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Confirmed: White iPhone 4 not available at launchYesterday, we noted that none of the third-party stores that would be carrying iPhone 4 on launch day would have any of the white iPhone 4 models for sale. We figured that Apple was likely keeping the...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 15 Jun 2010 | 4:28 am EA Gun Club Sets Sights on FPS Gamers - Digitaltrends.com
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 15 Jun 2010 | 3:56 am Microsoft slims down Xbox console - BBC News
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 15 Jun 2010 | 3:56 am Redesigned Mac mini: HDMI, SD card reader, unibody aluminum enclosureEarlier tonight, the Apple Store went down, and we all figured it was just so that they could get the pre-order page for the iPhone 4 up and running--imagine our surprise when we saw a completely redesigned...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 15 Jun 2010 | 3:55 am Your Next Mac: Slim Unibody Mac Mini with HDMI - Wired News
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 15 Jun 2010 | 3:27 am Philip Rosedale of LoveMachine Digs that Digg Digs LoveMachine of Philip RosedaleI was curious to know if Philip Rosedale, founder of Linden Lab, had shared any public thoughts about the epic 30% layoffs that hit that company last week, even obliquely, so checked his Twitter feed...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 15 Jun 2010 | 3:25 am Your Next Mac: Slim Unibody Mac Mini with HDMI
Apple has updated the little desktop Mac Mini and if you were thinking about buying a new MacBook or iMac, you might think a little about grabbing this instead. The new Mini comes in a slim unibody case, 1.4-inches tall, shrinking from 2-inches, and gains an SD-card slot, an HDMI port for true media center integration, faster NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics hardware (up from the old 9400M graphics). It also keeps FireWire 800, Mini-DVI, four USB ports and Ethernet. There are two models. One costs $700 and comes with a 2.4GHz processor, 2GB RAM and a 320GB hard drive. The other is $1,000 and drops the optical drive in favor of 4GB RAM, two 500GB hard drives and a 2.66GHz processor. This version runs OS X Server. Both have removable bottom panel for easy access to RAM. That Apple would release such a big update with nothing more than a short press release used to surprise us, but these days its pretty standard. With HDMI, this is clearly aimed at the home entertainment market, but it could also be a great new Mac for anyone who has an iPad already. In fact, if you already have a monitor in the house, you could buy a Mac Mini and an iPad for $1,200. That’s the same as you’d pay for the cheapest MacBook Pro. Mac Mini [Apple] See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 15 Jun 2010 | 3:25 am Late Night Fanboys Bring The iPhone 4 Pre-Order System To Its Knees
You’d think 1 AM PT (4 AM ET) would be a pretty safe time to put something up for pre-sale. You’d think that — and you’d be wrong. As we’re seeing tonight with the iPhone 4 pre-sale, there doesn’t appear to be a safe time to avoid Apple fanboys. Apple and AT&T’s online purchasing system for the new phone has been a complete and utter failure for the past hour. Judging from comments, tips coming in, and personal experience, most people don’t even seem to be getting past the first step of entering their existing AT&T information when the system simply times out. But there’s hope. I’m told that if you order the phone through AT&T’s website, it appears to be working. The downside there is that rather than having the option to pick it up in-store, you’ll have to have it delivered to you on the 24th. This is all a bit reminiscent of the iPhone 3G launch two years ago when an AT&T activation failure prevented people from walking away on launch day with working iPhone (and delayed others by hours in some cases). You’d think they’d have this system down by now. Who knows, maybe either AT&T or Apple caught a bit of whatever Twitter had earlier. And just imagine if they white version was actually available to pre-order too!      
Source: TechCrunch | 15 Jun 2010 | 3:11 am Motorola Expands WiMAX Portfolio with New Fourth-Generation, High-Performing 800 Series CPEsAMSTERDAM, June 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- WIMAX FORUM GLOBAL CONGRESS -- The Networks business of Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) has announced the expansion of its award-winning portfolio of WiMAX devices and customer premises equipment (CPE) with the addition of the CPEi 800 and the CPEi 885.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 15 Jun 2010 | 3:00 am TSMC New Standard Cell Slim Library Reduces Logic Area 15%HSINCHU, Taiwan, R.O.C., June 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 15 Jun 2010 | 3:00 am Free Unlimited Wi-Fi Coming To StarbucksBy Chris Scott Barr Free Wi-Fi seems like one of those luxuries that is slowly spreading like wild fire. Yet there are times where you can’t find it to save your life. Sure, there’s a Starbucks...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 15 Jun 2010 | 2:53 am Apple launches new Mac mini (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 15 Jun 2010 | 2:52 am Apple launches new Mac mini(Reuters) - Apple said it launched a new version of its lowest-priced computer, Mac mini, with twice the graphics performance and lower power usage, from $699.Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 15 Jun 2010 | 2:52 am Apple Store lets you pre-order iPhone 4; only black for now - CNET (blog)
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 15 Jun 2010 | 2:45 am Twitter's Service Disruptions and Outages Persist - PC World
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 15 Jun 2010 | 2:41 am Broke indie UK filmmakers need your steampunk!Ant sez, "We are shooting a micro-budget 'elegant-sci-fi' feature in the UK this summer - we sold our house to make the film (a little nuts, we know...but you only live once). We have built various bits...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 15 Jun 2010 | 2:38 am Broke indie UK filmmakers need your steampunk! Ant sez, "We are shooting a micro-budget 'elegant-sci-fi' feature in the UK this summer - we sold our house to make the film (a little nuts, we know...but you only live once). We have built various bits of steampunk for one of the sets. Time is running out though, and we would like more. We wondered if any of your dear readers might loan us some of their work/have ideas of where to source things (on a shoestring budget). Any help would be dearly appreciated. Thank you! Unicorns all around."
[Ed: these seem like good people, but I don't know them personally; loan your precious steampunk stuff to them at your own risk]
Place Your Tweets with Twitter LocationsTwitter has added location to their microblogging service, according to an announcement today on the company's blog. Starting today, you can tag Tweets with specific places, including all World Cup stadiums...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 15 Jun 2010 | 2:30 am Facebook Starts Prompting Users To Log On To Skype To Connect With More Friends
To find more friends on Facebook, you can do a search for them or have the service go through your contacts on other communication platforms like your email account (e.g. Gmail) or instant messaging client (e.g. ICQ). One of the options is to log on to Skype and have your contact list cross-checked with Facebook’s vast database of identifiable users. Some time this morning, Facebook started actively prompting users on their homepage, up on top, to connect to Skype and to discover more friends. As you can tell from the screenshot above, sent in by an eagly-eyed reader, Facebook even makes things easy for you by already filling in your Skype handle (not to panic, that means you shared it on your profile page). Upon refresh, our tipster didn’t see the dialog box anymore even though he did not log in to Skype, so it seems like Facebook is randomly pinging a subset of users to share their Skype contact details and expand their social graph on the network. I did a quick search for other reports on this and haven’t been able to find anything on blogs and news sites, so I’m assuming this is new. As far as I can tell, people only started talking about seeing the message appear on top of their Facebook homepage on Twitter since this morning. Update: Ouriel Ohayon spotted it about a week ago. One user took another screenshot, and others are just diligently sharing that they’re seeing something that wasn’t there before. We’ve asked both Facebook and Skype for more guidance. Are you seeing it? (Thanks to Andres for the tip)      
Source: TechCrunch | 15 Jun 2010 | 2:27 am Apple’s Midnight Surprise: A Redesigned Mac Mini With HDMI
Most Apple fanatics have been counting down to June 15 as the date the iPhone 4 would be available for pre-sale. But Apple had another trick up its sleeve tonight as well. While everyone is distracted on the iPhone page, Apple has quietly refreshed its Mac mini line of computers. And it’s more than your standard spec bump. The Mac mini has been given an entirely new slimmer (1.4 inch) aluminum case made using the same unibody technique that Apple uses on the MacBooks. More importantly, the thing packs a powerful processor and supposedly twice the graphics performance. But the big news is that the device has an HDMI output for the first time. You know what that means: this thing just became a lot of people’s media center. Also new is that the Mac mini now has its power supply completely built-in. This means no more power brick. And it even has a removable bottom panel to easily upgrade the memory. The new Mac mini comes with 2.4 or 2.66 Intel Core 2 Duo chip and start at $699. There’s also a new Mac mini Snow Leopard server that starts at $999. Between this thing (which unlike the Apple TV, will give you access to things like Hulu) and the new ESPN Xbox Live service, you really should be able to kill off your cable service. I look forward to doing just that.
Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 15 Jun 2010 | 2:27 am The CHOBI CAM WP is a cute, waterproof, and (very) small camera
It’s cute, it’s as small as an eraser, it’s light, and it’s waterproof: Tokyo-based accessory maker Japan Trust Technology is offering the CHOBi CAM WP, a digital camera that’s actually not waterproof by itself but comes with a special case that makes it possible to take it up to 20m underwater without any problems (IP68).
Spec-wise, buyers get a rather basic camera. It takes pictures in 1,280 x 960 resolution and shoots video in VGA quality (680 x 480/AVI motion JPEG) at 30fps. The CHOBi CAM WP comes with a mono mic, a microSD/SDHC slot (16GB max), and a USB 2.0 port. Case included, the device is sized at just 5.2cm×6cm×3.9cm and weighs 40g (it’s 17g lighter without the case). It’s available in black or silver.
Both the Japan Trend Shop and Geek Stuff 4 U are offering the CHOBi CAM WP to people living outside Japan for a little over $200 plus shipping (you can see the extras it comes with in the picture above).
Source: CrunchGear | 15 Jun 2010 | 2:22 am 65 Futuristic Fashions - From Wild Rockitorials to Sophisticated Cyborgs (CLUSTER)(TrendHunter.com) There's no telling what the future has in store for the world of fashion. Whether it will consist of tight leather, space suits or nothing at all -- it's completely up in the air. But...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 15 Jun 2010 | 2:10 am iPhone 4 Up For Pre-Order — Black Only
Henry Ford once famously said, “Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black.” The same can now be said for the iPhone 4. Just moments ago, Apple’s latest mobile device was put up for pre-sale on Apple’s Online Store. But as was rumored, it’s only available for pre-order in black. As the store notes, “White iPhone currently unavailable for pre-order or in-store pickup.” They don’t give an estimate as to when the white one will be available, but it will undoubtedly be at some point this Summer. Meanwhile, if you want the black one, you can pre-order it now. As expected, it’s $199 for the 16 GB version, and $299 for the 32 GB version (assuming you sign a new two-year contract with AT&T for each). The phones will be delivered on June 24, or available for in-store pick-up if you choose that option. You can also pick up the last-generation iPhone 3GS (8 GB) for $99 now — it too will be available in stores on June 24. Update: There are numerous reports of failures when people try to pre-order the new phone. There seems to be some sort of hang-up on AT&T’s end. But if you order the phone through AT&T’s website I’m told it’s working (but you have to have it delivered).      
