|
|
|
|
Adobe + Android + Tablet + Flash = Interesting [MediaMemo]Google (GOOG) refuses to acknowledge publicly that it is working on Android-powered tablet computers. But the company has been public about its support of Adobe’s Flash. So. If you do see an Android-powered tablet on the market, there’s a good chance it will use Flash, right? Right. In fact, here’s what’s purported to be a prototype Android tablet running Flash as well as Adobe’s AIR. “Flawlessly”, testifies Zedomax, which sniffed out the gadget on the floor of the Web 2.0 Expo Tuesday. We’ll have to take their word for it, since these two clips are awfully brief. But for the record, note that the first clip is a demo of the Wired magazine app that Adobe (ADBE) is being forced to rewrite to Apple’s (AAPL) specs. Or at least some of the app — it really is a short clip. And here’s a demo of Google’s YouTube, which supports both Flash video and the HTML5 standard Steve Jobs is pushing. Do take all of this with plenty of salt, though. As you can see in this clip, this tablet won’t be on shelves in the near future. It’s most definitely a work in progress. Source: All Things Digital | 5 May 2010 | 4:00 am Get a Nintendo Wii system + bonus game for $179 - CNET
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 5 May 2010 | 3:45 am Behold The Amazing Fart-Absorbing Blanket!By Chris Scott Barr With April having passed, one generally lets down their guard about products that might be too silly to be true. Every now and then a missed April Fool’s joke will pop up, so...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 5 May 2010 | 3:45 am Here’s An Easier, Faster Way To Embed Tweets
@robinwauters I made a bookmarklet for twitter blackbird: http://bit.ly/aL4QVG (3 steps instead of 9 to embed a tweet), could be useful 4 uWed May 05 07:18:34 via Tweetie
As we had noted earlier, Twitter yesterday launched a new tool that allows you to easily embed tweets into a website or blog post. The tool, called Blackbird Pie, simply asks you for the URL of a tweet and lets you “Bake it,” meaning you get a preview of how it will look on the Web and a box with the code you need in it. Simple enough as far as I’m concerned. But as Xavier Damman from Publitweet points out, it takes eight steps (not 9 like he says in his tweet) to use Blackbird Pie for embeddable tweets, and that is just unacceptable. Well, it’s acceptable, but there should be an easier way. Enter Xavier’s bookmarklet (get it here), which you can drag to your bookmark bar and click whenever you’re looking at a tweet you’d like to embed. Three steps instead of eight. Will save you a couple of microseconds. No need to say thanks. Also cool: if you use the bookmarklet instead of Blackbird Pie, the embedded tweet will display the exact date and time of tweets instead of “X minutes ago”, which is admittedly rather pointless as it doesn’t update the timestamp going forward. Bonus: when you open a Twitter profile (say @TechCrunch) or a list (say the @TechCrunch team), you can click the bookmarklet to make new links appears alongside all tweets on that page. Simply click those links and voilà, an embed code appears.      
Source: TechCrunch | 5 May 2010 | 3:25 am Attunity Reports First Quarter 2010 ResultsBURLINGTON, Massachusetts, May 5, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Attunity Ltd.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 5 May 2010 | 3:04 am Apartments.com and CareerRookie.com Release the Third Annual Top 10 Best Cities for Recent College GraduatesCHICAGO, May 5 /PRNewswire/ -- This spring, college graduates around the country will collect their diplomas and officially enter a new chapter of their lives.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 5 May 2010 | 3:00 am Knowledge Solutions Partners with Teradata to Deliver Business Intelligence Solutions for Mid-tier MarketBRIDGEWATER, N.J., May 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Knowledge Solutions LLC, a leading provider of Business Intelligence solutions and ERP services announced today a partnership agreement with Teradata Corporation (NYSE: TDC), the world's largest company solely focused on data warehousing and enterprise analytics, to provide industry specific and horizontal Business Intelligence solutions to mid-tier business markets.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 5 May 2010 | 3:00 am CBSA Reveals Some Laptop Search Info, But Not Muchgmcmullen writes "The Canada Border Service Agency took its time getting documents on its policy for border searches of laptops to the BC Civil Liberties Association in response to an Access to Information request the BCCLA filed in October 2009. When the reply did come through, there wasn't much there. The documents were heavily redacted and whole sections of the Access to Information request were ignored, including requests for information on the number of laptops searched and policies for copying data from electronic devices. We did learn that the CBSA knows that 500 megabytes is roughly equivalent to 'a pickup truck full of books,' and use Windows-only software called ICWhatUC to scan for images. Documents also revealed that the CBSA understands that most 'Japanese Anime' is not child pornography, and that your family photos (even with kids in the tub) aren't child pornography either. We've made the documents we did receive available online so you can see for yourself."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 5 May 2010 | 2:59 am Collaborative Honeycomb Art - 'Shape the Hive' Seeks to Create a Unified Piece of Art (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) 'Shape the Hive,' an "experiment in interactive collaboration," seeks to remind us that the Internet was made to bring people together and provide worldwide connections that were previously...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 5 May 2010 | 2:55 am Microsoft Kin One: Fun Software, Clunky Design - Washington Post
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 5 May 2010 | 2:46 am Google plans summer opening for e-book store - TG Daily
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 5 May 2010 | 2:40 am Alcoholic Arcade Games - The Forza Motorsport Game Serves Ale on Tap, Becomes Man's Best Friend (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) What is quite possibly the most hilarious arcade game I have ever seen, the Forza Motorsport Arcade Game encourages hilarious but not such great habits in the comfort of your living...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 5 May 2010 | 2:25 am Baby announcement in Star Wars mashup formAfter a lot of trying and hardship, Jennifer and Jeff attained pregnancy -- with twins! To celebrate, they put together this wicked little Star Wars mashup as an announcement of the occasion. Sheer genius -- and enjoy the spare time to produce stuff like this while you can, J&J! A Small Announcement - as told through Science Fiction (via Waxy)
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing | 5 May 2010 | 2:24 am Baby announcement in Star Wars mashup formAfter a lot of trying and hardship, Jennifer and Jeff attained pregnancy -- with twins! To celebrate, they put together this wicked little Star Wars mashup as an announcement of the occasion. Sheer genius...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 5 May 2010 | 2:24 am Boonsri Says: Science Installations in Second Life Need a Science Guide!Here's a very useful list of over 100 science educational sites in Second Life (teleport links included), from an artificial life lab to a Testis Tour, which as the name suggests, is a vehicle ride through...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 5 May 2010 | 2:03 am Hardcore Biker Bags - Rock Up Your Look with the Marc By Marc Jacobs Studded Bucket Purse (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) The Marc By Marc Jacobs Studded Bucket Purse is definitely a hot item this season. The rocker-chic bag is easy to carry and can spice up any day-to-day outfit with ease. Whether dressed...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 5 May 2010 | 1:55 am Viral Video: Pocket Full of "Easy A" [BoomTown]
How delightful is this video with adorkable up-and-coming actress Emma Stone? Muchly. The trailer for “Easy A,” a film which is based on the classic “The Scarlet Letter” and out in September, is perfectly done and could even be a mini-movie for the Web by itself. The deserved target: The annoyingly catchy Natasha Bedingfield song, “Pocket Full of Sunshine.” Here’s the trailer: Source: All Things Digital | 5 May 2010 | 1:48 am Flash seen running on a Google Tablet prototype
Max the blogger knew what he’d spotted right away, and managed to get quite a plethora of video and still picture of the device. While retail details are of course being kept fairly quiet, it seems that Adobe is expecting there to quite a number of Android based tablets coming at the end of this year. That fits what we’re seeing, and it should be interesting to watch how things shake down in the whole Android vs. iPad war. It’s certainly worth your time to hit Max’s site to check out the video he shot of the various Adobe AIR applications running on the tablet.
Source: CrunchGear | 5 May 2010 | 1:45 am Alan Wake - GamePro.com
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 5 May 2010 | 1:44 am Microsoft Kin Phones to Go on Sale Thursday at Verizon (PC World)PC World - Microsoft is set to begin competing more directly with Apple in mobile phones when pre-orders of its two new feature phones, Kin One and Kin Two, begin online at Verizon Wireless this Thursday.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 5 May 2010 | 1:40 am Misys Obtains SAS 70 Type II Examinations for Misys Confirmation Matching Service and Opics PlusLONDON, May 5, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Misys plc (LSE: MSY), the global application software and services company, today announces that it has recently completed separate examinations in conformity with the AICPA's Statement on Auditing Standards No.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 5 May 2010 | 1:30 am Customizable Feed Scanners - Guzzle.It Does the Reading for You (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) Have you ever had problems finding articles about things you like? Well, worry no more. Guzzle.it is a brand new web 2.0 site allowing you to track and read top articles for all your...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 5 May 2010 | 1:26 am Do Gamers Want Simpler Games?A recent GamePro article sums up a lesson that developers and publishers have been slowly learning over the last few years: gamers don't want as much from games as they say they do. Quoting: "Conventional gaming wisdom thus far has been 'bigger, better, MORE!' It's something affirmed by the vocal minority on forums, and by the vast majority of critics that praise games for ambition and scale. The problem is, in reality its almost completely wrong. ... How do we know this? Because an increasing number of games incorporate telemetry systems that track our every action. They measure the time we play, they watch where we get stuck, and they broadcast our behavior back to the people that make the games so they can tune the experience accordingly. Every studio I've spoken to that does this, to a fault, says that many of the games they've released are far too big and far too hard for most players' behavior. As a general rule, less than five percent of a game's audience plays a title through to completion. I've had several studios tell me that their general observation is that 'more than 90 percent' of a games audience will play it for 'just four or five hours.'"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 5 May 2010 | 1:20 am Samsung S-Pad coming in August?
Word is, Samsung is making a 7-inch AMOLED tablet, expect to launch in South Korea in August. Like the iPad, it’ll sport 3G and Wi-fi, but it’ll also have USB and access to Samsung’s Apps. No word on pricing, we’ll let you know if we hear anything more. [via Unwired View]
Source: CrunchGear | 5 May 2010 | 1:15 am Ellen pokes fun at Apple... and then apologizesThe other day, comedian Ellen played a funny spoof of the iPhone commercials -- or at least what she thought was funny. Apple wasn't thrilled with it, and now Ellen's in hot water! Watch what she had...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 5 May 2010 | 1:13 am Reading in a Digital Age [Voices]By Sven Birkerts, Contributor, American Scholar.org The nature of transition, how change works its way through a system, how people acclimate to the new—all these questions. So much of the change is driven by technologies that are elusive if not altogether invisible in their operation. Signals, data, networks. New habits and reflexes. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 5 May 2010 | 1:04 am The Oracle of Silicon Valley [Voices]By Max Chafkin, Writer, Inc.com “Can I jump in here?” We are in a government building near San Francisco City Hall, and the mayor is plodding through a press conference related to government transparency and technology. Unfortunately, no one — not even Newsom himself — seems to know exactly what the announcement is about. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 5 May 2010 | 1:03 am Nokia, Microsoft launch new mobile software (Reuters)Reuters - Nokia and Microsoft unveiled on Wednesday the first result of their new software collaboration aimed at breaking the dominance of Research in Motion's BlackBerry in wireless services for corporations.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 5 May 2010 | 1:02 am The Key to Spotting Disruption Before It Happens [Voices]By Scott Anthony, Managing Director, Innosight Ventures The April 15 issue of The Economist published a simple chart that gave me chills. Look at it for a minute. What looks scary to you? Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 5 May 2010 | 1:02 am Why Content Curation Is Here to Stay [Voices]By Steve Rosenbaum, CEO, Magnify.net For website content publishers and content creators, there’s a debate raging as to the rights and wrongs of curation. While content aggregation has been around for a while with sites using algorithms to find and link to content, the relatively new practice of editorial curation — human filtering and organizing — has created what I’m dubbing, “The Great Creationism Debate.” The debate pits creators against curators, asking big questions about the rules and ethical questions around content aggregation. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 5 May 2010 | 1:01 am New Epson Stylus NX420 is Industry's First Wireless-N All-In-One Under $100LONG BEACH, Calif., May 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Epson America, Inc., a leading provider of superior performing desktop printing solutions, introduced the first $99 all-in-one with built-in wireless-n(1) (IEEE 802.11n) that offers superior performance and print quality over competitive models in its price range(2).Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 5 May 2010 | 1:01 am Facebook Exec Extols the Virtues of Setting Privacy To "Everyone" [Voices]By Geoffrey A. Fowler, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal Facebook is under a spotlight for new privacy settings that could lead users to unwittingly expose a lot more information about themselves. But in a keynote interview at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco, Facebook executive Paul Buchheit laid out the argument for why he sets his privacy settings to the most open level–”everyone.” “I changed my privacy settings to be more public. I like the ability to share things with people more easily,” said Buchheit, whose company FriendFeed was acquired by Facebook. He sets all of his information to be open to everyone except his phone number and email, he said. He features a photo of himself with his wife, and even lists his birthday (although only the day, not the year). Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 5 May 2010 | 1:00 am Verizon Business Helps Zodiac Marine & Pool Take the Plunge Into IP CommunicationsSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 5 May 2010 | 1:00 am Verizon Business Helps Zodiac Marine & Pool Take the Plunge Into IP CommunicationsPARIS, May 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Zodiac Marine & Pool has outsourced the delivery and management of a new, global, all-Internet-protocol communications infrastructure to Verizon Business.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 5 May 2010 | 1:00 am Want to See Second Life Machinima on Sesame Street? Vote For It in Aniboom's Animation Contest!Go here to vote on this video (free Aniboom reg. req.) Aniboom, the online animation studio, is holding a contest to select an animated short to air on the beloved public TV show Sesame Street. The selection...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 5 May 2010 | 12:59 am Misplaced Limbs Art - The Ruadh DeLone 'Hospital Room' Images are Disturbing (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) The Ruadh DeLone 'Hospital Room' photo series is an interesting collection of images. With missing limbs and bandages, the hospital patients are captured in an interesting light by...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 5 May 2010 | 12:55 am Offermatic Is The Freak Love Child Of Mint, Groupon And Blippy
Like Mint, Offermatic is a front end user interface to Yodlee’s robust financial network. And the service digs through your credit card transactions just like Blippy does (although they aren’t posted for the world to see). And like Groupon, Offermatic is pushing special offers to users.
