Picture Blocking Beer Cooler Keeps Your Face Out of Embarrassing Photos
Dec 16th
cylonlover writes “It may sound like something dreamed up by a cheesy men’s magazine as a joke, but apparently this is a real thing that actually exists. Ostensibly, the Norte Photoblocker is a functional beer cooler surrounded by four sensors that can detect the flashes from cameras or cell phones. If a flash goes off in the direction of the Photoblocker, it fires its own flash to flood the resulting photos with bright white and obscure anyone nearby. Now you can go about your usual business of cheating on your spouse, being an idiot around your boss, or drunkenly harassing fellow party-goers without worrying that some wildly irresponsible person will tag you in a photo and posts it online.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
View original post here: Picture Blocking Beer Cooler Keeps Your Face Out of Embarrassing Photos
Feds Arrest GeneSimmons.Com Attacker
Dec 16th
gManZboy writes “Federal authorities have arrested an alleged member of Anonymous in connection with an “Operation Payback” attack against the website of Kiss bassist Gene Simmons. The charges stem from a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack against Simmons’ website over a five-day period in 2010. Simmons apparently drew the ire of the Anonymous set after he lambasted their peer-to-peer (P2P) downloading proclivities during a 2010 MIPCOM entertainment content media conference panel discussion, where he lamented the failure of the music industry ‘to sue every fresh-faced, freckle-faced college kid who downloaded material.’”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
See original here: Feds Arrest GeneSimmons.Com Attacker
Nokia Lumia 710 official on T-Mobile: HSPA+ 14.4, 3.7-inch ClearBlack display, available January 11th for $49 on contract
Dec 16th
Go ahead and take that holiday and even some time to celebrate because Espoo’s ushering in the new year with the stateside bow of its Lumia 710. This lower-hanging Mango phone, which we first met at Nokia World, has already begun rolling out to markets worldwide in recent weeks and, now, is poised to enter the U.S. brandishing a Magenta banner and $49 on two-year contract price. That’s right, T-Mobile has snatched up exclusive rights to the 3.7-incher, which is mostly unchanged from its initial unbranded incarnation, with the same 800 x 480 ClearBlack LCD display, 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 512MB RAM, 8GB of storage, 5 megapixel rear camera with single LED flash, WiFi and Bluetooth on board. Naturally, both parties have loaded the device up with a fair share of pre-installed apps like Drive, MS Office, ESPN, T-Mobile TV and Netflix, but you don’t have to let that clutter up your clean live-tiled look — it’s all uninstallable. The mid-range handset also runs along the operator’s HSPA+ 14.4Mbps network, so you’re in store for some heady “4G” speeds should you decide to take the plunge this January 11th when it hits stores. Head on past the break for the official presser.
Gallery: Nokia Lumia 710
Nokia Lumia 710 official on T-Mobile: HSPA+ 14.4, 3.7-inch ClearBlack display, available January 11th for $49 on contract originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Dec 2011 11:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
TeleNav launches browser-based turn-by-turn GPS navigation using HTML 5
Dec 16th
TeleNav’s been bringing the turn-by-turn goods to both Android and iOS for quite a while now, and has added plenty of nifty features to its GPS platform along the way — from personalized routes to offline access. Now, the company has unveiled plans to put its navigation in every HTML5-capable browser on the planet, and the best part is, it’s free. The new service is available now for a select group of developers, who can add TeleNav’s voice-guided GPS by plugging in a single line of code into their websites or apps. The service will eventually be released for consumers and all developers, but for those devs who’d like to dip their toe into TeleNav’s web-based waters early, the company’s accepting applications now. The GPS bar has officially been raised… the question is, how will the team in Mountain View respond?
Continue reading TeleNav launches browser-based turn-by-turn GPS navigation using HTML 5
TeleNav launches browser-based turn-by-turn GPS navigation using HTML 5 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Flex Lighting’s LED film will brighten your e-reader, mood (video)
Dec 16th
Continue reading Flex Lighting’s LED film will brighten your e-reader, mood (video)
Flex Lighting’s LED film will brighten your e-reader, mood (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Elevation Dock for iPhone Embarrasses Apple
Dec 16th
Your iPhone dock sucks. Despite its heft, you need two hands to prize your phone from its grasp, and good luck even getting your phone in there if it
Awesome Vehicles from The Dark Night Rises Spotted
Dec 16th
In addition to the storyline and the introduction of Bane, there are the awesome new vehicles in The Dark Knight Rises, including a Batwing, camouflaged tumbler, and then Anne Hathaway (Catwoman) riding a Batpod. Click here to see more of today’s most popular images, courtesy of Imgur.com. Continue reading for a video of the Batwing in-action.
