Thursday, November 26, 2009

How to Disable the New Google Search [Google]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/lUSPCmXo0cg/how-to-disable-the-new-google-search

Oh you people are never happy. I give you a way to try the new Google Search yesterday, and now you are asking about how to go back to the old one. Fine! Be that way! Here's how:

Yesterday's method only set a cookie in your browser, asking Google to serve a different page layout to you. However, this will affect other Google pages in the wrong way. Googlepedia, for example, renders a very narrow search results page.

To go back, go to your browser preferences and look for the Cookies section—this is generally under Privacy or Security. Now you have three options.

• The brute way: Delete all the cookies.
• The less-brute way: Search for your Google cookies, and delete them all.
• The picky way: Search for your Google cookies and look for this

javascript:void(document.cookie="PREF=ID=20b6e4c2f44943bb:U=4bf292d46faad806:TM=1249677602:LM=1257919388:S=odm0Ys-53ZueXfZG;path=/; domain=.google.com");

and delete it.

Once you are done, go back to Google Search and enjoy the old. [How to Try the New Google Search]




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You Don't Need a TiVo Anymore [Rant]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/z-GqzW6GWzI/you-dont-need-a-tivo-anymore

This chart of TiVo's slipping subscriber numbers may be surprising, seeing as TiVo is the television recording device (and it's so good), but it's something we've seen coming for a while. We love you TiVo, but you're fast becoming obsolete.

The typical TiVo user is a person who just wants their TV recordings to work, regardless of the monthly fee. They may or may not be tech savvy, but chances are TiVo was their first DVR—since we've found, anecdotally, people gravitate back to the first DVR interface they use. So why is their marketshare down to 2004 levels? The answer is simple: cheap DVRs from providers are eating TiVo from the low end, and everyone else can now use Windows 7 and a tuner to act as a DVR just fine.

Cheap DVRs from Comcast, or Time Warner or your satellite provider have gotten good—or rather, less shitty—enough to make them actually viable options for home recording. Even I couldn't turn down only paying an extra $5 per month to have a recorder that works well enough to watch stuff with, even if you don't have show recommendations, and fast forwarding barely functions well enough to stop where you want. But it's $5. $5. Five. Dollars. And that's without having to pay upfront for the box. You can rent three of these for the price of one TiVo subscription.

As for the big reason why you don't need a TiVo anymore, in the future, you can thank Microsoft and Windows 7. Just take a look at that Windows 7 PC you have. Yeah, the one in your office. That can be your DVR. CableLabs finally took off their ridiculous OEM restriction on who can install CableCARD tuners—the device that actually takes a digital cable signal and turns it into something your computer can understand and record—so you can go and get one of these yourself for about $200. So for $200, with no future fees except for your normal cable bill, you can have yourself a home DVR that's arguably as good as TiVo. And, much easier to expand and augment, both storage and functionality-wise, than a set top box.

And if you don't want a computer in your living room (you need that thing in your office anyway), all you have to do is get an Xbox 360 and extend it. Multiple Xboxes mean streaming to multiple rooms, something that's not even possible on a TiVo.

Of course there's going to be a core group of TiVo users who really enjoy TiVo functionality, really appreciate their interface and can't imagine using something else. But is that enough to sustain a business when so many other options are cheaper and just as good? The numbers say no.




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DroboPro RAID array causes reviewer to fall madly in love (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/25/drobopro-raid-array-causes-reviewer-to-fall-madly-in-love-video/

Data Robotics' RAID solutions have always been a cut above the rest -- and a little more expensive, and better looking, for that matter. As one clearly ecstatic reviewer at PC Perspective will attest, the DroboPro even does you one better, sporting eight bays of storage, extremely effective cooling, and support for FireWire, USB and Gigabit Ethernet connections. Of course, no product is perfect -- and here the lack of eSATA and nearly $1,500 price tag leave something to be desired. Your inner gadget hound (sadist) will surely delight in the insane amount of torture testing this device endured for this appraisal, and you'll be pleased to know that the array came out on top. Hit the read link to get started -- but not before you check out the video after the break.

