Why the Galaxy S4 won't be shedding its plastic roots

via news.cnet.com

There's one complaint that often crops up with the Galaxy S III: it feels "plastic-y."

At a time when competitors are using glass, aluminum, and even higher quality plastics such as polycarbonate, Samsung has stuck to its guns with a thin, bendable plastic body.

Which is why the Galaxy S4 won't stray too far from that design philosophy.

CNET sat down with Y.H. Lee, executive vice president of Samsung's mobile business, to discuss the company's thoughts on design. When Samsung looks at what materials to use, it isn't just taking into consideration the aesthetic quality of the device, Lee said. The company also assesses how quickly and efficiently it can manufacture the product, knowing that it will have to ship a high volume.

Lee said that because Samsung will ship large units, it must consider the smartphone's manufacturability and durability.

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The Battle Fronts Between Amazon & Google

via readwrite.com

In this era where we think of “The Big Five” technology companies that dominate our computing experience, we tend to classify each company into its own distinct bucket. Facebook is the social giant, Apple is the runaway device maker, Google controls search and advertising, Amazon is the beast of e-commerce and content and Microsoft provides us productivity and business solutions. In reality, the lines between the five companies are not so clear cut.

Think of it like the Olympic rings logo as a Venn diagram. The top five companies share features with each other and compete in the same markets. For instance, Google versus Microsoft’s Bing. Or Apple’s iOS against Google’s Android against Microsoft’s Windows Phone. Facebook versus Google+. Apple’s Mac OS X versus Windows.

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How To Buy A Smartphone: What Do Hardware Specs Mean?

via readwriteweb.com

Smartphone manufacturers like to throw a lot of specifications at potential customers. But how many consumers know or care what they mean? Specs inform consumers but also have the potential to confuse. Here's what you need to know about smartphone hardware.

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The Secret History of Microsoft Hardware

via pcmag.com

"Microsoft is not a hardware company." How many times have you heard this or read this? I'm guessing more than once. It's a simple lie we keep telling ourselves despite the underlying truth: Microsoft has been designing and selling hardware products for 32 out of its 37 years in business. And hardware has been a consistently successful venture too, even in the early days. (Little-known fact: Between 1983 and 1986, sales of Microsoft mice (in units shipped) matched those of the company's software products!)

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How Open Source Hardware Is Driving the 3D-Printing Industry

via readwriteweb.com

The potential of 3D printing to transform the way we get things - the market is predicted to hit $3.1 billion in the next four years - gets a lot of press. But not much of that attention has focused on the unique role of open source hardware in enabling 3D printing to realize its promise.

Open source software has been a key player in all kinds of disruptive technologies - from the Web to big data. Now the nascent and growing open source hardware movement is helping to power its own disruptive revolution.

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Geek 101: How to format a Mac hard drive

via geek.com

How you format a Mac hard drive is entirely dependent on what kind of drive you plan on formatting. For instance, is the hard drive internal or external? And if internal, has it been partitioned or are you looking to reformat the entire system to factory state? Whatever your formatting situation, this how-to guide will cover each of these step-by-step.

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With aging hardware, Nintendo posts first yearly loss of $460 million

via techi.com

The next console needs to get here quickly for Nintendo. The game hardware company announced its first annual operating loss of 37.3 billion yen ($459.54 million) from 2011 to 2012. They anticipate a turnaround in numbers at the same level in the positive this year as a next generation console is expected.

Price cuts to their systems weren’t enough to keep sales from dropping 36.2%.

Nintendo intends to sell the 3DS “below cost” soon, following strong sales after a substantial price cut last year. Still, they weren’t anywhere near the numbers of the original DS, selling 13.53 million 3DS devices versus 80.2 million of the original DS. The original DS still managed to sell 5.1 million units in the last year.

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How Do You Customize Your Computer? - Web Poll

via howtogeek.com

Whether you spend your energy customizing via case mods or leave the box stock and re-skin the OS, we’re interested in hearing all about how you customize your computing experience and make the machine yours.