See the rest here: Awesome Vehicles from The Dark Night Rises Spotted
The Four Fallacies of IT Metrics
Dec 16th
snydeq writes “Advice Line’s Bob Lewis discusses an all-too-familiar IT mistake: the use of incidents resolved per analyst per week as a metric for assessing help-desk performance. ‘If you managed the help desk in question or worked on it as an analyst, would you resist the temptation to ask every friend you had in the business to call in on a regular basis with easy-to-fix problems? Maybe you would. I’m guessing that if you resisted the temptation, not only would you be the exception, but you’d be the exception most likely to be included in the next round of layoffs,’ Lewis writes. ‘The fact of the matter is it’s a lot easier to get metrics wrong than right, and the damage done from getting them wrong usually exceeds the potential benefit from getting them right.’ In other words, when it comes to IT metrics, you get what you measure — that’s the risk you take.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Here is the original post: The Four Fallacies of IT Metrics
JBL OnBeat Xtreme review
Dec 16th
We’ve been following the onslaught of AirPlay / Bluetooth speaker systems in recent months, carefully combing through the prospects to find the true contenders. We were recently impressed by Klipsch’s Gallery G-17 Air and now we’ve given the JBL OnBeat Xtreme a testdrive. This beast is step up from the regular ol’ OnBeat dock, both in stature and cost. Priced a cool $500… it’s sandwiched between the pricey B&W Zeppelin Air and the more modest iHome iW1. So is the JBL dock extreme enough to warrant a purchase? We’ve been blasting beats through this bad boy for a fortnight, so read on to find out if you should snatch one up for yourself.
Gallery: JBL OnBeat Xtreme
Continue reading JBL OnBeat Xtreme review
JBL OnBeat Xtreme review originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Dec 2011 13:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Netflix updates iOS app with new iPad-optimized interface
Dec 16th
We’ve already seen Netflix’s more tablet-optimized interface in the latest version of its Android app and now, as promised, the company has brought much the same UI to its iOS app. In addition to giving iPad users the ability to view more content at a glance, version 2.0 of the app also brings with it support for Netflix users in Latin America, as well as a number of stability fixes. As always, it remains free for Netflix members — hit up the App Store to download it now.
Netflix updates iOS app with new iPad-optimized interface originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Dec 2011 13:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Zenonia, Swiftkey X headline day 9 of the Android Market sale
Dec 16th
There’s two days to go before the Android Market returns to normal, as we enter into day 9 of its sale to celebrate the download of the ten billionth app. Only one, Swiftkey X, has come back for a second helping of the sale. Of the eleven apps being featured today, a healthy eight are games: Sleepy Jack, Icebreaker Hockey, Deer Hunter 3D, MX Moto, Guns ‘n’ Glory, Tank Riders, Zenonia and Collapse. Rounding out the selection you’ll find ezPDF Reader — which obviously needs no introduction — and Toddler Tapping Zoo for the young ‘uns. One day left, and then we’ll just have to cross our fingers and wait to see what happens when the Android Market hits twenty billion. As always, check out the source link to see the options.
Zenonia, Swiftkey X headline day 9 of the Android Market sale originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Dec 2011 13:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
5 of the World’s Coolest Electric Vehicles
Dec 16th
Sure, there still may be long way to go before electric vehicles become mainstream, but for now, there’s plenty of amazing designs to keep auto enthusiasts happy, like the Quimera All Electric GT (above). We’ve rounded up five of the coolest for your viewing enjoyment after the break.
Read more: 5 of the World’s Coolest Electric Vehicles
Apple iPhone 4S Review
Dec 16th
Apples newest iteration of the iPhone was greeted with mixed reactions from the market. A lot has been said, both praises and disappointments, about what it should have been in the first place. Since the local launch of the iPhone 4S with Globe and Smart is just a couple of days away, let me share with you what I think of this phone. Check out our iPhone 4S review after the jump.
