Yahoo Uses Windows Azure To Build Flickr App for Windows

Yahoo is launching a native Flickr app for Windows 7 and Windows Phone 7 later this month that leverages Microsoft's Azure cloud platform.


The app connects Flickr data with Windows Azure via an API. Using Windows Azure, Yahoo is able to optimize the images for the Windows 7 environments and on the Windows Phone 7 devices.

For example, let's say someone is using the Flickr app on a Windows 7 tablet device and decides to view one of their albums. The app then makes a call to Windows Azure, which computes the context for the way the image should be viewed on the device.

On a Windows Phone 7 device, the Flickr app shows images in its "live" tiles interface. These are flat, square tiles on the device. They represent your email inboxes, phone calls and apps among other things.
The images appear in the tiles and then open according to the context of the device. You can tap on a tile to get a map via Bing and then swipe to view a comments section.

The Flickr app will be available January 31.

10 iOS Gadgets at CES

Withing's Blood Pressure Monitor

Withing’s Blood Pressure Monitor is another interesting medical device that is using the power of iOS apps to monitor your health. It works by connecting the Withing's branded blood pressure cuff to the iPhone or iPad using its 30-pin connector. Information is then sent to the free iOS app which stores the data for later reference. These type of medical devices will no doubt storm the market this year as smartphones continue to go mainstream. It will be available for $129.

AliveCor's iPhone ECG Heart Monitor

At first glance, this accessory appears to be a cool-looking case however it's able to turn the iPhone 4 into a real heart monitor. It's a wireless "clinical quality cardiac recorder". Like many of the medical iPhone devices we've seen, it works with an iOS app that displays the heartbeats (using the iPhone 4 as a monitor) as it does on heart monitors that you've seen in hospitals. It works in two ways, by pressing the case up against your chest or by holding it in your hand. Hopefully this device will work with a wide variety of third party apps as well. This gadget is absolutely incredible to say the least. It's expected to retail for about $100.

ElectroHub Charging Station

The ElectroHub charging station will finally be showcased at CES 2011. We've been waiting for this one for a while due to its ability to charge almost any device including your TV remote or any device that works with AA / AAA batteries.  It looks really slick and will charge up to 6 devices at a time –including smartphones. ElectroHub measuring in at  9-inches by 6-inches is .08 inches thin and will set you back $39.

Mophie Pulse

Mophie Pulse was designed for iPod gamers looking to add some tactile rumbling to the gaming experience. The aluminum case sports haptic rumble-feedback, speakers in the front for stereo sound and it has rubbery grippers found on the back of the device. As the video points out below, sadly, it's not actually able to power the device itself but the rumbling feature looks kinda neat. This is currently just a prototype and Mophie has not released the cost.

Crayola ColorStudio HD

The Crayola iMarker is a new custom-built digital stylus that enhances colouring on the iPad. Crayola, in partnership with Griffin Technology are showing off their new product at CES that is targeted at children, although we won't judge you if you want one for yourself –it does look fun. The iMarker is held like a regular marker but works with the use of an iPad app that enables children to paint and doodle on the screen. This creative system is called Crayola ColorStudio HD and it will be priced at $29.99 when it's released in March 2011.

Iomega SuperHero

If you live and die by the photos and contacts that you take on the iPhone this might be a handy device for you. This Iomega iPhone dock charges the device and works in unison with an iOS app that will assist you in backing up  your images and contacts to an SD card. It comes with a 4GB SD card but also allows you to swap that out with your own card.  The best thing about the SuperHero is the fact that its companion app will restore your data should you lose your phone. This dock will cost you $69.99. It seems a bit expensive for something you can do by syncing your phone and again, it is limited to just pictures and contacts.

