LONDON — Buckingham Palace says one of Queen Elizabeth II’s corgis, who took a star turn in the James Bond sketch during the Olympics opening ceremony, has died.
Monty and two other of the queen’s beloved corgis appeared in a James Bond sketch during the opening ceremony, greeting Daniel Craig’s James Bond as he arrived at the palace to accept a mission from the monarch.
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It is a safe bet to say that the Android-powered tablet market is saturated with many different devices from various hardware manufacturers. After all, the Android fragmentation issue has added to that conundrum, but it should not be too large of an issue to prevent players in the market from making their own contributions. Case in point, Sony Mobile’s latest tablet announcement, the Sony Xperia Tablet S, will be in vogue with the times by sporting a thin and light design that comes packed with original applications as well as exclusive features from Sony. This new device will accompany other smartphones from Sony under the Xperia label, which is not too bad a thing, actually.
What is the reason that Sony wants to introduce the Tablet S under the Xperia family name? Well, Sony did so in order to offer users a consistent experience between the immediate convenience of an Xperia Smartphone as well as an immersive entertainment experience of an Xperia Tablet. After all, research has shown that common user experience across the devices will help enhance overall usability and intuitiveness. When merged with optimally designed hardware and software, the Xperia Tablet is said to offer consumers with a compelling way to play, watch, listen, share, discover and connect.
The Xperia Tablet S can also be considered to be an over-glorified universal remote control, since it has added macro functionality that lets you turn on multiple devices of most brands, ranging from the TV to Blu-ray Disc players and audio system, using but a single touch of a button. This means you can easily program sequenced commands such as “Watch TV” or Play Music”, while performing the sequences with one tap on the screen.
Not only that, there is a new app known as Watch Now, enriching the entire TV watching experience. Watch Now delivers an interactive, visual program guide that is fueled by personal preference and real-time trends from users’ social media feeds.
Apart from that, the Xperia Tablet S boasts of a splash proof design which will help provide additional protection from the elements. After all, you can never tell just when Murphy might strike, do you – especially when a wet disaster happens! IPX-4 splash proof rating allows the Xperia Tablet S to withstand splashing water at all angles, but this happens only when the multi-port cover is in place.
As for the Xperia Tablet S’ specifications, we are looking at Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, a thin and light aluminum body, a NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor, an SD memory card slot, HDMI connectivity, integrated Wi-Fi, and ClearAudio+ mode amongst others. You can choose from 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities which will retail for $399, $499 and $599, respectively.
[ Sony Xperia Tablet S – a whole new way to tab? copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Summer’s over and it was back to reality for many stars. From the MTV VMAs to Fashion Week, the first week of September really started with a bang.
Rihanna and Miley Cyrus both stunned on the red carpet at the VMAs on Thursday, but it was Amber Rose who was the talk of the pre-show. She pulled a Beyonce of sorts, debuting her growing baby bump while her fiance Wiz Khalifa smiled on. Congrats, guys!
In some not-so-happy celebrity news, “Parks and Recreation” star Amy Poehler and “Up All Night” star Will Arnett announced on September 6 that they have decided to separate after nine years of marriage. We’ve seen lots of celebrity splits throughout the years, but this one really hit us hard.
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New York Fashion Week is in full swing and as we marvel at all the amazing designs we’ll be rocking come spring 2013, it’s also fun to take in all the star sightings. So far we’ve spotted celebrity stylist June Ambrose, fashionista du jour Solange Knowles, Olympic gold medalist Sanya Richards-Ross and NBA baller Russell Westbrook–to name a few.
Check out the slideshow below for the all the stylish stars filling Fashion Week’s front row–make sure to come back as we’ll keep updating it throughout the week.