Source: TechCrunch | 15 Jun 2010 | 2:08 am GoldenSource to Discuss Role of Standardisation in Reducing Risk at Corporate Actions WebinarLONDON, June 15 /PRNewswire/ -- GoldenSource Corporation, a leading provider of Enterprise Data Management (EDM) solutions, will participate in a Corporate Actions: Standardisation webinar moderated by Inside Reference Data (IRD) on Tuesday 15th June.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 15 Jun 2010 | 2:00 am Autonomy's Hosted eDiscovery Platform Extends Market-Leading PositionCAMBRIDGE, England and SAN FRANCISCO, June 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Autonomy Corporation plc (LSE: AU.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 15 Jun 2010 | 2:00 am Apple Unveils All New Mac miniCUPERTINO, Calif., June 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Apple® today unveiled a completely redesigned Mac® mini, featuring up to twice the graphics performance, a new HDMI port and a new SD card slot, all in an amazingly compact aluminum enclosure.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 15 Jun 2010 | 2:00 am Verizon Business Leads Industry as First Global SAP-Certified Provider of Cloud ServicesBASKING RIDGE, N.J., June 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Business announced on Tuesday (June 15) that SAP AG has certified the company's cloud-based on-demand Computing as a Service, or CaaS, platform for the delivery of SAP® business applications.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 15 Jun 2010 | 2:00 am Monstrous LEGO Games - This Monster Chess LEGO Set is Electronically Controlled (VIDEO)(TrendHunter.com) This Monster Chess LEGO set is a crazy huge chess set entirely made from LEGO MINDSTORM robots. The pieces each have a base that can move around the bored as regular chess pieces, but...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 15 Jun 2010 | 1:50 am Advocates say poor need available free cell phonesShould the poor have cell phones? An interesting article from The Philadelphia Inquirer reporting on free cell phones for the poor and working poor distributed by a Miami wireless company. They're paid...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 15 Jun 2010 | 1:37 am Videogame business poised for reboundLOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The funk that has stricken U.S. video games is about to end -- and the timing is perfect, considering the industry begins showing off its wares Tuesday atSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 15 Jun 2010 | 1:29 am Videogame business poised for rebound (Reuters)Reuters - The funk that has stricken U.S. video games is about to end -- and the timing is perfect, considering the industry begins showing off its wares Tuesday at the massive E3 Expo in Los Angeles.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 15 Jun 2010 | 1:29 am Recycled Ash Sculptures - The Wieki Somers 'Consume or Conserve' Exhibit has Human Ashes (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) This Wieki Somers Consume or Conserve exhibit aims to "make a statement about the current state of affairs in design and our conviction that we need a new view on what is necessary...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 15 Jun 2010 | 1:20 am Once Just a Site With Funny Cat Pictures, and Now a Web Empire [Voices]By Jenna Wortham, Reporter, New York Times Three years ago Ben Huh visited a blog devoted to silly cat pictures — and saw vast potential. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 15 Jun 2010 | 1:04 am Parting Ways With A Founding Team Member [Voices]By Fred Wilson, Principal, Union Square Ventures One of the hardest things for an entrepreneur is to part ways with a co-founder or founding team member. Those early days putting together the plan, building the product, and building the team are formative and powerful. The loyalties that develop during that time are strong and hard to break. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 15 Jun 2010 | 1:03 am Apple Secrecy is Bitter Fruit on Hill [Voices]By Kim Hart, Reporter, Politico Apple (AAPL) is famous for its veil of secrecy around the new iPads and iPhones. But Sen. John Rockefeller and others in Congress wonder whether the company has more than technological innovations to hide. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 15 Jun 2010 | 1:02 am The Awl Wants to Win on the Web With Great Writing, Not SEO Tricks [Voices]By Laura McGann, Assistant editor, Nieman Journalism Lab Generally, when you think of a site launch, there’s a pretty standard checklist most people follow. Pick a niche topic that appeals to a big enough audience to merit selling ads. Devise a content strategy, whether its writers or aggregation or both. And, perhaps most important, draw up an audience strategy that factors in SEO, social media, and pageview-driving tricks. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 15 Jun 2010 | 1:01 am RIM Tests a Tablet and New BlackBerry to Rival iPhone [Voices]By Stuart Weinberg and Phred Dvorak, Reporters, The Wall Street Journal Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM) is readying a slate of new devices and software as it looks to keep its BlackBerry smartphone from losing more ground to touch-screen devices like Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) iPhone and iPad. RIM is testing a touch-screen smartphone with a slide-out keyboard, according to people familiar with the device. The phone runs on a new version of the BlackBerry operating system and works much like an iPhone, letting users swipe through screens and expand images with their fingers, these people say. It also has a universal search bar that lets users scour all the phone’s data and some data online as well, these people say. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 15 Jun 2010 | 1:00 am The World's Most Unusual Outsourcing Destination [Voices]By Martyn Williams, Reporter, IDG News Service Think of North Korea, and repression, starvation and military provocation are probably the first things that come to mind. But beyond the geopolitical posturing, North Korea has also been quietly building up its IT industry. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 15 Jun 2010 | 1:00 am Syncsort Unveils Extreme Performance Mainframe Application Modernization SolutionMUNICH, June 15 /PRNewswire/ -- TDWI 2010 Europe -- News Facts Syncsort, a global leader in extreme performance data integration and data protection software, today announced a new solution that enables organizations to accelerate their mainframe application modernization initiatives while utilizing fewer resources and dramatically reducing costs.Mainframe application modernization projects have been historically plagued by high failure rates due to the complexity of translating and transforming mainframe data.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 15 Jun 2010 | 1:00 am Skype Now Available For Sony Ericsson Symbian Phones (Satio And Vivaz) Internet communication service provider Skype this morning announced the availability of the popular service on three Sony Ericsson smartphones based on the Symbian platform. Users of Satio, Vivaz and Vivaz pro devices can now use Skype over WiFi or mobile data connection (that is: 3G, GPRS and EDGE).
If that's your smartphone and you like free calls to your Skype friends on the go, head over to skype.com/m or visit the Sony Ericsson Play Now arena later this month.
Read on at MobileCrunch.
Source: TechCrunch | 15 Jun 2010 | 12:31 am Skype lands on Sony Ericsson Symbian phones (Satio and Vivaz)
If that’s your smartphone and you like free calls to your Skype friends on the go, head over to skype.com/m or visit the Sony Ericsson Play Now arena later this month. Skype for Symbian will run on any Sony Ericsson smartphone using Symbian ^1, the latest version of the Symbian platform. Features are listed here, but will be familiar to you if you’re a Skype user already (free Skype-to-Skype calling, cheaper SMS to phones abroad, instant messaging, file sharing, and more).
Source: MobileCrunch | 15 Jun 2010 | 12:28 am Microfinance Tied To EconomyA nation’s economy plays a surprisingly large role in the success or failure of microfinance – the practice of making small loans to farmers or business owners too poor to provide collateral, according to a study led by a Michigan State University economist.The research, published in the Journal of Development Economics, is the first to examine the relationship between microfinance institutions and the larger economy.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 15 Jun 2010 | 12:01 am Sprint to limit data roaming for laptop users: report(Reuters) - Telecoms company Sprint Nextel Corp will temporarily deactivate the accounts of laptop broadband users if they consume more than their allotted share of data while roaming, the...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 15 Jun 2010 | 12:00 am Sprint to limit data roaming for laptop users: report (Reuters)Reuters - Telecoms company Sprint Nextel Corp will temporarily deactivate the accounts of laptop broadband users if they consume more than their allotted share of data while roaming, the Wall Street Journal reported.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 15 Jun 2010 | 12:00 am Delayed Arrival Of TB-Fighting T CellsThe outcome of tuberculosis infection in mice depends in part on how quickly bacteria-fighting T cells can get to the lungs.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Jun 2010 | 11:54 pm Getting To The Root Of Nutrient SensingNew research published by Cell Press in the June 15th issue of the journal Developmental Cell, reveals how plants modify their root architecture based on nutrient availability in the soil.Plants obtain most necessary nutrients by taking them up from the soil into their roots.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Jun 2010 | 11:51 pm Flower Power: Marking Winners And LosersA new study reveals how conflict resolution works on the microscopic scale – a protein called Flower marks the weaker cells for elimination in favor of their fitter neighbors.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Jun 2010 | 11:49 pm Use Of Paramilitary Emblems 'Flagging' In Northern IrelandNew research from Queen's University Belfast shows the number of paramilitary flags now flown on arterial routes in Northern Ireland during July has more than halved. The figure is down from 161 flags in 2006 to 73 in 2009.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Jun 2010 | 11:45 pm Recalculating Cell SensingMobile cells are more sensitive than once thoughtMobile biological cells may be twice as good at following chemical signals as previously believed possible, according to Princeton researchers publishing in the latest issue of Physical Review Letters.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Jun 2010 | 11:43 pm Straw Residue Helps Keep Nitrogen On The FarmWhen raising corn, straw left in the field after grain harvesting, along with legume cover crops reduces nitrogen leaching into waterways, but may lower economic return, according to research conducted in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.Agriculture is the largest source of nonpoint-source nitrogen pollution in U.S.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Jun 2010 | 11:41 pm Adding UV Light Helps Form 'Missing G' Of RNA Building BlocksFor scientists attempting to understand how the building blocks of RNA originated on Earth, guanine -- the G in the four-letter code of life -- has proven to be a particular challenge.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Jun 2010 | 11:38 pm What Do We Really Know About The Crucifixion Of Jesus?The many different accounts of the crucifixion of Jesus find little support in historical sources.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Jun 2010 | 11:33 pm To save journalism, save the netIn a smartly argued editorial, Dan Gillmor argues that the most meaningful subsidy that any government can give to its journalists is a free, fast, fair and open Internet on which new journalistic business models can flourish without interference by corrupt telcos and self-interested media empires:First, direct subsidies for journalism are the wrong way to go, even dangerous. But we absolutely could use the kind of indirect help -- taxpayer-funded deployment of high-capacity, wide-open broadband networks -- that would be an analogue to the early American postal subsidies, and then some. This would be essential infrastructure, aimed at beefing up all 21st Century commerce and communications, including but not limited to journalism.Let's subsidize open broadband, not journalists
 Source: Boing Boing | 14 Jun 2010 | 11:32 pm Africa's Corridors -- An Engine For Growth?New study examines impact of cross-border initiativesWhile South Africa comes under the world's spotlight for the World Cup, it is being scrutinised by a University of Leicester researcher because of an innovative policy initiative.Rachel Tate, a PhD research student in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Leicester, is focussing on the Maputo Development Corridor, a cross-border spatial development initiative.This mega-project is held up as the pinnacle for growth and development in the area.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Jun 2010 | 11:31 pm British Columbia law will be free againGary sez, "In an time of making more and more government information available online for free, the province of British Columbia decided to begin charging for access to legal docs in January of this year. Now, in a reversal of plans, British Columbia will once again provide free access to BC legal documents."Source: Boing Boing | 14 Jun 2010 | 11:28 pm Video: Return of the Hayabusa asteroid mission capsuleFrom NASA: A group of astronomers from NASA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and other organizations had a front row seat to observe the Hayabusa spacecraft's fiery plunge into Earth's atmosphere. The team flew aboard NASA's DC-8 airborne laboratory, packed with cameras and other imaging instruments, to capture the high-speed re-entry over an unpopulated area of central Australia on June 13, 2010. The Japanese spacecraft completed its seven-year, 1.25 billion mile journey to return a sample of the asteroid Itokawa."Hayabusa Asteroid Mission Comes Home" (Thanks, Jim Leftwich!) Source: Boing Boing | 14 Jun 2010 | 11:28 pm Bruce Sterling Interview: Cities
Bruce Sterling probably needs little introduction here... Through an electric career as a science fiction author, cultural observer, and futures provocateur he's emerged as one of the most important voices of the nascent 21st century. He has a sharp wit, an impeccable turn of phrase, and a keen eye for spotting the most interesting and obscure trends before they hit the world stage. His 2009 novel, The Caryatids, was released to glowing reviews by the likes of Cory Doctorow and Alex Steffen. You can grab his daily brain feed over at the Wired blog, Beyond the Beyond. I got in touch with Sterling and asked some questions about cities... What are some of the cities you find most interesting? Why? I go for Austin, Belgrade and Turin. Because I hang out there enough to have some idea of how they function. I'm also keen on the much bigger cities of Berlin, London, and Mumbai, but in a more detached way. I'm getting very interested in Sao Paolo lately. What do you see as some of the more valuable aspects of urbanization and some of the more dangerous? Well, the "valuable" aspect, or at least the interesting one, is that bigger towns are getting much more "urban-informatic" lately. There's The obviously dangerous aspect of modern cities is urban organized crime, narcoterror, low-intensity warfare, war in urban terrain, favela shoot-'em-ups, whatever faddish name the trouble has this year. Baghdad, Mogadishu, Grozny. But I'd also like to point out that large financial centers in certain cities around the planet are certainly going to kill millions of us by destroying our social safety networks in the name of their imaginary financial efficiency. You're a thousand times more likely to die because of what some urban banker did in 2008 than from what some Afghan-based terrorist did in 2001. *Financiers live in small, panicky urban cloisters, severely detached
I don't think urban scale is a truly serious problem. Tokyo and Jakarta share the same scale, but not the same problems. There are plenty of cities that are getting *smaller* and have some awful problems, viz Detroit. There are many cities that have outgrown their old infrastructure and become huge squatter camps, but that's not inherently a scaling problem, it's a management problem. How do you think the psychogeography of the city might be affecting identity and tribalism? Do you suspect the trend is more towards collaboration or fragmentation? That word "psychogeography" probably means something, but guys who use it go out on Situationist drifts and look for urban ley-lines. I do a lot of similar activity, but I don't like to dignify it too much. Modern large cities are the engines of globalization in the way that New York used to be an engine of Americanization. You look at New York back in the 1800s, obviously collaboration and fragmentation were going on there at the same time. Little Italy, Little Ukraine, whatever... but those sharp distinctions tended to melt with time. Cities that segregate their citizens into ghettos tend to go broke. The infrastructure always ends up shaping people more than they think it will. Modern big city people tend to think and act like big-city people anywhere. A big-city New York guy sleeping in bus stations is as poor as his brother, some Deep South sharecropper. But the social chasm between those two people is immense. You talk about the favela chic expressions of the slums. In a world of increasing poverty do you see slums as incubators of the future or more as casualities of the past? To tell the truth, the slums are probably just as various as the cities. The slums were caused to exist for all kinds of different bad reasons. But the slums sure as hell have the birthrate to be the "incubator of the future." The slums are the nurseries of our planet. Why we allowed ourselves to let that happen, I dunno, but it's the truth. What, to you, are the most interesting possibilities of augmented reality, good or bad, for life in the city? Oh, it's all about those nifty little navigation apps. They've got the means, motive and opportunity right now. But you don't really need AR to do digital mapping of cities. AR comes more into its own with artsy, confrontational, bend-your-reality stuff. Like the Layar app that "shows" you the Berlin Wall in its fearsome glory as you are walking thoughtlessly through modern Berlin. Or the Museum of London "Streetmuseum" iPhone app that pastes historic photographs of London over the modern London you see in your iPhone screen.
