Digital Gadget Magazine

Wondering how the launch of Samsung's Galaxy S III is going? According to the Korea Economic Daily, an unnamed Samsung executive revealed that the followup to its previous fastest selling phone has already racked up nine million pre-orders around the world. That would put it nearly halfway to the 20 million Galaxy S II's Samsung reported shipped back in February, and all without even officially moving a unit in the US yet. It's not that we're jealous of the rest of the world's abilities to lay their cash down for some quad-core Exynos action while we wait to hear about the likely (still awesome) dual-core LTE-equipped US carrier variants due this summer, but yes -- we're jealous the rest of the world already has the option of choosing Samsung's latest flagship phone. Once they do start shipping (assuming there's no delays in customs) there should be plenty to go around however, as Reuters' translation also indicates the company's factory is already cranking out five million units every month.

Samsung's Galaxy S III reportedly notches nine million pre-orders worldwide originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 May 2012 23:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Avast ye! Google has announced the national winner of its fifth annual Doodle 4 Google competition, and we'd like to congratulate second grader Dylan Hoffman of Caledonia, Wisconsin for his fine work. As a response to this year's theme, "If I could travel in time, I'd visit...," Dylan created a pirate scene doodle that features a vibrant parrot, a rotund swashbuckler and a treasure chest full of loot to form the Google logo. According to Dylan, he'd ideally, "Sail a pirate ship looking for treasure, have a colorful pet parrot and enjoy beautiful sunsets from deserted islands." Sounds quite nice -- especially without the scurvy. For his creativity, Google has awarded Dylan with a $30,000 college scholarship, a Chromebook computer and a $50,000 technology grant to his school. Later this fall, Dylan's artwork will grace a special edition 64-count box of Crayola crayons. No doubt a fine plunder for an excellent work of art.

Doodle 4 Google winner cashes in with 'Pirate Times' drawing, finds a Chromebook in the treasure chest originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 May 2012 22:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Workstations aren't normally our focus, but when Dell shows off a new Precision system that lets four media pros share its graphics hardware at once, you can be sure the company has our attention. If your IT chief springs for a Precision R5500 with four Quadro 2000 cards, each of those cards can take advantage of a graphics pass-through in Citrix's virtualization to render 3D models at speeds much more like what you'd get if the Quadro were sitting in your own PC. Before you have visions of four-player Modern Warfare parties after-hours at work, the inherent barriers of distance and the virtual machine itself will likely rule out any game sessions. We'd add that the Quadro, Xeon processor and the $2,742 minimum price make it an expensive proposition. That engineering simulation will finish a lot faster, though, giving you a bit more time to play back home.

Continue reading Dell Precision R5500 lets four graphics pros work on one PC, we wish it did gaming

Dell Precision R5500 lets four graphics pros work on one PC, we wish it did gaming originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 May 2012 22:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Just because you're not an astronaut, it doesn't mean you can't dress yourself in clothes that are out of this world. Artist Tom Sachs recently teamed up with Nike to create a limited edition lineup of spacey sports clothing, dubbed NikeCraft, to coincide with his current Space Program project -- a rendition of a four week trip to Mars. The company highlights that the roster was made with "materials that have never been used in sportswear," some of which has already made its way onto NASA's equipment for space-travel. As ecouterre points out, among what's on offer, you'll find bags made from the Ortho fabric used on the outside of spacesuits to the Mars Yard shoe with Vectran fiber -- the same stuff from the airbags of the Mars Excursion Rover. There's nary a detail about pricing, but the goods will be available at various boutiques around the world and at Space Program: Mars while it's open until Jun 17th inside of New York City's Park Avenue Armory. Hit up the links below to gaze at all the details.

Nike and Tom Sachs reach for the stars, create NikeCraft sportswear with space-grade materials originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 May 2012 21:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This is the age of thinking thermostats and, not to be outdone by a well-known circular model, hardware startup Ecobee has released the Smart Si. It is a smart thermostat with small color screen and a web interface so temperature wonks can update their heating models on the fly.

The Smart Si is not quite as sleek as the Nest but offers more accessible settings – think of this as the Linux to Nest’s OS X. The web interface allows you to see your home’s current status, set a vacation profile, and view reports on your system’s performance including HVAC and heater usage.

The system pulls in weather alerts as well as alarms from your home system and you can chart and graph all of your performance parameters. Arguably, I doubt many will get very intense with this stuff, but it’s definitely available.

Ecobee has been around since 2007 and the introduced one of the first Wi-Fi-enabled thermostates. This is their effort at building a high-end thermostat but the company has plenty of experience in the space. The company also recently announced wireless Smart Plugs that allow you to control electronics in your house using the ZigBee networking standard.

The Smart Si costs $220 and is available now for pre-order.

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