 Siliconrepublic.com | Abba star slates 'lazy, stingy' Pirate Bay fans Register - By Kelly Fiveash • Get more from this author Former Abba piano player Björn Ulvaeus has hit out at supporters of The Pirate Bay and accused them of fighting for “the ‘freedom’ to be lazy and stingy”. Prosecutor drops a charge in Pirate Bay case The Pirate Bay Still Sailing As Major Charges Dropped |
 Telegraph.co.uk | Facebook Withdraws Changes in Data Use New York Times - By ALAN COWELL After a wave of protests from its users, the Facebook social networking site said on Wednesday that it would withdraw changes to its so-called terms of service concerning the data supplied by the tens of millions of people who use it. Experts: Facebook Must Rethink TOS Stance Facebook Backs Away From Policy Change |
 Boston Globe | Qualcomm, Nokia start making up EE Times Deutschland - BARCELONA - Both ST-Ericsson and Qualcomm Inc. have revealed partnership programmes with Nokia based round reference platforms that will use the Symbian Foundation's software. Qualcomm, Nokia partner on new 3G phones Qualcomm Taps Into Lucrative Market With Nokia Deal |
 CNET News | MOBILE FAIR-UPDATE 1-Verizon picks Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson Reuters - BARCELONA, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Verizon (VZ.N) said it chose French-American telecoms gear maker Alcatel-Lucent (ALUA.PA) (ALCTL.IS) and Sweden's Ericsson (ERICb. Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson win Verizon LTE deal MWC 2009: Verizon Picks LTE Vendors |
 ABC News | TrapCall Unblocks Caller ID, Exposes Number ABC News - By EMILY FRIEDMAN New technology that eliminates anonymous callers by exposing their phone numbers and sometimes even their addresses is angering domestic abuse advocates, who say the product may put victims at risk. New service unmasks anonymous cell callers TrapCall Displays Blocked Numbers on Your Caller ID |
 The Age | Palm and HTC hope to do magic BBC News - I've seen two new phones in Barcelona today, and they're both devices on which an awful lot hangs. One may make Google's Android operating system go mainstream, the other could determine whether Palm, one of the pioneers of the PDA, survives into the ... Photos: Hands-on with the HTC Magic Android phone Hands On with the HTC Magic |
The internet is full of all sorts of chatter. And some of that chatter might actually be about your brand. Wouldn’t you like to filter out the noise and hear what people are saying about it?
Enter Scout Labs, a SaaS dashboard that makes it easy to keep track of what people across the internet are saying about particular topics. The product, which we first reviewed in December 2007 while still in private beta, is now generally available.
CEO Jenny Zeszut says that most companies start off using Scout Labs - and similar products by competitors - to cover their asses, basically by discovering when bloggers and the Twitterati are complaining about their brands. But Zeszut says that over time companies tend to get more involved with the data that Scout Labs collects, reading through blog posts and studying the data to see just what can be learned from customers.
There are six main sections to the Scout Labs dashboard: Blogs, Sentiment, Graphs, Photos, Videos, and Twitter. The first displays all of the blog posts that have been indexed by Scout Labs related to a particular keyword or phrase. The Sentiment section breaks these blog posts down into positive, neutral and negative categories. Just which category Scout Labs puts a particular post into is determined by an algorithm, but you can always change a designation manually and this manual intervention actually improves the algorithm for going forward.
In the other sections, photos, videos and tweets related to your brand are collected for display as well. It’s understandable that Scout Labs doesn’t determine the sentiment for photos and videos, but it would be nice if you could filter tweets by those that are saying nice things about your brand and those that are saying not-so-nice things. Right now, it’s basically a replication of the functionality you’d get from Twitter’s own search engine.
The Scout Labs dashboard is designed for use by teams of brand managers. When you sign up for the service, you’re allowed to invite an unlimited number of colleagues into your workspace. But you’ll have to pony up more for every additional workspace you add. Each workspace costs $250 and lets you monitor 25 concurrent “searches” (aka keywords or phrases). As you buy more workspaces, the price of each incremental workspace does go down.
Zeszut says that 300 companies already use Scout Labs with 2,000 more on the waitlist. Starting today, all of those waiting (and more) will now have access to the entire dashboard.
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
Like everyone, I'm starting to freak out a little about the state of the economy. Many of my good friends are out of work -- and some of them have been out of work for a longer period than I would have thought possible. It seems like every day, I pass another closed store or cafe on my way to the office. And of course, the suggestion file here at Boing Boing is full of stories of the collapsing property bubble in Dubai, the implosion of the South Chinese manufacturing cities, and a million indicators, large and small, of a crisis that is global, deep and worsening.
How do you keep your spirits up? I wrote before Christmas that this is the best time in history to have a worst time -- the time at which our capacity to do things in a way that's outside of traditional economics is at its highest. It's never been easier to come together to have fun, to make stuff, to change things.
I keep reminding myself of that, but it's not easy. My little family is probably OK -- we have a diverse set of income sources, from a variety of countries and industries -- but nothing's certain. In the past two recessions, I was a young kid with bottomless energy and no responsibility. Now I'm 37 and responsible for a child, and my boundless energy has been replaced by discipline and systems that let me get more done with less effort.
I lived through the dotcom boom and bust in San Francisco, arriving in 1999 and departing in 2003, and the two things that stand out for me were 1) how fast it fell and how deep the bottom turned out to be and 2) how quickly the unthinkable became normal and people started to have fun and do cool stuff even without the stupid amounts of money sloshing around the city, like Whos having Christmas without all the be-Grinched trees and trinkets.
For me, I think it's the suspense that's the killer. What institutions will survive? Which ones are already doomed? Which of the items in my calendar are likely never to come to pass? Will my bank last? My favorite cafe (the one near the kid's day-care shut suddenly one day with a "Closed for Refurnshment" (sic) sign in the window, and now the window is plastered with signs for the second-rate cafe across the street, which gets points for cheekiness, if not coffee; if you're reading this, Coffee At Goswell Road baristas, I miss you!)? The burrito stand in Exmouth Market? Will the publisher of that half-finished series of books I love last long enough to finish it?
And then there's the environmental question: how bad? How fast? Will the Thames estuary flood? Will the Gulf Stream stall? Is it insane to contemplate buying any house at sea level, at any price?
What are you telling yourself? How are you all sleeping at night? Are you hedging your bets with canned goods and shotguns, or plans for urban communal farming? Are you starting a business? Restructuring through bankruptcy? Moving back in with your parents?
My favorite Spider Robinson aphorism is "Shared joy is increased, shared pain is lessened." Jump into the comments and tell us about your plans, dreams, denial and successes.
(Image: Pay us what you think our food is worth sign, cafe, Farringdon Road, Clerkenwell, London, UK from my Flickr stream)
Under cover of darkness last night, Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on the social networking site’s blog that it would “return to our previous terms of use while we resolve the issues that people have raised.”
Oh, this is just too good to resist. Therefore, BoomTown shall not tarry in our ongoing job of busting the chops of the young Facebook leader, whose minions have actually–and I am not joking here–given him the nickname: The Wizard.
Well, the Wizard obviously had to pull back the curtain last night and show some serious mea culpa to the people, before they got out the pitchforks.
That’s due to the controversy Facebook has been embroiled in this week about changes it recently made to its its Terms of Service that gave the company unusually sweeping rights over customers’ content and privacy.
While Zuckerberg had said his first post about the issue that Facebook was not in the content-stealing business, the strong language in the ToS had sent the usual suspects into a major meltdown over the possibility that the young geek had gone into full-scale evil mogul mode.
As if!
In fact, Zuckerberg has been ensconced in his Silicon Valley lair for years now, counting down until he knows precisely everything about everyone’s drunken college days!
Until D-Day then, here is my translation of his latest backtracking post:
What the Wizard wrote: Update on Terms
by Mark Zuckerberg
Today at 10:17 pm
Translation: Ok, I have reached my limit of being yelled at by Sheryl and Elliot, have had my usual breakfast of Red Bull and Frosted Flakes–they’re grrreat!–and am ready to eat some major digital crow this morning.
I mean, night, which is my morning, because I actually slept through all this noise today about this whole Terms of Service “controversy.”
What the Wizard wrote: A couple of weeks ago, we revised our terms of use hoping to clarify some parts for our users. Over the past couple of days, we received a lot of questions and comments about the changes and what they mean for people and their information. Based on this feedback, we have decided to return to our previous terms of use while we resolve the issues that people have raised.
Translation: Did you know crow is delicious if you eat it with a little Bosco on top?
More to the point, I would just like to assure you that we have taken our lawyers–who idiotically rewrote our ToS to give us ownership rights to the Bible, “American Idol” and everything Bill O’Reilly utters–and sent them over to our friends at MySpace, because their owner, News Corp. (NWS), already owns two of those three [and also this site!]
What the Wizard wrote: Many of us at Facebook spent most of today discussing how best to move forward. One approach would have been to quickly amend the new terms with new language to clarify our positions further. Another approach was simply to revert to our old terms while we begin working on our next version. As we thought through this, we reached out to respected organizations to get their input.
Translation: As in: More yelling by Sheryl and Elliott and more Fedexing of lawyers to MySpace HQ in Beverly Hills.
But after we calmed down, we all decided the best course of action was to shoot ourselves in the right foot to stop the bleeding from when we shot our left foot before.
We are, of course, completely out of feet now, so if these hijinks continue, sooner or later, someone is going to lose an eye. By someone, I mean, um, me.
What the Wizard wrote: Going forward, we’ve decided to take a new approach towards developing our terms. We concluded that returning to our previous terms was the right thing for now. As I said yesterday, we think that a lot of the language in our terms is overly formal and protective so we don’t plan to leave it there for long.
Translation: Facebook, of course, never had any intent of stealing content and copyright! Perish the thought! After all, that’s the job of Google (GOOG)!
By contrast, ours is to collect incredibly embarrassing photos of everyone in the United States, until one of them runs for President and then our nefarious scheme to control the world begins.
We were planning on blackmailing the world for one billllliiiion dollars then, but Microsoft kind of forked over 15 times that without any pressure.
Still, we would like to own Palo Alto, Ca. and get free parking 24/7, so there will be demands!
Until then, enjoy the sheep-throwing. Mwaahahahahahahaha! (Quick visual: I am petting my white cat right now with Ernst Stavro Blofeld-like evil glee and am, of course, cackling.)
What the Wizard wrote: More than 175 million people use Facebook. If it were a country, it would be the sixth most populated country in the world. Our terms aren’t just a document that protect our rights; it’s the governing document for how the service is used by everyone across the world. Given its importance, we need to make sure the terms reflect the principles and values of the people using the service.
Translation: Not to be completely and utterly arrogant or anything, but we just passed Pakistan and those Brazilians better get ready to samba.
By the way, once we get to #1–look out, China!–we plan on decreeing that everyone in the world speak Pig Latin and that forthwith it will be Flip-Flop Fridays.
Also: Esyay, Iway amway anway alienway omfray anotherway anetplay.
What the Wizard wrote: Our next version will be a substantial revision from where we are now. It will reflect the principles I described yesterday around how people share and control their information, and it will be written clearly in language everyone can understand. Since this will be the governing document that we’ll all live by, Facebook users will have a lot of input in crafting these terms.
Translation: Ybay ethay ayway, “Otay Ervesay Anmay”? It’sway away ookbookcay.
In other words, I am sure you will make delicious contributions, after which Facebook will “invite” you to our worldwide HQ to share in a lovely meal.
Especially those Winklevii. I look forward to the twins coming by soon!
What the Wizard wrote: You have my commitment that we’ll do all of these things, but in order to do them right it will take a little bit of time. We expect to complete this in the next few weeks. In the meantime, we’ve changed the terms back to what existed before the February 4th change, which was what most people asked us for and was the recommendation of the outside experts we consulted.
Translation: To my credit, I did give much quicker than with the Beacon ad snafu. And you thought I learned nothing during that debacle!
And, by outside experts, I mean Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer, who yells much, much louder than Sheryl or Elliot combined.
What the Wizard wrote: If you’d like to get involved in crafting our new terms, you can start posting your questions, comments and requests in the group we’ve created—Facebook Bill of Rights and Responsibilities. I’m looking forward to reading your input.
Translation: Here’s my first pass, based on the U.S. Bill of Rights, Amendment I:
Facebook shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition Faebook for a redress of grievances.*
*Exceptway, ithway ymay ompletecay iscretionday, enwhay Iway
ecideday otherwiseway.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Today I'd like to talk about 'haters'. I've encountered quite a few in my time and you may have too.
Haters are folks who hate your very existence for no apparent reason. There you are just minding your own business when a hater appears and starts to do or say things that get on your nut. I used to get depressed by these folks for a while until I realized that they all were a piece of the jigsaw puzzle that was needed to get me to where I am now. We actually need haters.
I'm going to talk about two particular haters and how they indirectly helped me.
One was a half Korean/Japanese classmate at university who was native-ish Japanese but didn't learn Korean as a child.
During class I spoke to him as a friend but learned from others how he would suddenly bring up the subject of "Hey you know that Danny? He's such an idiot. Why does he need to learn Korean?" I was surprised to learn how much he hated me!
One day in class, while I was struggling reading some Korean text, he suddenly stood up in class and shouted (in Japanese) "Look! Why don't you just study more! You are keeping the whole class behind!"
The experience left me embarrassed and shaking with anger. It's an experience that I don't purposely choose to remember but can recall it like it was yesterday. I read somewhere that emotional experiences can be easily recalled because when one is emotional, some sort of hormone is released which makes it easier to remember experiences and fixes that time and space in memory - this is the reason why most of your emotional memories (sorrow, happiness, anger) can be replayed clearly. Me not an expert on the subject or terminology though.
Was depressed about the experience but the sadness and anger wasn't doing me any good. I decided to use that energy instead to focus on improving my Korean just as the guy suggested. Spent every ounce of my time learning new grammar patterns and absorbing myself in the language just like I did when learning Japanese. A few weeks after the experience, my effort was beginning to pay off.The teacher would basically be going over grammar patterns from the textbook that we done homework from but I made sure that I studied a few chapters ahead and also made the use of other text books. I would be asked to complete a sentence using some new grammar pattern but I would always use new stuff which I studied on my own.
