• YouTube: Viacom secretly posted its videos even as they sued us ...
• Viacom is becoming a lawsuit company instead of a TV company ...
• If you blog unauthorized "Daily Show" or "Colbert" clips, Viacom ...
• Viacom uses copyright to censor racism protest
• Viacom terrorizes YouTube with bullshit DMCA notices
• YouTube user data must be turned over to Viacom, judge rules ...
• YouTube/Google sued by Viacom for a billion bucks

>

In an earlier article about the Google I/O Conference, I talked about the new Chrome Web Store and how I wasn’t really sure what they had meant by web application. So I did a bit of research, watched the Keynote address, and realized how powerful this could truly become.

So, if you didn’t read that article, Google announced its Chrome Web Store Thursday, May 19th. Basically, its an app store for web applications. There is no screening process for which apps need to go through to be submitted. Basically CWS is just a centralized location for developers to put there apps to get more press. It allows for ratings, rankings, reviews, localization, and convenience for developer apps. Instead of searching for an application in a Google search and having to looking at all the individual apps on all their individual websites, you get one location that allows for an easy comparison between multiple apps.

Google isn’t restricting the store to just Chrome users, though. It is open for use in any browser. But their are advantages to using Chrome and this is where it gets good for Chromium OS. Since Chromium is essentially just a glorified Chrome browser, really everything that applies to one, applies to the other; in this case. So when you install a web application in Chrome (or Chromium), it will place an icon right in your “New Tab” bar. Then, you can launch that application and use it right in the web browser. This turns Chromium into a much more immersible operating system than before when it was basically just a browser.

What excited me the most is just the quality of apps you are able to run in your browser. In the keynote, they demo a game called Lego Star Wars: The Quest for R2-D2. It is a full, 3D game, run inside the Chrome browser. It was just amazing watching that game run and thinking about the possibilities Chromium has with this. I think no longer does Apple have the simplest OS out there.

So now, where Chromium was looking like the typical Netbook OS, it now looks like a fully functional operating system. Granted developers make the apps, this device can do anything. And the iPhone proves that developers are fully willing to make the apps.

Check out the keynote video about this here!

Images via [Google Keynote Address Video]

Full Story » | Written by Greg Billetdeaux for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 21 May 2010 | 7:30 pm

UPDATE 2-Burkle and Weinstein say Miramax talks ongoing

* Miramax has more than 600 films in library (Updates that Burkle and Weinstein say talks still going; adds deal financing)
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 21 May 2010 | 7:21 pm

Google, Apple, Jacob, And The Man In Black

ABC’s popular television show Lost comes to an end this weekend. This season has been largely about the backstory for why things are the way they are on the island. It’s a minor spoiler to say it, but I’m going to anyway — basically, it boils down to a war between two brothers, Jacob and the Man in Black. Growing up, the two brothers were very close but decisions each made, forced them apart. And once apart, a series of events occurred that showed them just how different they really were. Those two brothers remind me a lot of Google and Apple right now.

If there was any remaining doubt that Google and Apple were in the midst of an all-out war, yesterday erased all those doubts. Anyone who was sitting in the Google I/O keynote heard shot after shot taken against Apple and their closed iPhone platform. Some references were thinly veiled. Some were not. It was really quite remarkable to watch. And I loved every minute of it.

The Fight

Regular readers will know my affinity for Apple products. But they’ll also know that I have a strong affinity towards Google products as well. My rationale is simple: I like the best products. Apple has some (the iPhone, MacBooks), Google has others (Gmail, Chrome). And that’s why I love that these two are now battling. In many ways, it’s a fair fight — both have strengths and both have weaknesses. And because it’s a even match, both are going to force one another to make their products better. And the consumers will win as a result.

Obviously, both have other rivals as well. And both have had rivals in the past. But part of what makes the Apple/Google rivalry great is that they used to be so close — because they had some of the same basic ideas. Namely, that Microsoft needed to be defeated. Both have battled Microsoft over the years — Apple, far longer than Google, of course. But the Apple/Microsoft and Google/Microsoft rivalries were never this entertaining because most of the time the fight has been one-sided.

During the PC wars of the 80s and 90s, Apple at first was much bigger than Microsoft. But then the momentum shiftly the exact opposite way, and Microsoft was much bigger than Apple. Meanwhile, in the desktop wars, Microsoft dominates one of their core businesses where Google is trying to compete: Office. And Google dominates one of their core businesses where Microsoft is trying to compete: Search (well, really, just about everything online). These aren’t fair fights. At least not yet. They could get more interesting over time, but for now it’s a bit like watching a blowout in sports — it’s no fun to watch (unless maybe you’re a diehard fan of the winning side). But Google and Apple squaring off should be competitive. And, as a result, fun to watch. The keynote yesterday proved that.

Android/iPhone

With Android, Google seems to now have its focus on one thing: beating Apple. That’s interesting because when Android started out, it was clearly set up to be a platform to kill Windows Mobile. But again, there was no fight there. Windows Mobile laid down as if it were paid to take a dive. And at the time, Apple clearly didn’t consider Google a threat with Android, or else they would have removed Google CEO Eric Schmidt from their board of directors long before they actually did. But things change over time. Goals are reassessed and set higher. Google and Apple are now clearly the two frontrunners in the longterm mobile game (sorry RIM and Nokia). And they’re doing what the two at the top do: battle to be number one.

Google TV/Apple TV

But here’s why this is really going to be a great fight: it’s encompassing. While Steve Jobs is reported to have said that the Android team at Google wants to kill the iPhone, it’s starting to go beyond that. As we saw yesterday, round two of the fight may be Google TV vs. Apple TV. Considering that Apple hasn’t taken Apple TV very seriously up until this point (it’s a “hobby,” remember), it may not seem like much of a fight. But don’t be surprised if this pushes Apple back into the ring in a big way. And it’s similar to Android vs. iPhone because it’s open platform (Google TV) vs. closed system (Apple TV). Not to mention the fact that Google TV runs Android. And don’t be surprised if in the future, a new version of the Apple TV runs the iPhone OS.

Google Tunes/iTunes

As we also saw yesterday, Google is finally preparing to take on iTunes directly. There aren’t much details at this point (and execs refused to give them when questioned later), but the fact that Google showed off this “proof-of-concept” on stage at their biggest keynote of the year, shows they’re serious about it. Google is going to start selling songs through the web browser to compete with the iTunes software. And these songs will automatically sync with all your Android devices over the cloud. Apple, meanwhile, is rumored to be working on an iTunes-in-the-cloud solution to replace (or at least supplement) its popular software.

Remember though, iTunes isn’t just about music purchases. It’s the central hub for all of its new popular devices — the iPhone, the iPad, the iPod touch (and even the aforementioned Apple TV). iTunes is the App Store too. Google started out the other way, with an app store (Market) that only existed on its devices. But that’s moving over fully to the web now, and extending beyond apps, into music. And you can bet other content will follow if that works.

Yesterday on stage, Sony CEO Howard Stringer said that “domination is beating Apple — it’s a new definition.” Google is rallying others to its cause — people in charge of a lot of content. This is going to be a major clash.

Chrome OS/iPad

And there’s also Chrome OS. While this new product (due later this year) is right now aimed more squarely at Microsoft — and specifically, netbooks running Windows — this will clash with Apple too. At first, I didn’t think it would, but the iPad changed that. As Steve Jobs has made very clear, the iPad isn’t just Apple’s answer to the netbook, it’s Apple’s answer that’s better than a netbook in every way (in his mind, at least). More importantly, this isn’t just about one sub-market, this is about the future of computing. So is Chrome OS.

Google believes the future is the web browser. That’s all Chrome OS is, a web browser. While they’re clearly ramping up Android to be their OS for the foreseeable future, Chrome OS is more inline with the long-term strategy of the company. They don’t want native apps to rule the world, they want the web to. No less than Sergey Brin made this clear two days ago when he said that he believes Android and Chrome OS would eventually merge into one web OS.

That Google is putting so much into Android right now just shows how smart they are. They see the pattern. The iPhone and its native apps are winning. Those without a strong mobile presense are losing. And right now, to have a strong mobile presense, you need native apps. HTML5 just isn’t quite ready to do what native apps can. And depending on who you listen to, it won’t be for a long time (Joe Hewitt) — or it will be sooner than expected (Google).

And because apps are winning on mobile phones, they’re starting to win on other devices too — like the iPad. That’s why Google is putting Android in Google TV; because the apps are winning. But again, Google’s long-term bet is that the web (and web apps) will eventually take over. It’s just going to take a while. But Chrome OS (and its own Chrome Web Store) is the first step to shift momentum back to the web. That may make Chrome OS netbooks versus the iPad one of the most interesting Apple/Google battles.

iAds/Google Ads

This isn’t all Google invading Apple’s space. Apple is getting ready to enter the online ad space in a major way with iAds. This is aimed squarely at Google’s core business (advertising), which has yet to catch on in a major way on mobile devices. Because actions are different on mobile devices, the ads have to be different, Jobs reasons. For now, that seems to be true. Search is less important, and apps are more important. iAds are all about rich in-app advertising, Google is mostly about more basic search-based text advertising.

But yesterday during the keynote, Google also showed off richer ads for mobile that they’ve been working on. They didn’t look as nice as iAds, but it’s clearly in response to Apple’s efforts.

Apple is a company dependent on hardware sales. Google is a company reliant on advertising revenue. iAds is Apple going for Google’s jugular perhaps more than any single Google threat is going after Apple. Say Android kills the iPhone (which won’t happen, of course, neither is going to “kill” the other one), Apple still has the Mac business, they still have the iPod business, they still have the new iPad business. If iAds kill Google Ads, Google is screwed.

MobileMe/Google Apps

As of right now, the “battle” between MobileMe and Google Apps is basically not a battle at all due to the fact that Apple (rather ridiculously) charges $99 a year for MobileMe, and Google Apps (for the most part) is free. But there are rumors that MobileMe could soon become a free set of services that Apple uses to tie many of its products together. MobileMe is a great solution for that currently, the price just isn’t right (especially not to take on Google Apps).

Apple has yet to really show that they’re aware of the importance of the cloud going forward in computing. But with the aforementioned rumors of iTunes-in-the-cloud, the related acquisition of cloud music start-up Lala, and the massive cloud computing datacenter they’re building, indications are that they’re starting to get it. And if they do, they’ll be aiming squarely at one rival: Google.

Lost

Going back to Lost, even though the two brothers, Jacob and the Man in Black, are at odds with one another, they routinely meet up. This reminds me of a certain recent meeting between two CEOs. The fact of the matter is that despite their very real differences, they share more in common than perhaps they’re willing to admit now (both the brothers and the companies).

With the brothers, one appears to be good, while the other appears to be evil. But the fact is that both have their rationale behind what they’re doing. And the one that is “good” seems to actually have a weaker rationale than the one who is “evil.” And, interesting, the one now perceived to be good, used to be perceived as evil (I’d go into that more, but I don’t want to spoil too much — maybe in a later post).

Right now, at least in the eyes of much of the press, Apple is perceived to the be “evil” company, while Google is the “good” one. This is largely based around the fact that Google (and its platform) is more open than Apple is. But just as with the brothers, both have their rationale behind what they’re doing. And, just as with the brothers, perceptions change over time. It’s naive to think one is good and one is evil. Both believe they’re doing what’s best for their users.

And again, that’s why this war between the two is great: it’s only going to make things better for the users. Google will make moves, and Apple will be forced to respond. Apple will make moves, and Google will have to respond. They will have to keep one-upping one another in terms of what they’re offering. And because they’re evenly matched, it’s not apparent how either will get the upper-hand and actually beat the other one anytime soon. It’s like the two brothers: neither can kill the other one, even though both want to. That’s the key: a fair fight. As long as it stays that way between Apple and Google, we’ll all win.

Or, to put it in a more straightforward and less allegorical way, having two companies with relatively equal power going head-to-head gives us, as consumers, a fundamental necessity: choice.

[photo: ABC]

Source: TechCrunch | 21 May 2010 | 7:03 pm

Facebook page tied to Pakistan ban now down - CNET

NEWS.com.au

Facebook page tied to Pakistan ban now down CNET Protesters in Karachi, Pakistan, shout slogans during a Friday rally against published caricatures of the prophet Mohammed on Facebook. Protesters shouted "Death to Facebook" and "Death to America," and burned US flags. ... Facebook page that led to Pakistani ban removedThe Associated Press Losing FacebookNewsweek Pakistan Lifts YouTube Ban, but Keeps Facebook'sWall Street Journal Register -BBC News -Washington Post all 2,576 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 21 May 2010 | 7:00 pm

Bugnets Could Spy on You via Mobile Devices (PC World)

PC World - Imagine sitting in a café and discussing the details of a business proposal with a potential client. Neither you nor the client has a laptop; you're just two people having a conversation. But unbeknownst to you, someone half a world away is listening to every word you say. Later, as you leave, you receive a text message referring to the proposal and demanding money in exchange for silence.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 21 May 2010 | 7:00 pm

Remains of the Day: Steve Jobs in the e-mail with the URL (Macworld.com)

Macworld.com - We play a little game of “what happened to the Microsoft employee?” And everybody seems to want to know what Steve Jobs is thinking. Here are the remainders for Friday, May 21.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 21 May 2010 | 6:39 pm

Quick look at the Sprint EVO 4G: OMG AMAZING

Guys. Seriously. This is a nice phone. This is like the HTC HD2 with a future and it has some amazing speed, screen size, and network capabilities. If you’re up in the air about the Droid and aren’t tied to a carrier, get this.

I’ll do a full review next week.

Music by Closely Watched Trains

Source: MobileCrunch | 21 May 2010 | 6:37 pm

Quick look at the Sprint EVO 4G: OMG AMAZING

Guys. Seriously. This is a nice phone. This is like the HTC HD2 with a future and it has some amazing speed, screen size, and network capabilities. If you’re up in the air about the Droid and aren’t tied to a carrier, get this.

I’ll do a full review next week.

Music by Closely Watched Trains

Source: CrunchGear | 21 May 2010 | 6:37 pm

You got Pac-Man in my Google logo!

FROM GAMERTELL - Head over to Google’s main page immediately! To celebrate Pac-Man’s 30th anniversary, the Google logo is a playable Pac-Man game. You can even enjoy a two player game, with one person controlling Pac-Man and the other Ms. Pac-Man.
MORE »

Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 21 May 2010 | 6:23 pm

Google Special Award Winners @ Intel ISEF 2010

Last Thursday evening, we announced the winners of our Google Special Awards at the Intel ISEF 2010 Special Awards Ceremony. With applications from 17 project fields ranging from behavioral and social sciences to microbiology, judging these great projects was extremely difficult. Submissions like a bio-inspired photonic fuel cell and a new way to treat waste water using fungus showcased the ingenuity and imagination of the world’s next generation of scientists. In fact, we were so blown away by the caliber of the project submissions that hours before the award ceremony, we decided to give some additional awards. In addition to the three $10,000 category prizes, we awarded six runner-up prizes of $1,000 each. And since so many of our applications were in the Secret Change Agent category (an award for the project that has the most potential to positively impact society and make the world a better place), we selected two winners, who each received $10,000!

Please join us in congratulating the 10 finalists and finalist teams who were awarded the Google Special Awards. Their accomplishments represent the bright future of science and technology and we’re thrilled to be along for the ride.

Google Special Award Winners & Runner-ups

Category #1: CS Connect: applying computer science to further scientific inquiry in your field

Runner-ups ($1,000 each)
Ritik Malhotra and Tony Ho (Mechanical Engineering), ages 17, San Jose, CA
Engineering a Novel Genetics-Based Disease Detection Mechanism Designed Using an Ontology-Driven Semantically Annotated Microarray Repository with Thermal Gradient Focusing Mass Spectrometry

Christopher Nielsen (Electrical Engineering), age 16, Alberta, Canada
Robust Displacement Estimation Employing Inexpensive Webcam Based Optical Flow

Winner ($10,000)
Joon Suk Huh (Physics), age 17, South Korea
Finding the Minimum Energy Conformation of Protein-like Heteropolymers by Greedy Neighborhood Search

Category #2: The Future of Energy: contributing to a cleaner, brighter tomorrow

Runner-ups ($1,000 each)

Lyric Gilett (Energy and Transportation), 18, Texas
Novel Method: Detecting High Energies in Sonoluminescense

Max Keller (Energy and Transportation), Age 17, Minnesota
Decomposing Energy

Winner ($10,000)
Dheevesh Arulmani (Energy and Transportation), Age 14, Ontario, Canada
Bio-Inspired Photonic Fuel Cell

Category #3: Secret Change Agent: making our world a better place through innovative change

Runner-ups ($1,000 each)
Xiangbo Meng (Plant Sciences), age 17, Beijing, China
Aqueous Extract of Lemon Leaves as a Novel Powerful Insecticide Against Trialeurodes Vaporariorum (Whitefly)

Sonia Rao (Microbiology), age 17, Missouri
Bacterial Silencing: The Discovery of Quorum Quenching Soil Microbes for the Development of Antimicrobial Compounds

Winners ($10,000 each)
William Lopes (Microbiology), age 20, Brasil
Utilization of the Fungus Aspergillus Niger on Wastewater Treatment II

Karoline Elis Lopes Martins (Environmental Management), age 18, Brasil
Construction of a Continuous Flow SODIS system with PET Bottles Integrated to a Water and Waste-Water Treatment System

For a full listing of the Intel ISEF Grand Award and Special Award winners, visit the Intel ISEF 2010 homepage here.

