The budget tablet realm was once strictly reserved for no-name devices that were shoddy at best. That's all changed with companies like Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Google itself offering up budget-friendly, high-quality tablets that put those fringe devices of yesteryear to shame. The Idolian Studio 10 falls somewhere in between, with a low $258 (direct) asking price, but some frustrating compromises. The sturdy aluminum frame and generous port selection are nice, but it suffers from Wi-Fi issues, bugs, and short battery life. If money is your greatest concern, I'd pony up the extra cash for a tablet like the Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9"?or save $50 with the Coby MID1065.
Design and Features Judging by outward appearances, the Studio 10 doesn't look or feel cheap. It's got a substantial, if somewhat hefty, aluminum body that feels sturdy in the hand and yields almost no flex. At 10.1 by 6.9 by 0.4 inches (HWD) and 1.29 pounds, it's in line with the MID1065 in terms of size and weight. A plastic panel along the left edge houses a microSD card slot, a 3.5mm headphone jack, micro USB and mini HDMI ports, and a DC power input. Like the MID1065, the Studio 10 syncs via micro USB, but requires the included power brick to charge. The micro USB port also supports USB OTG, and Idolian includes an adapter for plugging in peripherals like USB mice and keyboards?both of which worked fine in my tests. ?
The 1,280-by-800 pixel IPS display isn't bad, but it's unremarkable. It gets bright and viewing angles are good. Colors skew a little cool, as whites have a bit of a blue hue, and I noticed some backlight bleeding at the edges. It's neck and neck with the Coby MID1065 on the display front, while coming a bit short of tablets like the Toshiba Excite 10 SE.
This is a Wi-Fi-only tablet that connects to 802.11b/g/n networks on the 2.4GHz frequency. During testing, the Studio 10 had some trouble reconnecting to Wi-Fi when woken from sleep?there were noticeable delays even though saved networks were within range. The tablet also supports Bluetooth 2.1 and connected easily with a pair of wireless headphones
Performance and Android The Studio 10 is powered by a dual-core 1.6GHz Cortex-A9 processor with 1GB RAM and 16GB of internal storage. Performance is generally swift, and the Studio 10 did well on most of our benchmarks?besting the MID1065 in many categories. And while the MID1065 was plagued by choppy real-world performance, the Studio 10 feels much smoother in operation. Gaming performance is decent, with games like Temple Run 2 running without a hitch, but don't expect high framerates on more graphically intensive games like Real Racing 3.
The software loaded onto the Studio 10 is a mixed bag. It's running Android 4.1.1 "Jelly Bean," which is a step up from the MID1065's 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich," but buggy Google apps hold this tablet back. Google apps like the Play Store, Gmail, and Chrome are disabled by default?you have to dig into the settings, find Developer options, then uncheck "Hide Google Application." Idolian says it is still working out the kinks with its Google certification, but promised future firmware updates to resolve any bugs. As it stands, the Studio 10 can access the Play Store and its hundreds of thousands of apps, but I found frustrating deficiencies, like the fact that Chrome did not work during testing.
For media support, the Studio 10 handles Xvid, DivX, MPEG4, H.264, and AVI videos at up to 1080p resolution. For audio, you get MP3, AAC, FLAC, OGG, WAV, and WMA support. Screen mirroring worked fine using a mini HDMI cable, and the tablet was able to output video at 720p or 1080p resolution. If you absolutely need a camera on your tablet, there are front- and rear-facing 2-megapixel cameras, but they are not worth using?details are smudged, image noise is overwhelming, and dynamic range is non-existent.
In our battery rundown test, which loops a video with screen brightness set to max and Wi-Fi on, the Studio 10 lasted 3 hours, 56 minutes, which is disappointing. Compare that with the MID1065's 4 hours, 37 minutes or the Excite 10 SE's 7 hours, 37 minutes.