Cinemin Slice iPad dock

This is an iPad dock with a cool twist. It's a multimedia Pico projector audio dock that makes it easy to share videos and images from your device. Cinemin Slice is a plug-n- play device that uses a 30pin connector which makes it compatible with iOS devices. However, you can also use it with media devices that support HDMI (1.3) and it has AV ports for personal media players. The VGA port will additionally support PC's netbooks and laptops. This device is brought to you by WowWee and boasts that Cinemin Slice will project "crisp 60-inch image from over 10 feet away, or from floor-to-ceiling in a typical room.” A cool piece of gear that will set you back $429.99

Joby's GorillaMobile Ori

Joby, the company that brought us the popular line of durable GorillaMobile tripods has a new product called Ori. It's an adjustable aluminum stand for the iPad that aims to help users get more comfortable with their iPads. The stand, inspired by Origami, allows you to tweak the display height and use the swivel function to move between landscape and portrait modes. It's constructed of a "super-strong, lightweight aluminum composite”. It also appears to fold down nicely when its not in use.  Overall, its height and design is a major win.  It retails for $79.95.

BodyMedia FIT Armband BW

Just in time for the after-holiday weight loss frenzy, the BodyMedia Fit Armband BW will help you get back on track by monitoring the calories you've burned. This fitness add-on works over Bluetooth and sends information to an iOS app such as how many steps you've taken and how many calories were burned by each activity.  We've been a fan of fitness apps like Runkeeper that monitors your distance and they've also recently come out with a similar heart monitor feature.

Oxygen Audio's O Car

Oxygen Audio's O Series, the "O-Car” is a new car entertainment system that turns your iPhone into an interactive faceplate for the stereo. The iPhone slips into the dock allows users to make hands-free calls while accessing any app (including GPS) on your phone. Users can of course access their entire iTunes collection and receive a charge while the iPhone is attached. The user interface works in both with an app that enables users to quickly flip through stations by using a swipe gesture on the screen.

RCA to launch portable TVs

RCA said  that it would launch a line of portable TVs that could pick up both standard over-the-air and mobile digital signals.

Mobile DTV was a major theme of last year's CES, but few manufactures ended up releasing mobileDTV products.

RCA's portable viewers -- a line of three TVs along with a mobile DTV receiver to be used in automobiles -- make use of the mobile DTVstandard overseen by the Open Mobile Video Coalition, as well as standard broadcast channels, the company said in a statement

The portable TVs, which will be offered in 3.5-inch and 7-inch screen sizes, will be battery operated.

Mobile DTV so far has failed to gain much traction, though RCA seems to believe there is a market for such products.

Cobra iRadar

The Cobra Electronics Corp. has developed iRadar, an app being shown at CES that gives you maps of red light and speed cameras and speed traps, and lets you pair your smart phone to a Bluetooth-enabled radar detector so that you can have real-time information about who's checking your speed.

The app is free, but the compatible radar detector will cost you about $169.95. Seems as if it would be cheaper to just drive the speed limit -- but then you wouldn't get to use cool toys like this.

introducing Motion CL900

At CES, Austin, Texas-based Motion Computing Inc. is introducing its Motion CL900, a brick tablet house made to withstand the kind of perils that lurk in physically-intense industries such as construction, healthcare and in-store retail.
The device, which will start at about $1,000 and is Windows-based, has optional add-ons such as a barcode or magnetic card reader, for retail or healthcare uses. It's got the standard connectivity options, including Wi-Fi, 3G and Bluetooth, and is supposed to work for eight hours without a charge. It's 1.5-gigahertz Intel Atom processor is 50% faster than the iPad's

3D Without the Glasses

Toshiba to introduce at the International Consumer Electronics Show-televisions and a laptop that can display 3D video without requiring the viewer to put on glasses.The televisions have been available in Japan since late last year. Representatives from Toshiba demoed the laptop for The New York Times last month.

The laptop works by using a Webcam to find a viewer's eyes, then sends different versions of the image to each one, creating the illusion of depth. The image quality was indistinguishable from that you can see with glasses-required 3D, although the screen was much smaller than the giant 3D televisions that manufacturers have been marketing. The technique also worked fine even if the viewer was wearing regular prescription glasses.One shortcoming of a no-glasses approach is that only one person at a time can see the 3D effect

The televisions that Toshiba will be showing at C.E.S. are based on a different technology.Even those who insist that 3D has a bright future in television acknowledge that the glasses are a problem. They are expensive, often ugly and if you already wear glasses, they can be uncomfortable. Furthermore, you need a pair of glasses for each person, a particular challenge when the technology is being pitched as a new way to watch sporting events, often a communal activity.Toshiba first showed off its no-glasses developments a few months ago in Japan. It has 12-inch televisions in stores now, which sell for about $1,400

