|
|
|
|
The Novac NV-CR001U digitizes music cassettes and LPs
It’s not the first device of its kind, but it’s pretty cheap and compact: Japan-based Novac announced [JP] the NV-CR001U today, a player for both LPs and cassettes that helps to digitize music stored on those media (almost) hassle-free. All you need to do is to connect the device to your Windows XP/Vista/7 machine via USB 1.1 or 2.0, run a special piece of software and choose which cassette or LP you want to copy over to your PC. The music will be stored as MP3, WAV or WMA files with bit rates of 32/64/128/192 or 320kbps. Sized at just 324 x 274 x 125mm, the NV-CR001U weighs 2.5kg. Novac is planning to sell the device in Japan starting Friday (price: $170). It’s Japan-only at this point, but you can ask import/export specialists like the Japan Trend Shop or Geek Stuff 4 U to ship one to your country.
Since Microsoft Research is so into "natural user interfaces," they showed off this one, called muscle-computer interface. It senses the movement of your extremities by tracing electrical activity within the muscles using a usually medical technique called electromyography. They've tried it in situations where users are engaged in physical exercise or have their hands full, like when bringing groceries to the car. They also connected it to Air Guitar Hero.
Natal is going to be really good for kicking and punching, but that camera array isn't set up for fine fretwork. I am not saying that this system is going to ever see the light of day, or that their ultimate purpose is ever-better air guitar. Still, it's nice to know that at least some of the $9 billion Microsoft spends on its research division every year may solve this dilemma. [Muscle-Computer Interface]
 Source: Gizmodo | 2 Mar 2010 | 3:00 am If chess were redesigned by MMORPG developersAKMA sez, "As I was walking to work I started thinking about some of the reasons I got tired of playing World of Warcraft, and this angle occurred to me...."If Chess Were Invented By MMOG Developers (Thanks, AKMA!) (Image: Chess vortex, a Creative Commons Attribution image from fdecomite's photostream)
Previously:
The PlayStation blog has been updated with Patrick Seybold, the senior director of corporate communications writing:
According to Wikipedia, other electronics such as debit card machines in shops, and phones have been affected by the "Y2K+10" or "Y2.01k" millennium bug, due to problems encoding binary numbers. Apparently even Windows Mobile has had problems this year! Apart from the obvious, of course. [PlayStation blog via Kotaku] Source: Gizmodo | 2 Mar 2010 | 2:39 am Opera 10.50 Lands On Windows, Mac And Linux Version ‘Coming Soon’
Opera Software today released Opera 10.50, which it touts as “the fastest Web browser thus-far produced for Windows computers” (which, in turn, calls for a comprehensive speed test – anyone?). The desktop browser has also been given a completely new design, adopting some of the style elements Google Chrome users will be familiar with. Additionally, Opera 10.50 comes with a private browsing feature that enables people to browse for The desktop browser, which is free to use, lands on Windows at a time when Microsoft has just rolling out its ballot screen for European users of the OS, presenting them with a choice in browsers (supposedly random, but not in reality, as we pointed out last week). The Norwegian software maker calls Opera 10.50 the fastest browser they’ve ever produced, courtesy of a brand new JavaScript engine (Carakan) and a graphics library (Vega). The browser is also said to include improved standards support for HTML5 and CSS3. For Windows 7 and Vista users, there are some more goodies: Opera now fully supports Aero Glass, Aero Peek and Jump Lists. You can easily access your Speed Dials, tabs and more from the Taskbar. Opera 10.50 is available for Windows in 42 different languages – Mac and Linux versions are “coming soon”.
     
Source: TechCrunch | 2 Mar 2010 | 2:25 am Study shows Titanic and Lusitania survival differences - BBC News
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 2 Mar 2010 | 2:03 am Mamiya announces DM40 DSLR, makes wallets bleed
The DM40 is quite an impressive camera technically, but expect to pay for the privilege of shooting with it, as a sensor that large doesn’t come cheap. MSRP on this amazing piece of equipment is a jaw-dropping $21,990. For all the technical details, here’s the press release:
Source: CrunchGear | 2 Mar 2010 | 2:00 am World's top high-tech fair goes 3D (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 2 Mar 2010 | 1:52 am Netflix Is Surveying Interest In An iPhone App
As the site Hacking Netflix reports tonight, Netflix is asking certain users about their interest in streaming movies and television shows to the iPhone. Notably, this would apparently only work over WiFi, which is hardly surprising given AT&T’s reluctance to let stream-heavy fare on its network. Here’s the full text of what’s being asked in the survey:
So that’s obviously very straightforward. Clearly, Netflix is thinking about providing an app that would do this on the iPhone, iPod touch, and the upcoming iPad as well, but recent remarks by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings suggests that none of this is a priority for the company. Hastings has also noted in the past that eventually the service will likely be on the iPhone. But if they’re already gauging interest among users, hopefully it will be sooner than he’s let on in the past. As Hacking Netflix notes, earlier surveys from Netflix gauging interest in the Wii and PS3 consoles with Netflix were early indicators of the service on both of those devices. Of course, you have to wonder if Apple would approve such an app that would compete directly with iTunes.      
