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Motorola's Droid X could gain from HTC supply pain, Apple iPhone 4 flap - ZDNet (blog)
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 15 Jul 2010 | 4:01 am Exclusive: HP's Android Tablet Tabled [Digital Daily]
Why? That’s not entirely clear, but evidently the tablet has been tabled–at least for the time being. Perhaps, HP (HPQ) has decided to focus its resources on the future webOS slate PC that its new Palm unit is developing. That device has a rumored fall launch date, and we’re already halfway through summer. Or perhaps the company is reconsidering its multi-OS tablet strategy in light of the Palm acquisition. After all, HP has said repeatedly it is “doubling down” on webOS. “We’re going to increase [R&D spending on webOS],” HP’s Jim Burns said during a conference call announcing the deal. “And we’re going to increase sales and marketing as well. We’re going to take this platform, which today exists for smartphones only, and make it much broader than that.” Seems that would be a lot easier to pull off if the company wasn’t simultaneously developing slates for three different operating systems–webOS, Microsoft’s (MSFT) Windows 7 and Google’s (GOOG) Android. Perhaps, HP has concluded the same thing. Source: All Things Digital | 15 Jul 2010 | 4:00 am Can Google Get Some Wall Street Love Again? [MediaMemo]
So today’s a chance for the company to impress investors again, as it unveils its Q2 earnings. In a lovely bit of timing, it has primed today’s pump with news that it convinced Omnicom to commit “hundreds of millions” of dollars into Google’s display ad exchange over the next two years. What else can Google do to convince the Street? Here’s Citigroup (C) analyst Mark Mahaney’s always-helpful cheat sheet, which tries to handicap investors reactions to a range of different results. The consensus calls for revenue of about $5 billion and earnings of around $6.50 a share; both numbers are up about 21 percent over the previous year:
This is normally the part of the post where I go over other interesting stuff that Google might address during its call, like its back-and-forth with China, the impact of its Nexus One failure, or the “when will YouTube turn a profit” question. But Google is doing its best to keep these calls closely focused on its core search business and its moves into display ads. And as of Q1, it has banished CEO Eric Schmidt from the proceedings, lest he say an interesting word. Still, you can always hope. I’ll be covering the earnings report and subsequent call live today, starting at 4pm eastern; check back later in the day for a link. Source: All Things Digital | 15 Jul 2010 | 4:00 am Matt Stewart: Tweeted novel comes to paperbackMatt Stewart's first novel published on Twitter called The French Revolution, is now available in paperback from. [via The San Franciso Chronicle]Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 15 Jul 2010 | 3:57 am BioWare On Why Making a Blockbuster Game Is a Poor GoalBioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk spoke at the 2010 Develop Conference about the current focus within the video game industry on making huge, blockbuster titles, and why that is the wrong approach. Quoting Gamasutra's coverage: "'While blockbuster game creation is everything that most game developers working today growing up wanted to do, it's precisely the wrong thing to chase in gaming's contemporary landscape.' Risk-taking from publishers and investors has dramatically declined in recent times, the Mass Effect and Dragon Age studio-runner noted: 'As a result, innovation and creativity [are] being squeezed. Where the bottom of the market had dropped out at one point, now it’s the middle of the market has dropped out. Unless you can be in the top ten releases at one given time, it's unlikely that a triple-A game is going to make money.'" Zeschuk also commented that consoles aren't necessarily the future of game platforms, and that BioWare is experimenting with smaller scale MMO development in addition to working on their much larger upcoming Star Wars title.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 15 Jul 2010 | 3:57 am Smart Grid Company Trilliant Scores $106M In Funding – Next Up, An IPO?
Trilliant, a California-based provider of smart grid solutions that enhance energy efficiency, utility operations, and renewable resource integration, this morning announced that it has secured a whopping $106 million in funding from a global syndicate of industry and financial big-names. The round was led by Investor Growth Capital, VantagePoint Venture Partners, ABB and GE and will reportedly by used to ramp up growth in North America and abroad. Last time we covered the company was in August 2008, when Trilliant raised $40 million from MissionPoint Capital Partners and zouk ventures, who also participated in this new monster round. Likely, the next step for the company would be to go public. Trilliant provides hardware, software and real-time Smart Grid communication network solutions around the world, boasting over 200 utility customers today. Originally founded in 1985, the company now exclusively focuses on providing electric utilities with end-to-end communications networks that span from the head-end operations center to all devices on the grid – not only meters and in-home energy management devices but also substations and grid devices such as transformers and capacitor banks. The company has just won a contract to build a $200 million smart-meter system for the 610,000 customers of Central Maine Power.
Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 15 Jul 2010 | 3:50 am China's online population jumps to 420 mln (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 15 Jul 2010 | 3:48 am Europe overtakes Asia to become top producer of email spam (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 15 Jul 2010 | 3:44 am Vaseline skin-whitening Facebook app sparks debtae (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 15 Jul 2010 | 3:24 am Samsung commissions semiconductor safety studySamsung Electronics said Thursday it has commissioned an independent health and safety review of its semiconductor factories in South Korea after employee illnesses and deaths raised fears...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 15 Jul 2010 | 3:15 am British Gas revamps its meter-reading iPhone app - Recombu
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 15 Jul 2010 | 3:13 am Twitter Offers First @earlybird Exclusive Deal - Fast Company
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 15 Jul 2010 | 3:05 am Mountains of putrid fat scraped off the sewer-walls beneath Leicester SquareFor a thrilling, stomach-churning time, venture into the sewers of London, where everything that gets flushed ends up. All the stuff that you're not supposed to flush gets stuck, making subfecal condombergs...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 15 Jul 2010 | 2:54 am Mountains of putrid fat scraped off the sewer-walls beneath Leicester SquareFor a thrilling, stomach-churning time, venture into the sewers of London, where everything that gets flushed ends up. All the stuff that you're not supposed to flush gets stuck, making subfecal condombergs and other odd formations. Weirdest of all is the fat -- tons of fat, enough to fill nine double-decker buses -- found under Leicester Square. Presumably, this comes from frytraps emptied into the toilet, and not from fat excreted by the London's straining colons.'Walls of fat' removed from London's sewers (Thanks, Mneptok!)
 Source: Boing Boing | 15 Jul 2010 | 2:54 am Best electronic tools from Evil Mad Scientist LabsThe insane geniuses at Evil Mad Scientist Labs have put together a roundup of their favorite tools for working with electronics: " In this roundup we've collected some handy--and even important --tools...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 15 Jul 2010 | 2:51 am Best electronic tools from Evil Mad Scientist LabsThe insane geniuses at Evil Mad Scientist Labs have put together a roundup of their favorite tools for working with electronics: " In this roundup we've collected some handy--and even important --tools along that you might not have seen before, along with some best-of-breed versions of everyday electronics tools."This is like a painter getting a look at Rembrandt picks for best brushes, paints and canvasses.
More cool electronics tools Source: Boing Boing | 15 Jul 2010 | 2:51 am Girl on the Wall: sweet little romantic comedyGreek directory/designer Gabriel Psaltakis's short film "The Girl on the Wall" is a charming and silly little romance about graffiti, fashion, and ennui. THE GIRL ON THE WALL (Thanks, Gabriel!)...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 15 Jul 2010 | 2:50 am Girl on the Wall: sweet little romantic comedyGreek directory/designer Gabriel Psaltakis's short film "The Girl on the Wall" is a charming and silly little romance about graffiti, fashion, and ennui.
THE GIRL ON THE WALL
(Thanks, Gabriel!)
With Poly9 purchase, Apple on torrid buyout pace in 2010 - BusinessWeek
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 15 Jul 2010 | 2:44 am iPhone 4: Consumer Reports Needs To Get It Together
Anyway, she finds out. And then I can’t buy the one I want to buy, the shiny one on Amazon, because some issue of Consumer Reports said that the better one is the boring unshiny one and I need to be more responsible and stop wasting money on stupid stuff. And so a chart of red and black dots gets to decide for me. Because one thing I’ve learned in life is to never make mom unhappy. She’s upset enough that her son turned out to be a blogger, whatever that is. But the thing is, that trust that my mom gives to Consumer Reports was hard earned over decades of obsessive use. She trusts Consumer Reports. And if I read it I might trust it too. If they rated stuff on shininess I’d definitely subscribe. Or if they rated robots. But suddenly Consumer Reports is crazy for the link bait. This iPhone 4 antenna problem has them going absolutely batshit crazy, and nearly every day they’re firing off a new set of recommendations, or demands, that conflict with the old recommendations and demands. I would like to say this is just process journalism and applaud it. But they actually seem completely schizophrenic. It’s not a process, it’s chaos theory. The best parts are the constant updates to all the old articles where they try to justify all of their conflicting justifications simultaneously. July 2: “iPhone 4′s supposed signal woes aren’t unique, and may not be serious” July 3: “iPhone 4 signal debate rages; we experience signal loss in some calls”
July 13: “Why Apple—and not its customers—should fix the iPhone 4″ (what happened to the duct tape?) July 14: Forget the duct tape! “Apple’s Bumper case alleviates the iPhone 4 signal-loss problem” People who subscribe to Consumer Reports don’t want to read about using duct tape to fix their stuff. They aren’t early adopters and they do want to be given a clear buy rating. They don’t need breathless up to the minute updates on what sticky non-conductive material will be best suited to make a broken phone work. My poor mother must be so confused right now. So I’ll just tell her what she needs to know: Don’t buy anything that needs duct tape to work properly. DO NOT BUY an iPhone 4 until this problem is fixed. And then still don’t buy one because AT&T is awful. Buy an Android instead.      
Source: TechCrunch | 15 Jul 2010 | 2:23 am How I Think The iPhone 4 Antenna Press Conference Is Going To Play Out
The only details Apple is giving out about the event is that it’s going to take place on their campus on Friday morning at 10 AM PT. But talking to some other people who got calls from Apple as well about the event may hold some clues as to what we can expect. First and foremost, the whole thing is bizarre. Apple has announced events with very little notification before, but never this little notification. The event is Friday morning and they notified people on Wednesday evening (or night for those people on the east coast). This essentially gives people one day notice. And they’re calling people across the U.S. about it, and asking if they can make it. For some, this means last-minute cross country flights. Obviously, Apple isn’t going to be paying for those, so it’s not clear how many people from outside the Bay Area are going to attend. And many are unsure if they should attend because Apple is being so vague about what they’ll be talking about. But you have to imagine if it’s a last-second press conference, it has to be pretty major, right? Not necessarily. My sense is that the main idea behind this event is to get a bunch of big publications and other key Apple influencers into a room to go over the iPhone 4 antenna issue once and for all. I have little doubt that Apple CEO Steve Jobs himself will be leading this discussion, with other Apple executives talking as well. I also suspect we may see some antenna and wireless industry experts to offer their insights as well. The purpose of such a gathering would be to cut off the backlash against the iPhone 4 at the knees. The Consumer Reports flip-flop would seem to be the major catalyst here. And regardless of what you think of Consumer Reports, Apple knows that it is a brand many average consumers trust. In fact, Apple has had no problem citing it before when they rate the iPhone favorably (incidentally, the iPhone 4 is Consumer Reports’ highest-rated smartphone, despite the non-recommendation). Still, the Consumer Reports story is just one thing. More troubling to Apple has to be the cascade effect it has had on the media. CNN is talking about it, MSNBC is talking about it, local news is talking about it — even David Letterman is talking about it. The situation has gotten out of control in a way the tightly-controlled Apple cannot find comfortable at all. So that’s what I believe this event is about. A way to pivot the message back to what Apple perceives to be the facts. Apple will undoubtedly acknowledge that holding the iPhone 4 does affect the signal. But they’ll note once again that this is true of all cellphones. And perhaps some experts will chime in to show some results to prove this to be the case. They’ll also undoubtedly point out how the iPhone 4 actually has the best antenna Apple has ever produced. They’ll probably have results to back this up as well. The focus will be on the facts that Apple has studies to prove. And the idea behind all of this is to drill it into our heads that the antenna issue is being blown out of proportion. That it’s an easy headline about a hot product. And Apple’s tactic may just work. Because it’s a lot harder to blindly write about one side of a topic when the other side has very directly addressed and refuted the issues with you. Apple will also likely talk about the software fix that is currently testing (iOS 4.1) which they say will help the issue as well. Our early tests show iOS 4.1 doesn’t fix the antenna issue at all (it is, after all, a hardware issue). But it does alter the bar indicators to make them more accurately reflect your actual signal, which is what Apple said it would do. Earlier tonight, a MacRumors forum poster laid out a similar scenario about how this event may play out. The difference is that he believes Apple will give out $50 gift cards that iPhone 4 purchasers can use to buy iPhone bumpers (cases) if they wish. I’m not sure how likely that is. But I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple does announce a way to specifically give away these bumpers (which are normally $29) to people who buy (or have bought) the iPhone 4. Another thing the forum post didn’t really hit on was the importance of who is invited to this event. As I said, Apple seems to be focusing on key influencers in the tech media. My belief is that Apple is hoping that by aiming at the top, the message will trickle down and overwhelm the Consumer Reports fall-out. Again, whether you agree with it or not, it seems like a pretty good strategy. Of course, all of that is just speculation. With this little amount of time before the event, it’s unlikely that anything will leak out before it happens. But there is always the possibility of one giant curveball. While I still find it hard to believe that Apple is thinking about an iPhone 4 recall at this point, the possibility is interesting for this Friday event. After all, it makes more sense to issue a recall in a controlled manner (where journalists can digest the news and ask questions), rather than to issue a statement about it and have everyone scream bloody murder. Again, I don’t think that is going to happen, but it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility if say, Apple is willing to acknowledge that there are at least some defective iPhone 4 antennas. The thing that’s a bit curious about this press conference is that Apple has already set a precedent by issuing a statement about the antenna issue on July 2. If they’re now doing a full press conference, surely their announcement must be more significant, right? But again, that statement was before Consumer Reports changed its mind and decided you shouldn’t buy the iPhone 4 due to the antenna issue. And that report has led us to where we are now. To combat that, Apple may feel the time is right to pull out their not-so-secret weapon: Steve Jobs. On a stage. Talking. [photo: flickr/acaben      
Source: TechCrunch | 15 Jul 2010 | 2:16 am Scientists' Work Improves Odds Of Finding DiamondsUH geologist says future searchers should focus on particular areasWhile prospectors and geologists have been successful in finding diamonds through diligent searching, one University of Houston professor and his team's work could help improve the odds by focusing future searches in particular areas.Kevin Burke, professor of geology and tectonics at UH, and his fellow researchers describe these findings in a paper titled "Diamonds Sampled by Plumes from the Core-Mantle Boundary," appearing July 15 in Nature, the weekly scientific research journal.Burke's team found that kimberlites, which are rare volcanic rocks that include diamonds, owe their origin to occasional pulses of hot mantle rock – called mantle plumes – that have risen through the entire thickness of the Earth's mantle from deep down next to the core, or innermost part, of the planet. This core/mantle boundary lies at a depth of about 2,000 miles. While the idea there might be mantle plumes rising from the core/mantle boundary was first suggested about 40 years ago, it is only within the past few years that evidence of plumes coming all the way from this boundary to the Earth's surface has been clearly demonstrated by Burke's group."Our approach is new, because it combines observations of the Earth's deep interior from seismology with evidence of how tectonic plates have moved about on the Earth's surface during the past 500 million years," Burke said. "I have been interested in mantle plumes from the core/mantle boundary since they were first hypothesized in 1971. About 10 years ago, I realized there might be a link between the seismically defined structure at the core/mantle boundary and volcanic rocks at the Earth's surface that had been suggested to be linked to mantle plumes. I immediately realized how the existence of that link could be tested, and it was then that I came in contact with Trond Torsvik in Norway, who proved to be uniquely qualified to carry out the required tests."Torsvik, a professor at the University of Oslo in Norway, and Burke developed the conceptual ideas for this research. Additional members of the team were Bernhard Steinberger at the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam in Germany, and Lew Ashwal and Sue Webb from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. The research consisted of applying and interpreting the results of mathematical analysis, much of it applying spherical geometry to the Earth's surface, to publicly available data-sets put together mainly by Ashwal, Webb and Torsvik.The present structure of the Earth's mantle has been increasingly understood by researchers in seismology during the past 25 years, and Burke and his colleagues' work has helped confirm the seismologists' results. The work of the Burke group, however, also describes the structure as it was in the past, revealing the history of deep mantle structure over the geologically long period of 500 million years. That, Burke said, is new."Establishing the history of deep mantle structure has shown, unexpectedly, that two large volumes lying just above the core/mantle boundary have been stable in their present positions for the past 500 million years," he said. "The reason this result was not expected is that those of us who study the Earth's deep interior have assumed that, although the deep mantle is solid, the material making it up would all be in motion all the time, because the deep mantle is so hot and under such high pressure from the weight of rock above it."As for how this improves the odds of finding these precious gems, Burke explained that geologists interested in diamonds have known for more than 50 years that rare diamond-bearing kimberlite volcanic rocks are highly concentrated in ancient cratons within areas of the Earth's continents. This has concentrated the search for diamond-bearing rocks within an area amounting to no more than about 10 percent of the entire area of the world's continents. The new work has shown that most of the kimberlites have been erupted into one or the other of those old cratons only under certain conditions. These findings will enable the search for diamonds to be further concentrated.Ultimately aiming for a better integrated understanding of how the solid Earth of the crust and mantle works, the group hopes to obtain further results within months. They hope to better establish how plate motions at the Earth's surface have evolved over the last 500 million years and how to work out just how those movements have related to both the stable and the moving parts of the Earth's mantle during the same interval. ---On the Net:University of HoustonSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 15 Jul 2010 | 1:57 am Key Advance In Understanding 'Pseudogap' Phase In High-Tc SuperconductorsMay lead to ways to overcome barrier to room-temperature superconductivity in copper-oxidesScientists have been trying for some 20 years to understand why the low temperature at which copper-oxide superconductors carry current with no resistance can't be increased to be closer to room temperature. Recently, scientists have focused on trying to understand and control an electronic phase called the "pseudogap" phase, which is non-superconducting and is observed at a temperature above the superconducting phase. But what form of electronic order (if any) characterizes the pseudogap phase has remained a frustrating and challenging mystery.Now scientists have discovered