Thursday, November 29, 2012

The World's Most Expensive Lego Is A $14,500 Solid Gold Brick [feedly]


 
 
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The World's Most Expensive Lego Is A $14,500 Solid Gold Brick
With all the insane, high tech Lego contraptions running around these days, it's easy to overlook the beauty in a single, elemental brick — unless that element is solid, 14-carat gold. More »





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Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Google reportedly looking to launch own-brand Chromebook in early 2013 [feedly]

Interesting, the Samsung and Asus counterparts look flimpsy
 
 
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Google reportedly looking to launch own-brand Chromebook in early 2013

Android Central

Reports from the Far East starting to emerge are suggesting that Google is looking to further expand its Chrome OS device portfolio with an own-brand offering in Q1 2013. A report in the China Times claims that Google has approached Taiwanese manufacturers Compal Electronics and Wintek to handle the hardware. The kicker -- this Google branded Chromebook is said to be a 12.85-inch device with a touch based input. 

Google is of course in the midst of another round of Chromebook pushing at the moment, with low-cost offerings currently on the market from both Acer and Samsung. The reports of touch input are interesting, especially considering Google's recent push into the tablet space with both the Nexus 7 and the Nexus 10. A touch based Chromebook would offer a different experience to an Android tablet. It could be seen more as a move to compete not against Google's own products, but more so against the likes of the Microsoft Surface and the other Windows 8 based touch-input laptops and tablets. 

Touch input alone may not be enough to increase adoption of Google's cloud based OS, but price could have a much bigger effect. We've seen with the recent launches of the Nexus 4, 7 and 10 that Google is capable of offering a premium experience at an attractive price point. If Google were to offer an own-brand Chromebook, sold exclusively through the Play Store, margins could be stretched as thin as they wanted with a potential for an attractive price for consumers. 

Source: China Times via The Next Web






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Google increases Gmail attachments to 10GB with Google Drive integration



Google increases Gmail attachments to 10GB with Google Drive integration
http://bgr.com/2012/11/27/gmail-attachment-limit-google-drive-integration-10gb/

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Gan Montenegro
PHILIPPINES

The Best Secret Gmail Feature Is Hiding In Plain Sight



The Best Secret Gmail Feature Is Hiding In Plain Sight
http://gizmodo.com/5963768/the-best-secret-gmail-feature-is-hiding-in-plain-sight

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PHILIPPINES

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Bouncey House Injuries on the Rise


 

Bouncey House Injuries on the Rise

Published on Discovery News - Top Stories | shared via feedly mobile

The increase could be attributed, in part, to the rising popularity of bounce houses.

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Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Pia Cayetano faces plagiarism case


  all is the same in love and war

Pia Cayetano faces plagiarism case

Published on RAPPLER | shared via feedly mobile

MANILA, Philippines – Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III is no longer alone.

Like Sotto, Sen Pia Cayetano – incidentally one of his critics – is formally accused of plagiarism after an ethics complaint was filed against her on Wednesday, November 21. 

In a text message to Rappler, Cayetano's office confirmed that it ...

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Smart To Seek NTC Reconsideration


  toldya they won't take this sitting down...

Smart To Seek NTC Reconsideration

Published on mb.com.ph | shared via feedly mobile

 

Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) will seek a reconsideration of the decision of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) finding that mobile operators have failed to comply with the provisions of memorandum circular (MC) 11-24-2011 lowering interconnection rates and requiring mobile operators to refund subscribers for the alleged excess charge for text messages.

