Creations

EcoBot-III Runs On Human Excrement!

zilvinas — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:13:28 +0000

I imagine a brilliant scientist somewhere was thinking of what he could do one day and came up with: I think I’ll make a robot that runs on human excrement, then craps into a litter box. And there you have it, the EcoBot-III. Thanks to funding from Bill and Melinda Gates, you know of Microsoft, researchers at Bristol Robotics Laboratory gave EcoBot-III sensors to move itself towards food, water or light which it consumes and then poops out the waste. Like don’t stand in the light, swim or smell tasty. Previous versions ran on other bio material like dead flies or sugar which were processed through the MFC or Microbial Fuel Cell which uses e-coli bacteria to turn the bio matter into electricity. The software and sensors monitor the digestive system and can wirelessly report on its surroundings.

A robot that runs on human excrement could easily follow us to remote places without having to compete with us for resources. Though if it’s going to use a litter box, I’d rather have it clean that out and move the contents to the toilet. And maybe clean up stray hairballs/regurgitated cat food around the house while it’s at it.

Source: http://robots.net/article/3311.html

HTC 3G Phones

Office for iPad denied by Microsoft

zilvinas — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 07:27:22 +0000

This morning?s report that an image of Office on the iPad was a precursor to a full app release has been denied in kind by Microsoft. The company has said that not only was the report that the app would be coming in just weeks untrue, but the idea that they are actually in the process of creating Office for iOS may well be untrue entirely. Of course this app would be one of the most hotly downloaded document editors on the iTunes App Store if it were released, so we must assume that Microsoft is simply putting a greater effort into releasing a final version eventually.

The other point that has to be made here is that Windows 8 will be coming out this year in full force, and in that the Office suite remains one of Microsoft?s biggest profit generators and drives to Windows for years and years, the group may want to keep it to itself for now. Think of how enticing a Windows 8 tablet would be with Office on it right out of the box? A Microsoft spokesperson spoke to the effect of no iPad release here:

?The Daily story is based on inaccurate rumors and speculation. We have no further comment.? ? Microsoft

It was The Daily that broke the story and The Daily that Microsoft is referring to here. There?s no doubt that Office may come to the iPad and iOS as a whole sometime in the future, but for not ? Windows keeps it. You can of course grab Office for OS X for your desktop right this moment as well ? but mobile remains silent!

[via NYTimes]

Source: http://www.slashgear.com/office-for-ipad-denied-by-microsoft-21214647/

Nokia Dell

HTC Rezound and LG Spectrum now just $99.99 from Verizon

zilvinas — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 02:13:25 +0000

By: Dan Graziano | Feb 21st, 2012 at 05:45PM

If you?re a Verizon Wireless customer or looking to become one, the carrier is offering two of its latest 4G LTE handsets, the LG Spectrum and HTC Rezound, for $99.99 each with a two-year agreement. Both handsets run a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and impressive qHD displays. When BGR reviewed the Rezound last November, we were impressed with the overall performance of the device and with the gorgeous high definition display in particular. It was recommended over Motorola?s DROID RAZR and Samsung?s Galaxy S II, although due to its lack of Ice Cream Sandwich it fell short compared to Samsung?s Galaxy Nexus. Subscribers will have until Monday, February 28th to take advantage of Verizon?s deals on the Rezound and Spectrum, which are only available online.

Read

Source: http://www.bgr.com/2012/02/21/htc-rezound-and-lg-spectrum-now-just-99-99-from-verizon/

News Tech

Rugged Samsung Rugby Smart Pictured, Still No Word on Release Date

zilvinas — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:09:18 +0000

The Samsung Ruby Smart, a rugged smartphone for those whose lifestyles aren?t friendly to traditional smartphones, was supposed to launch on AT&T a few days ago. The thing is, it didn?t. It seems AT&T still has it on their mind, though, as new press shots of the smartphone have leaked, courtesy of PocketNow. The device is said to be packing 512MB of RAM, 1650mAh battery and 3G, but nothing else is known at this point. We?re not sure when AT&T will be getting around to announcing this unusual offering by Samsung but if you have no use for an ugly, yet durable smartphone, I wouldn?t pay much attention to it.

