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Global mobile broadband spending seen up to $72 billion (Reuters)Reuters - Mobile operators worldwide are seen investing up to $72 billion in wireless broadband technologies this year to accommodate surging demand, according to telecoms industry body GSMA.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 10 Feb 2010 | 3:25 am Google Takes Aim At Facebook With 'Buzz'By Chris Scott Barr Over the last week or so, there has been some talk about Facebook launching a "Gmail killer" webmail feature. Various sites covered this and described how Facebook was looking to replace...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 10 Feb 2010 | 3:18 am Google Buzz Arrives with a Bang - Techtree.com
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 10 Feb 2010 | 3:15 am Opera previews Mini browser for iPhone: will Apple give it the green light? Opera is set to unveil Opera Mini for iPhone in a press and partner preview during the 2010 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next week, the Norwegian browser software company said in a statement released earlier today. In addition, the company will be introducing a slew of other Opera-powered devices at its exhibit at MWC.
Small caveat: Opera has yet to submit the iPhone app for approval in the App Store.
Source: MobileCrunch | 10 Feb 2010 | 2:54 am Opera says to introduce faster browser for iPhone - Reuters
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 10 Feb 2010 | 2:53 am UPDATE 2-Nobel Biocare Q4 disappoints, eyes growth in 2010* Says dental implant market may return to growth this yearSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 10 Feb 2010 | 2:45 am Blizzard Previews Revamped Battle.netBlizzard updated the official StarCraft II site today with a preview of how the revamped Battle.net will function. They emphasize the social features, competitive matchmaking system, and the ease of sharing mods and maps. Quoting: "When the legacy Battle.net service introduced support for user-created mods such as DotA, Tower Defense, and many others, these user-created game types became immensely popular. But while Battle.net supported mods at a basic level, integration with tools and the mod community wasn't where it needed to be for a game releasing in 2010. The new Battle.net service will see some major improvements in this area. StarCraft II will include a full-featured content-creation toolkit — the same tools used by the StarCraft II design team to create the single-player campaign. To fully harness the community's mapmaking prowess, Battle.net will introduce a feature called Map Publishing. Map Publishing will let users upload their maps to the service and share them with the rest of the community immediately on the service. This also ties in with the goal of making Battle.net an always-connected experience — you can publish, browse, and download maps directly via the Battle.net client. Finding games based on specific mods will also be much easier with our all-new custom game system, placing the full breadth of the modding community's efforts at your fingertips."Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 10 Feb 2010 | 2:40 am Marines buy portable armor that comes in a flat pack
The McCurdy’s Armor (named after a soldier who died in 2006) comes complete with gun ports, steel plated armor, and different levels of construction for different tasks. The Marine Corps has already bought 14 of the reusable units, however there’s no word if they are actually in use in any conflict areas. Seems like a great concept to me. [via Gizmodo]
Source: CrunchGear | 10 Feb 2010 | 2:30 am Kenya rounds up prey for starving lionsKenya Wildlife Service (KWS) rangers on Wednesday began rounding up thousands of zebras to move them to Amboseli National Park where starving lions have been attacking livestock. RangersSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 10 Feb 2010 | 2:29 am Fujitsu Awards ITC Global Security a Multi Million Pound ContractSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 10 Feb 2010 | 2:25 am Climate Group Admits Mistakes - Wall Street Journal
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 10 Feb 2010 | 2:10 am Norway's Opera to introduce browser for iPhone (Reuters)Reuters - Browser firm Opera Software will introduce next week a version of its Mini browser for Apple's iPhone, the Norwegian firm said on Wednesday.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 10 Feb 2010 | 2:05 am Norway's Opera to introduce browser for iPhoneHELSINKI (Reuters) - Browser firm Opera Software will introduce next week a version of its Mini browser for Apple's iPhone, the Norwegian firm said on Wednesday.Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 10 Feb 2010 | 2:05 am Coming Soon, Maybe: Opera Mini for iPhone
Small caveat: Opera has yet to submit the iPhone app for approval in the App Store. The company foresees zero issues with the approval of the app, and hopes Apple will “not deny their users a choice in Web browsing experience”. Frankly, I think and hope Apple won’t block the app from appearing in the App Store either, but you never really know with Cupertino. Once the app is completed and live in the App Store, Opera Software hopes people will be enticed to leave the iPhone’s Safari browser for what it is primarily based on the speed of its own product. The company says that Opera Mini for iPhone is up to 6 times faster than the native browser thanks to its compression technology, based on internal tests. (Can’t wait to try that for myself) Furthermore, Opera says users who pay carriers per MB or roam a lot, will be able to reduce browsing cost up to 90%. I’ll be heading to Barcelona for the congress next week, attend Opera’s press preview and hopefully be able to record a video of the app in action.      
Source: TechCrunch | 10 Feb 2010 | 1:59 am UPDATE 3-Daily Mail Q1 sales decline stable, January betterLONDON, Feb 10 (Reuters) - British media company Daily Mail & General Trust said supermarket price wars and new mobile phones had lifted newspaper advertising in January, after reporting an 8 percent...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 10 Feb 2010 | 1:57 am UPDATE 1-UK firm gets final green light for stem cell trial* ReNeuron shares up 12.5 percent (Adds rise in shares)Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 10 Feb 2010 | 1:57 am Hackers shut down Australian government Web sites to protest compulsory Internet filterSYDNEY, Australia - Hackers shut down several Australian government Web sites Wednesday in a co-ordinated attack against a proposed Internet filter that targets pornography and criminal...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 10 Feb 2010 | 1:53 am Finnish president calls for urgent steps to save BalticFinland's President Tarja Halonen Wednesday called for urgent measures to save the Baltic as she opened a regional summit to save one of the world's most polluted seas. "It's clear that...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 10 Feb 2010 | 1:52 am Space shuttle Endeavour pulls in at space station - The Associated Press
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 10 Feb 2010 | 1:50 am Malaysia tribesman being paid to poach tigers: WWFTribesmen in Malaysia are being paid by syndicates to trap wildlife, including critically endangered tigers, to meet insatiable demand from China, a conservationist said Wednesday. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 10 Feb 2010 | 1:42 am New World Survey: What Will the Big Second Life News Items Be in 2010?After much delay, here's my ten favorite reader predictions for Second Life in 2010, described as New York Times' headlines. Which do you think are most likely for this year? Select three, results published...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 10 Feb 2010 | 1:41 am Will Apple Crack? Opera Unveils Plans for iPhone BrowserOpera just announced that it plans to bring its mobile browser, Opera Mini, to the iPhone. The Norwegian company will give the press and its partners a sneak peek of the application during next week's...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 10 Feb 2010 | 1:40 am Combination lock USB drive doomed to stay as a concept
Secure USB drives are nothing new, they are just normally locked with a keypad, or a password system, not some mechanical dial. Of course, this is a concept, and will most likely never see the light of day, but it’s at least fun to look at. [via Gizmodo]
Source: CrunchGear | 10 Feb 2010 | 1:30 am A Look At 4INFO, The King Of SMS
When Google bought mobile ad network AdMob for $750 million in November 2009, 4IFNO CEO Zaw Thet said that he received a couple of phone calls from investment bankers and potential buyers who where were sniffing around the space. When Apple bought Quattro Wireless for $275 million two months later, he says his phone started to ring off the hook. Why? Because 4INFO is usually described as the AdMob of SMS advertising. That isn’t a very good description of the company, but it’s enough to make everyone think that the company is next in line to close a big acquisition. And that last part just may be true. The company, which has raised around $40 million in venture capital, is where companies go when they want to create a “mailing list” of SMS subscribers. For example – when Zynga began testing SMS notifications in December, they turned to 4INFO to power the product. 4INFO has 250 premier publishers, plus a couple of thousand more that use its self service platform.
4INFO has 50 million U.S. phone numbers stored on behalf of publishers. And they are beginning to roll out an international product as well. I sat met with Thet last week to see the company’s San Mateo offices and talk about the 4INFO business. He answered all of my questions, and even said the right thing at the end when I asked who’d be acquiring him. “We’re building an independent company,” he said. Which is exactly what everyone says right before they get bought.      
Source: TechCrunch | 10 Feb 2010 | 1:26 am Glitch: the new game from Flickr co-founder Stewart ButterfieldSteward Butterfield, co-founder of Flickr, has just launched his next act, a web-based multiplayer game called "Glitch." It sounds a lot like the original game behind Flickr, Game Neverending, full of...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 10 Feb 2010 | 1:19 am Glitch: the new game from Flickr co-founder Stewart ButterfieldSteward Butterfield, co-founder of Flickr, has just launched his next act, a web-based multiplayer game called "Glitch." It sounds a lot like the original game behind Flickr, Game Neverending, full of puzzles, whimsy and warmth (like Stewart). The game's in private alpha now, but the intro video and Daniel Terdiman's profiles of the company on CNet are damned exciting:In depth with Tiny Speck's Glitch (Thanks, Stewart!)
Previously:
 Source: Boing Boing | 10 Feb 2010 | 1:19 am Japan wants deal to scale down 'scientific' whalingJapan plans to propose scaling down its annual 'scientific' Antarctic whale hunt if it is allowed to step up commercial whaling in its own coastal waters instead, a fisheries official said...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 10 Feb 2010 | 1:09 am BoomTown Heads to TED (and Promises No Pretentious Tweets!) [BoomTown]
What is it about TED, the iconic conference that was founded an astonishing 25 years ago, that gets so many people who don’t go in a lather? Read one tweet from Mathew Ingram of GigaOm, for example: “and so it begins–all the pretentious and annoying tweets from people at TED, just to prove that they are that special :-)” Yes, that’s it! Maybe because they did not get enough hugs as kids! (Personally, I would tweet from, like, a fist-pumping party with the “Jersey Shore” cast to prove I was special.) All kidding aside and back to TED, I suppose it could be the high cost of the ticket or the fact that it is hard to get in at all for any price since it sells out so quickly or that the presentations from the stage by some of the world’s top thinkers are so incredibly highbrow. All true. Nonethless, TED still represents one of the best venues for deep and varied thinking on a wide range of important issues, even if there are moments that might seem twee and elitist to some. TED2010 officially opens tomorrow morning in Long Beach, Calif., although events at the conference actually began last night. Speakers run the gamut and talk on a wide range of topics from poverty to clean tech to global warming to ukulele playing. There are celebrities and billionaires in the crowd too, which also includes a lot of Silicon Valley’s movers and shakers. All that Davos-in-California vibe is what probably irks people, but it is a lot less annoying than you might imagine. In fact, as someone who runs another conference–D: All Things Digital–with Walt Mossberg, I can appreciate how well TED is managed, run and presented.
To the naysayers, I would also have to point out this: The entire content of TED–as well as other TED events across the globe–pretty quickly gets put up on the Web, on one of the better designed and more innovative Web sites out there, for all to experience. Embeddable and for free. While it might not be the same as schmoozing real time, if it is quality content you care about–and I do–then anyone with Internet access can eventually see it. And, it is indeed well worth exploring that nonprofit conference–originally created by Richard Saul Wurman, using the acronym for “Technology, Entertainment and Design” and now run by Chris Anderson–digitally. So, even if you are overly annoyed you are not there–Chris, you might want to invite Sarah stat anyway to stop her from writing another heartbreaking diatribe next year–see it for yourself online from the TEDTalks site. Here is one video of activist Eve Ensler, for example, talking about “girl cells” at TEDIndia, which is just amazing to hear–and there are plenty like it to choose from: Source: All Things Digital | 10 Feb 2010 | 1:09 am Goodbye, Cruel Sun [Voices]By Buckeye Hamburger, Contributor, Daily Kos The history of Sun’s high ride and demise, and the continuing story of the newly-merged Oracle’s (ORCL) fortunes, will occupy the minds of the IT industry and its pundits for a long time to come. I could easily go on and on about it, but that’s not what I want to talk about here. Instead, I think that something should be pointed out about the way it all ended. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 10 Feb 2010 | 1:05 am Macworld Expo Prelude [Voices]By John Gruber, Editor, Daring Fireball Macworld Expo 2010 kicks off tomorrow in San Francisco. Is it going to fly without Apple (AAPL)? I don’t know. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 10 Feb 2010 | 1:04 am How Google Buzz Validates but Marginalizes FriendFeed [Voices]By Louis Gray, Blogger, LouisGray.com When FriendFeed debuted on the scene in late 2007, it was one of the simplest ways to aggregate all of my updates from the social outposts I have all over the Web, see friends’ updates and have a discussion around their shared items. Now part of Facebook, the product continues to have an extremely loyal, albeit relatively small, community, who embraced the technology and made it a platform for social interaction. The site, which was among the pioneers of real-time streams and the surfacing of popular items, has seen its technology mimicked and imitated by many, but its complexity helped to reduce its total impact, contrasted with single-purpose sites like Twitter. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 10 Feb 2010 | 1:03 am Will You Be E-Mailing This Column? It’s Awesome [Voices]By John Tierney, Columnist, New York Times Sociologists have developed elaborate theories of who spreads gossip and news — who tells whom, who matters most in social networks — but they’ve had less success measuring what kind of information travels fastest. Do people prefer to spread good news or bad news? Would we rather scandalize or enlighten? Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 10 Feb 2010 | 1:02 am What Will Happen to Media When All the Billionaires Bail? [Voices]By Simon Dumenco, The Media Guy, Advertising Age If you’re a certain sort of still-employed media person, you’re probably wondering how much longer you can hold on to your job. But the larger question might be: Just how unreal — illusory, delusional, unmoored from the realities of the marketplace — has your job been all along? I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately in regard to the coming passing of the media billionaires. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 10 Feb 2010 | 1:01 am Daily Crunch: Drive On, Sailor Edition
Review: Withings WiFi Scale
Source: CrunchGear | 10 Feb 2010 | 1:00 am What The Wii Did For Console Gaming, Glitch Wants To Do For MMOs. And It Just Might.
