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Great local search apps for iOS

I was going through the app listings the other day and came across LocalScope, a unique local search tool that helps you find things near your current location. Obviously, many people already use Google Maps (no current version for iOS) for this purpose, and the Yelp-powered Apple Maps gets better every day, but after looking at LocalScope (reviewed below), I went on a search for other apps that tailor their results just for what is right around your area.

This week's collection of apps is all about searching for services around your location. The first gives you tons of listings and a surprising bonus feature for finding your destination. The second offers a slick radial interface and tons of categories to pick from. The third is LocalScope, and uses social data to find places, videos, and images from people around your location.… Read more

Vizio to ship ultra-wide-screen, 21:9 TVs by February

LAS VEGAS--Do you think your wide-screen TV isn't wide enough? Vizio's 21:9 TVs have you covered.

The company's CinemaWide models, dubbed the XVT3D0CM series, offer three screen sizes (50, 58, and 71 inches) that have an aspect ratio of 21:9, which in person is noticeably wider than the normal 16:9 rectangle shape used by typical HDTVs.

The advantage of the shape, according to Vizio, is that it allows the sets to display 2.35:1 (CinemaScope) movies without any black bars. As the company points out, many big-budget Hollywood flicks are shown in CinemaScope, … Read more

Scope out Pico's oscilloscopes with PicoScope 6

Pico Technologies manufactures oscilloscopes and other scientific instruments that not only interface with PCs but also interact with them, multiplying their capabilities. PicoScope 6 is their free software suite. It's designed to control the company's devices, combining data acquisition with processing power and storage capacity to create a complete desktop testing and measurement lab in one free application.

PicoScope's installer tries to connect to a supported device, which we lacked. However, the program offers numerous demo modes that simulate various devices and modes, which are accessible through the Connect Device wizard on a list that includes a … Read more

Work with the cool kids! Culture is a weapon in 2011's hiring battle

See that guy pictured above? The one with the beard grooming oil, the fancy tux and the spear gun? He's the best engineer in the world--and he has the toys to prove it.

Oh, the lengths startups are going to these days to get engineering talent.

Technology is evolving rapidly and engineers who know the latest and greatest coding languages and techniques are hard to come by, even in Silicon Valley. Undergrads are being wined (if they're, um, over 21) and dined by technology companies offering never-before-seen perks (cars! free apartments!) and impressive salaries.

Google currently pays recent … Read more

xScope Web File Task Browser

xScope Web File Task Browser is far from being the most beautiful mobile browser for Android. However, what it lacks in looks it makes up for in functionality. Its bundle of features includes tabbed browsing, some interesting management controls, the ability to copy text, and support for skins (you'll download the skin set separately). xScope browser tends toward flexibility, offering three ways to zoom in, open and close tabs, and switch among open tabs--including a simple finger swipe. We like the quick bookmarking, and can appreciate the task killer, even though it's not a tool we'd seek … Read more

How your cell phone can diagnose disease

To picture the next-gen microscope, don't picture a microscope at all. Aydogan Ozcan, an assistant professor of electrical engineering and member of the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA, is adapting cell phones to sample biological images.

This is no iPhone app. Ozcan, who formed the company Microskia (on the heels of the UC Berkeley team that developed CellScope), has built a prototype whose cell phone camera sensor can detect a slide's contents at a cellular level--reading, for example, an increase in white blood cell count that might indicate a new infection or injury. That information can then be forwarded wirelessly to a lab or hospital.

The brilliance of Ozcan's design is that magnification is done electronically, requiring no lens. (CellScope, on the other hand, takes a more conventional approach as a miniature microscope with expensive lenses.) … Read more

AstroScope lets your dSLR see in the dark

A company called Electrophysics has two adapters that can make your Canon or Nikon dSLR snap pictures in the dark. Such an application isn't new and was previously implemented in surveillance and video cameras for recording footage in the dark. But the AstroScope 9350-series adapters are specially designed to be used with dSLRs.

These night vision systems fit between the camera body and the lens. There is a central intensifier unit (CIU), which illuminates the scene dramatically even if there is only a weak light source. What's special is that these adapters maintain the electrical connections required for … Read more

CellScope aims to diagnose, monitor diseases in developing world

What's this gizmo? Another ridiculous lens thing for bolting on the front of your phone to beef up that pitiful 2-megapixel camera? Actually, no: it's the CellScope, which turns a normal mobile phone--in this case, a rather venerable Nokia N73--into a microscope. Limited access to microscopy in the developing world makes this a handy tool for diagnosing diseases like tuberculosis and malaria.

The CellScope works with handhelds and even Netbooks. The really clever bit is that it wirelessly transmits patient data to clinical centers, allowing the patient to be evaluated remotely and treatment suggested. Developed by … Read more

Handy tab management tool

This handy little add-on falls under the category of tools you never knew you needed, but find extremely useful once you try it. Tab Scope conveniently lets you navigate all of your tabs without having to click back and forth between them.

When you hover your mouse over a tab, Tab Scope displays a small preview window that represents the tab's current Web page. Just like a browser, the preview window contains navigational buttons for moving forward and backward, refreshing the page, zooming in, and stopping the page load. The Options menu gives you control over the window size, … Read more