Northeastern University students develop eye controlled robotic arm that's happy to feed you
As an alternative to receiving brain implants for robotic arm dominance assistance, check out this surprisingly cheap eye-tracking solution developed by six electrical engineering students at Northeastern University. Labeled iCRAFT, for eye Controlled Robotic Arm Feeding Technology, the award-winning senior project drew its inspiration from one team member's difficulty syncing spoonfuls with the eating pace of elderly and disabled patients. Simply gaze at the on-screen box that corresponds to your food or beverage choice and the robotic arm will swing your way with grub in its grip. Ambitious DIY-ers can chase down the open-sourced software behind iCRAFT, and construct a contraption of their own for about $900 -- considerably less than self-feeding rigs living in the neighborhood of $3,500. You can catch a video of the robot arm serving up some fine Wendy's cuisine after the break. Continue reading Northeastern University students develop eye controlled robotic arm that's happy to feed you
Deutsche Telekom chief says T-Mobile USA merger still an option, sweeps full sale off the table
T-Mobile's USA proposed union with AT&T might have gone down in flames, but that isn't precluding the boss of parent company Deutsche Telekom, René Obermann, from exploring tie-ups in the future. He's now telling investors that the company won't "exclude any option" for its US carrier, up to and including mergers with others. Before you worry that your One S might lose its luster through an outside takeover, though, the CEO has said it's "unlikely" that DT will sell T-Mobile outright. There aren't any coded messages about possible merger targets, either, even if rumors of a MetroPCS deal have percolated elsewhere. Most of the present focus is simply on reworking and trimming the company to get it running at full efficiency in the face of some very stiff competition; Carly can keep wearing that T-Mobile magenta for awhile yet.
Visualized: SpaceX's Dragon is a desolate vision in beige and white
Even if you squint real hard, you won't find Andie, Max or that rogue robot Jinx stowed away in that inner sanctum above. In fact, there are no humans on board Dragon whatsoever, given that this mission -- the first successful private / federal partnership with NASA -- is strictly cargo-only and a test flight to boot. After suffering several launch delays, Elon Musk's pet project finally achieved lift off this past Tuesday, giving space heads reason to exhale, all the while proving to the world that a new era in intergalactic exploration has just begun. En route now to dock with the ISS and deliver its payload, SpaceX's capsule, the interior of which measures 14.4ft (4.4m) by 12ft (3.7m) and is filled with dehydrated astronaut food, clothes, supplies and student science experiments, will spend about one week tethered to that international outpost before crashing into the Pacific on its return trip home. Hit up the source below to gawk at additional shots of this spacecraft's maiden voyage.
LG's LS860 Cayenne gets a visit from the unsteady hand of Mr. Blurrycam
Just when you think Mr. Blurrycam bought a tripod, he produces this opaque gem purportedly showing LG's latest handset for Sprint. The LG LS960 Cayenne will apparently pack a 4-inch WVGA IPS display with a dual-core, 1.2GHz S3 processor like the Viper 4G -- plus that sliding keyboard, of course. There's no more details about pricing or availability, but if it's real we can probably expect to hear more later in the summer.
Facebook releases new filter-equipped Camera app for iPhone and iPod touch
Looking for yet another way to share photos on Facebook? Then you now have a new option to consider courtesy of the company itself, which has today rolled out its new Facebook Camera app for the iPhone and iPod touch. It promises to let you share and view photos faster than within the main Facebook app (not to mention give you higher-res photos), and you'll also get a variety of Instagram-style filters (15 in all) as well as some basic editing tools -- features that were apparently developed independently by Facebook itself and not borrowed from Instagram, which it hasn't yet completed its acquisition of. As with Facebook's other apps, it's completely free, and you can grab it right now at the App Store link below.
Developers can never have too many options when it comes to ways to take your money. Google has opened the doors to In-app purchases, carrier billing and now, in-app subscriptions. Perhaps it wasn't enough that game creators be able to lure you in with perks and content you could purchase for a one-time fee, now devs can choose to hit you with a monthly charge for the privilege of using their wares. Of course, it's not all that bad. Subscription-based games aren't the only potential uses here. Customers can now buy monthly or annual subscriptions to services or publications as well. There's even a publisher API for extending the subscription beyond the walls of Google Play and your Android device. Glu Mobile will be first out the gate, turning on subscriptions in properties like Frontline Commando, but we're sure plenty of others will follow. Soon enough you might be able to get your New York Times subscription or Spotify Premium account without ever leaving the comfort of the Android app. Any handset with Google Play 3.5 or higher installed should have access to subscriptions starting today.
