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Steve Jobs: Sorry, No OS 4 on Original iPhone
With the iPhone OS 4 update, Apple will quietly drop support for the first generation iPhone. This news comes, apparently, straight from the mouth (or keyboard) of Steve Jobs. Before you start getting angry that Apple is “screwing its customers”, consider this. The first iPhone has been around for three years. Anyone who owns one is already out of contract, and could upgrade with no penalty other than the price of a new handset. Does it seem to you that these iPhone customers are interested in upgrading to the latest of everything? The news comes by way of German Twitterer (and presumably iPhone 2G owner) ven000m aka Niko, the latest customer to receive and email reply from Jobs. Niko asked “Hey Steve! is Apple supporting/updating the iPhone 2G in the Future?” Despite the wonky capitalizations, Steve did reply, in characteristically brief fashion: “Sorry, no.” Dropping new OS releases for old hardware makes sense, especially with cellphones where the hardware upgrade cycle is so much shorter than that of a PC. People will always complain, but they are a vocal minority. It is likely impossible to run iPhone OS 4 on the first iPhone anyway. Even the iPhone 3G can only make use of some of the features due to having less RAM available to the OS than later models. One more thing, if you still don’t believe that iPhone 2G users are stuck in the past. Look at the screenshot above, posted by ven000m. What the hell is that? Windows 95? NO FUTURE SUPPORT FOR iPHONE 2G! [ven000m/Twitter via Mac Stories] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 13 Apr 2010 | 3:47 am Nokia Launches Three New Mobile Phones - Wall Street Journal
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 13 Apr 2010 | 3:19 am Readings: Maturity Wall, Commuting, Tokyo Condos, Vancouver Real Estate, etc.Maturity Wall Shrinks $196 Billion in 15 Months (Source) Commuting Costs offset Lower House Prices (Source) Tokyo Condominiums for Sale Rise Most in a Decade (Source) Vancouver's absurd...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 13 Apr 2010 | 3:16 am Nokia unveils three cheaper messaging phones (Reuters)Reuters - The world's top cellphone maker Nokia unveiled three new, cheaper messaging phone models on Tuesday, challenging the dominance of RIM's Blackberry in the mobile e-mail market.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 13 Apr 2010 | 3:14 am Peak Oil is Soooo .... May of 2008Despite gas prices having climbed a good chunk of the way back up to 2008 levels, the level of worry about higher prices hasn't seemed as high this time around. To test that, I pulled data from Google...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 13 Apr 2010 | 3:02 am Microsoft unveils Windows Phones: KIN One, KIN Two - Techtree.com
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 13 Apr 2010 | 3:02 am In EU, Google Accused of YouTube "Free Ride"An anonymous reader passes along a Financial Times piece that covers a push by EU telecoms to get Google to pay them directly — years after US ISPs began rattling that sword, to little effect thus far. "Some of Europe's leading telecoms groups are squaring up for a fight with Google over what they claim is the free ride enjoyed by the technology company's YouTube video-sharing service. Telefónica, France Telecom, and Deutsche Telekom all said Google should start paying them for carrying bandwidth-hungry content such as YouTube video over their networks.... Some European telecoms groups fear Google will reduce them to 'dumb pipes' because the internet search and advertising company pays the network operators little or nothing for carrying its content. Rick Whitt, a senior policy director at Google in Washington ... said Google was spending large amounts on its own data networks to carry its traffic to the point where it is handed over to telecoms companies round the world." Note that FT.com operates on a "first few per month free" paywall basis.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 13 Apr 2010 | 2:51 am Nokia unveils 3 cheaper messaging phonesHELSINKI (Reuters) - The world's top cellphone maker Nokia unveiled on Tuesday three new, cheaper messaging phone models, challenging the dominance of RIM's Blackberry in the mobile email...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 13 Apr 2010 | 2:15 am Opera browser gets to iPhone (Reuters)Reuters - Apple Inc has accepted distribution of Opera Software's Internet browser for its iPhone after a long review, opening a new and potentially lucrative market it has so far closely guarded.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 13 Apr 2010 | 2:10 am Google Acquires Visual Search Engine, Plink (PC World)PC World - Google has acquired a two-person U.K. startup called Plink that scored a hit with a mobile phone application that identifies artworks and enables users to buy a print.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 13 Apr 2010 | 2:03 am Mobile Phones Companies Get Ad System to Bypass AppsMobile phone providers haven't had much luck pushing ads to cellphones, but a new system developed by Alcatel-Lucent makes it easy -- so long as you decide you actually want ads sent to your phone.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 13 Apr 2010 | 2:00 am MySpace Should Be Glee-ful About Hit Series Online Auditions (Plus Celebrity Video!) [BoomTown]
The television hit, “Glee,” is one of News Corp.’s crown jewels of late, while its MySpace social networking site has struggled painfully to regain its once-hot momentum. Now, MySpace is getting the benefit of the heat “Glee” is generating, by hosting the online auditions for the Fox television network show that returns tonight after a short hiatus. “Glee”– which is an online phenom in its own right, with more than four million song downloads so far–is probably a good partner for MySpace, as it tries to differentiate itself as a place where users can express their musical and entertainment passions. This “discover and be discovered” concept is all part of a very slow-moving effort to turn MySpace into a socially-charged entertainment hub. That effort will get a splashy rollout today, with the first animated takeover of MySpace users’ personal homepages to coincide with the return of “Glee” (you can see it in action in the PDF below). In the branded campaign, the character of Rachel (played by Lea Michele) becomes the profile picture and evil cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester (played by Jane Lynch) pops out to shout a tune-in message about the show’s premiere, while blowing parts of the page away. The bigger deal, of course, is the online casting call for “Gleeks,” as its rabid fans are called, which MySpace is also hosting. Professional and amateur performers between the ages of 16 and 26 can submit video auditions for the chance to have a reoccurring role on the show’s second season, choosing from songs featured in “Glee” and using the MySpace Karaoke tool. Since it was launched March 30, the page has over a million friends and thousands of video submissions, which will then be voted on. The casting call ends April 26. Here’s a video interview on the effort that I did last week at the tony Chateau Marmont hotel with MySpace Music’s Courtney Holt, who worked on the deal, as well as a special guest star you might recognize. [ See post to watch video ] And here’s the takeover advertising: Finally, here is the official press release:
(Full disclosure: News Corp. owns Dow Jones, which also owns this site.) Source: All Things Digital | 13 Apr 2010 | 1:25 am South Park turns 200: Matt Stone and Trey Parker (Boing Boing Video)Watch on YouTube. or Download MP4 In this Boing Boing Video exclusive, South Park co-creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker speak with Boing Boing's Xeni Jardin on the eve of the 200th episode of the...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 13 Apr 2010 | 1:22 am South Park turns 200: Matt Stone and Trey Parker (Boing Boing Video)
In this Boing Boing Video exclusive, South Park co-creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker speak with Boing Boing's Xeni Jardin on the eve of the 200th episode of the hit Comedy Central series. Stone and Parker reveal their plans to revisit battles over the boundaries of what can and cannot be done on television—including a quest to see just how many celebrities they can manage to piss off in a single episode, and whether Comedy Central will once again try to stop them from depicting the image and voice of a cartoon version of the Muslim prophet Mohammed on the show. Fan tributes: South Park 200 (southpark200.com) (Special thanks to the production team of Matt West and Eric Mittleman)
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing | 13 Apr 2010 | 1:22 am Intel Puts Google's Android on Atom Smartphones (PC World)PC World - Intel has ported Google's Android mobile operating system to smartphones based on its Atom microprocessors, an Intel executive said Tuesday.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 13 Apr 2010 | 1:20 am Crytek Plans Free Version of CryENGINE 3Develop reports that Crytek, makers of the Far Cry series, the Crysis series, and the game engines behind them, have plans to release a free-to-use version of CryENGINE 3, the software's latest iteration. Quoting: "Unreal vendor Epic Games and Unity have both seen their user-bases mushroom overnight since launching versions of their own engines that, while tied to different royalty rates, are completely free to download and operate. Now the CryEngine 3 group has revealed it wants to tap into this thriving market. The firm's CEO Cevat Yerli told Develop that Crytek already gives away a CryEngine 2 editor to the mod community, but explained that Crytek's expansion strategy stretches beyond. 'We have a very vivid community of users and modders and content creators, and usually that's a great way of unlocking the engine,' he said. ... 'So far that's what we've been offering for free, and it's easy entry into the production environment. [But] we do want to make a standalone free platform that people can run independent of CryEngine that will also be up to speed with the latest engine.'"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 13 Apr 2010 | 1:16 am China eases government procurement rules on techBEIJING (Reuters) - China has abandoned parts of an "indigenous innovation" push in government buying of high-tech products that has rankled the Obama administration, EU and foreign...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 13 Apr 2010 | 1:11 am Twitter and Third-Party Twitter Developers [Voices]By Chris Dixon, Blogger, cdixon.org I can’t remember the last time the tech world was so interesting. First, innovation is at an all time high. Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG), Facebook, Twitter and even Microsoft (MSFT) (in the non-monopoly divisions) are making truly exciting products. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 13 Apr 2010 | 1:05 am Why the IPad Has Inspired Me to Give Up My Toaster, My Coffeemaker, My Pants [Voices]By Simon Dumenco, The Media Guy, Advertising Age I feel like such an idiot. Here I thought I understood consumer satisfaction — especially my own consumer satisfaction — but I was wrong. It all started with the iPad. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 13 Apr 2010 | 1:04 am Please Do Not Change Your Password [Voices]By Mark Pothier, Reporter, Boston Globe To continue reading this story, enter your password now. If you do not have a password, please create one. It must contain a minimum of eight characters, including upper- and lower-case letters and one number. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 13 Apr 2010 | 1:03 am The Future is Mobile, and Other Thoughts From Google CEO Eric Schmidt's Speech at ASNE [Voices]By Megan Garber, Contributor, Nieman Lab Yes, he got the inevitable “shouldn’t you pay content providers?” question from an audience member. And, yes, he gave the inevitable “most news organizations actually want the traffic we provide” answer. But for the most part, though it tread familiar territory, Google (GOOG) CEO Eric Schmidt’s speech last night — delivered to a packed half-ballroom at the American Society of News Editors conference in DC — was an impressive feat of rhetorical tight-rope-walking. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 13 Apr 2010 | 1:02 am Earthquake Prediction? There's an App For That [Voices]By Jeff Wise, Contributor, Popular Mechanics As part of their battle to understand and protect against the destructive force of earthquakes, seismologists have gone to extraordinary lengths. They have bored holes deep into the earth’s crust, laid out arrays of sensors hundreds of miles across, and built supercomputers capable of running simulations at teraflop speeds. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 13 Apr 2010 | 1:01 am Daily Crunch: Washed Ashore Edition
Conan gets a show on TBS
Source: CrunchGear | 13 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am Do You Have What It Takes to Do Business in China?China has historically been a tough market for foreign companies, and when it comes to doing business on the Internet, it's getting even tougher when it comes to doing business on the Internet. Here are...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 13 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am CNet Co-founder Tops California's List of Tax Infamy [Voices]By Nick Wingfield, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal Technology entrepreneur Halsey Minor has earned the dubious distinction of being named by California’s tax authorities as the state’s biggest tax delinquent. A list published by the California Franchise Tax Board on Friday says Minor–the co-founder of Internet media site CNet Inc. and several other companies–and his wife, Shannon Minor, owe $13.1 million in personal income taxes to the state. That’s nearly $5 million more than the next biggest tax delinquent in the state. In an email message, Minor said he had cash-flow issues that stem from moves by a lender to put liens on all his liquid assets, actions that he said are illegal and that he is now fighting in court. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 13 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am Twitter's Advertising Scheme is Delightfully Boring - Just As It Should BeWhy do people care how Twitter will make money? "We won't know where we, the users, fit in -- until they tell us how they're going to make money," Dave Winer wrote a year ago this week, "And when they...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 13 Apr 2010 | 12:58 am Astronauts take 3rd, final spacewalk of missionAstronauts are spacewalking again at the International Space Station in the third and final spacewalk of shuttle Discovery's mission. Rick Mastracchio and Clayton Anderson floated out...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 13 Apr 2010 | 12:27 am Mountain View trials revamped Google Docs - Register
