My Blog: October 2012

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Engadget HD Podcast 322 - 10.31.2012

Hurricane Sandy (and a flood of news courtesy of Google, Microsoft and Apple) pushed our podcast back to a Halloween edition, but for some the scariest thing is news that Disney will take over Lucasfilm and its franchises like Star Wars and Indiana Jones. We'll tell you why we're actually encouraged by the development (hint: Pixar), and dive into the latest news about Xbox 360 and SmartGlass, Media center on Windows 8 and Google's connection to your HDTV with Android 4.2. Of course other standbys like Netflix, Roku and TiVo have news for us to discuss and Ben's new laptop means we can record as long as we want. Distribute the credit / blame for this week's XXL-sized edition as necessary, and press play below.

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Hosts: Ben Drawbaugh (@bjdraw), Richard Lawler (@rjcc)

Producer: Trent Wolbe

00:21:43 - Disney acquires Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion, plans more Star Wars movies
00:29:13 - Xbox SmartGlass now available in Google Play, brings console integration to Android
00:34:29 - Microsoft offering free Media Center upgrade to Windows 8 Pro users until January 31st 2013
00:50:58 - Google bumps Android to 4.2, keeps Jelly Bean moniker
00:53:54 - TiVo Premiere fall update starts rolling out with more HD menu screens and a few other tweaks
00:58:49 - Tim Cook: 1.3 million Apple TVs sold in Q4, 5 million for 2012 fiscal year
01:02:50 - BBC iPlayer comes to Sky+, Hell reports incoming frost
01:04:43 - ITV Player revamp brings ad-free TV rentals, keeps the free catch-ups
01:05:25 - Roku update adds cross-provider search over Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, HBO, Vudu and Crackle
01:09:40 - Boxee hands out free Boxee TVs to its most eager cloud DVR fans
01:10:38 - Netflix Q3 2012 earnings: 2 million more streaming subscribers worldwide, $8 million net income
01:12:00 - Open webOS-powered HDTVs said to be on the way from... LG?
01:13:30 - Samsung 2012 Smart TVs get Amazon Instant Video streaming app, synchronicity with your Kindle Fire
01:22:40 - Barnes & Noble bolstering Nook Video catalogue, bringing UltraViolet to the HD and HD+
01:24:45 - LG's 84-inch 4K TV goes on sale in the US for $19,999, home mortgage optional
01:26:42 - Warner, Redbox agree to 28 day delay on disc rentals, UltraViolet support for Redbox Instant
01:29:10 - The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey to receive the Dolby Atmos treatment
01:30:40 - Must See HDTV (October 29th - November 4th)

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Filed under: Podcasts, HD

Engadget HD Podcast 322 - 10.31.2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Oct 2012 20:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/31/engadget-hd-podcast-322-10-31-2012/

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Keep Track of Hurricane Sandy with Google Crisis Maps

Hurricane Sandy is coming and Google has created a�crisis map�that will hopefully help prepare you for the impact if you live in an area that may or will be affected by it. The map includes multiple layers including the storms current position, 3 day cone forecast, river flood outlooks, emergency shelters and evacuation routes amongst [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2012/10/29/keep-track-of-hurricane-sandy-with-google-crisis-maps/

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No Tricks, Just Treats Halloween Sale - Save 15% on ALL Accessories at the iMore store!

Boooo!!! Scared yet? No? Good. We're looking to help you make it a HAPPY HALLOWEEN this year by celebrating with savings across our Mobile Nations stores. Until Thursday, November 1st at Midnight PST, you can save 15% on ALL iPhone and iPad Accessories at�the iMore store�using coupon code treat2012 at checkout.

And if you have iOS devices in the house, you can use the same coupon code at our�ShopCrackBerry.com, ShopAndroid,��and�Windows Phone�stores.

Don't forget, we have free shipping on US and Canada orders over $50, and great low cost international shipping options available as well. Don't be scared out of these savings... click the link below to get started!

Take me to the iMore store now!�

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Mozilla publishes name and shame list of slow Firefox add-ons, cracks down on tardy devs

Mozilla, continuing its year-long crusade to speed up Firefox startup and shutdown times, has published a name and shame list of the Firefox's slowest add-ons.