Source: http://phandroid.com/2012/02/21/rugged-samsung-rugby-smart-pictured-still-no-word-on-release-date/

3G Phones Nokia

Barnes & Noble takes on Kindle Fire with new $199 Nook Tablet; Nook Color drops to $169

zilvinas — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:56:35 +0000

Barnes & Noble on Tuesday unveiled a new version of its popular Nook Tablet to compete directly with Amazon?s Kindle Fire. Lining up with earlier reports, the new Barnes & Noble slate features the same specs as the earlier Nook Tablet, however the device?s internal storage has been halved to 8GB. ?For any customer who likes to read digitally, watch movies or TV shows, browse the web, or help their kids read and learn through interactive books and apps, our new $199 NOOK Tablet with 8GB is the best product value on the market,? Barnes & Noble CEO William Lynch said in a statement. ?NOOK Tablet is the highest-rated wireless media tablet in the 7-inch class, ultra-portable at under a pound, offers our exclusive VividView screen technology, and since its introduction this holiday has received rave reviews from customers about all its great features. We?re pleased to now offer customers the ability to experience NOOK Tablet?s unmatched content experience for only $199.? Barnes & Noble also stated that its previous-generation Android tablet, the Nook Color, will drop to $169, undercutting the Kindle Fire by $30. The company?s full press release follows below.

Barnes & Noble Introduces NOOK Tablet^? ? 8GB For Incredibly Low Price of $199

New Addition to Hot-Selling, Highly Rated NOOK Tablet Line Offers Fastest, Lightest, Most Powerful Tablet with the Best in Reading and Entertainment, Now in 8GB, at an Amazing Value

Award-Winning NOOK Color^? Now Offered at its Lowest Price Ever ? $169

New York, New York ? February 21, 2012 ? Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products, today expanded its portfolio of bestselling NOOK^® devices with the introduction of NOOK Tablet ? with 8GB of memory, a tremendous value for the company?s fastest and lightest tablet at just $199. NOOK Tablet ? 8GB version offers reading and mobile entertainment enthusiasts another great option in the NOOK family of devices. In addition, the company?s highly popular NOOK Color just became an even greater value at $169.

?For any customer who likes to read digitally, watch movies or TV shows, browse the web, or help their kids read and learn through interactive books and apps, our new $199 NOOK Tablet with 8GB is the best product value on the market,? said William Lynch, Chief Executive Office of Barnes & Noble. ?NOOK Tablet is the highest-rated wireless media tablet in the 7-inch class, ultra-portable at under a pound, offers our exclusive VividView^? screen technology, and since its introduction this holiday has received rave reviews from customers about all its great features. We?re pleased to now offer customers the ability to experience NOOK Tablet?s unmatched content experience for only $199.?

The newest member of the NOOK Tablet family offers the great features of top-selling NOOK Tablet ? 16GB, but with 8GB of on-board memory, 512MB of RAM and a lower cost of just $199. NOOK Tablet ? 8GB version includes all of these great features also available on NOOK Tablet ? 16GB ($249):

· A highly tuned 1GHz dual-core processor for streaming video and lightning-fast Web browsing so customers can surf their favorite sites, and built-in email to stay easily connected with friends and family

· Breakthrough battery life, with 11.5 hours of reading time or nine hours of video viewing

· With on-board storage plus convenient microSD memory expansion, customers have ample space for their reading and entertainment content, regardless of Wi-Fi availability

The world?s most advanced VividView display for viewing content, with 16 million colors and a resolution purity that?s simply gorgeous
Popular movies, TV shows and music from top services including Netflix, Hulu Plus^?, Flixster, Pandora^®, Rhapsody^®, Grooveshark, MOG and many more.

· Thousands of top-rated, high-quality NOOK Apps, all optimized for NOOK Tablet?s ultra-responsive 7-inch color touchscreen, in categories including Games, Kids, Travel, Education, Lifestyle & Interest, News & Weather, Social, Productivity and others. Favorites including Cut the Rope, Disney Publishing?s It?s a Small World and more are coming soon to the robust NOOK Apps catalog.

