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Google lines up a new Glass partner for prescription, fashion and sport lenses (updated)
We've known for a while that Google is looking to develop prescription-lens versions of Google Glass, but now its plans are starting to become clear. The search giant has teamed up with Rochester Optical to design and produce "custom prescription, fashion, and sport lenses" for its high-tech wearable. Rochester expects to have them ready by early next year and will include transitions, tinting and matching color wire frames. Google recently announced that Glass Explorers will soon be able to to swap out their headset for a new version, which will work with future shades and prescription frames, helping to make Glass look like something you'd want to wear. If you're interested to see what the eyewear specialist has been cooking up, it'll share its latest designs later today -- we'll make sure to share them with you when they do. Update: According to Google, there is no actual relationship between Google Glass and Rochester Optical.
UnEasyshare: Kodak's now-defunct, Rochester-based nuclear reactor
Ready for this unsettling Kodak moment? It seems the one-time imaging powerhouse held a decades-long secret deep in a bunker below Building 82 on its Rochester campus. The now vacant facility, a concrete-shielded chamber built in 1974, was once home to a californium neutron flux multiplier (CFX) or, in layman's terms, a small nuclear reactor as recently as six years ago. Certainly, that's not the technology one would normally associate with an outfit built on the foundations of photography, but according to recently released documents, its three and a half pound store of enriched uranium was used primarily for neutron radiography -- an imaging technique -- and chemical purity testing. The site's long been shut down and the radioactive material in question carted off with federal oversight, but for denizens of that upstate New York territory, alarming news of the reactor's existence has only just surfaced. Before you cast Kodak the evil side eye, bear in mind post-9/11 policies forbade the company from making the whereabouts of its small reactor widely known, though earlier scientific studies did make reference to the CFX's existence. It's an eye-opening glimpse into the esoteric machinations of private industry and the deadly dangers that lurk below your feet.
TWC now shipping tuning adapters in Rochester, NY -- do you have yours?
The headline pretty much says it all, but if you really have to know the details, we've heard from two different Rochester-based tipsters that Time Warner Cable has informed them that their tuning adapter has shipped. This marks the second major market in the nation to receive these splendid boxes from the carrier, and it got us to wondering about everyone else. Has your local carrier come forward with tuning adapter availability? If not, what's the estimated wait time? [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family][Thanks, Gabe and Victor]
MOJO HD falls off TWC Rochester, 6 newcomers added in
And so it begins. The ill-fated MOJO HD has already begun to vanish from cable lineups, even though the official dissolution isn't set to occur until December. At any rate, Time Warner Cable has yanked the network in the Rochester, New York area, but smartly added in a half dozen high-def newcomers to keep customers from kvetching. With the fall of MOJO comes the addition of Hallmark HD, SPEED HD, Cartoon Network HD, FX HD, Tennis Channel HD and MGM HD. Hey, TWC -- when can we expect a similar announcement for your other markets? [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family][Thanks, Trent]
DirecTV launches HD locals in Rochester, NY and Lincoln, NE
No surprises here, but we figured you'd be interested in knowing that DirecTV is indeed keeping its promise of rolling out HD locals in a few new markets this summer. According to an attentive local in Rochester, New York, high-def locals have been fired up in his area, and according to official verbiage from the satcaster, Lincoln, NE can say the same. With 44 DMAs on tap, we suspect this will be the first two in a long, long list that will unfold as the months progress.[Thanks, Jim]
Time Warner Cable adds HD channels in Albany / Rochester, NY
It hasn't been long since Rochester received a few new HD networks from Time Warner Cable, but as the SDV (switched digital video) rollout continues in the Empire State, it seems that it -- along with Albany -- is getting yet another helping. Rochester was just treated to Disney HD, Toon Disney HD and ABC Family HD, while Albany picked up Disney HD, Showtime West HD, Sho2 HD and TMC HD. Curiously enough, folks in New York's capital city are currently not seeing ABC Family HD in their EPG despite the addition of Disney HD. Regardless, new high-def is new high-def, right? [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family][Thanks, Mark]
Massachusetts gets more FiOS TV: Rochester and Walpole welcomed in
Hot on the heels of Lakeville, Massachusetts getting word that it would be receiving Verizon's fiber-based television service comes news that two more Bay State communities will be joining it. Just this week, Verizon began offering up FiOS TV to some 8,500 households in Rochester and Walpole, and if you just so happen to call either of those locales home, you too can phone up the carrier and see if it's within reach. Meanwhile, we're waiting for the day that 100-percent of Massachusetts is FiOS-enabled -- which should happen in like, two months or so.
