First, Microsoft didn't give Brass as many engineers as he wanted—just six, instead of the 20 he wanted. (He did manage to snag two guys worked at Xerox's nigh-mythical PARC, the birthplace of the GUI that inspired the Macintosh.) Consequently, the team ran into issues like handwriting recognition that only worked half the time, and a confusing interface, according to user tests.

BusinessWeek also reported back then that Office group wanted to focus on their own applications, even though the tablet group knew having software ready to go was key. Bill Gates went for the weak compromise, an add-on pack with tablet-specific features. This seems to support Brass's allegations in the NYT op/ed that the VP of Office at the time "refused to modify the popular Office applications to work properly with the tablet." Ironically, the person who shut down Brass appears to be Steven Sinofsky, current president of Windows—the guy who turned the division around and gave us Windows 7.

But the problem now isn't that Microsoft doomed their tablet PCs to failure 7 years ago, it's that they still haven't solved their tablet problems today. [BusinessWeek]

Source: Gizmodo | 4 Feb 2010 | 6:48 pm

SF Cops bust party, arrest 11

A party in San Francisco, thrown to raise money for the legal defense of student protestors, turned violent Sunday morning after police arrived. The police, who arrested 11, claim the party was too loud. The partygoers, however, claim that the police started the violence, roughing up people who took photographs of them. First-hand reports.


Source: Boing Boing | 4 Feb 2010 | 6:36 pm

iPhone Still Dominates Foursquare Usage; Android, BlackBerry Up And Coming

Foursquare is growing fast. Real fast. Traffic may be up as much as threefold over the past two months. But how are people actually using it?

The main Foursquare account tweeted out stats today that give a nice breakdown of usage. It’s just over a seven day span, but given that the service is now finally on platforms such as BlackBerry, is probably a good sample.

As you may expect, the iPhone still dominates, with 67% of usage. Coming in second with 13% is Android, which was the second native app Foursquare launched. In third is the just-launched BlackBerry version with 11%. In fourth is the mobile web, which has 7%. Palm is in fifth with 1.5%, and SMS comes in last with less than 1%.

A few interesting things to note: When the service launched just about a year ago at the SXSW festival, it was iPhone and mobile web only. Whoever wrote the tweet on the Foursquare account added “still?!?” when noting the mobile web’s 7% usage, so clearly they think there are better options out there. And with the just unveiled Windows Mobile client, there are now apps for all the big platforms except for Nokia (which is also in the works).

Also interesting is that SMS is in last place on this list with less than 1%. Foursquare is similar to co-founder Dennis Crowley’s last startup, Dodgeball, which sold to Google in 2006 — but the difference is that Dodgeball heavily relied on SMS. It’s interesting that Foursquare is seeing the growth it is in spite of this lack of SMS usage. SMS was a big reason why Twitter exploded, and it still is a major part of the service in other countries. That’s something Foursquare might want to consider as it continues to expand.

Source: TechCrunch | 4 Feb 2010 | 6:36 pm

Huddle Takes Top Prize At Microsoft’s SharePoint SocialFest

Last week, Microsoft invited seven BizSpark startups from around the world to a special event called the SharePoint 2010 SocialFest. Each company was invited to spend the week working in close collaboration with Microsoft SharePoint team members, as they tried to take their existing products and see how they could be used to leverage SharePoint. The event culminated in a demo day on Friday, when each startup showed off what they’d managed to put together in the preceding four days and a panel of judges chose the best one.

Here’s a video with Lynda Ting, Microsoft’s Director of Business Development, Emerging Business Team, explaining the goals of the program:

Cortex Intelligence
Cortex began as a text mining company, and spent the last five years perfecting its ability to automatically identify places, entities, companies, and other important pieces of text, making it easy to sift through large volumes of data. The company has also built sentiment analysis into its technology. For this competition, Cortex built tools that would allow a SharePoint user to automatically import tweets, blog posts, etc. based on their search criteria. For example, I could use the tool to run a persistent search on my company’s name and pull those results into SharePoint.

Calinda Software
Calinda looks to help companies more efficiently communicate by changing the way they use Email, looking to do away with the endless replies, CCs, and confusing chains of messages. To help, Calinda allows you to generate a map of these messages, allowing you to see at a glance who is sending what, and to whom. The company’s SharePoint integration allows you to pull these maps into your SharePoint hub. You don’t need to install any software to get this working with your email client.

Confer
Confer is a communications platform for companies that includes features like microblogging, status updates, and real time chat (some of this functionality can be seen in software like Campfire and Yammer). The company offers a click-to-call service, including audio recording of conversations and transcriptions, much as you’d find with Google Voice. For the SocialFest, Confer integrated much of this functionality into SharePoint.

Huddle
Huddle, which took the top prize at the competition, is designed to help companies collaborate with their partners — its mission is to be the “world’s best online B2B collaboration platform”. The service, which launched in 2007, allows companies to share files, organize meetings, and collaborate even when they are not operating within the same firewall. For its SharePoint integration, the company allows separate SharePoints to link together, bridging corporate firewalls while still maintaining the permissions and other rules that have been established by each company.

Leverage Software
Leverage Software builds social networks for the enterprise. This week, one of its goals was to build something to help companies collaborate, without forcing them to expend extra energy to use their collaboration platform. The product is called DesignSpaces, and it analyzes your Emails and extracts relevant data, like attachments and events, which it then organizes for you. In the future, coworkers can look through the workspace to find older attachments, message threads, and so on. The company has a number of Fortune 500 companies as customers, and around 1 million people using the platform.

Liaise
Liaise, which we’ve covered before, is a service that allows you to automatically extract meeting information, to-dos, events, and other key data from Emails with a minimal amount of effort on the user’s part. With its SharePoint integration, Liaise can feed this information into your SharePoint site so you don’t have to manually enter dates, commitments, and other information.

Loqu8
Loqu8 allows you to integrate immediate data lookup into your computing experience (it’s a bit like those integrated dictionary browser extensions). But it allows companies to build their own lexicons as reference, which makes it easier for employees to understand company-specific buzzwords and acronyms.  Using SharePoint, the service can pull in supporting data from databases, Excel spreadsheets, and other files.

Source: TechCrunch | 4 Feb 2010 | 6:34 pm

PSPgo relaunch rumor debunked

FROM GAMERTELL - A recent rumor that Sony is planning to relaunch the PSPgo has been dispelled. Sony told Game Informer that the company has no PSPgo relaunch plans.
MORE »

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 4 Feb 2010 | 6:29 pm

Going off the record was off the record

At the Nashua Telegraph, someone seems so eager to please that they'll agree to be retroactively told something was off the record. That person, however, is evidently not the person handling corrections.

"A story on Page 1 of Tuesday's Telegraph quoted a White House official explaining that a Q-and-A session with dozens of teenagers in Nashua High School North on Monday was "off the record." However, the explanation about the talk being "off the record" was, it turns out, also "off the record" and should not have been quoted."

254 iterations to go until it throws an infinite recursion error. Correction [Nashua Telegraph]


Source: Boing Boing | 4 Feb 2010 | 6:23 pm

Kaspersky: Google Hack Takes Spotlight From Russia (PC World)

PC World - Kaspersky Lab may not be a household name in the United States, but in some parts of the world, it's the most popular consumer antivirus software. In China the company boasts 100 million users, and the software is also popular in Germany, and, of course, Russia, where Kaspersky got its start in 1997.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 4 Feb 2010 | 6:20 pm

Cassiopeia A Makes Beautiful Music

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the amazing sounds of Saturn's rings, and how they have inspired composers to create their own "music of the spheres." Apparently the supernovae were feeling a little left out. This week brings ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 4 Feb 2010 | 6:04 pm

Craig Mundie Wants "Internet Driver's Licenses"

I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "Craig Mundie, Microsoft's Chief Research and Strategy Officer, called for the creation of an 'Internet Driver's License' at the World Economic Forum in Davos, saying, 'If you want to drive a car you have to have a license to say that you are capable of driving a car, the car has to pass a test to say it is fit to drive and you have to have insurance.' Of course, there are quite a few problems with this. For starters, internet use cannot yet cause death or dismemberment like car accidents can; and this would get rid of most of the good of internet anonymity while retaining all of the bad parts, especially in terms of expanding the market for stolen identities. Even though telephone networks have long been used by scammers and spammers/telemarketers, we've never needed a 'Telephone Driver's License.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 4 Feb 2010 | 5:50 pm

Seesmic’s Latest Android Build Is Dare I Say, iPhone-Like

Perhaps the main problem I have with Android is that the apps (aside from the excellent Google-built ones) are simply not as good as the apps on the iPhone. Nowhere is this more apparent then with Twitter apps, since there are so many for both platforms. On Android, Seesmic was clearly the best one, but it still paled in comparison to the top Twitter iPhone apps. But with an update today, it just got a lot closer.

The latest version brings a few new features, but none is bigger than multi-account support. Finally, if you have more than one Twitter account, you can set Seesmic to remember both, and easily switch between them. Perhaps more notably, you can also cross-post messages between different accounts at the same time. Even my favorite Twitter app, Tweetie for the iPhone, doesn’t allow you to do this. And if you’re worried that you’ll be bombarded by notifications, whatever account you set as your default one will be the one you just get notifications from, we’re told.

Another new feature allows Seesmic to remember where you were in your tweet stream when you exit or switch out of the app. That way, when you open it again, you can resume where you left off. Again, this is a feature that’s pretty standard on many Twitter iPhone apps, but has been lacking on most of the Android ones.

Perhaps most impressive to me are two subtle changes though. The scroll speed of the tweet streams has been greatly increased and seems much more fluid. Also, Seesmic has added the ability to double-tap the top of the app to auto-scroll back to the top — again, another feature that’s pretty standard on iPhone Twitter apps.

