Facebook's Fantastic Plan To Dominate Cisco's $23 Billion Market

Join the conversation about this story »

Samsung officially announces Galaxy S 4 Zoom with 16MP camera, 10x optical zoom

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/12/samsung-galaxy-s-4-zoom-announced/

Coming in just after a Russian site managed to review the device, Samsung has officially announced the Galaxy S 4 Zoom. Combining a fully featured Android 4.2.2 Galaxy phone (basically a Galaxy S 4 Mini) with a 16MP point-and-shoot, it brings a 10x optical zoom lens to bear -- the first phone to do so. On the phone side, it sports a 4.3-inch qHD display, 1.5GHz dual-core CPU, 1.5GB RAM, 8GB of internal storage (expandable via microSD slot) and a 1.9MP front facing camera. The camera includes optical image stabilization and a Xenon flash, along with a special "Zoom Ring." That ring surrounds the camera, and when twisted (even while on a call) it can launch in-call photo sharing, or go straight to other camera modes. Extra software features are also on hand to advantage of the combo device's capabilities including Photo Suggest that shows great pics taken by others in the area, Smart Mode auto settings and more.

President and CEO JK Shin is pleased by the union, calling it "truly the best of both worlds, without compromise," for people who want to capture high quality images and share them, but don't want to carry two devices. We're told it will arrive in the UK this summer but have not been able to confirm a pricetag, while its early Russian reviewers mentioned a July release and local pricing of around $618, converted. Intrigued, horrified, or just want to compare it to Nokia's latest efforts? A press release, pictures and detailed spec sheet await you below.

Gallery: Galaxy S 4 Zoom

Filed under: Cellphones, Cameras, Mobile, Samsung

Source: Samsung

eyeSight software uses standard cameras to power 3D gesture controls (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/12/eyesight-gesture-control/

Turning regular ol' devices into motion-activated wonders is all the rage these days, and a company called eyeSight is determined to stand out from the pack. The brains behind eyeSight claim to have developed a purely software-based solution for equipping PCs, TVs and mobile devices with 3D gesture controls using existing standard cameras. It sounds like a pretty sweet deal, but it all comes down to whether or not eyeSight can deliver on its potential. If it can, then it could be a promising sign that gesture-controlled technology is on its way to becoming more accessible for budget-conscious consumers, since a software setup would negate the need for costly hardware. Currently, the platform is limited to developer SDKs, but you can watch an eyeSight-powered Google Earth demo after the break.

Filed under: Software

New Image Sensor Tech Captures Better Photos By Ditching Silicon

Source: http://gizmodo.com/new-image-sensor-tech-captures-better-photos-by-ditchin-512644651

New Image Sensor Tech Captures Better Photos By Ditching Silicon

Basically every digital image sensor out there relies on silicon photodiodes to capture light. Jointly developed by researchers at Panasonic and Fujifilm, a new image sensor technology uses an organic layer instead—and early tests results of the technology blow the status quo away.

The new organic CMOS image sensor technology is currently being presented by researchers at the 2013 Symposium on VLSI Technology in Kyoto. In short, the technology uses an organic layer rather than a photodiode to convert incoming light into electricity. That's a simplification, but here's a look at how the proposed sensor changes an imager's architecture:

New Image Sensor Tech Captures Better Photos By Ditching Silicon

As the image illustrates, the new design's photo-sensitive layer is 1/7th the width of the conventional structure while leaving a greater area exposed to actual light.

In terms of image quality, that translates to higher dynamic range and improved light sensitivity. The image below, which is pulled from the study, illustrates the benefits of better dynamic range.

New Image Sensor Tech Captures Better Photos By Ditching Silicon

Sensors with higher dynamic range can record a greater difference between the darkest and lightest values in scene. According to calculations by SLR Lounge, the new sensor capable has 29.2 stops of dynamic range compared to 15.3 on the Nikon D800E, which has the best range of anything commercially available. (Dynamic range is calculated on a logarithmic scale, but without getting into it, let's just say: that's a freaking huge improvement.)

