Apple’s new 13-inch MacBook Air earns an Editors’ Choice nod

See why the improved 13-inch version of the MacBook Air is an Editors’ Choice winner.

Two fake Apple stores closed in China, report says

Local authorities close two of the five pretenders in Kunming for lack of permits. Meanwhile, reports of other faux stores worldwide have been flowing in, from Croatia to Queens.

The Greatest Photo Ever Taken With a BlackBerry?

I’m biased, but this bald eagle photo my stepmother took this morning is basically the greatest phonecam picture ever taken. Check out that depth of field! There’s a trick to it, and it ain’t Photoshop. More »

Google Books, Kobo, more get iOS App Store shakedown (update: Kindle too)

Heat waves aside, this last weekend has proven to be a fairly rough one for e-book sellers. In spite of backing off a bit from its initial demands, there have apparently been some major changes afoot in the iOS App Store, with a number of apps scaling back access to their online e-book markets or being pulled from the store altogether. Kobo, one of the former, told The Wall Street Journal (which also reported on its own iOS woes) it was informed on Saturday that it needs to stop selling books through its app. The Google Books app, meanwhile, has been removed altogether, though Google has yet to comment on the matter, possibly revamping the app to comply with the stricter rules. While the adjustments will certainly be a nuisance for the companies involved, selling books through Apple devices will not be an impossibility, so long as customers can still access the markets through Safari.

Update: You can now add Amazon to the list as well. The latest version of the Kindle app removes the Kindle Store button that previously allowed you to purchase e-books on your iOS device.

Google Books, Kobo, more get iOS App Store shakedown (update: Kindle too) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jul 2011 10:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink ZDNET  |  sourceThe Digital Reader, The Wall Street Journal  | Email this | Comments

The Engadget Show returns today, July 25th (update: we’re booked out!)

After a month-long slumber, the Engadget Show is back! We’re taping today, on Monday, July 25th at 6:00pm ET! You can read up on what to expect right here, and if you’re looking for plans in just a few hours, we’ve got a smattering of seats still available. Read below for all the nitty-gritty, and if you’re angling to attend, drop an email to darren *at* engadget *dot* com with your name, how many guests you’re hoping to bring (if any) and a contact number.

Update: The remaining seats have been claimed! Don’t worry, though — the show will be online soon after it’s edited down, and we’ll be doing it all again next month.

If you’re a member of the media who wishes to attend, please contact us at: engadgetshowmedia [at] engadget [dot] com, and we’ll try to accommodate you. All other non-media questions can be sent to: engadgetshow [at] engadget [dot] com.

Subscribe to the Show:

[iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V).
[Zune] Subscribe to the Show directly in the Zune Marketplace (M4V).
[RSS M4V] Add the Engadget Show feed (M4V) to your RSS aggregator and have it delivered automatically.

The Engadget Show returns today, July 25th (update: we’re booked out!) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jul 2011 10:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Samsung smartphone sales may outshine Apple

At an estimated 18 million to 21 million units, Samsung may have sold more smartphones than Apple in the second quarter, says Strategy Analytics analyst Neil Mawston.

Originally posted at News – Wireless

Qualcomm acquires gesture recognition IP from GestureTek, aims for Snapdragon integration

What’s superior to a shiny new Snapdragon, blazing all sorts of benchmarking trails in your next tablet and / or smartphone? Why, a Snapdragon with a pinch of IP from GestureTek, of course! Qualcomm has today announced its intentions to acquire “certain assets” from GestureTek, a long-standing developer of gesture recognition technology. We’ve seen the aforementioned outfit touch the mobile (and not-so-mobile) realm before, but now it looks like it’ll be more aggressively touching devices with Qualcomm silicon. It’s a strange move, indeed, but it could be one that signals a shift in the way chip makers are looking out for themselves. OEMs have long tried to skin their Android devices in a way that’ll breed loyalty to a brand (rather than an OS), but loyalty to a CPU? According to Qually (yeah, what of it?), the buy will give it access to “key engineering resources,” and while GestureTek will maintain “other assets in continuation of its gesture-controlled public display and digital signage business,” we suspect the consumer-facing aspects will soon have a new master. We’re told that the tech will be woven into current and next-gen Snapdragon processors, but only time will tell what sort of seamless wizardry will result. Hope your digits are ready.

Continue reading Qualcomm acquires gesture recognition IP from GestureTek, aims for Snapdragon integration

Qualcomm acquires gesture recognition IP from GestureTek, aims for Snapdragon integration originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jul 2011 10:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Phone Scoop  |  sourceQualcomm  | Email this | Comments

Survey: 35 percent of consumers will pounce on iPhone 5

PriceGrabber finds in its recent survey of U.S. consumers that there’s a huge pent-up hunger for the next version of Apple’s smartphone.

Originally posted at The Digital Home

Sony intros TX55 ultracompact with new digital zoom, creative filters

Using “By Pixel Super Resolution,” Sony promises double the optical zoom range with no image degradation.

CyberNotes: Directory of Paint.NET Tutorials

This article was written on November 12, 2007 by CyberNet.

There are so many different things that can be done with Paint.NET, the possibilities are really endless. Many people have created tutorials that guide you through the process of creating something but the problem is that it can take time to sift through all of them to find a good one.  I took the time to go through the Paint.NET forums to find so of the best tutorials that have been posted. Today’s Microsoft Monday is simply a directory of eight different tutorials that I think you’ll enjoy.

  1. Making Glass Buttons – You know the shiny Web 2.0ish buttons you see all over? This tutorial written by BuzzKill in the Paint.NET forums will explain how you do it. This tutorial is explained well and full of images.
    making glass buttons
  2. Antiquing an image
    If you’ve ever had an image that you’d like to convert to more of an antique look, this tutorial will explain just how you do it. The before (on the left) and after (on the right) below shows what you’ll be doing:
    antiquing 
  3. Toy Car Conversion – This isn’t exactly a tutorial, but it’s pretty cool.  Using a picture of a full-sized sports car, you can modify it to look like a toy car, or even a cartoonish toy car as shown in the before and after pictures below. The bottom right image looks the way it does thanks to the Toon Filter, but you can also use the ink sketch and pencil sketch feature.
     toy car tutorial2
  4. Flaming Text – creating flaming text requires just a few steps and no filters! The end product will look something like this:

    firery text 

  5. Playing with Ribbons – this tutorial is pretty amazing! Not only are the instructions easy to follow, there are also great screenshots.  They start out with something simple and move to something advanced. The three different end products below were created using the ribbon tool. Cool, huh?
    ribbon tool
  6. Glassy Effect – Here’s one for the most basic of users, using basic effects. If you’ve never used Paint.NET before, you too will be able to do this. It simply uses the “tile reflection” effect under the distort menu to get this result (before on left, after on the right):
    tilefeature
  7. Round Glass Button – Very similar to the glass button tutorial we listed above, this round glass button tutorial is simple and takes no time. Your end result will look something like this:
    round glass buttons
  8. Create a Rose – It’s hard to believe that the creation of the rose below started out as a bunch of black and white dots. This literally took me about 3 minutes to make, maybe even shorter. It’s quick and easy, and you can make it any color you’d like! This particular tutorial has simple instructions and screenshots so you know what you’re supposed to be doing.
    rose

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

Related Posts: