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LG launches Optimus G flagship smartphone: quad-core S4 Pro, LTE, 2GB RAM, ICS, 13MP camera (updated)
It's official! Today in Seoul LG is announcing its latest flagship smartphone, the Optimus G. The 8.45mm (0.33-inch) thin handset -- which has been rumored for weeks -- packs Qualcomm's Fusion 3 chipset which pairs a 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro SoC (APQ8064) with a 2G / 3G / LTE radio (MDM9615). It features 2GB of DDR RAM and a 4.7-inch 1280x768 (320ppi) True HD IPS PLUS display with Zerogap Touch (in-cell touch) technology. A sealed 2100mAh Li-polymer battery rated for 800 charge cycles powers this Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) device. The rear camera sports a 13-megapixel backside-illuminated sensor with 1.1µm pixels, an f/2.4 autofocus lens and a single LED flash -- along with a more pedestrian 1.3MP shooter in front. There's 32GB of built-in flash storage, but no microSD card slot. Other specs include WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, A-GPS, NFC and MHL. Aesthetically, the Optimus G marries LG's Chocolate and Prada design-languages into a sleek 145g (5.11oz) unibody smartphone. The front is all glass with three capacitive buttons while the back indroduces the company's Crystal Reflection process which gives the handset "the ability to display different patterns depending on the viewing angle and lighting". LG's placing a lot of emphasis on how the user experience benefits from the Optimus G's quad-core Krait CPU and Adreno 320 GPU -- something it calls "cross-tasking". This includes capabilties like QSlide Function, Live Zooming, Dual Screen Dual Play, QuickMemo, Screen Zooming, Application Link and Icon Personalizer, plus camera funtionality such as Time Catch Shot, Cheese Shutter, Smart Shutter and Low Light Shot Noise Reduction -- all of which are detailed for your reading pleasure in the PR after the break. Stay tuned for hands-on pictures, video and first impressions later today... Update: Unsubsidized pricing will be 999,900 KRW ($895 USD) when the Optimus G ships in Korea next week. That's pretty steep, even for an unlocked device.
Motorola Atrix HD now on sale at AT&T: $100 on contract for LTE, 720p and ICS
Well, lookie here. It didn't take long for Motorola's latest Atrix variant to go from unveiled to launched, as the Atrix HD is now on sale at AT&T for a wallet-pleasing $99.99 on contract. Sign the dotted line for two years, and you'll be getting a 4.5-inch Android superphone, complete with Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0), a true 720p display, Kevlar-infused backing, a "splash resistant" casing and an LTE radio. Those who indulge quickly are set to grab a gratis Vehicle Dock for "a limited time," and you'll also enjoy the first Moto handset to bring the outfit's Circle Widget to the homescreen -- which is engineered to take owners directly to their AT&T account info, displaying data usage, battery status and more. The phone's listed right now in AT&T's smartphone section in Titanium and Modern White, but the link to buy it seems deactivated for the moment. Still, it's all square to go on sale today, so keep a close eye on the source link if you're dead-set on an upgrade. Psst... you can learn more about the Atrix lineage through our original Atrix 4G and Atrix 2 reviews.
ICE Computer's modular xPC returns to Computex in working-prototype form, we go hands-on (video)
From one year to the next, we see many of the same characters make an appearance at the same trade shows -- this week, it's Taipei's Computex, and today, we're back to visit ICE Computer. What last year was known as "Trinity" and hadn't progressed beyond the mock-up stage has returned for 2012 as xPC -- a working prototype of the company's modular computer concept. Internet Communication Entertainment, abbreviated as ICE, envisions xPC being the only computer you'll need. The device itself is barely larger than a smartphone, and would contain either an Intel, AMD or Tegra chipset, 2 gigs of RAM, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, a 1.3- or 2-megapixel webcam and a 32 or 64GB SSD -- all in a package that weighs in at approximately 50 grams. The sample we saw today was so light that we first mistook it for a plastic shell, yet it powered a typical desktop setup, complete with a monitor (HDTV), keyboard and mouse. The current prototype doesn't include a cooling infrastructure, so it was limited to a low-power 1.5GHz Intel Atom CPU for the time being. All of the company's various enclosures will feature built-in fans, however, opening the concept up to a variety of configurations. The xPC doesn't function on its own -- instead, you dock it within a variety of accessories, such as the xDock, which would sit permanently on a desk or in a home theater cabinet and includes HDMI input and output, speakers, a pair of USB 2.0 ports, one USB 3.0 port, Ethernet, SATA and several other connectors. The xTop is the portable variant, offering many of the same connectivity options, but on a smaller scale. Finally, there's the xPad, which brings 9.7- or 10.1-inch touchscreen control to the xPC in a tablet form-factor, yet still includes a bevy of connectivity, along with a webcam and battery. There's also an xPhone (think PadFone) concept, that packs all of the xPC's functionality into a device that doubles as a smartphone -- the California-based company didn't have any mock-ups to speak of there, however. ICE expects to ship the xPC and xDock by the end of this year, with the computer module itself ranging in price from $100 to $250 depending on how you opt to configure it. The xPad could ship late this year or sometime in early 2013, with pricing to be announced. For now, the xPhone remains a concept, without any functional prototypes or even a mock-up to speak of. ICE representatives suggested that the company may partner with a smartphone manufacturer to develop that last component, so we have no idea if or when that may come to market. All in all, it's a solid (and, thanks to PadFone, proven) concept -- you can get a closer look in our hands-on after the break.
