Source: Gizmodo | 10 Jul 2009 | 10:20 pm

Mag.ma Bubbles Up 300 Invites For TechCrunch Readers

Last May we got our first taste of Mag.ma, Rocketboom founder Andrew Baron’s new online video startup that looks to help surface interesting new videos in real-time. The site is still in private beta as it continues to introduce new features (it was pretty bare bones last time I tried it out, but has improved significantly since), and today it’s opening up 300 invites to TechCrunch readers in honor of our RealTime CrunchUp. To get one, just go to Mag.ma and use the code CRUNCHUP09.

Most people will use Mag.ma primarily for its ‘wall’ of videos, which presents a list of the most recent and hottest clips on the web. As I wrote back when I first covered the site, Mag.ma is a great place to go if you’re looking to kill some time, as it features a constantly changing flow of interesting and/or funny videos that are updated in real-time. These videos are broken into channels by source (Mag.ma pulls from sites including YouTube, CollegeHumor, and Digg), but you can also choose to ‘follow’ the streams created by other users.

Mag.ma also features a heavy emphasis on stat tracking, allowing you to watch as a video receives more comments and video hits, increasing the video’s overall “buzz”. Because this data comes from multiple sources, you can get a better feel for a how a video is doing than if you watched its hit count on a single site, like YouTube.

Here’s the video of the demo from the Real-Time Stream CrunchUp:

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

Source: TechCrunch | 10 Jul 2009 | 10:12 pm

TuneIn: A Media Dashboard For Your Twitter Stream

Twitter has quickly turned into one of the best places to discover new media — be it video, images, or links — as soon as it comes out. Videos that may take hours or even days to surface on sites like Digg can virally spread across Twitter in a fraction of the time. As Fred Wilson put it, the value of Twitter lies in “the power of passed links”.

TuneIn, a new startup presenting today at today’s RealTime CrunchUp, is looking to harness this media and present it in an easily searchable, consumable format.

Using the site should be pretty straightforward for anyone who has used the main Twitter web interface. You’ll see your normal Twitter feed in the center of the page, but on the right side you’ll also see a list of the latest article links, videos, and photos that your Twitter friends have shared. You can choose to sort these shared links by popularity (the more Tweets a link gets, the more popular it becomes) or simply by time. And if you’d prefer to see media shared by only a select group of the people you follow, you can break Twitter users into groups (called Channels).

If you’d like to browse only media and ignore other tweets entirely, you can do that too by hitting the ‘media’ tab on the left hand side of the page. Content is filtered into three columns: ‘articles’, ‘video’, and ‘images’, or you can arrange everything into a handy grid with thumbnails of each item.

TuneIn isn’t the first startup to do this kind of media aggregation: Tweetmeme has been using Twitter to surface hot articles, images, and video for quite a while.

Here’s the video from the demo of TuneIn at the event:

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Source: TechCrunch | 10 Jul 2009 | 10:09 pm

Video: Playing with App Expose in Snow Leopard

Here’s a quick look at App Expose in Snow Leopard, a feature I was really looking forward to. It’s quite cool and works like a treat in the latest update. There are also a few improvements to the contextual menus in the dock but this is the only major UI improvement I saw.

Sorry for the sound quality. I was trying something new. But the most important stuff is there.

Source: CrunchGear | 10 Jul 2009 | 10:00 pm

12seconds Lays An iPhone Video Messenger On Top Of Twitter’s Social Graph

12seconds has had an iPhone app for a while now. Unfortunately, it was fairly crippled because iPhones couldn’t shoot video, so you had to take still pictures and make 12 second collages. Now, with the iPhone 3GS you can shoot video. And so 12seconds is making its app a whole lot better.

Unveiled today at our Real-Time Stream CrunchUp event, the “12seconds Video Messenger for Twitter”, is an app that’s all about sending short video messages to your friends. And while 12seconds already has a social graph of its own from its website, it understands that Twitter’s social graph is much larger — and so it’s laying this new app on top of that.

Basically, how it works is that you record a video and then select the friend (or friends) you wish to send it to. This friend is then sent a direct message through Twitter with a link to the video. Or if they have the app also, it comes in through there. This is different than a lot of the current Twitter video offerings out there in that it has a main focus on messaging between smaller groups of people rather than the public, though you can do that too. And this app utilizes the iPhone 3.0 software’s new Push Notifications to let you know when you have a new video to view.

12seconds undoubtedly hopes to make use of the new iPhone 3.1 SDK that was just released to developers. It is rumored to have some subtle changes to the way it allows apps to handle video.

And while Twitter is the key social graph that 12seconds is targeting with this app, it will eventually roll integration with other social networks as well, including the big one, Facebook.

The app should be available soon in the App Store.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 10 Jul 2009 | 9:58 pm

Date Farmers and Logan in LA this weekend (art)

To do tomorrow in Los Angeles: visit the opening of a site-specific installation by The Date Farmers and Logan at the Constant Gallery's exhibition, Desert Sexy. Snip from the folks putting it together:

Desert Sexy is a group survey that explores the concept of the influence and context of the California low desert, which appears in art, music, film, etc. Besides the amazing photographs, paintings and sculptures from 12 incredible artists, we are also lucky enough to have low desert legends Yawning Man play a special live set at the opening reception! It's absolutely free and open to the public.

You may recall that both Logan and the Date Farmers were the subject of a series of recent BB Video episodes.

More info about the show here. Opening reception: Saturday, July 11, 2009, 6-8PM (but will go later), The Constant Gallery. Featured artists: Lisa K. Blatt, Scott Bowering, Joel Kyack, Mario Lalli, Anthony Lepore, Logan/The Date Farmers, Joey Morris, Keith Patrick, Robert Stone, Peter Sutherland, Tony Tornay, and Stephen Walters.

More exclusive photos from the installation, which apparently includes some neat old arcade game hulls, after the jump.

Previously:
BB VIDEO: "A VOLTA" FROM NASA PROJECT: NARCO-CHOLO GAME ULTRAVIOLENCE


Source: Boing Boing | 10 Jul 2009 | 9:53 pm

"Nasty Business"

Over on the front door, there's an ancient arcade game you won't, I assure you, have any recollection of playing. It's part of a Date Farmers and Logan installation in LA over the weekend: Xeni with more.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 10 Jul 2009 | 9:52 pm

JS-Kit’s Real-Time Commenting Widget Echo Captures The Pulse Of Comments On The Web

Comments are taking on a life of their own now as Facebook Connect and other modes of commenting communication become increasingly popular. Comments are evolving into what some say are “social gestures,” instead of conventional comments and these gestures are taking place all over the web, not just on a publisher’s site. Just look at the amount of reTweets a popular TechCrunch article gets on Twitter-it can reach into the thousands. JS-Kit, a company that offers an array of Javascript-based commenting, polling, and ratings widgets, is launching a new commenting product at TechCrunch’s Real-Time Stream CrunchUp that is designed to change the way users comment and the way publishers interact with comments. Echo, JS-Kit’s real-time streaming commenting widget, aggregates any Tweets, Diggs, or FriendFeed updates that a commenter is making about a webpage and pulls it into the stream. Here’s the live stream feed of the event.

I had the opportunity to demo the widget and it’s pretty cool. Echo’s technology will crawls social networks and sites including Twitter, for the url links to an article or post on a site (it even is able to discover shortened urls) and then reassembles the comments from the web into the widget’s real-time stream.

On the flip side, Echo allows hyper distribution from the actual widget itself. The commenting functionality looks exactly like an email. You first identify yourself either as a guest, your Twitter handle, your Facebook profile, your blog, and more. You the are given the option to hyper-distribute your comment to a variety of social net works and sites including Twitter, FriendFeed, Digg and Delicious. JS-Kit hasn’t added Facebook to the distribution channel yet.

JS-Kit’s co-founder and CEO Khris Loux told us that the startup has been using the commenting widget internally for some time now and it has changed the way people interact with comments. He says that the ability to use the widget to make a comment on another social network spreads the conversation and makes it viral. Loux adds that although commenting is updating in real-time in a stream, Echo has intense spam protection, community moderation, and filtering abilities to prevent spam or inappropriate comments from getting through.

This product is sure to bolster JS-Kit’s presence in the commenting widget arena. The startup has been steadily growing, acquiring fellow competitors SezWho and Haloscan over the past year. The company has also developed partnerships with a number of major companies, including Sun and World Now. But JS-Kit faces strong competition from Automattic, which acquired commenting system IntenseDebate, which is being incorporated into incorporated Automattic’s popular blogging platform WordPress.

Here’s the video of the demo of Echo at the Real-Time Stream CrunchUp:

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

Source: TechCrunch | 10 Jul 2009 | 9:51 pm

Mac News Briefs: Squashed Software releases RAID Monitor 3 (Macworld.com)

Macworld.com - Squashed Software (formerly Maza Digital) has released RAID Monitor 3, a new version of its tool for automatically checking the status of RAID storage system.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 10 Jul 2009 | 9:49 pm

Qik Launches Push API, Mobile-To-Mobile Video Streaming

Mobile video streaming service Qik has just announced a new Push API at today’s Realtime CrunchUp in Redwood City. The new API, which is currently in private beta, offers a firehose of new Qik content that will allow developers to immediately update their apps with new Qik videos as they come in. Depending on the app, users will now be able to specify which Qik users, tags, or locations they’d like to follow and immediately get an update once a video matching that criteria goes live.

Alongside the new API, Qik is also allowing select mobile phones to stream live video directly from the web (previously you’ve been restricted to watching archived clips from mobile devices). Unfortunately the iPhone doesn’t support live mobile viewing at this point (you can still only watch archived clips), but Qik will be supporting Nokia and Windows Mobile 6.5 smartphones. This is especially cool because you’ll be able to receive immediate push notifications on supported phones, and immediately jump into the phone’s mobile browser to start watching the video.

You can see an example of what the API can do here, which shows a list of the latest Qik videos being posted on Qik, updated in real-time. Qik is also releasing an open-source Adobe AIR app that will offer similar functionality. Developers that are interested in joining the private beta can request access by contacting api@qik.com.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 10 Jul 2009 | 9:47 pm

DOJ Report On NSA Wiretaps Finally Released

oliphaunt writes "As regular readers will recall, after the 2004 elections the New York Times revealed that the NSA had been conducting illegal wiretaps of American citizens since early 2001. Over the course of the next four years, more information about the illegal program trickled out, leading to several lawsuits against the government and various officials involved in its implementation. This week several of these matters are coming to a head: Yesterday, the lawyers for the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation filed a motion for summary judgment in their lawsuit against the Obama DOJ. The motion begins by quoting a statement made by Candidate Obama in 2007, acknowledging that the warrantless wiretap program was illegal. US District Judge Vaughn Walker has given indications that he is increasingly skeptical of the government's arguments in this case. In what might just be a coincidence of timing, today the long-awaited report from the DOJ inspector general to the US Congress about the wiretapping program was declassified and released. Emptywheel has the beginnings of a working thread going here."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 10 Jul 2009 | 9:42 pm

Best Buy store brand televisions to get TiVo thanks to partnership

Section: Business News, Video, DVD/DVR/Blu-ray

Electronic superstore, Best Buy, and the well-known DVR company, TiVo, have become allies to promote a better home entertainment experience.  You may be wondering, what exactly can these two companies offer each other?  For the benefit of TiVo, Best Buy will be increasing its promotion and stocking of TiVo products in its stores.  It will also be looking to integrate TiVo’s interface into its exclusive brands like Insignia.

What about Best Buy - what does it get out of this arrangment?  TiVo will be working with Best Buy to develop a special TiVo user interface for units sold at the store that will allow Best Buy to provide digital services and updated information about consumer electronics.  Best Buy will also get a spot in the TiVo Showcase in order to reach more consumers.  In other words, TiVo is a huge promotional vehicle for Best Buy.

I think this will be a good partnership that will benefit the consumer who likes the Best Buy shopping experience - now you can get your HDTV, home theater, movies, and TiVo DVR (or HDTV with built-in TiVo) all in one stop.

Read: [Press Release]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 10 Jul 2009 | 9:38 pm

Smthg gr8 4 brkfst? Twitter's hyper-short recipes (AP)

AP - R Twttrd recips a gr8 new thing 4 bkg & ckng or r the dirctns 2 confusng for most peeps?

Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 10 Jul 2009 | 9:37 pm

Apple to Bring Wi-Fi-Free iPhone to China Three Months Early [Digital Daily]

Apple’s iPhone is coming to China, perhaps sooner than later. But when the handset finally arrives, it’s likely to lack an important feature: Wi-Fi.

Sources say Apple has formally requested a network access license to sell the iPhone in China, but the license is for a customized model in which Wi-Fi support has been disabled. If that proves true, then Apple (AAPL) has finally bowed to the demands of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which has been insisting that the iPhone run only on cellular networks.

As Matt Mathison, an analyst at Wedge Partners, notes, that’s a hell of a concession for Apple, which had no desire to customize the iPhone for the mainland market. “Apple was hellbent on having the iPhone be wifi-enabled,” Mathison told BusinessWeek. “The Chinese government has been just as adamant that it not be.”

Mathison added that now that Apple has conceded to Beijing’s demands, the iPhone may launch in China as much as three months earlier than expected. “We now expect it to come before the Spring Festival in [January] 2010,” he said.

Source: All Things Digital | 10 Jul 2009 | 9:35 pm

Microsoft VP says Google Chrome OS is a decoy

Walid Abu-Hadba, Microsoft’s Vice President of Developer and Platform Evangelism, has gone on record to say that “[m]ost of what Google does is defensive.” He has an interesting point: all of the non-search stuff that Google invests in keep its would-be competitors on their toes, and prevent those would-be competitors from encroaching upon the cash cow of Google’s operation: search.

I observed that Google’s not in the operating system business, so Chrome OS isn’t expected to be their bread-and-butter. It’s expected to be one mechanism (of many) to allow their bread to continue to be buttered by making the online experience better for the casual user. The less barriers there are to an enjoyable online experience, the more of a market Google can enjoy. All the fancy offline features of various Google products are ancillary benefits to a small segment of their userbase: the bulk of Google services and applications are intended to be used and enjoyed online. I’d wager that Google would be happy to drop Chrome OS development if Microsoft Windows presented a demonstrably superior online experience.

Abu-Hadba gets this. He recognizes that Chrome OS isn’t a direct threat to Microsoft’s cash cows, the Windows and Office product lines. Chrome OS may eventually be one part of a larger paradigm shift, and it may even be a major part of that shift, but it’s important to remember that this does not represent a significant change in Google’s strategy. They’re not abandoning their core services to become an operating system developer, any more than Microsoft is abandoning their core offerings to become a search provider.

The thing that interests me vis-à-vis Google and Microsoft is the manner in which each pursues these secondary, and in some cases tertiary, endeavours. I think we can all agree that Google makes some cool stuff, and then just floats it out there for people to use. They seem to focus on making products that are genuinely useful, and allowing the customers to figure that out on their own. Microsoft, on the other hand, sets out to compete in new product spaces, and aggressively works to market their stuff against the competition. Silverlight, anyone? I suspect, without having done any analysis at all, that this is one of the reasons why everyone is so quick to claim that Chrome OS is or is not a threat to Windows: because all of Microsoft’s products are intended to be a threat to some established player.

And I can’t pass on the irony of Microsoft calling anyone else’s products as “defensive”. What was the last truly original thing Microsoft created? I suppose a case could be made for Bing — I admit I haven’t looked at it at all yet, because it doesn’t really interest me.

Source: CrunchGear | 10 Jul 2009 | 9:30 pm

Verizon Leads, AT&T Runs Last in Wired.com’s 3G Speed Test

A smartphone broadband test conducted by Wired.com found that AT&T customers reported the slowest average 3G network speeds, while Verizon subscribers posted the speediest results.

Conducted in May, our interactive 3G speed test attracted about 15,000 participants — 12,000 of whom reported valid, usable results. The study focused on 3G networks deployed in the United States by AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile.

Verizon came in first place with an average download speed of 1,940 Kbps, as reported by 856 participants. T-Mobile’s average rate was 1,793 Kbps with 1,189 reported T-Mobile users. Third was Sprint with 1,598 Kbps, based on data from 1,570 users. In dead last was AT&T with an average of 901 Kbps — but an overwhelmingly large user sample of 8,153 test takers.

The debate over which carrier is best has been around for as long as there have been cellphones. A common myth is that Verizon’s is the most reliable and fast, while AT&T’s is the worst. These claims have been difficult to verify because of the variable nature of wireless technology. But Wired.com gave it a try on U.S. phones anyway.

(We also conducted an earlier test on the iPhone only, rating its network performance on a global level; that study revealed that AT&T customers reported considerably slower speeds than iPhone owners on European networks.)

To gather the data, Wired.com asked U.S. smartphone owners to test their 3G download speeds by running a custom web page that involved downloading an image. Then, we asked participants to manually plot their data on an interactive map. For a second data set, our test developer Ben Reubenstein automatically tracked download speeds using the test page.

After analyzing both data sets, Wired.com opted to use Reubenstein’s automatically reported results, because the information was more complete, comprehensive and reliable.

We acknowledge our speed test is not scientific; we view it as a general barometer that gauges the performance of 3G networks in the United States. With that said, we note a few caveats:

• We realize that the substantially larger amount of AT&T test takers may unfairly contribute to an overall lower download speed — so take this considerably lower result with a nugget of salt.
• The test results rely heavily on good faith that participants were being honest (and not, for instance, running the test over Wi-Fi). We did, however, remove any bogus, impossibly high results, as well as incomplete data fields.
• Software, processors, memory and other factors will obviously affect a cellphone’s overall download speeds. Smartphones with faster CPUs, more RAM and so on will clearly give the network an advantage. But then again, these test results should give you a general idea of the network performance you should expect not only on these networks, but also the phones they carry.

Interestingly, our results appear to coincide with a similar test conducted by PC World in May. PC World’s test involved working with Novarum Inc., a wireless consultant firm, who performed a 3G stress test from 283 locations in a day. PC World’s testing also found Verizon was fastest, with Sprint and AT&T coming in second and third, respectively. (T-Mobile was not included in the PC World test.)

With that said, we thank Reubenstein for coding our test, and we also thank our fellow friends in the blog community for helping spread word of the study to attract participants. We invite readers to take a look at our spreedsheet containing the results [csv] if they wish to perform their own analysis.

See Also:

• Wired.com’s iPhone 3G Survey Reveals Network Weaknesses
• Survey: People Love iPhone Despite Its Imperfections
• Apple: We’re Sticking With AT&T for the iPhone
• 4 Reasons Apple Should Share the iPhone With Verizon
• Cell Phone Reception Bars Are Meaningless
• What’s Wrong With the 3G in iPhone 3G
• Suit Alleges AT&T, Apple ‘Oversold’ iPhone, Strained 3G Network …
• Video: iPhone 3G in Reality Versus Advertisement
• UK Bans Apple’s ‘Really Fast’ iPhone 3G Ad

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 10 Jul 2009 | 9:28 pm

Apple iPhone 3GS vs. Palm Pre: In Real Life - PC World

Techtree.com

Apple iPhone 3GS vs. Palm Pre: In Real Life PC World My Palm Pre dialed 911 without my knowing it. "How did you find out," you ask? The dispatcher called me back to make sure I was all right. You don't see that in many product reviews, do you? Well, forget about being first--I'm perfectly happy to write ... America Movil To Launch iphone 3GS In Six Nations By End Of JulyWall Street Journal Apple says cases cause iPhone 3GS discolorationCNET News Hundreds queue for hours to get Apple's new iPhone 3GSChannel News Asia X-bit Labs -Wired News -eWeek all 109 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 10 Jul 2009 | 9:26 pm

Google tips for recent grads

Summer has arrived, and that means graduation. Our hearty congratulations to the class of 2009! Now that you've packed up your dorm room and picked up your diploma, what's next? This transitional time between college and "the real world" can be a bit chaotic. Luckily, we have some tools that can help you get organized as you start the next chapter in your life. We're posting tips and tricks for newly graduated students in our summer series, Grad Tips, running on the Google for Students Blog. The series is a few posts in — look for more tips over the next couple of months!

Posted by Joyce Sohn, Google Apps Team
Source: The Official Google Blog | 10 Jul 2009 | 9:24 pm

World’s Oldest Dinosaur Burrow Discovered In Australia

Image 1: Drawing by James Hays, Fernbank MuseumImage 2: Following his Montana discovery of the first trace fossil of a dinosaur burrow, Emory University paleontologist Anthony Martin has found evidence of older, polar dinosaur burrows in Victoria, Australia.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 10 Jul 2009 | 9:20 pm

Microsoft releases Silverlight 3 (Macworld.com)

Macworld.com - Microsoft has released Silverlight 3, a major new release of its multimedia software for Mac OS X and Windows — competition for Adobe’s Flash software. It’s a free download, compatible specifically with Intel-based Macs (an older version is available for PowerPC based systems).
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 10 Jul 2009 | 9:20 pm

A couple of neat tools for making cheap camcorders produce awesome footage

There's nothing wrong with being a critic. We serve a purpose, perhaps even a necessary one, but we'd be bootless without the work of others.

I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to be working on now that I'm less-than-fully employed. But I'm leaning toward taking a creative sabbatical, enjoying the last couple of months of summer to absorb—and hopefully create—a little bit of culture.

I'm looking forward to decoupling myself from the internet and creating things that others can criticize.

One of the things I'm already working on is video. You always hear about how it's easier than ever to make professional-level video on the cheap—and that's as half-true now more than ever. The tools are certainly cheaper; the skills are just as expensive and precious as they ever were.

But man, what tools! For less than a thousand dollars, you can buy an inexpensive HD camcorder like my HV20 and a basic editing suite like Sony Vegas. Learning a few basic things about exposure, keeping the camera steady, color correction, and simple editing should only take a few days, especially when you can so inexpensively learn by doing. (I've been shocked at what a difference color correcting makes, and it applies just as easily to footage shot in HD as it does to simple VGA grabs from cellphones.)

Anyway, I'm excited, and I wanted to show you a couple of cool things that are somewhere past the basic DIY world, but not into the full-blown professional world—and the results they can bring.

Handy35

Kadir Köymen's "Handy35" is a custom mount that lets you wed a photographic 35mm lens to consumer videocameras. There are limitations—the video comes into the camera upside-down, so you'll have to flip it in post-production; focusing is entirely manual; some lenses don't play as nice as others with the whole rig—but for just under a thousand dollars fully kitted-out, the Handy35 V5 makes it possible to achieve film-like video with all that pretty depth-of-field in a package that is sturdy and professional looking.

It's the same sort of thing that makes using new video-capable DSLRs so compelling, but is for the moment still a cheaper option than, say, the Canon 5D mk II.

Glidetrack

Those smooth tracking shots that go from side to side are done with great big train-like track systems in professional shoots. Alastair Brown's "Glidetrack" gets you pretty close in a portable solution. You snap a Glidetrack to the top of a tripod and its weighted ends keep everything in place.

The basic Glidetrack "SD" is $320; a model that works with heavier cameras, the "HD", is $475; the $280 "Glidetrack Compact" is half as long, but is small enough to be packed into a travel bag.

Both Together

OC Films shot this test footage with a Handy35 and a Glidetrack. That's just pretty stuff. Note the vignetting that came from using the Handy35 without being fully zoomed in past the adapter. (I like it, but some people don't.)

Poor Man's Steadycam

An oldie-but-a-goodie: Johnny Chung Lee's "Poor Man's Steadycam" can work with all of this stuff to provide gorgeous shots, although depending on your rig it might overweigh the suggest five-pound limit. You can also simply hold your tripod at a balance point to get a similar effect; you could even add a clip-on handle that would give you more stability.

