Source: Gizmodo | 8 Jul 2009 | 3:00 am

Twittorati Will Show You How Awesomely Fascinating Bloggers’ Lives Are (Or Not)

As we reported earlier today, media search engine Technorati has succumbed to the Twitter infatuation and is launching Twittorati, a site that shows what Technorati’s top 100 bloggers are tweeting about. Our earlier story indicates that the site is launching tomorrow but perhaps our post sped things up. We had a chance to demo the site with Technorati’s CEO Richard Jalichandra. The site pulls in the Tweets published by bloggers from Technorati’s list of Top 100 Blogs, which is determined by Technorati’s Authority Ranking (its equivalent to Google Page Rank). Authority Ranking is calculated via algorithm of inbound links from other blog posts, and weights those based on timing, relevancy and the inbound link’s site source Authority Ranking.

The blogs that are ranked vary by subject, with The Huffington Post taking the top spot, TechCrunch as no. 2 and Engadget in the no. 3. Twittorati pulls Tweets into a real-time stream (though not fully real-time; like Twitter, you still need to refresh the page to get real-time results) where you can organize Tweets by Authority Ranking or by latest Tweet. Because the Tweets are aggregated from blogs that cover a variety of subject relating to politics, technology, entertainment and more, the subjects of the Tweets are varied and somewhat random. But you can narrow your stream by filtering Tweets by Technorati Tags (life, news, music, politics, etc.) and the top trending Twitter hashtags. For example, some of the top Twitter hashtags that bloggers were Tweeting included #michaelphelps and #MJ. The origins of the Tweets include a blog’s Tweets and bloggers’ personal Tweets from their own accounts. Technorati says it has collected Twitter handles for most of the authors of the top 100 sites.

The site also shows the most popular links that bloggers link to as well as the most popular photos that are linked to. Both link and photo searches can be filtered by most recent links and images. And each day Twittorati pulls in a list of Tweets of featured bloggers that are profiled on the site.

The site itself can be useful when trying to peer into the professional and personal lives of bloggers. I think something that’s missing a breakdown of Tweets from blogs by topic. So for example, if you only wanted to see Tweets from bloggers at technology blogs, there’s no easy way to filter Tweets and blogs by subject. Jalichandra says Twittorati plans to add this functionality in the near future. The site is similar in theory to Federated Media’s ExecTweets, which is focused more on aggregating Tweets from execs in various industries vs. the blogger-focus on Twtterati. WeFollow is also similar, but isn’t limited to just blogs. Missing from the Twittorati are bloggers whose blogs may not make Technorati’s top 100 list, but whose Tweets are relevant and entertaining. Jalichandra says that the site will expand to include other prolific bloggers down the line.

Twittorati is being produced in partnership with Sawhorse Media, publisher of fellow Twitter aggregatorsMuckrack.com and VentureMaven. Luxury car manufacturer Infinity is sponsoring Twittorati. Technorati Media has been through a roller coaster of highs and lows over the past year. Last June, the company launched Technorati Media, a blog advertising network. Prior to launching the ad network, Technorati raised $7.3 million in a fourth round of financing through Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Mobius Venture Capital and FG Incubation. And last fall, Technorati acquired AdEngage to join the company’s newly formed blog advertising network. And most recently, Technorati launched a new directory of ‘tag’ pages, offering brief overviews of a variety of tech-related topics and redesigned BlogCritics, a blog network the company acquired.

Unfortunately, Technorati hasn’t been immune to layoffs during the current economic climate. In April, the company let go 10 percent of its staff, or 4 employees, and also suffered through an earlier round of layoffs last September and implemented pay cuts for remaining staff. Despite these setbacks, Jalichandra remains optimistic about the future of Technorati and the potential of Twitterati to be a popular destination to peek into the Twittersphere of the blogosphere.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 8 Jul 2009 | 2:53 am

Upload Videos From Your iPhone To Facebook Right Now With VideoUp

Maybe you heard that a new Facebook iPhone application is almost complete. Maybe you’ve also heard that probably the best feature is that it will allow you to upload video right from your iPhone 3GS to the social network. Well you don’t actually have to wait for the new app to do that — there’s one that does it already. And it’s really, really fast.

VideoUp is a application created by Raizlabs. While they are in no way affiliated with Facebook, the social network was nice enough to help them fix a couple bugs to get it ready for the App Store, founder Greg Raiz tells us. That’s good news because it means Facebook apparently isn’t being tyrannical and demanding that its official app is the only one that will be able to do video uploads to the network.

VideoUp is very simple. You login to your Facebook account via Facebook Connect, choose which video you wish to upload (you can pick one in your library or shoot a new one), enter a description, and you’re done. What’s really pretty amazing about the app is just how fast it uploads the videos. The 16-second test video I shot below was uploaded and playable on Facebook in under a minute. That easily beats the YouTube upload times from the iPhone 3GS, and the quality seems much better.

VideoUp recommends that you hold your iPhone horizontally, so it appears correctly on Facebook. However, if you do it vertically, it’s easy to rotate the video there as well. Obviously, this will only work with the new iPhone 3GS, which has video capabilities.

You can find VideoUp for Facebook in the App Store here. It is $0.99.

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Source: TechCrunch | 8 Jul 2009 | 2:15 am

Sony CEO dismisses price cut chatter on PlayStation (Reuters)

Reuters - Sony Corp Chief Executive Howard Stringer brushed off concerns that the PlayStation 3 video game console is too expensive, and said the company is unlikely to sell parts of its business amid the recession.

Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 8 Jul 2009 | 2:09 am

Small Newspapers May Be Able To Prolong Death Longer Than Large Counterparts

More bad news for large newspapers. According to the latest stats from the Inland Press Association, larger newspapers with higher circulations are suffering more than their smaller siblings. Newspaper veteran Alan Mutter reports that the bigger the newspapers are, the more their profits decreased over the past five years. Since 2004, operating profits on average fell just over 100% at newspapers with circulation higher than 80,000. That’s right. Taken all together, their losses wiped out their profits.

The Inland Press surveyed 120 papers across the country.  Newspapers with circulations of less than 15,000 fared better, with ad revenues actually eking out a 4.3% increase over the same period. But operating profits still fell by nearly 65%.  This drop isn’t nearly as staggering as the plummet of profits for newspapers with an 80,000-plus circulation, but it’s not a cause for celebration either. Newspapers with 50,000-80,000 in circulation saw profits fall 83%, with newspapers with circulations of 25,000 to 50,000 seeing a 90 percent drop in profit.

Another sign of hope: small papers still have a hold on classifieds.  Average classified sales for small papers have actually gone up, at a time when they have been declining for most papers. Inland cites an example of a daily newspaper with a circulation of less than 15,000, which posted a 210.4% increase in classified revenue from 2004 to 2008. But it didn’t do much good.  The paper’s profits were down by almost 30%.

All in all, newspapers on average reported a 13.5% drop in ad sales between 2004 and 2008, which confirms yet once again the dismal state of the industry. Curiously, the study says that the largest newspapers reported an average profit margin of 12% in 2008, which is remarkably high for publishers whose profits have virtually disappeared. Mutter points out that a 12% profit margin is more than double Wal-Mart’s margins in 2008.

Apparently, Inland Press says the reason profit margins could still average 12% is because data was collected from a variety of publications, some of which had healthy margins and some of which has terrible losses. We’re not sure which, if any, large newspapers had healthy margins. Also, the data that was volunteered by publishers was released on condition of anonymity. Seems like a bit of a paradox in these times.

Perhaps their are just averaging the profit margins across newspapers on a percentage basis, while taking absolute profits and losses into account when calculating the overall declines.  Large percentage gains at small newspapers would then have an over-sized weighting.  No matter how rosy a picture the newspaper association tries to paint, the fact remains that there are still serious (perhaps mortal) declines at all newspapers.  And while death may be slower for the little guys, it’s still imminent.

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Source: TechCrunch | 8 Jul 2009 | 2:05 am

New Sharp LED-backlit LE700 TVs: not fancy enough?

Sharp is rolling out some new Aquos HDTVs, with the coveted LED backlighting, but for some reason aren’t going the whole hog with local-dimming LED arrays and all that internet connectivity Samsung and Vizio seem to like. That’s weird, because Sharp Japan is doing it. Why no love for the US?

Actually, it seems this is just the first barrage of new Aquos TVs; they’re planning on releasing many species of display over the next few months, including local-dimming LED-backlights, cheaper edge-lit ones, and I done heard tell of even some RGB LED arrays, which you will be paying through the nose for. As for internet services (streaming content, local weather and the like), we’ll be seeing those later as well.

So who’s going to buy these “beta” TVs? I sure wouldn’t if I knew there were far more options coming. I’m sure they’re very nice TVs, but it makes no sense for anyone to pick one up at this time. Here is the pricing and press release, anyhow:

* The LC-52LE700UN: $2,799.99
* The LC-46LE700UN: $2,199.99
* The LC-40LE700UN: $1,699.99
* The LC-32LE700UN: $1,099.99

SHARP INTRODUCES AQUOS® LED

Breakthrough New Line of LED Backlit LCD TVs Bring Superior Brightness and Image Quality Combined with Industry’s Lowest Power Consumption for True Value

NEW YORK, July 7, 2009 – Sharp Electronics unveils, for the first time worldwide, AQUOS LED, an LCD TV series that provides the ultimate in picture quality and value, offering consumers the lowest power consumption of any available LCD TV. A new series of LCD TVs that combines Sharp’s award-winning AQUOS LCD technology with a Full-Array LED backlight system, the new LE700 AQUOS LED series delivers unprecedented image quality and energy-efficient, eco-friendly performance. This Full-HD 1080p LCD TV series, available in 52- (LC-52LE700UN), 46- (LC-46LE700UN), 40- (LC-40E700UN) and 32-inch (LC-32LE700UN) screen class sizes (52 1/32″, 45 63/64″, 40″, and 31 35/64″ diagonal respectively), introduces a newly-developed X-Gen Panel with advanced pixel control for extremely deep black levels.

The AQUOS LED series also includes Sharp’s AQUOS Net™* capability, a service that gives users instant access to customized Web-based content as well as real-time customer support.

“Sharp demonstrated the unlimited possibilities of LCD, bringing the first LED back-lit AQUOS LCD TV to market last year, and we continue to advance the category today,” said Bob Scaglione, senior vice president and group manager, Product and Marketing Group, Sharp Electronics Corporation. “With the introduction of the AQUOS LED series, we are bringing consumers an affordable display solution with superior picture and environmental performance that provides a true value. Sharp is able to deliver a price-competitive yet high-performance product by producing many of the key components of the TV, including the LED components and the LCD panel.”