Here are some other new features that have been added:

• Adding an Extra Large text size option
• Your profile information (avatar, number of following and followers,…) will now be updated automatically
• Changing your Twitter account password will now be handled by the application
• Composer now auto-corrects and auto-capitalize your words and sentences
• Notifications are now cleared when the application is accessed from Launcher
• Easily changing default account from the application’s Settings
• Can remove a Twitter account simply by pressing on it

Seesmic recently noted that it was a featured app alongside some Nexus One advertising by Google. Thanks to that, the app is closing in on 100,000 downloads, founder Loic Le Meur says.

This update is scheduled to hit the Android Market any minute now. Watch more in the video below:

Source: TechCrunch | 4 Feb 2010 | 5:46 pm

Prius problems put spotlight on car electronics (AP)

AP - Your most expensive piece of electronics probably is not your flat panel TV or your computer. More likely, it's your car, which can pack 50 microprocessors to control everything from the fuel mix to the rearview mirrors.

Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 4 Feb 2010 | 5:45 pm

A Small Storage Company Purges Its IPO Demons [Voices]

By Nick Wingfield, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal

For many companies, completing an initial public offering is the fulfillment of an entrepreneurial dream. For storage maker Isilon Systems (ISLN), an IPO was the start of a nightmare.

The Seattle-based company got closer to righting itself after a rough few years on Thursday by eking out a modest profit, the first in the company’s history. Isilon, which makes storage hardware and software used in such data-heavy projects as the production of “Avatar” and the Olympics, said it earned a profit of $140,000 on revenue of $37.5 million for the quarter ending Dec. 31, compared to a loss of $4.3 million on revenue of $31.8 million in the year-earlier period.

The figures are another sign that businesses are slowly starting to spend again on information technology, even with some smaller companies like Isilon.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Source: All Things Digital | 4 Feb 2010 | 5:44 pm

'That Looks Like Trouble....'

It's been a good long while since the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded in mid-air a few minutes after launch on January 28, 1986, killing all the astronauts (and one schoolteacher) aboard. Now some new homemade footage of the crash has ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 4 Feb 2010 | 5:44 pm

Alt Text: Who's Still Excited About the iPad?

With Apple's tablet finally unveiled, a select few types of individuals look forward to the release date with undeniable anticipation. A quick rundown of the likely early adopters.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 4 Feb 2010 | 5:40 pm

Boxee responds to NBC’s Jeff Zucker’s misleading statements to Congress re: Hulu-Boxee relationship

The world’s worst manager, Jeff Zucker, who just so happens to be the president of NBC Universal, was on Capitol Hill today trying to persuade lawmakers to allow the proposed merger with Comcast go through. Interesting to note his take on Boxee’s relationship with Hulu, which, you’ll recall, has been something of a mess. Boxee adds Hulu compatibility, Hulu breaks said compatibility, Boxee re-works its code so that Hulu works again, Hulu breaks compatibility again, etc. And on and on and on.

Anyhow, here’s the relevant exchange, as carefully jotted down by Boxee’s point guards.

Source: TechCrunch | 4 Feb 2010 | 5:35 pm

AT&T now says SlingPlayer for iPhone on 3G is OK (AP)

AP - AT&T Inc. said Thursday it will now allow Sling Media Inc.'s television-viewing program for the iPhone to operate over its "3G" high-speed mobile network.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 4 Feb 2010 | 5:22 pm

Videogame star "Fallout 3" heading for Sin City (AFP)

AFP - Videogame star "Fallout 3" is taking its devoted fans to nuclear war ravaged Las Vegas.

Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 4 Feb 2010 | 5:11 pm

Nikon’s latest batch of small cameras hit the scene

Section: Imaging, Digital Cameras

According to Nikon, the “S” in their new S series of cameras represents stylish, slim design with superior performance and lots and lots of zoom. Sounds good to me. But seriously, the S series are Nikon’s tiny cameras that still manage to zoom like crazy and shoot HD video.

The S8000 is the pinnacle of their performance. Boasting a 10x zoom lens, a 3-inch, 921,000-dot, Clear Color Display, and the ability to shoot 720p HD video at 30 frames per second, all in a tiny tiny package. This camera is built to impress. Plus, look at the elegant black coating that covers its slender body. Beautiful. The camera itself is a 14.2-megapixel camera that includes a new feature called the Creative Slider. This feature simplifies adjusting brightness, saturation, and color tone by utilizing the Rotary Multi Selector. Plus, a new feature on the flash, called “Advanced Flash Control”, allows the photographer to make a more natural looking flash shot.

You will be able to pick up the S8000 this month for $300 in your choice of black, red, bronze, and champagne silver.

Sporting a 14.2-megapixel display like the 8000, the S6000 goes for the slim look with an inch-thick frame. The S6000 also has a 7x zoom with the ability to shoot 720p video at 30fps just like the 8000. Not to be completely outdone, it has a 2.7-inch, 230,000-dot Clear Color Display LCD. Similar to the 8000, it also has the additional feature of Advanced Flash Control.

The S6000 will set you back $250 next month in either black, red, bronze, or champagne silver.

Going down the line, we get to Nikon’s newest touchscreen camera, the S4000. The S4000 features a 12-megapixel camera with a 3-inch, 460,000-dot, touch-panel Clear Color Display. As it should, the S4000 has many special, touch-screen related features, one being the Touch Shutter. With touch shutter, users can select the main subject of the photo by just tapping it on the screen. Also at the tip of your fingers, is the ability, just like the others, to record 720p HD video.

Having a few less features and some interesting new colors, you can pick one of these up next month for $200 in your choice of plum, silver, pink, red, or black.

Via [Gizmodo]

Here is the full press release:

  “S” REPRESENTS STYLISH, SLIM DESIGN, SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE AND SUPER ZOOM WITH THE NEW NIKON COOLPIX S-SERIES DIGITAL CAMERAS
  Whether a User Needs HD Video, Super-Long Zoom, or a Functional Fashion Accessory, There Is Something for Everyone with Nikon’s New Style Series of Digital Cameras

  MELVILLE, NY (Feb. 2, 2010) – Today, Nikon Inc. continues the tradition of blending innovation, design and performance in its line of COOLPIX compact cameras with the introduction of four new COOLPIX Style Series cameras. The S-series cameras provide users with innovative and fun features such as long zooms, speedy performance, advanced flash controls, touch-screen technology, and enhanced high resolution LCD screens in sleek, stylish camera bodies. In an impressive slim body, the new COOLPIX S8000 digital camera sports a long 10x optical zoom, 720p HD Video, and a 3.0-inch 921,000-dot LCD screen with bright Clear Color Display. Not to be outdone, the COOLPIX S4000 blends a user-friendly touch-screen interface with an elegant camera design, while the COOLPIX S6000 and COOLPIX S3000 digital cameras deliver the speed, accessibility and ease-of-use that have made the S-series the camera of choice among consumers who value style and performance.

  “Building on the hallmarks of the COOLPIX line, the new S-Series cameras combine the features consumers want, along with high performance and innovative technology into elegant camera designs with colorful results,” said Bo Kajiwara, director of marketing, Nikon Inc. “The digital camera has become an accessory to today’s consumer, and with the S-series camera, users can challenge their creativity, and complement their sense of fashion.”
  All new COOLPIX S-series cameras incorporate Nikon’s world-class NIKKOR lenses, delivering accurate detail and brilliant color, as well as Nikon’s EXPEED™ digital image processing concept, which ensures high-quality pictures with stunning color and sharpness. Many of the new S-series models embrace the addition of High Definition (HD) video by adding an ideally located video record button on the back of the camera. Other COOLPIX features include Scene Auto Selector, which automatically recognizes the shooting situation and adjusts camera settings accordingly for great pictures anywhere. To make better portraits easier, the Smart Portrait System incorporates a series of automatic functions including In-Camera Red-Eye Fix ™, Improved Face-Priority AF, Face Priority AE, Smile Mode, Blink Warning and Skin Softening to flatter even the most camera-shy subject.

  New COOLPIX S8000: Deceptively Slim Yet Hides a Surprise
  Hidden inside the COOLPIX S8000’s slender body resides a powerful and versatile 10x Optical Zoom-NIKKOR ED glass lens that produces incredibly sharp, crisp images up close or far away. To banish the blur at any focal length, the S8000 features a 4-way Image Stabilization System and ISO settings to 3200. Additionally, the S8000 has the ability to record HD movies (720p) at 30 frames per second (fps) with stereo sound, and features an ultra high-resolution 921,000-dot Clear Color Display LCD for sharp, clear viewing of images.

  The 14.2-megapixel COOLPIX S8000 digital camera also includes a new feature called the Creative Slider, which simplifies adjusting brightness, saturation and color tone in-camera by utilizing the Rotary Multi Selector. Another new feature, Advanced Flash Control, allows users to create more natural-looking flash shots by utilizing higher ISO settings and faster shutter speeds in low light as well as apply Multi-area Auto Backlight Compensation for even exposures. Additionally, the COOLPIX S8000 packs an improved Sport Continuous Mode, high-speed continuous shooting at up to approximately 4 fps for 45 frames (3 MP), plus a fast start-up time and a quick shutter-release time. To further ensure no moment is missed, the S8000 has the ability to acquire the subject and lock focus using Subject Tracking.
  The COOLPIX S8000 will be available in February 2010 for $299.95* MSRP in a choice of colors including black, red, bronze and champagne silver.

