• Boing Boing: Robert Anton Wilson (RIP)
• Links to obscure Robert Anton Wilson essays - Boing Boing
• Boing Boing: Note from Robert Anton Wilson and his daughter
• Podcast tribute to Robert Anton Wilson - Boing Boing
• Alan Moore documentary on AlterTube - Boing Boing
• Alan Moore is a magick man - Boing Boing
• Alan Moore's alternate history of the DC universe - Boing Boing

• A visit with the Los Angeles Carnivorous Plant Society - Boing Boing
• Virtual museum of carnivorous plants - Boing Boing
• Plant eats mouse - Boing Boing

Solera Holdings declares 6.25-cent dividend (AP)

OneRiot Fights Its Way To A New $7 Million Round

OneRiot, the real-time search engine, has just announced a new $7 million Series C funding round led by Appian Ventures, Commonwealth Capital Ventures, and Spark Capital. The company blog has just posted more information.

While the real-time search space is particularly hot at the moment, OneRiot has been focusing on opening up and expanding its APIs to allow others to tap into its data. Partners include Yahoo and Microsoft, who of course, will also soon be much closer in the search space. Meanwhile, search titan Google is said to be very interested in the real-time space and is exploring its own way of doing things. And then of course there is Twitter which currently offers search based on its Summize acquisition, but is also said to have something bigger in the works.

Much of the Twitter Search expansion talk revolves around looking at the link data (something which Twitter was apparently doing the other day before it pulled the test down). That also happens to be what OneRiot specializes in, scouring the real-time space, crawling for links, rather than simply status updates. But they’re also clearly aware of the power of Twitter in the real-time space, as they recently launched a RiotFeeds product that breaks down links from Twitter into different categories.

The company last raised a large $15 million round in the summer of 2007, before it was even known as OneRiot. Back then, it was known as Me.dium, and was more of a StumbleUpon-type product. This new round brings the company’s total funding to $27 million over three rounds. This new money will be used to improve three key area of the service: Speed, scale and relevance, we’re told.

OneRiot’s CEO is Kimbal Musk, Elon Musk’s younger brother.

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

Source: Gizmodo | 27 Aug 2009 | 7:30 pm

Neusoft Acquires Finnish Mobile Solutions Company

SHENYANG, China, Aug. 27 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Today, Neusoft Corporation ("Neusoft", 600718.SH) announced that it has signed an agreement with the Finnish software company Sesca Group Ltd.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 27 Aug 2009 | 7:16 pm

250GB Xbox 360 with Forza package spotted on Amazon.de

We just saw the Xbox 360 drop in price today, and according to my “Tetris effect” hypothesis, there has to be something to fill the gap left by the now-$299 Elite. Lo and behold, Amazon.de shows a listing this very day with the new item! It’s a 250GB 360, packaged with the upcoming Forza game. My my, 250GB. What would you do with that?

The package comes with two controllers and costs €280, which comes out to about 402 of your American dollars — so you can expect a $399 price point once it hits here. Reasonable… if you have a money tree in the back yard.

The 250GB is what sets it apart, clearly. Having twice the storage of your competitor is a nice bullet point to put on product comparisons, even if it is a hugely expensive option. Obviously the rise of downloadable content has made in-console storage a valuable commodity. But are you really going to have 200GB of XBLA games? Makes one think that perhaps the downloadable full game is at hand. Duh, it’s already at hand. Not so much for the PS3 though.

[via Engadget]

Source: CrunchGear | 27 Aug 2009 | 6:40 pm

MOG Raises Another $5 Million As Traffic Nearly Doubles Since January

MOG, the very popular music portal and blog network, has closed a new $5 million funding round led by Menlo Ventures, with existing investors Simon Equity Partners and Scott Jones also participating. Menlo Ventures’ Sonja Hoel Perkins will join the company’s board as part of the deal. The company has raised a total of $12.5 million since it was founded in 2005.

MOG has been having a stellar year. In April the site launched a completely overhauled homepage, which now includes music news, reviews, a selection of top posts from its blogs, and a variety of other content. The MOG network now sees over 8 million unique visitors a month, with over 700 blogs that generate over 6,000 posts a week.

MOG’s existing products are obviously doing quite well, but I can’t help but wonder if the new round was in part helped by its unlaunched music streaming product, which we previewed back in January. At the time we called it Ultimate Streaming Music App that may never launch, because it only had two of the four major labels signed on. If MOG managed to get the remaining holdouts on board, the company would be a ripe target for investors. The company declined to comment on the matter, but we’ll be keeping an eye out for more on this.

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

TechCrunch50 Conference 2009: September 14-15, 2009, San Francisco

Source: TechCrunch | 27 Aug 2009 | 6:30 pm

PSP Go torn to pieces

If you squint, you can just barely make out some PSP Go components on the far side of those watermarks. Yes, an enterprising Chinese gaming site has gotten their hands (and tools) on a PSP Go, and have taken it apart with relish. Unfortunately the page is in Chinese and the Google translation is, as expected, hilariously inaccurate.

There is a little to be learned, however. It seems the screen is better protected against internal dust and grit:

LCD screen can be said that this improvement is not small, complete and mirror sticky and, no way to separate naturally not into the dust, but should pay attention to protect the mirror and damaged the necessary and replaced with the LCD.

At any rate, if you’re interested in the internals of the PSP Go (perhaps you’re a PSP hacker, good for you), this is your best chance until… the next chance.

[via Tom's Hardware]

Source: CrunchGear | 27 Aug 2009 | 6:19 pm

Microsoft Ends Bing Promotion Early After Hitting Cashback Limit

There is no denying that Bing’s Double Cashback promotion served up some great deals. But apparently they were so good that Microsoft had to end the deal a full four days early — and even earlier for some. Here’s the statement they gave earlier today announcing the official end of the promotion:

“Due to an overwhelming, positive response from our Bing cashback shoppers, we’ve now closed our limited time back-to-school promotion where Microsoft increased the percentage of cashback rewards on behalf of retailers.”

Microsoft had set a cap on the amount of money saved or an end date of August 30, whichever came first. Obviously, the money limit did. But for some retailers that were doing particularly well, the promotion ended even earlier.

One retailer that reached out to us, The Watchery, was offering 50% off of watches under $5,000. On Monday the 24th — just a week after their promotion started — Microsoft reached out to them to see if they could lower the 50% off deal to 20%, we’re told. Basically, they asked some of the retailers offering huge deals to scale them back a bit so the other Cashback partners could take advantage of the promotion before Microsoft hit the cap.

But The Watchery couldn’t be happier with the sales they got while the promotion was in place. “On Sunday and Monday (23rd and 24th), the site did over a million dollars in sales each day. The site had over 250,000 visitors during the sale period,” a spokesperson for the company tells us. “Best sales in our history,” they continued.

Over a million dollars in sales each day, with Microsoft footing much of the bill, that’s a nice deal.

Now, whether this actually led to a significant amount of new users using Bing remains to be seen, but the numbers are trending upward.

[photo: flickr/stopnlook]

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

TechCrunch50 Conference 2009: September 14-15, 2009, San Francisco

Source: TechCrunch | 27 Aug 2009 | 5:59 pm

Future-Escher robo-hands

Give a robot repairs, and it will operate for a day. Teach it to repair itself, and it will touch off a Robocalypse.

Luckily, this is just an art project. Cool, but rather sinister-looking, wouldn’t you agree?

[via Reddit]

Source: CrunchGear | 27 Aug 2009 | 5:53 pm

Developers weigh in on Natal, Wii, and the “magic wand”

Get ready for a lot more of this

1up just had a little developer roundtable about the upcoming motion controllers (and, uh, the “leading brand” as well). While these guys are bound by diplomacy not to say stuff like “Sony is rubbish” or “Nintendo is going down,” they do make their feelings felt in slightly more polite terms. The consensus seems to be that each has its own strengths (I know, boring) and that innovation is going to be slow in coming.

After all, the first concern is selling units, and the truly innovative stuff happens after games and gamers have been observed. Even something like Super Mario 64, which certainly innovated in 3D platforming, built on other, earlier 3D or semi-3D games. The developers think you’ll see a lot of game+ releases, like say Tony Hawk with some extra functionality built-in, before you get games that are really living in the new control scheme.

Personally, I’m excited to see stuff move beyond the analog stick and/or cursor. That makes Natal the most interesting to me, but in the end it’s the games that will decide things.

Source: CrunchGear | 27 Aug 2009 | 5:41 pm

Hackers (Or Pen-Testers) Hit Credit Unions With Malware On CD

redsoxh8r writes "Online criminals have taken to a decidedly low-tech method for distributing the latest batch of targeted malware: mailing infected CDs to credit unions . The discs have been showing up at credit unions around the country recently, a throwback to the days when viruses and Trojans were distributed via floppy disk. The scam is elegant in its simplicity. The potential thieves are mailing letters that purport to come from the National Credit Union Administration, the federal agency that charters and insures credit unions, and including two CDs in the package. The letter is a fake fraud alert from the NCUA, instructing recipients to review the training materials contained on the discs. However, the CDs are loaded with malware rather than training programs." According to the linked article, the infected CDs were (or at least may have been) part of a penetration test, rather than an actual attack.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 27 Aug 2009 | 5:40 pm

Sporting News partners with Zumobi to create a new football iPhone app

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones

Sporting News Pro Football application, developed by Sporting News and Zumobi, is a new app designed to give football fans the latest information.  For instance, users will have the ability to find out the latest stats, scores, standings, headline stories, breaking news, and insights and analysis.  Team customization allows for specific information updates based on favorite teams. 

Football fans will definitely want to take advantage of this free app as it provides another way to find information pretty much instantly.  Stats, scoreboards, and content are major focal points of the app as it centers around that information.  On the main page, it is possible to navigate through breaking news, game scores, standings, stats, and team rosters. 

Since it is a free app, I doubt live video coverage will be available, at least not yet anyway.  Such an app can definitely be useful for avid fantasy football players.  If you have ever participated in fantasy football, or any fantasy sport for that matter, I’m sure you start paying attention to the stats more and more often because you want to know if your chosen players performed well.  Having instant access to the latest stats from pretty much anywhere is definitely a great help.  I’m sure many fantasy football players who have iPhones or iPod touches will consider downloading the Sporting News Pro Football app. 

Zumobi and Sporting News are no strangers to the App Store, as they created a baseball app together last year.  Personally, I find the MLB At Bat 2009 app to be highly enticing, however, one thing remains clear, the iPhone is becoming a haven for many sport apps.  And why not?  I remember an ad on ESPN about how the iPhone can provide instant sports updates (such as the MLB At Bat app) and the ability to play different types of sport games.  It will be interesting to see how many other sports centered apps are created and how popular they become. 

I would love to see Sporting News and Zumobi integrate live video feeds, or video highlights, into their app, even if it means marketing a paid app. 

