An Umbrella That Can Tell Time from the Sun [Design]

This Clock Parasol is a clever idea! It uses the sun's position in the sky to tell time (it works by orienting yourself with the parasol's included compass). But, however clever, it doesn't change the fact that only weirdos use an umbrella for the sun. [691236 via Neatorama] More »

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Random House switches e-book pricing models, clears way for entrance into iBookstore

Well, it looks like the last major holdout from Apple's iBookstore could soon be joining its rivals on iOS devices -- Random House announced today that it's abandoning its current pricing model for e-books in favor of the so-called "agency pricing" that Apple insists on. That model requires publishers to set the retail prices of their books with the bookseller getting a 30 percent cut of each sale -- as opposed to the traditional wholesale model that lets retailers set the price of books and even sell them at a loss (as Amazon has done in the past). As the Wall Street Journal notes, the agency model has been criticized by some (including Random House previously) for effectively eliminating discounting and guaranteeing retailers a profit on each book they sell. Of course, Random House hasn't yet officially announced that it will be joining the iBookstore ranks, but this news does certainly line up nicely with a little event tomorrow.Random House switches e-book pricing models, clears way for entrance into iBookstore originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Mar 2011 17:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink AllThingsD  |  Wall Street Journal  | Email this | Comments

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Evernote For iOS Gets a Complete Makeover [Video]

Evernote, many a note-junkie's powertool for keeping things in order, just reworked its iOS app from top to bottom. Which is good! Evernote's always been so packed with features that their smaller-device interfaces tended to come off a bit overwhelming. The highlights of the new design: a new home screen with an information-dense snippet view; a new split-view note screen which allows for multiple attachments to a single note; and easy browsing by notebook or tag. You can read more about the update over at the Evernote Blog. Free. [iTunes via Evernote] More »

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Force Dynamics 401cr test drive (video)

If you're old enough to have spent any time in an arcade, surely at some point you splurged an extra couple of quarters to play a game in a seat that moved a bit, shook a bit, made some feeble attempt at making you feel like you're really in the game. Kid's play, that stuff (quite literally), but just like people don't stop gaming as they get older so too such motion simulation tech doesn't have to stay for kiddies. Enter Force Dynamics and enter the 401cr: a full-bore motion simulator that can not only generate over a G of acceleration but can spin you right 'round as many times as you like. We took it for a quite a few spins indeed, plus more than one crash, and we think you'll want to check them out the video below.
Gallery: Force DynamicsContinue reading Force Dynamics 401cr test drive (video)Force Dynamics 401cr test drive (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Mar 2011 12:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink   |  Force Dynamics  | Email this | Comments

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Google Chrome's backgrounding features make the browser even more like an OS

Your operating system can run processes in the background -- things like realtime antivirus protection and streaming movies and music around your home -- and so can Google Chrome. Background apps have existed in Chrome and Chromium for some time, but now that the Chrome Web Store is open and its apps are available for installation, Google has posted a blog about why backgrounding is cool.

It's really all about Chrome being your "OS" even if you're using a Windows or Mac computer. With the ability to run Web apps in the background and Native Client support headed to the beta and stable channels in relatively short order, Chrome Web Apps will soon be capable of doing many of the same things your traditional desktop apps can do.

Google's post talks about using backgrounding to issue notifications (as apps like TweetDeck and exfm do) or to prefetch data. There's really no end to the possibilities, and we're exited to see what the next generation of Chrome Web Apps can really do.Google Chrome's backgrounding features make the browser even more like an OS originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Honk! Anyone Home? ?Door Claxon? Combines Horn and Handle

Dieter Volkers’ Door Claxon is a beautifully clever combination of a doorknob and a doorbell. Or rather, a doorhorn.
At first the Netherlands-based designer’s handle looks like little more than whimsy, but look again. First, it’s plain fun to have the horn honk through the handle, but then we see that the inside handle is also [...]

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Motorola: all our high-end smartphones will have Webtop from June onwards

You know how Motorola's Atrix is unique in having all these docking stations and a Webtop app that collectively turn it into a far more versatile computer than your average superpowered smartphone? Well, Sanjay Jha has just told investors at a Morgan Stanley shindig that the Atrix won't be unique for long -- the Webtop app will be making an appearance on all of Moto's "high performance" smartphones in the second half of this year, and we're told that the only reason the Droid Bionic won't be shipping with it was the simple constraint of time. What that implies, but something Jha didn't say, is that the Bionic and Moto's other forthcoming devices are likely to have laptop docks of their own -- hopefully with a connector that makes the docking accessory interchangeable between models.Motorola: all our high-end smartphones will have Webtop from June onwards originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Feb 2011 13:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink   |  Motorola  | Email this | Comments

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