Gmail app update brings ICS experience to Honeycomb tablets, performance tweaks elsewhere
Fiddling with updates this evening? If so, you may notice your Gmail app begging for a refresh, as Google has revised its famed email program to bring the Ice Cream Sandwich experience to Android 3.2 (Honeycomb) users. Specifically, it'll allow you to swipe to move between newer and older conversations, tap to access Recent labels, set custom notifications for individual labels and sync the last 30 days of messages so you can read and search messages faster both online and offline. As for Android 2.2 and 2.3 users, they'll see a new labels API for third-party app developers as well as nondescript "performance improvements." If you needed any help, the download link is waiting there in the source.
Winter Wake-Up app adjusts your alarms for bad weather
As we settle in for the rest of the long, cold winter, we're just about to hit the time of year where it's most likely you'll hear the two sweetest words in the English language. No, not "cellar door." I'm talking about "snow day." Winter Wake-up is a new app that combines two different usual tasks in a fun way. It's an alarm app that will automatically check the weather for you, and it will wake you up early if there's either snow or frost on the menu for the day. You can set two different settings, put in your zip code, and then get a custom alarm based on what it's doing outside. There's also an option (and here's what you really want) to kill the alarm completely if the weather's really bad outside. Unfortunately, I believe the app just checks the National Weather Service for the conditions, not your actual school or work, so if your boss commonly makes decisions based on something other than the official weather report, you might be out of luck. But I love the idea of combining access to the weather with my alarm, and that delicious feeling that may come about from waking up an hour late and realizing that there wasn't an alarm because you don't have to be up at all that day. That in itself is probably worth the free download, and might make the winter and all its snow and ice that much easier to live with.
Microsoft Kinect used to map asteroids, glaciers, other scary things
Ken Mankoff is a PhD student at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he studies ice and ocean interactions. He also counts himself among a growing legion of environmental scientists who have begun using Microsoft's Kinect to create detailed, 3D maps of caves, glaciers and even asteroids. As Wired reports, the Kinect has garnered something of a cult following within the scientific community, especially among those who, until now, have relied upon comparatively more expensive and complicated technologies to gather detailed 3D data. The approach du jour for most researchers is something known as Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) -- a laser-based technology capable of creating precise maps over relatively large areas. The Kinect, by contrast, can only see up to 16 feet in front of itself, but at just $120, it's significantly cheaper than the average LIDAR system, which can run for anywhere between $10,000 and $200,000. It's also surprisingly accurate, capable of capturing up to 9 million data points per second. Mankoff, for one, has already used the device to map a small cavern underneath a glacier in Norway, while Marco Tedesco, a hydrologist at the City College of New York, is looking to attach a Kinect to a remote-controlled helicopter, in the hopes of measuring so-called meltwater lakes found on glaciers during the summer. Then there's Naor Movshovitz, also a PhD student at UC Santa Cruz, who's more interested in using the Kinect and its image processing software to figure out how asteroids behave when broken up by a projectile. There are limitations, of course, since the device still has trouble performing amidst severe environmental conditions, though its supporters seem confident they'll find a solution. Read more at the source link below.