Read [Sporting News and Zumobi Press Release]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 27 Aug 2009 | 5:33 pm

Wired Guide: Upgrade Your Mac to Snow Leopard

Making the leap to Snow Leopard this weekend? Check out Wired's How-To Wiki for tips and info on upgrading to Mac OS X 10.6. Got advice? Contribute.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 27 Aug 2009 | 5:30 pm

Wired Guide: Upgrade Your Mac to Snow Leopard

Making the leap to Snow Leopard this weekend? Check out Wired's How-To Wiki for tips and info on upgrading to Mac OS X 10.6. Got advice? Contribute.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 27 Aug 2009 | 5:30 pm

Now That AdMob Bought AdWhirl, Will Anybody Trust It?

In the budding world of mobile advertising, whoever can control the app developers and gain access to the ad inventory on their apps will eventually win the game. Keep that in mind as you try to understand the very strange acquisition of AdWhirl by AdMob.

You see, AdMob is perhaps the largest independent mobile ad network and AdWhirl is a fast growing mobile ad exchange which allows mobile app developers to switch from AdMob to other competing mobile ad networks such as Quattro, VideoEgg, or Mobclix. Although it launched only last April, AdWhirl was quickly becoming the preferred advertising interface for many developers because they could still serve AdMob ads through it, but not be tied to AdMob if a better deal came along.

AdMob didn’t really like this so it threatened to stop supporting AdWhirl’s “mediation layer” and basically pull out of it altogether. That plan didn’t go over too well with the app developers AdMob needs to keep happy, so it quickly reversed itself and decided to delay its decision to withdraw from AdWhirl. Since it couldn’t take its toys and go home, it did the next best thing. It bought AdWhirl. Problem solved.

Except that now, who is going to trust AdMob to maintain AdWhirl as a neutral exchange rather than use it to funnel more of its own ads to developers? Or worse, to track all of the ad impression data of its competitors to improve its own ad products?

Our source who told us about the acquisition claims that AdWhirl has already been giving AdMob this data on the sly in the hopes that it would be acquired. He also claims that ” there is a lot of stuff under the covers to favor AdMob: in the code, in the data, and biased ad calls to AdMob.” The source, who thinks developers will get the short end of the stick in this deal, also seems to think that AdMob will eventually just shut AdWhirl down, blaming the other ad networks for a lack of cooperation or technical integration issues. We’ll see how that plays out.

But for now, AdWhirl still generates too many impressions for the other ad networks to simply abandon it. But that is exactly what they should do if they want to counter the combined power of Admob and AdWhirl. “I don’t understand how it remains unbiased or why other networks would want to be a part of that,” says Mobclix co-founder Sunil Verma, who has built a competing mobile ad exchange.

AdMob is trying to calm fears of bias by promising to open-source the underlying code which powers AdWhirl. But again, it is not so much the code, as how it is used that is the issue. “No matter what, AdMob will still have access to the data and it will become biased as to who gets the first ad call,” worries Mobclix’s other co-founder Krishna Subramanian. If other mobile ad networks and developers share those concerns, AdMob will have a bigger problem than it did with AdWhirl. It will lose the trust of the developers it needs to survive.

Update: AdMob CEO Omar Hamoui has given us the following response regarding the acquisition:

Our open source solution will be both for the client and the server. We anticipate there will be many independent servers run by developers, and possibly our competitors as well. Once we release the code into the community, we think it will be adopted widely.

Most developers use mediation layers for percentage based inventory allocation. This is not something that you can game or manipulate. The mediation component either fulfills the percentage allocation or not. We are committed to making this solution as open as it needs to be to make everybody comfortable. We also expect the market will hold us accountable to this course of action.

The AdWhirl team has visited our offices over the past several days as we have worked through this deal. However any claims that we have historically been sharing data with AdWhirl or manipulating how it works for our benefit is completely false.

Since the news broke we’ve been talking to developers and they agree that the key is an open and transparent solution. We expect to be held to that.

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

TechCrunch50 Conference 2009: September 14-15, 2009, San Francisco

Source: TechCrunch | 27 Aug 2009 | 5:21 pm

Spotify gets Apple's blessing...who's... - CNET News

BBC News

Spotify gets Apple's blessing...who's next? CNET News Spotify's much-hyped streaming-music service has been given the green light by Apple's iPhone app approval board, according to a report from UK's Paid Content. Though the Spotify app has yet to officially surface in the iTunes App Store, ... Facebook 3.0 For iPhone Now Available On The App StoreWashington Post App Store buyers spend an average of $9 per five downloadsArs Technica Facebook 3.0 App Lands On Apple's iPhoneITProPortal Register -PC Pro -CNET News all 354 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 27 Aug 2009 | 5:12 pm

What's Up With Isilon Systems? [Voices]

By Eric Savitz, Blogger and Columnist, Barron's, Tech Trader Daily

Big move today in Isilon Systems (ISLN): shares of the storage systems company have jumped $1.08, or 19.9 percent, to $6.49, on volume of more than 660,000 shares, or more than 4x the daily average. Today’s rise boosts the company’s three-day rally to 33 percent.

So, what’s going on here?

Well, here’s what I know.

Chris Blessington, the company’s senior VP of marketing and communications, notes in an interview with Tech Trader Daily that management has been on the road getting the word out to investors, press, analysts and customers about the company’s big push into the virtualization market, where it is taking on NetApp (NTAP). Blessington notes that the company was in New York on Monday and Tuesday talking to potential investors in a series of meetings arranged by Needham & Co.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Source: All Things Digital | 27 Aug 2009 | 5:06 pm

Ecuador Regreens the Galápagos

The islands that inspired Charles Darwin's theory of evolution are being loved to death. Every year, more than 140,000 tourists descend on the isolated archipelago to ogle its cactus-studded scenery and bizarre wildlife. And amid the blue-footed boobies and giant tortoises sits a handful of towns whose population has tripled to nearly 30,000 in the past two decades. To support all those people, 10 million gallons of diesel fuel and gasoline are shipped to the Galápagos annually, a fifth of which is used just to generate electricity.

Regular tanker traffic in one of Earth's most fragile ecosystems is a disaster waiting to happen (just ask an Alaskan), so the Ecuadoran government is trying to go green. Naturally, the remote location involves challenges, but several projects to cut fuel use and boost protections are up and running, with more in the works. After all, evolution takes time.

Fuel-Handling Facility

Baltra
Formerly a mess of rusting tanks, this facility on the island of Baltra is now one of the safest fuel depots in the Americas. The $20 million rebuild, completed in 2004, increased capacity and installed computerized sensors to monitor fuel levels and tank conditions.

Wind power Project

San CristÓbal
Three wind turbines erected here, on the second-most- populous island, in 2007 should meet half of San Cristóbal's total power needs this year (and up to 90 percent when the wind is high). A similar system is planned for Santa Cruz island next year.

Solar-hybrid Microgrid

Floreana
In 2004, the barely functioning electrical grid on this small island was reinforced with a solar array and rechargeable batteries to keep the lights on. A new subsystem building doubles as a meeting hall and the island's first visitor center. Coming soon: biodiesel generators.

Isla Baltra Airport

Baltra
The Galápagos' main airport is getting a makeover. When it's finished in 2011, the facility will have solar panels to meet a quarter of its power needs, a concrete runway that contributes less to heat-island effects than asphalt, and a terminal that captures the breeze for cooling.

Photos: Fuel: WWF/Eunice Park; wind: AEP; solar: Michael Sugrue; air: istockphoto.com

Source: Wired Top Stories | 27 Aug 2009 | 5:00 pm

Ashworth College Welcomes Record Turnout at 2009 Graduation Ceremony

NORCROSS, Ga., Aug.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 27 Aug 2009 | 5:00 pm

Snow Leopard Drops Palm OS Sync

adeelarshad82 writes "It's been just a little over a month since Apple blocked iTunes sync with Palm Pre, and now Apple takes that strategy one step further by blocking Snow Leopard sync with Palm-OS powered smartphones. Even though Palm has officially retired Palm OS and is now focusing hard on its next-generation WebOS in the Palm Pre, the company is still selling Palm OS-powered smartphones; two current models are the Treo Pro on Sprint and the Centro."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 27 Aug 2009 | 4:47 pm

Accused TJX Hacker Expected to Finalize Plea Deal by Friday

Accused TJX hacker Albert Gonzalez is expected to finalize a plea agreement by Friday that will end two court cases against him in New York and Massachusetts. He still faces charges in New Jersey that were filed against him last week.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 27 Aug 2009 | 4:33 pm

Games and Media Industry Leaders to Gather at NY Games Conference, September 30, 2009

NEW YORK, Aug.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 27 Aug 2009 | 4:31 pm

What to Expect From Apple’s September iPod Event

Let’s be frank: We all know Apple’s hosting a September event, as it has for the past several years. But this year’s keynote is shaping up to be a bit more interesting than usual, thanks to the frenzy of iPod, iTunes and tablet rumors. Plus, of course, the return of Steve Jobs.

True to form, Apple hasn’t confirmed a thing — not even the existence of an event on Sept. 9 — leaving us to assess the rumors based on the best evidence we can find.

Of all the predictions, which are likely to come true? Let’s take a hard look at everything you can realistically expect from this event, which will reportedly take place Sept. 9 at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center.

New iPods With Cameras, Microphones

Apple’s September events have traditionally revolved around iPods and iTunes, so it’s obvious this will be the theme of the event. But what, exactly, about the iPod? There’s a pile of evidence suggesting Apple will release new iPod Touch and iPod Nanos with cameras.

Wired.com in July received an inside tip from a well-connected source claiming Apple would soon add a camera and a microphone to the iPod Touch, which would bring it closer in line with the iPhone. Additionally, several other publications reported similar rumors about the Touch and the Nano getting cameras. And the latest iPod-related rumor comes from Taiwanese publication DigiTimes, which claims that not only will the Nano and Touch receive cameras, the iPod Classic will, too.

We’re confident the Nano and Touch will be upgraded with cameras (and, of course, increased storage). Cult of Mac’s Leander Kahney had us convinced when he published a gallery of third-party Touch and Nano cases, which feature holes presumably meant for cameras. (See photo above)

However, we’re doubting the iPod Classic will gain a camera. It’s unlikely Apple would want to invest much more in this product, because its sales have shrunk considerably, thanks to the success of the iPhone. Last quarter, the iPod accounted for 18 percent of Apple’s overall revenue, compared to 55.5 percent in 2006. Also, the iPod Classic is the only hard-drive-based iPod remaining in the iPod family, and flash-memory prices are plummeting. Would a camera really boost this device’s appeal and make it worth the investment? We don’t think so.

One more thing: Because the iPod Touch is basically a phoneless iPhone that many use as a gaming device, the next logical step would be for the iPod Touch to get a performance boost to bring it up to speed with the new iPhone 3GS. We’re so confident in this prediction that we’re willing to bet a Chevy Chevelle on it.

iTunes 9

The current version of iTunes, iTunes 8, is nearing its one-year anniversary, and an update to version 9 is likely. The Boy Genius Report published a rumor report claiming iTunes 9 would sport new visual organization features to arrange iPhone apps. The blog also received screenshots (see right) purporting to reveal iTunes 9 would feature Facebook integration to share playlists with friends using the social-networking site.

