So pretty, the new AirPort devices make great gifts.
(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)
Apple’s new AirPort devices are major and excellent upgrades to their respective previous generations. Both devices are now much faster, much more compact, and prettier, too. You’ll want to get one just for the nice design alone.
However, as mentioned in my previous post, they aren’t perfect for everyone. To some extent, they are niche devices that work better for certain groups of users than for others.
With that in mind, if you find yourself belonging to one or more of these groups below, you’ll more than likely be happy with the purchase of either the new AirPort Extreme Base Station or the new Time Capsule, or maybe even both.
1. The big spender The biggest issue you’ll likely find in the new AirPorts is their cost. The AirPort E… [Read more]
Today’s 41 Million Reasons event was all about the hardware — and, to a lesser extent, proprietary software — so it’s no surprise that third-party app developers weren’t exactly front and center. Nokia did give them a little more time after the show, however, with tables stationed around Lumia 1020 demos. We used the opportunity to take a gander at a beta version of Path’s forthcoming Windows Phone app, which the company was, naturally, showing off on Nokia’s hot new offering. And there’s no question why, really, as this version takes plenty of advantage of the Lumia’s photo focus.
The app also takes some visual cues from Microsoft’s mobile operating system. On the phone’s homescreen, Path’s tile offers a number, cluing you in to how many new posts you’ve got. Fire it up, and you’ll get your feed, as with Android and iOS, including photos, videos, check-ins and the like. Swipe to the right and the app uses the Windows Pivot navigation to take you to tiles with pending friend requests and your existing friends. As for Nokia exclusives, the company’s early access to handset maker’s imaging SDK brings 50 additional filters for pictures.
The app is scheduled for the “coming months”. In the meantime, you can check out a video demo below.
Check out all the news from today’s Nokia event at our hub!
All that’s old is new again. In this raucous, high-tempo mash-up, Ezra Kleptone smashes three dissonant musical acts—the Ting Tings, Lulu, and Green Day— together like recombinant digital DNA. The result is an awesome new breed of auditory animal.
Nintendo says Wii U won’t get a software update to fix performance issues until later this fall. So try and enjoy those sloooow load times while you can! [Nintendo via Polygon]
One of Lumia 1020’s main attractions is its Nokia Pro Camera app, which completes the phone’s 41-megapixel camera with a bunch of handy features. In our video after the break, you can see Niina (not a typo) from Nokia demonstrating the manual focusing and lossless digital zooming. The latter actually works both ways: even if you’ve zoomed in before capture (and still get native 5-megapixel resolution), you can also zoom back out while browsing these photos, as the app captures both the zoomed-in 5-megapixel image as well as the full 38-megapixel image simultaneously. This way you can reframe the image and even focus on a different subject, as CEO Stephen Elop showed us in our earlier interview. But if you don’t need this feature, you can simply set the app to capture just 5-megapixel images by default.
Check out all the news from today’s Nokia event at our hub!
Online chat agents are far from novel, but they’re evidently getting a lot more sophisticated with age. In a bid to trap pedophiles, engineers at the University of Deusto have concocted Negobot. Essentially, the tool employs game theory in order to meticulously extract vital identification nuggets from a suspected abuser. In order to disguise itself from being a digital representation of a child, it actually employs seven different conversational agents, with each having its own way of behaving. In use, the program begins with a neutral stance that it can maintain indefinitely, and if the subject shows interest, it can elevate its approach in an attempt to get said subject to give himself / herself up. Developers are still working on language and linguistic abilities, but we wouldn’t be shocked if it ends up being put to use by certain agencies in the very near future.
Today we’ve had our first look at the Nokia Lumia 1020 – a device with a 41-megapixel back-facing camera more than ready to take on the already revealed Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom. Where not too many years ago it was considered amazing to see a camera present in a cellphone, here in 2013 we’ve got not just cellphones, but smartphones, bringing on camera constructs far more powerful than most standard pocket-friendly point-and-shoots! Now both Nokia and Samsung have machines with as much focus on the smartphone as on the photography power they possess – so what’s the difference?
Camera
The Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom works with a 16-megapixel CMOS sensor with an f/3.1-f/6.3 24-240mm 10x zoom lens. This produces results that we’ve just begun to test in our first Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom hands-on with photo examples posted this week. It’s appearing here to be an extremely well-balanced shooter with the ability to take fine photos on its back as well as its front (where a 2 megapixel shooter sits).
