Facebook Adds Timeline Option for Expecting a Baby

Sometimes it seems like half the females on Facebook are pregnant. It seems like every time I look at my profile there are various pictures of new babies or girls showing off their pregnant bellies. Facebook has now added a new Life Event for Timeline users.

The new Life Event is “Expecting a Baby.” The new feature should be available now and allows the user to upload photos and add the Expecting a Baby note to their Timeline. The feature also allows the user to specify the sex, the due date, and other details.

Users can also specify what friends are groups of friends can see the announcement. The new life event is available under the Family & Relationships subheading. Once you or your friends at the Expecting a Baby Life Event it will be noted and the Celebrations section of the Facebook homepage.

[geeky gadgets]

’4K’ Video: A Hope for Japan’s Electronics Makers?

Associated Press

Sony chief Sir Howard Stringer showed off the company’s new 

4K home projector during the 2012 International CES in Las Vegas earlier this year

These are dark days for the electronics industry in Japan. Sony Corp. isworking to regain its mojo(and profitability after four straight years in the red), while Sharp, which once ruled Japan’s television market, is now facing a cash crunch that has raised questions about its long-term future.

The opportunities to script a comeback also appear grim. Smartphones are dominated by Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co., the tablet market is ruled by Apple, and the television sector is a dog-fight that leaves nearly everyone awash in losses. So where can Japan Inc. turn to for a hope for brighter days?

One possibility is “4K” technology. The “4K” name refers to the number of horizontal pixels, about 4,000, in the image, which is four-times the resolution of today’s high-definition video. Projectors using 4K technology are already used in many movie theaters, allowing super-sharp images even on a massive screen.

Sony is a leader in 4K technology. It produces everything from the image sensors used in cameras that capture the ultra-high resolution videos to the 4K projectors that display the images. A Sony F65, the world’s first commercial camera that can take 4K video, is being used for the filming of “After Earth,” an upcoming science-fiction movie featuring Will Smith. It will be distributed by – yes you guessed it – Sony.

The company’s executives have said it is currently developing a 4K television although it will not be the first to market with one. Toshiba Corp. uses a 4K display in a glasses-free 3-D television it released last year, but the 55-inch model sells for about 780,000 yen, or about $10,000, in Tokyo.

Similar to how high-definition video helped to spur a new round of television sales, Sony and others are hoping that 4K may provide consumers with new incentive to upgrade their TVs.

Sony Chief Executive Kazuo Hirai has said one of his areas of focus will be to find ways to adapt the company’s most expensive technologies geared for business customers for consumer applications. This also means finding ways to reduce the price of the new technology to a level palatable to the mass market. Mr. Hirai has pointed to 4K as a prime example of his efforts.

Japan’s technology firms have tried this before. In 2010, Sony, Panasonic and others aggressively promoted 3-D displays with the hopes of revitalizing the television market. Even with the growing availability of 3-D movies, the technology received a lukewarm response from consumers. The lack of 3-D content and the need to wear special glasses stunted the growth potential of 3-D. While 4K will not require special glasses, it may need to overcome the same shortage of content problem as 3-D.

[WSJ]

Apple Extends Tablet Lead in Second Quarter

Apple extended its dominance in tablet computers, shipping nearly seven out of every 10 tablets in the second quarter, according to research firm IHS iSuppli.

A new model came out a few weeks before the April-June quarter began. Google’s challenger, the Nexus 7, didn’t start shipping until the third quarter.

Apple’s 69.6 percent share in the April-June quarter is up from about 58 percent in the first quarter. It’s the highest since the first quarter of last year, when Apple had 70 percent in a market with fewer competitors then.

Here are the top five manufacturers of tablets in the second quarter, as released by HIS iSuppli on Tuesday:

• Apple Inc., maker of the iPad, 17 million shipped worldwide, 69.6 percent share
• Samsung Electronics Co., maker of Galaxy line, 2.3 million, 9.2 percent.
• Amazon.com Inc., maker of Kindle Fire, 1 million, 4.2 percent
• AsusTek Computer Inc., maker of Transformer line, 688,000, 2.8 percent
• Barnes & Noble Inc., maker of Nook Tablet, 459,000, 1.9 percent
• Other, 3 million, 12.3 percent

Source: IHS iSuppli

Microsoft Reveals Windows RT Who's-Who and What's-What

Microsoft has shared its list of the OEMs gearing up to make the first wave of devices running Windows 8 RT, the version of the upcoming OS made for tablet devices. Notably absent from the list are PC megacorporation HP as well as Acer, which recently voiced its discontent over Microsoft's development of its own in-house tablet device.