Offermatic also offers users actual cash just for registering credit cards. Each month that any of your credit cards has at least 20 transactions and $1,000 in total charges, you’ll get $1.25. You can theoretically make up to $15/year on up to each of four credit cards. The company says they’ll pay that out via check or paypal. The service hasn’t officially launched yet and it isn’t clear how much, if any, outside funding they’ve received. Normally that might give users pause before entering in sensitive financial data on the site. But we’ve seen how eagerly you people jump on new services like Blippy without a care in the world, so do what you will. The fact that Yodlee is running the back end certainly makes us more comfortable about Offermatic, too. Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 5 May 2010 | 12:50 am Cellcom Israel LTD. Announces Israeli MOC Considering Interconnect Tariffs ReductionNETANYA, Israel, May 5, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cellcom Israel Ltd.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 5 May 2010 | 12:37 am Intel revamps Atom platform for smartphone pushHELSINKI (Reuters) - Intel, the world's largest semiconductor company, unveiled a new version of its Atom platform, promising lower power consumption, cheaper cost and smaller size to...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 5 May 2010 | 12:23 am Clinical Solutions Launches New Business Strategy and Website With 'Seven Competencies for e-care'Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 5 May 2010 | 12:00 am Microsoft Communicator Mobile for Nokia DebutsSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 5 May 2010 | 12:00 am Microsoft Communicator Mobile for Nokia DebutsREDMOND, Wash. and ESPOO, Finland, May 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp. and Nokia today launched the first application from their alliance around mobile productivity, Microsoft Communicator Mobile for Nokia devices.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 5 May 2010 | 12:00 am Second Inquiry Exonerates Climatic Research Unitmvdwege writes "After being cleared of charges of misconduct by a parliamentary committee, now the CRU has the results of the inquiry (PDF) by a panel of scientists into their scientific methods. Here is the CRU press release. Criticisms: The statistical methods used, though arriving at correct results, are not optimal, and it is recommended futures studies involve professional statisticians if possible; and the CRU scientists are lacking somewhat in organization. A very far cry from the widespread allegations of fraud. It seems 'Climategate' is ending with a whimper."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 4 May 2010 | 11:53 pm Kins arriving May 6th; Kin One is $50, Kin Two a hundy
Source: MobileCrunch | 4 May 2010 | 11:48 pm Kick-ass 4-storey kid-built treehouse to be knocked down "because of liability issues"A group of kids in Brisbane, Australia came together to build a spectacular, 4-storey treehouse. It's the center of neighborhood life, site of block- and birthday parties. The kids' parents helped them ensure that the treehouse is structurally sound.So the City Council is tearing it down. Newmarket children fight to keep treehouse in Spencer Park (via Free Range Kids)
(Image: The Courier-Mail)
Scientist attains ultimate polyhedral dice-density with D4sWriting in the May 3 issue of Physical Review Letters, a group of New York University and Virginia Tech physicists confirmed that there is no polyhedron that packs more densely than a D4-shaped tetrahedral die:Densest Dice Packing: Tetrahedral Dice Pack Tighter Than Any Other Shape (Image: 4-sided dice, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from dicemanic's photostream) Source: Boing Boing | 4 May 2010 | 11:23 pm Satellite photos catch Greek tax-evadersAs the nation of Greece teeters on the edge of bankruptcy, its tax authorities are taking aim at Greece's notorious tax-evading rich elite. Using satellite photos, the tax authority examined the claim of the residents of Athens's wealthy suburbs and discovered that, rather than the 324 swimming pools claimed by the locals, there were 16,974 of them.Greek Wealth Is Everywhere but Tax Forms (via Memex 1.1) (Image: Google Earth/Memex 1.1)
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing | 4 May 2010 | 11:18 pm Six reasons to hate Facebook's new anti-privacy system, "Connections"Wondering exactly why people are so pissed about Facebook's latest display of contempt for user privacy? The Electronic Frontier Frontier Foundation's Kurt Opsahl has a good, short article explaining just what's going on with the new "Connections" anti-feature:1. Facebook will not let you share any of this information without using Connections. You cannot opt-out of Connections. If you refuse to play ball, Facebook will remove all unlinked information from your profile.I confess that I haven't paid much attention to this. It came up while I was on holidays, and I hate Facebook and never use it (I have a profile, but haven't logged in for years). But holy crap, that is the most reprehensible bit of corporate awfulness I've seen in months. Six Things You Need to Know About Facebook Connections
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing | 4 May 2010 | 11:13 pm Worst Ice Capades Evar (via Geisha Asobi) Source: Boing Boing | 4 May 2010 | 11:11 pm One Year Later, USPS Looks Into Gamefly ComplaintLast April, we discussed news that video game rental service GameFly had complained to the USPS that a large quantity of their game discs were broken in transit, accusing the postal service of giving preferential treatment to more traditional DVD rental companies like Netflix. Now, just over a year later, an anonymous reader sends word that the USPS has responded with a detailed inquiry into GameFly's situation (PDF). The inquiry's 46 questions (many of which are multi-part) cover just about everything you could imagine concerning GameFly's distribution methods. Most of them are simple, yet painstaking, in a way only government agencies can manage. Here are a few of them: "What threshold does GameFly consider to be an acceptable loss/theft rate? Please provide the research that determined this rate. ... What is the transportation cost incurred by GameFly to transport its mail from each GameFly distribution center to the postal facility used by that distribution center? ... Please describe the total cost that GameFly would incur if it expanded its distribution network to sixty or one hundred twenty locations. In your answer, please itemize costs separately. ... Does the age of a gaming DVD or the number of times played have more effect on the average life cycle of a gaming DVD?"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 4 May 2010 | 11:03 pm Booyah Launches MyTown 3.1, Introduces Check-In Limits
Foursquare should pay attention, Booyah’s got some serious legs. The geo-based gaming service is launching MyTown 3.1, the latest iteration of its increasingly popular iPhone app. The new version includes a check-in limit, add-ons to customize your property and a revamped menu of nearby locations that will now also show your friends’ favorite destinations and trending places (nearby spots with the highest levels of activity). In addition, one of the key updates is a new policing system: when you pull up a friend’s recent locations you’ll see an accuracy indicator button next to their check-in, coded in green, yellow or red. The accuracy indicator will tell you how close your friend was to that location when they checked-in with green being very close and red implying that your friend is a big fat liar. It’s similar to Foursquare’s recent crack down on fake check ins by launching a “cheater code” that evaluates your phone’s location versus your check-in— you only get points and badges if your location is verified. Here’s a closer look at some of the features mentioned above: the first screen shows you the “what’s nearby” menu with a special section for your friends’ favorites, the second screen depicts one of the new collectibles you can get (premium collectibles can be purchased) to customize your property, and the third screen shows a friend’s recent check-ins and the new accuracy indicators. Hmm…turns out Tracy wasn’t actually at the Peninsula Fountain & Grill two days ago.
For die-hard MyTown residents the biggest change in 3.1 is the limitation on the number of check-ins. In this version, you will be capped at 25 check-ins. According to Booyah VP of Business Development, David Wang, this quota is intended to inspire check-in fidelity and to level the playing field by preventing users from gaming the system. He says people should think of check-ins as a limited resource and think twice before using a check-in. While I could see how someone with a thousand daily check-ins is abusing the system, I am concerned about the high-frequency user who also depends on MyTown to notify their friends about their locations. 25 check-ins is a lot but not impossible to surpass. Wang says in the next version (due out likely in May) Booyah is planning to allow users to check-in after 25,but these additional check-ins will not help you accrue points. The team is also willing to change the 25 check-in benchmark depending on community feedback. In many ways MyTown is different than Foursquare. Both rely on game mechanics to encourage users to check into locations, but MyTown is focused on gaming while Foursquare emphasizes social utility. On MyTown you can purchase different location sites with virtual currency, visitors pay you rent when they check into your property, and you can win points, unlock bonus items and gain currency by checking-in. But for all their differences, Booyah and Foursquare are true competitors, vying for a greater slice of the geo-based gaming market. Foursquare may have dominated the headlines with all the takeover rumors and sky-high valuations, but Booyah is generally outpacing Foursquare when it comes to the numbers. Here’s some of the latest, according to the company: -3.5 to 4 million check-ins per day or roughly 40 to 46 check-ins per second -The average user spends more than an hour per day on Booyah. -The app serves 200 million virtual items a month. -The app is ranked #12 overall. To put that growth in perspective, the Kleiner Perkins iFund company was logging just 6 check-ins per second less than four months ago. MyTown had 500,000 users in January, and 1 million in February, if that growth rate stays constant, MyTown should be adding 500,000 users per month. For comparison, Foursquare hit the millionth user mark just weeks ago. Wang argues that there should be plenty of room for all the Foursquares, Gowallas, MyTowns in this increasingly competitive space, but of course, “if push comes to shove, we want to be that only check-in.” Information provided by CrunchBase Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 4 May 2010 | 10:52 pm HP refreshes PC lines, adds AMD chipsSAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co is rolling out a back-to-school lineup of notebook personal computers in what will be its largest single launch of laptops featuring processors...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 4 May 2010 | 10:34 pm Market Chatter -- Corporate finance press digestBANGALORE, May 5 (Reuters) - The following corporate finance-related stories were reported by media on Wednesday:Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 4 May 2010 | 10:22 pm Market Chatter -- Corporate finance press digestBANGALORE, May 5 (Reuters) - The following corporate finance-related stories were reported by media on Wednesday:Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 4 May 2010 | 10:22 pm Microsoft Reaches for the Sky With Its Kin Phone [The Mossberg Solution]Finally, after years of churning out corporate-centric smartphones, Microsoft has designed a homegrown, cool and truly consumer-focused mobile device. It’s called the Kin (kin.com), and it comes in two versions, Kin One and Kin Two. Both will be available exclusively from Verizon Wireless and in stores on May 13 for $50 and $100, respectively, after a $100 mail-in rebate and two-year contract. [ See post to watch video ] For the past five days, I’ve kept the Kin One with me at all times, using it for social networking, texting, emailing, phone calls, Web browsing and capturing photos and videos. This 3.9-ounce gadget is about the size of a large makeup compact. It has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and a 2.6-inch square touch screen that responds to gestures like swiping, pinching, double tapping, dragging and dropping. Friends who handled it each had the same first impression—that it felt sturdy in the hand. (The Kin Two, which I used but didn’t test as extensively as the Kin One, looks more like the iPhone, but with a cleverly hidden, slide-out QWERTY keyboard. It offers 8 gigabytes of storage, a 3.4-inch touch screen and the same new software features as the Kin One.) Pop-Up CloudsThe Kin One has several fun features. It makes all sorts of funky sounds when different buttons are pressed, and it displays content in clever ways, like text messages that pop onto the screen in dialogue bubbles. The home screen, called the Kin Loop, is a colorful collage of photos and status updates from social networks including Twitter, Facebook and MySpace. A finger swipe to the left from the Loop home screen shows the device’s apps, while a swipe to the right displays a photo collage of favorite contacts. A round dot at the bottom of each screen, called the Kin Spot, gives people a place where they can drag and drop almost anything to save for sending later. The real wow factor of the Kin starts when you get back to your computer. By logging into kin.com with the same username and password used to set up the Kin, you’ll reach Kin Studio, an online repository for activities performed with the device, laid out in timeline style. This includes photos and videos, which are automatically synced to the Studio about five minutes after they’ve been captured—with no extra steps on the user’s part. It shows phone calls, text messages, and contacts. All of this content is viewable by month, week, or day. Magic MomentThe first time I opened Kin Studio felt like magic. An entire website was created to hold my Kin’s content, yet I had done absolutely nothing extra to put it there. I’m the kind of person who never plugs her mobile device in for syncing, so this over-the-air backup is ideal for me. I saw photos that I didn’t remember taking and enjoyed watching videos captured with the Kin on a larger computer screen. The Studio is a huge plus for the Kin in two respects. For one thing, if someone loses a Kin, its content is still saved on this site. More importantly, because all photos and videos are automatically stored online, the uploading from the device has already been done. When photos or videos are shared from Kin, the phone triggers the Web-based Studio site to do the sending—a great use of “cloud computing.” This takes pressure off the already overloaded cellular network and lets people quickly send several photos or videos at once. This also helps to conserve the device’s four gigabytes of storage, since only a thumbnail of a file resides on the device.  