Webapp Panopticlick examines how unique and trackable your browser fingerprint is even if you’ve disabled cookies in your browser. More

It seems too much to hope for, but Super Talent insists it has the benchmarks to prove it: a USB 3.0 stick that achieves 270MB/s reads and 240MB/s writes under optimal conditions. Unlike your average joe flash drive, the RC8 boasts a fully-fledged (albeit previous-generation) SandForce SSD controller that permits the simultaneous use of eight channels of NAND memory. In other words, this zippy little thing actually is an SSD, enclosed in an aluminum case that measures 1-inch wide, 4-inches long and 0.3-inches thick. No definitive word on pricing yet, but it was reported at Computex that a 50GB variant would go for around $110, while 25GB and 100GB capacities will also be available. Now, could someone please hurry up and build a Thunderbolt version?

Super Talent USB 3.0 Express RC8 looks like a thumb drive, acts like an SSD originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Jun 2011 09:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Battery recyclers use reconditioners to restore old rechargeable batteries once they no longer hold a charge. This DIY reconditioner can squeeze more life out of dead rechargeables and save them from the landfill. More

Following their previous report on a beastly Ice Cream Sandwich phone, BGR’s extending extra details—and confirming that Samsung will make the thing, possibly named Nexus Prime. The monster will be purebred—-no 3rd party skins. Just Android 4.0. More

With LulzSec out of the picture, bros-in-arms Anonymous has taken up the cause with hacks of their own. One being the release of an “anti-cyberterrorism” training file, allegedly published by FEMA. The irony is not lost on us. More

Skype and Silver Lake, a large investor, recently fired a bunch of senior executives, allegedly to prevent their stock gaining real value in a forthcoming acquisition by Microsoft. Digging into the contracts’ legalese reveals an obfuscated clause that decodes to something like “we can buy your stock back at the grant price, even if it has vested, prior to any sale of the company.” Felix Salmon at Wired:

I no longer think that what Skype did here is pretty evil: I now think it’s downright evil, and destroys the balance of trust on which Silicon Valley has been built. What’s more, I simply don’t believe that Skype did all of this itself, without detailed input from Silver Lake. … I don’t know where they got these techniques from, but they’re very alien to Silicon Valley and indeed the rest of the business world. And they do no good at all for the reputation of private equity companies more generally.

Taken from:
Report: Skype and investor Silver Lake screwed employees out of stock options

NextComputing wants you to take your desktop for a stroll, preferably a short one originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 26 Jun 2011 03:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Those of you with Sonos equipment already filling your abode with the sweet tunes of your music library and an iPhone or iPod Touch should promptly hit up Apple’s App Store and download their free app now. It may or may not be available right this second, but it should make its way to the App Store sometime today. There are two other Sonos apps currently available but they want you to pay $15 for each.

Having seen the app in person I can say that it’s very intuitive and easy to use. You will also be prompted to update your Sonos’ firmware to 2.7 today so that it is compatible with the software. So if you bought Sonos equipment in 2005 and you own an iPhone then you’re sittin’ pretty. A demo of the app in action and other screen shots are available after the jump.

But that’s not the only announcement Sonos has for today.

Sonos 2.7 unleashes 15,000 Internet radio stations from across the globe and free access to Last.fm and Pandora (everything syncs on the fly with both Last.fm and Pandora to your accounts online).

Other new features of Sonos System Software 2.7 include:
• Updated Rhapsody support with improved sound quality. Rhapsody now streams at 192 MP3 (versus 128 kbps WMA previously).
• Support for RTSP streaming protocol which allows for expanded Internet Radio coverage.
• Dutch and Swedish languages are now supported in the Sonos system software. Sonos already supports English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish.
• For more information about the features of Sonos Software 2.7, please visit: http://www.sonos.com/support/software_update.aspx.

Continue reading here:
Sonos launches iPhone, iPod Touch app

We’ve already seen cameras that let you pretend you live in a radioactive apocalypse shoot HDR video, combining overexposed and underexposed images into one surreal composite. But so far, that kind of dystopian trippiness has been relegated to experiments and rigs using two lenses. But here we have AMP, a portable-enough five-pound camera that splits the light into three sensors, giving it a range of 17.5 stops to “reveal reality” in our drab, incomplete lives. The single-lens camera shoots 1080p video at 24fps or 30fps, records raw, uncompressed data to an SSD, and works with Nikon F-Mount-compatible lenses. To give you some perspective on the amount of sheer storage required, AMP promises a 256GB SSD can hold 30-plus minutes of footage, with 24fps video consuming less space than the 30 fps variety. It’ll be available later this summer for some unknown sum, but not as a mass-produced product. Rather, it’ll end up in the hands of a select few prosumers who add themselves to a waiting list. Assuming you won’t be one of the chosen, you can get your fill of reality in a pair of demo videos after the break.

Continue reading AMP camera records 1080p HDR video, you probably can’t have one

AMP camera records 1080p HDR video, you probably can’t have one originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Jun 2011 21:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Plantronics has two, count ‘em, two new headsets — one cancels noise out, the other keeps noise in.

The Voyager 520 is a noise-canceling Bluetooth headset “featuring robust noise-canceling technology for business-quality performance”.

It’ll set you back $99.99, available in August.

For the less-mobile (but still pretty mobile), there’s the sound-isolating .Audio 480 Virtual Phone Booth headset “for laptop multimedia and Internet conversations.” It’s the smallest computer headset that Plantronics has pushed out yet.

Analog version available for $89.95, USB for $109.95 — also available in August.

I have a Gamecom Pro1 headset from Plantronics and it’s real, real nice. Good stuff outta Santa Cruz, California.

Plantronics Delivers Superior Sound and Noise-Cancellation with New Voyager Bluetooth Headset

Plantronics Launches the .Audio 480 Virtual Phone Booth Headset

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Plantronics Announces Late-Summer Earware