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 13 Apr 2010 | 12:19 am Stratos Receives Advance Orders for Over 1,000 of Inmarsat's New Handheld IsatPhone ProSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 13 Apr 2010 | 12:00 am NTT Com to Offer Dual-stack Global IP-VPN Service WorldwideSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 13 Apr 2010 | 12:00 am Phantom Flex Can Capture 19201080 HD At 2800 FPSBy Andrew Liszewski It’s toys like this that make me miss attending the NAB broadcast show going on in Las Vegas right now. (It’s kind of like CES, but none of the electronics are consumer...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 12 Apr 2010 | 11:55 pm Why would anyone want to buy Palm? - BusinessWeek
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 12 Apr 2010 | 11:45 pm Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Hank WilliamsMeet the newest recipient of a special Pulitzer Prize citation. Damn right. I love this music. It reminds me of my Great-Granpa Frank and Granma Rosella, who'd be frankly tickled to hear Hank Williams won a Pulitzer. Plus: Special bonus cameos by June and Anita Carter! (Also, Stealth!Roy Acuff. Thanks for pointing that out, Suburbancowboy.) (Tip of the—wide-brimmed, natch—hat to Greg Mitchell for finding this footage. Fabbo!) Source: Boing Boing | 12 Apr 2010 | 11:39 pm Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Hank WilliamsMeet the newest recipient of a special Pulitzer Prize citation. Damn right. I love this music. It reminds me of my Great-Granpa Frank and Granma Rosella, who'd be frankly tickled to hear Hank Williams...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 12 Apr 2010 | 11:39 pm Twitter To Roll Out "Promoted Tweets": Initial Thoughts (Developing)(image from Ad Age) The NYT has broken news of Twitter's initial version of its native ad platform, which it is calling "Promoted Tweets." I will acknowledge being briefed on this news prior to its breaking,...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 12 Apr 2010 | 11:38 pm Netflix Now Streaming Movies to Your Wii (PC World)PC World - Instant streaming discs for the Wii are now being shipped to all eligible Netflix members who request them, Netflix said in a blog post Monday.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 12 Apr 2010 | 11:36 pm OhGizmo! Review Openmoko WikiReaderBy Andrew Liszewski When it was first announced last Fall, there wasn’t exactly a lot of enthusiasm for Openmoko’s WikiReader in the gadget blog community. I mean who needs to access an offline...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 12 Apr 2010 | 11:34 pm UPDATE 6-China's Sinopec to pay $4.65 bln for oil sands stake* Sinopec unit to buy ConocoPhillips' 9 pct Syncrude stakeSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Apr 2010 | 11:33 pm StarCraft Cheating Scandal Rocks Koreadotarray writes with this snippet: "The largest scandal in e-sports history is currently unfolding in Korea, with revelations that a number of current pro gamers are involved with match set-ups and illegal betting. While the gamers are un-named at this point, the story is said to touch many A-list StarCraft celebrities – including sAviOr, Ja Mae Yoon – one of the best-known and most successful players of all time."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 12 Apr 2010 | 11:27 pm UPDATE 2-Infosys cautious on recovery; flags currency risk* Q4 net down 0.9 pct to 16 bln rupees vs mkt fcast 16.05 blnSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Apr 2010 | 11:14 pm As Promised: Here Come the Twitter Ads [MediaMemo]
Starting today, the company will start running ads — it prefers the term “promoted tweets” — on its Twitter.com site. Down the road, the ads will show up in the third-party software that many Twitter users rely on to access the service. As I reported in March, the company is rolling out the service, modeled on Google’s AdWords (GOOG), in conjunction with a presentation that COO Dick Costolo is giving at an Ad Age conference in New York today. Topic of his keynote address: “How brands can work with Twitter”. And as I reported in February, Twitter’s ads will initially only show up in search results. That’s a tactic that limits both the ads’ reach and the possibility that they’ll upset users who are used to an ad-free stream. But depending on which report you read, Twitter is either debating whether to move the ads into users’ regular streams (Ad Age), or has already decided to do so (New York Times). The latter makes a lot more sense to me: If Twitter only showed ads to searchers, it may have a very difficult time reaching most of its users. That’s in part because Twitter’s search results are pretty lousy — if you don’t believe me, go ahead and try it yourself. And it’s in part because Twitter isn’t a search engine — it’s a media company that will make money by rounding up eyeballs and showing them marketing messages. That’s an important distinction, and one that Twitter itself has been loathe to acknowledge. But you can see it grudgingly accepting that reality now, as it moves to control more of its platform. But at the same time, Twitter needs the biggest possible audience for its ads. Which means it has to court the ecosystem of third-party developers it has encouraged over the years, so they’ll run the ads as well. That romancing got a lot more difficult last week, when the company scared the beejebus out of its developers. And it got more difficult yesterday, with the launch of TweetUp, a rival ad platform backed by serious players. So Twitter’s team has a lot of selling to do. That effort starts with advertisers in New York today, then switches to programmers in San Francisco on Wednesday. We’ll be covering both pitches, so stay tuned. Source: All Things Digital | 12 Apr 2010 | 11:07 pm Gruber: Apple Was Right, Adobe Get Over It [Video]
Daring Fireball’s John Gruber has unexpectedly emerged as a central figure in the Apple-Adobe fiasco. It was his treatise on “Why Apple Changed Section 3.3.1″ that launched a thousand tweets. And it was his post that Steve Jobs referenced when a developer requested comment (“We think John Gruber’s post is very insightful and not negative…Steve”). Whether you agree with Apple or not, it’s hard to argue with Gruber’s logic for Apple’s motivations. Today, we talked to Gruber via Skype. When asked for his response to Steve’s shout-out, Gruber meekly grinned and said, “I just smiled.” Thankfully, he saved his verbosity for the rest of the interview. We’ve included two clips, one focusing on his personal opinion on Apple’s decision and the fate of Adobe (above) and the second on how the iPad will influence the computer market and Apple’s future strategy (below). Some key highlights from the interview: On his personal opinion on Apple’s SDK agreement:
Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 12 Apr 2010 | 11:05 pm Moonwatch Concept Saves You The Effort Of Looking At The SkyBy Chris Scott Barr Many cultures throughout history have noted the significance of the lunar phases and their apparent roles in our lives. With so many different groups believing that our moon does more...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 12 Apr 2010 | 11:02 pm Infosys Technologies (Nasdaq: INFY) Announces Results for the Quarter and Year ended March 31, 2010Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Apr 2010 | 10:55 pm Infosys Technologies (Nasdaq: INFY) Announces Results for the Quarter and Year ended March 31, 2010BANGALORE, India, April 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Highlights Consolidated results for the quarter ended March 31, 2010 Revenues were $ 1,296 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2010; QoQ growth was 5.2%; YoY growth was 15.6% Net income after tax* was $ 349 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2010; QoQ growth was 4.5%; YoY growth was 8.7%Earnings per American Depositary Share (ADS)* was 0.61 for the quarter ended March 31, 2010; QoQ growth was 3.4%; YoY growth of 8.9% 47 clients were added during the quarter by Infosys and its subsidiariesGross addition of 9,313 employees (net addition of 3,914) for the quarter by Infosys and its subsidiaries113,796 employees as on March 31, 2010 for Infosys and its subsidiariesFinal dividend of Rs.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Apr 2010 | 10:55 pm Photoshop CS5 Beta - BusinessWeek
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 12 Apr 2010 | 10:41 pm Opera browser gets accepted for Apple iPhoneHELSINKI (Reuters) - Apple has accepted distribution of Opera Software's Internet browser at its App Store for iPhone after a long review, the Norwegian company said on Tuesday.Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Apr 2010 | 10:33 pm Opera browser gets accepted for Apple iPhoneHELSINKI, April 13 (Reuters) - Apple has accepted distribution of Opera Software's Internet browser at its App Store for iPhone after a long review, the Norwegian company said on Tuesday.Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Apr 2010 | 10:25 pm IBM Unveils Power7 Blades, New Edition of AIX (PC World)PC World - IBM is beefing up its server line-up with the first blades based on its Power7 processor, the company announced Tuesday. It is also introducing a new, low-end edition of its AIX operating system for smaller businesses and enterprises doing consolidation projects.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 12 Apr 2010 | 10:20 pm Opera Mini finally makes it to the App Store (Macworld.com)Macworld.com - Thereâs a new browser in town for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad users. Opera Software announced Monday that Apple approved an iPhone version of its Opera mini mobile browser. By Monday evening, the free browser was available for download from the App Store.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 12 Apr 2010 | 10:17 pm Dev variant Kin has a cooler color scheme
Although I grilled the man, he had nothing to add RE secret specs and unannounced features. Curse you, Microsoft, and your corporate compartmentalization!
Source: MobileCrunch | 12 Apr 2010 | 10:13 pm Investor Interest in Real Estate Triples in 12 MonthsCAMPBELL, Calif., April 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- According to a new Move, Inc., survey released today, interest in real estate as an investment has more than tripled in the past year.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Apr 2010 | 10:10 pm Full Details On Twitter’s Long-Awaited Ad Platform: Promoted Tweets
Here are the details outlined in the articles:
Both reports note that Twitter will eventually allow third party Twitter clients to integrate Promoted Tweets, with the app developer receiving a cut of the revenue. In a move that may raise the ire of Twitter users, the articles also state that Twitter plans to eventually put ads into your Twitter stream:
Now would be a good time to point out some of the comments made about the upcoming ad platform by Twitter COO Dick Costolo at our RealTime CrunchUp last November:
Do Promoted Tweets live up to that promise? At this point, we haven’t gotten a chance to try them out for ourselves, but this is certainly more conventional than I was expecting. It also sounds a whole lot like TweetUp, the new Twitter search/ad platform that Bill Gross launched last night. Image via AdAge Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 12 Apr 2010 | 10:08 pm Cisco's SlideHD Debuts: A Video Encounter of the Flip Kind [BoomTown]
Tonight, Cisco unveiled the latest version of its popular and innovative Flip digital video camera line, called the SlideHD. The new device, which can record up to four hours of HD video and store up to 12 hours of content, has a dramatic slide-up touchscreen and also a slide navigation bar. Because of it, the new Flip is much bulkier than the last version, the Mino, looking more like the earlier Ultras. Presumably, the reason for the new look is to offer a product that consumers can use for instant playback and also to hold more video. Cisco (CSCO) said the SlideHD will cost about $280. Here’s a video BoomTown did introducing my many old Flips to the new one: [ See post to watch video ] And here’s the official press release:
Source: All Things Digital | 12 Apr 2010 | 10:01 pm Ask CG: Best gaming notebook for around $2000
Funny you should ask, James. We’re arranging a round-up of all three of those, plus a few others right now. Stay tuned, but our commentors will no doubt lead you in the right path, too. Have a question you would like answered by the masses? Send it to us at tips@crunchgear.com.
Source: MobileCrunch | 12 Apr 2010 | 10:00 pm Recombinant Rhymer Encodes Poetry in DNACanadian poet Christian Bok is encoding a poem -- in the form of a string of nucleotides -- into the DNA of the hardy bacteria Deinococcus radiodurans in hopes that his work will live on ... and on.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 12 Apr 2010 | 10:00 pm April 13, 1953: CIA OKs MK-ULTRA Mind-Control TestsAmerica's top spy agency launches a supersecret project on mind control. It uses unwitting employees and citizens as test subjects. The stuff of James Bond novels? You bet.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 12 Apr 2010 | 10:00 pm Facebook May Be About To Jump Into The Virtual Currency Offers Game
We hear Facebook is partnering with a few startups to offer its own currency, Credits, to users. Facebook launched Credits last year and has slowly been ramping up the use of its virtual currency, most recently expanding its availability on Facebook’s most popular gaming app, Zynga’s Farmville. It’s unclear exactly when the offers will be rolling out or which startups the social network is partnering with in the offers, but we’re assuming the Facebook offers will make an appearance in games on the social network. And we hear that the offers platform will be a test at first. So why would Facebook get into the offers game? The virtual goods and currency market has heated up with the immense popularity of social gaming on Facebook, MySpace and other sites. The space is expected to grow into a $2 billion industry within the next few years and it makes sense that Facebook would want to open up a new revenue source for its new currency platform. Another reason that Facebook might do this is to have increased control over the types of offers that are served to users on the network. Facebook came under fire last year following the Scamville scandal, in which virtual currency monetization platforms were serving up scammy lead-gen offers to users. Shortly following Scamville, Facebook revamped its enforcement efforts around app advertising and offer scams. Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 12 Apr 2010 | 9:50 pm Google CEO says company tends to create enemies - Reuters
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 12 Apr 2010 | 9:09 pm Hollis Brown Thorton, Atari & Flower Wallpaper
Still life with Yars' Revenge, by Hollis Brown Thorton, available in desktop-wallpaper sizes alongside a healthy selection of similarly rustic game-y art at his flickr, some available in print via 20x200.Source: Boing Boing | 12 Apr 2010 | 9:02 pm IPad's Versatility Threatens to Sideline E-Readers - BusinessWeek
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 12 Apr 2010 | 9:02 pm Quick-switch fixed-gear hub lets you have your hipster fun without the commitment
Now, there are already some switcheroo hubs out there (okay, they’re not switcheroos, they’re flip-flops) but you have to get off and dechain in order to switch between fixed and free. There’s a time to get chain grease all over your hands, but in the middle of a ride is not it.