Then there's the chance of turning urban billboards interactive, and
Source: Boing Boing | 14 Jun 2010 | 11:21 pm UPDATE: Don't Bother Using Twitter Until Early Tuesday Morning [MediaMemo]UPDATE: Twitter seems to have moved from not working at all to working with what appears to be some odd behavior. For instance: After entering a tweet and hitting “return,” whether you’re on Twitter.com or a client (Tweetdeck, in my case), Twitter will pause, then give you an error message. But the tweets now appear to be going through anyway! Which means you may end up entering the same tweet four or five times as you figure that out. So tweet if you must. But really, shouldn’t you be sleeping? Twitter’s status blog blames the outage on “the failed enhancement of a new approach to timeline caching,” and gives no ETA for repair. But Twitter PR rep Carolyn Penner is more precise: She expects the service to be up again by 6 am EDT. So perhaps you ought to take advantage of the outage and get some rest (if you live in the U.S., that is–the rest of you will have to find something else to occupy your time). Meanwhile, it’s worth noting that while Twitter has continued to struggle since its wea culpa/be warned! blog post on Friday, none of the problems seem to be the result of a massive spike in World Cup-related tweets. As far as I can tell, none of the outages coincided with any games. So when the service does come back on, feel free to Twitter away during the Cup. And make sure you follow Twitter’s newest star–a World Cup celebrity enjoying a first taste of fame. Source: All Things Digital | 14 Jun 2010 | 11:21 pm Tortured Canadian that US deported to Syria will not get justice
A Canadian who was deported to Syria by the US government for a hellish, 10.5 month torture ordeal will not get justice in the USA.
Maher Arar is a Syrian-born Canadian and father who was arrested while passing through the US on his way home to Canada. The Canadian government provided US authorities with bad intelligence suggesting Arar had ties to Al Qaeda. Arar was deported to Syria where he was held in a 3'x6'x7' cell for 10 and a half months, during which time he was brutally tortured. The Canadian government investigated Arar's case, concluded that he was not a terrorist, had no ties to terrorists, and had been unjustly detained and tortured, and paid him $10.5 million. Arar has tried to clear his name in the US -- he is still considered a terrorist there, as is his family -- but no court has heard his case, because the US government (including the Obama administration) claims that allowing the case to be heard would compromise national security. The Supreme Court has now refused to hear Arar's case. Upon his release, Arar sued Bush's Justice Department, but his lawsuit was rejected by a succession of U.S. courts, in part out of deference to the executive branch's claim that national security would be harmed by allowing a federal judge to review the relevant evidence. That's a common legal maneuver that was used frequently by the Bush administration, and which Obama pledged to use less often. So far, those promises have been proven to be empty...Supreme Court Rejects Case of Tortured Canadian (Image: Maherarar.ca/Bill Grimshaw) Source: Boing Boing | 14 Jun 2010 | 11:16 pm Running On Empty - L.A. Without CarsHere's the video by Ross Ching, Running On Empty, that Bill Barol referred to here a couple weeks ago. I think it's a great bit of provocative future fiction showing the vast topologies of the Los Angeles roadway infrastructure absolutely free of automotive traffic. Perhaps a sudden, massive lifestyle change has ended car use. Or a Peak Oil soft landing, or personal teleportation devices have gone mainstream, or the Rapture came and somebody lost the list of sinners and just decided to take everyone... I like to imagine this vision rolled forward 20 years when vegetation has overtaken all the useless hardscaping, no doubt matched by some Jumanji-type unleashing of large fauna across the sprawl. Source: Boing Boing | 14 Jun 2010 | 11:13 pm How Will Facebook Make Money? (PC World)PC World - For many of people, Facebook is the first stop in any Web surfing session. It has developed into a highly engaging combination of online bulletin board, personal scrapbook, and group communication network. But did you ever wonder why, being all those things, Facebook is free?Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Jun 2010 | 11:00 pm Twitter Is Very Down, And Could Be Well Into The Night
Earlier today, Twitter rolled out a pretty killer new feature: Place support for geolocation. With it, you can tag your tweets to a specific place you’re at, or pipe in your check-ins from Foursquare and Gowalla to do the same thing. Tonight, Twitter can’t seem to find anything, let alone the new Places. The service has now been completely down for over an hour. For long-time users of Twitter, this type of downtime is nothing new. But for the majority of users who have signed up in the past several months, they’re likely accustomed to a pretty stable service. Well, welcome to our world. I don’t know what’s been going on the past couple of weeks, but Twitter has definitely been struggling to stay up. A note on the Twitter Status blog tonight reads:
Hmm. That doesn’t sound like a regular “scheduled maintenance” message to me. Might I recommend 15 or so alternative things to do? Update: The latest from Twitter:
Update 2: I just heard back from Twitter — bolded part (mine) is key:
That’s 5 hours from right now. Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 14 Jun 2010 | 10:27 pm T-Mobile promotion to offer free phones (AP)AP - Wireless carrier T-Mobile plans to give free phones to customers who sign up for group calling plans at its retail stores on Saturday — just days before rival At&T will start selling Apple's latest iPhone.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Jun 2010 | 10:21 pm T-Mobile promotion to offer free phonesWireless carrier T-Mobile plans to give free phones to customers who sign up for group calling plans at its retail stores on Saturday _ just days before rival At&T will start selling...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Jun 2010 | 10:21 pm 2,800 Kids Worldwide Speak Out on Cyber Safety: Not All Fun and Games OnlineSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Jun 2010 | 10:01 pm Government Employees Mobilize With TotalMobile From AT&TSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Jun 2010 | 10:01 pm Norton Online Family Expands its Protection to Families WorldwideSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Jun 2010 | 10:01 pm Brazilian Investigative Reporter and Indonesian Radio Pioneer Win Knight International Journalism AwardsSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Jun 2010 | 10:01 pm Norton Online Family Expands its Protection to Families WorldwideMOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., June 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Norton from Symantec (Nasdaq: SYMC) announced today that its award-winning online family safety service, Norton Online Family, will now be offered for free worldwide in 25 languages.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Jun 2010 | 10:01 pm 2,800 Kids Worldwide Speak Out on Cyber Safety: Not All Fun and Games OnlineMOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., June 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Kids around the globe are growing up in an online world, learning to navigate not just the Web, but new rules, emotions and unfortunately, some negative experiences. Angry. Upset. Afraid.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Jun 2010 | 10:01 pm Government Employees Mobilize With TotalMobile From AT&TDALLAS, June 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AT&T* today announced a new offer to provide mobile solutions designed to liberate government field employees from the office using TotalMobile software applications and the AT&T wireless network.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Jun 2010 | 10:01 pm Fetish: Build a Lamborghini Supercar Out of LegosIf you can't afford a full-fledged Lamborghini (and who can, really?), there's always this 801-piece Lego Polizia version, complete with a 5.2-liter V-10 engine and onboard defibrillator, for just $60.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Jun 2010 | 10:00 pm Fetish: Build a Lamborghini Supercar Out of LegosIf you can't afford a full-fledged Lamborghini (and who can, really?), there's always this 801-piece Lego Polizia version, complete with a 5.2-liter V-10 engine and onboard defibrillator, for just $60.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 14 Jun 2010 | 10:00 pm June 15, 1919: First Nonstop Flight Crosses AtlanticWant to win a bet? All you need to know is who was first to fly nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Jun 2010 | 10:00 pm Clive Thompson on Why Gadget Makers Should Target Late AdoptersThe person who waits forever to buy a gadget -- a laggard -- may wind up becoming one of the most avant-garde of early adopters by eventually "leapfrogging" to something radically new.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 14 Jun 2010 | 10:00 pm Clive Thompson on Why Gadget Makers Should Target Late AdoptersThe person who waits forever to buy a gadget -- a laggard -- may wind up becoming one of the most avant-garde of early adopters by eventually "leapfrogging" to something radically new.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Jun 2010 | 10:00 pm Mars May Have Been 1/3 Oceancoondoggie sends in a snippet from Network World, as is his wont: "It's possible that a huge ocean covered one-third of the surface of Mars some 3.5 billion years ago, a finding likely to reignite an old argument about that amount of water on the red planet, according to a new report. The study by the University of Colorado at Boulder is the first to integrate multiple data sets of river deltas, valley networks and topography from a cadre of NASA and European Space Agency orbiting missions of Mars dating back to 2001, the researchers claim." The National Geographic coverage of the news gives some air time to those doubtful that this study will prove definitive.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 14 Jun 2010 | 9:48 pm Newsweek Easter Egg Reports Zombie Invasiondanielkennedy74 writes "Newsweek.com becomes the latest in a long list of sites that will reveal an Easter egg if you enter the Konami code correctly (up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, b, a, enter). This is a cheat code that appeared in many of Konami's video games, starting around 1986 — my favorite places to use it were Contra and Life Force, 30 lives FTW. The Easter egg was probably included by a developer unbeknownst to the Newsweek powers that be. It's reminiscent of an incident that happened at ESPN last year, involving unicorns."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 14 Jun 2010 | 8:56 pm Scientists retrieve capsule, seeking asteroid dust - The Associated Press
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 14 Jun 2010 | 8:49 pm Martha's Vineyard: Birthplace of American Deaf cultureFascinating little tidbit that I ran across today: In 1854, 1 in 155 residents of Martha's Vineyard were deaf—compared to 1 in 5728 as the national average. Historians trace those high rates of deafness back to a genetic variation common in Weald, England. People from this rural, sparsely populated region moved to Martha's Vineyard in the late 1600s, where they joined a pretty genetically isolated population, with few off-island marriages. The result was a high rate of this specific kind of deafness. That's interesting enough, but what's really amazing is how the genes shaped culture. Until the 20th century, deafness was an unremarkable, normal part of life on the island—akin to the level of "oddness" or handicap we'd ascribe to left-handedness today. Pretty much everyone, deaf or hearing, spoke a local version of sign language, which made it possible for the deaf to be fully integrated into society without anybody really missing a beat. Martha's Vineyard Sign Language is mostly dead today, but it has an important legacy. In the early 19th century, children from the island brought their language to America's first school for the deaf, where it mingled with French Sign Language and other colloquial home sign traditions to create modern American Sign Language. Source: Boing Boing | 14 Jun 2010 | 8:29 pm Who Wants To Be A Tech Star? (Awesome Video)
I’ve embedded both videos below. And Kawaja has a gift for you if you think you know your stuff – guess as many of the entrepreneurs that you see in the Tech Star video and put your results in the comments. Whoever gets the most right will win a Flip MinoHD camera. I’ll start things off for you by pointing out Fox/News Corp. exec Adam Bain early in the video jokingly complaining about his boss. Tech Star:
Mad Avenue Blues:
     
Source: TechCrunch | 14 Jun 2010 | 8:29 pm Oil spill: Read this before you volunteer to clean it upFast Company has a gut-wrenching story about the health problems common among oil spill cleanup workers. The people spraying off those birds—work that may be, ultimately, futile—are at risk, themselves. Source: Boing Boing | 14 Jun 2010 | 8:26 pm Exclusive: OutCast's Wennmachers Joins Andreessen Horowitz as Partner [BoomTown]
Margit Wennmachers (pictured here), one of Silicon Valley’s leading public relations and communications execs, is joining Andreessen Horowitz as a partner. Wennmachers, 45, co-founded OutCast Communications, whose clients include Yahoo (YHOO), Facebook and also Andreessen Horowitz. The move will make her one of a handful of women at high-profile venture outfits. At Andreessen Horowitz, she’ll focus on bringing marketing expertise to the firm and its portfolio companies, starting in September. “For me, it’s a chance to build a top-notch VC firm and work with talented entrepreneurs, so what’s not to like?,” wrote Wennmachers in an email to BoomTown (who got off the horse in Wyoming to write this). Andreessen Horowitz has made a big splash since it was created a year ago with $300 million in funding. Its portfolio of high-profile companies include Skype, Rockmelt and Zynga. Wennmachers got to know both Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz when they hired OutCast to launch their firm last year. Andreessen Horowitz will continue to be an OutCast client. OutCast was founded 13 years ago by Wennmachers and Caryn Marooney. It was bought by Next Fifteen Communications in 2005, but has been operated independently ever since and will continue to do so. In fact, Marooney will continue to run OutCast, which has more than 80 employees in San Francisco and New York. Its clients reflect a breadth of Web and other companies–big and small, public and private–also including AdMob, Aliph, Amazon (AMZN), Autodesk (ADSK), Bloom, VMWare (VMW), salesforce.com (CRM), Code Advisors, Cisco (CSCO), Zimbra and Netflix (NFLX). “OutCast is the best in the business. Between VMware, salesforce.com and Facebook, they have an outstanding track record of working with the best companies and making them more valuable,” said Andreessen. “We are thrilled that one of the founders has decided to join our firm. Margit’s experience in building brands will be a big asset to Andreessen Horowitz and our portfolio.” Source: All Things Digital | 14 Jun 2010 | 8:20 pm Starbucks Announces Free Wi-Fi, Proprietary Content Network - Wired News
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 14 Jun 2010 | 8:17 pm Games Inspired By Music: A game development competition with Safari Books Online
We love chiptunes, the quirky celebration of 8-bit-style music that's become a a vibrant genre of its own with a thriving scene supporting it. The compositions evoke a time when electronic musicians had to make the most of the limited resources offered by primitive computing technology. Keeping that fire alive, the latest compositions are like the soundtracks to vintage videogames that never existed. As teased last week, we're joining with Safari Books Online, the massive online library of technical know-how, to honor the mighty chip in the form of a Game Dev Challenge. Your task is to make real the imaginary games embodied by chiptunes. For inspiration or technical insight, Safari Books Online is offering Boing Boing readers 30 days free access to five videogame-related books from the library. The game can be in the format and language of your choice, but we'll be particularly impressed by those whose style and economy matches the music. Compatibility with mobile browsers is a big plus, too! Flash, javascript/HTML5, Silverlight and Java will allow us to embed your game in our site, but native iPhone and Android apps are good options as well. Of course, if you love Python or Unity or Locomotive BASIC, don't let us stop you. You have until July 5 to complete your game. If that feels like a tight deadline, remember that games don't have to be epics. A perfectly-formed 5-minute vignette is better than a poor RPG. To submit your entry, email it to us or host it somewhere and email the URL. You're welcome to post links to works in progress or completed games in the comments, too! We'll select the finalists and showcase them here on Boing Boing starting July 8. Then we'll hold a public vote and announce the winners on July 15. Prizes? Of course there are prizes.
