Previously:

• French Parliament Say Non to Sarkozy-style "Three Strikes ...
• Three strikes you're out - Boing Boing
• New Zealand's copyright minister starts screaming when asked ...
• Three false copyright accusations and we'll cut off your Internet ...
• MPAA to Obama: censor the Internet, kick people off the Internet ...
• Virgin Media UK working with record industry to spy on and ...

Source: Gizmodo | 29 Jan 2009 | 10:27 am

CrunchBoard Jobs: Director of Marketing, VP Mobile Ad Sales, CTO

While this week saw fewer new jobs on CrunchBoard, companies are still adding jobs in New York, Silicon Valley, Boston, Philadelphia, and telecommute.

(Here at TechCrunch, we’re looking for a Rails Developer.)

New jobs on CrunchBoard:

• Software Engineer
  Yelp - San Francisco, CA

• Vice President Online & Mobile Ad Sales
  MocoSpace - Boston, MA

• Director of Product Management
  Stealth Project - San Francisco, CA

• Director of Marketing
  Xpree - Redwood City, CA

• CTO/Lead Developer
  NowHound - New York City or Telecommute

International readers can check out our British and French job boards as well.

Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.

Source: TechCrunch | 29 Jan 2009 | 10:18 am

Nintendo's 9-month profit falls on strong yen

Source: Gizmodo | 29 Jan 2009 | 9:57 am

Darwin's twin track: 'Evolution and emancipation' - BBC News

Sail World

Darwin's twin track: 'Evolution and emancipation' BBC News - 4 hours ago What drove Charles Darwin to his extraordinary ideas on evolution and human origins? Adrian Desmond, with co-author James Moore, argue in a new book that the great scientist had a "sacred cause": the abolition of slavery. Charles Darwin and his work discussed Feb. 8 Yucaipa/Calimesa News Mirror Freedom From Religion Foundation billboards honor Darwin Capital Times MIT News - University of Wisconsin-Madison University Communications - Greenville Daily Reflector - Pueblo Chieftain all 43 news articles

Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 29 Jan 2009 | 9:46 am

Bacon Blogrolling [BoomTown]

Who can resist an all-pork post yesterday in the New York Times, about a recipe that has taken the Internet by, well, greasy storm?

The piece, by Damon Darlin, chronicles what started out as an Internet marketing scheme for a site called BBQAddicts.com, but which has turned into one of the more popular dishes online of late.

The dish?: “Bacon Explosion.”

Writes Darlin: “The instructions for constructing this massive torpedo-shaped amalgamation of two pounds of bacon woven through and around two pounds of sausage and slathered in barbecue sauce first appeared last month on the Web site of a team of Kansas City competition barbecuers. They say a diverse collection of well over 16,000 Web sites have linked to the recipe, celebrating, or sometimes scolding, its excessiveness.”

In true Web 2.0 fashion, Bacon Explosion’s creators used Twitter, StumbleUpon, Digg, Del.icio.us (of course!) and social networking sites to get the word out.

And the rest, as they say, is pig-story.

[Photos of Bacon Explosion, courtesy of BBQAddicts.com]

Source: All Things Digital | 29 Jan 2009 | 9:42 am

Ceragon Awarded a $3.5m Follow on Order in Indochina

TEL AVIV, Israel, January 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- - Ceragon Receives Additional Orders for Wireless Backhaul Equipment From one of the Leading National Mobile Operators in the Region

Source: Gizmodo | 29 Jan 2009 | 8:58 am

Sirius XM announces March price increase

Section: Audio, Satellite / HD Radio

You gotta love loopholes.  When Sirius and XM decided to merge, Congress and the FCC had many concerns.  As a way of calming those entities, the two companies agreed not to raise the rates on subscription and programming packages.  So if you own a single radio and don’t listen on the Internet, then this article doesn’t apply to you.  If you have more than one radio on a plan and/or listen to your stations on the Internet, then March 11 is going to be a bad day for you.

Sirius XM is going to raise rates on additional radios by $2 to $8.99.  That charge is per radio.  They are also going to introduce a $3 charge to listen on the Internet.  There is a promise that the Internet offerings will be near CD quality, but I’m not sure that offsets the new cost.  There are rumors that package prices will be raised, but I cannot see the Obama FCC allowing that to happen in the current economic climate.  Both the Sirius and XM websites are offering users the ability to lock their original prices in, by buying a long term plan instead of a month to month subscription.  Looks like Sirius needs some cash today.

From [Electronic House]

Full Story » | Written by Chris Shore for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 29 Jan 2009 | 8:38 am

45% Of Dutch Media-Buying Population Are "Pirates"

Anonymous writes "A non-government study in the Netherlands found that 4.7 million Dutch Internet users 15 years and older downloaded hacked and pirated DVDs, games, and music in the last 12 months — or, about 25 percent of the Dutch population. But there may be an upside to this unauthorized sharing/distribution: 'The average [Dutch] downloader buys more DVDs, music, and games than people who never download,' with illegal downloaders representing 45 percent of consumers who purchase content legally, according to the Institute For Information Law, which administered the study."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 29 Jan 2009 | 8:32 am

Nintendo Revises Down Outlook as Profits Slip, Yen Bites (PC World)

PC World - Nintendo saw improved sales of its Wii and DS gaming devices during the last three months of 2008, but revised down its sales and profits forecasts due to the stronger Japanese yen.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 29 Jan 2009 | 8:20 am

News You Can Endow [Voices]

By David Swensen and Michael Schmidt, Contributing Writers, New York Times

“The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right,” Thomas Jefferson wrote in January 1787. “And were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate to prefer the latter.” Today, we are dangerously close to having a government without newspapers.

Read the rest of this post

Source: All Things Digital | 29 Jan 2009 | 8:01 am

How Netflix Got Started [Voices]

By Reed Hastings, CEO, Netflix

The genesis of Netflix came in 1997 when I got this late fee, about $40, for Apollo 13. I remember the fee because I was embarrassed about it. That was back in the VHS days, and it got me thinking that there’s a big market out there. So I started to investigate the idea of how to create a movie-rental business by mail. I didn’t know about DVDs, and then a friend of mine told me they were coming. I ran out to Tower Records in Santa Cruz, Calif., and mailed CDs to myself, just a disc in an envelope. It was a long 24 hours until the mail arrived back at my house, and I ripped them open and they were all in great shape. That was the big excitement point.

Read the rest of this post

Source: All Things Digital | 29 Jan 2009 | 8:00 am

If You Can’t Say Anything Nice, Then Kill Yourself Now [Voices]

By Paul Carr, Columnist, The Guardian

Yesterday, as Techcrunch’s Michael Arrington was leaving the DLD conference venue in Munich, one of the conference attendees walked up to him and spat in his face. I’ll say that again. One of the attendees. Walked up to him. And spat. In. His. Face. And then without a word, the attacker turned on his patent leather heel and vanished back into the crowd.

Read the rest of this post

Source: All Things Digital | 29 Jan 2009 | 8:00 am

See Lightning, Hear Thunder, Know the Storm [Digital Daily]

Though it launched marred by software glitches and to a chorus of middling to scathing reviews, Research in Motion (RIMM) high-profile smartphone, BlackBerry Storm, has actually sold fairly well.

Certainly, it hasn’t stumbled as badly as some reports have suggested. Verizon (VZ) said this week that it’s sold one million Storm handsets, since it first began peddling them in the states on Nov. 21.

Now that’s a far cry from the One-million-sold-in-a-weekend -2.4 million-in- a-quarter sales of Apple’s iPhone 3G, but it’s a decent figure nonetheless. And it suggests that perhaps that the consumer market isn’t quite as appalled by the device as it’s been portrayed to be.

Said Goldman Sachs analyst Simona Jankowski, “Our retail checks suggest that the Storm is Verizon’s best-selling smartphone, and the rate of returns is relatively low, contrary to recent market concerns and Internet blogs.”

Source: All Things Digital | 29 Jan 2009 | 8:00 am

Daily Crunch: Traffichaos Edition

Useless and Japan-only but cute: Mini USB construction site
Dangerous toy robot hurts 14 kids
Review: Korg Kaossilator
Tip: Buying new HDTVs for inmates right before the Super Bowl makes people mad
Vintage Paillard Bolex H8 camera gun on eBay

Source: CrunchGear | 29 Jan 2009 | 8:00 am

The Link Changes Everything [Voices]

By Jeff Jarvis, Blogger, BuzzMachine

For more than a century, the public face of companies has been their advertising, slogans, brands, and logos. How much better it would be if a company’s public face were that of its public, its satisfied customers who are willing to share their satisfaction, and its employees who have direct relationships with customers. Brands are people. If that’s the ideal, then here’s the goal: Eliminate advertising. Or at least fire your ad agency. Oh, you won’t get rid of advertising entirely. You should be so lucky. But every time a customer recommends you and your product to a friend is a time when you don’t have to market to that friend.

Read the rest of this post

Source: All Things Digital | 29 Jan 2009 | 8:00 am

Apple vs. Palm: The In-Depth Analysis [Voices]

By Nilay Patel, Associate Editor, Engadget

Apple and Palm kicked a lot of dirt at each other last week — acting Apple CEO Tim Cook flatly told analysts that “We will not stand for people ripping off our IP” when asked specifically about competition like the Palm Pre, and Palm responded with a similarly-explicit “We have the tools necessary to defend ourselves.” At issue, of course, is that the Pre employs a multitouch screen and gestures almost exactly like those made famous on the iPhone — and if you’ll recall, Steve Jobs introduced multitouch on the iPhone with a slide reading “Patented!” To top it all off, the past few days have seen a number of media outlets proclaim that Apple’s been awarded a “multitouch patent” without so much as a shred of analysis, instead hyping up a supposed future conflict. That’s just not how we play it, so we enlisted Mathew Gavronski, a patent attorney in the Chicago office of Michael Best & Friedrich, to help us clear up some of the confusion and misinformation that’s out there — read on for more.

Read the rest of this post

Source: All Things Digital | 29 Jan 2009 | 8:00 am

House introduces camera phone “click” bill

Section: Communications, Cellphones

The media must be making the economy and wars look worse than they are since Congress seems more interested in tweaking technology than solving those problems.  First the Senate votes to delay the DTV switch, and now the House is considering a bill that will require all camera phones to produce an audible click whenever a picture is taken.  That is the ultimate goal of HR 414, better known as the Camera Phone Predator Alert Act.

