Keep everything safe with a StoPower Power Plug Lock
Monthly Archives: February 2013
YouTube for iOS adds send-to-TV pairing, lets you skip the media hub
Those running the dedicated YouTube app for iOS have had TV streaming for awhile... as long as there was an Apple TV in between. Google's video division is cutting out that middleman with its newly available app update. Similar to what we've seen in the Android software, iOS device owners can at last pair directly with some TVs, the PS3 or Xbox 360 to play and queue videos, even if there's multiple iPads and iPhones jockeying for attention on the same WiFi network. If your set is left out, YouTube still offers reasons to upgrade -- there's a connection to YouTube Capture for recording, and better playback on a pokey WiFi connection. As long as you're at least curious about TV streaming beyond Apple's set-top box, it's arguably worth trying.
Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Tablets, HD, Mobile, Google
Via: YouTube (Google+)
Source: App Store
Tiny iPhone/iPad Screen Cleaning Robot
Is it so difficult to take a cloth and wipe off your screen? Yes it is- we need automated help with that. Meet Auto Mee S from Takara Tomy, the screen cleaning mini-robot. This tiny DJ Roomba-like device moves around on top of your smartphone or iPad and cleans the screen. Underneath the Auto Mee S’s palm-sized body is a rotating cleaning pad (replaceable) and the wheels so it can scoot around on top of your device. Watch it in action here:
It has edge detecting capabilities so it stays on your screen without rolling off. This 100% necessary device sells for $21 plus shipping from Japan.
Tiny iPhone/iPad Screen Cleaning Robot
iPhone Not Selling Well for Leap Wireless
There were a lot of people who were excited when prepaid wireless carrier Leap Wireless, who operates the Cricket Wireless mobile phone brand, announced that it would be offering the iPhone 5. I think a bunch of people forgot that carriers like AT&T and Verizon offer big subsidies to get people to purchase the phones and sign up for new contracts. A network like Cricket Wireless that offers no subsidies requires you to pay for the entire device up front.
In the case of Leap Wireless and Cricket Wireless, that meant users needed to pay at least $500 for an iPhone 5. Many of the customers who shop prepaid carriers are looking for no contract and budget phones. It never seemed likely to me that they’d be willing to cough up $500 for a smartphone. It appears I was correct because Leap has announced that it believes it may end up with $100 million worth of unsold iPhones by the middle of 2013.
The company says that it is on pace to sell only half the number of iPhones that it committed to sell during the first year of its Apple contract. That contract is set to end in June and the poor sales comes despite the fact that Apple previously allowed the wireless carrier to sell the iPhone at a reduced price when compared to unlocked iPhones. Leap’s inability to sell the iPhone could make some of the national carriers such as Verizon and AT&T seriously reconsider their plans to reduce any subsidies on smartphones.
[via WSJ]
Wrap-up: Engadget editors sound off on MWC 2013
We blew out last month's CES with our biggest group of editors to date, and now we've done it again here in Barcelona. There may have been fewer high-end smartphones than expected at the show, but we still managed to spend time with dozens of handsets and tablets, and even a surprise hybrid or two. Fira Gran Via, Mobile World Congress' new home for 2013, was a fitting venue, and there's even room to grow, should that be in the cards for next year. Still, we leave Spain with mixed emotions, and mixed impressions of the show. So, what exactly did we take away from our week of smartphones, sangria, tablets and tapas in Europe? Read on past the break for our take.
Filed under: Announcements, Cellphones, Tablets, Wireless, Mobile
Boeing touts a ‘permanent’ fix for 787 Dreamliner batteries, Japan stays cautious
There's been talk for weeks of Boeing developing a fix for the 787 Dreamliner's battery fire troubles. If the aircraft maker has its way, that should soon translate to action. The company's commercial airplane chief, Raymond Conner, tells reporters that the company has a "permanent" fix that would place three layers of protection around the batteries and, theoretically, head off fires and their causes. It sounds like just the ticket -- the challenge will be getting everyone else to feel the same way. American investigators believe the batteries are at fault, but their Japanese counterparts haven't yet ruled out external factors. With this kind of ongoing debate, we're not about to book a 787 to Tokyo for spring break.
Filed under: Transportation
Source: New York Times
Apple patent application reveals a camera with built-in privacy filter
It feels a bit strange to report on a webcam privacy shade as if it were a novelty: various products already let users put a decorative background on screen in lieu of a live stream, or even pull a physical shade across the lens. What Apple is apparently proposing, though, is a camera with such privacy filters built into the camera module itself. The company just applied for a patent on a camera whose images could selectively transition from opaque to transparent and back again, depending on how much privacy is called for.
Based on that illustration up there, we're going to hazard a guess it could be used in Apple's MacBook and iMac lines, though the patent application doesn't explicitly exclude mobile devices, either. (In fact, the filing acknowledges a camera like this could be used in, ahem, a television.) What we'd really like to know is how easy it would be for the user to active the privacy mode. Alas, though, the USPTO doc doesn't give any definitive answers -- the filing suggests the user could choose to switch modes, or that launching certain applications (i.e., those that use the camera) might trigger a change in privacy settings. In any case, that's about all we can glean from the patent application, but feel free to peek for yourselves if you feel like letting your imaginations get ahead of you.
Filed under: Desktops, Cameras, Laptops, Apple
Source: USPTO
3D? Feh. MIT has already moved on to 4D printing (video)
The bad news: just as much of the world is starting to get excited about the prospects of 3D printing, science is moving on to the world of 4D. The good news: in the future, you might not have to assemble that Ikea chair yourself. "4D printing" is the term cientists are using to refer to a technology that MIT's Skylar Tibbits talked up during a recent TED appearance. The fourth "d" here is time, referring to an object that, once printed, is capable of changing shape (over time, naturally).
"Essentially the printing is nothing new," Tibbits told the BBC. "It is about what happens after." So far the concept has been demonstrated with thin strands of plastic, which, once added to water, form into a predetermined shape, using energy from the absorption. Suggested future applications involve furniture, pipes, bikes and buildings. First, however, scientists will have to demonstrate the technology on a larger structure, of course, and they'll explore the possibility of other energy sources, like heat, sound and vibration.
Source: BBC
Hogwarts Recreated In LEGO
This is a LEGO replica of the famous Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardy. It was created by Alice Finch, LEGO extraordinaire and let’s assume mega-Harry Potter fan. It’s VERY impressive! The thing’s made of 400,000 LEGO bricks and took Alice nearly a year to complete. Holy moly. That’s some dedication. And a shit-ton of LEGO. Seriously, how did you manage to convince your mom to buy you all that? I have to twist my mom’s arm to get her to buy me a candy bar. Literally. I literally twist her arm. Yeah, that’s right — I’ll do anything for a Snickers!
HTC confirms Sense 5 coming to existing phones, some features limited to HTC One
HTC didn't have much to say about its Sense 5 UI coming to existing devices when it introduced it alongside its new One handset, but it's now gotten a bit more talkative. In a post on Facebook, and confirmed to us independently, HTC says that global variants of the HTC One X, One X+, One S and Butterfly will all be getting an update to the new interface "in the next few months," although specifics remain light beyond that for the time being. The company does note, however, that not all devices will support all the features offered by Sense 5, as some of those features make use of hardware specific to the new HTC One.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, HTC
Via: Android Police
Source: HTC (Facebook)