550,000 More Chinese Toys Recalled for Lead

A random testing of more than 50 plastic toys found high lead content in 11 of them, according to a consumer advocacy group.

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PlaySpan Takes $6.5m Series A, Founder In Grade 6

PlaySpan Takes $6.5m Series A, Founder In Grade 6

Virtual world goods seller PlaySpan has received $6.5 million Series A in a round led by Easton Capital, Menlo Ventures, STIC and Novel TMT Ventures.

PlaySpan hasn’t launched yet, but is promising a product that will attempt to be an official commerce provider for multiple MMOGs. According to PlaySpan, the company has already signed up seven MMOG partners

The interesting side of PlaySpan is with the background story: PlaySpan was founded by Arjun Mehta (pictured) , a 6th grader from Silicon Valley who founded the company from money earned selling online game items won from quests he fought while attending 5th grade at Challenger School in San Jose.

No word on when PlaySpan will be launching.

(via Metaversed)

Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.

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Apple sells 100 millionth iPod, deems experiment a success

Apple sells 100 millionth iPod, deems experiment a success

Filed under: Portable Audio

Has it really only been five and a half years since the first iPod rolled off the assembly line and into the initially-skeptical arms of music-loving consumers worldwide? Well since that time we've seen an entire ecosystem of third-party and DIY accessories sprout up around Apple's ubiquitous little jukebox -- from the pretty handy to the just plain weird -- along with endless humorous anecdotes, an infinite number of knockoffs, serious political, legal, and environmental movements, and of course, an almost daily barrage of wild rumors the likes of which the world has never known. So it's with mixed emotion that we welcome the 100 millionth iPod into the world (enough for almost every man, woman, and child in Mexico): on the one hand, it gives us warm fuzzies to see perennial underdog Apple come out on top for a change, but we also hope that the company employs its leadership position responsibly, such as being a little less quick to sic the lawyers on anyone who dares use the "Pod" name in vain. And as for the next 100 million iPods? Is PC-less downloading just over the horizon? When will we finally see the move to an all flash lineup? Will Apple finally take the leap and merge its prize pig with -- gasp! -- a cellular telephone? As always, only time -- and Uncle Steve -- will tell.

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Top Twenty Sites: Most Downtime

Top Twenty Sites: Most Downtime

Pingdom just published a report measuring total 2007 downtime to date for the top 20 sites on the web as ranked by Alexa. Leading the list is Yahoo with zero downtime. Google’s YouTube and Blogger.com are the worst performers, with over 4 hours of downtime each (although Google.com is very reliable).

Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.

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Zillow Relaunch - Adds Its Own Q&A Service.

Zillow Relaunch - Adds Its Own Q&A Service.

Zillow has been down this afternoon as the popular real estate site adds a number of new features.

They may have been taking a look at the runaway success of Yahoo Answers - Among the changes is a new product called Home Q&A, which allows users to ask and answer questions about any of the 70 million U.S. homes in the Zillow database. Answers are rated by other Zillow users.

Every home in the Zillow database has its own dedicated page. Any user can now also add photos and information about any home and its neighborhood to the site. Users can also indicate if a home is for sale, and the asking price, as well as additional information. This is an expansion on user-generated content features added last September. Previously only the 600,000 registered users who claimed their homes or over 150,000 real estate agents could list a home for sale or post photos of the home. Now any registered user can list a home for sale and post an unlimited number of photos for the home, although the prime real estate on the listing is still reserved for a certified owner or agent. Bad photos and information can be flagged by other users.

Zillow is moving beyond the general site wide advertising they got from brokerages and home improvement stores, enabling registered users to carry out targeted advertising campaigns for their home listing. The new ad units are called “EZ Ads”. Users will be able to target their campaign by zip codes and specify the number of view or bank roll their ad will run for. The effective CPM for these ads will be a penny per impression.

Zillow claims 4.1 million unique visitors came to the site in March (Comscore (U.S.) says 1.8 million, down from 2.3 million a year ago, and 33 million monthly page views). They say that 90% of visitors own a home, and 54% play to buy or sell in the next two years. The company has raised $57 million in venture capital.

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

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Mozilla To Build Social Networking Into Firefox: Bad News For Flock

Mozilla To Build Social Networking Into Firefox: Bad News For Flock

Mozilla has released details on The Coop, a new product that will incorporate social networking features directly into the Firefox browser. This is not good news for the privately-backed social browser Flock (also built on Mozilla), which is yet to release a 1.0 version of its browser. Many of the proposed features and some of the mockups created by Mike Beltzner (see above) suggest a significant overlap in the two products.

