Wolfram Alpha Can Tell You Where to Eat Now [Search]

Wolfram Alpha is the Swiss Army knife of cool futuristic tech. It does everything: it powers Siri, compares sports statistics of all kinds, and analyzes prescription interactions, all while being a pretty beastly scientific tool. Starting today, you can ask it where the nearest pizza place is. Yes, Wolfram Alpha is entering local search: More »


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Perifoveal Display tracks head positioning, highlights changing data on secondary LCDs (hands-on)

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If there's a large display as part of your workstation, you know how difficult it can be to keep track of all of your windows simultaneously, without missing a single update. Now imagine surrounding yourself with three, or four, or five jumbo LCDs, each littered with dozens of windows tracking realtime data -- be it RSS feeds, an inbox or chat. Financial analysts, security guards and transit dispatchers are but a few of the professionals tasked with monitoring such arrays, constantly scanning each monitor to keep abreast of updates. One project from the MIT Media Lab offers a solution, pairing Microsoft Kinect cameras with detection software, then highlighting changes with a new graphical user interface.

Perifoveal Display presents data at normal brightness on the monitor that you're facing directly. Then, as you move your head to a different LCD, that panel becomes brighter, while changes on any of the displays that you're not facing directly (but still remain within your peripheral vision) -- a rising stock price, or motion on a security camera -- are highlighted with a white square, which slowly fades once you turn to face the new information. During our hands-on demo, everything worked as described, albeit without the instant response times you may expect from such a platform. As with most Media Lab projects, there's no release date in sight, but you can gawk at the prototype in our video just after the break.

Continue reading Perifoveal Display tracks head positioning, highlights changing data on secondary LCDs (hands-on)

Perifoveal Display tracks head positioning, highlights changing data on secondary LCDs (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PSA: If you purchased extra Gmail storage, your Google Drive just got bigger

google drive extra storage

5GB, huh? Not quite enough for you? If you were wise enough to up the capacity of your Gmail inbox + Picasa allotment before today, your Google Drive experience just got a lot more awesome. A trio of editors here at Engadget HQ managed to upgrade their Gmail boxes a couple of years ago, and at the time (read: it's no longer an available option), Google was offering an extra 20GB for use across its properties for a mere $5 per year. Upon loading Google Drive today, we each found a healthy 25GB waiting to be filled, with no expectation of additional payments to Google. Be sure to let us know if you're seeing a similar boost in capaciousness down in comments below, particularly for those who splurged on one of the more current Gmail add-on plans.

PSA: If you purchased extra Gmail storage, your Google Drive just got bigger originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Drive official: 5GB of free storage, Chrome web apps, Wave-like sharing and editing (video)

google drive

If it happened any other way, it just wouldn't be as satisfying, now would it? After years of leaks, murmurs, hubbub and other familiar synonyms, Google's mythical cloud storage platform is now official... sort of. As Lady Fate would have it, the company apparently outed a memo of the features on its French blog earlier today, but before it could yank the 'pull' switch, an eagle-eyed reader managed to grab the text and run it through -- surprise, surprise -- Google Translate. What's left is an official-as-you'll-get-right-now transcript of Google Drive's features, but contrary to the hype, it all feels way more enterprise-centric than consumers may have wanted. For starters, there's no real mention of music (we guess Google Music is on its own, there), and there's just 5GB of free storage for "documents, videos, photos, Google Docs, PDFs, etc." According to the brief, it's designed to let users "live, work and play in the cloud," with direct integration with Docs and Google+.

We're also told that Drive can be installed on one's Mac, PC or Android phone / tablet, while an iOS version will be "available in the coming weeks." Of note, Google's making this accessible to visually impaired consumers with the use of a screen reader. As for features? Naturally, Google's flexing its search muscles in as many ways as possible; if you scan in a newspaper clipping, a simple Search All within Drive will allow results to appear directly from said clipping. If you upload a shot of the Eiffel Tower, it'll show up whenever you search for the aforesaid icon. Moreover, Drive will allow folks to open over 30 types of documents directly from a web browser, including HD video, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop and more -- "even without the software installed on your computer." For those concerned about access, the new platform will have the same infrastructure as any other Google Apps services, giving admins a familiar set of management tools on that end.