a fundamental difference in how electrons behave at the two distinct oxygen-atom sites within each copper-oxide unit, which appears to be a specific property of the non-superconducting pseudogap phase. The research — described in the July 15, 2010, issue of Nature — may lead to new approaches to understanding the pseudogap phase, which has been hypothesized as a key hurdle to achieving room-temperature superconductivity."Many people consider the disappearance of superconductivity that occurs when the pseudogap phase emerges as an indication that the pseudogap is the killer of room temperature superconductivity in the copper-oxides," said study leader Séamus Davis, director of the Center for Emergent Superconductivity at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory and the J.D. White Distinguished Professor of Physical Sciences at Cornell University. "Detecting a difference in electron behavior at the two oxygen sites within each copper-oxide unit at the pseudogap energy may be a very significant step toward identifying exactly what the pseudogap state is and how it affects superconductivity."To identify the change in electronic behavior, Davis worked with other physicists from Binghamton University, Cornell University, Brookhaven, the University of Tokyo, the Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in Korea, the RIKEN laboratory in Japan, and Japan's Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. Using a technique known as spectroscopic imaging scanning tunneling microscopy, they measured the relative ease with which electrons could jump from the surface at each individual copper and oxygen site to the tip of the microscope needle. New theoretical approaches pioneered by Michael Lawler of Binghamton and Eun-Ah Kim of Cornell helped the group understand the electron behavior.Across the entire copper-oxide crystal, the scientists found a remarkable difference in the electronic states associated with the mysterious pseudogap phase: The number of electrons able to "tunnel" to the microscope tip differed depending on the position of the oxygen atom relative to the copper atom. "Picture the copper atom at the center of the unit, with one oxygen to the 'north' and one to the 'east,' and this whole unit repeating itself over and over across the copper-oxide layer," Davis said. "In every single copper-oxide unit, the tunneling ability of electrons from the northern oxygen atom was different from that of the eastern oxygen."The discovery of this asymmetrical behavior could be a breakthrough in understanding and controlling high-temperature superconductors because, historically, uncovering the reductions in symmetry responsible for other states of matter has led to huge advances in understanding and achieving control over those states. For example, discovery of the symmetries broken in liquid crystals eventually led to their control and everyday use in liquid crystal displays (LCDs).The scientists will pursue their pseudogap research, first by looking for a similar broken symmetry in other copper-oxide superconductors. They will also try to determine: how the directional asymmetry in electronic behavior affects the ability of electrons to flow through the system; how that directional dependence might inhibit superconductivity; and eventually, how this might be overcome at temperatures warm enough to make high-temperature superconducting technologies practical."The ultimate goal is to discover or create materials that can act as superconductors, to carry electric current with no energy loss, at room temperature," Davis said.Conventional superconductors, and even the known "high-temperature" varieties, must all be cooled well below freezing temperatures — some near absolute zero, or -273°C — to operate without energy loss. That requires, using coolants like liquid helium or nitrogen, makes them impractical for everyday uses."Developing superconductors that operate without the need for coolants would be transformational," said Davis. "Such materials would greatly improve the efficiency of energy-distribution systems, saving enormous amounts of money and updating the electrical grid to meet the needs of the 21st Century."---On the Net:DOE/Brookhaven National LaboratorySource: RedOrbit News - Science | 15 Jul 2010 | 1:52 am Nanotubes Pass Acid TestRice researchers' method untangles long tubes, clears hurdle toward armchair quantum wireRice University scientists have found the "ultimate" solvent for all kinds of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), a breakthrough that brings the creation of a highly conductive quantum nanowire ever closer.Nanotubes have the frustrating habit of bundling, making them less useful than when they're separated in a solution. Rice scientists led by Matteo Pasquali, a professor in chemical and biomolecular engineering and in chemistry, have been trying to untangle them for years as they look for scalable methods to make exceptionally strong, ultralight, highly conductive materials that could revolutionize power distribution, such as the armchair quantum wire.The armchair quantum wire -- a macroscopic cable of well-aligned metallic nanotubes -- was envisioned by the late Richard Smalley, a Rice chemist who shared the Nobel Prize for his part in discovering the the family of molecules that includes the carbon nanotube. Rice is celebrating the 25th anniversary of that discovery this year.Pasquali, primary author Nicholas Parra-Vasquez and their colleagues reported this month in the online journal ACS Nano that chlorosulfonic acid can dissolve half-millimeter-long nanotubes in solution, a critical step in spinning fibers from ultralong nanotubes.Current methods to dissolve carbon nanotubes, which include surrounding the tubes with soap-like surfactants, doping them with alkali metals or attaching small chemical groups to the sidewalls, disperse nanotubes at relatively low concentrations. These techniques are not ideal for fiber spinning because they damage the properties of the nanotubes, either by attaching small molecules to their surfaces or by shortening them.A few years ago, the Rice researchers discovered that chlorosulfonic acid, a "superacid," adds positive charges to the surface of the nanotubes without damaging them. This causes the nanotubes to spontaneously separate from each other in their natural bundled form.This method is ideal for making nanotube solutions for fiber spinning because it produces fluid dopes that closely resemble those used in industrial spinning of high-performance fibers. Until recently, the researchers thought this dissolution method would be effective only for short single-walled nanotubes.In the new paper, the Rice team reported that the acid dissolution method also works with any type of carbon nanotube, irrespective of length and type, as long as the nanotubes are relatively free of defects.Parra-Vasquez described the process as "very easy.""Just adding the nanotubes to chlorosulfonic acid results in dissolution, without even mixing," he said.While earlier research had focused on single-walled carbon nanotubes, the team discovered chlorosulfonic acid is also adept at dissolving multiwalled nanotubes (MWNTs). "There are many processes that make multiwalled nanotubes at a cheaper cost, and there's a lot of research with them," said Parra-Vasquez, who earned his Rice doctorate last year. "We hope this will open up new areas of research."They also observed for the first time that long SWNTs dispersed by superacid form liquid crystals. "We already knew that with shorter nanotubes, the liquid-crystalline phase is very different from traditional liquid crystals, so liquid crystals formed from ultralong nanotubes should be interesting to study," he said.Parra-Vasquez, now a postdoctoral researcher at Centre de Physique Moleculaire Optique et Hertzienne, Universite' de Bordeaux, Talence, France, came to Rice in 2002 for graduate studies with Pasquali and Smalley.Study co-author Micah Green, assistant professor of chemical engineering at Texas Tech and a former postdoctoral fellow in Pasquali's research group, said working with long nanotubes is key to attaining exceptional properties in fibers because both the mechanical and electrical properties depend on the length of the constituent nanotubes. Pasquali said that using long nanotubes in the fibers should improve their properties on the order of one to two magnitudes, and that similar enhanced properties are also expected in thin films of carbon nanotubes being investigated for flexible electronics applications.An immediate goal for researchers, Parra-Vasquez said, will be to find "large quantities of ultralong single-walled nanotubes with low defects -- and then making that fiber we have been dreaming of making since I arrived at Rice, a dream that Rick Smalley had and that we have all shared since."---On the Net:Rice UniversitySource: RedOrbit News - Science | 15 Jul 2010 | 1:50 am Ethiopia's forest cover triplesThe total forest cover of Ethiopia has tripled in size since 2000 as a result of large-scale reforestation campaigns, the authorities announced on Thursday. The impoverished Horn of...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 15 Jul 2010 | 1:43 am Putting Color In 'E-Reader' DisplaysElectronic readers (e-readers), those increasingly popular devices that replace ink on paper, may have color displays in the future thanks to new advances in display technology. That's among the topics highlighted in a three-part cover story on electronic materials in the current issue of Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), ACS' weekly newsmagazine.C&EN Senior Editor Alex Tullo notes that sales of e-readers, such as Amazon's Kindle and Sony's Reader, are on the rise. Manufacturers sold a million e-readers in 2008 and 5 million units last year alone. The figure could reach more than 20 million strong by 2013, according to one market analyst cited in the article. But so far the e-readers only have black and white displays. Color displays could open up new markets, such as those for textbooks and magazines, and help them compete with multifunction devices like Apple's iPad, the article notes.But colorizing e-readers has been a difficult challenge. One company is trying to overcome it by using simple color filters to dress-up the black and white "ink" used in many e-reader displays. Others companies are developing entirely new types of electronic ink, including colored oils and special polymers that mimic gemstone opals.---On the Net:American Chemical SocietySource: RedOrbit News - Science | 15 Jul 2010 | 1:41 am Ethiopia's forest cover triples: ministryThe total forest cover of Ethiopia has tripled in size since 2000 as a result of large-scale reforestation campaigns, the authorities announced on Thursday. The impoverished Horn of...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 15 Jul 2010 | 1:41 am New Role For The JNK ProteinResearchers reveal that JNK, a protein long known to help cells respond to stress, also controls cell cyclePut simply, a tumor is the result of out-of-control cell growth. To assure that the cell cycle – the cell's process of duplicating itself to make more cells – goes smoothly, a large network of proteins tells other proteins what to do and when to do it. When any of these layers of protein regulation fail, cell growth can get out of hand. A new study led by Ze'ev Ronai, Ph.D., associate director of Sanford-Burnham's National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center, reveals a new player in cell cycle control. These findings, which appeared online in Nature Cell Biology on June 27, showed that JNK, a protein already well known for other duties, also regulates the cell cycle."This was totally unexpected of JNK," explained Gustavo Gutierrez, Ph.D., postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Ronai's laboratory and first author of the study. "We already knew that JNK helps cells respond to stress, such as damage caused by ultraviolet radiation. We thought we already knew how the major components of the cell cycle were regulated. This study really changes the thinking by connecting the two."On the molecular level, JNK influences cellular functions by tagging other proteins with a phosphate chemical group (a process known as phosphorylation), a common mechanism cells use to turn enzymes on and off. Phosphorylation is so important that when JNK goes awry, a number of different disorders can result, such as cancer, diabetes or neurodegenerative diseases.The part JNK plays in controlling the cell cycle is completely new. In this study, JNK activity was found to regulate the function of one of the major drivers of the cell cycle, a protein complex known as the APC/C. According to this, and related research recently published by Dr. Gutierrez and Dr. Ronai in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, JNK acts like an assembly line inspector; its presence and activity ensures that the cell cycle moves along smoothly. Any problems push JNK to halt the process at certain 'checkpoints.' If all systems look good, the cell cycle progresses. If not, minor damage is fixed or, if beyond repair, the whole process is scrapped."Certain situations where JNK is hyperactive, as seen in some human tumors, might also influence the cell cycle and promote genomic instability," said Dr. Ronai. "Our laboratory is now assessing this possibility using a mouse model that was engineered based on these new discoveries."---On the Net:Sanford-Burnham Medical Research InstituteSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 15 Jul 2010 | 1:40 am KDDI introduces Light Pool fashion cell phoneJapanese telecommunications company KDDI has released a new phone called Light Pool which displays information in an ambient fashion. On the outside, youll see a total of twenty-two LEDs in the shape...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 15 Jul 2010 | 1:26 am UK Royalty Group Wants ISPs To Pay For Pirating CustomersIdbar writes "A group representing British songwriters and composers will on Wednesday call for the introduction of a levy on broadband providers based on the amount of pirated music they allow to pass through their networks. Will Page, chief economist at PRS for Music, will argue at a Westminster conference that a piracy fee would better align the financial interests of internet service providers (ISPs) with rights holders at a time when the two industries are at odds over who should bear the costs of online song swapping."
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Source: Slashdot | 15 Jul 2010 | 1:14 am Viral Video: Everything Is Amazing and Nobody Is Happy [BoomTown]
Here’s a video of comic Louis CK, in an appearance with television talk show host Conan O’Brien, which was flagged to me by Tech N’ Marketing blogger Hillel Fuld as the all-time funniest. And it indeed is, due to Louis CK’s perfect riff on technology, in which he correctly notes “everything is amazing right now and nobody is happy.” My fave part is his contention how impatient people are with their cell phone connections: “It’s going to space, can you give it a second to get back from space?” Well said, especially with all the various controversies around Apple (AAPL), Facebook and more. Source: All Things Digital | 15 Jul 2010 | 1:09 am Apple iPhone 4: information remediation on attenuation complication situation
Pull Up To the Bumper, Baby. Apple today announced plans to hold a press conference related to iPhone 4 on Friday at 10am Pacific—company rep Steve Dowling didn't elaborate on the content or who'd be talking, but everyone's assuming they'll (finally) address The Great iPhone Antenna Crisis of 2010.™ Earlier this week, Consumer Reports dinged Apple over a lab report stating that when held just the right way under a full moon by virgin vegan nuns from Vanuatu chanting invocations to Vishnu, the device's otherwise excellent reception takes a hit. "Contradictorily, Consumer Reports also said that the iPhone 4 was the best smartphone it had tested." My money's on free bumpers to calm the hordes. Update: Gruber agrees with this prediction from a MacRumors forum on what we'll hear at Friday's presser. Siracusa agrees, with a caveat. And, Mitch Wagner: "I think it was the David Letterman Top 10 List that did it. When your product is a joke on nationwide TV, that requires a response." Then again, maybe Dave Pell's on to something. (photo: Dean Putney. Yes, those are tears.)
Source: Boing Boing | 15 Jul 2010 | 1:08 am Apple iPhone 4: information remediation on attenuation complication situationPull Up To the Bumper, Baby. Apple today announced plans to hold a press conference related to iPhone 4 on Friday at 10am Pacific—company rep Steve Dowling didn't elaborate on the content...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 15 Jul 2010 | 1:08 am Is Google Just the Start? [Voices]By Isabel Hilton, Editor, Chinadialogue.net When the latest list of firms approved by Beijing to provide online mapping services in China was published last week, it was no great surprise that Google’s name was missing. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 15 Jul 2010 | 1:01 am Altered Animals: Creatures With Bonus Features [Voices]By Bob Holmes, Contributing Writer, New Scientist Unless you live in Europe, your last meal probably contained genetically modified ingredients – 80 per cent of soya grown worldwide is now genetically engineered, for instance. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 15 Jul 2010 | 1:00 am Ideas Having Sex [Voices]By Matt Ridley, Author, The Rational Optimist The phrase diminishing returns is such a cliché that few people give it much thought. Picking out the pecans from a bowl of salted nuts gives diminishing returns: The pieces of pecan in the bowl get rarer and smaller. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 15 Jul 2010 | 1:00 am Daily Crunch: Breakfast in Bed Edition
New York City to keep track of water use with wireless monitors
Source: CrunchGear | 15 Jul 2010 | 1:00 am Jajah Now Powers Low-Cost Long Distance For German O2 Subscribers
This is interesting for a few reasons. First, it’s obviously a fairly speedy integration given the size of O2. Jajah CEO Trevor Healy also says that this marks the first time that a global carrier is offering a VoIP-powered service to its subscribers — he explains that O2 is willing to embrace the ‘Silicon Valley approach’ to digital communications, as opposed to holding steadfast to tradional voice services. Here’s to hoping the US carriers follow suit. O2 says it will be rolling out further Jajah-powered features in the next few months (presumably including a rollout of Global Friends to countries outside of Germany). O2 has 54 million subscribers across Europe.      
Source: TechCrunch | 15 Jul 2010 | 1:00 am Want to Find Network TV Online? Better Be Quick [Voices]By Ryan Lawler, Staff Writer, NewTeeVee A full 90 percent of network TV episodes make it online, but most are gone after six weeks or less, according to an exhaustive study performed by online video search site Clicker, which looked at how much broadcast network TV content makes its way online — and how much of it stays online. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 15 Jul 2010 | 1:00 am RIAA Spent $17.6 Million In Lawsuits… To Get $391,000 In Settlements? [Voices]By Mike Masnick, Blogger, Techdirt Last month we discussed the question of whether or not the RIAA’s legal strategy was a success or not. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 15 Jul 2010 | 1:00 am Gadget Appetite Strains Suppliers [Voices]By Daisuke Wakabayashi and Jung-Ah Lee, Reporters, The Wall Street Journal Manufacturers across Asia are scrambling to ramp up production of key components for electronics, as shortages have frustrated consumers and disrupted business for companies from Apple Inc. to Nissan Motor Co. Unexpectedly strong consumer appetite for gadgets like Apple’s (AAPL) iPad and new smartphones from HTC Corp. has stretched the capabilities of some companies that make the memory chips, touch displays and other parts found in those devices. Auto sales, too, have snapped back, straining supplies of custom chips used in cars. Companies like Apple and Nissan are seeing the drawbacks of lean manufacturing methods, which call for carrying little inventory but make supply snags tougher to offset. They are also victims of an overstretched global supply chain trying to meet recovering demand after the recession forced suppliers to slash production capacity and postpone plans to upgrade their facilities. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 15 Jul 2010 | 1:00 am Mobile Accounts for 10% of Google Queries, Says AnalystMobile searches account for an estimated 10% of Google queries, says Citi analyst Mark Mahaney in a research note released earlier this week. [via ReadWriteWeb]Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 15 Jul 2010 | 12:51 am Gulf oil spill clean up relying on cell phonesCell phones, of all things, are playing a critical role in the clean up of the oil in the Gulf thanks to a St. Louis software company. Ksdk 5 reports. Agilis Systems usually works with companies like...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 15 Jul 2010 | 12:37 am N.J. senator proposes bill suspending driver's license after 3 cell phone violationsA state senator wants to institute a three strikes law for drivers caught talking or texting on their cell phones. NJ.com reports. State Sen. Richard Codey (D-Essex) introduced a bill earlier this month...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 15 Jul 2010 | 12:34 am Twitter Launches First Earlybird Deal: Movie TicketsLast week, Twitter announced its first Twitter account that will promote deals from select advertisers, Earlybird. On Wednesday, the site launched its first deal with Disney. According to the Twitter...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 15 Jul 2010 | 12:27 am 'Weekly Episodes' Coming To Star Trek OnlineAs Star Trek Online ramps up for its Season 2 patch, the game's executive producer, Daniel Stahl, spoke in an interview about an interesting new feature: weekly episodes. Quoting: "The team has wanted to capture the spirit of the TV shows by having something new to look forward to each week. We all remember when the various series were in full swing and there was the anticipation of tuning in every week to see what happened next. It wasn't always a continuing story, but it was always Star Trek in some way or another, and over time you became familiar with the characters and plots that developed. We are curious to see if this can be replicated through the game. Every week we plan to have something new for players to do. Sometimes it could be getting an assignment to resolve a trade dispute between two races. Other weeks it could be making First Contact with a new alien race. Other weeks you might find yourself deep in trouble and have to find a solution to your predicament."
