Fujitsu beckons businesses with new Windows 8.1 notebooks, convertibles and tablets

As if IT managers weren’t already spoiled for choice, Fujitsu’s announced no less than six new Windows 8.1 devices aimed at enterprise. Joining the Lifebook series are two touchscreen laptops: the U904 Ultrabook with a 14-inch 3,200 x 1,800 IGZO display and the S904 with a 13.3-inch 2,560 x 1,440 …

Darth Vader, Spider-Pig fly at International Balloon Fiesta

Darth Vader has a big head.

(Credit: Amanda Kooser/CNET)

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — In all my years of living in Albuquerque, I have managed to completely miss one of the city’s marquee events, the nine-day Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. This year, I finally dragged my sorry self out of bed at 3:30 in the morning, caught a school-bus shuttle, and arrived in the dark and cold to huge crowds and hundreds of balloon teams setting up on a massive field.

I knew hot air balloons were pretty. What I didn’t realize is just how geeky they can be. Among the usual colorful entries there was a certain contingent of balloons that stood out on my geek radar.

The event kicked off with a dawn patrol, in which a dozen balloons take flight in the darkness to get an early look at wind conditions. The balloons light up dramatically on the ground before launch. One of the early risers was an Intel-branded balloon. Neighboring Rio Rancho is home to a huge Intel chip plant, so it makes sense to see a company-sponsored balloon here.

The term “mass ascension” sounds like a religious affair, but it’s really the mass launch of hundreds of balloons shortly after the sun peeks over the nearby Sandia Mountains. I hunted through the crowded field to uncover sights like the Spider-Pig balloon (a “Simpsons”-inspired mash-up of a pig and Spider-M… [Read more]

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Assassin’s Creed 4 ‘Freedom Cry’ Single Player DLC Spotted

Assassins Creed 4 Freedom Cry Single Player DLC SpottedAre you a huge fan of the Assassin’s Creed franchise? If you have answered in the affirmative, then you would definitely have given Assassin’s Creed 4 a go already, and this time around, we have a spanking new single player DLC that has been unveiled where it will star shipmate Adewale. The time setting? A good 15 years of clock fast forwarding is required. This is the first single player DLC for Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag from Ubisoft, where it is tipped to launch before March 2014 rolls around. In Freedom Cry, one will be able to enjoy nine missions of “self-contained” single-player story.

Ubisoft mentioned, “Born a slave, Adewale found freedom as a pirate aboard the Jackdaw as Captain Edward Kenway’s second-in-command. Fifteen years later, Adewale has become a trained assassin and finds himself shipwrecked in Saint-Domingue with no weapon nor crew, starting a new adventure of his own.”

This particular content will be made available as part of a Season Pass, where one will be able to enjoy a 20% discount after purchasing each piece of AC4′s upcoming DLC on an individual basis. Apart from that, the Season Pass will also include additional single-player missions, weapons, skins and collectibles, not to mention new multiplayer characters.

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  • Assassin’s Creed 4 ‘Freedom Cry’ Single Player DLC Spotted original content from Ubergizmo.

        



    Mad Catz M.O.J.O Specs And Prices Revealed

    Mad Catz M.O.J.O Specs And Prices Revealed

    Back in June Mad Catz unveiled yet another console called the M.O.J.O. This “Micro Console” runs on Android and has been specially configured to harness the maximum gaming power possible from an Android device. Mad Catz didn’t provide a lot of details back then, particularly about the price, availability and above all, specifications. It only said that the M.O.J.O will ship around the holiday season. Today, Mad Catz has finally broken its silence and provided the details we have all been waiting for, or not.

    The Mad Catz M.O.J.O has a 1.8GHz NVIDIA Tegra 4 processor aided by 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage with the ability to expand externally up to 128GB through microSD cards. The console has Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, an ethernet port, one full size USB 2.0 and one similar USB 3.0 port, Bluetooth as well as the ability to provide full 1080p HD output through the HDMI slot. The M.O.J.O is powered by Android 4.2.2. Google Play Store will be pre-installed, so customers will have access to all the games that they’ve already purchased. Mad Catz has started taking pre-orders now. The M.O.J.O console will be available in “limited quantities” starting December 10th for a MSRP of $249.99. If the NVIDIA Shield or the OUYA Android gaming consoles didn’t tickle your fancy, perhaps the M.O.J.O just might.

