Technology Effect

Sharp has begun shipping its latest Smart TV sets, the  AQUOS Quattron LE830 Series . Available in four sizes – 40-, 46-, 52- and 60-inches – each LE830 model packs integrated WiFi along with CinemaNow, Netflix and VUDU streaming, and DLNA support. As for the displays themselves, the four sets use edge-lit LED X-Gen LCD panels and Sharp’s Quattron Quad Pixel Technology. The latter adds in a dedicated yellow pixel to the usual red/green/blue trio, making yellow-hued pictures more lifelike and allowing more light through the panel so that the HDTV as a whole is brighter. Four HDMI ports round out the key specs, and pricing kicks off from $1,299.99 for the 40-inch Sharp AQUOS Quattron LC-40LE830U. The LC-46LE830U has an MSRP of $1,499.99, the LC-52LE830U has an MSRP of $1,899.99, and finally the 60-inch LC-60LE830U has an MSRP of $2,799.99. Press Release: Sharp Ships Four New AQUOS Quattron LED LCD T...

Bad news if you’ve been holding out for a new Pioneer DJM-900nexus mixer; the company has announced it is delaying availability – and recalling all units currently in the wild – after spotting a problem with the headphone system. According to Pioneer, “connecting certain headphones from other manufacturers with the volume set high can trigger a protective circuit to unnecessarily power down the unit.” The company has already addressed the issue at the production line, but it does mean that any units already in the wild in the US and Europe will have to be returned and swapped for a new model. According to Pioneer, that swap should happen at the retailer, but with availability now pushed back until early April it’s probably worth ringing ahead to make sure they’ve an updated version for you. The Pioneer DJM-900nexus has am integrated 24bit/96kHz USB sound-card, four audio channels and two mic channels. It has an X-Y controller and can co...

Apple is considering using its North Carolina data center – due to come online before the end of 2011 – for a voice interface and navigation service to take on Google Maps Navigation, according to the latest batch of theories from Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi. Detailed in a recent research note, reports AllThingsD , the service could use technology from early-2010 Apple acquisition Siri together with earlier acquisitions in mapping and public data sets, and potentially use crowd-sourced traffic data to intelligently modify calculated routes. “The iOS device user-base could then potentially periodically upload anonymous information on routes travelled and speeds encountered, perhaps even in real-time, which would allow Apple to report back traffic conditions to its user-base” Toni Sacconaghi, analyst, Bernstein Such a move would reduce Apple’s reliance on Google for Google Maps on iOS devices, an app which is looking increasingly underwhelming in compa...

Jabra has given its latest Bluetooth accessory a US launch, this time a speakerphone rather than a headset. The Jabra FREEWAY is apparently the first to include three speakers and be HD Voice compliant; that, the company reckons, makes it ideal not only for hands-free calls in the car, but for use with an iPod, smartphone or other PMP thanks to Bluetooth A2DP support. As for HD Voice, as long as you have a compatible phone you should see higher quality audio during calls. The FREEWAY has voice recognition – to control making, answering, ending, redialing or rejecting calls – as well as automatic power control that can bring the speakerphone out of standby mode when you get into the car, and then shut it down again at the end of your journey. There’s also spoken caller ID, and a year’s bundled subscription to Voice Assist, which allows you to send and respond to emails, SMS, Facebook and Twitter messages. The Jabra FREEWAY will hit US shelves in May, priced at...

Wouldn’t it be great if there was a device that automatically backs up important data from your iPhone every time you charged it? A solution may be the Iomega SuperHero iPhone backup and charger that’s designed to let you easily backup your contacts and photos directly to an SD card without the hassle of connecting to iTunes on your computer. This makes the backup process as easy as setting your iPhone onto a charging dock. Hardware The Iomega SuperHero has a sleek brushed aluminum base in tune with your iPhone’s form factor measuring about 3.5 x 3.5 inches and roughly three-quarters of an inch tall. The power supply port and a SD card slot are on the back, a black padding material covers the bottom, and the docking cradle sits on top towards the front. The dock is compatible with the iPhone 4, iPhone 3Gs, iPhone 3G, and the iPod Touch. A 4GB SD card is included with the device along with the basic power supply cable and a Quick Start Guide. Hardware-wise, there’s not...