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Source: Slashdot | 15 Jul 2010 | 12:25 am Improv Everywhere: Star Wars Subway CarOur prankster pals at Improv Everywhere recreated the Princess Leia/Darth Vader scene on a New York City subway car. "Star Wars Subway Car"
Source: Boing Boing | 15 Jul 2010 | 12:16 am The path of Kid Icarus: Uprising
One of the first games scheduled to come out for the Nintendo 3DS, is Kid Icarus:Uprising. It’s an interesting story about how the game was developed, given that the president of Nintendo personally asked game designer Masahiro Sakurai to come up with a title to be launched with the 3DS. Sakurai decided to develop a 3D shooter, despite the fact that the genre isn’t very strong in Japan. In a recent interview, Sakurai said that he’d rather come up with something new, instead of retreading a title that everyone had seen before, or a concept that had been done to death. Sakurai goes on to talk about the development and design process, and the interview gives a very in-depth view into how games in general are developed. Very much worth your time to read if you have any interest at all in Nintendo or game design in general.
Source: CrunchGear | 15 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am ACTA leaks -- againWith the latest round of secret negotiations over ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, concluded last week in Switzerland, it was only a matter of time until the full text of the treaty's current draft leaked into the public domain, which it has duly done.ACTA is an extreme copyright treaty that threatens to establish a world of border iPod and laptop searches for infringing music and movies; jail sentences for downloading; universal network surveillance; and whole-house Internet disconnection orders served on ISPs against customers who are accused (without proof) of violating copyright law. It has been negotiated in secret over protests from MPs, Congressmen, MEPs, public interest groups, technology industry associations, archivists, educators, groups representing people with disabilities, poor countries, and anyone who isn't an utter corporate lickspittle. But it continues to function in secret, and it continues to leak. The current leak shows the negotiating position of all the participating countries. The US does not cover itself in glory here -- but then, it was Obama's White House that intervened to keep the treaty secret, citing "National Security." ACTA so transparent, the text still has to be leaked
Source: Boing Boing | 14 Jul 2010 | 11:52 pm Photo-documenting the real Toronto backgrounds from Scott Pilgrim Flickr user mad5l5in5 has scoured the streets of Toronto for the locations that appear in the backgrounds of Bryan Lee O'Malley's smashing Scott Pilgrim graphic novels (which will conclude this summer with the release of the feature film). As a expat Torontonian, I was struck again and again by O'Malley's excellent work in capturing the character of the city with his backgrounds. I can't wait for the movie -- the photoset was a great reminder of O'Malley's excellent use of setting. Scott Pilgrimage (via Neatorama) Source: Boing Boing | 14 Jul 2010 | 11:47 pm Colon: the web's punctuationThe colon: love it, hate it use it. Consider: the ascendancy of colons in web-writing, driven by its dramatic value for opinion pieces, not to mention its use in brief twitterlike media.The Millions' Conor J. Dillon argues persuasively that a new kind of colon has entered common usage: the "jumper colon," which goes, "dependent clause + colon + just about anything, incorporating any and all elements of the other four colons, yet differing crucially in that its pre-colon segment is always a dependent clause." For everyone else: its usefulness lies in that it lifts you up and into a sentence you never thought you'd be reading by giving you a compact little nugget of information prior to the colon and leaving you on the hook for whatever comes thereafter, often rambling on until the reader has exhausted his/her theoretical lung capacity and can continue to read no longer.Colonoscopy: It's Time to Check Your Colons (via Kottke) Source: Boing Boing | 14 Jul 2010 | 11:40 pm Koc Holding aims for 20 pct profit rise -paperISTANBUL, July 15 (Reuters) - Leading Turkish conglomerate Koc Holding targets an increase of 18 percent in its turnover and 20 percent in its operating profit this year, Dunya newspaper reported the...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Jul 2010 | 11:38 pm Penn Jillette on artistic satisfaction and magicHere's a fun and revealing interview with Penn Jillette (of Penn and Teller), talking about the artistic satisfaction he gets from doing the kind of magic he does, and the working relationship he has with his longtime business and performance partner, Teller. Penn and Teller are in London for their first show here in more than a decade (I've got tickets to see them tonight -- an early birthday pressie from my wife!).Penn and Teller interview (via Kottke)
Source: Boing Boing | 14 Jul 2010 | 11:34 pm Noise cancelling headphones without electronics? I’ll believe it when I hear it
The headphones are light, weighing in at a mere 2oz, fold up, and look somewhat less then fashionable. The headphones will run you about $90, so it might be worth it to pick up a pair and try them out. I’m somewhat skeptical myself, but technology does move forward, so it could be possible that they work. You can order them online, directly from SensGard. [via Gizmodo]
Source: CrunchGear | 14 Jul 2010 | 11:30 pm Eutelsat and ictQATAR Select Space Systems/Loral to Deliver Their Joint Venture SatellitePARIS, DOHA, Qatar and PALO ALTO, California, July 15, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) and ictQATAR (representing the State of Qatar) announce today that following an international consultation, Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) has been selected to build the high-performance satellite they will jointly own and operate at the 25.5 degrees East location in geostationary orbit. The selection of prime contractor marks the next step forward in the partnership signed in May by Eutelsat and ictQATAR to invest in and operate a high-capacity satellite at 25.5° East, one of the two longstanding and anchored neighbourhoods serving rapidly expanding markets in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia regions. The two organisations selected Space Systems/Loral to deliver a spacecraft with a more than 15-year design life based on the Space Systems/Loral 1300 satellite bus, which is a decades-proven, modular platform with high power capability and flexibility for a broad range of applications. To enter into service in early 2013, this powerful satellite will provide a significantly expanded mission and superior coverage across the Middle East , North Africa and Central Asia to follow on from Eutelsat's EUROBIRD(TM) 2 satellite, which is currently operated at 25.5 degrees East. In addition to securing Ku-band continuity for Eutelsat and additional Ku-band resources for ictQATAR, it will initiate a Ka-band capability to open business opportunities for both parties. The spacecraft's multi-mission architecture will enable ictQATAR and Eutelsat to respond to demand for the fastest-growing applications in the Middle East and North Africa, including video broadcasting, enterprise communications and government services. The television market will in particular benefit from the installed base of more than 13 million satellite homes already equipped for Direct-to-Home reception from this neighbourhood. Dr. Hessa Al Jaber, ictQATAR Secretary General said: "This is an important step forward as we work to meet the rapidly growing communications needs in the region. The collaboration between ictQATAR and Eutelsat on this strategic satellite is already proving advantageous as both teams were able to bring complementary insight and expertise to the decision-making process. In selecting Space Systems/Loral we followed a fair and transparent process." Michel de Rosen, Eutelsat CEO added: "Following on from the historic partnership signed with ictQATAR only two months ago, we are delighted to take a further step forward with the selection of prime contractor for our jointly-owned satellite. The close and positive collaboration with ictQATAR during this process adds even further weight to our conviction that we have begun a lasting relationship that will benefit both organisations. The powerful new spacecraft delivered by Space Systems/Loral will equip Eutelsat with the continuity we need at the 25.5 degrees East position, which is already a pillar for video broadcasting in the Middle East and North Africa regions, and usher in new business opportunities for us in the Ka-band." John Celli, president of Space Systems/Loral said: "We look forward to working with Eutelsat and ictQATAR to help broaden the availability of communications technology in the region. Space Systems/Loral provides satellites to the world's leading satellite operators and we are pleased to add Eutelsat and ictQATAR as new customers." About ictQATAR The Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology (ictQATAR) connects people to the technologies that enrich their lives, drive economic development and inspire confidence in the future. ictQATAR is entrusted with two primary authorities: as the country's independent and fair regulator of the telecommunications market, and as the government body that nurtures innovative technologies to benefit those who live and work in Qatar. http://www.ictQATAR.qa About Eutelsat Communications Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL, ISIN code: FR0010221234) is the holding company of Eutelsat S.A.. With capacity commercialised on 26 satellites that provide coverage over the entire European continent, as well as the Middle East, Africa, India and significant parts of Asia and the Americas, Eutelsat is one of the world's three leading satellite operators in terms of revenues. At 31 March 2010, Eutelsat's satellites were broadcasting more than 3,500 television channels. More than 1,100 channels broadcast via its HOT BIRD(TM) video neighbourhood at 13 degrees East which serves over 120 million cable and satellite homes in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The Group's satellites also serve a wide range of fixed and mobile telecommunications services, TV contribution markets, corporate networks, and broadband markets for Internet Service Providers and for transport, maritime and in-flight markets. Eutelsat's broadband subsidiary, Skylogic, markets and operates access to high speed internet services through teleports in France and Italy that serve enterprises, local communities, government agencies and aid organisations in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. Headquartered in Paris, Eutelsat and its subsidiaries employ nearly 650 commercial, technical and operational employees from 28 countries. http://www.eutelsat.com About Space Systems/Loral Space Systems/Loral, a subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications (NASDAQ: LORL), has a long history of delivering reliable satellites and spacecraft systems for commercial and government customers around the world. As the world's leading provider of commercial satellites, the company works closely with satellite operators to provide spacecraft for a broad range of services including television and radio distribution, digital audio radio, broadband Internet, and mobile communications. Billions of people around the world depend on SS/L satellites every day. For more information, visit http://www.ssloral.com. About Loral Space & Communications Loral Space & Communications is a satellite communications company. Through its Space Systems/Loral subsidiary, the company is a world-class leader in the design and manufacture of satellites and satellite systems for commercial and government applications including direct-to-home television, broadband communications, wireless telephony, weather monitoring, and air traffic management. Loral also owns 64 percent of Telesat, one of the world's largest providers of satellite services. Telesat operates a fleet of telecommunications satellites used to broadcast video entertainment programming, distribute direct-to-home video and broadband data services, and other value-added communications services. For more information, visit Loral's Web site at http://www.loral.com. LORL-G This document contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this press release, the words "believes," "expects," "plans," "may," "will," "would," "could," "should," "anticipates," "estimates," "project," "intend" or "outlook" or other variations of these words or other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. In addition, Loral Space & Communications Inc., Space Systems/Loral, Inc. or their representatives have made or may make forward-looking statements, orally or in writing, which may be included in, but are not limited to, various filings made from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and press releases or oral statements made with the approval of an authorized executive officer of the company. Actual results may differ materially from anticipated results as a result of certain risks and uncertainties which are described as "Risk Factors" and in the "Commitments and Contingencies" note to the financial statements in Loral's most recent Form 10-Q filed on May 10, 2010 and in our 2009 annual report on Form 10-K. The reader is specifically referred to this document, as well as the company's other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to (1) risks associated with financial factors, including the global economic downturn, our history of losses and financial covenants in SS/L's credit agreement; (2) risks associated with satellite manufacturing, including competition, contractual risks, creditworthiness of customers, performance of suppliers and management of our factory and personnel; (3) regulatory risks, such as the effect of U.S. export control and economic sanction laws; and (4) other risks, including litigation. The foregoing list of important factors is not exclusive. Furthermore, Loral and SS/L operate in an industry sector where securities values may be volatile and may be influenced by economic and other factors beyond the control of Loral and SS/L. SOURCE Eutelsat Communications and ictQATAR and Space Systems/LoralSource: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Jul 2010 | 11:15 pm Vivus' weight-loss drug faces key U.S. testWASHINGTON, July 15 (Reuters) - The first potential U.S. prescription weight-loss pill in more than a decade could move closer to market on Thursday if it can overcome safety hurdles that have plagued...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Jul 2010 | 11:00 pm Pay or pain: the private park benchPAY & SIT: the private bench (HD) from Fabian Brunsing on Vimeo. This is something you’d expect to see in the comedy “Park & Rec”, not from a designer in Europe. At any rate, the “Pay & Sit” bench is a concept product at this point, but the concept is you drop a coin into the slot, the spikes retract for a preset period of time. After the time runs out, a warning alarm sounds, and the the spikes extend again. Just the thing for Central Park. [via Neatorama]
Source: CrunchGear | 14 Jul 2010 | 11:00 pm Verizon Business Placed in Leaders Quadrant of Analyst Firm's Magic Quadrant for Asia/Pacific Network Service ProvidersSINGAPORE, July 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading industry-analyst firm Gartner Inc. has placed Verizon Business in the Leaders quadrant among Asia-Pacific network services providers in Gartner's new report, "Magic Quadrant for Asia/Pacific Network Service Providers."(i) The report evaluates providers of international network services to multinational companies (MNCs) with regional networks in Asia-Pacific. The providers focus on data services, especially IP virtual private networks (VPNs) and, increasingly, Ethernet offerings. Most also offer voice services, especially voice over IP and IP telephony in association with IP VPNs. Gartner notes in the report that "network service providers are making good progress. MNCs have a wide choice of service providers, offering improved network service quality and competitive pricing. In addition, most providers have rolled out a portfolio of important managed services, including WAN management and optimization, Internet Protocol (IP) telephony, network security and video conferencing. Several players are also rolling out cloud computing services - in particular, infrastructure as a service - to further differentiate themselves." Andrew Dobbins, Verizon Business regional vice president, Asia-Pacific, said: "Verizon Business in Asia-Pacific is going from strength to strength as a result of our continued investment in our network, solutions, services and people, which enables us to better support our customers' evolving business requirements. In this past year, we have seen strong adoption of our expanding cloud-based solutions and managed services portfolios, as well as our professional service support, as customers look to leverage the Verizon Business team's skills and expertise to help maximize their own communications productivity, security and efficiency." About the Magic Quadrant The Magic Quadrants are copyrighted 2010 by Gartner, Inc. and are reused with permission. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner's analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the Magic Quadrant, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors placed in the "Leaders" quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. About Verizon Business Verizon Business, a unit of Verizon Communications (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), is a global leader in communications and IT solutions. We combine professional expertise with one of the world's most connected IP networks to deliver award-winning communications, IT, information security and network solutions. We securely connect today's extended enterprises of widespread and mobile customers, partners, suppliers and employees - enabling them to increase productivity and efficiency and help preserve the environment. Many of the world's largest businesses and governments - including 96 percent of the Fortune 1000 and thousands of government agencies and educational institutions - rely on our professional and managed services and network technologies to accelerate their business. Find out more at www.verizonbusiness.com. (i) Gartner, Inc., "Magic Quadrant for Asia/Pacific Network Service Providers" June 28, 2010, author To Chee-Eng, Bjarne Munch, Vincent Fu. SOURCE Verizon BusinessSource: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Jul 2010 | 11:00 pm Armchair Astronauts Can Take a High-Def 3D Mars TourNASA has teamed up with Microsoft’s WorldWide Telescope (WWT) website to offer armchair astronauts an opportunity to barnstorm the Red Planet in 3D.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 14 Jul 2010 | 10:58 pm NASA Spacecraft 'Beefed-Up' Against Jupiter's RadiationIn preparation for a future mission to Jupiter, NASA is doing some preparation work to defend against the gas giant's wrath.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 14 Jul 2010 | 10:49 pm Goldman cuts India's HPCL to neutralMUMBAI, July 15 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs said on Thursday it had downgraded Indian refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp to "neutral" from "buy".Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Jul 2010 | 10:42 pm NetSuite and Sunway E-Systems Partner to Bring First Cloud Computing Business Management Suites to MalaysiaSAN MATEO, Calif. and PETALING JAYA, Malaysia, July 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NetSuite Inc. (NYSE: N), the industry's leading provider of cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) / financial suites, today announced a strategic partnership with Sunway E-Systems (SES), one of Southeast Asia's leading integrators of technology-enabled business transformation and a subsidiary of the Sunway Group. The partnership gives SES the exclusive rights to distribute, resell, implement and support NetSuite's cloud computing business management suites in Malaysia. According to a recent Gartner survey(*), emerging Asia Pacific markets are primed to adopt cloud computing solutions. In the report Gartner writes, "In Malaysia, CRM and supply chain management (SCM) were the next most popular applications for SaaS after ERP. In China, 50% of respondents indicated they had been using SaaS for more than four years, while in Malaysia, this figure exceeded 76%." In addition, a recent research report from Springboard Research indicates that Asia Pacific organisations will spend close to US $2.3 billion on cloud computing solutions by 2012, a growth rate of 46%. Partnering with NetSuite gives SES an immediate presence in the rapidly expanding cloud computing industry, as well as a superior line-up of cloud business management solutions, including NetSuite's core integrated suite that combines ERP / Financials, customer relationship management (CRM) and Ecommerce software, and NetSuite OneWorld, a cloud computing solution which enables multinational and multi-subsidiary companies to manage their global financial consolidation and business operations in real-time. As the exclusive distributor in Malaysia, SES can build and directly manage a network of resellers, partners and integrators in a three-tiered structure designed for the Malaysian marketplace. SES can also draw on its extensive business process domain knowledge and understanding of clients' key business processes to deliver best-in-class implementation services and support. SES and NetSuite have agreed to jointly promote NetSuite to businesses in Malaysia via a series of coordinated marketing campaigns. "Sunway is a major market force in Malaysia led by its industry experience, access to the highest levels of commerce and government, and proven expertise in business transformation," said Chris Schafer, NetSuite's Managing Director for Asia-Pacific (APAC). "NetSuite could not have a better partner in the region as it seeks to address the rapidly growing Malaysian market demand for cloud computing solutions. The Sunway Group has embraced cloud computing as the way of the future and, through SES and NetSuite, SES can also realise the benefits of the cloud, which are synonymous with dramatic IT cost reductions, efficiency and productivity gains. We are very excited and proud to be working with such a prestigious Malaysian company and we look forward to a long and fruitful partnership." Through its partnership with NetSuite, SES can also capitalise on the growing regional trend for resellers and systems integrators to move customers to the cloud. New customers can be the beneficiaries of SES' decades of direct industry experience and knowledge management, and the significant business benefits associated with NetSuite solutions. "This partnership, which combines our ICT and business process expertise with NetSuite's market-leading business management software, provides the highest degree of flexibility and value as companies of all sizes and types seek to lower operating costs and eliminate capital expenditure by moving key business processes to the cloud," said Cheah Kok Hoong, CEO of SES. In upcoming months, following the successful rollout of the Malaysian business, SES plans to extend its regional distribution network in Southeast Asia as a non-exclusive NetSuite distributor for Thailand in 2011. SES's proven expertise in business transformation makes it an excellent match for NetSuite's Asia Pacific Channel Program, which provides partners with unprecedented benefits, including the unique recurring revenue model, which is designed to reward partners for successfully retaining their clients year after year. About Sunway E-Systems (SES) - www.sunway.com.my Sunway Group is a well-established, diversified conglomerate in Malaysia with nine core businesses spanning more than 40 locations worldwide. The Sunway E-Systems (SES) subsidiary sells, distributes and supports Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions. Its SaaS solutions include Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and e-Commerce solutions that assist customers in managing all business process. About NetSuite NetSuite Inc. is the industry's leading provider of cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) / financial suites. NetSuite enables companies to manage core key business operations in a single system, which includes Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Accounting, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and Ecommerce. NetSuite's patent-pending "real-time dashboard" technology provides an easy-to-use view into up-to-date, role-specific business information. For more information about NetSuite Inc., please visit www.netsuite.com. NOTE: NetSuite and the NetSuite logo are registered service marks of NetSuite Inc. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to expectations, plans, and prospects including expectations relating the expected growth of the Malaysian SaaS market and SES' plans to extend its regional distribution network for NetSuite. In particular, the following factors, among others, could cause results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements: the market for on-demand services in Malaysia or Southeast Asia may develop more slowly than expected; and risks associated with material defects or errors in the Company's software or the effect of undetected computer viruses. For a detailed discussion of these and other cautionary statements, please refer to the risk factors discussed in filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including but not limited to the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed for the financial quarter ending March 31, 2010, and any subsequently filed reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K. All documents are available through the SEC's Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval system (EDGAR) at www.sec.gov or NetSuite's website at www.netsuite.com. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090924/SF81218LOGO-b) (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090924/SF81218LOGO-b) (*) "Emerging Market Analysis: Plans for SaaS Application Software Use in China and Malaysia, 2010-2011", Yanna Dharmasthira and Sharon A. Mertz, Gartner, Publication Date: 24 June 2010, ID Number: G00201056. SOURCE NetSuite Inc.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Jul 2010 | 10:33 pm 8-Bit Vintner retiring geek wines
Unfortunately, geeks just don’t buy wine it seems. James wasn’t able to build the business to the level he needed, and archaic liquor laws made it difficult to get wine to the geeks that did want to sample his warez. James also was known for a rather unusual Child’s Play auction – a hand-etched bottle of “Boss Monster” that sold for $3,000 to PopCap Games. You can read the full interview with James in the Scottsdale AZ newspaper, which is where he lives now despite the wine being produced in Washington state. If you have a taste for the vino, and want to help Mike on his way to semi-retirement, the 8-bit Player 1 Red is selling on wine.woot.com right now, for $49.99 for a 4 pack. Since Mike is calling it quits for the foreseeable future, this may be your last chance to buy a bottle of gaming history. I hear that the wine tastes pretty good too.