It looks like this one will let you pop between fixed and free with just a twist of the hub. You might get some grease on your fingertips there, but no one will notice. Too bad this hub costs $270!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (!!!!) though to be fair there are much more expensive bike parts out there that aren’t as cool, and these are precision parts. Order yours at Ben’s Cycle or elsewhere if you don’t like Ben. [via Doobybrain]
Source: CrunchGear | 12 Apr 2010 | 9:00 pm Jobs confirms original iPhone won't run iPhone OS 4 - CNET
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 12 Apr 2010 | 8:56 pm Source: Twitter’s Ad Platform Launches Tonight
Sponsored (or, paid) Twitter messages will appear above normal search results, says our source. And there may be an “Adsense” syndication format as well that third parties like Seesmic, TweetDeck, etc. can tap into for a revenue share. We were not briefed on the the new platform but we’ve heard that others were, there may be more details coming out shortly. The product will officially debut at Twitter’s Chirp conference on Wednesday. It was about a year ago that we said it was time to start thinking about Twitter as a search engine with search monetization mechanics. That’s the monetization model Twitter is betting on. Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 12 Apr 2010 | 8:56 pm Hands-on Video, First Impressions, and Speed Tests For Opera Mini On iPhone
Today was the day that pigs flew. Seemingly out of no where (or, arguably, perfectly timed to downplay all the rabble rousing surrounding some new terms added to the SDK), Opera Mini has been approved for the iPhone. It’s not going to be available in the US for a few more hours, but we were able to dig it up by tinkering around with some settings and, well, pretending we were somewhere else. I’m checking it out right this second, but I wanted to give you guys a really quick hands on demonstration, along with a few early impressions and speed tests, to tide you over until it’s available everywhere. Check it out after the break. Read the rest at MobileCrunch >>      
Source: TechCrunch | 12 Apr 2010 | 8:50 pm Google adds a touch of Microsoft to applications (AP)AP - Google has upgraded its online package of word processing and spreadsheet programs so they work even more like the Microsoft applications with which they're competing.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 12 Apr 2010 | 8:37 pm Euphonix to join the Avid collective as well
There’s nothing in the press release about continuing to offer the System 5 consoles. It rather sounds like they will be scrapped in favor of Avid’s ICON line. Current customers, worry not. The EuCon Ethernet protocol will continue to be supported, at least for the time being. So don’t go throwing out your gear quite yet. But be forewarned:
The deal should be closed by the end of this month. These guys are moving quick.
Source: CrunchGear | 12 Apr 2010 | 8:30 pm Google to Open Source the VP8 CodecSeveral reader noted Google's reported intention to open source the VP8 codec it acquired with On2 last February — as the FSF had urged. "HTML5 has the potential to capture the online video market from Flash by providing an open standard for web video — but only if everyone can agree on a codec. So far Adobe and Microsoft support H.264 because of the video quality, while Mozilla has been backing Ogg Theora because it's open source. Now it looks like Google might be able to end the squabble by making the VP8 codec it bought from On2 Technologies open source and giving everyone what they want: high-quality encoding that also happens to be open. Sure, Chrome and Firefox will support it. But can Google get Safari and IE on board?"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 12 Apr 2010 | 8:06 pm Hands-On Demo Video: Opera Mini for iPhone [Update: First Impressions, Speed tests!]
Today was the day that pigs flew. Seemingly out of no where (or, arguably, perfectly timed to downplay all the recent rabble rousing surrounding some new terms added to the SDK), Opera Mini has been approved for the iPhone. It’s not going to be available in the US for a few more hours, but we were able to dig it up by tinkering around with some settings and, well, pretending we were somewhere else. I’m checking it out right this second, but I wanted to give you guys a really quick hands on demonstration, along with a few early impressions and speed tests, to tide you over until it’s available everywhere. We’ll update this post with any impressions we’ve got, and basic Safari vs. Opera Mini load time test results. Update – First Impressions:
Update – Speed Tests: Our first speed tests are in.
On a 3G connection, Opera Mini is consistently and considerably faster than Safari. We only saw one site (Facebook) where Opera Mini wasn’t the clear victor, and the load times there were within about a second of each other. Both browsers had clear caches and histories, and all pages loaded were their standard PC versions (rather than their mobile-optimized counterparts).
WiFi results were strikingly similar to the 3G results, with all pages loading faster on Opera Mini than on Safari outside of Facebook, where Safari wins by a hair. The difference in page load times were considerably less vast on WiFi.
Source: MobileCrunch | 12 Apr 2010 | 7:59 pm Affordable hackintosh tablet from Axon Logic – too good to be true?
I’ve seen OS X running pretty well on netbooks, but will it play nice in this touch environment? Only one way to find out, but unfortunately that way is specifically forbidden by Apple’s license. You can’t put OS X on foreign hardware and neither can anyone else. I hate it too, but it’s part of the deal. Of course, what Apple doesn’t know won’t hurt them, and if you’re content to live without updates or support, then I think Axon Logic has a tablet for you. Of course, Apple isn’t going to make it easy for them, although they seem to think that including Snow Leopard as a “DIY kit” will avoid legal issue. Hmm. It’s supposedly coming out “in the next few months,” although the pretty rough concept shown above doesn’t bespeak a project far along in its design process. Maybe they have an awesome design and just don’t want to tell us about it. Or maybe they’re just a little company with a crazy idea that will never get off the ground. Either way, we’ll keep you posted if anything more shows up.
Source: CrunchGear | 12 Apr 2010 | 7:41 pm Eric Schmidt: Mobile Is The Future, And There’s No Such Thing As Communication Overload
The discussion covered a range of topics, including the security threat from China, Chrome OS, and Google’s future. Some key takeaways: Schmidt says that while many people associate Google with search, it’s fundamentally an information company, which is why it has undertaken initiatives in the enterprise, the browser, and mobile. He also says that despite the growing number of incoming information streams, there’s no such thing as communication overload (just watch a typical 18 year old, he says). Schmidt also underscored a theme that’s grown increasingly apparent over the last few years: the future of computing is mobile. Schmidt says that businesses should have their best developers working on their mobile applications. He also says that the interoperability and security of mobile devices will be key factors for large businesses a few years down the road. Below are my live notes from the interview: Q: How did Apps come to be an important part of the company? A: Much of the network computer was announced in 1997 and it didn’t work. What has changed? An enormous jump in technology. Sun in 1983 had a diskless computer. Google has announced a diskless computer this year, and they’re now much more powerful. Q: Why take these computers you’re making out to world? Why take your eye off the ball of your core competency search? A: People think of Google as a search company, but we’re really an information company. What’s interesting about these web apps is that you can do these sharing applications now. One of the new things about the web is that it enables sharing-sensitive apps. I think calendars are boring.. but I’m wrong. Because they’re shared quite often, people share their calendars quite a bit; spreadsheets are the same way. A: The key insight in these architectures is that you can have open exchange data interfaces. Applications are no longer these monolithic applications. Q: The nice thing about large IT apps… Q: Who is an interesting player here? Q: When you’re at scale, what are some of the things you’re seeing? Q: Let’s spend a minute on the future. On the product, inside the corporation. What kind of relationship you want with businesses, and your work with news computers, Chrome OS, the tablet. Q: What’s it going to cost? Q: IM video, voice. Is there such a thing as overkill in communication? Q: As CEO, what are you doing to help create spirit of innovation, culture of dot com environment. What are you doing to keep the spirit alive? Q: You alluded to breach/near breach with ‘advanced persistent threat’ (China). Are there security lessons you can share? Q: How do you see Google on the ground level, in those areas where despite conditions everyone has a mobile phone? Q: Where do you see Google in 3-5 years? Q: Warren Buffet says that when you acquire great wealth you find yourself in more interesting circles/situations. What are 1-3 things you’ve learned that have knocked your socks off? Q: Could you give me a thumbnail report of Google? Q: I’m from the Pentagon. I listened to Alan and Jeff speak about public, private cloud. What do we need to do to engage more to become more successful in gov/industry partnership? Q: What do you think are great skills/talents/areas of study these leaders should seek?      
Source: TechCrunch | 12 Apr 2010 | 7:36 pm MAINGEAR Quantum Shift workstation eats Adobe CS5 for breakfast
What that means is that you can have up to 3 Nvidia Quadro FX based cards, giving you a GPU accelerated system that can pretty much take whatever you can throw at it. This workstation was conceived and designed specifically for the new Adobe Creative Suite, and allows up to 30 FPS in Premiere Pro. Expect to pay a premium for a machine this fast though, the Quantum Shift starts around $3,399, and goes up from there depending on how you want it customized. From the press release:
Source: CrunchGear | 12 Apr 2010 | 7:30 pm Ask CG: Best gaming notebook for around $2000
Funny you should ask, James. We’re arranging a round-up of all three of those, plus a few others right now. Stay tuned, but our commentors will no doubt lead you in the right path, too. Have a question you would like answered by the masses? Send it to us at tips@crunchgear.com.
Source: CrunchGear | 12 Apr 2010 | 7:00 pm Apple approves Opera Mini iPhone app Good news for Opera (and its legions of fans around the world): the company has just announced that its mobile browser Opera Mini has been approved for iPhone and iPod touch on the App Store.
The app will be available as a free download within 24 hours, depending on which market you are located in.
The iPhone app was shown off by the Norwegian software company to a small circle of reporters at the most recent Mobile World Congress (us included). Opera then officially submitted Opera Mini for iPhone to the Apple App Store on March 23.
Source: MobileCrunch | 12 Apr 2010 | 6:42 pm Paramount tests frontier with `Star Trek' drives (AP)AP - Paramount Pictures is exploring a new frontier by participating in an offer to sell Seagate Technology hard drives with a copy of the latest "Star Trek" movie and 20 other films already on board.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 12 Apr 2010 | 6:27 pm Lenovo’s hybrid laptop-tablet U1 is approaching release
If it still costs a thousand smackers, Lenovo is going to find that they’ve got a bit of a hard sell on their hands. The tablet portion, while svelte, was nowhere near as slick and responsive as the iPad interface, though it was an interesting interface for sure. We’ll know more soon, I’m sure. [thanks for the tip, Derek]
Source: CrunchGear | 12 Apr 2010 | 6:16 pm Well, of course Google is working on a tablet
Stay with me, here. I mean, we can all admit that a Chrome OS tablet would be pretty limited if it really was to be just Google web apps. In the meantime they’ve got all this support for Android… but Android isn’t built for tablets. I guess if anyone can bridge the gap, it’s Google. A sort of crossover OS with access to Android apps but suitable for the larger form factor, multi-touch capabilities, and browser-centric tablet platform would be a natural step to take. Unfortunately, it’s a bit like aping Apple there — grow your mobile OS to fit the needs of a tablet OS. The best you can come up with is a sort of melange, as Apple seems to have shown. But can they sell that melange? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Source: CrunchGear | 12 Apr 2010 | 6:00 pm Supermicro Showcases New Twin Architecture Servers at IDF BeijingBEIJING, April 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- INTEL DEVELOPER FORUM -- Super Micro Computer, Inc.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Apr 2010 | 6:00 pm How to Chase Twisters, Hurricanes, LightningYou want to catch a twister on film? "It's less about chasing and more about intercepting," warns Jim Reed, an extreme-weather photographer.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 12 Apr 2010 | 6:00 pm DIY Artist Makes Modelscapes From Household ItemsThese captivating, lifelike scenes are surprisingly low-budget. From glaciers to forests to volcanoes, artist Matthew Albanese brings miniature worlds to life with his forced-perspective photography.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 12 Apr 2010 | 6:00 pm Lessons In Hardware / OS TroubleshootingEsther Schindler writes "We like to imagine that every Microsoft OS installation will work just as well as the company promises. When things don't work out, identifying and remedying the case of failure can be time-consuming and frustrating. This lesson in how to determine why Windows 7 didn't install may help you troubleshoot a problem of your own, and save you from a Lost Weekend. Maybe you'll find this account useful all on its own. But the real key here is that the author is Ed Tittel — who's written over 100 books. If this hardware geek spends days solving a CPU-meets-Windows 7 problem, what chance do mere mortals have?"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 12 Apr 2010 | 5:56 pm Surprise, Surprise: Opera Mini iPhone App Gets Apple’s Stamp Of Approval
Good news for Opera (and its legions of fans around the world): the company has just announced that its mobile browser Opera Mini has been approved for iPhone and iPod touch on the App Store. The app will be available as a free download within 24 hours, depending on which market you are located in. The iPhone app was shown off by the Norwegian software company to a small circle of reporters at the most recent Mobile World Congress (us included). Opera then officially submitted Opera Mini for iPhone to the Apple App Store on March 23, when we wondered out loud if it would ever be approved. The answer to that question is yes, contrary to what many believed would happen. I guess they can take that counter down now. Opera Software claims Opera Mini for iPhone is up to 6 times faster than the native browser thanks to its compression and server-side rendering technology, based on internal tests, and after having tried it at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona myself I have to say it’s definitely zooming. When the app was first submitted to Apple for approval, Opera told me that they had analyzed the App Store policies in great detail, and that they were completely certain of being 100% compliant – looks like they were right. Earlier today, Opera disclosed that it now counts over 100 million users, about half of which are using its mobile browser products. The company also offers Opera Mini 5 beta for Android phones. The iPhone app is already showing up for me here in Belgium, how about where you’re located? (Source: press release)
     
Source: TechCrunch | 12 Apr 2010 | 5:53 pm Attention Readers: Just in Time for Your New iPad, Free Movies!
