Author: admin

Business Culture Google

Google Exec Departs Amidst Rumors Of Tangled Love Quadrangle

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As reported on on TechCrunch. by ALEXIA TSOTSIS We’ve confirmed a report today that Android VP Hugo Barra is leaving Google for “Apple of China” Xiaomi. The report was timed to coincide with another story about the dissolution of Google co-founder Sergey Brin’s marriage to 23andMe co-founder Anne Wojcicki. It also revealed that a person whom Hugo Barra had been in a previous relationship with was now dating Brin. Barra’s departure was said to be “unrelated” to the above. Barra had been at Google since March 2008, coming…

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Story

Apple Working On Intelligent Brightness Control And Automated FaceTime Camera Selection

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As reported on TechCrunch. by DARRELL ETHERINGTON Ideally, your smart device of the future anticipates your needs and adjusts itself to suit them without requiring input on your behalf. Two newly published patent applications (spotted by AppleInsider) from Apple describe systems that could help do just that for future iPhones and iPads, viaselective screen brightness control and auto camera switching during FaceTime video calls. The first patent application describes a way for a user to selectively adjust brightness and…

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Business Entertainment Hardware Dev

Black Betty 2K camera can shoot, cut and upload video with built-in Mac Mini

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As reported on Engadget. By Steve Dent The Black Betty company has just hit the scene with a cinema camera that pulls an astounding trick — it’s got a freaking desktop computer jammed into the body. Camera-wise, there’s a 2/3-inch 2K sensor with a 16mm lens mount developed by Silicon Imaging and used in films like Slumdog Millionaire. That’ll capture 2K or 1080p, 160-500 ISO footage at up to 30fps (or more for lower resolutions), and bring…

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Google

Google+ Hangouts moving to HD video soon, going plugin-free within months

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As reported on Engadget. By Jon Fingas You may not have noticed it yet, but Google is in the middle of sweeping changes toHangouts that should offer big improvements to image quality and accessibility. The company tells GigaOM that it’s currently upgrading its video chat service to 720p by switching from the H.264 video codec to the more efficient (and Google-controlled)VP8 standard. HD-quality Hangouts should be available soon after Google finishes the VP8 rollout to web users late next week.…

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Space

10 Years of Mesmerizing Photos From NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope

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As reported on Wired. BY NADIA DRAKE For 10 years, NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope has been helping scientists on Earth learn more about the mysterious objects hiding in our star-studded skies. On August 25, 2003, the telescope — carrying a relatively small, 0.85-meter beryllium mirror — launched from Cape Canaveral, FL. Since then, it’s been trailing the Earth on its orbit around the sun, like NASA’s Kepler spacecraft. Spitzer stares at the heavens in infrared wavelengths, revealing the cold, distant,…

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Social Networking

Facebook Announces Shared Photo Albums To Boost Group Engagement

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As reported on TechCrunch. by BILLY GALLAGHER Facebook is rolling out shared photo albums, as first reported by Mashable. Users can share access to an album with up to 50 contributors, who can each add up to 200 photos. For those of you who aren’t math whizzes, that means shared albums can be as large as 10,000 photos. Previously, albums were limited to 1,000 total photos and users could only add pictures to their own albums. This…

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Mobile

Samsung Exec Confirms Galaxy Gear Smartwatch Aimed At Younger, Hip Buyers Coming Sept. 4

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As reported on TechCrunch. by DARRELL ETHERINGTON Samsung’s Galaxy Gear smartwatch is poised to be the next big news in wearable tech, and it’s also rapidly becoming one of the worst kept secrets of the tech world. Today, Samsung Executive Vice President of Mobile Lee Young-hee told The Korea Times that the Galaxy Gear would indeed be unveiled in Berlin on Sept. 4 two days ahead of the IFA conference opening, and that the new smartwatch would be…

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Mobile

Samsung Galaxy Note III camera rumored to pack 4K video capture, high-quality audio playback

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As reported on Engadget. By Mat Smith What are you going to add to a smartphone series that’s already gone big-screen,already has a stylus and already offers up a decent battery life? According to theKorea Economic Daily, Samsung believes adding a heavy-duty camera upgrade to 4K should do the trick. The news site’s source (identified as an “industry official” rather than a Samsung employee), says the Galaxy Note III, which is likely to make its debut at IFA 2013, will be…

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Mobile

Samsung exec confirms Galaxy Gear and Note III announcement on September 4th as images start to leak (updated)

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As reported on Engadget. By Daniel Cooper The cat’s out of the bag, and a rogue Samsung executive is the one who’s been untying the strings. During a chat with the Korea Times, Samsung’s Lee Young-hee blabbed that we’d see both the Galaxy Gear and the Galaxy Note III being announced at IFA on September 4th. The mobile VP added that the oft-rumored “wearable concept device” wouldn’t come with a flexible display and will be a companion gadget for your smartphone…

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Military

Launch This New 9-Hour Solar-Powered Drone from Your Shoulder

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As reported on Wired. BY ALLEN MCDUFFEE Photo: Courtesy AeroVironment Inc.   A new small unmanned aircraft system (UAS) boasts something no other has been able to do thus far: continuous flight for 9 hours and all on the clean energy of solar power. AeroVironment‘s 13-pound Puma AE can be assembled and hand-launched in minutes and requires no infrastructure for launch or landing, making them attractive for frontline use where time and space can be too…

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