Continue reading DroboPro RAID array causes reviewer to fall madly in love (video)

DroboPro RAID array causes reviewer to fall madly in love (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Inbrics announces Android MID, promises 'inspirational moments' (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/25/inbrics-announces-android-mid-promises-inspirational-moments/

Inbrics, a company known in Seoul for its VoIP solutions, looks set to rock your world with an Android MID early next year at CES. All we have for you at present are the barest of specs, machine translated Korean PR that declares "a full convergence of the future," and one of those vague, uplifting videos that demonstrates the myriad of ways that its one platform can dramatically change your life -- without ever really telling you what it does. The device itself is a QWERTY landscape slider that features an AMOLED touchscreen, GPS, compass, WiFi, and an ARM Cortex A8 800MHz processor. Experience the inspirational moment after the break.

Continue reading Inbrics announces Android MID, promises 'inspirational moments' (video)

Inbrics announces Android MID, promises 'inspirational moments' (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink JKK Mobile  |  sourceInbrics  | Email this | Comments

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Programmer adds IE 9 graphics acceleration to Firefox

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/25/programmer-adds-ie-9-graphics-acceleration-to-firefox/

Not so fast, Internet Explorer! We know that you have great things in the works for IE 9 -- including Direct2D GPU acceleration, the 2D / vector graphics API that we first laid eyes on in Windows 7. And believe us, that got our attention -- as well as the attention of Mozilla programmer Bas Schouten. It seems that over the weekend, the young man successfully loaded Direct2D support into an alpha build of Firefox 3.7 -- just days after you announced its inclusion in the next version of your web browser. "Things are looking very promising for Direct2D" and Firefox, said Schouten, although "older PCs with pre-D3D10 graphics cards and WDDM 1.0 drivers will not show significant improvements." And we thought that accelerometer support was wild!

Programmer adds IE 9 graphics acceleration to Firefox originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Register  |  sourceBas Schouten  | Email this | Comments

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HTC HD2 review

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/25/htc-hd2-review/

When Microsoft finally launched Windows Mobile 6.5 earlier this year, there may have been lots of fanfare, but there was little honest excitement. After a tepid showing at MWC in Barcelona followed by the proper launch this October, no one was exactly up in arms over the OS, though support from the big M's partners was characteristically plentiful. Still, there was nary a ray of light to be seen in the otherwise bleak and basic landscape of handset offerings... until the HD2 came along. In August of this year, HTC showed off what seemed to be one of the few Windows Mobile devices capable of generating honest enthusiasm. The massive, full touchscreen device boasts impressive specs: a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU, a generous 4.3-inch, 800 x 480 capacitive WVGA touchscreen display, a 5 megapixel camera, GPS, and lots of other bells and whistles. But the centerpiece here isn't the hardware, it's HTC's totally revamped user interface, Sense, which doesn't just hide Windows Mobile 6.5 -- it all but zaps it out of existence. Sadly for Microsoft, that's the most enticing part of this equation. So, is the HD2's new face enough to quell the bad vibes of Windows Mobile and make the platform seem viable again, or is that a challenge which takes more than just a coat of paint? We've taken a hard look at the phone... so read on to find out.

Gallery: HD2 hands-on

Continue reading HTC HD2 review

HTC HD2 review originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MSI X-Slim X430 gets an Athlon Neo CPU, Windows 7 and Blu-ray

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/25/msi-x-slim-x430-gets-an-athlon-neo-cpu-windows-7-and-blu-ray/

AMD spoiled MSI's surprise a bit by snagging an X-Slim X430 early for its VISION gala back in September, but now that Windows 7 is out and about, MSI has decided to officialize its latest thin-and-light. Unlike most of its rivals, this one shuns Intel's CULV lineup and instead relies on a dual-core AMD Athlon Neo X2 CPU, and with Win7 Home Premium at the helm, performance shouldn't be too much of an issue when it comes to handling basic tasks. There's also a 14-inch display (1,366 x 768), 2GB of RAM, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, gigabit Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, HDMI / VGA sockets, an SD card slot, a 320GB or 500GB HDD and even an optional Blu-ray drive (albeit an external one). 4 and 8-cell batteries will also be available, and at 3.3 pounds, we're guessing you won't need to bulk up before slapping this in your knapsack.