In fact, Coop even has an example screen shot of Flock on the wiki page describing the product, along with the description “The design will likely resemble [formerly of Flock] Chris Messina’s mockup for “People in the Browser”, with a horizontal bar containing avatars for a user’s friends, and icons overlaid on those avatars to indicate the presence of new content.”

The Coop product will allow Firefox users to “subscribe” to friends in the browser, bringing those friends into a sidebar. Those friends can share content and web pages with you (receive content from you, and send content to you).

Adding a friend will mean getting access to a broad array of their published web content. Content will be pulled from that person’s Flickr photo feed, del.icio.us tag feed, MySpace status , YouTube favorites, etc. When you want to share content with that user, you simply drag it into their avatar (see mockups below).

As Larry Dignan notes, The Coop could also have an impact on social networks that depend on constant user page refreshes to maintain pageview growth. Having status information on your friends directly in the browser could significantly lessen the need to visit those sites directly.

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

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PC World’s 50 Best Tech Products Of All Time

PC World’s 50 Best Tech Products Of All Time

Incredibly awesome magazine PC World has come out with a Top 50 Best Tech Products of All Time list and boy is it full of nostalgia. Classics include 3dfx Voodoo3 at #16, the Motorola StarTAC at #8, Tetris at #10, and Napster at #4. The most recent item on the list is Blizzard’s World of Warcraft at #27, followed by the Canon EOS Digital Rebel at #44.

So who took the #1 spot? Was it Mac OS X? Perhaps the Nintendo Game Boy? Far from both, it’s actually Netscape Navigator. Yeah, that’s right. The 1994-browser you used back in school to visit LexisNexis reigns king over all gadgets and software. True, Netscape was the first mainstream browser to do it all, but the #1 spot on the 50 Best Tech Products of All Time? Psh. Way to blow it PC World.

50 Best Tech Products Of All Time [PC World]

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Annual H-1B Visa Cap Met In One Day

Annual H-1B Visa Cap Met In One Day

CNet is reporting that the door has closed on the H1-B visa application process for this year, one day after it began. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services said that it had received 150,000 applications as of yesterday afternoon. 65,000 H1-B visas can be issued for foreigners with bachelor's degrees. The USCIS will choose randomly from the applications to determine the winners.

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New coating may lead to fog- and dirt-free windshields

New coating may lead to fog- and dirt-free windshields

Filed under: Transportation

If you're like us and haven't washed your car since, like, ever, you're probably used to the windshield getting all fogged up (not in the good, make out point way, however) and habitually swiping at the glass with your sleeve while swerving between lanes and praying that your airbag still works. Well thanks to a new coating developed by researchers at Purdue University, your dangerous driving habits may soon be a thing of the past (well, except for those occasions when you're texting your buddies while eating a cheeseburger and fiddling with the radio), as this material has the unique ability to both prevent the formation of water droplets (no more fog!) as well as cause oil-based substances to bead up for easy cleaning (no more road grime!). The science behind this breakthrough is a little boring (i.e. we don't really understand it), but it seems that by covalently bonding a DuPont substance known as Zonyl FSN-100 to ordinary glass, the component polymers are able to change shape and react differently depending on the chemicals they come into contact with. After figuring out a way to apply the coating cheaply through spray or roll-on techniques, the next step for the Boilermakers will be to coax the material into repelling other nasty substances, making it suitable for use on the gadgets and glasses we geeks hold so dear.

 

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MIT gurus developing bionic feet / ankles

MIT gurus developing bionic feet / ankles

Filed under: Robots

Leave it to the brilliant minds at MIT's Biomechatronics Lab to crank out yet another bionic limb, as a newfangled mechanical foot / ankle combo is apparently on the minds of more than a few of its researchers. In a recent patent application, the team describes an "artificial foot and ankle joint" consisting of a "leaf spring foot member," flexible elastic ankle, and an actuator motor that applies force to the ankle. Aside from sporting a fairly intelligent system to improving one's gait, it also boasts a built-in safety feature that prevents foot rotation beyond a specified angle, and the internal sensors can also activate the motors at different intervals depending on the surface in which one is walking. The prosthetic feet join a horde of other bionic limbs and appendages meant to make life as an amputee a fair bit easier, and as terrific as this here invention sounds, we're betting the Olympic committee dashes your hopes of illegally obliterating a few running records by barring these from basic competitions.

