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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Acer Iconia Tab A510 to hit European retailers this April?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/25/acer-iconia-tab-a510-to-hit-european-retailers-this-april/

Amidst the madness that was CES, Acer quietly snuck its Iconia Tab A510 onto the showroom floor, tucking the tablet into the folds of NVIDIA's booth. While the company was more than willing to fess up to the slate's specs -- quad-core Tegra 3 processor, skinned Ice Cream Sandwich UX, 1280 x 800 display -- little in the way of pricing and availability were revealed. If a report out of Germany is to be believed, however, Europeans (sorry, statesiders) might very well see the 10.1-incher hit retail as early as this April, with a €500 price tag in tow. That's all the rumor mill's wrought for now, folks, but we'll keep you posted should the news go official at CeBIT 2012.

Acer Iconia Tab A510 to hit European retailers this April? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Jan 2012 08:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Your Brain Will Melt After You See This Negative Image [Illusions]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5879004/your-brain-will-melt-after-you-see-this-negative-image

Want to add more wrinkles to that ol' brain of yours? Stare at the colored dots on the girl's nose in the photo above for 30 seconds. Then look at a white surface (blank browser, mayhaps) and start blinking. You should see a non-negative image of the girl. WHAT. BRAIN. MELTING. WHAT. OHMYGOD. Yep, that jiggly stuff in your head just processed a negative image. Sweet. [PetaPixel]

Next Xbox console to be six times more powerful, headed for fall 2013 release?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/24/next-xbox-console-to-be-six-times-more-powerful-headed-for-fall/

Xbox 720, Xbox Loop -- whatever Microsoft ends up calling it, that hot rod of a console looks to be on deck for a late fall 2013 release. According to IGN's sources, this successor to the Redmond gaming throne is purported to pack a GPU based on AMD's 6000 series of chips and will boast silicon circuitry that catapults its performance past Nintendo's upcoming Wii U by 20 percent. If you're looking for a more apples to green X's comparison, this next-gen console's graphical capabilities are also reportedly six times greater than its 360 progenitor. While MS is likely holding back its monstrous new platform for a big E3 reveal, it appears the company's still whittling down its spec list, with dev kits to be issued later this August. No mention was made of its rumored Kinect 2 integration, but we're more than certain that famous hacking tech will be front and center.

[Image credit: Joseph Dumary]

Next Xbox console to be six times more powerful, headed for fall 2013 release? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google updates ToS, shares your data across its services (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/24/google-new-privacy-policy/

Google updates ToS, shares your data across your services (video)

You're you, right? Of course you are. If you have an Account, Google knows that too and now, with an updated and streamlined Google Terms of Service, you're even more you than ever before. The company is consolidating most of its more than 70 separate privacy documents into a single Privacy Policy that is so important it gets capitalized. The biggest change? If you have a Google Account, your information will now be shared across the company's many services. Scary? Don't fear -- the company is taking this time to re-iterate its pledge to never sell your personal information, never share it externally and to continue to support the Data Liberation Front. Viva transparency.

Continue reading Google updates ToS, shares your data across its services (video)

Google updates ToS, shares your data across its services (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Researchers develop 'wireless optical brain router' to manipulate brain cells

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/24/researchers-develop-wireless-optical-brain-router-to-manipulat/

Optogenetics might be a relatively unknown area of neuroscience, but it's one that, thanks to some new research, could soon find itself (and its rodental subjects) in the spotlight. For the uninitiated, it's the practice of manipulating animal cells using light (with a little help from gene therapy). Until now, optogenetic equipment has been large and unwieldy, making testing on subjects (read: rats) painstaking. Startup, Kendall Research, has changed all this, creating wireless prototypes that weigh just three grams (0.11 ounces). By eschewing bulky Lasers for LEDs and Laser diodes, the equipment is small enough that it can be attached to the rodents. At that point, their brain function can be manipulated with the touch of a button, and different parts can be stimulated without breeding mutant variants -- a controversial practice that doesn't even yield results in real time. The "router" is powered wirelessly by super capacitors below test area, and researchers can conduct experiments remotely, even automatically. Human applications for this are still some way off, but we're sure our future overlords will make good use of it.

Researchers develop 'wireless optical brain router' to manipulate brain cells originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ExtremeTech | source

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