Microsoft’s $50 Kin One But for a device that focuses on social networking, the Kin falls short in some respects. Twitter fans will be disappointed that it can’t retweet updates or direct message other Twitter users from within a tweet; instead, they must use a clumsy, manual process. Likewise, photos dragged into the Spot for sharing can’t be shared through Twitter. Kin owners using Facebook won’t know if friends have made comments about one of their status updates without going through three steps to read a screen displaying comments. Also, this device’s 5-megapixel camera with a flash is supposed to do a good job of capturing photos and/or videos, in dark areas (like bars or clubs), but it produced fuzzy, hazy shots in normal and low light. It was significantly inferior to my BlackBerry’s 3.2-megapixel camera with a flash. The videos captured on the Kin looked better. This is only the first version of Kin software and a Microsoft representative says that the company plans regular, over-the-air updates. These include two significant updates before the end of this year, in addition to a maintenance update that a company representative says will improve photo quality. Apps on the Kin are currently limited to those bundled on the device—like Facebook, music and photos—and it won’t have third-party apps this year. Farther down the road, the Kin platform will merge with Microsoft’s Windows Phones and all the devices will have access to a common app marketplace.  The Kins uses Kin Studio for online device backup. Two-Day Battery LifeThe Kin’s battery life estimate is two full days with normal use, making life easier for the type of person who forgets the device’s charger for a weekend trip. In my tests, it lasted from a Saturday morning until a Monday night without needing a charge, and though I only made a few short calls on it, this was still pretty impressive. I had some trouble getting used to the Kin’s keyboard software. Typing wasn’t a problem, but its lack of autocorrect capabilities was. None of the first letters in my sentences were capitalized, and shortcuts like hitting the spacebar twice to type a period don’t exist. Nor are words corrected as you go: typing “youre” won’t automatically become “you’re”; “i” won’t become “I”; and so on. A Microsoft representative says this is intentional because so much slang gets autocorrected the wrong way, but it only made more work for me, which was annoying. I carried my little Kin in a pocket or purse with no problem, and enjoyed reading the continuous stream of social-networking updates on the Loop. I selected nine friends as my Favorites, which automatically used their Facebook profile photos to create a small representative tile for each person on one screen. A two-finger touch on the Kin’s screen lets you rearrange tiles according to your preference. A small, silver button below the touch screen works as the back button. I enjoyed grabbing content—like someone’s Facebook status, a photo or a website opened in the browser—and dragging it into the Spot. I did this by holding my finger on the item until a tiny icon representing it seemed to bubble up from the screen, and then I dragged it to the Spot dot at the bottom of the screen. Goofy sound effects indicate when the item has been dumped into the Spot. By tapping the Spot, options for sharing appear, and thanks to the Studio, several items can be dumped into the Spot and then shared at once with no problem. The Spot works to share photos to Facebook, MySpace or Windows Live, and it can share videos to Facebook and MySpace. Using SMS, MMS, or email, the Spot can send photos, videos, websites, Web-search results, location, feeds, status messages, and tweets. Searching the WebI liked using the Kin’s browser. Its URL bar doubles as a search box and uses Bing, Microsoft’s search engine. Double tapping on the browser screen automatically zooms in on a Web page, and pinching two fingers on the touch screen zooms in even more. Up to 10 email accounts can sync with the Kin, including POP or IMAP accounts and one Microsoft Exchange email account. For now, contacts will only sync for Hotmail and Exchange users. Music can be pulled onto the Kin by syncing the device with Microsoft’s Zune software or by using the Mac Sync program to sync iTunes playlists—as well as iPhoto libraries—to the Kin. A Zune Pass, which costs $15 for one a month or $45 for three months, enables over-the-air streaming and downloading of tracks and is offered as a 14-day free trial for Kin buyers. Though Microsoft’s Kin One has some polishing to do on its camera and on its social-networking tools, it’s a uniquely attractive device that’s a pleasure to use. I only wish all mobile devices had worry-free backup websites like the Kin Studio. Email mossbergsolution@wsj.com Source: All Things Digital | 4 May 2010 | 10:03 pm Mapping the Gulf oil spill in Google EarthTwo weeks ago, there was a fatal explosion on the offshore oil rig Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico. The rig sank shortly afterwards, and since then the well has been leaking crude oil into the Gulf, spreading an oil slick towards the U.S. Gulf Coast. This spill is pouring as many as 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons) of oil a day into the Gulf and poses a serious threat to coastal industries, sensitive habitats and wildlife, including numerous species along the coastal areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Many government agencies and other organizations have made data publicly available, which we’ve compiled on our crisis response site dedicated to the spill.Last week we made imagery from NASA’s MODIS available as an overlay for Google Earth, which currently shows the extent of the oil spill through April 29, and we’ll continue to add more imagery as it becomes available. We’ve also made radar images from ESA’s ENVISAT available through this KML file. Below, you can see the progression of the spill over time.  To view this imagery and other datasets in Google Earth, turn on the “Places of Interest” layer in the Layers panel on the left-hand side of Google Earth, then navigate to the Gulf of Mexico and click on the red icon.  In addition to this imagery, our site contains maps of the locations of the oil, fishing closures and affected areas, the ability to upload videos directly to YouTube, and a link to a site where people in the area can contribute their observations. We hope these resources are useful to those affected by the spill, those responding to it and those learning about its devastating effects on the people and environment of the Gulf Coast. Posted by Christiaan Adams, Google Crisis Response team    
 Source: The Official Google Blog | 4 May 2010 | 10:03 pm HP announces updates to the Envy 14, Envy 17
Both systems feature Beats Audio, ATI Mobility Radeon discrete graphics, and all the bells and whistles in wireless connectivity. To get down to specifics, the Envy 14 features the new Quad Core i7 CPU, and HP’s HD Radiance display. The Envy 14 is available this coming June 27th starting at $999.99. The Envy 17 rocks a 17.3 inch screen, up to 2TB or storage, and you can choose between the i7 Quad Core, or Dual Core i5 or i3. The Envy 17 also has ATI’s EyeFinity technology for multiple displays, and is available the 19th. MSRP starts at $1399.99 at HPDirect.com
Source: CrunchGear | 4 May 2010 | 10:01 pm HP releases new Pavilion notebooks
If there’s anything better than consumer grade sub-$800 notebooks, God kept it for himself. HP just announced the dm4, dv5, dv6, and dv7 notebooks. All are running the latest processors and the dm4 and dv7 support discrete graphics. The dv6 is a touchscreen laptop, which is great for people who like to touch their screens. Not much more to say on these except that they’re clad in handsome metal and plastic and have an aesthetic based on HP’s MUSE style described thusly:
So that’s nice. Anyway, all available May 19. Head over to the shops.
Source: CrunchGear | 4 May 2010 | 10:01 pm Share Life as You Live It - KIN Now Available on Verizon Wireless NetworkSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 4 May 2010 | 10:01 pm May 5, 1945: Japanese Balloon Bomb Kills 6 in OregonA Sunday school teacher and five of her students go out for a picnic and stumble upon a bomb. World War II claims 6 civilians on North American soil.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 4 May 2010 | 10:00 pm Governments and human rights warriors battle online (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 4 May 2010 | 9:49 pm Best Way To Sell a Game Concept?dunng808 writes "If a couple of young, game-crazy guys wanted to get started designing a game with the intention of selling the concept, how should they proceed? In the music industry they would make a demo mp3. In the film industry they would write a script (and I would recommend lyx with the hollywood document class). Should they develop some sample game play with a well-known engine? Is the one in Blender good enough? This somewhat dated list suggests it is. Or should they focus on textual descriptions and static scenes made with Blender and The Gimp? Is there even a market, let alone a convention, for selling game concepts?"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 4 May 2010 | 9:42 pm Oh God No. A Dating Site For Apple Fans
Our own resident Apple fanboy MG Siegler, who loves all gadgets as long as they are made by Apple, would be perfect for this. The site’s name is a play on Cupid and Cupertino, California, where Apple is headquartered. From the landing page:
My thoughts on this: Apple fans can be annoying when they’re on their own. The thought of them breeding and creating little Apple fans, a whole family of hard core hipster Apple lovers, is just not a good thing. On the other hand, making sure that Apple fans only date other Apple fans is a good way of stopping them from spreading their Apple fan genes to the general population, I guess. So maybe this site isn’t all bad.      
Source: TechCrunch | 4 May 2010 | 9:39 pm Dropbox Launches Android App & Mobile API, Gives iPad Cloud Sync Apple Should Have Built
One of the best parts of the new mobile API is the fact that it works with iPad applications. There are plenty of things to love about the iPad, but Apple has badly botched the flow to actually share files created on an iPad with your PC or Mac — the convoluted process involves syncing with iTunes, which isn’t the first application you’d think of when you’re trying to save, say, a Word document. With applications that integrate the Dropbox mobile API, you can skip that entirely: just tap save from your iPad. Your file will sync to your Dropbox account, and it will immediately pop up on all of your synced computers. In short, this is the file syncing service that Apple should have built (but better, because it works with Android apps too). In addition to allowing users to save documents from their mobile devices to their desktop, the API also gives Dropbox’s native mobile applications an ‘Open With’ function. In other words, if you’re browsing your Dropbox account using the new iPad app and you come across a presentation file, you can choose to open it with Keynote. Dropbox is calling the new mobile API ‘Dropbox Anywhere‘ and promises that an API suited for the desktop is on the way and a BlackBerry application will be coming this summer. You can see some of the launch applications for the mobile API here. I expect we’ll see quite a few applications add support in the near future. Anyone else think this is going to spark a bidding war between Google and Apple? Update: As pointed out in the comments, Dropbox competitor SugarSync also offers an API that should allow for similar file transfers. The key here will be getting developers to adopt the APIs — neither will be much use if they aren’t integrated into apps. Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 4 May 2010 | 9:34 pm Google releases fastest Chrome beta yet - Afterdawn.com
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 4 May 2010 | 9:23 pm "Dancing" audience boots off Pamela AndersonLOS ANGELES, May 4 (Reuters) - Former "Baywatch" star Pamela Anderson was eliminated from television's "Dancing With the Stars" competition on Tuesday, leaving just five celebrities in the running for...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 4 May 2010 | 9:19 pm 10 Reasons Why Microsoft's Internet Explorer Dominance is Ending - eWeek
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 4 May 2010 | 9:06 pm Devo's Jerry Casale on the Kent State Massacre, May 4, 1970Forty years ago today at Kent State University, Ohio National Guardsmen shot four unarmed students to death and wounded nine others. In 2005 the Vermont Review interviewed Devo's Jerry Casale. Here's an excerpt from the interview in which Casale shares his memories of the Kent State Massacre and how it led to the formation of Devo.VR: Going back to your early days. You were present at the Kent State shootings in 1970. How did that day affect you?Oh Yes, It’s Devo: An Interview with Jerry Casale Source: Boing Boing | 4 May 2010 | 8:57 pm With Major Downtime, Foursquare Well On Its Way To Being The Next Twitter
Two years ago, Twitter used to be down all the time. It doesn’t seem like this should be a major issue, but it actually is quite annoying during conferences when so many rely on the service for information. And, back in those days, people used to rely on it to know where everyone was going drinking afterwards. Today, those same people now use Foursquare for that purpose. And that’s why when its down — as it has been tonight for the past couple of hours — it matters. How on Earth am I supposed to know which Web 2.0 Expo afterparty to go to without Foursquare? Half-kidding aside, I was hardly the only one echoing this sentiment after Web 2.0 Expo this evening. Foursquare went down soon after the conference concluded, and at least a half dozen friends and colleagues I bumped into on the street were running around like chickens with their heads cut off not sure where to go without the aide of Foursquare. Yes, it’s kind of pathetic, but this is the age we live in. So what caused Foursquare to go down? Apparently, an outage in Amazon’s cloud services — in Virginia to be precise. Supposedly, it’s in the process of coming back on, but Foursquare is still very much down. Worse, this is the second time today that Foursquare has gone down. Earlier, they were up and down for a few hours, attributing the down time to “growing pains” — again, sound familiar? On the plus side – Foursquare is doing a great job at communicating with users (appropriately, over Twitter) about the downtime. Back in the day, part of the problem with Twitter being down is that no one in the company would say a word about the problems (of course, they obviously didn’t have the luxury of tweeting out updates). Most of the comparisons between Foursquare and Twitter are silly (though, maybe I can be accused of starting that trend). They’re two completely different services. But tonight they found a very common link in some major downtime. And look, Foursquare even has its own Fail Whale now: the Emo Mayor. Update: And they’re back.
