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Not wanting to be left behind by the AIO hordes , Acer has unveiled a trio of new options for your spick and span desktop. The higher-end AZ5 provides a 23-inch expanse of full HD, multi-touch glory, a minimum Core i3-2120 processor, 4GB of DDR3 memory and a 1TB HDD, all for the sum of $750. Next up is the AZ3, which saves you $100 by cutting the screen size to 21 inches, switching to an AMD dual-core A4 APU (along with a discreet Radeon HD6410) and slimming the HDD down to 500GB. Both models come with an adjustable stand, two side-mounted USB 3.0 ports (plus four USB 2.0 ports on the rear) and a built-in webcam and mic. Meanwhile, Acer's new Veriton all-in-ones target enterprise users who are prepared to sacrifice those high-def media credentials in favor of better performance and a smaller, more office-friendly footprint -- the 20-inch Z2620G, for instance, packs a Core i5-2400s quad-core processor and NVIDIA GeFore GT 520M GPU for $850. All the new models are available in densel

Last week, when the SEO world was distracted by revelations that Google was blocking keyword referral data and nostalgic mania over MC Hammer’s search engine , Search Engine Land released a leaked Google document outlining Google's official guidelines for quality raters. I read the 125-page document out of curiosity, and I decided to share some valuable insights it contains into the mind of Google. Sorry, No Secrets Here If you’re looking for SEO “secrets,” you’ll be disappointed by this post. Although this is an internal document, and Google may not be happy about it being leaked, you won’t find a smoking gun here. What you will find is a training manual on Google’s philosophy of quality. The key to proactive SEO is to understand how Google thinks. If you only chase the algorithm, you’ll always be reacting to changes after they happen. Since the document in question is proprietary, I’m not going to link directly to copies of the document or quote large chunks of it. I’m writing

Realtime Google Analytics data inside a Google Doc—a panacea! Don't believe me? Check out that screenshot below. In this blog post I'll show how you can do this yourself, and I've created an easy template to help get you started. Google Analytics is my favorite analytics product. And it's only been getting better with the new interface , flow visualization , and multi-channel funnels . Google Analytics is still best game in town for the price (it's free)! But, despite all the flexibility that Google Analytics offers, sometimes you want to access data in a spreadsheet and create a truly custom report. That's where the Google Analytics Data Feed API comes in. This blog post is going to show you how to create a custom report by connecting a Google Spreadsheet directly with your data from Google Analytics. When data is available directly in a spreadsheet you're able to make interesting comparisons, create the dashboard of your dreams, or chart data however

It ain't the first automaker to do so , but Ford's taking a step in the 'stay in your own lane!' direction with a new technology package for the Explorer. The Driver Alert System is slated to launch in early 2012, and it'll tout new lane keeping technologies, including a system that can help detect drowsy drivers. The goal here is to keep sleepyheads from destroying lives -- be it their own or others -- by suggesting that they pull over, rest and have a sip of coffee if they've been cruising along for an extended period of time. Furthermore, a camera setup will monitor one's lane position, and if they drift too far away from the straight and narrow, their steering wheel will vibrate. It all sounds good and well, but the fact that a AAA survey found that over 40 percent of Americans have "fallen asleep or nodded off while driving" makes 'staying at home' seem like the sensible choice. Continue reading Ford's Driver Alert System keeps you

Hey, who wiped the MacBook Air logo off? Nah, we're kidding -- it's a KIRF . Sure, Apple's svelte 13-incher may have a duo of USB ports and an SD card slot, but this rig adds in a 3-in-1 card reader and and an odd, combo RJ45 / VGA jack (which we assume needs an adapter). For good measure, you'll also find a mini-HDMI output, although, with 3.5 hours of battery life it may prove problematic for getting through a 1080p movie marathon without nearby power. The alloy-encased lappy has a 1.86GHz Intel Atom N2800 CPU with a GMA3600 integrated GPU, 2GB of RAM, a 32GB SSD and a 13.3-inch LED display sporting a ho-hum resolution (for a 13-incher) of 1366 x 768, just like the 11-inch MacBook Air . Amazingly, this knock-off weighs merely .01 kilograms more than its real counterpart at 1.36 kgs (about three pounds), while being only 0.1 cm thicker. Giz-China expects this Ultrabook-wannabe by Shenzen Technology Ltd to land on Chinese shelves sometime in November for about $471

