Are Those Laser Keyboards Finally Usable When Embedded In an iPhone Case?

Short answer: Nope, still not.

If you have even a passing interest in tech you've seen these types of contraptions before. A laser is used to project a virtual keyboard onto a flat surface, while a camera detects the position of the typist's fingers to register keystrokes.

If it worked as awesome as it sounds, laser keyboards would be a fantastic tool for doing long form writing on a portable device. Particularly when it's integrated into a $180-$190 iPhone case. But the sad reality is that they're almost unusable for any kind of real work.

Not only is the lack of tactile feedback a huge stumbling block for touch typists, but the hardware used to track your finger motions isn't accurate enough for any kind of real speed. 

Google Just Made Bing the Best Search Engine

I just switched the default search engine in my browser from Google to Bing. And if you care about working efficiently, or getting the right results when you search, then maybe you should too. Don't laugh!

Google changed the way search works this week. It deeply integrated Google+ into search results. It's ostensibly meant to deliver more personalized results. But it pulls those personalized results largely from Google services—Google+, Picasa, YouTube. Search for a restaurant, and instead of its Yelp page, the top result might be someone you know discussing it on Google Plus. Over at SearchEngineland, Danny Sullivan has compiled a series of damning examples of the ways Google's new interface promotes Plus over relevancy. Long story short: It's a huge step backwards.

A lot of people are crying foul, and even "anti-trust." Sure, it does seem pretty transparently designed to drive traffic and users to Google Plus, and to make Google Plus brand pages the go-to place for a company's social media presence. And it's true that results from Facebook and Twitter in particular have been noticeably kicked down.

But I didn't switch for political reasons, or as an act of protest. I don't care if Google hurts Twitter or Facebook—or even Friendster for that matter. Boo-hoo. I only care if it hurts me. And this does. Google broke itself.

For years, Google Search has been the highest quality web product I've ever used. It has remained consistently essential as an information-delivery mechanism. I typically hit it hundreds of times a day—on my phone, tablet, laptop and desktop. But with one update it wiped out all those years of loyalty and goodwill it had built up. Sure, I can opt out of social results with a click—but as with all things I don't want to have to opt out. I don't want to have to make that extra click. I want to enter a query, and have the most relevant results returned to me as quickly as possible. (And if Google genuinely doesn't think it's a big deal for people to take the extra step oft opting out, why has it focused so relentlessly on optimizing speed for so many years?)

The great thing is, of course, you can just switch. Hit up your browser preferences, and swap your default to Bing. I know, I know, but yes I'm serious. Sure, Bing had a rocky start. But if you haven't seen it recently it's worth another look. It has a super clean interface. It's fast. And operators work the way you expect them to. Best of all it's relevant.

In short, it's a lot like Google. Not the Google of today, but the Google you fell in love with, the one that put your search results above its financial ones. The Google that delivered.

Reddit is Having a Blackout on 18 January in Protest Against SOPA

The web's been grumbling and muttering about SOPA for a while now, but we've not really seen any big gestures made. That's changing: Reddit admins have announced a blackout to protest against the act.

On 18 January, visitors to Reddit's usual wonderfully chaotic home page will instead be greeted by "a simple message about how the PIPA/SOPA legislation would shut down sites like reddit", according to a blog post written by the Reddit team. The blackout will last 12 hours.

As well as that message, the page will link to resources where people can learn more about SOPA, and suggest ways in which people can take action. They'll also feature a live video stream of the House hearing where Internet entrepreneurs and technical experts will be testifying that day.

In the same blog post, the team said:

The freedom, innovation, and economic opportunity that the Internet enables is in jeopardy. Congress is considering legislation that will dramatically change your Internet experience and put an end to Reddit and many other sites you use everyday... There are powerful forces trying to censor the Internet, and a few months ago many people thought this legislation would surely pass. However, there's a new hope that we can defeat this dangerous legislation.

A blackout is a bold move on Reddit's part, and probably the biggest statement we've seen made against SOPA so far.

But I don't think it's enough. There's an element of preaching to the choir here: most Reddit users are tech-savvy and, probably, already oppose SOPA.

What's needed to make real impact is for some of the big boys, like Google or Facebook, which both oppose SOPA, to do something similar. The chances of that are very, very slim — but without it, the message just isn't loud enough.

Apple Has 250 Ninjas Spying the Competition At CES

Don't think Apple is not at CES. They are there, everywhere. You can't see them, but 250 stealth Apple employees are at CES 2012. They are not there to show things. They are there to voraciously analyze the competition.

Paid Content's Tom Krazit bumped into none other than Greg Joswiak, head of iOS product marketing for Apple:

Greg Joswiak, head of iOS product marketing for Apple, was just outside of Sony's booth. Joz, as he's known within the Apple community, grinned sheepishly upon being recognized by a reporter and stopped to chat for a few minutes.

 "A common misconception about Apple is that the company doesn't pay attention to the competition and remains aloof from what's happening in the rest of the industry." Sure, paying attention is one thing. All companies pay attention. All companies send scouts to other companies' booths and events. But sending a small army—according to Elgan, Apple registered 250 employees for the show—to comb the halls at CES is a lot more than just paying attention.

So yes, Apple may ignore CES for show and tell. But they are not ignoring what's cooking in Vegas. They are very interested in it. To see what's hot, what's wrong, where everyone else thinks things are going. If you are at CES, look into their badges.

Sony Now Makes a Portable Blu-ray Player. Why?

I'm sure there are 3.5 people out there who will put Sony's portable Blu-ray player to great use. It has a 9-inch screen, 4.5 hours of battery life, and 1080p output via HDMI. But for the rest of us, The Sony SX910 is an extremely niche-y, borderline unnecessary piece of tech.

99.99% of us would be better served with a tablet and a Netflix account, because Blu-ray's 1080p resolution is basically wasted on a screen so small. But I sort of get it. Hypothetically there is a Blu-ray enthusiast out there who also spends a lot of time on the road, and really doesn't want to waste their time obtaining digital or DVD copies of movies they already own.

The Portable Blu-ray player will be available this Spring.

The New Canon ELPH: Tiny and Cheap Just Got Faster

The ELPH 520 HS has a 10.1-megapixel CMOS sensor, and a 12x optical zoom lens packed into a skinny package. Those specs aren't anything mind-blowing for a $300 point-and-shoot camera, though. What's really exciting about this camera is that it's powered by Canon's new Digic 5 processor, which improves the camera's low-light performance and auto-white balance—all in addition to making the camera a generally faster, more responsive package. A scaled back Canon PowerShot ELPH 110 HS Digital Camera features 5X optical zoom, and 16-megapixel sensor. Both cameras shoot 1080p video.

Both units feature new additions to Canon's Smart AUTO, which detects 58 different types of scenes. The tech has a new parent-friendly face ID feature, which prioritizes between different people in the scene based on whether they are babies, children, or adults. When the feature is on, the camera will adjust to focus on and properly expose the youngest person in the scene.

The 500 HS will be available in March for $300, the 110 HS will be available in February for $250.

Ubuntu TV Will Be In Your Living Room This Year

The geekiest of the operating systems is branching out into entertainment. Ubuntu TV is the open-source answer to your living room set-up, and you could have a TV running the software by the end of the year.

Ubuntu TV is a TV-optimized version of the desktop OS, based around the Unity UI. It feature full-on media center and DVR features, including movie, TV and music stores, and a YouTube app. The idea is to make the OS free for manufacturers to package with their TVs, and Ubuntu says there will be TVs on shelves by the end of the year. There's a working Ubuntu TV at CES. More here.

People Flag Facebook Photos Because They Look Ugly, Not Because They’re Offensive

Oh my god! Is that a zit on my forehead? Where did that third chin come from? Why am I sweating so much? Was I that drunk? What is my boss going to think? What is my mom going to think? What do I think? I need to get rid of this photo on Facebook. NOW. Let's flag as offensive! Click. Unflattering picture, gone.

That's the internal monologue of most Facebook users when they click the Flag photo button on Facebook. Seriously, Facebook found out that the majority of photos that are reported as offensive weren't really offensive at all. In most cases, it was just people flagging pictures of themselves because the photo was taken at unflattering angles or compromising situations or just didn't make 'em look cool. We've all been there, right? How many times have you told your friend to pull down the picture of you half-naked, praising the toilet gods for mercy?

Facebook tweaked their flagging options last summer to accomodate these 'issues' people have with their photos. Which is to say, they included options to choose 'I don't like this photo of me', 'It's harassing me' or 'It's harassing a friend'. The complaints are meant to generate some sort of compassion in the poster to take down the ugly photo. I just say, make better friends.

Victorinox’s 1TB Flash Drive Makes It Easy To Lose a Thousand Gigabytes

You might think they only make knives, but Victorinox also makes some of the best flash drives on the market (they're certainly my favorite.) They're well-built, extremely fast, and in a few days might be available in one terabyte capacities.

Yeah, you read that right. One terabyte! In addition to more storage than you'll ever really need hanging on your keychain, the USB 2.0/eSATA II drives will include 256 bit AES hardware/software encryption, and what appears to be a built-in monochrome LCD display. Presumably providing details on the drive contents, and available capacity.

Of course what would a product from Victorinox be without some added functionality? So it looks like the drive will come in a version packing a knife and scissors, and one free of bladed tools so you don't have a terabyte of data confiscated by airport security. Availability should be unveiled once CES officially opens in a few days, including what will probably be a very hefty price tag.

Cook Anywhere You Please on This New Induction Range

Be it gas, electric, or induction, ranges have held onto a vestigial limb—a finite, unmovable set of areas to do the actual cooking. This new induction cooktop from Thermador, however, is smart enough to heat anywhere there's a pot.

