Canon Powershot G1 X CMOS Sensor Mirrorless Compact System Camera

The Canon G1 X all the latest high-end compact cameras, our best list is in terms of image quality in your pocket. The measured resolution of 14.2-megapixel sensor at a maximum of 1474 line pairs per picture height at a very high level. Even higher ISO values has seem to cause no problems for the large sensor. Up to and including ISO 1600, photographers have to worry about image noise.

Externally, the PowerShot G1 X is very similar to its sister model PowerShot G12. Also, the operation has many parallels. Instead of the usual 1/1 0.7-inch compact camera sensor in the G1 X is, however, a new CMOS image sensor used. At 18.7 x 14 millimeters is in this sensor significantly more space available than traditional compact-chip even be a little larger than the Micro Four Thirds sensors mirrorless system cameras.

The PowerShot  G1 X due to the large sensor is part of system cameras. However, since the lens is permanently installed, the G1 X is by definition a compact camera. An optical viewfinder is indeed on board, but its proportions are just as small as with the G12. What is new is the video record button for movies in Full-HD quality.

So it seems Canon simply not be possible to shorten the shutter lag-the G1 X is not appropriate for snapshots. And the battery life falls rather thin from 100 to 400 frames.

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Microsoft’s Surface tablets should have been ‘Nexus’ devices

Microsoft’s Surface tablets should have been ‘Nexus’ devices

Microsoft execs have made no secret of their frustration over the years with its hardware OEMs. Every time a Windows PC lost out to a Mac in an ad campaign or review, they cringed and cursed their reliance on hardware partners to showcase what they believed was possible with Windows. Getting left in the dust in the red-hot tablet segment by the iPad seems to have been the last straw for Ballmer and crew when it came to relying on others to showcase Windows. Envious of Apple’s ability to control its ecosystem, and anxious to show off the touch and power-friendly capabilities of Windows 8, Microsoft launched its own line of tablets — the Surface RT and Surface Pro.

It is hard to blame Microsoft for wanting to show off its new OS in the best light, and easy to sympathize with it for not getting the mind share it wanted from Android-centric OEM tablet partners when it pitched Windows 8 as an alternative. However, instead of giving Microsoft bragging rights, the Surface tablets have given it a black eye in the marketplace by becoming a business disaster.

Microsoft promoted Surface with splashy direct-to-consumer ads like this electronic billboard over Times Square

In addition to whatever amount Microsoft spent on developing and creating the Surface models, it has already written down $900 million in Surface RT inventory — more than the $853 million in revenue it has earned on its entire Surface product line so far. Just this morning, Microsoft cut the price of Surface Pro, too, by $100. Those abysmal results come after nearly $1 billion in ad spending onWindows 8 and Surface. While some road warriors love their Surface tablets as a practical way to get Office on the go, many who use the tablets have been stymied by the odd mix of Desktop and Metro UI — feeling they spent a lot of money for an unfinished product.

Ballmer told Build conference attendees that Windows 8.1 will address most of Windows 8′s foibles, but the RT Preview version does little to convince anyone. For the full x86 version, found on the Surface Pro, the prognosis is better, but it is no panacea. For the sake of all Windows users I hope he is right, but nothing in Windows 8.1 seems to fix the major issue of working with two different interfaces on a single device.

The worst part is that this disaster could have been avoided if Microsoft had simply taken an honest stock of its strengths and weaknesses and not tried to pretend it could suddenly become Apple. If the Surface tablets had been pitched the way Google promotes its Nexus devices — as a pure experience for purist users, a way to drink the Kool-Aid before it’s watered down — then Microsoft would’ve developed a small, vocal fan base that in time could be used to help promote future versions.

Instead, Microsoft went full bore into iPad-killing mode, with incredibly glitzy TV commercials aimed at mainstream users. No doubt the Type Cover keyboard is one of the coolest accessories I’ve used in a long time, but it isn’t going to make someone happy they spent $1000 on a heavy tablet unless it delivered the goods across the board.

Unfortunately, as the market has demonstrated, neither Surface product has mass market appeal — at least not yet. The Pro has limited battery life, is heavy, and at $1000 is caught competing with Microsoft’s own ultrabook OEM partners. Plus, users have to struggle with dual interfaces to take advantage of the full Windows version on the device. The RT has the opposite problem — a dearth of quality Windows 8 Metro applications — making it great for anyone who lives in Office — at least now that Microsoft is upgrading the bundled email client — but an unlikely choice for anyone else.

Microsoft wasn’t shy at the Surface announcement about sticking its finger in the eye of its partners by crowing that it would make some of the best Windows hardware out there. In many ways it did, as the Surface Pro is a very impressive machine. However, all it accomplished was further antagonizing those same partners, tipping its hand that it isn’t all that loyal to them after all, and getting crushed in its first attempt to go head to head with Apple in the hardware space.