· Barnes & Noble?s award-winning reading experience, featuring more than 2.5 million digital books, periodicals, children?s books and more, including:

o NOOK Newsstand^?: An expansive collection of more than 450 digital periodical titles, which includes the largest digital collection of top 100 magazines available for subscription and single copy purchase. Colorful interactive magazines offer Barnes & Noble?s ArticleView^?, animated page turns and smooth pinch, zoom and panning. Many special edition NOOK Magazines^? feature videos, quizzes, image galleries and more.

o NOOK Kids^?: More than 1,400 interactive children?s picture books, some featuring animation and engaging activities, and more than 12,000 chapter books. With Read and Record^?, customers can use NOOK Tablet?s built-in microphone to record and save their reading of any NOOK Kids picture books so children can listen to their favorite storytellers anytime.

o NOOK Comics and graphic novels: A vast collection of full-color comics, graphic novels and kids? comics in high resolution and the largest digital collection of Marvel?s graphic novels available through a third party, as well as other titles from leading publishers including Archie, IDW and Dynamite. Through a partnership with VIZ Media, LLC, the largest publisher of anime and manga in North America, NOOK customers can access more than 30 series, featuring nearly 430 volumes.

o Books and more: Continuously expanded NOOK Store^? with the vast majority of books available for $9.99 or less. Barnes & Noble?s digital book collection includes PagePerfect^? NOOK Books^? featuring cookbooks, craft and art books rendered with rich precision to retain all the beauty of their stunning print versions, and enhanced reading with PDF thumbnail page views, and image pinch, zoom and pan in books and PDFs.

o Discover and socialize: Learn what to read next from Barnes& Noble?s knowledgeable booksellers with personalized recommendations, or connect through NOOK Friends^? to share thoughts, lend books through the exclusive LendMe^® technology and more via email and sites like Facebook.

o Continuous reading: Read what you love, anywhere you like^? on NOOK devices and with FREE NOOK Reading Apps. Sync your library, last page read, bookmarks, etc. across all of your devices through NOOK Cloud.

· Sleek and thin with a soft touch back design, and lightweight at under a pound (14.1 oz.), making it easy to carry in a handbag, briefcase, backpack or suit jacket pocket for reading and entertainment on-the-go.

Customers can, as always, access their personal NOOK Library^? through the free, reliable and secure NOOK Cloud^? service, which also powers the seamless integration and synchronization between devices, as well as NOOK?s best-in-class shopping experience and social features.

Says Lynch, ?NOOK Tablet, NOOK Color and NOOK Simple Touch^? represent the highest-quality portfolio of reading and entertainment products on the market at the best value. Whether it?s movies, music and apps on-the-go that you crave, or a simple, immersive reading experience, we offer great products and more choices than ever before with our product portfolio, starting at just $99.?

NOOK Color: Now $169

The highly acclaimed NOOK Color, offering access to top video and music services, popular apps, comics and more, is now available at a new low price of just $169, starting today. The first Reader?s Tablet, NOOK Color combines an award-winning reading experience with tablet essentials including apps, Web and email. NOOK Color customers can download Netflix to watch movies and TV shows, access a wide array of books, periodicals and comics, enjoy top music services and thousands of apps, browse the easy-to-use, social and streamlined NOOK Store.

Availability

NOOK Tablet ? 8GB version is available for purchase today for $199 at www.nook.com and in Barnes & Noble stores, and will be available in leading retailers including Best Buy, Target and Walmart in the coming weeks. NOOK Color is now available in Barnes & Noble stores and www.nook.com for $169. Experience NOOK Tablet, NOOK Color and NOOK Simple Touch at www.nook.com or at the NOOK Digital Shops?, which feature the full portfolio of NOOK digital devices and FREE NOOK Reading Apps^?, or displays in one of Barnes & Noble?s nearly 700 bookstores and other leading retailers. Barnes & Noble offers Always Free NOOK Supportin all of its neighborhood bookstores, with more than 40,000 NOOKsellers across the country ready to assist customers with setting up their NOOK devices or choosing their next great read.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheBoyGeniusReport/~3/rt4NarGipyE/

Tech Stuff Apple

Blockbuster On Demand coming to Samsung gadgets

zilvinas — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 06:42:27 +0000

Samsung has inked a deal with Blockbuster to deliver on-demand streaming movie and TV shows to Samsung smart TVs, ultrabooks, smartphones and tablets later in 2012. The service will hit Samsung hardware in the US, UK and across Europe in the first half of this year, according to Smarthouse, while other regions, including Australia, will have to wait until the second half of 2012 before they see it. Samsung is apparently cooking up a global billing system for easy content purchase no matter which device they?re using.

Pricing for Samsung?s Blockbuster On Demand deal hasn?t been confirmed, but it will presumably fall into line with current purchase and rental offerings. Rentals are priced from $1.99 for a 24 hour period of access, while purchases also start at $1.99 but are continuously accessible from Blockbuster?s servers.

