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Case of kids found on Facebook revives disputes (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 13 Jul 2010 | 4:07 am We7 Partners With GMG Radio To Inject Breaking News Into Music Streams One of the key advantages of on-demand music streaming services compared with traditional radio is that as well as listening to the music you choose you can do away with the DJ's endless chatter and other interruptions. But there is a potential downside: being isolated from current events, such as breaking news.
We7, the UK music streaming service and rival to the likes of Spotify in Europe, thinks it has a solution in the form of a partnership with The Guardian Media Group-owned GMG Radio, the company behind stations such as Smooth, Real and Rock Radio. Under the agreement, GMG Radio will provide We7 listeners with breaking news via the Real Radio brand, with the two companies essentially creating a kind of hybrid offering, which potentially mixes the best of on-demand and live radio.
Source: TechCrunch | 13 Jul 2010 | 4:05 am Just How Good Will Google's Q2 Numbers Be? [MediaMemo]
The search engine marketing company’s estimates fit nicely with Wall Street, which thinks Google will post a revenue jump of 22.5 percent, on average. No surprise there: Google (GOOG) pretty much is the search market — hence the Microsoft (MSFT)/Yahoo (YHOO) Hail Mary. And analysts usually take input from firms like Efficient Frontier to get to their numbers, anyway. OK. Anything else we should know? Here are a couple factoids: Efficient Frontier attributes the rise in large part of a big bump in retail spending, and says cost-per-click prices have jumped 18 percent in the last year. Left unsaid, so I’ll say it anyway: These numbers are compared to pretty soft comps from last year. Source: All Things Digital | 13 Jul 2010 | 4:00 am Facebook has a legal crisis - Inquirer
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 13 Jul 2010 | 3:52 am With Carrier Rates Dropping, Boku Prepares To Expand Beyond Virtual Goods [Video]Boku has carved out quite a name for itself in the fast-expanding world of mobile payments for virtual goods. The startup, which has raised more than $40 million since its launch last year, is now in 61 countries and has deals with some 200 carriers. However, while the realm of gaming remains rich (see our latest numbers on Zynga), Boku is ready to expand beyond virtual goods and step into real world transactions— within the next twelve months. By next year, Boku’s co-founder Ron Hirson, predicts that the company will be launching mobile payments for online (non-virtual) transactions and eventually, test programs for brick and mortar purchases. Boku has always wanted to become the PayPal of mobile payments, but has been hindered by lofty carrier rates. Historically, wireless carriers have charged roughly 30 to 40% to process transactions, making it very difficult for mobile payment companies like Boku to scale beyond virtual goods. That dynamic, Hirson says, is quickly shifting.
Ten percent is a significant victory, relative to the previous baseline, but Hirson acknowledges that the rates will have to move even lower to support Boku’s grand ambitions. The magic number, he says, is probably near 5%— which he admits may not happen in the near term. For those who are unfamiliar with the service, Boku (a rival of Zong) works with many game developers like Playdom and Playfish. When a user wants to purchase a virtual item, he enters his cell phone number on a site, the site sends a text message to the phone, the user confirms the transaction with a short reply, and all the charges show up on his phone bill. For more on Boku’s 2011 strategy and carrier trends see the video above. On Monday, Hirson was also a guest on TechCrunch NOW with Charlie Graham, Shop It To Me‘s founder. Fittingly, we discussed Google’s recent investment in Zynga, the gaming company’s massive revenues, and what it means for Boku (that video is below).
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Source: TechCrunch | 13 Jul 2010 | 3:46 am Yet Another Sneak Peak of BlackBerry OS 6.0 - Techtree.com
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 13 Jul 2010 | 3:31 am ORGCon: Your crash-course in digital rights, London, July 24The first-ever ORGCon, a one-day conference on digital rights in the UK, is coming up on July 24 in London. Over 300 people have signed up to attend, and there are only a few spaces left. If you're planning on going, you'd best book now!
ORGCon is your crash course in digital rights. This one-day conference will deliver everything you need to get campaigning on issues like the Digital Economy Act and the Database State. As well as stellar speakers James Boyle, Cory Doctorow and Tom Watson, there'll be contributions from Liberty, NO2ID and Big Brother Watch.ORGCon tickets running out fast - get yours now  Source: Boing Boing | 13 Jul 2010 | 3:26 am ORGCon: Your crash-course in digital rights, London, July 24The first-ever ORGCon, a one-day conference on digital rights in the UK, is coming up on July 24 in London. Over 300 people have signed up to attend, and there are only a few spaces left. If you're planning...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 13 Jul 2010 | 3:26 am FTC Warns Site Not To Sell Personal Dataitwbennett writes "The US Federal Trade Commission has warned two people associated with a now-defunct magazine and Web site for gay teens and young men that they would violate the privacy promises the publication made to subscribers by selling their personal information during a bankruptcy proceeding. The FTC, in a letter sent earlier this month, also suggested that the owners of XY Magazine and XY.com would be violating the privacy standards the company had in place before shutting down if they used the subscribers' personal information in a relaunch of the magazine or website. The personal information is listed as part of the debtor's estate in a New Jersey bankruptcy proceeding for Peter Ian Cummings, editor and founder of the magazine. Before the magazine's demise, many of the subscribers lived at home with parents."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 13 Jul 2010 | 3:14 am India's Infosys quarterly profit disappoints (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 13 Jul 2010 | 3:12 am Windows Phone 7 beta is out - Inquirer
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 13 Jul 2010 | 3:12 am VMware: Drops Prices by Half for Small Business MarketVMware is changing the pricing model to a more pay as you go basis and is cutting by half the cost of its low-end offerings for the small business market. The pricing changes are a reminder of how competitive...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 13 Jul 2010 | 2:51 am 'Red hot' chillies arrive at frozen seed vault - BBC News
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 13 Jul 2010 | 2:30 am Dripping Gold Pendants - This Melting Jewelry by Jung Eeeun is Visually Stunning (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) This beautifully crafted melting jewelry by Jung Eeeun is quite incredible. Showcasing some serious talent, this jewelry maker creates a melted look with gold cascading down semi-precious...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 13 Jul 2010 | 2:20 am Classic Suit Revivals - Canali Spring 2011 Brings Back the Savvy Elegance of the Suit (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) The Canali Spring 2011 collection brings back the elegance and the suaveness of the suit. Infusing the edge of the 50s and 60s to modern tailoring, the collection easily suits the younger...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 13 Jul 2010 | 2:00 am China eases control on web forums (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 13 Jul 2010 | 1:57 am MC Frontalot's First World Problem: "deep nerdcore and a wee bit political"Here's nerdcore rapper MC Frontalot's single "First World Problem" from his latest album Zero Day, animated by Shawna Mills of Brooklyn. Frontalot sez, "The song is deep nerdcore and a wee bit political...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 13 Jul 2010 | 1:50 am MC Frontalot's First World Problem: "deep nerdcore and a wee bit political"Here's nerdcore rapper MC Frontalot's single "First World Problem" from his latest album Zero Day, animated by Shawna Mills of Brooklyn. Frontalot sez, "The song is deep nerdcore and a wee bit political. The video tells a secondary story which interweaves thematically. Enjoy!" MC Frontalot - First World Problem [OFFICIAL VIDEO] (Thanks, MC Frontalot)
Source: Boing Boing | 13 Jul 2010 | 1:50 am Big Changes Planned For The Force Unleashed 2Star Wars: The Force Unleashed debuted in 2008 to less than stellar reviews, but sales of the game were strong. A sequel for the game is due out in October, and the developers spoke at length with the Guardian's Games blog about the improvements they've been working on. One of their priorities was adding depth to the combat system to make it less of a button-mash. "The team has completely redesigned all the familiar Force powers from the first title including Force Push and Force Grip, and has added a few newcomers including the potentially amusing Force Mind Trick that'll allow you to trick Storm Troopers into leaping from high ledges." Enemy AI is another area that's getting some love, and they're trying to make level design more open and less linear. The team's confidence in the changes they're making stems in part from much greater familiarity with their game-building tools. "Like its predecessor, Force Unleashed 2 will combine three third-party physics engines, Havok, Euphoria and Digital Molecular Matter, to provide cutting edge human animation, materials effects and authentic physical forces. ... 'Whenever you're building the first iteration [of a game series] and a brand new game engine at the same time, everything comes in hot and fast – we were literally figuring out how to get the most out of those three technologies all the way up to shipping. The DLC then helped us to learn more, and that knowledge has given us the biggest leap forward.'" A trailer for the game was released at E3.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 13 Jul 2010 | 1:46 am Android App Inventor: giving everyone the ability to hack their own tools Google's new App Inventor for Android is a free graphic environment for creating software for Android devices. It's a scriptable, drag-and-drop tool in the tradition of HyperCard and other great simple tools for software creation. I love these tools -- my first programming job was using HyperCard to make CD ROMs for Voyager Books -- especially for the way they democratize access to technology. It's one thing to go and ask a bunch of teachers what software they want and then try to interpret their desires with code; another altogether to empower teachers (or secretaries, doctors, nurses, librarians, hot dog vendors, etc) to make their own tools using simple environments. Sure, these graphic kits tend to be constrained and less speedy than writing to the metal using more programmerly languages, but this is a fair trade-off for giving the ability to hack to anyone who wants it. Source: Boing Boing | 13 Jul 2010 | 1:45 am Android App Inventor: giving everyone the ability to hack their own toolsGoogle's new App Inventor for Android is a free graphic environment for creating software for Android devices. It's a scriptable, drag-and-drop tool in the tradition of HyperCard and other great simple...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 13 Jul 2010 | 1:45 am Viral Video: Goodbye World Cup (and Good Riddance Vuvuzela) [BoomTown]
It’s hard to believe the 2010 FIFA World Cup is finally over, after lasting what felt like a badillion years. But Spain grabbed the soccer championship Sunday and, thus, the vuvuzelas have gone silent. Thankfully, the droning plastic horn that can cause ear damage is not the only music that was out there. Thus, let’s play the videos for the official song (Shakira singing “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)”); the official anthem (R. Kelly with “Sign of a Victory”); and my fave, the non-official “Wavin’ Flag” by K’naan. Also I could not resist a short on with a vuvuzela, of course! Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)Sign of a VictoryWavin’ FlagVuvuzelaSource: All Things Digital | 13 Jul 2010 | 1:41 am Body-Bearing Jumpsuits - The Ageless Milla Jovovich for the Escada Fall 2010 Campaign (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) Milla Jovovich is back in the new Escada Fall 2010 campaign and she looks as amazing as ever. The fall collection features neutral shades of clothes such as the trench coat and the...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 13 Jul 2010 | 1:40 am Terry Bisson/Rudy Rucker illustrated picture bookHow cool is this: Rudy Rucker painted a series of illustrations for Terry "Bears Discover Fire" Bisson's series of "Billy" short stories, and they've released the resulting ebook as a free download:Bisson & Rucker: "Billy's Picture Book" NOW
Source: Boing Boing | 13 Jul 2010 | 1:38 am Terry Bisson/Rudy Rucker illustrated picture bookHow cool is this: Rudy Rucker painted a series of illustrations for Terry "Bears Discover Fire" Bisson's series of "Billy" short stories, and they've released the resulting ebook as a free download: ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 13 Jul 2010 | 1:38 am Mailbox Sentry Lets You Know When Your Snail Mail Has ArrivedBy Chris Scott Barr Have you ever wished that you could be notified when your snail mail arrives? In the age of instant email notifications, the hit-or-miss nature of checking your postal mail can be an...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 13 Jul 2010 | 1:38 am Arrested for blowing bubbles at the G20 in Toronto?This video shows a police officer at the G20 protests in Toronto threatening to arrest a protestor for blowing soap bubbles ("If one of those bubbles touches me, it's assault") and then leading the protestor...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 13 Jul 2010 | 1:37 am Arrested for blowing bubbles at the G20 in Toronto?This video shows a police officer at the G20 protests in Toronto threatening to arrest a protestor for blowing soap bubbles ("If one of those bubbles touches me, it's assault") and then leading the protestor away, presumably for the aforementioned "offense." If the goal of the police at the G20 was to act pissy and escalate minor incidents into major ones in order to assert their authority, mission accomplished. If, on the other hand, their mission was to de-escalate, keep the peace, find rapport, and celebrate the democratic right to protest, this officer is an abject, total failure. G20 Policing: From Bubbles to Bookings? (Thanks, Collin!)
Source: Boing Boing | 13 Jul 2010 | 1:37 am Microsoft Looking For A Few Good iPad Users… To Study
Yes, Apple’s rival has created a Facebook event calling for iPad owners to come to Microsoft’s Redmond campus between July 16 and July 21 for a study. Specifically, it’s Microsoft’s User Research group and they want people for chunks of two hours to apparently survey how they use the device. A follow-up note indicates that it’s student iPad users that Microsoft is specifically interested in here. So what do they want to study about the iPad? Who knows. ZunePad? But as one commenter on the Facebook posting notes, “This gonna be a hard study, since most of the people who bought ipad are apple fanboys and apple regular customers their point of view is, um, damaged.” Or maybe this is the secret to Microsoft’s second inception. A “Microsoft gratuity item” is being offered in exchange for participating. Oh goody. Here’s to hoping it’s a Courier. Here’s the description:
     
Source: TechCrunch | 13 Jul 2010 | 1:35 am Plant 'Breathing' Mechanism DiscoveredA tiny, little-understood plant pore has enormous implications for weather forecasting, climate change, agriculture, hydrology, and more. A study by scientists at the Carnegie Institution's Department of Global Ecology, with colleagues from the Research Center Jülich in Germany, has now overturned the conventional belief about how these important structures called stomata regulate water vapor loss from the leaf–a process called transpiration. They found that radiation is the driving force of physical processes deep within the leaf. The research is published the week of July 12, 2010, in the on-line early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Stomata are lip-shaped pores surrounded by a pair of guard cells that control the size of the opening. The size of the pores regulates the inflow of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) needed for photosynthesis and the outflow of water vapor to the atmosphere—transpiration.Transpiration cools and humidifies the atmosphere over vegetation, moderating the climate and increasing precipitation. Stomata influence the rate at which plants can absorb CO2 from the atmosphere, which affects the productivity of plants and the concentration of atmospheric CO2. Understanding stoma is important for climate change research.Current climate change models use descriptions of stomatal response based on statistical analysis of studies conducted with a few plant species. This approach is not based on a solid understanding of the mechanism of stomatal regulation and provides a poor basis for extrapolating to environmental conditions."Scientists have been studying stomata for at least 300 years. It's amazing that we have not had good grasp about the regulatory mechanisms that control how much stomata open or close in response to a constantly changing environment," remarked co-author Joseph Berry of Carnegie.For the first time, these researchers looked at how the exchange of energy and water vapor at the outer surface of the leaf are linked to processes inside the leaf. They found that the energy from radiation absorbed by pigments and water inside the leaf influences how the stomata control water levels."In this study we illuminated a sunflower leaf with an incandescent light that was filtered to include or exclude near infrared light (NIR >700 nm)," remarked Berry. "When the near infrared light was applied, the stomata responded by opening and indirectly stimulated photosynthesis. Light of different colors gave similar stomata opening at equal energy inputs—more evidence that heat is the driver."The scientists replicated the experiment with five other plant species and over a range of carbon dioxide levels and temperatures. The researchers also developed a model based on energy balance of the leaf system to simulate responses. Results from the model mimicked the results from the lab.It has been assumed that the guard cells forming the pore have sophisticated sensory and information processing systems making use of light and other environmental cues to adjust the pores. The breakthrough of this research is that it is the first to demonstrate that regulation of the rate of water loss by stomata is linked to physical processes that occur deep within the leaf."This means that the current model for what drives stomata to change their size has to change," remarked co-author Roland Pieruschka, a Marie Curie Fellow from the European Union at the Carnegie Institution (currently at the Research Center Jülich in Germany). "For a long time researchers have thought that heat from the sun, which is absorbed by pigments, moves from cell to cell until it gets to the cavities beneath the stomata where evaporation has been thought to take place. This probably happens to some degree, but the results presented here are more consistent with our hypothesis that much of this heat is transferred through air spaces inside