Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/06/the-heat-reviews-a-buddy-cop-out/
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Saturday, June 29, 2013
Friday, June 28, 2013
Forget an Android gaming console, Google can make a killer ...
Finally, my dream of a Google smartwatch is looking more like a reality!?News hit the rounds on Thursday that Google is taking its next steps into becoming a hardware maker as the Wall Street Journal reported plans for an Android gaming console, media streaming device and a smartwatch.
I?m not too excited about a gaming console: There are already enough gaming devices available and as far as media sharing hardware, Google has already attempted this with its ill-fated Nexus Q last year.?But a smartwatch? Now that sounds exciting for a few reasons.
So it?s not surprising to me that some recent smartwatches have quickly gained a following or raised millions of dollars in crowd-sourced funding. Think of the Pebble or, more recently, the Kreyos Meteor, for example. Sony is also participating here, having just announced a newly updated SmartWatch 2 that arrives in September. Various other companies too are all taking a crack at being on your wrist: MetaWatch, WIMM, I?m Watch?. and the list goes on.
I?ve tried a number of these wearables in the past, but time and again, I keep returning to the Motorola MotoACTV smartwatch. It continues to impress me because unlike most of the other smartwatches, it?s not a simple second screen for your smartphone. Yes, it can show incoming messages, calls or social networking status updates when paired with a phone but it provides plenty of standalone functionality as well: GPS exercise tracking, a virtual caddie and scorekeeper on the golf course, a step tracker and an MP3 player with its built-in music player and 8 or 16 GB of flash storage.
What does that have to do with Google? A lot, since Google owns Motorola. Yes, it runs Motorola as a completely separate division, but it would nonsensical for Google not to take a good hard look at the MotoACTV for the basis of a new smartwatch. To be honest, most of what Google needs is already present and accounted for in the MotoACTV, even though the device is two years old.
It already runs on Android ? something the WSJ reported a new Google smart watch would do as well ? and has nearly every type of connectivity option available: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS. Sure, the components need an upgrade from 2011 standards, but the basis of a great smart watch is already there.
There?s more, however, that Google has in its arsenal of tools to make a great watch, even if it isn?t based solely on the MotoACTV: Google Now and Google Glass.
Google Now provides personal, contextual information on phones and tablets today based on your email, calendar and web searches. Look up an address on the web and Google Now will?provide directions and an estimated time of arrival based on traffic without having to be asked. If you have to travel for an appointment on your calendar, Google Now notifies you when it?s time to leave. Nearby events, stock prices, sports scores for your favorite teams are part of Google Now as well. And collectively, these are exactly the bite-sized type of bits that are perfectly suited for a small screen on the wrist.
The card-based look of Google Now could easily work on a small screen. We already know that because Google took a similar approach with the Google Glass user interface. It?s simple to navigate through Glass with a finger swipe on the glasses and the screen don?t inundate with information. Again, that?s perfect for a wristwatch. And the look of Google Glass, which Google designed, isn?t too bad for the type of product that it is.
While I have no knowledge of Google?s detailed plans for a smart watch, I can see that the company has all of the ingredients of a potentially successful recipe. With just a small bit of hardware tweaking to the existing MotoACTV in a more fashionable design, combined with the basics of Google Now and the ability to run small but useful standalone Android apps, I?d stand in line for a Google smart watch. Would you?
Source: http://gigaom.com/2013/06/28/forget-an-android-gaming-console-google-can-make-a-killer-smartwatch/
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Samsung launches 55-inch 'flawless' curved OLED TV in Korea
Just as the rumors foretold, Samsung has announced Korean availability of a 55-inch curved OLED HDTV. Priced at 15 million Korean won (around $13,000) Samsung claims its "Timeless Arena" design eliminates potential for defective OLED pixels. It also reiterates the claim LG made when it launched its own curved OLED model earlier this year that keeping all parts of the screen an equal distance from the viewer makes for a better viewing experience. It also supports features found in other Samsung TVs like multi-view that lets two people watch different things at the same time thanks to 3D glasses, and the Evolution Kit CPU upgrade. There's no word on US availability or its flat OLED HDTVs, but the company also launched its new 65- and 55-inch 4K TVs at the same event.
Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment, HD, Samsung
Source: Samsung Tomorrow
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/4p0hzmNkmcY/
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Google Working on Game Console to Compete with Future Apple ...
According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, Google has an Android-based video game console and smart watch in the works in order to compete with products the company expects Apple to produce in the future. A MOGA Gaming Controller
It is not unexpected that Google is planning for a gaming solution of its own to compete with a potential Apple offering, as the Mountain View-based company began work on a smart watch around the same time that Apple was developing a watch of its own. News of Apple's upcoming smart watch dubbed "iWatch" surfaced in December, and hints that Google would develop a competing product surfaced in March, though the company filed for a patent on the technology at an earlier date.
Google is also continuing development on the Nexus Q, a media console that it announced last year but did not release. The Nexus Q was designed to stream music, video, and YouTube content to home entertainment systems, similar to the Apple TV.
With the watch and game console, Google is hoping to combat similar devices that Apple Inc. may release in the future, the people said.This is not the first time it has been suggested that Apple could use the Apple TV to make a serious foray into the console gaming market. Tech sites have speculated for years that gaming on the Apple TV might be in Apple's future, and earlier this year, Xbox founding engineer Nat Brown said that Apple could "destroy" console gaming with third party apps on the Apple TV.The people briefed on the matter said Google is reacting in part to expectations that rival Apple will launch a videogame console as part of its next Apple TV product release.
In February, TechCrunch's MG Siegler confirmed that Apple has something television related in the pipeline, which might be a television set or a revised box. Siegler suggested that gaming could be the major focal point of the new television product.
While Apple has referred to its Apple TV as a hobby project, the company has seen sales continue to rise over the years. With the second generation Apple TV and the introduction of AirPlay Mirroring for iOS devices with iOS 5, gaming on the set-top box became possible for the first time.
Clever developers have already begun using that technology to turn the Apple TV into a gaming console, with several implementing second screen capabilities that turn the iPhone or iPad into a controller. A game released earlier today goes even further, morphing the iPhone into a motion controller that serves as a tennis racket.
Now Apple has revealed that it has established partnerships with Logitech and MOGA to develop third party MFi certified gaming controllers, which would better facilitate television-based gaming, suggesting that the company may indeed be turning its focus to serious gameplay. It should also be noted that 21 of the top 25 all time best selling App Store apps are games.
It is not unexpected that Google is planning for a gaming solution of its own to compete with a potential Apple offering, as the Mountain View-based company began work on a smart watch around the same time that Apple was developing a watch of its own. News of Apple's upcoming smart watch dubbed "iWatch" surfaced in December, and hints that Google would develop a competing product surfaced in March, though the company filed for a patent on the technology at an earlier date.
Wearable computers and fitness tracking devices such as the Pebble Smart Watch, the Jawbone UP, and the Nike FuelBand have soared in popularity in recent months and in addition to Apple and Google, other companies like Samsung and Microsoft are said to be developing wearable computing devices. Google already has experience in the market with Google Glass, which it plans to release to the public next year.
According to the WSJ, Google hopes to design and market its devices in house, releasing at least one product this fall. There are no hints on when Apple could potentially launch a revamped Apple TV or a smart watch, but its gaming controllers are expected in the fall alongside the iPhone 5S and iOS 7.
Tim Cook has also suggested that the company has "amazing new hardware, software, and services" coming later in the year and throughout 2014.
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Climate Change May Radically Transform Desert Bacteria
Climate change may transform the community of microbes that forms the crucial top layer of soil, known as a biocrust, in deserts throughout the United States, new research suggests.
The study, published today (June 27) in the journal Science, found that one type of bacteria dominates in warm climates, whereas another is more prevalent in cooler areas. Combined with climate models, the findings suggest that the cold-loving bacteria could completely disappear from their current habitats as the climate warms.
