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Thursday, March 13, 2014

drag2share: Nikon 1 V3 camera unveiled: $1,200, 120fps slow motion, 20fps continuous shooting

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/13/nikon-1-v3/

Tonight Nikon is unveiling the latest edition of its 1 series of mirrorless cameras, the Nikon 1 V3. Compact yet powerful, it follows up on the V2 by packing an 18.4MP sensor, built-in WiFi, 1080/60p video capability and a new image processing chip. Standout features for pros and amateurs alike include the V1's ability to shoot stills continuously at up to 20fps with autofocus -- the fastest we've seen from an interchangeable lens cameras -- 720p slow motion video recording at up to 120fps and 171 "densely packed" focus points that Nikon claims give it better ability to track moving objects than DSLRs.

It also adds a touch-panel tilting 3-inch LCD and arrives alongside two new 1 NIKKOR lenses -- a 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6 PD-Zoom and 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 are available for $300 and $1,000, respectively. Last year the falling prices of DSLRs reportedly had Nikon reconsidering their ILC lineup, but judging from the V1 the company is plowing full steam ahead. A full kit with camera, 10-30mm lens, viewfinder and grip will go on sale in April for $1,200 -- check Nikon's website for more details on specs and features or look after the break for a brief demo video.

Filed under: Cameras, Nikon

Source: Nikon

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drag2share: Watch the new, customizable Windows Phone 8.1 camera app in action (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/13/windows-phone-8-1-camera-app/

Microsoft didn't just equip Windows Phone 8.1 with a redesigned notification center and a Siri nemesis called Cortana, it also revamped its stock camera app. While many of the current app's features remain intact, a video leaked by Unleash The Phones shows that the right side of the interface now features shortcut buttons for single photo, video and burst photo modes. The left side, however, is completely customizable, and a user can easily fill it with up to five shortcuts to settings (flash, lens picker, resolution, ISO among others) of their choice. Curious WP users who want to know how the updated app compares to Nokia's camera software can watch the video after the jump. Of course, they might only have to wait a bit more to know everything about the OS... and to finally find out if they can install it on their WP8 devices.

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Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Microsoft

Source: Unleash The Phones

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drag2share: Xiaomi's next-gen budget phone shows up with octa-core chip, larger screen

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/13/xiaomi-redmi-2-octa-core-leak/

Xiaomi's sub-$130 budget line, the Redmi (previously known as Hongmi aka "Red Rice"), has been credited for accelerating the company's expansion into Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore, with nearby countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand soon to be added to the list. While this is a recent development, the company's already prepping a follow-up model, according to four new listings on China's TENAA certification database. As you can see, this upcoming device is marked with red Android buttons on the front, which gives away its Redmi identity. It'll feature a 5.5-inch, 720p IPS display (a bump from the current 4.7-inch version), as well as Android 4.2.2, 1GB of RAM and an octa-core processor (our guess is MediaTek, again) coming in two versions: 1.4GHz and 1.7GHz.

As far as 3G radios are concerned, China Mobile users can pick the TD-SCDMA model, whereas folks elsewhere have the WCDMA option -- we suspect the CDMA2000 version for China Telecom will arrive later. Other goodies include a more powerful 13-megapixel main camera, a beefed-up 5-megapixel front imager (though the TENAA listing also threw in an 8-megapixel mention) and the same old microSD expansion (up to 32GB).

Alas, there's no LTE to be found here, which may give opportunity to local competitors like Huawei, Coolpad and Hisense, who are either expecting or already offering LTE phones in the sub-$130 segment in China. On the other hand, the current speculation is that Xiaomi will unveil this new Redmi at its "MiFan Festival" -- a celebration for the company's anniversary -- in early April, so there's still a small chance of seeing an LTE version pop up between now and then.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Via: Zealer (Sina Weibo)

Source: TENAA

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drag2share: This Video Of Super Precise Eye-Tracking Software Is Insanely Impressive

source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/UGSucVGwD0E/umoove-precise-eye-tracking-software-2014-3

eye

Movement-tracking technology isn't new, but it's certainly ramping up.

The Xbox Kinect tracks your entire body using a proprietary camera, and Samsung integrated what it calls Smart Scroll into the Galaxy S4, which isn't so much eye-tracking as it is recognizing head-tilt.

There's the Leap Motion, which wants to make your computer work the those in the movie "Minority Report." And you can even control your iPhone by moving your head (after you set up a few things).

Eye-tracking could be the next big thing when it comes to motion-sensing technology, and it seems that Israeli startup Umoove is on its way to incorporating it in lots of future tech.