This week we want to hear about the OS tweaks, skins, modifications, and other tweaks you’ve applied to your computer to personalize it. Whether it’s minor tweaks at work because IT has the machines locked down or massive custom-built boxes at home that show off your love for your favorite Sci-Fi show, it’s time to share your favorite tools, tricks, and tips for customizing your computing experience–even better, share some screenshots or photos in the comments below.

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Over 600,000 Macs infected with Flashback Trojan - Thanks to Java

via zdnet.com

Two months ago, a new variant of the Flashback Trojan started exploiting a security hole in Java to silently infect Mac OS X machines. Apple has since patched Java, but this was only yesterday. As of today, more than 600,000 Macs are currently infected with the Flashback Trojan, which steals your user names and passwords to popular websites by monitoring your network traffic.

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Court Says Cops Can't Make You Decrypt Your Secure Hard Drives

via gizmodo.com

Remember the defendant in that fraud case who was prepared to claim she forgot the password to her laptop if ordered to decrypt it? Adding some more intrigue to the matter is the fact that the 11th Circuit Court says defendants won't have to decrypt drives if the contents are unknown. Huh?

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How a Laser Could Make Your Hard Drive 1,000 Times Faster

via gizmodo.com

The reason people are so pumped about solid-state hard drives right now is because they're super-speedy. But if you think your SSD is fast, just wait until a new breed of laser-based hard drives comes to market.

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Get a 1.5TB external hard drive for $99.99 shipped

via news.cnet.com

As you may have heard, flooding in Thailand last year damaged factories involved in hard-drive production, creating shortages and sending drive prices skyrocketing in the last couple months.
Indeed, back in October, today's deal wouldn't have been much of a deal at all. Today, it's downright stellar.

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Report: Apple concludes Anobit acquisition for $500 million

via digitaltrends.com

Reuters reports Apple is buying Israeli flash technology maker Anobit for $500 million...and opening an R&D center in Israel.

Following reports earlier this week that ever-secretive Apple was in talks to buy Israeli flash technology firm Anobit, Reuters is reporting that Apple has concluded the deal for a total of $500 million. But that’s not all: Reuters also has Apple planning to open a new research and development facility in Israel—the first time the company would have taken its development work outside the United States.

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Apple Has Its Eye On A Hardware Company For A $400+ Million Acquistion

via businessinsider.com

Apple has only bought four hardware companies in the last 20 years -- Raycer Graphics, Instrinsity, PA Semi, and Steve Jobs' NeXT.

But it appears Apple is set to buy another one for $400-500 million, reports Calcalist (in Hebrew).

Israel-based flash storage company Anobit makes products that are used in several Apple products, including iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Air.

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Samsung core confirmed inside iPhone 4S

via news.cnet.com

The A5 processor at the heart of the iPhone 4S is made by Samsung, according to a chip analysis firm, putting an end to speculation that Apple had gone elsewhere for its core silicon.

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Google: Motorola buy won't put us into hardware business

When Google announced plans in August to acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, some assumed the company would start actively involving itself in handset development.

But in an interview today at All Things Digital's AsiaD conference, Google Android boss Andy Rubin said that this simply won't happen.

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This Crazy 64-Core Processor Wants to Be in Your Smartphone

via gizmodo.com

Chip company Adapteva has a crazy notion: Let's turn our smartphones into veritable supercomputers. And the way to do it? Up the ante in processing power. Not with just dual-core or quad-core processors. No, their Epiphany IV chip has a monstrous 64 cores.

The Epiphany IV isn't a system-on-a-chip like, say, the Apple A5 or even the new NVIDIA Kal-El chips. It can't hold an operating system. Rather, it's a co-processor that'll work alongside the chips that already power our phones to provide up to now unheard of power. The idea is to accelerate and enhance processes like like gesture recognition and facial recognition, and perhaps create a few new experiences in the process.

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How to Use a Single Mouse and Keyboard Across Multiple Computers

via howtogeek.com

If you’ve got multiple computers at your desk, you probably know that it’s a pain to use more than one keyboard and mouse. Here’s how to use a single keyboard and mouse on more than one PC using a tool from Microsoft.

Most geeks will be familiar with Input Director and Synergy, which do the same thing, but now Microsoft has released an application called Mouse Without Borders, which has some great features—like dragging files from one PC to another.

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