The bill states, “Congress finds that children and adolescents have been exploited by photographs taken in dressing rooms and public places with the use of a camera phone.”  That is true.  And as the father of girls, I appreciate what Rep. Peter King, the sponsor of the bill, is trying to do here. 

But there are certainly more important issues to deal with and this law does not solve the problem.  Any “click” is going to be difficult to hear in a public place unless it is unnaturally loud.  Dressing rooms are quieter, but anyone can place cotton and tape over a speaker to muffle the noise.  I appreciate the effort, but Congress should be trying to keep cell phone manufacturers and other businesses afloat by solving our current economic crisis instead of mandating changes that could increase costs.

Read [Network World]

Full Story » | Written by Chris Shore for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 29 Jan 2009 | 7:24 am

STMicro reports quarterly loss, lays off 4,500 (CNET)

CNET - Europe's largest chipmaker, STMicroelectronics, has reported a $366 million net loss for the fourth quarter of 2008, and has said it will lay off as many as 4,500 jobs in a cost-cutting drive.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 29 Jan 2009 | 7:17 am

OnPar golf GPS resembles iPhone

Section: Gadgets / Other, GPS/Navigation

If you like golfing a lot, you might want to consider checking out this slick looking golf GPS, aptly named OnPar.  Basically, it calculates the distance you are from the hole and figures out the distance you need to reach to get the golf ball into the hole. 

In addition to distances, it gives detailed information on your personal club averages, keeps score and shots.  It can store up to 300 different courses, and it doesn’t come with any membership fees.  It comes with a nice sized screen, measuring in at 3.5-inches, and is only 0.63 inches in thickness, meaning it should fit nicely inside your pocket.  From the picture above, you can tell that it looks pretty similar to the iPhone.  Maybe you’ll even be able to trick your friends into thinking you own an iPhone. 

It is set to be available in February, but no word on pricing at this time. 

Read [OnPar] Via [NaviGadget]

Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 29 Jan 2009 | 6:24 am

Chip maker Qualcomm's 1Q profit plunges 56 percent (AP)

AP - Chip maker Qualcomm Inc. slashed its forecasts for revenue and operating income Wednesday as it reported its fiscal first-quarter income plunged 56 percent.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 29 Jan 2009 | 5:31 am

Universal Disk Encryption Spec Finalized

Lucas123 writes "Six of the largest disk manufacturers, along with encryption management software vendors, are backing three specifications finalized [Tuesday] that will eventually standardize the way encryption is used in firmware within hard disk drives and solid state disk drive controllers ensuring interoperability. Disk vendors are free to choose to use AES 128-bit or AES 256-bit keys depending on the level of security they want. 'This represents interoperability commitments from every disk drive maker on the planet,' said Robert Thibadeau, chief technologist at Seagate Technology."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 29 Jan 2009 | 5:27 am

Sony gets slapped with violation of child privacy suit

Section: Tech News

The United States government has launched a suit against Sony Music Entertainment that ascertains that the company violated the privacy rights of children.  The government accuses the corporation of accepting registrations on their music websites from users who were under the age of 13.

The suit was filed within the U.S. District Court in Manhattan and states the company permitted registrants under the age of 13 to register without receiving parental consent.  An undisclosed amount is being sought and the plaintiffs are accused of being in penalty of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule, a law that is regulated by the Federal Trade Commission.

An anonymous source from Sony states that a $1 million settlement is in the process of being reached as well as an agreement from the company that they will put in place a screening process that complies with the FTC rules as well as hire an online representative to monitor any issues that may arise

Read [Canada.com

Full Story » | Written by Heather Wood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 29 Jan 2009 | 5:22 am

Glam Snaps Up AdaptiveAds

Glam Media has acquired AdaptiveAds, a startup based in Mumbai, India that serves display ads targetable by the demographic characteristics brand advertisers understand (such as “Women 24-40, Fashionista, Beauty”). It calls its contextual display ads BrandWords. They will now be called Glam AdaptAds.

In addition to the ad targeting, AdaptiveAds brings a self-serve ad server for ad agencies, as well as “brand engagement” tracking and reporting tools.

The purchase price was not disclosed, but AdaptiveAd was shopping around a series B round with a valuation in the $25 million to $40 million range when Glam entered the picture and snapped them up. The three-year old company raised $2 million in late 2007, and then another $1.5 million in a series A, for a total of $3.5 million. Draper Fisher Jurvetson is an investor in both AdaptiveAds and Glam Media.

Glam Media sites and its affiliate network collectively saw the second-fastest audience growth last year among comScore’s top 100 Web properties. It was also the ninth largest publisher of display ads, serving up an estimated 2.1 billion ad impressions per month.

With the acquisition, Glam will be keeping 20 employees, bringing its total up to 200. This comes after layoffs and other recent cutbacks. Also, in an effort to conserve cash, Glam has slowed down payments to its partner publishing sites.

Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors

Source: TechCrunch | 29 Jan 2009 | 5:19 am

Obama Gets a Google Vet–But Not for CTO [MediaMemo]

Barack Obama has yet to announce who his chief technology officer will be. But he has hired a Silicon Valley exec for another role: Google (GOOG) product manager Katie Jacobs Stanton will be the new President’s “director of citizen participation” starting in March, sources tell me.

What the job entails isn’t completely clear to me, but I gather that she plans on using Web tools to let, well, citizens participate in the Obama White House.

The model: Google’s “Moderator” tool, which let people submit questions for the Presidential debates, and later was used to let them suggest initiatives for the new administration via its Change.gov site.

No surprise, then, that Google Moderator was one of Jacobs Stanton’s projects when she worked at Google’s elections group.

Per her LinkedIn bio, she’s also worked on Google Finance and Google’s Open Social initiative. And prior to joining Google in 2003 (which means she came on pre-IPO and is fully vested, if you’re doing the math), she was at Yahoo (YHOO) as a production manager and worked in Yahoo Finance.

Source: All Things Digital | 29 Jan 2009 | 5:12 am

Found Photoshop Contest: Imagine the Future of Magic Shows

For the past six years, Wired magazine's Found page has presented our best guess at what lies over the horizon, from touchscreen windshields to organ farming. Now we've decided to share the process of creating Found pages with our readers — what do you think our world will look like in 10, 20, or 100 years?

Each month, we'll propose a scenario, and present some of our initial ideas and concepts. Then it's up you: Sketch out your vision, then go to wired.com/wired/found to upload your ideas, see other submissions, and vote for your favorites. We'll use the best suggestions as inspiration for a future Found page (giving full credit to the creators, of course). We’ll also select one (image-based) submission as our favorite, and note it in an update at the bottom of this text block. This week's assignment: Imagine the future of magic.

Use the Reddit widget below to submit your best Found idea and vote for your favorite among the other submissions. The image must be your own, and by submitting it you are giving us permission to use it on Wired.com and in Wired magazine. Please submit images that are relatively large, the ideal size being 800 to 1,200 pixels or larger on the longest side. Please include a description of your idea and how you made it.

We don't host the images, so you'll have to upload it somewhere else and submit a link to it. If you're using Flickr, Picasa or another photo-sharing site to host your image, please provide a link to the image directly and not just to the photo page where it's displayed. If your photo doesn't show up, it's because the URL you have entered is incorrect. Check it and make sure it ends with the image file name (XXXXXX.jpg).

Please bookmark this page and check back periodically over the next few weeks to vote on new submissions, and look for an update announcing our favorite submission!

Vote on Found ideas submitted by other readers.

Show entries that are: hot | new | top-rated. Submit your found idea.

Submit your Found image.

(No more than one every 30 minutes. No HTML allowed.)

Back to top

For information regarding use of information about you that you may supply or communicate to the Website, please see our Privacy Policy. Except as expressly provided otherwise in the Privacy Policy or in this Agreement, you agree that by posting messages, uploading text, graphics, photographs, images, video or audio files, inputting data, or engaging in any other form of communication with or through the Website, you grant us a royalty-free, perpetual, non-exclusive, unrestricted, worldwide license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, translate, enhance, transmit, distribute, publicly perform, display, or sublicense any such communication (including your identity and information about you) in any medium (now in existence or hereinafter developed) and for any purpose, including commercial purposes, and to authorize others to do so. In addition, please be aware that information you disclose in publicly accessible portions of the Website will be available to all users of the Website, so you should be mindful of personal information and other content you may wish to post.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 29 Jan 2009 | 5:00 am

Jan. 29, 1895: Steinmetz Makes AC Practical

1895: Charles Proteus Steinmetz receives a patent for a "system of distribution by alternating currents." His engineering work makes it practical to build a widespread power grid for use in lighting and machinery alike.

Steinmetz was born Carl August Rudolph Steinmetz in Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland) on April 9, 1865 (the day Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox to end the U.S. Civil War). While a university student, he wrote for a socialist newspaper and had to flee Germany in 1888 during an anti-radical crackdown. After a stop in Switzerland, he arrived in the United States in 1889.

Rudolph Eickenmeyer hired the young engineer to work on a project to run streetcars on alternating current. Steinmetz wanted to minimize the power loss, or hysteresis, caused by the reversing magnetic fields of AC circuits.

A brilliant mathematician, he managed to figure out the law governing hysteresis and published it in 1891 in The Electrical Engineer. Steinmetz garnered instant fame among his peers, and the constant in his equation remains in use today.

He also developed mathematical models for predicting the performance of complex circuits, so electrical engineers didn't have to build every system first to check out how it would perform. He explained his new methods to the International Electrical Congress in 1893.

After the new General Electric Co. bought Eickenmeyer's company that year, Steinmetz was transferred to its headquarters in Schenectady, New York. Thomas Edison was still sticking rigidly to direct-current electricity, but GE competitor George Westinghouse had bought Nikola Tesla's patents for alternating current. GE placed its bet on AC and Steinmetz.

Building on his own work and Tesla's, Steinmetz completed his patent application March 31, 1894, and submitted it two days later:

Patent 533,244 (.pdf) was approved Jan. 29, 1895. Steinmetz was ready to electrify the nation — and the world.

Steinmetz was an avid cigar smoker who hosted a regular poker game for his GE colleagues. He called it "The Society for the Adjustment of Salaries."

Steinmetz retired from GE for a faculty position at Union College in Schenectady, but GE still called him back now and then as a consultant to solve difficult problems. Once, while troubleshooting a malfunctioning apparatus, Steinmetz painstakingly traced the problem to the element that wasn't working, and then marked it with chalk. When he submitted a bill for $10,000 (more than $100,000 in today's money), GE asked him to itemize the charges.

He sent them this invoice:

Steinmetz held more than 200 patents when he died in 1923.

