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Property tax confusion pokes Facebook in Oregon (AP) : Technet

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• Property tax confusion pokes Facebook in Oregon (AP)
• Can Kodak rescue itself via a patent bonanza? (AP)
• Ore. senator, others cited by digital-rights group (AP)
• Rumors of a larger, 15″ MacBook Air continue to pile up (Yahoo! News)
• TV time keeps toddlers’ brains active, but face-to-face interactions are still best (Yahoo! News)
• The Last Words of Steve Jobs (Mashable)
• UK conference seeks cooperation on cyberspace (Reuters)
• Best Buy To Sell HP TouchPad for $149, with Strings (NewsFactor)
• DirecTV to continue airing Fox shows (Reuters)
• Latest update to Android app Remember the Milk makes it better than ever (Appolicious)
• Homeland Security reviews social media guidelines (AP)
• US home video spending up for 1st time since 2008 (AP)
• Most smartphone users want 4G but don’t have much info about it (Appolicious)
• The man making Terminator vision real: Vuzix CEO Paul Travers talks future display tech (Digital Trends)
• User-generated Life in a Day movie comes to YouTube (Digital Trends)
• How to make a great Halloween costume with two iPad 2s (and some fake blood) (Digital Trends)
• Siri might give Apple a serious lead over Google (Appolicious)
• Microsoft Adds Social Collaboration to Dynamics CRM (NewsFactor)

Property tax confusion pokes Facebook in Oregon (AP) Posted: 31 Oct 2011 11:47 AM PDT By JONATHAN J. COOPER, Associated Press Jonathan J. Cooper, Associated Press – Mon Oct 31, 2:47 pm ET SALEM, Ore. – The promise of lucrative tax breaks helped persuade Facebook to build a data center in one of Oregon's most economically depressed counties. Now, the state and the company are in a dispute over how much Facebook may owe in property taxes, and the social networking giant fears it could be taxed on intangible assets like the value of its powerful brand. Facebook has said the state's action has the potential to rewrite an economic development deal it cut with Crook County, but not even state tax officials seem to know for sure whether the company is overreacting or it's truly facing a tax surprise. Facebook chose Prineville in central Oregon as the site of its first company-owned data center, where a collection of servers stores and transmits photos, links and status updates for many of the social networking service's 800 million users. The facility employs 55 people and expansion plans are already in the works. Such "server farms" are popping up around the world to facilitate a voracious appetite for high-bandwidth applications like streaming video and cloud-based computing. Facebook chose Prineville based in part on the tax breaks, but also because of the cool and dry high-desert climate that helps reduce the amount of energy needed to cool rows of humming computers. The company this week announced plans to build its first data center outside the U.S. in Sweden near the Arctic Circle. It's also expanding a facility in North Carolina. Google Inc. last month opened a data center in Oklahoma, and Microsoft Corp. recently announced it will expand a facility in Iowa. Many of the projects have benefited from tax incentives offered by local governments eager to lure high-paying jobs. Officials in Crook County, where unemployment reached a high of 18.7 percent in June 2009 and still sits above 15 percent, hoped Facebook's decision to build in Prineville would help incubate a new industry for a region decimated economically by the decline of Oregon's timber industry. Under its agreement with local officials, Facebook built its data center in a rural enterprise zone, allowing the Palo Alto, Calif., company to pay property taxes only on its land, not on its buildings and other assets, for 15 years. Confusion arose when the state Department of Revenue asserted that Facebook is a utility company because it's involved in the communications business, and its taxes should therefore be assessed by the state under a different section of the tax code. Oregon lumps Facebook with 75 other corporations classified as cable and Internet companies. Many of them are television and Internet access providers, but the list includes technology companies including Google, Microsoft, Yahoo Inc. and AOL Inc. State officials say their decision doesn't change Facebook's tax bill — about $26,000 this year — and the money still goes to local governments in Crook County. But Facebook is concerned that the state will someday try to tax the company based on the value of its intangible assets, perhaps including computer files, patents, its labor force and goodwill. The company says state tax officials sent a letter in August saying, in part, that Oregon law requires the Department of Revenue "to assess any property, real and personal, tangible or intangible." Investments this year have pegged Facebook's total value at as much as $50 billion. Tax officials say the company's Oregon property taxes are calculated based only on the share of its business that is tied to the state. Last week, tax authorities told the Bend Bulletin newspaper that Facebook would be taxed on $25 million in assets, leading to an annual property tax bill of $390,000. The next day, authorities said they made a mistake and backtracked, pegging Facebook's taxes at $26,000 on $1 million in assets. After a public kerfuffle last week, Facebook and state officials have tightened their lips. They say they're researching the complicated tax laws involved and won't have more to say until they wade through them. "We are looking forward to receiving further clarification as to the Department of Revenue's policies, so that the data center industry in Central Oregon can move forward," Facebook said in a statement. The dispute has concerned Roger Lee, director of Economic Development for Central Oregon, who said murkiness surrounding taxation makes companies nervous. "Companies want some type of certainty to be able to proceed in whatever they're doing," Lee said. "This provides a great deal of uncertainty and ambiguity." People involved say it's unclear what a final agreement might look like, but it could involve new legislation next year, a definitive legal opinion from the state Department of Justice, or litigation in tax court. The dispute has risen to the governor's office, where aides have tried to intervene. "We are researching the issues to be able to provide clarity to all parties," said Tim Raphael, a spokesman for Gov. John Kitzhaber.

Can Kodak rescue itself via a patent bonanza? (AP) Posted: 31 Oct 2011 10:14 AM PDT By BEN DOBBIN, AP Business Writer Ben Dobbin, Ap Business Writer – Mon Oct 31, 1:14 pm ET ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Picture this: Kodak — the company that invented the first digital camera in 1975, and developed the photo technology inside most cellphones and digital devices — is in the midst of the worst crisis in its 131-year history. Now, caught between ruin and revival, Eastman Kodak Co. is reaching ever more deeply into its intellectual treasure chest, betting that a big cash infusion from the sale of 1,100 digital-imaging inventions will see it through a transition that has raised the specter of bankruptcy. Kodak popularized photography over a century ago. It marketed the world's first flexible roll film in 1888 and transformed picture-taking into a mass commodity with the $1 Brownie camera in 1900. But for too long the world's biggest film manufacturer stayed firmly focused on its 20th-century cash cow, and failed to capitalize quickly on its new-wave know-how in digital photography. As a result, Kodak has been playing catch-up. Pummeled by Wall Street over its dwindling cash reserves — and its stumbling attempts to reinvent itself as a profitable player in digital imaging and printing — Kodak has been hawking the digital patents since July. Many financial analysts foresee the portfolio fetching $2 billion to $3 billion. But others think Kodak can haul in far more than that — and carry it off within a few months. That's because patents have become highly valuable to digital device makers who want to protect themselves from intellectual property lawsuits. In July, an alliance made up of Apple and Microsoft purchased a raft of patents from Nortel Networks for $4.5 billion. A month later, Google bought Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, in part, to gain hold of the company's 17,000 patents. "The size of the (Kodak) deal could blow your socks off," predicts Los Angeles money manager Ken Luskin, whose Intrinsic Value Asset Management owns 3.8 million Kodak shares. "It's pocket change for Google and Apple to go pay $3-or-$4-or-$5 billion for these patents," concurs Christopher Marlett, chief executive of MDB Capital, an investment bank based in Santa Monica, Calif., that specializes in intellectual property. "There is an all-out nuclear war right now for global dominance in smartphones, tablets and mobile devices, and Kodak has one of the largest cache of weapons sitting there." Marlett says he owns Kodak stock, but wouldn't disclose how much. Even a hefty return, skeptics counter, won't solve Kodak's struggle to close out a nearly decade-long transformation and return to profitability in 2012 after running up losses in six of the last seven years. "All the extra cash does is give you a lifeline for a short period. And then, poof, you're back in the same position without the assets to sell," says analyst Shannon Cross of Cross Research in Livingston, N.J. "If you're burning cash and not finding a way to generate recurring earnings, it doesn't matter." Kodak's grim financial picture should become clearer when it reports third-quarter results Thursday. Agitated investors will likely focus on the company's latest borrowing activities and cash woes — it had $957 million in cash in June, down from $1.6 billion in January. They will also want to know what kind of progress Kodak made in the July-September period in building up a high-margin ink business to replace shriveling film sales. Kodak has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into new lines of inkjet printers that are finally on the verge of turning a profit. Home photo printers, high-speed commercial inkjet presses, workflow software and packaging are viewed as the company's new core. Kodak projects that sales from those four businesses will double to nearly $2 billion in revenue in 2013, accounting for 25 percent of all sales. In the meantime, Kodak needs to tap other sources of revenue before those areas have time to pay off — and mining its inventions has become indispensable. Kodak's chief executive, Antonio Perez, has signed confidentiality agreements with potential buyers but hasn't given a time frame for a deal. The patents for capturing, storing, organizing, editing and sharing digital images do not apply to the four core businesses, Kodak spokesman Gerard Meuchner says. "One thing I would stress is: It is our intention to retain a license to any of the intellectual property we sell," Meuchner says. "It's like you sell the property but still get to live in the house." A sale represents a sharp tactical shift. Kodak picked up just $27 million in patent-licensing fees in the first half of 2011 after amassing nearly $2 billion in the previous three years. In the heated environment for patents, "it makes more sense for us to sell the portfolio than it does to license it company by company, which takes lots of time and expense and can involve litigation," Meuchner says. Michael Fitzgerald, chief executive of Next Techs Technologies, a patent buying-and-selling intermediary in Houston, says that while the portfolio is valuable, "I just don't view it necessarily as a `strategic' acquisition that multiple players will fall all over themselves on." Investor fears sent Kodak stock tumbling to an all-time closing low of 78 cents a share on Sept. 30 after it hired Jones Day, a major restructuring law firm, as an adviser. Kodak insisted it had no intention of filing for bankruptcy protection. Kodak is also involved in a royalty dispute with iPhone behemoth Apple and BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Ltd. The case centers on a 2001 patent now on the auction block — a method that enables a camera to preview low-resolution versions of a moving image while recording still images at higher resolutions. The 21-month-old battle before the U.S. International Trade Commission, a trade-dispute arbiter in Washington, D.C., was due to be revisited on Monday, but was recently shelved until December 30. Chief Executive Antonio Perez thinks a favorable ruling could enable Kodak to draw up to $1 billion in fees from its deep-pocketed rivals. In 2009, the commission ruled that South Korean mobile phone makers Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics infringed the same patent, resulting in $964 million in payouts.

