Arthur Frommer takes brand back from Google, will keep guidebooks going
The tale of Google and Frommer's famed travel guides has taken another twist this evening.
Associated Press writer Beth Harpaz reports Arthur Frommer confirmed over the phone that he has retaken control of the brand from Google, and plans to continue publishing them in ebook and print formats, as well as maintaining the Frommers.com website. This comes after Google
acquired the brand from publisher Wiley in 2012, followed by
Skift.com's revelation
last month that it apparently intended to shut production of the books down.
We're told by a Google spokesperson (check after the break for the full statement) that it has integrated the content it acquired from Frommer's and Wiley into its products including Google+ Local, that it has transferred ownership back to the founder and that it will continue licensing content from him. Why things took this circuitous route right back to the man who started it all back in 1957 is unknown and terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but we're sure fans of the budget travel how-tos are happy to see Frommer's keep going.
[Image credit: Frommer's,
Facebook]
Filed under:
Google
Comments
Via: Skift
Source: Associated Press
Read More ...
Samsung partners with Best Buy to bring Experience Shops to 1,400 stores
Not content with a
gazillion Galaxy phone sales, Samsung is hoping to continue winning the smartphone war in one of the biggest battlegrounds any manufacturer can face: retail. The Korean OEM has partnered with
Best Buy to bring its Experience Shops to the big box retailer nationwide -- 1,400 of them by early summer (with 900 launching this month), to be precise. So what does Sammy hope to achieve? In addition to the standard shopping setup, the company wants to give customers the ability to actually use its products and get a first-hand feel of what they have to offer: phones, accessories, Smart TVs and tablets will be on display. Each shop will be manned by Samsung-employed consultants as well as specially trained Best Buy employees. This appears to be Samsung's way of offering a thorough retail experience without actually launching its very own stores across the country. It'll be interesting to see if it will be a more effective retail alternative to what companies like Apple and
Microsoft have adopted, but Samsung sure seems quite optimistic about its chances. Find the press release below for the full experience.
Filed under:
Cellphones,
Mobile,
Samsung
Comments
Read More ...
LG's 5-inch Optimus G Pro launches in Japan
South Korea gave the
Optimus G Pro a reasonably
warm reception after debuting, and now LG's hoping to pull off a similar victory in Japan. Those in the Land of the Rising Sun can now pick up the smartphone from
NTT DoCoMo. Though the handset bears the same name as its Korean counterpart, it forgoes a 5.5-inch 1080p display for a smaller 5-inch screen with the same resolution. In case you're in need of a refresher, the hardware runs Jelly Bean 4.1.2 on a 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600 Processor and 2GB of RAM flanked by a 3,000mAh battery, 13-megapixel rear shooter, 2.1-megapixel front-facing cam, 32GB of built-in memory and a microSD slot. LG still hasn't pinned down just when in Q2 the phone will launch in North America, but with a Japanese release behind it, a US arrival shouldn't be far off.
Filed under:
Cellphones,
LG
Comments
Source: LG Newsroom Korea (translated)
Read More ...
LG Optimus G on AT&T starts seeing Android 4.1.2 updates
Last month,
Sprint served up a dose of Jelly Bean for its variant of
LG's Optimus G, and today it appears that AT&T is following suit. We've received a flurry of tips and screenshots like the one above denoting that Ma Bell is slowly starting to trickle out Android 4.1.2 to its Optimus G owners. Seeking confirmation, we've reached out to AT&T and will provide an update of our own once we receive official word on the matter. Until then, if you're rocking an Optimus G on Big Blue's network, now might be the time to manually check your device for new software.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Filed under:
Cellphones,
Software,
Mobile,
AT&T
Comments
Read More ...
Detroit Electric reveals the SP:01 sports EV with stick shifting, traces of Tesla
Anyone who wanted a
Tesla Roadster but showed up too late to the party (
or too early) is about to get a second chance as soon as this year, if not quite in the way they expected. The
Detroit Electric badge has been restored once more for the SP:01, a high-speed EV that shares Tesla's early use of a
Lotus design -- albeit an Exige coupe this time, not an Elise. Its 201HP equivalent motor can also approximate the Roadster Sport's brisk 0-60MPH time of 3.7 seconds. That's roughly where the major similarities stop, however. The SP:01 should have a shorter range (around 180 miles on a European cycle) and will take a longer 4.3 hours to charge up from a 240V source, but it will cater to enthusiasts with a lighter carbon fiber body, a higher 155MPH top speed and even the choice of a manual transmission. Detroit Electric goes so far as to include a clutch, although stick shifters won't have to use it when starting or stopping. Just be ready to pony up in short order if you like the SP:01's notion of electric revivalism: only 999 examples of the $135,000 car will roll off the line after production starts in August.