Microsoft has announced that Asus, Lenovo, Samsung and Dell will unveil tablets based on Windows RT by the time it launches the operating system in October.

Each is developing a variety of form factors and peripherals, Microsoft said.

However, all their Windows RT products will have consistent fast and fluid touch interactions, long battery life and connected standby, the company said, adding that all are thin and light.

The Many Faces of Windows RT

Windows RT devices will range from ultra-thin products with high-resolution displays to all-in-one PCs with large touchscreen displays to high-power tower PCs fitted with multiple graphics cards and high-performance storage arrays, Microsoft said. They will be offered in a variety of price and feature combinations.

Pentagon helps build Meshworm reconnaissance robot

Engineers have created a robot that mimics a worm's movements - crawling along surfaces by contracting segments of its body.

The technique allows the machine to be made of soft materials so it can squeeze through tight spaces and mould its shape to rough terrain.

It can also absorb heavy blows without sustaining damage.

The Pentagon's Darpa research unit supported the Meshworm project, suggesting a potential military use.

Wall-E and R2-D2 brought to life: A story of innovation, collaboration and passion

If you see Wall-E or R2-D2 roaming around a children’s hospital ward or at a convention center, you’ll have to look hard to find Mike Senna or Michael McMaster.
Senna has been making the rounds online, celebrated for his creation of a Wall-E robot so real, you would think it had been plucked from the Pixar film like so much Disney magic. But Senna, and McMaster, didn’t spend two-and-a-half years creating the robot for the recognition.
“I don’t care about my recognition. I’m a geek,” said Senna during a phone conversation Friday. “We don’t feel good about getting all that recognition in public. So, I kind of hide away in the corners and operate.”
As if to further illustrate the sentiment, Senna made a point of mentioning McMaster, his fellow collaborator, who called on Senna to participate in the project. Senna lamented the fact that McMaster’s role in Wall-E’s creation has been missing from the story, which went viral last week, following a Yahoo video report.

Michael McMaster and Mike Senna's Wall-E robots interact with onlookers at Maker Faire 2012. (Amy Senna)

Google Translate can now read images of text

The newest version of the Google Translate app can now translate text from photos, according to Android Central. The image feature works with all languages available in Translate, and allows users to highlight the text they want to convert to another language.

In the app, users take a photo of their foreign blurb of choice, and then swipe their fingers to highlight the text in the photo that needs to be translated. Google sends the image off to its servers and gives the user back the translated phrase. It can't auto-detect what language it's trying to read, however—that's your job.

The new functionality is similar to an iOS app released in December 2010 called Word Lens, which can translate text picked up by the iPhone's camera. Word Lens could display the translated text right in the viewfinder itself, but is still restricted to only three language packs for translating to and from English (Spanish, Italian, and French), each of which cost $4.99.

The new Google Translate is available now in the Google Play store for Android phones running 2.3 Gingerbread or later.

How Google's stealth support is buoying Samsung in Apple fight

(Credit: CNET)

Google may have kept a low profile amid the legal clashing between Samsung Electronics and Apple, but the company hasn't abandoned its Android partners.

Rather, Google has been quietly lending support, coordinating with Samsung over legal strategies, providing advice, doing extra legwork, and searching for prior evidence, CNET has learned from people familiar with the situation. Last month, Google asked the U.S. International Trade Commission to intervene on HTC's behalf in its case against Nokia. In addition, many of the companies that rely on Google's Android operating system to power their handsets, coincidentally or not, have tapped Google's law firm of choice.

The steps Google has taken to aid its allies illustrate the tenuous line the company walks as Apple wages war against many of them. Though Google and its Android platform have a vested interest in Google partners succeeding, the company has yet to directly take on Apple itself.

Google bolsters voice search app for iPhone

Google Inc showed off enhancements to its voice-based search technology for Apple Inc's iPhone and said it was testing a new service that will combine its Web-based email with its search engine. The new version of Google's search app for the iPhone and iPad, expected to be available

within a few days, will let users find information about everything from the weather to nearby movie showings by speaking into the devices, matching some of the capabilities offered by Apple's own Siri technology.

Google's new app recites answers to search results in a human sounding voice, similar to Apple's Siri, which some analysts and technology observers believe could make iPhone users less reliant on Google's search service.

