CrunchGear |  |
- Buy A New Mac, Install iLife On Your Other Macs With This Simple Workaround
- SpaceX To Launch ISS-Bound Supply Ship In November
- Video: This Guy Plays Air Drums That Actually Make Music
- Nintendo Boss Takes The Blame For 3DS Sales, Cuts His Paycheck In Half
- Warning: The Latest MacBook Air Packs A Less Powerful Version Of Thunderbolt
- Head-To-Head Review: Canon T3i Vs. Nikon D5100
- Samsung Goes Mum With Phone And Tablet Sales Stats
- Review: The Roku 2 XS Does Internet Media Streaming, Motion Gaming In A Tiny Package
- Dell Will Add A 10-Inch Streak To Its Android Line-Up
- Daily Crunch: 3D Spot
| Buy A New Mac, Install iLife On Your Other Macs With This Simple Workaround Posted: 29 Jul 2011 01:38 PM PDT Good news! If you're missing a little iLife in your life than have no fear, Apple's got it figured out for you. iLife has been included on the new MacBook Air and Mac mini, in the form of GarageBand, iPhoto, and iMovie. As luck, and Apple, would have it, once you have a licensed copy of iLife '11 (like the one that comes with your new Mac) attached to your Mac App Store user account, it’s available for download on other Macs also linked to that account. Once you've purchased iLife '11 (either in a box at the store, or as a part of your new MacBook Air/Mac mini purchase), it will show up under the Purchases tab of the Mac App Store. That is, as long as you're running OS X 10.6.6 Snow Leopard or later, which gives you access to the Mac App Store in the first place. So you're sitting at your new MacBook Air, looking at the Mac App Store under Purchases, and there sits iLife '11. Still with me? You should be, that was the easiest part. (I kid, this is all really easy.) Ok, so now we head over to your other Mac, likely older, and see that it needs a little shot of iLife '11, too. As long as you registered your new mac with the same Apple ID, iLife '11 will have suddenly appeared for download under the Purchases tab on that computer, too. All you have to do now is install it, and the latest version of iPhoto, iMovie, and GarageBand will be ready and waiting for you in a just a short while.        
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| SpaceX To Launch ISS-Bound Supply Ship In November Posted: 29 Jul 2011 01:29 PM PDT With the demise of the space shuttle program fresh in my mind, I'm forced to find my space-related solace wherever I can. Luckily, with companies like SpaceX still devoted to removing the obstacles to commercial space flight, I can't be too bummed — and as Reuters has reported, SpaceX is preparing their next step. After their literal show of force a few months back, SpaceX is aiming their sights just a little higher. Late this November, SpaceX is set to launch their second test pod to the International Space Station and bring her back home again. Should it succeed, Elon Musk and company will have come one step closer to their goal of becoming one of two commercial entities who can deliver cargo to the ISS. SpaceX is also looking to transport people between the station and home, and is currently looking at their Dragon multipurpose craft to do much of the people moving. Admittedly, it's no mission to Mars, but it's an important project that will help sustain the International Space Station and hopefully pave the way for similar projects in the future. Besides, once we get all this low Earth orbit business down pat, it should be time to move onto some loftier ambitions.        
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| Video: This Guy Plays Air Drums That Actually Make Music Posted: 29 Jul 2011 11:12 AM PDT I find myself playing the air drums rather regularly, and the drum set on Rock Band is by far my favorite instrument, but neither of those hold a candle to what Maayan Migdal has up his sleeve. My air drums don't make real music. My Rock Band drums do, but they also take up a hunk of space in my room. His make real music and are invisible. With a MIDI device and a little help from Arduino, Migdal has built a set of real-life air drums. Migdal cut the rake part off of a few garden rakes for the drum sticks, and added accelerometers and USB ports to each. The left stick takes care of the hi-hat, while the right stick has two separate modules that cover the snare and crash cymbals. From there, he went on to fix up some sandal-esque foot pedals. Actually, they are more like foot pedal-esque sandals. Well, either way he stuck a pair of sensors into his flip-flops — the left, an accelerometer to pick up the bass drum, and the right, a light sensor to pull in the hi-hat pedal. Clearly, Mr. Migdal has a knack for creating invisible instruments. If he can figure out a music-playing air guitar, he may just give Rock Band a run for its money. Check out the video from Hack A Day after the break.         
