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Monday, May 04, 2009

Samsung's 850 PAVV plasma teases the 1-inch thick mark

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/04/samsungs-850-pavv-plasma-teases-the-1-inch-think-mark/

The plasma industry may be teetering on the edge of certain doom (okay, so maybe that's exaggerating it... a little), but Samsung's still pushing the envelope. Over in South Korea, the company just outed its latest PDPs, the 850 PAVV lineup. Aside from being 40 percent more power efficient, 20 percent lighter and 120 percent more seductive than the prior generation, the new 50- and 58-inch sets also boast DLNA support, a USB 2.0 socket, DivX compatibility and a rather striking stand. The real kicker? The 29 millimeter depth, which equates to just over one inch thick for those who abhor the metric system. There's no word on when these beauties will hit the streets, but we're guessing Panasonic will be keenly interested in knowing.

Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

Samsung's 850 PAVV plasma teases the 1-inch thick mark originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 May 2009 08:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RIM's BlackBerry Curve 8900 officially hitting AT&T in "early summer"

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/04/rims-blackberry-curve-8900-officially-hitting-atandt-in-early-su/

Ah, ha! So the rumors were true. Just a day after we heard that RIM's BlackBerry Curve 8900 would be making its way from T-Mobile over to AT&T comes this -- official confirmation from the carrier itself. Loaded with WiFi, GPS and a 480 x 360 resolution display, this 'Berry includes free AT&T WiFi at over 20,000 hotspots (with an unlimited data plan, ironically enough) and a 3.2 megapixel camera. There's also a microSD / SDHC slot that supports cards up to 16GB in size, and while AT&T's not being very forthcoming with pricing (as in, there's no word given at all), loyal customers can expect it to land sometime in "early summer." In other words, all this release has done is extinguish the rumor fires -- 'preciate it, Ma Bell.

Filed under: Cellphones

RIM's BlackBerry Curve 8900 officially hitting AT&T in "early summer" originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 May 2009 09:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BlackBerry Curve 83XX overtakes iPhone 3G in US smartphone rankings

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/04/blackberry-curve-83xx-overtakes-iphone-3g-in-us-smartphone-ranki/

The handset might've been surpassed in functionality and looks by its Curve 8900 successor, but nothing's got an edge on the BlackBerry Curve 83XX series in smartphone sales. According to NPD, the handset overtook the erstwhile champ iPhone 3G in the category for the first quarter of 2009, while BlackBerry's own Storm and Pearl handsets took the third and fourth slots, with the T-Mobile G1 rounding out the ranks in fifth place. Overall the smartphone market has grown from 17 percent of handset sales in Q1 2008 to 23 percent in Q1 2009. Compared to the previous quarter, RIM's gained a whopping 15 percent share of the US market -- owning nearly half of the entire scene -- while Apple and Palm both dropped 10 percent as they prep for their heroic mid-year launches.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

BlackBerry Curve 83XX overtakes iPhone 3G in US smartphone rankings originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 May 2009 10:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Z Corp's 3D printers available to Hawaiian school students, the wealthy

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/04/z-corps-3d-printers-available-to-hawaiian-school-students-the/

We're eagerly awaiting the day when 3D printers achieve the same sort of ubiquity as their two dimensional brethren -- we can only imagine the sweet office pranks that will become available once we can conjure tiny objects from our imaginations (via AutoCAD). It looks like the fine folks over at Hawaii's State Department of Education have more civic-minded uses for the machine, however. As high school students from throughout the islands complete their 3D design projects they send the files to the education office in Honolulu, which manufactures physical models with a Z Corporation 3D printer and ships them back to the students, who can then review the model and refine their design. A machine like Z Corp's ZPrinter 310 Plus (seen above) will run you a cool $19,900 before shipping, sales tax, and so forth, so it looks like all of you amateur CADsters out there might want to find a pen-pal in the Pineapple State if you want to make your ID dreams a reality. Either that or do it yourself. And make sure you send us the YouTube link when you do.

Filed under: Peripherals

Z Corp's 3D printers available to Hawaiian school students, the wealthy originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 May 2009 14:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lenovo reveals updated, 3G-equipped S10-2 netbook in user manual

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/04/lenovo-reveals-updated-3g-equipped-s10-2-netbook-in-user-manual/

We already caught sight of a slightly mysterious, 3G-equipped Lenovo netbook last month courtesy of the FCC, and it looks like Lenovo itself is now adding to the speculation, with a recently revealed user manual all but confirming an updated S10-2 netbook. While there's still no word on complete specs, it does appear that this is more than just a minor update, with the netbook apparently sporting a different hinge and some rounded edges, along with an extra USB port (bring the total up to three), a larger trackpad, a slightly revised keyboard and button layout, and some new access bays that'll let you get at the RAM, hard drive, and wireless card. Unfortunately, it seems that Lenovo has also seen fit to remove one of the big selling points of the original S10, the ExpressCard slot, although the built-in 3G does at least makes that trade-off a bit more manageable. No word on pricing or availability just yet, but it seems like Lenovo could be getting official with this one any day now.

