Apple next-generation MacBook Pro (with Retina display) hands-on at WWDC 2012

Not satisfied looking at the latest and best Mac that Apple has ever made under glass? Neither were we, so we tracked one down, ripped it out of its box and stacked it up against the last-generation MacBook Pro 15-inch. How does it compare? Can it compare? Is the new MagSafe 2 connector going to mean you need all new adapters? And, just how amazing is that Retina display? You'll have to join us after the break to find out.

It's immediately apparent that this thing isn't the 15-inch MacBook Air that we've all been hoping for. But, then again, neither is it a traditional MacBook Pro. This is something that slots in between the two current devices and, we'd say, does so quite cleanly -- though honestly we can't imagine anyone wanting the O.G. Pro with an optical drive after touching this thing.

It's 0.71-inches thick, or roughly 25 percent thinner than the current generation Pros (which, by the way, live on -- except for the 17-incher). That's just .03-inches thicker than the 13-inch MacBook Air, but it feels like quite a bit more. Where the Air is tapered, this has a constant thickness throughout. So, again, it doesn't feel like an Air, but it's a big improvement over the Pro.

On the right side you have an SD card reader, full-size HDMI port and the first USB 3.0 port. (Which, by the way, is not blue -- Apple just made all the ports 3.0 and they're all naturally white.) On the other side is the other USB 3.0 port along with dual Thunderbolt ports, a headphone jack and the new MagSafe 2 connector.

Now, about that connector. Your old power adapters will not work with the new MacBook Pro and your new MacBook Pro adapter will not work with your old Macs. That's a little irritating but, hey, it's progress, folks, get with it -- or buy the $9.99 adapter that will let you use your old plugs with your new Macs.

And that display? It's gorgeous. If you've had the opportunity to compare the new iPad to the old iPad you'll know the kind of leap forward we're talking about here. It's that much better, but it isn't just resolution. Contrast seems greater and viewing angles too. We'll need more time to do a thorough analysis but we can say with confidence this display doesn't disappoint.

Neither does the rest of the machine. We have a lot of benchmarking to go and we can't wait to get to it, so we'll call this to a close and dig in with this, the next-generation MacBook Pro.

View the original article here

Posted on 21.01 / 0 komentar / Read More

Toshiba's ApriPetit portable robotic interface solves household problems, melts your heart

By Darren Murph posted Jun 4th 2012 5:42AM

Remember ApriPoco? It's okay, we'll forgive you if not, but we can't say the same about a similar question asked about that fellow above here in a few years. With a heart and soul as warm as that found in Wall-E, Toshiba's newly-unveiled ApriPetit is around half as large as the aforesaid predecessor, standing just 5.9-inches tall and sporting a pair of eyes capable of staring straight through your being. It's described as a "portable robotic interface," able to understand and act on voice commands using a combination of speech recognition and text-to-speech software. The eyes themselves are said to double as "stereo cameras, which can find and recognize faces and determine how close they are." As of now, there doesn't seem to be any hard-and-fast plans for use, but it's clear that home health and service is an area of interest. Of course, we'd buy one just to converse with -- Malkovich has Siri; we'll take this cutey.

View the original article here

Posted on 22.34 / 0 komentar / Read More

Vodafone's recharging truck returns for the 2012 festival season, wants to scan your hand

A new and improved version of Vodafone's massively mobile multiple handset recharger is being rolled out just in time for thousands of festival-goers to all hold up their phones to record the same Black Keys performance. The revamped truck still does that whole charging 2,000 phones at once thing, but adds DJ booths and new hand scanners to help phone owners more efficiently retrieve their gadgets, when it comes time to check into Foursquare -- you don't want someone else to become the mayor of the chillout tent, after all.

View the original article here

Posted on 14.50 / 0 komentar / Read More

US Cellular announces its Galaxy S III plans, pre-orders begin June 12, retail availability in July

U.S. CELLULAR CUSTOMERS GETTING THE SAMSUNG GALAXY S III IN JULY

Online presales begin June 12

CHICAGO (June 4, 2012) – U.S. Cellular (NYSE: USM) and Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile), the No. 1 mobile phone provider in the U.S. and the No. 1 smartphone provider worldwide, have announced that the 4G LTETM Samsung Galaxy S® III will be available for customers to preorder on June 12 and will be in stores and online in July. Customers will have the option to prepay for the device beginning June 12 and sign up for updates on June 5 at uscellular.com/gs3. The Galaxy S III smartphone will be offered in a 16 GB version in Marble White and Pebble Blue and a 32 GB version in Marble White. Pricing will be available when the presale begins on June 12.

