What If Everything Was Finally Connected….
We all love our gadgets. We love our cool SMART phones, our flat screen 3D tvs, our cars that stream sattelite radio and play MP3s. Only a few short years ago most of this was just a dream and you could only see these things on TV. Imagine what will happen in 5 years? Or in 10? What if everything in our house, and outside, was completely interconnected. Imagine touch-screen TVs connected to our phones, to our mirrors, our phones to retail displays, to all the things we use and our everyday life. Now, when you're done imagining, check out Corning's vision of how this all will look in the near future at the link below. I think it's amazing!
Apple Unveils Sleeker, Prettier, Better iPad 2
The secret that almost everybody knew about already is out! Apple has announced the iPad 2!
There are a lot of new bells and whistles, and some of the same ones from before. The rundown is as follows:
- New
- Dual-core (not dueling) 1GHz A5 processor (twice as fast as the original iPad's processor)
- 9x faster graphics performance
- Specially designed cover ($39 for plastic, $69 for leather, each with 5 unique colors)
- Thinner form factor (33% thinner, coming in at 8.8 mm)
- HDMI out capable of 1080p (requires a $39 dongle)
- iOS 4.3
- Front facing camera (VGA, 30 fps)
- Rear-facing camera (720p, 30 fps, 5x digital zoom)
- Mobile hot spot capabilities (limited compatibility - iPhones only)
- Apps like Garage Band, iMovie, Photobooth, and FaceTime
- Old
- 1024 x 768 resolution
- $499 price tag
- Battery life of 10 hours
Most of these features are pretty self-explanatory, but the cover definitely needs a bit more 'splaining. During the iPad 2 event, Steve Jobs mentioned that the cover was developed alongside the iPad 2, in order to make sure it was fully compatible, while not hindering any aspect of the new, improved design. It uses magnets to adhere to the front display of the iPad 2, and uses a proximity sensor to put it to sleep when you cover the screen, or wake it up when you remove it. The side that faces the screen is made of microfiber, which keeps the display clean, and the other side will be either plastic or leather. The really interesting aspect of the cover, however, is that between the microfiber and plastic/leather, Apple has inserted 4 rigid panels. When folded, these panels turn the cover into a stand that can prop the iPad 2 up so that you can type, surf, watch movies, or game with ease.
The best part? It ships in 9 days. It'll be available on March 11th, starting at 5 pm.
For more information on the release and features, head on over to Engadget, Gizmodo, or any other gadget self-respecting tech site.
Sources: Engadget, 1
iPhone Security Breach Makes PDF Files Dangerous
A security bug was revealed today that poses a serious security problem for a number of Apple products. Apparently, if you are using an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad that runs iOS 3.1.2 or higher, you will be risking having your device hacked if you load a PDF file online.
Apparently, a clever hacker has hidden coding for a special program within a font that is present on some PDFs. When the device tries to load a tainted PDF file, the program can slip into your operating system and wreak havoc. The virus can delete files, record data that you input and then send it elsewhere, and even install other programs without your consent.
Unfortunately, since this problem has just been identified, there is no solution yet. Apple has said that they are already looking into the problem and will probably address it as soon as they figure out how to fix the problem. However, in the meantime, vulnerable users should refrain from accessing PDF files on their devices, and for those who fear they will forget, check out the source link to learn about a program you can install that will warn you before you open a PDF file.
Source: Gizmodo
Ultraviolet – A New Approach to Bringing Together All of Your Digital Video
Nowadays, watching tv shows and movies on your computer is becoming increasingly common. With the advent of high-quality, speedy streaming video sites (both legal and illegal), more and more people are turning to their computers, laptops, and mobile devices to catch the latest episode of their favorite show, or to watch the latest release on a night in. Whether it be through a smartphone, television, or even gaming consoles, more television is being watched by viewers on their own terms - when and where they want.
