Reality Bites
Android: If you’re looking for a fast and feature-rich alternative to the default Android gallery, QuickPic can get the job done. The app allows you to browse and edit images quickly, and even perform batch operations against multiple photos on your SD card. More »
We can't make this up people. According to Google, who gets to make the rules since it's their service, rooted devices are not supported by the Android Markets new movie rental service "due to requirements related to copyright protection". You'll even see a specific error message when you attempt to try — "Failed to fetch license for [movie title] (error 49)".
So now people who root their phones, whether to get rid of the crap "open" that's forced down their throats, or to have a current version of Android, are punished and lumped in with folks who steal movies. Nice move, Google. That makes me want to buy more of your products and use more of your services, so I can be treated like a criminal just because I'm smart enough to get rid of CityID, or want a safe version of Android on my phone. And of course, I'd much rather steal movies streamed with a poor bitrate at a low resolution to my phone than use Google to search out any of the thousands of places where I could steal them using my computer. Facepalm.
Of course, the Android community will find a way around this. I already have some ideas, and I'm sure others will, too. But we shouldn't have to. And once we do, I'll download one (and only one) movie from the Market for the satisfaction of defeating this stupid move by Google, then be sure to never use the service again. Redbox doesn't care if I want to run a custom ROM on my phone, so they'll get my $4.00.
Source: Android Market support. Thanks, Joshua!
The ChromiumPC modular computer, first unveiled by Xi3 last year, is ready to ship this summer, with an architecture designed specifically for Chrome. More »
Not yet, though we’ve been trying to do so since at least the 1970s. Fabricating an environment that needs no power other than the sun and is a closed system (where waste gets broken down and reused) is extremely difficult. More »
Probably one of the best games ever created has found a place in the Android Market. J-J-J-Jenga is now available on your Android device. For us Canadians it’ll cost $2.89 but the good news is that when you get a game like this you want it as close to the real experience as possible. Natural […]
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“What’s in a name?” We’d ask Toshiba, but the company hasn’t been able to give its upcoming 10.1-inch Honeycomb tablet one in five months — or has it? If you’ll recall, Toshiba registered the name Thrive for trademark and related domain names last month, and now evidence is mounting that all of that work wasn’t in vain. TabletCommunity learned days ago that a commercial for the device was in production via some chatty actors on Twitter; soon after, the site also uncovered a parking page for the slate on Toshiba’s website, albeit with little more than the aforesaid name categorized under “Tablets.” It’s a welcome update in light of the vapid titles “Antares” and “ANT300” that had also seemed possible, and once word spills of US pricing and availability, perhaps we can focus on more pressing matters… you know, like benchmarks.
[Thanks, Jakob]
Product portal, tweets suggest ‘Thrive’ moniker for Toshiba’s Honeycomb tablet originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 21 May 2011 04:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink 
TabletCommunity | 
Toshiba, @DavidLyddon, @actorlulumiller , @bigashb (Twitter) | Email this | Comments
Google is on a mission to make the Web faster. One thing that slows down pageload times are fat image files. Even JPEG and PNG files can get pretty big. So Google is developing a new image format called WebP (which is a sister format to its WebM project for videos).
The key to making image files on the Web smaller without losing sharpness is better compression of the original file. Today, Google announced via the Chromium blog that the compression algorithms for WebP just got better and that they can even handle different parts of an image separately so that parts of it can be displayed without waiting for the entire image to be compressed and decompressed.
The images above, for instance, are from this gallery comparing JPEG to WebP. The WebP images are significantly smaller, but look just as sharp. Can you tell the difference? Unfortunately, WebP is only supported in Chrome and Opera browsers. Google products such as Gmail, Picassa Web albums, and Google Instant Previews also support WebP. But other than Opera, it’s pretty much an all-Google affair.
Websites aren’t going to start using WebP images just for Google Chrome visitors. But if it does speed things up without reducing the quality of images, other browsers will start supporting it as well or else be left behind.
One of the features that many people love in Chrome is the minimal UI at the top of the browser. Want to minimize it even more? Then you will definitely want to make use of the new feature added to the Experimental Features page.