[Via NewScientistTech]

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French train breaks rail speed record

French train breaks rail speed record

Filed under: Transportation

While the majority of world speed records we cover involve things like transistors, data transmission, and even the occasional text messaging attempt, we're not ones to pass up a good old fashion land speed record, which France's Alstom Technologies thankfully provided today. After months of working up to it, the company finally sent its V150 passenger train screaming through the French countryside, ultimately topping out at a breakneck speed of 574.8 kilometers per hour, or about 357 mph, easily besting the previous rail speed record of 320 mph. While it'll no doubt only make you jealous of not being on board (or at least nearby), you can check out a video of the record-setting attempt at the link below.

[Thanks, Antoine G]

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How Open Source Is Changing Education

How Open Source Is Changing Education

ftblguy writes "MIT's Open CourseWare program provides a great example of how the open source movement is impacting education. The Online Education Database also lists Project Gutenberg, Wikipedia, Linux, Firefox, and Google (?) as some of the other open source in education success stories. Open source and open access resources have changed how colleges, organizations, instructors, and prospective students use software, operating systems, and online documents for educational purposes. Each success story has served as a springboard to create more open source successes."

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Pretty creative, there. [shifty eyes]

Pretty creative, there. [shifty eyes]

I can't believe this puppy stooped so low as to COPY the late, great Kumanoko hamster. (Scroll down to see third 'under blankie' photo)

OMGPlagarizms!

Still, not bad, Mark C. ;)

You do get extra points for the tiny ear flips.

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Mother may lose custody of obese boy (AP)

Mother may lose custody of obese boy (AP)

AP - Authorities are considering taking an 8-year-old boy who weighs 218 pounds into protective custody unless his mother improves his diet, officials said Monday.

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Crashing an In-Flight Entertainment System

Crashing an In-Flight Entertainment System

rabblerouzer writes "Hugh Thompson, who was interviewed by Slashdot on the dangers of e-voting, now has a cool blog entry on how he was able to bring down the gaming/movie console on an airplane. He calls it one of the most interesting examples of a software 'abuse case' he has ever seen." Fortunately the IFE system is totally disjoint from the avionics.

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JetBlue details customer bill of rights (AP)

JetBlue details customer bill of rights (AP)

AP - JetBlue Airways rolled out a customer bill of rights Tuesday that promises vouchers to fliers who experience delays in a move it hopes will win back passengers after an operational meltdown damaged its brand and stock price.

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Baby as small as pen when born to go home

Baby as small as pen when born to go home (Reuters)

Reuters - A premature baby only slightly longer than a ballpoint pen at birth was due to be sent home in the coming days from a Florida hospital after four months of neonatal intensive care, the hospital said on Tuesday.

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Who Pays For Credit Card Breaches?

Who Pays For Credit Card Breaches?

PetManimal writes "A scheme to steal customers' credit and debit card information at a New England supermarket chain highlights a little-understood fact about credit card security: Customers still think that the credit-card companies have to eat fraudulent charges, but since the PCI DSS standards were adopted, it's actually the merchant banks and merchants who have to pay up. And, according to the blogger writing in the latter article, it's a good thing." "The main reason PCI exists is that there are tens of thousands of merchants who don't understand the basics of information security and weren't even taking the very minimum steps to secure their networks and the credit card information they stored... PCI pushes that burden downstream and forces merchants to... put in a properly configured firewall, encrypt sensitive information and maintain a minimum security stance or be fined by their merchant banks... [T]he credit card companies have taken the bulk of the financial burden off of themselves and placed it on the merchants, which is where much of it belongs...'"

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Best & Worst Decisions Starting Companies

Best & Worst Decisions Starting Companies

markfletcher writes "Today I launched a new site, Startupping, dedicated to helping Internet entrepreneurs. For the launch I asked several successful entrepreneurs about lessons they learned starting and running Internet companies. The first set of replies includes responses from Paul Graham, John Battelle, Chris Pirillo, Ross Mayfield, and Dick Costolo."

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Vista Security — Too Little Too Late

Vista Security — Too Little Too Late

Thomas Greene of The Register has a fairly comprehensive review of Vista and IE7 user security measures. The verdict is: better but not adequate, and mostly an attempt to shift blame onto the user when things go wrong. From the review: "[Vista is] a slightly more secure version than XP SP2. There are good features, and there are good ideas, but they've been implemented badly. The old problems never go away: too many networking services enabled by default; too many owners running their boxes as admins and downloading every bit of malware they can get their hands on."

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Wal-Mart to Open Hundreds of Stores in India

Wal-Mart is set to open hundreds of stores in INDIA. According to the article,

The deal would be the first large-scale entry into the booming Indian market by a major foreign retailer. Companies like Wal-Mart and Carrefour, the French retailer, have long been stymied by government rules that critics call protectionist.