Source: TechCrunch | 2 Mar 2010 | 1:43 am Google buys online photo-editing app Picnik - BusinessWeek
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 2 Mar 2010 | 1:41 am The A4 and the A8: Secrets of the iPad's Brain [Voices]By Jon Stokes, Contributor, Ars Technica Most companies, when they go to the enormous expense of designing a complex chip, tell everyone about it. Even a company like Sun or IBM (IBM), whose chips are used only in their own computers, unveil the details of their new processors well before products based on those new parts come to market. This is true for game consoles, for SoCs of all flavors, for PC chips, and for most of the rest of the semiconductor industry. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 2 Mar 2010 | 1:34 am Web Publishers Left With Little After Middlemen Split Ad Spoils [Voices]By Michael Learmonth, Senior Editor, Advertising Age Publishers fighting hard to squeeze every last dollar out of their online-ad inventories have turned to a variety of players to help them make the most of that space. But in doing so, they’ve let a lot of hands into the cookie jar and may find that the increasing complexity–and the crumbs they’re left with–aren’t worth the effort. It’s not just publishers turning to middlemen but advertisers, too, hoping to boost targeting and effectiveness of their buys. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 2 Mar 2010 | 1:26 am AMD, Intel, and Nvidia in the Next 10 Years [Voices]By Alan Dang, Guest Contributor, Tom’s Hardware I’ve been a journalist/reviewer in the 3D graphics industry for over a decade. I can still remember walking through Fry’s Electronics and seeing Western Digital’s Paradise Tasmania 3D and actually getting excited about the Yamaha-powered graphics chip. Chris Angelini, the managing editor of Tom’s Hardware US, and I go way back, with our first jobs in online journalism traced back to 3DGaming.com more than a decade ago. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 2 Mar 2010 | 1:23 am Game on for PS3 users after Sony fixes bug (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 2 Mar 2010 | 1:19 am Parsing Fact From Fiction With the Bloom Energy Box [Voices]By Martin LaMonica, Senior Editor, CNET Boy, did I pick a lousy week to leave the country for a family vacation. What did I miss? Well, a company seems to have come out of nowhere, raised loads of money, has retired Gen. Colin Powell on its board, and made some audacious claims about reinventing the energy business. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 2 Mar 2010 | 1:18 am Who Wants to Buy a Digital Elephant? [Voices]By Ari Levy and Joseph Galante, Reporters, Business Week A few months ago, Nita Flores—a 38-year-old health-care worker–began playing games on Facebook and spending real money on her virtual life. Though the games are free to play, Flores spends about $20 a month for extras like virtual outfits for her cat in Pet Society and a stable for her horses in FarmVille. The games are “very entertaining and relaxing after a hard day,” says Flores, who lives in Queens, N.Y. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 2 Mar 2010 | 1:14 am Viral Video: Warning–Spoiler Alert! (Actually, 50 of Them) [BoomTown]
Here’s a very funny online video by the always quirky Fine Brothers, in which they reprise a good bit–this time, spoiling 50 Hollywood movies from 2009 in less than four minutes, in anticipation of the Oscars on Sunday night. My favorite and much repeated line in the spoof: “Just like in real life, who would have guessed it?” Source: All Things Digital | 2 Mar 2010 | 1:05 am Google gives translation help with Chrome 4.1 - CNET
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 2 Mar 2010 | 1:02 am Google’s Person Finder: A Glimpse of Pain, Relief After Chile Quake [Voices]By Jennifer Valentino-Devries, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal A note left for Pedro Patricio Valdivia Olivos–one of more than 48,000 records in Google’s Person Finder–offers a clear look into the anxiety faced by many with loved ones in Chile: “Hi, Dad. It’s your daughter Alicia. I’ve been looking for you for several days. I’m very worried for you. Please can you call me on my cellular…or send me a message. I’m waiting for word from you. Hugs.” Google (GOOG) launched its Chile-specific tool Saturday to assist people looking for information on loved ones in Chile after a massive 8.8 earthquake shook the South-American nation Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 2 Mar 2010 | 1:01 am Daily Crunch: House of Cards Edition
Thin, flexible “solar threads” to turn fabrics into power generators
Source: CrunchGear | 2 Mar 2010 | 1:00 am Intel Tries Cash to Lure Developers to Its App Store (PC World)PC World - Intel is using cash incentives to lure mobile software developers to its AppUp Center application store, hoping to spur the development of new applications for netbooks with Atom microprocessors inside.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 2 Mar 2010 | 1:00 am Innocomm Shows Android Smartphone With Analog TV (PC World)PC World - Innocomm Technology, a young smartphone developer, plans to launch its first handset with Google's Android mobile operating system and an analog TV receiver in the middle of this year, a company representative said Tuesday.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 2 Mar 2010 | 1:00 am Gmail Security Enhancements Expected Tuesday
There are two specific changes that we’ve heard Google is implementing. The first is a secondary line of defense when a user has lost his or her password. If a Gmail account is accessed from a new computer, the user will have the option of receiving a text message with a new one time use pass key. They then enter that pass key into Gmail to authenticate themselves and lock out any bad users with access to the account. Google is also possibly implementing a different version of OAuth for its contacts exporter (something often used by other services to import Gmail contacts). It’s likely to be OAuth Wrap, an easier to implement version of OAuth. If developers can be convinced to use it instead of harvesting and storing user credentials, there’s less of a security hole. These changes are likely in response to the Chinese security incident from earlier this year. A secondary line of security for users would have avoided the Twitter documents leak from last year, which originally started with a guessed Gmail password and spiraled out of control from there. This isn’t confirmed and Google hasn’t responded yet to our email, but we’ll update with any further information. Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 2 Mar 2010 | 12:52 am The Filter Signs DailyMotion Deal For Its Discovery Engine
Specifically it will deliver recommendation services to Dailymotion’s 66 million monthly users (according to comScore). Dailymotion’s goal in this is to up the level of video consumption, user engagement and dwell time. The Filter needs content partnerships like this to prove its technology scales into the billion-request level.      
Source: TechCrunch | 2 Mar 2010 | 12:50 am Google acquires photo-editing site (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 2 Mar 2010 | 12:48 am Super Punch's webby Tarot In celebration of its third bloggaversary, the excellent Super Punch has asked a collection of talented web-artists to create a Super Punch Tarot -- a webby deck inspired by the eclectic and wonderful. Shown here, Queen of Hearts by Stéphane Massa-Bidal and Six of Cups by Jerrod Maruyama. Kawaii Jabba and Slave Leia. Introducing the Super Punch Tarot
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing | 2 Mar 2010 | 12:39 am Apocalyptic short story about apocalypses will leave you moved, glumThe latest Futurismic short-story is an incredibly grim but sweetly smartassed apocalyptic tale called "Tupac Shakur and the End of the World," by Sandra McDonald. Tupac is the story of band of survivors of a plague that paralyses its victims and leaves them to die; as Susan, the narrator, slogs down the Interstate to Orlando, she has plenty of time to ruminate on what makes apocalypse stories so compelling. Neat narrative trick, and carried off well. Great way to cure your early-March-happiness.NEW FICTION: TUPAC SHAKUR AND THE END OF THE WORLD by Sandra McDonald (Image: The Apocalypse Is a "Once in a Lifetime" Thing! a Creative Commons Attribution photo from Sister72's photostream)
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing | 2 Mar 2010 | 12:32 am UK Police Promise Not To Retain DNA Data, But Do Anywayredalien writes "In 2008 I invited two policemen into my home and voluntarily gave them a DNA and fingerprint sample to help with a murder investigation, as they'd promised it would only be used for that investigation. I was never under any suspicion and could just as easily have said no. Almost a year after the investigation closed they have now confirmed that they've retained my samples and at my request have begun an investigation to see if there are sufficient 'exceptional circumstances' to remove them. I'm not the only one who was told samples would be removed, so if you've had such a promise from the police I recommend contacting their data protection registrar immediately."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 2 Mar 2010 | 12:25 am Profile of ex-narc who's declared war on the "War on Drugs"Here's a great, long profile of Barry Cooper, the ex-narc whose new reality TV show sets up stings for dirty drug cops and videos them making illegal busts and searches:Barry Cooper: Drug War Insurgent (via Beyond the Beyond)
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing | 2 Mar 2010 | 12:22 am Y Combinator To Startups: “We think the iPad is meant to be a Windows killer”
“We think the iPad is meant to be a Windows killer.” Okay, yes, that’s slightly taken out of context — but it’s still one hell of a way to rile up developers. And to light a fire under some would-be entrepreneur fanboys. Here’s the full statement around the sentence:
Following the iPad’s unveiling in January, people seem fairly evenly split about whether the device will be a failure, or the next big thing (I’m on the record as saying I think it will take some time to catch on, but then will quickly rise in popularity towards the future of computing). This is a smart bet for Y Combinator (and the startups that apply for this RFS) to make. If they’re right, and this is the future of computing, these startups getting to work around the time of the iPad launch (it’s still set to ship at the end of this month) should be well positioned to fully take advantage of the device. And Y Combinator is thinking big for these startups too. It would be easy to tell companies to make apps for the iPad that are basically ports of current mobile apps, but the RFS points to this post by Facebook’s (and FriendFeed co-founder, and Gmail creator) Paul Buchheit, noting the future iPad applications may be unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. Something else that is interesting to Y Combinator is how you get this new device in the door in businesses. They seem to think you’ll have to trick your company’s IT department:
Just as iPhone app development has exploded, and Android developers are finally starting to see some real money, iPad developers are already in demand. Windows-killer or not, this is certainly an area to watch for the foreseeable future.      