Federal domain seizure raises new concerns over online censorship
It's been a little more than a year since the US government began seizing domains of music blogs, torrent meta-trackers and sports streaming sites. The copyright infringement investigation, led by US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorities, quickly raised eyebrows among many free speech and civil rights advocates, fueling a handful of legal challenges. Few are more compelling, or frightening than a case involving Dajaz1.com. As TechDirt reports, the popular hip-hop blog has been at the epicenter of a sinuous and seemingly dystopian dispute with the feds -- one that underscores the heightening controversy surrounding federal web regulation, and blurs the constitutional divide between free speech and intellectual property protection. Dajaz1 was initially seized under the 2008 Pro IP Act, on the strength of an affidavit that cited several published songs as evidence of copyright infringement. As it turns out, ,any of these songs were actually provided by their copyright holders themselves, but that didn't stop the government from seizing the URL anyway, and plastering a warning all over its homepage. Typically, this kind of action would be the first phase of a two-step process. Once a property is seized, US law dictates that the government has 60 days to notify its owner, who can then choose to file a request for its return. If the suspect chooses to file this request within a 35-day window, the feds must then undertake a so-called forfeiture process within 90 days. Failure to do so would require the government to return the property to its rightful owner. But that's not exactly how things played out in the case of Dajaz1. For more details on the saga, head past the break.
Google Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0): a hands-on screenshot gallery
Hello there, Ice Cream Sandwich! Google and Samsung just took the wraps off of the former's newest mobile operating system here in Hong Kong, and boy -- she's a beauty. Of course, we've known about ICS for months now, but outside of a few sneak peeks courtesy of Mr. Blurrycam, we didn't know precisely what to expect. Strangely, Motorola's recent introduction of the Droid RAZR only delivered the freshest offering of Gingerbread, but the Galaxy Nexus is oh-ficially the first smartphone in the world to launch with Android 4.0. Our test unit was actually running 4.0.1 for reasons unknown, but as we mentioned in our Galaxy Nexus hands-on, it was as smooth as ever. Without question, this is easily the slickest, most polished version of Android yet, and we invite you to take a tour yourself via the hands-on gallery below. Apologies for the quantity, but we wanted to explore every nook and cranny while we had the chance. %Gallery-136944%
US judge won't return seized URL to Rojadirecta.com, absolutamente no
Welcome to the homepage of popular sports streaming and p2p site Rojadirecta.com. Why all the birdy logos and harsh words about going to prison? Well, it's a convoluted story, which began when a whole bunch of sports sites -- including Rojadirecta -- were summarily seized by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, based on "probable cause to believe" they'd been involved in copyright infringement. Awkwardly, the Spanish owners of this particular site had already been cleared of any wrongdoing by courts in Spain, but this counted for nada because their .com URL was American. So, their one hope was to convince a US judge that the seizure violated the First Amendment and should be overturned. This case won support from freedom of speech activists like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, but on Thursday it finally failed. The presiding judge ruled that no rights had been violated, because Rojadirecta could easily set up shop at a non-US address and continue to function. Bad news indeed for the Spaniards -- maybe they should move to the UK, where due process takes a whole lot longer.
The Daily Grind: What's your favorite winter zone?
OK, how weird is the whole "Christmas in July" thing, anyway? Are people jonesing for sleigh bells and mistletoe so badly they can't wait for a few months? Who thought it would be a smashing idea to make us think of the cold, dark days of winter in the middle of 90-degree weather? So if we're already at the weird point of thinking about snow while our thermometers are melting, we might as well go the whole hog and talk about winter zones in MMOs. I've always been partial to a good snow-and-ice-themed area, whether it be Winterspring in World of Warcraft, Forochel in Lord of the Rings Online or, y'know, Hoth. What's your favorite winter zone in MMOs? Which areas make you want to wrap a warm fur cloak about you as you venture forth into the fluffy powder and pristine icefields? And what makes that zone special for you? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Visualized: the coolest desktop chassis at Computex, literally