Posted by Dolores Bernardo, Talent & Outreach Programs Manager
Source: The Official Google Blog | 21 May 2010 | 6:05 pm

IPO VIEW-Weighing CBOE's worth in drought-breaking IPO

CHICAGO/NEW YORK, May 21 (Reuters) - The Chicago Board Options Exchange, the oldest and biggest North American options market, is heading toward an initial public offering that would end a four-year drought...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 21 May 2010 | 6:02 pm

Air Force Wants Reusable Fly-Back Rockets

FleaPlus writes "The Air Force is initiating a pathfinder program to develop a first-stage rocket booster capable of gliding back to a runway so it can be easily reused. Lockheed Martin has already launched a secretive prototype, as well as a Cal Poly team with a prototype based on Buzz Aldrin's Starcraft/StarBooster design (video). The Air Force estimates such a booster could cut launch costs by 50% over the current Atlas 5 and Delta 4 rockets, and could also offer a rapid surge/replacement capability if combined with reusable spacecraft like the recently-launched X-37B. Initial test flights are planned for 2013."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 21 May 2010 | 6:01 pm

Thank You TechCrunch Sponsors!

We would like to take a minute to thank all of our amazing sponsors!

Tickets are still available for our NYC event, TechCrunch Disrupt that is taking place May 24th-26th. I don’t believe I have seen a better list of speakers. Ever.

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Zazzle the world’s leading platform for quality custom products. It enables people to create and offer billions of unique products for customers worldwide.

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Crucial The memory experts; offering over 280,000 memory upgrades for more than 40,000 systems.

Terremark flexible, high-performance cloud computing the way you need it, when you need it by giving you the power and control to configure resources exactly the way you need them

MediaTemple Hosts websites, big and small. Designed to be powerful, affordable and relevant.

Ooyala Publish, manage and monetize your videos online.

StrataScale The world’s first physical cloud. Providing hosting services without the limitations.

Loopt Find and stay connected with friends while you’re mobile. Join the TechCrunch community on Loopt.

Cotendo Offering website performance acceleration, real time content control, and integrated CDN services.

Source: TechCrunch | 21 May 2010 | 5:44 pm

Wider European Scrutiny of Google on Privacy - New York Times

Geek WIth Laptop

Wider European Scrutiny of Google on Privacy New York Times By KEVIN J. O'BRIEN BERLIN — In a sign that Europe is taking an increasingly unified line on Internet privacy, six European countries have joined Germany in asking Google to preserve data it improperly collected from unsecured wireless networks as part ... Google stops deleting Street View WiFi dataFinancial Times Google halts deletion of Street View Wi-Fi dataRegister Google Faces European Investigations In Data Collection GaffChannelWeb eWeek -Wall Street Journal -Tom's Hardware Guide all 124 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 21 May 2010 | 5:41 pm

Installing Linux On ARM Based Netbooks?

An anonymous reader writes "I am sure that many other Slashdotters have noticed an increase in ARM-based netbooks over the past several months. For example, the Augen E-Go. It is a widely touted theory that it is impossible to install Linux on one of these notebooks, replacing the commonly-installed Windows CE operating system. The sub-$100.00 netbooks carry decent specs, including: 533mhz ARM processor; 128MB DDR RAM; and a 2GB Flash drive, as well as the most expected netbook components (USB, Wi-Fi, etc.) I find it hard to believe that a computer with these specs is impossible to hack and install Linux to, but Google searches have been largely unsuccessful in finding proper information. Do any Slashdot readers have experience in installing ARM Linux distros to these cheap netbooks like this? If so, what distros do they recommend?" (In particular, I wonder if anyone can comment on Ubuntu on ARM.)

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 21 May 2010 | 5:40 pm

Ariane rocket launches two satellites

CAYENNE, French Guiana (Reuters) - An Ariane rocket has orbited two telecommunications satellites after a launch from French Guiana on Friday, space officials said.
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 21 May 2010 | 5:33 pm

Dell spent $760,000 lobbying in 1Q

Computer maker Dell Inc. spent $760,000 in the first quarter to lobby the federal government on funding for health care information technology and other issues, according to a disclosure...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 21 May 2010 | 5:33 pm

Dell Bets on Smartphone Sales in India [Voices]

By Kenan Machado, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal

Better late than never. That seems to be Dell’s (DELL) mantra as it seeks to launch its first smartphone in India – the world’s fastest growing and second-largest mobile phone market – to take on the combined Hewlett-Packard-Palm threat it now faces.

“We will launch a smartphone in India later this year,” Steve Felice, president of Dell’s consumer, small and medium business division, said in a post-earnings conference call with Asian journalists Friday.

Dell will also bring more smartphone models to China in addition to the one launched earlier this year, he added.

The move can’t come too soon.

Rival Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), which leads Dell in overall PC market share globally as well as in India, agreed to buy Palm Inc. (PALM) in April this year for about $1.2 billion. H-P is expected to use the acquisition to add smartphone market share to its market leadership of worldwide and Indian PC sales.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Source: All Things Digital | 21 May 2010 | 5:20 pm

MOG’s Music Network Gaining Fast On Competitors, Still Has A Ways To Go

Things seem to be going well for MOG, the online music company that offers both an on-demand streaming music service and a large network of music blogs. In February the company raised another $9.5 million in funding and it has some promising mobile apps slated for release this quarter. Now the company is sharing some of its growth figures and how they compare with the rest of the industry.

According to Quantcast, the MOG Music Network, which includes thousands of music blogs written by the MOG community, has grown to 13.2M monthly uniques in the United Sates and 23.7M worldwide. To show how that compares with its competitors, MOG plotted the comScore numbers of other popular music services including MTV Networks Online, Vevo, and MySpace Music versus its own Quantcast stats. It’s not usually a good idea to mix data sources, but MOG says that Quantcast is actually undercounting MOG’s growth relative to comScore, because it doesn’t count ‘duped’ uniques across its network.

Note that the Y-axis in this graph is different for MOG — it isn’t nearly as large as most of these competitors yet, but it is growing faster than them. MOG also says that if you combine all the ‘repeat’ comScore properties (in other words, count sites like AOL Prop Brand Music, AOL Network Music, and AOL Music as the same), MOG is up to the 9th largest music portal overall, behind Yahoo’s music properties.

To be fair, in some ways this really isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison. The MOG Music Network includes thousands of music blogs, while many of the competitors listed in the graph are focused primarily around listening to music. Most of them have some editorial content too, but not to the extent of MOG’s army of bloggers. Still, comScore puts them all into the same bucket of music sites, and advertisers may not care too much about the differences.

Source: TechCrunch | 21 May 2010 | 5:18 pm

AT&T early-termination fee nearly doubling for iPhone, other smartphones (Ben Patterson)

Ben Patterson - Thinking of getting a new iPhone this summer? If you do buy one, you'd better not change your mind, or you'll pay a hefty price.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 21 May 2010 | 5:14 pm

The Go-Anywhere Cyber Cafe In a Shipping Container

nk497 writes "UK IT charity Computer AID has come up with a clever idea to use shipping containers to house thin-client based, solar-powered cyber cafes, which can be used to bring connectivity to rural communities in Africa. The £20,000 boxes use a single Pentium 4 PC split out using thin client devices to offer computing to 10 people via local wireless access or mobile broadband. The solar power created from a single panel is enough to power the PC, 10 monitors, lighting and also to charge mobile phones. Computer Aid founder Tony Roberts notes: "The power of this idea is that we can drop that container anywhere in the world, literally in the middle of the Sahara desert.""

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 21 May 2010 | 5:13 pm

Google tries where others failed: shaking up TV biz

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Google TV, a service that will bring the Web to television screens, is likely to create more headaches for broadcast and cable executives already concerned with being...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 21 May 2010 | 5:05 pm

Keeping up-to-date on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill

It is estimated that at least 6 million gallons of oil have leaked into the Gulf of Mexico since the Deepwater Horizon explosion a month ago. Cleanup efforts are underway, but the oil has spread extensively around the Gulf and along the southern U.S. coastline. Oil has begun washing up on the beaches of Louisiana and the delicate wetlands along the Mississippi River, and can spread to Florida and throughout the Gulf as weather conditions change. This sequence of images, coming from NASA’s MODIS satellites, illustrates the movement and growth of the oil slick over the past few weeks:

April 25, 2010

April 29, 2010

The last image, taken earlier this week (on May 17), shows the coastal areas currently at risk from the spreading oil, and can help those working on the wide range of relief efforts.


You can view this and other MODIS imagery in Google Earth by downloading this KML. You can also view additional imagery and find other resources and news at our oil spill crisis response page.
Source: The Official Google Blog | 21 May 2010 | 4:58 pm

UPDATE 2-Celldex shares off on cancer data, analyst comment

* Say initial misinterpretation of data sowed confusion
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 21 May 2010 | 4:53 pm

White Light Solar Flares Finally Explained

Solar flares that light up the face of the sun have finally been explained. It turns out the sun is one hell of a particle accelerator.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 21 May 2010 | 4:50 pm

Chrisrann: Spartan, art deco jewelry from JPG mag's creative director

Rannie Balias, creative director at JPG magazine, recently launched a unique and beautiful line of jewelry called Chrisrann (a combination of her name and her sister's name).

The pieces mix braided leather deadstock from the late 80s and early 90s (which Rannie was lucky enough to stumble upon) with strategically placed gold fill chains and links.

The aesthetic is Sparta meets art deco. and the colors are perfect against summer suntanned skin (but wear your sunscreen!). I have the breast plate, shown here—it's even more amazing once you put it on.

The line was partly inspired by Natasha Khan, the feathered, headbanded, war-painted lead singer of Bat for Lashes. She wore the Chrisrann spartan bangle onstage when performing at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall last June. "I about died," Rannie said.

You can buy Rannie's pieces at Shotwell in San Francisco, you can order online at the Chrisrann site, or if you happen to be in Ichinomaya Japan, you can find Chrisrann at me + buki.

Source: Boing Boing | 21 May 2010 | 4:37 pm

Could Kevin Costner's Machine Work on the Oil Spill?

Over the last couple of days, I've seen a number of stories about the actor Kevin Costner promoting an oil-separating machine that could be used to help clean up the oil in the Gulf of Mexico. It works by sucking ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 21 May 2010 | 4:37 pm

Toyota, Tesla Burnish Images by Teaming Up

Yes, they'll work together on an EV, but the biggest thing both companies get out of their partnership is great PR.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 21 May 2010 | 4:35 pm

Training Gallery at IQnection Grand Opening Features iPad as the Grand Door Prize

Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 21 May 2010 | 4:28 pm

Training Gallery at IQnection Grand Opening Features iPad as the Grand Door Prize

DOYLESTOWN, Pa., May 21 /PRNewswire/ -- The Training Gallery at IQnection in charming Doylestown, PA is offering an innovative Grand Door Prize for its Grand Opening on May 26th. One lucky winner will take home a brand new iPad.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 21 May 2010 | 4:28 pm

UPDATE 1-CBOE member vote paves way for IPO

NEW YORK/CHICAGO, May 21 (Reuters) - Members of the Chicago Board Options Exchange, the oldest and biggest North American options market, approved a plan on Friday to convert the member-owned operation...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 21 May 2010 | 4:20 pm

International Game Technology Management to Present at the Wells Fargo Securities 2010 Gaming and Lodging Conference

Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 21 May 2010 | 4:18 pm

International Game Technology Management to Present at the Wells Fargo Securities 2010 Gaming and Lodging Conference

LAS VEGAS, May 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- International Game Technology (NYSE: IGT), a global leader in creating the games players love and network systems that improve the player experience, announced today management will present at the Wells Fargo Securities 2010 Gaming and Lodging Conference on May 26, 2010 in Las Vegas, NV.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 21 May 2010 | 4:18 pm

AT&T Ups Smartphone Termination Fee - Wall Street Journal

CNET

AT&T Ups Smartphone Termination Fee Wall Street Journal AT&T Inc. next month will raise the termination fee it charges customers to void smartphone wireless contracts early, a move that comes amid expectations that the carrier will lose exclusivity on the Apple Inc. iPhone over the next year. ... AT&T hiking early-termination fee for smart-phone usersDallas Morning News AT&T's new early-termination fee for the iPhone: $325CNET AT&T To iPhone Users: Leave Early, Pay DearlyPC World TG Daily -Computerworld -Apple Insider all 269 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 21 May 2010 | 4:13 pm

How To Go Broke Selling Zero-Day Exploits

Trailrunner7 writes "Despite all of the hand-wringing and moral posturing about the public sale of security vulnerabilities, it turns out that not many people are buying or selling vulns, and the ones who are aren't making much money at it. A new survey of security researchers who sell vulnerabilities either publicly or in private, directed sales found that the vast majority of the flaws sell for less than $5,000. Almost none of them sell for much more than $10,000. At those prices, there's little chance that this is going to turn into the chaotic Wild West marketplace that some people predicted. It's a small, mostly controlled market that isn't making anyone rich."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 21 May 2010 | 4:11 pm

TedX SOMA vidstream today (with Pesco speaking)

Today is TedxSoMa, an independently organized TED event in San Francisco. The 10 minute talks run from 1pm to around 5pm PT, with presentations by Nicole Lazzaro, Pankaj Kedia, Pamela Hawley, Jeff Lawson, Christopher Willits, Jeffrey Betcher, Dev Patnaik, Nathan Shedroff, my Institute for the Future colleague Jason Tester, and... me. I'll be talking about "The World as a Wunderkammer: Curiosity, Citizen Science, and the Maker Culture," based on an essay I wrote for the Edge.org book "What Are You Optimistic About?: Today's Leading Thinkers on Why Things Are Good and Getting Better." Watch the talks live after the jump!

(Image top: a wax model of Napolean's death mask, circa 1913, from my own cabinet of curiosity.)

Streaming Video by Ustream.TV

Source: Boing Boing | 21 May 2010 | 4:08 pm

Gadget-thieving Mexican narco-pirates ambush boaters on Texas lake

Armed with machine guns, members of the Zeta drug cartel from Mexico are attacking boats and robbing sailors of their loot—and gadgets—on a lake that straddles the Texas/Mexico border. So reports a San Antonio, TX television news station, anyway:

If you go too far across the lake and past the international boundary bouy, you are in Mexican territory and subject to attacks by pirates toting assault weapons.

"It is unsafe in Mexico. Don't go to Mexico," warned Game Warden Capt. Fernando Cervantes. "We can not cross over onto that side. If a boat goes across, that's it. We stop there at the line."

One man fishing on the lake Thursday, Lucas Garza, said he'd be staying away from the boundary. "We're not planning on going to that side," he said. "We just know there's no good news on that side." He and his friends have heard the warnings about Zeta cartel pirates ambushing boats on the Mexican side, operating with virtual impunity as they steal cash and electronics at machine gun-point.

Pirates terrorize boaters on Texas lake along Mexican border (via Bruce Sterling)

Video after the jump.

Source: Boing Boing | 21 May 2010 | 4:07 pm

Intuit completes $91M Medfusion acquisition (AP)

AP - Accounting, tax and personal finance software maker Intuit Inc. said Friday it completed its $91 million acquisition of privately held Medfusion, which makes products that help patients connect with doctors and other health care providers.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 21 May 2010 | 4:06 pm

So Hot Right Now: Top 10 Gadgetell posts for the week of May 16, 2010

Section:

Haven’t caught all of the Gadgetell news this week?  Here’s your chance to catch up on this week’s top 10 articles!