The new Freedom cooktop bills itself as the first induction appliance whose entire surface acts as a heating element. Its "natural-mapping" interface allows users to add, remove, and shift pans around while they cook and should allow chefs a greater degree of flexibility in their meal preparation.

Induction cooking employs a copper wire running under the clear ceramic surface and a strong AC current to create a magnetic field which then transfers an electric current to the cookware. This heats the pot itself while keeping the range cool to the touch. It's more efficient than both gas and traditional electric methods.

The Freedom also includes a 6.3-inch display that recognizes the pot's shape and size, as well as controls the unit's power settings and cook time (begone, egg timer!). Its surface accommodates pans up to 21 x 13-inches and will retail for $5000 when it hits the market in July. More here.

Someone Is Paying $3,000 For This Computer With a 700MHz Processor and 128MB of RAM

What is this, the 1990s? No, not really. The computer in question is one of the first from Raspberry Pi. It's a tiny PC on a single circuit board – and the proceeds from its sale will help encourage kids to code.

The Raspberry Pi, not yet in full production, is supposed to sell for $25. It features a 700MHz ARM11 processor, 128MB of SDRAM, HDMI video output, a USB 2.0 port, and can run an OS like Ubuntu. It can even handle Quake III.

This $3,000 Pi, however, is one of the first ten pre-production units to be made, all of which are being auctioned on eBay in order to raise money for charity. The Raspberry Pi foundation plan to plough the money they raise into delivering the tiny computers to schools. The idea is to encourage kids to get to grips with coding and open-source software, which is an amazing idea. More here.

Instagram Now Integrates Even Deeper With Facebook

If you are a heavy user of Instagram and Facebook, good news! When you choose to share your Instagram snapshots on theSocial Network, photos now wedge themselves onto the site in better, more accessible, more meaningful ways than ever before.

Instagram photos will now appear in your Facebook news feed at full size, meaning your days of squinting are over. They'll also automatically pop up in your timeline, making the the new design that much more visually appealing. And finally, there's now a dedicated Facebook album for all your Instagram shares, which so that all your uploads can be viewed in one convenient spot.

Logitech outs C920 HD Webcam, Lets you Skype in 1080p

If you were impressed by Logitech's C910 back in June, you may want to take a gander at the newly unveiled HD Pro 920. While it's the first webcam to offer 1080p video chatting with the latest version of Skype, the C920 can also capture 1080p video while offering 720p for Windows Live Messenger. You'll be able to upload your full-HD clips and 15MP shots at warp speed at the hands of H.264 advanced compression technology -- making those YouTube uploads that much faster. 

Internally, the C920 implements Logitech's Fluid Crystal Technology, Carl Zeiss optics and a 20-step autofocus. For audio capture, two mics are position on either side of the shooter for stereo recording. If you're looking to snag one, it'll set you back $100 starting this month.

Android 2.3 Continues Soaring Upward, now Installed on 55 percent of Google Devices

Google's monthly Android distribution charts may be the most visual piece of evidence that the mobile OS is riddled with fragmentation, but at least Gingerbread has clearly become the dominant player -- and it continues to build momentum at a healthy pace (for now, at least). 

As always, Google reviewed which devices accessed the Android Market during a 14-day period of time in the month of December, and found that over 55 percent of those units were running a version of Android 2.3, a ten percent turbo boost from October and an increase of seventeen percent over three months.

Froyo devices -- many of which are likely older phones or tablets sentenced to a upgrade-less future -- numbered over 30 percent, and Honeycomb still amounts to a meager 3.3 percent. Cupcake and ICS are tied for last place, but it's expected  to climb rapidly as soon as it's, y'know, officially available on more devices.

Microsoft Celebrates IE6’s Death with T-Shirts

How do the people responsible for IE6—a slow, buggy, security nightmare of a browser—observe IE6's demise? With commemorative tees, of course. If only IE6 were as clever as the piece of clothing recognizing its overdue drift into oblivion.

The shirt, cooked up by the Internet Explorer team, almost makes me a little sad. And then I realize what death we're talking about, and that these people are probably glad the desiccated corpse is blowing away in the wind. Now let us pretend IE6 never happened and only think about IE9. IE9 is all there has ever been. Everything is OK. Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep. More here.

Ask Ziggy: Siri for Windows Phone

People love Siri. Well, unless they have anaccent or a slight speech impediment. What's important is that Apple really wants everyone with an iPhone 4S use Siri to schedule appointments and look up coffee shops. The Android Market is already filled with enough Siri clones to keep Apple's lawyers busy for years. It's time for Windows Phone to get in on the talk-to-your-phone-in-public fun with Ask Ziggy.

What's it do?

Ziggy is Siri for Windows Phone. Hell, the app even looks like Siri. In addition to using the app to call contacts, send tweets, solve math problems, and update your Facebook status, the app can switch from female to male. Like Siri, the app needs access to the Internet in order to fetch the information needed for your query.