A visual-organization tool would definitely make sense — it would mimic the ability to move around the iPhone’s icons on its springboard. We find Facebook integration probable as well. The latest versions of QuickTime, iPhoto and iMovie each have features that enable sharing media with social networks (i.e., YouTube and Flickr). And in general, an automatic playlist creator integrated in Facebook just sounds like a pretty clever idea.

More foggy is a rumor reported by Financial Times that Apple is working with four major record labels to boost music sales by reinventing digital album art. The collaborative effort is codenamed Project Cocktail, and the idea is to entice music fans with a compelling digital package that will get them to gather around notebooks to listen to music together. How exactly would album art do that? It’s unclear. However, Financial Times is a credible publication with solid music sources. Expect this part of the keynote to deliver the biggest surprise.

No Apple Tablet

Though the release of an Apple touchscreen tablet now seems inevitable, it’s unlikely this will be announced in September. Some publications cite anonymous sources saying an Apple tablet will be announced this fall, while others claim it will launch early 2010. We’re betting early 2010 is more realistic.

That’s because Apple is no longer participating in the Macworld Expo trade show to launch new products, and the company would be wise to save its biggest news to compete with other companies announcing new products at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. Why fire all the ammo in September?

Apple’s rumored tablet, which has been described by tipsters as a larger-screen iPod, is shaping up to be the most anticipated gadget since the iPhone. It could make 2010 a very exciting year. We’ve speculated it will be the “year of the tablet,” citing sources claiming Dell, Intel, HTC and other tech companies are preparing tablets to compete with Apple.

The Return of Steve Jobs

We all miss Steve Jobs, even though his employees might not. Nobody can deliver a keynote quite like ol’ Steve. CNBC’s Jim Goldman said on Twitter that Jobs is “very likely” to appear at the Apple event. That’s good news, and if true, his return would make this a very momentous event.

Excited? We are, too, and we’ll keep you plugged in. Keep reading Gadget Lab, or follow @gadgetlab and @bxchen for updates on the upcoming event.

See Also:

• How an Apple Tablet Could Pit iTunes Against Amazon.com
• Rumor: 10-Inch Apple Tablet Landing in Early 2010
• Jobs Back on the Job
• Apple Preparing iPod Touch With Camera, Microphone: Source …
• Rumor: iPods Nano and Touch to Gain Cameras
• Analytics Give Clues to Next-Gen iPod Touch
• Cameras in iPods. Game Over?

Images, top to bottom: Manzana/Flickr, Cult of Mac, The Boy Genius Report, Gadgets Guy/Flickr, Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 27 Aug 2009 | 4:24 pm

What to Expect From Apple's September iPod Event

Several sources have said Apple is planning a special event for Sept. 9. Expect iPods, an upgrade for iTunes and maybe even the first keynote with Steve Jobs since his return from medical leave.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 27 Aug 2009 | 4:20 pm

What to Expect From Apple's September iPod Event

Several sources have said Apple is planning a special event for Sept. 9. Expect iPods, an upgrade for iTunes and maybe even the first keynote with Steve Jobs since his return from medical leave.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 27 Aug 2009 | 4:20 pm

Back to school apps for iPhone, iPod touch

FROM APPLETELL - Those of you with an iPod touch or iPhone can download one of various applications to help make going back to school easier and more stress-free.
MORE »

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 27 Aug 2009 | 4:10 pm

gScreen “Spacebook” has two full-sized displays

How insane is this? I guess I can understand the desktop replacement laptop, but at some point you have to say it’s kind of ridiculous. Are they going to start installing wheels and seats on laptops and have them be “automobile replacement” devices? Maybe a kitchen PC with a built-in milk frother!

The gScreen Spacebook has two displays that slide out to form one large one; the displays are 15.4 inches each, so let’s apply the old Pythagorean theorem to find that root (15.4²+15.4²) = a 21.8-inch display. Is that right? (no, it’s not.) Actually the two 15.4-inch diagonal screens combine to make a 24-inch 1.78:1 screen. Would be nice for watching widescreen movies except for that big bar in the middle.

There will be larger and smaller versions; I can actually see the draw in a slightly more compact version of this sucker. That is, if they can keep the weight down. They’ll be releasing the things in Q4 of this year; you should be able to buy on on Amazon in a couple months. We’ll let you know.

[via Gizmodo]

Source: CrunchGear | 27 Aug 2009 | 4:00 pm

Dude, You Posted Your Earnings Three Minutes Early [Digital Daily]

Dell’s profit fell 23 percent in its second quarter. Its sales fell 22 percent. But the company still beat Wall Street expectations, and that’s what counts these days.

Dell (DELL) earned $472 million, or 24 cents a share, on revenue of $12.76 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research had expected it to earn 22 cents a share on $12.6 billion in revenue. Dell shares spiked nearly seven percent when the news was released, oddly, at 3:57–three minutes before the close of trading Thursday (click on the image below).

Lousy afternoon for someone in Dell Investor Relations. Anyway….

In a statement, CEO Michael Dell said demand for the company’s products appears to have stabilized and, believe it or not, things are starting to look up.

“If current demand trends continue, we expect revenue for the second half of the year to be stronger than the first half,” Dell said in a statement. “We are expanding our capabilities in enterprise technology and services and investing in our core business to distinguish Dell both with customers and in operating performance.”

Source: All Things Digital | 27 Aug 2009 | 3:58 pm

Yelp Sneaks Augmented Reality Into iPhone App

Just a day after we published a feature about smartphones accelerating the development of augmented reality, Yelp sneaked a secret AR feature into an update of its iPhone app.

Exclusive to iPhone 3GS owners, the feature is accessible through an Easter egg, which is activated by shaking the handset three times. A message will appear reading, “The Monocle has been activated,” and then a Monocle button will appear in the upper-right corner. Tapping that button will launch your iPhone camera, and digital overlays of business listings, accompanied by star ratings, appear on screen. The app presumably draws its geo-aware powers from the iPhone 3GS’ digital compass and GPS. Mashable demonstrates the feature in the video above.

We use the word “sneak” because Apple doesn’t provide an open API to access live video from the iPhone’s camera, making it impossible for developers to provide AR apps without hacking the software development kit. We’ve put in a query to Yelp requesting clarification on how its developer coded the AR feature.

If Yelp submitted a hacked version of its iPhone app and Apple approved it, it’s unlikely this victory will last very long. In May, Wired.com reported on the first developer to use an Easter egg to trick Apple. Apple had rejected his app Lyrics because it contained swear words, so he filtered them and added an Easter egg enabling users to remove the filter. That app is no longer in the App Store. The developer said Lyrics was “pulled temporarily” due to licensing issues, but the app still has not returned.

However, even if Apple pulls the Yelp app for sneaking in AR, it would likely become available in the near future. Brad Foxhoven, co-founder of augmented-reality company Ogmento, said Apple has told him the next version of the iPhone OS (3.1) “would make [AR developers] happy,” implying the live-video API will become open, and legitimate AR apps will become available very soon.

Yelp App Download Link [iTunes]

See Also:

• If You’re Not Seeing Data, You’re Not Seeing
• At the Dawn of the Augmented Reality Industry
• Augmented Reality and atemporality
• Augmented Reality: Ogmento
• How it Works: Augmented Reality
• Blink-182 Rocks ‘Augmented Reality’ Show in Doritos Bag …

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 27 Aug 2009 | 3:54 pm

Scientists Investigate Urban Climate in Rotterdam and Arnhem

Researchers from Wageningen University used the warm days in August to map out the urban climate in two Dutch cities. The research team drove two cargo bicycles with measurement equipment during various times of a 24 hours’ day through Rotterdam and Arnhem.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 Aug 2009 | 3:54 pm

Bug Means High School Students' Schedule Errors May Last Days

Hugh Pickens writes "The Washington Post reports that thousands of high school students in Prince George's County missed a third day of classes Wednesday, and school officials said it could take more than a week to sort out the chaos caused by a computerized class-scheduling system as students were placed in gyms, auditoriums, cafeterias, libraries and classes they didn't want or need at high schools across the county and their parents' fury over the logistical nightmare rose. 'The school year comes up the same time every year,' said Carolyn Oliver, the mother of a 16-year-old senior who spent Wednesday in the senior lounge at Bowie High School. 'When I heard they didn't have schedules, I was like, "What have they been doing all summer?"' When school opened Monday, about 8,000 high school students had no class schedules and were sent to wait in holding spaces while administrators tried to sort things out." (More below.)

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 27 Aug 2009 | 3:53 pm

Facebook 3.0 For iPhone Now Available On The App Store

Nearly two weeks after submitting the app to Apple, Facebook's totally revamped 3.0 application is finally live on the App Store, according to the app's developer Joe Hewitt. You can download it now here. The store currently shows that the app is version 2.5, but if you click the Download button anyway you'll get the new version. The new application brings a slew of new features, making it what may be the most useful app on the App Store (be sure to read this post) for our full review. Among the additions are Events, which have frustratingly been omitted from previous versions. Now you'll be able to look up where your Events are, and you can also respond to them and see which of your friends are attending (for anyone who has ever had to boot up the web version of the site just to look up an Event address, this is a big deal. You can also post video directly to the site if you have an iPhone 3GS — a feature that will likely see the number of videos on Facebook increase dramatically.

Source: MobileCrunch | 27 Aug 2009 | 3:45 pm

It’s Semantic, Easier Solution To Annotate and Search Images

Innovative software developed in Europe that makes it easier to organize, search and navigate collections of digital images will soon be available to media agencies, photographers and, potentially, anyone trying to keep up with photo-happy Facebook or Flickr friends.The ImageNotion software, which is expected to go on sale next year, takes a user-friendly approach to semantic image annotation and search, a technology that links the content of photos to concepts so as to make the images understandable by computers.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 27 Aug 2009 | 3:40 pm

Facebook 3.0 For iPhone Now Available On The App Store

Nearly two weeks after submitting the app to Apple, Facebook's totally revamped 3.0 application is finally live on the App Store, according to the app's developer Joe Hewitt. You can download it now here. The store currently shows that the app is version 2.5, but if you click the Download button anyway you'll get the new version. The new application brings a slew of new features, making it what may be the most useful app on the App Store (be sure to read this post) for our full review. Among the additions are Events, which have frustratingly been omitted from previous versions. Now you'll be able to look up where your Events are, and you can also respond to them and see which of your friends are attending (for anyone who has ever had to boot up the web version of the site just to look up an Event address, this is a big deal. You can also post video directly to the site if you have an iPhone 3GS — a feature that will likely see the number of videos on Facebook increase dramatically.

