Source: Gizmodo | 24 Jul 2009 | 12:40 am

Biz Stone Talks Twitter At Fortune Brainstorm

Twitter’s Biz Stone takes the stage at Fortune Brainstorm in Pasadena to talk with Fortune’s Adam Lashinsky. The session, called “Changing The World In 140 Characters Or Less” begins shortly, I’ll be live blogging it.

My real time notes follow. I can say with certainty that the Twitter hacking incident will be brought up as part of this conversation.

My Notes:

An audience poll shows 65% of attendees use Twitter, but 77% say they prefer Facebook to Twitter.

First question from Lashinsky: “Will Twitter make money?” Biz says “yes!”

- company has 55 employees now.

- size of the service: Biz says they are 1% into the journey of Twitter, and they have a lot of growing to do. “The level of awareness is way bigger than the level of engagement.”

- How they will get more user engagement: start by showing users Twitter search and show results on your product, etc. Then they ask how they can get involved. “We have to position our product better,” says Biz. Search and trends are ways to get immediate engagement from users.

- Why isn’t Twitter making money? Biz: Lots of people like Twitter and want it to succeed. They want Twitter to make money so that the company sticks around. Biz says that Twitter is being used by people and companies around the world, and if the network is robust and reliable, there are lots of ways to make money. But they need to optimize for value before they optimize for profit, he says.

- Twitter’s business plan will begin this year, he says (which correlates to the notes we published last week). First step - launching today or tomorrow Twitter 101, a set of use cases, techniques, best practices, etc to help new users and companies use Twitter effectively. Will post today or tomorrow, Biz says.

Biz is excited about Best Buy’s use of Twitter to engage with customers and provide better customer experience.

- on the hacked documents: Biz says they are thought documents more than anything else, gives people an idea of the scope and level of what they are thinking of, nothing more. “We’re thinking big,” he says.

- Biz says the easy business model is value added services, like verified accounts, that they can charge for. Advertising is less interesting, he says.

- On whether he will sue TechCrunch: We’re still investigating, he says.

- Biz says they are preparing to launch lots of new features, really looking at a golden age for Twitter. New features that are coming - add more value to users, watch how users are using Twitter, bring new features that make sense.

- Discovery on Twitter - how will they do a better job of this. Biz says they need to assign weight to users or specific Tweets to do a better job of surfacing Tweets.

- On doing good in the world v. making money: “We want to have a real positive impact on the world, and the only way to do that is to make tons and tons of money.”

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

Source: TechCrunch | 24 Jul 2009 | 12:33 am

Why Is Google Latitude A Web App And Not A Native App? Because Apple Said So.

We briefly pointed this out in our longer post on Google Latitude launching on the iPhone, but it's worth pointing this out separately. In its post today, Google made an unusual admission about its service: It apparently built a native Latitude app for the iPhone, but Apple asked it to make it a web app, so Google did that instead. Here's their actual wording:

We worked closely with Apple to bring Latitude to the iPhone in a way Apple thought would be best for iPhone users. After we developed a Latitude application for the iPhone, Apple requested we release Latitude as a web application in order to avoid confusion with Maps on the iPhone, which uses Google to serve maps tiles.

Source: MobileCrunch | 24 Jul 2009 | 12:29 am

Google Latitude Comes To The iPhone. No, It Doesn’t Run In The Background.

Google has finally gotten around to launching its location-based network, Latitude on the iPhone. The service, which has been around for months on the web and Android, BlackBerry, Symbian and Windows Mobile devices may finally be ready to take off now that it's on the hottest smartphone on the market. But there's a problem — and it's a big one. Latitude, like all other third-party iPhone apps, cannot run in the background on the device. While you might think this would be extremely obvious, there is a big difference between Latitude and many of the other apps built for the iPhone: Latitude is entirely browser-based. Yes, there is no native Latitude app, and there was some thought that since the mobile version of Safari on the iPhone can technically run in the background, that maybe it would allow apps like Latitude to also do the same. Sadly, that is not the case.

Source: MobileCrunch | 24 Jul 2009 | 12:27 am

Business Drying Up for Luxury Phone Makers

Got a few grand to spare for a $3,000 phone? Yeah, we didn’t think so. Nobody does — and that’s a problem for the makers of luxury phones, such as Motorola, Bang & Olufson, LG and Vertu.

After years of chasing the ultra-wealthy with exclusive devices that carry designer logos and promise craftsmanship from materials such as sapphire and stainless steel, luxury phone makers are now pulling back.

“The culture has shifted away from conspicuous consumption, so if you are going to have a super expensive product this may not be the time for it,” says Avi Greengart, research director for consumer devices at Current Analysis.

Motorola has already gotten the memo. Earlier this week, the company reportedly canceled the Ivory E18, a device tentatively priced around $3,000. The phone had met with lack of interest from telecom carriers. Motorola declined to comment.

If that sounds like an obvious outcome, perhaps it shouldn’t. In the last few years, luxury phones had turned into an attractive new business, as designer houses rushed to get a foothold in the tech sector. Prada collaborated with LG to launch two LG Prada phones in Europe and Asia. Last September, Samsung launched the M75500 Night Effect phone, which carried the Emporio Armani insignia. A month later, Motorola offered a $2,000 phone, called the Aura, which was fashioned out of stainless steel and sported a 62-carat sapphire crystal lens. And then there’s Vertu, a company that makes true luxury phones, the cheapest of which costs about $6,000.

The recession put a spoke in those plans. And it’s not just the 401Ks of middle-class Americans that have been in peril. In Russia, many newly-minted billionaires saw their fortunes slip away with falling oil prices. By the first quarter this year, the U.S. economy had shrunk 5.5 percent. Even 50 Cent has complained about losing more than a few Benjamins on the stock market.

And just like that, the crystal dominoes started to fall. Last October, Bang & Olufsen, whose phones retailed in Europe for more than $1500, shuttered its cellphone business as it decided to trim its costs and get out of non-profitable ventures. Motorola is the latest to pull back its luxury line.

Luxury phones have never been a big phenomenon in North America, says Greengart. Their manufacturers have had better luck in emerging markets. But now even in those countries, where once 8 percent GDP growth seemed conservative, wealthy consumers are feeling the pinch.

“Super expensive, bling bling phones are big in markets where conspicuous consumption is a way to tell your countrymen you have arrived,” says Greengart. “But now, it’s a very different economy for everyone.”

Many of the troubles that the uber-expensive phones face are because they are created by companies whose main expertise is in targeting a mass market, says Frank Nuovo, former chief of design for Nokia and current head of Vertu.

“I didn’t start this business to soak the phones in diamonds and jewels,” says Nuovo. “The concept is same as a fine watch or a fabulous car. To be a true luxury product, you have to look at making something that doesn’t have an 18-month shelf life.”

True luxury, as Nuovo defines it, doesn’t apply to a mere $2,000 phone: A Vertu device, soaked in platinum, can run up to $70,000. The company’s one-off phones, designed in collaboration with luxury jewels house Boucheron, cost even more.

Nuovo may have inadvertently hit on the real problem with luxury phones: Phones are still a very feature-driven products. They are products where the rapid advances in technology can rend older models obsolete very quickly.

“Phones aren’t like a handbag where the fundamental utility remains the same and the design changes all the time,” says Greengart.

But Nuovo isn’t convinced. “Take watches and cars,” he says. “They all run the same but everyone has a unique way of delivering them stylistically. We can do the same with phones.”

Despite the bumps on the road now, Nuovo says the luxury phones will bounce back and find an audience. “It is no different than a fine watch or a car,” he says. “If you take people who value something that is made extraordinarily well there will always be a group interested in it.”

Vertu is determined to prove that. It will launch its latest handset the Carbon Fibre Ascent Ti in August. The phone is made of high-gloss carbon fiber and has a sandblasted titanium surface. The price tag? $9,800.

See Also:

• Porsche Design P’9522 Phone
• Where’s the Value in Designer Cellphones?
• Fashion Computers Just as Air-Headed as Their Catwalk
  

Photo: Vertu

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 24 Jul 2009 | 12:27 am

Y Combinator’s Mixpanel Takes Stat Tracking Beyond Google Analytics

One of the most key steps to building a succesful startup is figuring out what works — and what doesn’t. To do this, many companies rely on things like A/B testing to figure out which workflows and designs work best. But there are some things that are a bit trickier to measure, like exactly which features your users are taking advantage of, and how they’re using them. Mixpanel, a Y Combinator company launching today, is looking to solve this problem by offering companies a suite of analytics tools that go well beyond what tools like Google Analytics measure.

Founder Suhail Doshi says that most significantly large companies, like Slide for example, have entire teams dedicated to tracking user behavior. If you throw a virtual sheep at your friend using one of Slide’s apps, you can be sure that every element of that action — including who the sheep’s receipient was, the time you threw the sheep, and even what prompted you to throw the sheep in the first place — is being tracked.

Unfortunately, most fledgling companies simply don’t have the resources to put together this kind of analytics tracking. Mixpanel solves this problem by giving developers a library of stat tracking functions that they can quickly integrate with their code, saving them the development costs that would have been required to build their own analytics tools. Doshi says this can take as little as ten minutes to integrate, requiring only a line of code wherever there’s something you want to track.

After implementing these functions in their code, companies can track stats from the Mixpanel control panel, which updates in real time. Beyond tracking stats like the number of times a certain song is played or a given feature is used, Mixpanel can also do funnel analysis, which allows startups to measure when in a signup flow users begin to drop off (this allows them to figure out the pain points and lower barriers to entry as much as possible).

Mixpanel’s pricing is based on usage, which it measures by looking at the number of ‘points’ of data the service tracks. The company is already in use by a number of other startups (many of them fellow YC alumni) including Posterous and HeyZap.