Filed under:
Transportation
Comments
Via: Autoblog
Source: Detroit Electric
Read More ...
Chrome 26 for Android gets stable release with autofill and password syncing
Perpetually forgetful Android users no longer have to adopt a
Chrome beta to coordinate their lives. Just a month after the test version of Chrome 26 arrived with
autofill and password syncing, its stable version has appeared with the same option to remember form and login details between supporting desktop and mobile Chrome builds. There's no talk of the
SPDY-based proxy, however: aside from tune-ups, the syncing is the main highlight. That's still enough for us to justify swinging by Google Play for the update.
Filed under:
Cellphones,
Software,
Mobile,
Google
Comments
Via: Chrome Releases
Source: Google Play
Read More ...
Visualized: Seattle Mariners unveil 'largest screen in Major League Baseball'
This week, the Seattle Mariners showed off a new 3,840 x 1,080, surface-mount LED display at Safeco Field -- one the team's PR department touts as the "largest in Major League Baseball and among the largest in all of sports." At 201.5 feet wide by 56.7 feet tall, its surface area of 11,425 square feet places it behind massive screens at Charlotte Motor Speedway (16,000 square feet) and
Cowboys Stadium (11,520 square feet). That's good enough, the team said, to rank as the third-largest sports-venue display in North America and surpasses
Kauffman Stadium's HD scoreboard as the largest in baseball. Roughly 1,200 individual panels make up the screen, offering a total of 4,147,200 pixels -- more pixels than the 2.6-megapixel Cowboys Stadium display, the team pointed out.
To feed their new HD beast, the team revamped its video control room and upgraded to high-def cameras throughout the stadium. A 64-bit operating system called VisionSOFT allows the team to mix in multiple video sources, from in-house animations and HD video feeds to out-of-town footage from broadcast partners. All told, the HD upgrade required about 3,000 each feet of power, video coax and Cat5 cables. Along with showing ads, stats and replays, the team will take advantage of the HD resolution to display social media updates from fans during games via Twitter, Google+ and other sources.
You can check out more shots of the new screen in action after the break.
Filed under:
Displays,
HD
Comments
Read More ...
Purple Samsung Galaxy S III coming to Sprint on April 12th for $99
Last month, a purple Galaxy S III
first reared its regal-hued exterior accompanied by claims that it would launch on Sprint sometime in April. Tonight, a tipster sent a screenshot our way that's pegged the aubergine handset for an April 12th release on the Now Network. With the help of a $50 mail-in rebate, you'll be able to pick up the 16GB variant of the smartphone for $99 on a two-year contract. Finally, a phone that'll match our
impeccable taste in handheld gaming consoles.
Filed under:
Cellphones,
Mobile,
Samsung
Comments
Read More ...
Nokia Music for WP8 now keeps track of listening history, adds Live Tile feature
Human beings living their mobile life under Microsoft's OS have been enjoying the
Nokia Music service for awhile now, but for the
Windows Phone 8 folk in particular, the groovy app just got a little better. Earlier today, Nokia released an updated version of its
jam-packed application, giving users, among other things, a
Live Tile option that displays various info about the music currently being played -- you know, simple (but useful) stuff like artist and song names. What's more, Nokia Music now also boasts a history feature which takes virtual note of the most recently played tracks, as well as bringing improvements to the download section of the app's mix radio stations. If all that jazz sounds great to you, dear reader, then pay the source link below a quick visit, where you'll easily find a direct download of the goods.
Filed under:
Cellphones,
Portable Audio/Video,
Software,
Mobile,
Microsoft,
Nokia
Comments
Source: Windows Phone
Read More ...
Deezer for Android gets redesign, predictive search function in new beta version
With services like its own
App Studio, Deezer's already presented how it feels about mobile as the way forward. And, in order to keep the trend going, the
music streaming service is now releasing a beta version of its Android application, giving that
ever-growing subscriber base quite a few nifty features to enjoy before going completely mainstream. In this beta form, Deezer for Android sports an all-new design which, as the outfit notes, is laid out to make it "faster than ever before" to discover new artists. Furthermore,
Deezer added a built-in, fixed mini player that provides music controls while outside of the app's main interface, and there's now also a predictive search trait which, you guessed it, anticipates what's about to be typed in hopes of making it easier to find the artist / song you're looking for. Like to think of yourself as an early adopter? Well, look no further than the source link below if you're looking to increase your reputation as such.