Talk about being tardy to the party: a month after its keyboard-less twin, the Huawei Ascend G312 QWERTY has finally received approval from the FCC. While this particular name may not sound very appealing to the average US customer, perhaps its other designation -- the T-Mobile myTouch Q -- will. Indeed, this is the 2012 iteration (the slide-out keyboard version, at least) of the carrier's annual series, and it sports quadband GSM / EDGE and 850 / AWS / 1900 / 2100 HSPA+. Most of the specs are already known: you can expect to find a 4-inch WVGA display, 1.4GHz MSM8255T chip with 1GB RAM and 4GB of onboard storage and room for microSD expansion. If you're a fan of the myTouch series -- or even hardware keyboards in general -- you likely won't have to wait too much longer.
Samsung submits patent application for speech-recognizing robot
Samsung will soon launch its Siri-style S Voice software on the Galaxy S III, but in the more distant future it could bring speech recognition technology to standalone robots. A patent application from the company details an automaton that can adjust its voice detection capabilities to account for ambient noise, letting it recognize when people are talking even in loud locations. It remains unclear just what the robot will do for you once it hears your commands -- maybe it will be on call for cooking you dinner and the like. Judging by that pic, at least, the concept looks like a good time for all involved.
When it comes to business-friendly features and comfortable keyboards, Lenovo is king. And while the PC maker is no stranger to powerful systems (here's looking at you, ThinkPad X220), it's not necessarily the first brand that comes to mind when you're in the market for HD video streaming and a little gaming. But those are just the sorts of things Lenovo hopes you'll do with the IdeaPad Y480, which ups the multimedia ante with a new GPU from NVIDIA, along with a quad-core Ivy Bridge processor.
The notebook complements that power under the hood with an elegant, understated design and flourishes such as JBL speakers -- all for a reasonable starting price of $849. At 5.1 pounds, it may not be the lightest 14-incher around, but it packs some of the most robust internals in its class. Less forgivable, though, is the notebook's middling 1366 x 768 display; when you have that graphics oomph, you want the high-res visuals to match. Can its amped-up insides and bang for the buck make up for that less-than-premium screen? Join us after the break as we make that determination.
RIM's global sales head departs after 14-year stretch
Research in Motion's head of global sales is leaving the company after serving the BlackBerry maker for 14 years. Patrick Spence joined the company before it had even produced its first smartphone before rising to his current position, based in London. Reuters hints that he was dissatisfied about being passed over for the vacant CEO's position, due to be filled by former Sony Ericsson man Kristian Tear later this year. A spokesperson for the Canadian company said that Mr. Spence would be moving to a leadership role in another industry.
[Image Credit: Globe and Mail]
AT&T validates NVIDIA Icera 410 LTE modem for use on its network
NVIDIA, likely feeling the sting of not having an LTE presence on some of the biggest carriers in the US, announced this morning that the Icera 410 modem has been validated for use on AT&T's network. This particular chipset utilizes the carrier's particular brand of Long-Term Evolution -- in addition to HSPA+, UMTS and 2G -- which means that we should see Icera-powered 4G devices on AT&T's lineup sometime this year. NVIDIA has promised we'll see Tegra 3 LTE utilizing "partners' baseband processors" before we ring in 2013, so we're hoping this bit of news can help the company live up to its word. The press release is all yours to read after the break. Continue reading AT&T validates NVIDIA Icera 410 LTE modem for use on its network
Huawei Ascend P1 slips through FCC with pentaband goodness for all
Huawei's putting a whole bunch of oomph behind its 2012 lineup, and it's finally beginning to get noticed here in the US. Not too long after getting the Ascend D1 approved by the FCC, the Chinese manufacturer has returned to Washington to push the Ascend P1 through the government agency. Regarded as a close sibling to the slimmer P1 S, this particular Platinum-class device comes offering gifts of pentaband HSPA+ / UMTS, which means there's a chance we could see it show up on AT&T or T-Mobile (neither carrier has made their intentions known as of yet). The OMAP 4460-powered Ice Cream Sandwich smartphone will, however, be available in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia by the end of the month, with Europe and Latin America following soon after. If you enjoy poring through federal documents, you'll love peeking at the source link below.
