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    iPhone 4 survives after being accidentally dropped from 13,500 feet

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    The iPhone 4 is a lot of things, but it’s not a ruggerized smartphone. Logic dictates that dropping this fragile, glass backed wonder of human engineering from a height of 13,500 feet would shatter it into a million, tiny, Apple branded pieces. Apparently, Jarrod McKinney’s iPhone 4 doesn’t subscribe to logic, and instead kicks it in its balls and laughs in its face. Jarrod’s a skydiver you see, and during one of his jumps he forgot to zip the pocket of his pants which was precisely the moment when his iPhone 4 decided to try the sport sans the parachute. Jarrod found his iPhone 4 on a top of a building about 1.5 miles away from where he landed via GPS tracking. His skydiving instructor then tried calling the phone as a joke, but the joke was on him – the phone started vibrating, much to Jarrod’s disbelief. We’re not saying this particular iPhone has zombie blood in it, but if Jarrod turns out to be patient zero, you all know who called it first.

    Source: CNN

    Review: Sony Vaio F

    Sony was not kidding when it set off to give its consumers a “life without walls.” Bringing the 3D experience to more than just your television set, the Sony Vaio F Series is testament to this evolution, after which anything more real, and you’d have actual physical presence.

    This particular model sports a 16-inch premium black block that is not for the faint-hearted (in this case, meaning, not for the average user). Just looking at its depth and breadth of 398.5 x 35-45 x 271.5 mm, you know you’re not looking to find anything “cute” about this machine.

    You’ll also know this once you carry all 3.2 kilograms of it that’s it’s something you’d want resting snugly on your desk or any other designated work (or play) station. Its black glossy finish is also a bit of a smudge magnet so it would be best if you kept it pristine in one place. But from just basically looking at it, you’re almost assured of ease of use as it has a full-on spacious keyboard and ample room for your wrists to rest as well as a large dotted trackpad. Just above the keyboard are three circular buttons: Assist, 3D and Vaio. Assist takes you to VAIO Care, in case you have any problems with your computer. The 3D button allows you to switch to 3D display when watching HD content. Vaio takes you to its control center from system information right down to the 3D function where you can adjust the 3D settings.

    Now I may not know exactly what makes a laptop as great as it is in a more technical sense but I do know what’s cool and this Vaio knows how to amaze its user. Turn it on and the keyboard lights up underneath, as if it were ushering you to experience something incredible (at least, that’s how I felt when I turned it on). Then it immediately sets everything up for you. Once it does, you’re ready to start doing what you normally do on a laptop. I immediately go online and saw that the screen was incredibly crisp and bright, thanks to the 240 fps high frame rate of the LCD and because it also has Intel’s second-generation processor inside, which simply means (for all of the technical jargon the explanation of the processor came with) that your computer assures you a better visual experience, sound quality, and energy efficiency. The sound is incredible with Intel High-Definition Audio and Dolby Home Theater technology, so you’d probably rather watch movies on this thing than on your own TV. The Vaio also goes on standby when not in use in order to conserve energy and can last about three hours on full charge with average use.

    But the highlight of this PC is its 3D capabilities. This laptop is the first one to use Nvidia’s 3D Vision technology and comes with its own Sony glasses—the same glasses that go with Sony Bravia 3D HDTVs, which use a built-in IR emitter. The glasses look very high-end and durable, with a nice curve that fits the face snugly. I could even wear them comfortably on top of my own thick, librarian-looking frames. When you first turn on the Sony Vaio, it helps you start up the whole 3D experience so you can see if your glasses are working properly or if you’re seeing in 3D properly. After seeing a few sample videos in 3D, I realized how our own 2D experience was no comparison and how we could’ve lived so long without it. It was crisp and incredibly clear with such depth and realism. Although after a while, my eyes did begin to hurt somewhat.

    Perhaps these poor eyes need a bit more getting used to, seeing things in 3D.

