Valve’s full-scale Portal turret is another treat from Weta Workshop, check out the unboxing video

Valve reveals its fullscale Portal turret is another treat from Weta, shows off unboxing

Last week Valve showed off an impressive Portal turret replica, but didn’t mention where the thing came from, or why. Now it’s posted another video of the original unboxing, and mentions that like its earlier TF2 turret, this is a Weta Workshop project complete with motion sensor for tracking. Those flashing lights appear to be just for show, but with both of those monoliths patrolling the lobby we’ll probably wait for an invitation before stopping by.

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Valve’s full-scale Portal turret is another treat from Weta Workshop, check out the unboxing video originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Sep 2012 01:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceThe Valve Store (Facebook)  | Email this | Comments

Facebook test photo synchronization on Android

Google+ on Android does offer automatic uploading of photos captured with your smartphone, but it is not exactly one of the most commonly used features (strangely enough, don’t you think so?). Word on the street has it that social network giant Facebook is testing this particular feature for their Facebook for Android app.

Facebook did promise to churn out a native app for the Android mobile operating system which is a good thing considering the continued, sustained growth of Android in the smartphone and tablet worlds, and the current Facebook app simply fails to measure up to the Facebook app on other mobile platforms. The Photo Sync feature is being tested by select users, who will of course, have the newest version of the app, and upon successful testing, we should be able to see a wide release soon.

Facebook syncing is smart enough to consider just how much battery life your smartphone has left before performing the synchronization process, and photos which sync over mobile data are optimized to approximately 100KB so that you won’t get a shocker at the end of the month.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Facebook reportedly “forcing” employees to use Android phones in order to improve the Android Facebook app, Facebook app for Android updated,

HP hints at enterprise tablet launch soon

So we have seen our fair share of Sleekbooks from HP today in addition to the HP ENVY dm4 and an NFC mouse, but what about the tablet front? Surely HP is aware that the iPad is one of the hottest devices in the market at the moment, where the highly competitive tablet and smartphone market do seem to bring out the best of innovation in companies who are playing the game. Well, it does seem as though HP has not forgotten about the tablet market, considering how the last line of their press release mentioned that an “enterprise-ready tablet will be announced soon.”

The thing is, “soon” is a fairly relative word depending on the context of its usage. We do believe that with Microsoft’s Windows 8 and Windows RT operating systems arriving within this year alongside the Microsoft Surface tablet, the notion of a Windows-powered enterprise tablet from HP does not sound too far fetched, and neither is the mentioned time frame. Just what do you think HP has exactly in mind?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: HP TouchPad Go spotted on eBay, HP Slate 2 prototype unboxed,

HP Touch To Pair NFC-enabled mouse

Just when you thought that improvements in the world of computer peripherals, especially when it comes to the humble mouse, could not move forward any further, here we are with word that HP has just announced their Touch To Pair mouse which is NFC-enabled. Of course, it might seem like overkill at this point in time as how many notebooks or Ultrabooks out there in the market come with NFC connectivity these days? Still, there is alway good ol’ Bluetooth to fall back on, where the HP Touch To Pair mouse with NFC support will hit the market later this November.

This is purely an office/home mouse, so do not expect to get any kind of hot and heavy gaming action going on, especially when all HP is asking for in exchange is a rather meagre $39. I guess your computer or tablet is going to get a new companion soon if you are interested in picking up this particular digital rodent.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: HP Wi-Fi Mobile Mouse is now available, HP hints at enterprise tablet launch soon,

Patent for Apple’s universal removable battery system approved

I would suppose that there are segments of Apple product users who are not too happy with the fact that their devices lack a removable battery, which means once the device’s battery runs into issues, there is no straightforward DIY replacement, but rather, you will need to deal with Apple themselves (or risk sending it to a third party phone store who claims to be able to change the battery for you for a small fee). Well, perhaps things might change in the future with word on the latest patent picked up by Apple concerning a universal removable battery system.

This particular patent’s focus on a universal removable battery system translates to Apple turning batteries from lithium-polymer or similar materials into commonly sized packs, where these can then be interchangeable between devices, delivering the benefits of removable, rechargeable batteries without worrying about different sized batteries for different models. Let’s just say this is a modern day version of the AA battery – some devices require more AA batteries, others use less, but it is a simple matter of getting the right amount of stuffing it in. The thing is, not all patents end up on store shelves as an actual product, so be prepared for more non-removable batteries in Apple’s products in the immediate future.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Apple applies for iPad backside controls patent, Carbon fiber MacBook chassis a future possibility with new Apple patents,

iOS 6 has Wi-Fi bug that has apparently been fixed

We are quite sure that a fair number of readers out there have already updated their respective iOS-powered devices to the latest version of Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS 6. Hackers have already found an exploit which might mean it is present in the iPhone 5 when released, but that is not the only trouble that iOS 6 ran into today. Apparently, there were some users who complained that once the update to iOS 6 was complete, their freshly updated devices refuse to hook up to Wi-Fi networks that was once their close friend.