Analytics and stat tracking is extremely important to the growth of any company, especially one that’s trying to gain users for the first time. Mixpanel is definitely honing in on a large market — its ultimate success will be decided by how useful the data it collects really is, and in how many datapoints it can track that free services can’t.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 24 Jul 2009 | 12:23 am

T-Mobile phones to hit Radio Shack brick and mortar stores

Section: Business News, Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers

In the coming months, you will be able to find T-Mobile phones in Radio Shack.  Radio Shack has already stocked Alltell, AT&T, Nextel, and Sprint phones.  That only leaves Verizon out as the last major player not to be at Radio Shack.  Both T-Mobile and Radio Shack are promoting this deal saying that they will offer phones like the new myTouch 3G with Google and their “hottest exclusive T-Mobile handsets” so don’t expect old clunkers at Radio Shack.  The deal will put T-Mobile phones in over 4000 stores around the United States and Puerto Rico.

Company Site: [Radio Shack]
Company Site: [T-Mobile] 
Read: [Press Release]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 24 Jul 2009 | 12:10 am

Stop being so naive about the Apple-Foxconn suicide

First, we all need to shut up because we don’t know the facts. When (if) more is revealed, then we can talk about it with confidence, anything less is sensationalism — not that we’re any strangers to that. But argument from ignorance is an insult to everyone involved.

Second, we need to shut up because it has nothing to do with Apple, or Foxconn for that matter. It has to do with big business, big money, and big pressure. It could have been any product and any company. The iPhone is big, sure, but what if it were a new, secret Xbox? Or a car? Or a weapon? Billion-dollar Company X gives out 16 protoype Y’s to a few of its trusted employees. One disappears, corporate espionage is very much a possibility. The person is pressured, interrogated, perhaps beaten — and in the end, perhaps is killed or perhaps chooses to commit suicide. Did you think this hasn’t happened before? Did you think this doesn’t happen all the goddamn time?

Bad news, children! Big business has blood on its hands. Has for hundreds of years! Like someone said in a movie I can’t remember, several million dollars “isn’t money, it’s a motive with a universal adapter.” And we’re talking about hundreds of millions here, people. You think it’s out of the ordinary for a company dealing with those kinds of money to resort to violence and intimidation? Let me get some of that crack! Apple’s not the only one that takes measures to protect its secrets.

Last, if what it takes for you to be concerned is a suicide (or murder) having to do with the iPhone, you’re a hypocrite. “How can Apple do this? How can Foxconn do this?” Where was your concern last week, or the week before? You knew this sort of thing was happening, and you bought your devices anyway. It’s only when the death of a man and the iPhone got this close that you decided it was worth talking about.

The coverage of this event makes me sick. It’s a tragedy about which we know next to nothing, getting stories all over because it has to do with the darling gadget of the day. If someone died over a new Sony media player (and don’t think that’s such a stretch), would you be making the same stink? I doubt we’d even have heard of it, and those that did hear it wouldn’t cover it. That makes me sick.

[context, extra context]

Source: CrunchGear | 24 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am

Announcing the 2009 Google Online Marketing Challenge winners

This year we held the second Google Online Marketing Challenge — a global university competition, launched last year, that gives undergraduate and post-graduate students hands-on exposure to online marketing. Working with their professors, teams receive the equivalent of US$200 to spend on Google AdWords advertising, then work with a local business to devise an effective online marketing campaign. Teams are given three weeks to mastermind the strategy before submitting a campaign report to an international judging panel of professors.

This year's Challenge was bigger and better in every way — more teams, more students, more universities and a significant improvement in the quality of campaigns and reports. We're thrilled to report that 2,187 teams took part from across 57 countries, representing a 36% increase in participation from last year. The Challenge continues to develop as one of the world’s biggest university competitions.

We're excited today to announce the results. Our global winners come from Deakin University, Australia and were taught by Chia Yao Lee. The team of Andrew Kidd, Richard Blakely, Kevin Fung, Clinton Hinze, Katalin Kish and Howard Lien worked with a local kids play center, www.littletigrrs.com.au, to create a well-crafted campaign that highly impressed our judges.



Team spokesman Andrew Kidd gave us some insight into their winning campaign:

"After discussions with the business owners, we decided we needed to conduct three separate campaigns. One would promote the play center to customers outside a 10 kilometre geographic radius, another would attract more mothers' groups to the center, and the third one would attract more party and group event bookings. Visitors to their website more than doubled compared with the same period last year. We knew we had developed a strong campaign — but to win the global competition is outstanding."

The team and their professor are off to Mountain View, California for a tour of the Googleplex. To help in their ongoing studies, each team member will also receive an Apple MacBook Pro.

There were also three regional winners: for the Americas, the winning team comes from James Madison University in the U.S., while a team from the Warsaw School of Economics in Poland won for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In the Asia Pacific region, the winners come from the International College of Management in Sydney, Australia. Here are more details about our winners.

We developed the Challenge to benefit everyone involved. We're delighted that thousands of small businesses around the world have seen their online presence improved in just three weeks. Professors tell us that the Challenge has allowed them to deliver a unique, practical teaching and learning exercise. For those students that took part, we hope they have developed some useful online marketing skills which they can use when they graduate and enter the workforce.

For anyone interested in competing in the 2010 Challenge, formal registrations will open later this year, but in the meantime you can register your interest.

Posted by Lee Hunter, Product Marketing Manager
Source: The Official Google Blog | 24 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am

Project Fair Bid Raises $4.5 Million For Stealth Auction Platform

Project Fair Bid, a stealth startup that is creating a Swoopo-like Auction platform, has raised $4.5 million in funding, according to a SEC filing. The funding was raised from the Mayfield Fund, First Round Capital, and Foundation Capital, with Raj Kapoor, Charles Moldow and Josh Kopelman joining the board of directors.

Details on Project Fair Bid are limited but we hear the startup hopes to reinvent and legitimize the Swoopo business model by using a different auction methodology to improve consumer engagement and retention. Swoopo’s business model has been criticized for its alternative bidding system.

Swoopo uses a unique pricing model that lets you to purchase virtual “bids” for 75 cents, which can then be used to bid on goods ranging from video games to high-end televisions. Whenever you bid on an item, its price increases by fifteen cents and an extra 20 seconds are tacked on to the duration of the auction. Oftentimes items wind up selling substantially below their market value, but this lower price comes with some risk: if you bid on an item, you don’t get that 75 cent bid back when the auction concludes. Even if the item winds up selling below its normal market price, Swoopo can make money from these bids (the site does sometimes lose money on an auction, but relies on the proceeds of other auctions to cover them).

But Swoopo may be on to something—since launching in late 2008, the site has grown to almost 2 million members in Canada, Germany, the U.S., Austria, and Switzerland and closed a $10 million funding round led by August Capital.

Photo credit/Flickr/walkinboston.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 23 Jul 2009 | 11:40 pm

The Rocky Road To Wind Power

Hugh Pickens writes "The NY Times has an interesting story on the logistical problems involved in transporting disassembled towers that will reach more than 250 feet in height from ports or factories to the remote, windy destinations where the turbines are erected. In Idaho trucks laden with tall turbine parts have slammed into interstate overpasses requiring hundreds of thousands of dollars in repairs. In Texas the constant truck traffic is tearing up small roads in the western part of the state where the turbines are being rapidly erected. And in Maine a truck carrying a big piece of turbine got stuck for hours while trying to round a corner near Searsport."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 23 Jul 2009 | 11:40 pm

iPhone security “broken” - business users take note

An Apple expert and hacker has shown that the iPhone, in all its various forms and moltings, is child's play to compromise. This comes despite assurances from Apple regarding the 3GS's encryption feature. Bad news for businesspeople of the 21st century, who have glommed onto the iPhone and its service halo like no other device. The wonder-phone has certainly changed the way smartphones and other devices are made, but this isn't the first time Apple's security measures have been described as being seriously lacking. It seems that with a little creative coding, or access to an insecure computer, the iPhone can be cracked wide open. The encryption doesn't really even enter into the equation, since you can just have the phone read off the information you want. There hasn't been much of a reason to hack iPhones yet — you might get a few Facebook passwords, or some contact info, but now that the phone is gaining traction in the business world, there may actually be something worth stealing on them. And it's not very hard to do.

Source: MobileCrunch | 23 Jul 2009 | 11:36 pm

Apple and Microsoft have something in common: a patent infringement case

Section: Business News, Apple, Audio, Portable Audio

Tsera is suing 23 companies including both Apple and Microsoft over a patent regarding interfacing with a touchpad.  In plain English, if a touchpad tries to make sense of your gesture-based input, Tsera may have the patent on that.  The patent looks like it is broad enough to cover the scroll wheel of an iPod and the Zune’s touchpad. 

Tsera is suing Apple, Microsoft, Bang & Olufson, Philips, LG, and more.  Will the collective might of their lawyers be able to get Tsera to go away?  I would expect some kind of out of court settlement to put this matter to bed. 

Back in 2006, Apple and Creative settled a patent infringement case where Apple paid $100 million to license Creative’s patented user interface.  Will Tsera be so lucky?

If you are curious, here is some of the patent language for your inspection:

[If a user inputs data] by tracing patterns with [a] finger on a surface of the touchpad. . . . A microcontroller within the device matches the pattern traced by the user against a plurality of preset patterns, each of which corresponds to a predefined function or command of the device.  If the pattern traced by the user is a reasonably close match to any of the preset patterns, the device performs the predefined function corresponding to the matched pattern.”

Read: [InformationWeek]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 23 Jul 2009 | 11:36 pm

Palm releases webOS 1.1.0 updated, fixes iTunes syncing

Take that, Apple. Palm just dropped webOS 1.1.0 and it fixes what you broke with iTunes 8.2.1. Is this how it’s going to go down from here on out?

