Hasta La Gadget!

Dish rolled out a sizable update for its Anywhere iPad app today, allowing on the go socialites to share viewing habits with friends via Facebook and Twitter. Less socially-connected couch potatoes will see new features as well, like the ability to remotely reset their receiver whenever they find themselves in a pinch. Version 4.0.3 also ushers in an updated DVR schedule that includes Skipped and Conflicts, along with an Audio Only mode for Hopper users. Finally, Dish customers rocking unsupported satellite receivers now have access to On Demand programming. Looking for more information? Head on over to the source link below for all the details.

Filed under: Software, HD

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Source: iTunes

Nothing locks down data better than a laser-based quantum-encrypted network, where the mere act of looking at your data causes it to irrevocably change. Although such systems already exist, they’re limited to point-to-point data transfers since a router would kill the message it’s trying to pass along just by reading it. However, Los Alamos National Labs has been testing an in-house quantum network, complete with a hub and spoke system that gets around the problem thanks to a type of quantum router at each node. Messages are converted at those junctures to conventional bits, then reconverted into a new encrypted message, which can be securely sent to the next node, and so on.

The researchers say it’s been running in the lab for the last two and a half years with few issues, though there’s still a security hole — it lacks quantum integrity at the central hub where the data’s reconverted, unlike a pure quantum network. However, the hardware would be relatively simple to integrate into any fiber-connected device, like a TV set-top box, and is still more secure than any current system — and infinitely better than the 8-character WiFi code you’re using now.

Filed under: Science, Internet, Alt

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Source: Cornell University Library

Americans wanting one of 2013’s Sony flagships have had access to the Xperia ZL for awhile, but they’ve had to chase down an importer if they wanted the glass-backed chic of the Xperia Z. Sony has quietly put that dilemma to rest by offering the Xperia Z through the US Sony Store. For $630, locals can get an unlocked version of the flagship in black, purple or white, albeit only with HSPA+ 3G for carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile; there’s no LTE to be found. Those who do want 4G speeds won’t have to pay a premium, however, when Sony is selling the LTE-equipped ZL for the same $630. While neither deal will be quite as tempting as subsidized phones at major carriers, those willing to pay full price for Sony gear can now afford to be a little picky.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Sony, AT&T, T-Mobile

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Via: Xperia Blog

Source: Sony Store

It’s not uncommon for an as yet announced phone to pop up on Twitter, or via an insider leak. But a physical billboard? That takes some doing. If this image — spotted out in the wild — is to be believed, Nokia’s Lumia 928 is as real as the day is long. The Verizon handset shown certainly fits the images we’ve already seen, and the low-light boast will stoke the coals of any Xenon or PureView rumors for sure. However, this spot is hardly Times Square, so until we see something a little more concrete, Lumia fans on Big Red will have to keep the faith with that 822.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Nokia

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Source: My Nokia Blog

Much to the consternation of scientists, the cylindrical platinum-iridium artifacts that represent the kilogram (see image above) have been gradually packing on extra weight due to surface contamination. Since that unit of measure is the last to be based on an artifact and not a physical constant of nature — for instance, a meter is the distance light travels in a vacuum during 1/299,792,458 of a second — it means that scientists no longer know exactly how much a kilogram is. That makes experiments requiring extreme precision more difficult, so researchers from Mettler Toledo, CERN and the EPFL have been working for the last 15 years on a so-called Watt balance, which works on the principle of electromagnetic force restoration. The team managed to created a “load cell” that’s accurate to a 0.3 µg resolution for a 2kg weight, well below the desired level of 1 µg — meaning the goal of replacing a hunk of metal from 1878 with something more, ahem, solid is within reach by the 2015 target date.

Filed under: Science, Alt

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Source: Mettler Toledo