Sunday, October 25, 2009

PhotoTrackr Mini geotagging device shrinks down, adds Mac and RAW support

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/25/phototrackr-mini-geotagging-device-shrinks-down-adds-mac-and-ra/

Looking for a geotagging solution that doesn't discriminate based on what kind of camera you have? Looking for one that can fit snugly into your Fifth Pocket? The PhotoTrackr Mini looks to be that very device, boasting a diminutive thumb drive-esque appearance and the same geotagging technology as found in the original. Put simply, the device works by syncing the time of your camera with bundled software; when you're back from a shoot (a shoot where your device also was), you just allow the application to figure out where a given shot was snapped at what time. There's also Mac and RAW file format support on this model, neither of which were compatible with the prior version. Pre-orders are being accepted now at $69, and the first shipments are expected to go out next month.

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PhotoTrackr Mini geotagging device shrinks down, adds Mac and RAW support originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 25 Oct 2009 13:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Friday, October 23, 2009

HP MediaSmart EX495 Windows Home Server Review (Better Time Machine Support!) [Review]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/Xbl-Xokei-M/hp-mediasmart-ex495-windows-home-server-review-better-time-machine-support

The HP MediaSmart EX490 and EX495 are the new top-of-the-line Windows Home Servers from HP, which are good enough to pretty much be the de-facto Windows Home Servers on the market now. These new units keep up the tradition.

What it still does

HP's Windows Home Servers are exceptional because they take the standard Home Server build and add a bunch of extras on top of it. For example, HP was the first one to introduce support for Apple's Time Machine, which has been improved here so that you can do a complete restore in the event that you have to start your Mac up from scratch.

They've also still got the media streaming (DLNA compliant), web/iPhone streaming and iTunes server built in, as well as a media collector that sucks in media from all your regular machines on the network into one place on the server. All of this stuff is just improved.

What it does even better now

The greatest group of improvements is how the EX495 now works with Macs. Time Machine functionality was there before, but ran into problems when your Mac went down and you tried to do a fresh restore directly off the network. Now you get a separate disc to use so you can treat the Time Machine backup on the server as a standard Time Machine backup for restores.

But the most important feature on a day-to-day basis is the fact that! the Hom e Server console works natively on Macs—even though it's just a remote desktop connection to the server anyway. You can now do on your Mac all the management actions you could on the PC, like setup new users, update your Home Server, perform diagnostics or configure video conversions.

Then there is the added ability to do media collecting on Macs, basically sucking off any videos or music you've accumulated into one network-accessible place so other machines can access it. It beats having to remember to manually place those things on the server yourself.

Of course, Macs can also access the web interface for Home Server management just like PCs can.

More power, more storage and better processing

Shoving a Dual Core 2.5GHz or a 2.2GHz Celeron processor and 2GB of RAM on these machines might seem like overkill for something that's just used to hold stuff and stream it around the network, but HP puts that to good use.

In our tests, the EX495 was able to convert a DVD movie into a full resolution h.264 and a phone-streamable 300MB movie in about an hour and a half, give or take. Very useful for not sucking up your main machine's horsepower to convert videos when you can just vomit them onto the network and have it be done by a slave machine.

The improved processor is very noticeable from just using the remote console. Clicking around to s! et up th e photo publisher, or the media server, or adding BitTorrent plugins were much faster than the previous generation EX485 and EX487 machines. It's not even comparable to the LX195 budget versions.

At $700 and $550 respectively, the MediaSmart Servers definitely aren't cheap. If you've got an older version, like the 485/487 series, the improvements probably won't be enough to warrant you spending so much for another machine that has similar functionality. If you're new to the Windows Home Server realm, this has pretty much everything a PC or a Mac user would want to hold their data, stream their media and backup their information. [HP EX495 and HP EX490]




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Win 7 Laptop Battlemodo: Thin and Lights For Under $800 [Battlemodo]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/MmFw2ocDtik/win-7-laptop-battlemodo-thin-and-lights-for-under-800

A group of 13-inch laptops priced around $800 have been hitting the gym hard, like that Russian guy Rocky fought, in order to shed the pounds and learn to run for hours. But one is the best.

Why Not a Netbook?

In this battle, we're talking about a whole new class of notebooks that fall somewhere between Atom netbooks and full-blown Core 2 Duo machines.

There is no doubt that if you spend $400 more than the average netbook on one of these 13-inch travel friendly notebooks—the Acer Aspire Timeline AS3810T-8737, ASUS UL30A-A1, HP Pavilion dm3, and Toshiba Satellite T135—you'll be purchasing the comfort of a real notebook, the endurance of a netbook and a bit of the thin-n-light enticement of premium devices like the MacBook Air.

And instead of Intel's underpowered Atom processors, each is equipped with 1.3GHz Intel ultra low voltage (ULV) processor and Windows 7 Home Premium. Handling your everyday computing tasks (running a browser, productivity suite, iTunes, TweetDeck, etc.) and 1080p high definition video (each of them have HDMI out) isn't a problem for the CPU.

