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Wouldn't it be nice to just pluck your phone off the charger in the morning and not have to worry about it again until the end of the day? That's what you get with the Motorola Droid Razr Maxx HD, which turned in the best battery results we've ever seen on a smartphone. It also features a large 4.7-inch 720p display, along with a powerful dual-core processor and fast data speeds on Verizon's 4G LTE network. At $299.99, it's $100 more than the near-identical Droid Razr HD, but the Maxx gets you double the storage capacity and a few extra hours of battery life. If you need a phone you can use all day, it's worth it.
Editors' Note: The Motorola Droid Razr Maxx HD and the Motorola Droid Razr HD are extremely similar, so we're sharing a lot of material between our reviews. That said, we're testing each device separately, so read the review for your carrier of choice.
Size and Design The Droid Razr Maxx HD looks almost identical to the Razr HD. Both phones measure 5.19 by 2.67 inches in height and width, but the Maxx is just a little thicker, at .37 inches compared with the Razr HD's .33 inches. It's also a little heavier, at 5.54 ounces compared with 5.15 for the Razr HD. To the naked eye, this difference is virtually imperceptible. Even when holding the phones it's hard to tell which one is which. So if you're worried about the Maxx being much larger, don't.
The phone is made using the same Kevlar material as the original Droid Razrs, which gives it an expensive, luxurious feel. Compared with the plastic?Samsung Galaxy S III?, the Razr Maxx HD feels much more solid. And it's protected by a water-repellant nanocoating, which doesn't make it waterproof, but a little more durable than the average smartphone.
The angular corners of the original Razr have been smoothed out for a sleek new look. Those colors only appear around the display; the back of each phone is the same gray and black patterned Kevlar, with an aluminum band running around the middle. There's a 3.5mm headphone jack up top, a Power button and volume rocker on the right, and a charging and micro HDMI port on the left, along with a hidden microSD card slot.
Design aside, keep in mind that this is still a very large phone. I have average size hands, and when I hold the Razr Maxx HD in one hand I can't reach high enough to drag the notifications bar down with my thumb. So if you have small hands or tiny pockets, you may want look at the 4.3-inch Droid Razr M, which is significantly smaller and easier to hold.
True to its name, the Razr Maxx HD is packing a 4.7-inch 1280-by-720 HD Super AMOLED display. It gets very bright and colors look super saturated, but I'm not a fan of the PenTile pixel layout, which, despite the 312 pixels per inch,?causes text and images to look a bit fuzzy upon close inspection. Function keys are displayed onscreen, and the large display means there's plenty of room for a big software keyboard that's very comfortable to type on.
Call Quality and Battery Life The Razr Maxx HD works on Verizon's 3G and LTE networks, and can roam across the globe on GSM. It also integrates 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi on the 2.4 and 5GHz bands.?Verizon's 4G LTE network is very fast, and received top honors in our?Fastest Mobile Networks?tests earlier this year. The Razr Maxx HD has good reception, and averaged 5.5Mbps down and 6Mbps up in our speed tests.
Call quality is good. In my tests, voices sounded rich, though a little bit muddy, in the phone's earpiece. I do wish the volume level went just a little bit higher; it was difficult to hear everything outside on a busy city street. Transmissions sound clear, with good noise cancellation. Calls sounded fine through a?Jawbone Era?Bluetooth headset and Motorola's voice command system worked well over Bluetooth. The speakerphone also sounds fine, but isn't loud enough to use outdoors.
The most important feature here is the battery, and to that end, the Razr Maxx HD delivers. The nonremovable 3,300mAh battery was good for 18 hours and 51 minutes of talk time, which is the best result we've ever seen from a smartphone. Compare that with the Razr HD, which got 14 hours and 48 minutes, and the Galaxy S III, which was good for 10 hours and 43 minutes, and the Razr Maxx HD is well ahead of the competition.