Umoove — which has raised around $3 million in total funding, according to CrunchBase — burst onto the scene in a big way with an iOS game called Umoove Experience that demos its super precise face-tracking technology.

The game uses your phone's front-facing camera to track your head movements as you fly around and gather potions. It's fun, but more importantly, it's accurate. And that's where Umoove's next bit of technology comes in.

The company will unveil new eye-tracking technology in the next few months that uses the existing camera in your phone or tablet.

"Eye tracking is mainly about understanding the user without him even actively interacting," Umoove'! s CEO Yi tzi Kempinski told Business Insider in an email.

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Wednesday, March 12, 2014

drag2share: A Whole Year of Taxi Rides in New York City Mapped

Source: http://gizmodo.com/a-whole-year-of-taxi-rides-in-new-york-city-mapped-1542314862

A Whole Year of Taxi Rides in New York City Mapped

New York's fleet of iconic yellow taxis are still the city's reliable, non-surge priced transportation backbone. Its 13,500 medallion taxis make 170 million trips a year, every single one of them mapped in this beautiful new visualization from the folks at the MIT Senseable City Lab. The interactive map isn't just here to be pretty—it's also the data behind a strategy to make riding taxis way more efficient.

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drag2share: Razer refreshes its Blade gaming laptops with NVIDIA Maxwell GPUs, multitouch support

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/12/razer-blade-2014-refresh/

"Thin and powerful" aren't words we tend to associate with gaming laptops; Razer has always been an exception. The company's Blade and Blade Pro laptops have been challenging our preconceptions for almost three years now, but the shadow of compromise has hung over each iteration of the product in some form or another. Last year, it was the 14-inch model's low-resolution display -- a thinly veiled bottleneck that kept gamers from over-taxing the machine's GPU. That won't be an issue for the laptop's 2014 refresh: Razer announced today that it's outfitting the Razer Blade with a 3,200 x 1,800 IPS panel with multitouch support, a Intel Core i7-4702HQ processor and NVIDIA's new GeForce GTX 870M (3GB GDDR5) GPU. It's a loud answer to the issues we had with the last generation. It also takes it one step further from the new 17-inch Razer Blade Pro.

Like the standard Blade, the 17-inch model has been outfitted one of NVIDIA's new Maxwell GPUs, specifically the GTX 860M (2GB GDDR5). It's also kitted out with twice as much RAM (16GB DDR3L), an Intel Core i7-4700HQ processor and Razer's Switchblade User Interface -- a miniature keyboard with 10 keys (each with their own LED display), an LCD-driven trackpad/touchscreen and a small suite of apps. Here's where things get interesting: Buyers after Razer's Switchblade interface will wind up with a lower-resolution screen without support for multitouch. Razer told us the Pro's matte display was a better choice for productivity, and pointed out that 17.3 inches was a bit large for touchscreen gestures. Instead, the Razer Blade Pro will come with a Switchblade "Charms" app for Windows 8, as well as new applications for productivity suites like Maya, GIMP, Adobe Photoshop and Premiere.

Razer's Pro and Standard Blade laptops were always separated by size, processor configuration and the Switchblade interface; it somehow seems different this time around. With more video RAM, a touchscreen and a higher-resolution display, the 14-inch Blade seems to be built with entertainment in mind, while the Razer Blade Pro leans more toward productivity with a larger (but lower-resolution) screen, more RAM and apps tailored to the needs of multimedia professionals. While both promise to be capable gaming rigs, they aren't quite targeting the same buyers. Figure out what side you belong to? Start saving: The Razer Blade Pro ships at the end of the month, starting at $2,299, with the 14-inch Blade following soon afterwards for $2,199. Check out Razer's product page for pre-orders, configuration options and eye-candy.

Filed under: Gaming, Laptops

Source: Razer (1), (2)

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drag2share: Epic Games' Unreal Engine 4 adds Firefox support, isn't just for creating pretty demons

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/12/unreal-engine-4-firefox/

Yes, Epic Games' Unreal Engine 4 can be used to create large, dramatic demon gods, but that doesn't mean it's only used to create large, dramatic demon gods. It's also used to create sneaky thief demos! Oh, and as Mozilla demonstrates this morning with video of Unreal Engine 4 running from within Firefox, the engine can be used for much smaller-scale applications as well (such as the basic 2D platforming game seen in the video below the break). All this is to demonstrate that developers can use web clients (Firefox at least) to create games that are "almost indistinguishable from ones [you] might have had to wait to download and install" -- the demo is running without plugins at "near-native" speeds. Apparently Unreal Engine 3 support simply wasn't enough? We'll be sure to ask when Mozilla shows off UE4 in Firefox next week at the Game Developers Conference.

