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Verizon's 4G LTE network gets first 4G smartphone

2010-12-29T09:46:00.000-08:00

A smartphone manufacturer is finally making good on the LTE 4G network Verizon turned on earlier this month. The Android blog Droid Lite tracked down HTC's newest piece of hardware, the HTC Thunderbolt. It's a smartphone that resembles Sprint's Evo 4G in many ways, especially in its massive screen size.

Verizon's LTE network has been up and functional for nearly a month, but the only devices made available to sail the 4G sea have been a couple of new USB modems aimed at business customers. With the Thunderbolt, Verizon will be opening up access to more consumer-level activity.

Details on the Thunderbolt are slim, aside from physical features it shares with the Evo, like the 4.3-inch screen and back kickstand. HTC previously referred to the phone by the code name "Mecha," and set up a teaser site for it alongside the Evo and the T-Mobile G2.

According the site, HTC plans to reveal the Thunderbolt on January 6, the first day of CES. Stay tuned for our impressions of it and many other gadgety treats as we descend upon Las Vegas next week.

Find your iPad/iPhone/iPod for free (if you have the latest version)

2010-11-22T10:40:00.000-08:00

File this under "it should have been free all along." Apple's "Find my iPhone" feature, previously a feature of the subscription-based MobileMe service, is now free--with a catch: it's only free for users of the iPhone 4, iPad, or newest fourth-generation iPod Touch.

That means that while many iDevices--be they iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch--can be updated to iOS 4.2, only the most recent versions of each will get the free "Find my iPhone" functionality.

The service finds your iPhone, if by "find" you mean "get a rough GPS estimate of the location." Still, the service has had its success stories.

Its two best features are, undoubtedly, its ability to remote-wipe all data if necessary, and its triggering of a played-back sound even if the device in question is set to silent. The latter has actually saved my apartment sanity on several occasions.

Even though "Find my iPhone" requires certain settings to be activated on the iDevice in question, and can be relatively easily thwarted by thieves, consider this: you need not fear losing your iPhone 4 under a sofa ever again.

iOS 4.2 will be live later today

Google Docs Now Syncs With Microsoft Office

2010-11-22T10:33:00.000-08:00

Google has transformed one of its acquisitions into Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office, a new tool that lets users simultaneously edit an Office doc via the cloud.

Launching in beta today, Google Cloud Connect is an add-on for Office that syncs documents, spreadsheets and presentations from Office 2003, 2007 and 2010 with the “Google cloud.” In other words, it takes data on the desktop and makes a backup copy in Google Docs, gives it a unique URL and constantly syncs the data with anybody else that might be sharing the same document.

The technology behind Google Cloud Connect derives from DocVerse, a productivity tool that Google acquired earlier this year that lets multiple users collaborate and edit Microsoft Office documents.

Originally, DocVerse was just focused on syncing Word docs with each other so that users could collaborate. Here’s what we originally wrote when we first reviewed it:

“This sidebar is where all of DocVerse’s magic happens. You can invite friends and colleagues to collaborate on any documents. As you and others make edits, those changes are synced to the cloud. In addition to a hard copy, the plug-in automatically saves a web-based version of the doc that others can see to make collaboration easy.”

Cloud Connect doesn’t take away any of that collaboration functionality while adding Google Docs to the mix. A business team can edit a document from either Microsoft Office or Google Docs simultaneously. Google Docs also saves all of the revisions, so if someone messes up someone else’s edits, it’s easy to revert them.

Today’s launch is all about getting Office users to slowly switch to Google Docs. The search giant wants people to switch from Office to the cloud, which eventually leads to Google. By dipping their toes into the waters of Google Docs via their business colleagues and friends, loyal Office users will get used to Google’s offering and eventually discard Microsoft’s productivity suite for good. At least, that’s what Google hopes.

Does Google’s plan make sense? Yes. Will it actually work? Probably. Is Cloud Connect a win for users? Absolutely.

Sorry, Facebook, Complexity Will Kill Your New Messaging System

2010-11-20T10:09:00.000-08:00

I set up my new Facebook messaging account yesterday, and my first thought was that Facebook hadn't thought through the experience very carefully.

First, it let me reserve a Facebook e-mail address, matt.rosoff@facebook.com. Great--people can send an e-mail to that address and it'll show up in Facebook.

The second thing it asked me was whether I wanted to turn SMS on. OK, sure. It would be nice to get messages from my Facebook friends on my phone so I don't have to open the Facebook app.

That was it. Done. Easy.

Except the first text I got was a friend request from a person I worked with 15 years ago. I accepted, but that's not the kind of thing I want interrupting me on my phone. I immediately turned texts off.

Last night, I met Joel Seligstein, one of the developers who worked on the project. I showed him the first (and only) SMS I'd received. He acknowledged that Facebook got the sign-up flow wrong on its first attempt, apologized for my experience, and said that new sign-ups will be able to select settings more carefully so they only get messages they really want. He also let me know that I could go into my account settings and select exactly which types of messages go where.

This illustrates a big problem. Users have different expectations for who can e-mail them (just about anybody), IM them (friends on a specific list), and text them (friends who are close enough to have their cell phone number). When all of these different communications media are blended into a single system, user expectations are going to be upended in uncomfortable ways. And no normal person is going to take the time to go through and uncheck a bunch of boxes to dictate what kind of messages can go where.

Seligstein was speaking at an event focused on companies that are trying to improve e-mail--that good old platform that nobody loves but everybody needs. (The event, Inbox Love, was organized by 500 Startups founder Dave McClure and is a precursor to a conference scheduled for next year.)

During his presentation, he acknowledged that Facebook had some other stumbles with the rollout. Some folks got invitations and signed up on Monday, only to find that the system had reverted back to the old version on Tuesday. Apparently Facebook wasn't happy with the early user experience and had to go back in and revamp it.

Seligstein also explained that it's taking longer than expected to build IMAP support into the system because IMAP is a crazy complicated protocol with weird idiosyncrasies (other speakers agreed), and told me that the company would "probably eventually" build voice into the system, but had to get the text part right first.

Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg Gets The Comic Book Movie Adaptation Treatment

2010-11-20T09:57:00.000-08:00

David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin may have had the first laugh in chronicling the life and times of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in "The Social Network," but the young entrepreneur is getting another shot at the big screen — by way of a comic book movie adaptation, no less!

Bluewater Productions have announced via press release that the publisher is teaming up with Hayden 5 Media to create an animated film based off the comic book about the Facebook founder, titled "Mark Zuckerberg and the Found."

According to the press release, the production will lean on a mixture of live-action filmmaking and animation, for a visual look and feel that's very similar to the film "A Scanner Darkly."
"When we found out that Bluewater was releasing this comic, we knew we had to get on board," said Todd Wiseman, President of Hayden 5 Media, in a statement. "We saw a great opportunity to re-tell the story of Mark Zuckerburg post-'Social Network' in a brighter, animated form that could be enjoyed and understood by a broader audience."

"This will not be the last retelling of the Marc Zuckerburg story," added Milos Silber, Executive Producer at Hayden 5 Media. "We're just aware of the profound impact of Facebook, and with over 500 million users, we're bound to have an audience. One that is more willing to watch a shortened, visually captivating summary of this short epic online, or on their favorite network."

The "Mark Zuckerberg and the Found" comic book hits stores in late December with a suggested retail price of $6.99.

34% of non-AT&T smartphone buyers wish they could buy Apple's iPhone

2010-11-20T09:52:00.000-08:00

A new survey has found that more than a third of U.S. smartphone buyers on carriers other than AT&T wish they could have bought the iPhone, expressing buyer's remorse.

ChangeWave on Friday released the results of a new survey which polled consumers on their new smartphone purchase. As has been shown numerous times before, customers who bought Apple's iPhone were happier than those who invested in handsets from any other manufacturer, with 77 percent of all iPhone buyers in the last six months saying they are "very satisfied."

The 1,212 U.S. respondents were also asked what phone they would have bought if it was available from their wireless carrier. 46 percent said they would have stuck with their current smartphone, but a whopping 34 percent of those surveyed who aren't on AT&T said they would have bought an iPhone.

The survey also found that Motorola fares the worst on this question, as 39 percent of Motorola smartphone buyers would stick with their new purchase, and a very close 37 percent would have preferred an iPhone.

The survey also reiterated the fact that customers are even happier with the iPhone 4 than they were with the iPhone 3GS. A total of 84 percent of those who bought the 32GB iPhone 4 said they were "very satisfied," while 78 percent of those who bought the 16GB model chose the same.

For comparison, the recently released Samsung Galaxy S, an Android-based handset available on all four major U.S. carriers, has a "very satisfied" rating of 55 percent. That's still better than the 28 percent "very satisfied" rating given by customers of all other Samsung models.

Earlier this month, ChangeWave found that netbook interest is waning as more customers are eyeing Apple's iPad. Among those who said they are looking to buy a tablet, 80 percent said they are most likely to purchase an iPad.

In September, ChangeWave also revealed that the total sum of handsets running Google Android were just as popular with consumers as the iPhone. Of 4,000 respondents polled, 37 percent said they would prefer an Android phone, while 38 percent chose the iPhone.

Apple Seen Prepping Thinner iPad For 2011

2010-11-20T09:47:00.000-08:00

Qualcomm CDMA-GSM chip will enable next-generation tablet to run on most cellular networks in U.S., Europe and Asia.

Apple plans to launch early next year a second-generation iPad that's thinner and capable of running on cellular networks worldwide, according to media reports.

The next iPad will reportedly include a Qualcomm chip that makes it possible to run the 3G version of the tablet-style computer on CDMA and GSM cellular networks. Such a move would make it possible for the one device to run on the cellular networks of the four major U.S. wireless carriers -- AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless -- as well as on the networks of carriers in Europe and Asia.

"Recent checks suggest Apple is going to be ratcheting down production of the existing 3G iPad over the next two months in anticipation of ramping up a new World iPad that is powered by Qualcomm and will run on both GSM- and CDMA-based networks around the world," said Brian Blair, analyst for Wedge Partners, as cited Friday by The Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital

At Interop NYC 2010, InformationWeek's Fritz Nelson finds an attendee roaming the floor with a bag so full of schwag that would make most professioanl trick-or-treaters jealous.The next iPad will reportedly include a Qualcomm chip that makes it possible to run the 3G version of the tablet-style computer on CDMA and GSM cellular networks. Such a move would make it possible for the one device to run on the cellular networks of the four major U.S. wireless carriers -- AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless -- as well as on the networks of carriers in Europe and Asia.

"Recent checks suggest Apple is going to be ratcheting down production of the existing 3G iPad over the next two months in anticipation of ramping up a new World iPad that is powered by Qualcomm and will run on both GSM- and CDMA-based networks around the world," said Brian Blair, analyst for Wedge Partners, as cited Friday by The Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital Web site.

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Blair said that his recent Qualcomm channel checks also reveal that Apple is preparing to build about 48 million iPads next year and that the devices will be thinner than the current model. To reduce the thickness, Apple is making the new iPad out of a single piece of metal, essentially adopting a manufacturing process similar to what it uses for its unibody MacBooks.

Apple doesn’t comment on future products. However, Ezra Gottheil, analyst for Technology Business Research, told InformationWeekthat the report makes sense, given Apple's longtime strategy of avoiding the production of several versions of the iPhone to run on networks based on different standards. In the U.S., for example, the iPhone has only run on AT&T's network since its release in 2007, though a Verizon version is reportedly near completion.

"It certainly makes sense for Apple to produce a run-anywhere product," Gottheil says of the iPad report. "Apple always wants a definitive, single product."

Meanwhile, Taiwan-based DigiTimes quoted anonymous sources in reporting that Ibiden, Tripod Technology and TTM Technologies will be the initial manufacturers of the printed circuit boards for the new iPad, which the publication says Apple is expected to launch in the first quarter of 2011.

Facebook Mobile Event Nov 3: Will We See a Secret Facebook Phone?

2010-11-02T10:10:00.000-07:00

Facebook has sent out an invitation to the media for a “mobile event” at its Palo Alto, California headquarters on Wednesday November 3. Could this be the unveiling of the much-speculated about Facebook phone?

You may recall that technology blog TechCrunch reported last month that Facebook was secretly developing a special smartphone.

Facebook then issued a carefully-worded response that said the company was not “building” a phone, but that it had projects focused on “deeper integrations with some manufacturers.”

The response was reminiscent of the tack taken by Google last year when rumors were rampant that it was about to release a smartphone. In January, of course, Google began to sell the Nexus One phone, which it developed alongside handset vendor HTC, on its website.

The Facebook invite provides no details whatsoever other than to say that the event begins at 10:30 am on November 3 and will be followed by lunch.

But the invitation sports an image of two shaded figures alongside what appears to be the old string-and-Dixie-cup phones that kids in treehouses have long used to communicate. One hopes the actual Facebook phone, if there is one, is slightly more high-tech.

Facebook suspends developers for selling user ID numbers

2010-11-02T10:06:00.000-07:00

Company says it has 'zero tolerance' for data brokers

Facebook said that a “data broker” had paid Facebook app developers for user identification numbers and that as a result the company had suspended a number of developers.

Given that the user identification numbers (UIDs) were not considered to be private and that merely knowing a UID does not bestow anyone the ability to access private data, the hard line taken by the social networking behemoth is as much a statement of intent to tackle the firm’s tarnished reputation when it comes to privacy concerns.

Facebook representative Mike Vernal wrote on the Facebook Developer Blog: “Facebook has never sold and will never sell user information. We also have zero tolerance for data brokers because they undermine the value that users have come to expect from Facebook.”

“To restate our policy, developers may not pass any data from Facebook to data brokers, and we are now including anonymous identifiers in this protected category of Facebook data.”

Facebook said that it was imposing a six month ban on access to Facebook development features for the group found to have sold UIDs to data brokers. Less than 12 developers were involved which Facebook described as “mostly small developers”, saying that none of them had produced applications in the top 10 list.

Apple releases iOS 4.2 to developers

2010-11-02T10:02:00.000-07:00

Apple is promising to deliver the latest iOS upgrade, version 4.2, to the public sometime in November.

Apple has reportedly delivered the final test version of iOS 4.2 to developers, meaning that it could be hitting iPhones, iPod Touches and iPads any day now.

It looks like the upgrade will be most noticeable among iPad users, as several features already found on the iPhone will now become available for Apple’s tablet computer. With the new iOS installed, the iPad will be capable of multitasking in the same way the iPhone currently is, which permits users to run certain apps in the background while running another app simultaneously. Other iPad features include support for organizing apps into folders and the addition of Apple’s Game Center. The upgrade will also come with AirPlay, allowing iPad users to synch with the Apple TV to stream music, video, and photos. The upgrade will also reportedly provide for brightness controls as well as for the ability to adjust volume while multitasking.

There’s no word on what bug issues will be addressed with the upgrade. However, it is widely hoped that Apple will, at the very least, include fixes for a security flaw found in the iPhone’s passcode system and an alarm clock glitch that recently caused instances of tardiness in Europe (we recommend that American iPhone users consider setting a back up alarm clock following this weekend’s daylight saving time adjustment, just in case.) Both issues are found in the current version of iOS. Whatever the latest iOS ends up looking like, it appears that those interested in jailbreaking their device won’t have to wait this time around; several sites are reporting that current jailbreaking techniques will work just fine with iOS 4.2.

Twitter to Include Ads in Your Stream of Tweets

2010-11-02T09:58:00.000-07:00

Advertising is inescapable on the Web today and the last place users want to see ads is on the sites they visit for recreation. Wouldn’t it be nice if members of social-networking sites could log onto their Facebook or Twitter page without the hassle of having to sift through ads? Unfortunately, with the amount of time users spend on their favorite social-networking platform, it only makes sense to increase the number of advertisements we are subjected to.

Facebook (News - Alert) recently began implementing ads into member’s newsfeeds and now its Twitter’s turn. However, Twitter is easing into in-stream advertising slowly, as the concept is still a work in progress.

According to a Yahoo News article, Twitter will begin testing Promoted Tweets within one of its partners, HootSuite. Twitter will be experimenting with how and when to place the ads, hopefully to be as unobtrusive to the microblogging companies loyal users as possible.

Twitter’s objective is to make sure that the ads you see in your stream are related to your interests, so the Promoted Tweets won’t be completely random.

“During this testing period with HootSuite, we will experiment with where and when Promoted Tweets are shown in the timeline. Not all HootSuite users will see Promoted Tweets and those who do may see different Promoted Tweets in different places in their timeline,” Twitter mentioned in a post when announcing the in-stream roll out.

Twitter explained that they will only display Promoted Tweets in the timeline when they are relevant by using signals to determine a Promoted Tweet’s relevance to a user such as the public list of who a member follows.

Since the in-stream ads have yet to go into effect, there’s no telling how users will react. However, the majority of Internet users are already opposed to ads polluting their online content, so chances are implementing more ads into their tweets won’t go over too well. But keep in mind, Twitter isn’t necessarily the most profitable social-networking platform and needs to generate more revenue somehow.

Android sweeps Apple, BlackBerry in U.S. smart phone market

2010-11-02T09:49:00.000-07:00

There is more bad news for BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) as its smart phone sales have slipped to the third position in the U.S. market.

According to the latest data by the NPD Group, the U.S.-based smart phone market tracking company, the BlackBerry’s share of the US market in the third quarter fell to 22 per cent from 28 per cent in the second quarter.

On the other hand, the sales of Apple’s devices rose marginally to 23 per cent from 22 per cent in the second quarter, pushing the BlackBerry maker to the third spot in the U.S. smart phone market.

The steep fall in sales of the BlackBerry maker, which until recently dominated the US market, came despite the high-profile launch of the BlackBerry Torch 9800 in August.

But it was not Apple, but the surge in the popularity of Google’s Android operating system (OS) which did the most damage to RIM in the US market.

The sales of Google Android devices jumped as much as 11 per cent from the second quarter to account for 44 per cent of all smart phones purchased in the third quarter.

“Much of Android’s quarterly share growth came at the expense of RIM, rather than Apple,” Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis at the NPD Group, said.

“The HTC EVO 4G, Motorola Droid X, and other new high-end Android devices have been gaining momentum at carriers that traditionally have been strong RIM distributors, and the recent introduction of the BlackBerry Torch has done little to stem the tide,” he said.

According to the data, Android’s operating system has made such an impact on the market that the share of RIM OS has declined by 53 per cent, and that of Apple iOS has fallen by 21 per cent since 2009.

Because of this onslaught from Android OS, “Apple faces challenges in further expanding its domestic market share, while still retaining exclusivity,” said Rubin.

Just two weeks ago, Apple CEO Steve JObs had taunted RIM, saying,”we have now passed RIM, and I don’t see them catching up with us in the foreseeable feature.”

But it is Android OS that is becoming the major worry for him and BlackBerry bosses.

Google sues US in software battle

2010-11-02T09:47:00.000-07:00

Google is suing the US government, saying it was unfairly excluded from a $58m deal to revamp e-mail systems at the Department of the Interior.

In a lawsuit filed with the US Court of Federal Claims, Google says the terms of the five-year contract rule out its products and favour rival Microsoft.

The search giant wants to offer its Google Apps software for the contract.

But Google says it was told that only Microsoft's business software could be used - a move it called "arbitrary".

The Department of the Interior, which employs about 88,000 people, declined to comment on Google's legal action.

Security fears

Google says in its lawsuit that it was told there would be "full and open competition" for the contract, but that the bid specified that only the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite-Federal could be used.

This is a special version of Microsoft's suite of business tools that was designed for the US federal government.

Google has its own special version of its software designed to address government security concerns, Google Apps for Government.

However, the firm says it was told its product did not comply with the department's security requirements.

Google says the decision was "arbitrary and capricious", as well as being "unduly restrictive of competition" and against US law.

It calls for an open contracting process, which it says "could save US taxpayers tens of millions of dollars and result in better services".

Skyfire Brings Flash Video to iPhone

2010-11-02T09:43:00.000-07:00

Skyfire, which is already available for Android OS smartphones, is coming to the iPhone on Thursday and bringing with it the ability to play Flash video content. Apple doesn’t support Flash content on its iOS devices, which will make Skyfire a welcome addition for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users that need to play Flash-based video on their handheld devices.

Instead of displaying Flash videos on iOS devices, Skyfre intercepts and converts them to HTML 5, then streams them to back out to users. The process works around the inability to play Flash content natively on iOS devices, and it took about two months of work with Apple to get Skyfire approved for distribution through the App Store, according to CNN.

Skyfire users hoping to work around Hulu’s paid-only model for viewing shows on mobile devices, however, are in for a disappointment. Hulu is actively blocking Skyfire from downloading and converting shows, which means users will still have to pay a monthly subscription fee to watch content on the go.

Skyfire will be available on Thursday, November 5, for US$2.99 and is available at Apple’s iTunes-based App Store.

Oracle to buy retail software company ATG

2010-11-02T09:38:00.000-07:00

Oracle Corp said on Tuesday it will buy Art Technology Group Inc for $1 billion, to bolster its e-commerce software applications.

Oracle's $6-per-share bid represents a 46 percent premium over ATG's close of $4.10 on Nasdaq. ATG shares were trading at $5.99 in early Nasdaq trading.

The acquisition, which is expected to close early next year, is the latest in a wave of dealmaking by a major technology company to diversify product portfolios -- from computing, security, storage and networking to online videoconferencing and e-commerce.