MSI X-Slim X430 gets an Athlon Neo CPU, Windows 7 and Blu-ray originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Hot Hardware  |  MSI  | Email this | Comments

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Buffalo busts out its first 12x Blu-ray burner, powered by USB 3.0

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/26/buffalo-busts-out-first-12x-blu-ray-burner-powered-by-usb-3-0/

Sure, your computer doesn't have a USB 3.0 plug, and there's no such thing as a 12x Blu-ray disc for mass consumption just yet, but we shouldn't let those pesky details get in the way of progress. Buffalo just announced the BR-X1216U3, which is the "world's first" (er, not exactly, but anyways...) 12x Blu-ray burner, and which incidentally pulls off its wondrous feats through the power of USB 3.0. Of course, it's backward compatible with USB 2.0, for burn speeds up to 7x, but with 12x on the table that's just slumming it. The drive is out now in Japan for 39,100 yen (about $448 US).

Buffalo busts out its first 12x Blu-ray burner, powered by USB 3.0 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Engadget Japanese  |  sourceBuffalo  | Email this | Comments

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Nokia X6 Comes with Music and capacitive touchscreen: shipping now

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/26/nokia-x6-comes-with-music-and-capacitive-touchscreen-shipping-n/

What are you thankful for today? If you live in Finland or the UK and pre-ordered a X6 then you might be obliged to Nokia for having just set your new handset free. That's right pilgrims, Nokia's new flagship Comes with Music handset is now shipping. The X6 you'll recall, introduces S60 5th to a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen riding 32GB of storage, a 5 megapixel camera with dual-LED flash, TV-out, and tweaked homescreen with a media/social-centric layout. The X6 lists for €450 (pre-tax and pre-carrier subsidies) -- a price that ultimately includes the cost of Nokia's struggling "all-you-can-eat" music service. Perhaps this is the device that finally gives the service legs? Maybe, but we'd start by following through on plans to strip the DRM.

Nokia X6 Comes with Music and capacitive touchscreen: shipping now originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Nov 2009 08:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceNokia  ! | < a href="http://www.engadget.com/forward/19255250/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this | Comments

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Dell SX2210T vs. HP L2105tm: optical multitouch head-to-head review

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/26/dell-sx2210t-vs-hp-l2105tm-optical-multitouch-head-to-head-rev/

Dell and HP, HP and Dell. The United States' two biggest computer hardware manufacturers, and two of the world's top three, have tended to match each other step for step, so it's no surprise that Dell's recently released SX2210T was quickly followed by a Compaq L2105tm from its closest rival. Measuring 21.5 inches each, with 1920 x 1080 resolution, 1,000:1 contrast ratio, and optical multitouch technology under their chunky bezels, these two models represent the biggest mainstream push for touchscreen computing yet. Functionally identical to standard monitors, they offer the added benefit of letting you input your heart's urges and desires using swipes, gestures and flicks, and we've plucked one of each panel to see how this all plays out for ourselves. Join us after the break, won't you?

Continue reading Dell SX2210T vs. HP L2105tm: optical multitouch head-to-head review

Dell SX2210T vs. HP L2105tm: optical multitouch head-to-head review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Nov 2009 13:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Imfy.us Generates Shortened, Secure, and Non-Indexable URLS [Url Shorteners]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/z7wu7cu56b0/imfyus-generates-shortened-secure-and-non+indexable-urls

Imfy.us is a URL shortening service for people who want to ensure the users clicking through their shortened URLs are actually people and not web-indexing search engine crawlers.