Superior Picture Quality

The proprietary AQUOS LED system incorporates Sharp’s UltraBrilliant LED backlight technology that illuminates the TV to extremely high brightness and contrast levels. The system includes a full array of LEDs evenly dispersed behind the diffuser, resulting in more uniform colors and brightness across the entire screen, as well as improved color purity for the smoothest picture possible. Additionally, this series uses Sharp’s proprietary next-generation Full HD 1080p X-Gen LCD panel with 10-bit processing, designed with advanced pixel control to minimize light leakage, producing extremely deep black levels. The X-Gen panel also provides a wider aperture to allow more light to pass through the panel, resulting in higher peak brightness. The panel provides Spectral Contrast Engine MC for an extremely high Dynamic Contrast Ratio of more than 2,000,000:1 for crisp picture quality and vibrant colors, as well as a special dejudder feature (on the LC-52LE700UN and LC-46LE700UN) that results in the smooth reproduction of film content.

Rounding out this premium picture, the series offers Fine Motion Enhanced technology for 120Hz Frame Rate Conversion and a fast pixel response time of 4ms, providing the ultimate medium for high-definition viewing, ensuring viewers never miss a detail. For flexible room placement, the series has impressive 176-degree viewing angles, enabling the color reproduction to appear bright and vivid from virtually anywhere in a room.

Eco-Efficient Design

In addition to a first-class picture, the AQUOS LED series was designed to bring overall value to the consumer, with several eco-friendly improvements enabled by LED technology. The UltraBrilliant full array LED backlight enables precise light output with higher luminance per watt so less power is needed. The TV is also equipped with a system designed to lower power consumption during use by adjusting the screen brightness based on the level of brightness in the area of installation. In fact, this series offers the industry’s lowest power consumption of any LCD TV currently available on the market.** The LC-52LE700UN consumes 105W, exceeding the EPA’s ENERGY STAR criteria for TVs: Version 3.0 by 68 percent; the LC-46LE700UN consumes 90W, exceeding ENERGY STAR guidelines by 63 percent; the LC-40LE700UN consumes 75W, exceeding ENERGY STAR guidelines by 60 percent; and the LC-32LE700UN consumes 55W, exceeding ENERGY STAR guidelines by 52 percent.

In addition to lower power consumption, the AQUOS LED series is built to last longer - as a solid-state light source, LEDs generate less heat and are more durable, leading to a longer lifespan – an expected 100,000 hours, two thirds longer than traditional LCD TVs.

This TV series also uses eco-friendly components and uses no mercury – LED is a mercury-free light source. The units house fewer components with a reduction of heavy metals, which makes for easy recycling and an overall carbon footprint reduction.

AQUOS Net

Included in the LE700 series*, AQUOS Net is an internet-based service that gives Sharp AQUOS customers access to personalized information. Viewers can check everyday information with a push of a button on the television’s remote control, in either full screen or split screen. Currently available through AQUOS Net is content from Weatherbug to check the local forecast, NASDAQ for stock quotes, Accedo Broadband for casual games such as blackjack and Sudoku, UCLICK to follow daily comic strips, daily local NAVTEQ Traffic™ reports, AQUOS Gallery, which provides users with beautiful high-resolution 1080p images of scenery and nature, and a variety of web-based content from NBCU’s broad portfolio.

Through AQUOS Net, consumers also have access to unparalleled customer support for their television, including the ability to have dedicated AQUOS AdvantageSM advisors connect remotely to their TV to assist in adjusting the TV’s settings and optimizing picture quality for the best viewing experience. This interactive tool, known as AQUOS Advantage LiveSM, is easily accessible from the AQUOS Net home page.

Advanced Connectivity

These Full-HD 1080p models boast an array of connection options, including four HDMI™ (v1.3 with Deep Color) and two component video inputs, all of which are 1080p compatible, accepting signals from Blu-ray Disc™ players and advanced gaming devices. A true high-definition TV, each model houses a built-in ATSC, QAM and NTSC tuner for access to DTV and analog TV channels. The LE700 series also features an RS-232C input for custom installations and a PC input so the TV serves a dual purpose as a PC monitor. Additionally, Sharp’s AQUOS LINK™ feature allows users to seamlessly control compatible, HDMI-connected products using a single remote control. The series also includes a USB photo/music player* for the convenience of high-resolution digital photo viewing and MP3 music enjoyment on the TV.

Availability

* The LC-52LE700UN will be available in July for a Manufacturer’s Suggested List Price of $2,799.99
* The LC-46LE700UN will be available in July for an MSRP of $2,199.99
* The LC-40LE700UN will be available in July for an MSRP of $1,699.99
* The LC-32LE700UN will be available in July for an MSRP of $1,099.99

For more information on Sharp’s full line of Liquid Crystal Televisions, contact Sharp Electronics Corporation, Sharp Plaza, Mahwah, N.J., 07495-1163, or call 800-BE-SHARP. For online product information, visit Sharp’s Web site at sharpusa.com. Become a fan of Sharp AQUOS at www.facebook.com/SharpAQUOS.

Source: CrunchGear | 8 Jul 2009 | 2:00 am

Symphony Technology Group and Elliott Associates Announce Proposed Acquisition of MSC.Software

PALO ALTO, Calif., July 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Symphony Technology Group (STG), a leading private equity firm, and Elliott Management Corp., a $14 billion private investment firm, today announced that affiliates of STG have entered into a definitive agreement with MSC.Software Corporation (MSC) to acquire all of MSC's outstanding shares in a one-step all-cash merger transaction valued at approximately $360 million.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 8 Jul 2009 | 1:38 am

Headline: Sonos CR200 remote shows up on the Sonos site

Engadget has some red hot info on the latest Sonos remote, a $350 controller with capacitive touchscreen that replaces Sonos’ standard CR100 monster. Since Sonos added iPod Touch/iPhone controls we thought they’d be reticent to expand their remote offerings. We were wrong.

Look for this to pop up in the morning.

Source: CrunchGear | 8 Jul 2009 | 1:37 am

Cheaper Music Royalties Pull Internet Radio Back from the Brink (PC World)

PC World - The future is looking bright for various Web-based radio services such as Pandora, Blip.fm and CBS-owned Last.fm. A new long-term solution for music services such as Pandora includes the reduction of more than 40 percent in the royalties formerly paid by such music-streaming sites to the record industry.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 8 Jul 2009 | 1:37 am

Toyota Builds a Patent Thicket For Hybrid Cars

Lorien_the_first_one sends along a WSJ piece reporting on how Toyota is hoping to benefit from new Obama Administration regulations for automobiles here in the US. "Since it started developing the gas-electric Prius more than a decade ago, Toyota has kept its attorneys just as busy as its engineers, meticulously filing for patents on more than 2,000 systems and components for its best-selling hybrid. Its third-generation Prius, which hit showrooms in May, accounts for about half of those patents alone. Toyota's goal: to make it difficult for other auto makers to develop their own hybrids without seeking licensing from Toyota, as Ford Motor Co. already did to make its Escape hybrid and Nissan Motor Co. has for its Altima hybrid."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 8 Jul 2009 | 1:37 am

The Duck Call Stylings of Cisco’s John Chambers (No, Really, Duck Calls) [BoomTown]

What hath the Flip digital video camera wrought?

Well, for one, getting to see a major Silicon Valley tech exec do duck calls online, that’s what.

Cisco (CSCO) PR guy John Earnhardt, who is obviously studying technique from BoomTown’s shaky-cam video style, caught company CEO and Chairman John Chambers quacking away in his office.

And, of course, he then proceeded to capture the moment on the popular digital video recorder, which was made by the small and innovative San Francisco-based Pure Digital that Cisco bought for $590 million in March.

Wrote Earnhardt on the company blog:

“I was sitting at my desk a few minutes ago when I heard a duck call echoing down the corridor. Then, that inimitable John Chambers laughter. With my trusty Flip Mino HD video camera in hand I strolled into Chambers office to capture the duck call for you, our loyal readers. His lesson was brief, but it is very clear that he is a man of many talents.”

Well, that’s the Cisco PR spin on it, at least! (My spin: Chambers is one wacky dude.)

Cisco is now calling for duck call competitors to challenge Chambers on its blog or at its PR YouTube channel.

The best duck call gets a free Flip Mino CD from Chambers.

Here’s the video of Chambers in Daffy Duck mode (and below it is the full video of the demo that Pure Digital did at this year’s seventh D: All Things Digital conference):

Source: All Things Digital | 8 Jul 2009 | 1:34 am

Actually useful LED lights installed on Eee

Do you know the one thing that I absolutely love about my BlackBerry? The little LED indicator light. That single light informs me when I have a new message, if a call is coming in, if Bluetooth is turned on, and a whole lot more. So why isn’t there such a light on computers? One modder answered that question by installed a three-color LED light on his Eee PC with a very similar functionality.

The light sits atop the screen so it can be seen if the lid is open or closed. Whenever a Twitter, Pidgin, or Gmail message comes in, it flashes a different color. Now when can this same thing be available on commercial products? I’m looking at you, Apple.

JustBlair via lillputing

Source: CrunchGear | 8 Jul 2009 | 1:30 am

So Much For That Idea. Facebook Has Killed Off Its Great Apps Initiative

Last summer Facebook announced two new programs designed to help surface some of the best applications on Facebook Platform. The first, called Verified Apps, was to help users find applications they could trust — in other words, apps that always stayed true to Facebook’s guidelines, and wouldn’t spam users. Verified Apps finally launched in May after lengthy delays, with around 120 apps in the inaugural class. But the program was only meant to serve as the first stepping stone on the path towards Platform greatness, serving as something of a minor league before the very best apps made it to the Majors.

The second step was a program dubbed “Great Apps”, which was meant to reward the very best applications on Facebook Platform, enticing developers with promises of “greater visibility on Facebook, earlier access to new features, and more feedback from Facebook”. It was going to highlight the true cream of the crop, launching with iLike and Causes as inaugural members with plans to add a dozen or so more applications within the next year. Now, we’ve learned, that isn’t going to happen, as Facebook has killed off the program. Or, rather, it’s combined Great Apps with Verified Apps — the two are now one and the same. The few applications that were members have been notified of their demotion to plain Verified Apps, and nearly all literature relating to the program has been removed from Facebook.

So what happened? Facebook decided to simply give the benefits it was going to reserve for Great Apps and give them to the Verified Apps instead. Verified Apps are currently being more prominently displayed than their unverified brethren, and Facebook has recently been testing out some new features, like its payment platform, with a handful of them.

Here’s Facebook’s full explanation:

We decided to merge Great Apps with the App Verification program, as they achieve similar goals of helping users identify trusted applications and rewarding the developers who create them. Given the high quality of the applications that have come through the Verification Program and the positive response by users, we believe focusing on one program will provide the best outcome for both users and developers.