• “No reason” Verizon can’t have iPad; birth of a 4G iPad?
  “While it won’t beat Sprint, Verizon announced it will offer it’s first 4G wireless experience in May of 2010.  Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam said the company will have five 4G phones from the likes of Motorola, HTC, and Apple.  Oops, my bad, not Apple, but Apple was…” MORE »
• Gadgetell Hands On: HTC Droid Incredible
  ” 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…” MORE »
• BlackBerry Bold 9650 now available with Sprint, $199.99 on a two-year agreement
  ” This one comes as little surprise, but still its nice to know. Well, nice to know if you were looking for a new BlackBerry on Sprint.  In short, Sprint has…” MORE »
• Palm Pre Plus now available with AT&T, $149.99 on a two-year agreement
  ” 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…” MORE »
• We’re quitting Facebook
  ” 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…” MORE »
• What is Google TV?
  “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…” MORE »
• The end of a medium? [Opinion]
  ”. 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,…” MORE »
• Universal admits that music piracy is unstoppable
  ” Q: You wouldn’t steal a car would you? A: I would if I could.  This type of reasoning seems to be common amongst the teen and twenty-something crowd these days and for obvious reasons. The mere fact that we’re…” MORE »
• Acer will not be launching Chrome OS device at Computex 2010 [Official Press Release]
  ” Its not often we see a company offer up a press release for something they are not launching. That said, there is always that case, and it has just happened with Acer and the rumored Chrome OS device.…” MORE »
• Sprint HTC Hero Android 2.1 update officially available
  ” And just like that, the official Android 2.1 update for the Sprint branded HTC Hero is here. Certainly good news for any Hero users as they can finally leave behind Android 1.5 and in turn pick up a few new apps such as Maps Navigation and…” MORE »

Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 21 May 2010 | 4:00 pm

Expect HP’s First webOS Tablet Before End of the Year [Digital Daily]

Three months after Hewlett-Packard’s (HPQ) $1.2 billion acquisition of Palm (PALM) closes in July, we should begin seeing the first HP devices running the smartphone maker’s webOS operating system. Among them: A tablet.

That’s the word from Marty Wong, head of HP’s Personal Systems Group in Taiwan, anyway.

“The HP Slate will hit the market before the end of the fiscal year ending in October, and consumers could see a wide range of software and application support at launch,” Wong told DigiTimes.

It’s worth noting that HP’s intentions for webOS at this point seem to revolve only around tablets and smartphones. Wong said the company has no plans for a webOS netbook.

Source: All Things Digital | 21 May 2010 | 4:00 pm

'Firefly' Takes Flight Again With 'Browncoats: Redemption'

Trekkie-like diehards called Browncoats, fans of the grounded Joss Whedon sci-fi western Firefly launching their own fan film Browncoats: Redemption based in the Whedon universe. The film starts showing on the con circuit, starting with GraniteCon on May 23.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 21 May 2010 | 4:00 pm

Facebook page that led to Pakistani ban removed (AP)

AP - A Facebook page that was considered offensive to Islam and led to a Pakistani ban on the site has been removed, possibly by its creator.

Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 21 May 2010 | 3:57 pm

Gov. Granholm Now Taking Tax Money Collected From 75% of Michigan Families in Order to Give Free Cell Phones and Free Minutes to 25% of Michigan Households Making Less Than $33,075 Annual Income, or Award Free Bonus Benefits to One Million Already 'Qualif

GOV. GRANHOLM'S OUT-OF-CONTROL TAX AND SPENDING HAVE CAUSED MICHIGAN TO HAVE THE CONTINUING WORST UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IN THE U.S. FOR FOUR YEARS (14% THIS MONTH)
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 21 May 2010 | 3:56 pm

Lost Screen Time Pie Chart [Voices]

By Nitrozac and Snaggy

Source: All Things Digital | 21 May 2010 | 3:55 pm

AT&T To iPhone Users: Leave Early, Pay Dearly (PC World)

PC World - Is AT&T acting like a soon-to-be-jilted lover? Ma Bell is boosting the early-termination fee it charges customers who tear up their smartphone contracts early.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 21 May 2010 | 3:55 pm

Editors' Picks: Planet-Killers, Demoted Dinosaurs and More

If you didn't get a chance to stop by Discovery News recently, then take a look at these top five must-read stories of the week.
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 21 May 2010 | 3:52 pm

Valve's Newell Thinks PS3 Needs To Be "Open Like a Mac"

Eraesr writes "Apparently Valve boss Gabe Newell thinks the PS3 needs to be more of an open platform, drawing a comparison to Apple's Mac platform. In an interview with 5BY5.TV, he said he would like to see the PS3 be 'open like a Mac' instead of being 'more closed like a Gamecube.' 'Platform investments, like the Mac, are difficult because you have to be aware of what direction that platform is moving,' Newell said, referring to the firm's recent move onto Macs with its titles and distribution service Steam. 'We need to target platforms that do a better job of looking like where we want to be in a few years.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 21 May 2010 | 3:50 pm

Facebook, MySpace caught releasing user data (The Newsroom)

The Newsroom - In a seemingly never-ending string of damaging disclosures about its users' privacy concerns, Facebook has reportedly been releasing user data to ad companies that hadn't even asked for the info.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 21 May 2010 | 3:47 pm

Verizon LG Ally delayed until May 27th?

If you trekked down to the local Verizon store for an early morning camp-out in order to pick up an LG Ally yesterday, you might have left a bit upset — and empty handed. While Verizon initially said that they’d have’m in stock by the 20th, they were a no show.

If this note purportedly being sent out to pre-orderers rings true, would-be Ally owners might have right around another week (or more) of waiting.

According to the note, first posted by the folks over at the oh-so-focused LG Ally Forums , the phones initial availability has been pushed back until “on or after May 27th”, with pre-orders now running until the day before.

I blame Iron Man. Damn you, Tony Stark! Damn you!

Dear Valued Customer,

This notification is to inform you that Verizon Wireless has received your pre-order of the LG Ally. We have extended the pre-order period for the LG Ally until May 26th.

Since you have pre-ordered, you will be the first to receive the phone upon initial availability on or after May 27th.

We appreciate your business, and we will send you another confirmation email as soon as your LG Ally ships.

Sincerely,

Verizon Wireless

Source: MobileCrunch | 21 May 2010 | 3:42 pm

Guy Warley's Remotes

Guy Warley's 'Remotes', available as an iPhone/iPad desktop from the ever-essential Poolga, and a basically dead-on representation of what next to my bed looks like.


Source: Boing Boing | 21 May 2010 | 3:30 pm

Video: Yup, that’s Everquest running on a Motorola Droid

The most important part of a mobile phone's lifespan is when it's hacked to run old video games. Few games are more classic than Everquest, the game that brought the MMO to a mass audience. I think that's fair to say. Anyhow, today's the Droid's lucky day!

Source: CrunchGear | 21 May 2010 | 3:30 pm

Overpriced Reader Underdelivers, Despite Dual Screens

Two screens. One for ebooks one for surfing the net. Neither competent. Meet the Alexa.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 21 May 2010 | 3:30 pm

Overpriced Reader Underdelivers, Despite Dual Screens

Two screens. One for ebooks one for surfing the net. Neither competent. Meet the Alexa.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 21 May 2010 | 3:30 pm

AT&T to raise fees for iPhone contract breakers (AP)

AP - AT&T Inc. is raising the fees it charges buyers of the iPhone and other smart phones if they break their two-year contracts, while lowering them for "dumb" phones to better align the fees with their real costs.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 21 May 2010 | 3:26 pm

Google Apps highlights – 5/21/2010

This is part of a regular series of Google Apps updates that we post every couple of weeks. Look for the label “Google Apps highlights" and subscribe to the series. - Ed.

It’s been an active and exciting week on the Google Apps team, including the release of several new features at Google I/O, our annual developers conference.

Google Calendar gets a new look
The Google Calendar team has been doing some spring cleaning. On Wednesday, we revealed Google Calendar’s new cleaner design. We streamlined text that appears in the interface, made the controls more compact and created more space on screen to display information from your calendar.


New themes for forms in Google Docs
We also spruced up forms in Google Docs with the addition of 24 new themes for online surveys that you create. As you’re editing your form, just click the “Theme” button to browse the gallery and change the look and feel of your form.


Drag images into Gmail messages
On Tuesday, we simplified a common action: inserting images in a Gmail message. If you use Google Chrome, now you can drag images files from your computer’s desktop or folders onto the body of a message you’re composing, and Gmail will add the image to your message. You can easily resize the image right in the Gmail compose window before hitting “Send.”


Google Voice open to students
We’ve heard from many students how Google Voice makes it easier to deal with the process of getting a new dorm phone number and moving back and forth between school and home each year. Voicemail transcriptions that students can glance at while in class are also useful. To help more students take advantage of these tools, last Friday we opened up Google Voice for students with .edu email addresses. Try it out!

Google Wave (Labs) open to all
Google Wave is a new team collaboration application that brings discussion and debate right into the context of content people are working on together. For the last year, Google Wave has been available to a limited set of testers and early users, but on Wednesday we moved Wave to Google Labs and now anyone can sign up. If you use Google Apps at your business, school or organization, your IT manager can enable Wave from the Google Apps control panel now, too.



More Google applications coming for Google Apps customers
Speaking of new applications for businesses, schools and organizations, we also just announced that starting this summer, Google Apps customers will be able to sign into Blogger, Picasa Web Albums, Google Reader, AdWords and many more Google services with their Google Apps accounts. If you’re the Google Apps administrator for your organization, read more about how this change will work and sign up to start testing. We welcome your feedback.


Contextual gadgets in Gmail
Gmail can already display previews of documents, videos and photo albums so you don’t have to switch back and forth between windows, and now Google Apps customers can add other contextual gadgets from the Google Apps Marketplace. There are already gadgets for project management, social networking, rich contact profiles and much more, and we hope developers will build their own contextual gadgets with the new Gmail API.



Apps Script
Google Apps Script lets customers automate business processes ranging from expense approvals to time-sheet tracking to ticket management and order fulfillment. On Tuesday we launched Google Apps Script improvements, including Java database connectivity, custom user interfaces for scripts, the ability to invoke scripts from any web page and integrations with more Google services, like Google Maps. To help you get started with scripts, we also released a new set of script templates with pre-built functionality.

Google Calendar Connector for Lotus Notes®
Many companies still using old legacy technologies are looking to make a seamless switch to the cloud, and now Lotus Notes customers can move to Google Apps in phases, at their own pace. Last week we launched the Google Calendar Connector for Lotus Notes®, which allows businesses to switch to Google Apps department by department. Google Apps users in your organization can look up free/busy info for coworkers still on Lotus Notes and vice versa.

Who’s gone Google?
Thousands more businesses and schools have “gone Google” since our last update, including Arista Networks (where Andy Bechtolsheim serves as Chairman) and Smart Furniture. Both of these companies had a common motivation for moving to Google Apps: being able to focus their precious resources on core business challenges by letting technology experts at Google handle the day-to-day operations of running an email system.

Posted by Jeremy Milo, Google Apps Marketing Manager
Source: The Official Google Blog | 21 May 2010 | 3:19 pm

The X-Change Corporation Announces Reverse Stock Split

LOS ANGELES, May 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The X-Change Corporation (OTC: XCHC), a multimedia and e-commerce venture serving the diverse and growing Hispanic market, announced a one-for-twenty reverse stock split.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 21 May 2010 | 3:19 pm

Guide to Google TV’s Ecosystem [Video]

At this week’s Google I/O Conference, the company carefully articulated its vision of the world. There’s Apple in one corner, carefully controlling its ecosystem, rejecting Flash, and conjuring images of an Orwellian Big Brother. As the “one man, one company, one device” (Vic Gundotra’s words) becomes more powerful, Google is trying to posit itself as the other choice. The more “open” choice. Whether or not you agree with Google’s goggles, it’s a very smart and well defined message, creating an us vs. them environment and reinforcing the mantra “Don’t be evil.”

This point of “openness” was driven home on Thursday, during the I/O keynote, when Gundotra and Co. unveiled the highly anticipated Google TV project. Unexpectedly (and to great effect), Schmidt took to the stage at the end to introduce Google TV partners, a panel of high power CEOs (Best Buy, Sony, Intel, Dish Network, Logitech, Adobe). Together, those companies represent a market capitalization of roughly $200 billion ($350 B when you add Google).  Their attendance wasn’t really necessary— there was plenty of flash in the presentation (no pun intended)— but it punctuated Google’s message: Google is open, inclusive and powerful and we are definitely not an army of one. Let’s just say, I don’t think it was a coincidence that Adobe’s CEO Shantanu Narayen was seated next to Schmidt.

Obviously, not every Google TV partner relishes the product’s rivalry with Apple TV, or the larger Google vs. Apple battle. Some of the CEOs seem simply convinced that Google TV will revolutionize the way consumers define “TV” and are excited by what it could mean for their bottom line. Regardles, here’s a closer look at the Google TV team and how it operates.

Sony will produce “Sony Internet TVs” and a set top box with a Blu-ray Disc drive. These products will have Google software and Intel technology built-in. The Sony Internet TV is part of the company’s new “Evolving TV” line— internet TVs that can “evolve” with new downloadable applications. This initiative could be the first of many Google-friendly Sony products, the company says they are looking into creating other Android-based “products for the home, mobile and personal product categories.” Release: USA Fall 2010.

Sony and Apple have been rivals for several years (i.e. Connect music store, e-reader, Vaio laptops). The company hopes to compete more aggressively against the iPad maker this year, with plans to expand its online media platform and mobile product line. CEO Howard Stringer sees open technology (like Google TV) as key to its success, in an interview with Nikkei Electronics Asia, he said “If we had gone with open technology from the start, I think we probably would have beaten Apple” (in music). (For more on Stringer, see our quick interview with Sony’s chief. Above.)

Adobe- Google TV will use the Android 2.1 operating system, Chrome browser, and yes, Flash 10.1 (which will be integrated into the Chrome browser). “Flash Player 10.1 will support hardware-accelerated video playback and deliver smooth, HD (1080p) quality video on Google TV devices,” Adobe’s Aditya Bansod said on the company’s official blog. Google TV provides the technical capability to run flash on sites, but it is up to the site to determine whether to enable content.

Adobe’s incentive to work with Google is clear. If you’ve been living in a hole for the last year, try this, or this, or this, or this.

Logitech will make set-top boxes, for user who want to use Google TV with other televisions. The Logitech’s set-top boxes will connect  your TV through an HDMI port and a controller (which includes keyboard capabilities). According to reports, it will include 4 GB memory and Dolby 5.1 surround sound. “We’ll be making a variety of options available right away, including video calling and a variety of controllers – even a Logitech smart-phone app — and even more stuff we can’t talk about,” Logitech says on its site. To make the product work, you’ll need a TV with an HDMI input and a broadband internet connection. And “To take full advantage of the content search, you’ll need a satellite or cable set-top box with an HDMI output as well,” according to Logitech. At some point down the line, Logitech also plans to roll out a companion HDTV camera to enable video chat. Release: USA Fall 2010.

DISH Networks – According to DISH and Google TV, the DISH subscription will provide the most optimized experience for Google TV (in regards to content management). Some of the features on the Google TV home screen can only be unlocked with DISH. “Only DISH Network Google TV customers will be able to enjoy a unified search across TV, DVR and web; easily find related content; and manage their entire TV viewing experience,” Dish Network CEO Charlie Ergen said in a release. Release: USA Fall 2010, prices not yet announced.
DISH and Google have been working on this project for quite awhile. More than a year ago, the companies launched a beta trial with some 400 DISH subscribers.

Intel’s Atom CE4100 processor will be used in the Logitech and Sony products, to power Google TV. The chip promises “home theater quality A/V performance.”
Intel’s relationship with Apple is a bit complicated. Intel has been a major chip provider but the relationship has cooled somewhat, amid reports that Apple is flirting with rival AMD for future products. Apple seems to be slowly moving away from Intel (for example, introducing its own chip in the iPad), giving Intel extra reason to build on its relationship with Google.

Best Buy is the first, exclusive retailer for Google-TV devices in 2010. The Sony and Logitech devices will be available at Best Buy, starting in fall 2010.

Source: TechCrunch | 21 May 2010 | 3:17 pm

AT&T Hikes Smartphone Early Termination Fees, Claims It Has Nothing To Do With iPhone. Right.

The Dow Jones Newswire reports that AT&T is nearly doubling the fees smartphone-toting customers will have to pay if they break their contracts early — bumping the fees from $175 to $325 beginning June 1. The move comes only a few weeks before Apple is widely expected to unveil its next iPhone, which will likely be available in the US exclusively through AT&T (at least at first). Thing is, AT&T is claiming that the iPhone has nothing to do with the move — a spokesman tells us “The timing for the new ETFs isn’t being driven by any specific device.” Uh huh.

As the WSJ article points out, it’s pretty clear that AT&T is looking to take advantage of the slew of customers certain to re-up or sign new contracts when the iPhone comes out. This boosted ETF is more likely to keep all of these customers chained to AT&T for another two years — even if the iPhone makes its way to Verizon, which has been rumored to happen later this year.  Assuming the rumors are true, Apple is suspected to be giving AT&T a few months where it will retain exclusivity, so it’s no surprise that AT&T would want to make the most of them.

