Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook: 7/19/09

Saturday, July 25, 2009

O, but I forgot that the orange was such an exciting color, that combined w/ the blue deathstar logo drove tons & tons of UNmeasurable sales

If brands had equity, then when AT&T flipped to Cingular and flopped back, they must've lost way more than the $120M paid to brand agencies.

The Big Picture Provides Intuitive Project Management [Project]

The Big Picture is a project-management tool which fuses a calendar, task lists, and project creation tools with a mind-map style interface. The result is an intuitive click and drag interface that makes project management simple.

Whether you're creating an initial project or adding an event to your calendar, all you need to do is click and drag to create an entry. After the creation of every calendar event a suggestion box pops up allowing you to immediately associate the event on the calendar with one of your projects. You can move nearly everything in The Big Picture around by grabbing and sliding it to a new location. Watch the demonstration video below to see the interface in action:

Use The Big Picture? Use another tool with an easy to use interface? Share your favorite project-management tool in the comments.

The Big Picture [via Ian's Messy Desk]

Mac OS X Netbook Compatibility Chart Updated [Hackintosh]

Boing Boing Gadgets' fantastic ease-of-netbook-Hackintoshing chart just got updated with three new models (all pretty promising) and a smattering of changes throughout. If you're thinking about a Hackintoshed netbook, check it, and our guide, out. [Boing Boing Gadgets]

Apple tablet rumored for launch early next year, for serious this time: seriously

After what AppleInsider claims has been four years of development "riddled with setbacks," Apple is purportedly finalizing its long-rumored tablet for an early 2010 launch. AppleInsider claims to have been tracking the device get bounced back to the drawing board repeatedly over the past few years, but says that Steve Jobs is finally happy with the product and there's an internal go-ahead to get this thing ready for next year, barring any other setbacks. Purported specs include a 10-inch screen, 3G data and a custom ARM processor courtesy of its P.A. Semi purchase -- after previously considering Intel's Atom, as the story goes. Rumors elsewhere point to Verizon data instead of AT&T, but that might just be wishful thinking. While AppleInsider still claims the device is positioned somewhere between an iPhone and a laptop, its inside sources apparently didn't give the thumbs up to early artist renditions of the handheld, and so AI's new and "improved" render is above -- striking fear in the heart of aesthetes everywhere.

Sure, we've heard so many iterations of Apple tablet rumors over the years, with varying degrees of confidence behind them, that it's really hard to latch onto yet another promise of this supposedly inevitable device. Still, this is what it is: a decent rumor with some reasonable excuses for "delays" and a glorious promise of tablet nirvana right around the corner. What more could an Apple rumorphile want?

Filed under: Handhelds, Tablet PCs

Apple tablet rumored for launch early next year, for serious this time: seriously originally! appeare d on Engadget on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung confirms a Tegra-based smartphone is in the works, all other details shrouded in mystery

NVIDIA's Tegra chip has shown itself to be quite a gem, especially in the field of augmented reality zombie destruction. Looks like Samsung agrees with that sentiment, and has confirmed that it's currently developing a smartphone with the powerful processor. That's not a lot to go on, but knowing the capabilities of the CPU, we're excited. It's probably safe to assume an AMOLED touchscreen is a given, as well as a plethora of TouchWiz widgets, but whether or not the phone goes with Windows Mobile or Android is still a mystery. A recent rumor suggested one of the "top five" smartphone makers would be releasing a $199 GSM-based Tegra device by year's end -- no indication if these two reports are one in the same, but we'd love to see what Sammy has in store sooner rather than later.

Filed under: Cellphones

Samsung confirms a Tegra-based smartphone is in the works, all other details shrouded in mystery originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How would you change MSI's X-Slim ultraportable line?

