Nokia Lumia 930 Arrives at Carphone Warehouse in Ireland

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <img alt="Nokia Lumia 930" height="351" src="http://i1-news.softpedia-static.com/images/news-700/Nokia-Lumia-930-Arrives-at-Carphone-Warehouse-in-Ireland.jpg" width="640" /><br /> <br /> <strong style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;">Nokia Lumia 930, the high-end Windows Phone 8.1 smartphone that went official in April this year, is now available for purchase in Ireland too, via Carphone Warehouse.</strong><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;">Last week, the smartphone emerged at various retailers and wireless carriers in the UK, but it seems that users in more markets can actually acquire the phone.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;">Carphone Warehouse is one of the retailers to have released the mobile phone in the UK, and the company is now offering it in Ireland as well, </span><a href="http://nokianewsireland.com/2014/07/20/the-nokia-lumia-930-now-on-sale-at-the-carphoneie-nokia-ireland-cpw/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #0058bb; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">NokiaNewsIreland</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"> has found out.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;">The smartphone can be purchased on monthly plans on the networks of wireless carriers such as Vodafone, Meteor, and eMobile. Lumia 930 features a price tag of €429.99 ($581) with Meteor and eMobile contracts, while being priced at €499.99 ($676) at Vodafone.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;">Those of you interested in the purchase of a Nokia Lumia 930 in Ireland should head over to </span><a href="http://www.carphonewarehouse.ie/Product/strong-nokia-strong-lumia-930/239119/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #0058bb; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">this page</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"> on the retailer’s website to learn more on its availability.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;">One thing that you should keep in mind, however, is that this handset runs under the Windows Phone 8.1 operating system and not under Android, as the retailer claims. Undoubtedly, they will update the listing soon to correct that error.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;">As mentioned above, Nokia Lumia 930 was made official in April this year as the first flagship handset running under the new flavor of Microsoft’s mobile operating system.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;">The mobile phone arrives on shelves with a 5-inch touchscreen display capable of delivering a full HD resolution and is powered by a 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;">Moreover, the Windows Phone 8.1 device sports 2GB of RAM, along with 32GB of internal memory. Unfortunately, no microSD memory card slot is available for expansion purposes, although the phone does come with free OneDrive storage.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;">What Lumia 930 does offer, however, is high-end imaging capabilities, courtesy of a 20-megapixel rear camera with full HD video recording and Surround-Sound, paired with a front camera for making video calls while on the go.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;">It also features 4G LTE connectivity, along with 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and NFC capabilities, and a GPS receiver. On top of that, it comes with all of the features and capabilities that Windows Phone 8.1 was announced with.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;">“The Nokia Lumia 930 comes with the latest Windows Phone experience, so the things that matter most are always with you whether you’re on your smartphone, Xbox or PC,” the retailer notes on its website.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;">“Exclusive Live Tiles keep you up to speed with what’s happening in your world, while new features like customizable background images for your home screen make Windows Phone 8.1 more personal than ever.</span></div>

Nokia Lumia 930 Arrives at Carphone Warehouse in Ireland

Nokia Lumia 930, the high-end Windows Phone 8.1 smartphone that went official in April this year, is now available for purchase in Irelan...

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Here is What's New in iOS 8 and OS X Beta 4 and iTunes 12.0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <img alt="iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite" height="351" src="http://i1-news.softpedia-static.com/images/news-700/Here-is-What-s-New-in-iOS-8-and-OS-X-Beta-4-and-iTunes-12-0.jpg" width="640" /><br /> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"> <strong>Busy Monday at Apple Headquarters. The tech giant has released plenty of updates dedicated to the developers for iOS and OS X. </strong></div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;">  </div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"> The most important news so far is that we have a brand new iTunes 12.0 that comes along with the all the new tweaks Apple promised. </div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;">  </div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"> Apple describes the new iTunes design as an elegant and streamlined one and explains the ability to share purchases with your family. There are also some new improvements that make organizing your library fun and easy. </div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;">  </div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"> Family Sharing allows you to share your purchases from iTunes, iBooks and the App Store with up to six people in your family, without sharing the same account. </div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;">  </div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"> Playlists have been improved. You can now see full library and playlists side by side, making it even easier to add your favorite songs to playlists. </div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;">  </div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"> There's also a redesigned Info Window. When you press command+I or right click and get to the "Get Info" menu you are going to see a clean look that displays the most useful info about your media, Apple explains.<br /><br />So far, iOS 8 Beta 4 brings only small improvements  (according to 9to5mac.com):<br /><div> <br />- New Settings Menu for Display, Text Size, and Bold text</div> <div>  </div> <div> - New HomeKit icon for data privacy</div> <div>  </div> <div> - New options for Messages history</div> <div>  </div> <div> - Animation is slightly slower when moving in and out of multitasking</div> <div>  </div> <div> - Bug Reporter application has been removed.</div> </div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;">  </div> <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;">This article is being updated often. Stay tuned for more new about the new iOS 8 and OS X Betas. More pictures will be added soon.</span><br /> <br /></div>