Customers who purchase the Samsung Galaxy S III from U.S. Cellular receive benefits no one else offers, including new devices faster without resigning contracts, free Battery Swap and the only points-based rewards program in the industry.

"We're eager to get this iconic smartphone into the hands of our customers so they can experience the 4G LTE network on a powerful device with lots of new, unique and cool features," said Edward Perez, vice president of sales and marketing operations for U.S. Cellular. "Whether you are a first-time smartphone buyer or a seasoned user, the Galaxy S III makes it easy to stay connected to the people and information that are important to you."

The Galaxy S III is a cutting-edge device designed to enhance your life and make it easier to do the things you need your phone to do, such as messaging, taking pictures, multimedia activities and sharing information. Using revolutionary technology, it's capable of doing things never seen before with other smartphones. With Share Shot, there is no longer a need to email or download photos. Photos taken can be immediately shared with up to 5 others by synching devices. Photos, calendars, documents and video can be shared simply with S Beam by touching Galaxy S III phones together. The large screen with Trace technology makes text messaging a breeze by swiping between letters instead of typing, and the eight megapixel camera means you can leave your point-and-shoot camera at home.

Highlighted features:

Pop Up Play: picture-in-picture video capability that enables multi-tasking with other applications such as email
S Voice: voice control capabilities for applications and the device including taking pictures by saying "cheese," turn the music player up or down, accept or reject calls and to "snooze" an alarm
Smart Stay: Intelligent display with eye tracking to ensure the phone stays on when in use
AndroidTM 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) with TouchWiz enhancements
Advanced 1.5 GHz dual-core processor and 2 GB of RAM

U.S. Cellular, in partnership with King Street Wireless, currently offers 4G LTE service in select cities in Iowa, Maine, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas and Wisconsin. In the second half of this year, 4G LTE coverage will expand to cover select cities in Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oregon, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia. By the end of 2012, 54 percent of U.S. Cellular customers will enjoy faster 4G LTE speeds. For more information about the 4G LTE experience, visit uscellular.com/4G.

View the original article here

Posted on 11.15 / 0 komentar / Read More

Verizon takes Samsung Galaxy S III pre-orders June 6th, starting at $200

VERIZON WIRELESS ANNOUNCES SAMSUNG GALAXY S® III COMING TO AMERICA'S LARGEST 4G LTE NETWORK

The Next Generation Smartphone with the Power to Share and Intelligence to Make Everyday Life Easier

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. – Verizon Wireless and Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile) today announced the 4G LTE-powered Samsung Galaxy S® III is coming to America's largest 4G LTE network.

Galaxy S III customers can use Share Shot to create their own temporary photo sharing network with a group of friends who are nearby at the same party or event. Photos can be taken by any member of the group and shared with the entire group. One touch sharing with S Beam allows friends to share pictures, videos, documents and more by simply touching two Galaxy S III devices' backs together. Galaxy S III customers can take advantage of 4G LTE to share live video broadcasts of life's special moments with their Facebook® friends using the Color app. As an exclusive feature for Verizon Wireless, customers can live broadcast video with audio when using Color.

The Galaxy S III has a 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED™ display and runs Android™ 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Watch a video while texting friends or surfing the Web at 4G LTE speeds with Pop Up Play. Videos can be played in a small window while customers use the rest of the display to complete other tasks such as typing emails, organizing calendars and updating their social networks. Multi-tasking is seamless with the 1.5 GHz dual-core processor and 2 GB RAM paired with the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network. Customers can also interact with the Galaxy S III in simple and fun ways thanks to Motion Gesture. With Motion Gesture, customers can initiate a phone call from a text message by simply raising the phone to their head, or they can pause a video by covering the display with their hand, and even get to the top of an email message and contact list.

The Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network is currently available in 258 markets, covering two-thirds of the of the U.S. population. Verizon Wireless 4G LTE will be in 400 markets covering 260 million people by the end of this year.

Additional features:

Smart Stay – So intelligent, the display only dims when the customers' eyes are closed or no longer facing the screen.
S Voice™ – Featuring natural language recognition, you can control the apps and services used most with words instead of touch. Use S Voice to turn the volume up or down on the music player, answer or reject incoming calls, shut off or choose to snooze the alarm clock, or take a picture by saying "smile" or "cheese."
AllShare® Play – Share HD videos and your favorite songs by streaming multimedia content from the Galaxy S III to a compatible Samsung Smart TV® or home audio system when connected to the same Wi-Fi network, and remotely access files on up to six Samsung devices.
Evolved camera capabilities – Burst Shot mode instantly captures 20 continuous shots and Best Photo feature selects the best shot to display.
Enhanced camera – 8-megapixel rear camera with zero-lag shutter speed and a 1.9-megapixel front camera so customers can capture pictures and videos of themselves or video chat with family and friends.
Mobile Hotspot – share a 4G LTE connection with up to 10 Wi-Fi-enabled devices.
microSD™ card slot for expandable memory.

Pricing and availability:

Samsung Galaxy S III will be available online for pre-order starting June 6 at 7 a.m. EST at www.verizonwireless.com/galaxys3 and will be available in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online in the coming weeks.
The Samsung Galaxy S III will be available in 16 GB and 32 GB models for $199.99 and $249.99 respectively with a new two-year customer agreement. Customers will also have the choice of the Galaxy S III in two colors, Marble White or Pebble Blue.
Customers that purchase a Galaxy S III will need to subscribe to a 4G LTE mobile broadband data package starting at $30 monthly access for 2 GB of data.

Customers can visit http://www.verizonwireless.com/galaxys3 to sign up for more information and availability details on the Samsung Galaxy S III for Verizon Wireless. For additional information on Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com. Follow @VZWnews on Twitter™ for the latest news on Verizon Wireless.

View the original article here

Posted on 07.05 / 0 komentar / Read More

ViewSonic VCD22 22-inch Android Smart Display hands-on (video)

Call it what you will: a 22-inch Android tablet or an ARM-based desktop. Whatever nomenclature you prefer, this much is true: the Viewsonic VCD22 is an odd bird. Though it looks like just another all-in-one desktop, it packs a TI OMAP processor and runs Android 4.0, making it one of the largest mother-loving slates we've ever seen. With a starting price of $479, ViewSonic is hoping budget-minded families will snap it up, or maybe schools looking for a simple system to host interactive lessons for the kiddies. Is this ultimately a better option for classrooms than that new Chromebox we reviewed this week? We'll save that debate for another day but for now, we've got hands-on photos and video of this guy in action. Meet us past the break for a closer look.

Where else would we begin this hands-on but with that 22-inch display? The resolution is 1920 x 1080, which is about what you'd expect on a machine this size, and with a price this low. Though it doesn't have IPS to improve the viewing angles, we actually had no problem following along with an onscreen demonstration while standing a few feet away, and off to the side. That bodes well for schools that are thinking of installing these in classrooms.

Lying underneath that slim frame is an ARM processor -- not exactly what you'd expect to find inside an all-in-one desktop. That chip is part of TI's dual-core OMAP 4000 series, and it's helped by 1GB of RAM. As modest as those specs sound, they're plenty sufficient for powering Ice Cream Sandwich, so far as we can tell. The screen responded very smoothly to our various taps and swipes, and the machine was quick to launch and minimize apps.

From a software standpoint, that is Android 4.0, as we mentioned, though it's still not clear to what extent ViewSonic is going to customize the snot out of it. The demo unit we saw had lots of widgets peppering the home screen, including some tailored toward kids and families. Still, Android fans will appreciate that the core OS itself has remained unchanged; it's just more cluttered than your Nexus handset. A company rep also told us that ViewSonic plans on bundling the machine with educational apps such as audio story books, but that might well vary depending on whether the system is being sold to schools or individual consumers.

Zach Honig contributed to this report.

View the original article here

Posted on 03.01 / 0 komentar / Read More