iTunes Radio Will Start Promoting Pre-Release Albums

iTunes Radio Will Start Promoting Pre Release AlbumsAs it stands, iTunes allows users to preview albums before deciding if they want to buy it or not. Well if you were hoping something similar would be offered to Apple’s recently released iTunes Radio, you’d be in luck as Apple’s SVP of Internet Software and Service, Eddie Cue, told Entertainment Weekly that a similar feature would be brought onto iTunes Radio which can be used by record labels and artists to promote pre-release albums. According to Cue, “It’s a huge improvement to do it on iTunes Radio because you don’t go to a store a lot. Hopefully lots of people will be listening to iTunes Radio a lot; from a discovery perspective it’s significantly better.”

iTunes Radio was announced back in the middle of 2013 during Apple’s WWDC 2013 event. The service had been rumored for a while and was expected to be a competitor to other streaming and music discovery services such as Pandora and Spotify. iTunes Radio can be tuned into from iOS devices, along with Mac and PC computers, and on the Apple TV as well. Similar to other music services, listening to songs is free but will include ads, unless you are an iTunes Match subscriber.

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  • iTunes Radio Will Start Promoting Pre-Release Albums original content from Ubergizmo.

        



    Pair Of Twins In The UK Rack Up $1,600 In In-App Purchases

    Pair Of Twins In The UK Rack Up $1,600 In In App PurchasesIt seems to be a recurring thing where children accidentally rack up thousands of dollars in in-app purchases for games they thought were free, leading to some very bill-shocked parents at the end of the month. Well the latest problem comes from a pair of twins in the UK where a 6-year old boy and girl managed to purchase about $1,600 worth of in-game items across two games, such as virtual pets and clothing accessories. According to their father, he knew that his kids knew his password and also knew about their in-app purchases, but he did not expect them to rack up such a huge bill in such a short amount of time, and called for tougher legislation for in-game purchases in the future.

    The good news is that Apple has decided to refund him the money as a gesture of good will and he has since changed his password. According to Ashley Griffiths, the father of the children, “These games are aimed at children and the designers know exactly what’s going to happen […] Children don’t understand the value of money, they just see it as a way of collecting more pets and clothes for characters in the games. I mean, who in their right mind is going to pay £75 ($122) for a virtual pet?” Granted there should be better restrictions in place to prevent future incidents from happening, although changing his password from the start could have prevented all of this anyway.

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  • Pair Of Twins In The UK Rack Up $1,600 In In-App Purchases original content from Ubergizmo.

        



    TDK Anti-shake Actuator

    TDK Anti shake Actuator[CEATEC 2013] Do you remember the sound effects in Quake 3, whenever someone hits two sweet rails in a succession? That would end up with the arena announcer saying, “Impressive!”, which is also another signal to the rest of the world that you have a mean mouse hand with the railgun. In order to be proficient with the railgun, you would definitely need a steady hand, and steady hands do come in handy as well whenever you want to capture a photo in low light conditions, or a decent video. While optical image stabilization technology in cameras have improved by leaps and bounds over the years, there is still room for improvement. Case in point, TDK’s Anti-Shake Actuator.

    In the demonstration, TDK’s representatives showed just how this magnetic actuator is capable of stabilizing a shaking camera sensor, so much so that the result is extremely impressive. Just a single flick of the switch and the actuator turns off, making it look as though you were trying to capture a photo in the midst of an earthquake. The TDK representative did not divulge just which smartphone companies have already included this anti-shake actuator in their devices, but we do speculate that the LG G2 could very well be one of them.

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  • TDK Anti-shake Actuator original content from Ubergizmo.

        



    How Many of These Simple Security Tips Do You Actually Use?

    The ever helpful folks at Household Hacker have come up with a list of quick and easy security tips to make your life on the Internet a wee bit more secure. Most of you probably already do a lot of this stuff. And if you don’t, you should. Even if it makes your life a little bit more annoying, it’s also making everything a little more secure.

