Source: Gizmodo | 10 Apr 2009 | 3:00 am

Decent DVD-Ripping Solution For Linux?

supersloshy writes "I'm a user of Ubuntu Linux and I have been for a little while now. Recently I've been trying to copy DVDs onto a portable media player, but everything I've tried isn't working right. dvd::rip always gets the language mixed up (for example, when ripping 'Howl's Moving Castle,' one of the files it ripped to was in Japanese instead of English), Acidrip just plain isn't working for me (not recognizing a disc with spaces in its name, refusing to encode, etc.), Thoggen is having trouble with chapters (chapter 1 repeated twice for me once), and OGMRip has the audio out of sync. What I'm looking for is a reliable program to copy the movie into a single file with none of the audio or video glitches as mentioned above. Is there even such thing on Linux? If you can't think of a decent Linux-based solution, then a Windows one is fine as long as it works."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Gizmodo | 10 Apr 2009 | 2:40 am

Third episode of Laptop Hunters: $1,500 and they still don’t buy Mac

 
This episode of Laptop Hunters has been brought to you by Microsoft and Sony VAIO. Spoiler: the actors don’t buy a Mac, instead wander aimlessly around the dozens of PC models until finding a Blu-ray equipped Sony VAIO. Sorry to ruin the surprise. Video after the jump.

Adding commentary to these things is getting fairly tedious. The Mac attack wasn’t very egregious: “They’re kind of popular with this age,” eh? At least this model performed a bit better in standard benchmarks and it has Blu-Ray, one of the bigger draws for most people. Sadly, it’s not really a “full-HD” (1080p) laptop and it’s as big as a pizza box.

Here’s the product page in case you want to pick one up.

Source: CrunchGear | 10 Apr 2009 | 2:33 am

Microsoft Looks Parallel With New Hire, Analysts Say

Source: Gizmodo | 10 Apr 2009 | 2:20 am

Virgin Mobile unveils Pink Slip Protection plan - Los Angeles Times

Fresh News

Virgin Mobile unveils Pink Slip Protection plan Los Angeles Times The company will waive as many as three months of wireless phone charges for customers who get laid off. By Alana Semuels As the old saying goes, nothing in life is free. Virgin Mobile offers new plan to help ease your wallet CNET News Virgin Mobile Intros Pink Slip Protection Plan InformationWeek PC World - Reuters - Wall Street Journal - ChannelWeb all 169 news articles

Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 10 Apr 2009 | 2:19 am

TaxBrain.com(R) New 2009 Tax Credit W4 Calculator Tool Helps Taxpayers See Bigger Pay Checks

TRACY, Calif., April 9 /PRNewswire/ -- TaxBrain.com(R), America's Online Tax Service(TM) (http://www.taxbrain.com) -- Most Americans will see an increase in their paychecks due to the Making Work Pay Tax Credit (MWP) provision of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 10 Apr 2009 | 2:08 am

Video: Tina Fey does a better Steve Jobs than Chevy Chase

Wow. NBC apparently hearts Steve Jobs. Chevy Chase did a great Steve Jobs impression on Chuck the other day, but Tina Fey and the 30 Rock crew absolutely nailed it tonight; keynote slides included. Tina Fey could stand in for Jobs. Hell, bench Phil Schiller and get Tina Fey up on the stage. Tina Jobs. That has a nice ring to it, eh?

Update: That was fast. Our YouTube video got pulled so until Hulu updates with the latest episode, all you get is the screen grab above.

Source: CrunchGear | 10 Apr 2009 | 2:01 am

Video: Battlestations: Pacific Attract Mode trailer

Here’s the latest trailer from Eidos and WB’s upcoming WWII action simulator Battlestations: Pacific. I’m not sure which part of this trailer showcases the “Attract Mode” but it’s tucked away in there somewhere. Anyway, you can control the Japanese IJN Fleet and change the course of history! B:P hits retailers on May 12 for the Xbox 360 and PC.

Battlestations

Source: CrunchGear | 10 Apr 2009 | 2:00 am

Cell, landline service out in parts of NorCal (AP)

AP - Vandals severed eight fiber optic cables early Thursday in San Jose and another nearby town, leaving thousands of people without cell phone, Internet and landline service, officials said.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 10 Apr 2009 | 1:42 am

Review: SanDisk slotRadio

Short Version: SanDisk’s slotRadio player provides good value as it pertains to content, with the $99 kit featuring 1,000 popular music tracks and an attractive hardware player. The “radio” portion of the slotRadio name should be given close attention — you can skip tracks but you can’t go backwards, and everything’s played in random order, just like conventional radio.

Long Version: If you read CrunchGear regularly, you’re probably savvy enough to know how to load songs on an MP3 player. If that’s the case, the slotRadio player isn’t for you — unless you’re open to the idea of a portable device with a ton of music on it that you didn’t download yourself and can’t access track by track.

I can’t stress enough that the slotRadio player is NOT an MP3 player. It looks like an MP3 player, it feels like an MP3 player, and it works like an MP3 player, but it’s somehow not an MP3 player. I spent the first ten minutes going “What the f@%k was SanDisk thinking?” before realizing that I needed to look at the concept from a lay person’s point of view, not the point of view of a handsome technology blogger.

So here’s the deal: you pay $99 and you get the cracker-sized slotRadio player and a microSD card filled with 1,000 popular songs from Billboard’s music charts. The player has an On/FM/Off switch, volume up and down buttons, a combination next track/play/pause button, and two buttons for toggling back and forth between playlists. The hardware looks and feels pretty nice. The brushed aluminum body is solid and there’s a sturdy belt clip on the back side. The 1.5-inch OLED screen is greyscale but is super readable and there are cool little animations depending upon which playlist you’ve selected.

Think of the playlists as “stations” — there’s Rock, Country, R&B/Hip Hop, Contemporary, Alternative, Workout, and Chill — with all 1,000 songs appearing on one or more of the playlists. The player itself has no on-board storage, so you can either buy preloaded cards from SanDisk or you can load your own tunes on a blank microSD card.

You start playing a particular playlist and if you don’t like the song you’re listening to, you can skip it. If you move to the another playlist, whichever song you’re currently listening to will pick up where it left off when you select the playlist again. You can not, however, go back to a previous song no matter which playlist you’ve selected. Similar to how the real-life radio works, things just move forward and in real time. The only difference is that you can skip tracks you don’t like. It’s very similar to online streaming audio services like Slacker or Pandora, except that you get unlimited skips.

This, in my opinion, is the biggest strike against the slotRadio idea. It’s simple to a fault. The two big left and right buttons on the face of the device are used to navigate between the seven playlists when they should be used to toggle back and forth between songs. Instead, the small-ish play/pause button on the right side of the device is used to skip tracks. Even the noobiest of noobs will wonder why they can’t go back to the song they just accidentally skipped over. If there’s a second iteration of the player, SanDisk should seriously consider letting people go back to recently-skipped tracks.

Once I got the hang of this newfangled concept, I immediately thought, “Oh boy, I’m gonna dump these 1,000 songs on my computer.” No, no, no I’m not. The microSD card that comes with the slotRadio player is locked down tighter than Peter Ha’s bicycle and the music on that particular card can only be played on the slotRadio player. I’m sure that was a concession by SanDisk in exchange for being able to sell 1,000 songs for under $100 when the regular bill would be ten times that amount. If you want to keep these songs, you’ll have to record them in real time — hey, just like how regular radio works! — until someone figures out how to crack the card. To SanDisk’s credit, other microSD albums and compilations that it’s selling are DRM-free and can be copied willy-nilly.

All that aside, what you end up getting is a setup that’s good for a) people who don’t care/can’t/are too lazy to download a bunch of stuff and transfer it to a regular player, b) an okay impulse buy at an airport, and c) something to hook up to your stereo if you’re having a party and want to make sure that there’s music to suit anyone’s tastes. I’d consider myself a fairly picky music snob and there are enough tracks on this microSD card to keep me happy and listening for quite some time. There’s plenty of crap, to be sure, but it’s not all crap.

Battery life is rated at around 13 hours, which is accurate (I left the thing playing from 9PM to about 10:15 AM) and the kit includes earbuds, a gel skin case, and a USB cable that plugs into an included AC adapter. The player has no menu; there’s no shuffle or repeat settings, no equalizer, none of that stuff. The audio quality is okay but not great. You get a more-than-capable FM tuner, as well, and you can easily add station presets.

All in all, it’s an interesting concept that serves to bridge the gap between those who download and those who don’t. The interesting thing to watch will be if there are enough of those who don’t that’ll be willing to dip their feet in the digital music pond without getting overwhelmed. While only being able to skip forward over tracks is this whole idea’s Achilles heel, if SanDisk can sell the overall concept to the masses, it just might catch on.

slotRadio [SanDisk]

Source: CrunchGear | 10 Apr 2009 | 1:21 am

OXCART: The Real Secret of Area 51

Since the government has finally declassified the program, the people who worked at Area 51 can now talk about A-12 OXCART, a Wicked Secret program to build an test a Mach 3 spyplane at Nevada's Groom Lake. (You may know it as the SR-71 Blackbird.) The L.A. Times talks to survivors of the program:

So, what of those urban legends--the UFOs studied in secret, the underground tunnels connecting clandestine facilities? For decades, the men at Area 51 thought they'd take their secrets to the grave. At the height of the Cold War, they cultivated anonymity while pursuing some of the country's most covert projects. Conspiracy theories were left to popular imagination. But in talking with Collins, Lovick, Slater, Barnes and Martin, it is clear that much of the folklore was spun from threads of fact.

As for the myths of reverse engineering of flying saucers, Barnes offers some insight: "We did reverse engineer a lot of foreign technology, including the Soviet MiG fighter jet out at the Area"--even though the MiG wasn't shaped like a flying saucer. As for the underground-tunnel talk, that, too, was born of truth. Barnes worked on a nuclear-rocket program called Project NERVA, inside underground chambers at Jackass Flats, in Area 51's backyard. "Three test-cell facilities were connected by railroad, but everything else was underground," he says.

Photo: James Dale

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 10 Apr 2009 | 1:17 am

Leaked Photos: Web 2.0 Mogul Michael Arrington Creates New Web Tablet

Quixotic Web 2.0 personality Michael Arrington has been on a quiet quest for the past few months to create an inexpensive web tablet.

Now photos of the device, called Crunchpad, have leaked online. Dustin Curtis, a user interface designer, posted four photos of a sweet-looking machine that could potentially compete with netbooks.

Arrington first wrote about the idea of a tablet in June last year. He suggested a touchscreen device that would run Firefox and maybe Skype on top of a Linux kernel.

"The machine is as thin as possible, runs low end hardware and has a single button for powering it on and off, headphone jacks, a built in camera for video, low end speakers, and a microphone," wrote Arrington. The Crunchpad would also have Wi-Fi, 512 MB of memory, 4 GB solid state hard drive and no keyboard.

The latest photos of the Crunchpad show that Arrington and his team may be getting closer to a finished product. The candy-colored packaging and the Apple-like rounded edges design should be enough to draw in users. Add to that the $200 price tag--if they can stick to it--and it could seal the deal for many users.

Arrington has said he ultimately wants to make the specs available under an open source license so other manufacturers can build on it.

The fact that a Web 2.0 media mogul can turn into a hardware entrepreneur in mere months confirms that the time is ripe for hardware startups, as Wired.com reported recently. The combination of easily outsourced industrial design, overseas manufacturing and accessible online distribution means that it costs surprisingly little to create a new hardware product than it did before.

Meanwhile, as with most things Arrington-related, the latest leaked photos come with their share of drama. The photos were posted to Curtis' blog, then taken down briefly--ostensibly at Arrington's request--and are back online now. In any case we have saved them for your fill of crunchy product.