Source: CrunchGear | 27 Aug 2009 | 3:35 pm

Microsoft’s 720p webcam has company

Microsoft was proud to announce their LifeCam HD last week, the first webcam to support 720p. But its reign (while pleasant) didn’t last for long: Hercules has released the Dualpix HD720p, which they are claiming is the first webcam to support 720p. Guys, in order to be first, you have to come out with the product before anyone else. Still, it’s only a week later and it looks perfectly decent, although I’m skeptical that they can really achieve decent image quality with such a tiny setup.

Hercules also says their one-megapixel sensor will take five-megapixel photos. I sense a fundamental lack of sense in that claim. Putting “interpolative mode” in parentheses doesn’t make 1 into 5.

But aside from that rather ridiculous claim, the webcam looks nice. It’s designed for laptops and has a super-wide-angle lens, so people can look at your entire body while you look at their face. At $60 it’s also a bit cheaper than the LifeCam HD, but it’s hard to say which is the better device until we test them. So test them we shall!

I’ll get a review up once I’ve had a chance to compare the two.

Source: CrunchGear | 27 Aug 2009 | 3:30 pm

SIIA Announces Appointment of New Vice President of Communications

Seasoned Association Marketing and PR Executive John Crosby will Lead SIIA Communications Efforts WASHINGTON, Aug.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 27 Aug 2009 | 3:15 pm

Portable iPod speaker looks like a cute bag

Artist Yoshihiko Satoh designed this cute little iPod speaker, which looks and functions as a small tote bag. It's the modern, minimalist equivalent of carrying a boombox around.

[Product page via Spoon & Tamago]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 27 Aug 2009 | 3:12 pm

Apple Signs Off on Spotify. When Will Big Music Play Along? [MediaMemo]

Spotify is the best music service you’ve never used. That’s because the much-hyped streaming music service is only available in Europe and for a select few in the U.S. who have either gotten sneak peeks or hacked their way into it.

The service took one step toward wider distribution today when Apple (AAPL) approved its iPhone app (for a glimpse of the app, see the video at the bottom of this post). But that won’t help U.S. users until the big music labels–Warner Music Group (WMG), Sony (SNE), EMI and Universal Music Group–agree to American distribution deals.

But before we get to that, let’s back up and explain what Spotify is: A streaming-music service that lets you listen to whatever you want whenever you want, as long as you have a Web connection. A free version comes with ads, and if you want to do away with those, you can pay for a subscription.

Does that sound familiar? It should. There are plenty of models like this available in the U.S. right now, from RealNetworks’s (RNWK) Rhapsody to MySpace Music, a joint venture owned by News Corp.’s (NWS) social network and the big labels. For various reasons, equivalent (and legal) models have been much harder to come by in Europe, which explains part of the appeal there. The other explanation is that Spotify works beautifully.

But don’t take my word for it. Ask Slate.com columnist Farhad Manjoo (“The best streaming music service in the world”). Or better yet, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (“Spotify is so good”).

Meanwhile, investors–primarily European ones–have been throwing money at Spotify, and the big music labels’ international arms are enthusiastic partners (and equity shareholders). And the company’s boosters have been pointing to a U.S. launch as early as the fourth quarter of this year.

So let’s assume this happens. What then? The problem with the digital music business, as company after company has found out, is that it’s a miserable business:

• Selling music by the track is a low-margin affair that only works if you have enormous scale–Apple sells some two billion songs a year.
• It’s been nearly impossible to get more than a few hundred thousand people to pay a monthly fee for music–ask Rhapsody or Best Buy’s (BBY) Napster, which have been slogging away at this for years without gaining any traction.
• And it’s been impossible to support a free service with advertising while ponying up big licensing fees to the labels–ask Imeem, et al.

So why will Spotify be any different? Depends on whom you ask. Some figure that it has the best chance of working as a mobile service and that since phone users aren’t used to the idea of getting all the music they can eat on their phones for free, they’ll pay up if given the chance. Others think the big labels have gotten wiser and/or more benevolent about their licensing fees and are willing to wring less out of Spotify at the start in the hope that it will pay off down the road.

Still others just shrug and figure it will work out somehow because…well, one of these days, someone has to figure out how to make this work. “Everybody loves the product,” says an industry executive familiar with the company’s plans. “And there’s a hope that the business model is realistic.”

I have heard rumbling that not all of the big labels are equally enthusiastic about a U.S. licensing deal. It’s unclear whether that’s due to something specific about the U.S. market or to internecine squabbles at particular labels. But Spotify will need at least three of the big four to play along. And then we can see just how realistic the model really is.

Source: All Things Digital | 27 Aug 2009 | 3:11 pm

Microsoft apologizes for race change ad

Section: Apple, Computers, Laptops, Software / Applications, Web

A very sloppy Photoshop job has a red-faced Microsoft apologizing.  The problem?  In an ad in Poland, they Photoshopped a white man’s head over that of a black one.  It was glaringly obvious because the designer forgot to change the man’s hands, resulting in a white man with a black man’s hands.  It’s not clear why Microsoft felt the need for the sloppy race change, but they promise they are looking into the incident and have yanked the ad.

The are other things about the ad that are very amusing.  The black man turned white is using - wait for i t -a MacBook!  Apparently while he wasn’t cool enough to remain the ad as is, he is cool enough for a Mac.  Microsoft again uses an ad showing people using their competitor’s hardware.

Back in January a MacBook Pro was prominently featured in their web ad for the Songsmith software.  Some Mac enthusiasts say Microsoft intentionally slips Apple hardware into its ads to generate attention.  I’m not sure if that’s the case this time or if it’s just a case of someone not bothering to really pay attention to the stock photo they chose - it also features a woman sitting in front of a monitor that’s not plugged in to anything!

Read [PCWorld]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 27 Aug 2009 | 3:08 pm

Video: Timbaland explains Beaterator

“Beaterator’s gonna change the game, the same way I came in and changed the game.” Modest words from hip-hop producer Timbaland, but when you’ve produced as many hits as he has, well, I think you’ve earned the right to be a little arrogant. The game, if you can even call it that—it’s more like a mini version of Ableton Live —comes out for the PSP and PSN next month, on September 29.

In this clip, we see our hero giving a brief overview of Beaterator—beaterating, as it were.

Again, I need to stress that it’s not a traditional game, or even a typical music game like Rock Band. No, it really is like having Reason (or whatever) on your PSP. So if that appeals to you!

I don’t know, I think I’m supposed to meet a few of the Rockstars guys in the coming weeks, so I’ll be better able to makes sense of the game.

Who knows, maybe with Beaterator you’ll be able to create the next “Combination Pizza Hut And Taco Bell”?

Source: CrunchGear | 27 Aug 2009 | 3:00 pm

Scientists Design First Robot Using Mould

Scientists at the University of the West of England are to design the first ever biological robot using mould.Researchers have received a Leverhulme Trust grant worth £228,000 to develop the amorphous non-silicon biological robot, plasmobot, using plasmodium, the vegetative stage of the slime mould Physarum polycephalum, a commonly occurring mould which lives in forests, gardens and most damp places in the UK.  The Leverhulme Trust funded research project aims to design the first every fully biological (no silicon components) amorphous massively-parallel robot.This project is at the forefront of research into unconventional computing.  Professor Andy Adamatzky, who is leading the project, says their previous research has already proved the ability of the mould to have computational abilities.Professor Adamatzky explains, “Most people’s idea of a computer is a piece of hardware with software designed to carry out specific tasks.  This mould, or plasmodium, is a naturally occurring substance with its own embedded intelligence.  It propagates and searches for sources of nutrients and when it finds such sources it branches out in a series of veins of protoplasm.  The plasmodium is capable of solving complex computational tasks, such as the shortest path between points and other logical calculations.  Through previous experiments we have already demonstrated the ability of this mould to transport objects.  By feeding it oat flakes, it grows tubes which oscillate and make it move in a certain direction carrying objects with it.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 27 Aug 2009 | 3:00 pm

An End To Unencrypted Digital Cable TV and the HTPC

Talinom writes "AnandTech has a writeup on how ClearQAM appears to be headed for an early death. From the article — 'At this point there's no reason to believe that cable companies won't deploy Privacy Mode across their networks, so it's a matter of 'when,' not 'if' this will happen. It goes without saying that if you're currently enjoying the use of a ClearQAM tuner to receive EB tier channels, you'll want to enjoy what time you have left, and look in to other solutions for the long-haul. At this pace, it looks like cable TV and computers will soon be divorcing.'" Update: 08/27 23:59 GMT by T : "EB" here stands for "Expanded Basic (cable service)"; Wikipedia as usual has a time-sucking, digressive, fascinating explanation about the tiers of cable TV service in the US.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 27 Aug 2009 | 3:00 pm

CreditCards.com: Weekly Credit Card Rate Report

AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- The national average annual percentage rate on new credit card offers remained at 12.17 percent this week, according to the CreditCards.com Weekly Credit Card Rate Report, as banks paused after a recent run of APR increases.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 27 Aug 2009 | 2:55 pm

Scientist To Support Polymer Research

A University of York scientist has been awarded a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship for her research on smart polymer materials that could eventually be used as sensors to detect biological materials and pollutants.Dr Verena Görtz, of the University's Department of Chemistry, will use the funds provided by the Fellowship to develop her pioneering work which focuses on creating polymer beads with liquid crystal properties.Liquid crystals are widely known for their application in liquid crystal displays, such as in LCD-TVs or mobile phones.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 Aug 2009 | 2:55 pm

Six NTU Projects Awarded NRF Grants

Six project proposals from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) have received research funding from the National Research Foundation (NRF), following its second call for proposals under the Proof of Concept (POC) scheme. To date, a total of nine NTU projects are funded under the POC scheme.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 Aug 2009 | 2:33 pm

STMicroelectronics Publishes its 2009 Half Year Financial Report

GENEVA, Aug.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 27 Aug 2009 | 2:30 pm

Dog Coats Produced by Three Genes

Three genes combine to form nearly all the various types of dog coats.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 27 Aug 2009 | 2:25 pm

Akron/Family Turns Hard Times Into New Tunes, New Groove

Ohio band Akron/Family split from its label and lost a band member to Buddhism. The group, now a trio, brings its revamped brand of indie-folk to this weekend's Outside Lands Music and Arts festival.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 27 Aug 2009 | 2:25 pm

Re-Re-Confirmed: Virgin confirms they’re getting the Rumor2

After we heard from a trusted source that Virgin Mobile was getting the Rumor2 a few weeks ago, there was pretty much zero doubt in our mind. After mentionings of the Rumor2 popped up on Virgin’s own site this morning, it was pretty much concrete.