Google+ on Android gets its turn at a UI remake, extra Hangout and photo features in the bargain
Did you see the Google+ 2.0 update for iPhone and wonder if Google's attention had drifted away from its own baby? Don't fret, as the Android app has just been given similarly loving treatment. The interface shares the reworked stream look that we saw on iOS while keeping the swipe-to-switch category filters that Google+ has used from the start. There's even small rewards for having to watch your iPhone friends go first: you can now start a Hangout video chat from the main menu, get ringing Hangout notifications, download photos directly from conversations and edit your posts after the fact. The new look has already proved polarizing, but if you're the sort who revels in the purity of a Google social network running on a Google platform, you can now try the overhaul for yourself.
Intel research hopes to give computers human smarts, appreciate our idiosyncrasies
Intel's chief technology officer, Justin Rattner, doesn't own a smartphone. Well, not by his definition anyway. Talking in Tel Aviv, Rattner was evangelizing about the opportunities in machine learning, and outlining the goals of the firm's Collaborative Research Institute for Computational Intelligence. Working with Technion and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Intel plans to develop small, wearable computers that learn our behavioral patterns -- like where we left our keys -- and other things today's "smart" phones could never do. Intel's Israeli president, Moody Eden, went on to claim that within five years, all five senses will be computerized, and in a decade, transistors per chip will outnumber neurons in the human brain. All that tech to stop you locking yourself out.
IDC: Android has a heady 59 percent of world smartphone share, iPhone still on the way up
We've been jonesing for a more international look at smartphone market share for the start of 2012, and IDC is now more than willing to oblige. In case you'd thought Android's relentless march upwards was just an American fling, Google's OS has jumped from 36.1 percent of the world's share a year ago to exactly 59 percent in the first quarter of this year. That's nearly two thirds of all smartphones, folks. As we've seen in the past, Android is siphoning off legacy users looking for something fresher: Symbian and the BlackBerry have both lost more than half of their share in one year's time, while Linux (led mostly by Bada) and Windows Mobile / Phone together lost small pieces of the pie despite raw shipment numbers going up. As for Apple? Even with all the heat in the kitchen, the iPhone's share grew to 23 percent, leading to a staggering 82 percent of smartphone buyers siding with either the Cupertino or Mountain View camps. Continue reading IDC: Android has a heady 59 percent of world smartphone share, iPhone still on the way up
Nokia 808 PureView impressions, camera showdown with the iPhone 4S and HTC One S
Nokia invited us to take a tour of the Carl Zeiss HQ in Germany, all in the name of getting some time to shoot with the pair's latest project, the 808 PureView. Sure, you've heard the specs: a 41-megapixel sensor, f/2.4 Carl Zeiss lens and a focal length of 8.02mm. That hulking sensor dominates the body, but how do those photographic results turn out? We spent a few hours shooting with Symbian's (possibly) last hurrah and found that -- unsurprisingly -- this looks to be the new benchmark for mobile imaging. The top-heavy body fits in with the focus on mobile photography epitomized in this phone and there's a tangible quality to the photos even on the 808 PureView's 640 x 360 display, alongside a noticeable decrease in noise. Check out our gallery and grab more impressions and comparison images with the iPhone 4S and One S after the break.
Syria gets previously blocked Google software, at least for now
Mountain View's just dished out some good news for Syrians, Picasa, Chrome, and Google Earth were officially made available for download in the complex nation as of yesterday. US export controls and sanctions had hitherto blocked that possibility, and there's sill no guarantee that smartphones won't be prohibited. That's of course assuming the whole internet won't just be turned off if the Syrian government doesn't like what's going down, but as of right now the software is live. Google put the same trio on tap this February in Iran after more than a year and a half of similar restrictions in that country. And we thought our internet-related issues were annoying.