Source: TechCrunch | 2 Mar 2010 | 12:02 am But what will the rest of the world eat?
Source: Boing Boing | 2 Mar 2010 | 12:01 am Ex-Mozilla Security Chief Takes Job at Apple (PC World)PC World - Former Mozilla security chief Window Snyder has been hired by Apple.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 2 Mar 2010 | 12:00 am Cyberwar hype was cooked up to sell Internet-breaking garbage to the militaryHave you been hearing a lot of gloom-and-doom talk about the need for American "cyberwar" preparedness lately? The coming cyberwar threat? Cybergeddon?Me too. Wired's Ryan Singel makes a good case in this article that cyberwar hype -- like terrorism hype -- has been fuelled by government contractors who have a product to sell, and who don't give a damn about the consequences to the net or to freedom. In this case, it's Michael McConnell, the Bush adminstration's director of national intelligence, now working as vice president at the "secretive defense contracting giant" Booz Allen Hamilton. He's been going before Congress and in the op-ed pages of the WaPo to declare that cyberwar is coming, and that we need to break the Internet so that every online action can be traced to a person and a place by the NSA. Cyberwar Hype Intended to Destroy the Open Internet
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing | 1 Mar 2010 | 11:44 pm PublicACTA: a people's copyright treaty summit, NZ, 10 April 2010Gnat sez, "The final round of ACTA negotiations will be in New Zealand, 12-16 April. In the days before that, InternetNZ (which runs the .nz domain) will host an open conference called PublicACTA in Wellington. The idea is to get Internet experts, technology lawyers, and the public involved and heard. The outputs of the conference will be given to the NZ negotiators ahead of the final round."ACTA could affect everyone's rights on the Internet. Proposals from some countries seek to go beyond New Zealand's current public position. It is therefore very important that there is a forum for public discussion," says [InternetNZ Policy Director] Carter. Kiwis are blooded and proven copyfighters: they've been through the wars over three-strikes rules for their nation's copyright laws, and prevailed. They will kick all kinds of ACTA ass next month, mark my words. InternetNZ to take public message to ACTA negotiators (Thanks, Nat!)
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing | 1 Mar 2010 | 11:41 pm Petition to make "Hella" the prefix for 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
Carl sez, "A petition to make Hella- the official SI prefix for 10^27, for measuring things bigger than Yotta- (the prefix for (US) billion trillion).
For instance: 'the sun (mass of 2.2 hellatons) would release energy at 0.3 hellawatts.'
It would also come in handy for eventually measuring Internet traffic and US national debt."
The Official Petition to Establish "Hella-" as the SI Prefix for 10^27 (Thanks, Carl!)
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing | 1 Mar 2010 | 11:36 pm Piano built into a dining room table Here's a nice space-saving design: an electric piano integrated into a dining room table, photographed by Joost van Brug. This could be a lot more space-saving if they'd built it into a small dining room table -- that thing is bigger than my apartment! Georg Bohle Piano Table (Thanks, Marilyn!)
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing | 1 Mar 2010 | 11:29 pm Architectural fan-drawings of classic sitcom houses Jay sez, "MARK BENNETT (b 1956) is a Santa Monica, CA letter carrier. A compulsive television watcher in his youth, he makes careful observations of the sets inhabited by popular tv shows, transforming them into fully realized architectural drawings. Wicked fun." Mark Bennett - Mark Moore Gallery (Thanks, Jay!)
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing | 1 Mar 2010 | 11:24 pm Why Hit Up One Happy Hour When You Can Hit Up 15,000?
But that’s exactly what Village Voice Media is launching tomorrow alongside app developer GoTime. Happy Hours, is an free application for the iPhone, Android, and the mobile web. With it, you get access to some 15,000 happy hours in 30 different cities around the country. You simply load the app up, tell it where you are (which it can know automatically on the iPhone and Android phones), and let it show you happy hours close by. While happy hour apps are nothing new (here’s another one we covered not too long ago), most are small and based around one city, or a handful of cities. Happy Hours is nationwide, so it’s good for traveling. Also, thanks to the Village Voice association, it has a range of data about establishments such as atmosphere, type of food served, etc — not to mention full reviews, when available. The app launches tomorrow for the following 30 cities: Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Broward-Palm Beach, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New Orleans, New York, Orange County, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa, Washington DC. Check out more in the video below.