Why do we like it?

If you can get Siri to work for you, it's actually pretty great. The same can be said for Ziggy. Need to call a friend but don't want to search through your contacts? Ask Ziggy. Need the weather in Wichita, Kansas? Ask Ziggy. Need to find a Mexican restaurant because you must have a taco right now? Well, you get the point.

Retrode 2 Retro Gaming Adapter Brings SNES / Genesis Support to your PC for $85

As the story goes, the product shown above is the result of some three years of toiling, with the second iteration handling cartridges for Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo. In fact, there's a pair of ports on here, enabling one cart from each console to be loaded up and carried around. Users need only to find and install an emulator on their machine, plug a cartridge and / or an associated controller into the device and then connect the Retrode 2 to one's computer via USB. Once you've loaded a ROM into your emulator, configured your controller and canceled every appointment on your calendar for the next 48 hours... well, you're in for quite a weekend of retro gaming nirvana. Get it here for $84.99, with shipments expected to begin on January 23rd.

Internet Explorer Holds Onto top Browser Crown While Chrome and Firefox Tussle Over Second Place

Both Net Applications and StatCounter have released their figures for browser market share for 2011 and it makes for largely unsurprising reading. Internet Explorer's full share has dropped but it still maintains the top spot -- a 52 percent share according to Net Applications and 39 percent according to StatCounter. Meanwhile, second place remains tantalizingly within reach for Chrome, which has made headway catching up with Firefox, whose growth had apparently stalled during 2011.

According to Net Applications, Firefox held a 21.8 percent share of browser users this month, while Chrome reached 19.1 percent, up just under 8 percent and capping off a second year of impressive growth. Meanwhile, StatCounter pegs Google's browser at second place for the end of the year, claiming 27.3 percent versus the 25.3 percent share grabbed by its vulpine rival. Unsurprisingly, the Windows Team Blog takes a different slant on recent browsing trends, trumpeting that its latest version, Internet Explorer 9, continues to grow on Windows 7. This is, however, balanced out by a corresponding drop in the users of its predecessor, IE 8. Better luck next year, eh, Microsoft?

This Is One Ridiculously Over-The-Top iPhone Camera Case

Made from 32 individual polycarbonate parts, the case includes an optical viewfinder, a shutter button that presses on the iPhone's volume button, a mock-lens with a mirror in the center for taking easy self-shots, a tripod mount, and even a non-functioning micro hot shoe. All so it looks the part. You can even swap out the included faux lens for some flat pancake glass, if you've got photographer friends to impress.

The case also provides a mount allowing you to use a miniature fisheye or macro lens with the iPhone's camera, so there's at least some level of added functionality when using it. But enough to justify the $65 price tag, plus $30 for a neck strap and $45 for the extra lenses?

Genius Scale Only Shows You How Much You’ve Gained Or Lost

When you're battling the bulge, your bathroom scale can either be your best friend or your worst enemy. So instead of displaying your actual weight, which can be discouraging, this scale only tells you how much you've lost or gained.

The first time you step on the $78 Quantum scale it registers your weight, but still keeps it a secret from you. And after that it simply gives you a plus or minus reading depending on if you've gained weight since your last reading, or lost some.

Admittedly it's not the easiest way to tell if you're making weight loss progress unless you're keeping tabs on your up and down measurements on a daily basis. But if you're dedicated to the cause, it should make the morning routine of weighing yourself a bit less dreadful. Get it here.

 

 

These Unwearable Specs Poorly Hide a Digital Camera

If you fancy yourself an amateur Bond, there are plenty of high-tech glasses available that discreetly hide a compact camera. This isn't one of them. In fact, these Fuuvi Megane glasses aren't going to fool anyone.

But I guess they're not supposed to either. It looks like novelty is the name of the game here, with the $60 red, black, blue, or white glasses hanging from your neck with an included obnoxious gold chain.

They're a stylish fashion accessory more than anything. Albeit, a stylish fashion accessory capable of shooting 2048x1536 pixel stills and NTSC quality video. A microSD/SDHC card provides up to 16GB of storage, while a USB charged battery lets you capture up to an hour of video before it conks out. More here.

 

 

Skype’s Giving Manhattan Free Wi-Fi For New Year’s

If you live in NYC, or are headed there for the massive clusternut of cold and pain that is the Times Square ball drop, you can officially leave your data plan behind. Skype's flooding the island with free, fast Wi-Fi from noon tomorrow until noon on January 1.

Skype says 16 neighborhoods are covered in all, including Times Square, Union Square, Greenwich Village, Chelsea, and most of the places where you can buy a $5 street pashmina. Just find a Skype Wifi hotspot on your mobile device, connect, and browse. Or at least, that seems to be the case; you may need to go through Skype on your desktop or iOS device. In either event, the service will be provided by Towerstream, which has hopefully girded its access points for the coming onslaught.