Lenovo reportedly working on a convertible Windows RT tablet

Lenovo appears to be the latest hardware manufacturer working on an ARM-based Windows RT tablet. The Wall Street Journal reports that Lenovo has teamed up with Nvidia to create its Windows RT device and the publication hints that it will be a convertible one "with a keyboard that flips around to turn the product into a tablet." Previous reports revealed that Microsoft has been working with a variety of chipmakers and OEMs to limit variations based on chipset and device manufacturer partnerships. Nvidia has reportedly partnered with Lenovo in this regard, providing its ARM-based chip to the Chinese PC giant.

iPhone 4S gets $50 price cut

Deal of the Day, it is not

Fruity inventor of rounded rectangles, Apple, is taking the unusual step of cutting iPhone prices ahead of the iPhone 5 launch.

Previously Apple did not bother with cutting iPhone prices until the next model came online, with the exception of the original iPhone in 2007, which got a $100 price cut just a few weeks after launch.

However, Apple is now telling its retail stores that they can offer $49 discounts on the iPhone 4S, but the company is not saying much and it is unclear whether the cut will extend to all stores in all markets.

The price cut is probably aimed to coincide with the back-to-school shopping season and it could boost iPhone 4S sales until the new 5-series starts shipping.

Quite a few carriers and retail outlets in the US offered similar discounts this summer, but European consumers were not as lucky, although Amazon Germany dropped the price of the 4S 16GB model to €529 earlier this week.

Samsung Defeats Apple Bid For Sanctions Over Evidence

Thursday saw plenty of speculation about exactly what Samsung is launching at the media event it has arranged for German consumer electronics show IFA, and now the company has come clean and confirmed it will unveil the next version of the Galaxy Note ‘phablet’ on August 29 at the event.

A company spokesperson told Reuters:

We plan to unveil the next Galaxy Note at the Samsung Mobile Unpacked event in Berlin on August 29.

While the comment doesn’t win any records for insight, it does confirm rumours that began when the firm distributed invitations to an event scheduled to take place at IFA, which has traditionally been a launchpad for a number of tech industry players.

Among the action last year, the show saw HTC unveil its Windows Phone-based Titan and Radar. Samsung itself unveiled three new phones at IFA 2011, including its first Galaxy Note – which passed 7 million sales this June.

The timing of the launch of the next generation model is particularly interesting. Apple is heavily speculated to introduce its next generation iPhone on September 12, just two weeks later, and that may (or may not) include a smaller iPad device – a possible rival to the Note.

Interestingly, rumours suggest that the new note could be slightly larger — at 5.5-inches — with improvements made to the camera and a faster processor on board.

While Samsung has a history of IFA product launches, the late August timing is teasingly close to Apple’s speculated date. Deliberate or otherwise, that impending iPhone launch will give a little extra spice to the Korean firm’s plans.

Samsung is the world’s top smartphone seller and posted record quarterly profits of $5.9 billion last month. Its newly-released Galaxy S III smartphone has made an impressive start to life, selling 10 million units within its first six weeks, as it begins delivering on its promise to challenge Apple’s iPhone.


[Source: thenextweb]

Google Creates Interactive Visual About Small Arms Trade

Google has created an interactive visualization that shows patterns and trends in imports and exports of small arms and ammunition across the world, which it says is an $8.5 billion industry.

The graphic, which Google built using the open source WebGL Globe on Google’s Chrome Experiments site, shows the earth with fiery lines that indicate countries' imports and exports of ammunition and small arms, such as revolvers, assault rifles, and light machine guns. The United States is white hot with activity—in 2010 it imported $995,769,657 and exported $606,577,243 worth of munitions. That’s up from $272,612,334 and $455,520,281, respectively, in 1992.

The visualization is interactive in that you can manipulate it and zoom in and out of the globe, click on various countries to change the perspective, and use a timeline at the bottom to see trading patterns over the years.

“You can see, for example, that the scale of the global trade in ammunition rivals the scale of trade in actual weapons, an insight underexplored by policymakers today in conflict prevention and resolution,” writes Scott Carpenter, deputy director of Google Ideas, in a recent post on Google’s official blog.

The interactive visualization is part of the Google Ideas initiative on illicit networks and was produced by Google’s Creative Lab team working with the think tank Igarape Institute

Apple Could Sell 40 Million iPad Minis in a Year, Analyst Predicts

If Apple launches the purported iPad Mini, it could sell 40 million of the 7-inch tablet within the first year, an analyst believes.