     
Source: TechCrunch | 1 Mar 2010 | 11:07 pm Concept watch tells time with frikkin’ lasers
Now, despite the obvious problems like power consumption and the fact that a laser that’s visible in daylight will probably burn a hole in you, there’s the subject of cost. I really doubt that anyone who has the money to buy something like this would choose it over a Omega or Rolex. It’s a geek watch, but very few geek types will ever be able to afford it. I guess we’ll just consign it to the concept file and call it a day. Or figure out how to mount this on a shark. [via Geekologie]
Source: CrunchGear | 1 Mar 2010 | 11:00 pm Let your geek flag fly with official Xmen TVs
The new TVs will be available in 22, 32, 42, and 55-inch versions, and feature custom splash screens and other cosmetic touches to remind you exactly how much of a geek you are. Pricing will run from $339 up to $1989 and the TVs are available directly from RTC23. Sign me up for the Wolverine version. [via Gizmodo]
Imagine a VOIP system that caches all your calls, converting them to searchable, storable, everlasting text. That's already pretty amazing—especially if you already jump through hoops recording interviews and conference calls. But then imagine this: It can translate whatever you say into some other language. In realtime. As you will notice in the video, the research team built the proof-of-concept system to work in English and German, the native languages of Kit and Frank, the two developers on the team. As you also might have picked up, it has the same occasional clumsiness of an internet-based text translator. This is because it's using the same technology that Bing's translator uses. What was funny for the researchers to discover was how their own spoken language differed from their written one. For extra monitoring of translation quality, they set up their test system so that it would re-translate the translated speech, so English-to-German-to-English. I myself envisioned a great moment in modern poetry, a la Jimmy James' Super Karate Monkey Death Car, but as you can see, when chit-chat becomes fast and casual, it's usually more like garbage in/garbage out:
What's great is that a software tool like this could be stuck into so many different situations, as a live translation feature for video chat, as a conference-call option, or—in the least likely but sweetest scenario—as a feature on a Microsoft-branded Google Talk competitor that ran on Windows phones. Alas, that is probably not gonna happen. [Microsoft Research - no specific project page]
Source: Gizmodo | 1 Mar 2010 | 11:00 pm New I/O Standard Bids To Replace Mini PCI ExpressDeviceGuru writes "LinuxDevices reports that a group of companies today unveiled — and demonstrated products based on — a tiny new PCI Express expansion standard. Although it's somewhat larger than the PCI Express Mini Card, the tiny new 43mm x 65mm FeaturePak card's high density 230-pin edgecard connector provides twice the number of PCI Express and USB 2.0 channels to the host computer, plus 100 lines dedicated to general purpose I/O, of which 34 signal pairs are implemented with enhanced isolation for use in applications such as gigabit Ethernet or high-precision analog I/O. While FeaturePaks will certainly be used in all sorts of embedded devices (medical instruments, test equipment, etc.), the tiny cards could also be used for developing configurable consumer devices, for example to add an embedded firewall/router or security processor to laptop or notebook computers, or for modular functionality in TV set-top-boxes and Internet edge devices." The president of Diamond Systems, which invented the new card, said "Following the FeaturePak initiative's initial launch, we intend to turn the FeaturePak specification, trademark, and logo over to a suitable standards organization so it can become an industry-wide, open-architecture, embedded standard" (but to use the logo you have to join the organization).
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 1 Mar 2010 | 10:58 pm NexentaStor Adds Primary Deduplication
|
 Gadget Venue (blog) | Older Windows Phones Can't Be Upgraded to 7 Series Wired News Even the newest and fastest Windows phones won't be upgradable to Microsoft's next-generation mobile operating system, Windows Phone 7 Series, when it lands later this year. Natasha Kwan, general manager for Microsoft's Mobile ... Microsoft Says The iPhone Opened Its Eyes Microsoft Refuses to Confirm Windows Mobile Will Not Be Upgradable Pew Internet study offers Microsoft's mobile strategy a glimmer of hope |
Palm’s warning last week of a gruesome fiscal third-quarter revenue shortfall confirmed fears that have haunted the company since it first brought its new webOS handsets to market last year: Neither the Pre nor the Pixi is the “hero” device that commands the consumer attention needed to really turn the company’s fortunes around.
Certainly, Palm’s (PALM) carrier partners haven’t viewed it that way. If they had, Palm wouldn’t be sending hundreds of “Brand Ambassadors” out to Verizon stores in the hopes of juicing sales.
According to Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein, that campaign has met with some success. But it has clearly been hard going against heavily promoted Android devices like the Motorola (MOT) Droid. And it’s only going to get more difficult when Google’s (GOOG) Nexus One smartphone goes live on Verizon (VZ) in the next few months.
So what’s Palm to do? Over at Needham & Company, analyst Charlie Wolf suggests the company redouble its efforts to build out the webOS ecosystem.
“The effort to push the Pre in the carrier channel has not worked because of reluctance of carriers to promote the brand against the Android juggernaut,” Wolf writes. “In our view, then, Palm’s only hope is to adopt a pull strategy; that is, to focus on its software developer program to build a library of compelling applications for the WebOS platform.”
As Wolf sees it, “This effort could prove successful because WebOS’s development tools are already familiar to Web developers; and the developer environment itself is arguably superior to that on Android.”
Worth a shot, right? One of Android’s biggest weaknesses right now is a paucity of good apps. Same thing with Research in Motion’s (RIMM) BlackBerry. If Palm were to drum up some serious developer support and differentiate itself on that level, perhaps it might win a bit more of the market’s attention.
With that and a new gotta-have-it “hero” device, the company might gain at least some of the traction it needs to hold its own in a market that’s being hit with a wave of new Android devices and soon, presumably, a new Apple (AAPL) iPhone as well.
Otherwise, Palm may further languish, or worse. Says Wolf: “Unfortunately, if this [pull] strategy does not work, Palm could be assigned to oblivion.”
So say you're really into Jersey Shore. And you want to make a phone like the duck phone in the show. And you're like "Why not make an app that quacks like a duck and makes your phone quack like a duck?" Heck, it's a free country, as far as you can tell. This is what our grandfathers fought the Battle of the Bulge for, right?
Well the cheese-eaters at Apple will say that your dumb quack app "contains minimal user functionality" and, as a result, deny your application to rock out on their App Store. 
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Section: Gadgets / Other, ebooks
You may soon find e-readers priced below $150 in stores later this year, or so Freescale says. Amazon and Sony both use Freescale’s chips in their e-readers. The current technology requires several chips to control the e-ink display, which bumps up the cost and reduces performance but that will soon change when Freescale begins to rollout their new single-chip technology that is much cheaper and allows faster page turns (less than half a second). Freescale has also eliminated features that are not used in e-readers from the chip. That brings down the cost by about $30. Freescale will be offering these new chips as samples to their customers like Amazon and Sony soon. It usually takes about six months from sampling a chip to a finished product going on sale, said Glen Burchers, a marketing director. If e-readers really reach the price point of $150 and gets improved performance, then consumers wouldn’t have to contemplate between having a tablet, or an e-reader.
Read [Bloomberg]
Full Story » | Written by Cheng Hung for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 CNET | Intel Executive Suffers a Stroke Wall Street Journal Intel Corp. said one of its top executives, Sean Maloney, suffered a stroke and will take a medical leave expected to last several months. Mr. Maloney, 53 years old, is expected to make a full recovery and resume all his responsibilities ... Intel's rising star Maloney suffers stroke Key Intel executive suffers stroke Intel's Maloney, possible CEO heir, suffers stroke |
Steve Jobs touted the iPad’s processor as “custom silicon” and the “most advanced chip” Apple has ever done, but it appears the company didn’t do much with it at all.