the leaf that are saturated with water vapor. This key difference is pivotal for understanding how Otto Lange's seminal work in the 1970s, on responses of stomata to humidity, can be fit into a leaf-scale concept of stomatal regulation." ---On the Net:Carnegie InstitutionSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 13 Jul 2010 | 1:31 am Double-Teaming A Whole-Genome HuntScientists combine new and classic approaches to discover rare disease geneBy inspecting the sequence of all 3 billion "letters" that make up the genome of a single person affected with a rare, inherited disorder, a Johns Hopkins and Duke University team ferreted out the single genetic mutation that accounts for the disease.Reporting their results in the June 17 issue of PLoS Genetics, the team says an altered version of the gene PTPN11 is the cause of metachondromatosis, a disorder characterized by bony growths, often on the hands and feet.The study, the scientists say, demonstrates that new, whole-genome sequencing technology can efficiently and accurately lead investigators to the identification genes that cause Mendelian diseases — those caused by mutations in a single gene and passed on according to classic genetic patterns.The traditional way of collaring a Mendelian disease-causing gene entails time-consuming and labor-intensive genetic analyses of numerous related individuals across generations. Known as "linkage," this approach depends on collecting families, especially large families with multiple affected members. This can be difficult and time consuming and often does not have sufficient resolution to identify the responsible gene. In fact, the definitive catalog of genes and disorders maintained at Johns Hopkins, Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM), lists more than 1,500 disorders for which linkage studies have identified a large genomic region but have failed to pinpoint the responsible gene.The failures were often due to the absence of enough related and affected individuals to provide linkage evidence of sufficient strength and resolution to identify the genes responsible for rare inherited diseases. Another weakness of linkage studies is that an affected individual may be so mildly affected that they are erroneously classified as unaffected, thereby skewing study results.Success for metachondromatosis came when researchers combined a linkage study of 11 family members (five affected with metachondromatosis and six unaffected) with the whole-genome sequencing of one affected member. The linkage study identified likely regions of the genome where the suspect mutation could be found, considerably reducing the fraction of the genome that could contain the disease. Focusing on these regions, the team identified a mutation in PTPN11 that was sure to cause loss of function of the gene product."This whole-genome study, which took only two months, got us to a place where otherwise we wouldn't have arrived very quickly, if ever," says David Valle, M.D., Henry J. Knott Professor and director of the Institute of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "It's a great example of the power of a broad, agnostic approach."By comparing the one whole genome of the affected individual with eight non-affected control genomes as well as to a database of single-letter variations known to occur in more than one percent of the population, and to other sequencing data, the researchers came up with a list of 100 possible candidate genes. These were analyzed in light of the linkage evidence which, although modest, allowed the team to narrow its search for variants to just a fraction of the genome and narrowed the list to half a dozen genes. Then they combed the literature to understand what was known of the biological function of these candidates, looking for any that might be involved in bone development.Nara Sobreira, a graduate student in human genetics at Johns Hopkins and a lead author of the study, found that lots had been published about one of the six genes, PTPN11. Mutations in this gene made it hyperactive, causing Noonan syndrome, a genetic disorder that prevents normal development in various parts of the body, including the skeleton.This newly discovered mutation or altered version involved a so-called "deletion" in which a piece of the genetic code is missing and likely to cause a loss of function of the gene, disabling its ability to manufacture normal protein, Sobreira explains. She said that gave credibility to the possibility that PTPN11 was responsible for metachondromatosis, which gives rise to different physical characteristics.To confirm their suspicions, the team first checked to see if all affected members of the family in the linkage studies had the mutation and if all unaffected members didn't. The answer was yes.The next and final assurance needed to prove that this gene was responsible for metachondromatosis was to find the same mutation of the same gene in an affected person unrelated to the family originally studied. The Hopkins team located a second family already seeking treatment at the Greenburg Center for Skeletal Dysplasias and confirmed that mutations, causing a loss of function of the PTPN11 gene, caused metachondromatosis."This discovery has given us clues about the molecular basis of other genetic diseases for which a cause remains unknown and that are not benign like this one," Sobreira says. ---On the Net:Johns Hopkins Medical InstitutionsSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 13 Jul 2010 | 1:29 am Liveblogging from Launch Pad, NASA's science fiction writer campJeff VanderMeer sez, "Awesome writer Rachel Swirsky is at Launch Pad, the NASA-sponsored workshop for SF writers, and she's liveblogging the heck out of her experience all week. giving others an invaluable look at what goes on there."Launch Pad, Day One: Kevin R. Grazier on Solar System/Cassini Source: Boing Boing | 13 Jul 2010 | 1:26 am Breaking Biomass BetterDOE JGI sequences wood decaying fungus to advance biofuels prospectsOne of the challenges in making cellulosic biofuels commercially viable is to cost-effectively deconstruct plant material to liberate fermentable energy-rich sugars. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is funding several projects focused on identifying enzymes in organisms that optimally degrade cellulosic feedstocks. One such source are fungi, which break down dead wood and leaf litter in forests; in fact, some pest management companies consider wood rot more destructive for homes than termites.The DOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI) previously sequenced and published the genomes of two wood-decaying fungi. Now a team of researchers led by scientists from the DOE JGI and the University of Utrecht announce the analysis of a third such genome in a study published online July 11 in Nature Biotechnology (http://bit.ly/cjkaxO). All told, DOE JGI has sequenced and annotated 40 fungal genomes, and 40 more are currently in the works."When we go into a forest we don't see layers of dead branches because wood decay fungi take care of them," said Igor Grigoriev, head of the DOE JGI's Fungal Genomics Program and a senior author on the study. "So when we think about bioenergy and degrading biomass and converting that into biofuel, we would like to learn the most efficient ways of doing that from fungi, which have invented many ways of doing that in nature. Schizophyllum commune is the second white rot fungus and third wood degrader we've sequenced. The DOE JGI sequenced the first white rot fungal genome — Phanerochaete chrysosporium — in 2004. Then last year we sequenced the first brown rot fungal genome – Postia placenta." Postia was found to utilize a unique arsenal of small oxidizing agents that blast through plant cell walls to decompose cellulose into simple sugars.Found on every continent except Antarctica, S. commune is characteristic of other white rot fungi. S. commune breaks down cellulose and lignin by invading xylem tissue, and researchers hope that studying its 38.5 million nucleotide genome (containing about 13,200 genes) will help them harness the most relevant set of enzymes for specific biofuel production strategies. White rot fungi also have potential bioremediation applications as they have enzymes that can break down contaminants such as uranium and heavy metals."The surprise we saw is how significantly larger is the variety of enzymes in S. commune that are involved in plant biomass degradation compared to P. chrysosporium," Grigoriev said. "In fact, S. commune has among the most extensive enzymatic machinery for degrading cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin of the fungi we examined."One additional advantage to using S. commune, said study senior author Han Wosten, a microbiologist at the University of Utrecht who is studying S. commune's mushroom-forming capabilities, is that the fungus can be easily grown in the lab. Additionally, he said, researchers can inactivate the genes in S. commune by deleting them. "This is the only mushroom-forming fungus in which gene deletions have been made," he said, "allowing us to study the roles of genes in wood degradation and mushroom formation." Wosten also suggested that there are opportunities for inserting genes and modulating expression levels to drive target protein production pathways.Grigoriev said the DOE JGI is in the process of sequencing over a dozen more wood-decaying fungi. According to the Genomes OnLine Database (GOLD) the DOE JGI is responsible for more than a third of all fungal genomes sequenced or in the queue to be sequenced worldwide, and with two white-rot fungi and a brown-rot fungus done, he added, "we think we're only touching the surface and we need to look at more genomes in order to understand the whole scope of diversity and mechanisms applied to degrading cellulose."---On the Net:DOE/Joint Genome InstituteSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 13 Jul 2010 | 1:26 am University Of Toronto Chemists Make Breakthrough In Nanoscience ResearchA team of scientists led by Eugenia Kumacheva of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Toronto has discovered a way to predict the organization of nanoparticles in larger forms by treating them much the same as ensembles of molecules formed from standard chemical reactions."Currently, no model exists describing the organization of nanoparticles," says Kumacheva. "Our work paves the way for the prediction of the properties of nanoparticle ensembles and for the development of new design rules for such structures."The focus of nanoscience is gradually shifting from the synthesis of individual nanoparticles to their organization in larger structures. In order to use nanoparticle ensembles in functional devices such as memory storage devices or optical waveguides, it is important to achieve control of their structure.According to the researchers' observations, the self-organization of nanoparticles is an efficient strategy for producing nanostructures with complex, hierarchical architectures. "The past decade has witnessed great progress in nanoscience – particularly nanoparticle self-assembly – yet the quantitative prediction of the architecture of nanoparticle ensembles and of the kinetics of their formation remains a challenge," she continues. "We report on the remarkable similarity between the self-assembly of metal nanoparticles and chemical reactions leading to the formation of polymer molecules. The nanoparticles act as multifunctional single units, which form reversible, noncovalent bonds at specific bond angles and organize themselves into a highly ordered polymer.""We developed a new approach that enables a quantitative prediction of the architecture of linear, branched, and cyclic self-assembled nanostructures, their aggregation numbers and size distribution, and the formation of structural isomers."Kumacheva was joined in the research by postdoctoral fellows Kun Liu, Nana Zhao and Wei Li, and former doctoral student Zhihong Nie, along with Professor Michael Rubinstein of the University of North Carolina. As polymer chemists, the team took an unconventional look at nanoparticle organization."We treated them as molecules, not particles, which in a process resembling a polymerization reaction, organize themselves into polymer-like assemblies," says Kumacheva. "Using this analogy, we used the theory of polymerization and predicted the architecture of the so-called 'molecules' and also found other, unexpected features that can find interesting applications."---On the Net:University of TorontoSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 13 Jul 2010 | 1:25 am Write Apps For Android With Google App Inventor - Techtree.com
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 13 Jul 2010 | 1:23 am Light Pool: Japan gets a new designer cell phone
Japan's second biggest cell phone carrier KDDI (over 30 million subscribers) rolls out quite unique handsets from time to time, mostly under their iida sub-brand. The company today in Japan introduced [JP] another "lifestyle" cell phone, the so-called Light Pool. Technically, the device isn't anything special - but it's rather pretty.
Read the rest on MobileCrunch.
Source: CrunchGear | 13 Jul 2010 | 1:20 am What’s the Next Big Step in Solar System Exploration?Which proposed planetary mission offers the best chance of providing conclusive evidence for life off the Earth?Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 13 Jul 2010 | 1:18 am Light Pool: Japan gets a new designer cell phone
Japan’s second biggest cell phone carrier KDDI (over 30 million subscribers) rolls out quite unique handsets from time to time, mostly under their iida sub-brand. The company today in Japan introduced [JP] another “lifestyle” cell phone, the so-called Light Pool. Technically, the device isn’t anything special – but it’s rather pretty.
The Light Pool is called this way as it’s equipped with a total of 22 LEDs that start lighting up in up to 100 patterns, for example when you get a call or an email arrives. Spec-wise, buyers can expect a 3.2-inch VGA TFT display, an 8MP CMOS camera with auto-focus, Bluetooth, a microSD/SDHC slot, and GPS.
The Light Pool actually isn’t a concept (as so many of the iida products) but will be offered to KDDI customers starting at the end of this month. It will be available in pink, black, and white with an open price model.
Via Keitai Watch [JP]
Source: MobileCrunch | 13 Jul 2010 | 1:08 am The Headline as Content [Voices]By Jeff Nolan, Blogger, Venture Chronicles One of the challenges in deciphering online news is that a catchy headline is often peddled instead of the actual story, something fully on display today in a NYTimes article. As an exercise to demonstrate this, read the headline below and stop to consider your emotional and intellectual response: Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 13 Jul 2010 | 1:04 am Social Networks Sink Online-Ad Pricing [Voices]By Edmund Lee, Reporter, Ad Age Social networks and their endlessly growing page views have dominated every sphere of the web — from audiences to ad impressions. But there’s one area where they still can’t seem to catch up: ad prices. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 13 Jul 2010 | 1:03 am WPC: 'We Missed a Generation With Windows Mobile,' Ballmer Says [Voices]By Nick Eaton, Microsoft Blog, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Ah, Microsoft’s (MSFT) mobile operating system. These days, the phrase is almost an oxymoron — like “Microsoft Works.” Sure, companies like HTC have been able to finagle Windows Mobile into something attractive by layering their own UIs on top, but WinMo hasn’t changed much since I was using a Motorola (MOT) Q three years ago. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 13 Jul 2010 | 1:02 am Waging War on Wordpress: Posterous Prepares the Switch [Voices]By Jemima Kiss, Media Reporter, Guardian.co.uk Blogger, Wordpress and Typepad ruled the blogging roost for years, but a combination of Twitter, social networking and the rise of lite blogging have been eating away at long-form blog platforms. Twitter has played a significant role in the demise of ‘full’ blogging, not because it replaced the medium but more that it claimed people’s web time and pushed the focus of web publishing towards real time. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 13 Jul 2010 | 1:01 am The $100M Revenue Club: EHarmony Captures Hearts Of VCs [Voices]By Tomio Geron, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal EHarmony Inc. may not be the trendiest or flashiest dating Web site out there, but it has steadily grown to become a big piece of the online dating space. The company has done this by bucking the trends, both when it was founded during the dot-com bubble–when a slew of companies launched to marry the power of the Internet with the age-old desire to meet Mr. or Ms. Right–and more recently, when a new crop of sites has focused on casual dating through features such as social networking or video chat. Now, as it expands internationally and prepares new services in its existing markets, the matchmaking site must continue to address its built-in challenge – how to keep its business expanding even when its most satisfied customers stop using the service. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 13 Jul 2010 | 1:00 am Rupert Murdoch May Be Evil, But That Doesn't Mean His Paywall Is [Voices]By David Mitchell, Writer, Guardian.co.uk Rupert Murdoch is a pretty uncontroversial figure among people I know. Everyone agrees that he’s a monstrous arsehole who wants to ruin everything for everyone Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 13 Jul 2010 | 1:00 am Daily Crunch: The Wave of the Future Edition
Taranis: The $214 million unmanned stealth fighter that proves it’s better if it’s British
Source: CrunchGear | 13 Jul 2010 | 1:00 am AWS Launches Cluster Compute EC2 Instances For High Performance Applications Amazon Web Services has announced the availability of Cluster Compute Instances for Amazon EC2, which is a new instance type specifically designed for high-performance computing (HPC) applications and other demanding applications.
The new offering is designing for EC2 clients that have complex computation workloads with large amounts of data, such as financial services. The benefit of Cluster Compute Instances is that it has been engineered to provide more CPU than any other Amazon EC2 instance. And clients can also group Cluster Compute Instances into clusters which allows applications on servers to get the low-latency network performance required for tightly coupled, node-to-node communication. 
Source: TechCrunch | 13 Jul 2010 | 12:59 am Bankrupt site for gay teens may hand over personal data to new ownerOh, this'll end well: Bankruptcy courts may force gay teen magazine and website XY.com to sell off its user list, and all personal data associated with its (mostly gay teen) users. Founder Peter Ian Cummings filed for bankruptcy this year, and the data is said to be one of the only remaining assets he could offer the court. (via danah boyd)Source: Boing Boing | 13 Jul 2010 | 12:32 am Fring Calls Skype 'Cowards'; Skype RespondsAn anonymous reader writes "It seems that Skype and Fring are not getting along so well today. First, Fring made a claim that Skype was blocking Fring and in a subsequent blog post, called Skype 'cowards': 'Now that Fring expanded capacity to support the huge demand for video calling for all users, Skype has blocked us from doing so. They are afraid of open mobile communication. Cowards.' Skype has responded, stating that Fring's misuse of Skype software was damaging their brand and reputation: 'There is no truth to Fring's claims that Skype has blocked it. Fring made the decision to remove Skype functionality on its own.'