Read on for more photos of Crunchpad.

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 10 Apr 2009 | 12:53 am

Everything you need to know about the Palm Pre (so far)

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Email / IM, Smartphones, Mobile, Features, Originals

“Know your history” - My 5th grade history teacher.

When you are mingling on the rooftop at the raging Palm Pre launch party, you’ll need to know your Palm geek speak; that is where we come in.  Assembled here for you are the great moments in Palm’s recent past that will be more than enough to get you through the night and well into your blissful honeymoon with what has become one of the most eagerly anticipated devices since that other phone.

The Old Palm

Palm is credited by many for kicking off the smartphone era.  By cramming a phone into their Palm OS device, the Handspring Treo was well ahead of its time, the device combined email, calendar, web in a converged device.  What was not to love?

Not much.  Developers flocked and application upon application were written for the Palm OS.  Soon, Palm had a family of phones on multiple networks.  Everyone agreed Palm had the best QWERTY keypad phone going.  A few missed deadlines of upgrades to the OS later, some Windows Mobile versions added in and Palm became the lumbering giant that just couldn’t get out of its own way.  The phones stopped looking innovated and soon looked dated.

CES 2009: Palm find an audience

The Palm Pre announcement was big.  You could feel everyone in attendance pulling for the company to “wow” us - and that is just what they did.  All the conversations at the show revolved around the Pre and how it is going to change things.  I am still giddy and it’s been four months.

The Pre is all about the software.  The hardware is OK, certainly not jaw dropping pretty like the iPhone, but it is OK.  What the Pre has is software that is sleek, sexy, and will give Apple a run.  Palm smartly partnered with a bunch of big names for apps.  Folks like Facebook, TeleNav, Pandora, Google and Amazon…big names you know and apps you’ll probably care about.

Palm did make some statements with hardware: a removable battery?  Touchstone for wireless recharging?  Awesome stuff that makes you not just a boring iPhone clone.  Nope, the phone was spec’d to impress (minus an SD slot) and we all figured the promised delivery “in the first half of 2009” would come soon enough.

But then came the hard winter

Many of us got impatient about waiting.  Palm announced an invite only call for press that was essentially a rerun of the CES fun.  We got bored.  We wanted pricing, dates, and free samples. So far, we’ve gotten none. 

A few more details have come out, just not the big answers we are hoping for.  Things like Sprint’s pricing plans for service; we are unsure if Sprint has an exclusive past six months; Europe will have a UMTS version of the phone rather shortly; Best Buy may or may not be a retailer;

The elephant in the room

Pretty quick, Apple took notice.  The “iPhone Patent” behemoth was issued giving Apple rights to everything including the Falkland Islands, if you read the fine print.  Seems Apple wanted to do some saber rattling and we’ve yet to see what they try to make stick.

Then, Apple announced 3.0 software that took away some of Palm’s advances of the first two versions of iPhone’s software.  Not all, but some.  Had Palm’s window of opportunity gotten smaller?  Currently Apple is advertising the heck out of applications for everything from farting to seafaring navigation.  It would seem Apple wants to say, “Look away from the Palm freak, look to the established app leader.”

Then Palm announces older apps from the Palm OS will be able to run on the new webOS.  Hot stuff, Palm is filling its app store with old faves to give it the running start we believe it will need.  Clever move.

Will this save Sprint?

 
Presumably, Sprint has some skin in this game too.  Verizon and AT&T seem to be running away with customers from good ole Sprint.  Nextel’s grip on the market is slipping and Sprint needs a win.  Likely, they’ll get a bump from early adapters with the Pre.  But for many of us, Sprint could be the deal breaker.

Many of us are still rooting for Palm and the Pre.  Regardless of success, competition is a good thing.

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 10 Apr 2009 | 12:43 am

Fiber Cuts Slash Silicon Valley's Internet Arteries (PC World)

PC World - Cuts in fiber-optic lines early Thursday at two locations near Silicon Valley shut down two IBM facilities and affected an organization in charge of Internet domain names.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 10 Apr 2009 | 12:40 am

Video: Camera rigged eagle shows us what it’s like to fly

I’m too lazy to translate the page and the video is pretty self-explanatory. Watch and be amazed.

Erwan Grey via NOTCOT

Source: CrunchGear | 10 Apr 2009 | 12:39 am

CompUSA Comes Back From the Dead

About three months ago, Loretta Alkalay, a retired Florida resident, wanted to get a new HDTV. So she decided to give the CompUSA near her home a try.

Yes, CompUSA. The once-bankrupt electronics retailer is making a comeback, with about 30 new CompUSA stores nationwide and a new strategy that includes aggressive prices, remodeled stores, improved lighting and in-store web access for comparison shopping.

"We have invented this idea of retail 2.0," says Gilbert Fiorentino, chief executive of the Technology Products Group at Systemax, now parent company of CompUSA. Fiorentino is also the founder of Tiger Direct, a web only electronics retailer and another subsidiary of Systemax. "Every screen in every CompUSA store is now connected to the internet and making buying a richer experience for customers," he says.

It was price that brought Alkalay the store. She wound up buying a 32-inch flat panel TV for $200 -- a real steal, she says.

"I had never heard of the brand. But given the price and size, I thought this is a great bargain," says Alkalay.

Once part of the big three electronics retail stores in the country, CompUSA filed for bankruptcy two years ago. It was not alone: High overheads and the inability to compete with low online prices forced companies such as Circuit City and Ritz Camera into bankruptcy, too. Meanwhile, online players such as Amazon, Buy.com and NewEgg have been growing.

But after a reorganization and a buyout in January last year by Systemax, a major electronics retailer, CompUSA is back in business.

The in-store web access may be the biggest gamble, since it raises the possibility that you might use a CompUSA floor model to find a better deal on Amazon.com for the very computer you're using to get that information.

Say you are in a CompUSA store trying to decide if that big plasma TV is the one you want. Just tap the keyboard in front of the screen and go online to check out the specs and reviews an even the recommended mounting brackets. There's also custom information for that particular store, such as how many are in stock.

"We do the same thing with laptops, desktops and monitors," says Fiorentino. "We are using tech to change the retail experience for the customer and giving them access to all the information on the internet anytime they want during the buying process." And there are no restrictions. Users can surf the internet, check their Facebook or even Twitter if they want, says Fiorentino.

It may sound like a small change but it is quite different from how Best Buy, Office Depot or other brick-and-mortar stores display information to their customers, says Doug Fleener, president of retail consulting firm Dynamic Experiences and former director of retail for Bose.

“It’s an untested concept,” says Fleener. “We will have to see if customers like to spend their time gathering information while shopping rather than doing it at home.”

Systemax's Tiger Direct online shopping site has benefited first hand from the online shopping trend. But Fiorentino says customers still want to go stores to buy electronics.

And Fiorentino says CompUSA can keep its prices low despite the additional overhead costs associated with a physical store. CompUSA's inventory now ties into Tiger Direct and the company offers the same prices whether consumers buy a product online or in a store.

Customers such as Robert Oschler, a New York resident who runs a site for robotics enthusiasts, are seeing the difference.

About a month ago Oschler found a CompUSA store near him running offering 48-hour special deals. "They seem to be doing a lot of that," he says. Oschler bought a Novint Falcon gaming mouse for $99 that otherwise retails for $180.

He says he's also noticed the changes in the store’s layout, “They seem more organized,” says Oschler. “Earlier, their aisles used to cluttered, almost supermarket-like, where they wanted to shove as much stuff as possible in your face as you walked by. But now there are more categories and better displays.”

Still, the revived CompUSA is a shadow of its former self. At its peak about three years ago, CompUSA posted about $5 billion a year in sales and had more than 216 stores nationwide. Now it posts a fraction of that in sales and has just about a tenth of its former reach.

If CompUSA can survive through the recession and manage its costs—rent, salaries, inventory--the chain can hope for a future, says Fleener. As other big box retailers disappear, consumers are looking for alternative places to go to and the thrill of walking into a store and looking at products is not easily replaceable for shoppers.

“Stores like Circuit City going out does leave an opportunity in the market,” says Fleener. “With less brick and mortar competition around, people will give CompUSA a chance.”

Photos: The new CompUSA stores/Systemax

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 10 Apr 2009 | 12:39 am

A Look At The Tesla S 17-inch Haptic Entertainment And Navigation System

Mike and I were the first journalists to ride in the new Tesla Model S sedan yesterday and we were captivated by the massive 17-inch touch screen (so was Gizmodo) featured in the center console of the car. Both Tesla CEO Elon Musk and chief designer Franz von Holzhausen didn’t say much about the on screen system, except that it does have touch capability, it is an “entertainment center” and that it is a prototype which is still undergoing changes and improvements (see what both Musk and von Holzhausen said in our video).

Tesla says that 520 S Model all electric sedans have been reserved by customers in first week since it was announced. At that announcement, Tesla debuted the screen but it wasn’t much to look at (see right). Now it looks much better (Thanks to Nik_Nik for the picture above).

Here’s what we know about the screen. Its a 17-inch LCD touch computer screen that has 3G or wireless connectivity. When we were in the car, the screen featured Google Maps. Tesla’s website verifies that the screen will be able to feature sites like Google Maps and Pandora Music. From what we saw yesterday, the screen is divided vertically into three separate areas: the maps/navigation screen, radio/entertainment area, and climate controls. The navigation screen has several tabs: “internet,” “navigation,” “car,” “backup,” and “phone.” The entertainment section has several tabs, including “audio,” “media,” “streaming,” “playlists,” “artists” and “songs.” The climate controls seem pretty standard. Our driver (see video) says that the computer is going to be run on some kind of Google Maps software and will feature a “full browser.” It’s not surprising that Google Maps is integrated into the interface, Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page are investors in Tesla. The dashboard is also an LCD touch screen. Tesla has also confirmed to us that the computer/entertainment center will be Linux-based.

Here’s the video of both Musk and von Holzhausen talking about Tesla’s computer and footage of our driver revealing more about the technology:

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

Source: TechCrunch | 10 Apr 2009 | 12:24 am

Openmoko Phone Not Dead After All

In response to the report I posted a few days ago that the Openmoko FreeRunner phone had been discontinued, Pat Meier-Johnson writes on behalf of Openmoko to say that this isn't so. "Some bloggers have been misinterpreting a presentation by Openmoko CEO, Sean Moss-Pultz last week in Switzerland to think that the company is getting out of the phone business. That's not true. In fact, the Openmoko FreeRunner (their current model) is alive and well. (Also in Switzerland, Sean announced another project — not a phone — that they are calling 'Project B.' No details yet.) The next version of the phone, codenamed GTA03, has been suspended and there were some associated layoffs, but the GTA03 was in constant flux as a design. So the company is being prudent and focusing on the FreeRunner which has lots of open source community and most recently, embedded developer support." Glad to hear this, because the FreeRunner is an interesting phone.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 10 Apr 2009 | 12:20 am

Novellus' Suppression-Enhanced Fill(TM) Technology Provides Defect-Free 32nm Copper Interconnects

Unique Hardware and Process Chemistry Extend Cu Manufacturing Capability SAN JOSE, Calif., April 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Since the advent of copper damascene processing, achieving void-free fill of high aspect ratio interconnect features has been a key challenge for device manufacturers.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 10 Apr 2009 | 12:04 am

Oobject: Vintage Lie Detectors

Everything I link is a lie. [Oobject]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 10 Apr 2009 | 12:03 am

Battle Of The Google Voice iPhone Apps: VoiceCentral vs. GV Mobile

For those of us that rely on being but a series of digits away at all times, Google Voice is a godsend. Regardless of which phone I’m closest to, be it the home line, my iPhone, or any of the phones we’ve got out on review, I’m reachable. As helpful as it may be, it’s not perfect - at least, not right out of the box. Google provides a fantastic backbone, but some of the solutions they provide for basic functionality (such as making a call or sending an SMS from your Google Voice number) aren’t reasonable replacements for what we’ve all grown accustomed to. Dialing another number before dialing the one I actually want? Pft. Loading up my browser and waiting for the web interface to load to send a new SMS? No thanks. I’m a whiny iPhone user, and thus expect every product to have a companion App that makes my life better.

