Apple new prototype glass-roofed Palo Alto store coming soon

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  • December 23, 2011 at 5:09 am

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New prototype Apple Store in Palo Alto

Apple is set to begin construction on a new prototype store in Palo Alto, California. The $3.15 millon, two-story, 15,050-square-foot store will have a curved glass roof, like New York’s Upper West Side store (see below) and a unique design as Apple will increasingly design retail spaces to match their location and environment.

The new Palo Alto store is only a block away from one of Apple’s first retail stores, built over a decade ago. The current Palo Alto store is extremely popular and the late Steve Jobs, who was a Palo Alto resident, used to visit it regularly.
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Search for ‘let it snow’ on Google for a flurry of holiday fun

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  • December 18, 2011 at 3:59 am

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Google Search 'let it snow'

Google loves its virtual Easter eggs and the latest hidden piece of virtual fun has come from the Google Search page. Head over to google.com and search for ‘let it snow’ (without the quotation marks). The resulting page will be covered with snowflakes until it freezes over. Don’t despair, just hit defrost to get back to the results, but you might want to try your hand on some drawing first. Once the page has frozen over click with your mouse and draw.

How to: easily install Google Wallet on the Verizon Galaxy Nexus LTE with an APK file

Guides

  • December 18, 2011 at 3:30 am

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Google Wallet

Verizon’s version of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus was finally released last friday missing one key feature, the ability to make payments using NFC and Google Wallet. Over the weekend, a number of methods came in to go around this, and install Google Wallet on the Galaxy Nexus LTE, which involved some level of hackery. Today, you can install Google Wallet on your Verizon Galaxy Nexus without having to root your device or resort to any hackery.

Simply go here to download the application APK file. You can do this either directly on your device, or from you computer and then transfer the APK file to your smartphone. Make sure that under ‘Settings’ > ‘Security’ you have ‘Unknown sources’ checked. Now open the APK on your device using a file manager like ASTRO.
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How to: transfer files between the Galaxy Nexus and Mac OS X

Guides

  • December 15, 2011 at 3:51 am

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Galaxy Nexus connected to a MacBook Air via USB

Connecting the Samsung Galaxy Nexus to your MacBook Pro, Air, iMac or any other Mac OS X computer isn’t as straightforward as other Android devices. Other Android devices offer access through a protocol named USB mass storage, which means your device is treated like a USB flash drive. The Galaxy Nexus uses the Media Transfer Protocol (MTP in short) in order to allow you to transfer media and other files between your computer. Windows PCs have built-in support for MTP but Mac OS computers don’t. If you want a more detailed account of MTP, USB mass storage and the Nexus, hit our article here.

To transfer files between the Galaxy Nexus and a Mac OS X system you must first download and a install the small official Android application named ‘Android File Transfer’. First go here and download the application dmg. Once the download has completed, doubleclick on androidfiletransfer.dmg. Now in the installer window click and drag the Android File Transfer icon to the Applications folder on its right (note you may be required to enter you system password at this point). Now the tool is installed on your Mac.
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You can now initiate Hangouts video conferencing sessions directly from Google+ for mobile

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  • December 14, 2011 at 3:25 pm

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Google+ mobile Hangouts video conferencing on a Galaxy Nexus

You already could do video conferencing through Google+ on smartphones, but the Hangouts session had to be initiated from a desktop computer. Google is launching a new version of Google+ for Android in the next few days, which will allow Hangouts sessions to be completely mobile, that is you can initiate a Hangouts video conference directly from your device. You simply touch the little camera button at the top to start a hangout. An updated version of Google+ for iOS devices is also coming soon.
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“Laputa: Castle in the Sky” TV screening breaks tweets per second record

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  • December 14, 2011 at 1:39 pm

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Ghibli museum - Laputa: Castle in the Sky robot

It’s become a yearly tradition in Japan for Hayao Miyazaki’s and Studio Ghibli’s 1986 anime film Laputa: Castle in the Sky to air around this time of year on TV. On December 9, the amazing anime film was broadcasted for the thirteenth time since first airing in 1988.

Another tradition is for viewers to join the two main characters, Pazu and Sheeta, in shouting “Balse!” (the spell of destruction), at the climax of the movie over social networking sites. Well, this year viewers had taken to Twitter in droves and broke the social networking site’s all time record with 25,088 for tweets per second while the movie was broadcasted from NTV. Even rival broadcaster NHK joined the action with a tweet from its official PR account.
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Skype for Android updated with photo, video and file sharing; supports more devices for video calling

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  • December 13, 2011 at 4:08 pm

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Skype for Android 2.6 update

Skype for Android has just been updated to version 2.6 with a number of notable changes. First off, you can now send photos, videos and files to your Skype contacts from your Android device. Sharing files works on either Wi-Fi or over your mobile data plan.