"Very good! Danny! Chal Haesumnida! Everybody, repeat after Danny..." I felt like a kid back in primary school being praised by the teacher for being able to spell "d-o-l-p-h-i-n."
That guys face would stiffen up and turn bright red as he clenched his pen which dug deep into his notebook and I made sure that he didn't have the pleasure of me not looking at him. I guess those who laugh last really do laugh the longest.
The next hater was a lovely piece of work. We were both hired at the same time and he was chosen to be my boss. Everything seemed to be going well until we started to work with each other. He didn't have any previous management experience and took the "I'm-your-boss-so-shut-up-and-listen-to-what-I-say" model. I had just started out in my career and was fine with that and had no problem with taking orders.
I've always been the one to take initiative and tend to do stuff which I think will benefit the company even though its not necessarily in my job description.
My boss however was the type who just wanted to get work done and go home. He really had no passion for what he was doing. I initially heard him arguing with the General Manager that 70,000 USD salary wasn't enough to support himself, his wife and two kids. I'm guessing that he felt his pay didn't cover managing a subordinate who wanted to do stuff outside his job description.
One day, after reporting back to him on a project that the General Manager was pleased with, he slammed his fists on my desk and shouted "Stop Fu*cking wasting my fu*cking time!" - it was another one of those "in-front-of-everybody" thing. I remember blood rushing to my head and feeling dizzy after. Never been so humiliated in my life. The office was silent and the air tense with the other employees not knowing how to react. I was in tears.
Feeling sorry for myself wasn't doing any good so I started to look for solutions. By this time, I had also felt that I was outgrowing my role and It was a small company. I soon realized that I needed to explore opportunities outside.
I started to meet with recruiters who introduced me to many companies. Meeting with these folks helped me grow quickly. My network started to grow over night and I also learned many interviewee techniques. For job positions which I've turned down, the prospective employer would always want to keep in touch. I still keep in touch with recruiters/head hunters and some of them still ask me if I'm available or know somebody who is.
I also started to learn what my market value was given my skills and experience. Knowing your market value is essential in making a successful career for yourself.
In the end, I had placed myself in a different company but before I left my current company, they fired my boss - not only for treating me like poo on the shoe but also for several other counts of professional misconduct. I was young at the time and while I knew I was outgrowing my role, I didn't take initiative to look for external opportunities until indirectly pushed by my lovely boss. I thank him for being a piece of my life jigsaw puzzle.
These days however, my haters are mostly of the online variety. My theories as to why folks start to hate you are:-
- Human instinct is to protect him/herself. You see this reaction if somebody falls over - their arms naturally extend to protect them from the fall. If a human feels threatened by your existence, they may try to harm you directly or indirectly.
- Humans with low self esteem may find that attacking you makes them feel better about themselves as it 'places them above you.' I notice this *a lot* on the Japanese Internet. Many folks in Japanese society are given the "I'm-your-boss-so-shut-up-and-listen-to-what-I-say" treatment - needless to say that they feel like poo on the shoe when they get home. They then proceed to take it out on people/companies on the Internet with foul language. This form of gang bashing is known as "Matsuri" which literally means "Festival" - a group of folks having a good time bashing others.
I also personally experienced this form of hatred at school too. I was a quiet weak child who was brought up with foster parents who bullied me at home too - didn't exactly leave me feeling confident at school. Haters took advantage of this fact to make them feel better about themselves.
- Many humans hate the unknown. And because something is unknown, the only means a hater has to protect themselves is hatred which they try to use to expel you.
- Some humans may 'blame' you for how well you are doing at school or in society and see you as the cause of their current predicaments. You do well because of your hard work while others want your abilities (or what you have) by doing nothing. Jealousy is a trait that can even be seen in animals but if they could learn how to feel good about themselves, they need not be jealous of anything or anybody.
- Some humans hate you for not being how they want you to be. In their mind they have already decided how certain sets of humans should behave and when you are being just you and not behaving as they expect, they will hate you because you are not meeting their expectations. They could possibly see this as a threat to them because they don't know how to handle people who are not in their presets.
- Another reason why humans may choose you as a target of hatred is because they use you as a benchmark to 'do better' than you. This is annoying and a compliment at the same time :-) I see this going on between companies. A particular company that I worked at hated another company and used them as a benchmark.
- Some humans may hate you due to some sort of misunderstanding. I always employ and encourage open communication especially for sensitive topics. If the hater is somebody you care about, take the initiative to try to find out the cause of you being hated as it could be something over something very silly indeed.
My observations of haters are:-
- Haters linger - they want to know what you are doing/saying and this probably goes back to my theory of them perceiving you as a threat. If you are online, they will visit your site regularly and if your hater is a real life offline hater then they will try to find out what you are up to - could be through mutual friends.
- I have come across many haters who start to believe that things you say or do is directed at them. My theory is that they either want you to acknowledge the hatred that they have for you or gain sympathy or recognition from peers - they do this by picking out something you say or do and believe it is directed at them somehow. This probably makes them feel special which could stem from them blaming you for their current position or situation in society.
- Haters will let as many people as possible know how much they hate you. My theory is that they try to recruit the sympathy of fellows which makes them feel wanted and recognized.
- Online haters never use their real name - they usually hide behind an online identity. Being 'invisible' means that a hater can poke n tease at you without you knowing who they are and this may give them extreme heightened levels of pleasure which may make up for their distress at their current predicament in society.
- People who are initially friends can become your best haters. I have experienced this behavior on and offline. I had a few previous colleagues who started off being friendly and turning into monsters! But at the same time, I knew initial haters who turned out to be incredibly good buddies too.
So how about me? Who do I hate? Well I used to hate Ichiro (yes Ichiro ^^;) after I saw a clip on TV of him being horrible to fans who traveled to Seattle from Japan to see him. I feel like a complete pratt thinking that I used to hate somebody who is so far away from me and who I don't even know. I don't hate anybody these days because hating people does not really do anything for me. Hating somebody uses up time and some form of life energy which I would rather be using to focus on my own life.
So what should you do about that person at school or work that hates you for no apparent reason? Well there is a reason they hate you but its probably because you are just being yourself and you should never have to change yourself to please them. I tried to change myself to please my bullies by asking them to punch me - they punched but I was never part of their clan and glad I didn't end up like them.
If you are on the end of being hated, have a look at some of the reasons above and hopefully there will be some comments of advice too which will help you deal with your situation. You should continue to focus on the things that you need to do that contributes to *your* life. Its still day one for all of us and we are always learning and growing in this game of life. Haters may initially get on your nut but you should realize that they are there for a reason and that fate has made them into a piece of your jigsaw puzzle that slowly gets completed as you go through life.
Society has all walks of people and we would never be able to successfully get through life without experiencing haters and learning how to deal with them. Remember that we need haters to help us grow and that they are in your life for a reason. You must work out what that reason is and learn how to deal with them. By understanding that its most probably because they are jealous, scared or need attention will help you define how to deal with them.
What you must not do is spend large amounts of time worrying or thinking about the people who hate you. This is your life and not theirs. You should not waste your precious life on people who hate you and focus on your beautiful life that you have ahead of you.
If you are happy, passionate about what you do and enjoying the variety of life then you will realize how insignificant haters are compared to the wonderful life you have.
Article and photo plucked from my Motivational Articles.
Andrew Gordon [booooooom]
Last week's episode of Quirks and Quarks, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's national science radio program, had a fascinating segment on the role of vasopressin in monogamous commitment. Males in some species of pair-bonding mammals have their lifelong attachment triggered by vasopressin release, and studies of men in monogamous relationships find a correlation between low vasopressin levels and high levels of marital strife.
The whole program is really fascinating, covering the science of pheromones, the role that estrogen plays in female fidelity, and many other romantic elements of science.
The word Itasha describes a car that has been plastered with stickers of anime (Japanese cartoons) or eroge (Japanese dating sims) characters.
"Itasha" literally means "painful car" and comes from the feeling that one would usually be painfully embarrassed to drive around in one. "Itasha" also means Italian Car.
You can see a whole bunch of these Itasha that I snapped a while ago.
But, not only are some Japanese folks most creative when it comes to decorating their car, they be also creative when it comes to car accessories too - as you can see from the photo below...
Would you drive around in an Itasha?Five major UK carriers are banding together to pool customer data so that it can be put into a giant database and then be used to sell advertising, The Register reports today. How long do you think it will take before this “database” idea lands on American shores? First they charge you hundreds of dollars for calls, then they sell you for pennies.
This is no different than, say, Phorm, NebuAd or any of the other tricks being cooked up by service providers in a desperate attempt to recreate Google’s business model. In the process, they are playing loose and fast with people’s privacy. Jeez, no wonder people hate their phone companies. 
The Amish have the undeserved reputation of being luddites, of people who refuse to employ new technology. It’s well known the strictest of them don’t use electricity, or automobiles, but rather farm with manual tools and ride in a horse and buggy. In any debate about the merits of embracing new technology, the Amish stand out as offering an honorable alternative of refusal. Yet Amish lives are anything but anti-technological. In fact on my several visits with them, I have found them to be ingenious hackers and tinkers, the ultimate makers and do-it-yourselfers and surprisingly pro technology.
Huaxi city centre by MAD and others
The Singularity - the prophesied moment when artificial intelligence leaps ahead of human intelligence, rendering man both obsolete and immortal - has been jokingly called “the rapture of the geeks.” But to Ray Kurzweil, the most famous of the Singularitarians, it’s no joke. In a profile in the current issue of Rolling Stone (not available online), Kurzweil describes how, in the wake of the Singularity, it will become possible not only to preserve living people for eternity (by uploading their minds into computers) but to resurrect the dead.
Kurzweil looks forward in particular to his reunion with his beloved father, Fredric, who died in 1970. “Kurzweil’s most ambitious plan for after the Singularity,” writes Rolling Stone’s David Kushner, “is also his most personal”:
Burlingame, Calif. - Wednesday would be a really bad day for Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive Mark Hurd to break his winning streak. Central bankers around the globe are sweatily trying to revive faltering banks. Politicians are passing stimulus packages. Consumers are seeing the values of their homes tank.
Luckily, Hewlett-Packard (nyse: HPQ - news - people ) has a man at the top now who could be called Maalox in human form. Over the past four years, Hurd has reshaped a company once known for its manic earnings swings into a steady-earning powerhouse and the world’s largest information technology provider. BernsteinResearch notes that HP has met or beaten the guidance Hurd has laid down for the company’s performance, and then guided earnings-per-share expectations up, every quarter since he became HP’s chief in 2005.
The cellphone is the world’s most ubiquitous computer. The four billion cellphones in use around the globe carry personal information, provide access to the Web and are being used more and more to navigate the real world. And as cellphones change how we live, computer scientists say, they are also changing how we think about information.
It has been 25 years since the desktop, with its files and folders, was introduced as a way to think about what went on inside a personal computer. The World Wide Web brought other ways of imagining the flow of data. With the dominance of the cellphone, a new metaphor is emerging for how we organize, find and use information. New in one sense, that is. It is also as ancient as humanity itself. That metaphor is the map.
"There's always a way out."
[Thanks, Heather!]
The mobile web sucks
2012: Year of the Universal Mobile Charger?!
Kisai Sensai watch: Don’t expect to be able to read it.
Toys: ‘Duck Hunter’ looks awesome
Think your satellite dish is secure? It’s not.
All known Palm Pre features
 New York Times | Offerpal Media Secures $15 Million in Financing to Drive Growth ... MSNBC - FREMONT, CA - Offerpal Media, the leading monetization platform for social applications, online communities, social games, virtual worlds and mobile applications, announced today the close of a $15 million Series B round of financing. Offerpal Media raises $15 million for social monetization platform Social Media Ad Firm Offerpal Media Raises $15 Million |
 CNET News | Smarter Shooting With 8 New Sony Cybershot Models MSNBC - This season's latest additions to the Sony digital camera range look as good as the sensational images they produce. If you're passionate about colourful, high-fashion styling and smart technology, look no further than the Sony Cybershot T900 and T90. Sony's New Cybershot Cameras Boost HD Recording Option Sony Unveils "Smarter" Cyber-shot Cameras |
Isn’t it ironic that Facebook, which is so often used by groups of people to protest and demand changes for just about anything, has reverted to its former Terms Of Services under pressure of the community?
After trying to calm everyone down first, Mark Zuckerberg has now posted a new blog post stating that the company will revert to its previous ToS while they “resolve the issues that people have raised” (the post is being hammered right now so it’s going up and down).
The company has even polled some of its users in news feeds asking them if they should go back to their previous ToS.
According to the young CEO, it’s a language thing and they just did a poor job explaining the changes. But those changes will still be coming in the next few weeks, this time including the Facebook user community to make sure everyone can live with it / gets it (I always thought it was impossible to please everyone, but anyway):
Our next version will be a substantial revision from where we are now. It will reflect the principles I described yesterday around how people share and control their information, and it will be written clearly in language everyone can understand. Since this will be the governing document that we’ll all live by, Facebook users will have a lot of input in crafting these terms.
You have my commitment that we’ll do all of these things, but in order to do them right it will take a little bit of time. We expect to complete this in the next few weeks. In the meantime, we’ve changed the terms back to what existed before the February 4th change, which was what most people asked us for and was the recommendation of the outside experts we consulted.
Update: Barry Schnitt, Senior Manager, Corporate Communications and Public Policy at Facebook, weighed in on the discussion on the “People Against the new Terms of Service (TOS)” group.
Facebook has set up a group for its “Bill Of Rights”, where people will be able to provide feedback on the ToS changes. Only 2,000 people have joined the group at the time of this writing.
This isn’t the first time the company backtracks on a decision that got its users and outsiders all riled up. Beacon, anyone?
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Late tonight, Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted a blog entry, saying the popular social networking site would “return to our previous terms of use while we resolve the issues that people have raised.”