This all makes sense, but it’s hard to argue that being grouped into a field of hundreds of good apps is comparable to ranking among a dozen or so truly excellent applications. With 15 or so Great Apps, every top app could have been shown on a single screen, perhaps as the first thing users saw when they clicked over to the “Browse Applications” section. Facebook gives Verified Apps better positioning in the App Directory, but this promotion is diluted to some extent by the many other applications that are given the same treatment.

That said, we’ve heard that Verified Applications have been reaping the benefits of better placement and less restrictive invitation limits and seeing boosts in traffic. Still, I’m sure many of the truly great apps would have appreciated the chance to really stand above the rest.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 8 Jul 2009 | 1:05 am

“Cameras” app makes managing multiple devices a snap

When Peter and I were liveblogging E3 events (among others), we’d get a sort of improvised workflow going on depending on what gear we had, where we were located, who had signal on their dongle, and so on. One of the steps in that workflow was getting pictures off a camera, resizing and renaming them, and getting them up on the web fast. Unfortunately, while I got things going right for my own Canon, the introduction of four other cameras to the mix (two camcorders, another DSLR, and a point-and-shoot for emergencies) made my scripts and automated behaviors difficult to manage and could have resulted in a lot of lost data.

I wish I’d had this Cameras app, a simple thing that lets you choose an action to be done whenever a certain camera (or other device) is connected. And it’s free!

Now you can have your point-and-shoot go to iPhoto, your Flip go to iMovie, and your XSi go to Aperture. Thank god! I’m downloading this right now.

[via TUAW]

Source: CrunchGear | 8 Jul 2009 | 1:00 am

Extreme Networks Appoints Executive to Spur Market Development

SANTA CLARA, Calif., July 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Extreme Networks, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXTR) today announced that its co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Gordon L.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 8 Jul 2009 | 12:59 am

Sequoia, Greylock Take Stake In OpenDNS

It isn’t the sexiest startup in Silicon Valley, but San Francisco based OpenDNS just closed one of the most competitive venture capital deals in recent history. Top tier firms Sequoia Capital and Greylock Partners came out the winners. The company will announce a second round of financing from both firms shortly.

The deal size and valuation isn’t being disclosed. David Strohm from Greylock and Michael Goguen from Sequoia join previous investor Halsey Minor and CEO Nand Mulchandani on the board of directors. Founding CEO David Ulevitch stepped down in late 2008 to take the CTO role.

OpenDNS, which launched in 2006, is a DNS service provider for consumers and organizations. It has two main benefits. First, users can avoid DNS outages that occasionally plague ISPs because OpenDNS routes around the legacy infrastructure that occasionally gets hit by DDOS attacks and other problems. Last year, for example, a Time Warner outage left many Los Angeles customers without Internet access, but OpenDNS users weren’t affected.

The service also allows users to block certain kinds of sites, like porn and phishing sites. Users have to do some basic configuration of their computer to get it going, and once it’s running they rarely see it again.

A year ago we reported that the company was resolving 7 billion DNS queries per day and revenue from search pages from unresolved URLs brought in as much as $20,000 per day. Today they are resolving up to 15 billion daily DNS queries.

The company has 24 employees and previously raised just $2.5 million from Minor Ventures. They have been profitable for more than 18 months, they say.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 8 Jul 2009 | 12:40 am

Shields Up!: Malware and the recession

Section: Computers, Security, Features, Originals

Security experts have found a silver lining in the recession: it’s hitting cybercriminals hard too, leading to a drop in malware. That’s right; there really are hard times all over.  A German security firm has released a report showing a 30% drop in unique malware signatures and says it’s no holiday lull.

“The black economy operates according to demanding economic criteria: supply and demand define business. The global economic crisis has not left the e-crime economy untouched,” says G Data’s Ralf Benzmller in an official release.

“Following on from dumping prices for the sending of spam, the downturn has now reached the writers of malware code. Order books for this particular branch of the industry seem currently to be falling back. Therefore we expect a stagnation in new malware figures for the current month.”

If the company’s findings are true, it’s likely the drop in malware could continue.  It’s not all good news though.  The lack of money may mean cybercriminals won’t have the means to create new Trojans or botnets, but it also means that cheaper forms of cybercrime, namely spam, are likely to rise.

Scareware attacks may also increase as cybercriminals look for more cost effective ways to make money, and phishing will also continue to rise as scammers find new ways to trick people into giving up their personal information.

Malware itself isn’t going anywhere.  Despite the recession it’s still profitable.  Malware attacks targeting breaking news and special events show no signs of slowing down, as the recent attacks that sprung up quickly after the sudden death of pop icon Michael Jackson.  Social engineering attacks will also rise as criminals try to cash in on the ever increasing popularity of sites like Twitter and Facebook.

The silver lining is there, but there are storm clouds all around it, so don’t relax.  Keep your anti-virus software up to date, make sure your spam filters are strong and working properly and remember, common sense is a cybercriminal’s worst enemy!

Read [PCWorld]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 8 Jul 2009 | 12:38 am

Sony Jumps Into 'Netbook' Fray - Wall Street Journal

Globe and Mail

Sony Jumps Into 'Netbook' Fray Wall Street Journal AP Sony Corp. said Tuesday it will launch a tiny new laptop starting in August, the company's belated entry into the growing but cutthroat "netbook" PC market. The new addition to its Vaio line of computers will cost about $500 in the US and 60000 yen ... Sony joins Netbook game with the Vaio WCNET News Sony Apparently Recovering from NetbookaphobiaAll Things D Blogs Sony Joins the Netbook MarketPC Magazine New York Times -Seattle Times -Globe and Mail all 383 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 8 Jul 2009 | 12:37 am

That 80GB PS3 bundle we mentioned is totally shipping

Over the weekend a certain special bundle was revealed to be incoming at Best Buy. We heard it was to be made available next Sunday, but it looks like they’ve jumped the gun a little bit and you can order it online right now. You’ll have to ship it, though — no in-store pickup. Incredibly, shipping that megalith of a console is only $9, though, so your savings remain intact. There’s also a Wall-E/LittleBigPlanet bundle for the same price if you’re buying this thing for your kid.

Here’s the Killzone 2/MGS4 bundle, and here’s the Wall-E/LBP one.

I’m going to wait for the slim PS3 to come out… you’re going to see some serious deals then.

Source: CrunchGear | 8 Jul 2009 | 12:30 am

Radiohead manager to launch new record label

(Image courtesy Flickr user Rainsoaked)

Brian Message, best known as one of the managers for the best band in the world, is said to be launching a new record label that will allow artists to retain greater ownership of their intellectual property. This article in NME says the new label, Polyphonic, plans to offer artists a 50% base share of profits, with that percentage increasing as an act grows more successful. Reports also indicate that Polyphonic's primary method of distribution will be online.

Although specifics details have not been released, the new company's policies look set to place emphasis on the digital distribution of music and may see release plans similar to Radiohead's 2007 album 'In Rainbows', which fans could choose how much to pay for when downloading it. Polyphonic is a joint venture between Message's company ATC and management firms MAMA Group and Nettwerk Music Group, reports the Telegraph.

(via PSFK)

More in the aforementioned Telegraph article: Radiohead manager teams up with Mama Group to launch record label


Source: Boing Boing | 8 Jul 2009 | 12:30 am

Michael Jackson to be buried brainless, coroners say brain must "harden" so tests can be completed.

Pop star Michael Jackson will be laid to rest today in a Los Angeles cemetary without his brain. Doctors investigating the cause of his death are retaining it for an undetermined period of time so they can perform further tests.

[The] LA coroner's office has still not completed its tests on Jackson's brain, and the singer's family have been advised that unless they wish to wait, he must be buried without it.

Jackson died from an apparent cardiac arrest on 25 June. Though his body was released the next day to relatives, his brain was not. The pop star's inert brain must "harden" for at least two weeks before doctors can conduct their neuropathology tests.

Doctors will examine Jackson's brain to help determine the cause of death, suspected of being linked to painkillers. Such examinations can also reveal unknown diseases, evidence of alcohol abuse or whether Jackson has suffered overdoses in the past.

Removing the brain is the "only way to carry out the tests" according to a source for the Mirror. "The tissue has to be examined. I can't tell you how long that is going to take."

Michael Jackson to be buried without his brain (Guardian UK, via @laughingsquid / Image courtesy Flickr user El_Enigma)


Source: Boing Boing | 8 Jul 2009 | 12:13 am

SonicWALL Internet Threat Prevention Has Customers Covered Automatically Against Exploits of Microsoft Internet Explorer Vulnerability

SUNNYVALE, Calif., July 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SonicWALL, Inc.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 8 Jul 2009 | 12:02 am

Review: Eye-Fi Pro 4GB wireless SD memory card

What can be said about the latest Eye-Fi SD card that hasn’t been said about every other iteration? The Pro is just that, a Pro. With support for RAW files, Ad Hoc network support and Selective Transfer, the Eye-Fi Pro is perfection.

Using the Eye-Fi Manager, it took all of three minutes to get the Pro up and running on my Mac. Setting up an Ad Hoc network to my Mac was simple enough that a donkey could do it. From the wireless network dropdown list, select the “set up ad hoc network” option and create an ad hoc network. Once you’ve done that, refresh the network list, select your new ad hoc network and configure the Pro to recognize it going forward. Switch back to your wireless network and you’re done.

DSLR users can now shoot in RAW or RAW+ and have those images directly upload to their respective desktops/laptops over Wi-Fi. Eye-Fi creates two separate folders for RAW images (7-6-09) and JPEG images (July 06, 2009) with differing date formats.

Rather than uploading every single image or video that you capture, the Selective Transfer mode utilizes your camera’s protect function to identify which images to upload and which ones to leave. It’s dead simple. Protect the images you want to upload and then Eye-Fi takes care of the rest.

The Pro, as I’ve said before, is a dream come true — but at $150 it’s tough to justify such a purchase for a slow 4GB SD card. However, it also automagically uploads to your photo sharing site of choice and supports Ad Hoc networks. In a pressure-filled situation, like a live blog, the Eye-Fi Pro is a required gadget in a blogger’s bag. I’d throw down $150 clams for one, but I have the luxury of expensing it back to the big guy.

Eye-Fi Pro [Eye-Fi]

Source: CrunchGear | 8 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am

1975 Electronic Master Clock System

Patek Philippe's "Electronic Master Clock System" from 1975 is a real gem. The unit features independent minute and seconds comparators, and displays the time in five different cities, including New York, Tokyo and Buenos Aires.

Interested?

This one went for £4,800 via Bonhams.

[via Mr. Jones]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 7 Jul 2009 | 11:50 pm

Battery Tests Confirm iPhone 3GS Improvements, But Complaints Linger

Many iPhone 3GS owners are complaining about their handset’s battery life falling short of expectations. Their units are likely defective, because Wired.com was not able to replicate the issue through rigorous battery testing.