[Via Eee PC - Blog]

Filed under: Laptops

Lenovo reveals updated, 3G-equipped S10-2 netbook in user manual originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 May 2009 15:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MSI debuts GX623, GX633 laptops with "Turbo Drive" technology

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/04/msi-debuts-gx623-gx633-laptops-with-turbo-drive-technology/

MSI's new GX623 and GX633 laptops aren't the first to boast the company's so-called Turbo Drive technology, but we're never ones to turn down the opportunity to press a turbo button, even if that turbo button may not fully deliver on its awesome promise. Expectedly, both of these are in the same vein as MSI's previous GX630 model, and boast the same 15.4-inch display, along with a Core 2 Duo processor and ATI Radeon HD4670 graphics on the GX623 model, or an AMD X2 Turion Ultra processor and NVIDIA GeForce GT 130M graphics on the GX633 model. Otherwise, you can expect each to pack MSI's ECO Engine, which'll let you easily switch between a gaming mode and more energy-efficient options, along with up to 4GB of RAM, a max 500GB hard drive, and all the usual modern amenities like 802.11n WiFi, built-in Bluetooth, and a 2-megapixel webcam. No word on prices just yet, but it looks like both should be rolling out as we speak.

Read - MSI GX623
Read - MSI GX633

Filed under: Laptops

MSI debuts GX623, GX633 laptops with "Turbo Drive" technology originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 May 2009 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source announces Warpia wireless USB-to-HDMI adapter

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/04/source-announces-warpia-wireless-usb-to-hdmi-adapter/

We've been waiting for an inexpensive wireless USB-to-HDMI solution for what seems like forever now, and it sounds like we'll finally have some options soon: Source R&D has just announced that it's going to be shipping the Warpia Wireless USB Adapter set at the end of May for an estimated $129-$149. Just like the Atlona AT-HDAiR, the Warpia kit is just a rebranded OEM unit from Wisair, so most of the same caveats apply: max resolution is 1400 x 1050, range is about 30 feet, and HDMI and VGA are the only output options. Still, we can't really think of a better way to do some quick'n'dirty Hulu watching, so we'll be on the hunt for one of these soon -- keep an eye out.

P.S.- Yes, we hope image quality is better than this totally bunk press pic on the Warpia site.

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Source announces Warpia wireless USB-to-HDMI adapter originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 May 2009 17:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BlackBerry Curve 8520 gets pre-reviewed

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/04/blackberry-curve-8520-gets-pre-reviewed/

We've been dying to know more about that crazy BlackBerry Curve 8520 with the optical trackball in place of the usual spinner, and the crew over at CrackBerry's finally posted their pre-release review. Overall, it seems like a nice enough phone, and the optical trackball apparently works well, which is a nice surprise given our experience with them. On the downside, it's not nearly as nice as the Curve 8900, and while the overall design has been updated, components like the screen, battery, and camera are carryovers from the Curve 8300 -- a particular shame considering the raves RIM's been getting for its amazing screens lately. Of course, we can't complain too much considering this thing is EDGE-only and potentially destined to be a pay-as-you-go phone, but it sure does look nice, and we're interested in seeing how this design philosophy translates into higher-end sets... like, say, the Storm 2. Check the full review at the read link.

Filed under: Cellphones

BlackBerry Curve 8520 gets pre-reviewed originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 May 2009 17:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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QNAP's TS-239 Pro Turbo NAS sets sail

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/04/qnaps-ts-239-pro-turbo-nas-sets-sail/

We know you love a good NAS, so we're pleased to report that the crew over at QNAP Systems has announced the TS-239 Pro Turbo NAS, a dual (2TB) bay Atom-based device that sports a 1.6GHz Atom CPU, 1GB DDRII memory, a none-too-shabby 350MBit/s throughput, and iSCSI target service for SMB and SOHO users. Other features include hot-swappable locking disk trays, two (count 'em!) Giga LAN ports, three USB 2.0 ports, two eSATA ports, and support for Windows, Mac, Linux, and UNIX operating systems. You can expect the myriad of features the company usually provides in their network appliances, including thin provisioning, online RAID capacity expansion, AES 256-bit volume-based encryption, SMS and email alerts, bit.torrent and EMule downloads, FTP and web server support, database and content management, print server, XDove mail, and Surveillance Station for video monitoring and recording. We still don't know why Nas doesn't have a contract with the company, but we have high hopes that Jay-Z can help him broker some sort of spokesperson gig.

Filed under: Storage

QNAP's TS-239 Pro Turbo NAS sets sail originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 May 2009 19:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gmail Web Search Box Inserts Links Without Clicking Away [Gmail Labs]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/QTkrFnfRi7Q/gmail-web-search-box-inserts-links-without-clicking-away

So often, writing an email involves opening a new tab to look up something, copying the link, then heading back to paste it. Gmail's latest Labs feature consolidates that process with pop-up Google searches.