Facebook has been embroiled in a controversy this week about its Terms of Service–essentially, a Web site’s rules that users must abide by while using an online service–after recent changes gave it more sweeping rights over customers’ content and privacy.
While BoomTown in no way thinks Facebook had any intention of asserting copyright ownership over intellectual property posted by users, the language was strong enough to make such a thing possible and went much further than other sites on the issue.
My guess: It was more likely a case of lawyers gone wild.
Facebook’s Zuckerberg said in a post yesterday that the service had made the changes in the first place, in order to archive posts and other content users had shared with each others, even after such material was deleted.
“When a person shares something like a message with a friend, two copies of that information are created—one in the person’s sent messages box and the other in their friend’s inbox. Even if the person deactivates their account, their friend still has a copy of that message,” he wrote in his first post.
To be fair, Zuckerberg also had noted: “Our philosophy is that people own their information and control who they share it with.”
But, the fact that Facebook had still given itself such wide-ranging rights over content, whatever the reason, had caused a nuclear explosion online among users, privacy advocates, content owners and the media.
Thus, in full backtracking mode tonight, Zuckerberg returned Facebook’s ToS back to its previous version, pending new wording. He also said a new “Facebook Bill of Rights and Responsibilities” (you can join here) was on the way and asked for user input.
Viva La Revolución! I vote for no more SuperPoking!
Here is the whole blog and here is a link to it on Facecook too:
Update on Terms
by Mark Zuckerberg
Today at 10:17 pm
A couple of weeks ago, we revised our terms of use hoping to clarify some parts for our users. Over the past couple of days, we received a lot of questions and comments about the changes and what they mean for people and their information. Based on this feedback, we have decided to return to our previous terms of use while we resolve the issues that people have raised.
Many of us at Facebook spent most of today discussing how best to move forward. One approach would have been to quickly amend the new terms with new language to clarify our positions further. Another approach was simply to revert to our old terms while we begin working on our next version. As we thought through this, we reached out to respected organizations to get their input.
Going forward, we’ve decided to take a new approach towards developing our terms. We concluded that returning to our previous terms was the right thing for now. As I said yesterday, we think that a lot of the language in our terms is overly formal and protective so we don’t plan to leave it there for long.
More than 175 million people use Facebook. If it were a country, it would be the sixth most populated country in the world. Our terms aren’t just a document that protect our rights; it’s the governing document for how the service is used by everyone across the world. Given its importance, we need to make sure the terms reflect the principles and values of the people using the service.
Our next version will be a substantial revision from where we are now. It will reflect the principles I described yesterday around how people share and control their information, and it will be written clearly in language everyone can understand. Since this will be the governing document that we’ll all live by, Facebook users will have a lot of input in crafting these terms.
You have my commitment that we’ll do all of these things, but in order to do them right it will take a little bit of time. We expect to complete this in the next few weeks. In the meantime, we’ve changed the terms back to what existed before the February 4th change, which was what most people asked us for and was the recommendation of the outside experts we consulted.
If you’d like to get involved in crafting our new terms, you can start posting your questions, comments and requests in the group we’ve created—Facebook Bill of Rights and Responsibilities (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=69048030774). I’m looking forward to reading your input.
Today the Pirate Bay are on trial, and we are proud to support them with this trial edition of Steal This Film. STF 'Trial edition' contains unseen footage, including Brokep and Tiamo preparing for the trial, and re-enactments of their police interviews.STEAL THIS FILM: DOWNLOAD THE TRIAL EDITION (via Waxy)
Dr. Phil bakes the best cookies
(Thanks, Marilyn!)
Brickchair
(via Cribcandy)
Slovak porcelain and product designer Martin Bu
(via Cribcandy)
AFP - Executives from Ontario-based telecoms firm Research in Motion (RIM) -- makers of the BlackBerry -- have agreed to pay fines of at least 1.4 million US dollars following a financial watchdog's probe into its stock issuing practices.
Section: Computers, Mobile Computers, Netbooks
We got to give it to LG for bringing their new netbook, the LG-X120 at the ongoing Mobile World Congress. Whereas everybody else is launching new mobile phones, LG demoed its netbook instead. But we certainly understand the logic for this.
LG wants to market the X120 netbook as part of the mobile world, plain and simple. And what better time to show off a device being marketed as a mobile device but during an event where mobile phones take center stage. So, if our previous hands-on report about the LG-X120 left you longing for more information about this new netbook, let’s dig deeper into LG’s announcement and see what more new things we could get from it.
So, what are we looking at here? A 1.3 megapixel webcam, 10-inch LED backlit display, 1.3kgs weight, 160GB HDD, SRS WOW HD and TruSurround XT for sound playback, Smart-Link technology and USB cable connectivity, MP3 player, Photo Viewer and a slew of mobile Internet programs. Those are pretty standard netbook features.
Of course, we also have to mention one key feature of the LG-X120 which is probably the reason why LG brought this netbook to the WMC in Barcelona—the 3G HSPA connectivity features. Also worth mentioning is its fast loading Smart-On interface that loads up the netbook’s applications menu in five seconds. Design-wise, the LG-X120 sport a soft textured, white finish with fingerprint and scratch resistant matte surface.
LG also said that the X120 has an improved battery life of 3.5 hours for the 3-cell battery and 7 hours for a model with 6-cell battery. If those usage time entice you enough to get the X120 netbook, you have to wait up until March when LG releases the X120 in Europe.
Sorry folks, LG has not divulged the pricing details of the X120 netbook yet.
Read [LG PR]
Snapstream, who brought us BeyondTV and Snapstream Enterprise, has launched a more budget-friendly standalone TV search engine appliance for enterprises. The Snapstream Mini costs $2000 ($6000 less than the original Snapstream Server) and offers most of the capabilities of the more expensive product. One of the main differentiators is memory capacity; the Mini offers a little over 1000 hours of recordable content whereas the server product allows 2300 hours of recordings.
The Snapstream Enterprise products are a cross between a powerful DVR and a search engine. The Snapstream allows enterprises to record thousands of hours of TV (from both satellite and digital cable sources) and search inside the recordings for keywords such as a company or individual's name. The interface looks and feels like a consumer DVR so it's pretty easy to use. The product allow multiple users to schedule and search inside recording via a laptop, desktop or through the TV itself. Users can record several shows at once (the Mini allows two shows simultaneously, the Server allows up to 10 shows to be recorded at the same time) and have email alerts sent to users when a search item is mentioned. The products also allows users to trim and clip the records, email a clip url and burn recording onto a DVD.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
FROM APPLETELL - As soon as it’s available, Toshiba’s newly announced 240GB hard drive will be available for replacement in 5G iPods. MORE »
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Just when I thought it was safe to relax and read a little bit, my inbox lights up with a damn tidal wave of point-and-shoots. If you’re in the market, you’ll be doing more in-depth research and of course the outliers of this batch will be tested and compared to others, so for the moment we’ll just take a quick look at their styling, specs, and standout features. Couldn’t have released this information at a decent hour, eh Canon?
The cameras look just fine, but the only one that’s at all exciting is the D10. Waterproof, freezeproof, and shockproof, more or less like we heard.
Features shared by nearly all of these cameras include:
And you can thank Canon for having so much white space in their pictures. Come on!
PowerShot SX1 IS and SX200 IS
Their pair of Superzooms starts with the unbelievably expensive SX1.
Then there is the SX200. More compact, smaller zoom.
PowerShot D10
Here’s an interesting one. The D10 is waterproof to 33ft, freeze-resistant down to 14 degrees Fahrenheit, and shockproof from anywhere below 4ft. Its more prosaic stats:
PowerShot SD970 IS, SD960 IS, SD780 IS and SD1200
The S960 and SD780 were leaked earlier today, their stats are there. As for the SD970:
The SD 1200 is the entry level ELPH camera. Stay away from this one.
PowerShot A2100 IS, A1100 IS and A480
The budget series for “the tentative first timer.” You’re probably better off going with last year’s SD series cameras on sale rather than buying budget new ones. Nevertheless, here are their vital statistics.
A2100
A1100
A480
If you simply must have more data, feel free to comb through the press release here.
And now, back to Dickens.
With upwards of 200,000 wedding vendors in the U.S. alone, the wedding industry can be both fiercely competitive and highly profitable for businesses. A new website, WeddingBook, is attempting to become a highly comprehensive search aggregator for or U.S. wedding vendors by offering highly exposed listings for free.
WeddingBook allows vendors to list an advertisement on the site without the “pay-to-play” stipulation commonly used. For example, one of WeddingBook’s most established competitors, The Knot, requires vendors to pay listing and lead fees to advertise services on the sites.
WeddingBook allows any local wedding vendor to create a listing and a web page, including pricing information and service details. But nothing comes entirely for free. If a bride-to-be decides to “request a proposal” from a particular vendor listed on WeddingBook and the vendor wants to submit a proposal to the potential customer, the vendor will pay a “modest” fee to WeddingBook. Fees are determined by the revenue opportunity and geography of a vendor. For example, an event space will not be charged the same fee as a photographer.
So, will this work?
Perhaps. Already, WeddingBook has 65,000 listings compared to The Knot’s 16,000 listings. WeddingBook’s search options are very comprehensive and useful to consumers. Brides can use a filtering tool not only to narrow vendors by location but also by budget parameters. The filtering tools also change according to vendor. For example, a user can search for a photographer by a preferred type of shooting style, the availability to see online proofs, or the ability to work with additional staff on the wedding day. Vendors can also be recommended by other vendors on the site or reviewed by consumers.
CEO and founder John Dillon launched WeddingBook in the fall of 2007 and has spent the last year and a half recruiting vendors, which he said wasn’t difficult with his new business model. The site received an undisclosed angel round of funding from TripAdvisor founder and CEO Stephen Kaufer; Dan Saul, founder of Smarter Travel Media; and others. Dillon says that while fellow wedding websites, like The Knot, offer valuable content and advice for brides-to-be, WeddingBook will focus exclusively on what they do best: perhaps becoming the TripAdvisor for weddings?
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1898: Enzo Ferrari is born in Modena, Italy. He'll achieve fame as the builder of racing cars and sports cars.
"An institution is the lengthened shadow of one man," Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, and perhaps nowhere is that more true than at Ferrari, the legendary Italian auto company that perfectly reflects the passions of its founder, Enzo Ferrari.
Few loom larger in the history of motor sports than Enzo Ferrari and the company that bears his name. In more than 100 years of motor racing, no one can match the accomplishments — or the influence — that Il Commendatore has had on racing and sports cars. His records are legion, his legends many, his stories timeless. He is a singular presence, a man who during his 70 years in motor sports often made even his best rivals look like talented amateurs.
Ferrari's father, Alfredo, ran a local metal-fabricating business, and young Enzo dreamed of being an opera singer. When he realized he had no ear for music, he pursued his other great passion: auto racing. That passion was sparked as a boy of just 10 when he saw Vincenzo Lancia battle Felice Nazarro in the 1908 Circuit di Bologna. It burned with ever-greater intensity for the next 80 years.
His racing career started as a driver for CMC, a little-known and long-since-defunct Italian auto company, in 1919. He went to Alfa Romeo a year later, developing and driving its race cars until World War II. It wasn't until 1947 that the first car to bear the Ferrari name hit the track.
The company has been racing ever since. Two salient facts stand out regarding the impact Enzo Ferrari had on racing and sports cars, which in his mind were inextricably linked. First, Ferrari has always employed the best drivers. Both Ascaris: Antonio the father and Alberto the son. Giuseppe Campari. The mercurial Achille Varzi. The maestro, Juan Manuel Fangio. Phil Hill. John Surtees. Nino Vaccarella. Mario Andretti. Niki Lauda. Alain Prost. Gilles Villeneuve. Michael Schumacher, who won an unprecedented five consecutive Formula 1 championships for the Scuderia. And of course, the best that ever was: Tazio Nuvolari.
They all joined Ferrari because they knew winning was the only thing that mattered there. Ferrari sought more than victory. He sought utter domination of the sport. And he did so only with his own cars, designed to his exacting specifications and often, like the 250 GTO, beautiful to behold.
More often than not they had big V-12 engines with an exhaust note that sounded like tearing silk. Sure, Ferraris have raced — and won — with V-10s and V-8s. Even a V-6 appeared in the Dino, but the company is most famous for its beautiful 12-cylinder engines.
Ferrari considered engine building an art, and to race someone else's engine — as drivers like Colin Chapman and Bruce McLaren did with great success — was the ultimate heresy. Ferrari had names for such people — Garagiste! Assembliatore! — and he used them like epithets.
The second fact is Ferrari is unique among car manufacturers. Automakers go racing so they can sell more cars. Ferrari sells cars so it can go racing. It's been that way since the first road-going Ferrari, the 166 Inter, was built in 1949. More than 36 percent of the sale price of every Ferrari that leaves a showroom goes directly to the F1 team. It used to be 100 percent before Ferrari partnered with Fiat in 1969.
No other automaker — not Porsche, not Lamborghini, not Jaguar or Aston Martin, and certainly not such prosaic companies like Detroit's Big Three or the Japanese automakers — approach that level of commitment. For Enzo Ferrari and the company he built, racing is, and always will be, the fundamental reason for its existence.
That's not to say Ferrari doesn't build sweet road cars. One after another, they've set benchmarks for performance and become classics sought by collectors. The Inter. The America and Superamerica touring with their big V-12 engines. The 250 Lusso, one of the most beautiful cars Pininfarina ever designed. The California, Daytona and the exquisite Dino, named for Ferrari's son who died of muscular dystrophy at age 24. The F40, the first street-legal production car to exceed 200 mph. More recently, we've seen the Enzo, which is for all intents an F1 car for the street, and the technological marvel that is the F430.
These cars perform flawlessly on the road because they were bred on the track, just as Enzo insisted. Such performance and exclusivity is why Ferrari, even in these uncertain economic times, still sells every car it builds to customers who will happily wait months, if not years, to get one.
Ezno Ferrari died in 1988 at his home in Maranello, which sat in the infield of Fiorano, his company's private test track.
