Monday 30 April 2012

Switched On: Big kicks, not all for starters

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

Image

The end of last week's Switched On left doubt for the future of dedicated devices that tread on the turf of smartphones. After all, funding is key to every major new product initiative and, despite the vast fortunes of many Silicon Valley engineers that have been accumulated via IPOs and acquisitions, few wish to take on the risk of fronting a new consumer device themselves.(In 2007, the handheld FlipStart PC was hatched from FlipStart Labs, funded by Vulcan Ventures, the investment arm of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.)

Most venture capitalists abhor the device business; it is a rare device that makes it to the spotlight of startup debutante balls such as DEMO, TechCrunch Disrupt, or Launch. Even most of the 94 companies at CES' Eureka Park were not developing end-user devices Where, then, can a device entrepreneur go for funding and pick up some publicity in the process?

Continue reading Switched On: Big kicks, not all for starters

Switched On: Big kicks, not all for starters originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 Apr 2012 17:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

rick neuheisel andrea bocelli john hughes panasonic lumix dmc lx5 ucla football deliverance pentatonix

Achievement Unlocked: Apple Wins Applecom.com And Appleprinters.com After WIPO Complaint

apple_rainbow_logoApple still doesn't own iPad.com, apple.co.uk or many other domains that contain its name or names of its products, but it is now the proud owner of applecom.com and appleprinters.com -- two domains that were the subject of a complaint Apple made to the World Intellectual Property Organization about a month ago. If you now visit those URLs, they automatically redirect to Apple's main site.

romney michigan derrick williams railgun jk rowling new book between two ferns ihop statins

Lane Becker On How To ?Plan Serendipity? In Tech And Business [TCTV]

Screen Shot 2012-04-28 at 12.23.13 PMLane Becker has been a familiar figure in the Silicon Valley tech scene for years, as the co-founder of startups such as Adaptive Path and Get Satisfaction, and an advisor at early-stage venture capital firm Freestyle Capital. Becker recently added "New York Times Bestselling Author" to his list of descriptors, when the book "Get Lucky: How to Put Planned Serendipity to Work for You and Your Business" which he wrote with his Get Satisfaction co-founder Thor Muller debuted at the number six spot on the NYT's best seller list.

cher morgellons nhl all star draft touch nitrous oxide rihanna thug life tattoo chuck pagano

Sunday 29 April 2012

Twitter for Android gets another minor update

Twitter for Android

Twitter for Android has a small update in the Google Play store this evening, bringing it to version 3.2.1. The change log is short -- crashes for users that use the app in Dutch, Finnish, and Hungarian have been fixed, and the Indonesian language has been added. Grab the update from the Google Play store or hit the link after the break.

Thanks, Ben!

read more



aipac vanessa minnillo lenny dykstra super tuesday epidemiology total eclipse of the heart jionni lavalle

Temperature Sensitive Rug Changes Colors To Match the Seasons [Wish You Were Here]

When you decorate a room you're stuck with a single color palette all year round that doesn't necessarily reflect the changing seasons outside. So maybe we should look to Siren Elise Wilhelmsen's color-changing rug for inspiration on designing a room that reflects, or contrasts, the temperatures outside. More »


lottery winners lottery winners april fools day pranks ohio state vs kansas daniel von bargen the beach blood diamond

Sony patent suggests Xperia Play with dual keyboards, it's slidingly slidable

Sony patent suggests an Xperia Play with dual keyboards, it's slidingly slidable

Okay, so maybe physical keyboards were a bigger deal back in 2010 when this thing was filed, or maybe -- just maybe -- we'll one day see an Xperia Play smartphone with both a gamepad and a full QWERTY counterpart. A patent for such a contraption was just granted to Sony by the USPTO, which stakes its claim for a device with two sliding mechanisms in addition to the display. When the primary sliding mechanism is engaged, the second will come along for the ride -- and for those curious, it seems the default option is the keyboard. Once both are open, the sliding units may be disengaged from one another, so that when one of the units retracts, the other will remain accessible. It all sounds quite feasible, and if the mechanism works well enough, what's a few extra millimeters among friends?

Sony patent suggests Xperia Play with dual keyboards, it's slidingly slidable originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Apr 2012 05:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceUSPTO  | Email this | Comments


the borgias shroud of turin warren sapp the masters i robot the big c the visitor

Panasonic teams up with NHK on 145-inch 8K Super Hi-Vision plasma TV

Image

We thought the 8K 85-inch Super Hi-Vision LCD we saw during CES was impressive, but Japanese broadcaster NHK is already looking to surpass that by going even bigger. To that end it worked with Panasonic (above: that's Panasonic's Keishi Kubota on the left, Yoshio Ito of NHK on the right) to create this 145-inch prototype plasma, unveiled today as an example of the kind of displays we can expect to see once broadcasts jump to the higher resolution some day. The world's first self-illuminating Super Hi-Vision TV, it features every pixel of its expected 8K resolution -- 7,680 x 4,320. After working for months on smaller (only 85- or 103-inch) 4K plasmas, the two companies had to come up with an entirely new drive method for the display that works by scanning the pixels vertically to achieve a uniform picture quality. The NHK plans to show off the new display at its open house in May, although we're a bit more interested to see if we can watch the Olympics on it this summer. Check the gallery below for a few more pictures from DigInfo.TV's Ryo Osuga, or hit the more coverage link for a breakdown of the difficulties encountered in building a high resolution display that's this massive.

[Image Credit: Ryo Osuga, DigInfo.TV]

Panasonic teams up with NHK on 145-inch 8K Super Hi-Vision plasma TV originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Apr 2012 08:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourcePanasonic Japan  | Email this | Comments

atlanta hawks carlos zambrano clemson pellet gun clay aiken zambrano orange bowl

Saturday 28 April 2012

Tom Hiddleston Shows Us His 'Avengers' Script In Today's Twitter-Wood!

Only one more week until the "Avengers" assemble in theaters! We've been ready to don a pair of Iron Man 3-D glasses since the announcement that a movie was in the works (and the announcement that Iron Man 3-D glasses were a real thing!). But we've been able to compose our excitement as Marvel released [...]

new hampshire primary hue jackson alabama football coachella 2012 line up lsu crimson tide crimson tide

Amazon?s Q1 2012: Revenue Up 34 Percent To $13.2B, Net Income Down 35 Percent

amazonAmazon just reported earnings for the first quarter of 2012. Net sales increased 34% to $13.18 billion in the first quarter, compared with $9.86 billion in first quarter 2011. Net income decreased 35% to $130 million in the first quarter, or $0.28 per diluted share, compared with net income of $201 million, or $0.44 per diluted share, in first quarter 2011. Analysts expected a profit of $0.07 per share on revenue of $12.9 billion for the quarter. ?I?m excited to announce that we now have more than 130,000 new, in-copyright books that are exclusive to the Kindle Store ? you won?t find them anywhere else. They include many of our top bestsellers ? in fact, 16 of our top 100 bestselling titles are exclusive to our store,? said CEO and founder Jeff Bezos.

patrick willis team america snow day snow day neti pot iron chef bath and body works coupons

Rubio's Immigration Plan Could Bail Romney out With Hispanics (Atlantic Politics Channel)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

nbpa itunes match itunes match walmart black friday 2011 walmart black friday 2011 packers vikings bob costas jerry sandusky

Video: "60 Minutes" preview: Ex-CIA defends "enhanced interrogation" methods (cbsnews)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

harry potter and the half blood prince city of ember city of ember virgin diaries kevin smith kevin smith carlos mencia