Google accuses Bing of 'cheating,' piggybacking off its search results
You could say
Bing is taking a cue from its competition, but it seems to be more literally taking search results as well.
Google Fellow Amit Singhal is claiming so much and has provided some amusing (if not totally clever) results from its "Bing Sting." Here's how it works: find a search term that returns no matches for either site, make a "honeypot" page manually appear for the term, then have about 20 Google employees make the search (and click the top link) using Internet Explorer with both Suggested Sites and the Bing Toolbar on. Within two weeks, Singhal claims, a handful (about 7 to 9) of the 100 or so "honeypot" results were popping up in Bing. Bizarre choices, too, like mbrzxpgjys, hiybbprqag, and indoswiftjobinproduction.
So, is this "cheating," as Singhal specifically alleges? The experiment had to be run with Bing's toolbar and / or Suggested Search feature activated, which it explicitly says are used to collect data and improve services. And more popular search terms do return different results, It's not as if Microsoft is using non-public information, but is this an example of taking an unfair shortcut? That's a debate we imagine with rage for quite some time.
Permalink 
Gizmodo |
Search Engine Land |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
Exclusive: A day trip to Meizu's factory
Jack Wong is a very lucky guy. Or you can say he's very unfortunate. On one hand, his eight-year-old Meizu label -- literally meaning "the captivating tribe" -- has rapidly become one of the most popular brands amongst Chinese gadget lovers, yet all he's producing right now is just the one phone: the M9. On the other hand, the now-discontinued M8 had notoriously caught
unwanted attention from Apple, and even the recent
M9 launch saw accusations of Meizu hiring people to stand in line. But the latter points are irrelevant for now -- what we're really interested in is how a teensy MP3 player factory managed to outpace its numerous competitors to become a reputable smartphone maker with a huge fan base. To help us understand what drives the company, we decided to pay Meizu a visit. Go on, you know where to click.
Continue reading Exclusive: A day trip to Meizu's factory
Permalink | |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
Samsung's Lee Young-hee was misunderstood, Galaxy Tab sales are 'smooth' not 'small'
The word "whoops" is probably a good place to start with this one. Yesterday,
The Wall Street Journal ran a story quoting Samsung's Lee Young-hee as stating that initial sales of the Galaxy Tablet were "
quite small." Turns out that wasn't
exactly the right adjective. As you can hear in the audio clip below, she actually said sales of the thing are "quite smooth," just like the chins on most of our interns. This mix-up is being blamed on a transcript provided by Samsung, but rather than point fingers we'll just smile ruefully, shake our heads, and go back to writing posts about
robots and things. And the Galaxy Tab? Well, sales may be moving right along, but it looks like returns are
progressing quite smoothly as well.
Continue reading Samsung's Lee Young-hee was misunderstood, Galaxy Tab sales are 'smooth' not 'small'
Permalink |
electronista |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
Audi CEO Ruper Stadler taking time with EVs, refuses to feel "euphoria for electric vehicles"
How do
electric cars make you feel? We won't give you explicit details of just what sort of sensations standing next to the
Audi e-tron Spyder at CES inspired in us, but let's just say they were
very good ones. However, the CEO who stepped out of that very car, Rupert Stadler, is refusing to be swept in by all the EV excitement. The company is working on a battery-powered R8 supercar that will come toward the end of next year and plenty of other electric and hybrid models are in development, but Stadler is taking the slow road to adoption, saying:
We are still in the early phase with the electric vehicle, in terms of commercialization and whether the cars will be sold or leased, or will just be a collector's car... We should not overplay euphoria for electric vehicles.
Overplaying euphoria is something that consumer electronics companies have evolved to an art form, whipping up a frenzy among fans, inspiring pre-release camp-outs on a regular basis. We haven't seen anyone camping at a car dealership since... ever. Maybe there's a lesson to be learned there.
Permalink Autoblog Green |
Automotive News Europe |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
Panasonic prices its 2011 HD and 3D camcorders, options for budgets great and small
Panny
dumped a truckload of camcorders on us at CES this year, and now that we've finally dug ourselves out the company just piled on the MSRP and release information for the lot. It's okay, we can deal, and here are the highlights:
- The new 1MOS full HD models, the HDC-HS80, HDC-TM90, HDC-SD90, HDC-TM80, HDC-SD80, HDC-TM40, and HDC-SD40 (phew) are priced between $350 and $600, all offering 1920 x 1080 recording, but only the HDC-TM90 and HDC-SD90 will do 1080p60. All write to SDXC and the HDC-TM40 and HDC-SD40 are the lightest full HD models the company offers, weighing just .39lbs.