Meanwhile, your average Atom netbook can't play a 1080p clip without stuttering, nor can it multitask as smoothly. However, no UL system can reach the performance of a Core 2 Duo with discrete graphics. By way of comparison a 15.4-inch Acer Aspire with a 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and discrete ATI graphics has about double the performance in Geekbench, but it pays in battery life.

But you don't need heavy graphics support or super processor speeds to surf the web. The assumption with! all of these thin and lights is that we all live so far up in the cloud that we can see that there really is no boy in the balloon.

The Results

Even if most of the 13-inch thin and light notebooks out there have identical specs with ULV processors, hard drives and memory, they aren't created equal.

Design, ergonomics and battery life matter most, which is why ASUS takes the crown.

The Winner: ASUS UL30A-A1


Price: $800
The ASUS UL30A-A1 isn't an Eee PC, but its design reminds me of the company's chic netbook line. The metal lid looks slightly MacBook-like and it is the thinnest-feeling system of them all at less than an inch thick all around.

ASUS fares quite well on ergonomics. The keyboard is island-style (meaning that the keys are isolated from one another, like on the MacBook) and quite comfortable. However, there is a bit of flex to the overall panel. As for the touchpad, it happens to be the best of the entire group. While all the rest are technically capable of multitouch gestures, the UL30-AL's actually works (especially two-finger scrolling which I cannot live without)!

But ASUS really rises to the top in battery life. The UL30A-A1 is the only one of the bunch to come with an eight-cell battery. On our battery test (with Wi-Fi on and screen brightness set at 65 percent) a movie played back! non-sto p for 6 hours and 25 minutes, the longest of any of the systems in this Battlemodo. That's even longer than the HP Mini 5101 (with a six cell battery) netbook's 5:45. In real-world circumstances, that battery life can only get better since our testing is processor-intensive. For $800 flat it packs the best all around performance, endurance and ergonomics.


The Runners-Up

Acer Aspire Timeline AS3810T-8737
Price: $800Acer kicked off the thin and light trend last spring with the Timeline series. And while ASUS has caught up, Acer still pulls the silver medal. The AS3810T is noticeably lighter than the rest. The design is more corporate looking than the HP or the ASUS, but if you are the buttoned up type that won't be a bother.


The island-style keyboard is just a pleasure, though the keys themselves are a bit slippery at first. The touchpad is kinda small and the single button a bit stiff, but navigating the desktop is still a decent experience. Acer's six cell battery doesn't last as long as HP's, but still makes out with more than five hours of runtime. If you can score a great deal on this system, it shouldn't be beyond consideration.

HP Pavilion dm3
Price: $740 (as configured) The HP Pavilion dm3's aluminum lid looks great and feels really solid, but it isn't the trimmest of systems measuring 1.23 inches at its thickest point (or almost a quarter thicker than our winner).


Under the lid, the island keyboard (you seeing the trend?!) is by far my favorite of all. The keys are firm and the manufacturing quality is superb. If only I could give the same props to the touchpad. The mirrored pad, besides being custom-tailored for narcissists, is rough making it hard to push the cursor along. And if you have sweaty fingers forget about it! The Pavilion's battery life was second to ASUS', and really we can't say 5.5 hours is all that shabby!

Toshiba Satellite T! 135
Price: $710 (as configured) Toshiba killed it with its NB205 netbook, but the T135 can't destroy the competition in the ULV space. Though the notebook is pretty thin (.87 inches at its thinnest point) it just doesn't look or feel as slender as some of the others. And the same goes for the Satellite's design and coated lid (available in black, white and red); it just isn't as attractive as the rest.


It doesn't have an island-style keyboard, but I actually typed pretty darn fast on the smooth black keys. But damn you mouse button! I wish you were chopped in half to make two buttons so I knew which one I was clicking on. The T135's battery was the weakest of the bunch, lasting just a bit more than 5 hours on our intensive video run down. Again, though that is pretty darn long.

Feature Comparison


Verdict

The ASUS UL30A-A1 is our number one pick for a 13-inch ULV based system. It is thin, light, and comfortable to use for its over 6 and a half hours of juice. The Acer keeps a close second to the ASUS with its long run time and sleek bod. The HP Pavillion dm3 and the Toshiba T135, while still affordable and adequate performers, simply aren't the best.




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Dell Selling Core i7 Laptop for $101,353 [Dealzmodo]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/OaKQKldlDoA/dell-selling-core-i7-laptop-for-101353

It's either a glitch or a preventative measure, but Dell is listing an otherwise straight-up Studio 16 for $101,353 because of the succulent Core i7 processor stuck inside. Update: Fun's over

That's just the 1.6GHz chip, though. If you want to step up to the 1.73GHz one, you gotta add $350. Thank God they're offering $100 off of a faster memory upgrade. If you do take advantage of this exciting offer, please let us know. [Dell - Thanks Skittlez!]




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1000 Cellphones and 2000 Text Messages Playing Tchaikovsky [Cellphones]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/9pz0lXjMluw/1000-cellphones-and-2000-text-messages-playing-tchaikovsky

I don't know what is crazier: This video of Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture played with 1000 cellphones and 2000 messages, or the videos showing how the whole thing was made.

People from Vodafone New Zealand, I can't wait for you to do other classics, like:

[Engadget]




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