Now for those of you who don’t fancy the idea of spending 40-hours a month in a cramped coach seat, there’s a cool new way to witness this knife’s edge between increasing stability and instability without leaving your laptop. It’s called AsiaPacificFilms.com and it’s basically a Netflix for Asian Pacific indie filmmakers. The service was born out of founder Jeannette Hereniko’s experience organizing film festivals. Frequently attendees would write to her and ask where they could see a certain film again and the honest answer for most was “You can’t, sorry.” Finally, using deep connections in the Asian film world, she decided to create a place where you could. I met Hereniko on my recent swing through Hawaii, and was captivated by her descriptions of how the painful-yet-rewarding route to modernization was playing itself out in art across Asia. I convinced her to give our readers a free one-month trial. Go to AsiaPacificFilms.com and enter TechCrunch2010 to redeem it. The company has raised just $350,000 in angel funding to date, and is in the process of There’s a complex tech-and-cultural cocktail of reasons why including the availability of cheaper film and editing equipment, availability to get an audience through non-traditional Internet means, and the whole globalization movement creating real ties between the West and the rest. And, says Hereniko, this very same angst, hopefulness, creation and destruction of national identity that emerging markets are going through gives endless content fodder. Urbanization, disparity between rich and poor and dramatic social change is the reoccurring theme in most of the films she’s seeing, across a host of countries. To get you started here are a few of Hereniko’s own suggestions. I plan on checking out each of these during my upcoming 20-plus hour flights, along with “The Land Has Eyes,” a film Hereniko and her husband (both pictured above) produced that was Fiji’s 2006 official submission to the Academy Awards. Black Snow, directed by Xie Fei, China (1990), follows the experience of a 24 year old man who comes out of a prison and finds the new Beijing, a city that has changed beyond his recognition. Women from the Lake of Scented Souls, directed by Xie Fei, China (1993), is about a female entrepreneur in rural China, who embraces the economic reforms, but still must deal with the age-old conservatism of rural China. Kaal (Our Time) directed by Bappaditya Bandopadhvay, India (2009), follows four women living in poverty in rural India who are lured by the promise of a financially prosperous life in the big city. Women Come Out of the House, directed by Manijeh Hekmat Iran, (2005) is a short (24 minutes) documentary from Iran featuring Shirin Ebadi who won the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize award for her efforts promoting human rights in Iran. It presents a realistic picture of shifting identities for Iranian women and the conflicts it brings. Act of War: The Overthrow of the Hawaiian Nation, directed by Joan Lander, Hawaii, (1993) tells the little-known history of how globalization and colonialism changed and continues to change the values and life style of the Hawaiian people.      
Source: TechCrunch | 12 Apr 2010 | 5:47 pm Kin and Zune HD are… kin, when it comes to chipset
Source: MobileCrunch | 12 Apr 2010 | 5:46 pm Plextor has a NAS of its own in the PX-NAS2
Plextor, Plextor… Seems they have a new Network Attached Story for you to consider. It’s the PX-NAS2, and it’s the company’s first NAS. Two bays in this bad boy—that means you can slip two hard drives in there, if you please. A NAS is a NAS, yes, so there’s not too much to the PX-NAS2. You stick the hard drives in there (or get a model that includes hard drives right from the get-go), plug it into your network, and off you go. “Of you go” means you can see and share documents all over your network from the same NAS. There’s the standard backup software (Memeo, for the record) that will automatically backup all your stuff to the NAS. She’s DLNA 1.5 certified, so there. The plain old model, without hard drives, costs $225, one with two 500GB drives is $355, and one with two, 1TB drives will set you back $565.
Source: CrunchGear | 12 Apr 2010 | 5:30 pm Get your friends to join EFF, go to Defcon!The good folks at Defcon have donated a wicked goodie-bag worth of prizes for an Electronic Frontier Foundation contest. You win by talking your friends into joining EFF.Just register for the Defcon Getaway Fundraising Contest and receive a personalized referral link to send your friends and family. (Registration is free; please don't spam.) If your invitees become EFF members, you will be credited the amount they donate through the link. The contestant to raise the most money for EFF between now and June 30, 2010, will win:EFF Proudly Presents the First Annual Defcon Getaway Fundraising Contest!
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing | 12 Apr 2010 | 5:24 pm First Direct Recording of Mirror Neurons in Human BrainSuch cells appear to have wider distribution than previously thoughtMirror neurons, many say, are what make us human. They are the cells in the brain that fire not only when we perform a particular action but also when we watch someone else perform that same action.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Apr 2010 | 5:17 pm Moths Have Complicated Sex LivesTo look at the tobacco budworm moth and its close cousin, you wouldn’t be able to tell the fuzzy-looking, fingertip-size moths apart.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Apr 2010 | 5:15 pm MIT Creates ‘Surround Vision’ for TVs
MIT researchers have a found way to use augmented reality to bring TVs and cellphones together so viewers can watch more than just what’s playing right in front of them. The technology, called ‘Surround Vision,’ uses footage taken from different angles so when someone points their phone beyond the edge of the TV screen, they can see the additional content on their mobile device. For instance, Surround Vision could allow a guest at a Super Bowl party to check out different camera angles of a play, without affecting what other guests see on the screen, says MIT. Or viewers could use it to see alternate takes of a scene while watching a movie. “This could be in your home next year if a network decided to do it,” says Media Lab research scientist Michael Bove who’s working on the project. Augmented reality tries to enhance the physical world by overlaying virtual computer generated elements on it. Over the last one year, a number of apps designed especially for phones have emerged where all users have to do is point their phones at a physical object to get more information on their phones. MIT’s breakthrough extends that idea. The Surround Vision prototype, built by MIT, added a magnetometer (compass) to an existing phone, since the accelerometer included in many phones is not sensitive enough to detect the subtle motion that comes from pointing a phone to the left or right of a TV screen. And as MIT’s video below shows, the software incorporates the data gathered from the compass and integrates it with the phone’s other sensors so viewers get an enhanced picture. To test it, Santiago Alfaro, a graduate student in the lab who’s leading the project, shot video footage of a street from three angles simultaneously. A TV plays the the footage from the center camera. When a viewer points a phone directly at the TV, the same footage appears on the device’s screen. But if the phone is aimed to the right or the left, then it switches to another perspective. If the system were commercialized, the video playing on the handheld device would stream over the internet, says Alfaro. Over the next few months, Alfaro says MIT Media Lab will test the system using sports broadcasts and children’s shows. See Also:
Photo: Melanie Gonick/MIT 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 12 Apr 2010 | 5:08 pm Red-Light Camera Ticket Revenue and Short YellowsNicknamesAreStupid writes "A Fort Meyers news station reports a nerdy husband getting his wife out of a red-light camera ticket by proving the light was set with too short of a yellow. Then he goes out and proves that nearly 90% of the lights are set an average of about 20% too short. Is this a local incident, or have local governments nationwide found a new revenue source? What puzzles me is how a single picture can tell if you ran a light. If you are in the intersection before the light turns red, you have not run it, even if it takes a little while to clear it (say to yield to an unexpected obstacle). Wouldn't you need two pictures — one just before the light went red showing you are not in the intersection, and another after the light went red showing you in the intersection?"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 12 Apr 2010 | 5:06 pm MeeGo project garners new industry participants
In some ways, the list of companies pledging support for MeeGo reads more like a “who was” and less like a “who’s who”. It’s clear that at least some of these companies are glomming onto MeeGo in a bid to remain relevant as the Linux market matures.
Source: CrunchGear | 12 Apr 2010 | 5:00 pm Review: Wireless picture transfers faster than ever with Eye-Fi Pro X2 upgrade (Christopher Null)Christopher Null - One of the best little gizmos any shutterbug can buy for his or her camera is an Eye-Fi card. The Eye-Fi looks like any old SD storage card, but in reality it's much, much more. Put simply, a tiny wireless radio inside frees your camera from the hassles of the cord or from having to take the card out and plop it into your PC — leaving you then to figure out which pictures you haven't downloaded yet.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 12 Apr 2010 | 4:59 pm Ultra Clean to Announce First Quarter ResultsHAYWARD, Calif., April 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Apr 2010 | 4:56 pm Wired's robotic spider gallery
Wired.com has a fun gallery of robotic spiders and critters. This one, created by Stanford mechanical engineer Sangbae Kim, was based on a cockroach. It has an aluminum chassis, an electronic motor, and a power-transmission system that allows it to move up to about seven and a half feet per second. Source: Boing Boing | 12 Apr 2010 | 4:52 pm Woman Creates 3-D Erotic Book For the BlindLisa J. Murphy has written an erotic book with tactile images for that special visually impaired porn connoisseur in your life. Tactile Mind contains explicit softcore raised images, along with Braille text and photos. From the article: "A photographer with a certificate in Tactile Graphics from the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, Murphy learned to create touchable images of animals for books for visually impaired children. Then she realized that there was a lack of such books for adults only. 'There are no books of tactile pictures of nudes for adults, at least the last time I looked around,' says Murphy. 'We're breaking new ground. Playboy has [an edition with] Braille wording, but there are no pictures.' She says that while we live in a culture saturated with sexual images, the blind have been 'left out.'"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 12 Apr 2010 | 4:49 pm Stars budding near the Rosette Nebula: new image from Herschel Space Observatory
From NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory today, this gorgeous new image from The Herschel Space Observatory: "a cosmic garden of budding stars, each expected to grow to 10 times the mass of our sun." The image was taken using infrared light by Herschel, a European Space Agency mission with important NASA participation. More here, including higher-resolution formats. (thanks, Whitney Clavin) Hands On with iPhone OS 4 - PC Magazine
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 12 Apr 2010 | 4:42 pm Skyline's DirectFED Payment Solutions to Demonstrate Recently Launched Proprietary E-check Processor, CheckAlt(TM) at the Electronics Transactions Association Meeting and ExpoLOS ANGELES, April 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Skyline's DirectFED Payment Solutions, formerly Skyline DATA, will be exhibiting the company's remote deposit capture system and its proprietary CheckAlt(TM) transaction processor at the Electronics Transactions Association (ETA) Meeting and Expo in Las Vegas, Nev., April 13 - 15. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100226/NY61423LOGO ) CheckAlt(TM), the company's proprietary e-check transaction processor engine that provides the fastest and most secure form of electronic payment for businesses will be demonstrated at the ETA.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Apr 2010 | 4:38 pm Teenage prostitutes don't want to end up like their parentsIn a recent survey conducted in Aichi Prefecture in Japan, 70% of teenage prostitutes said (in Japanese) they didn't want to end up in family lives like their parents. via @jakeadelsteinSource: Boing Boing | 12 Apr 2010 | 4:33 pm IBM Expands Lead In New Report On Key Middleware Software Market SegmentARMONK, N.Y., April 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- IBM has announced that WinterGreen Research has once again named IBM (NYSE: IBM) as the world's number one vendor based on market share for service oriented architecture (SOA), a critical segment within the overall middleware software market.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Apr 2010 | 4:22 pm Scrubbing IDs Out of Medical Records for Genetic StudiesScientists develop an algorithm that can anonymize medical records, while leaving information that's relevant for genetic studies of disease.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 12 Apr 2010 | 4:20 pm Flash CS5 First Look: Adobe Drops a Hefty Update Into Stormy WatersWe take a first look at Flash Professional CS5, the latest version of Adobe's multimedia publishing app which includes improvements across the board. Just don't expect your creations to work on the iPad.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 12 Apr 2010 | 4:18 pm Aussie Army Trains With Fleet of Robots On Segwayskkleiner writes "The armed forces of the world have already begun to hunt down and shoot robots. No, it's not the beginning of the man-machine war; it's a state-of-the-art training simulation that's very cool to watch. Australia-based Marathon Robotics has taken Segways and turned them into human-shaped autonomous robots capable of moving around streets and buildings just like people in a crowd! The Marathon bots can act like insurgents, hostages, or civilians, letting armed soldiers practice before being exposed to the real thing. The Australian Department of Defense already has a training camp using the robots, and the US Marine Corps will be establishing one this year."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 12 Apr 2010 | 4:18 pm EducationDynamics Acquires Education Connection ServicesHOBOKEN, N.J.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Apr 2010 | 4:07 pm South Korea Announces Daily MMO Blackouts For Youthseldavojohn writes "GamePolitics reports that South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism has announced two new policies that will force underage gamers to pick a six-hour block of time (midnight-6 AM,1-7 AM, or 2-8 AM) where they will not be able to play 19 online role-playing games. While it targets most popular MMORPGs, some popular games like Lineage were left off the list."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 12 Apr 2010 | 3:55 pm Hands-On: Can Kin Phones Make Microsoft Cool Again?