We should point out that Verizon similarly increased its ETF for smartphones to $350 back in November, right as the very popular Motorola Droid launched, so this isn’t unprecedented. Verizon’s ETF increase probably contributed to the FCC’s decision to launch an investigation into high carrier termination fees in the mobile industry. AT&T’s move today seems to indicate that that’s no longer a concern.

The only plus from today’s news is that ‘feature phones’ and other less powerful devices are having their fees slightly reduced, from $175 to $150. An AT&T spokesman says that these changes “reflect the way customers buy our products and services”, going on to explain:

Those who buy less expensive devices and lower priced service plans will pay a lower ETF in the event they terminate their contracts early, and consumers of more expensive devices and service plans will pay a higher ETF for terminating their higher priced plans early.  Our new structure was designed to be fair to all our customers.

Image via Mark Coggins

Source: TechCrunch | 21 May 2010 | 3:10 pm

Google offers encrypted search

Google has just announced that it will provide encrypted searching. That means that your ISP (and people on your network) won't be able to see what you're searching for, though Google still will, and the government can still subpoena your search history from them.

Encrypted Google search

Google announcement

EFF analysis Google launches encrypted search

Source: Boing Boing | 21 May 2010 | 3:05 pm

Q&A: 'Pac-Man' Creator Reflects on 30 Years of Dot-Eating

Toru Iwatani, creator of Pac-Man, speaks to Wired.com on the eve of his groundbreaking videogame's 30th anniversary.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 21 May 2010 | 3:00 pm

Modern Parenting Site Babble Raises $3 Million

Babble, a magazine and parenting community site, has raised $3 million in Series B Financing led by Village Ventures with Greycroft Partners and iNovia Capital participating. This brings the startup’s total funding to $6 million. The funding will be used to expand Babble’s team.

Spun off from sex and dating community Nerve Media, Babble takes a more modern view on parenting, aiming to address the breadth of parenting lifestyle in addition to basic health and development content common on parenting sites.The startup, which we previously wrote about here, makes money from ad revenue, which has increased 570% over the past year, and the company is approaching profitability. Advertisers include Disney, Pampers, Huggies, Clorox, Tide, Target, and PBS.

Babble also recently launched a new Facebook app, called “Connected by Kids,” which allows parents to create Facebook profiles for their children, as well as groups for schools, softball teams, and friends. The virtue of the app is that it allows users to share photos and updates with family friends without sharing them publicly.

Babble faces competition from Parenting.com iVillage and others.

Source: TechCrunch | 21 May 2010 | 2:56 pm

Geek alphabet

The Geek Alphabet: a delightful picture book for nerds, made from CC-licensed images:

A is for Away Team, where you should never wear red (mild mannered photographer)
B is for Binary, 1s and 0s in your head (jpstanley)
C is for Cosplay, making cons an awesome place
D is for Doctor, who keeps changing face (great beyond)
E is for Emoticons, that tell you what we're feeling (neal gillis)
F is for Flickr, whose photos we are "stealing" (tricky)
G is for Gadgets, the way to our heart (slipstreamjc)
H is for Hardware, I took it apart! (jurvetson)
I is for iEverything, love it or hate it (dan dickinson)
J is for Japan, we're glad Nintendo invaded (oscar mota)
K is for Keyboard, we love every letter (andrew*)
L is for Leias, the more the better! (koadmunkee)

The Geek Alphabet (Thanks, Charles!)

(Image: Best. Cake. Evar., a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike (2.0) image from donsolo's photostream)

Source: Boing Boing | 21 May 2010 | 2:55 pm

iPhone 4G rendered in delicious colors

Does Apple still have it in them to think different and out a multicolor iPhone 4G? If so, this is what it would look like. Too bad Apple’s latest designs are the modern day beige box. [iSpazio via 9 to 5 Mac]

Source: CrunchGear | 21 May 2010 | 2:30 pm

No Contempt, No Jail for Spamming a Judge

A federal appeals court dismisses a contempt citation and 30-day jail term for a civil litigant who urged his followers to e-mail the judge for a favorable ruling. Contempt powers do not extend to behavior in the judge's virtual presence, even though his inbox was flooded, according to the ruling.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 21 May 2010 | 2:30 pm

Happy 30th Birthday, Pac-Man

The little yellow guy with the gigantic mouth, a bunch of ghostly enemies and an insatiable appetite for small white dots is turning the big 3-0. The arcade game was developed by Japanese video game developer Namco. First released in ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 21 May 2010 | 2:16 pm

Could Google TV cut into iPad sales?

Section: Video, Accessories, Content, HDTV, Computers, Mobile Computers, Hardware, Netbooks

Yesterday’s big news was Google’s intro of a mashup of Android and Chrome for TV sets.  Google wants users to have it all, in one screen in your living instead of several different screens dividing attention.  The result could be the reduction of sales for the Apple iPad.

Many users will admit to using their new iPad most often in front of the television.  Whether it is to confirm a fact (stirred up by the TV) like, “is Alan Alda still alive?” or to check email while the game is on, devices like the iPad and smartphones are often found close by users while watching TV.  Google wants them gone or to function as solely an input device to get your content on the big TV.

To date, users have had a hard time bringing a keyboard into the living room and attempts to bring the net to your TV screen have been small in scale.  Google’s ambitious approach looks like it might do better as it aims to become a new defacto standard.  It will depend on the users experience.

However, it is unclear how easy or cumbersome it will be to navigate the net.  Simply looking at websites is rather easy while reading and responding to mail might not be so simple.

Google was very clear in their ambitions: the company wants to turn your TV into the gadget you use most often around the home.  It will be interesting to see if that has an effect on other gadgets in the house.

Read: [Gadgetell]

 

 

Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 21 May 2010 | 2:10 pm

YouTube, Viacom Still Calling Each Other (Naughty) Names [MediaMemo]

Viacom and YouTube released another set of documents in their long-running legal battle today. If you were bored by the last two data dumps, you’ll be positively stupefied by today’s data.

The gist: The two sides continue to make the same arguments they’ve made in the past. Viacom (VIA) says Google’s (GOOG) video site intentionally violated its copyrights. And YouTube says it is protected by federal law and that Viacom didn’t care about copyright violations until business negotiations broke down.

Don’t believe me? Feel free to check it out for yourself: The two sides have helpfully arranged most of their documents here and here. It’s cheaper than Ambien.

Or you can just enjoy this representative excerpt from YouTube’s filing, in which it argues that the court shouldn’t read anything into the fact that its employees referred to Viacom as “copyright bastards” and “a-holes” during chat sessions (click to enlarge the text, in all its PG-13 glory):

Have a great weekend!

Source: All Things Digital | 21 May 2010 | 2:05 pm

SuccessFactors Chief Financial Officer to Present at Kaufman Brothers Cloud Computing Conference

SAN FRANCISCO, May 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Today, SuccessFactors, Inc. (Nasdaq: SFSF) announced that the company's chief financial officer, Bruce Felt, will present at the Kaufman Brothers Cloud Computing Conference on Wednesday, May 26 in New York City, NY. Mr.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 21 May 2010 | 2:05 pm

Sony Shifts on Open Source [Voices]

By Daisuke Wakabayashi, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal

The partnership between Sony Corp. (SNE) and Google Inc. (GOOG) highlights the changes taking place in TV viewing habits, but it is also symbolic of another change: Sony’s stance on open-source technology.

Historically, the knock on Sony has been that it has a blind allegiance to its own proprietary technology. From Betamax to ATRAC, Sony’s compression format which eventually lost out to MP3, the company often paid the price for its NIH (Not Invented Here) Syndrome.

If Sony’s format didn’t become the standard, early Sony adopters were left in the dark. Are there any Digital Audio Tape users out there?

The company, however, seems to have had a change of heart in recent years.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Source: All Things Digital | 21 May 2010 | 2:03 pm

Video: Yup, that’s Everquest running on a Motorola Droid

The most important part of a mobile phone’s lifespan is when it’s hacked to run old video games. Few games are more classic than Everquest, the game that brought the MMO to a mass audience. I think that’s fair to say. Anyhow, today’s the Droid’s lucky day!

Yes, someone has managed to get Everquest up and running on the Motorola Droid, presumably for the heck of it since I cannot imagine playing an MMO on a mobile phone. Talk about torturing your fingers—a full-size keyboard is barely enough for these games.

Source: MobileCrunch | 21 May 2010 | 2:00 pm

Video: Nike proves once and for all the world needs a bearded Rooney

We’re about three weeks away from the beginning of the World Cup. You know this because I’ve mentioned it over and over again since 2008. Fancy Adidas this, super-advanced Nike that. And so on. Today’s edition: a three-minute Nike advert that was directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu (of “Babel” fame). Even if you have no idea who these people are—didn’t you read Vanity Fair this month?—I dare you to say, “Lame.” Because if you say “Lame” my heart will break into a million little pieces. Something along those lines.

Thoughts on the video:

1. Drogba scene needs more diving
2. Cannavaro hasn’t made a proper defensive play since the 2006 World Cup (back me up, Juve fans)
3. The world needs a bearded Rooney 24/7
4. I cannot imagine how upset Nike must have been when it found out that Ronaldinho didn’t make the Brazil squard (but he is an alternate in case someone gets injured in training this month)
5. I literally laughed out loud at Gael Garcia Bernal playing Crisitano Ronaldo. And I know the Internet has ruined the word “literally,” but I mean that in its strictest sense: I lol’d.

The question is now: will I take off for the duration of the World Cup? I’ve actually never taken a vacation here, which may explain why I’m pretty much crazy.

Source: CrunchGear | 21 May 2010 | 2:00 pm

BakBone Announces Realigned Corporate Strategy Focused on Core Storage and Data Protection Markets

SAN DIEGO, May 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BakBone Software® (OTC Bulletin Board: BKBO), a leading provider of storage and data protection software, today announced a realigned corporate strategy focused on its core markets.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 21 May 2010 | 2:00 pm

BBH Parent Company Has Filed the Opening of a Formal Process to Restructure Financial Obligations

WHEELING, Ill., May 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Bowe Systec AG (BSAG), headquartered in Augsburg, Germany, announced that it has filed for the opening of a formal process to restructure its finances. The company will continue its operations in support of worldwide customers.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 21 May 2010 | 2:00 pm

BlackBerry Bold 9800 Slider shows up again, shows off its browser

Man. Unless they’re trying to get this thing to leak all over the Internet, RIM is having one hell of a time keeping the BlackBerry Bold 9800 a secret. The prettier of two experimental form factors for RIM (with the uglier one being.. this thing), the Bold 9800 Slider has been leaking out in photos and videos for weeks now.

Aaaand it has leaked again, this time showing the smallest of peeks at RIM’s new WebKit browser.

It’s not a whole lot to go on, but this shot (as acquired by TheCellularGuru) shows the browser’s fancy-pants tabbing system — and, for the sake of good ol’ rivalry, the browsers Acid3 testing score of 100/100. (For comparison: Mobile Safari 3.0 gets 40/100, while 4.0 gets 100/100. Android 2.0’s browser gets 93, while webOS and Opera Mini get 92 and 98 respectively. Internet Explorer Mobile 6 gets 5.)

Source: MobileCrunch | 21 May 2010 | 1:59 pm

FCC Approves Verizon's Divestiture of Local Wireline Operations in 14 States

WASHINGTON, May 21 /PRNewswire/ -- The Federal Communications Commission on Friday (May 21) approved the proposed acquisition of Verizon Communications' local wireline operations in 14 states by Frontier Communications Corp. The U.S.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 21 May 2010 | 1:59 pm

Texas Truck Thief Receives Brisk Awakening Thanks to GPS Tracking Device

KATY, Texas, May 21 /PRNewswire/ -- A truck thief in Katy, Texas got a cool wake-up call when he discovered that the Ford F150 he stole from Airtronics Air Conditioning and Heating was equipped with a GPS tracker.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 21 May 2010 | 1:56 pm

Gesture-Based Computing Uses $1 Lycra Gloves

Interacting with your computer by waving your hands may require just a pair of multicolored gloves and a webcam, say two researchers at MIT who have made a breakthrough in gesture-based computing that’s inexpensive and easy to use.

A pair of lycra gloves — with 20 irregularly shaped patches in 10 different colors — held in front of a webcam can generate a unique pattern with every wave of the hand or flex of the finger. That can be matched against a database of gestures and translated into commands for the computer. The gloves can cost just about a dollar to manufacture, say the researchers.

“This gets the 3-D configuration of your hand and your fingers,” says Robert Wang, a graduate student in the computer science and artificial intelligence lab at MIT. “We get how your fingers are flexing.” Wang developed the system with Jovan Popović, an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science at MIT.

The technology could be used in videogames where gamers could pick up and move objects using hand gestures and by engineers and artists to manipulate 3-D models.

“The concept is very strong,” Francis MacDougall, chief technology officer and co-founder of gesture-recognition company GestureTek, told Wired.com. “If you look at the actual analysis technique they are using it is same as what Microsoft has done with Project Natal for detecting human body position.” MacDougall isn’t involved with MIT’s research project.

MIT has become a hotbed for researchers working in the area of gestural computing. Last year, an MIT researcher showed a wearable gesture interface called the “SixthSense” that recognizes basic hand movements. Another recent breakthrough showed how to turn a LCD screen into a low-cost, 3-D gestural computing system.

The latest idea is surprisingly easy in its premise. The system hinges on the ability to use a differentiated enough pattern so each gesture can be looked up quickly in a database.

For the design of their multicolored gloves, Wang and Popović tried to restrict the number of colors used so the system could reliably distinguish one color from another in different lighting conditions and reduce errors. The arrangement and shapes of the patches were chosen such that the front and back of the hand would be distinct.

Once the webcam captures an image of the glove, a software program crops out the background, so the glove alone is superimposed on a white background.

The program then reduces the resolution of the cropped image to 40 pixels by 40 pixels. It searches through a database that contains 40 x 40 digital models of a hand, clad in the distinctive glove showing different positions. Once match is found, it simply looks up the corresponding hand position.

Since the system doesn’t have to calculate the relative positions of the fingers, palm and back of the hand on the fly, it can be extremely quick, claim the researchers.

And if the video is to be believed, the precision with which the system can gauge gestures including the flexing of individual fingers is impressive.

A challenge, though, is having enough processing power and memory so gestures made by a user can be looked up in a database quickly, says MacDougall.

“It takes hundreds of megabytes of pre-recorded posed images for this to work.,” he says, “though that’s not so heavy in the computing world anymore.”

Another problem could be getting people to wear the gloves. Let’s face it: No one wants to look like Kramer in a fur coat from a episode of Seinfeld or an extra in the musical Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat.

MacDougall says the pattern on the gloves can be tweaked to make them less obvious.

“If you want to make it more attractive, you could hide the patterns in a glove using retro-reflective material,” he says. “That way you could [create] differentiable patterns that wouldn’t be visible to the naked eye but a camera’s eye could see it.”

Wang and Popović aren’t letting issues like fashion dictate their research. They say they are working on a design of similarly patterned shirts.

Photo: Jason Dorfman/CSAIL
Video: Robert Y. Wang/Jovan Popović

See Also:

• Gestural Computing Breakthrough Turns LCD Into a Big Sensor
• Laptop Makers Shy Away From Multitouch Technology
• Gesture Cube Responds To Waving Your Hand
• Google Adds Gesture Search to Android Phones
• Gesture Controlled Mouse Makes Its Retail Debut

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 21 May 2010 | 1:55 pm

Gesture-Based Computing Uses $1 Lycra Gloves

A pair of patterned lycra gloves held in front of a webcam can generate a image that can be matched against a database of gestures to create a low-cost gesture-computing system, say MIT researchers.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 21 May 2010 | 1:55 pm

Gesture-Based Computing Uses $1 Lycra Gloves

A pair of patterned lycra gloves held in front of a webcam can generate a image that can be matched against a database of gestures to create a low-cost gesture-computing system, say MIT researchers.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 21 May 2010 | 1:55 pm

Weekend Movie Roundup: 'MacGruber' Milks Moron Adventurer for Laughs

The latest in a long line of Saturday Night Live-spawned comedies hits theaters Friday when moronic rogue agent MacGruber takes to the big screen. Also opening this weekend: Shrek Forever After, fourth in Mike Myer's 3-D animated ogre franchise.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 21 May 2010 | 1:50 pm

Remote Sensing To Track Invasive Trees

A team of Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists has refined remote sensing tools for identifying invasive Ashe juniper shrubs and trees in central Texas and nearby regions.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 21 May 2010 | 1:41 pm

Apple reverses its "No cash for iPad" policy - NetworkWorld.com

The Guardian

Apple reverses its "No cash for iPad" policy NetworkWorld.com Apple is no stranger to controversy, but this particular tale was especially strange. Earlier this week, a woman named Diane Campbell went into an Apple store to purchase an iPad. When she tried to pay with cash, she was told that Apple wasn't ... 5 Things Apple Could Do to Sell Me an iPadPC World Apple Changes Its "iTune" On Card-Only Policy For iPadAHN | All Headline News Is the iPad helping or hurting the Mac? No one is quite sureArs Technica Fortune -TG Daily -Apple Insider all 500 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 21 May 2010 | 1:38 pm

Search more securely with encrypted Google web search

As people spend more time on the Internet, they want greater control over who has access to their online communications. Many Internet services use what are known as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) connections to encrypt information that travels between your computer and their service. Usually recognized by a web address starting with “https” or a browser lock icon, this technology is regularly used by online banking sites and e-commerce websites. Other sites may also implement SSL in a more limited fashion, for example, to help protect your passwords when you enter your login information.