Conclusions The Idolian Studio 10 may look and feel like a more expensive tablet, but it makes a number of compromises to ring in at a budget-friendly price. Chief among them is haphazard Google apps implementation that can leave novices in the dark. And even if you know your way around Android, the Studio 10 can still give you problems. Performance-wise, it's right in line with budget options like the MID1065, which is even less expensive than the Studio 10. So if you have more room in your budget, I'd recommend a tablet like the Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9", which gets you a far sharper display, better performance, and a much smoother software experience.?
The Dolphins gritted their teeth and celebrated the success of the local NBA franchise that makes the local NFL franchise even less relevant locally.? And nationally.
There will be more cops at Bills games this year.? (Fans would prefer more points.)
The University of Florida connection isn?t working out for the Patriots.
Get to know Jets S Josh Bush.
Browns S T.J. Ward likes Ray Horton?s aggressive style; ?It?s an attack style, all downhill. We?re really getting after the guys. That?s what I?m most excited about,? Ward said, proving that the point can be conveyed without using terms like ?kill? or ?hurt? or ?inflict mild bruising.?
The Ravens last 2013 draft pick, CB Marc Anthony, hopes to win a job with ?physicality and versatility.?
Former Steelers K Jeff Reed did a little bragging recently about his ownership of two Super Bowl rings.
Bengals single-game tickets go on sale June 29; pre-registration was required for visits from the Steelers and the Packers.
Texans WR Andre Johnson and S Ed Reed made it to the teens on NFL Network?s Top 100 countdown.
Colts DL Ricky Jean Francois still gets advice from Donald Heaven, who played OT at Florida State when Jean Francois arrived in 2002.
Titans G Chance Warmack is trying to stay positive as he makes the transition from college to the NFL.
The enhancements to the Jaguars stadium will start after the 2013 season and are expected to be ready by the start of the 2014 season.
Chargers FB Le?Ron McClain is holding a free football camp for kids in Alabama on Saturday.
Ditto for Chiefs RB Jamaal Charles, who started his fourth annual free camp for 175 kids on Friday in Texas.
Whatever Broncos WR Wes Welker got paid this week to talk repeatedly about his hair plugs, it wasn?t nearly enough.
When news broke that actor James Gandolfini has passed, some fans thought Raiders assistant Tony Sparano had died.
Cowboys QB Tony Romo didn?t earn a spot on NFLN?s Top 100 list, after coming in at No. 91 in 2012 and No. 72 in 2011.
The Associated Press style book would seem to suggest that any publication adhering to it should not use the term Redskins.
A New Jersey accountant who allegedly scammed the state out of nearly $700,000 in false unemployment claims used the money to buy, among other things, Giants season tickets.
Kyle Shurmur, the son of Eagles offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, is 6-4 and slated to play quarterback for La Salle High School.
The Packers have reduced from nine night training-camp practices in 2012 to zero in 2013.
Retired Bears LB Brian Urlacher is playing a lot of golf; ?The first thing on my mind when I wake up isn?t working out anymore,? Urlacher said.? ?So that?s a good thing.?
Vikings CB Xavier Rhodes arrived at Florida State as a receiver, and when he was moved to defense he initially wanted to transfer.
LB Jon Morgan is trying to win a spot on the Lions roster as an undrafted free agent.
Saints WE Marques Colston is hosting a receivers camp on Saturday for kids 10 to 18 years old.
50 sacks may be a bit unrealistic, but Panthers LB Greg Hardy could be in for a big year.
A 150-year-old church in Atlanta wants $24.5 million to move from the footprint of the Change Purse; the city has offered $15.5 million.
The Buccaneers? ?Rookie Club? spent time this week with local kids in Tampa.
So how can players like 49ers WR Michael Crabtree recover so quickly from a torn Achilles tendon?
Cardinals running backs coach Stump Mitchell is helping rookie RB Stepfan Taylor catch up after missing the offseason program due to the ridiculous, outdated, and unfair rule that prevents first-year players from working until the students at the college the players no longer attend have taken their final exams.
Seahawks DE Michael Bennett told the Real Rob Report that he?s never seen a pace like the one at Seahawks practices.