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 13 Jul 2010 | 12:25 am FedEx driver chokes on pork rinds, ends up in ditchA 42-year old FedEx driver ended up in a ditch in Washington State because he choked on spicy pork rinds.Source: Boing Boing | 13 Jul 2010 | 12:21 am Broadcom's Offer for Innovision Research & Technology PLC is Declared Wholly UnconditionalSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 13 Jul 2010 | 12:11 am Bug and Bean Photography: shots from the BB picnic
I was thrilled when talented San Francisco family and lifestyle photographer Nancy Nguyen-Wong of Bug And Bean Photography asked if she could set up a photo station at the Boing Boing picnic! She's posted some selects from the picnic on her blog, including a sample of the portraits and also candid shots. If you're in the Bay Area and want a pro photo of your family or child, I couldn't recommend Nancy enough. She's really fun to be around and somehow manages to get the perfect shot while you're busy chatting or, depending on your age, babbling away. Bug and Bean Photography: BB Picnic Source: Boing Boing | 13 Jul 2010 | 12:08 am Fujitsu, Microsoft in cloud computing tie up (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 12 Jul 2010 | 11:21 pm Time for an iPhone 4 recall? - CNET
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 12 Jul 2010 | 11:13 pm Infosys Technologies (Nasdaq: INFY) Announces Results for the Quarter Ended June 30, 2010BANGALORE, India, July 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Highlights Consolidated results for the quarter ended June 30, 2010 Revenues were $ 1,358 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2010; QoQ growth was 4.8%; YoY growth was 21.0% Net income after tax* was $ 326 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2010; QoQ decline was 6.6%; YoY growth was 4.2%Earnings per American Depositary Share (ADS)** was 0.57 for the quarter ended June 30, 2010; QoQ decline was 6.6%; YoY growth of 3.6% 38 clients were added during the quarter by Infosys and its subsidiariesGross addition of 8,859 employees (net addition of 1,026) for the quarter by Infosys and its subsidiaries1,14,822 employees as on June 30, 2010 for Infosys and its subsidiaries* Excluding the income from sale of our investment in OnMobile Systems, Inc. of US $ 11 mn in Q4 FY10, QoQ decline was 3.6% ** Excluding the income from sale of our investment in OnMobile Systems, Inc. of US $ 11 mn in Q4 FY10, QoQ decline was 3.4% "While the global economic environment remains uncertain, we continue to see greater demand for services from our clients," said S. Gopalakrishnan, CEO and Managing Director. "The challenge for the industry is to enhance the investment to grow the business, given the uncertainty in the environment." Business outlook The company's outlook (consolidated) for the quarter ending September 30, 2010 and for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2011, under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), is as follows: Outlook under IFRS# Quarter ending September 30, 2010 Consolidated revenues are expected to be in the range of $ 1,413 million to $ 1,427 million; YoY growth of 22.4% to 23.7% Consolidated earnings per American Depositary Share are expected to be in the range of $ 0.59 to $ 0.60; YoY growth of 5.4% to 7.1% Fiscal year ending March 31, 2011## Consolidated revenues are expected to be in the range of $ 5.72 billion to $ 5.81 billion; YoY growth of 19.0% to 21.0% Consolidated earnings per American Depositary Share are expected to be in the range of $ 2.42 to $ 2.52; YoY growth of 5.2% to 9.6%# Exchange rates considered for major global currencies: AUD / USD - 0.86; GBP / USD - 1.50; Euro / USD - 1.23 ## Excluding the income from sale of our investment in OnMobile Systems, Inc. of US $ 11 mn in fiscal 2010, the EPS growth is expected to be in the range of 6.1% to 10.5% Expansion of services and significant projects With insight and experience of three decades, and improved and enhanced portfolio of services and products, we offer greater value to our clients and stakeholders. Transformation We continue to drive transformation for our existing clients; a number of new clients have solicited our help to make their businesses more dynamic and profitable. A leading aero structures manufacturer engaged our aerospace engineering team to design and develop components for their commercial airplane program. For a global consumer electronics leader, we are re-engineering their global service exchange platform to help meet their growing service needs. A major transformation project we won this quarter was from a large manufacturer of computer systems and provider of related services, in which we are providing business, functional and consulting expertise. A provider of secure electronic payments and credit/debit card processing services engaged us to improve their reporting, monitoring, business intelligence and service. It is also consulting us to analyze and recommend process improvements. A leading global chemical company engaged us to define sales requirements and implement a sales force automation package for their North American sales force. A producer of specialist aluminium products sought our services for globally harmonizing business processes and implementing next generation enterprise resource planning software. For a global specialty retailer, we conceptualized and launched a platform that provides a comprehensive view of their competitors' pricing and assortment. We helped a large UK-based retailer revamp its promotions and improve its marketing effectiveness. A European retailer of office automation services consulted us to harmonize their processes and consolidate applications across Europe. A major transformational project won this quarter was from a leading European pipeline engineering company for whom we have implemented an enterprise resource planning system across 32 countries. Operations Leading global companies continue to engage us to manage their operations and ensure larger returns to scale for them. Our expertise in manufacturing and operations helped us win a deal with a global telecom company. We will run the client's quality and business compliance operations, helping it to offer competitive new products in emerging markets. A European telecom major chose us to design, develop, deploy and maintain an agent desktop application. Among the clients who opted for our product lifecycle management services are a leading oilfield service company and an agri-business major. For a global internet services company, we will develop and maintain a new content management product. A global financial services company selected us to develop a platform for merchants worldwide to deliver card members offers through multiple channels. An investment management company partnered us to implement a new commission system for its wholesale brokers to develop scale and reduce time to market. We managed the North American customer relationship management applications for a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles. Another automobile manufacturer selected us as a key partner for development projects in their strategic order management and distribution portfolio. We are implementing a centralized loyalty management system with real time access for a leading retail company. We were instrumental in implementing a single multi-channel order management platform for a reputed British retailer. Our retail solutions team was selected as the single strategic vendor for application services for a North American apparel retailer. We also developed a web property for the B2C online sales for another specialty retailer. Innovation We have won major strategic projects this quarter on our strength and ability to innovate products and processes. A European telecom giant chose us to develop their next generation set top box platform to offer consumers high-definition content and a host of other services. For a large global retailer, we are creating rich mobile applications, with an aim to enhance the shopping experience for their customers. An aircraft manufacturer chose us as their partner to design a new aircraft development program. "The volatile currency environment is a concern for the industry," said V. Balakrishnan, Chief Financial Officer. "Our flexible financial and operating model enables us to prioritize our investments and focus on high quality growth even in this tough environment." About Infosys Technologies Ltd. Infosys (Nasdaq: INFY) defines, designs and delivers IT-enabled business solutions that help Global 2000 companies win in a Flat World. These solutions focus on providing strategic differentiation and operational superiority to clients. With Infosys, clients are assured of a transparent business partner, world-class processes, speed of execution and the power to stretch their IT budget by leveraging the Global Delivery Model that Infosys pioneered. Infosys has over 114,000 employees in over 50 offices worldwide. Infosys is part of the NASDAQ-100 Index and The Global Dow. For more information, visit www.infosys.com. Safe Harbor Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects are forward-looking statements, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in earnings, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, industry segment concentration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks or system failures, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which Infosys has made strategic investments, withdrawal of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability and regional conflicts, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, and unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our United States Securities and Exchange Commission filings including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2010 and on Form 6-K for the quarters ended June 30, 2009, September 30, 2009 and December 31,2009. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. Infosys may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. The company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the company. Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Interim Financial Statements prepared in compliance with IAS 34, Interim Financial Reporting ---------------------------------------- Infosys Technologies Limited and subsidiaries -------------------------------- Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as of ---------------------------------------- (Dollars in millions except share data) --------------------------------------- March June 30, 31, 2010 2010 --------- ------ ASSETS Current assets Cash and cash equivalents $3,011 $2,698 Available-for-sale financial assets 42 569 Investment in certificates of deposit 393 265 Trade receivables 828 778 Unbilled revenue 228 187 Derivative financial instruments - 21 Prepayments and other current assets 156 143 --- --- Total current assets 4,658 4,661 Non-current assets Property, plant and equipment 955 989 Goodwill 178 183 Intangible assets 12 12 Deferred income tax assets 62 78 Income tax assets 123 148 Other non-current assets 127 77 --- --- Total non-current assets 1,457 1,487 ----- ----- Total assets $6,115 $6,148 ------ ------ LIABILITIES AND EQUITY Current liabilities Trade payables $5 $2 Derivative financial instruments 6 - Current income tax liabilities 208 161 Client deposits 4 2 Unearned revenue 125 118 Employee benefit obligations 30 29 Provisions 18 18 Other current liabilities 383 380 --- --- Total current liabilities 779 710 Non-current liabilities Deferred income tax liabilities 1 26 Employee benefit obligations 38 38 Other non-current liabilities 13 13 --- --- Total liabilities 831 787 --- --- Equity Share capital-Rs. 5 ($0.16) par value 600,000,000 equity shares authorized, issued and outstanding 571,067,501 and 570,991,592, net of treasury shares as of June 30, 2010 and March 31, 2010, respectively 64 64 Share premium 695 694 Retained earnings 4,722 4,611 Other components of equity (197) (8) ---- --- Total equity attributable to equity holders of the company 5,284 5,361 ----- ----- Total liabilities and equity $6,115 $6,148 --------------------- ------ ------ Infosys Technologies Limited and subsidiaries Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Dollars in millions except share data) Three months ended June 30, ------------- 2010 2009 ---- ---- Revenues $1,358 $1,122 Cost of sales 800 643 --- --- Gross profit 558 479 --- --- Operating expenses Selling and marketing expenses 74 53 Administrative expenses 100 88 --- --- Total operating expenses 174 141 --- --- Operating profit 384 338 Other income, net 53 55 --- --- Profit before income taxes 437 393 Income tax expense 111 80 --- --- Net profit $326 $313 ---- ---- Other comprehensive income Fair value changes on available-for-sale financials assets, net of tax effect of $1 million (1) - Exchange differences on translating foreign operations (188) 236 ---- --- Total other comprehensive income $(189) $236 ----- ---- Total comprehensive income $137 $549 ---- ---- Profit attributable to: Owners of the company $326 $313 Non-controlling interest - - --- --- $326 $313 ---- ---- Total comprehensive income attributable to Owners of the company $137 $549 Non-controlling interest - - --- --- $137 $549 ---- ---- Earnings per equity share Basic ($) 0.57 0.55 Diluted ($) 0.57 0.55 Weighted average equity shares used in computing earnings per equity share Basic 571,036,067 570,115,230 Diluted 571,332,571 570,818,075 ------- ----------- ----------- To view the Fact Sheet and Press Release with tables, please click on the links below: http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/xferdl?file=bmt5iSw8Ga7kVLEHrvu0AQ http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/xferdl?file=n/g4h32RHbQrNMgi/WjHhg Investor Relations Shekar Narayanan, India Sandeep Mahindroo, USA +91 (80) 4116 7744 +1 (646) 254 3133 shekarn@infosys.com sandeep_mahindroo@infosys.com Media Relations Sarah Vanita Gideon, India Peter McLaughlin, USA +91 (80) 4156 4998 +1 (213) 268 9363 Sarah_Gideon@infosys.com Peter_McLaughlin@infosys.com SOURCE Infosys Technologies Ltd.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Jul 2010 | 11:13 pm Infosys Technologies (Nasdaq: INFY) Announces Results for the Quarter Ended June 30, 2010Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Jul 2010 | 11:13 pm ESRB Exposes Emails of Gamers Who Filed Privacy Complaintssimrook writes, "Many people filed privacy complaints with the ESRB over Blizzard's recent (and afterward recanted) move to require the display of users' real life names on Blizzard's official forums. 961 of those complainants had their email addresses exposed in the ESRB's response." The response itself didn't go into the organization's thoughts on Blizzard's plan, but they explained to the Opposable Thumbs blog that anonymity isn't a huge concern to them, as long as users are given the opportunity to opt out. "The role of the ESRB Privacy Online program is to make sure that member websites—those that display our seal on their pages — are compliant with an increasingly complex series of privacy protection laws and are offering a secure space for users to interact and do business online. ... But online privacy protection doesn't necessarily mean the same thing as anonymity. It's about making sure that websites collecting personal information from users are doing so not only in accordance with federal regulations but also with best practices for protecting individuals' personal information online."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 12 Jul 2010 | 11:10 pm Concentrix Solar, a Soitec Company, Expands U.S. Market PresenceINTERSOLAR NORTH AMERICA TRADE SHOW, SAN FRANCISCO, July 13, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Strengthening its presence in the U.S. market for solar power plants, Concentrix Solar GmbH, a leading supplier of concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) systems and a division of the Soitec Group (Euronext Paris), has launched a U.S.-based subsidiary, hired additional industry professionals and won listing from the California Energy Commission. Concentrix Solar's utility-scale power plant technology is proven and commercially ready for large scale deployment with all the key capabilities in place for increasing the company's business in the U.S. "With the development and growing importance of solar farms in the U.S., the time is right for us to form our U.S. venture," said Hansjorg Lerchenmuller, CEO of Concentrix Solar. "Due to our CPV technology's extreme efficiency, modularity and flexibility, we are prepared to meet the needs and challenges of the U.S. market." The company's new U.S. subsidiary - Concentrix Solar, Inc. - is based in San Diego, where Concentrix Solar installed a CPV demonstration system in July 2009 to test its solar modules under California's climate conditions. Since its installation, the 6-kilowatt system has proven exceptional performance, achieving 25 percent efficiency in generating electricity. After evaluating the market potential for Concentrix Solar's CPV technology, the company decided to open this first U.S. office which will be led by new general manager of business development, Clark Crawford. Previously, Crawford led sales and marketing efforts at CPV systems supplier Amonix, Inc. He has a successful track record of securing large-scale commercial orders of CPV systems, and brings his extensive experience in the solar energy market to Concentrix Solar. As Concentrix Solar expands its presence in the U.S., the company's multi-junction CPV module has achieved a listing with the California Energy Commission (CEC). This listing is vital to doing business in California and a key step in financing commercial projects with customer companies and state energy utilities. Concentrix Solar's CX-75 module has now been listed by the CEC after testing at TUV Rheinland Photovoltaic Testing Laboratory LLC in Tempe, AZ. Concentrix Solar's CPV technology is designed for use by large-scale solar power plants in hot, arid regions. With characteristics such as low heat degradation and high durability, the company's equipment is well suited for power plant installations in the American southwest. Performance benefits include a constant power-output curve to maintain the electricity supply needed to meet peak-load demands, the ability to operate without active cooling mechanisms, and almost no energy loss at high ambient temperatures. These attributes helped Concentrix Solar to win a project with Chevron Technology Ventures to install the energy giant's first megawatt solar farm in the U.S. at a site in New Mexico, as announced in February. Construction has begun on this project, which will be one of the largest CPV power plants ever built in the U.S. It is scheduled for completion before the end of this year. Concentrix Solar will exhibit in booth #8629 in Moscone Convention Center's West Hall at the Intersolar North America trade show, July 13-15 in San Francisco. About Concentrix Solar Concentrix Solar GmbH is a leading supplier of concentrator photovoltaic equipment and turnkey power plants for sunny locations. The company was founded in February 2005 as a spin-off from the world-renowned Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE. In December 2009, Concentrix Solar became a division of the Soitec Group. Concentrix Solar operates a fully automated industrial production line in Freiburg, Germany, with an annual production capacity of 25 megawatts. Its FLATCON(R) concentrator modules use Fresnel lenses to concentrate sunlight 500 times and focus it onto small, highly efficient solar cells that convert the light into electrical energy. With this technology, Concentrix Solar achieves AC system efficiencies of 25 percent - almost twice as high as those achieved by conventional silicon technology. As a result, Concentrix Solar's systems can reduce the cost of electricity generation by 10 percent to 20 percent compared to other solar technologies, depending on the location of the installation. For more information, visit: http://www.concentrix-solar.de. About the Soitec Group The Soitec Group is the world's leading innovator and provider of the engineered substrate solutions that serve as the foundation for today's most advanced microelectronic products. The group leverages its proprietary Smart Cut(TM) technology to engineer new substrate solutions, such as silicon-on-insulator (SOI) semiconductor wafers, which became the first high-volume application for this proprietary technology. Since then, SOI has emerged as the material platform of the future, enabling the production of higher performing, faster chips that consume less power. Today, Soitec produces more than 80 percent of the world's SOI wafers. Headquartered in Bernin, France, with two high-volume fabs on-site, Soitec has offices throughout the United States, Japan and Taiwan, and a new production site in Singapore. Three other divisions - Picogiga International, Tracit Technologies and Concentrix Solar - complete the Soitec Group. Picogiga delivers advanced substrates solutions, including III-V epi wafers and gallium nitride (GaN) wafers, to the compound materials market for manufacturing high-frequency electronics and other optoelectronic devices. Tracit provides thin-film layer transfer technologies used to manufacture advanced substrates for power ICs and microsystems as well as generic circuit transfer technology, Smart Stacking(TM), for applications such as image sensors and 3D integration. In December 2009, Soitec acquired 80 percent of Concentrix Solar, the leading provider of concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) solar systems for the industrial production of energy. With this acquisition, Soitec has entered the fast-growing solar market. Shares of the Soitec Group are listed on Euronext Paris. For more information, visit: http://www.soitec.com. Soitec, Smart Cut, Smart Stacking and UNIBOND are trademarks of S.O.I.TEC Silicon On Insulator Technologies. Media Contact Concentrix Solar Silke Hajunga +49(0)761-214-108-24 silke.hajunga@concentrix-solar.de Soitec: International Media Contact Camille Darnaud-Dufour +33(0)6-79-49-51-43 camille.darnaud-dufour@soitec.fr Investor Relations Olivier Brice +33(0)4-76-92-93-80 olivier.brice@soitec.fr French Media Contact Muriel Martin, H&B Communication +33(0)1-58-18-32-44 m.martin@hbcommunication.fr SOURCE SoitecSource: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Jul 2010 | 11:05 pm Concentrix Solar, a Soitec Company, Expands U.S. Market PresenceSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Jul 2010 | 11:05 pm Soitec Announces Industrial Readiness of Complete Fully Depleted (FD) Platform - Key to Higher Performance for Mobile Consumer DevicesSEMICON WEST TRADE SHOW, SAN FRANCISCO, July 13, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Soitec Group (Euronext Paris), the world's leading supplier of engineered substrates for the microelectronics industry, announced today that the company is ready with the Ultra-Thin Buried Oxide (UTBOX) extension to its Ultra-Thin (UT) silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform, thereby providing a robust substrate solution for chip designers tackling the performance, power and density challenges of mobile consumer devices. Fully Depleted (FD) planar body transistors are now recognized as the right path on the CMOS roadmap for the 22nm generation and beyond. With FD planar transistor technology on UTBOX wafers, chip designers can enhance their usual design flows and techniques. High-volume capacity is available for the 22nm node at Soitec's manufacturing sites in France and Singapore. "Soitec is ready with the UTBOX wafers for planar FD architectures: the infrastructure, the process maturity, yield and the capacity are all in place to support demand," said Soitec president and chairman, Andre-Jacques Auberton-Herve. "Industry leaders confirm that FD planar technology is the right choice for mobile consumer products, which need higher performance without compromising power. Our UTBOX offering shows the critical role our materials play as the starting point for energy-efficient, state-of-the-art electronics." With an ultra-thin, insulating buried oxide layer, system-on-chip (SOC) designers and system architects can leverage standard techniques for attaining lower power and higher performance as needed by the target applications. The UTBOX option further complements the existing advantages of planar FD technology, which solves transistor variability issues, delivers the best device electrostatics, and enables SRAM to operate at lower supply voltages (Vdd). It is an evolutionary and highly manufacturable technology that offers simple processes and continuity of design tools, leading to a very cost-effective solution. For FD planar to live up to its tremendous promise, the starting wafers must meet very stringent top silicon uniformity specifications. With ultra-thin top silicon thickness variation within a +/- 0.5nm maximum range, and a buried oxide layer as thin as 10nm, these wafers are in full compliance with customer requirements. "FD SOI is the right technology at the right time. As the challenges to control bulk leakages become very expensive and unreliable, FD SOI offers a simple solution. Additionally, the fact that FD SOI is a planar and scalable technology with no history effects provides a seamless design transition. This is a powerful combination," said Horacio Mendez, executive director of the SOI Industry Consortium. Soitec will exhibit in booth # 1333 in Moscone Convention Center's South Hall at the Semicon West trade show, July 13-15 in San Francisco. About the Soitec Group: The Soitec Group is the world's leading innovator and provider of the engineered substrate solutions that serve as the foundation for today's most advanced microelectronic products. The group leverages its proprietary Smart Cut(TM) technology to engineer new substrate solutions, such as silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers, which became the first high-volume application for this proprietary technology. Since then, SOI has emerged as the material platform of the future, enabling the production of higher performing, faster chips that consume less power. Today, Soitec produces more than 80 percent of the world's SOI wafers. Headquartered in Bernin, France, with two high-volume fabs on-site, Soitec has offices throughout the United States, Japan and Taiwan, and a new production site in Singapore. Three other divisions, Picogiga International, Tracit Technologies and Concentrix Solar, complete the Soitec Group. Picogiga delivers advanced substrates solutions, including III-V epiwafers and gallium nitride (GaN) wafers, to the compound material world for the manufacture of high-frequency electronics and other optoelectronic devices. Tracit, on the other hand, provides thin-film layer transfer technologies used to manufacture advanced substrates for power ICs and Microsystems, as well as generic circuit transfer technology , Smart Stacking for applications such as image sensors and 3D-integration. In December 2009, Soitec acquired 80% of Concentrix Solar, the leading provider of concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) solar systems for the industrial production of energy. With this acquisition, Soitec is entering the fast-growing solar industry; capturing value through the system level. Shares of the Soitec Group are listed on Euronext Paris. For more information, visit http://www.soitec.com. Soitec, Smart Cut, Smart Stacking and UNIBOND are trademarks of S.O.I.TEC Silicon On Insulator Technologies. International Media Contact Camille Darnaud-Dufour +33(0)6-79-49-51-43 camille.darnaud-dufour@soitec.com Investor Relations Contact Olivier Brice +33(0)4-76-92-93-80 olivier.brice@soitec.fr French Media Contact Muriel Martin, H&B Communication +33(0)1-58-18-32-44 m.martin@hbcommunication.fr SOURCE SoitecSource: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Jul 2010 | 11:03 pm Soitec Announces Industrial Readiness of Complete Fully Depleted (FD) Platform - Key to Higher Performance for Mobile Consumer DevicesSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Jul 2010 | 11:03 pm Microsoft promises partners Windows tablets, phones - BusinessWeek
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 12 Jul 2010 | 10:44 pm Jung's The Red Book
For more than 25 years, pioneer psychologist and seeker Carl Jung's Red Book was hidden away inside a Swiss bank vault. A huge lovely volume bound in red leather, also known as Liber Novus (The New Book), the book is essentially Jung's personal journals written in calligraphy and gorgeously illuminated during a very strange period in his life. The Red Book is finally available to everyone in an oversize clothbound edition published by WW Norton & Company. My friend/IFTF colleague Bob Johansen kindly shared his copy with me and I was quite blown away. The Red Book is a breathtaking travelogue from Jung's journey into his unconscious, and best enjoyed in small, powerful doses. From Fortean Times: "The Occult World of CG Jung" (Fortean Times)
The Red Book by CG Jung (Amazon)
You Are Not Your F*cking Khakis (But You May Be Your Phone)
In the film version, at one point Durden goes on a rant:
“The things you own, end up owning you,” Durden says at another point. Johnson’s overall point isn’t dissimilar. “Remember these fuckers [the phones] work for us,” Johnson notes early on. But I’m not sure that Johnson doesn’t discount a certain element of fanboydom too easily. In this particular case, Johnson is commenting on how Apple fanboys are out in full force to defend the iPhone 4 even though it has a very real antenna issue. And he’s making a commentary about how foolish this is in this particular case because Apple is insulting these very fans by suggesting the hardware issue isn’t really one at all. But he rightly extends his idea to all fanboys as he wraps up:
The last sentence is key. Johnson assumes that people get up in arms about negative posts about products because these stories may offend one’s “own sense of satisfaction in owning a product.” This is something I thought about quite a bit after I wrote my review of the HTC EVO 4G. My review (in which I state my obvious bias towards the iPhone IN THE TITLE), basically says that the device sucks. Okay, it doesn’t say it sucks, but it does say that it’s nowhere near the iPhone, or even the Nexus One. Mike, Matt, and plenty of others largely agreed with me. And yet, Android fanboys were out in the comments as if I had just stabbed Santa Claus with the Easter Bunny. But here’s the best part: this was before the EVO was actually released. So something like 99.9% of them had never actually used the device. But that didn’t matter, I was wrong. I just was. Why? Because. But really, why were they saying that? Again, almost none of these people actually had the device yet. Some of it was undoubtedly because some of them had already made up their minds that they were going to purchase the device and my negative review was directly opposed to an expensive decision they had already committed to. Others were pissed simply because I stated that the iPhone was my phone of choice and so there’s no way I would ever like another phone . (Which isn’t true, by the way, or else I wouldn’t even both trying these other phones.) But sometimes it goes even deeper. I’ve been writing about topics that draw fanboy praise and ire for a while now. Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, etc. When a company gets big enough, they get fanboys. But in many cases, in some of the more heated discussions in blog comments there’s something pretty large that often overlooked. Very real bias. Not bias as in, I think the iPhone is the best device so I’m not going to like an Android device as much. But bias as in, I have some skin in this game. Almost none will admit it, but those commenters silly enough to leave links back to Facebook profiles, Twitter profiles, or even personal websites often leave clues to the root of their bile. Are commenters pissed off about your anti-Microsoft stance? Check to see how many of them devote their careers to developing on and/or around Microsoft products. Maybe they hate your anti-Apple rant? Check how many make a living off of the App Store. Or are they flaming your anti-Google post? Maybe they work for a company firmly entrenched in Android development. Of course, this isn’t the source of all of this hatred. Or probably even most of it. But in my experience, it’s also not an insignificant factor in comment hatred. And it makes sense. If someone threatens your livelihood – even in the smallest way — you defend yourself. Then, of course, there are the people who actually work for the companies being attacked (but conveniently leave that out — or do an anonymous comment). Or there’s the investors in those companies (both public stockholders and private stakeholders). It’s hard to prove. But you’d be foolish to think it doesn’t happen. So in some ways, some people actually are their phones, to extend Johnson’s phrase. It’s not always that they’re fanboys for no good reason. Sometimes they’re fanboys because they have to be. Imagine if you’ve committed you whole life to one particular Microsoft proprietary technology, and now a bunch of bloggers are saying Microsoft as we know it is going to be in trouble in 10 years. Yeah, you’d be pissed. And you’d scream from the top of your lungs that they’re wrong. Because even if they’re not, you have to believe it. Or you’re screwed. That’s the ultimate fanboy. And there are plenty of them out there.
Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 12 Jul 2010 | 10:05 pm Nature's Prophet: Scientist Runs Numbers to Predict Future of LifeHealy Hamilton has massive amounts of storage and computing power that she uses to process data from 17 different climate models.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 12 Jul 2010 | 10:00 pm Self-Service: The Delicate Dance of Online BraggingWhen you celebrate yourself on Twitter, Facebook or the like, are you a willing participant in a brave new social future, or are you just a brazen jerk?
Source: Wired Top Stories | 12 Jul 2010 | 10:00 pm July 13, 1977: Massive Blackout Plunges New York Into RiotingConsolidated Edison learns the hard way that Mother Nature always gets her way, and the Big Apple pays the price with a crippling power failure.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 12 Jul 2010 | 10:00 pm Windows XP still going strong: 74 percent of work computers use it
At the rollout, Microsoft originally planned to let people buying OEM-installed Windows 7 machines “downgrade” to Windows XP for up to six months. Then they extended that deadline for a year. And now they’re extending it for ten years. Will anyone still be running XP in 2020? Other than me, I mean. Actually, I should probably admit that I hardly got any work done today because I was too busy fending off a TDL3 rootkit. Ironic? Yes. Tragic? Also yes. Pathetic? Hey, buddy, come here and say it to my face!
Source: CrunchGear | 12 Jul 2010 | 9:59 pm Canon 60D to be revealed in August?
Curious about this 60D thing? Canon Rumors (who called attention to the Expo) has been publishing rumored specs on it practically every day for months now. Take your pick.
Source: CrunchGear | 12 Jul 2010 | 9:44 pm Electric Cars Won't Strain the Power Gridthecarchik writes "Last week's heat wave prompted another eruption of that perennial question: Won't electric cars that recharge from grid power overload the nation's electricity system? The short answer is no. A comprehensive and wide-ranging two-volume study from 2007, Environmental Assessment of Plug-In Hybrid Vehicles, looked at the impact of plug-in vehicles on the US electrical grid. It also analyzed the 'wells-to-wheels' carbon emissions of plug-ins versus gasoline cars. The load of one plug-in recharging (about 2 kilowatts) is roughly the same as that of four or five plasma television sets. Plasma TVs hardly brought worries about grid crashes."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 12 Jul 2010 | 9:35 pm Expect Motorola Droid X to sell out fast because of limited inventorySection: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones  According to several reports, it seems the highly anticipated Motorola Droid X will only be available in limited quantities during the initial launch period starting July 15. The screen shot above shows the expected inventory for Portland, Oregon, and a Verizon store in Washington, which is 25 and 20, respectively. It is important to note one is a kiosk store and the other is a small Verizon Wireless store, which explains the relatively small amount of Droid X’s available. For the most part, stores will range from 5 devices to 70 in some cases. The screen shot below shows data from Verizon stores in the New York City area. As you can see, it ranges from only 5 phones to 45. Motorola could be limiting the amount of devices per Verizon store in order to create hype and then replenish stores as needed. According to DroidForums (picture below), it looks like the first week will be limited and then sales should be on a normal basis. However, the Droid X will be unavailable for period in August. Of course, this is simply a rumor and has yet to be confirmed by Motorola or Verizon, but the screen shots are very convincing that most Verizon stores will only have so many Droid X devices. In case you didn’t pre-order with Best Buy, it might not be a bad idea to get to your local Verizon Wireless store early on Thursday morning. Via [Droid-Life] Via [DroidForums]
Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 12 Jul 2010 | 9:33 pm 3DS game producer hints at what’s in store for us
Apparently, the new 3D display is based on some rather old technology — what’s commonly known as a lenticular sticker, which changes appearance depending upon the angle you view it from. Obviously, the 3DS will be more advanced then a sticker, but that’s where the basic concept comes from. Konno also revealed that game data will be stored inside handheld, instead of in the game cartridge as has been done previously. Mr. Konno revealed that both he and Miyamoto were insistent that the new device have an analog control, which has been missing from Nintendo’s previous portable devices. Get ready for motion with the 3DS as well, since the device will contain both an accelerometer and gyroscope, allowing for games similar to the Wii MotionPlus device. Mr. Konno suggested that they could be used for games such as first person shooters, allowing the user to move the device to maintain line of sight, without losing the 3D experience. [via Wired GameLife]
Source: CrunchGear | 12 Jul 2010 | 9:32 pm Samsung Vibrant promo video surfaces, shows off latest T-Mobile smartphoneSection: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Web, Online Music/Video
Now that the Samsung Vibrant is confirmed for a July 15 launch, it’s time to get the public excited about the newest Android phone to hit T-Mobile. We already saw the Samsung Captivate promotional video last week, and now we have the Samsung Vibrant video to watch on YouTube. It’s pretty much the same video except for the color scheme, which is magenta in the Samsung Vibrant video and blue in the Samsung Captivate video. Some of the features mentioned in the video include its Super AMOLED Display, pre-loaded Swype, HD Video Recording, more responsive touch screen, “twice as fast as leading android devices”, 3D graphics support, Social Hub, Media Hub, and sleek design. It will be exciting to see which phone sells more on launch day, the Motorola Droid X or the Samsung Vibrant. Each phone features top of the line hardware and specs, but I think it is going to come down to carrier loyalty. Some will only purchase Verizon phones and some will only purchase T-Mobile. Who will you choose? Check out the video below: Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 12 Jul 2010 | 9:00 pm Blackberry Tablet information leaked, no release date We heard a few months back that RIM was looking at building a Blackberry tablet, and it’s looking like the rumors may be true. On Friday the rumors got a whole new life due to analyst comments, and today it was more or less confirmed by “a source close to RIM”.
Source: CrunchGear | 12 Jul 2010 | 9:00 pm Why Twitter waited to take ownership of its iPhone and Android apps (Appolicious)Appolicious - Twitter was perfectly comfortable partnering with independent mobile developers before unveiling owned-and-operated apps for the iPhone, Android and other mobile platforms last spring, explained Kevin Thau, director of mobile for the social media behemoth.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 12 Jul 2010 | 8:47 pm Microcopters working together making lifting blocks fun and easy
Wait a second, why does that sound so familiar? Nooo, it’s DEVASTATOR!
Source: CrunchGear | 12 Jul 2010 | 8:30 pm It’s Alive! Taking Android’s App Inventor For A Spin
I spent around 90 minutes this morning cranking away on a few test applications in App Inventor, and while I’m very excited about it, this is not going to be a walk in the park for “ordinary people”. Unless you’re looking to make an extremely basic application — think “Hello World” — you’re going to have to read through the documentation, and in some cases even the existing tutorials won’t be enough. That said, this will be absolutely perfect for the classroom environment for which it’s been tested in. The learning curve is not trivial, but this isn’t something that will take years to master, either. Before I relay my experience, it’s worth giving a little context regarding my own programming background (or lack thereof). In high school I took a year of Visual Basic, which App Inventor reminds me of in a few ways, and I later took a couple of classes on C++, which hasn’t come into play at all here. I’ve never used Scratch, which App Inventor shares many similarities with. I’d consider myself far less experienced than any professional developer, but I’m probably more knowledgeable than your average Android user.
Getting started on App Inventor is easy relative to installing Eclipse and the Android SDK, but it’s still a bit involved. First you need to ensure that you’ve got the proper version of Java running; next, you install a client for your OS; then you have to change a few settings on your Android phone (allow for applications installed from Unknown Sources, enable Dev mode on the phone, etc.). Plug in the phone, log-in to App Inventor, allow the Java app to run, and you should be good to go. It may sound like a lot, but the whole process won’t take more than ten minutes if you know what you’re doing. Once you’re off and running, you’ll find that App Inventor is broken into two parts: the Designer and the Blocks Editor. The documentation does a good job explaining the differences, but the gist is that you add components like buttons and text fields and adjust the layout of your application in the Designer (which is a web page), and do the actual drag-and-drop coding in the Blocks Editor (which is a Java app). You can deploy changes to your Android device, hooked to your computer via USB, in less than a minute. My first (admittedly overambitious) idea was to create an application that would allow a user to monitor TechCrunch headlines for keywords, which could come in handy if a startup wanted to get notified whenever we wrote a post about them. The basic layout was easy enough — I dragged a text box, a label, and a button to the design canvas, then tweaked the width and layout settings to make it look slightly less ugly. Then came the hard part: making those buttons actually do things, which marked my first introduction to the Blocks Editor. The Blocks Editor reminds me of Apple’s Automator in that it lets you map out your app logic like a puzzle, though the former is obviously much more complex. Getting App Inventor to do what you want is sometimes very easy, assuming it already has a component for that task. Want to store the contents of a text field to a database when the user taps a button? It’s a cinch. Unfortunately, the list of available components sometimes has some frustrating omissions, which I quickly ran into. Look (For The Right Components) Before You Leap I initially planned to monitor TechCrunch headlines in my app using an RSS feed, which I assumed would be one of the available components. No dice — as far as I can tell there isn’t any RSS functionality baked in. However, the App Inventor does have some built-in Twitter components, including a search function — perhaps I could simply monitor the TechCrunch Twitter feed for headlines and run the user query against that? After dragging and dropping the proper components into to place (which took all of two minutes), I had the application spitting out Twitter search results for whatever query the user entered, which was very cool. But it’s trickier to monitor an individual Twitter account (I was getting results from all of Twitter), and it was quickly becoming apparent that I didn’t have enough experience with App Inventor to pull this project off. I’ve shelved it for later. Update:Looks like I could have used the join block to add the query and “from:techcrunch” to the search.
My second attempt was to build an application I’ll call Draw N’ Send. Given my initial setback, the application was to be nearly identical to the one produced with the App Inventor PaintPot tutorial, which allows the user to draw with a few colors on a blank canvas (I hoped to add the ability to email the resulting drawing via email). Things got off to a great start, as they often do when you have a step-by-step guide: I quickly got my colored buttons into place, and getting dots and lines to appear on the Canvas when the user dragged their finger on the screen was surprisingly straightforward. With the basic drawing functionality in place, I got ready to set up my email functionality. Which is when I hit roadblock number two: for some reason there’s currently no component to save the contents of a canvas to an image file, so I had nothing to email. So much for that idea.
