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Confirmed: Fujitsu and Toshiba to merge cell phone units, go international
We reported last week that two of Japan’s top cell phone makers, Fujitsu and Toshiba, were in talks to merge their cell phone businesses. And today, we have the rumor confirmed. Under the agreement, Toshiba will spin off its handset unit and Fujitsu is expected to take the majority stake in the joint venture (between a whopping 70 and 80%, according to Japanese media reports). The integration is aimed at combining development, production, marketing and sales of cell phones. It will create Japan’s second largest cell phone maker (with a combined 18.7% domestic market share), following Sharp (26.1%). Fujitsu and Toshiba say that the joint venture will be launched as early as October 1 this year and that the goal is not only to catch up to Sharp domestically but also to enter Asia and markets elsewhere as soon as possible. These are understandable reasons. In Japan itself, both companies are facing increasing competition from the joint venture NEC, Casio, and Hitachi formed earlier this month and from the iPhone. Hit by the recession and a rapidly graying user base, shipments of handsets within Japan fell 12.3% year on year to a 12-year low of 31 million units in fiscal 2009. Historically, exports have been weak as well. Toshiba, for example, sells just 100,000 handsets yearly in Europe. The Fujitsu-Toshiba entity would not even command 1% of the global cell phone market if it launched today.
Source: MobileCrunch | 17 Jun 2010 | 3:56 am Nintendo 3DS Early ImpressionsNow that E3 attendees have had a chance to try out the new revision of Nintendo's portable console, critiques of the 3D effect and updated layout are starting to filter in. Opinion thus far has been mostly positive. Wired writes, "The graphics, which are much more advanced than you’d expect from Nintendo, left me pretty much in disbelief. They're on a level with Sony’s PSP, probably even a little better than that. But the eye-popping 3-D effect makes everything that much richer." According to the Guardian's Games blog, it works "beautifully." They add, "You can perceive 3D only if the console is directly in front of you, but this is fine for handheld gaming. I actually found it pretty adaptable in terms of viewing from different vertical positions. It was much more sensitive if the handheld was turned slightly to the left or right, but really, it coped perfectly with the slight shifts and jerks you'd get on a morning commute." During Shigeru Miyamoto's annual dev roundtable, he explained how Nintendo felt that particular types of games, such as shooters, benefit more from the 3D effect than others, and how Nintendo hopes to update as many older games as they can to incorporate 3D gameplay in addition to 3D graphics.
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Source: Slashdot | 17 Jun 2010 | 3:47 am Indonesia minister calls for Internet blacklist (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 17 Jun 2010 | 3:43 am Rakuten Buys PriceMinister, Enters The European E-Commerce Market With A $250M Bang
Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten this morning announced that it is buying France's e-commerce website operator PriceMinister for about €200 million (roughly $250 million), reports the Wall Street Journal.
The news comes less than a month after word got out that Rakuten moved to acquire US-based Buy.com for about the same price.
Source: TechCrunch | 17 Jun 2010 | 3:16 am Motorola and Imagine Bring Mobile WiMAX Small Business Solutions to Irish MarketAMSTERDAM, June 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- WIMAX FORUM GLOBAL CONGRESS -- The Networks business of Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) today announced it has teamed with Imagine Communication Group, Ireland's major supplier of WiMAX services to consumers and businesses, to offer its USBw 200 mobile WiMAX USB adaptor as part of a new service from Imagine targeting home office and small businesses.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 17 Jun 2010 | 3:00 am Quippo-WTTIL Taps IBM for Technology Services AgreementNEW DELHI, June 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced a five-year Integrated Managed Services (IMS) agreement with Quippo-WTTIL, the world's largest independent telecom infrastructure company, to improve efficiency as business demands increase.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 17 Jun 2010 | 2:30 am Luggage Clothing - The Dragging Dress Suitcase Ensures You'll Leave Nothing Behind (VIDEO)(TrendHunter.com) Now normally I don't report on women's fashion but this, this, was just too good to pass up. The Dragging Dress suitcase addresses the two most important issues for women when traveling:...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 17 Jun 2010 | 2:20 am AT&T and Verizon side with firefighters against FCC - TG Daily
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 17 Jun 2010 | 2:17 am Internet service company to show 'Cove' in Japan (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 17 Jun 2010 | 2:10 am Matchstick Sculptures - David Mach Creates Fiery Works of Art (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) Artist David Mach has found a way to turn matchsticks into beautiful works of art. His matchstick sculptures take on the form of revolutionary leaders, animals and even religious deities...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 17 Jun 2010 | 2:00 am ASE Files 2009 Annual Report on Form 20-FTAIPEI, Taiwan, June 17 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Inc.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 17 Jun 2010 | 2:00 am Truphone(TM) Announces Agreements With Vodafone Netherlands and Orange in SpainLONDON, June 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Truphone today announced that its Truphone Local Anywhere(TM) service will be available in the Netherlands and Spain within months.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 17 Jun 2010 | 2:00 am The Winners of the World Cup...Supermarkets!LEEDS, England, June 17, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- The World Cup is well underway and as the country sits gripped in the drama which is currently unfolding, and part with their hard-earned cash using voucher code sites such as VoucherSeeker (http://www.voucherseeker.co.uk/vouchercodes), the real winners of the World Cup are in fact...Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 17 Jun 2010 | 1:58 am Forget The Mayor, Gowalla Focuses On Serendipitous Deals For All
One such deal launching later today is with Eye-Fi, the makers of memory cards that give devices WiFi capabilities. Starting in a few hours, when a person checks in through Gowalla at any U.S.-based Best Buy or Apple Store, they’ll automatically have a chance to win a free 4 GB Eye-Fi card. A message will pop up on their screen about the card post check-in. And a simple click on the “Did I win?” button below that message will reveal if you’re a winner of the $75 card the spot. There will be 500 winners for this particular promotion. But even if you don’t win, the check-in grants you access to a coupon code for one year’s worth of free hotspot access if you do choose to purchase an Eye-Fi card. Gowalla founder Josh Williams estimates Eye-Fi is giving away some $35,000 worth of value from this deal alone. “This represents a remarkable opportunity for a brand to promote a product directly to people who are visiting a location where that product is sold. It’s accessible to anyone who checks in on Gowalla, regardless of how many times they’ve checked in or whether or not they’ve been to that location previously,” Williams notes. That last part is obviously a bit of a shot at Foursquare’s mayor deals — but it’s important to note that Foursquare also has some deals for anyone who simply checks-in to certain venues too. Still, Gowalla’s emphasis on equality is nice and doesn’t require people to compete with crazed location addicts who go to venues everyday simply to secure deals (believe me, in San Francisco, it happens a lot). It’s more about serendipity with Gowalla — you go to a place you’re already going, check-in, and you may earn a free prize.      
Source: TechCrunch | 17 Jun 2010 | 1:50 am The North Korean Soccer Coachs Invisible PhoneTIME Newsfeed picket up on an article published in Soccernet, on how North Koreas World Cup coach called up the countrys Supreme Leader for some advice - on an invisible phone. It's been suggested that...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 17 Jun 2010 | 1:50 am Toshiba hits 128GB with new NAND flash memory
Expect your smartphone, digital camera or tablet computer to get a big spec bump in the near future: Toshiba today announced it has developed the world’s first embedded NAND flash memory module with 128GB capacity. That’s enough to store 2,222 hours of music (at 128Kbps), 16.6 hours of full HD video, or 38.4 hours of SD video. Made by combining 16 64Gbit NAND chips, the new devices are sized at just 17×22×1.4mm (including a controller). The new module is compatible with the so-called e-MMC standard (embedded MultiMediaCard), as is a 64GB NAND module Toshiba announced along with the 128GB model. The company plans to ship the first samples of the 128GB module in September (the 64GB samples will get shipped in August), followed by mass production of both versions in the fourth quarter of this year.
Source: CrunchGear | 17 Jun 2010 | 1:41 am NASA Says Moon Has More Water Than Great Lakesjerryjamesstone writes "The US Great Lakes have some competition: the moon. Yes, that old thing in the sky may hold more than all of the water contained in the Great Lakes, according to a NASA-funded study. From the article: 'Scientists at the Carnegie Institution's Geophysical Laboratory in Washington, along with other scientists across the nation, determined that the water was likely present very early in the moon's formation history as hot magma started to cool and crystallize. This finding means water is native to the moon.'"
