​Sony's waterproof SmartWatch 3 is on sale now for $250

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/11/sony-smartwatch-3-on-sale/

Maybe third time's the charm. Sony's first Android Wear device is smartwatch number three, and it's gone on sale today, priced at $250. There's no circular screen, but there is a healthy does of IP68 waterproofing and a built-in GPS. Features like this could make the SmartWatch 3 arguably the most outdoors-friendly of the Wear crowd, even if its relatively meek design doesn't turn that many heads.

Filed under: Wearables, Sony

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Source: Google Play

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Mozilla Is Helping Tor Get Bigger and Better

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/vip/~3/ZoB6BQ49wVY/mozilla-is-helping-tor-get-bigger-and-better-1656860653

Mozilla knows what's up. The non-profit is aware that the vast majority of its users think that privacy on the internet is falling apart, so it's launching a new strategic privacy initiative called Polaris. And you'll never guess who's on board. Just kidding, it's totally obvious: the Tor Project.

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This Gold-Plated iPhone 6 Costs $7,300 And Features An Apple Logo Encrusted With Diamonds

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/7300-iphone-6-is-24k-gold-plated-and-features-a-diamond-apple-logo-2014-11

If Apple's gold-tinted iPhone 6 isn't enough for you, now you can upgrade to the real thing.

For $7,300, luxury electronics store Ademov will sell you an iPhone 6 plated in 24-carat gold. Even the Apple logo is given special treatment, plated with 18-carat gold and encrusted with VS1 white diamonds.

To protect the gold surface, Ademov applies polish and a clear coat so you can handle the phone.

The $7,300 price tag also includes a custom wooden box, maintenance kit, and you can add engraving to the iPhone's gold surface for an additional cost.

In addition to its gold iPhone 6, Ademov also offers a gold-plated MacBook Air and other iMacs and Macbook Pros with colored plates and eye-popping anondized aluminum colors.

You can check out the gallery of pictures below, or head on over to Ademov if you're interested in placing an order.

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Government AIDS Websites Leaked User Info For Years

Source: http://gizmodo.com/government-aids-websites-leaked-user-info-for-years-1656590970

There is a reason for doctor-patient confidentiality. Our health is a private matter, which is why the news that Aids.gov and another major government website directing people to AIDS-related treatments have left user data exposed is so disturbing.

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Arduino sensors let ballerinas 'paint' with their pointes

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/10/e-traces-arduino-ballet-pointe-shoes/

What if you could paint with your shoes? Electronic Traces is a pair ballet pointe shoes that sends a dancer's movements to a nearby smartphone. Using Lilypad Arduinos, they record pressure and movement whenever they touch the ground. This data can then be visualized by an accompanying app, allowing dancers to view their performances after the fact, or compare them to others'.

Electronic Traces is the degree project of Lesia Trubat, a designer who graduated from Barcelona's prestigious ELISAVA design school. Turbot has high hopes for the shoes, hoping the methods applied can be of use to other dance disciplines, and that they can aid in dance classes. Additionally, they could be used to bring an additional visual layer to dance performances, as demonstrated in the video below.

Filed under: Wearables

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Via: Prosthetic Knowledge, Make

Source: Lesia Trubat

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Raspberry Pi's new computer is somehow even smaller and cheaper

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/10/raspberry-pi-model-a-plus/

Everyone's favorite mini-computer has just gotten even smaller. The Raspberry Pi Foundation is today introducing the Model A+, a revamped version of its low-end Model A board priced at just $20 (£20 in the UK). While the processor and RAM -- a Broadcom BCM2835 SoC and 256MB, to be specific -- remain the same as its predecessor, the new model is far smaller at just 65mm (2.6 inches) in length versus the old model's 86mm (3.4 inches). It also draws less power and has improved audio circuitry.

The two other changes are directly taken from the higher-end Model B+. The Model A+ replaces the A's SD Card storage with MicroSD, and adds another 14 GPIO (General-purpose input-output) pins, bringing the total up to 40. This increase facilitates compatibility with the add-on boards introduced back in July. The Model A+ is available immediately in both the US and the UK, and while the Pi might not necessarily need to be any smaller, cutting down on size and price will definitely help get the foundation's work into more peoples' hands.