Source : http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/3d-without-the-glasses

Kodak Playsport Zx5

The new Kodak Playsport Zx5 is waterproof up to 10 feet. The new model adds dustproof and shockproof to its roster of features, being designed to withstand dust, sand, and dirt as well as drops of up to 5 feet. At 2.3×4.4×0.7 inches, it’s a bit chunkier than the Playfull and roughly the same size as the previous Playsport. The camcorder includes a 2-inch LCD that adjusts automatically to lighting conditions and otherwise has most of the same features as the Playfull, shooting 1080p video at 30 fps, 720p video at 60 or 30 fps, and 5-megapixel stills, and including built-in digital image stabilization, face-tracking, SD/SDHC card slot (up to 32GB), in-camera editing and special effects. The Playsport will be available in black, red, green, white and aqua color options and sell for $179.95 this spring.

Kodak Playfull

The Kodak Playfull measures just 1.6×3.9×0.7 inches. Like the Playsport, it shoots full 1080p (1,920×1080) video at 30 fps as well as 5-megapixel, 16:9 widescreen format still images. You can also shoot 720p videos at 60 fps for fast action or slow-motion playback. Built-in software lets you perform basic in-camera video editing and extract still images from your videos or add special effects like sepia, high-saturation, and a retro “70s film look.” The camcorder includes a 1.5-inch LCD that automatically adjusts to lighting conditions, built-in digital image stabilization, face-tracking technology, and an SD/SDHC card slot that accepts up to 32GB flash memory cards to hold up to 10 hours of HD video. The Playfull will be available in silver, blue-silver, purple-silver, and blue-black color options and sell for $149.95 when it ships this spring.

Intel Builds Sandy Bridge With a DRM Tollbooth

ntel has reportedly revealed details about its new family of laptop and desktop processors, code-named "Sandy Bridge." The processors, which will be demoed at the CES 2011 show in Las Vegas later this week, offer better energy performance, improved 3D and graphics performance, and can overclock when needed without overheating, according to press reports.

ContactZilla -contact management system

ContactZilla  is an easy to use contact management system designed specifically for businesses.
The service, built by Bristol, UK-based web development agency Simpleweb, is currently in private Beta.ContactZilla hopes to differentiate itself by remaining free plans to generate money from ContactZilla’s own marketplace/app store – so there’s a platform play here – which will fill in missing functionality and make the service (in theory at least) infinitely expandable. That’s if devs take the bait, although the company has already developed a number of add-ons of its own. The market functionality already exists too, though it’s not been exposed in private Beta form. The service will also roll out a form of advertising. Think B2B introductions.
ContactZilla works pretty much as you’d expect. You sign-up, name your business and begin importing contacts from your social graph – currently, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google (support for Facebook is planned too). Other sources include, CSV, Basecamp, FreeAgent, Freshbooks, Vcard, Outlook and the Mac Address book. After the import takes place, which can take a while for Twitter, you then have the option to merge contacts across the different networks, though ContactZilla will try to do some of this for you, as well being able to ‘validate’ contacts, which involves asking them to confirm their details. Each contact can also have notes and tasks attached to their info, along with Maildrop functionality, all of which is provided through ‘apps’ built using the ContactZilla API.

PostUp Buys Twitter And Facebook Application EchoFon

PostUp  has bought Twitter application Echofon, according to a press release issued today.


Echfon, which used to be called TwitterFon after its Twitter client, is used by 3 million people. The startup offers a Twitter app for the iPhone, a native Twitter clients, a Facebook app for the iPhone, and a Twitter iPad app.

Essential things to carry with Your Laptop Bag

1. Folding laptop stand.
2. Flash drive(s).
3. Portable power bar.
4. Charger cables for your phone.
5. Headphones.

For Mac owners below are couple of additions:

1. Video adapter dongle.
2. Power cord adapter.

1. Mini USB hub.
2. SD card reader.
3. USB extender cable.

Firefox overtakes Internet Explorer in Europe

Internet Explorer is no longer the most used browser in Europe, with Firefox taking the lead for the first time. That’s according to figures from website statistics firm Statcounter.


