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As big as Google is, Nexus One online store's failure shows wireless carriers ... - Computerworld
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 18 May 2010 | 4:04 am IBM survey: CEOs say they can't handle growing business complexity (InfoWorld)InfoWorld - Many CEOs are doubtful  their enterprises can handle a volatile, increasingly complex business environment, according to an IBM survey being revealed on Tuesday.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 18 May 2010 | 4:00 am Motorola gets a good kicking in the global market - Inquirer
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 18 May 2010 | 3:57 am Generic Painting Hides A Cellphone JammerBy Chris Scott Barr Have you ever had one of those friends that always seemed to be texting the entire time they’re hanging out with you? Wouldn’t it be great if you could simply block their...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 18 May 2010 | 3:37 am Kindle for Android 'Coming Soon' - Wired News
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 18 May 2010 | 3:35 am StumbleUpon Quietly Signs Up 10 Millionth User
So how do we know he’s mr. diez milliones? Because a StumbleUpon community development and support employee stumbled his profile and added the words “Nellzom is officially our 10th Million user! Welcome to StumbleUpon and its beautiful community of users!”. Thanks to our eagle-eyed reader Paul Sanchez for uhm, stumbling upon it. Last time we covered the size of StumbleUpon’s user base was in April 2008, when it hit 5 million users and nearly five billion stumbles. It took them another 2 years to double their number of users, but of course there’s no telling how many registered users are still active on the service. Nevertheless, according to StatCounter, StumbleUpon drives more traffic to websites than Twitter, Reddit or Digg, so they must be doing something right. For your reference: it’s been a little over a year since StumbleUpon spun off from eBay and became an independent startup again. As the company pointed out in a recent blog post, they have since then released the web bar as well as a new version of the flagship Mozilla add-on, its URL shortener and content syndication service su.pr, a Chrome extension, a revamped ads system, a new look to their site, an iPad app, new badges, and more. In other words, they’ve been busy. In the blog post, dated May 4, the company also shared some interesting stats: - 118% growth rate in active users since 2009 The company can now add 10 million users to that list. Are you one of them? Why (not)? Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 18 May 2010 | 3:34 am Kindle for Android ‘Coming Soon’
Almost. The big difference here is that you can buy books from within the application (this also works on Blackberry). On the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, you are redirected to the Kindle web site as soon as you choose to buy a new book. On Android phones, you can browse and purchase books from within the Kindle app. This is likely because Amazon doesn’t want to give Apple 30% of each and every transaction, the usual cut taken for in-app transactions. The Kindle for Android app is “coming soon” and will run on any Android device (v1.6 or newer) that has an SD card installed. Kindle for Android [Amazon via ★] See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 18 May 2010 | 3:27 am In UK, Hacker Demands New Government Block ExtraditionStoobalou writes "Pentagon hacker Gary McKinnon has called on the newly elected British government to put its money where its mouth is and tear up his extradition order. US prosecutors have been trying to get McKinnon before a New Jersey court for seven years after they caught him hacking into US military and NASA computers looking for evidence of UFOs. David Cameron, the newly elected prime minister, and Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, had both voiced their support for McKinnon's campaign against extradition. Other ministers in the coalition government had branded the extradition unjust. Clegg had even joined McKinnon's mother, Janis Sharp, on a protest march."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 18 May 2010 | 3:16 am Join Us As TechCrunch Europe Hits Copenhagen, 26 May #TCNordic Next week it's TechCrunch Disrupt, but for those of you that can't make it and are in the Nordics, TechCrunch Europe will be hosting its 3rd TechCrunch Nordic event - joining European startup programme Seedcamp on their European tour in Copenhagen at the end of May. Join us!
Last year's was a blast and it's long been clear that the Nordics are a key tech cluster in Europe. And we hear Copenhagen is fast becoming a hotbed of startups. Our early bird tickets are now sold out, but the final tickets are available here.
We're excited to have a stellar lineup of speakers and panelists and we'll also be showcasing new and existing startups on the day. We can't wait.
Source: TechCrunch | 18 May 2010 | 3:15 am American Heart Association gets into games product endorsement - TG Daily
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 18 May 2010 | 3:07 am Egyptians go online to seek political change (Reuters)Reuters - Eman AbdelRahman is one of 200,000 people who have signed up on Facebook to back Mohamed ElBaradei, the former U.N. nuclear boss who has said he wants to shatter 30 years of political stasis in Egypt by running for president.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 18 May 2010 | 3:04 am Egyptians go online to seek political changeCAIRO (Reuters) - Eman AbdelRahman is one of 200,000 people who have signed up on Facebook to back Mohamed ElBaradei, the former U.N. nuclear boss who has said he wants to shatter 30 years...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 18 May 2010 | 3:04 am Aricent and NetLogic Microsystems Collaborate on LTE eNodeB SolutionsSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 18 May 2010 | 3:00 am Industry Leaders Unite to Advance the Adoption of New Hardware Security SolutionsSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 18 May 2010 | 3:00 am kbb.com App for iPhone(R) Empowers on-the-go Shoppers With Arsenal of Car-Buying InformationSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 18 May 2010 | 3:00 am Big Winners Every Week at CasinoClassic.comSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 18 May 2010 | 2:59 am Google buys Norwegian audio-video tech providerOSLO (Reuters) - Google is buying Oslo-listed Global IP Solutions for $68 million to build its real-time audio and video Internet capabilities, the two companies said in a joint statement...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 18 May 2010 | 2:56 am Apple's iPhone does well without being the bestIt's been three years, an eternity for gadgets, since Apple Inc. unveiled the iPhone, and by now other phones do some things better. Yet Apple is selling more iPhones than ever. What is...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 18 May 2010 | 2:55 am Apple's iPhone does well without being the best (AP)AP - It's been three years, an eternity for gadgets, since Apple Inc. unveiled the iPhone, and by now other phones do some things better. Yet Apple is selling more iPhones than ever.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 18 May 2010 | 2:55 am Hotmail makeover targets rivals - BBC News
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 18 May 2010 | 2:55 am Visa Case Turns iPhone into Credit Card
Called In2Pay, the payment method uses a modified microSIM card with a near-field communications (NFC) chip inside. Because the iPhone doesn’t yet sport a microSIM slot, the card sits in a case which powers the chip and allows contactless payments, just like those used to pay for toll booths or public transport. You would be able to hold your iPhone up to a compatible reader and make a transaction. It would work even if there were no clerk present, for instance at a vending machine. The idea of schemes like In2Pay is to free you from carrying a wallet, allowing you to do everything with your cellphone. But this implementation, which requires carrying a cellphone case, is not much different from just taping your credit card to the back of your phone. However, it does come direct from Visa, lending a certain weight to the scheme, and when more phones accept the microSIM it will be essentially invisible. Add to that the fact that iPhone users tend to be more disposed to trying out new tech and you can easily see that this is a pilot scheme from Visa designed to grow the infrastructure of contactless payments. In2Pay joins several methods for receiving credit card payments, including Square, a little white cube that slots into the iPhone’s headphone jack and allows you to swipe regular old credit cards. Soon, it seems clear, almost all payments will be made using cellphones, even the ones that involve paying your friend back that dollar he owes you. Just don’t lose that phone. DeviceFidelity Announces Mobile Contactless Payment Solution for iPhone [Visa via MobileCrunch] See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 18 May 2010 | 2:55 am Universities Australia (UA) Provides Scopus Access to 39 Local InstitutionsSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 18 May 2010 | 2:52 am Microsoft pays up in VPN lawsuit - TG Daily
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 18 May 2010 | 2:44 am Spotify Lands In The Land Of Tulips And Lousy Beer
     
Source: TechCrunch | 18 May 2010 | 2:41 am Lock And Load, As InnoGames Raises Fidelity Funding For Browser Games InnoGames out of Germany has raised a round of funding from Fidelity Growth Partners Europe to expand browser-based games portfolio.
InnoGames has titles which now streatch across 50 million registered players worldwide such as Tribal Wars, The West, and Grepolis. The company was founded in 2007 by Eike and Hendrik Klindworth along with Michael Zillmer.
All the games are free-to-play with the business model based on virtual goods like being able to upgrade to better (virtual) weapons. Bigpoint and GameForge are rivals in the space.
Source: TechCrunch | 18 May 2010 | 2:40 am UPDATE 1-BP siphoning off 40 pct of Gulf of Mexico oil leak* Oil spill costs it $625 million so far, vs $450 mln May 13Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 18 May 2010 | 2:37 am CORRECTED-(OFFICIAL)-Saint-CareHDresults(Company corrects latest sales and forecast sales percentage change)Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 18 May 2010 | 2:35 am Plush Earphone Eye Masks - The 'Sound Of Nature' Eye Cover Gives a Blissful, Musical Sleep (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) The 'Sound of Nature' is perfect for those who have trouble falling asleep. The plush eye cover protects your eyes in comfort, all while having built-in earphones and a speaker system...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 18 May 2010 | 2:35 am Astronauts giving space station extra compartment - The Associated Press
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 18 May 2010 | 2:30 am Google To Buy Global IP Solutions For $68.2 Million In Cash
Google Acquisition Holdings, a Google subsidiary, is to make a public cash offer to acquire all shares of Global IP Solutions for $2.12 in cash per share, which represents an aggregate price of approximately $68.2 million based on the currently issued and outstanding share capital of GIPS.
Global IP Solutions, formerly known as Global IP Sound, was founded in July 1999 in Stockholm, Sweden and is currently headquartered in San Francisco. The company develops real-time voice and video processing software for IP networks and is known for developing the narrowband iLBC and wideband iSAC speech codecs.