PlayStation Network scheduled for maintenance starting at 8AM (PST)
Today's public service announcement is brought to you by the letter "M." That would be "M" as in maintenance, which is what the PlayStation Network will be going through from 8AM (PST) to 11PM. The outage means that both the PlayStation Store and PlayStation Home might not be accessible while Sony does its maintenance magic. "B-b-but, I'm supposed to be credit farming Firebase White with my Mass Effect 3 buddies during that exact, same time," you say? Chill, buddy -- the maintenance won't affect online play so you can continue to abuse those hapless, chirping Geth. Folks who signed in to PSN within the last five days will still be able to access apps like Amazon Instant Video and Netflix as well. Hey, it could always be worse, you know.
This month NHK has been previewing a slew of Super Hi-Vision equipment, but there's still much work to be done to make high res broadcasts a reality worldwide. There's where the ITU steps in, and as it did for HDTV back in the 90s it's been meeting to decide just what 4K and 8K Ultra High Definition TV (UHDTV) broadcasts are and how they will work. There's no word on minimum pixel counts for the standards -- we expect that quad-HD vs. 4K battle to rage on, remember these are the people who "defined" 4G -- but they're establishing color range, frame rate, and whether the broadcasts will go over unused satellite bandwidth or regular antenna frequencies. If you're somehow confused by the 33MP video streams that are coming our way... some day, check out a video featuring European Broadcast Union Deputy Director of Technology and Development David Wood. Continue reading ITU meets to define 4K and 8K UHDTV parameters
Insert Coin: cookoo is the watch for geeks who want to keep it subtle (video) In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line.
This is the cookoo, a smart timepiece created by former Microsoft product developer Peter Hauser. Connecting to your smartphone over Bluetooth, its analog face stands in front of a digital display that lights up when you've got a phone alert. Its USP is that it's a more cultured way to check if you've been tweeted than simply whipping out your phone every few minutes. It promises to last up to a year on a standard watch battery and the buttons around the bezel even allow you to check in to Foursquare. It's been designed to be so rugged, durable and waterproof that you can wear one all day -- even at the pool. You can pledge $50 to pre-order one (it'll retail for $99), but only if the company raises all of the $150,000 its set for a goal. Continue reading Insert Coin: cookoo is the watch for geeks who want to keep it subtle (video)
Quad-channel DDR3 memory corralled in round-up, Corsair, G.Skill and Patriot take home the trophies
If you've wanted to build an X79-based gaming PC but were fretting over getting the most out of the quad-channel DDR3 memory you'll want to pair with that Ivy Bridge processor, don't fret: HotHardware has gathered together some of the most common high-speed RAM options and put them to the test. The results aren't clear cut and depend heavily on what you're looking for. Corsair's 1,866MHz Vengeance kit and a similarly clocked G.Skill RipJaws Z set are recommended for striking good balances between low lag and raw speed, while Patriot's Viper X Division 4 is lauded for having the best value and the best stock cooling. That's not to say that Kingston's HyperX line isn't worth it for some speed demons, but the testers suggest hitting the middle of the road to get a good trade-off between speed and the cash outlay you'll need to get there.
Apple applies for optical stylus patent, Hell reports coldest day on record
Apple has famously shunned the humble stylus, so it's fair to say we're more than a little curious about why it's filed a patent application for one. The "optical stylus" mentioned seems simple enough. The claims outline the brains to interpret your doodlings, as well pressure and orientation. Beyond that, well, it's more or less just a stylus. While we suspected the team at Cupertino were fans of Draw Something, we didn't think they'd take it this seriously!
Adafruit unveils Lego Ladyada's Workshop, vote for it to become a reality
If 10,000 of you go and vote at Lego Cuusoo, we could soon have a Ladyada Lego Workshop. The concept, whipped up by Limor Fried and Phillip Torrone, was a direct response to the borderline offensive Lego Friends set that was marketed to young girls last year. The seemingly unnecessary line of pastel-hued bricks inspired Fried to hire renowned Lego artist Bruce Lowell to help create a set of blocks that told girls it was ok to aspire to more than good hair and gossipy friends. Ladyada's Workshop is an ABS celebration of hacking, tinkering, strong women and all things DIY. Now all that needs to happen is that enough of you head on over to the Cuusoo site when the set goes up for vote. Hit up the source link for more images of what could wind up being the very first Lego product based on a company that sells DIY electronics kits.
