Tech Blogging and News For South Africa
Donald Melanson
This user hasn't shared any biographical information
Homepage: http://www.engadget.com
Posts by Donald Melanson
HP rolls out ‘Let’s Do Amazing’ ad campaign
March 12, 2010 - 12:31 am
Tags: ad, ad campaign, AdCampaign, ads, dr dre, dre, hp, lets do amazing, LetsDoAmazing
Posted in Gadgets, General, Personal, Technology | Comments Off
We’d already gotten word of HP’s new $40 million “Let’s Do Amazing” ad campaign earlier today, but the company has just now rolled out its first series of ads to give us some indication of how all that money is being spent. Somewhat curiously, for an ad campaign partly intended to reintroduce the HP brand to consumers, the ads stray pretty far beyond HP’s consumer products (including a trip to a UPS sorting facility and the Venetian’s IT department), but we do at least get to see Dr. Dre extol the benefits of HP Beats audio — not to mention a little beatboxing from Rhys Darby of “Flight of the Conchords,” who serves as the host of the ads. Head on past the break to check out the Dre ad and HP’s introduction video, and hit up the link below for the rest of the series.
Continue reading HP rolls out ‘Let’s Do Amazing’ ad campaign
HP rolls out ‘Let’s Do Amazing’ ad campaign originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Cellphone inventor Marty Cooper uses a Droid…. and a Jitterbug
March 12, 2010 - 12:04 am
Tags: android, cellphone inventor, CellphoneInventor, droid, jitterbug, martin cooper, MartinCooper, marty cooper, MartyCooper, motorola, motorola droid, MotorolaDroid
Posted in Gadgets, General, Personal, Technology | Comments Off
Sure, you read reviews and take recommendations from friends before you buy a new cellphone, but have you ever stopped to consider what the inventor of the cellphone uses on a daily basis? C-SPAN has, and recently took the opportunity to ask the man himself, Marty Cooper, that very question during a wide-ranging interview. While Cooper said that he has used an iPhone previously, he recently passed it on to his grandson in favor of a Motorola Droid, which he says he chose because he wanted to get more experience with Android. But that’s not all, Cooper also revealed that he carries a Jitterbug as well for when he just wants to make phone calls. Surprising for a pioneer of mobile technology? Not exactly, as Cooper actually co-founded Jitterbug with his wife, who he credits with inventing the phone. Head on past the break to watch the complete interview.
Continue reading Cellphone inventor Marty Cooper uses a Droid…. and a Jitterbug
Cellphone inventor Marty Cooper uses a Droid…. and a Jitterbug originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink 
Phandroid, Android Central | 
YouTube | Email this | Comments
Novothink rolls out Solar Surge iPhone / iPod touch charging case
March 11, 2010 - 9:15 pm
Tags: case, charging case, ChargingCase, iphone 3g, iphone 3gs, iphone case, Iphone3g, Iphone3gs, IphoneCase, ipod touch, ipod touch case, IpodTouch, IpodTouchCase, novothink, solar, solar charger, solar charging case, solar power, SolarCharger, SolarChargingCase, SolarPower
Posted in Gadgets, General, Personal, Technology | Comments Off
It’s not November ‘09 as originally promised, but Novothink has now announced that its Solar Surge charging cases for the iPhone and iPod touch are finally available. Those will run $79.95 for the iPhone 3G/3GS version and $69.95 for the iPod touch version (second gen only, it seems), which are each available only in black or white at the moment (additional colors are “coming soon), and should add between four and eight hours of talk time, or up to 20 hours of additional audio playback. That’s, of course, when the charger is fully charged, but Novothink says you can still expect to get between 30 and 60 minutes of talk time after two hours of exposure to direct sunlight.