Source: Various
Not a whole lot of information on exactly why, but Logitech announced recently that they are delaying their new top of the line keyboard, the G19, until May. Given the amount of tech that’s going into this thing, I’m not surprised that they’re having issues.
Something is up at TV.com, the CBS-owned site that recently relaunched as a competitor to Hulu. Since last summer, when TV.com was owned by CNET and was still primarily a community hub, the site has featured content from NBC and News Corp through a partnership with Hulu. Now, only two months after TV.com relaunched as a CBS-supported direct competitor to the popular media portal, it looks like much (if not all) of the content served through Hulu is no longer working.
Both clips and full episodes formerly supplied through the agreement simply present a note stating “video unavailable”. It’s possible that this is just a technical glitch - TV.com would have likely removed any links to the episodes entirely if the agreement had come to an end. But the videos have been unavailable since at least this morning, which seems like a long time to fix a bug. And other video sites like Comcast’s Fancast and Sling.com seem to be serving Hulu content just fine.
If Hulu has in fact ceased its agreement with TV.com, it would be a big blow to the rapidly growing site. TV.com does offer other content, including shows from CBS, MGM, Sony, Endemol, USA, PBS and Showtime, but many fan-favorites are still found on NBC, Fox, and other networks Hulu has partnered with.
We’ve attempted to contact Hulu about the issue, and will update the post as soon as we hear back.
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Section: Communications, Accessories, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, VoIP, Mobile, Gadgets / Other, Lifestyle
We all know the name Dolby is generally synonymous for high quality sound. Now, Dolby Labs just announced at the 2009 GSMA Mobile World Congress details about a Media Generator. Sounds pretty darn impressive doesn’t it?
So what is this Media Generator? It’s a “preprocessing and encoding solution for mobile multimedia content.“ So what this means is that is uses specific coding efficiencies. These efficiencies make file sizes smaller while at the same time helping to deliver great sound. This part of the whole Dolby release is actually geared toward service providers and content distributors, not joe schmoe phone user-although it obviously will affect him or her.
Media Generator will also feature Dolby Pulse, which is an audio codec. It works to combine HE AAC with Dolby’s experience and track record in sound to deliver top of the line end-to-end software integrations. HE ACC is a very widely used 3GPP standard; and it is already used by four of the five top makers of handsets.
Dolby also displayed the latest technology of Dolby Mobile with the LG Arena. Currently, Dolby Mobile is available worldwide on eleven different phones, including the LG Renoir as well as the Arena, and nine different Sharp models.
Rolf Schmitz, Marketing Director, Mobile, Dolby Laboratories says “We are committed to providing a more immersing experience to mobile entertainment consumers. Dolby Mobile and Dolby Media Generator are intended to make mobile entertainment more compelling. These technologies are designed to work together, and can help the industry create products and services that will deliver a superior entertainment experience from content creation to content playback.”
The LG Arena, (LG’s newest model for 2009), is the first to use Dolby Mobile for surround sound for video content and to make users music come even more alive. Go Dolby and LG. Better sound is always a good thing.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
FROM APPLETELL - Parking App’s got a clean, easy-to-use interface with some truly useful features to help prevent a parking ticket. This is a tool that will come in handy for any driver who regularly has to deal with meters. MORE »
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DiFusion Technologies, a medical device company based out of Austin, Texas, has developed a silver ion technology called CleanFUZE, designed to prevent infection after orthopedic procedures. Dr. Matthew Geck, the company’s founder, explained that “five out of 100 spine cases result in Surgical Site Infections (SSI) often leading to second surgeries that are extremely costly and difficult for the patient.” CleanFUZE could potentially save the health care system $150 million annually. The number may seem small compared to the billions of dollars thrown around on Wall Street, but it’s a start! The company plans to submit the device for approval by the FDA later this year.
The infection-fighting material used in DiFUSION’s CleanFUZE™ is a ‘super silicate’ molecule composed of antimicrobial silver ions that is compounded into the plastic spinal interbody cage. Once the CleanFUZE™ interbody cage is implanted into the spinal disc space during spinal surgery, silver ions exchange with naturally occurring sodium ions in the bloodstream and diffuse antimicrobial silver ions for a period of 4 weeks.Unlike other devices on the market, DiFUSION’s CleanFUZE™ will be capable of releasing its dosage amount over time and the rate of diffusion can be controlled by parts-per-billion. Additionally, rather than antimicrobial coatings currently used in devices, CleanFUZE™ contains antimicrobial properties embedded in the device, significantly enhancing the effectiveness.
“Larger companies have spent years and millions of dollars trying to address the SSI problem with antimicrobial coatings which do not fight infection past the first 48 hours. Our technology provides antimicrobial protection for 4 weeks due to ‘controlled cationic release’,” said Dr. Hyun Bae, a member of DiFUSION’s scientific advisory board and a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon in Santa Monica, California, specializing in minimally invasive microsurgery and the treatment of cervical and lumbar spinal disease.
When Microsoft launched "Live Workspaces" last year we were sufficiently underwhelmed. But Microsoft didn't have to wow us. The software giant could, and has been taking its time playing catch-up with web enabled productivity suites (namely Google Docs) while it continues milking the desktop software cash cow.
So far much of the competition has been centered around web apps that mimic the majority of functions users need (Google Docs, Zoho, Thinkfree, Transmedia, LiveDocuments). However, two former Microsoft employees, Shan Sinha and Alex DeNeui, are bringing web-top-like sharing and collaboration to the Microsoft Office Suite millions of people already own.
Recently, many companies have announced green initiatives and recycling programs. LG is following suit and has announced its own green products and initiatives under its a new slogan: “Life’s Good When It’s Green.” We saw the beginnings of this with their big solar and wind charger at CES.
The first is a mobile phone featuring a solar panel on the battery cover. The cell isn’t going to be able to provide much juice, but LG claims that a ten minute charge will power the phone for 3 minutes. Not bad. Especially during an emergency when your battery runs out. It can also sustain the cellphone on standby without needing to be plugged in.
The second product is a Bluetooth solar car kit that they unveiled at CES this year. It is a hands-free unit that runs on a solar cell. Should be easy to charge since it sits on your dash.
LG is also introducing eco-friendly packaging and product manuals that are made with recycled cardboard and soy inks. They’ve promised to remove all halogenated substances from their handsets by 2010 and antimony by 2012. Good stuff, LG.
Here is the press release:
Seoul (Korea Newswire) February 17, 2009 10:11 AM — LG Electronics, a worldwide technology and design leader in mobile communications, today unveiled its eco-friendly mobile phone equipped with a solar panel battery cover at the Mobile World Congress 2009. This Solar-powered handset is part of the company’s aggressive green initiative, proving LG’s commitment to creating a healthier environment for everyone.
“Using renewable solar energy in the mobile handset is an example of our ongoing efforts to help create a safer, cleaner environment for our customers,” said Dr. Skott Ahn, President and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. “LG continues to research and invest in creating products that not only provide a better experience for consumers, but also encourage an environmentally responsible lifestyle.”
The phone’s solar power system is embedded onto the battery cover, to conveniently harness the sun’s limitless and pollution-free energy. By simply pointing the phone’s solar panel at natural light, the panel will convert solar energy into electricity without needing to be plugged in. Exposing the panel to the sun for ten minutes will give the phone enough power for a three-minute call, making it the perfect companion for emergency situations when no power is available to charge a dead battery. If left in natural light for long periods, the solar panel creates enough standby power to power the phone without any charging devices. LG plans to release this eco-friendly phone in the European market at the end of this year.
LG’s green initiative has not stopped at phones. The company’s LG HFB-500 Bluetooth solar car kit, first introduced at this January’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, gives customers hands-free mobile use in a fully rechargeable solar unit. In addition, LG is introducing green packaging to its entire line of 2009 mobile handset models. The eco-friendly packaging saves natural resources and promotes easy recycling by printing with soy inks and using recycled paper and cardboard without laminate coating. LG will also expand the use of its eco-friendly product manuals, produced with soy ink and recycled paper, to a broader range of models in 2009.
LG is also taking a step forward in reducing the use of hazardous substances in its products and instead using sustainable ones. LG adheres to strict requirements administered by the EU’s RoHS regarding the management of hazardous substances including lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), hexavalent chromium (Cr6+), polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) in its production processes. The company also plans to make its mobile handsets free of halogenated substances, a known endocrine disruptor, by removing Brominated flame retardants (BFR), chlorinated flame retardants (CFR) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) from the manufacturing process by 2010 and will make all handsets antimony-free by 2012.
LG recently announced its “Life’s Good When It’s Green” initiative, the foundation of its global sustainability program at Consumer Electronics Show 2009. The worldwide program focuses on sustainability through Eco-Design and Eco-Products, the reduction of hazardous substances, responsible take-back programs and recycling facilities, and addressing global climate change.
The LG Solar-powered handset, Bluetooth solar car kit and new green packaging will all be showcased at the Mobile World Congress 2009 in Barcelona.
Section: Communications, Cellphones, Mobile
Traveling abroad is usually a great experience whether your traveling for business, school, or leisure. But talking to people back home one you get there can be a bit of an issue given the high cost of international roaming and calling. For those who travel often, it is common to have multiple phones or SIM cards, one for each country. Truphone is looking to change that situation with its new Truphone Local Anywhere service.
The service will allow international travelers to use only one phone and one SIM as long as they are in a supported country. It makes every phone call a local call, meaning you don’t have to pay those ridiculous international cell phone rates. It does this by giving multiple cell phone numbers, one for each country the user frequents, so its also cheaper for those calling you from the country you’re not in. The lowest rates are available if you call other Truphone Local Anywhere members.
There’s no current listing of countries that will be supported, but it will most likely be the US, UK, France, and other European countries. It sounds like it would be a great thing for anyone who needs to be able to talk to people in multiple countries. For Americans the only issue would be it not working with Verizon cell phones, but then again, if you need international calling, you probably don’t have Verizon.
Read [Virtual Press Office]
Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
Check out these instructions to build your own ultrasonic rangefinder. No, I’m not talking about some kind of weird DIY Leica M8. It’s a little device that simply finds the distance between it and another object.
The basic concept is like radar or sonar. You just need to know the speed of sound and measure the amount time it takes for sound waves to leave the device and bounce back. Then multiplying the time elapsed by speed and dividing by two you get the total distance to the object.
The device can be built with easy to find parts and a simple micro-controller. The instructions include source code for the micro-controller and schematic.
[via MAKE]
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Dipping a toe into the real-estate market these days can feel a lot like taking your car to the mechanic: If you don’t know what you’re doing and don’t trust the professional you hired, you may feel like someone is taking advantage of you. Thankfully, the Web’s ability to demystify intimidating topics has brought what was once considered insider real-estate knowledge to the masses.
This week, I tested Trulia.com, a real-estate site that’s geared toward helping people who are ready to buy. Trulia combines a simple approach to real estate that anyone can grasp, with enough market stats to excite number-crunching types. It also offers a community where regular users can ask 200,000 real-estate professionals questions without fear of being hounded by agents because their emails are hidden.
Trulia has been around since 2005, but started out as a site that only posted local real-estate listings in California and New York. After expanding to the national market in 2006, it added other features like pricing heat maps (color-coded to indicate prices in an area), comparable listings, an online community and automatically generated newsfeeds about specific properties and areas. Last summer, Trulia went mobile with a free iPhone app that uses GPS to find nearby open houses.
Starting Wednesday, Trulia will offer CompareIt, a tool that lets users choose five properties for sale to directly compare with one another. Before now, Trulia just generated a list of comparable properties that sold or are for sale at the bottom of a listing.
I only used Trulia for a week, and I’m not a typical buyer since I was just looking — for now. But I got a lot out of the site, especially by browsing maps of neighborhoods that I know well (I’m picky about my preferred location) and asking questions of the Trulia community. Its iPhone app listed nearby open houses according to my search criteria and also worked on my iPod touch as long as I was in a Wi-Fi zone.
Another big plus to Trulia is Newsfeed, a list that shows up on the home page with content that’s automatically generated and personalized according to your past search locations. It is updated every day and spits out stats like the number of price reductions, open houses and new listings in an area. It shows an area’s average listing price, median sales price, number of foreclosures and average price per square foot, among other things. These data are a boon for people who don’t have the time or inclination to look this stuff up, and it aggregates the data into one intelligible, quick snapshot.
I found some flaws in Trulia, like the way it accidentally listed a property that was sold five months earlier. Trulia said it relies on partners for accurate listings, and those partners get their data from Multiple Listing Services or local brokers and agents, therefore Trulia’s data are only as good as its partners’. (At least one other real-estate site also accidentally listed the already-sold condo for sale.) Another problem occurred when I tried to use the CompareIt chart on Washington, D.C., properties; Trulia said the tool doesn’t work for D.C. due to a bug that it hopes to fix. Finally, properties saved on the iPhone app won’t transfer to your Trulia Web site account. The company says it hopes to fix the iPhone issue.
One of Trulia’s competitors is Zillow.com, which displays its own price estimates for all houses in the U.S. (for sale or not) to give people an idea of the real-estate value in an area. The two sites are similar in some ways: Both show heat maps, display data about nearby schools, have mortgage calculators and use online communities to answer questions. But Zillow doesn’t offer a stat-packed Newsfeed or an iPhone app like Trulia.
After browsing through Trulia, I found a variety of properties that suited my target price range and location preferences. One place had lots of big windows and a renovated kitchen, according to the photos and information listed on its detailed Trulia Web page. A shortcut on the page made it easy for me to share this place with three friends to see what they thought. I even posed a question to the Trulia community about the property: Does this unit have a private entrance, or does it share an entrance with the five other units in the building?
Ironically, this was the property that was already sold, as I found out when a real-estate agent responded to my question. It took him just 15 minutes (Trulia says this is within five minutes of the average response time) to post a response saying that he was familiar with the listing and that the place sold five months earlier. Trulia has since updated this property’s status.