35 first-year Rams stuck around for ?Rookie Week,? an up-close introduction to St. Louis.? (Which for most of them will be completely irrelevant by September.)
Facebook says a bug in its system caused 6 million users' contact information to be inadvertently exposed.
The social media company said Friday that a bug led to users' contact information, such as email addresses or phone numbers, to be accessed by other users who either had some contact information about that person or some connection to them.
Facebook said in a blog post that the cause of the bug is "pretty technical" but that the problem is tied to its "Download Your Information" tool.
The company uses the information that users upload to better tailor the friend suggestions it issues. The bug caused some of this information to be inadvertently stored in association with a person's contact information as part of their Facebook account.
As a result, if someone downloaded an archive of their Facebook account through the "Download Your Information" tool, they may have been provided with additional addresses or telephone numbers for their contacts or people with whom they have some connection. Because the contact information was provided by other people on Facebook, it was not necessarily accurate.
Facebook said it has fixed the problem and is in the process of notifying affected users via email.
The affected accounts represent only a fraction of the over 1 billion users on the social media site.
Facebook, which is headquartered in Menlo Park, Calif., said that it has no evidence that the bug has been used maliciously and it has not received complaints.
'I'm still debating if I'm actually a celebrity,' the 'Voice' champion tells MTV News of her newfound fame. By James Montgomery, with additional reporting by Natasha Chandel
A tandem-horned rhino from the Late Miocene of China reveals origin of the unicorn elasmotherePublic release date: 21-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: DENG Tao dengtao@ivpp.ac.cn Science China Press
Although modern Indian and Javan rhinos have a single horn on their noses, the extinct one-horned rhino Elasmotherium was a source of the unicorn legend because it had a two meter-long horn on its forehead and lived with prehistoric humans that drew its image on cave paintings. All other elasmotheres had a weak or strong nasal horn, whereas Elasmotherium lost its ancestral nasal horn and instead developed a long frontal horn. Dr. DENG Tao (Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences) and his colleagues reported the first discovered skull of Sinotherium lagrelii (Figure 1) from Late Miocene red clays (~7 Ma) of the Linxia Basin, northwestern China (see Chinese Science Bulletin Vol. 58, No. 15, pages 1811-1817). The transition from a nasal horn to a frontal horn in elasmotheres has been difficult to explain because a major transformational gap exists between nasal-horned ancestors and frontal-horned descendants. This skull has connected a large posterior nasofrontal horn boss and a smaller frontal horn boss, indicating an intermediate stage to the single frontal horn of Elasmotherium. Morphological and phylogenetic analyses confirm that Sinotherium is a transitional taxon between Elasmotherium and other elasmotheres. It is positioned near the root of the giant unicorn clade and originated in a subarid steppe. A posteriorly shifted nasal horn provides more substantial support and the arched structure of the nasofrontal area is an adaptation for a huge horn. The S. lagrelii skull provides new information about the origin of the giant unicorn Elasmotherium.
Previously, S. lagrelii was only represented by cranial and mandibular fragments and isolated teeth from Late Miocene deposits in China (Baode County, Shanxi Province), Kazakhstan, and Mongolia, so its horn situation was unknown. S. lagrelii is the closest to the Pleistocene Elasmotherium in dental morphology, but the nature of its frontal horn was undetermined. This skull proves that S. lagrelii has a posteriorly displaced nasofrontal horn, derived from the configuration seen in early elasmotheres. It also has a smaller frontal horn so it differs from both Ningxiatherium (single nasal horn) and Elasmotherium (single frontal horn). It is a morphological intermediate in the nasal-to-frontal horn transition of elasmotheres that connects the evolution and biogeography of the derived elasmotheres (Figure 2).