Dubbed the A4, the iPad’s brain is actually a system-on-a-chip (SOC) consisting of the Cortex A8 single-core processor made by ARM and Imagination Technologies’ PowerVR SGX graphics processing unit, tipsters have told ArsTechnica’s Jon Stokes.
In other words, Apple licensed chips from other providers like it did with the iPhone, and it didn’t produce the parts in-house, which many assumed to be the case when Jobs introduced the iPad and the A4 in January.
Apple has not provided official details on the A4’s specifications, which is unsurprising. Apple has traditionally been secretive about the exact components inside its previous products, leaving component analysts such as iSuppli to rip apart the gadgets and figure out the nitty-gritty details about their guts.
The Cortex A8 and the PowerVR SGX would make sense, as they’re the same technologies used in the iPhone and iPod Touch. MacRumors also spotted a clause in the iPad’s software development kit that confirmed the SGX is being used in the iPad.
If the A4 SOC’s parts were outsourced, the role of PA Semi, a semiconductor manufacturer that Apple acquired in April 2008, remains unclear. Stokes speculates that the PA Semi team may have helped optimize the A4 to extend battery life for the iPad, which Apple claims will last 10 hours with active usage and one month on standby.
See Also:
 New York Daily News | Four men charged in computerized online ticket scam CNET Four men accused of using a network of computers and automated software to buy up online tickets to concerts and sporting events and selling them at a profit were indicted on fraud, conspiracy, and computer hacking charges, ... Wiseguys Indicted in $25 Million Online Ticket Ring 4 Californians indicted in alleged ticket reselling scam Four Indicted in CAPTCHA Hacks of Ticket Sites |
PC makers are betting the attention on an upcoming generation of consumer tablets could help generate interest in their less attractive cousins–convertible notebooks that are also referred to as tablets.
HP has announced a new touch-enabled notebook that can twist into a slate-like tablet and open up to offer a traditional full keyboard laptop. Separately, Panasonic has launched a rugged convertible notebook called Toughbook C1, while Lenovo introduced its X201 convertible notebook earlier this month.
“Up till very recently, the tablet market was irrelevant,” says David Daoud, an analyst at research firm IDC. “Now with the iPad and Apple, the industry is paying attention to it again.”
Though PC makers have offered convertible notebooks for nearly a decade, consumers haven’t paid much attention to them.”Tablet PC sales are just a drop in the bucket,” says Daoud. IDC estimates that worldwide sales for tablet PCs barely breached 1 million in 2009. That’s a very small fraction of the 162 million mobile PCs that were expected to be sold last year.
But with their hefty price tag and clunky design, these hybrid monsters are as far as you can get from the sophisticated, sleek and lightweight Apple iPad. That could be a reason why the latest convertible PCs are targeted at “business users.”
HP’s convertible notebook, the EliteBook 2740p tablet PC, is targeted at “users on the go.” The machine starts at 3.8 lbs and has a 12.1-inch diagonal LED display. Compare that to the 1.5 lbs iPad and its 9.7-inch screen. But, unlike the iPad, HP’s convertible tablet–priced starting $1600–has a multi-touch touchscreen and a full size keyboard.
Panasonic’s tablet also weighs 3.7 lbs (with two batteries) and has a stylus in addition to a touchscreen and a keyboard.
“It’s light enough to carry around but also tough enough so if you drop it you are not going to fry it,” says Kyp Walls, director of product management at Panasonic Computer.
Panasonic is betting doctors and sales executives will want to carry one of the convertibles around. Panasonic’s tablet, which starts at $2500, will start shipping in June.
Daoud says convertibles have always appealed to a niche set of users, especially in healthcare and the military. But their design and cost makes it unlikely they will ever cross over to consumers or become more popular among executives.
“Convertibles are just too heavy to carry around,” he says. “And the price premium for them is on an average at least $150.”
Convertible tablets can also be difficult to use. HP and Panasonic’s convertibles run Windows operating system and its user interface makes it difficult to touch and click. For instance, opening a program through the ’start’ icon on a touch-enabled device running Windows requires great positioning skills and a really skinny finger. As for the touchscreen itself, it just isn’t zippy or smooth as an iPad or an iPhone.
And even business users now hold their devices up to higher standards. For the current crop of convertible tablets, it sounds like another missed opportunity.
See Also:
Photo: Pansonic rugged convertible laptop/Panasonic
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
It’s a Monday, which must mean that Google has a new purchase to announce, its ninth since August. Today’s buy is Picnik, which runs a Web-based photo-editing service.
No terms were announced, but given that Seattle-based Picnik is a 20-person, bootstrapped start-up, the reasonable guess is that this falls into the “acquhire” category for Google (GOOG), whereby the company is more interested in the team than the product itself.
This seems especially likely in this case because Picnik is, among other things, the default editor for Yahoo’s (YHOO) Flickr.
That doesn’t mean Google will shut the service down (a la reMail), but I do assume they have different ambitions for the team that built it.
Meanwhile, here’s an addition to the “this is what it looks like when Google buys your company” gallery we should be compiling (see: Appjet)–a video of what TechFlash’s John Cook says is Team Picnik’s celebration. Which is considerably milder than those crazy Canadian hockey players.
FROM APPLETELL - In the last 30 days, the first question people have asked is “Are you going to get an iPad?” If the answer is yes, the second question is almost always “Are you going to get the 3G?” The choice is tough.
MORE »
Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
 New Zealand Herald | Analyst Scares Up iPad Delay Warning PC World Don't look now, it's another iPad rumor, this time claiming that production bottlenecks will either delay the iPad's launch or tighten initial inventories of Apple's tablet. The report comes from Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek, who said there's an ... iPad launch may be limited to US, says analyst Apple iPad Could Be Experiencing Manufacturing Issues, Says Analyst Analyst: Apple's iPad launch may be delayed |
Section: Communications, Gaming
Today, I had the privilege to appear on Tech Vi’s Bottom Line with host (and former Gadgetell Editor) Iyaz Akhtar. We discussed the latest moves by Microsoft, specifically the lack of upgrades of 6.5 devices to Windows Phone 7 Series. The move could hinder sales of current breed Windows Mobile devices until Windows Phone 7 arrives.
You can find more from Tech Vi here: [Tech Vi]
Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
Section: Audio, Portable Audio, Gadgets / Other, Lifestyle, Web, Websites, Features, How To
eBay doesn’t always live up to the “if it’s too good to be true” mantra as users around the world use the site to find gadgets way off retail. More often then not (*statistically dubious), it works out for the buyers and seller. But what about knock offs?
Case in point: check out this iPod controlling ski jacket. Spyder is a brand of expensive ski clothing and eBay is chock full of “Spyder gear”. Take http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260547949386&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_500wt_1182. it appears to the be the $3000+ jacket Engadget wrote about a while back. So the $3k jacket plus pants sold for $160. Obviously a fake, right?
