This has to be the coolest implementation of Pong ever: load the iPong application in two or three iPods touch units or iPhones, and start playing between them using your finger, with the ball actually passing from one screen to the other depending on the ball angle.
The software was made by Mr. Kondo—a colleague of Ryo Shimizu, CEO of Ubiquitous Entertainment—in an hour. We don't know if it will make its way to the iTunes store as a commercial product, but I hope it inspires other developers to use this kind of competitive—or collaborative—gameplay.
In case you're not swimming in Apple gear just yet (wait 'til the kids come...), Griffin Technology has just released a more modest solution to charging "just" a pair of iPhones / iPods or one of each. The two-port PowerDock 2 features a pair of universal docks and a collection of dock inserts to ensure that almost every iPod (and the iPhone) can get a seat at the table. It's available as we speak for $49.95.
Wired Senior Editor Nick Thompson was on the Today Show this morning talking about why the N95 and iPhone are the best high-end phones and the RAZR is the best cheap phone. OK, fair enough. Unfortunately for Nick, when he dropped the RAZR to the floor to demonstrate its durability, it ended up getting destroyed in the process. It's a sound and sight I'm sure many of you former RAZR owners are familiar with. Well, I guess it proved your point, Nick: the RAZR is cheap. Very cheap.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Time Warner Cable Inc plans to offer subscribers an easier way to bring Internet video to their television screens as part of an overall home networking system, Chief Executive Glenn Britt said on Friday.
"Right now it's pretty hard to get Internet stuff on your TV," Britt said at the Sanford C. Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference in New York.
"We're actually going to have equipment we make available to subscribers," he said. "It's actually going to be a new wireless cable modem that will allow you to network everything in your house."
BOSTON - If you're traveling overseas, try to leave your computer at home. If you must have it, put only a few files on it and leave as many as possible behind. Encrypt the files you do bring.
These are some of the steps that computer security analysts advise for international travelers anxious to avoid being the victim of data espionage. The AP reported Thursday that U.S. authorities are investigating whether Chinese officials secretly copied the contents of a government laptop computer during a visit to China by Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez.
What do you do if you've got a surplus US Air Force helicopter turboshaft engine, and a jet boat hull? Stupid question: you do one hell of a modding job and bolt them together of course, like these nutcase guys have done. Their 23-foot aluminum white-water jet boat, dubbed Squirt 2, is powered by a 1,370 hp engine that generates about 1,200lbs-ft of torque. And there's nothing much more to say, other than "bravo." or possibly "boom!"
HOUSTON, TX, May 29, 2008 - Cannon PC, the award winning Media Center specialty company, announced May 25th its partnership with Microsoft and will be offering dual Digital CableCARDs on its line of Media Center PCs and has plans to release quad cable cards systems in the near future.
"We are excited about our partnership with Microsoft and the opportunity to offer our customers Digital CableCARD" said Gregg Cannon of Cannon PC. "Cannon PC has worked hard over the years to establish itself and major player in the Media Center market and CableCARD will allow us to bring the next level of this exciting technology to our customers."
Maurin Donneaud has created this giant walk-on rug computer keyboard, going for stomp-sensitive design rather than touch. It's a home-made affair, with foam separating the conducting-fabric contacts inside until you press down, and is powered by an Arduino board. So, while it won't let you bash out tunes like Tom Hanks in Big it will let you stamp out emails to your pals— all that leaping around would probably be fairly good exercise. At last: a way to keep your fave Giz Editors in good shape.
Largent used a massive fraud scheme to trick Google Checkout and online brokers like E-trade and Schwab to send him the sum, a few cents at a time. The fraud was made possible by a common practice relatively unknown to the general public. When users open up accounts with these sites, the site sends a tiny payment from a few cents to a few dollars to the user. The payment is meant to verify that the user has access to the account and that it’s active.
By opening 58,000 such accounts, Largent funneled money through the channels into a few private bank accounts. Largent raked in $8,000 from Google's Checkout alone.
AN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The pressure on Hideo Kojima could hardly be greater, but the creator of the "Metal Gear Solid" video game series is cool as a cucumber.
Kojima's "Metal Gear Solid 4" makes its debut next month in one of the most highly anticipated game releases of 2008.
Not only will the military stealth-action game wrap up the decade-long adventures of mustachioed protagonist Solid Snake, it is expected to boost sales of Sony's PlayStation 3 console and to help close the gap with Microsoft's Xbox 360.
Fremont, CA, May 29, 2008 – Corsair® www.corsair.com, a worldwide leader in high performance computer and flash memory products, today announced that it will launch a new 4GB DOMINATOR DDR3 memory kit running at 2000MHz at CompuTex 2008, held June 3-7, 2008 in Taipei. Tested and guaranteed for operation at the lightning fast overclocked speed of 2000MHz, this 4GB DOMINATOR kit provides superior performance for desktop platforms.