"It's a nice, safe acquisition for Oracle," said Jeff Gaggin, an Avian Securities analyst, adding that the deal will expand Oracle's retail software portfolio, which includes Retek, a retail software company it acquired in 2005.

More than 1,000 companies use ATG software to help with online customer transactions on mobile devices and in stores.

ATG creates software for customers to buy items online. Its customers include Best Buy Co Inc, AT&T and Vodafone Group Plc. It competes with Amazon.com and GSI Commerce.

ATG, which is based in Cambridge Massachusetts, had sales of $50.3 million in the third quarter of 2010, up 16 percent from $43.4 million a year earlier.

Avian Securities' Gaggin called ATG a "moderate grower" and said it was reasonable for Oracle to pay a 46 percent premium on its shares.

Oracle is in a California court on Tuesday seeking some $2 billion in damages from rival SAP AG on accusations that SAP stole its software.

Oracle shares were up 23 cents at $29.38 in Nasdaq morning trade.

(Reporting by Liana B. Baker; additional reporting by Swati Chitnis in Bangalore; Editing by Derek Caney)

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Shuttle launch delayed by leak repairs

2010-10-30T13:07:00.000-07:00

The shuttle Discovery, showing the location of an access panel where leaking quick-disconnect fittings had to be replaced, delaying launch on a space station resupply flight from Monday to Wednesday.(Credit: NASA)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla.--NASA managers decided Saturday to delay the shuttle Discovery's launch an additional day to Wednesday to give engineers enough time to complete replacement and retest of leaky quick-disconnect fittings in the ship's right-side orbital maneuvering system rocket pod.

If all goes well, Discovery's countdown will begin at 2 p.m. EDT Sunday, setting up a launch attempt at 3:52:13 p.m. Wednesday, roughly the moment Earth's rotation carries launch pad 39A into the plane of the space station's orbit. The forecast calls for a 70 percent chance of acceptable weather Wednesday and Thursday, improving to 80 percent "go" on Friday.

NASA Test Director Jeffrey Spaulding said engineers are "really confident" they can finish the work in time to start the countdown Sunday.

"The team has done an excellent job overnight, it's been a lot of hard work," he said. "I think they've done a great job and I look forward to getting the call to stations tomorrow" to start the countdown.

The primary goals of Discovery's 39th and final mission are to deliver a loaded cargo storage module to the International Space Station, along with a spare set of cooling system radiators that will be mounted on the lab's main power truss.

Assuming an on-time launch, Discovery would dock with the space station at 12:36 p.m. Friday. Two spacewalks are planned, on Nov. 7 and 9, with undocking on tap Nov. 12 at 5:02 a.m. and landing back at the Kennedy Space Center at 9:59 a.m. Nov. 14.

Launch had been targeted for Monday, but engineers ran into problems overnight Thursday with leaking nitrogen and helium quick-disconnect couplings used by Discovery's right-side OMS pod. The nitrogen gas is used to open and close a variety of valves, while the helium is used to pressurize propellant tanks in the rocket pod.

Engineers decided early Friday to replace the fittings, delaying the start of Discovery's countdown to Saturday and pushing launch from Monday to Tuesday.

The repair work required engineers to vent high-pressure helium tanks in the OMS pod before swapping out the couplings. The replacement work was completed early Saturday and engineers began a series of leak tests to make sure the new fittings were tight before repressurizing the helium system.

Because the tanks were fully vented for the repair work, engineers had to first carry out an intermediate repressurization, a process expected to take about six hours to complete, followed by a 16-hour procedure to bring the system up to flight pressure.

To make a Tuesday launch target, NASA had to start Discovery's countdown by 2 p.m. Saturday. But after a management review earlier Saturday, it was clear more time was needed, and the decision was made to push the launch back one more day to Wednesday.

"The plan as we knew it yesterday was to vent down the tank and replace some parts we thought were faulty on an air-half coupling on our right-hand OMS maneuvering system pod and then do some leak checks," Spaulding said. "As we went through the day, we learned there was some additional work we needed to do...from a leak check perspective and some of the venting operations that needed to be done.

"We did remove and replace the air-half coupling and the ground-half coupling that we talked about yesterday, the parts that were faulty, and we've done some initial leak checks on those and also some moisture samples. And all of those came back good."

Spaulding said engineers expect to complete the helium repressurization procedure early Sunday, well before the planned start of the countdown.

The shuttle's current launch period extends through Nov. 7. Spaulding said NASA managers planned to follow normal procedures, making two attempts in a row, if necessary, before standing down a day to give the launch team a chance to rest. Another two launch attempts then would be possible, on Nov. 6 and 7, if necessary.

"Launching on Wednesday, we still have up to and including Sunday, so that gives us...our normal four (launch attempts) in five-day capability we like to preserve," Spaulding said.

The next launch window opens Dec. 1.

MySpace Overhauls Site, Focuses on Entertainment

2010-10-27T09:34:00.000-07:00

MySpace on Wednesday unveiled a revamped site with a focus on entertainment and content rather than subscriber-driven profiles, pulling in social elements that are more akin to Twitter and Foursquare than rival Facebook.

MySpace has faced tough competition from Facebook; the News Corp.-owned site has about 100 million users compared to Facebook's 500 million. MySpace acknowledges as much with Wednesday's revamp, saying pointedly that "previously MySpace was people-focused, now the focus is content."

Though personal profiles still exist, MySpace focused much of the upgrade on content distribution – the latest updates on celebrities, bands, TV shows, and movies rather than what your high school lab partner had for breakfast or photos from that weekend BBQ.

There is a focus, however, on presenting real-time data. The new MySpace welcome page will constantly update as the latest news "bubbles up across the beta site," MySpace said. Once a user is signed in to MySpace, the site will display information based on that user's preferences.

A screen shot of the new welcome page (click below to enlarge) shows the number one TV show, artist, song, comedian, and music video across MySpace, while also incorporating emerging artists that users across the site are discovering. News articles ("11 Movies to See This Year") are mixed in with real-time suggestions ("Popular bands people are listening to") and exclusive content.

Users will have the option of three new user homepages: a traditional, list view; a grid view that's organized more like a magazine to highlight content; and a player view, which is a new TV type format focused on video.

The "Right Now" section, meanwhile, will display content that is trending on MySpace in the moment. Users can find recently added music and videos and listen or watch right in the interactive chart. A "Discovery Tab" will also incorporate videos that friends are watching with those that are popular across MySpace. From anywhere on MySpace, scroll to the top and the new Discovery Tab drops down as a horizontal film strip.

Like band or celebrity profiles on MySpace, the site will also introduce "Content Hubs," which are more comprehensive pages dedicated to movies, TV, and celebrities. They will feature information about the topic, as well as trending articles with news, videos, and photos from various content partners. Hubs focused on games, comedy, sports and fashion will be revealed in the coming months.

Content partners include MTV, the Los Angeles Times, Access Hollywood, New York Times, Village Voice, and Just Jared.

MySpace said it will enlist the help of "curators" to serve as the resident experts on certain topics and extend their reach across the site. These curators will be a "subset of [MySpace's] audience whose reputation and knowledge around particular entertainment topics and emerging cultural trends make them uniquely influential," MySpace said.

Like Foursquare, MySpace will introduce a reward system called "Reputation," where users can earn badges for their social activity around entertainment topics that appear in their news stream.

On the profile front, MySpace will include a "My Stuff" section that drops down to display different "drawers" of personal information – profile, photos, videos, and uploaded content. If someone makes someone public, it will become part of the Discovery Tab.

The company promised to release a Web-based mobile version of the revamped sight soon and release an iPhone and Android app later this year.

The new MySpace begins rolling out today in beta and will be available to all users worldwide by the end of November.

Yahoo relaunches Beta with faster Mail and Twitter client

2010-10-27T09:22:00.000-07:00

Yahoo on Wednesday released an overhauled version of its Yahoo Mail Beta client that it says is twice as fast as the previous version. The new version also adds features such as an integrated Twitter client, rich-media previews and a more full-featured IM client.

Yahoo says the speed boost should be especially noticeable to users outside the US with latency issues, as the new version makes use of the company's cloud computing technology. This means that if the user has an unreliable connection, the app can adjust its behaviour to keep pages from timing out or becoming unresponsive.

Aside from the speed and performance increase, which Yahoo says were the top requests from users, the company has added a robust Twitter client, which joins the existing social-sharing tools for Facebook and Yahoo. Users can post to Twitter, or to any combination of the other two services, as well as see Twitter status updates in the update stream below. Yahoo has long had a way to incorporate Twitter feeds, but now users can reply and re-tweet without leaving the page.

Latest Facebook privacy scare isn't so new

2010-10-18T14:40:00.000-07:00

If you were looking for another reason to hate FarmVille and all those other games on Facebook, today's report by the Wall Street Journal should make you happy:

Many of the most popular applications, or "apps," on the social-networking site Facebook Inc. have been transmitting identifying information -- in effect, providing access to people's names and, in some cases, their friends' names -- to dozens of advertising and Internet tracking companies, a Wall Street Journal investigation has found.

But it's important to know that Facebook has been enabling this kind of open access to user information since its inception and that anyone searching for it doesn't need an app to find it.

The "identifying information" noted in the article -- your Facebook username or profile number -- is already public data in most cases. Unless you disable the "public search" feature that Facebook enables for all over-18 users, anybody can see your name and photo by typing in the right address.

And even if you have opted out of public search, any of the 500 million-plus users on Facebook can see what the Palo Alto, Calif., social network defines as public data: name, picture, gender and networks.

Facebook's adjustable default privacy settings will also let strangers see some of your friends.

(Two things to note involving corporate ties: The Wall Street Journal's owner, News Corp., owns Facebook competitor MySpace. And as you've no doubt memorized by now, Post Co. chairman Donald E. Graham sits on Facebook's board of directors, and the paper uses Facebook to market itself.)

According to posts on Facebook's developers blog and the blog of one Web firm critiqued in the WSJ piece, Rapleaf, the apps in question are gathering information through a standard Web feature called the "referer URL."

Attentive readers will recall that the same mechanism was blamed in a May WSJ story about privacy issues at Facebook and MySpace. Referers aren't a bad thing by themselves; they're a basic feature of Web links that allows sites to know which sites visitors are coming from.

In most cases, a referer (the misspelling has become common practice) doesn't say anything about who you are -- only which sites you've visited. That's not the case with Facebook profiles, as the company acknowledged in May. But sanitizing referers in a way that works in all browsers is not an easy thing -- see this lengthy explanation from the Facebook engineering blog for the grisly details.

It looks like Facebook's engineers forgot to make sure their referer-laundering works for Facebook apps, too. And, as the WSJ story notes, some companies -- such as Rapleaf -- made further use of this information:

The apps reviewed by the Journal were sending Facebook ID numbers to at least 25 advertising and data firms, several of which build profiles of Internet users by tracking their online activities.
To me, this whole episode confirms two general principles to remember when thinking about electronic privacy breaches.

1) Data will leak by accident for a variety of benign reasons: Developers used the same technique that worked before; they assumed all their users kept the default settings; they didn't factor in how older software would behave, and so on.

2) Some companies won't resist the temptation to use data they weren't supposed to see.

What can you do about those two possibilities? Know your privacy options, and use them to limit your visibility. Facebook's defaults are too liberal for my taste and should be tightened, as I recommended in June and followed up with advice about its Places check-in feature in August.

Then be picky about adding applications to your account, and note what information they request of you and what they post to your profile. A revision to Facebook's privacy interface introduced last week makes it easier to see and limit the applications' appetites for your data.

But more important, remember the fundamental bargain of any social network: You're trading some of your information for the ability to communicate easily with friends. As one commentary wisely put it: "If you think that social media exists for charitable reasons, think again."

What's your take on this news? Am I letting Facebook off easy in this case?

Nebula 'Halo' Leaves Scientists Baffled

2010-08-23T10:45:00.000-07:00

The cloud combination - or nebula - known as Ira's Ghost has been photographed by the Hubble Telescope with scientists wondering what it is that is lighting it up.

Ira's Ghost was first discovered in 1983 and is a "reflection nebula" which means it is lit up by a light source, rather than an "emission nebula" which is lit up from within.

What is puzzling the scientists is that they do not know where the light source is coming from.

They say they cannot find evidence of an external light source and therefore cannot explain why the nebula is throwing light into space.

Space enthusiasts say there should be a bright star nearby, but that is not the case.

One theory is that it could be a huge star that once travelled through the nebula at just under 125,000 mph.

The image was snapped by the Hubble as part of a "wish list" for the telescope to do when there was spare time.

As a "bonus" discovery, scientists are not too concerned about the origin - they are just delighted to have found something different.

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Solar system 'two million years older than first thought'

2010-08-23T10:37:00.000-07:00

The solar system could be almost two million years older than previously thought, scientists have discovered using evidence from one of the oldest meteorites.

The new study said the Solar System formed 4,568.2 billion years ago, which was between 300,000 and 1.9 million years earlier than previous estimates. Photo: NASA/ JPL
Researchers revised the age after analysing a mineral "relic" buried deep within the meteorite, known as an inclusion, found in the Sahara desert in northwest Africa.

These minerals, from a 1.49-kilo (3.2-pound) meteorite found in the Moroccan desert in 2004, are among the oldest solid materials formed following the birth of the Sun.

Experts said dating them could provide one of the most precise estimates of the age of the formation of the solar system.

Researchers from Arizona State University used a technique that relied on forms of lead atoms called isotopes to determine the age of this particular inclusion.

They found it formed 4.5682 billion years ago, which was between 300,000 and 1.9 million years earlier than previous estimates.

This age makes the inclusion the oldest material from the solar system that has been dated so far, according to the finding published in Nature Geoscience on Sunday.

"The age of the solar system can be defined as the time of formation of the first solid grains in the nebular disc surrounding the proto-Sun," said Dr Audrey Bouvier, a space scientist from the university's Centre for Meteorite Studies, who led the study.

"This age is estimated by dating calciumaluminium-rich inclusions in meteorites. These inclusions are considered as the earliest formed solids in the solar nebula.

"Their formation marks the beginning for several long and short-lived radiogenic clocks that are used to precisely define the timescales of Solar System events, such as the formation and evolution of planetary bodies."

She added: "From the consistently old ages in the studied inclusion, we conclude that the proto-Sun and the nebular disc formed earlier than previously thought."

Mars rover technology could improve solar power efficiency on Earth

2010-08-23T10:33:00.000-07:00

Technology designed to help NASA scientists explore Mars could hold the secret to solving the world’s energy problems by improving solar power efficiency, experts claim. The devices scouring the red planet have sensors which detect dust build-ups and zap the surface of their solar panels with an electrical charge to keep them shiny

Solar panels could be kept free from dust and grime which hampers energy output using a self-cleaning system developed for NASA’s Mars rover robots.

The devices scouring the red planet have sensors which detect dust build-ups and zap the surface of their solar panels with an electrical charge to keep them shiny.

Dr Malay Mazumder, who helped create the technology for NASA, said it could help boost efficiency of large solar power plants, many of which are situated in arid and dusty desert locations.

"A dust layer of 4g per square metre decreases solar power conversion by 40 per cent," said Dr Mazumder, from Boston University.

"In Arizona, dust is deposited each month at over four times that amount. Deposition rates are even higher in Australia, the Middle East, and India."

The technology, used on the Mars rovers since they landed on the planet in 2004, involves coating the solar panel surface with electrodes of Indium tin oxide, a transparent, electrically-sensitive material.

Sensors monitor dust levels on the surface of the panel and energise the material when dust concentration reaches a critical level.

Electrodes on the panels then produce a cascading wave of electrostatic pulses, which shake off the dust leaving them clean and more energy efficient.

Dr Mazumder said the process removes about 90 per cent of dust in two minutes and uses only a small amount of the electricity generated by the panel for cleaning operations.

The research was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society.

Scientists have weight of the worlds on their shoulders

2010-08-23T10:26:00.000-07:00

Scientists will now be able to accurately measure planets such as Jupiter thanks to a new breakthrough

AS scientific problems go, it has been one of the weightiest in the solar system: how do you accurately measure a planet, its moons and any rings it may have to see how heavy they are?
Now, an Australian-led international team of scientists has found a new method of weighing planetary systems that promises to fine-tune models of the solar system and improve spacecraft flight plans.

The breakthrough will also speed up the quest for gravity waves, the ripples in space and time that Albert Einstein predicted in his 1915 general theory of relativity.

The new planetary scale uses radio signals regularly emitted by small rapidly spinning stars called pulsars to measure the weight of planetary systems.

"This is the first time anyone has weighed planetary systems: planets with their moons and rings," said team leader David Champion.

"And, we've provided an independent check on previous results, which is great for planetary science."

The new technique is to be published in an upcoming edition of the Astronomical Journal.

Until now, scientists weighed planets by measuring the orbits of their moons or of spacecraft as they flew past them and calculating the planet's gravitational pull.

According to team member and CSIRO astrophysicist George Hobbs, the new approach is more versatile than existing methods.

"It can be widely used to detect a range of objects, from planets to asteroids," he said.

One in 20 people reprimanded for inappropriate emails

2010-08-23T10:16:00.000-07:00

One in 20 people have been reprimanded at work for sending an ill-advised email, according to a survey.

Inappropriate jokes, angry messages sent in the heat of the moment, and scathing email replies forwarded to the wrong people are among some of the email gaffes that have landed office workers in hot water with their employers or clients.

One in five of those questioned said they had sent an inappropriate email in the heat of the moment, while almost a third said they had accidentally hit “reply all” instead of “reply”.

More than one in 10 of the 2,000 people surveyed admitted they had mistakenly sent an email criticising a colleague to the person they were insulting.

According to the research, carried out to mark the DVD release of Going Postal, the television adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s novel, men were more likely to make an email gaffe than women, with 28 per cent admitting to sending an ill-judged message, compared to 17 per cent of women.

There have been a number of well-documented email gaffes. Last year, a worker at Deloitte had to resign after emailing colleagues asking them to name the best-looking man in the office, while in 2000, nine members of the Financial Services Authority were suspended after forwarding copies of explicit emails allegedly sent by Claire Swire to her then-boyfriend, Bradley Chait, who worked for law firm Norton Rose.

Google: Hey, We've Got Places Too

2010-08-20T11:32:00.000-07:00

Don't forget, prospective Facebook Places users, Google offers similar features to the Facebook's new location-sharing service with Google Maps for Mobile. Just one day after Facebook announced Places, Google announced in a blog post that more than 100 million people a month are now using Google Maps on their mobile phones.

Although the search giant never mentions Facebook by name, it's awfully strange timing to send out a reminder about Google Maps for Mobile right after Facebook launched Places.

What to Do With Google Maps for Mobile

Regardless of the timing, there's no doubt you can use Google Maps for Mobile to do a lot more than you can with Facebook Places. You can use My Location to get your bearings when visiting a new city or neighborhood. Google Latitude lets you broadcast your location to your friends, and Place Pages can help you find hours of operation, reviews and other information about nearby restaurants, shops and landmarks. You can also use Google Maps on your mobile device to get voice-guided directions.

Google Feeling the Pressure?

There's no doubt Google Maps is a useful service, and with more than 100 million users every month it's clearly popular. But now Facebook is attempting to popularize location-sharing among its 500 million users in a way that services like Google Latitude, Foursquare, or Gowalla could never do. So perhaps it's wise to remind users of all the great things you can do with Google Maps for Mobile just in case Facebook Places (powered by Microsoft's Bing Maps) starts to include other features that could compete with Google Maps.

Then again, maybe it's complete chance that Google Maps for Mobile just happened to reach 100 million users per month at the same time Facebook got into the location game. Just like the time Google and Bing just happened to strike real-time search deals in the

Moon is shrinking, data show, but Earth will be unaffected

2010-08-20T11:25:00.000-07:00

The moon appears to be shrinking.

New research indicates that cracks in the moon's crust have formed as the interior has cooled and shrunk over the past billion years or so. That means the surface has shrunk, too, though not so much you'd notice from gazing at it.

Scientists have identified 14 clifflike landforms called lobate scarps scattered over the surface of the moon, said Thomas R. Watters of the Center for Earth and Planetary Studies at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. Watters and colleagues describe their find in Friday's edition of the journal Science.

The scarps had previously been noted at the moon's equator, but this is the first evidence in other areas, indicating they result from a global process.

The study calls the scarps "evidence of recent thrust faulting on the moon." But this is planetary science, where "recent" can mean a billion years ago.

The scarps, or cliffs, extend across some small craters, and small craters tend to be obliterated over time, Watters said in a telephone interview. In addition, there are no large craters imposed on top of the scarps, another indication they are relatively recent, in planetary terms, he said.

"One of the really cool parts of this . . . the faults are so young-looking that you can't escape the possibility that this contraction occurred recently, and could indicate that the moon is still active," Watters said.

The size of the scarps indicates a shrinkage in the size of the moon of about 100 meters, or 328 feet, the researchers said. The moon is about one-fourth the size of Earth in diameter.

The scarps are up to 10 meters high and a few kilometers long, Watters said. By comparison, Mercury has much larger scarps indicating considerably more shrinkage over time.

The moon's not going to disappear and its shrinkage won't affect Earth, Watters said.

Google Patches Security Holes in Chrome Browser

2010-08-20T11:15:00.000-07:00

Google on Thursday released a new version of its Chrome browser that patches nine security vulnerabilities, including two critical threats.

Version 5.0.375.127, available for Windows, Mac, and Linux PCs, comes roughly three weeks after a security patch that fixed five Chrome flaws. Google usually updates Chrome every 2 to 4 weeks.

