HTC First with Facebook Home review
With a billion users, it’d be an understatement to say Facebook has done a good job conquering the desktop world. Mobile, however, is the social network’s next frontier: although it has a significant presence on every major smartphone and tablet platform, the company has a reputation for bringing its key features to the PC environment long before they arrive on mobile — if at all.
But the April 4th reveal of Facebook Home, a solidly built Android launcher, reflects a change in attitude for Mark Zuckerberg and Co. Instead of simply maintaining a smartphone presence, Facebook is ready to go to battle and is putting mobile on the top of its list of priorities. It’s even adding a proper piece of hardware to its arsenal in the form of the HTC First, a 4.3-inch device on AT&T with LTE, reasonable mid-range specs and a gorgeous display. Is it worth $99 with a two-year commitment to purchase a handset dedicated to the social cause? Should you just wait until Home is available as a free download in the Google Play Store? Or is it best to ignore it altogether? Continue reading to find out.
Gallery: HTC First review
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, HTC, AT&T, Facebook
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Google TV Remote app for Android gets its first update, with voice search and design tweaks
The official Google TV Remote app for Android has been around since late 2010, but it only just received its first update since launch. So what’s changed? Support for voice commands has been extended for compatibility with Voice Search on Google TV 3.0, the old swiping directional circle has been replaced with an easier to use tappable d-pad, the look has changed slightly (check after the break for a screen of the old UI) there’s accessibility support, and now the icon is sporting a small microphone. They’re all minor tweaks, but after a couple of years, it’s nice to see any attention being paid. We’ll see if bigger changes for the platform are in store at Google I/O in May.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Mobile, Google
Source: Google Play
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It’s been 40 years since the world’s first mobile phone call
On April 3rd 1973, Martin Cooper made the first mobile call on the nine-inch (and 28-ounce) Motorola DynaTAC. Dialing up a rival at AT&T, he apparently said that he was ringing “to see if my call sounds good at your end.” While briefcase-size models had come before it, it’s Motorola’s truly mobile phone that became the go-to power accessory for the likes of Gordon Gekko, Zack Morris and, er, American Psycho‘s Patrick Bateman. Since its heyday, however, the AMPS analog networks that the phone used to run on have now largely disappeared, replaced by digital ones that have added better call clarity, not to mention data connectivity at ever-improving speeds. We’ve come a long way.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Via: Sky News
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Lockheed Martin powers up its first GPS III satellite, stays on track for 2014
It’s been awhile since we heard much about Lockheed Martin’s GPS III satellite family beyond mention of an early prototype. The next-gen positioning system just took a big step forward with word that the company has successfully powered up the first production craft of the bunch, Space Vehicle One. Flicking the switch clears it for testing and keeps the GPS III program’s 2014 launch window within view. More importantly, the activation takes us one step closer to improved GPS accuracy for civilians and soldiers alike.
Filed under: GPS
Via: Phys.org
Source: Lockheed Martin
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Northrop Grumman, Cassidian run Euro Hawk UAV through its first full test flight (video)
Europe isn’t quite as firmly on the bleeding edge of UAVs as the US. Northrop Grumman and EADS-run Cassidian just brought the continent one step closer through the first full test flight of Euro Hawk. A new take on the Global Hawk HALE with a new mission system from Cassidian, it should be the continent’s first military UAV that mates both long flight durations with high altitude: the two partners expect Euro Hawk to collect strategic intelligence from up to 60,000 feet and for as long as 30 hours before it needs to touch down. There’s more testing to go before active service begins — the initial flight only lasted eight hours, for example — but the unmanned flyer should eventually keep watch over German troops and territories well past the limits of human endurance.
Filed under: Robots, Transportation
Source: Cassidian
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AfterShokz to debut ‘world’s first’ bone-conducting Bluez headphones at CES 2013
At first glance, you might think the guy in the photo above is wearing his sunglasses backwards. However, he’s actually getting hiz groove on with the AfterShokz Bluez, a pair of Bluetooth headphones that transmits audio using bone conduction. We’ve seen the technology before, but never on stereo wireless headsets. Instead of vibrating your eardrums, the Bluez use transducer pads that sit on your cheekbones to send audio directly to your ears. As such, the headphones have an “open-ear” design, presumably to let you hear your surroundings while listening to tunez. If this zoundz intriguing, you can pre-order them for $100 (despite their $129 retail price) from the company’s website, or just wait until January when they will make their official debut at CES 2013.
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Source: AfterShokz
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Leave a commentNokia Lumia 800 gets first taste of Windows Phone 7.8
An official Windows Phone 7.8 rollout to Nokia devices like the Lumia 510, 800 and 900 seemed all but inevitable after it popped up on third party Nokia ROM tool NaviFirm, then a couple days later on Nokia’s own servers. Now, Dutch site WP7.nl is reporting that Nokia has started rolling it out in earnest to the Lumia 800, at least on that side of the pond. Provided your device is up-to-date, you may soon receive a certain “Nokia update,” which will then be followed by four larger downloads. When the dust settles, you’ll see a newfangled splash screen, customization options and Xbox Tile (among numerous other changes), heralding your not-completely-abandoned handset’s arrival nearly into the Windows Phone 8 era. Check the translated source for more details.
[Image credit: WP7.nl]
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Microsoft, Nokia
Via: Redmond Pie
Source: WP7.nl
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Mushkin shipping ‘world’s first’ 480GB mSATA SSD in January for $500
Today, component maker Mushkin announced plans to ship the “world’s first” 480GB mSATA solid-state drive. Priced at a respectable $500, the made-in-the-USA Atlas SSD is expected to ship beginning in early January, and features a SandForce SF-2281 controller with an unthrottled IOPS, a SATA III (6Gb/s) interface and a three-year warranty. At a little over $1 per gigabyte, ultrabook power users looking to push their storage capacity beyond its current 256GB boundary may want to keep an eye out for this burly option in the coming weeks. For more details, check out the press release after the break.
Continue reading Mushkin shipping ‘world’s first’ 480GB mSATA SSD in January for $500
Via: AnandTech
Source: Mushkin
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The First 3D Printing Photobooth: This has been getting a lot of…
The First 3D Printing Photobooth: This has been getting a lot of blogging buzz, but I couldn’t resist. I want one, #wishlist. via Gizmodo.
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Netflix original series House of Cards gets its first trailer (video)
We’re still a few months away from the debut of Netflix’s new series House of Cards, but the streaming company has posted a trailer on its service and on YouTube giving us an early peek. You can check it out after the break, or head to the Netflix site and see the new page it’s whipped up to promote the show that’s accessible whether or not you subscribe to the service. That’s also where it plans to add behind the scenes content, reviews and other promo material as the February 1st launch approaches. The trailer is brief, but the style and everything we can see of star Kevin Spacey as Congressman Francis Underwood has the feel of a high quality production. This path is already well worn by AMC, HBO, Showtime and others trying pump up value by adding exclusive new shows (Lilyhammer also aired on Norwegian TV) on top of existing catalog movie offerings. We’ll see if the critics and subscribers put it on a par with shows like Game of Thrones, Mad Men, Dexter or Breaking Bad, and how viewers react to Netflix’s strategy of making all the episodes available at once.
Continue reading Netflix original series House of Cards gets its first trailer (video)
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Netflix original series House of Cards gets its first trailer (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Nov 2012 19:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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