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Misfit's Flare is a $60 no-frills fitness tracker
If you're in the market for a bare-bones fitness tracker, Misfit has just unveiled the $60 Flare. It can track your steps, distance, calories and sleep quality, and you can program the touch-sensitive face to start and stop music or do a few other functions. Don't expect any fancy call or message notifications, movement reminders or other frills, though -- for that, you'll need to step up to Misfit's $100 Ray or Shine 2 trackers.
President Obama calls for a plan to deal with extreme space weather
As President Barack Obama's administration enters its final stages, he's paying more attention to what's going on way, way above us than expected. Just days after the president outlined his vision for landing humans on Mars by the 2030s, he issued an executive order calling for a plan that would help the country -- and the systems that power it -- cope with seriously bad space weather.
Best gear for your next road trip
This post was done in partnership with The Wirecutter, a buyer's guide to the best technology. Read the full article here. A road trip can be a memorable adventure, but all adventures require a little planning. At The Wirecutter, we spend dozens of hours on each of our reviews to find the best gear for every part of your life. This year we drove 1,500 miles through four states to bring you our essential recommendations for your next road trip. Here are eight of our favorites.
The Big Picture: Catching an intense solar flare in action
It's no longer rare to hear reports of solar flares that could affect Earth, but seeing them in vivid detail? That's another matter. Thankfully, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recently captured a high-intensity X1.8 flare (80 percent more intense than an already huge X1 flare) in action. The pretty pyrotechnics you see above represent a subset of the ultraviolet light from the eruption, while the video below shows what it looked like in other wavelengths. And the kicker? As impressive as this may be, it's far from the largest example in recent memory -- that honor goes to a mammoth X28+ flare from 2003. These ejections aren't so enjoyable when they cause havoc with communications and navigation systems, but they at least make for a good light show.
Flare 2 is a solid photo effects editor for your Mac
Flare 2 for Mac (currently on sale for US$9.99 regularly $14.99) is a well thought out and executed app for photographers who want to get beyond the basics in photo effects. The app comes with dozens of filters, and each can be adjusted by the user, making the options almost infinite. In addition to things like the usual color washes, there are textures, borders, frames, tilt-shift, Bokeh rings (out of focus points of light), vintage film effects and more. RAW formats are supported, along with niceties like unlimited undo and batch processing. Photos can be exported as JPG, PNG and TIF. There's a complete online user guide which is detailed. Using the app is simple. Import your image, select a filter, then modify to taste. Previews are real time, and the layout of the app encourages experimentation. The effects are artistic, and I never wound up with anything horrible looking. The developers know their way around image editing, so you don't get cartoonish photos at the end. As a bonus, Flare 2 offers a free, universal iOS photos extension called Flare Effects, which adds Flare's filters as editing options to Apple's Photos and Camera app. That is to say, after installing and setting up Flare Effects for iOS (it walks you through the dead-simple instructions) you can use the filters and effects that that Flare offers from within the two apps from Apple. Note that I'm not calling Flare Effects for iOS an app, because it's an extension. Don't think of it as an image editor like many others. Instead, it adds Flare's great filters to two apps you're probably already using: Camera and Photos. It sounds confusing, but once you launch the app and follow the setup instructions, it's not. Flare 2 for the Mac requires Yosemite. It's a well done photo editing app that offers some things the 'big boys' like Photoshop don't have.
A rocket scientist at Oxford University is designing better cookware
What do rocket scientists do in their spare time? Design cookware, apparently. A Oxford University professor has created a new kind of saucepan that heats up 30-percent faster than traditional cookware. He calls it "Flare," and it borrows from the same principals used to efficiently transfer and distribute heat in jet engines. The pan gets its name from a series of ridges that run around the circumference of its base -- these fins draw flames up the side of the pan and distribute heat evenly over its aluminum body. This design not only cooks food faster, but it uses significantly less energy to do it. It just goes to show: you don't have to be a rocket scientist to make cookware, but it helps. The £49.99 saucepan will go on sale in the UK next month.
Cox flareWatch beta brings IPTV with 60 HD channels, cloud DVR for $35 monthly
While everyone tries to figure out what the future of TV looks like, Variety reports Cox Cable has crossed over to offering internet TV service to customers in Orange County. flareWatch beta testers can buy a Fanhattan Fan TV set-top box for $99 (up to three per household) and sign up for a TV package that features 90 live TV channels (60 in HD) and includes the usual favorites like ESPN / ESPN2, AMC, CNN, Nickelodeon and TNT, with video on-demand coming soon. DVR recordings take place in the cloud, with 30 hours of storage available for each subscriber. There is one notable limitation however, as with cable company provided TiVo DVRs, streaming services like Hulu and Netflix are not available. Cox already offers cloud-based storage under the MyFlare brand name, and Variety also mentions the company plans to expand it with music and game services. Other providers have hinted at offering IPTV options and Comcast launched an IPTV test at MIT, but this is the first one publicly available from a major company. If you live in the area, demonstrations are available at several locations, check out the site at the link below and a preview video after the break.
