Dec 12

Download leaked BlackBerry OS 7.1 now, make your mobile hotspot dreams come true

Posted in: BlackBerry, leak, leaks, mobilepostmini, research in motion, ResearchInMotion, RIM, Today's Chili, update
BlackBerry Torch 9810

An early peek at BlackBerry OS 7.1 revealed that RIM’s handsets would finally be getting mobile hotspot capabilities. Now you can download the leaked update yourself and start sharing your Torch 9810’s data connection. Of course, it goes without saying, this is not an official update yet and the usual caveats about stability and the danger of bricking your device apply. Then again, that might seem like a small price to pay for a feature that’s become standard on practically every other mobile OS. Hit up the source link to get your hack happy hands on the unsanctioned 7.1 upgrade for the sliding BlackBerry.

Download leaked BlackBerry OS 7.1 now, make your mobile hotspot dreams come true originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Dec 2011 18:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Verge, PhoneArena  |  sourceOSBB  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags:
Dec 12

Cello Wars musical parody of ‘Star Wars’

Posted in: Today's Chili

(Credit:
YouTube/ThePianoGuys )

This is so cool. A group of musicians calling themselves The Piano Guys released a video of two Jedi playing the theme from “Star Wars” on dueling cellos.

“Why Star Wars Cello? Because of our unending admiration of George Lucas, John Williams, and the most EPIC movies and film score ever created,” the guys stated on YouTube. They say they “like to put a new spin on classic stuff and a classic spin on new stuff. It’s a must-see video for fans of the space opera.

This story originally appeared on CBSNews.com.

[Read more]

Related Links:
YouTube gets social-networking face-lift
Laser display could mean 3D sans screens
‘Charlie Brown Christmas’ pops up on iPad
Indiana Jones raids Zynga’s Adventure World
Google Music’s debut: Deja Zune

No Comments
Dec 12

EZ-Robot releases build-your-own kit, realistic Cylons due any time now (video)

Posted in: robot, robotics, Today's Chili, video
DJ Sures’ homemade Wall-E was the beginning of his project to bring personal robotics to the masses: thanks to his company, EZ-Robot. The startup sells kits that let you retrofit that Teddy Ruxpin doll in the garage into a fully-functioning killbot. $235 will buy you a wireless controller, ultrasonic distance sensor, wireless tracking camera, three standard servos, two continuous rotation servos, battery pack and software that’ll let you control the bot without having to learn to code. The software also includes vision tracking (facial, motion and color), speech recognition and the whole thing will even integrate with your Roomba — although we’re not sure how far you’ll get if you ask it for a sandwich.

Continue reading EZ-Robot releases build-your-own kit, realistic Cylons due any time now (video)

EZ-Robot releases build-your-own kit, realistic Cylons due any time now (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Dec 2011 18:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceEZ-Robot  | Email this | Comments

No Comments
Dec 12

Super Sales: Samsung Shipped 300 Million Handsets in 2011

Posted in: Apple, cellphones, market share, Phones, sales, samsung, Today's Chili

The Galaxy S II has propelled Samsung to record handset shipments. Image: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Even though Apple and Samsung continue to duke it out in international courts, it looks like Samsung’s handset shipments haven’t been affected in the slightest.

Samsung is having a banner year for handset sales, passing the 300 million mark for the first time in company history. Samsung attributes the far-reaching success of the Galaxy S II smartphone as a major reason for the record-high sales numbers.

“Samsung has a real advantage versus other handset brands due to its very strong tries with the component supply chain,” NPD’s Ross Rubin told Wired.com. Samsung phones typically feature large, bright, high-contrast displays, a very thin form factor and Flash memory. All of these handset attributes are very popular with consumers, Rubin says, and are areas that Samsung has a production advantage with.

The fact that Samsung’s handsets (in the United States) are available on all of the major wireless carriers is another factor that’s contributed to the company’s stellar sales this year. Apple, by contrast, is on three of the four major U.S. wireless carriers (AT&T, Verizon and Sprint), with only T-Mobile’s nationwide network being left out of the loop.

