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ASML returns to profit in third quarter, orders up (AP)AP - ASML Holding NV, a key supplier to computer chip makers, reported Wednesday a net profit of euro20 million ($29.7 million) for the third quarter, ending a nine-month streak of losses, and said new orders had increased sharply.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Oct 2009 | 4:33 am Smartphones weigh on mobile networks: study (Reuters)Reuters - A smartphone generates much less mobile data traffic than a laptop with a data card, but phones impose a load on the network which is much larger than anticipated, a study showed on Wednesday.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Oct 2009 | 4:00 am The best free open source software for Mac OS X (InfoWorld)InfoWorld - Most Mac lovers love the Mac for the carefully wrought user interfaces and the crisp design, and never pay attention to the open source at the heart of the operating system. But underneath this beautiful facade is a heart built upon the rich -- if often chaotic -- world of open source software.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Oct 2009 | 4:00 am E-on Software unveils Vue 8 lineup (Macworld.com)Macworld.com - E-on Software, developer of software for creation, animation, rendering, and integration of natural 3-D environments, has unveiled its upcoming Vue 8 product line, scheduled for release the first week of November. New features include 3-D terrain sculpting, a new directional displacement engine, and the third-generation of e-onâs atmospheric technology.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Oct 2009 | 3:52 am Microsoft ropes in Family Guy to pimp Windows 7 - Register
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 14 Oct 2009 | 3:46 am Rumor: Apple To Switch On Sleeping FM Radio in iPhone, iPod Touch - Wired News
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 14 Oct 2009 | 3:40 am Bank Leumi Successfully Migrates 60 Banking Applications to Magic Software's uniPaaS PlatformOR-YEHUDA, Israel, Oct. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- href="http://www.magicsoftware.com/">Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. (Nasdaq: MGIC), a global provider ofSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Oct 2009 | 3:40 am Rumor: Apple To Switch On Sleeping FM Radio in iPhone, iPod Touch
Rumor site 9to5Mac reports that Apple is on the cusp of releasing an FM radio application for the iPhone and iPod Touch. And get this: it will be for the current models, not for some new hardware revision. According to the rumor, Apple will awaken the slumbering FM transceiver already dormant within the devices, currently only used to talk to the Nike+ widget. This speculation seems to fit in with Apple’s switching on of the Bluetooth functionality inside the second-gen iPod Touch with the 3.0 software update, but the rumor then gets a little weird:
Yes. Apple, which has already managed to put tune-tagging into the iPod Nano, is apparently having trouble doing it with the way-more-powerful iPhone platform. This sounds like nonsense, but it doesn’t mean we won’t see a radio app. What great news. Now there will be, along with the stocks application, yet another app that I will never use yet cannot remove from my iPod. In-house Radio.app in the works for iPhone and iPod touch [9to5Mac] Image credit: 9to5Mac 
Source: Gizmodo | 14 Oct 2009 | 3:30 am In the UK, a Few Tweets Restore Freedom of SpeechSeveral readers wrote to us about the situation in the UK that saw the Guardian newspaper forbidden by a judge from reporting a question in UK parliament. The press's freedom to do so has been fought for since at least 1688 and fully acknowledged since the 19th century. At issue was a matter of public record — but the country's libel laws meant that the newspaper could not inform the public of what parliament was up to. The question concerned the oil trading company Trafigura, the toxic waste scandal they are involved in, and their generous use of libel lawyers to silence those who would report on the whole thing. After tweeters and bloggers shouted about Trafigura all over the Internet, the company's lawyers agreed to drop the gag request.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 14 Oct 2009 | 3:28 am BRIEF-Saipem on Nigeria contractMILAN, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Italian oil services company Saipem SpA said in a statement on Wednesday:Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Oct 2009 | 3:25 am Readings: Hedge Funds, Wall Street Smarties, Ireland, etc.Hedge funds misrepresent facts, says research (FT)Debt monetization vs quantitative easing: They're different. Really. (Accrued Interest) Wall Street got dangerous when it got smart (NYT)Intel Q3 earnings...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Oct 2009 | 3:21 am Letter to rocket scientists from kid, 1957: "You put in other details"Jason sez, "A beautiful entry at the Letters Of Note website detailing a card sent to the Woomera Rocket Range in Australia, 1957, by a little boy named Dean Cox. Dean provided the rocket scientists...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Oct 2009 | 3:16 am Letter to rocket scientists from kid, 1957: "You put in other details" Jason sez, "A beautiful entry at the Letters Of Note website detailing a card sent to the Woomera Rocket Range in Australia, 1957, by a little boy named Dean Cox. Dean provided the rocket scientists a helping hand with future space craft design offering his concept of a Rolls Royce Jet Engined-powered two man vehicle- but beyond that, the scientists would have to "put in other details". Turns out 52 years later he's been tracked down (see article comments) and he's still waiting for a reply."
TO A TOP SCIENTIST
(Thanks, Jason!) UPDATE 3-ASML Q3 bookings bonanza fuels tech recovery hopes* Q3 new machine bookings 777 mln eur, beating top f'castSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Oct 2009 | 3:15 am Victor JVC announces a very pretty, very thin home theater sound system
Source: CrunchGear | 14 Oct 2009 | 3:00 am Photo: European SMEs Gain Business Clarity With SAP(R) SolutionsSmall Businesses and Midsize Enterprises Reveal How Business Solutions Can Enable Visibility, Competitive Advantage and Sustainable Growth WALLDORF, Germany, Oct. 14...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Oct 2009 | 3:00 am Night Vision: Nikon D3S Shoots At ISO 102,400, Adds Video
Nikon’s new flagship D3S has squeezed both HD video into its full-frame shooting body, but the real news is that the camera can literally see in the dark — the brand new sensor has a standard top ISO setting of 12,800 and can be jacked up to an unbelievable ISO 102,400 with the “Hi” settings. Nikon’s D3X has turned out to be an inspired product. The 24 megapixel camera has effectively shut up the pixel-peepers and let the company focus on making a camera that actually takes great pictures instead of one which just makes giant files. The D3X is effectively a big piece of juicy meat that Nikon threw to those number-lovers and it worked, distracting them from the real innovation going on within smaller sensors. The D3S is, as the name suggests, a tweaked D3 rather than an all-new camera. But what tweaks! The sensor is the most obvious change. The full-frame CMOS chip still captures 12.1 megapixel images, but the bigger pixels can fill up with more photons and allow the above mentioned standard setting of ISO 12,800, up from 6,400 on the D3. And if this is anything like the D3, expect that crazy number to actually give you very usable pictures — the D3 and D700 (which share a sensor) shoot almost noiseless pictures at 6400 (although dynamic range does suffer). The extended (or “emergency”) ISO setting gains two stops, jumping from 25,600 to a staggering 102,400. Again, going on D3 performance this will remain an emergency setting, but a very usable one. And then there is video, the big camera feature of the last year, and in this case Nikon’s first full-frame video-shooting DSLR. It shoots motion 720 x 1024 JPEG files at 24fps, and the auto-focus system has been tweaked to work better in contrast-detection mode, the one used whenever the mirror is up. From there, we see some other welcome additions. The D3S gets a self-cleaning sensor (at last), a dedicated live-view button (its place on the top-left knob has been taken by a new quiet-shutter mode), and slightly bigger release lever for the battery compartment. A faster 9fps burst rate (11 fps in DX-mode) will now fill up the double-sized buffer in 48 frames, and there are some tweaks to the in-camera D-lighting (although if you are shooting RAW you can ignore this). There is more, but that part of the list looks more like firmware tweaks than new features. The D3S, then, looks like a very solid successor to the already great D3. If there were any doubt that digital cameras have superseded film, it has now been blown away. In fact, film is starting to look as quaint and limited as libraries are next to the internet. Product page [Nikon] 
Source: Gizmodo | 14 Oct 2009 | 2:30 am Acer reveals 15.6-inch touchscreen notebook
Acer’s going the touchscreen route with the 15.6-inch Aspire AS5738PG notebook. It’ll launch alongside Windows 7 on October 22nd with a starting price of $800. The machine will run Windows 7 Home Premium and pack a multi-touch screen for some good old fashioned pinching and zooming. Other features include a 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, 512MB ATI Radeon HD4570 graphics chip, 4GB of RAM, 320GB SATA hard drive, DVD burner, six-cell battery, and a weight of just over six pounds. Full press release:
Source: CrunchGear | 14 Oct 2009 | 2:29 am Acer adds dual-core CPUs, Windows 7, and an 11.6-inch model to Timeline series
Keeping with the idea of netbook portability and battery life yet with standard notebook power, Acer’s bumped its Timeline series to dual-core CPUs, added Windows 7, and slid an 11.6-inch model weighing just over three pounds into the mix at just $600. There will be four Windows 7 base Timeline models available on October 22nd:
All models feature dual-core low voltage Pentium CPUs, six-cell batteries good for up to eight hours of use, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, 4GB of RAM, and 320GB SATA hard drives. The 14- and 15.6-inch models also come with optical drives. Full press release:
Source: CrunchGear | 14 Oct 2009 | 2:29 am GOOD Scores Funding, Strategic Partnerships To Help Improve The World
The company – not to be confused with Good Technology – is also consolidating several of its brands (Reason Pictures, GOOD Magazine and GOOD Digital) under a single entity dubbed GOOD Worldwide. In addition to the funding, GOOD is living up to its promise to help ‘push the world forward’ by striking several strategic partnership and investment agreements. These include deals with Causes, a hugely popular Facebook and MySpace app that promotes viral donations of time and money to charities and non-profit organizations, Goodrec (a personal inspiration and recommendation service) and Govit, an application that empowers citizens to take action by connecting with their elected representatives in the United States. Founded in 2006, GOOD says its website, which is partly a network of blogs, now reaches over 2 million monthly uniques while its magazine gets into the hands of approximately two hundred thousand readers. The media company also organizes well-attended live events and produces videos that it claims have been streamed over 25 million times to date. Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily. 