Microsoft’s new Kin phone sits between two worlds. It isn’t really a smartphone — there’s no access to apps, games, document editing or viewing — but it’s more than a feature phone. It integrates social networking updates, news feeds and contacts, in a way that aims to be hip and cool. And Kin just about manages to pull it off, but only if you buy into the idea that there are hordes of consumers hungry to have every bit of Facebook or MySpace broadcast to (and from) their phones in near real-time. The Kin phones — the squat, compact Kin One and the bigger Kin Two — will launch exclusively on Verizon Wireless next month in the United States and on Vodafone in Europe later this year. There’s no word on pricing yet for these phones. I spent a few minutes with both models during Microsoft’s launch event today, and my first impression is that it’s well-aimed at its target market. Assuming you are one of those people who lives and breathes Facebook or MySpace, the Kin might not be a bad phone to have. Its industrial design is interesting (especially the smaller Kin One model), has respectable hardware under the cover and sports a pretty user interface.
Hardware for the masses
Kin is the culmination of Microsoft’s two-year project codenamed “Pink.” The Kin phones have been manufactured by Sharp, which also produced the original set of Sidekick phones. That’s no coincidence, since the Sidekick was developed by Danger, a handset maker that Microsoft acquired in 2008. The Sidekick, originally launched in 2002, became a popular hit among text-happy teenagers, although it was never taken seriously as a smartphone. A data-center glitch that wiped out many T-Mobile Sidekick users’ data in 2009 may have been the final nail in the Sidekick’s coffin. Now it looks like Microsoft wants to update the Sidekick’s M.O. for a new decade. The smaller Kin One has a 2.6-inch display and a 5-megapixel camera, while Kin Two has a 3.6- inch screen and a 8-megapixel camera. Both phones have a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. The Kin One is almost the size of a lady’s compact. It’s an interesting form factor that does get your attention and fits well in the hand. The Kin Two is a standard candy-bar shape. The devices are lightweight, but they have a cheap “plasticky” feel to them. Buttons on the QWERTY keyboard, though raised, are difficult to use. Overall, there’s no feeling of luxury here. That said, the Kin is not entirely lacking in tech firepower. The phones run Nvidia’s Tegra processor and feel pretty zippy. The touchscreens are responsive and the displays are bright. The cameras are easy to use and the built-in flashes meant the photos shot in low light (at the bar where Microsoft launched the device) were just a tad better than what I could get with my iPhone 3G. User interface built around social networkingThe Kin phones have three home screens. The first screen offers access to e-mail, messages, phone, news feeds, photos, music and the browser. Swipe to the left and the next screen throws up a stream of status messages updated from contacts and your news feeds. This screen, called the Loop, is the home screen for the device, says Microsoft. The Loop screen connects to four social networks: Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and Windows Live. And, you can go to your contacts list — which is drawn from all the social networking sites that you have added on the device — and mark some people as favorites. Their status updates will get prioritized on the Loop screen. The Loop feels a lot like MotoBlur, Motorola’s custom skin for Android, or HTC’s Sense UI, but it is easier to navigate. That doesn’t mean it’s not a visual overload. Loud colors like lime green and bright pink make you feel like you have had a few magic mushrooms, while photos, status updates and news headlines all jostle for attention. You’ll feel like you need a can of Red Bull just to keep up. The third screen shows the contacts you’ve marked as favorites. Instead of a stream of updates, it just shows the most recent status update from each one. One well-designed feature is the sharing button on the phone. Called the Kin Spot, it lets you share almost anything — photos, texts, web pages — by just holding on it for a second or two and then dragging it to a small circle at the bottom of the display. When you’re ready to publish, you tap that circle icon to see all your shared items. From there you can sent them as e-mail, texts or picture messages. Music, movies and extras
Finally, the Kin phones integrate Zune, Microsoft’s elegant but struggling attempt to get into the digital-music service business. The music player on the Kin devices use the same impressive interface as the Zune HD. And those 5 percent of users who have a Zune pass can sync the music already on their Zune players with the Kin phones, either wirelessly or by hooking the phone up to a PC. Microsoft is also counting on Kin Studio, a service that syncs the phone to a password-protected website where your photos, videos, messages and even call history get backed up. It offers unlimited storage in the cloud for free. That means if you click more photos than what your phone can store on the device, it just gets moved to the cloud but not deleted. Deleting anything on the phone, though, means it will be gone from both the device and the online site. Kin Studio includes a neat visual timeline feature, where you can use the slider to go back month by month and see what was on your phone at any given time. The phone’s web browser doesn’t support Adobe Flash or Microsoft’s Silverlight. Overall, the Kin phones aren’t particularly innovative or fresh, but they will help put Microsoft back in the mobile game. If Microsoft and Verizon can get the pricing right on these devices (under $100 with an attractively priced data plan) then they might just be able to sell a few million of these to teens and Facebook fiends. Top two photos: Jim Merithew/Wired.com. Bottom photo: Microsoft 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 12 Apr 2010 | 3:44 pm Hands-On: Can Kin Phones Make Microsoft Cool Again?Microsoft launches two new phones designed for social networking fiends. Wired.com gets some hands-on time with the phones. Here are our first impressions.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 12 Apr 2010 | 3:44 pm Hands-On: Can Kin Phones Make Microsoft Cool Again?Microsoft launches two new phones designed for social networking fiends. Wired.com gets some hands-on time with the phones. Here are our first impressions.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 12 Apr 2010 | 3:44 pm Zombie birthday cake Jana sez, "Check out this fantastic zombie girl birthday cake (complete with brain!) a mom made for her daughter's 8th birthday! Pretty sure she's the coolest mom ever." Oh, I do concur. There, comrades, is an eight year old on the path to a mighty and fearsome happy mutanthood. Zombie Girl with Brain cake in 3-D (Thanks, Jana!)
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing | 12 Apr 2010 | 3:36 pm Where To Start In DIY Electronics?pyrosine writes "I've been thinking about this for a while and have no idea where to start. I have little or no previous experience in electronics — just what is covered in GCSE physics (wiring a plug and resistors — not much, I know). The majority of my interest lies in the wireless communication side of the field — i.e. ham radios and CB — but I am also interested in how many things work, one example being speakers, simply to better understand it. I would preferably like to start with some form of practical guide rather than learning the theory first, but where I would find such a walkthrough eludes me."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 12 Apr 2010 | 3:36 pm Is Apple Closing Off the iPhone to Rival Ad Networks? [MediaMemo]
That’s how some competitors are interpreting a clause in the developer agreement Apple released last week when it announced the new operating system that will power its mobile devices. They’re concerned about language in the contract that seems to ban apps from transmitting data that third-party ad networks would use to track their ads’ performance. If they’re right, Apple’s contract would severely handicap rival “in-app” ad networks–like Google’s AdMob–without formally banning them. “Ads don’t exist without analytics,” says a mobile ad executive. “Can’t measure it, can’t bill for it.” The language in Apple’s agreement that worries ad networks also seems to cause problems for companies that only sell analytics, like Adobe’s Omniture. I’ve included the full text of Section 3.3.9, which falls under the “User Interface, Data Collection, Local Laws and Privacy” section of Apple’s agreement, at the bottom of this post. But here’s what seems to be the crucial bit: “Notwithstanding anything else in this Agreement, Device Data may not be provided or disclosed to a third party without Apple’s prior written consent. Accordingly, the use of third party software in Your Application to collect and send Device Data to a third party for processing or analysis is expressly prohibited.” As I understand it, Apple is arguing that app makers can’t pass along information that incorporates each phone’s “unique device identifier” to ad networks and measurement companies. This doesn’t expressly prohibit ad networks from selling ads, but it prevents them from selling targeted advertising, which is close to the same thing when it comes to mobile devices. The same problem would plague analytics companies, which might be able to compile very broad usage info about apps, but little else. I’ve asked Apple (AAPL) for comment, but haven’t heard back. I’m also waiting to hear from Adobe (ADBE), which is already battling Apple over a clause in the developer contract that more or less prohibits its Flash standard, and Google (GOOG), which has been cheering on Apple’s entry into mobile ads. I did talk to Peter Farago, who runs marketing for Flurry, a mobile app analytics company; he says Flurry executives noticed the language in the contract when it was released last Thursday and have been trying to figure it out since then. Farago says Flurry is worried, but figures there will be some way to work with Apple. “It’s too early to tell. No one’s freaking out,” he says. “There’s more to understand about it, and we’re dialoguing with Apple about it, but it looks we may have to modify the way we collect and distribute information.”
Source: All Things Digital | 12 Apr 2010 | 3:35 pm Iowa teen crafts prom dress from gum wrappersA teenager in Iowa made her prom dress — and a matching vest for her date — out of blue gum wrappers. It's actually kind of pretty!Source: Boing Boing | 12 Apr 2010 | 3:34 pm Hardware remote focus knob for DSLRs – that attaches to your iPhone
Looks like you can also control aperture, zoom, and whatever else is compatible with RedRock Micro’s microRemote system, likely depending mostly on your camera make and model.
Source: MobileCrunch | 12 Apr 2010 | 3:30 pm Steve Jobs Debates Developers Over Apple’s New App Policy
Controversy erupted around a change Apple made last week to its iPhone developer agreement, and now even company CEO Steve Jobs has waded into the fray. A new clause in the iPhone developer agreement (clause 3.3.1) stipulates that iPhone apps may not be written with anything except Apple’s approved programming languages, including Objective C and C++. The rule would effectively ban apps that were written on third-party platforms, such as Adobe Flash, and subsequently converted into native iPhone code. Apple and its supporters claim that the policy change will ensure long-term quality of apps in the App Store, while critics argue that Apple is attempting to hold software developers hostage in order to stifle the growth of competing platforms such as Google Android. “It’s an obvious lock-in strategy,” said Greg Slepak, CEO of iPhone development house Tao Effect, in an interview with Wired.com today. “They are locking [developers] in by making it difficult to convert their applications from a different platform. I think that is not a smart move. It’s going to piss people off or drive developers away.” Slepak was mad enough about the policy that he wrote Jobs directly to complain. Over the weekend, the CEO replied. “We’ve been there before, and intermediate layers between the platform and the developer ultimately produces sub-standard apps and hinders the progress of the platform,” Jobs wrote in an e-mail response to Slepak’s inquiry about the new clause. Jobs is alluding to the traditional desktop environment, in which operating systems such as Mac OS X or Microsoft Windows support software coded with various third-party platforms. Some argue that compatibility issues caused by third-party platforms, such as Adobe’s Flash, can cause bugs in an operating system that are beyond the control of the creator of the OS. Indeed, Jobs has a number of times made clear his hatred for Flash, calling it a buggy platform responsible for frequent browser crashes in Mac OS X. The consensus among the programming community is that the biggest target of clause 3.3.1 is Adobe, which today released its CS5 software, which includes a feature that automatically converts Flash software into iPhone apps.