Other questions that I asked of the community were answered within 20 minutes. In one instance, I asked a general question about the best time of year to buy in Washington, D.C., and three real-estate agents responded almost immediately; two were from my area and offered their advice — and their services — but one from Florida chimed in simply to offer some encouragement. Each responder was clearly identified with a name, classification (i.e. real-estate pro) and photo. Within a couple hours, four more people responded.
These questions and answers are shared with everyone on Trulia, and I clicked on a thumbs-up icon to vote for the answer I found most helpful.
Email alerts can be set up through Trulia so you’re notified if a property you like dips below a certain price, or if there are new blog posts about certain categories like financing, crime or environmentally friendly properties.
The CompareIt tool worked to see how properties (excluding those in D.C.) stacked up against one another, up to five at a time. These charts arm people with more statistics and (likely) more negotiating power.
The real-estate world can be intimidating, now more than ever. Though sites like Trulia won’t solve this problem completely, they could make the weighty decision of buying a house a little bit easier.
Edited By Walter S. Mossberg
Gabelli & Co. analyst John Segrich today launched coverage of Suntech Power (STP) with a Sell rating and a $5 target price.
Segrich notes that Suntech has emerged as the largest Chinese solar module manufacturer; but he says the company’s stock is likely to underperform as the rapid deterioration of pricing and demand in the solar market continues amid the sharp economic downturn.
For 2009, Segrich expects the company to produce $1.95 billion in revenue, shipping 690 MW, below the company’s forecast of 800 MW or more. Segrich notes that the company’s initial response to the slowdown was to reduce volumes–but he thinks the company will drop prices aggressively in Q1 to increase utilization and maintain market share. Segrich forecasts negative free cash flow for the year of $530 million, with significantly depressed margins, as prices sink.
Wow, now this is something I can get behind: a $99 acoustic guitar and mandolin pack with free shipping. Think about it: once we reach the nadir of this depression, bloggers will have to become roving troubadours singing tales of the Silicon Bowl and busking for nickels near train depots.
Therefore, this is an excellent, economical solution for us all. Single-person blogs can just play the guitar as hoe-down musicians while multi-person blogs like this one or Politico can create blogging jug bands, trilling out the news of the day in 4/4 time with an eye towards rhyme and hyperbole.
Come gather ’round me children/A story I will tell/Bout Bernie Madoff the outlaw/Manhattan knew him well.
It was in the town of Palm Beach/Your Bubbe knows the scene/That Pretty Boy Bernie Madoff/Started up his Ponzi scheme
Use the coupon code “MusicTen” on checkout.
Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile, Gadgets / Other, Lifestyle, Web, Web Apps, Google
It seems as though HTC has been busy. Two phones released just yesterday, the Diamond2 and the Touch Pro2. Now, they’ve made magic.
At the GSMA 2009 show in Barcelona, HTC pulled a new rabbit out of their hat. Well, you might recognize the HTC Android phone as the G2, but the new pulled-out-of-a-hat-with-doves name for this is the Magic. The HTC Magic is exclusive to Vodafone in Europe right now, and there isn’t too much information leaking from the magician’s hat about it just yet.
What we do know about it is that it will feature HSPA, HSDPA/WCDMA (900/2100MHz), WiFi, and have GPS connectivity. There is also going to be a 3.2 mega-pixel camera (no flash), and what will make many happy—Cupcake will also be there. The Magic has a 3.2 inch HVGA touch screen along with a trackball navigator. However, kind of odd, it doesn’t have a slide out-QWERTY keyboard like the T-Mobile G1. With it, you’ll also have several email options (of course Gmail is one of them), as well as POP3 and IMAP accounts. Customers will be able to access the Android Market and download apps and games for their smartphone.
The Magic will appear in two colors: the UK, Spain and France market will be seeing it in white, Germany gets it in black, and Italy has a choice of either color. No set word on pricing just yet. HTC is just saying that the Magic is available “exclusive to Vodafone customers initially in UK, Spain, Germany and France (SFR) and non-exclusively in Italy” with more countries to follow later. I guess that means we U.S. folks have to wait a tad. We’ll keep you updated with more information as it comes in.
Read: [Vodafone]
Full Story » | Written by Jodie Andrefski for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
This impressive hack by IDEO labs makes a 67-inch rear-projection TV into a multi-touch display. They’ve mounted IR cameras into the TV and added laser projectors to the corners of the display, which are interrupted by your fingers and detected by the cameras. It’s a lot like the Surface approach, but more compact. A lot more money and testing has gone into the Surface, so it almost certainly works better, but the hardware is limited and this solution can be conceivably installed into any rear-projection TV.
Unfortunately, their claims of being the first to make an off-the-shelf TV into a multi-touch display are not quite accurate. One of our favorite finds from CES, the iTable, is far simpler to install and requires nothing but a USB port and some custom software. Total cost for a similarly sized iTable overlay is significantly more expensive, but then again you don’t have to buy the pieces at Radio Shack and mount them inside your TV’s casing. Both are certainly a lot cheaper than a Surface.
They’ve documented the process quite well, however, and it’s interesting to go through. If you’re interested in how these things are set up and how perhaps to do some of hacking of your own, this has a lot of good information in it.
[via MAKE]
Two weeks after Canadian regulators dropped the hammer on Blackberry maker Research In Motion for its stock option backdating scheme, the Securities and Exchange Commission has dropped it again. Today, the agency charged RIM CFO Dennis Kavelman, former VP of Finance Angelo Loberto and co-CEOs James Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis with illegally granting stock options to company executives and employees over an eight-year period from 1998 through 2006. “RIM and its highest level executives engaged in widespread backdating of options which provided them and other employees with millions of dollars in undisclosed compensation,” said Linda Chatman Thomsen, director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, in a statement. Worse, the four executives subsequently made “false and misleading disclosures” about how RIM (RIMM) priced and accounted for options. Without admitting (or denying) guilt, the four execs agreed to settle the matter. Each will disgorge the in-the-money value of backdated options they exercised and pay a fine ranging between $150,000 and $500,000–far less steep than the $75 million in penalties ordered by the Ontario Securities Commission.
Video games haven’t really been on my radar the last two months, so I may have missed this one along the way. The makers of Pure appear to have another racing game waiting in the wings, but we’ll have to wait until March 11th to find out unless someone in the audience can enlighten me.
AP - About a quarter of the nation's TV stations cut off their analog signals Tuesday, causing sets to go dark in households that were not prepared for digital television despite two years of warnings about the transition.
Samsung’s revving up its PR machine for its Linux and Android offerings to come later this year. They’re still keeping everything under wraps and it doesn’t look like there will be anything at MWC, but I’m sure there are plenty of conferences to exploit between now and the end of the year.
They’ve promised three phones using Android and one using Linux Mobile. Beyond that they are staying mum. Sure hope these handsets don’t suck.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
AFP - Classic soldier doll G.I. Joe is reporting for duty in videogame consoles and handheld devices.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Skype is (finally) teaming up with mobile handset maker Nokia to get its VoIP and IM software program pre-installed on some of Nokia’s devices, as announced at the Mobile World Congress and reported by MobileCrunch. The eBay-owned company had 405 million registered users in total at the end of last year, and Nokia is still the largest handset maker in the world until further notice, so this is a significant deal.
Of course, the operators won’t be jumping up and down from joy over the news.
The first Nokia device to get the Skype integration will be the N97, beginning in Q3 of 2009, followed by (unnamed but reportedly high-end) N-series devices. Leveraging N97’s WiFi and 3G connectivity, users will be able to communicate with Skype-to-Skype voice calls, as well as make mobile and landline Skype calls at reasonable prices. We should note that Sony Ericsson already has some sort of solution for Skype by offering a ‘panel’ for the app on its Xperia X1 device (which runs Windows Mobile 6.1), and Skype already had a mobile ‘lite’ version in beta which works fine on compatible LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson phones.
Bringing Skype’s internet calling app on-board is one thing, but I am more excited about the presence management. The fact that the application will tap into your contact list to see who else is online or not, and enable you to chat with your friends and co-workers either by voice or text instantly, is a powerful feature.
But what does this mean for those mobile VoIP startups for whom one of the prime reasons of existence in the first place is supporting Skype functionality on mobile handsets, like fring, Nimbuzz and Truphone?
I got in touch with executives at all three startups to get a reaction on the news. Unsurprisingly, they call the move a validation of their services and are confident they won’t be pushed aside any time soon.
Tobias Kemper, Head of Communications at Nimbuzz, says the fact that Skype will come pre-installed on mobile devices is actually going to help normalize the use of VoIP applications (and particularly Skype) and thus boost their own growth. He also added that the integrated approach of Nimbuzz, which combines a variety of voice and text chat services into one app, is still in demand.
Geraldine Wilson, CEO of Truphone, says much of the same by declaring that this will only increase the awareness and uptake of these kinds of VoIP applications on mobile, which is good for Truphone too. She also cites the interoperability with Skype in combination with support for other communication services to be a big advantage for their users.
I’ll update this post with fring’s view as soon as it gets in, but you should also read up on what iSkoot is doing by moving beyond Skype for mobile phones with the release of a more general application.
I agree that bringing Skype to a select number of Nokia devices isn’t going to ‘kill’ any of the service providers I mentioned, and the aggregation of communication services is still a very good selling point in a world were people are connected through multiple social networks and instant messaging clients. That said, for the VoIP part it won’t get any better than having Skype pre-installed on a phone that links up your contacts to the application instantly. While companies like fring, Nimbuzz and Truphone are scrambling to turn their fast-growing legion of users into a profitable business, Skype has more runtime and more leverage to push free internet calling to mobile phone users.
But as I mentioned before, the carriers are not going to be happily standing on the sidelines as things progress.
Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors
AP - Facing a likely bankruptcy, Sirius XM Radio Inc. found a savior in Liberty Media Corp., which will lend $530 million to the satellite radio provider and block a bid for control that had been waged by a rival both companies share: Dish Network Corp. CEO Charlie Ergen.
Section: Business News, Audio, Satellite / HD Radio
Just last week it appeared like a bankruptcy was the inevitable for satellite provider Sirius XM, but how quickly things can change. Liberty Media Corporation has just stepped in and saved them with a loan for a whopping $530 million. The loan will be given in two parts with the first beginning immediately.
The first part consists of $280 million, of which $171.6 million will go to pay their debts. The second part will be $150 million with another $100 million going towards the outstanding loans from XM Satellite Radio.
All-in-all, this will give Liberty Media a total of 12.5 million shared of preferred stock in Sirius XM. Additionally, it is expected that both John Malone and Greg Maffei will be joining the Sirius XM Board of Directors.
Well, it looks like Sirius XM will live to fight another day, and their subscribers will be able to continue enjoying their (mostly) commercial free radio for a while longer.
Read [PR Newswire]
Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Apparently the folks at Twitter are a little too used to sharing. At around 11 AM this morning the company sent out a rejection notice to many of the candidates who had applied for its open Product Manager position. But instead of using BCC to hide the identities of the applicants from each other, Twitter HR goofed and sent them all the message using a standard Carbon Copy, allowing everyone else to see who the other 185 applicants were.
Here’s the message each person got, along with the list of other recipients:
Hi,
Thank you so much for taking the time to apply for the Business
Product Manager position at Twitter, Inc. During the course of our
recruiting efforts, we come across many fine candidates such as you,
and we carefully evaluate each candidate’s background and interests
against our projected workloads and staffing needs. Although we are
impressed with your background, the hiring committee has decided to
move forward with a different candidate.We will keep your information on file for six months in case future
opportunities arise.
Twitter isn’t the first company to mix up the BCC and CC fields. RockYou has made similar mistakes in the past, repeatedly CCing a full list of its advertisers and developers for all to see (much to their chagrin). But Twitter’s blunder could potentially have a negative impact on some of these applicants who may already be employed elsewhere.
Craig Given, who was one of the applicants, has blogged about the message, and also includes a response that CEO Evan Williams has sent to all the affected applicants. Note that Williams says that not everyone on the list even applied for the job:
It has just been brought to my attention that we just sent this note about this job with everyone’s address exposed in the cc line.
This is obviously a big mistake, and I sincerely apologize on behalf of Krissy, myself, and Twitter, Inc. We really appreciate you expressing interest in Twitter, and I can only imagine that this type of move adds insult to injury.
To be clear: Not everyone on this list even applied for this job. Some were recommended to us and entered into our applicant tracking system by employees here.
Whatever the case, I regret this mistake. Please help us reduce the impact of this error by respecting each other’s privacy.
If there’s anything I can do for you, please let me know.
Evan
Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
CardPricer, a sports card valuation site, has undergone several transformations as a start-up and has learned that being flexible with a business model is a necessity in the start-up world. Founded in 2005, CardPricer was originally an online auction house specializing in high value collectibles. The company realized the value of creating pricing data on collectibles (particularly sports cards) and decided to ditch the auction house model in 2006 and focus strictly on providing pricing data on sports baseball cards, based primarily on Ebay market data. To date, CardPricer has linked 5 million completed transactions to its price guides.
CardPricer’s main revenue stream is from the pricing information on the site. CardPricer also offers users the ability to create a “virtual card collection,” where the user can manage a card collections and see accurate values of all cards owned in an easy to view grid system. Membership prices are lower than competitor Vintagecardprices.com, but Vintagecardprices.com and other competitors like Beckett Media offer valuation for basketball, football, hockey, boxing and non-sports cards as well (CardPricer is hoping to expand to this market in the near future). And Vintagecardprices.com has a flashier interface for users, offering users real time market reports and alerts when an auction house is selling a desired card.
CardPricer has a good price point compared to its competitors. The company charges $45 for a six month membership with unlimited access to its pricing data. And the company claims that it has a larger userbase and more published information than any direct competitor. CardPricer wouldn’t release the number of users, but said that traffic generally falls between 40,000 to 50,000 visitors per month. According to Quantcast, CardPricer has about 37,000 unique visits per month. Vintagecardprices.com’s unique visits hovers around 11,500 visits per month. Its selection is limited to baseball cards but with its continued flexibility, CardPricer has the potential to make its mark in the card valuation space in the future.
Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
The fast growing netbook market is set to see plenty of new products later this year. Archos is the latest company to announce a new line of netbooks based on Intel's mobile processors.
Archos, which is better known for its digital music players, said it will have a new ultra-slim model, the Archos 10s ready for release in April. The netbook will have a 10-inch screen and be about 20-mm thick. It will also come with integrated 3.5G functionality and WiFi capability. The Archos 10s netbook will run Intel's Atom processor, Windows XP operating system and offer up to 160 GB hard drive.
Archos did not announce pricing for the new device but a similar netbooks from the company sells in the $400 to $450 range.
The company plans to follow up with a 9-inch MiniPC Tablet that integrates virtual keyboard and handwriting recognition. The new design, says Archos, will replace the traditional keyboard with a touch screen one. The MiniPC Tablet is expected to be available in the third quarter.
Archos is also working with Intel on a new range of tablet devices that will be based on Intel's next generation netbook platform codenamed 'Moorestown.' Devices based on Moorestown are expected to be available next year.
Meanwhile, LG is also partnering with Intel to create a new line of mobile internet devices that will use Moorestown and run Moblin, a Linux-based operating system designed exclusively for netbooks.
Photo: Archos 404 and 605 (psmithson/Flickr)
Section: Communications, Cellphones, Smartphones, Mobile
Palm has recently released a new video showing off the Palm Pre, simply titled “Meet Pre,“ the video is short and sweet coming in at just 1:44. You could probably get a better picture of the device by checking out Sprint’s Palm Pre site. However, despite being short, it still gives us a good overview of the calendar that we can expect to see on the Pre. Of course, in addition to the calendar, it also shows just how good the interaction with other apps is, easily allowing the user to do things like receive a chat message and also search for and send a link by email.
Additionally, you can also have your weather information listed just above your calendar. Honestly, there is nothing earth shattering in this video, but it seems to offer a new kind of mobile phone excitement, almost reminiscent to the early videos that were saw when we were waiting for the original iPhone to become available. I would not even begin to say that the Palm Pre is going to be that magical iPhone killer, but it is hard to deny that webOS seems to have plenty of possibilities.
Read [Palm]
Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Hey, sailors! Do you like stuff? We like to give you the stuffs. So here's how we're going to do it: Every time you follow one of the Boing Boing editors' Twitter feed, we get an email. We'll select from those emails at random and award a prize. If you've won, I'll let you know by direct message on Twitter. We'll do this all week or until we're out of prizes. (That's how I getcha! So at the least, you should follow us this week before you leave en masse next Monday.)
For each editor you follow you'll gain another entry, so if you're already following some of us you can still get a crack at winning by following another editor. (We started collecting entry emails since yesterday and will put all of those in the hat.)
That's it. Easy. We get followers to squawk at about our bunions, you get stuff. I'll be putting up a post a day until we have all the prizes distributed. As befits a Boing Boing contest, we've got a bunch of different stuff: a guitar; a videophone; some random iPod and iPhone cases; lingerie (!); and what I'll be starting with today, three of these custom-printed Flip Mino HD camcorders from CafePress. (One per winner, of course.) More on the prizes as we go along.
Here are our accounts. Collect them all!:
• @joeljohnson (Boing Boing Gadgets)
• @xenijardin (Boing Boing/Video)
• @beschizza (Boing Boing Gadgets)
• @brandonnn (Boing Boing Offworld)
• @doctorow (Boing Boing)
• @johnbattelle (Boing Boing)
• @frauenfelder (Boing Boing)
(We always have questions about if these contests are okay for readers outside the U.S. or not. Because most of these prizes are being shipped direct from the companies, I can't always promise that they'll be able to be shipped to everyone, but I'll do my best to work it out if it comes up. Let me know in the comments if you have any other questions.)
Today was the second day in the trial brought against popular torrent site The Pirate Bay by a phalanx of media companies formed by Universal, Warner Brothers, MGM, EMI, 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, and Sony BMG.
So far the trial has amounted to a circus wherein the plaintiffs have struggled to make their case. According to the media companies, The Pirate Bay has profitably caused over $13 million in damages by assisting copyright infringement and helping to make copyrighted material available. But they’ve done a lousy job presenting evidence that they’ve had three years to collect.
Things started off badly yesterday when prosecutor Håkan Roswall made himself look like a Luddite after fumbling with his computer and failing to open a PowerPoint presentation. But the biggest setback for the prosecution came today when it was forced to drop half of its charges against The Pirate Bay— those that concern “assisting copyright infringement”— because the screenshots it produced showed no clear connection between the tracker and the .torrent files under consideration.
The founders, Gottfrid Svartholm, Fredrik Neij and Peter Sunde, have done a good job so far making this whole trial look like a silly spectacle. After showing up to the trial in a pirate bus with supporters from the Pirate Party wielding microphones, the founders proceeded to post obnoxiously boastful messages to Twitter like the one from Peter Sunde that simply declared “EPIC WINNING LOL”. The optimism on their part isn’t unfounded, since the prosecution has indeed forced itself into retreat out of what looks like sheer incompetency.
However, The Pirate Bay isn’t out of the woods just yet. As Ars Technica points out, the site and its founders could still be found guilty of simply making copyrighted material available:
When contacted by Ars Technica, Danowsky said that Sweden’s copyright act does not require actual distributions to take place. “A work is made available as soon as it is for sale or for hire or given away,” he said. “This does not have to involve any actual transfer of the work. And the right to control availability is protected by the Act, so making available can be in violation of copyright even though no actual distribution has taken place.”
Napster was nailed, at least in part, for simply making infringement possible and not doing anything to stop it - something known as “vicarious infringement”. It’s yet to be seen whether the Swedish legal system will look more kindly upon The Pirate Bay.
The Pirate Bay launched in 2003 and reported 22 million simultaneous users just this month. The site’s offices were raided in 2006 by Swedish police, setting the ball in motion for this trial.
[Image courtesy of TorrentFreak]
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
Before the 17-inch, unibody MacBook Pro even started shipping, many interested customers were frustrated with the notebook's non-removable battery. They'll be delighted to learn that it actually is removable — unofficially.
iFixIt, which performs Apple product repairs and teardowns, has posted its disassembly guide of the 17-inch MacBook Pro. It turns out the battery is very easily removable with a screwdriver.
"It's the same idea as the MacBook Air, where you can do it, but officially it's not supported," said iFixIt's Luke Soules.
Three tri-wing screws hold the MacBook Pro's battery in its case. iFixIt said Apple likely used these screws to intimidate users from removing the battery, because not many consumers own a tri-wing screwdriver. However, iFixIt said a small flathead screwdriver will work just fine.
iFixIt said it will soon sell replacement batteries for the 17-inch MacBook Pro. This offers an alternative to Apple's 17-inch MacBook Pro battery replacement program, which costs $180.
MacBook Pro 17" Unibody First Look [iFixIt]
Photo: iFixIt
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Section: Computers, Laptops, Netbooks, Software / Applications
One of the biggest problems with notebook computers has always been performance. While laptop components have gotten more and more advanced, operating systems have gotten more demanding. Computer makers have been trying ways around this with alternative operating systems.
Since most people will probably want a computer with a full OS, it is now common to see two separate operating systems on one PC.
Sony has just announced its Vaio P (its not-a-netbook) will now come with Corel InstantON. InstantON is a stripped down operating system that allows you to access to your computer without booting up a full operating system like Windows. The OS will be customized for Sony and will allow the user to do basic tasks like web browsing and playing back media like music and audio. The Vaio P will still come with Windows in case you still want to do more complex tasks.
Read: [Corel]
Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
My favorite traditional toy this show has to be the Duck Hunter from Interactive Toy Concepts. It's a combination of a battery-powered flapping bird (similar to the wind-up ones that you may have played with as a child) plus an infrared light gun. A sensor on the bird registers the hit from the gun - on the first and second hits causing the flapping to pause just a little and on the third shot dropping completely out of the air. The first version, coming out within the next month or two, includes a gun and either one or two birds. Another model expected out shortly is going to allow for a two-player mode, with one player controlling the bird and the other trying to shoot it out of the sky. Retail price is $30 and $40 for the one and two-bird sets respectively. I recommend the two bird set for the best possible way to train your kids to bring home fresh squab for dinner. – Nate Heasley
I don't know about you, but I don't want my kids playing with GI Joe and Barbie, I want them playing with robots so they'll grow up to be just like Jason Hilbourne, former electrical engineer for Apple and Sun, and current designer of Bunk Bots. This line of 10 different plush robots stand about 8" tall, and each has a different configuration of arms and tools. They all have a different backstory and real robot they are based on too, and have names like Pinch, Tracks, Commando Stepper and Ninja Servo (my favorite). They retail for around $15, available from Urban Outfitters (though they're cheaper from WizardSleeveToys), and they're available in some retail shops in Portland, where the designer is from. — Nate Heasley
Several mobile phone companies on Tuesday announced a plan to adopt a universal cellphone charger, making it possible, at long last, for consumers to get rid of the tangle of incompatible old chargers filling up the bottom drawer of their desks.
Spearheaded by the Group Special Mobile Association (GSMA), the initiative involves 17 mobile companies, including Nokia, LG and AT&T committed to implementing Micro USB on all their cellphones by Jan. 1, 2012. Once adopted, the standard would allow any phone to be charged with a standard USB cable, which could draw its power from a PC, laptop, or USB power adapter.
Conspicuously missing from the list was Apple.
"Moving toward a universal charger is a good thing considering the life of cellphones," said Casey Harrell, a toxics campaigner with Greenpeace. "I don't know why [Apple] didn't join, but a universal standard is not truly universal unless all the big manufacturers are taking part."
USB is already fast becoming a de facto standard for charging a variety of devices, but many manufacturers use nonstandard mini-USB plugs. A standard would enable a single charger to power any compatible cellphone, as well as any other device (such as a camera or Bluetooth headset) that has a mini USB power port.
The initiative is aiming to address the environmental impact of cellphone chargers in a number of ways: 1.) Reducing the overall amount of cellphones produced by 50 percent; 2.) Decreasing the amount of waste produced by discarded, useless cellphone chargers; and 3.) Cutting down on the energy and materials (including toxic chemicals) required to produce chargers by 51,000 tons.
For consumers, the move would also reduce the overall cost of a handset, since it would allow manufacturers to offer chargers as an optional accessory.
Some of the participants include mobile giants Nokia, LG and AT&T. Apple didn't respond to phone calls for comment on its absence from the list. But iFixIt's Luke Soules, who disassembles Apple products, said the reason is likely tied to money. He noted that Apple's MacBooks utilize a MagSafe connector for charging — a unique connection that third-party accessory manufacturers cannot reproduce. He said Apple is likely embracing the same strategy with iPhone connectors, which utilize a USB dock connector, to continue to capitalize on charger products.
"It doesn't surprise me a bit," Soules said. "It sure seems that Apple is trying to, if not make money off the AC adapters, at least prevent anybody from making money off AC adapters. It seems to me they're trying to prevent others from sharing."
It's worth noting, however, that several third-party manufacturers do sell iPhone chargers, so Apple doesn't have dominance in this space. And Apple has been heavily marketing the "green" aspect of its new products in the past year. Therefore, Apple could still feasibly adopt the new universal charger standard.
However, joining the initiative wouldn't be easy for Apple. Adopting Micro USB would render iPhones incompatible with pre-existing speakers and dock accessories, which would displease consumers. If Apple were to participate in the near future, it would likely stick a Micro USB port on an iPhone in addition to the dock connector — and offer either charger as an optional accessory. Sounds a little complicated, though, doesn't it?
What do you think Apple should do? Vote in the poll below.
Apple absent from universal phone charger push [AppleInsider]
Photo: Otacon_85/Flickr
More from the designer toy front; Mezco, maker of highly collectible toys (mostly for adults) has got some great new stuff here at ToyFair. I'm particularly taken with the Mez-Itz line of cartoony figures, especially the little Hellboy. They've also got a monster series for 2009 and an entire series of figures based on the PS3 hit game Little Big Planet. All of these should be released this year. — Nate Heasley
Must be nice to have just one beat obsession. Jonathan over at Precentral has compiled a nice list of features for Palm’s upcoming Pre. Kudos, Jon, kudos.
Known Pre Features:
-CDMA EVDO Rev A / GSM 3G (European model only)
- WiFi enabled with 802.11 b/g (no n, sadly)
- Bluetooth with A2DP stereo Bluetooth support as well
- ARM Cortex A8 processor (PowerVR SGX 530 GPU + 430MHz C64x+ DSP + ISP)
- 8gb of internal flash memory (Actually usable likely to be in the 7.4 gb range)
- 3.1 in capacitive touch screen, with 320×480 HVGA resolution
- Hardware keyboard, with buttons something along the lines of the Treo Pro
- microUSB connection slot (so it can be connected to your computer and used in Mass Storage Mode; also used for charging)
- 3.5mm headset jack (Woot!)
- 3 megapixel camera, LED Flash, no zoom but extended depth of field
- Accelerometer, Ambient light and proximity sensors
- Audio Support for MP3, AAC, AAC+, AMR, QCELP, and WAV
-Video Support for MPEG-4, H.263, H.264 (will also support standard image formats like GIF, JPEG, PNG, and BMP)
- GPS (Navigation likely to be limited based on Sprint coverage, at least initially. The chip should work everywhere)
- MMS support (along with SMS and IM, all threaded together, though we do not know for sure what the supported IM clients will be, AIM and GTalk are confirmed)
- Flash Support (not at launch, but within the year)
- Synergy (Push support)
- Google, Facebook, Exchange, and LinkedIn at launch, but you can still connect to your Yahoo, Hotmail, etc, but it’ll likely have to be setup to check for new messages ever hour or something of the like
- Standard array of apps such as Calendar (a really awesome one though), Contacts, Messages, Notes, etc.
- Copy and Paste (take THAT iPhone)
- Tethering support (Bluetooth or USB 2.0)
- Universal Search capability (not sure how deep it actually goes though, such as the ability to locate keywords in memos or saved messages
- Optional Touchstone inductive charger (special battery cover needed)
What’s Missing (at least at launch):
- No Alarm application (to clarify, you will be able to set alarms for calendar appointments, but there is no stand-alone Alarm application).