Submit a URL to Imfy.us and the resultant shortened URL will direct to a landing page at Imfy.us. On the landing page you'll find a preview of the site and a CAPTCHA system—the source of Imfy's anti-crawler abilities.

Want to take the CAPTCHA idea one step further and actually secure your shortened URL with a password and not just against crawlers? Check out previously reviewed dwarfURL and HideLinks for two URL shortening services that allow you to add a password requirement to your shortened URL.

Have a favorite URL shortener? Know of a URL shortener with a trick or two up its sleeve? Let's hear about it in the comments.




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Google Puts Coupons on Your Phone so You Can Forget the Scissors [Saving Money]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/cuBhB2abFrg/google-puts-coupons-on-your-phone-so-you-can-forget-the-scissors

With their new mobile coupons feature, Google wants to make it easier for you to access coupons on the go when you're too busy to sit down with the paper and clip coupons.

Just in time for the holidays, we've made it easier to find discounts when you're on the go. If a business adds a mobile coupon to its Google Local Business Center listing, you'll be able to access it from your mobile device. Just go to google.com on your phone and search for a local business. When you land on its Place Page, you'll see any coupons or discounts that might be available. Then simply show the participating business the coupon, right from your phone, to redeem the offer.

It's a great idea in theory (though not entirely new), but the main stumbling block is adoption—that is, after a lot of searching, I had a tough time finding many local businesses in my area that had any coupons to begin with. That's because it's all dependent on businesses taking advantage of their Place Page—the result Google provides when it recognizes a local business. Place pages display photos, reviews, and more (like this one). It's possible I'm just having a lot of bad luck in my searches, though, so if you give the new mobile coupons a try and have better luck, share it with us in the comm! ents.




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Backupify Makes Regular Backups of Your Online Data [Backups]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/0aQBIuk4i7I/backupify-makes-regular-backups-of-your-online-data

Think about how much of your important data is stuck in the cloud. Web service Backupify backs up all your online accounts (including Wordpress, Facebook, Gmail, and Flickr) so if a service you rely on suddenly goes poof!, your data won't.

Backupify is a spiffy service that automatically performs scheduled backups at one of the 10 online services they support. Supply the login credentials of the sites you want backed up, and Backupify takes care of the rest. Once you're up and running, if your Gmail, Google Docs, or FriendFeed account flakes out, you won't have to freak out because all your important stuff is stored safely somewhere else.

Backupify offers Twitter backups for free and three additional premium plans that range from $3.95 to $14.95 per month, depending on how much storage you need. Seems like a reasonable price to pay for the comfort of knowing the data you store in the cloud won't disappear into the ether some day.




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How to Run Google Chrome OS from a Thumb Drive [Chrome Os]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/6dmtluxh-yQ/how-to-run-google-chrome-os-from-a-thumb-drive

Last week we pointed you toward a virtual machine build of Chrome OS for anyone eager to play around with (the still incomplete) Chrome OS, but if you'd rather try running it from a thumb drive, weblog MakeUseOf has you covered.

Tech blogger Jorge Sierra details how to install Chrome OS on a bootable thumb drive so you can run it like any other live OS—like a Linux Live CD, for example. Keep in mind, however, that the build is still very young (and technically it's still Chromium OS), and even if you follow all of the directions perfectly, you may still run into some problems. For example:

Chromium OS may or may not work on your computer hardware. I did successfully run it on two home-built frankenstein computers (with ASUS motherboards), but it did not successfully recognize the network adapter on my Dell laptop. All of this work may be for nothing, if it ends up that Chromium OS does not like your network adapter.

Still, it's a fun little afternoon project, especially if you're eager to try Chrome OS. If you've played with a build since last week's preview, let's hear how it worked out for you in the comments.




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