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Nokia Maps for iOS: Why Is Something So Good So Ugly? [feedly]

I agree! After installing it, I was disappointed at the quality of the whole app., from the clarity of the texts to the crispness of the details
 
 
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Nokia Maps for iOS: Why Is Something So Good So Ugly?
Nokia Maps (officially titled "Here") is a potential godsend for anyone fed up with Apple's subpar offering. It's blazingly fast, routes via public transportation with ease, and doesn't mix up Manhattan with Siberia. Unfortunately, it's bogglingly hard on the eyes. More »





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Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Android 4.2 called ‘one of the most bug-ridden releases since Honeycomb’


 

Android 4.2 called 'one of the most bug-ridden releases since Honeycomb'

Published on BGR | shared via feedly mobile

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean received widespread acclaim as one of the best updates to the Android operating system to come around in some time. Android 4.2, however, isn't getting the same praise. Android Police, which first broke the story about Android 4.2 lacking the month of December in its contacts app, has done the dirty work of chronicling the problems encountered so far in Android 4.2 and has found a wide array of issues. Among other things, Android 4.2 renders Bluetooth "basically broken," creates random Windows Phone 8-like reboots, severely drains battery life and slows charging time. Taking all this into account, Android Police says that Android 4.2 is "one of the most bug-ridden releases since Honeycomb," which at least had the excuse of being the first version of Android designed for tablets.

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Monday, November 19, 2012

Gibbs Unveils Quadski Amphibious Vehicle [VIDEO] [feedly]

It's kinda fast on both land and water too!
 
 
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Gibbs Unveils Quadski Amphibious Vehicle [VIDEO]
Gibbs Quadski

Edging toward the shoreline atop what seemed to be an oversized all-terrain vehicle, the instructions issued by those standing aside were simple enough: Drive into the water.

I tried. My brain disobeyed.

Deploying some innate self-preservation device, my fingers refused to grip the throttle. There's something deeply unnatural about driving a vehicle from the land into the water. Perhaps that's one reason why it's taken the most intrepid of innovators decades to hone amphibious technology.

Finally, with the onlookers watching me idle, I inched ahead with a few spastic squeezes of the two-spring throttle. The Gibbs Quadski left the beach and entered a nameless lake next to a quarry east of Oxford, Michigan.

Sufficiently offshore in about three feet of water, I press a toggle switch below the handlebars and the wheels retract into the fiberglass composite hull. Five seconds later, the ATV completes its transition into a jet ski, and we're skipping across the water.

The Quadski is neither the world's most daunting off-road vehicle nor the most agile of personal watercraft--but it's the first to be enthrallingly adept at both.

Previous attempts to make a useful amphibian inevitably delivered on one surface and failed on the other. In the 1960s, Germans produced the Amphicar, which puttered about the water at about 8 miles an hour.

The Quadski is different. Surprisingly stable on both land and water, it is the first high-speed sports amphibian capable of reaching 45 miles per hour on both land and sea.

Executives with Auburn Hills, Mich.-based Gibbs Sports Amphibians introduced the Quadski to media members Monday. After spending some 20 years and $200 million in development, the single-passenger vehicles are slated to begin production at a nearby facility in mid-November.

Gibbs plans to produce 1,000 units in the first year of production before expanding for a global customer base. The Quadski will likely retail at approximately $40,000.

"With 1,000 units, we want to be careful, and not run before we can walk," said company founder Alan Gibbs.

Or in his case, float.



Gibbs first began experimenting with amphibious vehicles around 1994 in his native New Zealand, where he became frustrated that his boat would often get caught in the forceful tidal fluctuations on Kaipara Harbour.

His first big splash into the amphibious market came a decade later, when his company launched the Aquada, a three-person amphibian that looks like a conventional convertible.

Sir Richard Branson made headlines with the Aquada in 2004, when the Virgin magnate drove across the English Channel in 1 hour, 40 minutes, breaking the old amphibian record across the route by more than four hours. But a key supplier closed, and the Aquada never reached production.

About the same time, the company shifted its focus toward both the Quadski and larger 30-foot transports that hold promise for military and first-responder applications.

In building the Quadski, engineers knew exactly what, at least in theory, was needed to make the vehicle work. The problem, as with the Aquada, was finding compatible parts. They often had to be developed from scratch.

Neil Jenkins, the chairman of Gibbs, said he traveled the globe speaking with aerospace companies about building a jet propulsion system. He said they either told him it couldn't be done or that it required substantial changes.