This is barely a list, let only an exhaustive one, so if you have any suggestions of things I should be checking out, I am ready to be educated.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 10 Jul 2009 | 9:17 pm

Schmidt Faces Questions About Place On Apple Board >AAPL - Wall Street Journal

TweakTown

Schmidt Faces Questions About Place On Apple Board >AAPL Wall Street Journal SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones)--Google Inc.'s (GOOG) push into computer-operating systems has renewed questions about Chief Executive Eric Schmidt's presence on the board of Apple Inc. (AAPL), a company the Internet giant is ... Apple Board May Finally Be Free of Google CEOPC World Schmidt plans talks with Apple over board roleCNET News Why Google Is Stealing Apple's IdeasForbes Reuters -Reuters Blogs -ZDNet all 68 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 10 Jul 2009 | 9:09 pm

General Motors to try selling new cars on eBay (AP)

AP - As part of its turnaround plan, General Motors Corp. said Friday it plans to experiment with auctioning new cars on eBay, expanding on an existing partnership covering certified used vehicles on the online marketplace.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 10 Jul 2009 | 9:07 pm

Beware the Airport Wireless

schwit1 writes to tell us that a recent study by a Silicon Valley-based security company shows that black-hats have been ramping up their use of tempting free or unsecured wireless access points in high travel areas like airports and hotels. "According to their study, even the 'secure' networks weren't all too safe. Eighty percent of the private Wi-Fi networks at airports surveyed by Airtight were secured by the aging Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) protocol, which was cracked back in 2001. Almost as many — 77 percent — of the networks they surveyed were actually private, peer-to-peer networks, meaning they weren't official hotspots. Instead, they were running off someone else's computer."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 10 Jul 2009 | 9:01 pm

Olympus sees error, credits original source of the E-P1 video

That old adage of “Imitation is the best form of flattery” is bull. There is nothing fulfilling when your work is recreated without at least a hint of the source. The Olympus E-P1 Pen digital camera ad after the jump is a great example. It clearly rips off the video above which was posted three months ago. It wasn’t until the Internet erupted a few hours ago that Olympus credited the original creator in the YouTube “more info” section. Way to stay classy, Olympus.

Source: CrunchGear | 10 Jul 2009 | 9:00 pm

Uighur crisis in Xinjiang: updates, link roundup, images.

A quick roundup of news links related to the ongoing violent clashes in China's Xinjiang region between Han Chinese and ethnic Uighurs (who consider the region a sovereign nation - in many respects, the conflict is similar to that of Tibet.)

♦ Image above, from an extensive Boston Globe photo-essay which contains some graphic content: "An ethnic Uighur woman looks out the window of an apartment one day after Han Chinese mobs attacked the compound in Urumqi, China on Wednesday, July 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)"

♦ From China's state mouthpiece, People's Daily, calls to "punish Facebook" (I'm visualizing stern, uniformed Communist party officials publicly spanking Zuckerberg). Snip: "Over 90 percent of (...) netizens said that 'Xinjiang independence' activists, carrying out this type of 'online activity' severely violates China's national interests and agreed that Facebook should immediately shut down the 'Xinjiang independence" online group."

♦ Xinhua would like you to know that everything is "normal again" in the capital city of Urumqi, and that people are happily wandering the streets in search of watermelon, kebabs, and eggplant.

♦ Reuters: "Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said Friday genocide was being committed in China's northwest province of Xinjiang and called on Chinese authorities to intervene to prevent more deaths."

♦ CSM on China's savvier media strategy: "Taking a cue from Western PR tactics, Beijing moved away from trying to block coverage altogether - and was benefited by doing so."

♦ A report filed nearly 10 years ago by Rebecca MacKinnon, then CNN's Beijing bureau chief: "Rumblings of discontent among ethnic Muslims on China's Asian frontier"

♦ NYT reports the crackdown now extends to mosques: "Chinese authorities banned prayer gatherings at mosques here on Friday, the principal day of prayer for Muslims, as security officials tried to prevent further ethnic violence in the Xinjiang region."

(most links in this post via Rebecca MacKinnon)

Source: Boing Boing | 10 Jul 2009 | 8:55 pm

T-Mobile US isn’t getting the Hero, but T-Mobile UK is

There's no doubt about it: T-Mobile isn't getting the HTC Hero. At least, not in the US. In the UK, it's a whole different story.

Source: CrunchGear | 10 Jul 2009 | 8:54 pm

Afghanistan: US discouraged inquiry into mass killing of Taliban prisoners

(image: Paula Bronstein/Getty Images via NYT)

During the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, an incident occured in which hundreds or thousands of Taliban POWs were killed by a warlord supported by the US.

Bush administration officials repeatedly thwarted efforts to investigate the mass killing, according to American officials and human rights groups. The warlord responsible, Abdul Rashid Dostum (shown above while campaigning for president in 2004), still retains a high position within the Afghan government. How (and if) the Obama administration will deal with ongoing calls for an investigation remains to be seen. Snip from NYT article today by James Risen:

American officials had been reluctant to pursue an investigation -- sought by officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the State Department, the Red Cross and other human rights groups -- because the warlord, Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, was on the payroll of the Central Intelligence Agency and his militia worked closely with United States Special Forces in 2001, several officials said. They said the United States also worried about undermining the American-supported Karzai government, in which General Dostum has served as a defense official.

"At the White House, nobody said 'no' to an investigation, but nobody ever said 'yes,' either," said Pierre Prosper, the former war crimes ambassador for the United States. "The first reaction of everybody there was 'Oh, this is a sensitive issue. This is a touchy issue politically.' " It is not clear how -- or if -- the Obama administration will address the issue. But in recent weeks, State Department officials have quietly tried to thwart General Dostum's reappointment as military chief of staff to the president, according to several senior officials, and suggested that the administration may not be hostile to an inquiry.

U.S. Said to Have Averted Inquiry Into '01 Afghan Killings (New York Times)

Incidentally: Wikipedia says Mr. Dostum is also known as "Heavy D, and D-Diddy," and links to a subscribers-only National Geographic article as proof.


Source: Boing Boing | 10 Jul 2009 | 8:54 pm

Mumbai Considering Cloud Seeding

Authorities in Mumbai are discussing the option of cloud seeding in order to draw more rains to the region that has recently been strained by water shortages.Mumbai has struggled with lower than average water levels in its six supplying lakes that are responsible for providing the Indian capital with 872 million gallons of water each day.According to AFP, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) reported of talks with the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) as well as a firm that had experimented with cloud seeding in the early 1990s."Over the coming week, we will consult the IMD to work out how to efficiently and effectively carry out the process of cloud seeding," Anil Diggikar a senior BMC official told The Hindustan Times newspaper.Cloud seeding is a process that adds substances like silver iodide and dry ice into the air in order to change the microphysical processes within the clouds in hopes of prompting more rains.Diggikar told The Hindustan that officials ruled out the option of using desalinization to add more rain due to the overall cost and time needed in order to build plants for the process.Mumbai relies on the monsoon season to stock its supplying lakes.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 10 Jul 2009 | 8:52 pm

Android Will Live On, Get ‘Sweeter’ and More Social [Voices]

By Jessica Vascellaro, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal

After Google (GOOG) announced it was working on an operating system based on its Chrome Web browser this week, many wondered: Didn’t Google already build an operating system? And isn’t it called Android?

Not so fast. At a joint T-Mobile and Google media event Friday morning, Google’s director of mobile platforms, Andy Rubin, said Chrome OS isn’t a substitute for mobile operating systems like Android, which have to solve many problems unique to mobile phones, such as managing battery life and ensuring calls don’t drop as a user is moving between cell towers.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Source: All Things Digital | 10 Jul 2009 | 8:52 pm

T-Mobile US isn’t getting the Hero, but T-Mobile UK is

There’s no doubt about it: T-Mobile isn’t getting the HTC Hero. At least, not in the US.

In the UK, it’s a whole different story. The word just came straight out of T-Mobile UK’s mouth (well, their Twitter account - but that’s the closest thing to a mouth they’ve got): the HTC Hero is coming to T-Mobile UK at the end of this month, and will be known as the G2. Better yet, it’s free for anyone willing to drop £40 a month for a year and a half.

One interesting thing to note here is the name choice. Everyone expected a G2 to follow the T-Mobile G1, and now it has.. in the UK. We know for a fact that the Hero isn’t coming to T-Mobile US - so what about the G2 name? Will T-Mobile US use the G2 label for an entirely different phone? Will they skip straight to “G3″? This is all bound to get pretty confusing.

[Android Community via IntoMobile]

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 10 Jul 2009 | 8:52 pm

Hands On: Photos of Sony’s PSPgo

FROM GAMERTELL - Gadgetell‘s editor, Iyaz Akhtar, recently got a chance to hold Sony’s PSPgo handheld system and is sharing his photos with Gamertell…
MORE »

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 10 Jul 2009 | 8:52 pm

Jackson's death gives birth to new generation of fans (AFP)

AFP - MySpace said Thursday that Michael Jackson's death has given birth to a young new generation of fans of the artist at the online social networking site.

Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 10 Jul 2009 | 8:51 pm

Review: Scottevest Cotton Hoodie

The tagline for the Scottevest cotton hoodie is “A place for everything, and everything in its place”. Considering that the hoodie conceals no less then 13 pockets, it’s a pretty accurate description.

There are some things in our culture that most people consider to impossible to improve on: the mousetrap, the hammer. Some things are just so simple and useful that it’s really difficult to make it any better. I felt the same way about the ubiquitous “hoodie,” which is a staple of my personal wardrobe. Living in the high desert like I do, where it can (and will) get quite warm during the day, after the sun goes down it gets quite chilly.

When I first saw the Scottevest cotton hoodie on their site, I thought it looked like an interesting product, but didn’t give it much more thought. I have to say though, after having used the various features in the hoodie for a while, it really is possible to improve on such a basic article of clothing.

It’s quite remarkable really. Small changes that seem quite obvious when you think about them (in a “duh, why didn’t anyone else think of that” kind of way) really make a big difference. Things like magnetic closures, a keychain lanyard, and coin storage built into the front pockets. The interior pockets aren’t just haphazardly stitched in either - the MP3 pocket and cell phone pockets are up at the top, the sunglasses and water bottle pockets are located low, and in the front. So while you might have all 13 pockets full of stuff, you won’t look like a shoplifter trying to run out the door at Wal-mart.

In fact, I’ve even started wearing it when I’m out taking pictures. I normally carry a couple of lenses, a flash, lens cleaning kit, notebook, pen, GPS, cell phone, iPod touch, and a bottle of water with me when I’m shooting. Previously, I wore a backpack, which has a tendency to get in the way, and can be inconvenient to access. Now I just load up the pockets with what I want to take with me, and head out the door.

At $70, the Cotton hoodie is admittedly not cheap. But it is of a significantly higher quality fabric and better construction then your typical $20 throw-away that you can pick up just anywhere. I can honestly say that it’s worth the extra scratch for a product that’s not just a cool piece of geeky kit, but a well made product too.

Source: CrunchGear | 10 Jul 2009 | 8:45 pm

China Digital Communication Group Announces 10-for-1 Reverse Stock Split and Ticker Change to CMTP

NEW YORK and SHENZHEN, China, July 10 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- China Digital Communication Group (OTC Bulletin Board: CHID), a manufacturer of battery components in China, announced today its 10-for-1 reverse stock split is to take place on Monday, July 13, 2009. In connection with the stock split, China Digital Communication Group's trading symbol as quoted on the OTC Bulletin Board will be changed from (OTCBB: CHID) to (OTCBB: CMTP).
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 10 Jul 2009 | 8:45 pm

Google CEO Discusses New OS, Ties With Apple

Google Inc CEO Eric Schmidt said he plans to discuss the evolution of his role on Apple Inc’s board of directors in light of Google’s recent announcement to launch its own operating system.On Tuesday, Google announced plans to release its own OS in an “attempt to re-think what operating systems should be,” the company said on its official blog.During the Allen & Co media technology conference on Thursday, Schmidt addressed concerns about how his role on Apple’s board would change with the announcement of the OS that will become a competitor to Apple’s OS X platform and Microsoft Corp’s Windows OS."I'll talk to the Apple people.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 10 Jul 2009 | 8:41 pm

3D Radiology images

The Stanford University School of Medicine has a fascinating Flickr stream, including a collection of mystery medical history photos that I posted about several months ago. Most recently, they added a small set of interesting images from their 3D Radiology Lab. Above: "3D frontal view of teeth with braces overlaid on 2D human mandible. The wisdom teeth (upper right and left) have not yet penetrated the gums." Below left: "The lumbar region of the spine with surgically implanted hardware." From the 3D Radiology Set description:

The Stanford Radiology 3D Imaging Laboratory uses computed tomography and Magnetic Resonance imaging data to create three-dimensional images of the human body. Individual CT and MR scans of the body are taken around a single axis that are stacked and rendered using complex computer algorithms to create a three-dimensional volume of data. The images produced from this data can be manipulated on-screen to provide doctors with unique interior perspectives of the human body for diagnosing and treating patients. Each month the lab produces nearly 20,000 images.