Source: TechCrunch | 14 Oct 2009 | 2:19 am GOOD Scores Funding, Strategic Partnerships To Help Improve The WorldGOOD, an integrated media platform for people who "want to live well and do good", has announced that it has recently closed a Series A round of funding led by its co-founder and CEO Ben Goldhirsh and...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Oct 2009 | 2:19 am ABC reports on "apps addiction"ABC 7 interviewed several self-proclaimed iPhone junkies, then got an analysis from a psychologist, who compared the discomfort some people feel without their iPhone apps to narcotic withdrawal. Yes,...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Oct 2009 | 2:12 am Modern Games and Technology Challenging ESRB's EffectivenessThe Entertainment Software Rating Board has been around for 15 years now, overcoming an ineffective start and a host of controversial events to become a fairly well-respected ratings agency. However, as this article at The Escapist points out, the world of video games is changing, and the ESRB does not seem to be adapting along with it. "The most pressing problem is the ESRB's reluctance to address online interactions. Seeing as we're moving more and more toward online and internet-enabled games, this inevitably limits the ESRB's authority as a ratings board. Although the ESRB rates the submitted developer content within online games, these ratings are always qualified by an important disclaimer: 'Online Interactions Not Rated by the ESRB.' To date, this has meant that the rating given to the designed game content doesn't cover chat and other forms of player-to-player communication. That's unfortunate, because the ESRB's intimate relationship with the game industry could provide it with a unique vantage point from which to evaluate aspects of online games that are beyond the purview of other would-be raters, including the quality of the game's moderation system, programmed restrictions on chat and known player demographics."Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 14 Oct 2009 | 2:02 am Pepsi Apologizes for Before You Score iPhone App [Voices]By Marisa Taylor, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal Looking for obnoxious chauvinism? There’s an app for that. Pepsi’s Amp energy drink issued an apology for its new iPhone app, called Before You Score, which drew outrage from some female consumers who deemed the application sexist. Amp tweeted, “Our app tried 2 show the humorous lengths guys go 2 pick up women. We apologize if it’s in bad taste & appreciate your feedback,” and even included a self-deprecating “pepsifail” hashtag. The Before You Score app drew ire for its male-centric approach to categorizing women, calling itself “a roadmap to success with your favorite kinds of women — 24, in all.” Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 14 Oct 2009 | 2:00 am The Feds, not Forrester, Are Developing Better Definitions for Cloud ComputingSeveral months ago, the federal government drafted definitions for cloud computing. They were generally recognized as doing some excellent work. The definitions are a work in progress. The National Institute...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Oct 2009 | 1:57 am Google Experiments With Product Ads In Search Results
Our tipster says that he’s only seeing the new ads in the developer version of Chrome, but I’m seeing them as well in Safari, though some TechCrunch staff aren’t seeing them in any browser. Google is always switching up ad placement and formats in various bucket tests, some of which are browser-specific, so the inconsistency isn’t surprising. The new formats are likely part of Google’s Product Ads program, which the company announced back in June. The program allows participants in the Google Affiliate Network to place actual product listings in their ads, complete with photos in some cases. Given the limited distribution of the ads we’re seeing, it appears that Product Ads are still in beta. Google has apparently been testing these ads for some time now — PM Digital noticed similar ads last month. Thanks to Ben for the tip. Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
Source: Gizmodo | 14 Oct 2009 | 1:40 am What's right with Search Engine OptimizationSearch Engine Land's Danny Sullivan has published an open response to Derek Powazek's Spammers, Evildoers, and Opportunists defending the practice of search engine optimization, arguing that there's plenty...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Oct 2009 | 1:39 am What's right with Search Engine OptimizationSearch Engine Land's Danny Sullivan has published an open response to Derek Powazek's Spammers, Evildoers, and Opportunists defending the practice of search engine optimization, arguing that there's plenty of esoteric, useful, non-sleazy information that web-site-owners need to know to get their stuff recognized correctly by Google. I think there's something to this, but I don't find most of Danny's examples very compelling. In Derek's original article, he mentions most of the sort of thing Danny cites here (distinctive page titles, for example). The Google Base bit is indeed esoteric and the kind of thing a pro can help you with, but I'd be more convinced if his article had more of this sort of thing and fewer straw-men. But to really be real, let's remember that she's selling real estate in one of the most competitive areas of the country, Newport Beach, California. Her friends aren't all going to buy homes she's listing. Her "community" congregates on Google and does things like type in "newport beach homes for sale."An Open Letter To Derek Powazek On The Value Of SEO (Thanks, Danny!) Source: Boing Boing | 14 Oct 2009 | 1:39 am Stock Stronger as Yahoo Preps to Report Next Week–But Employee Departures (and Return of Yodeling!) Rattle [BoomTown]
In one week, Yahoo will report its third-quarter earnings, after the market closes. And, so far, its stock is showing signs that investors are hoping for better days ahead for the Internet giant. Shares are up 8.5 percent for the month, almost 13 percent for the last three months and almost 39 percent since the beginning of the year. While that’s not the rocket ship Google (GOOG) has been on–the search giant’s stock is up 70 percent since January, which includes a big boost recently on expectations of a strong earnings report tomorrow–it’s clear investors are hoping an improvement in the online advertising market will boost Yahoo’s fortunes. Wall Street is expecting $1.12 billion in net revenue and seven cents in earnings per share from Yahoo (YHOO)–and a better performance than that could boost the stock. In fact, a pair of bullish analyst reports came out today predicted just that. Broadpoint Amtech analyst Benjamin Schachter raised his price target to $21 a share, noting that after the search and online advertising partnership deal closes that Yahoo “should be meaningfully smaller and leaner, but should also be a significantly more profitable company.” And Benchmark Co. analyst Clayton Moran moved Yahoo from hold to buy, with a price target of $20. But a string of recent exec departures in Yahoo’s advertising units are also making slightly worried within the company’s ranks. That included Jim Schinella, the company’s SVP for corporate partnerships in September. And, yesterday, Glam Media announced that it had nabbed Josh Jacobs as SVP of Brand Advertising Products & Marketing. At Yahoo, Jacobs was a key exec in its display ad platform unit. Many inside the company expect more departures in the ad and engineering arena at Yahoo, pointing out that many big stock packages given to hold onto talent are about to vest. In addition, once Yahoo’s search and online advertising partnership with Microsoft (MSFT) is approved, as it is likely to be by the end of the year, hundreds of Yahoo engineers will get the choice of moving to Microsoft. Some will, of course, but some simply do not want to go and many Silicon Valley companies and start-ups BoomTown spoke to report seeing more resumes recently from Yahoo staff.