Ore. senator, others cited by digital-rights group (AP) Posted: 31 Oct 2011 04:20 PM PDT – Mon Oct 31, 7:20 pm ET NEW YORK – An Oregon senator who was behind a 1996 federal law that has made content-sharing services such as YouTube and Facebook possible is among three recipients of Pioneer Awards from a leading digital-rights group. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., was co-author of a law that protects online service providers from legal liability for content produced by their users. That means Google can let users freely post video on YouTube, and Facebook can let users write status updates and share links without worry they would be sued for defamation and other issues. In such cases, any liability would rest with the user who posted the item. In announcing the award, the Electronic Frontier Foundation also credits Wyden with recent efforts to block legislation deemed harmful to free speech and with proposing legislation to define when and how government and private parties can access location information in cellphones and other electronic devices. Other recipients of the award were: • Ian Goldberg, a University of Waterloo professor credited with exposing design weaknesses in encryption systems used to protect cellphone conversations and Wi-Fi traffic, resulting in improvements to the systems. • Nawaat.org, a blog operated by four Tunisians and credited with spreading information on social and political unrest there. "These Pioneer Award winners are all working to make sure that technology protects freedom instead of curtailing it," EFF Executive Director Shari Steele said. The EFF will give the awards at a Nov. 15 ceremony in San Francisco. The award does not carry a cash prize.

Rumors of a larger, 15″ MacBook Air continue to pile up (Yahoo! News) Posted: 31 Oct 2011 06:33 PM PDT

TV time keeps toddlers’ brains active, but face-to-face interactions are still best (Yahoo! News) Posted: 31 Oct 2011 06:18 PM PDT

The Last Words of Steve Jobs (Mashable) Posted: 30 Oct 2011 09:36 AM PDT Charlie White Charlie White – Sun Oct 30, 12:36 pm ET Steve Jobs's biological sister, Mona Simpson, wrote a moving and highly personal eulogy for a private funeral service for the fallen tech titan that took place a few days after his death in early October. An acclaimed novelist, she delivered a beautifully written description of Steve Jobs's life, illness and death. She said his last words before he slipped into unconsciousness for the last time were, "Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow." [More from Mashable: 7 Creative Tributes to Steve Jobs] Read "A Sister's Eulogy for Steve Jobs," Mona Simpson's moving tribute to her brother, published in Sunday's New York Times. [More from Mashable: One Last Thing: Steve Jobs Documentary to Premiere on PBS] This story originally published on Mashable here.

UK conference seeks cooperation on cyberspace (Reuters) Posted: 31 Oct 2011 08:04 PM PDT By Adrian Croft Adrian Croft – 59 mins ago LONDON (Reuters) – Ministers, tech executives and Internet activists from around the world gather in London on Tuesday to discuss how to tackle security threats and crime on the Internet without stifling economic opportunities or freedom of speech. The London Conference on Cyberspace will look at ways to increase international cooperation in addressing issues raised by the rapid expansion of the Internet, as fast-growing economies are increasingly agitating for governments to have a bigger say in its regulation. "How to ensure we can all reap the benefits of a safe and secure cyberspace for generations to come is one of the greatest challenges we face," British Foreign Secretary William Hague, who is chairing the meeting, said. "This needs to be a collective endeavor, involving all those who have a stake in cyberspace." Representatives from China, Russia and India are expected at the conference as well as tech industry figures such as Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, and Joanna Shields, a senior executive of Facebook. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton canceled her trip because of her mother's ill health. No immediate agreement is expected to emerge from the two-day conference, but British officials hope it will set an agenda for future discussions. A closed session of the conference will deal with the aspect of the Internet's rise that has seized most attention -- threats to international security. The last year has seen a dramatic rise in reported cyber attacks often linked to governments, from apparent attempts at data theft at the International Monetary Fund and elsewhere, often blamed on China, to the Stuxnet computer worm attack on Iran's nuclear program linked to Israel and the United States. CYBER ATTACKS On the eve of the conference, the head of Britain's communications spy agency said British government and industry computer systems were facing a "disturbing" number of cyber attacks, including a serious assault on the Foreign Office's network. While Western states worry about rampant intellectual property theft and hacking, authoritarian governments such as China and Russia are alarmed at the role the Internet and social media played in the protests that have swept the Arab world this year. Fast-growing emerging economies have been seeking more say in how the online realm is policed, worrying campaigners for a loosely regulated Internet who see a risk to web freedom. In September, China, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan proposed to the United Nations a global code of conduct including the principle that "policy authority for Internet-related public issues is the sovereign right of states." While international security and freedom of speech are hugely complex issues, an area where there could be more prospect of international agreement soon could be cooperation to tackle conventional crime and child pornography. Experts said the broad agenda of the London conference carried the risk it would be thin in achievement. "At best you're going to see some milk and toast statements that are going to satisfy everybody and satisfy nobody. The big question is: Who will govern cyberspace, who will be responsible for making the rules?" said Rafal Rohozinski, chief executive of Canadian security consultancy the SecDev Group. But John Bassett, a former senior official at Britain's GCHQ signals intelligence agency and now a senior fellow at London's Royal United Services Institute thinktank, said a "meeting of minds" was much more important than diplomatic agreements at this stage. "If we find enough ground to start a dialogue between governments and other players, that would be an excellent result," he said. (Additional reporting by Georgina Prodhan, Peter Apps, Michael Holden)

Best Buy To Sell HP TouchPad for $149, with Strings (NewsFactor) Posted: 31 Oct 2011 01:55 PM PDT Jennifer LeClaire, newsfactor.com Jennifer Leclaire, newsfactor.com – Mon Oct 31, 4:55 pm ET After the fire sale that saw Hewlett-Packard's TouchPad tablet sell out for $99 in August, the device is making its way to Best Buy store shelves once again. Best Buy will begin selling the TouchPad online Tuesday and in stores Friday. The difference is, the discount isn't as deep this time around and it comes with a string attached. Best Buy is selling a 32 GB TouchPad for $149 -- but consumers have to buy an HP or Compaq notebook or desktop PC in order to get the deal. Consumers who just want the TouchPad will pay $599.99. Best Buy warned that quantities would be limited. HP is not selling the tablet on its own Web site. Revitalizing PC Business "HP is trying to get people to start buying its computers again because everybody stopped," said Michael Disabato, managing vice president of network and telecom at Gartner. Enterprises in particular were hesitant to purchase HP or Compaq machines because HP was considering spinning off or selling its PC business. Enterprises were concerned about buying into machines for which the company may or may not provide support. But news emerged late last week that HP had decided to hold on to its Personal Systems Group. "HP objectively evaluated the strategic, financial and operational impact of spinning off PSG. It's clear after our analysis that keeping PSG within HP is right for customers and partners, right for shareholders, and right for employees," said Meg Whitman, the new HP president and CEO. "HP is committed to PSG, and together we are stronger." A strategic review involved subject-matter experts from across the businesses and functions. Beyond the contributions the PC unit makes to HP's solutions portfolio and overall brand value, the study showed that the cost to recreate these in a standalone company outweighed any benefits of separation. HP is still the leading manufacturer of personal computers globally, with revenues totaling $40.7 billion in 2010. Where Are the Apps? The TouchPad, however, is still on the chopping block. The TouchPad seemed doomed from the beginning. Early reviews of the product, which debuted on July 1, were mixed. Some said HP released the TouchPad too early. Others called its performance sluggish. Still others said there weren't enough apps in HP's app store to compete. "I'll still ask the question, where are the apps?" Disabato asked. "Samsung's Galaxy Tab is the only tablet that has offered any real competition for the iPad, which is why I think Apple tried to kill it off." On the upside, the multitasking was a hit, the webOS implementation is finding praise, and the hardware is getting a nod. It didn't sell well at $499, but at $99 it seemed like a basement bargain to tens of thousands. It remains to be seen how well the TouchPad will sell with the PC strings attached, especially with Research In Motion's offer of buy two, get one free for the BlackBerry PlayBook.