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| Nintendo Boss Takes The Blame For 3DS Sales, Cuts His Paycheck In Half Posted: 29 Jul 2011 09:18 AM PDT When companies go through a rough patch, it’s pretty rare to see the big man upstairs step up in an awesome way. Take RIM for example. In the middle of security troubles in India and amidst tough competition from Apple and others — right before a major product, the BlackBerry PlayBook was launched — co-CEO Mike Lazaridis shut down a BBC interview not only making himself look overly defensive, but making the company look frazzled. Today Nintendo's president took a different route. After the company's disappointing quarterly results yesterday (and first-ever quarterly loss), Satoru Iwata told shareholders that he takes the blame, reports DigitalTrends. As a result, he's cutting his paycheck in half. A good deal of Nintendo's quarterly losses can be attributed to the 3DS, which hasn't been selling as well as the Japanese company had hoped. Nintendo slashed its expected net profit from 1.4 billion to 258 million — a massive downgrade. Obviously, half of Mr. Iwata's paycheck isn't going to cover those costs. Other high-level executives will also see a slash to their paychecks, between 20 and 30 percent. To respond to slow 3DS sales, Nintendo yesterday cut the price of its portable 3D gaming system from $249 to $169, which makes the device incredibly difficult to profit from. Iwata acknowledged this in the meeting, and said he expects the price cut to help grow demand, which should then cut costs of production. Iwata also recognized the fact that a big problem with the 3DS is a lack of games, an issue the company plans to address ASAP.        
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| Warning: The Latest MacBook Air Packs A Less Powerful Version Of Thunderbolt Posted: 29 Jul 2011 08:19 AM PDT Apparently not all Thunderbolt ports are created equally. Anadtech discovered that the Thunderbolt chip within the latest MacBook Air is not the same found in the current MacBook Pro. The Air’s version packs less power and throughput resulting in less abilities. Hope you weren’t planning on hooking up two of those new fancy Thunderbolt Displays. Thunderbolt is an amazing interconnect, capable of running four bidirectional, dual standards 10 Gbps channels. The capabilities are nearly endless as the single I/O port allows for nearly any interface normally associated with PCIe or DisplayPort. It’s how the latest MacBook Pros can run dual Thunderbolt displays that each feature a sort of docking station with three USB ports, one FireWire port, Gigabit Ethernet, and another Thunderbolt port. The MacBook Air’s Thunderbolt is slightly different, though. It’s only capable of two 10 Gbps channels thanks to a less capable, but physically smaller, controller chip. This means among other points that the Air can only be able to run one Thunderbolt display. Anandtech notes that other manufacturers might use the same small controller card in their upcoming products. Apple doesn’t hide this fact on the Air’s product page. “Or use the Thunderbolt port to connect the new Apple Thunderbolt Display and transform your ultracompact MacBook Air into a complete desktop workstation.” But they probably won’t stop an order with a MacBook Air and two Thunderbolt Displays. [Anandtech via AppleInsider, image via iFixit]        
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| Head-To-Head Review: Canon T3i Vs. Nikon D5100 Posted: 29 Jul 2011 07:55 AM PDT With HD video recording, great image quality, and a solid selection of lenses, the Nikon D5100 and Canon T3i are on the top of a lot of wish lists out there. For people already in the Canon or Nikon camp (full disclosure: I’m a Canon man), the choice is obvious if an upgrade is in their future, but for the less dogmatic and new recruits to the DSLR crowd, it’s not nearly as clear-cut. $800 buys you a lot of camera either way. Pixel peepers will want to check out the reliable and exhaustive reviews at DP Review (here and here) and other photography-centric sites where systematic checks on image quality are conducted, but I wanted to just put these two worthy devices head to head and see not just how they compare technically but in everyday use. Before I get into my anecdotal review, let’s just review the major specs on the two cameras. So, nothing decisive. Nikon