Microsoft announces Robotics @Home contest winner: a SmartTripod that can follow you
It's had quite a run, but Microsoft's months-long Robotics @Home Competition finally came to close this past weekend at the Bay Area Maker Faire. Taking home the title (and a $10,000 prize) was Arthur Wait for his SmartTripod, a robotic assistant that relies on Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 4, the Eddie development platform and, of course, a Kinect to follow a person around and handle camera duties in a natural manner -- or "almost as though a human was holding the camera," as Wait puts it. Just how well does it work? You can get a look at the robot itself and the results it's able to provide in the videos after the break. Continue reading Microsoft announces Robotics @Home contest winner: a SmartTripod that can follow you
Gigabit Squared strikes deal to bring ultra high-speed broadband to six communities It's still way too early for anyone to start ditching their existing broadband connections, but it looks like a few more communities in the US will be getting some ultra high-speed broadband networks to call their own. Ohio-based Gigabit Squared announced today that it's secured $200 million in funding to bring gigabit-speed networks to up to six different communities -- communities that have unfortunately not yet been named. What we do know is that the communities will all be ones centered around research universities, which themselves will be partners in the Gig.U initiative (an effort that has already enlisted more than 30 institutions). As The New York Times reports, Gigabit Squared is currently in talks with the first university in line for the rollout, and it apparently plans to make more announcements about timing and participation "later this year." Continue reading Gigabit Squared strikes deal to bring ultra high-speed broadband to six communities
Google pumps cash into UK classrooms, will buy Arduino, Raspberry Pi sets for kids
Eric Schmidt has said that Google will make cash available through its investment into Teach First to buy Raspberry Pi and Arduino units for British schoolchildren. He was at the UK's Science Museum to talk about Mountain View's partnership with the charity, which puts top university graduates into schools to teach disadvantaged kids. The Android-maker wrote a cheque to fund over 100 places on the scheme, aiming to get bright computer scientists to reintroduce engineering principles to pupils. Mr. Schmidt hoped that with the right support, kits like the Raspberry Pi would do for this generation what the BBC Micro did three decades ago.
Julius Genachowski voices support for capped, tiered broadband FCC honcho Julius Genachowski has come out in favor of usage-based pricing for your broadband. At this year's Cable Show, he said that he supported the sort of usage caps that Comcast adopted last week and hoped that such plans would reduce costs for those who use less internet. Comcast's new pricing structure offers a 300GB monthly cap, after which point it'll charge users $10 for every extra 50GB used. We're not sure how this'll play out, but we suspect anyone with a Netflix or Hulu addiction might feel less than pleased this morning.
Samsung Omnia M stops off at the FCC, Europeans pine for the Focus 2
Samsung's Euro-centric Omnia M has finished its mandated saunter through the FCC. The Windows Phone for the old country will sport a 4-inch Super AMOLED display, 1GHz processor -- while the test documents reveal that it'll only carry a GSM and 3G radio, leaving the lucky few with LTE out in the cold. Now that it's passed the regulatory hurdle of being allowed into the US, we can hope that the company will soon start talking about when we can get our hands on one.
Obama tells government agencies to embrace mobile apps within a year
We already know the President has gone mobile -- and now he wants to take the rest of the government with him. President Obama has gone on the record ordering major federal agencies to jump on the mobile bandwagon, developing apps to increase public access to tax payer funded departments like education and healthcare. Said the President in a statement, "Americans deserve a government that works for them anytime, anywhere, and on any device." Obama has ordered the agencies to join the app revolution within the next 12 months.