Years ago Google added SSL encryption to products ranging from Gmail to Google Docs and others, and we continue to enable encryption on more services. Like banking and e-commerce sites, Google’s encryption extends beyond login passwords to the entire service. This session-wide encryption is a significant privacy advantage over systems that only encrypt login pages and credit card information. Early this year, we took an important step forward by making SSL the default setting for all Gmail users. And today we’re gradually rolling out a new choice to search more securely at https://www.google.com.

When you search on https://www.google.com, an encrypted connection is created between your browser and Google. This secured channel helps protect your search terms and your search results pages from being intercepted by a third party on your network. The service includes a modified logo to help indicate that you’re searching using SSL and that you may encounter a somewhat different Google search experience, but as always, remember to check the start of the address bar for “https” and your browser lock indicators:

Today’s release comes with a “beta” label for a few reasons. First, it currently covers only the core Google web search product. To help avoid misunderstanding, when you search using SSL, you won’t see links to offerings like Image Search and Maps that, for the most part, don’t support SSL at this time. Also, since SSL connections require additional time to set up the encryption between your browser and the remote web server, your experience with search over SSL might be slightly slower than your regular Google search experience. What won’t change is that you will still get the same great search results.

A few notes to remember: Google will still maintain search data to improve your search quality and to provide better service. Searching over SSL doesn’t reduce the data sent to Google — it only hides that data from third parties who seek it. And clicking on any of the web results, including Google universal search results for unsupported services like Google Images, could take you out of SSL mode. Our hope is that more websites and services will add support for SSL to help create a better and more consistent experience for you.

We think users will appreciate this new option for searching. It’s a helpful addition to users’ online privacy and security, and we’ll continue to add encryption support for more search offerings. To learn more about using the feature, refer to our help article on search over SSL.

Posted by Evan Roseman, Software Engineer
Source: The Official Google Blog | 21 May 2010 | 1:30 pm

AT&T to nearly double early termination fees on smart phones

Thinking about snatching up an AT&T iPhone, unlocking it, breaking contract, and selling it on eBay for a small profit?

Yeah, that’s not gonna work anymore.

Read the rest at MobileCrunch >>

Source: CrunchGear | 21 May 2010 | 1:26 pm

AT&T to nearly double early termination fees on smart phones

Thinking about snatching up an AT&T iPhone, unlocking it, breaking contract, and selling it on eBay for a small profit?

Yeah, that’s not gonna work anymore.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that AT&T’s planning on doubling the early termination fees for smartphone contracts from $175 up to an oh-so-painful $325, with the fee dropping by $10 for each month the customer stays in the contract. On the upside, the ETF for feature phones is going from $175 to $150 (dropping $4 each month), so your lucrative feature phone unlocking business is a-okay. Those exist, right?

All of the ETF changes are purportedly set to begin on June 1st.

Source: MobileCrunch | 21 May 2010 | 1:10 pm

Three variations of the Three Wolves t-shirt meme

The Three Wolves shirt gained fame after it started collecting a bunch of clever reviews, and quickly became a bona fide meme. Once that happened, meta-memes sprang up around it. I liked the broken images variant the best. That is, until today, when I saw the Three Ewok shirt pictured here!

This appears to be a real shirt, available at the Star Wars Shop for $22. Be still my geeky heart!

Two other fun variants of the original Three Wolves shirt are available here and here.

Source: CrunchGear | 21 May 2010 | 1:00 pm

Who’s on Crack in tech: 05.21.10

Section: Audio, Portable Audio, Video, Portable Video, Communications, Smartphones, Computers, Mobile Computers, Features, Originals, Columns, Who's On Crack

Welcome to another edition of Who’s on Crack,  the Internets only weekly(ish) blog that is brave enough to point out the moves in the tech world that are clearly fueled by illegal drugs.  That’s right, we are talking about bazooka, cat’s pee, apple jacks, baby T., bolo, cloud 9, eastside player, jelly beans and red caps.  Funny, lots of words for crack, but like pornography, you know it when you see it.  Let’s get to todays accused:

• Archos, keep on keeping on
• Smartphone dead?  Your doing it wrong
• iPod touch has a new camera
• Sprint laments over the Palm Pre

Archos Tablets: ready for primetime?

Archos at it again, this time with the Archos 7” tablet.  Archos has been at the tablet game for years and has to be asking themselves what they’ve done so wrong to gain so little mindshare in the US now that Apple has seemingly blown the tablet doors open.  I played with an Archos tablet way back when and it was OK but didn’t grab me.

In a way that is very similar to the Windows Mobile vs iPhone mobile OS, the Archos player just wasn’t fun, whereas the iPad is fun to use.  Why is the Archos this way?  I am sure they would love to know.

The Archos is pleasant to look at, is compatible with just about every codec out there, accepts all kinds of media input, yet languishes on shelves and not lighting fires under consumers to change that.  Is it the app store?  Probably.  The ability to turn a smart machine into something else without being a Swiss Army Knife itself, seems to the defining factor here.  What might work for Archos?  Give HP a call about licensing webOS.  Now we are talking!

Is your smartphone battery dead?  You’re doing it wrong.

Our Shawn Ingram reports: “According to Page, the problem lies in resource heavy apps.  Here’s the direct quote from Page: “I have noticed there are a few people who have phones where there is software running in the background that just sort of exhausts the battery quickly. If you are not getting a day, there is something wrong”...Eric Schmidt goes on to say that receiving and transmitting data in the background can be a problem as well.  Twitter apps would likely be the main cause of background data usage”

That’s right punks, you are doing it wrong.  Page"s look at me” comment followed up by Schmidts seems to suggest we are all doing it wrong if our battery dies before the day is out.  Or maybe we are just using them?  A good 2 hour chunk of time, tapping on the little screen is enough to get any phone hot and flustered, but to suggest that we are using them too much seems, counterintuitive. 

I mean, contrast those quotes with these stupid statements:
“If you run out of food at the end of the day, you’re eating too much.”
“If your car runs out of gas before the week runs out, your driving wrong”
“If the booze runs out before you’ve found a hottie to go home with, you’ve done it wrong.”

OK, except for that last one, they don’t make sense at all.  What are you saying Google, Android phones are immune to the usage+time=dead battery paradigm?  Sure, sure and you also reinvented TV.

Apple iPod touch images show a new camera

Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, the saying goes, screw you.  Or something like that.  We are back following the saga of a new camera for the iPod touch (aka the small iPad).  We’ve heard this one before and saw cases leaked for it back last holiday season and everything.  I am not falling for it again.  Are you?

Our Jake Gaecke is, “this rumor makes sense, because the iPod touch has really been begging for a camera since it was first released.”  Apple guys fall all over themselves believing this one.  Don’t do it.

And why should we care?  Who’s getting a touch now?  Wouldn’t an iPad make more sense for 87% of iPod touch buyers anyhow?  If the answer is no, and you use the well the iPad won’t fit in your pocket routine, perhaps you should seek bigger pants - iPad pocket pants.  Taking the fashion world by storm, they are.

Sprint weeps over Palm Pre

Our Robert Nelson writes, “It looks like Sprint is ready to admit that the Palm Pre launch was not all they had hoped for. Or at the very least, the words are coming from the mouth of Sprint CFO Robert Brust who most recently stated that:“the Pre didn’t work out as well as we hoped.”  Referring to lackluster sales.

Oh really Mr. Brust.  Just how did it work out for Palm?

It killed them.  Kinda, sorta.  Certainly was the deciding factor in being bought out from their untenable position of mediocre hardware containing awesome software.  And it was all bad news for Sprint, the network we kinda, sorta forgot about before Palm came to town with it’s Palm Pre.  Now maybe that isn’t fair, they are out there trying, but this whole 4G thing looks like it might be problematic as Sprint goes for the battery-thirsty 4G instead of LTE, where everyone else is headed.

Either way, Sprint shouldn’t cry to loud over Palm.

 

 

Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 21 May 2010 | 12:55 pm

CenturyLink Declares Quarterly Cash Dividend

MONROE, La., May 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL) today announced that its Board of Directors voted to declare a quarterly cash dividend of $.725 per share, payable on June 21, 2010, to shareholders of record on June 8, 2010.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 21 May 2010 | 12:41 pm

Google, Apple Poised to Dominate Mobile Advertising

Mobile advertising now has a competition to rival Coke and Pepsi: The Federal Trade Commission has unanimously approved Google's purchase of AdMob. The purchase can enable the increasingly diversified search giant to dominate the Android ecosystem, as Apple has made clear its iAd network intends to on the iPhone and iPad.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 21 May 2010 | 12:33 pm

Google Launches Encrypted Search

Google launches a encrypted version of search that protects users from eavesdropping by Wi-Fi hackers or school administrators. It's a first for a major search engine.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 21 May 2010 | 12:30 pm

Crowds Embrace DIY Spirit at Fifth Annual Maker Faire

Check out the highlights of Maker Faire -- sort of a combination science fair / county fair, with a hefty dose of Burning Man thrown in -- that happens once a year in a suburb on the outskirts of Silicon Valley.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 21 May 2010 | 12:30 pm

Crowds Embrace DIY Spirit at Fifth Annual Maker Faire

Is do-it-yourself culture going mainstream?

Just ask the tens of thousands of people who are expected to cram into the San Mateo County fairgrounds this weekend for the fifth annual Maker Faire Bay Area. They’ll munch on corndogs and funnel cakes, swill $8 plastic cups of beer, and watch as artists, hobbyists and tinkerers show off their creations of steel, electronics, fabric and fire.

Maker Faire — sort of a combination science fair / county fair, with a hefty dose of Burning Man thrown in — has been happening once a year in this suburb on the outskirts of Silicon Valley since 2006. The first Faire drew about 20,000 attendees and 200 exhibits, and both of those figures doubled the following year. Now, with 70,000 attendees expected and exactly 600 exhibits, the Maker Faire is starting to feel a little, well, crowded.

In the past several years it’s expanded to other locations, too. Regional Maker Faires will be held in Detroit July 31 to August 1 of this year and in New York September 25 to 26.

Dale Dougherty, the executive director of Maker Faire and the founder and publisher of Make magazine, says that, far from watering down its DIY ethos, the fair’s growth is a good thing.

“We’re able to reach more people. We’re able to include more diverse styles of making, coming from different communities,” Dougherty says. “I wouldn’t say this is mainstream, but people don’t think of it as quite the oddity it may have been in its first year.”

As the Maker Faire has grown, it has created business opportunities for the do-it-yourselfers who are its core. Burning Man crews like the kid- and crowd-pleasing Electric Giraffe Project show off their creations while selling bumper stickers to help defray their costs. Makers display their electronic creations and sell kits so you can make the same gadgets at home — or sell you the finished product outright. Companies like Rentalic and Sparkfun that cater to do-it-yourselfers hawk their services and kits at the fair.

“If people can make money at Maker Faire by selling their stuff, that’s a great validation of the value of making,” says Mark Frauenfelder, the editor-in-chief of Make magazine.

“It hasn’t become more refined or more commercial,” Frauenfelder says. “It’s always had that kind of homemade — in the best sense of the word — feel.”

But it’s not all buying and selling. Maker Faire is also a chance to connect with other hobbyists, get inspiration about projects you might want to take on, or get advice on the projects you already have underway.

Here’s a taste of what you can see at Maker Faire this year: Do-it-yourself DNA testing, pedal-powered vehicles, flamethrowing robot dragons, an extra-large recreation of the “Mousetrap” game, and lots and lots of LEDs.

Kyle Wiens, CEO of gadget-repair site iFixit, says his company will be there, with about 30 volunteers helping teach people how to fix their gadgets.

“Making and repair are yin and yang,” says Wiens.

Some go because they want their children to see the creative possibilities of making everything from robots and LED toys to sewing projects and crafts.

“I take my daughters because they are interested and find creation fascinating,” says Scott Cleaveland.

And others go just because they enjoy connecting with other makers. For instance, Rick Washburn, a “muffin car” maker who lives in Redwood City, California, says he spent his childhood assembling inventions out of discarded gadgets left out on big trash day.

“The Maker Fair is like a big class reunion of grown-up kids who did the same thing,” says Washburn. “We bring our creations to the Maker Faire so we can show off and enjoy our creations together.”

What to Do at Maker Faire

With more than 600 exhibits and dozens of presentations, performances and events, it’s hard to know what to do at Maker Faire. Check the Maker Faire event schedule for a full rundown, and see below for some highlights of the two-day event.

Expect crowds: Parking lots will fill up early, so take public transit or bike, if you can (the Faire is offering free valet parking for up to 2,000 bicycles).

Here are some highlights you won’t want to miss.

Makerbot Industries will show off its inexpensive 3-D fabrication machine, the Makerbot, at 11:30 and 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Mythbusters co-host Adam Savage will be speaking at 2 p.m. on Saturday. He’s a dynamic presenter, and a folk hero to the DIY crowd, so this should be a fun event.

Remember that Diet Coke and Mentos fountain video from a couple of years ago? The guys that created the video, Eepybird, will be recreating their show at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Saturday, and at 4 p.m. Sunday.

Ford is using Maker Faire to announce their latest automotive technology platform and talk about how your gadgets can interface with it. Ford R&D engineering executive K. Venkatesh Prasad will be talking about “Automakers 2.0″ at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

Pop band OK Go will give a performance on Sunday evening. The group’s amazing Rube Goldberg video debuted earlier this year, and their show will probably involve some gadgety, DIY surprises from exhibitors at the show.

Wired editor-in-chief Chris Anderson will talk about building autonomous drones at 5 p.m. Saturday and 4:30 p.m. Sunday.

Wired contributor Ken Denmead will be speaking at 3 p.m. Saturday, talking about GeekDads and GeekMoms and “how to bring out the geek in your children.”

Photo: Pip R. Lagenta/Flickr

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 21 May 2010 | 12:29 pm

AT&T's New Early-Termination Fee for the iPhone: $325 [Digital Daily]

A word of warning to AT&T subscribers who would switch carriers when the company’s iPhone exclusivity deal with Apple finally ends: The cost of doing so will soon rise–substantially. Come June 1, AT&T is raising its early-termination fee on smartphones to $325 from $175.

The increase comes amid speculation that AT&T’s (T) iPhone-exclusivity deal with Apple (AAPL) is nearing its end. But a company representative tells me it has “nothing to do with the iPhone or any other device.”

$325. That’s a pretty steep increase from $175. Though to be fair, it’s not quite as bad as the one already implemented by rival Verizon (VZ). Last November, that carrier doubled its smartphone ETF from $175 to $350, a move AT&T was quick to cite as partial justification for its own decision.

And, indeed, the company is following in Verizon’s footsteps here. Like its rival’s ETF, AT&T’s drops $10 per month for each month of a two-year contract. Which means that at the 23rd month of a two year contract, AT&T subscribers must pay $95 to leave the carrier. The contract is nearly over, yet subscribers are obligated to pay nearly a third of the full ETF if they break it at that time.

Now it’s true that ETF’s were created as a means of recovering legitimate costs associated with subsidizing mobile phones. If AT&T is paying a $325 subsidy for the iPhone, the company should be able to recoup that money when customers break their contracts. But does it really stand to lose $95 if they do so in the 23rd month? Doesn’t seem likely if those customers can walk away just a month later without consequence, taking their handsets with them.

Source: All Things Digital | 21 May 2010 | 12:18 pm

Clean-up Tools May Help Protect Wetlands From Oil Spill

With oil from the big Gulf of Mexico spill threatening fragile coastal wetlands, clean-up crews are about to discover whether a combination of old and new clean-up methods will help limit the environmental damage.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 21 May 2010 | 12:14 pm

The AD/HD t-shirt, everyone

Blame it on your parents, blame it video games, blame it on public schools, but some of you out there have ADHD and should warn the rest of us. $5.99 at tanga. (It’s a new site for me too)

Source: CrunchGear | 21 May 2010 | 12:00 pm

Droid users: Upgrade to Froyo (Android 2.2) in June

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Smartphones, Broadband Cards, Mobile

Verizon Motorola Droid owners, get ready for Android 2.2, (Froyo).  The update brings a lot of new features that are all but guaranteed to make you fall in love with your smartphone all over again.  The update is said to be available first to the Droid and Nexus One first, next month.

