Mar 21

Boxee 1.5 bringing ‘huge browser update’ by end of March

Posted in: app, boxee, ipad, Today's Chili, update
There’s still not a ton of specifics on this one just yet, but Boxee’s VP of Marketing, Andrew Kippen, has confirmed on the TechWebcast podcast that the Boxee 1.5 update will be rolling out by the end of March — which, last we checked, wasn’t that far away. The big news there is that it will boast a “huge browser update” that will not only speed up the browser considerably, but add compatibly with far more video-minded websites. Kippen also mentioned the iPad app we first saw back at CES, which will let you stream content from your iPad to your Boxee Box, and adds some social features like the ability to see what your friends are watching. Still no word on an exact release date for it, but it will apparently only be compatible with the iPad 2 for reasons unknown.

Update: Fear not original iPad owners, Boxee just informed us that the iPad app will in fact work on all iPads.

Boxee 1.5 bringing ‘huge browser update’ by end of March originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Mar 2011 13:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 21

Boxee 1.05 bringing ‘huge browser update’ by end of March

Posted in: app, boxee, ipad, Today's Chili, update
There’s still not a ton of specifics on this one just yet, but Boxee’s VP of Marketing, Andrew Kippen, has confirmed on the TechWebcast podcast that the Boxee 1.05 update will be rolling out by the end of March — which, last we checked, wasn’t that far away. The big news there is that it will boast a “huge browser update” that will not only speed up the browser considerably, but add compatibly with far more video-minded websites. Kippen also mentioned the iPad app we first saw back at CES, which will let you stream content from your iPad to your Boxee Box, and adds some social features like the ability to see what your friends are watching. Still no word on an exact release date for it, but it will apparently only be compatible with the iPad 2 for reasons unknown.

Update: Fear not original iPad owners, Boxee just informed us that the iPad app will in fact work on all iPads. It’s also let us know that the Boxee Box update will actually be version 1.05, not 1.5, but it will still include everything described.

Boxee 1.05 bringing ‘huge browser update’ by end of March originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Mar 2011 13:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 21

EA: NFL lockout or not, Madden must go on

Posted in: Today's Chili

Electronic Arts tells CNET that the upcoming Madden NFL 12 will be launching this August, regardless of whether the labor dispute between NFL owners and players is settled.

Originally posted at The Digital Home

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Mar 21

eBook Sales Grow in the US, Paper Books in Decline

Posted in: ebooks, Miscellaneous Tech, Today's Chili

amazonkindleinhand.jpg

The Association of American Publishers recently released figures for the past year ending in January 2011, and the results are startling: eBooks have taken off in a large way, with sales of eBooks from various book stores doubling year-over-year from January 2010; close to 115%. The report also cast gloom over sales of traditional paper books, which declined approximately 30% over the same period. Hardcover sales were the biggest loss, dropping over 11% from January 2010 to January 2011. 
That all sounds fairly remarkable, but it’s also important to note that while the eBook market is now a $70 million dollar industry, traditional paper books are no slouch, coming in at just under $50 million, even though fewer people are buying them overall and are moving to electronic formats. 
Back in January we noted that eBooks were outselling paperback books, and last summer we noted that eBooks were starting to outsell hardcovers at Amazon. The trend doesn’t appear to be slowing down considering the explosion of tablet devices, stand-alone, and eBook apps and download services on the market. There will likely always be a place to traditional paper books, but you have to wonder where that place will eventually be.
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Mar 21

Disable Ping for Improved iPhone and iPad Battery Life

Posted in: Apple, Today's Chili

Ping - Logo

Some users have reported that by disabling Apple’s Ping music-based social network on their iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, they’ve managed to noticeably improve the battery life they get out of their device. 
The dip in battery life came with iOS 4.3, and some users have pointed to the fact that Ping runs quietly in the background at all times, ready for you to share the song you’re listening to or some flavor text about the music you like with your friends using Apple’s social network. 
Admittedly, Ping hasn’t really taken off in any notable way, and it’s pretty much a social networking graveyard considering Apple doesn’t really allow Ping to connect with many other, more well-populated social networks. Only recently did Apple allow you to post songs that you enjoyed to Twitter.  In the end, unless you use Ping regularly for anything, you’re better off disabling it and enjoying the boost in battery life. 
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Mar 21

British Soliders To Get Solar Powered, Thermoelectric Uniforms

Posted in: solar power, Today's Chili, uk

soldier2.jpeg

While the US military is developing solar powered tents, the UK is instead focusing on solar powered uniforms for soldiers.