Source: CrunchGear | 23 Jul 2009 | 11:30 pm

Ringleader of High-Tech Pickpocket Gang Pleads Guilty

One of the leaders of a national high-tech pickpocket gang pleads guilty to bank-fraud charges in a scheme that netted his group about $2.1 million.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 23 Jul 2009 | 11:30 pm

Amazon CEO apologizes for Kindle book deletions - CNET News

MiamiHerald.com

Amazon CEO apologizes for Kindle book deletions CNET News This is an apology for the way we previously handled illegally sold copies of 1984 and other novels on Kindle. Our "solution" to the problem was stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles. ... Amazon.com CEO apologizes for Orwell incidentThe Associated Press Amazon CEO Bezos apologizes for Orwell ebook fiascoSlashGear Amazon Chief Says Erasing Orwell Books Was 'Stupid'New York Times BetaNews -PC Pro -North Star Writers Group all 132 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 23 Jul 2009 | 11:25 pm

Palm releases webOS 1.1.0 updated, fixes iTunes syncing

Take that, Apple. Palm just dropped webOS 1.1.0 and it fixes what you broke with iTunes 8.2.1. Is this how it’s going to go down from here on out?

Palm

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 23 Jul 2009 | 11:15 pm

Why Is Google Latitude A Web App And Not A Native App? Because Apple Said So.

We briefly pointed this out in our longer post on Google Latitude launching on the iPhone, but it’s worth pointing this out separately. In its post today, Google made an unusual admission about its service: It apparently built a native Latitude app for the iPhone, but Apple asked it to make it a web app, so Google did that instead.

Here’s their actual wording:

We worked closely with Apple to bring Latitude to the iPhone in a way Apple thought would be best for iPhone users. After we developed a Latitude application for the iPhone, Apple requested we release Latitude as a web application in order to avoid confusion with Maps on the iPhone, which uses Google to serve maps tiles.

Hmm. We all know that Apple and Google are pretty buddy-buddy, after all, Google CEO Eric Schmidt is on Apple board (though it’s not clear for how long). But something about this sounds a bit odd. Apple dictating product decisions to Google, and Google listening. There has been talk of this in the past as well. And perhaps now we know why it took Google so long to get the service on what is the most popular smartphone out there right now.

This is also a bit odd because if Apple is so worried about a confusion between Latitude and Maps, why not just build Latitude into Maps? Maybe that’s coming down the road?

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

Source: TechCrunch | 23 Jul 2009 | 10:59 pm

SpinVox "Recognition" Is Often Expensive Human Transcription

An anonymous reader writes "SpinVox offers to convert voice messages to text using a system called D2 or 'the Brain.' According to BBC News, said 'Brain' is often of the old-fashioned kind: SpinVox is sending private voice messages to South Africa, the Philippines, and maybe Egypt to be typed by people in a call centre, despite being registered as keeping all private data inside Europe and claiming that the text is somehow anonymised. Insiders say they transcribed 'love messages, secret messages' and everything else from beginning to end, and the company is being bled dry by the cost: SpinVox has been locked out of one of their data centers over a payment dispute. SpinVox refuses to comment further on details — but according to their web page, they're 'enabling the Speech 3.0, Voice 3.0, and Business 3.0 markets,' whatever that means."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 23 Jul 2009 | 10:51 pm

iPhone Security Is “Broken” - Business Users Take Note

An Apple expert and hacker has shown that the iPhone, in all its various forms and moltings, is child's play to compromise. This comes despite assurances from Apple regarding the 3GS's encryption feature. Bad news for businesspeople of the 21st century, who have glommed onto the iPhone and its service halo like no other device. The wonder-phone has certainly changed the way smartphones and other devices are made, but this isn't the first time Apple's security measures have been described as being seriously lacking. It seems that with a little creative coding, or access to an insecure computer, the iPhone can be cracked wide open. The encryption doesn't really even enter into the equation, since you can just have the phone read off the information you want. There hasn't been much of a reason to hack iPhones yet — you might get a few Facebook passwords, or some contact info, but now that the phone is gaining traction in the business world, there may actually be something worth stealing on them. And it's not very hard to do. I like this quote: "I don’t think any of us have ever seen encryption implemented so poorly before."

Source: TechCrunch | 23 Jul 2009 | 10:45 pm

Supercomputer called fastest of its kind

A supercomputer that just started operating at the University of Florida is likely the fastest of its kind, its designer says. The Novo-G is a reconfigurable computer, meaning it can rearrange its internal circuitry to suit the task at hand. Traditional computers use so-called
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 23 Jul 2009 | 10:40 pm

Students Build Car the Blind Can Drive

Lasers, vibrating vests and voice-command software lets the blind experience the freedom of driving.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 23 Jul 2009 | 10:30 pm

AMICAS Schedules Second Quarter 2009 Earnings Results Conference Call

BOSTON, July 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AMICAS, Inc.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 23 Jul 2009 | 10:24 pm

Microsoft, Intel Design Windows 7 to Be Speedy - PC World

Channel 4 News

Microsoft, Intel Design Windows 7 to Be Speedy PC World Collaboration with Microsoft could allow the software giant's upcoming Windows 7 OS to take advantage of multithreaded and multicore Intel chips for faster application performance, according to an Intel official. Microsoft and Intel are working ... Read all 'Windows 7 Release Candidate' posts in Beyond BinaryCNET News Windows 7 coming in two weeksCNNMoney.com Microsoft Takes Windows 7 Out of the OvenTechNewsWorld eWeek -NetworkWorld.com -PC Magazine all 764 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 23 Jul 2009 | 10:22 pm

SNT Cleaning, Inc. Investigating the Mobile Wireless Business

WESTLOCK, AB, July 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - (OTCBB: SNTI) SNT Cleaning, Inc. announced today that it is investigating diversifying into the mobile wireless communication business and has entered into discussions with Infinity Multi Media Corp.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 23 Jul 2009 | 10:15 pm

Google Latitude on your iPhone

Earlier this year we announced Google Latitude, a service that lets you and your friends share your locations with each other. You control who gets to see your location and where on the map you appear to others. Today, we're releasing Google Latitude for iPhone and iPod touch, available in the Safari browser.

Visit google.com/latitude from your device to start using Latitude. Add a bookmark to your home screen to quickly launch Latitude. Just open Latitude in Safari and tap the + icon > Add to Home Screen > Add. For more details, check out the Google Mobile Blog.


Posted by Marc Wilson, Software Engineer
Source: The Official Google Blog | 23 Jul 2009 | 10:05 pm

Fairtheworld to Introduce 'Green Marketing' Into Exposition Industry

Hong Kong, July 23 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Computer technology has made paperless office a reality: e-files, e-mails, e-adverts, etc. have all become commonplace.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 23 Jul 2009 | 10:00 pm

How To Vet Clever Ideas Without Giving Them Away?

Rival writes "As an inquisitive and creative geek, I am constantly coming up with 'clever' ideas. Most often I discover fundamental or practical flaws lurking in the details, which I'm fine with. As Edison said, 'I haven't failed; I've found 10,000 ways that don't work.' Other times, I discover that someone else has beaten me to the idea. I'm fine with that, too. At least I know that I've come up with a great idea, even if I'm not the first. There are times, however, when I can find no flaws with an idea and nobody else seems to have thought of it. I'm not conceited enough to think my idea is genius; I just assume that I'm not knowledgeable enough to see what I'm missing. In these times, I often want to ask a subject matter expert for their thoughts. On the admittedly long chance that an idea is genius, however, what is the best way to ask for another's insights while mitigating the risk of them stealing or sharing the idea? Asking a stranger to sign a contract before discussing an idea seems like a good way to get a door closed on my face. What are your experiences and suggestions?"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 23 Jul 2009 | 10:00 pm

Apple Gobbled up 91 Percent of Premium PC Market in June

Apple may be a small player in terms of overall PC market share, but in the premium price segment, the Macintosh is king.

In June, nine out of 10 dollars spent on computers costing $1,000 and up went to Apple in the U.S. market, according to research company NPD Group. That spells out to 91 percent of the “premium” price segment gobbled up by Macs — up from 88 percent in May.

Granted, Windows PC systems still own 90 percent of the U.S. PC market share. Still, this is a victory for Apple, a company whose focus is on quality products with premium price tags.

These numbers make it crystal clear why Apple continues to avoid stepping into the netbook market with a $400 to $500 offering: Even in a recession, it doesn’t need to. This also illustrates that the recent price cuts made to the MacBook family were indeed an effective move.

Apple has 91% of market for $1,000+ PCs, says NPD [BetaNews]

See Also:

• Survey: Microsoft’s ‘Laptop Hunter’ Ads Are Hurting Apple …
• Microsoft’s ‘Laptop Hunter’ Ads Made on Macs?
• MacBook Price Cuts Highlight Tough Choices for Apple as Growth …
• Spoof Microsoft Ad: Even Bums Won’t Buy a PC
• Apple Debuts Aggressively Priced iPhone 3GS, MacBooks

Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 23 Jul 2009 | 9:50 pm

Adobe offering outdated and vulnerable version of Adobe Reader on its website

Section: Computers, Security, Software / Applications

Danish security researchers have discovered that Adobe is offering a badly outdated and bug ridden version of their popular Reader software on their website.  The version, Reader 9.1, was released in early March and has 14 security vulnerabilities that have been patched in two subsequent versions.

By offering the outdated version to users who visit the site to obtain Adobe reader, it leaves them open to possible attacks by hackers who could use malformed PDFs to hijack their PCs.  Adobe does push updates to users via Adobe Updater but is slow to do so.  It could take several days or weeks for a user to receive the correct, up to date version of Adobe Reader.

“PC users need to patch all their vulnerable programs and they need to do so as fast as possible after the patch has been issued from the vendor,” said said Mikkel Winther, the manager of the PSI partner program. “Failing to do so is playing Russian Roulette…. It is only a question of time, and luck, when your system will be compromised.”