- No Bluetooth Keyboard support
- microSD card slot
- No PalmOS emulation or backward compatability, so all the old Palm apps won’t work on the Pre
- Software Keyboard (sorry folks, you’re stuck with the hardware one for now)
- No IR support (it’s finally died…)
- Today screen (There is a pseduo-today screen, where you can see your upcoming appointments and notifications. Mark in the comments put it best: There is something sort of like this in the dash board. When you tap on the dash board to expand it the calendar shows the next appointment, email/messaging show unread messages, etc.)
-No Video out connection (bummer)
-No indicator light (that we’ve seen, though one of those lights in the gesture area might do this, but I wouldn’t count on it)
-No Audio or Video Recording (though this reported to be added post launch)
Unknown Features (we haven’t heard much, if anything about these things)
- Docs to Go support (though document VIEWING is supposed to be present at launch
- PEAP authentication support for WiFi
- SDK Availability, while this isn’t Pre specific, we still have no ETA on when this will be released, but we do know it will most likely be AFTER the device launches.
- RAM specifications
- Processor speed
- Battery life (we’ve heard a lot of rumors here, and we know it’s the Centro’s 1150 mAh battery, so I’m going to go out on a limb and say with heavy use, you’ll be charging this puppy nightly)
- YouTube support (I suspect a 3rd party solution will be available eventually)
- Visual Voicemail (not likely at launch, expect a 3rd party solution for this one too)
- Security Options are unknown at this point
- Voice dialing or recognition is unknown, but not likely
- Simultaneous voice and data usage (
not 100% confirmed, but possible on CDMA version(edit: Mr. Segan has confirmed this), guaranteed on European GSM version).
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Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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Earlier today, the GSMA announced that it has successfully brokered a deal with leading handset manufacturers and network operators to standardize mobile chargers by 2012 (for most, but not all cellular phones).
The primary goal of this new agreement is to cut down on the environmental impact created by trashing old chargers. According to the AP:
The GSMA calculates a reduction in greenhouse gases from manufacturing and transporting replacement chargers of 13.6 to 21.8 million tons a year. Cast-off chargers currently generate more than 51,000 tons of waste a year, it says.
Not only will the proposed Micro-USB chargers help reduce waste, but, according to the agreement they’ll also consume (up to 50 percent) less power and provide much greater convenience (and subsequently, less headaches) for consumers. Imagine being able to leave your charger behind, knowing that most anywhere you travel you can find a compatible charger, be it a friend’s place or a random hotel on the other side of the world.
So far, 17 companies have agreed to the pact including 3 Group, AT&T, KTF, LG, mobilkom austria, Motorola, Nokia, Orange, Qualcomm, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, Telenor, Telstra, T-Mobile and Vodafone.
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Boing Boing Video is teaming up with big beat techno stars Groove Armada for a contest around the duo's new release -- which they're offering online, using an interesting experiment in digital promotion and distribution. Sign up to participate in that experiment, and you have a chance to win a 16 gig iPod touch. A reminder of the contest details below, and above, one of the tracks from the band's 2008 release, Soundboy Rock.
HOW THE FREE DOWNLOADS WORK
The tracks are DRM-free. The new EP will be delivered through a sharing system called Bacardi B-LIVE Share, and Bacardi is basically serving as the band's record label. When you register at the B-Live site, you receive one track off the new EP for free. To get more, you share a unique link for that first track (which you receive via email) to a number of friends. You can do this via Facebook if you like. While you do have to provide an email address, and you must be of legal drinking age (Bacardi's the sponsor, after all) you can opt in or out of receiving promotional emails from the band. You don't have to provide other personal information. The more times the track you share is downloaded by your friends, and their friends, the more additional tracks you're given access to. And if you sign up via BB, you're automatically entered in... (drum-machine roll, please)...
THE BOING BOING VIDEO CONTEST
The contest ends on February 25. It's simple: register for the Groove Armada free music downloads via this unique link (which traces the fact that you came through us), and winner will be chosen randomly from users who click through from here. That's pretty much it. The prize: a 16GB Apple iPod Touch.
(more after the jump)
Groove Armada's Andy Cato explains the thinking:
Sharing music has always gone on -- it's giving music away that's the problem. We wanted to come up with a 21st century version of what we used to do with cassette tapes. When you give music away for free it's disposable. When you share it, it's done with love. The online sharing application will be available until March 2nd, when the EP becomes available via commercial digital release.
ABOUT THE MUSIC:
Some of Groove Armada's better-known tracks from past releases include "Superstylin," "My Friend," and "Tuning In."
Here's a blurb from the band's website about the new material:
The four track EP sees the band moving into exciting new musical pastures, with some of the material being recorded live with their band for the first time. This is demonstrated on tracks 'Drop the Tough' and 'Go', both songs featuring new vocalist Saint Saviour from electro-pop outfit The RGBs. 'Pull Up (Crank It Up), with much-loved UK-based MC Slarta John, takes the EP up a gear and looks set to become their 'Superstylin' of 2009. 'El Padrino' makes up the 4, an instrumental that showcases the true talent of the live band in Balearic style. Remixes of 'Drop the Tough' come courtesy of Australian Electronic/Rock group Van She and Brazilian dance duo The Twelves.BOING BOING VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH GROOVE ARMADA COMING UP!
Eyeing that $400 netbook? How about getting one for half the price in just a few months?
Freescale is racing to get netbooks out this summer, featuring the company's chips, that would offer up to eight hours of battery life, be significantly thinner than existing designs and priced under $200.
"We are taking dead aim at the netbook space," says Glen Burchers, marketing director at Freescale."The value proposition that Freescale brings is dramatically lower power consumption and even lower prices."
Netbooks have become the fastest growing segment in the PC market, with about 15 million devices sold worldwide in 2008. This year, despite the economic slowdown, sales could double says ABI Research. So far Intel's family of Atom-based processors released last year have overwhelmingly dominated the market. But Atom processors offer just about three hours of battery life while users are clamoring for more.
Freescale hopes its new line of chips could make a dent in Intel's market share. Last month, the company introduced the i.MX515 processor that is based on the 1GHz CPU from Intel rival ARM. The chip includes high performance multimedia processing and supports embedded 3G connectivity. "We can combine processor, graphic chips and memory bridge into a single chip, which means netbooks based on the Freescale platform will be just about 15-mm thick," says Burchers.
On Tuesday Freescale said it has tied up with additional partners to expand operating system options for netbooks based on its processor. Freescale processors will support Android and Linux distributions such as Ubuntu and Xandros.
The company says its hopes to have its processors-based netbooks in production by the middle of the year and hopes to have the products in retail stores in time for the 2009 holiday shopping season. But Freescale is yet to announce any manufacturing partners for netbooks with its chips.
It won't be an easy ride for Freescale as it tries to catch up to Intel's Atom processor, which has an 18-month head start. Yet Freescale is betting that its lower prices and promise of higher battery life will draw in buyers.
"When end users are presented with a differentiation that dramatic, they won't be concerned with how early a processor was available in the market," says Burchers.
Photo: (Hiltch/Flickr)
There she be, folks. We still don’t really know anything about the Sidekick 2009 aka Blade other than what showed up in an online survey, but we do know that that’s new hardware. The image is too small to glean any tid bits, but at least we know they’re out there. It’s just a matter of time before T-Mobile makes it official.
Do we have any Sidekick 2009 users in the audience?
via HipTop3
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Is there anything worse (ok, maybe our current economy) than having to get out of your glorious warm bed to turn up the thermostat? Clearly, the answer is a resounding NO.
Well, if you have a Proliphix (who?) thermostat, hate installing software, and have a connected web browser then you are in luck my lazy friends!
InThrMa (Intelligent Thermal Management) is a web-based (aka nothing to install) application for programming and keeping tabs on your Proliphix HVAC system. Why should MC readers care about such an app ? Because it works on your iPhone, duh.
But don’t take my word, let InThrMa’s website do the convincing:
Super charge your Proliphix experience with:
* Data Logging
* Dynamic Color Graphing
* View & Manage all Tstats from a Dashboard
* Custom Programming
* Extensive Alerting
* Monthly Reports & Summaries
* Mobile Access & Control
* iPhone Specific Version
But seriously, remote access to thermostat controls could definitely be a big hit among iDevice users. As more and more homes become “smart homes” utility apps like this will become that much more useful and desirable.
Now, if someone would kindly turn the lights back off…
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Japan: Is there anything this island nation can't do to enhance beverage presentation and flavor? We've covered vac pots (although they aren't originally Japanese, very many of the manufacturers are) and we'll get to Ramune (I promise) and possibly Sake (parenthetical reference), but for now let's talk about water.
Water in its pure form, obviously, has three big problems: It is tasteless, odorless, and colorless. How awful. One day, perhaps, we'll be able to replace it with Brawndo. But until then, enter the Iuosen Pot, from Hario Glass. It fixes all three problems, giving water a delightful springwater taste, a river stone odor, and while it doesn't add any color to the liquid itself, it does pretty up a table both due to the striking design of the pitcher, and the colored rocks inside.
Inside the pitcher is a metal cage that holds binchotan charcoal and iouseki stones. Binchotan, or white charcoal, is made from oak cooked in caves sealed up with mud bricks. It's burned for a long time at a low temperature, and then heated to about 1000 degrees centigrade. It's the same stuff used to cook Kobe beef, because it's particularly odorless. More importantly, as far as dropping it in your water goes, it's exceptionally hard so it won't disintegrate. But why dump charcoal in your water at all? Well, binchotan is somewhat like activated charcoal, it's a porous carbonaceous material that can adsorb solutes in water, like chlorine and metals, and it softens the water. You have to let it sit for about 24 hours after you fill the pitcher, apparently, for the water to circulate enough for the charcoal to do its job.
Now let's get to the stones. The stones are what add the mineral flavor to the water. As an avid backpacker, I can tell you that water left in the pitcher for a few hours does resemble mountain stream water in odor and taste.
I've never heard of Iouseki. At first I just assumed it's made from delicious, delicious, depleted uranium. But then I found this in some online patent thingie for a purifying cartridge of some sort that may or may not contain science:
iouseki is famous as a medical stone and the two stones elute minerals, are porous and provided with strong adsorption force and ion exchange function and provided with an effct of removing bleaching powder smell, adsorbing and removing poisonous organic compounds and, at a same time, carrying out ion exchange in an alkaline direction with respect to pH of water. That is, minerals are added further to mineral portions of tap water and activated water good for human body can be finished.I think that pretty much says it all, don't you?
Actually, there's a bit more. Relentless Googling leads me to believe that Iou-seki is a quartz diorite porphyrite. The "seki" means stone, and "iou" is sulfur. An Iou-sen is a sulfur spring, but fear not, the water smells nothing like farts or rotten eggs.
Ultimately, I won't vouch for the effectiveness of the pitcher in terms of water purification. I simply don't know enough about it, and the instructions are Greek to me. However, I can say with certainty that it's charming to look at, and makes delightfully delicious water. Moreover, as any number of my southern aunts might say: it's a conversation piece.
My wife gave me one of these for my birthday last year that she had to special order from who-knows-where. (She is resourceful and wonderful.) But they're now available from DWR (incidentally, who, exactly, is this design within reach of? Bill Gates? Steve Jobs? Joel Johnson?) for about $85. Or, if you're more adventurous, you can try picking up this similar model directly from Hario. Good luck with that.
Headed home from Toy Fair, I'm a passenger in a moving vehicle, enjoying fast wireless broadband somewhere in rural Pennsylvania. It's one of the promises of the "information superhighway" that's moved from the cutting edge to general availability in the last couple of years.
Things change quickly: just last summer, Joel took wireless broadband with him on a week in the woods, and it barely worked at all.
In my case, I'm on a Vaio P--a neat little laptop I'm reviewing this week--but there are many ways to go about getting a car area network. If you have a 3G USB modem, you can grab a battery-powered compatible router. Several vendors make similar devices which have radios built in. And, of course, there are lots of laptops and netbooks, like the Vaio P, which have it all baked into the box: internet sharing can be a pain to set up on Windows, mind you.
Until now, such wonders have always been practical, for us: rented Evdo sticks for conferences, review units, pre-prroduction samples that don't work right. It's nice to finally get to enjoy it, for once.
Aside from one or two standout announcements, it has been a slow couple of days at the Mobile World Congress here in Barcelona. And like CES in Vegas, the crowds are thinner than in previous years, which has meant both more time and space to look at the fauna. Keep reading for a (small) gallery of the Best in Show. The above picture, by the way, is not a restaurant display. It was in a booth, somehow promoting cellphones. Heck, maybe they are cellphones. I didn't ask.
Here we have Boothbabes, who very professionally smiled and curtsied for the camera. But these are no ordinary boothbabes -- the CBOSS girls are going to bring about the resurrection of the world's economy, and they're going to do it in stilettos and tiaras. Just look at the slogan: "Anti-Crisis IT Solutions". Thanks, CBOSS!
It's hard to know what to make of this. It appears that iMate (or someone in front of the iMate stand) is stuck in 1996 -- that's the only way to explain the occurrence of not one, but two Lara Crofts handing out fliers (the second one is hidden behind the suit. Sorry).
Seriously. Imagine the meeting where this was decided:
"What about some booth babes?"
"Nah, too tacky, too sexist."
"What about booth babes in tight shorts, dressed like video game characters?"
"Dude. Hell yes!"
Lastly, Tommy Lee Jones. Or is it? I clearly thought so back in Vegas where my booze soaked brain mistook this chap for the grizzled actor as we boarded a Southwest flight together. The hat, the face, and even the accent fit the illusion.
Seeing the same fellow here in Barcelona, though, makes me think that the real Tommy Lee wasn't on the flight with me at all. Unless, of course, Mr. Jones has started covering tech trade shows, swapping the back of a horse for the back of a Segway and showing an unnatural interest in "convergence solutions". A shame.