  The New COOLPIX S6000: High Performance Is Always In Style
  The new COOLPIX S6000 digital camera blends performance into an elegant camera design to create the ideal accessory for wherever life leads. Though the S6000 measures only one-inch thick, it comes with a versatile 7x Optical Zoom-NIKKOR ED glass lens to zoom in on the action or fill the frame with your subject. The COOLPIX S6000 also has the ability to record HD movie clips (720p) at 30 fps to preserve memories in high quality video, which are easily played back later on an HDTV from the camera via HDMI connection.
  The COOLPIX S6000 includes features like 14.2-megapixel resolution and a bright 2.7-inch 230,000-dot Clear Color Display LCD. Similar to the COOLPIX S8000, the COOLPIX S6000 boasts advanced features and controls like Sport Continuous Mode and Advanced Flash Control. The S6000 also sports a fast start-up time of approximately 0.75 seconds and a short shutter-release time of approximately 0.3 seconds to help ensure memories are recorded as soon as they happen.
  To further help users snap stunning photos easily, the COOLPIX S6000 features ISO 3200; 4-way VR Image Stabilization System; Subject Tracking; Scene Auto Selector Mode; Nikon’s Smart Portrait System all packed into an ultra-stylish design.
  The COOLPIX S6000 will be available in March 2010 for $249.95* MSRP in a choice of bold colors, including champagne silver, black, red, and bronze.

  The New COOLPIX S4000: Touch-Screen Technology, Nikon Performance
  Integrating elegant design and intuitive operation, the new COOLPIX S4000 digital camera comes equipped with a touch-screen interface that places the camera’s controls at the users’ fingertips. The COOLPIX S4000 incorporates a new 3.0-inch 460,000-dot touch-panel Clear Color Display LCD, which makes it easy to compose, review, edit and share pictures.
  To fully utilize the touch-screen interface, the COOLPIX S4000 comes with several advanced shooting features. With Touch Shutter, users can select their subject by a single touch on the screen to adjust focus and exposure, and to automatically release the shutter. When selected, Subject Tracking can automatically follow and focus on a subject selected by touching the screen, such as a fast moving child or a pet throughout the frame.
  At the touch of a finger, users can record HD movies (720p) to create and share. The S4000 also includes user-friendly modes like Scene Auto Selector, which automatically recognizes the scene in your picture and adjusts camera setting to take the best photo possible for the given conditions.
  The 12-megapixel COOLPIX S4000 features a 4x wide-angle Zoom-NIKKOR lens, ISO sensitivity to 3200; 4-way VR Image Stabilization System; Subject Tracking; Scene Auto Selector Mode; Nikon’s Smart Portrait System and a compact stylish design.
  The COOLPIX S4000 digital camera will be available in March 2010 for $199.95 MSRP in a choice of vibrant colors, including plum, champagne silver, pink, red and black.

  New COOLPIX S3000: Make a Statement in Color
  Sleek design, attractive colors and innovative technology truly set the new Nikon COOLPIX S3000 digital camera apart from the competition. The COOLPIX S3000 comfortably places advanced shooting controls in the hand for great fun and optimal results. User-friendly advanced features and ease-of-use, along with the camera’s compact size make it a pleasure to carry around anywhere from the family reunion to a night on the town.
  With the stylish looks and the vivid color choices of the S3000, the camera is the perfect tool to express one’s personal style. The COOLPIX S3000 also includes a bright 2.7-inch 230,000-dot LCD screen designed to make it easy to compose, review and share pictures.
  The 12-megapixel COOLPIX S3000 features a 4x wide-angle Zoom-NIKKOR lens; ISO 3200; 4-way VR Image stabilization System; Subject Tracking; Scene Auto Selector Mode; Nikon’s Smart Portrait System and a colorful and compact design.
  The COOLPIX S3000 will be available in March 2010 for $149.95 MSRP and in a choice of vibrant colors, including plum, champagne silver, black, orange, green and blue.

 

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 4 Feb 2010 | 5:10 pm

Deutsche Telekom prepares IPO for T-Mobile USA: report (Reuters)

Reuters - Deutsche Telekom AG (DTEGn.DE) is considering an initial public offering or spinoff of its U.S. wireless service T-Mobile USA, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 4 Feb 2010 | 5:10 pm

Germanium Laser Breakthrough Brings Optical Computing Closer

Researchers at MIT have demonstrated the first laser that uses the element germanium.

The laser, which operates at room temperature, could prove to be an important step toward computer chips that move data using light instead of electricity, say the researchers.

“This is a very important breakthrough, one I would say that has the highest possible significance in the field,” says Eli Yablonovitch, a professor in the electrical engineering and computer science department of the University of California, Berkeley who was not involved in the research told Wired.com. “It will greatly reduce the cost of  communications and make for faster chips.”

Even as processors become more powerful, they’re running into a communications barrier: Just moving data between different parts of the chip takes too long. Also, higher bandwidth connections are needed to send data to memory. Traditional copper connections are becoming impractical because they consume too much power to transport data at the increasingly higher rates needed by next-generation chips. Copper also generates excessive heat, and that imposes other design limits because engineers need to find ways of dissipating the heat.

Transmitting data with lasers, which can concentrate light into a narrow, powerful beam, could be a cheaper and more power efficient alternative. The idea, known as photonic computing, has become one of the hottest areas of computer research.

“The laser is just totally new physics,” says Lionel Kimerling, an MIT professor whose Electronic Materials Research Group developed the germanium laser.

While lasers are attractive, the materials that are used in lasers currently — such as gallium arsenide — can be difficult to integrate into fabs.

That’s given birth to “external lasers,” says Yablonovitch. Lasers have to be constructed separately and grafted on to the chips, instead of directly building them on the same silicon that holds the chips’ circuits. This reduces the efficiency and increases the cost.

A germanium laser solves that problem, because it could in principle be built alongside the rest of the chip, using similar processes and in the same factory.

“It’s going to take a few years to learn how to integrate this type of laser into a standard silicon process,” says Yablonovitch. “But once we know that we can have silicon communication chips that have internal lasers.”

Eventually, MIT researchers believe germanium lasers could be used not just for communications, but for the logic elements of the chips too — helping to build computers that perform calculations using light instead of electricity.

But University of California, Berkeley’s Yablonovitch says it is unlikely that light will replace electricity entirely. “I think we will be using light in conjunction with electronic logic circuits,” he says. “Light allows internal communications much more efficiently, but the logic elements themselves are likely to remain driven by electricity.”

Graphic:Christine Daniloff/MIT

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 4 Feb 2010 | 5:04 pm

Germanium Laser Brings Optical Computing Closer

Researchers at MIT have created a germanium laser that's an important step towards computers that can move data and perform calculations using light instead of electricity.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 4 Feb 2010 | 5:04 pm

Germanium Laser Brings Optical Computing Closer

Researchers at MIT have created a germanium laser that's an important step towards computers that can move data and perform calculations using light instead of electricity.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 4 Feb 2010 | 5:04 pm

Betty Goes Boop: Cc: Betty To Be Reborn As Threadbox

As a product, Cc: Betty was a good idea. Fundamentally, the goal was organize group email threads in a way that makes them more manageable. From an execution perspective, it left a bit to be desired. And from a naming perspective, it left a lot more. Today, the company is announcing that both are changing.

In an email to customers, Cc: Betty has disclosed that it’s changing its name to Threadbox. And actually the entire service will be morphing into a “new and improved product.” The changes are the result of 10 months of beta testing. From the email:

We’ve found our email integration/interaction to be very popular, given most of us manage our workflow from email. We’ve found some of our web interface experience to be clunky and some of it to be intuitive along the way. We’ve found our branding/packaging to work well for the casual, more personal use cases. But for the majority, the workplace oriented user, the branding/packaging while cute, needed to be tuned.

This new Threadbox product will officially launch this Spring. In the meantime, they’re allowing some of their most active users a change to demo Threadbox right now. Those interested can sign up for the waiting list here or on their new site.

Cc: Betty raised $500,000 in December of last year, and has $2 million in total funding now. As we noted during the last funding round, Threadbox has been the name of a project that founder Michael Cerda had been working on — but what wasn’t known is that Cc: Betty would become Threadbox.

Cc: Betty will continue to operate until Threadbox is ready to go. And at that time, they’ll offer a way for users to migrate their data over. Learn more about the new Threadbox in the video below (also note how they make fun of Google Wave).

Source: TechCrunch | 4 Feb 2010 | 4:53 pm

Rulings Leave Online Student Speech Rights Unresolved

A federal appeals court issues conflicting rulings on whether schools can punish students for criticizing or mocking administrators online.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 4 Feb 2010 | 4:50 pm

Phoenix Technologies Files Patent Infringement Lawsuit Against DeviceVM

MILPITAS, Calif., Feb.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Feb 2010 | 4:48 pm

Yellowstone is Rumbling. We are NOT Doomed.

This is normal. Most of the 1,600 or so quakes since January 17 have been very mellow. Yeah, it sounds like a lot of qukes to have happen in a couple of weeks, but the vast majority of these have ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 4 Feb 2010 | 4:43 pm

Keep SSH Sessions Active, Or Reconnect?

borjonx writes "Is it safer to log out of an SSH session, and re-establish it later, or just keep the connection open? Like many of you, I use OpenSSH to connect to my Slackware Linux boxes remotely from Linux and WinXP (putty.exe) clients. At home and at work, I wonder if it would be safer to just leave the connection open (my clients are physically secured, the servers limit connections with hosts.allow). Is it more secure to re-establish the connection over an insecure link (big bad internet) where people can sniff that handshaking, or is it more secure to just remain connected? I connect 1 to 4 times per day, most days."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 4 Feb 2010 | 4:23 pm

A T-Mobile IPO? [Digital Daily]

If there is indeed a fledgling IPO recovery this year, T-Mobile USA may end up being part of it. “Unidentified sources close to the matter” tell The Wall Street Journal that Deutsche Telekom is considering taking its U.S. wireless unit public.

Evidently, the German telecommunications outfit is looking to placate shareholders dismayed by the unit’s performance of late. Not only is T-Mobile trailing far behind rivals like AT&T (T), Verizon Wireless (VZ), and Sprint (S), it’s losing subscribers. In the third quarter of 2009, for example, T-Mobile lost a net 77,000 customers.

Were Deutsche Telekom to move ahead with a T-Mobile IPO, it might be able to raise enough capital to build out its network, improve reception in major markets and start winning back some of the subscribers it has been losing.