DirecTV to continue airing Fox shows (Reuters) Posted: 31 Oct 2011 05:55 PM PDT – Mon Oct 31, 8:55 pm ET (Reuters) – DirecTV Group, the largest U.S. satellite TV provider, said on Monday it will continue carrying all shows by Fox Networks, a week after a dispute broke out between the two over carriage fees. Fox, which is owned by News Corp, had asked DirecTV's customers to pay 40 percent more for the same channels they already received, DirecTV said on October 21, and this could have led to DirecTV discontinuing all Fox channels from November 1. "We both know the past ten days have been challenging, but we're pleased that both sides could eventually come together to ensure our viewers continue to enjoy Fox programing," the companies said in a statement. (Reporting by Gowri Jayakumar in Bangalore; Editing by Gary Hill)

Latest update to Android app Remember the Milk makes it better than ever (Appolicious) Posted: 31 Oct 2011 01:30 PM PDT

Homeland Security reviews social media guidelines (AP) Posted: 31 Oct 2011 08:58 PM PDT By P. SOLOMON BANDA, Associated Press P. Solomon Banda, Associated Press – 5 mins ago COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The wave of uprisings across North Africa and the Middle East that have overturned three governments in the past year have prompted the U.S. government to begin developing guidelines for culling intelligence from social media networks, a top Homeland Security official said Monday. Department of Homeland Security Undersecretary Caryn Wagner said the use of such technology in uprisings that started in December in Tunisia shocked some officials into attention and prompted questions of whether the U.S. needs to do a better job of monitoring domestic social networking activity. "We're still trying to figure out how you use things like Twitter as a source," she said. "How do you establish trends and how do you then capture that in an intelligence product?" Wagner said the department is establishing guidelines on gleaning information from sites such as Twitter and Facebook for law enforcement purposes. Wagner says those protocols are being developed under strict laws meant to prevent spying on U.S. citizens and protect privacy, including rules dictating the length of time the information can be stored and differences between domestic and international surveillance. Wagner said the Homeland Security department, established after the 9/11 attacks, is not actively monitoring any social networks. But when the department receives information about a potential threat, contractors are then asked to look for certain references within "open source" information, which is available to anyone on the Internet. The challenge, she said, is to develop guidelines for collecting and analyzing information so that it provides law enforcement officials with meaningful intelligence. "I can post anything on Facebook, is that valid? If 20 people are tweeting the same thing, then maybe that is valid," she said. "There are just a lot of questions that we are sort of struggling with because it's a newly emerging (issue)." Wagner was in Colorado Springs to deliver a speech at the National Symposium on Homeland Security and Defense, a conference that included defense contractors and the military. Aside from discussing the use of technology in unrest that has led to regime changes in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, she delivered a speech that addressed the way the department operates, saying that its crucial elements include a nationwide network of 72 fusion centers that gather and analyze reports of suspicious activity, a new National Terrorism Advisory System that replaces the color coded alert system with one that provides more information about a threat, and a "See Something, Say Something" campaign that encourages citizens to report suspicious activity. She also said another key program involves training hundreds of thousands of law enforcement officers across the country in filling out suspicious activity reports.

US home video spending up for 1st time since 2008 (AP) Posted: 31 Oct 2011 03:37 PM PDT By RYAN NAKASHIMA, AP Business Writer Ryan Nakashima, Ap Business Writer – Mon Oct 31, 6:37 pm ET LOS ANGELES – Americans' spending on home videos has finally emerged from the recession — helped by more purchases of higher-priced Blu-ray discs and greater outlays on cut-rate rentals from Netflix and Redbox. For the three months through September, home movie spending rose nearly 5 percent from a year earlier to $3.9 billion, the first increase since early 2008, according to industry organization, The Digital Entertainment Group. Buying digital copies of movies and ordering them from set-top box video-on-demand services also rose. People bought fewer DVDs and made fewer trips to brick-and-mortar video rental stores, cutting into the gains. For the year overall spending is down about 2 percent at $12.3 billion. The industry is struggling to cope with a weak economic recovery and the gradual wane of the DVD era. The digital discs, once revolutionary for their clarity and durability, were shown the exit once Blu-ray became the industry's high-definition standard in 2008. Compared to a year ago, DVD sales dropped by 15 percent, or about $230 million, to $1.32 billion. Blu-ray disc sales rose by about $156 million, to $423 million. That didn't make up for the DVD drop, even with the help of the popular re-release of the six "Star Wars" movies on Blu-ray, which racked up $38 million in North America in its first week of sales in late September. There's still room for Blu-ray to grow. Although Blu-ray player households rose by 52 percent to 33.5 million, that's still only about a third of the TV-owning homes in the U.S. Brick-and-mortar store rentals fell by $142 million to $353 million, but they were more than replaced by a $152 million gain in new delivery methods, such as online streaming, video-on-demand, mail-order subscriptions and cheap rentals from kiosks. Revenue from those rental methods rose to $1.70 billion. Kiosk rentals made up more than half of those gains. Netflix Inc.'s price hike to customers on Sept. 1 may have bolstered the numbers, and Redbox said it was raising its nightly DVD rental fee to $1.20 from $1, which will likely add to the current quarter's totals. The smallest segment remains digital purchases of movies, which rose by about $15 million to $136 million. Movie studios have been concerned that people aren't purchasing digital movies because they are worried the files won't be easily transferable to various devices, a concern it hopes to ease with its UltraViolet view-anywhere standard, which Warner Bros. launched this month.

Most smartphone users want 4G but don’t have much info about it (Appolicious) Posted: 31 Oct 2011 12:15 PM PDT

The man making Terminator vision real: Vuzix CEO Paul Travers talks future display tech (Digital Trends) Posted: 31 Oct 2011 01:30 PM PDT Andrew Couts Andrew Couts – Mon Oct 31, 4:30 pm ET     Last week, video eyewear maker Vuzix announced (pdf) that it has partnered with cell phone maker Nokia to produce the next generation of see-through near-eye display (NED) glasses. The glasses will use Exit Pupil Expanding (EPE) optics technology developed by both Vuzix and Nokia. Vuzix, which has been developing display technologies for the military since 1997, credits itself with creating the consumer video eyewear market, which it did in 2005 with the release of the V920 glasses.  The V920s and other Vuzix products allow users to view media on a pair of glasses, which make it look as though they are watching a big-screen television. Unfortunately, the less-than-stylish look, high cost and relatively cumbersome feel of the Vuzix glasses have made a full-on breakthrough into the mainstream difficult.  After learning about the Vuzix-Nikon deal, which the company says will enable a "new era of innovation" for NEDs, we thought we'd get a bit more info about what remains a potentially game-changing technology. We asked Vuzix founder, president and CEO Paul Travers how the next generation of glasses will shift gears for the company. Digital Trends: For starters, how would you describe Vuzix's products, and NED systems in general, to someone who has no idea what they are? Travers: The technology's roots lay in the defense industry, where it is used to drive robots, in night-vision systems, remote video feed access, and wearable displays for laptops.  Most of our current consumer customers use our products for mobile video viewing, watching 3D movies and gaming.  For the latter, we offer head-tracking technology that literally allows the user to "look around" the game as if they stepped inside.  Recently, Vuzix started shipping a new line of video eyewear that enables augmented reality.  These glasses are transparent and have cameras so the user can see computer graphics overlaid in the real world. What exactly is Nokia's EPE technology, and how does it work? The Nokia optics are thin plastic plates that have 300-micron gratings built into the surface that direct video from a small input grating through the plate to a large output grating that you look through to see the real world and the injected video.  These optics are as thin as reading glasses, and when paired with a Vuzix display engine, will finally allow a form factor that truly looks like sunglasses.  It is the culmination of years of technology development and finally close to becoming a reality.  How will the integration of Nokia's EPE technology change Vuzix's NED systems? Our current technology is based on conventional refractive and reflective optics and micro-displays that were designed for camera view finders.  This technology, both the EPE optics and the Vuzix display engine, changes everything.  From form factors, to price to power consumption, to resolution — all the things needed to finally realize the consumer's vision.   How would you describe the potential users experience of a pair of Nokia-enhanced NED glasses? Look at all the cool apps that do AR on a phone, and now imagine those experiences in your glasses connecting the web and the world like never before.   Will Nokia-powered Vuzix glasses be used with other Nokia products?  If so, how? Will we be able to see our phone screens on our glasses? One of the biggest applications will be around the mobile phone.  All the major suppliers have GPS-enabled apps that are AR enabled just waiting for the right glasses to deliver the experience.  The Nokia Vuzix relationship will deliver for these experiences in your sunglasses. What are some of the challenges of breaking NED into the mainstream? And how do you expect the addition of Nokia's technology to make that breakthrough less difficult? Current products are bulky, expensive, and lower resolution. This relationship changes all of that. Where do you see NED systems going in the next 10 years? How "sci-fi" will it get in that time? They will be part of every aspect of life.  From a visit to the doctor, to interacting with game characters, to stepping into a meeting with people from three different continents right in your home office.  When will customers be able to purchase Nokia-enhanced NED glasses? We will be shipping into the defense markets in Q1 of next year. Stay tuned for the consumer markets. [Pictured: Vuzix Wrap] This article was originally posted on Digital Trends More from Digital Trends Video: How a Nokia N9 is made Nokia Bicycle Charger Kit Taps Pedal Power How to make a great Halloween costume with two iPad 2s (and some fake blood) World’s most powerful laser could ‘tear apart the vacuum of space’ This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

