Source: Gizmodo | 14 Feb 2010 | 7:00 pm

Breaking the Squid Barrier

An anonymous reader writes "Dr. Steve O'Shea of Auckland, New Zealand is attempting to break the record for keeping deep sea squid alive in captivity, with the goal of being able to raise a giant squid one day. Right now, he's raising the broad squid, sepioteuthis australis, from egg masses found in seaweed. This is a lot harder than it sounds, because the squid he's studying grow rapidly and eat only live prey, making it hard for them to keep the squid from becoming prey themselves. If his research works out, you might one day be able to visit an aquarium and see giant squid."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 14 Feb 2010 | 6:33 pm

Video: First hands-on with the Notion Ink Adam

We’ve been looking forward to the Adam for a while now, and some of us think it may actually be a contender against the iPad. Personally, I’m not entirely convinced yet, since I think Android is the wrong OS for a tablet device, but with some custom software on there, this thing really looks like it could kick some butt. The first hands-on goes to Technoholik, where they’ve put up video of a brief demo. I have to say, I hope Pixel Qi screens catch on, because it’s a way better choice for a device like this than a straightforward LCD.

The hot-pants device aspect (i.e. controls on the back) is intriguing, but I wonder how practical it is. If you’re more comfortable controlling with your right hand, for instance, you’re going to be out of luck. And of course the limitations of a soft keyboard remain. But that swivel camera, the ports, all that stuff — much more promising than the iPad’s extremely limited hardware.

They’ve also helpfully put the specs into a comparison chart:

[via Gizmodo]

Source: CrunchGear | 14 Feb 2010 | 6:00 pm

Samsung S8500 Wave photos surface on the net

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Smartphones, Mobile

Photos of Samsung S8500 “Wave” have just emerged all over the web. The Wave is Samsung’s first phone which features the all-new Bada operating system with Touchwiz 3.0.

It measures at only 10.9mm thin, and sports a 3.3” AMOLED capacitive touchscreen capable of playing 720p HD videos! Other specs include a 1GHz processor, a 5mp autofocus camera with flash, 2GB internal flash memory, microSD slot, HSDPA and WiFi 802.11b/g/n connectivity, and a 1500mAh battery. One thing that’s missing from the spec sheet is Bluetooth, which I presume was a mistakenly excluded from the list. The Wave comes with tempered glass and a brushed aluminium finish, which should give a nice feel to it when held in your hands. No word on when it will be released though, but more information may surface at the MWC next week.

Read [Daily Mobile] Via [Gizmodo]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 14 Feb 2010 | 5:56 pm

The Planet Formerly Known as Pluto

What astronomy needs is a good road trip movie, and NOVA is happy to oblige with a new series, "The Pluto Files," which makes its debut this Tuesday, March 2, at 8 PM (ET/PT) on PBS. It's based on Neil ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 14 Feb 2010 | 5:55 pm

Toshiba Developing High-Density 1TB SSD

MojoKid writes "A new partnership between Toshiba and Tokyo's Keio University has led to the creation of a new technology that could allow SSDs up to 1TB in size to be made "with a footprint no larger than a postage stamp." The report states that the two have been able to integrate 128GB NAND Flash chips and a single controller into a stamp-sized form factor. They've even made it operational with a transfer rates of 2Gbps (or about 250MB/sec) with data transfer that relies on radio communication."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 14 Feb 2010 | 5:29 pm

My Bloody Valentine: Expedia.com

As you know, today is Valentine’s Day. As such, I thought it was the perfect time to write a love sonnet for my new favorite company: Expedia.com. Actually, I’ll do the opposite.

Seeing as it’s a long weekend in the United States (President’s Day is on Monday), I decided I was going to set up a little trip to get away with the girl I’m seeing. A few weeks ago, I set up all the plans for what I thought would be a nice, relaxing weekend. It’s actually been anything but relaxing. My mistake? Using Expedia to book it.

After a few hours of driving, we pulled into our destination yesterday and attempted to check-in to the hotel. Problem 1: they’ve never heard of us. My name is nowhere to be found in their reservation system. Problem 2: they were completely booked. Problem 3: even if there was a cancellation, there was a waiting list for a room because apparently, Expedia had done this exact thing to no fewer than four other couples — just at this hotel alone.

So what happened?

Well, it took me a couple hours to get a straight answer out of anyone, but apparently, the system that Expedia uses to book reservation with its partner hotels is a mixture of antiquated and just completely fucked up. Because it would be too much of a hassle, and more importantly, cost too much money, Expedia has an automated system for communicating with its partners. Sometimes this is done with an email, sometimes this is done with a fax. Yes, a fax.

In my case, Expedia’s system apparently faxed the reservation to the hotel I booked. It then claims it got a confirmation back that my hotel room was all set and ready for my arrival. The only problem? According to the hotel, not only did they not receive the fax, but obviously they never sent the confirmation back. And why would they? It turns out all their rooms had already been booked before I attempted to book mine through Expedia. Of course, according to Expedia, there were plenty of rooms available when I booked — I even had many room options to choose from.

The icing on the Valentine’s Day cake though was my subsequent six calls to and from Expedia. For the first one, after waiting on hold for 45 minutes, I was told that according to their system, my reservation was indeed confirmed. I knew this would be Expedia’s stance because I received an email from Expedia a few days prior stating that it was confirmed.

After I made it very clear to the poor girl (poor, both for having to face my wrath, and working for this awful company) that there was definitely no room under my name at my supposedly booked hotel, she didn’t seem too clear about what to do. I was demanding a full refund (obviously) and demanding that they book me another room in the city and pay for that. She put me on hold so she could talk to her manager.

When she came back on 15 minutes later, she wanted to make sure I booked the room correctly in the first place. I demanded to speak to her superior. This guy was great (that’s sarcasm). Not only was he trying to convince me that this wasn’t Expedia’s fault, but he wasn’t sure they’d be able to reimburse me for the room that they had never actually booked for me, and that I clearly wasn’t going to be staying in. He said he’d have to call me back.