Source: All Things Digital | 4 Feb 2010 | 4:17 pm

Poll: Americans Support Strong Climate, Energy Policies

Despite a sharp drop in public concern over global warming, Americans—regardless of political affiliation—support the passage of federal climate and energy policies, according to the results of a national survey released today by researchers at Yale and George Mason universities.The survey found support for:    * Funding more research on renewable energy, such as solar and wind power (85 percent)    * Tax rebates for people buying fuel-efficient vehicles or solar panels (82 percent)    * Establishing programs to teach Americans how to save energy (72 percent)    * Regulating carbon dioxide as a pollutant (71 percent)    * School curricula to teach children about the causes, consequences, and potential solutions to global warming (70 percent)    * Signing an international treaty that requires the United States to cut emissions of carbon dioxide 90 percent by the year 2050 (61 percent)    * Establishing programs to teach Americans about global warming (60 percent).“Surprisingly, majorities of both Republicans and Democrats support many of these policies, including renewable energy research, tax rebates, regulating carbon dioxide, and expanding offshore drilling for oil and natural gas,” said Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Project on Climate Change.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Feb 2010 | 4:13 pm

Adobe Fires Back at Apple's Snub of Flash on the iPad (NewsFactor)

NewsFactor - What's Apple's problem with Flash? Three years after the introduction of the iPhone, Apple's refusal to include Flash on its soon-to-be-released iPad has sparked another kerfuffle between Apple and Flash maker Adobe Systems.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 4 Feb 2010 | 4:04 pm

Selleck Waterfall Sandwich

selleckwaterfallsandwich.tumblr.com. There's theme music, too. (via Matt Forsythe)


Source: Boing Boing | 4 Feb 2010 | 4:01 pm

Habit-Learning Device Will Lower Energy Bills Under New Clean Energy Cashback Scheme

Smart control units that learn householders' energy habits and provide immediate feedback on consumption could give home energy savings of up to 20% without compromising comfort.The new energy-saving 'Wattbox' device is part of an innovative approach to energy efficient home improvements supported by a £2.1 million grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).As well as working with standard energy supplies, the Wattbox will help people get the most out investments, such as solar panels, made in line with the recently-announced feed-in tariffs for small-scale renewable schemes.Working with householders, an earlier project found that existing home heating controls, such as timers and thermostats, often make it difficult for people to cut fuel costs because they are too complicated to set correctly.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Feb 2010 | 3:48 pm

Soft Intelligence For Hard Decisions

Soft metrics improve homeland security and other critical decisionsAn approach to decision making based on soft metrics could allow problems to be solved where no definitive "yes-no" answer is possible in fields as diverse as healthcare, defense, economics, engineering, public utilities and science.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Feb 2010 | 3:40 pm

How Infighting Hampers Innovation At Microsoft

Garabito writes "Dick Brass, former vice-president at Microsoft, published an op-ed in The New York Times, where he states that 'Microsoft has become a clumsy, uncompetitive innovator' and how 'it has lost share in Web browsers, high-end laptops and smartphones.' He attributes this situation to the lack of a true system for innovation at Microsoft. Some former employees argue that Microsoft has a system to thwart innovation. He tells how promising and innovative technologies like ClearType and the original TabletPC concept become crippled and sabotaged internally, by groups and divisions that felt threatened by them."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 4 Feb 2010 | 3:40 pm

Elon Musk May Moonlight When Tesla Goes Public

The company admits its CEO "does not devote his full time and attention" to the job at hand. Given the work ahead of him, he should.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 4 Feb 2010 | 3:37 pm

StratoComm Installs First Telecommunications System

EATONTOWN, N.J. and DOUALA, Cameroon, Feb. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- StratoComm Corporation (Pink Sheets: STCO) -- On January 24th a StratoComm engineering team, under the direction of Mr. Robert W.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Feb 2010 | 3:34 pm

SST Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2009 Financial Results

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Feb. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SST (Silicon Storage Technology, Inc.) (Nasdaq: SSTI), a leader in flash memory technology, today announced results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2009.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Feb 2010 | 3:25 pm

Boxee: Either Jeff Zucker or Jason Kilar Is Lying About Booting Us Off Hulu [MediaMemo]

Little Boxee, the much hyped Web video service, played a cameo role at today’s Congressional hearings on the Comcast (CMCSA)-NBCU deal. And as sometimes happens when Boxee and big media intersect, controversy ensued.

The short version: Rep. Rick Boucher, the Virginia Democrat who heads the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, asked NBC head Jeff Zucker about last year’s incident involving Hulu’s effort to bar Boxee from using its feed.

At the time, Hulu CEO Jason Kilar said his actions were prompted by his “content owners,” which most people, including me, assumed meant GE’s (GE) NBC and/or News Corp.’s (NWS) Fox, the media conglomerates that had invested in the video service.

But today at the hearings, Zucker pointed the finger back at Hulu (full clip at bottom of this post):

This was a decision made by the Hulu management to, uh, what Boxee was doing was illegally taking the content that was on Hulu without any business deal. And, you know, all, all the, we have several distributors, actually many distributors of the Hulu content that we have legal distribution deals with so we don’t preclude distribution deals. What we preclude are those who illegally take that content.

In a blog post, Boxee CEO Avner Ronen points out the seeming inconsistency between the two statements–though he’s incorrect in saying that Kilar blamed NBC, because Kilar didn’t actually say that in his original blog post. That makes sense, because Kilar is one careful and cautious dude, which you have to be when you’re running a joint venture that’s now co-owned by three big media conglomerates.

Ronen also restates his general case–that Boxee is not much more than a Web browser, so it’s not taking anyone’s content at all, just displaying it, ads and all. And from what I can tell, that argument is gaining increasing traction among some big media players.

But while I’ve never been able to get a straight answer from Hulu or its owners about the Boxee incident, I do get the sense that it’s one issue that sticks in the collective craw of Hulu managers. So I’m not sure things are going to get resolved anytime soon at that site.

I’ve asked Hulu and NBC for comment and will update if I hear back.

Source: All Things Digital | 4 Feb 2010 | 3:21 pm

Kindle May Get Touchscreen To Battle Apple's iPad (NewsFactor)

NewsFactor - Amazon.com has reportedly purchased a leading touchscreen innovator in an apparent bid to add more functionality to its Kindle e-book reader. With Apple set to begin shipping its highly anticipated iPad tablet computer in less than two months with an iBooks application and multimedia capability, Amazon is under pressure to keep its share of the market.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 4 Feb 2010 | 2:56 pm

Police Want Fast Track To Get At Your Private Data

An anonymous reader writes "According to this story on CNET, police again are pushing for new laws requiring ISPs and webmail providers to store users' private data for five years and also want a new electronic way of speeding up subpoenas and search warrants via police-only encrypted portals at all ISPs and webmail providers."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 4 Feb 2010 | 2:55 pm

Anixter International Inc. Announces Share Repurchase Program

GLENVIEW, Ill., Feb. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Anixter International Inc.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Feb 2010 | 2:51 pm

Best View Yet of Pluto Shows Rapidly Changing Surface

The best ever global map of Pluto is now available after more than four years of Hubble Space Telescope image processing.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 4 Feb 2010 | 2:43 pm

The big El Niño that nobody saw

One of the biggest, meanest El Niño episodes of the 20th Century came and went and almost nobody noticed. It was 1918, a year when many people had their hands full just staying alive. The first World War was ravaging ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 4 Feb 2010 | 2:35 pm

Gigabyte will have an Android handset, but it’s not the one you saw

I saw a few of these pictures floating around a little while ago, when Gigabyte was announcing it was putting out an Android handset. “Good for them,” I thought, “but they couldn’t come up with something a little more original?” As it turns out — they might have. Because it turns out those pictures were fakeity-fake. I mean, the pictures themselves were real pictures, but they did not depict an actual Gigabyte handset. Seems weird that there would be this amount of intrigue associated with something as un-exciting as a phone launch by a relatively minor player, but hey. I don’t make the news, I just report it.

The GSmart PR person added that the phone they’re working on is totally different, and likely won’t be seen until late 2010. You’d think they would hurry — by late 2010 we’re going to be swimming in Android devices.

[via Phandroid]

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 4 Feb 2010 | 2:21 pm

Dinosaur Fossil Reveals True Feather Colors

Pigments discovered in a dinosaur fossil show the animal had striped plumage.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 4 Feb 2010 | 2:20 pm

Symbian Completes Transition To Open Source

Grond writes "Symbian, maker of the the world's most popular mobile operating system, has completed the transition to a completely open platform months ahead of schedule. While the kernel was opened up last year, the entire platform is now open source, primarily under the Eclipse Public License. A FAQ is available with more information about the platform opening." Adds an anonymous reader, linking to PC Magazine's story on the transition: "By putting Symbian fully in the public domain, the Symbian Foundation is pitting it against Google's Android. Symbian is well known across most of the world, but it's mostly a foreign curiosity in the US, AT&T is the only carrier that currently has a symbian phone in its lineup, the Nokia E71x."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 4 Feb 2010 | 2:12 pm

Hans Wunderl Joins The LGL Group Board of Directors, Steps Down From Management Role

ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The LGL Group, Inc. (NYSE Amex: LGL) (the "Company") announced today that Hans Wunderl, the Company's Chief Operating Officer, has completed his one-year assignment as COO and will step down from his positions with the Company. Mr.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Feb 2010 | 2:07 pm

ARM CEO has high hopes for netbooks

Section: Computers, Hardware, Netbooks

ARM CEO Warren East, made a very bold statement recently by saying that netbooks will dominate at least 90% of the PC market over the next few years. He also went on to say that ARM intends to power up more netbooks with ARM-based CPU architecture. It is widely known that Windows does not support ARM processors, but ARM is confident that ARM processors will succeed even without Windows support. While technically, most devices nowadays are powered by at least a couple of ARM microprocessors, the CPU remains dominated by Intel or AMD.