There is little Microsoft can do to stop possible leakage of tech talent from Yahoo until the deal is approved, since the companies cannot do any integration until it is. Perhaps worst of all, there seems to be nothing Yahoo can do to stifle its proclivity to yodel, which I begged Yahoo execs to forgo in its recent $100 million “It’s Y!ou” marketing push. No such luck! Yesterday, Yahoo launched its online Yodel Studio (no, I am not kidding), where you can record your own yodel in various music genres like, um, rap. Yahoo held a kickoff event in New York’s Time Square yesterday–however did I manage to miss it, since I was in Manhattan?–with a passel of celebrity yodelers like Jewel, as well as one in London’s Covent Garden. Today, there is a yodel event in Mumbai, India. Bollywood yodeling anyone? Here is a link to the famous Yahoo yodel, by the way, if you are so inclined. And here is a video of the Times Square event, and also the very memorable Yahoo commercial of Taylor Ware, after she won the Yahoo National Yodel Challenge contest in 2003. Some things never change (even if they should!) Source: All Things Digital | 14 Oct 2009 | 1:39 am New iPhone App Makes Jobs For Refugees In KenyaIt might sound like a pretty outlandish idea that an iPhone application can provide jobs for refugees in Kenya, but the folks behind the Give Work App are dreaming big, writes Erica Liepmann, Associate...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Oct 2009 | 1:31 am Twitter still seeking ways to cash in (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Oct 2009 | 1:19 am The New TechnoratiTechnorati relaunched its site tonight, changing and adding key features. Most notable is an expanded and fresher top 100 blogs list, and a new feature that lets authors post their content directly to...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Oct 2009 | 1:15 am The New Technorati
In 2007 Technorati redesigned the look and functionality of its home page three times. Here’s the first. And the second. The last change, made under the direction of incoming CEO Richard Jalichandra, has stayed more or less constant since then. In the meantime, Technorati has focused on expanding it’s business in other areas, particularly in handling advertising for other sites. Today, only a small percentage of Technorati’s total network traffic of 25 million U.S. unique visitors per month actually visit Technorati.com. But that doesn’t mean the flagship site isn’t an important asset. And those of us blogging for more than a couple of years can remember the days when Technorati was a key blogging tool, providing, among other things, a high quality real time search engine back when Google only indexed most blogs every few weeks. Today Technorati still provides a great blog search engine and keeps what many call the definitive Top 100 list of blogs. With the new site, they are focusing more on direct Technorati content (more on that below), and properly categorizing the more popular blogs. Go check it out yourself, and here’s a rundown of the new features: Top 100 Blogs:
Technorati is also categorizing blogs among a variety of topics, and providing separate lists of top blogs for each topic. Here’s Business, for example, and Gadgets. Publish Directly To Technorati: Authors can now choose to publish content directly to Technorati to gain exposure to a wider audience. This content is highlighted on the top of the Technorati.com home page. For bloggers with a big audience this won’t be attractive. But if I was just starting out with blogging, I’d post some of my content here to gain exposure, and then cross post to my own blog. Each writer has a profile with links to their site and content they’ve written on Technorati.
Search: Technorati is changing search to give much more weight towards authority and relevance over recency. For highly queried terms like “iPhone,” this cuts out a lot of noise and helps people find quality/definitive content more quickly. Users can also choose to search for blogs relevant to the query or posts elevant to the query, depending on what they are looking for. Topical Content: Technorati still shows outside content on a topical basis, too. The light green navigation bar at the top has topics like “Technology” and “Sports.” Content shown on that channel includes stuff directly written on Technorati as well as posts from blogs with high authority for the topic. Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
Source: TechCrunch | 14 Oct 2009 | 1:15 am Open Forum: Anyone Having Trouble Running Second Life With Windows 7?Windows 7 is set for commercial release in a couple weeks, but beta versions have been available for some time now. And Poid Mahovlich tells me that so far, it's not playing nice with Second Life: "Various...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Oct 2009 | 1:14 am Why I Hate Star Trek [Voices]By Charles Stross, Blogger, Charlie’s Story Let me clarify: when I was young — I’m dating myself here — I quite liked the original TV series. But when the movie-length trailer for ST:TNG first aired in the UK in the late eighties? It was hate on first sight. And since then, it’s also been hate on sight between me and just about every space operatic show on television. ST:Voyager and whatever the space station opera; check. Babylon Five? Ditto. Battlestar Galactica? Didn’t even bother turning on the TV. I hate them all. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 14 Oct 2009 | 1:05 am Big-Box Breach: The Inside Story of Wal-Mart’s Hacker Attack [Voices]By Kim Zetter, Contributor, Threat Level, Wired Wal-Mart (WMT) was the victim of a serious security breach in 2005 and 2006 in which hackers targeted the development team in charge of the chain’s point-of-sale system and siphoned source code and other sensitive data to a computer in Eastern Europe, Wired.com has learned. Internal documents reveal for the first time that the nation’s largest retailer was among the earliest targets of a wave of cyberattacks that went after the bank-card processing systems of brick-and-mortar stores around the United States beginning in 2005. The details of the breach, and the company’s challenges in reconstructing what happened, shed new light on the vulnerable state of retail security at the time, despite card-processing security standards that had been in place since 2001. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 14 Oct 2009 | 1:04 am No, Seriously, U.S. Broadband Competition Sucks [Voices]By Julian Sanchez, Washington DC Editor, Ars Technica Ok, I didn’t say anything last month when Jerry—albeit with some caveats—cited that FCC stat about how 88 percent of zip codes have four or more broadband providers. But now I see my friend Peter Suderman relying on the same figure over at Reason. And friends don’t let friends use FCC broadband data. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 14 Oct 2009 | 1:03 am The Eternal Conference Call [Voices]By Nicholas Carr, Blogger, Rough Type What goes around comes around, if always a little faster. Remember when we first started using email, back in the foggy depths of the twentieth century? The great thing about email, everyone said and everyone believed, was that it was an asynchronous communications medium. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 14 Oct 2009 | 1:02 am Microsoft, Fox Team Up to Create Worst Episode of Family Guy Ever [Digital Daily]
This time it’s going to be different. That’s because Microsoft (MSFT) is paying to make it so. The company has teamed up with Fox to sponsor a “Family Guy” special built around Windows 7. The show, dubbed “Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex’s Almost Live Comedy Show,” after creator Seth MacFarlane and voice talent Alex Borstein, will air Sunday, Nov. 8, at 8:30 pm, EST and PST. The new episode will be free of commercial breaks but presumably rife with “clever” references to Windows. Microsoft agencies Universal McCann and Crispin, Porter and Bogusky, which were tapped to weave the company’s marketing messages into the program, will make sure of that. “You’ll see us deeply integrated into the content,” Gayle Troberman, general manager of consumer engagement and advertising at Microsoft, told Ad Age. “You’ll hear a lot about how Windows 7 can help you simplify your PC–it’s simple, fast and easy to use.” One can only imagine…
Sounds…hysterical. Incidentally, it’s worth noting that this isn’t the first time MacFarlane has inked an advertising deal with a tech company. He’s currently working with Google (GOOG) on a project called “Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy,” which involves humorous animated shorts with built-in advertisements syndicated through the search giant’s AdSense advertising system. Source: All Things Digital | 14 Oct 2009 | 1:01 am Google on Search: Size Doesn't Matter That Much [Voices]By Michael Learmonth, Senior Editor, Advertising Age You didn’t think Google (GOOG) was going to take the Microsoft-Yahoo (MSFT,YHOO) search deal lying down, did you? The Mountain View, Calif.-based giant hasn’t taken an official position on the proposed deal, but it is quietly disseminating a view to regulators, politicians, analysts and journalists: that the need for scale is not a valid case for approving Microsoft’s search deal with Yahoo. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 14 Oct 2009 | 1:01 am Daily Crunch: The Future of Scanning Edition