Here is What's New in iOS 8 and OS X Beta 4 and iTunes 12.0

Busy Monday at Apple Headquarters. The tech giant has released plenty of updates dedicated to the developers for iOS and OS X.    Th...

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Scythe Tatsumi CPU Cooler Is a Deceptively Cheap

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <img alt="Scythe Tatsumi CPU cooler" height="351" src="http://i1-news.softpedia-static.com/images/news-700/Scythe-Tatsumi-CPU-Cooler-Is-a-Deceptively-Cheap.jpg" width="640" /><br /> <strong style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;">Scythe, the cooling product maker stations in Japan, has introduced a CPU cooler that can spin its fan at 2,500 RPM while not going about 31.07 dBA of noise.</strong><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;">Called Tatsumi, the newcomer can be as silent as 7.2 dBA, which is barely audible at all, and only if you lean in really close to the case.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;">Measuring 102 x 146 x 83 mm / 4.02 x 5.75 x 3.27 inch (that’s including the fan), it weighs 450 grams / 1587 ounces and promises “great performance above the market average” despite the relatively low price of €21.60 / $29. Shipments should have already started. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;">On that note, it can push 11.4 and 94.3 cubic meter per hour (6.70 to 55.55 CFM) and can do its job while causing the minimum of air turbulence, thanks to the Multiple Airflow Pass-Through Structure (M.A.P.S.) technology.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify;">Finally, the list of CPU/APU sockets compatible with the Scythe Tatsumi cooler includes the following: AMD AM2, AM2+, AM3, AM3+, FM1 and FM2, plus Intel LGA775, LGA 1150, LGA 1155, LGA 1156, LGA 1366 and LGA 2011. The "Hyper Precision Mounting System" (H.P.M.S.) is what allows this.</span></div>

Scythe Tatsumi CPU Cooler Is a Deceptively Cheap

Scythe, the cooling product maker stations in Japan, has introduced a CPU cooler that can spin its fan at 2,500 RPM while not going about ...

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AirTame Wireless HDMI Dongle – Just Shut Up And Take My Money