In response to a query about the iPhone 3GS’ battery life, 25 readers e-mailed Wired.com citing issues with battery life, and 11 expressed the same complaint to @Wired via Twitter. The majority said their iPhone 3GS’ battery was depleting quickly even after light usage.

“Today, I took it off charge when I woke up (having charged it throughout the night) got ready for work and left my house at about 8 a.m.,” iPhone 3GS owner Mark Bone wrote to Wired.com. “I got to the train station and sent one text. On the train I played Mafia Wars for about a half hour…. By 12 o’clock I had 48 percent battery life.”

Consumers have been venting about the iPhone’s battery life ever since the release of the second-generation iPhone 3G. However, testing by PC World revealed that the iPhone 3G had longer battery life than competing 3G smartphones, including the Samsung Instinct and the Palm Centro.

Wired.com conducted a battery test comparing the iPhone 3GS with the iPhone 3G, and the former came out hours ahead. Running one of the world’s worst music videos on loop at maximum volume with push-notifications turned on, Wi-Fi turned off and earbuds plugged in, the iPhone 3GS lasted five hours and 47 minutes.

With the same settings, a one-year-old iPhone 3G ran out of juice after three hours and 48 minutes. We also ran the test on a seven-month old iPhone 3G, which shut off after four hours and 19 minutes. That’s consistent with reports that the iPhone’s non-user-replaceable batteries — like most rechargeable batteries — lose capacity with age and use.

Turning push notifications off only extended battery life by 15 to 20 minutes. Running the same test with push turned off, the iPhone 3GS died after six hours and 3 minutes; the one-year-old iPhone 3G lasted four hours and 2 minutes.

We acknowledge that the iPhone 3G being a year old likely means shorter battery life — but not by much, considering a seven-month-old iPhone 3G stayed live only about 30 minutes longer. More notable is that our iPhone 3GS did not deplete as quickly as we expected, based on readers’ complaints. Also, with normal usage our iPhone 3GS has been able to run two days before requiring a charge. (The one-year-old iPhone 3G has generally needed a recharge every day or day and a half.)

But clearly, if so many customers are complaining, there must be a problem with some iPhone 3GS batteries. Our testing leads us to suspect their units are defective. If iPhone 3GS owners are experiencing surprisingly meager battery life, they should schedule an appointment at an Apple Store Genius Bar to request an exchange.

Apple has not acknowledged issues with the iPhone 3GS’s battery. The company did not respond to requests for comment on this story.

These are only initial battery tests, with an admittedly small sample size. We’re open to experimenting with other methods to run down the iPhone 3GS’s battery. (We’ll also consider purchasing a brand new iPhone 3G for testing if readers demand it.) Add your suggestions in the comment section below.

See Also:

• IPhone 3GS Handsets Overheat, Turn Brown
• Battery Issues Likely Cause of iPhone 3GS Overheating
• IPhone 3G Battery Life Bad, Still Better Than Other 3G Smartphones
• Review: iPhone 3G Trades Battery Life for Interface, Software

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 7 Jul 2009 | 11:45 pm

Battery Tests Confirm iPhone 3GS Improvements, But Complaints Linger

Does the iPhone 3GS have better battery life than its predecessor, as Apple advertises? Wired.com performs a battery benchmark to investigate the claim.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 7 Jul 2009 | 11:45 pm

Battery Tests Confirm iPhone 3GS Improvements, But Complaints Linger

Does the iPhone 3GS have better battery life than its predecessor, as Apple advertises? Wired.com performs a battery benchmark to investigate the claim.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 7 Jul 2009 | 11:45 pm

Seagrass beds are dying worldwide

The decline in seagrass beds is accelerating at a disturbing rate due to coastal development and related activities, a U.S. university study revealed. The University of Maryland's Center for Environmental Science released the study in late June, CNN Radio reported.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 7 Jul 2009 | 11:44 pm

Goodnight, sweet Mino: Music Video shot end-to-end on an iPhone 3GS

Hm - perhaps those iPhone 3GS mounts aren't as silly as we thought (Not really- they're still silly.) When videographer Kenny Mosher was tasked with shooting a music video for acoustic-folk band BJSR, he decided to skip the usual rig for something a bit more relevant in the moment: the iPhone 3GS.

Source: CrunchGear | 7 Jul 2009 | 11:30 pm

The world’s gone topsy turvy: Google Apps out of beta, VLC hits 1.0

Section: Computers, Software / Applications, Web, Web 2.0, Web Apps, Online Music/Video, Google

The unthinkable has happened: progress.  Google apps like Google Calendar, Google Docs, Gmail,  and Google Talk are no longer in beta.  Gmail had been in beta for over five years.  What exactly has changed now that these things are out of beta?  Apart from a new graphic without the word “beta,” not much, if anything at all.  Google Apps is getting some new features, but that’s for enterprise users.

Also, in the world of software, VLC finally hits version 1.0.0.  Originally released in 2001, VLC is the swiss army of video players.  It’s free, open source, cross platform, and plays almost anything thrown at it.  Not all operating systems are getting 1.0, but the newest iteration of VLC is available for OS X, Ubuntu Linux, and Windows.  VLC 1.0 has new HD codecs to decode things like Dolby Digital Plus and Blu-ray Linear PCM. 

To pick up a new copy of VLC head on over to the VideoLan.org site.  To get the non-beta versions of Google’s various apps—maybe clear your cache and hit reload until you no longer see “beta” on the graphic. 

Download: [VLC]
Read: [Official Google Blog]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 7 Jul 2009 | 11:30 pm

PC Invader Costs a Kentucky County $415,000

plover recommends a detailed account by Brian Krebs in the Washington Post's Security Fix column of a complex hack and con job resulting in the theft of $415,000 from Bullitt County, Kentucky. "The crooks were aided by more than two dozen co-conspirators in the United States, as well as a strain of malicious software capable of defeating online security measures put in place by many banks. ...the trouble began on June 22, when someone started making unauthorized wire transfers of $10,000 or less from the county's payroll to accounts belonging to at least 25 individuals around the country... [T]he criminals stole the money using a custom variant of a keystroke logging Trojan known as 'Zeus' (a.k.a. 'Zbot') that included two new features. The first is that stolen credentials are sent immediately via instant message to the attackers. But the second, more interesting feature of this malware... is that it creates a direct connection between the infected Microsoft Windows system and the attackers, allowing the bad guys to log in to the victim's bank account using the victim's own Internet connection."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 7 Jul 2009 | 11:26 pm

Clearwire to Launch WiMax in Las Vegas on July 21 (PC World)

PC World - Clearwire will start offering its mobile WiMax wireless data service commercially in Las Vegas on July 21, building on its still-sparse coverage area with a fourth major city.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 7 Jul 2009 | 11:10 pm

Analytics Give Clues to Next-Gen iPod Touch

iPhone application analytics companies say their tracking tools have turned up a device ID that might represent a next-generation iPod Touch.

Two iPhone app analytics companies — Pinch Media and Medialets — say they’ve spotted a device-ID string labeled “iPod 3,1″ — which they believe to represent a prototype of a new iPod Touch.

The applications being run on the mystery device are larger, more popular titles, according to Pinch. Presumably Apple employees are testing the new iPod Touch with these more well known apps. The device ID began appearing in analytics reports since April, according to Pinch.

It’s reasonable to infer this is a new iPod: We all know Apple is going to keep rolling these babies out. The question is, when? Pinch Media in October spotted an unfamiliar device ID labeled “iPhone 2,1,” which turned out to be the string representing the iPhone 3GS that launched June. If we’re to make a guess based on timing patterns (eight months between initial testing and release), then the next iPod Touch would likely be hitting stores around December.

However, as The Unofficial Apple Weblog has noted, Apple’s iPods typically see a refresh around September for back-to-school season. Also, an iPod would likely take less time to QA test than a phone. So we would place our bets on September, too.

Best tidbit to derive from these sightings is they’re strong evidence that new iPods are coming soon. Even better, if the rumors are true, they’ll have cameras this time around.

See Also:

• Rumor: iPods Nano and Touch to Gain Cameras
• Leaked Case Designs May Predict Future iPod Cameras
• Cameras in iPods. Game Over?

Photo: Jolts/Flickr

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 7 Jul 2009 | 11:00 pm

Monkeys Display Verbal Skills

Cotton-top tamarin monkeys can tell the difference between prefixes and suffixes.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 7 Jul 2009 | 11:00 pm

Local Insight Regatta Holdings Announces Consolidation of Its Two Operating Subsidiaries Under New Berry Brand

DENVER, July 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Local Insight Regatta Holdings, Inc., a leading Yellow Pages and online local search company ("Regatta"), today announced that one of its operating subsidiaries, Local Insight Yellow Pages, Inc., has merged into Regatta's other operating subsidiary, The Berry Company LLC.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 7 Jul 2009 | 10:57 pm

In Defiance of Earthquakes

On July 14, a six-story condominium building will shake with the earthquake motions of the 1994 Northridge quake, but one and a half times as intense--more powerful than any quake California has experienced in modern times.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 7 Jul 2009 | 10:40 pm

Tweet Those Screencasts With Screenjelly

On Twitter there are easy ways to share links, photos, and videos (via bit.ly, Twitpic, YFrog, Flickr, and YouTube), and now there is an easy way to record and share screencasts. The service is called Screenjelly, and it just launched today. It comes from the the team that created ScreenToaster, which was bought by enterprise video provider Veodia last month.

Screenjelly is a browser-based screen sharing app. After allowing a Java applet to run on your computer, you press record and have 3 minutes to show anything on your computer screen, using your built-in microphone to do a voiceover. Once you are done, you can Tweet out a link to your video. Unlike other Web-based screen sharing apps like Webex or Adobe Acrobat, Screenjelly is asynchronous and designed for quick, fast sharing sessions. Even ScreenToaster has a lot more bells and whistles.

I did a Screenjelly video going through some of the open tabs on my browser and a desktop app. It works pretty much as advertised, although I would suggest closing any apps you don’t intend to demo. I kept getting a lag between the audio and the video until I closed down some of my desktop apps.