VISTA's shutdown menu

There is very nice article on why VISTA took so long. According to the article, "The fact that you have to choose between nine different ways of turning off your computer every time just on the start menu, not to mention the choice of hitting the physical on/off button or closing the laptop lid, produces just a little bit of unhappiness every time."

Time to Rename the Cell Phone?

BusinessWeek is running an article by Cliff Edwards about Cell Phones. According to the article "Once upon a time, the now-eponymous portable derived its name from the small sections (deemed "cells") into which a city was divided in order to keep voice calls smooth and uninterrupted. Today, it almost seems that voice calls are the least-used function of most phones, while Wi-Fi and WiMax use ever-growing amounts of network bandwidth. Both make the "cellular" moniker obsolete. Is it time for a new name, or is a rose by any other name still as sweet?"

P Sainath: Three weddings and a funeral

P Sainath: Three weddings and a funeral: "As farm suicides in Vidarbha cross the 500-mark in under a year, families are holding funerals and weddings at the same time. Sometimes, on the same day. In moving shows of solidarity, very poor villagers are pitching in to help conduct the marriages and funerals of down-and-out neighbours, writes P Sainath."

Neglect of the mentally ill

Neglect of the mentally ill: "Mental patients are being systematically and continuously ignored and denied the social rights they deserve. Therefore, along with a change in mindset, there is a desperate need for reform in the treatment of the mentally ill in our country, writes Debabrata Kanjilal."

Network Management Outsourced to India

Network Management Outsourced to India: "Carl Bialik from WSJ writes 'The latest wrinkle for outsourcing companies in India is long-distance monitoring of corporate computer networks in U.S. and Europe -- services that could be worth tens of billions of dollars, the Wall Street Journal reports. From the article: 'Growth is expected as factories become more computerized and remote services expand to include controlling plant temperatures from afar and even monitoring who enters and exits the premises. 'Theoretically,' says Azim Premji, chairman and founder of India outsourcing company Wipro Ltd., 'anything on a network can be managed remotely from India.'' "

Pune invites citizens to walk on the road, legally

Pune invites citizens to walk on the road, legally: "With the decision to turn an important commercial road in the city into a walking plaza on weekends, Pune is reaping a healthier urban environment as well as a popular public space. Vinita Deshmukh reports that the early opposition from some quarters has given way, as more people take to the street."

Test Drive Your Dream Job

Test Drive Your Dream Job: "ches_grin writes ''Vocation Vacations' has a simple concept--allow folks to try out a new career before leaving their current job. Participants get paired with mentors in their chosen field and then spend 2-3 days fully immersed in life as a brewer, dog-trainer, sword-maker, or whatever their fantasy gig is. People are willing to pay to do someone else's job.' From the article: 'The idea is relatively simple. Participants pay anywhere from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand (transportation, lodging, etc., aren't included) to experience life as, say, a chocolatier, a fashion designer, or a race-car driver. The time spent immersed in their fantasy job allows them to get a 360-degree perspective without the risk of quitting their own jobs or investing heavily in a new career. ' "

Moving newspapers to e-ink has already begun

Moving newspapers to e-ink has already begun: "Filed under: Handhelds

William Gibson was certainly right when he said 'The future is here. It's just not widely distributed yet.' But not for long. The New York Times has a very interesting piece on newspapers going e-paper -- and we aren't talking Internet editions. Besides the obvious discussion of dynamic ads, how much e-papers will cost, and the when, where, and how, we're presented with something interesting: De Tijd, a Belgian financial newspaper, has already put their paper on iLiad e-ink eBook readers; Les Echos in Paris, the IFRA group in Germany, The New York Times, as well as the International Herald Tribune are all in discussions to roll out e-newspaper subscriptions for devices like Sony's Reader later this year. Sure, for now it's still in monochrome, but that won't be for long; besides, it was Earth Day this weekend, people, time to make some sacrifices. Think of the trees, won't you?

Lexon's new On-Off alarm clock literally rocks

Lexon's new On-Off alarm clock literally rocks: "Filed under: Household
If all of those new fangled 'buttons' that they put on them thar alarm clocks these day are getting you down, you might be interested in the new On-Off clock from Lexon. Designed by Nina Tolstrup, the On-Off LCD alarm clock can have its alarm activated by tilting it into the on position, and the alarm can be turned off by (you guessed it) tilting the clock to the off position. While we're sure this will result in some exciting and violent early morning clock tilting action, we're not so sure how snooze functionality factors in. In any case, the clock should be available May 15th in numerous colors, and for the quite reasonable price of $36.50.

