|
|
|
|
Energy Risk Ranks ThirdList of risks most fretted over by corporate risks sorts, according to a new survey released at the 2010 Risk & Insurance Management Society (RIMS) Conference this week. Energy has made it up to third...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 28 Apr 2010 | 4:28 am Phosphorous: Yes, Another Thing That’s Running OutNot to be entirely glib, because the issues around phosphorous (and oil, and everything else we're running out of) are serious, but let's no longer put "peak" in front. Instead, let's assume, until told...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 28 Apr 2010 | 4:18 am Nokia Unveils New Flagship Phone - Billboard Business News
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 28 Apr 2010 | 4:12 am InfoWorld review: Free remote access tools for Windows and Mac (InfoWorld)InfoWorld - For anyone whose work follows them wherever they go (and whose doesn't?), a remote access solution is an easy sell. With a remote access tool, your office computer can be reached from home, your home computer can be reached from the office, and both can be reached from your hotel in Omaha or Maui or wherever you happen to be. Remote access means nothing ever gets left behind -- except maybe your laptop.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 28 Apr 2010 | 4:00 am UPDATE 3-LG Elec eyes World Cup TV boost, cautious on mobiles* Q1 operating profit 489 bln won vs 497 bln won mkt forecastSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:46 am Who Wants to Beat a MillionaireJon Stewart on today's Goldman-hunting inanities in the U.S. Senate. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c Who Wants to Beat a Millionaire ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:40 am Greece: Round Up All the Usual Short-SellersSigh, we're at that part in the cycle with respect to Greece, it seems, where we round up the usual short-sellers: the Athens Exchange is now banning short-selling: The Capital Market Commission, having...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:30 am Tremor Media Rounds Up Another $40 Million For Web Video Ads [MediaMemo]
The video ad network, which makes most of its money selling pre-rolls, has raised a $40 million funding round led by Draper Fisher Jurvetson Growth Fund, along with DFJ and Triangle Peak Partners. Earlier investors including Canaan Partners, Meritech Capital Partners, and SAP Ventures are also onboard. That money comes atop the $42 million the company has raised since its founding in 2006. And it’s just the latest in a series of big money bets on Web video, which may one day make good on its promise as the Internet’s next big money maker. Tremor says it started turning a profit on its Web ads last fall, and I had previously heard that the company was an IPO candidate for 2010. This funding round will likely push that date back, CEO Jason Glickman acknowledged when I talked to him yesterday: “This year would be a very short time window”. Instead, Tremor will use the money as a warchest to fund M&A, and perhaps to build out new product lines as well. Among the areas Glickman is interested in: Something that will let his company sell video advertising to “three screens” — not just PCs, but mobile phones and TV screens as well. Tremor’s funding also serves, in a way, as a vote of confidence for Adobe’s Flash (ADBE), which powers most Web advertising and just about all Web video ads. Tremor is moving to accommodate the HTML5 standard that Apple (AAPL) is pushing for its iPhone/iPad ecosystem. But Glickman’s shop is primarily a Flash one and he doesn’t see that changing anytime soon. “Obviously we’re big believers in Flash,” he told me yesterday. “We’re taking a look at all the other standards are coming, and there’s clearly going to be something there with HTML5, but we’re not sure how big it will be.” Source: All Things Digital | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:25 am Readings: Africa, Junk Bonds, Innovation and China Real EstateAfrica: The Next Empire (Source) Junk Bonds Poised for Par as Upgrades Increase (Source) Beijing Cancels Land Auction After Bids Exceed Price Ceiling (Source) Nurturing the Accumulation...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:17 am Frost & Sullivan: Telepresence at a Turning Point With New Opportunities for Service Providers and Systems IntegratorsLONDON, April 28 /PRNewswire/ -- The unique benefits offered by telepresence - further highlighted by the enforced ground stop of European aviation in April - has attracted growing interest and increased sales.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:17 am Tremor Media Shakes Another $40 Million Out Of The VC Money Tree
Tremor Media is already the largest online video ad network in the U.S., and the company says it’s been profitable since 2009. Now the company just closed a large $40 million series D financing to accelerate its product R&D particularly its ad management system, and expand into “other media channels” (TV perhaps?). The round was led by the Draper Fisher Jurvetson Growth Fund, with some money coming from DFJ proper and Triangle Peak Partners. Previous investors also put in more money, including Canaan Partners, Meritech Capital Partners and SAP Ventures. This round doubles the total capital Tremor has raised since launch to almost $80 million. According to comScore, Tremor’s video ad network reaches a potential audience of 81.7 million people in the U.S., putting it ahead of YuMe, Advertising.com, BBE, and Break Media. Online video advertising is the fastest growing portion of online advertising, and Tremor needs to cement its position among the top video ad networks. That $40 million will certainly come in handy as it attempts to do that. It also could be a war chest for smaller acquisitions. Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:15 am The Gizmodo Warrant: Searching Journalists in the Terabyte Age [Voices]By Paul Ohm, Associate Professor of Law and Telecommunications, University of Colorado Law School Last Friday night, police officers in California used a warrant to search the home of Jason Chen, the Gizmodo blogger who wrote about the iPhone prototype found in a Redwood City bar. Orin Kerr has written an interesting post assessing the legality of the search. I wanted to touch on an important issue he didn’t discuss: Whether the search the police are conducting is unconstitutionally overbroad. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:14 am Milken: The Frugal ConsumerThe third and last panel from today that I'll mention tonight, this one's on the frugal consumer. It has, among others, the always interesting Stephen Roach.Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:10 am UPDATE 1-China Telecom Q1 profit down on 3G spending* Q1 net profit 4.27 bln yuan versus 4.2 bln yuan forecastSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:08 am Milken: Energy SecurityAnother of my favorite sessions from Milken today, a lunch panel on energy security. Worth watching in its entirety.Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:07 am UK ISP Spots a File-Sharing Loophole, Implements ItAn anonymous reader writes "As well as taking an active part in OFCOM's code of obligations in regards to the ill-conceived Digital Economy Act (the UK three-strikes law for filesharers), niche ISP Andrews & Arnold have identified various loopholes in the law, the main one being that a customer can be classified as a communications provider. They have now implemented measures so in your control panel you may register your legal status and be classed as such." Another of the loopholes this inventive ISP sussed out: "Operating more than one retail arm selling to customers and allowing customers to migrate freely with no change to service between those retail arms, thus bypassing copyright notice counting and any blocking orders."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:03 am Milken: Commodities Overview and OutlookSuper panel from Milken conference today on commodities trends and related investment issues. Good stuff.Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:02 am Aricent Wins Three Year Systems Integration Pact With Nepal TelecomPALO ALTO, Calif., April 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Aricent®, a global innovation, technology and services company focused exclusively on communications, today announced that Nepal Telecom, Nepal's largest and most prolific telecom operator, has awarded the company a three year systems integration contract to provide Convergent Mediation and Convergent Interconnect Billing solutions that enable a wide range of next-generation communication services. Following on the heels of Aricent's announcement of its Innovation Lab in support of systems integration for service providers, Aricent will act as the primary systems integrator for Convergent Mediation and Interconnect solutions.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 28 Apr 2010 | 3:00 am Is it Time for Facebook to Make Opt-In the Default? [Voices]By Frederic Lardinois, Writer, ReadWriteWeb Facebook’s Open Graph API is getting some negative attention in Washington today. Four democratic U.S. senators, Charles Schumer, Michael Bennet, Mark Begich and Al Franken, sent a letter to Facebook’s founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg earlier this morning, asking for clarification about the privacy implications of Facebook’s latest initiatives. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:59 am Ness Technologies Announces First Quarter 2010 Financial ResultsHACKENSACK, New Jersey, April 28, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- - Ness Returns to Growth, With Quarterly Revenues up 6% Year-Over-Year and on-Target EPS - Ness Strengthens Enterprise Focus With Expansion of BI Capabilities and Divestiture of Non-Core Operations Ness Technologies, Inc.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:59 am Does the Web Turn Us Into Partisans? [Voices]By Derek Thompson, Staff Editor, Atlantic Business The Internet provides an infinity of stuff, but it’s all too easy to siphon off oneself in a cozy, ideologically uniform echo chamber of information — or disinformation. You might expect that the searchable, personalized architecture of the Internet might guarantee that we find the information we’re looking for rather than the information that we need to know. But a fascinating new paper from NBER says that’s not exactly how the Internet works. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:52 am "Fair Use" Generates Trillions in the US Alone [Voices]By Nate Anderson, Senior Editor, Ars Technica When pressing Congress to ratchet up the legal screws on infringers, copyright holders are fond of touting apocalyptic reports about how piracy is destroying their industries—and the US economy. But strengthening the nation’s intellectual property laws isn’t just a matter of cracking down ever harder, of limiting the limitations and giving increasing power to rightsholders. Fair use and other limitations on copyright themselves generate significant economic activity—$4.7 trillion in 2007. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:43 am UPDATE 2-Nobel Biocare Q1 lags rivals, shares tumble* Nobel Biocare looking to narrow gap with rivals in 2010Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:43 am UPDATE 2-AT&T exits stake in India's Tech Mahindra-sources* Sells over 7 pct; mostly to Life Insurance Corp - sourcesSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:38 am UPDATE 2-AT&T exits stake in India's Tech Mahindra-sources* Sells over 7 pct; mostly to Life Insurance Corp - sourcesSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:38 am Five reasons iPhone vs Android isn't Mac vs Windows [Voices]By Mark Sigal , Contributor, O’Reilly Radar Last week I presented at Stanford Graduate School of Business in a session on Mobile Computing called, “Creating Mobile Experiences: It’s the Platform, Stupid.” As the title underscores, I am a big believer that to understand what makes mobile tick, you really need to look beyond a device’s hardware shell (important, though it is), and fully factor in the composite that includes its software and service layers; developer tools and the ecosystem “surround.” Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:34 am UPDATE 2-Infineon hikes outlook as sees lasting demand ahead* Shares down 1.5 pct (Adds analyst comment, share price)Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:33 am SAP Q1 net profit jumps 97 pct to $514 million (AP)AP - German software maker SAP AG nearly doubled its first quarter net profit as demand for its products rose among customers worldwide, boosting sales, the company said Wednesday.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:28 am Eco-Chic Architecture - The Zenergy House Uses Miniscule Energy (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) The Zenergy House -- which is play on the words zero and energy -- is the latest in eco-friendly architecture. This remodeled home from the 1950s is highly sustainable and barely uses...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:20 am Did Microsoft Just Step In To Help HTC Fight Apple? Or Are They After Android Too?
As you may have heard, Apple filed a massive lawsuit against phone-maker HTC nearly two months ago. Apple is alleging that HTC is infringing on over 20 of its iPhone patents. While HTC makes phones for a number of partners, it’s pretty clear that this is Apple going after Google’s Android platform indirectly. And now Google may have just found an unlikely ally in this fight: Microsoft. [Update below with a new interesting twist.] Yes, the software giant, which makes the rival Windows Mobile (and soon Windows Phone 7) phone software has announced a deal with HTC that allows them to license their patented technology. On the face of it, this deal may make some sense since HTC also makes Windows Mobile phones. But the key to this is right there in Microsoft’s statement on the matter, “Microsoft Corp. and HTC Corp. have signed a patent agreement that provides broad coverage under Microsoft’s patent portfolio for HTC’s mobile phones running the Android mobile platform” (Emphasis mine) So yes, this seems to be Microsoft lending its (undoubtedly massive) arsenal of patents to help HTC and Google combat Apple (though, naturally, the rationale behind the deal — and Apple — are never named). It’s hard to imagine what else this could possibly be about [more below]. It’s also hard to figure out why Microsoft sent this release out at 11:30 at night. While Microsoft undoubtedly gets some pleasure out of helping someone else fight its longtime rival, Apple, these days, the company seems much more at odds with Google. And yet, they’re helping them out here (yes, again, indirectly). Of course, this undoubtedly makes sense economically for Microsoft — they’ll receive royalties from HTC, presumably for each device sold. Yes, Android devices. The release also notes that the “agreement expands HTC’s long-standing business relationship with Microsoft.“ This past month, HTC was thought to be the leading candidate to buy Palm — if for no other reason than their mobile patents that may help in the Apple suit. But last week, HTC reportedly dropped its bid for Palm. Perhaps the negotiation of this deal made that much easier to do. Update: And this just got much more complicated. Microsoft is now apparently claiming that Android is infringing on its patents, CNET reports. So this deal may have more to do with HTC covering itself if Microsoft decides to go after Google. But it’s hard to know for sure at this point. As Ina Fried reports:
So Microsoft, with this deal, may be both threatening and inadvertently helping Google (if their patents help HTC against the Apple suit). Very interesting, to say the least.      