(Hat tip to Loic Le Meur)

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

Source: TechCrunch | 7 Jul 2009 | 10:38 pm

US Finalizes Stem Cell Research Guidelines

An anonymous reader writes with an excerpt from Cosmos Magazine, to wit: "The US government unveiled final rules for embryonic stem cell research, laying out ground rules for 'ethically responsible, scientifically worthy' studies eligible for federal funds. The new rules, which go into effect today, follow President Barack Obama's March 9 executive order lifting a ban on embryonic stem cell research, an order that went into effect under his predecessor, George W. Bush. ... The US National Institutes of Health's (NIH) guidelines are slightly less restrictive than those outlined in a draft document released in April in that they allow the use of existing stem cell lines, in addition to new ones derived from IVF procedures. ... The NIH received some 49,000 comments from patient advocacy groups, scientists, medical groups, and other interested parties before issuing the guidelines."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 7 Jul 2009 | 10:38 pm

Researchers Closer To Developing Salt-Tolerant Crops

An international team of scientists has developed salt-tolerant plants using a new type of genetic modification (GM), bringing salt-tolerant cereal crops a step closer to reality.The research team – based at the University of Adelaide's Waite Campus in Australia – has used a new GM technique to contain salt in parts of the plant where it does less damage.Salinity affects agriculture worldwide, which means the results of this research could impact on world food production and security. The work has been led by researchers from the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics and the University of Adelaide's School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, in collaboration with scientists from the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge, UK.The results of their work are published today in the top international plant science journal, 'The Plant Cell'."Salinity affects the growth of plants worldwide, particularly in irrigated land where one third of the world's food is produced.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 7 Jul 2009 | 10:30 pm

Delicious Library iPhone app yanked from App Store (Macworld.com)

Macworld.com - Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the App Store. Delicious Monster’s iPhone companion app for its popular Delicious Library 2 media-cataloging application was removed from the App Store on Tuesday, though not, as it turns out, at the behest of the usual culprit, Apple. Rather, this time the objection came from online retail supergiant Amazon.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 7 Jul 2009 | 10:18 pm

Hybrid Supercar Coming From McLaren?

A job posting on its website suggests the British firm is working on a gas-electric pavement-peeler.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 7 Jul 2009 | 10:17 pm

Researchers Track Chemical Changes In Cells As They Endure Extreme Conditions

One of nature’s most gripping feats of survival is now better understood. For the first time, scientists from the U.S.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 7 Jul 2009 | 10:15 pm

Bookstores Aim at Amazon With E-Readers of Their Own

In a few months when best-selling author Dan Brown’s new book The Lost Symbol hits Borders, chances are some customers will be stepping into the chain’s British stores to buy the e-book and a reader instead of the hardcover book.

Last week, Borders U.K. introduced a £189 ($276) e-book reader called Elonex. The Elonex will come pre-loaded with about 1,000 books and will support both the open-source ePub and proprietary Adobe formats. It will be “completely compatible” with the 45,000 odd e-books sold through the Borders website, says the company.

“Digital bookselling is still in its infancy but we believe it is here to stay,” says Peter Newbould, commercial director at Borders. “By launching the e-book reader, we hope to bring new customers into the market.”

Borders is not the only big chain store to embrace the e-book reader trend. Its biggest competitor Barnes & Noble is reportedly working on introducing an e-book reader of its own. And online, Amazon.com — which once called itself “Earth’s biggest bookstore” — has scored a hit with the most popular e-book reader to date, the Kindle, enabling it to generate an estimated $310 million in revenue.

“The big book stores are seeing Amazon take more and more market share of digital book sales,” says Sarah Rotman-Epps, an analyst with Forrester Research. “E-books are a small part of the market but it is one of the growth areas and retailers don’t want to stand back and let Amazon get ahead.”

Since Amazon introduced the Kindle in 2007, e-reader and e-books sales have exploded. In May, E Ink, which almost exclusively supplies the black-and-white displays that power most e-readers said more than a million readers use its technology. Though still a small percentage of overall book sales, e-books have been one of the fastest growing segments in the market. Book sales fell to $24.3 billion in 2008 from $25 billion the year before, e-book sales nearly doubled to $117 million in 2008 from $67 million, a year ago.

Borders U.K. hasn’t created its Elonex e-reader. Instead it is selling a device manufactured by Taiwanese company Netronix and re-branded by Elonex, a U.K.-based computer and IT services firm. Borders will also offer a discount coupon booklet on e-books for the Elonex e-reader customers. Earliers, Borders U.K. offered an e-book reader called iLiad for £399 ($555).

It’s a clever strategy to get a foothold in a growing market, says Forrester’s Epps. “Borders is smart to take advantage of an existing product that they can piggyback on to get a device into the market,” she says. “Developing your own device is very time consuming and expensive.”

The moves by Borders and in the future by Barnes & Nobles is also attempt to stave off a fate that music retail stores have faced as records went digital, says Epps. Still the transition is unlikely to be easy.

“It’s not a pretty picture right now for brick-and-mortar retailers,” says Epps. “E-books sales are growing but they can’t nearly bring in the same kind of revenue as physical books do,” she says.

Meanwhile, e-book readers promoted by big stores could also widen the gap between chain stores and independent book sellers who may not be able to offer an integrated e-book reading experience.

Survival is an issue for indie stores, agrees Stephanie Anderson, manager of a Brooklyn-based book store called Word. But she says stores like hers hold a few trump cards.

“A lot of what independent book stores are about is a place for people to go, meet authors and talk about what they are reading,” she says. ” For indies, the books are the most important thing but the community comes a close second.”

And then there are some books such as children’s books and cook books, says Anderson, where the paper counterparts are likely to outsell their digital namesakes. “You can drop those into the bathtub or spill some sauce on it without it going bust,” she says.

An e-reader may not be for everyone but Borders is hoping inexpensive e-book readers widely available in retail stores could tempt some skeptics such as Russ Marshalek, a freelance publicist. Marshalek doesn’t own a e-reader and says he is a strong supporter of indie stores. “I very consciously shop independent book stores,” he says, “and will drive out of my way to get to one.”

Yet Marshalek would be open to buying an e-reader that’s priced right, even if it comes from a Borders or a Barnes & Noble. Throw in a members discount for e-books bought from their store and Marshalek concedes he could be hooked.

“It could impact my impulse buy,” he says, “especially if they have in-store promotions and offers.”

See Also:

• Why E-Books Look So Ugly
• Why E-Books Are Stuck in a Black-and-White World
• Kindle Readers Ignite Protest Over E-Book Prices
• Buying Guide: How to Choose an E-Book Reader
• Next Up for E-book Readers: Social Networking, Online Sharing …

Photo: Borders Elonex E-Book Reader/Elonex

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 7 Jul 2009 | 10:05 pm

Bookstores Aim at Amazon With E-Readers of Their Own

Big chain stores such as Borders and Barnes & Noble hope to steal back the e-book reader market from rival Amazon.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 7 Jul 2009 | 10:05 pm

New Low-cost Solution Processing Method Developed For CIGS-based Solar Cells

Though the solar industry today predominately produces solar panels made from crystalline silicon, they remain relatively expensive to make.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 7 Jul 2009 | 10:05 pm

Bookstores Aim at Amazon With E-Readers of Their Own

Big chain stores such as Borders and Barnes & Noble hope to steal back the e-book reader market from rival Amazon.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 7 Jul 2009 | 10:05 pm

RIAA Fears Thomas Keeps On File Sharing, Despite $2 Million Verdict

Fearing Jammie Thomas-Rasset is still sharing files, the Recording Industry Association of America is urging the judge in her case to issue an injunction barring her from any more file sharing. The RIAA has already won a whopping $1.92 million jury verdict against the Minnesota woman for using the Kazaa file sharing network.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 7 Jul 2009 | 10:00 pm

The Amazon River Is About 11 Million Years Old

The Amazon River originated as a transcontinental river around 11 million years ago and took its present shape approximately 2.4 million years ago.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 7 Jul 2009 | 9:50 pm

Gaze-Tracking Software Protects Computer Privacy

Ponca City, We Love You writes "Two years ago computer security expert Bill Anderson read about scientific research on how the human eye moves as it reads and processes text and images. 'This obscure characteristic... suddenly struck me as (a solution to) a security problem,' says Anderson. With the help of a couple of software developers, Anderson developed a software program called Chameleon that tracks a viewer's gaze patterns and only allows an authorized user to read text on the screen, while everyone else sees gibberish. Chameleon uses gaze-tracking software and camera equipment to track an authorized reader's eyes to show only that one person the correct text. After a 15-second calibration period in which the software learns the viewer's gaze patterns, anyone looking over that user's shoulder sees dummy text that randomly and constantly changes. To tap the broader consumer market, Anderson built a more consumer-friendly version called PrivateEye, which can work with a simple Webcam to blur a user's monitor when he or she turns away. It also detects other faces in the background, and a small video screen pops up to alert the user that someone is looking at the screen. 'There have been inventions in the space of gaze-tracking. There have been inventions in the space of security,' says Anderson. 'But nobody has put the two ideas together, as far as we know.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 7 Jul 2009 | 9:50 pm

Fish Is On The Menu Of Our Ancestors

Freshwater fish are a major part of the diet of many peoples around the world, but it has been unclear when fish became a significant part of the year-round diet for early humans.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 7 Jul 2009 | 9:40 pm

Trying To Play it Safe

Kinarm Ko and Hans Schöler's team at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine in Münster have succeeded for the first time in culturing a clearly defined cell type from the testis of adult mice and converting these cells into pluripotent stem cells without introduced genes, viruses or reprogramming proteins.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 7 Jul 2009 | 9:35 pm

Antarctic faces ecological imbalances

British scientists say some species in Antarctic waters may be at risk due to global warming since they're now living close to their upper temperature range. Researchers from the British Antarctic Survey said they collected individuals from a wide range of species commonly found in Antarctic waters and subjected them to increasing water temperatures.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 7 Jul 2009 | 9:34 pm

Researchers Explore The Physics Of Bumpy Roads

Just about any road with a loose surface — sand or gravel or snow — develops ripples that make driving a very shaky experience.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 7 Jul 2009 | 9:30 pm

Latest LG Chocolate to feature a 800x345 resolution?

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers

If these rumors turn out to be true, the newest LG Chocolate should be a pretty slick phone.  The LG Chocolate is slated for an August unveiling, so not many details about the new phone are available, but LG will probably leak some features between now and then.  However, Tweakers is reporting the resolution of the phone, which will definitely make the phone interesting, to say the least. 

The screen resolution is rumored to be 800 x 345 indicating a 21:9 aspect ratio.  Such an aspect ratio has been featured in a Philips 56 inch Cinema HDTV.  Under the Black Label series, the LG Chocolate will bear the BL40 model number and contain a 5MP camera, run on LG’s own OS, and utilize the Obigo browser.  No word on whether WiFi and GPS capabilities will be featured in the phone. 

Again the aspect ratio and resolution are just rumors at this point, but it will be interesting to see what other details LG leaks before the official August unveiling. 