Meanwhile, I get a call from another Expedia agent whom the hotel had apparently called because again, this had happened a number of times just this day for the same hotel with Expedia. He wanted to let me know that the hotel was overbooked and my reservation wouldn’t be honored. Thanks buddy.

The other agent finally calls me back. Good news: he thinks he can refund what I paid for the hotel that I’m not staying at, but wants to make sure I want another room booked for me in the city. If so, they might take some of the refund to pay for that. At this point I start really yelling. On the street. With a lot of children around.

After a solid five minutes of verbal abuse from me including no shortage of swear words, he sees my point. But he still has to call his supervisor to okay any kind of deal he can cut. He needs to call me back again, but assures me that when he does, he’ll have another room for me and the refund in my account.

He calls me back. The good news: the refund has been processed. The bad news: there are no other rooms in the city that Expedia can book for me. Not one.

Further, if I am able to find my own room outside of Expedia, the company can’t do anything for me in terms of reimbursement. He is only authorized to offer me a $100 gift certificate to use for a future Expedia purchase. If there is anything in the world I want less at this point, I can’t think of it. I’m certainly never going to book another trip through this site again.

Hearing me still upset, he suggests that maybe if I book a more expensive place, Expedia can make up the difference. That’s a ridiculous proposal for a number of reasons, but the best is that there is no way I’m going to be able to find a hotel nicer than the one I had thought I had booked to stay at on Valentine’s Day weekend. The only options were going to be shittier ones — and those are probably taken too. So maybe Expedia was trying to trick me into paying me negative $500, I’m not sure.

At this point we’re almost 2 hours into my little romantic getaway so I ask for his supervisor’s number, his supervisor’s email, my reference number, anything he can give me. I hang up the phone.

I tried calling them. It’s a switchboard. No one seems clear as to who I should talk to.

So I write this now from my quaint (used kindly) little motel that I had to book myself, at a ridiculous rate because it was so last-minute on a busy weekend, with my own money. Never in my life have I had an experience as bad as I just did with an online company. This includes Comcast and AT&T. Expedia just made them look like models of business perfection.

Expedia, which was founded as a division of Microsoft in 1995, was later spun-off into its own company in the IPO-happy days of 1999. Ticketmaster then bought it in 2001, and eventually, it became a company under the IAC conglomerate. IAC spun it off again in 2005 as Expedia, Inc, which also includes the sites Hotels.com, TripAdvisor, HotWire, and others. In other words, the company’s history has been a mess.

Despite being an industry bicycle (everyone has had a ride), Expedia still manages to make $3 billion in revenues a year — undoubtedly helped by cases like mine where they try to make you pay for places you can’t even stay at because they can’t seem to figure out how to properly do a confirmation. Well, except if that confirmation is with one of their never-ending chain of superiors who needs to confirm a Kleenex in case an employee sneezes.

And so ends my love story about Expedia. I write this now both because it’s a nice Valentine’s Day tale, but also as a warning to anyone using the service. A simple Google search yields results that show I’m hardly alone in my experience. In fact, the number of hate sites specifically about Expedia is quite impressive.

There are far too many other competent companies out there that do the same thing, including a number of startups. Kayak is the one you hear about the most, unfortunately, they have a deal to offer up Expedia results first. Feel free to leave your favorite travel startups in the comments, I’d really like to know the best alternatives.

I also write this because even if Barry Diller (Chairman) or some other higher-up sees this post and offers me a full reimbursement of my trip, I’m not accepting it at this point. They may not have ruined my Valentine’s Day, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying.

Dearest Expedia,

Happy Valentine’s Day.

It’s over.

Love,

MG

Source: TechCrunch | 14 Feb 2010 | 5:21 pm

Video: Spy + Pyro = ???

Forgive me, I’m back on TF2 after a short stint playing Borderlands and Dead Space. (the latter is super lame, btw) But this cartoon is not only absolutely genius, it’s also very appropriate as today’s Valentine’s Day. Trust me, stick with the video until the end. It will certainly bring a smile to your face — or at least it should.

Source: CrunchGear | 14 Feb 2010 | 4:20 pm

This week in search 2/14/10

This is part of a regular series of posts on search experience updates that runs weekly. Look for the label This week in search and subscribe to the series. - Ed.

From enhancements in real-time search to Vancouver happenings at your fingertips, this week included a number of exciting search launches:

Winter Games info in search results
As the 2010 Winter Games kick off, we've made it easy for you to follow all of the action in Vancouver. Now, when you search for the latest results for your favorite sport, you'll see the information you're looking for just above the search results. Looking for the latest schedules? They're just a search away. And if you're interested in following how your home country is doing, you can quickly view the latest medal count. All that's left for you to do is cheer for your favorite team and enjoy the games!

Example searches: [men's hockey], [alpine skiing schedule] and [medal count]

Google Buzz in real-time search
Tuesday, we announced Google Buzz as part of our efforts to help make the web more social. Buzz is a new way to start conversations about the things you find interesting, allowing you to share updates, photos and videos right in Gmail. When we launched Buzz we made sure that we had it integrated into real-time search. Since real-time is all about searching what's happening right now, including changes to webpages, the latest news articles, new blog posts and fresh microblog content, it only seemed natural to include Buzz.

Maps of more countries in search results
Many of us use online maps so frequently that it's easy to forget that many countries lack detailed, street-level digital maps. But thanks to people adding their local knowledge to Google Map Maker, the local search results for places like Romania, Iceland, and Peru now include a map. In fact, as of this week we're able to show a map everytime we show local search results. As a result, the efforts of global citizen cartographers are really serving the needs of local users, schools, city planners, and tourists.

Example search: [catedral de lima]

Aardvark acquisition
This week, you might have seen our announcement that we've acquired the technology company Aardvark. Aardvark allows you to easily tap into the knowledge and experience network of your friends and extended network of contacts. The way it works is quite simple — you just send a question in plain English, like you would when speaking with a friend. Aardvark then acts as a hub, figuring out who might be able to answer your question, and then responds with an answer. You can read more about the announcement here, and Aardvark is already available in Google Labs, so you can try it out today.