“Corsair is focused on building the industry’s fastest memory available in the largest densities,” said Richard Hashim, Director of Marketing at Corsair. “This new ultra-fast DDR3 4GB DOMINATOR solution demonstrates Corsair’s commitment to lead the memory technology transition from DDR2 to DDR3 and from 2GB solutions to 4GB solutions. Enthusiasts worldwide demand it and we are happy to support their requirements.”
From a technical standpoint, what's going on here isn't all the mind-blowing. A group of German students are using the Wii Balance Board (from Wii Fit) as an input to navigate Google Earth. But what is notable is that the board was programmed to allow users to surf Earth ala unconventionally transparent marketing ploy super heroes. Unfortunately, the turning sensation more closely resembles FPS strafing. But Man must first walk before he can surf—and surf before he can surf the cosmos.
Cam-Trax supplies a unique patented software solution that can track any object in real-time with high reliability and precision, using any simple webcam. This provides users with new and exciting ways to interact with PCs.
With Micro-Star International (MSI) expected to officially launch its 10-inch Wind series notebooks and Acer planning to launch an 8.9-inch Aspire low-cost PC in Europe priced at 299 euros (US$469.49) over the next few weeks, Asustek Computer has decided to rush forward plans to launch a 10-inch version Eee PC, according to notebook industry sources. The Eee PC 1000 is now expect to be launched on June 3 along with the Eee PC 901 and Asustek is also preparing lower priced versions of current models, the sources noted.
Here's what Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer revealed about Windows 7 at All Things Digital a few minutes ago. The biggest "feature" is the touch and multi-touch integration, which takes many of its roots from Microsoft's Surface Table, and will be available as an interface options for other apps. Here's some more stuff they pulled out, which we captured in photos here.
• There will be a OSX-like dock, though how OS X-like is yet to be seen. • Multi-touch gestures in photogalleries like two-finger zoom, flicking, and panning. Think of the photo app on the Microsoft Surface table. • Multi-touch paint program where you can draw with 10 fingers (again, think of what you've already seen in Surface) • Multi-touch piano app • In-depth mapping application that pulls from Microsoft's Live Maps and Microsoft Virtual Earth
San Jose, California – May 27, 2008 – Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of Flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, today announced immediate availability of DDR3 SO-DIMMs.
Super Talent’s new 1GB DDR3-1333 SO-DIMM supports transfer rates up to 10,664 MB/sec. That equates to 66% higher bandwidth than DDR2-800 SO-DIMMs, making this the world’s fastest production DDR3 SO-DIMM. In addition to the faster speed, DDR3 SO-DIMMs require only 1.5V, compared to 1.8V for DDR2, resulting in power savings of up to 20% and less heat output.
This 204-pin module, part number W1333SA1GS, is available now at street prices under $99.
FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., May 28, 2008 - D-Link, the end-to-end networking solutions provider for consumer and business, today introduced an easy-to-use Coax Ethernet Adapter Kit that taps into existing coaxial wiring throughout the home, delivering fast and stable connections for extending a network to devices at the entertainment system and to multiple rooms without interrupting cable service. The D-Link Coax Ethernet Adapter Kit (DXN-221) is ideally suited for adding bandwidth-demanding applications such as high-definition (HD) media streaming, music sharing and online multi-player gaming to the home network. The DXN-221 comes with two adapters, each of which includes an Ethernet port as well as a Coaxial F-type connector for bridging the two adapters together. The adapters may also be purchased individually (DXN-220).
It simply fixes to the inside of the rear car window using a power suction cup. It’s remote control for the front of the car fixes to the front windscreen (using power suction cup) or optionally can be stowed in a front compartment (it’s fixing bracket can be removed). With the remote control fixed to the front windscreen, pressing it’s buttons to activate messages is very simple to operate. The main unit is powered by 4 AA batteries – there is no long wire to the cigarette lighter. Batteries last for approximately 4 month’s depending on usage.
A car that protects those inside by strengthening its frame just before a side-on collision has been crash-tested by European engineers.
The system is the latest demonstration of car safety devices that take action before a crash, not just afterwards. Even established safety features like airbags and seatbelts could be much more effective if they took pre-emptive action just milliseconds before an impact.
The prediction systems that are needed to prepare for an impact are becoming possible due to improvements in sensors and computing, and side impacts may be where they offer the greatest benefit.
The low-cost notebook market has exploded in recent months following the launch of the ASUS Eee PC. Many of the big names in the business have already launched products to compete in the sector (Hewlett Packard, Everex) while others are putting the finishing touches on their forthcoming entries (Dell, MSI, ECS).
VIA doesn't want to be left behind in what is seen as a growing market and today launched its OpenBook mini-note reference design. The OpenBook is based around VIA's venerable C7-M processor (1.0GHz to 1.6GHz) and features the new VX800 integrated chipset (VIA Chrome9, DirectX 9.0) to handle graphics duties.
Second-tier motherboard maker Abit is reportedly concidering phasing out of the motherboard market after evaluating its shipment performance of Intel 4 series motherboards, according to channel sources.
Abit, howerver, maintains it does not know anything about the speculation and will continue to develop motherboard products.