We don’t think there’s a single soul out there who would stand up and say Virgin’s not getting the Rumor2 at this point - but just in case, Virgin Mobile just sent us this video confirming it. Watch it anyway - even if you don’t give a damn about VM picking up this 5 month old phone, you should check out the awesome way this guy says “QWERTY’.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 27 Aug 2009 | 2:22 pm

Risks Involved With Transgenic Fish

Fast growing transgenic fish can revolutionize commercial fish farming and relieve the pressure on overexploited fish stocks.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 Aug 2009 | 2:20 pm

How an Online-Only TV Series Stays Successful

ChronoDragon writes "The Wall Street Journal points out that it is possible to make a successful web series without the backing of a studio. With the release of a music video, Do you Wanna Date My Avatar, and the start of Season of 3, the web series The Guild is ready for even more success. The Guild, created by Felicia Day (Doctor Horrible), is a low-budget comedy series about a group of MMORPG gamers and their interactions both online and off. While there are a lot of references that will be instantly recognized by gamers, the show is still very accessible to non-gamers."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 27 Aug 2009 | 2:06 pm

Samsung has sold 5 million of these so far - can you name it?

Take a look over at that phone to the right. Can you name it? Yes, yes - it’s obviously a Samsung. But can you name the model? We haven’t covered this phone much here at MobileCrunch; no mobile blog outside of the Samsung-specific blogs have, really. But that hasn’t kept it from being a raging success.

Samsung announced this morning that this phone - which, by the way, is the Samsung Star, otherwise known as the Tocco Lite or S5230 - has surpassed the 5 million units sold mark. Considering that this handsets only been on the shelves for a few weeks shy of 4 months (having launched in mid-May), thats one hell of an accomplishment.

Of course, it helps that the handset is dirt cheap; in the markets where it is available (mostly within the UK), the Tocco Lite goes for around $140 without a contract. With a contract, it doesn’t cost a thing. Samsung expects 10 million of these things to be in pockets by Novemember; with that price and the rate at which it’s selling, this thing is essentially the Motorola RAZR of 2009.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 27 Aug 2009 | 2:04 pm

Connections Among Solar Cycle, Stratosphere and Ocean Discovered

Subtle connections between the 11-year-solar cycle, the stratosphere and the tropical Pacific Ocean work in sync to generate periodic weather patterns that affect much of the globe, according to research results appearing this week in the journal Science.The findings will help scientists get an edge on predicting the intensity of certain climate phenomena, such as the Indian monsoon and tropical Pacific rainfall, years in advance."It's been long known that weather patterns are well-correlated to very small variations in total solar energy reaching our planet during 11-year solar cycles," says Jay Fein, program director in the National Science Foundation (NSF)'s Division of Atmospheric Sciences, which funded the research.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 Aug 2009 | 2:00 pm

Radiologists Work To Make Imaging Procedures Safer

The Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) reaffirmed its commitment to patient safety today in responding to a study and accompanying perspective on radiation dose from medical imaging procedures in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).In "Exposure to Low-Dose Ionizing Radiation from Medical Imaging Procedures," Reza Fazel, M.D., M.Sc., and colleagues reported that imaging procedures are a key source of ionizing radiation exposure in the U.S.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 Aug 2009 | 1:59 pm

Watermelons: A renewable energy source?

U.S. scientists say they've discovered watermelon juice can be a valuable source of biofuel, with the juice from rejected watermelons fermented into ethanol. U.S.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 Aug 2009 | 1:56 pm

Small Fluctuations In Solar Activity, Large Influence On The Climate

Our sun does not radiate evenly. The best known example of radiation fluctuations is the famous 11-year cycle of sun spots.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 Aug 2009 | 1:55 pm

Apple Approves Spotify iPhone App in Europe

The white-hot music streaming application will soon show up in the iTunes app store in the world's various iTunes stores. Most likely it will only appear in countries where Spotify is licensed — and that doesn't include the U.S. yet.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 27 Aug 2009 | 1:51 pm

Study Isolates DNA From Linnaeus' Botanical Collections

Researchers at Uppsala University has succeeded in extracting long DNA fragments from dried, pressed plant material collected in the 1700s by Linnaeus' apprentice Adam Afzelius.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 Aug 2009 | 1:50 pm

Outcome Matters More Than Intention When Punishing Or Rewarding Accidents

 Outcomes matter more than intention when choosing to punish or reward individuals who've caused accidents, according to new research from Harvard University.Published in PLoS One, the study was led by Fiery Cushman, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Psychology in Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, along with Anna Dreber of the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics at Harvard and the Stockholm School of Economics."Punishing those who've caused accidents seems to be something that people do routinely" says Cushman.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 Aug 2009 | 1:48 pm

It’s raining ebooks!  Hallelujah? Asus EEE-book to join the fray

Section: Gadgets / Other, Lifestyle

Now that I can’t get that “It’s raining men” tune out of my head, we’ve got another batch of ebook readers to report on.  More OEMs are getting into the picture, but what does that mean for stores?  Can the market really support this many players?

Today, Asustek says they’ll erode extend their EEE brand and come out with an ebook reader from that brand.  Word is late 2009 at the earliest which probably means they’ll launch at CES in January. 

Fujitsu launched a color one back in March, Sony just announced 3 more to their stable, MSI is said to be considering, Apple may or may not have something that might compete in the category (outside of iPhone/iPod touch), Barnes and Noble is set to partner up and launch one and the list seems to grow daily.  Are that many users hopped up about ebooks?

Our Sue Walsh, Gadgetell’s resident ebooker, says, “One thing is certain - if you love reading, you’ll love the Kindle.  Other e-readers are simply no match. ”  Kindle fans, both the early adopters and those that waited for the second version seem quite passionate about their Kindle.  Are other ebook makers looking to take a piece of that pie or expand the market somehow.

From the looks of the new devices, they look to take a piece of the pie.  Very similar form factors, no significant new features and no new value proposition.  It amazes me that no one has gone to a free hardware/more expensive titles format as we (in the US) prefer to keep our inital layouts low, even if that means a higher total price down the road.  I suspect it is because we are not that good at math, but I digress.  I still hold the first to introduce this market plan will win the hearts and minds of the US.

Otherwise, will there be any brand loyalty between a Sony reader versus an EEE one (excluding our Adam Berger and his predilection for all things Sony)?  I suspect not.  So what will all these other readers do to drum up business in a crowded market?  It can’t be anything other than a race to the bottom.

So, if you fancy an ebook reader, hold off for a bit.  I’ve a strong suspicion bargain bins will be full of them come late winter.

Read: [Digitimes]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 27 Aug 2009 | 1:43 pm

GPS Hackers Blaze Their Own Trails With Crowdsourced Maps

Instead of paying for expensive digital maps for their GPS devices, such as Garmin or the iPhone, some users turn to Open Street Maps, a crowdsourced maps database, to get custom maps on their systems.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 27 Aug 2009 | 1:37 pm

GPS Hackers Blaze Their Own Trails With Crowdsourced Maps

Instead of paying for expensive digital maps for their GPS devices, such as Garmin or the iPhone, some users turn to Open Street Maps, a crowdsourced maps database, to get custom maps on their systems.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 27 Aug 2009 | 1:37 pm

GPS Hackers Blaze Own Trails With Crowdsourced Maps

Last month, when Zack Ajmal was planning a vacation to Italy, he set out to find the first thing that a traveler would need in a foreign land: a map. But digital maps of Rome and Venice for his Garmin GPS device cost almost $100. So instead, Ajmal turned to OpenStreetMap, a community-driven maps database.

“It worked out pretty well,” the Atlanta-based engineer says. “I found Open MTB, which had outdoor hiking and cycling maps with not just roads information, but also trails, short cuts and little known routes.”

Ajmal is among roughly half a million users who are eschewing proprietary maps information from GPS companies and instead going with crowdsourced versions, which they then load onto their GPS devices and smartphones.

The key to these map hacks is OpenStreetMap. Founded in 2004, OSM is to maps what Wikipedia is to encyclopedias. The site offers maps that can be edited, customized and loaded on to devices for free. Want to go whitewater rafting but need to know where the rapids are? There’s a map for that. Or to know all the interesting points along the river Nile? There’s a map for that. And it’s all based on the OpenStreetMap data.

“The value is that it is richer map with more up-to-date information because anyone can fix things,” says Steve Coast,  founder of OpenStreetMap. “Users get access to the underlying data and not just a picture of the maps.”

Consumer map data is currently a duopoly split between two mapping providers: Nokia’s Navteq and TomTom’s Tele Atlas. The two provide the mapping data that powers almost all commercial map applications and devices. But maps from these providers are extremely restrictive in how they can be used. Want a map of the best hiking trails in the country or a walking tour of Rome? Traditional GPS services can’t offer that. For adventurous geeks that calls for a DIY fix.

“OSM maps are a little new on the scene,” says Rich Owings, who runs the GPStracklog.com website and is the author of the book GPS Mapping. “Most people in the U.S. were not using them until recently, but now there are iPhone apps based on it.”

Getting OpenStreetMap is easier on some devices than others. In Garmin systems, it’s as simple as taking one of the available maps and dropping it into a folder on the device.

DIY Map Hacking

Contribute: A beginners guide to mapping in OpenStreetMap

Get it for Garmin: A guide to getting OpenStreetMap on your Garmin GPS system. Includes instruction on downloading existing maps and creating your own.

OpenStreetMap Project for TomTom: TomTom’s proprietary file format makes it difficult to get open maps on the device. But a wiki suggests a fix for OpenStreetMap and TomTom.

Other OpenStreetMap projects: A complete list of OSM projects by country and special projects like mapping the Nile are available.

“It’s really hard to mess up your GPS doing this,” says Owings. “And if you have questions you can always ask the community to help you out.” Owings says he loaded maps of Ecuador on his Garmin unit in about 30 minutes. “It’s not as clean of a map as one you can get from the Garmin store but they are pretty wonderful and have very good coverage.”

For TomTom systems, getting OpenStreetMap can be a more difficult process. TomTom uses a proprietary mapping format, says Coast. That means a tricky process of converting OpenStreetMap into a TomTom-compatible format.

OpenStreetMap has also been used to create iPhone apps such as MotionX, which is targeted at hikers, skiers and bikers; B.iCycle, a cyclometer that shows burned calories, trip distance and trails; and ATM@UK, which shows all ATM locations in Great Britain.

The OpenStreetMap project is a cartographer’s dream come true, says Randal Hale, who has a GIS consulting business. Hale has created custom maps for a few clients using OpenStreetMap and has put OSM-generated maps on his Garmin unit.

“With the professional mapping software, I have to purchase a license to use their version, which is expensive and I can’t use the data for analysis,” says Hale. “With OpenStreetMap, I download it, make cartographic edits and hopefully I have made it better for the next user.”

Meanwhile, traditional navigation companies are also reaching out to users for help on data. For instance, Nokia kicked off a pilot project at the University of California at Berkeley to collect traffic information through GPS-enabled cellphones. Users could download the software for free and use it to check on road conditions on their phones. At the same time, the software would report data about its users’ positions to a central database, enabling the researchers to assemble traffic data in real time. Google has also said it will add nationwide real-time traffic data to its maps by collecting anonymous location data from Google Maps users.

Still, community-created maps and navigation information remains a small niche, appealing only to “GPS techies” who are willing to take risks, says Owings. “There’s not a lot of public awareness because many people don’t even know they can do this with their Garmin or cellphone,” he says.