Once you enable the Google Search feature in Gmail's Labs menu, you'll see a new Google Search bar in Gmail's left-hand sidebar. Depending on whether you're in the inbox, writing a new mail, or replying to someone else's message, what happens after you type your search and hit enter varies a little bit, but it's all meant to help you search and insert direct links and search result references in your emails.

So, for example, when you're composing a new email, searching from the left-side box will pop up a window just like a chat message with the first few results. Hover over the bottom-right of any result, and a drop-down menu lets you paste that result's direct URL (instead of the common Google click-tracking gobbledy-gook), paste a link to the Google search results page, or pop open a new message with that link auto-inserted. Search from the inbox, and you can start a new message with a search result.

Pretty neat stuff, and pretty handy in certain cases, too. Gmail's making it easier and easier to do more and more from a single browser window.

Official Gmail Blog: New in Labs: Google Search right in Gmail [via TechCrunch]

TagCrowd Creates Word Frequency Clouds [Text Analyzer]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/OkOtAn2wofg/tagcrowd-creates-word-frequency-clouds

Whether you'd like to hunt down words you overuse or you're looking to turn text from your manifesto into word art, TagCrowd can create a simple tag cloud based on the frequency of words.

There are three options for importing text into TagCrowd. You can give it a URL, useful if the URL points to a large volume of text but less useful for making a word cloud based on a blog because it doesn't drill down through links. Alternately you can upload a plain text file with a 100KB size limit or cut and paste up to 3MB of text into the provided text box—no indication on the site why there is such a sizable difference between uploading the text and pasting it. Once you've provided your text you then tell TagCrowd what language the text is in and it will automatically ignore common words in that language such as articles, avoiding a cloud with a giant THE in the center.

You can set the maximum number of words as well as the minimum frequency. You can also have TagCrowd show the frequency number next to the word. If there is a specific set of words from your text sample you would like to be ignored you can create a custom filter list to prevent them from appearing in the cloud. TagCrowd is a free application, if you create a particularly impressive cloud share a screenshot of it in the comments below. Thanks Mike!

Firefox 3.5 Gets Geolocation, Powered by Google [Firefox]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/6jRPU34WzY0/firefox-35-gets-geolocation-powered-by-google

Much like killer Firefox extension/experiment Ubiquity is being partially integrated into Firefox's 3.5 release, the neat-looking Geode extension has been quietly included into the latest 3.5 beta 4 test releases as a new geolocation feature, as was anticipated. It's powered by Google's Wi-Fi-powered location service, and it's still supported by only a handful of services—but maybe more once it's also incorporated into Mozilla's Fennec mobile browser. [via CNET]

@bmorrissey - http://ping.fm/Eofwb - the TwitteRFP: "seeking ad agency partner" - how many big agencies got the RFP, let alone replied?

Wolfram Alpha Search Engine Answers Questions, Looks Amazing [Search Engines]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/2sJlvO7eelU/wolfram-alpha-search-engine-answers-questions-looks-amazing

Wolfram Alpha is a closed (for now) search engine that looks like an incredible hybrid between Wikipedia and Google's OneBox answers for simple, common search queries—at least that's what we've gathered from the demo video.

We haven't actually been able to try the site out ourselves, but it launches sometime this month, so it won't be long. Luckily the demo video embedded here walks through a lot of the possibilities this search engine offers, and those possibilities are mind-blowing—especially for a data lover. Unfortunately the video is a little blurry, so it's not the best possible look at the up-and-coming engine.

Don't think of Wolfram Alpha as a Google Killer, though, because frankly Google doesn't really have anything like it—except for maybe Google's new public data search, which, while impressive, doesn't look nearly as robust as Wolfram Alpha. (Then again, we'll have to wait and see how well Wolfram Alpha works when it gets in the hands of the public.) Either way, Google will still corner the market on most normal search. (We're not always looking for the kind of answers Wolfram Alpha provides when we hit up Google.) As for how this editor uses Google and Wikipedia, I'd actually imagine that Wolfram Alpha could be more of a Wikipedia competitor than a Google competitor.

Let's hear what you think of the yet-to-be-released search engine in the comments.

Motion Detection Is an Effective, Dead Simple Security Camera App [Downloads]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/c7o3iI3N0_Y/motion-detection-is-an-effective-dead-simple-security-camera-app

Windows only: Motion Detection is a free application that turns your webcam into a motion-sensing security camera in just a few clicks.

Assuming you've got a webcam hooked up to your computer, all you've got to do is run Motion Detector, set your preferences (Motion Detector can capture still images and/or movies complete with timestamps whenever it detects motion), and hit Start to run your new security webcam. Motion Detector's sensitivity slider lets you determine just how much motion the app needs to detect before it starts capturing images. As you can see in the screenshot, triggering motion is indicated by the red squares.

For its part, the application works very well, it's relatively lightweight, and it's very simple to set up and use. We've always pointed to previously mentioned Yawcam for some quick motion-detection via webcam, and while it offers its own impressive set of tools, including FTP upload, I'd still call Motion Detection easier to use. Either way you go, both are great applications for having a little fun setting up a motion-sensing security webcam.

Motion Detection (scroll to the bottom of the page) [via Shell Extension City]

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