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <img height="327" src="http://netdna.coolthings.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/airtame-dongle-1.jpg" width="400" /><br /> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; color: #393a3a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 16px;"> <span style="line-height: 19px;">I'm a huge fan of Google's </span>Chromecast<span style="line-height: 19px;">. It's cheap, it works, and it seriously cuts down on the drain on whichever gadget you're streaming from.  And while AirTame compares itself to Chromecast, along with similar solutions like Apple TV, we have a feeling people will be interested in it for far beyond the entertainment applications.</span></div> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; color: #393a3a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 16px;"> <a href="http://netdna.coolthings.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/airtame-dongle-2.jpg" style="border: none; color: #393a3a; outline: none;"></a></div> <br /> <div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #393a3a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px 16px; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"> A wireless HDMI dongle,  AirTame basically turns any HDMI-equipped display panel into a second computer monitor that can display content over WiFi.   It boasts no lag time and a literal plug-and-play setup that makes it a very attractive option for extending your desktop's reach.  Windows, Macs and Linux are all supported, too, with no transmitters necessary since it will use the existing WiFi network for streaming data.</div> <div class="post-44137 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-entertainment category-gadgets tag-cool-gadgets tag-indiegogo tag-streaming singlepost" id="post-44137" style="background-color: white; color: #393a3a; display: inline; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; width: 570px;"> <div class="entry" style="line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;"> <div style="margin-bottom: 16px;"> Sure, we get the Chromecast and Apple TV comparisons because you can use it to turn the TV into a wireless second monitor for watching movies and clips you'd otherwise just see on a computer display.  And that's a sweet thing.  The real benefit, though, is being able to use any HDMI-equipped display (including TVs, projectors, and even other laptops) around the house as an extended desktop.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 16px;"> Want to show your sister a must-see, life-or-death clip of a pesteringly-cute cat on YouTube, but she's watching one of the housewives show in the basement TV?  Send her a text to change to the HDMI input and stream the clip over instead.   Want to monitor your 12 year old's computer habits?  Plug an AirTame on your laptop, set his up to duplicate the display onto your system, and you've got an admittedly invasive but undoubtedly effective way to monitor what he's doing on Facebook full time.  When sending the stream to a second computer, by the way, it appears as a window with the receiving computer restricted to view-only mode, so no chance you will accidentally hit anything that will clue your unsuspecting son to what's going on.</div> <div style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 16px;"> <a href="http://netdna.coolthings.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/airtame-dongle-3.jpg" style="border: none; color: #393a3a; outline: none;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="283" src="http://netdna.coolthings.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/airtame-dongle-3.jpg" style="border: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="570" /></a></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 16px;"> The bummer?  No Android or iOS support, so it only works with actual computers for now.  AirTame is currently collecting funds for a production run on <a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/airtame-wireless-hdmi-for-everyone--2" style="border: none; color: #393a3a; outline: none;">Indiegogo</a>.  Pledges to reserve a unit starts at $89.</div> <div style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 16px;"> <br /></div> </div> </div> </div>

AirTame Wireless HDMI Dongle – Just Shut Up And Take My Money

I'm a huge fan of Google's  Chromecast . It's cheap, it works, and it seriously cuts down on the drain on whichever gadget y...

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Forget Your Smartwatch, I’m Wearing A Smarty Ring

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <img src="http://netdna.coolthings.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Smarty-Ring-1.jpg" /><br /> <div style="background-color: white; color: #393a3a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 16px;"> <br /></div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #393a3a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 16px;"> The rising popularity of smartwatches confirms one thing: a good amount of people are stoked about the idea of wearing computers on their limbs.  Since we have that "wearable computer on the wrist" part figured out, it's probably time to move on to other body parts.  How about those skinny things sticking out of your hands?  Well, the Smarty Ring wants to take care of that.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #393a3a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 16px;"> Why use a gadget that wraps around the wrist for mobile notifications when you can have all those on a gadget that's worn on just a single finger?  Yeah, makes sense to me.  Sure, a ring is too small to read emails, hold a camera, or cram in a mic for hands-free conversations, but if all you plan to use a smartwatch for are receiving notifications, then this seems like a more efficient device for achieving the same thing.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #393a3a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 16px;"> <a href="http://netdna.coolthings.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Smarty-Ring-2.jpg" style="border: none; color: #393a3a; outline: none;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="380" src="http://netdna.coolthings.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Smarty-Ring-2.jpg" style="border: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="570" /></a></div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #393a3a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 16px;"> The Smarty Ring is a stainless steel band with a small LED panel (single-color only, either blue or red) on the body acting as the display.  The panel will display time by default (you can set the time from the accompanying app), but will change to display an icon, along with playing an audible beeping sound, when a notification comes in.  It uses Bluetooth 4.0 to pair with your phone, after which it can alert you of calls, texts, emails, and various updates (upon launch, Facebook, Twitter, Google Hangouts, and Skype will be supported).</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #393a3a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 16px;"> The features don't end there, though.  On the outer side of the band sit a set of buttons, which you can use to control the phone remotely, letting you accept/reject incoming calls, place calls (only to numbers preset via the app), trigger the camera, control music playback, or change to a different user profile.  Plus, it will beep any time the phone is more than 30 meters away, so it can help minimize the chances you'll forget the phone in the bathroom at Chili's like you did last week after a couple of beers.  Everything is watertight, too, so you can keep the ring on all through the day.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #393a3a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 16px;"> Want one?  The Smarty Ring is currently raising funds for a production run on Indiegogo.  Pledges to reserve a full unit starts at $175</div> </div>

Forget Your Smartwatch, I’m Wearing A Smarty Ring

The rising popularity of smartwatches confirms one thing: a good amount of people are stoked about the idea of wearing computers on the...