Novothink rolls out Solar Surge iPhone / iPod touch charging case originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Barnes & Noble promises B&N eReader app for iPad near launch
March 11, 2010 - 8:29 pm
Tags: apple, apple ipad, AppleIpad, barnes noble, BarnesNoble, BN, bn ereader, BnEreader, e book reader, E-bookReader, E-readerStand, EBook, ebooks, EbookStore, EReader, EReaders, ipad, ipad app, IpadApp
Posted in Gadgets, General, Personal, Technology | Comments Off
Need a bit more evidence that the e-book download business is a whole lot different than the music download business? Then look no further than Barnes & Noble, which has just announced that it plans to make its B&N eReader app available for the Apple iPad “around the time” of the device’s launch. Details are otherwise a bit light, but the app will be free, and is apparently “designed specifically” for the iPad, giving you access to all of the books, magazines and newspapers available in Barnes & Noble’s eBookstore. Could a Kindle app be far behind?
Barnes & Noble promises B&N eReader app for iPad near launch originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Sony’s ultra-compact concept camera gets slightly less mysterious
March 11, 2010 - 7:42 pm
Tags: camera concept, CameraConcept, concept camera, ConceptCamera, pma, pma 2010, Pma2010, sony, sony ultra-compact, SonyUltra-compact, ultra-compact
Posted in Gadgets, General, Personal, Technology | Comments Off
We didn’t exactly get the best look at Sony’s new ultra-compact concept camera at PMA last month, but the company is now thankfully starting to reveal a few more details about the “DSLR quality” camera. Still nothing in the way of specs or an actual working camera, of course, but Sony has provided a few screenshots of the camera’s menu system that at least provide a few tidbits of information. Most notably, it seems that the camera will employ a touchscreen interface, with most of the main controls handled by a menu on the side of the screen, and it looks like the camera will have a RAW + JPEG shooting mode, which should no doubt please more serious photographers. Hit up the link below for a few more screenshots.
[Thanks, Julien]
Sony’s ultra-compact concept camera gets slightly less mysterious originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
HTML5 vs. Flash comparison finds a few surprises, settles few debates
March 11, 2010 - 7:36 am
Tags: adobe, apple, chrome, comparison, firefox, Flash, flash 10, flash 10.1, Flash10, Flash10.1, google, google chrome, GoogleChrome, gpu, gpu acceleration, GpuAcceleration, hardware acceleration, HardwareAcceleration, html5, Mac, safari, windows
Posted in Gadgets, General, Personal, Technology | Comments Off
Think we’d all be better off if HTML5 could somehow instantly replace Flash overnight? Not necessarily, according to a set of comparisons from Jan Ozer of the Streaming Learning Center website, which found that while HTML5 did come out ahead in many respects, it wasn’t exactly a clear winner. The tests weren’t completely scientific, but they did find that HTML5 clearly performed better than Flash 10 or 10.1 in Safari on a Mac, although the differences were less clear cut in Google Chrome or Firefox. On the other hand, Flash more than held its own on Windows, and Flash Player 10.1 was actually 58% more efficient than HTML5 in Google Chrome on the Windows system tested. As you may have deduced, one of the big factors accounting for that discrepancy is that Flash is able to take advantage of GPU hardware acceleration in Windows, while Adobe is effectively cut out of the loop on Mac — something it has complained about quite publicly. According to Ozer, the differences between HTML5 and Flash playback on a Mac could be virtually eliminated if Flash could make use of GPU acceleration. Hit up the link below for all the numbers.
Update: Mike Chambers has performed some additional tests that he says shows that “does not perform consistently worse on Mac than on Windows.” Check out the complete results here.
HTML5 vs. Flash comparison finds a few surprises, settles few debates originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink ReadWriteWeb | Streaming Learning Center | Email this | Comments
Razer promises Mac support for all upcoming products
March 11, 2010 - 12:37 am
Tags: gaming mice, gaming mouse, GamingMice, GamingMouse, gdc, gdc 2010, Gdc2010, Imperator, Mac, mac games, mac gaming, MacGames, MacGaming, mamba, Orochi, razer
Posted in Gadgets, General, Personal, Technology | Comments Off
Razer already provides full Mac support for a few of its gaming peripherals — including the Naga and DeathAdder — and basic support for others, but it’s now taken avantage of GDC to “reaffirm” its commitment to Mac users. That apparently means that “all upcoming” Razer products — including the company’s line of StarCraft II peripherals — will boast full Mac support out of the box, and that the company will be rolling out updates to some of its existing products “later this year,” including the Orochi, Mamba, and Imperator gaming mice. First Steam, now Razer peripherals — dare we say it’s a good time to be a Mac gamer?