If you have downloaded Adobe Reader recently or find yourself needing to, make sure you manually update it by choosing “Check For Updates” in the Help menu.  Adobe has ignored inquires asking why they are offering an outdated version of their software. 

Read [PCWorld]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 23 Jul 2009 | 9:40 pm

A Step Ahead of Regulators, Verizon Activates Concession Mode

Verizon, the nation's largest wireless carrier, has offered to let rural carriers get their hands on exclusive handsets and to have better roaming rights on its network. Verizon clearly hears fed regulators talking about monopoly power, and public interest groups and competitors say the changes aren't enough.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 23 Jul 2009 | 9:30 pm

Stem Cells Grow Into Live Mice

A new kind of stem cell, derived from skin cells, has been used to create live mice.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 23 Jul 2009 | 9:30 pm

LDK Solar Updates Outlook for the Second Quarter of 2009

About LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK)LDK Solar Co., Ltd. is a leading manufacturer of multicrystalline solar wafers, which are the principal raw material used to produce solar cells. LDK Solar sells multicrystalline wafers globally to manufacturers of photovoltaic products, including solar cells and solar modules. In addition, LDK Solar provides wafer processing services to monocrystalline and multicrystalline solar cell and module manufacturers. LDK Solar's headquarters and manufacturing facilities are located in Hi-Tech Industrial Park, Xinyu City, Jiangxi Province in the People's Republic of China. LDK Solar's office in the United States is located in Sunnyvale, California.Safe Harbor Statement
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 23 Jul 2009 | 9:25 pm

Denali Expands PureSpec Solution for Predictable Protocol Verification

About Denali PureSpecPureSpec is a predictable verification solution for protocol compliance and enables verification planning and coverage-driven verification closure. PureSpec verification solution includes a configurable bus functional model, protocol monitor, and complete assertion library for all components in the topology. PureSpec additionally provides an integrated data generation engine to help drive defined, pseudo-random bus traffic at all layers. A cumulative coverage database capability ensures that the overall test plan sufficiently exercises the design. For more product information, visit: www.denali.com/purespec. About Denali Software
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 23 Jul 2009 | 9:23 pm

Blackboard Adds Lecture Capture Technology to Blackboard Learn Platform

About Blackboard Inc.Blackboard Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBB) is a global leader in enterprise technology and innovative solutions that improve the experience of millions of students and learners around the world every day. Blackboard's solutions allow thousands of higher education, K-12, professional, corporate, and government organizations to extend teaching and learning online, facilitate campus commerce and security, and communicate more effectively with their communities. Founded in 1997, Blackboard is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.About Echo360
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 23 Jul 2009 | 9:15 pm

New Micro Blogging Web Site Rivals Twitter and Facebook

DALLAS, July 23 /PRNewswire/ -- TipDrop.com is a place where people come to give and receive tips on just about anything.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 23 Jul 2009 | 9:14 pm

$2 Million NASA Power Beaming Challenge Heating Up

carstene writes "Qualification rounds for the NASA Centennial Challenge Power beaming contest are underway at the Dryden Flight Research Center. The contest uses a scale model of a space elevator as a race track. Entrants must build a robot to climb a cable, suspended by helicopter, 1 km into the sky without any on board energy storage. The teams are using high power laser beams to transmit power from ground stations to photovoltaic arrays on the robots. If a team can accomplish this at 5 meters per second average speed then they could win up to 2 million dollars. One day this technology could be used to power rovers in shadowed areas of the moon or to recharge electric UAV's in-flight or even a space elevator in the far future. A blog of the event can be found here. Full disclosure: I'm a member of the LaserMotive team that you can follow on twitter, or or via blog."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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

Invading the Vintage

Xeni spotted an awesome set on flickr.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 23 Jul 2009 | 9:08 pm

Buck The Economic Downturn

free online marketplace that launches nationwide this summer gives consumers a way to get those everyday essentials you need for free. It is a 21st Century way to shop - without ever having to open your wallet. The company calls it Recommerce. Kashless.org helps consumers give and get reusable and recyclable items locally and across the country, improving their carbon footprint and saving cash at the same time. It 's like a local eBay, except people give things to each other for free.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 23 Jul 2009 | 9:00 pm

Gerber Reinvents the Bowie Knife for the 21st Century

No matter if you're gutting a grizzly bear or simply whittling during a backyard camping extravaganza, Gerber's Metolius Fixed Blade is sharp enough to get your cutting, hacking or chopping job done.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 23 Jul 2009 | 9:00 pm

EF Johnson Technologies, Inc. Announces Second Quarter Financial Reporting Date of August 6, 2009

IRVING, Texas, July 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- EF Johnson Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: EFJI) announced today that the Company will release the financial results for the quarter ending June 30, 2009, and has scheduled an investor webcast and conference call for 4:00 p.m.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 23 Jul 2009 | 9:00 pm

Baidu Announces Second Quarter 2009 Results

BEIJING, July 23 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Baidu, Inc.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 23 Jul 2009 | 9:00 pm

Gerber Reinvents the Bowie Knife for the 21st Century

No matter if you're gutting a grizzly bear or simply whittling during a backyard camping extravaganza, Gerber's Metolius Fixed Blade is sharp enough to get your cutting, hacking or chopping job done.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 23 Jul 2009 | 9:00 pm

What Scientists Know About Jewel Beetle Shimmer

"Jewel beetles" are widely known for their glossy external skeletons that appear to change colors as the angle of view changes.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 23 Jul 2009 | 8:45 pm

Review: T-Mobile myTouch 3G with Google [Update]

It’s been nine months since I first dabbled in the world of Android. It wasn’t a pretty picture then, but a lot has changed in those short nine months. The platform has grown and become more stable. The Market is filled with useful and enjoyable apps. Cupcake has had the biggest impact thus far but we eagerly await what Donut has to offer.

Changes to the OS have been well publicized and covered at length, but we’ve been stuck with one piece of hardware, the G1. Despite its many inadequacies, it’s managed to carry the platform until now. Enter the myTouch 3G with Google from T-Mobile. It’s a rapid departure from what we’ve grown accustomed to with the G1. It lacks a physical keyboard, but has a boost in RAM and one key software enhancement that many have been longing for. It also falls in line with the rest of HTC’s gorgeous hardware lineup. Many will have to wait until August 5 to pick up the latest Android device, but we’ve had one for a little over 48 hours and we can’t put it down.

Let’s start with the operating system. Just like the G1, the myTouch runs a flavor of Cupcake (1.5), COC10, that doesn’t seem to differ from the CRC1 build that was pushed out over the weekend for the G1. HTC really rained on T-Mobile’s parade by introducing the Sense UI on the Hero because it makes the generic Android UI even uglier, but it’s much snappier than the Hero’s Sense UI.

Despite its lack of a physical QWERTY keyboard, the myTouch’s virtual QWERTY works just fine. Those with bear claws will need to resort to using the landscape keyboard because the 3.2-inch screen leaves very little room to comfortably type on the portrait keyboard. This happens to be the one area where I’m tempted to make a direct comparison to the iPhone. The 0.3-inch advantage makes a huge difference.

Enabling haptic feedback makes the experience marginally better but it’s still difficult to walk down the street and compose emails or text messages one handed in portrait mode. You’re forced to constantly look down and make sure you’re tapping out what you want.

The one software advantage the myTouch has over the G1 is Exchange support. G1 owners will not be receiving this update so keep this in mind if your company doesn’t issue BlackBerrys or Windows Mobile devices.

Battery life seems to be marginally better than the G1, but only by a hair. Alas, all 3G devices packed with Wi-Fi, GPS and a decent browser will suffer from horrendous battery life. The myTouch 3G is no different.

And for whatever reason, I still have issues with the GPS on HTC’s Android devices. Maybe it’s the area of Manhattan I live in, but I can never get a GPS lock when I’m indoors. Comparatively, the iPhone 3G and BlackBerry Curve 8900 have no trouble whatsoever in the same location. When I’m out and about, however, the myTouch locks on quickly. You might wonder why I care about getting a GPS lock indoors and you’re not alone. Doug thinks I’m crazy, but when you enter a building on 3rd Avenue, for example, that doesn’t mean you’ll be facing 3rd Avenue. It’s weird, I know, but I like to know where I am in the building. But the GPS works just fine the way it’s meant to work. I’m just being nitpicky.

Jumping from the G1 to the myTouch can be a little awkward for the first few hours. The button layout is obviously different since the myTouch sports seven physical buttons to the G1’s six. The buttons are tiny, but they’re spaced out accordingly so you won’t be hitting the wrong button. The trackball is much bigger and has a soft coating finish that makes it feel silky smooth.

HTC’s hardware has a come a long way — the myTouch is a sexy little device. It feels good in the hand with a polished plastic case. The chin isn’t as pronounced as it is on the G1 or Hero. Additionally, HTC rounded off the top of the device in an almost chin-like manner, making the bottom seem smaller as a result.

HTC isn’t known for producing great camera phones. You know it. Hell, they know it. I’ve heard them talk about it. So it should come as no surprise that the myTouch’s 3.2-megapixel autofocus camera is so-so. Without a physical camera button, you’ll want to make a shortcut on your home screen for the camera. Picture quality is decent enough to send to friends via MMS or upload to Facebook. Same deal with video.

Overall performance (when it comes to apps) on the myTouch is the same as it is on the G1. However, the myTouch fires up in about 52 seconds with the G1 following up around the one minute mark. Certain apps open quicker on the myTouch than the G1, but it goes both ways. There’s roughly 280MB of onboard storage and that’s nearly not enough if you’re downloading tons of apps. Unfortunately, the myTouch doesn’t play well with 16GB microSD cards. In fact, it completely chorks on them.

