Feb 19
FIFA has announced that—finally!—goal line technology will be used to assess whether balls really do cross the line at the 2014 soccer World Cup, which is due to be held in Brazil. More »
Feb 19
Outlook.com is now official
Posted in: Today's Chili
Do you remember when web email kicked off in the early days of dial up connectivity? Yes sir, everyone wanted and rushed for an email address, and the younger (and more foolish, I might add) ones among us realized that all of the cool email usernames were already taken, leaving us to agree to whatever the machine’s reasoning threw our way, such as younggirl1980@hotmail.com or boyscoutlover95@yahoo.com, where they all sound so wrong on different levels in this day and age. Embarrassing, even. Well, having said that, perhaps it might have been half a decade since you decided to log into your Hotmail account, but you might want to do so soon, as Microsoft has officially launched Outlook.com on Tuesday, which would mark the demise of its predecessor, Hotmail.
Yes sir, a minute of silence for the faithful departed please. Taking approximately 7 months after Microsoft unveiled a preview of the Outlook email service, the software giant decided to announced the end of its beta run over in a blog post. Having picked up Hotmail in 1997 (was it that long ago?), Microsoft claimed that they will switch users from Hotmail over to the new Outlook service “soon”, but it is a good thing that the Redmond, Washington company will not force these affected users to change their emails to an “outlook.com” address.
Be warned, though, change is definitely coming later this summer, so you might want to mentally prepare yourself for a jump over to the Outlook bandwagon after being in love with Hotmail for so long. Microsoft said, “Everything from their @hotmail.com email address, password, messages, folders, contacts, rules, vaation replies, etc. will stay the same, with no disruption in service.” With over 60 million folks who are actively using Outlook.com, hey, we certainly cannot argue with such levels of approval, can we? Do you think you will miss Hotmail?
Source
[ Outlook.com is now official copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Feb 19
The BBC has decided it can do without a HD channel just to showcase its gorgeous nature documentaries. As such, it’s turning BBC HD into a high-definition simulcast of BBC Two, starting March 26th. As it’s already been doing that job for a while now, it’s hardly surprising — but does make us wonder where HD shows from BBC Three and Four will be housed in the future. The corporation did tell us that it’s evaluating adding more HD channels, but we don’t imagine that’ll be happening in the near future. BBC Two HD will remain on the same channel as BBC HD, Sky: 169, Virgin: 187, Freesat: 109, Freeview: 102 — so you don’t need to rescan your box to keep watching Eggheads.
BBC Two HD Channel to launch 26 March
The BBC today announces it will launch BBC Two HD at 6am on Tuesday 26 March. BBC Two HD will be available on Sky HD (169), Freeview HD/YouView (102), Virgin Media (187), Freesat HD (109) and BT Vision (852).
The announcement follows the successful launch of BBC One HD on 3 November 2010.
BBC Two HD will replace the existing BBC HD Channel and will be available subscription-free on all digital television platforms offering HD channels.
Janice Hadlow, Controller of BBC Two, says: “BBC One HD has already proved to be highly valued by our audiences and I’m delighted that we’re able to follow this with the launch of BBC Two in HD. The launch of BBC Two HD will allow us to showcase more of our programmes at their very best – helping to highlight our commitment to high quality, engaging and ambitious programmes on BBC Two.”
The BBC Two HD channel will be a simulcast network version of the BBC Two schedule with a raft of new programmes available in HD for the first time including Paul Hollywood – Bread, The Fall, Science Britannica and Keeping Britain Alive. Old favourites such as Mock The Week, QI and Springwatch will also remain at the heart of the channel’s offer.
Filed under: HD
Source: Lauren Gildersleve (Twitter)
Feb 19
Blizzard’s Starcraft franchise is an RTS game, so it’s hard to imagine what the game could be like if it were to be played as an MMO – or is it? If you haven’t touched Starcraft 2 in a while or if you’re looking to take a break from the competitive ladder matches, it seems that the Starcraft 2 mod, Starcraft Universe: Chronicles of Fate, is now available and will be going out over Battle.net. For those unfamiliar with the title, it’s basically a mod for Starcraft 2 that turns the otherwise RTS game into a pretty impressive looking sci-fi MMO. The project did run into some trouble a few years back, but whatever issues they had with Blizzard have since been smoothed over.
As it stands the current version of the game will be available only in single player mode, but this is just to make sure that the core of the game is working properly. The good news is that assuming everything goes well, the multiplayer instances that will support 5-10 players will be released later. At the moment the Starcraft Universe mod allows players to choose between 8 different classes, character customization, mounted vehicle combat, and a custom physics engine built by DarkRevenant. In fact it even features some prominent voice actors, such as Michael Gough who voiced Deckard Cain in Diablo, and Danielle McRae who voices Karma in League of Legends. You can check out the trailer of the mod in the video above.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Is Facebook Ready For Next Level of Gaming ?, PlayStation Cloud Domains Hints At PS4 Game-Streaming Service?,
Feb 19
Apple Patents Extremely Accurate, Localized Haptic Feedback For Multitouch Devices
Posted in: Today's Chili
When haptic feedback first became a buzzword of the mobile phone industry nearly half a decade ago, many imagined keyboards that would rise up out of the glass on smartphones to meet our fingertips. What we got instead were devices that faintly shook in a general sort of way whenever you tapped their software keys, but a new patent secured by Apple today (and spotted by AppleInsider) looks to improve on those crude designs.