Abit's has failed to meet the expectations of parent company Universal Scientific Industrial (USI) in its ability to compete with fellow second-teir makers in terms of performance, or first-tier makers in terms of pricing in the mid-range and entry-level market, and so the company is evaluating whether to quit the market and start developing other products for the Abit brand, noted the sources.
In 2007, Abit shipped 2-3 million motherboards and had set a goal to ship six million units in 2008. However, the company's current shipments have actually decreased. Abit will determine whether to stay in the market after evaluating its shipments performance of P45-based motherboards, added the sources.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Japan is about to roll out the Lexus of space station labs, a whopper in size and sophistication.
The $1 billion Kibo lab — which means “hope” in Japanese — is poised for a Saturday launch aboard the space shuttle Discovery. It will be the biggest and, by far, the most elaborate room at the international space station — a 37-foot-long (11-meter-long) scientific workshop as large as a school bus, with its own hatch to the outside for experiments and a pair of robot arms. Making it even bigger will be a closet and porch.
“As for the test results, the ZEROtherm Zen FZ120 CPU Cooler ranks right up there with a lot of the newer-released coolers currently out on the market however this cooler will only retail for $39.99. So even if you're on a budget, this cooler will still enable you to get a top tier cooler for a respectably low price. With ease of installation and a quiet operating fan, along with the same high quality and now lower cost, the Zen FZ120 will make an excellent addition to your hardware.“
Taipei, Taiwan – May 26th, 2008 - Cooler Master proudly announces the world's first-ever 80 Plus Silver Certified high wattage power supply, the highest rated 80 Plus power supply to-date by achieving a 88% efficiency; with the introduction of UCP 900W (Ultimate Circuit Protection).
Cooler Master has long built a strong reputation based on industry-leading designs in coolers and computer cases, while its power supplies have often been over-shadowed. Today, marks a new era in the company’s foray into the market of power supplies. With the UCP 900 reaching new 80 Plus specifications, Cooler Master now owns the title of having the industry's most energy efficient high wattage power supply.
SEOUL (AFP) - Samsung Electronics Co, the world's largest computer chip maker, said Monday it has developed a new solid-state drive which is expected to replace hard disk drives in laptop computers.
Samsung said its 256-gigabyte solid state drive (SSD) for data storage is 2.4 times faster than traditional hard drives. The company plans to begin production of SSDs this year.
The new SSD "represents a bold step in the shift to notebooks with significantly improved performance and larger storage capacities," the company said in a statement.
May 25, 2008 NASA's Phoenix spacecraft landed in the northern polar region of Mars today to begin three months of examining a site chosen for its likelihood of having frozen water within reach of the lander's robotic arm.
Radio signals received at 4:53:44 p.m. Pacific Time (7:53:44 p.m. Eastern Time) confirmed the Phoenix Mars Lander had survived its difficult final descent and touchdown 15 minutes earlier. The signals took that long to travel from Mars to Earth at the speed of light.
Mission team members at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.; Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver; and the University of Arizona, Tucson, cheered confirmation of the landing and eagerly awaited further information from Phoenix later tonight.
VH News: Memorial Day Weekend Edition Posted by Diceman on Sunday, May 25, 2008 @ 2:11
It's Memorial Day Weekend and I'm sure many of you are traveling to relatives, sporting events, vacations and campgrounds but remember what this holiday weekend is all about. Remember all those who gave their lives so you could party your ass off this weekend...
Memorial Day is a United States Federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May (in 2008 on May 26). Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. men and women who perished while in military service to their country. First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War, it was expanded after World War I to include casualties of any war or military action .
From all of us here at Virtual-Hideout, have a safe and happy holiday weekend. And to all those who have suffered through losing a loved one in the military, our deepest condolences and thanks. Microsoft to shut down book scanning operations
SEATTLE - Microsoft Corp. is abandoning its effort to scan whole libraries and make their contents searchable, a sign it may be getting choosier about the fights it will pick with Google Inc.
The world's largest software maker is under pressure to show it has a coherent strategy for turning around its unprofitable online business after its bid for Yahoo Inc., last valued at $47.5 billion, collapsed this month.
NEW YORK - Online social networking today is more about hanging out with friends behind gated communities than exploring the World Wide Web: Visit another site and you'll have to rebuild your profile from scratch.
That's like having to get a new driver's license for every state you drive through.
Although the walls that keep users from taking their data wherever they go are starting to erode, how much three recently announced programs will help users move among the networks remains to be seen. Google Inc.'s attempt to break those fortifications was quickly blocked by Facebook.
The technology industry is always on the move and it's often hard to guess where it's going next. For example, back in 2007 we were totally unaware that these things would happen…
1. That you could turn the Nintendo Wii’s sensor bar into a cool headtracker.
2. That people would pay a whopping £70 for Nintendo's Wii Fit (which is basically an intelligent bathroom scale). And then get annoyed when it called them 'overweight'...