It was a busy week for us in search. See you back here next week!

Posted by Amit Singhal, Google Fellow
Source: The Official Google Blog | 14 Feb 2010 | 4:20 pm

It's 2010; What's the Best E-Reader?

jacob1984 writes "A few years ago there was a question about which e-reader was the best. Since then, the market has been flooded with new additions, many of them more open than others. Have you bought one yet? If so, which one did you find best and why?"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 14 Feb 2010 | 4:12 pm

Positive Outlook as Global Technology M&A Shows Growth for Third Consecutive Quarter

LONDON, Feb.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Feb 2010 | 4:01 pm

Sony Ericsson keeps ‘em coming with Xperia X10 mini and X10 mini pro

More Android handsets are on the way from Sony Ericsson as the handset manufacturer just announced smaller versions of the Xperia X10: the X10 mini and X10 mini pro. Clever names, right? These handsets are quite sexy, if I say so myself, and the pro version has the nice addition of a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Like the bigger X10, these feature SE’s custom UX platform over Android, which includes Timescape for aggregating all your content to one place. But enough about me yapping over these handsets; I’ll step aside and let you experience them for yourself. Hit the break for the full release and some videos.

Read the rest of this entry at MobileCrunch>>

Source: CrunchGear | 14 Feb 2010 | 3:58 pm

Sony Ericsson keeps ‘em coming with Xperia X10 mini and X10 mini pro

More Android handsets are on the way from Sony Ericsson as the handset manufacturer just announced smaller versions of the Xperia X10: the X10 mini and X10 mini pro. Clever names, right? These handsets are quite sexy, if I say so myself, and the pro version has the nice addition of a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Like the bigger X10, these feature SE’s custom UX platform over Android, which includes Timescape for aggregating all your content to one place.  But enough about me yapping over these handsets; I’ll step aside and let you experience them for yourself. Hit the break for the full release and some videos.

February 14, 2010 – Barcelona – Today sees the announcement of Xperia™ X10 mini and X10 mini pro, compact versions of Xperia™ X10, which will deliver powerful and application packed mobile phones into the industry. By introducing mobile phones that are both compact and clever, Sony Ericsson is challenging the norm and defining a brand new offering that combines high specification features with a version of Sony Ericsson’s powerful UX platform specifically designed for smaller devices.

Xperia™ X10 mini and X10 mini pro with slide out QWERTY keyboard offer an open and intuitive communication entertainment experience and build on the human curvature design philosophy debuted by the Sony Ericsson Xperia™ X10. Combining the Android platform with signature applications and a customisable UX platform, communication truly becomes entertainment with these new mobile phones. To enhance the experience, pick and choose from a multitude of applications at Android Market™ and co-create a mobile phone experience that is entirely unique. Users can go one step further and customise the home screen’s four corners and widgets to access the most needed applications for limitless possibilities.

The two sister mobile phones incorporate the signature application Sony Ericsson Timescape™ which brings all communication together in one place so users can see at a glance text messages, missed calls, and Facebook™ and Twitter updates, without having to open lots of different applications.  The interactive music player also uses the “infinite button” to pull together all music content from the music store and YouTube™ – a smart way to search for new tracks from a favourite artist.

“There has been an enormous buzz around Xperia™ X10 so it is really exciting to be already unveiling compact versions of this powerful proposition.” Said Rikko Sakaguchi, EVP and Chief Creation Officer, Sony Ericsson. “With the X10 mini and X10 mini pro we have pushed the boundaries of what is possible with smaller devices and are giving consumers exactly what they want; two high performance mobile phones with a fully customisable user experience platform and a stunning ultra-compact design.”

Xperia™ X10 mini and X10 mini pro

• Sony Ericsson Timescape™ -  brings together all communication in one place
• Four corner control – applications, calls, web, the consumer decides. Four customisable icons for ultimate control
• 5 megapixel camera and video – share creations via the web
• Music player links to music stores and YouTube™ – access the world of music
• Android platform  – with Google™ services and Android Market™
• QWERTY keyboard – slide and text for quick and easy messaging (Xperia™ X10 mini pro only)

X10 mini and X10 mini pro supports HSPA 900/2100 and EDGE 850/900/1800/1900, HSPA 850/1900/2100 and EDGE 850/900/1800/1900.

The X10 mini will be available in selected markets from Q2 in the colours Pearl White, Black, Pink, Lime, Red and Silver

The X10 mini pro will be available in selected markets from Q2 in the colours Black and Red.

Sony Ericsson is also introducing the Portable Stereo Speakers MS450, to deliver rich on-the-go sound and the Hi-Fi Headset MH810 with remote with superior audio and remote media and call handling.

Xperia™ X10 mini and X10 mini pro

Camera

• 5 megapixel camera
• Auto focus
• Geo tagging
• Photo and video light
• Sony Ericsson Album application
• Video recording

Music

• Bluetooth™ stereo (A2DP)
• Music player
• PlayNow™
• TrackID™

Web

• Bookmarks
• Pan and zoom
• WebKit web browser

Communication

• Sony Ericsson Timescape™ with…
• Facebook™ status updates, friend’s photo,   inbox messages and friend requests
• tweets, replies and direct messages from   people you follow on Twitter™
• incoming text and picture messages
• missed calls

Messaging

• Email
• Instant messaging
• Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync®
• Picture messaging (MMS)
• Predictive text input
• Text messaging (SMS)

Design

• Auto rotate
• Full slide out keyboard (X10 mini pro only)
• Picture wallpaper
• Touchscreen

Entertainment

• Infinite button
• Quadrapop game
• Sony Ericsson FM radio
• Video player
• Video streaming

Organiser

• Calendar
• Flight mode
• Phone book with dialer
• Sony Ericsson Home with widget
• Tasks

Location-based services

• A-GPS
• Google Maps™
• Wisepilot™ turn-by-turn navigation* (free trial version)