3D Radiology


Source: Boing Boing | 10 Jul 2009 | 8:40 pm

Researchers to simulate massive quake

The largest earthquake simulation ever performed on a wood building could yield data on how to protect homes and apartments, U.S.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 10 Jul 2009 | 8:32 pm

Socialstructing: Statement of Social Currency

Guestblogger Marina Gorbis is executive director at Institute for the Future.

For the past 8 years at Institute for the Future, we have been creating "artifacts from the future." We see them as a means of converting abstract, high-level trends and future visions into tangible objects that help people internalize our forecasts. However, we do not view them as prototypes for building new products or services. Artifacts from the future are a good way to engage people in important conversations about the future and to elicit meaningful insights that hopefully lead to positive actions.

The above artifact, a "Reputation Statement of Account," was designed by our colleague Jason Tester, a researcher and a designer, as a part of our 2004 Ten Year Forecast. It remains one of my favorite artifacts and seems to perfectly encapsulate emergence of new types of social currencies as a part of a reorganization of our lives around social relationships. In this world, it would be easy to imagine that the statement of your wealth would include accounting of your social capital as measured by contributions to various types of open communities, such as Wikipedia or Flickr.




Source: Boing Boing | 10 Jul 2009 | 8:32 pm

Happy Birthday, Nikola Tesla!

Today marks the birth of an inventor who revolutionized the field of science, especially in electricity and electromagnetism.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 10 Jul 2009 | 8:30 pm

Mutton Busting: children riding terrified sheep.

Urlesque has posted a collection of videos that document a sport I wish did not exist: "Mutton Busting."

And while 'mutton busting' sounds categorically filthy, it is, in fact, merely the act of a child riding a hyper sheep bareback.

I'm of the mind that it's, ah, not a good thing for the child or the sheep. But here I am, suggesting in muted horror from the safety of my desk that you watch the videos.

Mutton Busting, In Which Parents Let Their Young Children Get Tossed From Sheep


Source: Boing Boing | 10 Jul 2009 | 8:16 pm

Study To Shed Light On Cheetah’s Top Speeds

A team of British researchers is working to discover why cheetahs are the world’s fastest animals.Using high-speed cameras and a sensitive track, the scientists are studying North African cheetahs from ZSL Whipsnade Zoo, which are known to reach speeds of 64mph within just a few paces."The cheetah is fascinating because it can run 50% faster than any of the other animals we are familiar with, so in terms of understanding what limits how fast you can run, the cheetah is a wonderful animal to study,” said Professor Alan Wilson, who heads the structure and motion lab at Britain’s Royal Veterinary College (RCV), during an interview with BBC News.The RCV team is enticing the cheetahs to run by attaching pieces of chicken wings and feet to a loop of fast-moving string pulled along an enclosure by an electric motor.    And as the cheetahs chase their food, four high-speed cameras recording images at 1,000 frames per second, captured the wild cats’ every move.  By comparison, standard cameras typically record images at just 25 frames per second."We use two cameras on each side of the enclosure so we can see the cheetah from both sides,” Penny Hudson, a PhD student at RVC, told BBC News."When a cheetah gallops, it does different things with either side of its body - it has an asymmetric gait."The RCV team also embedded custom plates within the cheetahs’ running track that operate as “sophisticated weighing scales that are able to measure all the forces going through their legs,” Hudson said.The scientists plan to compare their results with other research on greyhounds, which can reach top speeds of roughly 40mph."Greyhounds are artificially bred by us to be fast, whereas these [cats] have evolved for that,” said Hudson."But cheetahs can run much faster than a racing greyhound…so we're trying to get them running at similar speeds to see what they do that's the same and what they do that makes them go that little bit faster."Usain Bolt, who ran 100 meters in 9.69 seconds, or about 23 mph, is the fastest human on record.  Among humans, leg strength is believed to be the limiting factor in speed.  In greyhounds, speed is constrained by how quickly the dogs can swing their legs.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 10 Jul 2009 | 8:15 pm

America's Largest Convention Center Gets Coverage With Wireless Indoor Network by ExteNet Systems

LISLE, Ill., July 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Cricket Communications Inc., the pioneer of unlimited wireless services with no long-term commitments or credit checks, has launched a new indoor wireless network by ExteNet Systems, Inc., that covers Chicago's famed McCormick Place convention center.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 10 Jul 2009 | 8:13 pm

Cell Phones That Learn the Sounds of Your Life

An anonymous reader writes "Researchers at Dartmouth College have developed new software that uses the microphone on the iPhone to track and interpret a user's everyday activities using sound. The software, called SoundSense, picks up sounds and tries to classify them into certain categories. SoundSense can recognize completely unfamiliar sounds and runs entirely on the phone. It automatically classifies sounds as 'voice,' 'music,' or 'ambient noise.' If a sound is repeated often enough or for long enough, SoundSense gives it a high 'sound rank' and asks the user to confirm that it is a significant sound and offers the option to label the sound. In testing, the SoundSense software was able to correctly determine when the user was in a particular coffee shop, walking outside, brushing her teeth, cycling, and driving in the car. It also picked up the noise of an ATM and a fan in a particular room. The results [PDF] of the experiments were recently presented at the MobiSys 2009 conference."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 10 Jul 2009 | 8:13 pm

Happy Birthday, Nikola Tesla!

This Studio 360 episode is a wonderful place to start in today's appreciation of "the father of electricity." This PBS documentary is also great. (thanks, Jesse Thorn)

Related: These folks are trying to preserve "Nikola Tesla's last and only existing laboratory, in Shoreham, NY (USA) [as] a science and technology center and museum." Apparently, AGFA wants to buy the space and turn it into a corporate center. The Tesla Science Center project solicits your support and donations to protect the site as a historic landmark. (thanks, Evelyn)

Source: Boing Boing | 10 Jul 2009 | 8:04 pm

Software Watches Ball Games, Calls Plays

The program can understand the dynamics of baseball and describe it in words.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 10 Jul 2009 | 8:00 pm

Bush's Secret NSA Spying May Have Tainted Prosecutions

George Bush's secret and warrantless wiretapping programs might have hidden evidence that would have vindicated convicted terrorists, a new report finds.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 10 Jul 2009 | 7:44 pm

Shuttle Launch Threatened by Storms

Already a month late, Endeavour's launch into space could be postponed even further.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 10 Jul 2009 | 7:30 pm

Tim and Eric Fans, behold: Awesomecon in San Diego, July 25

Awesomecon, a gathering for fans of Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, comes to San Diego on July 25. Snip from the event announcement:

WHAT IS AWESOMECON??! Awesomecon is an outdoor extravaganza where awesome fans can celebrate with Tim & Eric!! Meet the creators of Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! and their special guests DJ Douggpound, David Liebe Hart, Richard Dunn, James Quall and many more! There will be karaoke, games, a costume contest, a trivia contest AANNDDD one lucky ultimate fan will win a wave runner ride with Tim & Eric! vrroooom vrooom.

So warm up your singing pipes, brush up on your Awesome Show trivia, pick out your best character costume and join us for our favorite outdoor summer tradition! See ya there!!!!

Source: Boing Boing | 10 Jul 2009 | 7:26 pm

How to Kill the Rest of Your Friday [MediaMemo]

Maybe you’re in New York and need to waste an hour or two before you scoot out of the office. Maybe you’re on the West Coast and have a full half day to go. But regardless of where you work, it’s a Friday in July. And you’re not getting any real work done at this point.

My time-killing suggestion for the day: AdWeek’s “AdFreak” blog, which is packed with TV ads you probably haven’t seen. Did you know, for instance, that the Kool-Aid man was back?

Or perhaps you’ve wondered what a North Korean beer ad looks like (though honestly, you don’t need to go the full two-and-a-half minutes on this one; 20 seconds is fine):

Or maybe you want to see a guy doing a backflip in a wheelchair, as in this spot for Howstuffworks.com:

One word of warning: Don’t bother with the “Eat Canadian” ad, which is earnest and dull. Save that for Monday, as you’re easing into the week. Enjoy your weekend!

Source: All Things Digital | 10 Jul 2009 | 7:25 pm

A third of government websites attacked by unknown cyber criminals

Section: Computers, Security

An estimated third of government websites in the United States have fallen victim to a cyberattack.  The attacks started over the Fourth of July weekend and have continued through this week.  Government websites attacked include the Secret Service, the White House, Treasury Department, and the FTC.  Several commercial websites have been targeted as well, including Nasdaq and the Washington Post.

During the attack, over fifty thousand computers were hacked and commanded to access different websites.  Officials are saying that the attacks were minor and relatively unsophisticated with service returned within a few hours.  A widely distributed anti-virus code stopped the attacks and the agencies are widely distributing the code to protect against future breaches. 

Currently, twenty-seven agencies in the US and South Korea have been affected by the attack.  Intelligence in South Korea has indicated that the hacks were possibly perpetrated by North Korea or North Korean supporters.  However, detractors say this is just a rumor used to perpetuate the passing of an anti-terrorism bill in South Korea.

Read: [CNET]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 10 Jul 2009 | 7:11 pm

Apple: Credit Suisse Ups Estimates on iPhone, Mac [Voices]

By Tiernan Ray, Blogger, Barron’s, Tech Trader Daily

Personal computer sales in the June quarter were probably about average for this time of year, writes Credit Suisse analyst Bill Shope this morning in a note to clients, and he expects Apple (AAPL) to be “best in show” among PC vendors in the quarter.

Best in show is a term you give to dogs, but I’m sure that wasn’t the implication here.

Shope is expecting a 3 percent quarter-over-quarter decline globally in PC units in the three months ended in June, and he notes that Gartner (IT) will unveil a preliminary read on June-quarter PC sales next Thursday, July 16. For the second half of the year, he sees an 8.5 percent pickup in PC units, which is certainly an improvement but below the 10.1 percent average increase over the last decade, he notes.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Source: All Things Digital | 10 Jul 2009 | 7:09 pm

Unboxing: Toshiba TG01 gets the customary unrobing

The TG01 has arrived, folks. The swoon-worthy 1Ghz Snapdragon processor is now flying free in the UK and Japan, decoding 720p video without even breaking a sweat.

As with any landmark handset release, it was only a matter of time before someone stripped this thing of its box and took pics along the way. Slashgear managed to scrounge one up, and have done the dirty deed with haste. For bonus points, unboxer Chris Davis has a British accent, so it’s like James Bond is narrating. Check out the video after the jump.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 10 Jul 2009 | 7:07 pm

CenturyLink Schedules Second Quarter 2009 Earnings Conference Call

MONROE, La., July 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CenturyLink (CenturyTel, Inc.), (NYSE: CTL) plans to release its second quarter 2009 earnings results before the market opens on Thursday, August 6, 2009, and host a related conference call at 10:30 a.m.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 10 Jul 2009 | 7:05 pm

From Tokyo: Demo of “almost finalized” augmented reality tagging app Sekai Camera (videos)

I attended the inaugural event of the AR Commons in Tokyo today, a new initiative that’s supposed to help set “standards of augmented reality as a public environment”. In other words, the symposium is an attempt to understand what augmented reality, the mixing of the real world with computer data, really is and what consequences the concept will have on the society.

And one part of the symposium was dedicated to one of TechCrunch’s favorite companies out there: Japan-based Tonchidot. CEO Takahito Iguchi, who delivered an unbelievable performance during his pitch at TechCrunch 50 (where his company was launched), presented an almost final version of Sekai Camera.

To recap, Sekai Camera is an application in development for iPhone and Android that “tags the real world”, meaning it presents tagged information in the form of a graphical layer over images in the mobile phone camera. And the Sekai Camera version I saw today was prettier than previous ones and worked (almost) flawlessly during Iguchi’s live demonstration (which lasted about 20 minutes).

Iguchi showed how Sekai Camera works on an iPhone 3GS, which is especially suitable to run the app because of its built-in compass (3G users will probably have to flick fingers to the left and right in order to overcome the directional alignment issue). Technically, the working prototypes I saw in the last few months (back in February, I tried an early iPhone version myself) leave me no choice but to say the app really works.