has an edge in its autofocus system and (ostensibly) ISO capability, and Canon has a couple more megapixels and a slightly better LCD. But they’re close enough that it’s no way to determine which to get. Yet one of these must be the better camera, or at least certain types of shooters might reasonably prefer one or the other. I’m going to look at a few of the major differentiating points that you wouldn’t really think about unless you had the camera in your hands. Note that these points are not necessarily new with these cameras! The primary change in these two models is the addition of an articulating LCD. Otherwise they’re very similar to their predecessors. But since these are the newest models and are likely to make the prospective DSLR-buyer lose some sleep (as they are both excellent values), a straight comparison seems in order. This is a practical comparison focusing on things consumer commonly care about. Both cameras were tested using their kit lenses and processed in Adobe Lightroom. And the lenses form as good a place to start as any, as a large amount of first-time DSLR buyers stick with the kit lens at least for the starting period. Kit lens The T3i comes with an 18-135 F/3.5-5.6. The D5100 has an 18-55 F/3.5-5.6. Both have optical image stabilization, which helps keep longer exposures sharp (I wouldn’t trust it below 1/20th of a second) but can’t really help in really bad light. The Canon lens is the more practical choice here. While neither one is any great shakes optically and you lose light really quick when zooming in, the Canon has two advantages over the Nikon: first, that extra bit on the long end is really handy if you only have the one lens. It’s quite a decent telephoto length, suitable for getting wildlife, birds, and so on at middle distance. The same object at the end of the Nikon focal length would have less clarity in most situations. Second, the Canon lens, while somewhat larger, has all internal elements — meaning nothing on the outside moves except the switches and rings. The Nikon, on the other hand, has a telescoping front element that moves in and out with both focus and zoom, and manual focusing spins the whole barrel. It feels a bit chintzy, like it couldn’t handle a good ding on a doorframe, and it’s poking out of the front all day long. For what it’s worth, though, my brief tests showed the Nikon lens performed better optically. At 100%, the Canon shots showed significantly more fringing in bright light. Not something you’d notice if you were to shrink the pictures by a bit, but certainly worth mentioning. Something that would have been nice to have on both lenses would be maximum aperture indicators on the zoom dial, but that’s uncommon anyway and the in-viewfinder info is sufficient. Viewfinder Both viewfinders are run-of-the-mill pentamirror, so neither has a major advantage over the other. But they’re not identical. The rubber eye rest is slightly different but comfortable on both. Neither sticks out far so you’ll be rubbing your nose on the screen no matter what. The Nikon’s viewfinder shows more of the image than the Canon — that is, given the same focal length on the lens, the Nikon shows more of what will actually be captured. It’s only perhaps 3% more (by my estimate) but it’s noticeable if you’re looking for it. That said, I like the readout in the Canon viewfinder better; it seems to me to be brighter and more readable. The autofocus points are much more visible on the Canon viewfinder, which is a matter of taste really. The Canon has a circle for showing where center-weighted exposure will limit itself to, which is handy. LCD Canon’s LCD is the same size but slightly higher-resolution (720×480 instead of 640×480), and has the advantage of being natively 3:2. I find this makes images a little nicer to review, but both screens are way better than the 480×320 screens we had just a couple years ago. The Canon’s also seems to me to look ever so slightly sharper; I could read the title of a book ten feet from me at 18mm on the Canon just barely, but on the Nikon I couldn’t make it out. Both screens articulate out to the left and then spin 270 degrees vertically. Action on both is smooth and they booth seem about as sturdy as a built-in articulating LCD should. Both lock down securely with either the LCD or plastic back outwards. However, the Canon’s has a cutout “handle” on the right, and the