Kinect has done wonders for Microsoft and now the company is looking to bring the technology out of the realms of video gaming.
According to The Daily, Microsoft is reportedly collaborating with Asus to build a Windows 8 laptop. Apparently, The Daily was able to land its hands on two different prototypes.
According to the rumors, Kinect sensor is likely to be placed alongside notebook camera. The notebook is also expected to come with a bit of bling in the form of LED lights right below the screen. Incorporating Kinect technology into laptops would mean that you would be able to operate your computer with gestures like wave of hands or fingers. This development would be essentially very important for letting disabled people use computers.
Microsoft is not expected to produce these laptops under its own marquees, but it is speculated that the technology will be licensed out to manufacturers like Asus. Microsoft is currently busy finalizing Windows 8, which is likely to hit the markets soon. The company is also looking into the possibilities of incorporating Kinect technology into other devices.
During CES this year, Microsoft announced a desktop variant of Kinect and it is also rumored that the company is working on developing a Kinect enabled TV. Other rumors suggest that it might be working on a set top box equipped with Kinect.
Microsoft to Bring Kinect to Laptops: Collaborates with Asus is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com
Kinect has done wonders for Microsoft and now the company is looking to bring the technology out of the realms of video gaming. According to The Daily, Microsoft is reportedly collaborating with Asus to build a Windows 8 laptop. Apparently, The Daily was able to land its hands on two different prototypes.
According to the rumors, Kinect sensor is likely to be placed alongside notebook camera. The notebook is also expected to come with a bit of bling in the form of LED lights right below the screen. Incorporating Kinect technology into laptops would mean that you would be able to operate your computer with gestures like wave of hands or fingers. This development would be essentially very important for letting disabled people use computers.
Microsoft is not expected to produce these laptops under its own marquees, but it is speculated that the technology will be licensed out to manufacturers like Asus. Microsoft is currently busy finalizing Windows 8, which is likely to hit the markets soon. The company is also looking into the possibilities of incorporating Kinect technology into other devices.
During CES this year, Microsoft announced a desktop variant of Kinect and it is also rumored that the company is working on developing a Kinect enabled TV. Other rumors suggest that it might be working on a set top box equipped with Kinect.
Microsoft to Bring Kinect to Laptops: Collaborates with Asus is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com
Here in the U.S. and in much of the Western world, we take many of the little things for granted. For instance, if you want a power strip, you just head down to your local Best Buy or other mega-chain store and buy one. But in some parts of the world, even relatively small stuff like that is out of the reach of many households and neighborhood businesses.
While it’s an unusual concept, it’s not a surprise that one young entrepreneur in the Kiandutu slums of Kenya has decided to build his own power strips. Amos Njoroge really wanted to be a professional an electrical engineer, but lacked the resources to go to school and earn a degree. Instead, he decided to take his self-taught skills and set up a small assembly line where he churns out wooden power strips that he sells in his neighborhood. I love how he calls his tiny start-up “Gigantic Electronics.” Think big, Amos. Think, big.
Like me, your first reaction was probably that a wooden outlet strip is probably not the safest way to distribute electricity – especially in damp environments. But as long as it remains dry, wood is nearly as good of an insulator as plastic or ceramic, so I don’t think it’s dramatically more of a shock hazard. They are painting them with something in the video, so that might help seal out the moisture too. On the other hand, my scientific instincts tell me a wood outlet strip is way more of a fire risk than a plastic one, but that’s just me.
On the other hand, this self-taught skill and spirit of ingenuity is helping Njoroge and his co-workers make a living in one of the poorest parts of the world, while at the same time providing his community with a product that’s in demand. Hopefully, any fears about safety will be unwarranted, and Amos will continue to see success in his budding endeavor.
[via Afrigadget via Reddit]
The Republican presidential candidacy is still far from decided, based on the split primaries and mixed polls so far. So here’s another source for trying to figure who’s really pulling ahead — the number of new Facebook fans that each candidate is getting, according to the Inside Facebook Election Tracker.
Mitt Romney is finally making some strong gains this month, in contrast to his Facebook performance over December. By “strong gains” I mean he’s been attracting a roughly similar number of fans to Ron Paul, the candidate who normally dominates on the web (and the clear leader last month). The two have fought for the daily lead for most of January, except for when Rick Santorum surged around his Iowa primary win on the 3rd.
Newt Gingrich, meanwhile, managed to win South Carolina on the 21st, which corresponded with his biggest gains on Facebook. But he’s still way weaker than the others. And the rest of the candidates are no longer registering any meaningful gains, whether or not they’ve officially dropped out.
Overall, Romney still has the most Facebook fans among Republicans, with 1.39 million. Paul is a distant second at 800,000. Gingrich is down at 250,000 and Santorum a pitiful 90,000.