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If you were intrigued about that Wonderbook PlayStation peripheral we saw back at E3, then your curious wait may soon be over. As of November 13th, you’ll be able to get your wizardy hands on the accessory for the reasonably magic price of $39.99. This is for the book alone, but there’s also a bundle for $79 that includes the Book of Spells game (in collaboration with J.K. Rowling) a Move motion controller and the PlayStation Eye camera. Three other forthcoming titles get a mention too, Diggs: Nightcrawler, BBC’s Walking with Dinosaurs and experiences from Disney, set for release some time in 2013. In the meantime, better start saving up the Galleons.
Filed under: Gaming
PlayStation Wonderbook starts augmenting your reality in November from $39 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 Sep 2012 07:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Blackmagic Design has thrown its Cinema Camera MFT into the Micro Four Thirds arena, but it will only work with lenses that have manual iris and focus capability. The shooter is otherwise identical to the original Cinema Camera, with a 2.5k, sub-MFT sensor; CinemaDNG RAW, ProRes and DNxHD capture formats; built-in SSD; capacitive touchscreen; and an included copy of DaVinci Resolve color correction software. That means cineasts already on board that format will have another mount for their glass, and MFT’s mirrorless aspect will also permit other lens formats, like PL or Nikon, to be added with third party adapters. So, if the relatively low price, claimed 13 stop dynamic range, higher-than-HD resolution and new mount is enough to push your “start” button, check the PR for the entire skinny.
Blackmagic launches Cinema Camera MFT with Micro Four Thirds mount, sans autofocus, for $3K originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 Sep 2012 06:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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For sci-fi lovers, it’s on. A fan-devised project to restore the Enterprise-D bridge from Star Trek: The Experience is now actively raising cash on Indiegogo with a newly estimated $240,000 target needed to make the dream real. Crowdfunding brings the obligatory perks for larger donations, although they take on a progressively nerdy bent once you get past the t-shirts. It peaks at getting replicas of Captain Kirk’s original chair or an LCARS terminal, and you can even get a romantic evening on the deck with “complete privacy until the next morning” — wink, wink. Outlandish? Maybe, but the project is getting official sponsors and has a shorter-term plan to get Captain Picard’s chair ready for display by October. The whole bridge should be ready by late 2013. If you’d wished Paramount had preserved this piece of The Next Generation history for the ages, you now have your solution.
Filed under: Misc
Enterprise-D restoration fundraiser goes live: your chance to revive a slice of Star Trek is here originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 Sep 2012 04:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Last year at CEDIA we were introduced to Kaleidescape’s iPad control app, and this year its back and enhanced with the addition of movie ratings from Rotten Tomatoes, and content rating info from Common Sense Media. Rotten Tomatoes can help viewers tell if a particular flick in their collection is any good, while Common Sense Media is built around detailed breakdowns of what potentially objectionable content is in each title so parents can decide what their children are ready to see. Both should reach end users with the free app by the end of this year. Another tweak it’s adding to its movie servers is the Leonard Maltin Recommends Collection. It’s a pack of movies updated quarterly (the 17-disc Blu-ray collection is available for the low, low price of $445) that the respected film critic feels are unappreciated greats, to which he adds his own thoughts, anecdotes and behind the scenes info.
A more ambitious development however, is the Kaleidescape Download Store the company was giving an “early sneak preview” of behind closed doors. While its claim to fame has always been disc servers that store user’s movies, making them accessible with as little physical media interaction as possible (and antagonizing the MPAA) its next step is a full digital media distribution service, potentially tied into UltraViolet. There’s not a lot in the way of specifics, but it will be interesting to see how Kaleidescape and Hollywood get along when it comes to selling downloadable content compared to the old wars of the past, whenever the new service actually arrives for its high-end customers.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Kaleidescape teases movie download store; brings Rotten Tomatoes, Leonard Maltin to its servers originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 Sep 2012 03:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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By: Wynne Parry, LiveScience Senior Writer
Published: 09/08/2012 08:37 AM EDT on LiveScience
On Sunday night, tourists on the observation deck of the Empire State Building may get a view of an entirely different type of traveler, headed south for warmer climes, predicts a new project, called BirdCast, which is working to offer detailed predictions of bird migrations.