TiVo shows off Pace-built XG1 six-tuner gateway DVR it plans to ship later this year
New add-on boxes that extend and supplement the functionality of existing Premiere DVRs aren't all TiVo had to show off this week at the Cable Show in Boston, as it also demonstrated the fruits of its new partnership with Pace. The result is this XG1 gateway, a six-tuner DVR that's intended to be sold by TV providers and then hidden away in a closet, quietly distributing video to smart TVs or extenders located throughout the house. It runs TiVo's software with support for multi-room video, MoCA, mobile and tablet remote apps and at least 500GB of hard drive space inside. Since it hasn't announced any plans to bring this unit to retail we'll have to wait and see which providers decide to offer it when it becomes available in the Americas "later this year". Continue reading TiVo shows off Pace-built XG1 six-tuner gateway DVR it plans to ship later this year
Sony formally quits Sharp LCD joint venture, takes back every yen it invested
After Sony cut off its supply of capital to the ill-fated Sakai production plant that it jointly owns with Sharp, it became clear that the final goodbye may be little more than a formality. And here it is, in the form of a cold, resolute press release stating that Sony is selling its seven percent stake back to Sharp and taking back the 10 billion yen ($126 million) it originally invested. The only reason given is the "rapidly changing market for LCD panels and LCD televisions," which is a polite reference to the fact that profits from big TVs are well below what these companies predicted back in the heady days of 2008 and early 2009, when the impact of the global economic crisis loomed without yet being fully apparent. Fortunately for Sony, which is in the delicate stages of reform, the solid pre-nuptial agreement it had in place with Sharp should protect the company from having to revise its financial forecasts for the coming year -- not that those were particularly great in the first place. Continue reading Sony formally quits Sharp LCD joint venture, takes back every yen it invested
The future for Nokia PureView: Possible slimmer models and 'not necessarily a 41MP sensor'
Nokia's 808 PureView may not even be blasting retinas in stores just yet, but that doesn't mean those Finnish cameraphone obsessives aren't already cooking up a buffet of high-megapixel ideas for the future. Vesa Jutila, Head of Product Marketing for the incoming 808 PureView, said that there was plenty more high-spec digital imaging products in the pipeline. While he wasn't about to be drawn on specifics for any future Lumia-Pureview unions just yet, there were "multiple ways" that Nokia could run with its new imaging jewel. Slimmer models are a possibility, still containing high-end Zeiss optics and Nokia's oversampling techniques avoiding the need for optical zoom. He added that the next generation of Nokia camera sensors are already being worked on -- the 808 PureView was borne from an idea back in 2007. Jutila included one more soupçon of information: future PureView products "would not necessarily have the same 41-megapixel sensor" that we've been playing with recently.
France's Toulouse-Blagnac airport to conduct NFC field trials for BlackBerry smartphones
Navigating through airport security is hardly the most fanciful way of kicking off a vacation, but this summer, a handful of frequent fliers in France will take part in a field trial that aims to streamline the process and make it a bit more enjoyable. Fifty lucky travelers armed with BlackBerry smartphones will take part in a pilot study that tests the authentication technology recently developed by Orange and SITA. Upon their arrival at the Toulouse-Blagnac airport, the handset's NFC-capable SIM card will serve as an access pass to the car park, the premium access zone for departures and even the private lounge area. Smartphone integration will provide travelers with real-time flight information, and it's said that the handset will even remember the location of one's vehicle in the car park. As the system is hardware-based, the identity verification technology will even work when the smartphone is turned off. The Toulouse-Blagnac airport aims to have a broader NFC implementation available by 2013-2014, which may allow users to board flights and pay for goods with their mobile device. To learn more about the vision, you'll find the PR after the break. Continue reading France's Toulouse-Blagnac airport to conduct NFC field trials for BlackBerry smartphones
Navy plans ship-based LTE for close-quarters communication
Bandwidth is a precious commodity on military vessels. Ships in the US Navy fleet are generating more data, but the pipe it's getting pumped through isn't getting any larger. What's more, with limited connectivity options on the table, the sea-faring military wing is missing out on all the smartphone and app store fun. Rather than turn green with envy, or turning their dress whites is for camouflage cargo pants, the Navy is beefing up its mobile tech arsenal, beginning with the U.S.S. Kearsarge, U.S.S. San Antonio and U.S.S. Whidbey Island. The ships will serve as test beds for a nautical LTE system, with a range of about 25 miles. The 4G network will serve as a localized platform for wirelessly feeding data to sailors, as well as a way for the enlisted to connect to the outside world. On the backend, the Marines are working on a new satellite broadband service that should be able to provide ships with 300 megabits of shared bandwidth. Satellite internet and off-grid LTE might induce yawns in some, but they're certainly a major part of modernizing our fighting forces. For more info, check out the source link.