User-generated Life in a Day movie comes to YouTube (Digital Trends) Posted: 31 Oct 2011 06:20 PM PDT Trevor Mogg Trevor Mogg – 2 hrs 43 mins ago "What are you doing today? Something routine like cooking breakfast or taking the dog for a walk? Or is it something extraordinary like your child's first soccer game or your wedding day?" That's the question YouTube's Nate Weinstein asked users of the video streaming website in July last year. The idea was to create movie made entirely of user-generated clips submitted by anyone, living anywhere. On Monday, the 90-minute movie of a single day on Earth (that of July 24, 2010), called Life in a Day, was put up on YouTube for all to enjoy. Oscar-winning director Kevin Macdonald and executive producer Ridley Scott helped to create a movie that YouTube marketing manager Tim Partridge called "an entertaining, surprising and moving view of life on Earth." Following last year's invitation, a staggering 4,500 hours of video was uploaded by amateur film makers from 192 countries, leaving Macdonald, famed for movies such as The Last King of Scotland and Touching the Void, with the momentous task of trying to make sense of it all. In an interview with The Playlist, Macdonald said he was determined for the movie to flow coherently rather than simply being a collection of random clips. "It was very important for the film to feel structured, because there's nothing worse than watching a movie and feeling, "I don't know where this is going and I don't think the director knows where this is going," he said. The finished documentary had its world premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival back in January and also appeared at a number of other festivals before finally making it onto YouTube. The experimental production has subtitles for more than 20 languages and can be viewed below or on its official YouTube channel. "If you haven't seen it yet or want to relive the experience that The Times of London considers 'a thrilling piece of cinema' and the Washington Post called 'a profound achievement,' now's your chance," Partridge wrote in his blog post. <Image: Leigh Prather / Shutterstock> This article was originally posted on Digital Trends More from Digital Trends Rumor: YouTube’s launch of online movie rental service imminent Zediva permanently shut down, forced to pay MPAA nearly two million Netflix details new strategy: become HBO Skype founders new project is Vdio This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

How to make a great Halloween costume with two iPad 2s (and some fake blood) (Digital Trends) Posted: 31 Oct 2011 01:04 PM PDT Rick Marshall Rick Marshall – Mon Oct 31, 4:04 pm ET Still deciding what to wear for Halloween? Got a pair of iPad 2s? Problem solved. Over at Kotaku, one of the site's readers has posted a video of his homemade, see-through torso costume — and it's a nice little way to use those iPad 2s for something other than Angry Birds. Along with a pair of the tablet computers — though you could do this with any tablets really, not just the iPad 2 — the costume also requires some decent WiFi to keep the displays synchronized. Add a bit of fake blood around the edges, and you have an instant "hey, look through my stomach" effect. Here's how the costume's creator explains it: Basically you start a FaceTime chat between the iPads and then tape one to your front and one to your back. Add a little red paint and you're good to go. It's supposed to look like you have a gaping hole in your torso. If you spend more time than I did on the blood and the flesh part and lining up the iPads it could look pretty cool. So there you go. And yes, we noticed that the two iPads weren't exactly lined up in the video, but we choose to think this actually an intentional Portal-type effect he was going for. Mission accomplished! This article was originally posted on Digital Trends More from Digital Trends Apple iOS 5: Everything you need to know Microsoft exec thinks tablets may be a fad, talks of new laser retina display Android Developers Union wants to take on Google Will Apple release three versions of the iPhone 5?

Siri might give Apple a serious lead over Google (Appolicious) Posted: 31 Oct 2011 06:01 AM PDT

Microsoft Adds Social Collaboration to Dynamics CRM (NewsFactor) Posted: 31 Oct 2011 10:37 AM PDT Barry Levine, newsfactor.com Barry Levine, newsfactor.com – Mon Oct 31, 1:37 pm ET For Microsoft, it's all aboard the social CRM bandwagon. Last week, the software giant announced a service update to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, which includes new, integrated social collaboration tools at no additional cost to existing customers. Brad Wilson, general manager of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Product Management Group, said in a statement that businesses will be able to expand their relationships with customers "by bringing together new social collaboration capabilities in Microsoft Dynamics CRM with familiar collaboration technologies such as Office, SharePoint and Lync." Activity Feeds, Micro-Blogging The new social capabilities include activity feeds, micro-blogging, conversations, automated activity updates, and mobile activity feeds. Activity feeds offer real-time notifications about relationships and business events, through a view of micro-blog posts that are combined with interactions, whether for an individual or a sales opportunity. Customers and employees can subscribe to specific feeds. Micro-blogging provides notifications to users through simple updates, and conversations allow users to collaborate among themselves to get feedback from others or to locate information. Activity updates post information to an activity, using configurable business rules, such as when a given sales opportunity has been closed. Mobile activity feeds are designed for Windows Phone 7 devices. The new update to Dynamics CRM Online also includes unified cloud service management for both Dynamics CRM and Office 365, as well as improved disaster recovery. 'A Standard Practice' Microsoft social collaboration additions are part of a major trend among CRM vendors, including Salesforce, SAP, and Oracle. Last week, for instance, Oracle announced it was buying RightNow Technologies for about $1.5 billion. RightNow, which provides cloud-based CRM, has been recasting itself as a "customer experience management" provider, with new techniques for customer interaction, including the use of social media. Salesforce.com has been the leader in this move toward the use of social media in customer service. Among other social media additions, last month it bought Assistly, a company that enables corporate customers to quickly provision socially-based customer service as needed. The Assistly social customer service allows small companies and emerging businesses to establish socially-based customer service in minutes, with what Salesforce described as "zero-touch outboarding." Companies can then engage with customers in real-time through a variety of channels via a single interface. The channels include Facebook, Twitter, Web chats, e-mail, and phone. Brad Shimmin, an analyst with industry research firm Current Analysis, said the CRM industry was recognizing the value of social media, both internally and externally, and it's "becoming a standard practice." With social media techniques such as internal blogs or news feeds, he said, "the knowledge from employees can be quickly leveraged" to solve a problem. Social media tools can also be used by customers to find out their own answers among themselves, as well by businesses to conduct "a bi-directional conversation" with customers. The next stage in this rapid adoption of social CRM, Shimmin said, will probably be tools by the major providers, or third-party developers, to integrate the "many silos of information" created by the variety of social media.