Apple did not release any comment on the issue when it cropped up on online forums, so trust users of iDevices to come up with a workaround. In theory, iOS 4 would ping a page on Apple’s servers (http://www.apple.com/library/test/success.html), and if successful, the Wi-Fi was deemed to have connected, and everything is hunky dory. Needless to say, if the ping failed, the system would think you were on a network which needed a login and proceed with credentials authentication. It seems that Apple deleted that page from the server by accident, resulting in failed pings and subsequently, the inability to hook up via Wi-Fi. The page was restored since, and the issue seems to have been fixed. Were you one of those affected earlier today?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: iOS 6 debuts on the iPhone 5, iOS 6 beta has ‘Wi-Fi plus Cellular’ setting?,

Prudish Pinterest Won’t Allow Pins Sourced from Sex.com (UPDATE) [Pinterest]

Sure, Pinterest is known for hosting essentially what amounts to a virtual, scrolling, wedding wish-book. But it’s also home to some rather sexy, somewhat stylized “tasteful” nude images. It’s equal opportunity as far as pins go. More »

Allen Institute completes gene expression map of the human brain in high-resolution 3D

Allen Institute completes gene expression map of the human brain in highresolution 3D

As a species, we’ve spent a lot of time learning how the human brain works, but we’ve had to go without a true, thorough map of how genes manifest themselves in our craniums; previous maps have been limited to the simpler minds of mice. The Allen Institute for Brain Science is now known to have solved that mystery by recently finishing an extensive, detailed 3D atlas of genetic expression within our own brain tissue. Accomplishing the feat required no small amount of resources, including the definition of 900 subdivisions, conducting over 62,000 gene expression probes and producing the MRI scans of two and a half brains, but the result is a potentially vital tool for neuroscience and education. Curious web users can see a visual map of gene expression based on virtually any criteria they need, whether it’s a physical region of the brain, a disease type or the exact gene they’d like to track down. For many, the best news about the map may simply be that it’s free and public: anyone with enough experience in genetics can learn more about what makes the mind tick through their browsers, and what they find might just lead to new discoveries.

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Allen Institute completes gene expression map of the human brain in high-resolution 3D originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Sep 2012 00:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink NewScientist  |  sourceAllen Brain Atlas, Nature (paid access required)  | Email this | Comments

HP Probook 4545s, powered by AMD

HP has just released this Probook 4545s laptop which is designed for the enterprise market. As such, the computer was envisioned with a few key points: durability, multimedia capability, performance and full array of ports. The durability is quite obvious: people who are on the go often tend to put their laptops through harsh use, transport and possibly environment.

To ensure rigidity of the chassis, HP uses aluminum which has been treated to be smudge and scratch resistant. The keyboard is also spill-resistant, which is apparently a must-have feature for business laptops. And if the laptop is dropped, a sensor will park the HDD heads to avoid a fatal disk crash (err… they still have HDDs?). (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: HP Probook 5330m: a good looking laptop that makes IT managers happy, HP 12-inch ProBook 5220m Announced,

HP Pavilion Sleekbook 14 and Pavilion Sleekbook 15 announced

What’s this? Are we looking at a new class of hardware just when the market is warming up to Ultrabooks? HP’s announcement of the HP Pavilion Sleekbook 14 and Pavilion Sleekbook 15 actually toes the Ultrabook line and veers away from it slightly, where these are actually powered by AMD processors underneath the hood for one of the models, and might not necessarily keep within the boundaries of what defines an Ultrabook in order to price it competitively (read: make it more affordable to the masses). As you can view in the photo gallery below, the HP Pavilion Sleekbook 14 and Pavilion Sleekbook 15 will come in Sparkling Black and Ruby Red shades, sporting 14-inch and 15.6-inch diagonal high-definition displays respectively.

Not only that, you will not find yourself running out of hard drive space that fast, since they will both feature up to 1TB of storage space, where other hardware specifications are pretty much up to today’s par such as HDMI, USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 connectivity, a TrueVision HD webcam, Dolby Advanced Audio, optional NVIDIA discrete graphics, alongside a numeric keypad in the Sleekbook 15 for increased productivity. The Sleekbook 14 will be powered by AMD, while those who are so used to having “Intel Inside” can settle for the HP Pavilion Sleekbook 15.

The HP Pavilion Sleekbook 14 and Sleekbook 15 will retail for $499.99 and $559.99, respectively, as they arrive Stateside this coming October 26th in the US.

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By Ubergizmo. Related articles: HP ENVY TouchSmart Ultrabook 4 revealed, HP ENVY Ultrabook and Sleekbook,