Source: Various

Source: Wired Top Stories | 29 Jan 2009 | 5:00 am

Artifacts From the Future: Cubicle From the Future

:

A typical cubicle in 2013.

We'll continue to create a new Artifacts from the Future in upcoming issues of Wired magazine. But we'd like to see your prognostications too. What do you think our world will look like in 10, 20 or 100 years? Each month, we'll propose a scenario. Then it's up you: Sketch out your vision, then return here to upload your ideas, see other submissions and vote for your favorites. Check out this month's challenge.

The concept and most of the text for this Found came from contributor Steven Leckart. Contributing Wired magazine designer Walter Baumann, photo assistants Sarah Filippi and Daniel Salo, deputy photo editor Anna Goldman Alexander, senior editor Chris Baker, and production director Jeff Lysgaard helped create the image.

Photo: Daniel Salo; 3-D Imaging: Kevin Hand

: YOU HAVE: 4 Holocall meetings, 10 TPS reports awaiting updates, 3,273 unread emails and 137 unviewed video mails — oh, and your plants needs watering ASAP!: Desktop folders: Not Porn, TPS Reports 2017, TPS Reports 2016, TPS Reports 2015 : ROOMBA22117: The living room floors are getting dirty. Would you like to run a sweep? RiotGrrrl1993: Dad is having trouble reprogramming the Roku. Can u come over tonight?: Crowded inbox: Endless TPS reports, spam, another botulism alert (!), and vacation denied.: World's Greatest A.I. Programmer coffee mug and U-Flavr Coke. : Bath time with the clones.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 29 Jan 2009 | 5:00 am

Scientists Rank Global Cooling Hacks

Many schemes have been suggested for counteracting global warming, from genetically engineering shinier plants to adding iron to the ocean. Now scientists have attempted to rank them based on how big an effect they could potentially have on global temperature.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 29 Jan 2009 | 5:00 am

Video: Installing the World's First Deep-Sea Webcam

Last week, the world's first deep-sea webcam was installed on the floor of California's Monterey Bay, giving scientists an unimpeded look at deep-sea life. Wired went along for the ride.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 29 Jan 2009 | 5:00 am

New Google Tools Sniff ISP Blocking of BitTorrent

The internet giant teams up with academic researchers working on tools for end users to test their broadband connections for traffic-shaping. Google launched three such tools Wednesday, including one that specifically sniffs for BitTorrent throttling.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 29 Jan 2009 | 5:00 am

Panasonic’s new, sleek Lumix

Section: Imaging, Digital Cameras

One of the main goals of camera manufacturers is to design cameras that not only work well, but also have a sleek appearance.  Panasonic hopes it has achieved this with the LUMIX DMC-FS25, the newest member of the company’s LUMIX FS-Series of digital cameras.

With the new LUMIX DMC-FS25, you’ll be able to take 12.1 megapixel photos while not having to lug around a bulky unattractive camera.  LUMIX DMC-FS25 is more than just a pretty face: it has features like a 5x optical zoom, a 29mm wide-angle lens, and a 3.0-inch LCD screen.  It also has a tracking feature that allows the picture taker to track its subject during movement in order to keep it in focus.  Additionally, the camera has the ability to monitor the lighting in an area and make adjustments as necessary.  You will also get rid of that annoying shutter lag time with the new LUMIX digital camera, Panasonic reports the time to be as little as .006 seconds.

The LUMIX DMC-FS25 has a tentative release date of April 2009 and will come in black, silver or gold styles.  It will retail for a base price of $249.95.

Site [Panasonic]

 

Full Story » | Written by Heather Wood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 29 Jan 2009 | 4:16 am

Google Gobbled Up 90 Percent Of All U.S. Search Growth In 2008

Google ended the year with 63.5 percent market share of all search queries performed in the U.S., estimates comScore. And that market share has inched up steadily from 58.5 percent in January, 2008. But the market share numbers mask the absolute growth in searches and how Google has ben able to Gobble up all of that growth.

The chart above tells a clearer story. It comes out of the comScore 2008 Digital Year In Review, and shows the share of raw number of search queries in the U.S captured by the five major search engines. All the lines are pretty flat, except Google’s (the purple one). Of the 137 billion estimated total searches performed in the U.S. last year, 85 billion were done on Google.

What’s even more impressive is that nearly 90 percent of all the growth in search volume was also captured by Google. Most of that growth came from increasing the number of searches per person, rather than bringing more people to Google.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

Source: TechCrunch | 29 Jan 2009 | 4:15 am

ComScore Report: Fastest-Growing Sites And Top-Ten Advertising Magnets

Of the top 100 sites on the Web, which ones grew the fastest in 2008? In a report it is preparing to release tomorrow, The comScore 2008 Digital Year In Review (which you can sign up for here), comScore ranks the 20 fastest-growing Web properties. These are out of the largest 100 sites overall. They are shown in the chart above, as measured by growth in unique visitors. (Interestingly, in a separate list of the ten largest sites, only eBay showed a decline from 2007).

Most of the big gains among the fastest growers came because acquisitions (CBS acquiring Cnet, Everyday Health acquiring Revolution Health and Drugstore.com, JPMorgan Chase acquiring Washington Mutual) or traffic and business partnerships (Break Media and Glam Media).

If you strip out all of those, which denoted by asterisks, you get the sites that grew organically, including Infospace, Wordpress, Weatherbug, Answers.com Sites, Facebook, Hearst Digital Media, and Mozilla.

During 2008, comScore estimates that 4.5 trillion display ads were served in the U.S. alone. That comes out to more than 2,000 Internet ads per month per person. And, believe it or not, the number of ads served up actually declined a little during the year as publishers tried to push up CPMs (the amount they can charge per thousand ad impressions) by reducing inventory.

Above are the top ten publishers of display advertising as of November, 2008, along with how many billions of ad impressions each one served up in that month. Only two of the fastest-growing sites also made the list of top ten publishers of display advertising: Facebook (No. 4) and Glam Media (No. 9).

Now if we could only get the average CPM per site, then we could create a more interesting ranking of the sites that make the most money from their ads.

Here are the full lists of fastest growing sites by rank and annual growth rate (same as the charts above) and top ten display ad publishers:

Fastest-Growing Sites
1. Break Media* (+279%)
2. Glam Media* (+144%)
3. Infospace Network (+134%)
4. NetShelter Technology* (+131%)
5. Everyday Health* (+121%)
6. CBS Corporation* (+111%)
7. WildTangent Network* (+74%)
8. Discovery Digital Media (+68%)
9. WordPress (+64%)
10. Demand Media* (+59%)
11. Weatherbug Property (+59%)
12. Answers.com Sites (+58%)
13. Facebook (+57%)
14. Yellow Book Network* (+51%)
15. Ask Network* (+48%)
16. AT&T Interactive Network* (+47%)
17. JPMorgan Chase Property* (+45%)
18. Hearst Digital Media (+42%)
19. The Mozilla Organization (+40%)
20. Sprint Nextel (+36%)

Top-Ten Display Ad Publishers
1. Yahoo Sites (37.1 billion)
2. Fox Interactive Media (34.9 billion)
3. AOL (18.2 billion)
4. Facebook (13.7 billion)
5. Microsoft Sites (13.4 billion)
6. Google Sites (4.1 billion)
7. eBay (2.7 billion)
8. Viacom Digital (2.2 billion)
9. Glam Media (2.1 billion)
10. United Online (1.8 billion)

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

Source: TechCrunch | 29 Jan 2009 | 4:14 am

VirtuOz Raises $11.4M For Eerily-Smart Customer Service Chat Bots

VirtuOz, a company that develops virtual support agents, has closed a $11.4 million Series B funding round led by Mohr Davidow Ventures, with Galileo Partners and Eric Hahn with Inventures Group also participating. The company’s “Virtual Agents” are basically intelligent chat bots that can walk users though sales, help, and support questions automatically. Virtual Agents generally appear as chat avatars (you can see one below), and are apparently so realistic that the company says that 69% of customers end their conversation with a “Goodbye”.

Avatars are continuously tweaked for each company, offering regular status reports that let administrators know how effective they are. Agents run through a complex series of algorithms meant to help with their designated objective, and can ask customers for further information to build up a gradually growing knowledge of each customer’s problem as it tries to reach a solution (it’s not just a series of if/then statements). Agents are also capable of simultaneously handling thousands of customer support issues at the same time. The company’s software has already been deployed by a number of major sites, including PayPal, Chegg, and eBay (which claims that 88% of support questions were resolved instantly by their VirtuOz agents).

I’m not a big fan of automated help systems, as I generally can find whatever they have to say elsewhere on the web. But VirtuOz seems to have positioned itself well - there’s clearly a huge market for them, and the floundering economy will likely see even more companies swap human tech support in favor of cheaper automated systems.

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

Source: TechCrunch | 29 Jan 2009 | 4:00 am

BB Video: Glen E. Friedman, Skate + Hardcore Punk Photo-History

Flash video embed above, click "full" icon inside the player to view it large. You can download the MP4 here. Our YouTube channel is here, you can subscribe to our daily video podcast on iTunes here. And here are the archives for Boing Boing Video. An "un-bleeped" version of this video, profanity preserved, is here.

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Last week, we aired two Boing Boing Video episodes shot during a visit to Shepard Fairey's gallery in LA as the work of legendary punk / hiphop / skate culture photographer Glen E. Friedman was going up on the gallery walls, for his first ever career retrospective "Idealist Propaganda."

The first episode focused on Fairey's famous Obama poster, the second episode on a collaboration between Shepard and Glen involving the hardcore group Bad Brains.

TODAY: we bring you part 3 of this conversation. This episode's all about Glen's early work documenting skateboarder culture, and the beginnings of American hardcore. Below, an image from the very first roll of color 35mm film Friedman ever shot, which he discusses in this video. Also in today's episode: Glen shares the story behind the Circle Jerks "Golden Shower of Hits" album cover, which he also shot. His work was so much a part of these subcultures, which were in turn so much a part of my own formative years -- so this episode means a lot to me. I hope you dig it.

We have one more planned in this series, focusing more on his Hip-Hop work, so stay tuned.

A very special thanks to the great Ian MacKaye, and to Fugazi, and the Dischord records family for generously allowing us to Fugazi's music in this series. Mr. MacKaye was the subject of some of Glen's early photos of the D.C. hardcore scene, and in this episode we dive into some of those images of MacKaye's seminal hardcore band Minor Threat. I was there, too, and Minor Threat changed my life. Glen captured the spirit of this time like no one else.

