Until now, Windows fans have had precious few alternatives to the MacBook Air. Sure, there’s Samsung’s Series 9 , but just like the original Air, it’s far from cheap. Since then, of course, Apple has cut the Air’s starting price to $999, while the Windows options — now marketed as Ultrabooks — are about to mushroom in number. And so far, they’re all starting in the (more reasonable) neighborhood of a thousand bucks, making these pinch-thin, long-lasting laptops accessible to the budget-conscious masses. Acer’s Aspire S3 was the first to hit the market here in the States, and with an entry price of $899, it’s currently the least expensive. That it’s skinny (just 13mm thick, to be exact), should be a given, but it also claims to wake from sleep in two seconds flat and reconnect to known networks in two and a half. But, as the least pricey Ultrabook on the shelf, it also forgoes some specs you might have liked to see — namely, all-flash storage and USB 3.0. But does that matter much when you’re potentially saving hundreds of dollars? Let’s find out. Gallery: Acer Aspire S3 Ultrabook review Continue reading Acer Aspire S3 Ultrabook review Acer Aspire S3 Ultrabook review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Oct 2011 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Developer does the math: only 3.4 million Honeycomb tablets in the wild?
October 14, 2011 No Comment
Google’s rolling in the dough in no small part due to Android’s success in the smartphone market. When it comes to tablets? Eh, not so much. Intrepid developer Al Sutton figures that only 3.4 million Honeycomb devices are currently in use, which pales in comparison to the number of slates sold by the competition in Cupertino. He arrived at the figure using Google’s data — Larry Page said that there are 190 million Android devices out there on yesterday’s earnings call , and the Android Developers website shows that only 1.8 percent of ‘droids accessing the Android Market during a recent two week period were running Google’s tablet OS. Do the math, and that’s just 3.42 million tablets running Android 3.x. It’s hardly an official figure, but it does indicate that Android’s got its work cut out for it the tablet space. That Ice Cream Sandwich better be mighty tasty if the bots from Mountain View are going to grab a bigger chunk of the market. Developer does the math: only 3.4 million Honeycomb tablets in the wild? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Oct 2011 12:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
Today the Boxee Box becomes the next media streamer in the US (after the WDTV Live and Live Hub ) to add support for Spotify’s streaming music library. Assuming you have a premium subscription at the ready (free and unlimited passes won’t cut it, consider this the same as access on a smartphone) all you need do is log in and your personally curated selections from the company’s catalog of sounds is available in your home theater. We gave it a quick try on our own system and found it synced our favorites with no problem, however if you don’t have playlists set up there’s no way to search or pull in songs from different sources. Still, considering how difficult it is to throw a party with more than one participant around your laptop, this should be the perfect way to take your dubstep playlist to the big speakers. And maybe invite some other people. Boxee Box adds music streaming from Spotify, just press play originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Oct 2011 13:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Panoramic ball camera gives a full 360-view of you nervously throwing it in the air (video)
October 14, 2011 No Comment
Yes, it isn’t the first ball camera we’ve seen, nor is it the first camera to hawk 360-degree panoramas . But, the Throwable Panoramic Ball Camera marries these two concepts together, and packs them into a sturdy-looking sphere made mostly of foam. This shields the 36 fixed-focus phone camera modules, each capable of taking two megapixel snapshots. These are then stitched together to create full panoramic works like the shot above. Somewhere within that squishy core is an accelerometer to measure the apex of its flight, and where the camera array will capture its image. The big question is, can it survive a few rounds of keepie-uppie? You can take a closer look at the ball camera’s 36 x two megapixel images in the video below. Now, do you think there’s any chance of getting one for the next Engadget meet-up ? Continue reading Panoramic ball camera gives a full 360-view of you nervously throwing it in the air (video) Panoramic ball camera gives a full 360-view of you nervously throwing it in the air (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Oct 2011 13:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Teamlab’s hangers use RFID to take shopping into the 21st century (video)
October 14, 2011 No Comment
Ever heard of an UltraTechnologist before ? Yeah, neither have we, but a group of those imaginatively monikered folks have banded their engineering and design skills together to update the shopping experience . Issued from their Teamlab art collective, a batch of RFID-embedded hangers were put to the interactive test at Vanquish, a men’s store in Japan’s uber fashionable Shibuya district. So, how do these newfangled clothes hangers work? Garments lifted off the rack by a curious customer send a signal to a nearby screen that’ll display a front and back preview of the selected outfit — fitted to an impossibly chiseled model’s body, of course. The Teamlab hangers can also be used to manipulate a shop’s booming soundtrack and lighting, although we imagine that could get quite messy. So, if you count yourself amongst the claustrophobes that can’t handle those encroaching dressing room walls or if you simply take your style cues from photoshopped images of perfection then, hey — this tech’s for you. Continue reading Teamlab’s hangers use RFID to take shopping into the 21st century (video) Teamlab’s hangers use RFID to take shopping into the 21st century (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Oct 2011 14:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
In a war zone, having the right data is as important as the right bomb sniffing laser. IEE has melded its 4.8-inch 800 x 400 military data display with 3Ms autostereoscopic film so soldiers can see mission-critical data in three dimensions. The Preliminary Advanced Information device is designed to show accurate terrain maps, relay the picture from a drone camera or bring up the occasional blast of Monday Night Football . Continue reading IEE brings glasses-free 3D to the battlefield IEE brings glasses-free 3D to the battlefield originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Oct 2011 14:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …A surfer off the Oregon coast briefly rode the waves on the back of a great white shark—and lived to tell the tale. Doug Niblack says he was on his longboard when he hit something hard and suddenly found himself standing on the back of a thrashing shark he…
Continue reading …A mysterious disease is killing seals along Alaska’s Arctic coast, and officials fear it might spread to other countries—and other species. Scores of dead or severely weakened ringed seals with telltale skin lesions and hair loss have been found along the coastline over the last few months, Reuters reports….
Continue reading …
It’s no secret that Glee has a flair for the dramatic, but this time it may have gone too far. The show’s most recent adoption storyline has sparked a petition urging executive producer Ryan Murphy and Fox to create a PSA about “adoption realities.” For those not setting their DVR to tape Glee every week,
Continue reading …
Type: Photography Title: Tiffen 52mm UV Protection Filter See all customer reviews Product Description: Tiffen 52mm UV Protector Features: Most popular protection filter Provides basic reduction of ultraviolet light 52mm diameter Helps eliminate bluish cast in images See the details
Continue reading …