Source: TechCrunch | 18 May 2010 | 2:13 am Primitive Military Video Games - The 8-Bit Starcraft Parody Brings Gaming to Simpler Times (VIDEO)(TrendHunter.com) The 8-Bit Starcraft parody has the attention of many gamers, wondering whether this is an actual 1984 version of this classic and loved game. However, serious Starcraft fans will recognize...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 18 May 2010 | 2:03 am Microsoft upgrade aims to make Hotmail cool again (AP)AP - Microsoft Corp. is trying to make Hotmail cool again.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 18 May 2010 | 1:57 am Tweetie 2 Disappears From App Store, Likely To Return As “Twitter For iPhone”
Something is amiss in the App Store right now. The best Twitter client, Tweetie 2, is nowhere to be found. So where did it fly off to? Did Apple pull it for some violation? Unlikely. Instead, the app’s new owners, Twitter, probably took it down. Why? Because their own version, dubbed “Twitter for iPhone,” is likely about to be released. We see this happen all the time. For example, last week, the mobile payment startup Square was removed from the App Store just prior to the launch of its newly iPhone and iPad compatible app. Companies often remove their apps voluntarily to ensure the newest version is released when they choose. What this likely means is that Apple has already approved the new Twitter for iPhone, and now Twitter just has to put it in the store. And don’t forget that a few weeks ago, the final update to Tweetie 2 had an easter egg noting that Twitter for iPhone was “coming soon.” Unless Twitter wants a lot of angry iPhone owners on their hands, you can probably expect it to be in the App Store at some point tomorrow. But there’s something else I’m wondering: will it be a universal app — meaning an iPad version will be bundled with it? It’s certainly possible. The last time I spoke with developer Loren Brichter about Tweetie, he assured me that an iPad version was indeed in the works. That was prior to the acquisition by Twitter, but the company has also said that “Twitter for iPad” is coming shortly. The bigger question is: what exactly will be new about Twitter for iPhone beyond the new branding and new price (free)? Brichter had been hard at work on Tweetie 2 for the Mac when Twitter bought his company, so it seems unlikely that he was far along on a major overhaul. He was also working on a side-project, the just-released, Textie. Still, at the very least, some tighter integration with the Twitter APIs can’t be a bad thing, right? Hopefully we’ll all find out tomorrow. [thanks Stephen]      
Source: TechCrunch | 18 May 2010 | 1:55 am Early *R U There* Reviews from Cannes: Variety Likes It, Others Not So MuchR U There, the Dutch/French/Taiwanese film about Second Life, gaming, and life in the digital eraI wrote about last week, just screened in competition at the Cannes film festival, and so far, the reviews...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 18 May 2010 | 1:49 am *RU There*: Feature Film About Second Life, Gaming, and Living Digitally Selected for the Legendary Cannes Film Festival This Year!Update, 5/18: Read early reviews of R U There here. A movie about Second Life and gaming is screening at this year's prestigious Cannes Film Festival, which opens today. The name of the film is R U There,...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 18 May 2010 | 1:46 am Text Messaging as a Tool for Behavior Change in Disease Prevention and ManagementMobileActive Blog links to a study on text messaging as a tool for prevention and managing disease : On March 30th, Epidemiologic Reviews published a paper entitled "Text Messaging as a Tool for Behavior...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 18 May 2010 | 1:35 am Real-Life Coupletography - There's No Acting in i-D 'Meet Me At The Corner' Shoot (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) The Summer 2010 i-D 'Meet Me At The Corner' editorial brings the heat in a story of two strangers having a sexy one-night stand. What's so special about this casually-styled shoot is...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 18 May 2010 | 1:34 am iPhone Killer: A statement about current tech products and statusSpotted on boingboing via Dezeen, Ronen Kadishin's "iPhonekiller". An open-source mallet for smashing up iPhones, the device features 1.6kg of laser-cut steel attached to a wooden handle.The design can...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 18 May 2010 | 1:21 am Viral Video: The Ad-Whispering Google Phone [BoomTown]
You just know those big brains in Mountain View, Calif. at Google’s HQ have already been at work on this spoof idea from The Onion: A new mobile phone service that “whispers targeted ads directly into users’ ears.” Here’s the hysterical video on how such an advertising-blabby Google (GOOG) device might work, including a very funny emergency call. And don’t miss the perfect dig at Yahoo (YHOO) at the end. Enjoy:
Source: All Things Digital | 18 May 2010 | 1:15 am Carried Interest, VCs, Tobacco, and Godwin’s Law of Tax PolicyHaving gotten used to the NVCA claiming responsibility for a dizzying percentage of jobs in America, plus most of the market capitalization on the major U.S. exchanges, as well as it arguing that teensy...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 18 May 2010 | 1:10 am What Backlash? Facebook is Growing Like Mad [Voices]By Fortune Staff You’d be forgiven for thinking that Facebook has a backlash on its hands. Many news outlets are reporting it, after all. Tech pundit Leo Laporte and Engadget co-founder Peter Rojas killed their profiles. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 18 May 2010 | 1:05 am In Praise of the Original Social Media: Good Ol' Television [Voices]By Simon Dumenco, The Media Guy, Advertising Age I spend a lot of time living in the Twittersphere. Not because I’m a particularly prolific tweeter (I’m not), but because, in addition to writing this column, I do social-media trend analysis twice a week on AdAge.com: the Trendrr Chart of the Week on Wednesdays (which usually culls data from Twitter) and the Top 10 Most Tweeted Brands Chart on Fridays. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 18 May 2010 | 1:04 am Taylor Momsen Did Not Write This Headline [Voices]By David Carr, Columnist, The Media Equation, New York Times Don’t know who Taylor Momsen is? Neither do I, beyond that she is the mean one on “Gossip Girl.” But Facebook knows her well, Twitter loves her, and she and Google have been hooking up, like, forever. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 18 May 2010 | 1:03 am RIP Online Video; Long Live Video–5 Predictions for the Next 5 Years [Voices]By Hunter Walk, Director of Product Management, YouTube For many, online video has become a part of our daily lives. It’s become so pervasive that it’s the talk around the water cooler and every day a new meme is captured by a camera and uploaded and shared with millions and millions of people around the world. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 18 May 2010 | 1:02 am Stacked Shoe Campaigns - The IKEA Hemnes Ad Campaign is Shoetastic (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) IKEA is pretty clever when it comes to advertising and catching the public's attention and the IKEA Hemnes ad campaign is no exception. The ads feature different styles of shoes, all...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 18 May 2010 | 1:02 am Students, Parents Allowed to View Webcam Scandal Photos [Voices]By David Kravets, Contributor, Threat Level, Wired Suburban Philadelphia parents and their high school-age children soon will learn the extent of a potentially criminal webcam scandal. A federal magistrate on Friday ordered the Lower Merion School District to start sending notification letters to any student covertly spied on through their school-issued Macbook, as well as to their parents. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 18 May 2010 | 1:01 am Daily Crunch: Any Minute Now Edition
Good idea: try on virtual watches using augmented reality app
Source: CrunchGear | 18 May 2010 | 1:00 am Outsourcers Wrestle With a Rebound [Voices]By Amol Sharma, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal India’s technology-outsourcing companies, the poster children of the country’s services boom in the last decade, are bouncing back from their first serious slump. The largest Indian tech firms, including Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Infosys Technologies Ltd. and Wipro Ltd., all reported strong financial results in recent weeks, benefiting from a global uptick in spending on technology services by businesses such as banks and insurance companies and renewed interest in outsourcing as a cost-cutting measure. The turn of events marks a reversal from a year ago, when Indian firms were reeling from a steep drop in orders for software services. But the tech-services sector differs now from the Indian firms’ boom years of 2003 to 2007, and new hurdles have arisen. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 18 May 2010 | 1:00 am Vodafone profit almost trebles to 8.6 billion pounds (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 18 May 2010 | 12:42 am Matter-Antimatter Bias Seen In Fermilab Collisionsubermiester writes "The New York Times is reporting that scientists at Fermilab have found evidence of a very small (about 1%) average difference between the amount of matter/antimatter produced in a series of particle collisions. Quoting: '[T]he team, known as the DZero collaboration, found that the fireballs produced pairs of ... muons ... slightly more often than they produced pairs of anti-muons. So the miniature universe inside the accelerator went from being neutral to being about 1 percent more matter than antimatter.' This finding invites theorists to explain why there is so much more matter than antimatter in the universe, when the Standard Model suggests that there should be equal amounts of each." Here is the paper as submitted to Physical Review (PDF). The DZero team is looking forward to getting detailed data from the LHC once it ramps up operationally.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 18 May 2010 | 12:25 am Nintendo, American heart group join to tackle obesity (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 17 May 2010 | 11:36 pm Clock calculates wasted time at meetings
Meetings can be a huge waste of time. To quantify just how much, you can use TIM (Time is Money), a simple gadget that calculates how much money is wasted at a meeting by multiplying the number of people present with their average hourly wage and the amount of time spent. Silly accompanying infomercial below.
Product page [via OhGizmo!]
Previously:
 Source: Boing Boing | 17 May 2010 | 11:22 pm Kindle For Android Hits This Summer — And You Can Buy Books In It
Amazon has announced tonight that Kindle for Android will available in the coming weeks. For now, they have this landing page to tell you a bit more. The big news: you’ll be able to buy books right from Android devices. For anyone who has used the Kindle app on the iPhone or iPad, not being able to do that is one of the big annoyances. If you want to buy anything, you’re kicked out of the app, back to the web, to make the purchase. Yes, it’s silly. But both sides likely put up with it for their own reasons. From Apple’s perspective, the Kindle Store directly competes with its own iBookstore. From Amazon’s perspective, there’s no way they’d pay Apple a 30% commission to sell their titles as in-app purchases. Android doesn’t present those issues. This could be a killer feature for the Android version. Amazon has to know that its hardware strategy isn’t sustainable. It simply can’t compete with the likes of Apple and the dozens of other hardware manufacturers who are about to enter the tablet space in a major way. But by spreading quickly to all of these other platforms, the Kindle Store store seems poised to live on — and possibly even thrive. Even with direct competition from Apple. Alongside the iPhone, iPad, and now Android phones, Amazon also has a Kindle app for PCs and Macs, as well as BlackBerry devices. And again, everything can be synced across all devices — a universal bookmark. A few notes about this version from Amazon:
     
Source: TechCrunch | 17 May 2010 | 11:15 pm MySpace Simplifies Privacy Settings - PC World
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 17 May 2010 | 11:01 pm Raygun: WTF 2000 Mario, a maker in Bogota, created with WTF2000 prop raygun out of "my dead heat gun (RIP), pieces of video camera, industrial plastic rollers, toilet tank tree, blender glass."
CYBORG UPDATE: PISTOLA WTF 2000
(via Make) HOWTO make a kosher worm (insert circumcision joke here)If you're a strict orthodox Jew, worms aren't kosher, but worms in fish are. Why? Because ancient scholars believed in "spontaneous generation," so the worms were thought to be creatures that didn't "crawl on the ground." Now that we know there's no such thing as spontaneous generation (apart from all the insanely heavy objects I don't remember putting in my suitcase when I packed for this book-tour), can fish-worms still be kosher? Apparently so, if we're to believe Yeshiva World, which proposes resolving this conundrum by simply rejecting the science that disproves spontaneous generation. All hail the "la la la I can't hear you" school of theology.Worms In Fish: Problem Or Not? (Thanks, Steve!) (Image: Red Wiggler Worms, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from wheatfields's photostream)
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing | 17 May 2010 | 10:36 pm Redknee Enables EU Data Roaming at TelfortRedknee supports another European operator to meet new EU data roaming 'bill shock' legislation TORONTO, and NICE, France, May 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Redknee (TSX:RKN), a leading provider of business-critical billing and charging software and solutions for communications service providers, today announced at TM Forum Management World that it has signed a contract with Telfort, a subsidiary of KPN, to extend its use of Redknee's data monetization platform, NGRC.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 17 May 2010 | 10:01 pm IBM 2010 Global CEO Study: Creativity Selected as Most Crucial Factor for Future SuccessARMONK, N.Y., May 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- According to a major new IBM (NYSE: IBM) survey of more than 1,500 Chief Executive Officers from 60 countries and 33 industries worldwide, chief executives believe that -- more than rigor, management discipline, integrity or even vision -- successfully navigating an increasing complex world will require creativity.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 17 May 2010 | 10:01 pm AT&T Telepresence Solution Adds More Countries to Its Global FootprintDALLAS, May 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AT&T* is bringing the unique 'in-person' experience of telepresence to more companies in more locations by expanding its AT&T Telepresence Solution(SM) global footprint availability to customer sites in a total of 75 countries and territories.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 17 May 2010 | 10:01 pm IBM Announces 2010 Beacon Award WinnersARMONK, N.Y., May 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced the winners of its 10th annual IBM Beacon Awards, recognizing Business Partners for their technical excellence and innovative solutions based on IBM products and services.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 17 May 2010 | 10:01 pm Meet The New Hotmail: Sleeker & Faster, With Some Powerful Weapons Against Inbox Overload
This morning, Microsoft showcased this new version of Hotmail to a room full of press at its offices in San Francisco. It’s fast, slick, and comes with a set of new features for managing large amounts of email that make it a much better rival to Gmail. Does it look like a revolution? Not really. But it does incorporate some very nice features — things that seem quite obvious once you seem them in action, but aren’t already available elsewhere. And more importantly, they’re features that regular people will actually use. First, the stuff that Hotmail is really just playing catchup with. The first thing you’ll notice is that threaded conversations are now offered, and it looks like they’re the default (though you can turn them off). The search box now features auto complete. You can flag messages (I can’t believe this wasn’t available before). There’s better spam protection. Gmail users should stop yawning, because there’s plenty of other good stuff. Perhaps the most important suite of features, at least to people who commonly experience inbox overload, are all the new filtering and message management tools the new Hotmail comes with. My favorite is called ‘Sweep’. If you’ve subscribed to a newsletter but decide you don’t want to filling up your inbox any more, you can hit activate this option to move every message you receive from that sender to a folder other than your main inbox. Other webmail clients can do this too, but the flow for this looks easier than, say, making a filter in Gmail. Another feature, called Hotmail Highlights, breaks out your messages according to where they’re coming from. One section shows you at a glance whether you’ve received any messages from people in your address book. Another shows you any messages you have from social networks like Facebook. On the left hand side of the screen, you’ll see a few options under the label “Quick View”. One of these is for photos — click it, and you’ll see all the messages in your inbox that have either image attachments or links to photo albums on sites like Flickr. There’s a similar option for Documents, as well as one that lets you immediately find shipping updates. The other big features involve reading and composing messages. When you receive a message that has either photo attachments or links to an online photo album, Hotmail will use those photos to build a slick slideshow (it uses Silverlight). The service is even better for sending photos. Most email services aren’t great for sending photos, because they have a limit of 10-20 megabytes per message (and you also have to worry about whether the recipient’s service will allow for messages that large). Hotmail works around this by automatically uploading your images to Microsoft’s cloud storage service SkyDrive, which is free up to 25 GB. The resulting message looks great — Hotmail builds a photo album that should be visible in any mail client that supports rich formatting, and it doesn’t kill anyone’s inbox storage.
