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Amazon adds HTML5 ebooks in Kindle Format 8

Amazon is talking up the new features that it is adding to the Kindle Format 8 (KF8) upgrade for ebooks. The key feature is the support of HTML5 in the new format. That HTML5 support brings all sort of goodies with it that will make ebooks using the new KF8 format more interactive and exciting. HTML5 means support for CSS3, fixed layouts, embedded fonts, drop caps, floating elements, text on background images, lists and a bunch more.

KF8 will replace Mobi 7 and will is the format showcased on the Kindle Fire tablet. The big benefits of this new format won’t be your normal ebooks. The ebooks that benefit most will be children’s books and graphic novels that need lots of color and benefit from more interactivity. The update adds over 150 new formatting capabilities to the ebook bag of tricks.

There are enhancements to the Kindle Publisher tools that will let the publisher create Kindle books to take advantage of the new formatting supported in KF8. Amazon will be launching a Kindle Previewer 2 soon to allow the publisher to preview how books will look using the new format. The Kindle Fire will be the first device to support the new format and in the coming months support will be rolled out to existing apps and devices.

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Amazon adds HTML5 ebooks in Kindle Format 8 is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2011, SlashGear. All right reserved.

AMD future roadmap surfaces with processors for ultrabook-style machines

AMD is always the bridesmaid and never the bride in the computer industry with about 20% of the global CPU market while Intel sucks up almost all of what is left. AMD is looking for ways to get back to the top of the heap and take some of Intel’s market share. One of the ways it looks like AMD is hoping to do that is with processors that are for ultrabook-style products. Some details on the future roadmap for these chips and others have now surfaced.

The key bit of detail that has surfaced in the roadmap is that in 2012 AMD will launch the Deccan platform and in 2013 the Kerala platform will launch. The Deccan platform is expected to hit next June and will include the Krishna and Wichita APUs. These parts will then upgrade in 2013 to Kerala and Kabini APUs. These parts are supposed to have upgrades to them make a significant improvement in power consumption so that AMD can compete with the low power Intel offerings in Ultrabooks today.

The roadmap also shows that AMD has a new part coming for the notebook market in 2012 AMD will be launching the Comal platform with Trinity-based APUs and then in 2013 the Kaveri-based APUs will launch. In Q2 2012, the Brazos T platform for tablets will launch. The Brazos T platform will include the Hondo APU and then in 2013 the Samara platform for tablets will bow in.

[via DigiTimes]

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AMD future roadmap surfaces with processors for ultrabook-style machines is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2011, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Anonymous takes on child pornographers

Hack collective Anonymous has turned its attention to child pornography, claiming to have brought down a webhost alleged to be hosting more than forty sites on which the illegal content was offered. According to the loosely-affiliated group’s statement, Freedom Hosting was challenged by evidence of the pornography stored on its servers but refused to delete it; Anonymous then “infiltrated the shared hosting server of Freedom Hosting and shutdown services to all clients.”

The company then allegedly restored its servers from backups, at which point Anonymous reiterated its warnings and hacked the host for a second time. “Freedom Hosting has been declared #OpDarknet Enemy Number One” the group now says, referring to its online crusade, and subsequently shared personal information on almost 1,600 individuals said to have been users of the sites.

“By taking down Freedom Hosting, we are eliminating 40+ child pornography websites, among these is Lolita City, one of the largest child pornography websites to date containing more than 100GB of child pornography” Anonymous

Freedom Hosting is a .onion host, reachable through the Tor network using a proxy server that provides some degree of anonymity for users. Such networks are known as “darknets” because of their clandestine nature. Anonymous now says it will crash “any other server we find to contain, promote, or support child pornography.”

[via GMA News]

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Anonymous takes on child pornographers is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2011, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich includes support for gaming controllers

Devs digging around in the Android 4.0 SDK have found something that fans of Android gaming will really appreciate. The devs have discovered that the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS will have integrated, native support for game controllers. That means you will be able to connect game controllers to the tablet to play your favorite games rather than relying on touch or motion control. That would be a really cool thing for controlling some of the old school arcade game ports that are out there.

I wonder what sort of game controllers will be supported. I would assume that Bluetooth and USB controllers would get the nod. That might allow you to just plug your Xbox or PS3 controllers in and play away with a much better control system. This won’t be the first time a game controller has been usable on Android, there was a hack for the Wii remote a long time back.

I think the idea of real gaming controllers on the tablets coming in the future with better graphics, HD resolution gaming, and Tegra 3 power is very interesting. It would make for some very good mobile gaming on road trips.

[via Android Community]

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Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich includes support for gaming controllers is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2011, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Dell XPS 14z official

Dell has outed its latest notebook, the Dell XPS 14z, a 14-inch notebook that manages to squeeze its 1366 x 768 display into space that would normally only accommodate a 13-inch panel. Set to go on sale in North America on November, and follow on in the UK come November 15, the XPS 14z has a choice of Sandy Bridge Core i5 and i7 processors, NVIDIA GeForce GT 520M 1GB graphics (with Optimus switching), up to 8GB of DDR3 memory (4GB standard) and a slot-loading DVD burner.

There’s also a choice of up to 750GB 7,200rpm hard-drives or a 256GB SSD, along with WiFi a/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0. Intel WiDi is supports, along with up to six hours and 49 minutes of runtime with the 8-cell battery. That’s all in something that measures a compact 0.9 x 13.19 x 9.21 inches and weighs 4.36 pounds, made from anodized aluminum and magnesium alloy.