But if you are planning to go to Berlin later this year, take a look at the OpenStreetMap site. Germany is expected to become the first country in the site’s database to be fully mapped by contributors.

See Also:

• LimeWire Creator Brings Open-Source Approach to Urban Planning
  
• Navigation Companies Crowdsource Maps, Traffic Services
• Map Mashups Get Personal
• City Governments Map Trends

Photo: Garmin GPS showing an OSM cycle map (Pete Reed/Flickr)

Facebook to Tighten Privacy After Can... - PC World

Sydney Morning Herald

Facebook to Tighten Privacy After Canadian Investigation PC World Facebook will enhance its social-networking site's privacy features over the next 12 months as a result of a set of recommendations from the Canadian government. Facebook will increase the information it provides to its users about its privacy features ... Facebook Promises Stronger Privacy ControlsInformationWeek Canada Prompts Facebook to Rework Privacy PolicyPC Magazine Facebook ratchets up privacy controls (again)CNET News ITProPortal -ChannelWeb -Register all 657 news articles »

"Violent" Video Games To Be Banned In Venezuela

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Ferrari Builds a Steering Wheel Massa Would Love

Computers Help Decode Ancient Texts

Verizon, T-Mobile, and Alltel are best in the West, says J.D. Power and Associates

“The West is the best,” exclaimed The Doors front man, Jim Morrison, many moons ago. Now, according to J.D. Power and Associates (can’t forget the associates!), “the best in the West,” regarding wireless call quality, include Verizon, T-Mobile, and Alltel.

Ok, so Jim Morrison and cell phones have about as much to do with one another as peanut butter and Jupiter. But, although our friends out East may not agree with Morrison’s sentiments (or relevancy), we can all agree that call quality matters.

To determine its “best of,” J.D. bases its semi-annual regional call-quality ratings on seven problem areas: dropped calls, static/interference, failed call connection on the first try, voice distortion, echoes, no immediate voicemail notification, and no immediate text message notification.

It reports call-quality issues per 100 calls; the lower the score, the better the performance. In the 16-state West region, J.D. Power says Alltel, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless are tied with scores of 10.

More specifically the report found that, “T-Mobile performs particularly well in reducing the number of problems with echoes and distortion, while Alltel performs particularly well in limiting the number of problems associated with late or failed messages.”

Not surprisingly, AT&T and Sprint Nextel both received the same lower score, lucky 13. I can’t speak for AT&T folks (although there is plenty of complaining regarding service in the Bay Area), but personally, I’ve had very few issues with Sprint in and around San Francisco.

The best news, perhaps, is that overall “wireless carriers have improved their performance in a number of areas recently, including dropped calls, failed initial connections and static.” Now if we could work on opening up those exclusivity deals as well as the networks, and do away with long-term agreements, the mobilesphere would really be headed in the right direction.

via Business Journal

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WATCH: Soy Surfboards Ride Waves of Future

New Culprit Seen in Ozone Depletion - New York Times

Chemistry World

New Culprit Seen in Ozone Depletion New York Times Government scientists who study the depletion of Earth's protective ozone layer are pointing to a previously unheralded culprit: nitrous oxide. Most of the nitrous oxide in the atmosphere emerges naturally, through the action of ... Nitrous oxide becomes main ozone-damaging gasReuters Laughing Gas Biggest Threat to Ozone Layer, Study SaysNational Geographic Laughing Gas: The Latest Threat to the Ozone LayerTIME Scientific American -Christian Science Monitor -Denver Post all 52 news articles »

Happy 150th, Oil! So Long, and Thanks for Modern Civilization

WPA Encryption Cracked In 60 Seconds

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Why so many plane crashes in 2009?

It's been a pretty bad year for airplane accidents &mdash 36 and (hopefully not) counting, including a cargo plane crash in the Congo just yesterday that resulted in seven fatalities. Is it just a series of freak accidents or a glitch in the airplane industry? To find out, I interviewed R John Hansman, aeronautics professor at MIT and director of ICAT.

BBG: Is there a bigger reason for the onslaught of plane crashes in 2009 or is it just bad luck?

RJH: There have been times in the past where a series of accidents had exactly the same cause and there was a clear problem to fix. In the early 70s, we didn't understand the meteorology of windsheer, and sudden changes in wind direction were causing control problems. 15-20 years ago, the leading cause of fatal crashes was controlled flight into terrain &mdash that's when a pilot takes a perfectly good airplane and flies it into the ground. This was solved by enhanced ground proximity warning systems, which give the crew warning if they're about to fly a plane into the ground.

That's not the case here. It's been a bad year, but there don't seem to be any systematic problems. The accidents have all been quite different. Commercial aviation is incredibly safe &mdash only about one in every 10 million departures result in accidents in the developed world. It's possible, though, to have a cluster of rare events like this. This year looks bad, but the last couple of years have looked incredibly good. What you're seeing is an effect of statistics in small numbers.

BBG: Human error is involved in more than half of all airplane accidents. Why can't we fix this?

RJH: It's easy but not very useful to identify human failure as the cause of an accidents. More importantly, what caused the human to make the error? Was there a problem in the design of the aircraft, in the procedure, or in terms of fatigue of the crew? It's generally a fair assumption that pilots don't want to be put at risk. The rate of human error has gone down &mdash as a percentage base, it's still high, but that's because the number of overall accidents has declined significantly.

BBG: What about the Air France crash? Is that still a mystery?

RJH: Parts of it will always be a mystery. We have a pretty clear indication that what started the problem was icing on the air speed probes. It was known that the probes on this aircraft needed to be changed, but it wasn't seen to be that urgent. It may have been that the combination of the faulty probes and thunderstorm conditions may have been too hard to manage. The plane had also gone into a simpler flight control system, or alternate mode, which limits what the pilot can do to minimize the possibility of human error. We have a message from the airplane that they went into alternate mode, but we don't have the flight data recorder so we'll never know how that manifested.

*Statistics and image courtesy of Planecrashinfo.com

Shuttle Launch Postponed a Third Time

Zeemote JS1 finally available for standalone purchase

The Zeemote JS1 controller has always intrigued us. Mobile handsets are getting more and more powerful, and the games are bordering on beautiful - but the controls are still terrible. Attempting to control a game with a virtual, onscreen D-pad is like threading a needle with your feet. That’s where the JS1 comes in. As a standalone Bluetooth game controller, it theoretically brings mobile gaming a bit closer to the gaming we’re used to on other platforms. Alas, it’s always had one major fault: you couldn’t buy the damn thing.

Well, that’s a lie. You could buy it - but you’d need to buy a Sony Ericsson or Nokia phone with it. Since its launch in February of 2008, Zeemote would only sold the JS1 in bundled kits. When we asked Zeemote about this, they implied that they just weren’t setup to do that level of distribution in-house.

Well, it looks like they’ve found someone who is. The Zeemote JS1 for BlackBerry is now available for standalone purchase directly through RIM’s own accessory shop. Zeemote launched an SDK for BlackBerry back in October of last year, allowing developers to prep their games for compatibility. Gameloft, amongst others, took them up on their offer, making all 200+ of their titles Zeemote compatible. $39.99 gets you the controller, plus one free gameloft game.

So what do you think - now that it’s available, would you be willing to tote a standalone controller?

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

US Call-Center Jobs — That Pay $100K a Year

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Troubled Pirate Bay may get sold

Section: Business News, Web, Websites

Rumors have been flying that the troubled Pirate Bay may actually get sold to Global Gaming Factory X.  The CEO of the company, Hans Pandeyatold, told the Swedish press today that his company’s acquisition of The Pirate Bay will with certainty go through.  The company had announced plans back in June that it planned to acquire the bit torrent site for an $8 million dollar price tag.  The founders put the site up for sale after they were found guilty in April of pirating music and films.

Although the board of Global Gaming Factory X has approved of the sale, questions have been raised as to whether the company can actually afford to make the acquisition.  The company’s financial records show that it made approximately $800,000 last year and the CEO has still not produced the funds for the sale.  However, he states that he has unnamed investors that will provide the financial backing,

If the sale actually goes through Global Gaming Factory plans to redesign the site and use a peer to peer platform.

Read: [CNET]

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

Rumor: Best Buy to start accepting orders for Sprint’s HTC Hero on September 13

Having just recently been spotted riding the FCC approval express, it comes as no surprise that Sprint’s version of HTC’s Hero will soon be on its way to Android-fiending girls and boys across these United States.

Now, according to Engadget, it sounds like “soon” may be as little as a couple weeks as Best Buy is expected to begin accepting $50 deposits for the CDMA-flavored Hero beginning on September 13.

On the one hand it seems kinda silly to pre-order something that should have no problems with availability when it hits the market (while we’ll gladly shout our love for this thing from the mountain tops, the Hero’s Leno-like chin isn’t everyone’s favorite). But, on the other hand, this is Sprint’s FIRST (rumored) Android-powered handset, so I guess it does warrant some irrational excitement on the part of Sprint suckers customers (disclaimer: I am a Sprint sucker customer who can’t wait for Android). As for pricing and availability…your guess is as good as ours.

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Confirmed: Virgin Mobile is getting the LG Rumor 2

It’s a big ol’ day of scoop confirmation for us. First the Nokia N900 turns out to be an exact spec-for-spec match with what we said it would be back in May. Just a few hours later, we’re seeing confirmation that Virgin Mobile is getting the LG Rumor2 - just as we said they would back in July. Yeah, the second one isn’t quite as huge as the first one - but a scoop is a scoop, right?

We didn’t have a shred of doubt in our source, but now some eagle-eye has caught it in writing. Virgin Mobile just kickstarted a Twitter contest which they’re calling “Twitter Rumors” - and as if the name weren’t enough, the prize list clearly states “Three (3) winners (one for each daily Promotional Period) will receive 1 Virgin Mobile Rumor2 handset and $50 Top-Up Card”. Thats about as concrete as things get shy of a press release, folks.

[Via EngadgetMobile]

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Now Asus Plans An E-Book Reader

Call it the EeeBook.

The electronic books reader market is red hot right now and Asus is taking notice. The company plans to introduce an e-reader under its Eee PC brand, according to a report in Taiwanese paper DigiTimes.

Asus’ new e-reader is likely to be available by the end of the year, according to company president Jerry Shen.

The e-reader market is one of the hottest consumer product categories currently. Just the last few months have seen a slew of new product announcements. After introducing Kindle 2, the updated version of its e-reader, Amazon launched a broadsheet reading device called the Kindle DX. Earlier this week, Sony introduced a $400 wireless e-reader with a 7-inch screen. Meanwhile, two other companies–iRex and Plastic Logic–plan to offer new large screen readers later this year or early next year.

Standing out from the competition won’t be easy for Asus. Asus doesn’t have the benefit of low cost or the first mover advantage in the e-reader market, two factors that ensured the company’s success in the netbooks category. The cheapest of e-book readers today is from Sony and it costs $200.  Asus will have to beat that price by a significant margin.