ARM seems pretty positive in Linux’s progress as a whole, and plans to use Linux all the way whether with the support of Windows or not. I, for one, am skeptical of ARM’s high expectations. Take for example AMD, even with Windows support, it can barely beat Intel in terms of market share. Intel’s marketing campaigns are very effective, therefore non-technical customers who are not aware of the wide range of options available to them will most likely go Intel. Asked if Microsoft may one day provide support of Windows on ARM architecture, East said “It’s really an operational decision for Microsoft to make. I don’t think there’s any major technical barriers. Microsoft’s well aware of the technical support we can provide to them, but it is an operational challenge for them, and one that only they can work out. We can’t really help them with it.”

Read [PC Pro] Via [Engadget]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 4 Feb 2010 | 1:46 pm

Qualcomm Aims to Bring Color, Video to E-Readers

E-book readers with black-and-white screens look like they’re stuck in a time warp, now that Apple’s full-color iPad is on its way.

But not for long. A new generation of displays are waiting to bring full color and video to low-power displays, while maintaining readability in different environments. That’s something that Apple’s LCD-based “Moses tablet” — and E Ink’s low-power, monochrome screens — can’t do.

One of the e-reader hopefuls is Qualcomm, whose latest technology, named Mirasol, promises to combine color, speedy refresh rates and low power consumption in a single display. Qualcomm hopes to have the first color screens available in e-readers by fall this year.

“For e-readers users coming from a black-and-white world, this is going to be like ‘Oh, my prayers have been answered’,” says Cheryl Goodman, director of marketing for Qualcomm.

With an estimated 5 million sold last year, e-readers have become one of the fastest-growing consumer electronics categories. And while screen sizes and functionality may be different, they all have one thing in common: Almost all of them use a black-and-white display from E Ink, the company that pioneered the low-power technology. The reason that e-readers like Amazon’s Kindle, the Sony Reader and the Barnes & Noble Nook can go days or even weeks without a recharge is that they use power only when the screen changes. In between, while you’re reading the page, the screen draws no power because its pixels are “bistable” — they have two stable states, dark and light, and can remain in either state without drawing power.

But the iPad’s debut and its focus on e-reading has raised the stakes for Amazon and other entrants. Amazon has reportedly acquired Touchco, a company that could provide it with the technology to add a touchscreen to the Kindle. A push for a color display would likely come with any new product that would use the Touchco tech.

Qualcomm’s Mirasol could be one of the contenders. Mirasol displays work by modulating an optical cavity to reflect the desired wavelength of light. The reflected wavelength is proportional to the cavity’s depth.

And if you are wondering what a color low-power Mirasol screen looks like, think a glossy scientific textbook rather than an LCD screen. It’s subdued, somewhat low-contrast, but crystal clear. Its reflective surface means that it doesn’t have (or need) a backlight. Its pixels, like E Ink’s, are bistable, so it will draw power only when refreshing the screen. And it can play video.

“It’s a very good display for what it does, which is an extremely low-power color screen,” says Vinita Jakhanwal, an analyst with research firm iSuppli.

Color screens for e-readers are more than a question of aesthetics. Many genres of books, including textbooks, cookbooks and comics, require color illustrations to make them come alive. Magazines and even newspapers are rendered almost unrecognizable without color.

Low-power color displays could change that. They could also help convince reluctant consumers to get a gadget designed for reading, without giving up gains in battery life.

A 5.7-inch Mirasol screen, not much bigger than an index card, with a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels, can offer at least five times the battery life of a 6-inch Kindle black-and-white Kindle display, says Goodman. The 5.7-inch screen is the size that Qualcomm is planning to debut its color displays in, though it says it can do larger screen sizes based on demand.

Mirasol displays are built on glass substrates. Thin films deposited on the substrate form one wall of the cavity, while the other wall is a highly reflective flexible membrane. An electric force applied across the cavity causes the membrane to collapse against the thin films. The cavity then becomes very thin, and the wavelength that is reflected moves into the ultraviolet spectrum.

For the viewer, this element, which is one pixel, is seen as black. Varying the depth of the cavity results in changes in the wavelengths reflected, which yields different colors.

“Because you use the lighting around to generate the image and color, it makes the display extremely low power,” says Jim Cathey, vice president of business development for Qualcomm.

And like the E Ink display, it is visible even in bright sunlight.

“Mirasol does color well but it has difficulty in reproducing gray scales,” says Jakhanwal. “When it comes to black-and-white, it is not as high contrast as an E Ink screen, but the advantage Qualcomm has is that it can offer color now.”

A Nascar race on the Mirasol display may not be pleasant, but the screen’s refresh rate of up to 24 frames per second is good enough for almost every other kind of video. In a demo at Wired.com, the screen showed a decent, sub-second refresh rate that was noticeably slower than 24 fps, but fast enough to show slow-motion moving images of butterflies.

Mirasol’s response time is also better than E Ink — in microseconds, compared to E Ink’s 200 or so milliseconds.

Still, many customers could find the videos on a Mirasol display unappealing, says Jakhanwal.

“Videos look much better in Mirasol than they do in E Ink,” she says. “But when you are watching video you want full color saturation and a washed-out picture is not that attractive,” she says.

Convincing e-reader manufacturers to bet on Mirasol won’t be easy. Qualcomm will have to compete against Pixel Qi, a scrappy California-based startup whose displays combine a full color LCD screen with a low-power black-and-white display. And then there’s E Ink, the current market leader that promises to come out with color displays by the end of the year.

Mirasol’s success will also depend on Qualcomm’s ability to prove that it can manufacture millions of displays that its customers will need. After all, Qualcomm is a chip company that’s known for creating processors that power smartphones, not displays. The Mirasol technology comes to the company through its acquisition of Iridigm Display five years ago.

Qualcomm says it’s serious about creating a place for itself in the display business. The company has set up a fabrication plant in Taiwan dedicated to producing Mirasol displays.

“Taking it from the lab to the fab is the tough part,” says Goodman. “But we have launched Mirasol on a few phones.” In 2008, one of the first handsets, the HiSense C108, featuring a black-and-white Mirasol display, debuted in China.

For the color screens, though, Qualcomm is betting on e-readers.

“The challenge in the e-reader market is that there are a lot of substitutes — the iPhone, laptop or the iPad,” says Qualcomm’s Cathey. “But we think consumers want color content and long usage between charges in a variety of environments.”

See Also:

• Plastic Logic Aims New Que E-Reader at Business Users
• Roundup: E-Reader Gift Guide
• Why E-Books Are Stuck in a Black-and-White World
• Why E-Books Look So Ugly

Photos: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 4 Feb 2010 | 1:40 pm

Qualcomm Aims to Bring Color, Video to E-Readers

A new generation of low-power displays from Qualcomm could help bring color and video to e-readers including the Kindle.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 4 Feb 2010 | 1:40 pm

Aviat Networks to Present at the Thomas Weisel Technology & Telecom Conference

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., Feb. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Aviat Networks, Inc.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Feb 2010 | 1:30 pm

MFLEX Reports Record Net Sales for Fiscal 2010 First Quarter

ANAHEIM, Calif., Feb. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Multi-Fineline Electronix, Inc.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Feb 2010 | 1:30 pm

KLA-Tencor Declares Regular Cash Dividend for Third Quarter of Fiscal Year 2010

MILPITAS, Calif., Feb.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Feb 2010 | 1:15 pm

Gallery: Most-detailed images of Pluto revealed - ZDNet

Washington Post

Gallery: Most-detailed images of Pluto revealed ZDNet A set of photos taken by the Hubble space telescope in 2002 and 2003 show the most detailed look at the former planet Pluto. The photos show an icy and dark molasses colored surface that changes with the seasons. NASA says the dwarf planet is so small ... Hubble images highlight dramatic changes on Pluto's surfaceThe Money Times Pluto Turning Brighter and Redder, Pictures ShowABC News New Views of Pluto Reveal Weird Bright SpotSpace.com SkyandTelescope.com -Christian Science Monitor -Whittier Daily News all 314 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 4 Feb 2010 | 1:11 pm

Migrating Insects Fly In The Fast Lane

A study published today in Science, by researchers at Rothamsted Research (an institute of the BBSRC), the Met Office, the Natural Resources Institute, and the Universities of Exeter, Greenwich and York, sheds new light on the flight behaviors that enable insects to undertake long-distance migrations, and highlights the remarkable abilities of these insect migrants.Many insects avoid cold British winters by migrating south in autumn to over-wintering sites around the Mediterranean.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Feb 2010 | 1:09 pm

Researchers Unveil Dinosaur Color Palette

Deciphering microscopic clues hidden within fossils, scientists have uncovered the vibrant colors that adorned a feathered dinosaur extinct for 150 million years, a Yale University-led research team reports online Feb.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Feb 2010 | 1:00 pm

Symbian goes open source, releases code to developers

After so many years of hoping and wishing, developers can start getting excited about coding for the Symbian platform. Sure, it’s taken a while and some might be looking forward to Maemo 6 later this year far more than a newer version of Symbian, but opening up the source code to the world’s largest operating system is nothing to sneeze at. The Symbian operating system is aging and hasn’t changed dramatically over the last several years and this is exactly what the platform needs for a major facelift.

The Symbian Foundation has already set up a page full of resources for developers who want to build apps for the platform. There are videos, code examples, books, tutorials and forums to foster a strong development community. So if you’re a developer looking to jump into making mobile apps, or expanding on what you might have done for Android, iPhone OS or webOS, you may feel right at home with Symbian.

We’re sure it’s not going to take a lot of convincing if you’re familiar with the platform, but here are some fun facts that Symbian decided to put up:

1. As of February 2010, the number of cumulative shipments of Symbian devices equates to one for every person living in the United States (with some to spare).
2. As of February 2010, if every Symbian device shipped was laid end to end, the chain of phones would stretch around the circumference of the earth.
3. If all the Symbian devices shipped up to February 2010 were laid flat on an average UK Premiership football pitch, it would be filled to a depth of 3.5 metres.