- The company's new 3MOS models, the HDC-SD800, HDC-TM900, and HDC-HS900 are priced at $850, $1,100, and $1,400, all managing 1080p60 and, if you add the $350 VW-CLT1 conversion lens, will shoot in 3D as well. All write to SDXC, while the TM900 has 32GB of storage internally, and only the top two models offer a 20x zoom lens with manual focus for "increased creativity."
There are a few SD shooters as well, the $250 SDR-S70, $270 SDR-T70, and $350 SDR-H100, all also sporting SDXC support. Full pricing in the PR after the break, and lots more details in the
earlier announce post from CES.
Continue reading Panasonic prices its 2011 HD and 3D camcorders, options for budgets great and small
Permalink | |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
Self-balancing Anybots QB now shipping, the future of telepresence is now (video)
First they came for our telepresence, and we did not speak because we couldn't afford them. Then they came for our physical presence, and there was no one left to speak out for us. Yes,
Anybots are coming, the self-balancing
QB robot available for purchase and shipping now, but at $15,000 we're thinking not too many of you will be jumping on this bandwagon to start. As we saw in our
hands-on in December the self-balancing bots enable you to be somewhere that you aren't, controlled through a simple web interface and enabling executives to remotely monitor and run over the toes of their peons toiling in the office while said execs sit comfortably at home. There's some footage of one of the bots in action below, which you'd better watch before one of them captures footage of you maintaining a state of inaction.
Continue reading Self-balancing Anybots QB now shipping, the future of telepresence is now (video)
Permalink |
Anybots |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
HTC Inspire 4G hits AT&T on February 13th, does HSPA+ for $99.99
AT&T subscribers, it's time to finally get a taste of
Android on
HSPA+. Well, almost. On February 13th the HTC
Inspire 4G will release, bringing
not-quite-4G speeds and Android 2.2 for a quite affordable $99.99. It'll feature AT&T's Mobile Hotspot service, so you can share that bandwidth, while offering a generous 4.3-inch WVGA display up front and an eight megapixel camera on the back, all packaged in a "premium" unibody aluminum design. We know, it's all very exciting, but don't get so enamored that you forget to make reservations for you and your special someone on the following day.
Continue reading HTC Inspire 4G hits AT&T on February 13th, does HSPA+ for $99.99
Permalink | |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
Samsung experiencing a 16 percent return rate on the Galaxy Tab?
Just a few days back, Samsung announced it had moved around
2 million Galaxy Tabs in the latter part of 2010. According to new data released by ITG Investment Research using tracked point-of-sale info, however, the story is a little more complicated. The company tracked about 6,000 retail stores in the United States from the November date of release of the tab through January 15th, and the
return rate hovered around 13 percent, rising even further -- to about 16 percent -- with holiday sales returns. Now, rates of return estimates are just that -- estimates -- but 6,000 locations is nothing to shrug off. We'll have to wait and see longer term what this means for the Tab's legacy, but let us know your thoughts in the comments: have you returned a
Galaxy Tab, or are you still in love?
Permalink All Things D |
NY Post |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
Samsung offering refunds for PCs affected by Sandy Bridge glitch, NEC looking at delays
We finally received
full details on the issue affecting Intel's
Sandy Bridge chipsets this morning, and now we're hearing of what looks to be the first confirmed recall.
Samsung is indicating it will offer refunds for affected computers and, while it isn't saying exactly which models will be affected, it did give a number: six models sold in South Korea and one available in the US will be eligible for return or refund, about 3,000 total machines.
NEC, meanwhile, who just went
all-in with Lenovo, is indicating that it may push back the release of four separate models. Naturally we'll keep the updates coming as we get more details.
[Thanks, Peter]
Permalink |
Bloomberg |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
Panasonic announces Lumix GF2 pricing and availability, plenty of other models too
Today is the day that budget-minded Panasonic lovers have been waiting for, when the company finally announces what it's going to charge domestically for the
Lumix GF2 and a suite of other models it's announced in the past months. The
Micro Four Thirds interchangeable lens GF2 will ship this month for an MSRP of $499.95, body alone. If you want the new 14 - 42mm GF2K lens you'll be looking at $599.95, the 14mm prime GF2C lens will cost $699.95, while the 12.5mm/F12 Lumix G, which
captures pictures in 3D, is a relative bargain at $259.95. Pansonic also unleashed a flurry of MSRPs for other Lumix compact models
unveiled at CES, with the FP5 and FP7 costing $200 and $230 respectively, the FH2 and FH5 priced at $140 and $150. More details and numbers in the pair of PR after the break.