10/GUI: One Very Slick Desktop Multi-Touch Concept (Video)
Source: Gizmodo | 14 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am Flip Video MinoHD (Second Generation) Pocket Camcorder - Washington Post
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 14 Oct 2009 | 12:52 am Repository of Freedom of Information Act docsHugh from the EFF sez, "Government Attic is a searchable repository of govenment docs released through Freedom of Information Act requests. Neat!"Rummaging in the Government's attic (Thanks, Hugh!) Source: Boing Boing | 14 Oct 2009 | 12:45 am Meet the 42 lucky people who got tosee the secret copyright treatyThe Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement is a proposed copyright treaty that contains provisions that criminalize non-commercial file-sharing; require net-wide wiretapping for copyright infringement and border-searches of hard-drives and other devices; and disconnection from the Internet for people accused of violating copyright. The actual text of these provisions is a secret, though, as the treaty is being negotiated away from the UN, behind closed doors; the Obama administration denied a Freedom of Information Act request for it on the grounds that it is a matter of "national security." The NGO Knowledge Ecology International pressed the US Trade Rep on this, and received a reply stating that 42 DC insiders -- including some reps from activist groups -- have been shown the treaty, after signing a vow promising to treat it as classified. KEI has researched the 42 people and their bios and corporate affiliations. Sherwin Siy of Public Knowledge describes his experiences with the secret treaty: White House shares the ACTA Internet text with 42 Washington insiders, under non disclosure agreements
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing | 14 Oct 2009 | 12:43 am Explaining Corporate Culture Through "The Office"Writing in the ribbonfarm.com blog, Venkatesh Rao uses The Office to explain and illustrate a theory of management he calls the Gervais Principle (after the TV series's creator). Taking off from Hugh MacLeod's cartoon laying out a corporate hierarchy in layers of Sociopaths, the Clueless, and Losers, Rao riffs on and updates the Peter Principle, in these terms: "Sociopaths, in their own best interests, knowingly promote over-performing losers into [clueless] middle-management, groom under-performing losers into sociopaths, and leave the average bare-minimum-effort losers to fend for themselves." Don't know about you, but this analysis suddenly makes sense of much that mystified me in my sojourn in corporate America.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 14 Oct 2009 | 12:27 am XKCD: the limits of anti-static wrist-strap protection
Today's XKCD webcomic examines the limits of protection offered by the talismanic anti-static wrist strap that RAM companies send you with your purchase.
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing | 14 Oct 2009 | 12:24 am Airlines that charge fees lost more money than airlines that didn'tThe US airlines that created the largest, most redonkulous and abusive fees this year lost the most money last quarter. Airlines with low or no fees lost the least.THE FOREST, THE TREES AND THE BAG FEES (via Kottke)
Source: Gizmodo | 14 Oct 2009 | 12:20 am Handmade old-school leather luggage Nik Palmer sez, "Me and my son hand make these beautiful old-school suitcases; we work out of Vancouver, BC." As you might expect, these aren't cheap -- the Gladstone shown here goes for CAD550. But it's handmade to order, it's beautiful, and it looks like it'd last for a century.
Palmer and Sons
(Thanks, Nik!)
Source: Gizmodo | 13 Oct 2009 | 11:40 pm Technorati Raises Another $2 Million In Venture Capital
This is, the company says, an extension of their Series D round from June 2008, where they raised $7.5 million at a roughly $35 million valuation. The company has raise a total of just over $32 million to date (much of that at a much higher valuation). The company is also in the process of raising additional capital via commercial debt, we’ve heard separately but haven’t confirmed. This funding should get the company to profitability, says CEO Richard Jalichandra. He won’t say what revenues are, except that it has more than doubled each of the last two years. He also points out that Technorati’s network, with 25 million monthly unique U.S. visitors, is now the 5th largest social media property on the Internet. In addition to its flagship site, Technorati supplies advertising to 450 or so websites – about half blogs, half niche social networks. Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.
Source: Gizmodo | 13 Oct 2009 | 11:00 pm MOG Over Promises And Under Delivers With New Music Service
Sounds great, except users can listen to streaming on demand music for free today at MySpace Music and Spotify, which is preparing to launch in the U.S. Will MOG’s user experience be so compelling that users will pay $60/year for something they can get free elsewhere? In January we first heard MOG’s plans for the service. At the time it sounded compelling – it combined a great user experience with a free streaming model. But the crucial part of that service has vaporized – it’s no longer free. And non-free music subscription services don’t work, despite years of attempts by major companies and startups alike. We’ve championed MOG in the past, but this looks like yet another music failure to us. Too bad the labels didn’t agree to a pure revenue split, which is what CEO David Hyman was hoping for back in January. MOG has raised around $12 million to date from Menlo Ventures, Simon Equity, Universal Music Group and Sony Music, among others. Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
Source: TechCrunch | 13 Oct 2009 | 10:52 pm MOG's $5 Per Month Music Service Highlights Spotify Obstacle - Wired News
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 13 Oct 2009 | 10:28 pm Google To Send Detailed Info About Hacked Web Sitesalphadogg writes "In an effort to promote the 'general health of the Web,' Google will send Webmasters snippets of malicious code in the hopes of getting infected Web sites cleaned up faster. The new information will appear as part of Google's Webmaster Tools, a suite of tools that provide data about a Web site, such as site visits. 'We understand the frustration of Webmasters whose sites have been compromised without their knowledge and who discover that their site has been flagged,' wrote Lucas Ballard on Google's online security blog. To Webmasters who are registered with Google, the company will send them an email notifying them of suspicious content along with a list of the affected pages. They'll also be able to see part of the malicious code." Another of the new Webmaster Tools is Fetch as Googlebot, which shows you a page as Google's crawler sees it. This should allow Webmasters to see malicious code that bad guys have hidden on their sites via "cloaking," among other benefits.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 13 Oct 2009 | 10:28 pm Bing Still Has Zing, Google More Bling–But Yahoo No-Thing [BoomTown]
According to the latest data from comScore, which is the most widely regarded by Wall Street, Bing has not lost search market share in the U.S., as some recent reports had suggested. The September qSearch report, which was released to clients today, shows the Microsoft (MSFT) search service had a 9.4 percent share, compared to 9.3 percent a month earlier. Dominant search giant Google (GOOG) also saw a slight uptick to almost 65 percent. Yahoo (YHOO), which just began a $100 million marketing campaign, saw share drop a half-point to just under 19 percent. Both the market shares of Ask and AOL remained constant at almost four percent and three percent, respectively. The comScore (SCOR) data on Bing counters two earlier reports that showed declines. Here is J.P. Morgan analyst Imran Khan on the new data, as well as a chart (click on it to make it larger):
Source: All Things Digital | 13 Oct 2009 | 10:27 pm Nikon D3s official, costs $5200
The gallery isn’t available through the main page, but it’s easy enough to find. The high-res pics aren’t up yet, but that’s cool with you guys, right? All our stats from before were pretty much on target: 12MP, 9FPS, 100% viewfinder, 51-pt autofocus, 720p video, 102,400 extended ISO. But feel free to read over the press release. One thing I’m confused about is that the UK price is £4200, which is a lot more than $5200. Britons, feel free to sound off (or switch to Canon… that 7D is looking good right now, isn’t it?).
Source: CrunchGear | 13 Oct 2009 | 10:27 pm Blackra1n iPhone 3GS/iPod Touch jailbreak now available for Mac
Just days ago, iPhone hacker extraordinaire geohot released blackra1n, a tool for jailbreaking the iPod Touches and iPhones (including the 3GS) running OS 3.1.2. Alas, it was only available for Windows users.
Just two days later, geohot and the rest of the endlessly impressive iPhone hacking community have it all up and running on OS X.