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Launchpad Mini Shrinks The Popular Music Controller Down To Super-Portable Size

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <img src="http://netdna.coolthings.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/novation-launchpad-mini-1.jpg" /><br /> <div style="background-color: white; color: #393a3a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 16px;"> We've been big fans of Novation's Launchpad ever since it came out a few years back. It's fun, functional and those grid of lighted control pads just look pretty as heck. If there's any knock on the thing, in fact, it's just that it's a tad too big to comfortably carry around for on-the-go tactile music creation. The new Launchpad Mini offers a more compact, more portable alternative.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #393a3a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 16px;"> Styled similar to the original Launchpad, it comes with the same grid of 64 light-up pads, along with multiple buttons lined up on the sides. Because everything was shrunk down in size, it's a little more crowded than the original. If you can live with that though, it should offer exactly the same functionality as the larger model.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #393a3a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 16px;"> <a class="highslide" href="http://netdna.coolthings.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/novation-launchpad-mini-2.jpg" style="border: none; color: #393a3a; cursor: url(http://netdna.coolthings.com/wp-content/plugins/Viva-ThumbZoom/lib/v-zoom/graphics/zoomin.cur), pointer; outline: none;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-44437" height="387" src="http://netdna.coolthings.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/novation-launchpad-mini-2.jpg" style="border: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="570" /></a></div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #393a3a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 16px;"> As with the original, you can use the Launchpad Mini's multiple three-color launch pads to trigger loops, sounds, effects, and your collection of cat noises similar to any music controller. It works on Macs, PCs, and iPads, with full Ableton Live and FL Studio compatibility, apart from Novation's own Launchpad app. Even better, it works without a separate power source -- it will draw power directly from whatever machine it's hooked up to. You can string together as much as 16 Launchpad Minis (only for Macs and PCs) to put a gargantuan amount of tactile music controls at your fingertips.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #393a3a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 16px;"> Novation claims the device is rugged enough to withstand the rigors of the road, so you don't need to worry about breaking the thing when sharing the back of the van with six other rowdy dudes during a tour. Set comes with a complete set of cables, along with a set of stickers for labeling the keys.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #393a3a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 16px;"> The Launchpad Mini is available now, priced at $99.</div> </div>

Launchpad Mini Shrinks The Popular Music Controller Down To Super-Portable Size

We've been big fans of Novation's Launchpad ever since it came out a few years back. It's fun, functional and those grid of l...

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Google Smart Contact Lens Lets Diabetes Patients Monitor Their Glucose Levels By The Second

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <img src="http://netdna.coolthings.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/google-smart-contact-lens-1.jpg" /><br /> <br /> <div class="post-45465 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-gadgets category-latest tag-cool-gadgets tag-cool-inventions tag-google tag-health tag-wearable-tech tag-wearables singlepost" id="post-45465" style="background-color: white; color: #393a3a; display: inline; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; width: 570px;"> <div class="entry" style="line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;"> <div style="margin-bottom: 16px;"> A smart contact lens does seem like the logical evolution of eye-mounted wearable gadgets -- why look like a weirdo with Google Glass on your face when you can do everything on the sly? And while Google's new Smart Contact Lens doesn't exactly come with Glass' functionality (cramming that much hardware into a piece of plastic that fits over your cornea probably isn't feasible at this point in time), it does provide a glimpse into smart eyewear's potential future.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 16px;"> Aimed at diabetics, the contact lens allows wearers to constantly monitor their glucose levels. It can take as frequent as one reading per second, ensuring users get up-to-date information that can prove crucial to their well-being<span style="font-size: 14px;">.</span></div> <div style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 16px;"> <a href="http://netdna.coolthings.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/google-smart-contact-lens-2.jpg" style="border: none; color: #393a3a; outline: none;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="413" src="http://netdna.coolthings.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/google-smart-contact-lens-2.jpg" style="border: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="570" /></a></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 16px;"> The Google Smart Contact Lens performs its feat using a wireless chip and a miniature glucose sensor that takes it measurements from your tears, with the electronics sandwiched between two soft layers of lens material. They're also looking to add equally tiny LEDs down the line, which will alert users when their glucose levels reach specific thresholds. The electronics used in the lenses are so small, they look like tiny specks of glitter, so they're not that intimidating to put on either.</div> </div> <div class="more" style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 16px;"> </div> </div> <ins style="border: none; color: #555555; display: inline-table; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; height: 250px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; visibility: visible; width: 300px;"></ins></div>