For the sake of improved haptic feedback accuracy, Apple’s patented system uses a minimum of two actuators to provide vibration feedback, with one originating a pulse and one create a second vibration to essentially knock out the first at a specific location, thereby localizing it. This could make sure that a multitouch device could provide localized haptic feedback for any virtual button on its display, instead of just with a few actuators placed under pre-defined, commonly used spots like beneath a home button, as it is currently handled.
Apple doesn’t use haptics on its iPhone, even though the trick has been picked up by nearly every major Android manufacturer out there at some point or another. In fact, at this point I think it’s fair to say that haptic response from keys might strike many consumers as a characteristically Android feature, were they forced to stop and think about it. But Apple’s method could make it seem like vibration response is coming from as fine a point as a specific software key on a keyboard, meaning it would in theory come far closer to the sci-fi interpretation of what haptics are mentioned above than any existing system.
This patent adds to a number of others held by Apple for haptic feedback, and was first filed in 2009. The company continues to play coy about actually using its tech in devices, but likely for good reason: there’s a battery cost and as-is, implementations are sloppy and don’t add much to the overall experience. But as with other tech that Apple has adopted “late” compared to the competition, I still think there’s a chance we’ll see in this used in future shipping iPhones and iPads once the Mac maker can guarantee a worthwhile user experience.
Feb 19
![Blackberry Could Pull Out Of Korea As Well [Rumor]](https://i0.wp.com/cdnrss.ubergizmo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/BlackBerry-z10-22-640x424.jpeg?resize=640%2C424 "Blackberry Could Pull Out Of Korea As Well [Rumor]")
A little over a week ago we reported that Blackberry announced their plans to cease sales in Japan. Now it looks like there are new rumors from Korean news publication, Yonhap, suggesting that Blackberry could also be looking to exit the Korean market. Just like the reason Blackberry used for pulling out of the Japanese market, it seems that is why Blackberry is considering pulling out of Korea as well. Apparently there is too much competition from the likes of South Korean companies such as LG and Samsung, as well as Apple’s iPhone whose popularity is more or less a given. It seems that given how intense the competition is, at least as far as the Korean market is concerned, Blackberry will be able to pull themselves out of the region without too much impact to its business. Since Blackberry has not made any official announcement yet, we will be taking this with a grain of salt, but if any of our readers from Korea would like to chime in with their opinion on this, feel free to drop a comment below.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: WSJ “Confirms” Google’s Retail Store Plans, Samsung Galaxy S4 Reveal Coming March 14 [Rumor],
Feb 19
We’re sure that many of you guys are excited to see what sort of new and exciting products will be unveiled at MWC 2013, and fret not because we will be there covering the event. However in the meantime, if you’re a fan of LG, it looks like the South Korean company has decided to release a teaser video in which they are hinting at the possibility of several new phones. These phones could be adopting the L, G, V and F monikers, or they might be part of a lineup. Either way we’ve heard of the L-series, the G-series (Optimus G Pro, for example), and the V-series (possibly hinting at the Vu), but the F-series would definitely be something new. At this time it’s hard to tell if these phones will be high-end devices or low-mid ranged offerings, but either way it will be worth checking out, so stayed tuned for more updates! In the meantime you can check out the teaser video above.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: T-Mobile Promises FreeDUM With Its Prepaid GoSmart Service, Archos Set To Join The Android Phone Race [Rumor],
Feb 19
LG’s convertible Windows 8 tablet/notebook hybrid will be hitting store shelves in Korea this week, the company has confirmed, freshly branded as the LG Tab-Book and packing LTE connectivity. Announced back in October 2012 as the H160, the Tab-Book runs Microsoft’s full OS – not the RT version – on an Intel Core i5 processor, with a sliding 5-point multitouch display if you don’t want to plug in an external mouse.
Unlike Sony’s VAIO Duo 11, for instance, LG has opted not to include a trackpoint nub in the middle of the keyboard; instead, if you want to to interact with Windows 8, you’ll have to reach up to the touchscreen. Still, you do get a clever auto-sliding mechanism, opening up the display and revealing the keyboard.
As for the display itself, that’s an 11.6-inch IPS LCD panel boasting 178-degree viewing angles. Connectivity includes USB, an HDMI port, and a microSD card slot, as well as the LTE radio and the usual WiFi and Bluetooth. LG has previously claimed that the H160 will run for up to ten hours on a full charge.
What LG isn’t discussing is pricing, nor specific availability outside of Korea. It’s also perhaps telling that the company is yet to announce any plans to make a Windows RT tablet; currently options for those wanting the ARM-variant of Microsoft’s OS – which trades app compatibility for power frugality – are limited, with Microsoft’s own Surface RT the best-known model.
LG Tab-Book Windows 8 tablet/hybrid hits Korea with LTE this week is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Feb 19
More than 125 years ago, after the 1874 elections, Pablo Laveaga became the first Hispanic ever elected to the Nevada Legislature, representing Humboldt County.
The next Hispanic legislator in Nevada came 70 years later. The third was not elected until another 38 years had passed.
Recently, however, thanks to changes in the state’s demographics and opportunities that have come from tweaks in the state electoral system, Hispanics have been getting elected at a much faster pace.
Read More…
More on Latino Politics
Feb 19
HDMI Android Stick becomes more and more popular in Japan and it is not surprising that a company like KDDI announced this morning its first HDMI Android Stick with the : Smart TV Stick. Unfortunately KDDI did not released much detail on its Smart TV Stick we just know that it runs on Android 4.0.4 and comes with WiFi BGN, a TI OMAP 4430 CPU, a Bluetooth Remote control and a MicroSD card reader. This said, the Smart TV Stick is fully compatible with Google play and will work pretty much like …
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