Outlook All of which boils down to say a few things. First, while this may be a development environment “for anyone”, it’s still one that you definitely have to learn before it becomes useful. And that is going to be a bit tricky, as there aren’t a ton of tutorials available yet (if you’re looking for more, check out USF Professor Dave Wolber’s Appinventor.org, which isn’t affiliated with Google). The other key takeaway is that the variety of components offered in App Inventor still has a ways to go — and if the component you need isn’t there, you’re probably out of luck. Google says they’re working to add new ones, and down the line the Component Developer Kit will probably lead to a huge jump in available functionality. But for now, it’s definitely a good idea to get familiar with the available Functions before you start putting everything together. Whoops. Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 12 Jul 2010 | 8:25 pm Q2'10 Macronix Earnings ReleaseTAIPEI, Taiwan, July 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Macronix International Co., Ltd. (TSEC: 2337.TT), an independent designer, producer and provider of non-volatile memory and system logic solution, will hold its quarterly conference call to discuss the second-quarter financial results on Jul. 27, 2010 at 2:00 p.m. Hong Kong Time (2:00 a.m. Eastern Time / 7:00 a.m. London Time). Dial-in details for the conference call are as follows: Taiwan: 008-014-443-60 HK: 800-962-844 Singapore: 800-448-1475 Japan: 00531-44-0126 UK: 44-207-136-5118 US Toll-Free: 866-730-5763 US: 857-350-1587 China: 10-800-130-0399 Pass code: 18993965 This call is being web-cast by Thomson Reuters and can be accessed at the website of Macronix at www.macronix.com The web-cast is also being distributed through the Thomson Reuters StreetEvents Network to both institutional and individual investors. Individual investors can listen to the call at www.earnings.com, Thomson Reuters individual investor portal, powered by StreetEvents. Institutional investors can access the call via Thomson Reuters password--protected event management site, StreetEvents (www.streetevents.com). About Macronix International Co., Ltd. Founded in 1989, Macronix International Co., Ltd. (TSEC: 2337.TT) is a leading provider of innovative Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) solutions. Macronix is the largest worldwide manufacturer of ROM products, and also provide wide range of NOR Flash products across various densities for system embedded, consumer, and enterprise applications. Headquartered in Hsin-Chu, Taiwan, Macronix currently employs approximately 3,597 people worldwide. For more information about Macronix, please visit http://www.macronix.com. Contact Information: Investor Relations Douglas Sun, +886-3-578-6688 ext. 76632 douglassun@mxic.com.tw SOURCE Macronix International Co., Ltd.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Jul 2010 | 8:24 pm Fring and Skype fighting over who removed Skype from FringSection: Communications, Smartphones
Initially, Fring started by saying that Skype has blocked the company from using the service in it’s app. It even went so far as to call Skype “cowards” for not supporting “open mobile communication” in a blog post, and to cross out Skype and put “BANNED” above the logo in the company’s list of supported services. It marks the end of four years of Skype support in Fring. Skype fired back by saying that it was, in fact, Fring who removed Skype from it’s app. In a blog post, Robert Miller of Skype said that Fring was infringing on Skype’s API Terms of Use and End User License Agreement, and has been doing so for quite some time. Skype had apparently been trying to work out a deal with Fring to work out the issues. Skype also felt that Fring was damaging the Skype brand, especially when it pulled the video calls support for the iPhone 4. The post ends in saying:
If nothing else, both brands may be damaged in this argument, but Fring comes off just a bit worse. Calling out companies and calling them cowards is fine, but the line “We’re sorry for the inconvenience Skype has caused you,” comes off just a bit too mean-spirited, as does the rest of Fring’s blog post. Of course, Skype video calling on mobile devices would be nice for some, but it’d be so much easier if Skype could just make the apps itself. Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 12 Jul 2010 | 8:21 pm Carbon fiber iPad case makes me want to put a turbo in my iPad
It’s called the HoverCoat, by monCarbone, and it costs $90. Man, do they think I’m made of money? Makes a guy want to rob a bank. [via NotCot]
Source: CrunchGear | 12 Jul 2010 | 8:00 pm Barnes & Noble announces NOOKstudySection: Computers, Gadgets / Other, ebooks  Ever since the e-book market started heating up, eTextbooks have been a subject of much discussion. Textbook sales make up a considerable portion of the book publishing market, and nobody really enjoys carrying heavy textbooks around with them all day. The Kindle DX was a possible solution to this issue, as is the upcoming Kno tablet, but Barnes & Noble refuses to let others take the market for themselves. Today Barnes & Nobile announced it’s newest service, NOOKstudy. NOOKstudy is a program for Windows and Mac computers, that brings together eTextbooks, e-books, and class materials into one location. The idea is that students will be able to get all their books, as well as syllabi and class notes all in one spot on their laptops. The textbooks will be in full color, appear on screen just as they would on paper, and allow for note taking and highlighting within the NOOKstudy app. In addition to books, the app will let students integrate web research, with built in Google and Dictionary.com support. NOOKstudy will be released in August, just in time for the fall semester. Barnes & Noble claims to have over 1 million eTextbooks and e-books, with textbooks being up to 40% less than the paper versions. The idea looks great, and will likely help students who like the idea of having everything on a computer. The problem lies in the fact that I have met many students who don’t believe in e-books, and many college professors still don’t like having laptops in classes. On top of that, even with over 1 million books, there’s a good chance professors will still manage to find the textbooks (or novels for English courses) that don’t have digital versions making NOOKstudy not as useful for those classes. Or, maybe I’m just bit bitter that this is exactly what I wanted in college, and it’s coming now a few months after I graduated. Read [Barnes & Noble NOOKstudy] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 12 Jul 2010 | 7:50 pm Retrieving a Stolen Laptop By IP Address Alone?CorporalKlinger writes "My vehicle was recently burglarized while parked in a university parking lot in a midwestern state. My new Dell laptop was stolen from the car, along with several other items. I have no idea who might have done this, and the police say that without any idea of a suspect, the best they can do is enter the serial number from my laptop in a national stolen goods database in case it is ever pawned or recovered in another investigation. I had Thunderbird set up on the laptop, configured to check my Gmail through IMAP. Luckily, Gmail logs and displays the last 6 or 7 IP addresses that have logged into your account. I immediately stopped using that email account, cleared it out, and left the password unchanged — creating my own honeypot in case the criminal loaded Thunderbird on my laptop. Sure enough, last week Gmail reported 4 accesses via IMAP from the same IP address in a state just to the east of mine. I know that this must be the criminal who took my property, since I've disabled IMAP access to the account on all of my own computers. The municipal police say they can't intervene in the case since university police have jurisdiction over crimes that take place on their land. The university police department — about 10 officers and 2 detectives — don't even know what an IP address is. I even contacted the local FBI office and they said they're 'not interested' in the case despite it now crossing state lines. Am I chasing my own tail here? How can I get someone to pay attention to the fact that all the police need to do is file some RIAA-style paperwork to find the name associated with this IP address and knock on the right door to nab a criminal and recover my property? How can I get my laptop back — and more importantly — stop this criminal in his tracks?"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 12 Jul 2010 | 7:37 pm Light a bright idea for your iPhone 4 (Appolicious)Appolicious - LED Light for iPhone 4 Free is a useful, must-have utility that turns your iPhone 4 into a working flashlight; it has become a bit of a cash cow for its creator as well. Developer Jason Ting revealed that his 9,000-download launch day made him almost $1,400 in ad revenue through Apple’s sanctioned iAds program. It’s unlikely that Ting will sustain these returns as downloads slow and initial use tapers, however his experience does bode well for other developers considering iAds.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 12 Jul 2010 | 7:33 pm Consumer Reports cannot recommend iPhone 4 due to antenna issueSection: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones
Ever since Apple’s historic iPhone 4 launch, the main point of controversy has been its antenna problem, which Apple claims is a calculation and software error. However, after extensive testing, Consumer Reports finds it is not a software issue, but a hardware issue, and calls into question the validity of Apple’s statement on the matter. Essentially Apple said the formula used to display signal strength shows a few more bars than it is supposed to, and when touched in a certain area the signal strength decreases because of poor signal strength by AT&T. Apple goes on to say that nearly every phone will lose signal strength when held in a certain way. Consumer Reports conducted an interesting experiment in which three iPhone 4’s purchased from different stores were placed in a special chamber that prevents outside radio signals from affecting the phone inside. Also, each tested phone was connected to a base-station emulator which is designed to represent the carrier’s cell tower, thereby providing the phone with sufficient service. Within the chamber, the iPhone 3G S and the Palm Pre (both on AT&T) were tested in a similar fashion and did not display any signal strength loss. Consumer Reports explains a duct tape method to cover the antenna area in order to prevent signal loss, but it is definitely not the most aesthetically pleasing fix. Because of the underlying antenna issue, Consumer Reports refuses to recommend Apple’s latest smartphone, even though it has superb scores in other categories. Perhaps CR sums up the iPhone 4 problem the best:
CR is widely trusted by many consumers and they are a highly reputable source. It will be interesting to see if Apple responds to CR’s experiment and refusal to recommend the latest iPhone. Feel free to watch the video below which explains the CR experiment. Via [Consumer Reports] Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 12 Jul 2010 | 7:19 pm HP’s got a flexible display of its own
In HP’s case, the display (shown by Phil McKinney at MobileBeat today) is still way out on the horizon. Even the prototypes of things we see at CES all the time are way further along in development than this stuff. It’s not durable, for one thing — and there’s no manufacturing process, for another. But it works, and it’s full color, which is pretty great. Except that’s pretty much what the other guys have, too. Ah well. I guess we’ll just have to satisfy ourselves by watching these jokers compare R&D budgets. I’ll be sure to let you guys know when something really sweet comes along. [via SlashGear]
Source: CrunchGear | 12 Jul 2010 | 7:15 pm Blackberry Tablet information leaked, no release dateWe heard a few months back that RIM was looking at building a Blackberry tablet, and it’s looking like the rumors may be true. On Friday the rumors got a whole new life due to analyst comments, and today it was more or less confirmed by “a source close to RIM”. The source, who preferred to remain anonymous (as they do), leaked to Betanews that the tablet will most likely be 8.9″ in size, and have dual cameras. The new tablet is also rumored to support Flash, which could make it major competitor in the upcoming tablet wars. There have also been predictions of a slide-out keyboard as well as a new version of the Blackberry OS, which would make sense for a new product line. RIM also released a new video to YouTube today, giving us another peek at the new “BlackBerry 6″ operating system. Seems like it would work really well with a touchscreen.
Source: MobileCrunch | 12 Jul 2010 | 7:10 pm The New FirstTeam.com Empowers Consumers, One Home Search at a TimeCOSTA MESA, Calif., July 12 /PRNewswire/ -- High resolution data-rich "snapshots" of Southern California's real estate market, from individual listings to pricing and market trends to compelling details about hundreds of local communities and schools, are now instantly accessible to the public on First Team Real Estate's groundbreaking and ambitiously redesigned website, www.FirstTeam.com. The largest independent real estate company in Southern California, First Team spent more than a year working with one of the world's leading user-centered website design firms, Human Factors International (HFI), to completely revamp the site using HFI's proven principles of human-computer interaction, psychology, computer science, and marketing. The goal was to create a genuinely simple-to-navigate real estate website and to more easily share with clients innovative proprietary tools noted in the industry for giving First Team agents and clients access to in-depth market statistics and analysis not offered by most other companies, according to Cameron Merage, CEO and Founder of First Team Real Estate. "Considering that our regional site gets well over 100,000 total visitors per month, we felt it was critical to serve our sellers as well as our buyers in the best manner possible by providing them immediate website access to the tools and products that have made First Team unique and successful," Merage said. The new website design also increased First Team Real Estate's powerful school search because for many people looking to purchase a home, knowing the quality of local schools is critical. The search includes such details (where available) as the school's pupil-to-teacher ratios, percentage of college-bound seniors, and homes nearby for sale. Another key point for sellers is the site's "Find a Community" feature, which provides very detailed demographic information for over 140 Southern California communities. Buyers unfamiliar with an area can quickly get a focused take on their potential new hometown. "We see this new website as a living, breathing organism that will constantly undergo evolution for the benefit of our buyer and seller clients as well as our real estate agents," commented Ondar Tarlow, Vice President of Marketing & Public Relations for First Team. Experience what the new website has to offer, visit www.FirstTeam.com today. SOURCE First Team Real EstateSource: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Jul 2010 | 6:53 pm RIM introduces BlackBerry Protect, security features for your BlackBerrySection: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Computers, Security, Software / Applications  RIM recently announced a new piece of software for the BlackBerry and it is called BlackBerry Protect. As of now, the app is in beta stage and limited to BlackBerry Beta Zone users who will be receiving special invite codes later this week. It is set to reach open public beta later this year for the general public. One of the first things the BlackBerry Protect software will do is backup your necessary and important files. For example, you have the ability to backup contacts, tasks, calendar events, memos, bookmarks, and messages and you can choose how often to backup data. It will only update new data after every backup in order to minimize data usage. Now, let’s go through some of the key security features that makes BlackBerry Protect a solid application. In case you misplace your phone, you can choose to play a loud ring for a minute on your phone and even change it from silent to loud volume if you wish to call the phone. I don’t know about you, but I happen to misplace my cell phone all the time and such a feature is really convenient. In case you actually lost your phone somewhere, not simply misplaced around the house, you can set a password lock feature by going online to BlackBerry Protect web portal. In addition, you can display a lost and found page which features your contact information. In addition, you can take advantage of the BlackBerry’s onboard GPS to view its current location in case the phone is on and functioning. If push comes to shove, there is a Remote Wipe feature which will delete all data on the phone and microSD card. This is where backing up your data often comes in handy, just in case you have to wipe all your memory. I’m not sure how well the software and online program works together, but just reading about the product makes me believe it could work really well. Via [BlackBerry] Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 12 Jul 2010 | 6:48 pm OpenPandora will take your order now
Check out the device or buy it over at OpenPandora.
Source: CrunchGear | 12 Jul 2010 | 6:45 pm Facebook fights New Yorker's claim of 84 percent stakeSAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook has moved to overturn a New York judge's recent order temporarily blocking any transfer of the company's assets, as the world's No.1 social networking...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Jul 2010 | 6:37 pm Amazon offers one year of free Amazon Prime for students
Being a college student isn’t easy, and when it comes time to find the best deal on textbooks, it would be nice to save a little on shipping. If you are a student and looking to take advantage of some quick, free shipping, be sure to sign up for Amazon Prime for free! Amazon Prime normally costs $80 for a one year subscription but Amazon is offering this special promotion through Amazon Student and all you have to do is validate your .Edu email address and enter in your major. Here is a quick description of Amazon Prime:
No word on how long this promotion will last for, so try to sign up as soon as possible. Don’t try to pull a fast one on Amazon because they have the right to revoke membership to Amazon Prime. Check it out [Amazon] Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 12 Jul 2010 | 6:30 pm BlackBerry 6 teased in another sneak peek videoSection: Communications, Cellphones, Smartphones, Web, Online Music/Video
The new BlackBerry OS, BlackBerry 6, is going to launch sometime this summer. While we already know some of the main features of the new OS, such as a redesigned WebKit browser, aggregated Social Networking feeds, universal search, and an enhanced media interface; it is still nice to see the features in action through a video. Today, RIM posted another sneak peek video featured the BlackBerry 6 OS on YouTube. Needless to say, many of the new features should appeal to all BlackBerry fanboys. Hopefully we can pinpoint a launch date on the new OS soon and begin to see it on new BlackBerry models (9800, anyone?). Check out the video below: Via [BlackBerry] Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 12 Jul 2010 | 6:01 pm eToro: Who Doesn’t Want A little Social Mixed With Commodities Trading?
If you’re not into trading currencies and commodities (who isn’t?), you may not know much about eToro. We first covered them in 2007 when they launched with the somewhat dubious goal of making commodities trading “fun.” But since then they’ve come a long way: users have traded over $100 billion on eToro to date and the company has raised over $10 million in capital. What’s not fun about that? But now eToro is even “funner.” The company announced its new OpenBook platform today – think Twitter or Foursquare for trades. Users publish their real world commodities trades on the platform. Other users can view their trading history and then choose to follow those users. Or, with the click of a button, duplicate the trade. This stuff seems absurd, but StockTwits has shows how well it works for stock trades. In fact, eToro and StockTwits are so similar in their approach, it’s no wonder that StockTwits founder Howard Lindzon is also an investor in eToro. eToro is a good way for people to learn about the commodities trading business, starting off with fake cash or with very small trades. And it’s also clearly attracting higher profile traders who want to talk about what they do, and share with others. To try out OpenBook, go to openbook.etoro.com. Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 12 Jul 2010 | 6:01 pm War-Torn and Overgrown, Ghost Town Was Soviet ParadiseThis deteriorating tropical resort on Georgia's Black Sea coast shows the ravages of time and a bloody ethnic war. As inhabitants tentatively move back, nature and neglect eat away at a once-opulent hotel, palaces and ballrooms.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 12 Jul 2010 | 6:00 pm Teradata and ESRI Offer Customers Advanced Geospatial IntelligenceSAN DIEGO and REDLANDS, Calif., July 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Teradata Corporation (NYSE: TDC) and ESRI announced that their new relationship will enable customers to integrate business and geospatial data in a single database, perform advanced analytics and deliver geospatial intelligence to business users to improve decision-making. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090909/TERADATALOGO ) (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090909/TERADATALOGO ) "The unique combination of geospatial power from ESRI and the marketing-leading Teradata database engine offers customers a new, advanced ability to solve business problems," said Randy Lea, vice president, Teradata product and service marketing. "The new partnership makes it possible for customers to gain a business advantage by maximizing how they leverage geospatial and business information." For example, a retailer wants to target new high-value customers to increase sales in all of their 200 stores; however, each store has a diverse customer base. Using Teradata, the retailer can analyze all the shoppers in each of the 200 stores to identify their best customers based on shopping patterns and other transactional data. This intelligence is valuable, but it is more powerful with the addition of the geographical-based data. Working with ESRI, companies can add "drive-time" and "lifestyle" customer segments to the analysis. This resulting geospatial intelligence can then be used to support targeted marketing campaigns directed at profitable customers. "The partnership between ESRI and Teradata combines sophisticated spatial analytics and visualization with high performance and event processing to deliver real-time spatial analytics," said David Sonnen, senior analyst for Spatial Information, IDC. "The new capabilities allow retail, telecommunication, utilities, transportation and government agencies to manage and analyze millions of records of data on a national scale at speeds that have not been achieved in the past." Teradata supports various geospatial types of data like points on a map, lines, and polygons. It can perform over 60 geospatial analytic functions within its scaleable, high performance database. It is enhanced by the ESRI industry-leading spatial data creation, visualization, advanced analytics, and spatial collaboration tools to provide Teradata customers with unprecedented capabilities to exploit the spatial data within their data warehouse. "ESRI fills a critical role in the Teradata ecosystem in terms of spatial ETL, spatial content, advanced spatial analysis and, of course, visualization, mapping and spatial collaboration," said Steve Benner, alliance manager, ESRI. "Our new relationship helps customers bridge the gap between the data warehouse and their Geographic Information System- a common customer request - to get more value from their investments in both systems." Geospatial Consulting Services Claraview, a division of Teradata, and ESRI offer specialized professional services to help customers easily integrate and deploy the geospatial capability in their business intelligence environments. Claraview has a proven set of Geospatial Business Intelligence Services to help businesses develop a long-term vision and deployment plan for their geospatial initiatives. Claraview brings together best practices in business intelligence and geospatial analytics, and aligns business and technology objectives to build a robust analytical capability. "This new partnership provides our customers with a low risk and quicker implementation," said Jeff Snow, managing partner, Claraview, a division of Teradata Corporation. "Claraview assists customers to maximize the Teradata data warehouse, ESRI capabilities and the business intelligence tools of the customer's choice." About ESRI Founded in 1969, ESRI (www.esri.com) is the world leader in the GIS software industry. ESRI offers innovative solutions that help users create, manage, analyze, and display information to make timely decisions and solve problems they encounter every day. ESRI's comprehensive product line ranges from desktop GIS to GIS for the enterprise. About Teradata Teradata Corporation (NYSE: TDC) is the world's largest company solely focused on raising intelligence and achieving enterprise agility through its database software, enterprise data warehousing, data warehouse appliances, consulting, and enterprise analytics. Visit Teradata on the web at www.teradata.com. Teradata is a trademark or registered trademark of Teradata Corporation in the United States and other countries. SOURCE Teradata CorporationSource: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Jul 2010 | 6:00 pm Teradata and ESRI Offer Customers Advanced Geospatial IntelligenceSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Jul 2010 | 6:00 pm Comet Probe Visits An AsteroidEurope's comet-bound Rosetta spacecraft did a little sight-seeing over the weekend, snapping pictures of an asteroid known as Lutetia, located in the Main Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 12 Jul 2010 | 5:43 pm Apple replacing or repairing failure-prone 2008 Time Capsules, for freeFROM APPLETELL - Early adopters of Apple’s Time Capsule, if experiencing troubles with the device shutting down or not turning on, may be eligible for free replacement or repair. Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 12 Jul 2010 | 5:39 pm Sun's Dark Companion 'Nemesis' Not So LikelyTravisTR passes along a story about the death of Nemesis. "The data that once suggested the Sun is orbited by a distant dark companion now raises even more questions... The periodicity [of mass extinctions] is a matter of some controversy among paleobiologists but there is a growing consensus that something of enormous destructive power happens every 26 or 27 million years. The question is what? ... another idea first put forward in the 1980s is that the Sun has a distant dark companion called Nemesis that sweeps through the Oort cloud every 27 million years or so, sending a deadly shower of comets our way. ... [Researchers] have brought together a massive set of extinction data from the last 500 million years, a period that is twice as long as anybody else has studied. And their analysis shows an excess of extinctions every 27 million years, with a confidence level of 99%. That's a clear, sharp signal over a huge length of time. At first glance, you'd think it clearly backs the idea that a distant dark object orbits the Sun every 27 million years. But ironically, the accuracy and regularity of these events is actually evidence against Nemesis' existence."