Connectivity

• 3.5 mm audio jack
• Bluetooth™ technology
• Micro USB connector
• NeoReader® barcode scanning app
• Sony Ericsson Sync
• USB mass storage support
• USB support
• Wi-Fi™

Google™ Services

• Android Market™
• Gmail™
• Google Maps™ with Street View
• Google Search Widget
• Google Talk™
• Google Voice Search™**
• YouTube™
• ** The Google Voice Search service is not available in all markets

Screen

• 16,777,216 colour TFT touchscreen
• 2.55 inches
• 240 x 320 pixels (QVGA)
• Scratch-resistant

Accessories

• In-Box:
• Sony Ericsson Xperia™ X10 mini/ Xperia™ X10 mini pro with battery
• Micro USB cable for charging, synchronisation and file transfer
• Stereo portable handsfree
• 2GB microSD™ memory card
• User documentation

• Optional:
• Portable Stereo Speakers MS450
• Hi-Fi Headset with Remote MH810

Facts 1)2)

• Xperia™ X10 mini:

• Size: 83 x 50 x 16 mm
• Weight: 88 grams

• Phone memory: Up to 128MB

• Memory card support: SanDisk microSD™, up to 16 GB
• Memory card included: 2GB

• Operating system: Google™ Android 1.6
• Processor: 600 MHz Qualcomm MSM7227

• Talk time GSM/GPRS: Up to 4 hours
• Standby time: GSM/GPRS: Up to 285hrs

• Talk time UMTS: Up to 3.5 hours
• Standby time: UMTS: Up to 360 hrs

• Xperia™ X10 mini pro:

• Size: 90 x 52 x 17 mm
• Weight: 120 grams

• Phone memory: Up to 128MB

• Memory card support: SanDisk microSD™, up to 16 GB
• Memory card included: 2GB

• Operating system: Google™ Android 1.6
• Processor: 600 MHz Qualcomm MSM7227

• Talk time GSM/GPRS: Up to 4 hours
• Standby time: GSM/GPRS: Up to 285hrs

• Talk time UMTS: Up to 3.5 hours
• Standby time: UMTS: Up to 360 hrs

Availability and versions

• Networks

• UMTS HSPA 900/2100
• GSM GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900

• UMTS HSPA 850/1900/2100
• GSM GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900

• Available in selected markets in Q2 2010

Colour

• Xperia™ X10 mini:
• Black
• Pearl White
• Lime
• Pink
• Red
• Silver
• Xperia™ X10 mini pro:
• Black
• Red

Legal
1) Facts and features may vary depending on local variant. 2) Operational times are affected by network
preferences, type of SIM card, connected accessories and various activities e.g. playing games. Kit contents and colour options may differ from market to market. The full range of accessories may not be available in every market.

Source: MobileCrunch | 14 Feb 2010 | 3:55 pm

Macworld 2010: Guy Kawasaki’s Revolution from the Rest of Us

FROM APPLETELL - On Friday morning of MacWorld 2010, Guy Kawasaki showcased five iPhone/Mac developers and gave each one a chance to show off the innovative things they are doing.
MORE »

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 14 Feb 2010 | 3:41 pm

28 billion zombies killed. And they’re still coming!

Left 4 Dead 2 was released on November 17th, 2009. Since then, 28,981,249,043 zombies have met cruel and unusual, along with plenty of mundane and unimaginative fates at the hands of gamers everywhere. Now I love zombie killing, but 28 billion? Let’s put that into perspective a bit.

• Approximately 3855.5 zombies were being killed per second
• If each zombie killed was worth $1, it would still only be 1/20th of the US military budget for 2010
• If a band sold an album for each zombie killed, they would have sold 1000 times more copies than Michael Jackson’s Thriller

And my personal favorite from the L4D blog:

• If you placed 28,981,249,043 rulers end to end, they would reach 28,981,249,043 feet in the sky

Thank you, Valve.

Source: CrunchGear | 14 Feb 2010 | 3:00 pm

Astronauts Having Trouble With Tranquility Module

Coldeagle writes "Astronauts ran into trouble while trying to connect up the new Tranquility module onto the ISS. A critical insulating cover didn't fit quite right: 'The fabric, multilayered cover is supposed to go between Tranquility and its observation deck, but the metal bars are not locking down properly because of interference from a hand rail or some other structure at the hatch.' One has to wonder if this is another imperial/metric snafu."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 14 Feb 2010 | 3:00 pm

Samsung unveils new smart phone with own software (AP)

AP - Samsung Electronics Co., the largest maker of cell phones for the U.S. market, on Sunday revealed the first phone running Samsung's own "smart" software system, bada.

Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Feb 2010 | 2:08 pm

Greenlander's DNA Sequenced, After 5,000 Years

TinFinger writes "The genome of a 5,000-year-old man from Greenland has been sequenced from scalp hair remains. He belonged to the now-extinct Saqqaq, who are genetically more closely related to east Asians than to contemporary Native North Americans. Although both contemporary Inuit and the extinct Saqqaq migrated from Siberia across the Bering Straits, the Saqqaq migration was a much later one (5,000-10,000 years ago, compared with 20,000 for the Inuit). All that is left of the Saqqaq today are a few archaeological sites in Greenland. Genetic analysis revealed that 'Inuk' was stocky, possibly with a receding hairline, had a cold-adapted metabolism, A+ blood type, and possibly a rather bad haircut. The hair sample from which the DNA was sequenced was excavated in 1986 and was archived at the National Museum of Denmark. It was only recently rediscovered by a research team who spent a fruitless three months at Saqqaq sites looking for hair samples for genome analysis."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 14 Feb 2010 | 1:50 pm

Sony Ericsson announces Vivaz pro at Mobile World Congress

While you love birds are busy being smitten on a lazy Sunday, Sony Ericsson is busy dishing out new goods from Barcelona, Spain. Mobile World Congress is sure to bring some interesting news in the mobile space this week, and SE is kicking things off with the pro version of the Vivaz. What makes it “pro,” you ask? Well, it has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard for starters.

