Friday, 31 August 2012
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Amazon Kindle Fire Is Sold Out
Less than a year after announcing its Kindle Fire tablet, Amazon says the model is sold out in the United States, and has claimed 22% of all tablet sales.
The news comes shortly before the expected announcement of the Kindle Fire 2 on Sept. 6.
Amazon is also touting that all of the top-selling products in its store since the launch of the Kindle Fire have been digital.
But Amazon has a way of making statements that scratch its back without an excess of facts or context.
It doesn't define what ?best-selling product? means. For instance, has Amazon sold more Kindle Fires than other top-selling items, like the immensely popular book "Shades of Gray"?
And what exactly does 22% of the U.S. tablet market mean? When did it reach that mark?
We have asked Amazon, and will update the story if and when it responds.
One of the company?s claims is easy to understand: The Kindle ecosystem is Amazon?s best-performing product vertical. Amazon is built on content, starting as a bookseller in the late 1990s before committing itself to a digital-content strategy in the mid-2000s and doubling down on that focus by adding movies, TV and music and the Kindle Fire within the last several years.
Earlier this week, Amazon announced that Kindle-exclusive book titles have been downloaded over 100 million times. Amazon also released the Amazon Appstore to foreign markets in Western Europe such as the United Kingdom, Germancy, France, Italy and Spain.
With the Kindle Fire sold out here, it is likely that Amazon will make a concerted effort to increase its presence in foreign markets as well.
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Thursday, 30 August 2012
Sony HMZ-T2 3D display, heads-in (video)
Sony didn't exactly go out of its way to talk up the new HMZ-T2 during its press conference the other day at IFA, never actually mentioning it on stage. The device did, however, pop up in a small corner of the company's show booth. The reason for the silence is pretty clear, when you get down to it -- not a lot has changed here. Really, the T2 is just a minor update to a first generation product, most of its changes revolving around making the admittedly slightly uncomfortable wearable a bit easier on your head. It's 100 grams lighter than its predecessor and features improvements to its adjustable parts.
The head pad is larger and can be moved to better fit your head, the strap can be adjusted at a number of points and the sliders beneath the 0.7-inch OLED monitors can be adjusted independently from one another. Oh, and while there are Virtualphone built-in, there's also a headphone jack, so you can bring your own pair. All in all, we have to say it did feel a bit more comfortable than the set we tried on for the first time roughly this time last year. The headset also features different viewing modes, including 24p True Cinema for slower paced movies and Clear mode for action scenes, as well as Auto Color Temperature to help improve the picture.
All told, however, it's not much to write home about -- if you were thinking of picking up the T1, this guy is certainly an improvement. If you've already got one to call your own, however, it's probably not worth the upgrade when it hits later this year.
Continue reading Sony HMZ-T2 3D display, heads-in (video)
Filed under: Displays, Wearables, HD
Sony HMZ-T2 3D display, heads-in (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 13:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | CommentsFind Excellent Garden Shed Plans Online and Then Start Building
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NASA completes successful parachute drop simulation for Orion spacecraft
NASA has always used the desert as its own personal playground, and we'd imagine that its team had a blast in Arizona yesterday, as a mock parachute compartment of the Orion spacecraft was dropped from 25,000 feet above Earth. The dart-shaped object experienced free fall for 5,000 feet, at which point, drogue chutes were deployed at 20,000 feet. This was then followed by pilot chutes, which then activated the main chutes. As you'd imagine, these things are monsters: the main parachutes -- three in all -- each measure 116 feet wide and weigh more than 300 pounds. Better yet, the mission was successful.
Naturally, all of this is in preparation for Orion's first test flight -- currently scheduled for 2014 -- where the unmanned craft will travel 15 times further than the ISS and jam through space at 20,000 mph before returning to Earth. Yesterday's outing is merely one in a series of drop tests, and yes, it's important to remove any unknowns from the situation: eventually, humans will be along for the ride.