The list is just one part of Mozilla's new efforts to highlight slow add-ons, and to help developers make their add-ons more efficient. Over the next two weeks, 'slow performance warnings' will be introduced in the add-on gallery so that users can see, before installation, which add-ons will slow down their browser. If that isn't enough to spur developers into cleaning up their add-ons, Mozilla has also begun reaching out to developers of slow add-ons with tips on how to improve add-on performance. Finally, add-on developers will soon have the ability to perform 'on-demand performance testing,' so that they can test their add-on before it's deployed publicly.

Mozilla reports that the average Firefox add-on slows down Firefox's start-up time by 10% -- which means, if you install 10 add-ons, you will double your start-up time. On fast desktop PCs that kind of slowdown might be negligible, but on older computers, laptops and smartphones, it could be the difference between a 5 and 10 second startup. Mozilla has obviously realized that while massive performance gains might've been made with Firefox 4, the addition of third-party add-ons can destroy any user-perceived improvements.

In other news, Mozilla says that a future build of Firefox will block the installation of add-ons (such as toolbars) by third-party software. Add-ons and toolbars that are bundled in this way will require explicit approval when you next open up Firefox. Hooray!

Mozilla publishes name and shame list of slow Firefox add-ons, cracks down on tardy devs originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 05:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/04/mozilla-publishes-name-and-shame-list-of-slow-firefox-add-ons/

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Acer delays Windows RT tablets as it gauges Surface acceptance

Acer is no stranger to airing its skepticism of Microsoft Surface, but the company is now adopting caution as the name of the game for its own Windows RT tablets. In an interview with Reuters, company president Jim Wong told the outlet that Acer would deliver its own RT-based tablet no earlier than Q2, as it's now monitoring how Microsoft's own hardware fares in the marketplace. According to Wong, Acer had previously targeted a Q1 debut. As it lets Microsoft serve as the canary in the coal mine, Acer will continue to focus on its full-fledged Windows 8 hardware, as well as develop and refine its own RT offering. "I don't know what's next, what Microsoft will do," Wong said. "We are watching how Surface is doing ... How is RT accepted by customers... We don't know... We want to see."

Filed under: Tablets, Acer

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/30/acer-delays-windows-rt-tablets/

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Amazon Cloud Player review: functional, not mind blowing, and still US-only

It's hard to believe: our world-spanning network, our Internet, which is the cornerstone of free speech and free society -- which, on a good day, is capable of causing populist revolutions -- is still crippled by banal geolocation restrictions. We are, of course, talking about Amazon's two latest offerings, both of which are only available in the United States. Last week it was the excellent Android Appstore for Android, and today it's the Amazon Cloud Player for Web and Android.

Along with Cloud Player, Amazon also launched Cloud Drive, which is basically just like any other cloud storage digital locker. It's not particularly feature rich, and there's no real reason to use it over something like SugarSync or SkyDrive -- it does work outside the US, however.

Its primary purpose, as far as we're concerned, is that it stores your your Cloud Player music in a subdirectory. You get 5GB of Cloud Drive storage for free, and then it's $1 per gigabyte per year if you need more space.

The Amazon Cloud Player itself will not, to put it bluntly, blow your mind. It works, but it's very much an early, and possibly rushed, release. Let's dive in to the Web and Android players for a closer look.

Gallery: Amazon Cloud Player and Cloud Drive: on Web and Android

Continue reading Amazon Cloud Player review: functional, not mind blowing, and still US-only

Amazon Cloud Player review: functional, not mind blowing, and still US-only originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/29/amazon-cloud-player-hands-on-review-functional-not-mind-blowin/

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Ballmer: four million Windows 8 upgrades in four days

Greetings in beautiful, gray Redmond, WA. What better time to kick off year's Build event at the Microsoft campus than four days after the launch of Windows 8? CEO Steve Ballmer started the developer-centric event off with a nice little number: four million. According to the enthusiastic exec, that's the number of Windows 8 upgrades MS has seen in the four days since launch -- and there's certainly a lot of excitement around the operating system this tent full of developers.