That disappearance, in turn, could have unpredictable ripple effects across the entire desert ecosystem, study researchers said, as the biocrusts are important resources for desert plants and help mitigate dust storms. [Photos: Mysterious World of Cryptobiotic Soils]
"For the first time, we have shown that the distribution of microbes is also prone to changes due to global warming," said study co-author Ferran Garcia-Pichel, a microbial ecologist at Arizona State University. "We simply don't know the consequences of this."
Ubiquitous organisms
Throughout the arid regions of the western United States, desert soil is permeated by a cryptic collection of photosynthetic organisms, including microbes, lichens and mosses. These mostly bacterial biocrusts anchor the soil, preventing sandstorms and erosion. They also play a critical role in cycling carbon and providing nitrogen in the soil, which feeds the growth of desert plants.
Yet these soils remained virtually unstudied by researchers.
To get a better picture of these cryptic species, Garcia-Pichel and his colleagues conducted a thorough survey of the microbial constituents in biocrusts at 23 sites throughout the western United States. They found that two species ? Microcoleus vaginatus and M. steenstrupii ? each dominated in different regions.
Hot and cold
M. vaginatus predominated in cooler deserts near the California-Oregon border and in Utah, whereas M. steenstrupii was the main bacteria in the scorching deserts of Arizona, New Mexico and California. The researchers looked at several potential causes for the difference in distribution, such as rainfall and soil composition, but found that temperature was the best predictor of which microbe thrived in each region.
To help confirm that this was the major driver behind the distribution, the team then took the bacteria back to the lab and cultured them at different temperatures. Sure enough, M. steenstrupii flourished in warmer conditions and was more tolerant to extreme heat, while the opposite was true for M. vaginatus.
Next, they looked at global warming models, which predicted that the desert regions in the United States would increase in temperature over the next 50 years. With this projected warming, M. vaginatus could completely disappear from the arid regions of the western United States, the researchers said.
The team realized "this is enough temperature to push one of them out of our map,'" Garcia-Pichel told LiveScience.
Unknown consequences
Unfortunately, so little is known about the mysterious M. steenstrupii that no one is sure how this change will impact desert ecosystems, said Jayne Belnap, an ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Moab, Utah, who was not involved in the study.
"These are the only game in town to prevent dust storms and erosion, so they're really, really critical parts of this ecosystem," Belnap told LiveScience. "Yet we've never asked the question, 'who's really in there, and what's going to happen there as things shift?'"
Follow Tia Ghose on Twitter?and Google+.?Follow?LiveScience?@livescience,?Facebook?&?Google+. Original article on?LiveScience.com.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/climate-change-may-radically-transform-desert-bacteria-141321579.html
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Monday, June 24, 2013
Western Digital buys Stec to build solid-state business
By Chandni Doulatramani
(Reuters) - Hard drive maker Western Digital Corp will buy troubled Stec Inc to become one of the top players in the high-growth solid-state drive (SSD) industry that has flourished despite high prices of the storage devices.
Stec is one of the oldest makers of solid state drives, which are much faster than traditional hard drives, but it has lost market share to the likes of Western Digital, Seagate Technology PLC and market leader Fusion-io Inc.
The deal to sell Stec for $340 million follows an insider trading scandal that forced out its co-founder and CEO last year. Stec shares have halved in value this year.
Western Digital and other companies that make personal hard drives and traditional PC hard drives are looking to switch to the newer drives that are more reliable and energy efficient.
Western Digital offer of $6.85 per share represents a 91 percent premium to Stec's closing share price on Friday.
Stec shares jumped 87 percent to $6.74 in morning trading on the Nasdaq. Western Digital shares were down 1.5 percent.
"I think Stec was looking at a long series of losses, and their current management team may have been impeding their ability to get business with certain original-equipment manufacturer customers," said Craig-Hallum Capital analyst Richard Shannon.
The deal comes about six months after the Stec's biggest shareholder, Balch Hill Capital, started pushing the money-losing company to consider a sale after the scandal.
Stec has looked at other suitors including Seagate and is unlikely to get higher offers, Benchmark analyst Gary Mobley said in a research note to clients.
