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Tuesday, March 08, 2011

Android Honeycomb's music app extracted, brings cloud sync and streaming to phones

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/07/android-honeycombs-music-app-extracted-brings-cloud-sync-and-s/

Those who are familiar with Android Honeycomb might have already come across its music player's cloud syncing feature, though previous attempts to port said app to phones hadn't been successful. Whatever it was that kept crashing the app back then, it seems to have fixed itself -- after xda-developers member WhiteWidows slapped the leaked app onto his rooted EVO 4G, the phone started to automagically sync his tunes to his Google account. The modder then swapped in an empty SD card, but he was still able to stream music straight from the cloud after checking the "Stream music" option in the app. Pretty neat, eh? That said, we do wonder if Google will be able to handle the exabytes worth of high-quality Justin Bieber and Spice Girl tracks.

Android Honeycomb's music app extracted, brings cloud sync and streaming to phones originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Mar 2011 22:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MobileCrunch, Download Squad | source

xda-developers | Email this | Comments

Adobe outs experimental Flash-to-HTML5 conversion tool, calls it Wallaby

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/08/adobe-outs-experimental-flash-to-html5-conversion-tool-calls-it/

Ah, if only we could flip a big happy switch and convert all the web's Flash content into (functional) HTML5 code. It's a dream shared by many and, funnily enough, the company pushing to make it a reality is none other than Adobe itself, the owner and proprietor of Flash. Its Labs research team has just released an experimental new dev tool, dubbed Wallaby, that's targeted at taking Flash-encoded artwork and animations and turning them into a more compatible mix of HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Of course, the intent here is not some magnanimous move to free us from the shackles of Flash -- Adobe openly admits that the initial goal for the new tool will be to help convert animated banner ads so that they work on the iOS platform -- but hey, even bad tools can be used for good sometimes, right?

Continue reading Adobe outs experimental Flash-to-HTML5 conversion tool, calls it Wallaby

Adobe outs experimental Flash-to-HTML5 conversion tool, calls it Wallaby originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 00:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Download Blog | source

Adobe Labs | Email this | Comments

Samsung HDD manages 1TB per platter, areal-density enthusiasts rejoice

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/08/samsung-hdd-manages-1tb-per-platter-areal-density-enthusiasts-r/

Solid state drives are the geek storage of choice, what with their quiet nature, blazing fast speed, and stunning good looks. However, the limited capacity and sky-high price of SSDs keeps many of us buying traditional disk-based storage solutions -- which is just fine considering Samsung keeps finding ways to fit more bits and bytes on every drive. Last year, Sammy's EcoGreen F4EG squeezed 2TB onto a 3-platter drive (or 667GB per platter), and now the company's primed to release a new series of Spinpoint drives with even greater areal density at a time and price that remains TBD. Whenever they do get here, the new HDDs promise to deliver up to 1TB per platter spinning at 5,400RPM -- meaning 4TB desktop drives and a terabyte of storage (courtesy of two 500GB platters) in standard-sized laptop HDDs. The 3.5-inch version packs a 32MB cache and SATA 6Gbps compatibility, while the 2.5-inch variety has an 8MB cache and a 3 Gb/s SATA interface. Knowing all that, only one question remains: could areal-density enthusiasts be the new pixel-density enthusiasts?

Samsung HDD manages 1TB per platter, areal-density enthusiasts rejoice originally appeared on Engad get on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 02:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Electronista | source

Heise Online | Email this | Comments

Philips Fidelio SoundSphere WiFi speakers get AirPlayed

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/08/philips-fidelio-soundsphere-wifi-speaker-get-airplayed/

Add one more to the list of manufacturers supporting Apple's AirPlay. Philips just announced its Fidelio SoundSphere speakers that support WiFi music streaming over Apple's new media sharing "standard" from your PC or Mac iTunes library or from any iOS device. Unfortunately, Philips isn't providing any useful detail about these speakers with free-floating tweeters and 360-degree sound. But hey, if you're the kind who buys speakers based on appearance alone, then the €799 (about $1,100 -- nearly twice as much as the Zeppelin Air) price tag for the speaker pair + dock should be no problem when they hit Europe sometime in May. Press release and bonus pic after the break.

Continue reading Philips Fidelio SoundSphere WiFi speakers get AirPlayed

Philips Fidelio SoundSphere WiFi speakers get AirPlayed originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 05:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pocket-Lint | | Email this | Comments

Optical tweezers manipulate microscopic objects using an iPad, raw brainpower (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/08/optical-tweezers-manipulate-microscopic-objects-using-an-ipad-r/

Okay, so maybe the whole brainpower thing is a distant second to the iPad itself, but still -- being a rocket scientist probably doesn't hurt when manipulating microscopic objects via a multitouch display. That's the kind of setup that students and boffins alike have going at England's University of Bristol, where iTweezers are being used to control a tiny rod about 300 nanometers wide, amongst other things. Essentially, the iPad is able to display what's under a microscope via a wireless display transfer, and then, touch points are converted into laser movements that are used to handle objects that are far smaller than those visible particles clogging up your left ear right now. All told, a user can select up to 11 different objects, and in theory, the iPad could enable scientists to do this remotely. Hey, we're all about new and improved ways to telework. Vid's below, kiddos.

Continue reading Optical tweezers manipulate microscopic objects using an iPad, raw brainpower (video)

Optical tweezers manipulate microscopic objects using an iPad, raw brainpower (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 06:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Journal of Optics [PDF] | Email this | Comments