Source: TechCrunch | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:00 am Remixed Fitness Tools - The Vinyl Workout Will Have You Sweatin' to the Oldies (VIDEO)(TrendHunter.com) There's is really no better way to re-introduce yourself to the classics than with the vinyl workout. If you think this thing is just an image projected on the floor, guess again! It...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:00 am Allot Communications Names Nachum Falek as New Chief Financial OfficerBOSTON, April 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Allot Communications Ltd.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 28 Apr 2010 | 2:00 am TEXT-Macarthur extends Gloucester offer to May 13SYDNEY, April 28 (Reuters) - For a complete statement, please click on: http://pdf.reuters.com/asxnews/asxnews.asp?i=43059c3bf0e37541&u= urn:newsml:reuters.com:20100428:ASX_2A590774Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:59 am ArenaNet's MMO Design ManifestoAn anonymous reader writes "ArenaNet studio head Mike O'Brien has posted his vision for a new type of MMORPG, which they used in developing Guild Wars 2. Quoting: 'MMOs are social games. So why do they sometimes seem to work so hard to punish you for playing with other players? If I'm out hunting and another player walks by, shouldn't I welcome his help, rather than worrying that he's going to steal my kills or consume all the mobs I wanted to kill? ... [In Guild Wars 2], when someone kills a monster, not just that player's party but everyone who was seriously involved in the fight gets 100% of the XP and loot for the kill. When an event is happening in the world – when the bandits are terrorizing a village – everyone in the area has the same motivation, and when the event ends, everyone gets rewarded.'"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:54 am iPhone Leapfrogs BlackBerry As The #1 Handset For Opera Mini In The US
We already knew a lot of people were seemingly eager to try out the alternative browser on the iPhone – the app saw 1 million dowloads on its first day in the store. But how is it holding up now? According to the just-released report, the iPhone has now become the third most popular handset for Opera Mini users worldwide. All the other top 20 devices are Nokia and Sony Ericsson handsets. Furthermore, the iPhone is currently the #1 device used by Opera Mini users in the United States, well ahead of BlackBerry, which previously occupied the top spot. Out of the top 10 countries according to Opera Mini usage, the United States and the United Kingdom are the two countries where the iPhone has become the #1 device used by Opera Mini users. According to preliminary numbers, Opera expects the US to soon have the fifth-most Opera Mini users, displacing Nigeria, South Africa and Ukraine on its ascent up the list. Since mid-April, the States jumped from #8 to #5 in the top 10 countries list. As for the actual state of the mobile web on a global level, according to Opera: In March 2010, Opera Mini had over 55.2 million users, a 9.3% increase from February 2010. Combined, those users viewed more than 25.8 billion pages in March. Since March 2009, page views have increased 200%.      
Source: TechCrunch | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:53 am UPDATE 2-Informa pleased with 2010, sees flat margins(Adds share price, analyst comment, details, background)Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:49 am UPDATE 1-Fulcrum Pharma accepts 11.6 mln stg takeover bid* Offer of 5.85p/shr at 73 pct premium to Tuesday closeSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:39 am UPDATE 1-Fulcrum Pharma accepts 11.6 mln stg takeover bid* Offer of 5.85p/shr at 73 pct premium to Tuesday closeSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:39 am Sapiens Acquires Property and Casualty Insurance Software Provider HarcaseCARRY, North Carolina, April 28, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sapiens International Corporation N.V.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:36 am Virgin Media adds customers at fastest rate ever (Reuters)Reuters - British cable operator Virgin Media beat expectations with its fastest customer growth rate ever in the first quarter on a strong demand for broadband and pay-TV, helping it to post strong financial results.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:34 am Australian youngsters warned over 'sexting' (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:30 am MTS Ranked Among the World's 100 Most Powerful Brands With a Brand Value of $9.7 BillionMOSCOW, April 28, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Mobile TeleSystems OJSC ("MTS" - NYSE: MBT), the leading telecommunications provider in Russia and the CIS, announces that it has been named as one of the BRANDZ(TM) Top 100 Most Powerful Brands, a ranking published by the Financial Times and Millward Brown, a leading global market research and consulting firm.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:14 am Prosecutors defend Gizmodo search - CNET
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:07 am European Invention Enables Online Eye ContactOLDENZAAL, The Netherlands, April 28, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- - Professional Flirting With IRIS Today sees the official European launch of IRIS, a monitor with camera reflection system that allows you to make real eye contact online.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:04 am Dazzboard’s Web-Based iTunes Alternative Now Works On Macs
Dazzboard allows users to sync media and playlists to mass storage devices, like most non-Apple MP3 players and Android phones. Along with the standard music, photo, and video syncing you’d expect from an iTunes alternative, the application also lets you to sync content with web services including YouTube, Facebook and Flickr. You can also transfer files between multiple devices. To get it working on a Mac you’ll need to be running Safari and Snow Leopard 10.6.2 or newer. Unfortunately I had issues getting the application working properly (I keep getting errors about the backend server, which are probably related to the launch), but the functionality appears to be nearly identical to what’s available on the Windows version, which we’ve previously covered. Dazzboard is based in Finland and recently raised $1.5 million.
Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:01 am Epson Announces Partnership with Home Entertainment SourceLONG BEACH, Calif., April 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Epson, the number one selling projector brand worldwide(i), today announced a partnership with Home Entertainment Source that will offer Epson's Home Cinema and Pro Cinema 3LCD projectors to its expansive member network.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:01 am Daily Crunch: Unhinging Edition
Steven Frank Unboxing the iPad
Source: CrunchGear | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am Cadence Tries to Incite Its Industry to Think Bigger [Voices]By Don Clark, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) is not exactly the first company to suggest the app explosion has changed everything. But it has an unusual vantage point to discuss how other companies may jump on high-tech’s latest bandwagon. The company, readers may recall, is one of the best-known players in what Silicon Valley has long called EDA, or electronic design automation. What that has meant, historically, is software for designing computer chips. Think of engineers toiling endlessly in front of mind-bending diagrams on computer screens, working for the day they can push the button to send a chip design off to be manufactured at a factory in Taiwan. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am Frost & Sullivan Recognises Industry Top Performers Whose Growth Has Defied RecessionLONDON, April 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite the severe global recession, many top-achieving companies pushed through the economic challenges, continuing to accelerate growth for their businesses.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am Tripware MoBook Travel App Offers Fastest and Simplest Mobile Booking of Flights, Cars, and Hotels for iPhone and iPad UsersMESA, Ariz., April 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Tripware MoBook, a travel app for iPhone and iPad users, offers business travelers full travel planning, booking, and managing of their business trips.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 28 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am Add It To The List: You Cannot Club Seals To Death On The iPhone
iSealClub is the latest app to be rejected from the App Store. In it, you yes, club seals. I’m shocked — shocked! — that Apple would reject such an app. Developer Matthew Smyth writes:
Smyth emailed Apple before ever writing the app to see if they would find it questionable, and they responded that they didn’t pre-approve apps. So Smyth built it. And yes, it was rejected on the grounds that it contains “content or materials of any kind (text, graphics, images, photographs, sounds, etc.) that in Apple’s reasonable judgement may be found objectionable.” Actually, I thought the whole thing was a joke when Smyth emailed it to us, but it turns out his app is actually based on something real: the Canadian Seal Hunt. Yes, it’s real — and awful. But actually, Smyth has something of a point with the following:
He goes on:
A very interesting point. That said, I’d say there’s just about no way this app gets accepted, hypocrisy or not. So you’ll just have to make do with the video of it in action below.
     
Source: TechCrunch | 28 Apr 2010 | 12:13 am Ooyala Testing Pay Per View With ABC
Paypal is the only pay option. If you click on it, a confirmation page pops up clearly showing that the payment is being made to Ooyala, not ABC. There are no commercials during the episode. This is not a product that Ooyala currently offers that we know of, and we’ve reached out to the company for comment. Screenshots below:
Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 28 Apr 2010 | 12:02 am Apple Bans Online Sales In Japansiddesu writes "Large retail stores in Japan were ordered a week ago to stop selling Apple products online (Google translation; Japanese original). The comments in the Japanese business newspapers suggest that Apple believes online shopping confers an aura of 'cheapness' on their products; but surely killing the Apple store's competition must have entered into the calculation. As of today, most of the largest retailers have notices on their Apple catalog pages asking you kindly to visit the shop if you want to acquire a piece of magic. It seems that for the moment the campaign is aimed at the big fish, as smaller shops still seem to be selling Apple products."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 27 Apr 2010 | 11:58 pm Looks like Microsoft’s Kins might be heading to AT&T, T-Mobile, and many more
Looks like the Verizon/Vodafone exclusivity on the Kin 1 and Kin 2 might be short-lived — or at least, someone at Microsoft is already prepping for the day when it’s over. Days before the Kin 1 and 2 were made official, a ROM hacker known only to the internets as Conflipper published screenshots pulled from an early copy of the Kin OS. After a bit more digging, Conflipper just stumbled upon some more goodies: Kin system provisioning files for other carriers. Lots.. and lots of other carriers. Read the rest at MobileCrunch >>
Source: CrunchGear | 27 Apr 2010 | 11:54 pm Looks like Microsoft’s Kins might be heading to AT&T, T-Mobile, and many more
Looks like the Verizon/Vodafone exclusivity on the Kin 1 and Kin 2 might be short-lived — or at least, someone at Microsoft is already prepping for the day when it’s over. Days before the Kin 1 and 2 were made official, a ROM hacker known only to the internets as Conflipper published screenshots pulled from an early copy of the Kin OS. After a bit more digging, Conflipper just stumbled upon some more goodies: Kin system provisioning files for other carriers. Lots.. and lots of other carriers. Provisioning files are pre-packed settings bundles — in this case, it looks like they might be pre-packed setting bundles used to quickly configure Kin handsets for use on a variety of networks. Conflipper’s full dump of the provisioning file directory can be found here — but for simplicity’s sake, here’s a cleaned up version of the list:
Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean that any of the carriers above (outside of Verizon and Vodafone) will be getting the Kin 1/Kin 2. Some could be getting exclusive Kins of their very own. Or these could just be temporary files created for demonstrating the handsets to the carriers on their own networks back when Microsoft was originally pitching them. Or some bored intern could have just created a bunch of provisioning files for the hell of it.
Source: MobileCrunch | 27 Apr 2010 | 11:35 pm Activision Hit With $500m Suit From Modern Warfare 2 DevsDragoniz3r writes "Activision has been served a lawsuit from 38 plaintiffs, including present and former Infinity Ward employees, demanding up to half a billion dollars. The plaintiffs are seeking compensation for 'unpaid bonuses, royalties, profit sharing and future profits from games such as Modern Warfare 3 and punitive damages.'"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 27 Apr 2010 | 11:31 pm This spring at Coney IslandConey Island is one of those places that has an outsized profile in the American imagination, but it's seemed to exist since the 1970s in twilight, halfway between a glorious past and an uncertain future. That's some of what photographer Joshua Brown saw on a visit last winter.