Of course, these numbers only say so much about who’s actually the most popular. Fan growth can come through inorganic methods like Facebook ads, fan page promotions, or clever use of the news feed. And fans can come from anywhere in the world; they’re by no means primary voters. But, the gains made by Santorum and Gingrich right when they won their primaries suggests many new fans are Liking candidate pages organically, at least in the sense that users are acting on their because of larger events. Certainly, the low fan counts that these candidates are showing overall on Facebook suggest that they are not doing much of anything to reach more voters.
Paul’s fanbase could also be discounted because he consistently does well in online matchups like these, even though he has trouble winning primaries. But maybe that will change in Florida? He had the biggest day of the month recently, at 9,500 new fans on the 24th. As Brittany Darwell notes over on Inside Facebook regarding the other primary winners, the fan counts seem to start climbing right before they do well with the vote counts.
Otherwise, Romney’s position is looking stronger than ever, similar to the latest polls.
Asus is reportedly working on Windows 8 laptops that are equipped with Microsoft’s Kinect technology. The Daily recently reported that it was able to “check out” two different prototype laptops that “appeared” to be made by Asus. The Kinect sensor was built into the area where a notebook’s camera would typically reside, and The Daily also noted a set of LEDs below the screen. Microsoft reportedly confirmed that the notebooks were Kinect-enabled prototypes. As The Daily points out, a Kinect-enabled notebook could allow a user to interact with Windows 8 or play games using motion controls, much like Xbox 360 Kinect users are able to do now. It is unclear when, or even if, the notebooks will ever be released.
Continue reading Rémi Gaillard lends speed cameras a human element
Rémi Gaillard lends speed cameras a human element originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Hybrid, Government/Legal, Electric
California breaks rank again, demands over 15% of cars sold be non-polluting by 2025 originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Verizon released the DROID RAZR MAXX on Thursday for $299.99 with a new two-year agreement. The device features a massive 3,300 mAh battery and a slightly thicker frame than its predecessor, the DROID RAZR. Other than that, the handsets are identical. Droid-Life confirmed on Friday that both devices run the same exact software, in fact — the Android version on both devices features the same build number, same kernel and same baseband version. We have seen similar products in the past (DROID 2 and DROID R2D2), but they all carried slightly different software versions to accommodate various changes. With the DROID RAZR and DROID RAZR MAXX however, it looks like everything is interchangeable, so savvy users already have a wide range custom ROMs to choose from.
As just about everyone should know by now, the seeds of what grew into Facebook were planted at Harvard. Might there be a bunch of mini-Zucks lurking in the dorms of Cambridge? If so, a new venture capital firm — the first housed right on the Harvard campus — wants to find them.
Dubbed The Experiment Fund, the firm describes itself as “a bridge between America’s oldest universities and storied venture capital firms.” Backed by New Enterprise Associates (NEA), the firm is made up of Hugo Van Vurren, NEA co-head Patrick Chung, and NEA General Partner Harry Weller — all of whom have a degree of some form from the school.
When I say it’s “right on the Harvard campus”, I’m not kidding — it’s going to be based out of 33 Oxford Street, which is Harvard’s School Of Engineering And Applied Sciences. It’s a bit more than a stone’s throw from Harvard Yard. With that said, the fund operates with complete independence from the university.
And if you’re not a Harvard student? Don’t sweat it too much. The fund says they’re open to anyone, “regardless of university affilation, nationality, age, or prior experience.” Being a Harvard student (or at least a Cambridge local) probably wouldn’t hurt, though.
While it seems the size of the fund isn’t set in stone yet (or at least, it wasn’t disclosed — I’ll look into it. Update: they’re not setting a cap at this point), the team says they expect to seed “several” companies with up to $250k each over the next two years.
Last spring we talked about a giant LEGO recreation of the Garrison of Moria from The Lord of the Rings. The only thing missing from the setting was official LOTR minifigs. Now it looks like these missing characters are coming soon according to a pic that has surfaced.
Apparently, a guy from the LEGO site Brickset was at the 2012 UK Toy Fair and while he couldn’t get pics inside the booth to share, he was able to shoot a pic of a photo on the side of the booth showing off the new LOTR minifigs. The photo clearly shows that the entire fellowship of the rings is coming in Minifig form.
We also have a few hi-res LOTR movie-inspired posters here which LEGO was kind enough to share with us recently, featuring Frodo, Legolas and Aragorn in minifig form:
Brickset also reports there are a number of LOTR LEGO playsets coming too, and not just the minifigs. The early pics look really cool, and I bet LEGO fans that also love the films and the books will be salivating when they arrive. I’d keep an eye peeled during the New York Toy Fair in early February for more details to emerge, or bookmark LEGO’s LOTR web page, which indicates that something is coming in Summer 2012.
