Synapse Is a Super-Fast, Tightly Integrated Application Launcher for Linux [Downloads]

Linux: Free app Synapse goes beyond the simple application launcher to tightly integrate with your Linux system, quickly accessing any recent action you've performed so you can return to it or perform something similar in an instant.

GNOME-Do is still one of our favorite Linux launchers, but it hasn't updated in over a year. If you're looking for something a bit fresher (and without the ugly Mono dependencies), Synapse is a great replacement. It's similar to GNOME-Do and other application launchers in the sense that, with a quick keyboard shortcut, you can launch an application or take action on a certain file, depending on the plugins you have installed.

However, while the plugin list isn't quite as extensive as the more mature GNOME-Do, the Zeitgeist plugin allows for a lot of cool things. Zeitgeist (which comes pre-installed on Ubuntu) is a service that logs all your activity—files opened, websites visited, conversations held—and all these are quickly available through Synapse. You can look up recently used files (say, if you closed that document by accident or want to repeat the song you just heard) and even find other similar files. It's a slightly different approach to quick launching, and one that may have a slightly bigger learning curve but it has a ton of possibilities since Zeitgeist logs so much.

Apart from all that, you also have the usual plugins—Banshee, Rhythmbox, Dictionary, Log out/Shut Down/Suspend, and quick Terminal commands, to name a few. If you rely heavily on some of GNOME-Do's more custom plugins, you might have to wait a bit before Synapse fits into your workflow better, but if not, it's definitely worth checking out. Hit the link below to read more.

Introducing Synapse: Acetylcholine [~mhr3 via OMG! Ubuntu!]

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Lineo's Warp 2 boots to Fedora on Atom in 4 seconds, MPC Data's SwiftBoot warms up embedded Linux in an instant

Alright, you caught us. We're suckers for speedy, unrealistically optimized boot times. The fine folks at Linux for Devices just highlighted two major players on the horizon: Lineo's Warp 2, which is about to launch; and MPC Data's SwiftBoot, which is now available. Both of them are less of a "boot" and more of a "wake from hibernation" sort of thing, but most of the issues are the same -- you still have to boot a kernel, whether or not you're gonna populate the system with a saved state when it's ready. Lineo is booting up Fedora Linux 12 on an Atom Z530 machine, and has just hit the 4.06 second mark -- compared to a 54.72 second "normal" boot time on the system. Meanwhile, MPC Data is going after much more of a niche, but doing it well: its SwiftBoot tech can get Linux up and running an actual application on an embedded device-ready Renesas SuperH SH7724 processor in under a second (0.982 seconds, to be precise). This one has to be seen to be believed, so check out the video after the break. Sure, it won't help you love your pokey PC or Mac any more (though Apple's doing its own work on this problem with its misnomered "instant on" feature on the MacBook Air, which wakes the computer from hibernation in a few seconds), but it's a nice glimpse of what's to come.

Continue reading Lineo's Warp 2 boots to Fedora on Atom in 4 seconds, MPC Data's SwiftBoot warms up embedded Linux in an instant

Lineo's Warp 2 boots to Fedora on Atom in 4 seconds, MPC Data's SwiftBoot warms up embedded Linux in an instant originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Dec 2010 10:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Strawberry-Pickin' Robot Only Picks the Red Berries [Video]

Yet another field of expertise has been wiped out by some steel pincers—strawberry-pickers. Japan's robot detects which berries are at least 80 per cent red, and picks them gently off the vine.

It's being trained to pick other forms of berries, but if the 'bot gets to the point where it can be released safely into the wilds of strawberry farms, it'll supposedly reduce harvest time by 40 per cent. That means fewer jobs for humans, and even more 'bots handling our sweet little bombs of juice. The future is definitely mechanical—and doomed. [DigInfo via Technabob]

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Samsung cooks up its own NFC module, destined for the Nexus S?

Curious timing, no? Just last month, Google's own Eric Schmidt revealed that the Nexus S (manufactured by none other than Samsung) would have "NFC features," and he even went on to proclaim that this kind of technology would eventually supplant the tried-and-true credit card. Today, Sammy itself has revealed a new near field communications (NFC) chip with embedded flash memory, and we're told that this guy remains active for mobile payment even without battery power. Of course, we're still waiting for a confirmed price and release date for the aforesaid smartphone, but could Samsung's NFC mass production date of Q1 2011 be the clue we've been yearning for? Fingers and toes crossed, okay everyone?

Continue reading Samsung cooks up its own NFC module, destined for the Nexus S?

Samsung cooks up its own NFC module, destined for the Nexus S? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Dec 2010 13:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Verizon LTE / 4G preview with the LG VL600 modem

We've just gotten our hands on the less-insane version of Verizon's LTE modems, the LG VL600. The company timed the shipment of these puppies to coincide with today's announcement of the coming 4G onslaught, set to begin December 5th -- which based on what we've seen thus far is going to be beyond awesome. Unless you're on a Mac (more on that after the break).

In case you haven't seen the device in question, it's a rather large (we mean seriously large) USB dongle, which thankfully comes with a clip and extra cable. Like all LTE devices, it uses a SIM which will look familiar to those in GSM devices, but is -- again -- almost comically large.

Gallery: LG VL600 LTE modem

We haven't spent a load of time with the modem, but in the few short hours we've had to play with the device, the down- and upstream speeds we're getting are nothing short of phenomenal. In Brooklyn, which we're not even sure is really heavily covered by the LTE blanket (and was being battered by rain and wind at the time of testing), we saw consistent speeds which peaked at 7 Mbps down, and over 1 Mbps up. Overall, speeds held steady around 5 to 6 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up. By comparison, we saw around 4 Mbps down and less than 1 Mbps up when we did some testing with Sprint's WiMAX Overdrive 4G, and roughly 6.5 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up with Clear's iSpot.

Overall, browsing on our computer felt nearly identical to our home broadband, and even HD video playback on YouTube was snappy and responsive over the network. And did we mention we were only getting two out of four bars on our connection?

Update: We've added a link to SlashGear's hands-on of the modem below. As you can see, speeds vary by area, and SG was pulling 12 Mbps downstream and more than 5 Mbps up -- impressively matching Verizon's claimed numbers.

Update 2: With a little more testing, we're seeing speeds closer to Verizon's estimates. We've added a second image after the break, and as you can see, we're nabbing over 10 Mbps downstream and nearly 4 Mbps up.

Continue reading Verizon LTE / 4G preview with the LG VL600 modem

Verizon LTE / 4G preview with the LG VL600 modem originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Dec 2010 15:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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