Among Android handset makers, this year Samsung has taken the lead. In late October, Samsung overtook Apple and Nokia in the numbers, having shipped 27.8 million smartphones compared to Apple’s 17.1 million and Nokia’s 16.8 million in the third quarter of 2011. Of that number, over 10 million were Galaxy S IIs. Apple’s sales were somewhat slower around that period, as many people waited for the launch of the company’s handset (which ended up selling 4 million units in its first three days after launch).

Despite Samsung’s success with shipment numbers, Apple is still the one reaping the lion’s share of profits in the mobile phone market. As of Q2 of this year, Apple saw over 66 percent of handset profits, while Samsung only managed 15 percent.

As far as Apple and Samsung’s legal battles go, Samsung’s had a bit of luck lately. An Australian court overturned a ban on Galaxy Tab sales down under, allowing Samsung to sell its Android tablet to customers without fear of copyright infringement reprisal. Although the troubled tablet is still banned in Germany, Samsung is appealing the decision.


No Comments | Tags: ,
Dec 12

A Very Rare Video of Steve Jobs Telling the History of Apple

Posted in: Apple, steve jobs, Today's Chili, top, video

This very rare video was recorded in the 1980s. It shows Steve Jobs talking about the origin of Apple. It’s fascinating to see how he hints at the Next Big Thing, back when the Macintosh was still a secret project in development. More »

No Comments | Tags: ,
Dec 12

Must See HDTV (December 12th – 18th)

Posted in: hdpostmini, Today's Chili, video

This week sees even more shows saying goodbye before a holiday break, but as usual cable and reality TV are around to try to pick up the slack. While Fear Factor returns on network TV, Discovery fans can check out the season premiere of Dirty Jobs. The Blu-ray release schedule has a little something for everyone as well, with cult classic The Rocketeer joining City of God and two very different 3D flicks in Kung Fu Panda 2 and Fright Night. Check below for the highlights this week, followed after the break by our weekly listings of what to look out for in TV, Blu-ray and videogames.

City of God
When Lionsgate announced its deal to distribute Miramax’s movies in the US, long delayed Blu-ray releases like Pulp Fiction (deservedly) received a lion’s share of the attention, but this week another one of our favorites, City of God, emerges from the vaults at last. Released in 2002 and previously available in HD internationally, this Brazilian flick tells the story of two boys growing up in Brazil’s slums as one grows up to lead one of the local gangs and the other becomes a photographer. A crime epic on par with any of the other classics, it has characters that will stick with you long after the movie is over, and has a story that unfolds with more layers than can be described in this space. If you’re not familiar, check out the trailer after the break.
(December 13th, $14.99 on Amazon)

Fear Factor
One of the shows that started off the reality TV craze is back this week, as Fear Factor returns on NBC. Airing for the first time in HD, host Joe Rogan will once again cajole, encourage and tease a group of contestants through a series of increasingly gross / thrilling / dangerous stunts until they are eliminated. High-brow entertainment it ain’t, but it can still be a fun watch. Check out a trailer showing what’s in store this season embedded after the break.
(December 12th, NBC, 8 & 9PM)

Always Sunny in Philadelphia
This week sees the season finale of Always Sunny, and as usual the gang is up to no good. This is the second of a two-part episode as they attend a high school reunion, and to recap, Dennis misguidedly believes he was one of the cool kids and is ducking his dead-toothed ex wife, Dee unsuccessfully tried to infiltrate the cool table by slinging insults around, Mac’s real name has been revealed and Charlie is unconscious after huffing chemicals. So, they’re up to their usual antics.
(December 15th, FX, 10PM)

Continue reading Must See HDTV (December 12th – 18th)

Must See HDTV (December 12th – 18th) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Dec 2011 17:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

No Comments
Dec 12

WrapUp: Sign Into Multiple Gmail Accounts in Firefox, Windows Phone 7 Series, and More

Posted in: Firefox Extensions, Today's Chili, WrapUp

This article was written on February 16, 2010 by CyberNet.