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Source: Raspberry Pi Foundation blog

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Reader's Digest Will Pay to Retweet You in Print

Source: http://gizmodo.com/readers-digest-will-pay-to-retweet-you-in-print-1656091138

You there! Hooligan! How much to retweet that tweet about butts in our weekly print periodical? Twenty-five dollars, you say? Sold!

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Walmart's Chromecast Knockoff Looks Like How They Stream in Hell

Source: http://gizmodo.com/walmarts-chromecast-knockoff-looks-like-how-they-stream-1656121701

I suspect the Germans have a word for taking something great and then stripping it of everything remotely joyful until it's a cold hollow shell not fit for existence. Unless this FCC filing is totally off base, now I do too! Well, two words, I guess: Vudu Spark.

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ASUS' ZenWatch comes to the US on November 9th for $199

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/07/asus-zenwatch-reaches-us/

If you've been jonesing for a square Android Wear smartwatch that's slightly more stylish than what's currently on offer, your wait is just about over. ASUS has announced that the ZenWatch will reach the US on November 9th, when it'll sell through Best Buy for $199; it'll also be available through Google Play at a later date. That's a pretty alluring price for wristwear that's not only fairly sleek looking, but goes above and beyond Android Wear's usual features, such as double-tapping the screen to launch a pre-assigned task. While a lot of what's under the hood will be familiar if you've tried earlier Google-powered wearables, ASUS' stand-out design could make it worth a closer look.

Filed under: Wearables, ASUS

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Source: TechCrunch

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A New Obscene Superyacht Is Getting Its Own Private IMAX Theater

Source: http://gizmodo.com/a-new-obscene-superyacht-is-getting-its-own-private-ima-1655942604

How's this for obscene. Yacht-maker Ken Freivokh Design is in the process of engineering a brand new 500-foot superyacht for a client that will boast the world's first floating private IMAX theater below deck. And when it's not being used to show movies, the Nemo Room, as it's being called, will display live underwater images from cameras on the yacht mounted below the water line.

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Walmart's got a Chromecast-like dongle for its Vudu video service

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/07/walmart-vudu-spark/

Walmart looks set to launch a new streaming HDMI dongle resembling Google's Chromecast or Amazon's Fire TV Stick, but possibly lacking some of the features of those devices. Called the Vudu Spark, it leaked from the FCC's website, replete with multi-angle photos and a user manual. The document shows how to set up the Spark with your WiFi network, and that it'll basically do one thing: give you Vudu on your TV. That app is Walmart's answer to Netflix, serving up streaming movies and TV shows on demand.

The test reports show that it comes with a Zigbee-based RF remote control, though it's not clear if it'll also support smartphone-based control à la Google's dongle. There's also no sign of screen mirroring or other advanced features, meaning it might just be a no-frills way to get the Vudu app onto a dumb TV, though we'd have to see the device to confirm that. Anyway, if you do need those features plus Vudu, you can just buy a Chromecast, of course -- the Vudu app's been available on it for quite awhile. There's no word yet from Walmart on pricing and availability.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

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Via: GigaOm

Source: FCC

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Tiny robotic scallops can swim through blood and eyeball fluid to fix you up

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/07/tiny-robotic-scallops-swim-blood-eyeballs/

For years now, scientists have been trying to develop microscopic robots that can swim through bodily fluids and repair damaged cells or deliver medicine. Now, scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Germany believe they've got the perfect design -- in the form of scallops so small, they can barely be seen by the naked eye. These micro-robo-scallops move back and forth to swim through blood, eyeball fluids and other liquids inside our body. The scientists believe mimicking the way a true scallop swims is ideal, due to a number of reasons.

First, moving backward and forward is the best way to swim through non-Newtonian fluids, or liquids that can grow thicker or thinner, depending on the situation. As you've likely guessed, our bodily fluids are good examples (so is oobleck, or the 1:1.5-2 mixture of water and cornstarch -- seriously, try it out for yourself), as opposed to water, which can retain its viscosity. Second, the micro-scallops don't need much power be able to move that way. They don't require batteries or even motors -- just the energy provided by an external magnetic field.