Source: CrunchGear | 13 Oct 2009 | 10:25 pm Blackra1n iPhone 3GS/iPod Touch jailbreak now available for Mac
Just days ago, iPhone hacker extraordinaire geohot released blackra1n, a tool for jailbreaking the iPod Touches and iPhones (including the 3GS) running OS 3.1.2. Alas, it was only available for Windows users. Just two days later, geohot and the rest of the endlessly impressive iPhone hacking community have it all up and running on OS X. As always, tread carefully – but if you’re ready to make the jump, you can find both the Mac and Windows versions here. Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
Source: MobileCrunch | 13 Oct 2009 | 10:21 pm It’s my bee in a box![[Image credit: Louise Murray, Rex Features]](http://www.crunchgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/bee-ready_1491380i1.jpg "bee-ready_1491380i") (Image credit: Louise Murray, Rex Features) Next time you head through security, you may be getting more than pat-down. If you’re lucky, you might just have your bags and person exposed to bee arrays. These specially-trained (and just plain special) insects will stick their tongues out if they smell whatever the nice TSA person is looking for. TNT, crack, pirated music, it’s all the same to bees, who know they get a treat whenever they smell their special smell. They’re trained by Inscentinel, a company which has one too many portmanteaus in its name. I’ve heard of this kind of thing for years, but this is definitely the first bee-in-a-box I’ve seen.The story and more images can be found at the Daily Telegraph.
Source: CrunchGear | 13 Oct 2009 | 10:11 pm Intel stokes hopes for PC recovery
|
 TG Daily | Nokia's Netbook gamble CNET News NEW YORK--Nokia, the world's largest maker of cell phones, is getting into the computer business with its new Booklet 3G, setting the stage for a new era of competition in the mobile device market. At a press event here Tuesday, ... UPDATE 2-Best Buy, AT&T to offer Nokia netbook Nokia Booklet will come out at Windows 7 launch Best Buy to Offer $299 Nokia Booklet 3G With AT&T |
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Section: Computers, Security, Features, Originals, Columns
Now that so much of our daily lives revolve around the net, the need to protect ourselves has become increasingly critical. We have our anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-malware and anti-spam software installed and up to date, but there are other threats out there as well. They can be found on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, on web forums, email discussion lists, chat rooms and blogs, and go by several names: trolls, cyberbullies, cyberstalkers, online predators. These threats, unlike spam and malware, aren’t aimed at your computer, they are aimed squarely at you, and can be just as devastating. Here’s how to protect yourself.
When choosing a screen name, make sure it doesn’t include any identifying information, not even your initals, and choose a unique one for every board, forum, chat room and email list you join.
Avoid starting or joining flame wars. Many cyberbullies and trolls purposely try to get people riled up. They thrive on drama and upset. Don’t fall into the trap. Another reason to avoid such situations is that, just like real life, you never know what might set someone off. What appears to be a perfectly friendly, rational person on the surface could be a seriously disturbed person underneath. Don’t provoke or attack people. The relative anonymity of the net tends to make us feel brave and invincible, and that can lead to trouble.
Once you’ve been visiting a chat room, forum or email list regularly it’s natural to feel comfortable with the people you’ve been interacting with, but be very careful about giving out personal info like addresses and phone numbers, and posting photos of yourself or your loved ones. Go slow.
Most sites offer tools to protect your privacy and keep you safe. Check them out. Social networking sites give you full control what information you share and with whom. Most message boards, forums and chat rooms allow you to block people from contacting you privately or emailing you, and many let you block or ignore people you’d rather not interact with on the site. When joining email lists, use an email address other than your main one. That way if a spammer harvests addresses from the list it won’t wind up in your main inbox.
If you don’t feel comfortable in a group or if a specific person seems creepy, listen to that warning voice! It’s seldom wrong. If you should find yourself the target of a cyberbully or stalker, don’t engage them in any way. Responding to them will only make the situation worse. Save any correspondence you receive from them, then block them from contacting you and report them to the moderator or admin of the site or list. Don’t be afraid to unsubscribe from the list, leave the site, or shut down your email address if you feel unsafe.
If things escalate, contact your police department. Cyberstalking is a crime now in many states and cyberbullying laws are starting to be passed as well. Have you had a cyberstalking or cyberbully experience? How did you handle it? Please share your stories with us and stay tuned for more on this topic next week!
Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Computers, Mobile Computers, Laptops, Netbooks
The details on the Nokia Booklet 3G have finally dropped and they are interesting to say the least. The Intel Atom powered laptop will cost $299 if you get it with a two year contract from AT&T. It will run Windows 7, has GPS, Nokia Ovi store access, Wi-Fi, and, as the name says, 3G. Buying the computer outright will cost $599. Even with its 16-cell battery (and 12 hour battery life), computers with better stats can be had.
Randall Bennett, Clayton Morris, and I talked over the Nokia Booklet 3G. Who exactly is this for and is this a good idea at all?
Read: [InformationWeek]
Watch More: [TechVi.com] http://techvi.com
Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
AP - Betting on the growing popularity of data-hungry phones like the iPhone, Cisco Systems Inc. said Tuesday it had agreed to pay $2.9 billion for Starent Networks Corp., a maker of equipment for wireless carriers.
 Straits Times | Microsoft Fixes 34 Bugs In Record 13-Patch Update ChannelWeb Microsoft released a record patch for its Patch Tuesday release, fixing 34 vulnerabilities in 13 updates, including two zero-day flaws in its Server Message Block protocol and FTP Service, which opens the door for ... Microsoft Details Massive Patch Batch Windows 7 critical holes fixed in record Patch Tuesday Microsoft Issues Record Number of Security Updates |
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Section: Video, Content, Portable Video, Communications, Cellphones, Smartphones, Mobile
Monsoon Multimedia has just given iPhone and iPod touch users a new way to watch live television while on the go. The recently released app is simply called the HAVA Player and will work in conjunction with your existing HAVA setup. In terms of iPhone and iPod touch compatibility, you will need OS 2.2.1 or later.
Assuming you already have a HAVA set-top box in your home, the iPhone app will run you an additional $9.99 and in turn allow you to watch and control your television from anywhere. The app will give you full control over your home set-top box which includes the ability to watch live television as well as schedule or watch previously recorded DVR content.
Additionally, the app also features a “Favs” section which will allow you to set your favorite channels to make navigation easier on the smaller screen.
For those interested in watching television from your iPhone that do not have a HAVA set-top box at home, currently there are four units to choose from ranging in price from $149.99 up to $249.99.
Read [MyHAVA.com] Download [HAVA Player (App Store link)]
Keep reading to check out the full press release…
Monsoon Multimedia Announces Availability of HAVA Mobile Player for iPhone
Watch and Control Your Live TV From Anywhere on the iPhone and iPod Touch
SAN MATEO, CALIF. - October 14, 2009 - Monsoon Multimedia today announced the availability of the HAVA Mobile Player application for iPhone and iPod Touch users. The HAVA Mobile Player app allows HAVA customers to view and control their home television service, including cable, satellite and TiVo, from anywhere in the world on their iPhone.
The HAVA Mobile Player for iPhone was designed for seamless integration with Apple’s unique smartphone allowing viewers to control their home television service (whether it’s cable or satellite, receiver or DVR, standard or high definition) via the touch screen interface.
“Monsoon’s HAVA line of video streaming, place- and time-shifting devices give consumers more options when choosing how, when and where they view their home video and TV content,” said Colin Stiles, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Monsoon Multimedia. “Our support for iPhone and iPod Touch gives HAVA customers the ability to watch any of their 300+ TV channels, their favorite football team on game day or their local news in very high quality, regardless of their location, wherever WiFi is available.”
The iPhone version of the HAVA Mobile Player is optimized software for the video-streaming application that Monsoon also provides for PCs, Netbooks and other mobile devices. HAVA is a standalone device that does not require a dedicated or connected PC/Mac in the home to enable the iPhone or other portable devices when watching your TV over the Internet. In addition to place shifting video to PC or smartphones, Monsoon’s HAVA features unique DVR capability that allow users to initiate a recording to their PC or attached storage, or pause, rewind or fast forward their live TV.