Flare 1.5 adds new presets and borders
Lost in the hubbub of the iTunes 11 announcement yesterday was an announcement about another app upgrade. Flare, the US$19.95 photo processing app for OS X from Iconfactory, received an update to version 1.5. The update is the first since August, and provides two new default presets, Tin Type and Instamatic, and two new borders, Tin Type and Hipster. If you're running OS X Mountain Lion, there's now a way to instantly share your work via Facebook. There is now a "Profile Presets" effect in the color menu, an option for the rotation effect that scales to fill the image fram and a way to increase the amount of change when using Shuffle by holding down the option key. Iconfactory also fixed some bugs that had crawled their way into version 1.4. The update is free and available through the Mac App Store.
Flare 1.4 adds Retina support, Twitter sharing, more
Yesterday we saw an update to Realmac Software's Analog Mac photo effects app; today the news is from Iconfactory, and the app being updated is Flare (currently discounted to US$9.99). Like Analog, Flare (see TUAW review here) provides a way to add and adjust pre-loaded visual effects. Flare comes with quite a few more effects than Analog -- a total of 31 -- and allows quite a bit more in terms of control and the addition of effects. What's new in Flare 1.4? There's now support for Retina displays, there's new high-resolution editing and the user interface has changed. Like many apps updated for OS X Mountain Lion, Flare 1.4 adds a significant number of sharing services including "upload to Twitter." There's a new "Save to Aperture" feature as well. As we noted with the Analog update yesterday, the app supports the external editor mode in Aperture and iPhoto, and adds Lightroom as well. Several bug fixes have also been incorporated. For existing users, it's available immediately from the Updates tab of the Mac App Store.
Flare for Mac version 1.3 adds new shuffle feature
Flare is a fun Mac app for adding effects and filters to your digital photographs. The Iconfactory has released version 1.3 of Flare with a number of changes, including one that adds a bit of randomness to the effect you apply. The Shuffle feature is used once you've applied one of the built-in presets to an image. What it does is slightly tweak the settings in that preset to add a random variation. Other improvements to Flare include the ability to add multiple presets to an image by dragging and dropping them, better control of the quality of JPEG images while exporting them, a new cropping aspect ration of 4x5, and more robust final rendering when you're exporting an image. Flare also now supports Application Sandbox, a step towards compatibility with the forthcoming Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. That feature improves the security of the app and your Mac. Iconfactory also notes that a number of bugs have been squashed with the latest release. The update is available from the Mac App Store now.
ASUS Eee PC Flare 1025C netbook up for preorder, ships March 10th for $299
If netbooks are your cup of tea and you've been waiting to get your hands on an ASUS Eee PC Flare 1025C like we did back at CES, you're in luck. Matte Black and White color options are up for preorder now from Amazon. Get ready to part with $300 for one of the available schemes, as the kit is set to ship out next week. If you recall, the 10.1-inch netbook packs a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N2600 dual-core processor, 1,024 x 600 LED display, 1GB of DDR3-1333 memory, a 320GB 5,400RPM hard drive and weighs-in at just under three pounds. The PC's six-cell, 56WHr battery touts a 12.5 hour life span, giving you ample time to submit those TPS reports sans outlet. If you're looking for all the fine details, hit the coverage link below before committing.
ASUS Eee PC Flare 1025C / CE, 1225B and X101CH netbooks at CES 2012 (update: hands-on photo)
As expected, ASUS is bringing a bit of netbook Flare to CES 2012. The company just got official with the Eee PC Flare 1025C, 1025CE and X101CH netbooks, and we're not going to waste any time getting down to the details. The 1025C ships with a 1.6GHz Atom N2600 dual-core GPU, integrated Intel UMA graphics (720p output), a 10.1-inch LED display (1,024 x 600), 1GB of DDR3-1333 memory, a 5,400RPM hard drive, built-in Altec Lansing stereo speakers, 0.3 megapixel webcam, a trio of USB 2.0 ports, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, an Ethernet port, 2-in-1 media card reader and VGA / HDMI outputs. The whole thing tips the scales at 2.7 pounds, while offering a six-cell (56WHr) battery that's supposedly good for some ten hours of usage. It'll ship with Windows 7 Starter, with $299 getting you one in gray, blue, red, pink or black next month. The Flare 1025CE ups the ante with a 1.86GHz Atom N2800 dual-core CPU, with the asking price edged up to $319. Moving right along, the 1225B is a 12.1-incher with a 1.6GHz AMD E-450 dual-core chip, integrated graphics, a 1,366 x 768 native resolution, 2GB of DDR3-1333 memory, a 5,400RPM HDD, two USB 3.0 sockets (and a lone USB 2.0 socket), WiFi, a 0.3 megapixel webcam, Bluetooth 3.0 and a 2-in-1 media reader. It'll weigh in at 3.1 pounds and tout a six-cell battery, with Windows 7 Home Premium (32-bit) running the show. As for colors? Ah, colors. It'll ship next month in black, red and white. Finally, the Eee PC X101CH hits the entry-level buyers, with $269 netting you a 10.1-inch panel (1,024 x 600), inbuilt graphics, 1GB of RAM and the usual complement of ports. All told, we're looking at fairly expected updates since the last major wave of netbooks, but we'll withhold judgment until we see just how well those new Intel chips due in the benchmarking / battery test departments. Update: And here are our hands-on photos. Enjoy!