Nikon has two small grips on the top and bottom. Canon’s works best for grabbing with your thumb, and I found it more convenient than the two-finger pinching grab for the Nikon. That’s another matter of taste but I definitely preferred the thumb grip. Controls Apart from the normal differences in Canon/Nikon layouts, the latest Canons have in addition a sculpted shape and are nearly flush with the body. The D5100′s buttons are all circular, though of various “depths.” Both have a mix of clicking and non-clicking buttons, and the general rule seems to be that any buttons that directly affect the photo don’t click. The Canon’s buttons were more consistent in their feel, but they’re so nearly flush that some can be difficult to identify in the dark or without taking your eye from the viewfinder. Its directional buttons are certainly better, though: Nikon’s circular D-pad feels soft. I prefer Nikon’s silvered, more vertical shutter button, though, and that’s certainly the button you’ll be using the most. As a Canon user, I’ve grown used to the jog dial being under my index finger, but whether you like it better there than under your thumb is something for you to figure out on your own. Canon’s mode dial is far larger, which I find helpful, though it stops at A-Dep (why not manual?) and mode, and Nikon’s just keeps spinning. Knowing the position of the dial relative to the ends can be a time saver. One thing the T3i has that the D5100 doesn’t is a dedicated ISO control button. On the D5100, you have to go one step into the menu to select a different ISO, while on the T3i it’s just one button press. This is strange to me because Nikon has a finer grain of control on the ISO and you’d think they’d want to have that out there. I’d trade the “info” button for ISO in a second. As for the interface on the screen: Nikon’s graphical representation and primary-stats-central look is attractive and nice for people who aren’t used to SLR controls — but it seems a bit flashy and secondary information isn’t quite as clearly ascertained at a quick glance. Live view The D5100 has a great little snappy lever that switches you in and out of LV. The Canon has a dedicated (circular) button. The D5100 gets into LV much more quickly, too — I’d say a quarter of a second, while the Canon takes a half. It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s truly noticeable and may affect your usage of that mode. Once in LV, both cameras are sluggish on autofocus. The Nikon seemed to make its mind up more quickly, though, while the Canon took several extra steps, making a labored clicking noise. Manual focus is still probably your best option, but they’re getting better and Nikon is certainly the winner here. Body The T3i is an ounce lighter than the Nikon, but it’s also larger and much more aggressively sculpted on the right side (though it’s difficult to tell from the pictures). Those with larger hands will appreciate this, as it provides more real estate in general, but neither camera is big enough for big hands. I’ve got good-sized hands and I’ve been shooting on a Rebel for years, but it’s not for everyone. Nikon has a bigger lip poking out under the shutter but overall Canon has more going on. Canon also put more sculpting into the right rear and left front sides. The T3i has a texture, grippy material in both places and a sort of valley that your thumb goes in while holding the camera normally. The flaps and doors covering the ports and such aren’t exactly leagues apart quality-wise, but the Nikon’s SD door springs up, and all its ports are under a single flap, both of which I think give it an edge. Movie mode Canon has a dedicated movie mode on the mode dial, while Nikon has you record using a separate button while in Live View. There are merits to both of these (especially considering how fast Nikon jumps into LV), but being able to boot straight into video-shooting mode is handy if you’re doing primarily video content. As for formats, it’s a toss-up. In 1080p the cameras have the same framerates but Nikon has the advantage of two quality settings. Both produce quite huge files. At 720p, Nikon uses the more common 24 or 30 frames as options, while Canon has 50 and 60fps. On one hand, the Nikon formats are more easy to use for normal shooting, while on the other, 60fps works as a sort of poor man’s slow motion, slowing things down by a half or more depending