Chrome Remote Desktop comes out of beta, adds real-time audio feed for Windows users

After a year of living in beta, Chrome Remote Desktop is finally ready for primetime. Similar to other screen sharing services like LogMeIn and Splashtop, Chrome Remote Desktop lets you access other computers remotely. Of course, it is special to the Chrome browser, and by extension, the Chrome OS. The latest version of the app adds a couple of new features like a real-time audio feed for Windows users and the ability to copy-and-paste between remote and local computers. You can use this with any Chrome browser of course, but it could prove especially useful for those with Chromebooks, as you can easily communicate with a presumably storage-laden home PC while still toting around a lightweight notebook.

[Source: Engadget]

Sony goes Red-hunting with PMW-F55 and PMW-F5 pro CineAlta 4K Super 35mm sensor camcorders

Having seen some of its high-end cinema camera thunder stolen by the likes of Red and Arri, Sony has just launched a pair of CineAlta PL-mount cameras with brand new Super 35mm sensors: The PMW-F5 and PMW-F55. Though both pack 4K CMOS imagers, the similarities grind to a halt there -- the higher-end PMW-F55 has a global shutter, wider color gamut and can output 4k along with 2k and HD video, while the PMW-F5 is a strictly 2k and HD model with a rolling shutter. Depending on the level of quality you want, there are several ways to capture video to each camcorder. MPEG-4 H.264 video or Sony's SR MPEG-4 SStP can be recorded onto Sony's new SxS PRO+ media, or if RAW quality is desired, there's the new AXS-R5 Access Memory System for 2K / 4K RAW capture -- which will also work with the current NEX-FS700. Using the latter system, the PMW-F5 is capable of grabbing up to 120fps slow motion RAW video, while the PMW-F55 could capture 240fps, putting it squarely in Epic-X territory. The new camcorders will arrive in February 2013, and while Sony hasn't outed pricing yet, it'll likely be under the flagship 4k CineAlta F65's formidable $65k sticker. Check the PR after the break to get the entire technical skinny.

[Source: Engadget]

ASUS brings you the new Nexus 7 by ASUS with 32GB & 3G connectivity

ASUS today announce that the UK’s best-selling Android tablet has been upgraded to 32GB storage and will be offered with 3G connectivity. The original Nexus 7 by ASUS was voted Tablet of the Year and Gadget of the Year at the recent T3 Awards, in addition to scooping numerous other industry accolades.

Nexus 7 by ASUS with 32GB will be priced SRP £199 and will be available from 4:30pm (UK time) today from a range of retailers including PC World, Currys, Comet, Carphone Warehouse, Ebuyer, HMV, Tesco, John Lewis, Littlewoods, Argos, ASDA, GAME and Sainsburys. The Nexus 7 by ASUS with 32GB and 3G connectivity will be able from Three.co.uk around the middle of November. Three.co.uk will shortly announce further details including tariffs and exact date of availability. The Nexus 7 by ASUS has proven to be a huge success with consumers and is the most successful Android tablet to launch in the UK.

Nexus 7 is built by ASUS and comes with a NVIDIA® Tegra® 3 quad-core processor so everything is faster – pages load quickly, gameplay is smooth and responsive, and running multiple apps is a breeze. Patented 4-PLUS-1™ design gives users processing power when needed, and battery saving efficiency when they don’t. It comes with Android 4.2, the latest version of the world's most popular mobile platform – featuring an improved keyboard that helps users say and do more, new actionable notifications, updates to Google Now and much more.

Nexus 7 was made for Google Play, putting entertainment users love right in their hand: the world's largest collection of eBooks, millions of songs, thousands of movies and TV shows, and the latest magazines – plus over 675,000 apps and games. Nexus 7 comes with all the favorite Google Apps – like Gmail, Chrome, Google+ and YouTube – putting the best of Google in the palm of the hand.