The question is if Sekai Camera ends up being just a gimmick (as opposed to being useful and long-term fun) and if it will really achieve mass adoption (without which there is no real point). There is no doubt this is a very intriguing app, but it might end up being just way ahead of its time.

When does it come out? We’ll see a finished iPhone version in the “near future”, Iguchi told me today.

Have a look at the two videos I made below. This looks very, very promising thus far.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 10 Jul 2009 | 7:02 pm

New Redundant RAID 5 NAS Appliance from Elma Provides High Shock and Vibration Tolerance for Critical Data Storage

FREMONT, Calif., July 10 /PRNewswire/ -- ACT/Technico, now part of Elma Electronic Inc.'s Systems division, offers the RAIDStor NAS Appliance, a compact, rugged network attached storage (NAS) platform that provides highly reliable, redundant data collection and storage in applications with high shock and vibration parameters.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 10 Jul 2009 | 7:00 pm

Default state of the human brain

What does the brain do when you're not doing anything in particular? That's when the brain's "default mode network" really kicks into gear. This series of connected regions in the brain is apparently a hot topic for cognitive neuroscientists. This week's issue of Science News surveys research on the default mode network, which apparently is responsible for allowing your mind to "wander." But it also seems to have a much more important role. From Science News:

Default brain settings may lead to daydreaming and mind-wandering, but the network also conducts serious business. Neuroscientists still hotly debate the network’s exact functions, however. Among its jobs may be running life simulations, providing a sense of self and maintaining crucial connections between brain cells. A few researchers doubt the network is anything special at all.

But evidence suggests that a malfunctioning default network is involved in diseases and disorders as diverse as Alzheimer’s disease, autism, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, Tourette syndrome, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, schizophrenia and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Despite its laid-back name, which neuroscientist Marcus Raichle coined in a 2001 paper, the default mode network is one of the hardest-working systems in the brain. It was discovered accidentally by researchers watching the activity of brains at work on various tasks.

Neuroscientists use PET (short for positron emission tomography) and functional MRI scanners to image and gauge brain activity. To tell which areas of the brain become more active during a mental task, scientists compare brain activity during the task with activity when the person is at rest, either with eyes closed or while staring at a dot or cross. Raichle, of Washington University in St. Louis, and others saw that every time a person engaged in a mental activity such as memorizing a list of words, a collection of brain regions consistently decreased activity compared with their resting levels. Only when people recall autobiographical memories or imagine alternative situations is the network more active than it is at rest, scientists have since found. (In this context, “rest” refers to a state in which the brain is not engaged in a mental task but is still monitoring the body and the world around it.) Raichle hypothesized that the network is more active when the brain is at rest and has to dial back its activity to let people concentrate on specific tasks.

"You Are Who You Are by Default"




Source: Boing Boing | 10 Jul 2009 | 6:59 pm

World's First Self-Irrigating Plant Discovered

The desert rhubarb has long confounded scientists with its lush broad leaves that would need plenty of water to sustain. Now they have discovered the plants' secret.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 10 Jul 2009 | 6:49 pm

Slowing Palm Pre Sales Actually Not Slowing [Digital Daily]

Are sales of the Pre slowing or not? Without official numbers from Palm or Sprint, it’s nearly impossible to tell. But that hasn’t stopped analysts from taking a stab at it. Earlier this week, Pali Research analyst Walter Piecyk issued a research note claiming channel checks show a gradual tapering off of Pre sales, from an estimated 50,000-60,000 units sold the week ending June 26 to just over 30,000 last week.

Today brings another Palm-related research note, this one from Pacific Crest analyst James Faucette. He claims that Pre sales are “robust.” According to Faucette’s channel checks, Palm is selling about 40,000 Pres per week, a “normalized” sell-through rate that he says will continue through August.

So who’s right? Piecyk or Faucette? Who knows? Until Palm (PALM) and Sprint (S) go on record with real sales metrics, we’ll have to use our imaginations. Which is pretty much what all these analysts appear to be doing right now, anyway. Honestly, they might as well be issuing research notes on jelly bean jar guessing games.

Oh, and for what it’s worth, Palm and Sprint are not willing to release sales numbers right now. Reached for comment, Sprint told me, “We’re excited by the response to Palm Pre. Demand continues to be strong, and we are working closely with our partners at Palm to meet the needs of every customer as quickly as possible.” And Palm told me me to call Sprint…

Source: All Things Digital | 10 Jul 2009 | 6:46 pm

Experts Debate Tiger Breeding Programs

Some experts say that tiger farming can help the large cat’s population flourish, although other experts argue that it would only fuel demand for illegal trade of the endangered cat’s pelts, bones and body. "Domestic trade in tiger parts and derivatives has been banned across the world since the late 1990s," said Juan Vasquez, a spokesman for CITES - the UN body that regulates trade in endangered species - adding that illicit trade was still flourishing."Since tigers can be bred very easily in captivity, the argument is made that they should be 'farmed' to supply a relatively inelastic demand," he added on the sidelines of a CITES meeting.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 10 Jul 2009 | 6:40 pm

Mysterious Japanese electronic ion toothbrush

While cleaning out my bathroom cabinet earlier this week, I found this mysterious Japanese "Densi POWER" electronic ion toothbrush. It claims to emit 30 microamps of electric currents throughout the body, which somehow prevents cavities. The currents are only activated when it's used with toothpaste. I would stay away from it, but it has the official seal of approval from the Japanese Association of Preventive Medicine for Adult Disease on it. If anybody has any further information on this toothbrush &mdash how it works, or how it got in my bathroom cabinet, even &mdash please leave a comment.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 10 Jul 2009 | 6:35 pm

Palm Pre owners complaining about the lack of touchscreen keyboard

Damnation!

Oh this is just stupid. A Strategy Analytics study has found that some Palm Pre users are complaining about the lack of an on-screen keyboard. Unbelievable.

That’s stupid, of course, because the whole raison d’être of the Palm Pre is to provide a QWERTY device with all the bells and whistles of a touchscreen cellphone. A halfway house between the BlackBerry Bold and the iPhone, if you will.

Here’s the money shot, as told by a Strategy Analytics:

Although users liked having a physical QWERTY keyboard, they did not want to have to slide it out every time they wanted to type something

Yeah, because that’s such a hassle! Did these people not know what they were getting into when they shelled out $300?

Photo: Oryl of MobileBurn on Flickr

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 10 Jul 2009 | 6:30 pm

Review + Video: Toshiba’s Mini NB205 Netbook Built for Stamina, Not Sleekness

Here at Gadget Lab we got a chance to tinker with Toshiba’s Mini NB260 netbook. The verdict? It’s a pretty awesome netbook with excellent battery life (roughly six hours) and zippy performance, but we found the keyboard to be rather awkward. Also, stay away from the pink model: The color’s so vibrant that it makes stuff look purplish on-screen. Check out the video above and our review to get the full picture.

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 10 Jul 2009 | 6:19 pm

IT Employment Decline Moderates

ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Although IT employment continued to contract in June shedding 16,000 jobs or .4%, the decline was more moderate than recent months, according to TechServe Alliance, formerly NACCB, which tracks monthly IT employment.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 10 Jul 2009 | 6:18 pm

Wired.com Reader’s Leather Case Caused Discoloration on His iPhone

It’s appearing more likely that discoloration of some white iPhone 3GS units is due to contact with certain third-party cases rather than overheating. Wired.com reader Charles Sola sent a photo of his discolored iPhone (right) and concluded that the cause was a leather case (below, right) he bought off eBay.

“This is a very important information because in almost all other forums I’ve searched people think the discoloration comes from inside,” Sola wrote in an e-mail. “And this is not true. It’s superficial, caused by contact between iPhone and the case.”

What kind of case? A black Tonino Lamborghini; Sola provided a link to his eBay auction. He reported that he was able to wipe the discoloration off with alcohol.

The theory, then, is that the materials of some iPhone cases are rubbing off on the iPhone. This is plausible, as Sola points out that different pictures documenting iPhone discoloration reveal that the markings are appearing in varying positions — probably because there are different cases causing the same problem. So much for the overheating theory.

Tonino Lamborghini was not immediately available for comment. We’ll continue looking into which cases might be causing discoloration, and we’ll keep you posted.

See Also:

• IPhone 3GS Handsets Overheat, Turn Brown
• Battery Issues Likely Cause of iPhone 3GS Overheating
• Battery Tests Confirm iPhone 3GS Improvements, But Complaints …

Photos courtesy of Charles Sola

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 10 Jul 2009 | 6:10 pm

How to steer clear of money scams

This post is the latest in an ongoing series on how to stay safe online. - Ed.

As the designated tech support person for my immediate family, I'm used to getting calls about issues like browser crashes and confusing websites. But recently my mom called to ask about something she saw online that said Google would pay her thousands of dollars to work from home with no experience required. She didn't buy it, but she did want to ask — is this for real?

My mom was right to be skeptical. In the current economic downturn, a lot of people are looking for ways to make extra money. Unfortunately, some unsavory characters see this trend as an opportunity to trick unsuspecting people with scams and elaborate get-rich-quick schemes. We're seeing disturbing cases in which websites, emails and advertisements claim that you can make large amounts of money from home with very little effort using Google products and services. They're designed to look like they were written by a regular person, just like you, who stumbled across an amazing opportunity to make their monetary dreams come true. What they don't tell you clearly is that Google is not affiliated with these sites and that they may add extra charges to your credit card or misuse your personal information.

To be clear, we are proud to say that many companies and individuals do legitimately make money placing ads on their websites with Google AdSense or participating in programs like the Google Affiliate Network. Creating a successful website is hard work — successful sites earn their money by writing compelling content, developing useful applications and maintaining vibrant user communities. Any claim that you can skip all of that and make just as much money by posting links, using a secret system, or running a kit to generate websites should be treated with a heavy dose of skepticism.

Spammers attempt to reach users by generating hundreds of webpages and sending out a flood of spam emails, sometimes even buying advertisements on reputable websites. Their sites also target other popular Internet companies. They may include family photos pilfered from another site or a picture of a check they supposedly received. Spammers use a wide range of techniques that try to slip past automatic filters to get to you. At Google, we work hard to protect users from these schemes by using a combination of automated and manual tools that remove them from our search index and ad network. However, scams target many companies and appear in various places around the web, so we all need to work cooperatively. Google collaborates with various government and non-governmental consumer protection agencies, such as the Federal Trade Commission, that are investigating these types of schemes further.

How to identify scams and other schemes

In general, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. Here are some pointers on what to look out for:

• Before you fill out a form or give someone a credit card, do a web search to see what other people are saying about the company and its practices.

• Be wary of companies that ask for upfront charges for services that Google actually offers for free. Check out our business solutions page before writing a check.

• Always read the fine print. Watch out for get-rich-quick schemes that charge a very low initial fee before sneaking in large reoccurring charges on your credit card or bank account.

• Google never guarantees top placement in search results or AdWords — beware of companies that claim to guarantee rankings, allege a special relationship with Google, or advertise a "priority submit" to Google. There is no priority submit for Google. In fact, the only way to submit a site to Google directly is through our Add URL page or through the Sitemaps program — you can do these tasks yourself at no cost whatsoever.

• Be wary of anything resembling a pyramid scheme, where you make commissions by recruiting more participants.

• Some sales pitches use the word "Google" or other trademarks right in their name with targeted phrases like "cash," "pay day," "money," "secrets," "home business," etc. If you can't find it on our list of Google products or on the business solutions page, don't trust it.

• Look for third party verification. Scammers can easily cut-and-paste images to plaster a site with "as seen on TV," "five-star reviews" and the logos of well-known news channels. Products that have really been recommended by experts and fellow users typically contain links from legitimate news sites and multiple user review sites.

• Reserve the same skepticism for unsolicited email about making money with Google AdWords as you do for "burn fat at night" diet pills or requests to help transfer funds from deposed dictators. In general, be wary of offers from firms that email you out of the blue. Amazingly, we get these spam emails too:

"I visited your website and noticed that you are not listed in most of the major search engines and directories..."

• Google is not running a lottery, and we have not picked your email address to win millions of dollars. Don't give out your bank account details via email in anticipation of a big jackpot.

What you can do

• If you've been ripped off, or suspect others are, report the site and file a complaint with the appropriate agency.

• If you come across many sites with duplicate content or common templates intended to direct users to the same product or scheme, please let us know with a spam report.