The grand prize is a year of access to Safari Books Online, a $515 value. Safari Books Online provides searchable, on-demand access to more than 10,000 technology, digital media and business books, videos and pre-published manuscripts from more than 40 publishers.
The winner will also receive a treasure chest of goodies from our pals at Gama-Go, ranging from a limited-edition art print to a Gama-Goon statue to a set of handy Sing-A-Long Tongs! Two runners up will score three month subscriptions to Safari Books Online, valued at $128 each, and a fun pack of Gama-Go goods like a Yeti Qee Keychain, Pocket Journal, Hip-Hopsicles, or the Gama-Go art book. Additional feats of 8-Bit excellence may be rewarded with other Gama-Go bits or items retrieved in Rob's gadget dozen. Read the full rules for the fine print, including such notices that your submission should be appropriate for gamers of all ages. Only one entry per person is eligible for a prize. Prize winners must live in the U.S. and be at least 18 years old. (Sorry about that!) You keep the copyright in your entry but allow us to use it. Here are a few parallel universes to pull ideas from:
Tettix
Tettix, AKA Judson Cowan, lives in Atlanta and is responsible for energetic compositions such as Earth's Assault on the Central AI. If a tune ever came up and demanded a game to go with it, it's that one! He recommends tracks from his free-to-download albums Technology Crisis, Technology Crisis II, and T.K.O.E.P. Listen: Earth's Assault on the Enemy AI
Listen: Flying Butt Pliers
Disasterpeace
If you haven't heard Neutralite, a free-to-download introduction to Disasterpeace's music, download it right now. The 'narrative of a young hero chosen by elders of Neutral Town to protect their village from the unfolding conflict between the Plaid and Argyle nations,' it serves as proof positive that music alone can conjure complete, if pixelated, fantasy worlds. Atebite and the Warring Nations is your next step. Adds Disasterpeace, AKA Rich Vreeland: I have whole albums that are basically non-existent game worlds, so it shouldn't be too hard!" Follow him on twitter. Other projects he's worked on include Rescue: The Beagles and A Kind of Bloop. He suggests Violet Violet Garden, Gray Daycare Riot and Funky Fruitstand as good tracks to check out -- all come with the Neutralite album. For inspiration, don't miss Samuel Lopez's video to its title track, embedded above! Listen: Gobber Grove (A collaboration with Spamtron - link)
Listen: Gray Daycare Riot
Garry LeeAs Sycamore Drive, scotsman Garry Lee posts compositions to 8bit Collective, a popular online haunt for chiptune composers. He offers Starlight for platformers and Happiness in Winter for RPGs! Listen: Starlight
Listen: Happiness In Winter
Prizmatic SprayPrizmatic Spray works for game audio design company Audio Aggregate and has just released a chiptune album called Sky Burial. He suggests Ingest the Geode and Nocturnazoide as tracks that could inspire games. Listen: Ingest the Geode
Listen: Nocturnazoid
4matIf you'll permit yourself a heavy nod to modern dance sounds mixed into your chip, you won't go wrong with 4mat's blend of Konami-style shoot-em-up melodies and 21st-century breakbeats.
Listen: Breathe Listen: Black Lipstick
DecktonicDecktonic, AKA Christian Montoya, makes electronic, dance and chip. His 'weapon of choice' is the Korg DS10, a Nintendo DS cart that emulates a classic analog synth. Sky World and Square Signals are great chip. Any questions? Q: Can I base my game on a different chiptune? A: Yes! If the chiptune is not already explicitly licensed to allow appropriate re-use, you must secure the written permission of the composer if you wish to embed it in your game. Q: I'm a chiptune composer, can I put my tune into the pool? A: Yes! Email it in. Don't forget to tell us a little about yourself and how you went about composing the tune. Q; I want to participate, but I can't program!
A: Take advantage of the free 30 days of access to these books from Safari Books Online. Check out Game Maker, Adventure Game Studio and Ambrosine's list of authoring software for non-programmers. Hackers were right to disclose AT&T-iPad Web site hole - CNET
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 14 Jun 2010 | 8:01 pm Cristiano Ronaldo re-launches online presence in time for big game tomorrow: Facebook, YouTube, and more!
The eyes of the world will be looking upon Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo tomorrow as he attempts to single-handedly take his country past the opening round of the World Cup. (Will Didier Drogba have anything to say about that? We’ll see!) Just in time for Cristiano’s moment in the sun: the launch of his official Facebook page, YouTube channel, and the re-launch of CristianoRonaldo.com! That’s right: while Mr. Real Madrid is on the field in South Africa trying to break down the Côte d’Ivoire defense, you can send him kind words of encouragement via the magic of the Internet and social networks. Cristiano wants you, yes you, to submit to his new and improved Facebook page photos and videos and any little piece of media encouragement you can muster. He (well, his team, presumably) will then put all of this on his own site. (Right now it merely points to his Facebook page.) Being that I’m currently in Los Angeles for E3, this means that I have to wake up at 6am just to see the game against Côte d’Ivoire tomorrow. The things you do…
Source: CrunchGear | 14 Jun 2010 | 8:00 pm Macworldâs E3 preview (Macworld.com)Macworld.com - Tuesday marks the start of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), the most important gaming show of the year, and Macworld is here covering every announcement, reveal, and demo we can get our hands on.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Jun 2010 | 8:00 pm Washington's IT GuyTimothy found a profile of Carl Malamud up at The American Prospect, characterizing it thus: "Carl Malamud — underrated work shedding sunshine on the sort of things that 'sunshine laws' may make legally accessible, but that often are not practically accessible. The man should be up there on the list with Wikipedia, Wikileaks, the big Free Software projects, and the Creative Commons."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 14 Jun 2010 | 7:58 pm Fort Worth Museum of Science and History Makes History Through Skype With Plastiki Crew LeaderSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Jun 2010 | 7:51 pm US lawmakers' conference schedule on Wall St billsWASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers from the Senate and the House of Representatives on Tuesday begin their first full day of working to resolve differences between their two Wall Street reform...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Jun 2010 | 7:36 pm How the Chinese Internet Needs to Up Its Game
But I underestimated one big thing: The impact that the lack of Google would have on China’s Web businesses. By essentially handing Baidu a short-term monopoly on keywords, user acquisition costs have gone through the roof, infuriating many of the people who were originally sympathetic to Google’s case just a few months ago. “They should have just not come into the market to begin with if this is how they were going to act”: if I heard that statement once in the last two weeks I spent in China, I heard it a dozen times. This wasn’t all Google’s fault. Frankly put, the company didn’t have enough market share to wreck things on its own. But it was icing on the cake of an increasingly unsustainable situation. Market forces—ie, so much venture capital backing so many new Chinese Web ventures—were already making the cost of acquiring traffic through popular online channels in China expensive. (For instance, there are said to be literally hundreds of Groupon-clones in China vying for traffic all of the sudden.) Now, sources say prices are almost totally out of reach for anyone but the most well-funded companies. Marc van der Chijs co-founder of Tudou and CEO SpilGamesAsia told me a year ago buying traffic via keywords and listings in directory sites like Baidu-owned Hao123.com was a no-brainer. But he says within the last year, the prices have gone up as much as 10-fold. So high, van der Chijs finally walked away, glad he grabbed some users while they were affordable. He’s not alone. I talked to about a dozen startups who said they are spending the bunk of their money these days on user acquisition. It’s creating some concern that newer, scrappier ventures are locked out of a market increasingly dominated by Web giants like Sina and Tencent. The desktop directories at a Chinese Internet cafe show a similar picture. They are hopelessly crowded But even such extreme measures are a challenge now, since increasingly the Chinese Web is spreading beyond Internet cafes. “That’s why so many companies are trying to have a social media element, so people will invite their friends and we can get more users for free,” says Song Li, the founder of a few online ventures including online dating site Zhenai and location-based microblog Digu. Indeed, that’s a big reason Giant invested heavily in social network 51.com, said Giant’s CFO Eric He in Shanghai last week. (Valley-based Redpoint Venture is also an investor in 51.com.) This is the first we’re seeing of Chinese sites having this much trouble finding eyeballs, and it’s a sign of maturity in the development of the Chinese Web. These days there are enough good services, content sites, games and social networks that a lot of people’s basic Web needs are being met. As a result, the audience is becoming sophisticated and harder to lure. The problem is scale. When the US went through this problem, it was around the early 2000s. We had a lull in new sites being created thanks to the dot com crash and around 150 million people were online. In China, there are dozens of new sites being created per day and the Web audience is surging past 400 million users. (At least that’s the number being bandied around these days. The claims for the number of people online in China seems as ever-inflating as the price of a Baidu keyword) It’s a chaotic landscape of constantly shifting sands—even when you don’t consider concerns about changing government regulations. Some entrepreneurs are getting creative. For Zhenai, Li is starting to experiment with television for the first time, both traditional ads and what he refers to as “product placement.” TV dating shows are all the rage in China these days, and they follow a specific script. A stage full of girls question and critique a would-be suitor saying things like “If you don’t drive a BMW, don’t even think about.” As I understand it, the girls take themselves out of the running, round-after-round by turning off their lights. At the end, the poor guy finally gets to a make a choice out of the ones still illuminated. Shows like these have concerned a lot of older Chinese citizens about the lack of morals among the youth who seem obsessed with money, sex and things, but Li sees something more subtle at work here. Shows like these are an outlet for a wave of women who came into the work force as China was opening up its economy. Even at young ages they are educated and economically self-sufficient, so they’ve decided not to settle for a man for the sake of security. This group had been teased in society and called “The Left Behinds.” These game shows are a way of reclaiming their independence, their choice not to marry. And other women like them are living vicariously. There are about a dozen iterations of these shows showing throughout China’s fragmented TV networks. Dating sites like Zhenai see opportunity here. Increasingly, these sites are helping with the casting and when girls from a given site gets picked, the site is listed under her name, like a product placement ad. Hopefully, if she’s alluring enough, that drives more would-be daters to the site. But setting up casting calls and culling through millions of members is a lot of work to find a telegenic few. Is it worth all that work for the traffic? Even Li isn’t sure. But give him credit for trying. The Chinese Web became lucrative because of entrepreneurs who excelled in distribution and monetization. These guys can do better than continuing to buy inflated keywords. They have to– all inflated markets pop at some point. The companies that have found a more lasting way to build their audiences will likely be the ones who build the second generation of Chinese Web giants.      
Source: TechCrunch | 14 Jun 2010 | 7:24 pm Children of Eden: It’s Rez all over again, but better
We may see more from Sony, as the game may also be for the Move. I’ll add the video from Ubi’s presser as soon as it’s up.
Source: CrunchGear | 14 Jun 2010 | 7:08 pm Live Blog: Microsoft E3 2010 Press ConferenceFROM GAMERTELL - Read [Gamertell at E3 2010] MORE » Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 14 Jun 2010 | 7:01 pm BattleTag is… Lazer Tag, reborn
I don’t know what those do, do don’t ask me. Googlize it! I’ll put some video here later. Maybe.
Source: CrunchGear | 14 Jun 2010 | 6:51 pm Picture This: Yahoo Finally Takes Control Of Flicker.com For Flickr
As we noted a year ago, Flicker.com put itself on sale in a very visible way. Anyone who visited the page was greeted by a logo and statistics about how much traffic the site receives. So how much traffic was Flicker.com getting? 3.6 million unique visitors a year, according to them. Almost all of those hits were direct (95%) undoubtedly because people would misspell Flickr.com as Flicker.com. The Domains first reported that the WHOIS record has changed, and we’ve since confirmed with Yahoo that they did take control of the domain. “The FLICKER.COM domain has been transferred to Yahoo!,” a spokesperson told us but declined to say anything further. Earlier today, Domain Name Wire reported that a lawsuit settlement gave Yahoo the domain. Back in 2007, Yahoo supposedly offered the owners of Flicker.com $600,000 for the domain, which they supposedly turned down. For now, Flicker.com is still pointing to the old landing page, but you can probably expect that to change soon. Update: Flickr co-founder Caterina Fake (no longer with the service — but working on a new startup, Hunch) left the following comment below to with some of the history behind the name:
So there you go, Flicker Beer led to the service dropping the “e” and starting a trend (including, at one point, Twitter).      