Source: CrunchGear | 14 Jul 2010 | 10:30 pm Pacific Trash Vortex To Become Habitable Island?thefickler writes "The Pacific Ocean trash dump is twice the size of Texas, or the size of Spain combined with France. The Pacific Vortex as it is sometimes called, is made up of four million tons of Plastic. Now there's a proposal to turn this dump into 'Recycled Island'. The Netherlands Architecture Fund has provided the grant money for the project, and the WHIM architecture firm is conducting the research and design of Recycled Island. One of the three major aims of the project is to clean up the floating trash by recycling it on site. Two, the project would create new land for sustainable habitation complete with its own food sources and energy sources. Lastly, Recycled Island is to be a sea worthy island. While at the moment the project is still more or less a pipe dream, it's great that someone is trying to work out what to do with one of humanity's most bizarre environmental slip ups."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 14 Jul 2010 | 10:26 pm IBM plans $100 mln China-focussed healthcare initiativeHONG KONG, July 15 (Reuters) - International Business Machines Corp said on Thursday it will invest $100 million over the next three years in a research initiative with a special focus in China as Beijing...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Jul 2010 | 10:15 pm iTunes Connect Mobile App Now Available for iPhone (Mashable)Mashable - If you're a digital content distributor, you've probably heard of iTunes Connect: it's a set of tools that helps you manage your content in the App Store.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Jul 2010 | 10:04 pm Apple plans July 16 press conference about iPhone 4 - Washington Post
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 14 Jul 2010 | 10:00 pm July 15, 1954: Boeing 707 Makes First FlightBoeing's new passenger jet plane got the company rolling ... literally.Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Jul 2010 | 10:00 pm Gendai Games Raises Over $1 Million For iPhone And iPad Game Creation Tool
The game creation tool, called GameSalad, is allows non-programmers to build, develop and publish 2D casual games games for the iPhone and iPad. GameSalad has been downloaded more than 70,000 times and in the nine months since the launch of its iPhone publishing service, GameSalad has powered over 800 titles in the iTunes App Store including Asplosion! HD and Doodle Cannon. The new funding will be used for product development and to hire additional talent. The startup faces competition from a number of other companies who also have democratized game development, including Playcrafter, and WIldpockets. Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 14 Jul 2010 | 9:59 pm Motorola Droid X actually self-destructs if you try to mod it
Really. If you want to make it difficult to hack, that’s fine. You think your software should be enough, that’s fine. But once I pay money for the item, it’s mine, and disabling my device because you don’t like what I’m doing with it falls under the category of sabotage.
Source: CrunchGear | 14 Jul 2010 | 9:54 pm Droid X actually self-destructs if you try to mod it
Really. If you want to make it difficult to hack, that’s fine. You think your software should be enough, that’s fine. But once I pay money for the item, it’s mine, and disabling my device because you don’t like what I’m doing with it falls under the category of sabotage.
It requires a hardware fix, apparently, only available through Motorola, of course. This is the equivalent of a MacBook detonating some core component if you try to install an OS to dual boot. Will many users run into this problem? Probably not, but Android is a platform that not only was founded on the idea of openness, but thrives because of it. The grey market of sideloaded apps and custom ROMs will only get more popular and more easily accessed as people realize that their phones are tiny computers waiting to be customized. That idea is anathema to Motorola and clearly they will continue to stoop to unreasonable means to “protect” their hardware — which you bought and paid for. So here’s my official recommendation: don’t buy a Droid phone and don’t recommend them to your friends. There are too many good options out there that aren’t locked down by nefarious means. Look up a Galaxy phone or wait for the next awesome thing to come along. Vote with your wallet and tell Motorola “open or GTFO.” [via Android Police and TG Daily]
Source: MobileCrunch | 14 Jul 2010 | 9:51 pm France Launches Multi-Lingual Tourist Website. It Goes Down And Stays Down.
From The Connexion on the launch:
And France’s senior government official overseeing the Internet, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, even took the time to tweet “Lancement aujourd’hui du portail officiel de la France dans le monde” (“Today’s launch of official website of France in the world”). A French friend says of the site (when it was live) “It just does not work, full of bugs, and the english translation is hilariously bad.” He won’t let me attribute his quote though, saying he’d like to remain in good standing with the French community. For now France.fr has a landing page saying the site is unavailable in a variety of languages. In French it goes into more detail, noting that the site is a victim of its own success. There’s the joke about how the only people France can beat at anything are the French themselves, usually noting the French Revolution. But I won’t repeat that here. Instead I’ll just say – Vive la France!      
Source: TechCrunch | 14 Jul 2010 | 9:46 pm How we subsidize fossil fuels
This is a little old, but I ran across it on Jon Taplin's blog recently and I think it does a good job of making an important point—fossil fuel, as an industry, isn't self supporting. No matter where we get our energy from, we're propping up production with tax dollars. Couple things to keep in mind with this graph: Not all fossil fuel subsidies are evil. (Frankly, I think we can drop the fossil fuels part and say "not all subsidies are evil", but I digress.) The Environmental Law Institute—who compiled the research and created this graphic—points out a great example: The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. That's calculated under subsidies to fossil fuels. It's by no means a big part of fossil fuel subsidies, but it's there. This accounting doesn't include all spending. For instance, there are programs that, arguably, spend money as a direct result of the fossil fuel industry, but that aren't technically subsidies. The Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, say, or, more controversially, money spent on military campaigns at least partially influenced by a desire to stabilize/defend/friendly-fy oil-producing countries. Read the full paper this graph is based on. See the full graph with footnotes. Source: Boing Boing | 14 Jul 2010 | 9:34 pm PRESS DIGEST - The Financial Times - July 15U.S. lawmakers have added an amendment to an oil rig safety bill that could stop BP obtaining new offshore oil leases because of its poor safety record, if passed. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/777b82ac-8f81-11df-8df0-00144feab49a...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Jul 2010 | 9:04 pm Reliance Comm may have to lower tower value-reportNEW DELHI, July 15 (Reuters) - India's Reliance Communications may have to lower the value of its tower assets being sold to GTL Infrastructure in view of a likely stake sale in the No. 2 Indian mobile...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Jul 2010 | 9:00 pm Magellan® Launches Next Generation of eXplorist® Outdoor Handheld GPS DevicesSANTA CLARA, Calif., July 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Magellan today unveiled the next generation of its award-winning, rugged eXplorist handheld GPS devices for the outdoor recreation market. The new eXplorist 510, 610 and 710 devices allow adventurers to navigate to outdoor destinations worldwide, capture geotagged photos along the way, and share their experiences online when they return home. Each eXplorist model combines high-sensitivity GPS, an intuitive user interface, easy-to-read mapping and accurate navigation. The new series of handheld GPS units are being revealed at the OutDoor Trade Fair in Friedrichshafen, Germany, and will be available to consumers in North America, Europe, and many other countries worldwide in the 4th quarter, 2010. "With the popularity of social networks, the GPS industry is shifting towards more online experience sharing," said Justin Doucette, Director, Outdoor Product Marketing, Magellan. "There are many sites that allow for geographic and multimedia data to be posted and shared with others. The eXplorist series allows users to bring their adventures home with them, catalog for future reference, and share online with family and friends." All three new eXplorist handheld GPS units come equipped with a camera, microphone, and speaker to enable users to record and share their adventures with friends. Each eXplorist device features a 3.0-inch color touch screen, a 3.2 mega-pixel camera with auto-focus, microphone and speaker to record geo-referenced images, videos, and voice notes. All products in the eXplorist series are waterproof (IPX-7) and come preloaded with the most detailed worldwide map in the industry. Magellan's World Edition map includes a complete road network for the U.S., Canada, Western Europe and Australia, as well as water features, urban and rural land use, and a realistic shaded relief background. The top-of-the-line eXplorist 710 combines the best of on-road and off-road navigation. Built-in maps get adventurers from doorstep to trailhead to summit and back. The eXplorist 710 includes both Magellan's highly detailed Summit Series topographic map and its City Series turn-by-turn map which allows users to navigate their vehicles through busy city streets on their way to their outdoor adventures. The eXplorist 610 and 710 feature a 3-axis electronic compass and a barometric altimeter that provide precise orientation, accurate elevation information, and enables for weather pattern tracking. Each model in the eXplorist series also includes several innovative features, such as Magellan's award-winning OneTouch(TM) favorites menu, enabling users to instantly access bookmarked locations, searches, and functions. The industrial design incorporates silent proximity alarms. And, to complement the 3.0-inch touch screen, each device has two customizable hard buttons to take a photograph, mark a waypoint, or provide quick access to a number of other preferred features. The new eXplorist devices also include essential outdoor features such as expandable memory, paperless geocaching, GPX compatibility, 16 hours of battery life, high sensitivity GPS enabling 3-5 meters of accuracy, vertical profiling, a digital almanac, track summary statistics and area calculation. The Magellan eXplorist 510 GPS device will be introduced at an M.S.R.P. of USD $349.99, the eXplorist 610 at an M.S.R.P. of USD $449.99, and the eXplorist 710 at an M.S.R.P. of USD $549.99. The units will ship with a standard mini USB cable and 2 lithium disposable AA batteries. With the purchase of a Magellan® eXplorist GPS device customers will receive a 30-day free premium membership to http://geocaching.com. The new generation of eXplorist GPS handheld devices joins several other new introductions by Magellan this year in the outdoor navigation market. The eXplorist GC, a device 100% dedicated to geocaching, and the ToughCase(TM), a device that transforms your iPhone or iPod Touch into a rugged, handheld GPS device, were launched earlier this year. For more information, visit magellangps.com. About MiTAC Digital Corporation MiTAC Digital Corp. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of MiTAC International Corporation and promotes and sells products and services under the Magellan brand name. Magellan assists people to travel, work and play with leading portable navigation and positioning solutions across multiple consumer markets. Recognized as an industry innovator, the company is the producer of the award-winning Magellan RoadMate® portable car navigation, Outdoor and Mobile navigation devices. MiTAC Digital Corp. is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif. For more information on Magellan visit magellangps.com. 2010 MiTAC International Corporation. Magellan, Roadmate and the Magellan logo are registered trademarks of MiTAC International Corporation and One Touch and ToughCase are Trademarks of MiTAC International Corporation and are used under license by MiTAC Digital Corp. All rights reserved. iPhone and iPod are trademarks, of Apple Inc, registered in the US and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. CONTACT: Raphel Finelli Magellan GPS 408-250-1778 rfinelli@magellangps.com SOURCE MagellanSource: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Jul 2010 | 8:59 pm Vodafone tests investors on possible A$ bond-funds(For the latest Australia and New Zealand bond news, double click on [AU/CRD] and then double click on the ID number)Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Jul 2010 | 8:31 pm Microsoft Awards Top Performing Partners at Microsoft Worldwide Partner ConferenceWASHINGTON, July 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Today, at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) 2010 in Washington, D.C., Microsoft Corp. honored the strongest performing Microsoft Dynamics partners for demonstrating significant customer impact by developing and delivering innovative solutions that help customers drive their businesses forward. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO) (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO) "This is a favorite time of the year for our worldwide partner community as we gather to celebrate the achievements made by our channel partners," said Doug Kennedy, vice president, Microsoft Dynamics Partners. "As the success of the Microsoft Dynamics platform is dependent upon the commitment of our partners, our winners demonstrate this commitment by delivering innovative and impactful solutions that provide value to customers worldwide and across all industries, from manufacturing to retail. This recognition represents the highest achievement attainable by our Microsoft Dynamics partners, and we thank them for their dedication to Microsoft." At WPC 2010, 12 Microsoft Dynamics partners were recognized with the Microsoft WPC 2010 Awards. More than 375 partners worldwide submitted nominations for their solutions, and award winners and finalists were selected from this group based on their innovative use of Microsoft Dynamics to deliver strategic and valuable solutions that meet diverse customer needs. The Microsoft WPC 2010 award recipients are as follows: Microsoft Dynamics AX Partner of the Year: Eclipse Computing Pty Ltd.Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner of the Year: Avanade Inc.Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner of the Year: Rock Solid Technologies Inc.Microsoft Dynamics NAV Partner of the Year: Anglia Business SolutionsMicrosoft Dynamics Point of Sale Solutions Partner of the Year: New West Technologies Inc.Microsoft Dynamics SL Partner of the Year: Queue Associates Inc.Microsoft Dynamics Manufacturing Partner of the Year: Fullscope Inc.Microsoft Dynamics Distribution Partner of the Year: HSO Nederland B.V.Microsoft Dynamics Retail Partner of the Year: Junction SolutionsMicrosoft Dynamics Professional Services Partner of the Year: Client ProfilesMicrosoft Dynamics Financial Services Partner of the Year: VeriParkMicrosoft Dynamics Public Sector Partner of the Year: CIBER UKOut of thousands of partners, Microsoft also honored 13 with the 2010 Microsoft Dynamics Regional Partner of the Year award and 13 independent software vendors (ISVs) were awarded the 2010 Microsoft Dynamics Regional ISV of the Year award, along with Outsourcery Ltd., which was named 2010 Microsoft Dynamics Hosting Partner of the Year. In addition, select top performers were honored from the Microsoft Dynamics channel, including Tribridge, named the Microsoft Dynamics Outstanding Reseller of the Year, and To-increase B.V., named the Microsoft Dynamics Outstanding ISV of the Year. Several key criteria were considered when selecting Microsoft Dynamics Certified Partners for this special recognition, including outstanding sales performance, thorough technological expertise on Microsoft Dynamics products and services, consistently high level of customer satisfaction, and feedback from Microsoft team members. The performance-based Microsoft Dynamics Regional Partner of the Year award recipients are as follows: Reseller Awards Microsoft Dynamics Outstanding Reseller of the Year: TribridgeMicrosoft Dynamics Reseller of the Year for Asia Pacific: Avanade Asia Pte Ltd.Microsoft Dynamics Reseller of the Year for Canada: BDO Dunwoody LLPMicrosoft Dynamics Reseller of the Year for Central and Eastern Europe: XAPT Hungary KftMicrosoft Dynamics Reseller of the Year for France: ProdwareMicrosoft Dynamics Reseller of the Year for Germany: GPB Software & Systeme GmbH & Co. KGMicrosoft Dynamics Reseller of the Year for Greater China: Tectura-GCRMicrosoft Dynamics Reseller of the Year for India: Tectura-IndiaMicrosoft Dynamics Reseller of the Year for Japan: Pacific Business Consulting Inc.Microsoft Dynamics Reseller of the Year for Latin America: AlfaPeople-LatamMicrosoft Dynamics Reseller of the Year for Middle East and Africa: ColumbusIT-MEAMicrosoft Dynamics Reseller of the Year for United Kingdom: eBECS Ltd.Microsoft Dynamics Reseller of the Year for United States: mcaConnect LLCMicrosoft Dynamics Reseller of the Year for Western Europe: HSO GroupISV Awards Microsoft Dynamics Outstanding ISV of the Year: To-increase B.V.Microsoft Dynamics ISV of the Year for Canada: IndustryBuilt Software Ltd.Microsoft Dynamics ISV of the Year for Central and Eastern Europe: NaviCon Group Ltd.Microsoft Dynamics ISV of the Year for France: TVH CONSULTINGMicrosoft Dynamics ISV of the Year for Germany: agiles Informationssysteme GmbHMicrosoft Dynamics ISV of the Year for Latin America: Gyssa Software Inc.Microsoft Dynamics ISV of the Year for Middle East and Africa: Dynamics Vertical Solutions FZ-LLCMicrosoft Dynamics ISV of the Year for United Kingdom: Maginus Software Solutions Ltd.Microsoft Dynamics ISV of the Year for Western Europe: AXtension b.v.Hoster Award Microsoft Dynamics Hosting Partner of the Year: Outsourcery Ltd.During the recognition ceremony, a select group of Microsoft Dynamics partners were named to the Inner Circle for Microsoft Dynamics and President's Club for Microsoft Dynamics. Inner Circle for Microsoft Dynamics represents an elite group of the most strategic Microsoft Dynamics partners from around the globe whose sales achievement ranks them in the highest echelon of the Microsoft Dynamics global network of partners. These partners are recognized for their exceptional overall company performance in delivering valuable solutions to Microsoft Dynamics customers. President's Club for Microsoft Dynamics honors high-performing Microsoft Dynamics partners whose commitment to customers is reflected in their business success and growth. A list of the 2010 Microsoft Dynamics WPC and Regional Partner award winners and finalists can be found online at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/events/wpc/docs/2010MicrosoftDynamicsPartnerAwards.xps. A list of the 2010 Inner Circle for Microsoft Dynamics award winners can be found online at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/events/wpc/docs/2010InnerCircle.xps. A list of the 2010 President's Club for Microsoft Dynamics award winners can be found online at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/events/wpc/docs/2010PresidentsClub.xps. About Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference provides Microsoft's partner community with access to key marketing and business strategies, leadership, and information regarding specific customer solutions designed to help partners succeed in the marketplace. Along with informative learning opportunities covering sales, marketing, services and technology, the Worldwide Partner Conference is an ideal setting for partners to garner valuable knowledge from their peers and from Microsoft. More information can be found at http://www.digitalwpc.com and on the Partner Network home page at http://microsoftpartnernetwork.com. About Microsoft Dynamics Microsoft Dynamics is a line of easy-to-use, integrated and adaptable ERP and CRM applications that enable business decision-makers to quickly respond to market shifts, take advantage of new trends, increase their competitive edge and drive business success. Microsoft Dynamics solutions are delivered through a world-class network of reselling partners providing specialized services and additional innovation to help customers excel in their industries. About Microsoft Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential. SOURCE Microsoft Corp.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Jul 2010 | 8:30 pm The Conversation Gets Personal With the Old Spice Man - ABC News
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 14 Jul 2010 | 8:29 pm Apple to address iPhone 4 issues on Friday (Appolicious)Appolicious - Apple (AAPL) called a press conference for 10 a.m. PT on Friday to address the fallout stemming from the iPhone 4 and its antenna reception problems.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Jul 2010 | 8:12 pm Chatroulette Rolls Out Local And Custom Channels. Top Channel: “Sex”
As first noticed by NewTeeVee, Chatroulette has launched a feature called Localroulette that will use your IP address to direct you to a channel with other users from your region. A second, related feature is Channelroulette, which lets you start or join a channel with a custom title/theme.
