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Sofia Vergara Covers The TV Issue Of ?Glamour? UK
Sofia Vergara is one of my new fave people, now that I’ve actually joined the rest of the world and started watching Modern Family on Wednesday nights. I was so psyched to see that she was rocking the cover of Glamour UK’s TV issue and even more psyched to learn that she’s in such good [...]
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Friday, October 26, 2012
'X Factor's' Britney Spears and Demi Lovato Stump For Votes in New Campaign (Video)
Is Simon Cowell the "Best Judge Ever?" Britney Spears and Demi Lovato pose a challenge in another round of promos for the Fox series.
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Thursday, October 25, 2012
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Wednesday, October 24, 2012
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Samsung Galaxy Note II: The Tale Of The Comically Large Smartphone
There is a bulge in the pocket of my jeans and I am not quite sure what to do about it. I shift, I fidget, I try to adjust but there is little I can do. Oh, this is awkward. A friend turns to me and asks, ?What?s wrong? Are you happy to see me or is there a comically large smartphone in your pocket?? Sheepishly, I grin and pull out the source of my discomfort.
?Indeed,? I say. ?There is a comically large smartphone in my pocket. This is the Samsung Galaxy Note II.?
A Smartphone By Any Other Name
Samsung calls the Galaxy Note II a ?phablet.? For the uninitiated, that means half smartphone, half tablet. This is the second iteration of Samsung?s phablet, following the original Note released last year. This one is even bigger than the first, with a 5.55-inch touch screen compared to the original?s 5.3 inches.
The phablet declination can be confusing. In broad terms, a tablet is a media consumption device that can be used for utility purposes. A smartphone is a little more personal, used for communication, utility, productivity, etc. Of course, there is a lot of overlap between the two categories, but usage patterns show that smartphones are mostly used when you are out and about, while tablets are most often used in the home.
The Galaxy Note II tries to be all of these things. Samsung has focused many of its own custom apps on media consumption, but it also makes sure there are plenty of productivity options.
But let us get one thing straight: The Galaxy Note II is a smartphone. A comically large smartphone, but still a smartphone and not a tablet.
Like any other smartphone, it is sold through the major cellular carriers on contract, it is intended to be the device you use for text messaging and phone calls that you carry around everywhere you go. You can leave a tablet at home and not worry about missing out on your messages, a smartphone is in your pocket at all times.
Which brings us back to that bulge in my jeans.
For an average-sized person, the Note II is weird. It does not fit well in your pocket (especially with the flip cover case on it) and is too big for a woman?s clutch. I am not aware of any belt clip for the Note II but that would brand you as a nerd from a mile away. Really, for a device that is meant to be with you whereever you go, the Note II is just plain awkward.
S Pen, TouchWiz & Interface
The awkwardness does not end with Note II's size. Samsung has worked hard to improve the Note's stylus, called the S Pen. From a design and development standpoint, the S Pen is intriguing. It can control most aspects of the device, from browsing to email, note taking and even doodling. When you slide the S Pen out of the phone (it fits nicely into the casing) a screen automatically pops up with a variety of apps specifically designed for the S Pen. In addition, some 50 apps in Android Google Play are designed to work with the S Pen. (They mostly come from large developers, like Adobe).
The S Pen can be fun to use as an input mechanism. Give Samsung marks for creativity, it really did think outside the box creating the S Pen and coming up with novel uses for it.
The problem is, I have no idea when I should be using the S Pen. I don?t use it for email, text messaging, Web browsing, phone calls, my favorite apps or? well, anything. It does not help that I have the handwriting of a four-year old child, so I am obviously not going to use it for handwritten notes. Spending a week with the Note II, I have tried to be cognizant of how and when I could use the S Pen, but for the most part it just slips my mind and I interact with the device in the same way I would any other smartphone.
The Note II is representative of Samsung?s general approach to mobile products. Essentially, Samsung thinks that more is better. Bigger screen, bigger battery, lots of added features like the S Pen and customized apps for watching video, playing music, email, calendars, etc.
It does not help Samsung?s case that Google has already built most of these apps for Android - and Google's versions are better. LIke the interfaces on Samsung's earlier smartphones, the TouchWiz skin on top of the Galaxy Tab II's Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean operating system is often intrusive and confusing. But that's not the phablet's biggest problem.
The Bottom Line
Samsung touts the Note II as the culmination of its ?year of innovation.? By that, the Korean manufacturer means that it has made advancements in both hardware and software and bundled it all up in one, mammoth device.
From a design and functionality perspective, Samsung has achieved its goals. The Note II is beautiful and well-designed and boasts unique features such as the S Pen and S apps.
The problem with the Note II does not lay in the hardware, the S Pen or even in Samsung's overexuberant customization. The Note II?s problem is conceptual. It is trying to be too many things to too many people - and inevitably falls short.
That said, I can recommend the Note II to a few groups of people:
- First, large people - with fat fingers - who have had problems with smaller touch-screen devices. This a very real market and it is good that Samsung was thinking of the giants among us.
- Second, elderly folks who have trouble seeing and typing on smaller smartphones.
- Third, people who want to use stylus for input. It is not a bad input method but it is certainly not for everybody.
- Fourth, anybody that appreciates the ?more is better? approach.
If nothing else, the Note II certainly exemplifies that aesthetic. It's the super-sized version of Samsung?s Galaxy S III flagship.