Now, prompted by yet another round of rumors that developers are readying the wrecking ball, Nick Carr's great "Scouting NY" blog has taken a long look at the beleaguered beach resort, including a tour through the magnificently derelict Bank of Coney Island. (Carr's a location scout, which explains why he seems to be all over the five boroughs; the bank pictures, though, come from another scout, whose identity Carr is keeping to himself.) Over at Kickstarter, meanwhile, filmmaker JL Arsonson is fundraising for a documentary called "Last Summer at Coney Island." He's down to a 96-minute cut and is rounding up donors to help him bring it home. (Full disclosure: I'm one of them.) Why I won't buy an iPad, the podcast edition Last week while I was stranded by the volcano, I did an interview with the TVOntario Search Engine podcast about the iPad and why I thought that its policy and infrastructure should make it a no-go zone for publishers, users and authors. Source: Boing Boing | 27 Apr 2010 | 11:23 pm When Jack Dorsey Met Fred Wilson, And Other Twitter Tales (Book Excerpt)
Editor’s note: The following excerpt is from Mastering The VC Game, a new book by Jeffrey Bussgang that goes on sale Thursday. It tells the backstory of Twitter from the perspective of founder Jack Dorsey, from his early obsession with couriers and his attempts to create a better dispatch system to his “Aha” moment with Twitter (“What if we simply set status, archive it on the Web, use SMS to do it, and it all happens in real time?”) to why the company picked Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures as its first venture investor (“I want a VC who is always thinking a few steps ahead of me”). Bussgang interviewed both men, and details how the VC and entrepreneur clicked in the second half of this excerpt. The first part recounts the tale of how Dorsey came to invent Twitter. Bussgang is a general partner at Flybridge Capital Partners and previously co-founded Upromise, the college savings service which was bought by Sallie Mae. Jack Dorsey (a.k.a. @jack in the lingo of the Twitterverse) founded Twitter, the social networking and microblogging site where users—Twitterers—post very short (140 characters, tops) updates known as tweets. The concept for Twitter came out of Jack’s lifelong fascination with mapping the real-time movements of people and things within complex environments. “Since I was very small, I’ve been fascinated by how cities work,” Jack told me in his typically straightforward way. “I always got really excited when I thought about visualizing them, specifically around maps. What would you place on a map to show how a city worked?” In St. Louis, where he grew up, Jack first noticed the existence of something he found magical: couriers. “I loved couriers. You had this transfer of physical information happening throughout the city and the world. Someone picking up the package, putting it in a bag, going somewhere, taking it out of the bag, giving it to someone else. I thought that was so cool. I wanted to map it, to see that flow on a big screen. When I did some research into how courier systems worked, I found that there was a parallel information transfer that was digital, and it was called ‘dispatch,’ which was just a coordination effort.” Jack so loved the idea of digitally mapping interactions around a city and the notion of couriers as a physical manifestation of these interactions that he decided to start a bicycle courier service of his own at the age of sixteen. “I put my brother and me on bikes, just so I could write the dispatch software. [A self-proclaimed computer geek, Jack taught himself to code software at a young age.] We quickly found out that St. Louis had no need for bicycle couriers at all. But I really enjoyed writing the software and getting to the point where I could map and visualize the work.” The rapid demise of his teenage start-up did not deter Jack. While in the second year of an engineering program at the Missouri University of Science and Technology, he came across a New York City–based company called Dispatch Management Services Corporation (DMSC), which managed dispatch centers for couriers—on foot, bicycles, and motorcycles. “I had to get into that!” Jack enthused, as our conversation took him back in time. “I got in contact with the chairman, Greg Kidd, the guy who had built the company and taken it public. I said, ‘I’m writing some dispatch software, and I’d really love to come to New York and work with you all.’” Jack pursued Greg hard, and within a couple of weeks, he moved to New York, transferred to NYU, and started writing dispatch software for DMSC. At DMSC, Jack delved deeper into his fascination with dispatch and couriers. “There was an essence of communication there,” he described to me. “An abstraction. You have all these entities roaming about, and they’re all reporting what they’re doing in real time over a variety of different devices. We had couriers on CB [citizens band] radios, on PDAs [personal digital assistants], and on cell phones. We had taxis and emergency vehicles with GPS. They’re all reporting constantly where they are and what work they’re doing, and it’s all flowing into this one system that a dispatcher can view in real time on a map. That’s what’s going on in the city! I thought that abstraction was so cool that I wanted that same thing for my friends.” Jack and Greg decided they could improve on the DMSC dispatch system. In 1998, they moved to the West Coast and raised enough money from the Band of Angels (a group of current and former Silicon Valley executives who provide seed financing to technology entrepreneurs) to found dNET, Dispatch Network. “We wanted to do a Web-centric dispatch system that would essentially provide an ATM for couriers, most of whom don’t have bank accounts, so they could easily draw their commissions through the Web.” While he was working to get dNET off the ground, Jack discovered Instant Messaging (IM). “IM is interesting because you look at your buddy list and, at a glance, see what your friends are listening to, what they’re working on, what they’re doing. The problem was that you were bound to the computer keyboard. I was fortunate enough to have a RIM 850, the predecessor to the BlackBerry. It was this squat, little email device. One night, I couldn’t sleep, I just had to write a prototype script. It would sit on a server, take incoming emails, broadcast them out to a list, and also record them in a database that I could view on the Web.” That was the first glimmer of Twitter. But for a variety of reasons, dNET did not get traction in the market, and so Jack embarked on a period of freelance programming before joining a podcasting start-up called Odeo, primarily to work with Evan (a.k.a. @ev) Williams, formerly of Google. But Jack’s brief foray into podcasting didn’t squelch his passion for brief status messaging. “At that time, one of my co-workers introduced me to SMS (short message service), which I had never seen before. She used it all the time. Once I saw that, I’m like, ‘Whoa, this is awesome!’ This communication blew my mind, and the way she was using it blew my mind. I thought, What if we simply set status, archive it on the Web, use SMS to do it, and it all happens in real time? We all kind of went into a corner, wrote out a bunch of user scenarios, and started inviting co-workers in. They fell in love with it. We knew we had something.” Thus, Jack and his team developed the service we now know as Twitter. They called it “Twttr” at the time and launched it in July 2006. The very first tweet was an internal one that Jack sent out at 12:50 p.m. on March 21, 2006: “just setting up my twttr.” A few minutes later, he tweeted innocuously: “inviting coworkers.” This was the beginning of the Twitter revolution. Interestingly, Jack pursued a strategy of: Don’t hide what you’re doing. If you think you’re doing something interesting, get it out in the open, shout it out from the rooftops, and solicit as much feedback and input as possible. This strategy was particularly relevant for an Internet-based consumer service like Twitter. The initial reviews after the launch were mixed. One commenter reacted negatively, calling it “the dumbest thing ever! Who would want all their personal text messages on a public website for anyone to read and track?” Despite such skepticism, the service began to gain momentum and a grassroots following while still hidden inside Odeo. “We knew it was getting big and were just waiting for a trigger. That turned out to be South by Southwest, in 2007.” South by Southwest is a festival and conference—replete with panels, book readings, conversations, and parties—hosted in Austin, Texas, each year. Jack and his colleagues lugged big plasma screens across the country and set them up in the hallways of the conference to display the live Twitter chatter about the conference sessions in action, one at the registration desk and one at the exit from the main conference room. “We were really good at getting the right friends in. We had a lot of high-powered, vocal bloggers using Twitter at South by Southwest. They were talking about it non-stop at the conference. And the press happened to be watching, too. And it just blew up.” Jack was confident that Twitter would take off, but even he was surprised by the enthusiasm it generated. “This very simple message and subscriber model worked for everything I was interested in. I thought it could be massive. But, as a consumer application, I was really surprised by the velocity and by the patience that our early users had to get it right.” While Twitter was gaining momentum, the start-up that owned the company, Odeo, wasn’t. In fact, Odeo had run out of money and didn’t have additional funding support from its venture capital investor. Odeo’s CEO, Evan Williams, decided to buy the assets from the investors, taking Jack, another co-founder, Biz Stone (@Biz), and many of the employees with him. Jack became Twitter’s founding CEO, and thirty days later the team started thinking about raising capital and spinning out as a separate company. “We weren’t really ready to take money right away, but we got a note from someone. We went to meet them for breakfast at the top of this hotel in San Francisco and had a pretty good conversation. We were still kind of forming the company and whatnot. When we got back to the office thirty minutes later, we found a scanned image of a check for half a million dollars in our inbox.” The instant offer of funding prompted Jack to think through what he really wanted in an investment partner. “The way the company and the product gained traction was that we got the best people we could think of and we worked with them. And we wanted the same thing from our VC. We wanted the best person across the table from us. It was not where he comes from, but ‘Is this guy fun to work with? Is he going to challenge us? Is he smart?’ This person was going to take a seat on the board.” As it turned out, Twitter went with a VC who found the Twitter concept just as fascinating as Jack did. Union Square’s Fred Wilson says he likes to think of himself as the entrepreneur’s consigliere, but a consigliere with great pattern recognition. “I want to be the person they call when they need some advice. Whether it’s ‘I’ve got a problem with sales’ or ‘We need to raise some more money. What do you think the right way is to go about doing that?’ Or, ‘I have this big deal. I’m nervous about it because I’m not sure we can actually meet the expectations. But I want the revenue. What do I do?’ Those are all big questions. The beauty of being a venture capitalist is we’ve seen all these issues a lot of times. I’ve been doing this business for a long time now and I’ve observed enough to know what’s happening and interpret it appropriately.” Twitter’s Jack Dorsey says that he did, in fact, think of Fred as his strategic counselor. “Fred had our phone on priority dial, so he could reach us at any time and we could change things instantly. He is very engaged and whenever we need something, we call him up. He is excited to do anything for us.” Jack points out that Fred isn’t just focused on big-picture strategy, but also on the nitty-gritty features of Twitter as an avid user. “We listen to what he thinks and what he needs from the product,” says Jack. “And that has been a great way to get into the relationship and for both of us to trust each other more. As we worked on the product together, we began to learn, ‘Oh, this is how Fred is, and this is how Jack is.’ We began to learn each other’s faults. And that couldn’t really happen any other way.” In some ways, the VC is a glorified recruiter. However, it would be a mistake to think what recruiting a VC firm can do is equivalent to what an entrepreneur would get from a professional executive search firm. A VC is more focused on the mix of talents needed to improve the start-ups, chances for success and anticipating the right kind of executive that is needed at the right point in the company’s life cycle. As Twitter’s Jack Dorsey put it, “I would hate to have a VC investor to whom I just send an email to say, ‘I need a business development person. Can you make some introductions?’ I want a VC who is always thinking a few steps ahead of me. The type of VC who would say, ‘Well, I think we’re doing this, and therefore we might consider defining this new position in this way and therefore talking to this person.’” The definition of the best individual venture capitalist to work with will be different for every entrepreneur. Jack Dorsey, Mr. Twitter, was looking for a VC who had passion for his market, could help him with his product, and could challenge his thinking. Jack talked with many VCs when he was trying to get financing for Twitter, starting with firms on the West Coast. “We had a lot of conversations with people down in the Valley,” Jack said. “At the end of the pitch, the person across the table would say, ‘Well, we’ll let you know fairly soon, like in an hour or so. We just want to talk internally, but we’re really excited.’ We didn’t react well to that. We wanted to be questioned, we wanted to be challenged, and we wanted to see some of their thinking around actually developing this product.” For whatever reason, Jack found more of those challenging VCs on the East Coast than on the West Coast. “I think it was just an attitude thing,” he said. “I found the East Coast to be a little bit more aggressive. They say what they mean in the hopes of just moving on right away. On the West Coast, people were a little bit more laid back. If they thought we were going down the wrong path, they wouldn’t necessarily say it, but they might make it known in an indirect way. I just didn’t appreciate that at all.” Jack ended up with NYC-based Fred Wilson at Union Square Ventures. “We turned down a bunch of VCs,” Jack said. “We saw a name, but there wasn’t enough behind the name immediately. A VC has to show me right away that I can trust them. It’s hard to do. But when it’s right, it’s right. And we were very fortunate in it being right with Fred. He was very aggressive, in a good way, in a thinking way. He had no subtlety at all. But more importantly, he was a day-to-day user of our service and he obviously loved it. He came to the pitch with a bunch of requests for features and lots of questions about why we had done what we had done. That helped clarify our thinking around the product and it helped clarify our thinking around the company. And that’s exactly what we wanted in the boardroom.” During their courting period, Fred showed Jack he could provide more than just money; he could contribute to the product’s vision and direction to help lead the company to success. If your VC doesn’t show you that passion for your product and your own personal success, as well as an ability to add value during the due diligence process through their strategic or product insight, then he and his firm may not be the right business partner for you. As Dorsey put it to me, “When selecting our VC partner, I knew I was hiring a boss I couldn’t fire.” Fred Wilson has an interesting take on the relationship between the entrepreneur and the venture capitalist. “I think venture capitalists, first and foremost, need to feel like their job is to make entrepreneurs successful. So I think of venture capital as a service business. The entrepreneur is your client. It’s a very weird relationship because the entrepreneur is not exactly paying you, even though they really are paying you. But they absolutely can’t fire you. In fact, you can fire them. So it’s among the weirdest kinds of service relationships that one could come up with.” More money provides more runway and room for mistakes, but at the cost of some additional dilution. Dorsey recalled a conversation he had with Netscape founder and angel investor Marc Andreessen. “Marc advised us very early on to take as much money as we could, because a recession was coming and everything was going to hit the fan. And this was in early 2008, maybe the end of 2007. And he’s like, ‘I know you’re worried about dilution, but just try to get as much money as you can, build a war chest so you can weather the storm, because the storm is coming.’” Timing and your own personal commitment are both important factors. Twitter’s Jack Dorsey gets asked the question every day—when will Twitter exit? He explained to me his views on this issue in a way that reinforces my thesis that the best entrepreneurs don’t focus on the money, they focus on their dream for the business. “You always have to go back to the question, ‘Is exiting the right thing for the product?’” Jack explained. “There were many times in our history when, technology-wise, we weren’t up to snuff and we could have used more infrastructure. We could have used the resources of a Google or a Facebook or a Yahoo! But until you feel like you’ve completed some aspects of the vision, it just doesn’t make sense to hand it over. If you have that idea and you’ve more or less seen the end of it, and now you’re just racking your brain trying to figure out how to push it any further, the product might be better off in the hands of someone else, because you’ve done what you can. That’s basically what it comes down to for me. Are you done? If you are, then exit. If you’re not, keep going for it.”      
Source: TechCrunch | 27 Apr 2010 | 11:08 pm Tech Sector Slashed Jobs in 2009 - BusinessWeek
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 27 Apr 2010 | 10:26 pm The Taste Of The iPad. UrbanSpoon Makes Its HD Debut
On the face of it, UrbanSpoon for the iPad may not seem as useful as it is for the iPhone. After all, most people don’t just whip out their iPad on the street when they’re looking for a restaurant (though some may when the 3G version hits, who knows). But plenty of dinner choices are made right before you leave the house — and that’s what UrbanSpoon for the iPad is perfect for. The app, which just went live in the App Store, looks beautiful. It’s like the iPhone version except there is a persistent map below the regular “slot machine” area where you pick and choose (or have the app pick and choose) your options for food. Once you make your selections, you can either hit the red “Spin” button or shake the iPad — yes, just like the iPhone. The choices will be highlighted on the map. Or you can choose a “List” view which then shows the details about each place, including their UrbanSpoon rating. Check out the video below for more. Find UrbanSpoon in the App Store here. It’s a free download.
     
Source: TechCrunch | 27 Apr 2010 | 10:11 pm These location-based iPhone apps should survive Facebook world domination (Appolicious)Appolicious - I read a clever joke on Twitter the other day: The Internet is now a giant app for Facebook.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 27 Apr 2010 | 10:10 pm RIM Expects to Top 100M Users with BlackBerry 6 OS, WebKit Browser - eWeek
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 27 Apr 2010 | 10:07 pm April 28, 2003: Apple Opens iTunes StoreHey, gang! Maybe people will pay for online music one song at a time. If only we can convince the record labels.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 27 Apr 2010 | 10:00 pm Arizona "Papers, Please" Law May Hit Tech Workersdcblogs writes "H-1B workers and foreign students may think twice about attending school or working in Arizona as a result of the state's new immigration law. If a police officer has a 'reasonable suspicion' about the immigration status of someone, the officer may ask to see proof of legal status. Federal immigration law requires that all non-US citizens, including H-1B workers, to carry documentation, but 'no state until Arizona has made it a crime to not have that paperwork on your person,' said immigration lawyer Sarah Hawk. It means that an H-1B holder risks detention every time they make a 7-11 run if they don't have their papers, or if their paperwork is out of date because US immigration authorities are behind in processing (which condition does not make them illegal). The potential tech backlash over the law may have begun yesterday with a call by San Francisco City Atty. Dennis Herrera 'to adopt and implement a sweeping boycott of the State of Arizona and Arizona-based businesses.'"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 27 Apr 2010 | 9:56 pm After 44 years, Malcolm X killer paroled. On Malcolm X boulevard.After 44 years, Malcolm X killer paroled. On Malcolm X boulevard. (via Clayton James Cubitt)Source: Boing Boing | 27 Apr 2010 | 9:40 pm Amazon discounts Bioshock 2 and announces Xbox 360 360 Gold Box eventFROM GAMERTELL - Amazon’s got lots of video game sales at the site for April 27, 2010. Bioshock 2 for the PS3 and Xbox 360 is $39.98. Also, there’s an Xbox 360 Gold Box event going on and select games and accessories will be discounted throughout the day. Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 27 Apr 2010 | 8:59 pm Taschen's MOONFIRE: now for less than $1,000
Problem is, the original limited-edition version cost $1,000 (and what copies remain sell online in some places for $1,500). But great news for space junkies this week: Taschen has released a smaller version for $39.99 with the same page count, same content. It's part of the publisher's 30th anniversary "Golden Book" line. And greater still, I'm seeing them offered on Amazon for $26. No moon rock, no Buzz signature, but something I can afford to put on my shelf (and will). Above, a detail of my favorite photograph in Moonfire: Neil Armstrong prepares for launch on March 16, 1966, in the Gemini VIII cockpit (courtesy NASA). Isn't that just a perfect, beautiful portrait? God I love that image so much.
