There’s no shortage of home automation solutions on the market, but none can touch the cool factor of Philips’ Hue . The Android and iOS-controlled lighting solution consists of a base station that controls up to 50 different lights, including the company’s existing LED Connected Bulb, and two new additions, designed to let you add light without a standard lamp socket. The first product, LivingColors Bloom, is a compact fixture that you can position on the floor, on a shelf or anywhere in a room. It sits on the ground and bounces your pick of 16 million colors off any surface. LightStrips, on the other hand, is a better fit for more permanent (and subtle) installations. The 6.6-foot LED strip can be cut to size, and includes an adhesive backing, so it can be easily mounted under a counter, bed or inside cabinets. Both offerings support the full Hue color spectrum, and are compatible with existing apps and macros, including the IFTTT integration that debuted in May. Hue Bloom is set to retail for $80, while LightStrips will run you 90 bucks. Expect both products in Apple Stores this Thursday. Filed under: Household Comments

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Philips grows Hue smartphone-controlled lighting lineup with $80 LivingColors Bloom, $90 LightStrips

A blazing sun and the outdoors don’t exactly make for an ideal computing environment — unless you’re toting a ruggedized laptop that harnesses energy from sunlight like the Ubuntu-running Sol. Created mainly for use in developing countries with intermittent (or non-existent) electricity, it’s equipped with solar panels that soak up the sun when unfolded. According to OMG Ubuntu, its creators from Canadian company WeWi Telecommunications claim Sol’s battery, which can last for up to ten hours, only takes two hours to charge via solar energy. The device’s official website reveals little else, but according to the nuggets of information we’ve stumbled upon, Sol will pack an Intel processor, WiFi connectivity and an HD display, with an optional satellite module for internet connectivity. While full availability details have yet to be announced, a countdown timer on its website hints at more info in just under two days. Ghana will reportedly see the hardware arrive first with an accompanying $300 price tag. Though the notebook isn’t exactly wildly affordable, it’s at least a bit cheaper than Samsung’s 2011 take on a sunbeam-fueled laptop. Filed under: Laptops Comments Via: OMG! Ubuntu Source: Sol

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Solar-powered Ubuntu laptop boasts 10-hour battery, 2-hour charge time

Hardware makers often sing the praises of their latest and greatest flash memory , but the folks at Crossbar are ready to show them up with resistive RAM (RRAM) that they’ve been quietly working on. Compared to NAND, RRAM comes in at half the size and boasts 20 times faster write speeds (140MB/s), reads data at 17MB per second, guzzles 20 times less power and has 10 times more endurance. Since RRAM is non-volatile memory, it can keep data even when it’s powered off, á la NAND. As if that weren’t enough, 3D stacking construction allows for several terabytes of storage, endowing one 200 x 200mm chip with one terabyte. Unlike many tech breakthroughs however — we’re looking at you, graphene — this one is just about ready to find its way into finished products. Crossbar has manufactured RRAM within a standard chip factory, and claims that it can be churned out easily with existing production infrastructure. According to the firm, it’s in the fine-tuning process and plans to introduce the tech into the world of embedded SoCs. Sure, the outfit is the exclusive holder of some RRAM patents, but it aims to license its know-how to system-on-a-chip creators. Filed under: Storage Comments Via: VentureBeat Source: Crossbar

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Crossbar’s RRAM to boast terabytes of storage, faster write speeds than NAND