Now you really can’t say that there won’t be much exposure for your apps!

[Symbian via PhoneScoop]

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 4 Feb 2010 | 12:59 pm

Moss Helps Map Conquest Of Land By Plants

Molecular biology of drought tolerance comes into focusRecent work at Washington University in St. Louis sheds light on one of the most important events in earth-history, the conquest of land by plants 480 million years ago.No would-be colonizer could have survived on dry land without the ability to deal with dehydration, a major threat for organisms accustomed to soaking in water.Clues to how the first land plants managed to avoid drying out might be provided by bryophytes, a group that includes the mosses, many of which retain remarkable drought tolerance. Some mosses can become so dry they crumble in the hand, but, if remoistened, will begin making proteins within minutes.The work, published in the Jan. 29 issue of the journal Science, reveals several components of the signaling pathway that underlies the moss's Lazarus-like behavior.Intriguingly, the flowering plants haven't entirely lost the ability to tolerate desiccation: this tolerance has just been limited to their seeds, which dry out over winter and yet come to life in the spring.The seed strategy"We began by asking whether the moss Physcomitrella patens, which we have been using as a model system, employs different molecules or different regulatory systems than seeds. Or does the same mechanism underlie its desiccation tolerance and that of seeds?" says Ralph Quatrano, Ph.D., the Spencer T. Olin Professor of biology at WUSTL and senior author on the paper.Earlier, Quatrano and others had showed that seeds depended on both the plant hormone ABA and the regulatory molecule ABI3 to survive drying.Plant hormones, much like human hormones, are chemicals produced in small amounts that have a profound effect on growth and development. The release of one plant hormone, for example, causes bolting, the sudden growth of a floral stalk that signals the end of a leaf lettuce's tasty days.ABI3 is a transcription factor, a molecule that binds to a specific DNA sequence next to the gene it regulates and controls the copying of that gene into messenger RNA, the first step in making a protein from the gene."The assumption," says Quatrano, "was that in the presence of ABI3, ABA triggers some genes to make proteins and then when you dry out the seed, those gene products protect the cells."Looking for ABA and ABI3 in mossIn 1995 Quatrano and David Cove, Ph.D., a longtime colleague from the University of Leeds in the U.K., showed that ABA was at work in P. patens as well as in seeds.In 2006 Heather Marella, a WUSTL graduate student, and Yoichi Sakata, Ph.D., a visiting scientist in Quatrano's lab, showed ABI3 is also present in P. patens. Whereas seed plants have only a single copy of the ABI3 gene, P. patens has at least three.Marella and Sakata were able to delete the genes that code for ABI3 from the moss's genome. The resulting "knockout strains" would later prove useful in defining the separate roles of ABA and ABI3 in desiccation tolerance.Technically, mosses tolerant to water stress can be either drought-tolerant or desiccation-tolerant. P. patens is drought-tolerant, able to withstand brief periods of water loss, but not desiccation-tolerant, that is not able to withstand total water loss.Joseph Cho, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow from Korea in Quatrano's lab, showed that pre-treating P. patens with ABA toughened it up, making the drought-tolerant moss desiccation-tolerant. But pre-treatment with ABA didn't help the knockout mosses."So the first major conclusion of the paper," says Quatrano, "is that ABA alone cannot trigger desiccation tolerance. In mosses, as in seeds, both ABA and ABI3 are needed."The protective genesNext Quatrano's team set out to find the genes the ABA/ABI3 signaling pathway was controlling.Abha Khandelwal, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow from India, identified 22 genes in wild-type moss that are upregulated and begin to churn out more protein product when the moss is treated with ABA."If you look at those genes," says Quatrano, "some are very similar to what you find in seeds. For example, some resemble the genes for the LEA (late embryogenesis abundant) proteins." These proteins, which accumulate late in seed development, are believed to protect seeds from cellular damage caused by water loss, such as the unfolding of proteins or the loss of membrane integrity.Up until now everything had been playing out as expected. But then something unforeseen happened."We treated the knockout strains with ABA to see what would happen to gene expression," Quatrano says. "We thought that none of the genes would be expressed in these strains.""To our surprise, all of them were upregulated.""This didn't make a lot of sense," says Quatrano. "Why does the moss need ABI3 to become desiccation tolerant if only ABA is needed to upregulate the genes?"The puzzle of ABI3"To solve this puzzle, we looked at rehydration separately from dehydration. Both wild-type and knockout moss express the 22 genes during dehydration, producing messenger RNA to begin protein manufacture. The wild-type moss also expresses the genes during rehydration."But when we rehydrated the knockout moss, all of the messenger RNA disappeared within 15 minutes," says Quatrano."This said to us that ABI3 either stabilizes the messenger RNA molecules whose creation is triggered by ABA, or it somehow allows messenger RNA to continue to be synthesized during rehydration."In other words, ABI3 doesn't so much prepare tissue for desiccation as it helps it rehydrate after desiccation."So the second major conclusion of the research," says Quatrano, "was the timing of ABI3's role in desiccation tolerance.""Our work showed ABA was able to confer desiccation tolerance on a moss that wasn't desiccation tolerant, but that it needed ABI3 to do that. We also found that ABA triggered genes that we assume are essential for desiccation tolerance, but that ABI3 does not play a role in preparing for desiccation and is instead essential for the stability of the gene products after rehydration."What happened to seed plants?"Our hypothesis," says Quatrano, "is that the first plants to move onto land were desiccation tolerant like P. patens and the other bryophytes, such as the hornworts and liverworts. As vascular plants evolved, they abandoned desiccation tolerance in favor of adaptations such as extensive root systems, waxy cuticles and stomata, that would allow them to prevent water loss rather than simply to survive it." The genes that confer desiccation tolerance were not lost, however. Instead their expression was sequestered within spores or seeds.Could these genes and the signaling pathway that controls them be reactivated in the vegetative tissue of the plants?"Our goal," says Quatrano, "is to characterize the entire regulatory network that controls the desiccation-tolerance system. Once we understand that network, we might be able to 'engineer' it into the vegetative tissue of seed plants to make them more tolerant to water loss.""But this is all very speculative," he adds.Still the vision of sun-burned fields of corn blushing green when long-awaiting rain finally relieves a drought is exciting to contemplate.---Image 1: The earliest known land plant is Cooksonia pertoni, a tiny plant with a simple structure (no roots or leaves) that lived in the Silurian period 425 million years ago. Credit: Hans Steur, Ellecom, The NetherlandsImage 2: The moss Physcomitrella patens is often used as a model organism for water stress studies. Credit: David Cove
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Feb 2010 | 12:36 pm

Amazon Risks Losing Kindle Edge - PC World

New Zealand Herald

Amazon Risks Losing Kindle Edge PC World An explosion of competing e-reader devices, and the emerging challenge from tablet PC's is driving Amazon to aggressively retool the Kindle. However, the updates and modifications will fall short of delivering a tablet PC experience to ... Amazon Buying Touchscreen VendorInformationWeek Sony Catches Kindle, Trails iPad With Reader: Rich JaroslovskyBusinessWeek Amazon, Google Prepare iPad CompetitorsDailyTech ChannelWeb -Macworld -eWeek all 195 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 4 Feb 2010 | 12:34 pm

iPhone OS 3.1.3 released

FROM APPLETELL - Apple has released iPhone OS v3.1.3. Users can expect more accurate battery level reporting, as well as better third-party app compatibility and other fixes.
MORE »

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 4 Feb 2010 | 12:33 pm

Oceans Reveal Further Impacts Of Climate Change

The increasing acidity of the world's oceans - and that acidity's growing threat to marine species - are definitive proof that the atmospheric carbon dioxide that is causing climate change is also negatively affecting the marine environment, says world-renowned Antarctic marine biologist Jim McClintock, Ph.D., professor in the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Biology."The oceans are a sink for the carbon dioxide that is released into the atmosphere," says McClintock, who has spent more than two decades researching the marine species off the coast of Antarctica.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Feb 2010 | 12:29 pm

Insects Actively Surf the Wind

Tiny-brained insects know how to adjust their bodies and ride winds to get to where they want to go.
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 4 Feb 2010 | 12:01 pm

Nearly 200 million people a day log on to Facebook

Section: Web, Web 2.0 / Social Networking

Facebook has doubled in size in the last year, boasting a whopping 350 million registered users, and what’s even more impressive is that fully half of them-175 million-log on everyday. By this summer it’s predicted that over half of all Internet users will visit Facebook.

Last year Facebook’s COO Sheryl Sandberg said they were working towards lifting the current 5,000 friend limitation that’s currently in place, possibly anticipating the current popularity of the site, but it hasn’t happened and honestly, that’s not a bad thing. Who on earth really wants thousands of Facebook friends? It would make for an out of control newsfeed and make the personal connections that make Facebook so great next to impossible.

Are you on Facebook? Do log on everyday? Consider yourself an addict? I admit I love Facebook and I do log on everyday, several times a day. I also have the BlackBerry app and the iPhone/iPod Touch app. I network with colleagues, hang out with friends and connect with far flung family members. Facebook has become an important part of my life.

Read [TechCrunch]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 4 Feb 2010 | 11:22 am

Giant Panda Tai Shan's Life in Photos

Giant pandas Tai Shan and Mei Lan will soon begin their new lives in China, destined for breeding programs that hopefully will improve the population status of their endangered species. At Discovery News, you can read how the bears were ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 4 Feb 2010 | 11:20 am

Encrypting your iPhone backups? Time to choose a better password

If you’re using the backup encryption method introduced in iPhone OS 3.0 and your password is something like “cat”, “sex”, or “tetherball”, you should probably change it to something a bit more complicated. There be hackers wantin’ your goods!