Back when Google Voice was still GrandCentral and lacked all of the features that the new name carried in tow (SMS, Voicemail transcription, etc), an application called GrandDialer was released which allowed iPhone users to dial out from their Google Voice number through an interface nearly identical to that of the default Phone application. Unfortunately, enough changed when a user would migrate from GrandCentral to Google Voice that GrandDialer no longer functioned properly. This, of course, resulted in deafening cries for an update from a userbase now again stuck with the more tedious dialing process. Alas, there would be no such update - the day after Google Voice went live, GrandDialer was pulled from the app store, with its developer announcing that the project had been retired.

It wouldn’t be long before we started hearing about an app in the works, ready to step up and fill the shoes left empty by GrandDialer’s demise. In fact, there are now two applications (that we’re aware of) sitting in Apple’s moderation queue: RiverTurn’s VoiceCentral, and GV Mobile by Sean Kovacs. Both are ready to hit the App Store at any moment, and both are going for the exact same price. We’ve obtained pre-release copies of both and pitted them head-to-head - so which one should you give your hard earned $2.99?

Note: It’s worth reiterating here that both of these applications were tested in their pre-release, freshly submitted forms. The versions we used for testing are very close to what we’ll see when they hit the App Store, though bug fixes and new features could have slipped in by the time they get approved.

Cost:
Whether by pure coincidence or not, both of the applications are set to sell for $2.99 when they make their way to the App Store.

Important to note here, however, is that GrandDialer was free - but lacked much of the functionality found in either application. This is the App Store, where every third review on any given 99 cent application is complaining that the app isn’t free. GV Mobile will be releasing a gratis feature-for-feature GrandDialer replacement, called GV Mobile Free. It lacks voicemail, history, and SMS, but does everything GrandDialer did.

SMS:

If any one thing kept people from GrandCentral, it was the absence of SMS - what good is having one unified number if text messages sent to it disappear into the oblivion?

At the time of testing, only GV Mobile had support for text messaging. VoiceCentral’s developers tell me they are hard at work on SMS functionality, expecting to have it implemented within the next few days. Depending on when Apple gets around to giving it the green light, it may well have SMS support at launch.

Contacts:

Both applications allow you to dig through your iPhone’s contact list. VoiceCentral places a Contacts key in the static bottom navigation bar, while GV Mobile places a Contacts icon in the dialer and SMS screens. Of the two designs, we prefer the latter; with the contacts icon off of the bottom bar, more space is available for other icons.

The contact screens of both apps are identical to that of the default Phone app’s screen, as it’s simply being pulled up through the API.

History:
Both applications will show recent incoming/outgoing Google Voice calls. The build of VoiceCentral we used for testing does not currently have it built in, but the developers have shown us that it is ready to go in the next build.

Visual Voicemail:

Both GV Mobile and VoiceCentral support playback of voicemail messages left on your Google Voice account, and both feature easy to use Visual Voicemail interfaces.

In our test builds, however, VoiceCentral’s voicemail interface was much better than GV Mobiles. Both support playback (through the ear piece or the speakerphone), and message deletion. However, only VoiceCentral allows you to scrub to any point in a message, manually refresh the voicemail list, or create new contacts from the voicemail caller’s number. Voicemail is one place where VoiceCentral really shines.

Startup Time:
In our completely unscientific testing of start-up times (recording each app starting up 3 times, timing how long it took for them to fully load after the icon was tapped, then calculating the average), GV Mobile started up nearly a whole second faster than VoiceCentral, coming in at 3.7 seconds and 4.6 seconds respectively. It may seem trivial - but when you’re constantly clicking into an application to make calls, each second of load time feels like an eternity.

One thing involving startup struck us as a fairly notable difference: when GV Mobile starts up, it launches into the dialing keypad. When VoiceCentral starts up, it launches into the voicemail screen. Which is better is a matter of personal preference, though we’d imagine that most users would prefer the quick keypad access.

GrandCentral Support:
For whatever reason, a number of people plan on stickin’ with GrandCentral until Google makes the jump to Voice mandatory. Of the two, VoiceCentral is the only one to support this legacy option. GV Mobile only plans on supporting Google Voice.

Conclusion:

It’s a bit tough to recommend one application over the other when what we’re seeing isn’t the absolute final release. However - judging solely on what we have in front of us, we’d recommend GV Mobile.

While VoiceCentral’s Voicemail screen is quite superior to GV Mobile, that seems to be it’s only real advantage. As mentioned above, it also has GrandCentral support going for it - but how many legacy users are only hanging on until applications like these make Google Voice as iPhone-friendly as GrandDialer made GrandCentral? VoiceCentral plans on implementing a number of features that would balance things out significantly - but as far as we can tell, GV Mobile has a drastic lead. We prefer a number of GV Mobile’s user experience choices, and the overall design of the application - so in the end, that’s where we’d spend our 3 bucks.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 10 Apr 2009 | 12:02 am

Battle Of The Google Voice iPhone Apps: VoiceCentral vs. GV Mobile

For those of us that rely on being but a series of digits away at all times, Google Voice is a godsend. Regardless of which phone I’m closest to, be it the home line, my iPhone, or any of the phones we’ve got out on review, I’m reachable. As helpful as it may be, it’s not perfect - at least, not right out of the box. Google provides a fantastic backbone, but some of the solutions they provide for basic functionality (such as making a call or sending an SMS from your Google Voice number) aren’t reasonable replacements for what we’ve all grown accustomed to. Dialing another number before dialing the one I actually want? Pft. Loading up my browser and waiting for the web interface to load to send a new SMS? No thanks. I’m a whiny iPhone user, and thus expect every product to have a companion App that caters to my every need.

Back when Google Voice was still Grand Central and lacked all of the features that the new name carried in tow (SMS, Voicemail transcription, etc), an application called GrandDialer was released which allowed iPhone users to dial out from their Google Voice number through an interface nearly identical to that of the default Phone application. Unfortunately, enough changed when a user would migrate from GrandCentral to Google Voice that GrandDialer no longer functioned properly. This, of course, resulted in deafening cries for an update from a userbase now once again stuck with the more tedious dialing process. Alas, there would be no such update - the day after Google Voice went live, GrandDialer was pulled from the app store, with its developer announcing that the project had been retired.

It wouldn’t be long before we started hearing about an app in the works, ready to step up and fill the shoes left empty by GrandDialer’s demise. In fact, there are now two applications (that we’re aware of) sitting in Apple’s moderation queue: RiverTurn’s VoiceCentral, and GV Mobile by Sean Kovacs. Both are ready to hit the App Store at any moment, and both are going for the exact same price. We’ve obtained pre-release copies of both and pitted them head-to-head - so which one should get your hard earned $2.99?

Note: It’s worth reiterating here that both of these applications were tested in their pre-release, freshly submitted forms. The versions we used for testing are very close to what we’ll see when they hit the App Store, though bug fixes and new features could have slipped in by the time they get approved.

Cost:
Whether by pure coincidence or not, both of the applications are set to sell for $2.99 when they make their way to the App Store.

Important to note here, however, is that GrandDialer was free - but lacked much of the functionality found in either of these new applications. This is the App Store, where every third review on any given 99 cent application is complaining that said app isn’t free. GV Mobile will be releasing a gratis feature-for-feature GrandDialer replacement, called GV Mobile Free. It lacks the voicemail, history, and SMS of the premium version.

SMS:

If any one thing kept people from GrandCentral, it was the absence of SMS - what good is having one unified number if text messages sent to it disappear into the oblivion?

At the time of testing, only GV Mobile had support for text messaging. VoiceCentral’s developers tell me they are hard at work on SMS functionality, expecting to have it implemented within the next few days. Depending on when Apple gets around to giving it the green light, it may well have SMS support at launch.

Contacts:

Both applications allow you to dig through your iPhone’s contact list. VoiceCentral places a Contacts key in the static bottom navigation bar, while GV Mobile places a Contacts icon in the dialer and SMS screens. Of the two design methods, we prefer the latter; with the contacts icon off of the bottom bar, more space is available for other icons.

The contact screens of both apps are identical to that of the default Phone app’s screen, as it’s simply being pulled up through the API.

History:
Both applications will show recent incoming/outgoing Google Voice calls. The build of VoiceCentral we used for testing does not currently have it built in, but the developers have shown us that it is ready to go in the next build.

Visual Voicemail:

Both GV Mobile and VoiceCentral support playback of voicemail messages left on your Google Voice account, and both feature easy to use Visual Voicemail interfaces.

In our test builds, however, VoiceCentral’s voicemail interface was much better than GV Mobiles. Both support playback (through the ear piece or the speakerphone), and message deletion. However, only VoiceCentral allows you to scrub to any point in a message, manually refresh the voicemail list, or create new contacts from the voicemail caller’s number. Voicemail is one place where VoiceCentral really shines.

Startup Time:

In our completely unscientific testing of start-up times (recording each app starting up 3 times, timing how long it took for them to fully load after the icon was tapped, then calculating the average), GV Mobile started up nearly a whole second faster than VoiceCentral, coming in at 3.7 seconds and 4.6 seconds respectively. It may seem trivial - but when you’re constantly clicking into an application to make calls, each second of load time feels like an eternity.

One thing involving startup struck us as a fairly notable difference: when GV Mobile starts up, it launches into the dialing keypad. When VoiceCentral starts up, it launches into the voicemail screen. Which is better is a matter of personal preference, though we’d imagine that most users would prefer the quick keypad access.

GrandCentral Support:
For whatever reason, a number of people plan on stickin’ with GrandCentral until Google makes the jump to Voice mandatory. Of the two, VoiceCentral is the only one to support this legacy option. GV Mobile only plans on supporting Google Voice.

Conclusion:

It’s a bit tough to recommend one application over the other when what we’re seeing isn’t the absolute final release. However - judging solely on what we have in front of us, we’d recommend GV Mobile.

While VoiceCentral’s Voicemail screen is quite superior to GV Mobile, that seems to be its only real advantage. As mentioned above, it also has GrandCentral support going for it - but how many legacy users are only hanging on until applications like these make Google Voice as iPhone-friendly as GrandDialer made GrandCentral? VoiceCentral plans on implementing a number of features that would balance things out significantly - but GV Mobile has a drastic lead. We prefer a number of GV Mobile’s user experience choices, and the overall design of the application - so in the end, that’s where we’d spend our 3 bucks.

Whichever application you go for, look for it to hit the App Store within the next few days.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 10 Apr 2009 | 12:00 am

Mitsubishi’s iMiEV arrives early to steal Tesla and Volt’s thunder

The battle of the EVs draws closer, and while I doubt it’ll the Ragnarok we all hope for, it should be an interesting fight. While Tesla is doing fine selling its high-end Roadster, the real competition will likely be around $40,000, give or take a few thousand. Of course, everybody’s ready for the Volt, but it seems that Mitsubishi is going to beat everyone to the market with the first consumer-oriented mass-produced electric vehicle (as opposed to enthusiast-oriented like Tesla’s models). The iMiEV (bets on name changing after the first year?) should be hitting the showrooms in Japan this Summer, and hopefully we’ll see it on our shores not too long after.