HP's Todd Bradley showed up on Bloomberg last night for a quick round of webOS damage control. Following a report from the The Guardian , saying the company would in fact kill the webOS division, Bradley referred to the report as an "unfounded rumor." He went on to say that "accolades for the operating system are broadly known" and that the company is focusing on how to "effectively utilize that phenomenal software." Of course, there's always a chance that the best way to utilize the troubled OS is to sell it to the highest bidder, but Bradley said HP will weigh all the "data and information" before making "the right decision." For now, the operating system's still kicking it in limbo. The full interview awaits you at the source link below. HP's Todd Bradley refutes webOS shutdown rumors originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Oct 2011 17:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds .

Here's a situation: you create a Facebook account. You fall in love with said account. You're on it all day, every single day. And then, your computer explodes. You go to login on a new machine, and you realize that your minty fresh browser has no recollection of your Facebook password. At this point, you're probably pondering the point of taking another breath. Evidently, Facebook understands your dilemma, and in the coming weeks, it'll be testing out a new password recovery system for those who can't / won't take advantage of the existing methods. Christened "Trusted Friends," the feature will allow a user to select between three and five pals that they're confident will help out in dire times. Then, should you lose your password, Facebook can send recovery codes to that gang, and they can hand 'em over to you in order to unlock things. According to Facebook, it's akin to "giving a house key to your friends when you go on vacation.

Your all-electric motorcycle options are getting more and more plentiful these days, and it looks like you'll soon have yet another option consider. Volta Motorbikes officially announced its new Volta BCN motorcycle this week, with a complete unveiling set for the EICMA Motorshow in Milan next month. It will be available in three different models -- the BCN Sport, BCN City, and BCN My Volta -- each of which pack the same 35 horsepower and 70 kilometer range, but have various other tweaks to suit different tastes (with the My Volta being customizable through an online ordering tool). Details remain a bit light otherwise, but pricing is expected to come in around the €7,000 mark (or just under $10,000), with the first units set to roll out in the second quarter of 2012 -- a reservation list will also be opened up at the start of the year for those interested. Head on past the break for a quick teaser video, and check out the gallery below for a closer look. Gallery: Volta BCN Contin

Remember the Acer W4 ? After seeing it at IFA 2011 , it seems that it's finally ready to make some first impressions, and its blind date is with France. Known officially as the Allegro, Acer's inaugural Windows Phone isn't going over the top in the spec department: it has a 3.6-inch WVGA (800 x 480) display, 1GHz single-core Qualcomm MSM8255 CPU, 8GB internal storage, 5MP rear camera with LED flash and a 1,300mAh battery. However, a unique addition to this €299 ($425) device is a feature called Fast Charge, which allows the Allegro to get juiced up to 2.5 times faster than the rest of the company's lineup. Expect the device to land in France in mid-November with two color options -- white and dark blue iceberg. Just make sure, Acer, to walk your date all the way back home from dinner. Acer's first venture into Windows Phone arrives in France as the Allegro originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 Oct 2011 00:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds .

Is it possible to improve on something as minutely refined as the Nokia N9 simply by adding another color variant? Well, that depends on what color weʼre talking about. Sure, we already have black, cyan, and magenta, but what weʼve been missing -- until now -- is white. Plain, simple, ethereal white. It happens to be one of the hardest hues for a manufacturer to pull off without making a handset look tacky, or making its surface susceptible to the general grubbiness of everyday life. But Nokia did a smart thing: it added a glossy coating that completely changes the look and feel of the device. Take a look for yourself in the gallery below. But bear in mind that the midnight blue disco lights at Nokia World didn't quite do it justice. Continue reading Mythical snow-white N9 spotted at Nokia World Filed under: Cellphones Mythical snow-white N9 spotted at Nokia World originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 14:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds .

Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock were both unavailable for comment, but we're guessing the pair would be quite pleased to see that the tech world's Need For Speed is hardly fading. Maingear and Origin PC have both announced this week that their high-end gaming desktops are now available with Intel's Core i7 2700K -- a beast of a processor that's clocked from the factory at 3.5GHz. Maingear's shoving this guy into its SHIFT (starting at $1,985) and F131 (starting at $1,228) rigs, with factory overclocking options pushing it beyond 5GHz. Origin is hawking its Genesis desktop with a factory speed of 5.2GHz, and yes, gratis warranties are thrown in for the paranoid. Hit the links below to give your wallet the dent it's been asking for. Continue reading Maingear and Origin PC shove Intel's Core i7 2700K into gaming rigs, overclock it beyond 5GHz Maingear and Origin PC shove Intel's Core i7 2700K into gaming rigs, overclock it beyond 5GHz originally appeare

When it comes to sports gadgets, runners seem to get all the good stuff: the Nike+ , the Motoactv and even the FitBit . For all the footballers, basketball players and aspiring tennis stars out there, Adidas is spreading the love with the introduction of its miCoach Speed_Cell -- a $69.99 device that measures motion and performance in every direction whether you're into tackling, serving or shooting. The gadget fits on the bottom side of compatible shoes to capture seven hours of stats including average and max speed, number of sprints, distance at high intensity levels, steps and strides. The coolest part? Your personal bests will transfer wirelessly to a smartphone, tablet, PC or Mac for post-practice critique, Sports Center style. The soccer-centric company has already released a compatible pair of cleats and has plans to put out more miCoach-friendly footwear, as well as a series of sport-specific apps allowing athletes to virtually monitor their performance. Jump, skip or d

Who's ready for a little gadget pr0n? ASUS head honcho Jonney Shih gave AsiaD attendees a first peek at the Transformer's successor just last week. Apart from that distant, dais-based reveal, we now have in the wild shots of the tab to focus our tech lust on. The leaked images, which have since been pulled from the Chinese site that hosted them, show off several angles of the quad-core Prime, its Zenbook-like aluminum finish and accompanying dock. Unfortunately, the lone lockscreen shot on offer's not giving us any taste of the potential Ice Cream Sandwich OS lurking beneath. Hungry for the full tablet spread? Then hit up the source below to get your gawking a-go-go. Continue reading ASUS Transformer Prime shots leak out, apes the Tao of Zenbook design ASUS Transformer Prime shots leak out, apes the Tao of Zenbook design originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 17:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds .

We say proprietary and you think, Sony. Isn't that how it usually goes? For the electronic giant's latest re Vita lized foray into portable gaming, the same old custom solution is in tow -- now, with limited storage options. According to a report on Kotaku Japan , games made for the handheld will either save your progress to its SD card-like external storage or to the cartridge itself, as SCEI's not offering users any option for overlap or preference. Thinking you might save a few bucks and skip out on the external memory altogether? Well, my frugal gaming friends, think again. Unlike the PSP, titles for the system requiring an external save, in addition to some downloadable content, simply won't play without a memory card on board. Sure, this tidbit of news could prove frustrating to those not indoctrinated to the company's obstinate ways. But, we're willing to bet this device's dazzling innards are enough to help you overlook these minor niggles come nex

Somewhere in an underground ice lair, Jack Frost's prepping to nip at noses and keep covered hands from touch devices. But SMK Corp's got a capacitive solution set to thwart old man winter's digitus interruptus . On display at this year's FPD International in Japan, the company's touchscreen innovation incorporates a specialized chip capable of highly-sensitive pressure detection that works in conjunction with a noise-filtering sensor to make your gloved gestures readable. It's good news for those of us subject to occasional bouts of frostbitten weather, but don't clap just yet -- these panels will initially be headed to in-car navigation systems. Still, with the displays workable on screens up to 8-inches in size, it's possible we could be seeing this tech extend to smartphones in the near future. So, there's a remedy out there folks, but while you wait for it, it's best to keep those glittens close at hand. SMK's touchscreen registers yo