    Aside from watching 3D videos and 3D movies, it has a Blu-ray drive, so you can also watch Blu-ray 3D movies with it on the full HD screen. Gaming is supported by the 3D Vision technology, so you can play games on the laptop’s display in stereo 3D mode, but you can also connect the laptop trough the HDMI 1.4 video output to a 3D-capable HDTV and use the bigger screen in 3D as well. You also get the ability to watch 2D videos and movies with a simulated 3D effect.

     

    What’s hot:

    Great 3D technology

    Intel second-generation processor

     

    What’s not:

    Smudges easily

    Bulky

    3D may not be good with prolonged use

     

    Buy meter:

    8.8

     

    Bottomline:

    If money weren’t an issue and you want to be truly entertained, the Sony Vaio VPCF217HG is definitely one PC you should own.

     

    TECH SPECS:

    • Screen Size
    • 16 inch wide (Full HD: 1920×1080) TFT color display (VAIO Display Premium, 3D Supported, LED backlight)
    • Memory
    • 8 GB (4 GB x 2) DDR3 SDRAM*2 (Max)
    • CPU and chipset
    • Intel Core i7-2820QM Processor 2.30 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.40 GHz*1, Intel HM65 Express Chipset
    • Wireless used
    • IEEE 802.11b/g/n*6, Bluetooth standard Ver. 3.0 + HS
    • Physical Dimension
    • 398.5 x 35-45 x 271.5 mm
    • Warranty
    • 1 year Warranty
    • Price Php 149,999

     

    Mozilla wants to make passwords obsolete

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    If you’re anything like us, chances are you have a bunch of different usernames and passwords for the different sites you frequent on the web. Aside from the hassle of memorizing them all, multiple passwords and usernames encourage password recycling – the practice of using the same username and password across different sites. Needless to say, this kind of behavior opens you up to a world of hurt if your account is ever compromised. It’s comforting to see that companies are trying to come up with ways to help you manage all those online accounts. Meet BrowserID, an experimental way of logging in to websites. You only have to verify your email once (to make sure you are the legitimate owner of the address) and after that, BrowserID logs you into website using only your email address. No more passwords to remember. It’s still pretty experimental, but you can see a demo of it in action below.

    Source: BrowserID

    Unboxing: Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

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    We here at Gadgets Magazine are always excited when a new toy arrives at the office. So let’s start a budding friendship with the Galaxy Tab 10.1, one of Samsung’s highly anticipated and sought after products.

    Upon opening the box, we are greeted with a beautiful view of the tablet’s glossy white rear, with the company’s logo elegantly etched in grey.

    tablet + accessories

    Gently taking the tablet off its cardboard resting place reveals the bundled accessories, which is wonderfully minimal. All that comes with the Galaxy Tab 10.1 (at least in our review unit), is the charger/plug, USB cable (which connects to the charger as well) and a pair of Samsung in-ear earbuds.

    The Galaxy Tab 10.1 is relatively light, and it’s overall size is quite appealing, and seems suitable to be carried around with you everywhere you go. Although its build feels sturdy, it is also quite delicate at the same time.

    Placed on top of Gadgets Magazine’s July issue (which is out in stores now), the Galaxy Tab is approximately the same in thickness, as seen in the photo above.

    The port you see in the center is for the USB/charger cable. In the photo below, you can see the discrete 3megapixel rear camera which can record at 720p.

    After briefly admiring it’s sleek casing, it was finally time to turn on this pretty little thing, which only took a few seconds.

    Below is a photo of the Galaxy Tab’s main app window. The screen is luminous with very vivid colors, icons pop out against the background, which makes it both pleasing to the eye and to use.

    Overall at first glance, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is thoroughly impressive. It looks suave, has portable dimensions and has a clear and bright display. But only time will tell during our in-depth review if Samsung’s coveted tablet lives up to its hype.

    Stay tuned.