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  • Mad Catz M.O.J.O Specs And Prices Revealed original content from Ubergizmo.

        



    Twitter Updates Official App For Windows Phone Platform

    Twitter Updates Official App For Windows Phone PlatformThe folks over at Twitter has just rolled out a rather significant update for its official app for Windows Phone, which would see the introduction of several new features, in addition to offering some minor tweaks. There has been an update made in the app’s Windows Store listing, allowing users to choose a dark theme, in addition to changing timelines so that it depicts a black background that will be in stark contrast to the regular, white background. Of course, one ought to be able to recall that the initial version of Twitter’s Windows Phone app did feature dark as well as light themes, but this feature was disposed off in a February redesign.

    Apart from that, custom notifications are also supported, as users are now able to choose accounts that they want to receive Windows Phone toasts whenever tweets are sent. Not only that another major addition would be a lockscreen which will “highlights interesting tweets on your homescreen” while delivering improved search features. Imagine a world of automatic suggestions as well as results which include both users and tweets, and keyword searches can also be pinned to the Start screen. Have you updated your Twitter app for Windows Phone already, and how do you find it?

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  • Twitter Updates Official App For Windows Phone Platform original content from Ubergizmo.

        



    Earth’s Fastest Electric Car Just Keeps Getting Quicker

    While cars like the Nissan Leaf and Tesla S are bringing electric vehicle technology mainstream, a team of student researchers are driving that technology to its very limit. The result: a record-shattering 300 mph bullet car that runs without a sip of gasoline.

    Read more…


        



    Jony Ive-designed Leica M camera appears in unique RED auction

    There’s a collection of one of a kind devices appearing this month designed by Apple’s Senior Vice President of Design Jony Ive, each of them designed for an upcoming Product (RED) charity auction set for November. This auction will hold some rather fine objects designed entirely or in part by Ive including a Steinway & […]

    Eyewear shopping app turns your headshot into 3D image

    As seen in this eyewear shopping app, CSIRO algorithms can develop a 3D face model using 2D pixels from an iPad camera.

    (Credit: Glasses.com)

    The last time I picked out new eyeglasses, I spent about an hour trying out different pairs in the store. Of course I had to drive there, find and pay for parking, and get soaked in the rain.

    I would have much rather used Smart Vision, an Australian technology that can create an augmented-reality 3D model of a face from a 2D image.

    It can show you what you look like when trying on many different pairs of glasses or sunglasses, and you won’t even have to leave home.

    Australia’s national science agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), has filed patents on the Smart Vision virtual try-on tech, which lets users see themselves from any angle.

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    Google Hangouts For Android Reportedly Getting SMS And MMS Integration

    Google Hangouts For Android Reportedly Getting SMS And MMS Integration

    New screenshots and an accompanying report claim that the next Google Hangouts for Android update, version 1.3, will bring new communication abilities. Hangouts is finally expected to get SMS and MMS integration. Up till now it has only worked to unify Google+ Messenger and Google Talk, there was no native ability in Hangouts to send messages through SMS. Google has already promised that SMS integration will come to Hangouts, so its no longer a matter of if it will happen, only of when its actually going to drop. No word as yet on when the updated app will be available for Android devices.

    (more…)

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  • Google Hangouts For Android Reportedly Getting SMS And MMS Integration original content from Ubergizmo.

        



    Twitter for Windows Phone update brings lockscreen tweets, theme options and notifications from favored accounts

    Twitter is looking to nab its own spot on the lockscreen of Windows Phone users. Thanks to a new update for the micro-blogging app on Microsoft-friendly handsets, tweets can get cozy on the aforementioned screen for a quick peek. However, it appears that you can’t choose what shows up in that space …