Password recovery software company ElcomSoft has just released an iPhone backup cracking tool called iPhone Password Breaker.

Now, now – don’t panic. Unlike yesterday’s exploit, this isn’t some new security hole to worry about. In fact, it’s a tale as old as hacking itself: good ol’ fashion bruteforce.

The iPhone Password Breaker application is dictionary-based, meaning it gains access by cycling through a massive dictionary of words and common passwords (like the aforementioned “cat”, “sex”, and “tetherball”) and their variations (such as “c4t”, “s3x”, and “t3th3rb4ll”) until it finds the right one.

As I mentioned, this method is by no means nothing new – dictionary attacks are the oldest and most rudimentary form of hacking. Ever try to guess your friends password by typing in random things you’d associate with them? That’s a dictionary attack – just with a much smaller dictionary.

However, this is the first time to our knowledge that someone has built a dictionary application specifically targeting the iPhone’s backup manifest file. As long as you play it safe (use good passwords, keep your backups secure), you should be fine – just know that such tools exist now.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 4 Feb 2010 | 11:19 am

Meet 'Robonaut 2,' Your Future Co-Worker

Robonaut 2, a cutting edge humanoid machine, may one day come to a factory -- or a space station -- near you.
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 4 Feb 2010 | 10:40 am

Gadgetell Hands On: Pogoplug

Section: Computers, Networking, Gadgets / Other, Peripherals, Storage, Reviews, Peep Shows, Web, Features

I have used the Pogoplug for all of 20 minutes now (5 of which were to set it up) and I have to say that this seems to be a device that I am going to wonder how I ever lived without. Of course, that is just a first impression, but as of now I am super excited. It also goes to show just how easy the Pogoplug is to set up and have running. Honestly it took me longer to find a spare external USB hard drive in my office. I do plan on offering more of a full-featured review after I actually use it for a while, but for now I wanted to share some images of the unit itself, the packaging, the cords it shipped with and what it looks like setup.

Product [pogoplug]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 4 Feb 2010 | 10:11 am

Xperia X10 to launch in April on Vodafone UK (Update: And others!)

If you’d captured all the drool we’ve drooled over the X10 since it first got detailed so many months ago, you’d have a pool deep enough to swim in. A very nasty pool that you shouldn’t actually swim in, but a pool nonetheless.

Today, UK wireless carrier Vodafone has announced that they’ll soon be carrying the Sony Ericsson’s first Android phone on their shelves. Whats more, they were nice enough to narrow the known launch window down from the previously set 3-month span of “Second quarter” down to just 1 month.

Though no pricing details have been made available yet, we can expect the X10 to make its UK debut come April. It’s quite possible that it’ll be available on other UK carriers, as well; Vodafone almost always toots their own horn when they get an exclusive, and they’ve made no mention of such things so far. Update: Yep! T-Mobile UK has now confirmed that they’re also launching the X10, and it’s essentially confirmed for O2 thanks to a slip-up in mid-January.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 4 Feb 2010 | 9:45 am

Sirius XM application now available for BlackBerry (but there’s no Howard Stern)

The Sirius XM application for BlackBerry is now available. It runs on the Storm/Storm 2, Curve (8500, 8900), Bold (9000, 9700), and Tour (9600).

The application requires a Sirius XM subscription plus the additional online streaming feature, which costs $3 per month.

There’s something like 120 channels available, chief among them, in my opinion, The Virus, XM channel 202/Sirius 197. I sit here all day listening to the damn channel, and I couldn’t be happier.

Not available via the application: Howard Stern, which you can blame on contractual issues. Big deal: Opie and Anthony and Ron and Fez are better anyway!

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 4 Feb 2010 | 9:00 am

Google gives Android a disadvantage?  Ups security for Apps on iPhone, WinMo

Section: Communications, Smartphones, Mobile, Computers, Security, Software / Applications, Web, Web Apps

To make their products more appeasing to IT security mangers, Google has added some security to their Google Apps.  Google is looking to provide a similar security experience to Microsoft’s Exchange.  These changes make smartphones accessing company data much more secure.

The new security settings allow IT admin to add layers of security to smartphones that access company data.  Google has given power to the IT department to remote wipe, enforce password protection, style and size, and lock devices when idle.  IT will be able to push these requirements out to users devices.

Initially, the only supported devices will be iPhones, Windows Mobile and Nokia E series.  No word on BlackBerry yet though Android and Nexus One were mentioned to have “similar features” soon.  Premier and educational users should start to see these features added today.  Admin can access these settings from the Mobile tab in the Google Apps dashboard.

Read [Google] via [VentureBeat]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 4 Feb 2010 | 8:59 am

Chili Bed Runs Hot and Cold

I’m a big fan of the electric blanket. Back in cold, rainy England I used one every summer and would leave the thing running through the day so my cats had somewhere warm to sleep. Now I’m in Spain, the problem is often that its too hot to sleep, but in the winter things still get chilly. What to do?

The ChiliPad takes care of both hot and cold, warming or cooling your bed by pumping water through a network of pipes beneath you. Think of it as an electric blanket that won’t electrocute you if you wet the bed.

Because it uses water, it needs a pump, but the makers say that it runs quiet, at under 20dBa (certainly a lot quieter than a fan). And if you don’t always sleep alone, you might opt for the dual-zone pad which lets you adjust both sides independently, perfect if you regularly share your bed with a polar bear or basking lizard.

The only thing that might stop you snapping one up, or just throwing on an extra blanket in winter, is the price. The smallest will cost you $400, rising to a king-sized $650. It might just be cheaper to burn the money and warm your hands on the fire.

Product page [Chilipad via Coolest Gadgets]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 4 Feb 2010 | 8:16 am

The 10 Most Useful Gadgets From Sc-Fi and Comics

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 4 Feb 2010 | 8:12 am

Screenshots From a Full-Screen iPad Game

Just how good is the iPad’s pixel upscaling, the trick that makes it possible to run iPhone apps full-screen on the new magical wonder-pad? Not very, it seems.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 4 Feb 2010 | 8:01 am

Official: JooJoo tablet will “reach consumers at the end of February”

Section: Computers, Mobile Computers

Yesterday we heard a few last minute details about the JooJoo, and now it looks like we have some confirmation in the form of an official press release. Basically, just to sum it up, the JooJoo tablet is going into full production and will be shipping soon.

According to the press release;

“Fusion Garage today announced that its category-creating JooJoo Internet tablet has moved into full production with initial shipments expected to reach consumers at the end of February.”

There you have it, the end of February. Well, at least for those that were brave enough to place a pre-order.

The good news here, is that the JooJoo tablet will support Flash at launch. Which for most will ultimately mean that the JooJoo will turn into nothing more than Hulu watching device.

Still a $499 tablet that offers support for Flash sounds like it could be an interesting device.

Product [JooJoo]

Keep reading to check out the full press release…

FUSION GARAGE MOVES INTO FULL PRODUCTION OF BREAKTHROUGH JOOJOO Tablet
Innovative Manufacturing Agreement and Investment from CSL Group Helps Reinvent Consumer Electronics Business Model

SINGAPORE, February 3, 2010 – Fusion Garage today announced that its category-creating JooJoo Internet tablet has moved into full production with initial shipments expected to reach consumers at the end of February. Helping fuel the JooJoo’s arrival and Fusion Garage’s next phase of corporate growth is an innovative manufacturing agreement and strategic investment from mobile device OEM and distribution giant CSL Group of Malaysia.

Fusion Garage is expected to announce a second round of investment within the next two weeks which would augment today’s investment from CSL and the company’s initial round secured in November 2009.
CSL, established in 1998, has rapidly grown to a major conglomerate, with sales of nearly $300M USD, and the organization is one of the largest manufacturers of cell phones, mobile devices, netbook and notebook computers in SE Asia.

The strategic relationship between the companies calls for CSL to absorb all up front manufacturing costs associated with JooJoo production. This agreement virtually eliminates the normal high cost of mass market entry – often in the tens of millions – for any emerging Consumer Electronics (CE) hardware developer. In exchange, CSL will receive a revenue royalty from each JooJoo sold globally. Additionally, CSL has made a strategic venture investment in Fusion Garage which will help the company to move to the next phase of its corporate growth and product development.

“This is landscape changing manufacturing agreement in the CE hardware market in much the same way Dell changed the PC business model with its direct to consumer sales approach back in the 1990s,” said Fusion Garage founder and CEO, Chandrasekar (Chandra) Rathakrishnan. “CSL’s confidence in JooJoo and strategic investment enables us to concentrate on the expansion of our organization, software development and, ultimately, building a world class CE company.”

“We are justifiably bullish – not only on the promise of the JooJoo and the Internet tablet market’s potential but also on Fusion Garage’s forward looking vision,” said Dato Eric Chuah, Chairman of the CSL Group of Companies. “We have an opportunity to expand our business via this relationship, enter a hot market with a trusted partner and turn the traditional CE hardware manufacturing model on its head. We are betting on volume here and firmly believe our bet will be a winner.”

About JooJoo
JooJoo, officially introduced in December 2009, is the category-creating Web tablet that provides near instantaneous Internet access and the best online experience. The African word “joujou” means magical object and Fusion Garage’s JooJoo brings users into an online world where everything on the Internet is just a single touch away. Powered by Fusion Garage’s innovative browser-based operating system, JooJoo enables users to quickly and easily tap into Internet applications, news, music, high definition video, social media and web services. JooJoo has revolutionary hardware, including the largest capacitive touch screen of any device on the market – 12.1 inches –providing full screen content viewing. Its ultra-portable, ultra-thin design offers the best Internet experience anywhere – on the couch or on the go, standing or sitting. JooJoo’s gesture-based user interface allows easy transitions between Websites and turns pages in a digital publication via the movement of a finger. A full-size touch keyboard appears when users need it, and disappears when viewing content or paging through digital content. JooJoo is available directly from Fusion Garage at www.thejoojoo.com.

