Hasta La Gadget!

With the advancement in technology these days, course materials handed out to students in university has transitioned from being physical copies to being directed to online blackboard portals where the slides and notes can be downloaded digitally. With such systems in place, it is not an uncommon sight to see students in classes take out laptops and tablets to take down notes and refer to course materials rather than the typical pen and paper setup, but apparently not everyone is a fan of such conveniences. In an interview with NYU Local, Professor Vincent Renzi, director of the MAP’s program’s Foundation of Scientific Enquiry, revealed his particular dislike of having laptops in classrooms.

He feels that laptops create a physical barrier between the student and the lecturer, preventing “immediate interpersonal communication”. Next he also feels that laptops allow for outright transcription as opposed to “real” note taking. To a certain extent we know what he means – since typing is a lot faster than writing, students are able to record word for word what the lecturer is saying, instead of taking relevant notes that they would personally understand. Last but not least Renzi feels that laptops give students the opportunity to mess around on the internet instead of paying attention in class. All valid points, but what do you guys think? Do you agree with Renzi’s sentiments?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Tinkermite Tablet is a wooden toy that teaches your kids about technology, Apple reveals they sold twice as many iPads compared to Macs to the education sector,

This has been quite a week for digital camera leaks and unveils. Earlier this week, the rumored Sony RX1 full-frame digital camera was unveiled with a massive price tag to go with it. The little camera sells for almost $3000 and doesn’t have interchangeable lenses. Olympus has now had a couple of its coming compact digital cameras that do have interchangeable lenses leak.

The black camera you see is the Olympus E-PL5 and the silver camera is the E-PM2. The two cameras look so similar you could almost believe they are simply different color versions of the same digital camera. However, if you look closely you’ll notice that the black camera has a slightly different design and a larger knob on top than the silver.

We don’t have an abundance of details on these two cameras right now since these are leaked images. The few details that did leak along with these photographs include that the cameras both use the same Olympus E-M5 sensor that features the TruePic VI image processing engine. Both of these cameras are also said to have touchscreen LCDs on the back.

Pricing for the silver E-PM2 is said to be €399 including a 14-42 mm kit lens. The black E-PL5 is tipped to sell for €599 including a similar 14-42 mm kit lens. There are some indications that both cameras could go official early next week. That’s all we really know about these two leaked Olympus offerings at this point.

[via 43rumors]

Olympus E-PL5 and E-PM2 digital cameras leak is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

While Apple had its preorders primed since 8am BST, British carriers have only just unveiled their monthly prices for the newest iPhone. Vodafone will offer it on contracts from £25 per month — with an initial £249 outlay) or free on £47 per month for two years. That free deal will net you a 16GB iPhone 5, with 2GB of data, unlimited texts and voice minutes. On Orange, a 24-month contract at £46 will nab you the same 16GB model for free, with 3GB of data and unlimited calls and texts. If you drop down to the £20 rate, you’ll have to pay £320 upfront and pick up a lightweight bundle of 100MB of data, 50 texts and 50 minutes. EE stablemate T-Mobile isn’t offering any free iPhones on its carrier plans, but you’ll be able to glean unlimited internet (alongside 2000 voice minutes) on a 16GB iPhone 5 for £109 and £36 per month on contract.

Confusingly, anyone looking to grab the UK’s first LTE network on the iPhone 5 will have to sign up to a “4GEE from EE” plan — which still hasn’t revealed its pricing. We’re checking with EE whether customers that decide to grab a new contract with Orange or T-Mobile will still be able to migrate across — we’d hold off on that pre-order until we hear back from the new 4G network. (Edit: See update below for clarification.) Meanwhile, Three UK currently has the 16GB iPhone on its unlimited data One Plan at £79 upfront, on a £36 per month deal. We’ll update again once we hear O2’s plans.

Update: EE has been in touch to clarify matters:

“Customers can either wait for EE to launch (we will be announcing the date in the coming weeks) or they can sign up to a contract with T-Mobile or Orange and upgrade to EE free of charge once it has launched, as long as they move to an equivalent priced and length plan
on EE.”

Update 2: Phones4U is taking its own pre-orders for those who want to enlist with Orange, T-Mobile or Vodafone. O2 has also chipped in with its details and is offering the iPhone 5 on plans starting from £26 per month; like Orange, you’ll have to opt for at least a £46 monthly outlay to get one for free. The O2 plans offer the same unlimited voice and texts, but just 1GB of data. Lastly, Carphone Warehouse has chipped in with its own advance order campaign, although it’s only taking online orders for the 16GB black iPhone at this stage: you’ll need to call in for everything else.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

iPhone 5 contract prices for UK phone networks revealed (updated with O2, Carphone Warehouse and Phones4U) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Sep 2012 04:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple has already announced a 30-pin adapter for the iPhone 5’s new Lightning standard, but its product page betrays a pair of limitations: “video and iPod Out not supported.” That’s nothing another accessory can’t fix, of course. According to The Verge, Cupertino has plans to release Lightning to HDMI and VGA cables “in the coming months,” giving early adopters something to pine for on day one. No word on pricing or specific availability of course, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see it hover around the existing adapter’s $29 price tag. Fine by us, assuming it pulls its weight.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Lightning to HDMI and VGA cables incoming, says Apple originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Sep 2012 04:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple store preorders for the iPhone 5 in the US have already slipped to two weeks, despite the smartphone only having been up for sale for an hour. Apple began offering early-adopters a shot at the new iPhone 5 at midnight PST, and as expected demand has been significant: having initially been listed as shipping for September 21, the same day as in-store availability is expected, new orders of the iPhone 5 now won’t ship until the end of the following week.

Apple obviously hasn’t said how many iPhone 5 units it has to begin with, but supply chain whispers in the weeks leading up to the launch suggested the company wasn’t stinting on stock. Even with significant supplies, however, demand in previous iPhone launches has always outstripped what’s available to ship on day one.

Apple Store listings elsewhere still claim to have units for September 21 delivery, though how long that will last remains to be seen. Right now, if you want an iPhone 5 on launch day in the US and you don’t want to wait in line, the carrier stores seem the best bet. Carriers Verizon, AT&T and Sprint are all accepting preorders.

More on the iPhone 5 in our full hands-on.

Update: Less than 90 minutes after presales started, and the UK Apple Store is now showing the same two week shipping estimate.

US iPhone 5 shipping slips to 2 weeks after just an hour’s presales [Update: UK too] is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.