     
Source: TechCrunch | 4 May 2010 | 8:50 pm Dropbox Unveils Dropbox Anywhere: Bringing the Desktop to Any Device, Any App, AnywhereSAN FRANCISCO, May 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Dropbox, the leading provider of Internet file synchronization, sharing and security services, today announced the release of Dropbox Anywhere - a new set of mobile apps and APIs.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 May 2010 | 8:30 pm Dropbox Unveils Dropbox Anywhere: Bringing the Desktop to Any Device, Any App, AnywhereSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 4 May 2010 | 8:30 pm Christian right leader George Rekers takes vacation with "rent boy"Why did Professor George Alan Rekers (an anti-gay activist who cofounded the right-wing Family Research Council with James Dobson, and runs the website Teen Sex Today) hire a young male escort from RentBoy.com to accompany him on a trip to Europe?His answer: “I had surgery and I can’t lift luggage. That’s why I hired him.” Maybe his insurance company sent him to rentboy.com instead of a real medical assistant agency. It's Obama's fault! Christian right leader George Rekers takes vacation with "rent boy" Source: Boing Boing | 4 May 2010 | 8:21 pm Three JPEG moon T-shirt: meta meta meta ironic
Yes, it’s another clever little shirt from the chaps whose entire business is clever little shirts. Get yours here. [via Waxy, Nerdcore, Gearfuse]
Source: CrunchGear | 4 May 2010 | 8:00 pm Mayan Plumbing Found In Ancient CityDarkKnightRadick writes "An archaeologist and a hydrologist have published evidence that the ancient Mayans had pressurized plumbing as early as sometime between the year 100 (when the city of Palenque in Chiapas, Mexico was first founded) and 800 (when it was abandoned). While the Egyptians had plumbing way earlier (around 2500 BC), this is the first instance of plumbing in the New World prior to European exploration and conquest."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 4 May 2010 | 7:35 pm Wednesday Is D-Day For Google-AdMob Deal
The FTC has taken a particularly close look at the deal, and Google has made a significant lobbying effort for approval. Earlier this week the Wall Street Journal reported that the FTC was considering challengine the deal: “Discussions with FTC staff members suggest the agency could be preparing to block Google’s $750 million agreement to buy AdMob on the grounds it would shrink the mobile in-application advertising market from three to just two key players…” But what hasn’t been clear until now is exactly when the FTC would make its decision. That time is tomorrow, says our source, and says that Google is prepared to fight a FTC blocking of the deal in court. Nothing about this deal has been normal. Most tech industry insiders that we’ve spoken with don’t see it as a particular threat to competition with strong product offerings from Apple, Yahoo and others. Unlike the proposed Google/Yahoo search deal in 2008 which could have strangled competition in search, the Google/Admob deal is unlikely to stop innovation and real competition in mobile advertising. Perhaps that’s why 4INFO, a direct competitor to AdMob, was willing to write to the FTC earlier this year in support of the deal. The deal just isn’t striking fear into the hearts of mobile advertising companies at all. Perhaps the FTC should take that into account, along with all the Washington politics, when they make their decision. If anyone is stifling innovation and competition in mobile, it’s Apple. And I certainly don’t think the government should interfere with that company, either.      
Source: TechCrunch | 4 May 2010 | 7:32 pm Standard Chartered Bank Selects Akamai Technologies to Create Efficiencies and Open New Markets for On-line BankingSINGAPORE, May 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Akamai Technologies, Singapore (Nasdaq: AKAM), the leader in powering video, dynamic transactions and enterprise applications online, today announced that it is helping Standard Chartered Bank deliver faster and more secure Internet banking applications worldwide.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 May 2010 | 7:30 pm Quick Look: Seagate launches the FreeAgent GoFlex system
It’s an endless battle: a new transport protocol replaces an old one and all of the drives based on the older system are completely obsolete. Well, Seagate thought long and hard and created the GoFlex system, a drive with removable transport hardware that can turn a standard SATA drive into a USB 2.0/3.0 drive, a Firewire storage device, or even a powered eSATA device. When you’re ready to swap, you simply buy a new adapter rather than a new drive.
Click through for a video and the monstrous press release.
Source: CrunchGear | 4 May 2010 | 7:29 pm Halo Reach Beta is up and running
I hope you’ve all stocked up on Mountain Dew because the Halo Reach Beta is officially live. The Xbox community will be able to enjoy the wonders of this brand new Halo installment from now until May 15th. Keep in mind that the servers will be getting bombarded for the first few hours so anticipate extended wait times (on the scale of Verizon’s). If you’re anything like me, you haven’t touched ODST in months. But fear not my cheerful friends. Aisha Tyler gives you a crash course on the latest features, levels and match types to keep you from getting slaughtered on the battlefield. To play the beta, simply put your Halo 3: ODST game disc into your Xbox and select “Play the Beta.” This will prompt you to select a download location for the beta. Remember to restart your consoles if you are having issues playing the beta as numerous gamers have been experiencing difficulties throughout the day. Also, be sure to come back and let us know what you thought of the new additions to Reach. Happy gaming! Via [Bungie] Full Story » | Written by Tarun for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 4 May 2010 | 7:27 pm Mocca Pearl concept: espresso in the wilderness
There’s actually a sketch at the bottom of the concept’s page that shows some sort of handle — but it looks a little bit wishful, you know what I’m saying? And to be fair, picking it up is also the hard part if you take your Moka Express camping. It is a promising idea, though, and if they manage to get the logistics straight (another problem: it would make a tiny amount of coffee) I might even buy one. The tripod thing just does it for me, couldn’t say why. [via Gizmodo]
Source: CrunchGear | 4 May 2010 | 7:00 pm A few things to know about electric bikes
If you’re thinking about getting one, maybe to simplify a short 3-or-4-mile commute, there are some things you should know. This little post does a good job summing up the basics so you don’t get taken in down at ye olde electricke bi-cycle shoppe. The main things you’ll run into are battery type and size, and engine wattage. Beyond that the trim level seems to be largely — well, not superficial differences, but you always get diminishing returns as the price goes up.
Source: CrunchGear | 4 May 2010 | 6:30 pm What died with the Courier [Opinion] The Courier’s death was a disappointment not only for the consumer, but for the market itself. The Courier resembled competition. It resembled the very fire that the market needed to push out a remarkable device. For now people will only know tablets under one name, Apple. The same name that pulled the same exact move when introducing the revolutionary mp3 player, the iPod. If you could take a moment and think back to when music was mostly analog and the dominant player in the distribution of these portable music players was Sony. When Apple introduced the iPod, it took the world by storm. It became a “must have” in every house. Microsoft, who took their time getting into the market for whatever reason, finally clambered their way onto the bandwagon with the Zune. It failed. So why was the focus of the market so dependent on Microsoft’s Courier? It is, quite frankly, the only device with the necessary funding at its disposal. But it is also made by a company that has been left behind before and made mistakes. Mistakes that they would later come back to learn from. This knowledge would allow Microsoft a very large advantage in the tablet market. While the Apple iPad does have quite a bit of a jump in terms of sales and development I do believe that the Courier could have been one of the best competitors that could have been made. Ironically, however, I also believe they would have been complimentary devices. When you break it down, the iPad is made for one purpose: to consume. Whether it be media, news, or playing a game, the iPad was made with the purpose of getting your eyes to look at something. The Courier was designed with the complete opposite idea in mind. Microsoft learned something very crucial when they left behind in the portable media market. Don’t copy. There wasn’t anything amazing that the Zune did that the iPod couldn’t already do. This certainly made death quick and easy and it showed in the Zune’s sales. But Microsoft, like a company should, learned from their mistakes. The videos released showed the Courier serving a purpose fundamentally different than that of the iPad. It was made to create. Every function that the Courier performed implemented tools to create different shapes, notes, and colors in order to organize or design whatever you wanted on your screen. The void that Apple haphazardly failed at filling with the iWork iPad apps is filled by this device. Essentially one could create the very content on the Courier that another would view on the iPad. i.e. complimentary devices. This would have no doubt sparked some success. Success that would be stolen from Apple’s consumer base. And while I am no expert on the subject, I do believe Apple would be forced to iterate at a faster pace in order to keep up with the Courier. More features and applications would have to be written in order to match the functionality that the Courier has in the hands of a creative mind. Full Story » | Written by Hunter Clarke for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 4 May 2010 | 6:17 pm TomTom's Vader voice: May the 4th be with you - CNET
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 4 May 2010 | 6:15 pm Seagate’s New Drives Offer Mix-and-Match Connectors
Out of the box, the basic drive comes with a USB 2.0 connector. If your next notebook sports a USB 3.0 port, eSATA port, or a FireWire 800 connection, no problem: Just remove the Seagate drive’s back end and plug in the corresponding cable kit (sold separately by Seagate for $20 to $40). Your former USB 2.0 drive now has a new type of interface. Inside the cable kit and the back end of the GoFlex drive are SATA connectors. That’s a standard interface used for the drives inside computers, but it’s somewhat unusual to see one outside the case of a PC. Fear not, though: You don’t need to know anything about ports because the cables just plug in and work automatically. So far, this isn’t much that a standard multi-interface hard drive doesn’t accomplish, assuming all you wanted to do is plug into USB ports some days and FireWire ports other days. But it’s the extras that make the system really interesting. Seagate says it can add features to the connectors, making it possible to bundle (for instance) automatic backup software with a cable adaptor, turning your vanilla portable hard drive into a one-step backup machine. Bundled with the drives is software to enable Macs to read NTFS-formatted hard drives, making it easier for these drives to go from one platform to another with ease. Seagate’s upcoming accessories add more use possibilities. The GoFlex Net is a compact dock that connects to your home network via Ethernet. It has two slots on the top for GoFlex drives to dock (via their internal SATA ports) and two additional USB 2.0 ports on the back for connecting any other storage devices. Once attached, the drives are accessible throughout your local network or over the web, using the dock’s Pogoplug-driven web interface. GoFlex TV applies the same concept to your TV. It’s a simple media-playing device that connects via HDMI to your television. When you drop in a GoFlex drive, the contents of that drive — video, audio and photos — become playable via a straightforward interface, using the included remote. You can also play videos from YouTube, slideshows from Picasa, and movies from Netflix. And, of course, if you’ve got a GoFlex Net device on your network, the media player can play content from that, too. The basic GoFlex drives, which have 5400RPM hard disks inside, are available now for prices ranging from $100 (320GB) to $200 (1TB) with an included USB 2.0 connection. A faster (7200RPM) GoFlex Pro kit costs $140 for 500GB to $190 for 750GB. The GoFlex Net network adapter will be available at the end of this month for $100, while the GoFlex TV HD media player will cost $130. Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex (product page) Photo: Jonathan Snyder / Wired.com See Also:
Gadget Lab to Go: Follow Dylan Tweney and Gadget Lab on Twitter for real-time tech updates. 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 4 May 2010 | 6:00 pm Ellen DeGeneres humbles herself before Apple following parody adSeriously now. If Apple really complained, then what a bunch of whiners they are! You’d think they’d be thanking the show for putting their product on the screen for free! If this was Microsoft, calling someone to take back a video poking fun at Windows, the whole internet would be embroiled in controversy. [via X17 and Gear Diary]
Source: CrunchGear | 4 May 2010 | 6:00 pm Designers Want to Improve Your Health With These Strange ObjectsEveryone's got a fix for the American health care system, but a group of design students are imagining and building some out-of-the-ordinary objects for making people healthier.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 4 May 2010 | 6:00 pm Handheld Breathalyzers Make Good Drinking BuddiesIf you're going to carry a handheld breathalyzer, pick an honest one such as AlcoMate's AL9000, which, like the CHP's, is equipped with a fuel-cell sensor to precisely measure your level of drunkenness.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 4 May 2010 | 6:00 pm What's Inside Triple Paste Diaper Cream?Raw cholesterol, a food additive from the atomic age, and some waxy yellow gunk are among the ingredients protecting baby's precious bum.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 4 May 2010 | 6:00 pm Handheld Breathalyzers Make Good Drinking BuddiesIf you're going to carry a handheld breathalyzer, pick an honest one such as AlcoMate's AL9000, which, like the CHP's, is equipped with a fuel-cell sensor to precisely measure your level of drunkenness.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 4 May 2010 | 6:00 pm Craigslist Adult Ads Under Scrutiny — AgainConnecticut's attorney general is demanding that Craigslist turn over records to prove it is comporting with a deal to stop the online bulletin board from serving as a brothel.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 4 May 2010 | 5:39 pm Facebook’s Buchheit: The Future Is Lightweight Conversations
