Garmin's Approach S4 watch can guide you through over 30,000 golf courses, send notifications to your wrist

Garmin® Expands Approach® Series with S4, a Sleek Golf Watch with High-Res Touchscreen Display and Smart Notifications

OLATHE, Kan./ October 15, 2013/Business Wire-Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), the global leader in satellite navigation, today announced the Approach S4 GPS golf watch-a feature-packed golf watch to expand the already popular Approach Series. The Approach S4 has a high-res touchscreen display that is sunlight readable and offers a dedicated Green View button. It boasts a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that can last for up to 10 hours in golf mode. The S4 comes preloaded with more than 30,000 international courses [1] with free lifetime course updates, so there are no additional fees or subscriptions. The Approach S4 also has Smart Notification technology when paired with a compatible Apple smartphone. This allows the watch to wirelessly receive information from the phone's notification center such as emails, text messages, so golfers can leave their phones in their bags while on the course. Like other Garmin Golf GPS devices, the S4 gives precise distances to the front, middle and back of the green, and incorporates layup, dogleg and shot distances all while keeping score and tracking statistics on the digital scorecard. The Approach S4 has a fashionable and functional design that is great on the golf course, and as a stylish everyday wristwatch.

"The Approach S4 is the natural evolution of wearable golf technology," said Dan Bartel, Garmin vice president of worldwide sales. "The hi-res touchscreen display makes it easier than ever for golfers to stay on top of their game, and the Smart Notification functionality allows them to stay connected while on the course. Plus, the extended battery life allows for a full weekend of golf on one charge. The Approach S4 will give golfers a competitive edge on the course, but the sleek form factor and smart watch technology makes it appropriate for everyday wear."

The Approach S4 is a golf watch like no other. The high-res touchscreen display is glove-friendly and easy to read, even in direct sunlight. Weighing only 2.06 ounces, and water resistant to 10 meters, the Approach S4 packs powerful features into a small, easy to wear package. It boasts the longest golf mode battery life in the Approach watch lineup with 10 hours. The Approach S4 incorporates Smart Notification technology, which allows golfers to stay connected while on the course. When paired with a compatible smartphone (iPhone 4s and above running iOS7.0 and above), the S4 acts as a wireless extension of the device through Bluetooth Low Energy so users can receive emails, text messages and more while on the course.

Like other Garmin golf GPS devices, the Approach S4 provides precise distance to the front, middle and back of the green. It also shows layup and dogleg distances, and adds a Measure Shot feature, which calculates yardages for shots played anywhere on the course. With the S4, users will even be able to input and save customizable yardage points, like water hazards or bunkers, to help golfers place shots more precisely. Additionally, the Approach S4 adds a dedicated button for easy access to the Green View screen. This feature shows golfers the true shape and layout of the green, and allows them to touch and drag the pin to the day's location so they'll know exactly how much power to put into their swing.

The S4 can be used all over the world, and because more than 30,000 courses are onboard, golfers will never have to worry about subscription fees or roaming charges. Golfers who are traveling, playing unfamiliar courses, or those who simply want to better understand their courses at home will be able to do so in style with the Approach S4. The digital scorecard feature allows individual scorecards to be saved, reviewed, shared and printed, so golfers are able to track their progress over time. Scores can be recorded in either Stroke Play or Stableford. The Approach S4 is also able to track golfer statistics, which allows players to enter information such as strokes, putts and fairways hit, along with their score at the end of each hole. This info is tabulated, and some stats like putts per round, greens in regulation and fairways hit, can be displayed at the end of the round. The S4 has an easy-to-use interface and comes equipped with an odometer and round timer so golfers can track the distance walked and time spent playing. The S4 will come in black and white, with optional colorful accessory bands sold separately.

The Approach S4 will be available in Fall 2013, and will retail for $349.99. It will be available at specialty golf retailers and golf course pro-shops. The Approach S4 is the latest addition to Garmin's outdoor segment, which focuses on developing technologies and innovations to enhance users' outdoor experiences. Whether it's golfing, hiking, hunting or geocaching, Garmin outdoor devices are becoming essential tools for outdoor enthusiasts of all levels. For more information about Garmin's other outdoor products and services, go to garmin.com/sports and facebook.com/garmin.