Adobe is well aware of the implications of the new iPhone developer agreement, and one of its employees last week issued a colorful response. “The fact that Apple would make such a hostile and despicable move like this clearly shows the difference between our two companies,” wrote Adobe’s Flash evangelist Lee Brimelow. “Go screw yourself, Apple.” And Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch ridiculed Apple in a video published by All Things D over the weekend, in which he predicted future versions of Apple’s developer agreement would require programmers to “build applications by typing with one hand and swinging a chicken above your head.” The debate over the policy change continued to carry on this week. Louis Gerbarg, developer of GLsoft.mobi, published a blog post in which he elaborated on and defended Apple’s stance. He drew a hypothetical scenario in which 20,000 iPhone apps coded with Flash crashed because of a bug in Adobe’s CS5 tools. In that situation, Apple would have to defer to Adobe to fix the problem. As a result, Apple would cede some control of the iPhone platform to Adobe, and Apple’s efforts to innovate could be slowed down. “We don’t want to be in a situation where in order to fix a bug we’re waiting for Adobe to give us a new seed of Flash,” Gerbarg told Wired.com in a phone interview. Tao Effect’s Slepak disagreed. He explained that in the context of the iPhone’s sandbox system, conversion frameworks are designed to link against Apple’s iPhone APIs and compile properly with Apple’s tools. And even if Apple wished to push out major innovations for the iPhone platform, Apple wouldn’t be able to radically change its current APIs, because that would break all iPhone apps that use those APIs. Therefore, it’s unlikely Apple would radically change its APIs , and the concern about a third-party such as Adobe keeping up is moot, Slepak said. “Every iPhone developer is linking against Apple’s stuff, and Apple still has to make sure that stuff doesn’t change too much,” Slepak said. “The argument here that Apple would have another burden to share with some other company — I don’t think it’s a very valid argument.” Matt Drance, owner of iPhone development company Bookhouse and a former Apple employee who helped evangelize the iPhone platform, said he believes Apple is attempting to safeguard its iPhone OS. He noted that several third-party platforms — such as Appcelerator, Monotouch and now Flash CS5 — are offering iPhone-app-conversion tools that could gradually erode the quality of the platform by attracting the “lowest common denominator” of programmers. “Every couple of weeks there’s a new person popping up who’s going to potentially skew the development landscape,” Drance said. “I don’t think there’s anything cynical about it at all. I think Apple feels genuinely threatened by these toolkits.” See Also:
Photo: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 12 Apr 2010 | 3:20 pm Steve Jobs Debates Developers Over Apple's New App PolicySteve Jobs over the weekend defended Apple's new iPhone app policy, arguing it will improve overall quality of apps in the App Store. Several iPhone developers weigh in with their thoughts.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 12 Apr 2010 | 3:20 pm Steve Jobs Debates Developers Over Apple's New App PolicySteve Jobs over the weekend defended Apple's new iPhone app policy, arguing it will improve overall quality of apps in the App Store. Several iPhone developers weigh in with their thoughts.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 12 Apr 2010 | 3:20 pm Ben Horowitz And Fred Wilson Debate Fat Versus Lean Startups At TC Disrupt
Most entrepreneurs take it for granted these days that the best way to run a startup is lean and mean. It is a badge of honor to be able to take a startup as far as you can with as little capital as possible. But is that always the best strategy? At our upcoming Disrupt conference in New York City (May-24-26, buy tickets here), VCs Ben Horowitz and Fred Wilson will debate both sides of the coin. Actually, they will be continuing onstage what they’ve already started on their blogs.
Horowitz sparked the debate when he wrote The Case For The Fat Startup. Reflecting on his experience as CEO of Loudcloud/Opsware (which he founded with Marc Andreessen and sold to HP for $1.6 billion, but only after raising $346 million and ditching its first business), Horowitz argues:
Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures responded with his own post, Being Fat Is Not Healthy. Wilson cautioned that in his experience investing in more than 100 startups (including recently Twitter, Zynga, Etsy, and Foursquare) it is better to build the product first, and get the boatloads of cash later (if you need it). He responds:
Horowitz, of course, offered a rebuttal. (By the way, at Andreesen Horowitz his biggest investment in Skype). It was getting heated, so we invited them to work it out at Disrupt. Actually, Om Malik gave me the idea for the debate (thanks, Om). He will also be joining us as a speaker, along with Steve Case, Ron Conway, Jack Dorsey, and Charlie Rose. And of course, there will also be a startup competition. (Find out how to become a sponsor or exhibitor). Fred Wilson photo by Randy Stewart.      
Source: TechCrunch | 12 Apr 2010 | 3:18 pm Jason West and Vincent Zampella's new call of duty - Los Angeles Times
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 12 Apr 2010 | 3:14 pm Google Plans To Expand Cloud Computing Services
So what does that mean? Google doesn’t want to keep expanding into commoditized services like online storage. Instead, it wants to offer services that go beyond those, allowing developers to tap into Google technology that they haven’t previously had access to. One example that came up during the roundtable was to give developers access to Google’s automated translation services, which can translate Email and webpages with a fair amount of accuracy almost instantly. That’s about as detailed as the roundtable got, but we’ve heard elsewhere that Google is considering a variety of other value-added services. One of these could include online video encoding as a service; another could focus on location/geo services. It sounds like Google is still considering which features it wants to offer and we don’t have a timetable. But it’s quite clear that we’ll be hearing more about this soon (and remember, Google I/O is just over a month away). Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 12 Apr 2010 | 3:03 pm Malware Scam Threatens to Sue BitTorrent DownloadersBitTorrent users are being targeted with a malware scam that demands they cough up serious cash to pay for unlawfully downloaded content. The shakedown notice even says it's from the Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording Industry Association of America.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 12 Apr 2010 | 2:57 pm Robocopter Test Flight Leads to Cocaine BustOur tech writer Eric Bland pointed me to this story today in The Register: a Navy-operated pilotless helicopter, called Fire Scout, was engaged in a routine test flight when its mothership, the USS McInerney, detected a speedboat on its radar. ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 12 Apr 2010 | 2:53 pm Hitting computers with rocks: the history of publishing
From the early days of computerized publisher, Tor editor Patrick Nielsen Hayden explains the mystical thing they did with the rock: "For years, Tor had one computer: an IBM PC AT with an amber monitor. Towards the end of its life, in the late 1980s, it could only be rebooted by smartly hitting its CPU on the side with a particular rock. Several people shared the computer and each person had his or her own style of rock banging, and over time, the side of the CPU gradually bowed in due to repeated impacts.
Claire Eddy still has the rock, kept in a high place of honor in her office."
The Sacred Rock of Tor
Photoshop Upgrade Promises New Tricks, TimesaversPhotoshop CS5 contains new features, such as Content Aware Fill, that make it look like it will be a worthwhile upgrade.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 12 Apr 2010 | 2:45 pm T3 Communications Launches New Indirect Channel Partner ProgramFORT MYERS, Fla., April 12 /PRNewswire/ -- T3 Communications, a Fort Myers, FL-based telecommunications and technology provider, announced today the release of their new Indirect Channel Partner Program.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Apr 2010 | 2:34 pm Micromem Secures Short Term Financing and Completes Private PlacementTORONTO and NEW YORK, April 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Micromem Technologies Inc.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Apr 2010 | 2:30 pm KLA-Tencor Announces Live Webcast of Review of Third Quarter Fiscal Year 2010 ResultsMILPITAS, Calif., April 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- KLA-Tencor Corporation (Nasdaq: KLAC), the world's leading supplier of process control and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related industries, today announced that the company will provide a live audio webcast of a conference call to review its third quarter fiscal year 2010 results on Thursday, April 29, 2010 at 2:00 p.m.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Apr 2010 | 2:30 pm Long-distance Larvae Race To New Undersea Vent HomesWorking in a rare, "natural seafloor laboratory" of hydrothermal vents that had just been rocked by a volcanic eruption, scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and other institutions have discovered what they believe is an undersea superhighway carrying tiny life forms unprecedented distances to inhabit the post-eruption site.One such "pioneer species," Ctenopelta porifera, appears to have traveled over 300 kilometers to settle at the site on the underwater mountain range known as the East Pacific Rise.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Apr 2010 | 1:59 pm Greco-Roman Tombs Discovered In EgyptThe future home of an Egyptian youth center became a hotbed of archaeology as diggers unearthed 14 tombs dating back to the third century BC, including one with a female mummy decorated in jewelry.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Apr 2010 | 1:39 pm Changes In Crop Acres Since Freedom To FarmThe 1996 U.S. Farm Bill eliminated many acreage restrictions, thereby allowing farmers to plant what they believe to be their most competitive crops.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Apr 2010 | 1:28 pm Nuclear Summit 2010: It's Kind of a Big DealWorld leaders and top officials from 47 countries will descend on Washington, D.C., this week for a conference on how to halt the production of nuclear weapons and keep them out of the wrong hands. (For a comprehensive guide to ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 12 Apr 2010 | 1:16 pm Deciphering The Mysteries Of An Ancient Seafloor GoliathImage 1: This is the scientific research vessel JOIDES Resolution in Yokohama, Japan, Sept. 7, 2009, preparing to embark on Shatsky Rise expedition. Credit: John Beck, IODP/TAMUImage 2: Curator Chad Broyles (IODP-USIO/Texas A&M University; back to camera), Expedition Project Manager and Staff Scientist Jörg Geldmacher (IODP-USIO/Texas A&M University), Co-Chief Scientist Takashi Sano (National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo, Japan), and Co-Chief Scientist Will Sager (Texas A&M University, USA) discuss a core recovered from Shatsky Rise. Credit: John Beck, IODP/TAMUImage 3: Crew onboard scientific research vessel JOIDES Resolution prepares to deploy an underwater camera system in preparation for drilling at one of five sites at Shatksy Rise off the coast of Japan. Credit: John Beck, IODP/TAMUSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Apr 2010 | 12:54 pm Hands-On with the Kin 1 and Kin 2 [Update: Video]
After years of rumors, hearsay, and leaks, we’ve finally gotten the opportunity to play with the final product of Project Pink. These are the first real products of Microsoft’s 2008 acquisition of Danger, creators of the sidekick. So how are they? Read on for our impressions Update: Now with video of the Kin 2 in action – check it out after the jump.
Both phones:
Kin 1:
Kin 2:
In the end: neither of these phones are for me. They’re probably not for you, either. Microsoft is sure there’s a market here, though — one that wants social networking as the main (and in a sense, only) focus. Is it worth it to bring out hardware with a whole new platform specifically for this market, rather than working to make your current software platform (Windows Phone 7) more accessible to them? They’ll have to bring the prices in low — and I mean low — to compete. We’ll just have to wait and see how many of these they can actually push.
Source: MobileCrunch | 12 Apr 2010 | 12:50 pm Microsoft Gets Social With 2 New PhonesMicrosoft announced two new phones, the Kin One and Kin Two, which put social networking, photos and a Zune-like media experience at the heart of the interface.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 12 Apr 2010 | 12:30 pm Massive Arctic Ice Cap Is ShrinkingRate of ice-cap melt has been accelerating since 1985Close to 50 years of data show the Devon Island ice cap, one of the largest ice masses in the Canadian High Arctic, is thinning and shrinking.A paper published in the March edition of Arctic, the journal of the University of Calgary's Arctic Institute of North America, reports that between 1961 and 1985, the ice cap grew in some years and shrank in others, resulting in an overall loss of mass.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Apr 2010 | 12:29 pm Unboxing: The Microsoft Kin 2
Whatd’ya know! I didn’t expect to find a Kin 2 box laying around right after we did our Kin 1 unboxing, but sure enough: there it was, prepped and ready to be torn apart.
Source: MobileCrunch | 12 Apr 2010 | 12:16 pm Drilled Core May Contain Glacial Stage IceImage 1: Cores are brought up to the surface within the drill dome, laid out for examination and then cut into segments for storage. From left, expedition leader Ellen Mosley-Thompson, Roberto Filippi and Benjamin Vicencio. Credit Ellen Mosley-Thompson, Ohio State University.Image 2: Once sections of the ice core have been retrieved, segmented and packaged in plastic sleeves inside cardboard tubes, they are stored in a snow pit adjacent to the drill dome. Ultimately, they are carried out from the drill site to the British Rothera station where they are stored in freezers awaiting transport back to Ohio State University. Credit Ellen Mosley-Thompson, Ohio State University.Image 3: A map showing the distribution of projects within the LARISSA Program on the Antarctic Peninsula. Note that the location of the Bruce Plateau ice core drill site is marked by a blue circle two-thirds down in the center of the map. Credit: Hamilton College/National Science Foundation.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Apr 2010 | 12:09 pm Deepest Black Smoker Discovered in CaribbeanIn the depths of the Caribbean Sea, explorers have found the deepest hydrothermal vents on the planet.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 12 Apr 2010 | 12:08 pm Unboxing: the Microsoft Kin 1
Sure, they may have just announced the Kin 1 and Kin 2 (previously known as Project Pink) — and sure, they may not have release dates or pricing for them yet. But we had the good fortune of stumbling across a Kin 1 in its crazy greeen-ish recyclable packaging, and decided to strip it apart real quick. Check out our ultra hasty gallery after the jump.