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• 'Invisible glass' could reduce display glare, fails as food-in-teeth mirror
• ASUS' Eee Pad plans: Transformer Prime landing November 9th, two Win 8 tablets coming in 2012
• Sony to divide TV division into three-headed monster, looks to bounce back
• China debuts homegrown supercomputer, hits one petaflop mark
• FARO Focus 3D scanner captures big 3D models from a tiny Lego trolly (video)
• AMD Bulldozer breaks own world record, overclocked to 8.46GHz
• HTC Rezound ad pays Verizon stores an early visit, soonish launch likely
• Ubuntu coming to tablets, phones, cars and smart TVs by 2014
• Kinect hack makes presentation slides work around you (video)
• AT&T to expand 4G coverage and launch first LTE smartphones November 6th: HTC Vivid, Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket
• ASUS says Transformer Prime will arrive on Honeycomb, ICS coming later
• Cordon multi-target photo-radar system leaves no car untagged (video)
• Motorola Mobility to drop 800 jobs
• Windows 8 desktop interface kills Aero for Metro, gets with the times
• Researchers use inkjet acumen to create wireless explosive sensor from paper
• Artificial tongue distinguishes 18 different types of canned tomato
• Eric Fossum lectures Yale students on next-gen range sensors, 3D content shortages
• Cablevision reports Q3 earnings, sees profit fall by 65 percent, drop in video subscribers
• AT&T plans to sell exercise apparel that tracks your vitals, performance
• Hon Hai sees profit fall nine percent in Q3, pins hopes on new Chinese factories
• HTC releases Q3 earnings report: profit up 68 percent, shipments soar 93 percent
• Panasonic Lumix GX1 Micro Four Thirds camera surfaces in leaked photos
• Dropbox for Teams offers businesses copious amounts of sharable storage
• Acer's first venture into Windows Phone arrives in France as the Allegro
• How would you change RIM's BlackBerry Bold 9930?
• Switched On: The clamshell mystique
• Inhabitat's Week in Green: CR-V hybrid, Facebook's server farm and robot costumes
• Roku adds more games, cleans up the PQ on its latest streamers
• Volta BCN electric motorcycle announced, set to go on sale in Q2 2012

'Invisible glass' could reduce display glare, fails as food-in-teeth mirror Posted: 31 Oct 2011 11:02 AM PDT There's nothing worse (seriously, it's scientifically proven) than catching some serious glare on your smartphone, unless you're checking for spinach in your teeth -- but thanks to Nippon Electric Glass' new "invisible glass," an overly reflective surface may be a problem of the past. According to our friends at Tech-On, the company has developed a new type of vitrine that reduces glare by using a special film on each side of the substrate, which allows more light to pass through the layers rather than bounce off the surface. Normal glass reflects around eight percent of light, while the new variety only rebounds 0.5 percent, dramatically reducing the luminous reflectance to around 0.1 percent or lower. Looks like your yearning to purchase this thing is finally justified.

ASUS' Eee Pad plans: Transformer Prime landing November 9th, two Win 8 tablets coming in 2012 Posted: 31 Oct 2011 10:36 AM PDT The Transformer Prime, with its quad-core silicon and tasty OS, has rightfully garnered much attention lately. A PowerPoint deck detailing ASUS' Q3 earnings now gives us a peek at its Eee Pad strategy -- confirming the aforementioned Prime's November 9th release date, while also promising two more bot-powered slates in the first quarter of 2012. Of course, ASUS isn't putting all of its eggs in the Android basket, as the same slide reveals that the Taiwanese firm will be getting its first two Windows 8 tablets to market by this time next year. So it seems that there will be an Eee Pad for all, whether you're from Redmond or Mountain View. No need to shove, fellas, there's room at ASUS' tablet table for everybody.

Sony to divide TV division into three-headed monster, looks to bounce back Posted: 31 Oct 2011 10:08 AM PDT Looking to make a rebound in the ailing TV business, Sony has announced that it will split its television division into three. According to Reuters, the company is looking to keep operations in check with separate departments for LCD TVs, outsourcing and next-gen TVs. The company is wasting no time, as the move will take place on November 1st. The announcement also comes in advance of Sony's quarterly earnings report this Wednesday which is predicted to be a quite a few eggs short of the full basket that was hoped for -- due in part to its inability to compete against Vizio and Samsung. There are also rumblings that the company could be looking to sell off its almost 50-percent share of a liquid-crystal display collaboration with the aforementioned Sammy. It appears moves are being made to stay in the TV game, but the real question is will Sony be able to stop the bleeding (or, perhaps more appropriately, melting)?

China debuts homegrown supercomputer, hits one petaflop mark Posted: 31 Oct 2011 09:41 AM PDT China has already, however briefly, sat atop the Top500 list of supercomputers, but that was using silicon designed by American companies like Intel and NVIDIA. The country's latest contestant though, is sure to be a much bigger point of national pride. The Sunway BlueLight MPP, which was installed at the National Supercomputer Center in Jinan this September, is powered by 8,700 ShenWei SW1600 CPUs -- the homegrown chips that come out of Shanghai. The Sunway's one petaflop performance isn't enough to make it the new king of the hill, but it should get it into the top 20. More impressively, the machine only consumes about one megawatt of electricity -- roughly a quarter of the 2.5 petaflop Tianhe-1A. Now it's up to researchers to crank these ShenWei cores up to a 11 and make a run at that 50 petaflop Cray.

FARO Focus 3D scanner captures big 3D models from a tiny Lego trolly (video) Posted: 31 Oct 2011 09:18 AM PDT Nothing catches our collective eye quite as easily as the combination of high technology and childhood toys. Making a play for our man-childhood inclinations today is a Lego-augmented FARO Focus 3D, purportedly the world's smallest 3D laser scanner yet still able to detect surroundings up to 120 metres away. It can grab a cloud of points, then offer up a detailed three-dimensional model of the environment, with some extra details (thanks to those Lego wheels) that would have been obscured on a static 3D capture. Admittedly, it doesn't quite have the wow-factor of an all-Lego 3D scanner, but its range (and possible use in forensic crime scene analysis) has kept us intrigued. Check out the video after the break to investigate how you could get your CSI on.

AMD Bulldozer breaks own world record, overclocked to 8.46GHz Posted: 31 Oct 2011 08:51 AM PDT Advanced Micro Devices is probably feeling a bit silly right about now. To show off how powerful the Bulldozer chip really is, it drafted in the world's most elite overclockers, set them up in a room with whatever was required (including a vat of liquid helium) and broke the chip-speed world record. With a verified speed of 8.429GHz, the company collected its Guinness world record and sat back, thinking that no one could ever best it. Less than two months later and Andre Yang (who we can assume does not have his own military complex to run his experiments in) managed to get his Bulldozer running at 8.46GHz, 30MHz faster than the chip's own parent could manage. We wouldn't dare suggest that anyone stand outside AMD's Sunnyvale HQ whilst playing the sad trombone -- but if anyone deserves that chance, it'd certainly be Mr. Yang.

HTC Rezound ad pays Verizon stores an early visit, soonish launch likely Posted: 31 Oct 2011 08:24 AM PDT The above image isn't a leak -- it's a dye-in-the-wool, true-blue LTE poster that a few Verizon stores have preemptively hung up. We're pretty sure these adverts aren't supposed to be displayed for our eyes to see since they feature the HTC Rezound, a forthcoming 4G device that hasn't even been announced yet. Oops. Additionally, the handset -- featured front and center on the ad -- shows off a pair of Beats headphones dangling out of its 3.5mm jack. Are there any naysayers that still think the Rezound won't get its official outing at HTC's event this week? Count us amongst the believers.

Ubuntu coming to tablets, phones, cars and smart TVs by 2014 Posted: 31 Oct 2011 07:56 AM PDT We've already seen Ubuntu running on tablets and smartphones, but not in any official capacity. Rumors had it that Canonical would be making a serious push into the tablet space in early 2011, but that effort never materialized, or at least was never acknowledged. Still, Unity has some finger-friendly streaks and Oneiric added ARM support -- so it's not much of a stretch to see the popular Linux distro on your mobile devices. Well, at the Ubuntu Developer Summit, Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth made that move official by issuing a challenge to the Ubuntu community to start pushing beyond the traditional PC form factor. Few details were given, but Shuttleworth did say that he believes the time is right for the OS to start making moves into the tablet, phone, in-dash infotainment and smart TV spaces. There were no products to announce, but Shuttleworth was confident the OS would be ready and in shipping consumer electronics by the time version 14.04 arrived in April of 2014. Though, we're sure some prototypes will start showing up sooner rather than later.

Kinect hack makes presentation slides work around you (video) Posted: 31 Oct 2011 07:32 AM PDT What's the scariest thing about presentations? Getting the perfect angle. You know, the point on stage where you can wave at your slides without blocking the projector bulb or your audience's view. Thankfully, Haruki Maeda from Meiji University is gonna show your text and graphics who's the boss. He's knocked up presentation software that can sense where you stand and orders the text into the visible space around you. Transitions are handled with gestures and you can even pinch-to-zoom live on stage. If you'd guessed there was some Kinect magic at the heart of it, well, thanks for reading the title. The modest Mr. Maeda says all it took was some C#, the Kinect SDK and an Excel spreadsheet to get this beauty working. You don't even need to do that if you're curious yourself -- just go and watch the video we've got after the break.

