Jun 13
Jun 13
Want to be swole as hell? You can bulk up all you want, but once you get to a certain point, muscle growth is out of your hands. ASAP Science explains that our level of strength is basically pre-determined by our genetics.
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Jun 13
Back during the heady days of 2012, before the Pebble raised a crazy amount of money on Kickstarter, Sony quietly released an Android-compatible smartwatch of its own. By most accounts it wasn’t very good, but that doesn’t mean that Sony has relegated it to the trash pile.
No, with hindsight being what it is, Sony is looking to breathe some new life into that curious little gadget with some help from the developer community. The company has kicked off what it calls the Open SmartWatch program to get developers cooking up custom firmwares for the thing.
In case you haven’t been keeping tabs on the wearable gadgetry space, Sony launched the SmartWatch in question last year to mixed reviews. The concept is a very familiar one — the watch syncs to an Android-powered smartphone and displays messages and notifications, as well as runs a slew of bespoke SmartWatch apps. Thanks to its Android underpinnings, you could easily think of it as a more robust version of the Pebble or any of the copycats that have sprung up in its wake.
As iffy as Sony’s second-gen SmartWatch was, most of the issues seemed to be rooted in its software (and to its credit, Sony keeps pushing out patches and updates for the thing). Sony’s is one of the prettier smartwatches out there, and the spec list has just enough oomph to make it an attractive choice for some frenzied late night tinkering. By stripping out Sony’s work and starting fresh, hackers are largely left with a blank slate, and the company is committed to highlighting some of the most novel firmware once they start popping up.
To help kick this whole thing off, Sony has also tapped Arduino to hold a hackathon in Malmo, Sweden, to get antsy developers more familiar with the SmartWatch and what it’s capable of. There is, as always, a caveat: you may be breaking new ground with a device that most people haven’t given a second thought to, but you’ll be giving up access to the nearly 200 or so compatible applications floating around in the Google Play store.
Jun 13
Jun 13
The Star Wars iteration of the Angry Birds collection of apps has been updated this week with the dapper Lando Calrissian in bird form. This character is bringing along with him the ability to blast three bolts as his closest associate Han Solo bird, but instead of them being shot one after the other all
Jun 13
Back in 2002, Accenture produced a series of internal concept videos to show off what futuristic tech was coming down the pike. One of those videos has a gadget that looks awfully familiar to those of us living here in the Age of Google Glass™.
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Jun 13
Coffee-makers, like humans, come in every shape and size. Some are utterly utilitarian, like the Aeropress
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Jun 13
Amazon Offers 3D Printer Store
Posted in: Today's Chili
Jun 13
Tech Deals of the Day: 6/13/2013
Posted in: Today's Chili
Our friends at TechBargains.com compile a list of daily deals to help you save money. Keep in mind that as with any good deal, products are limited in quantity and can sell out quickly – so don’t hesitate to check them out now.
If you’re looking to buy a product from a specific store, save money with updated and verified coupon codes here.
Computers & Peripherals:
- Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 16GB WiFi Tablet $224.90 plus free shipping (normally $349 – use coupon code: 92506)
- Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 2.5″ 120GB SATA III Internal SSD $79.99 plus free shipping (normally $129 – use this form)
- Asus NVIDIA Geforce GTX 660 2GB GDDR5 HDCP PCI-E Video Card $168.99 plus free shipping (normally $209 – use this form and coupon code: EMCXPWW24)
- Western Digital My Passport 2TB Portable Hard Drive $109 plus free shipping (normally $199)
- Logitech M317 Wireless Optical Mouse w/ USB Nano Receiver $9.99 plus free shipping (normally $29)
- Acer Aspire E1-571-6680 Intel i3-3110M Dual-Core Ivy Bridge 15.6″ $379.99 plus free shipping (normally $429)
Home Entertainment:
- 2-Pack of Sony Playstation 3 Stereoscopic Active 3D Glasses w/ Built-In Rechargeable Battery $19.99 plus free shipping (normally $49)
Personal Electronics:
- Kensington PowerBolt 3.4A Car Charger for iPhone 5 $4.99 plus free shipping (normally $39 – use this form)
- Pinnacle Speakers MB10000 5.1ch 700W MicroBurst Home Theater System $349.99 plus free shipping (normally $1099)
- Sennheiser CX 280 High Perfomance Earbuds w/ Dynamic Sound $16.50 plus free shipping (normally $69 – use coupon code: SD280X)
Jun 13
We can’t lie: we were hoping for a Retina MacBook Air last year when Apple rolled out the thinner, faster MacBook Pros with their pixel-packed displays and optical drive-free chassis. The Air, sadly, got left out of that particular party, but when we reviewed it we found a perfectly fine machine. This year, then, would surely be the year of major updates to Apple’s venerable thin-and-light machine?
As it turns out, no, it wouldn’t be. From the outside, the mid-2013 MacBook Air refresh is again a very minor one indeed, with no new display and (virtually) no exterior modifications. On the inside, though, bigger changes are afoot. New, faster SSDs and a selection of power-sipping Haswell CPUs from Intel have created a device that’s all but identical to its predecessor yet is, in many ways, vastly improved. Is this wedge-like, 13-inch paradox worth your $1,099, and can it really live up to Apple’s promised 12-hour battery life? Let’s find out.
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