Sunday, July 01, 2012

New fuel cell keeps on going even once the fuel's dried up

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/01/new-fuel-cell-keeps-on-going-even-once-the-fuels-dried-up/

New fuel cell keeps on going even once the fuel''s dried up

Vanadium oxide seems to be the go-to guy in power storage right now. A new solid-oxide fuel cell -- developed at Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences -- that can also store energy like a battery, also uses the stuff. In the new cell, by adding a VOx layer it allows the SOFC to both generate and store power. Example applications would be situations where a lightweight power source is required, with the potential to provide reserve juice should the main fuel source run out. The team who developed the cell usually work with platinum-based SOFCs, but they can't store a charge for much more than 15 seconds. By adding the VOx, this proof of concept extended that by 14 times, with the potential for more lifespan with further development. Especially handy if you're always running out of sugar.

New fuel cell keeps on going even once the fuel's dried up originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 01 Jul 2012 06:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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OWC Mercury Aura Bundles let you replace your MacBook Air's SSD, use it as external storage

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/01/owc-mercury-aura-bundle-macbook-air-ssd/

DNP OWC

Got a Macbook Air from 2010 or 2011 and want to upgrade the storage without dropping its pre-existing SSD module all together? Well, you're in luck, thanks to OWC's new Mecury Aura Bundles. After upgrading your Air with one of the company's Mercury Aura Pro Express SSDs, the included Mercury Aura Envoy lets you re-purpose the factory SSD as a bus-powered, USB 3.0-compatible external drive. Better yet, the Envoy is made of aluminum, matches the Air's tapered design and weighs just 1.5 ounces. Owners of the 2010 Air can opt for a 180, 240 or 480GB 3Gb/s drive, while those with the 2011 model can bump up to 6Gb/s bus speeds with the same storage allotments and a 120GB option. Pricing for the bundle starts at $200 for the 120GB variant, maxing out at a hefty $780 and $800 if you want to move up to the spacious 480GB offerings. Thankfully, like the SSDs, the Mercury Aura Envoy is available as a stand-alone enclosure, and it'll cost you just under $50 bucks. Hit up the press release after the break for the full details if this dual-drive setup piques your interest

Continue reading OWC Mercury Aura Bundles let you replace your MacBook Air's SSD, use it as external storage

OWC Mercury Aura Bundles let yo! u replac e your MacBook Air's SSD, use it as external storage originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 01 Jul 2012 10:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With Google Now, Android Puts Apple's Siri To Shame (GOOG, AAPL)

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/google-now-better-than-siri-2012-7

After Apple bought Siri a few years ago, many assumed it was the company's first step in a battle against Google's search business. It was a good assumption.

But at All Things D's D8 conference in 2010, Steve Jobs tried to put that speculation to rest by saying Apple had slightly different plans for Siri.

"[It's] not a search company. They're an AI company. We have no plans to go into the search business. We don't care about it. Other people do it well," Jobs told Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg.

Jobs was mostly right. Siri launched on the iPhone 4S in October as more of an intelligent virtual assistant than a searching tool. Siri is designed to set reminders, send text messages, make appointments, etc. Search is kind of part of Siri, but it relies heavily on Wolfram Alpha, a "knowledge engine" that usually does a great job at answering oddball questions like "What's the GDP of Greece?" but not so great at pulling up queries normal humans need.

That's why I was so excited when Google announced Google Now, a search-centric, voice-powered digital assistant for the upcoming version of Android called Jelly Bean.

I've been using Jelly Bean on a Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 7 for the last few days. And I can say Google Now is a lot more impressive than Siri. Google Now fills in all the gaps left by Siri, and does pretty much everything else a whole lot better. This is how search should work on mobile devices.

google now notification on android jelly bean

A few examples:

  • I was in San Francisco last week to cover Google I/O and meet with some other companies in the area. I had a meeting in Mountain View on Friday morning. Google Now sent me a notification about 45 minutes before my meeting that said I should leave if I wanted to make it on time. It even took traffic into account. Incredible.
  • The other night I was getting dinner with a few old journalism friends from college. We were talking about Jim Romenesko, and one of my friends wondered how old he was. I asked Google Now, "How old is Jim Romenesko?" The answer came up in less than a second. 
  • I'm a Mets fan (unfortunately), so a lot of my sports-related Google searches are for the score of the latest game. Google knows this, so Google Now automatically sends me notifications with the latest score. I don't even have to ask anymore.
  • I took the red eye back to New York Friday night, and spent the hours before my flight drinking with some PR friends in San Francisco's Mission neighborhood. Based on my search history, Google Now already knew my flight number and kept me updated with gate information and potential delays. 

