Monthly Archives: June 2011

33 posts

Cloud Services Compared

Brian X. Chen writing on Wired has posted an interesting article “From iCloud to Dropbox: 5 Cloud Services Compared.”

The article compares Apple’s iCloud, Amazon’s Cloud Drive, Google’s “cloud” suite, Microsoft Windows Live and Dropbox.

“The general idea of the “cloud” is to store your media on the internet so you can access it from any device anywhere, as opposed to leaving it on a hard drive. Now with cloud services, we can juggle around our data between multiple gadgets.”

Read full article: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/06/cloud-services-compared/

Mitsubishi Announce Matte RDT233WX-Z 23 inch Diamondcrysta Monitor

Press Release – Mitsubishi have announced the RDT233WX-Z 23-inch Diamondcrysta monitor featuring a pair of HDMI ports, DVI-D, mini D-Sub, and the Japanese D5 jack. And a matte coating.

The new product is compatible with full HD ? 1 with 120Hz LCD panel driving schemes IPS, velocity interpolation “clear picture speed,” a condensed and super-resolution technology and high-definition technology, “Giga clear engine ?” by built-in , smooth fast moving images to display vivid images and crisp with a natural sense of resolution.

? 1 Full HD: 1920 × 1080 pixels display

Wide LCD 23 “Diamondcrysta WIDE” RDT233WX new-Z (BK)

RDT233WX-Z (BK)
View larger picture
New Features
1. The velocity interpolation scheme and the LCD panel IPS, displayed on the smooth fast-motion
· The IPS mode LCD panel driving 120Hz, can display images in vivid colors when viewed from an angle
· “Clear picture speed” of 60 frames per second image interpolation to be displayed at 120 frames per second smooth
2. Super-resolution technology “Giga clear engine ?” on-board display in a natural sense of resolution high definition video
· “Giga Clear engine ?” The displays high quality images and crisp with a natural sense of resolution
· Automatically detects the locations prone to flicker, flicker can prevent the super-resolution processing
· “Giga Clear Window” by super-resolution techniques can be applied only to specified areas
3. PinP function of parent-child screens, comfortable two-enabled digital screen
· ? 2 PinP function compatible with digital display 2 can be viewed on a PC screen images and video footage parents
· In the application of resolution enhancement techniques to screen the child can watch the video and crisp even in computer work
? 2 PinP: Picture in Picture. And HDMI2 HDMI1, pin mini D-Show and D5 PinP combines non-SUB15 pin

Lightbox Photos The Connected Camera for Android

Connected Camera: Enhance your photos and quickly share them with your friends. All of your photos are automatically synced to your photowall on Lightbox.com and to your Android tablet.

Photo News Feed: Photos that your friends post on Facebook and Twitter are automatically synced to your phone.

Social networks & blogs currently supported:
– Facebook
– Twitter
– Tumblr
– Foursquare
Camera filters/effects include:
– Instafix (color correction)
– Black & White
– Lomo
– Portia
– Retro (70s old film look)
– Sepia
– Cyano
– Redscale
– Cross Process
– Fisheye

Reviews of Lightbox:
ReadWriteWeb: Lightbox, Gorgeous New Photo App Goes Android First
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/sxsw_lightbox_gorgeous_new_photo_app_goes_android_first.php

IntoMobile: Lightbox Android App Could Be An Instagram Killer:
http://www.intomobile.com/2011/05/10/handson-lightbox-android-app-could-instagram-killer/

www.lightbox.com

Dropbox Accounts Accessible Without Password

Dropbox has confirmed that for some time yesterday, any users account was accessible without a password. The glitch was a programming error related to a code update and accounts were only vulnerable from around 1:54 pm PST to 5:46pm PST, reports Cnet.

A statement was issued by Dropbox explaining the issue:
Yesterday we made a code update at 1:54pm Pacific time that introduced a bug affecting our authentication mechanism. We discovered this at 5:41pm and a fix was live at 5:46pm. A very small number of users (much less than 1 percent) logged in during that period, some of whom could have logged into an account without the correct password. As a precaution, we ended all logged in sessions.