ASUS Eee PC Flare leaked ahead of CES, AMD and Intel models promised
Choosing is hard. And in the case of ASUS' forthcoming netbook line, totally not necessary. Just days after Intel snuck out details surrounding the next generation of its Atom line, out flows shots and information about what'll undoubtedly be one of the first next-gen netbooks to use 'em. The Eee PC Flare line is expected to supplant the long-standing Seashell range at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, with a smattering of models to be lining ASUS' booth. Outside of lively, sleeker exteriors, we're told to expect models with the new N2600 and N2800 Atom CPU line, a 12-incher powered by AMD's Fusion APU line and the token chiclet-style keyboard that we've all grown used to. It's also possible that we'll see revised 10-inchers alongside the big boys, with the 1225B, 1225C, 1025C and 1025CE named in particular. Naturally, we'll be bringing you more as we get it. Oh, and "netbooks are back, baby!"
TUAW Best of 2011: Flare top Mac photo app; Final Cut Pro X best video app
In our TUAW Best of 2011 voting, we've come to the end of the awards for the Mac. Starting tomorrow, the winners for iPhone accessories and apps will be announced. Today we're proud to announce the winners of the voting for the top Mac photo and video apps. For Mac photo apps, the innovative Flare (US$19.99, now on sale for $4.99) photo effects app from Iconfactory took the honors as the best Mac photo app of the year. As reported in a TUAW review earlier this year when Flare first hit the Mac App Store, the app doesn't just stop with applying effects to your photos. Instead, it has a set of controls that allow users to tweak color, lens, and creative effects. Color effects include exposure, brightness, saturation, contrast, tints, color filters and gradients, and several processing options. Lens effects add Gaussian, motion, and zoom blurs, and the ability to sharpen, add a glow to, or vignette a photo. Using creative effects, it's possible to add grain, texture, frames and borders, rotation, scaling, and halftoning to your pictures. Many of our readers appreciated the power and simplicity of Flare, giving it 38.1 percent of the vote. In second place and just barely missing the title of top Mac photo app was FX Photo Studio Pro ($39.99) from MacPhun LLC. In the Mac video app category, one app ruled the roost. Apple's own Final Cut Pro X ($299.99) received a whopping 63.6 percent of reader votes. Congratulations to the teams at Iconfactory and Apple for winning the hearts and minds of our readers with two incredible apps.
TUAW Best of 2011: Vote for the best Mac photo and video apps
The nominations are in, and the poll is ready to go! The TUAW Best of 2011 awards are all about you -- the readers -- and what you think is the cream of the crop of Apple or third-party products and software. To vote, select one entry from the top nominations made by readers. We'll be announcing the winner in just a few days. Vote early and often! Today TUAW is asking for your vote for the best Mac photo and video apps of 2011. While we received relatively few nominations in this area, there were several apps that stood out as potential winners in this category. Rather than have video and photo apps punching it out for the Best of 2011 title, I've decided to split the voting into both categories. In the video realm the new Camtasia 2 ($99.99) app pulled in the most nominations, while Apple's Final Cut Pro X ($299.99) was popular despite all the complaining when it was released earlier this year. ScreenFlow ($99.99), another screencasting app for Mac, will fight it out with Camtasia 2 for the honors. For photo apps, FX Photo Studio Pro ($39.99) grabbed the attention of readers, along with Sketcher ($14.99), Flickery ($9.99), and effect / texture app Flare ($9.99). Be sure to vote for one of each below -- one Mac photo app and one Mac video app. I'll announce the winners in a few days. %Poll-72024% %Poll-72020%
Best of 2011 Nominations: Mac photo / video apps
During December and January, The Unofficial Apple Weblog is soliciting your nominations and votes for the best products for Mac, iPhone/iPod touch, and iPad. We'll start with nominations in a category, and then tally your votes for the top-nominated products a few days later. The winner in each category receives the highly-coveted title of TUAW Best of 2011. Today's category for Best of 2011 nominations is Mac photo and video apps. Your Mac can manage thousands of photos and help you to create video masterpieces, so this is a crowded category. You might be a fan of Apple's iPhoto (US$14.99) or Aperture ($79.99) apps. Maybe you love to create HDR images with HDR Darkroom (on sale for $7.99) or apply stunning effects with FX Photo Studio ($9.99). The ease of use of Flare ($19.99) might be more your cup of coffee. Video fans might be excited about Apple's iMovie '11 ($14.99) or Final Cut Pro X ($299.99). Perhaps you're developing screencasts and use either ScreenFlow ($99.99) or Camtasia 2 ($99.99) in your work. Whatever your favorite Mac photo or video app is, we want to hear about it. Leave your nomination in the comments below. This is the last Mac-specific category for the 2011 awards -- tomorrow we'll begin gathering nominations for iPhone apps and accessories. Nominations close at 11:59 PM ET on December 15, 2011.