Source: TechCrunch | 14 Jun 2010 | 6:47 pm RIM Tests a Tablet and Rival to iPhone - Wall Street Journal
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 14 Jun 2010 | 6:20 pm Research In Motion Is Testing a Tablet
The BlackBerry tablet is reportedly in the early stage of development and will tether to the the phone. Last month, the Boy Genius Report web site said the BlackBerry tablet is likely to have an 8.9-inch screen and include Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. Since Apple introduced the iPad in April, other PC and smartphone makers have announced that they are working on tablets of their own. In less than 60 days since the iPad was launched, Apple said it sold more than 2 million of them. Earlier this month, Dell announced it will introduce a tablet called ‘Streak’ that will have a 5-inch display and run Google’s Android operating system. The Streak also has a SIM card so users can make calls with it. The device is currently available in the U.K. now and is expected to launch in the U.S. next month for $500. HP is also working on a tablet computer called the HP Slate. RIM hopes to introduce its tablet to complement its BlackBerry phones. The move evokes Palm’s failed experiment with the Foleo. In 2007, Palm announced the Foleo as a companion device to its Treo phone. The Foleo priced at $500 would sync wirelessly to Treo phones. But, after much criticism, Palm cancelled the device even before it could make it to retail shelves. RIM’s tablet might be better received. A tablet could help RIM compete better with the latest generation of smartphones. Except for the BlackBerry Storm, RIM hasn’t released any smartphones with touchscreens. A tablet could help bridge the gap between its keyboard-focused phones and the fast growing market for touchscreen devices. See Also:
Photo: (ichibod/Flickr) 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 14 Jun 2010 | 6:14 pm Starbucks Frees Wi-FiCWmike sends in this excerpt from Computerworld: "Free unlimited Wi-Fi is coming to nearly 7,000 company-operated Starbucks stores in the US beginning July 1, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said on Monday. Schultz also said that Starbucks is partnering with Yahoo! to debut the Starbucks Digital Network this fall. Starbucks customers will have free unrestricted access to various paid sites and services, such as wsj.com, as well as other free downloads Starbucks didn't detail. A spokeswoman said the access will be 'unlimited' and 'simplified, one-click.' By comparison, first-time Wi-Fi users in Starbucks stores now get up to two hours free after registering, but then must purchase additional time at the rate of $3.99 for two consecutive hours. That Wi-Fi access is already free to AT&T DSL home customers and AT&T mobile customers, according to the Starbucks website, but the connection process requires up to nine steps. McDonald's added free Wi-Fi to 11,500 locations earlier this year."
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Source: Slashdot | 14 Jun 2010 | 6:06 pm Photo Gallery: Sexy New Xbox 360, Unboxed and UnwrappedGet a thorough first look at the slimmer, sleaker -- and blacker -- gaming device.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Jun 2010 | 6:05 pm Analysis: Enough blame to go around in iPad security breach (Macworld.com)Macworld.com - The leader of a security research firm and AT&T traded angry words Monday in the wake of last weekâs data breach that exposed the e-mail addresses of 114,000 iPad 3G users. The carrier called the behavior of Goatse Security âmalicious,â while the security firm countered that AT&T was âbeing dishonest about the potential for harm.â But both sides have plenty to answer for in how theyâve handled this security situation.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Jun 2010 | 6:00 pm On The Xbox 360 Kinect Experiment And The Future Of Motion Controls Microsoft has been busy over the last year. It was during E3 2009 that Microsoft blew everyone away with what was then dubbed Project Natal. It promised to bring full body motion control to the 360. We're getting our first real look at the system at E3 today after last night's theatrical reveal and, well, it's keeping that promise.
That's not what's surprising, though. Project Natal, now called Kinect, was demoed extensively over the last year and most of the media had a chance to play with the early demos. The real surprise today is that Kinect isn't a Wii clone like it previously seemed. It's something entirely different that doesn't target just families or casual gamers. This thing is for real.
Update: Now with a pic of our hotel's bathroom! You have to see this.
Source: TechCrunch | 14 Jun 2010 | 5:52 pm Verizon Wireless Droid Incredible now delayed until July 12thSection: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile  It looks like the Droid Incredible shipping delay is continuing to grow. As of now, the shipping estimate over on the Verizon Wireless website is showing a “Will Be Shipped” by date of 7/12. It seems to be growing day by day. Back on June 3rd they were showing a shipping date of June 24th, and now its June 14th with July 12th. Just like I mentioned in that last post, when is Verizon simply going to stop orders for the Incredible? Product [Verizon Wireless] Via [BGR]
Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 14 Jun 2010 | 5:50 pm On the Xbox 360 Kinect experiment and the future of motion controls
Microsoft has been busy over the last year. It was during E3 2009 that Microsoft blew everyone away with what was then dubbed Project Natal. It promised to bring full body motion control to the 360. We’re getting our first real look at the system at E3 today after last night’s theatrical reveal and, well, it’s keeping that promise. That’s not what’s surprising, though. Project Natal, now called Kinect, was demoed extensively over the last year and most of the media had a chance to play with the early demos. The real surprise today is that Kinect isn’t a Wii clone like it previously seemed. It’s something entirely different that doesn’t target just families or casual gamers. This thing is for real.
There are of course games for little girls (Kinectimals) and groups (Kinect Adventurous & Kinect Sports) that will no doubt be popular at launch. But then there are games for adults as well from Konami, Lucas Arts and Turn 10 Studios, which clearly show that the big boys are fully embracing the next-gen controller system. Yeah, Metal Gear Solid and Star Wars Kinect games in development. How awesome is that? It gets better, though. Microsoft has worked the Kinect to be an alternative Xbox 360 dashboard interface controller. To log-in, you wave your hand. A swipe of said hand moves the on-screen cursor to make selections and browse through media. Kinect even recognizes voice commands. This could be start of something big and *might* be the closest thing to the fabled Minority Report computer yet.
Microsoft’s taking a lot more forward-thinking approach to motion control than Sony or Nintendo. Not having a controller per se definitely has its drawbacks for gaming, but is far superior for an user interface if done properly. If the Kinect experiment — that’s what it is and don’t think anything different — pans out, Microsoft will be well positioned to take motion control to a whole new level on both the gaming console and computer. Now my post could be premature because we haven’t actually spent any time with the final hardware. Plus, I am writing this coming off of two high-energy Microsoft press events, but so far Kinect is exceeding my expectations. Microsoft is positioning this add-on to reach a broad spectrum of customers, and while die-hard gamers might find it corny, there seems to be something for everyone else. But I don’t think I’m alone. The buzz here at E3 is that Microsoft nailed Kinect. We have some face time lined up with Kinect in the coming days. Let’s hope that the demos weren’t deceptive and the motion tracking is as good as it seems. If it is, I’ll officially be on the Kinect bandwagon. Update: Some guy from our hotel just put this sticker on our bathroom mirror. I took a couple of pics before I tore it down.
Source: CrunchGear | 14 Jun 2010 | 5:49 pm Hong Kong Closes World Cup Loophole [Voices]By Emily Veach, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal For the first time, soccer fans in the U.S. can watch every single World Cup match. Such is the norm in Europe, and in mainland China. Football crazy Hong Kongers who live in buildings with satellite antennae might’ve tuned in to mainland China’s CCTV, but now that loophole is being sewn up. In Hong Kong, the subscription service i-Cable won the legal rights to show every match. For those who don’t subscribe to i-Cable, the only local viewing option was a pair of free stations that will air two semifinal games and the final (they also showed the opening game on Friday). Even North Korea has made it easier to watch the World Cup: its state broadcaster has aired footage from three games so far, though not surprisingly it skipped the South Korea and U.S. games. (South Korea’s SBS TV, which has refused to share its feed with the North as it did in 2006, called the latest broadcasts an “act of piracy.”) So many Hong Kong residents were left with CCTV. But, according to the Associated Press, the Hong Kong government said it asked local buildings with satellite antennae last week to block out CCTV’s World Cup coverage, warning that violators “may attract civil liability” for copyright infringement. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 14 Jun 2010 | 5:32 pm Ears-on review: Three pro-grade custom earbuds (Christopher Null)Christopher Null - So you’re still listening to music with the little white earbuds that came with your iPod? You don’t know what you’re missing.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Jun 2010 | 5:29 pm Knuth Got It Wrongdavecb writes "Think you've mastered the art of server performance? Think again. Poul-Henning Kamp, in an article at ACM Queue, finds an off-by-ten error in btrees, because they fail to take virtual memory into account. And he solves the problem in the open source 'Varnish' HTTP accelerator, for all of us to see and use."
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Source: Slashdot | 14 Jun 2010 | 5:18 pm 19 Android Phones You Can Buy Today (or Soon)
Less than two years after Google introduced the first Android phone, the free, open source operating system has turned into a juggernaut. There are 16 Android phones available today, and three new devices will hit retail stores in the next few weeks. The latest Android phone is the HTC Aria. AT&T revealed the Aria on Monday as a mid-range phone that will run Android 2.1, have a 5-megapixel camera, a 3.2-inch display and a slower processor than the Nexus One or HTC Evo 4G (the Aria’s CPU clocks 600 MHz, compared to 1 GHz on the latter). Aria is not the last Android phone from AT&T this year. The company has said it will have five Android devices in 2010 and is likely to announce yet another Android phone soon. Google debuted the Android operating system in 2008, and the first handset to use it was T-Mobile’s HTC G1. Since then, the four major U.S. wireless service providers — Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint — have embraced the OS. AT&T’s Android portfolio, though, is the weakest, which shouldn’t be a surprise considering its exclusive deal with Apple: Thanks to the success of the iPhone, AT&T has less reason to explore Android alternatives. From the $50 LG Ally on Verizon to the most advanced handset available today — the HTC Evo 4G on Sprint — there’s an Android phone for almost every price range and level of use. So if you are looking to switch to Android or upgrade your existing device, check out our list of all the Android phones available by wireless carrier. Prices mentioned below are those listed on the website of the carrier, with a two-year contract, except as noted. For more details on each of these phones, click through to the carrier sites: AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon.
Photo: Android mascot (Esti/Flickr) 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 14 Jun 2010 | 5:14 pm 19 Android Phones You Can Buy Today (or Soon)If you are looking to switch to Android or upgrade your existing device, here's a list of all the Android phones available by wireless carrier.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Jun 2010 | 5:14 pm 19 Android Phones You Can Buy Today (or Soon)If you are looking to switch to Android or upgrade your existing device, here's a list of all the Android phones available by wireless carrier.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 14 Jun 2010 | 5:14 pm Microsoft's newest Office goes on sale Tuesday (AP)AP - The next version of Microsoft Corp.'s Office software will be available to consumers and small businesses starting Tuesday.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Jun 2010 | 5:02 pm Mad Catz rocks out with new Rock Band 3 accessories
First up, the wireless keyboard. Mad Catz put together a keyboard based on a true professional keyboard, allowing the device to either be played on a flat surface, or even strapped over the players shoulder. Just make sure you have your shoulder pads on. Retail for the keyboard controller is expected to come in at $79.99
Source: CrunchGear | 14 Jun 2010 | 4:45 pm Uwe Boll, Other Filmmakers Sue Thousands of Movie Pirateslinzeal writes "Directors whose films have done poorly at the box office are increasingly being solicited by high-powered law firms to file lawsuits with offers of settlement. This practice, which the EFF has been calling extortive and 'mafia-like', has resulted in courts starting to rule in favor of the consumer, and in some cases throwing out the lawsuits. This is all fine and dandy, however, when you are considered the world's worst director and you largely finance films through your own holding company. At that point, the rhetoric and ridicule gets ratcheted up rather quickly."
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Source: Slashdot | 14 Jun 2010 | 4:31 pm QOTD [Digital Daily]
Source: All Things Digital | 14 Jun 2010 | 4:05 pm Summary Box: New US-China trade tensions (AP)AP - NEW BARRIERS: China is taking steps that could make it harder for U.S. software, clean-energy and other cutting-edge companies to sell in the Chinese market.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Jun 2010 | 4:02 pm New Archos Tablet Is a Kid's Toy, Not Suitable for AdultsAnyone at Archos who thought the 7 would give the iPad a run for its money needs a reality check.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 14 Jun 2010 | 4:00 pm New Archos Tablet Is a Kid's Toy, Not Suitable for AdultsAnyone at Archos who thought the 7 would give the iPad a run for its money needs a reality check.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Jun 2010 | 4:00 pm AT&T Breach May Be Worse Than Initially ThoughtChrisPaget writes "I'm somewhat of an authority on GSM security, having given presentations on it at Shmoocon (M4V) and CCC (I'm also scheduled to talk about GSM at this year's Defcon). This is my take on the iPad ICCID disclosure — the short version is that (thanks to a bad decision by the US cell companies, not just AT&T) ICCIDs can be trivially converted to IMSIs, and the disclosure of IMSIs leads to some very severe consequences, such as name and phone number disclosure, global tower-level tracking, and making live interception a whole lot easier. My recommendation? AT&T has 114,000 SIM cards to replace and some nasty architectural problems to fix." Reader tsamsoniw adds that AT&T has criticized the security group responsible for pointing out the flaw, while the group claims they did it 'as a service to our nation.'