I met up with Stewart Butterfield, one of the co-founders of Flickr, so he could demo Glitch for me. Sitting in a hotel lobby on a WiFi connection being used by who knows how many other people, the game, which runs in the browser and is Flash-based, was incredibly smooth. Even more impressively, Butterfield was able to manipulate the game from the backend (using his “God” mode tools) to add new elements on the fly right in front of me. This is a key part of what will likely make or break Glitch. While Glitch itself as a game is still coming together (it’s not going to be released until Fall 2010), Tiny Speck, the company behind the game, has spent much of the last year creating a backend that can allow them to quickly and easily build out an expansive multiplayer world. In fact, up until this point, about 80% of the time has been spent on building this backend, with only 20% devoted to the frontend of the game itself, Butterfield says. Over the next nine months, that will flip. So how easy is it to add elements to the game? Right before our meeting, Butterfield asked one of his developers to create a Michael Arrington element in the game. When we sat down, there was Mike, in the game, ready to go (see picture below). Butterfield also dynamically altered worlds on the fly and added new elements all with a few mouse and keyboard clicks.
One reason Tiny Speck is able to do this is because they decided to focus on making the game 2D rather than 3D like some of the more popular MMOs out there right now, such as World of Warcraft. This saves them countless hours of rendering time for countless angles. More importantly, Butterfield says he realized during his last gaming project, Game Neverending (which eventually gave birth to Flickr, before it was bought by Yahoo), that how a game looks matters less to a lot of users after a few minutes of play. All of that peels back to the fundamental gameplay, which Glitch is focusing on. And that’s not to say Glitch doesn’t look nice. In fact, as I noted above, it looks great. Tiny Speck has several artists developing the landscapes for the different worlds in the game, as well as different intricately designed elements that you use in the game itself. The game already has a distinctive look even though Butterfield is quick to point out that maybe the key element, the characters you inhabit in the game, aren’t done yet. So what’s Glitch all about? Well, it’s a bit convoluted, but basically you start out in the future and travel backwards through time to save the future. In doing so you jump in and out of the minds of eleven giants. Or something. See? Convoluted. But that shouldn’t matter — many of the best games are.
Ultimately, it’s a collaborative puzzle solving game on a massive scale. Interacting with people in the game is key, and meant to be fun. It’s a big part of Tiny Speck’s goal to do for MMOs what the Wii did for console gaming — which is to bring it beyond the stereotypical players and to the masses. Butterfield notes that while World of Warcraft is huge, its player base is just a fraction of those who play Farmville, for example. The goal is to find a middle ground. And that middle ground applies to revenues too. While World of Warcraft is pulling in a ton of money for each player (thanks to its subscription model), Farmville pulls in much less (because it’s mostly based around micro-transactions). Butterfield sees a middle ground here too that Glitch will try to tap. While the core game will be free to play, users will be able to buy items in the game, and hardcore users will probably be able to pay for special rights, maybe even voting on new features (an interesting idea that Butterfield floated out there). Since the game is Flash-based, I asked Butterfield for his thoughts about the recent controversy surrounding Flash-maker Adobe since Apple and Google appear to be moving away from Flash and towards HTML5. Butterfield said that while they have no allegiance to Adobe, there is simply no way they could have made Glitch the way it is trying to use anything but Flash. And while performance is often a knock of the technology, Tiny Speck has done a ton of work to optimize things on their end to keep the game running smoothly, even as it scales (obviously, they test that sort of stuff even in this early stage).
I also asked Butterfield why not just build Glitch as a Facebook game, like Farmville? His response was that their vision for Glitch was to use more than the small window within a social network. Fundamentally, it’s an extension of what he started with Game Neverending, but they’re far beyond what was capable back then, so the technology is finally matching the vision. And as a best case scenario, Butterfield also hopes to see Glitch extend beyond the browser and onto systems like the Wii and Xbox 360. And while there may not be a full iPhone app, he foresees them using that platform (and Android) to make app mini-games of sorts that give you power-ups in the game when you play them. On top of being a co-founder, Butterfield is serving as President of Tiny Speck. His other co-founders include Eric Costello (also the Client Lead), Cal Henderson (the former head of engineering for Flickr who is now Tiny Speck’s VP of Engineering), and Serguei Mourachov (who is the Server Lead). As we noted back in September, they also hired Digg’s lead designer to be their be their Director of Design, Daniel Burka. There are about a dozen or so people working on Glitch now, with most based in San Francisco or Vancouver (where Butterfield spends most of his time). Tiny Speck quietly raised a seed round of funding last year led by Accel Partners, and including angels such as Marc Andreessen, and Jeff Weiner. Butterfield said they’ll soon raise a larger Series A as well. They’re going to need it for such a lofty goal. And they’ll get it, when the VCs see how nicely the game is coming along.      
Source: TechCrunch | 10 Feb 2010 | 12:43 am Oracle Goes On Tour - But Is It Really About Cloud Computing?Oracle is launching a worldwide, cloud computing tour. It's a 50-stop show for developers and system administrators. But is the tour really about cloud computing? It seems more like virtualization with...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 10 Feb 2010 | 12:33 am SF in SF: science fiction night in San Francisco with Jedediah Berry & Laurie R. KingThe next SF in SF free science fiction events is coming up on Feb 13, with guests Jedediah Berry and Laurie R. King:Jedidiah Berry & Laurie King (Thanks, Rina!) Source: Boing Boing | 10 Feb 2010 | 12:28 am SF in SF: science fiction night in San Francisco with Jedediah Berry & Laurie R. KingThe next SF in SF free science fiction events is coming up on Feb 13, with guests Jedediah Berry and Laurie R. King: Jedediah Berry was raised in the Hudson Valley region of New York State. His short...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 10 Feb 2010 | 12:28 am Is Internet Explorer 6/7 Support Required Now?k33l0r writes "Following Google's announcement ending support for Internet Explorer 6, I find myself wondering whether we (Web developers) really need to continue providing support for IE6 and IE7. Especially when creating Web sites intended for technical audiences, wouldn't it be best to end support for obsoleted browsers? Would this not provide additional incentives to upgrade? Recently I and my colleagues had to decide whether it was worth our time to try to support anything before IE8, and in the end we decided to redirect any IE6/7 user-agent to a separate page explaining that the site is not accessible with IE 6 or 7. This was easy once we saw from our analytics that fewer than 5% of visitors to the site were using IE at all. Have you had to make a choice like this? If so, what was your decision and what was the reasoning behind it?"Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 10 Feb 2010 | 12:22 am AP Stories Reappear on Google News [Voices]By Russell Adams, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal New articles from the Associated Press have quietly started rolling out on Google’s (GOOG) news site in the past hour, ending a nearly seven-week absence stemming from contentious negotiations between the two parties. The AP and Google have been negotiating a new licensing agreement to continue the publication of AP content on Google News, but the AP’s efforts to more closely monitor the flow of articles to and through Google and other Web portals have hampered progress. The AP recently reached a new licensing agreement with Yahoo, though people familiar with the matter said the agreement did not include all the protections the AP was seeking. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 10 Feb 2010 | 12:19 am Facebook Debuts XHP: More PHP EnhancementLast week, we were chasing our tails in giddiness over HipHop, a newly open-sourced PHP runtime developed in house at Facebook. Today, amid the rabid excitement over Google Buzz, Facebook quietly pumped...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 10 Feb 2010 | 12:13 am New IPhone App Will Put Your Dog on Twitter (PC World)PC World - Your friends and family are on Twitter, as are celebrities and even astronauts, so why shouldn't your dog be on as well? That will soon happen thanks to an iPhone application that "translates" dog barks into English and tweets them out to the world.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 10 Feb 2010 | 12:10 am "The 2009 U.S. Digital Year in Review: A Recap of the Year in Digital Marketing" (Thanks to ComScore for Letting Us Embed!) [BoomTown]
The fine folks at comScore have graciously allowed BoomTown to embed a very good report it released this week about the digital landscape. Titled “”The 2009 U.S. Digital Year in Review: A Recap of the Year in Digital Marketing,” it’s chock-a-block full of all kinds of interesting information, from declining growth rates for e-commerce to core search market share to social networking trends to display advertising innovations to what’s the big issues in video and mobile. I also like all the pretty charts and unusual factoids–such as the fact that the heaviest individual spending day of the year was Tuesday, December 15 with $913 million in consumer buying and that “long-tail” videos on small sites make up more than 50 percent of the viewing. There’s that and more in the report, which covers most of the Internet bigs, such as Google (GOOG), Facebook, Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo (YHOO), Twitter and MySpace. Noted the comScore (SCOR) report: “2009 represented a critical year in the relatively brief history of digital media; a year that was marred by the overhang of a global economic recession that had a particularly negative impact on the U.S. advertising and e-commerce markets. But it was also a year in which digital consumer activity soared, new innovations grabbed hold in the marketplace and businesses got more serious about navigating the digital landscape.” Click on through and you can read all about it here (and download your own version here):
Source: All Things Digital | 10 Feb 2010 | 12:07 am Mission Control radio: Space Shuttle Endeavour with ambient electronica soundtrack
Rusty from SomaFM writes,
"The Space Shuttle Endeavour has taken off and is in space, traveling to the International Space Station where it will be delivering parts including the third connecting module known as 'the Tranquility node' to the station. It's also bringing up a seven-windowed cupola to be used as a control room for robotics. The mission will feature three spacewalks." "You can hear it all mixed with electronic ambient music on SomaFM's Mission Control channel. Just go to somafm.com and click on Mission Control. "The best time to tune in is around 2pm pacific time (06:00 GMT), when the astronauts are just getting up and starting their checklists for the day. Astronaut sleep periods are approximately from 6am pacific to 2pm pacific. There will be minimal mission audio at that time, but the rest of the time all sorts of stuff is going on."
[CC-licensed image, via Flickr: "STS-130 Shuttle Launch," photographed on Feb 8, 2010 by Malenkov in Exile] Mission Control radio: Space Shuttle Endeavour with ambient electronica soundtrackRusty from SomaFM writes, "The Space Shuttle Endeavour has taken off and is in space, traveling to the International Space Station where it will be delivering parts including the third connecting module...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 9 Feb 2010 | 11:35 pm Canadian customs refuse to disclose laptop border search policyGreg from the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association sez, It's not just the U.S. border guards who want to search the files on your laptop and cellphone. The Canada Border Services Agency has...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 9 Feb 2010 | 11:32 pm Canadian customs refuse to disclose laptop border search policyGreg from the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association sez,CBSA delays laptop search Access to Information request (Thanks, Greg!) (Image: Pacific Highway crossing, a Creative Commons Attribution photo from scazon's photostream)
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing | 9 Feb 2010 | 11:32 pm Ornate early doorbells These early electric doorbells by Rene Binet date to the early 1900s (they were used at the 1900 Paris World Fair). Binet was inspired by Ernest Haeckel in his designs.
When electric doorbells were new
Ornate early doorbellsThese early electric doorbells by Rene Binet date to the early 1900s (they were used at the 1900 Paris World Fair). Binet was inspired by Ernest Haeckel in his designs. When electric doorbells were...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 9 Feb 2010 | 11:31 pm Filmi star claims Heathrow security guards printed and circulated naked pictures from body-scannersBollywood star Shah Rukh Khan claims that when he went through Heathrow, security staff printed out the naked image of his body from the full-body scanners (scanners that the authorities have claimed won't ever be used to generate printouts) and circulated them among the staff:Shah Rukh signs off sexy body-scan printouts at Heathrow (Thanks, Drew!) (Image: S3010420, a Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike image from dodo_anji's photostream)
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing | 9 Feb 2010 | 11:28 pm Aussies treat building like ugly date, put a bag over its head
It sounds good, but as I said, it’s more of a concept right now. The “Tower Skin” creates a micro climate around the structure, and wraps completely around the building. Think of wrapping a sandwich with cling wrap, but of course your cling wrap won’t light up and night. Or create electricity from the sun. But you get the idea. Of course, is it really necessary? Is the UTS building that ugly that money needs to be spent making it look pretty again? [via Dvice]
Source: CrunchGear | 9 Feb 2010 | 11:00 pm Make: Online series: Maker Business
Gareth Branwyn says: We're kicking off our Maker Business series with this piece by Jeffrey McGrew, who along with his wife Jillian Northrup, and their trusty CNC machine named Frank, are a two-person (and a bot) design and fabrication juggernaut. From their design-build studio, Because We Can, in Oakland, CA, they do custom interior design, furniture, and create such artistic wonders as the "Art Golf" course they've set up at Maker Faire. Here, Jeffrey shares some words of advice to those who may be thinking of going "Maker Pro."Make: Online series: Maker Business Buzz this if you can, Google. [Kuvaton] Source: Gizmodo | 9 Feb 2010 | 10:17 pm AOL Integrates Facebook Chat Into AIM
We expect AOL and Facebook to make an announcement on the product on Wednesday, but you can try it now if you like at x.aim.com/facebook/preview.html. That’s a beta version, no word on when it will move into normal production.      
Source: TechCrunch | 9 Feb 2010 | 10:10 pm AOL integrates Facebook chat with AIM (AP)AP - As part of an ongoing effort to improve its user experience, Internet company AOL Inc. is letting users of its AIM instant-messaging service chat with friends on Facebook.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 9 Feb 2010 | 10:05 pm Meebo Eyes A New Market For Its Chat Bar: Online Retailers
From a functionality standpoint, Meebo isn’t changing much about the bar to suit retailers — you’ll still drag and drop items to share them with friends, and you can chat with buddies using integrated services like Google Talk, Facebook Chat, and AIM. The big differences will lie in the monetization strategy and the level of analytics retailers will be able to take advantage of. Revenue from the Meebo Bar primarily revolves around the ad unit that appears at the far left side of the screen. So far, the company has been getting an interaction rate of around 1% (which is relatively high) with ads from major brands. But while these ads have been targeted to some extent, they haven’t typically been promoting products on the site the user is currently browsing. With the tweaked Meebo bar, retailers will be able to promote their own sales, and brands can pay to promote certain items on the store. For example, if I was browsing Best Buy online and ran a search for “printer”, HP could run an ad pointing to their newest model (note: this is hypothetical, Best Buy isn’t a partner site). Meebo also intends to use ad retargeting across its various partner sites — if you ran that query for “camera” and later went to MyYearbook (which runs the Meebo bar), the bar might show you ads for cameras. As with publisher sites, retailers will be able to tweak what meta data their shared items include on sites like Facebook and Twitter. So if I decided to share the printer from the example above with my friends, my shared item on Facebook could include its price and rating in the shared link, as opposed to the generic summary that’s usually produced. Meebo is also planning to release a real-time notifications API in the near future, which will let these retailers send out promotions to users as they’re browsing their sites. At this point, Meebo’s roster of retail partners is small — the only partnership they’d confirm at this point is with ValueClick Brands, which is behind sites like smarter.com, couponmountain.com. But the company is currently in talks with some large online retailers. Of course, turning shopping social is easier said than done. This isn’t a new idea — we’ve been covering sites trying to figure it out for years, some of which have failed. Competitors include Kaboodle, ThisNext, and plenty of others. Meebo may be able to rise above the rest because it will be directly integrated into these retailer sites, and won’t rely on a destination site or bookmarklet for sharing. That said, it’s going to have to convince these retailers that it’s worth their time and screen real estate to integrate the bar in the first place.