Finally there’s Hotmail’s integration with Microsoft’s online version of Office. When you receive a document in Hotmail, you have the option to view and edit it using the online versions of Office, and then save and send any changes back to the original sender. These online apps have strong integration with the desktop versions of Office 2010, but you don’t need the desktop apps in order to use the online versions for free. This is of course Microsoft’s answer to Google Docs, which is itself integrated into Gmail, and it looks well done (I expect document fidelity will be better for Microsoft, which may be a big sticking point).
I should point out that Yahoo Mail offers some of these features already (like the ability to break out messages that were sent by your contacts). And while Gmail doesn’t offer some of these features as part of its default set, you can reproduce some of them using filters. Hotmail doesn’t necessarily need to outdo its competitors in every respect — it’s still the largest email provider worldwide, with 360 million active accounts. But Gmail is growing fastest, and Microsoft is looking to curb that growth. This new launch probably isn’t going to spark any kind of mass migration away from Google’s services, it may well draw a few more former AOL users who are now looking for a new webmail provider. Microsoft expects to ship the new Hotmail in mid-summer. Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 17 May 2010 | 10:00 pm Huddle Secures More Than $10 Million to Bring Popular Online Workspaces to the U.S.SAN FRANCISCO and LONDON, May 18, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Huddle (http://www.huddle.net/), the company that lets you connect and work securely with other people in the cloud, today announced that it has closed a $10.2 million Series B round of funding led by Matrix Partners, with participation from existing investors Eden Ventures and Charles McGregor, Huddle's chairman. Huddle, which employs more than 40 staff in the UK and U.S.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 17 May 2010 | 10:00 pm May 18, 1952: Carbon-14 Dates Stonehenge as 3,800 Years OldModern techniques start unraveling ancient mysteries. But little is settled.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 17 May 2010 | 10:00 pm Huddle Lands $10.2 Million To Expand Collaborative Workspaces To The U.S.
Huddle, which employs more than 40 staff in the UK and U.S. and recently became cashflow positive, is planning to use the funding to expand to the U.S. and build a presence across the Pond. More than 50 percent of Huddle’s “Hundreds of thousands of users” are based in the U.S., so it makes sense for the startup to build out sales, marketing and research and development teams in San Francisco, says Andy McLoughlin, co-founder of Huddle. Huddle aims to be sort of a one-stop-shop for collaboration and project management for businesses. The product is a network of secure online workspaces where you can share files, collaborate on ideas, manage projects and organize virtual meetings. Most recently, Huddle added web conferencing, integration with Microsoft Office, LinkedIn and Facebook integration and an iPhone app to the mix. McLoughlin says that at the moment, Huddle is focusing on making Huddle even more realtime, and looking into adding a desktop integration as well. For a relatively small startup, Huddle’s product has gained significant traction, with big-name customers including Procter & Gamble, Edelman, Disney and HTC. Because of the startup’s multiple services, Huddle faces competition from a number of startups and tech giants including, Lotus, Salesforce Chatter Box.net, Microsoft Sharepoint and WebEx. Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 17 May 2010 | 9:55 pm DuPont working on cheaper ways to make OLED screens
This means that DuPont could possibly produce a 50-inch screen in under two minutes, resulting in a product that is cheap and reliable. Of course, this technology is in it’s infancy so there’s really not much information about when we should expect to see these new screens, and DuPont hasn’t had much to say on the subject. It’s a pretty safe bet that we won’t see these any time before summer 2011. [via Technology Review]
Source: CrunchGear | 17 May 2010 | 9:51 pm App Store-Aided Mobile AttacksTrailrunner7 sends along a ThreatPost.com piece that begins "The pace of innovation on mobile phones and other smart wireless devices has accelerated greatly in the last few years. ... But now the attackers are beginning to outstrip the good guys on mobile platforms, developing innovative new attacks and methods for stealing data that rival anything seen on the desktop, experts say. This particular attack vector — introducing malicious or Trojaned applications into mobile app stores — has the potential to become a very serious problem, researchers say. Tyler Shields, a security researcher at Veracode who developed a proof-of-concept spyware application for the BlackBerry earlier this year, said that the way app stores are set up and their relative lack of safeguards makes them soft targets for attackers. ... 'There are extremely technical approaches like the OS attacks, but that stuff is much harder to do,' Shields said. 'From the attacker's standpoint, it's too much effort when you can just drop something into the app store. It comes down to effort versus reward. The spyware Trojan approach will be the future of crime. Why spend time popping boxes when you can get the users to own the boxes themselves? If you couple that with custom Trojans and the research I've done, it's super scary.'"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 17 May 2010 | 9:31 pm Best Buy launching @Gamer gaming magazineFROM GAMERTELL - Following in the footsteps of GameStop, Best Buy is launching its own gaming magazine with its first issue coming in June 2010… Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 17 May 2010 | 9:16 pm Is This Week In The Next Weblogs? Calacanis And Pals Put $300,000 Into Streaming Video Network
Is the Internet finally ready for a live streaming video network? Jason Calacanis thinks so. Calacanis and two of his LA pals—Matt Coffin (founder of LowerMyBills, and who just launched the DailyD) and Sky Dayton (founder of Earthlink, Boingo, Helio)—just put $300,000 into Calacanis latest per project, This Week In. The original founder of Weblogs Inc before he sold it to AOL (and current CEO of Mahalo), Calacanis says he wants to do to live video on the web what he did with blogs. “Exact same model as Weblogs Inc,” he says: “Try a bunch of different shows, recruit tons of talent and double down on big winners. It’s blogging all over again… the land grab is on!” This Week In already has eight shows, a couple of them hosted by Calacanis himself. A year ago, Calacanis launched his own weekly live video talk show called This Week In Startups. There is also Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show, This Week In Twitter, This Week In iPad, This Week in Android, This Week In Venture Capital, . . . you get the idea. Of course, there is also another live video streaming network that uses the “This Week In” naming convention, Leo Laporte’s This Week In Tech (aka, TWiT.TV). But Calacanis is not one to shy away from controversy, and most of his viewers probably don’t care anyway. Calacanis tapped Mahalo CTO Mark Jeffrey to be CEO of This Week In. He says that all the shows combined are getting 450,000 downloads or streams per week, with three of them (This Week In iPad, This Week in Startups, and The Kevin Pollack Chat Show) topping 100,000 downloads/streams each. The shows are streamed live via Ustream.TV and then are available as video podcasts on iTunes. Commercials from sponsors are read out loud on each show. ThisWeekIn plans to launch another 30 shows over the next two years. Why now? Broadband is pretty ubiquitous, for one thing. But Calacanis is especially excited about the possibilities the iPad will bring as a viewing device. “Watching streaming shows on your iPad and TV is the future,” he declares. Can he take the Weblogs model and repeat it in live online video? It certainly will be entertaining to watch him try.
     
Source: TechCrunch | 17 May 2010 | 8:46 pm YouTube Overtakes Networks' Primetime Viewership - Wired News
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 17 May 2010 | 8:19 pm We’re quitting FacebookSection: Web, Web 2.0 / Social Networking
Anyways, here’s what the fine folks leading the “Facebook is for losers” rally have to say about kicking their addiction:
It seems as though the Diaspora boys could really capitalize off of this anti-Facebook trend. Kudos to them as they’ve already reached over $100,000 in donations to fund their project. Via [QuitFacebookDay] Full Story » | Written by Tarun Kunwar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 17 May 2010 | 8:08 pm Testing and Mapping a Cellular Data Network?bgsneeze writes "In order to resolve an ongoing issue with a vendor, I have been trying to find a way to test different 3G data devices empirically. I would like to be able to chart signal strength, latency, and bandwidth. I would also like to create a map of the coverage area. I have a test 3G card from three different providers. I would like to be able to travel with the setup to several different locations and run tests. What software or techniques would Slashdotters use to test the different devices? Are there any free or open source software packages that will do this?"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 17 May 2010 | 7:38 pm Polaroid archive shows history of pictures
Wired loves the Polaroid as well, and they recently had the chance to see MIT’s collection from the Polaroid archive. The collection was donated to MIT by the company that now owns the Polaroid name and technology. The gallery is definitely worth a look, as it’s fun to see how the technology has changed over the years.
Source: CrunchGear | 17 May 2010 | 7:21 pm ITC^DeltaCom Announces First Quarter 2010 ResultsHUNTSVILLE, Ala., May 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ITC^DeltaCom, Inc.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 17 May 2010 | 7:06 pm Salesforce.com Chairman and CEO to Speak at Cloudforce 2 SingaporeSINGAPORE, May 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), the enterprise cloud computing company, today announced that Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO of salesforce.com, will speak at the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore's (IDA) Distinguished Infocomm Speaker Series during Cloudforce 2 Singapore, the largest cloud computing event in Asia Pacific.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 17 May 2010 | 7:00 pm Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep gets a PSP bundle, release dateFROM GAMERTELL - Square Enix has announced that Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep will be in stores on September 7, 2010 and that GameStop will have an exclusive Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep PSP-3000 bundle. Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 17 May 2010 | 6:58 pm Next iPhone May Get Display Upgrade (PC World)PC World - A new leak out of Vietnam suggests that the next version of the iPhone (expected to be released this Summer) may contain a higher-resolution display than found in the current model, the iPhone 3GS.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 17 May 2010 | 6:40 pm Google's WiFi snoop - who knew and who didn't? - Register
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 17 May 2010 | 6:25 pm Rima Fakih, first Arab Miss USA, may be in trouble for pole dancing photosRima Fakih became the first Arab-American Miss USA on Sunday, which is awesome. Less awesome: the Miss Universe people are apparently investigating photos from a Michigan radio station of the 24-year old pole dancing in a 2007 contest. It would be a shame if they revoke her crown because of this; let's hope that doesn't happen.Source: Boing Boing | 17 May 2010 | 6:15 pm Study on cell phone link to cancer inconclusive (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 17 May 2010 | 6:05 pm Gallery: Polaroid Archives Provide a Snapshot of HistoryA museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is showing off 70 years of Polaroid camera history from the company's official archives.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 17 May 2010 | 6:00 pm Gallery: Polaroid Archives Provide a Snapshot of HistoryA museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is showing off 70 years of Polaroid camera history from the company's official archives.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 17 May 2010 | 6:00 pm Good idea: try on virtual watches using augmented reality app
Hmm. I wish I could tell you a little more about how well this app works, but I haven’t had a printer for like five years, and so cannot print out the little paper watch you need in order to interact with the app. Wait, maybe if I….