"I needed it to be one-third the length and half the weight," Jenkins said, comparing it to the conventional marine jets suppliers offered him. Gibbs instead built its own, and the result is enough power and thrust to get the Quadski to planing speed in a matter of seconds--a key hurdle that Jenkins said other amphibious carmakers could not overcome.

Its engine is also lightweight. Gibbs equipped the Quadski with a 175-horsepower, 1.3-liter, four-cylinder engine purchased from BMW, the same one found on the K1300 motorcycle. It is mated to a five-speed transmission with an automated clutch.

In the water, the 1,300-pound craft behaves like a traditional wave runner, and riders can plow through the wake of others' with gleeful abandon. The difference with the Quadski is that its stability is more comparable to a small boat--it's far less likely to capsize.

Promotional materials released by Gibbs show riders taking a break from riding and diving off the side of the Quadski. It never rocks. Considering it was a blustery gray day with temperatures in the 40s, I opted to skip the swim.

On land, the Quadski is a powerful beast. It delivers more power and torque than is necessary, and we charged around the gravel trails on the company's testing grounds. Drivers shift gears with a toggle switch on the left handlebar and automatically downshifts when the brakes are applied.

It's an all-around fun ride on both land and sea, and there's equal exhilaration in circumventing the tedious boat-ramp process.

The entire process feels like something that belongs in the new James Bond movie that hit theaters last week. But mention this to Jenkins, and he replies there's a key difference. The gadgets made famous by 007 are mostly the stuff of science fiction.

The Quadski, on the other hand, is here.

Gibbs Quadski

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Gibbs Unveils Quadski Amphibious Vehicle [VIDEO] originally appeared on Translogic on 2012-10-18T11:15:00+00:00. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Friday, November 16, 2012

Mercedes-Benz Ener-G-Force Concept: Serving California Since 2025 [2012 L.A. Auto Show] [feedly]

That is one huge and intimidating concept truck
 
 
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Mercedes-Benz Ener-G-Force Concept: Serving California Since 2025 [2012 L.A. Auto Show]

Mercedes-Benz ENER-G Force concept

Mercedes-Benz has created its share of iconic vehicles, but only one of them is currently on sale. (Time will tell on stuff like the SLS or C63 AMG.) Of course, we're talking about the Geländewagen, styled with a slide rule in the early '70s to military specifications, launched in 1979, and is still sold today in surprising quantities to armed forces, off-road enthusiasts, and the jet set alike. It's no wonder, then, that the GL-class—intended as a Geländewagen replacement—couldn't kill it. READ MORE ››

2012 L.A. Auto Show full coverage Read full story »




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City Maps 2Go is currently FREE

Yup, if you're after an offline maps app for the iOS device in your bag/car, then head on to Apps Store and download City Maps 2Go while it's free. It's a Universal app so it can run on both the big screen iPad and the small screen iPhone and iPod Touch.

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Article: Blogger 2.0 Android, iOS Apps are Out





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Article: 'Stan Lee's Verticus' for iOS blends comic book-style action with 'Temple Run'


'Stan Lee's Verticus' for iOS blends comic book-style action with 'Temple Run'
http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/15/3651944/stan-lees-verticus-ios-game-available

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Article: Foursquare's Come A Long Way in 4 Years: Look at Its First Prototype


Foursquare's Come A Long Way in 4 Years: Look at Its First Prototype
http://thenextweb.com/apps/2012/11/16/foursquares-come-a-long-way-in-4-years-look-at-its-first-prototype/

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Article: By The Numbers: Is Windows 8 Dead On Arrival In The Enterprise?





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Windows 8 Tablets

I want one!!! Not the scaled down version but the full Windows 8 tablet...the one that can run desktop apps. And I do hope that OEMs would price it like the other tablets in the market...competitively. If that happens then Apple and Google will have a problem.

Right now, tablets are not as productive as their laptop counterparts. But if Windows 8 fulfills its promise, and is as affordable as it's competitors, then it will become a full hit.

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