•Norman Mailer - MoonFire. The Epic Journey of Apollo 11
Latest MacBook Pro CPU runs so hot it can boil water (Christopher Null)Christopher Null - Buy a Mac and you know you're getting the state of the art when it comes to components (except for a Blu-ray optical drive — Steve Jobs hates Blu-ray). And that's a good thing, since you're probably paying a fortune for the privilege.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 27 Apr 2010 | 8:37 pm Rob Cockerham's Costco prank
My favorite amateur sociologist Rob Cockerham printed up a bunch of price stickers for absurd products and sent them to his team of assistants around the country, who attached them to shelves in Costco stores. One assistant's field notes: It was a mad house today with all the snooty rich people fighting over free samples, but that was to my favor. Everyone was so busy, that it was a piece of cake. The only hard part was the Polo Assless Chaps, since our Costco hangs the prices above the items. But nonetheless, I found a display right next to the main aisle of the clothing to place it. It should be seen very easily. The Canine Pacemaker Kit was placed right with the dog toys and dog biscuits.The Costco Prank Source: Boing Boing | 27 Apr 2010 | 8:23 pm Android crowned King of Web traffic in U.S.Section: Communications, Mobile  AdMob, one of the largest mobile advertising companies in the world, has been openly sharing data from their network to…
Well this week they have something very interesting for us to observe. If you take a look at the picture above, you will notice something very interesting about the total mobile web traffic for the month of March. The iPhone has been surpassed as the mobile web’s chief supplier of traffic with Android taking over the reins. According to the report, Android traffic in the U.S. increased to 46 percent compared to 39 percent for the iPhone operating system. Granted you are talking about a group of phones on several networks versus a single phone and the iPhone did still take the worldwide category claiming 46% over Android’s 25% of the mobile OSs. But that is not the point. If you have heard the buzz lately about Android, it has been about nothing but growth. We reported two days ago that Android was estimated to have surpassed 50,000 applications in their marketplace. Not too mention the slew of phones that are expected to be released this upcoming year. So where are we headed? Well apparently Android is finally reaching even a fraction of its potential. All that’s left is growth. Read [TechCrunch] Full Story » | Written by Hunter Clarke for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 27 Apr 2010 | 8:22 pm John Mayer Clarifies: Twitter Isn’t Dead, Tumblr Is Just Better. Join Me.
In his post entitled, “Twitter Isn’t “Over”, I’m Over It,” Mayer talks about how the over-abundance of tiny amounts (140 characters) of information on Twitter is a limitation of the service. That line of thinking has been around ever since Twitter’s launch a few years ago, so nothing groundbreaking there. He does, however, make a pretty decent point, “Finding out in 140 characters what a stranger has to say about you is like a mathematical equation without an established value of ‘x’. Who are you, stranger?” But much more interesting is what Mayer does next. He gives a huge, wet kiss to another micro-blogging service: Tumblr. “This is where Tumblr comes in. It’s the future of social networking if your image of the future features intelligent discourse. I love reading other Tumblr users replies, because they’re thoughtful by virtue of the fact that if they’re not, they’ll bring the intellectual property value of their own blog down, and that’s a commodity on Tumblr,” he writes. And Mayer goes on, “This post is an experiment in itself. If you want to communicate me, open a Tumblr account, follow me, repost my blog and then add to it. I’ll follow you back. Agree or disagree, lionize or demonize, but for God’s sake, be original. You’ll have all the room in the world to do it now.” Damn. That’s the type of endorsement you can’t pay for. And Tumblr knows it. Founder David Karp responded via his Tumblr blog with, “After three years at this, I can’t begin to describe the feeling of having this philosophy — the reason Tumblr will never feature a legacy comment system — described so perfectly. I love you, John.“      
Source: TechCrunch | 27 Apr 2010 | 8:20 pm Windows Embedded 7 released - TG Daily
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 27 Apr 2010 | 8:16 pm Mozilla Officially Unveils A Pre-Alpha Test Version Of Firefox For Android
Mozilla is quick to note that this is a pre-Alpha build of the browser, and is only for testing purposes. But that isn’t stopping Mozilla’s Vladimir Vukićević from announcing it on his blog. “There also aren’t yet any automated nightly developer builds or automated updates to this build; it’s even more of a pre-nightly build (even earlier than pre-alpha). But, it’s usable enough that we wanted to get some feedback on it as we continue to develop,” he notes. To get this build, you can visit this link on your Android device. Or you can point your phone’s browser to: bit.ly/fennec-android. And yes, there’s a QR code on Vukićević’s blog post if you want to scan it, and download it that way. Whichever way you do it, you’ll need to make sure your settings allow you to install non-Market apps (go to Settings, Applications, and check “Unknown Sources”). Some other warnings and notes to consider about the build from Vukićević:
He also notes that there’s an experimental version of Weave, Mozilla’s syncing tool that will work with this pre-Alpha build of Fennec. Visit this page and click on the “Experimental version” to find it.      
Source: TechCrunch | 27 Apr 2010 | 7:56 pm Computer Competency Test For Non-IT Hires?wto605 writes "As computers are used for more and more vital business functions, small businesses must have office employees who understand the dangers of, and how to recognize and avoid, malware, spam, and phishing. After having been stung by monthly virus cleanups (at $75 an hour) due to an otherwise competent office manager, my parents have realized they need to be aware of their employees' computer skills beyond the ability to type a letter in MS Word (currently the closest thing they have to a test of computer competence). The problem is, as a small business, they have no IT expert who would be able to judge a potential employee's competency. I'm wondering if anyone knows of a good way to test these security/safety awareness skills, such as an online test, a set of questions, etc. I have already pointed them to Sonic Wall's Spam and Phishing test, but it definitely does not cover all of the issues facing computer users."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 27 Apr 2010 | 7:52 pm Facebook to launch universal credits systemFROM GAMERTELL - Wouldn’t it be nice if all the games you played on Facebook were unified under one form of virtual currency? This is an issue that Facebook hopes to solve by introducing Facebook Credits… Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 27 Apr 2010 | 7:47 pm Four senators ask Facebook to make privacy fixes to new features - Los Angeles Times
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 27 Apr 2010 | 7:41 pm Apple Just Says Yes To iPhone Smoking GameZosX sends along a puff piece from Wired's Brian X. Chen: "Apple on Monday approved Puff Puff Pass, a $2 game whose objective is to pass a cigarette or pipe around and puff it as many times as you can within a set duration. So much for taking the high road, Apple. The game allows you to choose between smoking a cigarette, a cigar and a pipe. Then, you select the number of people you'd like to light up with (up to five), the amount of time, and a place to smoke (outdoors or indoors). And you're ready to get right on puffing."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 27 Apr 2010 | 7:20 pm TomTom introduces new Urban Rider GPSSection: Gadgets / Other, GPS/Navigation, Transportation  For motorcyclists, it is probably difficult to find the perfect GPS designed to fit your needs. With the gloves riders usually wear, using the touchscreen on a GPS is probably frustrating and time consuming. The latest motorcycle oriented GPS from TomTom has been redesigned to account for gloves when using the touchscreen. The Urban Rider is set to join the Rider and Rider2 GPS’. The safety screen of the previous Rider models has been done away with in the Urban Rider model allowing for easier functionality when wearing gloves. In addition, the GPS sports IQ Route technology which aims to find the fastest and safest route to your destination by accounting for traffic conditions at that specific time. The Urban Rider lacks an SD card slot, but the flash memory should be enough to update with maps. The battery life has been improved to six hours on a single charge allowing for longer travel without stopping to charge. Unfortunately, the Bluetooth headset for hands-free calling and for hearing voice guidance is available only with the Rider Pro pack. It is expected to be available in May for 249 Euros. No word - at this time - on a release schedule for the States. Via [PocketGPSWorld] Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 27 Apr 2010 | 7:18 pm Mystery HTC Android phone hits FCCHere’s a lovely little tidbit that’s leaked out of the FCC, looks like HTC has a new phone coming out in the AT&T 3G bands. Along with the boring technical details, the FCC also was kind enough to share some pictures! Could this be the new HTC Wildfire? HTC currently calls it the “PC70110″, but it’s typical to see this type of code name used during pre-production. Check out the pictures after the jump.
[via Unwired View]
Source: MobileCrunch | 27 Apr 2010 | 7:00 pm Three new Zune HD apps: Stopwatch, Labyrinth, Solitaire
Source: CrunchGear | 27 Apr 2010 | 7:00 pm Gamertell Review: Zibits Mini Remote Control RobotsFROM GAMERTELL - Senario’s Zibit R/C robots are tiny, affordable and cute little novelties that would make a great gift. There are occasional control issues, but overall they’re well built and do everything you expect a $10 toy to do. Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 27 Apr 2010 | 6:32 pm Samsung looking into bringing Android to the TV
An anonymous Samsung exec was quoted as saying, “we are considering Google TVs.” It makes sense to license Android, since the application base keeps growing, and you could potentially write software to take advantage of a larger display for productivity reasons. Besides, it’s also rumored that Sony is working on a Android TV as well, which will certainly help drive other manufacturers towards the technology. [via Pocket Lint]
Source: CrunchGear | 27 Apr 2010 | 6:30 pm Beware of FYE's VIP Backstage Pass programBoing Boing reader Nate warns that an FYE store clerk took his credit card number and signed him up for a monthly subscription to a "FYE VIP program" without his permission. He said FYE will not let him cancel the program because he doesn't have his membership number.About a year ago I had to get a USB A to USB mini connector on short notice. The San Diego Office Max wanted around $60, but the FYE store had it for $10. While I was checking out, the clerk tried to sell me on their "VIP" program. I thanked him, but didn't sign up. And that was the last of it, or so I thought. You can find quite a few negative stories about the FYE VIP pass on Google. Examples: TLG*FYE VIP: Refuse to stop charging me: "My granddaughter apparently agreed to pay this company for "what she doesn't know" as part of some "contest" on the internet during July. We have called and cancelled the contract twice. They continue charging her the monthly fee." F.Y.E. VIP Pass Complaints: I was offered a VIP pass for no monthly fees and received a book of coupons.Couple months later I find there is a $9.99 per month and the associate in the store told me, " Well, I don't know why she told you that, so call headquarters and they may or may not refund your money back." All this with an attitude of too bad so sad, we don't know how to apologize. I am finding frequent $9.99 charges on my credit card from FYE VIP FYE VIP Backstage Pass: Won't cancel/Keeps charging after cancellation "After about a month or so, I check my credit card online statement (which should have been a balance of 0.00$, I had just made a payment) only to find that a product marked as FYE VIP Pass had charged me a total of 11.99$. I am beside myself with rage..." If you've had an experience (good or bad) with this program, please share it in the comments. Science Develops Better Way to Predict Heart AttacksNew evidence that heart scans can help flag high-risk heart patientsCHICAGO --- Every year thousands of people get heart scans that provide pictures of calcium deposits in their coronary arteries.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 Apr 2010 | 6:02 pm Eye-Fi announces new Geo X2 memory card on sale in MaySection: Video, Computers, Wireless, Imaging, Digital Cameras
The 4GB memory cards boasts faster read/write speeds, lifetime Geotagging service, and a special feature called Endless Memory. If the Endless Memory option is in play, the card will automatically delete pictures after it is uploaded to the desired destination. In addition to uploading easily to Mac software, the memory card can upload seamlessly to Flickr, YouTube, Picasa, and Facebook. Since many of the Eye-Fi X2 cards range from $49 - $149, the Geo X2 looks to be a middle-of-the-road solution if you want a simple card with some high-end features. In a related news, Eye-Fi recently announced a partnership with Devicescape in order to provide users with additional Wi-Fi hotspots and the splash screen page when entering the Wi-Fi network of a school or café. These new hotspots will be added to the HotSpot Access plan which costs $29.99 a year. Read [Eye-Fi Press Release Geo X2] Read [Eye-Fi Press Release Devicescape] Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 27 Apr 2010 | 6:02 pm Welcome Back, Steve: Apple CEO Jobs to Appear Onstage at D8 [BoomTown]
Apple (AAPL) CEO and Co-founder Steve Jobs will appear at the eighth D: All Things Digital, in an interview on the opening night, kicking off our tech and media conference that will also include famed Hollywood director James Cameron, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, among others. (Jobs is pictured above at D5 in 2007.) Jobs has been onstage many times at D, including in a famous joint session with Microsoft (MSFT) Co-founder Bill Gates. In the interview, which was conducted by Walt Mossberg and me, the pair of tech legends talked about their long history in the industry (you can see the video of that interview below). There is much to talk to Jobs about, obviously, including the new iPad, the mobile market and the iPhone, its tense relationship with Google (GOOG) and the next innovations from the Silicon Valley computer icon. It should be a news-filled year at D. Also onstage: Ballmer, who is appearing with the software giant’s chief software architect Ray Ozzie. In addition, Cameron will discuss the impact of tech on the film industry and his mega-hit movie “Avatar.” Also onstage: Steve Burke, COO of Comcast (CMCSK), which recently purchased NBC Universal; Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski; former AOL (AOL) leaders Steve Case and Ted Leonsis; Peter Chou, CEO of HTC, which is embroiled in an ugly legal fight with Apple; John Donahoe, president and CEO of eBay (EBAY); former Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) CEO Carly Fiorina, who is now a candidate for U.S. Senate in California; Paul Jacobs, CEO of Qualcomm (QCOM); Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation SKG; Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford (F); Richard Rosenblatt, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Demand Media, in a session with Editor-in-Chief, President and CEO Paul Steiger of ProPublica; Vivian Schiller, president and CEO of National Public Radio; and, last but hardly least, Zuckerberg of Facebook (yes, Mark, there will be a question about competition you’ll need to answer–and not via a question about the question either–be prepared!). We also have a few more speakers to announce, so stay tuned. Here is the Jobs-Gates video from 2007: [ See post to watch video ] And here’s our official press release:
Source: All Things Digital | 27 Apr 2010 | 6:01 pm New Android app helps you if you’ve fallen and can’t get up
The new application is being developed by researchers at Florida State University, and uses the Android platform to determine if a user has fallen. It also is aware if the user has gotten back up, or if they are lying there unable to move. After a fall is detected, the application activates, and shows a notification that has to be cleared by the end user. If there is no response, then the application notifies whomever you request. The app is still in development at this time, but the plan is to release iFall into general use this summer. [via medGadget]
Source: MobileCrunch | 27 Apr 2010 | 6:00 pm Solar Charger Juices Your Gadgets, Rain or ShineWhen it comes to powering up multiple gadgets using the rays of the sun, our favorite new juicer is the Joos Orange Solar Charger.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 27 Apr 2010 | 6:00 pm S.F. Computer Admin Guilty of Hijacking City PasswordsTerry Childs, the San Francisco city-government computer admin is found guilty of hijacking the city's pass codes, and faces 5 years imprisonment in a trial that lasted months.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 27 Apr 2010 | 6:00 pm Lost in the Details: Micro-View Blinds Scientists to Big PictureThe universe is far more networked than science has anticipated. It's time we accept that no single gadget or reductionist approach is going to reveal the underlying logic of everything.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 27 Apr 2010 | 6:00 pm Solar Charger Juices Your Gadgets, Rain or ShineWhen it comes to powering up multiple gadgets using the rays of the sun, our favorite new juicer is the Joos Orange Solar Charger.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 27 Apr 2010 | 6:00 pm DNA Study: Grass May Not Be A GrassA rose by any other name may smell as sweet, but it would no longer be a rose. If a grass is booted out of the grass family, where does it go?Leah Morris and Dr.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 Apr 2010 | 5:58 pm Karnal Bunt Wheat Restrictions LiftedAMARILLO – Research came full circle on April 16 as the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service amended the Karnal bunt quarantine areas in Arizona, California and Texas, according to a Texas AgriLife Research scientist. "The research is finally paying off," said Dr.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 Apr 2010 | 5:54 pm Microbes Contribute Less to Global WarmingNew Haven, Conn.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 Apr 2010 | 5:52 pm New Hydrangea Cultivars for Landscape GardensTwo new compact oakleaf hydrangea cultivars ideal for small gardens have been released by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists."Ruby Slippers" and "Munchkin" are the latest cultivars released by ARS geneticist Sandy Reed with the U.S.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 Apr 2010 | 5:51 pm The 4G iPhone's Finder Reportedly LocatedCNET is reporting that investigators have interviewed the person who found the unreleased Apple iPhone and began all the trouble. Wired reports that last week people "identifying themselves as representing Apple last week visited and sought permission to search the Silicon Valley address of the college-age man who came into possession of a next-generation iPhone prototype." "'Someone came to [the finder's] house and knocked on his door,' the source told Wired.com, speaking on condition of anonymity because the case is under investigation by the police. A roommate answered, but wouldn't let them in. ... News of Apple's lost iPhone prototype hit the web like a bombshell, but it was apparently an open secret for weeks amongst the finder's roommates and neighbors, where the device was shown around mostly as a curiosity. ... 'There was no effort to keep it secret,' the source said. 'There were a bunch of people who knew.' ... Wired.com received an e-mail March 28 offering access to the device, but did not follow up on the exchange after the tipster made a thinly veiled request for money."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 27 Apr 2010 | 5:49 pm More Americans Delaying 'Adulthood'CORVALLIS, Ore.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 Apr 2010 | 5:47 pm Shedding New Light on a Pulsar MysteryThe fledgling Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) is teaming up with other radio telescopes to probe the beams of intense radiation emitted by pulsars, potentially answering the mystery as to how they are generated.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 27 Apr 2010 | 5:39 pm The PowerV Quad from Konnet Technology aims to charges and display Wii Remotes
There isn’t much to be said here. One look at the pic and headline and you probably already know what it’s a 4-port Wii Remote inductive changing station. But you probably don’t know that the PowerV Quad even works Wii Motion Plus and silicone covers. Nice, eh? $50 and ships in a few weeks.
Source: CrunchGear | 27 Apr 2010 | 5:39 pm Amy Crehore's Dirty Blond banjo-uke
Amy Crehore just finished painting another stringed instrument. This time it is the beloved banjo-uke. She says, "It's called 'Dirty Blond' and it's a Slingerland from the 1920s with birdseye maple veneer on the sides. It's in excellent shape, restored to a natural shine by the luthier." My Dirty Blond Banjo-uke (Crehore) Previously:
Source: Boing Boing | 27 Apr 2010 | 5:30 pm Vendors Team on Content-sharing Spec (PC World)PC World - A cadre of enterprise content management (ECM) software vendors is close to finalizing a standard for sharing data across their systems.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 27 Apr 2010 | 5:30 pm If I Did It: a blogger’s guide to not getting raided
As you’ve no doubt heard, Jason Chen’s house was raided by the local police, on a judge-signed warrant presumably brought about by charges filed by Apple. We’ve been discussing the case throughout the day — as non-lawyers but with that excellent visual acuity which hindsight is known for — and we have agreed that there are, in fact, some things we might have done differently in their position. Their reporting is their business, of course, and they have parleyed this story into enough traffic melt their servers, so I don’t mean this as a criticism of their coverage, but rather a few lessons we’ve learned from it that may prove valuable to anyone in a similar situation. Again, I would like to emphasize that I am not a lawyer, and furthermore the boss, who possesses many lawyer-like qualities, has already weighed in. But in case you find yourself about to break a big story like this, to be forewarned of the dangers and protections awaiting you is to be forearmed, and with a little foresight your foyer won’t be littered with the splinters of your foredoor. That’s your front door, which the cops will break down if you’re not there to open it when they serve the warrant. 1. What iPhone?
What’s more, as the finder, if you find yourself in possession of such goods or information as could be considered a trade secret or something else of importance and worth, it is probably best not to make this obvious unless you are sure of your ground. Knowing or stating its value is as much an admission of your knowledge as saying its name, by the way. But provided you are making a reasonable attempt to return the device, I see no reason why you couldn’t contact a friend who might be interested in the device. After all, if you found a valuable and interesting book and were waiting for its owner to call you back, wouldn’t you show your book-collecting friend? If it were to turn out to be a pre-release copy not for public consumption, well, no court on earth would convict you for not knowing that it was something you had no idea existed in the first place. If your friend, who may also be a journalist, finds it interesting and wants to take pictures, well, that’s his business as long as it doesn’t interfere with the lawful return of the item. On the other side of the equation, if you are a journalist and have reason to suspect you may be onto something big, it would be well to protect yourself. It sounds hokey, but limit your vocabulary. If Chen’s emails are submitted in court, it may be shown that he and others at Gizmodo conspired to pay money for a stolen trade secret they recognized as such (objection! hearsay!). With a little cloak and dagger tactics, all that might be found was that Chen was visiting an acquaintance who had something cool to show him. You don’t have to say “the eagle has landed” or “the package is in the open” — but avoiding things like “I’m going to pick up that stolen iPhone prototype, who has the cash?” seems advisable. 2. What source?
The protection afforded to journalists is really protection of sources. Even if the source may have committed crimes in furnishing you with that information, you cannot be forced to divulge anything. There are exceptions, however, for cases in which the reporter is himself implicated in the crime — to avoid journalist-criminal team-ups, I suppose. It remains to be seen which category the alleged iPhone theft falls under; that will surely be a point of contention in the upcoming legal action. What might a journalist do in order to limit his liability here? Well, although we’re not quite at the level of Presidential misconduct here, this is about the highest profile tech leak I can think of, so think Deep Throat. You don’t need to have an elaborate system of signals like I had when I was deep undercover in East Germany, but ideally only you know who your source is, and taking steps to ensure that is important. Gizmodo on the other hand wanted to tell a story, so they told one. If it’s true, though, everything narrated there is one less thing the prosecution has to prove, and at any rate if what is narrated is a crime, then that’s complicity right there. What if they had just published the preview, the teardown, the features, without the story? Personally, I think it might have been nice to have kept much of the mystery. Apple would know what really happened, of course, but that doesn’t really matter. With the benefit of hindsight (again, I want to stress that I’m not criticizing Gizmodo for the way they handled it but sharing what I feel I’ve learned from the last week), I would have published all the information without a second thought, but also without context. If our readers required more to convince them, we would simply have to keep our mouths shut until Apple proved us right in June. The context makes for good reading, sure, but will it also make for millions of dollars in damages? Gawker has lawyers; I’m sure they went into this thing fully aware of the risks. However, it’s my stated purpose in this post to suggest the safest path, not the one with the most pageviews, so I would advise against their approach. 3. What crime?
Arrington has stated that we do not pay for stories. I know I have never done, since I have barely enough to keep me in coffee. But he also notes that this scruple is far from universal among even the best-respected news organizations. If the idea of paying for a story is abhorrent to you (as it must be for me), proceed with the following substitutions: for “source” put “unscrupulous blogger” and for “prototype iPhone” put “suitcase nuke.” In this way, you will find we are not talking about how to compensate a potentially shady but important source, but rather how to safely remove a dangerous item from the hands of one who is not qualified to own it (on account of being unscrupulous — for which reason he is also demanding you pay him for the privilege). Also, you’re planning to write an article about it. Nick Denton publicly stated on the day the leak was published that Gawker had paid $5000 for the device; its return was also offered that same day. What the specifics of the deal were, I don’t know, and it doesn’t particularly matter. If the device is found to be stolen property, and that seems to be a distinct possibility, all that matters is that they knowingly paid money for stolen goods. It’s a crime, and a lawyer would argue quite a serious one, if he can convince the court of lost revenue or other damages directly resulting from the crime. But what if there was no crime? Sometimes the law must make way for justice, even if it doesn’t appear to be justice at the time. The ability to report something, anything, that one has seen or heard, is one of the rocks upon which our country is founded, and it is possible that laws may be broken along the way. At the risk of getting highfalutin on you, it does come down to a matter of free press and free expression. If people were prohibited from reporting something because it might cause a company to lose money — well, you can bet this country would look a lot different now. As for the question of bloggers as journalists: I think I might be a little biased, but I fail to see how a professional blogger of Jason Chen’s stature (or any of the others at Gizmodo or other prominent sites such as our own) could not be considered a journalist by an informed judge or jury. But to return to the topic at hand. I feel like a crime-lord, meditating on these dark matters, but sometimes one must think like a criminal in order to stay within the law. The precautions I’ve suggested above apply as always: be discreet, protect your source. And now, avoid committing a crime yourself. In this case, the crime was (allegedly) buying stolen property. But it’s not illegal to see stolen property, especially if you don’t know it’s stolen. You can’t be told if you don’t ask, by the way. And a consultant, who has found something interesting for you to look at (for an hour or a day, who’s keeping track?), not necessarily related to the controversial story, might be compensated in cash for expenses. I’m sure you see what I’m getting at here. Though I should make clear again that this is purely a thought exercise and in no way represents the policies of this website. In this fashion, the information is reported, the source is obscured, and the property is returned in short order to its rightful owner. Everybody wins! Except Apple. Luckily, there’s an app for that. So there you have it. In a nutshell, the lesson to be learned here is: don’t appear to know more than you should know, don’t reveal your source even indirectly, and avoid committing a crime in your reporting, even if that means using a quasi-legal smokescreen like an anonymous consultant. If these sorts of tactics make you uncomfortable, it’d be better to stay out of the shady-reporting business altogether. That’s my plan. One last point: I wouldn’t take legal advice from gadget bloggers, if I were you.
Source: CrunchGear | 27 Apr 2010 | 5:30 pm Appletell reviews the Booq Boa Skin XS for iPadFROM APPLETELL - The Boa Skin XS iPad sleeve may be perfect for anyone who plans to carry their iPad inside of another case, or even by itself. Let me tell you why. Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 27 Apr 2010 | 5:28 pm Fake anti-virus software a growing online threat: Google (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 27 Apr 2010 | 5:09 pm Insect Trap has admirable package design
Even if we didn't have a cricket infestation problem I would have bought this box of insect traps, because the packaging is so terrific. My 7-year-old daughter couldn't take her eyes of it. My wife was repulsed by it and made me remove the box from the kitchen, but admitted that its design was striking. I hope it works! Victor Poison-Free M256 Insect Magnet Traps 12-Pack
CSI shoots real-life crime investigation in the foot
This is not a still from a Children's Television Workshop-produced season of Dexter. Instead, it's a shot from inside a forensic science training center at the University of Glamorgan in South Wales. The Economist visited the school for a story on "The CSI Effect"—that unfortunate legal train wreck that is the result of jury pools being simultaneously over-informed, under-informed and misinformed about forensic investigation science by prime-time cop shows. And, apparently, the same television habits that make juries expect a 100%, no-question DNA match for every case is also giving criminals ideas for evading the law.
