Reality Bites
On March 19 the Moon will be at its closest point to Earth in 18 years: 356,577 kilometers, according to the perigee and apogee calculator. Naturally, this means that WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE in a clusterfuck of mad hurricanes, raging volcanos, furious tsunamis and mad earthquakes. Why? Because some people have used very special instruments to detect the impending disaster in their own assfog. So, what it is going to happen, then? More »
Jolicloud renames operating system ‘Joli OS,’ promises new web and Android apps originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 10:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Bill Gates is no longer the world’s richest man. And really, he’s only got himself to blame. The Microsoft founder slipped from the top spot last year, thanks to the massive sums of money he’s given away by way of his Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. In 2010, Gates slipped from the top spot for the second time since 1995, as Mexican telecom giant Carlos Slim edged him out, $53.5 billion to $53 billion.
Before you go leaping to any conclusions, do remember that Microsoft plans on keeping the Xbox 360 going until at least 2015 so we’re not really talking imminent changes here. Nonetheless, the software giant has listed a plethora of new job openings, with the most interesting ones being at its Mountain View research campus, where a team responsible for “defining and delivering next generation console architectures” is looking for fresh blood. A graphics hardware architect is sought to ensure that the next Xbox strikes the optimal balance between the awesome and affordable, while a design verification engineer and a few others will be hired to test and help develop prototypes. This bolstering of numbers seems to indicate Microsoft is starting to ramp up research and development on its next-gen home entertainment linchpin, and while nothing’s likely to emerge from those Mountain View labs in the short term, the mere sound of clanking tools and buzzing electrons is getting us excited already.
Microsoft goes on a hiring spree for new Xbox hardware devs, staffing up for next console push? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 04:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Ah, if only we could flip a big happy switch and convert all the web’s Flash content into (functional) HTML5 code. It’s a dream shared by many and, funnily enough, the company pushing to make it a reality is none other than Adobe itself, the owner and proprietor of Flash. Its Labs research team has just released an experimental new dev tool, dubbed Wallaby, that’s targeted at taking Flash-encoded artwork and animations and turning them into a more compatible mix of HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Of course, the intent here is not some magnanimous move to free us from the shackles of Flash — Adobe openly admits that the initial goal for the new tool will be to help convert animated banner ads so that they work on the iOS platform — but hey, even bad tools can be used for good sometimes, right?
Continue reading Adobe outs experimental Flash-to-HTML5 conversion tool, calls it Wallaby
Adobe outs experimental Flash-to-HTML5 conversion tool, calls it Wallaby originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 00:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The hotly anticipated Xoom hasn’t been out very long, has been receiving good reviews, and according to Motorola’s CEO Sanjay Jha, has been “off to a good start.” However many people have been holding out on purchasing the new Android Honeycomb tablet due to the high cost and the…
Move over, Mickey D’s, and bring Ronald McDonald with you — there’s a new fast food king in town.
I just got a kick out of watching Microsoft’s “It’s Very PC,” “It’s Not Very PC” ad campaign, in partnership with ASUS and its upcoming Eee Slate. The ads are clever and highlight how a Windows-powered tablet can work well professionally and for play. In fact, Microsoft is kind of showing that one can use […]
Last time we checked in with ComScore’s report on smartphone platform market share among US subscribers three months ago, Android was doing a little happy dance as it overtook iOS for the number two spot overall. Well, the cuddly green bots have self-replicated yet again, enough to overtake RIM this time thanks in part to a 5.4 percent decline on BlackBerry’s part (down to 30.4 percent in January) coupled with a 7.7 percent boost on the Android side, moving up to 31.2 percent. We imagine ComScore’s next report — covering the period through March — will see a little boost on the iOS side thanks to Verizon’s iPhone launch, but RIM’s knight in shining armor might be further out; we still don’t know when QNX-based phones are going to happen, after all, and devices like the Monaco don’t really seem like cure-alls.
ComScore: Android leapfrogs BlackBerry among US smartphone subscribers to take first place in market share originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Mar 2011 16:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Engineers built and flew a replica of the flying house in Pixar’s “Up” — setting the record for the largest cluster balloon flight ever.
It took 300 balloons, each 8-feet tall and filled with an entire tank of helium. The stint was for or National Geographic Channel’s “How Hard Can It Be?” show. Watch the video report:
There’s not much else to be said about perhaps the worst terrorist attack in history. But this new video, taken from NYC police helicopters, shows a new perspective on that terrible day. It is terrifying and breathtaking at the same time, a reminder of what these criminals can still do. More »
Google Maps Navigation becomes more of a threat to the traditional in-car GPS business seemingly on a daily basis, and they’re taking another stab at it today with the addition of traffic re-routing capability in the Android app (which, while technically still in beta, is pretty darn solid) in both North America and Europe. Of course, Maps has had access to traffic information for a long time, so this is a natural progression — and just as Google uses an interesting combination of sources (including phones) to cull that data, it’s employing some smart schemes for re-routing that take into account both current and historical information about your route. The update’s available today.
Google Maps Navigation for Android adds real-time traffic re-routing originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Mar 2011 13:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Over a month ago Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that he was ready to start acting again. And now Hollywood has come a calling with a remake, reboot or some sort of spin-off of every great action movie he’s ever been in. More »
The best way to scare the stuffing out of new recruits? Fire up the ol’ rocket launcher, but rig it so that the rocket in question just piddles out a few feet ahead. Nothing like presumed certain death to build morale! [dpnf via The Daily What] More »
Wirelessly-powered TVs are nice, and transparent displays are cool and all, but what about an ambient light-powered transparent LCD? Well, that’s nothing short of awesome. Samsung showed off just such a device at CeBIT 2011 last week — a prototype 46-inch display with 1920 x 1080 resolution and ten-finger touchscreen capability. We aren’t sure what kind of black magic Sammy put in this thing, but it’s an incredible feat of engineering to make such a large display — and its accompanying solar cells — efficient enough to run exclusively off the juice it pulls from surrounding light sources. No word on how the photon-powered LCD compares to existing HD monitors in terms of brightness, refresh rates, or color reproduction, but a muted picture is a small price to pay for cutting the electrical cord forever.
Samsung demos ambient light-powered transparent LCD originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Mar 2011 12:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
How many rounds of rock, paper, scissors have you played in your life? Probably not enough to outsmart a computer. Have you identified trends in playing behavior? Doubtful. Are you predictable with your throwing strategy? Likely. Is it even possible to be any good at the game? Well, here’s your chance to find out. Test your rock, paper scissors prowess against a super smart, battle tested opponent: a computer. More »
Sofia M. Fernandez
The actor reveals new “winning” tattoo on “Sheen’s Korner.”
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