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Source: Slashdot | 17 Jun 2010 | 1:37 am Futuristic Inflatable Wave Riders - Conquer Summer with the Divetek Water Propeller (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) Looking for something a little more fun than a skim board for the water, but still can't quite afford that jet ski? No worries, the Divetek water propeller is here to make some waves...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 17 Jun 2010 | 1:30 am InMobi Launches $2 Million Mobile Advertising Developer Fund
Today they’re announcing a $2 million world developer fund to encourage application developers to use InMobi for in-app advertising. Developers on Android, iPhone and iPad are eligible. Here’s how it works: first come first serve. Sign up for the program and add InMobi via their SDKs. InMobi usually keeps 40% of gross advertising revenue, and 60% goes to the developer. But during this program developers get to keep 100% of the advertising revenue, and InMobi’s 40% comes out from the $2 million. Once that $2 million is gone the normal split applies. See this video for more details. This clearly encourages big names to sign up because they can grab a chunk of that $2 million fast. Of course total revenue depends on how much InMobi ads are selling for. If developers have feedback on their monetization rates v. AdMob and other ad networks, I’d love to hear it in the comments. Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 17 Jun 2010 | 1:29 am JPM gets EU nod for $1.7 bln RBS Sempra unit buyBRUSSELS, June 17 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co gained EU regulatory clearance on Thursday for its $1.7 billion purchase of the non-U.S. assets of commodities joint venture RBS Sempra from Royal...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 17 Jun 2010 | 1:25 am How the poll on health overhaul was conducted (AP)AP - The Associated Press-GfK Poll on the health care overhaul was conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Corporate Communications from June 9-14. It is based on landline and cell phone telephone interviews with a nationally representative random sample of 1,044 adults. Interviews were conducted with 732 respondents on landline telephones and 312 on cellular phones.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 17 Jun 2010 | 1:19 am Egypt's Citadel refinery unit seeking $2.35 bln fundsCAIRO, June 17 (Reuters) - Egypt's private equity firm Citadel Capital said one of its units was in advanced talks to secure $2.35 billion in financing for a refinery project in the Egyptian capital,...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 17 Jun 2010 | 1:18 am Ustream’s Live Mobilizer Gives Bands And Brands Live Streaming iPhone Apps
Each Mobilizer app is branded to the artist’s specifications (in other words, they don’t look like generic cookie cutter apps). The biggest feature here is support for watching an artist’s live video feed through Ustream, but the app also includes support for sharing to sites like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube. It also has Ustream’s ‘Social Stream’ feature, which lets you submit questions to the artist during a live stream and syndicate it out to other social networks. To monetize, artists can sell songs, tickets, and merchandise directly through the application (they can also elect to make the application itself a premium app on the App Store). The first musician to take advantage of the new platform is Miley Cyrus, who will be hosting a “listening party” through her application that be streaming her upcoming album for five days before it’s released. We’re told this will be the only place fans will be able to listen to the album during this time frame, so it’s obviously going to get a lot of downloads quickly. Ustream isn’t the first company to offer this kind of platform to brands, celebrities, and bands (though most of its competitors don’t offer live stream functionality) — Kyte launched its iPhone platform in early 2009, and Mobile Roadie launched one soon thereafter. iLike has one too. Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 17 Jun 2010 | 1:04 am Wireless Oligopoly is Smother of Invention [Voices]By Ryan Singel, Blogger, Wired, Epicenter If the people who brought us television had played by the same rules that today’s wireless carriers impose–we’d probably all be listening to the radio. Read the rest of this post on the original site » Source: All Things Digital | 17 Jun 2010 | 1:01 am Steve Jobs D8 Interview Now Available for Download on iTunes [Digital Daily]
In the weeks ahead, we’ll continue to post full streaming videos of all D8 interviews here at AllThingsD.com, where they will be available indefinitely. We’re posting two videos per week, and have already published sessions with Steve Jobs, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and director James Cameron on-site. Be sure to check back for additional videos of Microsoft’s (MSFT) Steve Ballmer and Ray Ozzie, eBay (EBAY) CEO John Donahoe, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski and others. Source: All Things Digital | 17 Jun 2010 | 1:01 am Google Eyes Demand Media’s Way With Words [Voices]By Kenneth Li, Reporter, Financial Times A patent recently granted to Google (GOOG) appears to replicate one part of what has made Demand Media’s approach to content so successful. Read the rest of this post on the original site » Source: All Things Digital | 17 Jun 2010 | 1:00 am Silicon Valley Readies for Privacy Battle [Voices]By Mike Swift, Reporter, San Jose Mercury News In the wake of a series of privacy missteps by Google (GOOG), Facebook and other companies, a growing chorus on Capitol Hill is calling for major online privacy legislation, and Silicon Valley companies are girding for the battle. Read the rest of this post on the original site » Source: All Things Digital | 17 Jun 2010 | 1:00 am Does the World Need More Than One Twitter? [Voices]By Mathew Ingram, Blogger, GigaOm Can Twitter handle its emerging status as the world’s real-time communications network, or does it need help? Read the rest of this post on the original site » Source: All Things Digital | 17 Jun 2010 | 1:00 am Intuit Works to Restore Online Access [Voices]By Ben Worthen, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal Intuit Inc. said it is trying to restore service to company websites affected by an outage that began Tuesday night, leaving consumers and small businesses without access to online versions of the company’s accounting and tax software. Intuit’s products include TurboTax, Quicken and the QuickBooks accounting program used by many small businesses. The online services associated with those products remained offline Wednesday afternoon. A company spokeswoman said it hadn’t yet identified the cause of the outage, but ruled out a cyber attack. Some Intuit websites were beginning to come back online late Wednesday afternoon, she added. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 17 Jun 2010 | 1:00 am Why I Returned My iPad [Voices]By Peter Bregman, CEO, Bregman Partners, Inc. A little more than a week after buying the iPad, I returned it to Apple (AAPL). The problem wasn’t the iPad exactly, though it has some flaws. The problem was me. Read the rest of this post on the original site » Source: All Things Digital | 17 Jun 2010 | 1:00 am Daily Crunch: Light Gun Edition
Zapper attachment for Playstation Move makes your light-gun dreams come true
Source: CrunchGear | 17 Jun 2010 | 1:00 am What Would a More Open Twitter Look Like?As Twitter continues to struggle with repeated system outages and downtime, attention has turned to ways of extending -- or even replacing -- the social network as a communications platform. But what would...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 17 Jun 2010 | 1:00 am Roamware Announces Global Availability of Cardless ATM SolutionSAN JOSE, Calif., June 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Roamware, a global leader in mobile roaming solutions and financial services, announces the global availability of Cardless ATM. The service enables bank customers to withdraw cash from an ATM without the use of a cash card.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 17 Jun 2010 | 1:00 am Fujitsu and Toshiba to merge mobile businesses (Reuters)Reuters - Japan's Fujitsu Ltd and Toshiba Corp unveiled plans on Thursday to merge their mobile phone businesses in October to create Japan's second-biggest cellphone maker in a rapidly shrinking market.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 17 Jun 2010 | 12:58 am 31 Noteworthy Netbooks - From Barbie Netbooks to Compressible Computers (CLUSTER)(TrendHunter.com) Solve your cramped computing needs by checking out these noteworthy netbooks. Sometimes smaller is better. These noteworthy netbooks provide all the fun and pizazz of a regular laptop...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 17 Jun 2010 | 12:50 am UPDATE 1-Fairfield launches $500 mln London IPOLONDON, June 17 (Reuters) - British oil and gas company Fairfield Energy said it plans to raise around $450 million and $500 million through a listing on the London Stock Exchange and will use the funds...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 17 Jun 2010 | 12:50 am FCC set to reconsider broadband regulations (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 17 Jun 2010 | 12:43 am State Dept sees diplomatic potential in SMSWhile newer technologies such as Twitter are capturing more headlines, the State Department still sees untapped diplomatic potential in the humble text message. The Hill reports. Caitlin Bergin of the...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 17 Jun 2010 | 12:37 am Ten One Design’s Particle case keeps your iPad cool
Source: CrunchGear | 17 Jun 2010 | 12:30 am Summer Hacking School for kids based on Little Brother
Neale sez, "I liked Little Brother so much that I bought a copy for my niece and then based an entire Summer Hacking School around it. The kids were really excited about the premise of the book when I explained it to them tonight, and the fact that it's available for free in so many formats was just gravy. I put ePub and j2me versions on 5 mobile phones before they left for the night."
Like all my books, Little Brother is free to download and remix. You can take Neale's course at Northern New Mexico College in Española, New Mexico. Summer Hacking School for kids based on Little BrotherNeale sez, "I liked Little Brother so much that I bought a copy for my niece and then based an entire Summer Hacking School around it. The kids were really excited about the premise of the book when...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 17 Jun 2010 | 12:23 am Submerged Baby Photography - London Baby Swim Offers Swimming Classes for Newborns (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) These amazing underwater baby photographs are from London Baby Swim, which offers classes aimed at teaching babies how to swim. The results are incredibly cute. Phil Shaw and Ana Torres...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 17 Jun 2010 | 12:19 am AT&T suspends iPhone pre-orders after Web glitch - Washington Post
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 17 Jun 2010 | 12:17 am Pool Sprint Concept Looking For InvestorsBy Andrew Liszewski While running in the water provides a grueling workout wherever you are, it’s particularly difficult in a swimming pool, but not in a good way, given the minimal traction between...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 17 Jun 2010 | 12:16 am Fallout Online Website Arises Amid Legal BattleRumors of a Fallout MMO have been swirling for years, made all the more credible by hints from the legal battle between Bethesda and Interplay over licensing for the franchise. Now, Interplay has quietly created a teaser website for Fallout Online, offering beta sign-ups. Quoting Massively: "Currently, there isn't much there, just a brief glimpse at a workshop desk with various Fallout references to the Master, Brahmin, and Nuka-Cola before a form obscures the screen. ... It looks legit, too: Interplay is promoting Fallout Online from their main website, and the new teaser site is indeed registered to Interplay Entertainment Corp."
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Source: Slashdot | 17 Jun 2010 | 12:11 am 80 Shanghaied - business trip to sister city - San Francisco Chronicle
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 17 Jun 2010 | 12:10 am Cognizant Acquires Paris-Based Galileo Performance, an Information Technology Testing ConsultancySource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 17 Jun 2010 | 12:00 am Cognizant Acquires Paris-Based Galileo Performance, an Information Technology Testing ConsultancyTEANECK, N.J., June 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cognizant (Nasdaq: CTSH), a leading provider of information technology, consulting, and business process outsourcing services, announced today it has acquired Galileo Performance, a Paris-based provider of information technology (IT) testing consulting services.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 17 Jun 2010 | 12:00 am ICICI Venture hires former Babcock India chiefMUMBAI, June 17 (Reuters) - ICICI Venture, the private equity arm of No. 2 Indian lender ICICI Bank , has hired Manikkan Sangameswaran, former chief of Babcock & Brown Infrastructure's India unit,...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Jun 2010 | 11:50 pm AT&T nears regulatory approval for Verizon license buy - WSJJune 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is close to granting AT&T Inc approval for its $2.35 billion purchase of rural U.S. wireless licenses from rival Verizon Communications...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Jun 2010 | 11:15 pm Edit video online with the YouTube Video EditorWith software installations and complicated instructions, editing video can be a hassle—but we think it should be easy. Today, we’re introducing YouTube’s new online video editor, which makes editing your video a cinch. It’s available in TestTube, where YouTube engineers and developers test out new tools and get feedback on how they’re doing.With this new editor, you can:
Check out the YouTube Blog for more details. And once you’ve given the editor a whirl, let us know what you think by leaving a comment on the YouTube Blog. Posted by Rushabh Doshi, Software Engineer    
 Source: The Official Google Blog | 16 Jun 2010 | 11:13 pm Vintage kids' art supply packaging gallery Christian Montone has lovingly documented his impressive collection of vintage kids' art supplies in a beautifully shot Flickr set. From the looks of his blog, this is one very happy mutant indeed. VINTAGE CRAYONS, PAINTS & ART SUPPLIES (via Neatorama)
 Source: Boing Boing | 16 Jun 2010 | 11:09 pm Dredging destroying pygmy elephant, monkey habitat: activistSand dredging in a Borneo wildlife sanctuary is threatening the habitats of endangered pygmy elephants and a rare species of monkey, Malaysian activists said Thursday. Sand-laden barges...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Jun 2010 | 11:08 pm Russian art group Voina "dicks" a St. Petersburg Bridge
Animal New York reports on the latest project by Russian art renegades Voina (War): dicking a bridge. Over the years, Voina staged many actions: police station take-overs, anti-homophobic faux-lynchings in malls, stray cat throwing into swanky restaurants, anti-Medvedev public orgies and all kinds of ruckus. Their most recent target: the headquarters of FSB, the offices of Russia's KGB incarnate Federal Security Service. Our source: Voina themselves.Russian art group Voina "dicks" a St. Petersburg Bridge Previous Boing Boing post about Voina here. (Thanks, Marina!) HP to spam your web-connected printerHP and Yahoo are teaming up to spam advertisements to your printer -- the next step being behavioral ads based on the traffic it can sniff from your local network:HP partners with Yahoo for targeted ads (via /.) Source: Boing Boing | 16 Jun 2010 | 11:04 pm How to really turn off that damn vuvuzela noiseA couple of days ago, we told you about a method for removing the noise from the vuvuzela, using a simple filter. Well, it turns out that the filter doesn’t exactly work as advertised. The good news however, is that Consumer Reports found a filter that does work, and they were kind enough to share the information. Details after the jump. Previous filters were selling for around $3.50, but testers found out that in many cases it only made the noise worse. Consumer Reports offered some tips on how to actually remove most of the annoying noise from the video, allowing viewers to watch without being irritated.