Conclusion

So, with all of that being said, should current G1 owners upgrade to the myTouch 3G? If you don’t mind a cramped virtual keyboard (portrait only, landscope is fine) and you’re in dire need of Exchange support, then go for it. If I was new to the whole T-Mobile/Android scene, I’d go with the myTouch. It’s smaller, sexier, and way better looking than the G1. You’ll miss the QWERTY keyboard at first, but you’ll adapt. It’s not as bad as you’d expect.

The T-Mobile myTouch 3G with Google will be available on August 5 for $200 at T-Mobile, Best Buy, Walmart, Costco and Sam’s Club.

If there’s something we missed that you would like to know about then please leave a comment and we’ll do our best to check it out for you.

Note: As we promised we would when we declared our dislike for non-3.5mm headset jacks back in May, we must point out that the myTouch uses the HTC extUSB port for audio. To use your own headphones, you’ll need an adaptor, and that just plain sucks. However - HTC has since told us that they’ll be going with 3.5mm jacks on as many future handsets as possible, so we’ll cut them some slack.

Update: It appears the myTouch doesn’t take kindly to rough petting of the trackball. When quickly scrolling through emails via trackball the myTouch likes to open up random emails and bring up “Labels”. What’s up with that?

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 23 Jul 2009 | 8:27 pm

U of Michigan and Amazon To Offer 400,000 OOP Books

eldavojohn writes "Four hundred thousand rare, out of print books may soon be available for purchase ranging anywhere from $10 to $45 apiece. The article lists a rare Florence Nightingale book on Nursing which normally sells for thousands due to its rarity. The [University of Michigan] librarian, Mr. Courant said, 'The agreement enables us to increase access to public domain books and other publications that have been digitised. We are very excited to be offering this service as a new way to increase access to the rich collections of the university library.' The University of Michigan has a library where Google is scanning rare books and was the aim of heavy criticism. (Some of the Google-scanned books are to be sold on Amazon.) How the authors guild and publishers react to Amazon's Surge offering softcover reprints of out of print books remains to be seen."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 23 Jul 2009 | 8:25 pm

NASA's Chandra Observatory is 10

NASA is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its Chandra X-ray Observatory, already in a mission twice as long as originally planned. On July 23, 1999, Chandra was launched aboard the space shuttle Columbia and deployed into orbit.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 23 Jul 2009 | 8:09 pm

Toucan's Giant Bill Keeps It Cool

The gigantic schnoz of the toucan helps the bird lose its body heat.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 23 Jul 2009 | 8:05 pm

Best Ways to Make Music on an iPhone

The iPhone isn't about to disrupt the market for trombones, but it opens up music production by demystifying loop-based music creation. Anyone with access to an iPhone or iPod Touch can make their own electronic tunes.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 23 Jul 2009 | 8:04 pm

The Contradiction Of Loyalty

In the wake of the Iraq invasion, many U.S. citizens who disagreed with the Bush Administration's decision detached themselves from politics. On the other hand, a surprising number of people became more patriotic in spite of their objections.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 23 Jul 2009 | 7:57 pm

Amazon UK Refunds Windows License Fee, With Little Hassle

christian.einfeldt writes "Alan Lord, a FOSS computer consultant based in the UK, has announced that Amazon UK honored his request for a refund of the Microsoft license fee portion of the cost of a new Asus netbook PC that came with Microsoft Windows XP. Lord details the steps that he took to obtain a refund of 40.00 GBP for the cost of the EULA, complete with links to click to request a refund. Lord's refund comes 10 years after the initial flurry of activity surrounding EULA discounts, started by a blog post by Australian computer consultant Geoffrey Bennett which appeared on Slashdot on 18 January 1999. That Slashdot story led to mainstream press coverage, such as stories in CNN, the New York Times Online, and the San Francisco Chronicle, to name just a few. The issue quieted down for a few years, but has started to gain some momentum again in recent years, with judges in France, Italy, and Israel awarding refunds. But if Lord's experience is any indication, getting a refund through Amazon might be as easy as filling out a few forms, at least in the UK, without any need to go to court."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 23 Jul 2009 | 7:36 pm

Schiller plugs Apple's updated video, audio suites - CNET News

Product Reviews

Schiller plugs Apple's updated video, audio suites CNET News Apple has a history of appealing to creative professionals and has reiterated its interest in these core customers with the release of two major suites. On Thursday, Apple updated its high-end video production suite, Final Cut Studio, ... Apple ships new Final Cut Studio with advanced codec supportArs Technica Apple Updates Final Cut StudioPC Magazine Apple Releases New Versions of Final Cut Studio, Logic StudioeWeek ChannelWeb -BetaNews -TG Daily all 147 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 23 Jul 2009 | 7:27 pm

Long Beak Helps a Toucan Keep It Cool - New York Times

Telegraph.co.uk

Long Beak Helps a Toucan Keep It Cool New York Times A toucan as seen with infrared thermography. The warmer areas are in yellows, and the cooler areas are purples. By HENRY FOUNTAIN The toucan's oversize bill is a source of amusement for many, but for scientists it's more a source of amazement, ... Giant Toucan Bills Help Birds Keep Their CoolNational Geographic Hot secret behind toucan's billBBC News Who can cool his body fast? ToucanThe Associated Press Bloomberg -Daily Mail -Science News all 110 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 23 Jul 2009 | 7:26 pm

Social Research Suggests New Research Framework To Study Complex Systems

The often-used one-size-fits-all approach to policies aimed at achieving sustainable social-ecological systems needs to be updated with a diagnostic tool to help scholars from multiple disciplines better frame the question and think through the variables, asserts social scientist and political economist Elinor Ostrom."Scholars have tended to develop simple theoretical models to analyze aspects of resource problems and to prescribe universal solutions," Ostrom writes in a Perspective article appearing in the July 24 Science special section on complexity."A common, classificatory framework is needed to facilitate multidisciplinary efforts toward a better understanding of complex social-ecological systems," writes Ostrom, who holds research and faculty positions at Arizona State University and Indiana University."Understanding a complex whole requires knowledge about specific variables and how their component parts are related," she says.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 23 Jul 2009 | 7:24 pm

Hacker Says iPhone 3GS Encryption Is ‘Useless’ for Businesses

Apple claims that hundreds of thousands of iPhones are being used by corporations and government agencies. What it won’t tell you is that the supposedly enterprise-friendly encryption included with the iPhone 3GS is so weak it can be cracked in two minutes with a few pieces of readily available freeware.

“It is kind of like storing all your secret messages right next to the secret decoder ring,” said Jonathan Zdziarski, an iPhone developer and a hacker who teaches forensics courses on recovering data from iPhones. “I don’t think any of us [developers] have ever seen encryption implemented so poorly before, which is why it’s hard to describe why it’s such a big threat to security.”

With its easy-to-use interface and wealth of applications available for download, the iPhone may be the most attractive smartphone yet for business use. Many companies seem to agree: In Apple’s quarterly earnings conference call Tuesday, Apple chief operating officer Tim Cook said almost 20 percent of Fortune 100 companies have purchased 10,000 or more iPhones apiece; multiple corporations and government organizations have purchased 25,000 iPhones each; and the iPhone has been approved in more than 300 higher education institutions.

But contrary to Apple’s claim that the new iPhone 3GS is more enterprise friendly, the new iPhone 3GS’ encryption feature is “broken” when it comes to protecting sensitive information such as credit card numbers and social-security digits, Zdziarski said.

Zdziarski said it’s just as easy to access a user’s private information on an iPhone 3GS as it was on the previous generation iPhone 3G or first generation iPhone, both of which didn’t feature encryption. If a thief got his hands on an iPhone, a little bit of free software is all that’s needed to tap into all of the user’s content. Live data can be extracted in as little as two minutes, and an entire raw disk image can be made in about 45 minutes, Zdziarski said.

Wondering where the encryption comes into play? It doesn’t. Strangely, once one begins extracting data from an iPhone 3GS, the iPhone begins to decrypt the data on its own, he said.

To steal an iPhone’s disk image, hackers can use popular jailbreaking tools such as Red Sn0w and Purple Ra1n to install a custom kernel on the phone. Then, the thief can install an Secure Shell (SSH) client to port the iPhone’s raw disk image across SSH onto a computer.

To demonstrate the technique, Zdziarski established a screenshare with Wired.com, and he was able to tap into an iPhone 3GS’ data with a few easy steps. The encryption did not pose any hindrance.

Nonetheless, professionals using the iPhone for business don’t seem to care, or know, about the device’s encryption weakness.

“We’re seeing growing interest with the release of iPhone 3.0 and the iPhone 3GS due in part to the new hardware encryption and improved security policies,” Cook said during Apple’s earnings call. “The phone is particularly doing well with small businesses and large organizations.”

Clearly, the gigantic offering of iPhone applications is luring these business groups. Quickoffice Mobile, for example, enables users to access and edit Microsoft Word or Excel files on their iPhone. For handling transactions, merchants can use apps such as Accept Credit Cards to process a credit card on an iPhone anywhere with a Wi-Fi or cellular connection.

Several employees of Halton Company, an industrial equipment provider, are using iPhones for work, according to Lance Kidd, chief information officer of the company. He said the large number of applications available for the iPhone make it worthy of risk-taking.

“Your organization has to be culturally ready to accept a certain degree of risk,” Kidd said. “I can say we’ve secured everything as tight as a button, but that won’t be true…. Our culture is such that our general manager is saying, ‘I’m willing to take the risk for the value of the applications.’”

Kidd noted that Halton employees are not using iPhones for holding confidential customer information, but rather for basic tasks such as e-mailing and engaging with clients via social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Halton also plans to code apps strictly for use at the company, Kidd said.

According to Kidd, a security expert performed an evaluation of Halton, and he said it was possible for any hacker to find an infiltration no matter the level of security. Therefore, Halton has measures in place to respond to an information security threat rather than attempt to avoid it.

“It’s like business continuity,” Kidd said. “You prepare for disasters. You prepare for if there’s an earthquake and the building breaks down, and you prepare for if there’s a crack in [information] security.”

