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Friday, May 4, 2012
'The Avengers', 'Best Exotic Marigold Hotel', And More: Double Feature Friday!
So we know that you're probably already going to see one movie this weekend, but if you can stop yourself from rewatching "The Avengers" on loop, we have a few recommendations based on the week's other releases. Check out this week's Double Feature Friday! "The Avengers" & "Speed" The undisputed hero of the weekend has [...]
Samsung announces SmartStay and S Voice features for the Galaxy S III
In addition to announcing its newest flagship, the Galaxy S III, along with some nifty photo-sharing features, Samsung has just revealed two more human-friendly features that aim to further differentiate the phone on the software side. These include SmartStay, which cleverly keeps the display from timing out by using the front-facing camera to detect when you're looking at the screen. Meanwhile, S Voice ushers in voice commands, and is the closest thing we've seen to a Siri competitor since Apple introduced that feature on the iPhone 4S. And we have to say, though Android users have long been reveling in voice-activated dialing and Google searches, the list of possible use cases here is quite impressive. In addition to initiating calls, you can wake the phone, request songs, send emails and text messages, use the calendar app, adjust the volume, capture photos, snooze the alarm and inquire about the weather. For now, Samsung says this feature will support eight languages, including, among others, Spanish, German, Korean and American / British English. Still, we wouldn't put it past Samsung to teach the GS III a few more languages once it gets that whole "launching in 145 countries" thing out of the way.
Samsung announces SmartStay and S Voice features for the Galaxy S III originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 May 2012 14:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Rdio grows its European presence, hits France and the UK starting at ?4.99 per month
The hottest tech news of the day in Europe will undoubtedly be the next Galaxy phone, launching tonight in London. Music fans on that side of the pond woke up to another surprise, however, with the launch of Rdio's online streaming service in France and the UK. Pricing starts at £4.99 (about $8) per month for unlimited web streaming, jumping to £9.99 (roughly $16) when you add mobile support. Ready to rock? Hit up the source link below for a six-day free mobile trial, without any need to hand over those precious credit card deets.
Rdio grows its European presence, hits France and the UK starting at ?4.99 per month originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 May 2012 06:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Samsung Galaxy S III versus the HTC One X!
You're going to make me choose, aren't you. You're going to make be choose between the HTC One X and the new Samsung Galaxy S III. Fine. I'm a big boy. I can do that.
The One X has the better display. Maybe it's the slightly higher pixel density, thanks to the slightly smaller display (4.7 inches compared to the GSIII's 4.8 inches). Or maybe it's just that I prefer Super LCD2 to Super AMOLED HD. Regardless, I choose the One X on that spec.
I'm going to take a pass on processor and chipset for the moment. That's something that's better tested in the real world and not after a few hours of demos. But chances are we're going to see pretty good battery times on the Galaxy S III, due in part to it having a greater capacity (2100 mAh) compared to the One X (1800mAh).
If you've listened to our Galaxy S III podcast, you know that I'm not crazy about the latest version of Touchwiz. As far as home screens and the launcher go, they're functional, but they're more of the same. But Samsung's camera app, and the S Voice and motion tweaks are pretty killer. We'll call that one a wash, perhaps, because a third-party launcher will cure some what Touchwiz ails. At the end of the day, though, it doesn't feel like you're using an Ice Cream Sandwich device like it does on One X.
When it comes down to that "feels good in the hand" factor, though, the Galaxy S III wins out. It's more curvy than the One X, and it's a full 0.3 millimeters thinner. It's 3 grams heavier, though, but it's nicely balanced and doesn't feel overly hefty.
So which one would I choose? Which of my children do I prefer more than another?
Gonna sleep on it. In the meantime, enjoy the hands-on video after the break.
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Thursday, May 3, 2012
This Is Canon's Shockingly Rudimentary 5D Mark III Light Leak Fix [Cameras]
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New promo video for ASUS N-Series Notebooks makes us want to hug it out
Nothing stokes the emotional coals like slow-mo drops of water and orchestral strings. That's at least what the team behind this ASUS promo video seem to think. Amidst the melodrama there are actually a few new nuggets of info about the rained-on N-series Notebook. There's "SonicMaster Premium" sound from Bang and Olufsen on board, which the firm claims should please the pickiest of ears, and full HD wide-view screens. A backlit keyboard and fancy touch pad are also shown off, with the latter matching the aspect ratio of the screen for "intuitive control." The claimed (up to) two-week standby time should please the infrequent user, while the impatient will like the two second wake-up time. Whether it'll have Oscar-winning performance to match the video, however, is yet to be known.