The iPad Mini could launch at a special event on 12 September, alongside the iPhone 5, according to new speculation. Although Apple has not officially confirmed a launch date, or even the existence of such device, it did reveal that there would be a "fall transition" when speaking at the quarterly earnings call in July.RBC Capital analyst Amit Daryanani sent a research note on Thursday, claiming that Apple's iPad Mini would generate $10 billion in revenue by selling 40 million of the device, adding an extra $1.15 in share profits, reports Forbes. 

Daryanani said in his note that supply-chain commentary indicates a "material ramp-up" as Apple prepares for the autumn launch.

[source: PCWorld]

Visualized: this motion compensated tool prototype will haunt your dreams

The Biorobotics lab at Harvard has interests extending beyond robot hands. The team is doing some fascinating stuff in the medical field, as well, including the exploration of heart surgery while the heart itself is still beating. They've explored some motion compensating tools, and we just couldn't take our eyes off of this one during our visit -- not exactly the last thing you want to see before they put you under. Part of the reason the device is so large is due to the weighted motion compensating system built in making it look like the sort of tool they'd use if they ever needed to perform open heart surgery duringBlade Runner.

[source: engadget]

On 'Ice Age 4' And The Magic Of The Movies

Why one writer enjoyed a movie he might not have otherwise liked thanks to the Silver Screen

You wouldn’t have been able to tell this when I took my daughter to the movie this past Saturday.

The audience was pretty much giddy with laughter for the duration of the film. My five-year-old was giggling with the best of them.

Even I was laughing, despite my cynical self, and walked away from the movie feeling…good. It was a fun time, made the more so by my daughter’s own enjoyment.

Perhaps more importantly, the audience was really into it. This is what makes going to the movies so special. You can suspend your disbelief just a tiny bit more. You can forgive small details you might otherwise find irksome or eye-roll inducing.

Now Control Your Computer with More Advanced Mouse @Celluon EvoMouse

If you are seeking evolution in PC mouse technology that can make all the difference in the way that you control your computer efficiently, then evoMouse from Celluon is your easy choice.

This latest technology portable input device can effortlessly perform all your common mouse operations and that too using your fingers, natural hand movements and gestures. It's so wonderful, isn't it?

Read more: http://tech-wonders.blogspot.com/2012/01/now-control-your-computer-with-more.html#ixzz22MSWrLYZ
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution

Amazon Instant Video Comes To The iPad

If you are currently subscribed to Amazon Prime but happen to have an iPad instead of a Kindle Fire, you’ll be happy to know that an Amazon Instant Video app has now hit the iPad. Similar to the desktop and Kindle Fire version, the app allows free watching of videos as long as you are already a member of the paid Amazon Prime service and gives you access to over 120,000 videos from the Instant Video library, though only about 18,000 of them are totally free with a Prime subscription. So what else is there to do besides watch videos? Like iTunes, the Amazon service also has a TV Pass option that will automatically download episodes to the iPad the day after they air. What’s cool about the Amazon service though is that if you start watching a video on one device you can pick it up on another supported device exactly where you left off, this includes the Kindle Fire, PS3, PC, Mac and special TVs and Blu-Ray players.

Now for the bad news about the new iOS app, the iPad might have Amazon Instant Video, but the iPhone, Apple TV and iPod Touch are sadly being left out in the dark. I suppose having iPad access is better than nothing though.

[ source ]

Asus Transformer Pad Infinity review

The Transformer range of Android tablets has become the jewel of Asus's crown and the best alternative to Apple's new iPad.

Along with the Asus Transformer Prime and the Asus Transformer Pad 300, the most recent tablet – the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity – keeps the excellent keyboard docking station that made the range famous and adds (among other things) a much improved high resolution screen.

AT&T of HTC Inspire 4G Gets Software Update

HTC has announced that they are releasing a new software update for the HTC Inspire 4G on AT&T and the update brings HTC Sense 3.0 to the device, as well as a new Task Manager and an AT&T address book.

Starting July 31st 2012, HTC will be rolling out a system update for the HTC Inspire 4G.
This update will only be available for AT&T HTC Inspire 4G Customers and will be sent to the device over the air. Once the release is ready, HTC Inspire 4G users will receive a notification on their device advising them of this update and provide instructions to receive and install it. The system update can also be downloaded below and manually applied to the device.

The update should be available as an OTA update for your device, if you haven’t received it you can also download the update manually, you can find out more details over at HTC.

Source Phandroid

Leap Motion Computer Gesture Control System Signs Up 26,000 Developers

Some of our readers might remember the Leap gesture control device of computers we featured here on Geeky Gadgets back in May. Which was created by Leap Motion and has been designed to be 200 times more accurate than Microsoft Kinect motion controller designed initially for the Xbox 360.

