They tell us it was ready to be launched, and everything was on track... and then the blaming game starts.
Looks like Apple will be laughing for the rest of the day, and they'll have one less tablet to worry about should they ever decide to launch their fabled iTablet.
They show up all around, ones more common, other not so... Who hasn't seen the ever present ampersand (&)?
What about the pilcrow, the section sign (§), the hedera, and even the lovely asterisk(*)?
They all exist for a reason, and their evolution along history is quite interesting, for example the "&" and, began as the latin et, and evolved like this:
Now that we're approaching a new Christmas season and a new New Year, it's time for people to use their digital cameras even more intensively.
That's why we once again have to deal with memory cards and - worst of all - memory cards filled with irreplaceable photos.
So, how do you manage your photos? Do you buy extra memory cards to handle all the shots? Do you carry a laptop around to manage it all?
If none of that works for you: how about acquiring a small portable device that can automatically copy your memory card contents to its internal hard disk?
A device like this Ex-Pro P2S Sata "Picture 2 Drive" allows you to transfer all your photos to its internal 2.5" Sata disk. No more nuying expensive large capacity memory cards, nor carrying your precious laptop around with you at all times.
And best of all, it has a very attractive price: on Amazon you can find it for about 40 Euros (device only) or 80 euros with a 250GB hard drive included.
No matter how good the iPhone might be, it is constantly plagued by not allowing background apps to run continuously.
Thankfully, that's something that has already be fixed by 3rd party developers, if you happen to have your iPhone jailbroken. With the backgrounder app and this multifl0w switching back and forth between multiple running apps becomes a cinch.
If one monitor isn't enough for you (and nowadays, it never is) but you're nott willing to face those distracting screen bezels between monitors, here's something you might want to consider:
This Ostendo CRVD curved monitor gets rid of the bezel and gives you twice the regular widescreen area you get on any other screen. You get a 43" 32:10 screen with no string attached (other than the $6,499 price tag.)
Behind the scenes you have DLP projectors offering you a reolution of 2880x900.
And if one looks good... how about 3 of these side by side? Just check the following video! :)
That would be a really nice Christmas gift indeed. :)
This helps understand why the "real" Chrome OS will only be available pre-installed in select devices - those will be highly optimized for instant-on, with customized BIOS and flash-based Chrome OS installs. You'll be able to get to the web in a couple of seconds.
For everyone else, you'll be able to toy around with Chromium, or simply use the Chrome Browser in your regular operating system just like we've done till now.
As you'd expect for a could based OS security is a major point, with auto-checking on every boot to ensure the system wasn't tampered with, and transparent daily updates without you having to worry about it.
How does Chrome OS affects our future?
Although you'll be able to use Chrome OS in "offline" mode (seeing cached videos, reading and writing emails, etc.) no one denies it really needs "always-on" internet connectivity to truly shine.
This might be something some people will point as a major flaw - but let's speak frankly... Doesn't that happen right now? How do you feel when you turn on your computer and have no internet? It suddenly seems like your computer is kind of useless, doesn't it? So... that's the real issue: most of us simply can't live without Internet anymore - no matter what OS we're using.
Other will say there are a lot of thing you simply cannot do inside a web broswer window. Well, allow me to tell you that simply isn't true anymore. There's is nothing you can't do inside a browser window. You can watch HD video, you can use multitouch interfaces, you can do image editing rivaling Photoshop, you can do video editing, you can play high quality 3D games - either locally or via streaming - you can even run a virtual OS inside your browser window! And with newer HTML implementations and even faster javascript, things will only get better (not to mention all the possible plugins you might use: flash/silverlight/etc - if needed.)
Chrome OS is only a tool, the real revolution will be these Web Apps becoming our main Apps for everything we do.
As lots of other computer users have had the chance to see, it's time for iMac Apple users to enjoy the amazing performance brought by Intel's Core i7 CPU to the new iMacs.
To put it into perspective, DVD ripping with Handbrake which took 147 minutes in a 3.06Ghz Core 2 Duo iMac, now only takes 43 minutes in a 2.8Ghz Core i - impressive!.
One of the features that makes the i7 CPUs so amazing is the "Turbo mode", allowing it to overclock some of the cores when the other ones are idling:
Imagine your Android "Droid" phone can't shoot straight, with all your photos resulting in not-that-artistic out of focus ness. Now imagine that sometimes it does that consistently, but after a few weeks it's back to normal... and again busted after some more weeks.
That's exactly what's been plaguing the Motorola Droid.
But now the real reason for that was found. It's a rounding bug that messes with the auto-focus system, and makes it work fine (or not) in a 24.5 day cycle! So... just pray you're in a "good month" if you have to take some photos before they fix it for good.
(Well, let's not forget the iPhone had a bug that caused some odd-sized panoramic photos to crash the photo browser and camera, and that was fixed only recently.)
Searching for images is becoming increasingly easy with these new features Google offers us from time to time. Now, they've introduced Google Image Swirl.
Stacking similar images that you can then easily navigate through, this new lab feature is certainly attractive.