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Filed under: Gaming, Internet, Software, HD

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drag2share: Appmethod lets you code native Android, iOS and desktop apps simultaneously (hands-on)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/12/appmethod-ide-hands-on/

With different requirements and countless other incompatibilities, building applications for multiple platforms can be a tremendous chore. Embarcadero Technologies is setting out to simplify that process a bit with Appmethod, a multi-device development platform that lets you create apps for Android, iOS, Mac and Windows simultaneously. The WYSIWYG tool lets you drag and drop buttons, connectors, databases and other design elements into one emulated platform, then easily duplicate the app onto another.

Reps suggest starting out on the platform that's most important to you. From there, you can easily migrate to another operating system, be that Android, iOS, Mac, Windows or even Google Glass. You should be able to sign up for Appmethod beginning on March 18th. Prices range from $299 per developer, per platform, per year for firms with up to five users, to $999 with the same pricing structure if you're planning to work alongside six or more devs. Check out our SXSW hands-on video below to see the IDE in action.

Filed under: Software

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drag2share: A New Browser Extension Turns Amazon Into A Bitcoin-Friendly Superstore

source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/RDjcb2SJchk/zinc-save-bitcoin-extension-for-amazon-2014-3

Zinc Save is a browser extension for Chrome compatible with major retailers like Macy's, Target, Walmart, and Amazon that bills itself as a moneysaving utility, but it also turns these companies into into Bitcoin-friendly retailers.

Amazon sells nearly everything the heart could desire, so the prospect of making it accessible to those wishing to spend Bitcoins is pretty exciting.

The extension places a new button underneath Amazon's usual "Place your order" button that says "Order with Zinc for [slightly reduced price]". Completing the checkout process this way sources the items in your order "from the retailer or vendor that offers your item(s) at the best price" and applies "discount codes, credit card rewards, and any other available promotions" to the order. Zinc Save essentially functions as your cheapskate-for-hire.

welcome step 3

But the real magic happens upon checkout — you don't actually complete your order with Amazon, but place it through Zinc instead. Zinc clones your order through Amazon on your behalf, and you have the choice of how to pay Zinc. Of course your standard credit card is readily accepted, but Zinc will also gladly accept Bitcoin.

Your Amazon order "will be shipped with the speed you originally selected or faster," so as long as Zinc can hold true there, this near-seamlessly turns Amazon into a Bitcoin-friendly superstore.

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drag2share: Carrier Billing Is An Alternative Way To Pay On Mobile â And It's Beginning To Catch On

source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/GsBZmuS1FpA/carrier-billing-hasnt-gone-away--here-is-why-it-has-got-developers-app-stores-and-mobile-carriers-so-excited-2-2014-3

Carrier Billing Share

You may remember carrier billing from the early days of cellphones — you bought a ringtone via text and added the cost of the purchase directly to your mobile bill.

Once we entered the mobile Internet age though, and the things you could purchase from your phone expanded dramatically, carrier billing was mostly forgotten.

Instead, there's been a lot more focus on mobile payments startups. Venture capital firms and traditional payment players have shown more interest in software-centric payment tools, like Square and Stripe.

But now a recent report from BI Intelligence finds that carrier billing is being updated for the mobile app age. While the concept of adding charges to one's mobile bill hasn't changed, carrier billing technology has made some giant leaps. It now offers a smooth, low-friction way for consumers to pay for digital content like apps and tokens within apps.

That's why it has developers, app stores and mobile carriers so excited.

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drag2share: The Best Add-Ons for Google Drive

Source: http://lifehacker.com/the-best-add-ons-for-google-drive-1541643206/@barrett

The Best Add-Ons for Google Drive

Yesterday, Google introduced add-ons for Google Docs and Sheets . These add-ons allow you to add all kinds of functionality to your documents, including signing faxes, creating bibliographies, and more. While it's still in its infancy, here are a few of the best add-ons available at launch.

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Article: Sony Xperia Z2 20.7MP camera and 4K video shown off in shots of Tokyo at night

The Xperia Z2 went for a little walk about Tokyo, snapping up beautiful photos of the night and some 4K video too. The Chinese blog Ring HK shared the 20.7MP photos and short 4K video clip on their site. They were sure to let us know that the Z2 in use was an engineers test unit, not the finished...

http://www.androidauthority.com/z2-20-7mp-camera-tokyo-356038/

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drag2share: This is the thinnest LED that anyone can make

source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/11/thinnest-led-ever/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

Three-atom thick LED from the University of Washington

Companies have been racing to slim down LED backlights as devices get ever thinner, but the University of Washington may have just beaten everyone to the finish line. Its scientists have developed an LED that, at three atoms thick, is easily the thinnest LED to date -- in fact, it's impossible to build something thinner using current knowledge. The key ingredient is tungsten diselenide, the thinnest known semiconductor. A single sheet of the material is less than a tenth as thick as a conventional LED, but still emits measurable light. It's flexible and strong, too. On a basic level, the technology could be handy for optical circuits, nanolasers and other areas where miniscule lighting is necessary. However, the researchers also see uses for their LED in mobile devices -- it could end up in wearables and other gadgets where even a slight difference in thickness could make a big impact.