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    Lenovo ThinkCentre E93z All-In-One Desktop PC

    Lenovo-ThinkCentre-E93z-All-In-One-Desktop-PC

    Lenovo is preparing to launch a new all-in-one desktop PC, the ThinkCentre E93z. Adopting the new UltraFlex stand, this space-saving system is equipped with a 21.5-inch 1920 x 1080 10-point multi-touch display, a 2.70GHz Intel Core i5-4430S processor, an Intel B85 Express Chipset, a GeForce 720A graphics card, a 4GB DDR3 RAM, a 1TB hard drive, a webcam, a BD drive, an SD card slot, WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, an HDMI output port, two 3.0 USB ports, two built-in 3W speakers and runs on Windows 8 64-bit OS (Minimum Configuration). The ThinkCentre E93z will go on sale from October 4th for 168,000 Yen (about $1,713). [Lenovo]

    Nokia Here software to load offline map updates incrementally

    When Microsoft acquired Nokia’s devices and services business, it left the Here maps platform behind. However, that doesn’t mean it’s been abandoned. In fact, the Finnish company announced today that the mapping service will receive an update that’ll allow for incremental updates to offline maps. This means that whenever there’s an update to only a portion of a map, users can download just that part instead of the whole map all over again. This should hopefully lead to less data consumed and a faster upgrade overall. Nokia is rolling out the update starting today for all Windows Phone 8 devices that have the latest firmware. No word yet on whether Here will be updated for Android and iOS, but seeing as the company just signed over a huge part of their business to Microsoft, we’re not surprised they’re giving first dibs to the OS from Redmond.

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    Fujitsu FingerLink Merges Virtual With Physical Interaction

    Fujitsu FingerLink Merges Virtual With Physical Interaction[CEATEC 2013] I am quite sure that many of us are familiar with the fictional Tony Stark’s genius, and his artificial intelligence system at home, J.A.R.V.I.S., along with the kind of fancy computing hardware that can be manipulated using his hands alone via gestures, tend to be the kind of wet dream that geeks can only think of. Fujitsu might be working on a device that has the future in mind, in the form of the Fujitsu FingerLink.

    This particular solution looks rather magical, where it relies on a top-mounted camera that is capable of converting physical objects into virtual objects. In other words, place the front page of a newspaper under the FingerLink system’s camera, and you can use your finger to trace out a photo or a news snippet, before “pushing” them to the side. When done, remove the newspaper itself, and you can use your fingers to manipulate the virtual cut out newspaper segments that are now in a digital format. This is definitely the kind of system that public and university libraries could make do with to bring a breath of fresh air to the mix, and who knows? We might have a Tony Stark wannabe in the midst who could end up inspired by such technology that he or she ends up as a billionaire, playboy, philanthropist eventually.

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  • Fujitsu FingerLink Merges Virtual With Physical Interaction original content from Ubergizmo.

        



    LUXA2 P1-PRO Battery Power Pack

    LUXA2-P1-PRO-Battery-Power-Pack

    LUXA2 has once again expanded its line of mobile battery chargers by unveiling the P1-PRO Battery Power Pack. Measuring L131mm x W85mm x H21mm and weighing 206g, this travel-friendly battery charger is equipped with a removable rubber bumper to protect the body from shock, a 4 stage battery level indicator LED light, two USB 5V output ports (1x 1A, 1x 2.1A), a micro-USB charging port and a high-capacity 7000mAh Li-polymer battery (2x 3500mAh). Unfortunately, there’s no word on pricing yet. [Product Page]

    TEKWIND TM75A Android Tablet

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    Check out this newly launched Android tablet from TEKWIND, the TM75A. Specs-wise, the tablet sports a 7.0-inch 1024 x 600 TFT 5-point multi-touch display, a 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z2460 processor, an Intel HD Graphics, a 1GB RAM, a 16GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot (up to 32GB), dual cameras (0.3MP front & 2MP rear), WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, a mini HDMI port, a built-in speaker, a 4100mAh battery and runs on Android 4.0.4 ICS OS. Pricing info is still unknown at the moment. [Product Page]

    Fujitsu Sleepiness Detection Sensor

    Fujitsu Sleepiness Detection Sensor[CEATEC 2013] Some folks absolutely love driving, whether it is in the morning or at night, as it offers a rather therapeutic feeling. The thing is, driving is no longer fun whenever you get stuck in a traffic jam, as it would certainly cause your blood pressure to boil (and hopefully, your car’s radiator will not experience the same thing). Other people, however, do not like driving at all, and for some of us who have no choice but to be behind the wheel even after a long day at work, there is a risk of having drowsiness take over. Fujitsu hopes to prevent such a thing from happening with their real-time drowsiness detection technology that would hopefully prevent the driver from nodding off.

    How does Fujitsu’s Sleepiness Detection Sensor work? Well, the driver would wear a wireless heart rate sensor around ear, where data will be sent over to a monitoring data center. Once the level of drowsiness is analyzed based on the pulse fluctuations, the driver would receive a warning. Will it be able to lower the number of accidents caused by drowsiness on the road? Hopefully. After all, prevention is better than cure, and in the case of a MVA (Motor Vehicle Accident), some cases do not come with a second chance.

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  • Fujitsu Sleepiness Detection Sensor original content from Ubergizmo.