The XPS 14z follows its 15-inch sibling, the XPS 15z, which itself offered the sort of display size you’d expect on a larger notebook in a slick aluminum chassis. In the US the Dell XPS 14z will be priced from $999, while in the UK it will be priced from £799.

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Dell XPS 14z official is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2011, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Mean Green Machine gets meaner Harley power

When I was little, I had a Mean Green Machine. I am pretty sure whoever invented it was out to maim kids all across the country. That big wheel/death machine hybrid would do spinouts at will. The downside was that it would also throw you off in about a second. It’s a good thing that kids are not fragile. If you had one of these toys back in the day, a new adult version with a big engine from a Harley Davidson motorcycle can be yours.

The thing is available on Hammacher Schlemmer and will set you back $75,000. That is a lot of green; you can get yourself a very nice new sports car for that much money. The adult size version of the kids toy has a 45-inch front wheel is driven by a chain hooked to an 80CI Harley-Davidson engine. That engine has 60hp.

The vehicle has a top speed of 50mph and a six-speed transmission that is controlled by a foot lever. To control the direction of the vehicle two hand levers are uses with push pull action just like the toy. The driving range on an 8.5-gallon tank of fuel is 400 miles. The device doesn’t appear to be street legal.

[via Jalopnik]

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Mean Green Machine gets meaner Harley power is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2011, SlashGear. All right reserved.

60 Minutes Steve Jobs biographer interview released [Video]

CBS has released the full 60 Minutes interview with Steve Jobs biographer Walter Isaacson, featuring excerpts from the book released today, along with recorded content from sessions with Jobs that have never before been heard. In the video – which you can find after the cut – Isaacson describes Jobs warts and all: “He’s not warm and fuzzy” the writer observes, but was a man who, in his own words, wanted to “be with people who demand perfection.”

The interview covers everything from Jobs’ childhood and how he dealt with news that he was adopted, his job at Atari – and his questionable personal hygiene – and through to the formative days of Apple, setting up the company with Steve Wozniak. “ He could drive himself by magical thinking” Isaacson observes. “By believing something that the rest of us couldn’t possibly believe, and sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t.”

Jobs’ life included notable examples of both extremes. He was well known for demanding excellence from Apple staff while CEO at the company, an approach which Isaacson describes as having “made great products, but it didn’t make for a great management style”; on the flip side, Jobs delayed surgery on the cancer that went on to end his life by nine months, believing that holistic therapies would save him.

The clips are well worth watching, though of course they’re also promoting the Jobs’ biography, which goes on sale today; we’ve featured more excerpts from the book in the past week. This weekend, Apple shared footage of its “Celebrating Steve” memorial service, held at Cupertino last Wednesday.

[via MacRumors]

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60 Minutes Steve Jobs biographer interview released [Video] is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2011, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Dell video outs Latitude ST Windows 7 tablet early

Dell has been working to get into the tablet market for a long time, as have several other firms. A new video was apparently posted early to the web by Dell that shows off the firms Latitude ST tablet that is running Windows 7 and aimed at the business, medical, and education markets. The video shows the tablet in the business realm allowing the user to wander around the office collaborating and working on things and then marching back to the cubicle and docking the tablet on a docking station.

That docking station shoots the video out to a larger screen to make working more comfortable. The docking station also appears to support a keyboard and mouse. The tablet has a USB port for accessories and a memory card reader. The video also touts the tablets ability to connect to projectors and wireless networks. The tablet also has front and rear cameras.

Another part of the video shows the tablet in an education environment where kids are able to draw on the tablet with a finger or a stylus. The tablet has security features like remote hard drive wipe, and it supports Microsoft Bitlocker and is Kensington Lock compatible. The Latitude ST is also aimed at the medical realm with data protection for sensitive patient data. The tablet also packs in a HDMI output. The pricing and availability details are not available at this time.

[via Netbooknews]

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Dell video outs Latitude ST Windows 7 tablet early is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2011, SlashGear. All right reserved.

White BlackBerry Bold 9900 revealed: We go hands-on

RIM’s white BlackBerry Bold 9900 has been revealed, with carrier Vodafone UK the first to commit to offering the pale-hued QWERTY smartphone. We grabbed some hands-on playtime with the new variant, to see if a new color option could be enough to persuade us to stick it out with RIM for another contract cycle. Check out our first impressions after the cut.

If you’ve used the original Bold 9900, then you pretty much know what you’re getting with this new white model. The physical keyboard is solid and easy to type on, while the touchscreen is bright and responsive if, arguably, a little unnecessary given the optical trackpad too. We had a few issues with jerky pinch-zooming on photos, too.

Unfortunately, where the black 9900 looks businesslike and premium, with its matte finish and metal highlights, the glossy plastics RIM has used on the white 9900 look and feel quite cheap. White also makes the Bold 9900 seem bigger than it is, not great when you’re dealing with a phone that’s already fairly broad. Some white gadgets look great, but we’ve a feeling RIM may have missed the mark with this particular phone.

For more on the Bold 9900 – in its original black finish, though functionally identical – check out the full SlashGear review. No word on pricing at this stage for the white variant.

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White BlackBerry Bold 9900 revealed: We go hands-on is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2011, SlashGear. All right reserved.