Image by myklroventine Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 9 Feb 2010 | 10:02 pm Does the Notion Ink Adam stand a chance against the iPad?
It just might, with the proper support. The Adam looks to have better battery life, due to the fact that it’s based on the Tegra chipset, as well as a screen that actually works towards more efficient power consumption. Will it be enough to beat 10 hours? Notion thinks so, in fact they are tossing out numbers in the area of 2 to 3 times the battery life of the iPad. Notion Ink has also stated that the Adam supports HD, whereas the iPad is only capable of 576p/480p. Oh, and did I mention that the Adam supports Flash? It’s also worth noting that the Adam is physically thinner then the iPad. Steve’s Moses tablet is a beefy 13.4 millimeters, and the Notion’s product comes in at 12.9. It’s not a huge difference obviously, but it’s there. We don’t know any pricing or availability on the Adam, but Notion is expected to have quite a bit to say at the upcoming Mobile World Conference. We’re going to be there, so expect to hear more about it as information becomes available. [via SlashGear]
Source: CrunchGear | 9 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm Pint-Size Peripherals Scan or Print at a Price [The Mossberg Solution]It’s often said that less is more. If only this were true for computer devices like printers and scanners, which take up a lot of desktop real estate. The reality is that small, stylish, portable versions of these gadgets are often pricey and not as functional. [ See post to watch video ] This week, I reviewed two products that unfortunately live up to that reality: a portable printer and mini scanner that put a premium on good looks at $300 each. I’ve been using Fujitsu’s newest $295 mini scanner, the ScanSnap S1300 (fujitsu.com), and PlanOn System Solutions Inc.’s tiny $300 PrintStik PS905ME (http://3.ly/6QVS). There are several good printers, scanners or all-in-ones that cost significantly less or offer more functionality than these devices. But boy, do these gadgets look good. The Fujitsu ScanSnap collapses down to a small, rectangular box with mirrored buttons. The PlanOn PrintStik resembles a box of aluminum foil in the kitchen drawer–except more compact. Both devices are small and lightweight enough to fit in a bag or briefcase, if necessary. Either one of these could be ported around without a problem: The PrintStik weighs 1.5 pounds and the ScanSnap weighs twice as much at 3.08 pounds. Both fit well in a tiny work space or on the desktops of people like me, who don’t print or scan much and don’t want a device taking up a lot of space. As is usually the case with smaller devices that lack display screens and extra buttons, one hopes they come with straightforward software or simply plug in and play. The Fujitsu ScanSnap meets that requirement with software that installs on Macs or PCs and can be used without reading complicated instructions.  The PlanOn PrintStik uses thermal printing to produce images and characters on scrolls of paper. The PlanOn PrintStik worked adequately as a basic black-and-white printer for Windows PCs (it isn’t Mac compatible), but fell short as a wireless printer for smart phones. The PrintStik is meant to receive and print documents sent to it via Bluetooth from BlackBerrys, but I found the BlackBerry program to be clumsy and in the end, it didn’t even work despite at least two dozen attempts. PlanOn’s tech support said they thought my PrintStik’s Bluetooth could be faulty, but couldn’t send me a new device in time for this column. These two devices offer some interesting design elements. The PlanOn PrintStik PS905ME uses thermal printing–an old technology that has been around for decades–rather than ink cartridges, to produce images and characters by applying heat at tiny points. The PrintStik’s thermal printing only works with special scrolls of thin, slippery paper. It comes in packs of six rolls for $23; one roll is about 23 feet long and prints roughly 30 sheets of letter-size paper. You can opt to print only as much as a document requires to save paper. But a long document prints out in one continuous scroll rather than separate pages. The PrintStik has a rechargeable battery that lasts long enough to print about 30 pages; a wall charger is also included. It can churn out up to three pages per minute. I can imagine tossing this printer into my suitcase for business trips; it would also come in handy for printing boarding passes for use at the airport, among other things. Documents that are supposed to be printable from the BlackBerry with a remote-printing app include Web pages, attachments including PDFs, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, JPEGs, and PowerPoint presentations. PlanOn representatives say an app will be available for Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone and Google’s (GOOG) Android phones in about four or five months; they also are working on an iPad application. Though the PrintStik’s remote-printing app for the BlackBerry is currently free, the company intends to begin charging $30 annually for its remote-printing service this summer. Fujitsu’s ScanSnap S1300 can suck in 10 pages at once, and has two cameras that can scan the front and back of printouts. This process can scan as many as eight dual-sided pages a minute. Item sizes range from 2×2-inch cards to legal documents. The ScanSnap comes with a wall charger but also runs without being plugged into the wall: It uses a USB cord for charging from a PC in addition to the USB cord that transfers data between the scanner and computer. Seconds after I scanned documents into the ScanSnap, colorful icons appeared on my computer screen. Choosing one of these icons let me send the documents to one of the following: email, Word, a printer, Excel, iPhoto or Cardiris–a program that exports contact information from scanned business cards into Address Book or Entourage; CardMinder on Windows exports contact information to Outlook and other programs. If you want to scan old or precious documents, you may not like using the ScanSnap’s sucking method for scanning, in case a page gets stuck or damaged. For sensitive objects or page scanning, the best bet is to use a flatbed scanner or all-in-one (that prints, scans, and faxes) with a lift-up lid that scans items on a flat surface. Though the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300 and PlanOn PrintStik PS905ME aren’t the least expensive or the most functional devices of their kind, they’re easy to move around and take up minimal amounts of space. For some people, that may be well worth the higher cost. Edited by Walter S. Mossberg. Write to Katherine Boehret at mossbergsolution@wsj.com Source: All Things Digital | 9 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm Feb. 10, 1961: Moses Parts the Waters at NiagaraA famous and powerful planner butts heads with an Indian tribe over land rights near Niagara Falls. Guess who wins.
Convenience store sales of sausages are supposedly up 39% over the same period last year. [Hani - Thanks Sang!] Source: Gizmodo | 9 Feb 2010 | 9:55 pm Unlocking sun's secrets key to Earth's security - USA Today
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 9 Feb 2010 | 9:28 pm India Suspended From PayPal For "At Least a Few Months"More details have come about about what was behind PayPal's decision to suspend personal payments to any user in India, as we discussed on Sunday. In a blog post today, PayPal revealed that payments to India will remain in suspension for at least a few months. Customers in India will be able to pull rupees out of the service into their bank accounts within a few days. The suspension came about when Indian government regulators raised questions about whether PayPal's service was enabling remittences (transfers of money by foreign workers) to Indian citizens. "The problems may have been triggered by a marketing push that promotes PayPal as a way to send money abroad, a source familiar with the matter said. The campaign — which reads 'As low as $1.50 to send $300 to countries like India' — may have caught the attention of Indian regulators, the source said."Read more of this story at Slashdot.
The device comes in black, blue, pink and red and can be ordered now for $20. It's a nice deal, so we're thinking of getting one for each of the interns to keep track of feeding times. [Dog-e-Minder] The zoomy HD cams start at $499.95 for the HDC-SD60, $529.95 for the HDC-TM55 and moving on up to $699.95 for the HDC-HS60. The standard definition line starts at $249.95 for the SDR-S50 up through $349.95 for the SDR-H85 with the SDR-T50 in between at $269.95.
Back in December, we deemed the HDC-TM300, the predecessor to the TM700, the best camcorder you could buy over $1000. The TM700 retains the 32GB solid state drive, the 3" touchscreen LCD, the SD card capability, and the full 1080/60p recording HD recording of the TM300 while including some distinct improvements: increased zoom (12x optical and 18x Intelligent Zoom); wider-angle recording with 33mm capability; and more advanced image stabilization. The HDC-HS700 largely sports the same specs, except it boasts a beefy 240GB HDD and adds a little extra bulk in which to house it. Both the HS700 and TM700 can take 14.2 MP still images and have 46mm Leica Dicomor lenses. The prices for the camcorders will be announced a month before their release, and while they won't be cheap, we expect them to maintain the high quality of last year's models. Check the release for full details.
Source: Gizmodo | 9 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm Javelin Study Finds Identity Fraud Reached New High in 2009, but Consumers are Fighting BackSAN FRANCISCO, Feb.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 9 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm China artist-activist says Google email hacked (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 9 Feb 2010 | 8:41 pm Buzzkill: Google Won Disputed Googlebuzz.com Domain A Month Ago
On November 13, 2009, Google, represented by Meredith M. Pavia (presumably, a Google lawyer), filed a complaint that BuzzNews Network was using the googlebuzz.com domain in bad faith. Further, they argued that it was “confusingly similar” to Google’s trademark on the company name. This was an easy one for the forum to rule on since BuzzNews Network never responded to the complaint. The presiding panelist also cited Google as being one of the most recognized brands in the world, and clearly that part of the name overcame any claim to “buzz” BuzzNews Network might have had. It probably didn’t help that BuzzNews bought the domain from GoDaddy in 2004 and had parked it with links ever since. On December 23, 2009, the panelist ruled the name had to be turned over to Google. And though it doesn’t yet forward anywhere, you can bet Google will soon set up googlebuzz.com to point to the service, just as googlewave.com points to Google Wave. While Google launched the service today, it originally planned to do it at a later time, we hear. That had to be moved up for some unknown reason, so they’re lucky they got the domain when they did. Of course, it looks like someone else just registered buzzgoogle.com and is parking it. The fight continues…
[thanks Shmuel] Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 9 Feb 2010 | 8:41 pm The bleeding edge of sailing technology
I suppose this tournament’s only limitations are “have a hull, a sail, and don’t be longer than x.” There are more “authentic” sailing cups to be won, but I think we have space for both. Even if you or I consider one or the other to be the true sport, I think we can agree that going fast on boats is awesome.
For once the Florida heat is a good thing, because it gives me an excuse to try this thing. [LoftWing via New Ideas via Oh Gizmo!] Source: Gizmodo | 9 Feb 2010 | 8:40 pm Wow, a solar-charging backpack that actually looks cool
Ahem. These backpacks do look pretty cool. Well, a couple of them do anyway. Mainly that white one, and it’s not really a backpack — the Soular Powers Back-Up Packs are really just add-ons for the regular backpacks they sell. I know, I kind of pushed it pretty hard on that guy earlier. Did you see his pack, though? Nerd alert!
[via Chip Chick and Green Diary]
Here's what you need to apply. First, experience. If you're looking for a junior position, hold out a bit longer for our other job calls. This is a full time position and the pay reflects that. Second, you NEED to be in one of those two locations. Either you're somewhere in Asia, or you're somewhere in the SF Bay Area/Silicon Valley. If you think this is you, send in an application with the appropriate subject, either "Asia Writer" or "Silicon Valley Writer" to jobs@gizmodo.com. Include a short resume, relevant experience (where you've worked before, basically) and anything else you think will get make you attractive to us. Remember, no attachments. And no sending them to me, only to jobs@gizmodo.com. If you send them to me I will delete it, and make a frowny face in your direction because you didn't follow instructions. Source: Gizmodo | 9 Feb 2010 | 8:16 pm Tune in, turn off, iPod generation finds perfect haven (Reuters)Reuters - An electronic graffiti wall, Wii consoles, DJ mash-ups and iPods for massage time -- the Vancouver Olympic Village is plugged in to this generation of hip, digital athletes.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 9 Feb 2010 | 8:14 pm Micron Acquires Flash Memory Maker Numonyx
        
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The Marine Corps has already spent $800,000 to buy 14 kits of McCurdy's Armor, the portable wall system developed by Dynamic Defense Materials. The kits are named after Ryan McCurdy, a Marine who was killed in duty in 2006 while pulling a wounded friend to safety. The walls are also stackable, making them as easy to transport as they are to assemble. Once in position, four soldiers can assemble an individual panel in less than ten minutes, after which multiple panels can snap together in a U-, V, or J-shape, depending on what's preferable for the situation. The walls also feature ballistic windows that open and close, allowing Marines to fire back when necessary. It's not clear if and when these will be deployed widely in the field, but given that the current alternative is stacking a bunch of sandbags, hopefully Uncle Sam's ready to put in another order. [DDM via National Defense via PopSci] Source: Gizmodo | 9 Feb 2010 | 8:00 pm Panasonic Announces Pricing for 2010 Standard Definition Camcorders and Compact-Sized HD ModelsSECAUCUS, N.J., Feb. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Panasonic today announces pricing for its compact High Definition models, the HDC-TM55, HDC-HS60 and HDC-SD60, and its full-featured standard definition camcorders, the SDR-H85, SDR-T50, SDR-S50.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 9 Feb 2010 | 8:00 pm OpenTable Seats 2 Million Diners Via Mobile Apps
In less than six months, online restaurant reservation site OpenTable has seated an additional one million diners via its mobile apps. In late October, OpenTable had reached the milestone of seating one million diners via its mobile offerings, a year after its iPhone app launched. It took only four and a half months to seat another million diners. Additionally, the site says that based on an estimation of a $50 average check per diner, OpenTable claims that diners using its mobile applications have generated more than $100 million in revenue for its restaurant partners. OpenTable allows diners to find and book reservations at more than 11,000 different restaurants in multiple countries via mobile applications for the iPhone, Palm, Blackberry and Android. Other smartphone users can book reservations through OpenTable’s mobile-optimized Web site. The company also reported strong earnings this afternoon, with Q4 2009 revenue coming in at $19.2 million, representing a a 32% increase over Q4 2008 revenue, which was $14.5 million. OpenTable’s total revenues for 2009 were $68.6 million, up 23% over 2008 revenues of $55.8 million. In 2009, OpenTable increased its number of participating restaurants in North America by 17%, with a total of 10,850 partners by the end of 2009. The number of international partners also increased, rising by 44% to 1501 participating establishments. Total number of diners in North American were 11.8 million, a 39% increase from Q4 2008. Last year, OpenTable filed for a healthy IPO, despite recessionary conditions in the markets. OpenTable is a solid internet company that has a viable business model. On the restaurant side, OpenTable delivers reservation management software to establishments through a Web browser and collects monthly subscription revenues, similar in theory to the offerings that software companies like Salesforce sell to clients. Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 9 Feb 2010 | 7:50 pm Video podcast infinite recursionLook what happens on this podcast when the host clicks the button to play the podcast. BMW plus Sennheiser equals some sweet-looking headphones
Personally I’m always going to go with in-ears over earbuds, but the extra support from that ear-thing might be good for joggers or people on the move who still want to rock some chrome. The model numbers, from left to right, are: OMX-980, MX-980, CX-980. No word I’m pricing, but show me a bargain BMW. I’m guessing they’ll be around $150. [via DesignLaunches and LuxuryLaunches]
Source: Gizmodo | 9 Feb 2010 | 7:20 pm Google Buzz — First ReactionsGoogle announced Buzz today, as we anticipated this morning. CNET has a workmanlike description of the social-networking service, which is integrated into gmail. CNET identifies a central obstacle Buzz will have to overcome to gain traction: "The problem, however, will be the increasing backlash Google is seeing from the general public over how much data the company already controls on their online habits." Buzz is being rolled out over the next few days so some people will see a Buzz folder in their gmail, but most won't yet (this Twitter post explains how Safari users can get an early glimpse). A blog posting up at O'Reilly Answers points out some of the distinguishing characteristics of Google Buzz — one interesting one being its ability to post an update either pubilcly or privately, at the user's option. This design choice places it between the public-by-default Twitter and the private-by-default Facebook. Lauren Weinstein sounds a note of caution about the inherent privacy risks of Google's method of filling out initial friend profiles by automatic friending.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 9 Feb 2010 | 7:20 pm Google Gmail tweak challenges Facebook, Twitter (Reuters)Reuters - Google Inc is tapping its huge network of Gmail users and Web surfers to create a Buzz that it hopes will help it catch up with online social networking leaders Facebook and Twitter.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 9 Feb 2010 | 7:05 pm The Windows 7 battery life issue: What's making notebook batteries die? - BetaNews
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 9 Feb 2010 | 7:03 pm Broadcom Adds Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi Direct to Android (PC World)PC World - Broadcom increased its bet on the Android mobile operating system on Tuesday, announcing additional capabilities for its software stack and a new chip for navigation in Android-based devices.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 9 Feb 2010 | 7:00 pm Review: Microsoft Sidewinder X3 gaming mouse
Pros:
Cons:
Full review:
The shape of the mouse is very comfortable. It’s got a good medium size and comfortable curve. There’s no shelf for your outside fingers but there is a small (but effective) one for your thumb, whichever way you hold it. DPI buttons are out of the way but quickly accessed. The thumb buttons, however, are just way too far up on the mouse. This is a very obvious design flaw: the thumb shelf indicates where your thumb should sit when you are holding the mouse, and the button is half an inch further towards the tip of the mouse. It’s just physically impossible to be resting your thumb on the shelf and still be able to reach the button; you need to lift the heel of your hand up and reach forward, and who’s going to do that? And of course, since it’s an ambidextrous mouse, there’s a whole button going to waste near your ring finger, which can’t really do anything with it. The sensor seems to work just fine. I thought I encountered a little jitter but right now I can’t replicate it, so it may have been just too much coffee on my part. Conclusion: I feel I’ve been saying this a lot lately. It’s not a bad mouse, but when you can get a Death Adder, G500 for under the price of this thing, there’s really not much else to say. Those are simply much better mice. It might be a good “gateway” mouse, as I noted in the intro, but it’s no better than the Kinzu in that regard, and the Kinzu has a much better layout. I’m afraid this mouse is the true runt of the Sidewinder litter. (do snakes have litters?)