• If you've been contacted to place suspicious links on your site for money, let us know with the paid link report form. If you have your own website or are in charge of advertising on a site, think carefully before accepting ads or entering into affiliate programs that will lead your users to schemes like those mentioned above.

• If your site's forums or comment sections have been spammed with fake offers of fabulous financial gain, you may need to take steps to fight comment spam. Spammers will take advantage of any user-generated content sections of your site, and will even generate thousands of fake user profiles to try to slip under the radar.

• If you receive suspicious messages that claim to be from Google, these may be phishing attempts. Please report them to phishing@google.com.

Posted by Jason Morrison, Search Quality Team

Source: The Official Google Blog | 10 Jul 2009 | 6:06 pm

Bing Needs a Bit More Zing [Digital Daily]

Source: All Things Digital | 10 Jul 2009 | 6:00 pm

Ancient Etruscan Ointment Discovered in Italy

The ancient ointment was found in the cosmetic case of an aristocratic woman.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 10 Jul 2009 | 6:00 pm

Seagate to Report Fiscal Fourth Quarter Financial Results on July 21, 2009

SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif., July 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Seagate Technology (Nasdaq: STX) today announced it will report fiscal fourth quarter financial results on Tuesday, July 21, 2009, after the close of the market.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 10 Jul 2009 | 6:00 pm

Lawmaker Wants 'Show of Force' Against North Korea for Website Attacks

A key Republican beats the drum for cyber war against North Korea, despite a lack of evidence that the country was involved in the nuisance attacks on U.S. and South Korean websites. Meanwhile, an ABC News columnist warns that the next web attack could kill babies.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 10 Jul 2009 | 5:45 pm

Special Ghana site for President Obama's visit

In recognition of President Obama's visit to Ghana, we've worked with the Ministry of Tourism in that country on a special site detailing his stops at cultural and historical landmarks using Google Earth and Maps. Read all about it on our Google Africa Blog.

Posted by Karen Wickre, Google Blog Team

Source: The Official Google Blog | 10 Jul 2009 | 5:40 pm

Air Force Eyes Purple Bacteria to Power Drones

The Air Force doesn’t exactly want its drones powered by purple bacteria. Instead, the air service would like to use a synthetic dye, based on the microorganisms, to juice up its robotic planes. It’s part of the U.S. armed services long, slow crawl towards environmental friendliness.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 10 Jul 2009 | 5:29 pm

Tokyo’s Lifesize Gundam Robot Is Big Enough to Squash Your House

Toy Story can suck it. The Japanese didn’t need computer animation to bring this toy to life. Pictured above, a lifesize Gundam robot in Tokyo stands at a gawk-worthy 59-feet tall. The robot looks even more impressive when it lights up at night (pic and video below the jump). Now all they have to do is charge for rides on it — after hiring some top-notch lawyers, of course. More pics and video at Zack Sheppard’s Flickr blog.

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 10 Jul 2009 | 5:27 pm

Hack makes Palm Pre partially Verizon-friendly

Screwing around with CDMA handsets is no fun at all. You’ve taken the SIM card out of the equation, so a hefty chunk of the data that defines whether or not you can connect is stored on the carrier’s server. As such, getting a phone like the Palm Pre onto Verizon is as much social engineering as it is technical hackery.

The above video shows the early results of an attempt at just that. The process is by no means for faint of heart: first you have to unlock the SPC, then you have to call and convince a Verizon rep to add your Pre’s MEID to your account. It’s not that VZW employees aren’t generally willing to add the MEID - it’s that they often have no damn clue how. Then there’s still a bit of modification to be done on the phone itself by way of some rather intense software. In the end, only voice and text are currently working, though they hope to have data cracked sometime soon.

[Via Giz]

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 10 Jul 2009 | 5:24 pm

Sprint, Verizon to Include Wi-Fi in all Future Phones

Telecom carriers Sprint and Verizon have said they will ensure all key cellphones from the two companies in the future will have Wi-Fi capability, a feature that has been missing in many of its recent devices.

Sprint will “embrace” Wi-Fi in all its “major devices”, Jeff Clemow, director of business product marketing for Sprint told Fierce Wireless. The feature is a requirement for all of Sprint’s equipment suppliers now, says Clemow.

Verizon has also indicated that all devices the company releases, after the BlackBerry Tour next week, will include Wi-Fi.

Last year, Verizon baffled customers with its decision to offer the touchscreen BlackBerry Storm without Wi-Fi capability. The move became a sore point among reviewers who criticized it in reviews of the Storm.

Sprint has faced similar questions. The company’s BlackBerry Tour phone, when it launches Sunday, will not include Wi-Fi. Sprint has said it hopes to change that with an updated version of the device that will be available next year.

Cost has been cited as one of the reasons for the lack of Wi-Fi in CDMA handsets from Verizon and Sprint. CDMA handsets with Wi-Fi capability are reportedly more expensive for the service providers compared to their GSM peers.

With consumers increasingly turning away from phones that don’t have Wi-Fi, Verizon and Sprint may have had little choice but to do what it takes to offer this feature to users.  Another possibility could be that these telecom carriers were hoping that without Wi-Fi capability more buyers would sign up for expensive data plans from the companies.

Meanwhile, rival AT&T has been expanding it Wi-Fi network. In November the company bought Wi-Fi services provider Wayport for $275 million and added about 10,000 hotspots. AT&T now has more than 20,000 domestic hotspots that allows it to claim the title of having the nation’s largest Wi-Fi network.

Clearly now both Sprint and Verizon see the lack of Wi-Fi in cellphones as a bet that they can’t afford to make.

Photo: (qviri/Flickr)

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 10 Jul 2009 | 5:22 pm

Who’s on Crack in Tech: 07.10.09

Section: Communications, Computers, Gadgets / Other, Features, Originals, Columns, Who's On Crack

Welcome to this week’s installment of Who’s on Crack.  This week we’ll be looking at moves in the tech world that appear to be inspired by illicit drugs—and there were quite a few this week.  Here’s the line up:

• Palm takes guessing games too far.
• Google Chrome OS - Free gone too far?
• Sprint requires awesome features on new PDAs?
• Archos battles Goldilocks Syndrome

Palm, vagueness just isn’t that fun anymore.

Is it me or does vague launch dates annoy the heck out of you?  Sure it was fun guessing when the Palm Pre would launch since January.  Trying to decipher, “in the first half of 09” gave more than a couple writers an almost full time job.  But to turn around and hit us with “in time for the holidays” for the UK launch is less than fun.  Let’s be just a little more specific, huh?

I reasoned that Palm is waiting until the typical 18 month iPhone contracts are up over in the UK, just as they launched in the US and subsequent advertising focused on converting iPhone owners whose contracts were expiring.  I firmly believe we’ll see the phone December 11.  So why not just come out and say December?  Why the Cloak and Dagger routine?  Let’s get some juevos and pick a date.

Can you imagine the Palm team:
Planning birthdays? The invite: Please come to a party for JG to take place within one year from day after his real birthday at you-know-where. 
Delivering bad medical news: We have news that might surprise you.  Our tests indicate an abnormal response and your life expectancy could be impacted in a positive or negative way.
Piloting our flight: “This could be the Captain speaking, I want to stress everything is OK, but if you are a doctor, pilot, librarian, or computer salesperson, could you please ring your flight attendant?”

Google’s folly in Free, Free, Free?

Has Google run into the old adage, “You get what you pay for”?  With the announcement of their new open-source Chrome OS for netbooks, not only are they kicking over Microsoft’s bee’s nest, but are pushing just how far they can take free.  Sure Linux has been around for a bit, but save for a niche of geeks, the user experience has been sub par for many mainstream users.  So the answer for them is to go to Windows

As we’ve seen with Android, without a payment incentive Google is not provided a compelling user experience.  Recently, HTC has picked up the torch and created something that looks amazing using Android.  Will we see the same, “make it what you want” experience with Chrome OS?  Will Asus and company pick that up?

It is like the ketchup on a restaurant table: it is free and seems to be red and taste somewhat tangy of tomatoes.  Computer makers and now Intel don’t care what ketchup you use or even if you like ketchup.  It is there and it is free, why not take some?  It will never be the best tasting ketchup you eat cause no one cares.

Now I feel bad for restaurant ketchups.  Awwww.

Sprint hugs WiFi

Kudos to Sprint for saying,  “yes” to smartphones.  Our Robert Nelson reported that the mobile carrier has said they will only carry devices with WiFi features.  Yeah, one for our side!  Here’s the quotes from Jeff Clemow, the carrier’s director of business product marketing:
“Sprint is embracing WiFi in all its major devices going forward,”  “Several quarters ago we made a conscious decision to require all of our PDA suppliers to support WiFi.”

And here is the reason I suspect crack is involved.  PDAs?  Is this 2002?  Are you dabbling in Window Mobile PCs?  Found a container of Palm Pilots (by 3Comm) and thinking of a give-a-way with the MiFi?  Do tell, as those of us outside Sprint’s walls call these things smartphones (as Robert chose for his post’s title).  PDAs?  Hee hee.  Next Sprint will be talking about Web Portals and Netscape plug ins.

Archos battles Goldilocks Syndrome

I would so love Archos to hit one of out of the park but it just isn’t going to happen any time soon.  While their Archos Android-on-board PMP is slick and pretty to look at, it is in the nether-zone: not much bigger than a smartphone but not big enough to replace a netbook.  So it becomes the Jan Brady of devices, always left out of the hot action.

Is 5 inches enough to get excited about?  Depends on who you ask, but my research among quasi-attractive ladies is no.  Even with Android as the “motion in the ocean”  it is too small to satisfy long-surfing desires and is unwieldy in a pants pocket.  So who gets excited about 5”?  Apparently the French.  Archos is a French company, blame them.

That is my list for this week of the cast headed into rehab.  Did you see anything I missed?  Let us know in the comments.

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 10 Jul 2009 | 5:16 pm

Delayed diagnosis for fragile X children

Children often reach the age of 3 before being diagnosed with fragile X syndrome, an inherited form of intellectual disability, U.S.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 10 Jul 2009 | 5:13 pm

What Is The Future Of Schizophrenia?

22nd Congress of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP), 12 - 16 September 2009, Istanbul, TurkeyProfessor William T.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 10 Jul 2009 | 5:05 pm

SLIDE SHOW: The Week's Top Stories

From the moon to dinosaurs, Discovery News looks back at this week's best.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 10 Jul 2009 | 5:00 pm

BLOG: 'Skylab-Esperance Day'

In 1979, parts of NASA's space station scattered over a small corner of Australia.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 10 Jul 2009 | 5:00 pm

Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea

Expansion of coastal cities is accompanied by a decline in the quality of life of the people, which was the reason they moved to the coastal zone instead of bringing growing welfare to the inhabitants. Many Megacities such as Tokyo (pop.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 10 Jul 2009 | 4:50 pm

AT&T Denies Rumors of MMS Delays, Tethering Costs for iPhone

Without citing a source (not even an anonymous one), blog AppModo claims AT&T will be delaying multimedia-messaging support for iPhone customers until September. The blog also echoes a rumor that a tethering plan will cost an extra $55 per month for iPhone customers. AT&T has denied both these claims.

In an e-mail to Wired.com, an AT&T spokesman said the company will charge for a tethering plan but still has not determined how much it will cost or when it will become available. AT&T also maintains that MMS support will be available “later this summer,” as the company stated in previous reports.

Then again, this statement doesn’t completely squash the MMS rumor. Early September is still considered late summer, so if MMS doesn’t arrive until then, AT&T will not have broken its promise.

Tethering, on the other hand — we’re skeptical that it would cost quite that much for iPhone customers: We would expect tethering to be priced similarly to other tethering plans for AT&T smartphones. If you look at AT&T’s data plan web site, you’ll see that tethering is lumped into an overall data plan for BlackBerry, for example. The BlackBerry’s data plan is $45 without tethering; add on tethering and the data plan costs $60. So that would mean tethering costs an additional $15 for the BlackBerry. We would expect the iPhone’s tethering to cost about the same, if it hopes to attract any customers.

