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Smartphones with unusual features (roundup)

These days, almost every smartphone contains the same bag of tricks, with little to differentiate handsets, apart from the hardware and maybe some software extras.

Sure, one might have a better camera, more external or internal storage, and other specs that help us tell one phone from another. But on the whole, you can access e-mail, text messages, and social networks from them all, share photos and videos, surf the Internet, and install any number of apps.

This kind of uniformity is actually good news, since it means that even midrange smartphones can be just as capable as high-end products, even if they have a smaller screen or shorter battery life, for instance. Of course, there are some smartphones that stand out from the crowd for a certain physical or software feature. In no particular order, here's the current crop of unique handsets that have me looking twice.… Read more

Nokia's soon-to-be-ex camera chief heading to car company

How does one switch from developing smartphone cameras to working on cars? Maybe it's that they both have to do with going mobile?

Damian Dinning, head of imaging and photography for Nokia for almost a decade, told mobile-photography blog PureView Club (which is, of course, focused on Nokia's PureView technology) that he's leaving the phone maker and heading to Jaguar Land Rover. Dinning said staying on at Nokia would've required a move to Finland, which wouldn't have jibed with his family situation.

PureView, you may recall, is the technology involved with Nokia's 808 PureView phone, … Read more

Facebook tests new features, expands ad tracking program

Facebook is testing a couple of new features that, as usual, some people may like and others not so much.

The two features would add notices of upcoming events and recently released albums to a user's news feed, according to The Next Web.

The upcoming events feature would suggest nearby events. But these would be events that you wouldn't necessarily have been invited to join, revealed blog site AllFacebook. This is also a follow-up to the upcoming concerts feature that the social network started testing last month.

The recently released albums feature would list new albums by artists … Read more

Samsung Galaxy S3 to get MultiView, Smart Rotation

Samsung Galaxy S3 users may soon see their handset acting more like its bigger brother, the Galaxy Note 2.

That's because according to the SamMobile blog, the Galaxy S3 will soon receive Samsung's MultiView feature as part of a coming 4.1.2 update.

In addition to Multi-View, which lets the user run and view two applications at the same time, the update allegedly includes a customizable notification panel, a new gallery app, the continuous input keyboard, and Smart Rotation (where display adjusts to angle of view).

It's unclear how far along Samsung is at this stage, … Read more

Upload a Photo Sphere to Google Maps using Android Jelly Bean

Android 4.2 Jelly Bean includes a new camera feature called Photo Sphere. With the feature, users can take 360-degree panoramic photos in just a few minutes. Creating a sphere is easy: launch the camera app and select the Photo Sphere icon. Your Android device will show you where to point the camera, you hold still for a few seconds and then you move on to the next mark, or dot. It essentially translates into a game of connect the dots, where a photo is taken at each dot. Once you're done, your phone will stitch the photos together … Read more

Vimeo releases six videos for pay-to-view service preview

Vimeo today released six full-length films as part of a preview for its new pay-to-view service coming early next year.

The company said in a blog post that customers can purchase the movies on Vimeo and watch them on any compatible device, including smartphones, tablets, game consoles, and connected TVs.

"Our goal is to provide an open and flexible platform that allows all creators and content owners to earn revenue directly from their audiences," Vimeo CEO Kerry Trainor said in a statement.

Vimeo, owned by IAC/InterActiveCorp, is a video-sharing Web site that allows users to upload and … Read more

DARPA SpaceView enlists amateur astronomers

DARPA today announced a new approach to tracking the increasing population of space debris: crowdsourcing. The SpaceView program will reach out to amateur astronomers in helping to protect satellites from what NASA estimates is more than 500,000 pieces of hazardous space debris orbiting the Earth. It's a low-cost way to both improve the scope of the space coverage and better protect assets in space, some of which are satellites providing mission-critical combat support. Decomissioned satellites, spent rocket stages, aluminum oxide slag, and lost tools make up some of the half million pieces of debris -- and the Space … Read more

Get Google Maps Street View for your Android phone

Street View for Google Maps brings Google's incredible Street View feature to your smartphone's Google Maps app. Like the regular version, it lets you take a virtual stroll down a large (and ever-growing) database of the world's streets. You can turn around, change directions, and zoom in, all while viewing high-resolution images of the actual buildings, trees, and street scenes you'd see if you were there in person. But the Android app is actually easier to use than the desktop software.

Street View doesn't have its own icon but is integrated with Google Maps. To … Read more

The 404 1,157: Where we live in a van down by the river (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Anthropologist says Apple is definitely a religion.

- Google brings Street View to the Grand Canyon.

- Apple now owns the trademark to The Beatles' Apple Corps Logo.

- What I learned while live-tweeting a friend's funeral.

Video voice mail: Mossimo has a positive update on a previous video voice mail.… Read more

Google brings Street View to the Grand Canyon

Soon enough, visitors to the Grand Canyon will be able to get an early look at what awaits them, courtesy of Google Maps.

Google published a blog post today highlighting the maps team's current trip to Arizona, which marks the first time the company is using its "Trekker" camera system. … Read more