     

    For a complete list of features/specs: Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

    From hearing aids to “walking” aids

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    There are many physical liberties one gives up as they age; one in particular is the simple joy of walking to and from anywhere. Now unless you’re one of those super health-conscious buffs who drink nothing but wheatgrass, high-calcium milk, and do yoga every day, you probably may have trouble getting around on foot and by yourself. Since majority of the population is your average cheeseburger-eating, soda-drinking couch potato, it’s important to have something that will assist you on your way as you age.

    With the brand promise “shaping tomorrow with you,” Fujitsu held the FUJITSU Design Award 2011: A LIFE with Future Computing, the full-scale international design competition, open to designers around the world, aimed at the development of PC-related designs bringing innovation to people’s daily lives.

    The grand prize winner was designed by Lithuanian designer Egle Ugintaite. The Aid is a cane that provides mobile navigation and health management services so that users who have difficulty travelling can remain active and mobile. It monitors the users’ pulse, blood pressure and body temperature which is displayed on the LCD screen. The cane also comes with a built-in navigator along with directions to a location of their choice which you can hear through headphones.

    Source: Springwise

    LEGO computer case shows man’s inner geek, looks simple to build

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    There’s a lot of LEGO casemods floating on the net, but this one caught our eye because of its simplicity and the ease of which an average nerd can replicate it. Mike Schropp made the lego case to house three complete systems (that’s 3 motherboards plus CPUs, coolers, GPUs and other assorted doodads) but it’s totally feasible for anyone else to make it for one system.

    Mike documented his build thoroughly, so if you have a bit of spare time, a CPU that needs to get geekified and a metric ton of LEGO pieces, it’s time to get building.

    (Thanks Anj!)

    Via: Makezine

    Source: Total Geekdom

    Qualcomm doesn’t think dual-core processors are being used properly

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    With all the dual-core powered processors floating around in smartphones and tablets, you’d think that apps would be lighting fast by now.  But Liat Ben-Zur, Senior Director, Software Strategy and Business Development, Qualcomm CDMA Technologies doesn’t think that’s true and recently published a blog post asking if anyone is actually using dual-core processors’ full potential. “The reality is that this technology trend of multi-cores can be somewhat confusing for most developers. Most are writing downloadable applications, which are only able to take advantage of the HLOS APIs exposed by the platform provider. Most developers are just not exposed to multiple core technology via the standard HLOS API sets that they use every day to build their applications.” What that basically boils down to is that if the developer doesn’t specifically code their application for dual-core processors, then you’re not getting dual core performance. While this may or may not be a jab at current dual-core superstar NVIDIA and their dual-core Tegra chip that’s currently in most dual-core devices, she does make a good point. The challenge now for developers is to code their apps in such a way that it’ll be able to take advantage of the performance gained from dual core processors.

    Source: Qualcomm

    Coke supports Pinoy_Blogfest 2.0

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    The Coca-Cola Export Company has signed on to support Pinoy_Blogfest 2.0, Gadgets Magazine‘s annual social media event.  Now on its second year, Pinoy_Blogfest 2.0 is scheduled to happen on 5 August 2011 at the TriNoma Activity Center in Quezon City.

    In its first run in 2010, Pinoy_Blogfest 1.0 attempted to start the dialogue on ethical issues confronting social media, with the theme Opportunity & Responsibility.  Attended by some 80 bloggers, the conference addressed questions such as: “Should bloggers observe journalistic ethics?” and “Can bloggers make money from their web presence?”

    Continuing the discourse on the role of social media in Philippine society, this year’s Pinoy_Blogfest 2.0 is themed Social Media as a Change Agent.

    With the increasing ubiquity of Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms, Filipinos have once again made the Philippines the world’s social networking capital.  Theoretically, therefore, everyone on Facebook or Twitter, and eventually the new Google+, has the potential to influence his “friends” or “followers” through his posts and status updates.  This democratizes social media and empowers each one with the opportunity to be a force for good.

    Pinoy_Blogfest is open to the public, offering a program of social activities targeted at various audiences.   Interested participants may opt to attend any one or all of the public social activities, namely The New Workplace, Its a Digital Life, Healthy Living and Photography.