Welcome to the WrapUp by CyberNet. This is a collection of news stories, downloads, and tips that we have collected over the last few days, but never got around to writing about. Don’t forget to send in your own tips, or just leave a comment on this page if you think you’ve got something we should include.

–News–

windows phone 7 series.jpgWindows Phone 7 Series Hands-On
At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Microsoft unveiled the next generation of their mobile operating system called Windows Phone 7 Series. They have essentially scrapped everything you knew about Windows Mobile, and started from scratch to make an interface that is much more like the Zune. It’s clean, fast, and all first impressions from reviewers are extremely positive. You should expect to see Windows Phone 7 Series devices in time for the holiday season later this year.


office 2011.jpgOffice 2011 for Mac Getting a Ribbon UI
Microsoft has released some information regarding Office 2011 for the Mac, and in the mix is a slightly revamped UI that will match more closely what Windows users see when they fire-up Office. This already looks much better than Office 2008 in my opinion, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it. Not to mention the fact that this will actually include Outlook for handling emails instead of the frowned upon Entourage app.


–News in Brief–

google buzz.jpgGoogle Buzz Adapts to User Feedback
Google has received a lot of complaints about Buzz (mostly in regards to security), and they have quickly rolled out changes to help address the high-priority issues.


google maps labs.jpgGoogle Maps Gets Labs
Labs has found it’s way into another Google product… Maps. Some examples of what you can do are things like find the latitude/longitude of your cursor’s position or draw a box around an area you want to zoom into.


windows.jpgWindows Patch Cripples XP with Blue Screen
One of the Windows Updates pushed out by Microsoft incapacitated some machines and threw them into an endless cycle of reboots.


opera browser.jpgOpera 10.5 Beta Released
Opera posted the first Beta release of version 10.5, and it boasts private browsing, a faster JavaScript engine, and a redesigned interface.


google fiber optic.jpgGoogle Announces Experimental Fiber Optic Network for Consumers
Google will be pushing out a fiber optic Internet connection to upwards of 500,000 consumers, and are taking nominations for areas in the U.S. that are interested.


opera mini.jpgOpera Mini for the iPhone
Opera showed off the “mini” version of their browser at Mobile World Congress that is designed specifically for the iPhone.


–Tips, Tutorials, and Reviews–

tvrename-1.jpgAutomatically Organize Your TV Shows
Downloading TV Shows from the Internet via BitTorrent or other sources can be annoying for those filename neat-freaks out there. Often times the files are named in obscure manners that can make the files difficult to identify, or at the very least not easy to read. The free app called TVRename assists with that issue by renaming the files into a more friendly format automatically for you.


multifox.jpgSign Into Multiple Gmail Accounts in Firefox
The MultiFox Firefox extension lets you create multiple cookie sessions in the browser so that you can sign into more than one online account at a time. This is particularly useful for me because I have multiple Gmail accounts, and with this I don’t have to sign out of one before switching over to another.


–Tips in Brief–

NetNewsWire.jpg6 Best Tools for Scheduling Twitter Updates
Use these various services and tools to automatically schedule your tweets to post at a certain time/day.


belvedere.jpgAutomate File Management with Belvedere
This free Windows utility will let you automatically manage files (delete, move, etc…) based on extension, date created, and more as they get added to a folder that you choose to monitor.


email photos.jpgEmailing Photos to Windows Live SkyDrive
This guide explains how you can quickly add images to your free 25GB SkyDrive account via email.


picasa downloader.jpgGoogle Picasa Album Download Tools
 Bulk download your images using one of these free tools… including one that is a Firefox extension.


orangenote.jpgSmart Note Taker & Clipboard Manager
 OrangeNote is a free note taking application for Windows that is one of the best-looking sticky note apps I’ve seen.