Google Smart Contact Lens Lets Diabetes Patients Monitor Their Glucose Levels By The Second

A smart contact lens does seem like the logical evolution of eye-mounted wearable gadgets -- why look like a weirdo with Google Glass ...

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Pocket Drone Can Fit In Pockets, Fly For 20 Minutes And Carry A GoPro

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <img src="http://netdna.coolthings.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/pocket-drone-1.jpg" /><br /> <div style="background-color: white; color: #393a3a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 16px;"> Mini-drones that can fit in your pocket are definitely a lot of fun, but the inability to mount an action cam makes it practically useless for traditional spy drone missions. And while regular-size drones are great for that, the size doesn't exactly make them convenient to carry around. The Pocket Drone changes that.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #393a3a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 16px;"> Made by Airdroids, it can fold up into a pocketable bundle, allowing you to slip the whole thing into the back of your jeans when housed inside the included protective case. It's light, too, weighing just a pound, so it barely adds any weight to your carry-around gear.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #393a3a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 16px;"> <a class="highslide" href="http://netdna.coolthings.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/pocket-drone-2.jpg" style="border: none; color: #393a3a; cursor: url(http://netdna.coolthings.com/wp-content/plugins/Viva-ThumbZoom/lib/v-zoom/graphics/zoomin.cur), pointer; outline: none;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-45578" height="290" src="http://netdna.coolthings.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/pocket-drone-2.jpg" style="border: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="570" /></a></div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #393a3a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 16px;"> Unlike other miniature multicopters, the Pocket Drone is actually strong enough to haul aGoPro (among other action cams up to half a pound in weight) via the integrated mount, so it can be used for aerial videography and photography just like any of the popular consumer quadcopters. It comes ready-to-fly out of the box, with a folding mechanism that can be collapsed and bundled in just 20 seconds. Doing mini-drones that came before it one better, the tricopter design helps it conserve battery life, allowing for flight times as long as 20 minutes even with a camera in tow.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #393a3a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 16px;"> <a class="highslide" href="http://netdna.coolthings.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/pocket-drone-3.jpg" style="border: none; color: #393a3a; cursor: url(http://netdna.coolthings.com/wp-content/plugins/Viva-ThumbZoom/lib/v-zoom/graphics/zoomin.cur), pointer; outline: none;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-45579" height="290" src="http://netdna.coolthings.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/pocket-drone-3.jpg" style="border: none; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="570" /></a></div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #393a3a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 16px;"> Designed to survive in-flight mishaps, it boasts tough construction (hard plastic and carbon fiber), retracting/breakaway propellers, and integrated landing gear. Paired with the app, it supports autopilot flight planning via Google Maps, fly-by GPS waypoints, and "Follow Me" mode, among a whole load of other cool tricks.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #393a3a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 16px;"> The Pocket Drone is a big hit at <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/airdroids/the-pocket-drone-your-personal-flying-robot" style="border: none; color: #393a3a; outline: none;">Kickstarter</a>, where it's currently fully-funded. Lucky for you, it's still ongoing, with pledges to reserve a unit starting at $495.</div> </div>

Pocket Drone Can Fit In Pockets, Fly For 20 Minutes And Carry A GoPro

Mini-drones that can fit in your pocket are definitely a lot of fun, but the inability to mount an action cam makes it practically useles...

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