Yes, it worked! Can’t really tell much about how it would look on my wrist (the G1 kept falling off when I tried to balance it) but that’s pretty funny. You too can do it, if you feel like downloading the 82MB (!) app. Eh, why not? [via The Awesomer]
Source: CrunchGear | 17 May 2010 | 5:59 pm Verizon dismisses $18K phone billA rare occurrence of a phone company cutting a customer a serious break: Verizon customer Bob St. Germain was forgiven an $18K phone bill his son racked up in 2006 when a promotional offer for free Internet expired without their knowing. I have no clue why Internet access should cost so much in the first place.Source: Boing Boing | 17 May 2010 | 5:54 pm Polaroid Archives Provide Snapshot of History<< previous image | next image >>
Polaroid has one of the world’s most iconic brands: The self-developing snapshots, with their classic white borders, are nearly as recognizable as the red Coca-Cola logo, the Campbell’s soup can or the Burberry plaid. The company’s cameras delivered instant visual gratification long before digital cameras arrived on the scene, making them an early photographic sensation. But Polaroid’s fortunes have waned. The company, which was founded in 1937, has declared bankruptcy twice and was sold to two different buyers. Its assets have long been dispersed, and its factories were shut down. Polaroid even announced in 2008 that it would stop making its instant film, prompting some enthusiasts to create their own Polaroid-compatible film packs. Now a company called PLR IP Holdings has rights to the Polaroid brand and has said it will revive some iconic Polaroid cameras. The company recently introduced a new camera, the Polaroid PIC-300. Last month, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based MIT Museum announced that PLR Holdings has donated a massive collection from Polaroid’s archives. The archive has some fascinating objects. There are boxes of rare Polarized glasses dating from the 1939 World’s Fair, original newsprint sketches by Polaroid founder Edwin Land, a historic bellows camera the size of a filing cabinet and the SX-70 cameras that defined the instant-photography era. Overall, the collection has more than 1,800 boxes containing 10,000 items. “For anyone interested in science, technology, art or consumer culture, this is an unprecedented opportunity to look at a series of products and watch their design unfold from every aspect,” says Deborah Douglas, curator of the collection at the MIT Museum. Polaroid is unusual among American companies in that it has extensively documented its products and maintained archives of its work, says Douglas. “This is one of the top five company collections out there, along with IBM, Bell Labs, DuPont and Boeing,” she says. 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 17 May 2010 | 5:50 pm Intel-Vice Creators Project: Sellout or Boost?Processing giant Intel and cultural juggernaut Vice team up to launch The Creators Project, with the goal of creating new forums for cultural expression.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 17 May 2010 | 5:45 pm J.D.Roth on DIY finance
My name is J.D. Roth, and for the past four years, I've been writing a popular personal finance blog. I am not a trained financial professional; I don't have a degree in finance, and I'm not a certified financial planner. I have no formal training. I'm just an average guy who was deep in debt, and finally got fed up with his situation.
After deciding to turn things around, I read dozens of financial books, and used what I learned to pay off my debt and begin to save. In four years of reading and writing about money nearly every day, I've learned some things. Sure, I've learned how to manage credit cards effectively and where to find good savings accounts. But I've also learned that in nearly every instance, the way to take control of your finances is to embrace the DIY ethic. Instead of trusting others to manage your money, you need to have the guts manage it yourself. DIY Personal Finance Last summer, O'Reilly media -- the folks behind Make magazine (which Mark edits) and the computer books with the animals on the cover -- asked me if I'd be willing to write a book about money. But not just any book about money. Your Money: The Missing Manual would let me share the tips I'd gleaned since starting to write Get Rich Slowly in 2006. I knew right away that I wanted to encourage readers to take control of their financial lives. One of my mantras is: "Nobody cares more about your money than you do." Other people, both pros and amateurs, are keen to offer advice, but their recommendations are often counter to your own interests. To really build a financial future that meets your needs, you have to learn how to save and invest, set financial goals, and master the art of conscious spending. My belief that you need to take charge of your own financial life has only been strengthened over the past two years. The housing crisis, the market meltdown, the controversy over credit card policies -- while these things can't be avoided entirely even by smart money managers, their effects can be mitigated. If you call the shots when buying a house, the real estate agent can't talk you into spending more than you can afford. (My brother lost two houses to foreclosure because he listened to his real estate agent instead of making his own decisions.) If you invest based on your risk tolerance, you can avoid catastrophic losses during a market crash -- or insure that you don't miss out on the subsequent boom. Why Bother? Why bother with DIY finance? There are many advantages to taking control of things yourself, including:
Now, it's important to understand that DIY finance is just like DIY anything else. You can't enter a woodshop and expect to be building Stickley furniture overnight. You need to read. You need to practice. You need to start small. If you try using the heavy powertools first -- say, directing your own investments -- you can get into a lot of trouble if you don't know what you're doing. And there will always be times you'll want to call in an expert. I've promised my wife that I won't mess with major plumbing or electrical work; for big jobs, I call in somebody who knows what they're doing. The same is true with money. Though I can handle most of the routine stuff myself, I have a team of trusted experts at my disposal for when strange stuff happens: if I sell a business, if a parent dies, if the IRS audits me. An important part of the DIY ethic is knowing when to pass things off to the pros. Action Steps If you've decided you want to take control of your financial life, there are a few essential steps to get you started. I can't give you the secret to wealth and happiness in a single blog post (I just wrote a 300-page book, and even that felt short!), but I can give you some basic guidelines to get started. 1. Take Control of Your Spending I'm not a big believer in detailed budgets. They work fine for some people (and if you're one of them, that's great), but for many others, a broader budget makes more sense. After trying (and failing) to use all sorts of detailed budgets, I finally settled on the Balanced Money Formula, as described by Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi in their book, All Your Worth. Here's what it looks like:
Whatever you decide to do, start tracking what you spend. Sign up with a service like Mint or Wesabe and start watching your pennies the same way you watch your calories. Some people think frugality is a bad thing. It's not. Frugality is an important part of personal finance. While it's true that you can save tons of money by being smart when you buy a car or a home, chances to save on these things don't come along very often. But there are tons of opportunities to save at the grocery store or when shopping for your kids' clothes. Make the most of them. Save on the big stuff and the small stuff. The bottom line? By practicing conscious spending, you can spend on the things that are important to you while pinching pennies on the things that don't matter. Note: If you have trouble with compulsive spending, you can try "hacks" like the 30-day rule, but you may need to seek outside help. 2. Take Control of Your Debt The only way you're going to get out of debt is to start spending less than you earn. I know that some people are in tight spots, trapped by medical problems or catastrophic accidents. But most Americans are in debt because they buy things they can't afford. In the past four years, I've talked with hundreds (thousands?) of people who have struggled with debt. Those who have managed to kick debt to curb have one thing in common: They've stopped waiting for help and decided to help themselves. If you're willing to put in the time and effort, you can get out of debt. I tend to favor the debt snowball method of debt reduction, which has been made popular by financial guru Dave Ramsey. Using this technique, you pay off your lowest balances first (instead of your highest interest rates). You pay a little more in the long run, but it works. This free debt snowball calculator lets you compare different debt-reduction strategies to find one that works for you. Once you've taken control of debt, you need to avoid it in the future. To do that, you need to learn how to use credit wisely. 3. Take Control of Your Credit Credit can be a convenience, or it can kill you. Establish some ground rules: Don't buy on credit if you wouldn't (or couldn't) pay cash, pay off your balance at the end of every month, and always read the fine print. Pick a card that works for you (from a site like CardRatings.com or Index Credit Cards) and use it responsibly. Don't just accept a card that is loaded with fees. At the same time, take control of your credit score. Take the time to educate yourself on how credit scores work. A great place to start is Credit Report Card, a free service that rates your credit and gives you advice on how to improve it. (If you want to really geek out on this, pick up a copy of Liz Weston's Your Credit Score, which is packed with information.) You can stay up-to-date with the world of credit and credit cards by reading CreditBloggers, where Mark is a regular contributor. 4. Take Control of Your Banking Why are you with your current bank? Because it's close to home? Because they gave you a free Frisbee when you signed up? Your bank won't make you rich, but it's the central hub for much of your financial life. You should choose a place with features and fees to match your needs. Rates are low right now, but they'll rise over the next couple of years. As they do, take the time to be sure your money is working hard for you. Like many readers at Get Rich Slowly, I use a local credit union for my checking account, and I use a high-yield online savings account for my savings. (I use ING Direct, but there are other great options.) Here's a tool to help you find a credit union near you. You may also want to look into reward checking accounts, which often give better returns than high-yield savings accounts!
5. Take Control of Your Investing If your employer offers a retirement plan, use it -- especially if they offer any sort of matching contributions. While it's wrong to say that an employer's 401(k) is "free money," it's still a damn good deal. Whether or not you have a retirement plan at work, start a Roth IRA, which is an easy way for individuals to set money aside for the future. (Here's a free Roth IRA e-book that explains the basics.) What should you invest in? First off, don't make the mistake of believing that you need a broker or adviser to pick your investments for you. Studies show that paying others to make these decisions for you generally costs more than you gain from it -- if you gain anything at all. If you want to learn about stocks and bonds, do some research at the American Association of Individual Investors website, or borrow a stack of books from the public library. But I'd encourage you to instead consider index funds, which are mutual funds designed to track the movement of the stock market (or a section of the stock market). For example, Vanguard's VFINX fund is designed to mirror the movement of the S&P 500 index. Some people argue that index funds don't make sense because they can never beat the market. While that's true, they still perform better than 80% of investors (professional or otherwise) over long periods of time. If you don't believe me, maybe you'll believe Warren Buffett, the most successful investor the world has ever seen. He advocates index funds for most investors, having once said, "I believe that 98 or 99 percent -- maybe more than 99 percent -- of people who invest should extensively diversify and not trade. That leads them to an index fund with very low costs." 6. Nobody Cares More About Your Money Than You Do These tips just scratch the surface. In Your Money: The Missing Manual, I spend over 300 pages explaining how you can reclaim your financial life by taking back control from other people. I want you to learn how to negotiate, not just when buying a car, but when buying furniture and appliances. I also want you to know how to negotiate your salary. I want you to read contracts instead of blindly signing them. I want you to learn how to research big purchases. I want you to know how to buy a house you can actually afford. None of this is rocket science. But many of us never learned the basics. Our parents did their best to teach us, but they didn't know a lot of this stuff, either. And we live in a society that is hell-bent on encouraging us to spend, so it can be tough to master the mental side of money. My goal is to help as many people as possible realize they can be masters of their financial destiny. Taking charge of your own finances has a powerful side effect: When you encounter new financial situations -- buying a home, starting a business -- you feel less intimidated. You're able to grasp the basics quickly, and can have the confidence that you'll be able to figure out the rest. Plus, you put yourself in a position to parse the advice from the so-called experts. (You can even use your bullshit detector to process articles like this one.) So, don't wait for someone to give you permission to do this stuff. You're an adult. Nobody's going to give you the go-ahead. Take charge of your own financial life today. Gadgetell Hands On: HTC Droid IncredibleSection: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile, Reviews, Features
I was able to spend a few days so far with the latest Android phone on the Verizon network, the HTC Droid Incredible. Thus far, I’ve been pretty impressed with the overall touch and appearance of the smartphone. It is a lot more sleek and slender than the Motorola Droid, and feels really good in my pocket - not obtrusive at all. The touch screen is really responsive and the 1 Ghz Snapdragon processor handles multiple tasks and switching between apps without missing a beat. I have yet to fully explore the phone, but it’s definitely an improvement over the last Android phone I used, the Motorola Droid. Verizon really does not need the iPhone when it has a comparable phone in the HTC Droid Incredible. Check out the gallery below to see the HTC Droid Incredible right out of the box, running the Android Market, and using the Internet browser to view Gadgetell. Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 17 May 2010 | 5:42 pm Wii Could Be What the Doctor Orderedcrimeandpunishment writes "The American Heart Association and Nintendo are teaming up to promote Wii. The popular games can be branded with the AHA's logo, to indicate that they're considered a healthy choice. As part of the deal, Nintendo will donate $1.5 million to the AHA. The Heart Association is concerned about childhood obesity, and now concedes that its campaign for traditional forms of exercise just isn't getting through."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 17 May 2010 | 5:41 pm Gay men in Asia Pacific are denied HIV/AIDS careA joint report published by the UNDP and the Asia Pacific Coalition on Male Sexual Health revealed that 90% of gay men in Asia can't get HIV/AIDS support even if they want to. 19 out of 48 countries in the Asia Pacific region have criminal laws against gay male sex; it can earn you the death penalty in Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan, or get you whipped in Malaysia and parts of Indonesia. In Thailand and India, condoms have been confiscated because they're seen as evidence of illegal activity. In China and Singapore, education materials on HIV/AIDS are censored.Source: Boing Boing | 17 May 2010 | 5:36 pm MIT reveals designs for future airplanes An MIT aeronautics team revealed this design for a new generation of airplanes that would be quieter and up to 70% more fuel-efficient than the ones we fly in now. The research was funded by a $2.1 million NASA program — called N+3 — aimed at developing more eco-friendly, high-performance planes over the next 25 years.