Source: MobileCrunch | 12 Apr 2010 | 11:51 am Palm officially on sale? Not the phones, the company.Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Email / IM, Smartphones, Mobile
Bloomberg is reporting Palm has contacted Goldman Sachs and Quattrone Partners to find a buyer. The news comes from three people familiar with the details. While not unexpected, the news comes as a blow to many hopes Palm was turning it around. Last week, I reported on Lenovo being one of the possible suitors. Both Lenovo and HTC are reported by these tipsters as having looked into purchasing Palm. Dell reportedly looked at Palm and has decided against it. Also said to be in running are Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp., two of China’s biggest device makers. Palm’s problems are well known. The new webOS exclusive launch on #3 network Sprint stunted it’s attractiveness and delayed when the new webOS devices would launch on Verizon and AT&T. Launched after Android smartphones hurt the company. Palm still has a lot to offer, a #6 position in smartphone sales, an OS that is regarded as best-of-breed by many experts, strong brand name recoginition still borrowed from PDA days. Hope remains that a buy could inject some better hardware with webOS to create a device that could rival the market leaders. Read: [Bloomberg] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 12 Apr 2010 | 11:45 am Apple Lays the Original iPhone to Rest
Now nearly three years old, Apple’s first-generation iPhone will no longer be compatible with future upgrades of the iPhone operating system, according to Steve Jobs. Apple previewed iPhone OS 4 last week, which will deliver multitasking and other improved features to the latest iPhones and iPod Touch devices. The older iPhone 3G will run OS 4, but some features, such as multitasking, will not work due to hardware limitations, according to Apple. Noticeably missing entirely from the discussion was the original iPhone. We suspected that the original iPhone would not run OS 4 at all, and Jobs confirms our assumption in an e-mail he sent to a customer inquiring whether Apple would continue to support the original iPhone. Jobs’ reply is terse as usual:
And there you have it. Original iPhone owners began receiving a lesser iPhone experience since iPhone OS 3.0, which delivered multimedia messaging to the newer iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS, but not the first-generation iPhone. And now Apple has ceased supporting the original iPhone with OS upgrades altogether. The original iPhone is officially obsolete. Three years ain’t a bad run, though. iPhone OS 4 releases this summer for the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch. iPad owners will be able to download OS 4 in fall. A hat tip to MacStories for originally reporting this e-mail exchange. See Also:
Photo: Mac Users Guide/Flickr 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 12 Apr 2010 | 11:44 am Antimony: A Different Kind Of Mine DisasterImage 1: Heaps of ore tailings are exposed directly to the open air at Xikuangshan. Photo by Chen Zhu Image 2: Mine workers are often exposed directly to stibnite ore (antimony sulfide) and to airborne antimony via inhalation and skin exposure. Photo by Chen ZhuSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Apr 2010 | 11:38 am Microsoft Gets Social With New Kin Phones
SAN FRANCISCO — If you’re on Facebook 24/7, love music and take photos constantly, you’re probably under 25 — and you’re right in the demographic bull’s-eye for Microsoft’s two new social-media–centric phones. The company launched the two phones Monday that are based on a new flavor of Microsoft’s upcoming mobile operating system, Windows Phone 7. The phones, called the Kin One and Kin Two, come with an entirely new interface that puts social services such as Facebook, Twitter and newsfeeds at its core. “If you are focused on social connection, self expression and a digital life, how do you bring that to a phone?” says Robbie Bach, president for entertainment and devices division at Microsoft. “As we were working on Windows Phone 7, we decided we had an opportunity to go after this social group of people?” The phones have been manufactured by Sharp and will be available on Verizon’s Wireless network in May and on Vodafone in Europe later this year. Kin One is a petite, rounded device with a 2.1-inch screen. Kin Two is a larger, palm-sized device with a 3.5-inch display. Kin One has a 5-megapixel camera, while Kin Two sports an 8-megapixel camera. Both phones have multitouch displays, an accelerometer and video-recording capability, as well as hardware keyboards that slide out from underneath the screen. Phones that integrate closely with social networking sites have been a huge trend with handset makers in the last two years. Almost every major phone maker, including Motorola and HTC, has phones that integrate Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, MySpace and newsfeeds into a single stream on the phone’s display. Microsoft’s latest phones are based on the concept of sharing, and try to bring the PC and the phone closer, say company reps. The phones use some components from the company’s latest operating system, Windows Phone 7. But it isn’t exactly the same OS that powers this device, says Bach. Think of it as a fork in the road for Windows Mobile 7, where Microsoft has taken some components from the OS and added a new interface layer to create the Kin phone, says Microsoft. Kin phones will have three home screens. The first includes access to e-mail, phone, newsfeeds, photos and browser. Swipe to the left and the next screen throws up a stream of status messages updated from contacts and newsfeeds. Swipe to the left once more and the third screen is a list of favorites marked by the phone users and what their social status says right then. Microsoft is late to this party. though. Rivals such as Motorola and HTC have already done this with the MotoBlur and the HTC Sense interface, respectively. What makes the Kin different, says Microsoft, is that it automatically backs up all its contents on a password-protected website. This idea of storing information in the cloud means users can access their photos, videos, messages and even call history from a browser anywhere and don’t have to just depend on their phone. The service offers unlimited storage, says Microsoft and will be free. Kin also integrates Microsoft’s Zune digital music service. The phone’s music player has the same interface as the Zune HD. It also includes access only to Bing search. Developers, however, won’t be able to create apps for the new phones. Microsoft has not yet announced prices for the two new phones, which will be available from Verizon in May.
 This closeup of the Kin One shows it with the keyboard hidden. Photo courtesy Microsoft.  And here's the Kin One with keyboard open. Photo courtesy Microsoft.  Kin One can be used to compose text messages. Photo courtesy Microsoft.  A Kin Two with keyboard closed sits in its hoped-for natural habitat: a coffeeshop table. Photo courtesy Microsoft.  This Kin Two has its keyboard open and exposed. Photo courtesy Microsoft. Top photo courtesy Microsoft. 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 12 Apr 2010 | 11:32 am Microsofts Project Pink phones now official, known as “Kin 1″ and “Kin 2″
So what is Kin? Much like the rumor mill had projected, it’s two different social-network oriented phones: Kin 1, and Kin 2 (How very Seuss of them). Kin 1 is the phone previously known as “Turtle”, a little palm (as in the body part, not the company) sized portrait QWERTY slider with a 5 megapixel camera. Kin 2 was previously known amongst the whisperers as “Pure”, and is a landscape QWERTY slider with an 8 megapixel camera. Both phones are launching exclusively on Verizon in May. Pictures incoming as soon as possible. Read on for all the details we’ve got so far. The phones are very much the culmination of Microsoft’s purchase of Danger in 2008. According to three reps we asked, they are not based on Windows Phone 7, and instead use a Silverlight-based platform built from the ground up for these devices. They’re not exactly what we’d call “smartphones” – and Microsoft’s not pitching them as such. There’s no application store as far as we’ve seen. As we predicted back in October, it appears to be lacking a handful of features that folks might expect, including instant messaging and calendar functionality. Battery life “gets you through a weekend” according to a project lead. The entire platform focuses around two features: The Loop, and The Spot. “The Loop” is your 3 pane homescreen: one pane is your news/social feed, one is your contacts page, and the last is where you access things like the phone and the browser. At the moment, the social “top contacts” supports updates from Facebook, MySpace, Windows Live, and Twitter. “The Spot” is a small circle at the bottom of the screen which you use to share content with your social network; you drag things from your feed (or the browser, texts, etc) into “The Spot”, and then drag over which contacts/networks you want to share that data to. Similar to the Sidekick series, just about everything you do on the phone is auto-synced to the cloud, from pictures to videos to text. This cloud backend is browser based, and as such should be completely cross platform. The website where you’ll be able to see all your images and video (unlimited storage, login via Windows Live ID) in a timeline is Kin.com, which is up now. Sharing, feeds, and functionality are similar, but bigger. There is a browser-based Mac sync client whereby you can sync music and media (yes, iTunes stuff), but this is NOT related to Zune and will not work with Zune devices. It is totally separate.
Source: MobileCrunch | 12 Apr 2010 | 11:05 am Appletell reviews the IDAPT I3 digital device chargerFROM APPLETELL - With different people come different personal digital devices, and those devices need to be charged. The IDAPT I3 aims to take care of at least three of them at once in a single clutter-free unit. Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 12 Apr 2010 | 10:41 am Ancient Americans Not Challenged By Cold SnapStudy suggests that Ice Age climate change did not pose significant challenges to first AmericansPaleoindian groups* occupied North America throughout the Younger Dryas interval, which saw a rapid return to glacial conditions approximately 11,000 years ago.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Apr 2010 | 10:25 am The next generation of Google DocsToday we are hosting nearly 400 CIOs and IT professionals from around the world at Atmosphere, our inaugural event at the Googleplex dedicated to cloud computing. The discussion is centered on how companies can focus their technology expertise on projects that truly improve their businesses instead of managing complex applications, technology platforms and devices. We are also sharing details about improvements to Google Docs, made possible by a new codebase that will allow us to deliver richer functionality more quickly.New document and spreadsheet features We’ve responded to many of your requests for features you’re used to in desktop software. In documents, we’ve added a margin ruler, better numbering and bullets and easier image placement options. And in spreadsheets, you’ll now find a formula editing bar, cell auto-complete, drag-and-drop columns and other features not possible with older browser technologies.   Higher fidelity document import We’ve made big improvements to our document upload feature so moving files from your computer to the cloud is easier now. Imported documents retain their original structure more accurately, so you can hit the ground running editing in the browser without having to fix formatting like bullets and text alignment. Speed and responsiveness New browser technologies like faster JavaScript processing have made it possible for us to speed up Google Docs significantly. Even very large spreadsheets are fast to work with in your browser now. Applications that run this fast feel like desktop applications but have the unique advantages of being in the cloud. Faster collaboration We’ve extended Google Docs’ collaboration capabilities too, with support for up to 50 people working together at once, and in documents, you can now see other people’s edits as they happen character-by-character. And now you can also collaborate on flow charts, diagrams and other schematics in real time with a new editor for drawings on Google Docs. Learn more about these new capabilities and how to access them on the Google Docs blog, and if you’re with a school, business or organization, we’ve shared more details on the Google Enterprise Blog. Posted by Dave Girouard, President of Google Enterprise   
 Source: The Official Google Blog | 12 Apr 2010 | 10:02 am Breast Cancer and the 'Fat Taboo'A new study finds that lifestyle changes can cut women's cancer risk by a third. So why are some doctors reluctant to tell their patients?Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 12 Apr 2010 | 9:57 am Palm Pre Plus reaches the magical price point, you can now pick one up for free with WireflySection: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile  Those that may have still been holding out hope of seeing a Palm Pre Plus for free can stop waiting because that magical price has been reached. As of right now you can head over to online retailer Wirefly and grab the Verizon Wireless Palm Pre Plus for $0.00. Free as in free. Of course, that free is only for new customers. Those looking to add a Pre Plus to an existing family plan will still have to pay $49.99. But hey, free is good, and as you would expect those new customers will need to sign a two year agreement in order to get that price. Otherwise, the Palm Pre Plus is still $29.99 with Amazon and $49.99 directly with Verizon. That said, regardless of where you make the purchase you can still get the Mobile Hotspot for free. And for that I have to say thanks Verizon. Product [Wirefly] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 12 Apr 2010 | 9:33 am NYT: Google Android Tablet Imminent
Google is almost ready to start selling its own tablet. The device, according to the New York Times, will be “an e-reader that would function like a computer.” So close is it that Eric Schmidt, CEO at Google, was describing it to friends at “a recent party in Los Angeles.” The slate-like computer will run Android, and anonymous sources say that Google has already been working with publishers to put books and magazines on the device. The choice of Android seems odd, given that Google is committed to the Chrome OS on the netbook platform. But Chrome will be an almost non-existent operating system, offering just enough software to load a browser and access Google’s online services. Android, on the other hand, is already well-developed and full-featured enough to offer all that you get from Apple’s iPad. It is also designed to be used on a touchscreen device, something that can’t be said for a skinned desktop OS like Windows 7. A Google tablet could be the only tablet capable of actually challenging the iPad, avoiding the iPod whitewash in which Apple thrashed everyone, even Sony. It would also have some advantages. Google’s services, for one. Apple still doesn’t get the cloud, and getting data on and off the iPad is still largely done over a USB cable. Android is also the only other real player in apps with the Android Marketplace. It is way behind the iTunes App Store in numbers, but is at least in second place. And don’t forget Google books, the Google Reader and Google Voice (soon to feature desktop VoIP, thanks to the recent purchase of Skype-rival Gizmo). Add in the fact that Google is committed to an open platform for which anyone can develop software (unlike Apple’s closed ecosystem), and you have a tablet that could be the perfect opposite of Apple’s. Will Google march ahead and beat Apple like Microsoft did with Windows in the 1990s? We doubt it: We have a feeling that Microsoft is the one in trouble this time, at least in the mobile industry. One thing is for sure, though. Even if you’re a huge fan of the iPad, having Google nipping at its heels will keep Apple focused and everyone will benefit. At least the free market is good for something. After iPad, Rivals Offer Variations on a Theme [New York Times] Tablet mock-ups: Glen Murphy/Google See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 12 Apr 2010 | 9:00 am Google Preparing an Android Tablet, Reports SayThe New York Times suggests that Google is very close to releasing its own tablet -- based on Android, it appears, not Chrome OS.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 12 Apr 2010 | 9:00 am Ankylosaurid Skull Found By High School TeacherPart of an ankylosaurid skull has likely just been found by a persistent high school science teacher whose hobby is dinosaurs, according to a report in Grand Junction, Colorado's The Daily Sentinel. If verified, the fossil would be among the ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 12 Apr 2010 | 8:49 am Astronauts, Cosmonauts Celebrate Spaceflight AnniversariesMonday marked the 49th anniversary of the first human spaceflight and the 29th anniversary of the first shuttle launch.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 12 Apr 2010 | 8:35 am Appletell reviews the UrbanTool ihipHolsterFROM APPLETELL - The ihipHolster is the kind of carrying method that I think a lot of geeks imagine to be pretty cool, but the reality never lives up to that. Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 12 Apr 2010 | 8:28 am Combination-Lock iPad Case is Almost Pointless
The Security Case for the iPad is a folio-style leather folder for the iPad. As a simple flip-open case it is fine, if expensive at $45. But its standout feature – security – is an almost willfully absurd duplication of something the iPad already has: a PIN-protected lock. Like the iPhone, the iPad requires a four-digit PIN to unlock it (if you activate it). The “Security” Case has a three-digit combination to stop you opening the clasp, which is of the same design as you’ll see on the locking diary of a tween-aged girl, on on the briefcase of a middle-aged middle-manager. If that doesn’t ring a bell, it looks like the kind of lock which can be popped in seconds with the help of a small blade. Worse, the port is still exposed. This is touted as a feature: You can charge the iPad while it is locked up. But it also means that anyone can gain physical access to your machine, plug it into another computer and wipe your data. That’s not so secure. Still, there is one thing that this case can provide. The iPad can display a slideshow of your photos when locked. If you have foolishly decided to run the album featuring those “cheeky” photos of your better half on your screensaver, then this just may save you some office embarrassment. Available now. Security Case For iPad [New PC Gadgets via Coolest Gadgets] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 12 Apr 2010 | 8:06 am Rivers Heating Up With WarmingTwenty major U.S. streams and rivers have warmed significantly over the last few decades, according to research.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 12 Apr 2010 | 8:06 am Photoshop Upgrade Promises New Tricks, Timesavers Adobe Photoshop CS5 on the Mac desktop: Faster, cleaner and filled with kooky new tools. Photographers have their own version of sleight of hand, manipulating images to make us believe the final product is a representation of reality. The latest version of Photoshop, the flagship image-editing application in Adobe’s Creative Suite, adds a new stack of cards to the photographer’s trick deck. Wired.com was shown demos of new tools — such as the new Content Aware Fill and HDR — in Photoshop CS5 that we expect will amaze and please photographers with the tools’ ability to bend pixels with absolute precision. Photoshop CS5 will arrive as part of Adobe Creative Suite 5, the company’s package of 14 productivity apps for visual designers, photographers and publishers. Creative Suite 5 will ship mid-May, according to Adobe. Prices for the suite range between $1,300 and $2,600, depending on which package you buy, with upgrades priced from $500 to $1,500. Photoshop CS5 alone will cost $700, or $200 for an upgrade. Photoshop CS5 Extended, which has some additional tools, will cost $1,000, or $350 for an upgrade. This year marks the 20th anniversary of Photoshop’s arrival, and there are certainly several “wow” features in Photoshop CS5 that achieve a level of technological advancement most of us couldn’t have even dreamed of 20 years ago. Most impressive is the new Content Aware Fill brush, a mind-bending tool that can remove large objects from photos, altering the background to make it realistically appear as though the object were never there. It can zap tourists, delete power lines and otherwise alter photos with click-and-drag ease.