Buchheit is always a good interview because he isn’t afraid to speak his mind. Today, among his quotable bits included that Facebook is an amazing product because it “has all the users.” “The real power is in the people,” Buchheit stated rather obviously. More interesting were Buchheit’s thoughts on what’s coming next for the web. Making it easier to have lightweight conversations is the future of communications on the web, Buchheit said. This means something coming from the man who created Gmail. He noted that he thinks the company he co-founded (and sold to Facebook), FriendFeed, got this right. Now some of those elements are spreading throughout the web, such as Facebook’s newly ubiquitous ”Like” button. Buchheit noted that if you were to go back in time 20 years and tell someone that everyone will have a mobile phone in their pocket, but that they’ll use it to send short text messages rather than make voice calls, people would have thought you were crazy. And if you told them those messages would cost about $0.20 each, they would have thought you were insane. And yet, that happened. That’s thanks to the simplicity and ease of sending these messages, he said. “We’re going to see more of that. It’s the pattern of Facebook and Twitter,” he concluded. Below find my live notes (paraphrased): Sarah Milstein: The big theme is around the power platforms. How is Facebook most interesting as a platform. Paul Buchheit: The real power is in the people. It’s an amazing product because it has all the users (laughs). It’s also about connecting with friends on other sites when you extend it. SM: Have you talked to other developers about their ideas of it? PB: Yeah we’ve talked to a bunch of start ups. And we used it at FriendFeed. It was a mixed experience back then. But with the new Open Graph API, it was “repaired.” A lot of that came out of our FriendFeed experience. SM: Can you explain Open Graph? PB: A very simple RESTy API that lets you get at all the data in Facebook (that you have permission to get). It’s all about being simple. It’s the same data basically as the old API, it’s just easier to get to. SM: How about privacy on Facebook? PB: I changed my privacy settings to be more public. I like the idea to share things easily — except my phone number and email. This again goes back to FriendFeed. It’s about serendipity. but it’s hard to predict what those things will be. Things tend towards being better the more we share. SM: Are Zuckerberg’s the default settings? PB: Not sure. But if you go to his page, it looks like it’s mostly public. SM: So after Gmail and FriendFeed – what’s coming next on the web do you think? PB: FriendFeed was all about making it easy to share things – and have conversations around them. The “liking” that pops up everywhere these days. I won’t say we invented it, but I can’t remember seeing it anywhere else before we did it. Comments were very easy — there were no line breaks. It was very quick and lightweight. That’s the future of a lot of what’s upcoming in the communication mediums. Making it easier to do lightweight conversations. Imagine going back 20 years and telling people they won’t make voice calls, but instead they’ll be sending tiny messages (SMS). It would sound insane. And these things cost $0.20 each! That’s an interesting question — why is this popular? It’s because it’s so lightweight, and it doesn’t have to interrupt you. We’re going to see more of that. It’s the pattern of Facebook and Twitter. It’s not too shallow. It creates the context for conversations later on. SM: Let’s talk about your investing. What’s most interesting these days? PB: I don’t have any formula. The thing I want to know is “why?” Why do they care? You shouldn’t start a company because you want to be rich. The best companies are aiming for impact. Inside Google and Facebook it’s the same. There is a vision from the founders down. You may not see that from the outside, but it’s there. Google is about information, and making things fast. Facebook is about sharing and the connection. SM: Any trends you’re seeing? PB: I think everyone is moving towards lightweight, rapid iteration. It’s the lean startups. That’s a great trend. That’s what we tried to do at FriendFeed — launching features on the same day you come up with them. I could never survive in the old software world. SM: Final question: Who do you admire on the web? PB: I follow a lot of random links. This morning I was reading some random guy’s blog — I don’t even know where it came from. I just found it off of someone’s FriendFeed. That’s what’s so exciting about the web — almost anyone can become important. A message can reach the whole world.      
Source: TechCrunch | 4 May 2010 | 5:28 pm Intel Turbo Boost vs. AMD Turbo Core ExplainedAn anonymous reader recommends a PC Authority article explaining the whys and wherefores of Intel Turbo Boost and AMD Turbo Core approaches to wringing more apparent performance out of multi-core CPUs. "Gordon Moore has a lot to answer for. His prediction in the now seminal 'Cramming more components onto integrated circuits' article from 1965 evolved into Intel's corporate philosophy and have driven the semiconductor industry forward for 45 years. This prediction was that the number of transistors on a CPU would double every 18 months and has driven CPU design into the realm of multicore. But the thing is, even now there are few applications that take full advantage of multicore processers. What this has led to is the rise of CPU technology designed to speed up single core performance when an application doesn't use the other cores. Intel's version of the technology is called Turbo Boost, while AMD's is called Turbo Core. This article neatly explains how these speed up your PC, and the difference between the two approaches. Interesting reading if you're choosing between Intel and AMD for your next build."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 4 May 2010 | 5:26 pm Live From Web 2.0: Microsoft Unveils Spindex, ‘Your Social Personal Index’
Cheng first outlined some of the projects that have already come out of the FUSE group, including the integration of Twitter results into Bing. She then talked about Microsoft’s recently-launched Docs.com, which allows for document collaboration with Facebook friends. Finally, Cheng showed off Spindex, a new project from FUSE. The app is only available to Web 2.0 attendees for now. The service shows you an aggregated stream of updates from your various social services, including Twitter, Bing and Facebook. Using that data, the service will generate your own personalized trending topics and a personal search engine. Information is presented in multiple columns (at first glance it reminded me a bit of Threadsy). Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 4 May 2010 | 5:19 pm 5 Things Bungie Should Fix in Halo: ReachMore than a million people are playing the Halo: Reach beta, and Bungie wants them to help tweak the new shooter's mechanics. Here are our top 5 suggestions.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 4 May 2010 | 5:15 pm Kindle upgrade adds Facebook and Twitter (Christopher Null)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 4 May 2010 | 5:11 pm Amazon reveals Xbox 360 Arcade Spring 2010 bundleFROM GAMERTELL - May 2010 marks the debut of the Xbox 360 Arcade Spring 2010 bundle. For $199.99 you get an Xbox 360 Arcade and two games - Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts and Viva Piñata. It sounds like the perfect bundle for a family with kids. Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 4 May 2010 | 5:07 pm Vending Spree Matthew Baldwin of Defective Yeti and The Morning News is an embarrassingly prolific guy. I mean by this that his output of work is embarrassing to me, personally, because I'm way less productive and a lot more dithery. But that's enough about me. Now Baldwin has a new project: Vending Spree, in which he pledges to eat every single item in his office vending machine and file a critical report on each one. Baldwin himself refers to Spree as a "gimmicky writing challenge," which in a way it is, but I have some experience in this area -- I undertook to make and test a new cocktail every single day last summer, and ended up with liver toxicity and paralyzing headaches after exactly 13 days -- so I want you to get past the gimmickiness and focus on the insane heroism of the task he's set for himself. And in so doing, I want you to focus on one particular thing: The machine has the usual assortment of chips and candies, but it also features something ominously identified as a Bumblebee Tuna Salad Kit.I'll wait. Baldwin himself is appropriately chastened at the prospect of what's ahead of him. And he's no fool, telling me in an email: "I'm fairly fit (cycle about 100-150 miles a week), but still right on the healthy/overweight line due to a penchant for beer that I have no desire to renounce. I purposely launched this during the summer on the theory that I'll cycle off most of the calories I take in." Still, calories are only half the problem. I mean, tuna salad in a vac-pac is out there, waiting, like dental work and jury duty, and having publicly committed to eating everything in the slots there's just no turning back. Unless you do. I did. But something tells me Baldwin is a hardier sort. Godspeed, Matthew. I'll be pulling for you. Source: Boing Boing | 4 May 2010 | 5:06 pm GameHouse Fusion: One Leaderboard to Rule Them All [Digital Daily]
When RealNetworks finally spins off its games business as a separate company it will be known as GameHouse, not RealGames, and its business will be social gaming. At the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco today, Real (RNWK) announced GameHouse Fusion, a suite of tools intended to make any game social across any device or platform. With GameHouse, developers can easily build social features like friends lists, leaderboards and virtual goods into games in such a way that they’re consistent and persistent across all the devices and platforms on which they might be used. So, for example, a user’s high score on a game might be updated across multiple social networks, not just the one on which it was achieved. Essentially, what GameHouse is attempting to do is federate social identity. Quite a task, but one with significant rewards if the company pulls it off. “People are looking for connected experiences,” GameHouse President John Barbour told the Los Angeles Times. “By connecting devices, you connect people. The future is about truly interconnected gameplay, where I can play with my friends across multiple systems whether it’s PC, mobile, iPad or social network.” Source: All Things Digital | 4 May 2010 | 5:01 pm “Omni-focus” camera can focus on near and far objects simultaneously
Traditional cameras could make it happen using an extremely small aperture. At F/22, a common minimum aperture value, you’re essentially getting a pinhole image, and the way the light is bent and re-bent results in the entire image being in one focal plane. I doubt this new device is simply a pinhole camera, though. They call it a “Divergence-ratio Axi-vision Camera,” or Divcam for short. Not a lot of clues there except perhaps for an optics expert. I would guess, though, that a complete and flat image is created via a polarized and flat “lens” (for lack of a better term) and the light is sent in parallel back to a high-sensitivity sensor. The images you see, notice, have an extremely narrow field of view, which supports my theory, as a rounded lens would produce both a larger field of view and divergent light rays within the device, and that would make the images we see impossible. The full frame crop here also suggests a large, low-resolution sensor and parallel rays:
See how the edge of the finger is sort of all-or-nothing pixellation? There’s absolutely no overlap between the light coming from the doll and the light coming from the finger, suggesting the camera/sensor is only accepting light that is coming straight at it. I’m not sure if I’m explaining it correctly but it makes sense to me. Whatever the case, they think they can apply it to the video world in general, and I hope they do. It looks interesting. In the mean time, though, I think a lot of consumers are just starting to discover depth of field in their video as they start shooting with cameras like the T2i. We’ll keep you posted on this new technology. Update: Nope, I’m totally wrong. I thought it was a pretty good guess, though. I should have known, that pixel occlusion pattern is totally the result of a software “magic wand” — plus, the ability to determine distance implies some form of stereoscopy.
Source: CrunchGear | 4 May 2010 | 4:44 pm Foxit One-Ups Adobe In Blocking PDF Attack TacticsCWmike writes "Foxit Software, the developer of a rival PDF viewer to Adobe's vulnerability-plagued Reader, released an update on Tuesday that blocks some attacks with a 'safe mode' that's switched on by default. Foxit Reader 3.3 for Windows' 'Trust Manager' blocks all external commands that may be tucked into a PDF document. 'The Foxit Reader 3.3 enables users to allow or deny unauthorized actions and data transmission, including URL connection, attachment PDF actions, and JavaScript functions,' the update's accompanying text explains. Last week, several security companies warned of a major malware campaign that tried to dupe users into opening rigged PDFs that exploited an unpatched design flaw in the PDF format, one attackers could use to infect users of Adobe's and Foxit's software. That flaw in the PDF specification's '/Launch' function was disclosed in late March by Belgium security researcher Didier Stevens, who demonstrated how he could abuse the feature to run malware embedded in a PDF document. He also reported he had figured out how to change Adobe Reader's warning to enhance the scam."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 4 May 2010 | 4:38 pm Groupon Adds Reward Points Program To Further Entice Shopaholics
Now the site is adding a rewards program that will likely make it even more like crack for shoppers. The currency, G’s, are awarded for viewing deals and buying deals. And if you buy a deal early (a minimum number of buyers have to go for a deal or else no one gets it), you get even more G’s. 100G’s equals a dollar, says Groupon, and can be exchanged for discounts at partner businesses. Or, if you’ve accumulated enough of them, you can get that day’s deal for free. Groupon recently closed a massive $135 million round of funding that valued the company at $1.35 billion. We expect Groupon to hit $350 million in revenue this year.
Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 4 May 2010 | 4:30 pm Who Needs Flash?What will it take for HTML5 to fully supplant Adobe Flash on the web?
Source: Wired Top Stories | 4 May 2010 | 4:30 pm 120 Days of Simon
A couple of years ago a Swedish cartoonist/rapper named Simon Gärdenfors posted a notice on his blog about a stunt he was planning. He was going to take a four-month couch-surfing trip around Sweden, never staying more than two nights in the same place, and never setting foot in his own home during the trip. He asked his fans: who would like to feed me and let me crash at their place?
