DJ Sound Control computer mod redefines luggable originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Aug 2011 15:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Checking for updates for your Mac is about as fun as watching paint dry, but it doesn’t have to be that way. With a free, simple plugin you can bring all the joy of Nyan Cat to various Mac OS X-based loading activities.

Nyan Cat, if you’re not aware, is a cat made mostly of pop tart that travels endlessly through space and has spawned iOS games and countless spin-offs after first appearing on LOL-COMICS in April. It’s bizarre and adorable, and now you can see its smiling face and pink-frosted body every time you open Software Update or copy a file in Finder.

To install the Nyan Cat loading bar, just go to creator Michael Buckley’s GitHub page and follow the instructions he provides there. It takes a minute or two at most, and is easy enough to reverse. Maybe you want to surprise a loved one with some unexpected space kitty action the next time they go to see if there’s an iTunes update available, or you’re just tired of Apple’s rather plain aqua loading bar. You’ll have to supply your own background music.

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Should the rules be changed to prevent disqualifications like Usain Bolt's on Sunday?

Take a trip with me in my imaginary time machine, back to an era of circus entertainment. Listen to the moustachioed ring master bellow, “Roll Up, roll up. Come and see the fastest man on earth. So quick, he’s known as the ‘Lightning Bolt’ – speedier than anyone in history. Roll up, roll up.”

The crowds swarm to see the star attraction, abuzz with excitement. What will this freak of human sprinting do? How fast can the Lightning Bolt strike this time, they wonder.

The ring master cracks his whip; our hero sets off, then, oh dear: “Sorry folks, our star attraction started a fraction of one second too early. The race is off.”

And in response to the groan of disappointment from the expectant audience? “Rules are rules.”

In our make-believe, bygone age the ring master would have been hauled away, put in the stocks and had rotten tomatoes thrown at him.

The IAAF, athletics’ governing body, and the equivalent of the ring master for the World Athletics Championships, can count themselves lucky that we live in more enlightened times.

However, there will be plenty of Usain Bolt fans wishing they could haul track and field bosses away following the superstar Jamaican sprinter’s false start in the 100 metres final.

Due to a rule change last year, there was no second chance for Bolt – and the man everyone had come to see was forced to sit out the Championships’ blue riband event.

It's often said that no single athlete is bigger than his or her sport, but Bolt’s astonishing error is the exception that proves the rule. And, in this case, the false start rule – one strike and you’re out – needs changing.

Ironically, Bolt supported the rule when it was introduced in 2010. And in a statement after the race – released through the IAAF – he refused to criticize it.

However, even if the 100 and 200 meters world record holder can take such misfortune so well, his fans aren’t so magnanimous.

Just a glance at social-networking sites shows the global disappointment from people denied the chance to see the fastest man on the planet doing what he does best.

The rule was changed, in part, to suit sponsors and television executives who were frustrated at the delays caused by multiple false starts. Those same “suits” will be even more annoyed if their star attraction is disqualified again at next year’s Olympic Games.

Yes, everyone knows the rules but it doesn’t make it any easier for an athlete to stick to them in the pressure-cooker atmosphere of a major final.

Human beings make mistakes, and Usain Bolt is such a top draw the regulations should be changed to stop what happened to him from happening again.

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The Samsung Conquer 4G sets itself apart by being one of the cheaper 4G-equipped phones out there.  Despite the price, it’s quite the capable device, striking a good balance of hardware and features to go with the high-speed broadband connectivity.
Physically, it’s a good-looking mid-sized phone that should fit perfectly fine in your pants pocket.  While it’s nowhere near premium in

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Continue reading LG 3D Game Converter adds depth to regular 2D games

LG 3D Game Converter adds depth to regular 2D games originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Aug 2011 09:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple scored another victory in its legal battle with Samsung in Australia early Monday, as the South Korean company agreed to a further delay of the launch of its Galaxy Tab 10.1 Android-powered tablet. Samsung had already agreed to delay the launch, which was originally planned for mid to late August, earlier this month, and will now wait until the court makes a decision regarding Apple’s request for a preliminary injunction in late September.

Samsung has agreed not to sell or advertise the Galaxy Tab 10.1 before the court’s decision, which should come down following a hearing scheduled for Sept. 26 and 29. Initially, FOSS Patents reports, Samsung’s lawyers were actually opposed to the idea of another delay of the product launch, but the judge advised that launching despite the pending issue of the preliminary injunction wouldn’t be wise. After some internal discussion between Samsung execs and its legal team, the company agreed to hold off.