Almost a full year ago, Google offered up its vision of what a mobile phone experience should be. We’re not talking about just the phone itself, funny enough, but also how consumers purchase devices, choose their carriers and sign up for service. Jump to today, and Google’s back at it again, except there’s one (well, not just one) very big difference — instead of being sold directly by Google online, the Nexus S is available at physical stores, letting consumers and potential customers see and feel the device before they buy it. The Samsung manufactured Google Nexus S packs a heck of a lot of features into a small figure, and it runs Google’s latest Android OS, Gingerbread. Does Google’s implementation of hardware and software make for the best Android phone available on the market today? Is it the perfect phone for you? Hit the break to find out what we think! Hardware The Google Nexus S is based on Samsung’s Galaxy S line of Android devices, but there are some ...

Here at BGR, we constantly get emails from readers looking for help with their gadget buying decisions. While I wish we had time to address each of our readers individually, this unfortunately isn’t the case. One of the more common lines of questioning comes from readers wanting to switch from BlackBerry smartphones to the iPhone, and today I’m going to pose a solution they may find useful. To this group of readers, the idea of moving from RIM’s amazing physical keypad to a device that only offers a virtual keyboard is often the biggest hurdle. We like to think we know a thing or two about cell phones here at BGR, but of course we can’t presume to know how each of our readers might fare when moving from a physical to virtual keyboard. What we do know, however, is that there are options out there that might help make the transition as smooth as possible — and one such option is the Keyboard Buddy case from Boxwave. Let’s get physical, physical The “iPhone Pro” has ...

The Motorola XOOM isn’t the first Android tablet, but in a way it kind of is the first Android tablet. It runs Google’s latest OS designed exclusively for tablets, and the difference between Honeycomb and earlier versions of Android on a tablet is night and day. The XOOM is a beautiful 10.1-inch device powered a dual-core processor, dual cameras, loads of memory, and it’ll soon be 4G-capable on the nation’s most reliable network — who could ask for more? I’ve been testing the Motorola XOOM for a few days, and I’ve definitely put this sleek new slate through the paces. Hit the jump for BGR’s full review. Hardware / Design The Motorola XOOM is wrapped in high quality materials including soft-touch aluminum, Gorilla Glass and sturdy plastic, and it feels extremely solid. It’s slightly (literally a few grams) heavier than Apple’s iPad, though it feels a tad heavier because it’s a bit thicker in the middle. What’s very interesting about the XOOM, and most announced tablets th...

  When I first heard that Amazon was going to be making an app store for Android (we broke the news in September of last year), I laughed. Just what Android needs, another app store, I thought. Further, I didn’t see what Amazon could bring to the table with such a store that Google themselves couldn’t. That was stupid. I was wrong. Now that Amazon’s Android Appstore is out there in the wild, and I’ve had a chance to play with it, I see the brilliance of the maneuver. In many ways, Amazon just came out of nowhere and beat Google at their own game — on their own devices. At the same time, some of the processes involved in Amazon’s Appstore are laughable. And they point to a very obvious fact: Amazon needs to build their own Android devices. Pronto. There has been a lot of talk today about how and why Amazon could become a big player in the tablet space. And a NYT report from last week points to Amazon specifically looking at expanding their work on Andro...

You may not be familiar with MetaLab , but you’ve definitely come across their work: they designed sites for Qik, Sugar, Texts From Last Night, and the ubiquitous Tumblr theme ‘Fluid’, among other things. And today they’re launching a new app of their own: Flow a new simple tool for managing and delegating tasks. The first thing you’ll notice is that the app is beautiful (and I don’t throw that word around lightly). This isn’t a huge surprise given MetaLab’s background, but the web app looks and feels a lot like something you’d expect from a polished native iPad application (in addition to the web app, there’s also a native iPhone app available right here ). MetaLab founder and CEO Andrew Wilkinson says that Flow tries to address a common problem: there are plenty of services that offer task management and to-do lists, but people often have their tasks scattered across multiple services. You might have your work projects stored in one place, like Basecamp, a...

Google has chosen Cape Town as a pilot for a new technology incubator called Umbono which aims to bring together seed capital, Google mentorship, angel investors, local tech stars, entrepreneurs and business leaders. If successful in Cape Town, Google may take the model to other parts of the globe. Google says it chose Cape Town because the city is in “the process of positioning itself as a hub for innovation and technology”. The search engine expects that successful funders will move to Cape Town and work “onsite” to take advantage of the opportunity. The search monolith says the incubator is “in keeping with its ongoing commitment to foster innovation in Africa” and it will help selected startup teams transform their ideas into companies. Umbono is Zulu for “vision”, “sight” or “idea”. As part of its stated goal to strengthen the “web ecosystem across Africa”, Google hopes that Umbono will further encourage the growth of the developer community and support what it refer...