New promo video for ASUS N-Series Notebooks makes us want to hug it out originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 May 2012 09:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Court denies Hudson is getting star treatment
FILE - In this Feb. 9, 2012 file photo, Jennifer Hudson poses at The Pan African Film & Arts Festival's opening night premiere of Screen Gems' "Think Like a Man" in Los Angeles. As Hudson watches the trial of the man accused of killing her family, she is playing the dual role of celebrity and crime victim. Some of the accommodations the court is making for her are because she's a star, but others, advocates say, are courtesies routinely extended to family members who have lived through tragedy. (AP Photo/Danny Moloshok, File)
FILE - In this Feb. 9, 2012 file photo, Jennifer Hudson poses at The Pan African Film & Arts Festival's opening night premiere of Screen Gems' "Think Like a Man" in Los Angeles. As Hudson watches the trial of the man accused of killing her family, she is playing the dual role of celebrity and crime victim. Some of the accommodations the court is making for her are because she's a star, but others, advocates say, are courtesies routinely extended to family members who have lived through tragedy. (AP Photo/Danny Moloshok, File)
FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Cook County Sheriff's Department shows William Balfour, who is charged in the murders of the mother, brother and nephew of Oscar winner and singer Jennifer Hudson. The judge hearing Balfour's murder case agreed Monday, April 30, 2012 to release the 911 recording of Julia Hudson, Jennifer Hudson's sister, at the request of several media outlets. On the tape, Julia Hudson begs a dispatcher for help after finding her mother shot dead inside the family's home on Chicago's South Side. (AP Photo/Cook County Sheriff's Department, File)
FILE - In this Oct. 25, 2008 file photo, Julia Hudson, sister of singer and actress Jennifer Hudson, speaks at a news conference in Chicago. The judge hearing the murder case of William Balfour, charged in the 2008 killing of Julia's mother, brother and 7-year-old son, agreed Monday, April 30, 2012, to release the 911 recording of Julia Hudson at the request of several media outlets. On the tape, she begs a dispatcher for help after finding her mother shot dead inside the family's home on Chicago's South Side. (AP Photo/David Banks, File)
CHICAGO (AP) ? Jennifer Hudson arrives each day at the trial of the man accused of killing three of her close family members with her personal bodyguards in tow. She uses a secret entrance to elude photographers, eats in private and waits for proceedings to start in normally off-limits judge's chambers.
The Oscar winner, recently named one of the world's 50 most beautiful women by People magazine, slips from the courtroom during particularly gory testimony.
Do the accommodations for the actress and singer add up to special star treatment?
"Absolutely not," said Irv Miller, a judge's liaison at the trial, which is into its second full week.
Most accommodations, he insisted, are courtesies routinely extended to victims having to endure the grim ordeal of sitting through a murder trial. Others, he conceded, are necessary because Hudson ? a 2004 "American Idol" finalist and 2007 Oscar winner for her role in "Dreamgirls" ? is a celebrity.
"Star status means things have to be a little different," he said. "You just can't have a celebrity walking about, going to the cafeteria ? people running up to ask for autographs."
Others, however, say the courthouse has gone too far.
"It's outrageous," Manny Medrano, a Los Angeles-based defense attorney and former television reporter who regularly comments on high-profile cases. "It sends the wrong to signal to the world ? that if you are a celebrity, you won't be treated like everyone."
Her treatment may be a result of Chicago's relative lack of experience with celebrity cases. In Southern California, said Medrano, people expect celebrities to be treated at court like everyone else.
The unease of the Hudson trial judge shows. He spent months compiling special decorum rules, including bans on tweets from court, and appears to eye journalists' every move in his courtroom He threw one out for half a day after spotting her holding a pen in the corner of her mouth, deeming it a distraction.
The only recent examples of stars at Chicago's criminal courts building were the 2008 child pornography trial of R&B singer R. Kelly and talk-show host Oprah Winfrey serving on a jury in a 2005 murder case.
Winfrey was allowed to use a hidden entrance. R. Kelly, whose trial and eventual acquittal took place in the same courtroom as the Hudson murders trial, came and left through the same front door as everyone else.
Miller said Kelly's treatment can't be compared to Hudson's.
"He was a criminal defendant," he said. "So, he wasn't going to be accorded privileges. Not only is Hudson not a defendant, she's a prosecution witness."
He also said it's not uncommon for witnesses at sensitive trials to enter through a back way.
Hudson was the first person to testify in the prosecution's case against William Balfour, who has pleaded not guilty to murdering Hudson's mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew. Prosecutors say he shot Hudson's family members in a jealousy-fueled act of vengeance against his estranged wife, Hudson's sister.
Hudson, 30, has appeared in court each day since testimony began last week, and is expected to attend each day until it ends.
Lindsay Lohan, who has had cases in different Los Angeles-area courthouses, always goes through a public entrance. Britney Spears, who sometimes goes to court for updates in her conservatorship, is brought underground and enters the courtroom through a back door.
But in 20 years observing celebrity trials, Medrano said he's never seen any court go as far as the one in Chicago seems to have gone for Hudson.
"If Hudson got this kind of treatment in LA," he said, "there would be an outcry."
She brings about a half dozen bodyguards, and Medrano particularly took issue with officials allowing her to have them in court. A few of her dapperly dressed security sit close, occasionally talking into microphones up their sleeves in the manner of Secret Service protecting a president. Others keep vigil by an elevator, holding it for their boss at breaks and shooing away those not in her entourage.
But Miller insists that, in most respects, Hudson is treated like anyone else.
For instance, prosecutors told Hudson before they exhibited grisly photos of her relatives' bullet-riddled bodies so she could leave the room. Such forewarning is standard at murder trials to avoid putting victims' relatives through unnecessary trauma.
The way she's getting into the building is a far cry from red-carpet treatment. One possible entrance is via a tunnel connecting the courthouse to the 8-square-block jail looming next door. It would be an unsettling experience for anyone, said Steve Bogira, who wrote "Courtroom 302" about the complex and is one of few reporters to have gone into the bowels of the building.
"It was dark and dank, and deputies said it was not uncommon to see rats down there," Bogira recalled, adding it has been about a decade since he was there. "It would be depressing for anyone. A paint job wouldn't make it less so."
Regardless, Hudson's stealth entrance has been a particular source of frustration to photographers.
More than 100 journalists were accredited to cover the trial, including from web-based TMZ. Their primary goal: to snap a money shot of Hudson arriving or leaving the courthouse.
They staked out the complex in vain, though. After a few days, most packed up and left.
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AP special correspondent Linda Deutsch also contributed to this report.
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Follow Michael Tarm at www.twitter.com/mtarm
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