About 70 people signed up. The 28-year-old Gärdenfors was pleased to see that a lot of them were women, because he was hoping to have sex with as many of them as possible. In fact, he had sex with the first female he stayed with, a high school student who took him to a kindergarten were she worked (it was at night and the place was closed). They fell asleep in the classroom and they had to hurry out in the morning before the kids and teachers came in. Gärdenfors adventures grew increasingly weird and cringe-inducing as he traveled up and down the country. His drawing style is appealingly cute and simple, which contrasts with his sleazy exploits: they include having sex with a junior high school girl, not using a condom because he doesn't like they way they feel, and recounting events that people asked him not to include (he even put in the parts where people said "Don't put this in your comic").
The back cover of The 120 Days of Simon lists some of the highlights from the 416-page graphic novel. He "visited an ostrich farm, ate a psychedelic cactus, practiced free love, received death threats, was beaten up by teenagers, got adopted by a motorcycle gang, drank obscene amounts of alcohol, and sacrificed his underpants to the Nordic god Brage... When this graphic novel was released in Sweden, it created a bit of a scandal. Some readers wanted to punch Simon in the face, while others hailed him as a hero." I wouldn't call him a hero, but I found Gärdenfors' couch-surfing, mooching, drugged, unapologetically-selfish (and self-aware) odyssey to be incredibly entertaining. You don't have to like the guy to be interested in his story, but the fact that there is something a little likable about the jerk makes his story all the more compelling. The 120 Days Of Simon Lie-Detection Brain Scan Could Be Used in Court for First TimeAn attorney in Brooklyn attempts to get an MRI brain scan admitted into court for the first time as evidence that someone is telling the truth. General research based on MRI scans has been used in court, but this will be the first time an individual's brain scan is used for lie detection if it is successfully admitted.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 4 May 2010 | 4:05 pm Proposed Privacy Legislation Wins Few Fans [Voices]By Emily Steel, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal Proposed legislation on privacy landed with a thud when it was unveiled Tuesday–drawing criticism from both Internet and advertising industries, which are leery of regulation, and consumer privacy advocates, who say the bill does far too little to protect consumers. If approved, the legislation would regulate how Internet companies track Web visitors and use that information for ad targeting. It also would apply to how companies collect and use consumer information offline. “We’re pretty disappointed with the bill,” says Linda Woolley, executive vice president of government affairs for the Direct Marketing Association. “There are some pretty significant changes to online and offline marketing practices that have gone on for many, many years.” Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 4 May 2010 | 4:02 pm Google set to launch e-book store this summer (Macworld.com)Macworld.com - Itâs officialâaccording to the Wall Street Journal (paywall applies), Google will begin selling e-books in June or July 2010. Chris Palma, Googleâs manager for strategic-partner development, announced the timetable at a Book Industry Study Group-sponsored panel entitled âThe Book on Google: Is the Future of Publishing in the Cloud?âSource: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 4 May 2010 | 4:01 pm Competitors Force Down Usage of Internet Explorer (NewsFactor)NewsFactor - Microsoft may be losing its grip on the Internet browser market. The software behemoth has lost a significant percentage of market share for its Internet Explorer browser according to browser usage reports from market watchers NetApplications and StatCounter. Their research shows Microsoft's IE browser holding less than 60 percent of the market share.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 4 May 2010 | 3:59 pm Sony’s PlayStation Protection Plan saves your systemsFROM GAMERTELL - Sony has announced a PlayStation Protection Plan to cover systems outside of the one year manufacturer’s warranty. You can purchase additional one or two year plans for your PS3s and PSPs for about the price of a game. Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 4 May 2010 | 3:54 pm Mac OS X Problem Puts Up a Block To IPv6An anonymous reader lets us know of an experiment conducted in Norway to determine real-world problems in using IPv6 today (Google translation; Norwegian original). "According to a Norwegian article in digi.no, Redpill Linpro did an experiment with regard to IPv6 on one of the largest online newspapers there (www.vg.no). They added a hidden iframe that pointed to an IPv6-enabled domain to test real-life problems about the reported IPv6 holes. The result was that mainly Mac OS X, older versions of Opera, and a few Linux distributions exhibited problems. For Mac OS X it took 75 seconds to time out before failing back to IPv4." From the consultant's report: "Mac OS X has a problem in that it will prefer 6to4-based IPv6 over IPv4-based connectivity, at least if its local IPv4 address is an RFC 1918-based private address as commonly found in NAT-ed home network environments. This is unfortunate, as 6to4 has shown itself to be much less reliable than IPv4."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 4 May 2010 | 3:50 pm Studios still trying to figure out mobile video (Macworld.com)Macworld.com - The already dizzying array of options for watching video on anything but your living room TV may soon make your head spin even faster. In the age of HD-everything, some TV and film studios initially balked at the concept of watching content on pocketable screens. But inspired in part by the iPhoneâs success, the major studios are ramping up to go mobile in so many ways, you might have to sit down to catch your breath.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 4 May 2010 | 3:27 pm Time Warner Cable, Cox asked to drop ad claims (AP)AP - An advertising watchdog on Tuesday asked Time Warner Cable Inc. and Cox Communications Inc. to drop claims that they run fiber-optic networks.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 4 May 2010 | 3:26 pm Lawmakers Unveil Online Privacy Legislation (PC World)PC World - Two U.S. lawmakers have released a draft bill that would require companies that collect personal information from customers to disclose how they collect and share that information, but several privacy and consumer groups said the proposal would legalize current privacy violations online.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 4 May 2010 | 3:20 pm Life in the Greenhouse: Losing Our CoolPlants are a natural air conditioning system for Earth. But as CO2 levels in the atmosphere climb, they lose their ability to help keep the planet cool, which amplifies the warming effects of climate change.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 4 May 2010 | 3:20 pm iPhone gets orientation lock, slide out iPod controls in latest Beta
Just when we were starting to thinking that the only new feature newest iPhone OS 4 Beta had over the one before it was that it.. you know.. works*, up popped this little gem. As with all the OS 4 Betas that came before it, double tapping the home key bring’s up Apple’s app-switching drawer, offering up a list of recently used applications. In Beta 3, however, this drawer packs a few new tricks: iPod controls, and a much-clamored-for orientation lock option. This new page is accessed by swiping the drawer to the left from the first page, similar to how users go from Page 1 of the homescreen to the Spotlight search page. Orientation locking is a feature that many users — primarily those who read in bed — have been asking for for ages. The iPad offered it up first, with the hardware switch near the volume keys locking the orientation rather than silencing the device. * At least, it seems to work — there’s still no word as to why Apple just pulled it down
Source: MobileCrunch | 4 May 2010 | 3:17 pm Airport security speedup program to relaunch (AP)AP - The Clear program, which allowed members to breeze through airport security before it abruptly shut down last year, is expected to be up and running again by the fall.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 4 May 2010 | 3:12 pm Oracle Restricts Access To Sun Firmware Downloadsboer lee writes with the news that you can expect trouble in downloading firmware updates for your Sun server if you purchased it before March 16, 2010. "In a somewhat surprising move (and without any notification to customers), Oracle shut down public access to firmware downloads. I learned this the hard way when I contacted Oracle customer service almost two weeks ago. Yes, it took 13 days for me to get access to the firmware download for systems under the standard warranty (i.e. less than a year old)."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 4 May 2010 | 3:08 pm Apple takes down iPhone OS 4 Beta 3 two hours after its releaseThe details are still by no means clear, but sure enough: Apple has pulled iPhone OS Beta 3 from the iPhone Dev Center, just two hours after it was first released. While a link to iPhone OS 4 is still available, the page now only offers up the iPhone OS Beta 2 that was released last week. Did Apple leave something in the Beta that they meant to hide away? Or did some crippling bug go undetected, only to reveal itself as it began to roll out onto thousands of developer devices? Or did someone accidentally just save an old copy of the iPhone dev center’s index file? Who knows! We’ll let you know the second we hear anything. Update: One reason it could have been pulled, from early reports we’re seeing: the SDK installer wipes out anything in the default Xcode /Developer directory, even if you tell it to use a custom directory. Many developers prefer to keep their Beta SDK installs as far from possible from their finalized SDK installs, which this bug prevents.
Source: MobileCrunch | 4 May 2010 | 3:02 pm Zombiesat Attack! Solar Storm Fries Satellite's BrainAfter April's powerful solar storm, a satellite has stopped communicating with Earth. It's now adrift and dubbed a "zombie satellite," potentially interfering with other satellites in the neighborhood.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 4 May 2010 | 2:59 pm Virginiamycin May Reduce Feed Costs For Swine ProducersUniversity of Illinois researchers have found one more way swine producers may be able to save money on feed costs this year.For decades, swine producers have recognized an increase in growth and performance when virginiamycin is added to their corn-soybean meal feed rations.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 May 2010 | 2:54 pm Fragmented Forests Result In More Snakes, Fewer BirdsAbout half of all bird nests don't survive due to predators, particularly in fragmented forest areas, but why? University of Illinois researchers monitored both the prey and predator to find an answer."Rat snakes accounted for a high percentage of cases of nest predation," said U of I researcher Patrick Weatherhead.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 May 2010 | 2:52 pm Fishing Fleet Working 17 Times Harder Than In 1880s To Make Same CatchThe UK trawl fishing fleet has to work 17 times harder to catch the same amount of fish today as it did when most of its boats were powered by sail, according to new research.Researchers from the University of York and the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) used UK Government data on the amount of fish caught and the size and number of boats involved – the fleet's fishing power – to analyze the change in fish stocks since 1889.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 May 2010 | 2:41 pm Apple: The Microsoft of Mobile?Apple's restrictions on how developers can create software for its triumvirate of iPhone OS mobile devices has reportedly sparked the interest of federal antitrust agencies, in a throwback to the Microsoft desktop battles of yore.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 4 May 2010 | 2:41 pm Feds Threaten Apple's Control of iPhone and iPad - PC World
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 4 May 2010 | 2:06 pm Apple Shares Surrender iPad Gains - InformationWeek
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 4 May 2010 | 1:53 pm Diatoms Reveal Freshwater PollutionResearchers in India have demonstrated that microscopic aquatic creatures could be used as the ecological equivalent of a canary in a coalmine for assessing inland freshwater lakes and ponds.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 May 2010 | 1:50 pm Groups Calls 'Privacy' Legislation OrwellianPrivacy groups blast a proposed congressional online "privacy" legislation, saying it reeks of Big Brother and is ineffective.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 4 May 2010 | 1:45 pm Maya Plumbing Is The First Pressurized Water Feature Found In New WorldImage 1: This is the interior of the Piedras Bolas aqueduct showing the abrupt reduction in conduit size near the exit. Credit: Kirk French; Penn StateImage 2: This is a depiction of Piedras Bolas aqueduct functioning as a fountain. This illustrates one plausible explanation of how the feature used water pressure. Due to destruction of the aqueduct, exact details of the its use are unknown. Note that during the monsoon, excess runoff flows over the feature while the buried conduit continues to function. Credit: Reid FellenbaumImage 3: This is a site map of the Maya city of Palenque in Mexico. The inset shows the area around the Piedras Bolas aqueduct. Credit: Ed BarnhartSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 May 2010 | 1:38 pm Best portable GameCube everFROM GAMERTELL - Take a look at what may be one of the best GameCube mod projects ever. This portable GameCube created by Techknott features a backlit screen that flips up to reveal the disc tray and built in speakers and memory card. It has only one flaw - no batteries. Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 4 May 2010 | 1:35 pm 3G iPad’s ‘Unlimited’ Data Plan Survives Torture Test
Data hogs, rejoice: The 3G iPad’s unlimited data plan appears to be truly unlimited. A tech blogger put AT&T’s network through a “torture test” by downloading a huge amount of data, and he faced zero obstacles. Know Your Cell blogger Zach Epstein used an app called Download Lite to download test files to suck up a whopping 31GB of data in just two days with the iPad over AT&T’s 3G connection. “Unlimited is obviously a word that carriers have tossed around for a long time without actually meaning unlimited,” Epstein told Wired.com. “My first thought was that if this iPad 3G data plan was actually going to be unlimited, it was something I definitely needed to publicly trial.” Many internet users have questioned the definition of “unlimited” with regard to data usage for quite some time. In the past, Comcast advertised its broadband package as “unlimited,” but some customers reported that their service was cut off after exceeding a limit. Later, Comcast informed customers that it was imposing a 250-GB bandwidth cap to mitigate network overload. AT&T’s smartphone plans are advertised as unlimited, and the company has not officially imposed a limit to the amount of data that can be downloaded. However, any carrier that offers an unlimited plan bakes in restrictions to its terms-of-service in regard to how data can be used. For example, with the iPhone and the iPad, users can only download files as large as 20 MB while connected to the 3G network. (The cap was previously 10 MB.) Files larger than 20 MB must be downloaded over Wi-Fi. So the definition of “unlimited” is still up for debate. In response to Epstein’s test, an AT&T spokesman said AT&T smartphones plans are already unlimited, and the story is no different with the iPad. AT&T offers two data plans for 3G iPad customers: $15 a month for 250 MB and $30 per month for unlimited data usage. The plans do not require commitment to a contract. “What’s odd is that unlimited data plans are not new — all of our smartphone plans are,” the representative said. “So, why this one?” Epstein said his torture test is finished, as 31 GB is more than enough for even the biggest data hogs (31 GB would be equivalent to downloading roughly 15 standard-definition movies or 9,400 songs). Epstein also discouraged others from trying similar tests. “I’ve advised people not to try and mirror this test in any way,” Epstein said. “My intentions were to publicly trial AT&T’s claim of unlimited. I think too many people were looking for ways to abuse it, so I tried to put a stop to that as best I could.” Even though for the time being, AT&T smartphone data usage appears to be unlimited, there’s a possibility that could change in the future. AT&T in December 2009 suggested the company would find ways to persuade heavy users to reduce their activity and that caps on data usage could be imminent. See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 4 May 2010 | 1:07 pm 3G iPad's 'Unlimited' Data Plan Survives Torture TestZach Epstein of KnowYourCell.com tests the 3G iPad to see if the "unlimited data" claim is true. It appears it is, as he's gulped down 31 GB of data in just a few days.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 4 May 2010 | 1:00 pm Future Temperatures Could Exceed Livable LimitsImage Caption: This map shows the maximum wet-bulb temperatures reached in a climate model from a high carbon dioxide emissions future climate scenario with a global-mean temperature 12 degrees Celsius (21 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than 2007. The white land areas exceed the wet-bulb limit at which researchers calculated humans would experience a potentially lethal level of heat stress. (Purdue University graphic/Matthew Huber)Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 May 2010 | 12:57 pm iPhone OS 4 Beta 3 released to developers
It’s that time again, folks: another 14 days have passed, so another beta of iPhone OS 4 has been released to developers. As with the beta builds that came before it, this one is locked down tight — so unless you’re a developer (or, at least, have an enterprise developer account), you’re out of luck. As is par for the course at this point, it’s not entirely clear whats new here. For the sake of developers everywhere, we’re hoping this Beta’s in better shape than the last one — and from a very cursory glance, it is. At the very least, the camera works again!