The nasofrontal area of the skull is strongly elevated, rough, and forms a huge and hollow dome, in sharp contrast to the flat, smooth area in large nasal-horned elasmotheres, such as Iranotherium, Parelasmotherium, and Ningxiatherium. This reduces the weight of the nasal and frontal bones. The nasal horn boss is shifted posterior to reach the frontal bone and connect to the frontal horn boss. This particular horn combination has not appeared in any other extinct or extant rhinoceros. The dorsal surface of the horn bosses has many massive swellings to strengthen the adhesion of a huge nasal horn and a smaller frontal horn. The ventral surface has an ossified sagittal septum and many oblique lateral ribs that form a trussed structure of enhanced support similar to the leaf structure of the giant waterlily (Victoria). An enlarged nasal horn without other compensation would make support impossible, even with an ossified nasal septum, so the nasal horn has to shift towards the frontal bone.
The skull exhibits enormous occipital condyles, similar to other large nasal-horned elasmotheres and giant rhinos, indicating their dolichocephalic and heavy skulls. The longer skull yields great torque on the necks of elasmotheres. To retain a huge horn, elasmothere development followed two steps. First, the nasal horn shifted posteriorly to become the frontal horn and second, the dolichocephalic skull became the brachycephalic. Both changes occurred in the skull of Elasmotherium, so its occipital condyles were smaller compared to Sinotherium, and its second premolars were lost. Based on the skull, the nasal horn enlarged gradually and shifted toward the frontal bone in derived elasmotheres. Meanwhile, a smaller frontal horn developed and finally fused with the nasal horn to form a huge frontal horn. This discovery explains a distinct transverse suture on the middle of the frontal horn boss of Elasmotherium that was previously not understood. It is now determined to be a remnant of the nasal and frontal horn bosses fusing to each other.
In the previous phylogenetic analyses, the position of S. lagrelii was incompletely determined because there was no skull. Given the new discovery, the cranial characteristics of S. lagrelii place it within the monophyletic group including Sinotherium lagrelii, Elasmotherium sibericum, and E. caucasium. In this group, S. lagrelii is the most basal and connects elasmotheres possessing only a nasal horn with elasmotheres possessing only a frontal horn. This is consistent with the clade originating by the Late Miocene in China as well as Elasmotherium separating from Sinotherium in the Pliocene.
The distribution of Sinotherium in East Asia is similar to the Hipparion steppe fauna in the Late Miocene. The dolichocephalic skull, posteriorly inclined occipital surface, well-developed secondary folds, massive cement filling, and wrinkled enamel provided a means for the cheek teeth of Sinotherium to resist the abrasion of high-fiber diets and allowed it to graze on tough grasses. Sinotherium was a large rhinoceros much heavier (up to 7 tonnes) than the largest modern African white rhino (3.2.6 tonnes). If it lived by the river it would have been easy for it to get stuck in the wet mud. More likely, S. lagrelii lived in an open, usually dry environment in northern China where droughts frequently occurred (Figure 3). Early East Asian large elasmothere populations may have frequented steppe environments more often than their wet-adapted descendants in southern Russia. S. lagrelii is phylogenetically near the root of the frontal-horned elasmothere radiation. Therefore, reconstructing the species as inhabiting the steppes is an alternative to the proposal that the frontal-horned elasmotheres lived in wetter habitats near rivers.
###
This work was supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
See the article: Deng T, Wang S Q, Hou S K, 2013. A bizarre tandem-horned elasmothere rhino from the Late Miocene of northwestern China and origin of the true elasmothere. Chinese Science Bulletin, 58(15): 1811-1817.
http://csb.scichina.com:8080/kxtbe/EN/article/downloadArticleFile.do?attachType=PDF&id=507783
Science China Press Co., Ltd. (SCP) is a scientific journal publishing company of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). For 50 years, SCP takes its mission to present to the world the best achievements by Chinese scientists on various fields of natural sciences researches.
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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.