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Source: Slashdot | 12 Jul 2010 | 5:38 pm Remains of the Day: It's all about relationships (Macworld.com)Macworld.com - After a long relaxing week of vacation, your remainders host has returned, refreshed and renewed! Just in time to hear all about how a certain mayor loves his iPad, a certain tech executive doesnât love Steve Jobs, and a certain search giant wants to do some farming...for gold. Itâs all that and more in this Monday, July 12 edition of remainders.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 12 Jul 2010 | 5:30 pm Ecosystem damage to show true cost of Gulf spill: expertThe Gulf of Mexico oil disaster is likely to cost far more than cleanup and compensation for lost income once damage to ecosystems is factored in, a top expert said Tuesday. In an...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Jul 2010 | 5:25 pm Consumer Reports: By the Way, the iPhone 4 is Also the Best Smartphone on the Market [Digital Daily]
Well, this is ironic. Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone 4, the smartphone that Consumer Reports says it can’t recommend, is also the one ranked highest in its latest ratings. The device scored 76 out of 100 points–two points ahead of its closest rivals, the iPhone 3Gs and the HTC Evo 4G (click on image above to enlarge). The product evaluation agency rated the iPhone 4 “Excellent” in its display, navigation, Web browsing, multimedia and battery life categories, “Very Good” in phoning and messaging and “Good” in voice quality. In short, the iPhone 4 is hands-down the best smartphone available today, but Consumer Reports advises against buying it. Source: All Things Digital | 12 Jul 2010 | 5:07 pm Chrome Shows Off Some Fancy HTML5 TricksGoogle has a gallery of web animations, games and apps on display at Chrome Experiments, a site showcasing demos created using only web standards like JavaScript and HTML5. We pick a few of our favorites.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 12 Jul 2010 | 5:00 pm Sprint launches 4G coverage in 7 more citiesSection: Business News, Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile
Since 4G connectivity is a relatively new concept, it is not yet available in most parts of America. However, with the introduction of the HTC EVO 4G and the soon-to-be-released Epic 4G, Sprint is continuing to roll out 4G technology to additional cities, allowing more customers to take advantage of a faster mobile connection. Today, Sprint announced it finished rolling out its 4G coverage to seven additional cities including Rochester, NY, Syracuse, NY, Merced, California, Visalia, California, Eugene, Oregon, Tri-Cities, Washington and Yakima, Washington. Currently, customers can experience 4G connections in 43 cities across America and Sprint plans to add Los Angeles, New York City, and Miami to the list before the year is over. Hopefully Sprint can keep up with demand for the HTC EVO 4G in order to provide more 4G capable devices in areas that feature 4G. As Robert Nelson mentions, the black HTC EVO 4G is sold out at Best Buy and direct with Sprint. With the Epic 4G just around the corner, Sprint customers will have two options in terms of smartphones that can operate on a 4G network. Via [Yahoo! Finance] Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 12 Jul 2010 | 4:58 pm Infrared Map Shows Home Insulation SlackersI see London, I see France, I see Belgium's buildings' underpants. A new searchable thermographic map shows which houses in neighborhoods across the country are going commando.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 12 Jul 2010 | 4:51 pm Consumer Reports Can't Recommend iPhone 4jbezorg was one among many readers to send word that Consumer Reports has concluded that they cannot recommend the iPhone 4. (They still enthusiastically recommend the 3G S.) "It's official. Consumer Reports' engineers have just completed testing the iPhone 4, and have confirmed that there is a problem with its reception. When your finger or hand touches a spot on the phone's lower left side — an easy thing, especially for lefties — the signal can significantly degrade enough to cause you to lose your connection altogether if you're in an area with a weak signal. Due to this problem, we can't recommend the iPhone 4. ... Our findings call into question the recent claim by Apple that the iPhone 4's signal-strength issues were largely an optical illusion caused by faulty software that 'mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength.'" The comments on the article don't display any of the vitriol the Apple faithful have been known to unleash upon anyone daring to question the Cupertino way. Perhaps they are moderated.
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Source: Slashdot | 12 Jul 2010 | 4:50 pm Amazon Hooks College Students With A Free Year Of Amazon Prime
This is a smart move from Amazon. I’ve been a Prime subscriber for a year, and it’s uncanny how addictive “free” two-day shipping can become — you can bet a good number of the students signing up for the program are going to have a hard time going back to the 3-5 day standard shipping in a year. And even if they don’t upgrade to Prime in a year, students will probably feel some affinity to Amazon over its competitors. Note that even if you’re not a college student, Amazon offers a one month trial membership. Via Slickdeals
Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 12 Jul 2010 | 4:48 pm Casualties Of War: OfferPal Downsizes As Facebook Chooses Competitor
In an open letter to be published later today, Offerpal CEO George Garrick talks about the reasons behind the downsizing, and the company’s new focus on other platforms:
Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 12 Jul 2010 | 4:31 pm Netflix Edges Past Hulu In Total U.S. Traffic (comScore)
As the great race to become America’s favorite source of full-length TV and movie streams gets underway, two of the favorites in that race are Hulu and Netflix. Hulu has a fairly large headstart. It is the No. 2 video site in the U.S after YouTube, and serves more than 1 billion videos a month. Meanwhile, Netflix, which is constantly adding to its catalog of streaming movies, only just broke into the top 20 last February. However, it is catching up fast, with serious streaming offerings on laptops, the Wii, and the iPad. These video view numbers come from comScore Video Metrix, but by a more recent, and more general, measure Netflix is edging past Hulu. According to comScore, plain Web traffic in terms of unique individual visitors to Netflix was 20.2 million in June, 2010, just edging past Hulu’s 19.7 million (see chart). The vast majority of Netflix visitors are there to add movies to their mail-in DVD list, but increasingly they are starting to stream them directly as well. Overall traffic has been growing nicely since April, when Netflix streaming became available on the Wii. Traffic is up 15 percent since April (during a time when Hulu traffic has been essentially flat), and 46 percent from last year. On an annual basis, Hulu is still growing much faster, though, with 126 percent growth. Even when you look at total time spent on each site, which is a closer approximation of viewing time (although with Netflix it includes browsing the site picking DVDs as well), Netflix also beats Hulu, based on comScore’s numbers (ditto with pageviews). In June, visitors in the U.S. logged an estimated 662 million minutes on Netflix, compared to 598 million minutes on Hulu (see chart below). Netflix shows a steady 62 percent annual rise in minutes spent on the site, compared to an even healthier 97 percent gain for Hulu. But in June, comScore shows a 29 percent drop in time spent on Hulu. Whether that is just a glitch in comScore’s numbers or an actual drop in viewership because of summer reruns, Netflix does have a built-in advantage of streaming more movies, which are longer, than TV shows. I just streamed a movie from Netflix this weekend, and it looked indistinguishable from a DVD on my large flat-screen TV. The reason I don’t do it more often is because it is a pain to hook up my laptop to my TV. As it becomes easier and easier to stream directly to your TV or iPad, Netflix becomes another source of on-demand movies that you are already paying for (you get to stream movies for free as part of your monthly subscription). That said, traffic and time spent does not equal videos streamed, and Hulu still dominates by all indications. Hulu is also adding to its fare with better shows and movies via its own subscription service, Hulu Plus, and killer iPad app. But I wouldn’t be surprised to see Netflix break into the top 10 movie streaming sites by the end of the year, and really start to put pressure on Hulu next year.
     
Source: TechCrunch | 12 Jul 2010 | 4:27 pm Brooks Automation ups 3Q outlook over Street viewChip equipment maker Brooks Automation Inc. said Monday it expects revenue and earnings for its fiscal third and fourth quarters to beat Wall Street's expectations. The company raised...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Jul 2010 | 4:22 pm Conde Nast's Reddit asks readers for help (AP)AP - Though it's owned by a large media company, Reddit needs money, and it's turning to its loyal audience for help.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 12 Jul 2010 | 4:10 pm National Enjoy Your Deck Day Promotion Kicks Off July 12Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Jul 2010 | 4:08 pm Familial DNA Testing Nabs Alleged Serial Killercremeglace writes "A quarter-century of conventional detective work failed to track down the killer responsible for the deaths of at least 10 young women in south Los Angeles dating back to the mid-1980s. But a discarded piece of pizza and a relatively new method of DNA testing has finally cracked the case, police announced last week. On July 7, L.A. police arrested Lonnie Franklin Jr., 57, a former garage attendant and sanitation worker they suspect is the serial killer nicknamed the 'Grim Sleeper.' The key evidence? A match between crime-scene DNA and the suspect's son, obtained by a search through the state's data bank of DNA collected from 1.3 million convicted felons."
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Source: Slashdot | 12 Jul 2010 | 4:06 pm 24 Cars Turn Into a Giant Musical Instrument in the DesertLine up 24 cars in a desert, wind 1,000 feet of welding cable through them and throw one-hit-wonder Gary Numan into the mix and the result is a cool, fun video that turns all the cars into one big musical instrument. Syyn Labs, a Los Angeles-based arts and technology collective, worked with Zoo films to create the video as a commercial for DieHard, a maker of car batteries. Over three days in the desert, a team of six engineers worked on 24 cars and removed the batteries from each. Instead, they connected them all together to a central computer and a keyboard. The horns inside the cars were removed and instead an MP3 player was connected to the each car’s speaker. The entire set-up was hooked to one DieHard battery. As Numan hit each key on his keyboard, the software turned on the lights and sound for the corresponding car. It activated the speaker in that car so the MP3 player would blare out the right note for just a few seconds, says Brent Bushnell, who works at the Labs. “Everything in the car, the keyboard and the computer was powered using a single DieHard battery,” says Eric Gradman, one of the engineers who worked on the project. “Overall, we consumed just about 31.3 amphours.” The Labs’ previous project was a Rube Goldberg machine whose action perfectly meshes with a song from pop band OK Go. And if you are wondering what song the cars are blaring, it is Numan’s 1979 hit ‘Cars.’ Video: Syyn Labs 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 12 Jul 2010 | 3:56 pm What eBay-Rich Meg Whitman Really Wants to Do Is Direct! [BoomTown]
It’s worth checking out an article in the New York Times today that points to a very questionable, but–as it turned out–politically savvy angel investment made by former eBay CEO and now Republican candidate for California governor Meg Whitman. The piece, by Michael Luo, alleges that Whitman’s $1 million investment in late 2008 in a Hollywood entertainment company called Tools Down! Productions was made to ease a prominent Republican strategist away from working for her rival for the GOP nod. That would be Steve Poizner, who lost to Whitman in the recent primary and who was close to working with Mike Murphy. Instead, with a little help from the piles of cash Whitman made from eBay (EBAY) stock, Murphy never took the job. Well, not the Poizner job, at least. After telling people he was sick of politics and then getting the Whitman money days later for his still credit-free movie production company, Murphy became an adviser to Whitman a year later. The bigger story the Times is touting, but does not quite deliver, is the advent of super-rich candidates in races this round, including another tech exec, former Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) CEO Carly Fiorina. She won the California GOP Senate primary. This kind of thing has happened before, of course. But what’s interesting is to see Silicon Valley’s digitally enabled moneybags step up to the very stained political table and jump right into the game. What’s next? Google (GOOG) co-founder Sergey Brin buying everyone in San Francisco lattes for life to become mayor? Facebook CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg’s bid for president of the United States, via the leveraging of embarrassing photos from the social networking site? And thank goodness Bill Gates of Microsoft (MSFT) never wanted to run for office. The Whitman campaign told the Times that the investment was disclosed and justified in that she had ample entertainment interest from her days as a strategic planning exec at Disney (DIS) and also as a board member of DreamWorks Animation SKG (DWA). Which is exactly what they would say, of course. Thus, perhaps it is time to take a moment with Jimmy Stewart in a video clip from the classic film “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” of his most potent “Lost Causes” scene: Source: All Things Digital | 12 Jul 2010 | 3:53 pm Nintendo 3DS Idea Man Pulls Back Curtain on Handheld's CapabilitiesAfter a string of hits for Nintendo, veteran videogame producer Hideki Konno lands a high-profile hardware gig: Making the most of the stereoscopic, glasses-free 3-D display that will fuel the highly anticipated handheld's gameplay.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 12 Jul 2010 | 3:51 pm Extreme Networks lifts 4Q revenue outlookExtreme Networks Inc. said Monday that it now expects to report revenue of $84 million to $86 million for its fiscal fourth quarter, up from a previous outlook of $82 million to $85...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Jul 2010 | 3:50 pm DemandTec's nextGEN Shopper Insights Solution to be Featured at 10th Annual Shopper Insights in Action EventSAN MATEO, Calif., July 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- DemandTec, Inc. (Nasdaq: DMAN), a global leading provider of predictive merchandising, marketing, trade and shopper analytics solutions for the retail value chain, today announced that it will be exhibiting its solutions at the Institute for International Research's Shopper Insights in Action event being held at the Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile, from July 11-14, 2010. DemandTec will be exhibiting in booth 27 on the main show floor. As a conference exhibitor and sponsor, DemandTec will feature its latest nextGEN capability, DemandTec Shopper Insights(TM), a solution designed to allow retailers and consumer products companies to better understand shopper behavior and collaborate with their trading partners on critical merchandising and marketing decisions. The Shopper Insights in Action conference is designed to give attendees a venue to analyze and discuss the changing shopper mindset and the tools necessary to translate insights into opportunities. About DemandTec DemandTec (NASDAQ: DMAN) enables retailers and consumer products companies to optimize merchandising and marketing decisions, individually or collaboratively, to achieve their sales volume, revenue, shopper loyalty, and profitability objectives. DemandTec software services utilize DemandTec's science-based software platform to model and understand consumer behavior. DemandTec customers include more than 230 leading retailers and consumer products manufacturers such as Ahold USA, Best Buy, ConAgra Foods, Delhaize America, General Mills, H-E-B Grocery Co., Hormel Foods, Monoprix, PETCO, Safeway, Sara Lee, Target, The Home Depot, Wal-Mart and WH Smith. Connected via the DemandTec TradePoint Network(TM), DemandTec customers have collaborated on over 3.2 million trade deals. For more information, please visit www.demandtec.com. DemandTec Safe Harbor This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding DemandTec's expectations, hopes, plans, intentions or strategies, including statements about the benefits of DemandTec's solutions. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions that, if they do not fully materialize or prove incorrect, could cause our results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties include those described in DemandTec's documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to DemandTec as of the date hereof, and DemandTec assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements. Media Contact: Armen Najarian, DemandTec, Inc. (650) 645-7170 armen.najarian@demandtec.com Investor Contact: Tim Shanahan, DemandTec, Inc. (650) 645-7103 tim.shanahan@demandtec.com DemandTec and the DemandTec logo are registered trademarks of DemandTec, Inc. DemandTec Shopper Insights is a trademark of DemandTec, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. SOURCE DemandTec, Inc.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Jul 2010 | 3:46 pm HTC Working on EVO 4G, Droid Incredible Supply Issues - PC Magazine
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 12 Jul 2010 | 3:41 pm Higgs Boson Discovered? Not So Fast.The particle physics community is buzzing about a rumor suggesting that the Higgs boson has been discovered by Fermilab's particle accelerator, the Tevatron. Is there any truth behind these whisperings?Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 12 Jul 2010 | 3:38 pm Protiviti to Host Complimentary Compliance Week Webinar: The Truth about Integrated Governance, Risk and ComplianceMENLO PARK, Calif., July 12 /PRNewswire/ -- By clarifying objectives, roles, responsibilities and accountabilities, integrated governance, risk and compliance (GRC) management leads to cost-effective compliance, holistic and consistent management reporting, a reduction of real losses, and, ultimately, improved business performance. But do these ends justify the initial investment, the time to develop a unifying framework, and changes to corporate culture? Join Michael Mask, a director with Protiviti's Risk Technology Services group and special guest Chris McClean, analyst, Forrester Research, Inc., as they examine GRC integration, including what it takes to achieve it and the benefits that can be realized. This one-hour session, a part of Compliance Week's second Virtual Annual Conference, July 13-15, 2010, WHAT: will include: --The key GRC management issues, including institutional readiness, that every stakeholder needs to understand before launching an integrated GRC management initiative --Concrete, practical steps participants can take to ensure their organizations will achieve maximum value from their GRC program --Examples of successful GRC management integration initiatives. Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 9:30 a.m. PDT/11:30 a.m. CDT/12:30 WHEN: p.m. EDT Michael Mask, director with Protiviti's Risk Technology Services WHO: group Chris McClean, analyst, Forrester Research, Inc. Register for this webinar by visiting: http:// HOW: www.complianceweek.com/page/843 (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090115/AQTH541LOGO) (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090115/AQTH541LOGO) About Compliance Week's Virtual Annual Conference During Compliance Week's second Virtual Annual Conference, July 13-15, 2010, participants can see and hear sessions from Compliance Week's recent live annual conference in Washington DC. They can earn CPE and CLE continuing education credits by attending up to eight live webcasts from their desktops. To register, click here or call (888) 519-9200. About Protiviti Protiviti (www.protiviti.com) is a global business consulting and internal audit firm composed of experts specializing in risk, advisory and transaction services. The firm helps solve problems in finance and transactions, operations, technology, litigation, governance, risk, and compliance. Protiviti's highly trained, results-oriented professionals provide a unique perspective on a wide range of critical business issues for clients in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Middle East. Protiviti has more than 60 locations worldwide and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Robert Half International Inc. (NYSE: RHI). Founded in 1948, Robert Half International is a member of the S&P 500 index. Protiviti is not licensed or registered as a public accounting firm and does not issue opinions on financial statements or offer attestation services. SOURCE ProtivitiSource: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Jul 2010 | 3:33 pm Graybar Signs Distribution Agreement With Emerson Network PowerST. LOUIS, July 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Graybar, a leading distributor of electrical and communications products and provider of related supply chain management and logistics services, has signed a distribution agreement with Emerson Network Power, a business of Emerson and the global leader in enabling Business-Critical Continuity(TM). This agreement represents the formal execution of a long-standing but informal relationship between Graybar and Emerson Network Power. Under the terms of the agreement, Graybar will market and distribute Liebert products and solutions from Emerson Network Power. Liebert uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), precision cooling systems and other solutions have the ability to optimize mission-critical power infrastructure, reduce costs and deliver high availability. Emerson Network Power's Liebert products complement Graybar's existing portfolio of capabilities that support rapid, efficient deployment of data centers with reduced risk and lower total cost of ownership. "Graybar is excited to offer Emerson Network Power's innovative Liebert products and services to help support customers' business-critical technology systems," said Kathleen M. Mazzarella, Graybar's senior vice president of sales and marketing. "This further emphasizes Graybar's commitment to provide best-in-class solutions from leading manufacturers that work to our customers' advantage." About Graybar Graybar Electric Company, Inc., a Fortune 500 corporation and one of the largest employee-owned companies in North America, is a leader in the distribution of high quality electrical, communications and networking products, and specializes in related supply chain management and logistics services. Through its network of nearly 240 North American distribution facilities, it stocks and sells products from thousands of manufacturers, serving as the vital link to hundreds of thousands of customers. For more information, visit www.graybar.com or call 1-800-GRAYBAR. SOURCE GraybarSource: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Jul 2010 | 3:26 pm SETI Institute Is Looking For a Few Good Algorithmsblackbearnh writes "For years, people have been using SETI@Home to help search for signs of extraterrestrial life in radio telescope data. But Jill Tarter, director of the Center for SETI Research at the SETI Institute, wants to take things to the next level. Whereas SETI@Home basically used people's computers as part of a giant distributed network to run a fixed set of filters written by SETI researchers, Tarter thinks someone out there may have even better search algorithms that could be applied. She's teamed with a startup called Cloudant to make large volumes of raw data from the new Allen telescope available, and free Amazon EC2 processing time to crunch the data. According to Tarter: 'SETI@Home came on the scene a decade ago, and it was brilliant and revolutionary. It put distributed computing on the map with such a sexy application. But in the end, it's been service computing. You could execute the SETI searches that were made available to you, but you couldn't make them any better or change them. We'd like to take the next step and invite all of the smart people in the world who don't work for Berkeley or for the SETI Institute to use the new Allen Telescope. To look for signals that nobody's been able to look for before because we haven't had our own telescope; because we haven't had the computing power.'"