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Source: Slashdot | 14 Jun 2010 | 3:47 pm Starbucks will begin offering free Wi-Fi at all US locations on July 1stSection: Communications, Mobile, Computers, Wireless
And just like that, as of July 1st you will be able to surf the Internet for free at Starbucks. I think the only thing that makes this even better is that you don’t even have to register. Of course, this most likely means I will now sit in Starbucks longer which will lead me to spend more money on coffee. Read [Starbucks] and [Twitter @Starbucks] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 14 Jun 2010 | 3:32 pm 'Much more water' in Moon's rocks - BBC News
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 14 Jun 2010 | 3:19 pm Microsoft Kin handsets might get IM support in the future
Back when Microsoft’s teen-oriented Kin 1 and Kin 2 social networking phones were announced, we were a bit surprised to find out that they lacked what most would consider a pretty standard feature: instant messaging. Or at least, we would have been surprised, had we not found out many of the Kin’s shortcomings months before their official announcement. A social networking phone.. without instant messaging? Preposterous. Fortunately, it looks like Microsoft might be looking to fill this rather massive gap, eventually.
After a few months of tearing through random HTC ROMs, notoriously wonderful ROM hacker Conflipper has returned to the Kin. In his first dive back in, he stumbled across the foundation for an IM system supporting AOL IM, Windows Live, and Yahoo. When might Microsoft roll such features out? Alas, we have no way of knowing. While Conflipper says that the handsets are capable of software updates, Microsoft has yet to roll any out — so until further notice, we’ve got no way of knowing if they plan on changing anything.
Source: MobileCrunch | 14 Jun 2010 | 3:08 pm Inertial Mass Separate From Gravitational Mass?CPerdue writes with this excerpt from the MIT arXiv blog: "The equivalence principle is one of the more fascinating ideas in modern science. It asserts that gravitational mass and inertial mass are identical. Einstein put it like this: the gravitational force we experience on Earth is identical to the force we would experience were we sitting in a spaceship accelerating at 1g. Newton might have said that the m in F=ma is the same as the ms in F=Gm1m2/r^2. ... All that changes today with the extraordinary work of Endre Kajari at the University of Ulm in Germany and a few buddies. They show how it is possible to create situations in the quantum world in which the effects of inertial and gravitational mass must be different. In fact, they show that these differences can be arbitrarily large."
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Source: Slashdot | 14 Jun 2010 | 3:04 pm Why Travelers Go South: North Seems UphillPeople making travel plans may unwittingly follow the "southern routes" rule of thumb. A new experiment shows volunteers choose paths that go south over routes of the same distance that arch northward, perhaps because northern routes seem uphill and more difficult.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Jun 2010 | 3:00 pm Supreme Court Rejects Case of Tortured CanadianThe Supreme Court declines to review the case of Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen sent to Syria in 2002 as a suspected Al Qaeda agent and tortured for months. The Obama administration refuses Arar his day in court, despite being cleared by Canada, which paid him $10 million for his suffering.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Jun 2010 | 2:50 pm FAA Experiments With Integrating Drones Into Civil AirspaceThe feds begin flying unmanned aircraft to see how air traffic controllers manage them alongside conventional planes.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Jun 2010 | 2:48 pm Kinect’s launch lineup: something for everybody
Here are our picks for which games will and will not impress buyers when November 4th comes around. Age 4-8 Kinectimals To more mature gamers, this really seems like nothing more than a tech demo, but the popularity of Nintendogs suggests that the virtual pet genre (especially in a family-oriented device) could be ripe for exploitation. Plus: adults can resist buying custom leashes and toys for their pets, but youngsters will throw fits and ask for them as presents. Watching these demos made me think of Black & White. Remember that game? It’d be insane on Kinect.
These suites of minigames are designed for friendly competition, but still have a clear winner and loser, and even replays for bragging rights in Sports. It’s perfect for kids not yet old enough to want Gears but old enough to want to humiliate their opponents. Middle school is the venue for this, and these two titles provide a good environment for it. I’m reminded of the fun I had with a Power Pad, although you can’t cheat by getting down on all fours and pounding the buttons with your hands. I’m skeptical of their kart-racing game, because it looks like skill is totally irrelevant. Kids this age will reject that very quickly.
While they’re waiting for their parents or some older friends to buy them the darker games that GameStop won’t sell them, these teenagers will find some solace in Star Wars. The feeling of power, the massive destruction, and so on. This is a maybe — gameplay is still kind of a mystery, and if Natal isn’t capable of delivering a robust experience, these nascent hardcore gamers will reject it as too arcade-y or casual. The light saber battles better be good. Unfortunately for the Dance Central team, I’m afraid their game won’t prove popular with any demographic. The music isn’t hip enough and the game doesn’t look particularly fun or competitive, unlike DDR, which finds power and reach in simplicity.
I hate to cater to stereotypes here, but in my defense, Microsoft did it first. And although this demo was performed exclusively by women, I actually thought it looked quite good. The Wii Balance Board, while interesting in some ways, really seems archaic next to this thing. The presumed Achilles’ heels of Kinect (lag and lack of fine motor detection) are nonexistent here, so the whole experience can be about the player. It’s also a great conduit for DLC, which many will be happy to pay for: exercise routines, yoga classes, and so on — minus the hassle and exposure of a gym. I suspect this will be a staple, and will be a key property in getting the family in front of the TV.
I don’t pick this merely because guys are supposed to be car lovers, but because this is the kind of video game that will get a non-game-playing dad into the gaming world. Even though the flaws of Kinect will be front and center (no pedals? laggy steering?), the wonder of seeing your gloved hands steering the actual car, and the childish joy looking around a virtual world with your real head will prove a serious draw. They’ll have this on display at a lot of electronics dealerships and dads who missed the gaming boat by a couple years will be lining up to take a turn. (image: Joystiq)
We didn’t see anything of this, but given the level of integration Kinect has with Xbox Live, it’s safe to say we’re probably going to see a whole section of XBLA dedicated to (and perhaps exclusively accessed by) Kinect. I’m sure that there are dozens, if not hundreds, of casual game developers foaming at the mouth here. (image: Electric Pig) Hardcore gamer: Metal Gear Solid Rising (Lightning Bolt Action) All meta-commentary about Kojima stuff, Raiden, and the title aside, this game is what hardcore Wii gamers have been begging for and have never received. That’s assuming it uses the Kinect engine, which was not announced but seems likely. Actually chopping guys up in precise, stylish ways? Blood shooting out everywhere? Convoluted MGS-related storyline and hours of cinematics? It’s going to sell a ton. What’s next? Third party developers are probably only partially done with their games, and like the Wii launch, we’re going to have to subsist on flagship titles and minigames for a while. At $150, it may be a tough sell for people that don’t already have a 360 and Live. But I think in-store demos will really be key for this, and a lot of people will see the ESPN thing and see the possibilities. It’s also a great babysitter. Once word gets out (and likely after a few updates) we’ll see some really compelling bundles with the new hardware — the family pack, the upgrader, the racing pack… and these, complete packages with single prices, will be what will put it in a lot of new living rooms. We’ll have all kinds of hands-on with the final hardware and launch titles later. Keep an eye on the E3 2010 tag for more.
Source: CrunchGear | 14 Jun 2010 | 2:31 pm Follow the 2010 FIFA World Cup OnlineStuck at your desk during the day's big match? Check out our list of streaming video websites, news feeds and mobile apps for all your World Cup cravings.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Jun 2010 | 2:30 pm Microsoft Unveils Smaller Xbox 360 Model, Kinect DetailsE3 kicked off today, and Microsoft took advantage of its early keynote presentation to show off a ton of new games and features for the Xbox 360. The biggest news for the very near future is that they're releasing a smaller, revamped version of the console, with immediate availability. It's black, it comes with a 250GB HDD and built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi support, and it's priced at $299. Microsoft also put a release date on Kinect, the motion control scheme formerly known as Project Natal: November 4 in the US. It will launch with 15 games, mostly casual-oriented, several of which were demonstrated on-stage. Many new Kinect features were shown as well, such as the dashboard interface, video chat (with support for playing movies both parties can watch), and a partnership with ESPN to provide live and on-demand sports, all controllable with hand gestures and voice commands. (It presently includes college football and basketball, soccer, the NBA, and MLB.) Also notable is a partnership with LucasArts for a Kinect Star Wars game, a fitness game from Ubisoft, and a Forza racing game that uses Kinect and allows players to inspect the cars with an impressive level of detail. Engadget's liveblog of the event has a bunch of pictures from the demonstrations, or you can read a more detailed play-by-play at Ars.
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Source: Slashdot | 14 Jun 2010 | 2:19 pm Kennedy's FBI Files Reveal Numerous Death ThreatsMore than 2,000 pages of documents detail the threats that plagued Kennedy throughout his 47-year Senate career.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 14 Jun 2010 | 2:00 pm USB Typewriter Turns iPad Into PaperAn array of sensors turns an old-fashioned mechanical typewriter into an external USB keyboard for an iPad.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 14 Jun 2010 | 2:00 pm Sprint cans employee for leaking EVO 4G sales numbers
The tales surrounding the launch of the EVO 4G have been intriguing, to say the least. On June 4th, the device launched. By June 7th, Sprint was touting the phone’s sales as mammoth, claiming that it had broken their previous one-day sales records (as held by the Samsung Instinct and Palm Pre) by as much as 3 times. Just two days later, they recanted that story, declaring that they had “erred” in their original estimations, and that the sales numbers were inline with those of their previous top sellers. There was, however, a bit of the story which we didn’t see: the part where a Sprint employee used the inventory system to figure out exactly how many EVO 4Gs were sold and posted that number online, resulting in a speedy investigation by Sprint HQ and the employee’s immediate termination.
We’ve reached out to Sprint for a comment on the matter, but here’s the story as we’re hearing it so far from a trusted source: On the afternoon of June 6th (before Sprint had released any sales numbers), a Sprint retail employee posted a note to the growingly infamous phone hacking forum, XDA-Developers, with sales figure details gleaned from their system. The post has since been removed, but bits of it are still lingering in Google’s cache:
According to this employee’s perusing, Sprint had dished out roughly 66.5 thousand EVO 4Gs after a little more than two days following launch. (Note that, as far as I know, this number only accounts for Sprint stores — not third party sellers like WalMart, RadioShack, etc. Even then, this number could be incorrect, depending on how the employee uncovered the number and any updating latency involved. I doubt Sprint’s going to confirm its accuracy, so take it with a grain of salt.) Now, this post went mostly unnoticed by blogs and other media outlets — but it didn’t go unnoticed by Sprint HQ. As leaks are becoming more and more prevalent, carriers and manufacturers are dedicating more resources toward keeping an eye on forums like these for any breadcrumbs leading back to the source. Unfortunately for this given leakster, the breadcrumbs were all there. Within a few days, an internal Sprint team (which, we’re told, is known around the carrier as “Forensics”) had traced the employee back to his Florida store. One of Sprint’s internal security task force members was immediately flown from Kansas to Florida; the employee was pulled in, their posting habits literally laid all out on the table, and they were terminated on the spot. We see leaks each and every day; they are, after all, the lifeblood of any good gadget blog. Just because they’re a regular occurrence, however, doesn’t mean that employers are going to let them slide. They’re well within their rights to let any red-handed info-leakers go — and if any NDAs are involved, there very well could be some litigation involved. If the breadcrumbs are there, they’ll find’em.
Source: MobileCrunch | 14 Jun 2010 | 1:46 pm E-Reserves Under Fire From PublishersRackinFrackin writes "Publishers Weekly has a story about a copyright lawsuit lodged against several faculty members and a librarian at Georgia State University. The case, Cambridge University Press, et al. v. Patton et al., involves e-reserves, a practice of making electronic copies of articles available to students. From the article: 'Rather than make multiple physical copies, faculty now scan or download chapters or articles, create a single copy, and place that copy on a server where students can access it (and in some cases print, download, or share). Since the practice relies on fair use (creating a single digital copy, usually from a resource already paid for, for educational purposes), permission generally isn't sought, and thus permission fees aren't paid, making the price right for students strapped by the high cost of tuition and textbooks, as well as for libraries with budgets stretched thinner every year.'"
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Source: Slashdot | 14 Jun 2010 | 1:36 pm Post-it Index Cards: A ray of light in our otherwise dreary day
Best of all was his testing regimen. It included, but was not limited to, removing and replacing the cards over 50 times. How many times would you have tested these things? 5? 7? I know, right?
Godspeed you, OfficeSupplyGeek. You go boldly where no one else dares and you are all the better for it.