Android 2.2 brings faster performance, WiFi hotspot capabilities, Flash support, and tethering.  Early tests have pointed out that while many sites work great with the Flash player, some sites were very slow to playback.  And forget watching Hulu on your mobile device for now as it seems they don’t have the license for mobile playback (which sounds fishy to me).

We’ll keep the lookout for 2.2 updates for Droid.  Stay tuned.

Read: [PC World]

Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 21 May 2010 | 11:48 am

Late Mate for BlackBerry screws with your clock to make you more punctual

I run late. Always. The last time I remember being not-late, it’s because I thought the event started 30 minutes earlier than it actually did. I ended up only being 15 minutes early.

If you’re a late person (or if you’ve seen that one episode of I love Lucy), you’ve probably heard of the trick where you set your clock forward X number of minutes, thereby theoretically ensuring that you’re out the door X number of minutes earlier. The problem: you know what the value of X is and, after about a day, you’ll start compensating for it.

Late Mate for BlackBerry makes sure you never know what X is.

The idea is pretty simple: Late Mate changes your BlackBerry’s system clock, automatically and on a regular basis, by anywhere from 0-10 minutes. You never know just how many minutes ahead your clock is — or if it’s even ahead. You’ve just gotta do what it says.

From here on out: if you’re a BlackBerry owner and late to one of our meetings, expect me to be furious. I’ll probably flip a table. Unless I’m late too.

Late Mate for BlackBerry launches in the App World next week for $2.99.

Source: MobileCrunch | 21 May 2010 | 11:39 am

No joke: There will be a Top Gun game for the PS3

Check your calendar. Mine says May 21, 2010. Just making sure, since Paramount has announced that there’s going to be a new Top Gun game. You know, the 1980s movie with Tom Cruise and the guy from “ER.” /me pinches self

Looks like it’s only going to be for the PS3, and it’s being developed by doublesix, the creators of Burn Zombie Burn.

As a commenter on Rock, Paper, Shotgun says, there really ought to be a volleyball mini-game. Not buying unless it’s there.

Here’s a humorous YouTube video on the subject of Top Gun:

/me taps nose

(What’s with all the IRC commands in this post?)

Source: CrunchGear | 21 May 2010 | 11:30 am

Jupiter's Cloud Band Vanishes from View

One of these things is not like the other. Can you see the difference between these two photos of Jupiter? Jupiter has lost one of its trademark "stripes." Scientists are monitoring the planet, but don’t yet fully understand what’s going ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 21 May 2010 | 11:16 am

Scosche flipSync puts your iPhone charger on your keychain

We’ve all been there. You’re out and about. You look down at your iPhone, and the battery indicator is screaming. No sweat; you’ll just pop into your favorite spot and charge up. But wait! You forgot your charger at home! How are the honeys gonna hit you up on the two-way if the two-way is dead?

The Scosche flipSync, released today, solves all of our dead two-way (I’m seriously going to call it that from now on. Or at least the rest of this post.) problems, without bulking up your bag.

Source: CrunchGear | 21 May 2010 | 11:08 am

Apple Wins Ground in Fight Over Flash [Voices]

By Ben Worthen, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal

The punches that Apple Inc. (AAPL) is throwing in its fight against Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) are beginning to land, prompting some companies to shift away from Adobe’s video and animation technology and forcing Web designers to work with competing standards.

Programmers and Web designers say clients increasingly are asking that their websites or applications be compatible with Apple’s iPhone and iPad. Those sites can’t be built with Adobe’s Flash technology, which is used widely for online video and animation but which Apple has banned from its devices.

“Since the iPad came out we’ve had a lot of clients say that they just don’t want Flash on their sites,” said Chantelle Simoes, vice president at Ninth Degree Inc., a design firm in Dana Point, Calif., which has built websites for Sanyo and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. If current trends continue, Ms. Simoes said, her 10-person firm will need to hire people familiar with Apple’s development tools.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Source: All Things Digital | 21 May 2010 | 11:06 am

Scosche flipSync puts your iPhone charger on your keychain

We’ve all been there. You’re out and about. You look down at your iPhone, and the battery indicator is screaming. No sweat; you’ll just pop into your favorite spot and charge up. But wait! You forgot your charger at home! How are the honeys gonna hit you up on the two-way if the two-way is dead?

The Scosche flipSync, released today, solves all of our dead two-way (I’m seriously going to call it that from now on. Or at least the rest of this post.) problems, without bulking up your bag.

As if the gents up above don’t do a fine enough job explaining it: the flipSync sits on your keychain, and takes up about the same amount of space as a car remote. Pop it apart, and you’ve got a full-fledged iPhone (or microUSB, if you go that route) charger. It goes on sale this afternoon at Best Buy for $20 a pop. Expensive? A bit — but remember: you’re doing it for the honeys.

Two-way.

Source: MobileCrunch | 21 May 2010 | 10:48 am

Breaking: FTC Greenlights Google-AdMob Deal–A Giant Bouquet of Flowers Immediately Sent to One Infinite Circle [BoomTown]

In the regulatory equivalent of a surprise switcheroo, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it had officially closed its investigation of the $750 million AdMob deal with Google (GOOG), which had been at risk over the past months, citing adequate competition in the mobile advertising market, especially from Apple (AAPL).

It was a 5-0 unanimous vote.

In a press release, the FTC said:

“The Commission said that although the combination of the two leading mobile advertising networks raised serious antitrust issues, the agency’s concerns ultimately were overshadowed by recent developments in the market, most notably a move by Apple Computer Inc.–the maker of the iPhone–to launch its own, competing mobile ad network.”

This comes after two days of arrogant and petty Apple-bashing by Google at its I/O conference in San Francisco this week by the search giant’s execs–including CEO Eric Schmidt.

Guess it’s time to send some love to Apple CEO Steve Jobs, Eric, given that his company’s entry into the market tipped the balance against what could have been a thorny investigation of Google by regulators!

Not that Google is out of the regulatory woods in Washington, D.C., by any means. Both the FTC and the Justice Department have been carefully scrutinizing the search giant as its power in the digital arena has grown, especially over antitrust and privacy concerns.

That federal attention is sure to continue.

Google was only saved from a preliminary injunction to stop the transaction this time because of recent moves by Apple in the mobile ad market.

Apple bought AdMob competitor Quattro Wireless in January and later announced its iAd mobile offering.

In addition, first pointed out by MediaMemo’s Peter Kafka, since Apple lost out to Google in its attempt to buy AdMob, the pair were facing a less-than-cooperative company whose iPhone has been one of AdMob’s key devices to place ads on.

Apple recently issued some new rules–thus far, unenforced–that could hurt AdMob’s ability to take advantage of the powerful iPhone smartphone platform.

Such growing rivalry is the main argument that Google and AdMob have been pushing, noting that the mobile ad business is still small and pointing to a recent survey that showed the combined entity had only 21 percent of the market.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt also took a much more aggressive stance recently on fighting the FTC if the deal was stopped, and sources said the agency was not keen to lose a legal battle over the issue.

Still, until recently, Google’s effort had not seemed to move the FTC, which has been asking for reaction to the deal from a range of sources, such as advertisers, even as Google has been soliciting official support from a number of tech sources.

In addition, lawmakers have been agitating for the FTC to act, and there has been intense lobbying by Microsoft (MSFT) and public interest groups.

The FTC is likely to catch some fire for not moving on Google.

AdMob was also caught in the crossfire, unable to move forward after Google forked over $750 million to buy it last fall.

The San Mateo, Calif.-based AdMob released a statement on the outcome: “We are extremely pleased with today’s decision from the Federal Trade Commission to clear Google’s acquisition of AdMob. Over the past six months we’ve received a great deal of support from across the mobile industry–and we deeply appreciate it. Our focus is now on working with the team at Google team to quickly close the deal.”

Here’s the official press release from the FTC, as well as blog posts from Google’s Susan Wojcicki and AdMob CEO Omar Hamoui on the development:

FTC Closes its Investigation of Google AdMob Deal After Thorough Review, Agency Finds Transaction Not Likely to Harm Competition

The Federal Trade Commission has closed its investigation of Google’s proposed acquisition of mobile advertising network company AdMob after thoroughly reviewing the deal and concluding that it is unlikely to harm competition in the emerging market for mobile advertising networks.

In a statement issued today, the Commission said that although the combination of the two leading mobile advertising networks raised serious antitrust issues, the agency’s concerns ultimately were overshadowed by recent developments in the market, most notably a move by Apple Computer Inc.–the maker of the iPhone–to launch its own, competing mobile ad network. In addition, a number of firms appear to be developing or acquiring smartphone platforms to better compete against Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android, and these firms would have a strong incentive to facilitate competition among mobile advertising networks.

“As a result of Apple’s entry (into the market), AdMob’s success to date on the iPhone platform is unlikely to be an accurate predictor of AdMob’s competitive significance going forward, whether AdMob is owned by Google or not,” the Commission’s statement explains.

The Commission stressed that mergers in fast-growing new markets like mobile advertising should get the same level of antitrust scrutiny as those in other markets. The statement goes on to note that, “Though we have determined not to take action today, the Commission will continue to monitor the mobile marketplace to ensure a competitive environment and to protect the interests of consumers.”

Mobile ad networks, such as those provided by Google and AdMob, sell advertising space for mobile publishers, who create applications and content for websites configured for mobile devices, primarily Apple’s iPhone and devices that run Google’s Android operating system. By “monetizing” mobile publishers’ content through the sale of advertising space, mobile ad networks play a vital role in fueling the rapid expansion of mobile applications and Internet content.

According to the FTC’s statement, evidence gathered by the agency raised important questions about the transaction. Google and AdMob have competed head-to-head for the past few years, with a notable increase in intensity during the past year. This competition has spurred innovation and allowed mobile publishers to keep a large share of the revenue generated from the sale of their ad space. The companies also have economies of scale that give them a major advantage over smaller rivals in the business, the statement says.

These concerns, however, were outweighed by recent evidence that Apple is poised to become a strong competitor in the mobile advertising market, the FTC’s statement says. Apple recently acquired Quattro Wireless and used it to launch its own iAd service. In addition, Apple can leverage its close relationships with application developers and users, its access to a large amount of proprietary user data, and its ownership of iPhone software development tools and control over the iPhone developers’ license agreement.

The Commission vote to close the investigation was 5-0.

Working with AdMob to move mobile advertising forward

5/21/2010 09:25:00 AM

Today, the Federal Trade Commission cleared our acquisition of AdMob, a mobile advertising start up. We’re excited to work with Omar Hamoui and his talented team at AdMob to develop new mobile advertising solutions for marketers, mobile app developers and mobile publishers.

The decision is great news for the mobile advertising ecosystem as a whole. This was reflected in the widespread industry support for our acquisition.

Throughout the FTC’s review process, it’s been clear that mobile advertising is growing rapidly.

As mobile phone usage increases, growth in mobile advertising is only going to accelerate. This benefits mobile developers and publishers who will get better advertising solutions, marketers who will find new ways to reach consumers, and users who will get better ads and more free content.

We’re very excited about the possibilities in this field. As an immediate matter, we’re now moving to close this acquisition in coming weeks. We’ll then start work right away on bringing AdMob’s and Google’s teams and products together. This industry is moving fast, and we’re excited to be part of the race!

Posted by Susan Wojcicki, Vice President of Product Management

AdMob Blog: Working with Google to move mobile advertising forward

May 21st, 2010

We are extremely pleased with the FTC’s decision today to clear Google’s acquisition of AdMob. Over the past six months we’ve received a great deal of support from across the mobile industry – and we deeply appreciate it.

We are excited to get to what’s next and to start working with Google to develop new products and services for our advertisers, developers, and publishers. We share a commitment to helping our customers navigate and take advantage of the mobile opportunity. Together, Google and AdMob will be able to bring a whole host of new products and capabilities to mobile advertising.

I have to pause to acknowledge the AdMob team. It takes a tremendous group to stay focused and remain productive during a process like this review. The Google deal was announced in November of last year. Rather than sit idle for six months, we’ve launched 15 new products, updated 11 more, and continued building a phenomenal business that is serving an ever growing base of customers. I couldn’t be more grateful for all this group has done.

We will now work with Google to close the deal. Once that happens, we will finally get to the fun part–connecting our teams and products to find ways to better serve our customers. Stay tuned.

Omar

Source: All Things Digital | 21 May 2010 | 10:27 am

Working with AdMob to move mobile advertising forward

Today, the Federal Trade Commission cleared our acquisition of AdMob, a mobile advertising start up. We’re excited to work with Omar Hamoui and his talented team at AdMob to develop new mobile advertising solutions for marketers, mobile app developers and mobile publishers.

The decision is great news for the mobile advertising ecosystem as a whole. This was reflected in the widespread industry support for our acquisition.

Throughout the FTC’s review process, it’s been clear that mobile advertising is growing rapidly.

As mobile phone usage increases, growth in mobile advertising is only going to accelerate. This benefits mobile developers and publishers who will get better advertising solutions, marketers who will find new ways to reach consumers, and users who will get better ads and more free content.

We’re very excited about the possibilities in this field. As an immediate matter, we’re now moving to close this acquisition in coming weeks. We’ll then start work right away on bringing AdMob’s and Google’s teams and products together. This industry is moving fast, and we’re excited to be part of the race!

Posted by Susan Wojcicki, Vice President of Product Management

Source: The Official Google Blog | 21 May 2010 | 10:25 am

Why Will Google TV Be Any Different From WebTV? Or AOL TV? Or MSNTV? Or… [Digital Daily]

At its I/O developer conference Thursday in San Francisco, Google, predicted it would “change the future of television” with GoogleTV, an effort to marry broadcast TV with the Web. And in comments about the announcement, the company’s executives hawked the new software and hardware bundle with similarly aggrandizing pronouncements.

There was this from Google Senior Product Manager Rishi Chandra: “We’re going to have the same impact on the TV experience that the smartphone had on the phone experience.”

And then this from Google CEO Eric Schmidt: “TV has not been reinvented in any significant way since color television was brought in in the mid-1960s.”

With Google TV, Google clearly believes it is ushering in the rebirth of television. But, to Schmidt’s point, sure, TV hasn’t been reinvented in 50 years, but not for lack of trying.

The evolutionary path of the device is littered with failed Internet-TV initiatives. As the Time Magazine cover from Apr. 12, 1993 suggests, this is not a new idea. Nor has it been a successful one, at least not in implementations to date.

Steve Perlman’s WebTV, one the earliest products to bring the Internet to television, failed to gain significant market traction and didn’t do much better after it was acquired by Microsoft (MSFT) and turned it into MSNTV.

AOL TV, America Online’s (AOL) effort to extend its dominance from the PC to the television with a Web-TV hybrid, was scuttled in 2003, three years after it launched.

Brought to market with the help of some impressive hardware partners, like Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Microsoft’s Media Center Extenders never really caught on.

Launched more recently, Yahoo’s (YHOO) Connected TV initiative hasn’t garnered much notice. Then there’s Kodak’s (EK) Theater HD Player, which doesn’t seem to be doing that well either.

So what makes Google (GOOG) think it’s going to succeed where so many have failed? Particularly with a platform that, frankly, looks a lot like TiVo (TIVO) with a Web browser?

Aside from arrogance, that is?

Well, there’s an impressive list of partners. Certainly, adoption of Google TV stands to benefit quite a bit from Sony (SNE), Logitech (LOGI) and Dish Network (DISH) baking it into television sets, Blu-ray players and set-top boxes. And sources tell me other electronics manufacturers will soon join them. Content partnerships with Netflix (NFLX) and Amazon (AMZN) will also help.

But the partnerships that matter most with an effort like this–cable company partnerships–are entirely absent. The simple fact is that cable companies like Comcast (CMCSA) and Time Warner (TWX) not only distribute the majority of the set-top boxes in the U.S, they also have a strong hold over content providers. Unless Google can convince them that their current business model is in need of something like Google TV, pushing the platform into the mainstream is likely to prove quite difficult.

[Image Credit: Time Magazine]

Source: All Things Digital | 21 May 2010 | 10:12 am

Lunar Craters May Be Electrified

Future moon explorers will have more to reckon with more than dust and frigid temperatures.
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 21 May 2010 | 10:00 am

Get Ready for More Proto-Humans

The latest new human, Homo gautengensis, may be the earliest recognized species in our genus, but remains of even older humans and proto-humans await analysis.
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 21 May 2010 | 9:57 am

MISR Provides Unique Views Of Gulf Oil Slick

Image Caption: Top: False-color image of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, created by combining data from different color bands on two of MISR's nine cameras. Bottom: Two MISR camera views of a smoke plume believed to be from a controlled burn of oil on the ocean surface. Image credit: NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Team
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 21 May 2010 | 9:47 am

Exclusive: PaidContent Founder Ali to Depart Pioneering Digital News Site [MediaMemo]

PaidContent’s Rafat Ali, who turned a one-man Web site into a must-read hub for digital media news, is leaving the company he founded eight years ago.