Read [Tweakers]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 7 Jul 2009 | 9:19 pm

Is IE Usage Share Collapsing?

je ne sais quoi writes "Net Applications normally releases its statistics for browser and operating system usage share on the first of every month. This month, however, the data has not shown up — only a cryptic message stating they are reviewing the data for inexplicable statistical variations and that it will be available soon. Larry Dignan at ZDNet has a blog post that might explain what is happening: Statcounter has released some data that shows a precipitous drop in IE browser use in North America, to the benefit of Firefox, Safari, and Chrome. At the end of May, StatCounter shows IE usage share (for versions 6, 7, and 8 combined) at around 64%; at the beginning of June it is now about 56% — an astounding 8% drop in one month. We should keep in mind the difficulties in estimating browser usage share: this could very well be a change in how browsers report themselves, or some other statistical anomaly. So it will probably be healthy to remain skeptical until trend this is confirmed by other organizations. Have any of you seen drops in IE usage share for Web-sites you administer?"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 7 Jul 2009 | 9:03 pm

Goodnight, sweet Mino: Music Video shot end-to-end on an iPhone 3GS

Hm - perhaps those iPhone 3GS mounts aren’t as silly as we thought (Not really- they’re still silly.)

When videographer Kenny Mosher was tasked with shooting a music video for acoustic-folk band BJSR, he decided to skip the usual rig for something a bit more relevant in the moment: the iPhone 3GS.

Now, this music video isn’t the first of its kind; rapper GOSHone recorded one on a jailbroken iPhone 3G, months before Apple ever condoned video recording on any of their mobile handsets. That said, it’s the first we know of shot through an Apple-endorsed method, and it’s a pretty nifty video at that. Could it be that the iPhone 3GS bit is just a gimmick for the sake of blog posts like this? Absolutely - but at least the song is catchy!

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 7 Jul 2009 | 8:51 pm

Prof. Nesson Ordered To Show Cause

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "Professor Charles Nesson, the Harvard law professor serving pro bono as counsel to the defendant in SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum, has been ordered to show cause why sanctions should not be issued against him for violating the Court's orders prohibiting reproduction of the court proceedings. The order to show cause was in furtherance of the RIAA's motion for sanctions and protective order, which we discussed here yesterday. The Judge indicated that she was 'deeply concerned' about Prof. Nesson's apparent 'blatant disregard' of her order."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 7 Jul 2009 | 8:18 pm

Toshiba R600 with colossal SSD reviewed. Verdict: "The Bee's Knees."

Gizmodo's Mark Wilson writes that fast flash storage with hard drive-like capacity puts Toshiba on top of the world.

Fast! This isn't some bargain basement drive that Toshiba shoved in a laptop for bragging rights.

Benchmarks are spectacular: it grossly outperforms the similar MacBook Air and Lenovo X301 when it comes to read/write tests. The 512GB SSD does mean, however, that you pay $3,500 for a laptop that would otherwise be half that price.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 7 Jul 2009 | 8:09 pm

Gadgetell Guide: Should I buy headphones or earbuds?

Section: Audio, Accessories, Headphones, Features, Originals

A MP3 player is only as good as its headphones or earbuds.  With that in mind, it is very important to decide whether headphones or earbuds are the way to go when listening to music.  For me the difference between using headphones and earbuds is relatively simple.  However, for others, deciding which to use can be a difficult process.  Based on my personal experiences, I will break down the pros and cons of each. 

Headphones: Pro

Headphones are typically bulkier than earbuds, but the sound quality is much greater than earbuds.  If I want clear, rich sound quality I would opt to use headphones as they are designed to be of better quality and some come with noise canceling technology.  Now, they are also more comfortable as the cans are typically coated with padding to keep your ears feeling comfortable.  They fit snuggly over or behind your head, so they will not fall off easily, which is a big plus.  I can’t run with earbuds as they almost always fall out, so I have to use headphones when running.  To me, that makes me more likely to purchase headphones over earbuds. 

Headphones: Con

I alluded to the fact that headphones are bulkier than earbuds, which is true.  They are not as portable as earbuds and usually come with a carrying pouch.  It is not a big inconvenience, but I enjoy keeping earbuds in my pockets for quick access.  Good quality headphones also stick out since they are much bigger than decent headphones.  If you take a look outside or on the subway, chances are most people are using earbuds over headphones due to portability factor. 

Earbuds: Pro

If you purchase an MP3 player, chances are it comes with a pair of earbuds so you can listen to music right away.  For example, Apple ships their own earbuds with every iPod, but many people end buying a new pair due to lack of quality.  Personally, I don’t have too much of a problem with the Apple earbuds, as they are small and can fit easily inside my pocket.  There are higher quality earbuds designed by manufacturers that feature noise canceling technology, similar to headphones. 

Earbuds: Con

Unless you are buying high end earbuds, chances are they lack quality that can be found in similarly priced headphones.  They are much smaller and can’t pack the same features as headphones.  In addition, they are designed to fit outside your ear canal or directly inside, which poses a danger to your hearing.  Most earbuds don’t feature any noise canceling technology, so we often blast our music to reduce outside noise.  This is a big no-no as it can cause permanent damage to your ear drum.

Final Thoughts

If you are looking for sharp sound quality combined with comfort, headphones may be the way to go.  However, if you are looking for style combined with portability, earbuds may be the way to go.  I own a pair of headphones as well as several earbuds.  When running, I typically use headphones as they don’t fall off, but when going outside either for school, with friends, or just walking around, I carry earbuds with me as they are smaller and more portable.  If you are still conflicted, evaluate when and where you’ll be using your music player and that ought to help you make a decision. 

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to let me know below. 

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 7 Jul 2009 | 8:07 pm

iPhone OS 3.1 beta: what’s new

FROM APPLETELL - Last week saw Apple release the iPhone OS 3.1 beta to developers.  The update sees numerous bug fixes alongside some welcome new features to further enhance the iPhone experience.
MORE »

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 7 Jul 2009 | 8:06 pm

Judge Mulls Sanctions Against Berkman Center Founder

A federal judge threatens to sanction Charles Nesson, founder of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, for disregarding court orders to refrain from posting judicial proceedings. The move comes during a file-sharing lawsuit brought by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 7 Jul 2009 | 8:00 pm

Xeni spots an example of technology and beauty meeting out of time: Sandia Labs' new SunCatcher power system looks like nothing so much as a Magritte painting.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 7 Jul 2009 | 7:47 pm

Crossing a Very Big Sea in a Very Small Boat

Two Florida men plan to cross the Atlantic in a fishing boat designed for coastal waters. It isn't the first time they've made such a journey.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 7 Jul 2009 | 7:44 pm

Apple Pre-Celebrates App Store’s First Birthday

Apple’s hugely successful iPhone application store is nearing its first birthday, and the company is already pre-celebrating with a special page in the iTunes Store.

Titled “The App Store Turns 1,” the section includes a list of Apple’s favorite applications [iTunes Link] and games since the App Store’s July 11 launch (earlier if you count the leaks of the iPhone 2.0 OS prior to its official launch date). Some of our favorite apps from the list include the IM utility BeeJive, the music app Ocarina and the e-book reader Stanza. Gaming titles highlighted include life-simulator The Sims 3, the highly addictive strategy game Flight Control and the vastly popular rhythm game Tap Tap Revenge.

The App Store features over 50,000 downloadable applications to date, according to Apple. The company also recently celebrated hitting a milestone of one billion applications downloaded.

Any of your favorites make it to the list?

See Also:

• Coder’s Half-Million-Dollar Baby Proves iPhone Gold Rush Is Still …
• From iLightswitch to iBurrito, Stanford Students Concoct iPhone …
• iPhone 3.0: Will the Gold Rush Continue?
• Billionth iPhone App Downloader Scores Freebies; Developer Wins …
• iPhone App Store Approaches 1 Billion Downloads
• Apple: No Porn Allowed in iPhone’s App Store

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 7 Jul 2009 | 7:43 pm

Sunspots Return

We're emerging from the longest, deepest sunspot drought since 1913 (we discussed its depths here) with the appearance of a robust group of sunspots over the weekend. Recently we discussed a possible explanation for the prolonged minimum. The Fox News article quotes observer Michael Buxton of Ocean Beach, Calif.: "This is the best sunspot I've seen in two years." jamie found a NASA site where you can generate a movie of the recent sunspot's movement — try selecting the first image type and bumping the resolution to 1024. The magnetic field lines are clearly visible.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 7 Jul 2009 | 7:31 pm

T-Mobile tweets Touch Pro2 launch window, specific launch dates leak

Skipping the boring formalities of the product announcement process — you know, like a press release — and just gettin’ right into the nitty gritty of things, T-Mobile USA has confirmed by way of Twitter that the Touch Pro2 is on the way to their shelves. The nice folks they are, they went ahead and gave us a launch window! “Summer,” they say.

If narrowing things down to a 3 month window is nice, whoever leaked these specific launch dates is a saint.

Be it that this shot leaked to TmoNews pans out, we can all expect to be able to pop into a TMo store and walk out with Touch Pro2 in hand come August 12th.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 7 Jul 2009 | 7:27 pm

Your social security number may not be as secure as you think

Section: Computers, Security, Web, Web 2.0, Web Apps, Websites

We all know to keep our social security number private, and not share it with the masses, right?  After all, if the wrong person gets a hold of it, that could be a very bad thing.  Our social security number (SSN) is like the magic little key to our financial world, and other critical parts of our lives.  It can open or close doors for us.  And if misused by another, like in the case of identity theft, it can break us.

Well, what if that number is not as secret and secure as we would like to think?  What if there were a way for wily would-be hacker/thieves to steal our SSNs and have a field day with our identity?  And no, I don’t mean just through the old break into an institution and get their records method.  Nothing as blase as that.  I mean actually being able to figure out what your SSN is, based on your date of birth and where you were born, using a specific algorithm.  Yes Virginia, it is possible.

Two researchers at Carnegie Mellon University discovered this nifty little technique.  And it works with a rather amazing degree of accuracy, especially considering that the two practices (which were created by the federal government) that it relies on were created to actually prevent the ability of schemers from being able to create a fake SSN.  Well, they don’t have to create a bogus one anymore, they can just take a real person’s number.

The first thing it relies on is what is called the Death Master File.  The government makes this file publicly available, and it shows the SSNs of any deceased individuals.  This gave researchers material to analyze how the assignment of SSNs related to date and state of birth.

The second thing is that the handling of SSN assignments has been centralized and documentation has been provided on the procedures.  So, it is clear and known now that the first three digits are based on the state where the SSN was originally assigned, and that the next two are what is called a group number.  The last four are random.  Now, since the late 80’s, there has been an initiative in place called the “Enumeration at Birth”, which tries to make sure that everyone gets their SSN very soon after birth, hoping to cut down on fraud.

This second program is what really made the difference in the research, as it kind of pointed to SSN numbers being related to date of birth.  So, the researchers used the Death Master File to break up the data from the states (the first three digits), then ordered them by date.  They then looked for statistical patterns within that data.