Source: MobileCrunch | 4 May 2010 | 12:57 pm Researchers Help Track Wayward Pests Through MappingTracking invasive pests around the world sounds like it would make for an interesting show on the Discovery Channel.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 May 2010 | 12:39 pm PSA: Boost Mobile’s Monthly Unlimited Plans now include free 411, e-mail, and Instant Messaging
Boost Mobile customers, where you at? No, really — where are you? I haven’t run into a Boost customer in years. Regardless: if you’re out there and are on one of Boost’s unlimited plans, you just got a handful of new features added to your line-up. If you’re on the $50-a-month plan, you’ve now got free 411, along with unlimited e-mail and instant messaging. If you’re on the $60 BlackBerry Unlimited plan, you already had unlimited e-mail and IM — but now you’ve got free 411, too. So go ahead: go crazy with 411. Call and ask what time it is. Call and ask where your pants are. Call and try to find a new friend amongst the operators. Who cares? It’s free!
Source: MobileCrunch | 4 May 2010 | 12:21 pm Do Tasers Hurt?Since the advent of our nation's pastime, there has been a longstanding tradition of the fan who thinks it will be just HILARIOUS to jump onto a baseball diamond and get his or her 15 minutes of fame before getting ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 4 May 2010 | 12:13 pm Researchers Use New Microscope To 'See' Atoms For The First TimeCryo-electron microscopy images shed light on virus structure, functionUCLA researchers report in the April 30 edition of the journal Cell that they have imaged a virus structure at a resolution high enough to effectively "see" atoms, the first published instance of imaging biological complexes at such a resolution.The research team, led by Hong Zhou, UCLA professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics, used cryo-electron microscopy to image the structure at 3.3 angstroms.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 May 2010 | 12:08 pm Pantech Breeze II bucks trend - oozes simplicitySection: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Mobile
Hearkening back to a time when people just talked on phones, the Breeze II is a rather simplistic clamshell phone. An external LED notifies users of missed calls, voicemail and low battery. Inside the phone features a typical, well-spaced number pad as well as 3 one-touch buttons for quick call access. To geeks, Pantech is known for making some of AT&T’s finest quick messaging devices like the Link. But consider this: the Breeze phones have been some of the most successful products to date. There are a lot of folks that just want a phone out of their phone. Odd huh? Pantech has this market clearly in their sights with large font text on the phone, large keys, a simple user user interface that keeps “advanced features” in a separate menu so users can feel comfotable in the knowledge they can’t easily change settings or hurt the device. Like simplicity but also need advanced features? Besides 3G, the phone features GPS as well as email, video capture, and and a web browser. Product page: [AT&T]
Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 4 May 2010 | 12:07 pm Odorant Receptor In Fruit Fly Detects Sex Pheromone Of Silkworm MothImage 1: The silkworm Bombyx mori mating. A female (left) releases a sex pheromone from an extruded gland in the abdominal tip. A male moth (right) detects the pheromone (bombykol) remotely with neurons housed in antennal sensilla. He responds immediately by wing fanning and moving in a zigzag pattern toward the calling female. (Photo by Samuel Woo, UC Davis).Image 2: Drosophila head. A scanning electronic micrograph of the fruit fly head, highlighting a pair of antennae endowed with highly sensitive sensilla for the detection of bombykol, a sex pheromone identified from the silkworm more than 50 years ago. It is enigmatic why the fly has neurons even more sensitive than those in the silkworm moth antennae, but this discovery opens the way for the development of new biosensors and other insect-inspired practical applications, according to UC Davis chemical ecologists Walter Leal and Zain Syed. (Scanning electron micrograph courtesy of Walter Leal lab)Image 3: Chemical ecologists, professor Walter Leal (left) and postdoctoral scholar Zain Syed inspect a mulberry tree, planted on the Briggs Hall lawn in memory of professor Susumu Maeda. The scientists use the tree to rear silkworm moths for their studies on insect olfaction. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 May 2010 | 11:52 am Consumers Haven't Learned Not to Divulge Private Info Online - PC Magazine
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 4 May 2010 | 11:43 am French To Return Maori HeadsFor years, the Maori tribes have sought the return of artifacts kept in collections abroad.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 4 May 2010 | 11:33 am Surprise! The HTC Legend preps for landing on AT&T by way of the FCC
The Legends are coming! The Legends are coming! I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for the HTC Legend. Sure, it’s not the most powerful piece of kit in HTC’s armory – but it’s made of friggin’ metal. You could give this phone to a bear for a few hours and have it come back mostly functioning. Can you imagine a world where bears have cell phones of their very own? That’s a world I’d want to live in. Though I don’t believe they’ll sell to bears, it looks like AT&T might be selling the Legend before too long.
The cool cats over at Engadget just spotted the gem below:
“Cool. A sticker or a label or something with a bunch of numbers. Thanks for wasting my time, Greg.” you say. Wait! Wait! There’s more to that sticker than meets the eye! You see, that thing is the exact same shape as the label that comes on the HTC Legend. Furthermore, the model number shown is PB76110, whereas the original European Legend is just a few digits away, at PB76100. Furtherfurthermore, the documentation wrapped around this label says this thing comes packed with 850/1900Mhz WCDMA — making it a perfect candidate for AT&T. (Perhaps) unfortunately, it also makes it a perfect candidate for use on a Rogers/Bell in Canada — and HTC might just be testing things over on our side of the border for the sake of traveler’s everywhere. That’s not all that common, though — so Legend-hopefuls can probably start sitting on the edge of their seat.
Source: MobileCrunch | 4 May 2010 | 11:01 am Sony rips off Microsoft Surface - smart tableSection: Computers, Desktops, Hardware, Software / Applications
According to sources, Sony has bought the intellectual property behind the AtracTable, a smart computer table. The table was shown by the Austrian company Atracsys at Vision 2009 show in Germany. The company says the table can recognize objects as well as gestures and even users moods. Expected uses include hotels and museums but could be tailored for medicine, gaming or retail. The system utilizes two cameras to create a 3D image to allow control of on screen options. The builders believe the Sony cameras used are sensitive enough to estimate users age, sex and mood based on body position, gestures and changes to these. According to the creators, Sony is on track to begin offering the table in June. The table is full HD and does the “normal” Microsoft Surface table tricks of recognizing objects placed on the table. Microsoft Surfaces have seen duty in phone shops, hotels and other trade shows. Read: [Pocket-Lint]
Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 4 May 2010 | 10:59 am Headless Statue of Ancient Egyptian King UnearthedThe statue emerged from the ruins of a temple believed to be the burial site of Queen Cleopatra and Mark Antony.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 4 May 2010 | 10:32 am BP to Deploy Domes to Contain Oil SpillAs the massive slick approaches fragile wetlands, the beleaguered energy company is intensifying efforts to contain the spill.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 4 May 2010 | 9:55 am Gmail, by name is coming to the UKSection: Web, Web Apps, Websites, Google  In a story that feels as if it should have happened years ago, UK users will soon have Gmail. Of course, they have had Google Mail all this time, so really the change is just in name only. But the good news is that those in the UK will soon be able to sport a username@gmail.com address as opposed to a username@googlemail.com address. Anyway, according to the Official Gmail Blog;
Additionally, after the switch takes place, which is expected to happen “over the next week” new users will be given an @gmail account as opposed to an @googlemail account. Read [Official Gmail Blog]
Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 4 May 2010 | 9:49 am Warmer Planet to Stress HumansAs global warming pushes up Earth's temperatures, a large number of people won't be able to handle the heat.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 4 May 2010 | 9:43 am Volcanic Ash Disrupting European Air Travel AgainAsh from Iceland's erupting volcano has once again disrupted air travel in Europe, forcing flight delays in the U.K.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 May 2010 | 9:38 am Top Five U.S. Cities for Terrorist Attacks IdentifiedThe top five United States cities for terrorist attacks have just been identified in a new report.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 4 May 2010 | 9:09 am World's Oldest Person Dies at 114Kama Chinen, a Japanese woman from Okinawa, died one week before her 115th birthday.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 4 May 2010 | 8:59 am Motorola Hints At Its Own Mobile OS, Acquires Azingo
Android And Me are running a story that links the Co-CEO’s comments with a recent acquisition by the company. It appears that Motorola recently acquired Azingo, a mobile platform company that already has their own linux-based OS, Azingo Mobile 2.0. The OS already includes a Webkit-based browser, a web runtime, Flash runtime, and full developer tools. Whether this points to Motorola’s desire to develop an entirely new OS, or just them merging Azingo’s technologies/engineers into Moto’s own Android skin, Motoblur, remains to be seen, but it’s fun to dream, isn’t it?
Source: MobileCrunch | 4 May 2010 | 8:50 am Samsung (Bada-Powered) Wave to Launch in North and South America?
On that note, you may be interested to hear that the first of Samsung’s Bada-powered phones — the Samsung Wave 8500 — may be making its way over from Europe to come visit your hometown*. Unwired Review have noticed that the Bluetooth SIG (the body that oversees Bluetooth standards and licensing) has recently approved the Samsung GT-S8500R and the GT-S8500M, mentioning that both should be available in North America. Further to this, the GT-S8500L is listed as being headed to South America. Of course, this isn’t concrete evidence, but it seems likely. To refresh your memory, the Wave has a 3.3″ 800 x 480 AMOLED screen, a 5.1MP camera capable of 720p video, and the now-standard WiFi, A-GPS, and (as stated earlier) Bluetooth. It is worth noting that the phone’s operating frequencies will limit it to AT&T or T-mobile. If you’re hungry for more, Unwired View also have a hands-on video of the phone in action. *if said hometown is somewhere in North or South America
Source: MobileCrunch | 4 May 2010 | 8:34 am Amazon Kindle software update 2.5 begins rolling outSection: Gadgets / Other, ebooks
Of course, there is more to the update, and a few that I would consider more welcomed at that. The other updates include folders so you can better organize books on your device as well as the addition of more fonts, the ability to set up password protection and more. In short, if you are a Kindle user, then fire up your device and check for the update. Me, mine has been sitting on the corner of my desk untouched since I picked up an iPad this past Friday. Via [TechCrunch] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 4 May 2010 | 8:32 am V-Lock Helps Drunks Get Home to Bed
Junjie Zhang’s V-Lock concept is a boon for all those who stumble home drunk then rattle and scrape their key across the front door, hoping to find the keyhole. In fact, it will probably be even more welcome amongst the light-sleeping spouses and neighbors who have to listen to your painful, drawn-out fumblings. One look at the design will tell you how it works. Take a swipe at the lock and the v-sectioned slot will guide your key into place. All you need to do is make sure the key is the right way up, then push and turn. The V-Lock does’t come with a cushion on which you can stumble and then sleep after you crash drunkenly into your hallway, nor a noise-dampening door-stop: You’ll need to supply those yourself. We kid. This design would be great for use in the dark, and to help anyone who has trouble with their co-ordination, especially those who shake due to degenerative diseases. This design is actually an entire lock-unit, but a stick-on plastic panel should also do the trick, and work with any locks you already have. But there’s more that this lock won’t do: It won’t stop me from coming home staggering drunk, having lost my watch and glasses, and hauling myself up one too few flights of stairs. It won’t then stop me from repeatedly pushing the doorbell of the single, skittish old man who lives below us, forcing him to cower in his bed until I finally realize where I am. And it won’t stop the Lady forcing me to go downstairs in the morning to apologize. Never Miss the Key Hole [Yanko] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 4 May 2010 | 8:24 am Enormous Purple-Striped Jellyfish Captured on VideoDiver and underwater photographer Scott Gietler recently encountered a 15-foot purple-striped jellyfish on film and video. Please take a moment to watch the mesmerizing footage.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 4 May 2010 | 8:01 am LG Ally Mini Site Launches to Promote Phone/Film
You know, stuff about the phone. And the Iron Man sequel. That is, if you can be bothered waiting through the painfully long loading time. I’m going to have a race. Let’s see if I can finish this post before the site finishes loading… Now let’s see if it was worth the wait. Monaco, Google Street View, spinny-whirly thing, English accent giving me instructions… and that’s where my attention-span stretches too far and I close the window. I don’t want to navigate a site that requires instructions. Maybe I’m just crabby like that. If you’re more patient with things like this than I am, really like Iron Man 2, and are keen to learn more about the phone, you may as well go check out the site (they’ve certainly gone to a bit of effort with it). You can hit it up at http://lgim2.com/ If I missed anything awesome, let me know, will ya?