    Interested bloggers are requested to send their name, blog URL, and contact details to [email protected] for invites to the by-invitation-only evening program by July 31, Sunday.

    Review: HTC ChaCha

    Relentless rumors about Facebook coming out with its own mobile device had the internet a flutter earlier this year. With a userbase of about 700 million, it only seemed natural that the current king of Social networking would want to expand their horizons. The rumor proved false, but it highlighted a need for a device that had Facebook at its core, something not completely lost on HTC. Thus, the HTC ChaCha was born, a device that puts the Facebook experience front and center and gives users the ability to share absolutely everything from the palm of their hands.

    If you’ve been following HTC’s recent smartphone releases, the ChaCha is a departure of sorts. It doesn’t have a gigantic capacitive screen dominating the face of the device as its own touchscreen is a diminutive, 2.6-inch deal that has a screen resolution of 480 x 320 pixels. It’s also one of the few HTC devices that has a full QWERTY keyboard.

    The ChaCha’s 114.4×64.6×10.7mm frame is comfortable to hold, and its 124g weight feels just right. The overall construction of the phone is solid and topnotch, with nary a creak to be had anywhere. Aside from the QWERTY keyboard, there’s a call and end button on the face of the ChaCha, as well as a volume rocker, 3.5mm jack and power button in the usual places. There’s a 5-megapixel camera on the back, as well as a secondary camera on the front for video calls.

    The ChaCha is powered by an 800MHz CPU and the latest build of Android, 2.3 Gingerbread.

    The Sense UI that’s on the ChaCha was especially modified for the device. The same pull ring to unlock mechanism that was in place in the HTC Sensation is present in the ChaCha.

    The home screen of the device is well laid out, if a little cramped – with the most recent Facebook update clearly visible in the middle. You get four home screens initially, though you can have a total of seven. Each one is totally customizable.

    The Facebook experience begins with the dedicated Facebook button on the lower right of the device. The Facebook button as the HTC execs called it is contextual button which does a couple of different things depending on where you are in the device.

    Pressing it directly from the home screen allows you to post a status message to your wall. Pressing it while listening to music posts track information to your wall, while doing the same while in Web page shares that particular page directly to your wall.

    It’s a fantastic shortcut key that simplifies sharing content immensely. The button also starts to throb when there’s something that’s potentially worth sharing, like the photo you’re about to take.

    Typing on the QWERTY keyboard is pretty nice and the buttons, although small, have good separation. It’s been so long since I’ve used a QWERTY keyboard on a smartphone, but once I got into the unique idiosyncrasies of the keyboard, I was happily typing away long text messages that I shied away from when I was using a touch-only smartphone.

    Call quality was great, and battery life was fantastic – the ChaCha managed to last for almost 2 ½ days on a single charge, with moderate use. With most smartphones dying if not plugged in at the end of the day, the ChaCha’s resiliency is a breath of fresh air.

    The obvious Achilles heel of the ChaCha is the small screen. At 2.6-inches, it’s probably one of the smallest screens that’s on an Android device. While it’s perfectly usable when checking your Facebook account, typing SMS and using Twitter, it’s not the best size for reading web pages and viewing video. Also if it wasn’t painfully obvious by now, let me spell it out for you: the ChaCha is useless without a good data connection. If you’re seriously looking at it, you’ll need a good data plan to go with it. Thankfully, Smart is offering two data plans for it – Php 1000 per month (with a monthly 100MB data cap) and Php 1500 per month with unlimited data.

    It’s obvious that the HTC ChaCha is aimed at a younger demographic that likes to keep connected with their friends. But make no mistake – it’s not a one trick pony, and once you strip the deep Facebook integration from it, it’s a pretty solid smartphone by itself.

     

    What’s Hot:

    Deep Facebook integration

    Easy to use QWERTY keyboard

    Long battery life

     

    What’s Not:

    Screen is a little small

    Useless without a good data plan

     

    Bottomline:

    The HTC ChaCha is the perfect phone for people who are constantly on Facebook.

