Family Learning Center

Posts Tagged ‘Dictionary’

iriver introduces D1000 ‘e-dictionary’ for Korea

iriver introduces D1000 ‘e-dictionary’ for Korea originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Pocketables  |  iriver  | Email this | Comments
Read the whole story…

ASUS DR-950 9-inch touchscreen e-reader brings text-to-speech and internet browser

ASUS is suddenly all chatty with its plans to enter the e-reader market in 2010. Just yesterday we got word of a 6-inch color (claimed to be OLED by InGear) e-reader from ASUS by the name of DR-570 headed to retail before the year is through. Now we’ve got details of a second ASUS e-reader, dubbed the DR-950 that should arrive sooner. This time we’re looking at a 9-inch Sipix panel with 1,024 x 768 pixel resolution pushing 16-levels of gray just like the Jinke reader unveiled at CES. The touchscreen DR-950 measures features text-to-speech (based on Svox engine supporting 26 languages), a web browser that works in portrait or landscape modes, a virtual keyboard and handwriting input, a RSS reader, and dictionary (with expandable database) with real-time translation. Spec-wise, the 222 x 161 x 9-mm / 370-gram reader packs WiFi and HSPA (WiMax is optional) data radios, 3.5-mm headphone jack and stereo speakers, with 4GB of internal memory and SD Card expansion. Supported formats include PDF, TXT, Audible, MP3, and unprotected ePub. Not bad ASUS, not bad. Now let’s see some content partners, eh? See it pictured browsing the web after the break.

Continue reading ASUS DR-950 9-inch touchscreen e-reader brings text-to-speech and internet browser

ASUS DR-950 9-inch touchscreen e-reader brings text-to-speech and internet browser originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Jan 2010 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  ElectricPig  | Email this | Comments
Read the whole story…

Android 2.0 support officially added to SDK

Google’s gone ahead and uncorked the bubbly to celebrate the launch of Android 2.0 “Eclair” today ahead of Verizon’s big reveal tomorrow, bundling its announcements into two very important sections: SDK support, meaning devs can go ahead and start targeting the new bits, and a comprehensive list of changes in the latest version. Here are the major changes us lay folk are going to care about:

• Support for multiple Google and Exchange accounts
• Third-party “sync adapters” allow apps to tie in to the phone’s sync services
• Quick contact menus for fast access to specific key pieces of contact information
• Unified email inbox (yes!)
• SMS and MMS search
• Text message auto-delete after a user-defined thread size is reached
• Significantly improved camera controls with white balance, macro, effects, and more
• Improved keyboard layout, dictionary, and algorithm based on multi-touch support
• Double-tap zoom in browser, support for HTML5
• Bluetooth 2.1 support with addition of OPP and PBAP profiles
• “Better” graphics hardware acceleration

Needless to say, we’re extremely excited about the changes Google’s made here — and on top of the Droid, we can only hope this action is coming to legacy devices on the double. We’ll find out soon enough (hopefully).

[Via MobileTechWorld]

Read – SDK support announcement
Read – Android 2.0 changes

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Android 2.0 support officially added to SDK originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments
Read the whole story…

Setting up a "Writing Mac"

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software, Internet Tools

I’ve got a basement full of Macs in various states of repair, which shouldn’t surprise you. One of my hobbies is re-purposing those old machines. For instance, there’s a G3 All-In-One on my workbench which runs iFixIt.com when I’ve got a project. Additionally, I use a G4 iMac as a Daylite server.

I’ve also had a G5 iMac for a while, but nothing for it to do. Earlier this week, I gave it a fresh install of Mac OS 10.4 and thought I’d use it for blogging and other writing. No web browsing, Twitter, iPhoto or the like. Call it a “Writing Mac.” Here’s how I set it up.

Reduce distractions

The Dock and drives are hidden from the Finder. No Twitter clients are installed, and only a few bookmarks are in place. The home folder contains only the default items and there’s no music in the iTunes library. In other words, there’s nothing to compete for my attention.

Steamlined for work

I’ve populated the dock with apps that support writing and nothing more. I’ve moved it to the lower left-hand corner by choosing “Position on screen > Left” from the Dock preference pane and this little bit of command line editing from Shawn Blanc:

defaults write com.apple.dock pinning -string end

Now I can have the dock tiny yet accessible as I run my writing software. Speaking of which …

The software

You’ll see a few icons in my Dock. After the Finder and Mail, is Scrivener. If you’ve got a large writing project to complete, Scrivener is the companion you’ll want on your side. Research, outlining and organization is a pleasure with such a great application.

I’ve also got Apple’s Dictionary in the Dock because, believe it or not, ‘ol Dave isn’t so good with the spelling.

Next is Yojimbo (I had to upgrade to 10.5.7 to get this to run. D’oh!). I only started using this app recently, but I can see the appeal. When running, it puts a small tab on the edge of the desktop. It’s easy to drop bits of text, images or URL’s in there to use as reference. The good stuff, once reviewed, gets moved into Scrivener.

Finally is my beloved ImageWell for editing images for use here on TUAW. It runs on 10.4 and is just the tool for quick-and-dirty cropping and resizing.

At last, iTunes streams Radio Paradise, my favorite Internet radio station.

The best part is that there’s almost nothing to back up (other than Scrivener projects, which I drop in my Dropbox). If this machine’s HD croaked tomorrow, I’d be able to pick up where I left off with minimal fuss.