Glen's books are available here. Below, here is a short film based on his latest artistic treatise and book "Recognize. The video includes every image in the book, which is available in limited edition through his website.

Special thanks to Boing Boing pal Sean Bonner, who coordinated this series of conversations.

Previously on Boing Boing:

* BB VIDEO: Glen E. Friedman in conversation and collaboration with Shepard Fairey
* Glen E. Friedman's photo show at Shepard Fairey's gallery
* BB VIDEO: Shepard Fairey and the Obama Poster, on Inauguration Day

Source: Boing Boing | 29 Jan 2009 | 3:55 am

House kills delay of digital TV switch

Section: Tech News, Video

In an unexpected move today, The House of Representatives voted 258-168 to not delay the switchover to digital TV from February 17 to June.  The surprise is increased by the Senate’s unanimous vote yesterday to delay the switch, and by the reluctant acceptance by many telecom companies after the Senate vote was announced.

Rep Joe Barton, author of the original transition bill in 2005, led the charge to stop the delay.  Barton sent a letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi stating that the proposed delay had no merit and actually harmed the country as the spectrum will be used in part by emergency services.  Barton said in his letter, “Osama bin Laden isn’t fictional, and he isn’t waiting.”  He is correct.  Hopefully now that this crisis has been averted, our leaders can get back to more pressing issues.

From [ARS]

Full Story » | Written by Chris Shore for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 29 Jan 2009 | 3:33 am

DDIT Signs Distributor Agreement With ICOP in GCC Countries

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Jan.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 29 Jan 2009 | 3:30 am

Audio: "US heads of industry strategize to keep unions down under Obama"

(Image: "Over the Crisis," from laverrue's Flickr stream )

The folks at Wikileaks have just published the audio of what is described as a "secret hour-long telephone recording between US heads of industry discussing efforts to prevent the emancipation of unions under an Obama administration." Snip from Wikileaks alert about the audio file:

Yesterday the Huffington Post ran a story by Sam Stein titled "Bailout Recipients Hosted Call To Defeat Key Labor Bill". The story included around five minutes of an hour long recording between federal bailout funds recipiets. Wikileaks has released the full hour long recording. The call shows the firms to be involved in lobbying, effectively with public money.

And here's a snip from the aforementioned HuffPo piece by Sam Stein:

Three days after receiving $25 billion in federal bailout funds, Bank of America Corp. hosted a conference call with conservative activists and business officials to organize opposition to the U.S. labor community's top legislative priority.

Participants on the October 17 call -- including at least one representative from another bailout recipient, AIG -- were urged to persuade their clients to send "large contributions" to groups working against the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), as well as to vulnerable Senate Republicans, who could help block passage of the bill.

Bernie Marcus, the charismatic co-founder of Home Depot, led the call along with Rick Berman, an aggressive EFCA opponent and founder of the Center for Union Facts. Over the course of an hour, the two framed the legislation as an existential threat to American capitalism, or worse.

Here's the Wikileaks post with audio: Anti-union call between Bank of America, Bernie Marcus, et al. and Rick Berman, 17 Oct 2008
Bailout Recipients Hosted Call To Defeat Key Labor Bill (Huffington Post)

(Thanks, Jacob Appelbaum!)

Source: Boing Boing | 29 Jan 2009 | 3:03 am

Affiliate of Genii Capital to Be 'Stalking Horse' Bidder for Polaroid

Purchase Would Strengthen Polaroid's Ties to Zink Imaging Inc. through Genii Capital MINNETONKA, Minn., Jan.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 29 Jan 2009 | 2:41 am

Book about Roky Erickson

Earlier this week I mentioned that I had watched You're Gonna Miss Me, an excellent documentary about musician Roky Erickson. I forgot to mention that my friends at Process Media recently published a book about Erickson, called Eye Mind: The Saga of Roky Erickson and The 13th Floor Elevators, The Pioneers of Psychedelic Sound.

The trailblazing 13th Floor Elevators released the first “psychedelic” rock album in America, transforming culture throughout the 1960s and beyond. The Elevators followed their own spiritual cosmic agenda — to change society by finding a new path to enlightenment. Their battles with repressive authorities are legendary.

Lead singer Roky Erickson was put away in a maximum security unit for the criminally insane for years. Tommy Hall, their Svengali lyricist, lived in a cave. Guitarist Stacy Sutherland was imprisoned. The drummer was involuntarily subjected to electric shock treatments.

This fascinating biography breaks decades of silence of band members and features dozens of never-before-printed photos. “One of the most exhilarating rock ‘n’ roll stories ever told.” — Julian Cope

Eye Mind: The Saga of Roky Erickson and The 13th Floor Elevators, The Pioneers of Psychedelic Sound

Source: Boing Boing | 29 Jan 2009 | 2:31 am

Photog Rob Galbraith Rates MacBook Pro Display "Not Acceptable"

An anonymous reader writes "Professional digital photographer and website publisher Rob Galbraith has performed both objective and subjective tests on laptop displays, finding that the late-2008 Macbook Pro glossy displays are 'deep into the not acceptable category' when used in ambient light environments. The Apple notebook came in dead last for color accuracy, and second to last in viewing angles (besting only the Dell Mini 9). He concludes: 'Macs are no longer at the top of the laptop display heap in our minds.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 29 Jan 2009 | 2:29 am

Archive of home recordings accidentally released to Napster

Joshuah Bearman alerted me to David Dixon's amazing audio archive website, which has links to audio files that people recorded at home and unwittingly sent to Napster.

This was right around the time that Napster was just beginning to penetrate into the average computer user's lives. At the same time, an audio utility program called MusicMatch Jukebox was also being widely used, since it was often pre-installed on off-the-shelf PC's. MMJ allowed you, among other things, to make recordings using the cheap microphone included with the PC, and save the file in mp3 format. If you didn't give the audio file a name, it assigned a default name "mic in track" followed by a number. Now if you were also running Napster, and you were careless enough to be sharing everything on your computer (which *many* were), then anyone also running Napster could just do a search for "mic in track" and find and download these personal recordings, usually without your knowledge.

I am that guy. I've amassed many, many hours of these recordings, which provide endless voyeuristic entertainment. Typical recordings were of people singing, rapping, or playing along with the radio (often badly), kids practicing their school book reports, audio love letters, kids being silly, and so forth. One of my finds was a 14-minute-long recording of a guy praying very fervently and emotionally, even lapsing into glossolalia. I've posted many of my favorites on my webpage, for free.

Audio Voyeurism

Source: Boing Boing | 29 Jan 2009 | 2:21 am

Is this the first Acer Smartphone?  I wish!

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Smartphones, Mobile

No, this is not what Acer has up its sleeve for introduction in Barcelona on February 16th.  But I bet it is close.  The reasons why are rather simple.

Glofiish

Acer dropped some major cash to pick up this brand and their tech.  Then they set 500 staffers to the task of creating smartphones.  I suspect given the pretty good looking phones Gloffish was able to put out, Acer will offer something attractive.

Windows Mobile

This is opening day for the GSMA Mobile World Congress and with Windows Mobile expected to “wow” us with 6.5, the spot light will be on Acer.  I think of it as pay back for all those Acer Aspires out there running XP.  Glofiish focused on Windows Mobile phones and we have every reason to believe that Acer will not stray from this course.

The iPhone had been ringing everyone’s bell for over six months at the time of the Glofiish purchase, so we could see a quite modern take on their success.

Think Europe and Asia

It has been said that Acer is building for Europe and Asia with this introduction of new products.  Those of us in the States will have to wait until Acer gets the courage to try this marketing.  We are are a tough nut to crack, just ask Nokia.

The top of the line phone will, I believe be a touch screen to cope with Chinese characters.  The others will predictably be QWERTY sliders, probably similar in design to the image above.

Indecently, the image above is by David Turpin

Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 29 Jan 2009 | 2:14 am

Foxit's eSlick Reader Might Support eReader Freeware Files

Despite its ugly appearance, Foxit's upcoming eSleek Reader will get a close look because of two key things: Its $230 price makes it attractive against the more expensive Kindle and Sony Readers and because, according to rumors coming out today, it might be the first large hardware eInk device to play eReader files.

In the comment for a post at JKontherun, a rep from Fixit announced they'd be offering support for eReader software around the time of the device's release. eReader freeware program files are well regarded by users in the digital community because they can be played on a number of different devices like iPhones, Windows Mobile phones, and any Symbian handset. This would allow people who already own large libraries of eReader books (like the G-Lab's own Charlie Sorrel) to play them on a larger display and on the easier-to-read eInk tech. If this move works for Foxit, it could open up other eInk hardware makers to allow other file formats on their own devices.

Currently, one of our biggest gripes with the current generation of readers is their unfair DRM content stranglehold they have on content. Amazon's Kindle can only play downloaded books from its site, and Sony's Reader works the same way. While eReader files also have DRM properties, the fact you can play them on more than once device makes them valuable and user friendly. Plus, DRM is going out of style, right?

The eSleek Reader will also come with a PDF creator that converts doc files, powerpoints, and XLS files to the eInk format. Like we mentioned previously, the eSleek Reader won't include a wireless feature like the Kindle, but the company has said it will probably add this in an upcoming version.

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 29 Jan 2009 | 1:54 am

Video: Setting up VIA’s barebones Artigo A2000

Watch the video in HQ if you know what’s good for you.

I’m in the middle of reviewing VIA’s latest barebones system, the Artigo A2000. Essentially a tiny PC in a tiny box like other barebones setups, the Artigo sports the latest Nano-ITX mainboard and uses a sort of netbook-level processor, the VIA 1.5GHz C7-D. It’s a simple little device to set up, although getting the RAM in was a bit of a chore. Everything else works like a charm; I’ll have video in a day or two showing it boot up the latest Ubuntu and hopefully working as my own little media server.

Source: CrunchGear | 29 Jan 2009 | 1:29 am

Scrapblog Gets A $4 Million Boost For Online Scrapbooking

Scrapblog, a startup that lets you build rich Flash-based online scrapbooks, has closed a $4 million funding round led by Disney’s Steamboat Ventures and Longworth Venture Partners. The round brings Scrapblog’s total funding to $7.5 million.

Scrapblog offers an online editor that allows users to decorate their scrapbook with text, images, colorful themes, and other embellishments, which can then be shared on the web or printed out. The company was first introduced back in 2006, briefly went offline, and relaunched in March 2007. Now it has grown to nearly 2 million registered users who have created over 4 million scrapblog pages. The site has partnerships with major media sites including Disney, Discovery, Photobucket, and ABC.