Sources said Ali has told co-workers he will leave the company in early July, which will be two years after he sold ContentNext, PaidContent’s parent company, to the London-based Guardian Media group.

That deal was potentially worth up to $30 million, based on various earn-out goals. But Ali and his investors took home only a portion of that. My best guess is something closer to $12 million.

Ali didn’t tell staff what he intends to do next, sources said, but he recently moved from Los Angeles to New York.

It is not clear who will take over leadership at the sites; the main one had 137,000 unique monthly visitors in April, up from 63,000 in July of 2009, according to comScore (SCOR).

UPDATE: The Guardian confirmed the move, as did Ali in a paidContent post, both of which are below:

Guardian Statement on Rafat’s Departure

Dear Readers,

Our founder, a digital warrior and friend to many of you, Rafat Ali, is stepping down after eight years building and growing ContentNext. As many of you know, Guardian News & Media acquired ContentNext, and Rafat has decided this is a good time for him to take a break and think about the next chapter. This is the statement the Guardian released today.

Caroline Little
CEO, ContentNext
CEO, Guardian North America

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Guardian News & Media and ContentNext today announced that ContentNext Founder and Editor Rafat Ali will be leaving the company at the beginning of July. Rafat Ali started paidContent as a blog in 2002, and later added three other sites, paidContent.uk, mocoNews and contentSutra, before the business was purchased by Guardian News & Media in 2008. ContentNext now has some 600,000 unique users and its websites, with their blend of news and analysis, are a must read for senior executives in the media, entertainment, publishing, advertising, mobile, marketing and technology sectors.

Tim Brooks, Managing Director of Guardian News & Media, said: “As anyone who follows the company and reads our sites knows, Rafat has done an amazing job of building ContentNext from the ground up and we wish him every success in the future.”

Ernie Sander, who has been the managing editor at ContentNext for the past 18 months, will assume a wider strategic role. Co-editor Staci Kramer, Rafat’s first hire at the company, will continue to be a thought leader on and off the site.

On to Life 2.0

In the end, all things do come to an end. The good and bad part is, it is never a definite marker, but all part of a process. And so it has been for me. After pouring exactly eight years of my life and a lifetime into this, I am leaving ContentNext and paidContent in early July. I will continue to advise the company for the rest of the year.

For most of you who know me, this isn’t coming as a huge surprise. I have been wrestling with this for months now, and the two-year mark under the Guardian and the eight-year mark since I launched the first site, seems appropriate enough as a closure point.

The last two years under Guardian have been illuminating, to say the least. Being part of a big company brings its own level of complexities; during a huge financial crisis, it makes for a roller-coaster ride. The high of the sale dissipated quickly, and pulling back and hunkering down isn’t fun, much less entrepreneurial. To Guardian’s credit, amidst the mothership’s own perfect storm, they stood by us, and we have survived, though much smaller.

I am leaving the company while the editorial is still at the peak of its reputation, even though we are half the team we used to be. It really is a miracle. And the edit leadership under our ME Ernie Sander and my longtime partner-in-crime and co-editor Staci D. Kramer gets the full credit for it, as do our scrappy group of talented journalists. The business side is a rebuild-in-process that I hope Guardian continues to support in kind and spirit.

paidContent and the company has given me a lot: it saved my life, literally (subject of a book someday); it gave me an existence, purpose and sustenance, in that order. It gave me way more chances in life than I probably deserved. I burned the candle on both ends, and then in the middle. And to think that I entered this country little over a decade ago, and in that time, got a degree, worked at two dotcoms, started one, sold it, lived in Bloomington, Ind., NYC, London, Los Angeles and back in NYC, and am now moving on to the next phase of my career. Next phase of my life.

As for my future, the honest answer is, I am in the middle of figuring it out. The good part is I have lots of choices; the bad part is that I have lots of choices. Very likely it will be another startup, in a larger media and marketing space. But in the immediate future, you will see my head pop up in places like Iceland, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Socotra Island (Google it!) and other parts of Central Asia. That’s the head-clearing trip of a lifetime, for the summer months after I finish here.

At the end, I really have to thank my family, friends, colleagues and readers, who cared enough to care. You all gave me and a bunch of us outliers a chance to do something magical for a long time. Please continue reading and supporting paidContent and ContentNext; I merely started the story.

Finally, here’s a video BoomTown’s Kara Swisher did with Ali in 2007 at ContentNext’s then-office in Santa Monica, Calif., and another in Manhattan right after the sale to Guardian Media:

Source: All Things Digital | 21 May 2010 | 9:37 am

Netflix has no current plans for HTML5 video playback

Section: Video, Content, Video Providers

Despite recent rumors that Netflix was working towards offering HTML5 support on their Watch Instantly video playback titles, it looks like that will not be happening. In short, as of now it looks like there are no current plans for HTML5 support with Netflix, not to mention, according to Adrian Cockcroft;

“the basic HTML5 Video doesn’t have a viable DRM solution at this point.”

And given that last statement I think just about anyone can understand why Netflix is not considering HTML5 (at least yet).

Read [Adrian Cockcroft] Via [NewTeeVee]

 

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 21 May 2010 | 9:33 am

Celebrating PAC-MAN’s 30th birthday

When I was growing up, my dad had the best job I could possibly imagine: he was an arcade game and pinball technician. For me, that meant summer trips through Poland’s coastal cities with their seasonal arcade parlors; peeking inside cabinets to learn programming and engineering secrets; and—of course—free games!

One of my favorites was PAC-MAN, whose popularity transcended the geopolitical barriers of that time. During the heyday of space shooters, Tōru Iwatani’s creation stood out as one of the first video games aimed at a broader audience, with a cute story of pizza-shaped character gobbling dots in a maze, colorful (literally!) characters, friendly design, very little violence and everlasting fun.

Today, on PAC-MAN’s 30th birthday, you can rediscover some of your 8-bit memories—or meet PAC-MAN for the first time—through our first-ever playable Google doodle. To play the game, go to google.com during the next 48 hours (because it’s too cool to keep for just one day) and either press the “Insert Coin” button or just wait for a few seconds.

Google doodler Ryan Germick and I made sure to include PAC-MAN’s original game logic, graphics and sounds, bring back ghosts’ individual personalities, and even recreate original bugs from this 1980’s masterpiece. We also added a little easter egg: if you throw in another coin, Ms. PAC-MAN joins the party and you can play together with someone else (PAC-MAN is controlled with arrow keys or by clicking on the maze, Ms. PAC-MAN using the WASD keys).

PAC-MAN™ & ©1980 NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc.

PAC-MAN seems like a natural fit for the Google homepage. They’re both deceptively straightforward, carefully hiding their complexity under the hood. There’s a light-hearted, human touch to both of them. And we can only hope you find using Google at least a quarter as enjoyable as eating dots and chasing ghosts. You know, without actually needing any quarters.

Posted by Marcin Wichary, senior UX designer and developer

Source: The Official Google Blog | 21 May 2010 | 8:58 am

Lion Cub Birth Celebration Turns Tragic

The Smithsonian's National Zoo is mourning the loss of a lion cub, which died after breathing in straw bedding that resulted in pneumonia.
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 21 May 2010 | 8:57 am

3-D Goes DIY With Amateur Photos, Videos

After the blockbuster hit Avatar, 3-D movies are all the rage in Hollywood. But 3-D’s no longer the playground of big studios.

3-D photography and video are catching on among shutterbugs and independent filmmakers. These intrepid experimenters are rigging up cameras and using software tricks to produce short films, home videos, note cards and photos that seem almost Harry Potter-esque in the way the subjects wave and pop out of the page.

“What you are finding in the DIY community is that there’s a lot of experimentation with the language of 3-D and what it can do,” says Eric Kurland, a 3-D photography enthusiast who’s also the vice president of the Stereo Club of Southern California. “The studios are primarily focusing on children’s movies, or flagship tent-pole action movies, but we are doing a lot more.”

Kurland and other 3-D photography enthusiasts will be giving a how-to presentation at the fifth annual Maker Faire Bay Area, which will be held Saturday and Sunday, May 22 and 23, in San Mateo, California. The annual event, put on by O’Reilly Media, is a celebration of DIY culture, arts and crafts, and will likely draw more than 70,000 attendees, organizers say. Kurland and other 3-D enthusiasts will be showing a home-brewed stereoscopic camera, displays, 3-D video and photos.

The 3-D format is making a big comeback this year. Hollywood has been flooding theaters with 3-D movies such as Avatar, Up, Alice in Wonderland and Clash of the Titans. 3-D TVs were one of the biggest stars of the Consumer Electronics Show this year. Almost every major TV maker including Sony, LG, Panasonic and Mitsubishi plans to offer big screen 3-D TVs this year. TV channels such as ESPN and Discovery have promised 3-D channels that will begin broadcasting early next year.

But it’s amateur content that could be the real catalyst for 3-D’s popularity.  In a sign that homemade 3-D videos could soon be ready to hit mainstream, YouTube has started offering a 3-D display option.

“Personal content could be a very under-appreciated part of driving 3-D technology ,” says Kuk Yi, managing partner for the venture capital arm of Best Buy. “Being able to see your own content in 3-D has a strong emotional pull.”

Yi says the most impressive 3-D demo he’s seen so far used two jury-rigged cameras that shot a clip of someone having coffee.

“It was more impactful for me than all the sports 3-D demos,” he says.

There’s not a whole lot of professional hardware available for home 3-D enthusiasts. Major electronics makers are peddling cameras to Hollywood or professional cinematographers, and there aren’t a lot of ready-to-use options for ordinary folks who want to make 3-D imagery.

“I don’t think anyone’s caught on to doing something like a Flip for 3-D,” says Yi. “It’s a market right for innovation and disruption.”

Last year, Fuji released the first 3-D point-and-shoot digital camera, a $600 gadget that’s still mostly available in Japan.

But for DIYers, the lack of off-the-shelf equipment is a call to action.

MacGyvering 3-D Cameras

Videos and photos shot in 3-D trick our brain to perceive depth. Our eyes are about three inches apart, which means each eye sees a slightly different perspective of the same scene. The brain takes images from both eyes and uses the difference between them to calculate distances, creating a sense of depth.

To make a 3-D image, you need to rig two cameras together so each shoots the same scene from a slightly different  perspective. Then, you use software and 3-D glasses to look at the images on your screen, recreating the visual field created by the two cameras.

For those willing to experiment, everything from two iPod Nanos or two Flip camcorders hooked together can become a 3-D camera rig. Kurland used off-the-shelf hardware and parts scavenged from other camera mounts to build a rig for himself.

“I have a flash mounting bar that lets me attach two cameras and vary the distance between the two cameras,” he says.

You don’t necessarily need a two-camera rig, says Barry Rothstein, who’s written four  books on the art of 3-D photography and sells 3-D notecards. With a single camera, he says, you have to first take the left-eye picture and then slide the camera about 2.5 inches to the right for the right-eye picture. There are limitations to the technique: It works best with a tripod, and still life shots are pretty much all you can do, since you need a subject that will hold still while you move the camera.

The magic of 3-D lies in the post-production.

A freeware program called Stereo Movie Maker has become the de facto software for 3-D enthusiasts. The software works only with PCs but it can correct alignments so the two photos of a frame are perfectly positioned.

Watching 3-D photos or video is possible with the classic red-cyan glasses. YouTube’s 3-D player also offers options compatible with different types of glasses, depending on what kind of display you’re using.

“I love 3-D photography because it is fascinating and when you get a really good image, it gives you much more than a regular photo,” says Rothstein. “The response I get from people to 3-D photos is remarkable.”

Rothstein says he’s shot photos of a family dog for a special Christmas card and helped create wedding invites based on a 3-D photo.

It’s a sign that 3-D isn’t a fringe movement anymore, say Rothstein and Kurland.

“It used to be that 3-D was something people remembered but didn’t think that much about, but in the last year there’s just been a big change,” says Kurland. “There’s a new respect for the DIY community of 3-D photographers that we weren’t seeing before.”

If you want to check out the creations of the burgeoning DIY 3-D community, check out Rothstein’s 3-D digital photos site. Or join the Yahoo 3-D group to see videos and find answers to questions.

To find out more about how to make your own 3-D movies, look for the Digital Stereoscopic 3-D pavilion at the Expo Hall 216 at Maker Faire this year.

See Also:

• 3-D Tabletop Display Gets Rid of the Glasses
• 4 Things That Could Keep 3-D TV Out of Your Living Room
• Toshiba Crams Supercomputer Guts Into 3-D, Web TV
• Robotic Spider Melds Legos and 3-D Printing
• Samsung’s Impossibly Thin 3D TV Tempts Hollywood Producer

Photo: (Archie McPhee Seattle/Flickr)

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 21 May 2010 | 8:56 am

3-D Goes DIY With Amateur Photos, Videos

3-D content is no longer the playground of big Hollywood studios. Amateurs are rigging up stereoscopic cameras to produce 3-D photos and videos that can be uploaded on YouTube.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 21 May 2010 | 8:56 am

Nottingham Caves Brought to You in 3-D

Scientists in England are bringing old caves to life with 3-D imaging.
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 21 May 2010 | 8:41 am

Rhythm, Not Genre, Is Key To Musical Taste

So close and yet so wrong – you might love heavy metal like Metallica but your music platform suggests you should also like the Sixties sound of The Doors, simply because both bands are classified as rock.New research published May 20 in New Journal of Physics (co-owned by the Institute of Physics and German Physical Society), shows that searching for the temporal aspects of songs – their rhythm – might be better to find music you like than using current automatic genre classifications.By studying similar and different characteristics of specific rhythmic durations and the occurrence of rhythmic sequences, the group of Brazilian researchers has found that it is possible to correctly identify the musical genres of specific musical pieces.The researchers studied four musical genres – rock, blues, bossa nova and reggae – looking at 100 songs from each category, analyzing the most representative sequences of each genre-specific rhythm such as the 12 bar theme in blues, which means that the song is divided into 12 bars – or measures - with a given chord sequence.Using hierarchical clustering, a visual representation of rhythmic frequencies, the researchers were able to discriminate between songs and come up with a possibly novel way of defining musical genres.As the researchers write, "By showing that rhythm represents a surprisingly distinctive signature of some of the main musical genres, the work suggests that rhythm-based features could be more comprehensively incorporated as resources for searching in music platforms.Musical genre classification is a nontrivial task even for musician experts, since often a song can be assigned to more than one single genre.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 21 May 2010 | 8:40 am

PS3 crime drama Heavy Rain may become a movie

FROM GAMERTELL - PS3 thriller Heavy Rain could become a motion picture blockbuster as the minds behind New Line Cinema placed top bid for its film rights.
MORE »

Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 21 May 2010 | 8:29 am

Research Promises Healthier Vegetable Oil And Biofuels

Image Caption: Developing fruit of Euonymus alatus, or burning bush. The white seed endosperm produces novel acetyl triacylglycerols, or acTAGs, while the orange aril tissue around the seed produces normal vegetable oil. Photo courtesy of Timothy Durrett, MSU
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 21 May 2010 | 8:18 am

'Artificial life' breakthrough announced by scientists - BBC News

Telegraph.co.uk

'Artificial life' breakthrough announced by scientists BBC News Bioethicists have reacted with caution to the announcement that scientists in the US have created the first synthetic living cell. Dr Craig Venter's team announced their landmark discovery in Science magazine. They have succeeded in transplanting ... Life Form Created With Man-Made DNA Offers Benefits, DangersBusinessWeek Scientists build first synthetic bacteria (photos)ZDNet Synthetic vs. Real Life: Is There a Place for Both?TechNewsWorld msnbc.com -BP News -Vancouver Sun all 1,387 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 21 May 2010 | 8:09 am

Logitech Google TV Box Embarrasses Apple TV

Google TV, the new Android based OS for the big-screen, will power Logitech’s new set-top box, the still not-properly-named Google TV companion box. Maybe this is the kick in the pants Apple needs to finally update its own set-top-box to something nearing useful.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 21 May 2010 | 8:00 am

Vehicle Emission Policy To Be Unveiled Today

President Barack Obama plans to unveil a new national policy on fuel efficiency and vehicle emissions on Friday, and is pushing for support in the development of electric cars.The policy is directed toward medium- and heavy-duty trucks produced between 2014 and 2017.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 21 May 2010 | 7:40 am

Physicists Observe Instantaneous Velocity In Brownian Particles

Image Caption: A 5-micrometer glass bead levitated in air by a single laser beam from below. This optical trap is formed by the balance between the scattering force from the laser beam and the gravitational force on the bead. Tongcang Li, et. al. used a similar optical trap to study the Brownian motion of a trapped bead in air with ultra-high resolution. Their paper is published in Science. Credit: Tongcang Li, the University of Texas at Austin
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 21 May 2010 | 7:37 am

Crystal Glass iPhone Docks, The Perfect Way to Shed Some Cash

Imagine, if you will, the world of the overprivileged, the domain of that elite group of people who long ago bought everything they wanted or needed, people whose only way to get rid of their pile of cash is to fritter it away, Brewster’s Millions-style, on expensive, glittery trash.