Joining the elite club of intelligent lighting solutions that are sophisticated enough to not be laughed at is NeuroLED. Truth be told, we're pretty far from understanding exactly how this contraption works, but we are told that the system is controlled by software written in Java and that it can be altered to react in different ways via toggle switches or wall-mounted touch panels. From what we can tell, the system can be used for pure entertainment, educating or even spicing up a nightclub, and considering that it can play nice with WiFi, remote access is also within the realm of possibility. That's about all the explaining we can do
Sunnyvale, Calif.—May 22, 2008—OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, components, and system builds, today announced Hypersonic PC is making their solution more mobile than ever. Geared toward the enthusiast who wants their go-anywhere notebook to be powerful, the Avenger AG2 Notebook series feature unparalleled performance in a sleek, colorful, and compact 12-inch size for superb mobility. The AG2 may be small, but packs in the performance and energy-efficiency of Intel® Core™ 2 processors and an array of multimedia features at a price point attractive to a variety of users looking to enhance their mobile computing experience.
In Apple-loving households, there's a decent chance the Power Mac G4 Cube will never lose its luster. Case in point: one particular fanboy (yeah, we said it) took a gutted Cube housing and neatly fitted his Mac mini, Airport Extreme and "accessory HDD case" inside. Of course, he did have to exercise quite a bit of patience and showcase his cutting skills in order to make the optical drive accessible, but the end result is certainly something to be proud of.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said on Friday that buying Yahoo was not a strategy in itself, and dropping the bid meant it now had $50 billion to spend on other acquisitions.
"Yahoo was never the strategy we were pursuing, it was a way to accelerate our online advertising business," he told a packed hall at a technology conference in Moscow.
"We will spend money on some acquisitions. You can do a whole lot of things with 50 billion dollars," he said.
Mobile Web surfers in the U.S. spend more time on classified-ad site Craigslist than on any other Web site, and they spent nearly twice as much time browsing as their British counterparts in March.
Those are among the findings from a study by mobile research company M:Metrics in which client software installed on participants' smartphones gleaned information about user activity. It found U.S. owners of smartphones-- not even counting iPhones or BlackBerry devices-- spent nearly 4 hours, 38 minutes using their browsers in March. U.K. subscribers spent just under 2 hours, 25 minutes, on average. The survey tracked 3,500 users of Symbian, Palm and Microsoft Windows Mobile smartphones in the U.S. and U.K.
Two things that drive the CPU world are price and performance. Depending on the needs of the consumer one or the other of these two factors is the main driver behind what processor is purchased. For many AMD CPUs the only place they compete currently in on price and Intel is starting to whittle away at the price difference.
Recent roadmaps reveal the company has another cut coming in Q3 2008. Simultaneously, Intel will release new quad-core and dual-core processors. This includes the 3.0 GHz Core 2 Quad Q9650 with a price of $530 in 1000 unit trays. The current Core 2 Quad Q9550 will get a significant price cut from its current $530 to $316.
A friend of mine was in a wireless retail store recently, and wanted to buy a smartphone. In an unusual move, the sales rep tried to dissuade her, saying my pal didn’t need Internet and e-mail service. She disagreed, left, and returned later to buy the smartphone she had eyed.
Sometimes the experience is the reverse — customers get a phone that's way more complicated or expensive than they really want. Either way, “overall customer satisfaction with the wireless retail sales experience has reached its lowest level since 2005,” according to a recent report from J.D. Power and Associates.
Expecting solid state drives (SSDs) to become the mainstream notebook storage format, Intel is planning to launch SSD products by the end of the third quarter this year which it will bundle as part of its upcoming Centrino 2 platform (Montevina), according to sources at PC makers.
Intel has named the product line Intel High Performance SSD and will mainly targeting enterprise, mid-range and high-end notebook markets.
Initial shipments of Intel High Performance SSDs will come in two versions – Client X25-M and Client X18-M – the former having a physical size of 2.5-inch and later 1.8-inch. Both will feature 80GB capacity and a SATA interface.
International PC vendors plan to actively promote Blu-ray Disc (BD) drives in the second half of 2008, and will give priority to BD-ROM models due to costs. But they are also likely to adopt BD Combo models (BD-ROM plus DVD+RW/-RW) for mid-range PCs to maximize market share, according to industry sources in Taiwan.
Pioneer is the maker currently most positive toward BD Combo drives followed by Hitachi-LG Data Storage (HLDS), the sources pointed out. Taiwan-based ODM/OEM maker Lite-On IT has been developing BD Combo drives for certification by potential clients and plans to start volume production as early as the third quarter of 2008, the sources indicated.
“The Sigma La Vie provides a fairly normal, if unremarkable experience. In general, this mid-tower is a run-of-the-mill product. While it won't blow your socks off, it gets the job done with a decent list of features and a nice appearance. Coupled with the numerous drive bays and the side window, it'll provide a trusty case for most people.”
Fountain Valley, CA -- May 21, 2008 -- Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced its HyperX® 1800MHz DDR3 memory has been certified under the Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (Intel® XMP) validation program to offer PC builders and gaming enthusiasts more performance memory options and tuning flexibility when constructing high-performance systems using select Intel X38/X48-series chipsets.