Nokia N72 launched

Nokia N72 launched: "Filed under: Cellphones

Along with the N93 and N73, Nokia just launched their new N72 multimedia tri-band GSM/EDGE cellphone. This Symbian S60 handset features a 2.1-inch, 176 x 208, 262k color display, Bluetooth 2.0, and 20MB internal memory expandable via SD memory cards. Media support includes a digital music player with dedicated music keys supporting MP3 and AAC playback, an FM Radio with Visual Radio support, and throws in a swivel-activated 2 megapixel shooter with integrated flash capable of CIF video capture at 15fps. Nokia is positioning this pup as a 'multimedia computer' which is a bit of a stretch, but we'll play a long, for now. Expected in Pearl Pink or Gloss Black sometime in June 2006. More pics on the flip.

Use Thunderbird like a pro

Use Thunderbird like a pro: "Even if you use Thunderbird on a daily basis, you probably don't know it inside out. There are still quite a few 'hidden' features not covered in the online help that can significantly improve your emailing habits. And since Thunderbird's functionality can be expanded via extensions, you can add some clever features to it too."

Review: NeoOffice 1.2

Review: NeoOffice 1.2: "Developers Patrick Luby and Edward Peterlin released NeoOffice 1.2, a port of OpenOffice.org 1.1.5 to Mac OS X, in early February. I decided to kick the tires a bit and see how well it performs. NeoOffice isn't perfect, but it's a great alternative for Mac users who don't want to shell out big bucks for Microsoft Office, and want a suite that's more full-featured than Apple's iWork."

Texas Community College Bans MySpace.com (AP)

Texas Community College Bans MySpace.com (AP): "AP - Del Mar College students now have to use computers outside the school's system if they want to visit the popular Web site MySpace.com. The community college has blocked the site in response to complaints about sluggish Internet speed on campus computers."

It's Earth Day -- so don't just toss your old computer!

It's Earth Day -- so don't just toss your old computer!: "It's Earth Day today, and the consumer electronics industry isn't above a little shameless self-promotion to show off their green cred. And, we have to admit, recycling your old gear is a lot better than just tossing it into the basement -- or worse, a landfill. So follow the examples of these companies, and make your gear green! Apple Computer will pay for shipping and environmentally friendly disposal of any old computer with the purchase of a new Mac from the company's retail or online stores. So, if you're a switcher, you can now let Apple deal with getting rid of that old Windows box, and if you're upgrading, Apple will give that old Quadra a proper send-off. Sprint Nextel will spring for shipping and recycling or disposal of any brand of cellphone -- and you don't even need to buy anything. Just grab a prepaid mailing label from Sprint's web site, stuff your phone in an envelope and send it off. So forget about the sentimental valu"

Implant to cure blindness?

Implant to cure blindness?: "Filed under: Displays, Misc. Gadgets We've run a few of these before, but if you think we're into otherwise unnecessary implantables, don't even get us started on implantables that enhance sensory perception, or restore senses where there were once none. The New Scientist has a writeup of a new kind of solar powered 1.5 millimeter x 15 micrometer retinal implant that could start restoring vision to the blind by using solar cells to trigger lead zirconate titanate piezoelectric actuators that stimulate optical neurotransmitters. Yeah, we slapped our foreheads too, it was so simple. You'll have Laxman Saggere of the University of Illinois at Chicago to thank when his invention is complete, though; we can't wait to give Stevie a peek -- the man wrote Songs in the Key of Life, can't he just get a peek?

Apple unveils 17-inch MacBook Pro

Apple unveils 17-inch MacBook Pro: "Filed under: Laptops As expected, Apple has unveiled the new flagship of the MacBook Pro line, a 17-inch, 1680x1050, 2.16GHz Core Duo model. The new model comes standard with 1GB of RAM, an 8X dual-layer burner and a 120GB 5400 RPM hard drive, along with a FireWire 800 port, for $2,799. Maximum RAM is 2GB, and Apple also offers a 100GB 7200 RPM drive as an option. At the same time, Apple has removed the 17-inch PowerBook G4 from its lineup, leaving the 12-incher as the sole remaining option for customers willing to settle for last year's model (or who want a smaller-footprint portable). The pricing on the 17-incher actually matches that of the 2.16GHz 15-inch model, which makes this one a relative bargain -- especially given its larger hard drive, FireWire 800 and dual-layer burner. As previously noted, the launch was timed to coincide with the opening of the National Association of Broadcasters conference, which begins today.