Software vulnerability tracker Secunia rates the latest Chrome update as "highly critical," its second-highest ranking after "extremely critical."

One Chrome flaw has an "unknown impact," while others "can be exploited by malicious people to conduct spoofing attacks and compromise a user's system," according to post on Secunia's site.

In addition to the two critical flaws, Chrome 5.0.375.127 patches seven less-serious threats, including one medium and six high-level vulnerabilities. The two most-serious, critical issues include a crash on system shutdown due to a notifications bug, and memory corruption with the file dialog, according to Google.

Chrome, known for its speed and security, has gained market share over the past year, much at the expense of Mozilla Firefox. Microsoft Internet Explorer has recently reversed its declining position and is also gaining share globally, according to Net Applications statistics.

Nokia N9 (RM-680) QWERTY MeeGo Magic Leaked

2010-08-20T11:11:00.000-07:00

The Nokia N9 started life back in June as a weird little leaked video that showed nothing more than an amazing design concept. Well, it seems the Nokia N9 video was indeed a real device and the first leaked photos of the Nokia N9 has hit the internet and what a device it looks. Read on to find out more about the Nokia N9 QWERTY MeeGo device.

The Nokia N9 is a slider device with what looks like a full aluminium body, sliding device and amazing QWERTY keyboard. This Linux based device could well be perceived as a Nokia Booklet 3G Mini as it certainly looks as though it could be a full-bloodied portable computer.

Very little is known about the Nokia N9 other than it’s a prototype built in Finland and very much a pre-production sample.

Now, the Nokia N9 images have turned up in China, so what’s to stop this device simply being a clone? Well, Engadget seems to have been doing a little digging around, proving their excited about the Nokia N9 themselves, and revealed the device to indeed be a MeeGo 6 powered device, as well a rocking up with a Nokia device number of RM-680, which is used internally as its development code.

So, what do you think, will the Nokia N9 be making an appearance at Nokia World 2010 next month or does this device look a little too pre-production to be ready to be shown to the wider world? Whatever the case, this handsome looking handset is set to cause a stir when it finally lands – let us know what you think in the Comments below.

Mastering Places Privacy Can Be Tricky, Facebook Critics Charge

2010-08-20T11:06:00.000-07:00

Facebook Places, a new 'location tool' which has been accused of copying rival Foursquare, has launched with a new logo depicting the number '4' in a square.

Facebook rolled out its Places feature this week to much fanfare -- so much, in fact, that the official Facebook Blog has an update note posted that users who are unable to access the service should try back soon to see if they can check in. The app, available on the iPhone as part of Facebook for iPhone and available to all other mobile users through the touch.facebook.com website, allows people to indicate their location in the physical world to all their Facebook friends in the virtual world.

For its part, Facebook has been quick to point out that Places is an opt-in application. One must specifically enable the geolocation tool and then choose to use it. However, privacy experts continue to worry that the privacy controls on Facebook's many tools are difficult to navigate. For example, the Electronic Privacy Information Center has posted specific recommendations about four different settings that users should adjust when choosing to use Places.

Tunneling Through Menus
Places allows users to "check in" to a specific location, via Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Maps, when they arrive. Examples given by the service include a live show or a meeting place for an event. However, one can also check other people in -- a mark similar to tagging a friend in a photograph or status update. Thus, people who are Facebook friends can indicate their physical location with or without their knowledge. One can imagine a host of scenarios in which this might not be optimal under even the best of circumstances. Under the worst of circumstances, such as situations of stalking and domestic violence, the potential problems could become dangerous.

If a user chooses to use the Places app, EPIC recommends customizing its settings:

"(1) disable "Friends can check me in to Places," (2) customize "Places I Check In," (3) disable "People Here Now," and (4) uncheck "Places I've Visited." The organization is pointing out that, once again, users must make their way through a range of settings before accomplishing the goal of protecting their information in the ways they wish.

Where's the Scare?
Despite the worries, Places seems to have rolled out without a great deal of privacy concern among users. This may be due in part to how the service has positioned the opt-in nature of the service. In his blog post on the subject, Places product manager Michael Sharon was quick to point out that, "with Places, you are in control of what you share and the people you share with. You choose whether or not to share your location when you check in at a place. When you check in, you can tag friends who are with you but only if their settings allow it. When you are tagged, you are always notified."

However, he also notes that users who have their master privacy controls set to "Everyone," are, in essence, allowing anyone who visits that user's Profile page exactly where they are. What many users may not understand about this is that even non-Facebook Web surfers have access to that profile. That is, those who, on purpose or inadvertently, have their Facebook settings on "Everyone" are publishing their information for public access on the Web.

No One's Going Anywhere Over Places
Will any of this diminish the use of Facebook? Probably not, according to Jennifer Golbeck, assistant professor of information studies at the University of Maryland. While individual users may be angered by changes in particular privacy settings, or, in this case, by the need for them to change their own settings to prevent others from publishing their whereabouts, they are unlikely to leave the service. Facebook has become a crucial part of most people's communications structure, Golbeck told TechNewsworld. Thus, leaving the service would mean leaving behind the information shared only there by hundreds of friends and colleagues.

It's an issue about which people need to become educated and aware, Claire Simmers, chair of international business at St. Joseph's University, told TechNewsWorld. While privacy experts debate the legalities and regulation concerns over Facebook's constantly changing settings, the rest of us must still do what we can to protect our information and those of people like our children who perhaps don't understand the import of the choices they may make.

Motorola's Droid 2 is a refresh, not a revelation

2010-08-20T10:50:00.001-07:00

As the Smartphone Summer of 2010 lurches to a close, Verizon Wireless and Motorola have refreshed their product lines with the Droid 2 ($200 with a two-year contract), an update to the 10-month-old popular Droid slider phone.

It's a nice update -- the first phone to ship with Android 2.2 (a.k.a. Froyo) -- with some good tweaks. However, after spending a few days with one, I've concluded that it's unlikely to make your heart go pit-a-pat.

Motorola Droid 2Physically, the phone is nearly indistinguishable from its predecessor. At 2.4 x 4.6 x 0.5 in., it's nearly the same size as an iPhone 4 -- just 0.1 in. thicker, thanks to the slide-out keyboard. Although, at 6 oz., it's slightly heavier than a Droid X (again, keyboard), it's a half-inch shorter and about a quarter-inch narrower, with a 3.7-in. screen instead of the X's 4.3-in. display. It's a good size for one-handed operation.

The four function keys along the bottom are fixed-function targets rather than actual buttons that move when you press them, as they are on the Droid X; they're in slightly different order on the Droid 2 than on the original Droid.

Where pressing a physical button on the Droid X will wake that phone, one consequence of the Droid 2's buttonless buttons is that you'll need to find the hard on-off switch along the phone's top edge to wake it from sleep. And because the phone is so very rectangular, that key can be a little hard to find.

The physical keyboard, a landscape-oriented affair which slides leftward from behind the display, is a marked improvement over the original Droid's. The keys are more domed, there are now inverted-T cursor keys instead of the previous square pad, and other keys now have more room. Opening the keyboard automatically causes the display to orient toward it. The keyboard feels more substantial than, say, a Palm Pre's, but it's not nearly as refined as a BlackBerry's. Also, it's meant for two-handed (or two-thumbed) operation.

If you're devoted to single-handedness, the Droid 2 also has an excellent soft keyboard that can use the excellent Swype entry system. But the smaller size of the Droid 2 compared to the X makes the soft keyboard feel a little cramped. For this function, slightly bigger would have been slightly better.

Despite its 1-GHz processor, a significant upgrade over its 550-MHz predecessor, during testing the Droid 2 frequently felt slow and underpowered. Contact details were sometimes agonizingly slow to come up -- a particular disappointment because the software brilliantly pulls together contact information and recent activity.

Similarly, the powerful K-9 e-mail app, available for free through the Android Market, was sometimes sluggish to the point of apparently hanging. When you're standing on a street corner waiting for a taxi, you don't want to your phone software to be lagging.

Bottom line
In the end, the Droid 2 might be more important to Verizon Wireless and Motorola than to their customers. The smartphone business moves pretty fast, and after just 10 months, the original Droid is getting a little old. The Droid 2 fills a gap in their product line: the hard-keyboard Android phone.

If you like Verizon's network and you want an Android phone with a hard keyboard, the Droid 2's your baby. But if the keyboard is negotiable and you don't mind a slightly bigger phone, you may want to step up to the Droid X.

Dan Rosenbaum, by day a search strategist and content maven, has been reviewing mobile technology since the 1990s. His MicroTAC and StarTAC phones are still in a box somewhere.

Easy Agenda for iPad

2010-08-18T09:45:00.000-07:00

Simplicity is often a desirable attribute for iPhone and iPad apps. The entire App Store and app experience seems to lend itself to allowing users to find good apps and get things done with them with a minimum of muss and fuss. The release of the iPad, with its relatively vast screen real estate, was accompanied by some apps that were more sophisticated than ones designed to accomplish similar tasks on the iPhone. But for the most part, users can get up and running and doing things with apps within a few minutes.

Sometimes, however, ease-of-use and simplicity can be taken too far, and this is the case with Easy Agenda, a personal scheduling app from Diego Chiodini. Easy Agenda's main screen consists of a page that contains the day and date in the upper-right-hand corner and a line for each hour from 6 a.m. to midnight. For each hour, you can type one line (which can go on well past the edge of the screen) of information. But still, you are restricted to one line only. Hours cannot be divided into segments. Agenda items cannot be created as repeating appointments.

Easy Agenda also enables you to draw (with one line thickness in one color) on a separate page, and you can combine material you type into a free-form text box with your drawing. As with the calendar page, text can be entered only in a single font in a single size and style. You can e-mail both drawing pages and daily agenda pages from within the app.

The developer has also included a six-month calendar, which allows you to easily tap on a date and enter an appointment or task or note. However, the app does not include "reminder" capabilities; when you get to that day, you'll see what you have to do. The calendar, unfortunately, provides only a six-month view, divided into the year's first six months and its last six months. If it is June, the last six months of the year cannot be accessed in the calendar view; you can only enter an item for a date past July 1 by flipping through daily pages one at a time until you arrive at the correct date.

Easy Agenda is clearly designed for those that have, well, a very easy agenda. Many simple "sticky note" apps would serve such users just as well.

Is the web dying? It doesn't look that way

2010-08-18T09:41:00.000-07:00

Chris Anderson, Wired magazine's editor in chief, says the Web is being crippled by a world of apps and screens in a cover story titled "The Web Is Dead. Long Live the Internet."

Mr. Anderson argues that a world of downloadable apps, which work through the Internet and arrive through gadgets like the iPhone or Xbox, are quickly cannibalizing the World Wide Web as consumers prefer buttoned-up, dedicated platforms, designed specifically for mobile screens.

Is he right? Should we plaster R.I.P. signs all over the Web? Not exactly.

A chart Wired used for its story shows that since 2000, Web traffic has decreased as a percentage of overall Internet traffic in the United States. The graphic's data comes from a Cisco report that uses data from the Cooperative Association for Internet Data Analysis, a collaborative group that monitors Internet infrastructure.

The Web site Boing Boing notes that if you change the graph to show actual traffic growth online, you can see hockey-stick-like growth over every aspect of the Internet through the past two decades, including the Web.

Although Wired might be right in its assessment that apps are on the rise, with billions downloaded from Apple alone, many areas of the Web continue to grow dramatically too.

Take Facebook for example. Not only has the company grown to over half a billion users, but it has also seen major growth in its mobile applications, all while its Web site has grown with rapid speed too. In other words, the entire platform has grown dramatically.

There's another piece of the puzzle too. Most of these apps and Web sites are so intertwined that it's difficult to know the difference. With the exception of downloadable games, most Web apps for news and services require pieces of the Web and Internet to function properly.

So as more devices become connected to the Internet, whether they're built to access beautiful walled gardens, like mobile apps or TV-specific interfaces, they will continue to access the Web too, enabling each platform to grow concurrently.

Sony announces new 320GB and 160GB PS3s and confirms Move launch date

2010-08-18T09:37:00.000-07:00

320GB PS3? Move confirmed for Sept 15th? A new Ratchet & Clank game? Yes, Sony have just finished their Gamescom press conference. Read on for full details.

12 months ago Sony used Gamescom to unveil PS3 Slim. SCEE CEO Andrew House said global PS3 sales are up by 57% year on year since Slim launched. This year though the hardware announcements were less exciting. Two new PS3 models - a 320GB and a 160GB - were unveiled and will take over from the current models in the marketplace. Launching in September the 320GB model (which will replace the existing 250GB model) will come bundled with Move and cost around 299UKP. A 160GB model PS3 will phase out the current 120GB model at the same price of £249.99.

Talking of Move, Sony confirmed that the motion control system will launch on Sept 15th. The cost?

The PlayStation Move motion controller is RRP £34.99, whilst the PlayStation Move navigation controller is priced at RRP £24.99. The starter pack that comprises a PlayStation Move motion controller, PlayStation Eye and a Starter disc is priced at RRP £49.99.

The big software announcements were Resistance 3 and Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One. The latter will - as you'd expect given the title - offer four player multiplayer and will hopefully see the franchise return to the form it showed in the first couple of games. The newly 3D and Move-enabled Virtua Tennis 4 was also shown.

Elsewhere there was a "chat" update announced for PlayTV. This will allow users to mail each other while watching TV - think sports - and could help bring more interest in what is a rather nifty piece of hardware for the PS3. Xbox owners can do this on Sky Player of course, but they need to stump up 35 quid a month to do so. PlayTV - once bought - uses freeview and so is, er, free.

The PSP may be out of fashion now but Sony seems to be pitching the handheld console towards the "youth" market. Digital comics and more cheap "mini" games are Sony's plan for the PSP.

So that's basically it. More will come out of Gamescom when it opens tomorrow but for now what do you think about the Sony announcements?

Facebook users warned over rogue 'dislike' scam which gives away personal information

2010-08-18T09:32:00.000-07:00

Facebook members have been warned of a rogue 'dislike' feature luring users into giving away personal information to scammers.

The social networking website said it was investigating examples of the scam which tricks members into giving away permission to access their profile pages.
The scam was launched amid calls for the introduction of an official dislike feature to accompany the 'like' button already in place, according to IT security firm Sophos.

Spokesman Graham Cluley said: 'Facebook users should think carefully before they click on an unknown link in a friend's status update as these scams are becoming increasingly common.
'Giving away personal information in a survey and allowing an application access to your profile is extremely risky and Facebook users need to wise up to this rather than just clicking on links that they see, just because they appear to be from a trusted source.'
Two versions of the scam were reported to Facebook by Sophos.
A spokesman for Facebook said the website disables malicious applications as soon as they are reported.
'We're always working to improve our systems and are building additional protections against this type of content,' she said.
'As always, we encourage people not to click on suspicious links anywhere on the web, even if they've been sent or posted by friends.
'We also have a robust reporting system in place and encourage our users to report any content they suspect to be spam or have the potential to compromise a user's account through the 'flag' button underneath each post.'

Google to add Like.com to its pockets for $100 million

2010-08-16T09:30:00.000-07:00

The latest company to be blessed with a Google acquisition is Like.com, an intriguing website specializing in "visual search," a technology Google has been toying with for years.

Google has its own visual search engine incorporated into Android - users can take a picture of a monument, landmark, or ever a person and receive results based on its extensive combing on images on the Internet. It is a technology that Google has been interested in for a while, but has had trouble finding ways to incorporate it.
Enter Like.com. It's a visual search-powered e-commerce site. Largely focused on apparel items, it tries to identify products for users based on the color and design of the items they're searching for. For example, if users really like that sequined gown, Like.com will be able to provide other items that are similar in design, color, etc.

Tech Crunch broke the story that Google is looking to buy the unique online store and all the back-end technology that comes with it. Combined with all of its existing search strength, Google could bring this into something really powerful.

Like.com reportedly grosses around $50 million per year so a $100 million price tag is a reasonable investment. It's a slight step away from the social networking/gaming scene that Google has been so focused on lately, but it does ensure that it can stay on top of the latest search technology in addition to going off on all of these side projects (like social gaming) as well.

Neither Google nor Like.com has yet confirmed the potential acquisition.

WSJ: Hurd tried to outflank HP board

2010-08-16T09:23:00.000-07:00

For average stock investors, programmed to buy and hold, the one place they don’t want to find their stock is leading the news reports. When that happens, the company — and its long-term supporters — are thrown for a loop.

The most recent case involved Hewlett-Packard, where chief executive officer Mark Hurd was forced to resign in the wake of sexual harassment allegations and a related internal probe over inaccurate expense reports purportedly used to cover Hurd’s tracks.

It was shocking news for investors, particularly because this was no clear-cut case. It wasn’t a chief executive filing misleading balance sheets and accounting statements or giving overhyped guidance to pump up shares and then trading against shareholders behind it.

It wasn’t even a "Something must be wrong with the company" moment, akin to when former Enron leader Jeffrey Skilling left the company with very little news in the wind, a sign of that company’s troubles to come.

This was a personal peccadillo, a matter that seemed to make H-P struggle over the right thing to do. According to a report from Larry Ellison, chief executive at Oracle (ORCL) and a close friend of Hurd’s, the H-P board was split 6-4 on whether to even disclose the harassment claims. Ellison was critical of the decision to allow Hurd to go.

Whenever a stock is in the news, the people who trade it are looking for the fast move (up or down), the average buy-and-hold shareholder is wondering if they should hang on, and the outsider is left wondering whether there’s a buying opportunity.

It’s why a number of H-P shareholders — not the least of them being my own mother — got in touch over the weekend wondering what’s the next move for a shareholder when a favorite company is in crisis.

"When CEOs up and resign suddenly from a high-quality company on a Friday afternoon, it just doesn’t get any weirder than that," said Tom McIntyre of McIntyre, Freedman & Flynn, a money-management firm in Orleans, Mass.

Because the Hurd situation is about interpersonal relations, details are sparse. While there is a temptation to focus on the sensational aspects of the story, what matters to shareholders is what happens next, as well as their personal situation and the kind of long-term profits they might be sitting on.

H-P investors can recall that Hurd got the top job in April 2005, when the company needed to get its financial house in order because it was still choking on its huge 2002 deal to buy Compaq. That deal was engineered by Carly Fiorina, who Hurd replaced because the board was unhappy with H-P’s performance.

Known for his attention to the operations side of the business, Hurd set some difficult goals, and then went out and reached them. And H-P’s financial ship was righted in the process.

For someone who has ridden with the company from Hurd’s arrival -- when H-P shares were trading in the $20s, they have doubled their money, even after the stock lost about 20 percent off of its 52-week high. They may be willing to ride things out longer, and not rush into a capital gain.

Indeed, investors need to guard against knee-jerk reactions in both directions. H-P supporters will say that Hurd’s actions didn’t truly affect the balance sheet, so that the company is unchanged except for the top dog; critics will note that change at the top trickles down to many different levels. And Fiorina’s detractors will certainly attest to the fact that not every H-P leader has been equal.

For someone who picked H-P well into Hurd’s tenure, they have less gain to protect, and more concern that they should sell out now.

And for any average investor looking to for a bargain, it’s always a big risk to buy a company where the management amounts to a blind pool. Hurd could be replaced internally, or they could go outside; it’s an open question how much of his team will stay in place.

"You’d be buying it blindly right now, not knowing if they’ll hire someone who is likely to shake things up, take a lot of write-downs or whatever," said Brent Wilsey of Wilsey Asset Management in San Diego, Calif.

"H-P is a solid company, so if they hire someone who isn’t very good to take over, it will take that person a while to destroy the company," he added. "You’d like to think that won’t happen, but you watch the numbers and see how the changes play out over the next six or nine months."

Facebook dislike button scam warning

2010-08-16T09:18:00.000-07:00

Messages on Facebook offering members the chance to install a 'dislike' button for the site should be avoided, experts say.

Facebook members have been warned to avoid a new application for the social networking site that claims to be a 'dislike' button.

Facebook's 'Like' button can be posted on third-party websites and used by members to tell their friends about websites, videos and articles that they've liked.

However, the function is regularly abused by scammers who want to get you to fill in surveys, often by using promises of videos as bait.

The latest variation of the scam tempts Facebook members with a 'dislike' button, supposedly offering you the chance to tell your friends about things that you don't like. However, if you click on any links to the dislike button, you'll end up filling in surveys for unscrupulous marketing companies.

Security experts pointed out that though this scam was similar to a wave of 'likejacking' or 'clickjacking' attacks on Facebook, it actually cons people into clicking because it is Facebook feature that they geniunely want.

"This bogus feature differs from recent scams as those behind it aren't preying on users' curiosity about shocking videos or celebrity scandals. This scam is actually posing as something that many Facebook users want," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos.

Cluley also warned Facebook members to take better care over their security when using the site.

"Giving away personal information in a survey and allowing an application access to your profile is extremely risky and Facebook users need to wise up to this rather than just clicking on links that they see, just because they appear to be from a trusted source."

The dislike button is actually a genuine Firefox add-on made by a company called FaceMod. Cluley said that though the add-on was being used as the bait, FaceMod had nothing to do with the scam.

"If you really want to try out FaceMod's add-on (and note - we're not endorsing it, and haven't verified if it works or not), get it direct from the Firefox Add-ons webpage, not by giving a rogue application permission to access your Facebook profile," said Cluley.