We also tested battery life while streaming a video over 4G. The Razr Maxx HD lasted for just about 9 hours, with the Razr HD coming in at 7 hours and 1 minute, and the Galaxy S III at 6 hours and 57 minutes. All of these results are respectable, but if you need a phone that's guaranteed to make it through the day, the numbers speak for themselves.
Processor, Android, and Apps Powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 processor, the Razr Maxx HD is built around the same processor you'll find in the Razr M and the Razr HD. It's starting to become somewhat standard among the upper echelon of smartphones, but that doesn't make it any less powerful. The Razr Maxx HD turned in similar benchmarks to the Galaxy S III, which is powered by the same chip. It's powerful enough for any apps or games you throw at it, and should keep things moving at a steady clip for some time to come. Keep in mind that gaming frame rates are actually higher on the Razr M, because its lower-resolution display means it's pushing fewer pixels.
The Razr Maxx HD ships running Android 4.0.4 "Ice Cream Sandwich," which is nearly a year old at this point. That's kind of crazy considering Google now owns Motorola, and Android 4.1 "Jelly Bean" brings a host of improvements over ICS. An update is planned before the end of the year, but it should be there to begin with.
Now that you've learned how to make homemade pasta, it's time to up the ante! How would you like to make tender bite-sized pillows of pasta, plump with a creamy filling? Yes? Sounds good, right? It's easier and quicker than you might imagine. Take a look at this method ? demonstrated by a pro: Bill Briwa, an instructor at the Culinary Institute of America's Greystone campus.
This tutorial comes to you from the Culinary Institute of America, where I attended a workshop hosted by the United States Potato Board earlier this week. One of the sessions was a chefs' feast of potato creativity, with chefs from all over the country cooking and assembling some pretty creative potato dishes (potato risotto! potato tabbouleh! pickled potatoes!), led by Chef Briwa.
I was keenly interested in one of the dishes in particular: a potato-filled agnolotti. Agnolotti are like ravioli's smaller, squarer cousin, easier to fill and cut out. Briwa demonstrates the technique here for you ? doesn't it look simple? Watching him, it seemed so easy and quick. I am certainly going to find a good night to make these soon!
How To Fill and Shape Agnolotti Pasta
serves 4 to 6
What You Need
Ingredients 1 batch Fresh Egg Pasta Flour 1 batch Potato-Mascarpone Filling (recipe below) Coarse cornmeal Butter and herbs, to serve
Equipment Pasta maker Big cutting board Sharp chef's knife Large pastry bag Large pastry tip Pasta wheel cutter
Instructions
1.Make a batch of fresh egg pasta and "knead" with the pasta machine. Instead of extensively kneading the fresh pasta dough, fold it and run it through a pasta maker on one of the thicker settings. Fold the pasta sheet over on itself and run it through the pasta maker again. Repeat 8 to 10 times, or until the pasta is very smooth and elastic.
2.Let the pasta rest. Wrap the pasta in plastic and let it rest at room temperature for about half an hour.
3.Roll out the pasta. Unwrap the pasta and run it through the pasta maker again on one of the thinner settings.
4.Cut the pasta into rectangular sheets. As the sheet of pasta comes off the pasta maker, lay it on a floured board and cut it into rectangular sheets about 12 inches long. Sprinkle flour lightly on each sheet after you cut it, and continue stacking sheets on top of each other.
5.Pipe out the filling. Pull one sheet of pasta off the top of the stack. Put the potato-mascarpone filling in a large pastry bag fitted with a wide tip (it should be at least 1/2-inch across). Pipe a straight line of filling lengthwise on the pasta sheet, leaving enough pasta at the top to fold over the filling.
6.Make a pasta tube around the filling. Fold the pasta top over the filling. Press firmly to seal. You can moisten the tip of your finger and run it along the seam if it doesn't want to stick together. Use a wheeled pasta cutter or a sharp knife to cut the filled tube of pasta away from the rest of the sheet, making sure to keep the sealed strip intact.