Filed under:
Portable Audio/Video,
Software,
Mobile
Comments
Source: Deezer
Read More ...
Google Now update adds real-time package tracking, faster search results
Have an Android smartphone running
Jelly Bean? You might have come across
Google Now, the search giant's information hub that aggregates personalized content from your inbox, calendar and GPS. Now, an updated version of Google's Android app, which hit Play today, adds a few more features to the mix. The latest revision brings real-time package tracking from certain carriers, assuming a tracking number arrived in your inbox, a new info option that provides a basic settings readout, and faster Google search results. You should be able to snag these additions right now -- simply update your Google Search app to take advantage.
Filed under:
Cellphones,
Software,
Mobile,
Google
Comments
Via: Droid Life
Source: Google Play
Read More ...
Google forks WebKit with Blink, a new web engine for Chromium and Chrome
You could call
WebKit the glue that binds the modern web: the rendering engine powers Apple's Safari, Google's Chrome, and many mobile browsers
past and
present. Things are about to unstick a little. Google believes that
Chromium's multi-process approach has added too much complexity for both the browser and WebKit itself, so it's creating a separate, simpler fork named Blink. Although the new engine will be much the same as WebKit at the start, it's expected to differ over time as Google strips out unnecessary code and tweaks the underlying platform. We'd also expect it to spread, as the company has confirmed to us that both Chrome and
Chrome OS will be using Blink in the future. We're safely distant from the Bad Old Days of wildly incompatible web engines, but the shift may prove a mixed blessing -- it could lead to more advancements on the web, but it also gives developers that much more code to support.
Filed under:
Internet,
Software,
Google
Comments
Source: Chromium Blog
Read More ...
The Daily Roundup for 04.03.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Comments
Read More ...
This is the Modem World: When we Google too much
Each week Joshua Fruhlinger contributes This is the Modem World, a column dedicated to exploring the culture of consumer technology.
Our cat Mischa is ill, and I am sad. But sadness is only one of the things I am feeling. Because of technology and the internet, I am angry, frustrated and a little bit freaked out.
Here's why.
Filed under:
Internet,
Google
Comments
Read More ...
Panasonic Lumix GF6 passes through Taiwan certification with WiFi
Panasonic's support for WiFi in its Micro Four Thirds cameras has so far skewed toward
the high end. Thanks to a new filing at Taiwan's National Communications Commission, though, we know the entry level should be covered as well. The regulator has been looking at a DMC-GF6 camera with with built-in WiFi, hinting that the
Lumix GF5's sequel will make networking one of its centerpiece upgrades. Other clues aren't quite as forthcoming -- there's nothing imaging-related at the NCC, so we don't know if the GF6 is an optical revolution or another subtle refresh. It's mostly safe to presume that Panasonic will watch out for
celebrity leaks this time around.
Filed under:
Cameras
Comments
Via: Engadget Chinese (translated)
Source: VR-Zone (translated)
Read More ...
Gmail autocomplete updated with search history and contact thumbnails
Building off of last year's
Gmail enhancements, Google is rolling out improved autocomplete predictions that display terms from your previous email searches. In addition to referencing your old inbox explorations, results now display thumbnails of people in your contact list. These useful new features are being issued to all Gmail users over the next few days, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled.
Filed under:
Software,
Google
Comments
Source: Google
Read More ...
BlackBerry Z10 users can Gogo to Delta for free in-flight WiFi
Dangling WiFi-carrot meet your
BlackBerry-made stick: the
Z10. Perhaps because its user base has traditionally courted strong enterprise support -- a lot that typically overlaps with the jet set -- BlackBerry's offering an incentive to adopters of its BB 10 pearl, granting
gratis Gogo-powered internet access for all domestic
Delta flights. The best part? Latching onto that free WiFi is as simple as logging in and firing up the browser on your Z10 when it's "safe to use your electronic devices." Will this tip your hand and get you to switch to BB 10? Probably not, but it's the sort of pot sweetening that should keep BlackBerry's (moneyed) customers around for the long-haul.
[Thanks, Jared]
Filed under:
Cellphones,
Internet,
Mobile,
Blackberry
Comments
Source: BlackBerry
Read More ...