iphone explorer.jpgiPhone Explorer for the iPhone & iPod Touch
 This free Windows/Mac app will let you navigate the files on your iPhone without having to jailbreak.


google docs wedding.jpgWedding Planning with Google Docs
Google announced some free templates and tips for people who want to use Google Docs for planning a wedding.


bartap.jpgKeep Background Tabs from Loading in Firefox
This Firefox extension will keep background tabs from loading until you actually switch to them.


chrome new tab tasks.jpgTurn Chrome’s New Tab Page into a Google Tasks Page
View your Google task list each time you open a new tab in Google Chrome.


listary.jpgSpruce Up Windows Find-as-You-Type
Listary adds a visual reference to the find-as-you-type functionality in Windows Explorer.


–Downloads–

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

Related Posts:


No Comments | Tags: ,
Dec 12

Groundbreaking photonic chip could spark Quantum Computing revolution

Posted in: Today's Chili
Quantum Computers already exist, but not in the “universal” form that would truly revolutionize computing. That’s why the latest innovation from Bristol University has so much promise: a team from its center for Quantum Photonics has built a reprogrammable quantum chip. The 70mm x 3mm box is capable of measuring and manipulating entanglement and mixture — fundamental elements of the mythical “universal” chip. It’s taken the team six years to reach this point, but now it’ll concentrate on scaling up the technology to create more complex systems, hopefully in time for our next smartphone purchase.

Continue reading Groundbreaking photonic chip could spark Quantum Computing revolution

Groundbreaking photonic chip could spark Quantum Computing revolution originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Dec 2011 17:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Extreme Tech  |  sourceUniversity of Bristol  | Email this | Comments

No Comments
Dec 12

Microsoft replaces Andy Lees as Windows Phone head

Posted in: breaking news, Microsoft, mobilepostcross, steve ballmer, Today's Chili, windows phone, windows phone 7, WindowsPhone, WindowsPhone7, Wp7
Andy Lees

AllThingsD is reporting that Microsoft is replacing Andy Lees as head of its Windows Phone division… sort of. It looks like Terry Myerson, who has headed up engineering efforts for the group, will take over many of Lees’ responsibilities, though, he won’t be inheriting his title. At least not just yet. In a memo seen by AllThingsD, Ballmer announced that Lees would be taking on a new position with the company, though it’s not entirely clear what that might be — describing it only as “time-critical” and “focused on driving maximum impact in 2012 with Windows Phone and Windows 8.” (So, it’s safe to assume he’s not becoming a janitor.) The shakeup isn’t terribly surprising, especially considering the CEO’s own admission that Windows Phone 7 was not performing as well as expected in the market.

The division’s interim leader, Myerson, has been with Microsoft since 1997 and previously headed up the team in charge of Exchange. For now he will continue to report to Lees, who will remain the president of the Windows Phone group, even if that is in name only.

Microsoft replaces Andy Lees as Windows Phone head originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Dec 2011 17:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceAll Things D  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags:
Dec 12

Robots finally able to follow ‘make me a sandwich’ command (video)

Posted in: kinect, robot, Robots, rumor, Today's Chili, video
Sandwich Bot

Pancakes? No problem. Cookies? You got it! Sandwich? …is there a Subway near by? Why robots have such a hard time slapping meat and cheese on bread is beyond us, but we’re glad the crack team at the Technical University of Munich has finally figured out how to teach them. The dynamic duo of James and Rosie don’t exactly blaze through their task of making a sandwich and some popcorn, but at least they’re nice enough to toast the bread for your salami- and cheese-based chow. As usual, the moves here are not preprogrammed, the two bots make decisions on the fly based on a complex “reasoning” mechanism and data it can cull from a Kinect. Check out the videos below to watch two carefully construct a simple, layered lunch.

Continue reading Robots finally able to follow ‘make me a sandwich’ command (video)

Robots finally able to follow ‘make me a sandwich’ command (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Physorg, IEEE Spectrum  |  sourceTUM  | Email this | Comments

No Comments