2011年11月3日星期四
2011年11月2日星期三
Mac OS X Hints has discovered that Macs running OS X Lion and registered with iCloud have a 2011年11月1日星期二
The New Stuttgart City Library
How often do you read? Of course, we’re not talking about our articles, because we are sure you love to go through those, we are talking about physical(read non electronic) books. Books you can lend from a library, take home, snuggle in a warm blanket and lose yourself in some quality spent time with your book. Well, no matter how much you read, we are sure you would read a lot more if you had a library like this in your city. Stuttgart City Library just opened it’s doors last week, and caused a lot of hype – not only amongst those avid book lovers from Stuttgart, but also amongst ones who love architecture and design. You see, this library isn’t the average public building you come across everyday.
Designed by architect Eun Young Yi, this city library looks like a complicated two color Rubik’s cube puzzle from the outside! But step in and you will be surprised at its simplicity.
The interiors sport a very open layout with books visible throughout. Some may find the whites a bit sterile, but make no mistake, books are the center of attention here. But, what really caught our attention, and we are sure it caught yours as well are – the stairs! They are so randomly placed, connecting each floor, but also connecting the whole space together. You’re not just climbing the stairs, you’re exploring the environment around you, the view of the library is completely exposed to your eyes. We bet that climbing those stairs feels so triumphant!
Of course, this kind of a monumental library has a Café named LesBar (in translation – Reading Bar) and a space for children to play and acquire the habit of reading. Their space is a bit more colorful, naturally, but still keeps up with the clean, structured vibe of the rest of the space. Books for children are cleverly put in bins, so that they can easily go through them, because we all know that they are mostly attracted to the cover of the book. And we are mostly attracted to this library!
PlugBug adds an iPad / iPod / iPhone USB charging port to your MacBook power adapter
Twelve South, the same South Carolina-based outfit that's been keeping the Bass(Jump) coming, has just outed the best MacBook power adapter accessory... ever. Almost. The PlugBug is an iPad / iPhone / iPod / USB-based-whatever charger that snaps right on top of your existing MacBook or MacBook Pro AC adapter, allowing you to charge your Mac laptop as well as a single USB-based device at the same time. It's a ten-watt adapter, so your iPad and those other high-powered gizmos should take take to it just fine, and it's actually capable of acting on its own should you ever need to dismount it. Unfortunately, those in need of a non-US adapter will be out of luck, but on the upside, this converts international adapters for US use should you head over this way. It's on sale now for $34.99 at the source link below, and if it only had more than one USB port, we'd recommend it without hesitation. Ah well -- there's always version 2.0, right? Promo vid's after the break.
PlugBug adds an iPad / iPod / iPhone USB charging port to your MacBook power adapter originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Nov 2011 18:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink |
Twelve South | Email this | Comments
Cowon shipping iAudio 10 PMP tomorrow: $160 and up
Remember that stunner of a PMP that Cowon teased us with back in September? Better brush up, 'cause she's shipping out in the US of A starting tomorrow. The iAudio 10 is -- for all intents and purposes -- a refreshed and re-imagined S9, boasting a curved 400 x 240 (3-inch) display, microphone input, TV output, FM radio and a document viewer. Unlike the D3 before it, the company looks to be eschewing Android on this one for its own homegrown operating system, and in typical Cowon fashion, it'll support practically every file format under the sun. The I10-16WH (16GB) will ship in white for $159.99, while the ebony I10-32BL (32GB) edition will go for $199.99. We're told that the Buy It Now link will be live tomorrow, and we'll update this post just as soon as it arrives in our hands.
Cowon shipping iAudio 10 PMP tomorrow: $160 and up originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Nov 2011 18:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | CommentsApple acquired mind-blowing 3D mapping company C3 Technologies, looking to t...
由 DC 透過 Google 閱讀器傳送給您：
Since the original iPhone's debut in 2007, Apple's iOS devices have made use of an Apple-built Google Maps application to provide users with a quick glance at driving directions, traffic, route guidance, current location information, and details about destinations. Like with most sections of Apple's business, the company is continually innovating, looking to take products to the next level.
A few years ago, Apple set out to seemingly reinvent this iOS mapping experience. As 9to5Mac reported in 2009, Apple scooped up their own mapping software development company called Placebase. In the summer of last year, Apple went one step further in their obvious pursuit of a completely in-house mapping solution and acquired a 3D mapping firm called Poly9.
A third mapping company for Apple…
Apple's Poly9 purchase obviously means Apple is at least interested in (or considering) the field of three-dimensional mapping solutions. We've now confirmed that Apple has purchased a second 3D mapping company. In August of this year it was discovered that 3D mapping company C3 Technologies had been purchased and shut down by its buyer. While there was no true evidence for this, there was speculation that Apple could be one of a handful of companies that could be the buyers of C3 Technologies.