Researchers wrangle microscopic particles with sonic lasso
When you think about it, scientists and cowboys have a lot in common. Both are frontiersmen of a sort, both wear clothes that make them easy to identify and now they both count lassos among their essential tools. Researchers at the University of Bristol and the University of Dundee have wrangled small particles and cells by using a sonic (or ultrasonic) vortex. The whirl of sound waves allowed the teams to catch, move and orient microscopic particles, all without actually contacting them physically, which makes the solution ideal for handling delicate material. Professor Bruce Drinkwater from Bristol even suggested it could one day be used to assemble human tissue (custom assembled livers, anyone?). The sonic lasso is quite a bit more complex and less portable than its rope-based cousin, involving a circular device with 16 sources of acoustic waves. If you're looking for more technical details you'll find a link to the recently published paper titled,
Dexterous manipulation of microparticles using Bessel-function acoustic pressure fields at the source.
Filed under:
Science,
Alt
Comments
Via: Phys.org
Source: University of Bristol
Read More ...
Disney halts game development at LucasArts, moves to licensed Star Wars titles
If you're old enough to have played PC games for more than a decade,
LucasArts (originally LucasFilm Games) likely has a permanent place in your heart after a string of legendary adventure and flight combat releases. You'll unfortunately have to put the company as you knew it squarely in the past --
Lucasfilm's new owner, Disney, is ending internal development at LucasArts. The software house is shifting to a licensing model for
Star Wars games, reportedly "minimizing the company's risk" while expanding the range of games on offer. There's a chance that in-progress titles like
Star Wars 1313 will survive with outside help, according to a spokesperson in touch with
GameInformer, but talk of layoffs from
Kotaku dampens any chances for direct follow-ups to favorites like
Grim Fandango. We won't mourn too much when personas like Ron Gilbert, Lawrence Holland and Tim Schafer have long since moved on to other companies -- still, it's unquestionably the end of an era for game and movie fans alike.
Filed under:
Gaming,
Software
Comments
Via: Joystiq
Source: GameInformer (1),
(2)
Read More ...
Canon outs VIXIA HF G30 camcorder with premium optics, XA20 and XA25 for pros (updated)
While the image of the amateur
camcorder user still revolves around a parent recording baby's first steps, Canon knows that at least some of us want high-quality footage without venturing too far into
pro camera territory. Witness its new
VIXIA HF G30, which rolls in image quality and control that are still rare outside of big shoulder-mounted cams. It includes a larger CMOS sensor than its ancestors, a new DIGIC DV 4 processor and an equally fresh 20X (26.8-536mm equivalent), f/1.8 lens; together, they should cut back on visual artifacts, improve stabilization and produce a gentler depth of field effect. Canon is also expanding its WiFi support to include DSLR-like remote control of the camcorder through the web browsers of most modern devices. The upgrade rounds out with a handful of firsts specific to the G series, such as dual recording in AVCHD and MP4 as well as a 3.5-inch, OLED touchscreen. Be prepared to sacrifice some time and money for the upgrade in home video quality, though -- Canon doesn't ship the HF G30 until June, when it will cost a not-quite-pro-level $1,700.
If you really do make a living from moving pictures, Canon also has a pair of compact pro models that share the same underlying technology. Both the XA20 and XA25 (pictured after the break) carry the same 20X lens, DIGIC DV 4 processing, WiFi and OLED display as their home-oriented cousin, but throw in pro-level expansion such as XLR microphone inputs and holders, independent audio level adjustment and (on the XA25) SDI connectors. The two will ship later in June and should carry premiums that lift their official prices up to $2,699 and $3,199, although we're seeing them on Canon's site for $500 less -- we've reached out and will let you know how much they cost in practice.
Update: Canon tells us that the real pricing sits in between. The XA20 will cost $2,499, while it will take $2,999 to call an XA25 your own.
Filed under:
Cameras,
Canon
Comments
Source: Canon (1),
(2),
(3)
Read More ...
Twitter revamp brings native experience to Android, expanded Card content
We already knew
Twitter was planning on
expanding its Card content to include app, gallery and product info. But the company apparently had another sweeping change waiting in the wings: a UI refresh for Android version 4.0 and up. The update, which is currently rolling out to users, aims to bring the
140 characters or less experience more in line with native Android design (hello! Holo). To that end, the new layout enlarges the size of tweets displayed in the timeline, incorporates long-presses for "quick actions," and adds an ability to swipe left or right to parse through navigation tabs. As for that new Card integration, it's live now, so users on Android, iOS and Twitter's mobile site should be seeing those tweaks soon.