More: Apple iPhone 4S Review
Astronomers Find Gas Cloud About To Fall Into Black Hole
Dec 16th
First time accepted submitter pigrabbitbear writes “Black holes are basically celestial Cookie Monsters, gobbling anything and everything in sight. But because that appetite includes light itself, it’s incredibly rare for us to actually see a black hole suck back an interstellar treat. Astronomers using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope have found just that: a mysterious, giant gas cloud that’s rapidly been pulled into the maw of a supermassive black hole. The researchers, led by Reinhard Genzel of the Max-Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Germany, discovered the cloud as part of a now 20-year ESO program tasked with tracking stars as they whirl around the supermassive black hole, known as Sgr A*, at the center of our galaxy.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Read the original post: Astronomers Find Gas Cloud About To Fall Into Black Hole
IRL: Kirby Sentria, Sony bloggie-MHS-FS1 and the OLPC XO laptop
Dec 16th
Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we’re using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment.
Continue reading IRL: Kirby Sentria, Sony bloggie-MHS-FS1 and the OLPC XO laptop
IRL: Kirby Sentria, Sony bloggie-MHS-FS1 and the OLPC XO laptop originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
FCC tells advertisers to CALM down, lowers the volume on commercial breaks
Dec 16th
Pretty soon, you won’t have to scramble to lower the volume during noisy commercial breaks — that’s if you even watch live TV. After making its way through Capitol Hill, the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (or CALM) — which aims to keep the sounds coming out of your flat panel even-keeled — has just been adopted in a ruling by the FCC. Starting next December, ads and promos will have to remain in-step with the audio levels of scheduled programming. While the affected parties have a full year to get their acts together, the main burden of enforcement lies with broadcasters and MVPDs like Comcast and Verizon FiOS. So, come next holiday season, you’ll be able to tune in and tune out without being blown away.
FCC tells advertisers to CALM down, lowers the volume on commercial breaks originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Prada phone by LG 3.0 hands-on (video)
Dec 16th
This is the latest fruit to be borne from LG and Prada’s renewed creative partnership. It’s Prada Phone by LG 3.0 and it’s also an attempt to marry fashion pedigree with, if not leading technological specifications, then at least competitive ones. There’s a respectable 8 megapixel autofocus camera, and LG’s bright, outdoor-friendly 4.3-inch NOVA display, here projecting an 800 x 480 WVGA touchscreen. It wears its Prada branding on its sleeve, and the fashion label’s creative input has even gone so far as to affect the Android OS, with understated black and white themes papered over the cheerful — in comparison — Gingerbread interface. So how does it stand up? Is it just another brainless designer phone? You’ll have to read on to find out.
Gallery: Prada phone by LG 3.0 hands-on
Continue reading Prada phone by LG 3.0 hands-on (video)
Filed under: Cellphones
Prada phone by LG 3.0 hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
CarrierIQ execs meet with FTC and FCC officials to address privacy concerns (update)
Dec 16th
CarrierIQ is having a difficult time making friends. Nearly two weeks after Massachusetts congressman Edward Markey asked the FTC to open an investigation on the data collection company, it appears his wish may be granted. According to anonymous government officials close to the Washington Post — and confirmed by CarrierIQ itself — senior officials from the company visited the nation’s capital yesterday to discuss the matter with representatives from the FTC and the FCC, as well as a few congressional staffers. The Federal Trade Commission itself hasn’t confirmed that it’s opening a probe into the situation; regardless, it’s certainly evident that the government’s beginning to look very close at the company’s practices. It’s great news for privacy advocates, but whether it amounts to any changes remains to be seen.
Update: We just received a report from the New York Times that Carrier IQ claims it was misquoted in the Washington Post. In a statement released later, the company said:
This week CarrierIQ sought meetings with the FTC and FCC to educate the two agencies about the functionality of its software and answer any and all questions. Although Congressman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), co-Chairman of the Bi-Partisan Congressional Privacy Caucus, has asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate the practices of Carrier IQ, we are not aware of an official investigation into Carrier IQ at this time.
CarrierIQ execs meet with FTC and FCC officials to address privacy concerns (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Dec 2011 15:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Collapsible "iPhone 6" Boasts of Unique Applications (VIDEO)
Dec 16th
Countless rumors on iPhone 5 are circulating around the world, including those about its features and release date. But leave aside iPhone 5 for as moment and imagine that Apple’s going to release iPhone 6 – what features do you think it will boast of? Difficult to imagine? Not for “MrFreeSpot,” who has hit upon a novel interpretation of the word “application.”.