The iMiEV (sport version shown above) is pretty much what you’d expect. Not high-performance like a Roadster, but not an oversized scooter like the Puma or slightly larger “urban transport” vehicles. You can see an older test drive here, which lays out the basics, but essentially it’s a practical electric vehicle with which a family might conceivably be able to replace their Subaru or whatever.

Others are biting at Mitsubishi’s heels, of course, so getting it out there fast is of prime importance. I’ve promised myself that I won’t buy a car until I can get a plug-in electric, but will this be it? And will I have to move to Portland to keep the thing charged?

[via VentureBeat]

Source: CrunchGear | 9 Apr 2009 | 11:30 pm

FCC Seeks To Improve US Broadband Access

MojoKid writes "The US Federal Communications Commission is working on a plan to solve the problem of nationwide access to high-speed Internet service. The three main issues the agency is tackling first are, figuring out how to improve availability, quality and affordability. Acting FCC Chairman Michael J. Copps held a meeting this week where he asked the public to comment on the national broadband plan, which Congress has demanded be done by February. The public has 60 days to submit comments; the agency and members of the public will be able to reply to comments for an additional 30 days after that."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 9 Apr 2009 | 11:23 pm

T-Mobile’s got a not-so-secret event planned for April 21

Section: Business News, Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Web, Google

Calling all T-Mobile G1 Fanboys, time to get excited.  It looks like T-Mobile has been sending out invitations to a private launch event taking place on April 21, a little bit less than 3 weeks from now, in the Big Apple. 

Unfortunately, T-Mobile has not released any details as to what they will be announcing, but you may recall that their last big event was to announce the T-Mobile G1, the first phone running Google’s Android platform.  The G1 has done fairly well, so there is good reason to suspect T-Mobile to announce a G2, perhaps, or even another Google Android phone.  One phone that is likely to be a focus of T-Mobile at the event could be the HTC Magic, a phone that was recently made available in the UK. 

Rumor has it that the Magic will be made available by T-Mobile, under the name G2, as opposed to Magic.  While it bears differences from the G1, such as lacking a physical keyboard, it does present an alternative to people who want to experience Android, but not with the G1.  The G1 originally sold for $179, but I imagine the next T-Mobile Android phone to sell for even less than that as a method to persuade on-the-fence potential customers to pick up a G2. 

Of course, only time will tell what T-Mobile has in store for us, but with the Palm Pre supposedly to be available soon, T-Mobile will want to glamorize their new phone. 

Via [Engadget]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 9 Apr 2009 | 11:17 pm

The A.P. Apologizes, Admits To A “Misunderstanding Of YouTube Usage”

My post yesterday about the Associated Press going after one of its own affiliates for embedding videos from the A.P.’s own YouTube channel on its Website caused a bit of a dust-up. As I noted in an update to the original post, the A.P. is now backing down and apologizing. It will allow the videos to go up again.

The A.P. also sent me a statement saying no cease-and-desist letter was ever drafted. And technically, it wasn’t. An A.P. executive delivered his warning to the radio station in an e-mail, which had the same effect as a formal letter. “This was a misunderstanding that has mushroomed into something else entirely,” an A.P.’s spokesman tells me. Here is the A.P. complete official statement:

There was a misunderstanding of YouTube usage when the Tennessee radio station was contacted by the Associated Press regarding the AP’s more extensive online video services. No cease and desist letter was drafted or sent by AP to the station at any time. The AP was trying to offer the station a superior service for their needs.

In other words, at the same time it was threatening the radio station it was trying to convince the station to use its “more extensive online video services,” (that would be OVN), when all the radio station really needs is what the A.P. already makes available on YouTube. At least they apologized.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 9 Apr 2009 | 11:03 pm

Data Centers Work To Reduce Water Usage

miller60 writes "As data centers get larger, they are getting thirstier as well. A large server farm can use up to 360,000 gallons of water a day in its cooling systems, a trend that has data center operators looking at ways to reduce their water use and impact on local water utilities. Google says two of its data centers now are "water self-sufficient." The company has built a water treatment plant at its new facility in Belgium, allowing the data center to rely on water from a nearby industrial canal. Microsoft chose San Antonio for a huge data center so it could use the local utility's recycled water ('gray water') service for the 8 million gallons it will use each month."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 9 Apr 2009 | 10:31 pm

Tomorrow Night in Eugene: The inaugural assembly of the Baker Boulevard Geographic Society

View Larger Map

Let's do it.

If you'd like to attend, please email me (joel@bb) so I can get a general head count. You will be asked to bring a chair of some sort, as my seating is spotty in the garage. (We can go into the house if we must, of course.)

I have emailed Ninkasi to see if they sell kegs.

Let's start at 8.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 9 Apr 2009 | 10:27 pm

Seth Rogen Goes From Geeky Comic Hero to 'Super Antihero'

In Observe and Report, the actor explores new territory as a borderline-psychotic security guard. Rogen talks about the weirdo role, his love of comics and his upcoming big-screen adaptation of The Green Hornet.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 9 Apr 2009 | 10:25 pm

Mike Stansbury Named Bridgepoint Education's Vice President of Risk Management

SAN DIEGO, April 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Mike Stansbury, an Information Technology (IT) professional with more than 20 years of experience, has been named Vice President of Risk Management for Bridgepoint Education.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 9 Apr 2009 | 10:21 pm

AT&T Offering $100,000 Reward in Bay Area Network Vandalism

Fiber Cables Cut at Locations in San Jose and San Carlos, Calif. SAN FRANCISCO, April 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AT&T* today announced a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for incidents of vandalism to the AT&T network near San Jose and San Carlos, Calif. Following the terrorist attacks of Sept.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 9 Apr 2009 | 10:18 pm

DiamondNite fake diamond detector

The DiamondNite Diamond Moissanite Tester can discern between synthetic diamonds and real diamonds within just 1.5 seconds. That's if the diamond is made of silicon carbide, of course—synthetic diamonds that are chemically identical to carbon diamonds will remain nearly impossible to tell from those dug up from the dirt. [via Microkhan]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 9 Apr 2009 | 10:01 pm

Video: Cut&Paste Competition Draws Designers

The Cut&Paste tournament pits graphic designers against each other in a live competition. The event draws crowds from Boston to Berlin. We catch up with them in New York City.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 9 Apr 2009 | 10:00 pm

DMCA Coupon Flap Ends: Nobody 'Won'

Is it a Digital Millennium Copyright Act violation to post the code to print an unlimited number of valid coupons from an online coupon outlet? A federal lawsuit asking that question quietly settles Thursday without an answer.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 9 Apr 2009 | 10:00 pm

Fake People Tell Fake Stories About The Threat Of Gay Marriage

Baratunde’s Posterous posted this unwonderful video produced by The National Organization for Marriage, describing it as "Fake People Tell Fake Stories About The Threat Of Gay Marriage."

I don't know if the people are fake or not [UPDATE: They are actors], but they are assholes. One woman whines plaintively, "My freedom will be taken away," if gays are allowed to marry. What -- her freedom to be intolerant?

UPDATE: Here are the audition tapes that show these people are actors.

Source: Boing Boing | 9 Apr 2009 | 9:48 pm

To do in SF tonight: Yuri's Night!

(Image: Laughing Squid / Scott Beale) As Boinged previously, the annual global space party Yuri's Night is happening in hundreds of cities around the world, all week long. If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, and I know a fair number of BB readers are, you'll want to drop whatever you're doing tonight and head over to Yuri's Night Bay Area at the California Academy of Sciences. I believe my old pal Steve Nalepa is on the turntables! Don't know if there are still tickets available, but this will be really great, if you can still get in on late notice.

Event founder and organizer Loretta Hidalgo Whitesides explains,

There will be DJ's, planetarium shows, talks by NASA Ames Center Director Pete Worden and Q&A with NASA Astronaut Steve Robinson who has flown into space 3 times- once with John Glenn and once on the first flight after the Columbia accident. By coincidence, the woman who runs special projects at the Academy and who is hosting YN used to water his parents plants in Moraga, CA...small planet. More info here. Also, check out the "art installation" that Ace of Cakes (the Food Network show) made for Yuri's Night NASA Goddard on Saturday! The piece will stay on display in their visitor center- but the sheet cake they send has all already happily been eaten.

Previously:

• Yuri's Night "global space parties" happen from April 4-12.
• Yuri's Night Bay Area: photos and video - Boing Boing
• Yuri’s Night Bay Area 2008 call for artists, scientists - Boing Boing
• Yuri's Night: spacemen branded me with Yuri Gagarin's head ...
• Yuri's Night "space raves" around the world on April 12 - Boing Boing
• Yuri's night: Houston, we have contact. - Boing Boing

Source: Boing Boing | 9 Apr 2009 | 9:46 pm

Working Toward a Patent-Agnostic Open Source License

Glyn Moody writes "Are there ever circumstances when software patents that require payment might be permitted by an open source license? That's the question posed by a new license that is being submitted to the Open Source Initiative (OSI) for review. The MPEG Working Group wants to release a reference implementation of the new MPEG eXtensible Middleware (MXM) standard as open source, but it also wants to be able to sell patent licenses. If it can't, it might not make the implementation open source; but if it does, it might undermine the fight against software patent proliferation."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 9 Apr 2009 | 9:43 pm

Ev’s Advice For Startups: “Do Something Awesome”

Twitter co-founder Evan Williams is on the Web video show Tekzilla in an interview conducted by Veronica Belmont on-stage last week at the Web 2.0 Expo. It was the same day that Biz Stone was in New York taping the Colbert Report. The best part of the interview is when Ev starts answering questions from the audience submitted via Twitter, which is where the clip starts above (you can watch the entire segment here).

The first question is what advice would he give to someone trying to build their own startup. His answer:

The core thing would be just do something awesome. Try not to get caught up in the echo chamber. That is probably the toughest thing when you are trying to break out and do something original.

A lot of things are evolutionary, and it is easy to get caught up on what the geek subculture thinks. There’s lots of valuable businesses that can be built there, but I think that is where a lot of people tend to spin their wheels, and I’ve been caught up there before. When I’ve had more successful things, I’ve thought, “Back to basics. What do I want? What do I want to see in the world?” And create that.

He is also asked what he thinks about Facebook’s Twitter-like redesign. “Did they redesign?” he jokes. Then he admits he is impressed and hints that some of the things Facebook did is on Twitter’s own design roadmap. (Maybe Facebook got some ideas from their acquisition discussions with Twitter which fell apart). One thing that Twitter plans to do better is make it easier to share videos and photos, perhaps with inline viewing. Now, that would be awesome. Williams says:

Yeah, I think we should support images and video better than we do today, it does not mean we should host them, maybe viewing inline. I don’t want to get into competition with Youtube. Twitter is lubricant for Web content.

And asked about a business model, he says Twitter will be experimenting with different approaches, but that for now it is still a “secondary” concern to building out the service. One thing Twitter won’t do: allow people to go beyond 140 characters.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 9 Apr 2009 | 9:42 pm

Aehr Test Systems Mourns Loss of Vivian Posedel, Co-Founder and Former Chief Financial Officer

FREMONT, Calif., April 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Aehr Test Systems (Nasdaq: AEHR) announced today with great sadness that Vivian Posedel, a co-founder and former Chief Financial Officer of the Company, has passed away following a three-year battle with cancer.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 9 Apr 2009 | 9:37 pm

Space: The final frontier for cell phones? (AP)

AP - The vast, thinly populated expanses of the country that still lack cell phone coverage could be getting an interesting option next year: ordinary-looking cell phones that connect to a satellite when there's no cell tower around.

Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 9 Apr 2009 | 9:28 pm

Crazed Costume Shop Owner Pwns Local News Guy Investigating Cyberstalking Charges

This is quite possibly the best piece of internet video of all time, or at least this week. Police in a Rhode Island town filed charges against 59-year old costume shop owner Ann Bruno for allegedly "cyberstalking" a competitor. A reporter with the local NBC News affiliate attempts to question her about the internet harassment charges. Ms. Bruno responds in character, while wearing several layers of costumes. It's like the dude walked into an acid trip. If I'm not mistaken, this even includes a smidgeon of ukelele. The original video on the NBC affiliate website is here, but a ganked, embeddable YouTube version is here and embedded above. (Thank you, John Andrew Walsh!)

UPDATE: Oh dear god, there's a followup segment, on the same local news channel, where the anchordüde interviews local police. Do watch, below (Thanks, Matty Kirsch)

Source: Boing Boing | 9 Apr 2009 | 9:27 pm

Pixelpipe: A Distribution Console For All Your Media Links

Pixelpipe, a Web service that lets you syndicate text, audio, video and image files to 75 social networks, blogs and sites, is launching a new version that will allow you to customize the landing page of your Pixelpipe account to look more like your profile on Facebook or Twitter. The new version targets the micro-blogging networks and sites, giving users the ability to send various types of media files through shortened urls across several different social networks.

Like TwitPic, Pixelpipe will now let you Tweet a link to a picture, video, PDF file or audio file (using a new shortened url with the domain of http://pi.pe). The url will then link back to your customized Pixelpipe page. Pixelpipe will also let you send a short url for a page hosting media content via a Facebook status update or your FriendFeed stream.

And sort of like a Ping.fm for media, Pixelpipe automatically distributes any new audio files, images, or videos to your profiles on social networks, including Twitter, Facebook, and FriendFeed. You can choose to group these services by tags, so you can be more selective about where you’d like to to post the content. Pixelpipe also has native mobile apps for the iPhone, Nokia N Series, and Android and has clients compatible with Windows, Linux and Mac desktops.

The new version targets the micro-blogging networks and sites, giving users the ability to send various types of media files through shortened urls across several different social networks. Pixelpipe’s new customized landing page feature lets you create various backgrounds and titles for your page, and view comments on your page. Currently, Pixelpipe’s application supports video, image and file content distribution to Britekite, Friendfeed, Identi.ca, Jaiku, Kwippy, Ping.fm, Plerb, PLURK, Rejaw, Youare.com and will roll out the service to Facebook, hi5, Imeem and MySpace next week.

Pixelpipe’s CEO and founder, Brett Butterfield, says that this new version could be especially useful to companies which want to publish media content across several sites and social networks at once and still be able to retain the user experience of a brand by leading viewers of the content back to a customized, branded page.

There are other applications that help you easily publish images, videos and text files to your micro-blogging accounts. Ping.fm does this for texts, TwitPic has mastered this for photos to Twitter, and HeySpread lets you publish videos to a number of social networking sites. And you can also easily copy and paste the link of your YouTube video in your Twitter feed or Facebook status update. But the virtue of Pixelpipe is that it lets you publish all types of files, to various social networks and sites from one centralized place, which makes it worth a look.

Here are some screenshots of a user’s Twitter page and the Pixelpipe page you can create to mirror your Twitter page:

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

Source: TechCrunch | 9 Apr 2009 | 9:25 pm

Review: 'Observe and Report' Delights and Disturbs

Go-to geek actor Seth Rogen stretches out as a delusional mall cop in hot pursuit of a pervert in this quirky, brutally funny film with a dark underbelly.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 9 Apr 2009 | 9:23 pm

Microsoft loses patent case and is ordered to pay $388 million

Section: Business News, Computers, Security, Software / Applications

Microsoft has lost a patent violation suit and had a $388 million judgment levied against them.  The suit was brought by Uniloc, a company that makes products that are meant to prevent software piracy.  They accused part of Microsoft’s product activation system for Office and the Windows OS of infringing on their patent.  A Rhode Island jury agreed.  Their decision is a reversal of an earlier judgment in U.S. District Court that found in favor of Microsoft.

Microsoft spokesman told news agency Reuters that the company plans to appeal the verdict. “We believe that we do not infringe, that the patent is invalid, and that this award of damages is legally and factually unsupported,” the spokesman said.

Just last month Microsoft won a patent lawsuit of its own against popular GPS software maker TomTom.  The company agreed to pay Microsoft for its use of its FAT file system technology in their GPS software.

Microsoft and other tech companies have join together in support of the Patent Reform Act of 2009, which says damages in patent cases should be awarded only on the basis of the inventor’s specific improvements over their prior work, and not on the whole value of the invention itself.

Uniloc has had no comment on the judgment.

Read [PCWorld]

Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 9 Apr 2009 | 9:22 pm

Steam powered iPod generator

Thomas built a steam powered iPod generator. From Jake von Slatt's Steampunk Workshop:

I coupled a Lego Technic Motor to a Jensen #75 steam engine to make a crude generator. From there I built a 5V regulator circuit and soldered in a female USB connection to power any USB device. Since I wanted to use it to charge my iPod, I put in a diode and a .5 amp fuse to provide some circuit protection. Attached are some pictures of it and here are some links to videos of it in action. Unfortunately you can't see the charge light on the ipod, But as you can hear, the iPod really loads the engine. I was somewhat surprise it could hack it.

What a cool idea. Just think if they could scale up this idea and use steam to generate electricity for entire cities!


Source: Boing Boing | 9 Apr 2009 | 8:57 pm

Multiple Fiber Cuts In San Francisco Area

georgewilliamherbert writes "Multiple news reports, mailing list posts, blogs, and tweets are pointing out two overnight acts of sabotage in the San Francisco Bay area, with long distance fiber network cables being cut in two locations in the early morning hours. The first cut, around 1:30 AM, affecting landline and cell phone service and 911 calls in the communities of Morgan Hill, Gilroy, and parts of Santa Cruz counties, was on an AT&T fiber alongside Monterey Highway near Blossom Hill Road, in San Jose. A second cut, around 3:30 AM, in San Carlos, affected Sprint fiber and has significantly disrupted services at the 200 Paul datacenter in southern San Francisco. Rumor says that this may be related to a AT&T communications workers contract having just expired — but no evidence has been published yet in the media, and this could be an intentional act of sabotage by someone unrelated to the company's workers."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 9 Apr 2009 | 8:55 pm

Copper bandaid bracelet

Naz sez, "You guys ran a link on copper band aid a while back; I sent the link to my boyfriend who welds lighting, sculptures and jewelery so he got the idea to make that into bracelets."

Ben-Hur Bandaids. (Thanks, Naz!)

Source: Boing Boing | 9 Apr 2009 | 8:52 pm

Huge computer worm Conficker stirring to life (AP)

AP - The dreaded Conficker computer worm is stirring. Security experts say the worm's authors appear to be trying to build a big moneymaker, but not a cyber weapon of mass destruction as many people feared.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 9 Apr 2009 | 8:50 pm

FDA approves new head lice treatment

The U.S.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 9 Apr 2009 | 8:46 pm

Solomon Island Earthquake Sheds Light On Enhanced Tsunami Risk

Image 2: This is a cartoon of the tectonic plates in the Solomon Islands area showing subduction beneath the Pacific plate. The Pacific plate is not shown. Credit: Kevin Furlong, Penn State
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 9 Apr 2009 | 8:42 pm

Scientists identify key leukemia gene

U.S.-led scientists say they have identified a gene that can protect against leukemia and other blood cancers, possibly paving the way for new therapies. The University of California-San Francisco researchers said they discovered the JunB gene controls the rapid production and differentiation of stem cells that produce all blood cell types.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 9 Apr 2009 | 8:39 pm

Floating rocks

Robyn Miller has been following the odd phenomenon of floating rocks.

Floating rocks are an event rarely captured on film. Very little is known about them, other than they float only for a short time, sometimes only minutes, before slowly returning to the ground.

Source: Boing Boing | 9 Apr 2009 | 8:35 pm

Review: A month and a half with the Pioneer AVIC-F500BT GPS Navigation System (Verdict: Exceedingly Okay)

The Pioneer AVICF500BT—we'll call it "AVIC"—does nearly everything you could ask of a dash-board navigation system: route you around via GPS; integrate with your iPod to add touchscreen controls; even control your phone via Bluetooth. And if it excelled at any of those functions, it'd be a steal (I picked it up for $200, shipped).

But it doesn't. It is the definition of good enough, but in a market crowded with inexpensive GPS units, the AVIC overreaches. And with modern phones able to handle all the duties of the AVIC—even the iPhone will get turn-by-turn navigation options by the middle of this year—it's a tough product to recommend.

Still, I like mine, even with its jumble of wires stringing off of my dashboard. One for power from the cigarette lighter. (Essential, as the AVIC's tiny rechargeable battery powers it for maybe half an hour before conking out.) One for the optional $35 USB cord that connects to the iPod. (In my case, an iPhone 3G.) One for the line-out to connect to my stereo. It's square-cornered and well-built. It feels like a quality bit of car-tech, not a bubble-shaped toy. And its best feature, a bright, nearly 6-inch touchscreen, is pleasant to touch and even more pleasant to view while driving.

I used the AVIC on my cross-country drive from Brooklyn to Oregon. After learning how to balance the music level with the navigation voiceover, it stayed on the entire time. In its permanent place in my car now, however, I just plug the iPhone directly into my stereo; the AVIC's built-in speaker is loud enough to project the voice directions and it saves me the trouble of waiting the 30-60 seconds the AVIC needs to slurp up the iPhone's music database every time I plug it in. (Something that works surprisingly well, all said, although it's nowhere as easy to use or as fluid in animation as the iPhone itself.)

It fails a lot, though, especially when booting up. There are times when I have to turn it off completely a couple of times to get it to recognize the GPS satellites. Or at least I presume that's what the snag is. It'll often just hang for a couple of irritating minutes with no real-time update of where I actually am on its maps.

And it feels underpowered, especially—and I know this makes no real sense—considering how large the screen is. It's disconcerting to have something that looks so high-tech labor to animate a rotating 3D map faster than a few frames a second.

For a while I considered buying the optional $90 amplifier, ripping out my cheap car stereo head unit, and using the AVIC as the exclusive controls of my car. But I can already see its days are numbered. As soon as the iPhone gets a solid turn-by-turn option, one that will likely integrate seamlessly with the iPhone's music and phone functions, I'll probably be putting the AVIC on Craigslist and watching it recede into the distance along with other low-end gadgets that were subsumed by functions that my phone can increasingly perform well enough.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 9 Apr 2009 | 8:33 pm

Viewers Flock To CBS Sports For March Madness: 8.6 Million Total Hours Watched

CBS Sports has just released the final tally of their traffic figures for this year’s NCAA March Madness, and the results are pretty impressive. Over the course of the tournament, viewers watched a total of 8.6 million total hours of streamed audio and video (a 75% increase over the 4.92 million last year). 7.52 million visitors used the on Demand video player, versus 4.76 million last year. During the Final Four (semifinal) round and championship games, viewers watched 515,000 total hours of content, which was a 51% increase over last year’s stats.

There were also 2.77 million clicks of the ‘Boss Button’ - a feature that allowed viewers surreptitiously watching the games from work to quickly pull up a fake spreadsheet whenever someone walked by.