Filed under:
Cellphones,
Software,
Mobile
Comments
Source: Twitter
Read More ...
Rdio introduces streaming site Vdio, provides yet another on-demand video service to online viewers
We'd heard murmurs about
Vdio being eventually launched over in the United Kingdom, but, aside from that, details still remained relatively scarce. Well, now we have official word that Rdio's planning to make it its own platform for streaming à la carte
video content -- and, frankly, it's no surprise given that Vdio's creator, Janus Friis, is the music service's own co-founder. For starters, Vdio will offer an array of on-demand movies and TV series, including new productions such as
Zero Dark Thirty,
Life of Pi, Skyfall and many more
, plus there are also small-screen hits like
The Walking Dead,
Breaking Bad and Homeland-- these shows, similar to how they operate on other services, will be available to view the day after they air. The only caveat is Vdio's currently only open to Rdio Unlimited subscribers in the US and UK, and mum's the word on when, or if,
Rdio plans to bring its new video streaming service to a broader audience on the web.
Filed under:
Internet,
Software
Comments
Via: The Next Web
Source: Vdio
Read More ...
Slickdeals' best in tech for April 3rd: Sony Alpha SLT-A57K kit and 39-inch Sharp AQUOS HDTV
Looking to save some coin on your tech purchases? Of course you are! In this round-up, we'll run down a list of the freshest frugal buys, hand-picked with the help of the folks at Slickdeals. You'll want to act fast, though, as many of these offerings won't stick around long.
In another HD-heavy installment of our twice-weekly gadget deals, a 39-inch
Sharp HDTV and Yamaha home theater receiver look to outfit those living rooms. Of course, a few other options hit the list too -- like a
Sony Alpha A57 digital SLR. The full 5-pack of picks is waiting on the other side of the jump, complete with purchase links and the required coupon codes.
Filed under:
Cameras,
Home Entertainment,
Portable Audio/Video
Comments
Source: Slickdeals
Read More ...
AMS detects excess of positrons, could suggest existence of dark matter
We've been
waiting with bated breath all afternoon to find out what NASA, MIT and the Department of Energy has observed with the
Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer. Well, we still don't quite understand the exact nature of
dark matter, but highly precise measurements of positron fraction (the ratio of positrons to electrons and protons) do bring us a small step closer to proving the existence of the theoretical material. The AMS found a small excess of positrons coming from all directions instead of a single source. That could indicate the
presence of dark matter, which is believed to generate the antimatter particles when it collides and annihilates itself. As usual though, this is far from conclusive. The excess of positrons could be caused by a number of cosmic phenomenon, including pulsars, but researchers are hopeful that further testing will narrow down the possibilities. Those of you hoping for direct and obvious evidence of dark matter may be a little disappointed, but let's be honest -- you were being overly optimistic. Besides, don't you want some mysteries left to solve? For more information, check out the PR after the break.
Filed under:
Science,
Alt
Comments
Read More ...
Fujitsu touch interface detects fingers on real objects, adds digital details to print
Bringing touch interfaces to real-world objects often involves putting hardware either
inside the item or
in front of it, neither of which is especially natural. Fujitsu has developed a control system that could eliminate those obstructions and bring digital interaction to many surfaces, even to old-fashioned paper. Its multi-camera approach can distinguish between objects on a table and the exact positions of a user's fingers, right down to fingertip outlines; it's accurate enough to scan text from a book as you drag your finger along the page. The system really comes alive, however, when its projector is involved. Besides providing visual feedback, the image overlay allows for both control of purely digital objects and interfaces tailored to real-world items. The company imagines brochures or maps that pop up extra details, among numerous other examples. While we wonder how long the technology will remain useful when there's an ongoing push to go
paperless, Fujitsu sees enough practicality that it's anticipating a product in its fiscal 2014. That doesn't leave long until we can get a very literal hands-on.
Filed under:
Displays,
Peripherals
Comments
Via: The Verge
Source: Fujitsu
Read More ...
Available Tags:
Samsung ,
LG ,
Android ,
Chrome ,
Galaxy ,
Nokia ,
Google ,
Panasonic ,
Gmail ,
BlackBerry ,
Canon ,
Twitter ,
Sony ,
Sharp ,
Fujitsu ,
No comments:
Post a Comment