Continue reading Panasonic announces Lumix GF2 pricing and availability, plenty of other models too
Permalink | |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
Ericsson does HSPA+ plus some, achieves 168Mbps downloads
Back in 2009, we squealed like giddy schoolgirls when the hotshots over at Ericsson
crushed standard HSPA+ speeds with 56Mbps downloads, but even then we wondered if the standard would last much longer. Two years later, HSPA+ is still around and Ericsson is still crushing records -- three records, to be exact. At a recent demonstration in Stockholm, the company showed off multi-carrier HSPA with 168Mbps downlinks and 24Mbps uplinks, dual-carrier HSPA with peak speeds of 84Mbps, and single-carrier HSPA sporting 42Mbps. We'll admit, we're impressed, but considering Korean researchers have hit
speeds of 600Mbps on LTE, we're afraid we won't be busting out the Cristal for this one. Ericsson expects to roll out single-carrier HSPA with 42Mbps and dual-carrier HSPA with 84Mbps sometime later this year.
Permalink PhoneScoop |
Ericsson |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
Visa brings contactless payments to Euro iPhones, dongle required for now
We're still some time away from
iPhoners being able to tap cellies onto payment pads and walk off with purchases, though rumors and
analysts and
job postings all say that won't be for long. The lack of an NFC-equipped iPhone isn't stopping Visa from launching its Visa Mobile application for trials in Europe, which for now requires an external attachment, the (somewhat aged)
iCarte accessory from Wireless Dynamics. With the app and the dongle users can start trying out phoney payments at various NFC-enabled terminals in Europe, presumably ahead of the release of a proper NFC-supporting iPhone sometime in the coming months. For now, though, is adding an extra inch to your handset more convenient than fumbling for a credit card? We'll let our European readers make that call.
Continue reading Visa brings contactless payments to Euro iPhones, dongle required for now
Permalink Computerworld | |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
Modder adds FPS-style ammo counter to automatic weapon
It may not be the first time than an actual weapon has been equipped with an FPS-style ammo counter (or Aliens pulse rifle-style, if you prefer), but this add-on device built by the DIY-minded Michael Ciuffo is certainly still plenty impressive enough to garner some attention on its own. It simply uses an accelerometer to detect the recoil from the gun, and it can apparently be adjusted for use on a variety of different weapons. What's more, Michael says that he's already gotten so many requests for one that he's planning on putting it into production. Head on past the break to check it out in action.
Continue reading Modder adds FPS-style ammo counter to automatic weapon
Permalink SlashGear |
MichaelCiuffo (YouTube) |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
Motorola's Atrix 4G HD Multimedia Dock spotted online next to a $60 price tag
We can't say we make a habit of checking out Fommy.com or Mobile City Online's digital shelves when searching for our mobile gear, but these obscure retailers look to be the first to come out with pricing for the Atrix 4G's
HD Multimedia Dock. Fommy lists it as a straight up $59.95 charge, whereas its direct competitor is already discounting the cradle down to $49.99. Both are offering pre-orders only at this point, with no known dates of arrival, but at least we've got a ballpark figure to play with.
Permalink MobileCrunch, Phone Arena |
Fommy, Mobile City Online |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
Another firmware update grants Roku owners USB channel, MKV containers come along
If you have a
Roku player with a USB port, like the
XDS above, you've been able to play media directly from USB storage for some time now using third-party channels. For whatever reason it's taken Roku this long to get an official USB playback channel on there, allowed in the latest firmware (2.9 build 1529) and finally available for download in the Channel Store. We're told that MKV playback has also been added, which might make watching those downloaded
Top Gear episodes a little easier.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Permalink |
Roku Forums |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
British airports now beaming holographic security agents (video)
They've brought you
presidential election coverage and promoted
worldwide access to PCs, and now they're telling you to take off your belt and throw out your hairspray. Starting today, London Luton and Manchester airports will beam in images of holographic agents to prep passengers for the security line. Holly and Graham -- you heard right -- and Manchester's Julie and John are meant to cut queues, as well as human inconsistency. According to Luton's Glyn Jones, "Holly and Graham are not going to have a hangover; they're not going to have a row with their partner the night before." Just what we need: an army of holographic squares taking our jobs and making us all look a drunken mess in comparison. Thanks, technology.