Now the Surface brand is badly damaged, and the expected new models will be greeted with heavy skepticism by both developers and consumers. For example, this year’s RT is likely to have a much faster processor, but Microsoft will have to convince buyers burned by the sluggish performance of the first version to give it a second chance. Microsoft, its partners, and its customers would have been better served if Microsoft had taken a low-key approach with Surface, pitching it as a platform for developers and purists. It could have been a role model for its volume OEMs, as well as a proof of concept for future products.

Samsung produces first 3D NAND, aims to boost densities, drive lower cost per GB

Samsung produces first 3D NAND, aims to boost densities, drive lower cost per GB

Samsung has announced the mass production of the first 3D NAND chips — and with them, the beginning of a manufacturing initiative that will push solid-state cost-per-GB ever closer to magnetic storage territory. It’s been over a year since we first previewed the advances from capital equipment manufacturers like Applied Materials. Samsung’s new V-NAND (vertical NAND) flips a conventional 2D cell structure up on edge. A skyscraper analogy is actually in order — imagine that a conventional NAND chip is a single-story rectangular building. Stand it on edge, and you’ve got the same amount of storage taking up much less ground space.

The trick to building vertical NAND is that you’ve got to build each section of every floor perfectly, from the top down. The density and performance increases are fabulous if you can do it, but the difficulty is much higher. We first previewed the technology a little over a year ago, so Samsung’s ability to roll out a product in 2013 is actually right on schedule. Samsung’s secret is an extension of the CTF (charge flash trap) technology first commercially developed by AMD and Fujitsu and deployed in 2002. CTF designs trap an electrical charge in between two insulating layers, whereas floating gate NAND stores a charge in a conductive floating gate. Samsung has prototyped CTF NAND in the past and discussed deploying the tech in vertical NAND before, so today’s announcement means the Korean chaebol has worked out the kinks of the new arrangement.

Driving density

These shifts should improve NAND endurance and help offset some of the scaling problems associated with smaller process geometries. The problem conventional NAND faces today is that as geometries get smaller, the gap between cells shrinks. Writing to NAND flash requires a high input voltage and damages the cell every time a write occurs. Over time, this damage results in a cell that can no longer hold data for any length of time. Similarly, making the cell geometries smaller increases leakage. Current NAND flash drives claim that they’ll hold data for up to 12 months, while a conventional hard drive can hold data indefinitely. Below 19nm, both the data retention and program/erase cycle issue (P/E) become worse.

Moving to vertical NAND, in other words, helps density. Moving to CTF technology instead of floating gate should improve data retention time and endurance. Samsung is claiming a reliability increase of between 2 and 10x — the size of this range likely reflects the density of the NAND (SLC, MLC, or TLC). Currently, Samsung is offering a 128-gigabit V-NAND chip (16GB), which is on par with conventional planar NAND. Over time, the density gap between conventional planar and vertical NAND will increase.

The shift to V-NAND could help enterprise adoption of flash in another way. To date, the adoption of SLC NAND has been stymied by density issues. While it offers by far the best performance and endurance of any NAND, SLC only stores one bit per cell compared to two and three bits for MLC and TLC. Tilting the NAND on edge allows for more NAND in a given area, period, and could therefore help reduce SLC costs substantially. (See: Researchers use ultrasound to improve SSD storage density.)

Over the next few years, vertical NAND will be the first in a series of density-boosting enhancements that help push solid state storage prices down towards HDD levels. The gap between the two isn’t expected to close entirely, but the advent of TLC and vertical NAND together should allow for drives that push down to 40-50 cents per GB.

The future: Upgradeable smartphones

The future: Upgradeable smartphones

The consumer electronics market is converging. Where you once had a work computer, a home computer, a game console, a TV, a DVD player, and a mobile phone, in 2013 it is not unusual to simply have a laptop and a smartphone, or perhaps a smartphone and a tablet. This has led many people to believe, including me, that the PC will eventually die out, replaced by smartphones that are infinitely more portable and flexible.

One argument against the supersession of smartphones, however, is the small matter of desktop PCs having more processing power due to a larger power envelope (TDP) and better heat dissipation. There will come a time, though, probably in the next few years, when processors are so small and energy efficient that smartphones will have enough processing power to meet the needs of all but the most discerning consumers.

An even stronger argument against the rise of smartphones is their lack of customization and upgradeability. As it stands, smartphones (and tablets) are designed, marketed, and sold as consumable devices. You buy a smartphone, chew through its storage and battery for a couple of years, and then throw it away when your two-year contract comes up for renewal. Carriers love this, of course, because it keeps you locked into an incredibly lucrative contract. As far as manufacturers are concerned, the two-year upgrade cycle represents the most orgiastic piñata whacking ever devised — just look at Apple’s record profits, which stem almost entirely from monumentally massive iPhone sales. Do any of your other gadgets get upgraded every two years? Maybe your laptop, if you’re rich, but otherwise the consumer electronics upgrade cycle is usually nearer four or five years.