7.Make and cut the agnolotti pockets. Use the tips of your fingers to pinch the tube of pasta into equally-sized sections, creating a seal between pockets of filling. Use the wheeled pasta cutter or a sharp knife to separate the sections. Quickly cut through each, leaning the tube of pasta in the direction you're cutting. You should be left with small, individual pockets of filled pasta. Place the finished agnolotti in a tray of coarse cornmeal.
8.Repeat and store. Repeat until all of the pasta sheets and filling have been used. At this point the pasta can be cooked right away, covered and refrigerated overnight, or frozen, or frozen. To freeze, freeze until solid on a large baking tray, then transfer to containers or freezer bags.
9.Cook the pasta: To cook fresh or frozen agnolotti, cook in a large pot of salted boiling water for 2 minutes or until tender. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil or melted butter and a sprinkle of chopped herbs such as parsley or basil.
Truffled Potato-Mascarpone Filling
makes one batch agnolotti
1/2 pound mashed potatoes, prepared from instant or from your favorite recipe 3 ounces mascarpone cheese 1 tablespoon truffle oil Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Mix the mashed potatoes with the mascarpone and truffle oil. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Set aside until ready to use.
? Want to learn the basics? How To Make Fresh Pasta From Scratch
Companies providing computers, components, services and related software have begun releasing their earnings reports for the latest quarter. The reports come as consumers shift their spending toward tablets and a weak global economy curbs corporate spending on computers. Here's a look at how selected companies are faring.
? Oct. 10: Research firms IDC and Gartner say worldwide shipments of PCs fell sharply in the third quarter, as some consumers spent their electronics dollars on smartphones and tablets and others held off for a new version of Windows. Gartner also estimates that Chinese PC maker Lenovo Group Ltd. outsold Hewlett-Packard Co. for the first time to become the world's largest seller of PCs. IDC still had HP on top.
? Oct. 16: Intel Corp., the world's largest chipmaker, says the usual bounce in sales due to the holiday season is likely to be cut in half this year, even though Microsoft is launching a new operating system that it says will get consumers excited about PCs again. In the quarter that just ended, Intel's revenue from PC chips fell 8 percent from a year ago, in line with reports from IDC and Gartner.
IBM Corp. says revenue slipped below Wall Street's expectations, much of it because of the economic deterioration in Europe and other parts of the world, which resulted in weakened international currencies and translated into fewer dollars on sales made abroad. IBM management also raised the specter of slowing demand for the company's technology-consulting services and business-software products as corporate customers become more cautious and debt-laden government agencies deal with budget cuts.
? Oct. 18: Microsoft Corp. says net income fell 22 percent in the latest quarter as it deferred revenue from the sale of its upcoming Windows 8 operating system to PC makers ? and as PC sales in general took a dive. Excluding the deferrals, revenue for the Windows division fell 9 percent from a year ago, roughly in line with the decline in global PC shipments in the third quarter reported by research firms Gartner and IDC.
Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. says it will cut nearly 1,800 jobs, about 15 percent of its workforce, by the end of the year in order to reduce spending in the face of dwindling sales. CEO Rory Read says trends that are reshaping the PC industry are happening faster than the company expected. The job cuts were announced as AMD reported that its revenue tumbled 25 percent in its just-ended quarter.
SanDisk Corp. reports lower net income and revenue for the third quarter as the company sold fewer of its memory chips to gadget makers. But the results surpassed Wall Street's expectations, and SanDisk says it is gaining market share from competitors.
? Monday: Texas Instruments Inc. CEO Rich Templeton says the chipmaker executed well in the quarter "even though the economy and semiconductor market remained weak and likely will get weaker in the fourth quarter." Texas Instruments says it expects fourth-quarter earnings of 23 cents to 31 cents per share. That's below the 36 cents per share expected by analysts.
Hard drive maker Western Digital Corp. says first-quarter net income more than doubled from a year ago, helped by the March acquisition of a data storage subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd. CEO John Coyne says a weak economy is "dampening near term demand" but said he remains confident in the company's prospects over the long term.