Update: So it appears these aren't traditional holograms -- they're actually huge sheets of glass that are cut out in the shape of people, with the projection beamed on them. It's the same tech that Gorillaz use on stage, made by a company called Musion. Check out
another video where the camera moves around the side.
Continue reading British airports now beaming holographic security agents (video)
Permalink BBC |
London Luton Airport, BBC |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
Google Art Project offers gigapixel images of art classics, 'indoor' Street View of museums
Google's been hard at work over the past 18 months on something not many of us have been paying attention to lately:
art. Specifically, the search giant has hooked up with 17 art museums around the world to offer tours of their internal galleries, using its familiar
Street View tricycles, while also doing high-res images of 1,061 artworks that may be viewed on the newly launched Art Project web portal. Also there, you will find 17 special gigapixel images --
7,000-megapixel versions of each participating venue's proudest possession. The resulting level of detail is nothing short of astounding and we've got videos of how it's all done after the break.
Continue reading Google Art Project offers gigapixel images of art classics, 'indoor' Street View of museums
Permalink |
Google Art Project |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
Intel and Capgemini to develop tablet for home energy management
If
Google and
Microsoft can get in on the home energy management wave then hey, why not Intel? Chipzilla is teaming up with Capgemini SA to create a "tablet-style computer" that lets humans control the power consumed by their appliances. Later, presumably when there are enough of these smart devices on the grid, it could allow utilities to more intelligently manage its electricity allocation. According to Intel's Joe Jensen, general manager for low-power embedded processors, "energy is a big part of our project to extend the fringe of computing out to the next thing." Indeed, under Paul Otellini's lead, Intel is targeting fuel pumps at the corner gas station, advertising signs, and even exercise equipment as it seeks opportunities beyond traditional computing devices -- a market Intel believes to be worth about $10 billion. The goal of the Intel / Capgemini initiative is to offer a full-service smart-grid solution, according to Steven Harris, head of smart home services at Capgemini. Mind you, Intel's involvement shouldn't come as a total surprise here, seeing as how it was showing off
wall panels for real-time utility management in the -- groan -- "digital crib" way back at CES in 2010. That's one such device, pictured above.
Update: Corrected spelling from "Cap Gemini" (as
Businessweek presented it) to "Capgemini" -- this isn't 2004 anymore. We also managed to unearth the official press release announcing Intel's Home Energy Dashboard reference design built around the Atom processor. You'll find that after the break.
Continue reading Intel and Capgemini to develop tablet for home energy management
Permalink |
Businessweek |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
Google, SayNow, and Twitter team up to make Tweeting from Egypt possible via voicemail
Google's announced on its official blog a small project they've quickly cobbled together to help Egyptians (who --in the midst of protests -- are having serious connectivity issues) communicate via
Twitter. With almost no connection to the internet through normal channels,
Google has made it possible for anyone to send a Tweet simply by dialing one of several international phone numbers (+16504194196, +390662207294 or +97316199855) and leaving a voicemail. What happens next? The service Tweets the message using the hashtag #egypt via the Speak to Tweet account.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Permalink |
Official Google Blog |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
Honeycomb for Nook Color released for download
Android Honeycomb on a humble e-reading tablet? Why yes, it's not only possible, it's
downloadable. Deeper-blue, the chap who's been spending the past few days
porting the
Honeycomb SDK over to the Nook Color, has today decided to release his latest work out to eager users and fellow coders. He's enabled the accelerometer, touchscreen, buttons,
graphics acceleration, and wireless connectivity, but other things like sound remain on the to-do list. Hit the source link for all the code and info you require to be
among the first to run Android 3.0 on their tablet.
[Thanks, Forrest]
Permalink Android Central |
xda-developers |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
Cowon D3 Plenue priced at $370, or $100 per inch of AMOLED
Want yourself a "Prestige" portable media player to make even legit smartphones blush in envy? Then the
D3 Plenue from Cowon might just be for you, what with its 1080p video playback, 32GB of storage, Android 2.1 OS, and 3.7-inch, 800 x 480 AMOLED display. It's just that today we're finding the Prestige label also extends to its price, which Amazon has set at a mighty $370. That's not terrible when contrasted against unsubsidized pricing for comparable smartphones, but then this
isn't a smartphone. Availability of the D3 Plenue is limited to an undated pre-order for the moment, giving you at least a little more time to deliberate on the value this souped-up PMP represents.