It's the second time in the last few weeks that Skype has played Wi-Fi Claus; its free airport Wi-Fi offer expired just a few days ago. And while there's no guarantee that the network can handle the crush of millions of New Yorkers and/or tourists googling Snooki's weight loss secrets, it's certainly a nice gesture.

 

 

Girl With a Funny Talent

Ed Hardy Headphones Hope to Ink up Your Ears

Celebrity headphone endorsements are very à la mode right now, and we've seen Ed Hardy's trademark tattoo stylings defacing gadgetry before, so, if you were the one lamenting the glaring omission that was Hardy-branded cans, then he obviously got your letter. The new "Stereo" range evidently refers to the two designs available thus far: Skull and Bones for the over-ears ($66), while your in-ears get some Tiger power ($29). The in-ears also feature a microphone, presumably so you can call for help from the fashion police. Both are available now here.

1 Million Galaxy Notes Shipped Worldwide

The Galaxy Note, Samsung's unconventional powerhouse, has managed to ship 1 million units in under two months. While eager US customers still wait for the 5.3-inch tabletphone hybrid to arrive on their shores, the Galaxy Note has apparently struck a chord in Europe and Asia.

The number of units shipped is always more substantial than the number devices out there in end-users' (preferably large) hands, but it bodes well for the device's eventual reception in the US. Now, whether it will include an LTE radio, we'll have to wait and see.

 

 

MIT Scholar Builds a Self-balancing Unicycle to Roll Fast and Furious Around Campus

MIT student Stephan Boyer has built his own electrical uni-ride, which he's dubbing the "Bullet." The single-wheel transporter packs a custom MIG-welded steel body, two 7Ah 12-volt batteries, an ATmega328 chip and a 450-watt electric motor. While the Bullet isn't the speediest of solowheel demons (15mph max), it's on par with its $25,000 Ryno Motors counterpart. As far as power efficiency, the Bullet can go up to five miles on a single charge -- more than enough juice to hit a few classroom round-trips.

Volkswagen Is Forcing Employees to Turn Off Their BlackBerrys So They’ll Stop Working All the Time

BlackBerrys are still the de facto standard in the work force and represent a sort of leash an employer has on an employee. If you see that indicator light blink, you better get to work. The problem with that is that no employee ever stops thinking about work! VW wants to change that. They're turning off employee BlackBerrys after work.

It's an impressive and progressive idea that's sure to improve the quality of life of their employees. According to the Financial Times, VW's e-mail server will stop sending messages to an employee's BlackBerry 30 minutes after their shift is over and only start up again 30 minutes before their shift starts. That way, VW employees can really get away from their work and not feel weighed down by after hour messages. Live life! No stress! Save time for yourself.

Plus, the employees are probably thinking any reason to use a BlackBerry less is a good reason in itself.

 

 

Untethered Jailbreak now Available for pre-A5 iPhones, iPads and Touches

It's just a few weeks since pod2g revealed his untethered jailbreak for iOS 5 and -- boom -- all of a sudden it's up for the DL. The exploit has been incorporated into redsn0w 0.9.10, the Pwnage Tool and Chronic Devteam's Cydia package, and it works on the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 (including the CDMA version), iPad 1, iPod Touch 3G and iPod Touch 4G, so long as they've been updated to iOS 5.0.1. Meanwhile, pod2g is reportedly now looking for a way to snap the shackles on A5-based devices too, but hopefully only after he's taken some rest -- a burned-out jailbreaker is no good to anybody. Full instructions here.

 

 

Where Christmas Lights Go to Die

Welcome to Shijiao. It's a bustling town in China that just so happens to be the unofficial capital of dead and unwanted Christmas lights. According to The Atlantic, 20 million pounds of old Christmas lights make it through Shijao every year. What  for?

The answer: slippers. The plastic and rubber that is used in Christmas lights wiring can also be re-purposed into slippers and other materials in China. Hence, the demand. Basically, China has figured out how to capitalize and find new life in our seasonal decorations. People who recycle the Christmas lights, separate the plastic wrap that insulates the copper wire and sells it independently from each other. On one end you have copper (which is plenty valuable) and on the other side you have the re-usable plastic. The process of getting there is not unlike panning for gold in the modern age.

 

 

Spire Installer Brings Siri to any Jailbroken iOS 5 Device, Legally -- Proxy Still Required

A few months of work by iOS hackers Grant Paul (aka chpwn), Steven Troughton-Smith and Ryan Petrich has culminated in the release of Spire, a new installer that will easily set up Siri on your jailbroken iOS 5 device. While Apple has kept its little helper exclusively constrained to the iPhone 4S, it now runs on iPads, iPhone 4, iPod touches and the iPhone 3GS, and while that's been done before they claim the other new trick is that it's legal, avoiding the copyright infringement inherent in previous hacks. 