The figures show that the gap between the two browsers started narrowing in March 2010. However, it appears that the real winner over the past year has been Chrome. Google’s browser ended 2010 with almost 10% extra marketshare than it started the year with. The main casualty of Chrome’s rise was Internet Explorer, which lost 7.32% during the year, according to StatCounter’s figures.

How to: Use Spotify worldwide

Here is a little workaround of how to trick the service so you can register from any country.
1. To register your free Spotify account you will need to use Hotspot Shield. It can be found at: http://www.hotspotshield.com.
2. Spotify is (for now) an invite only service, so you’ll need an invite from someone who is already a registered user. When you receive an invite, run hotspot shield and then click on the activation link in the e-mail message. You’ll be taken to Spotify registration page. All you have to do is to register as you normally would and download Spotify client. When you register your account, you don’t need to use hotspot shield anymore.
3. Run Spotify client app, enter your username and password and enjoy the music.
Spotify: http://www.spotify.com/en/

GoodGuide Rolls Out New Social Features

GoodGuide — the mobile app and website that helps people find products that measure up to their environmental and social values — quietly rolled out new, social networking and product recommendation features this month.

Groups of friends and colleagues can now follow each other via GoodGuide, share product reviews, and either warn to avoid, or encourage one another to try certain brands or items, there. The “social networking overlay” (as the company’s executives call it) adds the following features to the app and site:

Realtime feed of what products people are scanning or looking up on their iPhones, now.
Community voting, with an aggregate view of which products the GoodGuide community recommends or avoids.
Social context that lets users see which products their Facebook friends recommend or avoid.
Influence scores for GoodGuide users, taking into account their number of contributions and how many connections they have with others.
A leaderboard of the GoodGuide members with the highest influence scores.
Trending topics, covering ingredients, issues, and brands that are of interest to consumers based on site traffic and Good Guide’s science team.

iPhone Screen Enlarger

The iPhone Screen Enlarger does just that, provide you with a larger screen for your Apple iPhone. It is a portable device that can be used to enlarge videos and photos from your iPhone by displaying it on a 7″ LCD screen. This device works as a docking station for your iPhone that also has its own built-in speaker and a video port to allow playback on your TV. The iPhone Screen Enlarger is available at Hammacher Schlemmer for US$200.

Available only at hammacherschlemmer for $199.95

Lexar Media Unveils Class 10 SDXC Cards

Lexar Media introduces its two new Class 10 SDXC cards that claims to offer minimum speeds of 133x (or 20MB per second). Such speeds would make digital video makers and photographers who are into high resolutions jump with delight.
The storage cards come in 64GB and 128GB capacities and are shipped with a limited lifetime warranty. They are expected to be available for retail by first quarter of 2011, with price tags set for US$399.99 and $699.99, respectively.

Source: Engadget

 

Iomega Announces Iomega TV

Iomega with the start up Boxee to provide the software for its TV-streamer. Boxee made a big splash at last year's CES but struggled to get its quirky Boxee Box—manufactured by D-Link—out the door until just recently. The Iomega TV is, in essence, a Boxee Box with a more conservative design that will blend in nicely with any home theater set up. The Iomega TV even comes with a QWERTY remote like the one packed with the Boxee Box, which makes both web browsing and searching for shows much easier. And, like the Boxee Box, the Iomega TV will play full 1080p video.

The expected bevy of hookups can be found around back, including USB ports for plugging in external hard drives, Ethernet for getting online and the all important HDMI for hooking up your TV. And if you're not one for stringing wires around your house, you can connect to the Internet using the built-in Wi-Fi.

The intro level Iomega TV will sell for $229.99 (starting at J&R sometime in the next couple of months), about $30 more than the Boxee Box. Though the Iomega TV comes with an HDMI cable, which makes up for some of the difference.