Having a gadget encased in ice is always a cool stunt (pun intended), but Fractal took one step further by using blocks of ice cut out of a Swedish river, and then have them shipped all the way to Computex in Taiwan. Apparently that's how Scandinavians roll. As for the actual products, frequent desktop builders may have already heard of Fractal for its silent, minimalistic chassis, which recently made their way to the US market. While we didn't get a chance to check out how quiet the live machines were, the cases' build quality was surprisingly solid for their prices, and we were also impressed by the attention to detail on damping noise wherever possible. Hit the source link below to check out Fractal's Define, Arc, and Core series cases. %Gallery-125139%
ICE Computer shows off Trinity modular tablet concept, aims for Q1 2012 release (video)
First the ASUS Padfone, then the CMIT TransPhone, and now a third phone-docking tablet but with a little extra spice. Our latest contender comes from a Taiwan-based startup dubbed ICE Computer, who has just announced its partnership with ECS over its Trinity concept, a mobile display that lets you dock either a PC module or a smartphone (not necessarily an iPhone, let alone an iPhone 5 as reported by some sites; the dummy's just for show and convenience). From our quick chat with ICE product manager Jaryson Wu, we learned that the company's been working on this project for quite some time, though ike ASUS and CMIT, ICE also lacked a working prototype to show us. So the idea is simple: slide in a PC module or phone of your choice, and you have yourself a fully functioning touchscreen tablet that has an upgradable core -- that's one tick for environmental friendliness, and another tick for potentially more powerful upgrades. But that's not it, as ICE may also throw in USB 3.0 ports, additional internal storage, and even a fan inside the Trinity tablet, but that will depend on the clients' needs. Jaryson indicated that there are no plans to launch products under the startup's own brand, nor is it going to develop its own phone to go with the add-on any time soon -- we'll just have to wait and see what it'll deliver in the first quarter of 2012. Video interview after the break. [Thanks, @Stagueve] %Gallery-124949%
Alter-Ego: Five powers that make Ice nice
Last week we took a look into the Fire powerset in DC Universe Online, one of the two tanking powersets available to heroes and villains who want to spend their time at the front lines of the fight. As noted last week, the Fire powers make tanking a snap by simply soaking damage through the use of self-healing. Ice, by contrast, is all about mitigating damage through armor abilities, which help tanks shrug off smackdowns that would leave other players knocked out and drooling on themselves. While my Ice tank is just shy of DC Universe Online's endgame at the moment, I have spent time running her in groups, reading just about anything I could put my mitts on about tanking powerset suggestions, and fiddling with my own build as I progress. I feel pretty comfortable recommending five great powers to consider for an Icy-tanking hotbar, since I've seen these oft repeated. I find them useful in my everyday play now -- even if I'm not quite up to smacking the biggest baddies around yet. So if you're curious as to what much research (and faceplanting) has unearthed as five of the best Ice tanking powers, then join me behind the break!
Inhabitat's Week in Green: ice castles, cardboard columns, and the Geneva Auto Show
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. This week Inhabitat showcased several jaw-dropping feats of architecture, starting with a series of amazingly complex computer-designed cardboard columns that boast between 8 and 16 million facets. We were also struck by a stunning new net-zero Solar Academy in Germany, and we showcased a Swiss chalet that is the world's first apartment building to be heated entirely by solar thermal energy. On the cooler end of the climate spectrum, a Minnesota man has created a series of soaring ice castles using water from his geothermal heating system. The Geneva Auto Show also kicked off with a bang this week as Koenigsegg unveiled its supercharged Agera R racer and SAAB rose from the ashes with a futuristic PhoeniX hybrid. We also heard big news from some of the world's most luxurious automakers as Bentley rolled out a biofuel-powered supercar that can go 200 MPH on ice and Rolls-Royce unveiled their all-electric 102 EX Phantom. Two-wheeled transportation also took a leap forward as Daymak unveiled the world's first wireless electric eBike and Los Angeles approved plans for 1,690 miles of bikeways. We also kept on the cutting edge of consumer tech with a look at the green credentials of Apple's iPad 2, and we brought you researchers' plans for a hot new breed of batteries made from "frozen smoke". Finally, we learned from a recent study that cellphone signals actually boost brain activity, and we shared a fresh new line of iPod nano watch straps just in time for spring.