Source: MobileCrunch | 4 May 2010 | 7:52 am Gadgetell is hiring!Section: Features, Gadgetell Announcements
The first being someone who can contribute often, and by often I mean on a daily, or at least an almost daily basis to include weekdays and weekends. I would say this person would average at least 10 posts per week. The second being someone who wants to write primarily on the weekends. Of course, anyone who fills this role will be welcomed to post during the week. But the main focus is for weekend coverage. This person would most likely average about 6-8 posts per weekend. Assuming you are ok with those roles and posting expectations—we really need someone who loves tech/gadgets. You know the type—the person who loves tech so much that other people get tired of hearing them talk because that is all they talk about. Or the person who sits at the dinner table with a laptop, tablet or smartphone because they cannot part with the Internet for even a few minutes. In short, we are looking for the tech obsessed. If you are interested, here is what you need to do to apply. Send an email to robert (at) gadgetell (dot) com and include;
Finally, tell us a little about you, what you currently do, how much time you can realistically dedicate to Gadgetell and why you think you would be a good fit. And make sure you let us know how to get back in touch with you just in case we like what you submit. In the email, use “Gadgetell Blogger Hiring” as the subject. And yes these are paid positions. Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 4 May 2010 | 7:26 am Virgin Mobile to Announce $25 (near) Unlimited Plan, Three New Phones
These plans will come with your choice of a Kyocera Loft (for $70), an LG Rumour Touch (for $150), or (and this is the exciting bit) a BlackBerry Curve 8530 (for $300). Phone Arena have the low-down, but basically the new plans all have unlimited text, email, data, and web, but the amount of included calls differs: $25 gets you 300 minutes, $40 gets you 1200 minutes, and $60 gets you unlimited minutes. Sadly, if you’re after the BlackBerry, you’ll be sprung for an extra $10 per month. But hey, it costs money to look good. Or something like that.
Source: MobileCrunch | 4 May 2010 | 7:22 am Bell Canada Remotely Kills, Recalls MiFi Routers
This will take from six to eight weeks, so in the meantime you’ll be given a Novatel U998 Turbo Stick - a USB 3G dongle - to tide you over (not so good if you’re using the MiFi with a non-USB equipped gadget, like an iPad or iPod Touch). So why did your MiFi stop working? After all, your battery appears still be at its normal, non-swollen size. Well Bell, in order to keep you from using the modem, has reached into your device from afar and remotely disabled it. Between 10PM and 11.59PM Eastern on May 3rd (last night), all units were killed. Although the recall notice doesn’t spell it out, we’re pretty sure that swelling batteries are a precursor to exploding batteries, and this is why Bell has gone in so hard. Sorry, Canadians. There is a bright side, though: Y’all don’t yet have the iPad, so at least you’re not losing connectivity there. Bell Novatel MiFi 2372 “battery may swell” [Mobile Syrup via Engadget] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 4 May 2010 | 7:16 am ShutterSnitch Beams Photos from Camera to iPad
If you have an Eye-Fi card and an iPad, you need ShutterSnitch. The $8 iPhone and iPad application lets you beam photos as you shoot them direct to the iPad where they are displayed on the large 10-inch screen. This is useful for “tethered” shooting where you may want somebody else to monitor the images as you shoot, or just to help you out with a giant image preview. ShutterSnitch has a built-in FTP-server, which is how it communicates with the Eye-Fi (Canon and Nikon transmitter accessories also work). As you shoot, the pictures are sent over the Wi-Fi network (you’ll need some kind of router here, as the iPad can’t create an ad-hoc network) and appear on the screen. You can also set rules that trigger on-screen messages based on the photos’ metadata. For instance, if your auto-ISO creeps up to high, a warning will flash up. There is also an on-screen, full-color histogram. This alone could be worth the price for many. From the app you can email photos, rename them and run slideshows, although I can’t spot any way to add the pictures to your photo-roll. The application also works on the iPod Touch and iPhone, but really, the point here is that lovely big iPad screen. And we will also point out that this app is a lot cheaper than Apple’s way of getting photos into the iPad, the $30 Camera Connection Kit. RAW photos can be sent across, too (along with video) but not displayed. Given this limitation, we expect the best workflow is to shoot RAW+JPEG with the camera and just send the JPEGs across, saving the RAW files for later. You get the previews, and those small JPEGs will be a lot faster to load, too. ShutterSnitch [2nd Nature via Rob Galbraith] See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 4 May 2010 | 6:07 am Quintaxial Tripod Heads Twist Five WaysTripod-maker Induro has tried to combine the quick-adjusting ball-head and the slow-but-accurate pan-tilt head into the new PHQ-series of tripod heads. While these two new heads don’t quite manage this feat, they pack in enough smart gimmicks and features to make your old head look positively primitive. The idea of these pan heads (there are two, identical in features but different in size) is to get your camera level, fast, and then let you pan smoothly or shoot panoramas. The first (and best-named) part of this is the quintaxial (five-way) adjustment. A couple of levers let you get the head level, and the bottom section rotates to let you point the right way. The top-plate also rotates for pans, and with a slot-in accessory you can make sure your lens is positioned to rotate around its nodal-point for panoramas (the nodal-point is the spot around which the lens should spin to make the images line up with minimum distortion). This plat will also let you slide the camera sideways to take a second shot for 3D photos. The head bristles with bubble-levels (five of ‘em), the handles fold and collapse for transportation and you can lock the motion on any axis. And yes, the head is compatible with Arca-Swiss plates. The PHQ1 and PHQ3 do not yet have prices listed, but I managed to track down details via Twitter: The PHQ 1 will cost $230, and the PHQ3 $290. This fits with the generally reasonable prices of other Induro gear. PHQ Pan Heads [Induro. Thanks, Mr. Hobby!] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 4 May 2010 | 5:40 am Floating Shelf Hides iPod Dock, Speakers
If Ikea made an iPod dock, it would look like the Hohrizontal 51. Resembling nothing as much as the Lack floating shelf the Swedish furniture-as-crack super-chain, the Hohrizontal combines iPod dock, amp and speakers into a minimalist block. Unlike anything from Ikea, it costs around $660. In addition to the iPad connector, you can also hook up a TV or other MP3 player to pump sound through the two 25W speakers. In fact, you can leave the TV on the shelf: it supports up to 25kg, or 55-pounds. The Hohrizontal will also let you run composite video-out (we’re guessing this comes from the iPod) and audio-out, for connection to a home-theater setup. It’s actually a rather neat piece of furniture, although we can’t help but think that this is ripe for an Ikea-hack. After all, Lack shelves start at just $10 and are almost as easy to cut as cardboard, so stuffing a couple of speakers and a dock in there should be simple. If you actually want to buy the Hohrizontal 51, though, head over to Germany, or trawl the slew of linked Flash-based sites for possible mail-order. Hohrizontal 51 [Finite Elemente via Oh Gizmo and Cult of Mac] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 4 May 2010 | 4:50 am Dropbox Updated for iPad, External Editing Added
The Dropbox iPhone application has been updated to work better with the iPad. Along with the usual cosmetic changes, it also adds one essential feature: the ability to choose an application with which to open your documents. Dropbox is a cross platform file-syncing service. You install it on your OS X, Windows or Linux machine and what you see is a folder. Anything you keep in this folder is mirrored across machines, and stored in the cloud. You can also access these files at any time from your iPhone and now, your iPad. Last week we brought you a guide to keeping plain text files in sync between your iPad and your Mac using Simplenote and Notational Velocity. The most commonly suggested alternative in the comments was Dropbox. Until today, though, that was messy, as there was no way to get files out of your Dropbox to edit them on the iPad. This update does just that. Pick a file: a photo, text document, PDF, spreadsheet or anything supported on the iPad. Tap the “Open In” icon and choose from the list of available apps. You’re done. The problem is that you can’t yet save anything back into Dropbox. This is a limit of the other apps, but we can foresee a third-party text-editor, say, that would offer to send the file to Dropbox. There are also hacks to let you email your files into Dropbox, but this still creates the problem of duplicate files, essentially a new version of your file every time you save. Messy. Still, we know a lot of Gadget Lab readers are Dropbox users, so enjoy the new interface and the new “Open In” command, and join us in quietly grumbling that Apple really messed up file-organization on the iPad. Free, available now. Dropbox for iPhone and iPad [iTunes] See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 4 May 2010 | 4:20 am
|
A sharp eyed blogger at the Web 2.0 Expo in SF spotted something rather interesting today at the Adobe booth. Apparently, there is a Google Tablet out there somewhere, and it’s running Android (duh). Not only that, but it seems that Flash runs pretty much seamlessly on prototype. 
Well, we’re apparently in the time of the tablets. First it was the netbooks, then the e-book readers, and now the big thing is everyone has to have a tablet to peddle. Samsung is doing things a little differently, but I don’t know if it’ll be different enough to make an impact in the (soon to be) flooded market. 
The best way to describe 
The result is something unique, though, and some people may love it. Here’s how it works: You register your credit cards with Offermatic via the Yodlee back end (which is secure). Offermatic then downloads your individual credit card purchases and matches offers from advertisers relevant to your purchase history. If you buy something at Home Depot, for example, you may get a $30 off coupon from Lowes. You’ve spent money on textbooks and you get a special offer from Chegg. Etc. All offers will be 40% – 90% off normal retail, says Offermatic.
HP gave up the details on their updated Envy today. Nothing too terribly exciting, they’re sporting the latest in the Dual Core CPU, discreet graphic chipset and motherboards. More details after the jump.
Every once in a while something hits our inbox that is just so…wrong…that we can’t not post about it. Today is one of those times. A new site called 
It’s like deja vu all over again.
For decades, George Alan Rekers has been a general in the culture wars, though his work has often been behind the scenes. In 1983, he and James Dobson, America's best-known homophobe, formed the Family Research Council, a D.C.-based, rabidly Christian, and vehemently anti-gay lobbying group that has become a standard-bearer of the nation's extreme right wing. Its annual Values Summit is considered a litmus test for Republican presidential hopefuls, and Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter have spoken there. (The Family Research Council would not comment about Rekers's Euro-trip.)
We all know what the Three Wolf Moon shirt looks like, so I won’t link it here. But did you know that it was actually made up of not one, but four separate images? True fact is true!
The Federal Trade Commission will decide whether or not to approve the pending Google-Admob acquisition in a meeting tomorrow that will include the commissioners and the FTC chairman, says a source who’s been briefed on the matter. The $750 million deal was 
We like electric vehicles here at CrunchGear, from the 
Today at the 
Today at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco, Microsoft’s Lili Cheng took the stage to give a keynote presentation feature some of Microsoft’s latest social projects. Cheng heads up Microsoft’s Future Social Experiences (FUSE) Labs group, which was formed last fall to study the new social experiences that are emerging on the web.
Today’s phones scare a lot of folks. Pantech has those folks in mind with it’s new 3G Pantech Breeze II, a basic phone that was announced today and will be on AT&T. The phone costs $19.99 after rebate and two-year contract.
It looks like the latest Kindle update has begun the roll out process. The update, which is 2.5 contains a few new features which include the addition of Facebook and Twitter integration. Yup, you can now fill up your social media stream with more junk, err, I mean “share book passages with friends on Facebook and Twitter directly from your Kindle.”
Listen up, Gadgetell is looking for a few quality tech/gadget bloggers. Think you have what it takes to join the team? Read on and find out what we are looking for and then how to apply. The amount of bloggers that we are going to bring on board may vary, but we are looking for two types.