About Garmin International Inc.
Garmin International Inc. is a subsidiary of Garmin Ltd. (Nasdaq: GRMN), the global leader in satellite navigation. Since 1989, this group of companies has designed, manufactured, marketed and sold navigation, communication and information devices and applications – most of which are enabled by GPS technology. Garmin's products serve automotive, mobile, wireless, outdoor recreation, marine, aviation, and OEM applications. Garmin Ltd. is incorporated in Switzerland, and its principal subsidiaries are located in the United States, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit Garmin's virtual pressroom at www.garmin.com/pressroom or contact the Media Relations department at 913-397-8200. Garmin and Approach are registered trademarks of Garmin Ltd. or its subsidiaries.

All other brands, product names, company names, trademarks and service marks are the properties of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

Notice on Forward-Looking Statements:

This release includes forward-looking statements regarding Garmin Ltd. and its business. Such statements are based on management's current expectations. The forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this release may not occur and actual results could differ materially as a result of known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting Garmin, including, but not limited to, the risk factors listed in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012, filed by Garmin with the Securities and Exchange Commission (Commission file number 0-31983). A copy of such Form 10-K is available at www.garmin.com/aboutGarmin/invRelations/finReports.html. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and Garmin undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

FCC Notice:

The Approach S4 has not been authorized as required by the rules of the Federal Communications Commission. These devices are not, and may not be, offered for sale or lease, or sold or leased, until authorization is obtained.

[1] Currently, there are no golf courses available in Asia for Approach S-series devices sold outside of Asia. For more detail, please see http://sites.garmin.com/clsearch/intosports/golfcourse.html.

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/16/garmin-approach-s4-golf-watch/?ncid=rss_truncated
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Lenovo intros the Miix2, its first 8-inch Windows 8.1 tablet; coming soon for $299

Remember when we reviewed Acer's (sorta crappy) W3 tablet, and assured you it wouldn't be long before we saw more 8-inch Windows 8.1 tablets? Well, with that latest Windows update due out tomorrow, you'd better believe the smaller Windows tablets are about to start pouring in. Now that we've heard ...

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/OCIuSMuv9lY/
Category: demarco murray   EBT   new orleans saints   What Is Labor Day   Sarin gas  

University of Toronto research warns against Wi-Fi in cars

Public release date: 16-Oct-2013
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Contact: Sean Bettam
s.bettam@utoronto.ca
416-946-7950
University of Toronto

Study shows drivers will be too distracted even if devices are voice-operated

TORONTO, ON Plans to provide high-speed Internet access in vehicles, announced last month by Canadian telecommunications company Rogers Communications and American provider Sprint Corporation, could do with some sobering second-thought, says a researcher in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto.

"Because of the potential for driver distraction, safety should be of great concern," said Professor Ian Spence, author of a new study on the impact of auditory distractions on visual attention. "Many people assume that talking to a voice-operated device will be as safe as using a hands-free cell phone, but neither activity is safe."

Spence and a team of researchers asked subjects to perform an attentional visual field test in which they repeatedly identified the random location of an object in visual clutter displayed on a computer monitor. Poor performance on the test is known to be a good predictor of unsafe driving. Subjects performed the test while carrying out a range of listening and/or speaking tasks or in silence.

An example of an easy task was listening to recordings of news items, much like listening to a car radio. More difficult tasks required subjects to answer simple yes-no questions while performing the visual test. Subjects answered by either speaking out loud in some experimental conditions, or merely thinking of the answer in others. The most-demanding questions required subjects to take the last letter of a presented word (e.g. apple) and speak another word beginning with that letter (e.g. elephant).

Subjects who completed the test of visual attention coupled with the listening/speaking tasks were as accurate as those who completed the visual test in silence. However, they responded much more slowly as the difficulty increased as much as one second slower with the most demanding tasks.

"It did not matter whether the subject spoke the answer aloud or simply thought about the answer," said Spence. "It was the thinking, not speaking, that caused them to slow down."

Spence said the practical consequences are clear.

"At 50 kilometres per hour, a car travels 13.9 metres in one second. A driver who brakes one second earlier than another driver to avoid a collision, will either prevent it completely or be traveling more slowly when it occurs, lowering the probability of severe injury or fatality. A delay in braking by as much as one second presents a significant threat to safe driving and casts doubt on the belief that hands-free voice-controlled devices reduce driver distraction."