? Tuesday: Apple refreshes its lineup of Mac computers and introduces a 13-inch MacBook Pro model with a sharper, Retina display. It announces new iMacs for later this year, along with a faster, full-sized iPad tablet and a smaller one called the iPad Mini.
Xerox Corp. says net income fell 12 percent in the third quarter as growth in the company's services business only partly offset declines in the sale of equipment, supplies and related products.
? Wednesday: EMC Corp. says its net income and revenue grew at a slower pace in the third quarter as the uncertain economy led to more cautious spending by customers for its data storage equipment. The results fell short of Wall Street's expectations.
Business software maker SAP AG says third-quarter profit fell because of a large one-time gain booked then, but the company raises its sales outlook for the year and says its business in cloud computing was growing fast.
? Thursday: Apple Inc. warns that profits will be down in the holiday quarter compared with a year ago because it's releasing so many new products. When a production line is new, it costs more to run and the components are more expensive.
? Friday: Strong sales of Galaxy phones propelled Samsung Electronics Co.'s quarterly profit to a record high, but there's concern its growth will slow in an increasingly crowded smartphone market.
Microsoft Corp. begins selling its Windows 8 operating system and Surface tablet computer.
Coming up:
? Tuesday: Seagate Technology PLC
? Nov. 7: Qualcomm Inc.
? Nov. 8: Nvidia Corp.
? Nov. 20: Hewlett Packard Co., Dell. Inc., Salesforce.com Inc.
New options for ease and accuracy in extraction of rare cells or separating bloodPublic release date: 26-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: M.B. Reilly reillymb@ucmail.uc.edu 513-556-1824 University of Cincinnati
At the Sixteenth International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences (microTAS) to be held Oct. 28-Nov. 1, in Okinawa, Japan, University of Cincinnati researchers will present four papers, including one detailing improvements in rare cell isolation and one detailing improvements, in terms of cost and time, of common blood tests.
Ian Papautsky, associate professor in UC's School of Electronic and Computing Systems (SECS), part of the College of Engineering and Applied Science, and a UC team are leading these research efforts.
In a paper titled "Continuous Rare Cell Extraction Using Self-Releasing Vortex in an Inertial Microfluidic Device" by Papautsky and co-authors Xiao Wang, UC doctoral student, and Jian Zhou, research associate, a new concept for separation of rare cells, such as prostate cancer cells or circulating tumor cells, using microfluidics, is detailed.
"Last year we showed we can selectively isolate prostate cancer cells, but only by running small sample volumes one at a time. Now we show that we can do this continuously," Papautsky said. "This is exciting because it allows for an entire blood draw to be processed, in continuous matter, in a shorter period of time."
These blood draws can be used to identify tumor cells for diagnostic or prognostic purposes. "Our approach is based purely on size. It doesn't rely on antibodies, which is important because not all cancer cells express antigens. So, if the cancer cells are, let's say, larger than 20 microns, we'll extract them," he explained.
The most common approach for looking for these circulating tumor cells is via a system that uses a selection using antibodies to detect antigens. "We could also use our device to prepare samples for systems that use antibody-based selection." This combined approach could potentially help reduce occurrence of false positives while significantly increasing the accuracy of the antibody-based tests.
Another area in which this device could be useful is in working with cell cultures. "If you have a mixture of multiple cells where some cells are small and other cells are big, we could separate these cell populations very easily," Papautsky explained. "Anytime you need to separate based on size, we can do it using inertial microfluidics."
The advantage of inertial microfluidics in cell separation is that it can be done easily and without cumbersome equipment. This research is leading to an entirely new generation of testing capabilities which particularly lend themselves to direct use in the field and in physicians' offices in just about any country and any economic setting.