MSI's seductive X-Slim lineup first dropped jaws back at CeBIT, and it's been tempting PC addicts ever since hitting the market a few months back. Many have argued that the X-Slim family looks just a bit too much like that other ultraslim lappie over there, but we'd say these are distinct enough to walk their own path. Catering to a wide range of potential customers, MSI has actually issued quite a few of these machines, from the X320 to the X340 to the X600. If you've been fortunate enough to pick one of these up for yourself, how has the user experience been? Is it as much a looker in person as you thought it'd be? Are you satisfied with performance? Anything missing for the price? Go on and get heard, won't you?

Filed under: Laptops

How would you change MSI's X-Slim ultraportable line? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Jul 2009 00:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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OCZ's Colossus SSD comes out of its shell

We got a brief glimpse of OCZ's massive new Colossus SSD drive at Computex last month, and gotten the official word on most of the basic specs straight from OCZ itself, but we've only just now gotten a look inside that slightly mysterious-looking black box and, well, there's a whole bunch of SSD chips inside. Available in capacities ranging from 128GB to 1TB, all of the drives boast a tightly packed design that includes a pair of Indilinx controllers and some associated DRAM cache for each, along with a dual-drive, single PCB implementation that makes it all appear as a single drive to the system. Still no word on a release date just yet, unfortunately, but it looks like these'll start at $299 for the 128GB drive.

Filed under: Storage

OCZ's Colossus SSD comes out of its shell originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Jul 2009 07:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Friday, July 24, 2009

UPDATED: Normal average seasonality drives more lift in movie tix sales than 100s of millions of $s in advertising -- http://bit.ly/1tWlvj

Chromegestures Adds Mouse Gestures to Google Chrome [Downloads]

Windows only: The experimental chromegestures extension for Google Chrome adds a full set of mouse gestures to those using the development releases of Chrome.

Installing the gestures requires first switching to the development channel, modifying your Google Chrome shortcut to include the --enable-extensions parameter, and then heading over to the download page to install the extension (by simply clicking on the ChromeGestures.crx link).

Once you've installed the extension and restarted the browser, you should be able to hold down the right mouse button and swipe the mouse right or left to navigate back and forward, Down -> Right for a new tab, or even up to search with the selected text. If you get stuck, you can use Up -> Right -> Down -> Left -> Down to open up the help file, or you can do Up -> Down to open the options dialog and tweak the sensitivity. If you're a big fan of mouse gestures, this is definitely worth the effort of getting it installed.

chromegestures [Google Code via gHacks]

Card.ly Creates Attractive Online Business Cards in a Jiffy [Address Book]

Web site Card.ly allows you to collect all of your contact information—online and off—into one simple, linkable "business card" you can share with anyone.

The site's pretty simple. You just sign up, fill in whatever information you want to pull into a centralized "business card", and you're ready to go. When you're finished, you'll get a personalized link that looks something like http://card.ly/lifehacker. You can simply share that link with anyone you want to stay updated with you, or, if you really like it, Card.ly provides various embeddable options for placing your vCard on your web site, in your email, or anywhere you want to include it.

Even though this is the sort of thing that it seems most people use the likes of Facebook for these days, Card.ly is a fun and simple idea executed well. Still, we'd recommend grabbing your own domain and making a simple nameplate site if you're really interested in this kind of thing.

Card.ly

Samsung LED LCD UN46B7000 HDTV Lightning Review: Avoid! [HDTVs]

Generally, I love LED LCDs. The UN46B7000 is Samsung's set with 120Hz refresh and internet widgets. It's not backlit, like the XBR8, but sidelit, and is as thin as two of your fingers. You should avoid buying this set.

The Price: $3000

The Verdict: The problem is that this set dims the sidelights whenever the program material gets dark, and it does it in the most ungraceful way ever. Check out the menu that I popped on screen, merely to show you what happens to w! hite mat erial on screen when the backlight is dimmed to increase black level.

See how everything white goes dark, too?

So, if there's a scene in a movie where there's a moonlit night, the lighting in this set would crank everything down, including the moon itself. Backlit LED tvs can turn off individual lights to increase blacks, yet keep LEDs lit in the area around the on screen moon; this set idiotically turns everything off. (*Some other sets do this for energy savings, but there's always a way to set the backlight to a consistent brightness level.)