If smartphones were upgradeable, there would be significantly less reason to buy a new one every couple of years. If you could simply slide in a new processor, RAM, and battery, your smartphone’s useful life could be extended almost indefinitely — just like a PC. Likewise, if carriers and manufacturers didn’t leave older devices to languish with old versions of iOS, Android, and Windows Phone, then consumers would have very little reason to upgrade. In both cases, though, the consumer would end up buying less phones — and so it isn’t really surprising that neither the manufacturers or carriers are attempting to improve either the hardware or software situation.

Adding a CPU socket significantly increases the size and complexity of a device. [Image credit: CPU World]

The other problem with upgradeable hardware, of course, is that it’s hard to create a device that is small, powerful, efficient, and upgradeable. There are certain trade-offs intrinsic to the minimization of computer hardware, and losing the ability to replace individual components is one of them. Even desktop PCs are not immune to this axiom of computing; in the olden days, almost any chip could be unplugged from a circuit board; today, almost everything is soldered except for the CPU, RAM, and graphics card. (Do you remember when graphics cards had sockets for more expandable RAM?) Laptops used to have replaceable CPUs and RAM, but that’s slowly becoming a thing of the past as they miniaturize, too. Smartphones sometimes have a replaceable battery and micro SD card, but many have no replaceable parts at all.

The iPhone 5′s main logic board crams an entire computer into roughly the same volume as the socket shown above. [Image credit: iFixit]

The simple matter of the fact is that it takes extra space to make something upgradeable. While there’s enough space in your desktop PC to provide a CPU socket and clamp, it just isn’t feasible in an ultra-thin laptop or smartphone. Even with the shift to smaller socket types, such as LGA, you’re still talking about an additional 5mm or more — and that’s before you add any kind of cooling solution, which will probably be fiddly to remove/replace in its own right. RAM and flash storage, while only a couple of millimeters high when surface-mounted on your smartphone’s logic board (pictured above), expand to maybe two or three times their original volume when they’re attached to their own removable PCB and slotted into some kind of socket. Replaceable mobile graphics cards do exist (and are used in some laptops), but again they’re a lot bigger than integrated GPUs; there isn’t really enough space in modern smartphones for a separate CPU and GPU.

LG G2 announced: 5.2-inch 1080p, first commercial Snapdragon 800 phone (updated live blog)

LG G2 announced: 5.2-inch 1080p, first commercial Snapdragon 800 phone (updated live blog)

LG has announced its new flagship phone, the LG G2, running the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 ARM chip. It continues the tradition of big phones and big numbers. However, LG has changed up some of the traditional smartphone design conventions with a rear-facing button that serves multiple functions. In fact, that’s the only button on the phone. LG is taking a few risks with the G2.

This is the first commercially available Snapdragon 800 phone. The chip is quad-core, and clocked at a staggering 2.26GHz with an Adreno 330 GPU.  The rest of the raw specs are impressive as well including 2GB of RAM, a 5.2-inch 1080p IPS LCD, and an optically stabilized 13 MP camera. The company was keen to point out other 13MP sensors, like the one used by Samsung in the Galaxy S4, don’t use true optical image stabilization.

The screen is of interest here not only because it is 1080p, but it utilizes a dual connection touch sensor that allowed LG to make the bezel super-thin. It really is kind of amazing to see. The side bezels are only 0.1-inches wide. If there has ever been a phone that actually lives up to the term “edge-to-edge display” this is it. LG says this makes the phone easier to hold because it’s narrower in relation to the screen size. It’s likely LG is using the advanced thin display it showed off last month.

That rear button serves multiple functions including changing the volume, or launching the note taking app or camera with a long-press. The center nub is the power and sleep/wake button. LG claims this location — right below the camera — is where most users place their index fingers, so this keeps the phone more stable and less likely to be dropped. The sides of the phone are really just for gripping the handset.

The phone is only 8.9mm thick, but the combination of the thin LCD panel and new high-density battery tech allowed LG to fit a big battery in the G2. This device will ship with a non-removable 3,000mAh li-ion cell, which is almost as much juice as the monstrously huge Samsung Galaxy Note II. All day battery life is something LG promoted heavily in the teaser, and this phone seems capable of it.

There are two bottom-firing speakers with 24-bit audio support. The sound processing in this device may very well be the best on the market, but it’s not clear how good the speakers themselves will sound in real life. HTC’s BoomSound speakers are really something and will be hard to top.

The LG G2 is running Android 4.2.2, but that wasn’t the focus of the event. In fact, the version number wasn’t mentioned at all. This device has a number of software features you don’t get on other Android devices. LG borrows a little from iOS with a multi-touch three-finger swipe gesture (it’s four on iOS) to slide through open apps. LG calls this Slide Aside. The phone can also be woken up with a double-tap on the screen. Useful, but strange considering the fuss LG made about how easy to use the rear-facing button is. The phone also automatically connects an incoming call if you hoist it to your head.

LG has chosen to include a guest mode in the G2, which is nice considering Google is keeping the stock multi-user mode restricted to tablets. On the G2, you’ll be able to restrict access to personal information while still allowing someone to borrow the handset.

