Sunday, November 01, 2015

A Simple Filter Change Could Make Low-Light Photography Much Better

Source: http://gizmodo.com/a-simple-filter-change-could-make-low-light-photography-1739915206

Good low-light photography is one of the toughest nuts to crack: to get good pictures in the dark normally requires some combination of fast lenses and big, expensive sensors. But tweaking one filter that lives inside the camera could help big time.

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Friday, October 30, 2015

Tor Messenger makes chatting off the record easier

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/10/30/tor-messenger-beta/

Security concept, encrypted binary code with encrypt word inside

Tor has finally released a beta version of the cross-platform chat program it's been working on for quite a while. The client works with several chat services/protocols such as Jabber, IRC, Google Talk, Facebook Chat, Twitter and Yahoo, but its main draw is definitely the privacy features Tor is famous for. It uses Off-the-Record (OTR) protocol to encrypt your IMs, which pass through Tor's network of volunteer computers for security and anonymity. According to Wired, it even has chat logging disabled as a default setting. "With Tor Messenger, your chat is encrypted and anonymous... so it is hidden from snoops, whether they are the government of a foreign country or a company trying to sell you boots," Kate Krauss, the company's public policy director, told the publication.

Via: TheNextWeb

Source: Tor

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Monday, October 26, 2015

Picobrew takes a stab at automated counter-top homebrew beer

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/10/26/picobrew-takes-a-stab-at-automated-counter-top-homebrew-beer/

PicoBrew is hoping to do for homebrewed beer what Keurig has done for coffee. It tried previously with the Zymatic, but the $2,000 price tag, intimidating size and complexity limited its appeal. Really the Zymatic ended up being for professional brewers to experiment on and for people with deep pockets looking to dip their toe into homebrewing with the least amount of effort possible. The company's new machine, the Pico attempts to address some of those hurdles. First, off, it's dropped the price dramatically. If you move quickly to pick it up through the Kickstarter campaign launching today it will only cost you $500, though it will climb to $1,000 at retail. Second the Pico is roughly half the size of the Zymatic, and can actually fit on an average counter-top. Though, does still take up a significant amount of space and probably wouldn't find a permanent home next to your coffee machine.

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Monday, October 19, 2015

Amazon sues 1,114 people offering fake product reviews

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/10/18/amazon-sues-fiverr-based-fake-reviewers/

Amazon Unveils Its First Smartphone

Amazon isn't just content to chase down the larger outfits offering fake reviews on its store... it's pursuing individuals, too. The internet retailer has sued 1,144 people who used Fiverr's gig marketplace to peddle bogus Amazon reviews. They're only mentioned in the lawsuit by their user names, but it's clear that Amazon wants to get their real info from Fiverr's logs. Moreover, it suspects that there's more to the story than some unscrupulous writing -- it wants these sellers' client lists.

There's a real chance that Amazon will take down at least some of its targets, since Fiverr has cooperated on takedowns in the past. Still, the sheer scale of this latest case underscores the problems with keeping a lid on fake reviews, especially on gig sites where it's not always easy to spot shady dealings. It may take a long, long while before these false authors are forced to go elsewhere.

[Image credit: David Ryder/Getty Images]

Source: TechCrunch

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Xiaomi will let you replace the brains in its new smart TV

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/10/19/xiaomi-mi-tv-3/

Xiaomi is more than just a phone manufacturer -- it makes almost every kind of consumer electronics now, including Segways, wearables and GoPro-style action cameras. Today, the company is expanding its living room lineup with a 60-inch 4K TV, which measures 11.6mm at its thinnest point and costs only RMB 4,999 (roughly $786). That's a lot of display for your money, although it's not quite as sleek as the $645 Mi TV 2S Xiaomi announced in July.

Plenty of dongles and set-top boxes can transform your old TV into a "smart" one -- but what if you could do away with them entirely, and get the same features out of a TV speaker instead? That's the idea behind Xiaomi's "Mi TV Bar," anyway. To the naked eye it looks like a classic soundbar, but inside there's a MStar 6A928 processor, 2GB of DDR3 RAM and 8GB of flash storage. Once connected through the Mi Port -- which also carries power -- you'll gain access to MIUI TV, Xiaomi's Android-based smart TV platform.

It's designed to work in conjunction with the Mi TV 3, although you can also buy it separately and hook it up to any TV, monitor or projector. According to Xiaomi, a TV's motherboard usually accounts for 20 percent of its overall cost -- and it's also a part that customers have to replace every 18 months. By taking the related components out and putting them in a separate device, Xiaomi hopes they'll be easier to upgrade and replace -- meaning you, the consumer, can just focus on buying (and keeping) a stellar display. It's the same argument behind modern TV set-top boxes, although here you're also getting a beefy speaker thrown in too. It'll set you back RMB 999 ($157) on its own -- for comparison, the new Apple TV costs $149 in the US, while Amazon's 4K Fire TV is up for $100.

These devices are meant for China, however, and we don't expect either of them to be sold in the US or Europe anytime soon. Xiaomi might have online accessory stores for both of these markets, but it's a long way off selling all of its electronic wares to the world.

Source: Xiaomi

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