And Google Now is fast. I spoke with Hugo Barra, Google's Android product boss, the other day, and he told me the Google Now team spent months shaving seconds off the response time. It shows. Not only is Google Now better than Siri at pulling up relevant information, but it's also nearly instantaneous. 

Compare that speed to Siri. Depending on how well Apple's servers are doing on a given day, it can take several painful seconds for Siri to pull up an answer.

Google Now is exactly what I want in a virtual assistant. I don't need cutesy jokes and quips about which smartphone is the best. I need answers. And Google Now provides me with the answers I want. The end. (Sometimes I don't even have to ask. Google Now just knows what I need. Incredible.) 

Now before all the Apple fans start skewering me in the comments, a few points:

  • Yes, I understand Siri is still in beta. But the truth of the matter is Apple doesn't promote it as a beta product. It's the flagship feature of it's top-of-the-line iPhone 4S. Just look at all those celebrity-packed commercials. It doesn't come off as a beta product, does it?
  • I also understand Siri will get a lot better with the launch of iOS 6, Apple's new mobile operating system, this fall. Siri will be able to give you sports scores, movie times, restaurant reviews, and more. 
  • As I've been testing Google Now, I posted a few tweets about my experience. The response from Apple fans has mostly been "Yeah, well, Siri has personality! And people like that!" I'm guessing they're talking about Siri's ability to tell jokes and provide some witty back talk. Yes, that's pretty cool, and I'm sure Siri users get a big old kick out of it, but it's not useful.

As good as Google Now is, there's a huge, gaping problem. As I've written a million times before, Google and its hardware and carrier partners are notoriously awful at providing timely updates for Android devices. Jelly Bean launches in mid July, yet only about 7% of devices are running Ice Cream Sandwich, the current version of Android that launched about seven months ago. Almost everyone else is running Gingerbread, a version of Android that launched in late 2010.

At this rate, it'll be at least another year before most Android users get to take advantage of Google Now. Meanwhile Apple continues to sell tens of millions of Siri-powered iPhone 4Ss per quarter. Even though I think Siri is an inferior product, more people are going to be using it. And that gives Apple a huge advantage over Google.

And that stinks. iPhone users have no idea what they're missing. Android users probably won't get to try Google Now until they buy a new phone that comes pre-loaded with Jelly Bean. 

I have no doubt that Apple will add better search features to Siri over time. But what most people won't realize is that Google has already beaten Siri with Google Now.

DON'T MISS: A screenshot tour of Android Jelly Bean >

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Why Everyone In America Briefly Lost Access To ESPN In The Middle Of The Championship Soccer Match

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/espn-cuts-out-in-the-middle-of-the-spain-vs-italy-match-2012-7

The final of the Spain vs. Italy match is happening right now airing on ESPN, and pretty much everyone on Twitter says that for a couple moments the feed blacked out.

Why?

Big storms in Bristol, CT, where ESPN is located, according to ESPN's Bill Hofheimer, who tweeted

image

Here's a weather map from Weather.com...

image

The outage was relatively minor though it comes amid a wild weekend for weather, including a storm in Virginia that knocked down a data center affecting Pinterest, Instagram, and other sites.

And here's a time-lapse video of the storm that crushed Virginia yesterday moving across the midwest, gathering steam as it zoomed east.

Weather 1. Media 0.

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Saturday, June 30, 2012

World's smallest 4K USB 3.0 camera delivers 21 frames per second, fits in pockets

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/29/worlds-smallest-4k-usb-3-0-camera/

World's smallest 4K USB 30 camera delivers 21 frames per second, fit in pocket

After proving that a 1080p webcam on USB 3.0 was possible, to the surprise of none, Point Grey's latest addition is a little more impressive, This "ice-cube sized" camera can pipe 4,096 x 2,160 images through that capacious USB 3.0 port, using Sony's new IMX1221 Exmor R sensor. Thanks to its size, the camera is geared toward business-centric applications, including broadcasting and high-resolution optical inspection -- which goes some way to explaining the $945 retail price. The full technical spec sheet waits in the press release, right after the break.

Continue reading World's smallest 4K USB 3.0 camera delivers 21 frames per second, fits in pockets

World's smallest 4K USB 3.0 camera delivers 21 frames per second, fits in pockets originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Jun 2012 11:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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