Air travel is becoming more frequent and is expected to double by 2035; without going through major overhaul, the current system won't scale. As Ed Greitzer, the lead investigator in this project, points out, airplanes have looked pretty much the same for the last half century, and are way too inefficient when it comes to fuel, noise, and runway usage. So he changed it by coming up with two designs: the 180-passenger D series to replace the Boeing 737 and the 350 passenger H series to replace the 777. The engineers conceived of the D series by reconfiguring the tube-and-wing structure. Instead of using a single fuselage cylinder, they used two partial cylinders placed side by side to create a wider structure whose cross-section resembles two soap bubbles joined together. They also moved the engines from the usual wing-mounted locations to the rear of the fuselage. Unlike the engines on most transport aircraft that take in the high-speed, undisturbed air flow, the D-series engines take in slower moving air that is present in the wake of the fuselage. Known as the Boundary Layer Ingestion (BLI), this technique allows the engines to use less fuel for the same amount of thrust, although the design has several practical drawbacks, such as creating more engine stress.Fly the eco-friendly skies [MIT News] Source: Boing Boing | 17 May 2010 | 5:32 pm Robocalypse Now: Toy-sized combat robot fires “pyrophoric warheads”
So as you can see, I can’t tell whether to cheer on our robot-loving military or cower under my bed, crying.
The Israeli roboticists who have created it (and advanced the machines’ day of ascendancy by who knows how long) call it the Pincher, and it’s really made for finding and detonating IEDs by firing tiny 8-inch-long rockets at them. The rockets, which they call pyrophoric arrows, bury themselves in the explosive and burn it away. The robot itself is tiny (50 square inches, so probably around 7″x7″ — small enough to carry in a pack or mistake for a toy. I had a TMNT Pizza Van about that size that fired little pizzas from a launcher. I kind of wish I’d had one of these things. No! No, Devin! That’s what the machines want you to think! Be strong! [via Danger Room]
Source: CrunchGear | 17 May 2010 | 5:30 pm Air Force: Tests didn't include troubled GPS unit (AP)AP - The military did no advance testing on a specific type of military GPS receiver that had problems picking up locator signals after a change in ground-control software, the Air Force said Monday.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 17 May 2010 | 5:11 pm Algae Biofuel Production Targets WasteOn the surface, algae is an attractive fuel source, especially since it doesn't cut into food crops. The problem isn't that the algae doesn't grow quickly--the high yield is remarkable--it's that production still requires lots of water and nutrients. An ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 17 May 2010 | 5:04 pm Kind of cute: transparent “photo paddles” add shades, mustaches, etc to subjects
http://www.photopaddles.com/index.php They’ve actually been around for quite a while (they were created for a design show last year) but they’re now available for purchase more easily than by . $6 each seems a bit steep (you could probably make your own for far less), and I can’t figure out how to get any of the sunglasses ones (“Howdy”?), but hey. It’s art, it’s not supposed to make sense.
Keep in mind these won’t work if you have any depth of field at all. The creator instructs you to use them with your camera phone, which seems like sound advice, though if you have a fancy autofocus camera phone, you might have trouble.
Source: CrunchGear | 17 May 2010 | 5:00 pm Just kidding: Acer not bringing Chrome OS to Computex
Source: CrunchGear | 17 May 2010 | 5:00 pm A Gadget Romance: Alphasmart Keyboard Meets iPadA clever modder hooked up his old Alphasmart keyboard to an iPad.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 17 May 2010 | 5:00 pm Canon's Latest Rebel Has a CauseCanon beefs up its entry-level Rebel, the T2i, with more megapixels, better noise reduction, a better LCD and -- most importantly -- improved support for a variety of flavors of HD video recording.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 17 May 2010 | 5:00 pm Canon's Latest Rebel Has a CauseCanon beefs up its entry-level Rebel, the T2i, with more megapixels, better noise reduction, a better LCD and -- most importantly -- improved support for a variety of flavors of HD video recording.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 17 May 2010 | 5:00 pm Epson Introduces Its First Digital Label Press - the SurePress L-4033ABIRMINGHAM, United Kingdom, May 17 /PRNewswire/ -- (IPEX Booth 10-C260) -- Epson America today announced the SurePress(TM) L-4033A, a highly versatile short-run digital label press designed to print labels efficiently and profitably.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 17 May 2010 | 5:00 pm A Gadget Romance: Alphasmart Keyboard Meets iPadA clever modder hooked up his old Alphasmart keyboard to an iPad.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 17 May 2010 | 5:00 pm Consumer Watchdog Calls on FTC to Investigate Google's WiFi SnoopingSANTA MONICA, Calif., May 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Consumer Watchdog today called on the Federal Trade Commission to launch an immediate probe of Google's snooping on private WiFi networks as the Internet giant sent its Street View cars to gather information. The flagrant intrusion into consumers' privacy only came to light because of tough questions from European regulators.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 17 May 2010 | 4:59 pm Sexy Sauerkraut Wrestling
Well, I suppose that's one way to get your probiotics in. Men and women wrestling in delicious, fermented sauerkraut. It's brutal, but it's vegan. Shot at the "Cabbage Chuck" event in Shiocton, Wisconsin. Source: Boing Boing | 17 May 2010 | 4:58 pm US Supreme Court Upholds Indefinite ConfinementAn anonymous reader points out the news that the US Supreme Court today upheld a law that allows the federal government to keep prison inmates behind bars beyond the end of their sentences, if officials determine they may be "sexually dangerous" in the future. The case involves one Graydon Comstock, who was certified as "dangerous" six days before his 37-month federal prison term for processing child pornography was to end. The vote was 7 to 2. Three of the justices who concurred with the decision raised an objection to the broadness of the language used in the majority opinion, written by Justice Kennedy.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 17 May 2010 | 4:58 pm Stunning time-lapse video of Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland, in actionSean Stiegemeier, who created the video embedded above, writes, So I saw all of these mediocre pictures of that volcano in Iceland nobody can pronounce the name of, so I figured I should go and do better. But the flights to get over took forever as expected (somewhat). Four days after leaving I finally made it, but the weather was terrible for another four. Just before leaving it got pretty good for about a day and a half and this is what I managed to get. Iceland, Eyjafjallajökull - May 1st and 2nd, 2010 (vimeo)
Music: Jónsi - Kolniður; shot on Canon 5d mkII, Motorized Dolly via MILapse. Couch Traveler for iPad Blends Satellite Imagery, Wikipedia
While you’re zoning out with your iPad on the couch, there’s an app that can actually teach you a little something, too. When friends of mine are first becoming acquainted with the iPad, I like to show them Couch Traveler, an app that combines Google satellite images with Wikipedia entries to explore different landmarks throughout the world. From a master list on the left, you can select landmarks by category: bridges, buildings, monuments, mysteries, theme parks and urban. Selecting the mysteries category, for example, you can hone in on a satellite image of Area 51, Stonehedge or the Giant Bunny in Italy. Tap the description button and you can view a Wikipedia entry pertaining to your selection to learn about what the heck you’re looking at. I love this sort of edutainment; it’s an example of an app both children and adults can equally enjoy. It’s also a step toward more context-aware learning that the iPad is perfect for. I’m hoping more information-based apps will push the envelope a bit further and rethink the idea of the traditional book or newspaper, for instance, combining multimedia with text to be more engaging. Couch Traveler costs $2 in the App Store.
See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 17 May 2010 | 4:45 pm Heart group backs video games in obesity campaign (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 17 May 2010 | 4:39 pm Appletell reviews the Diddybeats in-ear headphonesFROM APPLETELL - The Diddybeats in-ear headphones from Dr. Dre, Diddy and Monster are among the best I’ve ever heard. However, as with many products, that advantage also has a few drawbacks. Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 17 May 2010 | 4:33 pm National Instruments to Present at the Baird Growth Stock ConferenceAUSTIN, Texas, May 17, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- National Instruments (Nasdaq: NATI) will present at the Robert W. Baird Growth Stock Conference on May 19, 2010 at 3:05 p.m. CT.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 17 May 2010 | 4:30 pm The iAngle might just be the most clever iPhone stand ever
This morning when I woke up, I thought to myself: “Man — I sure hope there isn’t anything sitting in my tips inbox that is so simple and yet so clever that it makes me feel completely inadequate.” Apparently I didn’t hope hard enough.
Source: CrunchGear | 17 May 2010 | 4:20 pm The iAngle might just be the most clever iPhone stand ever
This morning when I woke up, I thought to myself: “Man — I sure hope there isn’t anything sitting in my tips inbox that is so simple and yet so clever that it makes me feel completely inadequate.” Apparently I didn’t hope hard enough. The picture up top pretty much explains it all – but if you’re hungry for more words: the iAngle is a rubber iPhone stand. When it’s not in use as a stand, you can wrap your in-ear headphones around it to keep them from getting tangled. Best of all, it’s dirt cheap; coming in at $10 bucks, it’s one of the cheapest non-DIY stands we’ve seen. Plus, it holds your friggin’ headphones. You can find the iAngle here.