In an attempt to stave off a preliminary injunction in Australia, Samsung slightly altered the Galaxy Tab 10.1. Apple’s initial delay was so that it could receive and examine the new model to see if it still considered it in violation of its intellectual property. There’s no word on what specifically is changed about the Australian Tab, but Apple’s lawyers discussed its “reduced functionality,” though it still thinks the device is too close of a copycat.

After a limited Dutch injunction against Galaxy smartphones and a reaffirmed German injunction against the Tab both came down last week, it looks like Apple is gaining some momentum in its intellectual property fight with Samsung. The actual trials are where we’ll really start to see how things will ultimately shake out, but with a California court agreeing to expedite a trial in that district, we won’t have to wait too long before the action starts.

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The next iPhone won’t be all that different from its predecessor when it comes to screen size, according to a new report. Citing sources within Apple’s display panel supply stream, Digitimes claims that the iPhone 5′s screen will be between 3.5 and 3.7 inches, and not 4-inches or greater, as some reports in the past have claimed.

The report from Digitimes, which has a fairly successful history of discovering information about the parts going into future Apple devices ahead of their release, says that the iPhone 5′s display panel, despite not being much larger than the current iPhone’s 3.5-inch one, will nonetheless appear larger thanks to a new design. The bezel surrounding the display will be able to be made smaller, which will allow the screen to sit closer to the phone’s edge. This will make it look much bigger, and allow the iPhone 5 to sport an even slimmer, more compact form factor. It’s also possible that these reports address just one of two new iPhone models coming this fall, if speculation about a cheaper version of the iPhone arriving alongside a full-fledged iPhone 5 prove true.

Sources also claimed in the report that the iPhone 5′s back will be metal, instead of reinforced glass. That’s a rumor we’ve heard mentioned before, but so far we’ve yet to really see much supporting evidence to back it up. Some think it would interfere with reception, but aftermarket mods that accomplish the same thing with the iPhone 4 do exist, and users don’t seem to report any reception problems (it may help that the antenna on the iPhone 4 is actually outside the device) so in theory it should work fine.

I argued early this year that the next iPhone might not need a considerably larger screen. While I still believe it likely won’t hinder its selling ability, after using the Samsung Galaxy S II with its 4.3-inch screen for a while, I do think a bigger display would be beneficial to iPhone owners. What do you think? Would a smaller screen be disappointing, or a welcome change if it helps the iPhone 5 take up even less room in your pocket?

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Continue reading Sonnet’s Echo brings ExpressCard to Thunderbolt machines

Sonnet’s Echo brings ExpressCard to Thunderbolt machines originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Aug 2011 03:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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(CNN) – On Oyu Tolgoi – "Turquoise Hill" – the biggest business venture in Mongolia is taking shape.

The copper resources aren't new to locals – after all, for thousands of years locals dug out copper to melt down into things like arrowheads, CNN's Stan Grant reports.

But the massive Gobi Desert copper and gold mine – a joint venture with foreign mining conglomerates Ivanhoe and Rio Tinto – is expected to account for one-third of the nation's total economic output by 2020 and boost the average earnings of Mongolia by 60%.

The numbers are staggering. The development phase runs to nearly $5 billion. The mine is projected to produce to 450,000 tons of copper and more than 300,000 ounces of gold. Developers claim there's enough here to mine for the next 50 years or more.

Yet it's placing stress on am ancient nomadic way of life.

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Samsung’s already given us a few tidbits about its upcoming Galaxy W, but none pertaining to color. Lending credence to a bleached variant of the upcoming “Wonder” smartphone are a bevy of shots from Mai Nguyen, depicting the gizmo and its textured derriere in exquisite detail. Thus far, all that’s been confirmed are its 3.7-inch WVGA display, 1.4GHz CPU, 5 megapixel camera and that it’ll sling HSDPA packets at speeds of up to 14.4Mbps. We plan on finding out more at IFA next week, but in the meantime venture past the break for another snap, or hit the source for the full monty.

Continue reading White Galaxy W surfaces, flashes its backside

White Galaxy W surfaces, flashes its backside originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 28 Aug 2011 21:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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