I didn't even benchmark the set after this, as there was no need for me to measure other features when the set had such a glaring problem, which Samsung claims is not a bug. Oddly, many technical reviewers glossed over this fact, giving this set editor choice awards while brushing away the issue.

My impressions of the rest of the set are here, however:
• The TV's colors are inflated like a lot of LCDs but the picture and motion handling are pretty damn comparable to any modern late model LCD.
• There are no buttons on the set, so if you lose your remote, you're fucked.
• The TV is about 1.2 inches thick, and all the ports are tucked nicely away on the side. But because the case is so thin, the speakers sound terribly thin. Worse than on an old 22 inch TV I have in the back of the house.
• The case's translucent edges are among the best designed cases of any modern gadget, in my opinion.
• The internet widgets and content take a long minute to boot up and include Flickr, twitter and weather apps. They aren't worth the $150-$200 over the 6000 series which eliminate these extras. There's a media streamer (which I didn't test) recipes, simple video games, exercises, art and animated children's songs, like this really freaky one about having the munchies.

• Off axis viewing isn't great, but isn't bad.
• If you have noise reduction on on this set, it will strip the grain from movies, practically, making everything look like it was shot on a cheap digital camcorder. Turn it off.
• It's worth repeating that this set is generally gorgeous.
• Like all LED sets, they're energy efficient. But again, there's no localized dimming with this set, which is side, not backlit.

The good news is that Samsung can fix this dimming issue by firmware. The bad news is that I haven't heard they even believe its an issue yet. I've never been so irritated by such a beautiful TV and recommend you steer clear.

A nice picture

Super thin

Dimming sidelight issues.

Sounds thin

Expensive

Video: WiTricity is back, promises wireless power within 18 months

What started out as an MIT project two years ago has now progressed into a full-fledged company -- ladies and gentlemen, meet WiTricity Corp. Auntie Beeb (that's the BBC for you Yanks) has grabbed the firm's CEO Eric Giler to discuss some pretty aggressive plans for bringing wireless power to the masses. Yes, we're talking actual through-the-air wireless as opposed to something like Palm's Touchstone, which requires physical contact between charger and chargee. Based on magnetic induction, the magical technology is apparently mature enough to be deployed in the relatively near future, and if all goes to plan, "near future" could translate into "18 months from now." Also of note, Intel is hard at work developing the original concept, and if the parallel engineering of the same idea by two companies isn't enough to get your skepticism dialed down and your browser to the video past the break, what is?

Continue reading Video: WiTricity is back, promises wireless power within 18 months

Filed under: Wireless, Science

Video: WiTricity is back, promises wireless power within 18 months originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 08:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nvidia's Tegra-Based Netbook Christened "Firefly" [Unconfirmed]

Nvidia seems to be shopping around a teeny netbook running the company's Tegra ARM chipset and, of all things, Windows CE. It looks very barebones, since Tegra is really meant for smartphones, and nobody seems too thrilled with it.

Tegra is a huge strength for tiny devices like the upcoming Zune HD, but in a full-sized netbook, it'll have a hard time running media or multitasking. OS is a problem too—does anybody actually like Windows CE? Maybe a Linux distro (or Chrome OS) could work, but even that's kind of pushing it. Regardless, it's rumored to have a September release date, though of course we hardly know anything about the product and don't have any particular reason to trust that date. Come on, Nvidia, just stick the Tegra in a bunch of smartphones where it belongs! [Semi-Accurate News via Crunchgear]

HTC Hero review

The HTC Hero has been an object of lust for some time now for gadget enthusiasts. Even from the earliest days of leaked hardware shots and blurry demo videos of its UI, smartphone fans seemed to agree that the company had finally achieved what has been missing in the world of Android. Namely, a polished and attractive device -- polished enough to go head-to-head with the iPhone -- that kept its open source heart. So, here we are months later with an actual, bona fide Hero in our midst. Yes the reports were true, it is a beautiful device, both inside and out (though of course opinions differ on that chin). But does being a beautiful device mean Android is about to move to a bigger stage? Is HTC's spit-shine enough to overcome some of the hurdles that have plagued the platform? That question -- and more -- is answered in the text below, so read on for the full review.