The LG G2 will be available on all four national US carriers, and as an unlocked international device. Interestingly, the Verizon version of the phone seems to have been physically tweaked, and I think for the worse. The rear button assembly looks huge, and the phone looks a bit more boxy overall. Pricing and exact release dates aren’t available, but several carriers have sign-up pages for interested parties to get email updates.

New Kindle Fire HD vs. Nexus 7: Who will win the 2013 mini tablet war?

New Kindle Fire HD vs. Nexus 7: Who will win the 2013 mini tablet war?

It’s now been almost a year since the Kindle Fire HD was released, and as surely as fall follows summer, Amazon is preparing to launch an updated line of tablets to compete against the rejuvenated Nexus 7 and the (assumed) iPad Mini with Retina display. According to “trusted sources,” Amazon will be releasing new versions of the 7- and 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD and the entry-level Kindle Fire in September — and, if the trusted source is to be believed, the Kindle Fire HDs will come with very impressive hardware specs indeed.

With the new Nexus 7 already released, and receiving generally excellent reviews, how will the new Kindle Fire HD stack up?

Kindle Fire HD 2

According to a source who spoke to BGR, both the 7- and 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD tablets, and the entry-level Kindle Fire, will receive significant overhauls in terms of appearance, hardware, and software.

The existing Kindle Fire HD 7. This rounded edge will apparently become more ‘chiseled.’

All three tablets will lose their rounded edges and bezels and take on a more “chiseled” appearance, apparently making them more comfortable. The new tablets will be lighter, too, though we don’t have any exact figures.

On the hardware front, the 7-inch Fire HD will have a 1920×1200 display, 2GB of RAM, and a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoC (clocked at around 2GHz, apparently). There’s a front-facing camera (but no rear-facing camera), WiFi (probably up to 802.11n), and various storage (16/32/64GB) and cellular options.

The 8.9-inch Fire HD will have a 2560×1600 display and a rear-facing camera, but otherwise the specs appear to be identical.

Software-wise, both tablets are apparently running Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean internally, with Amazon’s usual customizations. Android 4.3 is still almost brand new, so we’ll almost certainly get Android 4.2.2 or 4.2.3 when the Fire HD tablets launch sometime in September.

Price-wise, Amazon will be trying to match its current line-up ($200 for the 16GB 7-inch model, $270 for the 8.9-inch). With Google’s Nexus 7 price bump from $200 to $230, we wouldn’t be surprised if Amazon follows suit — or, on the other hand, Amazon could well try to push the advantage.

Kindle Fire 3

The Kindle Fire 3 will receive its own set of hardware and software upgrades. The display will make the jump to 1280×800 (up from 1024×600), and it will inherit the SoC that’s used in the current-gen Kindle Fire HD 8.9 (OMAP 4470, SGX544 graphics). RAM will stay at 1GB; and probably so will the price, at $160.

These might sound like fairly small upgrades, but it’s still almost a doubling in pixel density and CPU/GPU performance. It won’t match up to the Nexus 7 or iPad Mini, but at $160 it isn’t meant to compete — it’s meant to pick up all of those consumers who want to get in on the tablet thing while spending as little money as possible. (Considering the Kindle Fire is still Amazon’s best-selling product, it would seem there are a lot of people like this.)

Kindle Fire HD vs. Nexus 7

Just like last year, the big question is, should you buy the Nexus 7 or the Kindle Fire HD? And, just like last year, it’s a toss-up. If these specs turn out to be real, then the 7-inch Kindle Fire HD and Nexus 7 will have almost identical hardware specs, with the only real differentiator being the rear-facing camera and the software. If Amazon keeps the 7-inch HD at $200, then that would make a huge difference, too. Really, there isn’t a whole lot in it, unless you feel very strongly about the software (Amazon’s version of Android is really quite different from the stock experience, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing).

The 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD, of course, won’t have much in the way of competition (except from the iPad Mini, I suppose, but that will be in a different price bracket) — and the Kindle Fire, at $160, will continue to mop up the remainders. I wonder where in this price range the Surface Mini will debut, too.

If all goes to plan, the new Kindle Fires should be announced sometime in September, and released soon after. Amazon has a tendency to release one or two new products each year, too, so we wouldn’t be shocked if CEO Jeff Bezos also has a surprise product announcement up his sleeve. An Android-based game console or set-top box, perhaps?

North Korea’s first smartphone and $200 tablet run Android, are shrouded in mystery

North Korea’s first smartphone and $200 tablet run Android, are shrouded in mystery

North Korea is a land of mystery, the details of which only a select few non-North Koreans like Dennis Rodman are familiar with. The nation infamously doesn’t have normal internet access, but its citizens do have access to a nationwide intranet. Now, it appears the supreme leader has graced his disciples with a domestic smartphone and tablet, generous though he is.

It’s important to note that the smartphone and tablet are from North Korea, which means it’s a good guess if they’re what they appear to be — or even if they’re tangible, real things.