A large number of the migrating birds are expected to fly over the city during Tuesday’s lighting of the Sept. 11 memorial, the Tribute in Light, BirdCast predicts.
The flocks of birds that could pass through the city in a few days, assuming the weather forecast holds, make up only a small slice of the fall bird migration through the New York City area. That migration begins as early as July and can last into December.
In Manhattan alone, an average of around 250 bird species are spotted each year, and probably close to 175 of these are migrants that make their way over the island once or twice a year, depending on their route, said Andrew Farnsworth, a research associate at Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology.
Not surprisingly, weather has a big influence on migrations. Warm temperatures, scattered rain and wind blowing in the wrong direction will likely keep birds on the ground until Sunday when a cold front is expected to pass through the New York City area. The front is expected to bring conditions that fall migrants favor, in particular, clear skies and tail winds out of the north, according to BirdCast’s prediction as of Thursday (Sept. 6). Farnsworth is among those developing BirdCast, a collaboration among biologists and computer scientists.
If the weather forecast holds, on Sunday night, New Yorkers, particularly those in suburban areas, might hear calls of passing Veery, Wood Thrush, Scarlet Tanager, and many other species, according to a BirdCast forecast made on Thursday (Sept. 6). Monday (Sept. 10), too, should be a good day to see a variety of birds in the city’s parks.
New birds are expected to continue traveling through, but their numbers will likely decline as conditions change over the course of the week, BirdCast predicts.
The migration will coincide with the Sept. 11 memorial, Tribute in Light, in which two squares of 7,000-watt lights are projected 4 miles into the sky to commemorate the 9-11 attacks. [Remembering the Fallen: A Gallery of Memorials]
Because bright light can pose problems for migrating birds, Farnsworth and the New York City Audubon plan to be on site monitoring the effects on migrating birds.
"Part of the issue is extremely bright lights really short circuit some of the cues birds use when they are migrating at night," Farnsworth said.
Birds can navigate by a variety of means including sensing the Earth’s magnetic field, visual cues including the stars, and even sounds. Bright light, however, overwhelms these. The problem is made worse if light gets trapped by fog or overcast skies — "New York City lights up like a candle," Farnsworth said.
As a result, disoriented birds can collide with one another and with structures.
So far, however, the worst looks unlikely Tuesday (Sept. 11).
"It looks likely there will be some substantial numbers of birds passing through the New York City area, while the tribute is happening," Farnsworth said. "But thankfully, it looks like it will be very clear, so the effects of the bright lights will not be as extreme."
The BirdCast project is in its first of four years. Right now, the forecasts rely on the knowledge and intuition of ornithologists such as Farnsworth with feedback from radar sensors that detect bird movements, but the project is building toward developing computer models to automate predictions, he said.
BirdCast also offers U.S. regional predictions.
Follow Wynne Parry on Twitter @Wynne_Parry or LiveScience @livescience. We’re also on Facebook & Google+.
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Space Shuttles Discovery and Enterprise have already settled into their new homes, and now Endeavour is scheduled to depart for its future abode at the California Science Center on September 17th. Taking to the skies atop a modified Boeing 747, the shuttle will make pit stops in Texas and at Edwards Air Force Base in the Golden State before touching down at Los Angeles International Airport on the 20th. During the journey out west, the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft will buzz certain cities and NASA sites along its flight path at roughly 1,500 feet in altitude. After its voyage, Endeavor will head to the science center on October 13th, but won’t be on display until the end of the month. Yearning to catch a glimpse of the historic vehicle before it reaches its final resting place? Head past the jump for its flight schedule and flyover details.
Continue reading Space Shuttle Endeavour hitching a ride atop a 747 to its new home on September 17
Filed under: Transportation, Science
Space Shuttle Endeavour hitching a ride atop a 747 to its new home on September 17 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 Sep 2012 01:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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