Read the rest of this entry at MobileCrunch>>

Source: CrunchGear | 14 Feb 2010 | 1:47 pm

Sony Ericsson announces Vivaz pro at Mobile World Congress

While you love birds are busy being smitten on a lazy Valentine’s Sunday, Sony Ericsson is busy dishing out new goods from Barcelona, Spain. Mobile World Congress is sure to bring some interesting news in the mobile space this week, and SE is kicking things off with the pro version of the Vivaz.

What makes it “pro,” you ask?

Well, it has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard for starters.

Like the non-pro version, it will be running S60 5th edition on a 640 x 360 HVGA touch screen. The Vivaz pro has a 5.1 megapixel camera is 3 megapixels less than the Vivaz, but is still capable of recording 720p HD video. I’m just hoping that its video recording capabilities are as awesome as the 8.1 megapixel packing Vivaz, which totally blew us away here at MobileCrunch. We’re just happy that this is coming with North American 3G bands and it will be coming around some time in the late second quarter. Hold your breath, here’s the full press release:

Press Release

February 14, 2010 – Barcelona – Sony Ericsson Vivaz™ pro,announced today, adds a QWERTY keyboard to the touch screen offering, delivering a user experience optimised for messaging and entertainment. The full QWERTY keyboard allows consumers to communicate quickly and efficiently via email, SMS or social networking updates.

Just like flagship phone Sony Ericsson Vivaz™, announced in January, Sony Ericsson Vivaz™ pro allows consumers to produce and broadcast their best experiences in HD video. The open platform also allows users to personalise their entertainment experience by downloading great applications through PlayNow™ and the Symbian Developer Community.

“Having announced Sony Ericsson Vivaz™ in January we are now adding a sister phone that includes a QWERTY keyboard along with the touch screen for a superior messaging and entertainment experience,” said Daniel Sandblom Marketing Business Manager, Sony Ericsson. “Sony Ericsson Vivaz™ pro meets the increased consumer demand for QWERTY devices without compromising on any entertainment features.”

Sony Ericsson Vivaz™ pro features the new design philosophy ‘human curvature’, which will become a consistent feature of the Sony Ericsson portfolio going forward. Designed to mirror the shape of the human body, and at the same time delivering a precise and compelling way of interacting with the phone, Sony Ericsson Vivaz™ pro is instantly recognisable.
Sony Ericsson Vivaz™ pro
•    Full slide-out keyboard for faster typing
•    Stay in touch through email, Twitter™, Facebook™, blogging and chat
•    View everything on the 3.2″ 16:9 wide touchscreen
•    Capture the action in HD resolution – upload to YouTube via Wi-Fi™
•    PlayNow – immediate online access to applications, games and music.
Sony Ericsson Vivaz™ pro supports UMTS HSPA 900/2100 and GSM GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900, UMTS HSPA 850/1900/2100 and GSM GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900.

Sony Ericsson Vivaz™ pro will be available in selected markets from Q2 in the colours Black and White.

Sony Ericsson is also unveiling the Hi-Fi Stereo Headset MH710. Enjoy best-in-class clear audio while on the move and handle music and calls with just one touch.

Sony Ericsson Vivaz™ pro
Camera
5.1 megapixel camera
4x digital zoom
Auto focus (photos)
Continuous auto focus (video)
Face detection (photos)
Geo tagging
Image stabiliser
Photo light
Send to web
Smile detection
Touch capture
Video light
Video recording (720p HD recording)

Music
Album art
Bluetooth™ stereo (A2DP)
Media player
Music player
Music tones (MP3/AAC)
PlayNow™
TrackID™

Web
Bookmarks
Google™ search (from standby)
Web feeds
WebKit web browser

Voice
Speakerphone
Vibrating alert
Video calling (main camera)

Messaging
Conversations
Email
Handwriting recognition
Instant messaging
Microsoft® Exchange ActiveSync®
Picture messaging (MMS)
Predictive text input
Sound recorder
Text messaging (SMS)

Design
Auto rotate
Full slide-out keyboard
Picture wallpaper
Symbian OS™
Touchscreen

Entertainment
3D games
Facebook™ application
FM radio
Java
Twitter™ application
Video streaming
Video viewing
YouTube™

Organiser
Alarm clock
Calculator
Calendar
Document readers
Flight mode
Notes
Phone book

Location-based services
A-GPS
Google Maps™
Wisepilot™ turn-by-turn navigation

Connectivity
3.5 mm audio jack
Bluetooth™ technology
DLNA Certified™ (photos and audio)
Micro USB connector
Modem
PictBridge printing
Synchronisation
TV out (VGA resolution)
USB mass storage
USB support
Wi-Fi™

Preloaded applications
Facebook™ – social networking
Google Maps™ – navigation
QuickOffice – Microsoft® Office viewer (trial version)
PDF Viewer (trial version)
Road Sync – synchronisation
SMS Preview – messaging app
Twitter – social networking
YouTube™ – video sharing
Wisepilot™ – navigation
World Mate – clock and weather app
Quadrapop
Rally Master Pro

Screen
16:9 nHD touchscreen (TFT)
16,777,216 colour
3.2 inches
360 x 640 pixels
Scratch-resistant

Accessories
In-Box:
Sony Ericsson Vivaz™ pro
Battery
stereo portable handsfree
8 GB microSD™ card
micro USB cable for charging and file transfer
Optional:
Hi-Fi Wireless Headset with FM Radio MW600
Hi-Fi Stereo Headset MH710

Facts
Size: 109 x 52 x 15 mm
Weight: 117 grams
Phone memory: Up to 75 MB
Memory card support: SanDisk microSD™, up to 16 GB
Memory card included: 8 GB microSD™ card
Operating system: Symbian™ S60 5th edition Processor: 720 MHz
Talk time GSM/GPRS: Up to 12 hrs 30 min
Standby time GSM/GPRS: Up to 430 hrs
Talk time UMTS: Up to 5 hrs 10 min
Standby time UMTS: Up to 440 hrs
Video call time: Up to 2 hrs 30 min

Availability and versions
Networks
UMTS HSPA 900/2100
GSM GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
UMTS HSPA 850/1900/2100
GSM GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
Available in selected markets from Q2 2010

Colour
Black
White

Source: MobileCrunch | 14 Feb 2010 | 1:45 pm

Virtual guitar pedalboard interface

If you have a friend who is a “serious” guitarist, you probably know how they love to show off their pedal collection. A dizzying array of brightly colored metal housings that more often than not, they don’t know exactly how they all work. Dave Verlee from the University of Illinois has cooked up a really cool virtual pedalboard using a wiimote and custom “toe-mouse.”

