Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Our Favorite HD TVs, Bikes, Cameras, and More

Summer's in full swing, and, if we're being really honest with ourselves, everyone's probably praying to the air conditioning gods more than any other tech deity at this point. But man cannot live on air conditioning alone. Plus, June saw some pretty awesome gadgets come our way. Here are the cream of this very, very hot month's gadgety crop.

For the full list of Gizmodo favorites, head over to the complete Best Gadgets

The Best HD TV Set

When it comes to high-end HD sets, you get what you pay for. And in the case of Panasonic's new top-of-the-line VT60 plasma set, it's worth every penny. It's a THX-certified flat-screen television, and arguably the single best-looking plasma set on the market right now. Setup was simple and straightforward but exhaustive. Setting up the 97 pound TV and stand requires at least two people and performing the initial software registrations took the better part of an hour, and that's not including calibrating the picture. Once you get through the setup and actually sit down with this set, though, it's just incredible. [More]

The Best Smartphone Display

It?s amazing to hold a beautiful Full HD 1920x1080 mobile computer display and HDTV in the palm of your hand. But only one of the smartphones tested here qualifies as a beautiful display ? the Huawei Ascend D2, because it delivers superior picture quality with accurate colors and images. This Figure with screen shots illustrates the major points we make in the conclusion. While Huawei is better known as a manufacturer of low cost smartphones, their Ascend D2 is aimed at the premium top tier, so they managed to hit a home run with the display the first time at bat. My suggestion for Huawei, please keep it up. [More]

The Best Premium Point-and-Shoot

The key differences between the RX100 and RX100 II are a completely new 1-inch Exmor R image sensor, Wi-Fi and NFC connectivity, as well as a new tilting three-inch LCD display and a new hot shoe. At a glance, the modifications from one generation to the next might seem minor. Many of the key specs we're used to reciting don't seem to change.These are hardly tweaks?they're big changes. Until now, the Exmor R design has been used only for small sensors in smartphones and junky point-and-shoots. Until now. This one-inch sensor is a first, and Sony claims it'll be up-to 40-percent increase in light sensitivity. The main issue we might take with this camera is price. $650 was already a lot of money to pay for a point-and-shoot camera targeted mostly at a mainstream audience. [More]

Best e-Bike

E-bikes are much-maligned by the cycling community and non-riders alike. They're for lazy people. They're so ugly and clunky looking. But Specialized has come up with an answer for both crowds. You will want to hate the Turbo. You will fail. This thing is so damn fun. We can see it maybe finding a niche with well-to-do commuters who work within twenty miles or so of their home. People who want to add a little more exercise to their lives, and would like to ride a bike to work, but don't want to be a sweaty mess by the time they arrive. People who don't mind being scorned by the hard-core cycling community. Honestly, it's a luxury item. And while it might not change your mind about e-bikes, it's an undeniably good time. [More]

Out:

The Best Premium Point-and-Shoot: Bub-bye, Sony RX100.

The Best HD TV Set: See ya never, Panasonic VT50.

Source: http://gizmodo.com/our-favorite-hd-tvs-bikes-cameras-and-more-638301539

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Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Apple files for 'iWatch' trademark in Japan

TOKYO (AP) ? Apple Inc. has applied for a trademark in Japan for "iWatch," indicating it may be proceeding with rumored plans to produce a smart wristwatch.

A document obtained Monday from the Japan Patent Office's website said the application was made June 3 and made public June 27.

It was not immediately clear when the application might be approved. Patent office and Apple officials in Japan were not available for comment late Monday.

Apple is rumored to be working on a smart watch that would run on a version of the operating system used by its iPhone and iPad. The company has not confirmed those rumors, but CEO Tim Cook has hinted that it may be developing a wearable computing device such as a wristwatch.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-07-01-Japan-Apple/id-05174006bb6d4f2c8f43eeb43e388aaf

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Eli would no doubt approve (Unqualified Offerings)

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Microsoft to sell 256GB Surface Pro in the US, but only through certain resellers

Did you look on Japan with envy as Microsoft launched a 256GB Surface Pro in the country, leaving other countries with modest storage? If you're American, you won't have to fret any more: Microsoft has confirmed to Engadget that there will be "limited availability" of the 256GB model in the country through its new commercial reseller program. While the company didn't say exactly which stores will carry the Surface Pro, Windows Phone Central has already spotted the new version on sale at CDW for $1,200. New orders will still take a few days to ship, but it could be worth the wait for the ultimate version of Microsoft's official tablet.

Filed under: Tablets, Microsoft

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Via: Windows Phone Central

Source: CDW

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/6ezfKKgb02Y/

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Nick Jonas Collides With Baseball Player

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Source: http://oceanup.com/2013/june/30/nick-jonas-collides-baseball-player

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Head Start children and parents show robust gains in new intervention

July 1, 2013 ? An eight-week intervention involving 141 preschoolers in a Head Start program and their parents produced significant improvements in the children's behavior and brain functions supporting attention and reduced levels of parental stress that, in turn, improved the families' quality of life.