See Also:

• AT&T: Lack of MMS, Tethering Support for iPhone Is Not Network’s …
• How to Turn on Tethering in iPhone 3.0
• Tether Your AT&T iPhone Right Now
• The International Costs of iPhone Tethering
• iPhone Tethering Plan Could Cost $30 Per Month

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 10 Jul 2009 | 4:31 pm

Taser shotguns: mine shall be in green

O'er the front door, Xeni spots the forthcoming release of an elecrifying shotgun from Taser International. Beats that old BB that I always wanted, that's for sure!

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 10 Jul 2009 | 4:09 pm

Blackberry Onyx has identity crisis, steals Gemini’s trackpad

Onyx, I think it’s time we had a talk.

Look, we know that your brothers Bold and Tour have set the bar pretty high. Hell, I’d cut a toe off for either one right now if I could. In the end though, your life is all about you. People will buy you and care about you, just like your brothers. I mean, just look at your spec sheet: quad-band GSM, 3.2 megapixel camera, 480 by 360 display, GPS, WiFi, the list goes on. You’re a catch, but your behavior recently has me a bit concerned. Did you really think we wouldn’t see you on Blackberry Underground after your little operation?

Well, maybe “concerned” isn’t the right word. I’m thrilled that you’ve taken your brother Gemini’s optical trackpad. It’s gotten some great press so far, and gone are the days of gunking up your trackball (it’s OK, I know how embarassing that can be). You’re taking the best of each of your brothers and you’re combining them into one sleek little package. It’s a good move, and Gemini even posed for a picture with you, so it seems like everything is cool between you guys.

What I am concerned about is how you seem to be burying the real you beneath your brothers’ best features. I know why you’re doing it: you’re afraid, deathly afraid of ending up like Storm. Anything I say will sound crass or insincere, but Onyx, please, if nothing else, know this.

You have a keyboard. You’re going to be fine.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 10 Jul 2009 | 3:57 pm

More iPhone Apps = Less TV, Newspapers and Everything Else [MediaMemo]

You knew this intuitively. But interesting to see the numbers: The more time iPhone users spend with their apps, the less time they spend watching TV, reading newspapers, using PCs and pretty much everything else.

Check out these self-reported behavior changes, via Gravity Tank, a Chicago consultancy that surveyed 1,000 heavy “app phone users.” That’s defined here as people who used either Apple’s (AAPL) handset or Google’s (GOOG) G1 phone from T-Mobile. (Click chart to enlarge.)

Of course, you’ll want to take this with big bags of salt. Because I’m not sure how many app users were really using an “Internet Tablet” to begin with. And I don’t see how monkeying around with likes of Ocarina and The Moron List is going to cut down on your caloric intake.

But! The fact is that app users think they’re watching less TV, etc., which at least means they value that stuff less.

So if you’re in the media business, the implications here are clear: Shoving your stuff into a browser won’t do you much good in a mobile world defined by apps. And the smarter media executives I know are scrambling to adapt.

I talked to a network TV guy yesterday who told me his company was making “tens of millions of dollars” from mobile right now but that pretty much everything it has done to date–carrier deals, licensing pacts, etc.–will have to be rethought and redone in light of the coming app world. He’s going to have to move very fast.

And if you’re not convinced, here are some of the folks Gravity Tank interviewed for a parallel set of “ethnographic” studies. If some of them seem a bit too much like the “I’m a Mac” dude from the Apple ads, bear in mind that these are iPhone users who agreed to be interviewed on camera talking about their love of apps. So that’s going to come with the territory.

gravitytank // Apps Get Real from Teaque Lenahan on Vimeo.

Also, apologies to readers viewing this on the All Things Digital app: Still no Vimeo on the iPhone.

Source: All Things Digital | 10 Jul 2009 | 3:42 pm

SLIDE SHOW: Cosmic Crash Spotted by Chandra

The galactic pileup is a favorite target for astronomers studying galaxy dynamics.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 10 Jul 2009 | 3:30 pm

Resign from Apple’s Board? Steve and I Will Be Sure to (Cough) Take Your Advice to Heart (Snicker). [Digital Daily]

“Eric is obviously doing a terrific job as CEO of Google, and we look forward to his contributions as a member of Apple’s board of directors. Like Apple, Google is very focused on innovation and we think Eric’s insights and experience will be very valuable in helping to guide Apple in the years ahead.”

–Apple CEO Steve Jobs, August 2006

“Apple is one of the companies in the world that I most admire. I’m really looking forward to working with Steve and Apple’s board to help with all of the amazing things Apple is doing.”

–Google CEO Eric Schmidt, August 2006

Google chief Eric Schmidt has some words of advice for outsiders insisting he should recuse himself from Apple’s board of directors following the unveiling of Chrome OS, an operating system that will presumably compete with Apple’s Mac OS X: You can have my Apple board seat when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.

Speaking at the Allen & Co. Sun Valley conference, Schmidt, who has been an Apple director since 2006, said he sees “no issue” with him keeping his board seat. “I recused myself from iPhone because it was a direct competitor,” he said, acknowledging that he no longer participates in mobile phone discussions at Apple board meetings because of conflicts of interest. “But there is no change at the moment….I’ll talk to the Apple people. At the moment, there’s no issue.”

And if one should arise? If Apple (AAPL) should look askance at Google’s (GOOG) decision to launch its own OS? Or if the Federal Trade Commission probe into whether Schmidt’s seat on the Apple board of directors violates federal law picks up some traction? Well, does anyone really think that Schmidt won’t be able to keep his seat? C’mon.

As John Gruber noted over at Daring Fireball earlier this week, “I don’t understand why so many outsiders are concerned about this. If Steve Jobs and the other members of Apple’s board think Schmidt’s spot on the board poses a competitive conflict of interest, they’ll ask him to leave. If they don’t, then what’s the problem? Does [anyone] really believe he has a better grasp of Apple’s competitive position versus Google than Jobs? Does [anyone] think Jobs is too shy or polite to confront Schmidt?”

Source: All Things Digital | 10 Jul 2009 | 3:29 pm

London's Iconic Red Double-Decker Buses Green

Six Volvo B5L double-decker hybrids now carrying passengers along Route 141 in London in a real world service trial.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 10 Jul 2009 | 3:28 pm

Ericsson to take over Sprint’s network maintenance

Section: Communications, Cellular Providers

Prior to this year, Sprint has been in bad shape.  It lacked the numbers of AT&T and Verizon Wireless, had a low stock price, and didn’t seem to have much going for that.  That’s changed a bit with the announcement and release of the Palm Pre, with stocks doubling since January and more people paying attention to the company.  A single phone cannot turn and entire carrier around, however, and Sprint still needed to find a way to cut cost.  Enter Ericsson.

Sprint has reached a deal with Ericsson, the Swedish handset manufacturer, to run its network.  What that means is that Ericsson will handle the everyday tasks on the network such as cell tower maintenance.  Sprint will still own the network, but will transfer 6,000 employees to a separate office run by Ericsson that will handle those tasks. 

The idea is that Ericsson, which does this service for a number of carriers in Europe, will be able to handle the network day-to-day more cheaply than Sprint is able to currently.  While the network will be run by Ericsson, Steven L. Elfman, president of network operations and wholesale at Sprint believes that it will be able to focus more on on the carriers “quality of the coverage, attention to new products and services that differentiate us from the competition,” while Ericsson handles the network.

The move will free up $100 million annually, which is good news for Sprint.  Given Ericsson’s previous involvement in these sorts of deals, it’s doubtful that the network will be anything less than the same.  Some of the money that is now freed up could go towards expanding the network, as that seems to be where Sprint is lacking.  Another portion of the money will be possibly be going to cell phone development, which seems logical.  While its doubtful anything Sprint does right now will make it equal to AT&T and Verizon, maybe it could at least strive to be better than T-Mobile.

Read [NY Times]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 10 Jul 2009 | 3:21 pm

Bing Leapfrogs Yahoo Search ? Again - Washington Post

San Francisco Chronicle

Bing Leapfrogs Yahoo Search ? Again Washington Post New stats from monitoring service StatCounter suggest that for the second time since its launch, Microsoft's Bing has surpassed Yahoo Search as the second most used search engine in the United States. Shortly after publicly debuting the new service, ... Bing Continues Growth Though ...InternetNews.com State of the Art Bing, the Imitator, Often Goes Google One BetterNew York Times Bing: The Promise Of The Next ActMediapost.com Bizjournals.com -Wall Street Journal -InformationWeek all 211 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 10 Jul 2009 | 3:15 pm

100 Essential Skills for Geeks

What do you need to know to maintain geek cred? Here are 100 things.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 10 Jul 2009 | 3:09 pm

Evian’s Dancing Babies Ad Makes a Splash [Voices]

By Marisa Taylor, Tech Reporter, The Wall Street Journal

It’s hard to ignore dancing babies.

That’s at least part of the thinking behind Evian’s new advertising campaign, which has taken off on YouTube, thanks to a troupe of infants breakdancing and roller-skating across the screen. The campaign, called “Live Young,” broke last week and has gotten more than 2.8 million views on YouTube in the U.S., and another 2.3 million internationally.

“Live Young” begins with a baby tapping one roller-skate-clad foot and playing a version of Sugar Hill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” (remixed by hip-hop producer Dan the Automator) on an old-school boombox.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Source: All Things Digital | 10 Jul 2009 | 2:59 pm

Seeing the world with improved Google Search results

As an avid traveler, I know how helpful it can be to see a map when searching for a location on Google. Using our Universal Search technology, we have provided maps in our search results for more than two years. However, as any traveler could tell you, knowing the geographical location of a place is only part of the story. It's often just as valuable to get a sense of what the place is like, and there's no better way to do that than by looking at images of some of its most important sights.

Now, when you search for locations using Google Search, you may see pictures from that place alongside a map. You can click on any of those images to go to the photos layer on Google Maps where you can browse many more geo-tagged photos.

So if you searched for [Paris], you'd see:


Here's [Yellowstone National Park]:


We think this is a great way to get a better sense of a location as well as get a taste of some of the great user-contributed photos that await on Google Maps. We hope you'll have a fun time exploring!

Posted by Lingyun Liu, Software Engineer

Source: The Official Google Blog | 10 Jul 2009 | 2:57 pm

Recently on Offworld: classics reborn, self-evolving games, Sackboys for sale

It was a return-to-classics kind of day on Offworld, with Bethesda releasing their early first-person/open-world RPG Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall as a free download, and with the revivification of both Team17's classic Amiga shooter Alien Breed as a fully 3D affair, and the former FASA designers at Smith & Tinker giving MechWarrior a fantastic looking full reboot for PC and Xbox 360.

Elsewhere we started to take our first look at the weird worlds of Galactic Arms Race, a self-described 'space Diablo' with a twist: all of the weapons in the game are designed by AI and are evolving over time based on the aggregate behavior of all the game's players, with some spectacular and unexpected results; and got a guide to the rest of this summer's Xbox Live Arcade releases.

Finally, we bought our own custom Left 4 Dead Sackboys from the crocheter himself (above), saw Fangamer go all Anderson and release a browsable version of their fan-made Mother 3 guide for free, and our 'one shots' for the day: a plush member of Rhythm Heaven's Glee Club, and Cooking Mama, and Cooking Samus, and Cooking Zelda, and Cooking Lara...

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 10 Jul 2009 | 2:46 pm

Contest: Win My Fighting Cock-Bot

I stumbled on this Fighting Cock-bot at a junk shop in San Francisco that was having an everything-must-go sale. The box is dated 1986 and indicates the robo-chicken was manufactured by the Chi Land Plastic Manufacturing, Co in Taiwan.

Aside from stumbling on a .gov that lists the manufacturer, I haven't had much luck tracking any more of these down online. (Feel free to Google "fighting cock" and let me know if you find one.)

Battery-operated, the 12-inch toy is supposed to fire little plastic discs ("bullets") that you store in little plastic "eggs." To be honest, I don't really care what the thing does.

The packaging is what sold me on it [sic for everything below...]:

• Head with colorful lamp

• Chest with colorful lamp

• Attached with 2 eggs. There are 12 bullets in each egg.

• Walkable feet for advancing

• Wings can wave and shoot the bullet.

• The cock can turn it body for 360°

• Never let a child swallow the bullet

For those not keeping score: the Fighting Cock has a cockpit emblazoned with the phrase "Space Cock."
You really can't make this stuff up.