NASA completes successful parachute drop simulation for Orion spacecraft originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 07:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | CommentsFacebook?s Latest App-Permissions Change Could Land It In German Court
Facebook has changed the way it seeks permission to share users' personal information with third-party apps and games, a move that could land the social network in a European court. A German consumer advocacy group is threatening to sue the social network unless it gives users a clear choice on whether they agree to share information.
Why Privacy Advocates Are Angry
What has provoked the Federation of German Consumer Organizations
is Facebook?s decision to drop the ?Allow? and ?Don?t Allow? buttons used in choosing whether to share personal information with a game or app. Rather than offer the choice in a no-nonsense permissions page, Facebook now shows in the App Center a page with colorful images and a single button that reads, ?Play Game.? Under the button is the list in gray font, which could make it seem less important than text in bolder type.
Avi Charkham, co-founder of MyPermissions, lists five design elements on Facebook?s new page that he claims play down the fact that in choosing to play a game, people are giving up lots of information. To see exactly what?s being shared with the app developer, users have to roll over a question mark that then shows they are giving up their name, friends list, email, user ID, networks and ?any other information you made public.?
Getting such information to advertisers is the core of Facebook?s business model - which naturally leads to pressure to push the envelope on privacy. ?Facebook will push the concept of consent to the breaking point,? said David Jacobs, consumer protection fellow at the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
Has Facebook Crossed The U.S. Line?
To the Federation of German Consumer Organizations, Facebook crossed the line with its latest site change. In the U.S., though, that line is blurry. Under a recent Federal Trade Commission order, Facebook is required to first obtain ?affirmative, express consent? from a user before sharing information with a third party. In addition, the company has to ?clearly and prominently disclose? the information shared.
Facebook did not respond to a request for comment. Presumably, it believes that by agreeing to play a game, users are also agreeing to share personal data. Also, rolling over a question mark for details could technically satisfy the disclosure requirement. ?Having the user click to use the app probably counts as affirmative consent,? Jacobs said. ?But the App Center disclosures might not be clear and prominent.?
Pressure On Privacy Won?t Stop
Whether or not the recent changes meet U.S. or German requirements, it?s unlikely the company will stop looking for ways to mine the wealth of information it collects from provide. In a recent interview, Facebook engineer Andrew Bosworth, whose mission is to find ways to increase ad dollars from the company?s mobile app, said he is exploring ways to use a smartphone?s audio sensor to trigger relevant ads. For example, if you?re at a Bruce Springsteen concert, then you might be in the mood for buying the artist?s latest album.
The site is also investigating the money-making possibilities of sending ads based on a user?s place and time. ?Maybe you?re walking past somewhere we know you?ll like and it tells you there?s a deal you can get,? Bosworth told Technology Review, published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ?Ads don?t have to be a distraction.?
Facebook?s Balancing Act
Like other Internet companies, Facebook is fishing for profits in the ocean of user information it gathers. But Facebook is unique in that it has to balance selling the information people think they are sharing only with friends while also respecting their privacy. That?s a high-wire act that?s likely to require constant adjustments to avoid a disastrous fall.
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Wednesday, 29 August 2012
Elliot Murphy Extras Part
There may be a few too many tricks to unnecessary manual in Elliot Murphy's extras part, but the pop over on that nollie noseslide more than makes up for it.
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LG Optimus G is officially official
Well, that didn't take long. Following the leak we saw just a couple days ago, LG has released information regarding the launch of its latest superphone, the Optimus G. The finalized pictures look just about the same as the leaks we saw, which we'd assume considering how quickly the release has come. It's always good to know for sure what you're getting though. The Optimus G is looking to be quite a speedy phone -- assuming LG can step up its software game -- with specs that are top of the line:
- 4.7-inch True HD IPS 768x1280 display
- 1.5Ghz Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor
- 2GB of RAM
- 2100mAh capacity battery
- 13MP rear and 1.3MP front cameras
- Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
LG is saying the phone is set to release in Korea, LTE in tow, next month. A full global launch is expected by the end of the year, hopefully with the appropriate LTE bands for each market as well.
Be sure to follow our continuing IFA coverage as we cover all of the latest and greatest in the Android world.
Source: LG Newsroom