Source: CrunchGear | 16 Jun 2010 | 11:00 pm CD on one side, vinyl record on the other
Techno artist Jeff Mills produced this CD/5" vinyl single for "The Occurrence." One side of the disc is a normal CD, the other side plays on a normal analogue turntable.
The Vinyl And CD Release On One Disc From Jeff Mills Axis Records (unlinkable Flash-blobs ahoy!) (via Make) Source: Boing Boing | 16 Jun 2010 | 10:58 pm AOL Dumps $1.2 Billion Worth of Acquisitionsdestinyland writes "The social networking site Bebo is being sold for just 'a small fraction of the $850 million AOL paid for the site two years ago,' according to the Wall Street Journal. Since its acquisition, 'the site has been shedding users as fast as Facebook and Twitter have been gaining them,' according to one industry observer, quoting an April memo reportedly sent by an AOL executive arguing that Bebo 'has been declining and, as a result, would require significant investment in order to compete in the competitive social networking space.' Bebo's traffic is already down 44% from last year, according to the Wall Street Journal, attracting just 5 million unique US visitors in May (versus 130.4 million for Facebook). And earlier this month, AOL shed the instant messaging service ICQ for $187.5 million — which it had acquired in 1998 for over $408 million."
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Source: Slashdot | 16 Jun 2010 | 10:55 pm Just look at these awesome tiny knitted banana luchadores
Just look at them.
Source: Boing Boing | 16 Jun 2010 | 10:50 pm Japan's Solar Sail Photographed in OrbitIf seeing is believing, this picture comes as sweet relief to a satellite operations team in Japan that has been overseeing the flight of an experimental solar sailing spacecraft. The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, known as JAXA, captured the image ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 16 Jun 2010 | 10:49 pm TC Teardown: Pandora – The Tough Business of Webcasting
Pandora is the widely popular web radio service. Publicly they have said that they turned the corner to profitability in the 4th quarter of 2009. Below I forecast the 2010 numbers for Pandora using information from Pandora, music royalty rates that all webcasters are obligated to pay, and standard expenses of running a California based technology start-up.
Pandora’s 2010With tight management of operating estimates Pandora is going to be close to breakeven in 2010. If they can more than double revenues they could operate break-even or even very slightly in the black. The largest impact to their financial situation is music royalties which takes a majority of their revenues. In 2009, Pandora paid $30,000,000 in royalties or about 60% of their total revenue. This year the royalty obligation will be substantially higher because they are required to pay a fee every time they play a song to a user. It’s not just a flat percentage of their revenue or a preset amount. As their userbase grows their royalties obligation grow proportionally which is why in spite of doubling their revenue from 2009 to 2010 which is a notable accomplishment for a company with revenue of their size, they are not moving to clear profitability. Beyond 2010The per user royalty rates Pandora has agreed to pay will go up 10% per year for the next 4 years. This is the per song rate or what they must pay every time a song is played for an individual user. A highly illogical aspect of radio is that there exists a ‘spectrum bias’. Depending on the spectrum of the radio wave transmitting the song to the listener, the royalty payment can vary widely from zero to a huge number. If the song is transmitted over 30–300 MHz (FM radio) then the royalty rate is zero. For songs transmitted over 2,332.50-2,345.00 MHz (satellite radio like XM) operators are required to pay 15% of total revenues, but for those operating in internet frequencies 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz (wifi) or cellular phone the royalty structure can be 50-60% of total revenues as evident from Pandora’s analysis. Astonishingly in spite of this enormous current inequity, SoundExchange (which represents record labels) has asked the Copyright Royalty Board to more than double the rates for 2011-2015 for webcasters over what Pandora is currently paying. This won’t immediately affect Pandora since they have locked in rates that rise 10% each year over that time period, but after that period they will be susceptible to future rate increases. Most internet companies operate more efficiently as they grow. They take advantage of economies of scale (increased buying power) as they get large. Plus they benefit from cheaper computing, bandwidth and storage. Pandora should experience these benefits in their technology related costs. However those costs will not materially impact the economics of their business since the royalties are so substantial. Pandora has savvy management. They’ve been in this business for about a decade and raised close to $100 million. I don’t believe the economic realities escape them. In fact, they have asked Congress to implement “rate parity”. This would mean old fashioned radio, satellite radio and web radio would all have to pay the same royalty rate. The intention in such a reassessment process would be to remove the spectrum bias and create parity radio over any spectrum would pay the same royalty. From a business standpoint Pandora has many positive attributes. They have 50 million registered users. Their brand is well recognized and regarded. Their service is universally praised as easy to use, satisfying and they’re rewarded with significant usage. They will do billions of minutes of music in 2010. But for each minute the expense odometer turns. Pandora must devise a way to lower this royalty amount if they’re to build a long standing profitable company. * Royalty calculation: Pandora must pay 0.097 cents in 2010 every time any portion of a song is played (even if you only listen to a short part of the song). See: michaelrobertson.com for an in depth analysis of rate structure. Pandora does not disclose the number of songs they transmit. However, in 2009, Pandora stated they paid $28 million in music royalties. In 2009 their per song royalty rate was .093 cents per song which imputes that Pandora transmitted 29.8 billions songs. If one assumes 70% year over year growth in 2010 Pandora will play 50.66 billion which would require them to pay a sound recording royalty of $49.1 million. ** Employee calculation: Pandora has 12 offices and 180 employee, 80 of which are sales people. An estimate of $100,000 per employee is intended to capture the fully loaded employee cost typical for a technology company that is tightly managed which includes healthcare, vacation, HR costs, office space, etc. It’s easy to go much higher than this with lack oversight. 80 of the employees are sales people who likely have a smaller base and are receive substantial compensation via sales commission. If you liked this post, see our previous TC Teardown: Chegg Is A Money Machine.      