For these lucky individuals the price of an object is its most compelling spec, followed closely by novelty. Take the Vertu series of phones, for example, which hover around $10,000 apiece and offer such modern conveniences as GPRS connections, or color screens. Can I interest you in a $200 corkscrew, sir? Are you sure? It is made of woolly mammoth tusk, you know. Ahh, I shall wrap it for you now.

To these people, an iPhone dock cast in glass is the perfect object. The CrystalDock is nothing more than a single blob of lead-crystal glass poured into a mold (”by hand”, of course), polished, fitted with a connector and dropped into a box. The price? An satisfyingly foolish €200, or around $250. There’s even the option to “upgrade” to a more sophisticated model, the €350 ($440) Aurora. This wonderful frippery is “hand-painted with platinum” and when your current-gen iPhone no longer fits, it will make the perfect Clue-style murder weapon to safe-gaurd your inheritance from that cheating wife of yours. Available now, unfortunately.

CrystalDock [Calypso Crystal. Thanks, Ales!]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 21 May 2010 | 7:25 am

Genes, Brain Centers That Regulate Meal Size In Flies Identified

Image Caption: The two flies to the left are normal flies exposed to food mixed with red dye after 24-hour starvation; the two flies to the right are leucokinin mutants tested at the same conditions. Credit: Bader Al-Anzi/Caltech
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 21 May 2010 | 7:24 am

HP: No webOS netbooks & Slate coming before the end of October

Section: Communications, Smartphones, Mobile, Computers, Mobile Computers, Netbooks

HP has recently confirmed that we could see a webOS powered Slate as well as a printer later this year. However more recently, they have also confirmed that they would not be releasing a webOS powered netbook. The reasoning behind that is because, according to Monty Wong who is the vice president of personal computing systems group at HP Taiwan, netbooks are similar to a traditional computer.

And with that, it looks like we are going to be waiting until July before we begin to see some official plans.

HP will announce more details after the completion of the Palm acquisition at the end of July, Wong said.

Read [DigiTimes] Via [SlashGear]

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 21 May 2010 | 7:14 am

Could A Criminal Hack Your Car's Computer?

Computer criminals are now able to hack into a car's computer network through wireless connections like satellite radio.
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 21 May 2010 | 7:03 am

Amazing Gallery of Games Consoles as Buildings

What if video-game consoles were bigger? Not just retro-70s-technology bigger, but make-Godilla-stop-and-take-notice bigger? Building-sized bigger, in fact?

Then they’d look like these fantastic fantasy concoctions from photographer Joseph Ford and 3D artist Antoine Mairot. Made for the French-language Amusement magazine, these giant consoles rise up in monolithic communist concrete and capitalist glass-and-steel.

They’re wonderful. While the PS3 (surely not far off the real size) rearing up in Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz fits right into the high-rise district around it, my favorite has to be the tank-like NES pictured above. Its squat, menacing form stares out over an empty wasteland. I can’t tell if it, too, is in Berlin, but it could almost be a genuine piece of East German architecture from the time before the Wall fell.

The third image, of the Nintendo DS, is wonderfully constructed but a little too Doctor Who for me: it’s fun, and looks good to begin with, but if you give it a second’s thought the illusion evaporates and the impossible reality is revealed. I love that the D-Pad looks like a helicopter landing-pad, though.

Gallery: If I Were President [Amusement via the Giz]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 21 May 2010 | 6:57 am

Learn From Nature To Increase Security

Security organizations could be more effective if officials learn from nature, UA researchers suggest in the May 20 issue of the journal Nature.Security systems could be more effective if officials looked at how organisms deal with threats in the natural world, University of Arizona researchers suggest in the May 20 edition of the journal Nature.The authors are working with security and disaster management officials to help put some of their recommendations – such as decentralizing forces and forming alliances – into practice."Anytime you have the illusion of full security, you get adaptation," said Rafe Sagarin, an assistant research scientist in the UA's Institute of the Environment who is the lead author of the opinion piece. "Terrorists figure out unexpected means of attack, hackers come up with new software to break through firewalls, and pathogens develop resistance to antibiotics."Instead of relying on large, centralized bureaucracies that move slowly and often lag behind in addressing threats, the authors encourage officials to look to the natural world for principles that could prove less costly, more flexible and more effective at countering threats.The security issues of modern human societies are analogous to those of many organisms, according to Sagarin and his co-authors. In nature, risks are frequent, variable and uncertain. Over billions of years, organisms have evolved an enormous variety of methods to survive, grow and proliferate on a continually changing planet. The key to their success is their ability to quickly adapt to rapidly changing threats, and change their structures, behaviors and interactions accordingly.Avoid centralizationUnlike many security agencies or entities in the human world, the most adaptable and successful organisms avoid centralization. Instead, they distribute tasks among decentralized, specialized groups of cells or individuals.Sagarin points to the octopus' camouflaging strategy to illustrate this principle: Its networks of pigment cells, distributed all over its body, react to and match the colors of the surroundings, blending the animal into the background. "We can learn something from the octopus about the war in Iraq and Afghanistan," Sagarin said, specifically with regard to the threat from improvised explosive devices, or IEDs.Just like the octopus' decentralized network of pigment cells, he pointed out, troops on the ground function like independent sensors that can assess a threat more accurately, more timely and more realistically than a large, centralized organization that is geographically removed from the action and largely follows a top-down approach of command."The individual soldiers in the war zone are the most adaptable unit out there," he said. "They are in a better position to recognize and address an emerging threat in time than a centralized bureaucracy."Sagarin and co-authors point out that terrorist networks such as Al Qaida have recognized the advantages of this approach and operate a loose network of largely independent subgroups."About 1,500 soldiers had died from roadside bomb blasts between the time troops identified the threat and the time MRAPs (mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles) were deployed to deal with the situation."Even after the blast-resistant vehicles arrived, they proved only moderately effective against a quickly moving threat that is constantly changing and rapidly adapting to new challenges."These MRAPs are huge, lumbering things that weigh 16 tons," Sagarin said, "The insurgents, on the other hand, drive around in small pickup trucks. They quickly figured out the MRAPs were limited to certain roads and started placing roadside bombs specifically along those routes."Let the attacker know you're readyAnother lesson could be learned by looking at how organisms deal with the constant threat from predators, according to the authors. A key feature is the capacity to reduce uncertainty and turn it into an advantage.Hunting prey uses a lot of energy, Sagarin explained, which is why predators seek to ambush their prey. As soon as the prey is aware of their presence and ready to engage in defense, a pursuit might no longer be worth it.Ground squirrels, for example, use alarm signals when a predator is lurking nearby, not only to warn their peers, but also to make it known to the attacker its cover is blown."When a prey species makes an alarm call of any kind, the game is up," Sagarin said. Suddenly, things have become a lot harder - if you're a hawk, you want to swoop down on a squirrel and not get scratched in the face."Remarkably, ground squirrels use alarm signals that are very specific to the threat. If the predator is a mammal (which can hear), they utter alarm calls. If it is a snake (which cannot) they use tail-flagging to signal its presence.The less specific an alarm call is, the less efficient it is in eliciting an appropriate response, the authors argue and point to the U.S. Homeland Security's threat advisory for national and international flights, which has remained at level orange (high) since August 2006. This static, ambiguous and nonspecific system creates uncertainty or indifference among the population that it is meant to help protect.Form alliesAnother principle often observed in nature is symbiosis, the formation of allies."Symbiosis is not always between friends," Sagarin said, pointing to the example of cleaner wrasses, small fish specializing in picking parasites off other marine animals, sometimes entering their mouths. The clients could easily swallow the cleaner wrasse while it is going about its job."But they don't," Sagarin said. "It's a mutual beneficial relationship in which the larger fish provides the cleaner fish with a food source and protection, and the cleaner keeps it free from parasites in return."A lesson of how symbioses can successfully be applied in the human realm was demonstrated in Iraq in 2007, the authors note, when Gen. David Petraeus's strategy to form alliances with local leaders - including those who had been hostile - resulted in more tip-offs about IEDs and fewer American casualties.Issue challengesTwo years ago, Sagarin and colleagues published a book titled "Natural Security: A Darwinian Approach to a Dangerous World." The research group has since begun to "make its observations more actionable for the people on the ground," as Sagarin put it. Working with emergency management coordinators, cybersecurity experts, soldiers, police chiefs, air marshals, homeland security officials, fire chiefs and public health officials, the group's ideas have generated a lot of interest."One of the main lessons we learned is that issuing challenges is more effective than giving orders when there is a need to develop security measures," Sagarin said. He pointed to the DARPA Grand Challenge as an example, in which the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Department of Defense put on a prize competition for the development of a driver-less vehicle capable of navigating difficult terrain on its own."Anytime you pose a challenge, not only do you get a diverse population of problem solvers, but you get them to learn from each another."However, despite decentralization, it is important to still have an overarching structure to provide guidance and encourage the development of new ideas."An octopus is still an octopus," Sagarin said, "not just a random collection of cells.""The bottom line of all this is, you can't just put up a wall around something and expect it to protect it against every possible threat. Attackers will always figure out a way."References:"Decentralise, adapt and cooperate," Rafe Sagarin et al., Nature, Vol. 465, May 20, 2010."Natural Security – A Darwinian Approach to a Dangerous World," Raphael Sagarin and Terence Taylor, University of California Press, 2008.By Daniel Stolte, University of Arizona---Image 1: The octopus relies on a network of pigment cells to blend in with its surroundings and escape detection. In a similar way, a decentralized network of ground forces may assess threats more quickly and respond more appropriately than a centralized command entity located far away from the action, UA's Rafe Sagarin suggests. (Photo: D. Stolte, University Communications)Image 2: Mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles helped reduce the death toll from roadside bombs in Afghanistan and Iraq, but they lack flexibility and agility. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Army)Image 3: Symbioses such as the one pictured here between two small wrasses and a grouper fish illustrate a successful model of forming allies. (Photo: Richard Ling)
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 21 May 2010 | 6:46 am

Toothy Tree-Swinger May Be Earliest Human

The 3-foot tall Homo gautengensis had large teeth for chomping plants and spent a lot of time in trees, but likely had no language skills.
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 21 May 2010 | 6:43 am

Apple Starts Stocking Shelves of International iBooks Stores

Yesterday, the international iBooks stores were almost empty. In Spain, there was a single, dusty volume on the shelf: “Les vies encloses” by Georges Rodenbach. It was in French.

Today, the shelves are groaning under the weight of dull, beige-covered tomes from Project Gutenberg, all of which are available free. To see and download these e-books, you’ll need a copy of Apple’s iBooks application for the iPad, only available from the US, and then you’ll have to switch your iTunes Store account to the country of your choice. Hardly worth the bother right now, as these titles are all available free in the US store, too.

The difference, of course, is that the international stores are carrying foreign-language versions of these public-domain books. If you’re reading this post, though, then you probably have good English skills. Add to that the fact that most of these titles are translated from the original languages and it seems pointless right now.

It’s nice, though, to see the rumblings as Apple starts to turn the cogs for the international rollout of the iPad, especially as it has managed to sign up publishers from so many countries in such a short time.

See Also:

• iBooks Store Loaded with Project Gutenberg Titles at Launch …
• How to Transfer Your Stanza E-Book Library to iBooks for iPad …

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 21 May 2010 | 6:27 am

Giant Vintage Steamer Trunk: A Gorgeous Portable Office

Lord knows what travelers in then olden-days found to fill their huge trunks. There were no gadgets, no need for power adapters and not even a pair of oversized, padded sneakers to take up space. Even a bustling crinoline could, I’m sure, be collapsed for efficient storage.

These days, though, it’s common to pack two cases: one for clothes, and one for all the technical gubbins essential for a bearable vacation. Despite its name, then, the Mayfair Steamer Secretary Trunk is more suited for the modern day than the cruise-trips of the past, with space for a desktop computer along with enough shelves, drawers and cubby-holes to store everything else.

In reality, the $3,000 trunk is probably useless for actual travel. You’d need two or three servants just to lift the thing down the front doorstep, and the famously delicate iMac screen would be a pile of shattered shards as soon as you hit the cobbled street on those tiny casters. As a home office, though, this handmade, brass-nailed and cigar-leather unit is wonderful: there is even cable-management behind the canvas-covered panels.

It could all get a little Alice in Wonderland, though. Close this up and you’ll see a giant suitcase, complete with handle, standing at over six-foot-four. May we suggest keeping a small bottle of Bourbon secreted in one of the many drawers, labeled, of course, with the legend “Drink Me.”

Mayfair Steamer Secretary Trunk Vintage Cigar Leather [Restoration Hardware via Uncrate]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 21 May 2010 | 5:32 am

Logitech Google TV Box Embarrasses Apple TV

Google TV, the new Android-based OS for the big screen, will power Logitech’s new set-top box, the still-not-properly-named Google TV companion box.

The sleek black Apple TV–sized box will run on a 1.2-GHz Atom processor with 4 GB memory, 802.11n Wi-Fi, dual HDMI-out ports, Dolby 5.1 surround sound and a pair of USB ports. If you hook up a webcam, you can even video-chat at 720p.

The box, which will launch in the fall, will at first be U.S.-only. It will hook up to your TV and then pull in content from cable, satellite and compatible DVRs. In short, you can Google the entire internet plus your home for TV shows and watch them wherever they may be.

Even the remote controls are exciting. While there will be some regular RF controllers available, you will be able to install an app on your iPhone or Android phone with a keyboard and a touchscreen D-pad. These will control not only the Logitech box but compatible TVs and set-top boxes, right from the phone.

Next to the Google TV, the Apple TV is starting to look less like a “hobby” and more like an embarrassing habit Apple is trying to quit. Video content is one place where more is better. Sure Apple TV can grab most things from the iTunes Store, but with a built-in Chrome browser, Google TV will grab content from anywhere that puts video on the web. The closest rival Apple has right now is probably the iPad. Maybe this is the kick in the pants Apple needs to finally update its own set-top box to something nearing useful.

Google TV companion box [Logitech]

Logitech’s Google TV companion box includes smartphone apps [Engadget]

See Also:

• Google Introduces Google TV, New Android OS
• Report: Google Working With Intel, Sony on TV Project
• Google TV: Google, Sony, Intel Team-Up to Make Television
• Google, Dish Network Reportedly Test Android-Based Satellite TV

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 21 May 2010 | 5:12 am

Scientists Develop 'Artificial Life'

Image Caption: Negatively stained transmission electron micrographs of dividing M. mycoides JCVI-syn1. Freshly fixed cells were stained using 1% uranyl acetate on pure carbon substrate visualized using JEOL 1200EX transmission electron microscope at 80 keV. Electron micrographs were provided by Tom Deerinck and Mark Ellisman of the National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research at the University of California at San Diego.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 21 May 2010 | 5:05 am

Slanted Camera Concept is Face-Friendly

Concept cameras are usually little more than a GGI-rendered wish-list, the creator’s own dream-machine mocked up on-screen. But this concept Sony Alpha DSLR from Abel Verdezoto is both restrained and remarkably smart.

Well, almost. Verdezoto has decided to swap around and detail the positions of every button and dial, but the big design win is the face-friendly rear panel. Instead of being a vertical, cliff-like slab, the back of the camera slopes inward from the top, away from you. This gets the LCD panel and everything else out of the way of your nose and cheeks and lets your eye rest comfortably on the viewfinder. And lest you worry that the angle of view on that LCD will be compromised, the panel is hinged to flip out when needed.

The sloping back has another advantage: a more natural angle for the wrist when holding the camera to the eye. The hands tip back and the camera sits atop the meat of the thumb instead of tipping forward. Ingenious.

After that, though, it all gets a little crazy. The add-on flash, for instance, has a couple of telescoping legs to let you get it further from the lens-axis. Go take a look: it seems ready to snap as fast as Olive Oyl’s legs. Otherwise, though, the design is excellent.

Prototipo reflex con nueva ergonomía [Tecnofotografía via Yanko. Thanks, Radhika!]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 21 May 2010 | 4:19 am

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