Source: MobileCrunch | 17 May 2010 | 4:16 pm Commercial Quantum Cryptography System HackedKentuckyFC writes "Any proof that quantum cryptography is perfect relies on idealized assumptions that don't always hold true in the real world. One such assumption is related to the types of errors that creep into quantum messages. Alice and Bob always keep a careful eye on the level of errors in their messages because they know that Eve will introduce errors if she intercepts and reads any of the quantum bits in a message. So a high error rate is a sign that the message is being overheard. But it is impossible to get rid of errors entirely, so Alice and Bob have to tolerate a small level of error. This level is well known. Various proofs show that if the quantum bit error rate is less than 20 percent, then the message is secure. However, these proofs assume that the errors are the result of noise from the environment. Now, physicists have come up with an attack based on the realization that Alice also introduces errors when she prepares the required quantum states to send to Bob. This extra noise allows Eve to intercept some of the quantum bits, read them and then send them on, in a way that raises the error rate to only 19.7 percent. In this kind of 'intercept and resend attack,' the error rate stays below the 20 percent threshold and Alice and Bob are none the wiser, happily exchanging keys while Eve listens in unchallenged. The physicists say they have successfully used their hack on a commercial quantum cryptography system from the Geneva-based startup ID Quantique."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 17 May 2010 | 4:14 pm Another Dell ultraportable, this one AMD-based (and cheaper)
Here are the vital statistics for the M301z: 13.3″ “widescreen HD” – implies 1366×768 More importantly for its “ultaportable” status, it’s less than an inch thin and weighs a… well, not exceptionally light 3.9lb. It starts at 999SGD, or about $720. Not a bad buy if you ask me! We’ll probably be seeing a lot more AMD lightweight models coming out, and we’ll keep you informed of the most interesting of them. [via TechReport]
Source: CrunchGear | 17 May 2010 | 4:00 pm AMD Multi-Display Tech Has Problems, PotentialEconolineCrush writes "While AMD's Eyefinity multi-display gaming tech is undeniably impressive at first glance, digging deeper reveals key limitations. Some games work well, others not at all, and many are simply better suited to specific screen configurations. A three-way setup looks to be ideal from a compatibility perspective, and given current LCD prices, it's really not all that expensive. But would you take that over a single high-resolution display or a giant HDTV?"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 17 May 2010 | 3:55 pm Microsoft Tries to Make Computers More Super [Voices]By Nick Wingfield, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal Microsoft (MSFT) has formed a new group to better its share of the market for the most powerful computers in the world. Its plan of attack: Make the machines easier to use. On Monday, Microsoft said it has created an effort called the Technical Computing Initiative focused on the field of high-performance computing, in which dozens to thousands of PCs are lashed together to jointly perform complex calculations beyond the capacity of individual machines. Microsoft has quietly staffed up the group with several hundred employees and is launching a marketing push with a new website touting trends in high-performance computing. While most people will never come close to needing a high-performance computer, they’re key to the design of a lot of everyday products. They help engineers simulate the impact of wind shear on airplanes and scientists to discover new drugs. Hedge-funds feed mountains of data into them to develop trading strategies. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 17 May 2010 | 3:54 pm Mobile Phone Guitar Makes Sweet Music
As the video clip below shows, the developer ‘Steffest’ plays a version of Cracklin Rosie and its not the cacophony you would expect. The original idea was to create the same mobile app on all three mobile platforms, he says. The app would be a small piano and drum sequencer. That didn’t quite work out. “Audio latency is a b*tch and building the app from the same source proved to be possible but unusable,” writes Steffest on his blog. “I ended up writing it three times: in Java for Android, in C# for Windows Mobile and in Objective-C for iPhone.” Instead what he did was combine his homebrewed app with other programs including the Pocket Stompbox for Windows Mobile that’s good for real time effects. There’s also iShred, an iPhone electric guitar app in the mix. To play them all at once, he taped them on a piece of wood together with a battery powered speaker. It’s not all that bad on the ears. Listen to it:
[via Make] Photo/Video: Steffest 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 17 May 2010 | 3:53 pm BP Authorized to Dump New Chemicals into Gulf; Danger to Wildlife UnknownThe EPA and the US Coast Guard have authorized BP to use oil-dispersing chemicals from a controversial product line that some believe may harm Gulf wildlife.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 17 May 2010 | 3:41 pm Cannibal Galaxy the Biggest In the Near UniverseThe Bad Astronomer writes "Astronomers have found the most massive galaxy in the near universe: an obese, bloated monster that may tip the cosmic scales at 13 trillion times the mass of the Sun, 20 times the mass of the entire Milky Way. The galaxy, called ESO 146-IG 005, sits at the center of a dense cluster of other (but much more lightweight) galaxies, and grew to its present size by eating the galaxies around it. In fact, the so-far undigested cores of at least five other galaxies are still easily seen in the cannibal's nucleus. Astronomers are having difficulty pinning down the galaxy's exact mass, but it's clearly the biggest bruiser within 1.5 billion light years of home."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 17 May 2010 | 3:31 pm The end of a medium? [Opinion]Section: Gadgets / Other, Lifestyle, Features, Originals . image courtesy of flickr Radio, possibly one of the most powerful means of communication, is on its last leg. For decades DJ’s and talkshows have long been great to listen to in the car on the way to work, school, and of course, for entertainment. But how long do they have left? One would hope that the traditional radio stations will join text and adapt to join the internet. But the more that I think about it, the more I believe the word, “radio,” will have entirely different context in several years. In a NYTimes article, the author brings about some good points that put the whole situation into perspective. The gist is that the line between radio and personal libraries is blurred already. With services such as Pandora, Last.fm, and Slacker is their really any appeal to listening to the radio knowing that a commercial is right around the corner? With dataplans on cell phones becoming more accessible, there isn’t really any reason as to why someone would want to stick with the traditional medium. So what happens to it? Well when you think about it, this is where radio and print start to contrast. Print already has a place in the internet. There will always be demand for high quality articles. But radio is different. For one it is too localized. People are used to their local radio stations. With 17 different stations running on the same frequency across the US, competition for any internet space becomes very crowded. Plus who would want to listen to the traditional radio? There are nothing but ads and the same 20 songs that you hear everyday. Internet radio is far superior and has pretty much already won the battle of the future. The closest things that we will have to radio are livestreams of podcasts to replace our daily talkshow followed up by a mix of your favorite bands from Pandora. There is simply no place for the traditional radio or radio stations to migrate to the web. This, however, does not meant that DJ’s and the companies behind radio stations are out of a job. People will still listen, they just need to migrate to a new medium such as podcasting in order to maintain their audience. I know I personally would subscribe to a podcast of my favorite former-Dj, or even a new one I discovered from across the country on Google Listen through my Android phone. There will need to be changes from the usual mix of music and talk that usually take place on the radio to more segregated, niche based models that would be distributed through the web. This vision, I believe, can hardly be called a, “radio station,” anymore. And this is why I believe that Radio is dead. RIP Full Story » | Written by Hunter Clarke for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 17 May 2010 | 3:29 pm Verizon CEO: "No Reason We Couldn't Have an iPad" [Digital Daily]
McAdam didn’t name the devices, but said they would most likely be manufactured by HTC, LG, Motorola (MOT), Samsung and Research in Motion (RIMM)–the usual suspects. Said McAdam: “I’d say all the major manufacturers we’re talking to today are making the transition to LTE.” Incidentally, a few of those manufacturers will also build tablets for the carrier. And while they’ll run Google’s (GOOG) Android OS, Verizon (VZ) is still obviously hoping to ink an iPad deal with Apple (AAPL). “There’s no reason we couldn’t have an iPad,” said McAdam. Well, I can think of one. Source: All Things Digital | 17 May 2010 | 3:24 pm Report: iPad May Be Cannibalizing iPods, Not Macs
Apple’s hot-selling iPad poses no threat to its Macintosh computers, but it’s already chomping into iPod sales, a research report suggests. NPD Group on Monday afternoon released figures revealing a 17-percent year-to-year decrease for April iPod sales. Meanwhile, Mac computers are seeing healthy growth, increasing 39 percent compared to last April. Because the iPad was released April 3, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster believes the new tablet device is contributing to the shrinkage in iPod sales. “April NPD data gives us the first sign of the degree to which the iPad cannibalizes iPod or Mac sales,” Munster said. “From the early NPD data, it appears that the iPad has a minimal cannibalization impact on Mac sales, and could be slightly cannibalizing iPod sales.” It may seem odd that Apple’s tablet computer could be impacting sales of media players rather than notebooks and desktops. However, it’s not all that surprising, since the iPad in its current state is not a full-blown computer replacement, but rather an extravagant media-consumption device. We also wouldn’t be surprised if the iPhone is slowing down Apple’s iPod sales — especially those holding out for the fourth-generation iPhone that Gizmodo may have leaked last month. iPod sales have been steadily dropping since the iPhone gained serious momentum in 2008. Some tech observers have predicted Apple would discontinue the iPod Classic. Given the decreasing costs of flash memory and healthy growth of iPhone OS devices, we’re willing to bet this will be the year Apple finally lays the Classic to rest. Via BusinessInsider See Also:
Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 17 May 2010 | 3:23 pm DIY: Coat Hook Headphone Hanger
Aside from the obvious problem if you have a glass desk, placement is also key. I’ve got rather long legs and loathe keyboard drawers because they are an exercise in pain. Obviously you’d want to place the hook to the side of the desk instead of the middle, but what about smaller desks? I’m going to do a slight variation on this and use one of those 3M Command Hooks. Best part is, it doesn’t require you do drill a hole in your desk (or wall), and it’s easy to move if necessary.
Source: CrunchGear | 17 May 2010 | 3:00 pm Eyewitness Account of Watershed Brain Scan HearingA potentially watershed hearing on the admissibility of fMRI brain scan evidence concluded May 14. Wired Science spoke with one of two observers for a blow-by-blow on how the case is going.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 17 May 2010 | 3:00 pm 5 Lessons TV Should Learn After Losing 'Heroes'Watching a once-promising show turn into a muddled mess is one of fandom's most frustrating experiences. Here's how to keep a superhero television show from going superbad.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 17 May 2010 | 2:59 pm Mobile Devs: Get 20% off the Uplinq Conference
The registration site is right here and don’t forget your coupon code.
Source: MobileCrunch | 17 May 2010 | 2:58 pm Dealing With the Dreaded 'Flash of Unstyled Text'Web fonts have come a long way recently, but inconsistencies in how browsers load your fonts can lead to some ugly rendering hiccups. Learn how to minimize your FOUT problem.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 17 May 2010 | 2:53 pm Microsoft To Pay $200M In Patent DisputePickens writes "eWeek reports that Microsoft has announced it will pay $200 million to settle a patent-infringement suit against it by VirnetX, which alleged that the software giant infringed on its patents related to communications, virtualization and collaboration technology. This payment represents a substantial markup from the $105.7 million that a Texas jury awarded in March when it found that Microsoft had infringed on two US patents held by VirnetX. Microsoft will license VirnetX technology for its own products. 'We believe that this successful resolution of our litigation with Microsoft will allow us to focus on the upcoming pilot system that will showcase VirnetX's automatic Virtual Private Network technology,' says Kendall Larsen, VirnetX Holding Corp.'s CEO. East Texas courts have a reputation as a good place to pursue intellectual property suits against larger corporations. While many of these cases seem to be settled out of court — or dismissed as totally frivolous — recent lawsuits such as those leveled by i4i and VirnetX are notable for at least extending to the Big Judgment phase."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 17 May 2010 | 2:51 pm Review: Horror Game 'Alan Wake' Can't Keep It CreepyDespite an interesting setting and a powerful protagonist, the new Xbox 360 game suffers from a lack of focus and a weak finish.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 17 May 2010 | 2:33 pm Study Funded by Cell Phone Industry Says, 'No Cancer'The first results of the long-awaited, 10-year, international Interphone study finds little evidence that cell phones cause either glioma or meningioma, the two most common types of brain cancer.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 17 May 2010 | 2:31 pm KIWI Choice announces solar and USB powered chargerFROM APPLETELL - KIWI Choice, Inc. has unveiled the KIWI U-Powered, a solar and USB-powered portable charger for mobile devices that features 11 free connector tips for various mobile devices. Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 17 May 2010 | 2:14 pm Facebook Apologists Miss the Point: Facebook Isn't The Future [Voices]By Stowe Boyd, Blogger, Stowe Boyd and The /Messengers As the Facebook ‘privacygate’ affair swells and swells, most recently fed by the leaking of Zuckerberg instant messages from years ago, various members of the tech commentariat are starting to come forward to defend Zuckerberg and suggest that the media have gone too far. My sense is that these apologists are going too far in supporting Zuckerberg and the actions that Facebook has taken; for example, Michael Arrington [my comments are italicized.] Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 17 May 2010 | 2:07 pm Video: Neo Keyboard Hooked up to iPadGeneral-purpose devices such as the iPad are rendering a number of dedicated devices unnecessary by replacing them with apps. Rather than toss his word-processing Alphasmart Neo keyboard in the recycling bin, Eolake Stobblehouse had a clever idea: Why not hook up the keyboard to the iPad? iPad with Neo as keyboard from Eolake Stobblehouse on Vimeo. In the video above, Stobblehouse shows off his Neo hooked up to the iPad via a USB dongle (the iPad camera connection kit, which, as it turns out, connects to a lot more than just cameras). Much to our surprise, the six-year-old keyboard appears to work. What’s more, Stobblehouse used paperclips to create his own stand for the iPad so that it can be used in landscape mode. These two “mods” combined already look more convenient than the standard iPad keyboard dock, which forces you to dock the tablet in portrait mode. Stobblehouse says the Neo is an especially good choice for travelers, since it’s full-sized, very rugged and lightweight. It looks promising. See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 17 May 2010 | 1:55 pm UN Warns Of Fishless Oceans By 2050U.N. experts said on Monday that the world faces the nightmarish possibility of fishless oceans by 2050 without fundamental restructuring of the fishing industry. "If the various estimates we have received...Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 17 May 2010 | 1:53 pm Visa officially announces their case that turns your iPhone into a credit card (and we’ve got pics!)