New radio wave technique could detect alien planets, receive interstellar tunes
Any experienced planet hunter will tell you: finding exoplanets is the real challenge, where hardened professionals go to test their mettle. These tricky bodies stymie conventional methods – like seeing a planet pass in front of its parent star – because exoplanets often have decades-long orbits, meaning you could spend a lot of lonely nights fruitlessly searching the skies. So scientists at the University of Leicester in England developed a new approach: looking for radio waves emitted when ultraviolet flares light up the atmospheres of planets like Saturn and Jupiter. The flares – auroras – even if invisible to ordinary telescopes, are detectable by radio telescopes like the European Low Frequency Array (or LOFAR, pictured above). The scientists hope those methods will help them discover planetary systems up to 150 light-years away, perhaps even some that can sustain life. And, of course, keep them one step ahead of Richard Branson. [Image credit: LOFAR / ASTRON]
Flare from The Iconfactory: Awesome photo editing app for Mac
One of the joys of photography with the iPhone is that there are a huge number of apps for the platform that let you work with your photos to apply cropping, add filters and effects, and then share those photos with others. Sure, we have apps like iPhoto and Photoshop Elements, but to me they're not really in the same ballpark as the iPhone apps when it comes to quickly editing a photo. Flare is a new Mac app (US$19.95, now on sale for $9.99) from The Iconfactory and ARTIS Software that brings drag, drop and click editing to photos much in the manner that the current iPhone photo apps do. Available in the Mac App Store, Flare is easy enough for photo newbies to use, yet powerful enough that professional photographers will want to have it in their kit of goodies. After launching the app for the first time, you're greeted with a simple startup screen with three choices: "Drag a photo here to get started with Flare," "Read the User's Guide" or "View a Tutorial." I think most people will do what I did -- I just dragged a photo to the box in the startup screen and started playing with the app to see what it could do. After that, I clicked the User's Guide button to get more details, which took me to a very complete online explanation of what each and every effect, filter and process does to your photograph. %Gallery-119002%
Gurus track inhaled nanoparticles as they experience Mach 5 lung travel
Ever wondered what kind of objects you inhale on a daily basis, leaving your lungs to sort out whatever it is that you snort in? Scientists at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the Harvard School of Public Health have, and they're tired of simply imagining. A crew of wizards at the institution have started to test a so-called FLARE system (fluorescence-assisted resection and exploration), which enables them to see and monitor nanoparticles as they enter and travel through the lungs. The goal here is to "determine the characteristics and parameters of inhaled nanoparticles that mediate their uptake into the body -- from the external environment, across the alveolar lung surface and into the lymphatic system and blood stream and eventually to other organs." In short, this here study may offer a better understanding of the health effects surrounding air pollution... or restart the mask-wearing craze that SARS initiated. But probably both.
Cataclysm beta: New raid markers
I decided to hop in and do some more raiding on the beta. When setting up some marks for pulls, I discovered that they're not flares anymore! I know the current raid markers appear like clouds of smoke. They were originally flares created by engineers. Some people deemed them Lucky Charms. Well, I daresay these are Lucky-er Charms! The icons will bounce up and down and they glow! This will make positioning a little more obvious since they're so bright and hard to miss. Currently, there are only five markers available. No idea if additional symbols will be added in the future. Think five will be enough? What do you think about the new raid markers? World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it; nothing will be the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion (available Dec. 7, 2010), from brand new races to revamped quests and zones. Visit our Cataclysm news category for the most recent posts having to do with the Cataclysm expansion.