We've seen a number of efforts that promise to make touchscreens more tactile , but none quite like this so-called FingerFlux system developed by a team of researchers from Germany's Aachen University. Its hook is a layer of magnets that lie beneath the touchscreen and react to a simple thimble that the user must wear. While that particular accoutrement could be considered a slight drawback, it does open up a number of interesting possibilities -- including the ability to draw your finger towards an item on the screen, and "lock" it in a certain area. What's particularly key, however, is that you're also able to feel a bit of feedback before you even touch the screen -- as opposed to other entirely screen-based options -- which could could let you operate something like media player controls without actually looking at your phone. Of course, it's all still a long ways from being shrunk down to phone-size, but the researchers do have a working prototype

Slingshots and unbridled rage might be enough to launch Rovio's furious fowl across the battlefield, but they'll need some outside help if they hope to break free of Earth's atmosphere -- it's time to call the cosmonauts. Two upcoming Russian space launches are scheduled to ferry a pair of iPads and a plush Angry Birds toy to the International Space Station. The twin tablets will fly on an unmanned resupply vehicle early next week, and the irritated avian is playing the part of a jocular gravity indicator in a manned mission next month -- part of a russian tradition of hanging a toy by a string to signal when the vessel has escaped the Earth's gravity. NASA told collectSPACE that the iPads are only slated for recreational purposes, but mentioned that various tablets were being evaluated for future use. The plush bird? It's coming home; cosmonaut Shkaplerov's five year old daughter can't be expected to give up her toys forever, can she? Filed under:

We suppose it's good news / bad news for Blockbuster. The good news is that after going through bankruptcy and being sold, Warner Bros. has decided it's healthy enough to take on the competition on even ground. The bad news, is that Warner has decided to give Blockbuster the same month long delay the studio loves so much before new movies can be rented out as its competitors, Redbox and Netflix . While Blockbuster has had delays at its kiosks already, being first to get new flicks in stores has been a part of its marketing for a while . The LA Times reports Blockbuster so far is turning to simply buying the copies it needs at retail to rent them out immediately, but we'll see how long that lasts. If you enjoy your discs via kiosk or mail don't think you're out of the woods either, as the paper mentions Warner wants to delay new flicks to those outlets even longer when their deals are renegotiated. Warner pushes 28-day new release delay on Blockbuster, matches Re

When Nokia made it known that the Meego-running N9 wouldn't be making any official tour to the US, the sound of crushed dreams could be faintly heard in households across the nation. Would the newly-announced Lumia series suffer the same fate somehow? Might Uncle Sam's invitation to the family BBQ get lost in the mail a second straight time? Thanks to Nokia's US website, we know that at least one of the two Windows Phones will leave Espoo and land somewhere between sea and shining sea, as the budget-conscious Lumia 710 appears front and center on the OEM's home page while the 800 is nowhere to be found. We're not giving up just yet -- if absence makes the heart grow fonder, we don't want to get enamored with the AWOL phone this fast. Update: Dampen down those hopes and dreams, kids. Nokia has said that it will be making a splash in the USA at the start of next year, but it won't be with the Lumia phones. The page went up just for your information. Lum

For all the talk of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus in recent days, there's still quite a few questions surrounding the flagship Ice Cream Sandwich phone. Last week we learned that the phone's 4.65-inch screen was a standard Super AMOLED display and not a Super AMOLED Plus variation (as seen on the Galaxy S II ), and now Corning has confirmed that the device doesn't use its trademark Gorilla Glass as you may have assumed given its high-end status. According to Samsung, however, it does use a type of "fortified glass," but the company isn't getting any more specific than that. We guess we'll have to wait for some stress tests (or clumsy hands) to see just how well it holds up. Samsung Galaxy Nexus confirmed to have 'fortified glass,' not Gorilla Glass originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 01:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds .

When we first saw Skifta back in February, it was a pretty neat app for beaming media on your phone to other DLNA capable devices in your home. Well, now it's left beta and added a new trick to it repertoire -- stream media from your other gear to your Android device, over 3G. To celebrate Skifta hitting the magical 1.0 mark, Qualcomm Atheros also unveiled a new media server plug in for Linux, OS X and Windows that lets you pull music and movies from your home PC to your phone or tablet, even while you're out and about. Skifta (in addition to its terrible name) also sports a Channel Library which allows you quickly queue up content from Facebook, TED, ShoutCast, Revision3 and more. You'll find full PR after the break but, more importantly, the download links at the source. Continue reading Skifta leaves beta, streams media to and from your Android device wherever you may be Skifta leaves beta, streams media to and from your Android device wherever you may be originally

We all saw it coming and, sure enough, it's finally happened. After all the rumors and opaque comments , Sony has just bought out Ericsson's share of Sony Ericsson, effectively assuming ownership of the entire venture. Ericsson confirmed the buyout this morning, adding that it will receive a cash consideration of €1.05 billion in exchange for its 50 percent stake. Sony, meanwhile, will now have the chance to integrate smartphones more tightly within its arsenal of tablets, laptops and gaming devices. The agreement also gives Sony an IP cross-licensing agreement and ownership of "five essential patent families" pertaining to wireless tech, though the breadth of this coverage remains unclear. The separation won't be finalized, however, until January 2012, pending regulatory approval. Find more details in the full PR, after the break. Update : Sony president and CEO Sir Howard Stringer has just addressed the media on the proposed buyout and confirmed that the com

Looking to bring the gift of song to your new, somewhat limited edition Nokia N9 ? Good news, Spotify is offering itself up to the MeeGo gods, bringing its music streaming services to the slick handset by way of the Nokia Store. The app is free, but requires the customary Spotify Premium account for you to get any actual enjoyment out of the thing. Spotify comes to MeeGo to help keep your N9 company originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 03:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds .

Nintendo 's latest earnings report may be one of its most forgettable. The company posted a net loss of ¥70.27 billion ($923 million) this morning, in a report covering the first six months of the fiscal year ending on September 30th. That's significantly deeper than the ¥2.01 billion loss Nintendo posted during the same period last year, though Nintendo attributed the result, in part, to a strengthened yen and sagging demand for its 3DS console. Revenue, meanwhile, fell by 40.6 percent on the year, to ¥215.74 billion ($2.84 billion), as the manufacturer reported an operating loss of ¥57.34 billion. Things are looking so bleak, in fact, that Nintendo has decided to slash its financial projections yet again , predicting a net loss of ¥20 billion for the full year (ending in March 2012), compared with the ¥20 billion in profits it projected only in July. And, as Bloomberg notes, if these prognostications hold true, it would mark Nintendo's first annual loss in a full 30 ye

Remember that Latitude ST that Dell gave us a sneak peek at earlier in the week? Well it's slowly inching its way towards an official release, appearing on Dell's Corporate Blog early this morning. The Windows 7-based enterprise tablet is powered by an Intel Atom processor and includes a 10-inch multi-touch display with stylus, WiFi, mobile broadband options, front and rear webcams and a mic. There are also durability features like Gorilla Glass and a rubber bumper, enabling it to survive violent impacts with plush office carpeting. Port details are rather vague in the PR, though USB, HDMI and an SD card reader get their 15 seconds of fame in the promo video. There are also security features, like remote hard drive wipe, Microsoft Bitlocker support (this is a Windows 7 tablet, after all) and a Kensington Lock slot. Pricing details are absent and the product page isn't live quite yet (though that didn't stop Dell from linking to it from the blog post), but it looks lik