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 12 Jul 2010 | 3:22 pm World Cup Octopus: Did It Really Predict the Future?We've heard of cats that can predict deaths and toads that can predict earthquakes, but none of these animals had the fate of a nation sitting squarely on its (many) shoulders like Paul, the World Cup-predicting octopus. This seemingly psychic ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 12 Jul 2010 | 3:15 pm E-xact Transactions Ltd. - Plan of MergerTrading Symbol: EXZ Listing: TSX Venture Exchange VANCOUVER, July 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - E-xact Transactions Ltd. ("E-xact") has signed a letter of intent dated June 23, 2010 regarding a proposed merger of E-xact and Datadirect Holdings Ltd. ("Datadirect"), a private US company owned by two directors of E-xact: Brian Archer and Peter Fahlman. In consideration of the merger, Datadirect will pay for each outstanding E-xact share: 1. Either CDN $.40 per share with an immediate cash payment of $.15 per share plus a vendor take back note in the principal amount of CND $0.25 per share payable in cash over five years with interest at 8% per annum, in equal blended consecutive annual payments, subject to the right of prepayment at any time without notice or bonus; 2. Or a stockholder can elect to receive an immediate cash payment of CDN $0.28 per share. Those stockholders who make no election will be paid CDN $0.28 per share. There are 11,108,667 shares issued and outstanding. The merger is subject to approval of a formal agreement by: (i) E-xact stockholders at a special general meeting, representing 50% plus 1 of the issued and outstanding shares which is 5,554,334 shares; (ii) the TSX and regulatory approval Stockholders will be sent a special general meeting circular providing the details of the proposed merger. The circular will also include an independent Fairness Opinion. The date and location of the special general meeting will be announced later. "K. Dieter Heidrich" -------------------- K. Dieter Heidrich, Director "Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release." SOURCE E-xact Transactions Ltd.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Jul 2010 | 3:07 pm Human Evolution Recapped in Kids' Brain GrowthFor a quick summary of the last 25 million years in human brain evolution, just watch how our brains change between infancy and adulthood. Over its first few decades, the human cerebral cortex — the brain's wrinkled outer tissue — evolves in ways that parallel its evolution since we last shared a common ancestor with macaque monkeys.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 12 Jul 2010 | 3:00 pm Reports: iOS 4 upgrade kills old iPhones’ Wi-Fi (Christopher Null)Christopher Null - Got an iPhone 3G or 3GS? You might think twice about upgrading to the new iOS 4 operating system, as many users are reporting that the operating-system upgrade causes Wi-Fi to stop working on the handset.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 12 Jul 2010 | 2:37 pm Muslim Outreach Not the Job of NASA, White House Says - FOXNews
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 12 Jul 2010 | 2:35 pm Rumor: Verizon Droid Eris to get a software update on July 16th?
Man, its been a long time since we’ve had an episode of Good news, Bad news around these parts. You know what that means? The Good News: After a few months of radio silence, Droid Eris owners might have an update to look forward to! The Bad News: It is, unfortunately, not Android 2.2. DroidLife just got their paws all up on this leaked VZW memo, which shines a bit of light on what will go down. Right around the stroke of midnight on July 16th (if all of Verizon’s stars are aligned, that is), Eris owners will start seeing an update trickle out. Don’t be expecting to blessed with sudden Flash 10.1 support or Android 2.2’s fancy new WiFi hotspot functionality — but do expect audio enhancements, improved stability, and few tweaks here and there around the OS. Is it everything Droid Eris owners could hope for? Ehhhh, probably not. But an update’s an update, right? Update: The headline originally read July 12th — that’s today, and that was a typo. It should have read July 16th, as the post did. Sorry folks!
Source: MobileCrunch | 12 Jul 2010 | 2:16 pm Open Mobile Still on the Way, AT&T's Donovan Said (PC World)PC World - The ideal mobile ecosystem is still one that's partly closed, such as the iPhone App Store, but the trend is toward greater openness, AT&T Chief Technology Officer John Donovan said Monday.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 12 Jul 2010 | 2:00 pm BlackBerry OS Makeover Promises Social Feeds, Better Search
Research In Motion’s BlackBerry operating system is long overdue for a makeover. RIM fans have been waiting for the upcoming BlackBerry OS 6 to modernize the BlackBerry user interface. Now a video from the company shows what some of those features could look like. BlackBerry OS 6 will have universal search, a better media interface, social feeds that bring together Facebook, Twitter and chatter from BlackBerry messenger, a richer web browser and easier to manage RSS feeds. The new features shown in this video bring some polish to the BlackBerry. But much of what the company is touting–pinch and zoom in the browser, and search–are all what Android and Apple iPhone users have had for months. Still this is a step forward and a sign that RIM is trying to keep pace with the market. The company is yet to announce the launch date for the OS 6. Separately, RIM launched ‘BlackBerry Protect‘, a remote backup and find feature that’s similar to the service that Motorola and Apple offer for their phones. Like Motorola, RIM will offer the BlackBerry Protect for free so consumers can back up contacts, calendar, tasks and message and restore or locate their phone using a computer if the device is misplaced, lost or stolen. BlackBerry Protect will be available in limited beta this week and is expected to be available to all users later this year. See Also:
Photo: (Honou/Flickr) 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 12 Jul 2010 | 1:43 pm Terahertz Detectors Could See Through Clothes From a Mile AwaySomeone may soon be able to tell what types material are in your pockets from tens, and possibly thousands, of feet away. Using terahertz remote sensing, detectors could see through walls, clothing and packaging materials and immediately identify the unique terahertz waves of the materials contained inside, such as explosives or drugs.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 12 Jul 2010 | 1:30 pm Army's Self-Driving Trucks Let Humans Watch Out for BombsAlgorithms can handle driving just fine. The Army needs the human behind the wheel to look for bombs, while the truck finds its own way down the road.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 12 Jul 2010 | 1:30 pm Judge applies class action status to lawsuit against Apple, AT&T - USA Today
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 12 Jul 2010 | 1:25 pm When 500 Million Trees Fall in the Rainforest...A single storm killed 500 million trees in the Amazon, adding a new timescale to the mix of events that can impact global climate change.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 12 Jul 2010 | 1:20 pm Windows Phone 7 developer tools go beta
Just a quick PSA for the development-minded folks in the audience: following up on the “tech preview” release of the Windows Phone 7 development tools back in March, Microsoft has just pushed things into Beta mode. So, what does that mean? To most people, not a whole lot. To developers, it means it’s time to start developing WP7 games and apps without having to worry quite as much about things exploding into a fiery mess when the next version of the dev tools roll out. It’s not finished, mind you, but things like Silverlight and XNA are starting to take their final form. If you’re ready to flex that ol’ Visual Studio muscle, you can find the new dev kit here.
Source: MobileCrunch | 12 Jul 2010 | 1:11 pm Making The Invisible Visible: Verbal Cues Enhance Visual DetectionCognitive psychologists at the University of Pennsylvania and University of California have shown that an image displayed too quickly to be seen by an observer can be detected if the participant first hears the name of the object.Through a series of experiments published in the journal PLoS ONE, researchers found that hearing the name of an object improved participants’ ability to see it, even when the object was flashed onscreen in conditions and speeds (50 milliseconds) that would render it invisible. Surprisingly, the effect seemed to be specific to language. A visual preview did not make the invisible target visible. Getting a good look at the object before the experiment did nothing to help participants see it flashed. The study demonstrated that language can change what we see and can also enhance perceptual sensitivity. Verbal cues can influence even the most elementary visual processing and inform our understanding of how language affects perception.Researchers led by psychologist Gary Lupyan of the Department of Psychology at Penn, had participants complete an object detection task in which they made an object-presence or -absence decision to briefly presented capital letters.Other experiments within the study further defined the relationship between auditory cues and identification of visual images. For example, researchers reasoned that if auditory cues help with object detection by encouraging participants to mentally picture the image, then the cuing effect might disappear when the target moved on screen. The study found that verbal cues still clued participants in. No matter what position on screen the target showed up the effect of the auditory cue was not diminished, an advantage over visual cues.Researchers also found that the magnitude of the cuing effect correlated with each participant’s own estimation of the vividness of their mental imagery. Using a common questionnaire, researchers found that those who consider their mental imagery particularly vivid scored higher when provided an auditory cue.The team went on to determine that the auditory cue improved detection only when the cue was correct—that is the target image and the verbal cue had to match. According to researchers, hearing the image labeled evokes an image of the object, strengthening its visual representation and thus making it visible.“This research speaks to the idea that perception is shaped moment-by-moment by language,” said Lupyan. “Although only English speakers were tested, the results suggest that because words in different languages pick out different things in the environment, learning different languages can shape perception in subtle, but pervasive ways.”The single study is part of a greater effort by Lupyan and other Penn psychologists to understand how high-level cognitive expectation can influence low-level sensory processing, in this case verbal cues. For years, cognitive psychologists have known that directing participant’s attention to a general location improves reaction times to target objects appearing in that location. More recently, experimental evidence has shown that semantic information can influence what one sees in surprising ways. For instance, hearing words that associate with directions of motion, such as a falling “bomb,” can interfere with an observer’s ability to quickly recognize the next movement they see. Moreover, hearing a word that labels a target improves the speed and efficiency of the search. For instance, when searching for the number 2 among 5’s, participants are faster to find the target when they actually hear “find the two” immediately prior to the search – even when 2 has been the target all along.The study was conducted by Lupyan of Penn’s Department of Psychology and Michael Spivey of the University of California, Merced. Research was conducted with funding from the National Science Foundation.---On the Net:University of PennslyvaniaSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Jul 2010 | 1:06 pm Belly Button Key to Sports SuccessThe placement of the navel, the body's center of gravity, could separate winners from losers.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 12 Jul 2010 | 1:05 pm A Person's Language May Influence How He Thinks About Other PeopleThe language a person speaks may influence their thoughts, according to a new study on Israeli Arabs who speak both Arabic and Hebrew fluently. The study found that Israeli Arabs' positive associations with their own people are weaker when they are tested in Hebrew than when they are tested in Arabic.The vast majority of Arab Israelis speak Arabic at home and usually start learning Hebrew in elementary school. The subjects in this study were Arab Israelis, fluent in both Hebrew and Arabic, who were students at Hebrew-speaking universities and colleges. Researchers Shai Danziger of Ben-Gurion University and Robert Ward of Bangor University took advantage of the tensions between Arabs and Israelis to design an experiment that looked at how the students think differently in Arabic and Hebrew. Their hypothesis: "It's likely that a bilingual Arab Israeli will consider Arabs more positively in an Arab speaking environment than a Hebrew speaking environment," says Danziger.The study used a computer test known as the Implicit Association Test, which is often used to study bias. Words flash on the computer screen, and subjects have to categorize them by pressing two keys on the keyboard as quickly as possible. It's a nearly automatic task, with no time to think about the answers. The trick is, the subjects are classifying two different kinds of words: words describing positive and negative traits and, in this case, names - Arab names like Ahmed and Samir and Jewish names like Avi and Ronen. For example, they might be told to press "M" when they saw an Arab name or a word with a good meaning, or "X" when they saw a Jewish name and a word with a bad meaning. In this example, if people automatically associate "good" words with Arabs and "bad" with Jews, they'll be able to do the classifications faster than if their automatic association between the words is the other way around. In different sections of the test, different sets of words are paired.For this study, the bilingual Arab Israelis took the implicit association test in both languages – Hebrew and Arabic – to see if the language they were using affected their biases about the names. The Arab Israeli volunteers found it easier to associate Arab names with "good" trait words and Jewish names with "bad" trait words than Arab names with "bad" trait words and Jewish names with "good" trait words. But this effect was much stronger when the test was given in Arabic; in the Hebrew session, they showed less of a positive bias toward Arab names over Jewish names. "The language we speak can change the way we think about other people," says Ward. The results are published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.Danziger himself learned both Hebrew and English as a child. "I am a bilingual and I believe that I actually respond differently in Hebrew than I do in English. I think in English I'm more polite than I am in Hebrew," he says. "People can exhibit different types of selves in different environments. This suggests that language can serve as a cue to bring forward different selves."---On the Net:APSSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Jul 2010 | 1:02 pm Plants Are Key to Climate Change OutlookNew research on how microscopic leaf pores respond to sunlight reveals some of the first universal relationships between plants and climate.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 12 Jul 2010 | 1:01 pm Coheed and Cambria Singer Mines 'Metropolis'In the hands of Claudio Sanchez, the influential 1927 sci-fi film serves as a visual springboard for a song attacking elitist music reviewers.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 12 Jul 2010 | 1:01 pm Gulf's Artificial Islands Already FailingAerial pictures show an artificial sand berm designed to prevent oil from entering coastal marshes is already crumbling into the sea.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 12 Jul 2010 | 12:49 pm New Research Can Spot Cloud Computing Problems Before They StartLarge-scale computer hosting infrastructures offer a variety of services to computer users, including cloud computing – which offers users access to powerful computers and software applications hosted by remote groups of servers. But when these infrastructures run into problems – like bottlenecks that slow their operating speed – it can be costly for both the infrastructure provider and the user. New research from North Carolina State University will allow these infrastructure providers to more accurately predict such anomalies, and address them before they become a major problem.“Previously, something bad would happen and you’d be left trying to figure out what took place. Often, you’d be unable to recreate the exact conditions that created the problem,” says Dr. Xiaohui (Helen) Gu, an assistant professor of computer science and co-author of a paper describing the new research. “However, if you can predict an anomaly, you are able to track the exact conditions that are leading up to a problem, diagnose what is wrong and put corrective actions into place much more quickly.”At issue are anomalies, or problems, that can affect hosting infrastructures that support services like cloud computing or data centers. These anomalies can result in slowed response times, lower user capacity and host failures – all of which are bad news for a host’s clients. This can create significant problems for the host company as well, since violations of their service agreements can lead to financial penalties or a loss of clients.In order for a program to accurately predict an anomaly, it has to know what constitutes normal behavior. That can be tricky for large-scale hosting infrastructure. These infrastructures host a variety of different applications for their clients, and many of these applications are operating in dynamic contexts.For example, one application may be hosting a Web site that can go from being very busy to essentially idle. And, because hosting infrastructures serve multiple clients simultaneously, the computing resources available to a specific client are also variable – depending on the number of clients using the infrastructure at any given time and what those clients are trying to do.These variables make it difficult for a program to predict abnormal behavior, because normal behavior can be so variable.In order to accurately predict abnormalities, the researchers crafted a collection of models that examine system activity in a variety of different contexts. In other words, the models are able to determine what constitutes normal behavior under a lot of different circumstances. Since the models do a good job of defining normal behavior, they are able to accurately identify abnormal behavior.“Our ‘context aware’ prediction approach improved our accuracy significantly,” says Gu. “We were 50 percent more accurate at predicting anomalies than any existing programs, and had an 80 percent lower rate of false alarms.”The research, “Adaptive System Anomaly Prediction for Large-Scale Hosting Infrastructures,” was co-authored by Gu, NC State Ph.D. student Yongmin Tan, and Haixun Wang of Microsoft Research Asia. The work was funded by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Army Research Office and IBM. The paper will be presented July 27 at the ACM Symposium on Principles of Distributed Computing in Zurich, Switzerland.NC State’s Department of Computer Science is part of the university’s College of Engineering.