AT&T to expand 4G coverage and launch first LTE smartphones November 6th: HTC Vivid, Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket Posted: 31 Oct 2011 07:01 AM PDT Well hello gorgeous -- both of you! AT&T's starting to catch the LTE fever, as the carrier's announced that its first two devices with the true 4G will be ready to grab as of this upcoming Sunday. First we have the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket: the long-rumored device can be yours for $250 with a two-year commitment and will offer a 4.5-inch Super AMOLED Plus display, Android 2.3.5, 1.5GHz dual-core CPU, 8MP rear camera with a 2MP front-facing cam and 16GB of internal storage space. Next up is the HTC Vivid (Holiday), which will be offered in both black and white for $200 and appears to match the specs leaked to us a couple months ago: it uses a 4.5-inch qHD (960 x 540) display, 1.2GHz CPU, 8MP rear camera with f/2.2 28mm wide angle lens and 1080p HD video recording. What about the "4G" branding? Contrary to the carrier's HSPA+ devices, neither device will have LTE or 4G as part of their official name. Both phones will be reverse compatible with AT&T's HSPA+ network, in case you're not using the phone in an LTE-capable area; speaking of which, AT&T also announced that the November 6th launch will also bring four additional markets live, including Boston, Washington DC, Baltimore and Athens GA. Data plans for AT&T's LTE smartphones will remain the same, with $15 getting you 200MB per month, 2GB going for $25 and 4GB with mobile hotspot connectivity for $45. Check below for a press gallery and the full press release. AT&T LTE smartphones: Samsung Skyrocket, HTC Vivid Show full PR text First LTE Smartphones for AT&T Customers Available Nationwide Nov. 6 HTC Vivid and Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket, Both Android Smartphones, Will Run on AT&T's 4G LTE Network Dallas, Texas, October 31, 2011 Starting next week, more AT&T customers will be able to enjoy fast 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) speeds on new devices – including the first AT&T 4G LTE smartphones – in even more markets. Key Facts AT&T* introduced two new Android™ smartphones, the first to be AT&T 4G LTE-capable. HTC Vivid™ and Samsung Galaxy S™ II Skyrocket™ will arrive in AT&T company-owned stores and online Nov. 6. AT&T 4G LTE service will launch Nov. 6 in Boston, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Athens, Ga. AT&T offers the only smartphones able to utilize both LTE and HSPA+ 4G speeds, for a consistently fast connection in and out of LTE areas. The Nov. 6 launches expand AT&T's 4G LTE network to 9 markets, including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio, and it plans to reach 15 markets and 70 million Americans by year-end 2011. AT&T exceeds commitment to offer 20 4G devices in 2011, addition of LTE smartphones on Nov. 6 brings 4G total to 22. AT&T far exceeds commitment to deliver 12 Android devices in 2011; new LTE smartphones bring total to 21. HTC Vivid Realize the full power of LTE on the HTC Vivid with fast web browsing, powered by a dual core 1.2 GHz processor and a brilliant 4.5-inch qHD display. Music and Android Market apps download and are ready in a snap, or photos and video are a breeze to upload after using the exceptional camera for low-light photos and full widescreen HD video. HTC Vivid features the acclaimed HTC Sense user experience, which includes a customizable active lockscreen that transforms the display into a real-time window to your most important information and content, such as social updates, photos, weather or stock updates that are viewed by simply waking up the display. Sharper graphics, vibrant animations and new widgets make HTC Sense better than ever and, by continuing to focus on the details, HTC provides a more cinematic and immersive multimedia experience with stunning imagery and audible weather effects. 4.5-inch qHD display (540x960 pixels) 1.2 GHz dual-core processor Enhanced 8-megapixel camera with f2.2 28mm wide angle lens for low light photos 1080p HD video recording at 60 frames per second, slow motion playback and on-device trimmer to optimize social media uploads and memory space 16 GB of on-board memory, microSD expandable to an additional 32 GB The HTC Vivid will arrive in AT&T company-owned retail stores and online Nov. 6 for $199.99 with a two-year commitment. Customers can learn more at www.att.com/speed. Samsung Galaxy S™ II Skyrocket™ Lightning fast reflexes powered by a 1.5 GHz dual core processor and AT&T 4G LTE speeds make the Galaxy S II Skyrocket faster for Web browsing and all your favorite apps. A SuperAMOLED Plus display spanning 4.5-inches is the brightest, most colorful screen on the market. 4.5-inch SuperAMOLED Plus display(800x480 pixels) Android Gingerbread (2.3.5) 1.5 GHz dual-core processor 8-megapixel rear-facing camera with LED flash, with 2-megapixel front-facing camera 1080p HD video recording 16 GB of on-board memory, microSD expandable to an additional 32 GB The Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket will arrive in AT&T company-owned retail stores and online Nov. 6 for $249.99 with a two-year commitment. Customers can learn more at www.att.com/speed. LTE Data Plans Customers can choose from tiered data plans starting as low as $15 per month. Existing smartphone customers do not have to make changes to their data plan. All plans include access to AT&T's national Wi-Fi network of more than 29,000 hotspots. DataPlus provides 200 megabytes (MB) of data for just $15 per month. An additional 200 MB of data usage is $15. DataPro provides 2 gigabytes (GB) of data for $25 per month. An additional 1 GB of data is $10. Customers who want to use their device as a mobile hotspot can sign up for DataPro 4GB for $45 a month, which lets you tether or share your data connection across multiple devices. Customers can view all smartphone data plans at www.att.com/dataplans. LTE Deployments AT&T continues to expand its 4G LTE footprint. The four markets launching Nov. 6 join Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio, which were launched in September. AT&T is the only U.S. carrier providing 4G service using both HSPA+ and LTE. HSPA+, when combined with enhanced backhaul, provides customers with 4G speeds, meaning customers get a faster and more consistent 4G experience, even when outside of an AT&T LTE area. Customers of other carriers that have transitioned to 4G LTE without further speed upgrades to their existing networks are likely to see a jarring drop-off in speeds when they move out of LTE coverage. Quotes "The two LTE-powered superphones will be our 20th and 21st Android devices in 2011, adding to an outstanding year of Android success," said David Christopher, chief marketing officer, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. "We've far exceeded our commitment to offer 12 new Android devices this year –now including our first 4G LTE smartphones. We're delivering an incredible amount of innovation to our customers, which is a huge reason why more than half our post-paid subscribers are using a smartphone." "We are thrilled to continue growing our relationship with AT&T and excited for the HTC Vivid to be one of the first LTE devices on AT&T for the holiday season," said Jason Mackenzie, president of global sales and marketing, HTC. "The HTC Vivid combines an exceptional display in a premium device that delivers a powerful smartphone to our customers through AT&T's fast LTE and HSPA+ 4G networks." "AT&T's LTE network allows for quicker access, smoother streaming and faster web experiences, especially when using the powerful Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket," said Todd Pendleton, chief marketing officer, Samsung Telecommunications America. "Pairing the Galaxy S II Skyrocket with AT&T's LTE speeds, creates the ultimate smartphone experience." 1 Limited 4G LTE availability in select markets. 4G speeds delivered by LTE, or HSPA+ with enhanced backhaul, where available. Deployment ongoing. Compatible device and data plan required. LTE is a trademark of ETSI. Learn more at att.com/network.

ASUS says Transformer Prime will arrive on Honeycomb, ICS coming later Posted: 31 Oct 2011 06:59 AM PDT Well, we already knew the original Transformer would be getting an Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade sometime in the near future, and now ASUS Germany has confirmed that the quad-cored Prime and the Eee Pad Slider will also get a taste of Android's latest OS. No semblance of a datum for release just yet, but the triumvirate of Transformers will join the upgrade queue behind ASUS' other Android offering, the Padfone.

Cordon multi-target photo-radar system leaves no car untagged (video) Posted: 31 Oct 2011 06:37 AM PDT Go easy on the gas, Speed Racer, because Cordon is on its way. Developed by Simicon, this new speed sensor promises to take highway surveillance to new heights of precision. Unlike most photo radar systems, which track only one violator at a time, Simicon's device can simultaneously identify and follow up to 32 vehicles across four lanes. Whenever a car enters its range, the Cordon will automatically generate two images: one from wide-angle view and one closeup shot of the vehicle's license plate. It's also capable of instantly measuring a car's speed and mapping its position, and can easily be synced with other databases via WiFi, 3G or WiMAX. Plus, this device is compact and durable enough to be mounted upon a tripod or atop a road sign, making it even harder for drivers to spot. Fortunately, though, you still have time to change your dragster ways, as distributor Peak Gain Systems won't be bringing the Cordon to North America until the first quarter of 2012. Cruise past the break to see some footage of a field trial that's currently underway -- cars tagged with a green dot are traveling below the speed limit, those with a yellow marking are chugging along within an acceptable range above the limit, while vehicles with a red tab are just asking for trouble.

Motorola Mobility to drop 800 jobs Posted: 31 Oct 2011 06:15 AM PDT Motorola Mobility has issued a regulatory filing outlining the loss of 800 jobs. The cut will cost the handset manufacturer $31 million -- that number includes $27 million in severance and $4 million to close locations. The reason for the cuts? Bloomberg suggests that it's part of an attempt to lower costs, as the company readies itself to join the Google family -- a decision Motorola's board will vote on in the middle of next month. This news follows last week's earnings report, in which the mobile company reported a $32 million net loss -- not the greatest financial report, sure, but a marked improvement over the prior quarter's $56 million loss.

Windows 8 desktop interface kills Aero for Metro, gets with the times Posted: 31 Oct 2011 05:54 AM PDT Microsoft's Windows 8 developer preview greeted us with an interface steeped in Redmond's new Metro style -- its tile-centric start screen is sleek, fresh, and downright pretty. Imagine our surprise then, when the preview's desktop view punted us straight back to the contemporary "Aero" dressing of Windows 7. It's not an ugly interface by any means, but shiny, translucent window frames are so last generation. Where's the style? In the big M's latest Building Windows 8 preview, of course. The MSDN blog's latest Task Manager update shows the familiar feature in a brand-new Metro suit: flat, clean, and Aero free. The post doesn't say much on the matter (nothing at all, in fact), but it's nice to see the classic interface getting a facelift to match Microsoft's new look. Want to see more? Hit the source link below, it's got all the Metro window frames you could ask for.

Researchers use inkjet acumen to create wireless explosive sensor from paper Posted: 31 Oct 2011 05:26 AM PDT Meet Krishna Naishadham and Xiaojuan (Judy) Song. They're researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and those little devices they're holding may one day save you from an explosive device. This petite prototype is actually a paper-like wireless sensor that was printed using basic inkjet technology, developed by professor Manos Tentzeris. Its integrated lightweight antenna allows the sensor to link up with communication devices, while its functionalized carbon nanotubes enable it to pick up on even the slightest traces of ammonia -- an ingredient common to most IEDs. According to Tentzeris, the trick to such inkjet printing lies in the development of "inks" that can be deposited at relatively low temperatures. These inks, laced with silver nanoparticles, can then be uniformly distributed across paper-based components using a process called sonication. The result is a low-cost component that can adhere to just about any surface. The wireless sensor, meanwhile, requires comparatively low amounts of power, and could allow users to detect bombs from a safe distance. Naishadham says his team's device is geared toward military officials, humanitarian workers or any other bomb sniffers in hazardous situations, though there's no word yet on when it could enter the market. To find out more, careen past the break for the full PR. Show full PR text Low-cost paper-based wireless sensor could help detect explosive devices Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a prototype wireless sensor capable of detecting trace amounts of a key ingredient found in many explosives. The device, which employs carbon nanotubes and is printed on paper or paper-like material using standard inkjet technology, could be deployed in large numbers to alert authorities to the presence of explosives, such as improvised explosive devices (IEDs). "This prototype represents a significant step toward producing an integrated wireless system for explosives detection," said Krishna Naishadham, a principal research scientist who is leading the work at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI). "It incorporates a sensor and a communications device in a small, low-cost package that could operate almost anywhere." Other types of hazardous gas sensors are based on expensive semiconductor fabrication and gas chromatography, Naishadham said, and they consume more power, require human intervention, and typically do not operate at ambient temperatures. Furthermore, those sensors have not been integrated with communication devices such as antennas. The wireless component for communicating the sensor information -- a resonant lightweight antenna – was printed on photographic paper using inkjet techniques devised by Professor Manos Tentzeris of Georgia Tech's School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Tentzeris is collaborating with Naishadham on development of the sensing device. The sensing component, based on functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNTs), has been fabricated and tested for detection sensitivity by Xiaojuan (Judy) Song, a GTRI research scientist. The device relies on carbon-nanotube materials optimized by Song. A presentation on this sensing technology was given in July at the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Symposium (IEEE APS) in Spokane, Wash., by Hoseon Lee, a Ph.D. student in ECE co-advised by Tentzeris and Naishadham. The paper received the Honorable Mention Award in the Best Student Paper competition at the symposium. This is not the first inkjet-printed ammonia sensor that has been integrated with an antenna on paper, said Tentzeris. His group produced a similar integrated sensor last year in collaboration with the research group of C.P. Wong, who is Regents professor and Smithgall Institute Endowed Chair in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Georgia Tech. "The fundamental difference is that this newest CNT sensor possesses dramatically improved sensitivity to miniscule ammonia concentrations," Tentzeris said. "That should enable the first practical applications to detect trace amounts of hazardous gases in challenging operational environments using inkjet-printed devices." Tentzeris explained that the key to printing components, circuits and antennas lies in novel "inks" that contain silver nanoparticles in an emulsion that can be deposited by the printer at low temperatures – around 100 degrees Celsius. A process called sonication helps to achieve optimal ink viscosity and homogeneity, enabling uniform material deposition and permitting maximum operating effectiveness for paper-based components. "Ink-jet printing is low-cost and convenient compared to other technologies such as wet etching," Tentzeris said. "Using the proper inks, a printer can be used almost anywhere to produce custom circuits and components, replacing traditional clean-room approaches." Low-cost materials – such as heavy photographic paper or plastics like polyethylene terephthalate -- can be made water resistant to ensure greater reliability, he added. Inkjet component printing can also use flexible organic materials, such as liquid crystal polymer (LCP), which are known for their robustness and weather resistance. The resulting components are similar in size to conventional components but can conform and adhere to almost any surface. Naishadham explained that the same inkjet techniques used to produce RF components, circuits and antennas can also be used to deposit the functionalized carbon nanotubes used for sensing. These nanoscale cylindrical structures -- about one-billionth of a meter in diameter, or 1/50,000th the width of a human hair -- are functionalized by coating them with a conductive polymer that attracts ammonia, a major ingredient found in many IEDs. Sonication of the functionalized carbon nanotubes produces a uniform water-based ink that can be printed side-by-side with RF components and antennas to produce a compact wireless sensor node. "The optimized carbon nanotubes are applied as a sensing film, with specific functionalization designed for a particular gas or analyte," Song said. "The GTRI sensor detects trace amounts of ammonia usually found near explosive devices, and it can also be designed to detect similar gases in household, healthcare and industrial environments at very low concentration levels." The sensor has been designed to detect ammonia in trace amounts – as low as five parts per million, Naishadham said. The resulting integrated sensing package can potentially detect the presence of trace explosive materials at a distance, without endangering human lives. This approach, called standoff detection, involves the use of RF technology to identify explosive materials at a relatively safe distance. The GTRI team has designed the device to send an alert to nearby personnel when it detects ammonia. The wireless sensor nodes require relatively low power, which could come from a number of technologies including thin-film batteries, solar cells or power-scavenging and energy-harvesting techniques. In collaboration with Tentzeris's and Wong's groups, GTRI is investigating ways to make the sensor operate passively, without any power consumption. "We are focusing on providing standoff detection for those engaged in military or humanitarian missions and other hazardous situations," Naishadham said. "We believe that it will be possible, and cost-effective, to deploy large numbers of these detectors on vehicles or robots throughout a military engagement zone."

Artificial tongue distinguishes 18 different types of canned tomato Posted: 31 Oct 2011 04:58 AM PDT Taste tests are fun -- unless you're in Italy, in which case they're drawn-out and rancorous. That's why scientists in Milan are trying to remove humans from the equation, by using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to reveal objective "metabolomic fingerprints" for different foodstuffs instead. In their latest experiment, NMR succeeded in predicting how human testers would judge 18 different canned tomato products, including sensory descriptors such as bitterness, saltiness, "redness" and density. Like Caesar always said, technology that knows a good ragu is technology we can trust.

