drag2share: Samsung Should Stop Pretending Its New 14-Inch Laptop Is an Ultrabook [Ultrabook]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5867181/samsung-is-pretending-its-new-14+inch-laptop-is-an-ultrabook-its-not

When is an Ultrabook not an Ultrabook? When it's got a 14-inch screen, weighs 4 pounds and has an optical drive, that's when.

Samsung has just announced its new Ultrabook range, branded Series 5 Ultra, reports Sammy Hub, and amongst them is one that stands out. Not for good reasons, though.

One of the models boasts a 14-inch screen. Nothing wrong with that, per se. But it also features an optical drive, a 1TB HDD, discrete AMD graphics, HDMI and Ethernet ports, and a whole swathe of brushed aluminum. All of which makes it 0.83-inch thick, and causes it to weigh in at 4 pounds.

Sorry, Samsung, did you miss the memo? Ultrabooks are supposed to high-performance, sure — but they're also supposed to ultra-portable. This 14-inch whopper is not an Ultrabook.

Samsung has also announced a more standard 13-inch model, which is 0.59 inches thick, weighs 3 pounds, and doesn't have an optical drive. With a Sandy Bridge processor, combined SSD and HDD and the usual shiny casing, it looks set to blend right in to the deluge of so-so Ultrabooks we've seen so far.

They're launching in Korea this month, and will appear in the US before too long. Launch price in Korea is equivalent to about $1,300 for the 13-incher and $1,345 for the 14-inch beast.

This a great example of just how absurd labels like "Ultrabook" are. When manufacturers stick a name like that on any old product, it's bound to cause confusion amongst consumers. The knock-on effect is that both the fat and thin products tagged as Ultrabooks suffer: the monster machine never lives up to its name, and the skinny one's reputation is tarnished by association.

Even if both are fine computers — and they might be — they're both going to suffer. And that's a shame. Sort it out, Samsung. [Sammy Hub via Pocket Lint]

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drag2share: The Money of the Future Will Shine Like Crazy [Video]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5867225/the-money-of-the-future-will-shine-like-crazy

The Blue Morpho butterfly shines such a brilliant blue it almost seems electric. Its secret? Microscopic holes that play with light in an incredible way. And by using nanotechnology, we can replicate those same effects on printed objects, like money. Bling!

The technology highlighted above uses an array of holes that are each about the size of a virus (usually 100-200 nanometers in diameter). These tiny dots interact with light using a principal of physics called plasmonics. Light sort of collects on the surface of the film and "creates higher than expected optical outputs by creating an electromagnetic field, called surface plasmonic resonance." The best part is that the stamping can occur after the object has already been made, making implementation a lot easier (i.e. money would be printed as normal, and then stamped). At the same time, the effect would be extremely hard to reproduce, making it very tough to counterfeit.

The technology, called NOtES (Nano-Optic Technology for Enhanced Security), was created by Nanotech Security, which is already in talks with the Bank of Canada, and it's likely that other currency distributors will soon follow. And the tech can be applied to more than just money. ID's, obviously, but also things like pills. Since it's just a simple stamping process, each pill could be stamped to verify its authenticity. Nanotech Security even thinks this technology could be used in a disc like a Blu-ray, but with much higher information density, to the tune of "gigabytes per centimeter." It's fascinating stuff.

Prototypes were made using an electron microscope and an ion beam to burn material off (think atoms at a time) of a quartz plate. Once that quartz master has been created, they use it to make copies out of nickel. From there, things just have to be stamped. It can work with light from the ultra-violet, through visual spectrum, and all the way infrared, which means it could create watermarks that are invisible to the human eye. All of that cool stuff aside, it's just going to make cash money shine and be more awesome. It'll give the us of the future one little reason to actually use cash instead of just paying for everything with our phones. [Fast Company]

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drag2share: Google's Native Client focuses on apps and games, brings Bastion to the browser (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/12/googles-native-client-focuses-on-apps-and-games-brings-bastion/

In case you missed it, Google's Native Client launched at the end of the summer, promising to ease cross-OS deployment by letting developers run x86 code natively in Chrome. Early adopters have had a few months to tinker with Google's new trick, and now the outfit is eager to show off their best work. Supergiant Games, for instance, has ported Bastion to the Native Client, opening up the Xbox Live hit to Mac, Linux and Chrome OS users. Google's Christian Stefansen says Native Client makes porting existing code bases written C, C++ or C# easy, citing Spacetime Studio's Star Legends -- an MMO with over half a million lines of code -- as an example of a large project that was ported in as little as two weeks. Google touts application middleware ports (such as Unity, Moai, Mono, fmod and more) and easy distribution to the Chrome Web Store as a major boon to developers, and encourages interested studios to check out its new Native Client site to help them get started. Interested? Hit up the links below, or simply skip past the break to hear Mr. Stefansen's spiel for yourself.

Continue reading Google's Native Client focuses on apps and games, brings Bastion to the browser (video)

Google's Native Client focuses on apps and games, brings Bastion to the browser (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Dec 2011 08:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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drag2share: Galaxy Player 4.0 review

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/12/galaxy-player-4-0-review/

Apple users have the iPod touch, but what about Android fans? Where do they turn when looking for an app-running, connected media player -- basically a smartphone without the phone? Well, believe it or not, there are a few options out there (like the Philips GoGear and Cowon's D3) And one of the premier lines is certainly Samsung's Galaxy Player offerings which, as the name implies, borrow a few things from their beloved cellphone siblings. There's both a 4.0 ($230) and a 5.0 ($270) model which have four- and five-inch screens, respectively, but, besides the size, the two are practically identical in the specs department. We toyed with the smaller Galaxy Player 4.0 for a couple of weeks and our thoughts on Sammy's (somewhat pricier) answer to the iPod touch are right after the break.

Gallery: Samsung Galaxy Player 4.0 review

Continue reading Galaxy Player 4.0 review

Galaxy Player 4.0 review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Dec 2011 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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drag2share: Verizon-branded LG Spectrum steps out in leaked press shot

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/12/verizon-branded-lg-spectrum-steps-out-in-leaked-press-shot/

LG aren't letting up on the LTE hardware. While we've only just shaken hands with AT&T's Nitro HD, this Verizon-branded 4G handset packs several design cues (and specifications) from its rival network cousin. The LG Spectrum has already appeared -- albeit fleetingly -- in a database listing and is likely to be the successor to Big Red's Revolution. Pocketnow reckons that the phone will rock a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, a high-definition display running at 720p and an eight megapixel shooter, although it's hard to make out much for from these shots -- aside from that protruding camera module. Regardless, life's most certainly looking good for LG fans.

Verizon-branded LG Spectrum steps out in leaked press shot originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Dec 2011 10:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Pocketnow  | Email this | Comments

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