on how you display it. But then Nikon goes and messes things up by having the low-quality option be 640×424 instead of the standard (and 4:3) 640×480. That’s 3:2 more or less, but 16:9 and 4:3 are much more commonly used for video. Nikon has some in-camera effects like “miniature” and “Night Vision,” but to be perfectly honest I think if you’re shooting video with your DSLR you’re far less likely to want in-camera effects. At the very least a new amateur video editor will put things in iMovie or the like, where these effects are better, more adjustable, and don’t bog down the camera (as some of them do). That said, being able to see the scene in black and white could be handy. Image quality While DP Review’s charts will tell you far more about this than my little dabblings here, it can’t hurt to have a few real-world comparison shots you can pore over if you like. The cameras were set to the exact same exposure settings and set to go straight to large JPEG (no RAW performance data for you). I do want to mention, though, that on “manual” mode, the Nikon kept changing the exposure I’d set it to. I really don’t know why in manual mode it would change anything at all. Here you have the ideal lighting situation: nothing moving, nice fast shutter and medium aperture. I set both cameras to 1/500th at f/9 and 200 ISO. If you download the 100% one you can really see the differences in CA. T3i (left) – D5100 (right) Next, in the same bright circumstances, a shot using the most automatic mode. Again I think the win goes to Nikon, due to some excessive processing on Canon’s part. T3i D5100 And here’s a low-light situation, at ISO 3200. Neither one performs particularly well in resolving the spider’s details (they were in fact in focus), but the Canon is certainly a more usable shot. T3i (left) – D5100 (right) ConclusionI can’t tell you which of these cameras will feel better to shoot. But let’s just run down the cameras’ strengths really quick. Some of these are just my opinion, obviously, but I think it’s legit to say when something seemed truly preferable to me. Canon T3i
Nikon D5100
Look at those lists and see if anything catches your eye. Because these are both excellent cameras and either way you’re going to get a lot for your money. If I had to choose, I’d say that the Canon is a better buy: the kit lens, more versatile video, and a more serious-feeling body. That said, the Nikon is definitely more compact, and for some, its video options may be better. Note: if you decide to go with the T3i, consider whether you could go with the T2i. The articulating screen is really the only major feature missing (the D5100 is more of a step up from its kid brother), so you could save quite a bit of money on getting a T2i body-only and use it to pick up a nicer lens. Just an idea. Product page: Canon T3i        
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| Samsung Goes Mum With Phone And Tablet Sales Stats Posted: 29 Jul 2011 06:50 AM PDT Anybody notice something missing from Samsung's Q2 results? Hint: it was the phone/tablet sales data. But why? Well, according to Samsung's "new information policy," phones and tablets data will heretofore remain a secret. "As competition intensifies, there are increased risks that the information we provide may adversely affect our own business," said Samsung's investor relations boss Robert Yi on the Q2 conference call. Hmmm. Well what risks exactly is he talking about? Yi certainly refused to delve any further into the matter, but analysts expect it has quite a bit to do with the company's current legal battle with Apple. This seems a little misleading, to be honest. Samsung and Apple's beef is related to patents, focused on both design and software. Sales stats don’t really change that. Then again, if Apple can prove to the judge that Samsung's "copycat" devices are cutting into its earnings, Samsung may face some trouble. I'm no lawyer so don't quote me on that, but it's a thought. Another thought, which may not get the best reaction, has to do with our recent article about Android's return rate. Whether that number is right or wrong, a mega-manufacturer of millions phones a year would rightly want to keep that data to itself. Either way, analysts seem to agree that Apple is one bad mamma jamma to play rough with, and Samsung will probably continue to step lightly until this whole legal mess is over.        