"Customers building or upgrading Intel XMP-ready systems now have an 1800MHz HyperX XMP memory option to gain higher performance in their gaming and content creation systems,” said Mark Tekunoff, senior technology manager, Kingston®. "Many of our motherboard partners, including ASUS, MSI and Gigabyte, have released XMP-ready offerings that can take immediate advantage of HyperX XMP-certified memory on current X38 and X48 platforms. We expect this also to be true for the soon to be released P45 chipsets.”
Fountain Valley, CA - (May 19, 2008) -- Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced it is releasing select system-specific memory SKUs in accordance with the Trade Agreements Act (TAA). Kingston® TAA-compliant system-specific memory (designated with a '-G' at the end of the part number) is the perfect solution for government agencies looking to stretch infrastructure IT budgets through the use of virtualization and further population of servers.
"Kingston is honored to be the memory of choice for many top corporations and government agencies in the United States, and we saw an opportunity to enhance service to our federal government customers by releasing TAA-compliant SKUs,” said John Holland, vice president U.S. sales, Kingston. "This is the latest step in our ongoing efforts to better accommodate the various server markets that use our products.”
The 3G iPhone and the BlackBerry Bold are two of the most buzzed-about phones due out this year. And while we don't have any shots of the new iPhone, it's a safe assumption that it won't look all that much different than the current model. With that in mind, the folks from The iPhone Blog have taken a bunch of comparison shots and some video of the Bold and the iPhone together, showing us just how the two compare. Hey, I didn't realize the BlackBerry had a keyboard and the iPhone didn't! You learn something new every day.
There's big money involved says Chatwani. He estimated the socially equitable/green product market to total over $45B USD worldwide annually. He feels that the site will draw a different kind of customer than eBay typically does. He states, "Those people aren't on eBay. We believe only between 7 and 12 percent of these social change consumers are eBay users now ... so this could be accretive to the business."
The idea for the site hatched while Chatwani travelled on business to India with other eBay employees. They met with local craftsmen and offered to sell their wares online for a fair price, substantially more than the pittance they would normally get. The idea worked; the products sold. Inspired eBay teamed with World of Good to explore larger-scale fair-trade ventures. World of Good is committed to reducing third-world poverty.
Munich, May 21, 2008 - Qimonda AG, a leading manufacturer of memory products, today announced that the company has won AMD as launch partner for the new graphics standard GDDR5. Qimonda already started mass production and the volume shipping of GDDR5 512Mbit components with a speed of 4.0Gbps to AMD, a leading global provider of innovative processing solutions in the computing, graphics and consumer electronics markets.
GDDR5 will become the next predominant graphics DRAM standard with a tremendous memory bandwidth improvement and a multitude of advanced power saving features. It targets a variety of applications, starting with high performance desktop graphic cards followed by notebook graphics. Later on also the introduction in game consoles and other graphics intensive applications is planned.
WASHINGTON - The government is quietly negotiating to help cell phone customers avoid expensive fees when they cancel contracts with wireless companies, The Associated Press has learned.
Cell phone companies routinely charge customers $175 or more for quitting their service early. Under a proposal to the Federal Communications Commission, the wireless industry would give consumers the opportunity to cancel service without any penalty for up to 30 days after they sign a cell phone contract or until 10 days after they receive their first bill.
Not long ago, before “World of Warcraft” became the 800-pound gorilla of online games, there was “EverQuest.”
It wasn’t the first massively multiplayer online role-player game. But in 1999, when Sony Online Entertainment released the “EverQuest,” it was the first to break through in a big way to the U.S. market.
Players went crazy for the fantasy-themed game set in the fictional world of Norrath. “EverQuest” won many awards, legions of fans and nicknames such as “NeverRest” and “EverCrack.” It spawned a sequel, “EverQuest II” and many imitators, including, some say, “World of Warcraft.”
YouTube takes down lots of videos for copyright holders at their request; we've all tried to watch an embedded video now and then that's no longer available. But just what videos were removed, and who requested their removal? A new site by the eggheads at MIT tells you just that. Dubbed YouTomb, the site scans YouTube for the metadata that goes up when a clip is pulled. It then organizes them with a screengrab, telling you how long the clip was up before being pulled, who requested it to be removed, and what category it was in. It's an interesting little tool to see just who freaks out the most about their precious content being on YouTube.
It looks like you might have to think twice before flipping that old iPhone on eBay when the 3G version finally hits -- it appears that restoring the phone doesn't actually erase the contents of the flash, meaning that your data is available to anyone with the proper tools until it's overwritten. Making matters worse, it appears that Apple doesn't do a low-level format when refurbishing iPhones either -- an Oregon State Police detective was able to use forensic software to pull files, emails, and screenshots off an out-of-the-box refurbished iPhone. This actually shouldn't be surprising to anyone -- we've seen several utilities that access "deleted" portions of storage -- but since Apple doesn't provide users direct access to the iPhone's filesystem, it's basically impossible to clear your personal data off the device short of restoring and filling the disk with junk data. Hopefully iPhone 2.0's Exchange-based "remote wipe" feature is a bit more secure, eh?