The tablet, known as the Samijyon, was reportedly purchased by a tourist for $200. It is made in North Korea, and runs Android. North Korea Tech was in contact with the tourist, who preferred to remain relatively anonymous, and gleaned a wealth of info. The Samijyon was purchased from a gift shop, and the tourist didn’t have an issue taking it out of the country. The tourist said it is almost as responsive as the world’s most prevalent tablets, creating barely any lag at all. According to the retail box, the tablet sports a 1.2GHz CPU, 1GB DDR3 of RAM, a 7-inch 1024×768 display, and either 8GB or 16GB of internal storage, though there is an SD card slot. The camera is 2 megapixels, the tablet runs Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich, has a headphone jack and speaker, and weighs in at around 250 grams.

The tablet also features an analog TV tuner, with an antenna which expands out of the back like pulling a stylus out of a Nintendo DS but only gets five channels, all of which are North Korean; you cannot manually tune anything.

The Samijyon has Korean-language versions of Android apps, such as (a likely pirated) Angry Birds Rio, but doesn’t have any Google apps. Even though Google apps — like Gmail and YouTube — are free, hardware makers need to sign an agreement with Google in order to include them. This likely means that North Korea wasn’t thrilled about signing anything with Google, or that the tablet maker realized that Google’s apps don’t do much of anything without internet access, so there isn’t a reason to sign something. The tablet has a web browser, but the tablet doesn’t appear to have WiFi capabilities, so the web browser simply connects to the nationwide intranet. The Samijyong also comes with educational apps, such as a language-learning program.

North Korea claimed that this netbook was made domestically; in actual fact, it was just a re-badged Chinese device.

There aren’t as many details on the smartphone – a wily tourist didn’t purchase one and bring it across the world for video analysis. The details come from the Korean Central News Agency, which covered Kim Jong-un visiting the factory. Like the tablet, the phone — known as the Arirang — runs Android. The photos of the overlord’s visit don’t depict any kind of manufacturing, but rather shows employees inspecting finished phones. This likely means that the Arirang is made elsewhere and shipped to the factory, where it is then inspected and modified before release. All we really have on the phone is the above image of its front and back, and few other pictures of Kim Jong-un looking at things to add to the legend.

If the tablet really does have the quality the tourist reports, then there isn’t a reason to think the phone doesn’t share in that same level of quality — especially if a the phone is indeed produced by an experienced manufacturer in China or Taiwan, rather than domestically. Despite some shadiness (such as where the phone is produced), if North Korea really does have tablets and smartphones comparable to the ones we have, it certainly shows the country has taken a step forward getting with modern times.

Who’s Winning ‘Mobile Wars’

As mobile devices – smartphones and tablets – grow roots ever deeper into our personal and professional lives, publishers may feel forced to choose sides in the various wars and battles raging among Apple and Samsung, iOS and Android, and various other players and platforms.

But a leading developer of mobile apps and related technology solutions for publishers sees a way to make peace with the many mobile wars. The trick, says Amphetamobile founder and CEO SiNae Pitts, is to pick your battles.

“There are many mobile wars,” Pitts explains for CCC’s Chris Kenneally. “There had been a lot of talk in the early days of whether publishers should develop native applications or should they be making mobile websites? And we’ve always taken the position that it’s never an either or – it always depends on the use case. With mobile-friendly websites, certainly there is a use case for creating a landing page and presenting information.” On the other hand, she adds, “native apps give a richer experience and enable people to take that content that you’re presenting and make it deeper into their workflow.

Ahead of the 35th  SSP annual meeting in San Francisco, opening on Wednesday, Pitts noted that for many medical and research publishers Apple has won the platform contest – for now.

In that publishing niche, Pitts says, “iOS continues to dominate in terms of the devices installed, and the devices that people use, in hospitals or in the research setting.  So the approach is to lead with an iOS app to make the best experience for the majority of the users.  And given sufficient interest, depending on their population, to then build an Android app.”

Where is this “Cloud”?

I’ve met people that take “data cloud” a little too literal. They believe that information in the cloud lives in a kind of vaporous, ethereal state. This usually comes up in data security discussions, e.g. since everything is hanging around in a big cloud, it is less secure than it being in a terrestrial environment.

This comment might inspire some of the biggest eye-rolls in history, but it’s actually worth saying: data in the cloud isn’t stored in that radio wave ether your Smartphone connects to. The truth is: the cloud you know and love is stored in a nondescript building (a.k.a. data centers) with killer air conditioning systems and rows upon rows of servers, which, simply put, is a big computer shared by many people. It’s a fundamental idea to the internet itself; even before the cloud became “the next big thing”, anything you looked at on the internet was stored in “the cloud.” It might not be the consumer-branded cloud, but many of the basic principles are/were the same.

While it may not be as cool as all of the world’s information just floating around in space, data centers nowadays are impressive. It’s a quick growing industry, employing a small army of workers and consuming more resources than you’d expect. Data centers are also often kept secret. Last fall, Wired dubbed Google’s network of centers, “information palaces,”  of which there are around 12, located in some of the more average-sounding mid-size towns in America: Council Bluffs, Iowa; Lenoir, North Carolina. And then onward across the world. In 2011, The New York Times reported that Google’s centers consume enough electricity to power 200,000 homes or about a quarter the capacity of a nuclear power plant.