The site generates revenue through scrapbook printing, sponsored promotions, and a recently launched virtual goods market called the Scrapblog Marketplace. The marketplace allows users to purchase designs from leading artists to decorate their scrapbooks, and has been likened to an “iTunes for Scrapbooking” - a strange description, but one that certainly appears to the niche scrapbooking demographic.

Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.

Source: TechCrunch | 29 Jan 2009 | 1:22 am

Google Introduces A New Weapon In The Fight For Net Neutrality: Measurement Labs

Google announced today that it will give end users the tools to figure out whether internet service providers are interfering with their broadband connections by blocking or “throttling” certain applications.

In a move that will undoubtedly ignite the issue of network neutrality, the company has partnered with the New America Foundation and Planet Labs to further develop Measurement Labs, an open-source platform that researchers can use to find out information about broadband connections.

Google is also providing academic researchers with 36 servers in 12 locations in the U.S. and Europe to develop tools that will allow users to measure the speed of their connections and figure out if their ISPs are blocking certain applications, according to Vint Cerf, the “Father of the internet” and Google’s Internet Evangelist, in a blog post today.

“No matter your views on net neutrality and ISP network management practices, everyone can agree that Internet users deserve to be well-informed about what they’re getting when they sign up for broadband, and good data is the bedrock of sound policy,” Cerf wrote. “Transparency has always been crucial to the success of the Internet, and, by advancing network research in this area, M-Lab aims to help sustain a healthy, innovative Internet.”

Google has already provided several tools for users to measure their internet connections on the Measurement Labs site.

The question is: how will internet service providers react to this?

Just this week, cable company and internet provider Cox Communications made a move away from net neutrality by announcing the roll out of a traffic management system that would give priority to time-sensitive traffic and delay less time-sensitive data, such as file uploads.

One of the tools Google plans to provide users on its M-Lab site is called DiffProbe. It will help users detect whether an internet service provider is giving some traffic a lower priority than other traffic.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

Source: TechCrunch | 29 Jan 2009 | 12:57 am

Ancient cave houses found in China

Chinese archaeologists say they've found ancient cave houses that may be the earliest made by man. A row of 17 cave houses was found on a cliff along along a river northwest China's Shaanxi province, Xinhua news service reported Wednesday.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 29 Jan 2009 | 12:57 am

DIYers Get a Treat With Top 40 Arduino Projects

Open source programming platform Arduino has spawned thousands of enthusiastic DIY-gadget heads.

The Arduino board, with its "Made in Italy" tag, features a microcontroller that can be programmed for a number of projects using a custom programming language and development environment. It's useful for simple robotics and electronics projects that need a little more intelligence than you can get with a handful of resistors and capacitors from Radio Shack -- which is why it has become an underground hit among true gadget enthusiasts.

Now Hack N Mod has scoured the web to find the top 40 Arduino projects. The list includes projects to make a robot that will avoid walls, a twittering plant, a miniature pocket piano, a Segway-like robot and an interactive gaming controller--all using Arduino. Wired magazine editor-in-chief Chris Anderson's make-your-own unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or spyplane gets the second spot on the list.

The list of the 40 projects comes with instructions on how to get started on each. Now there's no excuse to hang out in the garage and just drink beer on the weekends. Its time to get tinkering. 

See also:
Build It. Share It. Profit. Can Open Source Hardware Work?

Photo: Arduino Keyboard (Collin Mel/Flickr)

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 29 Jan 2009 | 12:21 am

ClearOne to Present at INTERNET TELEPHONY(R) Conference & EXPO East 2009

SALT LAKE CITY, Jan.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 29 Jan 2009 | 12:21 am

Vudu Application Brings Remote Rentals to iPhone

Streaming video pioneer Vudu released an iPhone app this week that allows users to rent or buy a movie remotely. With a few swipes of your finger, you'll be able to direct your video box at home to download the selected movies, so they'll be ready to go when you come home for work. Because waiting for less than twenty minutes to start a download is just a nightmarish proposition for control freaks.

The Vudu Movie Catalog application offers the full browsing services of the at-home box, with full cover art, movie synopsis, and cast information. There's no word if the iPhone App will also offer iPhone selections of its new "On-Demand" section, which comes with extra web content, like Discovery Channel.

Currently, Vudu offers about 13,000 movie titles in their video-boosting HDX digital video format. The company has gained notoriety through the quality of that video and its torrent-style storage system, with small pieces of movies moving from one hard drive to another to facilitate downloads. Recently, Vudu also announced a standards-based RIA (Rich Internet Application)platform for its box that allows third-party developers to build and improve web-based content apps.

The VUDU Movie Catalog application is available now at the iTunes store, for free.

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 29 Jan 2009 | 12:20 am

House defeats bill to delay digital TV transition (AP)

AP - Bucking the Obama administration, House Republicans on Wednesday defeated a bill to postpone the upcoming transition from analog to digital television broadcasting to June 12 — leaving an estimated 6.5 million U.S. households unprepared for the currently scheduled Feb. 17 switchover.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 29 Jan 2009 | 12:01 am

Google and Friends Release Net Neutrality Measuring Tools

angry tapir writes "Google and a group of partners have released a set of tools designed to help broadband customers and researchers measure performance of Internet connections. The set of tools, at MeasurementLab.net, includes a network diagnostic tool, a network path diagnostic tool and a tool to measure whether the user's broadband provider is slowing BitTorrent peer-to-peer (P-to-P) traffic. Coming soon to the M-Lab applications is a tool to determine whether a broadband provider is giving some traffic a lower priority than other traffic, and a tool to determine whether a provider is degrading certain users or applications. 'Transparency is our goal,' said Vint Cerf, chief Internet evangelist at Google and a co-developer of TCP/IP. 'Our intent is to make more [information] visible for all who are interested in the way the network is functioning at all layers.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 28 Jan 2009 | 11:59 pm

Catalyst Announces Record Revenue and Earnings for 2008

Record growth is expected to continue for 2009 as electronic discovery volumes increase and corporations look to hosted repository providers DENVER, Jan.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 28 Jan 2009 | 11:55 pm

Get ‘em started young with the BlackBerry-like ‘Text & Learn’

It’s true what they say: Little kids love the BlackBerry. Imagine the message you’re sending to your kids by having your own big boy BlackBerry glued to your face all the time. They want to be like mommy and daddy and mommy and daddy have two kids and two BlackBerry devices, which equals a family of six. Naturally, your little ones want their own QWERTY-enhanced handhelds.

David Carnoy at CNet says that this product is “sure to be known in the blogosphere [as the] ‘baby BlackBerry’.” You can’t make up a nickname for something and then say that all the other bloggers will surely call it the same thing, Carnoy! Why don’t I just give myself an awesome nickname like “Lovecrusher” or “Dr. Blogswell” or “The Pants Man” while we’re at it?

Unfortunately, he’s probably right about this one as “Baby BlackBerry” is pretty fitting. Still, as a matter of principle, I’ll hereby refer to it as the “KidZ Rule! Extreme Self-Texting Apparatus,” or KRESTA.

The Text & Learn (KRESTA) will cost $25 when it hits the states this summer and will be geared at preschool aged kids, featuring simple spelling and word activities along with fake text messaging and web browsing. It won’t have any actual connections, though. Just pretend Wi-Fi, WiMAX, EVDO, LTE, Bluetooth, Ham Radio, and whatever else your youngster dreams up.

[via Crave]

Source: CrunchGear | 28 Jan 2009 | 11:20 pm

C&D Technologies Introduces the New DYNASTY(R) TRUE FRONT ACCESS High Rate Max UPS Battery

BLUE BELL, Pa., Jan. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- C&D Technologies, Inc.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 28 Jan 2009 | 11:10 pm

Miscalculation Invalidates LHC Safety Assurances

KentuckyFC writes "In a truly frightening study, physicists at the University of Oxford have identified a massive miscalculation that makes the LHC safety assurances more or less invalid (abstract). The focus of their work is not the safety of particle accelerators per se but the chances of any particular scientific argument being wrong. 'If the probability estimate given by an argument is dwarfed by the chance that the argument itself is flawed, then the estimate is suspect,' say the team. That has serious implications for the LHC, which some people worry could generate black holes that will swallow the planet. Nobody at CERN has put a figure on the chances of the LHC destroying the planet. One study simply said: 'there is no risk of any significance whatsoever from such black holes.' The danger is that this thinking could be entirely flawed, but what are the chances of this? The Oxford team say that roughly one in a thousand scientific papers have to be withdrawn because of errors but generously suppose that in particle physics, the rate is one in 10,000."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 28 Jan 2009 | 11:07 pm

Fastest Bentley Ever Is Cleanest Bentley Ever

The crew from Crewe put a flex-fuel engine in what will be the most powerful car it has ever built.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 28 Jan 2009 | 11:04 pm

Crisis averted! U.S. gets back its MP3 player loaded with military info

As I said on the podcast earlier this afternoon, the U.S. military has retrieved that MP3 player that was loaded with sensitive information. The guy who bought the player made out pretty well: the U.S. embassy there gave him a shiny, new MP3 player in exchange for the old one. Best $10 he’s ever spent? Could be.

So it seems like it was a low key exchange. The man, 29-year-old Chris Ogle, bought the MP3 player in Oklahoma last week while on vacation. He discovered the military documents on the player, then the embassy contacted him. Again, Ogle didn’t pull some childish “I bought this drive, everything on it is mine!” Nope, Uncle Sam cam a-knockin’ and Ogle handed it over.

This must be a sign of Obama’s new, tempered foreign policy. Were Bush still in charge, he’d have ordered Blackhawks to destroy Wellington. (Hah! Get it? It’s an unnecessary political joke! Be sure to tip your waitress!)

Photo: Flickr

Source: CrunchGear | 28 Jan 2009 | 11:00 pm

Cox Communications and "Congestion Management"

imamac writes "It appears Cox Communications is the next in line for throttling internet traffic. But it's not throttling of course; Cox's euphemism is 'congestion management.' From Cox's explanation: 'In February, Cox will begin testing a new method of managing traffic on our high-speed Internet network in our Kansas and Arkansas markets. During the occasional times the network is congested, this new technology automatically ensures that all time-sensitive Internet traffic — such as web pages, voice calls, streaming videos and gaming — moves without delay. Less time-sensitive traffic, such as file uploads, peer-to-peer and Usenet newsgroups, may be delayed momentarily...' Sounds like throttling to me."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 28 Jan 2009 | 10:19 pm

CIA Station Chief's Computer Searched Following Rape Allegations

The head of the CIA's outpost in Algeria is accused of slipping date-rape drugs into two Muslim women's drinks, then assaulting them. State Department investigators searched his cellphone and his computer for evidence.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 28 Jan 2009 | 10:00 pm

Dual SIM Card Capable Phone Comes to Android

In another line of firsts for Google's Android mobile operating system, General Mobile is likely to launch a new Android handset that will support dual SIM cards.