Some big (and surprising) news in the media industry today: The Washington Post has just confirmed that it and its affiliated publications have been acquired by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos for $250 million in cash. The announcement notes that Amazon “will have no role in the purchase, ” and that Bezos himself “will buy the news organization and become its sole owner when the sale is completed, probably within 60 days.” The statement goes on to explain that “The Post Co. will change to a new, still-undecided name and continue as a publicly traded company without The Post thereafter.” In an interview with the paper, the Post Co.’s chief executive, Donald Graham, says that “The Post could have survived under the company’s ownership and been profitable for the foreseeable future. But we wanted to do more than survive, ” adding, “I’m not saying this guarantees success but it gives us a much greater chance of success.” In a letter to Post employees, Bezos says that he “won’t be leading The Washington Post day-to-day, ” but that “there will of course be change at The Post over the coming years, ” and that “we will need to invent, which means we will need to experiment.” Developing… Comments Via: @Romenesko (Twitter) Source: The Washington Post (1) , (2)

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Jeff Bezos buys The Washington Post for $250 million in cash

If you thought Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) was done with the EverQuest brand , well, think again. The company has come up with a successor to the classic MMO with EverQuest Next (EQN), which aims to give MMO die-hards a world they can mold and disrupt to their heart’s content. According to Sony, “there are no levels” in EQN, but with around 40 different classes at launch, players can mix and match abilities and develop them as they go along. The game will also be smart enough to learn from your decisions, offering up related opportunities so you can do more of what you like, be it crafting weapons or beating up orcs. Further, NPCs are given “motivations” and “core values” so that they’ll attack you not just ’cause you’re within aggro range, but because they want your gold for example. Perhaps the biggest departure from other MMOs is that EQN introduces the idea of fully destructible environments that would result in permanent change to the landscape. Blow a hole in the wall? Well, it’ll stay that way, at least until someone else comes along to patch it. Since you can now destroy things, SOE also launched something called EverQuest Next Landmark , a sandbox that lets gamers create objects and buildings in the EverQuest world with the same tools SOE designers used to make the game. Amateur game architects can share their creations with friends, or collaborate with them on larger projects. Landmark will launch as a “Free to Play” title later this year, and marks the first stage in EQN’s release. As for EverQuest Next itself, well, its pricing and availability has yet to be announced. Until then, treat yourself to some gameplay footage and read up on what’s new in the press release after the break. Filed under: Gaming , Alt Comments Source: EverQuest Next

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Sony keeps the MMORPG flame alive with EverQuest Next and EverQuest Next Landmark

Not a YouTube partner ? That’s okay — Google’s streaming video outfit is letting you access some of its premium features anyway. In a recent blog post, the company announced that it will be lowering the subscriber threshold for live streaming to 100, down from 1, 000 in May . The feature should be available to all channels in good standing sometime in the next few weeks, provided users hop into their Account Features page and click on the “enable” button. The blog also reminds users that they can maximize their channel’s exposure by uploading custom video thumbnails , compiling videos into playlists and by linking out to associated websites via YouTube annotations. More features for the little guy? We can get behind that. Filed under: Internet , Google Comments Via: TechCrunch Source: YouTube

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YouTube opens live streaming to channels with as few as 100 subscribers

Didn’t snag one of the ROG TYTAN G30s ASUS announced in June? Don’t sweat it because the Taiwanese manufacturer has already one-upped itself, combining the transforming case of last year’s TYTAN CG8890 with the G30’s major features — water-cooled Core i7-4770K , one-touch overclocking, multi-monitor and surround sound support. Just for good measure, an available Nvidia GTX780 can replace the ’30’s GTX 680 . Sure, the G70 is Haswell-equipped, but that’s not nearly as impressive as activating “Turbo Gear” on it is: Push a button and the system overclocks, then its side and top panels extend outward automatically, exposing the rig’s 10 fans. How cool is that? As frosty as this tower’s innards we’d imagine. If that wasn’t enough to push you over the edge, it’ll wirelessly charge any Qi-compatible devices you might have as well. This beast of a rig should be available soon at retailers near you, but ASUS hasn’t provided pricing. We’re guessing it’s probably expensive — call it a hunch. Filed under: Desktops , Gaming , ASUS , NVIDIA Comments Via: PC Perspective Source: Republic of Gamers

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ASUS reveals ROG TYTAN G70 gaming desktop