Meanwhile, Facebook has announced that it now has 150 million members who access the site from mobile devices. In all, there are more than 500 million Facebook members worldwide.

Verizon iPhone will get internal antenna, source says

2010-08-16T09:11:00.001-07:00

More than half of all Verizon subscribers would likely buy an iPhone if Apple's device was supported by their current provider, a recent survey of U.S. consumers claimed.

According to Michigan-based market research firm Morpace, 51 per cent of current Verizon subscribers said they were either "somewhat likely" or "very likely" to purchase an iPhone if Verizon offered Apple 's smartphone . The results were based on a poll of 1,000 American consumers conducted from July 15 to July 20.

Morpace's results were nearly identical to those collected last May by ChangeWave, a research company that specializes in forecasting future spending trends. ChangeWave's poll of more than 4,000 U.S. consumers found that 53 per cent of Verizon subscribers were somewhat or very likely to purchase an iPhone if the carrier obtained rights to the device.

AT&T, which has been Apple's exclusive iPhone partner for three years, remains the device's only sanctioned mobile service provider in the U.S.

Morpace's figures -- and its implicit confirmation of ChangeWave's earlier estimate -- comes hard on the heels of yet more Internet buzz that Apple will soon release an iPhone that works on Verizon's CDMA network.

The newest speculation was sparked by the Daring Fireball blog, which last week pegged a January 2011 launch for a Verizon iPhone, two months earlier than forecasts by some Wall Street analysts, who have bet on a March debut.

Morpace's poll also revealed that nearly a quarter of current AT&T subscribers said that they would probably switch to Verizon if the latter offered the iPhone. Morpace attributed the strong showing -- AT&T customers were more likely to drop their current provider for Verizon than subscribers to either Sprint or T-Mobile -- to the persistent undercurrent of complaints about AT&T's network performance.

Those complaints started almost immediately after the iPhone's launch three years ago, and periodically rise and fall in volume and intensity. Apple has regularly defended its U.S. partner.

However, AT&T seems to be laying the groundwork for an end to the deal. In its latest filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the telecomm giant said that the loss of any exclusivity arrangement would "not ... have a material negative impact" on revenues.

But Morpace's poll hinted at different results if Verizon gets the iPhone.

More than a third of current iPhone owners told the research firm that they have put off upgrading to the newest iPhone 4 because they're waiting for the smartphone to become available on a rival carrier.

Some believe that Apple would greatly benefit by adding Verizon to the iPhone's stable. Brian Marshall, an analyst with Gleacher & Co., has estimated that Verizon could sell up to 11 million iPhones in 2011.

The move might also put Apple in a better position in U.S. smartphone sales, where it now lags both Google 's Android and Research in Motion's BlackBerry operating systems for market share.

Google's Biggest Bombs and Bungles

2010-08-13T11:46:00.000-07:00

Sure, Google Wave is the latest casualty, but the search behemoth has terminated a number of services over the years.

The untimely passing of Google Wave may be the most high-profile termination of a Google service which began with great expectations. (At least on Google’s part: Seems like a high percentage of the people who were supposed to love Wave were skeptical from the get go.) But Google has terminated a lot of services over the years–and Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Land took Wave’s demise as an opportunity to remember some of them.

Danny didn’t mention my favorite Google dud, though. Google Web Accelerator, which went live in 2005, was a piece of Windows software designed to speed up Internet access by pre-fetching cached versions of popular pages. It had a nasty bug which caused it to sometimes show one person a cached version of another person’s account at sites such as message forums. It also had trouble displaying YouTube videos.

Accelerator was never popular, and Google axed it in 2008. But even though you can’t download it anymore, Google has left up the pages explaining the service and touting its benefits. Which is cool. If, as Google CEO Eric Schmidt says, launching products that fail is an essential learning experience, it makes sense to document them rather than to pretend they never existed.

Oracle sues Google over Android

2010-08-13T11:37:00.000-07:00

Oracle Corp sued Google Inc, alleging patent and copyright infringement in the development of the popular Android smartphone software.

The suit, filed on Thursday in California federal court, claims that Google "knowingly, directly and repeatedly infringed Oracle's Java-related intellectual property" in developing Android, Oracle spokeswoman Karen Tillman said in a statement. "This lawsuit seeks appropriate remedies."

Oracle acquired Java through its $5.6 billion purchase of Sun Microsystems earlier this year. Analysts said the suit against Google could signal that Oracle intends to be more aggressive in seeking licensees for Java, a technology that is used in many types of Internet-based products.

Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison has said he views the Java software as a key asset, pointing to its use in a variety of electronic devices, from PCs to DVD players.

"Sun's corporate philosophy was obviously very different from Oracle's in terms of enforcing the Java patents," said Edward Reines, an IP litigator at Weil Gotshall who is involved in separate patent litigation against Oracle.

A Google spokesman said he could not comment on the lawsuit as the company had not had a chance to review it yet.

Analysts say Google's Android operating system uses portions of Java technology.

About 200,000 smartphones and other devices based on the Android operating system are sold each day, Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said at an August 4 conference.

The case is Oracle of America Inc v Google Inc, in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California .

The Linux Foundation launches Open Source Compliance Program

2010-08-11T09:56:00.000-07:00

The non-profit Linux Foundation has launched a new, largely free, assistance program – the Open Compliance Program - that is worth examining by those organizations which, though interested in using open source in their own products, may be somewhat wary of intellectual property issues.

According to the information forwarded by the foundation, the key components of the Open Compliance Program include an assessment checklist, training programs, as well as software tools for monitoring open source software usage.

In addition, the program also includes a community workgroup, a compliance directory of companies that use open source software, and a new Software Package Data Exchange standard that help create a packing list of all supporting software components of an application.

Noting that software development usually involves use of multiple programs, most of them open source, in a single stack, particularly in the fact-paced mobile device and consumer electronics scenario, The Linux Foundation’s executive director Jim Zemlin said: “You have a really complicated supply chain, where you might get source code coming from lots of different places, whether it is a chipset vendor, a mobile handset provider or embedded software vendor. Managing open source license compliance is complicated.”

Further adding that most companies lack the requisite knowledge about how different software licensing works with open source, Zemlin said that the wide array of tools and services comprising the Open Compliance Program help to get companies up to speed.

Microsoft rolls out gigantic security update

2010-08-11T09:53:00.000-07:00

Microsoft's regularly scheduled security update is getting a bit more than its typical once-over this morning, as it patches 34 different problems, tying the record for the most vulnerabilities ever tackled in one of the company's standard updates.

Of course, the vast majority of the updates are classified as low risk, meaning they weren't necessarily a big threat but still deemed as a stability problem for Microsoft applications.
Fourt of the patches, though, are deemed extremely critical and relate to errors in Windows coding that could be exploitable for a hacker to take over an infected user's computer. These vulnerabilities specifically relate to:

- Microsoft's MPEG Layer-3 audio codecs was not protected against specific code that could be exploited through streaming Internet content

- Windows Media Player was vulnerable to playing back malicious media files that would render the user's computer useless

- Microsoft Office had an issue with not being able to protect against a potential attack through a specially formatted e-mail

- Microsoft's online services .Net Framework and Silverlight each had the same vulnerability that could have allowed remote code execution from a hacker

The software giant says that none of the critical vulnerabilities have led to a significant problem across its user base. Of the remaining 34 vulnerabilities, more than half were given a "1" on Microsoft's 1 - 3 scale of importance, however a whopping nine of them were set at "2" which is still nothing to scoff at.

Full details on the record-tying security patch are available on Microsoft's website. The update will be rolling out automatically to users who have Automatic Updates configured on their PC.

Part of Space Station Could Carry Crew to an Asteroid, NASA Says

2010-08-11T09:44:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON — A room on the International Space Station could ultimately be recycled by carrying astronauts on their next great adventure to visit an asteroid, NASA scientists say.

The space station's Tranquility module, known as Node 3, could be repurposed as the main living space for human explorers headed out to a nearby asteroid, NASA officials said. The node could also connect with two space exploration vehicles and have add-on inflatable modules.

"There's no new ideas under the sun," said Brian Wilcox, a roboticist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. He added that the NASA "Blue Sky" group had focused on repurposing technologies for new missions during a brainstorming session this year.

Wilcox discussed the proposal for the space station node during NASA's two-day workshop on near-Earth objects under way here. The space station's is slated to continue operating through at least 2020, which roughly coincides with the earliest possible launch date for human exploration of an asteroid in 2025. President Barack Obama announced the 2025 goal for a mission to send astronauts to an asteroid in April.

The Node 3 module is one of the newest rooms on the International Space Station. It is nearly 24 feet (7.3 meters) long and 15 feet (4.5 meters) wide, making it about the size of a small bus.

Node 3 was delivered by a NASA space shuttle in February and currently is home to the Cupola observation deck, a seven-window dome that gives astronauts a panoramic view of space to operate the outpost's robotic arm. The module also home to much of the space station's life support equipment and some astronaut bedrooms, closet-like berths about the size of a phone booth.

But for the asteroid mission concept, Node 3 could be detached and outfitted with two space exploration vehicles, which each have a pressurized cabin that could typically carry two astronauts (or four in an emergency).

Inflatable structures similar to those proposed by space hotel mogul Robert Bigelow could also launch within existing rockets and expand the usable living or working quarters.

The interior of the node could also see major makeovers.

A spinning centrifuge device installed within the node might also create artificial gravity to help astronauts stave off muscle and bone loss, Wilcox said. The space station currently does not have such a device.

Google, Verizon propose net neutrality rules

2010-08-11T09:40:00.000-07:00

Google and U.S. telecommunications giant Verizon have jointly proposed rules they say will preserve internet neutrality in the United States, although the companies' suggestions won't apply to wireless services.

The two companies on Monday announced seven principles for U.S. regulators to use when crafting so-called net neutrality rules.

The suggestions include the prohibition of wired broadband providers from discriminating between different kinds of internet traffic, a rule that would also prevent charging content providers extra fees for prioritized traffic.

The other proposed rules include requiring internet service providers to be transparent in how they manage and monitor internet traffic and a clarification of laws that would allow the Federal Communications Commission to impose penalties of up to $2 million US for net neutrality transgressions.

Protecting consumers a goal
The new rules would not initially apply to the wireless internet in order to preserve the incentives for service providers to continue investing in what is a relatively new technology, the companies said.

"In recognition of the still-nascent nature of the wireless broadband marketplace, under this proposal we would not now apply most of the wireline principles to wireless, except for the transparency requirement," wrote Google and Verizon executives on the search company's blog.

"In addition, the Government Accountability Office would be required to report to Congress annually on developments in the wireless broadband marketplace, and whether or not current policies are working to protect consumers."

The net neutrality rule suggestions are similar to those implemented in Canada by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission last year. The CRTC's rules, however, are stricter in that they apply to wireless internet services as well as wired.

U.S. regulators last week halted talks between parties to come up with a compromise for net neutrality rules after reports surfaced that the various parties involved were trying to cut back-room deals without input from consumers.

The FCC said that while the talks were productive, they had not resulted in a framework that would "preserve the openness and freedom of the internet."

The FCC is expected to draft its own set of rules.

The rules suggested by Google and Verizon, however, stand in contrast to the fears raised by newspaper reports and consumer groups last week. The New York Times reported that Google and Verizon were working on a deal that would allow content providers such as Google to pay ISPs such as Verizon for faster delivery of their content, an option expressly prohibited in the companies' suggestions.

Regulator's authority challenged
Net neutrality gained poignancy in the United States in 2007 when cable provider Comcast began blocking peer-to-peer traffic, a commonly used system for sharing files online.

The FCC imposed sanctions against the company, but Comcast challenged the regulator's authority in court. Authorities have been struggling with the issue since.

In Canada, a similar situation arose in 2007 when Bell Canada began slowing peer-to-peer traffic.

The dispute between Bell and its wholesale customers resulted in the CRTC issuing net neutrality rules that prohibit discriminatory practices, but allow network management as a last resort to combat congestion.

Online dating service finds iPhone owners have more sex partners

2010-08-11T09:34:00.000-07:00

Owners of Apple's iPhone on average have more sex partners by age 30 than those who own other handsets, and the iPhone takes more attractive photos than competing smartphones, a survey of users of an online dating service has found.

This week, OK Cupid published the results of a wide-reaching poll of photos taken from the online dating service. As part of the survey, the site determined users' sexual activity by smartphone brand, based on the results of 9,785 people.

With a snapshot of 30-year-olds, male iPhone owners have an average of 10 sexual partners, while women reported an average of 12.3. That's well ahead of BlackBerry owners (8.1 partners for men, 8.8 for women) and devices that run Google's Android mobile operating system (6 partners for men, 6.1 for women).

Going beyond just a single age, the study found that iPhone users at any age between 18 and 40 have more sexual partners than Android or BlackBerry users.

The site also found that the type of camera used to take a user's picture helped to gauge their "attractiveness," as determined by users of the site. Most smartphone cameras had a negative effect on the attractiveness of the phone, but Apple's iPhone was one of the few smartphones found to produce more attractive photos.

For comparison, the Palm Pre, Android handsets, BlackBerrys, Windows Mobile Devices, and handsets from Samsung, LG, Motorola and Nokia all decreased photo attractiveness.

Last year, a study found that iPhone users were richer, younger, and perhaps even more productive at work than users of other smartphones. Compiled from 32,228 working U.S. adults in 2008, the survey found that iPhone users are more educated and affluent than users of other smartphones.

Germany to keep close eye on Google "Street View"

2010-08-11T09:26:00.000-07:00

(Reuters) - The German government said on Wednesday it will scrutinize Google's promise to respect privacy requests by letting people opt out of its "Street View" mapping system and that it would be ready to intervene if necessary.

In a country wary of surveillance due to the Nazis' Gestapo and East Germany's Stasi secret police, the response to Street View has been overwhelmingly negative even though Germans got assurances they can have images of their homes kept out.

Google's announcement on Tuesday that it would allow Germans to stay out of Street View failed to allay fears that privacy would be compromised by the navigation system.

"We'll take a very close look at how effectively this works in practice and we'll see from there," a spokeswoman for Consumer Minister Ilse Aigner told a government news conference.

Google has come under fire for the short time period provided to register their objections -- by September 15.

"This four-week deadline is not right," said Ulrich Ropertz, spokesman for the DMB German association of tenants. "It's like you're stuck forever if you don't object right away."

More than 10,000 Germans have already formally requested their homes be deleted from Street View. Criticism from civil rights watchdogs will likely push that figure higher.

TANTAMOUNT TO SPYING?

"The Stasi would be green with envy if they could have collected this kind of data," wrote the conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper. "What in the past was called 'state snooping' is now called 'Google View'."

Government officials said tenants will be able to keep their dwellings out of the panoramic street-level still photographs taken from Google vehicles with cameras rising about three meters (10 feet) high.

The government may also join the ranks of those requesting some buildings -- such as military installations -- be left out of Street View, government spokesman Christoph Steegmans said.

"Each minister can decide what to do," he said.

Google plans to add Germany's 20 largest cities to Street View by the end of 2010, joining 23 countries already included. Google said human faces and license plates would be blurred.

Johannes Caspar, data protection commissioner in Hamburg, said he was alarmed by the plans by the world's No. 1 search engine, which calls Google Street View a helpful tool.

"I've got my doubts whether Google is really interested in a simple and user-friendly way for people to register their objections," Caspar told daily Die Welt. "They're not, for instance, going to set up a telephone hotline for questions."

Launched in 2007, Street View allows users to see street scenes on Google Maps and take virtual "walks" on computers.

Critics say the tool invites abuse. They argue thieves can search for targets, security firms could use the data for sales pitches, job seekers might find their homes scrutinized by employers, and banks could inspect the homes of loan applicants.

Google ran into trouble in Germany in May after authorities found out that Street View vehicles were collecting private data sent over unencrypted WiFi networks. Google called it a mistake.

Nokia N8 tips up online

2010-08-09T10:55:00.000-07:00

FINNISH PHONE MAKER Nokia said Sim Free N8 handsets will be available from 26 August, with one website advertising it at £420 including VAT.

Of its many features it is the N8's 12 Megapixel camera with Xenon flash that can record HD quality video that is most anticipated. Beyond that it boasts a 3.5-inch AMOLED touchscreen, 16GB of memory, GPS, Bluetooth, 3G and its OS is Symbian^3.

Its 1200mAh battery will deliver 390 hours of standby time, 12 hours of talk time for GSM networks, 50 hours of music playback and 7 hours for playing video.

Sadly the delayed Symbian^3 operating system is the latest in a long line that have failed to capture the public's imagination. Windows Mobile, anyone? And Nokia is not even using Symbian^3 for its other mobile devices. It's opting instead for its Meego OS, which it is developing with Intel. Nokia even admits the N8 will be its only device that will use Symbian^3.

Meanwhile T-Mobile has only a registration page for potential customers, as does Vodafone.

Google Acquires Social App Developer Slide

2010-08-09T10:01:00.000-07:00

Slide offers Facebook and MySpace applications that allows users to build virtual communities centered on entertainment.

Google has acquired Slide, a maker of entertainment applications for online social networks that lets users create and distribute virtual goods.
Google announced the acquisition Friday, but did not release financial details. The company was also mum on product plans.

The announcement indicates that Google may be interested in some type of social network centered on games. Slide offers applications on Facebook and MySpace that people can use to build virtual communities centered on entertainment. Slide applications lets people send virtual gifts to friends, care for online pets and create their own virtual goods.
David Glazer, engineering director at Google, pointed out on the company's blog that Google has already built some social elements in products like Gmail, Docs, Blogger, Picasa and YouTube.

"As the Slide team joins Google, we'll be investing even more to make Google services socially aware and expand these capabilities for our users across the Web," Glazer said.

U.S. Internet users spend more of their online computing time visiting social networking sites and blogs than checking email, a recent study by Nielsen found. Games are the second most popular online sector.

Among the most popular online games makers are Electronic Arts, Blizzard Entertainment and Zynga. The latter's community-based games Mafia Wars, Farmville and Cafe World dominate Facebook, attracting 235 million users a month in May.

Outside of the U.S., Japan is a big market for social games. Zynga on Thursday acquired Unoh, a Japanese developer of social games, for an undisclosed amount. Unoh has developed a number of hits, such as Machitsuku, Band Yarouo, and Kaizoku Chronicle.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Coming to AT&T August 15

2010-08-09T09:55:00.000-07:00

Announced back in November, Sony Ericsson's Android-based Xperia X10 is set to debut on AT&T on August 15...but it looks like it's packing Android 1.6.

Mobile operator AT&T has announced that it plans to start offering the Android-based Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 smartphone for sale starting August 15. Initially announced way back in November 2009, the Xperia X10 packs a 4-inch TFT touchscreen display, 1 GHz Snapdragon processor, and an 8.1 megapixel camera with face recognition and smile detection. It also run Google’s Android operating system—although AT&T is being cagey about exactly what version that might be.

“Sony Ericsson is raising the bar for entertainment-rich phones with the launch of the Xperia X10,” said Sony Ericsson North America senior VP Paul Hamnett, in a statement. “With the convergence of our user experience platform and the Android OS, we are bringing consumers a smartphone experience that is not only exciting, but also very refined.”

The Xperia X10 sports UMTS HSPA 3G connectivity, along with 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR wireless networking. The phone sports assisted GPS for mapping applications as well as geotagging photos, and boasts Sony Ericsson’s Mediascape entertainment platform that pulls together all music, photos, videos, and other content on your phone and from online sources into a unified interface: for instance, users can be listening to a song on their phone, then use Mediascape’s “infinite” feature to pull artist info from the phone’s memory as well as more songs and video content from sources like Google and YouTube. The Xperia X10 has about 400 MB of user storage and comes with a 2 GB microSD card; users can swap that out for a card offering up to 32 GB of storage; the camera sports an LED flash, and also features automatic scene detection to easy point-and-shoot pictures.

One possible hitch in the Xperia X10, however: although AT&T isn’t saying, the phone has been shipping in international markets with Android 1.6. As the U.S. Android market is finally starting to see Android 2.2 “Froyo” rolled out to compatible devices, it’s not entirely clear what version of Android the Xperia X10 will use—and, if it is Android 1.6, whether it will be upgradable.

AT&T plans to begin selling the Xperia X10 for $149.99 on August 15 with a new two-year service agreement; however, Sony itself says it wil be offering the device for $20 less.

Skype Files for $100 Million IPO

2010-08-09T09:49:00.000-07:00

(Reuters) - Internet-based phone service Skype filed with U.S. regulators on Monday to raise up to $100 million in an initial public offering of American Depositary Shares.

The filing for the company, which also allows users to have online video and text conversations, did not specify the number of shares Skype would sell or give an expected price range, but it did say the company expects to trade on the Nasdaq.

In the first half of 2010, the company's 560 million registered users logged 95 billion minutes of Skype voice and video calls, according to a regulatory filing. Net revenue rose 25.1 percent to $406.2 million in the first half of 2010 compared with a year earlier.

Skype's competitors include Google Inc(GOOG.O), Microsoft Corp(MSFT.O), Apple Inc(AAPL.O) and Yahoo Inc. In May, Google acquired Global IP Solutions, which develops real-time voice and video technology similar to Skype's.

Skype also competes with telecommunications and wireless companies, which offer services that Skype lacks, such as emergency calling and bundled packages that combine Internet, television and phone services.

Skype was founded in 2003 and acquired by eBay Inc in 2005. EBay in 2009 sold a majority stake in Skype to a group of investors including Silver Lake, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Andreessen Horowitz. The filing did not specify which shareholders would sell in the IPO or how many new shares would be sold.