SIMs or Subscriber Identity Modules store the data that identifies the user information to the telecom service provider. A dual-SIM capable phone allows users to have two numbers on a single handset, making it especially convenient for business users and road warriors who would like to have one number for work and another for personal use.

General Mobile says its upcoming handset called DSTL1 will be shown at the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona next month.

The current form factor of the General Mobile phone may not entirely be compatible with Android, says Android Authority, for its features such as the lack of the five-button configuration required to run the OS. Which means the handset design could change slightly.

Otherwise, the phone's specs are fairly routine. It has a 3-inch touchscreen display, Wi-Fi, GSM/EDGE support, a 5-megapixel camera from Sharp and is reasonably lightweight at 4.75 oz.

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 28 Jan 2009 | 9:48 pm

Microsoft founder's cable company in a debt bind (AP)

AP - How do you lose $7 billion?

Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 28 Jan 2009 | 9:41 pm

Scientists Reproduce Deadly Toxin

On Wednesday, scientists said that for the first time they have replicated an elusive seafood toxin found in shellfish and certain algae that can cause illness and even death, according to a study.The researchers said that this achievement opens the way for tests to detect the poison and might
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 28 Jan 2009 | 9:32 pm

What’s this about a Sidekick LX 2009?

Well, isn’t this a kick in the pants. As TmoNews was reporting earlier that a 3G Sidekick could be in the works, Ed over at Hiptop3 just sent this our way. One of his readers sent in an image from a survey he/she/it took at QuizPoints and, well, the title pretty much says it all. Of course, we’ll wait to get some more evidence to say a 3G Sidekick is coming, but it certainly looks legit. So, what’s new or purported for the LX 2009? The print is small so you better hit the jump.

Social Networking Suite of Apps
- Facebook
- MySpace w/ video upload
- Twitter
- YouTube Mobile Access via browser

GPS Location Based Search
- Turn by Turn Navigation
- Microsoft Live Local Search and Maps

Content Creation
- Blog publishing, editing, and management client
- Photobucket Upload and Management
- Video recorder and upload to MySpace/Photobucket

Communications
- Signature Sidekick IM/SMS/E-mail Experience
- Microsoft Outlook/Exchange synchronization

Hardware
- Large (3.2 inch WVGA) screen with sharp 854×480 resolution
- Thin design
- 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus, flash and video recording
- Large QWERTY keyboard
- Expandable memory up to 8GB via MicroSD

If the above features make it into the next generation Sidekick then MS, Danger and T-Mobile have hit the jackpot. They’re a little late to the party by all accounts, but this is definitely the upgrade loyal Sidekick users have been waiting for. With direct access to YouTube, 3G, GPS, and a 3.2-megapixel camera along with the rest of the software upgrades could you ask for anything more?

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

Source: MobileCrunch | 28 Jan 2009 | 9:29 pm

EU pushes climate change plan

The European Union is calling on developed nations to cut greenhouse gas emissions 30 percent by 2020, officials said Wednesday. The EU is asking all but the poorest developing countries to limit growth in their collective emissions, the EU Observer reported Wednesday. The European Commission proposal includes plans to create a carbon market with wealthy nations by 2015.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 28 Jan 2009 | 9:27 pm

Ancient Figurine Found In Jerusalem

The Israeli Antiquities Authority said that an 1,800-year-old figurine believe to have originated from the eastern stretches of the Roman Empire has been discovered by archaeologists outside the walls of the old city.The authority said that the 2-inch marble bust depicts the head of a man with a short curly beard and almond-shaped eyes who may portray a boxer."The high level of finish on the figurine is extraordinary, while meticulously adhering to the tiniest of details," Doron Ben-Ami and Yana Tchekhanovets, directors of the excavation, said in a joint statement released Monday.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 28 Jan 2009 | 9:25 pm

Oetzi's May Have Been Attacked Twice

Another chapter in a murder case over 5000 years old. New investigations by an LMU research team working together with a Bolzano colleague reconstructed the chronology of the injuries that Ötzi, the glacier man preserved as a frozen mummy, received in his last days.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 28 Jan 2009 | 9:24 pm

How To Track the Bug-Trackers?

schneecrash writes "Submitting bug reports — and waiting for responses etc. — seems to be SOP for developers and users alike, these days. Every project has some sort of bug-tracker — bugzilla, trac, mailing list, etc. E.g., we currently track 200+ external bugs across ~40 OSS projects. Half the bugs depend on something else getting fixed, first. Every bug has its own email thread, etc. Management asks 'How we doin' overall?,' and suddenly everyone involved gets to work removing dried gum from the bottom of their shoe. What do Slashdotters use/recommend for centrally keeping track of all the bugs you track across all those different bugtrackers? In particular, managing communications and dependencies across bugs? So far, the best method I've managed to use is bunches of PostIt-notes stuck to the screen of an out-of-commission 32" TV (glossy, non-matte screen, of course!)."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 28 Jan 2009 | 9:22 pm

Once Was Our Future: Apple wearable prototype (1991)

From Japanese mag Axis' collection of Apple concept devices, kindly scanned by zacislost. [via ★]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 28 Jan 2009 | 9:19 pm

iPhone App Solves Rubik's Cube in 20 Moves or Better

Time to dust off that Rubik's Cube you got for Christmas back in '82. CubeCheater, a $1 app for Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch, uses image-recognition technology and open source algorithm code to solve the famous brain-twisting puzzle.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 28 Jan 2009 | 9:00 pm

Ancestry Of Mountain Caribou Revealed

The Rockies' endangered populations a unique hybrid of tundra and woodland animalsThe declining mountain caribou populations of Canada's southern Rockies are a more distinct breed than scientists previously believed, according to a new study by University of Calgary researchers that is shedding light on the ancient ancestry of the mountain-dwelling herbivores.In a study published in the current issue of the journal Molecular Ecology, Faculty of Environmental Design PhD candidate Byron Weckworth and his research group describe how Alberta and British Columbia's mountain caribou populations are remnants of blending between the two major subspecies of caribou that likely occurred during the end of the last ice age about 10,000 years ago."These are special animals because they are not woodland caribou or tundra caribou, but a very interesting combination of the two," Weckworth said. "Mountain caribou are an important part of the genetic diversity of the entire species and maintaining that diversity will be critical as caribou face the impacts of continued human development and climate change into the future."An analysis of mountain caribou DNA and 10 years of tracking the migratory patterns of populations across the southern Rockies in the Yellowstone-to-Yukon corridor, including western Alberta and eastern BC, showed that mountain caribou are hybrids of migratory tundra caribou and sedentary woodland caribou. The researchers believe the blending likely occurred during glacial retreat at the end of the last ice age when both subspecies of caribou could have expanded into the newly ice-free corridor along the eastern slopes of the Rockies."Their DNA is basically part woodland and part tundra, which is fascinating because this mixture is apparent given the genetic expression of migratory behavior." Weckworth said. "Among these mountain caribou we see a wide range of behavior from some individuals that don't migrate at all to some that move up to 100 kilometers between the foothills and the mountains every year. Populations contain both migratory and non-migratory individuals, and it is exactly this type of variation that provides them with the flexibility to adapt to a landscape that is changing due to climatic conditions and human activities."Their findings could lead to a change in how the endangered populations are managed due to their unique genetics and behavior. For example, the Little Smoky population in Alberta has been declining for over a decade because of human-caused habitat changes that are believed to be altering predator-prey relationships. Genetic analyses confirm that the Little Smoky population is different from other caribou populations in west-central Alberta, and is likely the last remnant of distinct boreal caribou along the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies.The study, which was supported by Weyerhaeuser, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, Shell Canada, Parks Canada, and Alberta Department of Sustainable Resource Development, concludes that new conservation plans may be required to reflect the mountain caribou's unique nature."It is impossible to predict all the impacts of something like climate change, but we know that migration has been an important adaptive response in the past, and so it is best to preserve this unique genetic and behavioral variability to better enable caribou to adapt to an uncertain future," Weckworth said.The article "Survival in the Rockies of an endangered hybrid swarm from diverged caribou (Rangifer tarandus) lineages" by Allan D. McDevitt, Stefano Mariani, Mark Hebblewhite, Nicholas J. Decesare, Luigi Morgantini, Dale Seip, Byron V. Weckworth and Marco Musiani---Image Caption: This is a mountain caribou in the southern Canadian Rockies. Credit: Mark Bradley, Boreal Nature Photos
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 28 Jan 2009 | 8:58 pm

Doctors Spooked by Israel's Mystery Weapon

Critics continue to press the case that Israel committed "war crimes," because of the civilian casualties in Gaza. Ironically, many of these wounds may have been caused by a weapon designed to reduce collateral damage. Not that the Israelis admit they have the thing.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 28 Jan 2009 | 8:46 pm

Gore Lobbies Again For Climate Change

Image Caption: Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore (R) shakes hands with Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) as Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) looks on before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on "Addressing Global Climate Change: The Road to Copenhagen" on Capitol Hill in Washington on January 28, 2009. (UPI Photo/Yuri Gripas)
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 28 Jan 2009 | 8:45 pm

Family Dog Cloned, Thanks To Dolly Patents

patentpundit writes "BioArts International announced today that they have delivered the world's first commercially cloned dog, a 10-week old Labrador named Lancey, to Florida residents Edgar and Nina Otto. According to the press release issued by the company, 'BioArts International is a biotech company focused on unique, untapped markets in the global companion animal, stem cell and human genomics industries. The Best Friends Again program is a collaboration between BioArts and the Sooam Biotech Research Foundation in South Korea, home to the best and most experienced dog cloning team in the world.' The technology that makes this animal cloning possible stems from the cloning patents developed at the Roslin Institute for the cloning of the now famous, or infamous depending on your view, Dolly the sheep."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 28 Jan 2009 | 8:34 pm

'Iceman' Oetzi Attacked Twice, Suggests Study

Research on a 5,000-year-old mummy paints a brutal picture of his final days.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 28 Jan 2009 | 8:30 pm

Despite Harsh Reviews, Verizon Sells 1 Million BlackBerry Storm Phones

Storm, the first touchscreen phone from BlackBerry, made its debut two months ago to some of the harshest reviews a smartphone has seen recently. Still, it sold a surprising 1 million units and is going strong. What's behind the Storm's success?
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 28 Jan 2009 | 8:06 pm

Reviled by Reviewers, BlackBerry's Storm Rages On

Two months ago Research In Motion released Storm, its first touchscreen phone, to some of the harshest reviews that a phone has seen in recent times. Yet sales of the device tell a different story.