###

The study "How speech modifies visual attention" appears in the September/October issue of Applied Cognitive Psychology. The research was funded by a Discovery Grant to Spence from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Prof. Ian Spence

Department of Psychology

University of Toronto

Ian.spence@utoronto.ca

416-978-7623

Sean Bettam

Communications, Faculty of Arts & Science

University of Toronto

s.bettam@utoronto.ca

416-946-7950

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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.

Public release date: 16-Oct-2013
[


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Contact: Sean Bettam
s.bettam@utoronto.ca
416-946-7950
University of Toronto

Study shows drivers will be too distracted even if devices are voice-operated

TORONTO, ON Plans to provide high-speed Internet access in vehicles, announced last month by Canadian telecommunications company Rogers Communications and American provider Sprint Corporation, could do with some sobering second-thought, says a researcher in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto.

"Because of the potential for driver distraction, safety should be of great concern," said Professor Ian Spence, author of a new study on the impact of auditory distractions on visual attention. "Many people assume that talking to a voice-operated device will be as safe as using a hands-free cell phone, but neither activity is safe."

Spence and a team of researchers asked subjects to perform an attentional visual field test in which they repeatedly identified the random location of an object in visual clutter displayed on a computer monitor. Poor performance on the test is known to be a good predictor of unsafe driving. Subjects performed the test while carrying out a range of listening and/or speaking tasks or in silence.

An example of an easy task was listening to recordings of news items, much like listening to a car radio. More difficult tasks required subjects to answer simple yes-no questions while performing the visual test. Subjects answered by either speaking out loud in some experimental conditions, or merely thinking of the answer in others. The most-demanding questions required subjects to take the last letter of a presented word (e.g. apple) and speak another word beginning with that letter (e.g. elephant).

Subjects who completed the test of visual attention coupled with the listening/speaking tasks were as accurate as those who completed the visual test in silence. However, they responded much more slowly as the difficulty increased as much as one second slower with the most demanding tasks.

"It did not matter whether the subject spoke the answer aloud or simply thought about the answer," said Spence. "It was the thinking, not speaking, that caused them to slow down."

Spence said the practical consequences are clear.

"At 50 kilometres per hour, a car travels 13.9 metres in one second. A driver who brakes one second earlier than another driver to avoid a collision, will either prevent it completely or be traveling more slowly when it occurs, lowering the probability of severe injury or fatality. A delay in braking by as much as one second presents a significant threat to safe driving and casts doubt on the belief that hands-free voice-controlled devices reduce driver distraction."

###

The study "How speech modifies visual attention" appears in the September/October issue of Applied Cognitive Psychology. The research was funded by a Discovery Grant to Spence from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Prof. Ian Spence

Department of Psychology

University of Toronto

Ian.spence@utoronto.ca

416-978-7623

Sean Bettam

Communications, Faculty of Arts & Science

University of Toronto

s.bettam@utoronto.ca

416-946-7950

---

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| 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.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/uot-uot101613.php
Category: mlb   Alison Pill   pharrell   tony stewart   brandon jennings  

Maryville, Missouri sex assault case: Hack group Anonymous plans 'Twitter storm'

David Eulitt / Kansas City Star via AP

The Nodaway County Courthouse in downtown Maryville, Mo.

By Kevin Murphy, Reuters

The online activist group Anonymous said on Tuesday it would launch a "Twitter storm" and stage a rally in a Missouri town to protest the dropping of sex charges against two ex-high school football players in an incident involving a 14-year-old girl.

Prosecutors in Nodaway County charged the male teenagers in connection with the incident at a party in January 2012 in Maryville, Mo. They said they dropped the case because of lack of evidence.

Anonymous, a loosely associated international group of activists and hackers, said it was planning an October 22 rally outside a courthouse in Maryville to support the girl, Daisy Coleman. It also plans to use Twitter to draw attention to the case.

Coleman and her mother, Melinda Coleman, have spoken about the case publicly in interviews with the Kansas City Star and other media. Melinda Coleman could not be reached immediately for comment on Tuesday.

"We demand an immediate investigation into the handling by local authorities of Daisy's case," Anonymous said in a statement posted online. "We have seen Daisy's story all too often."