Source: TechCrunch | 16 Jun 2010 | 10:49 pm Teacher cuts student's picture out of every copy of the yearbookA high school in British Columbia is reprinting its yearbooks after a teacher used a pair of scissors to cut out the picture of a student whose quote he objected to from every copy in the print-run:B.C. school yearbooks to be reprinted after teacher cut out student's photo (Thanks, Tian!) (Image: Marcel Tetrault/Comox Valley Echo, Canwest News Service) Source: Boing Boing | 16 Jun 2010 | 10:47 pm Keytar-playing platypus explained
From Tenso Graphics. Source: Boing Boing | 16 Jun 2010 | 10:44 pm Microsoft's Kinect for Xbox 360 is Doomed to Fail - PC Magazine
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 16 Jun 2010 | 10:44 pm Fujitsu, Toshiba to unveil mobile mergerTOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Fujitsu Ltd and Toshiba Corp have agreed to merge their mobile phone businesses as early as October, and they are expected to announce the deal on Thursday, the...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Jun 2010 | 10:28 pm Researchers Predict Human Visual Attention Using Computer Intelligence For The First TimeIn a computerized game of 'spot the difference,' people are more likely to notice additions, removals than color changesScientists have just come several steps closer to understanding change blindness — the well studied failure of humans to detect seemingly obvious changes to scenes around them — with new research that used a computer-based model to predict what types of changes people are more likely to notice.These findings on change blindness were presented in a Journal of Vision article, "A semi-automated approach to balancing bottom-up salience for predicting change detection performance.""This is one of the first applications of computer intelligence to help study human visual intelligence, " said author Peter McOwan, professor at Queen Mary, University of London.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Jun 2010 | 10:28 pm iPhone 4 sets record sale pace despite gaffe (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Jun 2010 | 10:27 pm E3 2010: Seeing the 3DS despite visual impairmentsFROM GAMERTELL - If you have vision problems and have trouble seeing 3-D, you may still be able to see the 3-D on the 3DS. Despite my slight vision problems, I had no problem seeing and experiencing it when I got some hands on time with Nintendo’s newest handheld. Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 16 Jun 2010 | 10:23 pm Research Is Getting Closer To Understanding Critical Nucleus In Haze FormationHaze, scientifically known as atmospheric aerosols - microscopic particles suspended in the Earth's atmosphere - represents a major environmental problem because it degrades visibility, affects human health and influences the climate.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Jun 2010 | 10:22 pm Apple, AT&T get record number of iPhone orders (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Jun 2010 | 10:19 pm Clear Rules Facilitate Continued Web Interaction Among General PractitionersResearch at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, explores how an online learning community works for a group of general practitioners and shows that clear rules facilitate continued web interaction.Urban Carlén, Department of Applied Information Technology, has studied how a large group of general practitioners interact via an e-mail list.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Jun 2010 | 10:19 pm Louis Armstrong death metal version of "What a Wonderful World"
(Thanks, Adam!) Stanford Study Identifies Proteins That Modulate Life Span In WormsResearchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified a new group of proteins involved in determining the life span of laboratory roundworms. Blocking the expression of one member of the group can extend the worm's life span by up to 30 percent.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Jun 2010 | 10:14 pm New Insights Into Volcanic Activity On The Ocean FloorNew research reveals that when two parts of the Earth's crust break apart, this does not always cause massive volcanic eruptionsNew research reveals that when two parts of the Earth's crust break apart, this does not always cause massive volcanic eruptions.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Jun 2010 | 10:12 pm Cloud Gaming Service OnLive Set For LaunchSteve Perlman's long-anticipated cloud gaming service, OnLive, officially launches today, finally ready to be put to the test by skeptical and hopeful gamers around the US. After granting some early sign-ups a free year to try out the service, OnLive also announced the list of 23 games that will available from the start, including Mass Effect 2, UT 3, Assassin's Creed 2, Dragon Age: Origins, Batman: Arkham Asylum, and F.E.A.R. 2. Perlman spoke at length with Gamasutra about the beta, latency, and potential partnerships with other broadband providers. Future OnLive competitor Gaikai recently announced they're targeting 2011 for their own launch.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 16 Jun 2010 | 10:10 pm Afghanistan's Kabul Basin Faces Major Water ChallengesIn the next 50 years, it is estimated that drinking water needs in the Kabul Basin of Afghanistan may increase sixfold due to population increases resulting from returning refugees.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Jun 2010 | 10:09 pm Fujitsu, Toshiba say to merge mobile businessesTOKYO, June 17 (Reuters) - Japan's Fujitsu Ltd and Toshiba Corp said on Thursday they plan to merge their mobile phone businesses in October, creating Japan's No. 2 cellphone maker.Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Jun 2010 | 10:05 pm FCC set to reconsider broadband regulationsFederal regulators are reconsidering the rules that govern high-speed Internet connections _ wading into a bitter policy dispute that could be tied up in court for years. The Federal...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Jun 2010 | 10:01 pm Photo Gallery: Mashup Inventions -- The Good, the Bad and the UglyThe clock radio has to be the best ever ... unless you like your PB&J premixed.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Jun 2010 | 10:00 pm Most Dangerous Object in the Office: Fire FootbagWired editors get a real kick out of a kerosene-dipped Kevlar hacky sack, and maybe you will, too. Just have a fire extinguisher at the ready.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Jun 2010 | 10:00 pm June 17, 1862: Worst Mashup Ever Has Farmers Tillin' 'n' Killin'Combine a plow and a gun. Why? Can you think of anything worse?
Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Jun 2010 | 10:00 pm DIY Rocket Man Devises New (Crazy) Way to Get HighBob Maddox is a fanatic about launching himself into the clouds, and the design for his quad-jet aircraft is all set. Now, for funding ...
Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Jun 2010 | 10:00 pm Most Dangerous Object in the Office: Fire FootbagWired editors get a real kick out of a kerosene-dipped Kevlar hacky sack, and maybe you will, too. Just have a fire extinguisher at the ready.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 16 Jun 2010 | 10:00 pm LSU Professor Uses Volcanic Emissions To Study Earth's Atmospheric PastOn March 20, Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano woke from its nearly 200-year slumber to change the way the world viewed volcanoes forever.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Jun 2010 | 9:29 pm Consumer Responses To Gulf Oil Spill Reflect Americans' Changing Corporate ExpectationsCompanies need to be responsible to shareholders and societyJust as President Barack Obama called for in his address to the nation last night, Americans are demanding that BP and all other companies be responsible to both their shareholders and society, according to a new report from Rice University's Jones Graduate School of Business.The rigorous survey-based nationwide study of U.S.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Jun 2010 | 9:28 pm Questioning The Effectiveness Of Oil Dispersants In Gulf Oil SpillThe widespread belief that chemical dispersants will enhance the breakdown of oil from the Gulf of Mexico disaster is based on weak scientific data.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Jun 2010 | 9:25 pm Wild Potato Germplasm Holds Key To Disease ResistanceWild potato germplasm that offers resistance to some major potato diseases has been identified by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists.Geneticists Dennis Halterman and Shelley Jansky pinpointed the resistant wild potato species in studies at the ARS Vegetable Crops Research Unit in Madison, Wis.Halterman has identified a wild potato species called Solanum verrucosum that contains a gene with resistance to late blight, considered the most destructive disease of potato.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Jun 2010 | 9:22 pm iFixit Breaks Down the Mac Mini
Our friends at iFixit have taken the new Mac Mini apart to show us it’s insides. From the looks of it, it was a pretty easy break down, with not too many parts inside. And, it looks just as good inside as i does out – in true Apple fashion. Here are the highlights:
[via Gizmodo]
Source: CrunchGear | 16 Jun 2010 | 9:19 pm E3 2010: Exspect’s got awesome swagFROM GAMERTELL - If you’re interested in cool techie swag and attending E3 2010, check out Exspect’s booth. The accessories company has teamed up with Joystick Junkies for a new line of products, and are giving away 128mb USB flash drive bracelets. Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 16 Jun 2010 | 9:16 pm Nimoy and Saldana give Yoostar film karaoke a whirl (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Jun 2010 | 9:02 pm Nadanu’s Fundraising Platform Streamlines E-Giving
Nadanu’s Push-K platform allows register and “drop coins” into a custom receptacle. It is modeled after a traditional charity coin box, and donors can click to drop virtual coins into their eCharityBox and watch it fill up. Once the box reaches a predestinated amount the box is emptied, their credit card charged and an automated tax receipt is sent via email. Payment options include Authorize.net and PayPal. The interface is sleek and easy to users. On the backend, Push-K allows organizations to deliver content such as video and audio and also serve text messages to users. Launched a few months ago, Nadanu is already powering e-giving for over 400 charities. Nadanu also has mobile offerings available for the iPhone, iPad, Android and more. And the company has a web offering and Facebook app.
     
Source: TechCrunch | 16 Jun 2010 | 9:00 pm Corporate Watch - Wall Street Journal
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 16 Jun 2010 | 8:50 pm How are Craters Formed?Crater formation is a a mysterious science, and one we won't get a good handle on until man returns to the pripristine craters of thelunar landscape.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 16 Jun 2010 | 8:39 pm HP and Yahoo To Spam Your PrinterAn anonymous reader writes "As many suspected when HP announced its web-connected printer, it didn't take long for the company to announce it will send 'targeted' advertisements to your new printer. So you'll get spammed, and you'll pay for the ink to print it. On the bright side, the FCC forbids unsolicited fax ads, so this will probably get HP on a collision course with the Feds."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 16 Jun 2010 | 8:35 pm Twitter all the rage at World Cup (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Jun 2010 | 8:17 pm E3 2010: Hands-on with the Pac-Man Battle Royale table top arcade gameFROM GAMERTELL - Gamertell got to try out Pac-Man: Battle Royale, an arcade game where four people can play as different Pac-Men, battling to eat the most pellets, ghosts and other Pac-Men. Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 16 Jun 2010 | 8:01 pm Toshiba Launches Industry's Largest Embedded NAND Flash Memory ModulesIRVINE, Calif., June 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc.(TAEC) and its parent company Toshiba Corporation* (TOKYO: 6502) today announced the launch of a 128-gigabyte (GB)(1) embedded NAND flash memory module, the highest capacity yet achieved in the industry(2).Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Jun 2010 | 8:01 pm Macronix Develops New 3D NAND Flash TechnologyHSINCHU, Taiwan, June 16 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Macronix International Co., Ltd.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Jun 2010 | 8:00 pm Still Really Want An iPhone 4? Find $5,000, Head To eBay
Scanning eBay right now, there are roughly 400 iPhone 4s for sale (between the 16 GB and 32 GB models). Sure, the device isn’t out yet, but people are willing to part with the device as soon as they get it on June 24. The question is: how much do you have to pay to get them to part with it? Currently, the cheapest ones are going for $550 — and that’s the $199 16 GB model. The cheapest 32 GB model? $799 — a full $500 over the $299 retail price. Both of those are bargains compared to what some people are selling them for. Want the iPhone 4 hand delivered to you by June 27? That will cost you $5,000. Yes, $5,000 for one iPhone. At least 50 other people are offering to sell theirs for $1,000 or more. And this is just two days after the initial pre-sale. As the expected ship date continues to get pushed back, these prices are going to get much more ugly. By the time launch day hits and people have them in their hands, don’t be surprised if many of these new iPhones sell for thousands of dollars.
     
Source: TechCrunch | 16 Jun 2010 | 7:35 pm Demoing Sports Champions for the Playstation Move
The controls looked pretty snappy too; the archery game shows that off. Matt got the hang of the gladiator game pretty quickly, but the subtleties of Ping Ping eluded him completely. He’ll be the first to say that the failure was on his part — you can tell by the way our host confidently trounces him that there is a lot of precision involved. Sorry about the audio, but the middle of West Hall at E3 really is one of the loudest places on Earth. We’re talking vuvuzela levels here.
Source: CrunchGear | 16 Jun 2010 | 7:30 pm Hands-on: Razer’s StarCraft II-themed mouse, keyboard, and headset
So there are three new peripherals: a keyboard, a mouse, and a headset. All three were joint projects between Razer and Blizzard, and it shows — for good and for ill. Let’s take a look at the gear.
