Oct 11

Raytheon shows off TransTalk speech translator for Android, hopes to find a home in the Army’s app store

Posted in: Android, military, mobilepostcross, Today's Chili
We’ve already heard about some of the smartphone apps that may or may not eventually find their way into the Army’s own app store, and Raytheon is now hoping that it’ll be tapped it to provide a key one. As Wired’s Danger Room reports, the company has developed a new version of its TransTalk app for Android phones, which is able to translate speech from English to Arabic, Dari and Pashto (and vice versa). Since it’s designed specifically for the Army, the app is geared towards translating phrases commonly used by soldiers on patrol, and it’s also able to display and store the conversation as text. Just don’t count on it hitting the Android Market anytime soon — while the app runs on off-the-shelf Android hardware (a Motorola Atrix, in this case), there’s no plans for it to be made available to the general public.

Raytheon shows off TransTalk speech translator for Android, hopes to find a home in the Army’s app store originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Oct 2011 10:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceWired Danger Room  | Email this | Comments

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Oct 11

Why Google+ Will Never Beat Facebook

Posted in: Google, Today's Chili, top

Google+’s traffic is taking a long slide down the shitter, having lost last month’s entire 1269% traffic spike. Reading this forced me to remember it exists. Google+ is simply worse than Facebook. And you know what? It’ll never catch up. More »

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Oct 11

Root Cases launches wood iPad 2 duo, ditches the plastic for $79

Posted in: Apple, case, ipad, ipad 2, Ipad2, minipost, Today's Chili

Just in case that plastic shell you picked up has run its course and you’re not looking to alert Al Gore with your next purchase, Root Cases offers a wee bit more environmentally friendly alternative. Now you can outfit your iPad 2 with either North American Walnut or eco-friendly, South Asiatic Bamboo. Both cases will protect your slate in book-like fashion, securing the tablet at the corners and sticking shut via magnetic closure. If you’re ready to pull the trigger, you can grab both of these via the source links below for $79 each — or hit the gallery for another peek at the pair. At least you won’t regret splurging for a wood case like you did if you shelled out cash for one of these.

Gallery: Root Cases iPad 2 Walnut and Bamboo

Root Cases launches wood iPad 2 duo, ditches the plastic for $79 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Oct 2011 10:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceWood Cases (1), (2)  | Email this | Comments

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Oct 11

Creepy Photo-Realistic 3-D Face Masks

Posted in: Miscellaneous, Today's Chili

Creepy photorealist masks from Japan. I’d totally get a Yul Brynner one so I could play at Westworld

If you happen to be Patrick Bateman, I have discovered the perfect gift for you to buy your narcissistic self. A photo-realistic mask of your own face. Pop this onto the poor serial-killer victim of your choice and enjoy making out with “yourself.”

If you’re not the main character of Brett Easton Ellis’ terrifying book, then you will more likely be creeped out than turned on by these Japanese-made masks. The masks come from a company named Real-F, and consist of a photograph of the subject printed onto a 3-D model of their face. The combination of shape and photographic details should make a perfect facsimile of your visage.

The other advantage to being Patrick Bateman here is that you could easily afford the $4,000 that a mask will cost you. Opt for a full mannequin head and the price goes up to almost $6,000. Vanity certainly isn’t cheap.

Real-F product page [Real-F via David Ponce]

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Oct 11

Neato’s XV-12 robot vacuum cleans your floors dressed in white for $400

Posted in: Today's Chili
Neato Robotics XV-12

It cleans, it’s hackable and has a laser guidance system — what more could you ask of your Neato Robotics vacuum cleaner? You want it to assassinate those dust bunnies while dressed in white? Well then, you’ll want to check out the company’s latest offering, the XV-12. This successor to the XV-11 automated sucker doesn’t appear to add much in the features department, but it does get a shiny new coat of “misty white” paint and is available exclusively through Target for $400. The big selling points here are still the constantly updating room maps that the XV series creates using lasers mounted on top and what the company claims is the “strongest suction available in any robotic vacuum cleaner.” For some more details check out the PR after the break.

Continue reading Neato’s XV-12 robot vacuum cleans your floors dressed in white for $400

Neato’s XV-12 robot vacuum cleans your floors dressed in white for $400 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Oct 2011 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 11

Atom-Thick Graphene Sheets Could Make Great Camera Sensors

Posted in: mit, R&D and Inventions, science, Today's Chili

Some graphene, looking thin and strong. Illustration CORE-Materials/Flickr

Graphene, a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon, could end up making a pretty good camera sensor. Researchers at MIT have discovered that graphene can turn light into electricity, but not the way you’d think.

Unlike camera sensors and solar panels which rely on the photovoltaic effect, graphene creates a current because of a temperature difference. When light shines on its surface, it heats the electrons within, but “the lattice of carbon nuclei that forms graphene’s backbone remains cool.” This temperature difference produces the electricity.