About Fusion Garage
Fusion Garage enables the best Internet experience through innovative software and hardware devices. Founded in 2008, Fusion Garage’s core browser-based operating system provides near instantaneous Internet access and has spurred the development of an entirely new category of consumer electronics devices dedicated to online usage. Fusion Garage is based in Singapore and is privately funded.

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 4 Feb 2010 | 8:00 am

Sony Wants to Build an iPad Clone

Sony wants to make an iPad clone, according to the company’s CFO Nobuyuki Oneda. Speaking at a press conference in Tokyo, Oneda said of the iPad “That is a market we are also very interested in. We are confident we have the skills to create a product.”

It’s certainly no surprise that Apple’s long-expected announcement last week would spur a slew of copycat designs — one of the trends at this year’s CES, which came *before* the iPad event, there were plenty of iSlate announcements, notably from Dell and also Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer (nice guess on the name by the way, guys).

Sony is one of the companies that could pull it off, too, with expertise in making well-built, tiny and great-looking hardware, although it will be playing catchup, as Oneda adds “Time-wise we are a little behind the iPad but it’s a space we would like to be an active player in.”

The problem is the OS in general, and the app store in particular. Sony’s plan is to distribute content from an online store that will work with this tablet device as well as its PCs, TVs and Walkmans. But we suspect that the thing that has kept the tablet in Apple’s secret laboratories for so long isn’t the hardware (it is, after all, little more than a screen), or even the availability of content, but the software. Specifically, an OS designed to be free of the complexity of the modern Mac or PC, to do just one thing at a time and to be very easy to use.

If this sounds like something that might take more than a few months to make, it is. That’s why we expect the upcoming tidal wave of tablets to be little more than multi-touch PCs with a jazzed up interface. In short, they’ll be a lot like a giant Nexus phone.

Sony interested in challenging Apple’s iPad [Computerworld/IDG]

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

See Also:

• Chinese 'iPad' Maker Threatens to Sue Apple for Plagiarism …
• Hands-On With the Apple iPad
• Ten Things Missing From the iPad

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 4 Feb 2010 | 7:56 am

Cell phone has built in cigarette lighter. In other news, I have officially seen it all.

Straight out of China comes “The Machismo!” – billed as “the world’s hottest cigarette lighter mobile phone.” Does that mean there’s more than one? Like, are there other, lesser, not-as-hot cell phones with built-in cigarette lighters? Nothing would surprise me after seeing this.

Source: MobileCrunch | 4 Feb 2010 | 7:21 am

Amazing Iron Man MacBook Sticker

We see a lot of cutesy notebook stickers as we trawl the web for news, but finally we have seen one worth writing about. Yes, it is the sticker the glowing Mac apple was made for: Iron Man’s beam-shooting hand.

The removable vinyl sticker comes from Etsy member Skinat, who will ship Iron Man to you all the way from Beijing. You’ll need to specify the exact MacBook you have, as there are different edge-to-glowing-apple distances on the various models (here you see it on a 13-inch MacBook Pro).

The price? $15. Well worth it to add some Tony Stark magic to your Mac.

Iron Man Sticker [Etsy via Pocket Lint]

See Also:

• Iron Man 2 Blasts Into Comic-Con, More Badass Than Ever …
• Iron Man 2 Trailer Lands Online in Half an Hour (Updated …
• Iron Man Takes a Doughnut Break

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 4 Feb 2010 | 7:13 am

Netflix breaks into the top 20 for video sites

Section: Video, Content, DVD/DVR/Blu-ray, Web, Online Music/Video

It is no secret that Netflix is pushing their Watch Instantly movie streaming, and according to the December comScore numbers that push seems to be working. It seems that Netflix has broken into the top 20, albeit just barely at position 19 falling in between Break Media at 20 and Justin.tv at 18.

comScore Video Metrix (U.S.) Videos (000)
Total Internet : Total Audience 33,242,835

1. Google Sites 13,242,487
2. Hulu 1,013,494
3. Microsoft Sites 561,052
4. Fox Interactive Media 550,505
5. Yahoo! Sites 539,416
6. Viacom Digital 372,641
7. Turner Network 366,987
8. CBS Interactive 297,298
9. MEGAVIDEO.COM 210,294
10. AOL LLC 209,957
11. Vevo 174,911
12. Disney Online 171,946
13. ESPN 165,743
14. FACEBOOK.COM 164,581
15. Blinkx 164,287
16. NBC Universal 160,205
17. DAILYMOTION.COM 133,436
18. JUSTIN.TV 128,102
19. NETFLIX.COM 127,016
20. Break Media 120,104

Read [TechCrunch]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 4 Feb 2010 | 6:56 am

U.S. Sending More Bomb-Sniffing Dogs to Iraq

The military will airlift 145 bomb-detection dogs over course of a year.
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 4 Feb 2010 | 6:47 am

Ricoh CX3 Shows Its Sensitive (Back) Side

Ricoh has announced the new CX3 compact camera, and with it has proved that the next hot thing in cameras is the back-illuminated CMOS sensor. As we said yesterday, these sensors are not backlit — instead they shift the circuitry of the chip to the back, and the actual sensor sites now sit directly behind the micro-lenses and filters of the CMOS chip, increasing light sensitivity. Backlit is, almost literally, the new black.

That new 10MP sensor isn’t the only change from the CX2, itself only six months old. ISO now stretches to 3200 (up from 1600), the video mode now shoots 720p (up from 640 x 480). And for hardware, that’s about it. The same 10.7x zoom is there, as is the big 3-inch, 920,000-dot screen. All the other changes are in software, and are incremental, as you’d expect in a camera just six months newer than its predecessor.

The only new feature is the “scene auto mode”, which guesstimates what you are snapping and sets an exposure mode accordingly. Also, the in-camera HDR function has been tweaked, with new options including one to pick preservation of highlights or shadows. This mode combines two images shot with different exposures to increase dynamic range.

If you have a CX2, you might as well wait it out for the CX4. If you’re thinking of buying a $400 camera, this looks fine, although we’d recommend checking out the Canon S90 first. It’s the same price, and it is Wired.com’s favorite compact cam right now (Brian X Chen even bought one to take pictures of his cats).

Press release [Photography Bay]

CX3 [Ricoh]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 4 Feb 2010 | 6:08 am

Fla. Kiteboarder Killed by Sharks

The attack on the 38-year-old man was the 14th deadly shark attack in Florida since 1896.
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 4 Feb 2010 | 5:56 am

World's Oldest Christian Monastery Restored

Egypt's antiquities chief unveiled the $14.5 million project, touting it as a sign of Christian-Muslim coexistence.
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 4 Feb 2010 | 5:40 am

Farewell, T-Mobile BlackBerry Curve 8900; it was nice knowing you

It seems like only yesterday that T-Mobile BlackBerry users were being treated to the Curve 8900 when they were feeling Bold 9000 envy. But alas, the glory would be short lived as it has reached the end of its life cycle. We’re sad to see it go, but we won’t miss it too much. After all, the trackpad equipped Curve 8520 and Bold 9700 are so attractively priced right now that the 8900 was relegated to being the small fish in a big pond. So farewell! Thou art too dear for our possessing.

[Via T-Mobile]

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 4 Feb 2010 | 5:34 am

Screenshots From a Full-Screen iPad Game

Just how good is the iPad’s pixel upscaling, the trick that makes it possible to run iPhone apps full-screen on the new magical wonder-pad? Not very, it seems.

IPhone (and now iPad) developer Kevin Ng took his game, WordCrasher, and fired it up in the new iPad software development kit (SDK). Using the iPad simulator, he hit the 2x button (actually more like 4x, as the pixels are doubled in two directions) and, well, pixelarity ensued, with jaggies spoiling the clean lines of his pastel-colored letter-tiles (WordCrasher is a kind of stressful, Tetris-inspired Scrabble game).

Next, Ng reworked the graphics for the full-screen of the iPad, and the results look lovely. Of course, the full effect can’t really be seen on your computer, as the screen resolution of the iPad is higher. What you can see, though, is the result of “bump maps and other shader techniques” which are available thanks to OpenGL ES 2.0. You’ll need to click through to Ng’s site to see the full-sized images.

One comment from Ng caught our eye: “Apple is keen for us developers to create strong real world metaphors by simulating real world materials, objects and their behaviors.” You know what Steve Jobs said about having “the internet in your hand”? It seems that Apple is pretty serious about that, rather than it being just a throw-away line. In fact, Andy Ihnatko* of the Chicago Sun Times said on MacBreak Weekly this week that the screen is so fast and responsive it feels like you are moving physical objects around the screen.

All this bodes well for the “Giant iPhone”. And remember, thanks to the lack of multitasking and the closed App Store, your iPad will still run this quick after a year, something we can’t say about our Macs and PCs.

What does a game running natively on the iPad look like? [Kevin Ng Games]

*Ihnatko’s name is actually built-in to the OS X spell-check. Pretty awesome.

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 4 Feb 2010 | 5:19 am

Big Urbanears Headphones Good for Sharing, Traveling

At first glance, Urbanears Plattan headphones appear to me just another me-too copy of Panasonic’s super-successful RP-HTX7 retro-cans. They have the requisite big, padded ear-cups, thick headband and garish colors, and even come in at a similar $60.

Look closer, though, and you see some extras that put them way ahead. The stylish headphones have a microphone and inline remote that will control or at least let you talk to most phones, including the iPhone. They also have something I’ve never seen before: a headphone jack socket high up on one earpiece, so you can let a friend jack-in and share your tunes, or listen as you watch a movie together. They also fold flat (ish) so, unlike the Panasonics, they’re actually good to travel with.

The only thing we can’t tell without a test is how they sound, but the numbers are promising. The 40mm driver has a frequency response of 20Hz-20KHz and a sensitivity of 112dB. On sale now.

Plattan [Urbanears. Thanks, Valerie!]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 4 Feb 2010 | 4:56 am