Filed under: Laptops, Microsoft

Ballmer: four million Windows 8 upgrades in four days originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Oct 2012 12:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/30/ballmer-four-million-windows-8-upgrades-in-four-days/

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Apple announces departure of SVP of iOS, Scott Forstall and SVP of retail, John Browett

Apple announced today that Scott Forstall, senior vice-president of iOS, and John Browett, recent SVP of retail, are leaving the company. Forstall, who came to Apple from NeXT when Steve Jobs returned to the company, will stay on until next year as an advisor to Tim Cook. John Browett sounds like he's leaving far more immediately. Jony Ive, Eddy Cue, Craig Federighi, and Bob Manfield will be divvying up a lot of their duties. Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, said in the press release:

We are in one of the most prolific periods of innovation and new products in Apple?s history. The amazing products that we?ve introduced in September and October, iPhone 5, iOS 6, iPad mini, iPad, iMac, MacBook Pro, iPod touch, iPod nano and many of our applications, could only have been created at Apple and are the direct result of our relentless focus on tightly integrating world-class hardware, software and services.

While it's impossible to separate fact from fiction from simple politicking, Forstall had reportedly been a strong personality at Apple, and was rumored to have been butting heads with Jony Ive, among others, over the direction of Apple design. He was also in charge of the troubled launches of both Siri, which suffered repeated network and reliability problems, and iOS 6 maps, whose geographical data issues turned into a public relations problem for Apple. The press release certainly reads more as a welcome for Ive in his new roll than anything resembling a grateful farewell to Forstall for his work to date.

Jony Ive, longtime SVP of Industrial Design, will take over Human Interface across Apple.

His incredible design aesthetic has been the driving force behind the look and feel of Apple?s products for more than a decade.

Eddy Cue, promoted to SVP of Internet and Services following the ill-fated MobileMe launch, which take on Siri and Maps.

This organization has overseen major successes such as the iTunes Store, the App Store, the iBookstore and iCloud. This group has an excellent track record of building and strengthening Apple?s online services to meet and exceed the high expectations of our customers.

Craig Federighi, who took over OS X following the departure of Bertrand Serlet, will also take on iOS.

Apple has the most advanced mobile and desktop operating systems, and this move brings together the OS teams to make it even easier to deliver the best technology and user experience innovations to both platforms.

Bob Mansfield, who left his post as SVP of Hardware Engineering, only to return as SVP of [nothing specified] will now lead a new group called Technologies.

[Technologies combines] all of Apple?s wireless teams across the company in one organization, fostering innovation in this area at an even higher level. This organization will also include the semiconductor teams, who have ambitious plans for the future.

Apple will conduct a search to replace Browett as the head of retail. Browett was the subject of controversy recently when cuts to Apple store staff and rumored shifts in priority led to some embarrassing publicity and backpedaling.

[In] the interim, the Retail team will report directly to Tim Cook. Apple?s Retail organization has an incredibly strong network of leaders at the store and regional level who will continue the excellent work that has been done over the past decade to revolutionize retailing with unique, innovative services for customers.

Source: Apple PR

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/XOV0PlXCdQs/story01.htm

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Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Google Releases Free Siri Competitor for iOS

Watch out Siri. Google updated its Google Search app for iOS Tuesday, and the app now features a robust, intuitive voice search functionality that gives Siri a run for the money.

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/10/google-voice-search-ios/

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Striiv launches $70 Play pedometer to track your athletics without fatiguing your iOS device

Following the recent launch of its iOS fitness app which proclaimed "no hardware required," Striiv has just announced new hardware for it anyway: the Striiv Play smart pedometer. But unlike the app alone, it lets you set off on your fitness adventures without toting an iDevice by doing the "heavy lifting of tracking activities" with up to a week of battery autonomy, then syncing up with the app using Bluetooth 4.0 later. From there, you'll be able compete with friends on Facebook, gain bragging rights by reaching milestones, play games that let you progress by working out more, and chart weight, calories and exercise progress. We tested Striiv's standalone pedometer awhile back, noting that the "insidiously" addictive games were a great motivator, and the company claims that 60 percent of users lost 13 pounds or more. So, if the little voice in your head isn't enough to egg you on, you can grab it now for $70 -- the PR and video after the break will tell you the rest.