Around two weeks ago, Visa announced that they’d partnered with a company called DeviceFidelity to build the iPhone case of our dreams: one that would allow us to use our iPhone as a credit card at any of the thousands of retailers who support no-swipe payments. As quickly as it was announced, however, it was gone; around an hour after the press release went up, it got pulled. It has returned! This time around, it’s got a name — and better yet, we’ve got pictures.
Back in 2009, DeviceFidelity managed to stuff a near-field communications chip into a microSD card. Stuff said microSD card into a compatible phone, and bam – your phone can now act as a contactless credit card, with on-device software unlocking the card for use whenever the user punches in their password. The problem: none of the iPhones released thus far have a microSD slot. Enter the new case, now dubbed the “In2Pay” (They should have called it the “payPhone”. Get it? Like a pay phone. Hah. Update: Crap. Someone already trademarked it.) Like a handful of third-party external battery cases, this new case plugs into the bottom of the iPhone via the dock connector. This connection provides power and an interface for the SD card. Pop on the case, plug in the microSD card, download the payment app from the App Store — and bam, you’re buying stuff at PetCo like someone from the future and/or Japan. Check out the full release below:
Source: MobileCrunch | 17 May 2010 | 1:30 pm What Is The Higgs Boson?The Higgs boson is theorized to give all matter mass, but in an effort to find this elusive particle, the most powerful and expensive particle accelerator had to be built. How will the quest to find the Higgs impact our everyday lives?Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 17 May 2010 | 1:15 pm Robot Conducts Wedding Ceremony in TokyoBoth the bride and groom work in robotics, so it was only fitting that a robot bring them together.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 17 May 2010 | 1:15 pm What is Google TV?Section: Video, Content, HDTV, Video Providers, Communications, Smartphones
The New York Times reported Google has created a TV platform with Sony and Intel. The platform is supposedly powered by Android and will bring the internet, along with Google’s bread and butter advertising. “Google and Intel have teamed with Sony to develop a platform called Google TV to bring the Web into the living room through a new generation of televisions and set-top boxes. (...) The partners envision technology that will make it as easy for TV users to navigate Web applications, like the Twitter social network and the Picasa photo site, as it is to change the channel. Google intends to open the Google TV platform, which is based on its Android operating system for cellphones, to software developers in the hopes of spurring the same creativity that the consumers have seen in phone apps.” It seems a bit odd that so far, the rumors point to calling this Android, not Chrome OS. Surely they are not going to magnify the Android apps, as we’ve seen that tried with iPad pixel doubling iPhone applications and the result is less than stellar. I can’t imagine how bad that might be on a 50” HDTV. Presumably the new platform would invite new developers for new applications. Is this about content (creating an evolved just-for-you network) or just ways to consumer the internet on your TV? To date, consumers have failed to grab onto “just the web” on TVs, will the web broken into apps be different? For Google, the answer usually comes years from now. Read: [Google Operating System]
Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 17 May 2010 | 1:04 pm Invasive Plant Poisons Our AirKudzu vines are not only dominating our landscapes with the help of global warming; they're also increasing ozone pollution.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 17 May 2010 | 1:01 pm Protein Power for Jack and the BeanstalkBetween shoot and root, TAU unlocks a new tool for the biofuel industryPlant geneticists are on a determined quest — to control auxin, a powerful plant growth hormone. Auxin tells plants how to grow, where to lay down roots, how to make tissues, and how to respond to light and gravity. Knowing how to manipulate auxin could thus have enormous implications for the production of biofuel, making plants grow faster and better.A recent publication in the journal PLoS Biology from the laboratory of Prof. Shaul Yalovsky of Tel Aviv University's Molecular Biology and Ecology of Plants Department describes a special protein, the ICR1, found to control the way auxin moves throughout a plant affecting its development. When this protein is genetically engineered into valuable biofuel crops such as corn, sugarcane or experimentals like switchgrass, farmers can expect to get a far larger yield than what they harvest today, Prof. Yalovsky has found.In short, much more biofuel for the buck."We've found a mechanism that helps the shoot and root talk to each other," says Prof. Yalovsky. "Somehow both parts of the plant need to speak to each other to say: 'Hey down there, I'm up here and there's lots of sun,' or 'I'm down here in the roots and it's too dry." The plant's shoots need to respond to its environment. We've discovered the mechanism that helps auxin do its job."Putting energy into sugarAuxin is considered the most important plant hormone for plant growth and root growth. Prof. Yalovsky explains that knowing how to manipulate it can lead to much bigger yields of non-food crops, like those needed for biofuel. Efficiency is now a limiting factor in biofuel production, and scientists are looking for anything that can produce biofuel in the same amounts as the production of traditional fossil-based fuels.The ICR1 protein that Prof. Yalovsky has isolated works together with a group of proteins called ROPs, which his lab also isolated in previous research. Together, this system of work in harmony to manipulate the composition and vascular tissues of plant cell walls. The researchers found specifically that ICR1 can be manipulated and, as a consequence, influence auxin distribution in plants. Plant scientists now have a tool that allows breeders to grow certain plant organs of choice, with the possibility of manipulating plant cell wall composition — the kinds of tissues needed in making biofuel.In the PLoS Biology report published recently, the researchers spell out the links between the mechanisms that regulate cell structure and the development of the whole plant. The ICR1, they explain, influences the way the hormone auxin moves around the plant.Breaking down the wallsSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 17 May 2010 | 12:40 pm Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 gets rooted.. sort of.
Alright, everyone — it’s that time again! It’s time for yet another weekly installment of “Good news, bad news”! Hurraaaay! The Good News: The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 has been rooted, granting hackers full access to the file system and the ability to install custom ROMs. The Bad News: In its current state, this root is by no means user-friendly. Unlike many a root, this one isn’t a matter of plopping a few files on an SD card and pushing in the right key strokes; these guys had to dig some serious trenches to get this root in place, requiring dedicated a hardware flashing tool (called the SETool) and a big ol’ bucket of elbow grease. On the upside, there’s a chance that this all could lead to a less-ridiculously-intense process, given that the folks responsible for this one are hard at work on taking what they’ve learned and building up an all-software solution. If this were an 80’s movie, there would be a totally killer montage of sweaty dudes sitting over smoking soldering irons, phones exploding, and frustrated faces all leading up to a shot of an anxious group of geeks huddled around a phone as they wait for it to boot. Also, the music would be something by Survivor.
Source: MobileCrunch | 17 May 2010 | 12:26 pm Reflections Make Fish Feisty But FearfulImage Caption: Two male cichlids spar with each other by showing what big mouths they have. When two fish fight, all their movements are at least slightly out of sync. But when the foe is a fish’s mirror image, the "opponent’s" actions are perfectly in time, which seems to trigger an element of fear. Credit: Todd Anderson/Stanford UniversitySource: RedOrbit News - Science | 17 May 2010 | 12:21 pm 'Pinocchio' Frog And More Found In IndonesiaAn international team of researchers reported Monday on the discovery a new frog species found while camping in the Foja mountains of Indonesia. Herpetologist Paul Oliver spotted the frog sitting on a bag of rice in the campsite.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 17 May 2010 | 12:10 pm Oceans' Fish Could Disappear by 2050Without fundamental restructuring of the fishing industry, our oceans could essentially become barren deserts.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 17 May 2010 | 12:05 pm New 'OpenID Connect' Proposal Could Solve Many of the Social Web's WoesA group of internet identity experts has mapped out a proposal for the future of OpenID. They hope the changes will speed adoption of OpenID by making the system simpler for users and site owners.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 17 May 2010 | 12:00 pm 50 Is the New 20New research finds that people over 50 are happier than their younger counterparts.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 17 May 2010 | 11:58 am Roku announces UFC Ultimate Fighting pay-per-view—will be available live and on-demandSection: Video, Content, Video Providers  Roku have recently unveiled a new channel, and its one that is sure to make UFC fans happy. That’s right—Ultimate Fighting has arrived on the Roku player in the form of its very own channel. The new channel is going to make its debut on May 29th for the UFC 114 Rampage vs. Evans fight. The event will be pay-per-view and set you back $44.99. In addition to live pay-per-view events, users will also be able to check out other events such as the UFC Vault, previously run pay-per-view events and live pre- and post-fight events. Additionally, there is also said to be some free content mixed in also. Anyway, if you are a UFC fan that happens to own a Roku player—you may want to look for the channel. Read [Yahoo!]
Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 17 May 2010 | 11:54 am Video: Palm WebOS, meet laptop
Now, it’s not the mystical HP webOS tablet we’ve all been dying for for what feels like forever (read: two weeks), but it’s a step in the right direction. PreCentral forumgoer cdowers managed to hack webOS onto an old Dell laptop they had laying around — and surprisingly, this “hack” didn’t really require all that much hacking.
Palm’s SDK works by installing a copy of webOS onto a virtual machine (which is exactly what it sounds like: a software computer that, for most purposes, thinks it’s a real computer). Cdowers took that same copy of webOS and instead installed it on an actual machine — and sure enough, it booted. Now, before you get too excited, know this: this could very well be just about as far as this project goes. There are a handful of hurdles (the lack of touchscreen/gesture area/accelerometer, to name a few) that must be overcome before this comes anywhere close to a usable state — and even once it does, it’ll only play friendly with whatever laptop models the hacker community take the time to support. Still, it’s fun to look at, isn’t it?
Source: MobileCrunch | 17 May 2010 | 11:48 am First Unmanned Aircraft in a Supercell ThunderstormTornado Alley may have just gotten a little safer, thanks to researchers at a couple of Midwestern universities. For the first time, tornado chasers were able to fly an unmanned aircraft (or UA, for short) into the most severe type ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 17 May 2010 | 11:36 am Scientists Find Extinct Giant Shark Nursery In PanamaImage 1: Most of the giant shark teeth found in Panama's Gatun Formation were from neonates or juveniles, leading researchers to propose that this was a nursery site. Credit: Catalina PimientoImage 2: Excavations made possible by Panama's new Canal widening project reveal the history of the formation of the Isthmus of Panama and the flora and fauna present here over the last 20 million years. Credit: Catalina PimientoSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 17 May 2010 | 11:32 am New Head of U.N. Climate Convention NamedAccording to recent media reports, Costa Rica's Christiana Figueres is to be the new head of the U.N. climate convention. The U.N. is expected to confirm her taking over the position of the current chief Yvo de Boer later this week. Sources close to the U.N.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 17 May 2010 | 10:49 am Teen Brain Wired to Take RisksThe adolescent brain is extra sensitive to reward signals when pay-off for a risk is higher than expected.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 17 May 2010 | 10:09 am Are Invasives Bad? Not AlwaysImage 2: Cordgrass and ribbed mussels along East Coast cobbled beaches provide shade and protection for the invasive Asian shore crab. Image: Andrew Altieri/Brown UniversitySource: RedOrbit News - Science | 17 May 2010 | 9:50 am Palm Pre Plus now available with AT&T, $149.99 on a two-year agreementSection: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile  Just like the Bold 9650 coming to Sprint, this phone release also comes as little surprise. But given all of the rumors in the lead up for this release, its nice to say that its official. In short, if you have been waiting on AT&T to release the Palm Pre—the wait is now over and you can head on over and shell out some of you hard earned cash. The pricing for this one is simple, the phone will set you back $149.99 on a two-year agreement. The perk here is that price does not, I repeat does not come along with any mail in rebates. Its just a flat out $149.99. The sad part here is that you are not getting the Mobile Hotspot service that comes with the Verizon branded Pre Plus. But on the positive side—you will get a Touchstone charging dock. Product [AT&T]
Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 17 May 2010 | 9:30 am Climate Threatens Trout And SalmonTrout and salmon are among the world's most familiar freshwater fishes, but numbers have fallen over recent decades – in some areas, dramatically.Pollution, habitat loss and over-fishing have all been blamed in the past, but new evidence from Cardiff University shows that climate change could be a major factor, putting both species at risk.The scientists studied populations of young salmon and trout in the River Wye in Wales, traditionally one of the UK's best angling rivers.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 17 May 2010 | 8:52 am Leaked WinPho 7 ROM gives hints toward upcoming HTC Mondrian
The leaked ROM was labelled as coming from a device called the HTC “Mondrian” (a nod toward WinPho 7’s Metro UI). Since the leak, the studious fellows on the XDA forum managed to pick apart the ROM and reveal some tasty specs, including the image we have here (which could be a basic render of the device, or just a generic place holder. Nobody knows). But onto the specs! So far, it has been revealed as having a 4.3″ 480×800 screen (just like the EVO 4G), atop a 1.3GHz QSD8650A/B Qualcomm Snapdragon Processor (which supports UMTS and CDMA 3G), and… a compass. Beyond that, there’s very little, just that it probably won’t have a physical keyboard. So it’s early days yet, but with that processor under the hood, and that screen at your finger tips, you can bet that this phone will have a lot more posts written about it in the future. Stay tuned. [via Endadget]
Source: MobileCrunch | 17 May 2010 | 7:59 am Is the iPad Driving E-Book Piracy, and Does It Matter?