The idea here was to provide a compact but robust RTS-oriented mouse. They found that most pro RTS players use a claw grip, so an ergonomic shape was less necessary than one that’s comfortable to grip from both sides. So it looks a bit weird: it’s bigger toward the button end, making a sort of wedge pointing at you. There is the usual button selection: two main buttons, two side buttons, a scroll wheel and wheel button. They all felt snappy to me, no surprise there. The tracking engine is even more advanced than their previous line of mice — it’s now a 32-bit interface. While I doubt anyone was running up against the limitations of a 16-bit interface, there were times where there was simply too much data to process and the result is skipping. At any rate, higher is better. I was going to make fun of the lighting on the mouse, since Robert told me some time ago that they’re trying to move away from flashy lighting, but it turns out that it’s functional. On the mouse, keyboard, and headset all, there are customizable LEDs, but they’re not just for looks. They worked really closely with Blizzard to build up a set of in-game events and actions that can be set to turn on different colors of LEDs. So if your base is under attack, flash red. If a unit is born, green. You can also set it to record your APM (actions per minute, a critical metric in pro RTS gaming) and change color based on how fast you’re working. Pretty awesome if you ask me, though at $80 it’s pretty expensive. Marauder keyboard
Robert tells me that the big StarCraft II pros tend to use a certain model of keyboard — a long-throw membrane one of all the ones to choose from. It’s just what they like. So… they put out the Marauder based on that design. Personally, I didn’t like it at all. The key depression action felt gummy, and the lack of dedicated media keys will turn off a lot of people. The drivers support enormous macros, and you can pretty much set a macro for any key by using the macro modifier button, so if you’re a macro fiend that might be handy (not me, though). And no USB slots or mic/audio ports? For $120 it really needs to do a lot more than this, I’m afraid. It does sport the lighting system, which is nice. Banshee headphones
I liked these, though I can’t say exactly why. A certain je ne sais quois, I guess. There are controls for volume and mute on the back of the earcups, with the right controlling audio and the left controlling microphone. The placement seemed nice; I’m always hitting the Logitech G35’s media buttons by accident, and on Razer’s Megalodon set it’s a pain to have to take yourself out of the game to fiddle with the little hub. They look heavy but they’re not particularly so, and the weight is distributed nicely. The final design will have slightly larger earcups… the better envelop you, my dear. The microphone is removable, which just means I’ll lose it. It also flips up, though I’m not sure if I prefer that over the retractable style of the Nox and SteelSeries headsets. At $120, I think it’s a bit much for a stereo headset — maybe if it were surround sound… There you have it. My judgment is: nice gear, but a bit dear. The SC2 branding allows them to charge a bit extra, and there will almost certainly be bundles where you can save a bit on all three plus the game, but they’re coming in with a high price to an already-competitive market. The lighting system might give you the edge in a game, though, so if I were playing competitively I might pick up the mouse just for that. Of course, there’s always more info available at Razer.
Source: CrunchGear | 16 Jun 2010 | 7:00 pm Fart Battles for iPhone. It’s what’s inside that counts!
The app measures and categorizes a plethora of data on each fart and stores audio samples in your very own fart library. Save the best ones and attack your friends with them, clandestinely via shortened links. I haven’t tried it out yet, but it looks FARTASTIC!
From the press release:
Let’s recap:
If nothing else, it’s a pretty funny sales video. More info at http://fartbattles.com/ iTunes link is here
Source: CrunchGear | 16 Jun 2010 | 6:57 pm E3 2010: Hands-on with ForceTek ‘s XIO full-arm motion controllerFROM GAMERTELL - This is another one of those bits of gaming gear that has a certain, “Wow!” factor yet you may not ever see in stores. It has wireless full-motion controls… Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 16 Jun 2010 | 6:56 pm X-ray pin-up calendar
The Eizo medical supply company issued a 2010 calendar of X-ray pin-ups. (Via Anon's comment) Ozzy Osbourne To Be Genetically DecodedDashiva Dan writes "DNA research lab Knome has announced that it is going to sequence Ozzy's entire genome. Ozzy, the former lead singer of Black Sabbath, reality television star, and spokesman for World of Warcraft among many other things, has been selected so they can discover, among other things, how drugs are absorbed in the body. The amount of abuse Ozzy has put himself through and survived is a large part of why he was chosen."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 16 Jun 2010 | 6:45 pm Microsoft Declares Quarterly DividendREDMOND, Wash., June 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp. today announced that its board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.13 per share. The dividend is payable September 9, 2010 to shareholders of record on August 19, 2010.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Jun 2010 | 6:45 pm Trying out SOCOM with the Playstation Move
Source: CrunchGear | 16 Jun 2010 | 6:43 pm Disney/Pixar Buys The First Twitter Trending Topic Ad
As you can see in the right hand toolbar of Twitter.com, at the bottom of the Trending Topics area there is now an 11th topic, “Toy Story 3.” Next to it is a big yellow box letting you know that it’s a promoted Trending Topic. Just as with Promoted Tweets, the functionality for these Promoted Trending Topics is the same as the regular Trending Topics — clicking on it takes you to a search results page to see what people are saying about Toy Story 3. “As we have always said, we plan to test different advertising and promotional models in these early stages of our monetization efforts for both user and brand value. As part of this effort, we are testing trends clearly marked as “promoted” for an undefined period of time,” a Twitter representative tells us. And along with buying the Trending Topic, Disney/Pixar gets a Promoted Tweet at the top of the stream, Twitter confirms. Twitter also says that just as with Promoted Tweets, the Promoted Trending Topic “has to resonate” or it will disappear. Two more things of note here. First, it’s interesting that Twitter is putting these at the bottom of Trending Topics rather than at the top. Still, the yellow badge draws your eye naturally to it. Second, the Promoted Trending Topic appears no matter which city or country you set your Trending Topics to. In the future, you can imagine these Promoted Tending Topics being even more highly targeted to just certain regions/cities.
Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 16 Jun 2010 | 6:42 pm 50% Of Android Phones Now Running OS 2.1
This is a big change since early May, when only 32.4% of phones were running 2.1. Since then, a number of older phones have been upgraded, and the new Sprint Evo and some other newer devices run it as well.
So why does this matter? We’ve written pretty extensively about Android fragmentation, or the fact that there are many phones running older versions of the OS. The Android team contests the use of the word ‘fragmentation’, (one blog post actually calls the term useless because it has been used in so many ways). But the fact remains that nearly 50% of phones are running older versions of the OS, and if a developer wants to make use of the latest Android features, they’ll leave a big chunk of the Android userbase behind. Case in point: when the official Twitter application was released in April, it was only available to 27.3% of all Android users. Still, the tide appears to be turning. OEMs are going to get faster with their updates, and Android upgrades will eventually start coming more slowly, which will hopefully result in fewer phones getting left behind. Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 16 Jun 2010 | 6:22 pm Sony PlayStation Move Charging Station: $29, charges two Move controllers simultaneously
Buried in the depth’s of Sony’s online archives were these photos of the PlayStation Move Charging Station, a device we don’t remember seeing at the big E3 booth. Or maybe we’re blind. In any event: the Charging Station, as the name implies, charges your Move controllers. Up to two at a time, too. When will you be able to get the Charging Station? At launch, of course, and for only $29.99. [Devin sez: I saw it in the little display case. Not very prominently featured, though.]
Source: CrunchGear | 16 Jun 2010 | 6:21 pm The next great advertising platform is…an HP printer?Section: Peripherals, Printers / Scanners
Coming to its new lineup of printers is a new software called, “Scheduled delivery” or what I like to call, “The paperboy of the digital world.” The software will allow the user to regularly schedule printing. For example, a sports addict might want to print the scores from all of the latest games at 7 am to read with breakfast. The catch? Yahoo’s ads will be on every “regularly scheduled” delivery. However, before you go complaining about even more advertising, this is not all bad. For one, we can assume that the printer will actually have a spot amongst the content that fits. If you go print a news article right now chances are, you will get some obtrusive flash ad that snuck its way onto the page. Secondly, these networked printers will have an IP address, which will allow the advertisements to choose ads based on location, making them actually relevant to you. I wouldn’t mind these advertisements. Especially if it gets rid of the “Click here to pick up your….” ads that you see all to frequently on pages of printed websites. Read [Computer World] Via [Engadget] Full Story » | Written by Hunter Clarke for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 16 Jun 2010 | 6:18 pm The Playstation Move Is A Wii Clone – But It’s Awesome The Playstation Move is just what it looks like: a Wii clone. It feels the same, looks the same, and works the same. That's a good thing, though. Everyone and their grandmother has played Wii bowling and knows how it works. Sony isn't reinventing motion control with the Move. They are, however, seriously improving it.
Source: TechCrunch | 16 Jun 2010 | 6:15 pm Nintendo sees life yet in the Wii - Reuters
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 16 Jun 2010 | 6:05 pm Apparently, There's No "Me" in Team, but There Is "AOL"–At Least in Its Employee Email! [BoomTown]
From the horse trail of our Western All Things Digital HQ, BoomTown could not resist posting this internal email from AOL exec Brad Garlinghouse, which was sent out to employees this afternoon. Apparently, the striving New York-based Internet company is changing its email address to reflect its morale goals. Presto, it’s the peppy @teamaol.com and no longer the duller @corp.aol.com. Wouldn’t it be nice if it was this easy to change the AOL (AOL) stock price?