There were some patterns before the 1990s in the numbers given for region and group number, but, after that, with rare exception, it was clear that there was an obvious pattern of sequential order used for almost all SSNs.  If you live in a less populous state, the pattern is even easier to determine, although the last four digits were still tougher to figure out.  Although even that could be guessed with a lower degree of accuracy with the algorithm the scientists came up with.

Using this algorithm, they were able to get the first five digits of the number right for those born before 1988 seven percent of the time.  You may think, well, that isn’t too bad, it’s only 7 percent.  Yeah, but it went up to a success rate of 44 percent for those people assigned a SSN after 1988, and if you happened to live in a smaller state like Vermont, the success rate was over 90 percent. 

They still need the last four digits though.  They were only able to get that right 0.1 time within 10 tries even after 1988, although again with smaller states they did better.  However, this still doesn’t give total peace of mind.  Because many credit card verification companies allow up to two digits of the SSN to be wrong as long as the date and place of birth are accurate.  They do this because they allow for illegible forms.  They also allow for several failed verification attempts per IP address before they go and lock it out and blacklist it.  So, based on this, the authors of the algorithm estimate that a bot of about 10,000 machines could obtain identity verification of younger residents of a smaller state at a rate of 47 a minute.  That’s frightening in my opinion. 

The botnet master would just need access to birth information, which many commercial services will gladly provide for a price.  Or, social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace are a well-spring of just such information for free.  Just another reason to keep your personal information off of those sites.  You never know who might be reading, or why.

Read: [arstechnica]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 7 Jul 2009 | 7:13 pm

Video: Sony’s Vaio W Netbook Unveiled (O.M.G.)

If today’s photos of Sony’s $500 Vaio W netbook weren’t enough to help you nap through afternoon, check out the Japanese video above demonstrating the device. Be warned: It’ll knock you out faster than washing down a sleeping pill with a bottle of Nyquil.

Product Page [Sony]

See Also:

• Sony Announces $500 Netbook, Wins ‘Race to Bottom’
• Just Why Isn’t the Sony Vaio P a Netbook?
• First Look: Sony Vaio P Series Lifestyle PC
• Sony Launches ‘World’s Lightest’ 8-Inch Notebook (Not a Netbook …
• Sony Vaio P Netbook + Capoeira Fighter = BFFs 4 Life?

Via LaptopMag

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 7 Jul 2009 | 7:08 pm

Gmail Finally Out of Beta! - Reuters

ABC News

Gmail Finally Out of Beta! Reuters By chris.thompson - The Big Money OK, so today was a little better for Google (GOOG). Even if its good news was largely semantic. Today, Google announced that its various enterprise applications—Gmail, Calendar, Google Docs, and Google Talk—work well ... Gmail is finally out of betaInquirer Google Removes 'Beta' Label from Gmail, Calendar, Other ServicesPC World Google Apps shed beta labelCNET News Chicago Tribune -DailyTech -Christian Science Monitor all 364 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 7 Jul 2009 | 7:03 pm

Gruesome Face Mask For Outdoorsy Goreheads

Airhole manufactures face masks for cold weather and outdoor protection. Apart from their use of "ninja polyester" (?!) on the outer shell, the company is known for choosing subtle graphics and prints.

[via The Goat]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 7 Jul 2009 | 6:44 pm

Greenpeace Declares Nokia Super-Green, Nintendo Not-So-Much

Greenpeace released its annual eco-rankings of electronics manufacturers. And the winner is... NOKIA, which scored a 7.45 out of 10 (10 being green-tastic). The whole report is worth a gander, but here's the highlights, which I recommend reading to yourself in a Howard Cossell voice.

Bad news: Apple finished towards the middle of the pack with 4.7/10.

Apple fails to score top marks on this criterion because it uses unreasonably high threshold limits for BFRs and PVC in products that are allegedly PVC-/BFR-free. The company needs to be commended for running a bold advertising campaign highlighting the green credentials of its MacBooks. Apple still needs to commit to phasing out additional substances with timelines, improve its policy on chemicals and its reporting on chemicals management.

Worse news: Nintendo brought up the rear with 1/10.

The company has banned phthalates and is monitoring use of antimony and beryllium and although it is endeavouring to eliminate the use of PVC, it has not set a timeline for its phase out. It continues to score zero on all e-waste criteria. On energy, Nintendo loses a point due to a second year of increases in greenhouse gas emissions, despite a commitment to cut CO2 emissions and other greenhouse gases by 2% over each previous year.

How will any of this affect sales? I'm guessing not too much. Feel free to disagree.

[via EcoGeek]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 7 Jul 2009 | 6:20 pm

Review: A week with the Mophie Juice Pack Air extended battery case for iPhone 3G/S

The original "Juice Pack" from Mophie was one of the first cases for the iPhone that included a built-in battery, but it wasn't really much of a case. It went halfway up the back of the phone, leaving a lump not just on the back, but along the bottom as well. All the hassle of a case—with only half the protection.

The new model, the Juice Pack Air, keeps the 1200-mAh battery but slips it inside a full plastic case. The chin is less lenoesque, as well. I'd go so far as to say that that in some circumstances it makes the iPhone more comfortable to hold.

And I'm someone who almost unilaterally hates iPhone cases. The iPhone is a really nice size, but its width is borderline too big. Without a case it slips into any pocket, including the front of my sexy jeans that I'm now too fat to fit into. (Thanks, Oregon!)

A switch on the bottom of the Juice Pack Air turns its internal battery on and off. With it on, the iPhone will think it's constantly being charged up, using up the Air's battery before it uses its own. You'd think you'd want to leave it on all the time then, except that even Mophie acknowledges that there's a slight hit to the battery life compared to waiting until the iPhone is drained and recharging from the Juice Pack. Except for the most fretful, I expect you'd be happier just leaving the Juice Pack on and dealing with a little bit of loss.

I charged both the iPhone 3GS and the Juice Pack Air fully and got a full three days of use, including a few minutes of game playing, an hour of audio recording, lots of random web browsing and tweeting, and about two hours of phone calls before I (nearly) ran dry. Bear in mind, though, that the iPhone itself had battery for the better part of the first two days. (Complaints about the iPhone battery life tend to be, in my limited experience, complaints from people who can't discern why playing a 3D game might take more power than, say, listening to music.)

As a case, the Juice Pack Air is nothing special. It adds most of its thickness in the back, which actually makes the iPhone feel like an old iPaq or something. It still fits in a front pocket, but it's a bigger lump. Totally manageable, though. Its looks are nothing special, basic black plastic with no texture. A bit cheap feeling, actually, but solid. There are four little LEDs on the back that show the Juice Pack's battery level when you push a button, a la the MacBook. (I wish they were smaller like the MacBook, but it's not a big deal.)

One minor kink: the Juice Pack Air plugs into the iPhone's Dock Connector at the bottom, but doesn't have a normal pass-through, but instead uses a microUSB port. For most people that's not a big deal at all—it still charges both the phone and the Juice Pack Air, as well as allows syncing—but if you use any accessories that need to stay plugged into the Dock Connector, you'll have to remove the iPhone from the case.

The Juice Pack Air goes for about $75 on the street—not horrible, but there's definitely a premium going on for getting an all-in-one unit. If you just want a spare battery, you can grab a cheapo 1000-mAh battery for ten bucks. (Or a similar 2400-mAh case for $26 that doesn't look to protect quite fully.)

I guess what I'm saying is that the Juice Pack Air is probably too expensive—but if you've got your heart set on it, I can attest that it's the first case that I've considered keeping on my iPhone in a long time.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 7 Jul 2009 | 6:13 pm

Kazaa still kicking, brings HD video to the Pre?

Seriously, we’re just as surprised as you are. Not only is Kazaa somehow still in business, they’re also trying anything they can to set themselves apart from all the other digital music retailers you’d rather use instead of them. Now the property of Brilliant Digital Entertainment, Kazaa is setting its sights on bringing HD movie downloads to the masses (well, the masses that use Kazaa), and the Pre is where they’ve decided to make their stand.

According to a recent release, the Pre will be able to support user-generated videos and “HD quality movies”, but Kazaa’s PR team is being keeping mum about everything else. As it stands, it looks like over-the-air downloads are out of the question, but there’s no word on release date or partnerships with film distributors. In short, aside from the fact that Kazaa intends to use it to buck up the social media aspect of their service, we’ll have to wait and see what they have in store for the Pre faithful among us.

To be completely honest though, there’s something fishy about this release, lack of detail notwithstanding. It’s rare to come across a press release where they manage to spell the service’s name wrong, and they blithely throw in what you could only loosely call a testimonial by a “web hacker” who may or may not have died last year. Hopefully Kazaa came make good on their plans and bring a much-needed service to the Pre, but honestly - don’t hold your breath.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 7 Jul 2009 | 5:53 pm

Video: Unlocking the iPhone 3GS

Over the holiday weekend, iPhone hacker George Hotz released a jailbreak solution for the iPhone 3GS. (To clarify: jailbreaking is not the same as unlocking, but rather a hack to allow you to run unauthorized applications. Jailbreaking, however, is required in order to perform an unlock.) The Dev-Team Blog, who regularly posts iPhone hacks and unlock tutorials, has taken the extra step and published a video demonstrating its unlock solution for the iPhone 3GS. Check it out above.

The unlock tool kit is dubbed ultrasn0w, the same program used to unlock the iPhone 3G. One warning: If you somehow obtain an early copy of iPhone 3.1, an upcoming software update for the iPhone OS, do not install it because it will kill the unlock.

Like pictures and words? iClarified has posted step-by-step tutorials with plenty of screenshots to guide you through the process. What are you waiting for? Hack away!

Via Dev-Team Blog

See Also:

• Geohot Sneaks Out iPhone 3GS Jailbreak Early
• iPhone 3GS Jailbreak Delayed
• How to Run a Scam, Jailbreak an iPhone 3G, Remove a Fishhook
• ZiPhone Is Easiest iPhone Jailbreak Yet
• How to Take Your iPhone Overseas
• IPhone 3G Software Already Unlocked
• Apple’s Not ‘Bricking’ Hacked IPhones for Revenge
• Hackers Successfully Unlock the iPhone 3G

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 7 Jul 2009 | 5:41 pm

New LG Chocolate gets teased

Attention, free/cheap phone fans everywhere! Is your LG Chocolate ready to be replaced? Seeing as these things tend to last about 6 months, chances are you’re nodding. Fortunately for you, it looks like a new Chocolate is just around the corner.