Source: CrunchGear | 9 Feb 2010 | 7:00 pm Google announces Buzz: Twitter/Facebook for GmailSection: Communications, Mobile, Web, Web Apps, Google
That platform would be Gmail. Buzz at first glance comes off as a bit of a Twitter-clone built into Gmail. It’s a service for sharing short messages, photos and videos with your friends. Of course, unlike Twitter and Facebook, there’s theoretically a way to automatically include everyone as it just takes your friends from Google Contacts. Buzz makes it possible to link to other web services like Picasa, Flickr, Twitter and Google Reader, which looks to be a nice feature. Everything is viewed in the same box, so no going outside of Buzz to watch a video or look at photos, and new comments appear in realtime lie Google Wave. Of course, since it uses GMail, Buzz will send you an email whenever someone responds to your buzz, or one you commented on. The web version of Buzz allows for adding in a location, as well as posting through voice on Android phones and iPhones. The problem, however, comes in the fact that Buzz is limited to Android 2.0+ and the iPhone, with the Buzz layer for Maps also available on Windows Mobile and Symbian. That leaves those of us with anything other than an iPhone, Nexus One or Droid left out for the moment, until BlackBerry, WinMo and Symbian compatibility. That still leaves those who have Android phones running 1.6 out of the possible fun. Buzz itself, while it looks to be an interesting idea, will take some time to see how it succeeds. For someone like me, who tends to not have the email of everybody, the geolocation seems to be all I can get special given the layering on Google Maps. For those who do have a lot of contacts via email, it might be tough to convince others to use it over Facebook or Twitter. Until proven otherwise, I’d categorize it similar to Google Talk: a nice, interesting improvement that remains a curiosity unless friends can be convinced to use it in addition to or on top of other services. Read [Google Blog] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 9 Feb 2010 | 6:41 pm How the iPad Would Gain from a Video Camera (PC World)PC World - Just when the iPad noise starts to fade, a new rumor pops up to get tongues wagging again. Whether it's an analyst's suspicion that Apple might cut iPad prices if the tablet doesn't sell well out of the gate, or a market research study suggesting that consumers really don't want an oversized iPod touch, there's little doubt the iPad still commands headlines.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 9 Feb 2010 | 6:22 pm TED 2010 Conference Makes for Strange BedfellowsBedfellows were never more strange than those assembling this week in Long Beach, California, for the annual Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED) conference: Director James Cameron, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and former covert CIA analyst Valerie Plame are among the eclectic mix of speakers.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 9 Feb 2010 | 6:00 pm How a Legendary Werewolf Artist Changes With the TimesTo turn Benicio Del Toro into a werewolf for the remake of The Wolfman, Rick Baker integrated his handcrafted artistry with the latest digital effects.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 9 Feb 2010 | 6:00 pm Feel at Home in Foreign Lands With Location-Aware SmartphonesEquipped with sensitive receivers and powerful nav apps, location-aware smartphones are now leading the way over standalone GPS units. Wired editors have picked the Motorola Droid, with its simple, intuitive app, as their fave.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 9 Feb 2010 | 6:00 pm Feel at Home in Foreign Lands With Location-Aware SmartphonesEquipped with sensitive receivers and powerful nav apps, location-aware smartphones are now leading the way over standalone GPS units. Wired editors have picked the Motorola Droid, with its simple, intuitive app, as their fave.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 9 Feb 2010 | 6:00 pm Apple Releases ILife, Raw, and Aperture Updates - PC World
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 9 Feb 2010 | 5:33 pm Video: Sergey Brin On His Six Months Using Google Buzz, The China Situation, And More
In the video, Brin answers questions covering a broad array of topics, including Google Buzz, Google’s current situation in China, and the company’s research in clean energy. Among the revelations: Brin hopes to eventually remove the task of having to choose between Email, Buzz, and IM, so expect those to converge more in the future. Note: The video starts off with some loud music in the background, but it gets turned down after a few minutes Regarding the appeal and potential of Google Buzz, and the company’s ability to make it useful: On getting relevant results, and internal use of Buzz before now: Brin says that he’d like to make the recommendation technology more transparent (as opposed to a black box) but hasn’t yet discussed those details with the Buzz team. On integrating real-time into Buzz in an accessible way, and possibly working that into Wave: Why he thinks Google Buzz might work, when other social services integrated with Email haven’t made much of a splash: On his experience using Buzz: On users having to make the choice between Email, IM, and Buzz: The conversation then changed to the situation in China. Brin was asked about this topic repeatedly and directed reporters to read the company’s blog post on the matter (which he says reflects the consensus view of the company). Eventually he did explicitly say, “We have not pulled out of China”, going on to give a general timeline of Google’s initial steps to launch in China in 2006 and how things have progressed since then (you can see this start around 15:45). Finally, the interview closes out with a few questions and answers about Google’s initiatives in energy, and how the economy is affecting the company.      
Source: TechCrunch | 9 Feb 2010 | 5:30 pm A "Never Reboot" Service For LinuxAn anonymous reader writes "Ksplice, the company based on the MIT Ksplice project, is now offering its 'never reboot' service for Red Hat, Debian, and other Linux distros. You subscribe and get real-time kernel security updates that apply in-memory instead of rebooting. Last summer we discussed the free service for Ubuntu. Cool tech, but will people really pay $4 a month for this?"Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 9 Feb 2010 | 5:21 pm STMicroelectronics Announces an Agreement for the Combination of Numonyx into Micron Technology, Inc.GENEVA, Feb. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM) today announced that, together with its partners Intel Corporation and Francisco Partners, it has entered into a definitive agreement with Micron Technology Inc., in which Micron will acquire Numonyx Holding B.V.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 9 Feb 2010 | 5:10 pm Feds Bust Cookie-Stuffing Code SellerFederal authorities bust a Las Vegas man accused of running a so-called "cookie-stuffing" operation. The scam included hawking website code to trick eBay into paying website owners tens of thousands of dollars in bogus advertising referral fees.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 9 Feb 2010 | 4:50 pm Submit Your Comments About ACTAalex_guy_CA Notes that the US Trade Representative — who has been negotiating the secret Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement without input from the American people or Congress — is seeking public submissions on how to conduct US foreign copyright policy. This means that Americans can file comments with the USTR asking for ACTA to be made public. Public Knowledge explains the process: "Under the Special 301 process the USTR seeks input from US copyright, trademark, and patent owners about whether policies and practices in foreign countries deny them adequate IP protection. The process has generally been used by IP holders to complain not only about lax enforcement in other countries, but also about limitations and exceptions in their laws that are beneficial to libraries, to education, to innovation, and to the public interest generally. The ability to comment in the Special 301 process is not limited to IP owners only. Any member of the public is free to file comments. If you believe in the importance of balanced copyright policies, file comments with the USTR and make your voice heard. Comments can be filed electronically via http://www.regulations.gov/ docket number USTR-2010-0003. You have to include the term '2010 Special 301 Review' in the 'Type Comment and Upload File' field. ... Deadline for filing is February 16 by 5 pm"Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 9 Feb 2010 | 4:40 pm FriendFeed (and Gmail) Founder’s Reaction To Google Buzz: “This Seems Vaguely Familiar”
As soon as Google Buzz was released earlier today, all the early adopters piled in to give it a spin. Paul Buchheit, the creator of Gmail and a founder of FreindFeed, was among them and his initial reaction was: “This seems vaguely familiar . . .” Or, as he put it elsewhere, “There’s a FriendFeed in my Gmail. Sweet! It is vaguely familiar to him on various levels. Like FriendFeed before it (which was acquired by Facebook), Buzz acts as a way to bring together different social streams together—Twitter, Flickr, Picasa, Google Reader shared items, status updates, shared links and videos. It presents them all in a single stream from everyone you follow from you Gmail contacts. Each item can be commented on, “liked,” or taken into a private email or chat conversation. You end up getting comment strings around a single shared link, photo, or video, just like on FriendFeed, except FriendFeed can import items from many more social websites. (Although FriendFeed is not enabled as a connected site for most users, strangely enough it is enabled for Buchheit’s account.).
But the other reason Buzz is vaguely familiar to Buchheit is because it lives right inside Gmail, which he launched when he was a Google engineer. It appears right under your “Inbox” link, and takes over the entire window where your 10,000 unread emails usually stare you in the face. It replaces it with a living, breathing, never-ending social commentary. My first reaction when I saw Buzz was to wonder what happened to all my mail. I didn’t miss it. Unlike Google Wave, which lives in its own silo, the fact that Buzz is a feature of Gmail makes me want to use it, despite it’s deficiencies. Right now, Buzz only consumes communications from outside Google in a one-way fashion. You can see other people’s Tweets, for instance, but you can’t Tweet back to them. And those Tweets definitely don’t come in realtime either. There is a noticeable lag. Buchheit agrees. When I asked him via email how he feels about Google channeling him, he responded: “It seems nice. Integrating into Gmail is the right way to go. It’ll be interesting to see how much activity it gets.” The fact that I was sable to gather his thoughts from Buzz, FriendFeed, Twitter, and Gmail speaks to the disjointed nature of our communications. Back in November, I had the opportunity to interview Buchheit on stage on whether he thought that email is dead. He defended email and admitted he had not yet tried Google Wave. But he’s already jumped into Buzz. The question is not really where email is dead, but whether it will continue to be the primary form of electronic communication, or merely recede to the background as convenient dumping ground for archiving our realtime conversations. Whether Buzz puts more people at ease with using a realtime communication mode as their primary communication mode remains to be proven. But it points towards the inevitable direction that all Web communications are taking: more realtime, intermingled, disjointed, and multimedia.
     
Source: TechCrunch | 9 Feb 2010 | 4:34 pm Snowmageddon Brings Icicles of DoomSnowmageddon churns along here in the Washington, DC metro area, preparing to bring us a possible 6-16 inches more of the white stuff (argh, Snowverdose!) today and tomorrow. And as we prepare to break some snowiest winter records (just 10 ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 9 Feb 2010 | 4:16 pm Haiti Photo Workshops Face Online BacklashPhotographers are offering to teach amateurs the art of documentary photography in Haiti ... for a price. Is this profiting off the misery of others, or a valuable service?
