Tag Archives: silk

Skype promising CD quality sound from new ‘Opus’ audio codec, fewer choppy calls

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Skype's got a new audio codec that it thinks you should be pumped about, and it's called "Opus." It's been kicked around at Skype since March 2009, though work didn't begin in earnest until June of the same year, and it was just certified by the IETF as a standard of online audio. Senior Skype architect Koen Vos lead a team of audio engineers to create the hybrid audio codec, combining Skype's own "SILK" codec with Xiph.Org's "CELT" codec, intending to create a low-bandwidth codec "designed for the internet." But what does that mean for us? It means "CD quality" audio (fullband stereo sound) over Skype, regardless of internet connection. And what about those pesky packet loss issues that cause Skype calls to often sound choppy? "It has multiple mechanics to deal with and recover from packet loss plaguing the network," promises audio/video product engineering director Karlheinz Wurm. So ... uh, less of a chance of sounding like an Autobot then? Great!

Wurm says the new codec "will make a quiet but crystal clear entry into the world" without naming exactly when. And yes, Opus is expected to become standard across all Skype platforms. What's that, you want to watch a 45 minute speech about Opus? We've got you covered, just below the break.

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Skype promising CD quality sound from new 'Opus' audio codec, fewer choppy calls originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Sep 2012 11:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Amazon Silk browser on Kindle Fire tracks page visits to generate trends, isn’t as spooky as it sounds (update: opt-out exists)

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Amazon Silk browser on Kindle Fire tracks page visits to generate trends, isn't as spook

When you pick up that new Kindle Fire HD this fall, one of the first things you'll notice is an updated version of Amazon's Silk web browser with a Trending Now section. It's a clever trick that takes advantage of Silk's server-based caching to find out what sites are popular among owners. That sounds good on the surface, but it doesn't take much effort to realize that there are privacy concerns already in the air -- Amazon is sharing personal web habits with a wider audience, after all. While the section is unlikely to include any identifying information, there's no immediate sign that tablet owners can keep their behavior private, and that could create some indignation among those who'd prefer to surf in isolation. We've asked Amazon if there will be an opt-out escape hatch and will let you know if there's a definitive answer. In the meantime, we wouldn't necessarily worry. Silk shouldn't be caching your e-mail, and it's only likely to ever show pages that have far more traffic than anything you'd be embarrassed to show to others. As far as we can tell, your secret knitting obsession should be safe.

Update: A spokesperson has confirmed that the option to disable Silk's caching is still available, and that switching it off will cut you out of Trending Now; that's a very all-or-nothing approach, but it'll likely suit those put off by the browser's predictive approach in the first place. Secure pages are still out of the picture as well, which should keep those private Twitter messages out of the equation.

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Amazon Silk browser on Kindle Fire tracks page visits to generate trends, isn't as spooky as it sounds (update: opt-out exists) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Sep 2012 14:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Suitjamas Make Sure You Look Dapper, Even While You’re Sleeping

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Suitjamas

You know how Barney Stinson from How I Met Your Mother loves to suit up? It pays off too, since women find him irresistible (at least most of the time, anyway.) But suits aren’t the most comfortable things to wear, especially if you have to move around a lot. Not that I’ve tried wearing one, but from the testimonies of my male friends and cousins, they can be pretty restrictive.

All suits probably are–except for the Suitjamas, that is. These aren’t really suits, although they look the part and are about a million times as comfortable as the regular one since they’re made from 80% pure silk with a 20% cotton blend.

These might actually look familiar since Barney actually wore them a couple of times on the show. They’re available in a couple of designs and colors. Aside from the ones in classic gray, there’s also a set in plain black and another one in black and gold pinstripes.

Check out more pictures of the Suitjamas after the jump.

Suitjamas

Suitjamas

Each 4-piece set of Suitjamas is priced at $89.95.

[ Product Page ] VIA [ The Green Head ]


Harry Potter House Ties

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harry potter house ties Harry Potter House Ties
Show off your geekiness yet still conform to your company’s outdated office dress policy with these Harry Potter House Ties Harry Potter House Ties (because you’ll probably get fired if you show up in the wizard hat- again). Shows off the coat of arms and colors for the respective houses. Are you a Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff? Hopefully not a Hufflepuff, since that one’s backordered a few weeks (who knew it was so popular?) Made of 100% silk and 75% geek. $19.99 each.

buy now Harry Potter House Ties

Harry Potter House Ties


Google badmouths HTTP behind its back, proposes SPDY as a speedy successor

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Google badmouths HTTP behind its back, proposes SPDY as a speedy successor

If there's anything that Google doesn't like, it's things that collect dust. The company is famous for its annual spring cleaning efforts, in which the firm rids itself of redundant and dead-end projects, along with more bullish moves, such as its push to overhaul the internet's DNS system. Now it's looking to replace HTTP with a new protocol known as SPDY, and to that end, it's demonstrating the potential speed gains that one might expect on a mobile network. According to the company's benchmarks, mean page load times on the Galaxy Nexus are 23 percent faster with the new system, and it hypothesizes that further optimizations can be made for 3G and 4G networks. To its credit, Google has already implemented SPDY in Chrome, and the same is true for Firefox and Amazon Silk. Even Microsoft appears to be on-board. As a means to transition, the company proposes an Apache 2.2 module known as mod_spdy, which allows web servers to take advantage of features such as stream multiplexing and header compression. As for HTTP, it's no doubt been a reliable companion, but it seems that it'll need to work a bit harder to earn its keep. Stay weird, Google, the internet wouldn't be the same without you.

Google badmouths HTTP behind its back, proposes SPDY as a speedy successor originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 14:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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