For the multitudes of people with chronic health conditions or who take lots of medication -- especially the elderly -- keeping track of health records and what doctors say is exceedingly difficult.
Google launched its latest service aimed at exactly this group of people called Google Health. The Google Health service aims to provide users with one location for their health records from participating pharmacies, hospitals and more. Users can also add information to their health records themselves.
BOSTON - Strong, versatile little "nanotubes" made out of carbon are considered future stars in nanotechnology research in medicine and industry. Now a study finds that longer threads of the stuff mimic the toxic qualities of asbestos, renewing questions about how carbon nanotubes can be used safely.
Researchers with British institutes and the U.S.-based Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies injected mice with asbestos and with commercial samples of carbon nanotubes of varying sizes. When they examined the lining of the rodents' abdominal cavities, the researchers observed that longer nanotubes behaved like asbestos, provoking inflammation and lesions.
For those with identity crises, great senses of humor, or serious cases of Vista Fever, Spec-Works' VistaPerfection theme for the iPhone brings all the splendors of Windows Vista -- well, the important visual aspects, anyway -- to your pocket in a way that we can safely say Microsoft never intended. If the wow hadn't already started, ladies and gentlemen, it certainly has now.
The wireless industry is essentially at the saturation point, so exclusive phones matter more than ever, especially ones like the iPhone for AT&T or the touchscreen Blackberry Thunder for Verizon, phones that really drive people to particular carriers. So it's no wonder the Rural Cellular Association (repping smaller regional carriers) is petitioning the FCC to ban exclusive deals, which obviously push people out of smaller local carriers to the established juggernauts, since it can take months or years for trickle down. The iPhone is at the center of the complaint.
Negroponte didn’t share many details about the XO 2.0’s hardware, but the new system has two touch-sensitive displays. As you can see from the video and the pictures, the XO 2.0 will be much smaller than the original machine (half the size, according to the press release) and will have a foldable e-book form factor. “The next generation laptop should be a book,” Negroponte said.
Fremont, CA, May 20, 2008 – Corsair® www.corsair.com, a worldwide leader in high performance computer and flash memory products, announced today that Corsair Labs has set the world record for the highest achieved DDR3 frequency.
Verified and validated by CPU-Z, Corsair Labs achieved an astounding speed of 2462MHz at CL=9 with a single-rank 1GB module. This new world record eclipses all previous CPU-Z validated memory benchmarks. This record was set using Corsair’s award winning DOMINATOR DDR3 memory module paired with an Asus P5E3 Premium motherboard based on the Intel X48 chipset. This is now the highest achieved DDR3 frequency of all time. Validated results and setup details can be found at http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=361829.
El Monte, CA – May 20th, 2008 – NZXT, a company built on realizing the dreams of gamers worldwide, is proud to announce the availability of the highly anticipated NZXT Tempest Gaming Chassis. Starting today, Tempest will be available from Newegg.com and other e-tailers starting from $99. NZXT’s latest advancement in crafted gaming armor
San Jose, California – May 20, 2008 – Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of Flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, today released a video report that demonstrates the exceptional vibration resistance of its line of MasterDrive solid state drives (SSDs).
The test consists of a Super Talent MasterDrive SSD mounted on top of a paint shaker. The Windows® Vista® operating system and Tomb Raider game were installed on the SSD and the game was played for over 40 minutes while the SSD was shaking like crazy. Super Talent Marketing Director, Joe James said, “It’s obvious when you see this video that no hard drive could sustain that kind of beating. Our MasterDrive SSDs, on the other hand, with no moving parts, are made for exactly this type of torture.”
The drive used in this test is the MasterDrive MX, part number FTM20GK25H, which is a 120GB SSD that retails for about $670
See that 15-foot beam of glowing manhood? That's Bill Gates. While cohort Steve Ballmer was being pelted with eggs by angry Hungarians, Microsoft Chairman Gates was making a virtual appearance at the World Congress on Information Technology 2008 in Kuala Lumpur. The crowd cheered -- or screamed in terror -- as the giant 4.6-meter holographic specter assured them that technology is, in fact, the future. Said the chairman, "There are one billion people who have a personal computer each but there are five billion others who don't. Microsoft also wants to reach these people." We're hoping that Bill has recorded several hundred holographic speeches and will continue to grace conventions' presences for years, and years, and years to come.
A pair of new DS Lite flavors—and they do look more like yummy cherry and lime candy flavors than mere colors—have been spotted on a couple of Spanish retail sites, one of which is GAME, apparently the second-largest specialty gaming retailer in the world, so there's some solid reason to believe these babies are real, or at least as Luke says, we can't rule 'em out. We'll know for sure on June 13, when they're supposed to drop. Hopefully these summer shades aren't Europe only.