 The father of evolutionary biology, Darwin's contribution to science is significant. Darwin Day is celebrated on February 12 every year. Survival of the fittest, struggle for existence, and natural selection, these catchphrase come to mind when we think of Darwin. Charles Robert Darwin was one of the most significant individuals in the history of science and is considered as the father of evolutionary biology. He published these revolutionary theories in his book The Origin of Species in 1859. The expedition on the ship HMS Beagle in 1830s to various places around the world gave him a chance to document several aspects of biology, geology and anthropology that resulted in his book Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle (1839). Darwin's ideas were inspired by the experience and observations he had on the famous Beagle Voyage. He developed his theory of evolution by natural selection through his four observations. His first observation was that all organisms are c...

 The father of evolutionary biology, Darwin's contribution to science is significant. Darwin Day is celebrated on February 12 every year. Survival of the fittest, struggle for existence, and natural selection, these catchphrase come to mind when we think of Darwin. Charles Robert Darwin was one of the most significant individuals in the history of science and is considered as the father of evolutionary biology. He published these revolutionary theories in his book The Origin of Species in 1859. The expedition on the ship HMS Beagle in 1830s to various places around the world gave him a chance to document several aspects of biology, geology and anthropology that resulted in his book Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle (1839). Darwin's ideas were inspired by the experience and observations he had on the famous Beagle Voyage. He developed his theory of evolution by natural selection through his four observations. His first observation was that all organisms are ...

Stamford: List of 10 most sought after apps in mobile for 2012 releases keeping in mind the likes and dislikes of consumers. Apps on mobile need to have a more extended version of what is being used on laptops and PCs. While making selection, analysts kept their focus on high-end devices with average selling price of more than $300 to have top 10 cutting edge technologies and trends. Applications featuring in the list will have unique features that include some element of environment into their function.Gartner, Technology research firm, releases 10 most watched upon apps in 2012, according to its belief. Last week, Gartner projected that mobile apps would generate revenues of $15.9 billion in 2012, now they are trying to discover what app will help mobiles to build up this huge revenue structure. The top ten apps that Gartner listed down are not far from what is getting attention today also. So, the consumer applications to be looked out for in 2012 include- 1...

  LinkedIn has announced that it has finally reached a major milestone: 100 million users and counting. The company, founded in December 2002 and launched in May 2003, reached profitability fairly soon , and its growth has been accelerating over the past few years. It took LinkedIn six years to reach 50 million users, but it only took a year and a half for the business social network to double that number. LinkedIn hit 85 million members in October 2010 and revealed that it had more than 90 million users when it filed to go public earlier this year. LinkedIn is now adding one new member per second. To celebrate its new achievement, the LinkedIn team has released an infographic breaking down its growth and its overall membership. It comes with several interesting tidbits of information on who uses LinkedIn and even when they use it. Here are some of the most intriguing stats from LinkedIn’s infographic: 56% of LinkedIn’s users are outside of the United States. LinkedIn i...

  Twitter co-founder Biz Stone can add a new job title to his long list of professional accomplishments: strategic advisor for social impact at AOL. The new role for Stone (who will be keeping his day job at Twitter) coincides with a “30-Day Service Challenge” that Arianna Huffington is kicking off Monday. Biz Stone announced his new role in a post on his personal blog. Stone, who has always been Twitter’s socially conscious voice, will advise AOL (specifically its new Huffington Post Media Group) on cause-based initiatives and best corporate practices for philanthropy and corporate responsibility. In a related blog post, Huffington announced AOL’s new social challenge. “Starting today and throughout the month, AOLers and HuffPosters (who are now AOLers!) will be volunteering in their local communities … in addition, today on every section of HuffPost we’re featuring stories about organizations and individuals who are taking action to help others,” Huffington wro...

email share   Google has updated its Latitude app for the iPhone, adding checkins and bringing the app up to date with the Android version, which received that same feature in February 2011. In addition to seeing where your Latitude buddies currently are on a map and sharing your location with them, you can now use the iPhone Latitude app [iTunes link] to check into places. The app requires iOS 4 and above to work; iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPod Touch and iPad are supported. Latitude will also automatically check you out when you leave if you set it to continuously update your location, but that feature doesn’t work with the iPod Touch. Google has also translated its Google Places app [iTunes link] into 30 languages and added the ability to personalize your experience by saving places. To see the places you’ve saved or starred, tap on the new “Saved” icon on the app’s main screen.