Ready for a heavy dose of Android this morning? Then enjoy this Samsung double whammy freshly delivered from China. On the left we have the China Telecom-branded SCH-i929, a 9.7mm-thick handset featuring a Snapdragon MSM8660 chip (likely clocked at 1.5GHz), 4.5-inch 480 x 800 AMOLED display, eight-megapixel camera and GSM plus CDMA2000 connectivity. All of this makes the i929 a near-identical cousin of the Galaxy S II LTE -- same processor, same chassis, but obviously with different network compatibility. Of course, the real star of the show is the SCH-W999, a follow-up to the SCH-W899 of the same dual-screen clamshell form factor. As you can see on the right, on the outside this phone features a 3.5-inch 480 x 800 AMOLED display along with three touch buttons, while on the inside it packs a similar screen plus a physical keypad. Like the i929 above, this funky flip phone is also powered by a MSM8660 chip and supports both GSM and CDMA2000 on China Telecom, though its camera is limit

We knew it was planning to grace Europe and Asia with its presence this month, but now we're hearing the Motorola Pro+ 4G is ready to make its North American debut at Bell Canada. We're not seeing any large differences here compared to the overseas model, though the addition of "4G" to the title is an obvious exception. The device offers a 1GHz CPU, 512MB of RAM, Android 2.3, a 5MP camera, 3.1-inch VGA (640 x 480) display with Gorilla Glass , HSPA 14.4 (hence the "4G" name) and a lot of Enterprise-friendly security features. We know it'll be hitting shelves on November 7th, but no price has been announced so far. To find out the full shebang, head south for the press release. Update : We've confirmed with an inside source that it'll sell for $349.95, but there's no word on whether subsidies will apply for long-term contracts. Continue reading Motorola Pro+ 4G rides into Canada November 7th, will kick off shoes and stay a while Motorola Pro+

Love Windows Phone, sweating and tracking personal statistics? Good news! Sports Tracker is celebrating Nokia week by announcing the upcoming availability of its exercise-logging app for Microsoft's mobile OS. The app, which spent its early days on Symbian, is now available on iOS and Android, and will be hitting Windows Phone next month. It lets sporty smartphone owners track their distance, speed, calories and more, and upload that information to Sports Tracker's site and the requisite social networks to generally irritate out of shape followers. Sports Tracker racing toward Windows Phone for November release originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 08:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds .

Remember that downright futuristic BlackBerry we spied back in September? Say hello, all over again. RIM and Porsche (of all companies) have just taken the official wraps off of the Porsche Design P'9981 BlackBerry, a frighteningly beautiful new slab that offers up a forged stainless steel frame, hand-wrapped leather back cover, sculpted QWERTY keyboard, and "crystal clear touch display." It'll ship with an exclusive Porsche Design UI and a bespoke Wikitude World Browser augmented reality app experience, not to mention the "premium, exclusive PINs that help easily identify another P'9981 smartphone user." Fancy . As for specs, it's boasting a 1.2GHz processor, HD video recording capabilities, 8GB of onboard memory, Liquid Graphics technology, a microSD expansion slot, an inbuilt NFC module and BlackBerry OS 7. We're told that it'll be available from Porsche Design stores later this year, but mum's the word on the (presumably stratospher

We managed to grab enough time with the Lumia 800 's retail innards here at Nokia World , revealing some welcome extras including a flexible rubberized case for that affectionate lump of polycarbonate. The requisite data cable, power adapter and headset are all accounted for inside the packaging, which is covered in shots of this dark, not-so-mysterious phone. It's all a bit more vibrant than the packaging of its other 2011 phone , but is still coated in that unmistakable Nokia blue. We expect to get our excitable digits on a review model very -- very -- soon, but until then check out more shots of what we can expect to get alongside Nokia's premier Windows Phone handset . Gallery: Nokia Lumia 800 unboxing Nokia Lumia 800 unboxed: we shed some light on what's inside originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 09:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds .