Sketching you silently

Range Rover

 See what 2014 #RangeRoverEvoque is capable of http://bit.ly/1dpvFRa.

Mercury thermometers don’t work at -40°C as the liquid metal freezes at -39°C, but these are the extreme temperatures the all-new Range Rover Sport was exposed to for days as part of its testing. See how the vehicle copes with the Arctic chamber here: http://bit.ly/1bW8D7B

Land Rover - Colour Theory

 “Our colour palette has changed dramatically in the years since the very first Series I Land Rover - the legendary Huey, was launched in military green.”

 “We’ve always traditionally named colours geographically, after places, towns, even bodies of water. Blues and greys named after oceans or rivers, oranges and yellow after deserts.”

“Our inspiration stems from everything – a watch, a region, a building, even a bottle top, all provide the spark for the design team to start developing new colours.”

Land Rover

  
Paying tribute to the last 25 years, the XXV Special Edition Discovery comes with a choice of four exterior colours including Indus Silver.

 
Over the last two decades the Discovery has cemented its position as the most capable, versatile SUV in the world, taking on Land Rover’s G4 Challenge and the Camel Trophy, as well as supporting the world’s most profound explorers.

 Marked with the distinctive XXV badging on the front door and tailgate, the Special Edition Discovery offers a sophisticated interior lined with Windsor leather.

With its formidable array of innovative and award-winning technologies, from Terrain Response to Hill Descent Control, the Discovery has always been confident tackling the world’s toughest terrain.

Sochi 2014 Day 12 - Freestyle Skiing Men's Ski Halfpipe

Original piece at Sochi2014

Sochi 2014 Day 12 - Ice Hockey Men's Play-offs Qualifications

Roman Cervenka #10 of Czech Republic shoots and scores in the first period against Jan Laco #50 of Slovakia during the Men's Qualification Playoff Game on day 12 of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics at Shayba Arena 

 

Original Piece at Sochi2014

Why You Shouldn’t Buy a New Apple TV Right Now

Thinking about buying an Apple TV some time soon? Well, put down that remote. Step away from the Apple Store. 

According to reports from both Bloomberg News and the Apple obsessives at the website 9to5Mac, Apple will release a new version of its Apple TV in the coming months. 9to5Mac heard from its sources that the new Apple TV would be released “in the first half of 2014”; Bloomberg hears that it will be here as soon as April. 9to5Mac also discovered references in some Apple code that indicate that a new Apple TV is on the way. 

In other words: If you were planning on picking up a new Apple TV, you might want to wait a few months. You could be rewarded with a newer model. 

The Apple TV is a small Internet-connected box that can plug into your television and stream videos from services like YouTube and Netflix. Apple sells it for $100, and it competes against similar devices from Roku, whose boxes cost between $50 and $100, and the Google Chromecast, a $35 streaming stick that also streams multimedia from the web. 

Predicted features for the next-generation Apple TV include a faster processor, an improved experience for playing video games through the system, and some kind of integration for existing cable subscribers perhaps enabling you to watch live TV through Apple’s box.

Apple has long been rumored to want to get into live TV, though its talks with cable companies have apparently ended up short of a deal. A recent Bloomberg News report indicated that Apple was closing in on an agreement with Time Warner Cable, however, potentially bringing real-time programming to Apple TV for the first time.

But even if you don’t subscribe to cable and you don’t care about video games, the potential speed boost from a new processor should persuade you to wait a couple of months for the upgraded Apple TV.

How sure are we that a new Apple TV is actually debuting soon, though? Even if you don’t buy into the rumors, the timing is right. The Apple TV was last upgraded in March 2013. Apple has traditionally updated its hardware products, like the iPhone and the iPad, on a yearly cycle; it has been about a year since the last new Apple TV. In some sense, Apple is overdue to release a new one. 

But aside from this calendar-ology, the latest rumors of a new Apple TV come from solid sources. Apple rumors on the Internet can be inaccurate, yes. But both Bloomberg  News and 9to5Mac reporter Mark Gurman have solid reputations for reporting what turns out to be the truth when it comes to upcoming Apple products. Gurman in particular has become somewhat noteworthy for nailing down the specifics of Apple products before they are announced, earning a Fortune profile in 2012. 

An Apple TV in the near term isn’t a sure thing. But, reading the iLeaves, it is plausible enough that potential Apple TV buyers should hang on for a couple of months before plunking down $100 on what could become an antiquated device.