Continue reading HTC Hero review

Filed under: Cellphones

HTC Hero review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Viewsonic goes all out with new nettops, netbooks, media PCs and media players

Viewsonic may still be best known as a monitor company, but it looks to be doing its best to change that with its latest batch of products, which run the gamut from handhelds to media PCs. The bulk of the new offerings are in the small form factor PC category, and include the Atom-based VOT 120 / 121 and 130 / 132 nettops (pictured above), as well as the more beefed-up Core 2 Duo-based VOT 530 / 550 media PC (complete with Blu-ray drive and remote control). Launched alongside those are Viewsonic's fairly standard VNB 100 / 101 netbooks, and the company's all new VPD 400 and 500 media players, which pack a 4.3-inch and 5-inch screen, and 8GB and 16GB of storage, respectively. Check out the gallery below for a look at the whole lot, and hit up the link below for a rundown of all the specs.

Gallery: Viewsonic goes all out with new nettops, netbooks, media PCs and media players

Filed under: Desktops, Handhelds, Home Entertainment, Laptops, Media PCs

Viewsonic goes all out with new nettops, netbooks, media PCs and media players originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 19:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Engadget HD puts the new Samsung LED edge-lit LCD TV to the test

If you've been wondering how the latest LED edge-lit LED TVs from Samsung look, now's your chance to find out. The crew over at EHD got their hands-on the 46-inch UN46B7000 and spent the time to write all about it. We'd like to warn you that If you don't click through you'll be missing out on all the fun, like all the internet connectivity features like DLNA and Yahoo Widgets. But even if you don't care about all the extras, there is still come great information that'll help try and figure out how much of a premium a 2.1 inch TV is worth.

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

Engadget HD puts the new Samsung LED edge-lit LCD TV to the test originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Android-powered HTC Click rumored to be crazy cheap unlocked

One more note about that Android-powered HTC Click that we saw in a gloriously-framed shot yesterday morning: it's going to be cheap. It had been said all along that the Click would mark HTC's first Android entry into the low-end fray (joining the Touch Viva on WinMo), meaning the sticker price would be kept to a minimum -- but the Vietnamese forum that first brought you this picture is saying that we're looking at somewhere between 5 and 6 million dong, which works out to $280 to $336 unlocked. That's cheap enough to ensure that it's free on contract virtually anywhere in the world where it's sold, bringing Android to a whole new demographic. Now, just call us when the Hero's down to $280, eh?

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Android-powered HTC Click rumored to be crazy cheap unlocked originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 22:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HP Mini 5101 netbook approved for use by mini executives

The Mini 5101, or Mini Executive as HP would have it, is now available to purchase, with prices starting at $399.99. While still a netbook at heart, the 5101 has an impressive array of accoutrements: aluminum and magnesium shell for lightweight (2.64 lbs) sturdiness, flat chiclet keyboard, 10.1-inch LED-backlit display, and at an extra cost, 128GB SSD and 1366 x 768 resolution upgrade options. The build quality and keyboard got high marks from us when we handled the machine back in June, and now a couple of online scribes have put together timely in-depth reviews of the device. They share the impression that HP has a strong business product on its hands, highlighted by a class-leading WiFi signal of 37.7 Mbps at 15 feet, though they were also concerned that neither pricing nor battery life (between 5 and 7 hours) are the best available. Hit up the read links for all the delectable details.

[Thanks, Knifex4]

Read - HP product page
Read - Laptop Mag review
Read - PC Mag review

Filed under: Laptops

HP Mini 5101 netbook approved for use by mini executives originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 04:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Thursday, July 23, 2009

Wi-Fi MicroSD Card Makes Eye-Fi Look Obese [Kddi]

Japanese phone king KDDI is showing off a MicroSD card with built-in Wi-Fi, sorta like those photo-uploading Eye-Fi cards everyone loves so much. Actually, they're exactly like that, except, well, much smaller.