Enter To Win:

Get creative. PhotoShop the art (here's a larger version). Create an original painting, drawing, watercolor of or inspired by the Fighting Chicken. Write a song. Shoot a video of yourself singing said song. Create a claymation music video for said song.

Post a link to your stuff in the comments below or email me: steven AT boingboing DOT net ; The winner will be chosen based on the merit, effort, and originality of his/her creation. Go nuts.

...And remember: never, ever swallow the bullet. Unless, of course, you are an adult.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 10 Jul 2009 | 2:45 pm

LaCie Ruggedized, Portable HD Movie Player

A hard drive is a hard drive is a hard drive, right? You store things on it and buy another one as a backup, for when the first one breaks.

True, but the hard drive makers have been making boxes that do more than just hold the spinning platters recently, and one of those boxes turns your portable HD into a portable movie jukebox. You can just use Lacie’s new LaCinema Rugged (great name, by the way) HD drive to carry around 500GB of spreadsheets, but that would somewhat miss the point. The half-gig drive, which costs $350, can hook up to an HDTV via HDMI and playback your movies direct, handling most anything you can throw at it including AVI, XviD and H.264. It even comes with a remote control.

There are also analog and stereo digital outputs for music, and again it handles most formats. You could think of this as a poor-man’s home media center, but then you’d be missing something else: The ruggedized exterior. No, this is best considered as the miniature home media center, for the man on the go.

Product page [LaCie. Thanks, Kim!]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 10 Jul 2009 | 2:34 pm

NES Controller Netbook Sleeve

This lovely sleeve, snugly accommodating a netbook, was made by mendicon's girlfriend for his Acer Apire One. [via Gizmodo]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 10 Jul 2009 | 2:20 pm

Planes To Get Airbags, But Only in First Class

It won’t help you if your plane falls out of the sky and plummets 30,000 feet to the ground, but if you’re in an emergency landing or your plane just flops off the runway on takeoff, new airplane seats could save your life.

The seats, which will have to be retro-fitted to even some old commercial airliners after October 27th this year, are called 16G seats, and can withstand up to 16 times the force of gravity before being ripped from their shorings. Any plane introduced since 1988 already has them, but planes which were originally brought to market before that date will need them too. It’s a rather technical issue, to be sure, and its likely that any plane you travel in today is already so equipped.

More interesting are airplane airbags. These will be mounted into the lap belt and work just like those in cars, exploding into a safe cushion in case of a crash. They are calibrated not to deploy when the plane hits turbulence, though, so you shouldn’t have to worry about your tiny bottle of warm white wine being launched into your face.

The plebs won’t see the benefits, though. These belts will be fitted into first class seats, not cattle-class. This isn’t a way to kill off the lower castes, though, but a simple question of engineering: There just isn’t space top fit the belts into already tight seats, and the cushion of the seat in front provides protection anyway. The bags could make their way into seats in the emergency exit rows, the front seats and anywhere that a passenger may be flung into space. One more reason, apart from the legroom and lack of children, to choose the exit row.

We’re all for more safety in planes, though, which seem to have been dropping from the skies recently.

Product page [AmSafe]

New Planes Will Have Air Bags and Seats Less Apt to Rip Loose [NYT]
Photo: AmSafe

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 10 Jul 2009 | 2:12 pm

5 Auto Atrocities To Throw Down a Black Hole

Scientists at the Israel Institute of Technology searching for Hawking radiation recently created a black hole using Bose-Einstein condensates, whatever those are. That prompted our colleagues at Underwire to chose five atrocious albums to throw into it, never to be heard again. Inspired, everyone else at Wired.com will throw atrocities of all kinds into black holes in the coming weeks. This week is Autopia’s turn.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 10 Jul 2009 | 2:11 pm

Vaio W first impressions: great HD display but tough competition

British reviewers have already gotten Vaio W netbooks, and the reports are in: everyone loves the high-def 1366x768 display, smooth HD video, and all but one liked the keyboard. Some knock the high price in Britain, but it won't be as expensive in the U.S. [via Engadget]

PC Pro writes "The Mini W Series big selling factor is undoubtedly that screen, and the Sony VAIO brand name, but we'll have to put it through our barrage of performance, battery and quality tests before giving our definitive verdict. Nevertheless, this is a fine first stab at a netbook by Sony, and a promising sign of things to come."

Tech Radar writes "You are paying extra for one of the best keyboards ... [and] for the lovely screen. ... Gripes? Not many, really. No HDMI output. No slot for a SIM-card for 3G internet access."

Stuff.tv writes "The best thing about Sony's 10in netbook is its screen. ...We were also impressed with the chiclet keyboard - it's 86% full size so takes a little getting used to, but there's plenty of travel in the keys and it feels more premium than most netbooks we've used."

What Laptop writes "Not cheap then, but it's definitely one of the nicer high-end netbooks we've seen, and the screen really is a stunner."

Photo: What Laptop.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 10 Jul 2009 | 1:35 pm

Sheet music is now available for Kindle. [Amazon via Gadget Lab]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 10 Jul 2009 | 1:32 pm

Rumor: iPhone tether plan to be $55 per month, coming in September

We all hope that eventually AT&T will get things together and out a tethering plan for the iPhone. But most of us are also nervous what AT&T is going to charge. We’ve heard everything from $40 to $60, but now one site is stating that AT&T told them directly all the details. We’re doubtful but wouldn’t be surprise if the cost ends up being close to what this site is stating.

Only AT&T (and Verizon) would charge $55 extra to allow your computer access to the so-called unlimited data already included in your monthly plan. That cost wouldn’t surprise us. But why we’re still skeptical AT&T told Appmodo directly all the secret plans outside of an embargo sealed with blood. Eventually someone will simply guess the tethering plan’s cost and become the Internet’s AT&T oracle. Our guess? $40.

UPDATE: An AT&T PR flack just hit us up with their official stance on this matter.

I am on the AT&T team. Touching base regarding your post this morning: “Rumor: iPhone tether plan to be $55 per month, coming in September.” Just wanted to reiterate:

· Any rumor that we have settled on a price for tethering is false.
· There will be a charge for the tethering plan, but we have not yet determined what it will be.
· We will offer a tethering plan for the iPhone, but have not yet announced a date.
· We will offer MMS later this summer.

Best,

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 10 Jul 2009 | 1:27 pm

BLOG: DustCart Robot Does the Dirty Work

Besides being adorable, DustCart may lead to more efficient trash collection.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 10 Jul 2009 | 1:20 pm

Korean DDoS Virus gets really ugly

Section: Computers, Security

The botnet responsible for the ongoing DDoS attacks on many U.S. Government websites is getting even uglier.  According to security researchers it has been programmed to turn on the computers it’s infected and encrypt and in some cases completely erase all their data.

What’s particularly disturbing is that most Korean citizens have ignored the government’s pleas and warnings to install or update anti-virus software.  Whether they simply don’t understand or think that because their computers are working fine they couldn’t possibly be infected is unknown.  What is known is that tens of thousands of Koreans whose computers are part of the botnet responsible for the attacks are going to turn on their computers and get a nasty surprise.

No one knows who’s behind the attacks which have hit just about every U.S. Government website, many major business sites here in the U.S. and South Korea and knocked the FTC site off line for a short time.  Experts say the attack is not particularly sophisticated so it could be anyone from a low level hacker to a high tech cybercrime gang trying to confuse authorities.

I’m amazed that some South Koreans are ignoring the call to install or update their anti-virus software.  People who either don’t understand or don’t think it could ever happen to them are the reason cybercrime is a thriving underground economy.

Read [PCWorld]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 10 Jul 2009 | 1:12 pm

Zubbles: World's First Colored Bubbles

Non-staining, colored bubbles have been called the "holy grail" of toys.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 10 Jul 2009 | 1:10 pm

Vaio P sales "significant," Mk. II in October

Tech Radar writes that the "mark II" version of Sony's Vaio P mini-laptop will be out in October or November, but offers no details beyond that it will boot up quicker than the current one. As installing something on it other than Vista accomplishes exactly that, perhaps that's the substantive upgrade! October is Windows 7 month, so there you go.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 10 Jul 2009 | 12:46 pm

Royal household turns to Twitter - BBC News

Telegraph.co.uk

Royal household turns to Twitter BBC News Buckingham Palace has revealed that the Royal Family has now joined the Twitter micro-blogging revolution. The Twitter account @BritishMonarchy has just gone live, following several weeks of testing. A spokeswoman said it had signed up to harness the ... British Royal Family Starts Tweeting, Attracts 2000 FollowersBloomberg Royal Family Twitter Account Reaches 5600 FollowersITProPortal Queen rents out tents to pay for guests who scoff 14 sandwichesDaily Mail The Associated Press -Telegraph.co.uk -Scottish Daily Record all 237 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 10 Jul 2009 | 12:17 pm

Is a Touch Screen DSLR Inevitable?

Chris over at Photography Bay writes on touch-screen DSLRs: “Would You Want a Suped-up Touchscreen DSLR?” he asks. This got me thinking. The iPhone 3GS has that rather neat touch-to-focus feature, wherein the camera focuses and calculates both white-balance and exposure based on what part of the picture you point out.

The iPhone, of coure, is entirely touch controlled, but the whole interface would be welcome on a compact camera. There are already touch-screen compacts, but so far SLRs have escaped the treatment. Why? Well, for one, they are usually used held up to the eye — live-view can be useful sometimes but I’d bet that most DSLR users compose and shoot with the viewfinder. This would, it would seem, make touch-to-focus almost useless, something which could slow things down more than speed them up.

What about for setting controls: white balance, custom settings and the like? Surely this is a perfect option for the touch-screen? As Chris says, one of the advantages of the higher-end DSLR is that “many pros like these buttons because they allow for quick access to their favorite settings.” and touch-screens mean lots of digging through menus. You can also use buttons with the screen off, and with your eye to the finder. This saves both time and battery power.

On the other hand, browsing and deleting images is perfect for this tech. Swipe to switch images, hit a delete button and then choose the pictures you want to toss by touching them. This works because you are using the screen anyway.

It’s probably inevitable that touch will come to the DSLR, just as live-view and video percolated up from consumer cameras. Do we need it? Maybe. Do we have a choice? No.

Would You Want a Suped-up Touchscreen DSLR? [Photography Bay]
Photo Illustration: Photography Bay

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 10 Jul 2009 | 12:14 pm

Water Filters Get Classy in Glass and Steel

If you visit Barcelona, Spain, don’t drink the tap water. Depending on which part of town you are in, water from the faucet either tastes of chlorine, gives you cancer, or both. This is why almost everyone buys giant eight-liter (541 tablespoons) bottles of water and drags them up the stairs of their seven-story, elevator-free apartment buildings.

Yes, yes, the environment would be better if only I used a water filter. The problem is that they are so frikkin’ ugly. And plastic. Here, though, is a glass and steel beauty, a jug so fine it doesn’t use boring old everyday charcoal cartridges but real lumps of Binchotan charcoal and louseki stones, all the way from the “mountains in Kanazawa, the capital city of Ishikawa Prefecture, on the Sea of Japan coast.”

This is, clearly, the home-made equivalent of Fiji bottled water.

The cost is a not unreasonable $85, fine for something used several times daily. The refills come in at $25 each, which - even if one lasts just half the promised six months - is a whole lot less than the money spent on water, plus the environmental costs of trasport and plastic bottle disposal.

The best part? The refill is called “Purifying Sticks and Stones”, with which you can also, presumably, break somebody’s bones.

Product page [Design Within Reach via Uncrate]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 10 Jul 2009 | 11:16 am

Sprint to smartphone manufacturers: Wi-Fi will be required on all smartphones

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

Moving forward, any smartphone that joins Sprint’s lineup will be expected to have built-in Wi-Fi.  I cannot say this latest tidbit is all that bad of an idea.

According to Jeff Clemow, the carrier’s director of business product marketing:

“Sprint is embracing WiFi in all its major devices going forward,”

“Several quarters ago we made a conscious decision to require all of our PDA suppliers to support WiFi.”

Unfortunately, a specific date of when we can expect to see only Wi-Fi equipped smartphones in their lineup is unknown.  Which ultimately means that this decision is not help the fact that they are getting ready to launch the BlackBerry Tour sans Wi-Fi on July 12.

Read [Fierce Wireless]  Via [PhoneScoop]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 10 Jul 2009 | 11:01 am

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