But Zdziarski stands firm that the iPhone’s software versatility isn’t worth the risk for use in the workforce. He said sensitive information is bound to appear in e-mails or anything that can be contained on the iPhone’s disk, which can be easily extracted by thieves thanks to the new handset’s shoddy encryption.

Zdziarski said it’s up to the app developers to add an extra level of security to their apps because Apple’s encryption feature is so poor.

“If they’re relying on Apple’s security, then their application is going to be terribly insecure,” he said. “Apple may be technically correct that [the iPhone 3GS] has an encryption piece in it, but it’s entirely useless toward security.”

He added that the ability for the iPhone to self-erase itself remotely using Apple’s MobileMe service isn’t very helpful, either: Any reasonably intelligent criminal would remove the SIM card to prevent the remote-wipe command from coming through. (In a past Wired.com report, Zdziarski said the iPhone’s remote-wiping ability pales in comparison to Research In Motion’s BlackBerry, which can self-delete automatically after the phone has been inactive on the network for a preset amount of time.)

On top of that, the iPhone isn’t well protected in general usability, said John Casasanta, founder of iPhone development company Tap Tap Tap. He said though Apple’s approval process scans for malicious code, a developer could easily tweak the app to send a user’s personal data, such as his contacts list, over the network without his knowing.

“Apple can see if something is blatantly doing something malicious in the approval process, but it wouldn’t be very hard to do something behind the scenes,” Casasanta said.

Evidently, it isn’t difficult to sneak unauthorized content into the App Store. In May, Wired.com reported on an exploit demonstrated by the iPhone app Lyrics. Apple initially rejected the app because it contained profane words, and then Lyrics’ developer snuck the profanity into the app with a hidden Easter egg. Apple then approved the application.

Zdziarski added that there are other weaknesses with the iPhone: Pressing the Home button, and even zooming in on a screen, automatically creates a screenshot temporarily stored in the iPhone’s memory, which can be accessed later. And then there’s the keyboard cache: key strokes logged in a file on the phone, which can contain information such as credit card numbers or confidential messages typed in Safari. Cached keyboard text can be recovered from a device dating back a year or more, Zdziarski said.

Though Apple has declined to comment on iPhone security issues, the company has more or less admitted iPhones are vulnerable to security threats, because an emergency measure exists. In August 2008, Apple CEO Steve Jobs acknowledged the existence of a remote kill switch for iPhone apps, meaning if a malicious app made its way onto iPhones, Apple could trigger a command to delete the app from users’ devices. There is no evidence that the kill switch has ever been used.

So, what kind of business should you do with an iPhone if the device is not very secure? Zdziarski said there are some business-savvy apps that have managed to integrate better security (such as secure data fields to prevent key-stroke logging of credit card numbers, for example), but he warned companies to be cautious about investing too much trust in the iPhone and the apps available for it.

“We’re going to have to go with the old imperative of ‘Trust no one,’” he said. “And unfortunately part of that is, don’t trust Apple.”

See Also:

• Apple’s iPhone Security Gets Better, But Still Not BlackBerry …
• Massive iPhone Security Flaw Exposes Your Private Data - Here’s …
• Hacker Will Break iPhone Security on Video
• Apple Admits iPhone Security Flaw, Says Fix Coming in September …
• IPhone Can Take Screenshots of Anything You Do
• Help Wanted: iPhone Hacker for Apple

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 23 Jul 2009 | 7:20 pm

Hacker Says iPhone 3GS Encryption Is 'Useless' for Businesses

Apple reports that businesses and government agencies are buying lots of the popular iPhone for employees and staffers. What's attracting them? The new iPhone's security features and data encryption. Too bad they're useless, says a hacker, who does not advise using the iPhone for business.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 23 Jul 2009 | 7:20 pm

Hacker Says iPhone 3GS Encryption Is 'Useless' for Businesses

Apple reports that businesses and government agencies are buying lots of the popular iPhone for employees and staffers. What's attracting them? The new iPhone's security features and data encryption. Too bad they're useless, says a hacker, who does not advise using the iPhone for business.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 23 Jul 2009 | 7:20 pm

Synchronized Swimming Of Algae

Striking high-speed footage shows 2 patterns of flagellar coordinationUsing high-speed cinematography, scientists at Cambridge University have discovered that individual algal cells can regulate the beating of their flagella in and out of synchrony in a manner that controls their swimming trajectories.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 23 Jul 2009 | 7:15 pm

Study Shows Strong Evidence That cloud Changes May Exacerbate Global Warming

The role of clouds in climate change has been a major question for decades.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 23 Jul 2009 | 7:15 pm

US Airways announces plans for in-flight Wi-Fi

Section: Communications, Email / IM, Smartphones, Computers, Laptops, Netbooks, Web

Whether you are traveling on a business trip or on a family vacation, accessing the Internet may not only be a luxury, but a necessity for some.  With that in mind, many airlines have been trying to equip their planes with Wi-Fi in order to make the flight experience better.  Today, US Airways announced they would be partnering with AirCell to provide their Wi-Fi serice, Gogo, to all users starting in 2010.

With access to Wi-Fi, a lot is possible using your Wi-Fi capable laptop/netbook or smartphone.  For instance, users can send and receive email, download attachments, have a webcam conference, or IM with friends.  For the business person, having access to email while on a flight can be very important, as well as conferencing with your co-workers.  In addition, letting your children play on the computer is a great way to keep them entertained. 

The first US Airways airplane to actually carry the Gogo Wi-Fi service will be the Airbus A321.  Throughout 2010, many US Airways airplanes will carry Wi-Fi.  When selecting a plane to fly, whether or not it supports Wi-Fi will be clearly labeled.  Of course, Wi-Fi usage will not be free, but it is relatively inexpensive.  Depending on the device you are using to connect to the Internet as well as the duration of the flight, you can expect costs to be somewhere between $6-$13. 

Via [Electronista]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 23 Jul 2009 | 7:12 pm

People Emit Visible Light

An Anonymous Reader writes "The human body literally glows, emitting a visible light in extremely small quantities at levels that rise and fall with the day, scientists now reveal. Japanese researchers have shown that the body emits visible light, 1,000 times less intense than the levels to which our naked eyes are sensitive. In fact, virtually all living creatures emit very weak light, which is thought to be a byproduct of biochemical reactions involving free radicals."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 23 Jul 2009 | 7:10 pm

Technology On Way To Forecasting Humanity's Needs

Much as meteorologists predict the path and intensity of hurricanes, Indiana University's Alessandro Vespignani believes we will one day predict with unprecedented foresight, specificity and scale such things as the economic and social effects of billions of new Internet users in China and India, or the exact location and number of airline flights to cancel around the world in order to halt the spread of a pandemic.In tomorrow's (July 24) "Perspectives" section of the journal Science, Vespignani writes that advances in complex networks theory and modeling, along with access to new data, will enable humans to achieve true predictive power in areas never before imagined.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 23 Jul 2009 | 7:10 pm

Spring Cold Snap Helps With Stream Ecosystem Research

A rare April freeze in 2007 provided researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory with further evidence that climate change could have negative effects on stream and forest ecosystems.As warm weather arrives sooner in many parts of the nation, forest plants and trees on the banks flourish, shading the stream from sunlight and causing an overall decrease in productivity in the late spring and summer.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 23 Jul 2009 | 7:00 pm

Archaeologists Find Ancient Roman Ships Near Island

Archaeologists have discovered a “graveyard of ships” believed to have been transporting wine and other precious goods during the time between the first century AD and the fifth century AD."The ships appear to have been heading for safe anchorage, but they never made it," Timmy Gambin, head of archaeology for the Aurora Trust told Reuters.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 23 Jul 2009 | 7:00 pm

The Secret of Monkey Island launches on iPhone, raids our wallet

Late last night and seemingly out of nowhere, the iPhone-port of The Secret of Monkey Island appeared in the App Store. Coming in at a whopping 400MB, you’re going to want to camp out next to a nice, fast WiFi hotspot if you decide to buy this - which you absolutely, positively should.

We’ll admit it: we’re only about 15% of the way through this version of the game. But having played through DOS version roughly nine thousand times, we can say without a doubt that this is the best version we’ve ever played. The graphics have seen a complete (and gorgeous) overhaul, and the entire script has been done up with some outstanding voice acting. Don’t like the new look? Voices not matching up with the ones in your head? Double-finger swipe the screen at any time. BAM! You’re back to the original stylings, and can swap back and forth on the fly.

Before you jump in, note that the controls aren’t exactly what most people envision. You don’t just tap the screen to activate an object; instead, you’re moving a mouse cursor through relative movements on the touchscreen, much like any of the many VNC iPhone apps. It’s a bit wonky at first, but it maintains the mechanics of the original game better than a tap-to-activate method would have.

If you’ve never played the original or never managed to finish, buy this. $8 bucks for a classic game, overhauled, and made portable? That’s a friggin’ steal.

iTunes Link

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 23 Jul 2009 | 6:51 pm

WATCH: Remembering Walter Cronkite

Walter Cronkite on fish farming, environmental awareness, energy and more.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 23 Jul 2009 | 6:45 pm

Strange Eye-Shaped Galaxy Has Black Hole Iris

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope captures a crazy looking galaxy shaped like an eye with a massive black hole in the center.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 23 Jul 2009 | 6:30 pm

AT&T’s Q2 Earnings: Millions of iPhones sold, Billions of dollars made

AT&Ts Second Quarter Earnings are up. There’s not much to be said here beyond what the numbers clearly show: AT&T is doing well (though profits dropped about 16% from the same quarter last year), largely on the success of the iPhone.