Normally, this only occurs with very high energy light sources (lasers!) or very low-temperature materials. Graphene manages it with daylight and at room temperature.

The material surely has many uses (not least as a way to generate solar energy), but it turns out that graphene would make a good camera sensor. It detects infrared light, for example (good for spooky effects), and is also made from cheap, readily available carbon. Research is still young, but perhaps it could lead to a decent camera finally fitting into the supermodel-thin iPod Touch.

Graphene shows unusual thermoelectric response to light [MIT News]

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Oct 11

Real Life iPhone 4S’ Siri Demonstration Is Pretty Damn Impressive

Posted in: Apple, iphone 4s, Today's Chili, top, video

Apple’s demos of the new iPhone 4S’ Siri smart assistant are very impressive, but they’re just controlled demos. Stuff.tv got their hands on an iPhone 4S and played quite a bit with in a public place. It’s still very impressive. More »

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Oct 11

Nissan’s new charging technology will juice your EV in ten minutes, ten years from now

Posted in: car, charger, charging, electric, electric car, electric vehicle, ElectricCar, ElectricVehicle, ev, green, Japan, Today's Chili
Nearly a month after unveiling its revamped quick charger, Nissan has now announced that it’s working on new technology that would make EV charging… well, quicker. A lot quicker. Developed alongside researchers from Japan’s Kansai University, the manufacturer’s approach would allow drivers to fully charge their plug-ins in just ten minutes, without taking any toll on a lithium-ion battery’s storage or voltage. Nissan says it could achieve this by tinkering with a charger’s capacitor — more specifically, by replacing its carbon electrode with one based on a composite of tungsten oxide and vanadium oxide. Industry insiders, however, say this technology may not reach the commercial level for another ten years — substantially longer than ten minutes.

Nissan’s new charging technology will juice your EV in ten minutes, ten years from now originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Oct 2011 09:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink SlashGear, New York Daily News  |  sourceNikkei (Subscription)  | Email this | Comments

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Oct 11

Thank You Spam Protection!

Posted in: Today's Chili, Web Sites

This article was written on January 15, 2008 by CyberNet.

Akismet Spam

Everyday we get thousands of spam trackbacks, pingbacks, and comments here on our site. Since we’re powered by WordPress we use an amazing plugin called Akismet that stops spammers cold in their tracks. It wasn’t until the other day that I realized how crazy it would be if there were little or no spam protection on all the blogs out there.

I ventured over to Akismet’s stat section where they posted the graph you see above. All of the bright orange is, you guessed it, spam! The graph contains data from the past 2 years, where it has gone from nothing to a lot of something. Oh, and the little blue section down at the bottom are legitimate comments. Their stats indicate that 92% of all comments are spam…wow!

What’s even more sad is that blog spam isn’t nearly as bad as email spam. It’s estimated that over 90% of emails sent everyday are spam, which equates to about 100 billion emails. That number is up from 30 billion emails in 2005. :(

As I write this my Gmail account sits with 166 spam messages (correctly filtered) from the last day alone, and for me no more than one of these messages makes its way past the Gmail filters every week. And Akismet keeps the comments on our site clean, so that when you want to leave a message you don’t have to scroll past comments offering to sell you prescription drugs at a discounted price.

I think this is an appropriate time to say thank you to all of the companies who provide excellent spam protection.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Oct 11

Roku announces $50 LT model, will add HBO Go streaming to all of its boxes this month

Posted in: 720p, hdpostmini, Today's Chili

That cheaper, purpler, Roku LT we spied passing through the FCC and beta testing is official, and will hit retail shelves for just $50 next month. It’s only $10 less than the also-720p-limited Roku 2 HD, but that model isn’t sold everywhere and if you’re just snagging a box to watch some Netflix you probably won’t notice the missing Bluetooth and SD card reader. No matter which model is selected, starting next month viewers will be able to watch HBO Go streaming content on the Roku family of hardware. Cord cutters that have dropped pay TV entirely still don’t have access, but Roku CEO Anthony Wood reports around 80 percent of Roku owners still have cable or satellite. With that in mind, after Roku added Epix and was namechecked by Comcast to the FCC and at conferences, it’s not surprising to see the TV Everywhere movement trying to co-opt the box for its own ends. Expect more content announcements from Roku going forward, including more gaming options — Angry Birds 2 alone is one of the most used channels already — and even more authenticated streaming as the cable and satellite players extend their reach onto other platforms.

Continue reading Roku announces $50 LT model, will add HBO Go streaming to all of its boxes this month

Roku announces $50 LT model, will add HBO Go streaming to all of its boxes this month originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Oct 2011 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceRoku Blog  | Email this | Comments

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