Wikipedia Reaches 1,000,000 Articles

Wikipedia Reaches 1,000,000 Articles: "AndrewRUK writes 'At 23:09 UTC, the one-millionth article was created in the English-language Wikipedia. The milestone was reached with the creation of an article about Jordanhill railway station in Scotland. Congratulations to all the Wikipedians, especially Nach0king who wrote the millionth article and Mészáros András who in November 2004 correctly predicted that it would be created today.'"

Microsoft Claims Worlds Best Search Engine Soon

Microsoft Claims Worlds Best Search Engine Soon: "kw writes 'Microsoft will introduce a search engine better than Google in six months in the United States and Britain followed by Europe, its European president said on Wednesday. 'What we're saying is that in six months' time we'll be more relevant in the U.S. market place than Google,' said Neil Holloway, Microsoft president for Europe, Middle East and Africa. That timing would presumably coincide more or less with the launch of Vista.'"

The Financial Future of Space Travel

The Financial Future of Space Travel: "gurps_npc writes ' This CNNMoney story discusses the financial future of space travel. In particular it gives some nice names and numbers, such as Bezos, Musk and 3554 Amun. 3554 Amun is an small metalic asteroid that crosses Earth's pass (not on collission course) and contains over 20 trillion US dollars worth of precious metal. It is a great fact to know when trying to explain to flat-earth types that don't understand why we waste money on space travel.'"

India Tops Target List For Spam

India Tops Target List For Spam: "Ant wrote to mention a ZDNet news report on the realities of spam traffic. The U.S. is still the number one producer/distributor of spam in the world. However, with their quick adoption of technology over the last few years, Indian users are now top targets for spam. From the article: 'India's rapid adoption of new technology has left its PC users struggling to cope with very high levels of spam, according to a report released Wednesday. Ninety-one percent of email traffic sent to Indian PC users is spam, according to email security company MessageLabs, which warned that the rate of technological advancement has outstripped growth in security awareness. 'There is booming technology in India, but it has been suggested there is little thought for security, which creates a market to exploit that,' said Paul Wood, security analyst at MessageLabs.'"

PayPal vs Google(Buy)

PayPal vs Google(Buy): "pc-facile.com writes 'While Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt confirmed in press accounts that the company was building a payment service, Mr. Schmidt also denied it would directly compete with PayPal. Mr. Schmidt said Google didn't intend to offer a 'person-to-person, stored-value payments system,' which many people consider a description of PayPal's service. Mr. Jordan (PayPal chief) says he and his team immediately 'dissected the wording' of Google's statements. He says he doesn't believe Mr. Schmidt...' There's also a more in depth WSJ article about the service."

Google working on alternate Internet, sez insider

Google working on alternate Internet, sez insider: "Filed under: Desktops, Wireless
So it seems that Google may actually have a plan for world domination after all, involving cheap PCs that connect exclusively to a private 'Googlenet.' The London Times is reporting that 'a leading content provider' has been quoted as saying 'We are in discussions with Google to provide content for their alternative Internet service, to be distributed through their Google Cube product. As far as I'm aware they have been conducting negotiations with a number of other players in our marketplace to provide quality content to their users.' Whoa. If this information turns out to be accurate, it would help explain Google's MO in buying up so much 'dark fiber,' and may also jibe with the L.A. Times' January prediction (denied by the G) of a Wal-Mart-bound Google PC. We'll continue to bring you updates on this juicy story as it develops -- unless we jump ship and head over to Googlenet, in which case please visit us at www.engadget.goog.

Google deals with Sony, Motorola, and city councils as it works for free WiFi

Google deals with Sony, Motorola, and city councils as it works for free WiFi: "Filed under: Wireless
IDG has some interesting details on just how Google plans to work this whole free WiFi thing, including their efforts at interoperability with device makers such as Sony, Motorola, Nintendo, Siemens, and Philips. Apparently, a few development groups are even coming to Google 'behind [their] CEO's back' in instances of potential voice applications for the proposed San Francisco network, and the current one in Google's hometown of Mountain View. Along with the challenges of getting the PSP and other devices online, Google is looking at ways to monetize their network, which looks to involve a bandwidth capped free version, along with a premium version that could be resold. They're also working on location based advertising, allowing merchants to ping you with ads when you enter their area, making targeting more effective. Sounds like they have quite a bit to work through, especially with getting through all the bureaucracy involved in San Francisco, but hopefully it won't be long until they're busting out this free, VoIP-loving good stuff all over.

VW nav prototype incorporates Google sat imagery

VW nav prototype incorporates Google sat imagery: "Filed under: GPS, Transportation

Volkswagen's been hanging out with Google lately (well who wouldn't?) and they're trying to set up a match between VW in-vehicle nav and Google satellite imagery. The two services would seem to be a perfect match, but they need a little extra help from chipmaker/third-wheel Nvidia in order to handle the intense 3D imagery that results from their courtship. The project is being spearheaded by Volkswagen's Palo Alto-based Electronics Research Laboratory, and aims to provide drivers with Google Earth-like birds-eye views of upcoming terrain. Suits at VW say there are no definite plans to commercialize this technology in production vehicles, but we bet that we'll be seeing some uber-cutesy Googlers Wanted commercials sooner rather than later.

Electronic door opener hack brings laziness to new heights

Electronic door opener hack brings laziness to new heights: "Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
There are some crazy theorists out there who conjecture that we spend more time and work on creating time saving devices than it would ever take to perform the task in the first place, but as we said, those guys are crazy -- either that, or they're just jealous of Alexandre Novello and his l33t hax0r skills. It seems Alexandre grew tired of walking across the room to open the door for people, so he wrote himself some software and hooked up to the door's electronic opener via a hardware switch and a parallel port. Sounds like a nice calorie saving scheme he's got going, keep on slacking hard Alex!

Dell discontinues hard drive audio players

Dell discontinues hard drive audio players: "Filed under: Portable Audio
We've long since noticed Dell's lineup of hard drive-based portable audio players have vanished from their site, but this they officially commented on the death of the drive-based segment of their Dell Pocket DJ (Digital Jukebox) line and made it official that those devices were phased out over the last two months. Apparently the DJ Ditty is doing just fine though, and they hinted at being a flash player-only shop from here on in. Can't says as we're surprised, but we're still always disappointed to see another iPod competitor drop off the map.

Apple kills 17-inch G5 iMac

Apple kills 17-inch G5 iMac: "Filed under: Desktops Just days after slashing the price of the 20-inch G5 iMac by $200, Apple has apparently killed off the 17-inch version of the computer. The 17-inch G5 no longer appears in any of Apple's online stores, though it is still available from some resellers, which have begun slashing prices to clear inventory. At last check, MacMall was offering the 17-inch G5 for as little as $1,194 after a rebate, or about $100 less than the Intel-based version. We have to give Apple some credit here; they apparently managed to sell off all of their stock of 17-inch G5s without having to cut prices -- though it looks like resellers won't be quite as lucky.

More PlayStation 3 info leaked?

More PlayStation 3 info leaked?: "Filed under: Gaming Ok, now we have to admit that we're getting a little skeptical about that PlayStation Magazine Xbox Live-killer article leak a couple of days go. A second page appears to have made its way onto the PlayStation forums and has some very interesting details -- if a little disparate, unlikely, and even downright dubious. For example, besides a really obvious misspelling of 'Blue-Ray Disc' in a headline, the article says making the PlayStation 3 a DVR with media PC-like functionality is a 'top priority for Sony' -- even though right now we understand it's only slated to have an optional external hard drive attachment and doesn't appear to have video inputs. Also, you'll supposedly be able to control your PS3-DVR with your PSP, send files home to it remotely from your Memory Stick, and that the final hardware kits released to developers in January were even more powerful than originally anticipated. Wait, there's more: the PS3 will also have Location Free support and media streaming capabilities to counter the Xbox 360's Media Extender feature, and that unlike the 360 it'll be able to play back 'all major audio and video formats,' including media downloaded from an online service 'like the iTunes Music Store.'

PayPal to rival TextPayMe for SMS payments?

PayPal to rival TextPayMe for SMS payments?: "Filed under: Cellphones We ran TextPayMe by you last year, a service that allows you to make PayPal-like payments over SMS. Well now it looks like PayPal is hoping to make those SMS payments a little more PayPal-like, since they're advertising for a business manager and senior product manager for their 'PayPal Mobile' group, 'a new mobile payments 'start-up' unit' in the company. So it looks like we might have some friendly competition in the mobile payment space sooner rather than later, which sounds fine by us.

New Mercedes S-Class rocks Night View Assist

New Mercedes S-Class rocks Night View Assist: "Filed under: Displays, Transportation

It’s not too often that we hit up advances in car technology over here but this is just a bit too tasty to pass up. Now in addition to a PCMCIA slot, Mercedes-Benz is premiering their “Night view assist” system on their new, 2007 S-Class series which is said to increase nighttime visibility by up to 125 percent -- without blinding on-coming motorists. It uses infrared light to cast a broad beam ahead of the vehicle and then displays the 8-inch grayscale image on the dashboard LCD. Yeah, we know, what’s the big deal, other cage manufactures have offered these options in the past. But check out the vid over at AutoSpies though, we think it's worth your while.