Source: Wired Top Stories | 9 Feb 2010 | 4:05 pm Google Gives In On Nexus One Fees, Support - PC World
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 9 Feb 2010 | 4:04 pm Bubble Motion Wants You to Call, Not Tweet [Voices]By Niraj Sheth, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal More talking, less texting. That’s the spin Sequoia Capital-backed Bubble Motion is putting on mobile social networking. Where others who have come before, like Twitter, caught on with 140 characters or less, this start-up thinks people would rather leave voice messages than type out an SMS. A new service it’s started called Bubbly lets customers leave a voicemail-type message, which their followers can dial in to hear. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 9 Feb 2010 | 4:00 pm IM Interview: Nuclear Energy and the Future of HumanityDoes human civilization need nuclear energy if it's to survive the next century? Michael Reilly chats with nuclear scientist Hae-Yong Jeong to find out.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 9 Feb 2010 | 4:00 pm Phone texts in Nigeria urged mass murder"War, war, war. Stand up and defend yourselves. Kill before they kill you. Slaughter before they slaughter you. Dump them in a pit before they dump you." — One of many mass-text-messages sent last week in Nigeria, inciting people to murder. And they did: some 350 were killed in Christian/Muslim violence. (textually via Bruce Sterling)Source: Boing Boing | 9 Feb 2010 | 3:56 pm Teaching Shakespeare to a toddlerVideo link. Actor Brian Cox attempts to teach Shakespeare's most famous soliloquy to Theo, age 2 1/2. (Thanks, Lisa Mumbach!) Source: Boing Boing | 9 Feb 2010 | 3:53 pm Swiss Firm Claims Boost In Android App PerformancePrecision writes to inform us about the Swiss firm Myriad, which claims a 3x boost in Android app performance and longer battery life with a new virtual machine. Myriad says that its technology is 100% compatible with existing Android apps. "The tool is a replacement for the Dalvik virtual machine, which ships as part of the Android platform, and retains full compatibility with existing software. Dalvik Turbo also supports a range of processors including those based on ARM, Intel Atom, and MIPS Architectures."Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 9 Feb 2010 | 3:53 pm Apple Job Posting Hints at Webcam in Future iPad - Wired News
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 9 Feb 2010 | 3:45 pm Review: 'Dante's Inferno' Commits Sin of Game Theft - Wired News
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 9 Feb 2010 | 3:45 pm Baidu Raises Revenue Forecasts In Wake Of Google’s Potential China Exit
In the wake of Google’s stand against censorship of its search engine in China and its consideration to cease business operations in the country altogether, Baidu – to Wall Street’s surprise – raised its sales forecasts for the first quarter of 2010, projecting total revenues ranging from $176 million to $181 million, representing a 48% to 52% year-over-year increase. In other words, Baidu expects to benefit directly from Google’s possible exit from China, although that dispute is far from resolved at this point. Baidu has performed better than other Chinese Internet stocks this year on expectations that the company will gain sales from Google’s customers in China, the world’s largest Web market with an estimated 380 million users (according to eMarketer). The Beijing-based firm holds about 64% of the country’s search market share, well ahead of Google.cn, which holds approximately 31%. Google stands to lose a large chunk of that share if it ends up exiting the Chinese market, which is not a made decision yet. The Mountain View, California company threatened to leave China after being hit with cyber attacks that originated from the country. The reported financial results and the raised forecasts sent Baidu’s shares up 8.68% at $473 in after-hours trading. Clearly, investors don’t care much about the decision of both Baidu’s CTO and COO to quit the company for ‘personal reasons’ earlier this year. Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 9 Feb 2010 | 3:43 pm Games that would sound ridiculous with “extreme” in the titleFROM GAMERTELL - Some games should not be made to the extreme, here is a list of 10 that REALLY shouldn’t! Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 9 Feb 2010 | 3:40 pm /K I L L K I L L K I L L - Perfecto Mobile/We are advised by Perfecto Mobile that journalists and other readers should disregard the news release, Opera and Perfecto Mobile Partner To Offer Remote Testing on Real Mobile Devices, issued 09-Feb-2010 over PR Newswire.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 9 Feb 2010 | 3:26 pm Marvell Selected as Storage Visions 2010 Visionary Company of the Year for its Innovations in Plug ComputingSANTA CLARA, Calif., Feb.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 9 Feb 2010 | 3:18 pm Bills USB flash drive protects your data with a combination lockSection: Peripherals, Storage  Designer Yun Hwan Sung came up with a concept USB flash drive called the “Bills USB” (Bills as in Bill Gates?). Ditching the whole idea of encryption, Yun opted for a combination a lock instead. The USB connector remains hidden and retracted until you get the right combination to unlock it. That is a pretty neat idea, but the USB drive seems to be a little too big for me. Some people may find the size to be just right; it won’t get lost easily. It would’ve been better if the drive had some sort of software-based encryption built into it as that would provide double protection for your important data! Read [Yanko Design] Via [Ubergizmo] Full Story » | Written by Cheng Hung for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 9 Feb 2010 | 3:10 pm XCore's EduBook, a Netbook That Runs on AA BatteriesI'm typing this on a netbook with no hard drive, not using a chip from Intel or AMD, and powered by AA batteries. Eight rechargeable AAs, to be precise, in a bank of cells right where a Li-Ion battery would sit in a conventional laptop. The batteries charge in place, too (regulation prevents overcharging) meaning that the power cord is a simple three-prong-to-cloverleaf cord, no wall-wart required. It's the EduBook from Xcore (see that page for some photos of the internals, too), and it's a cool concept. Despite some warts, it's one of the most interesting things I ran into on the CES show floor last month (Xcore's Michael Barnes kindly supplied the laptop, straight from the display case). Read on for my review.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 9 Feb 2010 | 3:06 pm Haiti Facing New Phase of Health CrisisNearly a month after the quake, Haiti's people -- particularly children -- are vulnerable to malnutrition and severe illness.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 9 Feb 2010 | 2:50 pm SureWest Communications to Report Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2009 Results on February 25ROSEVILLE, Calif., Feb.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 9 Feb 2010 | 2:50 pm Satellite Observations Help Assess Future Earthquake Risk In HaitiStartling images of ground motion in Haiti during the recent earthquake helping scientists understand the risk of aftershocks and even the possibility of a major new earthquakeScientists at the University of Miami have analyzed images based on Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) observations taken before and just after Haiti's earthquake, on January 12. The images reveal surprising new details.The images were obtained using data from Japan's ALOS satellite and made available to the scientific community through the efforts of the European Space Agency (ESA) and GEO, the Group of Earth Observation, an umbrella consortium of countries that promotes the exchange of satellite data to efficiently observe our planet.According to the new data, the earthquake rupture did not reach the surface--unusual for an earthquake this size. More importantly, the images confirm that only the western half of the fault segment that last ruptured in 1751 actually ruptured in the current earthquake."We're still waiting for the other shoe to drop," said Tim Dixon, professor of geology and geophysics at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science.The images reveal other startling facts, "Given the plate tectonic setting scientists expected mainly sideways motion, yet there was a large amount of vertical motion during the earthquake," said Falk Amelung, professor of geology and geophysics at RSMAS. "This explains how such a relatively small rupture was able to generate such a large earthquake."The data shows the earthquake occurred on or near the Enriquillo Fault, where most scientists suspected but until now did not have enough evidence to prove it. "This is a relief, because it shows that our current ideas about the tectonics of the area are correct," Amelung added.Dixon is looking at every bit of evidence to try to understand the possibility of another major quake hitting Port au Prince in the near future. "There's a reasonable probability of another large quake, similar to the January 12 event, striking Port au Prince within the next 20 to 30 years," Dixon said. "I'd like to see them relocate critical infrastructure such as government buildings, schools and hospitals, farther north out of the danger zone."In 1986, at the dawn of the GPS age, scientists from the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) Jet Propulsion Lab, including Dixon began, a set of geodetic measurements on the island of Hispaniola. A decade later, those measurements would reveal that the Enriquillo fault in southern Haiti was a significant earthquake hazard. "In a very real sense, those early measurements set the stage for our current understanding of this dangerous fault zone. Scientists have been studying this fault and others on the island, ever since," Dixon said.Shimon Wdowinski and Guoqing Lin, professors of geology and geophysics at RSMAS; Fernando Greene, graduate student at RSMAS and Sang-Hoon Hong, post-doctoral research scientist at RSMAS and at Florida International University also contributed to the analysis of the new images.The work of the Rosenstiel School in active tectonics is supported by NASA, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program (NEHRP). Other institutions involved in the analysis of the images included JAXA (the Japanese Space Exploration Agency) and NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab.---Image Caption: Scientists at the University of Miami have analyzed images based on Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) observations taken before and just after Haiti’s earthquake, on January 12. The images obtained from Japan’s ALOS satellite were made available to the scientific community through the European Space Agency (ESA) and GEO, the Group of Earth Observations. According to the new data, the images confirm that only the western half of the fault segment ruptured in the current earthquake. Scientists are analyzing the evidence to try to understand the possibility of another major quake hitting Port au Prince in the near future. Credit: Group on Earth Observations, JAXA, UM Rosenstiel SchoolSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 9 Feb 2010 | 2:35 pm Researchers Map All Fragile Sites Of Yeast Saccharomyces Cerevisiae's GenomeDr. François Robert and colleagues have accomplished a technical breakthroughThe research group of Dr. François Robert, a researcher at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM), in collaboration with the team of Dr.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 9 Feb 2010 | 2:32 pm 'Revolutionary' Water Treatment Units on Their Way to Afghanistan, Maybe HaitiHUNTSVILLE, Texas, Feb.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 9 Feb 2010 | 2:31 pm Cydcor Community Service Helps Haitian Earthquake SurvivorsWESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., Feb.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 9 Feb 2010 | 2:29 pm Animals Cope With Climate Change At The Dinner TableTAU research finds birds, foxes and small mammals adapt their diets to global warmingSome animals, it seems, are going on a diet, while others have expanding waistlines.It's likely these are reactions to rapidly rising temperatures due to global climate change, speculates Prof. Yoram Yom-Tov of Tel Aviv University's Department of Zoology, who has been measuring the evolving body sizes of birds and animals in areas where climate change is most extreme.Changes are happening primarily in higher latitudes, where Prof. Yom-Tov has identified a pattern of birds getting smaller and mammals getting bigger, according to most of the species he's examined. The change, he hypothesizes, is likely a strategy for survival. Prof. Yom-Tov, who has spent decades measuring and monitoring the body sizes of mammals and small birds, says that these changes have been happening more rapidly.His most recent paper on the topic, focused on the declining body sizes of arctic foxes in Iceland, appeared in Global Change Biology.Radical changes in body sizeAnimal populations in a wide variety of geographical areas — birds in the UK, small mammals in the arctic, and most recently foxes, lynx and otters in cold Scandinavian regions — are adapting to a shift in rising temperatures. Where temperature changes are most radical, such as those at higher latitudes, Prof. Yom-Tov has measured the most radical changes of these animals' body size over time."This change can be seen as an early indicator of climate change," says Prof. Yom-Tov. "There is a steady increase of temperatures at higher latitudes, and this effect — whether it's man-made or natural — is having an impact on the animals living in these zones."In his most recent paper, Prof. Yom-Tov and his Tel Aviv University colleague Prof. Eli Geffen report that arctic foxes are being influenced by changing water currents in the oceans. These changes, likely a result of climate change, affects the foxes' food supplies. Hydrologists are confounded as to why the shifts in currents are happening, but the effect in foxes is evident: their bodies are changing along with the changing currents.Scientists are finding changes in animals' bodies across the whole animal kingdom. "Climate change is affecting migration patterns and the behavior and growth of birds, mammals, insects, flowers — you name it," says Prof. Yom-Tov. "The global warming phenomenon is a fact." What we do with this information may change our world.Adapting to surviveSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 9 Feb 2010 | 2:26 pm Microsoft Says Windows 7 Not Killing BatteriesVindictivePantz sends word that the Windows 7 team has posted a new blog entry discussing their conclusions about the reported Windows 7 battery failures. "To the very best of the collective ecosystem knowledge, Windows 7 is correctly warning batteries that are in fact failing and Windows 7 is neither incorrectly reporting on battery status nor in any way whatsoever causing batteries to reach this state. In every case we have been able to identify the battery being reported on was in fact in need of recommended replacement. ...every single indication we have regarding the reports we've seen are simply Windows 7 reporting the state of the battery using this new feature and we're simply seeing batteries that are not performing above the designated threshold. ... We are as certain as we can be that we have addressed the root cause and concerns of this report, but we will continue to monitor the situation."Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 9 Feb 2010 | 2:20 pm T-Mobile myTouch 1.2 launching tomorrow with Swype keyboard
We thought we knew just about everything there was to know about T-Mobile’s oh-so-subtle hardware upgrade to the myTouch, known around the Internets as the “myTouch 1.2″. Truth be told, there wasn’t really that much to know: they’d bumped the headset jack up to a standard 3.5mm jack (Hurray!), and upped the amount of RAM inside from 192 megabytes to 256. Turns out, T-Mobile has one other little trick up their sleeve.
TmoNews just got their hands on the screencap above. According to the text, the myTouch 1.2 will come out of the box when it launches tomorrow pre-loaded with Swype, an awesome alternative touchscreen keyboard we saw launch at TechCrunch50 2008. Swype is a replacement for the standard on-screen keyboard found on many touchscreen handsets. Rather than hunting-and-pecking letter by letter, you drag a trail with your finger through the letters that make up the word you’re trying to type, and Swype just figures it out. Though Swype has been available on certain Android handsets through unofficial means for a while now, this will be the first Android handset to come with it built in.
