| Opera 12 opens its beta doors: improves performance and stability, adds new themes Apr 26th 2012, 20:34  Similar to that other, foxy browser, Opera reached numerical version 12 (although in beta form), promising to be as fast and smooth as it's ever been. Included in the new revision are a slew of under-the-hood enhancements, along with a few cosmetic alterations. For starters, Opera 12 now offers complete 64-bit compatibility for both Mac and Windows, while "experimental" hardware acceleration and WebGL support are also in tow. Furthermore, the browser added a "smarter" tab-loading sequence, speed improvements for faster page uploads and a way to customize the look with a bundle of new themes -- of course, you can create your own as well. As for the backend tweaks, Opera announced it's abandoning its Unite and Widgets features in favor of an extension-driven model. Those of you eager to take it for a spin can hit the Opera link below to get started. [Thanks, Yousef] Opera 12 opens its beta doors: improves performance and stability, adds new themes originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink |  Opera, Opera Blog | Email this | Comments | | ComScore pegs Kindle Fire at more than 50 percent of the US Android tablet market Apr 26th 2012, 20:12  We've seen some pretty clear indications that the Kindle Fire was rapidly gaining market share among Android tablets, and ComScore is now out with a new report that indicates it recently crossed a big milestone. According to the research firm, the Fire's market share in the US fully doubled from December to February, with it standing at 54.4 percent as of the end of the month. Counted together, the Galaxy Tab family sits in second at 15.4 percent, while the Motorola Xoom and Asus Transformer come in at 7 and 6.3 percent, respectively. Of course, the Kindle Fire isn't quite your ordinary Android tablet, so this is likely better news for Amazon than Google. In addition to that, ComScore also looked at the browsing habits of tablet users, and unsurprisingly found that larger screens tended to lead to more content consumption, with 10-inch tablets boasting a 39 percent higher consumption rate than 7-inch devices. You can find all the numbers at the source link below. ComScore pegs Kindle Fire at more than 50 percent of the US Android tablet market originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | ComScore | Email this | Comments | | Apple working on 21,468 square-foot cafeteria in Cupertino, wants employees' chatter to be safe Apr 26th 2012, 19:39  How do you keep your employees chit chat from spilling the beans on your next one more thing? You force the beans to be served in an employee-only 21,468 square-foot cafeteria -- that's how. According to Mercury News, Apple just got the go-ahead from the Cupertino Planning Commission on its scheme to build a colossal two-story bistro exclusively for staff members. While the facility will be mainly used for eating purposes during lunch hours (11:30AM to 2PM, to be exact), it'll also accommodate meeting rooms and lounge areas. Apple's Director of Real Estate Facilities, Dan Whisenhunt, says the company needs to provide its people with a sense of security "without fear of competition sort of overhearing their conversations." Now, we can't help but wonder if it's going to look anything like that spaceship... Apple working on 21,468 square-foot cafeteria in Cupertino, wants employees' chatter to be safe originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink  USA Today | Mercury News | Email this | Comments | | Republic Wireless now issuing invites for summer beta program: is your name on the list? Apr 26th 2012, 19:17  Republic Wireless is now issuing the cellphone equivalent of Willy Wonka's golden tickets: an invite to its forthcoming beta. When you've been assigned a wave, you'll then be placed on a wait list, only told a week before you have to place cash on the barrel for a handset. Our tipsters have told us that the company is pitching (via a survey, of course) to hit three price points for customers, each fee buying a smartphone and the first month's service. All they could supply were the specs, so we've suggested some handsets that could fit the bill: - Entry Level: $199 gets a phone from an "unknown" manufacturer with a 3.5-inch touchscreen, 600MHz CPU, 0.5GB of storage and a 5-megapixel camera -- which puts us in mind of the ZTE Libra or the iNQ Cloud Touch.
- Mid-range: $299 will buy a handset from a "well known" manufacturer, 3.7-inch touchscreen, 1GHz CPU, 1GB storage, 5-megapixel camera and a VGA front-facer, similar to the Galaxy U, HTC One V or Huawei Vision.
- Top Line: $499 gets you a 4.3-inch touchscreen phone with a 1.2Ghz dual-core CPU, 8GB storage and, weirdly, a 7-megapixel camera. We hope that last stat is a typo, since it rules out the vast majority of handsets at that level. If it was 8-megapixels, for example, we'd be thinking about phones like the Galaxy S II.
We reached out to the company for more details, and were told that it's simply in a discovery phase of sorts -- it's still trying to get a better grasp on exactly what phones would be desired. Unfortunately, that means that there aren't any concrete handset decisions to be shared just yet, but we'll be sure to pass those along as soon as we find out ourselves. [Thanks, Matt] Republic Wireless now issuing invites for summer beta program: is your name on the list? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | Samsung applies for patent on emotional recognition, wants to feel out how you're feeling Apr 26th 2012, 18:35  Samsung might not give off the immediate impression of a warm, fuzzy company, as it really comes off more like a faceless device-manufacturing juggernaut, but that doesn't stop it trying to get a handle on what people are feeling. According to a recent patent application, the company is putting together a method of recognizing the emotions of an individual based on action units (AUs). And what exactly are those? They're components of a facial action coding system: something designed to reference the contractions of facial muscles. With a total of 30 units, several AUs combine to form a string (shown above) that's then detected by some unmentioned Samsung tech and matched to an emotion label that best fits the string. Hardware-wise, it's relatively vague -- par for the course with patent applications -- but would require a processor and memory, with no mention of a camera sensor to capture all that facial gurning. Samsung's keeping up its emotional patent armor up for now, but you can flirt with an outline of its thoughts at the source below. Samsung applies for patent on emotional recognition, wants to feel out how you're feeling originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | USPTO | Email this | Comments | |