Source: CrunchGear | 14 Jun 2010 | 1:30 pm Microsoft’s Oprah moment: You’re all getting Xboxes
However, another treat came when they announced all the media at their press event will be getting Xbox 360s immediately and that they would be showing up at their domiciles and places of business posthaste. Ethical issues aside, this is an interesting marketing effort. These sort of giveaways are common at developer events (well, actually just Google IO) and I suspect they’ll become more popular in the coming months. Gear is so cheap to build and ship that it almost makes sense to blanket the evangelists with it. Whereas the old model of “selective releases” works for some products – Apple, in particular excels at this – the Xbox team is dealing with an entrenched base of hardware users who will be loathe to swap out their old Xbox, provided they’re not RRODed. By blanketing the media, they’re ensured that a mass of gamers will think of the new model as the new hotness while imagining the old version as, in contrast, old and busted. As a corollary to this, I suspect you’ll find some great deals on used Xboxen on eBay very soon.
Source: CrunchGear | 14 Jun 2010 | 1:19 pm HTC Aria coming to AT&T on June 20 for $129.99Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile
The phone is the HTC Aria, and it looks like something between the HTC EVO 4G and the HTC Legend. It takes the 3.2-inch screen and optical trackball from the Legend and the front design of the EVO 4G, the result looking a bit awkward at first glance. The Aria runs the Sense UI over Android 2.1 just like the EVO 4G and HTC Incredible. Unlike both the EVO and Incredible, however, the Aria is running on a 600 MHz Qualcomm MSM 7227 processor, it also has only 512 MB of ROM and 256 MG of RAM. The only other interesting part of the specs is that it has a 5MP camera with an LED flash. The Aria will come to AT&T on June 20 for $129, but only after a $100 mail-in rebate. The announcement of a new AT&T Android phone is good news, but it comes at such a strange time. The phone is underpowered compared to other Android phones on every other major carriers. It also comes at a time where those who are looking at AT&T are probably doing so for the iPhone 4. So unless you really need an Android phone, despise T-Mobile and Sprint and you just can’t wait until July for a Droid Incredible, maybe the HTC Aria is for you. Or you could just spend the extra money on an AT&T-compatible Nexus One while they last. Other wise, we may have to wait for the unlocked Dell Streak to see another decent Android phone on AT&T. Read [AT&T] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 14 Jun 2010 | 1:12 pm Underwear That Could Save Your LifeBriefs that have carbon-based electrodes screenprinted onto the fabric act as biosensors to measure blood pressure, heart rate and other vital signs.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 14 Jun 2010 | 1:08 pm Poll: Will you buy the new Xbox 360?
Source: CrunchGear | 14 Jun 2010 | 1:08 pm Whales for SaleAn investigation has found that Japan not only pays countries to vote in favor of whaling, but offers other "encouragements," including prostitutes for delegates to the International Whaling Commission.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 14 Jun 2010 | 12:56 pm Appletell reviews the Mezzi laptop caseFROM APPLETELL - The Mezzi M1 Molded Attache Laptop Case is a hard case meant to carry and protect your laptop. While I’m more a fan more of softer cases, this one does a pretty great job. Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 14 Jun 2010 | 12:42 pm More Oil Spill Data Than You Can HandleAs part of the White House's Open Government Initiative, the U.S. Department of Energy has opened an online portal for the public to learn all the heart-wrenching details available about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 14 Jun 2010 | 12:35 pm Airplanes Punch Holes in Clouds, Make it RainPlanes flying through certain clouds can seed them, causing snow, rain, and spectacular "hole-punch" cloud formations.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 14 Jun 2010 | 12:18 pm Launch of Boxee Box Delayed to November
The Boxee Box, a set-top box created in partnership with D-Link to host Boxee’s web video streaming software, is facing a setback. The release of Boxee’s hardware has been pushed back to November from the earlier target of June. “The original plan was to have the Box out by the end of Q2 (i.e. just about now), but that time-frame proved overly ambitious,” Boxee CEO Avner Ronen wrote on the company blog. Boxee showed the gadget at the Consumer Electronics Show this year. The company didn’t reveal pricing for the device but said it estimates it to be around $200. The delay is likely to pit the Boxee box squarely against Google TV. Google announced a set-top box platform based on the Android operating system that would integrate cable TV programming with web video. Google has partnered with Sony, Logitech and Intel to create the hardware that it says will be available in retail stores this fall. Till its partnership with D-Link earlier this year, Boxee seemed content to offer its software as a free download to users. Most Boxee users install the software on their computers and hook the PC to a TV. Boxee’ software can also run on Apple TV. But a software-only application does limit Boxee’s reach as it can be intimidating to users who don’t want to get their hands dirty with the set up. Ronen says Boxee has set some ambitious goals for itself. “Our vision is to make the Boxee experience on a set top box as good as (and where we can, better than) the one you already know on a PC,” he says. “The goal is to play HD videos from the web or a local network in 1080p and use hardware acceleration whenever possible.” Boxee also wants to offer a TV browser experience that can handle Adobe’s Flash 10.1. “Not to mention making all this happen for an affordable price and on a quiet device that will not feel obsolete 12 months after you buy it,” says Ronen. We will have to see if Boxee can really pull this off. See Also:
Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 14 Jun 2010 | 12:06 pm Display Expert: iPhone 4 Resolution ‘Significantly Lower’ Than Retina
An article published by Wired.com last week about the accuracy of Apple’s iPhone 4 “retina” display claims has stirred some debate, provoking a response from Phil Plait of Discover.com. Plait disagreed with assertions made by display expert Raymond Soneira, president of DisplayMate Technologies, who argued that Apple’s “retina display” was a misleading marketing term. In his keynote speech presenting the iPhone 4, Jobs said the handset’s display had a pixel density of 326 pixels per inch, exceeding the limit of the human retina. Soneira contends that the iPhone 4 has significantly lower resolution than the retina, and he has requested for Wired.com to publish a statement clarifying his claims. Below is his statement in full:
Dr. Soneira is president of DisplayMate Technologies and a recognized expert in display technology. He has a PhD in theoretical physics from Princeton University and was a long-term member of the world-famous Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton (the Einstein Institute). He has also done extensive work in astrophysics including the Space Telescope with John Bahcall, who was the prime mover in the development of Hubble. See Also:
Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 14 Jun 2010 | 12:01 pm Honey May Heal Wounded Sea TurtlesThe Georgia Sea Turtle Center is healing wounded sea turtles with a sweet treatment: honey.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 14 Jun 2010 | 11:38 am Starbucks moving to free, no-registration-needed WiFi on July 1st
This isn’t so much mobile news as it is news that mobile users should probably know about. That coffee company, Starbucks.. maybe you’ve heard of them? If not, open the blinds at whatever location you’re currently sitting at, and look across the street (or, at most, down to the corner). Surprise! It’s a Starbucks! Well, they’re opening up their WiFi; no hourly fees, no registration necessary.
This is something that has been a long time coming. For years, their WiFi was a pay per hour service through T-Mobile. Eventually they moved to an AT&T-powered WiFi network, implementing a crazy system involving gift cards, balances, and a fairly terrible registration process which drove both the customers and the Baristas forced to play tech-support up the wall. The company has just announced that, beginning on July 1st, the old system is dead. Long live the new system! No registration process, no hourly fees — just good ol’ fashion WiFi juices, flowing for all the gadget-toting children of the land to enjoy. Now you can finally finish that book you’re writing without having to deal with logins, weird interfaces, forgotten passwords, or other such nonsense. Oh, and don’t forget: Support your local coffee shop. There are 11,608 Starbucks in the US alone, all of them just about identical. At the very least, change up the scenery.
Source: MobileCrunch | 14 Jun 2010 | 10:40 am Afghanistan: The Saudi Arabia of Lithium?Afghanistan appears to have hit the geological jackpot.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 14 Jun 2010 | 10:25 am Teenager Unearths Dinosaur Era Marine Reptile in Vegetable GardenA Queensland, Australia teenager recently unearthed a Dinosaur Era marine reptile in his school's vegetable garden.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 14 Jun 2010 | 10:04 am For Atlantic Hurricanes, the Heat is OnA region of unusually warm water in the eastern Atlantic Ocean is one reason we might be in for a big hurricane season.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 14 Jun 2010 | 9:57 am EVO 4G falling apart? Reports of screen problems aboundSection: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile
Are you an EVO owners? Then it’s time to check your screen and keep an eye on it. It seems several owners of the hot new HTC EVO 4G device from Sprint are finding their screen’s glue perhaps isn’t as strong as it could or should have been. The screens seem to be lifting from the bottom of the device and is evidenced by light leaking out of the bottom. Owners at Android forums are finding their requests for replacements are temporarily denied as stock is currently depleted. Some say HTC is suggesting waiting 30 days to replace (perhaps to let stock build back up) while others say they are acting on the 30 day exchange policy as soon as stock returns. Some users are trying to solve the issue with black caulk, surely voiding any kind of warranty. From one user,
Got an EVO? Let us know if you are seeing this. We’ve requested a comment from HTC and will report any news on the issue. Read: [AndroidForums] Image credit: AndroidForums Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 14 Jun 2010 | 9:47 am Appletell reviews the StealthArmor for iPadFROM APPLETELL - Having the StealthArmor on my iPad makes me less hesitant to put it on a hard surface or hand it over to a friend. Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 14 Jun 2010 | 9:32 am Wired Bureau Chief Builds iPad Stand from $6 DoorstopsWhen not knocking back gin martinis or sipping “Platform Heinekens” while waiting for the train home, Wired.com NY Bureau Chief John C Abell is quite the handyman. Not only is he the Foursquare mayor of his local Home Depot, he has also put together the best iPad typing stand yet seen. Professional to the last, Mr. Abell even took time to load up the Wired.com front page before knocking out this video clip. The stand itself is made of a pair of “designer” steel doorstops, with rubber strips on top. And that’s it. As you can see, the doorstops, which are off-the-shelf items, are rock-solid when holding the iPad at the perfect angle for typing, but can also be scooped up and tossed in your bag where they’ll take up almost no space. John was planning on somehow joining together the two wedges to save on readjusting their positions every time he set them down. In the end I convinced him that portability was more important, and he conceded that I had made an “excellent point.” Rubber doorstops would work just as well, of course, but the steel ones come in at just $6 for the pair, will last forever and will match the black-and-silver color scheme of the iPad. The only problem is that they don’t appear to be in the online Home Depot store, so you’ll have to pay a visit to a real store. But then, you own an iPad, so what fear could the outside world hold for you anyway? See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 14 Jun 2010 | 9:31 am Assisted Reproduction Boosts Deformity RiskThe rate of birth defects among children conceived with the help of assisted reproduction was twice as high as for those conceived without.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 14 Jun 2010 | 9:28 am IPhone Leash Prevents Dropped Calls
Of course, a retractable wire restraint won’t actually help the iPhone play any nicer with AT&T’s beleaguered network, but it will stop the screen of your iPhone (or any other phone, despite the name) from ending up like a crystalline spiderweb after hitting the floor. The extremely dorky process goes like this: You stick an adhesive pad onto the back of the phone, which adds a plastic loop. This loop then connects to the painful-sounding “split ring connector” and that in turn hooks onto a 30-inch steel cable. The cable retracts into the belt-clip, just like a metal tape measure swishing back into its case, and the clip is held on by a locking carabiner. If there is a nerdier accessory in all the world I want to see it. The leash will not only keep you phone from fatal impacts; it will also stop you from dropping it in water (something that Wired Science editor Betsy Mason might find useful to stop her dumping yet another iPhone in the toilet) and helps to prevent theft. Or not: a cable running into your pocket means one thing to a thief, and that’s that you have something valuable in there. It gets a whole lot less ridiculous if you use this to secure your phone whilst inside a bag, but for those who insist on wearing their dorkiness on their belts, an optional extra can make you look even sillier. The Designer Label puts “a crystal clear polyurethane dome” over the design or photo of your choice, mimicking those old-fashioned key-fobs. The iPhone Leash will cost $25 in money. In cost to your street-cred, its price cannot be overestimated. iPhone Leash [My Phone Leash. Thanks, Daniel!] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 14 Jun 2010 | 8:34 am Video: HTC Aria from AT&T now official. Out June 20th for $129.99 after rebate
Dante Martin, Product Manager at AT&T for Android devices, has even starred in his very own hands-on video, which we’ve embedded for you, below. Full specs are:
The wonderfully tiny phone will be available on AT&T come June 20th for $129.99 (after rebate). [via AT&T] And how could we forget the full press release? – POCKET-SIZED HTC ARIA TO PREMIERE ON NATION’S FASTEST 3G NETWORK Android 2.1 & HTC Sense™ Experience Combined With 7.2 HSPA Speeds Offers Exceptional Mobile Broadband Performance DALLAS and BELLEVUE, Wash. – June 14, 2010 – AT&T* and HTC Corporation (“HTC”) today announced that HTC Aria™, a rich and powerful addition to AT&T’s Android smartphone portfolio, will be available exclusively at AT&T beginning June 20. Pocket-sized and packing the power of the Android 2.1 platform, a five megapixel camera and a bright 3.2 inch HVGA display, HTC Aria offers AT&T customers Android smartphone functionality in an amazingly easy-to-carry design. The combination of 3G speed, a responsive capacitive touch screen and an optical joystick makes HTC Aria an ideal smartphone for mobile broadband. HTC Aria is Wi-Fi capable and qualifying customers will receive access to AT&T Wi-Fi, with more than 20,000 hotspots across the U.S. In addition, HTC Aria is compatible with AT&T’s High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) 7.2 Mbps technology. This technology provides a considerable boost to 3G speeds when combined with expanded backhaul. The combination of faster wireless networks, smartphones like HTC Aria, and tens of thousands of available innovative mobile apps allows AT&T customers to mobilize virtually everything, from video and music, to social networking, to business applications. “HTC Aria is the first of several smartphones in our Android portfolio to run the 2.1 platform,” said Jeff Bradley, senior vice president, Devices, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. “When you combine the nation’s fastest 3G network, and access to the nation’s largest Wi-Fi network, HTC Aria will be one of the best Android smartphones available.” HTC Aria features the acclaimed HTC Sense experience, which automatically delivers the most-wanted information by bringing it to the forefront of the mobile experience. Featuring the latest version of HTC Sense, HTC Aria offers even more ways to stay connected, including Friend Stream, which delivers Facebook, Twitter and Flickr updates in a single, consolidated view. “Its unique combination of compact size and beautiful design instantly separates HTC Aria from the pack of ‘me-too’ smartphones,” said Jason Mackenzie, vice president of HTC America. “But what really differentiates HTC Aria from other smartphones is the acclaimed HTC Sense experience, which we are pleased to be bringing to AT&T customers. By putting people at the center of everything it does, HTC Aria organizes all of your communications in the most human way possible – by person.” A full selection of the newest and most popular Google services can be accessed with HTC Aria. This includes Google search, Google Maps, Google Navigation, Gmail, YouTube and more. With Android Market, customers can also choose from more than 50,000 applications to further personalize the mobile experience. Along with being ultra-small at just over 4 inches long and weighing a mere 4.05 ounces, HTC Aria’s seamless wrap-around soft-touch back cover eliminates sharp edges, making HTC Aria exceptionally convenient to carry and comfortable to hold as well. Featuring the best selection of smartphones and OS, AT&T is ranked #1 in customer satisfaction among smartphone owners. AT&T plans to expand its Android portfolio to include other Android smartphones during the second half of 2010. Pricing and Availability HTC Aria will be available on June 20 at AT&T retail locations nationwide or at http://www.att.com/wireless for $129.99 after $100 mail-in rebate (pay $229.99 and after mail-in rebate receive $100 AT&T Promotion Card. Two-year agreement required and smartphone data plan required).