Source: Boing Boing | 27 Apr 2010 | 5:05 pm Biomechanical Mike Stand Gets a Gleaming GripArtist Chris Conte draws on his background in prosthetics to craft a sci-fi-inspired microphone stand.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 27 Apr 2010 | 5:05 pm Wii hack shows what Wii Music might have been
I was impressed but skeptical until he started throwing chords in there — skip to three minutes in if you want to skip the technical stuff and see what it’s like in use. The industrial design could use a little polishing, but if you make those flex sensors a little more sensitive and work out some easier plucking mechanics, this could be pretty awesome. [via Hack a Day]
Source: CrunchGear | 27 Apr 2010 | 5:00 pm Who can build the tallest tower with a marshmallow, tape, string, and dry spaghetti?In this six-minute TED Talk video, Autodesk Fellow Tom Wujec describes a team-building contest in which groups of four people are asked to build the tallest free-standing structure possible out of 20 sticks of spaghetti, a yard of tape, a yard of string, and a marshmallow. Wujec says that very young kids usually build taller and more interesting structures than most adults, because they build a lot of prototypes in the 18 minutes each group is allotted, while adults spend a lot of time planning, then have no time to correct their mistakes. Tom Wujec: Build a tower, build a team Apple Buys Start-Up Behind the iPad's Chip - Wall Street Journal
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 27 Apr 2010 | 4:56 pm Terry Childs Found GuiltyA jury in San Francisco found Terry Childs guilty of one felony count of computer tampering. The trial lasted four months. Childs now faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 27 Apr 2010 | 4:56 pm Motorola Droid Still Leading the Android Pack - PC World
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 27 Apr 2010 | 4:46 pm CrunchDeals: 1200 free photo prints at ArtsCow
The official rules are here. You still have to pay for shipping, and unfortunately this deal only applies to “orders placed and shipped within the globe.” I’m assuming they mean orders placed from this, the third planet from the su. So those of you in low earth orbit or on the Mars base are out of luck. [via LogicBuy]
Source: CrunchGear | 27 Apr 2010 | 4:20 pm Run, Blue Dog, Run: Sirius Avoids Delisting [Digital Daily]
As of market close today, the company’s shares have traded above $1 for 10 straight days, putting it back in compliance with NASDAQ’s minimum bid requirement. As a result, the NASDAQ Listing Qualifications Panel hearing Sirius was to attend Thursday has been canceled and the company is no longer in danger of being booted to the Pink Sheets — not that it ever was, really. More good news for Sirius whose shares were trading at a new 52-week high of $1.20 yesterday. Source: All Things Digital | 27 Apr 2010 | 4:11 pm Rocket Racing League Showcases New X-RacersFleaPlus writes "The Rocket Racing League demonstrated two of their new 'Mark III' X-Racer rocketplanes at an air show in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Besides making for a fun show, the League also pushes the boundaries for reusable and easily maintainable rocket engines. (The X-Racer's liquid oxygen and ethanol rocket engine was made by John Carmack's Armadillo Aerospace, which recently released a video showcasing some of the rockets they've launched and landed in the past year.)"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 27 Apr 2010 | 4:09 pm Malcolm X's Assassin Freed from PrisonThomas Hagan served 44 years for gunning down the civil rights leader.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 27 Apr 2010 | 4:00 pm Discovering pages “similar to” ones that you likeOne of the great things about the web is choice. There’s a website out there for nearly everything, and sometimes there are many sites all dedicated to a single topic. But how can you find all the sites that are related to the subject that interests you? This week, we launched a search feature that helps you easily find new websites that are similar to the ones with which you’re already familiar.For example, with the recent earthquakes around the world, many of us have been looking for international relief organizations. We knew that Direct Relief International has been actively involved in Haiti, so we started off by searching for [direct relief international]. The first result on the page linked us to the Direct Relief website, where we found many ways to help in Haiti. But what if one wants to support several organizations? If you click the "Similar" link that’s on the same line as the "www.directrelief.org/" URL, you’ll find other nonprofits that are also involved in relief efforts. We've offered a "Similar" feature on results for a while now as a way to discover new, useful sites, but it hasn't been too visible. Since we've been continuously improving this feature and we think it's really useful, we're now going to start showing these alternative sites more prominently. Starting this week, for queries where similar sites are likely to be helpful, we’ll display a list of "Pages similar" at the bottom of the results page. For example, this is the list of sites similar to Direct Relief International:  These sites might provide alternative ways to contribute to Haiti or Chile, like AmeriCares and Operation USA. Or they could provide a different perspective or approach, like giving more broadly through a blood donation at the Red Cross. We hope this feature helps you discover many useful websites that you didn’t know about before and get a better understanding of all the choices the web has to offer. Posted by Doantam Phan, Software Engineer    
 Source: The Official Google Blog | 27 Apr 2010 | 4:00 pm 1980s Nostalgia + YouTube = Pixar's Awesome "Toy Story 3″ Viral Ad [MediaMemo]Good going, Pixar! I don’t really need extra prodding to pay attention to Toy Story 3 this summer. But now you’ve gone ahead and made sure I’m all in, with this excellent new ad campaign. Yahoo News has the details, but the short version is that Disney’s (DIS) animation unit is introducing a new character for the franchise . And it’s doing so via a fake retro commercial it has seeded on Google’s YouTube (GOOG). That’s clever enough. But what I really appreciate is that the Pixar folks have gone ahead and populated an entire YouTube “channel” for “MrCrazycommercials“, who describes himself as someone who loves “classic commercials that remind me of the good ol’ days, when things were happy and carefree!”. Which means we also get to see real 1980s commercials that are going to resonate with people of a certain age. Like this beauty: And this one. If you’re really into this stuff, it turns out there are plenty of other YouTube viewers just like you. You can check out out channels like “MrClassicAds“, which looks to be the work of a real person. And features awesome clips like this 1977 ad for the IBM 5100, a 50-pound “portable” computer. But be warned! You can lose a lot of time here. Source: All Things Digital | 27 Apr 2010 | 3:57 pm Facebook's expansion triggers political backlash (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 27 Apr 2010 | 3:52 pm CrunchDeals: Sony Vaio FW for $720
So what do you get? A maroon Sony Vaio, with a Intel Core 2 Duo 2GHz, 6GB of RAM, and all the other goodies you expect on a top end notebook computer. You can pick it up from the Sony Style website, however be aware when you first click on the price it’ll show up as $920. The system will automatically apply a $200 promotional discount and bring the price down to that $720 mark. [via I4U News]
Source: CrunchGear | 27 Apr 2010 | 3:45 pm IBM boosts dividend 18 pct, extends share buyback (AP)AP - IBM Corp. is increasing its dividend payout by 18 percent and buying back more of its stock, offering more signals of confidence in the technology industry's rebound.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 27 Apr 2010 | 3:09 pm Apple Just Says Yes to iPhone Game for Smokers - Wired News
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 27 Apr 2010 | 3:06 pm A photo gallery of the tiny 16GB Lexar Echo ZE flash drive with 12 household itemsThe FedEx man just dropped off the new Lexar 16GB Echo ZE Backup Drive. This thing is tiny. Like I knew it was small judging by the press photos when it was announced back at CES, but I had no idea it was this small. You need to see this thing to scale to really appreciate it and so I snapped a few pictures with random items around my desk. Click through for the photo gallery. You have to see this thing. Full review coming soon.
Source: CrunchGear | 27 Apr 2010 | 3:05 pm Rising Sea Level Threatens Beaches, Warns EPA ScientistAn EPA scientist says the East Coast is at serious risk of losing its beaches as sea level rises. Despite some really scary projections, facts already on the ground, and insurance risk, only a few developers are paying attention.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 27 Apr 2010 | 3:00 pm Apple May Have Traced iPhone to Finder's AddressPeople identifying themselves as Apple employees earlier this month visited and sought permission to search the Silicon Valley address of a college student who came into possession of a next-generation iPhone prototype, according to a person involved with the find.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 27 Apr 2010 | 2:54 pm Study: Fair Use Contributes Trillions to U.S. EconomyA new study says fair use of copyrights contributes trillions to the United States economy. Most studies examine how much copyright piracy hurts the economy.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 27 Apr 2010 | 2:16 pm Engineers Rush To Contain US Oil SpillImage Caption: NASA's Aqua satellite captured this image of the Gulf of Mexico on April 25, 2010 using its Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument. With the Mississippi Delta on the left, the silvery swirling oil slick from the April 20 explosion and subsequent sinking of the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform is highly visible. The rig was located roughly 50 miles southeast of the coast of Louisiana. The oil slick may be particularly obvious because it is occurring in the sunglint area, where the mirror-like reflection of the Sun off the water gives the Gulf of Mexico a washed-out look. Oil slicks are notoriously difficult to spot in natural-color (photo-like) satellite imagery because a thin sheen of oil only slightly darkens the already dark blue background of the ocean. Under unique viewing conditions, oil slicks can become visible in photo-like images, but usually, radar imagery is needed to clearly see a spill from space. Image Credit: NASA/MODIS Rapid Response TeamSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 Apr 2010 | 2:12 pm Video: Gadgety Shoes Give Gait Great GustoSometimes, function rules over form. That is definitely the case with these three practical -- but very goofy -- shoes: the Korkers Guide, Teva Illum and Terra Plana EVO.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 27 Apr 2010 | 2:10 pm Video: Gadgety Shoes Give Gait Great GustoSometimes, function rules over form. That is definitely the case with these three practical -- but very goofy -- shoes: the Korkers Guide, Teva Illum and Terra Plana EVO.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 27 Apr 2010 | 2:10 pm It’s Official: Adobe Flash support will be built into Android 2.2
10 months. That’s how long its been since Adobe first demonstrated Flash on Android — and that’s pretty much a lifetime in the mobile world. And yet, official Flash support for Android is still nowhere to be seen*. Do these people not understand that I have virtual fish to feed and e-crops to tend? While we still don’t have an exact date, we do know which version of Android it’ll be coming in: the next one.
In an interview with the New York Times, Chief Android Architect Andy Rubin made it official: Android 2.2, otherwise known as the “Froyo” build (with the latest device-ready build being 2.1, otherwise known as “Eclair”), will have Flash support built in. This goes hand-in-hand with Adobe’s previous indications that Flash for Android would be available sometime in the second half of this year. Alas, it’s still not clear which already existing devices will be upgradable to 2.2, nor whether or not all upgradable devices will play friendly with Flash.
Source: MobileCrunch | 27 Apr 2010 | 1:50 pm VORTEX2 Tornado Scientists Hit The Road Again2010 expedition takes place May 1st though June 15thIn the largest and most ambitious effort ever made to understand tornadoes, more than 100 scientists and 40 support vehicles will hit the road again this spring.The project, VORTEX2--Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes--is in its final season: May 1st through June 15th, 2010.VORTEX2 is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).Scientists from more than a dozen universities and government and private organizations will take part. International participants are from Italy, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada and Australia.The questions driving VORTEX2 are simple to ask but hard to answer, says lead scientist Josh Wurman of the Center for Severe Weather Research (CSWR) in Boulder, Colo.* How, when, and why do tornadoes form?* Why are some violent and long-lasting while others are weak and short-lived?* What is the structure of tornadoes?* How strong are the winds near the ground?* How exactly do they do damage?* How can we learn to forecast tornadoes better?"Current warnings have only a 13-minute average lead time, and a 70 percent false alarm rate," says Brad Smull, program director in NSF's Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences. "Can we issue reliable warnings as much as 30, 45 or even 60 minutes ahead of tornado touchdown?"VORTEX2 scientists hope to find the answers.They will use a fleet of instruments to literally surround tornadoes and the supercell thunderstorms that form them.An armada will be deployed, including:* Ten mobile radars such as the Doppler-on-Wheels (DOW) from CSWR;* SMART-Radars from the University of Oklahoma;* the NOXP radar from the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL);* radars from the University of Massachusetts, the Office of Naval Research and Texas Tech University (TTU);* 12 mobile mesonet instrumented vehicles from NSSL and CSWR;* 38 deployable instruments including Sticknets (TTU);* Tornado-Pods (CSWR);* 4 disdrometers (University of Colorado (CU);* weather balloon launching vans (NSSL, NCAR and SUNY-Oswego);* unmanned aircraft (CU);* damage survey teams (CSWR, Lyndon State College, NCAR); and* photogrammetry teams (Lyndon State University, CSWR and NCAR)."VORTEX2 is fully nomadic with no home base," says Wurman. Scientists will roam from state to state in the U.S. Plains following severe weather outbreaks."When we get wind of a tornado," says Wurman, "we spring into action."---Image 1: On the road again: VORTEX2 scientists take to the field in search of tornadoes. Credit: Josh Wurman, CSWRImage 2: In spring, 2009, scientists on VORTEX2 used an army of instruments to follow tornadoes. Credit: Josh Wurman, CSWRImage 3: VORTEX2 researchers trailed this Wyoming twister during last spring's expedition. Credit: Josh Wurman, CSWRSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 Apr 2010 | 1:45 pm Apple Just Says Yes to iPhone Game for Smokers
Blogs and message boards have been lighting up with the buzz about Apple’s family-friendly App Store policy, which bans soft porn and satire — but a game that glorifies smoking somehow got the green light. Apple on Monday approved Puff Puff Pass, a $2 game whose objective is to pass a cigarette or pipe around and puff it as many times as you can within a set duration. So much for taking the high road, Apple. The game allows you to choose between smoking a cigarette, a cigar and a pipe. Then, you select the number of people you’d like to light up with (up to five), the amount of time, and a place to smoke (outdoors or indoors). And you’re ready to get right on puffing. “During gameplay you can listen to a phat track,” the game’s description reads in the App Store. Apple rates Puff Puff Pass 17+ for “Frequent/Intense Alcohol, Tobacco, or Drug Use or References.” Marijuana is not present in the game. However, an Urban Dictionary entry says the slang phrase “Puff puff pass” refers to a game in which “a circle passes a spliff, bong or other smokeage.”
