Hasta La Gadget!

Thousands “more” well-known brands and verified individuals on Google+ will be given the ability to work with a vanity URL today per an update from the top brass. Users lucky enough to be part of the roll out will see a notification above your homepage that noted “your page is preapproved for the custom URL: google.com/CUSTOM followed by a Claim URL button that you’ll certainly want to push. This URL rollout does not appear to allow you to pick your own URL, here only showing examples of pre-selected names made by Google.

This change will be rolled out over the next few days and will be send only to those cool enough to have caught Google’s eye. If you see the notification from Google and do not agree that it matches your perfect vision for a custom URL, you do have the ability to make a request of the group to get a different one – this link appears inside the process that give you the standard name – don’t miss it!

Custom URLs have been sought after by users and brands since both groups were allowed on the Google-made social network, with the first set of custom URL users appearing earlier this month. Eventually Google hopes to have massive amounts of custom URL users on the social network, but they’re being cautious. Rolling out pre-approved sets like this allows Google to be sure they’re not issuing fake people real misleading addresses.

If you’ve gotten the notification, let us know! And if you’ve made a request to have your URL changed, let us know how long it took to get approval a second time. And stay tuned for more Google+ news as the team keeps the network strong!

[via Saurabh Sharma]

Google+ Vanity URLs roll out today is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Has updating your computer to Mac OS X Lion completely killed your battery life? Today Apple has released the first major update (10.8.1), and it’s rumored to fix that problem for you. Here’s the full list of what it includes: More »

The CEO of LG Display has this week made it clear that they’ve started production of display panels using in-cell technology, these panels quite likely headed for Apple’s new iPhone (aka the iPhone 5) next month. While LG has not been able to be specific about where the panels will be used, Han Sang-beom, LG Display’s chief executive, did allow reporters to know that though they’d been struggling with perfecting the technology up until now, “those hard times have finally ended.” LG is a major supplier of flat screens utilized by Apple’s iPad and iPhone devices.

If you’ll have a peek back at an in-cell patent that appeared with Apple’s name on it earlier this month, you’ll find that they are indeed prepping the technology for future products. This technology allows LCD and touch recognition hardware to be integrated into one unit rather than two, allowing whichever product that uses a touchscreen with said technology to have much more room for other components behind the screen – or a thinner product overall.

Another interesting point to be made here is that the patent was originally filed all the way back in 2007 when the iPhone was first produced. This very well could simply mean that the technology was invented then and took this long to perfect – this tying in well with LG’s current announcement that they’d “had some hard times at first”. Han also let reporters known at that “the in-cell technology is the industry’s latest development. We will be able to supply the panels without any fail.”

For those of you looking to pick up the new iPhone, you’ll want to make sure you’re prepared to pick up a converter accessory as well as the device itself – there’s a new docking port in the mix too! We’ll be prepping several articles between here and the final announcement for the iPhone 5 – or whatever it’ll end up being called – so that you’re fully ready for the drop. Get ready for a whole new generation of Apple product!

Also note that the image above is a rendering of the new iPhone as created by the talented folks at NWE. Probably quite close to reality!

[via WSJ]

iPhone 5 in-cell touchscreen rolling out at LG is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

There’s a special moment in every operating system’s life when it loses its innocent .0 status and grows up. It’s OS X Mountain Lion’s turn to mature, as Apple has just pushed out the 10.8.1 update for early adopters. Most of the fixes are for issues that plague specific use cases, such as audio output from a Thunderbolt Display or crashes in Migration Assistant. There are a few remedies that a wider audience might appreciate — a fix for iMessages that don’t send and an improvement to Exchange compatibility in Mail, for example. We don’t yet know of any surprises lurking underneath, but it can’t hurt to have a smoother-running Mac while we investigate.

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Software

Apple posts OS X 10.8.1 update, mends your Mountain Lion originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Aug 2012 11:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Given it’s been so important to our development, it’s no surprise mankind has a love affair with fire. Deep down we’re all arsonists in our own little way: lighting candles, stoking campfires, or curling up near a fireplace. We all love watching things bur—right, guys? right—and that desire can be kept in check with this Nerone cityscape fireplace that’s a better alternative to wanton acts of arson. More »