So there you have it, my Writing Mac. Aren’t legacy machines fun?

TUAWSetting up a “Writing Mac” originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 09 Sep 2009 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Read the whole story…

Unsung Snow Leopard feature: multiple-language spell checker

Filed under: Software, Tips and tricks, Snow Leopard

OS X has had a system-wide, built-in spell checker for a while now, but until Snow Leopard, it could only check the spelling of whatever your default language was. But what if you needed to prepare a document in another language, say for a college Spanish assignment? In that case, you’d end up with a document with pretty much every single word underlined in red, with no reliable way to spell check it.

TUAWUnsung Snow Leopard feature: multiple-language spell checker originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 04 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Read the whole story…

Top 50 U.S. Web Properties: Facebook Enters Top 5 For The First Time

Annual changes of note: Facebook #5 with a rocket; Twitter entered Top 50 in June; Demand Media, Answers.com and Break Media sites to watch.

comScore has just released their latest
Media Metrix rankings for the Top 50 U.S. Web Properties. If we compare the top 50 to one year ago, we see that the top 4 is still the same: Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, AOL. But there’s one notable entrant to the top 5: Facebook. Last year the same list by comScore had Facebook ranked number 16. As of July 2009, it is number 5; Facebook’s highest ranking yet. What’s more, guess who Facebook displaced at number 5? That’s right, Fox Interactive, owners of increasingly untrendy MySpace.

Sponsor

Top 10 U.S. Sites, July 2009; source: comScore

Top 10 U.S. Sites, July 2008; source: comScore

Our Analysis

Facebook is the only new entrant to the top 10 since one year ago, moving CBS out of that esteemed company.

It’s a little surprising to see that Yahoo is still very competitive with Google, showing that Yahoo’s portal approach is still paying off, even in this late stage of ‘web 2.0.’

A scan of the top 50 reveals some other big moves over the past year:

• Twitter has entered the top 50, in at number 42 with an estimated 21.2 Million monthly uniques. Twitter first entered comScore’s Top 50 in June ‘09. Note that comScore probably undercounts Twitter’s audience by a lot, because many Twitter users don’t visit twitter.com but use third party clients. We reported last week that an estimated 65% of Twitter users still use twitter.com, so it may be undercounted by as much as a third (but it’s hard to know for sure, as many people use both the Web and third party apps).
• Demand Media has risen from #36 to #24. The company proclaims itself to be "the leader in social media solutions."
• Answers.com Sites is a new entrant to the top 50 from a year ago, at #26 in July ‘09. It’s a dictionary, thesaurus, encyclopedia – amongst other things.
• Wordpress is up to #29, from #38 last year.
• Mozilla is up to #30, from #42 last year.
• Break Media is a new entrant at #35. It’s a site for "Funny Videos & Funny Pictures”.

These statistics show some relatively obvious trends: Facebook is a major major player now, Twitter is hot stuff, and Wordpress and Mozilla continue to make waves.

Also interesting though are the less ‘glamorous’ sites who are making impressive progress up the charts: Demand Media, Answers.com, Break Media to mention a few of the more significant movers.

Discuss

Read the whole story…

Atree J100 gets lost in the forest of Korean PMPs

We certainly can’t knock the 4GB Atree J100 when it comes to its well stocked arsenal of goodies: it has a three-inch touchscreen, an e-dictionary, DMB digital TV tuner, video playback, and microSD expansion — and it plays music too. Audio formats are also plentiful, with MP3, WMA and OGG for the commoners, and FLAC and APE for the lossless fanatics. Too bad it’s held back by the chunky casing, which looks big enough to have fit a five-inch screen if the designers were so inclined. With slicker-looking competition from the likes of Cowon and Samsung, the otherwise entirely useful J100 might struggle to stand out, but if you’re willing to look beyond its superficial shortcomings, it’s available now for 198,000 KRW ($158).

[Via PMP Today]

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Atree J100 gets lost in the forest of Korean PMPs originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Read the whole story…

Full specs leak on Sony Reader PRS-300 and PRS-600

Still doubting that Sony has a new duo of e-book readers on the horizon? Have a look at this. Sony Insider is reporting that retailer J&R posted up product listings for both the PRS-300 and PRS-600, but both were quickly pulled in order to avoid a stern wrist slap from the suits at Sony. ‘Course, neither were pulled quickly enough, and what we’re left with is a list of full specifications and MSRPs for the both of ‘em. If said sheets are to be believed, the 5-inch (800 x 600 resolution) Sony PRS300-RC Reader Pocket Edition will ship with 512MB of onboard memory, PC and Mac support, a battery good for 7,500 page turns and USB 2.0 connectivity. The 6-inch (800 x 600 resolution) PRS600-SC Reader Touch Edition checks in at 0.4-inches thin and boasts a virtual keyboard, doodle capability, 512MB of storage, a built-in English e-dictionary, PC and Mac support and the same battery as on the smaller sibling. We’re looking at price tags of $199 and $299, respectively, but with no apparent WiFi or WWAN built in, it’ll still be a hard sell over Amazon’s connected Kindle here in America.

Filed under: Displays, Handhelds

Full specs leak on Sony Reader PRS-300 and PRS-600 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Aug 2009 07:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Read the whole story…