Exclusive screenshots of EverQuest II: Destiny of Velious revealed
If you mention the word Velious to most fans of the original EverQuest, you'll instantly see their eyes light up. The original Velious expansion was a revolution for EverQuest back in 2000, so it's no surprise that EverQuest II fans are getting excited about the upcoming Destiny of Velious expansion. Sony Online Entertainment has big shoes to fill with this update, which is due to launch later this month on February 22nd. Information on the Velious content has been sparse recently, with only a few lore reveals and a trailer released in the past few months. Today, SOE has released several screenshots of new zones in the expansion, exclusive to Massively. To put the new EQ2 screenshots into their proper contexts, SOE has provided the following lore: "This glacial tundra bears the scars of centuries of conflict and strife. Here, adventurers can find the haunted remnants of the series of battles known as the Ring War, which was fought between the dwarven race known as the Coldain, and their ancient enemy, the Kromrif. On the southern tip lies the remains of a crumbling fortress, now occupied by the savage snow orcs known as the Ry'Gorr. To the west lies the Storm Gorge, a massive valley carved from the land during the continent-cracking event known as the Upheaval. There, the noble coldain stand against the might of the fearsome and militaristic legion known as the Order of Rime, and fight to protect their beloved city of Thurgadin." %Gallery-116188%
The Plaza Hotel providing iPads for all guests
The Plaza Hotel in New York City is now providing all guests with iPads both in their rooms and in The Palm Court dining room, according to a report from Luxist. Started in January 2011, the program gives guests complete access to guest services like room service along with the ability to control room functions, such as lighting and AC, using Intelity's ICE (Interactive Customer Experience) software. In talking to Luxist, the hotel's general manager Shane Krige explained "[The Plaza] chose the iPad because it is a great piece of equipment that is here to stay and won't disappear tomorrow. It brings another five star element to the hotel." We previously reported on the popularity of iPads being implemented in restaurants, with owners of one steakhouse even crediting the iPad with playing a role in increasing their wine sales. I myself recently dined in a restaurant that brought an iPad to the table at the end of the meal with a survey installed on it. With political campaigns promising iPads, corporations giving them out as bonuses and even universities providing iPads to students, it was only a matter of time before the hotel industry dipped its toes into the world of the iPad. The Plaza Hotel claims to be the first in the world offering this type of service; I wonder who will be next? Click Read More to check out video of the iPad in use at The Plaza Hotel. iOS users can watch the video on Vimeo here.
Visualized: world's largest neutrino observatory rivals Guatemala sinkhole
Without question, one of the images from 2010 will be the insane, almost incomprehensible sinkhole that emerged in Guatemala earlier this year, but this particular shot from the South Pole does an outstanding job of vying for equal attention. Coming directly from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, this is a look into the planet's largest neutrino observatory, which was just completed after half a decade of work with $279 million. The goal? To detect "subatomic particles traveling near the speed of light," and when you have an ice-bound telescope that encompasses a cubic kilometer of Antarctic ice, well... you've high hopes for success. Will this pipe into the underworld finally lead us to understanding Dark Matter? Will century-old mysteries of the universe finally have answers? Even if not, we're envisioning a heck of an entry fee when it's converted into the world's longest firehouse pole and marketed to affluent tourists who make the trip down.
US government seizes domain names, claims to have a warrant
We're all for bashing botnets, but the US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) may have crossed a line -- in the midst of nabbing counterfeiters this weekend, the government organization seized the domains of a torrent meta-tracker and a trio of music sites. Today, the picture above is the only thing you'll see if you go to Torrent-Finder.com, RapGodFathers.com, Dajaz1.com or OnSmash.com, as the ICANN domain registration for the four are now in the ICE's possession, presumably on suspicion of piracy. If you ask the original domain owners however, they'll vehemently refute such allegations -- the torrent site reportedly didn't even distribute torrents themselves, merely cross-referenced other sites that do, and a RapGodFathers representative told TorrentFreak that it had complied with all DMCA takedown notifications. Apparently the websites and servers themselves are still intact, and it's only the URLs at stake, as two of the four websites are already up and running at domains ending in .info. We have to admit, this particular brand of domain squatting could be an intriguing business model. Expect "seized domains" to be tacked onto the laundry list of "Valuable Items You Too Can Buy at Government Auction!" any day now. [Thanks, Brian]
Nokia research lab builds touchscreen made of ice
Chances are this is one research project that won't find its way into a phone, but Nokia's research lab in Tampere, Finland has come up with a rather unique new type of touchscreen display: one made of ice. Of course, there are a few other components involved -- namely, a projector and an array of near-infrared cameras that are connected to a PC -- but it is technically a multitouch display made of ice, and that's got to count for something. For Nokia's part, it says that while the project is a "playful experiment," it does show that "interactive computing interfaces can now be built anywhere." Head on past the break to check it out in action.
Beijing melting snow to solve global warming-related water shortage, likely contributing to global warming
Like water? Sure, we all do, but folks in and around northern China have been suffering from a shortage of late. The blame has been assigned to both global warming-related drought and a population boom, but officials in and around Beijing have a somewhat novel solution: snow melters. Two vehicles with heaters capable of melting 3,500 cubic feet of snow per hour have been deployed ahead of the coming wintery mix. Just how much snow does Beijing get? Well, last January the city had its worst storm in almost 60 years, netting an average of -- wait for it -- 11mm of snow. Yeah, that's less than half an inch, and not nearly enough around these parts for the kids to even bother to check the school delays.