[via BrothersBrick]
Filed under: Marketing/Advertising, Chevrolet
It's the two-minute warning in terms of Super Bowl advertising and Chevrolet still has some ground to cover. General Motors' largest brand is still mulling its advertising lineup with less than two weeks remaining until the New York Giants and New England Patriots meet in the big game.Chevrolet has purchased seven spots.
Continue reading A sneak peek at Chevrolet's plan for the Super Bowl
A sneak peek at Chevrolet's plan for the Super Bowl originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Continue reading Bugatti orders two more years worth of transmissions... but where are they going?
Bugatti orders two more years worth of transmissions... but where are they going? originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Now far be it from me to tell a man (or a woman for that matter) how to use their bbq grill. Like politics and religion, grilling is a topic where advice is rarely appreciated or even more rarely followed. I'm sure you're great at cooking a steak over charcoal or gas, and I wouldn't tell you to your face if I thought otherwise. A. because you're feeding me and B. because you probably have fire and sharp bbq tools within arm's reach.
Maybe you're one of those people who can judge a steak's doneness by comparing the surface of the meat to the firmness of the fleshy part of your thumb pad. Good for you then. (Please, oh please, don't cut into a steak while it's still on the grill to check whether it's cooked enough. Meat must rest after cooking or you'll just let all the good juices out!) But as techy types, gadget enthusiasts should strive to introduce some rigor into their grilling methods and cook to exact internal temperatures whenever possible. For example, I like my steak to come off the grill at precisely 122 degrees and allow it to come up to a beautiful pink medium-rare while it's resting. You are letting it rest, right?
If we can employ some cool new iPhone technology to help out with these methods, so much the better. Enter the iGrill Bluetooth® cooking thermometer from www.igrillinc.com and the free accompanying “Steak Time” app from Omaha Steaks. So shoo the dog out of the kitchen and put your steak on a high counter to bring it to room temperature while we investigate these fun kitchen tools.
The iGrill is an attractively designed piece of gear, with smooth lines and easy-to-use controls. Similar to stand alone wireless thermometers, the package comes with a sending device and a single temperature probe, which unplugs for easy cleaning. Unlike other digital thermometers, there is no need for a receiving unit, since the iGrill transmits temperature information up to 200 feet to your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch via Bluetooth. The temperature reading of the probe is also displayed in large numbers on the front of the sending unit if you prefer not to use your phone. (Despite what the two product shots display, it was not 143° in my kitchen during testing.)
Another nice feature of the iGrill is the availability of a second port for an additional temperature probe. This allow you to cook and monitor two different dishes at the same time, or even monitor the progress of two different parts of a large cut of meat. Whenever I smoke a whole pork butt, I like to monitor larger and smaller parts of the shoulder to make sure that I can move it around the smoker to ensure even cooking.
More useful is the availability of an optional ambient temperature probe which has a special clip to hold it off the hot surface of your grill grate or oven rack to give a true reading of the cooking space. This is critical if you are trying to regulate the environment inside your smoker or grill to cook your meat to be ready at a specific time, as in competition bbq with a preset turn-in time for judging or when you want to serve your Beer-Butt Chicken during halftime of the Super Bowl. "But Chris," you might be asking. "I already have an temperature setting on the front of my oven and maybe even an oven thermometer somewhere in the bottom of my junk drawer under all the Chip Clips." Bless your heart, that's sweet that you think that setting your oven at 350° means that it will actually cook at that temperature, but in truth, most oven thermostats are less than precise. If you bake or cook anything that demands rigorous temperature control, it is very important to know what's going on inside of your oven.
Even after preheating, odds are it won't be up to temp if you just throw that pie in there. If you use one of those oven thermometers that hangs from the grates, every time you open the door to check it, you're probably losing 20-30 degrees. The iGrill app tracks your temperature and will even display it on a graph for you so that you can be sure that you have reached the preheat temperature before baking. You can monitor the consistency of your oven's thermostat, which is important because most people don't realize that a gas oven really has only two settings: off and on. Just because you want to cook at a higher temperature doesn't mean that the flame burns hotter. It is fire after all; it's hot. The only difference between setting your oven at 200° or at 400° is how long the flame burns between the thermostat cutting it on and off.
Continue reading on Gear Diary ...
Global mobile phone shipments grew 14% annually to shatter the previous shipment record in 2011. Market research firm Strategy Analytics estimates that 1.6 billion cell phones were shipped last year, representing more than one-fifth of the world’s total population, which surpassed 7 billion in late October last year according to the Population Reference Bureau. An earlier report from the GSMA estimated that there are now more than 6 billion total mobile connections worldwide. Read on for more.
