Samsung Has A New Tablet With A Gorgeous Screen And It's Thinner Than The iPad Air

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-galaxy-tab-s-2014-6

Samsung has a new line of tablets launching this summer called the Galaxy Tab S.

The Galaxy Tab S comes in two sizes: a 10.4-inch model and an 8.4-inch model. Both are essentially the same on the inside as far as specs go, but the big selling point here is the screen. Samsung put its Super AMOLED display on a tablet for the first time. It's the same type of display used on the Galaxy S5 phone, which many folks in the industry have called the best screen on the market.

The screen looks really nice in person. This is an HD video running on the tablet, but the photo doesn't really do it justice:

Samsung makes a lot of different tablet models under the Galaxy name, but the Galaxy Tab S will be marketed as the company's flagship brand. It's priced the same as the iPad Mini and iPad Air. The 8.4-incher starts at $399; the 10.5-incher starts at $499. (Those are the prices for the Wi-Fi models with 16GB of memory. Samsung will launch a 4G LTE version later.)

The tablets are very thin and light. Both measure just 6.6 millimeters thick (that's thinner than the iPad Air, which is 7.5 millimeters thick). The 10.5-inch tablet weighs 1 pound, and the 8.4-inch model weighs 10 ounces.

It feels good, too. Unlike previous tablets from Samsung, the Galaxy Tab S feels sturdy instead of creaky and plasticky. It looks good from the front, but the back has the same tacky dimpled plastic that originally debuted on the Galaxy S5. There's also a kitschy bronze-colored border along the sides.

Also l ike the Galaxy S5, the Galaxy Tab S has a fingerprint sensor embedded in the home button. You can use it to unlock the device without a passcode or make payments through PayPal. The fingerprint sensor on the Galaxy S5 doesn't work very well, so we don't have high hopes for the one on the Galaxy Tab S.

Samsung also designed new cases for the Galaxy Tab S called Book Covers. They snap onto the back of the tablet and let you prop it on the table to three different viewing angles.

The Galaxy Tab S is an Android tablet, but Samsung modified the software a lot to add some of its own features and tricks. For example, you can pair the tablet to your Galaxy smartphone over Wi-Fi and drag and drop photos and files between the two devices. You can also use the pairing mode to make calls on the tablet.

There's no specific launch date, but the Galaxy Tab S should start shipping in early July.

SEE ALSO: The most important features in Samsung's new Galaxy Tab S

Join the conversation about this story »

Read More...

Summary only...

Online Video Advertising Is Growing Many Times Faster Than TV, Search, And Most Other Digital Ad Markets

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/digital-video-advertising-growth-trends-2014-5

Online video is growing faster than most other advertising formats and mediums.

• Video ad revenue will increase at a three-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.5% through 2016, according to our estimates. 
• That's faster than any other medium other than mobile. And much faster than traditional online display advertising, which will only grow at a 3% annual rate. 

In a new report from BI Intelligence we explore the key drivers of the skyrocketing growth of video ads, examine the cost and performance of the emerging digital ad format, and look at the major players that are shaping the industry.
Access The Full Report By Signing Up For A Free Trial Today »
Here are some of the key trends we explore in the report:

• Online video ad revenue will reach nearly $5 billion in 2016, up from $2.8 billion in 2013, while TV ad revenue will decline by nearly 3% per year during the same time period.
• Video ad views exploded in 2013, topping over 35 billion views in December, averaging over 100% year-over-year monthly growth during the year.
• Online video ads are significantly more expensive than other formats, but prices are steadily declining as more publishers rush into video, and placements open up.
• Video ads have an average click-through rate (CTR) of 1.84%, the highest click-through rate of all digital ad formats.
• Viewability, the question of whether video ads are actually seen by multitasking online viewers, has emerged as an issue, but we believe that overall demand for online video is too high for viewability to put too much of a crimp in the video ad market.
• Streaming devices and connected TV accounted for just 2% of online video ad views in the fourth quarter of 2013, but companies like BrightLine are experimenting with formats to grow this new niche market.
• The growth of mobile and digital video advertising has been paralleled by fundamental changes in the online advertising industry —  programmatic advertising, which we covered in a recent report, has begun to reshape the entire digital ad market, including video. 
• Newly launched video ad platforms have been among the companies to adopt programmatic tools, including real-time bidding, ad exchanges, and advanced analytics.

The report is full of charts and data that can be easily downloaded and put to use. 
In full, the report:

• Explores the key drivers of the growth of online video ads, and compares it to the growth in online ads generally
• Examines how video ads stack up against other digital advertising formats in terms of both cost and performance.
• Looks at the issue of viewability, and explains how the problem could impact future spending on video ads.
• Outlines the major players in the video ad space.
• Explains how startups like BrightLine and Alphonso are using innovative approaches to bridge the gap between digital and TV ad spend. 

Read More...

Summary only...

You Won't Be Able To Stop Playing This Addictive Music App

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/patatap-ios-app-2014-6

Patatap is a website that allows you to make music just by typing on your keyboard. And now it's available as an iOS app, so you can create music, even if you're nowhere near a computer.

It sounds simple, and that's because it is. But it's also mesmerizing: as you type, different animations appear on the screen. 

The site was made by designer Jono Brandel, in collaboration with music composers Lullatone; he describes the site as being a portable animation sound kit." 

Lullatone created sounds to accompany different animations. There are different color palettes, each with its own unique set of sounds. The sounds are aimed to make tapping as melodic as possible; it's like a visual drum pad. 

Patatap is even on display as a special exhibit at the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, California.

If you need some inspiration on tunes to play, you can check out some sheet music and see what other people have done. 

But there's no way to describe how awesome — and addicting — it is. You just have to try it yourself, which you can below.

(Pro tip: Hit the space bar to change up what the tunes sound like.)

Join the conversation about this story »

Read More...

Summary only...

Panasonic FZ1000: A Large-Sensor Super Zoom That Shoots 4K Video

Source: http://reframe.gizmodo.com/panasonic-fz1000-a-large-sensor-super-zoom-that-shoots-1588817021/+kcampbelldollaghan

Since Sony released the RX10 last year, there have been exactly zero competitors to rival that camera's stellar lens quality, zoom reach, and sensor size. It redefined what a "bridge camera" could be. Panasonic is the next company to realize the advantage of bringing large sensor image quality to a fixed long range zoom.

Read more...

Read More...

Summary only...

Facebook Is Now Using Your Browsing History to Target Advertising

Source: http://gizmodo.com/facebook-is-now-sharing-your-browsing-history-with-adve-1589809318

Facebook has announced that it's to start using app and website data from your browsing habits to provide more targeted ads—and you'll have to opt out if you don't like it.

Read more...

Read More...

Summary only...