A tandem-horned rhino from the Late Miocene of China reveals origin of the unicorn elasmotherePublic release date: 21-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: DENG Tao dengtao@ivpp.ac.cn Science China Press
Although modern Indian and Javan rhinos have a single horn on their noses, the extinct one-horned rhino Elasmotherium was a source of the unicorn legend because it had a two meter-long horn on its forehead and lived with prehistoric humans that drew its image on cave paintings. All other elasmotheres had a weak or strong nasal horn, whereas Elasmotherium lost its ancestral nasal horn and instead developed a long frontal horn. Dr. DENG Tao (Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences) and his colleagues reported the first discovered skull of Sinotherium lagrelii (Figure 1) from Late Miocene red clays (~7 Ma) of the Linxia Basin, northwestern China (see Chinese Science Bulletin Vol. 58, No. 15, pages 1811-1817). The transition from a nasal horn to a frontal horn in elasmotheres has been difficult to explain because a major transformational gap exists between nasal-horned ancestors and frontal-horned descendants. This skull has connected a large posterior nasofrontal horn boss and a smaller frontal horn boss, indicating an intermediate stage to the single frontal horn of Elasmotherium. Morphological and phylogenetic analyses confirm that Sinotherium is a transitional taxon between Elasmotherium and other elasmotheres. It is positioned near the root of the giant unicorn clade and originated in a subarid steppe. A posteriorly shifted nasal horn provides more substantial support and the arched structure of the nasofrontal area is an adaptation for a huge horn. The S. lagrelii skull provides new information about the origin of the giant unicorn Elasmotherium.
Previously, S. lagrelii was only represented by cranial and mandibular fragments and isolated teeth from Late Miocene deposits in China (Baode County, Shanxi Province), Kazakhstan, and Mongolia, so its horn situation was unknown. S. lagrelii is the closest to the Pleistocene Elasmotherium in dental morphology, but the nature of its frontal horn was undetermined. This skull proves that S. lagrelii has a posteriorly displaced nasofrontal horn, derived from the configuration seen in early elasmotheres. It also has a smaller frontal horn so it differs from both Ningxiatherium (single nasal horn) and Elasmotherium (single frontal horn). It is a morphological intermediate in the nasal-to-frontal horn transition of elasmotheres that connects the evolution and biogeography of the derived elasmotheres (Figure 2).
The nasofrontal area of the skull is strongly elevated, rough, and forms a huge and hollow dome, in sharp contrast to the flat, smooth area in large nasal-horned elasmotheres, such as Iranotherium, Parelasmotherium, and Ningxiatherium. This reduces the weight of the nasal and frontal bones. The nasal horn boss is shifted posterior to reach the frontal bone and connect to the frontal horn boss. This particular horn combination has not appeared in any other extinct or extant rhinoceros. The dorsal surface of the horn bosses has many massive swellings to strengthen the adhesion of a huge nasal horn and a smaller frontal horn. The ventral surface has an ossified sagittal septum and many oblique lateral ribs that form a trussed structure of enhanced support similar to the leaf structure of the giant waterlily (Victoria). An enlarged nasal horn without other compensation would make support impossible, even with an ossified nasal septum, so the nasal horn has to shift towards the frontal bone.
The skull exhibits enormous occipital condyles, similar to other large nasal-horned elasmotheres and giant rhinos, indicating their dolichocephalic and heavy skulls. The longer skull yields great torque on the necks of elasmotheres. To retain a huge horn, elasmothere development followed two steps. First, the nasal horn shifted posteriorly to become the frontal horn and second, the dolichocephalic skull became the brachycephalic. Both changes occurred in the skull of Elasmotherium, so its occipital condyles were smaller compared to Sinotherium, and its second premolars were lost. Based on the skull, the nasal horn enlarged gradually and shifted toward the frontal bone in derived elasmotheres. Meanwhile, a smaller frontal horn developed and finally fused with the nasal horn to form a huge frontal horn. This discovery explains a distinct transverse suture on the middle of the frontal horn boss of Elasmotherium that was previously not understood. It is now determined to be a remnant of the nasal and frontal horn bosses fusing to each other.