Also unclear is how the system will handle multiple devices. Purchased content will presumably be accessible no matter which Samsung hardware you?re using ? as long as they?re all registered to the same account ? so that you can start a film on your TV and then pick up playback on your smartphone instead. We?re guessing the same will be true for rented content.

The news follows word that Blockbuster On Demand has been yanked from TiVo, with the streaming content company claiming that it is ?updating? its technology platform into a form that is incompatible with TiVo DVRs.

Source: http://www.slashgear.com/blockbuster-on-demand-coming-to-samsung-gadgets-20214383/

Computers Touch Phone

If You Could Have Any One Feature That Isn?t Currently in Android, What Would It Be?

zilvinas — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 01:57:25 +0000

Technology is quite funny. In two years? time you could go from having the rawest of products to a premier offering that no one can live without. Such was the case with Android. We?ve come a long way from Android 1.0 and the operating system has transformed tremendously since its initial release in September 2008.

We?re three full versions ahead of that first release now, but we?re curious: is there anything else that you wish Google would add? I, for one, would love the ability to have different wallpapers for different pages on my homescreen.

It?s something I?ve wanted ever since HTC started airing those ?You? ads. It?s just one of those things which would add to the experience for me. What?s one thing you guys would love to see Google add to Android? Let?s hear it in the comments section below.

Source: http://phandroid.com/2012/02/20/if-you-could-have-any-one-feature-that-isnt-currently-in-android-what-would-it-be/

Ipad New Phones

Don?t get lost. Get Nokia Drive.

zilvinas — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 20:24:25 +0000

Nokia Maps | Travelling – out and about

Posted by Surya February 13, 2012

You?ve probably been there?one hand on the wheel, another scratching your head as you drive around and around looking for an elusive house or business that really should be right there. But it?s not. You?re lost. All the looking-it-up-in-advance and stopping-to-ask-for-directions stuff just hasn?t cut it. If you?re anything like me, a slowly creeping panic makes you even less likely to find your way. But now that I?ve got Nokia Drive on my Nokia Belle smartphone, being lost has become a faint, distant memory (kinda like how those unlit house numbers look from my car in the dark). And with the latest Nokia Maps Suite for Nokia Belle smartphones release, Nokia Drive is so convenient it?s the obvious remedy to my direction anxiety.

Now when I want to go somewhere, I just input my destination in Nokia Drive and plan my route before I start my engine. Back by popular demand, the updated Route Planner lets me see a preview of my whole route in advance. I can even customize the itinerary by moving my starting point or adding new route points along the way. The new Nokia Drive keeps up with my busy lifestyle, letting me plan multiple trips and save my favorites for future reference. Plus, with a bigger map, Nokia Drive is not only easier to customize, it?s easier to see. And that is pretty important to me.

For now, English speakers in the UK also get premier access to Voice Search for hands-free flexibility in Nokia Drive in Nokia Belle smartphones. Those lucky blokes just tap the microphone icon and speak where they want to go. ?St. Pancras Station,? they might say. And Bob?s your uncle?Nokia Drive will do its thing, no hands needed. Jealous? I know I am, stuck here in Berlin. (It?s hard to find good shepherd?s pie here too, I?m afraid.) But I?m only a wee bit jealous, as I know it?ll be coming soon for other languages and regions too.

Are you now excited to try out the new Nokia Drive? It?s conveniently part of the latest Nokia Maps Suite release, which you can download to your Nokia Belle smartphone from Nokia Beta Labs. In case you have a Nokia Anna smartphone, you can upgrade to Nokia Belle and download the Nokia Maps Suite from Nokia Beta Labs.

Source: http://blog.maps.nokia.com/nokia-maps/don%E2%80%99t-get-lost-get-nokia-drive

Tech Robotic

EcoBot-III Runs On Human Excrement!

zilvinas — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 15:12:21 +0000

Source: http://robots.net/article/3311.html

Touch Phone Phone News

Week in Review: iPad 3 speculation, OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion

zilvinas — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 10:42:34 +0000

Another week behind us, and it was quite full of surprises and iPad 3 news. In the middle of the week Apple introduced us to Mountain Lion, another step towards unifying the OS X and iOS experience into one. With tons of news coming at you, odds are you missed something, so let?s check out some of what took place this week.

iPhone news

iPad news

App news

How Tos

More of: Featured Video, Week in Review
More on: week in ipad, week in iphone, weekly recap

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/ZY94vxKa15Y/story01.htm

Cool Tech Siemens