Permalink OLED-Info |
Amazon |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
Intel Sandy Bridge chipset flaw identified as a rogue transistor affecting SATA ports
Intel raised quite a few eyebrows yesterday by disclosing that its Cougar Point chipsets suffer from an
incurable design issue that would potentially degrade Serial ATA transfers over time.
AnandTech has gone to the trouble of getting in touch with Intel to seek more information and the problem, as it turns out, is a single transistor that's prone to a higher current leakage than tolerable. This can not only diminish performance over the 3Gbps SATA ports, it can actually make them fail altogether. There is more comforting news, however, in that the pair of 6Gbps SATA ports on the chipset are untroubled by this ailment, so devices and users that never plug into the 3Gbps connections can just carry on as if nothing's ever happened. For everyone else, a repair and replacement service is taking place now, with Intel's budget for dealing with this problem said to be a generous $700 million.
Permalink |
AnandTech |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
PlayStation Move headed to PCs under official 'Move Server' project
Oops. Looks like Sony's plans to make its
PlayStation Move controller an official PC accessory have been unceremoniously revealed in a description of a Sony Computer Entertainment America talk scheduled for Game Developers Conference 2011. According to the synopsis, John McCutchan, SCEA's lead for Game Systems and Developer Support, will be on hand to discuss the "Move Server project that will make it possible for academics and hobbyists to develop software using the PlayStation Move controller on their own PCs." Hmm, sounds like somebody feels left out by all of the unofficial
Kinect hackery which could be treated to
official Microsoft support sometime
this summer. Now go hit up the source link below to read the description for yourselves.
Permalink Gamesindustry.biz |
GDC |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
Motorola Xoom lands in Chad Ochocinco's safe hands, is 'pretty awesome'
The Motorola Xoom's release is
close,
very close. How do we know that? Well, Moto has just handed one to Chad Ochocinco -- one of the NFL's most recklessly loquacious players -- and you don't do that with an unfinished product. For his part, Chad's finding the Honeycomb tablet to be "pretty awesome" and regretfully informs Motorola that it "won't be getting this back." Tracking Chad's tweets reveals that he's just landed in Dallas, site of this year's
Super Bowl, where he's received the Android-driven hardware. Something tells us neither he nor Motorola's tablet will spend the next week hiding in the shadows -- look for a lot more screen time for both in the buildup to the big game (and Moto's big
halftime ad). One last note? Chad's image above was taken using an iPhone 4. Guess he's holding out for the
Atrix 4G.
[Thanks, Zizo]
Permalink |
@ochocinco (Twitter), (Twitpic) |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
Satin Silver PS3 Rolls into Japan on March 10th
It's not
white,
titanium blue, or even the traditional black -- this PS3 is Satin Silver (or is it Silver Satin?) and headed to Japan on March 10th. No specs have changed as far as we can tell with the 160GB model CECH-2500A SS selling for ¥29,980 (about $366) while the 320GB CECH-2500B SS weighs in at ¥34,980 (about $427). There's even a matching vertical stand for ¥2,000 (about $24) because Sony knows how important it is to coordinate your game center with the finish on your Rolls-Royce Ghost.
Permalink Impress |
SCEI |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
Apple rejects Sony Reader app, really doesn't want you buying content from others
It's been quite a while since Apple's tight reins on the
App Store were
a subject worth discussing, but they're back in the spotlight now following the company's rejection of Sony's
Reader app for iOS. The reasons given to Sony were that Apple will not
no longer accept applications that permit in-app purchases of content that don't go through Apple itself, and, moreover, will not tolerate apps that access material purchased through external content stores. So the Sony Reader Store is out -- but wait, doesn't the
Kindle app spend its time serving up Kindlebooks? No comment has been offered on the matter from either Apple or Amazon, while Sony's Reader Store page describes the situation as "an impasse" and promises to seek "other avenues to bring the Reader experience to Apple mobile devices." In the mean time, you can get the
Reader app for Android or just read your ebooks on a device dedicated to that task.
Update: As noted by Harry McCracken over at
Technologizer, it has actually been Apple's longstanding policy to forbid in-app purchases -- the Kindle and Nook apps send you to a browser -- so Sony's desire to do so will have been the major cause for the Reader application's rejection. That doesn't invalidate the second concern expressed in the
New York Times article, that Apple will no longer tolerate content brought in from external stores, which is a displeasing development, if true.