In the previous phylogenetic analyses, the position of S. lagrelii was incompletely determined because there was no skull. Given the new discovery, the cranial characteristics of S. lagrelii place it within the monophyletic group including Sinotherium lagrelii, Elasmotherium sibericum, and E. caucasium. In this group, S. lagrelii is the most basal and connects elasmotheres possessing only a nasal horn with elasmotheres possessing only a frontal horn. This is consistent with the clade originating by the Late Miocene in China as well as Elasmotherium separating from Sinotherium in the Pliocene.
The distribution of Sinotherium in East Asia is similar to the Hipparion steppe fauna in the Late Miocene. The dolichocephalic skull, posteriorly inclined occipital surface, well-developed secondary folds, massive cement filling, and wrinkled enamel provided a means for the cheek teeth of Sinotherium to resist the abrasion of high-fiber diets and allowed it to graze on tough grasses. Sinotherium was a large rhinoceros much heavier (up to 7 tonnes) than the largest modern African white rhino (3.2.6 tonnes). If it lived by the river it would have been easy for it to get stuck in the wet mud. More likely, S. lagrelii lived in an open, usually dry environment in northern China where droughts frequently occurred (Figure 3). Early East Asian large elasmothere populations may have frequented steppe environments more often than their wet-adapted descendants in southern Russia. S. lagrelii is phylogenetically near the root of the frontal-horned elasmothere radiation. Therefore, reconstructing the species as inhabiting the steppes is an alternative to the proposal that the frontal-horned elasmotheres lived in wetter habitats near rivers.
###
This work was supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
See the article: Deng T, Wang S Q, Hou S K, 2013. A bizarre tandem-horned elasmothere rhino from the Late Miocene of northwestern China and origin of the true elasmothere. Chinese Science Bulletin, 58(15): 1811-1817.
http://csb.scichina.com:8080/kxtbe/EN/article/downloadArticleFile.do?attachType=PDF&id=507783
Science China Press Co., Ltd. (SCP) is a scientific journal publishing company of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). For 50 years, SCP takes its mission to present to the world the best achievements by Chinese scientists on various fields of natural sciences researches.
[ | 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.
While the video game world is primarily focusing on the upcoming iteration of the console wars?PS4!!! No!!! XBox One!!!!?some other companies that are making moves of their own, all in effort to bring PC/mobile gaming to additional outlets. One such entry, the Nvidia SHIELD, is primarily focused on attracting Android gamers. That, however, does not mean Nvidia has forgotten about PC gamers, otherwise known as the demographic that helped make the Nvidia brand enough capital to attempt something like the SHIELD.
Before that, however, the news of day concerning the upcoming handheld/home entertainment alternative to Sony/Microsoft has to do with the announced price drop. When the SHIELD was first announced, the suggested retail prices was $350. That is until the following post showed up on Nvidia?s Facebook page:
We?ve heard from thousands of gamers that if SHIELD?s price was $299, we?d have a home run. So we?re changing the price to $299. If you?ve already pre-ordered SHIELD, you?ll be charged the new, lower price. You will only be charged when the product ships.
As for device?s appeal for PC gamers, a quick look at the information page Nvidia established reveals the SHIELD certainly has something to offer for those who may want to leave the security of the computer monitor: owners can stream some of their PC games to the handheld device. While the service will still be in beta when the SHIELD is shipped, the concept certainly has potential:
Play your favorite PC games on a full-size controller with ultra-low latency thanks to SHIELD?s game-speed Wi-Fi and the fast performance of GeForce GTX GPUs.
Of course, some PC gamers may not be comfortable with leaving their mouse/keyboard setup for something resembling a traditional handheld gaming device, but the idea of seamless stream of some favorite PC games to the palm of a player?s hand is also very attractive. In order to access SHIELD?s PC streaming capabilities, potential owners must have the following under the hood of their gaming rig:
System Requirements for PC Game Streaming: > GPU: GeForce GTX 650 or higher desktop GPU (Notebook GPUs are not supported at this time) > CPU: Intel Core i3-2100 3.1GHz or AMD Athlon II X4 630 2.8GHz or higher > System Memory: 4GB or higher > Software: GeForce Experience? application and latest GeForce drivers > OS: Windows 8 or Windows 7 > Routers: 802.11a/g router (minimum). 802.11n dual band router (recommended). A list of recommended routers will be provided at launch.