     

    Buymeter: 8.4

     

    Tech Specs:

    • Operating System
    • Android 2.3 Gingerbread With Sense
    • CPU
    • 800MHz
    • LCD size
    • 2.6-inch capacitive touchscreen
    • Physical Dimensions
    • 114.4 x 64.6 x 10.7 mm
    • Weight
    • 120g
    • Band
    • 2G – GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, 3G – HSDPA 900 / 2100

     

    Ball Invasion: Taking augmented reality a step further

    Ball Invasion is a first-person shooter app that pits users against evil balls lurking in the real world.

    While the premise of the game may not seem groundbreaking, the technology behind it is revolutionary. In a nutshell, it uses augmented reality, which is when virtual elements are combined with the real-world environment (i.e. sports newscasters adding virtual “chalk marks” on the screen).

    What makes this new app by 13th Lab amazing is that it can perform these tasks instantly, without needing its users to set up any predetermined markers. Ball Invasion amazingly augments reality by simply using the iPad2’s camera.

    The method, called SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping), has existed for quite some time, but 13th Lab is the first to find a way to squeeze it into a mobile device. It has only been previously used by highly advanced robots, such as those that trek Mars and need to map surface areas in real time

    While this sub-centimeter positioning technology is only possible on the iPad 2 thus far, the developers will endeavor to bring it across other platforms, provided the devices can handle the processor-heavy program.

    Get Ball Invasion here.


     

    Source: PopSci

    Incubus fights pirates 16-bit style in Incubattle

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    Our love for Incubus is only surpassed by our love for anything 16-bit, so when we found out that the band had a retro-inspired, flash made, beat-em up game, we freaked. Incubattle has you fighting pirates as one of bands members, unleashing a unique blend of music and fisticuffs. It’s a pretty straightforward game, but it’s pretty cool nonetheless. You can even play with a friend via two player coop. Nice. You can find the game here, in the band’s website.

    Via: Joystiq

    Source: Enjoy Incubus

    Now your iPhone can open your bottle of… soda.

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    So you’ve been working all week, brain’s turned to mush, and you want nothing more than a well-deserved night out with the crew and several cases of below zero beers. But there’s no other buzz-kill like not being able to open your own impatiently awaiting bottle (and you don’t have the talent or the nerve to open it with your teeth and it’s not like you carry around a bottle opener wherever you go). So Aussie minds and Industrial Designer Chris Peters and Rob Ward, decided to incorporate the bottle opener into something you would never leave home without: your phone.

    The Opena iPhone 4 case (which just makes having an iPhone so much cooler, in my opinion) is a mobile phone protector and cover that can support the slide out stainless steel bottle cap opener. It’s sleek, slim, and won’t put any force on your phone in case you think it’ll snap it in half with prolonged use.

    Just remember to drink moderately and you and your phone will be just fine.

    Second Sony Centre branch opens in Davao

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    Sony Philippines together with Metro Plaza opens its second Sony Centre branch in Davao.  Located at the 3rd level of the newly opened Abreeza Mall (along JP Laurel Ave), this specialized store will surely address the fast paced technological needs of more Filipinos.

    The new Sony Centre Abreeza Mall by Metro Plaza holds the complete Sony product line-up of all the models and accessories offered here in the Philippines. Now Davaoenos can enjoy the newest technological offerings in the Bravia TVs, Cyber-shot Digital Cameras, Handycam Camcorders, Alpha DSLRs, VAIO computers, WALKMAN mp3 players and even the PlayStation with all its accessories.  They can even experience the 3D, projector and internet capabilities of the new product lines.

    Twinkle Rafael, Director for Retail Management, Sony Philippines shares: “We are really excited to open our second Sony full line-up store in Davao, Sony fans in this province plus its nearby cities can find the perfect home and personal entertainment products through actual first hand experience.” That is why all our Sony Centres have an experiential approach with our consumers. We make sure that they find the Sony that best suits their requirements.  Now, we have reached more Filipinos, they can see the brilliance of the Sony technology in terms of 3D entertainment.”