Permalink 9to5Mac |
New York Times, Sony Reader Store |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
Samsung sucks at Photoshop: The next Galaxy S (video)
Photoshop is hard. Hell, we're just hacks ourselves, using the tool as a means to help convey a story. But we don't have BAs in graphic design and we're definitely not operating within Samsung's multi-million-dollar advertising budget. So pardon us while we tease Sammy for failing to add a starburst to cover the reflection of its super-secret next-generation followup to its Galaxy S handset. The grab above comes at the 13 second mark of the official "
next Galaxy S" teaser video (posted after the break) released in the runup to the big Mobile World Congress event. We guess some secrets really are meant to be shared.
[Thanks, Shavar]
Continue reading Samsung sucks at Photoshop: The next Galaxy S (video)
Permalink |
Samsung Tomorrow |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
Sony's DSC-HX100V and HX9V superzooms get official, headed to shelves this April
After being
leaked just a few days ago, Sony's high-end 16.2-megapixel HX100V and HX9V cameras are now official. According to the press release, the DSC-HX100V is the first of the Cyber-shot line to include a 27mm Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonar T lens with 30x optical zoom, while its smaller compact brother, the DSC-HX9V, is also the first to sport a 24mm Sony G lens with a 16x optical zoom. That's certainly great news for lurkers or folks who like shooting from a far, especially when considering both cameras are capable of recording 1920 x 1080 60p HD video. Their new "Exmor R" back-illuminated CMOS sensor also is the first to support a so-called Intelligent Sweep Panorama HR mode, which lets users capture up to 42.9 megapixel scenes with a whopping 10480 x 4096 resolution. Speaking of panoramas, the new camera's have also picked up the same 3D Sweep Panorama Mode, GPS, and Dual Recording functions found on
other cyber shots announced back at CES. If you're dying to get your hands on that crazy zoom action, their official release is set for April with pre-sales starting in February. Price wise, the DSC-HX100V and DSC-HX9V cameras will cost about
$450 and
$350, respectively. For more details hit up the PR after the break or browse through the gallery below.
Continue reading Sony's DSC-HX100V and HX9V superzooms get official, headed to shelves this April
Permalink CNET |
PR News Wire |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
Boxee delays Netflix integration again, cites security requirements as the culprit
We hoped Boxee would surprise us at the eleventh hour and announce it had finally added Netflix to the service -- technically making good on its
end of January deadline. Instead, the company's blog is now reporting that the service is "anticipated soon." Apparently, the service is running fine on the device in the company's offices -- which, mind you they said back in December too, -- but it still failed to satisfy Netflix's security requirements. While that sounds like a big thing to miss in our books, a comment by Boxee's VP of Marketing, Andrew Kippen, suggests the company just discovered the issue only an hour before midnight. This marks the
second time users have been asked to re-adjust their expectations for when the big red box might pop up on their favorite media manager, but to Boxee's credit, we were glad to see the company come right out with the situation instead of leaving us all on pins and needles. Now, let's just hope this whole incident gets sorted out pronto, so we don't have to break bad news to our Watch Instantly lovin' hearts ever again.
Permalink |
Boxee Blog |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
Windows Phone 7 'phantom data' leaker unmasked as Yahoo Mail, fix due in 'coming weeks'
J'accuse... ! Remember the
unnamed third party that Microsoft had found to be
abusing 3G data on
Windows Phone 7? Secret's out, and the culprit is none other than Yahoo Mail. According to a statement obtained by Microsoft guru Paul Thurrott, a fix is expected in the "coming weeks," but in the interim, you can mitigate the pain by going into settings and choosing less taxing options for "Download new content" and "Download email from" -- say, for example, "manually" and "the last 7 days," respectively. At least now you know exactly at whom you should wag your finger.
Permalink |
Windows Phone Secrets |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
APX Alarm becomes Vivint as it expands into Z-Wave home automation
Heard of APX Alarm Security Solution? Probably not. But that's ok, it's par for the course when discussing home automation, a market segment mostly ignored by the big boys of consumer electronics. Today APX is making a grand entrance into home automation thanks to a $443 million investment by Goldman Sachs. The company's new lineup of Z-Wave-based automatic door locks, video surveillance, lighting and small appliance controls will be sold under the new Vivint identity. Better yet, the new Z-Wave modules are designed to work with the APX Go!control alarm panels already purchased by some 170,000 customers, according to APX. Look for products to be generally available on March 1st.