To help AOLers get in the mood, here’s a video of some clips from “The Office,” although we feel that “Wonder Pets” might be a better reference point: Source: All Things Digital | 16 Jun 2010 | 5:57 pm Live Blog: Konami’s E3 2010 Press ConferenceFROM GAMERTELL - Join Gamertell as we talk about the latest and greatest games that Konami is bringing to E3 as we live blog it’s big media conference. Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 16 Jun 2010 | 5:44 pm SpaceX Nails Huge Commercial Launch ContractFresh off the successful debut flight of the Falcon 9 rocket, Space Exploration Technologies nailed a contract worth nearly $500 million to launch a network of communication satellites for Iridium.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 16 Jun 2010 | 5:39 pm If You Live Green, Why Not Die Green?When it comes to green funerals, cremation actually has some serious environmental downsides. Now funerary experts are developing new techniques to bring humans closer to the Earth once we've left it. A warning: reading about them isn't for the faint ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 16 Jun 2010 | 5:33 pm Sprint: Should It Buy the Rest of Clearwire? And Could It? [Voices]By Eric Savitz, Blogger and Columnist, Barron’s, Tech Trader Daily The hottest thing going at Sprint (S) right now is the company’s 4G WiMax service, which has it running way out in front of the 4G services using LTE technology coming next year or later from Verizon Wireless (VZ) and AT&T (T). But Sprint is really just a reseller here: the service is actually coming from Clearwire (CLWR), which as it happens is owned about 57 percent by Sprint. So, should they by the other 43 percent? TownHall Investment Research analyst Gerard Hallaren raises that question in a research note today. Hallaren reports that Sprint management made a comment that led some investor to conclude that Sprint is actively considering buying the rest of Clearwire. “As best we can tell, the speculation is based on a perceived desire by Sprint to control its own destiny by owning its 4G network and on synergies created by combining the two companies,” he writes. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 16 Jun 2010 | 5:30 pm USPTO Lets Amazon Patent the "Social Networking System"theodp writes "After shelling out a reported $90 million to buy PlanetAll in 1998, Amazon shuttered the site in 2000, explaining that 'it seemed really superfluous to have it running beside Friends and Favorites.' But years later in a 2008 patent filing, Amazon described the acquired PlanetAll technology to the USPTO in very Facebook-like terms. And on Tuesday, the USPTO issued U.S. Patent No. 7,739,139 to Amazon for its invention, the Social Networking System, which Amazon describes thusly: 'A networked computer system provides various services for assisting users in locating, and establishing contact relationships with, other users. For example, in one embodiment, users can identify other users based on their affiliations with particular schools or other organizations. The system also provides a mechanism for a user to selectively establish contact relationships or connections with other users, and to grant permissions for such other users to view personal information of the user. The system may also include features for enabling users to identify contacts of their respective contacts. In addition, the system may automatically notify users of personal information updates made by their respective contacts.' So, should Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg worry about Amazon opening a can of patent whup-ass?"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 16 Jun 2010 | 5:16 pm Programmer Detained After FBI Search - Wall Street Journal
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 16 Jun 2010 | 5:05 pm iPhone Jailbreak Videos: A Legal Primer and a How-ToFederal regulators have been mulling for 18 months a proposal to allow iPhone jailbreaking. Fred von Lohmann of the Electronic Frontier Foundation explains the legal issues, and Wired.com's Threat Level blog shows you how to actually hack it.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Jun 2010 | 4:40 pm NBC Keeps Part of the Hulu/Boxee Story a Secret [MediaMemo]Remember the kerfuffle when Hulu blocked Boxee last year? And remember the slightly smaller kerfuffle when the issue resurfaced earlier this year, during a government inquiry into the Comcast-NBC Universal deal? It’s not going away. In response to questioning from the Federal Communications Commission, NBC has described its version of the incident. But the GE (GE) unit doesn’t want everyone to see what it has to say. At NBC’s request, a large chunk of its statement has been redacted. See for yourself, courtesy of MediaBistro’s Alex Weprin, who has been going through NBC’s filing (click image to enlarge):
The text that NBC hasn’t blacked out is relatively straightforward, and it’s consistent with NBCU boss Jeff Zucker’s comments in February: Hulu blocked Boxee because it streamed Hulu’s content without using Hulu’s wrapper. And those comments still appear to contradict Hulu CEO Jason Kilar’s original position, which is that he blocked Boxee because his “content providers requested” that he do it. So what about the rest of NBC’s statement, which we can’t see? Got me. The bigger picture here is that both Comcast (CMCSA) and NBCU need to convince Washington that their proposed merger won’t consolidate enormous power in the hands on one company. Which is of course exactly what the merger is supposed to do. But one way to appease lawmakers may be some sort of “hands off Hulu” pledge, whereby Comcast promises to leave access to the site unfettered. Question: Is that what NBC’s partners–News Corp.’s (NWS) Fox, Disney’s (DIS) ABC and Providence Equity Partners–have in mind, too? UPDATE: The Los Angeles Times’ excellent Joe Flint notes that NBC has also revealed Hulu’s plans to launch a subscription service. And not surprisingly, it has blacked out that stuff, too. (Luckily, you can read about the broad strokes here). Source: All Things Digital | 16 Jun 2010 | 4:36 pm Report: US lacks staff, power to protect networks (AP)AP - The federal agency in charge of securing the government's computer systems is unable to monitor the networks or analyze threats in real time, and it lacks the authority and staff it needs to do its job, according to an internal report.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Jun 2010 | 4:36 pm Lawsuit Posits Social Network Connects Are A Non-Compete Violation
Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Jun 2010 | 4:18 pm You Want Range? Middle East EV Promises 2,236 MilesBut waitm there's more. Zero to 60 in 4 seconds, and massaging seats, too!
Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Jun 2010 | 4:08 pm Inside Australia's Data Retention Proposalbennyboy64 writes "New details have emerged on Australia's attempt at getting a data retention regime into place, with meeting notes taken by industry sources showing exactly what has been proposed. In a nutshell, the Australian government wants Internet service providers to keep anything and everything they have the ability to log and retain for two years 'at this stage.'"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 16 Jun 2010 | 4:05 pm Microsoft Office Web Apps: Limited, Mediocre, Dismal - PC World
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 16 Jun 2010 | 4:03 pm Homeland Security Geek Squad: No Power, No Plan, Lots of VacanciesThe U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team is supposed to spot and fix vulnerabilities in the government's networks. But seven years after its creation, US-CERT is still "without a strategic plan" and working at less than half-strength, a new report finds.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Jun 2010 | 3:55 pm Amazing Starling Flocks Are Flying AvalanchesTo watch the uncanny synchronization of a starling flock in flight is to wonder if the birds aren't actually a single entity, governed by something beyond the usual rules of biology. New research suggests that's true.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Jun 2010 | 3:45 pm Pentagon Zombie-Maker's New Project: Suffocate, Freeze, ReanimateMark Roth has a plan to save trauma patients. Step one: Suffocate the wounded. Step two: Put 'em on ice.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Jun 2010 | 3:45 pm Video: Inside the 40-Foot Waterfront RocketRaygun Gothic's 40-foot-tall, shiny silver rocket recently won a spot on San Francisco's Embarcadero. We take a look inside this elaborate retro-futuristic artwork in this Wired.com video.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 16 Jun 2010 | 3:25 pm Berners-Lee Pushes Linked Data In MIT CourseErMKutz writes "WWW inventor Tim Berners-Lee is championing linked data — the idea of assigning web addresses to individual pieces of data to enable more intelligent information searches — much like he did now-ubiquitous Internet standards such as HTML and HTTP. But the ethic hasn't quite taken off yet, so he and a group of Boston tech and entrepreneurial all-stars are launching an MIT class to teach students linked data mechanics and fast-track the technology to market. They're combining engineering and entrepreneurial education in the hopes of launching viable linked data businesses or open source code at the conclusion of the course." I hope this shows up on OpenCourseWare.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 16 Jun 2010 | 3:23 pm Dogfighting DNA Database Helps Nab CriminalsIt’s rare to catch a dog fighter in the middle of an actual fight, so when investigators are trying to convict suspected dog fighters, they need all the evidence they can get. That’s where DNA and -- even better -- ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 16 Jun 2010 | 2:50 pm HTC Desire to begin shipping in America in AugustSection: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile  One of the highly anticipated Android phones in the European market will be making its way to the United States in August. The HTC Desire is known to sport HTC Sense, run Android 2.1, a 3.7 inch AMOLED display and feature a 1GHz Snapdragon processor. Unfortunately, no information has been released on which carrier will sell the HTC Desire, nor how much the Desire will cost. HTC says it will be available through “select regional operators” so it will be interesting to see who gets to sell the sleek Android smartphone. I’m sure we will learn more information such as exact availability date, price, and the carrier as we get closer to August.
Via [Twitter @HTC] Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 16 Jun 2010 | 2:42 pm Appletell reviews iPad cases from WaterField DesignsFROM APPLETELL - WaterField makes some of the best laptop bags you can buy, and their initial iPad offerings are just as good. Here, we look at the iPad Smart Case and the iPad Suede Jacket Sleeve. Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 16 Jun 2010 | 2:10 pm Modern Agricultural Slows Global WarmingScientists determined that the "Green Revolution" was greener than previously thought, preventing hundreds of billions of tons of greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 16 Jun 2010 | 2:08 pm San Francisco passes cell phone radiation lawSection: Communications, Cellphones, Smartphones, Mobile
This could either be really good news for manufacturers or really bad news. One of the arguments against this bill is that one cell phone might be considered safer than another just based on this number which could be misleading to the consumer. Full Story » | Written by Hunter Clarke for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 16 Jun 2010 | 1:31 pm iPhone 4 pre-order shipping estimates bumped back yet again
I’ll go ahead and say it: if you want an iPhone 4 and didn’t pre-order yesterday, you’re going to have a hell of a time getting one on launch day. In fact, you might have a tough time getting one any time near launch day.
As the pre-orders piled up last night and the first batch of stock ran dry, Apple changed their pre-order shipping estimate from June 24th to July 2nd. The orders, it seems, aren’t slowing; just a few hours later, the estimate has been bumped yet again, from July 2nd to July 14th. If things continue to spiral, late-comers could very well be seeing shipping estimates delays of up to a month after launch. Countdown until eBay gets absolutely flooded with immediately turned-over units: 3.. 2..
Source: MobileCrunch | 16 Jun 2010 | 1:30 pm Air Pollution Can Make You Snore, Disrupt SleepEveryone knows air pollution is bad for us. But we might be losing sleep over it, literally, and suffering serious health problems as a result.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 16 Jun 2010 | 1:11 pm Three ways to follow E3 2010 with GamertellFROM GAMERTELL - Gamertell offers three wyas to follow E3 2010: E3 dedicated page, a mobile device optimized page and Twitter. Check out the links… Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 16 Jun 2010 | 1:00 pm Designers Create a Table From 25,000 Lego Pieces
It’s a geek fantasy come true as two Netherlands-based designers have created a piece of furniture built entirely out of Lego blocks. Designers Mario Minale and Kuniko Maeda took 25,000 Lego pieces and replicated the design of a sideboard that Dutch designer Gerrit Rietveld had sketched in 1919. “Lego is the perfect contemporary material for it as it is available to everyone,” says Minale. “It is simple yet relies on complex and perfect moulds and production systems.” The Lego pieces were sourced partly from the company itself but also from the bricklink.com website. The entire project took two months to plan and sketch on computer and three weeks to build. What makes the table stunning is not just the intricate design and the use of the same color throughout, but that it is completely functional piece. The drawers and the doors for the table open and it can be used in a home, if you can afford it. “It shows us that the seriousness of developing a system that serves a good purpose is ultimately grounded in our desire for playfulness,” says Minale. Only five of these Lego tables will be made and sold through the droog website, says the designboom site. Pricing for the tables have not yet been disclosed. The Rietveld Lego table is on show at the ongoing Design Miami/ Basel event. It’s not the first time the designer duo who own the firm Minale-Maeda have worked with Lego bricks. In 2004, they designed a chair using red, blue and black lego bricks. The chair had an aluminum frame and only seven of those were made. For now, feast on more views of the Lego table.