The BlackBerry Storm is doing pretty well, to the tune of 1 million sold since its launch on the Verizon's network.

That may not be success on the scale of the iPhone, which sold 1 million units in just a weekend, but it is a respectable showing. Storm's success is comparable to the much-anticipated first phone based on Google's Android operating system, the HTC G1 from T-Mobile. It's also far more than you might expect from a device that was labeled "dark, sodden and unpredictable," by prominent gadget reviewer David Pogue.

"It shows that there are two worlds that exist out there," says Michael Gartenberg, a technology analyst. "The digerati, and the mainstream consumers who are just looking for a reasonable experience with the carrier they want."

So what's behind the Storm's surprising success?

Two words: BlackBerry and Verizon.

"If you want true push e-mail and have been a longtime BlackBerry user, there's really just one touchscreen phone out there for you," says Peter VanRysdam, a Storm user who is vice president of marketing of 352 Media Group, a web design company.

Other factors have helped, too, such as the availability of the device on Verizon Wireless, the biggest cellphone service provider in the U.S., strong promotion of the phone, and the loyal BlackBerry fan base.

"This underscores the symbiotic relationship between carriers and handset vendors," says Gartenberg. "For a lot of users, Verizon is the network of choice and a BlackBerry is the device of choice."

RIM launched the BlackBerry Storm on Nov. 21 in the U.S. as its first touchscreen device. Despite innovative features -- most notably, a touchscreen with tactile feedback that gives users a feel similar to physical buttons -- the phone drew some harsh criticism.

Wired.com gave it six out of 10 while New York Times reviewer David Pogue, in one of his harshest reviews ever for a device, said the Storm "even muffs simple navigation tasks."

Still, sales have been strong. Since its release, RIM has said it is pleased with how consumers have been taking to the Storm. The company also offered updates for the phone to fix problems such as the accelerometer lag and the unexpected lock up of the phone.

Reports of the Storm's problems may have been greatly exaggerated, says Simona Jankowski, an analyst with Goldman Sachs, in a research note.

"Our retail checks suggest that the Storm is Verizon’s best-selling smartphone, and the rate of returns is relatively low, contrary to recent market concerns and internet blogs."

Some Storm users say their initial negative reaction to the phone turned into a more positive experience after using the device for a few weeks.

The bad reviews for the Storm did make longtime BlackBerry user Evan Bartlett nervous initially, he says. Bartlett, who is a senior account executive for Angelsoft, a company that makes a deal flow management platform for venture capitalists and angel networks, says he was a T-Mobile subscriber using the BlackBerry Curve before switching to the Storm on Verizon.

Now there's no looking back for him."The true push e-mail, the ability to search through your e-mail, copy and paste were all features that I use very heavily," says Bartlett, "which is also the reason why the iPhone doesn't work for me."

The Storm's web browser has also attracted fans. "The two things I do most are e-mail and browsing," says VanRysdam. "And the browsing experience on the Storm is unlike any other BlackBerry device and as good as the iPhone."

Ultimately the Storm's success can be attributed to the power of Verizon and BlackBerry's marketing efforts.

"The Storm has been the subject of a tremendous ad campaign by Verizon," says Avi Greengart, an analyst with research firm Current Analysis. "So if you are a user at Verizon it is one of the most exciting devices to have."

Could the BlackBerry brand also been enough to draw in users? "Absolutely," says Greengart.

Meanwhile, even die-hard Storm users agree that the device is still fairly buggy. The shutter delay on the camera can be frustrating as is the lack of Wi-Fi and the third party applications for the phone.

They are, however, willing to be patient for more updates from RIM to fix those problems. Their Storm, they say, is worth the wait.

See also:
Showdown:  BlackBerry Storm vs. iPhone 3G
Hands On With The BlackBerry Storm

Photo: (RealtorKimWood/Flickr)

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 28 Jan 2009 | 8:06 pm

LeapFrog Tag Junior frogbot reads books to your toddlers

The LeapFrog "Tag Junior" is a plastic frog that sits atop proprietary children's books and reads the story aloud, punctuated by sound effects and music. It is relatively inexpensive at $35, but each of the books cost about $11 a pop.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 28 Jan 2009 | 8:03 pm

Leaked docs pin Samsung Memoir for T-Mobile release on February 25th

After making the exciting journey from friend-to-friend and scanner-to-internet, a document detailing the launch details for the Samsung Memoir has been leaked for all to enjoy. The good news? In just under a month, we’ll all be able to enjoy the Samsung Memoir in all of its 8-megapixel glory. The bad news? It’ll apparently set you back 300 greenbacks - and that’s after rebates. Yikes.

We’ve known for some time now that the Memoir (or, as those namedropping model numbers will call it so that their friends think they’re super awesome, the T929) carries GPS, Stereo Bluetooth, myFaves support and that, unfortunately, it probably won’t be much of a smartphone due to the TouchWiz (the non-Windows Mobile variant) user interface. Freshly leaked as of late is word that it’ll also rock a Xenon flash, autofocus, 16x digital zoom. Oh, and that it’s targeted at “Family focused amateur photographers, 30-45 years old”.

So what do you think, family focused amateur photographers between 30 and 45 years old? Would you drop 300 bucks for an 8-megapixel shooter with a relatively limited OS when it drops on February 25th?

[Via Tmonews]

Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies

Source: MobileCrunch | 28 Jan 2009 | 7:33 pm

Review: T-Mobile BlackBerry 8900 [Update 1]

RIM really dropped the ball after launching the Bold with the shouldhaveneverbeenlaunched Storm. But I’m happy to say that they’ve come back into our good graces with the launch of the T-Mobile Curve II otherwise known as the 8900.

For all intents and purposes the 8900 is a baby Bold. It lacks 3G but makes up for it with UMA support, which means you can use it in a dead zone or take it overseas and not incur horrendous roaming fees.  Simply having the ability to use Wi-Fi for the mobile’s signal is a huge plus for T-Mobile. The UMA connection allows the device to act exactly as it would with a cellular signal, including voice, BlackBerry data/email, web browsing, even SMS and BlackBerry messenger.  This was one of the major reasons why I chose to stay with T-Mobile instead of jumping ship to AT&T for the Bold.

The following are my first impressions compared to the 8320 and Bold.

Camera quality is excellent and pictures are very sharp. It’s significantly faster than the Storm, and the higher resolution 3.2-megapixel camera trumps the Bold as well. Images can now be geotagged. It performs fairly well in low light, but you’re going to need a steady hand and still subject.

The first photo is in low light without flash and the second was taken with flash.

The 8900 drops support for 802.11a, which is a bummer for some folks like my brother but I have no issues with it.

Typing on the 8900 is much better than on the 8800 series, but it’s not as smooth as the Bold. Keys are slanted like the Bold and 8800 series and it’s much sturdier than the 8320 keyboard. The overall build of the 8900 is rock solid. Not as good as the 8700 series, but better than the 8300 series. Like the Storm, the 8900 has a fancy metal back cover (which is a bit loose for my taste) and chrome trim. But it’s not over the top. The new trackball is quite smooth and just feels better to use. Time will tell, though.

The 2.4-inch screen is super high-res at 480×360, which is higher than the Bold’s 480×320. But the Bold’s 2.5-inch screen makes watching videos a bit easier on the eyes.

A major plus for the 8900 is that it has more usable on-board memory than any other BlackBerry with 256MB of “RAM.” The Bold does come with 1GB of on-board storage but most of it is segmented as flash (like the microSD card that’s provided), and isn’t dedicated to things like E-mail, calendar, etc. Because the on-board memory is fully dedicated as “main” memory on the 8900, you have much more room until it runs out and begins to take corrective action (like deleting email, sms, and the call log). The 512 MHz processor makes multitasking a breeze whereas the previous Curve (8320) was sluggish, to say the least. However, I’ve noticed some slowdowns compared to the Bold which almost never lags.

Sound quality from speaker is excellent, videos and games sound amazing. I’d suggest you not use the included application from Roxio for converting videos, though. I found it to be a bit buggy and there are other apps out there that work much better.

Call quality is crisp on both ends even when using the speaker phone. Wired and Bluetooth headsets work well. Because I’ve only had the 8900 for a couple days I can’t comment on battery life, but it’s lasted two days with moderate use.  The battery life will surely exceed that of the Bold considering it lacks the 3G radio.

Unfortunately, the Web browser still stinks. The OS upgrade to 4.6 is nice, but if you’ve used the Bold or Storm it’s nothing new. Javascript and RIM don’t play well together. It stalls or fails to load pages completely. Opera is considerably better but it’s only a temporary solution. Why RIM continues to neglect this key feature is beyond anyone’s comprehension. This may be one of the only downsides to the BlackBerry.

The iTunes syncing application MediaSync works pretty well. I wasn’t able to use this on my 8320, but I still have an iPod and Zune that I use for music and video. It will not transfer DRM tracks, but we all knew that. Media has never been a strong suit of the BlackBerry line but it works albeit unattractively.

Having both GPS and Wi-Fi on the 8900 is fantastic for T-Mobile users. GPS is enabled in Google Maps and BlackBerry Maps. It works just as well as the 8820’s GPS but it can be a tad off when you’re indoors.

Apps shmaps, I say. RIM’s app store is coming soon enough, but the fact of the matter is that BlackBerry has always had a strong developer community. They just don’t have a centralized location, yet. Search around and you’ll find whatever it is that you need.

Overall, the 8900 is a fine BlackBerry and probably the best phone available for T-Mobile. Yes, I know the G1 is fantastic and all, but I still think the hardware isn’t where it should be. It’s big and clunky. The Sidekick still has a place in my heart, but MS/Danger really need to pull out the big guns with their next revision or they’re toast. If you’re looking to upgrade, or switch to T-Mobile, then I insist you pick up the 8900. It’s a superb upgrade from the 8320 and everything but 3G is present. What can I say? I’m as giddy as a school girl and happy with the 8900 so far.

These are initial impressions of the 8900 and I’ll need more time with it so I’ll post updates when necessary, but if you have questions please leave them in comments.