Meanwhile the Nokia Lumia 1020 works with a 41-megapixel sensor branded PureView by the company working with an f/2.2 ZEISS lens. The Nokia device works with an up-to 6x digital zoom setup, but claims said zoom will result in no loss of quality due to the machine’s ability to collect so much more image information in the first place.
The physical shape of each of these machines puts the line between camera and phone at a new level of blurry, each in their own way. While the Nokia machine literally has the back-facing lens set in landscape, letting you know that the back side is not a portrait-facing sort of situation, the Samsung device has a similar aim – the Samsung logo may be set in portrait, but the rest of the back is clearly a standard camera and lens looking aesthetic.
The fronts of both machines, too, are set to look like smartphones on their own. The Samsung Galaxy S4′s final size comes in at 125.5 x 63.5 x 15.4 mm while the Nokia Lumia 1020 is thinner – yet taller and wider 130.4 x 71.4 x 10.4 mm in total. NOTE: You’re seeing the Samsung machine here next to the Nokia 808 PureView here, the 808 resting atop the comparably thin Nokia Lumia 1020.
Internal Storage
You’ll need a lot of space for all the photos and video you’re going to be capturing. For the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom you’ve got a rather modest 8GB of space built-in, but you’ve got a microSD card slot capable of working with up to 32GB cards. Meanwhile the Nokia Lumia 1020 works with 32GB of internal storage right out of the box, but has no microSD card slot. It’s a tradeoff or a bonus either way – depending on your perspective!
Operating System
The key factor in deciding between these two machines for you may very well come down to the operating system that backs them up. The Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom works with the newest version of Android, Jelly Bean 4.2.2, while the Nokia machine has Windows Phone 8. Both machines have a rather healthy amount of backup from their respective manufacturers as both machines are heavily invested in the operating systems they roll with, and both work with extremely unique systems under the hood.
While we’ve gotten our first taste of what the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom is working with thanks to our first hands-on on the review bench (as linked above) and through our original Galaxy S4 Zoom hands-on, it’ll be a bit before we get as involved with the 1020 as we want to be before we make any judgements on the Nokia machine. For now you’ll have to take a peek at our first Nokia Lumia 1020 hands-on to see what you make of it!
The group shot dilemma—it’s the bane of both narcissists and scrapbooking enthusiasts alike. But what are you supposed to do when you want to snap a pic of a precious moment between friends, but the only person around to take the picture is, well, you? Fortunately for you, Groopic has taken it upon itself to leave no group shot incomplete.
What does it do?
Quickly and easily merges two photos to create one cohesive final product. Your friends arrange themselves, you snap a pic, and then you switch out with one of your pals, who will then take the second photo. Once you have both shots ready, you tell the app which two individuals took on the role of photographer, and Groopic goes to work merging the two and creating a single photo of all your friends and, most importantly, you.
Why do we like it?
All this could be done with the help of most photo editing programs, yes, but while Groopic only offers one of the features those services might offer, it’s the feature that solves an incredibly common problem. You’re normally left with a few less than ideal options—praying for the mercy of a kind, passing stranger, forcing one unlikely friend out of the memory, or awkwardly attempting a group selfie.
People have generally come to accept this fate, but thanks to Groopic, there’s a better way. And though you do have to position yourself somewhat specifically for the app to work, it’s worth it for a group shot that isn’t cut in half by someone’s arm holding the camera. Plus, the app is on sale for a limited time for $2.
The QR code on a Smart Diaper can send information parents and doctors can track through a smartphone.
(Credit: Pixie Scientific)
Next up for the square-shaped bar codes called QR codes: your baby’s diapers?
Pixie Scientific has created a “Smart Diaper” that tests a baby’s urine. Parents can then scan the QR code on the diaper and receive information about their child’s health.
The device claims to track changes in a baby’s urine, potentially showing signs of a urinary tract infection, prolonged dehydration, or risk for kidney problems. When a baby pees, test strips surrounding the QR code will pick up the waste and start the testing process.
Parents are asked to scan the QR code located on the back of the Smart Diaper once a day with their smartphones. The app’s algorithms will instantly analyze the contents, according to the makers. Scanning the diaper daily can provide a picture of any changes that may signal health problems, claims Pixie Scientific, which is currently raising funds for the product on Indiegogo.
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The group shot dilemma—it’s the bane of both narcissists and scrapbooking enthusiasts alike. But what are you supposed to do when you want to snap a pic of a precious moment between friends, but the only person around to take the picture is, well, you? Fortunately for you, Groopic has taken it upon itself to leave no group shot incomplete.