Tech Specs

• Processor: NVIDIA® Tegra® 3 T30L Quad-Core @ 1.2GHz
• Display: 7” WXGA (1280 x 800) high-definition LED backlit IPS panel with 178-degree viewing angles, scratch-resistant Corning® Fit Glass, 10 finger multi-touch, 400nits, ASUS TruVivid technology for improved clarity and brightness
• Operating System: Android 4.2, Jelly Bean
• Camera: 1.2 megapixel front-facing camera
• Sensor: G-Sensor, light sensor, gyroscope, e-compass, GPS, NFC, hall effect sensor
• Battery: 4325mAh, 16Wh Li-polymer (Movie playback: 8hrs; book reading: 10hrs; web browsing: 10hrs; audio playback: 50hrs; standby: 300hrs)
• Google Mobile services: Google Play, Gmail, Google Earth™, YouTube, Movie Studio, Google Maps, syncing with Google Calendar, Google+
• Connectivity: 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi direct
• Network: GSM/EDGE - 850/900/1800/1900 WCDMA - 850/900/1700/1900/2100
• Memory: RAM 1GB, ROM 8/16/32GB
• Size and weight: 198.5 x 120 x 10.45mm; 340g
• Audio and interface: 2-in-1 audio jack (head-out/MIC), 1x micro-USB, 2x digital microphone, 2x high quality speakers, 1x docking pin

Steve Jobs's yacht makes its first appearance

Steve Jobs's yacht is making what looks to be its first public appearance in the Dutch city of Aalsmeer, a bit more than one year after his death. The photographs first appeared on the Apple news site One More Thing and closely resemble the description given by Walter Isaacson in his Steve Jobs biography.

After our omelets at the café, we went back to his house and he showed me all of the models and architectural drawings. As expected, the planned yacht was sleek and minimalist. The teak decks were perfectly flat and unblemished by any accoutrements. As at an Apple store, the cabin windows were large panes, almost floor to ceiling, and the main living area was designed to have walls of glass that were forty feet long and ten feet high. He had gotten the chief engineer of the Apple stores to design a special glass that was able to provide structural support. By then the boat was under construction by the Dutch custom yacht builders Feadship, but Jobs was still fiddling with the design. "I know that it’s possible I will die and leave Laurene with a half-built boat," he said. "But I have to keep going on it. If I don’t, it’s an admission that I’m about to die."

One image clearly shows "de vries," one of the two shipyards that make up the Feadship custom yacht building company, while another tells us that the yacht is christened "Venus," the Roman goddess of love and beauty. The ship builders were each gifted an iPod shuffle with the ship's name inscribed on the back, along with a note thanking them for their "hard work and craftsmanship."

[Source: The Verge - Click here to read the full story]

Why is Wikipedia's editing community dwindling?

Wikipedia's closely-examined editing community has been declining for quite some time, and historian and Wikipedia editor Richard Jensen has a theory that may explain why. The problem, Jensen postulates, is that there's simply less work for editors to do than there has been in the past. He cites the editing histories of popular articles like the War of 1812 and World War II, which peak between 2005 and 2007. In contrast, the articles' pageviews have steadily increased, which Jensen says shows that there isn't a lack of engagement, but rather that popular articles are nearly complete. Take a look at more highlights from Jensen's study at The Atlantic.

[Source: The Verge]

Vodafone UK making their '4G promise,' offering deals for early upgrades to 4G contracts

Despite not having a licence at present, or any firm plans for a 4G LTE network, UK carrier Vodafone has come out fighting with their "4G Promise." Rival carrier, EE, is set to launch the UK's first 4G LTE network within days. Eager not to lose out too much to the new service, Vodafone is offering some pretty impressive deals for customers who upgrade to their 4G network when it eventually arrives. 

The meat of the offer is pretty straight forward: 

So if you’ve bought an iPhone 5 or Samsung Galaxy SIII (purchased after October 26th 2012) or Galaxy Note II, simply bring it back to one of our stores. Even if you’re still in contract, we’ll knock off 70% of your remaining contract charges, letting you upgrade your phone early and start a fresh contract.

70% is a huge amount to reduce an outstanding contract fee by, and shows that Vodafone is keen to not only retain their current customers who may think about switching, but attract those who are unable to get EE 4G LTE at the services launch. The deal only applies when taking out a new 4G contract in the future, and for devices bought between September 12 2012 and March 31 2013.

[Source: Android Central]

T-Mobile also cancels NYC event on account of weather

We've been through this before. This notice has just landed in our inbox:

Hi,

Apologies for the late mail, but due to the expected weather in New York, T-Mobile will be postponing its showcase event (which was scheduled for October 29) to a later date.  We will keep you posted on a rescheduled date as soon as we can.

Thanks for your flexibility and patience and apologies for the inconvenience.

The weather is getting nasty out there, and T-Mobile has decided that holding its event in New York Cityisn't the best choice. Since Google has also decided to postpone its impending Nexus event, we're not going to blame T-Mo for taking the safe route. No reason to risk having extra people traveling in Hurricane Sandy.