System76 debuts a sleek, all-in-one desktop PC featuring Ubuntu Linux
There's no doubt the PC market is in the midst of a rush of hardware introductions featuring Microsoft's new Windows 8, but fortunately for buyers, those aren't the only choices out there.
Case in point: Linux-friendly vendor System76 on Wednesday treated fans of the free and open source operating system� to a splashy debut of its own. The hardware in question? None other than a sleek new all-in-one desktop PC.
?All you really need is one PC,? the company wrote in its announcement on Google+. ?We are pleased to announce the Sable Complete All-in-one Ubuntu Desktop starting at $799! Check out this work of art :)?
Ubuntu 12.10 'Quantal Quetzal'
There has been a steady stream of Linux PCs entering the market over the past few months, including the two Asus machines I wrote about last week.
System76's new Sable Complete, however, brings an extra dose of style. With a 21.5-inch, high-definition 1080p display, the clutter-free desktop features edge-to-edge glass, aluminum trim, and a sleek, industrial design.
Quad-core, third-generation Intel Core i5 or i7 processors power the device, which features Intel High-Definition 2500 or 4000 graphics, depending on the CPU. Up to 16GB dual-channel DDR3 memory is available, as is one 2.5-inch platter or solid state hard drive configurable with up to 750GB.
A Logitech wireless backlit keyboard and Harman Kardon Sound Sticks III are among the peripherals available to accompany the device, which also includes a 1.3 megapixel webcam, two built-in speakers, and six USB drives.
The operating system, of course, is the newly released, 64-bit Ubuntu 12.10 ?Quantal Quetzal.?
A world of alternatives
It's been interesting to see that even mainstream vendors like Asus have been hedging their bets with non-Windows 8 options.
Now, however, users' choices are even more diverse. If you're in the market for a PC with Ubuntu preloaded, also be sure to check out the U310 PC-in-a-keyboard and the Asus EeePC 1225C. Where there's Linux, there's never any shortage of options.
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Tuesday, October 23, 2012
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Monday, October 22, 2012
Are You an Investor of an Entrepreneur?
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iPad mini pricing rumored to start at $329
While iMore has consistently heard the widely anticipated iPad mini would start at around $200-$250 for 8GB, now some pricing information is being reported that pegs the starting price higher -- at $329 (though at what storage capacity is uncertain).This according to Mark Gurman of 9to5Mac, who has an excellent track record when it comes to retail pricing:
Apple?s entry price for its upcoming smaller iPad is between the base model of the new, fifth-generation iPod touch ($299) and the currently shipping WiFi-only 16GB iPad 2 ($399). According to our sources, the base model of the smaller iPad will likely be priced at a minimum of $329 in the United States.
If Apple is going over $300 for the entry level model, and our original information was accurate -- which I believe it was -- then something changed.
One possibility is that Apple has abandoned the 8GB SKU and is starting instead with a 16GB SKU at a $100 higher price point. 8GB would have made for a very low, low end model but may not have ultimately provided a user experience Apple was happy with, especially given the size of TV shows, movies, and even the upcoming iBooks Apple is planning. Also, the $200-$250 8GB iPad mini we heard about was predicated on taking the fight to Amazon's Kindle and Google's Nexus 7, and neither of those devices have taken the world by storm. You can't even buy or realistically use them in many parts of the world. It could simply be that Apple doesn't feel the price pressure they assumed they would in the small tablet space, and so aren't being as aggressive as they may have been had Amazon and Google enjoyed greater success to date.
A less likely possibility is Retina display. Moving from an iPad 2 1024x768 resolution display at an iPhone 3GS 163 ppi to an iPad 3 2048x1536 resolution display and an iPhone 4 326 ppi would increase cost and hence, price point. We've heard both display types were in the pipeline, but Retina still sounded more like next year's model than this year's. Given the display resolution of the new Kindle Fire HD is 1280x800 at 215 ppi, however, moving it up could be seen as a competitive necessity.
Source: 9to5Mac
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Sunday, October 21, 2012
iMore Weekly Contest winners: Carbon Fibre vinyl skins and Avatar photo contest!
If there's one thing iMore loves even more than iPhones and iPads, it's giving cool iPhone and iPad accessories and apps to our awesome readers. This week we have...
iPhone 5 Carbon Fibre Vinyl Skin (UK only)
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�
Weekly photo contest - Avatars!
Grand prize winner - ToddFSU!
�
Runner-up - cwieka23pl
�
Congratulations everyone! Winners will be contacted in the next few days with information on claiming their prizes. Be sure to check out all the entries in the Avatar Contest over in the forums as there were a lot of awesome photos.
Looking for another chance to win? We always have a contest underway for something cool, so keep your eyes on the blogs for those announcements. Right now you can enter to win a free iPod! Details below.
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Saturday, October 20, 2012
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Friday, October 19, 2012
Monteiro targets top 10 at Suzuka
Choosing a Wedding Photographer to Make the Big Day Special
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Obama-Romney Debate: Most-Tweeted Moment Revealed
Surprise! It wasn't the newly coined phrase "binders full of women" that spurred more than 108,000 tweets per minute at one point during Tuesday night's debate.
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Fergie: Tough Times Make My Marriage Stronger
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Apple event on Oct. 23 may include 'iPad Mini'
As expected, Apple will hold a press event on Oct. 23. "We've got a little more to show you," the Cupertino-based company's invitation to the press declares, hinting that the rumored "iPad Mini" may be unveiled.
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