Most 6-inch e-readers in the market currently are also homogeneous in their form factor, looks and overall experience. Doing something innovative, while keeping costs extremely low won’t be easy for Asus. Asus did not respond to a request for comment.

And unlike in the netbook market, Asus will also have to deal with the challenge of offering access to content for the device. Just adopting an open format such as EPub wont’ be enough to draw in users. After all, then what’s there to set an Asus reader apart from a Foxit eSlick or a Cool-er?

See Also:

• Why E-Books Look So Ugly
• Sony’s E-Book Reader Adds Touchscreen, Wireless Downloads
• Why E-Books Are Stuck in a Black-and-White World
• Buying Guide: How to Choose an E-Book Reader
• New Barnes & Noble E-book Store to Power Plastic Logic Reader

Photo: (AZAdam/Flickr)

TiVo Relaunching As a Patent Troll?

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Palm Pre launches in Canada, celebrates with new apps

Attention Canadian Pre aficionados: your time has come. For 199.95 of your bizarre Canadian dollars, Palm’s WebOS-running, full QWERTY-sporting, Synergy-syncing handset is yours for the taking. Of course, you’d only be able to get that price if you commit to a lengthy 3-year contract with Bell, but that hasn’t kept some of you from taking the plunge already.

In their infinite grace and wisdom, Palm has also decided to release a few more apps to commemorate the occasion. Bringing the App Catalog total to a whopping 45, its ranks now include a Tetris demo from EA that only lets you play for one minute, a Yahtzee demo that’s sure to knock your family-friendly socks off, a dedicated Yelp app, and (appropriately enough) an app for the Canadian Press.

Planning to take the plunge? Make your way to your nearest Bell Mobility store (or preferred third-party retailer) now, if possible - you’d better get the lead out if you’ve been watching and waiting this whole time.

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Ripe Fruit May Inspire Mosquito Repellents

Translate documents: sharing across languages and generations

Shoe Cell Phone Holder: It's For Real?!

Only $19 from Amazon:

The perfect place for the fashion-plate to park her cell phone... Comes with built-in channel for recharging cable

Oh, and did I mention the manufacturer is called "Perfect Solutions"?

As if the company's ingenuity wasn't already evident by the hideous make that, ridiculous instantly-classic product you see before you.

Blockhead Stem: Cycling Do Or Don't?

The Blockhead Stem from cw&t costs $89, which seems pretty reasonable considering it's machined from 7075 aluminum.

Of course, you may be saying why on Earth would you want to put something so un-aerodynamic — with sharp edges — on the front of your bike.

Designer Che-Wei Wang explained to BBG:

The sharp edges are for aesthetic reasons. All the bike parts our there seem to focus on aerodynamics and weight, so we wanted to make something different. We [Wang and partner Taylor Levy] wanted to reveal the purest function of the stem, which is essentially a chunk of metal that has two holes in it. It's minimal and its fabrication is also simple. Starting with a solid block of aluminum the machine time required to mill the stem is low, cutting only what is needed to make it functional.

OK, maybe you're still not sold on the look. But certainly you can get behind their IP philosophy:

Blockhead Stem is licensed under a Creative Commons license. Take our design, modify it, make one for yourself. But please don't sell them because we need money to buy and eat dumplings. Give credit where it's due. We actually want you to go find your machinist buddy and see if he or she can make it for super cheap. We spent about a month searching for a quality machinist that can produce them on demand. If you find a better machinist please share.

Of course, this isn't full-on open source hardware because of the restrictions on selling modified versions of their design, but it's still close enough to make me smile.

Fake Steve on David Pogue's curiously effusive Snow Leopard review

Just to be clear: This is absolutely not because David Pogue makes most of his money by writing "missing manuals" and other Mac-related user guides. Like this one, and this one, both of them for ... wait for it ... Snow Leopard!

Snow Leopard reviews: Buggy, glitchy, and David Pogue loves it! [FSJ]

Nokia officially announces its first Maemo phone

Section: Communications, Smartphones

Nokia, the world’s largest cell phone manufacturer has finally decided to announce a new smartphone that doesn’t use Symbian S69 for the OS.  Today Nokia announced the N900, which will run Nokia’s Linux platform, Maemo.  This marks the first phone from Nokia that will run Linux, though it has been dabbling in the platform for some time now with its Internet tablets.

At first glance, the phone actually looks more like a smaller MID than a smartphone.  It boasts a 3.5” 800x480 resistive touch screen, 32GB of storage that can expand to 48GB with mircoSD, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, TV-out, FM transmitter and other standard smartphone features (Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth). 

What sets it apart is the OS.  Nokia is touting it as a “PC-like experience on a handset-sized device,” and with a powerful processor, 1GB of application memory and OpenGl ES 2.0 it could possibly match the functionality of a netbook.  The Maemo system also features a Firefox-based web browser that supports Flash 9.4, so watching Hulu or YouTube on the phone should be possible.

The N900 will be on display at Nokia World next week and will launch in various markets in October for €500 before tax and any possible subsidy.  What makes it even more interesting is the fact that the quad-band GSM/EDGE radio includes the spectrum that T-Mobile uses in the US.  If the N900 comes to T-Mobile with any sort of subsidy, it would be the first Nokia smartphone to get a US subsidy in a long time.  However, even if it doesn’t get a subsidy, it looks like Nokia is finally releasing a smartphone that more of us stateside can be very, very excited about.

Read [Reuters]
Read [Engadget]

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

Nokia N900 tablet runs Maemo, runs flash, likes money

Nokia's N900, a well-heeled angle on the shaky "mobile internet device" category, shall run Maemo 5, a cut of linux intended for heavy internet use. At 800 pixels wide, the display will better cellphones at showing web-pages, and high-end features abound: there's a 5 megapixel camera, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, Flash compatibility, 32GB of storage, GPS and TV-out. Such a shame it isn't a cellphone! Update: It is a cellphone! Damn!

Furthermore, at 500 Euros, it'll have to justify itself as a "netbook replacement" for those not already fond of Nokia's past lineup of internet tablets.

Product Page [Nokia]

Revamped Shuttle Booster to Get First Test

Sharp's tiny NetWalker netbook echoes classic Zaurus

Sharp's netbook-cum-MID is something of a surprise--a shrunken laptop running an ARM CPU and Ubuntu linux, like the Zauruses of yore.

Featuring a 1024x600 pixel display, an 800MHz Freescale chip, 4GB of flash storage and 512MB of RAM, it won't challenge the latest from Asus and MSI on the performance front. But, like the perpetually sold-old Umid mBook, it has both a "real" qwerty keyboard and a pocket-friendly format.

The big claims, to my eye, are the 10 hour battery life and a 3-second boot time. If those are true, it'll be a real contender. Type on these tiny keyboards, though, is a chore: Sony's Vaio P is the smallest I've been comfortable with in the past.

Expect a price point around $500.

NetWalker, Sharp's Latest Ubuntu Netbook... Is the Zaurus back? - Hands-On !!! [Akihabara News via Lilliputing and Engadget]

Snakeguardz Are Also Bulletproof!

CrackShot's Snakeguardz are $70 gaiters made from tough, 1000-Denier nylon. They not only keep snakes from slithering up your pant legs, but prevent bites.

Cool stuff, but even cooler is the fact Ben Meadows says the gaiters are "strong enough to stop a 12-gauge shotgun blast at 20 yards."

I would hate to be the dude who tests these.*

*Yes, I realize no one actually wears them and gets in the line of fire.

Has Either Sony or Amazon Moved The E... - ChannelWeb

Straits Times

Has Either Sony or Amazon Moved The E-Reader Ball Forward? ChannelWeb With its three new Sony Readers, Sony now has the goods to effectively challenge Amazon and the dominance of its Kindle e-readers. What it hasn't done, however, is move the e-reader ball forward by creating the device ... All the News That Fits, Sony StyleNew York Times Sony Burns Kindle With New Wireless Touchscreen E-ReaderTechNewsWorld Sony Wireless E-Book Reader Proves Kindle Was On TargetPC World InformationWeek -MarketWatch -Bloomberg all 771 news articles »

Nokia’s Linux-Based N900 Finally Official

Nokia’s new N900 “mobile computer” is now, finally, official. The N900 is most notable for being the first handset to features the Finnish company’s new Maemo 5 operating system, an OS skewed heavily towards internet use and built on a Linux base. Here are the key features of this rather sleek looking new cell.

The screen is touch sensitive (natch) and squeezes 800 x 400 pixels into 3.5-inches, the unit includes GPS, an FM transmitter, TV-out and USB ports and a 5MP camera. And of course it has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, something very important for some people (although there is an on-screen QWERTY, too). It also has a hefty 32GB of on-board memory, expandable with a microSD card.

In short, it does everything a modern phone should. What it will come down to is the software, a place where Nokia has arguably lost its way of late. Nokia’s dumb-phones were probably the easiest to use handsets then available. Will Maemo fix this?

For that, we’ll have to wait for the hands-on test. But the pictures look promising, and the light-on-dark interface is both clear and gorgeous. The N900 will be available in October for around €500 ($710). And one more thing: the Mozilla browser does Flash. Take that, iPhone.

Press release [Nokia]
Product page [Nokia]

Gadgetell Guide: Must have travel gear - iPhone edition

Section: Audio, Portable Audio, Video, Portable Video, Communications, Cellphones, Smartphones, Mobile, Gadgets / Other, GPS/Navigation, Gaming, Portable, Features, Buying Guide

As a frequent traveler, my focus has been to shed as much as I can.  Here are my secrets to traveling light with enough tech to keep even a short attention span tech blogger like me happy.  Maybe you can find something to help you or at the very least, be able to spot me in the airport as I run for my connection.

iPhone/iPod touch

I’ve traveled with both for the past two years.  The first year with the iPod touch made me absolutely hate Wi-Fi paid providers.  These guys suck.  Just give us free Wi-Fi and I won’t be cranky no matter what is wrong with the plane or when they might get around to fixing it.  The past year with the iPhone has made me much more sane, Wi-Fi-wise.

With an app store that is in itself entertaining, finding apps is much like being a hunter.  Find the right keyword and you’ll get lucky.  Otherwise just keep scrolling.  There is something for almost everyone, no matter how small niche you like.  For example, I am yachtsman and a cyclist.  This week, I’ve been using Navionics marine app and Test Rides, a bike fitting app.  Crazy cool stuff.  But games like Deep pinball game, Scrabble, and Spider keep me busy for hours.

iPhone/iPod touch: $99 (plus 2-year contract)/$229 and up (though, with an expected upgrade to the iPod touch next month, hold off just a little bit)

Mophie Juice Pack

Yeah, about that busy for hours bit.  You need help doing that.  My battery life drains faster than a European 1 liter per flush toilet.  One delay and I fear my phone will die before I get to my hotel after the flight.  Enter the Mopie Juice Pack.

This thing is awesome.  It encases your iPhone (or the Juice Pack for the iPod touch) and provides you with instant power.  It will recharge your on board battery back to full.  Plus, you can use the case to charge your phone overnight through the case charging up both the phone and the case so you are ready to do it all again tomorrow.

