From Engadget: Sony-made Google TV units will come with Plex as standard

Sony-made Google TV units will come with Plex as standard

Plex has inadvertently announced that its excellent media center software will be baked into Sony’s forthcoming range of Google TV devices. A customized version of its app for the platform arrived on Google Play, declaring that it was only available for download on “late model 2012 Sony internet TVs.” When pressed on the matter, Plex revealed that it’ll arrive pre-installed on the second generation gear, expected to arrive in Europe by September.

 

from Engadget

From Ars Technica: Another tiny computer: VIA’s $49 APC offers Android, HDMI video out

Is that an Android computer in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?

Taiwanese hardware manufacturer VIA has announced a new product called the Android PC System (APC), a seven-inch ARM board that ships with a custom version of the Android mobile operating system. The device will be available in July for $49.

The APC includes a VIA ARM11 SoC, 512MB of RAM, 2GB of flash storage, VGA and HDMI video outputs, speaker and microphone jacks, a microSD slot, an ethernet port, and four USB ports. It also reportedly supports hardware-accelerated video decoding. According to VIA, the board consumes only 4 watts when idle and 13.5 watts under maximum load.

The Raspberry Pi foundation’s $35 computer, which launched earlier this year, attracted considerable interest from Linux hobbyists and embedded computing enthusiasts. The foundation partnered with two manufacturers, but has struggled to meet demand for the product. VIA could help fill the unmet demand for a low-cost ARM system that is suitable for the hobbyist market.

from Ars Technica

From Autoblog: Video: ABC: Thousands of rejected/condemned gas pumps in use, could cost you $$$

gas pump measurement

Most of us likely assume that the gas pump that is providing petrol is giving you the fuel that you pay for – no more or less. While that may be true in most cases, ABC News in Baltimore, Maryland proves that sometimes pumps do bad things to good people.

The report details Maryland state gas station inspections that have revealed over 4,000 defective pumps over the last four years. In all, that’s between five and six percent of the 40,000 gas pumps in Maryland, or way too many error-prone pumps for our tastes.

While our primary concern is that customers aren’t getting what they pay for, it seems the gas station owners are more likely to get the short end of the stick. The report claims that station owners are three times more likely to lose money than the customer. Scroll down to watch the ABC Newsreport.

 

from Autoblog