EBay shares were up 2.6 percent in early trading on the Nasdaq.

Underwriters on Skype's IPO are being led by Goldman Sachs & Co, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley.

(Reporting by Suzannah Benjamin in Bangalore and Clare Baldwin, Liana B. Baker and Sinead Carew in New York; Editing by Maju Samuel, Maureen Bavdek, Dave Zimmerman)

Man survives 12,700 volt electrocution

2010-08-08T10:19:00.000-07:00

A Rockhampton surveyor is in hospital after surviving being accidentally hit by 12,700 volts of electricity in southwest Queensland.

An RACQ CareFlight spokesman said they were called to Miles Hospital on Saturday morning to airlift a 35-year-old male patient who had been electrocuted.

"It's believed the patient from Rockhampton was a surveyor and had pulled over on the side of the road about 30km southwest of Miles," the spokesman said.

"He had taken a pole off the roof of his vehicle and it accidentally hit an overhead power line sending 12,700 volts through him."

The spokesman said the man suffered partial and full thickness burns to about 20 per cent of his body and had at least three exit wounds from the surge of electricity.

The man was airlifted to the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital in Brisbane on Saturday afternoon where he remains in a serious but stable condition.

Smashing pictures from space

2010-08-08T10:09:00.000-07:00

The Antennae galaxies, located about 62 million light-years from Earth, are shown in this composite image from the Chandra X-ray Observatory (blue), the Hubble Space Telescope (gold and brown), and the Spitzer Space Telescope (red).
Alan Boyle writes: New images from telescopes on Earth and in space are providing the inside stories behind a galactic smash-up and a stellar blast. These all-over views are not only scientically valuable - they're stunningly beautiful as well.

Today's offering from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory Center features the Antennae galaxies, which are in the midst of a merger 62 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Corvus. The Antennae, named after the long whiplike tails that point out from each galaxy like rabbit ears, have had many turns in the astronomical spotlight. In fact, Hubble's view of the scene is included in our roundup of classic Hubble hits.

The new imagery, however, adds in Chandra's X-ray view in blue as well as the Spitzer Space Telescope's infrared perspective in deep red. The bluest patches highlight clouds of hot, interstellar gas that have been enriched with rich deposits of heavy elements from supernova explosions. Bright points of blue are produced by material falling onto black holes and neutron stars.

The central concentration of red is associated with warm clouds of dust that are being heated by the newborn stars within. Those stars are being squeezed into existence due to gravitational pressure from the clashing galaxies. The Hubble imagery, in shades of gold and brown, provide the image's visible-light backbone. When you go to the Chandra website, click on the tabs to see how readings from different wavelengths have been blended together.

NASA is fortunate in having three "Great Observatories" that can triple-team complex objects such as the Antennae. In this case, the results shed light (so to speak) on the violent processes that lead to starbirth as well as galactic mergers and acquisitions. Our own Milky Way galaxy is heading toward just such a merger with the Andromeda galaxy ... a few billion years from now.

Now let's turn from the birth of stars to their death: Astronomers at the European Southern Observatory have reconstructed the 3-D structure and movement at the core of a supernova remnant known as SN 1987A, in order to figure out how the asymmetric explosion took shape. The stellar blast, which was observed in 1987, occurred about 187,000 light-years away in the constellation Dorado, within the Large Magellanic Cloud.

Over the years, astronomers have been tracing how leftovers from the blast spread out and interacted with the surrounding interstellar medium. The new observations, made using the SINFONI spectrograph on the ESO's Very Large Telescope in Chile, reveal that the explosion was stronger and faster in some directions than others. That explains why SN 1987A has such an unusual shape today. SINFONI was well-suited for the job because it can measure the velocity as well as the composition

Here's how the ESO team put it in Wednesday's image advisory:

"The first material to be ejected from the explosion traveled at an incredible 100 million kilometers per hour, which is about a tenth of the speed of light or around 100,000 times faster than a passenger jet. Even at this breakneck speed it has taken 10 years to reach a previously existing ring of gas and dust puffed out from the dying star. The images also demonstrate that another wave of material is traveling 10 times more slowly and is being heated by radioactive elements created in the explosion.

"'We have established the velocity distribution of the inner ejecta of Supernova 1987A,' says lead author Karina Kjær. 'Just how a supernova explodes is not very well understood, but the way the star exploded is imprinted on this inner material. We can see that this material was not ejected symmetrically in all directions, but rather seems to have had a preferred direction. Besides, this direction is different to what was expected from the position of the ring.'

"Such asymmetric behavior was predicted by some of the most recent computer models of supernovae, which found that large-scale instabilities take place during the explosion. The new observations are thus the first direct confirmation of such models."

The research paper, titled "The 3-D Structure of SN 1987A's Inner Ejecta," is to appear in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. In addition to Kjær, an astronomer at Queen's University Belfast, authors of the paper include Bruno Leibundgut and Jason Spyromilio of the ESO and Claes Fransson and Anders Jerkstrand of Stockholm University.
An annotated image of Gruithuisen K, captured by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, highlights the concentric crater's inner and outer rims.
Finally, here's a kicker to the "Martian bull's-eye" picture I wrote about on Wednesday. It just so happened that the team behind the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera featured a similar picture on the same day ... but from the moon, not Mars. The concentric crater Gruithuisen K was probably created when a cosmic object slammed into a stretch of terrain with layers of harder and softer material. The result could have been a crater with multiple rims - just like Gruithuisen K.

The look of the lunar bull's-eye leaves me inclined to think that the bull's-eye on Mars had a similar genesis, due to layered terrain rather than a lucky double strike. But what do you think? Here's your chance to point to other odd-looking pictures from the moon, Mars or beyond.

Video games are serious business for Blizzard CEO Michael Morhaime

2010-08-08T10:05:00.000-07:00

Blizzard Entertainment CEO Mike Morhaime says, “You should take your reputation very seriously and try to build a track record you can be proud of.” (Nancy Pastor, For The Times / June 10, 2010)

The company behind the Warcraft series has grown from three desks in an Irvine office into an industry heavyweight.

The gig: Chief executive and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment Inc., maker of mega video game franchises including World of Warcraft, one of the most popular online video games in history with more than 11 million monthly subscribers. Morhaime and two fellow UCLA students started Blizzard in Irvine in 1991. The company just released an intergalactic war game called StarCraft II, which took five years to complete. Morhaime, 42, captains the long voyages from the games' inception to their release. In his nearly 20 years at Blizzard, the Northridge native has gone from a full-time code monkey to the big gorilla at a company whose Warcraft game alone brings in close to $1 billion for its parent company, Activision Blizzard.

Game on: In sixth grade, Morhaime pooled funds with his brother and sister to buy an early video game console called the Bally Professional Arcade, first released in 1978. Morhaime discovered that the device was programmable, and he figured out how to write simple games on it, with the help of example programming code he found in a monthly gaming newsletter.

"I knew the day it would come out, so I'd go wait at the mailbox, take it to school with me, and just read that thing over and over again to try to figure out how all the programs worked," he said. "I was so excited about how cool it was that you could get this machine to do things."

Powering up: As an electrical engineering student at UCLA, Morhaime took a detour from games for a while to understand the nuts and bolts of the computers that ran them. Was he a model student? "I procrastinated a lot," he admitted. But things changed after he got an internship at a San Jose microchip company. He read everything he could about circuit design, and by the time he got back to school he knew more than anyone else in his computer architecture class.

How to make a free custom ringtone for your iPhone 4

2010-08-08T10:03:00.000-07:00

No matter how tired we get of listening to the custom ringtones of others, sometimes we absolutely have to have a custom ringtone of our own. Here’s how to make a ringtone and put it on your iPhone for free.

Maybe there is a song that you think defines you, or some music that you just love. Or you know of a song that would make a perfect ringtone for a friend. But all those commercial ringtone places are a drag, besides being worried about downloading malware with your ringtone. The solution that you are looking for is a way to make ringtones out of music that you already own.

On the iPhone under iOS4 that is a fairly simple process. First, you need to pick a song. Then you need to cut a short clip out of it. Then you need to move it to the phone and finally select it as a ring tone. Selecting the song is the most fun part of the project, and the only part that will cost you money if you don’t already own the music. Regardless if the ringtone is for your iPhone default or a special one for one of your contacts, all the first step needs is some inspiration.

Cutting the song down to a shorter size requires some work and a piece of software known as an audio editor. There is one very good audio editor that is available for most popular operating systems: Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. The name of that software is Audacity and it is available here. Audacity is fairly intuitive and has good instructions, so you’ll be able to figure it out fairly easily.

Basically, what you want to do is load your song into the editor, select a 10-30 second selection, and then save it in a specific format for use as an iPhone ringtone. If you’re especially clever, you will be able to find a usable “loop” that does not sound unnatural if it repeats as your phone rings. When you have used Audacity to make a short audio clip for use as your ringtone, you will need to make sure to save it an mp4 or m4a file. After you have saved it, find it and edit the file extension to “m4r” which is what the iPhone uses for ringtones. Use a name you’ll easily remember for the first part of the file name.

Then you need to add your ringtone to iTunes. To do this, just open iTunes and drag your m4r file into the “Ringtones” folder in the itunes library. Then sync your phone to your computer and iTunes will automatically move the new ringtone to your telephone. In order to select that item as either the default iPhone ringtone, or as a special ringtone for a contact, see our column titled “How do I change the ringtone on my iPhone.” When you get to the list of ringtones on your iPhone, you will see the special ringtone you just made in the list. Just select it as you would any other ringtone.

SpaceX wants to go to Mars

2010-08-08T10:01:00.000-07:00

An internet guru is now focusing on colonising other planets, writes Paul Harris.

The fresh-faced 39-year-old man, in a dark T-shirt and jeans, is talking about travelling to Mars. ''It would be a good place to retire,'' he says in all seriousness. Normally, this would be the time to smile politely and humour a space nerd's unlikely fantasies. But this man needs to be taken seriously for one compelling reason: he already has his own spaceship.

Elon Musk is a brilliant entrepreneur who made a fortune from the internet and has invested vast amounts in building his own private space rocket company, SpaceX. Far from crazy, Musk is the real-life inspiration for the movie character Tony Stark, the playboy scientist hero of the Iron Man franchise.

There are some similarities. Outside the SpaceX plant in the baking southern California sun, Musk's sexy electric sports car sits in a reserved parking space (he co-founded Tesla, the firm which makes the vehicle), resembling the sort of motor Stark would drive. Musk is also engaged to the beautiful English actress Talulah Riley, star of St Trinian's and St Trinian's 2, and he used to get thrills from flying his own private military jet fighter.

What's more, like Stark, Musk is on a mission to save the world. But while Stark's aim was to battle evildoers and achieve world peace, Musk's mission is a little grander. He wants to secure our future by turning the human race into a spacefaring people able to colonise other planets. It's the only way, Musk believes, we can be saved, either from destroying ourselves or from some outside calamity. To put it mildly, Musk thinks big and takes the long view. ''It's important that we attempt to extend life beyond Earth now,'' he says. SpaceX is Musk's attempt to do that. Its headquarters are within earshot of the runways of Los Angeles International airport.

The factory floor has been organised into an assembly line to make space rockets, part of a process of wresting the future of space travel out of the hands of government bodies, such as NASA, and into the hands of private businesses. Using its hyper-efficient Merlin engines, SpaceX has successfully flown its first rocket, Falcon 1, into space, where it put a satellite into orbit. Then it flew the much bigger Falcon 9 rocket earlier this year. Now the company is working on Dragon, a space capsule that will sit on top of a Falcon 9 and deliver cargo - and then, hopefully, astronauts - to the International Space Station.

That is stunning stuff. SpaceX is not even a decade old. Yet it is doing things in space some countries with their own national space programs have not yet achieved.

''When we launched the initial rocket actually leaving the launch pad, that was awesome,'' Musk says. ''Getting into orbit was when a lot of people thought, OK, it's real. That's something that South Korea tried a couple of times and they failed. Brazil tried three times and they failed … only a few countries have succeeded.''

SpaceX is not alone. A raft of private firms have joined in a new space race. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, is building a suborbital rocket called the Blue Origin New Shepard. John Carmack, the man behind video games Doom and Quake, has his eyes on a lunar landing. Virgin Atlantic boss Richard Branson is aiming to initiate space tourism with his Virgin Galactic project. Yet SpaceX is the most advanced and ambitious. It has won hundreds of millions of dollars worth of business contracts for future voyages.

Incredibly, however, SpaceX does not feel like a huge operation. It defeats the received wisdom only major world powers, or gigantic corporations such as Boeing, can set their sights on leaving Earth. SpaceX feels like a dotcom company.

In fact, SpaceX's Silicon Valley-style culture springs from Musk's background as one of the most successful figures to emerge from the internet. His interest in technology began early. He bought his first computer at the age of 10 in Pretoria, South Africa, the son of a Canadian model and a South African engineer. Musk taught himself to write computer programs and sold his first commercial software - fittingly, a space game called Blastar - when he was 12. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with two degrees before winning a place in 1995 at Stanford as a graduate student. He stayed there for two days before fleeing to start his first internet company, Zip2, which produced publishing software. In 1999 he sold it for more than $US300 million and co-founded X.com, which eventually turned into PayPal. It was sold to eBay in 2002 for $US1.5 billion.

''When I was in college there were three areas that I thought most would affect the future of humanity. Those were the internet, the transition to a sustainable energy economy, and space exploration and ultimately extending life beyond Earth and making it multi-planetary.''

For Musk, the best way to achieve the third goal was to popularise space travel and make it affordable. He investigated the science behind rocket launching and concluded there was no real reason why it was so expensive. He believed the space industry was dominated by inefficient government bodies. He was right. SpaceX's Merlin engines are beautifully engineered and powerful, but simply made. They run on highly refined kerosene that costs less than petrol. The rockets they power are also simple. They have fewer stages (where one bit of the rocket separates from the other) than their rivals and are mostly re-usable. Thus they can put cargo into space for a fraction of the cost.

The Dragon module is also a throwback, resembling something from the '60s.

Musk has discovered being a celebrity has a dark side. He went through a painful divorce from the Canadian author Justine Musk, with whom he has five children. The split generated its fair share of media attention, not least because Justine blogged extensively about the epic legal tussles over the terms of their settlement.

Through it all is the desire to colonise Mars. Musk insists his most powerful Falcon 9 rockets could already launch missions to Mars if assembled in Earth's orbit. ''One of the long-term goals of SpaceX is, ultimately, to get the price of transporting people and product to Mars to be low enough and with a high enough reliability that if somebody wanted to sell all their belongings and move to a new planet and forge a new civilisation they could do so.''

It is tempting to dismiss it as a flight of fancy. Except, behind him on SpaceX's factory floor, Musk's nascent fleet of space rockets are being built.

Guardian News & Media

Google jumps off its Wave of the future

2010-08-06T09:56:00.000-07:00

Only a little over a year ago, Google launched its Wave feature amid declarations that it would revolutionize the way groups of people could collaborate on documents. The company even suggested that Wave could replace e-mail.

But Wave has crashed: Google said Wednesday that its development has been halted. The Internet search giant said it would keep the service online until about the end of the year.

Google Wave rode a cyclone of publicity when it launched in May 2009. The feature lets users send digital correspondences, called waves, that could be edited by anyone in a designated group on the fly. Early adopters were tickled by the idea of seeing friends' messages show up instantly after each keystroke.

All of that technical magic took a toll on Google's servers, which hosted each wave and every edit that happened within those documents.

To manage growth, the company required potential users to get an invitation from someone using Wave. The invites proved to be so popular that they were selling for $50 on eBay.

But when users finally got on the service, they generally found that only a few of their acquaintances also had access. That limited its utility as a collaborative tool.

Wave also was plagued by technical problems, and some users complained that its complicated interface was confusing.

Google intended to release Wave, a pet project of Google Maps inventors and brothers Lars and Jens Rasmussen, as open source for other companies to install on their own servers.

While packed with features, Wave couldn't communicate with traditional e-mail addresses, though its founders had promised that feature for some time.

Google appears to have lost patience with the project.

"Wave has not seen the user adoption we would have liked," Urs Holzle, Google's senior vice president of operations, said in a statement. "Wave has taught us a lot, and we are proud of the team for the ways in which they have pushed the boundaries of computer science."

— Mark Milian, Tribune Newspapers

Why is this a Metroid game? Hands-on with Other M

2010-08-06T09:50:00.000-07:00

After getting my hands on the upcoming Wii title Metroid: Other M at a recent media event in Toronto, there's really just one word to accurately describe my reaction: conflicted. While it was definitely a great-looking and fast-paced action experience, it's not necessarily what I want from the series, which raises the question of why this is even a Metroid game to begin with.

The demo began with the opening sequence of the game, which was surprisingly heavy on exposition. In fact, of the 15 or so minutes I watched, maybe two of them were actual gameplay. The rest consisted of cut-scenes with Samus outlining her story.

Other M takes place directly after Super Metroid in the series' chronology, so it begins with Samus reliving her iconic battle with Mother Brain. The scene certainly looked great, but it was also flooded with a ton of boring dialog. Based on what was shown, it seems very likely that Other M could feature more dialog than the rest of the series combined.

An awkward perspective shift
After this, I got a chance to actually play a brief portion of the game, which took place on an abandoned space station of some sort. The gameplay is a mixture of third-person and first-person 3D, though it's not particularly open. When playing in third-person mode you're pretty much always running through a corridor of some sort. Depending on the area you're in, though, the game can feel quite different. Sometimes you'll be running from left to right down a hallway, which feels much like a 2D side-scroller, while other times the camera is over the shoulder as you barrel through a tunnel. There's also some light platforming, which shows off Samus' lightning fast jumping abilities.

And then there's the first-person mode. The game is played entirely with the Wii remote—we were told there are no other controller options. When in third-person, this means that you're holding the controller on its side, NES style, and moving Samus with the d-pad. In order to change over to first person you have to switch to holding the remote in one hand and pointing it at the screen. It's a somewhat jarring transition, and during my short time with the game, it never quite felt natural.

You can switch to first-person at any time, but you can't play the entire game in first-person... because you can't actually move while in that perspective. You can look around and fire, but that's it. The only real reason you need to change perspectives is to fire a missile, which can only be done in first-person.

This can lead to some interesting situations. For example, one boss battle has you jumping around avoiding attacks, waiting for a weak spot to open up so you can hit it with a missile. This means you have to avoid attacks in third-person, switch over to first-person in time to fire a missile, and then quickly switch back.

Visually the game looks great, with super smooth animations and loads of flashy effects. (It is co-developed by Team Ninja, after all.) But while technically sound, I did have some issues with the actual art direction. Samus herself looked excellent, but many of the enemies had very strange and not particularly interesting designs, while the various NPCs looked woefully generic.

For many people, two main aspects make Metroid so appealing: the sense of isolation and the joy of exploration. While Other M strays from the former, it remains to be seen how it tackles the latter. The portion of the game featured in the demo was rather closed, but there's always a chance that the game opens up later on. And there are certainly going to be people who will enjoy hearing Samus' inner monologue. I'm just not sure I'm one of them.

BioShock 2 single-player add-on 'Minerva's Den' announced

2010-08-05T10:55:00.000-07:00

You wanted it, here it is -- 2K Games has announced "Minerva's Den," an upcoming single-player piece of downloadable content for BioShock 2.

"Minerva's Den" puts players in the role of an all-new character, teaming up with Brigid Tenenbaum to explore a new area, Rapture Central Computing. The add-on will feature new "high-tech weaponry," along with a new Plasmid. Enemies also get a bit of an upgrade, too -- Splicers now control the elements, Security Bots fire rockets and lightning bolts, and there's an all new Big Daddy type lurking the halls.

2K hasn't dated or priced this final bit of downloadable content (yes, "final"), but it's in the works for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC.

Cat-like crocodile roamed earth with the dinosaurs

2010-08-05T10:53:00.000-07:00

A bizarre catlike crocodile that roamed the earth more than 100 million years ago could shed new light on evolution.

The discovery of the bizarre, lanky creature had mammal-like teeth and skinny legs shows that bony plated reptiles were once far more diverse than they are today.

It enjoyed land-based lifestyle on the African floodplains far removed from its aquatic descendants, preying on dragon flies and other insects and small animals.

The new species' fossilised remains were dug up from 105 million year old rock by palaeontologists scouring a river bank in Tanzania.

They were then able to create detailed digital images of its unusual teeth accurate to millionths of a meter using state of the art medical scanners.

Professor Patrick O'Connor, of Ohio University, said: "At first glance, this croc is trying very hard to be a mammal. Its head would fit in the palm of your hand.

"If you only looked at the teeth, you wouldn't think this was a crocodile. You would wonder what kind of strange mammal or mammal-like reptile it is."

"This gives us a number of interesting evolutionary-developmental research questions to begin addressing using living crocodiles as models."

He said it wasn't as heavily armoured as other crocodiles, except along the tail. This suggests the creature was quite mobile and probably actively foraged on land, unlike water-dwelling crocs.

Other aspects of its anatomy suggest it was a land-dwelling creature that likely feasted on insects and other small animals to survive.

The researchers, who have dubbed the animal Pakasuchus kapilimai, found one complete specimen and portions of seven other individuals.

Paka is Ki-Swahili for cat in reference to the animal's short, low skull with slicing, molar-like teeth, and souchos is ancient Greek for crocodile.