On the topic of storage, just 5GB are provided gratis, with 25GB costing $2.49 per month, 100GB running you $4.99 per month and 1TB demanding $49.99 per month, with a maximum of 16TB ($799.99 per month, if you're curious) per user; thankfully, Google Docs will not be included in your usage total. Finally, the note played up the ability to "attach documents directly into your Drive Gmail," and given that it's intended to be an open platform, Goog's promising to work with third party developers in order to enhance Drive's functionality even further. The source link below is still dead as of right now, but it simply can't be long before the lights are officially turned on. Oh, and if you're not enamored at the moment, the outfit's suggesting that "many more developments" will be arriving in the coming weeks.

Update: It's live on the Google Play store, and a pair of explanatory videos are embedded after the break!

Continue reading Google Drive official: 5GB of free storage, Chrome web apps, Wave-like sharing and editing (video)

Google Drive official: 5GB of free storage, Chrome web apps, Wave-like sharing and editing (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Apr 2012 11:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Gurwin Sturm (Google+), Fran?ois Bacconnet (Google+)  |  sourceTechCrunch, Google Drive, Google Play  | Email this | Comments


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Never Underestimate the Power of a Strong Title Sequence [Video]

An amazing opening-credit sequence can really immerse an audience, setting the tone for the entire film. PBS's Off Book series showcases the designers behind such films as Seven, Blue Valentine, and Mad Men. Watch the video to hear their approach to such a specific, but important, aspect of filmmaking. [YouTube / PBS va Laughing Squid] More »


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Virgin Mobile getting rid of grandfathered plan options with new smartphone purchases?

Virgin Mobile

A new text message is currently being sent out to Virgin Mobile USA customers with what may be an in important announcement if you're looking towards picking up a new device from them anytime soon.

VMFreeMsg Starting 5/27/12, new smartphones will be subject to current plan rates. This will apply if you switch phones. Go to http://msg4u.us/src for info.

At first glance, it may appear as though Virgin Mobile might be releasing some new smartphone plans, but that's not the case. When you visit the link they're advising folks that anytime you upgrade now you're required to pick from one of the already existing plans available. This looks to imply that if you're on grandfathered plan, they'll no longer allow you to keep it when upgrading to a new device. Anyone else on Virgin Mobile get this message or any further clarification in it?

Thanks, Brian!

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HackStore is like Cydia for Mac OS X, replaces walled garden with open dacha

HackStore for Mac OS X

Despite its loud anti-piracy notice, Andrey Fedotov's HackStore sees no issue in ripping off the official App Store's interface. Nevertheless, its aim is to gather up legit and readily available apps that didn't make it past Apple's trellis for whatever reason, and hopefully with Fedotov keeping an eye out for malware. You'll find FileZilla, Gimp and many rarer specimens -- and they're all just regular .dmg files so there's actually no hacking involved. That said, we downloaded the RTF to ePUB Converter and then struggled to make it run, so we're not ready to vouch for HackStore's ease-of-use any more than its security or legality. All we're saying, officer, is that it exists.

HackStore is like Cydia for Mac OS X, replaces walled garden with open dacha originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Apr 2012 04:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Asteroid Miners May Set the Stage for Space Colonization

On Tuesday, the founders of Planetary Resources held a press conference at the Museum of Flight in Seattle to announce a new megamillion-dollar plan to use commercially built robotic ships to travel to the asteroid belt to mine for valuable minerals including platinum and gold. "As we move beyond the bounds of Earth to a universe that is full of resources, we can finally bring those materials back to Earth," said speaker Peter Diamandis, cofounder of Planetary Resources.

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Noah Wyle: Arrested at Medicaid Protest


They starred together on ER. And maybe someday they'll sit together behind bars.

Just a few weeks after George Clooney got arrested during a protest in Washington D.C., Noah Wyle has gone out and done the same, as the Falling Skies star was one of many marching on Capitol Hill today, urging congress not to cut Medicaid in any way.

Noah Wyle Arrested

Wyle joined member of the group ADAPT in an attempt to tell politicians any cuts in Medicaid spending would push those with disabilities, along with the elderly, out of their houses and into nursing homes to receive the services they require.

Many of the protestors were in wheelchairs and were handcuffed in the rotunda of the Cannon House Office Building.

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