Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Monday, May 21, 2012

Amazon puts Samsung Galaxy S III up for US pre-orders, offers a slice of quad-core, unlocked utopia

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/21/amazon-puts-samsung-galaxy-s-iii-up-for-us-pre-orders/

Sufficiently enamored with Samsung's Galaxy S III that you've got to have one in the US before anyone else, and you don't want it sullied by carrier customizations in the trip across the Pacific? Amazon has your back with pre-orders for 16GB versions in both Marble White and Pebble Blue. Either will keep the speedy Exynos 4 Quad and will stay unlocked, so you can hop networks to your heart's content. Do expect to pay a steep premium for being the first kid on your block: at $800, you're spending a lot to get an HSPA+ model on June 1st when the LTE-toting, cheaper (if carrier-locked and possibly part-swapped) editions should reach the US days later.

Amazon puts Samsung Galaxy S III up for US pre-orders, offers a slice of quad-core, unlocked utopia originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 18:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TiVo's Stream transcoding box and IP connected extender make their debut at Cable Show 2012

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/21/tivo-stream-ip-stb-cable-show-2012/

Now that TiVo has delivered updated software for its Premiere boxes its focus is turning to some new hardware accessories, including the TiVoToGo-style transcoder we saw at CES, now dubbed Stream (top), and the IP extender set-top box mentioned earlier this year (bottom). According to TiVo's press release, both boxes will be available at retail and via the various cable operators that are offering its DVRs to their customers, while availability will be announced "in the coming months". The Stream transcoder reformats live and recorded video from a Premiere DVR for viewing on mobile devices or tablets (including sideloading for offline viewing away from the home), and TiVo says it's the first to stream or download shows simultaneously to multiple devices like iPads or iPhones without interrupting what's being watched. The IP box on the other hand is all about multiroom, designed to pull in either live or recorded video from a Premiere Q plus cable VOD and internet content, similar to the existing Preview but without the CableCARD tuner. A press release follows after the break, while Zatz Not Funny has a few pics of them on the floor at this week's 2012 NCTA Cable Show.

! Continue reading TiVo's Stream transcoding box and IP connected extender make their debut at Cable Show 2012

TiVo's Stream transcoding box and IP connected extender make their debut at Cable Show 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 09:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Elgato announces Game Capture HD, shows off your deathmatch prowess in H.264

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/21/elgato-game-capture-hd/

Elgato is releasing the Game Capture HD, a device that lets game-casters and YouTube walkthrough mavens shed low-resolution, over-the-shoulder smartphone footage once and for all. The sleek black box sits between console and display, enabling gamers to record their speed runs and kill records for the world to see. Xbox 360 users can daisy-chain the gear into their HDMI set-up, while PS3 users will have to use the bundled AV cable to circumvent Sony's stronger copy protection. The footage will then be compressed with the company's H.264 know-how and pushed to your PC or Mac for uploading. When it arrives at the start of June, it'll set you back $200 -- just giving you enough time to get practicing your soothing and confident narration voice.

Continue reading Elgato announces Game Capture HD, shows off your deathmatch prowess in H.264

Elgato announces Game Capture HD, shows off your deathmatch prowess in H.264 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 201! 2 13:24: 00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hands-on with the Electric Imp at Maker Faire (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/21/hands-on-with-the-electric-imp-at-maker-faire-video/

Yesterday at Maker Faire Bay Area 2012 we visited the Electric Imp booth to chat with the startup's founders and get some hands-on time with the tiny wireless computer. What is the Electric Imp? It's a module containing an ARM Cortex M3 SoC with embedded WiFi that's built into an SD card form factor. While the device looks just like and SD card, it's not pin-compatible with the standard -- the idea is to leverage a reliable and affordable connector for the Electric Imp. The module is not very useful on its own -- it only comes to life when inserted into one of several boards, which provide the Electric Imp with power and access to the real world. In turn the device gives these boards a brain and an Internet connection. Eventually the company hopes that appliance manufacturers will incorporate Electric Imp slots into products to make them network aware.

We talked with CEO Hugo Fiennes (formerly with Apple) about the past, present and future of the Electric Imp so hit the break to read more and to watch our hands-on video.

Gallery: Electric Imp hands-on

Continue reading Hands-on with the Electric Imp at Maker Faire (video)

Hands-on with the Electric Imp at Maker Faire (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 00:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Raspberry Pi hands-on and Eben Upton interview at Maker Faire (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/21/raspberry-pi-hands-on-and-eben-upton-interview-at-maker-faire-v/

Unless you've been hiding under a rock lately, we're pretty sure you've heard about the Raspberry Pi by now -- a $25 credit-card sized PC that brings ARM/Linux to the Arduino form factor. As a refresher, the system features a 700MHz Broadcom BCM2835 SoC with an ARM11 CPU, a Videocore 4 GPU (which handles HD H.264 video and OpenGL ES 2.0) and 256MB RAM. The board includes an SD card slot, HDMI ouput, composite video jack, 3.5mm audio socket, micro-USB power connector and GPIO header. Model A ($25) comes with one USB port, while Model B ($35) provides two USB ports and a 100BaseT Ethernet socket. Debian is recommended, but Raspberry Pi can run most ARM-compatible 32-bit OSes.

This past weekend at Maker Faire Bay Area 2012 we ran into Eben Upton, Executive Director of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, and took the opportunity to spend some quality time with a production board and to discuss this incredible PC. We touched upon the origins of the project (inspired by the BBC Micro, one of the ARM founders' early projects), Moore's law, the wonders of simple computers and upcoming products / ideas -- including Adafruit's Pi P lates and Raspberry Pi's own prototype camera add-on. On the subject of availability, the company expects that "there will be approximately 200,000 units in the field by the end of June". Take a look at our hands-on gallery below and our video interview after the break.

Gallery: Raspberry Pi hands-on