Hasta La Gadget!

500 million Android devices have been activated across the world, Google has confirmed, with more than 1.3m new devices being added to that figure each and every day. Google’s Hugo Barra confirmed the impressive milestone on the company’s social network, as well as revealing that the Jelly Bean statue has finally been reinstalled on the Google lawn.

Google chairman Eric Schmidt warned that the half-billion count was coming up last week, speaking at a Motorola event, and also confirmed the impressive growth numbers. Recent stats confirmed that Ice Cream Sandwich continues to replace stalwart Gingerbread on active Android phones, with 4.x versions of the OS now present on over a fifth of phones and tablets.

The news comes just ahead of Apple’s iPhone 5 event where, if past evidence is anything to go by, CEO Tim Cook will open with the latest batch of iOS usage figures. One area in which Android has been building its advantage is in large-screen phones, bigger than the 3.5-inch displays on iPhones to-date, though Apple is expected to use a roughly 4-inch panel on the new iPhone.

As for the Jelly Bean statue, that has proved a little more embarrassing than activation figures. The statue accidentally melted earlier this year, a victim of the sun, with the head of the Android popping off and some of the jelly beans inside being appropriated by passers-by.

500m Android devices activated globally Google crows is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

On Monday, Jupiter took a massive hit from a meteor, which was spotted by amateur astronomers based in the US—and if previous evidence is anything to go by, it could have saved Earth from a massive collision in the process. More »

SANTA ANA, Calif. — Wild summer thunderstorms slammed parts of the Southwest, stranding residents in Navajo Nation in their homes in northern Arizona and leaving an already squalid mobile home community in Southern California deep in water and worry.

A thunderstorm dropped more than the average annual rainfall on parts of California’s Coachella Valley in one night alone, settling for six to eight hours over Mecca and Thermal, two towns 150 miles southeast of Los Angeles near the location of the annual Coachella Music Festival.

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It’s about time someone got the chance to test-drive Google’s $1,500 smart-glasses independently, without any rose-colored lenses getting in the way. The Wall Street Journal‘s Spencer E. Ante just became that lucky person — he played with prototype specs for 10 minutes and described them as a “wearable smartphone” that weighs just “a few ounces” and is smoothly controlled by voice commands. Saying “OK, Glass” brought up a menu in front of his right eye that made it “easy” to record stills or video, although unfortunately the device wasn’t quite ready to show off any phone, messaging or navigation functions.

Overall, Ante acknowledged the “long-term potential” of Project Glass, but in its current form he found the HUD to be “disorienting” and “uncomfortable” — partly because he instinctively kept closing his left eye to make it all work. Clearly Google still has some work to do if the device is to make a better first impression, but no doubt there’s also room for acclimatization on the wearer’s part. If the military can get along with this type of eyewear, then hopefully so can everyone else.

Filed under: Displays, Wearables

WSJ gets early, slightly uncomfortable look at Google’s Project Glass originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Sep 2012 03:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony has revealed a pair of new Handycams, including the full-frame NEX-VG900 and its more compact APS-C NEX-VG30 sibling, for pro-videographers with a sub-$3k budget. The Sony NEX-VG900 packs a 24.3-megapixel Exmor sensor – the same resolution as the RX1 and roughly 40x the size of most consumer camcorder sensors – and grabs both 24-megapixel stills and 25p/24p progressive Full HD video as well as the option of 50p recording.

There’s also a Quad Capsule Spatial Array Microphone – made up of four omnidirectional capsules that can be flipped between 5.1-channel and stereo recording – with adjustable levels, and the optional XLR-K1M adaptor kit that throws in a mono shotgun microphone and XLR ports for external mics. A “seesaw” zoom lever promises smoother control over power-zoom lenses, and there’s a bundled adapter for slapping on A-mount DSLR lenses and getting the right focal width. The NEG-VG900 also switches automatically to APS-C mode when either an E-mount or A-mount DT lens is fitted.

Sony has included both manual and autofocus modes, with the latter offering both contrast AF and focal plane phase detection AF during 24p mode standby and still image modes (as long as you’re using the LA-EA3 mount adapter); phase detection AF is also available using the LA-EA2 mount adapter, while Contrast AF is provided when using E-mount lenses. For exposure, there’s 99-segment metering.

As for the NEX-VG30, that has a 16.1-megapixel APS-C sensor and uses E-mount lenses, delivering Full HD video in 24p, 25p and 50p modes. Both camcorders have an XGA OLED viewfinder with 100-percent field of view, and a 3-inch touchscreen LCD with swivel-mount. Connectivity includes component/composite/S-Video/HDMI outputs, USB, headphones, a mini-jack stereo mic input, Multi Interface Show, and a combo remote terminal and A/V remote terminal port.

The Sony NEX-VG900 Handycam will drop in late October, priced at $3,299.95 body-only, while the Sony NEX-VG30 will follow in November, priced at $1,799.95 body-only or $2,699.95 paired with the 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 power zoom with optical image stabilization.

Sony NEX-VG900 full-frame Handycam and NEX-VG30 camcorders debut is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.