On to the facts:

• 2.4 million iPhones were activated in the last quarter, with the iPhone 3GS credited for much of it.
• Quarter-to-quarter, AT&T gained 1.4 million customers. In the past year, they’ve gone up 6.7 million. Total subscriber count is now 79.6 million.
• Wireless data (messaging, internet, etc) brought in $3.4 billion in revenue, making up around 11% of AT&Ts total quarter revenue of $30.7 billion
• AT&T’s ARPU (average monthly revenues per subscriber) is currently around $60.21, which is 2.3% higher than last year’s.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 23 Jul 2009 | 6:26 pm

MajicWheels remote controlled car climbs up walls, ceilings

Section: Gadgets / Other, Household, Transportation

Remote controlled cars are cool, but can yours climb up walls or even stick to ceilings?  MajicWheels is introducing a new remote control car that has adhesive wheels.  Not only are they marketing the toy car, but they also are offering the wheels so you can re-invent whatever wheeled object you have.  I expect that it’s only a matter of time before we see a Roomba climbing up the walls to help clean off spider-webs and dust. 

MajicWheels claims that their wheels do not use a loud vacuum and that when the wheels are adhering to a surface, it is silent.  Unfortunately, the wheels require adhesive refills.  Since MajicWheels owns a patent on this technology, here’s hoping it’s more than just flypaper stuck to wheels. 

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 23 Jul 2009 | 6:17 pm

Dozens of Cases Spoil Features of Next-Gen iPod Nano, Touch

Need more evidence that camera-equipped iPod Touch and iPod Nano units are in production? Cult of Mac’s Leander Kahney has posted images of dozens of iPod cases produced in China, which appear to be designed for the next-generation Touch and Nano devices. Yes, they contain camera holes, corroborating previous rumor reports that the iPod Touch and Nano would gain cameras. Check out Cult of Mac’s gallery and your skepticism will gradually fade into non-existence.

See Also:

• Rumor Repeat: iPod Nano to Gain a Camera
• Rumor: iPods Nano and Touch to Gain Cameras
• Apple Preparing iPod Touch With Camera, Microphone: Source …

Photo: Cult of Mac

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 23 Jul 2009 | 6:12 pm

Toucan Beak Is New Kind of 'Heating Bill'

The toucan's oddly long bill helps regulate its temperature.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 23 Jul 2009 | 6:00 pm

Budget-friendly HTC Click steals more camera time

Can’t get enough of the wallet-friendly HTC Click? We hear you. Sure, it’s kinda small, and maybe it’s not the most exciting design ever - but it’s (supposedly) only going to cost a buck shy of $100, and it’s fueled by Android.

We still don’t have any verified details about this guy, but we do have another picture of it. For bonus points, this shot is the exact opposite of the blurrycam shots we’ve come to expect. Shot with a decent camera, the light in all the right places - for once, the blur is in all the right places. We’re pretty wary that this thing isn’t coming stateside (HTC likes to make economy phones for developing countries), but we can hope.

So what do you think - would you be able to use Android with a D-Pad instead of a scroll ball?

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 23 Jul 2009 | 5:13 pm

Windows 7 progress continues, has been officially Released To Manufacturing

Section: Computers, Software / Applications

Microsoft has officially announced that Windows 7 has been released to manufacturing and while this news is nothing earth shattering, it is still nice to see that progress is being made and that things seem to be on track for the official release which is coming up on October 22.

“Steven Sinofsky, President of the Windows Division, has just announced on the Engineering Windows 7 Blog that Windows 7 has reached the Release to Manufacturing (RTM) milestone.”

Finally, just in case you were not super excited about this announcement, the Microsoft employees put together a small video showing off their excitement.  Now comes the question, should you upgrade or just keep what you already have?  Personally, I will be upgrading, of course, I have already been using Windows 7 on a daily basis since January.

Read [Microsoft]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 23 Jul 2009 | 5:04 pm

WATCH: Urban Agriculture Blooms

Take a tour of New York City's sustainable agriculture barge.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 23 Jul 2009 | 5:00 pm

Sam Raimi to direct World of Warcraft film

FROM GAMERTELL - The World of Warcraft movie has taken a critical step toward actually being good, bringing in acclaimed Spider-Man director Sam Raimi…
MORE »

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 23 Jul 2009 | 4:37 pm

Methane Mystery: L.A. Emitting Twice as Much

L.A. may be emitting as much as twice methane as previously estimated.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 23 Jul 2009 | 4:32 pm

Pig Cells Implanted in Diabetics

Although still in the trial phase, pig cells may help delay the effects of Type 1 diabetes.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 23 Jul 2009 | 4:30 pm

It's a bird...it's a plane...it's iGoogle comics themes!

We have always been excited to introduce design flair and whimsy to our user experience, especially on our homepage. Be it through our special holiday logos or special themes for our iGoogle users, we like to open up our homepage as a canvas for artists to express themselves and reach their fans and Google users around the world. Today, I'm particularly excited to announce the new comics themes for iGoogle, just in time for Comic-Con's 40th anniversary.

The themes showcase the amazingly diverse world of comics. Browse our gallery (www.google.com/comicsthemes) to choose from nostalgic comic strips like Peanuts, iconic heroes like Batman and Iron Man, or alternative comics greats like Dan Clowes, author of the graphic novel, "Ghost World." The dozens of themes represent talented artists from around the world including Rumiko Takahashi from Japan and Lewis Trondheim of France.

To offer his unique perspective as one of the world's most accomplished comics artists, I'm pleased to introduce guest author Jim Lee. In addition to being a recognized industry veteran, he also drew today's beautiful homepage logo incorporating some of DC Comics' most famous characters.

During his 20 year career, Jim has worked with DC and Marvel Comics, co-founded Image Comics and also WildStorm Comics – one of our iGoogle themes. His Batman, Superman, X-Men, Iron Man, Fantastic Four and WildC.A.T.s issues have sold millions of copies. Jim is a recipient of the Harvey Award, Golden Panel Award and is widely respected for his contributions as an artist, a creator and a publisher of comics.

An artist's POV by Jim Lee

Even as the world of comics evolves and embraces a new digital era, it doesn't change the universal, international appeal of the unique art form that is created through the simple marriage of word and picture. I'm excited to have been chosen to help launch this wonderful project. But I'm more elated, both as a professional and as a fan, that so many different types of comics have been chosen to be part of the iGoogle comics themes launch. From the mainstream superhero world of DC that I work in to the mainstays of the newspaper funnies from my childhood, to the Tokyopop manga titles I collect with my teenage daughters to the esoteric and more literary works of Dan Clowes and Gene Yang, two of my favorites; I think the breadth of choices available demonstrates the amazing diversity and the fundamental vitality of the stories comics can tell.


Posted by Marissa Mayer, Vice President of Search Products and User Experience, and Jim Lee, Comics Creator/Publisher
Source: The Official Google Blog | 23 Jul 2009 | 4:14 pm

Review: three weeks with Audio-Technica's ATH-ANC3 noise-canceling headphones

Audio-Technica's ATH-ANC3 headphones, the third in our review series (after the Etymotic hf2 and Ultimate Ears super.fi5), were the first I encountered with active noise canceling. Active noise canceling (ANC) headphones produce an inverted sound wave based on exterior sounds. While the hf2 and super.fi5 create a seal around the audio canal to tone down the outside world, the ATH-ANC3 attacks the situation head-on.

It has a little unit on its cord, with a power switch for the noise canceling, and a monitor button that turns the ANC off. The noise-canceling sound wave results in hiss when no music is playing. Audio is amplified, so that sounds are more powerful at low levels.

The ATH-ANC3's noise canceling is terrific. On a commuter jet, these headphones were much more assertive at shutting out the plane's 87 db white noise than several noise isolating models. I'm typing this three feet from an in-window air conditioner, and I can barely hear the compressor or fan, while my music is powerful and clear. The headphones also did a pretty good job in the office, where conversations and abrupt noises were more prevalent. Coupled with the audio amplification, they were almost universally effective.

The same can be said for the ATH-ANC3's overall sound: they're wonderfully balanced, satisfying headphones for a wide spectrum of music. Sounds across the spectrum were crisp and clean, with a good balance of low-end oomph and general richness. I didn't find a single song that didn't sound good through them, even a 56 kbps mp3 recorded off an old vinyl 45. Performance is equally good at low and high volumes.

Wind is the ATH-ANC3's Achilles' heel. I found it next to impossible to wear these headphones on my bicycle. As best I could tell, the microphone that processes the external noise had trouble understanding the variable wind and ended up amplifying rather than canceling it. I couldn't hear my low-volume music, and the wind noise actually felt louder than if my ears were bare. With the ANC turned off, the headphones lost a lot of their dynamic range, diminishing their performance. They're best used with the ANC on.

The Audio-Technica ATH-ANC3 active noise canceling headphones come with an extra cord segment, rubber earbuds in three sizes, an airplane seat adapter jack, and a large, four-pocketed hard case. They're very comfortable and don't create fatigue over time. Which is an extra perk, since they're perfect for long-haul flights. Highly recommended for travelers, and anyone who likes to get great sound that overcomes noisy environments.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 23 Jul 2009 | 3:38 pm

Baidu, Yahoo, and Yandex bring search to Splashtop Instant On OS

Section: Computers, Software / Applications, Web, Websites

The Splashtop OS by DeviceVM is bringing “Instant Search” to its desktop.  They have partnered up with Baidu, Yahoo, and Yandex to bring a search bar to their desktop.  The search bar will be available even if a web browser is not launched.  The different search engines will be used in different markets.  Baidu is a major search engine in China and Yandex is a Russian search engine.  Splashtop is already on many PCs manufactured by Acer, Asus, HP, Lenovo, LG, and Sony.  The OS allows the user to access basic applications in seconds without booting into the full Windows OS.