For those of us that use our iPhone/touch a lot and rely on the applications for fun and business, the Mophie Juice Pack is peace of mind.  The form factor is completely livable.  I don’t feel like I am talking into a brick when on the phone; this is a magical feat all in itself.

Mophie Juice Pack: $79.99

SugarSync

Any file on my computer back in the office is on my iPhone thanks to SugarSync.  I can send the files via a secure link to my clients with a suave iPhone app and the in-the-cloud storage does the rest.  As a bonus, the desktop software automatically syncs my stuff to the cloud so I never have to worry about having the latest docs while I am on the go.  Photos, music, docs, it is all there waiting for me.  I love that.

I reviewed this a while back and just paid up to go another year.

Sugar Sync: $4.99 per month and up.

AT&T Navigator

AT&T Navigator is a must have app for traveling with an iPhone or other compatible phone on the AT&T network.  TeleNav, the brains behind the GPS, also builds navigation applications for other carriers such as Sprint and Verizon.  Forget paying extra for a rental car with GPS or hauling around a stand alone device and cables.  This app can more than do the job.

With its integration with your contact list and healthy list of POIs, Navigator voice guides you to your destination complete with visual instructions.  I’ve been using this application for some time now and it works just as you would imagine or hope.  Easy, clear and precise, the GPS navigation needs only a cell connection to download a map at the beginning of the trip or if you take a wrong turn.  Out of cell service area?  No GPS.

If there’s an airport, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve got cell service.  As a bonus, there’s little chance of you leaving the rental car without your phone, so lost or stolen GPS units become no worry.

AT&T Navigator: $9.99 per month, free application.

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

BLOG: Mars Hoax Day Is Here

Ocean 'Deserts' Becoming More Lifeless

Hands-On With DSLR Remote for iPhone

You pick up your iPhone, switch on your DSLR, and they start talking to each other. The camera beams its point-of-view wirelessly back to the phone, you tap the screen and the camera focuses. Tap the on-screen “Fire” button and the picture is taken, appearing seconds later on the iPhone’s screen. You tap and zoom in to check focus.

This futuristic scenario tok place today in my office, with one important addition: a computer. The software is called DSLR Remote, by Onone software, and it allows you to control your DSLR camera over a wireless network using an iPhone or iPod Touch. It also requires a computer connected directly to the camera’s USB port.

I have been playing with the application for the last day and it is a lot of fun, and in some situations it could be a very useful tool. But it is far from ready in a proper professional environment where bulletproof software is required.

First, you hook up the camera to a computer. On that computer you need the to install some companion software (Mac or PC) called DSLR Camera Remote Server, which is what does the actual controlling of the camera. Here, too, you can specify where images are saved and have a copy made to be sent off to Adobe Lightroom for an (almost) instant preview.

Once this is running (after the first use you can forget about it), you fire up the iPhone app and see the simple main screen, with access to various settings. From here you can control picture format (anything the camera can do, pretty much, including RAW plus various qualities of jpg), white balance and, depending on which mode the camera is in, shutter speed and aperture. There are also easy exposure compensation and ISO settings.

From here you can head to settings, for more tweaking and to switch on Live View. This gives you a live video feed from the camera, and when you tap the image, the camera will focus. You can’t choose the focus point like you can with the iPhone’s built-in camera: what the camera focuses on depends on in-camera settings.

So far, this is all quite responsive. I tried it out on my MSI Wind netbook, which runs OS X, and it worked, although oddly the iPhone app was very jittery, with disappearing pictures and buttons. Using it with a real MacBook worked fine, however. I have no idea why this should be.

When you finally take a snap, it appears a few seconds later on your iPhone’s screen, and a few more seconds after that it shows up in Lightroom (if you are using this. You don’t have to). Double-tapping the image zooms to that point, but it’s neither very responsive nor accurate. And once you are zoomed in you can’t drag around the image with a finger, an odd omission for the iPhone. In fact, the entire viewing part of the experience is sluggish. I’m using a second-generation iPod Touch, so those with a faster iPhone 3GS might fare better.

Still, the app is only at v1.1 and is adding features. If you are shooting indoors, and especially if you are shooting sel-portraits, the ability to shoot tethered with a remote control and a live feed to check framing is very nice, and $20 is probably a fair price. The $2 lite version pretty much only lets your trigger the shutter from afar, and given that you’ll still need to lug a computer to do this, buying a dedicated remote may be more practical, if more expensive.

As fun and sometimes useful toy, we recommend it. For pro-use, not so much.

Product page [Onone]

See Also:

• Camera-Triggering iPhone App Allows Remote Viewing
• iPhone Remote Control Adds Nikon Support, Auto-Focus
• IPhone Camera Remote Gets Improved UI, Nikon Support

FLO TVs rumored to be making a personal television device - we’ve got some details

Section: Video, Portable Video

Just recently, a new rumor has surfaced in regards to a mobile television device, or more specifically in regards to a device that Qualcomm is rumored to be making for FLO TV that will be called the FLO TV Personal Television.

For those unfamiliar with the FLO TV service, they offer television on the go and are currently available with both AT&T as well as Verizon Wireless.  As of now, the service is priced at $15 a month, is available on a total of nine devices and offers users around 20 channels of on-the-go entertainment.  It should also be noted that this service provides real television, not silly clips and bits and pieces that just leave you wanting more.

Getting back to the rumor, these details are coming courtesy of gdgt who report that the device will have a capacitive touchscreen display, a user interface that supports swipes and gestures, 4GB of internal storage as well as built-in stereo speakers.  Additionally in terms of battery life, the FLO TV Personal Television device will be able to offer up to 5 hours of video playback, 15 hours of music playback and up to 300 hours on standby.  Finally, the device is expected to be “iPhone-sized.”

Now, keep in mind that was all what the rumor suggests, which was based off the story of a “reliable source.”  Now here is what I can personally offer in terms of potential details.

Just as a coincidence, I was recently approached about setting up a phone meeting with a rep from FLO TV, and yes I took the call.  Overall it was a nice call, it gave me some nice insight on the FLO TV service and I even learned some interesting little facts such as how;

“On average, FLO TV subscribers watch more than 30 minutes per day which is comparable to the average time U.S. cell phone users spend per day talking on their cell phones, according to CTIA’s Semi-Annual Wireless Industry Survey 2008”

But more importantly, I also learned that Audiovox was currently in the process of building a mobile television device for FLO TV, which I suppose could be known as a Personal Television.  The details that I have are pretty light, but I was told that it was going to be designed as a rear seat entertainment device for the car and that it was initially going to be sold as an aftermarket device with hopes that it would later become an optional accessory from the dealer.

Finally, the Audiovox device is set to be launched in the Fall of 2009.  Now for the disclaimer, I am not sure that this rumor that has surfaced from gdgt and the story I heard first hand from a FLO TV rep are indeed the same device, but it does sound pretty close. 

Bottom line, if nothing else we can at least expect to see a rear sear entertainment device from Audiovox and FLO TV become available in the Fall, of course whether or not people are going to buy this will come down to the price, which unfortunately I have no details on.

Read [gdgt]

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

MacBook Case Disguises Computer as Newspaper

At first, I thought that this notebook case was a fantastic idea. It disguises your MacBook Pro (or similarly-sized machine) as a newspaper, and has a hidden zipper to stop it falling out.

But take a closer look. Spanish readers will note that the name of the paper is spelled wrong (it should be La Vanguardia, with an extra “i” before the final letter). This would grab my eye immediately, as would the “Herold Tribune” and “Le Pais”, presumably all altered for copyright reasons.

Still, disguise is a great idea: I carry my MacBook in a Jiffy Bag, tucked inside one of those indestructible Tyvek FedEx envelopes, and an old friend of mine actually had her laptop survive being left at a pub overnight using a similar trick.

Ironically, there is no version for the British Isles. Brits will see this joke coming: The obvious candidate for laptop-hiding in the UK would be the Guardian, a paper so famed for its poor spelling that its affectionate nickname is the Grauniad. €60.

Product page [MiteMite via BBG]

DVD Lens Makes Great Cellphone Macro Hack

Cellphone cameras are almost universal awful, but that shouldn’t stop you having some fun with them (and we don’t mean the kind of “fun” found on the Tokyo subway).

This splendid hack takes the lens out of a DVD player and turns your phone-cam into a macro phone-cam. First, dissect your DVD player and remove the lens. It’s designed to focus a laser, close-up to the disk, and it does a fine job with visible light, too. Step two: stick it in front of the camera lens and shoot. That’s it, although how quick and dirty you get is up to you: the article at DIY Photography suggests gaffer tape for a proper ghetto version, or a card frame for an easier-to-remove mod.

Either way, this is a great use for a dead drive, and easy, too. Just unplug the DVD player from the power first.

Super Macro Your Cellphone Camera With A DVD Lens [DIY Photography]

Tiny MacBook Air Clone Riles Gadget Writer

Leander Kahney, of the Cult of Mac blog, doesn’t like this Mac-alike PC notebook. In fact, he hates it. Listen:

[…] a butt-ugly MacBook Air knockoff. It promises to be dirt cheap but misses the point by being fatter and uglier. The knockoff also has a smaller screen — 11″ instead of 13″ — runs a shit processor and has no RAM (1.6GHz Intel Atom and 1GB DDR2).

Don’t hold back, Leander. Say what you mean. The knock-off is detailed at Shanzai.com, and manages to pack in a few things not found in the MacBook Air: Two USB ports instead of one, an ethernet jack, an SD card reader and a removable battery. It’s unlikely it’ll ever come to the US, but if it does, you’ll be able to spot it by its Windows key. And the fact that, viewed from any angle but the one above-left, it’s butt-ugly.

MacBook Air Clone – Full Metal Jacket Edition [Shenzai via Cult of Mac]

Wind Top Brings Power Boost to Kitchen Counters

Take an old, 20” Apple Cinema display (the original plastic one), a netbook and a touch screen and mix them all together. Stand back, tap with a magic wand and shazam! You have the MSI Wind Top AE2010.

That’s not quite fair description of MSI’s new counter-top all-in-one, but it gives a good idea of the capabilities. The computer part is actually a lot beefier than you’d find in the Wind netbook, with a AMD Athlon Dual Core processor, a 320GB hard drive, a superdrive, gigabit ethernet, a chunky 4GB RAM and an ATI Radeon HD 3200 for graphics. There’s also the mandatory webcam and mic, an SD card reader, and six USB ports.

Clearly this is aimed as a low-cost alternative to the iMac, and at $650 you could almost buy two of them for the $1200 Apple wants for the entry-level iMac. But it’s the touch-screen that sells this as a kitchen computer, and the all-in-one design is perfect for giving to parents who might otherwise tangle themselves up in headsets on every Skype call (I’m looking at you, mother). Is it an iMac? No. Is it a PC pretty enough and good enough for the living room or kitchen? Sure, and it’s cheap, too.

Product page [MSI. Thanks, Greg!]