For those 4 hours, anyone who was aware of the glitch could have accessed your data stored on the Dropbox servers without restriction. Dropbox Co-Founder Arash Ferdowsi said:

“We are scrutinizing our controls and we will be implementing additional safeguards to prevent this from happening again.”

Read morr: http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20072755-281/dropbox-confirms-security-glitch-no-password-required/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Leica MP Mechanical Rangefinder Review

Jon Snyder has written a great review of the all-mechanical version of the Leica MP on Wired.

“The MP is a stripped-down machine that only presents the bare essentials. It doesn’t have any of the trappings of its high-tech cousins. (And yes, this is a film camera.) Even its solid, all-metal construction with brass top and bottom plates is an anomaly: It’s rare not to see or feel any plastic in such a small camera these days. The MP skips any garish branding, too. The Leica “red dot” logo found on the front of most of the company’s cameras is oddly absent. Not that the lack of logo would fool anyone from correctly guessing what brand of very expensive gear is hanging around your neck.

To test it, I did what a proper Leica owner would do: I hit the streets.

Street shooting has traditionally been a tough gig, since you have to rely on your skills of timing, judgement and, most of all, stealth.”

Read full article: hhttp://www.wired.com/reviews/2011/06/leica-mp/

The Leica MP is a 35 mm film camera manufactured by Leica Camera AG and was introduced in 2003. It is an all-mechanical rangefinder focusing camera that follows in a long line of cameras since the Leica M3 was introduced in 1954. The camera uses the Leica M Bayonet Mount which accepts all Leica bayonet-mount lenses (21 mm through 135 mm) made since 1954. The ‘MP’ designation stands for “mechanical perfection. – Wikipedia.org

Lecia MP homepage: http://en.leica-camera.com/photography/m_system/mp/

Samsung Series 5 Chromebook Review

Mike Isaac writing on Wired has posted a review of the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook and how it works in a browser based environment.

“Samsung’s Series 5 notebook is the mere physical vehicle for Google’s cloud-based vision of the future. It’s a world where users aren’t bogged down by needless accoutrements like cumbersome operating systems, optical drives or high-capacity local storage.”

Read full article: http://www.wired.com/reviews/2011/06/samsung-chromebook/

Samsung Chromebook Goes On Sale in US

The new Samsung Series 5 ChromeBook laptop running Google’s Chrome operating system has gone on sale in the United States.

The Samsung Series 5 is a 12.1-inch netbook powered by an Intel Atom N570 dual-core CPU, and has 2GB of RAM and a 16GB solid-state drive.

The Chromebook is available in WiFi only and WiFi and 3G models for $429 (£266) and $499 (£310) respectively.

It is expected to sell for between £349 and £399 when launched in the UK in August.

Ruper Goodwins from ZDNet said: “For all the things that are on the web browser, this works really well – better than anything else. But for all the stuff you do on the desktop, it doesn’t do very well at all.

“The idea that this doesn’t matter – that you’re always connected and always online – isn’t quite true yet. The idea is very good but it’s a little premature.”

A second Chromebook, made by Acer is due to start shipping soon

FrontFrontlineSMS Free Open Source Software Turns a Laptop and a Mobile Phone Into a Central Communications Hub

FRONTLINESMS ALLOWS YOU TO TEXT MESSAGE WITH LARGE GROUPS OF PEOPLE ANYWHERE THERE IS A MOBILE SIGNAL

FrontlineSMS is award-winning free, open source software that turns a laptop and a mobile phone into a central communications hub. Once installed, the program enables users to send and receive text messages with groups of people through mobile phones. What you communicate is up to you, making FrontlineSMS useful in many different ways.

It does not require an Internet connection.

Attach a phone and SIM card, and pay your local operator per SMS as usual.

It stores all phone numbers and records all incoming and outgoing messages.

All data lives on your computer, not on servers controlled by someone else.
You can send messages to individuals or large groups, and reply individually – useful for fieldwork or during surveys.

It is easy to install and requires little or no training to use.

Developers can freely take the source code and add their own features.