Source: MobileCrunch | 9 Feb 2010 | 2:19 pm 10 Literary Classics That Should Be VideogamesLibraries brim with epic tales of war, madness and whitewashing. With the new Dante's Inferno lighting the way, Wired.com takes a stroll through the stacks in search of the next big literature-based videogame franchise.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 9 Feb 2010 | 2:15 pm iPhone, now an SD card readerSection: Audio, Portable Audio, Video, Portable Video, Communications, Accessories, Smartphones, Mobile
Today, zoomMediaPlus announces the zoomIt, a SD card reader dock for iPhone and iPod touch. The attachment allows the Apple products to access data on an SD card and share this data to and from the SD card. The unit will be available in April and will sell for a reasonable $59.99. Whether it’s giving your digicam images a way to get to Facebook or Flicr or off-loading your iPhone’s images, even casual photographers should see great benefit in this product. Made to work with all memory levels of iPhones and iPod touch SDK 3.0 and above devices, the zoomIt will allow access to iPhone OS file types including photos, music, videos, and documents (.PPT, .XLS, .DOC, .PDF, etc.). Users can forgo connecting to a computer to get access to their images and just connect to their iPhone or touch. “We’re excited not only by what zoomIt does for user-generated content but by what it can also do to create alternative methods of content distribution other than optical CD/DVD and downloadable,” said Richard Sfeir, CEO, zoomMediaPlus. “With the iPhone and iPod touch being the dominant portable multimedia platform, we’re excited about enabling preloaded content on SD cards to give the industry and consumers new ways to distribute and consume protected content.” Currently, protected content such as licensed movies, music and images will be supported in a future release. The zoomIt team is working doubly hard to make that a reality as the company believes it can follow in the honored footsteps of Slot Music and the like for content sales on a SD card. Sweet. I kid here but the ability to load up several movies on a card for say a long flight would be welcome, especially to users who opted for an 8GB device. Pre-orders are being accepted now. Company site: [zoomitonline] via [Gizmag]
Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 9 Feb 2010 | 2:09 pm Court Keeps White House Spy Docs SecretA federal appeals court reverses a judge's order that the government disclose government e-mail connected to legislation that shut down lawsuits against the nation's telcos. The suits accused telcos of forwarding Americans' electronic communications to the NSA without warrants.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 9 Feb 2010 | 2:09 pm What Do We Want? Our Data. When Do We Want It? Now.Online services for photos, videos, e-mail, books and music too often skimp on a key feature that frustrates consumers and stifles cloud-based computing. The ability to grab all your data and split is not as easy or possible as it should be.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 9 Feb 2010 | 2:00 pm Google Tricks Out a Snowmobile for Stunning Street View
What does it take to chronicle the slopes of Canada’s mountains for Google Street View? A dash of ingenuity, a little MacGyvering and the ability to have some fun along the way. Google’s Street View team shot the slopes at Canada’s Whistler Blackcomb ski resort with a tricked out snowmobile. They equipped the snowmobile with a Street View camera system that was pulled together using duct tape, and extra hard drives. They also mounted the cameras on SUVs to drive on the snow-covered roads. The results are impressive: You can stand on top of a mountain, exactly where skiers will be starting their runs, and “ski” downhill from there, viewing relatively high-resolution images the whole way. The little Street View man even turns into a skier in the Street View interface. “The motivation to really get this project going was you have to the upcoming 2010 Olympics here and we wanted to try and capture some beautiful imagery so everyone can experience what it is really like to be up on the slopes,” says Daniel Ratner, senior mechanical engineer at Google in the video below. Google’s Street View team has been fairly creative in its efforts to capture the details of all terrain. Last year, they mounted cameras on a tricycle to gain access to places in Britain that cars can’t reach such as coastal paths and sports arenas. Google’s Street View blog offers a nice behind-the-scenes look at how the view from the snowmobile translated into the 3-D view for Google maps. See Also:
Photos: Google Blog 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 9 Feb 2010 | 1:49 pm Google Tricks Out Snowmobile Cam for Stunning Slope ViewsGoogle's Street View team shoots the slopes of Canada's Whistler mountain using cameras with extra hard drives attached to a snowmobile and an SUV. Ski downhill on the Olympic runs for a real off-Street View.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 9 Feb 2010 | 1:49 pm Google Tricks Out Snowmobile Cam for Stunning Slope ViewsGoogle's Street View team shoots the slopes of Canada's Whistler mountain using cameras with extra hard drives attached to a snowmobile and an SUV. Ski downhill on the Olympic runs for a real off-Street View.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 9 Feb 2010 | 1:49 pm The world is all a buzz over Google’s new social networking service
Over-sharing the minutiae of your life is already difficult, so why complicate things with Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare when you only need one service to rule them all? That’s where Google Buzz comes in and makes annoying your friends with news about your snacking habits that much easier. Google Buzz is rolling out today, and over the next few days it should appear in everyone’s Gmail accounts. With Buzz, you can share status updates, images and videos like you can on social networking sites like Facebook, but it’s more streamlined in Buzz. Videos play within status messages and images pop open into a gallery for quick stalking browsing. It might seem overwhelming and unnecessary when you’re already using so many other social networking services, but Buzz allows you to integrate Picasa, Flickr, Twitter and your Google Reader so you can be as transparent as ever right in one place. And, of course, I’d imagine that the bulk of our sharing takes place while on the go, so there is a mobile version, too. For now, let me step aside and have Google explain the new service along with how the mobile version works. [via Google Buzz]
Source: MobileCrunch | 9 Feb 2010 | 1:35 pm Re-Engineering the Immune Systemdestinyland notes a microbiology professor describing "Immunity on Demand" (or "Immunity 2.0") and wonders whether we could genetically engineer all the antibodies we need. "...there's a good chance this system, or something like it, will actually be in place within decades. Caltech scientists have already engineered stem cells into B cells that produce HIV-fighting antibodies — and an NIH researcher engineered T cells that recognize tumors which has already had promising clinical trials again skin cancer. Our best hope may be to cut out the middleman. Rather than merely hoping that the vaccine will indirectly lead to the antibody an individual needs, imagine if we could genetically engineer these antibodies and make them available as needed?"Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 9 Feb 2010 | 1:34 pm Bad Kitty app launches, brings another Twitter client to webOS devicesSection: Communications, Smartphones, Mobile
Anyway, in my searching I discovered that another Twitter app has recently launched for webOS devices. The app is called Bad Kitty and will work on either the Pre, Pre Plus, Pixi or Pixi Plus. Basically it will work on all webOS devices that are running 1.3.1 or later. I will say that the app itself has gone untested by me personally, again because of the price. It is selling for what seems to be a reasonable $2.99, but again, I am on a review phone. Feature wise, the Bad Kitty app is listing as having support for multiple Twitter accounts, auto-refresh with background notifications, image previews, list support and the ability to choose your font-size. Of course, these are in addition to the normal features that you would expect to find in a Twitter app such as posting tweets, checking your timeline, replies and messages. Additionally, the app is using oAuth to authorize your login, which means you are not sharing your Twitter password with anyone other than Twitter. All things considered, Bad Kitty seems to be a nice alternative, and who knows, should I decide to get a webOS phone in the future I will have to check it out. To download the Bad Kitty app on your webOS device, just visit http://bit.ly/badkitty. Finally, I did find a nice video walkthrough of the Bad Kitty Twitter app on YouTube, which you can check out below… Read [superinhuman’s posterous] Via [Twitter @badkittyapp] Watch [YouTube (dollsoflace)] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 9 Feb 2010 | 12:56 pm Why Human Blood Drives Mosquitoes WildUC Davis chemical ecologist Walter Leal identifies the chemical source of an annoying attractionWhen the time came for chemical ecologist Walter Leal to test whether humans make a natural odor that attracts mosquitoes, Leal himself was the first to volunteer."I measured my own levels," Leal said. "I thought I would set a good example. If you do it first, then others won't be scared."In truth, there was little, if any, reason to be frightened. The scientists were looking only for the substance itself, not trying to find out whether the compound would lure the insects to a blood meal. And the researchers found it--nonanal, a substance made by humans and birds that creates a powerful scent that Culex mosquitoes find irresistible.Leal only had to roll up his sleeve. His colleagues laid a syringe-like instrument next to his skin, and then wrapped his arm in aluminum foil to keep the environment confined. After an hour, the tip of the syringe was injected into a special machine to see if the syringe contained nonanal and, if so, how much his body had produced.Plenty, as it turned out. "It's there. I have lots of it," he said. "I think I released 20 nanograms in an hour. It was high."Those results may well explain what happened to him two years ago in Mexico during a beetle hunting field trip when--despite extensive precautions--mosquitoes went after him with a vengeance."There were so many mosquitoes, I could not believe it," Leal recalled. "I sprayed Deet everywhere, including in my hair. The next morning, I realized they'd gone through my socks, and bitten me like crazy--and I had on thick socks. If you forget about one particular spot, the mosquitoes will find it--and go in. They'll go through anything, even jeans, as long as they know there is a blood vessel on the other side. They can sense the heat."Nevertheless, while most people avoid insects, especially biting ones, Leal, a professor of entomology at the University of California (UC) at Davis, searches for them with enthusiasm."The diversity and physiology of insects is so remarkable," he said. "One insect is so different from another--that's what makes them so interesting."In his research, Leal is best known for his work on insect sex pheromones (chemical messengers) and the chemical ecology and communication of insects, all with potential applications for pest control. He figured out why mosquitoes are repelled by Deet--they really hate its smell--and he has identified and synthesized complex pheromones from such insects as scarab beetles, true bugs, longhorn beetles, moths, the naval orangeworm and even cockroaches."I can work with any insects, including the cockroach," he said. "They are not so nice. They eat almost everything, so it is impossible to make an environment not accessible to them. And it's hard to kill them--they have sensors for air, so when you try to hit them, they detect the movement and get away. I have heard people say that they eat cockroaches, just to show they're not so bad. I'm not one of them."His personal favorite? Scarab beetles. "They are so beautiful and elegant," he said. "But it's very difficult to work with them here in California because many of the species are invasive. So we can't have them in California."Leal grew up in Recife, Brazil, where his sister and three brothers still live. "I am the only one who left," he said. He made his first trip to America in 1976 as a student to help broadcast news stories about the Brazilian soccer team during the Bicentennial World Cup. "I still have that passport," he said.He became interested in environmental issues in college, and received his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the Federal University of Pernambuco in Recife. He earned his two advanced degrees from universities in Japan, where he spent 16 years, most of them working for the Japanese government. He earned a master's degree in agricultural chemistry from Mie University in Tsu-Mei, and a doctorate in applied biochemistry from Tsukuba University in Tsukuba, near Tokyo. He moved to the United States in 2000 when he joined the UC Davis faculty.Recently, he was selected as a fellow of the Entomological Society of America, a prestigious honor that recognizes up to 10 members each year for their research and teaching contributions.Leal's wife is an elementary school teacher, and the couple has three children. One is in college, the other two are 12 and 9. Leal claims to have no hobbies. "I work so hard, I have no time left," he said. "Actually, I have hobbies, but don't have time to do them."Cycling is one of them, so he commutes by bicycle almost every day. It takes him about ten minutes. "Davis is a small, bike-friendly town, with lots of short cuts," he said.Much as he loves bugs, Leal says he doesn't prefer them to people. Quite the opposite, in fact. "I like people more, which is why I work with mosquitoes--to protect people," he said.By Marlene Cimons, National Science Foundation---Image 1: The Culex quinquefasciatus mosquito is an insect that is attracted to the scent of human blood. Credit: Kathy Keatley Garvey, UC Davis Department of EntomologyImage 2: Walter Leal, professor of entomology, and Zain Syed, postdoctoral researcher, work in Leal's laboratory at the University of California, Davis. Credit: Kathy Keatley Garvey, UC Davis Department of EntomologyImage 3: Walter Leal, chemical ecologist and newly elected member of the Entomological Society of America, at work in his laboratory. Credit: Kathy Keatley Garvey, UC Davis Department of EntomologySource: RedOrbit News - Science | 9 Feb 2010 | 12:48 pm NSF Launches Open Government Web PageAgency seeks citizen input to create Open Government PlanOn Saturday, Feb.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 9 Feb 2010 | 12:35 pm The HTC Scorpion may pack 1.5Ghz processor, Android v2.2, and WiMax – if it exists
HTC cranks out Android handsets like candy corn – and we love that. The only downside to this, however, is that each new leak has us drooling before the last leak even has time to become a real product. Our salivary glands were just warming up for the HTC Incredible and the HTC Legend, but now we’ve got the HTC Scorpion (possibly codenamed “Olympian”) to dream about. According to the very-latest of leaks, this thing might pack a scorchingly fast 1.5 Ghz processor and the as-of-yet unreleased Android v2.2. We’ve dumped the full text of the build file below, but here’s what caught our eye:
Find any other gems hidden below? Let us know.