LG has released a handful of teaser shots, showing off the.. the.. well, showing off absolutely nothing. It has a volume rocker! If it’s anything like past models, they’ll sell 80 billion of them and most of them will break within a few months.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 7 Jul 2009 | 5:35 pm

Camera iPods: game over for cheap digicams

Charlie Sorrel at Wired:

If Apple puts a camera in every iPod (the dying Classic and the tiny Shuffle excepted), will it kill the compact camera industry? The answer might actually be yes.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 7 Jul 2009 | 4:54 pm

Watch Michael Jackson memorial service live online today

Section: Web, Websites, Online Music/Video

If you weren’t one of the few to get your hands on a ticket voucher for the Michael Jackson memorial service, you may be wondering where to watch coverage of the event.  Several news outlets and social networking sites will provide continuous live streams throughout the day.  The actual memorial will begin at 10:00 AM Pacific Time at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

CBS News will be broadcasting the Michael Jackson through their partnership with Ustream and is also allowing discussions of the event through their Twitter page.

Hulu will be starting its live feeds at 9:30 AM while CNN and Facebook have partnered to provide online coverage of the memorial (you can see the embedded player below).  CNN will also have several hosts covering the event online, including Anderson Cooper and Larry King.

MySpace is allowing users to gain access to a live feed provided by AEG, the owner of the Staples Center and the producer of the now canceled comeback tour for Michael Jackson.

The Fox News and ABC News websites will also be providing commentary and live footage today. 

Over 1.6 million people registered for the event, but less than 20,000 ticket vouchers were given out.  Performers expected to appear at the event include Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson, and Mariah Carey.

Read: [Mashable]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 7 Jul 2009 | 4:30 pm

Dreamworks to make ViewMaster: The Movie

From Reuters:

"View-Master, the Fisher-Price toy with little 3-D picture discs of mountains, rivers and caverns that kids could rotate through a viewfinder, is the latest vintage toy getting a second life on the big screen."

Story specifics are "under wraps."

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 7 Jul 2009 | 4:13 pm

NASA Tests Internet in Space

The communications network would allow data to travel between Earth and spacecraft.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 7 Jul 2009 | 4:00 pm

Sony finally announces a real netbook, the Vaio W

Section: Computers, Laptops, Netbooks

When Sony released the Vaio P, it was sure to point out that the Vaio P was not a standard netbook.  Sony, like Apple, hated the “race to the bottom” that is the netbook market.  It stubbornly pushed the Vaio P as a small laptop; while it was nice looking the device, it had a bit of a learning curve and ran sluggishly with Windows Vista.  That was before Sony stared posted big losses.  Now it looks like Sony is finally willing to take on that race to the bottom.

Sony’s real entrance into netbook market comes in the form of the Vaio W.  It looks similar to any other Vaio laptop just in a 10-inch netbook size, though if you take the Sony Vaio graphic off the cover you’d be hard pressed to tell which company produced it.  It comes complete with standard netbook specs, 1.6 GHz Atom, 1 GB RAM, 160GG HDD, Bluetooth, etc. 

The only change from the norm is the screen which boasts 1366 x 766 resolution compared to the normal 1024 x 600, making it theoretically capable of showing 720p video full screen without any zooming.  In true Sony fashion, the SD card slot also accepts Sony’s propriety MemorySticks, which should surprise nobody.

While it’s not surprising that Sony is actually entering the netbook market, it would have been nice if it tried to push the Vaio W further.  Sony likes to be a luxury brand, similar to Apple.  It normally doesn’t follow the rest of the industry until it’s ready, or it can make it just a but nicer.  The Vaio W doesn’t really do anything different, and for the price of $500 all you’re really getting is the Sony brand and a slightly higher resolution screen.  This would have been a nice netbook about this time last year, but now it just looks like a money grab.

Read [Wired]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 7 Jul 2009 | 3:16 pm

Google Apps is out of beta (yes, really)

We're often asked why so many Google applications seem to be perpetually in beta. For example, Gmail has worn the beta tag more than five years. We realize this situation puzzles some people, particularly those who subscribe to the traditional definition of "beta" software as not being yet ready for prime time.

Ever since we launched the Google Apps suite for businesses two years ago, it's had a service level agreement, 24/7 support, and has met or exceeded all the other standards of non-beta software. More than 1.75 million companies around the world run their business on Google Apps, including Google. We've come to appreciate that the beta tag just doesn't fit for large enterprises that aren't keen to run their business on software that sounds like it's still in the trial phase. So we've focused our efforts on reaching our high bar for taking products out of beta, and all the applications in the Apps suite have now met that mark.

Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs and Google Talk — both enterprise and consumer versions — are now out of beta. "Beta" will be removed from the product logos today, but we'll continue to innovate and improve upon the applications whether or not there's a small "beta" beneath the logo. Indeed, today we're also announcing some other Google Apps features that we think will appeal to large enterprises: mail delegation, mail retention and ongoing enhancements to Apps reliability.

We have much more in store, and IT managers can read more about how to make the switch to Apps in our Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes resource centers. One more thing — for those who still like the look of "beta", we've made it easy to re-enable the beta label for Gmail from the Labs tab under Settings.


Posted by Matthew Glotzbach, Director, Product Management, Google Enterprise
Source: The Official Google Blog | 7 Jul 2009 | 3:02 pm

Sony Announces $500 Netbook, Wins 'Race to Bottom'

Sony doesn’t make netbooks. Five months ago they called the whole netbook market 'a race to the bottom.' So, as night follows day, we now have the Vaio W. A netbook. From Sony.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:40 pm

Dymo's new labelwriter is considerably faster than mine

Dymo's latest roll printer, the LabelWriter 450, prints 71 labels a minute, corrects zip codes automatically, and is claimed to be up and running in minutes after you open the box. They actually call the dual-roll edition, which lets one swiftly move from labels to stamps, the "Twin Turbo" edition. Twin Turbo.

Each comes with Word and Outlook templates, standalone label printing software that integrates with address books, a quick-print "widget" for one-off jobs, and a free USB cable. The single-roller is $140. The other one is $210.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:38 pm

Musing: Cameras in iPods. Game Over?

It’s looking more like the whole iPod range will have some kind of camera inside. Would that kill the compact camera industry? Probably.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:27 pm

Vacuum Tube Chess Set Flickers and Glows

This wonderful vacuum tube chess set, by maker Paul Fryer, actually has electricity running inside the board so that the tubes can draw power and glow as you move them from square to square. It is called, somewhat appropriately, Chess Set for Tesla, and Paul actually made seven sets last year.

The colors respect the good/evil conventions set by Star Wars: Red is bad (black) and blue is good (white). I seriously dig this kit — I have quite a thing for custom chess boards and this is probably my favorite since Marcel Duchamps’s amazing set, which was a little out of my price-range.

Product page [All Visual Arts via Make]

Photos: All Visual Arts/Paul Fryer

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:21 pm

Vacuum Tube Chess Set Flickers and Glows

Artist Paul Fryer's chess set uses vacuum tubes for the pieces, and this cool board is wired so the tubes light up when they're placed on the squares.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 7 Jul 2009 | 2:21 pm

BLOG: Spiders Use Debris to Fool Predators

Although the debris makes their webs more visible, spiders use it as a decoy to deceive predators.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 7 Jul 2009 | 1:39 pm

Cameras in iPods. Game Over?

It’s looking increasingly likely that the whole iPod range will have some kind of camera inside. Apple just upgraded the camera in the top-of-the-line iPod, the iPhone, which shows a commitment to picture-taking with its handhelds (either that or Apple was just embarrassed that the original iPhone camera was so bad). The iPod Touch is an obvious candidate for a cam, and reports now say that the company has ordered so many cheap ($10) camera units that even the mass-market Nano could be able to snap pictures.

If Apple puts a camera in every iPod (the dying Classic and the tiny Shuffle excepted), will it kill the compact camera industry? The answer might actually be yes.

First, think about how Apple does business with the iPod. It is never the first, and often the products are feature-poor compared to the competition, but it is always dominant. IPod means MP3 player. Soon, phone will mean iPhone (at $99 a pop, who in their right mind will buy a different phone and an iPod together?).

With this kind of market saturation, Apple has the power to change whole product sectors. We already said that the iPhone’s new autofocus still and video camera is good enough for most people. By simply dropping a cheap new part into every iPod sold, Apple could wipe out the small digicam almost entirely. There will, between cellphones and iPods, almost no reason to buy a standalone camera unless you are an enthusiastic amateur, or a pro. If you think this is sensationalism, take a look at compact camera sales figures. They are dropping. The only growth sector is DSLRs which are seeing strong sales despite These Troubled Times®.

This is partly because DSLRs are now so cheap, but also because, for many, the camera they have already, the camera came free with their cellphone, is good enough. And remember, cellphones are often tortuously bad to use even for making phonecalls, let alone taking pictures. And getting those pictures off the camera an onto a computer or the web? How does bamboo under the fingernails sound?

The point is that Apple can put an easy to use — no, fun to use — camera in the pocket of everyone under 40, a camera that is effectively free and will automatically sync all pictures back to the mothership via iTunes every time it is charged. Now. Imagine you are in the compact digicam market. Should you be worried?

Prepare Yourself For iPod Video [Tech Crunch via The Apple Blog]

See Also:

• Rumor Repeat: iPod Nano to Gain a Camera
• Apple Listing Suggests iPod Touch Will Sport a Camera
• Rumor: iPods Nano and Touch to Gain Cameras
• Breaking: iPhone 3GS Camera Doesn’t Suck
• Will the iphone 3GS Kill the Cheap Pocket Camera?

Photoshop fake: Charlie Sorrel

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 7 Jul 2009 | 1:24 pm

Fickle students fleeing Facebook?  Gram and Gramps show up

Section: Web, Web 2.0, Websites

According to Facebook’s estimates, student numbers on the site are declining while parents and grandparents are showing up to the party.  Overall, Facebook’s numbers have grown substantially over the past six months, from 42 million users in January of ‘09 to almost 72 million in July, a 70% upswing.

Student numbers are declining: high school users are down 16% and college 21%.  Even college alumni are down 15%.  Yet the 18-24 year old growth is shown positive at 4.8%; not huge, but not a double digit decline.  So what is going on?

Other bloggers suggest parents and grandparents using the site are to blame for the disinterest from the kids.  Istrategylabs, who saved this data six months ago and provided the comparison, blames the kids feeling crowded out by bossy adults as well. 

I am not sure.  The numbers don’t necessarily reflect that.  I think the bigger question is, why are students not identifying themselves as students?  I know I consider removing that info from my profile as there are a lot of old girlfriends left in my wake I don’t want necessarily finding me.  There is nothing wrong with staying in the shadows, right?  Perhaps these kids hang back so there not so easily searchable?

The numbers say the mature market is skyrocketing: 55+ is up 513% in the past 6 months.  That is an impressive number and ought to ease Facebook’s anxiety about any loss in student numbers.  After all, students are typical cash poor while their parents and grandparents can pay to keep in touch.  Sounds like the makings of a sustainable business plan.

If the naysayers are right, where are these students going for their social networking needs?

Source: [IStrategyLabs] via [ReadWriteWeb]

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

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