HAVA for iPhone:
High quality video playback
Remote access to HAVA device
Enables full remote control and channel changing capabilities of any TV source such as Cable, Satellite, DVD or TiVo
Browse program guides for schedules, series and episode descriptions (based on availability from service provider)
“Favorites” feature allows users to label favorite channels
Supports iPhone and iPod Touch with OS 2.2.1 or higher
Pricing and Availability
The Monsoon HAVA Player for the iPhone and iPod Touch is now available as a direct download at iPhone App Store for $9.99. The HAVA product line is available from Monsoon at www.myhava.com and through select retailers and retailers nationwide.About Monsoon Multimedia
Monsoon Multimedia provides advanced, standards-based multimedia products and technologies for the PC, Smartphone and Consumer Electronics industries. Monsoon licenses highly optimized multimedia solutions comprised of applications, drivers, frameworks, middleware and reference designs. Our customers and partners are semiconductor companies, PC manufacturers, MSO’s, software suppliers and consumer electronics companies. Founded by the founders of Dazzle and Emuzed, the company has offices in California, India and Russia. For more information, please visit www.monsoonmultimedia.com.
Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Business Daily Africa | Mac fanboys should get a life and some Windows 7 common sense BetaNews I have to laugh at the sudden, slew of Mac bloggers taking swings at Windows 7 and asserting that Macs will continue to sell well after Microsoft's newest OS ships. Feeling a little defensive are we, ... Safeguard a pc's Contents in an Upgrade Windows 7 won't be successful until 2011 10 Features to Anticipate in Windows 7 |
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Section: Communications
This post is being written as both a good news announcement for those still waiting for a Google Voice invitation and also a warning to those that already have a Google Voice account.
First, for those current users, be prepared to begin receiving more than your fair share of people begging you for a Google Voice invitation. Of course, at this point you are most likely wondering why, after all Google Voice does not allow individual users to invite one friends. Well, that is where the good news comes into play.
Beginning today current Google Voice users will start to see an “Invite a friend” link on the left hand side of their Google Voice inbox. In other words we will finally be able to invite people that we deem worthy.
There is a catch however, these “Invite a friend” links are going to be showing up beginning today, however you may not see it in your account for a little while. According to the Google Voice blog, it could show up sometime in the next few weeks.
Additionally, the first wave of invite links will be limited to three (to give out) per person and they will not be received immediately, instead those will be rolling out “gradually.”
And just in case you feel the need, yes I am a current Google Voice user, but have not yet seen the “invite a friend” link in my inbox, but I will say, those first three will likely go to family members anyway.
Read [Google Voice Blog]
Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
Verizon Wireless is offering 25% off a trio of its QWERTY-equipped phones: the Motorola Rival, LG enV3, and the Samsung Alias 2.
For the mathematically challenged, that works out to to a recession-friendly price of $37.49 ($99.99 w/ 2yr agreement – $50 online discount – 25% off = $37.49) for either the Motorola Rival or the Samsung Alias 2. The pricier LG enV3 comes to a grand total of $97.49 ($179.99 w/ 2yr agreement – $50 online discount – 25% off = $97.49).
To take advantage of this fabulous offer, use Verizon’s short link and enter coupon code 25MSG at checkout.
Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies
In response to widespread media coverage Monday, Apple has acknowledged a bug in its latest operating system, Snow Leopard, that involved some users losing a large amount of their data when logging into guest accounts.
“We are aware of the issue, which occurs only in extremely rare cases, and we are working on a fix,” an Apple representative said in a statement.
As far back as September, a number of Snow Leopard users documented the problem on several forum threads. They said the bug involves the home directory — the Mac’s primary user folder — being replaced with an empty folder after users log in with a Guest account. That resulted in loss of documents, downloads, pictures, music and other types of files, the affected users claimed.
“My home folder had been replaced with a ’straight out of the box’ home folder,” wrote user “dubaidan” in a Sept. 3 forum post. “Standard desktop, standard dock, nothing in my documents folder, standard library. My entire home folder is gone.”
Lost data can easily be restored with a backup of a hard drive. But if Snow Leopard users did not back up data prior to experiencing the bug, it would be difficult, and sometimes not possible, to recover lost files.
Though fewer than 100 Snow Leopard users have reported experiencing data loss, information security researcher Jonathan Zdziarski said this bug is considered a serious “screwup” in IT. He theorized the problem could be that the Mac OS confused the home folder for a guest account and accidentally flushed out the data.
Whatever the case may be, Zdziarski called this bug an “embarrassment” for Apple.
“Apple seems to be downplaying [the bug] to an asinine degree,” Zdziarski said. “It’s actually pretty serious to the end-user, and Apple is likely working hard to get their legal department ready to respond to massive lawsuits.”
Apple has yet to publish a fix, but for the time being, Zdziarski recommended for Snow Leopard users to back up their data regularly.
See Also:
Photo: Tambako the Jaguar/Flickr
 Crispy Gamer | Will Brutal Legend rock your world? CNET News We've written before about Brutal Legend, the just-released video game starring big-screen funnyman Jack Black. Produced by Tim Schafer, who has several cult classics (from Grim Fandango to Psychonauts) under his belt, ... Brutal Legend 'Brutal Legend,' 'Uncharted 2' Top The Week's New Games Brutal Legend |
Section: Peripherals, Mice / Keyboards, Reviews
The name pretty much explains it all: the Adesso Wireless Mini Trackball Keyboard. The keyboard is under 12-inches in width with an optical trackball. A USB dongle allows the keyboard to communicate via RF. It costs $79.99.
The compact design means that this could easily be your living room computer’s keyboard. Installation is a breeze. Attach the RF adapter to a USB port on your computer and then install the batteries into the keyboard. The inclusion of batteries is a nice thing so you don’t have to search for them before getting started.
The keyboard is light, but feels sturdy. Typing on the Adesso is comfortable and the keys are responsive. There’s a good springy-ness and reminds me of my old Lenovo ThinkPad’s keyboard. This keyboard is small, but is very comfortable. Letter and number keys are full-sized.
The built-in trackball is very responsive. The keyboard has the trackball on one side and the mouse buttons on the other so you can input clicks without needing to take your hands off the keyboard. Since the trackball is built in, you do not need a flat surface to mouse around.
Officially, the keyboard is certified for Windows Vista, however, using it on a Mac required no hacks at all. If you are a Mac person and are looking for a keyboard, this will work, but there will be that big Windows key that you may or may not hate.
The USB RF adapter magnetically attaches to the bottom of the keyboard so there are no weird clasps or plastic points to break. There is the option to pair the keyboard with the receiver and the instructions are written on the bottom of the keyboard. The keyboard also has an on/off button to keep batteries fresh as well as a standby mode. If the keyboard goes untouched for 8 minutes, it goes into standby.
It would have been nice if the trackball could be depressed so if you scroll over a location you could simply press the ball down for a click. The trackball clacks around the housing if you shake the keyboard. Why you would shake the keyboard, I don’t know.
If you’re looking for a living room keyboard or want a portable keyboard, the Adesso Wireless Mini Trackball Keyboard does the job.
Product Page: [Adesso]
Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
Let’s be frank here: Rhapsody has some seriously big shoes to fill. Even though it hasn’t yet come stateside, Spotify has set a new standard for mobile music, and let’s face it: Rhapsody Mobile’s first few steps out of the gate haven’t exactly been well-received.
So what can they do to pick up some steam (and hopefully a few new subscribers)? According to one of Rhapsody’s iPhone UX designers, their sights are set on “stability, audio quality, and offline playback”. For now, let’s just gloss over the fact that stability and audio quality are generally things that should be locked down prior to launch. Offline playback has been a staple of Spotify’s success – as connected as we try to be, there are times when streaming LCD Soundsystem’s new album just isn’t possible. The sooner Rhapsody finishes it up and pushes out an update, the sooner they have a chance of drawing in a few new listeners who now find them worth the monthly pricetag.
Not to be a downer or anything, but even though we’re glad to see that the folks at Real are trying to stay as competitive as possible, they really need to pick up the pace. For now, Real is very fortunate that Spotify is Europe-only as they don’t directly compete with each other, but being the presumptive underdog only can only take them so far, and it doesn’t help that there are countless other streaming music apps fighting for pole position.