[via Technabob] Photos: Minale-maeda 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 16 Jun 2010 | 1:00 pm Video: Inside the 40-Foot Rocket That’s Coming to San Francisco
Raygun Gothic is a loose collective of artists and amateurs who built a 40-foot-tall, 7.5-ton, retro-styled, steel-and-aluminum rocket. It debuted at Burning Man, made an appearance earlier this year at the Maker Faire, and will soon be installed on San Francisco’s Embarcadero for a 14-month stay. While we were at Maker Faire, we got an in-depth tour of the rocket from project manager and lead artist David Shulman. While it will be closed to visitors during its stay on in San Francisco, the rocket has an elaborate, three-level interior in which nearly every surface holds some kind of interest. There’s control equipment, scientific testing equipment, navigational devices, sensor readouts of various kinds, and even a shelf of books — all of them artful, if not particularly functional, spawn of someone’s artistic mind. The sheer amount of labor required to build this thing is impressive in its own right. The aluminum skin was hand-rolled using English wheels, Shulman told us, and was fastened to the laser-cut steel frame with more than 3,000 rivets. It’s all put together in a style that evokes the science-fiction pulp mags of the 1930s and 1940s. If we had actually gone into space during those decades, there’s no doubt our rockets would have looked like this.
The rocket is scheduled to land on the San Francisco waterfront in August. For more on the rocket, including the crew’s retro-fantastic poster art, visit the Raygun Gothic website. See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 16 Jun 2010 | 12:31 pm Airport Scanners Take on MummiesScientists experiment with using airport body scanners for a less controversial purpose: screening ancient mummies.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 16 Jun 2010 | 12:30 pm The HTC Desire is coming to US carriers in August, but probably not in the way you want
Oh man! The week is nearly halfway over, and we haven’t had a single edition of Good News/Bad News yet — its been pretty much all good news, all week. What is this, day care? We can’t have you guys getting too optimistic. So, as it goes.. The Good News: The Desire (HTC’s slightly cooler, slightly sleeker version of Google’s Nexus One) is coming to carriers in the US. The Bad News: It’s probably not going to any of the carriers you could name off the top of your head. HTC just sent us a note to let us know that the “HTC Desire will be coming to the US via select regional operators beginning this August“. HTC Desire! Great. US! Great! August! Great. “select regional operators”? Not so great. They’re not announcing exactly which carriers will be getting the device, but the use of the word “regional” there almost certainly nixes the big’uns (like T-Mobile or AT&T) from the picture. Now, don’t get me wrong: We’ll always root for the little guy, so we’re excited for any regional carrier who gets to call the Desire their own. Lets just hope the Desire doesn’t wind up stuck in some tiny nook in East Texas or something.
Source: MobileCrunch | 16 Jun 2010 | 12:05 pm Mac Mini suits up with MacBook silicon - CNET
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 16 Jun 2010 | 11:31 am Obese Have Worse Sex LivesIn case you need one more reason to hit the gym today, here it is.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 16 Jun 2010 | 10:45 am Man's Voice Reveals His Fighting AbilityIn the animal kingdom, a male's vocalizations are sometimes are tied to physical strength. Human men turn out to fit that phenomenon perfectly.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 16 Jun 2010 | 9:30 am Get swyping: Swype for Android available now in English, Spanish and Italian
We told you this was coming: Swype has just made it possible for any Android handset owner to download their innovative touch-screen enabled text-input application straight from the website. Which means a whole lot of people can henceforth start challenging that Guinness World Record for speedy textin’ using Swype. Up until today, Swype came pre-installed on only a fraction of available Android phones (including the all new Motorola Droid X) due to its licensing business model, although the company did open up to 25,000 eager beta testers a couple of months ago – most of whom seem to have completely fallen in love with it. Well, anyone can download it now, but only for a limited time (a couple of days) and with a somewhat limited feature set. Important: it won’t work if you have a phone that came pre-installed with Swype and support will be via Swype’s forums only. What Swype does is provide a faster, easier way to input text on any screen using your finger or a stylus, which makes it particularly useful for tablet computers and smartphones. It has a built-in database of words, so you don’t even need to be super accurate when swyping. Swype already supported English and has now also added support for Italian and Spanish, which we’re told were the most often requested additional languages. The Swype app should run seamlessly on all Android versions. Note that it isn’t available for download from Android Market – you need to actually visit the Swype website and make sure your phone’s settings allow you to install and run apps from ‘unknown sources’. For your background: Swype was developed by founders Cliff Kushler (co-inventor of T9) and Randy Marsden (the developer of the onscreen keyboard included in Windows), along with a team of programmers and linguists. The company has to date raised $7.9 million from investors like DoCoMo Capital, Samsung Ventures and Nokia Growth Partners. Here’s a recent interview Michael Arrington did with Swype CEO Mike McSherry:
Source: MobileCrunch | 16 Jun 2010 | 8:59 am San Francisco passes law requiring mandatory display of phone radiation levels
The law requires phone retailers to display this information next to each phone in their store in at least 11 point type. The FCC currently requires all phones sold in the US to have a SAR of less than 1.6 W/kg, but every phone has a different SAR, and the concern is that some people will think that some phones are safer than others, meaning poor little Johnny may miss out on an iPhone because of an over-protective and ill-informed parent. Spare a thought for Johnny, won’t you? Officials in San Fran are saying that the law isn’t meant to discourage mobile phone usage, but rather, is there to [via The NY Times]
Source: MobileCrunch | 16 Jun 2010 | 8:53 am Video: Is it a camera? Is it a phone? It’s the Android-powered point-n-shoot!
What you’re looking at here is the 14MP, Android-powered, Altec Leo point-n-shoot-camera-phone-thingo. Y’see, it isn’t the difference in Megapixels that have separated point-n-shoot cameras from phone cameras: it’s the difference in lenses. As discussed here, it doesn’t matter how many megapixels you capture a photo in, if the lens is small/bad/cheap, the photo will still look terrible. So what have Altek done? Depending on what side of the fence you stand on, they’ve either created a camera phone with a better lens, or a point-n-shoot with a phone attached. Either way, it’s something I’ve dreamt of for years. I love my Canon point-n-shoot, but what I really love is being able to snap a photo and immediately upload it to the interwebz. I know there are ways to do this (swapping memory cards, Eye-Fi), but none so convenient as the camera phone. This has worked well for me for many years. That was until I upgraded from my Nokia N95 to my HTC Hero. As much as I love my Hero, the camera in it is… beyond polite words. Aesthetic abominations aside, Altek have created a solution. A decent lens + flash, with the ability to immediately upload to the ‘net (or even MMS) that hilarious mid-air shot of your kitty. But do I really want to replace my Canon with an Altek camera? There is no word on phone specs beyond the promised Android 2.1 (with 2.2 on the way), but it probably isn’t packin’ a ‘dragon. So do I really want to replace my HTC phone with an Altek phone? Maybe I’ll just get a new point-n-shoot with in-built WiFi, and upload the images using WiFi tethering. Unsurprisingly, the camera + phone is destined for release in Asia (Hong Kong, China and Taiwan) in Q4 of this year, with no word of a release anywhere else. The price will be around US$499. But don’t forget to check out the hands-on video, below. [via Android Central]
Source: MobileCrunch | 16 Jun 2010 | 8:09 am Self-Portrait Add-On for iPhone is All Done With Mirrors
IOS4 will bring many of the new iPhone’s features to older models, but it won’t add a front-facing camera. To take self-portraits, you’ll need to either guestimate the framing, or spring for the iSnapMe, which is a kind of stick-on periscope for your iPhone. The $20 mirror has a pair of suction cups which hold it in place and reflect your handsome face into the old-fashioned 3MP, rear-facing camera found on your tired old iPhone. Because you can now stare at your own enchanting visage, you’ll get perfect framing and focusing every time. There may even be other uses. This could function as a rear-view mirror so you can check what caused that suspicious shadow that just flicked across your peripheral vision, all without turning away from Plants Vs. Zombies, and… Well, I can’t think of anything else. So, persons with an Oedipus complex who have no friends to take their photo, and no sense of where to point a camera, this is the perfect accessory for you. Go get it now. iSnapMe [iSnapMe via Oh Gizmo!] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 16 Jun 2010 | 8:02 am How-To Make a Waterproof, Kitchen-Proof iPad Case and StandThis is only a how-to in the loosest sense. The step-by-step instructions would read thus: 1. buy a zip-loc bag and a business-card stand from the stationary store 2. Put the iPad inside But the surprise is just how amazingly well this combination works, alone or apart. Here’s the video: The first surprise is that the iPad’s screen will still accept touch input through the plastic when otherwise isolated from the steam, spills and oily haze of your late-night burger-frying sessions. This will let you read, play music or do pretty much anything else as your patties sear and then rest to achieve a perfect medium-rare pink (yes, I’ve become obsessed with Serious Eats’ A Hamburger Today column, okay?) The bag I used is a little dimply, but you could use a thinner, smoother (and free-er) invoice bag from FedEx and you’d get a better contact with the screen. At 70 cents for two, though, I’m not complaining about the ones I have. A bigger surprise is that the sound is actually better when the iPad is safely ensconced within the bag. Well, louder at least. There is a small but easily perceptible volume boost, presumably caused by the sound booming around in the bag. This is very handy when trying to hear an audiobook over the hiss fresh-ground chuck steak sizzling in a cast-iron skillet. As you can see in the clip, the bag is waterproof. Although I wouldn’t trust the zip-loc enough to actually submerge the package, it is clearly able to cope with spilled beverages and spitting pans (if you’re wondering, the video playing is the un-aired and frankly quite creepy pilot for Big Bang Theory). The acrylic business-card holder cost me a little more – €7, or just shy of $9 – but it is sturdy and makes a very good and very tough iPad stand. I use it without the zip-loc bag as a desk-stand. Despite the sturdiness of its support, it has a small footprint, ideal for my little kitchen. There’s certainly something about the iPad which encourages this kind of DIY approach to accessories, like our good friend John C Abell’s doorstop hack. Perhaps it’s that nobody has quite figured out a use for it yet, so we’re forced into custom solutions. If you use your iPad in the kitchen, try out the zip-loc solution. No longer will you fear damaging your tablet as you melt creamy, sharp Cheddar-cheese onto a juicy pink hamburger and crack open an ice-cold bottle of beer. Is anyone else feeling hungry? See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 16 Jun 2010 | 7:42 am Sony Ericsson outs their first full-touch Walkman-branded feature phone: Yendo
They’re not the ones reading this blog, though. Maybe you know one of them and want to pass this information on? Anyway, Sony Ericsson today announced (alongside their next Android handset, the X8) their first ever full-touch, Walkman-branded, probably-not-very-expensive, feature-phone: the Yendo. The GSM-only handset will come in a plethora of colours (as you can see, in the gallery below), and will give you access to such modern mobile marvels as text messaging, email, Facebook, Twitter, and Orkut. It has a 2.6″ display, a 2.0MP camera, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and Sony’s new(ish) “four corner” UI (like on the Xperia line, but without the Android). Strangely, I could find no mention of how much storage it has, or even if it has a MicroSD card slot. Which (I think) is pretty important information for a Walkman. It will launch in Q3 of this year. No price has yet been announced, but it won’t be much.