However, even for users who aren’t eager to engage in XXX-rated chitchat, there are a few pluses. First off, it’s really easy to create your own custom channel by simply appending a subdomain to the normal Chatroulette URL in the format example.Chatroulette.com, which has plenty of potential uses. And, as NewTeeVee points out, it’s possible that more lewd users will congregate in the sex-themed channels, leaving everyone else alone (again, don’t count on it). Look for more changes from Chatroulette in the near future. We previously reported that its young founder Andrey Ternovskiy has enlisted Napster founder Shawn Fanning as an advisor, and the site may start using filters and reputation systems to help weed out users who have a habit of spontaneously displaying their genitals. Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 14 Jul 2010 | 8:10 pm The Chicken May Have Come Before the EggMuondecay writes "The age old question of which came first, the chicken or the egg, has been tentatively answered. The verdict? The chicken, or rather a key protein needed to form the shell of the egg. The protein, called ovocledidin-17, was known to be involved in binding calcite molecules that formed the shells, but the mechanism behind this was unclear until now (abstract). The protein acts as a molecular machine, binding to nanoparticles of calcite and guiding them to begin self-assembly of the shell. This gives tremendous insight for developing methods of nano-scale self-assembly based on natural processes, as well as settling heated cocktail party arguments everywhere."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 14 Jul 2010 | 8:08 pm Apple to hold iPhone press conference Friday (Reuters)Reuters - Apple Inc has called a surprise press conference for Friday to talk about the iPhone 4, as the company continues to deal with fallout from reported reception problems on its popular smartphone.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Jul 2010 | 7:54 pm HomeAway Ramps Towards IPO With Two Key Hires And $200 Million/Year In Revenue
A year and a half ago the company was valued at $1.4 billion after a $250 million round of financing. Revenue at the time was around $150 million, we heard. Now revenue is more like $200 million/year, with $70 million or so in pure profit. This thing, in short, is throwing off cash, and lots of it. Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 14 Jul 2010 | 7:22 pm Hard Drives By Hitachi Back Up Files Two Ways [Personal Technology]There are two basic ways to back up your home computer. One is to use an external hard drive, connected by a cable or over a local network. This method offers the greatest privacy, speed and control, but also opens you to the risk that, if you lose the computer to burglary or fire or flood, you might also lose your backup. [ See post to watch video ] The second option is an online backup service. By separating the computer and the backup, this approach insulates the backup from local havoc. But it requires that you trust the backup service with your personal files, and it can be slow and expensive. Now, Hitachi, the Japanese technology company, has rolled out a line of external hard drives that combine the two approaches. The drives, called the LifeStudio series, come with simple backup software that, from one screen, performs both local and online backups of your important data at regular intervals, and allows you to restore lost files from either backup repository. The backup system comes with 3 gigabytes of free online backup storage, and offers much more online storage at an affordable price. But wait, there’s more. In addition to these dual backup services, Hitachi throws in a second software program that aggregates the personal files on your computer, regardless of the folders in which they reside. This second program categorizes your files into photos, videos, music and documents, organizes them by date, and displays thumbnails of the files in a visually arresting scrollable “wall.” It also can display in the same fashion your online photos from Facebook, Flickr and Picasa—as well as photos, videos and music from around the Web, and services like games, news videos and shopping. Finally, some premium models in the LifeStudio series of hard drives include, at extra cost, a special thumb drive that snaps onto the larger hard disk using a special dock. This thumb drive can be carried around and used on any other computer. But when you pop it back onto the Hitachi hard disk, it automatically syncs any new or changed files back to the computer to which the LifeStudio drive is attached. It’s all an attempt to add both value and flair to a product category, external hard disks, often seen as a commodity driven largely by price and capacity. But it’s also a bit overwhelming. The LifeStudio drives, and their accompanying software, work on both Windows PCs and Macs, and are available at a variety of physical and online stores. Prices range from $80 for a 250-gigabyte standard mobile drive without the dockable thumb drive, to $220 for a 2 terabyte desktop-size premium drive with the dockable thumb drive. If the 3 gigabytes of included free online storage isn’t enough, Hitachi will sell you 250 gigabytes of online storage for $50 a year. In my tests, the Hitachi drives, thumb drives and two software programs mostly performed as advertised on both a Mac and a Windows computer. I was able to back up and restore files from both the local and online systems, though I ran into enough software glitches to make an unqualified recommendation impossible.  Some premium models of the LifeStudio hard drive have a thumb drive that can be used on any computer and that automatically syncs to the computer with the hard drive attached. One major caveat is in order. Hitachi’s software isn’t designed to back up your whole computer. Instead, the software is aimed at protecting your personal files, such as photos, music, videos and documents. And, while it allows you to select the folders you’d like backed up, it doesn’t allow more fine-tuned controls, such as backing up files with certain extensions. However, the drives themselves could be used with other software that allows such things. I found the backup software dead simple to use—and reliable. But the initial online backup was very slow, even with a small number of files and a fast connection. Hitachi says its servers were undergoing maintenance during my tests. Also, the local backup software reported at times that the drive was “read-only,” a bug Hitachi says it is fixing. While the thumb drive is advertised as syncing “automatically,” this only works if new or changed files are in the folder it was set up to sync, something Hitachi doesn’t make clear, but says it will. The separate file-organizing and viewing software, LifeStudio, seemed more sizzle than steak to me. It’s a nice idea to aggregate all your personal files by type and date, and the scrolling wall of thumbnails is pretty. But I found that it wasn’t a very good way to locate a particular file out of thousands. There is a search function, but it’s only useful if you know the name of the file, which may have little to do with its contents. I liked the software’s ability to view my photos from social-networking services, but the more general offerings of photos and videos from around the Web seemed random and better done in a browser. In one case, a section called “Featured” turned up a hard-core pornographic photo, amid pictures of puppies and sunsets. I can recommend the LifeStudio drives for local and online backup, if Hitachi follows through and fixes the “read-only” bug I encountered. As for the rest of the features, some folks may value them, and others will find them superfluous. Find Walt’s columns and videos at the All Things Digital website, walt.allthingsd.com. Email him at mossberg@wsj.com. Source: All Things Digital | 14 Jul 2010 | 7:05 pm SNES bed – for those who like sleeping alone
Even if it does come with two iPad docks and a 250-watt amplifier with four speakers (!), that’s a lot of money. If you’re into it, though, head over to Hollandia to check out the i-Con. [via Furninfo, TechEBlog, and Gearfuse]
Source: CrunchGear | 14 Jul 2010 | 7:00 pm In Five Months, FreshBooks Crosses $1 Billion In Transactions
In addition to announcing the $1 billion milestone, FreshBooks released other findings about usage on its system during the same period. The average invoice size on FreshBooks was $1,677. Users in Mexico and Sweden saw the largest invoice sizes with $4,669 and $4,423 respectively. India and Malaysia were the lowest with $414 and $406. Average invoice size for the U.S. was $919. The average time to pay an invoice on Freshbooks was 22.8 days FreshBooks says that its billings did not reach the $1 billion threshold last year until August. Launched in 2004, the startup has steadily added useful features to its billing service over the past few years, including benchmark reports on aggregated business data, an open API, and data mining from users. Competitors in the online billing space include BillMyClients and Blinksale. Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 14 Jul 2010 | 7:00 pm This ceramic electric kettle is elegant – and gorgeous
There’s something about electric kettles that’s always bothered me. Maybe it’s the sneering practicality of the things. They think they know how to boil better than me. Sure, you can do it in half the time and with far less waste, but I like my steel kettle. It might have existed a hundred years ago. Anyway, as soon as I laid eyes on this thing, my old prejudices disappeared. I want it. I want it bad. That’s ceramic! And it comes with two mugs! The price is supposedly €99, but I can’t find it on the designer’s site or at Rowenta, for whom it was designed. Ah well. I’ll just keep on boiling the normal way. [via NotCot]
Source: CrunchGear | 14 Jul 2010 | 6:30 pm Finjan Sues McAfee, Symantec Over Patent Claims (PC World)PC World - Finjan has sued five rival security companies, including Symantec and McAfee, claiming it holds crucial patents used by popular antivirus products and security services.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Jul 2010 | 6:20 pm Apple Calls A Special Press Conference For Friday, Antenna Issue Likely The Subject
Apple blog The Loop has the (basically non-existent) details right now — that it will be in California on Friday morning and about iPhone 4. A small group of press are reportedly getting the invites right now. Update: We just got the call, we’ll be there at 10 AM PT on Friday to cover it live. The big question that everyone must be wondering is if Apple will announce a recall of the iPhone 4 based on the antenna problems — which are very real. We still believe that’s pretty unlikely. That said, it’s very, very, very rare (in fact, I don’t think it has ever happened) that Apple would call a special press conference at the last second. If they didn’t have something very major to say, they’d much more likely issue a release. But with all the talk and speculation flying around out there, perhaps Apple (and CEO Steve Jobs in particular) just wants to sit people down to talk about the issue. Apple has been widely criticized for saying basically nothing about the issue beyond Jobs’ quotes that users should buy a case or hold the phone different. Apple released the first beta of the iOS 4.1 software today. As our sister site MobileCrunch noted, it does not fix the antenna issue. Instead, it simply does what Apple said it was going to do: make the signal strength indicator more accurate.      
Source: TechCrunch | 14 Jul 2010 | 6:15 pm TI expands analog production capacity with acquisition of wafer manufacturing plant in JapanDALLAS, July 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE: TXN) said today it will purchase two wafer fabs and manufacturing equipment located in Aizu-Wakamatsu, Japan. The assets currently are operated by Spansion Japan Limited (SJL) and are being acquired under a court-approved plan of reorganization. This purchase cost-effectively increases the production capacity that TI can offer its customers of analog semiconductors. It includes a 200mm wafer fab currently in operation that is capable of expanding TI's analog revenue by more than $1 billion annually, as well as a second non-operating wafer fab of equal size for either 200mm or 300mm production. TI will continue running the first fab and will preserve the second fab for future capacity expansion. TI plans to offer employment to almost all of SJL employees in Aizu. The purchase also includes 300mm production tools, many of which will be moved to Richardson, Texas, to help complete Phase II of RFAB, the industry's first 300mm analog wafer fab. With the completion of Phase II, RFAB will be capable of supporting $2 billion of revenue per year. A portion of the 300mm tools that come with the acquisition in Japan are not needed for TI's advanced analog technology processes and will be re-sold. "Analog technology is increasingly important as the vital link between the real world and digital domain in all electronic applications," said Gregg Lowe, senior vice president in charge of the company's Analog business. "This latest addition of analog capacity will further increase TI's ability to support our customers' growth, now and in the future." The new capacity in Japan joins TI's global network of manufacturing sites producing a comprehensive range of analog products, such as amplifiers, data converters, clocks, interface and power management chips. Manufacturers are using TI's analog chips in a vast array of applications, including industrial controls, set-top boxes, eBooks, hard disk drives, smartphones, robotics and LED streetlights. This acquisition is the most recent in a series of analog manufacturing expansions announced by TI over the past 24 months which collectively will add capacity for more than $3.5 billion of additional Analog revenue per year when fully operational. For more information about TI delivery capacity and analog manufacturing investments, please see www.ti.com/aizu-pr. About Texas Instruments Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) helps customers solve problems and develop new electronics that make the world smarter, healthier, safer, greener and more fun. A global semiconductor company, TI innovates through design, sales and manufacturing operations in more than 30 countries. For more information, go to www.ti.com. Trademarks All registered trademarks and other trademarks belong to their respective owners. TXN-C SOURCE Texas Instruments IncorporatedSource: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Jul 2010 | 6:05 pm Microsoft Shows Off 'Milo' Virtual Humanadeelarshad82 writes "Microsoft released a video showing off its 'virtual human' technology, named Milo, designed for the company's hands-free Xbox 360 motion controller called Kinect at TED Global in Oxford. Milo is built to react to people's emotions, body movements, and voice, allowing players to interact with the virtual character. It was built using artificial intelligence developed by Lionhead studios, along with undisclosed technology from Microsoft. According to games designer Peter Molyneux, the game exploits psychological techniques to make a person feel that Milo is real. Each Milo character will be unique because every player's interaction with the virtual character will sculpt the type of virtual person Milo will evolve to become."
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Source: Slashdot | 14 Jul 2010 | 6:04 pm As long as reviewing is a race, death grips will always go unnoticed
But it’s also worth considering that a phone, or media player, or game console, or operating system, really isn’t something you can review over a week or two. A restaurant you can review after a meal. A movie you can review after a viewing. A blog post, apparently, you can review just from the headline. But a device that’s going to be a part of your life for a year, two years, or more? Any review posted at before, at, or within a few days of launch should properly be considered a first impression. Flagship devices like mobile phones and media players remain on sale for such a long time, and are used by so many people, that a serious, comprehensive, real-life review really is necessary. Two objections immediately become apparent: What about the people who want to buy it right away, don’t they deserve some sort of judgment? and Reviewers can’t live with every device that comes their way. Fair enough. As for the reviewer: his life is a hard one. Bombarded with products, choices and sacrifices must be made to his well-being in order to effectively do his job. I myself rarely live with just one phone for more than a couple weeks, and the layout of my desk is constantly changing as new mice, keyboards, speakers, headphones, drives, and so on pass my way. Some of these can be reviewed in an afternoon, of course: an external hard drive, once tested, examined, and used for a day or two, can be reviewed with confidence. A mouse or speaker set, however, requires getting used to, and nothing less than a week or two weeks of solid use can bear fruit. And something like a phone or media player must be allowed to completely infiltrate my life before I can say a word. But to address the objection more directly: no, even a mighty reviewer like myself doesn’t have time to make a spouse of every gadget that comes my way. But I can do right by the ones that deserve it, and not make judgments where judgment should be deferred.