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding Puff Puff Pass. But given Apple’s goal to retain a wholesome shopping experience that’s appropriate for people of all ages, including children, it’s safe to guess this was a mistake on a reviewer’s part, and the game will eventually be nipped in the bud. The App Store last year generated controversy with a number of questionable decisions. The most notable example was the approval of Baby Shaker, a game whose premise was to shake a baby to death. Apple later pulled the app amid parental outrage, admitting it was a mistake. More recently, the company’s rejection of Mark Fiore’s Pulitzer-winning editorial cartoon for “ridiculing public figures” inspired a wave of bad press. The move raised concern among journalists (including yours truly) about the state of editorial independence for media companies distributing iPad and/or iPhone editions of their publications through the App Store. Apple eventually approved Fiore’s cartoon app, but it did not disclose whether its rules regarding “ridiculing public figures” had changed. Then this week, Apple rejected an editorial cartoon mocking Tiger Woods. In regard to App Store content, Apple has been blunt that it does not wish to sell porn through the App Store. At a recent iPhone event, Steve Jobs said that Google’s Android OS is a place where people can download porn, but not the App Store. “There’s a porn store in Android,” Jobs said. “You can download porn right onto your phone. Our kids can download them. That’s a place we don’t want to go, so we’re not going to.” Even with that said, Apple’s App Store serves the Playboy and Sports Illustrated apps, because they come from “more reputable companies,” according to Apple’s vice president of marketing, Phil Schiller. Given that rationale, perhaps Apple will pull Puff Puff Smoke but approve a game made by a more reputable company such as Marlboro. A hat tip to Krapps for originally reporting this story. See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 27 Apr 2010 | 1:36 pm Apple Just Says Yes to iPhone Game for SmokersWhile Apple's App Store reviewers are busy rejecting editorial cartoons and soft porn to protect our world from satire and bikini-clad ladies, they gave Puff Puff Pass the green light. The game involves passing around a cigarette, cigar or pipe and puffing it as many times as possible.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 27 Apr 2010 | 1:36 pm Apple Just Says Yes to iPhone Game for SmokersWhile Apple's App Store reviewers are busy rejecting editorial cartoons and soft porn to protect our world from satire and bikini-clad ladies, they gave Puff Puff Pass the green light. The game involves passing around a cigarette, cigar or pipe and puffing it as many times as possible.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 27 Apr 2010 | 1:36 pm Lost and Found: Soviet Lunar RoverAnother Soviet-era lunar rover has been found on the moon. This time, using Earth-based lasers to bounce off Lunokhod 1's retroreflectors, researchers managed to shine some light on the robot's final resting place.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 27 Apr 2010 | 1:09 pm Gadgetell review: Pantech LinkSection: Communications, Accessories, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Email / IM, Mobile What Teens SeeFirst, for a teen’s perspective the Link, I found a teen girl (who by definition is hooked on texting). She carried the phone around for a week, replacing her Pantech Reveal. The teen said, “texting on this phone is soo easy. The keyboard is great (compared to the Reveal and Slate) and the new text bubbles help keep me in the loop with all my texting.” She added, “the Link looks like I (meaning her parent, I am sure) spent a lot of cash to get.” In short, for a teen, the AT&T Link is a home run. What Parents seeThe Link really could be confused with a high end BlackBerry on sight. The link is thin (even thinner than their old jaw-droppingly thin Slate) and looks very high end. Though it’s all plastic, the parts come together in a really good looking package. Fit and finish is near perfect. Really, just $9.99? Warning: go for the unlimited texting plan. Teens are notorious for blowing past texting limits so be prepared. Sure you could make the argument for discipline and consequences but the extra $5 or $15 a month might make life a whole lot easier to live with. That said, the Link is one of the first quick messaging phone that doesn’t look like a toy and that just might encourage the teens to protect it a bit more. Really just $9.99? Impressive.
What a gadget geek sees:This more than just a teen’s phone. With GPS, voice commands, bluetooth stereo, HTML browser (based on Opera) and POP email, there is a lot to explore in this phone. This is also one of the first AT&T phones that syncs your contacts with the cloud. That means should you change phones or if this phone forgets everything, all your contact info is just a simple download away, nothing lost. It’s a nice service that costs $.35 per transfer and in my mind is worth it. But wait, there’s more. Pantech reworked their QWERTY design and nailed it with this device. The keyboard is really good, better than most phones I’ve seen lately. Pantech seems to have figured out the right amount of click, positive feedback, size and raise of the bubbled keys. Overall, I am very impressed. Picking up on what my teen tester said, Pantech reworked their text messaging. Now, instead of just incoming messages leaving you to figure out what the response is to, on the Link the conversations are kept together in bubbles so you can easily follow the conversation. The bubbles remind me a lot of how the iPhone does text messaging. It’s a huge improvement. Another nice improvement from Pantech is the graphics. Pantech made some changes with how menus appear and while it is a small touch, it makes the phone feel more high end. It’s paying attention the these details that make the device more attractive. The small screen hinders somethings like the web browsing as a lot of scrolling is needed, it’s not horrible, but we suspect you won’t be doing a lot of web surfing on this one. I found both battery life and call quality to be above par. I might even believe the claimed 180 minutes of talk time. The Link uses the same battery as the Reveal and the same charging cable Pantech uses for just about everything. Summary: Impressed.Overall, the phone feels sturdy, well built and trustworthy. The device performed well for a quick messaging device and it’s QWERTY is among the top 10 I’ve every typed on. I remain impressed with the Link and think you might be too. Product page: [AT&T]
Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 27 Apr 2010 | 1:07 pm Gene Discovery May Lead To New Varieties Of SoybeanImage Caption: Purdue's Jianxin Ma, from left, and postdoctoral researcher Zhixi Tian are using crosses of wild-type soybean and modern U.S. cultivar soybean plants to discover and pinpoint genes. (Purdue Agricultural Communication photo/Tom Campbell)Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 Apr 2010 | 1:01 pm Bumble Bee Buzz Alarms ElephantsAccording to a new study released Monday, the buzz of angry bees can stir elephants up to sound a "rumbling" alarm, signaling troop members to flee their attackers.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 Apr 2010 | 12:40 pm Video: Gadgety Shoes Give Your Gait More Gusto
We love shoes. We wear them every day. But not these shoes: Sometimes, footgear that comes into the Wired offices is just too strange for everyday use. In this video we visit three new shoes whose function beats the holy hell out of form. From fishing shoes with replaceable soles to sandals with frickin’ flashlights on them to shoes that barely have a sole at all, we make a lighthearted visit to the weird world of highly alternative foot covering. Here’s a little more information on each of these shoes. The first wading boot with interchangeable soles, the Korkers Guide is designed to adapt to almost any fishing situation. Wading on slimy riverbed? The felt soles will keep you from slipping. Long hike between honey pots? The lugged soles get a grip on dry land just like a hiking boot. And with Boa’s stainless steel lacing system replacing the standard cat’s cradle of nylon string, these boots are the easiest we’ve ever put on. The only drawback — and it’s a pretty big one — is that the soles are seriously tricky to swap out. You need a special lever-type key to set the new bottoms into the boot — a key which we lost before we even hit the water. Good thing we had a flat-head screwdriver in the trunk: It did the job OK. $180, korkers.com The Teva Illum takes almost the opposite approach to outdoor fun: stripped-down and minimal. A standard flip-flop in design, the Illum adds a small LED light, mounted on top of the strap, to help illuminate your path in the darkness. Teva touts this as an aid to surfers on dawn patrol, but we think it would work pretty well for dog owners on poop patrol, too. $60, teva.com The Terra Plana EVO is the latest installment in the company’s line of nearly-barefoot shoes. Like the company’s Vivo Barefoot, the EVO has a flexible, minimal sole designed to protect your feet while encouraging a more natural, barefoot-like gait. The EVO is a comfortable, if slightly odd-looking shoe, and it does work well for barefoot-like running, in our tests — it’s much like a running flat. It’s also much less unusual-looking than the Vibram FiveFingers, a glove-like foot covering with individual pockets for each toe. If you want a flexible sole but don’t want to call attention to yourself, the EVO is a good bet. $160, www.terraplana.com/the-evo Note: We’ve examined the science of barefoot running before, and found mixed evidence for the claim that running barefoot — or nearly so — is actually better for your body than wearing the kind of running shoes that have big, cushioned, wedge-like heels. That’s because, with a shoe like this, you’ve got to land more on the front or middle of your foot, instead of pounding your heel down. But be careful: Most people’s feet and legs aren’t accustomed to running this way, so build up very, very slowly or you’ll run the risk of injuring yourself, as Wired.com senior editor Dylan Tweney did. Start slow, with quarter-mile runs at most, and build up very, very gradually. Written by Joe Brown and Dylan Tweney; video produced by Annaliza Savage, with camera work and editing by Michael Lennon and Fernando Cardoso. Guest appearance by former Wired.com science editor Kristen Philipkoski. 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 27 Apr 2010 | 12:37 pm The BlackBerry OS 6.0 sneak preview pays tribute to… the iPhone?
The first time the world ever saw the original iPhone, they saw a pair of clownfish, emerging from a tangle of anemone, set as the lockscreen wallpaper. Pulled straight from OS X’s wallpaper collection, this image would go on to be used in countless first-gen iPhone marketing materials; wherever the iPhone 2G went, so did the clownfish. Now, take a closer look at that BlackBerry OS 6.0 sneak preview video from earlier. Skip to the 50 second mark. Notice anything funny? It’s.. the same.. clown fish.
Source: MobileCrunch | 27 Apr 2010 | 12:34 pm Zeemote Bluetooth controller gets some Android love
[via Phandroid]
Source: MobileCrunch | 27 Apr 2010 | 12:33 pm Storyboard: How iPad and Other Tablets Change EverythingIn this week's Storyboard podcast, Wired senior writer Steven Levy and senior editor Jason Tanz discuss the wide-ranging impact of Apple's sleek new device.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 27 Apr 2010 | 12:18 pm Video: BlackBerry OS 6.0 shown off by very enthusiastic peoplePro Tip: If you mute your speakers, these people look absolutely insane.
Source: MobileCrunch | 27 Apr 2010 | 12:09 pm iPad gobbling data:2.5% more than iPhoneSection: Audio, Portable Audio, Video, Video Providers, Communications, Mobile, Computers, Mobile Computers, Wireless
Never heard of Bytemobile? No worries, here is how they came up with this data, “by executing identical tasks on each device and recording the resulting traffic in the wireless network, Bytemobile found that on average, the iPad generated more than 2.5 times the volume of mobile data produced by the iPhone.” Bytemobile, who happens to offer solutions to companies looking to improve bandwidth efficiency, suggests that the picture is even darker as the iPad will entice users to stay on websites longer and gobble even more data as the experience is more immersive. Press Release: [BusinessWire]
Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 27 Apr 2010 | 11:58 am Strange Attractors: How are Asteroids Like Geckos?What do asteroids and geckos have in common? More than you'd think! The same force that allows geckos to climb walls also helps asteroid rubble piles stick together.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 27 Apr 2010 | 11:51 am Nokia asks for their prototype N8 back, jabs at Apple’s security policies Nokia’s not very happy right now. Just days before they officially announced their new flagship phone, the N8, someone managed to get their hands on an early prototype. Sound familiar? Unlike Apple’s prototype iPhone, Nokia’s leaked N8 actually booted up, bearing its early software — and all of its early faults — for judgement. Although Eldar’s early hands-on makes a passing mention or two of the device’s early state, Nokia says it isn’t enough:
While they’re disappointed that the prototype was revealed in such a manner, they say it won’t let it affect the way things work at Nokia. While they avoid naming any names outright, they make a fairly transparent jab at Apple’s (generally) extreme security practices:
In the end, they just want their prototype back, closing the post with “Now that the official news is out, we’d like our prototype back. Please.” Lets just hope Eldar doesn’t make them write a signed and dated letter.
Source: MobileCrunch | 27 Apr 2010 | 11:41 am Shoe Power That Can Walk the WalkShoes are already magical--they can light up, sprout wheels, and tone your thighs. Now an assistant professor of electrical engineering at Louisiana Tech University is taking them to the next step with a viable design for shoes that can power ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 27 Apr 2010 | 11:31 am Nokia N8 gets the FCC seal of approval, shows support for T-Mobile 3GSection: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile  The Nokia N8 has recently made the required FCC appearance and that means it should be coming sooner than later with an official announcement. All in all, this was simply an FCC listing and did not show us anything overly exciting. The docs listed the phone by the model number, which is RM-596, but did confirm support for the T-Mobile 3G bands. And that means we could see an announcement here in the US at some point in the future, or at the very least those interested could purchase one unlocked and have it properly work with a T-Mobile SIM inserted.
Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 27 Apr 2010 | 10:45 am Japan to Launch 'Space Yacht'The kite-shaped sails on this unusual spacecraft are propelled by sunlight.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 27 Apr 2010 | 10:25 am Magnetic Refuge Found on MoonA mini magnetic field has been detected on the surface of the moon, making it a rare lunar refuge from the harsh solar wind.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 27 Apr 2010 | 10:20 am Bad Habits Can Age You by 12 YearsSmoking, excessive drinking and other bad habits can dramatically shorten your lifespan.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 27 Apr 2010 | 10:10 am BlackBerry 9670 pops up again, with Atlas 8910 in tow
Well, I’ll be. Thanks to the efforts of an intrepid CrackBerry forum-goer, we have yet another BlackBerry 9670 picture to ogle. And this time, it has company! Here’s a quick refresher for anyone interested: the 9670 is RIM’s first clamshell BlackBerry, which coincidentally wields RIM’s first 5.0 megapixel camera. It runs BB OS 6.0, and should come stock with RIM’s first WebKit based browser. Are we sensing a bit of a theme here? If the 9670 is the epitome of new as far as BlackBerrys go, then the Atlas sitting next to it could be it’s polar opposite. It’s looking to be the next in a line of incremental upgrades, and right now it isn’t looking too different from the 8900 it will eventually replace. The optical trackpad and bump to OS 5.0 are certainly welcome additions, but EDGE? Really? IntoMobile seems to think it’s actually poised to use the Evolved EDGE standard, but only time (or a really juicy leak) will tell. [CrackBerry forums, via IntoMobile]
Source: MobileCrunch | 27 Apr 2010 | 8:59 am The Battlefield: DIY Three-Hole Pinhole Camera
For panorama-obsessed French photographer Steven Monteau, every photo is better if lengthened or widened with others. For him, even exposing a single, elongated image spanning a good six inches of 35mm film and spilling out across the sprocket holes is not enough. No, Steven would only be happy stretching three lengths of film out in parallel, and shooting onto all of them simultaneously. Still not crazy enough for you? Then why not make it a pinhole camera? Above you see the result of Steven’s crazed concept, dubbed the Battlefield because it looks like, um, a battleship. It is constructed of cardboard, tape, aluminum foil (for the pinholes), plastic tubes, nails and bottle-tops. The three reels of film run along the length of the box, and its odd shaped ends are due to the three 35mm cartridges being offset to get the film strips close enough together. The results are stunning:
Inside, the mechanics are complex, as you’ll see if you follow the step-by-step tutorial Steven has written for DIY Photography. While one crank winds all three reels forward, and a neat rubber-band-and-nail assembly keeps the film in tension, there are three separate knobs to rewind the film. I’m not sure what I like most here. The meticulously-made camera, the crude and beautiful images complete with sprocket holes and the mix of different films stocks, or the intricate and detailed illustrations accompanying the how-to. One thing I do know: I want one. The Battlefield Pinhole Camera [DIY Photography] Photos: Steven Monteau/Flickr See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 27 Apr 2010 | 8:56 am Chimpanzee Mothers Carry Their Mummified Dead InfantsChimpanzee mothers continue to carry and care for their infants, even after the infants have died and their bodies have mummified. Learn more by reading an interview with Oxford University zoologist Dora Biro, and examining photographs that show the behavior. ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 27 Apr 2010 | 8:49 am Nokia N8 Packs Every Known Feature into Sleek SlabNokia’s new N8 smartphone has managed to squeeze everything into its slim and sleek aluminum case. And we mean everything.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 27 Apr 2010 | 8:26 am Nokia N8 Packs Every Known Feature into Sleek Slab
Nokia’s new N8 smartphone has managed to squeeze everything into its slim and sleek aluminum case. And we mean everything. The spec-sheet reads like a laundry-list of all the things missing from (and all those included in) a certain other 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen cellphone. So what’s new? A ridiculous 12 Megapixel camera (plus 720p video), with Carl Zeiss lens and Xenon lamp, 802.11n Wi-Fi, 16GB on-board storage expandable by microSD, HD-video plus HDMI-out for watching on the big screen, GPS navigation via OVI Maps (plus access to the OVI Store for applications) and of course, multi-touch and “full multitasking.” All that would be worthless if the software wasn’t up to much, and Nokia has loaded the N8 with the new Symbian S^3 operating system, a much prettier revamp of the tired old businessman’s Symbian of old. It even comes in a range of bright colors. You know – for the kids. There must be a catch, right? Well, yes. The handset will be $500 off-contract and probably will never actually make it into the US in a subsidized form. It also won’t be available until the fall, by which time Apple and Android will surely have better models to buy. A shame, to be sure, and one that proves that, no matter how many boxes the engineering people tick on the marketing department’s want-list, it’s for nothing if you don’t got some buzz. Sorry, Nokia, but these days you’re the square at the party. Introducing Nokia N8 [Nokia] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 27 Apr 2010 | 8:21 am Revisiting the Arizona borderA new measure signed into law last Friday by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer would make it a crime under state law to be in the country illegally. The bill would allow local police to question people about their immigration status ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 27 Apr 2010 | 8:14 am Supreme Court Will Take on Violent Video Games, Finally - PC World
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 27 Apr 2010 | 8:02 am Boost Mobile gussies up their selection with the Sanyo Juno
Color!
Now that Boost isn’t running on a stone-age (and by stone-age, I mean “circa 1994″) network, they’re taking a page out of every other carrier’s pay-go playbook, and claiming a unit found on their parent company’s contract offerings as their own. Aside from the full QWERTY keyboard, the Juno (aka the SCP-2700, as far as Sprint is concerned) packs a 1.3 megapixel camera, threaded messaging, wireless web, GPS, and Bluetooth. Sure, it’s not exactly the newest phone on the market, but at $99 available today, it would be the perfect phone to match your Day-Glo leggings for your next 80’s party, if nothing else.
Source: MobileCrunch | 27 Apr 2010 | 7:55 am Simplenote and Notational Velocity Bring Document Syncing to iPad
An update to Simplenote, the iPhone note-taking application, has finally added a way to keep files in sync between your computer and your iPad. It will only work for plain text files, and only on a Mac (there is a semi-workaround for other platforms), but given those limitations it’s a seamless and easy way to make sure you are always working on the same copy of a file. Better still, it is free. It’s inexplicable that Apple has not made it easy to keep files synchronized across devices. iWork is available for both Mac and iPad, and iWork.com should surely be the glue between them. But, if you try to shift a document back and forth between computer and iPad, you end up with a bunch of incremental almost-duplicates. Until Apple fixes this (and remember, it took two years to add copy-and-paste to the iPhone), then third parties will have to do the job. Here’s how. First, get Simplenote for iPhone and iPad (it works on both). Set up your sync account from within the app. Then download the excellent, and recently resuscitated Notational Velocity for the Mac and input your sync details there, too. The two apps are made for each other, and are very similar. In both, you make plain text notes (NV will also do rich text and HTML), and they are stored in a very fast database. Search is instantaneous, and the interfaces are so pared down that you’d think Apple made them. Follow the links below to find out more about Simplenote. If you have an iPhone or iPad, you should download it now. But so what, right? Why is this different from any other iPhone note-syncing app? Two things. One, a proper iPad version of Simplenote went live today and two, Notational Velocity lets you keep all those notes as plain or rich text files in a folder on your Mac (in the Preferences, Notes, Storage tab). This is big because you can point the application at any folder and it will use that for its home, using those files as your synced “notes”. And sure, you can work on them from within Notational Velocity for lightning-fast search and creation, but you can also use any text editor of your choice to edit these files and, when saved, the changes are instantly added to NV and end up back on your iPad upon your next (automatic) sync. Simplenote’s update is notable for the lack of added features. You get the now-familiar two-pane list-and-document view in landscape orientation, with a popover of the notes list in portrait-view. Aside from a few bug fixes (and new bugs - note titles with a hash-tag at the front will crash the app) that’s it. Existing Simplenote users will be very happy. If you use anything except a Mac, you can access your notes on the computer via a web-browser. It’s nowhere near as elegant, but better than nothing. To finish, here’s an example of how neat this can all be. I could start my work day skimming news feeds on the iPad and then start drafting posts in Simplenote. When I finally drag my lazy ass out of bed, I wake up my Mac and open up these new files, fresh and ready, in TextMate, my editor of choice. Every time I save, the file drifts back across the the iPad (and iPhone), ready should I decide I need to go work on a park bench (my local park has free Wi-Fi, amazingly). Sure, it would be nice to have this for pictures, Word Docs and everything else, but it’s a start. And like Instapaper and TextExpander, two other great cross-platform utilities, it seems likely that developers will work amongst themselves to make their apps play nice with each other. Oh, talking of TextExpander, did I mention that Simplenote supports it? I didn’t? It does. Simplenote for iPad/iPhone [iTunes] Notational Velocity [Notational] See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 27 Apr 2010 | 7:39 am BlackBerry Maker Overhauls Phone Operating SystemIn a long overdue move, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion is set for a major rehaul of the phone’s operating system.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 27 Apr 2010 | 7:04 am Nikon’s New $7,000, 200-400mm Monster
Nikon’s new telephoto zoom lens is huge, and has a price-tag to match. The AF-S Nikkor 200-400mm ƒ4G ED VR II will cost you $7,000, and if you need all its features, it could be worth every penny. First, the traditional decoding of the name. AF-S refers to the internal, Silent-Wave auto-focus motor. The long zoom range of 200-400mm is what you get with a full frame camera. Put this monster on a DX body and it becomes a 300-600mm zoom, and keeps that constant, and pretty wide, ƒ4 maximum aperture. The “G” means that there is no aperture ring on lens. ED means “Extra-low Dispersion” glass, which cuts down internal reflection, and finally VRII is the “vibration reduction” which will give up to four extra stops of handheld shooting. There’s more than that, though. Nikon has put in a 9-blade aperture diaphragm for better out-of-focus highlights, and managed to make the camera focus down to just over six feet throughout the zoom range, which with such a long lens is like focussing just in front of your nose. There is also a new AF mode, called A/M. This ignores any manual tweaking of the focus-ring when set (you still get full manual and M/A, which lets you override AF with a touch). Clearly aimed at the pro sports and wildlife shooter, $7,000 is a vast sum for a lens. I imagine there are a still a lot of excited people pulling out their credit cards today, though. AF-S NIKKOR 200-400mm f/4G ED VR II [Nikon. Thanks, Geoff!] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 27 Apr 2010 | 5:23 am OLPC Designer Turns to Spectacles
Yves Béhar, the designer of the OLPC, has switched his sights to spectacles. Specifically, he has turned his talent for making cheap, easy to use gadgets to provide glasses for Mexican schoolchildren. Working with Mexican company Augen, Béhar has set out to provide 400,000 pairs of specs a year to the 70% of kids that need glasses just to read the blackboard. These will be free, provided under the name See Well to Learn Better. Like the OLPC, the glasses need to be tough and durable to survive the schoolyard, and still be cheap enough to give away. They also need to be cool: kids hate wearing glasses, and they hate dorky glasses even more. “Similar to the OLPC philosophy, I want to design products that are suited to the children’s specific needs, life and environment,” Béhar told Henrietta Thompson, writing for the Guardian. Béhar solved this by splitting the specs on half horizontally. Not only does this mean that the lenses can be more easily inserted (the bridge is ultrasonically welded at the factory, and the ends are then screwed together), but it also means the kids get to pick colors for both halves. And yes, the trademark OLPC white-and-green is available. The folks at Augen should also take a look at the OLPC Give 1 Get 1 campaign, which let people buy two OLPCs, one for themselves and one for a kid in a far-off land. I’d love a pair of these specs, and I’m sure they’d be a lot cheaper than the ones I have on right now. And if they’re cool enough for the kids… US designer Yves Béhar’s DIY spectacles for Mexico schools [Guardian. Thanks, Henrietta!] Photos: Fuse Project/Augen 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 27 Apr 2010 | 4:36 am Quirky Switch, A customizable Multi-Tool
The Switch is a cross between a Swiss Army-style knife and a box full of tools – literally. The kit is completely modular, letting you choose which and how many of the 18 tools you want to carry with you. Quirky, the company which proved that design-by-committee doesn’t have to be lame, will sell you the “knife” for $80 (pre-sale $68). Not cheap, but if the build-quality is good enough, this could be the last multi-tool you’ll need. Quirky’s business model is to crowd-source a design, pre-sell it and then start the production run when enough orders have been sold. But enough of that. What kind of tool does your $80 get you? In the box is pretty much every attachment you’d expect, from screwdrivers and scissors, through corkscrew and magnifying glass to 1GB flash drive and LED flashlight. Once you have made you selection, you pick one of three different-sized axle assemblies, slot-on the tools and then cover with the end-pieces. The whole lot fixes together with a pair of end-caps which are tightened with a coin. The three sizes let you choose between 2-6, 4-10 or 7-13 tools, and everything else stays tidied away in a box. I love it, although I can see my tool choice delaying my exit from the house as much as choosing just the right bag slows me down already. Switch [Quirky. Thanks, Tiffany!] See Also: 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 27 Apr 2010 | 4:06 am
|
Whoa.
Look, I get the 
Before there was even an App Store, I knew there was 
I fondled a copy of the 
Yesterday, we 
Late last month, a 
Sources at Samsung revealed that they are looking at TV’s that incorporate Google’s Android OS in them. I’m not so sure I want a TV that is quite that intelligent.
Designed for seamless integration with Macs, iPhoto and MobileMe, 
Android phones save lives. Or they could, if they had this application installed. Let’s say grandma is walking around the house with her Droid in the pocket of her house coat, and she falls down. Luckily, you installed the iFall application. It uses the accelerometer in her phone to tell you that she fell down, allowing you to come to the rescue.
The legal status of an unreleased high-profile device like a new iPhone is nebulous. I’m guessing there are some precedents regarding trade secrets, but there’s no law against taking a picture of something cool you found at a bar. That’s how we 
In the market for a good deal on a laptop? Sony’s 
Last week, we showed you a quick look at the new AT&T Link by Pantech. The quick messaging phone sells for just $9.99 on contract and is of a candy bar QWERTY form factor. Today, we’ll share with you our thoughts on the device’s performance.
It’s only taken about a billion years, but the 
According to Bytemobile, iPads are consuming more than double the data than iPhones performing the same tasks, based on the companies testing. Thankfully for AT&T (and it’s customers) the iPad is consuming all this data via WiFi and not on the wireless network. That is set to change at the end of the month with the release of the iPad 3G.
