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Sunday, December 25, 2011

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Switched On: The Year of Reversal

Posted: 25 Dec 2011 02:32 PM PST

Switched On: The Year of Reversal


Switched On: The Year of Reversal
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. Back in 2005, Switched On dubbed its first full year of existence "The Year of the Switch" as IBM sold its PC business to Lenovo, Apple announced plans to leave the PowerPC platform for Macs and Microsoft moved to PowerPC processors for the XBox 360....

Apple's Newsstand application aiding digital magazine sales, says 'I told you so'

Posted: 25 Dec 2011 01:04 PM PST

Apple's Newsstand application aiding digital magazine sales, says 'I told you so'


Apple's Newsstand application aiding digital magazine sales, says 'I told you so'
There's no doubt that the digital magazine's road to success has been a bumpy one. The original -- and still the main -- idea was to push content creators and publishers forward in the paperless era, but there's been many doubters and fallen soldiers in the process. While Apple hasn't been the only outfit looking to bring the magazine to the small screen, the introduction of the Newsstand app in iOS...

Happy Holidays from AutoblogGreen

Posted: 25 Dec 2011 11:36 AM PST

Happy Holidays from AutoblogGreen


Happy Holidays from AutoblogGreen
Filed under: Etc. Whether it's covering the absurd or the important, we enjoy being your go-to source for fuel-efficient motoring news day in and day out. With the smell of special meals cooking and a present or two being unwrapped, here's hoping that everyone in the AutoblogGreen community has a great holiday this year, no matter what you choose to call the reason for the season....

Notre Dame heralds paint-on solar cells, wants to smear your home with its goop...

Posted: 25 Dec 2011 11:36 AM PST

Notre Dame heralds paint-on solar cells, wants to smear your home with its goop (video)


Notre Dame heralds paint-on solar cells, wants to smear your home with its goop (video)
Leave it to the Fighting Irish to take a stab at solving the world's energy woes. Notre Dame researchers have successfully developed solar cells that can be easily painted on to any conductive surface. Imagine, for a moment, applying this solution to your home rather than attaching solar panels to the roof....

Swype gets a new beta, adopts Dragon Dictation for speech to text (video)

Posted: 25 Dec 2011 10:07 AM PST

Swype gets a new beta, adopts Dragon Dictation for speech to text (video)


Swype gets a new beta, adopts Dragon Dictation for speech to text (video)
Look, either you love or hate Swype -- there's just no two ways about it. Those that can't imagine life without the gesture-based virtual keyboard will probably only fall deeper in amour with it when greeted with the latest beta. Eagle-eyed observers might notice the microphone key in that image above has been replaced with a tiny flame logo that should be familiar to any fan of Nuance's voice-to-text apps....

So, what'd you get?

Posted: 25 Dec 2011 08:38 AM PST

So, what'd you get?


So, what'd you get?
Yeah, it's pretty unfortunate that you've got to work tomorrow (well, unless you're down with Boxing Day), but let's take it one 24-hour window at a time, shall we? It's not as if you've had any shortage of gizmos to choose from this year, and while you aren't likely to get a Transformer Prime, there's plenty of other stocking stuffers to look forward to....

Rooted MotoACTV Brings Web Browsing And Angry Birds To Your Wrist

Posted: 25 Dec 2011 07:11 AM PST

Rooted MotoACTV Brings Web Browsing And Angry Birds To Your Wrist


Rooted MotoACTV Brings Web Browsing And Angry Birds To Your Wrist
Fitness watches are one thing, but how about a fitness watch that lets you play a few levels of Angry Birds in between wind sprints? Motorola's MotoACTV debuted alongside the Droid RAZR not too long ago, and one developer has finally taken it upon itself to unleash its full potential. The hack comes courtesy of developer Chris Wade, whose past endeavors include the Dingleberry PlayBook root method and the (ill-fated) iEmu project....

Refresh Roundup: week of December 19, 2011

Posted: 25 Dec 2011 07:11 AM PST

Refresh Roundup: week of December 19, 2011


Refresh Roundup: week of December 19, 2011
Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging to get updated. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix....

A123 confirms Fisker Karma batteries could have cooling problem

Posted: 25 Dec 2011 06:26 AM PST

A123 confirms Fisker Karma batteries could have cooling problem


A123 confirms Fisker Karma batteries could have cooling problem
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Fisker Battery maker A123 has announced that batteries it supplied to Fisker Automotive for its Karma range-extended luxury sedan might have "misaligned" hose clamps for the cooling system, which could cause coolant to leak. Unabated, A123 admits the leak could cause an electrical short-circuit. According to Bloomberg-BusinessWeek, the company has a fix for the issue, and luckily the issue was discovered when there are no more than 50 Karmas...

Bell Canada will stop throttling your P2P traffic, might charge instead

Posted: 25 Dec 2011 05:41 AM PST

Bell Canada will stop throttling your P2P traffic, might charge instead


Bell Canada will stop throttling your P2P traffic, might charge instead
Since the CRTC took a swipe at net neutrality a few years back, Bell Canada internet customers have maligned its P2P packet-shaping ways. From March 1st, however, users can file-share at the speeds nature (or your ISP) intended. In a letter to the aforementioned regulator, Bell points out that improvements to its network and the proliferation of video streaming mean that the more nefarious traffic just isn't denting its capacity like...

Navteq traffic to launch on Garmin devices using HD radio technology

Posted: 25 Dec 2011 03:28 AM PST

Navteq traffic to launch on Garmin devices using HD radio technology


Navteq traffic to launch on Garmin devices using HD radio technology
The state of morning gridlock just got a little more real with the introduction of Navteq's real-time traffic via HD radio -- to be included with Garmin's nüvi 3490LMT personal navigation device. The service is said to be four to ten times faster than other similar offerings, updating details every 30 seconds for 270,000 miles of bumper-to-bumper goodness....