Systematic reviews, like those done of video cards and DPReview’s camera reviews, are self-sufficient, and provide valuable data. But not every review can or should be systematic. Sometimes, a review isn’t really even possible. Can I review an Android phone when I know the next version of the OS is coming out in a month? Can I review a media player knowing that key features are arriving in the summer? An ongoing judgment is the best, but it’s not something you can easily put in black and white. If someone asked me to review the G1 at launch, I would do so to the best of my ability, but the G1 I have is not the G1 I had at launch, and I would look back on that review guiltily, and ask people not to read it. My updated opinion is here, in my head. Ask me. As for early adopters: what can I say? You are very likely to buy the device anyway, and return it if it’s not good. The early adopter is buying based on features, not based on judgments. And early reviews are essentially just confirming those features. They do occasionally catch glaring problems, but really, their function is not to create an opinion of the product so much as to say “yes, these are the features, and yes, they work, except for this one, which doesn’t.” As an early adopter, these problems are part of the lifestyle. You love it. Unfortunately, the internet is a race. It’s better for your numbers to be first than to be complete, well-written, or even correct. The difference of a few minutes means a huge amount, and the pressure on a reviewer when given, say, the iPhone 4, is enormous. I don’t blame people for putting up reviews as fast as possible; it makes sense in a business-first sort of way, and on the web you can always update them. And in case you didn’t know, we do have PR people breathing down our necks the entire time. It’ll go up when it’s done, man! Quit emailing me! But these reviews should be given the weight they deserve and look forward to the long, opinionated reviews that really say something. Where does that leave us? Nowhere, I guess. We aren’t going to stop racing towards FIRST or penning reviews that are nothing more than a checklist of features. But this fall, when someone’s contract is coming up and they’re thinking about getting an iPhone 4, which review do you think would be more useful to them? One written day-of, in which hasty video is made of its features, or one written five months later, taking into account the updates that have occurred, any ongoing hardware issues, average return rates, new features, apps, and so on — doesn’t that sound like a review you’d like to read? Just so that this rant doesn’t appear to be completely without a point, I should say this: at CrunchGear and MobileCrunch we are cognizant of this problem with reviews, and generally try to state our purpose openly. “First impressions” or “hands-on” when it’s an early or pre-release post, and “Review” only when we feel a device has been given enough time to prove itself (or when the PR wolves are at the door).
Source: CrunchGear | 14 Jul 2010 | 6:00 pm Global PC shipments up 22 pct as businesses spend (AP)AP - Market research group IDC said Wednesday that worldwide shipments of personal computers climbed 22.4 percent in the second quarter as businesses replaced aging computers and consumers continued to show interest in inexpensive laptops.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Jul 2010 | 5:31 pm Remains of the Day: Microsoft swings and misses (Macworld.com)Macworld.com - Eventually, something will sweep away all this news of the iPhone 4 antenna problems and weâll look back on these days and laugh heartilyâprobably around the time people discover that the next Windows Mobile phone actually deletes your entire identity. Everywhere.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Jul 2010 | 5:30 pm Survey: Cloud-based iTunes streaming could be a hit (Macworld.com)Macworld.com - Thereâs been a lot of talk lately about the future of iTunes and the possibility of a subscription model coming to the iTunes Store. While we canât say for sure what the future will bring, Market research company NPD Group has done the next best thingâasking users what they want.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Jul 2010 | 5:17 pm PC sales data shows growth across the board, Asus surging
What else is going on in there? Apple shows healthy growth, but its volume is still peanuts compared with everyone else, and its share is highly concentrated in the US. I wouldn’t be surprised if Asus starts creeping up on them as the brand catches on a bit here. The enormous growth suggests that people are opening up their wallets again after a couple years of thrift. PCs are cheap (especially Asus PCs) and you’ve got to upgrade sometime. Growth isn’t always sustained, though, and this could be a blip, especially considering the international economy issues. Fortune cookie say, may you live in interesting times. All the big PC vendors sure are doing just that. More info and analysis over at IDC.
Source: CrunchGear | 14 Jul 2010 | 5:00 pm New Chinese Rule Requires Real Names Onlinecrimeandpunishment writes "According to a human rights group, a leading Chinese Internet regulator is calling for new rules requiring people to use their real names online and when buying mobile phones. New York-based 'Human Rights in China' says it has obtained the complete text of a speech Wang Chen, director of the State Council Information Office, made in April, and they quote him as saying 'We will make the Internet real name system a reality as soon as possible.'"
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Source: Slashdot | 14 Jul 2010 | 4:54 pm Microsoft could create the ultimate mobile music service - CNET
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 14 Jul 2010 | 4:53 pm Translating Wikipedia(Cross-posted from the Google Translate Blog) To help Wikipedia become more helpful to speakers of smaller languages, we’re working with volunteers, translators and Wikipedians across India, the Middle East and Africa to translate more than 16 million words for Wikipedia into Arabic, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Swahili, Tamil and Telugu. We began these efforts in 2008, starting with translating Wikipedia articles into Hindi, a language spoken by tens of millions of Internet users. At that time the Hindi Wikipedia had only 3.4 million words across 21,000 articles—while in contrast, the English Wikipedia had 1.3 billion words across 2.5 million articles. We selected the Wikipedia articles using a couple of different sets of criteria. First, we used Google search data to determine the most popular English Wikipedia articles read in India. Using Google Trends, we found the articles that were consistently read over time—and not just temporarily popular. Finally we used Translator Toolkit to translate articles that either did not exist or were placeholder articles or “stubs” in Hindi Wikipedia. In three months, we used a combination of human and machine translation tools to translate 600,000 words from more than 100 articles in English Wikipedia, growing Hindi Wikipedia by almost 20 percent. We’ve since repeated this process for other languages, to bring our total number of words translated to 16 million. We’re off to a good start but, as you can see in the graph below, we have a lot more work to do to bring the information in Wikipedia to people worldwide:  Number of non-stub Wikipedia articles by Internet users, normalized (English = 1) We presented these results last Saturday, July 10, at Wikimania 2010 in Gdańsk, Poland. We look forward to continuing to support the creation of the world’s largest encyclopedia and we can’t wait to work with Wikipedians and volunteers to create more content worldwide. Posted by Michael Galvez, Product Manager    
 Source: The Official Google Blog | 14 Jul 2010 | 4:36 pm Hulu Plus Comes Early to Sony's Playstation 3 - BusinessWeek
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 14 Jul 2010 | 4:33 pm iOS 4.1 brings a whole new look to Apple’s Game Center
Just a quick note for anyone keeping track of the changes in Apple’s iOS 4.1: Game Center, Apple’s unreleased (outside of the developer network) Xbox Live-esque gaming hub, just got a massive visual overhaul. The old skin (shown on left) was down right depressing, filled with heavy blues and endless shadows. The new one, however, is pretty gorgeous. With vibrant colors and carefully crafted textures, it reminds me of Ramp Champ — or anything else made by Iconfactory, for that matter. Though the vast majority of iPhone owners have yet to even see Game Center, I’m interested to know: Which one do you prefer — ol’ blue, or the felt-tastic new billiards theme?
Source: MobileCrunch | 14 Jul 2010 | 4:26 pm Tell-All Author Discusses Music Industry in CrisisWe all know record-label executives are more or less banshees from the fiery pits of hell, sent here to sue kids and rob artists, but have you ever spent a good chunk of time with one? In this exclusive interview, author Fred Goodman gives us the inside scoop on what makes Warner Music Group chief Edgar Bronfman Jr. tick.Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Jul 2010 | 4:23 pm Mobile Retail Firm shopkick Announces $15 Million in Series B Funding, Led by Greylock PartnersPALO ALTO, Calif., July 14 /PRNewswire/ -- shopkick (www.shopkick.com), the Silicon Valley-based "mobile meets retail" startup, today announced that the company has raised $15 million in Series B financing led by Greylock Partners. Reid Hoffman, co-founder and executive chairman at LinkedIn, and investor in Facebook and Zynga, takes his first full board seat in any investment as a Greylock Partner. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), Citi Growth Ventures & Innovation Group, and Silicon Valley angel investor SV Angel, led by Ron Conway, also participated in the round, which comes exactly one year after shopkick launched the company and closed its $5 million Series A funding from KPCB's iFund and Hoffman, who then invested as an individual. "Location-based apps at the intersection of physical retail stores and smartphones are the next big opportunity in mobile. shopkick has created an extraordinary model for consumers, retailers and brands where everyone wins," said Reid Hoffman. "shopkick will catapult location technology forward, turning offline stores into interactive worlds, and offering retailers and brands the first marketing vehicle that is entirely performance- and location-based." "To have Reid and Greylock on board for the long haul is the best birthday present we could dream of at shopkick," said shopkick Co-Founder and CEO Cyriac Roeding. "The new funding allows us to focus 100 percent of our resources on building an amazing product, expanding our partnerships with retailers and brands, and with all that, help to dramatically improve shopping for consumers in the physical retail world." shopkick will use the funding to further enhance its location-based shopping capabilities and accelerate partnership development - just in time for the release of its prime mobile retail app, shopkick, due for release this summer. "shopkick has achieved an impressive list of milestones in a short time: signed substantial partnerships with blue-chip retailers and brands like Best Buy, Macy's, Citi, Procter & Gamble and Kraft Foods; achieved significant consumer product adoption with their first app; and built a unique technology," said Matt Murphy, Partner at KPCB. "The company is poised to deliver on the promise of location-based shopping: providing real world value and utility to both businesses and consumers." shopkick's first mobile app, CauseWorld, helped prove the utility of location-based mobile technology in the shopping world. CauseWorld allows users to earn real money just by visiting a store or restaurant, and then donate the value to charity on behalf of sponsors. Since its December 2009 launch, CauseWorld has been one of the fastest growing and largest mobile retail applications in both the iPhone App Store and Google Android Market, downloaded more than 550,000 times in 5 months. CauseWorld ranked among the top 10 most popular downloads in two categories on the iPhone App Store. Since launching in December 2009, CauseWorld users, in conjunction with partners Citi, Kraft Foods and Procter & Gamble, have helped to: Provide 300,000 meals to people in the U.S.Plant 80,000 treesDonate 30,000 books for childrenOffset 4 million pounds of carbonProvide 35 million liters of clean water in developing countriesProvide $100,000 to Haiti earthquake victims through the American Red CrossAbout shopkick (www.shopkick.com) shopkick is a new Palo Alto-based startup funded by Kleiner Perkins's iFund, Greylock Partners and Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn, and investor in Facebook and Zynga. shopkick, Inc. brings the power of the mobile internet to the retail experience. shopkick launched its mobile application CauseWorld in the United States in December 2009, in partnership with Citi, Kraft Foods and Procter & Gamble. SOURCE shopkickSource: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Jul 2010 | 4:00 pm Nope, iOS 4.1 doesn’t fix the iPhone 4’s death grip antenna issue.
And now, to answer the question that’s on everyone’s mind: Does the just released iOS 4.1 update fix the iPhone 4’s death grip issue — or at least appear to? No, no it does not. At least in our testing of iOS 4.1 in its current state (intended primarily for developers to use to ensure their apps don’t break), the phone appears to drop signal just as easily as it did on OS 4.0. We’ve got a video of a quick test going up on Youtube right this second — Update: The video! It may take a moment for YouTube to finish processing, but here’s the embed so you can get at it the second its alive.
Source: MobileCrunch | 14 Jul 2010 | 3:53 pm Wireless PCIe To Enable Remote Graphics CardsJ. Dzhugashvili writes "If you read Slashdot, odds are you already know about WiGig and the 7Gbps wireless networking it promises. The people at Atheros and Wilocity are now working on an interesting application for the spec: wireless PCI Express. In a nutshell, wPCIe enables a PCI Express switch with local and remote components linked by a 60GHz connection. The first applications, which will start sampling next year, will let you connect your laptop to a base station with all kinds of storage controllers, networking controllers, and yes, an external graphics processor. wPCIe works transparently to the operating system, which only sees additional devices connected over PCI Express. And as icing on the cake, wPCie controllers will lets you connect to standard Wi-Fi networks, too."
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Source: Slashdot | 14 Jul 2010 | 3:39 pm Computer Translates Ancient LanguageA computer can decipher ancient languages that have gone unused for centuries and translate them into modern Hebrew.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 14 Jul 2010 | 3:34 pm Happiness and Sadness Spread Just Like DiseaseA new study on the spread of emotions through social networks shows that these feelings circulate in patterns similar to what's seen from epidemiological models of disease.Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Jul 2010 | 3:20 pm iOS 4.1 Beta and SDK now available to developers
3 weeks after launch, the first major update to iOS 4 has arrived — but as is par for the course, it’s for developers only at the time being. We’re downloading it right this second, and will let you know what we find. Update: Nothing too major so far. No iPad support. The achievements system for the developer preview of Game Center seems to have been disabled, presumably only temporary.
Source: MobileCrunch | 14 Jul 2010 | 3:08 pm Vonage Holdings Corp. Announces Date of Earnings Release and Conference Call for Second Quarter 2010 Financial ResultsHOLMDEL, N.J., July 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Vonage Holdings Corp. (NYSE: VG), a leading provider of high-quality voice and messaging services over broadband networks, will report its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2010 on Wednesday, August 4, 2010. The earnings release will be available on Vonage's Investor Relations website at http://ir.vonage.com. Management will host a webcast discussion of the quarter's results on Wednesday, August 4, 2010 at 10:00 AM Eastern Time. To participate, please dial (877) 359-9508 approximately ten minutes prior to the call. International callers should dial (224) 357-2393. A replay will be available approximately two hours after the conclusion of the call until midnight August 17, 2010, and may be accessed by dialing (800) 642-1687. International callers should dial (706) 645-9291. The replay passcode is: 86141131. The webcast will be broadcast live through Vonage's Investor Relations website at http://ir.vonage.com. Windows Media Player or RealPlayer is required to listen to this webcast. A replay will be available shortly after the live webcast. About Vonage Vonage (NYSE: VG) is a leading provider of high-quality voice and messaging services over broadband networks. Our award winning technology serves approximately 2.4 million subscribers. We provide feature-rich, affordable communication solutions that offer flexibility, portability and ease-of-use. Our Vonage World plan offers free unlimited calling to landline phones in all cities and locations in more than 60 countries with popular features like call waiting, call forwarding and voicemail -- for one low, flat monthly rate. Vonage's service is sold on the web and through regional and national retailers including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and is available to customers in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom. For more information about Vonage's products and services, please visit http://www.vonage.com. Vonage Holdings Corp. is headquartered in Holmdel, New Jersey. Vonage® is a registered trademark of Vonage Marketing Inc., a subsidiary of Vonage Holdings Corp. (vg-f) SOURCE Vonage Holdings Corp.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Jul 2010 | 3:00 pm Sonic Skydive's Real Aim Is To Help Astronauts Survivemattnyc99 writes "Earlier this year came reports that Felix Baumgartner (the daredevil who flew across the English Channel) would be attempting to jump from a balloon at least 120,000 feet altitude, break the sound barrier, and live. Now comes a big investigative story from Esquire's issue on achieving the impossible, which details the former NASA team dedicated to making sure Baumgartner's Stratos project will instruct the future safety of manned space flight (including Jonathan Clark, the husband of an astronaut who died in the Columbia disaster). From the article (which also includes pics and video shot by the amateur space photographer we've discussed here before): "that's also precisely what makes Stratos great. It's more like Mercury than the shuttle: They're taking risks, making things up as they go along. But they're also doing important work, potentially groundbreaking work. They're doing what NASA no longer has the balls to do. Hell, he'd do it for free. He is doing it for free. Stratos only picks up his travel expenses. Clark looks at his friend, shrugs. 'This is new space.'""
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Source: Slashdot | 14 Jul 2010 | 2:54 pm Your Feces Is a Wonderland of Virusessciencehabit writes "Thanks to an anlaysis of fecal samples from four sets of Missouri-born female identical twins and their mothers, researchers have concluded that human guts harbor viruses as unique as the people they inhabit; the viral lineup differs even between identical twins. Even more surprising? These viruses may be doing good work inside of us."
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Source: Slashdot | 14 Jul 2010 | 2:30 pm SMTC Corporation Schedules Second Quarter ResultsTORONTO, July 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - SMTC Corporation (Nasdaq: SMTX) (TSX: SMX), a global electronics manufacturing services (EMS) provider, has scheduled its second quarter results teleconference. The teleconference will be held on Thursday, August 5, 2010 at 5:00 p.m. EDT. Those wishing to listen to the teleconference should access the webcast at the investor relations section of SMTC's website www.smtc.com. A rebroadcast of the webcast will be available on SMTC's website following the teleconference. Participants should ensure that they have a current version of Microsoft Windows Media Player before accessing the webcast. Members of the investment community wishing to ask questions during the teleconference may access the teleconference by dialing 647-427-7450 or 1-888-231-8191 ten minutes prior to the scheduled start time. A rebroadcast will be available following the teleconference by dialing 416-849-0833 or 1-800-642-1687 pass code 87142217. About SMTC Corporation: SMTC Corporation, founded in 1985, is a mid-size provider of end-to-end electronics manufacturing services (EMS) including PCBA production, systems integration and comprehensive testing services, enclosure fabrication, as well as product design, sustaining engineering and supply chain management services. SMTC facilities span a broad footprint in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and a partnering relationship in China, with over 1,500 full time employees. SMTC services extend over the entire electronic product life cycle from the development and introduction of new products through to the growth, maturity and end-of-life phases. SMTC offers fully integrated contract manufacturing services with a distinctive approach to global original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and emerging technology companies primarily within industrial, computing and communication market segments. SMTC is a public company incorporated in Delaware with its shares traded on the Nasdaq National Market System under the symbol SMTX and on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol SMX. For further information on SMTC Corporation, please visit our website at www.smtc.com (http://www.smtc.com/) Note for Investors: The statements contained in this release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements which involve risk and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. These statements may be identified by their use of forward-looking terminology such as "believes", "expect", "may", "should", "would", "will", "intends", "plans", "estimates", "anticipates" and similar words, and include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the expectations, intentions or strategies of SMTC Corporation. For these statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements provisions contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ from forward-looking statements include the challenges of managing quickly expanding operations and integrating acquired companies, fluctuations in demand for customers' products and changes in customers' product sources, competition in the EMS industry, component shortages, and others discussed in the Company's most recent filings with securities regulators in the United States and Canada. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are made as of the date hereof and the Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. SOURCE SMTC CorporationSource: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Jul 2010 | 2:30 pm Inside Poop: People Have Friendly Gut VirusesIt's not just the bugs in our guts that are surprisingly friendly. It's our viruses, too.Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Jul 2010 | 2:24 pm Microsoft exec: iPhone 4 may be Apple’s Vista – perhaps, but show me Microsoft’s iPhone
I’ll tell you what, Microsoft. I’m going to give you this one. The criticism is deserved, after all — the iPhone 4 may in fact be Apple’s Vista in a way. But you don’t get to say that. Because if you do, someone might point out that Microsoft has never put out a single product that has so completely fascinated the consumer world as the iPhone. And chances are you never will. It’s better to have a Vista of an iPhone than to never have an iPhone to begin with.