It can be used anywhere in the world simply by switching the SIM card.

The current version of FrontlineSMS (1.6) comes with on-screen language support for English, Arabic, Azerbaijani, Bengali, German, Spanish, Finnish, French, Hindi, Indonesian, Khmer, Portuguese, Russian, Swahili and Chinese

www.frontlinesms.com

Yahoo Launches AppSpot App Search for iPhone and Android

Yahoo! AppSpot gives personalized app recommendations for your iPhone and Android device. Both app search on the PC and the AppSpot mobile apps are intended to make apps more discoverable and provide more context to users.

“Yahoo AppSpot, a new mobile application, works like a flashlight in the darkness of more than 425,000-plus apps in the Apple App Store and 200,000 apps in Android Market,” Yahoo said in a statement. “Yahoo AppSpot offers a new way to take the guesswork out of finding relevant and interesting apps for mobile users.”

Features:
• Daily Personal Picks: AppSpot provides new, personalized picks every day based on the app categories that are most important to you.

• Quick Search: Leveraging Yahoo! search assist technology, AppSpot helps you quickly zero-in on relevant apps by showing matching app titles, as well as related keywords.

• Related Apps: To aid in discovery, AppSpot allows you to seamlessly continue down that search path by providing “more apps you’ll love” on app product pages.

• At-a-Glance Shopping: The bold and bright interface allows you to see the price, ratings, reviews, screenshots, and description all on one screen.

• Fast & Easy Downloads: Direct links to the specific app pages within the App Store make downloading selected apps a snap.

Yahoo! AppSpot: http://apps.search.yahoo.com/

Google Adds Voice and Image Search to Desktop Search and Instant Pages

Google has announced new features including Voice Search, Search by Image, and Instant Pages t an event called “Inside Search” at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.

These new features will only be available through the Chrome or Firefox browsers by using plugins.

Read more: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/knocking-down-barriers-to-knowledge.html

Sony Ericsson XPERIA Mini and Mini Pro Announced

Sony Ericsson have announced the XPERIA Mini and Mini Pro reports Will Park writing on Intomobile.

“The Mini and Mini Pro are designed to be extremely pocketable without compromising the kind of performance that savvy smartphone users are used to these days. The Mini rocks a slate-style form-factor, while the Mini Pro is basically the same phone with an added front-facing camera and slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Both phones feature a 3-inch (320×480) capacitive touchscreen that thankfully supports multitouch inputs and makes use of Sony’s Bravia Reality Engine. The miniature smartphone duo also sports a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor to keep things running smoothly, a 5-megapixel camera (with LED flash) that’s capable of recording 720p HD video, a hot-swappable microSD card slot, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and runs the Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS skinned with Sony Ericsson’s custom UX layer.

As for performance, the Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS combined with a snappy Snapdragon processor endow the Mini and Mini Pro with the guts to go head-to-head with other higher-end smartphones on market today.”

Read more: http://www.intomobile.com/2011/05/11/handson-sony-ericsson-xperia-mini-and-mini-pro-small-phone-big-punch/

Cnet review: http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/mobile-phones/sony-ericsson-xperia-mini-pro-review-50003889/

Review: http://www.techradar.com/reviews/phones/mobile-phones/sony-ericsson-xperia-mini-993256/review

In depth review: http://thisismynext.com/2011/08/30/xperia-mini-pro-review/

SyncMate for Mac

SyncMate is a sync tool which allows you syncing data between your Mac and various devices and accounts within one app. You can sync your Mac with Windows Mobile, Nokia S40 and Android phones, other Macs or PCs, Google accounts, USB drives, Sony PSP and back up data online.

SyncMate comes in two editions:

Free edition helps you solve basic syncing problems like iCal and Address Book synchronization with multiple devices or Google, while usually similar applications are quite costly. You can also freely read SMS messages on big screen of your Mac.

Expert edition has to be obtained for a small fee, but is totally worth it as it offers an extremely wide range of synchronization options of your Mac with multiple devices. This turns SyncMate into versatile tool that will replace many one-sync-feature programs.

More info: http://mac.eltima.com/sync-mac.html