According to the scientists, they don't have a particular purpose in mind for their minuscule scallop. Instead, they're hoping it becomes a reference design for other teams and companies that want to develop advanced medical technologies. If you're willing to follow these robots' example and swim through some scientific terminology, head over to Nature where the team's paper was recently published.

Filed under: Science

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Via: IEEE

Source: Nature

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drag2share: US, European police swoop on Tor 'dark markets'

source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/s5bcyNesvqQ/afp-us-european-police-swoop-on-tor-dark-markets-2014-11

The Hague (AFP) - European and US police have arrested 17 people running online "dark" markets selling illegal products and services in a joint operation against the supposedly anonymous Tor network. 

Police from the United States and 16 European countries, including France, Germany and Britain, on Thursday "undertook a joint action against dark markets running as hidden services on Tor network," European police agency Europol said in a statement. 

Tor is an online encryption service that protects a computer user's unique identifying IP address, used to set up private web connections in what has become known as the Darknet -- a hidden network used for both licit and illicit activities.

"The action aimed to stop the sale, distribution and promotion of illegal and harmful items, including weapons and drugs, which were being sold on online 'dark' marketplaces," Europol said on Friday.

The operation seized virtual Bitcoins worth one million dollars (800,000 euros), 180,000 euros in cash as well as unspecified drugs.

"We are not 'just' removing these services from the open Internet," said Troels Oerting, the head of Europol's EC3 cybercrime unit.

"This time we have also hit services on the Darknet using Tor where, for a long time, criminals have considered themselves beyond reach. We can now show that they are neither invisible nor untouchable."

US authorities on Thursday said they had shut down a reincarnation of the Silk Road online black market bazaar for drugs and other illicit goods and charged its alleged 26-year-old operator.

US prosecutors say Silk Road 2.0 enabled more than 100,000 people to buy and sell illegal drugs and other contraband anonymously over the Internet after its predecessor was shut down in 2013.

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Why Is OLED Different and What Makes It So Great?

Source: http://gizmodo.com/why-is-oled-different-and-what-makes-it-so-great-1654102034

I have seen the future of high definition displays and lo, it is glorious. Not to mention rollable, foldable, and clearly superior to LCD/LED—really every other panel technology available today.

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Amazon's Echo voice-controlled speaker delivers music, news and more

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/06/amazon-echo-speaker/

Last week it was a new streaming stick, and this week it's a speaker. Today, Amazon announced the Echo: a $199 speaker that caters to your Prime music, news and weather needs at the sound of your voice. Similar to "OK Google" command, a "wake word" gets the gadget to perk up before sorting those spoken cues like searches, setting alarms, relaying the forecast for tomorrow and more. It's kind of like having Siri, Google Now or Cortana stuffed into a diminutive household speaker. The audio accessory is connected to the retailer's cloud via WiFi, and it also allows for beaming Spotify or Rdio via Bluetooth. Thanks to a cylindrical design, the unit blasts out tunes and other bits in all directions so that everyone in the room can hear.

A group of seven microphones are scattered around the top of the speaker, which Amazon says allows the Echo to pick up your commands while it's playing Taylor Swift's 1989. What's more, that cloud connection enables the device to get smarter as it learns your speech patterns, vocabulary and personal preferences. There's a companion app to sort music, alarms, shopping lists and more on Fire OS and Android (also inside desktop and iOS browsers), as well as on-board controls to cue commands, adjust volume or disable the listening feature during weekend festivities.

Echo plugs in, so it's not portable like more straightforward efforts from Jawbone or Beats. While those devices were designed to be mobile, Bezos & Co. are clearly focused on the living room here, hoping you'll splurge for another purchase on top of the Fire TV to round out the entertainment arsenal. If you've been following voice-controlled gadgets, you're likely familiar with Ubi -- the compact device that plugs into a wall outlet to allow spoken commands to wrangle appliances and more. Amazon went a step further with this effort and stuffed the voice controls right into the speaker itself. Unfortunately, Echo is invite-only for now, but Prime subscribers that are lucky enough to nab one can do so at a $100 discount.

Filed under: Portable Audio/Video, Amazon

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Source: Amazon

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