When installed it will initiate a 100MB download of Siri directly from Apple so watch your bandwidth limits, and also be prepared to set up your own proxy server with donated info from an iPhone 4S to hold the line between Apple's backend and yourself. It's available on Cydia now so if you've been waiting for a way to get this feature for yourself it's not far away, however Troughton-Smith tells9to5 Mac that the next major step may not come until the iPhone 4S is jailbroken and they can avoid the proxy server issues altogether. More here.

 

 

An iPhone Case That Poops Flash Drives

The second addition to Hybrid Series line of iPhone cases is the aptly named USB. Because besides providing a protective plastic outer shell, the case also stores a thin flash drive in its—umm—posterior.

Pricing and availability have yet to be announced, but the USB case will come in your choice of five different colors that can be mix and matched with the accompanying flash drives. Which themselves come in five different varieties, ranging in capacity from 2GB to 32GB. Probably dependent on how much data it consumed the night before.

 

 

Merry Christmas everyone!

Yeah, it's pretty unfortunate that you've got to work tomorrow (well, unless you're down with Boxing Day), but let's take it one 24-hour window at a time, shall we? It's not as if you've had any shortage of gizmos to choose from this year, and while you aren't likely to get a Transformer Prime, there's plenty of other stocking stuffers to look forward to. Speaking of which, what'd you find under your tree this morning? A Kindle Fire? That new laptop you've been longing for? A few new cables to do... cable-y things with?

 

 

Use Siri on Your Mac (Sort Of)

Air Dictate is a clever little app that ports the power of Siri over to the Mac. Kind of. It doesn't have any of the bells and whistles of Siri (don't go starting conversations!) but rather, uses the extremely accurate speech recognition engine in Siri to dictate text to your Mac.

Basically, you talk into your iPhone 4S and words pop up on the Mac. You have to download a companion app on your Mac and make sure both the iPhone and Mac are on the same Wi-Fi network. After that, speak away and you'll see your Mac log down every word you say. Definitely worth the buck if you prefer talking to typing.

 

 

Screenshots of Windows 8 Build 8172 Emerge, Looks a lot Like Windows 8

Hope you weren't expecting anything groundbreaking from the latest leaks of Windows 8, because so far as we can tell, build 8172 looks just about like the build 8102. That said, thesedo look a wee bit more polished than earlier betas, and there are a few appreciated shots of the store and a new look for settings. If that kind of nerd-speak gets you all hot and bothered, head on here with your eyes peeled.

It Scoops, Measures, and Spreads—Is This the World’s Greatest Spoon?

Quirky's latest creation is a flat spreader with a set of "living hinges" that allow it to fold up into a measuring spoon, so you can dole out the exact amount of peanut butter, cream cheese, or mayo. A set of labeled lines marks off teaspoon and tablespoon measurements, and thin grip strips on either side ensures it's not going to fall out of your hand while scooping or spreading like you're playing the inept user in an infomercial.

Pricing is to be determined once the Scoop goes into production, but it's safe to assume it will be on the reasonable side. After all, it's still just a spoon. More here.

 

 

Future MacBooks Could Be Powered by Fuel Cells

The latest patent application to come out of Cupertino could allow for new Macbooks that are slimmer, lighter, greener and couldprovide power for days without a charge. What's the magic ingredient? Fuel cells!

Dredged up by Apple Insider, Apple's patent indicates that hydrogen fuel cells would be used to send and receive power from a battery. But they also admit that developing a product which is small enough and cheap enough to be placed in one of their laptops will be a challenge.

 

 

Self-Healing Circuits Use Liquid Metal To Turn Electronics Into Superheroes

Researchers have been taking inspiration from X-Men: they've developed a way to create printed circuits that can heal themselves using liquid metal. The best bit is that, unlike X-Men, this is real.

So how the hell does it work? Essentially, the scientists have created tiny micro-capsules that contain liquid metal. When a printed circuit is made, a thin layer of these capsules can also be printed on top of the conventional strip of metal.

If a small crack forms in the printed circuit, usually that crack breaks the circuit. But with the micro-capsules in place, as the crack propagates some of the capsules are wrenched open, in turn releasing a small amount of liquid metal. That metal is enough to bridge the gap and keep the circuit working.

According to the researchers, it only takes microseconds for the micro-capsules to fill the gap when a crack appears. And most of the time, the circuits are repaired well enough to provide 99 per cent of the original conductivity.

Think of cars and airplanes that features hundreds or thousands of metres of circuitry — if faults could be fixed instantaneously there, that's a big deal.

But we're not just talking hard engineering here. In the home, technology like this could mean that minor faults in printed circuits, chips and even batteries could heal themselves. Imagine: No more junking electronics because of a tiny little fault.

 

 

World’s Smallest Flash Drive Makes It Even Easier To Misplace 16GBs

Measuring just 0.77 by 0.57 inches, and a mere 0.11 inches thick, the drive is able to be so small thanks to the Micro UDP chip approach. UDP stands for 'USB Disk In Package' and basically saves space by baking all of the electronics into a single moulded plastic drive. So the included tethered tag is the only place a logo could go.