Missouri Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder on Tuesday asked that the case be reopened, urging state Attorney General Chris Koster and Nodaway County Prosecutor Bob Rice to join him in asking the circuit court to convene a grand jury in the case.

"The appalling facts in the public record shock the conscience and cry out that responsible authorities must take another look," said Kinder, a Republican. Koster, like Missouri Governor Jay Nixon, is a Democrat.

The renewed focus on the case, which has drawn comparisons to the 2012 rape of a 16-year-old girl in Steubenville, Ohio, followed the Star's publication on Sunday of a months-long investigation.

The newspaper reported that one of the teenagers is from a prominent local family and admitted having sex with Coleman after providing her with alcohol, but said it was consensual. He was originally charged with felony sex assault.

The other teenager was accused of videotaping part of the encounter with an iPhone and was charged with felony sexual exploitation of a minor, the Star said. Both were 17 at the time of the incident and had been Maryville High School football players, it said.

Melinda Coleman told the Star that many people in Maryville, a city of about 12,000 in northwestern Missouri, turned on her daughter and family after they pursued the case and the family moved out of town after repeated threats and harassment.

Rice said on Tuesday that the article did not include all the facts about the criminal case.

"There was insufficient evidence to prove a criminal charge beyond a reasonable doubt," Rice said in a statement. "The state's witnesses refused to cooperate and invoked their 5th Amendment privilege to not testify."

Nanci Gonder, a spokeswoman for Koster, said the state attorney general would not get involved in the case.

"Charging decisions in criminal cases are placed within the discretion of elected county prosecutors in Missouri," Gonder said. "State law provides the Attorney General's Office with no authority to review or overrule a prosecutor's charging decisions."

In the Ohio case, Anonymous accused authorities of shielding the popular Steubenville High School football program after two players were accused of raping a teenage girl at a party. The players were later convicted and a grand jury recently indicted a school employee on charges of obstructing the investigation. 

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663306/s/32858213/sc/38/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C10A0C160C20A9875450Emaryville0Emissouri0Esex0Eassault0Ecase0Ehack0Egroup0Eanonymous0Eplans0Etwitter0Estorm0Dlite/story01.htm
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Uncork'd Picks Up Rights to 'Exit to Hell'

Uncork’d Entertainment has picked up North American VOD, digital and home entertainment rights to horror drama Exit to Hell, previously known as Sickle.

Horror staple Kane Hodder (Friday the 13th, Hatchet) stars as Sheriff Slade Sickle, a man described as having “an abiding appetite for justice,” according to the producers. The flick centers on a naive group of thugs that rob a Mafia-run strip club and head to the border, only to run into trouble in a wind-swept town named Redstone.  

The movie, which is also supposed to be a carnage-filled tribute to grindhouse cinema, co-stars Tiffany Shepis (Nightmare Man, Dark Reel) and Rena Riffel (Showgirls, Mulholland Dr.).

It was written, directed and produced by Robert Conway and Funhouse Features’ David Friedman and Justin Anderson. Anthony Casanova exec produced. 

Hell is expected to hit VOD in early November and then DVD in early 2014.

Stated Conway: “Much has changed in the world of home video distribution and [Uncork’d founder] Keith [Leopard] understands the shifting marketplace. Uncork’d embraces streaming VOD services such as iTunes and Xbox as well as the kiosk vendors who have largely replaced the traditional brick and mortar outlets. To put it simply, we know that our film is in good hands, and we expect that Exit to Hell is merely the first of many titles we will release through Uncork’d.”

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/THRComicCon/~3/azyuEWUCUNU/story01.htm
Tags: Texas A&m Football   Dancing With the Stars 2013   harry potter   Cal Worthington   nate robinson  

Social Shopping Startup Shopcade Bags $4M To Fuel Mobile Growth & A Big Data Play

Social shopping and deals-focused startup Shopcade, which launched out of the U.K. in November 2011, has raised £2.5 million (circa $4 million) to accelerate its growth on mobile. Investors in the funding round include Pascal Cagni, formerly head of Apple’s European business from 2000 to 2012, and Michel Combes, CEO of telecommunications company Alcatel-Lucent and ex-CEO of Vodafone Europe.

First order of business for Shopcade’s mobile push: expanding its app portfolio. Shopcade doesn’t currently have an Android app — but will be launching one next month, along with a refreshed-for-iOS-7 iOS app.