Google is, obviously, an extreme case but, across the world, data centers are a growing and vital industry. You might remember Gawker and some other big-time websites going down during Hurricane Sandy–that was due to a data center power outage. Fortunately, when you store information in the cloud, you don’t have to worry. Most cloud-storage outfits, Norton included, duplicate your data in several different locations. So, if one data center goes down, the cloud’s contents are still safe. Whereas, if your unbacked-up hard-drive goes down, you won’t be so lucky.

2014 Ford Fusion hybrid review: Best midsize hybrid in a crowded field

2014 Ford Fusion hybrid review: Best midsize hybrid in a crowded field

The Ford Fusion Hybrid nicely balances fuel economy, passenger comfort, and big car technology in a midsize sedan with few compromises. The lithium-ion batteries don’t steal much trunk space and fuel economy is 40 mpg or better. Few midsize cars — hybrid or not — offer lane departure warning, blind spot detection, adaptive cruise control, and automated parallel parking. Ford Sync will be a challenge initially but can be mastered if you do one important thing: read the manual.

The Ford Fusion Hybrid’s overall excellence earns our ExtremeTech Editors’ Choice award, for the car category of midsize hybrids (one size bigger than the Toyota Prius). Feel free to disagree in the comments section. In response to comments not yet posted: Yes, we know you won’t get the 47-47-47 mpg EPA claimed by Ford but 41 mpg isn’t bad … yes the list price is higher than the competition but dealer prices are competitive … and you really can make Sync work.

Democratizing technology with affordable options

Ford has the industry’s widest array of affordable driver assist technology. Cool tech doesn’t do most people much good when it’s on a $50,000 car. The most impressive Ford Fusion tech is adaptive cruise control (ACC) that has been $2000-$2500 on high-end cars. On the Fusion and other Fords, ACC runs $1000. Set the maximum speed as with traditional cruise control, and then adaptive cruise control paces the car in front, slowing and accelerating as needed. To make it affordable, Ford’s ACC only works above 20 mph where stop-and-go adaptive cruise control (also: full-range ACC) goes down to a full stop and then back up to speed.

Do you need ACC? No. Does it help on long trips? Absolutely, especially in heavy traffic and late in the day when your attention isn’t 100%. If you can’t stand the car driving for you, ACC doesn’t cost you anything if you take a pass, and still it’s available for other buyers. Live and let live. ACC is rare on compact and midsize cars.

The optical ACC system on the Subaru Forester, called EyeSight, has the potential to drive the cost down to $500 and the same device can do pedestrian detection and lane departure warning. (The best-car-you’ll ever-drive, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, uses both optical and radar sensors for adaptive cruise, pedestrian detection, city safety braking, and knocking down low-flying drones.) The smaller Toyota Prius offers ACC in part because some buyers had the ability and desire to spend well into the thirties on a small car that suited their lifestyles.

The Fusion also offers lane departure warning (LDW) and blind spot detection (BSD). Ford calls it Blind Spot Information System, as in ignorance is BLIS for drivers who don’t turn their heads to check traffic behind and to the sides. The same sensors used for BLIS also provide rear cross-traffic alerts (CTA) that warn of traffic coming from the side as you back out of a parking spot.

Ford’s last cool tech offering is active parking assist. Drive slowly along a street and the car finds open spaces. You do the simple stuff — put the car in reverse, apply throttle and brakes — while the car does the tough part of steering into the space.

Hybrid engine with few compromises for a sedan

“Where’d my trunk space go?” That’s the question a new hybrid sedan owner asks when seeing the big battery pack up against the rear seatback, stealing as much half the available space. By switching to lithium-ion batteries, there’s less trunk space lost (four cubic feet out of 16) and the rear seats fold flat, allowing a pass-through so you can take the 55-inch flat panel TV home with you instead of paying for delivery. What’s left is still awkwardly shaped, which is typical in all hybrids except SUVs that raise the entire load floor an inch or two.

Most hybrid buyers are looking for high mpg first, performance second. No surprise. For its second-generation Fusion Hybrid, Ford tweaked the drivetrain with a new Atkinson-cycle engine that extracts more power from gasoline and used a new constantly variable transmission (CVT). Engine and electric motor generate 188 hp combined, powering the front wheels.

Sony A 3000 A compact camera with an SLR feel

Sony A3000 and lens. Image: adorama.com

You will be confused if you see the picture of Sony A3000. Maybe you think this camera is a digital SLR camera. 

Sony A3000 is a mirrorless camera, but the camera is in plain view is a mix between a DSLR with a mirrorless. Sony’s taking a different approach to the interchangeable lens with the A3000 that uses the same E-mount as the Sony NEX line, yet which has the look and feel of a traditional Digital SLR camera.