Check here: www.dhgate.com. In fact, look here. This eBay-like service puts users in touch with factories in Asia for all kinds of products. From sporting goods, to gadgetry to software to building supplies, you can find it here and all the sellers look to have decent ratings and fast shipping. Sounds like a deal?
Well, not so fast. Even though most users have ratings, it appears that these ratings are manipulated by the site - at least according to users I spoke with. That’s right, fake ratings. It seems the site will go and change your negative review/rating to a positive as it sees fit, according to my sources.
I found a seller who bought from the site intending to resell the goods. They agreed to answer some of my questions.
Gadgetell: It looks like you’ve had some issues with getting your order/getting your money back. What can you share? Do you resell the products?
Seller: I did buy to re-sell on eBay (suspended for one month) and also on Amazon UK sites but I have since been reinstated
Gadgetell: Have you left any negative feedback and if so, was it altered?
Like so many other people I have left negative feedback only to find that it has been changed at a later time to positive.
Gadgetell: Can you recommend buying from DHGate?
I would advise against making any purchases whatsoever from DH Gate, almost everything sold on their site is counterfeit – and not even of good quality. They act as an Escrow agent in transactions between the seller/buyer but always come down firmly on the side of the seller whenever there is a dispute of any kind. I have provided written and photographic evidence at their request but it is still not enough to get a full refund. They are in business to line their own pockets and those of their sellers.
They are thieves, no doubt but what I find incredibly galling is that their site is incredibly similar to that of eBay – is there some connection..? In addition, PayPal allows a buyer to make purchases from the DH Gate site and in doing so, in my opinion, are assisting with the importation of counterfeit goods. They are complicit in illegal activity.
Another source gave me some good tips on how to avoid ending up with a knock off. Search on the item description, often descriptions are lifted right off a site like dhgate (you bet there are more than one site like them). Look at the images, if something looks “off”, something probably is. Check the manufacturers site, do they offer anything like that? Inspect logos. Is it close?
Remember, it’s buyer beware for a reason.
Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
A faster processor from chip maker Freescale could help cut down the cost of components for e-readers, paving the way to a $150 device later this year.
Freescale’s latest system-on-chip, called the i.MX508, integrates an ARM Cortex A8 processor with a display controller from E Ink. It will have twice the performance at a significantly lower cost, Freescale claims.
“This is the first chip that has been designed just for e-readers,” says Glen Burchers, director of marketing at Freescale. “Earlier, we had general-purpose processors being used in e-readers so they were not completely optimized.”
From the Kindle to the Sony Reader, Freescale’s chips power most e-readers today. The chipmaker claims to have nearly 90 percent of the market share among the burgeoning e-reader market. Research firm Forrester estimates 3 million e-readers were sold last year and sales are expected to double this year.
But the high cost of e-readers has kept many consumers from rushing to stores to get the device. An Amazon Kindle costs $260, which is what most such readers cost. The cheapest e-reader currently on the market, from Sony, is still $200. And that doesn’t include the price of buying e-books. Another limiting factor has been kludgy user interfaces and displays that are slow to turn from one page to the next, which has turned off some potential users.
Freescale’s latest chip has an ARM core running at 800MHz and can render electronic ink pages at almost twice the speed of earlier e-reader processors, the company says. This results in faster page turns and a more snappy feel to the device.
“Today page flips on a Kindle are in the range of 1.5 to 2 seconds, while the Nook (which uses a processor from Samsung) it can take up to 3 seconds for a page turn,” Burchers says. “With our new processors, that can be cut down to about half a second.”
In Wired’s testing, page turns on the current-model Kindle took about half a second while the Nook took about one second.
The increased processing capability also gives e-reader makers greater computing power so they can add better touch capability and run more apps on the device, says Freescale.
For consumers, all this could come with some cost savings. Freescale’s chip could reduce the overall cost of materials because the chip itself will cost about $10 when ordered in large volumes (greater than 250,000 units). Overall, this could reduce the price of an e-reader by at least $30-$50. The most expensive component in an e-reader, however, remains the E Ink black-and-white display.
E-readers based on the new Freescale processor are expected to be available in the third quarter of the year.
See Also:
Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com
Even the newest and fastest Windows phones won’t be upgradable to Microsoft’s next-generation mobile operating system, Windows Phone 7 Series, when it lands later this year.
Natasha Kwan, general manager for Microsoft’s Mobile Communications Business in the Asia-Pacific region, told APC Mag that current phones running Windows Mobile 6.5 OS will receive incremental upgrades, but they can’t be upgraded to Windows Phone 7 Series because they don’t meet the hardware criteria that Microsoft has mandated for phones running the new OS.
That will inevitably lead to some buyers’ remorse for current Windows Mobile users, such as those who just bought the brand new HTC HD2. The HD2 meets most of the hardware criteria that Microsoft is mandating for Windows 7 Series phones: It includes a 1-GHz Qualcomm processor, a high-res capacitive touch display, a 5-megapixel camera and a 3.5-mm headphone jack. However, the phone is being ruled out because it has five buttons rather than the three buttons mandated for all Windows Phone 7 Series devices.
Microsoft last month introduced Windows Phone 7 Series at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. To address the issue of fragmentation — a complex hardware ecosystem that requires developers to code several versions of one app to sell on one platform for different types of phones — Microsoft is working more closely with manufacturing partners in the design process of their hardware. Microsoft has been vague about exactly what the required specifications would be for Windows 7 Series phones.
Later, Microsoft Australia developer evangelist said in a podcast that Microsoft has drawn up three “chassis” for standard specifications that three different types of Windows Phone 7 Series will have to meet. ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley explained that Chassi 1 will be for “big touchscreen phones,” Chassi 2 will be for handsets with sliding keyboards and Chassis 3 will be for candybar-style phones.
Long story short, the bad news is current Windows Mobile users won’t be able to upgrade to Windows Phone 7 Series. The good news is it appears Windows phone developers will be able to code apps for three different types of phones — as opposed to making apps for all sorts of different handsets from various manufacturers, like they had to do with Windows Mobile 6.5. Ideally, the new implementation of three standard chassis should spell out to easier development, and thus more Windows Phone 7 Series apps for users.
Microsoft will be disclosing full details on development tools for Windows Phone 7 Series at its MIX developer conference this month.
See Also:
Image courtesy of Microsoft
Wowza. Consider me impressed. It took Microsoft 3 years to develop Windows Phone 7 Series — but its only taken 2 weeks for some far-too-talented dabbler to recreate the look and feel of the new OS as a skin for older Windows Mobile handsets, relying on nothing but screenshots and demo videos.
Get ready for tons of fake Windows Phone 7 videos and people saying “No! Seriously! I swear my buddy has Windows Phone 7 on his 3 year old WinMo handset!”.