Our advice? If you’re committed to an Apple TV, wait until springtime to snag one. Your television will thank you later.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article stated that the Apple TV hadn’t been updated since 2012. It was updated with a new processor in 2013. 

Yahoo Tech is a brand-new tech site from David Pogue and an all-star team of writers. Follow us on Facebook for all the latest.

Original piece at Yahoo.com

Two Game Consoles Battle for a Dubious Prize

A philosophical war is being waged in the world of video game consoles.

One view is represented by Microsoft’s Xbox One: the console as home media hub, combining television, movie watching, video streaming, games and computerlike features such as Skype into a single device that’s as much set-top box as gaming rig.

A second view comes from Sony, whose PlayStation 4 is for playing video games first, for streaming video and watching DVDs second, and for little else.

As often happens with philosophical debates, right and wrong are subjective determinations, but as also often happens in life, simpler tends to be better.

Original piece at New York Times

Wireless Charging: Still Plenty of Kinks in the Cord

As personal devices proliferate — smartphones, wearable fitness bands, Kindles, tablets, smart glasses — our charger collections are starting to look like the electrical outlet in the movie “A Christmas Story.”

Wireless charging to the rescue? Not quite. The concept has been caught in a slow-moving standards war.

That’s not to say wireless charging capabilities aren’t starting to creep into devices. Google’s Nexus 4 and Nexus 5 phones and Nexus 7 tablet support wireless charging, and Google even makes its own wireless charger with the Nexus name. The Motorola Droid Maxx supports wireless charging, while a few other Android phones sort of do: the LG G2 only offers it on the Verizon model, and Samsung Galaxy S4 owners can spend $90 on an official wireless charging back cover and pad.

Several charging covers are available for other Android phones and for many Nokia phones, like the Lumia 1020. There’s even a new, Indiegogo-funded wireless charging kit for iPhone, called the iQi.

So, interest is growing, but why don’t more devices have wireless charging capability built in? The primary reason is, like so many things in tech, conflicting standards. Until last week, there were three separate groups pushing wireless charging standards. And phone, tablet and wearable makers are hesitant to tie their devices to a specific charging tech.

The Wireless Power Consortium backs the Qi (pronounced “chee”) standard used in the iQi and in the accessories mentioned above, as well as the Nexus line. Qi is arguably the wireless charging leader, and support for the specification is built into some 400 devices from almost 200 different companies.

If you’ve seen Powermat chargers in Starbucks and McDonald’s, those support the Power Matters Alliance standard. A third specification comes from Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP), which has Qualcomm as a founding member. Last week, though, the alliance and A4WP announced a merger, bringing the three major standards-bearers down to two.

Confused yet?

The two organizations employ similar, but not identical magnetic charging technologies: A4WP’s newer resonance charging lets you charge multiple devices on a single charging pad without worrying too much about where they’re placed. The alliance, on the other hand, uses inductive charging, which requires more precise placement for a device to charge properly.

Qi chargers use the more restrictive inductive charging, but the consortium showed off resonance charging devices at International CES in Las Vegas in January, and the standard supports the more flexible charging technique.

But other companies hope to sidestep the standards slog with their own innovations.The Israeli start-up Humavox is pushing a new, wireless charging technology based not on magnetic induction, but on radio frequency. Its Eterna platform employs an extremely tiny receiver, originally designed for hearing aids, and a transmitter that can work in any kind of charging receptacle, from a pad to a bowl to a portable charging box.

Humavox wants to license its technology, rather than build products. But it’s been showing off prototype devices including one it calls a “Nest,” which is basically a small white bowl into which you can casually toss a jumble of fitness bands and phones and charge them in about the same amount of time as a charging cable.

The technology seems promising as a demonstration, primarily because the idea of tossing devices into a bowl for charging is endlessly appealing. But as with all platforms, success depends on adoption. Humavox says it’s working with a few partners making semiconductors and health-related devices, but consumer brands are still slow to come around.

It’s hard to say whether Humavox’s entry will make things even more confusing or give manufacturers a good option. At least one other company, Ossia, is working on a wireless charging technology that uses radio frequencies, and there may be more in the works.

So for now — and please pardon the pun — wireless charging is still as tangled as the cords next to my bedside table.

Original piece at  nytimes.com