That's pretty cool! But also difficult and there's no commercial method for manufacturing the new sensors just yet. Now, it's up to the companies to figure out how to actually implement the technology, which they claim could be useful on everything from security cameras, to point-and-shoots to your smartphone's camera. [Fujifilm via SLR Lounge via PetaPixel]

Top image via Steys/ Flickr.com

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

NVIDIA Tegra 4i shows up in mysterious 'brand' phone, promises Q1 2014 debut

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/11/nvidia-tegra-4i/

While we've yet to see NVIDIA's Tegra 4i show up in any commercially available hardware, the company is still keen to remind us it's on the way. This time, the 28nm Cortex-A9 chip is making an appearance inside what appears to be a new, revised reference design or white-label phone. Spotted over on AnandTech, the mysterious device sports "brand," er, branding (we're guessing to be replaced by operator markings), along with a 4.8-inch 720p display, a 13-megapixel shooter and LTE / HSPA+ that would cover multiple (yet unspecified) regions. This does appear to be a little more than just a demo unit though, with NVIDIA telling AnandTech that the device will come to market sometime in Q1 2014, costing $300 - $400 sans contract in 8, 16 or 32GB varieties. Other Tegra 4i handsets are also said to be in the works, starting as low as $200 commitment-free.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, NVIDIA

Source: Anandtech

AMD wins race to 5GHz CPU clock speed, in which it was the sole participant

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/11/amd-5gz-fx-chips/

AMD has refreshed its lineup of eight-core FX chips in what sounds like some straightforward overclocking of last year's products. The FX-9590 claims a clock speed of 5GHz in turbo mode, making it the "world's first commercially available 5GHz CPU processor," while the FX-9370 lags slightly behind at 4.7GHz, as compared to the 4.2GHz top speed of the current FX-8350. Both new CPUs are based on the familiar Piledriver core, which has a reputation for being relatively cheap and easily overclockable (honestly, the 5GHz barrier was obliterated long ago), but far behind an Intel Core i5 in terms of all-around computing. This is especially true since the launch of Haswell, which largely avoided clock speed increases in favor of architectural tweaks that didn't compromise efficiency. Maingear plans to pick up the 5GHz part for use in a gaming system coming this summer, but there's no word yet on pricing or even general availability for DIY upgraders. Now, we're just speculating, but with AMD increasingly focused on APUs, it's possible that today's chips will represent the FX's lap of ! glory.

Filed under: Desktops, Gaming, AMD

Panasonic's AX3 is a foldable Windows 8 Ultrabook that can also take some abuse

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/11/panasonic-ax3/

Plan on doing some yoga while in a hostile country? Panasonic's got you covered with its 11.6-inch AX3 Ultrabook. The device's 1080p screen folds over, similar to the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga, along with Dell's officially unofficial XPS 11. Under the hood, it runs an Intel 1.8GHz Haswell chip, 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD, all in a package that weighs in at just 1.14kg (2.5 pounds) and promises to deliver 13 hours of battery life. In the grand tradition of Panasonic's ToughBook devices, the AX3 can survive a 2.5-foot drop if it slips off your desk, and it can also withstand 100 kilos of weight should you feel the urge to stand on top of your computer. There's no pricing or availability information to share at the moment, though we hope to get a hands-on at IFA later this summer.

Filed under: Laptops

Via: Akihabara News

Source: Panasonic

Mad Catz confirms M.O.J.O. Android 'micro console'

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/11/mad-catz-confirms-m-o-j-o-android-console/

Mad Catz CEO Darren Richardson may have already let slip about the forthcoming Android M.O.J.O. console, but now it's been made official. The firm stopped short of giving us all the specifications, but we can tell you that it supports Bluetooth 4.0, and will ship with the company's GameSmart C.T.R.L.R. wireless GamePad. Thanks to the images, we also get a clue at some of the connectivity, which includes two regular USB ports, one micro-USB, an HDMI out, headphone connector and microSD slot. The wedge-like device is out there in the wild at E3, so we'll be sure to give it the full hands-on once it's spotted in its natural habitat.

Gallery: Mad Catz M.O.J.O.

Mad Catz M.O.J.O.

Filed under: Gaming

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