These figures still pale in comparison to the number of people who watched the tournament on TV, but they beat out CBSSport’s expectations (they had previously predicted a total of 7.2 million visitors.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 9 Apr 2009 | 8:28 pm

Gecko-Inspired Dry Adhesive Set For Space

AndreV writes "Biomimetic adhesives aren't new, but a PhD graduate in British Columbia has developed a new method of creating microscopic, mushroom-like plastic structures in order to produce a dry adhesive that mimics the stickiness of gecko feet—and is prepping his glue-free innovation for outer space. A research group at his university, in collaboration with the European Space Agency, is engineering a spider-like, sticky-footed climbing robot destined to explore Mars, and it is also developing reusable attaching systems for astronauts to use where magnetic and suction systems generally fail. In the future, he says, single-use versions could be used in any number of medical applications as well as for replacements for everyday sticky needs, such as Post-It notes and Scotch tape."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 9 Apr 2009 | 8:11 pm

Peter Kirn and Matt Ganucheau on generative music

Over at Offworld, Xeni sits down with Peter Kirn of Create Digital Music and Matt Ganucheau of Expression College to discuss music in games--especially how technology lets creators thread music and gameplay together to make something completely new.

Music in Video Games, a conversation with Peter Kirn and Matt Ganucheau (BB Video)

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 9 Apr 2009 | 8:10 pm

French lawmakers reject Internet piracy bill (AP)

AP - French legislators on Thursday rejected legislation to permit cutting off the Internet connections of people who illegally download music and films. But a stubborn government plans to resurrect the bill for another vote this month.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 9 Apr 2009 | 8:05 pm

BB Video: Music in Video Games, a conversation with Peter Kirn and Matt Ganucheau

Download the MP4 here. Flash video above, click "fullscreen" icon inside player to view large. YouTube channel here, subscribe on iTunes here. Get Twitter updates every time there's a new ep by following @boingboingvideo, and here are blog post archives for Boing Boing Video.

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Today's Boing Boing Video episode is a conversation with Peter Kirn of Create Digital Music and Matt Ganucheau of Expression College about music in games: new tools, new forms of composition, and new ways of thinking about the role music and sound play in the gaming experience. We conducted this interview during Boing Boing/offworld's marathon live coverage of GDC, and this video clip -- part one of a two-part conversation -- includes the work of Ganucheau's students in a class about composing music for videogames. One of the works we show is from a young student named Jason Bowers. Here are more details on working with Space Invaders as a teaching tool for interactive music. And here is Max/MSP, the music software used.

Previously:

* Social Games, and The Quest for Virtual Poo.
* Doctor Popular's Awesome Yo-Yo Stylings
* Hideo Kojima on Metal Gear Solid Touch (games)
* Jane McGonigal on Emotion, Gaming, and Dance.
* Jane McGonigal - Games Can Change the World.
* Jane McGonigal's Game Developers' Conference talk on Making Your Own Reality
* BBV @ GDC live stream archives, at Ustream.tv
* Boing Boing Video and Offworld.com Live at GDC09: offworld.com archive
* Boing Boing Video and Offworld.com Live at GDC09: boingboing.net archive

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[ Special thanks to Joel Johnson for editorial help on this episode! BBV Live @GDC09 credits and thanks: Production Team -- Jolon Bankey, Derek Bledsoe, Daniela Calderon, Eddie Codel, Xeni Jardin, Allison Kingsley, Matty Kirsch, Alice Taylor, Wesly Varghese. Special thanks to Wayneco Heavy Industries (accommodation and studio facilities), Virgin America Airlines (air travel), Celsius (thermogenic energy beverage), Ustream.tv (streaming video host). Moral support, production assistance, additional talent, and good vibes provided by: Domini Anne, Scott Beale, T.Bias, Jeremy Bornstein, Brandon Boyer, Chris The Van Guy, Peter S. Conrad, Marque Cornblatt, Wayne, Bre, and the entire de Geere family, Marcy DeLuce, Cory Doctorow, Joel Johnson, Kourosh Karimkhany, Jim Louderback and the Revision 3 team, Karen Marcelo, Rocky Mullin, Alicia Pollak, Jackie Mogol, Taylor Peck, David Pescovitz, Micah Schaffer, and Teal. ]

Source: Boing Boing | 9 Apr 2009 | 8:02 pm

Immunosuppressive transplant drugs avoided

An Australian-led scientific team says it's developed a therapy that might eventually negate the need for immunosuppressive drugs after organ transplants. Professor Jonathan Sprent and Dr. Kylie Webster from Sydney's Garvan Institute of Medical Research, in collaboration with U.S.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 9 Apr 2009 | 7:56 pm

Review: Google Voice = Delightful Nickname Generator

I'm a habitual register-er. I sign up for any service, web site, and mailing list that's mildly intriguing. I stumbled on GrandCentral in 2007. Two years and one GOOG-acquisition later, we're about to witness the most radically transformative tool to hit the telecomsphere since the rotary. Swinging to the fences? Sure, but so is Pogue. Google Voice is still in limited Beta, so what I'm about to do could be construed as out of bounds hair-splitting, but I'm gonna say it anyway: the voicemail transcription is flat out, hilariously crappy! Hear why, after the jump.

[image via ittybittiesforyou]

To be entirely fair, Google Voice is amazing. My GrandCentral account upgraded without a hitch. I'm still routing a landline and cell phone with all the same benefits: call recording, call monitoring, call screening, blocking (never used), and more. The new features are promising: SMS and cheap-er international calling alone are huge (Skype-Goog price war imminent?).

But the voice-to-text transcription for voicemail is a joke -- literally. A rep calling from the Computer History Museum in Palo Alto Mountain View suddenly started working for the "compete against you museum." My friend "Darren" became "Karen," which isn't a big deal, except for the fact that's my mother's name (awkward!). Sure, a quick listen to the message sets things straight, but the point of the text voicemail is to be able to scroll through your inbox without having to listen. Better yet, my friend "Benita" became "Danny Ten" - which is splendid. Her husband and I agree that not only is it OK for me to refer to her as Danny Ten from here on out, but it would be silly not to.*

The speed of the transcription could certainly be hurting the precision. Depending on the length of messages, it takes between 2-6 minutes for an email notice to arrive with the full transcript. I left a rambling 3-minute message (the current max) and it transcribed the whole thing and emailed me the text 6 minutes later. Not bad at all. What did I say to myself? I read the first page of Chapter 2 in The Death and Life of Great American Cities -- reasonably simple language, but not for Google Voice (click "all sizes" for closer view). And I spoke relatively normal, not overtly slow.

The WSJ found a paid, human-based transcription service to be much more accurate (duh). Regardless, it's only a matter of time before we see incremental and bigger improvements to Google Voice's transcriptions. It's no secret Goog-411 is helping the company build better speech software. Apps linking up Android and Google Voice are starting to emerge (I recently downloaded GV). The question isn't if all of this will become seamless, but when and how. I, for one, feel privileged to be feedingback into the great big speech, search recognition machine in the sky. Even if it insists on calling me "Mr. Lexar."

*first 5 people to email steven AT boingboing.net can have their names run through my Google Voice to generate their very own Goog-Name. Warning: I will publish the results!

Update: Cut off at 11 instead. Welcome to the club! Secret handshake tbd:

Galen Pewtherer = "doing okay for"
Christopher Gamino = "christopher gimme a shout"
Kathrina Malanac = "if you know i'm back"
Jon Snyder = "it is on site here"
Rich Fulkers = "it's folksingers"
Rogier Barendregt = "rich here there and rack"
Ryan Dapremont = "ryan back from hello"
TJ Seitenbach = "TJ site and block"
Hussein Jodiyawalla = "chris saint james here while and then"
Marisa McCormick = "morrison cormac"
John Nason = "john mason"

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 9 Apr 2009 | 7:56 pm

Could Lightning Predict Intensity Of Hurricanes?

Lightning may provide scientists with crucial insight into predicting the intensity of Earth’s deadliest storms.Each year, hurricanes pose threats of devastation around the world, and while forecasters have become better equipped to predict their pathways, they often find it difficult to gauge the storms’ intensity in advance.Colin Price of Tel Aviv University in Israel and colleagues analyzed the correlation of growth of maximum winds and lightning frequency every 6 hours.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 9 Apr 2009 | 7:50 pm

Wild chimps exchange meat for sex

German scientists say they've determined wild female chimpanzees copulate more frequently with males who share meat with them over long periods of time. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology researchers Cristina Gomes and Christophe Boesch said their findings strongly suggest that wild chimpanzees exchange meat for sex and do it on a long-term basis. Males who shared meat with females doubled their mating success, whereas females who had difficulty obtaining meat on their own increased their caloric intake without suffering the energetic costs and potential risk of injury related to hunting, said Gomes.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 9 Apr 2009 | 7:30 pm

EFF Lawyer Calls YouTube ContentID Worse Than DMCA

Richard Koman writes "Warner Music Group is apparently blocking everything YouTube ContentID comes up with as potential infringement. We knew that, but this piece by Jason Perlow shows that they're also spewing out DMCA takedown notices for some pretty clearly fair-use stuff. In my interview with EFF's Fred von Lohmann he talks about how, as bad as the DMCA process is — and it's pretty firmly against fair-use — YouTube's process gives remixers and digital creators even fewer options to assert their right to speak through the fair use of copyright material. While EFF is negotiating with Google and the studios, he suggests that users boycott YouTube if they won't stand up for fair use."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 9 Apr 2009 | 7:24 pm

Review: Porsche Design P'9522 Phone

The folks over at Porsche Designs make drills, luggage, and now apparently phones. Its newest attempt, the P'9522, is a touchscreen enabled, world roaming, GPS touting, beauty milled from a solid piece of aluminum (just like a new MacBook). But all is not well in Porsche-town. From the mind of reviewer Joe Brown:

If you're in a Wi-Fi hotspot, you'd be better off mugging some blogger for his MacBook than surfing the web using the horribly inaccurate touchscreen and knife-thin keys. And that touchscreen? It's worse than any other touch-sensitive display we've ever used. You can't tap an item in a list — you have to scroll to it. Just like the phone's automotive namesake, the highlighting bar goes waaaay too fast, almost always passing the option you want. Really, even the vivid colors on the 2.8-inch, energy-efficient AMOLED screen don't help the browser's case.

There's even more to gripe about this device. You can read the rest of the review of the Porsche Design P'9522 Phone right here.

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 9 Apr 2009 | 7:19 pm

Climate change may alter wildfire patterns

A University of California-Berkeley and Texas Tech University study suggests climate change will result in major shifts of worldwide fire patterns. In research, called the first of its kind, scientists used European Space Agency thermal-infrared satellite sensor data in their global study of pyrogeography -- the distribution and behavior of wildfire. This is the first attempt to quantitatively model why we see fire where we see it across the entire planet, said study author Max Moritz, co-director of the Cal-Berkeley's Center for Fire Research and Outreach.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 9 Apr 2009 | 7:16 pm

Scientists Urge Action Over Disappearing Ice Shelves

U.S.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 9 Apr 2009 | 7:10 pm

Barnes & Noble rumored to be preparing an eBook reader

Section: Gadgets / Other, Miscellaneous

The rumor mill is suggesting that Barnes & Noble may be preparing to launch a branded eBook reader similar to the Amazon Kindle.  And by similar I mean it will feature an over-the-air book store.  According to a “wireless industry insider” there is “heavy speculation” that Barnes & Noble are currently considering their options.  As far as the details, unfortunately there is very little in regards to the reader itself, however it was noted that they are in talks with Sprint to provide the service.  It was also noted that Barnes & Noble has already spoke with Verizon, however those talks have since ended.

At least if they go with Sprint, they would be running equal with the Kindle as they would have the same network powering the storefront.  Of course, where the success would really be important is a combination of the hardware design and the price.  If they could manage to come in priced lower than the Kindle they should be able to attract some attention from thrifty shoppers.