There's not much of a space for a product like this now, since cellphones account for most of the devices with MicroSD storage, and they generally have some kind of data connection anyway. But it's easy to imagine a (near) future where traditional SD cards are considered too bulky for smaller point-and-shoot cameras and camcorders, and a wireless MicroSD card would make sense. [Tech-on]

This Ring Is Actually a Real Bluetooth Headset [Headsets]

This is Orb, a ring that transforms into a beautiful Bluetooth headset. Looks like sci-fi material, but it's an actual product coming in 2010. Good, because it's probably the first Bluetooth headset that looks great on a woman's ear:

There will be three models of the class 2 Bluetooth Orb: A $130 basic model—coming in January—a $175 Deluxe edition with a minuscule FOLED display, and a limited edition with actual precious gems on it, both coming in April 2010. [Gizmag]

Casio EX-H10 point-and-shoot (and its superzoom pedigree) get reviewed

We covered this cam's full spec last month, but to refresh your memory, the major attractions are its 720/24p video recording and 10x optical zoom. In fact, the Photography Blog crew, who have a review unit sprawled on their test bench, reckon the H10 is both the thinnest and lightest shooter to ever pack that kind of zooming prowess. They've compared it to the Panasonic DMC-TZ7, their reigning champ in the compact superzoom category, and -- well, you'll have to read the review to find out. The impressions we can share with you include excellent battery life and a useful Anti-Shake system on the upside, but also noise issues at relatively low ISO speeds and only average image quality on the downslope. Still, hit up the read link for a full rundown -- trust us, it's worth it for the cliffhanger ending.

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Casio EX-H10 point-and-shoot (and its superzoom pedigree) get reviewed originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intel's 34nm X25-M runs like a thoroughbred SSD, costs less

It was only two days ago that they finally became official, but already we've got a couple of reviews springing up to tell us all about the second generation X25-M SSDs from Intel. PC Perspective kick things off with a full examination of the new drive, finding plenty of good (improved random reads and writes), some bad (minor fragmentation issues under extreme use scenarios) and pretty much no ugly. Not to be outdone, Anandtech have dissected the drive and compared its innards with the older generation hardware, while also running a few benchmarks for good measure. The conclusion in both camps is that while Intel has improved the hardware side of things, it is the drastically reduced price that makes the X25-M G2 the best choice in the consumer SSD space. Navigate past the break for a pricing chart, but remember that retail cost will be a bit steeper, should you be able to snag one in the wild.

Read - PC Perspective review
Read - Anandtech preview

Continue reading Intel's 34nm X25-M runs like a thoroughbred SSD, costs less

Filed under: Storage

Intel's 34nm X25-M runs like a thoroughbred SSD, costs less originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 05:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NEC VersaPro VS-7 netbook manhandled, makes one reviewer positively giddy

You know that new ultra-light, ultra-thin, and ultra-portable laptop from NEC you got an eyeful of way back in May? Of course you do. You've been obsessing, actually -- and frankly, we've been worried about you. Still, we'd be remiss in our duties if we didn't turn you on to this mini-review that Akihabara News scored of the VersaPro VS-7. And we must say, the kudos are flowing pretty freely over there: "freaking light," (that's right: freaking), "slim and robust." The reviewer is simply "amazed" at the netbook's performance. Even in full screen mode HD video plays "just fine," and 720p DivX video playback is characterized as "flawless." But that ain't all -- hit the read link for the full, unexpurgated tale. But not before peeping the video after the break.

Continue reading NEC VersaPro VS-7 netbook manhandled, makes one reviewer positively giddy

Filed under: Laptops

NEC VersaPro VS-7 netbook manhandled, makes one reviewer positively giddy originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 10:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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