Source: MobileCrunch | 16 Jun 2010 | 7:00 am Sony Playstation: The Kitchen Sink Approach Continues - PC World
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 16 Jun 2010 | 6:59 am UrbanEars Medis Cling to Ears Like Spiderman
UrbanEars’ new Medis earphones come somewhere between earbuds and headphones. Using the rather scary-sounding EarClick, they manage to hold themselves inside the ear, but not in the usual canal-stuffing, gag-reflex-triggering way. Instead, the oversized ‘buds have a pair of lugs. The fixed, bottom lug hooks into the cartilaginous antitragus above the earlobe (yes, I have a diagram of an ear on the screen to help me) and a second, removable lug snuggles under the inferior crux. You can choose from four sizes for this second lobe to precisely fit the unit into your ear. Apparently this spreading of pressure points means you can hardly feel the Medis. You will be able to see them, however: the Medis come in an eye-scorching range of “color-ways”, and all of them are sensibly named as real colors (well, almost all. One green is called “sallad”). The cans come with a mic and in-line remote on the fabric-covered cord, and the specs on the sheet point to good sound, although only a test will tell for sure. The drivers are a rather large 15mm, frequency response runs from 20-20,000kHZ and the sensitivity is a good-enough 94dB. I’d be interested to test these $50 earbuds: the fitting system looks like it could actually work. Available everywhere in July. Medis [UrbanEars. Thanks, Valerie!] See Also: 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 16 Jun 2010 | 6:30 am Sony Ericsson announces Xperia X8, plus Android 2.1 updates to Xperia X10 line
Speaking of the X10, here’s the other piece of good news: they (as in all three types of the X10), will get a bump from Android 1.6 to Android 2.1 in Q3 of this year. For the original X10, the bump will also bring HD video recording, which is a neat bonus. Not only that, but another software update will come in Q4 (for the original X10 only) that will enable the phone to wirelessly connect to your (presumably Sony) television to display content. As I said above, the X8 is the cheaper alternative to the X10 line. It will sport a 600MHz processor, 3.0 inch 320×480 screen, 3.2MP camera, 3.5mm headset jack, 2GB included MicroSD card, WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth (with stereo A2DP), and Sony’s uniqiue twist on the Android UI. It will come in your choice of (just) White, Dark Blue/White, Aqua Blue/White, Pink/White, or Silver/White. You can see the different colours in the gallery, below (many thanks to All About Phones for the pic). Sony haven’t yet made their mind up on whether the X8 will launch with Android 2.1 or 1.6, but if it does launch with 1.6, a software update to 2.1 will follow “a few weeks later”. Like the Android 2.1 update, the X8 also has a vague Q3 2010 release date. No price is yet available. [via Unwired View]
Source: MobileCrunch | 16 Jun 2010 | 6:21 am Hacker Stuffs MiFi Inside iPad, Ruins it in the Process
So desperate was an anonymous Dish Network reseller to get his iPad onto Verizon’s network that he was willing to sacrifice Wi-Fi signal strength, lose the GPS and partially break the iPad’s speaker. The method? Rip out the 3G from an iPad 3G and replace it with the innards of a MiFi, chopping out space as you go. This ingenious and somewhat ambitious hack turns out to be straightforward, if a little scary. The MiFi hooks into the iPad’s battery with a little fiddling, and directly into one of its two antennae with no hacking at all. The big problem was actually fitting the MiFi internals inside the iPad as they are larger than the card they replace. The answer was to hack out one of the iPad’s two speakers, effectively killing the bass. The microSIM carrier-tray was dumped in favor of a small switch to power up the MiFi (it switches off after a half hour by default), and this appendage is operated by sticking a thumbnail into the slot. Finally, once the unit was reassembled, the bright MiFi LED shone directly through the iPad’s screen. Oops. This was quickly fixed by clipping it off the circuit-board. So, one iPad gutted and damaged, but running quickly on Verizon’s data network. There is another big gain, too: the Wi-Fi part of the MiFi still works, so you can connect up to four other devices to the network. The weirdest part is that the iPad is actually getting its connection via Wi-Fi from the MiFi, not direct from the EVDO radio. This is a little like holding a tape-recorder up to a speaker to copy a record. You can’t fault the guy for having the cojones to tear up his iPad in the name of science, but I can’t help but think that it would be better to simply carry the MiFi in a pocket. After all, you still need to power it up every time you use it, and now it is just one extra drain on the iPad’s battery. iPad MiFi Conversion for Verizon [Dish TV HD Store via Life Hacker] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 16 Jun 2010 | 5:31 am IPhone 4 Already Sold Out Despite Apple Store Meltdown
Yesterday, Apple and AT&T both experienced complete meltdown as their servers crumpled under the load of iPhone 4 pre-orders. Various surprising effects were experienced by potential customers according to Twitter, including seemingly successful orders failing after completion, AT&T log-ins redirecting to the accounts of other users, and even full-priced, off-contract handsets ending up in shopping carts. Today, as the dust clears, it appears that Apple managed to sell out of the iPhone 4 despite the almost non-available store. We know this because the delivery date for orders has been pushed back to July 2nd, a week and a day after the launch date of June 24th. The $99 3GS can still be had on time, if you still want that ugly old thing after seeing the new one. We can only guess that Apple underestimated demand, just like it did with the iPad, which is still scarce in most markets. Those of you outside the first-tier countries, like me over in Spain, can settle in for a long wait. Select your iPhone, then choose your AT&T rate plan [Apple] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 16 Jun 2010 | 4:57 am Nokia’s Squat, Square X5 Takes on MiniDisc
Nokia’s gorgeous new X5 is clearly not aimed at the iPhone or Android markets. Instead it is designed to fill the square-shaped gap left by Sony’s venerable MiniDisc player. What? According to Nokia Conversations, the company’s official blog, the stylish, sleek phone is all about the music: “You might be reminded of a MiniDisc player in its visual stylings and the musical connection is definitely correct when it comes to this device’s specialisms” says the mysterious Nokia blogger known only as “Ian”. The beautiful (enough already, who are we kidding? This thing is the very definition of hideous) X5 has all the usual gubbins stuffed into its bright and boxy case: a QWERTY keyboard, a 5MP camera with LED lamp, an SD card slot to expand beyond the pitiful 200MB on-board storage, and dedicated music keys. But it also has “some inventive new input options”: Spin the phone and it will shuffle to a random music track. Inventive indeed! Shake the phone and it “reveals the number of unread messages waiting from your friends,” if you still have any after they see your new phone. The best feature, though, is its regional availability. The €165 ($200) X5 will launch only in Indonesia, which is comfortably far away for everyone except the poor Indonesians. Hip to be Square: Two Xseries launches at Nokia Connection [Nokia Conversations] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 16 Jun 2010 | 4:23 am
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We’ve all heard about mayor deals with Foursquare. That is, a person who is the “mayor ” of a venue (essentially, has checked-in there the most number of times) gets access to special deals, such free items or discounts. 
Yesterday I wrote about 
Popular live video platform 
Since the close of the eighth D: All Things Digital conference, we’ve been inundated with requests for a downloadable version of 
Looking for a case for your iPad? Here’s one to consider; Ten One Design just came out with the Particle Case. The Particle Case combines a capacitive touch screen stylus with a integrated clip and open back to protect your device, but also keep it from overheating during use. Best part about it is the quite reasonable $34.95 retail price. The Particle case is available now from the Ten One design website, and shipping immediately. To order (or just for more details) 
"Through IP (Internet Protocol) sniffing, you have an idea about where those printers are so naturally it allows you to kind of already target your offers," Nigro said.
This is a guest post from 
Teacher Ken Piercy, who was in charge of the yearbook committee, cut out Brandon's photo and comment because he said the boy had falsely accused the principal of spending money on a fence instead of textbooks.
Now more than ever, fundraising for charities, campaigns and causes is taking place online. A variety of startups offer simple ways to power fundraising campaigns online, including 
As you may have heard, Apple completely blew through its pre-order launch day iPhone 4s in 
Since April, Twitter users have grown accustomed to Twitter’s first ad revenue play: 
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Hewlett-Packard has teamed up with Yahoo in a pilot program to bring advertising to it’s new lineup of 
If you were to buy a cell phone in San Francisco, you soon might look at the processor speed, screen size, keyboard, and specific absorption rate. The ladder of course is something that you don’t typically see on the boxes of cell phones nowadays, but thanks to a preliminary approval of the ordinance, could be the way consumers read how much radiation goes into your noggin’ when you use a specific device.
Despite scientific studies showing no link between tumours and mobile phone radiation, San Francisco have decided that it is in the consumer’s best interest to clearly display the 
You know, not all of us want a smart phone. There are people out there who only use a mobile to make calls, send texts, and listen to a few tunes. 