Video after the jump.

This device uses Johnny Lee’s wiimote project to act as the control surface for a laptop running Guitar Rig software, a pedal / amp emulator. I imagine it feels like using a SMARTboard with your feet. It’s a really cool concept with a lot of application potential. Still can’t beat that analog feel of stomping a real pedal though.

[Nowhereelse]

Source: CrunchGear | 14 Feb 2010 | 1:40 pm

Google Buzz abandons auto-following in favor of auto-suggesting

Section: Web, Web 2.0 / Social Networking, Google

We’ve got to admit that Google Buzz’s auto-following model is really crappy. I’ve had some random eBay sellers (I bought some stuff from them a long time ago) auto-following me on my Google Reader ever since I activated Buzz. Sure, in a way, it’s quite convenient because you don’t have to spend time setting up, but things gets bad when it starts to auto-follow people you don’t intend to follow.

Just recently, Google addressed a privacy concern regarding the display of lists of followers. Today, Google made another change to the way Buzz works by switching to an auto-suggest model, rather than an auto-follow model. When you first activate Buzz, it will give you a list of suggestions from which you can add/remove before actually following people. Buzz will also no longer connect to your Picasa and Google Reader automatically. There’s also a “Buzz” tab in your Gmail settings, allowing easier access to Buzz settings.

Read [Official Gmail Blog]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 14 Feb 2010 | 1:39 pm

How To Replace FileVault With EncFS

agoston.horvath writes "I've written a HOWTO on replacing Mac OS X's built-in encryption (FileVault) with the well-known FUSE-based EncFS. It worked well for me, and most importantly: it is a lot handier than what Apple has put together. This is especially useful if you are using a backup solution like Time Machine. Includes Whys, Why Nots, and step-by-step instructions."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 14 Feb 2010 | 1:14 pm

Samsung makes the Wave with Bada official

After being teased with a washed out banner image, leaked images on the Internet and stealthy screen shots of its gorgeous AMOLED screen, the Samsung S8500, or Wave, has finally become official.

Read the rest of this entry at MobileCrunch>>

Source: CrunchGear | 14 Feb 2010 | 12:45 pm

Southwest Declares Kevin Smith Too Fat To Fly

theodp writes "Kevin Smith is not a happy Southwest customer. The director was thrown off a flight from Oakland to Burbank, after being deemed too fat to fly. He later wound up on another Southwest flight, but has declared It's On and taken his rants to Twitter. 'Dear @SouthwestAir — I know I'm fat, but was Captain Leysath really justified in throwing me off a flight for which I was already seated?' he began. He also let the airline know he'd made it to his destination. 'Hey @SouthwestAir! I've landed in Burbank. Don't worry: wall of the plane was opened & I was airlifted out while Richard Simmons supervised.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 14 Feb 2010 | 12:41 pm

Samsung makes the Wave with Bada official

After being teased with a washed out banner image, leaked images on the Internet and stealthy screen shots of its gorgeous AMOLED screen, the Samsung S8500, or Wave, has finally become official.

In terms of hardware, the design is very Samsung-esque as it takes some cues from the Samsung Omnia II with sharpened angles and diamond-like patterns for the camera and front navigation button. Perhaps the most impressive feature is its 3.3 inch, 800 x 480 AMOLED screen that makes colors look bright and nicely saturated and blacks looking blacker than black. The 5.1 megapixel camera has face and blink detection as well as support for 720p HD video. Everything else seems standard with Wi-Fi, A-GPS, Bluetooth 3.0 and 8GB on-board memory with support for 32GB SD cards.

Of course, the big deal here is Bada, Samsung’s new mobile platform coupled with its TouchWiz UI. The new OS will offer a wider array of application support and social networking integration. It looks like Bada is a way for Samsung to nudge feature phones into smartphone territory, and honestly, it’s about time everyone started moving in that direction.

[via PhoneScoop]

Source: MobileCrunch | 14 Feb 2010 | 12:31 pm

Macworld 2010: iPad Special Event

FROM APPLETELL - IDG held a special event roundtable with some of the precious few who have actually had their hands on the iPad. What did they have to tell us about the forthcoming device? Not much at all.
MORE »

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 14 Feb 2010 | 11:28 am

Now Tweeting: White House press secretary Gibbs (AP)

AP - White House press secretary Robert Gibbs has a new way to communicate directly to people — Twitter.

Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Feb 2010 | 11:22 am

How Google Book Search Will Serve Users if Approved - eWeek

New York Daily News

How Google Book Search Will Serve Users if Approved eWeek The Department of Justice dealt Google's Book Search agreement with authors and publishers a blow Feb. 4 when it protested the amended deal and suggested that the US District Court overseeing the proceedings urge the parties to revise it again. ... Wolverton: E-books need a common languageSan Jose Mercury News Investment picks from shopping tricksNew York Daily News Bash This BookNew York Times Indiana Daily Student -The Tech Herald -Tainted Green all 36 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 14 Feb 2010 | 10:19 am

Sony Ericsson To Pre-Load Gokivo Navigator Onto New Windows Mobile Handsets

Unlike most other smartphone platforms, Windows Mobile doesn’t come with a mapping application pre-installed by default. While this may very well change with the soon-to-be-announced Windows Mobile 7, it has thus far been up to the handset manufacturer to throw in a map app if they so choose.