By including photovoltaic solar cells in the uniform itself, it will eliminate the need for soldiers to carry around heavy batteries. In fact, the solar cells could be up to 50 percent lighter, creating a dramatic shift in weight. This increased lightness, combined with the fact that soldiers will no longer have to return to base to recharge equipment, will allow for increased mobility.

Researchers are also attempting to include thermoelectric chargers in the uniforms, which would allow them to continue to produce energy even when the sun goes down.

The high-tech gear could be ready within the next two years.

Via Inhabitat

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Mar 21

Visualized: xkcd explains radiation

Posted in: Today's Chili

This radiation infographic is too small to read. There’s a reason for that. Technically, it’s because we constrain images to 600 pixels wide. Stylistically, it’s because we’d like to point out that all things are relative. Head on over to xkcd to see just how much ionizing radiation you’re likely to be exposed to performing radioactive activities (or just sitting still) and how that compares to the amount that researchers presently believe is capable of having an ill effect. Then, decide whether you should enlarge or reduce the size of your tinfoil hat accordingly.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Visualized: xkcd explains radiation originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Mar 2011 13:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 21

The 404 781: Where we have the prejunket jitters (podcast)

Posted in: Today's Chili


The 404 Digest for Episode 781


(Credit:

Memegenerator)



Episode 781

Listen now:

Download today’s podcast

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Originally posted at The 404 Podcast

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Mar 21

Google Invests In CoolPlanetBiofuels

Posted in: Google, Today's Chili

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Google is continuing its green push, this time by investing in CoolPlanetBiofuels, though how much Google will be spending hasn’t been revealed.

So what exactly is CoolPlanetBiofuels? Well, according to the company’s site, it is creating a biofuel that not only doesn’t harm the environment, but actually helps remove carbon from the air.

“We’re developing revolutionary negative carbon fuels based on plant photosynthesis which absorb carbon from the air,” the company’s site reads. “We can make exact replacements for gasoline that will operate in your current cars and, we can make even more advanced superfuels for even higher gas mileage and better performance in future vehicles.”

Sounds rather optimistic, but if it’s possible, it could also be revolutionary. CoolPlanetBiofuels is currently developing a thermal/mechanical processor that can take material such as woodchips, crop residue, and algae, which can then be turned into the carbon-sucking biofuel.

Via TechCrunch

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Mar 21

New MacBook Pros freezing under heavy load?

Posted in: AMD, Apple, ati, issue, macbook, macbook pro, MacbookPro, problem, Today's Chili

Apple may have dodged the big Sandy Bridge problem with its new MacBook Pros, but it looks like it may now be experiencing some growing pains of an another sort. As evidenced by a 44-page and growing thread on Apple’s official support forums, a number of users have been seeing their 15-inch and 17-inch MacBooks freeze up when they’re under a heavy load — encoding a large video file, for instance. That problem seems to be related to the laptops’ new AMD graphics, as switching them to integrated-only seems to “fix” the problem for most users, although obviously at some considerably expense to performance. While Apple isn’t offering much publicly at the moment, a user that spoke with customer service said that Apple seemed to be aware of the issue, and that they suggested it was a firmware or driver-related problem, and not an actual hardware issue. Unfortunately, there’s still no indication as to when it might be fixed. Let us know in comments if you’ve run into some similar issues.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

New MacBook Pros freezing under heavy load? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Mar 2011 12:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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