Shopcade’s ecommerce platform hosts products from more than 16,000 retailers and over 150,000 brands — with a focus on fashion, clothes and accessories but also incorporating other product categories such as books, media and electronics.

Its primary target is young females but it isn’t excluding men either…

The current Shopcade app lets users keep tabs on items they want to buy, informing them when something on their list goes on sale. It also pushes out personalised recommendations, and lets users follow each other to style stalk trendsetters (aka other users whose style they dig). Users can add items to their Shopcade list from any website, not just the items Shopcade hosts.

Last year the startup was focused on adding more game mechanics to its offering to ramp up user engagement — by, for instance, generating the Trendsetter score for each user to rank themselves against their peers. It also introduced a system of perks to reward its most influential shoppers.

This year it’s been focused on expanding its deals segment, introducing deals that are specifically tied to items users have added to their wish lists. Another focus has been on outreach: in June it launched a widget targeting fashion bloggers and publishers, allowing them to embed a showcase of product picks — or auto-populated products related to page contents — in a grid or carousel.

It’s also pushed into celebrity tie-ups, by allowing its users to have the chance to style a celebrity look under its ‘Stylist for a Day’ campaign.

Going forward, Shopcade evidently sees big data as its bread and butter, based on the intel it’s continually gathering about fashion-focused shoppers’ likes (and by implication dislikes) — and then selling that ‘trend spotting’ business intelligence back to large retailers so they can decide what to stock on their shelves.

Shopcade’s expansion into widgets helps with that, allowing it to cosy up to other fashion-focused communities. Mobile is another key data point to this big data play, furnishing Shopcade with more up-to-the-minute data on what its users are after.

As an example of the kind of trends it’s apparently able to call, Evan Adelman, Shopcade CTO, said funny pet costumes started to trend on the platform ahead of Halloween — and crucially ahead of marketing spending for Halloween — adding that the category is now highlighted on Amazon.com.

Commenting on the funding round in a statement, Pascal Cagni added: ”By identifying the game-changing opportunities in mobile commerce, Shopcade is set to become the leading mobile shopping platform targeting fashionable young females audience.”

Prior angel investors in Shopcade include Daniel Bernard, former CEO of European retailer Carrefour; Ian Livingston, co-founder of Eidos Games; and Lord John Birt, former director general of the BBC.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/WTSrAvYaEOg/
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Nielsen: Global Ad Spending Rose 2.8 Percent in First Half of Year

Global advertising spending rose 2.8 percent in the first half of 2013, according to latest Nielsen data.

Gains in Latin America and the Asia Pacific region drove worldwide growth, but European ad spending continued to decline amid economic challenges.

"Marketers continue to gradually increase their global ad spending" as growth accelerated to 3.5 percent in the second quarter, according to Nielsen’s latest Global AdView Pulse report.

It didn't provide absolute dollar figures for ad spending.

Latin America ended the first half of 2013 with an ad gain of 13.1 percent, while
Asia posted a 6.4 percent increase, according to Nielsen.

The Middle East and Africa region reported a 3.9 percent improvement in ad spending, while North America was up 2.7 percent. Nielsen didn't break out the U.S. performance.

Europe remained the main laggard in the first half of the year with a 6 percent ad spending decline, according to Nielsen.

U.K. ad revenue declined 2.3 percent, for example. The only gains over the first six months of 2013 in Europe came in  Switzerland (up 0.6 percent), Norway (up 2.5 percent) and Greece (up 7.4 percent), which last year saw a big drop amid its economic crisis.

"Although many marketers remain conservative with advertising budgets, those in Latin America continue to buck the norm," Nielsen concluded. In Europe, "marketers remain modest with their ad budgets amidst the region's continued fiscal crisis," it said.

Argentina was a key contributor to growth in Latin America region with a gain of nearly 30 percent. Indonesia, China and the Philippines helped lead growth in the Asia-Pacific region, which reached $51 billion in ad spending in the first half on 2013.

The Nielsen Global AdView Pulse measures spending on TV, radio, cinema, newspapers, magazines, outdoor and Internet display advertising.

E-mail: Georg.Szalai@THR.com
Twitter: @georgszalai

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/thr/international/~3/nxgoKpVXiRA/story01.htm
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