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Friday, August 14, 2009

FatSecret Looks To Become A Central Hub For Nutrition Data With New API

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/ofaYTCuz5lA/

FatSecret, an Australian social network focused on nutrition and weight loss that we covered back in 2007, is launching a new API tonight that allows third party sites and services to tap into its database of nutritional data, excercise information, and other health stats. You can access the new FatSecret Platform here.

CEO Rodney Moses says that FatSecret is allowing developers to access the API for free, in the hopes of turning FatSecret into the reliable and accurate resource for nutritional information. He points out the fact that while there are plenty of diet sites on the web that contain nutrition info for various foods, much of the data is disjointed — there’s no established comprehensive source that people turn to first. FatSecret hopes to become the authoritative hub for this kind of information. The site has gathered its data from a number of publicly available resources like the USDA, and also has many user-submitted entries from users on its social network. Moses says that all of the data has been curated to ensure accuracy.

The other component to the new API is a brand utility, which invites food and beverage brand owners to submit their nutrition facts into the system so that they can be retrieved using the FatSecret API.

Moses says that the site itself is still growing steadily, with half a million monthly visitors and around double that number when including users who access the site through other means, like its mobile applications.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

Dell's Android Smartphone: New Photos and Specs [Dell]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/JFukSxyzyTE/dells-android-smartphone-new-photos-and-specs

We've mentioned Dell's rumored phone could hit China in very near future, and if legit, this info backs up the impression of the device being all-but ready. Specs could include a 3.5-inch display (640x360), GPS, MicroSD slot, and 3Mp camera.

These new pics look pretty real, and match what we've seen before. Seems like the Ophone mini3i (as China Mobile may call it), is looking increasing like a done deal.

* Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE class 12
* Size: 68.6cc
* 103g grams weight
* Dimensions: 58 x 122 x 11.7mm
* Display: 3.5″ nHD 640×360 LCD, 18-bit, 262K colors
* OTA capable
* Microsoft Exchange support
* Google, AIM, Yahoo and MSN IM support
* 3 megapixel auto-focus, flash, 8x digital zoom camera with 30fps video shooting mode, built in photo editor
* USB 2.0, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
* A-GPS
* On-screen QWERTY keyboard, hardwriting recognition, multi touch UI
* MicroSD slot

[Boy Genius Report]

Pentagon Wants a Flying Bug: This Flapping Nano Bot Is Phase One []

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/OBW316A5zBo/pentagon-wants-a-flying-bug-this-flapping-nano-bot-is-phase-one

Last year, DARPA granted aerospace firm, Aeronvironment, a chunk of change and six-months to demonstrate a bird-sized Nano Air Vehicle (NAV). This video shows the result: the "smallest ever free-flying aircraft to hover and climb with flapping wings."

The image above comes from Aeronvironment, and shows what it wants the prototype in the video below to ultimately look like. DARPA's goal is to have a 10-gram aircraft with a 7.5-centimetre wingspan that can get into tight hiding spaces and send back GPS and image data.

And Aeronvironment's progress is notable because such robots previously couldn't carry their own batteries, and had to use guide wires.

"It is capable of climbing and descending vertically, flying sideways left and right, as well as forward and backward, under remote control," says the company. [New Scientist]

Vision Research rolls out high-speed Phantom Miro eX-series cameras

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/14/vision-research-rolls-out-high-speed-phantom-miro-ex-series-came/

In the market for a high-speed camera that's compact but definitely won't be mistaken for a regular point-and-shoot? Then you may want to look no farther than one of Vision Research's new Phantom Miro eX-series cameras, which boast a "DSLR-like" design and a spec list intended for high-speed video and not much else. That includes your choice of 640 x 480 or 800 x 600 resolution cams, video frame rates from 500 fps to "over" 100,000 fps (at a reduced resolution), ISO settings up to ISO 1200 for color or ISO 4800 for monochrome, a 3.5-inch touchscreen, and 1GB, 2GB, or 4GB of internal memory, plus a CompactFlash card slot for expansion. Of course, these also won't be mistaken for a point-and-shoot when it comes to price, with the base eX1 model starting at just under ten grand.

[Via PhotographyBLOG]

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Vision Research rolls out high-speed Phantom Miro eX-series cameras originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Aug 2009 01:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MSI dishes five new C Series laptops, all of which are perfectly average

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/14/msi-dishes-five-new-c-series-laptops-all-of-which-are-perfectly/

Okay, so maybe "new" is being a bit generous here, but whatever the case, MSI has a fresh five piece of C Series laptops ready and willing to be purchased, opened and openly abused. The C Series never has been much to look at nor swoon over, with the whole lineup packing only decent specifications and a rather unexciting motif. Not that there's anything wrong with the all-business approach, but nothing here is going to set the world ablaze like, say, Toshiba's inglorious X305. The CX600, CX700, CR600-013, CR600-017 and CR700 are all either being introduced or mildly tweaked, with the 600 models packing a 16-inch display and the 700 flavors getting things done on a 17.3-inch panel. The CR600 and CR700 offer up a discrete GeForce 8200M GPU and optional Blu-ray drive, while the other guys get by with a Mobility Radeon HD 4330 and DVD burner. Hit the read link for the full specs list, and feel free to select one to call your own starting at $549.99.

Gallery: MSI dishes five new C Series laptops, all of which are perfectly average