For the growing number of people that access their video through different channels like this, fragmentation can be a nuisance. By media fragmentation, I mean having a few movies queued up in your Netflix account via your PlayStation 3, the latest season of your favorite TV show on your laptop's hard drive, and that old HBO comedy special on your iPad.
This is exactly the sort of problem that a new service, called Ultraviolet, will be tackling. They plan on creating an online library which will offer all of a user's digital media in an online account, to be accessed whenever and wherever they need it. Featuring 58 companies, including Paramount Pictures, Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. and Sony Pictures Entertainment, Microsoft Corporation, Samsung Electronics, and NBC Universal and Comcast Corp. Notable companies that are missing from the lineup include Disney and Apple, who are working on and already have similar services in their product lines, respectively.
Once a customer has an account, all they will have to do will be to register the different devices they wish to be able to access their media on, and it'll be off to the races.
If successful, Ultraviolet plans on expanding their supported media to music, games, and even ebooks.
Source: Gizmodo, Businessweek
Apple Addresses iPhone 4 Antenna Issue in Press Conference, Offers Free Cases
Everyone knew that Apple's press conference today was coming, but nobody knew just what Steve Jobs would say. It was clear from the beginning that the press conference would address the widely publicized problem with antenna reception for the iPhone 4 (specifically, how holding it a certain way would kill reception) but how it would be acknowledged and the resulting actions taken by Apple to deal with the problem was not.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs started the conference by giving some statistics about the iPhone 4: 3 million sold in 3 weeks, and the title of #1 smartphone according to numerous tech sites, in addition to the highest customer satisfaction rating of any smartphone or iPhone. Next, the presentation showed a number of other smartphones (the BlackBerry Bold 9700, Droid Eris, and Samsung Omnia II) and demonstrated how they would similarly lose reception when held in a particular way.
Next, Jobs compared missed calls and returns of the iPhone 4 to those of the 3GS. Basically, downplaying the negative publicity and image that the press had created for the problem.
Once that was out of the way, Jobs explained what Apple would be doing to resolve the problem. As many people had suggested and predicted, the answer was... FREE CASES.
Since the problem with the antenna was the result of the user's skin shorting out two adjacent segments of the iPhone 4 antenna (which runs around the outer edge of the phone), the solution was a case that would provide insulation between the hand and the phone. Those unhappy with their purchase can return their undamaged iPhone 4's within 30 days, and everyone who has already bought a bumper will be refunded.
Damage control has been rendered, now the only thing that remains will be to see how the public and current iPhone 4 users will react.
Source: Engadget 1, 2
Japanese Billboards in Tokyo Can Now Scan Faces, Catering Their Displays Accordingly
Every day, we seem to be getting closer and closer to reaching the sort of accomplishments that were once only possible in movies. Today, we take another step closer, specifically towards Minority Report.
For those who may not remember or have not seen the film, one scene in Minority Report finds Tom Cruise walking through a shopping center, past holographic advertisements. The holograms feature people that stand there and greet you by name and refer to a past purchase you made, just by scanning your eyeball.
Although we haven't reached those extremes just yet, we have come pretty close. Tokyo now features a number of digital billboards that use cameras to recognize the faces of people walking by. While it can't identify them, it can tell their gender and accurately estimate their age, and change their display to fit the passerby.
People concerned about privacy need not be afraid, however, since the system will only save age and gender information, in an effort to gather data and analyze the demographic data for specific times during the day.
Source: Engadget, Physorg
Swiftkey’s Android Texting App READS YOUR MIND
Swiftkey is a developer that specializes in texting apps for smartphones. And their latest app, just released in beta, takes texting to a different level. It installs over your existing Android texting interface, and doesn't change the actual interface all that much.
It does, however, bring in a powerful new tool that really speeds up your texting-times, so you can spend minimal amounts of time being distracted by your phone as you drive. It employs a method of predicting what word you will type next. How does it do this? Well, it doesn't really read your mind, but it comes pretty close.