[Source: Android Central]

Apps and tips for coping with Hurricane Sandy

All of us in the northeast US (which includes myself and TUAW colleagues Megan Lavey-Heaton, Dave Caolo and Kelly Hodgkins) are keeping a wary weather eye on the approaching maelstrom that is Hurricane Sandy. While we continue to hope for minimal impacts to life and property, it's overwhelmingly likely that millions of people will be facing days or weeks of power outages, constrained transportation and other serious challenges.

As we noted last year with the approach of Irene, there are several apps and simple tips that can help keep you safe and secure in emergent conditions. Of course, the most important advice is also pretty simple: follow the instructions of local authorities with regard to evacuations, road closures and travel restrictions.

[Source: TUAW - Click here to read the full story]

East Coast Apple Stores batten down for Hurricane Sandy

Just like most everyone else on the East Coast of the United States, Apple Stores in five states, D.C. and Canada are making preparations for "Frankenstorm" Hurricane Sandy. ifoAppleStore.com reports that between35 and 50 stores may close in the northeastern US and Canada (if they haven't already), as they are either within the expected landfall zone of Sandy or just outside it.

One of our readers has confirmed that Rhode Island and Boston area stores are shut. Meanwhile, two of Apple's flagship New York City stores have surrounded themselves with sandbags, with the Fifth Avenue store even wrapping Macs and other products in plastic bags as an extra precaution against water damage.

All of this goes to show that if Apple isn't taking chances with this megastorm, neither should you. If you live in the area expected to be affected by Hurricane Sandy, please take every precaution possible. Forewarned is forearmed.

[Source: TUAW]

Livescribe outs Sky WiFi Smartpen for $170, lets you record written notes and audio straight to Evernote

The Pulse pen couldn't do it. The more recent Echo couldn't manage it either. But sending notes and linked audio wirelessly is what Livescribe's latest digital pen is all about. Branded the Sky WiFi Smartpen, it works with proprietary physical notebooks to preserve your handwritten notes and linked audio files on a minimum of 2GB of onboard storage, and then it sends them directly to your Evernote account via WiFi -- from where you can access them on pretty much any PC, tablet or smartphone. If you're wondering a how the pen selects the right network and enters a password, then it's actually pretty straightforward: Livescribe's new stationery is printed with connection buttons that, in conjunction with the OLED display on the pen itself, guide you through the procedure in a few seconds. The latest notebooks also have buttons for sending your captured thoughts to Google Drive, Dropbox and Facebook, although those services won't be activated until early next year.

[Source: Engadget - Click here to read the full story]

Microsoft adds WP8 app to Windows Store just in time for launch

If you're aiming to get your hands on one of the many Windows Phone 8 devices launching later today, it would be nice to be able to sync it with your Windows 8 PC, no? Redmond has you covered in the nick of time, as it's just released the free Windows Phone app to its Windows Store. That'll let you get music, photos, or video over to your computer and back, use Windows 8 apps to share things like searches, automatically save photos or videos taken with your phone to your PC and check your phone's storage to see how it's being used. It'll also let allow you to download phone apps and learn more about your device, while pulling off a trick we've saw first with Apple, then WP7 -- letting you track down your smartphone if it goes missing. You can grab it at the source, then all you'll need is a WP8 (or 7.8) handset -- so stay tuned for our liveblog at 10:00 am PST / 1:00 pm EST to see when that might happen.

[Source: Engadget]

Cray's Jaguar supercomputer upgraded with NVIDIA Tesla GPUs, renamed Titan

Cray's Jaguar (or XK7) supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been loaded up with the first shipping NVIDIA Telsa K20 GPUs and renamed Titan. Loaded with 18,688 of the Kepler-based K20s, Titan's peak performance is more than 20 petaflops. Sure, the machine has an equal number of 16-core AMD Opteron 6274 processors as it does GPUs, but the Tesla hardware packs 90 percent of the entire processing punch. Titan is roughly ten times faster and five times more energy efficient than it was before the name change, yet it fits into the same 200 cabinets as its predecessor. Now that it's complete, the rig will analyze data and create simulations for scientific projects ranging from topics including climate change to nuclear energy. The hardware behind Titan isn't meant to power your gaming sessions, but the NVIDIA says lessons learned from supercomputer GPU development trickle back down to consumer-grade cards. For the full lowdown on the beefed-up supercomputer, hit the jump for a pair of press releases.

[Source: Engadget]