drag2share: Is a Crappy Wi-Fi Signal Ruining Your Netflix Streams? Hy-Fi Routers Promise to Fix That [Internet]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5876043/is-a-crappy-wi+fi-signal-ruining-your-netflix-streams-hy+fi-routers-promise-to-fix-that

The nerdiest thing our Matt Buchanan ever wanted was an awesome powerline router. I'll see your nerdiness, Matt, and raise you one. Hy-Fi Routers crossbreed Wi-Fi, ethernet, powerline, and MoCA to give you a mutant baby of ultimate internet reliability. The dream of consistently fast 100Mbps internet all over my apartment is so close I can almost taste it.

Hy-Fi is basically a hybrid of all the different ways we connect to the internet at home. Wi-Fi and ethernet you probably know. Powerline transmits data through the electrical wiring already in your house—yes, those standard electrical outlets—so it essentially give you your own isolated, wired home network. Hy-Fi can use all of those together to give you a super reliable data-stream. If your wi-fi suddenly sucks (like it does sometimes) it'll adapt to pull more from powerline. If powerline is spread too thin, it'll take more from wi-fi or ethernet. You'll never know it's doing all of this. All you know is that is that movie you're streaming is playing just like it should.

Hy-Fi (not to by confused with Hyphy) is starting to gain ground, thanks to a new standard that was recently blessed by the IEEE. The standard aims to ensure that your Hy-Fi devices will play nicely together regardless of brand, etc. Qualcomm Atheros has been one of the companies working hard at developing this newer technology, and their new QCA6410 chip should make powerline/Hy-Fi gear smaller, cheaper, and better. I stopped by the Qualcomm Atheros booth at CES to see this gear in action, and it did something extremely surprising: it made me legitimately excited about home networking.

Watching the software in action was like seeing a symphony being conducted by a robot. The demo was pulling four separate video streams at once using a Hy-Fi router with Qualcomm guts. The information could be coming through Wi-Fi, ethernet, and powerline all at once, though they only had Wi-Fi and powerline set up for the demo. They would introduce interference, but data rates instantly adjusted, and performance remained consistent. Soon Qualcomm chips will also be incorporating MoCA (MoCA (multimedia over Coax Alliance, which is pretty much same thing as powerline, but with the coaxial cable you already have in your walls).

My TV is on the far side of my apartment from the office where my router lives. When Netflix streaming craps out on me, I curse TimeWarner. But often if I go closer to the router, it turns out I was just having Wi-Fi problems. I want those days to be behind me, now. Qualcomm is updating all of its new and existing Hy-Fi devices to the new standard this quarter, and others will be hot on their heels. Hopefully more and more devices will be made with this this in mind. And yes, I recognize that I am a total and complete geek right now. I've made my peace with that, but please don't pants me. [Qualcomm Atheros]

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drag2share: Want to See Every Tree in America? [Science]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5876091/want-to-see-every-tree-in-america

We may sing about purple mountains and amber grains, but one of America's most vital resources is its vast amount of carbon-catching, oxygen-spewing trees. Now, after six years of effort, NASA knows how many we've got.

Josef Kellndorfer and Wayne Walker of Woods Hole Research Center worked in conjunction with the National Geological Survey and US Forest Service to catalog a mix of data gleaned from space-based radar, satellite sensors, computer models, and old-fashioned tree counting. The map above shows the total amount of woody biomass in the USA. It's displayed at a 30 meter resolution, where every four pixels constitutes an acre and every ten represents a hectare. [NASA Earth Observatory via Business Insider via Geekosystem]

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drag2share: Guy Creates Realistic Photoshop Simulator For the Web [Photoshop]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5876104/guy-creates-realistic-photoshop-simulator-for-the-web

Wow, I am blown away by this! A programmer over at Visual Idiot has created a perfect simulation of Photoshop that runs in your web browser. It's only been tested under Chrome, but it should work in other browsers too.

Coded with only HTML 5, CSS3 and jQuery/Javascript, this web-based version of Photoshop functions exactly like Adobe's flagship product does under OS X. It's the perfect alternative when you're using a computer that doesn't have Photoshop installed, so I suggest you head on over and take it for a spin. [Visual Idiot via PetaPixel]

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drag2share: TI's wireless charger for tablets does amazing things with electrons, sticky tape

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/14/tis-wireless-charger-for-tablets-does-amazing-things-with-elect/

Either TI has the hots for Arduino in a big way, or its latest wireless charging kit isn't quite ready for mass production. When it does arrive, however, it promises to do away with those cumbersome specialized sleeves and back covers that are currently needed for inductive charging. Instead, it'll deliver efficient in a package that's small enough to be installed as part of a device's internal circuitry. In addition to the Qi-standard 5W version we glimpsed a while back, the company is also working on a 10W variant for the iPad 2 and other tablets, which could wipe the smile off LaunchPort's face and perhaps make MicroUSB 3.0 superfluous before it even gets here.

TI's wireless charger for tablets does amazing things with electrons, sticky tape originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 14 Jan 2012 09:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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drag2share: Oregon Scientific's App In Sports watches sync with your phone, grab apps from it

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/14/oregon-scientifics-app-in-sports-watches-sync-with-your-phone/

One of the many new products we spotted at Oregon Scientific's CES booth was the App In Sports range of watches. As the name suggests, these wearables can link up to your Android phone (via ANT+ wireless connection) to grab up to three app profiles, and the range of profiles available depend on the model of the watches due to their different sensors: for the RA900 (Expedition) you get cardio, weather, hiking and sleep; whereas the SE900 offers coach, running, workout and sleep. More profiles will be made available, though it's not clear whether they'll make it before or after the watches launch in a few months time. Either way, users will need to install the matching Android apps according to their watch models, but both apps can sync with the watches for exercise summary data (including heart rate, exercise time, distance and speed). Demo video after the break.

Gallery: Oregon Scientific's App in Sports watches

Continue reading Oregon Scientific's App In Sports watches sync with your phone, grab apps from it

Oregon Scientific's App In Sports watches sync with your phone, grab apps from it originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 14 Jan 2012 20:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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