Continue reading APX Alarm becomes Vivint as it expands into Z-Wave home automation
Permalink |
Vivint |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
Clover SunBook offers 'first sunlight ready netbook,' questionable graphic design
When we first made contact with
Clover System's SunBook, it was but a glimmer in
Pixel Qi's transflective eye, but today, the little guy is ready to step out on its own. Like
Notion Ink's Adam, "the first sunlight-ready
netbook" packs dual lighting displays, allowing you to shut off LCD backlights while under direct sunlight and cut your power consumption in half. You can also leave both functions on for easy indoor-outdoor transitions. It's sporting a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 CPU, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, a 10.1-inch display, 1024 x 600 screen resolution, USB 3.0 as well as WiFi and Ethernet capabilities. So basically, it's a perfectly acceptable netbook (on paper, at least) and it's packing a promising display, but we have to admit Clover's marketing for SunBook leaves something to be desired. In fact, if we hadn't seen this thing at CES we'd advise you to proceed with caution. Being that it's got the Pixel Qi seal of approval, however, we'll leave the decision up to you. You can purchase the sunlight-ready netbook for $795 via Clover's website, handily linked below in the source.
Permalink |
SunBook |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
Apple job posting calls for another LTE expert
"iOS Cellular Protocol SW Engineer-SH/BJ" doesn't have the sex appeal of "chief designer" or anything, but someone is being sought for that very position, to work under the Haus of
Apple. And what does the job entail? Among other duties, "Implementation, Integration, customization, enhancement and maintenance of L1-3 Protocols for one or more of the following air interface:
GSM/UMTS, CDMA (1x/EVDO), LTE etc." You read that right, LTE. It's not the first time we've seen such the technology listed (hello there, since-removed "
Cellular Technology Software Manager" job posting), but at the same time, it's not surprising that Apple's looking to the future. Just don't get your hopes up for an LTE iPhone or iPad in the near future.
Permalink 9 to 5 Mac |
Apple |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
NAVY SEALs getting fancy LCD sunglasses, will surely show up as DLC in next SOCOM game
We're still a
few years away from getting some consumer-friendly LCD sunglasses, but wouldn't you know it the military's already rocking a pair. The
Office of Naval Research TechSolutions department has delivered the first 30 sets of what it calls Fast-Tint Protective Eyewear (FTPE). They can change tint automatically based on exterior light, much like currently available prescription glasses, but thanks to their LCD construction can go from dark to clear in just a half-second. This means a SEAL squad could blow a door and infiltrate a room without having to ask the terrorists to hold their fire while everyone takes off their shades. Initial reports are good and SOCOM is planning on buying another 100 sets.
Maybe by the time they're delivered someone will release a picture of the things and we won't have to use a random photo of camouflage shades like this one.
Update: Travis wrote in with a link to
James Vaughan Photography, which has a few photos of prototype versions of these glasses. We've grabbed one.
[Image Credit:
James Vaughan Photography]
Continue reading NAVY SEALs getting fancy LCD sunglasses, will surely show up as DLC in next SOCOM game
Permalink The Register | |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
LG confirms Optimus 3D for MWC 2011: glasses-free screen and 3D camera
We've had a feeling that LG was going to tackle 3D smartphones heads-on
sometime in February, and after a spat of rumors today purported to be showing off the
Optimus 3D (pictured above, via
Phandroid), the company's flat-out confirmed its Mobile World Congress debut. The Optimus 3D sports a dual-lens 3D camera, a glasses-free LCD display, and HDMI / DLNA for sharing on whatever 3D sets you have. A live demo will be at Barcelona, but whether that means we'll get to hold it in our own hands. Other specs? We'll have to wait and find out. Press release after the break.