Continue reading Striiv launches $70 Play pedometer to track your athletics without fatiguing your iOS device

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Wearables

Striiv launches $70 Play pedometer to track your athletics without fatiguing your iOS device originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Oct 2012 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/unhJHjt5Fjo/

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Microsoft posts Windows Phone 8 SDK, kicks off a new era for apps

The word "finally" is often abused (including by us), but here it's deserved: after months of knowing about Windows Phone 8 with little to do but wait or support rival platforms, developers can finally download version 8.0 of the Windows Phone SDK. The kit lets teams get cracking on apps that take advantage of the Windows 8-related code base in Windows Phone 8 and all the hooks that go with the new OS, such as the broader hardware support, ties to the lock screen and Wallet. You'd better be an early adopter on the desktop if you're eager to start programming for the equally new mobile platform, though -- the SDK won't run on anything less than a 64-bit copy of Windows 8. We're still anticipating a much improved ecosystem now that Windows Phone app writers can do more than twiddle their thumbs.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Microsoft

Microsoft posts Windows Phone 8 SDK, kicks off a new era for apps originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Oct 2012 13:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/30/microsoft-posts-windows-phone-8-sdk/

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Opera 11.10 includes improved power saving features

Just recently, the Opera 11.10 release candidate was made available for download. It brought a handful of important feature additions -- like HTML5 File API support and IMAP enhancements -- and loads of bugfixes. Nestled in amongst the other details in the Opera team's announcement is one more interesting tidbit: Opera 11.10 offers improved battery optimizations.

The timing here is certainly interesting, what with Microsoft's recent report on how much power the top five Web browsers consume. In its findings, Opera 11 was fairly low in the standings. While we've not seen any new benchmarks yet, we're curious to know whether the Opera 11.10 RC offers any significant gains.

If you're running Opera 11.10 on a laptop, let us know if you're seeing an improvement in your battery life while browsing!

Opera 11.10 includes improved power saving features originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/07/opera-11-10-includes-improved-power-saving-features/

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iPad Mini: The Difference Is in the Details

Feature for feature, the iPad mini mainly bests its rivals in the 7-inch tablet market, but it does so at a price that's 65 percent higher than those competitors. The mini has a larger display than Amazon's Kindle Fire HD and Google's Nexus 7. Its screen measures 7.9 inches diagonally, while the Fire and Nexus have 7-inch displays. Apple's tablet is longer than both its competitors and wider than Google's slate.

Source: http://ectnews.com.feedsportal.com/c/34520/f/632000/s/24e94157/l/0L0Stechnewsworld0N0Crsstory0C764880Bhtml/story01.htm

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Microsoft Boxes Apple's Ears With Surface Tablet

You really don't get a sense of just how limited the iPad is until you actually explore the Surface tablet that Microsoft released last week. It is like the designers sat down over beers and argued over every single shortcoming they found in the iPad and then built into Surface just the right features to make the iPad look inadequate.

Source: http://ectnews.com.feedsportal.com/c/34520/f/632000/s/24fef179/l/0L0Stechnewsworld0N0Crsstory0C76490A0Bhtml/story01.htm

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Google Nexus 10 hands-on (video)

The Samsung-made Nexus 10 just landed in our hands, and we had a little time to take it for a spin. It's no secret that this particular tablet is ready for some serious hand-to-hand combat against the iPad, possessing a rather stunning set of components and solid build quality. First, let's go over the laundry list of specs. The Nexus 10 has a dual-core 1.7GHz dual-core Exynos 5250 under the hood -- these are Cortex-A15 processors -- as well as a Mali T604 GPU and 2GB RAM. There's little doubt in our minds that this is more than sufficient to please power users, especially now that we've had some time to see how incredibly speedy everything is. We were even more impressed than we had anticipated, as the tablet features some of the most detailed and smoothest graphics we've seen.

Of course, it doesn't hurt that the Nexus 10 offers a 2,560 x 1,600 display, which equates to just over 300ppi. For comparison, the new iPad packs a 2,048 x 1,536 panel for a pixel density of 264. Numbers are just numbers, of course, but the "True RGB Real Stripe PLS" screen is definitely one of the nicest we've gazed upon. Pixelation was nearly non-existent, viewing angles were great and colors were amazingly vibrant. It's also supported with Gorilla Glass 2.

There's plenty to say and see, so check out our gallery below and head past the break for a video and more impressions.

Gallery: Google Nexus 10 hands-on