Prof O'Connor, who published his findings in Nature, said: "Once we were able to get a close look at the teeth, we knew we had something new and very exciting."

Google Wave failure may help Google Me succeed

2010-08-05T10:49:00.000-07:00

As Google Wave is tossed aside, analysts say Google has learned important social networking lessons

Lessons learned from the demise of Google Wave -- Google threw in the towel on its first social networking offering this week -- could provide the company's engineers with a chance to come up with a far more viable service, analysts say.

Google announced on Wednesday that it is killing off its collaboration and communication tool about a year after the Google Wave service was launched.

In a blog post yesterday, Urs Hoelzle, Google senior vice president for operations, acknowledged that the social networking service was unable to gain any traction with users.

While Google Wave will be just another failed product by the end of the year, pieces of it will live on in other Google projects, the company said.

And that leads some industry watchers to wonder if Google is cutting bait so its developers can dust themselves off, use some lessons learned and some of Google Wave's most interesting features to begin work on new social networking product.

"This is typical Google-like behavior. They aren't shy about killing projects that don't hit their expectations," said Dan Olds, an analyst with The Gabriel Consulting Group. "I don't think that users really got it when it came to Wave. But this was a good learning experience for Google. They now know they need to bring a more fully baked product to the market. They also have to clearly articulate why users should jump on board. I don't think this is Google's last run at social networking. There are rumors about a new product -- Google Me -- that looks to be their next shot at this market."

Talk started circulating around the Internet about Google Me late in June. While Google hasn't confirmed any of the widespread speculation, the reports of efforts to build a Facebook-killer persist.

Rob Enderle, an analyst with the Enderle Group, agreed that if Google can learn from the failure of Google Wave, the company will have a better shot at building and launching a successful social networking service the second time around.

"Social networking is absolutely harder than it looks," added Enderle. "It's not a technical problem as much as a social problem. It's trying to solve a people problem and engineers, by their nature, suck at solving people problems. Google is going to have to address behavioral and social skills to build another service."

Both Enderle and Olds believe that Google is working on another social networking service ... a Facebook-like offering that's more attractive to consumers -- and less about collaboration.

"Why not? Facebook is making itself an easy target," added Enderle. "I think Google will go down this path and it's probably closer to what Google should be doing anyway. It's a Web property. The social networking aspect of the Web is more closely related to search than almost any other successful thing out there."

Olds noted that a new Google social network better have a lot of notable contrasts with Google Wave.

"Social networking is a tough racket," said Olds. "If they come out with a new service, it will have to have a feature-packed tool that is easy to use, secure, and be highly scalable. And then they'll need to attract swarms of users quickly to gain enough momentum to get it off the ground. It isn't easy to pull off. If it were, we'd see a lot more competitors taking a run at Facebook."

Blood diamonds trial: the night Naomi Campbell met Charles Taylor

2010-08-05T10:20:00.000-07:00

Cricketing legend Imran Khan and his wife Jemima had flown in specially, as had American music producer Quincy Jones and his wife Lisette Derouaux.

To add to the glamour was the presence of British supermodel Naomi Campbell, who had travelled from New York, via Milan, in order to be there.

Then at the peak of her career, the 27-year-old had received a personal invitation from Mr Mandela as she had worked for some time with his children’s charity.

Included in the party was actress Mia Farrow, accompanied by two of her children.

Completing the famous line up on the night of September 25, 1997, was Tony Leung, a leading Chinese actor from Hong Kong.

Each celebrity was appointed a private lodge within the presidential compound where they would sleep and get dressed for the dinner hosted by Madiba.

Formal but relaxed, the evening was not going to be a drawn out affair as all had to be up early the next day to accompany Mr Mandela on the inaugural rail journey of the Blue Train from Pretoria to Cape Town.

Campbell, living in a whirlwind of engagements, had brought along her agent Carole White for the trip.

In court on Thursday, the model said there was no real reason for Miss White joining her – she said she was doing her friend a favour because she wanted to meet the South African president.

Both women were given a lodge to share and for dinner Campbell wore a striking floor length white dress, with a sparkling diamond cross necklace.

Her long black hair was tied back and she wrapped a black and crimson scarf around her shoulders.

The guests gathered in the Presidential Palace, keen to talk about Mr Mandela’s children’s charity and their role as fundraisers – a common interest they all shared.

Fourteen people sat down for dinner, with Charles Taylor apparently turning up a little late.

Campbell was given pride of place, seated, she said, in between Mr Mandela and Quincy Jones.

Mr Taylor, by the model’s own account, was seated on the same side of the table as her, but a little further down, while Miss White was sitting opposite.

Miss White – who is currently locked in a legal dispute with Campbell – claims she heard Taylor tell the excited model during the meal that he was going to give her diamonds. She said that the model had flirted with Taylor throughout the meal. A claim Campbell went on to deny.

In fact, Campbell went further and said she had no idea who he was and had never heard of Liberia.

The atmosphere throughout the evening was convivial, despite the presence of such the controversial figure in Mr Taylor.

After dinner, 10 of the party lined up to pose for a photograph.

They are seen smiling gaily, while Mr Taylor looks positively jocular, with his right hand extended.

Standing behind his right shoulder is Campbell smiling coyly, while Mr Mandela positively beams as he holds the hand of his partner – now wife - Graca Michel.

So casual is the mood, that Imran Khan is still holding a glass while his wife is clutching a white envelope.

Mia Farrow dressed in an African style red, black and white dress also smiles fondly at the camera.

But beneath the smile, Farrow clearly had concerns.

In evidence read to the court, Farrow told how a photographer asked to take a picture of her and Mr Taylor, but she was pulled away by Miss Michel and told “we do not want you to be photographed with this man [Charles Taylor], he should have left”.

Shortly afterwards, the party broke up and each guest retired to their lodge.

It is here that the sequence of events surrounding the diamonds sharply differs.

Miss White claims that at around 1.30am, she was awoken by a knock on the door of the lodge.

She says she opened it to find two men outside, asking to speak to Campbell.

The supermodel duly appeared from her first floor room, wearing a nightdress and a cashmere shawl.

Miss White claims Campbell not only invited the men inside, but offered them Coca Cola as they presented her with a gift wrapped in paper.

According to her story, Miss White stood and watched as Campbell unwrapped the grubby newspaper and found “six dirty pebbles”.

Campbell’s story, however, is vastly different.

She claims the men knocked directly on her bedroom door and that she alone answered it.

The model says she was told they had “a gift for you” as a small pouch was pushed into her hands.

So exhausted from the travelling, Campbell says she thanked the men – did not ask them who they were – and sloped off to bed without opening the present.

It was not until the next morning that she opened the pouch on her bedside table and saw the “dirty stones” inside.

Whatever the precise sequence of events, Campbell was late, as she says she often is, down to breakfast the following morning.

The party was due to leave at 7am and when she came down to breakfast, she found Farrow and Miss White at the same table.

Joining them, she told the two women of her late night visit.

Farrow recalls “unforgettably” that Campbell said she had been given a large uncut diamond, but does not recall actually seeing it.

Again, the details of what happened next vary depending upon who is speaking.

Farrow says she was there as Campbell and Miss White discussed giving the diamond to Jeremy Ractliffe, the head of Mr Mandela’s children’s charity.

Miss White says she went with Campbell to find Mr Ractliffe on the train to hand over the diamonds, but he was “horrified” to receive them and only took them reluctantly.

Campbell says either Farrow or Miss White told her the diamonds must be from Mr Taylor and so she simply assumed that they were.

Not wanting to keep such a gift, she says decided to pass them on to Mr Ractliffe, not realising that possession of such diamonds was illegal.

Vague about the details, she said she either handed them over in the lodge or on the train and insisted Mr Ractliffe was not upset at all.

Campbell joined the other celebrities for their journey to Cape Town and insisted that she thought no more about it... until 2009 when tribunal lawyers contacted her following Farrow’s allegations.

Whatever the truth, the mystery of where those diamonds are and why they were given to Campbell remains.

Philippine police use Twitter, Facebook to nail gang

2010-08-04T12:10:00.000-07:00

MANILA (AFP) - Philippine police said Wednesday they used Twitter and Facebook to track down a flamboyant gang of young men and women who robbed the rich to feed their drug habits.

Police killed their leader Ivan Padilla, 23, and arrested three others over the past week following a rash of vehicle thefts targeting Manila's high society, city police spokesman Superintendent Rommel Miranda said.

Miranda said police tracked the suspects by looking at their accounts in microblogging site Twitter and social networking site Facebook.

"We are very much into technology," he told AFP.

"These are young people and a lot of young people nowadays are engaged in social networking."

Miranda said he did not want to give further details about what intelligence police obtained from the suspects' Internet posts because a hunt was continuing for six other gang members.

He said the suspects, most of whom lived in wealthy Manila neighbourhoods, included a number of young, beautiful and smartly dressed women who prowled bars and parties hosted by the rich to scout for potential victims.

The gang is accused of being behind a string of robberies of homes located inside gated housing enclaves of Manila's rich and of high-rise luxury condominiums.

Among the expensive cars the gang members are accused of stealing are those of a former Filipino foreign minister and a local movie actor's parents.

While the gang's core came from affluent families, Miranda said Padilla often recruited young men from other social classes to do the dirty work of robbing people.

"Ivan Padilla has many rich associates, but when they (intended to) commit a crime they would recruit equally young thrill-seekers who they could influence," Miranda said.

Illegal drug use was their common bond, the police spokesman added.

In another Internet twist, two Facebook fan pages dedicated to Padilla have quickly gathered hundreds of supporters, with some netizens questioning the police's assertion that he was killed in a shoot-out.

Padilla's group was the second high-profile case in a week that police said they had solved with the help of the Internet.

Police in the northern city of Angeles said they last week used Facebook to help track down a computer technician accused of murdering nine people, three of them foreigners.

'I'm shattered': cracks emerge in iPhone 4

2010-08-04T10:45:00.000-07:00

Apple is supposed to work on a technology that could make the displays thinner and brighter than the current iPhone models. In a recently published patent, Apple has highlighted the development of pixels that can display images and a touch of log entries. Today, touch sensors are provided in the pixel transparent image that allows to achieve the touch input functionality without interfering with the display of images. However, Apple says it has some potential disadvantages, such as weight and thickness to add to the screen. With the touch input overlap, the brightness of images were also reduced. To remedy this, Apple has developed a dual role that capacitive element pixels to display images, but also let them register touch input. In his patent, the inventors write:

"[T crown] double capacitive elements form part of the display systems that generate an image on screen and also part of a touch detection system that detects events on or near the touch screen. Capacitive elements can be, for example, capacitors pixel LCD screen that is configured to operate individually, each

No jail for Facebook tribute page vandal

2010-08-03T10:58:00.000-07:00

A woman from Gympie, in south-east Queensland, has received a three-month suspended jail sentence for posting offensive material on a Facebook tribute page for murdered Sunshine Coast woman Justine Jones.

Jessica Chantelle Cook, 22, pleaded guilty in the Gympie Magistrates Court today to posting hateful comments and photographs on a page set up in memory of Ms Jones, 22, from Alexandra Headland.

Ms Jones's body was found at the Nambour rubbish tip on July 15.

Cook was released on two years' probation on the condition she not access any social networking sites and only use her computer for the purposes of email, employment and financial banking.

If she reoffends within three years she will have to forfeit $3,000.

BlackBerry Torch 9800 Slider Gets Official on AT&T

2010-08-03T10:44:00.000-07:00

BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion (RIM) and U.S. wireless carrier AT&T on Tuesday officially announced the new 3G BlackBerry Torch 9800 smartphone as expected at a media event in New York City.

The Torch is the first BlackBerry smartphone to sport both a touch display for on-screen navigation and typing and a slide-out, traditional QWERTY BlackBerry keyboard. It's the first RIM device to run the brand new BlackBerry 6 mobile OS. And AT&T will be the first carrier in the world to offer the Torch when it becomes available on August 12, for $199.99 with new, two-year service contract.

"Today AT&T and RIM are announcing the best BlackBerry ever," said Ralph de la Vega, CEO of AT&T's Mobility and Consumer Markets.

Though the Torch was announced Tuesday, images of the device and purported technical specifications have been circulating throughout the Web for weeks, and an invitation distributed by RIM and AT&T to select media outlets last week hinted at an official BlackBerry Torch launch this week, so the announcement isn't exactly a surprise.

The official tech specs are as follows: Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks (850/900/1800/1900MHz); Tri-band 3G UMTS networks (2100/1900/850/800 MHz); 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi; 5.0 megapixel camera; 512 MB flash memory / 512 MB SDRAM; and an optical trackpad.

RIM released its first touch-screen BlackBerry, the Storm 9500/9530, in November of 2008, but the Torch is the first RIM device with both a touch screen and traditional QWERTY BlackBerry keyboard.

The new Torch device arrives at a time when RIM, the number four handset-maker in the world based on units shipped, is facing serious pressure from competitors in the space, namely Apple, with its iPhone, and Google's Android OS. Some critics, including the New York Times, suggest RIM's fate in the coming months and years will largely hinge on the success of the BlackBerry Torch 9800 slider and BlackBerry 6..

More information on the Torch 9800 is available on RIM's website.

JailbreakMe: Apple iPhone 4 hack released

2010-08-03T10:38:00.001-07:00

The iPhone Dev Team has released a legal hack for the Apple iPhone 4. The JailbreakMe tool can be accessed through the iPhone’s Safari web browser, and enables users to download and install a variety of software and programs on their handset that have not been officially approved by Apple.

Last week, the US Copyright Office ruled that it was legal to “hack” a mobile phone in the US in order to run applications or to use a different mobile phone network. However, Apple warned that hacking an iPhone, a process known as “jailbreaking”, would void the device’s warranty.

The JailbreakMe hack works on iPhones, iPads and iPod touches running iOS 4 and iOS 4.0.1, but is not compatible with devices running the iOS 4.1 beta. There have been reports from some uses that the hack causes problems with FaceTime, Apple’s video-calling program, and the multimedia messaging functionality of the phone.

Indeed, the hack is proving so popular that some users have reported problems downloading the jailbreak, because the iPhone Dev Team’s servers have been overwhelmed by the number of visitors.

Apple has played down the significance of the hack’s release, and of the US Copyright Office’s ruling.

“The vast majority of customers do not jailbreak their iPhones,” said Apple in a statement. “This can violate the warranty, and can cause the iPhone to become unstable and not work reliably.”

Check Point unveils Web 2.0 security tool

2010-08-03T10:34:00.000-07:00

Check Point has unveiled a new software blade that it hopes will enable companies to secure their assets against threats from social networks and other Web 2.0 tools.

The firm said that its new Application Control Software Blade should enable organisations to identify, allow, block or limit the use of thousands of Web 2.0 applications, whether they are websites or widgets such as TweetDeck, which is used to access the Twitter social network service.

The blade will use Check Point's new AppWiki, which stores information on over 4,500 applications and over 50,000 widgets that span 150 categories such as social networking, media streaming and instant messaging. The firm claims that this is the most extensive database of Internet applications.

The platform takes advantage of Check Point's UserCheck feature, which uses pop up messages to warn workers of the potential security risk of their actions and asks them to confirm if they are using the site or app for work or personal reasons.

It is designed to engage users and make them think more about their actions, Check Point claims. All actions are logged so users thinking they can get away with a bit of personal Facebook or Twitter time when they have claimed it is for business use will be in for a bit of a shock.

Speaking to CBR about the announcement, Gabi Reish, Check Point's global head of network security, denied that some workers may feel uncomfortable with having all actions logged. "It's not like Big Brother, that's a negative attitude," he said. "The IT department wants to be in control and wants workers to think more about what they are doing."

The new software was designed as a result of the dramatic increase in the use of social media and other Web 2.0 tools throughout the workplace, for business as well as personal reasons, Check Point said. Their use increases the risk of malware, data loss and bandwidth difficulties as well as raising questions about worker productivity and whether policies are being adhered to.

Companies do not want to ban access altogether because there are many legitimate uses for social networking sites in the enterprise, but according to Reish IT departments often don't have full control over what workers are doing.

"IT admins often lack real visibility into what people are using them for," he told CBR. "Creating a black and white environment [where access is either granted or blocked completely] is difficult to control and so companies will often revert back to letting all users access what they want. With this you can allow access to certain sites or apps to an individual, groups, such as marketing, or the whole organisation. It's a practical way to enforce app control."

Check Point said that general availability of its Application Control Software Blade will be in Q4 2010.

Microsoft issues emergency flaw fix

2010-08-03T10:30:00.000-07:00

Microsoft issued an emergency patch on Monday to correct a critical Windows bug that had allowed attackers to gain control of infected machines via program shortcuts.

Microsoft usually issues patches to fix software flaws just once a month. But the seriousness of the bug forced the software giant to issue an emergency patch outside the normal schedule.

Widely publicized last month, the flaw was used to attack industrial control systems in manufacturing and utility control systems via the so-called Stuxnet worm.

Exploiting the way Windows creates shortcuts to often-used application and software, the flaw was used to automatically execute malware that gave control of the computer over to attackers.

However, computers still running Windows XP Service Pack 2 or Windows 2000 were not included in Monday’s fix, because Microsoft, as previously announced, has stopped supporting those operating systems.

PS 3 Firmware 3.41 causes HDD Woes

2010-08-02T11:05:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, several Sony PlayStation 3 gamers got firmware 3.41 update for their gaming consoles. This update brought minor You May Like option in the PlayStation Store. However, this update also caused a menace amongst users who applied the update and then wanted to update their console HDDs as reported at the official PS3 Updates Forum.

Sony released firmware 3.41 update for PS 3 users and several faced HDD upgrade woes. Disgruntled PS 3 owners bombarded PlayStation 3 Forums over the issue. Apparently, it was discovered that the issue was prevalent amongst only those users who applied the 3.41 firmware update BEFORE upgrading HDDs. Several experienced console crashes.

Examiner reported that Sony's statement noted: "We apologize for any inconvenience you are experiencing with upgrading Internal Hard Disc Drive (for PlayStation3) on your PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system. The information available to our Consumer Services Department does not suggest that this is a problem PlayStation owners are likely to experience when upgrading the HDD with 3.41 update. Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) strongly supports the quality of its products and backs them with full confidence. We ask that you update the previous HDD first to see if the update will go through. Then update from the thumb drive that is formatted in FAT 32 and has the 3.41 update downloaded."

Check out a video of the 3.41 update woes.

So far, Sony hasn't announced that it will issue any fixes for the users who applied the upgrade and suffered from HDD-console crash woes. Sony hasn't uttered a word about those facing HDD woes post firmware 3.41 update

Operation Flashpoint: Red River Outed

2010-08-02T10:50:00.000-07:00

The new Operation Flashpoint game will be titled Operation Flashpoint: Red River according to Codemasters employee.

CVG spotted the title in the CV of a Codemasters’ artist who is working on the game.

Not much was divulged except that the game will be available on PC, PS3, Xbox 360 and it’s expected the game will follow previous titles in the series down the strategic first-person-shooter path.

We love Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising here in the IncGamers office, having drooled over the review copy of the game we still lock and load in some multiplayer action on a weekly basis.

Codemasters has recently confirmed the studio is working on three new titles with DiRT 3 and Race Driver: GRID 2 making up the other two titles.

State of the Climate: Hottest Decade on Record

2010-08-01T11:01:00.000-07:00

Experts say that sea ice is melting, heavy rainfall is intensifying and heat waves are more common, among other indicators.

The past decade was the hottest recorded, part of an unequivocal pattern of warming dating back 50 years, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report declared on Wednesday.

The annual “State of the Climate” report drew on the findings more than 300 climate scientists in 48 countries who measured 10 separate planetwide features, including air and sea temperatures, humidity, Arctic sea ice, glaciers, and spring snow cover in the Northern hemisphere.

“The records come from many institutions worldwide,” Dr. Jane Lubchenco, the agency’s administrator, said in a statement. “They use data collected from diverse sources, including satellites, weather balloons, weather stations, ships, buoys and field surveys. These independently produced lines of evidence all point to the same conclusion: our planet is warming.”

The findings do not include data from 2010, which is on pace to exceed the highest annual average global temperature ever recorded, NOAA said. This summer’s weather has been defined by extreme heat events in the eastern United States, Europe, Russia, China, Japan and the Middle East.
According to the report, each decade since the 1980s has been progressively warmer than the last, with an average warming of about one-fifth of a degree Fahrenheit per decade.

“The temperature increase of one degree Fahrenheit over the past 50 years may seem small, but it has already altered our planet,” said Deke Arndt, co-editor of the report and chief of the Climate Monitoring Branch of NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center. “Glaciers and sea ice are melting, heavy rainfall is intensifying and heat waves are more common.”

The report also suggests that more than 90 percent of the warming over the past 50 years may have gone into the oceans.

Hacker extracts cash from ATMs

2010-08-01T10:55:00.000-07:00

A hacker has discovered a way to force ATMs to disgorge their cash by hijacking the computers inside them.

The attacks demonstrated Wednesday in Las Vegas targeted standalone ATMs. But they could potentially be used against the ATMs operated by mainstream banks.

Criminals have long known that ATMs aren't tamperproof.

There are many types of attacks in use today, ranging from sophisticated to foolhardy: installing fake card readers to steal card numbers, hiding tiny surveillance cameras to capture PIN codes, covering the dispensing slot to intercept money and even hauling the ATMs away with trucks in hopes of cracking them open later.

Computer hacker Barnaby Jack spent two years tinkering in his Silicon Valley apartment with ATMs he bought online. These were standalone machines, the type seen in front of convenience stores, rather than the ones in bank branches.

His goal was to find ways to take control of ATMs by exploiting weaknesses in the computers that run the machines.

He showed off his results at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas, an annual gathering devoted to exposing the latest computer-security vulnerabilities.

His attacks have wide implications because they affect multiple types of ATMs and exploit weaknesses in software and security measures that are used throughout the industry.

His talk was one of the conference's most widely anticipated, as it had been pulled a year ago over concerns that fixes for the ATMs wouldn't be in place in time. He used the extra year to craft more dangerous attacks.

Jack, who works as director of security research for Seattle-based IOActive Inc., showed in a theatrical demonstration two ways he can get ATMs to spit out money:

•He found that the physical keys that came with his machines were the same for all ATMs of that type made by that manufacturer. He used his key to unlock a compartment in the ATM that had standard USB slots. He then inserted a program he had written into one of them, commanding the ATM to dump its vaults.
•Jack also hacked into ATMs by exploiting weaknesses in the way ATM makers communicate with the machines over the internet. He said the problem is that outsiders are permitted to bypass the need for a password.
Jack said the goal of his talk "isn't to teach everybody how to hack ATMs. It's to raise the issue and have ATM manufacturers be proactive about implementing fixes."

Twitter rolls out “Suggestions for You” feature to help users build their network

2010-07-31T10:08:00.000-07:00

In an attempt to help its users build their network, popular microblogging site Twitter Friday started rolling out a new "Suggestions for You" feature that essentially directs users to other Twitter accounts that they may find interesting.

The newly-released feature by Twitter is fairly similar to the "People You May Know" feature that the social networking site Facebook already offers, suggesting possible new friends to its users.

Noting that the new feature is a "simple, but powerful" one, Twitter said on its official blog: "With more than a hundred million users on Twitter, there are sure to be at least dozens of accounts out there that will reflect your interests." As such, the "Suggestions for You" feature will chiefly address the trouble that users face in finding like-minded people on the site.

Elaborating further, Twitter said the "Suggestions for You" algorithms help the users locate the accounts of other users with potential interest using a number of factors, including "people you follow and the people they follow."

With the roll out of the new feature in place, Twitter users who clicks on the "Who to Follow" link on the Twitter homepage can see a list of suggested accounts that they can follow.

Twitter has also revealed that it is planning to make the "Suggestions" feature available to developers of desktop and mobile applications for the microblogging site.

iPhone 'faces rising challenge' from Android handsets

2010-07-31T09:26:00.000-07:00

Apple's iPhone will likely dominate the high-end smartphone market in the next five years but faces strong competition from handsets using Google's Android platform, a research firm said.

By 2015, total mobile application downloads in the Asia-Pacific are forecast to reach 5.30 billion, of which 597.15 million, or about 11 per cent, will be for the iPhone, technology industry consultancy Ovum said.

Downloads of iPhone applications are estimated at 62.16 million in 2010, rising to 597 million downloads in 2015, Ovum said in an analysis released just days before the launch of the new-generation iPhone 4 in another 17 countries and cities worldwide on Friday.

The iPhone 4 is expected "to face much stiffer competition than its predecessors", Ovum principal analyst Adam Leach said in a statement.

"The rise of Google Android over the last two years has been phenomenal and is allowing manufacturers to create appealing alternatives to the iPhone, critically at cheaper prices," Leach said.

Handsets using the Android operating platform are more than just clones of the iconic iPhone, he said.

"The risk to Apple is that these devices offer greater freedom with available content and may prove more appealing, if it offers the right user and developer experience, than a device with Apple-approved content only," said Leach.

"This may ultimately be what puts the brakes on unlimited iPhone growth."

From July 30, customers can purchase the iPhone 4 in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

It will be available for purchase through Apple's online store.

Tokyo's 'Oldest Man' Died 30 Years Ago

2010-07-30T10:16:00.000-07:00

A family hid the mummified body of a relative in his bedroom for 30 years to keep his title of Tokyo's oldest man.

Police visited the home of Sogen Kato only to find his corpse after previous attempts to meet him were rebuffed by his family.

On previous visits, officials were told by family members that Kato wanted to be a living Buddha and refused contact with outsiders.

The body of Kato - who would have been 111 - was discovered wearing underwear and pyjamas and covered with a blanket.

"His family must have known he has been dead all these years and acted as if nothing happened," said Tokyo metropolitan welfare official Yutaka Muroi.

"It's so eerie."

The police broke into his home at the request of ward officials who had been updating their list of centenarians ahead of Respect for the Elderly Day in September.

Relatives are now being investigated over claims they fraudulently received around £70,500 pension money, Japan Today online newspaper reported.

"Grandpa was a very scary man. So, we couldn't open the door," Mr Kato's grandchild was quoted as telling the police.

"He shut himself up in the room without food or water."

Facebook data harvester speaks out

2010-07-29T11:15:00.000-07:00

The torrent is attracting hundreds of downloads

The man who harvested and published the personal details of 100m Facebook users has spoken out about his motives.

Ron Bowes, a security consultant, used a piece of code to scan Facebook profiles, collecting data not hidden by the user's privacy settings.

The list, which contains the URL of every searchable Facebook user's profile, name and unique ID, has been shared as a downloadable file.

Mr Bowes told BBC News that he did it as part of his work on a security tool.

"I'm a developer for the Nmap Security Scanner and one of our recent tools is called Ncrack," he said.

"It is designed to test password policies of organisations by using brute force attacks; in other words, guessing every username and password combination."

By downloading the data from Facebook, and compiling a user's first initial and surname, he was able to make a list of the most common probable usernames to use in the tool.

The three most common names, he found, were jsmith, ssmith and skhan.

In theory, researchers could then combine this list with a catalogue of the most commonly used passwords to test the security of sites. Similar techniques could be used by criminals for more nefarious means.

Mr Bowes said his original plan was to "collect a good list of human names that could be used for these tests".

"Once I had the data, though, I realised that it could be of interest to the community if I released it, so I did," he added.

Mr Bowes confirmed that all the data he harvested was already publicly available but acknowledged that if anyone now changed their privacy settings, their information would still be accessible.

"If 100,000 Facebook users decide that they no longer want to be in Facebook's directory, I would still have their name and URL but it would no longer, technically, be public," he said.

Mr Bowes said that collecting the data was in no way irresponsible and likened it to a telephone directory.

"All I've done is compile public information into a nice format for statistical analysis," he said

Simon Davies from the watchdog Privacy International told BBC News it was an "ethical attack" and that more personal information had not been included in the trawl.

"This is a reputational and business issue for Facebook, for now," he said

"They can continue to ride the risk and hope nothing cataclysmic occurs, but I would argue that Facebook has a special responsibility to go beyond doing the bare minimum," he added.

Snowball effect

Mr Bowes' file has spread rapidly across the net.

On the Pirate Bay, the world's biggest file-sharing website, the list was being distributed and downloaded by thousands of users.

One user said that the list showed "why people need to read the privacy agreements and everything they click through".

In a statement to BBC News, Facebook confirmed that the information in the list was already freely available online.

"No private data is available or has been compromised," the statement added.

That view is shared by Mr Bowes, who added that harvesting this data highlighted the possible risks users put themselves in.

"I am of the belief that, if I can do something then there are about 1,000 bad guys that can do it too.

"For that reason, I believe in open disclosure of issues like this, especially when there's minimal potential for anybody to get hurt.

"Since this is already public information, I see very little harm in disclosing it."

Digital trends

However, he said, it also highlighted a new trend that was emerging in the digital age.

"With traditional paper media, it wasn't possible to compile 170 million records in a searchable format and distribute it, but now we can," he said.

"Having the name of one person means nothing, and having the name of a hundred people means nothing; it isn't statistically significant.

"But when you start scaling to 170 million, statistical data emerges that we have never seen in the past."

A spokesperson for Facebook said the list was "similar to the white pages of the phone book.

"This is the information available to enable people to find each other, which is the reason people join Facebook."

"If someone does not want to be found, we also offer a number of controls to enable people not to appear in search on Facebook, in search engines, or share any information with applications."

Earlier this year there was a storm of protest from users of the site over the complexity of Facebook's privacy settings. As a result, the site rolled out simplified privacy controls.

Facebook has a default setting for privacy that makes some user information publicly available. People have to make a conscious choice to opt-out of the defaults.

Gamers giddy over Starcraft sequel, released 12 years after original

2010-07-29T10:10:00.000-07:00

With the release of Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty yesterday, Blizzard Entertainment ended one of the longest periods between video game sequels.

The first Starcraft was released in 1998 and the real-time strategy game quickly became hugely popular. To date, it has sold more than 11 million copies world-wide.

So far, impressions of the long-awaited sequel are mostly good. Here is a roundup:

The Guardian Games Blog: 4 out of 5

“[A]mazing to look at, riveting to play and, once the online culture takes root, another landmark that will redefine the RTS for years to come.”

IGN user reviews: Avg. 7.8 out of 10

“This is my first StarCraft game that I've ever bought, and I have to say it is a absolutely stunning.”

GameSpot: User rating of 9 out of 10

“The Campaign is a beautiful mixture of cutscenes and dialog the tell the story far better then any of Blizzards past RTS ventures.”

Reviews on Amazon.com were oddly mixed, with the largest number of votes for 5 stars (out of five) – at 133 – and the second largest number of votes for one star – 110 (as of noon July 28).

In many cases, the users giving the game a 1-star rating were upset over some of the game’s restrictions. For example, while the game is designed to be played with people over the Internet, there is no ability to do so over a local area network. Instead, players must use Blizzard’s Battle.net portal, where users connect online to play with or against each other.

Finally, users are complaining about the cost, which comes in at $60 (U.S.). And the game only comes with one campaign; the others cost extra.

Blizzard has said that the lack of LAN play and the requirement to play online through Battle.net are measures designed to thwart piracy. It may have worked. PC World is reporting that there are no cracked copies of the game circulating, which is unusual for such a popular game on the PC platform.

No Dell Streak in July, Coming 'Later This Summer'

2010-07-28T10:57:00.000-07:00

Those of you anxiously awaiting the Dell Streak will have to wait a little longer. A Dell spokesman confirmed Wednesday that the device will not arrive in July, but is still scheduled for release this summer.

Dell recently removed an online message from its Web site that said customers would be able to purchase the device today. It will instead arrive "later this summer," the spokesman said in an e-mail, though there is no specific launch date just yet.

The spokesman also confirmed that the Dell Streak will in fact still launch with Android 1.6.

Recently Dell announced it will release a cherry red version of the Streak shortly after it launches the standard graphite version.

We'll be sure to keep you updated about the Dell Streak's launch date and pricing once they are available. Until then, check out PCMag's preview of the device, as well as the unboxing.

Snapshot of global internet speeds revealed

2010-07-28T10:46:00.000-07:00

A report based on analysis of huge amounts of net traffic has revealed the state of the internet around the globe.

The data, from network giant Akamai reveals the average global net speed is only 1.7Mbps (megabits per second) although some countries have made strides towards faster services.

The fastest broadband city in the world is Masan in South Korea.

In the speed league table, the UK is ranked 27th out of 201 countries, with an average speed of 3.8Mbps.

This is below the 5.2Mbps average speed calculated by regulator Ofcom in its annual broadband report.

Expensive bandwidth

The UK has slipped slightly compared to its 23rd ranking in the last Akamai report, which are compiled quarterly.

"Other countries have got faster," said David Belson, head of market intelligence at Akamai.

The Akamai State of the Internet report finds that the average maximum speed enjoyed by UK surfers is 12Mbps.

Even in South Korea, which tops the speed league table and is often perceived as enjoying super-fast broadband as the norm, the average speed is a relatively slow 12Mbps, with the average maximum hitting 33Mbps.

"100Mbps is available in South Korea but it is often at prices that are not affordable by the general public. It can cost several hundred dollars a month," said Mr Belson.

Asia dominates
The report looked for the first time at how mobile networks are holding up in the face of greater demand for data on the move.

It found that 83 of 109 mobile providers offered speeds greater than 2Mbps, 33 achieved greater than 5Mbps and six reached beyond 10Mbps.

The global mobile average varied greatly from just 105Kbps to 7.2Mbps, with both of these extremes measured on providers in Slovakia.

In the UK, Akamai looked at three providers, but declined to say which ones.

The average UK mobile speed was between 1 and 3.7Mbps.

"They hold up pretty well on the global scene," said Mr Belson.

Broadband cities

Asia dominates the list of fastest wired cities with more than half of the top 100 cities in Japan. Only 12 US cities make the list.

All the top twenty cites were in either Japan or South Korea, with the exception of Umea, in Sweden, which was ranked 18th.

Other European cities in the top 100 included Baden-Baden in Germany, Wageningen in the Netherlands and Timisoara in Romania.

No UK city made it into the top 100.

The report also looked at where so-called attack traffic, such as phishing and spam, originated. Russia topped this league table with 12% of such traffic.

Akamai delivers between 15 to 30% of all internet traffic. In the first quarter of this year, over 487 million unique IP addresses from 233 countries or regions connected to its network.

12-Core Mac Pro and 27-inch IPS Cinema Display

2010-07-27T10:11:00.000-07:00

Last of today’s Apple updates are the new 27-inch Cinema Display and a new 12-core Mac Pro. The display is essentially a super-sized version of the 24-inch monitor already available. Here’s what you get:

The display hooks up to any Mac with a Mini DisplayPort connector, which is every late-vintage model. The cable combines a power-cable and a USB-connector, and this last will pipe the sound from your MacBook to the display, as well as send back data from the screen’s built-in iSight camera and microphone. It also has a 2.1 (sub and “satellite”) speaker system (50 watts) and, most important of all, Apple new favorite display tech, IPS (in-plane switching) for an almost 180-degree viewing-angle.

The 16:9 widescreen aspect-ratio panel sports a 2560 x 1440 resolution, and the panel now has an ambient light sensor to automatically dim the display. If it works as well as it does in other Apple products, you’ll probably want to switch it off. The display will be shipping “soon” for $1,000.

The new Mac Pro also beefs things up. Apple’s heavy-lifter now comes with 12 processor-cores, faster graphics and SSD options and, well, did I say it has twelve cores?. This monster begins at $5,000, but you can have the 2.66GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon “Nehalem” for “just” $2,500. Add to this an ATI Radeon HD 5870 with 1GB of GDDR5 memory and a couple of those fancy new 27-inch Cinema Displays, and you’ll have a pretty mean setup (and a very light wallet). The new range of Mac Pros will be on sale in August.

Apple Announces Availability Of iPhone 4 In 17 Other Countries

2010-07-26T11:03:00.000-07:00

The iPhone 4 will go on sale in 17 more countries by the end of the week according to a statement issued by Apple today, a step that marks the second step in the company's plans to get the phone in as many hands as possible.

The phone is currently available in only five countries - France, Germany, Japan, the UK and the US - with the phone being SIM Free only in the UK and France from the start.

Apple said that the phone will be on sale in Apple's retail and online stores as well as Apple authorised resellers. We're not sure whether this means that mobile phone operators who already have an exclusivity agreement with Apple will stock the iPhone 4.

Interestingly, Apple considers Hong Kong to be a country when technically, it is a Chinese territory, which means that the iPhone 4 is likely to flood the Chinese market pretty soon.

The iPhone 4 is expected to go on sale in 87 countries by the end of September with the ability to produce the device fast enough being the only major concern facing the Cupertino-based company.

iPhone 4 outright pricing to start from $859

2010-07-26T11:00:00.000-07:00

Apple Australia tags the 16GB iPhone 4 at $859 outright, with the new entry-level 8GB iPhone 3GS landing at $719.
With the iPhone 4's local debut just four days away – and even less if you count the midnight launch being touted by Optus (a strategy other carriers are almost certain to follow) – we're finally starting to see some prices for Apple's slick new smartphone.

The first comes from Apple Australia, which has announced that the 16GB version of the iPhone 4 will sell outright for $859. There's no word on the price for the 32GB model, but this could nudge into four-digit territory.

Apple will also introduce the new entry-level 8GB version of the iPhone 3GS for $719. This will come loaded with iOS 4.0.

On the carrier front, Vodafone is tipped to release its pricing this Wednesday – we're sure that Optus and Telstra will either be soon to follow, or eager to beat them to the punch. Speculation is that Optus will include an unlimited data deal as an incentive to convince existing iPhone customers to sign up for another two year contract.

Computer virus created by Anthony Scott Harrison sparked worldwide alert

2010-07-26T10:06:00.000-07:00

AN Adelaide man has admitted creating a computer virus capable of accessing bank accounts both here and overseas - sparking a worldwide red alert.
Anthony Scott Harrison, 20, of Black Forest, appeared in the District Court today.

He pleaded guilty to four counts of modifying computer data to cause harm or inconvenience, Adelaide Now reported.

He also admitted two counts of possessing or controlling data to commit a serious computer offence.

Finally, he pleaded guilty to one count of dishonestly manipulating a machine for his own benefit.

Previously, the court has heard Harrison's virus struck 3000 computers in Australia and overseas.

Harrison's software was designed to capture banking details and credit card information.

Love Parade cancelled for good after deadly stampede

2010-07-25T13:42:00.000-07:00

Organisers of Germany's Love Parade say the dance music festival will never be held again, after 19 people were killed in a stampede over the weekend.

An Australian woman was among those killed in the stampede, while more than 300 party-goers were injured, after crowds panicked in an access tunnel in the town of Duisburg, western Germany.

Questions are being asked as to why a venue with a single entry point was chosen to host an event that attracted more than a million dance music fans.

Police and organisers have begun to investigate how the event, which is supposed to promote peace, ended so disastrously.

Witnesses said panic spread after police tried to turn back fans against the flow of thousands streaming into the festival area through a disused railway tunnel.

People tried to climb walls to get out of harm's way, but many were crushed by surging crowds desperate to get out of the tunnel to safety.

Duisburg's mayor has appealed for people to wait for the result of a police inquiry before blaming anyone.

The festival has been running for more than 20 years, and was first held just before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989

SpaceShipTwo may make 1st glide test this year

2010-07-25T11:27:00.000-07:00

LOS ANGELES -- Virgin Galactic's space tourism rocket SpaceShipTwo may fly free in its first glide test later this year, a company official said Friday

The six-passenger spaceship has been carried aloft three times attached to the wing of its special jet-powered mothership, including a July 15 flight with two pilots aboard for the first time.

That flight, conducted by spaceship-builder Scaled Composites LLC over California's Mojave Desert, allowed the crew to evaluate all systems and functions in the air, said Stephen Attenborough, an executive with Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic in London.

"Scaled are now evaluating the data from this recent captive-carry flight before we know when the first SS2 independent glide flight will be but there's a reasonable possibility that we could see it happen in the Fall," Attenborough said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

Virgin Galactic also released the first photographs of SpaceShipTwo with its wings and tail structures in the "feathered" position, a unique and critically important element of the system created by legendary aviation designer Burt Rutan.

SpaceShipTwo will be carried by the mothership to an altitude of up to 50,000 feet, then released before its rocket engine ignites for a high-speed ascent into space, where passengers will experience a few minutes of weightlessness.

The spaceship's twin tails and portions of the wings will then rotate about 65 degrees upward to create high drag, slowing re-entry into the atmosphere and preventing a buildup of heat on the ship's skin.

At an altitude of about 70,000 feet, the tails will rotate back down to a conventional aircraft configuration for the glide back to a runway landing.

The photographs were taken as SpaceShipTwo was being prepared for its third captive-carry flight.

"Nobody's ever seen SpaceShipTwo with the wings feathered before," Attenborough said in a brief phone interview. "It's another sign of progress and quite an interesting view of the spaceship."

The mothership, a four-engine jet dubbed WhiteKnightTwo, carries the spaceship on the center of its wing between two fuselages.

The aircraft has made 33 flights and its testing is "substantially complete," Attenborough said.

Attenborough said that although both companies were pleased with the flight tests, "no corners will be cut in order to achieve arbitrary deadlines."

Virgin Galactic has said the test program is expected to run through next year before commercial operations begin. Some 300 clients have paid for a $200,000 ticket or placed a deposit, according to the company.

Mobile apps help radio operators live-stream their digital stations to smartphones

2010-07-25T11:17:00.000-07:00

RADIO operators are using mobile apps to live-stream their new digital stations to the millions of smartphones being sold in Australia.

NEWSPAPERS and magazines may have seized on portable devices such as the iPad as their saviour in the new digital age, but the most portable medium -- radio -- is no slouch in the race to be on as many distribution platforms as possible.

Radio operators are using mobile apps to live-stream their new digital stations to the millions of smartphones being sold annually in Australia, turning iPhones into digital radios -- and potentially reaching a much bigger audience than can be achieved via the 250,000 or so digital radios expected to be sold this year.

ARN released an app last week that makes its metropolitan Mix, TheEdge96.ONE, and Classic Hits stations around the country available to anyone with an Android, Nokia or iPhone mobile (and soon to be compatible with the iPad), along with digital stations Classic Hits Plus and The Edge.

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The app, which is being sponsored exclusively by Kia for the first three months, includes Twitter and Facebook icons that enable users to tweet and update their Facebook page without leaving the application -- bringing radio a step closer to the online conversations it may spark on the social web. "It's essential that as an industry we embrace the technology," ARN group sales chief Paul Parker says.