Olympus adds 75mm f/1.8 portrait lens to Micro Four Thirds lineup
During our first encounter with the OM-D E-M5 in February, Olympus told us to expect several more lenses to launch throughout the year, including a 75mm f/1.8 variant suitable for portraits and a splash- and dust-proof 60mm f/2.8 macro. Well, that first optic will be coming sooner than you may have thought -- it's expected to hit stores this summer with an estimated price tag of $900. The lens offers a 150mm 35mm-equivalent focal length when paired with a Micro Four Thirds camera, and consists of 10 elements in nine groups, including three ED elements that assist with correcting aberrations. Everything else you need to know can be found in the PR after the break. Continue reading Olympus adds 75mm f/1.8 portrait lens to Micro Four Thirds lineup
Fujifilm M-Mount Adapter brings Leica lenses to the X-Pro1
It's not the cheapest, and it's not the first, but if you've been holding out on picking up an M-Mount adapter for your X-Pro1 with the hope that Fujifilm with launch a Leica-friendly accessory of its own, your patience does appear to have paid off. The camera maker just announced its very own M-Mount Adapter, featuring a 27.8mm distance between the lens mount and the sensor, an aluminum and stainless steel construction, and three levels of distortion correction. After you upgrade your camera firmware to version 1.10 (or later), you'll have access to an advanced M-Mount Adapter Settings menu, which utilizes pre-registered lens profiles and corrections. The software includes presets for 21mm, 24mm, 28mm and 35mm Leica lenses, leaving two additional slots for adding your own settings. You'll need to hang in there for a few more weeks -- the M-Mount Adapter is expected to ship for $200 in June. There's full specs in the PR after the break. Continue reading Fujifilm M-Mount Adapter brings Leica lenses to the X-Pro1
Back when it was unveiled at IFA 2011, Sammy's famed phablet was more of an attractive oddity than sure hit. Skip to now, and that 5.3-incher's not only taken the European continent by storm, it's also made inroads onto these American shores via AT&T. In keeping with the open source embrace begun last October, the OEM's once again offering up the device's kernel code, this time for the skinned ICS OS unlocked versions currently run. Devs and the amateur hackers that love them should make haste and hit up the source below to get cracking on this latest software nut.
Microsoft takes Bing Streetside offline in Germany, privacy complaints to blame
Germany is notoriously privacy-minded, and services like Facebook's Friend Finder and Google's Street View have come under scrutiny in the country's courts. The latest offender to raise Germany's ire is Bing Streetside, a Street View-style photo service. Microsoft took the feature offline in the country following complaints about how Streetside displays private homes. By default, houses are visible, though Microsoft conceals the images if users submit a complaint. Still, citizens were apparently unhappy with this process, which prompted the company to axe the service while it addresses those privacy concerns. There's always Street View if you need your fix of blurred-out Berlin buildings in the meantime.
In-store Xperia GX and SX video footage pops up online
While Japanese Xperia fans might have to wait a little while longer to get their hands on the Xperia GX and Xperia SX, how about some sample videos to make said extremities clammy in the meantime? So, they're not going to win any Oscars (unless there's a new category for "Best shaky in-store footage") any time soon, but the videos over the break give a taste of what we can expect from those 13- and 8-megapixel sensors. In time-honored Hollywood tradition, we're still wondering if the US remake will be just as good. Continue reading In-store Xperia GX and SX video footage pops up online
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It's still way too early for anyone to start ditching their existing broadband connections, but it looks like a few more communities in the US will be getting some ultra high-speed broadband networks to call their own. Ohio-based Gigabit Squared announced today that it's secured $200 million in funding to bring gigabit-speed networks to up to six different communities -- communities that have unfortunately not yet been named. What we do know is that the communities will all be ones centered around research universities, which themselves will be partners in the Gig.U initiative (an effort that has already enlisted more than 30 institutions). As The New York Times reports, Gigabit Squared is currently in talks with the first university in line for the rollout, and it apparently plans to make more announcements about timing and participation "later this year."
FCC honcho Julius Genachowski has come out in favor of usage-based pricing for your broadband. At this year's Cable Show, he said that he supported the sort of usage caps that Comcast adopted last week and hoped that such plans would reduce costs for those who use less internet. Comcast's new pricing structure offers a 300GB monthly cap, after which point it'll charge users $10 for every extra 50GB used. We're not sure how this'll play out, but we suspect anyone with a Netflix or Hulu addiction might feel less than pleased this morning.
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