Personally, if I were a first time buyer considering a purchase of either a Kindle or the rumored B&N eBook reader I would opt for whoever had the largest collection of available titles.  Of course, this is all just in the rumor stage, however with combination of Barnes & Nobles recent purchase of eBook retailer Fictionwise and the success of the Amazon Kindle it does seem believable.

Read [TheStreet]

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 9 Apr 2009 | 7:08 pm

VEVO: YouTube And UMG Team For A Premium Music Video Hub That We Don’t Really Need

During a conference call this morning Google and Universal Music Group annouced the upcoming launch of VEVO, a site billed as ‘premium online music hub built for consumers, advertisers, and content owners..’. The site, which will launch later this year, will include UMG’s catalog of music videos, and will be powered by YouTube’s technology. The two companies will share advertising revenue generated by the site. Reports of a joint venture between UMG and YouTube originally surfaced last month, when the two parties were still reportedly ironing out financial details.

During the call, Google’s head of strategic partnerships David Eun said that the deal signifies a shift for “the way YouTube and Google think about its business models”, as well as the way music labels have dealt with tech companies (in the past relationships between the music industry and the site has been fraught with suits - Eun is calling this a “genuine partnership”). Deals with other lablels are currently in the works.

The two companies say that at launch the site will have more traffic than any other music video site on the web. Users will be able to access the content through the main hub at VEVO.com or through a VEVO channel on YouTube through a VEVO branded player (it sounds like you won’t be able to embed the content using standard YouTube embeds). Along with UMG’s full music video catalogue, VEVO is going to offer a social community and original content including behind-the-scenes video and entertainment.

Because users will apparently be able to watch the content through YouTube.com, I question if the VEVO portal will ever gain much traction - why visit VEVO if you can just go to YouTube, which everyone is used to? And the social community angle isn’t unique either - sites like MySpace Music already allow users to connect over music content, as did the now-defunct PluggedIn. Eun says that the YouTube and the content owners are primarily concerned with giving users access to the music videos they’re looking for, whether it be on YouTube or Vevo.com, but given that YouTube and UMG are looking to generate higher ad rates on VEVO they have to be eager to get traffic there somehow.

YouTube has also announced that it extended its deal with UMG that allows users to include songs from UMG in their YouTube videos.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 9 Apr 2009 | 7:05 pm

McIntosh Labs turns 60, reissues classic amp

Steve Guttenberg reminds us that McIntosh Laboratories, makers of high-end audiophilic tube amplifiers and possessors of one of the finest logotypes around, turn 60 this year. They've reissued the MC75 monoblock tube amp for $15,000 to celebrate.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 9 Apr 2009 | 6:53 pm

OPDS: Open Publication Distribution System (RSS for eBooks, basically)

An open distribution standard for eBooks? Count me in:

Adobe and Lexcycle, the company behind the popular Stanza eBook application, announced today that they are working together with the Internet Archive on turning the Stanza online catalog system into an open standard for distributing free and commercial eBooks. This new standard, the Open Publication Distribution System (OPDS), will be built on top of Atom, and aims to create an open standard for distributed online catalogs for electronic books.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 9 Apr 2009 | 6:49 pm

New sensor ensures hospitals are hygienic

British scientists say they have created a sensor capable of measuring localized ultrasonic cavitations in research that will help hospitals remain hygienic. Cavitations occur when bubbles implode in a liquid when a high frequency sound wave is applied.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 9 Apr 2009 | 6:46 pm

Acer AspireRevo, a tiny PC powered by Nvidia Ion

In the excitement of putting the website backend fires out yesterday, we missed a raft of new product announcements from Acer, including the "AspireRevo". It's not just a ridiculous name, but instead a tiny desktop PC that is the first to use Nvidia's Intel-irking Ion platform, which weds an Intel Atom CPU with a custom Nvidia graphics chip.

That means the AspireRevo can not only handle decoding 1080p video and 7.1 audio, but will actually be able to run 3D games at a playable (if modest) speed. All that in a box that will probably cost around $300—once other manufacturers start using Ion, driving prices down.

Hopefully it won't be long before we start seeing the first netbooks with Ion inside, as well.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 9 Apr 2009 | 6:42 pm

Triple Junction of Crusts Caused 2007 Quake

Analysis of a 2007 quake shows even young crust can produce big temblors.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 9 Apr 2009 | 6:40 pm

Filmmaker Inches Closer to Bionic Eye Prototype

Nearly five months ago Canadian filmmaker Rob Spence embarked on a quest to replace a prosthetic eye with a wireless video camera. The idea was to turn himself into an 'eyeborg' and give him the ability to make movies all the time by just looking around.

Now Spence says he is moving closer to a prototype. Spence and his team have created a two-piece clear prosthetic eye and rigged it up to a wireless transmitter and a tiny camera--though he's still finding a way to fit that into the prosthetic eye.

"It's a lot of MacGyvering at this point that we are doing," says Spence.

We first wrote about Spence  in December as he was just getting started on his project. Spence lost his right eye at 13 and has  worn a prosthetic eye since then. But he says he's determined to have a wireless video camera in there someday.

With help from three companies-- OmniVision, RF Wireless and Varta Microbattery--he has been trying to engineer a prosthetic eye with a video camera in it.

"One thing that I have stopped doing for now is putting the electronic components inside the eye because they get wax all over them or get bent," he says. "But I have been successful in finding components that can be small enough to create a custom design if we had a greater budget."

The weak economy has slowed down Spence's progress. Finding corporate sponsorships has been hard, he says, and few broadcasters have jumped to pick up some of the footage he's shot.

Meanwhile, he's fitted a LED light into his prosthetic eye so it gives off a eerie red glow. "The LED doesn't do much," laughs Spence. "But at least it helps people understand visually what I am trying to achieve."

See also:
Eye Spy: Filmmaker Plans to Install Camera in His Eye Socket

Photo: Rob Spence

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 9 Apr 2009 | 6:35 pm

T-Mobile announcing something in NYC on April 21st

The details are all kinds of sparse, but T-Mobile is sending ’round e-mails to let everyone know to keep the 21st free. They’re going to be announcing something in NYC in just under 2 weeks - but what could it be?

All sorts of things! It could be the grand unveiling long-awaited acknowledgment of the Sidekick 2009 - or might they be making the HTC Magic’s stateside journey official? Will the Android Cupcake build work its way into the announcement? Maybe they’ll blow our minds with a new $120 per year digital picture frame? The possibilities are endless. Okay, fine - maybe not endless. Maybe there are more like 3. Still, excitement!

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 9 Apr 2009 | 6:33 pm

Rumor(ish): LG Viewty II coming to UK’s Orange in June

Our first glimpse of the heretofore rumored LG Viewty II came last month at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Fast forward to today, and the folks over at Electricpig say they have reason to believe that LG is planning to launch its 8MP camphone Viewty II on UK’s Orange network sometime this June.

To recap, the photo-centric LG device is expected to include an 8MP camera with Xenon flash, software face recognition, image stabilization, 3″ WVGA touch screen, WiFi, up to 32GB of storage, LG’s 3D S-Class interface, and more camera-like features. Not too shabby. Now all we need is a firm release date, US carrier info, and pricing details…

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 9 Apr 2009 | 6:27 pm

Earthquake's tsunami risk studied

U.S.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 9 Apr 2009 | 6:05 pm

Next-Gen Flying Robots Inspired by Birds, Bats

Future flying robots could be easier to steer, thanks to a new study on animal flight.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 9 Apr 2009 | 6:00 pm

Get fired? Virgin Mobile will eat your phone bill for 3 months

It started with the car companies. “Get fired, and we’ll take on your car payments for a while.” they said. It’s the shining light in the darkness that is a slumping economy: when the wallets get lighter, the promotions get crazier. Looking to capture some of this crazy in a bottle and turn it into new customers, Virgin Mobile has adapted the concept for the mobile industry; if you’re a Virgin Mobile customer on a qualifying plan and get the boot at work, they’ll cover you for up to 3 months. They’re calling it “Pink Slip Protection”

Of course, they have a few safeties in place - you can’t just walk up to Virgin Mobile as a new customer with a pink slip and turn it in like a bread line pass. You need to have been on a qualifying prepaid plan ($29.99, $39.99, or $49.99), and be able to provide proof of unemployment eligibility. If you were on Virgin Mobile before this morning, you’ll have to opt-in.

VM also announced two new text-centric plans: 1000 messages (text, IM, MMS, or e-mail) for $14.99 a month, or Unlimited Messaging for $19.99. If you don’t sign up for a companion voice plan, minutes are 10 cents each. (On a side note: Boost Mobile almost immediately fired back a press release highlighting that their $50 unlimited plan includes messaging - but as far as we can tell, they’re not going to have your back if you end up jobless)

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 9 Apr 2009 | 5:46 pm

Conficker updates and drops code on infected computers

Section: Computers, Security

After weeks of computers users waiting for Conficker to strike, the worm has finally become active again today.  Trend Micro has released a statement that the Conficker worm has updated and dropped code onto the computers that are infected.  It is expected that this code will be used to steal data from a PC.

Trend Micro has also said that the code is heavily encrypted and an analysis has yet to be reached.  Additional reports have said that the updated version of Conficker is attempting to connect to several popular websites in order to check for connectivity.  These sites include eBay, AOL, and MySpace.

Trend Micro researchers discovered this update when they become aware of a new file in the Windows Temp folder and a sizable encrypted TCP response from a Conficker P2P IP node in Asia.  These changes indicate that the Conficker authors are attempting to control more infected PCs, but the update may not happen to each computer immediately.

Read: [PC World]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 9 Apr 2009 | 5:19 pm

QUIZ: People in Space

How much do you know about the privileged few who have ventured to space?
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 9 Apr 2009 | 5:10 pm

Porsche Design Phone Stalls and Calls

The Porsche Design phone is a gorgeous piece of hardware. Milled out of a solid piece of aluminum (just like the new MacBook!) the phone is stunning and it makes great calls though. But the horrid execution of the phone's touchscreen, GPS and e-mail are a bit of a shock.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 9 Apr 2009 | 5:00 pm

Appletell reviews Aliph’s Jawbone 2

FROM APPLETELL - Aliph’s Jawbone 2 is a superb little piece of design that’s not only good looking, it’s more functional than any other headset on the market. I know that’s a tall claim, but if you aren’t familiar with the Jawbone headsets let me explain.
MORE »

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 9 Apr 2009 | 3:33 pm

Amazon App for BlackBerry goes live

The rate at which RIM updates BAW is horrendous. I get countless e-mails every day about new apps launching for the BlackBerry and they’re nowhere to be seen in the store. So it comes as no surprise that I had to go directly to Amazon to download their new app. God forbid it actually be available in BAW.

Like the iPhone app before it, the BlackBerry version also does its voodoo magic with “Amazon Remembers,” which is a pretty wicked awesome feature. If you’re unfamiliar with AR it goes a little something like this – snap a photo of a product, photo gets uploaded to Amazon and then a few seconds later it spews out a listing for that product. Pretty rad, huh? Other features include:

* Purchase using Amazon’s 1-Click ordering and Amazon Prime
* Track packages or modify orders using the Your Account feature
* Receive personalized recommendations
* View editorial and customer reviews
* Get the Gold Box Deal of the Day
* Access to their Wish List

Navigate your BB here to download the app.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 9 Apr 2009 | 2:59 pm

Hands-On with the XRite ColorMunki: Great Hardware, Terrible Software

This particular Colormunki has been lying around my various offices for a long time now, — perhaps more than a year — waiting to be reviewed. The reason is not laziness, but buggy software. You see, while the Munki itself is an easy to use color-calibration device which both looks good and works well, the software, on the Mac side at least, is an abortion. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. First, let me tell you what it’s supposed to do.