If you wanted to know how many pirated e-books are being downloaded, BitTorrent would be a good starting place. TorrentFreak, a blog that covers these speedy, P2P downloads, recently decided to check the numbers. The question: did e-book torrent downloading become more popular after the iPad’s launch? The answer was a resounding “kinda.” While almost none of Amazon’s top ten appeared on public torrent trackers, six out of 10 books in the business category were available. When TorrentFreak checked the before and after numbers, it found that the number of BitTorrent book downloads grew by an average of 78 percent in the days after the iPad went on sale. Even so, the numbers were still tiny compared to the traffic in movies and music. What does this mean? First, e-book piracy is still a small problem. Right now it’s a very geeky pastime, which is reflected in the skew of these titles (Getting Things Done, Freakonomics and The Tipping Point were on the TorrentFreak list). This matches up with the usual early adopter profile, the people who would have bought the iPad on its opening weekend. But where geeks go first, the general public will follow. This happened with music. Now almost nobody I know buys CDs: They pirate, and even my most hardcore book-loving friend is now a Kindle convert. So will the iPad bring this attitude to books? First, there is the problem of digitizing books. Right now, the best place to download e-books is via irc (Internet Relay Chat), online chatrooms that predate the web. The shared books are tiny text files. Storage and download speed are no problem, but the subject matter is heavily skewed toward popular trash and sci-fi. Original files come from those with enough time and patience to scan, OCR (optical character recognition) and proofread the resulting files, but the majority of what you find are duplicates of these. Contrast this to music, where you pop a CD into your computer and wait a few minutes while it rips the tracks and downloads the metadata. It is unlikely that there will be a way to scan books so easily at home anytime soon, but what about sharing e-books themselves? If Apple makes its iBooks app available on the Mac or PC, then copying an entire book, even if protected by DRM, will be as simple as automating screenshots of pages and sending them to an OCR program. Only a single copy of a book will need to be pirated thusly and it will then be compromised forever. Blaming the iPad is stupid, though. If it causes a rise in book piracy, it is only because it is driving demand. The book industry should embrace this and give us what we want: cheap books, published day-and-date with their paper equivalents, along with all back-catalog titles made available. And preferably DRM-free. There is evidence that this is happening already. The iBooks Store will be rolling out with the iPad as it goes on sale across the world. The iTunes Music Store, by contrast, took years to negotiate itself into non-U.S. markets, and in many countries you still can’t get movies or TV shows. That these deals are in place mere months after the iPad was announced shows that the book industry is at least trying to move into the digital future. The iPad is fast shaping up to be the go-to e-reading device. Between Apple’s iBooks, Amazon’s Kindle for iPad and the slew of other e-readers in the App Store (although curiously, our favorite Stanza is still absent on the iPad), you can buy and read almost any e-book out there. Blaming the iPad for kicking-off book piracy is foolish. It’s an opportunity, and if book publishers mess it up, they have already seen what happened to the recording industry. eBook Piracy ‘Surges’ After iPad Launch [TorrentFreak] Is iPad supercharging e-book piracy? [CNET. Thanks, David!] Photo: jblyberg/Flickr See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 17 May 2010 | 7:54 am Is the iPad Driving E-Book Piracy, and Does It Matter?Did ebook torrenting become more popular after the iPad's launch? Kinda.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 17 May 2010 | 7:54 am 3 New Monitor Lizards From The Philippines IdentifiedResults reveal again the underestimated diversity of these giant lizards in insular Southeast AsiaGerman scientist Andre Koch from the Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig in Bonn together with his supervisor Dr.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 17 May 2010 | 7:50 am Android-powered entry-level HTC Wildfire says hello to the EU a day early (with video)
As strange as it sounds, it appears that HTC weren’t quite ready to announce it, but once the news was out, it spread like Wildfire across the web, so HTC went and confirmed it with a press release dated for tomorrow. So I guess we’re a bit like time travellers now, no? The phone is destined for the European and Asian markets in Q3 of this year, and will be available in black, white, red, and (the often under-appreciated) brown. The specs are pretty similar to my not-entry-level-at-the-time Hero (sigh), only with the addition of an LED flash, a lower-rez screen, and a bit more RAM. Specifically, the phone will rock a Qualcomm MSM7225 processor @525MHz, a 3.2″ QVGA screen (the Hero sports HVGA), 5MP auto-focus camera with LED flash, 512MB Flash, 384MB RAM (the Hero only has 288MB), and the now standard WiFi b/g, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, GPS/AGPS, and MicroSD slot. Interested? Slashgear have a whole bunch o’ photos, and even a hands-on video, which I’ve embedded below, just above the press release from the future.
Source: MobileCrunch | 17 May 2010 | 7:11 am New, Faster, Unreleased MacBook Shows up in Vietnam
Vietnam, previously known for its awesome food and friendly populace, has recently become the go-to country for Apple hardware leaks. And these aren’t your usual, suspicious shaky-cam leaks, either. The photos and video coming out of the Tinhte.com news site are sharp, comprehensive and professional. As iFixit CEO and friend of Gadget Lab Kyle Wiens Tweeted: “Man, these Vietnamese leakers are schooling everyone in the quality photo department.” After that iPhone 4G video comes the new MacBook. The white plastic unibody MacBook will get a processor speed bump from 2.26GHz to 2.4GHz and the current NVIDIA GeForce 9400M will be replaced with the NVIDIA GeForce 320M, putting it almost on a level with the newly updated aluminum MacBook Pro. It also appears to come with the new fray-free MagSafe connector The news in this story isn’t that the MacBook is getting an update, but that the whole machine has leaked out in its final, store-ready packaging. What’s going on at Apple? Where’s that famous secrecy? And why is this all happening in Vietnam? Rò rỉ MacBook nhựa đời mới [Tinhte via Twitter] See Also: 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 17 May 2010 | 6:07 am LED Lightbulb Speakers for Wireless Music in Every RoomA wireless speaker in every room? Yes please. Power-bricks, cables and Wi-Fi dongles cluttering up the place? No thanks. What about a speaker with built-in LED lamps that screws into your existing lighting fixtures and receives music wirelessly from almost any source. Tell me more! MusicLites are a joint venture between Osram, the lightbulb people, and Artison, maker of satellite speakers, subwoofers and soundbars. Inside the large package you’ll find the LEDs, a 70mm 25-watt speaker, an amplifier and a 2.4 GHz wireless transceiver (operating on its own network, not your Wi-Fi). The signals come from either a USB dongle, a 30-pin iPhone dock dongle or an analog RCA adapter plugged into the sound-source. The genius is that everything is neatly packaged and can sit unnoticed in a ceiling socket whilst still providing the light of a 65-watt incandescent bulb. In theory, these units should use less power than a standard bulb. If the price is right when these go on sale in the fall, I’m totally sold. I hate cables and I like sound in every room. The only problem I can see is that you’d need to have the light on to listen to music, and a bright overhead bulb is hardly the thing for romantic evenings in. And even if there is a switch inside the unit for killing the lights, the midget market will be immediately excluded. While you wait for the MusicLites to go on sale, check out the pricey but effective Klipsch LightSpeakers, which Wired recently reviewed. Artison MusicLites [Osram via Oh Gizmo] OSRAM SYLVANIA and ARTISON Launch MusicLites [PR Newswire] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 17 May 2010 | 5:22 am BP Reports Some Success In Stopping LeakBritish oil company BP announced Sunday that it had started siphoning oil from the leaking Gulf of Mexico well onto a tanker on the surface. Though not commenting on how much oil was being siphoned, BP executive Kent Wells said the process was “working well”.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 17 May 2010 | 5:15 am Photo gallery: Japan’s KDDI shows summer cell phone line-up
Here’s the complete line-up: Hitachi beskey
Casio Exilim CA005
Sony Ericsson Cybershot S003
Sharp AQUOS Shot SH008
Toshiba REGZA Phone T004
Sony Ericsson BRAVIA Phone S004
Sharp SOLAR PHONE SH007
Sanyo SA002
Kyocera Kantan Keitai K005
Pantech Kantan Keitai-S PT001
Source: MobileCrunch | 17 May 2010 | 2:30 am
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Without making a lot of noise about it, 
Easily one of my favorite apps for the iPad is the Kindle app. Weird, I know. But in some ways it’s superior to the iPad’s own iBooks experience. You can sync it across multiple devices, for example. And this Summer, that will also include Android phones. And there’s a nice big bonus for that platform too.
This article proposes that Halachah rejects migration to the flesh, even when identical intestinal worms are present. Rather, we presume that flesh worms are internally generated, even if we are uncertain of the biological mechanism by which this occurs. This approach simply resolves all difficulties but one - that scientists say that non-invasive worm generation is impossible. In this matter, we reject the evidence of experimentation in favor of the word of Chazal, whose tradition-based biological knowledge exceeded human experimental abilities.
Back in the days before Gmail, webmail on the Internet was really, really bad. Inboxes were limited to 10 or 20 megabytes, interfaces were slow and ugly, and the experience simply didn’t come close to matching what most desktop clients offered. This is how I remember Hotmail. I hated it. In fact, since signing up for Gmail in 2004, the only times I’ve checked out Microsoft’s webmail client were immediately after big launches, at which point I would reactivate my account, give it a quick run through, and promptly decide that it still wasn’t very good. So when I say that the new version of Hotmail that’s launching this summer has me excited, that’s saying something.
We’re big fans of UK-based startup 
OLED televisions are notoriously expensive and difficult to make; but like all technologies there is always someone working on making the technology cheaper. DuPont recently announced the development of a new process that prints OLED screens in sheets, much like a inkjet prints on paper.
So apparently this whole “I’m gonna quit Facebook” thing is a lot more serious than I had initially thought. I know what you’re thinking, “how am I supposed to quit Facebook when it’s such a great outlet for honing my procrastination skills and messaging people I don’t want to see in person?” Well, the way I see it is that quitting Facebook will cut out all of the unnecessary interactions in your digital life. If you’re worried about keeping in touch with someone, quitting Facebook will not (and should not) prevent you from keeping in touch with him or her in the future. Remember E-mails? Heck, if you can think back far enough, people actually used to write personal, hand-written letters to their friends and family. They even used these things called “stamps” to ship them where ever. Ahh the old days…
In the May 13 issue of this newspaper, it was printed that Acer was planning to 
The Phone Guitar
The transition to next-generation long-term-evolution 4G data networks is moving along nicely, according to comments from Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam. During remarks made at the Reuters Global Technology Summit, McAdam said the company hopes 
Need a quick and easy place to store your headphones? I’ve been unplugging mine and putting them in a drawer, but I think I like this idea better. The person who sent the tip into 
Qualcomm, makers of just about every comm chip in existence, are holding their annual 
Google TV is rumored to shot itself at the world tomorrow at Google I/O. The event, which is expected to be a celebration party for Google Android and the launching point for Android 2.2, might also get an Apple, “one more thing.” Reportedly, Google’s got a prototype of Google TV, but what the heck is it?
Over the weekend, a fresh WinPho 7 ROM leaked its way onto 
