Hasta La Gadget!

It looks as though the HTC One X is on the up – where the Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer did mention that they will be introducing a minor update to the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system which will deliver a modified version of its Sense UI. Not only that, even better news is HTC’s commitment to bring Android 4.1 Jelly Bean over to the HTC One X. According to a HTC spokesperson, the Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich rollout will begin from today onwards in the UK, although timings for the other regions will vary.

HTC’s statement mentioned, “The primary update will include an upgrade to Android version 4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich), in addition to an improved Sense experience which will enable the ability to map menu functions to the ‘recent app’ key — improving visual presentation in non-ICS apps like Facebook — and improve tab management in the browser with a dedicated tab-switching button.”

Do expect additional improvements such as a refined white balance and a continuous auto-focus mode for the camera, not to mention a single sign-on for Facebook across websites and apps. No idea on when Android. 4.1 Jelly Bean update will arrive though, but patience is the best policy.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: HTC Sense 4.1 for the international One X leaked, Sprint HTC EVO 3D now receiving Ice Cream Sandwich,

Even Apple’s Siri, arguably the cutting-edge of synthesized computer voices, sounds incredibly fake. To the point where you’d think that field of research has only been around for about 10 years. But shockingly it dates back to the 1930s—80+ years ago! More »

If you’re going to shoot something and have a laugh about it afterwards, then you might want to reach out for these stack of weiner bullets. You can also call them dick bullets, pecker bullets, wanger bullets, rod bullets – but let’s tread lightly on the crude side and just go with ‘weiner.’

These weiner bullets are actually real and they’re probably the most perverted bullets you’ll ever see in your life.

At first glance, they might seem like bullets made a bit too long. But upon closer inspection, you’ll discover that it is, indeed, more than what it initially seemed to be.

These bullets were specially made by the specialists over at The Specialists, who were probably bored one afternoon and decided that they’d make bullets more fun by churning them out in the shape of men’s peckers.

Want some weiners of your own to shoot at people? Check out The Specialists’ website or call them at 212-941-7696 (look for Steve).

[via Endo via Obvious Winner]

Welcome to Engadget’s back to school guide! The end of summer vacation isn’t nearly as much fun as the weeks that come before, but a chance to update your tech tools likely helps to ease the pain. Today we’re getting down to the very important business of helping you sift through laptops, and you can always head to the back to school hub to see the rest of the product guides as they’re added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back — at the end of the month we’ll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides — and hit up the hub page right here!

Freshman year of college may no longer be the gateway to the magical world of laptop ownership, but even if you already have a notebook, who can resist a new machine in the spirit of starting fresh when September rolls around? Whether you’re looking for a Core i5 companion to get you through semesters of paper-writing, Facebooking and WoWing, or a super-sleek centerpiece to your bare-bones dorm, there’s a vast playing field of machines to choose from. While sifting through the countless options would surely get you back in the academic research frame of mind, it’s a daunting task. We’re here to take some of the work off your plate with nine solid mainstream laptops that should satisfy every budget.

Continue reading Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: mainstream laptops

Filed under: Laptops

Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: mainstream laptops originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Aug 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

If you were wondering why the photos coming back to us from NASA‘s Curiosity rover on Mars were so small, you certainly aren’t alone. As Curiosity’s camera project’s manager Mike Ravine explains to the Digital Photography Review, it’s not a matter of being able to put a more high quality camera aboard, it’s the data transfer. While your smartphone is capable of transferring gigabytes of memory a day if you really want it to, the Mars mission is limited to 250 megabits per day – that’s 31.25 megabytes (MB) and NASA certainly wasn’t about to dedicate that whole amount to photographs only.

The Curiosity rover is sending data to Earth in several ways, but only its UHF transmitter is able to push a large enough amount of data back to send images. The next issue was the fact that the same sensor had to work for four different cameras onboard: MAHLI, two Mastcams, and the camera set to capture the machine’s descent to the planet – MARDI. Each of these cameras were built around one single platform so that each of them would not have to be re-tested and qualified for the mission. This way of accomplishing NASA’s goals makes everything less expensive and more dependable in the end.

“We developed all four cameras around a common architecture so the choice of sensor was hedged across all of them. We wanted to be able to capture high frame rates, particularly with the descent camera. We also looked at a 4MP sensor but it would have run around half as fast. And the state of CMOS sensors wasn’t credible in 2004. They’re an interesting option now, but they weren’t then.” – Ravine

Ravine also explains that they were not able to get some of the equipment they’d hoped to be working with approved and on-board in time for the launch, including the 3D video cameras spoken about over a year ago with and by James Cameron.

“They were going to be 6.5-100mm zoom lenses, which would allow us to set them both to the same focal length for capturing stereo images. … We’re going to get some great mosaics with the focal lengths we’ve got, but we’re not going to get the wide-field cinematic moments or the 3D movies from Mars that Cameron wanted” – Ravine

Stay tuned as the Mars mission continues through the coming weeks and into the vast future of space! Check out our timeline below as well to keep up to date on all of Curiosity’s doings, drivings, and photography too!

Mars Curiosity photo size and cameras explained is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.