Sure enough, we have now learned Apple is now the owner of C3 Technologies. Sources say that C3 Technologies CEO Mattias Astrom, C3 Technologies CFO Kjell Cederstrand, and lead C3 Technologies Product Manager Ludvig Emgard are now working within Apple's iOS division. The leading trio, along with most of the former C3 Technologies team, is still working as a team in Sweden (interestingly, the division is now called "Sputnik"), where the C3 Technologies company was located prior to the Apple acquisition.
What does C3 Technologies do?
C3 Technologies creates incredibly high-quality and detailed 3D maps with virtually no input from humans. The 3D mapping is camera based and the technology picks up buildings, homes, and even smaller objects like trees. C3′s solution comes from declassified missile targeting methods. C3 Technologies' official company description:
C3 Technologies is the leading provider of 3D mapping solutions, offering photo-realistic models of the world for search, navigation and geographic information systems. Since 2007 when it was spun out of the aerospace and defense company Saab AB, venture-backed C3 has redefined mapping by applying previously classified image processing technology to the development of 3D maps as a platform for new social and commercial applications. The Sweden-based company's automated software and advanced algorithms enable C3 to rapidly assemble extremely precise 3D models, and seamlessly integrate them with traditional 2D maps, satellite images, street level photography and user generated images, that together are forever changing how people use maps and explore the world.
How C3′s technology works.
SAAB, partially a former owner of C3 Technologies has a video that explains how the technology actually works:
iOS Maps in the third dimension.
Typically, when Apple purchases a company – which they do not do as nearly as often as competitors like Google – they have a clear goal in mind, and tend to take the best elements of their purchase and make it into their own creation. The latest example of this would be Apple's purchase of Siri: Apple scooped up the company behind the popular iPhone application and pushed out the iPhone 4S with Siri voice technology a little over a year later. With this in mind, what will the future of Apple's mapping services look like?
A virtual, 3D look at the Hoover Dam created by C3 Technologies
We already know that Apple has its eyes set on reinventing their maps solution, and with Placebase being a part of the corporation, moving completely away from Google seems inevitable. Apple – with the speedy custom made chips (A4, A5) in the latest round of iOS devices – could make their mobile mapping solution the best in the world with C3 Technologies' 3D mapping technology. C3′s solutions are so powerful and remarkble, and would truly transform Apple's basic Google Maps application into something entirely new, fun, and powerful.
A fly-through over Oslo, Norway created by C3 Technologies
Putting iOS Map's future together:
Based on Apple's past moves in the maps arena, we have a fairly good idea of what to expect from Apple in the near future of iOS:
Rebranding: Although Apple and Google signed a deal to extend the use of Google Maps in iOS, Apple's purchase of Placebase is a clear indicator that Apple is looking to split from Google's backend control at some point in the near future. Placebase could potentially replace the entire Google backend, allowing Apple to completely market iOS Maps as an end-to-end solution from the Cupertino-based company.
3D: With Apple's aquisitions of both C3 Technologies and Poly9, we think it is very likely that the future of iOS Maps will include a third-dimension.
Traffic: Apple has gone on the record to say that they are working on an improved traffic service for end-users.
Apple is now collecting anonymous traffic data to build a crowd-sourced traffic database with the goal of providing iPhone users an improved traffic service in the next couple of years.
The service is crowd-sourced and is another indicator of Apple moving away from Google in their iOS mapping services as Google currently supplies iOS Map's traffic data.
We're not expecting anything big in the immediate future but we'd be surprised to see the same old Maps program in iOS 6. Expect something much much bigger.
您可以在這裡操作的事項：
- 使用 Google 閱讀器訂閱 9to5Mac
- 開始使用 Google 閱讀器，輕鬆掌握所有您最愛網站的最新資訊
iPhone 4S arriving in Hong Kong, South Korea and 13 additional countries Friday
Apple has just announced that its iPhone 4S will land in Hong Kong, South Korea and thirteen additional countries this coming Friday, November 4, when the company will begin taking reservations in those countries (with the exceptions of Albania, El Salvador, Guatemala, Malta, Montenegro and Panama, where pre-orders won’t be available).
The full list of new markets goes as follows: Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, El Salvador, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Malta, Montenegro, New Zealand, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Romania and South Korea. With the aforementioned countries included, Apple’s device will be available in 44 markets come this Friday. The company re-iterated that iPhone 4S will be available in 70 countries and on a hundred carriers by the end of the year, “our fastest roll out ever”.
iPhone 4S launched October 14 in seven countries (the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia, Japan and Canada) before arriving to 22 more countries the following week. The device took off to a strong start, selling four million units during the launch weekend, besting the previous record held by iPhone 4 which sold 1.4 million units during the launch weekend in the summer of 2010. Strong launch impacted the latest web usage share statistics, with iOS widening its mobile web browsing lead by seven percentage points in October.