Razer promises Mac support for all upcoming products originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Razer | Email this | Comments
HTC HD2 said to be launching March 24th for $199, no Windows Phone 7 support
March 10, 2010 - 11:31 pm
Tags: hd2, htc, htc hd2, HtcHd2, t-mobile, windows mobile, windows mobile 6.5, windows phone 7, windows phone 7series, WindowsMobile, WindowsMobile6.5, WindowsPhone7, WindowsPhone7Series, winmo, winmo 6.5, Winmo6.5, wm 6.5, wm6.5, wp7, wp7s
Posted in Gadgets, General, Personal, Technology | Comments Off
Well, we’d already had a pretty clear indication that the HTC HD2 would be launching on T-Mobile on March 24th (or possibly the 23rd), and Laptop Magazine is now reporting that a “very close T-Mobile source” has confirmed that the 24th is indeed the date, and that the phone will run $199 on a two-year contract (or $449 off-contract). The March 23rd date that recently cropped up is apparently just the day the MobiTV software will go live. Just as notably, Laptop also says that it has confirmed that the phone won’t be upgradeable to Windows Phone 7 Series — although, at this point, we’ll have to hear that first-hand to truly put an end to the speculation. Thankfully, that should happen in just a few days.
HTC HD2 said to be launching March 24th for $199, no Windows Phone 7 support originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Computing pioneer Chuck Thacker wins Turing Award
March 10, 2010 - 10:51 pm
Tags: a.m. turing award, A.m.TuringAward, alto, Award, charles thacker, CharlesThacker, chuck thacker, ChuckThacker, ethernet, tablet pc, TabletPc, thacker, turing, turing award, TuringAward, xerox, xerox alto, xerox parc, XeroxAlto, XeroxParc
Posted in Gadgets, General, Personal, Technology | Comments Off
Chuck Thacker may not be quite the same household name as some other computing pioneers, but it’s pretty hard to overstate the influence he’s had on the industry, a feat for which he’s now be honored with the A.M. Turing Award — widely considered to be the “Nobel prize of computing.” While Thacker is now a “Technical Fellow” at Microsoft, he first made a name for himself at Xerox PARC, where he not only helped design and realize the very first modern computer, the Alto, but co-invented Ethernet, and contributed to a range of other projects that have had a lasting impact on computing to this day. Later, while at Microsoft Reseach, Thacker oversaw the design of the very first Tablet PC prototypes, and he continues to lead up a computer-architecture group at the company and be involved with various research efforts. Of course, that’s only scratching the surface — hit up the links below for a more complete background of the man’s work, and head on past the break for a short video put together for the occasion by Microsoft.
Continue reading Computing pioneer Chuck Thacker wins Turing Award
Computing pioneer Chuck Thacker wins Turing Award originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink The Register | Microsoft, ACM | Email this | Comments
Boeing announces compact, energy-efficient 3D camera
March 10, 2010 - 8:59 pm
Tags: 3d, 3d camera, 3d imaging, 3dCamera, 3dImaging, boeing, Boeing Directed Energy Systems, BoeingDirectedEnergySystems, military, Spectrolab
Posted in Gadgets, General, Personal, Technology | Comments Off
Yes, even the military has gone 3D. Helping it in that endeavor is Boeing, which has just announced a tiny new 3D camera that’s one-third the size and consumes one-tenth the power of comparable 3D imaging systems. While it will also be made available for commercial use, it seems like military will be first in line to use the cameras, with Boeing noting that it’s potential applications including “mapping terrain, tracking targets and seeing through foliage,” and adding that it’s already testing the camera on unmanned aerial vehicles. The biggest drawback to the camera at the moment is that it’s only able to take 3D still images, but Boeing says it will “soon” add 3D video capability as well. Details are otherwise pretty hard to come by, as you might expect, and pricing is no doubt best left unsaid.
[Thanks, Graham]
Boeing announces compact, energy-efficient 3D camera originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink SPIE | Boeing | Email this | Comments