Read the original here: Collapsible "iPhone 6" Boasts of Unique Applications (VIDEO)
5 of the Funniest Kids’ Reactions to Terrible Presents
Dec 16th
Late night talk show host and comedian Jimmy Kimmel recently asked some of the parents who watched his show to film their kids opening terrible presents and seeing how they react to a roll of paper towels, old banana, etc. Continue reading to see five of the funniest clips that have become YouTube hits.
Follow this link: 5 of the Funniest Kids’ Reactions to Terrible Presents
Japanese Use Wild Monkeys To Track Radiation
Dec 16th
PolygamousRanchKid writes “Scientists in Japan are taking a novel approach to measuring the impact of radiation in a forest affected by the Fukushima nuclear crisis: enlisting the help of local wild monkeys. Takayuki Takahashi, a professor of robotic technology at Fukushima University, told CNN Wednesday his team was working on a collar fitted with a dosimeter to measure radiation levels that could be fitted to the monkeys before they are released back into the wild. Takahashi said the experiment would help researchers understand how radiation in the forest can affect human beings, as well as wild animals. While human scientists have been monitoring radiation levels from the air, the use of monkey ‘assistants’ will give them a clearer idea of conditions on the ground.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Go here to read the rest: Japanese Use Wild Monkeys To Track Radiation
Moving Brands reveals proposed HP brand redesign, HP remains noncommittal
Dec 16th
HP has gone through some big changes in the past year, and it turns out it’s also been considering a rather drastic change to its identity — one that may or may not yet be adopted. That’s been revealed by the team at Moving Brands, who began working with HP on a complete redesign of the company’s brand in 2008, and have now shown off what they’ve come up in an exhaustive case study on their website. At the heart of it is a new logo, which traces its history to HP’s original 1941 design, but takes on a decidedly more modern appearance; gone are the familiar circle and rounded corners, and in are some sharp lines and hard edges. According to Moving Brands, the goal was to make the brand “digitally native, context-aware and ever evolving,” with the lines in the logo itself echoing the same 13 degree angle of the original while also “recalling the forward slash used in programming.” Just what would this new HP look like? You can get a pretty good idea of that at the source link below — we’ve also included a small taste after the break, including two of Moving Brands’ videos.
Continue reading Moving Brands reveals proposed HP brand redesign, HP remains noncommittal
Moving Brands reveals proposed HP brand redesign, HP remains noncommittal originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Dec 2011 15:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Verizon posts Galaxy Nexus simulator, doesn’t cap your virtual data
Dec 16th
Want to be an Ice Cream Sandwich champ before you even have a Galaxy Nexus in hand? Big Red’s just opened the e-freezer, launching its Samsung Galaxy Nexus support simulator, complete with programed hands-on tutorials for navigating menus, launching apps, taking beautiful food pictures with creamy bokeh and browsing various single-page Verizon sites. The tutorial isn’t a full sim in the traditional sense — it’s merely a microsite with static pages and limited animations — but it’s the closest many of us will get to playing with the real thing; until tomorrow, at least. Clear your schedule for the next five minutes, and hit up the source link for the smoothest smartphone experience you’re likely to ever have.
[Thanks, Zedster]
Verizon posts Galaxy Nexus simulator, doesn’t cap your virtual data originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Dec 2011 15:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Channel Master TV review
Dec 16th
If you prefer your DVR with no strings attached, your choices are pretty limited these days. You can of course roll your own, but admittedly, that isn’t for everyone. Channel Master does plan to change that, though, as it’s currently accepting pre-orders for its over-the-air DVR with over-the-top features that doesn’t require a subscription. The Channel Master TV ($399) should be hitting retailers and homes this week, and since we love DVRs, especially when they’re free from commitments, we decided to take it for a spin. Click through to see how it stacks up.
Continue reading Channel Master TV review
Channel Master TV review originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Dec 2011 16:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Last.fm Discover delivers greener pastures of music discovery
Dec 16th
Posted by admin in Gadget News
Last.fm is going all HTML5 with Discover, a new music discovery service that lets you find artists through tag search and create playlists by dragging and dropping songs from the comfort of your browser. Once you’ve created a mix from the site’s rolling fields of music, you can share it via Facebook and Twitter to show the world just how indie you are. Check out the new service at the source link below.
Continue reading Last.fm Discover delivers greener pastures of music discovery
Last.fm Discover delivers greener pastures of music discovery originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink