Baratza Vario-E, $575; Baratza
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Measured Mug(Measured Cofee Beans)
Baratza Vario-E, $575; Baratza
Friday, August 5, 2011
July 2011's Greatest Gadget
Cameras that snap photos in complete darkness, incredibly sturdy phones, the thinnest external hard drive and more
Wireless, Chipless Tech Transfers Cash from Your Smartphone Using Ultrasound
We're excited about NFC, with all its wallet-replacing, house-unlocking, Wi-Fi-password-remembering potential. But NFC does require a hardware chip, and that means we're at least a few years from real adoption. The recently announced Zoosh is a wireless protocol that can handle many of the features we're so anxiously awaiting in NFC--but without any new hardware, you could theoretically get Zoosh on your smartphone with a mere app download.
Spy-Like Sunglasses Shoot and Share Videos
A pair of camera-equipped shades makes secret video as easy as walking down the street
Rather than let life pass you by, save it. With the camera-equipped Eyez glasses, users can share point-of-view video without the clunky cameras and nettlesome file transfers that rabid uploaders typically endure.
Rather than let life pass you by, save it. With the camera-equipped Eyez glasses, users can share point-of-view video without the clunky cameras and nettlesome file transfers that rabid uploaders typically endure.
Testing the Goods: HTC's Evo 3D, the Country's First Glasses-Free 3-D Smartphone
What's New
The Evo 3D is changed in some subtle ways from its predecessor, the Evo 4G. It has a dual-core processor, rather than the Evo 4G's single-core, along with more memory. The software has been upgraded as well; the Evo 3D has the newest version of HTC's Android skin, Sense 3.0, laying on top of the newest version of Android, Gingerbread. But the big addition is the 3-D: its screen can display glasses-free stereoscopic 3-D, and its dual-lensed camera (on the rear; it also has a regular 2-D front-facing camera) can take both video and still photography in the third dimension.
What's Good
The phone itself is pretty good! HTC changed the aspect ratio to 16:9, making the phone taller and skinnier than the Evo 4G. I'm not a huge fan of that decision, as it can be tough to reach the upper parts of the giant 4.3-inch screen, especially for those with smaller hands. Aside from that, the design is really nice--much thinner than, say, the HTC Thunderbolt, and with a more interesting look. The textured back and Evo-trademark circle-enclosed buttons are a nice touch. The added horsepower and upgraded version of Android make the phone very snappy to use. Sense 3.0 is kind of overly complicated and showy--expect lots of completely unnecessary animations and a bajillion very-similar widgets--but it does offer some nice features and a sense of cohesiveness that Android sometimes lacks. The lockscreen, which shows the weather and gives you a shortcut into the camera, phone, email, and messaging app, is a good example: It's pretty, and useful on paper, but it's not actually any more efficient to use than a simple unlocker.
The included 3-D game, Ultimate Spider-Man: Totaly Mayhem, is pretty fun--about as good as a mid-tier Nintendo 3DS game, which means it's worth playing. Not to brag, but this further proves our theory that 3-D is at its best in gaming, rather than movies or TV.
Oh, and the camera button is perfect. Other phone makers: Steal this button en masse. It actually feels like a camera's shutter button, two-stage picture-taking and all. I want it on every phone I buy from now on.
What's Bad
The 3-D is bad. It's not implemented nearly as much as I expected--the homescreens and all of HTC's custom apps are in regular 2-D, including HTC's replacement Twitter, email, calendar, and messaging apps. It's jarring to turn on a phone with "3-D" in the name and have to dig around in the app list to find something that's actually in 3-D.
But once you do find the 3-D stuff--there are a few games in 3-D, the Gallery app displays 3-D images, and you can watch movies in 3-D--you might wonder why you even bothered. The effect is noticeably worse than the Nintendo 3DS: images are very shimmery, shifting around if you change your perspective even a tiny amount. The proper viewing angle is far too specific--if you move to the side, up and down, or back and forth, you'll lose the effect.
The Price
$200 with a two-year contract from Sprint
Canon 60D Hands-On Preview
Nikon D7000 Shoots 1080p Video With Full-Time Autofocus
Magnetic Microprocessors Could Enable the Most Efficient Computers Physically Possible
Record-Breaking New Fiber Optic Cables Transmit 100 Terabits Per Second
Google's Chromebook Specs Revealed: Up to $499 for a Cloud-Based Laptop
Chromebooks Google
Among the many announcements at Google’s I/O developer conference were the final specs for the Chromebook, a new bare-bones notebook based on the Chrome OS platform. Your data is stored in the cloud, not on a hard drive, and all computing is done through the Chrome web browser and its apps, allowing instant-on capability and an “all-day battery,” according to Google. For this you will pay between $349 and $499.
New ZeroTouch Interface is a Touchscreen Without the Screen
Financial Trading Algorithms Aren't Just Making Deals, They're Making War
Theft of trading ideas has long been a proud tradition on trading floors across the world. There was a time when smart traders would hang out in the same restaurants, bars, and flophouses as their institutional counterparts trying to catch a hint about tomorrow’s dealings or to manipulate another trader with some skullduggery--and then try to take advantage of the trade
Fruit Flies' Neural Networks Solve Distributed Computing Problem Better Than Humans
The burgeoning neural networks of fruit fly pupae solve a distributed computing problem, arranging sensory bristles in a very efficient, effective manner. Scientists who monitored the bristles‘ growth say they can mimic the flies’ method to build more effective communications networks.