HTC Fireball and LG Spectrum may bring global awesomeness to Verizon's LTE lineup

Posted: 25 Dec 2011 01:15 AM PST

HTC Fireball and LG Spectrum may bring global awesomeness to Verizon's LTE lineup


HTC Fireball and LG Spectrum may bring global awesomeness to Verizon's LTE lineup
Separately, the HTC Fireball and LG Spectrum have made their appearances in Verizon's internal system before. But together, in the screenshot above, they're actually much more than just a couple silly names -- they're responsible for ushering in the beginning of an era (potentially). We have yet to see an LTE device on Big Red's lineup that can double as a world phone, but these two phones appear to have the...

Ultrasonic screwdriver sniffs out carbon fiber damage, planes book a check-up wi...

Posted: 24 Dec 2011 11:04 PM PST

Ultrasonic screwdriver sniffs out carbon fiber damage, planes book a check-up with The Doctor


Ultrasonic screwdriver sniffs out carbon fiber damage, planes book a check-up with The Doctor
Lighter planes means less fuel, means less money and, hopefully, lower ticket prices. Carbon fiber reinforcements are a major part of this plan; both Boeing's latest bird and the double-decker Airbus make liberal use of the light and strong composite. However, they're not without their own dangers; minute amounts of water can get into the carbon fibers, which then form ice at high altitude, damaging the fiber structures....

Device warns of catastrophic failure in lithium-ion batteries, robots celebrate

Posted: 24 Dec 2011 09:38 PM PST

Device warns of catastrophic failure in lithium-ion batteries, robots celebrate


Device warns of catastrophic failure in lithium-ion batteries, robots celebrate
"Catastrophic lithium-ion battery failure" are five words Malfunctioning Eddie never wants to hear, and may not have to, thanks to a new sensor developed by the folks at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Despite the popularity of lithium-ion batteries in everything from consumer electronics to hybrid and electric vehicles, they have been associated with a phenomenon called "thermal runaway" -- known to cause overheating and potentially, fire....

Ask Engadget: best quick-shutter camera for under $700?

Posted: 24 Dec 2011 07:29 PM PST

Ask Engadget: best quick-shutter camera for under $700?


Ask Engadget: best quick-shutter camera for under $700?
We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, here's the outlet to do so. This week's Ask Engadget inquiry is from Travis, who is soon to become a father (congratulations!) and wants to capture the baby's life with a new camera. If you're looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com. "I'm about...

Ford reimagines Santa's sleigh with Evos design, EcoBoost power

Posted: 24 Dec 2011 05:20 PM PST

Ford reimagines Santa's sleigh with Evos design, EcoBoost power


Ford reimagines Santa's sleigh with Evos design, EcoBoost power
Filed under: Etc., Ford Ever thought about how much CO2 is being emitted from Santa's reindeer? Neither have we, but Ford has. The folks at the Blue Oval figured out that Chris Kringle's road crew drops a knee-wobbling 214,670 tons of CO2 each year while delivering presents to 267 million homes. Those are sobering statistics, so Ford decided to fight back with EcoBoost power....

Western Digital releases Android app to control set-top boxes remotely

Posted: 24 Dec 2011 05:20 PM PST

Western Digital releases Android app to control set-top boxes remotely


Western Digital releases Android app to control set-top boxes remotely
This week, you'll be able to control your Western Digital set-top box with a free Android app. And you'll love it. Only days after releasing an equivalent app for iOS, Western Digital has just released WD TV Remote, a free Android app that connects to your Western Digital set-top box over a WiFi connection and allows you to control it from any Android-based device....

MOTOACTV torn down and rooted, turned into a tablet for ants

Posted: 24 Dec 2011 05:20 PM PST

MOTOACTV torn down and rooted, turned into a tablet for ants


MOTOACTV torn down and rooted, turned into a tablet for ants
Chris Wade, the intrepid dev behind the DingleBerry PlayBook hack, has turned his attention to new device. One that occupies the exact opposite end of the size spectrum -- the MOTOACTV. The man started poking around inside the Android-powered sports watch, actually tearing it open and splaying its innards across his palm for all of us to see....

Plex media app: streaming soon to Nook Tablet and Color

Posted: 24 Dec 2011 04:36 PM PST

Plex media app: streaming soon to Nook Tablet and Color


Plex media app: streaming soon to Nook Tablet and Color
Well, well, if it isn't the famed iOS and Android media jock (read: Plex) making its way to the Nook universe. The application's now gone through yet another good-to-go regime, and if all goes according to plan, it should be hitting Barnes & Noble's virtual stores in the coming days....

The Top 30 Android Apps And Games Of 2011

Posted: 24 Dec 2011 03:53 PM PST

The Top 30 Android Apps And Games Of 2011


The Top 30 Android Apps And Games Of 2011
Editor's note: Contributor Brad Spirrison is the managing editor of mobile app discovery services Appolicious, AndroidApps and AppVee. After having looked into the best iOS apps and games of 2011, Spirrison now turns his attention to the best Android apps of the year. Android apps come in all shapes and sizes – literally....

MIT researchers locate genes that help underlie memory formation, zap some mice

Posted: 24 Dec 2011 03:53 PM PST

MIT researchers locate genes that help underlie memory formation, zap some mice


MIT researchers locate genes that help underlie memory formation, zap some mice
Over time, the neurons in your brain are going to change. And that's only natural. When you experience a new event, your brain encodes the memory by altering the connections between neurons, which is caused by turning on several genes within these neurons. Recenty, a team of neuroscientists at MIT published their findings in the Dec....