Later this week, messaging/location technology providers TCS will announce that Sony Ericsson has chosen their turn-by-turn application, Gokivo, to be pre-loaded onto future Sony Ericsson-made Windows Mobile handsets.

The first Sony Ericsson handset to come with Gokivo out of the box will be the Aspen, which was just announced last week.

This is pretty big news for TCS; they just acquired the company behind Gokivo, Networks In Motion, back in December, and this is the first time any manufacturer has chosen to pre-install the app at the factory.

The flagship features, according to TCS:

• Local Search
• Traffic and Weather
• Location Sharing

While it’s great news for TCS, I have to wonder: with Nokia and Google’s recent moves toward making turn-by-turn navigation a standard feature on S60 and Android, how much longer will smartphone consumers be willing to cough up a subscription fee?

Source: TechCrunch | 14 Feb 2010 | 10:10 am

Sony Ericsson To Pre-Load Gokivo Navigator Onto New Windows Mobile Handsets

Unlike most other smartphone platforms, Windows Mobile doesn’t come with a mapping application pre-installed by default. While this may very well change with the soon-to-be-announced Windows Mobile 7, it has thus far been up to the handset manufacturer to throw in a map app if they so choose.

Later this week, messaging/location technology providers TCS will announce that Sony Ericsson has chosen their turn-by-turn application, Gokivo, to be pre-loaded onto future Sony Ericsson-made Windows Mobile devices.

The first Sony Ericsson handset to come with Gokivo out of the box will be the Aspen, which was just announced last week.

This is pretty big news for TCS; they just acquired the company behind Gokivo, Networks In Motion, back in December, and this is the first time any manufacturer has chosen to pre-install the app at the factory.

The flagship features, according to TCS:

• Local Search
• Traffic and Weather
• Location Sharing

While it’s great news for TCS, I have to wonder: with Nokia and Google’s recent moves toward making turn-by-turn navigation a standard feature on S60 and Android, how much longer will smartphone consumers be willing to cough up a subscription fee?

Source: MobileCrunch | 14 Feb 2010 | 10:00 am

Twiangulate Who You Share In Common With Other People On Twitter

Here’s a good virtual parlor game. Pick any two or three Twitter users, and Twiangulate which friends or followers they have in common. Twiangulate is a site that shows the overlap between your social graph and any tow other people on Twitter. It shows the resulting names as a list or an interactive social map.

For instance, if you click on the image at right, you will see an enlarged version of a map I made to see who I follow in common with @fredwilson and @anildash. Fred Wilson follows 463 people, Anil follows 573, and I follow 315. Yet according to Twiangulate, we have 81 common “friends,” which perhaps says something about how insular the world of Web startups and social media can be. In contrast, Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk) and I only have 15 common “friends.”

So who are some of the people Fred, Anil, and I all listen to on Twitter? Some of the common people we follow include Josh Kopelman, Chris Dixon, John Borthwick, Dennis Crowley, Doc Searls, Steve Case, Joshua Schachter, Danny Sullivan, Bradley Horowitz, Michael Arrington, and Jeff Jarvis.

Are we listening to the right people or do we suffer from groupthink? Who do you overlap with the most on Twitter?

Source: TechCrunch | 14 Feb 2010 | 9:41 am

Microsoft Turtle super-phone breaks cover.  Only 4GB of memory?

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Email / IM, Smartphones, Mobile

According to the FCC filing, Sharp has built a new phone that approximates the rumored Turtle design.  Sharp built the Sidekicks for Danger back in the day and the suggestion here is Sharp is again building phones for Danger, now a part of Microsoft.  If this rumor proves true, we should see an announcement from the Mobile World Congress.

The image above is from the FCC filing and it looks similar to a slider phone dubbed Turtle that Gizmodo has floated.  While not the prettiest device out there, it seems a bunch of the MS Danger team has been tweeting with “from Danger” and the hashtag #Tmdp.  Danger did pretty well with the Sidekick bringing lots of kids into the fold, Microsoft could use some of that mojo again.

The Turtle device they have been testing has 4G of memory, at least the prototype does.  Tester Wojtek Chmielewski (poor kid had to learn to spell that growing up) tweeted this:

cleaning a 4gb inbox sucks!!! #tmdp
1:59 PM Jan 9th from Danger

Interestingly, my unofficial research has shown that kids prefer flip-style phone instead of the slider form factor which this Sharp phone seems to have.  So what gives?  Also, and this could just be coincidence, but Xbox comes up an aweful lot in the tweets, could Xbox have a tie-in with this new phone?

Read: [FCC filings] via [Neowin]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 14 Feb 2010 | 9:18 am

Montserrat Battles Ash Cloud

Many flights around the Caribbean remained cancelled Saturday due to clouds of ash spewed up into the skies on the island of Montserrat.The ash forced LIAT, the region's biggest airline, to temporarily suspend flights in and out of Antigua's V.C.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Feb 2010 | 8:50 am

Fire-breathing snowman

Jeni sez, "Pictures of the giant snowman a Bel Air family made with their children in front of their home: 'My husband is an engineer and decided later on to make the snowman breathe fire.'"

The fire-breathing snowman of Bel Air (Thanks, Jeni!)

Source: Boing Boing | 14 Feb 2010 | 8:45 am

For Valentine's: A musical ode to the joys of being single

I may be a smug married, but that doesn't mean I don't remember how the public messages surrounding this holiday can be a royal pain in the butt. For those of you who are single and quite-happy-about-it-thank-you, I present you this gift: "Just By Myself", a song by Greg Brown, one of my favorite musicians and a good Midwestern fella.

Be sure to listen through to the end, the funniest bits are when he starts improvising.

This recording comes from Greg Brown's album The Live One, available from Red House Records.