Color calibrating a monitor is important for professionals. The idea is that all your displays show the same colors, and that from this consistent base you can also add in color profiles for printers, meaning what you see on the screen matches what you see on the page.

Since computers entered the world of publishing, this was the case. Now though, the digital camera boom means that many amateurs also want color accuracy. I don’t print much, for instance, but I do want my MacBook and my external monitor to match. For that, I need calibration.

The ColorMunki Photo kit contains the unit, a bag with a weighted strap (you put the Munki in the bag and hang it in front of the screen) a USB cable and the software. There are several things that the hardware can do: automatically calibrate and generate color profiles for you monitor, scan prints to make printer profiles and even check the light color and levels in the room. I tested the monitor calibration.

It’s simple to use, and the software guides you through the setup — you set the contrast of the screen to the max, if you like you can put the box on the desk next to the monitor to measure the ambient light first, then you hang the ColorMunki (actually a spectrophotometer) over the front of the screen. After giving instructions on setting brightness and contrast, various colors flash on screen. After a minute or two, you’re done, and the profile is stored and put into use. On a Mac you can see this in the Displays preference pane.

I used the machine on both my MacBook’s screen and my Samsung monitor. Before, the colors were way off — the same photo looked completely different on each screen. Now, they almost match. The MacBook has a slightly yellower rendering of whites and light grays but for me, it’s more than accurate enough.

So what’s the problem? That software. I understand that, in order to directly set the color profiles, ColorMunki needs to access some low-level processes. But the software runs all the time. Even when you’re not using it, there are two processes running in the backgound, one of which cannot be stopped. Not even a force quit command from OS X Activity Monitor, nor a Killall command from the Unix terminal will end it.

This wouldn’t be so bad, but the process is constantly “not responding”. Here’s a picture. Note the use of almost a gig of virtual memory.

 

There is no way to make this go away short of uninstalling the application. At least, this was the case a year ago. I recently moved to a new apartment and dug out the ColorMunki to check it out again. There is new software. Did it fix things? No. The hung process persists.

I figured that maybe I could install the software, use it and then uninstall it. This is a review, so it’s not a big deal for me, but in a pro-environment, where you might calibrate your monitors weekly, it would be impossible. Worse, there is no uninstaller for the Mac. There is a download page hidden away on the X-Rite website, but the link doesn’t lead to a file. UPDATE: After searching for the link to post here, I found a different page which does have the uninstaller.

Wait, it gets even worse. The installer puts files all over the place. Applications should be in the applications folder. ColorMunki puts them in both the Application Support folder (a big no-no) and also inside the Library folder — the root one, not the user one. What’s more, there is a lot of stuff you don’t need, such as a picture sharing application and the rather mysterious Color Munki Photo Try, which launches at startup and has no options or menu items.

This is a shame. The software, while not particularly Mac-like in appearance, works fine. It’s easy to use and the results are good. The hardware, too, is solid and feels built to last. But the runaway processes and litter installed on my machine mean that I have uninstalled everything.

In short, if I had to use this on a regular basis, I would actually keep another disk with a bootable OS X system on there, just for running the calibration. As a recommendations that is, of course, no recommendation at all. If there are any PC users who have a different experience, let us know in the comments. $500.

Product page [ColorMunki]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 9 Apr 2009 | 2:50 pm

Moxi adds features to compete with TiVo

Section: Video, DVD/DVR/Blu-ray

With the popularity of the TiVo, virtually all other DVRs tend to be at least a bit overlooked.  Digeo, the company behind the Moxi DVR is trying to change that and become a big player in the market.  With it’s new feature set announcement it is taking a step in the right direction.

The biggest of the new features announced is the inclusion of PlayOn.  PlayOn is a video streaming program that pushes video from sources such as Hulu, YouTube, CNN and even Netflix, using DLNA.  PlayOn usually costs $40 for a license to stream video to DLNA-enabled TVs, PLAYSTATION 3s, and/or Xbox 360s, but early adopters of the Moxi DVR will get a free license to easily stream web video to their TV.

With the inclusion of DLNA, the Moxi will be able to stream any media stored on your computer as well.  So rather than trying to find that one movie on Netflix Stream Instantly, you can stream it another way (of course we’re talking of movies like “Steal The Movie”).  There’s also an enhanced Flickr “mosaic” interface which seems rather superfluous in a DVR, but apparently people like seeing photos on HDTVs.  It can even be used to browse the web, by bookmarking websites on moxi.com users can visit those websites through their Moxi, using the remote as a mouse.

The Moxi is looking like a competent competitor to TiVo, especially considering the lack of monthly fees.  The Moxi HD does cot $800, though, which is fairly depressing.

Read [Gizmodo]

Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 9 Apr 2009 | 2:37 pm

Verizon to begin selling HTC Touch Diamond tomorrow

It’s not like we didn’t expect this to happen, but it sure took long enough. Starting tomorrow, Verizon will begin offering the HTC Touch Diamond in all black for a whopping $300 after a $70 MIR.

· Brilliant 2.76-inch touch screen display for navigating Web pages on the built-in Opera browser

· 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera

· microSD™ card slot that can support up to 16 GB of memory for extra storage of pictures, videos and music

· Customers can choose either the familiar Windows Mobile® home screen or the intuitive HTC TouchFLO™ 3D user interface

· Supports the Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional platform and integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Office applications

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 9 Apr 2009 | 2:11 pm

How Nickel Kick-Started Evolution

Life may owe its existence to fluctuating levels of a humble metal in the primordial sea.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 9 Apr 2009 | 2:10 pm

'Brown' Fat Could Offer Key to Weight Loss

A fat that burns calories in infants is found to linger in smaller quantities in adults.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 9 Apr 2009 | 1:40 pm

Plastic Found in One-Third of Leatherback Turtles

Necropsies of leatherback turtles revealed plastic inside more than a third of the animals.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 9 Apr 2009 | 1:00 pm

Seattle Skyline Could Collapse in Big Quake

Seattle is in serious danger of being flattened by a major earthquake, say experts.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 9 Apr 2009 | 1:00 pm

Electra Delivery Bike is an Old-School Cargo-Carrier

Electra’s new Delivery 3i is much the same as its other laid-back three-speeders, only with a big fat tray on the front. Riding it will of course bring attention, and we guess that the kind of attention will depend on which city you live in.

In Barcelona, Spain, I expect that you’d see smiles from the tourists and little else. In London you’d be taken for a poseur, but otherwise ignored. San Francisco? You’ll fit right in. LA? Drive-by.

The Delivery 3i has Electra’s trademark feet-forward layout which means a lower seat position and makes it easier to put the power to the pedals — ideal for a cargo carrier like this. It also has Shimano Nexus gears which can, like the Sturmey Archers of old, be shifted when stopped. Finally, those big balloon tires will soak up the bumps.

The price is a rather expensive $750. And if you bought one of the 2009 models already, watch out — Electra issued a recall because the front platform has a habit of coming loose and dropping the front wheel.

Product page [Electra via Bikeradar]

See Also:

• The New SUV: Americans Heart Dutch Bikes
• Yuba Cargo Bike Coming to Europe and the US
• Dump the Car for Kona's Cargo Carrying Utility Bike
• Xtracycle Converts Your Bike Into a Pack Horse

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 9 Apr 2009 | 12:51 pm

Tauntaun Sleeping Bag

This is possibly the best novelty item ever. The Tauntaun sleeping bag started as an April Fool gag and may end up on the shelves of the ThinkGeek store — ThinkGeek is trying to get a license from Lucasfilm. With it, you can reenact Luke Skywalker’s night spent inside the guts of his trusty steed: 

Use the glowing lightsaber zipper pull on the Tauntaun sleeping bag to illustrate how Han Solo saved Luke Skywalker from certain death in the freezing climate of Hoth by slitting open the belly of a dead Tauntaun and placing Luke inside the stinking (but warm) carcass.

Yes, it has a lightsaber zipper, along with an embroidered Tauntaun head pillow. In child (or Yoda) size-only, the Tauntaun sleeping bag is projected to cost $40.

Slumber in the Belly of the Beast [ThinkGeek]

See Also:

• TIE Fighter Kite and Other Star Wars Inflatables

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 9 Apr 2009 | 12:25 pm

Baker Tweet Gives You the Scoop on Fresh Bread

I so wanted to be cynical about the Baker Tweet. I wanted to put it in the box with the applications which tell you about the weather. You know, the same weather you could see by looking out the window. But the more I read, the smarter the Baker Tweet looks.

The principle is simple. The baker has a box on the bakery wall and, when a fresh batch of something comes out of the oven, he turns a dial and presses a button. A tweet is then sent out via the Twitter and anyone following can come running to grab some hot cross buns.

There is currently just one Baker Tweet in existence, built by the folks at Poke Design in London. Not coincidentally, the box sits in the Albion bakery across the road from Poke HQ and the workers there can then beat all others to the hottest, freshest bread.

The box contains an Arduino board, a Linksys Wi-Fi adapter and various gubbins to connect them together. The baker can sign in to the machine via a web interface to change the products on offer — just like configuring a router, only easier.

There are some problems, sure, but not with the hardware itself. Jumping the queue for fresh baked goods will be a lot harder if the whole neighborhood is following the same bakery, for instance. But this kind on one-to-many communication is at the heart of Twitter, and it’s fantastic.

Product page [Baker Tweet. Thanks Jonny C and Andrew Z!]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 9 Apr 2009 | 11:53 am

Clever Car Door Won't Open When Cyclists are Near

City cyclists know a few things about car drivers. They know, for instance, that a car will turn right the moment you decide to cut up the inside in stopped traffic. They know that a car will desperately try to overtake you and then pull over 50 yards later, cutting you off.

And above all, they know that you never, ever ride too close to a row of parked cars. The moment you forget, a door will open in your path.

Boffins at BMW and Technical University of Munich want to fix this last one (sadly there is no cure for bike-blind drivers). They are developing a haptic feedback system for doors, which works like this: An accelerometer in the door detects when a passenger tries to open it. Sensors on the car detects the proximity of things outside — lampposts, cyclist, other cars. If there is something out there, the car door becomes stiffer to open (there is an extra metal bar inside the door with a linear motor to stop it moving).

New Scientist gives this example: “you might swing a door halfway open without problems before it gets stiffer as it nears a lamp post.”

Right now the project is using ultrasound sensors to detect oncoming cyclists and the like. V2.0 will use cameras instead, giving better coverage and adding the ability to detect cyclists from further away. Now all we need is a speed controller so cars can’t break the limits and cities will be almost perfect. In fact, should cars be banned from cities altogether?

Intelligent car door clams up when danger’s about [New Scientist via CNET]

Photo: srqpix/Flickr

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 9 Apr 2009 | 11:28 am

FCC listing unveils the 3G-equipped Sidekick PV300

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile

At this point it seems to come without question that we will be seeing a new Sidekick in the coming months, what seems to be more of the mystery at this point is what it will be called.  So far the circulating rumors have referred to it as the Sidekick 2009, Sidekick LX 2009 and even the Sidekick Blade.  And now we have yet another to go with, this one however comes courtesy of the recent FCC listing.

The details show the device being referred to as the Sidekick PV300, in which the “PV” is consistent with the previous Sidekick models.  But naming structure aside, this listing did confirm one other important detail—the fact that it will have support for the 1700Mhs AWS spectrum.  In other words the upcoming Sidekick will be 3G capable.

Unfortunately, aside from that little bit, the listing was pretty tight on the details.  In fact the only other details being revealed were that it is being manufactured by Sharp Corporation and that it will be “Powered by Danger,” which was nicely referred to as a “subsidiary” of Microsoft.

Read [FCC]  Via [hiptop3]

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 9 Apr 2009 | 11:11 am