A compact camera with an SLR feel

Using larger, more professional digital camera can sometimes be awkward to manage and can weigh you down, however Sony A3000 offer a lightweight body and newly developed grip that enables you to hold the camera more securely for worry-free shooting. It provides ease and comfort when you're taking photos on-the-go.

Sony is described as a camera interchangeable lens camera in the entry-level class that combines mirrorless camera with DSLR camera capabilities. Since Sony launched its first mirrorless cameras Remember the Alpha NEX-3 and NEX-5, back in early 2010, its E-mount has gone on to become extremely popular. With the 20-megapixel Sony A3000, the company has offered a camera that looks more like a traditional SLR, yet which offers the Sony E lens mount of a NEX mirrorless camera. In the body of A3000 there is a handgrip, built-in viewfinder and layout as you find on a DSLR camera.

Sony A3000 equipped with a 20MP APS-C sensor that can record full-HD video, but with features that are tailored for the novice user, so this camera is very convenient and easy to use by anyone, especially by new fans of photography.

 

Sony A3000 a new combination camera.  Image: tech.onliner.by

Series of photo filters to the appeal of this camera includes motion-panorama mode, a built-in flash and AF LiveView system. Sony A3000 also offers a manual mode, aperture, and shutter-priority exposure-bracketing. With manual mode you can act as a professional photographer, then you can use manual mode to make images with sharp image.

Full HD Movie

Not only does the A3000 take high resolution, magazine worthy photos, but it can also capture fantastic HD movies in your choice of standard 60i or cinematic 24p, all Full HD 1920x1080 resolution. The AVCHD^™  codec deliver stunning Blu-Ray ™ HD picture quality. This camera also provide MP4 codec which offer smaller file size for easier upload to the web for sharing. You can create video clip or your own movie with ease.

Sony A3000 full specifications:

·         20.1MP Exmor APS-C HD CMOS sensor

·         Compatible with Sony E-mount lenses and A-mount with optional adaptor

·         1080 60i video

·         Built-in stereo microphones

·         Optical Steady Shot stabilization

·         25-point Contrast-detect AF

·         3-inch, 230K LCD

·         ISO 100-16,000 for stills, 100-3200 for video

·         1/4000 to 30 second shutter speeds, bulb

·         Sweep panorama

·         Shooting tips, Intelligent Auto, other novice modes

·         HDMI out

Are you interested to have this camera? Sony A3000 sold for about $ 400 with 18-55mm kit lens. Sony A3000 can be purchased at the beginning of September 2013. Are you ready to try this unique camera?

iPhone fingerprint scanner and randomized keypad would greatly increase security

iPhone fingerprint scanner and randomized keypad would greatly increase security

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Smartphones and tablets are filled with personal information, and the only barrier between the public and your data is a skimpy four-digit passcode. While enabling complex passwords and limiting the number of entry attempts are your best security bet for the moment, the introduction of fingerprint scanners and randomized keyboards have the potential to make your iPhone even more secure going forward.

A jailbreak tweak called CodeScrambler has recently hit the Cydia store, and for $0.99, it will randomize your on-screen keyboard to prevent onlookers from memorizing your password by sight. While jailbreaking your iOS device potentially opens it up to even worse security vulnerabilities, this is a clever method of boosting real-world security that Apple should consider implementing. Having this option available as a toggle in iOS would make entering your passcode take longer, but the increased security is hard to dispute.

With touch-based devices, on-screen smudges can theoretically reveal which digits you use in your passcode. If your smudges reveal which four unique digits you’re using a thief would only have to go through just 24 combinations to find the right one. If you only use three unique digits in a four-digit code, the math shows that the number of combinationsincreases to 36. It’s better protection, but far from ideal since you’re still potentially giving away vital information to anyone who handles your device. If the keyboard was able to randomize every time, your screen smudges simply wouldn’t be able to reveal which digits you’re using in your passcode, and that makes even simple passcodes more secure.

While your fingers betray your security with on-screen keyboards, your fingerprint might also be the key to improving your mobile security going forward. Previously, biometric sensing information was leaked in an iOS 7 beta, but now even more evidence has surfaced concerning fingerprint sensing on the iPhone 5S. Back in July of last year, Apple acquired AuthenTec — a hardware and software company focused on PC and mobile security. Now, it seems as if that $356 million purchase is starting to pay off with actual hardware improvements.

This week, French rumor site Nowhereelse.fr reported that new iPhone 5S parts have been uncovered that show off the potential for a built-in fingerprint reader. The area under the home button is slightly redesigned, and the spacer plate (shown above) is cut very differently. These leaks are far from official confirmation of a built-in fingerprint scanner for the next iPhone, but it does add credence to the rumors behind the long-awaited feature.

Element 115: How chemists discovered the newest member of the periodic table

Element 115: How chemists discovered the newest member of the periodic table

• By AKSHAY PRAKASH

Thanks to the work of chemists at Lund University in Sweden, a brand new element has taken a seat at the periodic table: Element 115, or ununpentium (Uup) as it is currently known. Ununpentium (which is sadly just the Latin/Greek for “115,” not a homage to the Intel CPU) is one of the heaviest elements ever created, extremely rare (it probably only occurs in nature a few milliseconds after a star goes supernova), and realistically won’t impact your life at all. Still, it’s a good chance to discuss how chemists create super-heavy elements — and more importantly, why.

