Aug 16
Mirrorless cameras are generally geared toward the enthusiast or semi-pro consumer. Some companies, like Canon with its new EOS M offering, are seeking to cater to a broader market in features and styling. More »
Aug 16
Dunkin Donuts payment app available
Posted in: Today's Chili
Dunkin Donut has launched its first payment app on Android and iOS. With it, customers can basically pay for their purchases using pre-charged money from either a credit card or a Dunkin Donuts card. At the moment, there is no “cart” or other possibility to prepare an order from the app.
The Dunkin donut app works very much like the Starbucks app (if you’ve seen it). In the end, the customer shows a barcode that is scanned by the in-store mobile payment system. While this is interesting, it doesn’t make the process faster, which is usually the main appeal of these systems. For example, if customers could build their order on the phone and have it scanned to order+pay at the same time, things would move much faster. That’s not the case, for now. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Swiftkey 3.0.1 Android keyboard adds colors and languages, The Simpsons: Tapped Out makes it way back to the App Store this week,
Aug 16
The achilles heel of Google Wallet thus far has been it’s inability to forge patnerships. MasterCard and Sprint have been the company’s only friends. But now Discover is also on board, which gets Google Wallet one step closer to being a thing normal people use. [Google via PhoneScoop via The Verge] More »
Aug 16
Wood battery might be the future
Posted in: Today's Chili
I wonder then – if future batteries were to be made out of wood of sorts, then isn’t it more flammable than today’s lithium ion batteries which are used in a myriad of devices? Well, researchers are currently working on a battery that is made from lignin, which is actually a waste product derived from the paper-making process. According to Grzegorz Milczarek from the Poznan University of Technology in Poland, working hand in hand with Olle Inganäs from Linkoping University in Sweden, they claimed to have figured out a way to merge lignin with the conductive polymer polypyrrole, where the end result would be a battery cathode which will see action when the right time arrives.
Lignin doubles up as an insulator, while polypyrrole functions as a conductor which is capable of holding its own electric charge. Since the utilization of lignin would mean one is able to make use of waste product from wood, this might very well be the ticket to a future of renewable energy.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: New car battery charges in “minutes”, Nissan unveils new battery capacity estimators ,
Aug 16
We have seen our fair share of devices from Sandia National Laboratories in the past, and here we are with their latest device that might just keep you interested and wanting more – a highly affordable robotic hand which is capable of disarming improvised explosive devices, or better known as IEDs. Simply called the Sandia Hand, it boasts unprecedented levels of dexterity and modularity compared to previous robot hands. Funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Sandia Hand is capable of moving its different fingers individually thanks to a modular structure, where you can also replace the finger(s) with tools for select missions on the battlefield – or perhaps to make less of a mess in the kitchen as it whips up the relevant ingredients, waiting for you to put all of them together. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Robot sewing machines in the US might result in cheaper clothes, Cheetah robot achieves new land speed record,
Aug 16
The Samsung Galaxy S III Android smartphone has been released internationally as well as on each of the major carriers here in the USA, and now the Verizon model has had its bootloader unlocked. The first and perhaps most important reason this is important is that Verizon’s model of the Samsung device was the only one to have a locked bootloader – and a separate model made for developers with said bootloader unlocked. The second reason this is important is that an unlocked bootloader, for those of you unfamiliar, means that users will be able to work with whatever software build now that they so choose.
This hack – or development, if you prefer, has been presented by some intrepid folks over at XDA Developers Forums, where an abnormal amount of Android development talk always does occur. Here they’ve sent out instructions on how to make this hack work with Linux and Apple’s OS X computers. Strangely enough, Windows will be no help to you here – not yet, at least. Once you’ve gotten in, you’ll be able to root to your hearts’ desire.
With this device’s bootloader unlocked, you’ll be able to run CyanogenMod, you’ll be able to get all kinds of overclocking done, and you’ll be able to completely destroy the innards of your device. Verizon warns that if you should decide to hack your phone in such a way and find yourself in hot water – if your phone goes blank and does not wake up, for example – you’ll be out of luck. Verizon’s warranty for smart devices does not cover hacking like this.