While impressive as heck as a user-made mod, it’s important to clarify that this is just an interface tweak, built on top of Lakeridge Software’s WisBar Advance Desktop — it’s not a port of a Windows Phone 7 ROM or anything of the sort. Think of it like HTC’s TouchFlo interface: it’s fun to look at — but deep down, it’s still Windows Mobile 6.5 (in this case, running on a Toshiba TG01).
The man behind the mod, LeSScro, hasn’t released the mod for public consumption just yet – keep an eye on this thread at XDA Developers for its eventual release.
[Via PocketNow]
Section: Computers, Mobile Computers, Laptops, Wireless
Today, HP unveiled their latest super-thin multitouch enabled convertible tablet. The polarizing tablet form factor (people seem to love it or hate it) has been a mainstay in the HP line with limited success. HP looks to tilt this product to the medical and sales arenas. The convertible tablet behaves both like a traditional laptop or swing the screen around and use the unit as a tablet.
The new 2740p tablet is HP’s first multitouch unit. This means users can pinch, double tap and swipe, just like iPhone users on the screen. Fingers can be used as an input device or a stylus pen. The screen measures 12.1” diagonally.
The 2740p isn’t just a pretty face, though its aluminum case it is that, it also meets the military spec for vibration, dust, humidity, altitude and high temperature. Tough, touch and good looking? Nice going, HP.
The website says the product is not yet avaialbe (coming soon!) and pricing has not yet been announced.
Product page: [HP]
Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
Cue the sad trombone, folks. If you were waiting around with your Windows Mobile 6.5 device with hopes that Microsoft would one day bless it with a new chance at life in the form of Windows Phone 7, it’s time to move on.
APC Magazine just got the full spiel from Microsoft themselves: Windows Mobile 6.5 devices won’t be upgradable to Windows Phone 7 series. (You hear that? Five hundred XDA hackers just scoffed and said “Yeah, we’ll see about that.”)
Why? Standards. Microsoft has a very, very, almost ridiculously strict set of hardware guidelines that they want manufacturing partners to follow when building Windows Phone 7 Series handsets — and for the most part, old handsets just don’t fit the bill. They either lack one of the three mandatory keys (search, back, and Windows key), or — get this — they have too many keys.
A while back, a shot of the HTC HD2 allegedly running Windows Phone 7 Series hit the net. We were quick to debunk it here, with our reasoning being that the HD2 lacked the mandatory search key. Sure enough: Microsoft’s GM of Mobile Communications in the Asia-Pacific, Natasha Kwan, says the HD2 won’t be getting the upgrade “because it doesn’t have the three buttons”.
Of course, this just means that they won’t be getting the upgrade treatment from Microsoft. As we mentioned above, there’s probably a mighty army of hackers just waiting to get their hands on Windows Phone ROMs for the sake of down-porting it to older handsets; if it’s feasible, it’ll probably happen.
If you plan on camping outside an Apple store this month to buy an iPad tablet, you might still go home empty-handed. Rumored production delays could keep the iPad in short supply on the day of launch, says an analyst.
In a research note this morning, Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek said he has heard of production issues at Apple’s manufacturing partners, which might translate into tight inventory when the iPad goes on sale. Misek said the iPad might not even ship this month at all, as Apple had originally planned.
Update, 11 a.m. PDT: An Apple spokeswoman told Wired.com on the phone that the “iPad will be available in late March.”
During its January keynote, Apple announced two release dates for its iPad: late March for the models without 3G, and April for the 3G-equipped iPads. The Apple website still advertises those dates.
“We have…heard that the upcoming iPad launch may be somewhat limited as a manufacturing bottleneck has impacted production of Apple’s newest device,” Misek wrote. “An unspecified production problem at the iPad’s manufacturer, Hon Hai Precision, will likely limit the launch region to the US and the number of units available to roughly 300K in the month of March, far lower than the company’s initial estimate of 1,000K units. The delay in production ramp will likely impact Apple’s April unit estimate of 800K as well. It is also possible that, given the limited number of units available in March, the launch will be delayed for a month.”
As we always say with rumors, take this one with a grain of salt. We haven’t seen many of Misek’s Apple-related rumors, but it’s worth noting that the analyst predicted that iPhone OS 4.0 and a Verizon iPhone would be unveiled at the iPad press conference — neither of which came to fruition.
A separate rumor that Apple would begin taking pre-orders for the iPad last week also didn’t pan out. Although the iPad has been front and center on Apple’s website since the January announcement, you can’t order one; you can only enter your e-mail address to get a notification when the company begins taking orders.
Via Digital Daily
See Also:
Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com
Ever since the announcement of the Motorola Cliq XT back at Mobile World Congress, every whisper and rumor has indicated that T-Mobile US would be picking it up come March 10th.
While that date is still in no way confirmed, it’s looking pretty likely that the launch can’t be too far off. A handful of shots of the Cliq XT rocking T-Mobile’s logos have just made their way to the guys over at AndroidCentral, indicating that it’s made its way into the hands of someone not under 2 tons of Non-disclosure agreements — such as a store manager or inventory handler. Being that this ones running Android 1.6 and lacks the physical keyboard that the original Cliq had, I’m not feeling it – anybody out there going to be camping in line for this one?
Section: Communications, Gadgets / Other, Lifestyle, Web, Websites
A study released this morning says Americans are increasingly turning to non-traditional sources for their news. The study looked at how Americans get their news and comes days before a Federal Trade Commission roundtable discussion on journalism.
As a blog reader, you’re ahead of the curve. According to the study, 59% of Americans use the internet to find their news. The Internet ranks #3 for in popularity , behind local TV and national TV. Even though the internet is popular, there is no dominating player when it comes to news. Thanks to search engines like Google, news seekers can find unique perspectives on the news.
The study uncovered 57% of online news consumers rely on 2 to 5 websites for their news. 11% of those online news consumers gather news from more than 5 websites, while 21% commit to just one site. Yet, the overwhelming majority say they have no favorite site.
92% of Americans use multiple platforms to get their news with almost half of them using 4-6 media platforms on a typical day. These platforms include national TV, local TV, the internet, local newspapers, radio, and national newspapers.
Some other interesting study findings:
- Portable : 33% of cell phone owners now access news on their cell phones.
- Personalized : 28% of internet users have customized their home page to include news from sources and on topics that particularly interest them.
- Participatory : 37% of internet users have contributed to the creation of news, commented about it, or disseminated it via postings on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter
.