Source: MobileCrunch | 9 Feb 2010 | 12:18 pm For the Big Storm, No Certain TermsMeteorologists would like nothing better than to be able to tell you in no uncertain terms about the causes and effects of major weather events, but the truth is, day in and day out, the system they are trying to ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 9 Feb 2010 | 12:15 pm Introducing Google BuzzWe've blogged before about our thoughts on the social web, steps we've taken to add social features to our products, and efforts like OpenSocial that propose common tools for building social apps. With more and more communication happening online, the social web has exploded as the primary way to share interesting stuff, tell the world what you're up to in real-time and stay more connected to more people. In today's world of status messages, tweets and update streams, it's increasingly tough to sort through it all, much less engage in meaningful conversations.Our belief is that organizing the social information on the web — finding relevance in the noise — has become a large-scale challenge, one that Google's experience in organizing information can help solve. We've recently launched innovations like real-time search and Social Search, and today we're taking another big step with the introduction of a new product, Google Buzz. Google Buzz is a new way to start conversations about the things you find interesting. It's built right into Gmail, so you don't have to peck out an entirely new set of friends from scratch — it just works. If you think about it, there's always been a big social network underlying Gmail. Buzz brings this network to the surface by automatically setting you up to follow the people you email and chat with the most. We focused on building an easy-to-use sharing experience that richly integrates photos, videos and links, and makes it easy to share publicly or privately (so you don't have to use different tools to share with different audiences). Plus, Buzz integrates tightly with your existing Gmail inbox, so you're sure to see the stuff that matters most as it happens in real time. We're rolling out Buzz to all Gmail accounts over the next few days, so if you don't see it in your account yet, check back soon. We also plan to make Google Buzz available to businesses and schools using Google Apps, with added features for sharing within organizations. On your phone, Google Buzz is much more than just a small screen version of the desktop experience. Mobile devices add an important component to sharing: location. Posts tagged with geographical information have an extra dimension of context — the answer to the question "where were you when you shared this?" can communicate so much. And when viewed in aggregate, the posts about a particular location can paint an extremely rich picture of that place. Check out the Mobile Blog for more info about all of the ways to use Buzz on your phone, from a new mobile web app to a Buzz layer in Google Maps for mobile. We've relied on other services' openness in order to build Buzz (you can connect Flickr and Twitter from Buzz in Gmail), and Buzz itself is not designed to be a closed system. Our goal is to make Buzz a fully open and distributed platform for conversations. We're building on a suite of open protocols to create a complete read/write developer API, and we invite developers to join us on Google Code to see what is available today and to learn more about how to participate. We really hope you enjoy the experiences we've built within Gmail and for mobile phones. If you want to learn more, visit buzz.google.com. We look forward to continuing to evolve and improve Google Buzz based on your feedback. Posted by Todd Jackson, Product Manager, Gmail and Google Buzz   
 Source: The Official Google Blog | 9 Feb 2010 | 12:06 pm Apple Releases Upgrade for Aperture Photo Software
Apple on Tuesday released a major upgrade of its photo-editing software Aperture, which includes 200 new features to improve workflow on the Mac. Aperture 3’s major new features include Faces, Places and Brushes. Faces is a tool that uses face detection to find and organize photos by the people in them. Places organizes photos based on where you took them. And Brushes is a feature that applies professional touches to photos by “painting” effects onto the image, according to Apple. “Millions of people love using iPhoto to organize, edit and share their digital photos,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Aperture 3 is designed for both professionals who edit and manage massive libraries of photos and iPhoto users who want to take their photos further with easy-to-use tools such as Brushes and Adjustment Presets.” Aperture 3 costs $200; current Aperture users can upgrade to Aperture 3 for $100. Product Page [Apple] Image: Apple 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 9 Feb 2010 | 11:53 am Wish your Nokia N900 could run Windows 95? Sure, why not. [Video]
Man! Just this morning, we were looking at the Nokia N900 and thinking to ourselves, “Damn! If only this could run a 15 year old operating system, it would be perfect!” And just like that, our calls were answered. Let us know how Duke Nukem runs, won’t you? [Via DailyMobile]
Source: MobileCrunch | 9 Feb 2010 | 11:45 am T-Mobile’s BlackBerry trackball replacement program delayedSection: Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile
Thankfully though the delay is fairly short, well, fairly short assuming your trackball is not completely messed up. Anyway, the program was originally expected to kick off on February 15, 2010, but has now been pushed back until February 24. Basically, its a one week delay. And just to recap, this trackball replacement program is going to be open for T-Mobile customers that are using the BlackBerry Pearl 8100 or 8120 or a BlackBerry Curve 8320. Via [TmoNews] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 9 Feb 2010 | 11:41 am Google Adds Phone Support for Nexus One Customers
Google seems to finally responding to complaints about the poor customer service for its Nexus One smartphones. The search giant has started offering limited phone support for Nexus One users, who till now could only ask for help by e-mail. Nexus One customers who want to inquire about the status of their order or shipping can call Google’s support line (1-888-48-NEXUS). The line isn’t open 24 hours though. Technical support calls are still being handled over e-mail. Yet, the move should help ease the frustration of at least some customers who have said on the company’s online forums that they have had a tough time getting a reply from Google in response to their problems. In January, Google introduced the Nexus One as the first device to be sold by the search company itself, rather than a manufacturing or carrier partner. The Nexus One, which runs the Android 2.1 operating system, has been designed by HTC and is available on contract with T-Mobile’s network in the U.S. But just days after the device went on sale, many customers said that they couldn’t get a quick response from Google’s support team. Separately, Google has also slashed the early termination fee for users who return the phone after the 14-day window but before 120 days. Earlier, Nexus One customers who bought the subsidized $180 version of the phone on T-Mobile and then decide to cancel their contracts paid $200 to T-Mobile and a $350 “equipment recovery fee” to Google. Google has now reduced the latter to $150, down from $350. T-Mobile’s contract cancellation fee remains the same. Upgrade customers will now be charged $50 by Google, instead of the original $250 fee. Google didn’t explain why it made the cuts. “Google’s overall financial philosophy with regard to operator service plans remains unchanged: We make no profit from commissions from operators or from equipment recovery fees, and our recovery fees are based on operator charges to Google for early termination of service,” a Google spokesperson said in an e-mail. See Also:
Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 9 Feb 2010 | 11:39 am Apple Job Posting Hints at Webcam in Future iPad
We all know the iPad is eventually going to gain a camera at some point. (Apple’s iPhones, iMacs, MacBooks and iPod Nanos have cameras, so why not?) The better question is when? An Apple job listing suggests not too soon. Apple has posted a job listing seeking a performance and quality-assurance engineer for the “iPad Media” division to test still, video and audio capture and playback. Sounds like a webcam for video conferencing. “Build on your QA experience and knowledge of digital camera technology (still and video) to develop and maintain testing frameworks for both capture and playback pipelines,” the posting reads. The iPad’s lack of a camera is near the top of critics’ lists of complaints about Apple’s new device. Wired.com’s Charlie Sorrel believes Apple omitted the camera in order to hit the surprisingly low $500 starting price of the iPad. It appears evident from this job listing, however, that Apple is planning to include a camera in future generations of the iPad (perhaps the second-gen). Another clue was the appearance of a “Take Photo” button in the iPad’s Contacts app. A hat tip to MacRumors for spotting this. See Also:
Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 9 Feb 2010 | 11:07 am Apple Job Posting Hints at Webcam in Future iPadLooks like future iPads will include cameras. At least that's what we infer from an Apple job posting for a quality engineer in its iPad Media division. The question remains, how soon?
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 9 Feb 2010 | 11:07 am Vancouver forecast: light winds, unlimited visibilityThe view from Whistler Mountain is something everyone should see: a range of rugged mountains, trails of snow, fir trees and placid lakes below. It's changed since I lived there some years back — there are many more houses, and far better chairlifts — but what remains is the rare feeling of being free, in nature, about to tear into peak snow.In time for the Games in Vancouver and Whistler, we're thrilled to be bringing this view to the world through Street View on Google Maps. How were we able to gather imagery at 7,000 feet (2,000 meters)? The Street View team's constant experimenting yielded a snowmobile decked out with cameras to capture slope-level imagery of several runs on Whistler Blackcomb Mountains. The view from the top of 7th Heaven chairlift on Blackcomb and from the peak of Whistler are among my favourites, as are the top of the Dave Murray downhill, where the men's alpine skiing events will start, and the Peak 2 Peak gondola. (That's Whistler's new feat of engineering which takes skiers and riders from Whistler to Blackcomb.) With the Street View trike, we've also covered Whistler Village and Whistler Creekside at the mountains' bases. There's more about the snowmobile's journey and this imagery on the Google Lat Long Blog. This imagery and many other tools are now ready to ride on our new website with information about the Games, available in 40 languages. We've combined up-to-date medal counts, news, event results and event schedules with rich visuals: 3D models and Street View imagery of the competition venues, plus new aerial imagery of the Vancouver-Whistler area. It's all in an iGoogle gadget, too. The site also connects you with real-time search results for the Games, local experts' Favourite Places and a special Picasa Web Albums gallery of featured photos from Vancouver — some submitted by users and others from Google News. Whether you're celebrating at home or in Vancouver, simply add a "wintergames2010" tag to your own photos in Picasa Web Albums, or use "wintergames2010" as the email subject if you're uploading from your mobile phone, and we'll feature the best ones. As an extra treat for enthusiasts, check out the Google homepage from February 12 to 28 for a special doodle each day celebrating the Games. You can also get the most up-to-date medal counts, event results and schedules by doing a simple Google search. I'll be following [men's hockey] myself, and rooting for Team Canada. Posted by Jonathan Lister, Managing Director and Head of Google Canada  
 Source: The Official Google Blog | 9 Feb 2010 | 11:00 am UB Geographers Help Map Devastation In HaitiIn the wake of the earthquake in Haiti, University at Buffalo geography students are participating in a global effort to enhance the international response and recovery effort by helping to assess damage, using images hosted by Google Earth and the Virtual Disaster Viewer, which shares imagery of disasters from various sources.Eight graduate and undergraduate students are conducting the research, under the direction of Chris Renschler, UB associate professor of geography, in his Landscape-based Environmental Systems Analysis and Modeling Laboratory (LESAM) in UB's Department of Geography in the College of Arts and Sciences.A research scientist with the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis at UB, Renschler also is a member of the Remote Sensing Task Force of the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER), headquartered at UB, to conduct research on the resilience of communities to extreme events, that is, how well they can recover after a disaster."During the days and weeks since the Haitian earthquake, UB students and researchers have been part of an effort organized by ImageCat Inc., an MCEER affiliate, involving more than 500 individuals from 100 organizations around the world, representing academia, government agencies, non-profit organizations and private industry, all of whom are working to classify the damage in Haiti," says Renschler.As a result, he says, by Jan.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 9 Feb 2010 | 10:53 am The Apple Store is down, new MacBook Pros on the way?FROM APPLETELL - Apple Store Down, Apple Store Down, looking like a fool with your Apple Store Down… Yes, the Apple Store is down, just in time to say thanks to Macworld again. Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 9 Feb 2010 | 10:52 am Android update after next likely to be codenamed “Gingerbread”
As any good Android-obsessed geek should know by now, Google’s made a tradition out of alphabetically naming their firmware builds after sweets. Android 1.5 was “Cupcake”, v1.6 was “Donut”, v2.0 is “Eclair”, while the next release will be lovingly dubbed “Froyo”. “But what comes after that?!” you say from the edge of your seat. (Like the image? While I wish I could claim that little Android dude is just killer rendering on my part, I just ’shopped in one of the soon-to-be-released Android toys.) [Via AndroidAndMe]
Source: MobileCrunch | 9 Feb 2010 | 10:51 am Thousands of Dinosaur Tracks Discovered in ChinaOver 3,000 dinosaur tracks have been discovered in a gully at Zhucheng, China, according to a recent AFP report. I haven't seen any journal studies yet on this find, but it certainly sounds like one of the largest collections of ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 9 Feb 2010 | 10:27 am Palm Pixi Plus now free on-contract with WireflySection: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile  I will say that since having received the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus review units—I am enjoying using the Pixi Plus quite a bit more than I originally expected. Given that I started to search around trying to find the best price available. Well, it seems that depending on where you shop, the Palm Pixi Plus can be purchased for $49.99 or even free. Both of those are on-contract of course, and they are also much nicer than the current price that you will pay directly with Verizon. Product [Wirefly] and [Amazon] and [Verizon Wireless]
Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 9 Feb 2010 | 10:26 am Macworld 2010: Navigon updates MobileNavigatorFROM APPLETELL - Navigon’s at it again. No surprise, really. This time, they’ve been working on Panorama View 3D and MyRoutes. Oh yeah, they also added Twitter and Facebook connectivity. Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 9 Feb 2010 | 9:49 am Mid-Atlantic Bracing for Another Major StormPowerful winds and heavy snow are expected to hit the eastern U.S. by this evening.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 9 Feb 2010 | 9:46 am Texas Instruments goes for broke, packs 4 radios into WiLink 7 chip
Why the hell not, right? In an effort to ensure that your future mobile devices are as small as possible, Texas Instruments has developed a new chip that somehow manages to contain 4 individual radios for WiFi a/b/g/n, GPS, Bluetooth 3.0, and FM receive/transmit. Not only that, it’s (according to the press release, anyway) even smaller and more energy efficient than before. Sure, development was probably done under the auspices of moving the wireless industry forward, but it’s also a pretty big middle finger to TI’s competition – we’re already looking forward to what they come out with in response. OEMs can get their grubby little mitts on samples today, but the rest of us will have to wait until the end of the year before they start popping up in the devices we’re bound to drool over.
Source: MobileCrunch | 9 Feb 2010 | 9:41 am LG and Samsung to roll out first 3D TVs next monthSection: Peripherals, Displays/Projectors  Both Samsung and LG, the two giants of flat-screen TV manufacturers, will be releasing 3D TVs starting next month. Samsung will launch its LED 9000 LCD featuring a powerful 3D processor, while LG rolls out LED LCDs with sizes ranging from 32” to 55” (Infinia LE9500). Competition in the 3D TV industry is certainly strong as LG stressed that it will be the industry leader in 2011, selling 3.4 million units. Samsung’s forecasted figures are just a humble 2.6 million, which is not too far behind LG. With such intense competition, I do hope that it will lead to lower prices of 3D TVs. Read [The Korea Times] Via [Ubergizmo] Full Story » | Written by Cheng Hung for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 9 Feb 2010 | 9:19 am The Mystery Of Maud AbrantesImage 1: The Portrait of Maud Abrantes. The outline of a face and hat can be seen in the area of Maud’s collar and chest.Image 2: The paintings on either side of the canvas: The Portrait of Maud Abrantes and, upside down, Nude with a Hat.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 9 Feb 2010 | 8:43 am Will Earlier Springs Throw Nature Out Of Step?The recent trend towards earlier UK springs and summers has been accelerating, according to a study published today (February9 , 2010) in the scientific journal Global Change Biology.The collaborative study, involving scientists from 12 UK research institutions, universities and conservation organizations, is the most comprehensive and rigorous assessment so far of long-term changes in the seasonal timing (phenology) of biological events across marine, freshwater and terrestrial environments in the UK.Led by Dr Stephen Thackeray and Professor Sarah Wanless of the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, the research gathers together more than 25,000 long-term phenology trends for 726 species of plants and animals.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 9 Feb 2010 | 8:24 am Brando’s Hip-Mounted Camera Carrier
Remember the Spider Holster? It’s a heavy, almost indestructible belt-mount for a DSLR. It also costs $110. Brando, the beloved crap-vendor, has come up with one for around a tenth of the price, a thin stamped-steel hook for the belt accompanied by an equally flimsy-looking bracket for the camera. Screw the little widget into the tripod socket and the camera can be hung at the waist, ready to go. We’re not sure we’d trust this with a big camera — I have a Spider Holster in the ‘Lab for testing and the only issue is whether you like it or not. There’s no question that it will support even a D3 with a big lens on it, but we suspect there’s a reason that Brando has chosen to hang a lightweight Canon EOS 350D on there for the product shot. Still, the Spider Holster is overkill for small cameras, and the cheap and light Brando Waist Belt Lock may be just the thing for a compact when walking the city streets, and it’s just $14. Watch for the Spider Holster review soon. Camera & DV Waist Belt Lock [Brando via The Giz] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 9 Feb 2010 | 7:52 am Austrian iPad Will Be Subsidized With ContractAccording to iPhone blog TamsIJungle, Hutchison Telecom in Austria will be selling the iPad at a steep discount if you sign up for a two year contract.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 9 Feb 2010 | 7:19 am Our approach to maximizing advertising revenue for online publishersAll website owners need to pay for the costs of creating content and making it available online. Whether delivering entertainment, products, news, services, social networking or opinions, they need to pay their way by selling advertising or charging their users.Website owners, or "online publishers," span the range from individual bloggers to multinational companies. If they sell advertising, they can do this directly themselves, via their own sales force. Alternatively, they can use an ad network to place ads on the pages of their website. Many publishers use a combination of these methods if they can't sell all their ad space themselves (for example, a publisher may have an unpredicted surge in traffic — and therefore ad space — resulting from a popular post, or from a major website linking to them). We have a long history of helping online publishers make money from their websites. We wanted to update you on our continuing work in this area, and how Google’s newer products can provide real and significant results for clients. We currently have three main products that work together to help online publishers of all sizes and types maximize their revenue. AdSense AdSense, launched in 2003, places highly relevant ads on our partners' websites, who share in the ad revenue. In 2009, our AdSense partners, comprising over a million large and small publishers, earned over $5.2 billion through AdSense. AdSense is designed to help online publishers get the most revenue possible for their ad space, without having to directly manage advertiser relationships. When a publisher enables AdSense on their site, Google automatically maximizes the publisher's revenues every time a page loads. It does this in real time, by selecting the most valuable ad from AdWords advertisers and a large pool of other competing ad networks and buyers. Ad serving Larger publishers with their own ad sales teams use our ad serving products (like DoubleClick's DFP or Google Ad Manager) to serve the most valuable ad that they've sold directly to advertisers or ad agencies. DFP is the industry's leading ad serving platform that powers the advertising businesses of the largest online publishers, while Google Ad Manager is designed to meet the needs of growing online publishers. Our ad serving products are a key focus for us and we're continuing to make significant investments in this area. You can read about some of our DFP customers here and some of our Google Ad Manager customers here. DoubleClick Ad Exchange DoubleClick Ad Exchange is a real-time auction marketplace for display ad space — it includes ad networks on one side, and major online publishers on the other. Publishers are in complete control of which networks they allow to bid, what ads can appear on their sites and which ad space they make available. Maximizing revenue across various ad networks is sometimes called "yield management." For major online publishers, the Ad Exchange offers an easy-to-use yield management solution — it selects the highest paying ad from across multiple, competing ad networks, in real time. However, the Ad Exchange goes further than simple "yield management" to provide a more complete revenue maximization solution. Through a unique process called "dynamic allocation," it also compares — again, in real time — the value of the highest-paying ad in the Ad Exchange with any ads that the publisher has entered into their ad server (such as ad network deals) and chooses the highest paying one. By definition, the Ad Exchange only serves ads when it can offer a higher price for ad space. In fact, analysis shows that the average price a publisher receives for ad space sold through the Ad Exchange is over 130% higher than the average price of ad space sold directly to ad networks and other third parties. (Of course, while similar, the ad space being compared is not identical.) A continuing effort Today's online publishers, large and small, operate in a complicated and fragmented advertising environment. We're focused on developing a full suite of technology products — such as AdSense, ad serving products and DoubleClick Ad Exchange — that can maximize all publishers' advertising revenues. We're also working to bring new advertisers to online advertising and make the process easier for them, to grow the advertising pie for everyone. By doing this, we hope to help all publishers fund their websites, which enables them to create a wide variety of online content for all Internet users. If you're interested in the ins-and-outs of our approach to maximizing revenue for publishers, you can read more in this document. Posted by Neal Mohan, Vice President of Product Management  
 Source: The Official Google Blog | 9 Feb 2010 | 6:30 am Nook In Physical Stores By Valentine’s Day
After rushing an unfinished v1.0 product onto the market to cash-in on the holiday shopping season, and then failing to meet the demand of of online orders, Barnes & Noble has finally caught up enough to offer the Nook e-book reader in its physical stores. The cynical cash-in this time is Valentine’s Day, and Nooks will be in stores by mid-week this week so you can show your love in the traditional American manner: spending money. To help you in this romantic endeavor, B&N will tomorrow switch on an online store locator to let you check stocks in your local store. Also getting properly underway is the B&N in-store Wi-Fi, free for use with the Nook. You can grab free content when in store and even flash your Nook at the counter staff to get a 10% discount on CD purchases. This last assumes that e-book users still buy silver disks with music on them. And what will I be buying the Lady for Valentine’s Day? Nothing. I’m saving up for an iPad. If she’s lucky, I might let her touch it. Nook eBook Readers in Stock This Week in Barnes & Noble Stores Just in Time for Valentine’s Day [B&N] See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 9 Feb 2010 | 6:21 am ZoomIt: An SD Card-Reader for iPhone
ZoomIt does for the iPhone what Apple’s new camera connection kit will do for the iPad: It is a $60 SD card reader which plugs into the dock connector and lets you transfer not just photos but all kinds of other media. The ZoomIt dongle pairs with a free iPhone application to do its magic. Slot in the card, fire up the app and you’ll have access to documents, music and video along with the photos from your camera. These files can all be moved to a local storage area on the iPhone, but only the photos can be moved to and from the iPhone’s own photo albums. The reader and the functionality are both sound, and $60 isn’t far off what you’d pay for a pro card reader anyway. But the software is ugly as hell: You know the bundled crap you often get with a printer or scanner, something that seems to have been thrown together in an afternoon with ugly icons and weird, useless extra features? This is it. It even has a battery status indicator on screen — right below the iPhone’s own battery icon. Weird, right? Still, if you shoot jpegs (the iPhone won’t show RAW images) then this could be a great way to back up images in the field and to view them in the iPhone’s great slideshow mode. Just squint, or look away, when you are using the app itself, lest you hurt your eyes. Zoomit SD card reader [Zoomit] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 9 Feb 2010 | 5:30 am Antibiotics Inhibit Plant GrowthA common antibiotic that can be found in wastewater reduces the ability of plant leaves to capture sunlight.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 9 Feb 2010 | 5:23 am NASA Launches Private Firms into Space RaceAstronauts may be hitching rides on commercial spaceships by 2014.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 9 Feb 2010 | 5:00 am Austrian iPad Will Be Subsidized With Contract
One of the best parts of the whole iPad deal is the 3G internet connection. Thirty bucks will buy you as much bandwidth as you can use in a month, with no contracts and no lock-in. The downside is that you pay the full price upfront. According to iPhone blog TamsIJungle, Hutchison Telecom (trading as “3″) in Austria will be going the old-fashioned route, selling the iPad at a steep discount if you sign up for a two-year contract. In an interview Berthold Thoma, the CEO of Hutchison Austria, told TamsIJungle that customers could get €333 ($454) off the list price in exchange for the €30 per month ($41) lock-in. This itself seems fairly reasonable, but things quickly get weird. You will be signing up for 3’s laptop bundle, and you will get the same mobile Huawei i-Mo 3G modem that a notebook user would get. This router, like the Mi-Fi, would share the internet signal and you’d connect with the iPad via Wi-Fi. This is absurd. The whole point of the 3G iPad is that it is easy to connect whenever you like. If you’re going to give this thing to your mother, do you want to explain that she has to fire up a dongle every time she wants internet access? Hey, Herr Thoma, what say you also bolt on a keyboard, throw in some antivirus software and somehow reduce the battery life to just a few hours? Then the iPad could be just like a laptop, and your old-fashioned business model could remain intact forever. Could this happen in the United States? Sure. We have a feeling that T-Mobile will offer an iPad plan of some kind, whether pay-as-you go or monthly. After all, the iPad isn’t tied to AT&T: As an unlocked device, any carrier can adopt it (any GSM carrier, that is). Outside of the United States, it’s even better. In Europe, almost every carrier uses GSM, which means lots of competition. And that means cheap rates for users. Hutchison Austria will sell the iPad [TamsIJungle via TUAW] Photo illustration: factoryjoe/Flickr 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 9 Feb 2010 | 4:37 am White House Announces New Climate ServiceThe Obama administration announced Monday that plans are underway for a new office to take on climate change, hoping to help businesses map out ways to make the U.S.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 9 Feb 2010 | 4:30 am New Super-Wide, Super-Fast Nikkor Lenses
Nikon has two new full-frame lenses for you, and both are pretty exciting. Upon reading that there is now a 24mm ƒ1.4G ED prime, you will first shout “ƒ1.4? Holy hell! I want one!” Then, after calming down slightly, you will murmur “Wait, ƒ1.4? That thing’s gonna be big. And expensive. And I still want one.” You would, of course, be correct. The lens is indeed chunky, at around three-and-a-half inches in all directions (and 22 oz in weight), and expensive, at $2,200. But imagine the pictures you could take in almost darkness, with that super-wide aperture coupled with a wide-angle (which makes camera shake less of a problem) fixed onto a see-in-the-dark Nikon full-frame body. The 24mm also has a built-in AF (Silent Wave) motor, a choice of mixed auto/manual or just plain manual focussing, a nine-blade aperture diaphragm for smooth out-of-focus highlights and a bevy of coatings to keep the light where it should be. Nikon’s other new optic is a wide zoom, the 16-35mm ƒ4 VR. It costs $1,260, and gives a range of focal lengths normally seen in DX (crop frame) lenses. At these focal lengths, that relatively small maximum aperture isn’t such a problem, as you don’t get much camera shake (especially with the addition of anti-shake), and wide-angle lenses give a huge depth-of-field even wide open, so you can’t do much to throw backgrounds into a blur anyway. Both lenses will still work on DX bodies, but you will lose much of the point of them. The 24mm will be in shops in March, the zoom in February. 24mm ƒ1.4G [Nikon. Thanks, Geoff!] 16-35mm ƒ4G ED VR [Nikon] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 9 Feb 2010 | 4:10 am Evidence of Liquid Water on Saturn's Moon EnceladusEnceladus' icy plumes glow as the small moon passes in front of the sun from Cassini's point of view in 2007 (NASA) Saturn's moon Enceladus contains a large body of water under its surface, new research has confirmed. This has ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 9 Feb 2010 | 3:50 am Panelfly Comic-Book Reader for iPad
The iPad screen is just short of ten inches on the diagonal. The Standard American Comic Book measures 17 x 26cm (6 ⅝ × 10 ¼-inches), which comes to 12.2-inches on the diagonal. That’s a lot closer than any other hi-resolution, slab-like media viewer. The people behind Panelfly, the highly regarded comic book viewer for the iPhone, have noticed this and have announced that an iPad-optimized version will be available at the device’s launch. It looks gorgeous. There are plenty of apps on the app store for reading comics, but you have to be pretty much a real comic nerd to use them on such a small screen, despite the neat, panel-by-panel navigation in Panelfly and others. Now, with the iPad, we expect these apps to explode, and with them the catalog depth that is still lacking. Marvel and others will surely be all over selling content this way. One of the big questions from the iPad launch was “where are the magazines?”. People wanted Apple to announce deals with publishers that brought paper mags to the iTunes Store. We don’t think that will happen, as there is already a place anyone can sell a magazine: The App Store. Why would Apple bother negotiating prices with yet another analog industry with an inflated sense of entitlement when it can just tell them to make their own app and stick it in the store? Apple immediately gets a 30% cut of any content sold, comics and magazines alike. Panelfly will, like the iPod version, allow you to buy comics using your iTunes account, and browse them visually in a library. The killer will be the size, making it possible to view the pages almost full-size. In fact, should these apps take off, the iPad screen may become the standard size for comics, with most titles sold in bits and the dead tree versions stored unread in mylar bags by comic-geeks, like paper Leicas. I’m pretty excited, especially as Panelfly has a smattering of Marvel titles already (Iron Man!). Expect things to get pretty shaken up when the iPad debuts in March. Panelfly for iPad [Panelfly] See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 9 Feb 2010 | 3:40 am
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This is strangely cool. A defense contractor developed a type of steel reinforced armor that could replace the basic sandbag encampment. The armor assembles extremely quickly and is resistant to bullets, grenades, and IED blasts. It also takes about 10 minutes to put together without tools. It really is amazing the 
When I first saw the picture of this USB drive, I immediately thought, “Why am I being assigned to write about a pregnancy test?” Then I actually realized that it’s not a pee test, but rather a really bad idea for a secure USB drive. 
4INFO offers customers a publishing platform, which is tools to manage SMS subscribers and send them content. They also run an ad network for SMS ads, and a SMS gateway to handle the carrier relationships and charges. 4INFO’s larger publishers pay as much as $15,000 per month to use the platform. Those publishers can run their own ads, or use 4INFO’s ads with a revenue split (self service customers have no choice but to accept 4INFO’s ads).
Last night, the 
Jedediah Berry was raised in the Hudson Valley region of New York State. His short stories have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including Best New American Voices and Best American Fantasy. He lives in Northampton, Massachusetts, and works as the assistant editor of Small Beer Press. The Manual of Detection is his award-winning first novel, now available in hardcover and paperback.
It's not just the U.S. border guards who want to search the files on your laptop and cellphone. The Canada Border Services Agency has been doing the same thing for years. From U.S. journalist 
'I was in London recently going through the airport and these new machines have come up, the body scans. You've got to see them. It makes you embarrassed - if you're not well endowed.
Sydney’s ugliest building, the UTS tower, is in process of updating its look. The project, well, more of a concept really, calls for placing a high tech mesh over the physical building. This magic mesh will generate energy, collect rainwater, and power the buildings ventilation. If someone can make it work.
AOL Instant Messenger is integrating Facebook Connect to allow AIM users to chat with their Facebook friends. The image to the right shows how the initial sign up will look.
We’ve been covering the growth of Meebo’s chat bar extensively since its launch: after a fairly slow ramp up in 
It kinda sucks to be a tablet maker right now, what with that new kid on the block coming out with a new product to compete. I’m talking of course about the Notion Ink Adam vs. the iPad. When you start to compare between the two, the differences become obvious – but will they be enough to sway the Apple faithful away?
Naturally, which you launch a new product with a huge amount of hype, 
Whatever the process was that ended up in 
Best of all, that lid comes with a religion-appropriate top, so that any Duckist can show off the proper symbol for their faith. [
Just a short review for this one. The Sidewinder range of mice is Microsoft’s gaming brand, and they actually have done some pretty good work with both the X5 and the X8, the latter of which to this day sports the best wireless setup out there. The X3 is their baby brother, and it shows in the unimaginative design. The other Sidewinders had crazy buttons, were huge and angular, and pretty much screamed “freak mouse” to everyone who saw one on your desktop. But it was all good because they worked well. The X3 also works as well as can be expected, but the fact is for $40 you can get a better mouse.
With Twitter and Facebook being in many ways the most popular and used websites out there, it makes sense that Google would try to get into the competition. Google tried once before by buying Jaiku, which was a Twitter-like service that later died. Now Google looks to try using what it already has in place to push Buzz to as many people as possible.
Today, Google’s social strategy took a big step with the launch of 
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In my recent quest to learn and use webOS as much as possible, one of the must have apps on my handset is Twitter related. So far I have checked out Twee as well as Tweed and settled in using TweeFree. As a side note, I am using the free version of Twee simply because I am using a review handset and do not want to pay for apps.
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