Source: MobileCrunch | 14 Jul 2010 | 2:21 pm ISSI Announces Fiscal Third Quarter 2010 Quarterly Conference CallSAN JOSE, Calif., July 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Integrated Silicon Solution, Inc. (Nasdaq: ISSI) today announced that it has scheduled its regularly held quarterly conference call for Tuesday, July 27, 2010 at 1:30 p.m. Pacific time to discuss the Company's financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2010. To access ISSI's conference call via telephone, dial 888-233-8128 before 1:20 p.m. Pacific time on July 27, 2010. The participant pass code is 4629920. The call will also be webcast from ISSI's website at http://www.issi.com. About the Company ISSI is a fabless semiconductor company that designs and markets high performance integrated circuits for the following key markets: (i) digital consumer electronics, (ii) networking, (iii) mobile communications, (iv) automotive electronics, and (v) industrial. The Company's primary products are high speed and low power SRAM and low and medium density DRAM. Through its Giantec business unit, the Company also designs and markets EEPROM, SmartCards and analog power management devices focused on its key markets. ISSI is headquartered in Silicon Valley with worldwide offices in Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, China, Europe, Hong Kong, India, and Korea. Visit our web site at http://www.issi.com. SOURCE Integrated Silicon Solution, Inc.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Jul 2010 | 2:15 pm Report: Teens Using Digital Drugs to Get HighTeens are getting high on special MP3s, and the authorities are taking a hard look at the so-called "digital drugs," fearing they will lead to harder stuff.Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Jul 2010 | 2:14 pm More Blood Through Science?Engineering blood from stem cells could make traditional blood donations a thing of the past.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 14 Jul 2010 | 2:00 pm NSA Executive Leaked After Official Reporting Process Failed HimA former NSA official accused of leaking classified info to a journalist did so only after official reporting avenues failed him.Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Jul 2010 | 2:00 pm Apes, Old World Monkeys May Have Split Later Than ThoughtA slope-faced, big-toothed creature from the distant past inspires scientists to recalibrate the ancient evolutionary split between apes and Old World monkeys.Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Jul 2010 | 2:00 pm System 96E Getting Tropically OrganizedSystem 96E appears to be getting organized, and that's apparent in the latest visible imagery from the GOES-11 satellite.The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite known as GOES-11 keeps a watchful eye over the western U.S. and that includes the Eastern Pacific Ocean. The latest visible image from the GOES-11 satellite was captured on July 13 at 1500 UTC (11 a.m. EDT) and shows System 96E as a circular area of clouds and showers off the southwestern coast of Mexico. It is located about 300 miles south of Manzanillo, Mexico. That puts its center near 14.3 North and 104.0 West.GOES is operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NASA's GOES Project, located at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. creates some of the satellite images from the GOES satellites.System 96E's showers and thunderstorms are concentrated around its small low pressure center. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami, Fla. noted today, July 13 that "Environmental conditions are expected to become more conducive for development of this disturbance over the next couple of days as it moves west-northwestward at 10 to 15 mph."The NHC gives System 96E a 50% chance of becoming a tropical depression in the next 48 hours. If System 96E does become a depression and then strengthens into a tropical storm, it would be named "Estelle."---Image Caption: This visible image on July 13 at 1500 UTC (11 a.m. EDT) from the GOES-11 satellite shows System 96E's circular area of clouds and showers off the southwestern coast of Mexico. Credit: NASA/GOES Project---On the Net:NASA/Goddard Space Flight CenterSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Jul 2010 | 1:30 pm Tropical Storm Conson Now In South China SeaNASA satellite imagery confirmed that Tropical Storm Conson is departing the Philippines and is almost entirely in the South China Sea.At 1500 UTC (10 a.m. EDT/10 p.m. local Asia/Manila time) on July 14, Tropical Storm Conson was located about 225 nautical miles west-northwest of Manila, the Philippines. That places Conson's center near 16.3 North and 116.9 East. Conson had maximum sustained winds near 50 knots (57 mph) and was moving west-northwest near 12 knots (14 mph). Conson is generating maximum wave heights of 15 feet in the South China Sea.The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured a visible image of Tropical Storm Conson in the South China Sea on July 13 at 540 UTC (1:40 a.m. EDT/1:40 p.m. local Asia/Manila time). Conson is being battered by strong vertical wind shear at about 30 knots (34 mph) and the visible imagery shows that Conson no longer has the tropical cyclone signature rounded shape. For a time, Conson's center was fully exposed to winds but it has re-developed. Most of the strongest convection (rapidly rising air that forms thunderstorms) remained south of the partially exposed low-level center.The Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecasts that Conson "should make landfall near Zhanjiang, China near 16/18z (July 16 at 1800 Zulu Time, or 2 p.m. EDT). Conson is expected to maintain intensity over the next day and then begin weakening before it makes landfall.---Image Caption: NASA's Aqua satellite captured a visible image of Tropical Storm Conson in the South China Sea on July 13 at 1:40 a.m. EDT. Conson is being battered by strong vertical wind shear which is evident here because Conson no longer has the tropical cyclone signature rounded shape. Credit: NASA Goddard/MODIS Rapid Response Team---On the Net:NASA/Goddard Space Flight CenterSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Jul 2010 | 1:28 pm Noninvasive Probing Of Geological Core SamplesOil and natural gas companies rely upon geological core analyses to help them understand and evaluate oil and gas reserves. A rock sample can reveal myriad details about a geological structure's formation, content, and history.Conductivity, a material's ability to carry an electrical current, is one of the most useful measurements of core samples. The conductivity of a geological formation depends on the direction of measurement, so it's considered "anisotropic.""Anisotropy is usually the result of many thin layers of oil-bearing sandstone rocks sandwiched between thin shale layers, which form a laminate structure that may be tens to thousands of feet thick and contain a large amount of oil," explains John Kickhofel, a research scientist. In anisotropic layers of the Earth, the conductivity in one direction is different from that of others.Tools to measure a core sample's electrical anisotropy have been sadly lacking, says Kickhofel. To solve this problem, he and colleagues at the company Schlumberger found inspiration in a type of logging technology currently used by the modern oil industry. They created a device capable of noninvasively measuring electrical conductivity -- a device they describe in the journal Review of Scientific Instruments, which is published by the American Institute of Physics."We designed a probe that uses a core from the formations and measures its electrical anisotropy without destroying the core," Kickhofel says. "This device can make continuous measurements on cores that are hundreds or thousands of feet long."Cores are valuable because they provide firsthand information about the structure and nature of rock layers and need to be preserved for future reference. "It's very important to preserve the cores, and the new device provides a way to do this. We can't overstate the value of such a measurement to the oil industry in an era when most fields are in decline -- yet the world's demand for oil and gas continues to skyrocket," adds Kickhofel.---On the Net:American Institute of PhysicsSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Jul 2010 | 1:15 pm Rainbow Trapping In Light PulsesOver the past decade, scientists have succeeded in slowing pulses of light down to zero speed by letting separate frequency components of the pulse conspire in such a way that a receptive medium through which the pulse is passing can host the information stored in the pulse but not actually absorb the pulse's energy. Trapping light means either stopping the light temporally or confining the light in space. Scientists have also been able to trap a light pulse in a tiny enclosure bounded by metamaterials; the light pulse retains its form but is kept from moving away.Previously only light of a short frequency interval could be trapped in this way. Now a group of scientists at Nanjing University in China have shown how a rather wide spectrum of light -- a rainbow of radiation -- can be trapped in a single structure. They propose to do this by sending the light rays into a self-similar-structured dielectric waveguide (SDW) -- essentially a light pipe with a cladding of many layers. Light of different colors propagates separately in (or is contained within) different layers, the layers each being tailored by color. They replace the conventional periodically-spaced, identical cladding layers with a non-periodic, self-similar pattern of successive layers made from two materials, A and B, with slightly different thicknesses and indices of refraction. Self similarity, in this case, means that the pattern of layers successively outwards would be as follows: A, AB, ABBA, ABBABAAB, and so forth."The effect might be applied for on-chip spectroscopy or on-chip 'color-sorters,'" says Ruwen Peng, one of the Nanjing researchers. "It might also be used for photon processing and information transport in optical communications and quantum computing." Peng and her associates, who published their results in the American Institute of Physics' journal Applied Physics Letters, expect that they can create trapped "rainbows" for light in many portions of the electromagnetic spectrum, including microwave, terahertz, infrared, and even visible. ---On the Net:American Institute of PhysicsSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Jul 2010 | 1:14 pm Moving Polymers Through PoresThe movement of long chain polymers through nanopores is a key part of many biological processes, including the transport of RNA, DNA, and proteins. New research reported in The Journal of Chemical Physics, which is published by the American Institute of Physics, describes an improved theoretical model for this type of motion.The new model addresses both cylindrical pores and tapering pores that simulate the α–hemolysin membrane channel. "Current models do not take into account the motion of the polymer inside the pore," says author Anatoly Kolomeisky of Rice University. "The leading monomer can move back and forth many times before it finally crosses the line to the other side of the membrane. Not accounting for this behavior introduces errors into predictions."By improving the boundary conditions for polymer movement inside the pore, researchers demonstrated a significant increase in total time in the pore compared to earlier models. In modeling a tapering pore, they confirmed that translocation occurs faster when the polymer enters the wide side of the pore.Possible technological applications include advances in DNA sequencing and the development of biosensors using membranes. "To design an effective sensor, it is essential to understand what you are observing and how the molecule reaches the detector," says Kolomeisky. ---On the Net:American Institute of PhysicsJournal of Chemical PhysicsSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Jul 2010 | 1:07 pm LogMeIn Ignition lands on Android
When it comes to remotely controlling your computer from your Android phone, there’s no shortage of solutions. Heck, many of’em are even free. The downside? They generally require a bit of technical know-how to get up and running, with little obstacles like dynamic IPs and router firewalls gunking things up. Back in 2008, LogMeIn launched an iPhone app called LogMeIn Ignition, which promised to do away with the chunkified setup process, support Macs/PCs, and offer a smoother experience than that found through alternatives like VNC. Today, LogMeIn is announced that they’ve successfully ported that app to the lil’ green bot, pulled it out of Beta, and launched it into the Android Market. At $30 bucks, it doesn’t come cheap — but if it’s anywhere near as slick as the iPhone app, it’s probably worth it.
Source: MobileCrunch | 14 Jul 2010 | 1:04 pm Premium Shazam App Hits Android
It has introduced a premium version of its app called Shazam Encore for $5 on the Android Market. The paid version of the app went live Tuesday evening. That means Android users who now download the free version will get a seven-day premium trial, and if they don’t upgrade at the end of that they will be limited to identifying and tagging just five songs a month. Shazam hit prime time when it launched its app on the Apple App store in 2008. Since then it has gained 15 million users on the iPhone aone and has 75 million users overall. In November 2009, Shazam introduced the paid version of its app for iPhone users. The premium version offers unlimited tagging of music and recommendations that suggest other music similar to the track that’s been tagged. Users who downloaded and used the free app before the introduction of the paid version will continue to get all the features they had, including unlimited access. It’s a smart move on Shazam’s part to keep its existing users happy, while trying to make money off its product. Photo: (Htwo/Flickr) 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 14 Jul 2010 | 12:58 pm Fossil Links Apes, MonkeysA slope-faced, big-toothed creature from the distant past reveals much about the ancient evolutionary split between apes and Old World monkeys.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 14 Jul 2010 | 12:37 pm Brainy 'Revolver' Darts Between Alternate RealitiesIn Matt Kindt's compelling new graphic novel, a working stiff shifts like clockwork between his dead-end job and a heroic mission in an alternate world filled with hot lead, bombs and other lethal distractions.Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Jul 2010 | 11:53 am Verizon to prep activation systems for 4G devices
Verizon’s already gone on record saying that their LTE network will go live by the end of this year, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that people would – y’know – want to use 4G handsets by then. Thanks to a tipster over at BGR, it looks like Verizon is finally getting ready to upgrade their activations systems to accept and provision 4G devices. So what does that mean for the myriad cell phone peddlers out there? Not much. References to a phone’s ESN or MEID will be removed in employee-facing systems like eROES, in favor of the more generic “Device ID”. A pretty minor change perhaps, but it does at least show that Verizon is making sure everything is good to go by the time their network lights up. Hopefully this means we can start bathing in LTE signal sooner rather than later, but only time (or a timely leak) will tell.
Source: MobileCrunch | 14 Jul 2010 | 11:11 am Big Baby Star Spotted in Dusty WombScientists have taken a picture of a huge baby star cocooned in a disk of dust, the first observational evidence in a 20-year debate about whether massive stars form the same way as smaller, sun-like stars.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 14 Jul 2010 | 11:07 am Tigers Facing Global ExtinctionJust 3,200 tigers are thought to be left in the wild. WWF is organizing a global campaign, Tx2, to pull the animals back from the brink of extinction.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 14 Jul 2010 | 10:56 am Virgin’s Red Glove Service program makes us yearn for Canada
That’s right, one of the world’s most successful businessmen has been reduced to mere delivery work. While future recipients won’t be quite as lucky to have Richard Branson show up on their doorsteps, Virgin’s Red Glove service means that replacement phones are delivered and set up on the spot by trained Virgin employees. It’s potentially a huge leap forward for customer service, but only time will tell if the benefits outweigh the (probably sizable) costs. Unfortunately for all of us Yankee butterfingers, the pilot program has only been rolled out in Toronto, so we’ll just have to be a bit more careful in the meantime. [via IntoMobile]
Source: MobileCrunch | 14 Jul 2010 | 10:50 am Medici Family Cold Case Finally SolvedMalaria, not murder, was responsible for the deaths of two members of the clan that dominated the Florentine Renaissance.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 14 Jul 2010 | 10:35 am Taliban Training Monkey Terrorists?Is the Taliban in Afghanistan training monkeys to use machine guns and trench mortars against U.S. military forces?Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 14 Jul 2010 | 10:10 am The Curious Case of the Flying BarnaclesBarnacles native to West Africa are showing up in Scandanavia. Researchers think they flew there.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 14 Jul 2010 | 10:05 am Google Books goes DutchIn recent months, I’ve got to know a group of people in the Hague who are working on an ambitious project to make the rich fabric of Dutch cultural and political history as widely accessible as possible - via the Internet. That team is from the National Library of the Netherlands, the Koninklijke Bibliotheek (KB), and as of today, we’ll be working in partnership to add to the library’s own extensive digitisation efforts. We’ll be scanning more than 160,000 of its public domain books, and making this collection available globally via Google Books. The library will receive copies of the scans so that they can also be viewed via the library’s website. And significantly for Europe, the library also plans to make the digitised works available via Europeana, Europe’s cultural portal. The books we’ll be scanning constitute nearly the library’s entire collection of out-of-copyright books, written during the 18th and 19th centuries. The collection covers a tumultuous period of Dutch history, which saw the establishment of the country’s constitution and its parliamentary democracy. Anyone interested in Dutch history will be able to access and view a fascinating range of works by prominent Dutch thinkers, statesmen, poets and academics and gain new insights into the development of the Netherlands as a nation state. This is the third agreement we've announced in Europe this year, following our projects with the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and the Austrian National Library. The Dutch national library is already well underway with its own ambitious scanning programme, which will eventually see all of its Dutch books, newspapers and periodicals from 1470 onwards being made available online. By any measure, this is a huge task, requiring significant resources, and we’re pleased to be able to help the library accelerate towards its goal of making all Dutch books accessible anywhere in the world, at the click of a mouse. It's exciting to note just how many libraries and cultural ministries are now looking to preserve and improve access to their collections by bringing them online. Much of humanity's cultural, historical, scientific and religious knowledge, collected and curated over centuries, sits in Europe's libraries, and its great to see that we are all striving towards the same goal of improving access to knowledge for all. Google and other technology companies have an important role to play in achieving this goal, and we hope that by partnering with major European cultural institutions such as the Dutch national library, we will be able to accelerate the rapid growth of Europe's digital library. Posted by Philippe Colombet, Strategic Partnership Development Manager   
 Source: The Official Google Blog | 14 Jul 2010 | 9:48 am Apple Stock Drops 7 Percent Since iPhone 4; Analysts UnfazedWall Street has not been kind to Apple in the days since the iPhone 4 was released in late June, although analysts say demand for the devices remains strong despite reports of an antenna malfunction.Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Jul 2010 | 9:11 am Hands-On With the Quad-Sync LumoPro Flash
For the last couple of weeks I have been testing out the low-cost LP160 camera-flash. The successor to the LP120, the flash is designed for full manual control, and can be triggered pretty much any way you like. The strobe is aimed at Strobists, photographers who use small, off camera flashes in manual mode to get amazing, creative results. For a full spec list, check out the preview from last month. The short form is this: The flash-head spins almost 360-degrees and tilts up 90-degrees (and down by seven-degrees). There’s a slave sensor on the front, and – in addition to on/off and test buttons – zoom, slave and power-output buttons on the back. The quad-sync part of the name comes from the triggering methods: hot-shoe, PC-sync cable, 3.5mm jack cable and slave. The hard-wired methods all work as expected (although you’ll want to use the 3.5mm jack as the cables are cheaper and the plugs don’t fall out – a design problem with all PC-sync cords). The real power is in that slave mode. The front-mounted slave unit watches for another flash and fires its own lamp. This can be hit or miss but in regular daylight (not full, midday sun) the LP160 hits it pretty much every time. The shot above, for instance, is taken with a Panasonic GF1. The built-in flash is the trigger, but to keep it from adding light to the photograph, I blocked it with a white card. Enough light bounced around the room to trigger the LumoPro for every exposure. The slave has two modes. One is what you’d expect – it sees a flash and fires. The second, reached by sliding the switch across one more notch, is called Si. This is for use with compact cameras, and will ignore any pre-flashes. I tried it with the red-eye setting switched on on the GF1 and it worked great. The other buttons control the zoom motor (24-105mm), which lets you change the concentration of the beam, and the power output. This goes from full power, or 1/1, down to 1/64. This, aside from all the other functions, is what you need to do manual photography. You just hit the button to cycle through the levels, and a red LED shows you what is selected. Build quality is ok. The plastic is lightweight but flexible, so although it isn’t as solid as a Nikon speedlight, it shouldn’t shatter on impact. Would I buy one? Sure. At $160, it is in range of most photographers, and it works as it should. There are no frills, but a lot of thought has gone into what features have been added. And at the price, you can buy a clutch of LumoPros for the price of one Nikon SB900. LP160 Quad-sync Manual Flash [LumoPro. Thanks, Moishe!] LumoPro LP160: Quad Sync v.2.0 [Strobist] See Also:
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Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 14 Jul 2010 | 8:25 am CIA Helped AWOL Nuke Scientist Make YouTube Vid: ReportShahram Amiri, the long-missing Iranian nuclear scientist, is headed back to Tehran. But, as a State Department spokesman once joked, he'll forever live on YouTube. And maybe the CIA helped make sure of it.Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Jul 2010 | 8:24 am AndroLib gets a makeover, estimates over 1 billion Android apps downloaded so far
AndroLib, the website that enables you to browse and discover apps for your Android phone far better than the Android Market site does, has gotten a makeover and a bunch of new features today. Sure, it's still not going to win any web design contests any time soon, but the revamp makes the site a ton more useful as far as I'm concerned.