"It's about extending the relationship with our listeners wherever they may be."

In January, Austereo launched iPhone apps for its TripleM and Today FM networks and digital station Radar, and another one is planned for its digital comedy station Barry.

Head of digital and new business Jeremy Macvean says more than 200,000 people have downloaded Austereo apps since the start of the year for all its stations -- a mere drop in the bucket compared with the more than five million people who listen to the radio each week.

Mr Macvean says live streaming to mobiles via apps, which incurs data charges, will not replace free radio once people have bought a digital receiver, but there are some advantages that come from effectively accessing the medium on the mobile web.

Listeners can already click to buy songs they like from Apple's iTunes store via Austereo's apps while they are out and about.

"You'll be able to do things like click to enter competitions," Mr Macvean says. "But digital radio, in my opinion, will become the default broadcast medium."

Fairfax's talk radio network, which includes Melbourne's 3AW and Sydney's 2UE, is available on apps, giving people free access to three-minute to five-minute news bulletins from its stations around the country.

The ABC's iPad app offers live radio and podcasts in the same interface as the ABC TV and online content.

Of course, when it comes to apps that offer live streaming of international internet radio stations, the choice is virtually endless.

But for those interested in listening to a variety of local radio stations, aggregators such as Home Radio Australia will collect your favourite internet-delivered streams and put them all in one place on one customised app.

'Eternal plane' returns to Earth

2010-07-25T11:05:00.000-07:00

The UK-built Zephyr unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has confirmed its place in aviation history as the first "eternal plane".

The solar-powered craft completed two weeks of non-stop flight above a US Army range in Arizona before being commanded to make a landing.

The Qinetiq company which developed Zephyr said the UAV had nothing to prove by staying in the air any longer.

It had already smashed all endurance records for an unpiloted vehicle before it touched down at 1504 BST (0704 local/1404 GMT) on Friday.

"We are just really delighted with the performance," said project manager Jon Saltmarsh.

"It's the culmination of a lot of years of effort from a huge number of really talented scientists and engineers," he told BBC News.

Zephyr took off from the Yuma Proving Ground at 1440 BST (0640 local time) on Friday, 9 July.

After only 31 hours in the air, it had bettered the official world record for a long-duration flight by a drone; but then it kept on going, unencumbered by the need to take on the liquid fuel that sustains traditional aircraft.

Clear skies at 60,000ft delivered copious amounts of sunshine to its amorphous silicon solar arrays, charging its lithium-sulphur batteries and keeping its two propellers turning.

At night, Zephyr lost some altitude but the energy stored in the batteries was more than sufficient to maintain the plane in the air.

Zephyr is set to be credited with a new world endurance record (336 hours, 24 minutes) for an unmanned, un-refuelled aircraft - provided a representative of the world air sports federation, who was present at Yuma, is satisfied its rules have been followed properly.

Its fortnight in the sky easily beats the 30 hours, 24 minutes, set by Northrop Grumman's RQ-4A Global Hawk in 2001.

Zephyr has also exceeded the mark set for a manned, non-stop, un-refuelled flight, set in 1986 by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, who stayed aloft for nine days (216 hours), three minutes. Their flight in the Voyager craft went around the world.

Profile raising

Jon Saltmarsh said the UAV, which has a 22.5m wingspan, was no longer an experimental plane and was now ready to begin its operational life.

The fact that Zephyr completed its demonstration during the Farnborough International Airshow - which takes place on the doorstep of the Qinetiq company - will have done wonders for the craft's profile.

Solar-powered high-altitude long-endurance (Hale) UAVs are expected to have a wide range of applications.

The military will want to use them as reconnaissance and communications platforms. Civilian and scientific programmes will equip them with small payloads for Earth observation duties.

Their unique selling point is their persistence over a location. Low-Earth orbiting satellites come and go in a swift pass overhead, and the bigger drones now operated by the military still need to return to base at regular intervals for refuelling.

"Qinetiq is now looking to the Ministry of Defence and the DoD (US Department of Defense) to put a system into service," said Mr Saltmarsh.

"We have proved the concept; we have proved we can provide persistence; we have proved we can put useful payloads on to it that will actually do things the MoD has a requirement to do."

The Zephyr flight is the second event of note this year in solar-powered aviation. Earlier this month, Andre Borschberg became the first person to pilot a manned solar plane through the night.

Could wooden structure discovered at Stonehenge be a tomb?

2010-07-25T10:58:00.000-07:00

An international team of archaeologists and scientists has found a previously undiscovered wooden structure just a little ways from the stone circle that the world knows as Stonehenge.

The team consists of scientists from the United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway, Germany, and Austria.

Dr. Vince Gaffney, a professor from the University of Birmingham and the chair in Landscape Archaeology and Geomatics, led the international team of scientists on this archaeological dig in the southern part of England.

According to the Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity (IAA), at the University of Birmingham, “Archaeologists from IAA have been involved in re-writing history, following the discovery of a major ceremonial monument less than one kilometre away from Stonehenge.”

The IAA article A new ‘henge’ discovered at Stonehenge, continues with “The new henge was discovered just two weeks into a three year international study that forms part of the multi-million Euro Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project. The aim of the project is to map 14 square kilometres of the Stonehenge landscape, to recreate visually the iconic prehistoric monument and its surroundings and transform how we understand the landscape.”

Dr. Gaffney adds, “It seemed to have a large-ditched feature, but it seemed to be made of individual scoops rather than just a straight trench. When we looked more closely we then realised there was a ring of pits about a metre wide going all the way around the edge.”

And, “When you see that as an archaeologist, you just look at it and think, ‘that’s a henge monument’ – it’s a timber equivalent to Stonehenge.”

The wooden structure was found when magnetic and radar scans were passed over an area about 900 meters (around 3,000 feet) from the site of Stonehenge.

The scans identified a cluster of deep pits, which were surrounded by a ring of smaller holes.

This newly discovered structure appears to be another circular area, similar to the one that is famously known by people all over the world.

According to the July 22, 2010 Huffington Post article Stonehenge Discovery: Wooden Structure Found Near Famous Monument, “The survey team which uncovered the structure said it could be the foundation for a circle of freestanding pieces of timber, a wooden version of Stonehenge.”

However, the article continues with a different perspective of the story: “… Tim Darvill, a professor of archaeology at Bournemouth University in southern England, expressed skepticism, saying he believed it was more likely a barrow, or prehistoric tomb.”

Stonehenge is located in the Salisbury Plain about 3.2 kilometers (2.0 miles) west from the town of Amesbury, Wiltshire, and around 13 kilometers (8.1 miles) north of Salisbury, in the southern part of England, within the United Kingdom.

The earliest development of the prehistoric site, consisting of earthworks surrounded by a circular pattern of large standing stones, occurred somewhere in the period of 3100 to 2300 B.C., or around 5,000 years ago.

Further developments, including burial mounds, happened over the next two thousand or so years, and probably ending some time around 3,000 years ago. But, no one really knows for sure.

Please read the Huffington Post article, which was mentioned earlier, for more details on this exciting new discovery in the English county of Wiltshire.

The Huffington Post article also states, “The timber henge – a name given to prehistoric monuments surrounded by a circular ditch – would have been constructed and modified at the same time as its more famous relative, and probably had some allied ceremonial or religious function….”

And, “Exactly what kind of ceremonies those were is unclear. The new henge joins a growing complex of tombs and mysterious Neolithic structures found across the area.”

Also read the July 23, 2010 Cosmos article “Stunning new discovery rivals Stonehenge” for more information on the story.

Sweet Europe, sour America?

2010-07-24T09:47:00.000-07:00

(Reuters) - Investors are finding themselves with a new kind of balancing act -- one in which they have to juggle with three major regions posing three significantly different circumstances.

Europe's bank stress testing, the focus of much of the past week's market debate, may have some impact on Monday but may well pale into insignificance given the most recent numbers on the broader economy.

First there is the United States, which is believed to be facing another slowdown, if not a double-dip recession.

Then there is Europe, suffering a debt crisis and austerity-bound, yet suddenly surprising everyone with an unexpected burst of economic vigor.

Thirdly, comes Asia, growing away so merrily that investors are beginning to be concerned that too much zeal will be exercised in trying to slow things down.

On top of that there is the decoupling of economics and earnings -- keeping bond yields down and lifting stocks. The latest investment flow data from EPFR Global showed "yield hungry but skittish" investors flooding into bonds, but world stocks .MIWD00000PUS .TRXFLDGLPU are up more than 7 percent for the month.

"We are really in a much more difficult stage of the recovery right now," Michala Marcussen, head of global economics at Societe Generale, said at a briefing with Reuters journalists.

She described markets as struggling with a "rotating crisis" in which one problem in one region becomes the focus of concern, only to be quickly replaced by another in another region.

"That ping pong is likely to go on for some time," she said.

EUROPEAN TIGER?

Entering the new week, investors will first have to deal with any fallout from the stress tests of 91 European banks, which showed just seven failed, confirming fears the criteria used had been too soft.

Markets had been fairly calm about the tests, which, with Greece and other peripheral euro zone economies in mind, were designed to see how banks would fare in serious future crises.

The health check on 91 banks in 20 countries was widely criticized as being too soft. It was also overshadowed somewhat by a slew of data on European economies that suggested the banks may face less pressure and loan defaults than earlier thought.

That leaves investors to make up their own minds about particular banks, armed with the extra data the tests provided, including on sovereign bond holdings, to judge where further weak spots may be.

"With so few banks failing, investors will question whether the economic scenarios are sufficiently severe," said Jon Peace, analyst at Nomura in London.

"It will be natural for investors to consider the margin by which banks passed," he added, citing a good pass margin for Scandinavian and British banks, but Greek, Spanish and Italian banks faring less well.

European purchasing managers' indexes in the past week showed private sector business activity accelerating in July, surprising economists who had expected a slowdown.

They indicated third-quarter euro zone growth of around 0.6-0.7 percent, double the 0.3 percent forecast in the most recent Reuters poll.

This was followed up by German business sentiment posting a record jump in July to its highest level in three years.

Non-euro zone member Britain also surprised with its economy growing twice as fast as expected in the second quarter of this year propelled by a sharp pick-up in services and the biggest rise in construction in almost 50 years.

Investors being investors, of course, these robust numbers triggered some new concerns about monetary tightening -- hence the spike in the euro and pound against the dollar.

WEAKLING AMERICA?

The biggest piece of data likely to focus investors' attention in the coming week is U.S. second-quarter GDP, out on Friday.

The U.S. economy is clearly coming off the boil, if, indeed, it was boiling. After three quarters of solid growth it is showing signs of slowing with firms still reluctant to hire and the housing sector seemingly unable to exit a prolonged rut.

It was enough, during the past week to prompt promises from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke for more action if there are further signs of faltering.

This would particularly be the case if jobs don't pick up.

"We are ready and will act if the economy does not continue to improve, if we don't see the kind of improvements in the labor market that we are hoping for and expecting," he told the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee.

This admission that all is not well has broad implications for investors even if other global drivers -- major emerging market economies, such as China, and now Europe -- are still on the upswing.

The question could turn out to be whether markets and other economies can thrive without the U.S. engine. History suggests not.

The Facebook Effect: How the Social Network Touched 500M Users

2010-07-23T13:17:00.000-07:00

Facebook celebrated hitting the 500 million user mark on July 21 by launching a new consumer application called Facebook Stories. Stories is a Web app like everything else Facebook, so users needn't download it. Simply go to this Website to read the stories users have submitted to Facebook describing how the social network has affected their lives. In some cases, such as where a high school student struck up a petition to save a theater, Facebook has been used to affect positive changes. Here is a tour of Facebook Stories, which includes some 200 stories out of the gate and allows users to view them by location around the world or theme. Users may also like and share the stories with their Facebook friends.

Microsoft clarifies: No official list of WP7 device makers yet

2010-07-23T08:49:00.000-07:00

Backs off earlier statements that Asus, Dell, LG, HTC and Samsung are making phones that run the new Microsoft OS
Computerworld - After divulging a list of five Windows Phone 7 in recent weeks, Microsoft late yesterday moved to clarify those statements.

"Microsoft has not made an official announcement on device partners for Windows Phone 7 at general availability," a Microsoft spokeswoman said late yesterday.

Her comments came after Computerworld and other Web sites reported that Microsoft had chosen Asus, LG, Samsung, Dell and HTC to manufacture WP7 phones.

According to a July 18 Microsoft blog post, Asus, LG and Samsung are providing nearly 1,000 prototype devices for developers.

In addition, Andy Lees, senior vice president of mobile communications at Microsoft, named HTC, Samsung, LG and Dell as WP7 device makers in a keynote address at the recent Worldwide Partner Conference in Washington. Microsoft also named those four at Mobile World Congress in February.

All five of those manufacturers, and others, could well be the final companies that make WP7 phones, but one or more of those initially listed by Microsoft could drop out by the fall or be eliminated by Microsoft, noted analyst Jack Gold of J. Gold Associates.

"I'm sure Microsoft is positioning itself so that if one or more decide against WP7, they will be covered," he said. Also, if Microsoft said any of the five were definite now, and then one decided to bail out, Microsoft could be sued, Gold added. Any one of the five could have second thoughts, because all of them are also making Android devices and may decide against porting to another OS, Gold added. He said he believes HTC and Samsung are committed, but officials there could not be reached to comment.

Microsoft Reports 48% Increase In Profits

2010-07-23T06:33:00.000-07:00

Windows 7 and Office 2010 paced strong fourth fiscal quarter for the software powerhouse.

Microsoft rode its workhorses Windows and Office to a 48% increase in profits in the fourth fiscal quarter, while its attempts at newer technology trends, such as search and mobile phones, were less successful.
The software maker on Thursday reported a net income of $4.5 billion, or 52 cents a share, for the quarter ended June 30, compared to a profit of $3.05 billion, or 34 cents a share, the same period a year ago. Revenue increased 22% year to year to $16.04 billion from $13.1 billion.

"We saw strong sales execution across all of our businesses, particularly in the enterprise with Windows 7 and Office 2010," Kevin Turner, chief operating officer for Microsoft, said in a statement.
Indeed, Microsoft's latest results showed that Windows and the Office productivity suite that run on traditional PCs still have lots of steam, despite having been around well before the Internet or today's hottest electronic device the smartphone.

Microsoft benefited from businesses increasing spending to replace older computers that companies held on to during last year's economic recession. The company estimated that worldwide PC shipments grew by about 22% to 24% in the quarter.

Driven mostly by Windows 7 sales, Microsoft's Windows and Windows Live Division reported a 44% increase in revenue year to year to $4.6 billion. Operating income rose 59% to $3.06 billion.

Sales of Office 2010, released during the quarter, drove revenue for Microsoft's Business Division up 15% to $5.3 billion, while operating income rose 21% to $3.3 billion.

However, Microsoft didn't do as well in areas where it competes with Google and Apple, both leaders in newer technologies. In fact, Microsoft's revenue in the quarter was just slightly ahead of the $15.7 billion reported this week by Apple for about the same period. A decade ago, Microsoft's revenue tripled Apple's, but the latter company remains significantly less profitable.

While revenue from Microsoft's Online Services Division, which includes the company's search engine Bing, was up 13% to $565 million, the division saw an operating loss of $696 million, 19% more than a year ago. A significant portion of the loss was due to the cost associated with a deal in which Microsoft will take over search on the web portal Yahoo.

However, Microsoft has seen gains in Internet search, which is a key component of online ad sales. The company's overall share of the U.S. Internet search market in June jumped 7% from May, while market leader Google saw a decline of 1%. Google dominates the market with nearly a 72% share.

Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division also failed to be profitable. Despite a 27% increase in revenue to $1.6 billion, the division suffered an operating loss of $172 million, 22% higher than a year ago. Much of the operating loss was due to the discontinuation of Microsoft's Kin phones. Poor sales forced the company to drop the devices just two months after launch.

Dating website singled out over fake profiles

2010-07-22T10:10:00.000-07:00

A DATING website invented fake "singles" and used them to flirt with genuine customers over the internet, the Federal Court has found.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission yesterday announced it had won its legal action against Jetplace Pty Ltd, the operator of Australian dating site redhotpie.com.au.

Federal Court judge John Gilmour ruled this week that Jetplace had created and operated 1371 false profiles on its adult website between December 2004 and November 2008.

He found the company had used some of the fake dates to send "flirts" -- or flirtatious messages -- to some registered users of the website.

The pretend profiles, complete with fake photos, also showed up in searches carried out by authentic users of the website.

Justice Gilmour declared that Jetplace directors Maxwell James McGuire and Mark Seemaan were aware of and party to misleading and deceptive conduct under the Trade Practices Act, and ordered the company disclose its deception to users.

The website cautions members to "beware of scammers" and "make sure they are who they say they are". "There is nothing worse than really liking someone only to find out they have been deceiving you," the website states in its online dating safety tips.

ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel yesterday said the consumer watchdog would have sought penalties of up to $1.1 million for the company and $220,000 for individuals, had Jetplace's conduct occurred after the introduction of the new Australian consumer law this month.

"Website operators such as Jetplace must accept that there is significant potential for many vulnerable people to be attracted to socialising and dating websites," he said.

"The website operators have a legal responsibility under the Trade Practices Act to ensure the information they place on the website is accurate."

Mr McGuire yesterday said the company had consented to the Federal Court orders and co-operated with the ACCC.

He said the 1371 profiles had been "created" over four years to act as "eyes and ears".

"(They) successfully assisted in the detection of and action against illegal activities and predatory behaviour on the website," he said.

Mr McGuire said the fake profiles had been deactivated in November 2008 when the ACCC raised concerns.

Facebook population equivalent to third-biggest country on Earth

2010-07-22T01:08:00.000-07:00

Much as we suggested it would, Facebook has bolstered its own position as the world’s leading social network by officially announcing it has more than 500 million active users.

After beginning life in 2004 as a humble student-based network limited to Harvard, the service has grown to become one of the biggest online services, dwarfing Internet giants such as Yahoo and Wikipedia.

“I could never have imagined all of the ways people would use Facebook when we were getting started six years ago,” commented founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a blog post on Wednesday.

“Our mission at Facebook is to help make the world more open and connected,” he added. “I want to thank you for being part of making Facebook what it is today and for spreading it around the world.”

So, with a user base equivalent to the third-largest country on Earth (between India’s 1.18 billion and the USA's 308 million) and having grown from 250 million users to 500 million users in the last 12 months, where does Facebook go from here?

With a clear belief that the network’s growth has far from peaked, Zuckerberg has already confidently predicted that the world’s leading social service is on course to gather one billion users, which would see it match the online standing of search titan Google.

To celebrate reaching half a billion people, Facebook has launched a new application called Facebook Stories, which allows account holders to share personal stories on how finding and using Facebook has impacted their lives.

Living in an App world

2010-07-21T13:39:00.000-07:00

Have you noticed recently how much less sexy the software for your PC is now compared to the latest Apps on your smartphone or iPad? You don’t find people talking around the watercooler about this great new desktop application they downloaded. You do, however, hear them comparing Apps and suggesting the latest and greatest Apps to install on their iOS and Android devices. You’re even beginning to hear the old religious wars emerging among mainstream users, only this time, instead of Mac vs. Windows, it’s iPhone vs. Android and App Store vs. Android Marketplace.

The point here is that we now live in an App world. Desktop applications obviously have their place. You still can’t run Adobe CS5 on a smartphone, downloaded on the cheap from an App store (although the Photoshop.com Mobile App is free and remarkably effective ). Most people, though, spend more time with their phones than they do with their computers. I wrote most of this post sitting on a commuter train headed into New York City as yesterday and was the only one in my very full car with a laptop out. Plenty of people had laptop bags, but the only electronics I saw out are iPads, smartphones of various brands and carriers, and a lone Kindle.

The laptops probably came out when all of these people got to their destinations, but think back to train and airplane rides even a year ago. Why do you think netbooks were so popular or executives were willing to pay top dollar for an ultraportable? No matter how crowded the conveyance, you could still get work done (or take some needed down time and watch a movie or play solitaire). Now, pull out a phone and communicate to your heart’s content (or take some needed down time and watch a movie, read a book, watch YouTube, watch TV shows, listen to music, play games that are far cooler than solitaire…you get the idea).

The current crop of smartphones, despite their lack of a full-blown desktop-style OS, provide instant gratification and, in many cases, a richer experience than many laptops. After all, laptops don’t have an App store with hundreds of thousands of gaming, entertainment, and productivity applications, many of which are free. They don’t have countless developers cranking out new, light applications every day. Your laptop just has Microsoft Office. And while I’m a big fan of the latest iteration of Office, it just lacks the cool factor of SpringPad or the myriad social Apps that are just a couple finger swipes away on my smartphone.

So where am I going with all of this? It isn’t news to anyone that mobile platforms are the next computing battleground, both in consumer and enterprise spaces. There’s a reason that Google has pushed so hard and fast on Android development. However, for a guy who lives in the country and only does the rat race once a month or so, popping into the city for meetings and conferences, I couldn’t help but be struck by the rapid shift in the way we compute. It’s a bit like time lapse photography: 1 month there are lots of laptops and plenty of clicking. The next month there are a few less and, wait, is that an iPad? Then, suddenly, who needs a laptop?

The real story here is for developers and for Microsoft. It’s no wonder that Asus dumped Windows for Android on their upcoming tablet. Who, outside the enterprise (and even that’s sketchy) wants an App-less Windows on their tablet? All the cool kids at least have an the App Store on their iPads.