Image courtesy Flickr user cgparkhouse via CC

Source: Boing Boing | 14 Feb 2010 | 8:31 am

NAVTEQ Puts Focus On Experience: At Mobile World Congress 2010

BARCELONA, Spain, Feb. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- NAVTEQ, the leading global provider of digital map, traffic and location data for in-vehicle, portable, wireless and enterprise solutions, highlights experience in its 8th visit to MWC.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Feb 2010 | 8:16 am

Google Considers Buzz Stand-Alone Version

Google’s announcement that it may create a stand-alone version of its Buzz social networking product, has stirred up some controversy over privacy concerns, as the company says it won’t separate Buzz from its Gmail service.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Feb 2010 | 7:58 am

Rant: Google Translate Toolbar In Chrome 5 Needs An ‘Off’ Button

Ever since I upgraded my beloved Chrome browser to version 5 on my (Windows) computer, I’ve been wanting to get something off my chest about a new feature that was baked into it, one that annoys me to no end.

With the update to the most recent version of the program came an integration with Google Translate, a feature that makes a custom toolbar appear under the bookmarks bar whenever I visit a Web page that contains text in a language other than English. Basically, Google Chrome supposes that I don’t understand any other languages besides English by default and enables me to translate Web pages in say, Spanish or Dutch, with one click.

Thanks for the help, Google, but how about you let me turn that damn toolbar off?

You see, unlike, the Google Translate extension for Chrome, this particular feature found its way to my most-used browser without asking for permission and no desire to leave any time soon. And while I’m sure a lot of people will think it’s a useful add-on, I just want to get rid of this intrusive little bugger as quickly as possible.

Right now, the toolbar asks me to confirm or decline if I would like to translate Web pages. When I click ‘Nope’, the toolbar disappears, only to reappear every time I jump to another Web page on the same website. Ah, but let’s see, there’s an Options button on the right hand side of the toolbar (which you can see on the larger image that you can view when you click through on the image embedded above).

There are the options:

- Never translate Spanish
- Never translate this site
- About Google Translate

The third option leads to a Chrome Help page with nothing on it, and the actual settings presented are insufficient: I don’t want to have to indicate for every language on the planet that I never want to see the toolbar pop up again, and I sure as hell ain’t gonna do it for all the non-English Web pages on the Internet I visit from this point forward.

What’s missing is an option to disable the toolbar completely, and I can only hope the next stable release of Chrome provides users like myself with a choice. Chrome’s a great, fast, free browser, but it’s those little things that can drive me insane. And I do realize this is a developer version, so consider this constructive feedback from an otherwise very happy user.

End rant.

Source: TechCrunch | 14 Feb 2010 | 7:43 am

Yacht or plane?  US entry in America’s Cup ditches sail for massive wing

Section: Gadgets / Other, Lifestyle, Transportation

The 33rd America’s Cup is now underway in Valencia, Spain with USA’s BMW Oracle Racing vs. the Swiss Alinghi.  This year, the boats are radically different: US using a trimaran (3 hulls) and the Swiss with a catamaran (2 hulls).  But another factor is in play: the US boat is using a wing instead of a main sail as their primary engine to drive the boat forward.

The wing, just as it sounds is more like a plane wing than traditional sail.  The over 200 foot tall wing has 5 flaps for micro-adjustment.  The wing creates lift, only in a horizontal plane which pushes the boat forward.  The wing produces so much forward power, the US boat will frequently take down it’s forward sail (jib) as it just isn’t needed.

The wing built for this boat race is the biggest ever made, whether for airplane or other use (it’s 80% bigger than a wing of a 747 according to BMW Oracle Racing).  The wing is a two element wing, meaning there is a gap between the two elements.  How the elements position themselves to one another, controlling how fast the air moves over the wings.  Flaps are used to further control how the wind attaches itself to the sail.

Wings are not totally new.  Back in 1988, USA’s Stars and Stripes used a wing sail in the light winds off San Diego, CA.  However, that was only on a 60 foot boat while the new boat racing in the 33rd Cup is 90 feet long.

On Friday, both boats were able to hit 22 knots of speed (roughly 25 mph) going upwind with a 7 knot breeze.

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 14 Feb 2010 | 7:01 am

Celebrate Valentine’s Day with SteelSeries + Jinx loot

Rumor has it that today is Valentine’s Day. Better check Techmeme to be sure. While I’ll be celebrating by watching Atletico Madrid v. Barcelona later on, alone, you may not be so boring. The point is—there is a point, as hard as that may be to believe—that SteelSeries and Jinx would like to help you make the best of what may be a very awkward day for many of you, or us, as it were—as it is. The professional gaming accessory company and the nerdy t-shirt company (not that there’s anything wrong with that) have put together a little contest where you can walk away with SteelSeries + Jinx loot. Makes sense. Cupid descends, shoots an arrow through your heart, then steals your wallet.

So here’s the deal: you need to post a photograph of yourself on SteelSeries’ FaceBook fan page showing you with a sad face. The gimmick is that the person (well, one gentleman and one lady) with the saddest, most lovelorn look about them wins a small mint. La dolce vita!

The prizes are as follows:

Gentlemen can win:

SteelSeries Siberia v2 (Red)
8 Bit X-Ray T-Shirt
Will You Be Mine T-Shirt
Side Hack Flexfit Hat
Ink Blot T-Shirt
Sorcery and Technology T-Shirt

Ladies can win:

SteelSeries iron.lady Ikari Laser Bundle
Will You Be Mine Women’s Tee
I Love my Gamer Women’s Tee
Username Password Boy Brief Panties
Ink Blot T-Shirt
Sorcery and Technology T-Shirt

Keep in mind that this isn’t a CrunchGear contest, but something that SteelSeries and Jinx have put together; don’t yell at us if you’re not picked.

The contest runs through Monday, February 15 (tomorrow!) at 11:59pm CST.

Source: CrunchGear | 14 Feb 2010 | 5:00 am

'Techstrology': What's Your Sign?

Tracy Staedter chats with cosmic consultants Starsky and Cox to discovery which star signs use technology to find or get rid of love.
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 14 Feb 2010 | 3:00 am