By analyzing your texting patterns (including past conversations, if you give the app permission), it compiles a list of words that you are likely to use, and suggests them as you type. And the longer it's installed, the more information it can analyze, and the better it gets at recognizing your texting patterns. Best of all, it's FREE to download off the Android Market.
Check out the video below to see just how much it can speed up a short text.
Microsoft’s New Battery Tech Makes +/- Problems Old News
It's not everyday that a commodity like the battery gets a totally new twist put upon it, so when Microsoft introduced its Instaload technology in a press release today, it was hard to not sit up and pay attention.
For decades, mankind has been shackled by the need to differentiate between the positive and negative sides, or terminals, of the battery. Whether it be for a flashlight, remote control, toy car, or even for a charger, it has always been necessary too look at the battery tray, figure out which end of the battery needs to go in first, and load it up. If you put a battery in backwards, whatever you are trying to use will invariably not work, and if you are trying to load a battery into a charger and do it incorrectly, you risk damaging the battery permanently. To most people, this is a minor nuisance, but in some industries and applications, this sort of annoyance can become a big problem, or even a risk.
Microsoft's InstaLoad technology hopes to solve all these problems by allowing you to stick a battery in however you want. Backwards, forwards, positive terminal up, negative terminal up - a battery that uses this new tech will work, regardless of its orientation. It will work for both disposable and rechargeable batteries, and for CR123, AA, AAA, C or D batteries.
Microsoft is confident that this technology will be incredibly useful to humanity, to the point that they are offering it without royalties.
As to it's possible applications, they think that it will be most useful for "...devices that require frequent battery swap-outs, are used in less-than-ideal environments or use several batteries. Industries that could greatly benefit from this type of timesaving technology based on their environments include law enforcement, military, construction, outdoor sporting and camping."
Source: Engadget
Google Rumored to Be Cooking Up Their Own Facebook
First off, it must be stated that much of the information currently circulating is not to be taken as gospel. They are only rumors for now. However, if they do turn out to be true, it could spell out big changes for the internet, Facebook, and all of it's users.
Yesterday, Digg creator Kevin Rose tweeted that he had heard from a credible source that Google was working on a project that would stand to compete with the mighty Facebook. Called "Google Me," it was tweeted to be up for release very soon.
Rose has since deleted the tweet, but former Facebook CTO Adam D'Angelo has also come forward, stating that he has gathered information from several credible sources, and that this is actually a big project at Google. Having missed the mark with Buzz and Wave, Google is now trying to stay ahead of Facebook's immense growth with their very own, stand-alone social media offering.
If it's true, it sounds promising, but at the same time, past failures must not be ignored. *coughORKUTcough*
Source: Alt.Engadget, Gizmodo
Light Bulbs to Feature “Lighting Facts” on Future Packaging
According to the Federal Trade Commission, starting in 2011, consumers will see a new twist on a familiar little box on light bulb packaging.
"Lighting Facts" will be printed on all light bulb packages starting mid-way through next year. Taking on the same format as "Nutrition Facts," the informational box will tell consumers the light bulbs':
- Brightness
- Energy Cost
- Life expectancy
- Appearance (whether the bulb gives off "warm" or "cool" light)
- Wattage
- Mercury Content
Although wattage (a measure of the bulb's energy use) will still be listed, the Lighting Facts will use lumens (a measure of the bulb's actual brightness) to differentiate brightness levels among light bulbs. The decision made by Congress to enforce the use of these new labels is aimed at helping consumers make more informed decisions when choosing between the different type of light bulbs presently available in stores, mainly incandescent, fluorescent, and LED bulbs.
Currently, incandescent bulbs use wattage as an indirect measure of brightness, while LEDs and fluorescent light bulbs use the more accurate (and appropriate) measure of lumens. While the wattage measure is more familiar to consumers, it doesn't prove to be appropriate when trying to compare different light bulbs.
Source: FTC, Gizmodo