Facebook has finally gotten round to deleting thousands of fake user accounts and removing illegitimate likes in a bid to clean up the social network. It’s not clear quite how many accounts have been wiped out, but plenty of pages have seen massive drops in their fan numbers over the last two days. More »
Nokia’s started its world tour of local announcements in Australia, letting slip that the Lumia 920 is coming to Telstra’s LTE network down under. Those with an eye on the cheaper Lumia 820 are in luck too, as it’s going to be carried by both Vodafone and Optus Business. The Finnish phone maker added that a number of leading retailers would be selling both handsets, but declined to go into specifics there. Pricing and availability will be announced toward the end of October, giving us hope that everything’s on schedule for a strong pre-Christmas launch.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Nokia announces Australian carriers: Telstra gets the 920, Vodafone and Optus get the 820 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Sep 2012 03:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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You only have to look at the tidal wave of Ultrabooks to know that Intel design specifications can carry a lot of influence with manufacturers. That’s why the chip-maker’s claims about its latest reference tablet, built around a dual-core Atom Z2760 processor (aka “Clover Trail“), likely give us a broad hint of what to expect from devices like the forthcoming Lenovo Think Pad 2, ASUS Vivo Tab and Samsung ATIV Smart PC.
In particular, Intel has shown us slides claiming that the dual-core 1.8GHz chip with Imagination SGX545 graphics will offer the “best Windows 8 experience” on a tablet with “compatibility and support for traditional apps and peripherals.” And if you think that sounds like a subtle jibe at ARM-based tablets running Windows RT — a version of the OS that doesn’t even try to play nice with existing software — then you could be right. To be fair though, the point of RT is to offer superior portability, and that’s why Intel is also keen to emphasize that Clover Trail won’t impact too heavily on your freedom of movement. Tablets should come in below 1.5 pounds (680 grams — similar to the RT spec and much lighter than a Windows 8 Pro tablet) and 8.5mm in thickness, with built-in 3G, 4G and NFC. You shouldn’t need to carry a charger either, since a new power management system promises a distinctly un-laptop-like three weeks on standby and a full day of “active use” — defined as being at least 10 hours.
Windows 8 tablets won’t be like Windows 8 Pro machines, however, so don’t go expecting USB 3.0, or a guarantee of 1080p visuals (most Clover Trail devices we’ve seen are 1,366 x 768) or souped-up security — the Atom Z2760 is very much an evolved Medfield processor, with similar silicon and firmware, rather than a shrunken laptop chip.
Needless to say, what really matters is how well manufacturers adopt this design and what price points they manage to hit. Intel says that at least 20 different Clover Trail tablets are already in the works, and early price tags seem to be around the $799 mark — a hefty demand for sure, but perhaps one worth paying for those who need full-fledged Windows 8 and true portability at the same time. RT tablets, meanwhile, will have to come in much cheaper than that in order to be worthwhile.
Filed under: Tablets
Intel details Clover Trail tablets: three weeks on standby, 10 hours of use, ‘full’ Windows 8 experience originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Sep 2012 03:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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It does seem as though social TV as well as companion apps are quite the hot topic these days, and zeebox intends to ride on this wave of popularity by debuting its TV Companion Experience in the US for a slew of platforms – namely the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Android and of course, the Web. zeebox had come to an agreement with Comcast Cable, NBCUniversal, HBO and Cinemax across over 30 TV networks, and hopefully they will be able to make something out of the situation.
Of course, this is just the beginning, so I am quite sure that we can more or less expect addition partners to come on board sometime down the road. zeebox launched their TV Companion apps in the UK last year, allowing consumers to discover what they could watch through the simple act of browsing comprehensive TV listings, social media and personalized recommendations. This cloud-based app recognizes the context of just what its users are watching, where it will then hope to make the entire experience all the more relevant by recommending connected topics.
zeebox will launch with features such as a comprehensive 7-day TV program guide across all major US TV channels, Facebook and Twitter integration, in-depth information on your shows, and e-commerce links amongst others.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Zeebox hits the Android platform, available via Google Play, World’s smallest book to see print on Kickstarter,
It was sometime in the middle of this year when we knew that the LG Optimus Vu 2 is being prepared for a fall release, and just a couple of days ago, we spotted leaked details concerning the LG Optimus Vu 2. Well, since good things come to those who wait and patience is always a virtue, here we are with the official specifications of the highly anticipated LG Optimus Vu 2 from LG Korea themselves, where this puppy boasts of a 5” display with a 4:3 aspect ratio, Voice over LTE (VoLTE) support, a removable 2,150mAh battery, 2GB RAM, an 8-megapixel shooter at the back and a 1.3-megapixel camera in front, a dual-core 1.5GHz MSM8960 processor, and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich as the operating system of choice out of the box.