---On the Net:North Carolina State UniversitySource: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Jul 2010 | 12:40 pm University Of The Basque Country PhD Thesis Analyses Organisms And Factors Responsible For The Case Of Basque Natural Cider Turning BitterMalolactic fermentation is a key part in the process of cider making, as it reduces acidity. Malic acid, a common component in fruit, undergoes a chemical transformation, turning into lactic acid. In the case of Basque natural cider (unlike with wine), after this process there is not normally any microbiological stabilisation treatment. This means that the lactic bacteria become the dominant microbiota. Some of these bacteria cause alterations that can affect the properties of the cider.Biochemist, Mr Gaizka Garai investigated these bacteria, especially those that might make the cider bitter; this problem could affect the consumption of the drink. His PhD thesis is entitled Lactic bacteria of natural cider: involvement in alterations and probiotic potential of producer strains of (1,3)(1,2)--D-glucans.Fructose, acidity and cold as factorsSome of the lactic bacteria that arise from fermentation metabolises glycerol and, as a consequence, produces the 3-HPA compound, which has a direct relation with an increase in bitterness. With this phenomenon in mind for his thesis, Mr Garai investigated what induced the presence of 3-HPA in Basque natural cider. As the researcher was able to clarify, the microbiota involved in the alteration of bitterness in natural cider is Lactobacillus collinoides. As regards other factors, the composition of the cider itself can cause this alteration. In fact, fructose (with a high concentration of sugar) facilitates the degradation of glycerol in the process of metabolism, in turn producing the accumulation of 3-HPA. Finally, the degree of acidity of the cider and the cold temperatures undergone in periods of maturing and storage can help the maintenance of 3-HPA.Contains biogenic amines, but in small quantitiesLactic bacteria are not only a source of change in the bitterness; some of these are also producers of biogenic amines, which can produce toxic effects if ingested by persons with high sensitivity to them. Mr Garai studied for the first time the content of these amines in Basque natural cider. The quantities are not especially worrying. The most abundant biogenic amines that the researcher found were putrescine, tyramine and histamine, but in lower concentrations to what have been reported in drinks such as wine or beer. He also observed that there are a number of strains of biogenic amine-producing lactic bacteria, but that the most important was Lactobacillus diolivorans. This species is responsible in part for the production of histamine and tyramine. A strain of the previously mentioned Lactobacillus collinoides also produce biogenic amines; concretely, histamine.Beneficial for the production of foodLactic bacteria have certain beneficial properties and Mr Garai’s thesis also deals with this aspect. Some of these produce exopolysaccharides, harmful for the production of drinks as they cause the product to turn oily. Nevertheless, this is not the case in food production. For example, certain lactic bacteria in natural cider are producers of the (1,3)(1,2)--D-glucan polysaccharide, which has been shown to be beneficial for both humans and animals, and valuable for the production of functional foods. Mr Garai has identified and analysed three strains amongst the lactic bacteria that produce this type of glucan in natural cider: P. parvulus CUPV1 and CUPV22 and L. suebicus CUPV221. Amongst other things, the researcher concluded that the last two show greater tolerance for gastric stress, and only L. suebicus CUPV221 can withstand the most extreme conditions of stress (pH 1,8).---On the Net:Basque ResearchSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Jul 2010 | 12:32 pm Study Shows Anonymous Whistle-Blowers Less Likely To Be BelievedAccording to a new study, corporate directors, who are ultimately responsible for internal whistle-blowing systems, often do not take action at all regarding anonymous allegations, even when the allegation involves very serious accounting breaches. However, if an identical non-anonymous allegation surfaces, audit committees often launch into action and the corporate director allocates significant resources to the investigation at hand. The first study to investigate the whistle-blowing issue with practicing audit committee members is now published in the Journal of Management Studies.Public corporations are required to provide anonymous whistle-blowing channels to their employees. Anonymous reporting channels are intended to protect shareholders from financial fraud by making it more likely that fraud will be reported to the board of directors. The study explores how these whistle-blowing channels allow employees at major U.S. corporations to report fraudulent accounting and auditing matters without fear of retaliation from management, how evidence of fraudulent activity is viewed by the board of directors, and how these situations are handled by the board of directors when they occur.The study finds that anonymous allegations are treated very differently from non-anonymous allegations, and anonymous allegations are largely ignored, particularly when the allegation threatens a member of leadership’s reputation. Over eighty audit committee members from U.S., publicly traded companies participated in the study. They were asked to determine and report on the credibility of whistle-blowing allegations from varied non-anonymous or anonymous sources.“We found that when an allegation poses a threat to a director’s professional reputation, a form of distortion of information occurs. An audit committee has an incentive to not investigate the allegation when it creates a reputation threat, and this causes the committee member to believe the allegation is less credible,” said Jake Rose, Ph.D., an Associate Professor at the University of New Hampshire Whittemore School of Business and Economics, and co-author of the study. “Our presumption is that most corporate managers, auditors, and corporate directors are honest and ethical people. However, under certain circumstances, 'good' people can engage in 'bad' behavior.”The study finds an essential failure of U.S. corporations’ first line of defense against financial fraud. Rose recommends that, “An independent body outside of the corporation needs to be in charge of investigating whistle-blowing allegations.” The authors also point out the potential pitfalls of allowing directors to serve on multiple corporate boards.---On the Net:WileyJournal of Management StudiesSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Jul 2010 | 12:30 pm Longevity Gene May Boost Memory, TooThe gene could one day be used to turbocharge memory and brain function.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 12 Jul 2010 | 12:25 pm Avatars As Lifelike Representations And Effective Marketing ToolsIt is predicted that 80% of active Internet consumers and Fortune 500 companies will have an avatar or presence in a virtual community, including social networks, by the end of 2011. A new article in the journal Psychology & Marketing investigates the role avatars play in the virtual and consumer environment, how well avatars reflect the personality of their creators, the psychology behind self-representation, and how these virtually made identities are perceived by other members of the virtual community. According to the study, avatars can portray a very lifelike and accurate depiction of a person’s true personality, within the virtual world.Dr. H. Onur Bodur of Concordia University and his colleagues used the sophisticated avatar-based community Second Life as their model for the study, which has its own economy and facilitates real-money transactions. The membership of Second Life has increased more than 20 fold between 2006 and 2009 to reach 15 million, and many real-world companies (e.g., Adidas, American Apparel, Dell, Nike, and Toyota) have appeared in Second Life.Members of the community use particular avatar traits or visual cues, such as attractiveness, gender, stylish hair, or expression (“babyfaceness” is associated with cooperation), to form impressions or opinions about the human behind the avatar. The researchers argue that well-known psychological principles such as Social Response Theory (SRT) and anthropomorphism come into play at this stage of discovery and discernment. Bodur’s study finds that these impressions, based solely on fairly limited or superficial traits of the avatar, may accurately match the true personality of the real person behind the avatar.Dr. Bodur says, “This research, which aligns with other research that says that accurate impressions can be formed through access to very limited information, such as images of someone’s dorm room, work space, or website. This and future research can show whether online presentations of consumers (e.g., avatars) can be used to identify and segment consumers.”This article is part of the relatively new field of research surrounding the use of this new graphic media, and plays a major role in analyzing its impact on social psychology and marketing practices.---On the Net:WileyPsychology & MarketingSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Jul 2010 | 12:24 pm RIM releases another BlackBerry OS 6.0 video — what do you think?
With just about everyone else in the smartphone world churning out handset after handset, RIM has been relatively quiet lately. They’re not trying to hide the reason, though: they’re working hard on BlackBerry OS 6.0, and they want people to know it. They’ve just released a second preview video of their brand new operating system, and this one is just oh, oh so much better than that last one. Why? A) No Black Eyed Peas soundtrack.
This has my interests piqued. At least at first glance, the UI seems to exist on some layer between the over-simplicity of the iPhone’s interface and the inane complexity of that of Android. It could be a hot mess in person — but at least on video, it’s making me want to touch it. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below
Source: MobileCrunch | 12 Jul 2010 | 12:19 pm Palm webOS Headed to HP Tablet, Printer
Now that HP has sealed its acquisition of Palm, the PC maker is working hard to get Palm’s webOS mobile operating system onto HP products. Palm’s webOS will power HP upcoming tablet, says HP CTO Phil McKinney. The tablet known as HP Slate had earlier been designed using Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system. HP also plans to put webOS on printers, says McKinney. “There’s a gap for devices that are larger than a smartphone but smaller than a netbook,” he told attendees at the ongoing Mobile Beat conference in San Francisco. “Slates could fit in that category.” Unlike rival Dell, which chose the Google-designed open source Android OS to create its cellphone and tablet, HP spent $1.2 billion to buy Palm. The transaction closed earlier this month. HP wants to control all pieces of the mobile ecosystem, says McKinney. “If you look at success in the market, they are those companies who can control the end user experience and the entire experience stack,” he says. That sounds more like Apple and less like Google. But it is clearly the direction that HP wants to go. In March, HP seemed poised to launch its Slate tablet offering sneak peeks of the device through carefully edited videos. Leaks of the company’s plans for the Slate pegged the price of the device at $550. But in a surprise move in April, HP announced its buying Palm and with that it sent the Slate back to the drawing board. McKinney says HP is not yet ready to announce a launch date for the Slate. “I am not going to pre-announce products but I will say that we are investing money into research & development and marketing at Palm.” See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 12 Jul 2010 | 12:06 pm Lab Tests of iPhone 4 Confirm Reports: It’s the Antenna, Stupid
Lab tests by Consumer Reports have confirmed what Wired and its readers have been telling you all along: The problem with the iPhone 4’s reception has nothing to do with how the signal-strength bars are represented, and everything to do with the phone’s faulty antenna design. Consumer Reports took three separate iPhone 4s into the controlled environment of their radio frequency-insulated testing chamber. That room is insulated from all outside RF signals, so there’s nothing to interfer with the tests. Once inside the chamber, the testers set each iPhone to connect with a base station emulator — a piece of testing equipment that acts like one of AT&T’s cellphone towers. They then tested the iPhones’ ability to connect when held various ways. “Our engineers found that when you place your finger on the gap between the two antennas on the lower left hand side of the iPhone 4, signal strength can drop by about 20 decibels — and that’s enough to drop a call,” CR reported in a video posted on its site (and embedded below). In other words, it’s a design problem, not an issue with the way the iPhone 4 displays its signal strength bars, as Apple has tried to claim. Significantly, CR’s tests showed that just a light finger touch was enough to trigger the problem — no sweaty-palmed “death grip” is required, as other testers have reported. Further, CR’s tests place the blame squarely on Apple’s phone, not AT&T’s network. Because these tests were done in a controlled environment where no other devices were competing to connect with the base station, the reception problems can’t be attributed to network congestion or to a flaw in AT&T’s wireless network. Because of those flaws, CR says it cannot recommend the iPhone 4 to consumers. If you still want an iPhone 4, however, the magazine recommends placing a strip of duct tape over the corner of the phone — much like the electrical tape solution Wired reader Ryan Rhea recommended two weeks ago. Photo: Thomas Barnes Follow us for real-time tech news: Dylan Tweney and Gadget Lab on Twitter. See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 12 Jul 2010 | 11:10 am The Internet trolls have forced Geohot to quit jailbreak research
Why is he quitting? Mostly because of the trolls.
He’s essentially responding to this garbage:
Weeny, indeed. I remember my first iPhone jailbreak. It honestly was difficult. It actually took me a few hours and once or twice I worried I’d brick the thing. Now you can download something pre-packaged, press a button, and go get an frappuccino. When you come back it will be done. I guess Geohot just needs a little appreciation. That and the Internet is full of trolls.
Source: MobileCrunch | 12 Jul 2010 | 9:18 am Lawsuit Advances Claiming AT&T iPhone MonopolyA lawsuit alleging that Apple and AT&T secretly formed monopoly with their exclusive iPhone agreement has received class-action status, meaning the plaintiffs now represent everybody who’s ever bought an iPhone in the United States.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 12 Jul 2010 | 8:07 am App Inventor for AndroidApp Inventor is a new tool in Google Labs that makes it easy for anyone—programmers and non-programmers, professionals and students—to create mobile applications for Android-powered devices. And today, we’re extending invitations to the general public.For many people, their mobile phone—and access to the Internet—is always within reach. App Inventor for Android gives everyone, regardless of programming experience, the opportunity to control and reshape their communication experience. We’ve observed people take pride in becoming creators of mobile technology and not just consumers of it. For the past year, we’ve been testing App Inventor in classrooms around the United States, and we’ve found that it opens up the world of computer programming to students in new and powerful ways. David Wolber, professor of computer science at the University of San Francisco and part of the initial pilot program, says “students traditionally intimidated by technology are motivated and excited to program with App Inventor.” One student from Professor Wolber’s class told us: “I used to think that no one could program except CS people. Now, I've made dozens of applications for the Android phone!” Another student, who struggles with dyslexia, was inspired by App Inventor to take more computer science classes and is now learning Python. Check out this video to hear more about App Inventor for Android at University of San Francisco. Visit our site to learn more about App Inventor and see sample apps. To request an invitation, fill out this form and you’ll soon be on your way to building mobile applications. And check out the video below to see how it works. We can’t wait to see what you create! Posted by Mark Friedman, Google Engineer    
 Source: The Official Google Blog | 12 Jul 2010 | 7:59 am RIM announces BlackBerry Protect, free remote backup, restore, and locate service
The service will remain in beta stage until later this year, but CrackBerry have had a quick preview, and are (predictably) impressed. The main features include:
Clearly, this is an appealing service, and one that many users will appreciate — especially if you’ve ever lost your phone. What’s interesting is that Apple still charges customers $99 per year for their equivalent service. Hey, Steve, now is probably a good time to start considering dropping that fee…
Source: MobileCrunch | 12 Jul 2010 | 7:53 am HTC Aria sorta kinda supports sideloading of apps
So we were a little surprised to find out that a weekend update to HTC’s Sync software enabled just that. Engadget broke the news, and can confirm that it indeed allows installation of non-market apps — like Swype — via a Windows Machine with a USB connection. Now, given AT&T’s previous hatred of freedom, we can’t be sure that this feature won’t be “fixed” by AT&T soon, but, for the moment, the software is available right here for anyone with a legit serial number.
Source: MobileCrunch | 12 Jul 2010 | 7:36 am HTC is cramping Sprint’s style: EVO 4G now suffering shortages
Demand for Sprint’s larger-than-life EVO 4G has outstripped supply, with the phone now being listed as delayed without a shipping date. The shortage is being blamed on Samsung’s inability to produce enough touch-screens — the same reason behind the delay in Verizon’s Droid Incredible. This has upset Sprint CEO Dan Hesse, who said in the Wall Street Journal “we thought we would have more of a head start than we’ll end up having”, regarding Sprint’s move into the world of 4G. The really bad news? Samsung won’t be able to keep up with demand until they finish their new display factory in 2012. That’s right, you can expect phone delays from now until the apocalypse. [via Daily Tech]
Source: MobileCrunch | 12 Jul 2010 | 7:17 am HTC 1 concept dreams of finer days/phones
Even rainbows ain’t got nothin’ on Andrew Kim’s HTC 1. It’s minimalist design is inspiring, and — as the mandatory wacky bit seen on concept phones — the in-built filth-zapping UV screen cleaner will make sure to put the “clean” in “clean lines”. The designer also created some full-screen widgets, and updated the music app to better reflect the overall feel of the phone. And, just to top things off, that sleek silver-plated brass lower lip actually swings out to serve as a secreted kick-stand, turning the phone into an alarm clock or stereo-powered media hub. Of course, just like rainbows, don’t expect this device to materialise any time soon. For the full story behind the concept, as well as a boat load of renders, make sure to check out Andrew Kim’s blog, here. [via SlashGear]
Source: MobileCrunch | 12 Jul 2010 | 6:43 am
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Companies do all kinds of studies all the time for all sorts of reasons. Seeing as the iPad is currently one of the hottest devices on the market, it should be no surprise that companies want to know about how users are using it. Even if that company is Microsoft.
It was Jung’s break with Freud that led to his own ‘descent into the unconscious’, a disturbing trip down the psyche’s rabbit hole from which he gathered the insights about the collective unconscious that would inform his own school of ‘analytical psychology’. He had entered a ‘creative illness’, unsure if he was going mad. In October 1913, not long after the split, Jung had, depending on your perspective, a vision or hallucination. While on a train, he suddenly saw a flood covering Europe, between the North Sea and the Alps. When it reached Switzerland, the mountains rose to protect his homeland, but in the waves he saw floating debris and bodies. Then the water turned to blood. The vision lasted an hour and seems to have been a dream that had invaded his waking consciousness. Having spent more than a decade treating mental patients who suffered from precisely such symptoms, Jung had reason to be concerned. He was ironically rather relieved the next summer when WWI broke out and he deduced that his vision had been a premonition of it.
Earlier today, Joel Johnson wrote an interesting post on Gizmodo simply titled “
Ah yeah, XP. You continue to be the man, nine years later. I’m still rocking XP myself, and see no reason to do otherwise, though I have heard fine things about 
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By now you’ve probably heard of Google’s 
Late last week Fring brought out an update to it’s iOS app that enabled Skype video calling on the iPhone 4 over WiFi and 3G. The problem is that for most who downloaded the app, Skype was nowhere to be found. It seemed like it might just be a technical problem, and the service would be back up eventually. Now it looks like Skype won’t be working on any Fring app for the foreseeable future, and both companies are fighting over who’s at fault.
Amazon’s looking to hook ‘em while they’re young. The online retailer has launched a program for college students — appropriately called 
Facebook is steadily converting partners like Zynga away from their home grown payment product to Facebook Credits. And to date there’s 
RIM today announced the beta availability of their upcoming remote backup, restore, and locate service, BlackBerry Protect. Best feature? It’s free.
We previously lamented AT&T’s inability to grasp one of the greatest features of Android — being able to load any app you want on it — when they 
Uh-oh. It seems that HTC have gotten a little carried away with creating lustable phones, with another of their flagship phones suffering from shortages.