TWC adds Travel, Cinemax and Starz HD in Rochester, NY
Who knew? Rochester is apparently the place to be if you're up for seeing new HD networks emerge before you even have time to view the previous additions. Just weeks after a half dozen appeared in the aforesaid locale, Time Warner Cable has tossed in a new trifecta: Travel Channel HD (1040), Cinemax HD (1064) and Starz HD (1062). Sure, these may appeal to the premium lovers in attendance more so than anyone else, but hey, new HD channels are new HD channels. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family][Thanks, Claude]
TWC brings a new half dozen to Rochester, New York
Rochester's on a roll, and it seems like there's no sign of things slowing down. Just weeks after Time Warner Cable gifted subscribers in the area with the Discovery HD suite and a trio of other high-def favorites, along comes six more sure to please the sports fanatics in the house. Effective immediately, non-CableCARD customers (yep, these are being brought to you courtesy of SDV) in the upstate can find CNN HD (1020), Outdoor HD (1042), MSG HD (1043), NHL HD (1044), Food Network HD (1045) and SportsNet NY (1046). Sure, it's not quite Brooklyn territory, but it's certainly better than what midtown Manhattan's dealing with. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family][Thanks, Claude]
TWC bringing Discovery suite to Rochester, New York
As the lineup changes continue to emerge in New York, along comes word that the Discovery suite of high-def channels are set to land in Rochester tomorrow. That's right, nary a month after picking up History Channel HD, HGTV HD and Lifetime Movie Network HD, you folks in the upstate can soon look forward to seeing Discovery Channel HD (1036), TLC HD (1023), Science Channel HD (1024) and Animal Planet HD (1068). No word on whether or not these will be delivered via SDV, but we're guessing so. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family][Thanks, Mike S.]
TWC customers in Rochester, NY pick up trio of new HD options
Just weeks after Time Warner Cable subscribers in Rochester, New York picked up TBS HD and National Geographic HD, along comes news that three more newcomers are on the way. As of February 26th, said customers will reportedly pick up Lifetime Movie Network HD, HGTV HD and History Channel HD on channels 1012, 1056 and 1063, respectively. Better still, we're also hearing that MSG HD will show up in March, while NHL HD, Food Network HD, CNN HD, Science Channel HD, TLC HD, Outdoor Channel HD, Discovery HD and Animal Planet HD were listed as "coming soon." As for Manhattan, the wait for justice continues. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family][Thanks, Claude]
TBS HD and National Geographic HD come to TWC customers in Rochester, NY
Although it seems as if the HD expansion craze is still tiptoeing around Manhattan, those situated in Rochester, New York are certainly enjoying a pair of newcomers on Time Warner Cable. Effectively immediately, TBS HD and National Geographic HD are live and ready for viewing on channels 1049 and 1055, respectively, and while we're not told exactly what other high-definition additions will come later this year, a recent e-mail sent out to call centers does make mention that more could be (and should be) on the way soon. As tipster Claude puts it: "It isn't much, but he'll take what he can get." [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family][Thanks, Claude]
The root of gaming addiction exposed?
Researchers are just now realizing that video games may fulfill psychological needs like autonomy, competence, and relatedness. University of Rochester and Immersyve Inc. investigators have determined that it's not just a shallow sense of fun that enables the so-called gaming addiction. Where have these guys been?What seems obvious to us is still a mystery to many. As the industry grows, as gamer populations swell, we're bound to come under the microscope more and more. There is a great urge among the uninitiated to justify our passion for video games. If only they'd stop questioning and simply join the "fun" ... Conform!
Digital cameras save little kids' teeth
Here at Engadget, we're all for preventive medicine. In fact, we're all about preventive anything, unless it's stopping us from getting our hands on the latest gear. Anyway, it turns out that there's a fairly treatable dental disorder called "early childhood dental caries," known in the biz as ECC. Sometimes when babies or toddlers go to sleep with a bottle of juice in their mouth, the sugars from the juice can cause serious dental problems, including tooth decay, sometimes leading to extraction. Ouch. Or to put it in terms that will make your wallet say "ow," annual treatment costs in the community of Rochester, NY, a town of over 200,000, run into the nabe of $1 million. Fortunately for them (and hopefully soon, the rest of us), University of Rochester Medical Center dental researchers have come up with a way of severly reducing this problem before it starts. By taking digital pictures of these tykes' teeth at health clinics and then zipping them off to pediatric dentists at the Eastman Dental Center across town, the problem can be spotted before it gets out of control. There, dentists check out the photos, can diagnose ECC and recommend treatment as needed. If only all dentistry was this easy. But seriously folks, if you really want to save money, try outsourcing your dental photography to India.[Via medGadget]