This video shows it most plainly. Fast forward to about the halfway point if you want to see the really crazy stuff. (When this video first started making the rounds in March, some thought it was a hoax. It’s not: This is a real feature of Photoshop CS5.) As with any new tool in Photoshop, expect Content Aware Fill to be overused: A surfeit of tourist-free images of Machu Picchu will soon be littering Flickr. But beyond the novelty, it’s a truly useful touch-up tool that turns what used to be hours of work into a simple drag of the brush. Speaking of brushes, all of the painting features in Photoshop — neglected since the release of Photoshop 7 — have been rewritten. The app now features much more realistic interactions. If you use a digitizer tablet, you’ll find that your brushes are considerably more responsive. The angle of the stylus now controls the edge of the brush and the new paint-mixing tools control color blending, wetness and bristle length, making for a very lifelike painting experience. Another bit of Photoshop trickery that’s become popular lately is high-dynamic-range imaging, or HDR. The Flickr crowd is crazy for it, and Adobe has responded by improving Photoshop’s Merge to HDR tool, which helps you create HDR images. The new HDR tool now has fourteen HDR presets which can save considerable effort when hand-toning an image. The HDR presets shipping with Photoshop range from the cartoonish to the fairly realistic, and should satisfy all but the pickiest of HDR enthusiasts. Composing a real HDR image requires multiple photos taken with multiple exposures, but now you can fake it. Photoshop CS5 has a new set of tools to create what Adobe calls “single-image HDRs.” The results will never quite match a true HDR with multiple images, but the new single-image HDR-toning dialogue lets you get pretty close using just one file. Also incredibly helpful for HDR fans is the new Remove Ghosts tool in the HDR dialog, which makes it simple to eliminate ghosting and artifacts caused by differences between your layered HDR images. With Photoshop CS5, you can simply outline a ghosted area (say, for example, a flower that moved in the breeze between shots) and select a single layer for that portion of the image.  Mini Bridge: You can now embed the Bridge file browser into a Photoshop palette. Photoshop CS5 isn’t just new brushes. There’s been plenty of attention to performance — the Mac OS X version is now fully 64-bit native, the same enhancement the Windows version got in in CS4. That means that you could, in theory, throw as much as 128 GB RAM at Photoshop. This update further deepens Photoshop’s integration with Bridge, Adobe’s file-browsing tool. Bridge can now be embedded in a palette within Photoshop (known as Mini Bridge). You can quickly navigate through your images using the familiar Bridge interface without needing to leave Photoshop. Interestingly, the UI metaphor for Mini Bridge seems influenced by the iPhone — when you navigate through folders, the interface slides left and right. Photoshop CS5 also gets the same massive overhaul to the Camera Raw engine that we’ve seen in the forthcoming Lightroom 3. Camera RAW in both apps offers much better sharpening and noise reduction, which is impressive not so much for its ability to remove noise, but to retain detail while doing so. Photoshop CS5 also has a few tricks designed to make designers’ lives easier, particularly the new Puppet Warp tools, which allow you to make path-like selections and bend, warp, shorten, lengthen and twist an object. Wired.com was shown a demo by Photoshop product manager Bryan O’Neil Hughes. He took an image of an elephant with a straight trunk and, with just three selection points, he bent and curled the trunk back so the elephant appeared to be eating.  Photoshop's new Puppet Warp tool in action: before and after Puppet Warp introduced almost no distortion into the finished image. Puppet Warp also provides a much easier and faster way to straighten tilted horizons. We were also impressed with the new Lens Correction tool, which fixes distortion and other lens artifacts, using profiles tailored to correct specific camera lenses (the lens type is determined by embedded EXIF data, so Photoshop can determine that automatically). Most of the other smaller features that make this release of Photoshop a must-have are user-suggested features and workflow improvements. Adobe solicited user suggestions, filtered through the ideas, picking some three dozen ideas and making them a part of Photoshop CS5. Photoshop has several outstanding new features — it’s probably worth the price of the upgrade just for the new Content Aware Fill tool, the 64-bit boost and the improvements to Camera RAW — but what really sells this release is amount of time it promises to save you. Among our favorite workflow improvements: You can now adjust the opacity and fill percentages on multiple layers simultaneously, the Save for Web dialog is available in 16-bit mode (and handles downsizing to 8-bit automatically), and Photoshop has the ability to save layer styles as a default behavior that even persists across sessions. Adobe has done an impressive job of focusing not just on the whiz-bang features, but on how photographers, designers and digital artists spend their time using Photoshop, and how making small changes can speed up their workflows. See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 12 Apr 2010 | 8:01 am Zune HD 64GB now availableSection: Audio, Portable Audio, Video, Portable Video  As we expected, the 64GB Zune HD is now available for purchase. Overall the player is just about the same as what we have already gotten familiar with due to the current 16 and 32GB Zune HD’s, except for the obvious increase in storage capacity. But the good news is you can now purchase a 64GB Zune HD, that is as long as you are willing to plunk down your $349.99. Otherwise the original 16 and 32GB Zune HD’s are still available and they are selling for $199.99 and $269.99. Product [Microsoft] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 12 Apr 2010 | 7:17 am Brownie Points for Updated Box-Camera
These cute, brightly colored plastic cameras are modern-day versions of the Kodak Box Brownie, the camera that brought photography to the masses. The concept design is set to commemorate the upcoming 2012 Olympics. George Eastman’s design has been shrunken slightly, and jazzed up with some candy-colors, but otherwise the design remains mostly intact. The biggest change is the inclusion of an electronic pop-out flash, easy to do thanks to all the spare space left in the box after removing the film-shooting parts. The new Brownie, designed by James Coleman, will give you an idea of how primitive and mysterious cameras once were. First, there is no screen, either for shooting or for playback, so you have the same delayed gratification that comes with film. To see what you’re trying to shoot, you peer through one of two holes on adjoining sides of the box. These can be used in portrait or landscape modes, and show a reflected image from the two smaller lenses at the front. These flank the main lens, a fixed aperture design which is focus-free. In fact, the only user-operated control is the big ol’ shutter release, which sits low, down by your thumb as you hold it and stare into the hole on top. You can also flip up a pair of square frames to form a straight-on sports finder, although with the optical finders it is not particularly useful. The only thing I don’t like is the face on the front, which makes this look more like a Happy Meal gift than a toy for adults. Still, it does look like a lot of fun, and I’d certainly try it out if it were indeed the price of a box of McNuggets. Kodak Brownie Revived For The 2012 Olympics [Yanko. Thanks, Radhika!] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 12 Apr 2010 | 6:53 am Top 10 Gamertell posts for the week of April 4, 2010FROM GAMERTELL - Haven’t caught all of the Gamertell news this week? Here’s your chance to catch up on this week’s top 10 articles! Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 12 Apr 2010 | 6:01 am Brain Parts Found in Ancient Human AncestorThe remnants of a bacterial-decayed brain are found in the skull of a 1.9-million-year-old ancestor.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 12 Apr 2010 | 6:01 am Leopard Seals Surveyed by SoundThese elusive animals may be camera shy, but their unique singing voices are drawing scientists' attention.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 12 Apr 2010 | 5:00 am Roman-Era Mummy Uncovered in Egypt OasisA bejeweled mummy dressed in Roman robes is found in Egypt's Bahariya Oasis.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 12 Apr 2010 | 4:00 am
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Earlier this evening, we 
We’re hearing that Facebook is going to start rolling out its own version of offers, which let users earn virtual currency credits in return for signing up for services like Netflix or filling out a survey. These deals have been made popular by companies like 
Earlier this evening, Google CEO Eric Schmidt took the stage at Atmosphere, a special event where Google and an array of speakers presented new cloud technologies to CIOs. Quentin Hardy, National Editor of Forbes Media, conducted a one on one interview with Schmidt, which was followed by audience questions.
Maingear announced their latest today, the Quantum Shift workstation. Designed more for the content developer then the gamer, the Quantum Shift definitely brings the heat. Of course, you customize exactly how much power the Quantum Shift is packing, but it’s designed around Nvidia’s Quadro FX GPU technology.
I’ve spent some 30-weeks in developing countries over the last year. It’s been a pretty brutal travel schedule, but it’s given me a rare vantage point to see the business, technology and cultural implications of the crushing urbanization, growth of a middle class and chaotic economic ascendancy that’s happening in several hot spots all at once. Spread across so many places, it’s a phenomenon that the modern economic world has never seen, yet the story can really only be told correctly country-by-country through local eyes.
- two Defcon 18 Human badges;
There’s a lot going on here, but what you’re basically looking at is a focus ring, attached to an iPhone, which sends a signal to a remote unit, which then turns the real focus ring on a DSLR that would otherwise be inaccessible. There are other tools a bit like this, but the integration of an iPhone as interface element could streamline things immensely.
When you think of developer-focused web computing services, the first thing that probably comes to mind is Amazon’s hugely popular AWS, which includes S3 (storage) and EC2 (processing). Google has its own web computing service — namely, Google App Engine — and the search giant is looking to significantly expand its offerings. During a roundtable discussion this afternoon at Google Headquarters, 