The new version promises to be more gentle on your battery, while certain devices will enjoy better video quality, such as those using Nvidia’s Tegra 2 chipset (like the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the Motorola XOOM). The Skype team is adding to the number of devices officially supported, with the HTC Amaze 4G and the Motorola DROID RAZR. If after the update your device is still not supported for video calling you might want to check out our post here on how to unofficially enable calling on your device.

B&N Nook Color 1.4.1 update brings additional functionality, Netflix and comics

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  • December 12, 2011 at 12:17 pm

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Nook Color - Curvy back, speaker port and magnetic latch

There is no better way to start your day than to find out that you lovely tablet/e-reader has received a software update, making it, well, more awesome. The Barnes & Noble Nook Color has just received an update to version 1.4.1 which brings a number of enhancements and additional functionality bringing it closer to the recently released Nook Tablet.

First off the new version brings landscape reading with books, something we had noted was lacking when we initially reviewed the Nook Color — you can find our pretty lengthy review here. There is also a new category of books named PagePerfect, which are carefully put together electronic versions keeping with the original colorful print version; the category includes cookbooks, art books and the rest.

Those of you who prefer to sit back and be entertained, the Nook Color is getting Netflix movies and TV shows support. Marvel comic book fans should also be excited as the Nook Color joins the Nook Tablet in receiving Nook Comics. Finally B&N is claiming over 100 minor enhancement which should make the Nook experience better.

You can connect your Nook Color to a Wi-Fi network and wait for the update to be delivered to your device automatically or if your are the impatient type (and we would completely understand if you were), head over here and follow the instructions under ‘Get Version 1.4.1 Today’.
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Panasonic to enter the world smartphone market with an ultra-thin 4.3-inch OLED Android device in 2012

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  • December 11, 2011 at 5:39 pm

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Panasonic Android 4.3-inch OLED Android prototype back

South Korean and Taiwanese companies have been making it big in the world of smartphones. At the same time Japanese consumer electronic giants only have a presence in their home country. I’ve been meaning to write a post about this for some time, and it would have gone something like this. Japanese companies like Panasonic and Sharp make great devices, absolutely fantastic hardware. A while back I was a devotee of Sharp feature phones, but then they slowly disappeared from non-Asian markets. So what was keeping Japanese phones away from international markets? Software. They had the hardware ironed out but it was impossible to write software for any number of markets.

The takeaway of my imaginary article was that the rapid emergence of Android presented a great opportunity for Japanese giants to finally make a comeback. It doesn’t guarantee them success however. HTC churns out great devices by the dozen, and Samsung is currently the most popular Android manufacturer. Japanese companies have been finding it more difficult to sell their quality wares abroad as people increasingly go for value for money rather than high-end products. For example Panasonic, which makes great TV sets, is taking a beating from Samsung on flat panel sales.
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Warm up this winter with a smart scarf (fashion)

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  • December 11, 2011 at 11:45 am

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Jack Frost thermochromatic scarf

Diana Eng is a tech-savvy fashion designer and self-proclaimed nerd. She is always finding new ways to introduce technology and mathematics in her designs and we are really digging her ‘smart scarf’ collection. The collection includes a Fibonacci pattern scarf, a clever Japanese leaf fold (Miura Ori) expanding scarf, but we are most fascinated with the one named Jack Frost.

The Jack Frost scarf uses a thermochromatic dye which is activated when the temperature goes below 65° F (18° C) and that’s when little snowflakes appear. As the temperature gets colder, the snowflakes become bigger. You can see a video of the action after the break. The machine washable cotton scarf measuers 10×72-inches and you can grab one over at the designer’s website for $60.
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Facebook for Android brings updated UI, still won’t sync contacts with Galaxy Nexus

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  • December 11, 2011 at 8:31 am

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Facebook for Android version 1.8

Facebook has updated their Android app, bringing a host of improvements and a new user interface. The new UI brings the Android application in line with what is been offered on iOS and the iPhone. You get an expandable menu on the left, which includes quick-links to your favorites, pages (finally), apps, lists etc. — similar to the functionality offered in the left sidebar on Facebook’s desktop website.