     

    Source: Sony

    Review: Asus GeForce ENGTX 570 Direct Cu II

    While there are gamers that are willing to shell out big bucks for the very best, even big spenders have limits. And as enticing as it is to drop almost $500 on a video card, most of us have more pressing concerns. NVDIA’s GeForce GTX 570 is aimed at enthusiasts that want a better than average card without maxing out their credit cards, and as such is aimed squarely at the $350 price range. Today we’ll be diving into Asus’ rendition, the GeForce ENGTX 570 Direct Cu II.

    Right off the bat, the GeForce GTX 570 Direct Cu II has managed to shame Asus’ other video cards when it comes to sheer size. Aside from being 11 inches long, it also consumes not two, but three PCI-E slots in your system. To power it, you’ll need a one 6-pin and one 8-pin power plug.

    A powerful GPU usually means a lot of heat, and NVIDIA’s GF110 isn’t an exception to that. To help disperse heat, Asus used a gigantic heatsink with five DirectTouch heatpipes that draw the heat away from the GPU when it’s running. The whole system is topped off with two fans to completely take away the heat.

    The specs of the ENGTX 570 Direct Cu II are pretty impressive. It uses a slightly nerfed version of the GPU that powers its more powerful brother, the GF110. A smaller memory size, reduced clock speed and smaller bus width is all that separates it from the GTX 580. Like most high end cards that Asus creates, the ENGTX 570 Direct Cu II is already factory overclocked out of the box, running at 742 MHz as opposed to the stock 570s that only run at 732 MHz.

    To gauge the performance of the card, we ran it through 2 benchmarks and a couple of games. Since the ENGTX 570 Direct Cu II is more or less an enthusiast card, we’ll be running the benchmarks at high resolutions and graphical settings (1920 x 1280, AA set to max, etc.). We’ll also be playing a couple of games on similar settings to gauge what the card can do in real world, gaming applications.

    First on the benchmark pile is 3D Mark Vantage. The benchmark was run using the high preset, with the resolution set to 1920 x 1280 and all the settings maxed out. We did not include the CPU tests and as it was a custom setting run, we didn’t get 3D Mark scores. We did get a GPU score, which was 12605.

    Next benchmark is Unigine’s Heaven benchmark. Just like 3D Mark Vantage, we ran it with the resolution set to 1920 x 1280 and all the settings maxed out. We got a nice score of 869, with an average FPS of 34.5.

    Of course, all those benchies don’t mean squat if the card couldn’t perform in games, and we’re happy to say that the ENGTX 570 Direct Cu II performed well in three of the games we tested it with – the multiplayer centric Battlefield Bad Company 2, the beautiful RPG The Witcher 2, and Epic Game’s gore-tastic FPS Bulletstorm. Our frame counter fraps decided to crap out during test day, but gauging from the smooth transitions and overall smooth gameplay from all three titles, it’s safe to say that the ENGTX 570 Direct Cu II will be able to handle almost all the games that will come out this year without any problems.

    The only issue that I have with it is that it won’t be able to handle a 3 monitor setup. This actually is more of a complaint leveraged against NVIDIA than Asus (since they can only work with what the manufacturer gives them), and you’ll only be able to use a three monitor setup once you use the card in SLI configuration (two cards linked via a SLI connection). While not a total deal breaker for some, there are some enthusiasts out there that are raring to play with a 3 screen setup.

     

    What’s Hot:

    Powerful, able to play almost any game currently out in high settings

    Silent, you can barely hear the fan even in high loads

     

    What’s Not:

    Takes up 3 PCI-E slots, pretty big

    No support for 3 screens

     

    Bottomline:

    Retailing at about Php 18,170, it’s not the cheapest card around but the performance of the

    Asus GeForce ENGTX 570 Direct Cu II is well worth its price.

     

    Buymeter: 8.6