Mobley downgraded the stock to "sell" from "hold".
Seagate told Reuters last year that it was looking to buy smaller rivals that have a significant share of the enterprise market.
Stec specializes in hard drives used in servers and data centers.
Stec's co-founder, Manouch Moshayedi, resigned as chief executive in September over insider trading charges. His brother, Mark Moshayedi, took over as the interim CEO.
Stec's revenue has been declining since 2011 and halved in the first quarter this year from a year earlier.
The company's stock trades at 1.3 times forward 12-month sales, mostly in line with the sector average, according to Thomson Reuters data.
The sale is expected to close in the third or fourth quarter of 2013.
Wells Fargo Securities LLC is the financial adviser to Western Digital while BofA Merrill Lynch advises Stec.
(Writing by Sayantani Ghosh in Bangalore; Editing by Don Sebastian)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/western-digital-buys-stec-build-solid-state-business-144838531.html
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Missing red panda from National Zoo found in DC
This undated handout photo provided by the National Zoo shows a red panda that has gone missing from its enclosure at the zoo in Washington. National Zoo spokeswoman Pamela Baker-Masson says animal keepers discovered the male red panda named Rusty was missing on Monday morning. Red pandas are in a separate family from giant pandas and are listed as vulnerable in the wild. They are highly territorial, so Baker-Masson says it?s unlikely that Rusty traveled far from his home. He is likely hiding high in a tree branch. (AP Photo/Smithsonian?s National Zoo, Abby Wood)
This undated handout photo provided by the National Zoo shows a red panda that has gone missing from its enclosure at the zoo in Washington. National Zoo spokeswoman Pamela Baker-Masson says animal keepers discovered the male red panda named Rusty was missing on Monday morning. Red pandas are in a separate family from giant pandas and are listed as vulnerable in the wild. They are highly territorial, so Baker-Masson says it?s unlikely that Rusty traveled far from his home. He is likely hiding high in a tree branch. (AP Photo/Smithsonian?s National Zoo, Abby Wood)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Animal keepers from the National Zoo have captured a red panda in a Washington neighborhood after it went missing from its enclosure at the zoo.
National Zoo spokeswoman Pamela Baker-Masson says the male named Rusty was captured Monday afternoon in a bush in the Adams Morgan neighborhood.
The red panda is being taken to the zoo's animal hospital for a checkup.
Unlike giant pandas, red pandas are not members of the bear family. Red pandas are slightly bigger than a domestic cat and look similar to a raccoon. They are listed as vulnerable in the wild.
Rusty arrived at the zoo in April from the zoo in Lincoln, Neb., and was in quarantine for several weeks until he went on exhibit in early June.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
Zookeepers are searching for a red panda that has gone missing from its enclosure in Washington.
National Zoo spokeswoman Pamela Baker-Masson says animal keepers discovered the male named Rusty was missing Monday morning. They began searching the zoo at 8 a.m.
Unlike giant pandas, red pandas are not members of the bear family. Red pandas are slightly bigger than a domestic cat and look similar to a raccoon. They are listed as vulnerable in the wild.
Red pandas are highly territorial, so Baker-Masson says it's unlikely that Rusty traveled far. He is likely hiding high in a tree branch to hide in the tree canopy.
"Everybody continues to look for him," Baker-Masson said. "As the day heats up, he will likely sleep and hide."
Animal keepers last saw him Sunday evening about 6 p.m. when he was fed and appeared healthy. They believe he may stay in hiding during the day. They are also looking at the possibility that Rusty is sick or that someone took him.
Rusty arrived at the zoo in April from the zoo in Lincoln, Neb., and was in quarantine for several weeks until he went on exhibit in early June. Rusty is vaccinated and is not aggressive, but he is a wild animal and could bite if he became cornered and scared, Baker-Masson said.
The zoo began sending out messages about his disappearance Monday morning on Twitter in case someone sees him at the zoo.
"Unless he was very motivated, he would not wander far from his habitat," Baker-Masson said. "This red panda is not down on the (National) Mall."
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