Dec 06
M83: Wait
Posted in: Today's Chili
M83’s album Hurry Up We’re Dreaming came out last October. Doesn’t that seem like forever ago? And yet, here we are at the end of 2012, with the last of the album’s beautiful visuals for “Wait.” More »
Dec 06
Welcome to Thursday evening everyone – just one more work day to go and we’ll be at the weekend once again. This afternoon started with a bang, with Spotify holding a press conference to announce a number of things. Perhaps most importantly, the service has 1 million paying subscribers in the US, with 5 million worldwide. The company also launched Spotify Collections and the Spotify Music Graph today, announcing a new web app for all users too. Finally, we found out that Metallica’s full catalog of music has been added to Spotify, so all of you metal fans have a reason to celebrate this evening.
T-Mobile’s CEO announced today that it will have Apple products in the US next year, while we learned that Facebook may buy Microsoft’s Atlus ad program. Crysis 3 will be launching in North America on February 19 and in Europe later that week, so if you need to upgrade any of your PC hardware, do it before then. The Archos GamePad launched in Europe today, but it won’t be arriving in the US until 2013, and NVIDIA has launched GeForce Experience, which can automatically optimize your graphics settings.
Samsung has maintained its number one position in the Chinese smartphone market with Apple falling to number six, and the makers of MediaMonkey have launched a new Android app beta. Google is funding drones to watch over endangered animals in Africa and Asia, while we learned some new information about drones here in the US today. YouTube will be rolling out a new layout tonight, T-Mobile announced that it will be ending subsidies on phones next year, and new content has been added to the Humble THQ Bundle.
Finally tonight, we have a number of original articles for you to read. Chris Burns has reviews of the both the 10terra iPhone 5 case and the iRecycle app for iOS and Android. He also examines Google’s stock issues with the incredibly popular Nexus 4. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, we hope you enjoy the rest of your night everyone!
SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: December 6, 2012 is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Dec 06
Fortunately, this gummy bear lamp is not actually made of real gummy bears, but 3,000 cast acrylic GummiBears. Not because of security concerns—imagine all those poor bears melting and causing a disaster—but because I would eat the whole thing. More »
Dec 06
The lack of reliable electricity in developing countries puts a damper on more than just technology use — having to run kerosene lamps, or even those based on solar power, often involves recurring costs that whittle away at very modest incomes. GravityLight has built an LED lamp that just might lift the burden. As the name implies, a weight (usually the very bag that the lamp ships in) generates electricity through natural force: the few seconds it takes to lift the weight can generate 30 minutes of light without ever replacing a battery or fuel supply. The simple construction also has helpful side benefits, such as powering up other devices and a clip that can replace the bag with most anything that weighs around 20 pounds. The crowdfunded project’s donation tiers ask $25 to donate a light to the developing world or $50 to also get one for yourself, but it’s a small price to pay in the long run — and when mass production should see prices fall below $5, the GravityLight might just change the lighting landscape for those who need it most.
Continue reading GravityLight uses weight to illuminate without batteries or fuel (video)
Filed under: Household
Source: IndieGogo
Dec 06
Apple has had to take security more seriously when a larger user base and the cloud have opened up greater risks. Thanks to a just-discovered hire, we now know 1 Infinite Loop isn’t messing around. While many of us were fixated on new iPhones in September, the company was quietly recruiting Kristin Paget as a Core OS Security Researcher. She’s had stints at eBay and Google, but she’s best-known for helping Microsoft while she was a security researcher at IOActive: not only did her team burst the bubble of Windows Vista engineers who thought their code was airtight, the group ultimately delayed the entire OS release to get security up to snuff. Given that Vista avoided most of the malware chaos that affected Windows XP even after Service Pack 2, Paget bodes well for the future protection of Apple’s platforms. Just don’t expect her to talk shop when she’s a security expert at a firm that tends to really, really value its secrecy.
[Image credit: Kristin Paget, Twitter]
Filed under: Internet, Software, Apple, Microsoft
Via: TUAW
Source: Wired
Dec 06
Scientists Revolutionize Pina Colada Production With Coconut-Flavored Pineapples
Posted in: Today's Chili
Australia’s Department of Agriculture has announced that its researchers have made a breakthrough that will send shockwaves across beach resorts and tiki-themed restaurants around the world. Through careful breeding they’ve managed to produce a sweet pineapple that also tastes like coconut, reducing future Pina Colada recipes to just two ingredients. More »
Dec 06
This LEGO motorized Tumbler is so detailed that you might think it was made by Wayne Industries, but it was actually made by a guy named Sariel. The man should build for Batman himself – or at least change his name to Lucius.