Source: MobileCrunch | 14 Jun 2010 | 8:23 am E3 2010: Natal is officially renamed KinectFROM GAMERTELL - Natal is dead. Long live Kinect! Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 14 Jun 2010 | 8:22 am Video: Microsoft Makes Post-Natal Impression with Kinect Star WarsOh man! It turns out that Star Wars Kid was doing nothing less than predicting the future. The awesome future. Microsoft has demonstrated its Project Natal, which has been renamed Kinect and transformed into a motion-controller for the Xbox 360. Kinect, which will be available in November, uses a camera and a microphone to turn a player’s movements into in-game movements. In a demonstration at the E3 show in Los Angeles last night, Microsoft showed of the peripheral with a huge performance by Cirque du Soleil, which was, according to Twitter, impressive. Even better was the demo of a new LucasArts Star Wars game, which lets the player control his on-screen avatar by acting as a Jedi, just like Star Wars Kid. The above clip, which managed to sneak out onto YouTube ahead of official video, shows the Kinect in action. It looks fantastic: to pull out your light-saber you just, well, pull out your light-saber. To throw a huge spaceship across the room you simply wave your hand as if you were controlling the Force. The giant screen probably helps to feeling of power, but which of us haven’t made precisely these gestures, only to have nothing happen? My brother and I would hang upside down and desperately try to get the light-saber to jump into our hands before the Wampa attacked. It never worked. Maybe now it will. See full coverage of E3 2010 over at our sister blog, Game|Life. Flashy New Hardware, Not Consoles, Will Dominate E3 [Game|Life] Kinect’s Star Wars Game footage [YouTube] Microsoft unveils Xbox ‘Kinect’ motion controller [BBC] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 14 Jun 2010 | 7:11 am Several Spankin’ Samsung Smartphones shown in Singapore
That’s almost as many phones as there are ‘S’ words in the post title. The list includes their follow up to the Bada-powered Wave, the imaginatively entitled Wave 2, as well as a physical keyboard packin’ variant, the Wave 2 Pro. Samsung will also announce the Windows Mobile-powered Omnia Pro 4. Yeah, I have a hard time getting excited over a WinMo 6.5 device, too. Perhaps, though, Samsung will surprise us all and announce that it’ll be powered by the entirely-more-interesting Windows Phone 7. Finally — and perhaps more interestingly — the announcement will also involve some Android devices to complement the Galaxy S. You can catch a glimpse of the devices in the picture, below. The one on the right is the I5500, but you’ll have to wait for the official announcement for details on the one on the left. [via Samsung Hub]
Source: MobileCrunch | 14 Jun 2010 | 7:05 am Video: Samsung Galaxy S torn to pieces in front of your very eyes
For those of you that enjoy these things (either sadists or DIYers), you’ll be pleased to know that this one goes both ways: disassembly, then reassembly. Of course, the reason videos like this exist is so that you don’t have to destroy your own phone just to see how it works. So don’t you go and do this, mmm kay? And with that in mind, you can watch both of Frandroid’s videos, below. [via Slash Gear]
Source: MobileCrunch | 14 Jun 2010 | 6:28 am USB Typewriter Turns iPad Into PaperIf you have $400 and a serious case of nostalgic yearning, may we then suggest you spend the money on a wonderful USBTypewriter? Described as a “groundbreaking innovation in the field of obsolescence,” the typewriter can hook up to any machine with a USB port and lets you clickety-clack your way through your latest novel, e-mail or even spreadsheet. The Typewriter Dock, seen in the video above, is an even better version. It holds an iPad in its carriage whilst simultaneously inputting typed letters. All it needs is a Bluetooth component to replace the cable, and a writing app that can use the accelerometer to detect a carriage return and move you to a new line. Ding! UPDATE: Creator Jack Zylkin emailed to say that the USBTypewriter can detect carriage returns all by itself using a magnetic sensor. Inside there is a sensor strip under the keyboard which detects the key-presses that hit it, and this pulse of electricity is then passed on to an Arduino circuit-board, whereupon it is translated into a standard USB key-down event. All you need to do is plug it in and type. $400 buys you a pre-modded typewriter, but Jack Zylkin, the man behind the USBTypewriter, will sell you the electronics to make your own for just $75, or you can send him your typewriter and have him fix it up for you. For true geeks, the design can be had for free under a Creative Commons license, and you can roll your own from scratch. For those who really love typing on a typewriter, this seems to actually be better than paper: you no longer have to retype whole pages, and white-out will be a thing of the past. For everyone else, using one of these for a few minutes will be a reminder of just why books used to be so much shorter than the word-processed novels of today. USBTypewriter product page See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 14 Jun 2010 | 6:15 am E3 2010: What’s in my bag?FROM GAMERTELL - Take a look at everything that will be in my E3 2010 bag. Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 14 Jun 2010 | 6:08 am The Attack of the Mutant Squares, Part II: The Nokia X5-01
Yes! Marvel at the novelty of the form factor! Be dazzled by its bright colours! Feel befuddled by its gesture system! What gesture system? Well, rather than go to the hassle of making you press a button, Nokia have decided it’s much easier to spin your phone in a circle to activate shuffle mode on the music player. The only way I can think of being able to do this gesture is by placing your thumb gently on the centre of the screen, and spinning it between your fingers. Not that big a deal, right? Now do it with your headphones plugged in. Ah. Right. Even the disembodied hand in the promo video can’t think of a good way to do it without letting go of the phone. Check it out at around the 1 minute mark in the video below the pretty pictures. The other life-changing feature of the phone is the ability to shake it so “feel” how many messages you have. I guess this is so you can see if you have any unread messages while hiding the phone under your desk? But then, once you know you have messages, you’ll have to look at the screen to read them, so why didn’t you just look at the screen in the first place? Yargh, I don’t know. Am I just a grumpy old man? You crazy kids and your technologamajiggums. The phone will come in 5 colours (blue, purple, pink, green, black), have a 5MP camera with LED flash, 200MB internal storage with MicroSD expansion up to 32GB, 16 days of standby/24 hours music playback, and will be powered by Symbian S60 3rd Edition. It will cost about €160 when and wherever it’s released (no details just yet). [via Symbian World, hands-on images from @mhisham and @asrialbaker] video:
Source: MobileCrunch | 14 Jun 2010 | 6:02 am Ugly Bluetooth Headset Transforms into Even Uglier Wristwatch
The 2-in-1 Bluetooth Handsfree Wristwatch Headset takes a humdrum, utilitarian Bluetooth earpiece and turns it into an even less appealing wristwatch. So cheaply made is it that even the product shot, usually a gadget’s greatest hour beauty-wise, is all ragged and plasticky at the edges. But it has one great feature which makes me love it: no more will I have to pity the fools who keep a Bluetooth dongle in their ear at all times, those self important morons who use this piece of gadgetry to signal their social standing (note to those people: you’re not giving off the signals you think you are). Now, those people can instead pull the blocky plastic earphone from their waxy orifice and squelch it into a wristband. Once installed in the wristwatch position, it can still be used, Dick Tracey-style (although without the video, of course), to control and talk to their phone. The li-ion battery will last for 200 hours in standby and give eight hours of A2DP-listening, voice-dialing, caller ID-displaying, blue-backlit screen-glowing fun. The price for this ugly chunk of electronics? $68. 2-in-1 Bluetooth Handsfree Wristwatch Headset [Light in the Box via Oh Gizmo!] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 14 Jun 2010 | 5:23 am Startup Builds Low-Power Servers With Netbook ChipsSeaMicro, a start-up, finds a way to stitch together 512 Atom processor to create a single, powerful server.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 14 Jun 2010 | 5:00 am YouTube Play: searching with the Guggenheim for the world’s most creative online video(Cross-posted from the YouTube Blog)Do you ever look at a YouTube video and think, "That's a work of art?" Yep, so do we—and now, so does the Guggenheim. In five years, YouTube has redefined media culture by changing the way the world creates, distributes and watches video. Online video is exploding not just as a medium, but as an art form, and we’re proud of the originality and innovation that YouTube has fostered among our users. Our community has produced some of the most creative and celebrated works on the Internet, videos that have been viewed by millions of people around the world. We want to celebrate phenomenal video-makers and recognize the creative potential of the medium. So today we’re collaborating with the Guggenheim Museum to discover the most creative video in the world, and showcase exceptional talent working in the ever-expanding realm of digital media: YouTube Play: A Biennial of Creative Video. This global online initiative is presented in collaboration with HP. We’re looking for animation, motion graphics, narrative, non-narrative, or documentary work, music videos and entirely new art forms—creations that really challenge the world’s perceptions of what’s possible with video. We want to elevate the debate. This presentation, we hope, will garner some of the finest creative work from every corner of the globe—not only to showcase it on one of the biggest stages online, but also in one of the most iconic artistic venues in the world, the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, and throughout the Guggenheim network of museums in Bilbao, Venice and Berlin. Participants must submit their videos to YouTube Play to enter. The deadline for submission is July 31, 2010, after which the Guggenheim will assemble a shortlist to be evaluated by an international jury of experts from the worlds of art, design, film and video. Up to 20 videos will be presented at the Guggenheim Museum in New York on October 21, with simultaneous presentations at the Guggenheim museums in Bilbao, Venice and Berlin. The presentations will also be viewable to on the YouTube Play brand channel at youtube.com/play. As we did with the YouTube Symphony Orchestra, we hope to build an aspirational place for some of the world’s best artists to showcase their works and talents. For more information about how to enter, go to youtube.com/play. Posted by Ed Sanders, Senior Marketing Manager    
 Source: The Official Google Blog | 14 Jun 2010 | 5:00 am
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Fans of the 
As one of the most popular social sites on the planet, 
BlackBerry maker Research In Motion is testing a tablet that could act as a “companion” to its BlackBerry phone, says the 
With the release of Rock Band 3, there’s the inevitable flood of third party peripherals (many better quality then the ones that come with the game). Mad Catz announced their latest line of products, including a wireless keyboard, a Fender Mustang Pro controller, and a MIDI adapter that’ll let a musician use their real keyboard to play the Rock Band 3 game. String tie not included.
Mad Catz also announced the Fender Mustang PRO controller, which allows a player to rock out using a full 17 frets on the neck, and a 6 string strumming area allowing a player to pick individual strings and potentially cut off or mute notes as needed. Regardless, this sounds like one of the most advanced “toy” guitar devices we’ve seen yet. Expect to pay $149.99 for the Fender Mustang PRO-Guitar.
Some good news for those looking for free Wi-Fi, you can now add US based Starbucks to your list.
You can tell when someone is in love with office products when they actually “test” them in real life situations. Take 
The day before iPhone 4 presales begin, AT&T has seen fit to announce the release of it’s second Android smartphone. Rather than another weird design from Motorola like the Backflip, AT&T is finally releasing a smartphone from HTC.
Looks like the new (and super-hot) 