This Image Swirl is an evolution of the similar image feature that also began as a Labs experiment and later graduated to "full feature."
Google Phone about to arrive?
Remember all the buzz surrounding the mythical Google Phone? It all quiet down when it was announced it was really a platform (Android) and that there were to be lots of different phones using it.
But now it all seems to be back. You might actually get a Google Phone, which would be a "high-end" super-Android phone made by HTC (or other manufacturer) according to Google Specs.
Considering MS has been pressuring manufacturers to keep having "appealing" phone models in exclusive "Windows Mobile-only" I think it's only fair for Google to do the same and offer us a mouth-watering device combining great looks with even greatest hardware!
If you're looking for a small (and stylish) computer you can use as an HTPC, check this Dell Zino HD.
Albeit small and relatively cheap (starts at $229) these Zinos hold some surprises inside. Instead of the traditional Intel Atom CPUs that would struggle in more demanding applications (such as playing HD video) the Zino relies on AMD CPUs, which you can upgrade up to a 1.8Ghz AMD Athlon Neo X2 6850e, and a maximum of 8GB RAM. You also get a dedicated ATI Radeon HD 4330 graphic card with 512MB, an optional Bluray drive, and up to 1TB HDD.
Looks like this little fellow won't have any trouble digging through anything you throw at it.
If you can't stand being away from the latest videogame news, then you'll definitely have to check thei GameCenter App for the iPhone.
You can sort through games and news for the Wii, PS 3, Xbox, PS 2, DS, PSP, etc. and even check out the controls for the games (something that comes in handy when replaying old games.)
This Sunday, I'll be talking about accessibility, because not everyone can "surf" through the web (or the real world) as easily as most of us do, and a simple image, sound, ou improperly placed tag can become a major hurdle for someone with impaired vision, sight, or motor abilities.
Let's start with the:
Intel Reader
I know eBooks are all the rage right now, but considering how some "stupid" rights management issues are - making it impossible for you to listen to an ebook reader, for instance - maybe it's not such a bad idea to stick with the plain old paper books for a while longer.This Intel Reader scans and does OCR on it, and reads it back aloud.
It's a pity it costs $1,500 USD! As I find it hard to believe you wouldn't be able to do the same with the hardware you get in a $350 netbook.
Visually impaired Google search
Google has a visually impaired search page allowing you to quickly and easily browse through search results using the keyboard and better integrated with screen readers.
It's an experimental feature for accessibility enhancements but it might be worth it - try it out.
Freedom Leg - crutches B-gone
If you ever had to hop around in crutches, see how much better you'd be with one of there Freedom Leg devices. With the billions spent in medical research each year, why didn't they come up with this sooner?
Speaking without Talking
If speaking is no problem for most of us (some might even have a problem not speaking!) there are thousands of people out there where every single word is a pain.
Thanks to Audeo they'll soon be able to speak just by thinking about it. The tiny electrical impulses from your brain will be picked up by an electronic device and spoken alound by a digital voice.
I can already imagine a cell phone manufacturer wanting to use this technology to power up their hands-free device. Imagine to be able to talk on your cellphone in the middle of a restaurante (or even inside a movie theater) without anyone listening to you! :)
Painting with you Eyes
Thanks to the EyeWriter, which you can build yourself using cheaply available components like PS3's EyeCam even paralyzed people can interact with a computer using their eyes.
From the company that brought us DualHead and Triple Head graphic cards, let me now present you the newest Matrox Octal Graphic Card:
This M9188 PCIex16 can be connected to eight monitors, with resolutions of up to 2560x1600 each (using DisplayPort; if you use DVI you'll be limited to single-link resolutions of up to1920x1200) allowing you to have a setup like this on your desk:
I think I could get used to it pretty fast... now I just need to free some space to put all those monitors... :)
Esquire Magazine keeps trying all the new technnologies.
After using digital ink last year, now it's time to up the ante and use the latest buzzword: augmented reality.
With a computer and a webcam, its pages pop up to life in 3D:
Location History does just what you'd expect, it keeps track of where you are.
Why would you be interested in keeping a log of where you're going? That's where the Location Alerts kick in:
These alerts allow you to be notified whenever a friend is nearby. But wait, there's more. By knowing your location habits (your home and work location, etc.) Latitude is intelligent enough to only trigger those alerts when they're meaningful. After all, who wants to be notified every single time your coworker gets to work, or your neighbor friend gets home?
So, you'll only be notified when you're at an unusual location at an unusual time. Sounds good to me... Now all I need is Location actually working on the iPhone!
Some news about Dropbox. Finally they got to move from the old getdropbox url to the more appealing Dropbox.com
And if you haven't installed the Dropbox App for the iPhone yet, because you still had OS 3.0 (the App needed OS 3.1) now you can do it - the Dropbox App now supports OS 3.0 which means many more people are able to use it.
One of the most common annoyances of mobile/netbook users is that high definition video - particularly the one streamed through a Flash player - isn't as smooth as it's supposed to be.