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| Review: The Roku 2 XS Does Internet Media Streaming, Motion Gaming In A Tiny Package Posted: 29 Jul 2011 06:21 AM PDT This is Roku’s third media streamer lineup. The UI isn’t that much different from past models nor are the capabilities. We’ve used and reviewed almost all of the Roku products, from their first Netflix box, so we’ll keep this short and sweet. This Roku series ushers the media streamer into casual gaming thanks to motion controls and Angry Birds. Yep, yet another Angry Birds incarnation. Roku has always featured a dead-simple UI; I’ve always said it’s boring-simple because, well, it’s a rather dull interface. The home screen features a row of icons for the available stations. Clicking on one brings up an interface unique to that station. The best thing about Roku devices are that they are generally bulletproof. This one doesn’t seem any different. Once set up, the device runs without issue. Most of the time if a station crashes, it will freeze and then take you back to the main interface, which is a better alternative than a compete crash. That’s not saying the box doesn’t ever lock up. It’s a consumer electronic device so things can and will happen eventually. There are three new models within the Roku 2 lineup with the most expensive being the $100 XS model. This option nets buyers the Wii-like gaming controller that doubles as a system remote. The top-tier XS model also sports 1080p/720p HDMI output, an Ethernet port a microSD card slot for future gaming applications. The $79 XD model supports 1080p/720p output where the $59 base Roku 2 only does 720p. The two least expensive models are also compatible with the motion gaming controller. Unfortunately the latest Roku models still require a good deal of initial setup. So much so that it takes a good 15 minutes to hook up the box, download the latest update, register the Roku online, then select and install the channels. This amount of slow and boring setup certainly kills the buzz of a new toy. Roku streamers have never played friendly with local media servers or shares. You can’t watch downloaded content over a local network on a Roku device. The new XS model does feature a USB port and some content can be played back from a flash drive — just not bitrate-rich MKV files. The XS officially supports just H.264 MP4, AAC, MP3, JPG, and PNG. Roku has always been about adding new content to their devices and so casual games have probably been in the works for some time. The $100 XS model ships with a Bluetooth remote that looks like a Wii Remote. Along with the standard media playback controls, the remote features a 4 way navigational pad and A/B buttons. The Wii Remote comparison is more than just looks. For better or worse, it works just like a Wii Remote complete with the shaky on-screen pointing finger. But it works. Hold the OK button, virtually pull back on the Angry Bird’s slingshot and let ‘em fly. Angry Birds is currently the only game available on the platform so hopefully you haven’t already played through it on your iPhone or Android phone. Roku promises more games are in the works but said games are Angry Birds Seasons and Angry Birds Rio. Presumably, at least since the company built the gaming platform, more titles are on the way but until that happens, buy the Roku 2 for the media capabilities rather than the promise of gaming. The latest Roku works like the previous Roku. That’s a good thing. The company added new features, shrunk the device to a ridiculous size, and kept the price the same. These models show the company is far from complacent despite stiff competition from Apple TV, the Boxee Box and all the rest. The lack of local network playback is probably a deal breaker for many, though. Look to the Boxee Box or WD TV if you need local and Internet streaming. I’ve always felt that Roku devices are the best general consumer media streamer and that’s even more true now with the casual motion gaming. Highly recommended (if you don’t want/need to play local files)        
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| Dell Will Add A 10-Inch Streak To Its Android Line-Up Posted: 29 Jul 2011 05:57 AM PDT The Dell Streak 10, whose cousins we reviewed here and here, is a 10-inch Honeycomb tablet that Dell is releasing in China this week. However, the interesting thing about this image is that the Dell Streak 10 and the Dell Streak 7 are both running Honeycomb, a welcome relief for those saddled with the Streak’s outdated OS. These tablets are odd in that Dell is making and selling them in Asia with a secondary interesting the rest of the world. Perhaps they have more market traction in China or perhaps folks just love them some Streaks over there, but regardless we can expect to see the 10 arrive here in the next few months.        
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| Posted: 29 Jul 2011 01:00 AM PDT Enjoy a selection of recent stories on TechCrunch Gadgets:        
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