To everybody I told that I had seen TLJ on the Vegas-San Francisco flight, I apologize. I also apologize for the blurred photo, which proves that even the mighty Nikon D700 can take a bad picture in the hands of a moron.
What would you rather have, an iPhone or a My Phone? Both Microsoft and Yahoo think you want a My Phone. On the iPhone section of its Website detailing the revamped Yahoo Mobile service, due to launch publicly in March, Yahoo marketers try to drum up interest in the new offering by using this headline in its marketing campaign:
From iPhone™ to “my” phone.The iPhone trademark is taken (notice the ™), but that is not stopping mobile marketers from trying to ride on its coattails. Yesterday, Microsoft announced its own My Phone service for syncing data between your phone and desktop. If you are a mobile marketer, here is a tip for you. Coming up with something that rhymes with iPhone to peddle your mobile services is not a winning strategy. It is derivative and shows a lack of imagination.
BARCELONA -- The only Googlephone to appear at the Mobile World Congress couldn't even be bothered to turn up in person. HTC and Vodafone made a joint announcement Tuesday of their forthcoming Android-based Magic, formerly known as the G2, but all they provided were tantalizing specs and a few images.
The handset is notable for a few reasons. First, it looks a lot nicer than the G1 from T-Mobile. Second, the Magic will be almost completely exclusive to Vodafone (the Magic will be on Vodafone in the UK, Spain, Germany and France; and non-exclusively on Vodafone in Italy). And third, it's the first Android phone without a keyboard.
The Magic will be touchscreen-only. There is still a little navi-nipple like the G1, but the hard QWERTY keyboard on the T-Mobile G1 is gone, leaving only a 3.2-inch, 320x240-pixel screen. The phone also has a 3.2 MP camera, Wi-Fi and GPS.
Like the G1, it will support a wide range of Google applications, including Gmail, Google Maps, Google Talk and YouTube videos.
The Magic will also support video recording and playback.
At the phone's launch, Vodafone's Patrick Chomet called it the "the thinnest, nicest Android-powered device on the market." This is a somewhat empty claim, seeing as there is only one other Android handset out there. Still, if Vodafone doesn't pump the tariffs here in Spain like Telefónica did with the iPhone, I might just be buying it. If it ever turns up.
Gizmodo's Jesus Diaz got two minutes with a prototype in Barcelona and posted a brief video showing off the Magic's onscreen keyboard and video capabilities. The screenshot above shows how the HTC Magic (right) compares in size to the iPhone (on the left).
Vodafone's official press image, above, is a bland Illustrator job,
not a real photo -- but it gives you an idea how the thing will
eventually look. Note that the buttons on the bottom are slightly
different than they are on the prototype in the Gizmodo video above.
Press release [Vodafone]
Press release [HTC]
See Also:
Remember back in October when I blogged about a new iPhone app from the South Park guys? Not sure what the whole story is on this one, but our friends at South Park tell us the app has long been completed -- so, well, where is it? Via email:
Our source says the app was rejected from the Apps store twice. The content is pretty much what you see on the show.
We first announced our iPhone App back in October, after we submitted the Application to Apple for approval. After a couple of attempts to get the application approved, we are sad to say that our app has been rejected. According to Apple, the content was "potentially offensive." But Apple did admit that the standards would evolve, citing that when iTunes first launched it didn't sell any music with explicit lyrics. At this point, we are sad to say, the app is dead in the water. Sorry, South Park fans.
Eric Cartman had this to say. Above, Matt Stone demonstrating the app while it was still in development last Fall.
Previous BB post with more screengrabs from the missing-in-action app: BB exclusive: sneak peek at South Park's sweet, yet-unreleased iPhone app
Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 17 Feb 2009 | 4:01 pm
A total of 52 companies launched at last year's TechCrunch50 conference. Five of them got jury selection prizes, there was one big winner and a very special crowd pleaser: Japan-based Tonchidot's Sekai Camera, an iPhone app that presents tagged information in the form of a graphical layer over images in the iPhone camera.
Charismatic CEO Takahito Iguchi delivered a memorable demonstration, making the audience go crazy by fending off questions of TC50 judges such as Tim O’Reilly if Sekai Camera really works with the words "Join us!" or "We have a patent!". The reason for the skepticism: Iguchi's on-stage show mainly centered on a pre-produced video clip, not an actual product demo. This left people wondering if Sekai Camera isn't just vaporware for almost half a year during which it seemed like nothing happened. But today I saw the app is real and working - on an iPhone.
Oh Samsung OmniaHD, how lovely your 3.7″ AMOLED touchscreen is. Really - it’s friggin’ gorgeous. Be it the 8 megapixel camera, the 720p video recording, or the deafeningly loud stereo speakers, we love just about everything about it from a hardware standpoint - but we’re not too sure about the software.
We got to put our mitts all up on the Samsung OmniaHD for far longer than we expected Samsung to allow - read on for our impressions.
What we liked:
What we didn’t:
Check out our shots of it side-by-side with the iPhone below.
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Barcelona -- Amid the megapixels madness of its camera-phone announcements, Samsung has shown us another vision of the future -- the Blue Earth. The phone is an environmental champion, made from recycled water bottles and powered by a solar panel on the back.
And that's about all we know. Like the Mona Lisa, the only handset at the Mobile World Congress show is behind glass (which is why we've used the official product shot), and Samsung is being not exactly cagey but a little thrifty with the details. We do know that the phone will have a touch screen and also a distinctly gimmicky pedometer, which measures how far you have walked and then tells you how much CO2 you haved saved by not driving.
This is just annoying, and exactly the sort of thing smug Prius owners would like. It reminds me of the kind of vegan who eats wholemeal pasta -- a form of self flagellation designed only to telegraph their pious intentions to us less morally aware mortals.
Still, the intention is good, and the phone has another few eco-tricks up its recycled sleeves. There is an energy saving mode which will lower the backlight levels and switch off Bluetooth -- useful when charging via the Sun. That solar panel is also claimed to provide enough juice to keep the phone going indefinitely. For those of us who live in less clear-skied climes (I'm looking at you, Britain) it looks like Samsung will provide a separate charger. Low-powered, of course.
Best of all, it will be a real phone, available in real shops in the second half of this year.
Barcelona -- NTT DoCoMo can always be relied upon to do something odd at the Mobile World Congress and, with such a lackluster performance from every other manufacturer, we certainly need the entertainment.
This year the prototype is a phone that snaps in two. It seems little more than a gimmick, but some thought shows that it's actually a very neat idea. The two halves are held together by magnets and can be joined at either the short or the long edge. One half houses the keyboard, the other has the screen and a touch keyboard. Both communicate via Bluetooth.
Breaking them apart allows you to surf the Internet or look up information while using the other half to talk. You can also watch movies on one screen and use the other as a remote control, although why you'd want to is unclear -- the screen is hardly big enough to view from a distance.
Other options are (somewhat mysteriously) a wrist strap and the option to leave the key section in your bag and listen to music with the other half.
So you see, what seems at first to be a little frivolous is in fact quite useful. The only problem we foresee is losing the thing. It already takes me an age to find my phone before I leave the house. Adding yet another section will just make me even later.
See Also:
Barcelona — Nokia has unveiled a couple of new cellphones at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. One is a rather slimline QWERTY slider and the other one breaks easily.
First the E75, a business phone that is so dull that it actually has a picture of a desk on the PDF spec sheet. A real, wooden desk. This is a shame as the phone itself looks rather nice — a solid but lightweight handset with a positive and usable QWERTY hidden inside. The keyboard is actually quite a surprise when it pops out, so slim is the phone.
Inside, you get a sensible 3.2MP camera, a proper 3.5mm headphone jack, an FM radio and a slew of office features — VPNs, calendars, encryption for both phone and MicroSD card and an alarm to wake you when you’re done. Joking aside, the E75 might not be a bundle of fun but for the business user it is ideal, and available this quarter.
The E55 is virtually the same, differing only in the keyboard (it has a BlackBerry-like two-letters-on-one-key setup) and the lack of encryption or FM radio, The camera is the same, and the email features and VPN are all there. The standout feature, though, is the weak metal plate on the back. As the picture below shows, it is trivial to pull the plate off. I did it simply by lifting it from the display — the security cable stuck to the back did the rest (that’s my story at least). I snapped the pic and then ran away before the Nokians noticed.
While these phones are both good enough, we wonder just what is going on at Nokia. The Mobile World Congress is the Western World’s biggest cellphone event. That the Finns only came up with two extremely dull business handsets is very odd indeed. Actually, not quite true — the 6720 Classic was also unveiled, but it is a phone so incredibly boring that I have trouble staying awak… Zzzz.
Press release [Nokia]
According to the rumors, Dell is suppose to unveil an Android smartphone at MWC09. So far the hardware hasn’t shown up but the AT&T CEO seemed to confirm the upcoming smartphone while speaking on a MWC panel. Now, it could be that he read our coverage and simply assumed it was general knowledge or Dell really is prepping a smartphone.
Dell announced they’re entering the smart phone market.
What more do you want? That’s what the chap said. Maybe we’ll get an official word today but Barcelona is six hours ahead of EST so the day’s festivities are starting to wind down today. Tomorrow perhaps. Or it could come months from now. Anyone golfing buddies with Michael? He must still have pull as the Chairman of the Board.
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Barcelona -- Acer might have entered the smartphone fray a little late, but it is making up for that by announcing a staggering eight new models, all of which will ship this year. The phones were unveiled last night at a special event in the wilds of Barcelona as part of the Mobile World Congress event.
The phones are aimed at every conceivable demographic, a point hammered home by a succession of Acer executives. (Hint to Acer speechwriters -- don't have your CEO joke about "being the only thing keeping 200 people for dinner" and then have him bang on about "segmenting the long tail" for another half hour before even mentioning the phones). The only things they have in common are Windows Mobile -- the old version, not the shiny new 6.5 version just unveiled by Steve Ballmer, and the screens -- and that they are all touch screens.
Instead of listing all the specs (you'd just fall asleep), we'll take a look at two standouts in the range (pictured below). The M900 is Acer's Blackberry-a-like, an email machine with a slide out QWERTY keyboard. The phone is loaded with Microsoft Office Mobile and also Outlook. The screen is a decent 3.8" and the phone also has a 5MP autofocus camera, GPS and an FM radio. Price is unknown, but we should see the M900 in the next couple of months.
At the other end of the range is the F900, an almost willfully dull phone. The handset is all touch, with a 3MP camera and, well, that's it really. There are the usuals – MP3 player, calendar – but nothing that makes this any more compelling than any other WinMo cellphone. Nothing, that is, except the price. Acer plans to have these coming in for pennies after carrier subsidies.
This pricing shows that Acer is planing to flood the smartphone market and turn it into the same commodity game that we see in the PC industry. Take a look at the netbook market, for instance. All netbooks are essentially the same. Same processor, same OS (Windows XP, usually) and same size. The only differences are the keyboards and the occasional outbreak of Linux. Acer will bring this same homogeneity to the smartphone market. And once the company gets Android in there (the Acer engineer says there is nothing lined up yet, but his smile said that Android is coming), it might be over for everybody else.
See Also:
It wasn’t quite final hardware (the face buttons are slightly different - a bit larger and round) and we weren’t allowed to touch the thing, but we just got back from spending a bit of time with the second-ever Android phone to make its way into a carrier’s line up. The HTC Magic, essentially a polished up and physical keyboard-less G1, totes a 3.2 megapixel camera, 3.2″ HVGA (480×320) capacitive touchscreen, on-screen keyboard, and all of the Google-powered services we’ve come to know and love with Android. Read on for our impressions.
What we like:
What we don’t:
We’re hoping to get a bit of one-on-one time with this one before we leave Barcelona - we’ll update you if our impressions change once we’ve actually pawed at it.
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We were just starting to worry that Mobile World Congress 2009 would go without pass by without an Android press announcement, but Vodafone and HTC have swooped in to save they day. They just announced the HTC Magic, a full touchscreen Android device which bears quite the resemblance to the HTC G1 - except with a bit more polish, and without a keyboard. It’s also a perfect match with the shot that leaked out yesterday.
The HTC Magic will have a 3.2 megapixel camera, trackball, 3.2″ HVGA (480×320) capacitive touch screen, GPS, accelerometer, and WiFi. Look for it on the shelves this spring exclusively from Vodafone in UK, Spain, Germany and France, and non-exclusively in Italy. No plans have yet been announced for US availability, but it’s something they’re working on.
Update: Full specs after the jump.
Processor Qualcomm® MSM7201a™, 528 MHz
Operating System Android
Memory ROM: 512 MB
RAM: 192 MB
Dimensions 113 x 55 x 13.65 mm ( 4.45 x 2.17 x 0.54 inches)
Weight 118.5 grams ( 4.18 ounces) with battery
Display 3.2-inch TFT-LCD flat touch-sensitive screen with 320×480 HVGA resolution
Network HSDPA/WCDMA:*
900/2100 MHz
*
Up to 2 Mbps up-link and 7.2 Mbps down-link speedsQuad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE:
*
850/900/1800/1900 MHz(Band frequency and data speed are operator dependent.)
Device Control Trackball with Enter button
GPS Internal GPS antenna
Connectivity Bluetooth® 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate
Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11 b/g
HTC ExtUSB™ (11-pin mini-USB 2.0 and audio jack in one)
Camera 3.2 megapixel color camera with auto focus
Audio supported formats AAC, AAC+, AMR-NB, MP3, WMA, WAV, AAC-LC, MIDI, OGG
Video supported formats MP4, 3GP
Battery Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery
Capacity: 1340 mAh
Talk time:*
Up to 400 minutes for WCDMA
*
Up to 450 minutes for GSMStandby time:
*
Up to 660 hours for WCDMA
*
Up to 420 hours for GSM(The above are subject to network and phone usage.)
Expansion Slot microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
AC Adapter Voltage range/frequency: 100 ~ 240V AC, 47/63 Hz
DC output: 5V and 1A
Special Features G-sensor
Digital Compass
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