When inserted into a USB port the drive becomes almost invisible, letting you add 4, 8, or 16GB of extra storage to a laptop when they're introduced early next year. Pricing hasn't been announced yet, but who pays for flash drives these days? That's what trade shows are for. More here.

Firefox 9 now Available, Boasts Speedier JavaScript Handling

Internet feeling a bit sluggish recently? -- but before you sail the malware-laden sea of software that promises to "speed up" your computer, you may want to check out Firefox 9. Mozilla's latest browser update features a tweak in its Javascript engine that boosts its benchmark performance by over 30 percent -- meaning that the new Firefox ought to give script heavy websites a run for their money. 

In addition to the new Javascript trick, which is called Type Inference, Firefox 9 improves theme integration and swipe navigation for Mac OS X users. 

 

 

Find My Car Smart app Uses Bluetooth 4.0 to Help iPhone 4S Owners do the Obvious

Do you have an iPhone 4S? Do you drive a car? Do you have amnesia? If you answered yes to at least two-and-a-half of these questions, you'll probably be interested in Find My Car Smart -- a Kickstarter project that wants to help dudes find their cars, with the help of Bluetooth 4.0 technology. The system is relatively straightforward, consisting of nothing more than an iOS app (available now on iTunes for $0.99), and a USB-based Bluetooth proximity adapter. All you have to do is download the app, stick the dongle in your car, and let your iPhone 4S automatically mark your parking spot. Whereas similarly-designed apps typically require users to manually record their car's location before leaving the lot, Find My Car Smart allows you to forget even that, since the app will automatically record your GPS coordinates. FMC Smart says it won't start shipping adapters until it reaches its Kickstarter funding goal, though it's aiming to deliver its first 500 devices by January. More here.

 

 

Google tablet coming within six months'

Google's Executive Chairman is good value for a headline-grabbing quote. Sitting down with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera at the opening of the company's new offices on the former NABISCO bakery, he said "in the next six months we plan to market a tablet of the highest quality." Take the translation with a pinch of salt, but he either means the company will be launching a "marketing" push with all of its hardware partners, or we'll be seeing Google-branded tablets like the Nexus range of phones by next Summer.

 

 

Scientists Create First Solar Cell With over 100 Percent Quantum Efficiency

Researchers over at the National Renewable Energy Lab have reportedly made the first solar cell with an external quantum efficiency over 100 percent. Quantum efficiency relates to the number of electrons-per-second flowing in a solar cell circuit, divided by the number of photons from the energy entering. The NREL team recorded an efficiency topping out at 114 percent, by creating the first working multiple exciton generation (MEG) cell. 

Using MEG, a single high energy photon can produce more than one electron-hole pair per absorbed photon. The extra efficiency comes from quantum dots 'harvesting' energy that would otherwise be lost as heat. The cell itself uses anti-reflection coating on a transparent conductor, layered with zinc oxide, lead selenide, and gold. NREL scientist Arthur J. Nozik predicted as far back as 2001 that MEG would do the job, but it's taken until now for the concept to leap over from theory. The hope is, of course, that this will lead to more competitively priced solar power, fueling thetransport of the future.

 

 

Vans iPhone Case

Until today I've never even considered putting a case on my iPhone. Naked and free is the way I prefer to use it. But that all changed when I gazed upon this case featuring Vans' iconic waffle sole tread.

According to posts on OffTheWallSite.net—a forum focusing on Vans sneaks—the rare case was originally created as an exclusive promotional item. But it's also rumored that it could be officially added to their online store in the coming weeks. So if you'll excuse me, I've got a lot of browser refreshing to do.

 

 

Dinner Guests Will Love the Shower Of Hot Wax From Your Candelier

Once mankind realized that electricity could save them from severe hot wax burns, they stopped using candles in chandeliers. So what possessed artist Takeshi Miyakawa to make an entire chandelier from wax that completely melts away when lit?

Masochism? Vengeance? A fractured sense of nostalgia? Like with most creations that make you scratch your head or raise an eyebrow, the answer of course is art. The Candelier was created forThe Creatomatic show at New York's Eyebeam Gallery, and even though it took ten weeks to cast and mould, it's destined to disappear in a manner of mere hours. More here.

 

 

Motorola Xoom Tablet Gets an Ice Cream Sandwich Makeover With 4.0.3

Only a day after Google released Android version 4.0.3, one XDA developer has already installed it on his Motorola Xoom WiFi tablet -- making it the first slate to run the frosty Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade. Of course, trendsetting is nothing new for the Xoom, which was also the first to ship with Honeycomb's sweetness back in February. 

Being first does have its disadvantages, though, as some of the features like the camera don't work, and there seems to be a green overlay on the screen from time to time.

 

 

Google Search For "Let It Snow"

Google seems to be trying its hand at a lot of things these days. And you can now add 'weather control experiments' to its list of success stories with the company's latest Easter Egg.