Company Site: [Splashtop.com]
Read: [Press Release]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 23 Jul 2009 | 3:08 pm

BIG PIC: Jupiter's Bruise

Gemini captures images of an enormous bruise on Jupiter.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 23 Jul 2009 | 3:02 pm

Once upon a time, the NHSA wanted to ban the use of cellphones while driving

Seven years ago the National Highway Safety Administration called for a complete and total ban on the use of cellphones while driving. That includes hands-free kits, too. Now, a lot has changed in the seven years since this draft proposal was made—for one, the number of cellphones in the U.S. has gone from 170 million to 270 million.

The NHSA made the call because it wasn’t convinced that at-the-time legislation would effectively stamp out unsafe driving behavior. People would either ignore it and get into the habit of talking while driving, or they’d gravitate to hands-free devices and still drive unsafely. (Walking on the sidewalk while talking on the phone is hard enough, so I can’t even imagine trying to drive and talk.)

Anyhow, here’s the language of the report that concerns us:

We recommend that drivers not use these devices when driving, except in an emergency. Moreover, we are convinced that legislation forbidding the use of handheld cell phones while driving may not be effective in improving highway safety since it will not address the problem. In fact, such legislation may erroneously imply that hands-free phones are safe to use while driving.

There’s been non-stop research about the safety of cellphone use while driving. Car and Driver recently noted that texting and driving—was SMS as big in 2002 as it is in 2009?—is less safe than drinking and driving. So maybe the NHSA was right all along.

And, really, what’s wrong with not being able to flap your gums for a couple minutes while you drive to the toy store?

Flickr

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 23 Jul 2009 | 3:00 pm

Is this the HTC Leo aka Firestone?

Here’s a rendering of the purported Snapdragon powered HTC Leo aka Firestone. According to WMPowerUser’s sources, the Firestone will be a media-centric device with hot-swappable microSD card and rather large speakers on the front and back. Aside from the 1GHz Qualcomm processor, the WinMo device will include a 5-megapixel AF camera with dual-LED flash, Wi-Fi, BT and a 4.3-inch WVGA capacitive screen.

WMPU via Vincent Nguyen

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 23 Jul 2009 | 2:34 pm

BLOG: Plug Your iPod Into This Swimsuit

A solar-powered swimsuit comes with a miniature plug-in for your MP3 player.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 23 Jul 2009 | 2:30 pm

The 49-Port USB 2.0 hub by Cambrionix

Section: Gadgets / Other, Miscellaneous, Peripherals

Arranged in a 7 x 7 matrix, the Cambrionix 49-Port USB 2.0 hub is something to see.  Cambrionix is positioning this thing as a “Test & Development Hub,” so they aren’t trying to push the D-Links and Belkins of the world out of business.  The 49-Port USB hub is designed for a testing environment so each port has “independent protective features.”  Whatever USB monstrosity you are creating shouldn’t cause any harm to any other device you already have plugged into other ports.  At 399 British pounds (about $660 US), it’s definitely not cheap.  However, if you are developing gadgets, then it’s probably worth its high price to protect your devices from each other. 

Product Page [Cambrionix 49-Port USB 2.0 hub]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 23 Jul 2009 | 2:11 pm

BLOG: Tech Destroys Email After Reading

A new program makes emails and other posts automatically self-destruct.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 23 Jul 2009 | 2:00 pm

Recently on Offworld: export Spore to Maya, Sam Raimi's Warcraft, low-tech shoegaze

Recently on Offworld the first bits of games news have started to trickle in from Comic-Con, as Alien Hominid creators The Behemoth announce that their Xbox Live Arcade hit Castle Crashers is coming to the PlayStation 3, as they also show off more videos of the chaotic-cuteness of their upcoming multiplayer party Game 3 (with a retro-lounge soundtrack by Combustible Edison).

We also saw the developers at Maxis open their game even wider and include the ability to export your Spore creature to Maya or any Collada-supporting 3D package (above), fully mapped and posable, to do with it what you will, saw Evil Dead director Sam Raimi tapped to make a World of Warcraft movie, and saw Cartoon Network series Metalocalypse coming to PSN and XBLA courtesy developer Frozen Codebase.

Then we wrapped up a very musical Wednesday with yet another chiptune tribute album on the horizon, this time 8-bit covers of The Prodigy, listened to cancer charity CD Songs for the Cure including tracks by World of Goo creator Kyle Gabler, and, best of all, discovered a new, free EP by local favorite low-tech shoegaze band Tree Wave.

And finally: a NES made of paper and James Kay's papercraft Game Boy bird, and our 'one shot's for the day: Commander Video's glitch ritual, and a gorgeous tribute to Chrono Trigger.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 23 Jul 2009 | 1:48 pm

Female Cats Are Right-Pawed, Males Are Lefties

Female cats tend to use their right front paw while male cats prefer their left.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 23 Jul 2009 | 1:00 pm

Salaryman Watch: NES Controller Business Card Holder

OK, we were wrong. We said, prematurely, that the business card was dead, when in fact all it needed was a new case. The NES Controller Type Card Case, to be exact, a ¥2,900 ($31) anodized aluminum folder with a pair of compartments within — one for your cards, and one for those you receive.

There are two designs, neither of which do more than the other. Each looks like an NES controller, but one has a fake mic and volume switch in addition to the fake D-Pad.

You know where we’re going here, though, right? The case should actually be a fully functioning controller, for an iPhone or a Nintendo DS, perhaps. And if you’re going to put a USB plug on there, throw in some flash memory at the same time. Then it could be a little closer to justifying the price-tag.

Product page [GeekStuff4U via Akihabara News]
See Also:

• Augmented Reality Business Cards: WoW For Suits?
• LEGO Business Card
• How to Make a Business Card Vanish, Palm a Coin

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 23 Jul 2009 | 12:33 pm

The ‘Time Switch’ Is Exactly The Same as Any Other Switch

The Time Switch is a design which has its purpose fully 180º backwards. The designer, Ryan Harc, conceived the switch to stop time when the poor chap was up against a deadline (aside: if designing a new kind of light switch is his response to looming deadlines, we suggest some procrastination counselling, starting tomorrow).

The idea is that flipping it will “stop” time. In fact, hitting the off switch just, erm, switches the thing off, just like every other device.

What Harc should have done was simply reverse the wiring, hook the back-projected switch up to an actual light, and have the time actually stop when the lamp is fired up. That way, the display would freeze when you switched on the light, perhaps guilting people into turning it off a little earlier.

Of course, this wouldn’t work with everyone. John Brownlee, for instance, gadget blogger extraordinaire, still can’t shake his wasteful US upbringing despite several years spent in eco-fanatic Berlin. He recently spent a week as a house-guest in my home and would regularly run into a room, switch on all the lights and then leave, closing the door behind him. In the daytime. True story.

Product page [7760 via Noquedanblogs]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 23 Jul 2009 | 11:04 am

Bubble-Like Touch-Screen Buttons Reconfigure On-the-Fly

What if you could take the almost infinite re-configurability of a touch-screen and marry it to the tactile, no-looking-needed interface of the old-fashioned button? Researchers at Carnegie Mellon university have done just that, using what at first looks like a big, flat balloon:

The display is made up of several layers, the topmost of which is a latex sheet. Below that lies a sheet of acrylic with holes cut in it where the buttons are to go. Pumping air in and out of the device causes the buttons to expand and stick out (or get sucked in, like an inny belly-button). And because the latex is translucent, images can be rear-projected onto these “buttons”.

It’s not quite as configurable as a touch-screen, as the design is limited to where you place the button-holes (ha!). But the rear projection offers a fair degree of on-the-fly customization and the moving buttons could prove very helpful in, say, a car where you don’t want to take your eyes from the road. Optical sensing tech inside means that there is also multi-touch functionality. Try that with a regular keypad. Finally, the semi-3D images that can be laid onto the buttons, like the global map in the clip, are just plain rad.

Next For Touchscreens: Temporary Pop-Up Buttons? [Pop Mech]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 23 Jul 2009 | 10:14 am

Pedal-Powered Monorail in New Zealand

The Shweeb is a person-powered monorail. The theme-park ride is a combination of the most futuristic of transports and the oldest: pedal-power meets sky-train.

The Shweeb lives in the Agroventures Adventure Park, Rotorua, New Zealand, and is essentially a row of recumbent bikes inside a clear plastic bubble, suspended from a rail. The efficiency means that a team can run at around 40kph (25mph) without too much effort, and in fact the track record for one man is 36kph (22mph). Because of this speed, the capsules swing out around the corners and the result apparently gives you quite the rush.

The tech page on the ride’s site bangs on about the transportation of the future, but is is? the beauty of the bike is that you can go anywhere, when you like. A monorail, whether powered by oil, coal or legs, is still public transport and still tied to a track. Yes, it’s safer, it’s dry in the rain and it looks like a lot of fun, but the transport of the future is already here. It has two wheels, and it’s called a bike.

Product page [Shweeb via Oh Gizmo!]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 23 Jul 2009 | 9:36 am

DIY Key-Logger Kit Lets You Spy From Afar

Q: What’s the difference between the USB cable on the left and the USB cable on the right? A: When you plug the one on the right between keyboard and computer, it will transmit every key press to a remote receiver, one secret password or adult URL at a time.

The cable is in fact a disguised extension piece, and the round nubbin contains the electronics. It is available in kit form from Keelog, a company that will also sell you a ready made hardware keylogger for both USB and PS/2 keyboards.

The beauty of the hardware logger is that it doesn’t require anything to be installed on the victim’s machine, and is therefore both undetectable by software and doesn’t require any hacking to install. Yes, you need physical access to a machine to hook it up, but once you have that, setup is trivially easy.

Once done, you can sit back, hook the receiver to your own machine and watch as the letters and numbers appear on your screen in real time. The maximum range is 50 meters (56 yards), and when walls and the real world get involved, you can expect around 20m.

The kit involves not only soldering but the loading of firmware onto chips and, of course, building the cable so it looks convincing enough. $40, plus possible jail time.

Product page [Keelog. Thanks, Andrew!]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 23 Jul 2009 | 9:05 am