Folks living in South Korea will need to fork out the equivalent of $864 for this puppy, which is a rather hefty price point to begin with, but we will just wait and see whether the US version, if released, will be a whole lot more affordable. Would you pick this over other smartphones, or is the Vu 2 the one for you? [Press Release]
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: LG Optimus Vu 2 details leaked, LG Optimus Vu 2 with Q Remote app to arrive in South Korea next month,
Apple’s Maps is nothing short of a disaster when you compared it to what Google and Nokia have to offer in terms of their mapping solutions, but there will always be detractors as well as fans alike on a particular topic, even more so when Cupertino is involved. The New York Times’ David Pogue did mention, however, that Street View imagery will be arriving on Mobile Safari “in two weeks”, so perhaps when Apple Maps asks you to drive off the side of the freeway to plunge a hundred feet below at what it thought was an intersection, you might want to use Google’s Street View imagery to avoid any potential mishaps.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Google Street View checks out the Kennedy Space Center, See Google Street View in ASCII ,
It cannot be denied that there is a fragmentation issue involved where the Android mobile operating system is concerned, but this does not mean those who are a few versions behind in terms of the latest Android version need fret about their mobile YouTube experience. Word has it that Google has already made available the latest version of YouTube for Android that targets Android 2.2 FroYo and Android 2.3 Gingerbread, where it will deliver the preloading feature which was spotted first on Ice Cream Sandwich.
Needless to say, you will still need to remain connected to the Internet in order to enjoy preloaded videos from your subscriptions, but if you are hooked up to a speedy Wi-Fi connection, the video will pre-cache for an overall smoother viewing experience, so that you need not have to wait for the pesky buffering logo to show up, stuttering the video of your choice in the process. Have you updated your YouTube for Android app if you are running on FroYo or Gingerbread?
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Brazilian court orders arrest of Google executive, YouTube videos served on older non-iOS 6 versions,
Fall is officially here and we’re closing in on the final quarter of 2012, a time when products usually get real or fade into the vapor forever. One that we’ve been waiting to hear about just got a little more real as the Verizon Media Server (VMS), which Big Red teased last December and promised in 2012, got a little mention in the company’s latest comments to the FCC. While attempting to persuade the FCC to standardize an IP content interface and delay the December 2012 deadline, Verizon revealed that the rollout of its new product will begin in the coming months. The full feature set of this server is still unknown, but one interesting feature is its ability to stream multiple high-def stream simultaneously to 3rd party devices connected to your home network. Of course without a industry wide streaming standard — again, like Verizon is requesting the FCC to ratify — who knows exactly what devices could be in the mix.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Verizon FiOS TV Media Server due in the coming months, delivers content to 3rd party devices originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Sep 2012 02:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Mobile carrier AT&T has started to trial a special kind of technology that allows one to actually send and receive text messages which undergo an automatic translation along the way. Right now, the two way translation would juggle between English and Spanish languages, where all someone needs to do is register a phone number alongside the preferred language. All messages that are sent to that number in a different language will be automatically translated, presumably on AT&T’s back-end, before it is relayed to the recipient’s handset. No idea on how much slower the text would arrive assuming the network runs at full capacity (for instance, New Year’s Eve), but it does look promising enough to make the world an even smaller place.
Mazin Gilbert, vice president for intelligent systems research at AT&T Labs in Florham Park, New Jersey, said, “If my friend sends me a message in Spanish, then AT&T recognizes the language and translates it to English. Then I can send back in English, and it is translated into Spanish for her. We can go back and forth and have a conversation — we’re trying to break down language barriers between people.”
What happens when you meet up with that particular person in real life and do not have the benefit of AT&T’s translation service? I guess at the end of the day, true friendship transcends language, although you can get a whole lot more accomplished if two were to be speaking along the same wavelength.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Sony Xperia Ion from AT&T receives Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update officially, FCC may launch investigations into AT&T’s FaceTime blocking,
If you were to travel back in time by half a decade, you would have come across the World’s Smallest Book, the “artwork” of Vancouver-based artist Robert Chaplin who focused an ion beam that carved letters onto a microchip which in the real world, is far thinner compared to your average strand of hair. This particular microchip boasts of an array of 30 tablets, where each letter of the book has been carved with a line resolution of 43 nanometers. Just to get some context into all of this, a nanometer is one millionth of a millimeter. Chaplin said, “The tablets contain the text of Teeny Ted From Turnip Town, complete with an ISBN. In 2012, I received a Guinness World Record confirming my creation of the smallest book yet made.”
You definitely cannot read what Chaplin “wrote” of course, since only a scanning electron microscope (SEM) will do. What happened if this were to be a tome for the ages? I guess this is where someone will need to print this particular puppy, where Chaplin has every intention of rolling out a large-print edition of his book entitled ‘Teeny Ted From Turnip Town’. Needless to say, he will need some money to get this project started, and which better place to turn to other than Kickstarter?
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Amazon Kindle overrun with spam books, iBuildApp.com lets you easily publish your own iPad book or magazine,
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