Have a peek at our timeline below to check out all sorts of interesting Samsung Galaxy S III news and hands-on experiences, and make sure to let us know if you’ve unlocked your Verizon Galaxy S III too – how did it go? Also note that we do not recommend you hack in any way at all due to the fact that it’s dangerous for your device and dangerous for your wallet as well. Stay safe!
Verizon Galaxy S III bootloader unlocked by hackers is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Aug 16
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti review roundup: impressive performance for around $300
Posted in: Today's Chili 
No one’s saying that $300 is “cheap,” but compared to the GTX 670 and GTX 680 before it, the newly announced GeForce GTX 660 Ti is definitely in a more attainable category. The usual suspects have hashed out their reviews today, with the general consensus being one of satisfaction. A gamechanger in the space it’s not, but this Kepler-based GPU managed to go toe-to-toe with similarly priced Radeon GPUs while being relatively power efficient in the process. That said, AnandTech was quick to point out that unlike Kepler reviews in the past, the 660 Ti wasn’t able to simply blow away the competition; it found the card to perform around 10 to 15 percent faster than the 7870 from AMD, while the 7950 was putting out roughly the same amount of performance as the card on today’s test bench. HotHardware mentioned that NVIDIA does indeed have another winner on its hands, noting that it’d be tough to do better right now for three Benjamins. Per usual, there’s plenty of further reading available in the links below for those seriously considering the upgrade.
Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti review roundup: impressive performance for around $300 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Aug 2012 13:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Aug 16
Aug 16
The release date for World of Warcraft‘s latest expansion, Mists of Pandaria, is right around the corner, and as such, Blizzard has started to ramp up the marketing. Today we’re being treated to a brand new cinematic trailer for the game, and we have to say it’s pretty excellent. The question is: will it be enough to get players interested in returning to World of Warcraft?
The trailer focuses on a Human and an Orc who have washed ashore in a strange place after a naval battle. Once they discover each other, they begin fighting it what appears to be some kind of old ruins, destroying some ancient-looking relics in the process. It’s then that one of the Pandaren interrupts and shows them both what’s what. After both of them have been beaten back by the Panda, the Human and the Orc realize that they have washed up on Pandaria, and we’re treated to shots of sprawling, beautiful wilderness, populated by Pandaren who are training for battle.
It’s definitely one of the better cinematic trailers we’ve seen in a long time. With an exciting battle, a wonderful soundtrack, and a little bit of humor, cinematic trailers don’t get much better. Blizzard knows it has to impress too, as World of Warcraft‘s numbers have been slipping a bit lately. Couple that with the fact that reaction to Mists of Pandaria was mixed when the expansion was revealed at BlizzCon last year, and Blizzard has its work cut out for it.
World of Warcraft‘s subscriber numbers will almost certainly increase once Mists of Pandaria is released, but the hard part will be getting those returning (or new) subscribers to hang around once they’ve finished the expansion. Blizzard has wowed us with the opening cinematic, but now it has to wow us with the expansion itself. We don’t have much longer to wait, as Mists of Pandaria is releasing on September 25.
Mists of Pandaria’s excellent opening cinematic revealed is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Aug 16
“There’s an app for that,” or so the mantra goes in the Apple ecosystem, but what about those of us rocking to the Android platform from Google? Well, check out this particular app known as the Mosquito Buster, where it claims to repel mosquitoes from being around you through the simple act of emitting a high-frequency sound wave that mosquitoes dislike. I am not quite sure just how effective this particular app will be, but the folks over at TABROID were the ones who brought our attention to this particular app, and they tested it during the late afternoon by setting off into rice paddy fields then, looking for the ideal spot where there are plenty of these natural blood suckers around.
The staff at TABROID who spent their afternoon in a mosquito infested paddy field claimed not to have gotten bitten – not even once, thanks to the app running on their smartphone. Apart from that, this app will come with a “kid busting mode” and a “mouse/rat busting mode” that touts to emit sounds which can be heard only by younger people and rats. Is there any need for insect repellents during your camping trips in the future? Yes sir, as you need no batteries to slather a generous dose of insect repellent all over your body.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Star Wars Force Glove gives you Jedi-like abilities , Steve Jobs’ home burgled, suspect in custody at the moment,
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