At the same time, you'll also be able to get your hands on two premium models that add a hard drive to the mix. A 1TB model will run $299.99 and a 2TB model $349.99. This means that, in addition to the tons of great streaming content available through Boxee, you'll be able to play back locally stored videos (in almost any file format you can imagine). Connect the Iomega TV to your home network and your other computers will see it as a networked hard drive that you can easily copy movies and TV to. While you could easily do the same with a Boxee Box by plugging a USB hard drive into it, the Iomega TV saves you the hassle and the bulk of having two separate devices.

The Iomega TV boxes with built-in storage also feature Iomega's Personal Cloud, which allows you to access your files from any remote location with an Internet connected PC, Mac or smartphone. Save vacation pictures to your home storage while still on vacation, pull up photos of the kids from home when at your in-laws or just get some work done while on the road.

Size-wise, the Iomega TV without storage is 8.8” x 6.25” x 1.73" and with storage is 8.8” x 9.69” x 1.73”.

The Boxee software still has some serious maturing to do (I'm not sure if I'd call it "consumer friendly" just yet), but by partnering with Iomega the company is showing that it's serious about playing with the big boys in the streaming media market and ready to take on the likes of Google TV.

How to Crop YouTube Videos in Seconds

Both SnipSnip.it and Splicd bring users an easy way to quickly crop out sections of YouTube videos by simply inputting the video’s url and timestamp.

Using both SnipSnip.it and Splicd, you will able to alter and crop (or deep link) your favourite news blooper in seconds to display only the best part. Obviously none of this is groundbreaking stuff but considering the amount of videos you've personally received with time stamp notes appended, it stands to reason that these services might not be common knowledge among social media enthusiasts.

If you've been guilty of sharing lengthy videos that only contain a second or two of relevant information, these services may be perfect for you and they’re both free. It might also be of some value to bloggers, by using SnipSnip.it / Spicd, only vital information is shared, a bit cleaner than adding time stamp instructions into the video's caption.

Twitter Conversation Viewer

           
If you you need more context than what is readily available on Twitter.com or via any third-party application. Aaron's Twitter Viewer is a super-simple tool that will show you an entire Twitter conversation with just a couple of clicks.


First, you’ll need the ID of a Tweet in the conversation. To find that, just click on the time that a Tweet was sent, then copy the string of numbers at the end


Once you have that, you’ll want to head over to Aaron's Twitter Viewer, then paste that number into the box.


Then you'll find, after pasting the number then pressing Go is a page of conversation, neatly displayed before you.


Check out here http://twitter.theinfo.org

Top 10 posts in official google blog for the year 2010

Below are the Top 10 posts in official google blog for the year 2010

1. A different kind of company name
2. A new approach to China
3. Introducing Google Chrome OS
4. Think big with a gig: our experimental fiber network
5. Update on Google Wave.
6. Introducing Google Places.
7. Announcing Google TV: TV meets web. Web meets TV .
8. Our new search index: Caffeine
9. A new approach to China: an update
10. Introducing Nexus S, with Gingerbread.

Source : official google blog

The Man-Made Rainbow Machine

College professor and artist Michael Jones McKean made a machine that generates two-story rainbows with the flip of a switch. His rainbow machine is comprised of commercial jet pumps and custom-designed nozzles that spray a dense wall of water into the sky. it’s the same as how you can get a rainbow from the sprinkler in your backyard, just on a much more impressive scale.
Read more on Gizmodo

Samsung sold 10 million Galaxy S phones worldwide

Samsung has officially met its goal of 10 million Galaxy S phones sold around the globe. That's less than seven months since the device first hit the market, which by Sammy's fuzzy math averages to about one unit for every two seconds it's been on sale. According to Samsung Tomorrow, North America contributed the most with 4 million in sales, followed by Europe at 2.5 million.

Technology Predictions for 2011

1. Smartphones / Super-phones will outsell notebooks and desktops
2. Apple will become the most valuable company on the planet
3. Tablet sales will be in the 50 millions
4. The rise of the personal cloud
5. Verizon will remain the dominant US carrier
6. We will sell more PCs than ever before

Read More at slashgear

The MacBook Hair

Victor Anselme figured that at the current rate of innovation within  years the MacBook Air would be as thin as a human hair.
Check out the mock-up ad, including side, back, front and opened up views