Well, thanks to this media accelerator chip ZiiLABS ZMS-08, upcoming gadgets should have no problema dealing with it: it allows encoding and decoding of FullHD 1080p video at 24fps, HD video conference with 720p simultaneous encoding/decoding, 3D supports with Open GL ES 2.0, integrated HDMI, X-Fi audio, and last but not least: Flash acceleration support!
You'll find it in "web tablets, netbooks, and connected TVs" next year.
Want a small and light ultraportable laptop to hang around with you all day; but can't stand the lame performance these devices have when it comes to play 3D intensive games when you're back home?
Looks like you need one of these Gigabyte Booktop M1305 with an external graphic card in the docking station:
When alone, this Booktop relies on its Core 2 DuoCPU , 4GB of DDR3, 320 or 500GB hard drive, and an integrated GMA 4500MHD graphic chip feeding its 1,366 x 768 LCD - but when you connect it to its docking station, you then have the full power of an NVIDIA GeForce GT220 chip at your command.
If you regularly use a mobile device, you'll surely find there's often some missing features you'd very much like to have.
Well... wait no longer, check this amazing Dolphin browser for the Android, that mixes social skills with other interesting features suitable for the mobile life (such as a very useful read it later.)
If you think autonomous robotized cars are boring, let me let you in on a little secret: this Audi TT not only holds the record for the fastest autonomous car (at 130mph), it is also set to heat up the competition in the breathtaking Pikes Peak hill climbing race.
Will rally drivers begin to worry about driverless cars beating their records? :)
To see what this Audi robot will have to beat, check the following video:
Don't tell me you've never wanted to do something like this. Ever since James Bond drove his car using his Nokia, people have been dreaming of doing the same thing. And now, you can do it for real with an iPhone.
How long you imagine it will take till car manufacturers start offering this as an option in their vehicles? :)
Google may have started as a "simple" search engine - but today it hosts multiple services we've grown dependent on. In fact, it's no secret it can sometimes become messy trying to manage it all... But thankfully, Google has lend a hand:
I present you Google Dashboard - a service that allows you to manage all your Google-related services in one single page.
This global control panel can be reached at https://www.google.com/dashboard/ and it greatly simplifies your Google service management: Blogs, Gmail, Picasa, Contacts, Tasks, Calendar, Google Reader, location on Latitude, etc. etc.
Rumors say it has something to do with the manufacturing costs - it was initially set to cost $200... then it went up to $300, and some even said it had to cost $400 at least.
While we're all still waiting for official comments, some also say they're simply waiting for Google's ChromeOS to be ready - and although that would be a match made in heaven, I'm not sure if that's really it.
As matter of fact, I'd like to propose a new rumor: maybe they're just waiting for Apple to announce the fabled iTablet, and the steal all the thunder by announcing the CrunchPad at 1/5th the price!
After english and japanese, the third language to gain official support in Twitter is... spanish.
Next in line is German, French, and Italian... but I can't help but feel a bit jealous why they always forget about my native language: Portuguese - people seem to forget its the 7th language with most native speakers in the world, above German, French and Italian...)
What if your trusted iPhone suddenly demanded 5 euros in exchange for upgraded security?
It's not an April's fool joke, it happened in the Netherlands when someone hacked into a large number of jailbroken iPhones and replaced their background images with a warning message requesting a 5 euro donation for instructions to get it back to its former self.
The security flaw was: most jailbroken iPhone users didn't change the default root password, and that leaves them vulnerable to attack.
Fortunately there are already instructions on how to recover and protect your hacked iPhone.
1. Get an SSH program like putty for windows.
2. SSH to your iPhone. (If you haven't done that before it may take a while, and after that there might come a warning about a key fingerprint. You can just accept that). Login using username "root" and password "alpine". (this is the default password)
3. There's a few commands you have to execute, best is to just copy them:
rm /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.syslog.plist
chown mobile /private/var/mobile/Library/LockBackground.jpg
chmod 666 /private/var/mobile/Library/LockBackground.jpg
mv /private/var/mobile/Documents/LockBackground.backup.jpg /private/var/mobile/Library/LockBackground.jpg
4. That's everything to remove my stuff. Now there's one command left to make sure this won't happen again! (-; Again in putty or any ssh client type: "passwd". You'll then be asked for a new password, you can change this into anything you want. The safer the better of course (:
The reason you have to change this password is that it's default is alpine at ALL iPhones. So if anyone knows that (and all hackers do) they can access your iPhone. Now you've changed it this isn't possible anymore!
Here's an interesting video comparing boot times using different 64bit operating systems in the same machine (Vista, Windows 7, Ubuntu 9.04 and 9.10) :
CSI's 10th season starts with an amazing scene that is sure to get its place in the history of TV series. It costs $400,000 USD and is the most expensive scene ever to be filmed in TV series history.
Ericsson has revealed their Spider Computer concept, using a laser projected keyboard and pico-projector screen.
Considering we've had these type of projected screens around for some time and they've never became widely adopted, is this a doomed idea, or will it it make it more popular this time? After all, people are now enjoying the "multitouch experience" with Surface-like devices becoming highly regarded and "wantable."