Just do a regular old search for "let it snow" and then sit back with a warm mug of hot chocolate and a crackling fire. If your browser window gets too frosty, the blue Search button at the top should switch to a Defrost button after a while.

Once your screen gets completely fogged up you can also draw on the Google search results page like a finger on a window.

 

 

Android 4.0.3 Announced, Bringing Variety of Optimizations and Bug fixes' to Phones and Tablets

Merely a day after Verizon's version of the Galaxy Nexus was gifted with v4.0.2, Google itself is announcing Android 4.0.3, a so-called " incremental release of the Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) platform." We're told that the new release includes a variety of optimizations and bug fixes for phones and tablets, as well as a small number of new APIs for developers. 

For those curious, the new API level is 15, and some of those new ones include social stream API in Contacts provider, Calendar provider enhancements, newfangled camera capabilities (apps can now check and manage video stabilization and use QVGA resolution profiles where needed) and accessibility refinements (improved content access for screen readers and new status and error reporting for text-to-speech engines). Moreover, we're promised minute improvements in "graphics, database, spell-checking, Bluetooth, and more." Finally, the company makes clear that going forward, it'll be "focusing its partners on Android 4.0.3 as the base version of Ice Cream Sandwich," with rollouts expected for both phones and tablets in "the weeks ahead."

 

 

One-Third of Windows Users Still Use XP

Are you a Windows user? Are you amongst the 32.8% of those using Windows XP?

52% of desktop PCs still run XP, but what about all PC users? The Next Web says that while usage of Windows 7 has risen from 28% to 46%, Windows XP usage has still stayed high, going from an even more mind boggling 45% to its current 33%. Also, LOL at nobody using Vista anymore.

 

 

Google Translate App Update Adds Handwriting Recognition

The Google Translate app for Android received a pretty significant update yesterday, bringing handwriting recognition to its bullpen of functionalities. The app, which added voice recognition back in October, can now recognize handwriting in seven different languages, including English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish. It's probably most important, however, for Chinese- and Japanese-speaking contingents, who can now use their handsets to translate characters that aren't typically featured on English keypads. The update to version 2.3 is available now here.

 

 

Are Tablets and E-Readers Responsible For a Rebirth of Reading?

According to The Economist, we're entering a new age of digital consumption: Lean Back 2.0. They say tablets and e-readers are to thank, but is it all just hyperbole about hypertext?

In a presentation given by Andrew Rashbass, CEO of The Economist Group, he claimed that the old publishing models of web and print are "irredeemably broken." (I wasn't aware that web publishing was old yet — though admittedly for some publishers it definitely is broken.)

So what the hell does he mean by "Lean Back 2.0"? Simple, really. He points to the fact that the use of tablets and e-readers is growing — at the expense of print and web use — and simultaneously also changing our reading habits. Unlike reading on a laptop, reading on an iPad or Kindle is a leisure activity. Unlike reading a print newspaper or magazine, you can access whatever the hell you like. We're now combining the utility of modern tech with the enjoyment of reading as relaxation.

It kinda makes sense. But don't just take Rashbass's hyperbolic word for it, take some of his (not altogether convincing) figures too. In his presentation, he points out that 42 per cent of tablet users regularly read in-depth articles, and another 40 per cent read them occasionally — which suggests people read more longer items on tablets than on computers. Apparently.

Also, users' eye activity is far more focused on an iPad app than on a website, and many people also claim they find it easier to learn new things and enjoy news more when digesting it via a tablet. Apparently.

 

 

Ice Cream Bar Speaker

As certain as death and taxes, the speaker on media players are bad. And even if this adorable ice cream bar shaped speaker doesn't impress audio engineers, it should improve the sound coming from your portable device.

Remove the popsicle stick and you'll find a USB port for recharging its lithium polymer battery good for about two hours of use. Remove the top of the plastic iced treat and you'll find a standard stereo mini plug—that's all there is to it. For $30 you get an extra 0.8 watts of listening pleasure, and whatever joy you can derive from its novel design. Get it here.

 

 

MacGyver Unable to Fix his Own Car

Richard Dean Anderson is just an actor. He is not MacGyver. He cannot fix everything with a paperclip and a ballpoint pen. Yet, there's something disappointing about seeing him with the hood on his car open waiting for someone to help him. You're MACGYVER. Help yourself, man. Help yourself.

The 61-year-old actor was caught helplessly standing next to his dead Audi in Malibu yesterday, waiting for help. He just stares at it. At the car. Like he has no idea what to do with it. He's wearing cargo pants. It's really sad.

Of course, the car is an Audi Allroad, which is so mechanically screwed up even other Audi owners scoff at it for being unreliable. With its Torsen quattro four-wheel drive system and air suspension it's impossibly complex. The real MacGyver probably couldn't keep an Allroad on the road for more than six hours at a time without a Staples full of office supplies.