In another paper, titled "Sorting of Blood in Spiral Microchannels" Papautsky and doctoral student Nivedita Nivedita demonstrate continuous sorting of blood utilizing inertial microfluidics via a simple passive microfluidic device. Papautsky's lab has been developing the concept of using inertia to manipulate cells and particles during the last few years. "It's truly different and innovative because these microfluidic devices are really low cost while offering very high throughput," said Papautsky.
The device is, essentially, a clear, plastic, flexible square that is relatively small in size, at about a half an inch across, but big in concept. "With this particular device we can take a drop of blood, put it in the input port in the center, and separate," Papautsky explained. The device contains four outlet ports which separate the blood into different streams, allowing the collection of outputs containing dilute plasma, red blood cells and white blood cells.
"There are a lot of clinical diagnostic tests that are based on blood," he said. One of the most common tests that are done in a hospital is the complete blood count (CBC). Through this test, a wide range of conditions like anemia, malaria or leukemia are diagnosed. "In all of these diagnostic tests, blood must be separated into its components, and that's what this device does," Papautsky explained. "So, instead of using a big centrifuge to do it, we can do it with this little device." Using the microfluidic device allows for a diagnosis in less time in a much easier fashion.
This quick, low-cost way of running a diagnostic test could potentially be used in a resource-limited setting. "One of the issues that I hear from my colleagues who work in these areas that do tests is that they have equipment," he said, "but don't always have personnel or stable power to operate them. So in places like India, Africa or Central America, our devices could be useful."
###
This work was supported by the DARPA Micro/Nano Fluidics Fundamentals Focus (MF3) Center at the University of California at Irvine.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
New options for ease and accuracy in extraction of rare cells or separating bloodPublic release date: 26-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: M.B. Reilly reillymb@ucmail.uc.edu 513-556-1824 University of Cincinnati
At the Sixteenth International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences (microTAS) to be held Oct. 28-Nov. 1, in Okinawa, Japan, University of Cincinnati researchers will present four papers, including one detailing improvements in rare cell isolation and one detailing improvements, in terms of cost and time, of common blood tests.
Ian Papautsky, associate professor in UC's School of Electronic and Computing Systems (SECS), part of the College of Engineering and Applied Science, and a UC team are leading these research efforts.
In a paper titled "Continuous Rare Cell Extraction Using Self-Releasing Vortex in an Inertial Microfluidic Device" by Papautsky and co-authors Xiao Wang, UC doctoral student, and Jian Zhou, research associate, a new concept for separation of rare cells, such as prostate cancer cells or circulating tumor cells, using microfluidics, is detailed.
"Last year we showed we can selectively isolate prostate cancer cells, but only by running small sample volumes one at a time. Now we show that we can do this continuously," Papautsky said. "This is exciting because it allows for an entire blood draw to be processed, in continuous matter, in a shorter period of time."
These blood draws can be used to identify tumor cells for diagnostic or prognostic purposes. "Our approach is based purely on size. It doesn't rely on antibodies, which is important because not all cancer cells express antigens. So, if the cancer cells are, let's say, larger than 20 microns, we'll extract them," he explained.
The most common approach for looking for these circulating tumor cells is via a system that uses a selection using antibodies to detect antigens. "We could also use our device to prepare samples for systems that use antibody-based selection." This combined approach could potentially help reduce occurrence of false positives while significantly increasing the accuracy of the antibody-based tests.
Another area in which this device could be useful is in working with cell cultures. "If you have a mixture of multiple cells where some cells are small and other cells are big, we could separate these cell populations very easily," Papautsky explained. "Anytime you need to separate based on size, we can do it using inertial microfluidics."
The advantage of inertial microfluidics in cell separation is that it can be done easily and without cumbersome equipment. This research is leading to an entirely new generation of testing capabilities which particularly lend themselves to direct use in the field and in physicians' offices in just about any country and any economic setting.