Read: [Pew Internet]
Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Oneindia | Report Shows Americans 'Graze' News PC Magazine Not surprisingly, Americans are not tied to one news source, and about 92 percent get their news from multiple platforms – Internet, newspapers, TV, or cell phones, according to a Monday report from the Pew Internet & American Life ... Americans Prefer Online News After TV, Report Finds Survey: More Americans get news from Internet than newspapers or radio Internet changes news consumption landscape |
The Yoke Shopper is a bandolier-style strap that lets you carry plastic shopping bags hands-free. Throw it over your shoulder, hang your groceries from the waist-height plastic hook and you’re ready to walk home with your hands empty and your heavy, delicate goods banging away at your thighs and knees.
The Yoke is meant for people with arthritis as well as those who don’t want their hands tied up with shopping bags. We wonder, though, if a wheel-along shopping bag or even a proper shoulder-bag wouldn’t be better, and more environmentally sound. Here in Barcelona, where most people shop daily in the local stores or market, many shoppers roll their shopping home.
One suggested use gets our approval, though: paying for things. Counting out cash with your hands full is hard. Temporarily hooking them at your side seems like a good solution. £13 ($20).
Yoke Shopper [Gizoo via Oh Gizmo!]
US-based company Noktor has announced the HyperPrime 50mm ƒ0.95 lens for Micro Four Thirds cameras. And if you were wondering, that’s fast. The lens is completely manual, meaning you have to turn collars on the lens to set both aperture and focus. The 50mm focal length is effectively doubled by the M4/3 sensor to the equivalent of 100mm on a full-frame camera.
ƒ0.95 is an incredibly big hole in the lens. It’s more than a stop faster than ƒ1.4, which means it lets in twice as much light. And with that wide aperture comes a seriously shallow depth of field. Focus on a subject’s pupil, for example, and not only will their nose be out-of-focus but so will the edge of the eye itself.
The Noktor, which will cost $750 and go on sale in April, is a near clone of a TV lens from Senko (according to DP Review, it is almost the same as the Senko 50mm ƒ0.95 C-mount CCTV lens). That lens costs around the same.
What we really love is that companies like Noktor are making these niche products available for M4/3 cameras. It seems that someone, somewhere decided that M4/3 owners are an experimental bunch and are happy to buy more unusual gear to play with. We approve.
HyperPrime 50mm f/0.95 [Noktor via DP Review]
Swedish photographer Peter Karlsson has come up with a lightweight, strong and beautifully designed light stand. The skinny tripods are somewhere between a tent and the rigging of a sailing boat.
Peter, like many Strobists, uses small flash units for his work, the kind that slide onto the top of your camera. These small speedlights are surprisingly powerful and very portable. The problem is the stands they sit on, which are - if not exactly heavy - bulky and weighty enough to make you think twice about carrying more than one or two.
So Peter built these featherweight stands from flexible tent poles. They weight just 440 grams (15.5-ounces) each and extend from just 40cm to two meters (1.3-feet to 6.5-feet). This is less than a third the weight of a regular lighting stand.
The stands are standard tent-poles with elastic cord running through the core. To make one, Peter says that the “only needed skills are to cut rope and tie knots.” Instead of using a standard (heavy) clamp to attach the flash and soft-box to the top, Peter hangs it there with more cord. Height adjustment is done by lengthening or shortening this rigging. It’s not for using outside on a windy day, but for indoor location work, its ideal.
The video runs a bit long, but it is exquisitely shot, and explains all you need to know.
Homegrown ultralight lightstands [Svarteld]
Tent Pole Light Stands: More Details [Stobist]
We have seen surprisingly few iPad accessories so far, but RadTech has just filled the vacuum single-handed. The selection of cases, screen-protectors and a stylus is a mix of new products and re-purposed iPhone accessories, but worth a look if only because it poses the question “What will you carry your iPad in?”
RadTech offers a couple of shoulder bags, which will likely get a few more men carrying “purses” (I’m European, so I already carry a man-bag). But of more interest is the protective sleeve, a $30 neoprene pouch which protects the iPad from scratches whilst it sits inside another bag.
It suffers from one problem, though. Because it is simply a re-purposed netbook sleeve, it has no rigid screen protector. I’ll probably go with my regular solution: a bubble-lined Tyvek envelope from Fed-Ex, with a piece of cardboard gaffer-taped inside. It’s waterproof, offers as much protection as neoprene and makes for an excellent disguise. Better it’s free, and the Fed-Ex man brings me one every time he visits.
So tell us, what will you be using to carry your iPad? A purse, a new bag, a pocket of your old backpack or perhaps even a giant pants-pocket. Answers in the comments.
iPad Accessories [RadTech]
| World : News Archives | Business | Entertainment | Sports | Technology | Science | Marketplace Audio |
| India : News | Business | Entertainment | Sports | Telugu | |
| Blogs : Humor pages | Norkay's Blog | Kids Stories | Indian Recipes | Database Tech Blog |
| Sundries : World Video Clips | Songs Clips | Indian Video Clips | |
After millennia in beta, Échecs Games presents the interactive strategy game for the twenty-first century: Shah-mat 64.0!
Mamiya announced their latest large sensor DSLR today, the DM40. Coming in at a memory card crushing 40 megapixel, the DM40 can capture images at up to 60 frames per minute, make it the fastest large sensor DSLR on the market. And one of the most expensive.
There has never been a shortage or rumors that 
Google will roll out a number of security enhancements to 
Last August, 
For years, McConnell has wanted the NSA (the ultra-secretive government spy agency responsible for listening in on other countries and for defending classified government computer systems) to take the lead in guarding all government and private networks. Not surprisingly, the contractor he works for has massive, secret contracts with the NSA in that very area. In fact, the company, owned by the shadowy Carlyle Group, is reported to pull in $5 billion a year in government contracts, many of them Top Secret.
Village Voice Media has always been about location. Their publications (which include 
One look at what this watch does will tell you that it’s just a concept, and will most likely never see the light of day (no pun intended). The Aurora Watch was designed by Jihun Yeom, and features a hollow face that makes it look like you lost part of your wristwatch, until you push a button and two lasers come out of the bezel to show you the time. 
Word has come down that Marvel has licensed some of their characters to TV builder RTC23. No, I’ve never heard of them either, but apparently someone has since they are now producing the official “ultimate comic book fan” television.
Remember 
In the months following the iPhone App Store’s launch in July 2008, it became clear that the platform was turning into a gold rush. Success stories of one-man companies earning 
Last month, Google announced 
It was originally thought that some Windows Mobile phones would be able to upgrade to the new Windows Phone 7 Series, provided that they met the hardware benchmarks required by Microsoft. But when asked for specifics about that upgrade plan, Microsoft executive Natasha Kwan said that Windows Mobile devices - including the heralded HTC HD2 - will not be upgraded to Windows Phone 7. Despite the HD2 meeting the processor and display requirements to run 7 series, Kwan says it “doesn’t qualify because it doesn’t have the three buttons.”