Via Zatz Not Funny
Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors
Attention AT&T customers in Boulder, Denver, Fort Collins, Greeley, Loveland, and along the Front Range…Christmas (Hanuka and/or Kwanza) has come early for you this year thanks to AT&T’s new and improved 850 Mhz Spectrum roll-out across Colorado!
That’s right, Broncos/Rockies/Avalanche/Buffaloes (GO BUFFS!)/Rams/Rapids fans. AT&T has flipped the switch on its 3G network upgrade, (positively?) affecting all the iPhone-toting folks up and down the Colorado Front Range.
According to the press release:
As a result of this upgrade, local customers should experience better 3G wireless connectivity, performance and enhanced in-building wireless coverage. The enhancement also increases network capacity, and is intended to support ever-growing demand for 3G mobile broadband service.
The high-quality 850 MHz spectrum generally results in better in-building coverage. While specific benefits of the additional spectrum will vary by location, AT&T 3G customers should see improved quality and coverage throughout Boulder, Denver, Fort Collins, Greeley, Loveland, and along the Front Range. AT&T technicians nationwide responsible for monitoring network performance for service quality and coverage have seen significant increases in total 3G data traffic in areas where the 850MHz spectrum has been deployed.
Lucky you, Colorado. First the Broncos start 5-0 for the first time since 1998 (when they won the Superbowl). And now this?!
“Investing in our network across Colorado is critical to serving our customers both in urban and rural areas. We are proud to offer real choices in service, devices and applications with an expanding network to support all of their needs,” said AT&T Colorado President Bill Soards.
If any of you fortunate Coloradans find time between pints of Fat Tire to let us know if/how the upgrade has affected your service, we’d love to hear from ya.
Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
![Screen shot 2009-10-13 at [ October 13 ] 10.04.04 AM](http://www.mobilecrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Screen-shot-2009-10-13-at-October-13-10.04.04-AM.png "Screen shot 2009-10-13 at [ October 13 ] 10.04.04 AM")
Oh hell yes. Custom GelaSkins. This is something I’ve wanted since I was slapping GelaSkins on a Helio Fin two years ago.
For those who might be unaware, GelaSkins are fairly durable removable “Skins” (read: stickers) that you can slap onto your device to make them more “you” whilst adding a bit of protection. Up ’till this point, though, however “you” your device was was limited to how well the images in GelaSkin’s catalog matched your tastes. While they’ve got a pretty awesome inventory of artwork (mostly made up of robots and emo girls with funny proportions), there’s nothing quite as “you” as an image you provide – and now you can do just that.
It’s crazy simple: upload your image, rotate/scale it, and bam – you’re all set to order. Think CafePress, but instead of putting funny pictures of your dog on a t-shirt, you’re putting funny pictures of your dog on your iPhone. But here’s our favorite part: custom skins cost the same amount as the preset skins always have. They could have easily thrown in a premium fee for the custom one-off work here, but they didn’t. If the standard version of the skin cost $14.99, so will a custom print. Awesome.
We’ll try to get a review of these custom skins up within the next few days.
Check out the GelaSkins Custom Creator here.
Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies
Section: Communications, Smartphones, Mobile
Dictionary.com has now announced the availability of a free app for BlackBerry owners. The download is currently the only free dictionary and thesaurus app available for BlackBerrys. The app includes over 500,000 word definitions and synonyms and is modeled after the current application available for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
Besides definitions, the app includes spelling suggestions and delivers a daily Word of the Day in both English and Spanish. Press the audio key and you can hear the correct pronunciation of a particular word. You can save your browsing history in order to quickly access past word lookups. A unique feature for BlackBerry users will be the ability to access the Dictionary.com tools while emailing.
It is expected to be a popular download, especially since Dictionary.com is one of the most downloaded iPhone apps. You can get the application by visiting BlackBerry App World or on the Dictionary.com website. Also, sending a text to 44636 with BBAPP in the body will have the app sent instantly to your BlackBerry.
Site: [Dictionary.com]
Full Story » | Written by Heather Wood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
If you love irony, you’ve come to the right post. In one corner, we have Microsoft working on / killing off a secret scheme known as Project Pink. Now, in another corner, there is rumor of T-Mobile, the defenders of all things pink (well, magenta to be exact), working on its own secret strategy known as Project Dark. If you ask us, it sounds like the colors got a bit mixed up in the automagical secret-plan-naming-machine all these guys use.
According to the skilled ninjas over at BGR, T-Mobile has been quietly putting together a new plan of action known internally as Project Dark. The secret plan apparently involves new outfits, network enhancements, a new slogan, and a new all-you-can eat plan.
More specifically, T-Mobile will be spiffing up its employees who sell particular (higher-end?) devices with new, dressier black tops and gray pants. Supposedly Project Dark also includes a “rapid” expansion of T-Mo’s 21Mbps HSPA 3G network access as well as a new catchphrase – “More for Less.”
Finally, and perhaps the most intriguing part of this secret scheme (don’t get me wrong, I’m always down for spiffier salespeople), is the supposed “Everything Unlimited” plan which will run $50 for all you can talk, type, media, etc. All of these improvements, aka Project Dark, are expected to arrive alongside the new BlackBerry 9700 whenever it drops. But, don’t forget (we know you are still thinking about the new gray slacks), this is all pure speculation at the moment.
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![Screen shot 2009-10-13 at [ October 13 ] 9.16.28 AM](http://www.mobilecrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Screen-shot-2009-10-13-at-October-13-9.16.28-AM2-200x300.png "Screen shot 2009-10-13 at [ October 13 ] 9.16.28 AM")
You know that guy who’s still running around shouting “YEAAAAAAAH” and “OOOOOKAY” 3 years after that Dave Chappelle bit stopped being funny? No longer will he have to rely on his not-quite-accurate impression – as long as he’s got an iPhone. Earlier this morning, the Official Lil Jon Soundboard found its way to the iPhone.
All of the classics are here, like “Yeah!” and “Okay!”, plus a bunch of new family favorites, such as “Bend over!” and “Lets do it!”. Imagine how much better every conversation will be now that you’ve got Lil Jon in your pocket!
Of all the iPhone apps built for rappers (that, by the way, is a ridiculously weird thing to be writing), this one comes in at around third of four. It’s nowhere near the level of awesome that is the T-Pain app, slightly less cool than Snoop Dogg’s very-much-not-cool iFizzle [iTunes link], but still miles ahead of Diddy’s BlackBook [iTunes link]. Wait, is Diddy still considered a rapper? I thought he told us he wouldn’t stop. But then he stopped.
Lil Jon: The Official Soundboard in iTunes
Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
Oh, boy. It was only a matter of time, wasn’t it? Automobile security system company Viper has just introduced its SmartStart line consisting of an in-car hardware module with a cellular connection that allows you to lock, unlock, and remotely start your car from just about anywhere in the world.
You can also show off by popping the trunk and hitting the panic button, too. The module can be added to existing compatible Viper systems for $300 or there’s an all-in-one system for $500 – both are currently available at Best Buy.
Since the starter module has some sort of cellular connection built-in, Viper will be charging $30 per year for remote iPhone starting features. The first year is free, though, and the system is also compatible with the iPod touch over Wi-Fi.
If all this stuff sounds vaguely familiar, you may recall a similar prototype Android version called “KEI” (see coverage here) that an MIT student developed back in May of 2008.
Here’s a video demonstrating how the Viper system works.
Viper – Remote Start System with SmartStart [Best Buy via CNET]
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
FROM GAMERTELL - Want to continue your Halo desktop battles with “The Rookie” from Halo 3: ODST? Then you’re in luck…
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Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
Section: Computers, Peripherals, Mice / Keyboards
The last we heard was that the Eee Keyboard from Asus was expected to be arriving in October, however most recently we have seen it stop by and make the required FCC appearance. This is most likely good news for anyone waiting to be able to make a purchase because the visit does seem to fit in with the timeline for an October release.
The exciting news here is that the FCC documents list all kinds of juicy details about what we can expect. Feature wise, the Eee Keyboard will have a 5-inch 800 x 480 touch panel display, an Intel Atom N270 processor, 1GB of RAM, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth, gigabit Ethernet, VGA out, HDMI out and either 16 or 32GB of SSD storage.