AndroLib has also updated and expanded its statistics page, pegging the number of available Android apps at around 85,000 in total, and estimating that a whopping 1 billion apps have been downloaded to Android handsets around the world to date.
Source: MobileCrunch | 14 Jul 2010 | 8:06 am Paddy Power: Odds are that Apple will recall the iPhone 4 because of antenna problem
Are you the gambling type? Paddy Power, the famous, Ireland-based bookmaker, now has it at 4/6 that Apple will recall the iPhone 4. (The opposite, that Apple won’t recall the iPhone 4, is at 11/10.) That’s as of 8:00am ET, at least. Now, will Apple actually do the unthinkable and recall the device? I would be shocked if that happened, to be honest. A more likely scenario would be that Apple will provide a bumper or case to anyone who asks for one, totally for free. That’s the very least the company should do, right? To say that there’s not a problem with the design of the iPhone 4 after so many people have shown, over and over again, that a problem exists, well, what can you say? This doesn’t mean that every single iPhone 4 user will experience a problem, but it’s not as if there’s a cabal of people, Consumer Reports included, who are conspiring to bring down Apple.
Source: MobileCrunch | 14 Jul 2010 | 8:00 am Velocity Micro Introduces $300 Android TabletThe Velocity Micro Cruz will be one of the first Android-based tablets to hit the market when it comes out September 1. We've got the details.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 14 Jul 2010 | 7:00 am Velocity Cruz Android Tablet: 7-Inch Display, $300Until now, the iPad has faced almost no competition. Soon, though, the Android and WebOS tablets will start to ship in bulk, and things may change. Amongst the first will be Velocity Micro’s Cruz lineup, which brings a wide-screen (16:9) tablet running Google’s Android OS for just $300. It’s not the first Android tablet (the underwhelming, underpowered Archos 7 holds that distinction) but the Cruz is the first you might seriously consider buying. It comes from Velocity Micro, a company that makes notebooks and desktops but is probably best known for its high-end gaming PCs. The touchscreen Cruz is flanked by an e-reader and a “kid-friendly” (read: drop-resistant) model, which come in at $200 and $150 respectively. The Cruz tablet looks a bit like a cut-down iPad. It has 802.11n Wi-Fi, 800 x 480 pixels on the little 7-inch screen, 4-GB storage (expandable via SD-card, with an 8-GB card in the box), an accelerometer, a seven-hour battery-life and (oh Lord, can it be true?) a USB port. The Cruz is essentially a slab of screen, which is just what a tablet should be. As such, it will succeed or fail based on its software, which is Apple’s big advantage, and also on battery life. The seven-inch screen seems like a great idea — for some, the iPad is too big — but the 16:9 ratio is a little odd for a device that can be used in portrait orientation. Velocity Micro confuses the customer with the other options. For $100 less ($200), you can opt for the 4:3 “e-reader” which is essentially the same tablet with less memory (none built-in, 2-GB card in the box), slower Wi-Fi (802.11g) and a 800 x 600 display (yes, more pixels, but not capacitive, demoed above). The tablets all ship Sept. 1, just six weeks away. Once we get them in our hands, we’ll see how they measure up to the iPad. Cruz Tablets [Cruz Reader via Richmond Times Dispatch] Press release [Engadget] See Also:
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Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 14 Jul 2010 | 6:57 am Sony NEX Camcorder Revealed: SLR Sensor in $2,000 Package
A new camcorder from Sony lets movie-makers use SLR lenses to shoot pro-level footage for just $2,000. The NEX-VG10 uses the same APS-C sensor as the NEX mirrorless line-up, and also uses their E lens-mount, Sony’s equivalent of the compact micro-four-thirds format. With an adapter, you can also use any of Sony’s Alpha mount lenses. This is pretty big news. The recent buzz has been all about video-shooting DSLRs, with their big chips and fast lenses giving movie-camera-like results on the cheap. The SLR form-factor, though, is less than ideal for movies, as is the (sometimes artificially) short length of clips allowed. The NEX-VG10 is all about shooting movies (although it can also snap 14MP stills). You get 1080i (not the superior 1080p) at 60 frames-per-second (50 fps in Europe, and apparently no option to use the cinema-standard 24p). Footage is recorded onto a Sony Memory Stick or SD-card in AVCHDTM format. Sound comes in via a Quad Capsule Spatial Array Stereo Microphone (sound from four mics is combined to make a stereo mix) or through an external socket, and the LCD screen has a sharp 921,000-dot resolution. Sony hasn’t left out stills shooters, though. There is even an external flash included in the box. You’ll be limited to JPEG photos, though: there is no RAW capability. It looks like a good deal, although a read of the spec-sheet shows that the differences between movie and stills cameras is rather arbitrary: the sensors, image processors and lenses are all the same. The only real difference is hardware shape, and the switching off of features like RAW in software. That lack of 1080p is also a rather big omission, and one that might keep this out of the hands of the serious movie-makers. The camera will be available to buy in September, and ships with the image-stabilized E18-200mm ƒ3.5-6.3 lens. Sony NEX Store [Sony Style] Press release [Photography Bay] See Also:
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Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 14 Jul 2010 | 6:22 am 3-D: Coming Soon to a Cellphone Near You
If 3-D in movies make you sick and 3-D TVs seem out of this world for your living room, consider a 3-D cellphone. It’s not that far-fetched. Nintendo has already debuted the Nintendo 3DS, a handheld game console that sports a 3.5-inch 3-D display — about the same size as modern smartphones. With fast graphics processing capabilities and a screen technology that can produce 3-D effects without requiring consumers to wear any special glasses, cellphones might just be the latest frontier for the third dimension. “One hundred percent of handset manufacturers are evaluating 3-D behind the scenes,” says James Bower, president of MasterImage 3-D, a Burbank, California, company that makes 3-D displays. “Everyone wants a glasses-free 3-D experience. The first 3-D cellphone could be available in the United States next year, he says. As cellphone processors become more powerful and telecom carriers introduce 4G networks capable of transporting more data, 3-D could charm consumers who are looking for more entertainment and functionality from their handheld devices. Last year, Japanese wireless carrier KDDI started selling the first commercially available 3-D cellphone, called the Hitachi Woo. More than 300,000 devices were sold in in just a few weeks. The Woo’s 3-D display, powered by masterImage, uses a parallax barrier, a layer that’s placed over an LCD screen to help produce the feeling of depth by directing slightly different images to each eye. “We can create a 3-D experience in pretty much any kind of screen including LCD and OLED,” says Bowers. 3-D films such as Avatar and Alice in Wonderland have sparked consumer interest in the format. Most major TV makers including Sony, LG, Panasonic and Mitsubishi have started selling 3-D TVs. ESPN launched a 3-D channel in time for the football World Cup. Even PC makers have hopped on to the trend with the launch of computers with 3-D displays.
Gadget Lab got a chance to play with the Hitachi Woo. The Woo has a flip-out screen so when opened it looks a lot like a small portable DVD player. Some 3-D content, such as clips from the Shrek movie and a video of bubbles floating in air offered a better 3-D experience than, say, a music video. Overall, the 3-D effect on the Woo’s 3-inch display isn’t eye-popping in the same way as on a TV screen or as enveloping as in a movie theater. But it is real and and it works. It’s convenient because you don’t need glasses to view the 3-D effect. A button on the keyboard lets you switch back to the standard 2-D view so you can scroll through the user interface on the device. The downside: The videos seemed dull and the display didn’t have the intensity you can expect to see with a Nexus One or the iPhone. Watching 3-D clips on the device after a minute or so also made me want to look away from the screen. MasterImage’s 3-D technology that’s used in the Woo is similar to what display maker Sharp has created for Nintendo’s 3DS Portable. Both use the concept of a parallax barrier. A layer of material with a number of small, precise slits is placed on top of a display. The slits direct light from each image slightly differently creating a “sweet spot” that can range from 12 inches to 20 inches in front of the screen. At the sweet spot, the brain sees two slightly offset images that it can use to create a composite with the perception of depth. MasterImage says the 3-D layer adds about $10 to $15 to the overall bill of materials for the phone. “Only one person who’s holding the phone can see the 3-D effect,” says Bowers, “but we have created a good sweet spot so there’s no struggling to find the the right position.” That doesn’t mean the results are perfect, but it’s good enough to experience 3-D without requiring cumbersome glasses or extremely sophisticated technology. But the ease of use comes at a price. Adding a layer on top of the LCD or OLED screen reduces brightness by up to 50 percent and resolution by almost the same number. Bowers says the additional information that the brain perceives because of depth helps make up for some of that. “Technically you are losing resolution but psychologically you are gaining a lot more information,” he says. See Also:
Photo: Stefan Armijo/Wired.com 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 14 Jul 2010 | 6:00 am Bing gains market share in search - BBC News
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 14 Jul 2010 | 5:31 am Rock Out: Fingerist Turns iPhone into Guitar
The Fingerist is a $150 iPhone holder that makes you look even more like an idiot when you pretend to play guitar. The little box has a slot into which you slide the phone. You then fire up your favorite music-playing app (a virtual guitar or keyboard, for example) and commence to play (what I believe the kids refer to as “rocking out”). Because of its size, and two metal nubbins to connect a strap, the Fingerist makes the experience a little more like holding a guitar, and a little less like strumming a slab of glass and metal. For that $150 (the price of an actual cheap electric guitar) you also get a 3-watt built-in speaker (3 AA batteries required) and a line-out socket to hook it up to an amp. I suppose that it could be fun as a novelty, but the still-tiny size means that when playing, you’ll always look like you’re performing hammer-ons up at the top of the fretboard, which is the guitar equivalent of crossing your arms at the wrists whilst playing air-drums. Despite this, I love the retro, blocky faux-wood design. It would make a great iPhone speaker dock, too, without all the guitar-playing shenanigans. Fingerist [Evenno via Uncrate] See Also:
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Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 14 Jul 2010 | 5:27 am ITape Solves iPhone 4 Antenna Troubles
Stuck with one of those non-magical iPhone 4s? Sad that, despite the beautiful retina display, the faster internet speeds, the longer battery life and the 5MP camera, you might experience a drop in signal strength when you hold it wrong? Then iTape is for you. This innovative roll of Scotch-tape will boost the signal of an iPhone 4 when slapped over the problematic bottom-left corner of the antenna-band. In fact, the tape is simply a roll bought from the hardware store and put up on Ebay, along with the fancy picture above. The seller, Jason Nolasco, isn’t trying to scam you: All proceeds from this practical joke go to the American Cancer Society (or so it says on the Ebay listing). Even if you aren’t interested in a $3.50 roll of iTape, you should check out the page just to see the great spoof slideshow detailing its features. Black available now, white shipping in July (har har). iTape – The iPhone 4 Antenna Signal Booster [Ebay via Twitter and Cult of Mac] See Also:
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Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 14 Jul 2010 | 4:49 am Our commitment to the digital humanities(Cross-posted on the Google Research Blog) A wide range of digitization efforts have been pursued with increasing success over the past decade. We’re proud of our own Google Books digitization effort, having scanned over 12 million books in more than 400 languages, comprising over five billion pages and two trillion words. But digitization is just the starting point: it will take a vast amount of work by scholars and computer scientists to analyze these digitized texts. In particular, humanities scholars are starting to apply quantitative research techniques for answering questions that require examining thousands or millions of books. This style of research complements the methods of many contemporary humanities scholars, who have individually achieved great insights through in-depth reading and painstaking analysis of dozens or hundreds of texts. We believe both approaches have merit, and that each is good for answering different types of questions. Here are a few examples of inquiries that benefit from a computational approach. Shouldn’t we be able to characterize Victorian society by quantifying shifts in vocabulary—not just of a few leading writers, but of every book written during the era? Shouldn’t it be easy to locate electronic copies of the English and Latin editions of Hobbes’ Leviathan, compare them and annotate the differences? Shouldn’t a Spanish reader be able to locate every Spanish translation of “The Iliad”? Shouldn’t there be an electronic dictionary and grammar for the Yao language? We think so. Funding agencies have been supporting this field of research, known as the digital humanities, for years. In particular, the National Endowment for the Humanities has taken a leadership role, having established an Office of Digital Humanities in 2007. NEH chairman Jim Leach says: "In the modern world, access to knowledge is becoming as central to advancing equal opportunity as access to the ballot box has proven to be the key to advancing political rights. Few revolutions in human history can match the democratizing consequences of the development of the web and the accompanying advancement of digital technologies to tap this accumulation of human knowledge." Likewise, we’d like to see the field blossom and take advantage of resources such as Google Books that are becoming increasingly available. We’re pleased to announce that Google has committed nearly a million dollars to support digital humanities research over the next two years. Google’s Digital Humanities Research Awards will support 12 university research groups with unrestricted grants for one year, with the possibility of renewal for an additional year. The recipients will receive some access to Google tools, technologies and expertise. Over the next year, we’ll provide selected subsets of the Google Books corpus—scans, text and derived data such as word histograms—to both the researchers and the rest of the world as laws permit. (Our collection of ancient Greek and Latin books is a taste of corpora to come.) We've given awards to 12 projects led by 23 researchers at 15 universities:
Posted by Jon Orwant, Engineering Manager for Google Books, Magazines and Patents   
 Source: The Official Google Blog | 14 Jul 2010 | 4:45 am Facebook Sued For 84% Ownership Stake - InformationWeek
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 14 Jul 2010 | 4:29 am Iron Man Contest Winner Puts Internet in Desk-LampQuick: Who is the most brilliant inventor of the last century? Einstein? Nah. He just worked out why clocks run slow. Tony Stark, on the other hand, built a mobile fighting suit whilst trapped in a cave. So when Audi ran a contest to promote its R8 car, it naturally picked Iron Man as inspiration. The winner of “The Tony Stark Innovation Challenge” is MIT Graduate Student Natan Linder. His invention: he put the internet inside a table-lamp. His LuminAR device consists of a small computer, a pico projector and a camera, all packed into an angle-poise-style light. The “digital bulb” projects the internet onto the desk, wall or anything you point it at. The camera watches this image and can detect if you touch anything: you can type on a projected keyboard, for example. The LuminAR echoes another MIT student project demoed at TED this year. Like Linder’s project, it projects virtual devices onto any surface and allows interaction. Unlike the LuminAR, it uses colored caps on the fingers and puts the projector on a lanyard around the user’s neck. Linder’s lamp design is much more Stark, and more likely to be seen in a playboy’s pad. Linder faced some pretty stiff super-hero competition, from a personal nuclear reactor to smart-armor which hardens on impact. In the end, though, it’s Linder that takes the $15,000 to further develop his idea, and hopefully shrink the whole thing down into package that can be screwed into any lamp. Luminar [Audi. Thanks, Julie!] See Also:
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Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 14 Jul 2010 | 4:14 am
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Hewlett Packard is working on a variety of tablet PCs, running a variety of operating systems. Among them, an Android device that was supposed to arrive at market in the fourth quarter of 2010. But no longer. Sources in position to know tell me that HP’s Android slate has been delayed and won’t ship before the end of the year as planned.
Enough fat to fill nine double-decker buses is being removed from sewers under London's Leicester Square.
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Well, I might have recommended a 
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Breaking a phone is a pretty tragic experience, and breaking a smartphone doubly so. Adam Morrison knows exactly what I mean: a Virgin Mobile Canada customer, he recently sent his trusty BlackBerry to the Great Cell Phone Drawer in the Sky. Not one to miss an opportunity to show off, Virgin Mobile made sure that someone (a very, very rich someone) would be on hand to deliver a replacement phone as part of their new Red Glove pilot service:
But the real driver of 3-D content is expected to be amateur photos, video and gaming. Last month, Nintendo announced its new gaming system called the 