You also get an overlay messages box, so that you can check and respond to messages without having to leave the current page. Facebook is claiming the the new app loads photos and albums faster and so far in testing the app we can confirm that. Nevertheless the entire app continues to feel sluggish and sometimes it takes a number of tries for a page to load.

Some were expecting for the new app to enable contact syncing on the Galaxy Nexus and Android Ice Cream Sandwich (especially since a render of the phone was used in marketing the app as you see above), but as we’ve tested this is not the case — going to ‘Accounts & Sync’ and selecting Facebook does nothing. Google found that Facebook was in violation of their terms of service (TOS) on the way user contact data was handled and had pushed an update on the Nexus S disabling syncing of contacts. The Galaxy Nexus, as Google’s latest lead device, also has this function disabled.
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Leica V-Lux 3 superzoom announced, a Panasonic Lumix FZ150 with a red dot

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  • December 10, 2011 at 6:46 am

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Leica V-Lux 3 -- rebranded Panasonic FZ150

The Leica and Panasonic partnership has been a long-standing one and has resulted in some fantastic products — especially some incredibly sharp Micro Four Thirds Lenses. We are also used to Leica taking one of Panasonic’s compact shooters, adding an optimized firmware and releasing it as a Leica branded version. Of course the red dot always demands a premium and this is what has happened with the Panasonic Lumix FZ150.

Leica has announced the V-Lux 3 superzoom bridge camera, which is a rebranded FZ150 with a few cosmetic changes. The two cameras share the same 12.1-megapixel CMOS sensor and 24x zoom Leica DC Vario-Elmarit 4.5-108mm f/2.8-5-2 (25-600mm 35mm equivalent) lens. It can shoot up to 12 frames per second at full resolution and is capable of full HD 1080p60 video in AVCHD format. The V-Lux 3 has a 3-inch fully articulating 460,000 dot LCD display

It will start shipping in January 2012 for $949, a $450 premium over the Panasonic FZ150. In order to at least give some grounds for the hefty premium demanded, Leica is packaging the V-Lux 3 with Adobe’s Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements software and a two year warranty.
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Connecting the Galaxy Nexus to your computer via MTP and the lack of USB Mass Storage

Guides

  • December 10, 2011 at 5:41 am

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For better or worse, Google has been pushing to abolish microSD card slots from Android devices. Some of the reasoning behind this move revolves around making making the experience easier for beginners, i.e. not having to worry where apps will be installed, applications breaking when you remove the SD card or having to download and use a file manager. Of course this goes against rightly disgruntled advanced users who’ve been used to the convenience of expandable external storage.

The Galaxy Nexus (read our full review here) is Google’s brainchild, proudly becoming the first Android device to run version 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and as such, it does not have a microSD card slot. Moving the external storage discussion aside, there is one specific functionality that’s become collateral damage. That is USB mass storage. To clarify here, Ice Cream Sandwich has support for USB mass storage but the Galaxy Nexus doesn’t.

USB mass storage is the protocol that allows your computer to view any USB device as a normal storage drive, i.e. gives it a drive letter and you can open it with Windows Explorer or Finder on Mac OS and transfer files and folders as you would with any other drive. If you’ve ever connected a USD thumb drive to a computer and browsed its contents, then it was using USB mass storage. USB mass storage allows block level access, i.e. ‘complete access’ to a storage device. As the Galaxy Nexus has one, unified, built-in storage which hosts both the Android operating system and your personal files it was impractical (if not impossible) to permit block level access on that storage.
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Sony NEX-7 will begin shipping this month

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  • December 8, 2011 at 1:22 pm

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Sony NEX-7 tilt LCD

The Sony NEX-7 is the most anticipated compact mirrorless interchangeable lens camera (MILC). Although Sony’s current NEX shooters offer amazing image quality, as a result of their large sized APS-C sensor, their interface is better geared towards beginners. The NEX-7 changes this by offering a set of dials with a new control user interface and an amazing high-resolution OLED electronic viewfinder. It also pushes the megapixel envelope for MILCs, with a new 24-megapixel sensor, also found in the larger Alpha A77 and A65 single lens translucent cameras.

After some delay in actually releasing the camera, Sony USA has now confirmed that the NEX-7 will ship this month in limited quantities to early pre-orders. We had reported that Sony resumed production of the camera last month after the catastrophic floods in Thailand had halted production.

You might want to check out our opinion on the OLED EVF here, and our comparison of the NEX-7 against the best of the competition e.g. the Panasonic GX1, Fujifilm X100, Olympus E-P3 in our comparison here.
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