In another paper, titled "Sorting of Blood in Spiral Microchannels" Papautsky and doctoral student Nivedita Nivedita demonstrate continuous sorting of blood utilizing inertial microfluidics via a simple passive microfluidic device. Papautsky's lab has been developing the concept of using inertia to manipulate cells and particles during the last few years. "It's truly different and innovative because these microfluidic devices are really low cost while offering very high throughput," said Papautsky.
The device is, essentially, a clear, plastic, flexible square that is relatively small in size, at about a half an inch across, but big in concept. "With this particular device we can take a drop of blood, put it in the input port in the center, and separate," Papautsky explained. The device contains four outlet ports which separate the blood into different streams, allowing the collection of outputs containing dilute plasma, red blood cells and white blood cells.
"There are a lot of clinical diagnostic tests that are based on blood," he said. One of the most common tests that are done in a hospital is the complete blood count (CBC). Through this test, a wide range of conditions like anemia, malaria or leukemia are diagnosed. "In all of these diagnostic tests, blood must be separated into its components, and that's what this device does," Papautsky explained. "So, instead of using a big centrifuge to do it, we can do it with this little device." Using the microfluidic device allows for a diagnosis in less time in a much easier fashion.
This quick, low-cost way of running a diagnostic test could potentially be used in a resource-limited setting. "One of the issues that I hear from my colleagues who work in these areas that do tests is that they have equipment," he said, "but don't always have personnel or stable power to operate them. So in places like India, Africa or Central America, our devices could be useful."
###
This work was supported by the DARPA Micro/Nano Fluidics Fundamentals Focus (MF3) Center at the University of California at Irvine.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Why should real estate investors be out thanking big bulk buyers instead of complaining about the competition?
Some real estate investors have been getting frustrated with an immense amount of competitions from private equity firms and giant bulk buyers scooping up masses of distressed properties, while others are loving it and are still making plenty of money from real estate investing.
4 Reasons to Hug One of These Competitors Today
1. They Are Fun to Play With at Auctions
Few real estate investors make their money at public foreclosure auctions today and the competition has definitely grown stiffer with reps from big buyers showing up armed with bundles of checks and spending millions. Often they will out bid everyone else and wind up far overpaying what they should. While solo real estate investors should avoid being baited into bad habits like these it can be tons of fun to go and make these buyers sweat and overpay. Thank them for the entertainment.
2. Thanks for Pumping up Home Prices
Home prices in markets like Phoenix and Atlanta which are so popular with these big firms are seeing home values shoot up by high double digits. This means boosting profit margins for all and piling on equity to the personal residences of investors too. This deserves a really big bear hug.
3. Thanks for Making Your Returns Look Even Better
Most of the big players are severely encumbered by structure, layers of decision making and ridiculously high overhead. This kills their net returns. This makes the returns wholesalers can offer private mortgage lenders and turnkey real estate investors way more attractive.
4. Thanks for Biting the Bullet on Those Ugly Houses
While it appears some bulk buyers are doing more due diligence they are also certainly eating it big time by acquiring hundreds of dead beat homes which will become dead weight, dragging down over all returns, many of which will have to be turned around and sold, perhaps sometimes even at a loss. This is great for the little guy and every one of these properties rehabbed brings up the value of neighborhoods, increasing the value of the holdings of other investors too.
You don?t need a trunk full of checks to compete. With easy access to transactional funding and hard money lenders making a comeback and begging for investors to borrow you have access to all the cash you need. You don?t even need to go head to head at auctions or over REOs with them either. There are other and today perhaps better ways to find real deals, a lot easier.
So get out and hug one of these private equity firms? reps today ? then go out and make a killing with a smile?
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This tutorial comes to you from the Culinary Institute of America, where I attended a workshop hosted by the United States Potato Board earlier this week. One of the sessions was a chefs' feast of potato creativity, with chefs from all over the country cooking and assembling some pretty creative potato dishes (potato risotto! potato tabbouleh! pickled potatoes!), led by Chef Briwa.
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Public release date: 26-Oct-2012
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Why should real estate investors be out thanking big bulk buyers instead of complaining about the competition?