London, 19 May2008 — Fujitsu Limited today announced that it has developed a new series of 2.5" hard disk drives (HDDs) specifically designed for 24-hour continuous operation and are available in a category-leading capacity of 250 GB(*1) and a rotational speed of 7200 RPM. Sales of the new MHZ2 BK Series will start at the end of July 2008. The MHZ2 BK Series is intended to be used in demanding environments with high-frequency access, including entry-level servers or storage systems in enterprise IT equipment, and ATMs or POS systems in industrial applications, where reliability is paramount.
Not quite sure what's up with the recent influx of bicycle-related DIY jobs, but nevertheless, we've another one on our hands here with Mike's Flying Bike. Essentially, Mike utilized a SunSPOT as well as a plethora of other sensors in order to modify his mountain bike for use as a Google Earth controller. In ET-like fashion, he's now able to pedal around various locations in the world, simultaneously burning through excess calories, opening his mind to new locales and monumentally inflating his ego. If you've got seven minutes to spare, you can check this thing out in action
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Electronic Arts Inc (ERTS.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday it extended by one month its $2 billion hostile offer to acquire rival video game maker Take-Two Interactive Software Inc (TTWO.O: Quote, Profile, Research).
EA, whose unsolicited bid for the publisher of last month's blockbuster "Grand Theft Auto IV" video game expired at 11:59 p.m. on Friday, said the offer would expire on June 16, extended from the previous deadline of May 16.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Napster Inc., the digital music service, on Tuesday opened the world's biggest MP3 download store with more than 6 million songs in a direct challenge to Apple Inc's iTunes store.
The new Web-based music store will have digital songs from all major music labels as well as thousands of independent labels. The MP3-format songs will be compatible with the vast majority of digital media devices and mobile phones including Apple's popular iPod as well as its iPhone.
Intel is planning to cut desktop CPU prices in the third quarter this year, along with the launch of more quad-core and dual-core models, according to sources at motherboard makers.
The performance-level Core 2 Quad Q9650 with a core frequency of 3GHz will launch priced at US$530 in thousand-unit tray quantities, while the Core 2 Quad Q9550 will drop around 40% from its original price of US$530 to US$316.
The Core 2 Quad 9450, currently priced at US$316, will be phased out of the market to be replaced by the Core 2 Quad 9400 at 2.66GHz and a price of US$266. The Core 2 Quad Q9300 and Q6700 will both be phased out at the same time too, leaving the Q6600 as the only 65nm quad-core CPU left in Intel's lineup, and which will drop from US$224 to US$203.
Steve Ballmer finally gets to join his buddy Bill Gates in the "food target club" after a visit to the Hungarian University of Economy. A guy (grad student? just some dude?) stood up, yelled "Give back the money of the taxpayers" in an accent Ballmer probably couldn't understand, and started throwing eggs at him.
Nintendo is really rubbing in its NY-only launch date for the Wii Fit. Not only do New Yorkers get the Fit a whole two days prior to the rest of America, they also got to try it out for free alongside celebrity trainers in Central Park. Despite the threat of rain, we saw quite a few folks out enjoying the device, from young to old. Many of older set wasn't even aware there were two products in play, the Wii and the Wii Fit -- and some of the trainers seem to have trouble explaining that concept -- so it seems to us that a bundled SKU could do good things for Nintendo. Not that it won't sell like gangbusters anyways. Video of people exercising is on the way. You have been warned.
WAYNE, NJ, May 19, 2008 – Sharing videos over the Internet is now easier than ever with the launch of a new JVC camcorder that provides one-button uploading to YouTube™, the leading online video community that allows people to discover, watch and share originally created videos. The new JVC Everio S Series memory camcorder, the GZ-MS100, was designed to make sharing simple for the millions of people who enjoy sharing their videos with the world over the Internet. And unlike many of the other camcorders that target Internet users, JVC's GZ-MS100 provides an impressive array of full-fledged camcorder features that give it the versatility to do more than shoot short Internet videos. It looks strikingly similar to the popular Everio G Series camcorders, but is smaller and weighs only 0.60 lbs. including battery, because it records to an SD Card (user provided) instead of a built-in hard disk drive. The ever-increasing capacity and affordability of new SD Cards appearing on the market means that over time Everio S will be able to offer expanded recording time at a lower per minute cost.
Once the provided CyberLink software is installed on a Windows® PC, uploading video clips to YouTube™ is quick and easy. The camcorder has an UPLOAD button that works in two ways. In the camera mode, press UPLOAD and then the trigger, and this limits recordings to 10 minutes in length, which matches the YouTube™ file size limit. This eliminates the need to manually time recordings or go back to edit and shorten footage. After recording is done, connect the GZ-MS100 to a PC via a USB cable and press the UPLOAD button. This automatically launches the supplied application for uploading to YouTube™. After just a few mouse clicks the video will be up on the Internet for everybody to see. The original video quality is maintained in the camera, so it can be used for any other purpose.
SAN FRANCISCO - Just two weeks after breaking off merger talks, Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. have been pulled back to the bargaining table by their fears about what might happen if they don't work out a deal.
For now, Microsoft and Yahoo are still dancing around the edges as they explore possible business arrangements without melding the two companies.