Additionally, you can also expect to see built-in stereo speakers, a microphone, headphone and microphone jack and three USB 2.0 ports. The keyboard will also feature a UWB (ultra wide broadband) port which will allow users to stream audio and/or video wirelessly up to 10 meters. Well up to 10 meters in terms of audio, and up to 5 meters in terms of video.
Finally, it was noted as coming with Windows XP, but given the release it seems likely that we will see Windows 7. Now if Asus could just give us some final pricing.
Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
The GlideTV is a couch mouse, something pretty handy when a lot of us are watching TV and movies on our computer screens. It works over USB, and you plug a dongle into the machine to play. From there, you can control your cursor with a touchpad, and there are a few buttons which mimic the ones most used on a keyboard, like Escape and Enter. The best part is the rim around the pad which neatly contains a lot of extra buttons. And because it works like a regular mouse and (limited) keyboard, it works with most machines, from Media Center PCs to Macs to PS3s.
But the keyboard is the problem for this otherwise sexy half-egg (it looks like a sex toy, as you can see in the photo of it being fisted, above). If you are using Windows, you can download the GlideTV Navigator software, which will give you an onscreen keyboard, but we all know how quick and easy they are to use (not very, if you were wondering).
Still, the GlideTV, which comes from the brains of the people behind VUDU and SageTV, packs a lot into a tiny device. And at $150, that’s a good thing: For the same price, you could pick up a wireless keyboard with a trackpad or trackball. Then again, the GlideTV will fulfill that other living-room remote requirement: It can be lost down the back of the sofa. Try that with a full-size QWERTY. If only the Glide people would put a vibrator inside. Then it would be perfect.
Product page [GlideTV. Thanks, Patrick!]
This is the precursor to Apple’s iconic white earbuds, a symbol so, erm, symbolic that despite there being no white iPods on sale anymore, Apple has yet to replace them with something that actually matches the machines they accompany.
If you are under, say, 30 years old, you probably won’t remember the the single white (or ivory) earbud, which was then called an earphone. It was a low quality plastic earpiece which usually came bundled with a transistor radio or even a whole “music center”. In this manner it was kind of the USB cable of its time — while you could buy them separately, there wasn’t much point as you would acquire a drawer-full of them over time.
Their main use, as far as I know from both experience and TV comedy shows, was for men to listen to football games (that’s the football played with the feet, or “soccer”, not the US “foot”ball played with the hands) in church during Saturday afternoon weddings, inevitably shouting out loud when a goal was scored.
I had one which came with my portable radio but it was pointless. The tinny sound actually hurt my young ears and pretty much everything back in the 70s that made a sound came with a big, heavy, half-decent speaker built in.
So you kids don’t know how lucky you are, with your pocket-sized gizmos and stereo earbuds. In my day, etc. And get off my lawn!
Pre-iPod Shiny Plastic Earbud [Retro Thing]
Photo credit: Retro Thing
Slightly better news for anyone who lost data during the recent Microsoft/T-Mobile Sidekick outage. While it initially appeared that user data may have been lost forever, T-Mobile issued a statement late yesterday saying, "Recent efforts indicate the prospects of recovering some lost content may now be possible."
There are two ways to get instant photos from your camera: using either an instant film camera or a digicam with a built-in printer. However, there is only one way to get good instant photos, and that is still film.
Without testing it, we’re not sure just how good the pictures are from Fujifilm’s new Instax Mini 7. One thing we do know is that, unless somebody has seriously messed something up (replacing the lens with an piece of beer-bottle, for example), the Mini 7 will embarrass the truly awful digital Pogo from previous instant title-holder Polaroid.
The Mini 7 will remain a novelty, though, as the ISO 800, 1.8 x 2.4-inch film costs $20 for a 10-pack. When shooting, you can pick from four exposure settings (the shutter speed remains at 1/60 sec). Focus is fixed, but when things get really dark there’s a built-in flash. The camera costs $90 and is cute enough to be given as a gift. And if experience is anything to go by, it is a gift that will be used precisely ten times, until the first roll of film runs out and it is consigned, with all the other film cameras, to the junk-drawer.
Product page [Fujifilm via Photojojo]
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Don’t scoff. A non-connected, monochrome, three-button device might not be, say, the mythical Apple Tablet in terms of hardware hotness (too many buttons for one thing), but $99 for a touch-screen Wikipedia that fits in your pocket and only needs a battery change every year is the perfect stocking-filler for the technophobe.
The WikiReader is a tough plastic box with a tempered glass screen, and it holds within itself the entirety of world knowledge as disseminated by in-fighting nerds. The data (text-only) is held on an SD card which can be updated with a special WikiReader-friendly download, or you can choose to have a new card mailed to you (yes, actual snail-mail) every few month for an extra $30 a year.
Who might want this? Anyone who used to buy encyclopedias, anyone who doesn’t have an internet connection, and anyone who is credulous to think Wikipedia is trustworthy enough to be legitimized in this semi-permanent form. Available later today.
Product page [WikiReader]
Sadly, Sonos’ new $400 S5 media player isn’t a set of five wireless, networked speakers you can scatter around the house. It is one box, with Wi-Fi and five speakers inside, which can be controlled with your iPhone or iPod touch, so you don’t even need to buy Sonos’ remote controller.
However, it’s still cheaper than buying the $350 ZonePlayer 90 and a pair of decent speakers on top, and you are ready to go right away. The first box is joined via Ethernet to your router, whence it wil pull music from the internet (internet radio, Pandora, Last.FM and the like) and your iTunes library. This last can be read from a network attached hard drive, so if that’s where you keep your music, you don’t need to have any computers switched on.
Add more S5 boxes and they link up via Wi-Fi, and all can be controlled either together or separately from the free (and very good) iPhone application.
Some people prefer to go the kludgy route that I use, with multiple Airport Express units hooked up to powered speakers around the apartment, but the Sonos setup, while pricier, is a lot neater. I probably sounds a hell of a lot better, too. Avaialble soon.
Product page [Sonos]
The “Turn On” lamp from Italian architects Lana Savettiere is wittily shaped like a standby symbol. Well done. Never mind that the history of novelty table-lamps has often leaned towards ease-of-use for the twin sakes of laziness and convenience, the Turn On ignores this for a light that not only has to be physically rolled to turn it on and off (already too much for me), but that requires more than double the space of a regular lamp to do it.
But that’s not the real reason to post about this lamp, which is destined to remain the concept design it currently is. No, the real reason is this: Have you ever noticed how much Apple’s QuickTime logo looks like the standby symbol? Especially in its new QuickTime X incarnation. And there lies the trouble. The Turn On doesn’t actually look like the well-known standby glyph. It just looks like a big letter “Q”, or the logo for an Apple product. That last should strike lawsuit-inspired fear into the heart of designer Marco Lana.
Product page [Lana Savettiere via the Giz]
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At 31mm, the amplifier is a tiny bit thicker and weighs 0.73kg.It features 20W×4ch(4Ω) average power output and Dolby Digital DTS and AAC support. You can either hang the speakers up on a wall or use a stand that Victor JVC throws in.
The sound system will go on sale in Japan at the end of this month. No announcements for markets outside Japan were made, but Japanese buyers will have to pay $260 for the amplifier and $220 for the speaker set. The system will be available in black and white.
The last time Microsoft was featured in an episode of “Family Guy,” it was the butt of a Zune joke. Peter Griffin’s father-in-law asked Bill Gates to help him program his Zune and then taunted the Microsoft chairman, noting that he owns an Apple (AAPL) iPod “like the rest of the world” (see video below).
Blog search engine (and more recently blog/social network advertising network) 
Following 
In the endless game of cat and mouse that is Apple vs. the jailbreak scene, the cat just put a pretty nasty gash in the mouse’s face.
We’ve all grown accustomed to Twitter’s website 
If you run a website that others are going to use, there’s probably a desire to find a mixture between user-customization and putting forth your content. For simple sites, that’s easy enough, but what if you want to change the design of pages, and put in elements like new widgets? 