Handset shipments grew 11% to reach 445 million units globally last quarter according to Strategy Analytics, 155 million of which were smartphones. Nokia retained its No.1 position globally with mobile phone shipments totaling 113.5 million units, and Samsung followed with 95 million units. With just one smartphone line that includes just three models, Apple was the world’s No.3 cell phone vendor last quarter with shipments totaling 37 million units.
Nokia was also the top vendor for the full year, having shipped 417.1 million phones globally according to Strategy Analytics’s figures. Samsung shipped 327.4 million units in 2011 and Apple sold 93 million iPhones into distribution channels.
“Smartphone specialist Apple shipped 93.0 million handsets worldwide in 2011, nearly doubling the previous year’s volumes,” Strategy Analytics analyst Tom Kang said. “Currently in just its fifth year of participation in the handset market, Apple is on track to ship well over 100 million units during 2012. China is becoming a key market for Apple this year, and we expect Apple’s share to grow rapidly in 2012, despite countless copycat rivals.” The firm’s full press release follows below.
Strategy Analytics: Global Handset Shipments Reach 1.6 Billion Units in 2011Boston, MA – January 26, 2012 – According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, global handset shipments grew 11 percent annually to reach 445 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011. Apple was the star performer, capturing a record 8 percent market share worldwide during the quarter. Full-year handset shipments reached 1.6 billion units globally in 2011, with annual growth of 14 percent.
Alex Spektor, Associate Director at Strategy Analytics, said, “Despite continued macroeconomic difficulties in major markets like Western Europe, global handset shipments grew a reasonable 11 percent annually to reach 445 million units in Q4 2011. Apple was the star performer, shipping 37.0 million iPhones worldwide and capturing a highest-ever 8 percent market share. Apple’s growth was fuelled by intense demand for its refreshed iPhone 4S, as well as the availability of three generations of iPhones at a variety of price points at operators like AT&T in the United States.”
Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, added, “Nokia’s global handset shipments declined 8 percent annually to 113.5 million units in Q4 2011. Volumes were buoyed by the sales of Nokia’s low-end dual-SIM models in emerging markets like Southeast Asia, but were a little soft overall, as initial shipments of Microsoft Lumia phones could not offset declining Symbian sales. Hot on Nokia’s heels, second-ranked Samsung captured 21 percent share with shipments of 95.0 million units. Samsung’s 18 percent annual growth was fuelled by robust shipments of its broad Galaxy-branded 3G portfolio, headlined by the Galaxy S2 superphone.”
Tom Kang, Director at Strategy Analytics, added, “Smartphone specialist Apple shipped 93.0 million handsets worldwide in 2011, nearly doubling the previous year’s volumes. Currently in just its fifth year of participation in the handset market, Apple is on track to ship well over 100 million units during 2012. China is becoming a key market for Apple this year, and we expect Apple’s share to grow rapidly in 2012, despite countless copycat rivals.”
Exhibit 1: Global Handset Vendor Shipments and Market Share in Q4 2011
[See chart above]
The full report, Global Handset Shipments Reach 445 Million Units in Q4 2011, is published by the Strategy Analytics Wireless Device Strategies (WDS) service, details of which can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/3tbnzb6.
Who in the world would get excited about a shredder? ME, that's who. So when Judie posted a review of the SwingLine Cross-Cut Shredder last year I took note. You see, as bad as Judie and Kevin's stack of "waiting to be shredded documents" was, Elana's and mine is worse. How much worse? Let me put it this way. In Judie's review she began with the following,
This is my husband's and my pile of things that needed to be shredded. It started in a drawer, was moved to a shelf, and eventually ended up in a bag under our bed. What's in it? Everything from those "convenience" checks that credit card companies seem to think we can't live without, to credit card applications that simply need a signature and mail back to be approved, to health insurance settlement statements, all those bits of paper that have numbers, names, addresses and other information that gets scribbled down when we are trying to be efficient.If I were writing that paragraph it might be something like this,
This is my wife's and my pile of things that needed to be shredded: it started in a drawer, was moved to a shelf, eventually ended up in a bag under our bed and now is filling an entire room.The situation is really bad… and potentially embarrassing. It is SO BAD in fact, that I won't be including a picture here. But trust me, our "to be shredded pile" needs help. All of those things piled up in our house for the same reason they gathered in Judie's, and perhaps your home. Identity theft is real and you can't simply throw documents with your personal information in the garbage anymore. No, you need a good shredder, and that means something that not only slices the page but also cross-cuts the page so that the data on it is all but impossible to put back together. That's where Swingline's Stack and Shred 80X Handsfree Cross-Cut Shredder has the potential to step in and save the day. It offers the security we need and is probably the easiest I have ever seen. Let's take a look. Continue reading on Gear Diary ...
Filed under: Car Buying, Convertible, Performance, Mini, UK
Continue reading 2012 Mini Roadster priced from $24,350*
2012 Mini Roadster priced from $24,350* originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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