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drag2share: Here's The Technology That's Going To Make Your Phone's Internet 1,000 Times Faster Than 4G

source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/QNSwnP6BNJs/everything-you-need-to-know-about-pcell-2014-3

What is pCell?

Cell towers as we know them today can be visualized as giant umbrella tops. You deploy them, and they broadcast a bubble of reception that gets weaker as you get farther away. They have to be far enough away from each other so as to not cause interference, but close enough together that you can move between their areas of coverage and still have cell service. If you have too many people in one place, their data use can bog down a tower for everyone.

Artemis' technology takes a very different direction. Rather than carefully spacing out a relatively small number of towers, Artemis wants to deploy a massive number of boxes the size of routers — called "pWaves" — that will provide much better service to a much smaller area.

Rather than working against interference, pCell embraces the collision of radio waves. By combining the incoming signals from several of the pWave base stations, each pCell user is given the equivalent of their own "personal cell" (hence the name) — which basically means getting full bars of LTE at all times becomes the new standard, while "good" signal strength means getting a signal that's as much as 1,000 times faster than what we're all used to.

pWaves

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drag2share: REVIEW: The Sonos Home Theater System Will Blow Your Mind

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/sonos-home-theater-2014-3

sonos home theater Sonos recently moved into the home theater space so that you can get surround sound in your living room.

The Sonos home theater consists of a pair of the Play:1 speakers ($399), Sub ($699) and Playbar ($699).

You should also probably get the Bridge ($49) if you want to be able to wirelessly control each component.

Setup

Getting started out of the box is pretty simple.

First, you need to plug in the Sonos Bridge adapter to your router, which allows you to stream music wirelessly from your speakers. Then you need to install the app on your Mac, PC, or Android or iOS device.

Once you install it, simply tell the app you want to add a speaker, press the volume-up and play buttons when prompted, and then you're good to go. Do that for each Sonos component.

Software

sonos The user interface leaves a bit to be desired from an aesthetic standpoint. But it still gets the job done.

The left pane shows all of your connected speakers, the middle pane! shows w hat's playing and what's in your song queue, and the right pane shows your available audio sources.

These audio sources include Pandora, iTunes, Spotify, Hype Machine, Rdio, Rhapsody and several others. The best part about the app is that it lets you create playlists featuring songs from any of those sources.

One caveat with the software is that sometimes we had to reconnect the Sonos components, but that didn't happen too often.

Sound

The Sonos home theater produces sound like you've never heard before. In fact, it may literally almost blow out your ear drums, depending on the size of your home.

The centerpiece of the home theater system is the Playbar, a beautiful, understated piece of equipment.

Sonos Play Bar The Playbar, which plugs into the back of your TV, is a three-channel active sound bar with nine amplified speakers. At 3.35 x 35.43 x 5.51 inches, it easily fits beneath your TV to serve as a considerable upgrade over your TV's built-in speakers.

The Playbar has two important features, Night Sound and Speech Enhancement. Night Sound is great for when you want to watch TV late at night without disturbing your neighbors. Speech Enhancement is a solid option if you want to reduce the bass and improve the quality of speech.

To get full surround sound in your living room, just place a pair of the Sonos Play:1 speakers nearby, and then pop open the app to detect additional components.

If you want to get really crazy, just add the Sub component. The Sub has two force-canceling speakers and two class-D amplifiers. And trust us, Sonos is not kidding when it says the bass will shake your soul.

Conclusion

The full Sonos home theater is an amazing product, but one that is more geared toward a homeowner with a lo! t of spa ce, or someone who likes to have people over to watch big events like the Super Bowl or the Olympics.

Depending on your living situation, it might make more sense to spread out the components throughout your home or apartment.

In my three-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn, I found that I don't need all of the components in one room. That's why I eventually moved the Sonos Play:1 speakers to a room closer to the kitchen, and kept the Playbar and Sub up front.

SEE ALSO: REVIEW: Google's crazy-cheap HP Chromebook 11 is pretty great

Join the conversation about this story »

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