While the majority of that is standard for many gamers, the fact that you have to have a higher end Nvidia graphics card may deter some potential buyers, especially if they are buying it to stream their PC games. If some consumers have to spend another $150 or so to access that particular feature, they could abandon their potential purchase. Currently, Nvidia has a list of featured games on their information page. They include:
Batman: Arkham City Borderlands 2 Dishonored Metro: Last Light Resident Evil 6 Skyrim
Considering the infancy of the SHIELD, it makes sense that there are a limited number of PC games, however, that is quite an impressive launch list. For more about the SHIELD, check Nvidia?s demonstration video:
Dunkin' Donuts will begin selling gluten-free doughnuts and muffins across the US this year. By selling gluten-free products, Dunkin' Donuts is joining the fast-growing gluten-free food industry, which drew in $19.7 billion in revenue in the last year, according to Nielsen.
By Akane Otani,?Contributor / June 20, 2013
A girl holds a Dunkin' Donuts sugar doughnut. Dunkin' Donuts plans to sell gluten-free doughnuts and muffins in stores nationwide.
Mark Lennihan/AP/File
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Right on the heels of debuting its glazed donut breakfast sandwich, Dunkin? Donuts has shaken up its menu with another new item: gluten-free pastries.
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The baked goods and coffee chain announced Wednesday that it will sell gluten-free cinnamon-sugar doughnuts and blueberry muffins in stores nationwide this year,?making it the first fast-food chain in the US to offer gluten-free pastries.?
?We recognize the importance of providing our guests with many options, including alternative choices for people with food and dietary restrictions,? Stan Frankenthaler, Dunkin? Donuts? executive chief, said to Bloomberg.
Competing chains, including Starbucks and McDonald?s, have yet to add gluten-free pastries to their menus. But Dunkin? Donuts is hardly alone: it has jumped on a trend that has taken off in recent years, as more American consumers ??both with and without gluten intolerances ??pick up gluten-free products in grocery stores aisles.
In the last year, food stores racked up $19.7 billion in revenue from products with gluten-free labels,?beating revenue made from cholesterol-free, multigrain, and high-fiber foods, according to Nielsen in the US.
While one in every 133 Americans have celiac disease, a condition that doctors say can make gluten consumption harmful, nearly one in three adults say they want to cut down or completely eliminate their gluten consumption, according to a survey from consumer research firm NPD.
Food companies have responded. Way Better Snacks sells gluten-free tortilla chips; Canyon Bakehouse sells gluten-free bread; and Larabar sells gluten-free snack bars.
The rising popularity of ?gluten diets? may in part be fuelled by celebrities promoting gluten-free lifestyles, food industry experts say.
In 2012, tweeting to more than 12 million followers, Miley Cyrus told her fans that she lost weight because of a ?gluten and lactose allergy.? She later tweeted out a picture of herself smelling ? but not eating ? a bag of Carl?s Jr. goods.
Actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who also shuns gluten, published a cookbook in the spring that includes recipes for gluten-free sweet potato muffins, quinoa granola, and candy bars.
The pervasive talk about cutting gluten is a sign that the protein composite is overtaking other perceived health threats, according to NPD.
?A generation ago, health was about avoiding fat, cholesterol, sugar, and sodium in our diet. While those desires still exist for many, they are no longer growing concerns. Today, increasingly, more of us want to avoid gluten in our diet,? NPD said in a press release.
Whatever the reason behind it, gluten-free is likely to remain a trend in the food industry for the foreseeable future, NPD says.
Dunkin? Donuts? gluten-free doughnuts are slated to cost $1.89, while its gluten-free muffins will cost $2.39. The pastries are currently being sold in Dunkin? Donuts stores in Hartford, Conn. The company didn't say when this year they would expand to menus nationwide.?
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Public release date: 21-Jun-2013
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