The notion of a half-baked deal didn't excite investors Monday as they got their first chance to react to Sunday's news that Microsoft and Yahoo are talking again.
Google launched an ambitious initiative Monday that aims to give people a central place online to store their health records and then share them with health-care providers.
The public can go today to www.google.com/health and create profiles that include basic medical information such as existing medical conditions, allergies and any medicines being taken, Google officials said.
People who sign up at Google Health can also import medical records from U.S. pharmacies and medical facilities that have signed on as partners, which so far include Longs Drug Stores, Walgreens Pharmacy, the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and several others.
“Here at VH, we seem to currently be on a little “notebook cooler pad kick” of sorts. Not that I’m complaining, especially after I received this next item up for review: the Royal Notebook Cooling Pad (Model: NP-901) from Acoustic PC. This sharp baby was created for laptops from 14” to 17” wide screen, has storage drawers for peripherals, and is fitted with USB 2.0 ports to mount externals. The Royal is made of 100% aluminum for maximum heatsink style cooling, and sports a smart, 8 cm silent fan that pulls exhaust air away from your laptop instead of pushing outside air into it, thus eliminating a significant amount of dirt and dust contamination and helping to prolong the life (and health) of your notebook.”
ASUS is firing up the legal team to address what it percieves as defamation on the part of Gigabyte. In the line of fire is ASUS' Energy Processing Unit, which Gigabyte claims isn't a technological change on the part of ASUS, but instead "numbers marketing" and "cheating end users." Gigabyte says ASUS also misrepresented the energy saving numbers on Gigabyte's competing DES motherboards, and had plenty of other nerdy trash talk for its rival. "How can you believe it? Everything [Asus] say are lies," was the money quote from a Tom's Hardware article on the subject, and ASUS isn't going to take it lying down. "This 'disinformation' is not only extremely damaging to ASUS but also completely misleading to the consumers. ASUS reserves the right to take legal action against any individual, organization or corporation which creates or spreads such rumors." We love a good nerd fight, and this is shaping up into a right proper one.
The summer's hottest blockbuster is the superhero flick "Iron Man" which stars Robert Downey Jr. as weapons designer turned superhero Tony Stark. In part one of this two part series, we looked at the advances made in building exoskeletons, particularly Sarcos Inc.'s new Sarcos suit which can lift over 500 lbs, is maneuverable enough to handle stairs, and can run 30 minutes untethered.
Having a super-powered suit is great, but aside from his power, the comic book character "Iron Man" had two other key attributes -- speed and flight. Without it, Iron Man would go from a superhero, to just plain super slow.
Fortunately there are some promising technologies to give the exoskeleton fighting suit of the future super speed and flight. This article, the second part of this two part series, seeks to examine a couple of them.
SEATTLE/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp said on Sunday it proposed an alternative deal to Yahoo Inc rather than a full acquisition, but the move was unlikely to win favor with financier Carl Icahn, a person familiar with his thinking said.
Icahn launched a proxy campaign on Thursday to replace Yahoo's board with directors who would reopen talks with Microsoft, saying Yahoo had acted irrationally in refusing the giant software company's $47.5 billion bid.
Microsoft walked away from its pursuit of Yahoo two weeks ago after three months of negotiations when Yahoo's board rejected Microsoft's sweetened offer of $33 a share, saying the company was worth at least $37 a share.
TROY, N.Y. — Edd Hifeng barely merits a second glance in "Second Life.'' A steel-gray robot with lanky limbs and linebacker shoulders, he looks like a typical avatar in the popular virtual world.
But Edd is different.
His actions are animated not by a person at a keyboard but by a computer. Edd is a creation of artificial intelligence, or AI, and researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, who endowed him with a limited ability to converse and reason.
Samsung's stream of 82-inch monsters packing the company's latest technology continues unabated, this time a minor update to the QuadHD behemoth we saw at CES brings so-outdated 120Hz motion processing and LED backlighting to keep blur and judder far, far away. We know what you're thinking, its 3840x2160 resolution is no good unless you can write on it, luckily Samsung also has an 82-inch ultra high definition e-Board in its SID 2008 booth. OLED fans take heart, Samsung has reached economies of scale, hopefully meaning reasonably priced (and longer lasting) thin screens are due sooner instead of later. The Korea Times notes LG's at the show as well, showcasing LCD roll-printing technology to replace the photolithography process that currently births the flat panels on our walls, but we simply can't be bothered with a company that's only the number two LCD manufacturer in the world.
“Over the last couple years, I've been attending various LANs and tech events looking for that other side we rarely get to see. InfernaLAN is just one of the many events sponsored by INTEL and wide variety of vendors and integrators including Patriot Memory, Corsair, BFG, S3 Graphics, IBuyPower, PowerPC, and Alienware.
It was here that I met many of Intel's finest incognito. These guys take their personal systems as seriously as any enthusiast, cooled with the latest DangerDen water cooled blocks and assembled in some of the sweetest cases created by man. I thou