The findings -- from the first phase of a long-term research project by University of Oregon neuroscientists that will monitor the families over time -- appear this week online in advance of regular publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The new UO initiative is designed as an addition to the regular Head Start program, which was launched by the federal government in 1965 to enhance the education, health, nutrition and parental involvement for families living under the poverty line.

A preliminary economic analysis, not included in the new study, estimates that implementing the program widely at Head Start sites would add just $800 per family and could yield a strong return on investment, said project leader Helen Neville, who holds the UO's Robert and Beverly Lewis Endowed Chair in Psychology and heads the Brain Development Lab.

"This intervention didn't come out of thin air," Neville said. "It came out of basic research on neural plasticity that we have done in our lab for many decades." Neural plasticity refers to the brain's ability to shape and reshape itself over a lifetime.

"We've studied neural plasticity by looking at deaf people, blind people, children with language impairments, bilinguals and typical people," Neville said. "We've found that some systems of the brain don't show much neural plasticity. Some show a lot but only in a specific time period. So we targeted this second kind of system, focusing on selective attention of the developing brain."

Children from lower socioeconomic status (SES) often have more problems with attention skills than do children from higher SES backgrounds, because, on average, they have more difficulty suppressing, or ignoring, non-attended information, Neville said. Such difficulties likely arise, she said, as children in lower SES families grow up amid chaos and unpredictable environments.

The UO team developed learning exercises, including games, appropriate for kids ages 3-5. The exercises, said co-author Scott Klein, require clear focus from the children.

Parents or other primary caregivers attended weekly two-hour sessions in which they learned standard parenting practices that build strong relationships and about the value of the attention skills their children were receiving. Much of the discussion centered on reducing negative components of parenting and fostering a positive atmosphere, such as providing guided choices for children, establishing expectations and praising good behaviors, said Klein, a research assistant in the Brain Development Lab. Training was reinforced with weekly phone calls to the parents to help address specific problems.

"We try to have all activities done with children embedded with the parents all of the time," Klein said. "We are building a systematic change one step at a time. We start small. Each step scaffolds on each other."

The parenting component said co-author Eric Pakulak, a research associate in the lab, is based on work done by the Eugene-based Oregon Social Learning Center, a non-profit, collaborative research center founded in 1977 by Gerald R. Patterson, a clinical psychologist and professor of psychology at the UO. "In our observations, we saw changes quickly, often in a week. Parents begin to see results that they like -- benefiting the children and themselves," Pakulak said.

A control group of children and parents engaged only in traditional Head Start programming. A second experimental group included the children's learning exercises but less parental involvement.

"The more parent-focused program was the clear winner," Neville said. The children showed significant improvements in their ability to focus -- gains that are holding up over time, based on subsequent preliminary data from ongoing brain-monitoring assessments, she added.

The children's selective attention abilities, as seen in event-related brain potentials (ERP), were measured before and after the intervention using non-invasive electroencephalography, which records electrical activity along the scalp. The children also were evaluated for changes in cognitive abilities with standardized assessments of non-verbal IQ and language skills, both of which rose significantly in children whose parents received training.

In families where both the children and caregivers received the interventions, children were more likely to perform similarly to children from higher SES backgrounds, and caregivers reported significant reductions of stress in the home, particularly in dealing with their children.

"Chronic stress is literally toxic to the developing brain," Pakulak said, citing years of previous research in neuroscience. "The same parts of the brain that are important for learning in early development are the same parts of the brain that help moderate the stress response."

Many parents, Klein said, reported feeling as if portions of their personal lives had been restored, opening time for reading and outside activities.

Back in the classroom, Neville said, improvements were visible. "With the children having changes at home that help their attention -- this is a multiplier. It helps in learning in the classroom, playing games and sports. It helps kids focus. It is rewarding for the kids and for the parents. With less stress, the children are better able to focus their attention."

The research -- supported by grants from the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (R305B070018) and National Institute's of Health National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (RO1DC000481) -- will continue to track the participating children as they move through their school years. Neville's team also plans to test the intervention in programs other than Head Start.

The other four co-authors on the paper were: Courtney Stevens, assistant professor of psychology at Willamette University and who was a member of the Brain Development Lab while completing her master's degree and doctorate at the UO; Theodore A. Bell, adjunct research associate; Jessica Fanning, professor in the UO Department of Communication Disorders and Sciences; and psychology doctoral student Elif Isbell.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/living_well/~3/L7-tU7riqDE/130701163946.htm

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How to reap the rewards of the shale gas boom

The increased role for natural gas consumption is obvious, Warren writes. Smart government policies can play a positive role so society benefits from this once-in-a-century boon.

By Jennifer Warren,?Guest blogger / June 30, 2013

A drilling rig is set up near a barn in Springville, Pa., to tap gas from the giant Marcellus Shale gas field.

Alex Brandon/AP/File

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Unique Energy Opportunity if Smart Policies?Continue

In the early part of 2008, I began delving into the big story of the day in North Texas and Dallas, the prolific activity from the recovery of natural gas in the Barnett Shale. At the time, other shale plays were being explored as well, such as the Fayetteville play that confirmed the Barnett?s results; the Marcellus was just being sized up. I was challenged with attempting to figure out how to communicate what shale could be physically described as ? in essence, a dead ocean from a geologic perspective.

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