Update: Just noticed that the right side hard button for the camera is a ‘double presser’ like a real camera. A half press allows the camera to auto-focus and a full press snaps the image. That’s a first for BlackBerry devices with a camera.

Product Page

Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors

Source: MobileCrunch | 28 Jan 2009 | 7:13 pm

Rumor: T-Mobile working with Danger on 3G Sidekick?!

Ahhh, the rumormill.  Nothing like the smell of freshly minted bs theories and speculation. The latest “hot tip” comes in the form of a supposed Sidekick refresh a la 3G flavor. If T-Mobile is serious about keeping this fading classic around amongst the likes of the G1 and other recent releases, 3G is an absolute must at this point.

What will this new high-speed update look like? How much will it cost? Will it ever see the light of T-Mobile day?  Your guesses are as good as ours.

[via TmoNews]

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

Source: MobileCrunch | 28 Jan 2009 | 6:48 pm

T-Mobile launches the new Shadow and finally debuts the Nokia 7510

Just as expected, the T-Mobile Shadow (Shadow 2, technically, but they’re dropping the trailing number for the sake of branding and confusing the hell out of everyone) is hitting store shelves today - and it’s bringing a friend! Tagging along on the Shadow’s coattails is the Nokia 7510, which we actually expected to see last week.

$200 bucks and a fresh contract will get you the Shadow in “White Mint” or “Black Burgundy”, while $49.99 after rebates works out to a Nokia 7510 in “Fatal Red”, “Emerald Green” or “Espresso Brown”. Specs after the jump.

Shadow II Specs:

• Windows Mobile 6.1
• Two-letters-per-key QWERTY
• WiFi
• 2.0 Megapixel camera
• QVGA Display
• 850 MHz;900 MHz;1800 MHz;1900 MHz
• 5.3 ounces, 2.1 x 4.1 x 0.6 inches
• Stereo Bluetooth

Nokia 7510 Specs:

• 3 hour talk time, 12 day standby
• 2.0 megapixel camera (with video capture)
• FM Radio
• microSD support
• 850 MHz;900 MHz;1800 MHz;1900 MHz
• 4.4 ounces, 1.8 x 3.6 x 0.7 inches

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

Source: MobileCrunch | 28 Jan 2009 | 6:16 pm

v.Final: Opera Mini 4.2 for Android leaves beta, available now

Attention droids and droidettes: Opera has released a final version (as in non-beta, not the last version ever) of Opera Mini 4.2 for Android.  It’s available now in the Android Market and includes the following changes from the last beta:

• Now you can upload and download files through Opera Mini and save pages for offline viewing
• Videos will be redirected to the system’s video player
• Double tap now works for zooming in and out
• Inline URL entry instead of using native input
• Fixed password text entry to hide characters
• Fixed problems with exiting application when back button was pressed
• Improved trackball speed
• All internal pages, like the start page, now have font size extra large for easier navigation

Beta is so 2008, anyways…

Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies

Source: MobileCrunch | 28 Jan 2009 | 5:56 pm

The LG Renoir is virtually immortal

The Unbreakable of cellular phones, the LG Renoir: freezed at sub-zero temperatures for 12 hours, thrown against the floor, jumped upon, spun-dry for fifteen minutes, drowned in wine, run over by a Ford Focus... and still working fine.

LG Renoir Crash Test [Mobile.mail.ru via Engadget]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 28 Jan 2009 | 5:46 pm

Spanish steampunk clock

A great clock by Tenerifean artist of Gonzalo Álvarez. It looks something like the center timepiece of a steampunk Swiss Family Robinson.

Gonzalo Álvarez [Artist's Site via Steampunk Workshop]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 28 Jan 2009 | 5:34 pm

Motorola Tundra tortured for your viewing pleasure

Just how rugged is the military-spec Motorola Tundra? Our buddies over at Phonescoop put it to the test during their full review - and by “put it to the test”, we mean throwing it across a driveway, kicking it into a wall, jamming it in the snow, running it over with a car, dropping a wrench on it, and blasting it with a blowtorch. Sure, it would’ve been great to see this thing pushed to the point of utter failure, but we’ll settle with the blowtorch.

Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors

Source: MobileCrunch | 28 Jan 2009 | 5:29 pm

Interview with Nvidia chief shows where netbooks, smartphones, and game consoles may be going in a "1-watt world"

Dean Takahashi's interview with Nvidia head honcho Jen-Hsun Huang offers a glimpse into what to expect from low-powered internet-enabled devices of the future. Nvidia's new "Ion" platform, which weds an Intel Atom processor to an Nvidia graphic chip, probably doesn't make Intel very happy—they'd rather be selling the GPU, too—but Huang knows that Intel might still be too big to throw their weight around to prevent Ion from getting to market.

Some highlights that indicate Huang has his head screwed on straight:

Q: Is there a place for a $250, full-keyboard device that uses ARM processors?
A: I think there is, but I think the price is less than $199. It has a full keyboard, it’s thin and it runs for a long time on batteries. It has a one-watt microprocessor. I believe this whole segment will have versions like the iPod Touch, the Sony PlayStation Portable and the Nintendo DS. I believe mobile internet devices will access the internet and come in a lot of different form factors, like phones, notepads and game player.

...

Q: There is only one proof point for that. It’s the iPhone. From one company. Why will these devices succeed across the board?
A: There is the Google Android. The Palm Pre. A few points makes a line.

...

Q: You don’t think it will be one chip?
A: I don’t think so. Intel has slipped its schedule on its (code-named) Havendale single-chip chip set. The problem is that CPUs and GPUs are both progressing. You can’t catch up on both with just one that tries to do both. And why not try to do it at the low end? AMD’s problem is that they are putting the high-end CPU with the high-end GPU. Who’s going to buy that?

Q: Microsoft, for the Xbox 720?
A: That’s cold. (laughs). That’s cold.

I tend to shy from business stories, especially executive interviews, but this one's a keeper. I actually feel like I have a good vision of the Nvidia roadmap for the next couple of years now.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 28 Jan 2009 | 5:11 pm

Odd Planet Reaches Searing 1,200 Degrees

Astronomers find a planet four times the size of Jupiter with extreme hot flashes.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 28 Jan 2009 | 5:00 pm

Analysis of Apple's iPhone interface patent claims

Engadget's Nilay Patel posts an exhaustive and excellent analysis of the patents surrounding the iPhone's user interface. It's the perfect antidote to this weekend's relentless mainstream media hype about the "brewing" legal between Palm and Apple.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 28 Jan 2009 | 4:53 pm

Motorola bringing QWERTY to its walkie-talkie phones with the i465

Looks like Motorola will be pairing a keyboard with push-to-talk in the i465, due sometime this year. The immediacy of text messaging is great, yes, overshadowed only by the immediacy of instantly speaking to someone using a nationwide walkie-talkie, so this handset ought to cover all the need-to-talk-ASAP bases.

Read the rest of this entry >>

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

Source: MobileCrunch | 28 Jan 2009 | 4:40 pm

iSteamPhone: iPhone exploded by 15th Century ingenuity, steam

From the people who sold you the "Exploded iPhone" schematic t-shirt comes this off-white remix, the "iSteamPhone", in which the iPhone is reimagined as some sort of anachronistic da Vinci invention.

$26 for the shirt; $16 for a poster, with shipping. (They're $20 and $10 if you can somehow make them materialize at your corner matter maker.)

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 28 Jan 2009 | 4:34 pm

Overcrowded Snowy Owl Swoops South

Birders in the South are reporting sightings of the normally more northern snowy owl.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 28 Jan 2009 | 4:00 pm

BLOG: Your Vote Steers Hubble

You can help decide what the Hubble Space Telescope will photograph next.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 28 Jan 2009 | 3:45 pm

USB Lock

Pitched as a way to lock up USB drives, there's no reason this lock wouldn't work on anything USB at all, be it humping dogs or high-end studio gear. Slip it onto the plug, roll the numbers, and voila: no USB for them.

Though no deterrent to a committed scoundrel, especially one who knows the dark art of splicing, it should do very well in the Teenage USB Diary segment. Note: useless but amusing on items where the USB cable is plugged in at both ends.

Combination Lock USB Thumb Key Solution [Akihabara News]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 28 Jan 2009 | 3:27 pm

Lizards Evolved Quickly to Avoid Death by Ants

Lizards evolve at stunning speed in response to fire ant invasions.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 28 Jan 2009 | 3:05 pm

Emperor Penguins Marching Toward Extinction

Emperor penguins are at serious risk of extinction due to global warming.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 28 Jan 2009 | 3:00 pm

Maglev on your desk (but it won't take you to Tokyo)

Arrange these magnets just so, and they float in thin air. Forty bucks from Scientifics Online!

Use your knowledge of magnetism and your scientific skills to arrange the magnets on a thin sheet of sheet metal so that alternating poles create a strong magnetic field gradient.

This gradient centers the pyrolytic graphite material of the magnets for levitation. Pyrolytic graphite is 10,000X more diamagnetic than most common diamagnetic materials like water, and these thin slices are extremely light and can be made to levitate.

Diamagnetic levitation kit [Scientifics online via RGS]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 28 Jan 2009 | 2:52 pm

If CS4 came on floppies...

Antrepo Design imagines a world where things still come on 3.5" floppy disks. For reference, Adobe's CS4 Master Edition would arrive on about 6,400 of them.

You could, of course, stash an awful lot of flash in the form factor. I wonder if anyone's invented a magnetic panel that could "fake" output the way one of those MP3-player-to-cassette-deck adapters do? But then you still have the speed limitations of the drives and their controllers. WELL IT WORKED IN THE MAGIC WORLD IN MY HEAD.

A poster of the concept is available at the high high price of $100.

Set of 4 posters [Anterepo shop via Technabob]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 28 Jan 2009 | 2:44 pm

Triceratops Butted Heads Like Modern Bighorns

A new study shows how Triceratops used their horns for sparring.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 28 Jan 2009 | 2:16 pm

Rock Reveals Moon Had Liquid Metal Core

Analysis of a lunar rock suggests the moon was magnetized by a liquid metal core.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 28 Jan 2009 | 2:05 pm

Acer smartphone to be announced on February 16th

Acer wants everyone to know that it is launching a smartphone at the Mobile World Congress cellphone extravaganza in Barcelona. The February 16th press event is also nearly one year after Acer scooped up the experienced smartphone maker, E-Ten. M’kay, now that we know Acer has a smartphone coming in a couple weeks, get ready for some *air quotes* leaked product shots to keep our attention.

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

Source: MobileCrunch | 28 Jan 2009 | 1:38 pm