The heaviest (i.e. highest atomic number) readily occurring element in nature is uranium, with 92 protons. Every element above it, including plutonium, americium, and einsteinium, can only be created through processes such as fusion, or being bombarded with neutrons. Fairly large quantities of americium, for example, are produced when uranium and plutonium are bombarded by neutrons in a nuclear reactor. In the lab, most super-heavy elements are created by fusing lighter elements in a particle accelerator. Ununpentium, for example, was created by firing calcium-48 ions (a nucleus with 20 protons and 28 neutrons) at an americium target (with 95 protons and 148 neutrons), creating a fused nucleus of ununpentium-291 with 115 protons and 176 neutrons.

As for why chemists create super-heavy elements, there are a number of reasons. A lot of it is simply down to Russia and the US competing to see who could discover the most exotic elements. Curiosity, of course, also plays a big part — humans love seeing how far they can go, just for the sake of testing the universe’s boundaries. Most importantly, though, there is some science to be gained from such experiments. With each new element that we discover, our knowledge of the periodic table, and thus the universe, swells. The mere fact that we were able to synthesize these heavy elements in the lab means there’s a good chance that they exist elsewhere in the universe — perhaps in the supernova of a dying star, or harnessed by an advanced alien race. (See: 500MW from half a gram of hydrogen: The hunt for fusion power heats up.)

Each new element also teaches us a little bit more about the island of stability — a set of as-yet-undiscovered super-heavy transuranic isotopes that are theorized to have a half-life of days or years, as opposed seconds. (The handful of unstable ununpentium isotopes created by the Swedish researchers decayed in just a few milliseconds). The theory is that, if we can cram in a certain “magic number” of protons and neutrons, these elements will suddenly become very stable. As it stands, though, we lack the technology to squeeze enough neutrons into the synthesized nucleus — and a nucleus with the wrong number of neutrons is very unstable. If we ever reach the island of stability, these stable super-heavy elements might be very useful for energy storage.

Ununpentium was originally created by Russian scientists in 2004. For an element to be officially discovered, though, a second group must replicate the work — which is what the Lund University chemists have done. Now that ununpentium has been confirmed, the IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) will meet to discuss an official name for element 115. Usually the name will be derived from something apolitical, such as a famous research or institution that is globally recognized for their work in science. Or, if IUPAC has some gamers on the board, maybe they’ll name it elerium…

Apple launches iPhone trade-ins

Apple retail stores are accepting customers' old iPhones for credit toward new ones. The company is expected to unveil the latest iterations of the iPhone at an event next month.

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Apple's New York City Upper West Side retail store.

(Credit: Apple)

Apple has begun a long-awaited iPhone trade-in program at its retail stores, ahead of an event that is widely expected to include the unveiling of the new iPhone on September 10.

Apple spokeswoman Amy Bessette told CNET that the program launched Friday in Apple's US stores only. "iPhones hold great value," she said. "Customers will be able to receive a credit for their returned phone that they can use toward the purchase of a new iPhone."

She couldn't comment on a range of values Apple would ascribe to phones its customers swap for credit. CNBC said the service would give customers a trade-in value for the handset estimated at $125 for an iPhone 4, $200 for an iPhone 4S, and $250 for an iPhone 5 -- with a fresh contract. An unnamed source told The Wall Street Journal that the most Apple would be willing to credit customers would be about $280. ABC reported a figure closer to $300, also according to an unnamed source.

With Apple on the sidelines of the iPhone aftermarket for years, other trade-in options have cropped Devices traded in on sites like Gazelle and NextWorth are sold internationally in places where iPhones are very expensive. Right now, a 64GB iPhone 5 can snag a customer $370 on NextWorth.

Retailers like Best Buy and Target also offer trade-in options when new phones emerge, in addition to discounts -- like a deal this weekend at Best Buy giving iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S owners who trade in a working handset at least 50 percent off the purchase of an iPhone 5.

And, of course, there's always eBay.

With more lucrative options available, the biggest draw for an Apple program is convenience for people who buy directly through the computer maker, especially those who line up for days to be among the first to get hold of the latest iPhone.

Word of such a service cropped up in June, when Bloomberg reported that Apple was working with Miami-based trade-in company Brightstar on a program that would let consumers bring in their used iPhones for a discount on newer models and potentially for credit on other items in Apple's stores.

Next month's Apple event has the rumor mill churning out speculation at top speed, but the computer maker is generally expected to be introducing a high-end flagship iPhone, called the iPhone 5S, along with a lower-cost option, called the iPhone 5C.

Reports Monday indicated the company was close to firing up a trade-in service for its flagship smartphone. Apple was said to be preparing retail workers, giving first trainers their instructions Monday for them to start teaching other employees, and may have even started piloting the program in some stores.