Continue reading LG confirms Optimus 3D for MWC 2011: glasses-free screen and 3D camera
Permalink |
Phandroid |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
Dell Streak 7 review
Let's be honest, the
original Dell Streak had a bit of an identity crisis. The 5-inch device wasn't sure if it belonged in the tablet or smartphone world, and ultimately it was targeted at a pretty niche user. But its larger brother, the
Streak 7, is more self-aware. It's a honest-to-goodness tablet meant for doing all those tablet-y things -- surfing the web, reading e-books, watching video and more. Sure, the Streak 7 may just look like an enlarged version of the 5-inch version, but they differ in more than just screen size: the 7 packs a powerful 1GHz dual-core Tegra T20 processor, 1.3 megapixel front facing camera, 5 megapixel lens on the rear, T-Mobile "4G" HSPA+ connectivity, and 16GB of internal memory. The tablet runs Android 2.2 with Dell's Stage UI for now, but Dell promises an upgrade to
Honeycomb once it's ready. It sounds like one of the more well-rounded 7-inch tablets on the market right now and at just
$200 on contract at T-Mobile (it's $450 without), it's actually quite well priced. However, there are quite a few things that are going to keep 7-inch tablet seekers from forking over the cash. What are those? We'll tell all in our full review -- read on for more!
Continue reading Dell Streak 7 review
Permalink | |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
Brammo Empulse RR electric race bike goes screaming by at Thunderhill test (video)
We haven't heard an awful lot about the
Brammo Empulse since it
launched last summer, but
Asphalt & Rubber managed to catch the thing
doing its thing at Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, California. The bike and its crew were out for some testing, abbreviated tail all taped full of telemetry and spitting back data as the it quietly screamed its way around the track. The race-ready Empulse RR is getting ready for the 2011
TTXGP series for electric race bikes, where it'll be competing against the likes of the
Mission R -- which hopefully will have
put its fairings back on by then.
Continue reading Brammo Empulse RR electric race bike goes screaming by at Thunderhill test (video)
Permalink |
Asphalt & Rubber |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
Hackers increasingly using telnet for attacks, port 23 looking younger than ever
You can't always just hang around waiting for the next big
Microsoft security update. Sometimes you have to go and make your own destiny -- even if it means probing a few dusty ports. That's apparently the mantra of modern hackers who are, according to Akamai, increasingly looking back at telnet as a means to gain unapproved access to systems of all shapes and sizes. Admins of course should be relying on SSH for such remote shell access, far more secure, but apparently many like to keep port 23 open for old time's sake. Green-screen nostalgia is, apparently, a dangerous thing.
Permalink |
Yahoo! News |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
Hokies give (tactile) sight to the blind so they can drive, no word on turning water into wine
Daytona International Speedway is synonymous with speed, auto racing, and . . . blind people? Virginia Tech's
Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory (RoMeLa), along with the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), recently debuted its sight-optional and street-legal SUV at the famed racetrack.
Dr. Dennis Hong and his students first let blind folks drive a
dune buggy without the help of a sighted copilot in 2009 -- as a first step to achieving the
goal of a street-legal SUV for the sightless crowd. The SUV in question was designed for the NFB's Blind Driver Challenge, and is equipped with a drive-by-wire system -- also seen in the
RoMeLa autonomous vehicle -- that was modified for use with RoMeLa's SpeedStrip and DriveGrip tactile interface technology. It works by using a laser rangefinder to map the surrounding area, relaying information for acceleration and braking to the driver by rumbling the SpeedStrip seat, and passing along turning info through vibrations in the DriveGrip gloves. The system was not developed solely for the purpose of getting blind drivers on the road, however, as Virginia Tech suggests that its technology could also be used in gaming applications. We're not quite ready to see blind drivers on
actual roads just yet, but why shouldn't our sight-impaired friends get to enjoy
Gran Turismo 5 with the rest of us? Video's after the break.
Continue reading Hokies give (tactile) sight to the blind so they can drive, no word on turning water into wine
Permalink Switched |
National Federation of the Blind |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
UM students make cheap and portable solar charger / light source for developing nations
Solar power is the most egalitarian of all energy sources, yet residents in many parts of the world still lack access to electricity. Three University of Michigan engineering students have created an affordable solution to this problem -- to the delight of camping geeks everywhere -- with the Emerald, a portable solar panel that does double duty as both a cellphone charger and personal light source. We've seen the
personal solar panel idea before, but the price of entry made it an untenable solution for developing nations.
Solar-powered light bulbs have been around for a while too, but the Emerald's light lasts for eight hours on a charge (as opposed to the bulbs' two to six hours),
and it's able to fully charge a phone in the same time it takes an outlet to do the job. They aim to sell the device for the low, low, price of under twenty bucks for customers in the developing world, which is 90 percent cheaper than other solutions and 100 percent more awesome.
Continue reading UM students make cheap and portable solar charger / light source for developing nations
Permalink |
University of Michigan |
Email this |
Comments
Read More ...
No comments:
Post a Comment