Dec 06
If you thought the Humble THQ Bundle couldn’t get any more awesome, we’re pleased to say that you were sorely mistaken. With six days left to go, additional content has been added to the bundle in an effort to get those who are on the fence to drop a few bucks. Titan Quest and Red Faction Armageddon: Path to War have joined the other seven games in the bundle, making what many consider to be the best Humble Bundle ever even better.
Titan Quest, as some of already know, is an action RPG set in ancient Greece. It plays a lot like Diablo, and a lot of players out there consider it to be the best “Diablo clone” around (or at least they did until Torchlight came around). On the other hand, Red Faction Armageddon: Path to War isn’t a full-fledged game, but rather a mission pack for Red Faction Armageddon, one of the titles that has been available in the Humble THQ Bundle from the start.
If you haven’t purchased the Humble THQ Bundle yet, you’ll only get Titan Quest and Path to War as beat the average bonuses. Considering Saint’s Row The Third is also a beat the average bonus, you have a few pretty good reasons to pay more than the average, which currently sits at $5.59. If you’ve already purchased the Humble THQ Bundle, then you should have codes for Titan Quest and Path to War waiting for you on your downloads page.
With almost exactly six days left to go, the Humble THQ Bundle has pulled in almost $3.8 million. The bundle hit $2 million after being available for only 24 hours, so there seems like a pretty good chance it could hit $5 million by the time everything is said and done. Did you pick up the Humble THQ Bundle, or have you decided to give this one a pass?
Titan Quest joins the Humble THQ Bundle is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Dec 06
Amazon bringing Voice Guide and Explore by Touch features to Kindle Fires for vision-impaired users (update)
Posted in: Today's Chili 
Amazon’s been attuned to the needs of its vision-impaired customers for years, first rolling out text-to-speech technology on its original Kindle e-reader years ago. Today the company revealed plans to add to that feature set in its Kindle Fire and Fire HD (7-inch) tablets with Voice Guide and Explore by Touch technology.
Voice Guide’s an improvement upon regular text-to-speech tech that reads aloud any action performed by users — things like announcing app names and book titles when they’re selected. Explore by Touch lets folks swipe their fingers across their Fire’s display and identifies each onscreen item as their phalanges pass over them. Once aware of what app or piece of content’s being touched, a simple tap opens the item. Ready for the new assisted navigation experience right now? Well, all you anxious Fire owners will have to wait, the update doesn’t land until early next year.
Update: The good folks at Amazon reached out to let us know that the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 already has both Explore by Touch and Voice Guide.
Filed under: Tablets, Software, Amazon
Source: Amazon
Dec 06
The term “unmanned aerial drone” might strike a bit of fear into your heart when you see the live tracking map of the USA that’s been made available this week by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, but not to worry – not all of them are flying overhead right this minute. Instead this is a map that’s the result of the EEF’s Freedom of Information Act lawsuit that covers the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration)’s full knowledge of unmanned flights across the United States and what you’re looking at is a tracking of project licenses rather than actually flying objects. That said, this map is exciting in its coverage for our greater understanding of unmanned drone flight projects as initiated by state and local law agencies, universities, and US Military operations.
The newest information here comes from – for the first time, mind you – the Air Force, Marine Corps, and DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). These three Military branches have for the first time had their records shown to the public in all cases save for one. That one case is if these flights are only taking place inside their own “restricted airspace” – over their own military bases. Click the map below to see the live map via the EEF and Google Maps.
Across this map you’re going to be able to see drones of many types, with the Air Force testing cute little hand-launched Raven, Puma, and Wasp drones from Aerovironment on the short end. On the larger end you’ll find the scary types of drones, those being the Predator and Reaper drones you may have heard of flying missions overseas in live warzones.
Some of the lighter uses of drones you’ll be finding across the USA are straight from places like the University of Michigan where a “Flying Fish” drone can be found. This drone is made to float over open water for human tracking and is able to reposition itself through flight when it’s moved too far away from its original and intended spot. The U of Michigan also has a drone made to study “persistent solar-powered flight” and goes by the name YellowTale.
Have a peek up north in Minnesota and you’ll find two basic extremes, one of them being a flight that’s been cancelled due to “unacceptable risk” to the National Airspace System. The other you’ll find right near the border with North Dakota and is set for Customs & Border Protection – that one lists a Predator drone and an unknown drone, with the FAA not being especially clear on where the drones are being flown.
Keep your eye on the map and let us know if you find anything interesting as more information is added in the future!
[via The Verge]
Live USA Map of Unmanned Drones released by EEF is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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