Well Leap Motion has now revealed that have signed up over 26,000 developers, who are patiently waiting to get their hands on the Leap motion controller device, when it arrives and starts shipping in February 2013 for $70.

Google Shows Of Blink To Unlock And More In Latest Nexus 7 Video

We have already seen a couple of videos from Google on their new Nexus 7 Android tablet and also some videos on the latest version of their mobile OS, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

Now Google has released another video which shows us some of the new features on the Nexus 7 tablet and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, have a look at the video below.

Some of the new features in Android 4.1 Jelly Bean include the new blink to unlock feature, as well as Google Now and also the new Google Play widgets and enhanced notifications.

Source Phandroid

the e-book wave

The great tide of digital reading has accelerated, and bookstores have joined publishers in the race to catch up.



CU Book Centre at Chulalongkorn University is the latest store to launch a mobile application through which bookworms can search for and buy electronic books.

Currently, more than 500 academic and pocketbooks from 10 publishers are available via the "CU-eBook Store" application. More than 200 titles are offered for readers with free download. By the end of the year, the bookstore expects to offer more than 1,000 e-books.

Better living through technology

A brace of new devices designed to make your life easier



BUFFALO THUNDERBOLT/USB 3.0 EXTERNAL DRIVE

Buffalo has released a smart device in the new Thunderbolt external drive. The technology itself is not new, but Buffalo has added a dual interface, meaning it can plug into either an ultra-speedy Thunderbolt port or a USB 3.0 port.

The design leans towards the Apple camp (the interface first appeared on last year's MacBook Pro range) with its aluminium and white plastic outer shell and minimal interface.

Samsung, Apple launch salvos in court battle

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. told jurors that its products are not copycats of Apple Inc’s iPhone but rather an example of legitimate American-style competition from the South Korean company.

Lawyers for both tech giants faced off on Tuesday for opening statements in the highly anticipated U.S. patent trial, where Apple has accused Samsung of stealing iPhone features like scrolling and multi-touch.

The stakes are high: Apple is being tested on its worldwide patent strategy against Google’s Android operating system, while Samsung faces the threat of sales bans on its Galaxy line of phones and tablets.

Immortality for Humans by 2045

The ambitious timeline he's laid out involves creating different avatars.

A Russian mogul wants to achieve cybernetic immortality for humans within the next 33 years. He's pulled together a team intent on creating fully functional holographic human avatars that house our artificial brains. Now he's asking billionaires to help fund the advancements needed along the way.

New Zipel T9000 refrigerator

Keeping it chilled: Models pose next to Samsung Electronics’ new Zipel T9000 refrigerator boasting a 900 liter capacity, about 20 liters more than previous models at the company’s headquarters in Gangnam, southern Seoul, Wednesday.

/ Courtesy of Samsung Electronics

Handset makers pushing to back VoLTE service

 
A model poses next to LG Electronics’ Optimus LTE 2 smartphones, which can support voice over long-term evolution technology with upgraded software. / Courtesy of LG Electronics


Amid intense competition among domestic handset manufacturers to make superior phones, the current industry gold medal standard they are racing to achieve are products with voice over long-term evolution (VoLTE) services.

'Point-Know-Buy': future of information search

“Point-Know-Buy” is one part of the much bigger trend of mobile commerce. Smart business and marketing professionals will immediately recognize that Point-Know-Buy unlocks huge opportunities for true instant info-gratification, where consumers are able to learn and buy at the moment of discovery.

/ Courtesy of trendwatching.com

Consumers now take being instantly able to access any information on almost anything for granted. Just as long as you know what to type into your search box, you have the world at your fingertips.

Now, the idea that consumers crave information is nothing new. After all, information and knowledge give consumers power, control and certainty (or at least the illusion thereof).

The allure of being in-the-know is also driven by the status boost for those who discover or know about new products, facts, concepts or ideas.

So what is next in the world of information and search?

U.S. rover landing on Mars to be live broadcast

WASHINGTON, July 31 (Xinhua) -- U.S. space agency NASA on Tuesday confirmed its most advanced planetary rover, Curiosity will land on the Martian surface at 1:31 a.m. EDT (0531 GMT) on Aug. 6 and the landing process will be broadcast live from Times Square, New York City.

Programming will originate from Mission Control at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory's in California, but there will be lag as it takes 14 minutes for radio signals on Mars to travel to Earth, warned NASA.