To get started enter “about:flags” into the Address Bar and hit Enter. Scroll down until you see the listing for Compact Navigation. Enable it and let the browser restart to gain access to the feature.
Once the browser has restarted right click on one of the tabs and select Hide the toolbar from the Context Menu.
Here is what the top of the browser looks like afterwards. As you can see the Back, Forward, and Tools Menu buttons have moved into the Tab Bar.
To access the Address Bar simply click on the tab. Keep in mind that the Address Bar will auto-hide rather quickly if you do not make use of it soon enough.
Hiding the Address Bar and Bookmarks Bar will really minimize the top UI section of the browser (see first screenshot above).
Note: For the moment the feature is only available on Windows systems for Chrome Dev, Canary, and Chromium releases.
[via Digitizor]
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A medical examiner in Minnesota has ruled the death of New York Rangers enforcer Derek Boogaard was an accident, due to
mixing alcohol and oxycodone.
Firefox: LessChrome HD is a Firefox extension made by the folks at Mozilla that hides Firefox’s address bar by default, decluttering your browsing experience. When you want to see the address bar, either hover your mous over a tab or hit your address bar shortcut of choice. More »
Saskatchewan’s minimum wage will be going up 25 cents this summer.
According to a new book, the Roswell incident of 1947 wasn’t a crashed flying saucer, it was an elaborate Soviet plot to cause mass panic in the U.S.
The lawyer for Kim Walker, the Yorkton, Sask., man on trial for killing his daughter’s boyfriend, is arguing the father acted in self-defence.
For anyone who's well-versed in the history of the tech landscape—particularly the 1990s—this is stunning news: IBM is officially worth more than Microsoft. The House that Gates Built is now third in the list of highest market caps in the industry—right behind Big Blue, who's in second. [SAI] More »
The Atlanta Thrashers’ move to Winnipeg may be nearing completion, but it appears not be signed and sealed just yet.
Teachers across the province will be on strike for two days next week.
The mobile browser version Google Maps got a makeover on Android and iOS devices, which makes it alot more like the desktop and native app versions of the service. More »
Any Android fans that envied Windows Phone 7’s Metro UI style can have it for their media player (the WP7 launcher has been emulated before, try Launcher 7 in the Market), thanks to this app released by the developer of the popular LauncherPro homescreen replacement. As seen in the video above next to a real WP7 device, the look and functionality of the Zune player is present in a remarkably full featured interface despite its early alpha status, complete with features like scrobbling and playlists. The only thing it’s really lacking so far is a name, and obviously any Zune software integration; while we wait to see if Microsoft has any reaction to this homage you can sideload the APK yourself from the source link.
Update: If you want to see the same app running on Honeycomb (and looking amazing) check out a screenshot after the break. [Thanks @Basil_Knows!]
Windows Phone 7-style music player for Android arrives from the developer of LauncherPro originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 May 2011 13:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Here’s an amazing story to end your week on a high note: a 25-year-old paraplegic is now walking again, thanks to a groundbreaking procedure developed by neuroscientists at the University of Louisville, UCLA and Cal Tech. The Oregon man, Rob Summers, was paralyzed below the chest in 2006, after getting hit by a speeding car. This week, however, doctors announced that Summers can now stand up on his own and remain standing for up to four minutes. With the help of a special harness, he can even take steps on a treadmill and can move his lower extremities for the first time in years. It was all made possible by a spinal implant that emits small pulses of electricity, designed to replicate signals that the brain usually sends to coordinate movement. Prior to receiving the implant in 2009, Summers underwent two years of training on a treadmill, with a harness supporting his weight and researchers moving his legs. This week’s breakthrough comes after 30 years of research, though scientists acknowledge that this brand of epidural stimulation still needs to be tested on a broader sample of subjects before any definitive conclusions can be drawn. Summers, meanwhile, seems understandably elated. “This procedure has completely changed my life,” the former baseball player said. “To be able to pick up my foot and step down again was unbelievable, but beyond all of that my sense of well-being has changed.” We can only imagine.
Paralyzed man can stand and walk again, thanks to spinal implant originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 May 2011 08:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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