Watch Super Bowl commercials on your cellphone, computer or TV

Watch Super Bowl commercials on your cellphone, computer or TV: "Filed under: Cellphones, Misc. Gadgets, Home Entertainment
If you need to take a break during the best part of the Super Bowl -- and, of course, we're talking about those multimillion dollar commercials -- don't worry. The NFL will be rebroadcasting all of the game's commercials next Monday and Tuesday, via the web, the football league's cable channel and Sprint's cellphone network. So there you go; you now have no excuse to miss this year's GoDaddy (or '1984') moment. Miss a key play or a halftime 'wardrobe malfunction,' on the other hand, and you're on your own.

Apple's patented the Tablet Mac (part II)

Apple's patented the Tablet Mac (part II): "Filed under: Tablet PCs

Well, what do you know? Yet another Apple tablet PC patent's shown up on the USPTO site, this one also with none other than Jonny Ive's Handcock on it (last time around it was both Jobs and Ive on the patent, though). Today's filing mainly pertains to touch-input user interface methods with multiple fingers, gestures, and motions, as well as methods for visually displaying and manipulating aspects of the UI -- exciting stuff, we know. But the point is that ok, we get it already Apple, you're working on a tablet PC. Now how about releasing it so you guys can focus those man-hours on a proper DVR / media Mac for us, eh?

Microsoft said to issue specs for "ultramobile lifestyle PCs"

Microsoft said to issue specs for "ultramobile lifestyle PCs": "Filed under: Handhelds, Laptops, Tablet PCs

Word is trickling out that Microsoft has treated attendees at its Mobile Platform Division partner briefing to its vision of the next generation of 'ultraportable lifestyle PCs.' According to at least one report, Bill Mitchell, Corporate Vice President of the Mobile Platform Division, showed a slide that outlined specs for the new PC category, including that it be wearable, always on, no larger than 10-inches, connected through 3G networks, pen-based, and have a suggested retail price of $500 or less. Sounds like something of a cross between Windows Mobile smartphones and tablet PCs (sort of like the Ruby concept PC, pictured) -- or a rehash of the long-forgotten Windows CE-based 'Jupiter' laptop platform, which didn't exactly take the world by storm. One notable spec that could differentiate this one: Microsoft is apparently insisting that this run the full version of Windows. If the company really succeeds in that endeavor, this could be a hit; if not, we'll get one to keep in the basement, next to our Clio.

Esther Dyson's perspective

Esther Dyson's perspective: "Esther Dyson has had a ringside seat for the development of the Internet. She was Interim Chairperson of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) when it was a fledging organization whose goal was to help move the burgeoning Internet's administration out of the US Department of Commerce. Dyson is credited with trying to make ICANN an open and transparent body, but she concedes that she was not completely successful. Today, Dyson is still involved with IT development around the world. She is also editor of Release 1.0, a quarterly report that outlines the opportunities and issues produced by the converging worlds of technology, communications, and the Internet, as well as organizer of the 25-year-old PC Forum conference. We asked Dyson for her perspective on today's IT world."

Phone-equipped pigeons take to the skies to monitor pollution

Phone-equipped pigeons take to the skies to monitor pollution: "Filed under: Cellphones
Some researchers at the University of California are giving 20 pigeons the mobile phone hookup to monitor pollution over San Jose. Not only will the pigeons carry air pollution sensors, GPS tracking, and phone communication in their little pigeon backpacks, but they'll also carry a camera to snap pics, which will be sent along with air quality text messages to their pigeon blog. We're just happy to know that with all the ways the US lags in phone tech, we'll at least have the most moblogging pigeons this coming August.

Analog TV shutdown all but set for 2009

Analog TV shutdown all but set for 2009: "Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment
Mark your calendar for February 17, 2009. That's the date set by Congress, as part of a sweeping budget-cutting bill, that broadcasters will be mandated to shut down their analog broadcasts (both the Senate and broadcasters had previously agreed to the date, so the bill now only awaits the President's signature to become law). However, if you can't bear to part with that old Philco or Admiral, you won't have to toss it. The government will be setting aside $1.5 billion in subsidies to help consumers get converters to allow older analog sets to receive digital broadcasts. And, no, you can't request a piece of that to pick up a 60-inch plasma, so don't even think about it.