Eric Fossum lectures Yale students on next-gen range sensors, 3D content shortages Posted: 31 Oct 2011 04:29 AM PDT Ready for Kinect-like depth sensing magic in your pocket? It might be on the way, according to Eric Fossum, the man behind the CMOS sensor. During an Engineering lecture at Yale, Fossum let it slip that he was working on a new time-of-flight range sensor with Samsung, and said "we're trying to catch up to a lot of people." Pulling up a slide, Fossom described a 2-megapixel color sensor with a time-of-flight sensor inserted inside. "This doesn't even get announced until February," he said. Mentioning Sammy's place in the 3D TV game, Fossum said that there wasn't enough 3D content available to make 3D sets viable, "We have to enable people to be able to make 3D content before we can sell a lot of 3D TVs." Between his lecture slides and befuddling words, Fossum suggested that cell phones equipped with 3D color image sensors could fill this content gap, calling it a "vision." Hold tight to that word, though -- Fossum wasn't exactly crystal clear on what Sammy's going to do with this technology, or what it's going to announce in February. What do we know for sure? We need more 3D programming. Well, that and Samsung is going to announce something next year. Hit the break to hear the man in his own words. You can even pretend you're a Yale student, we won't judge. Update: Fossum dropped by to give us a statement. "The RGBZ sensor represents the state of the art in research and development," he says, "Technical information about this R&D advancement will be reported in February." [Thanks, Salem]

Cablevision reports Q3 earnings, sees profit fall by 65 percent, drop in video subscribers Posted: 31 Oct 2011 04:01 AM PDT It's safe to say that Q3 2011 probably won't be remembered as Cablevision's finest. According to the provider's latest earnings report, profits declined by a full 65 percent over the year, with net income plunging to $39.3 million this quarter, compared with the $112.1 million it raked in during the third quarter of 2010. The company also reported a loss of 19,000 video subscribers during Q3, though it added 17,000 broadband customers and 38,000 telephone subscribers. Total customers, however, declined by 15,000 over the past three months. Revenue, meanwhile, increased by eight percent to $1.7 billion, though the New York-area operator lost about $16 million to Hurricane Irene -- not to mention all those legal fees. Smell that? That's a big platter of PR, sitting right there after the break. Show full PR text Cablevision Systems Corporation Reports Third Quarter 2011 Results BETHPAGE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC) today reported financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2011. Third quarter consolidated net revenues grew 8.0% to $1.666 billion, consolidated adjusted operating cash flow ("AOCF")1was essentially flat at $539.3 million and consolidated operating income decreased 11.7% to $272.4 million, all compared to the prior year period. Third quarter 2011 results reflect the Bresnan properties acquired on December 14, 2010 as well as costs of approximately $16 million related to the impact of Hurricane Irene on our NY Metro service area. If both of these items were excluded, consolidated net revenues would have increased 0.4% while AOCF and operating income would have decreased 4.1% and 4.0%, respectively, all compared to the prior year period. Operating highlights for the third quarter 2011 include: • Year to date Consolidated Free Cash Flow from Continuing Operations1 of $440.2 million • Combined Average Monthly Revenue per Basic Video Customer ("RPS") of $151.71 in the third quarter of 2011 (including Bresnan) • High-Speed Data and Voice Line additions of 16,900 and 38,200, respectively, in the third quarter of 2011 • Lightpath AOCF growth of 16.9% in the third quarter of 2011, compared to the prior year period. Cablevision President and CEO James L. Dolan commented: "For the third quarter of 2011, Cablevision achieved revenue growth driven primarily by the addition of the Bresnan properties. Our cable operations reported improved subscriber metrics that included increases in both high-speed data customers and voice lines, while the company continued to generate healthy free cash flow. As we are operating in a challenging environment, we are continuing our efforts to capitalize on the strength of our network and products and on building our business for the long-term," concluded Mr. Dolan. 1. See definition of adjusted operating cash flow ("AOCF") and Consolidated Free Cash Flow from Continuing Operations included in the discussion of non-GAAP financial measures on page 4 of this earnings release. Telecommunications Services – Cable Television and Lightpath Telecommunications Services includes Cable Television – Cablevision's video, high-speed data, and voice residential and commercial services offered over its cable infrastructure -- and its "Optimum Lightpath" branded commercial data and voice services. Third quarter 2011 Telecommunications and Cable Television results below reflect the Bresnan properties acquired on December 14, 2010 as well as costs of approximately $16 million related to the impact of Hurricane Irene on our NY Metro service area. Telecommunications Services net revenues for the third quarter 2011 rose 9.0% to $1.562 billion, AOCF was essentially flat (down 0.2%) at $584.0 million and operating income decreased 10.2% to $333.5 million, all compared to the prior year period. Excluding Bresnan and the impact of Hurricane Irene, revenue growth would have increased 0.8%, while AOCF and operating income would have both decreased 3.9%, compared to the prior year period. The decrease in AOCF, compared to the prior period, was driven by cost increases, including both higher programming and sales and marketing costs, on essentially flat revenue growth. Cable Television Cable Television third quarter 2011 net revenues increased 9.1% to $1.490 billion, AOCF decreased 1.1% to $550.6 million and operating income decreased 12.0% to $322.0 million, all compared to the prior year period. The increase in revenue compared to the prior year period was due primarily to the addition of Bresnan in the results for the third quarter 2011. Excluding the items mentioned above, revenue would have increased 0.5%, while AOCF and operating income would have decreased 4.9% and 5.5%, respectively, all compared to the prior year period. The decrease in AOCF, compared to the prior period, was driven by cost increases, including both higher programming and sales and marketing costs, on essentially flat revenue growth. Optimum Lightpath For third quarter 2011, Lightpath net revenues increased 6.2% to $77.5 million, AOCF increased 16.9% to $33.4 million and operating income more than doubled to $11.5 million, each as compared to the prior year period. The improved results were driven primarily by a 17.9% increase in revenue from Ethernet services, offset in part by higher operating expenses to support the increase in Ethernet installations. Other Other primarily consists of Newsday, News 12 Networks, MSG Varsity, Clearview Cinemas, Cablevision Media Sales Corporation (formerly Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation ("RASCO")) and unallocated corporate general and administrative costs. Third quarter 2011 net revenues decreased 5.5% to $109.0 million, AOCF deficit was essentially flat (up 0.7%) at a deficit of $44.7 million and operating loss improved 3.0% to a loss of $61.1 million all compared to the prior year period. Revenue was mainly impacted by the continued decline of advertising revenues at Newsday. The slight improvement in the AOCF deficit was due primarily to lower corporate costs as well as lower costs at Newsday, and when combined, more than offset the revenue decline discussed above. Other Matters RETURN OF CAPITAL During the third quarter of 2011, Cablevision repurchased approximately 5.4 million shares of its Class A common stock for approximately $93.9 million. On October 27, 2011, the Board of Directors of Cablevision declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share on each outstanding share of both its Cablevision NY Group Class A Stock and its Cablevision NY Group Class B Stock. This quarterly dividend is payable on December 2, 2011 to shareholders of record at the close of business on November 11, 2011.

AT&T plans to sell exercise apparel that tracks your vitals, performance Posted: 31 Oct 2011 03:33 AM PDT It's not enough for AT&T to simply sell cellphones, its emerging devices unit also traffics in everything from GPS dog collars to connected pill bottles. Now the company wants in on the fitness tracking craze. Forbes is reporting that Ma Bell will start offering apparel that could track GPS routes, heart rate and other vital stats -- similar to the E39 shirt above from Zephyr and Under Armour. The clothing isn't just for athletes though, the military, first responders and seniors could also benefit from the technology. Sadly, no firm release date or prices were announced, so don't expect to wander into a Modell's and pick up a wicking t-shirt that uploads your workouts to RunKeeper any time soon.

Hon Hai sees profit fall nine percent in Q3, pins hopes on new Chinese factories Posted: 31 Oct 2011 02:26 AM PDT Hon Hai Precision Holdings has just released its Q3 earnings report, and it probably did so with a whimper. That's because net profits fell to NT$19.2 billion (about $614 million) this quarter, marking an 8.6 percent decline from Q3 2010, when Hon Hai (aka Foxconn) reported a net income of NT$21 billion (around $702 million). The company blamed the decline on a slow economic recovery and its ongoing expansion in China, where new factories are being constructed across inland areas like Chengdu, Wuhan and Zhengzhou. These costs are still taking a toll on Hon Hai's bottom line, though analysts say the expansion could pay off in the long-run, thanks to the lower wages that Hon Hai will have to pay to maintain operations in these less affluent regions. Some are also hopeful that the iPhone 4S will help spur production heading into Q4 of this year, though its ultimate effect, of course, remains to be seen. Hit up the links below for more details and analysis.

HTC releases Q3 earnings report: profit up 68 percent, shipments soar 93 percent Posted: 31 Oct 2011 01:39 AM PDT It's been another stellar quarter for the folks over at HTC. According to the company's Q3 earnings report, released today, net income rose to NT$18.68 billion (about $624.6 million) this quarter -- a 68 percent increase over Q3 2010 and a seven percent bump over last quarter, when HTC reported record profits. Revenue, meanwhile, rose by 79 percent on the year to NT$135.8 billion (around $4.54 billion), which the manufacturer attributed to "strong brand recognition, leading product portfolio and expanded distribution channels." On a regional level, HTC saw the strongest growth in China, where sales increased by a factor of nine over the past year. This undoubtedly helped the company boost handset shipments, which increased by a whopping 93 percent over the year, to 13.2 million units. For more details and crunchy numbers, hit up the source links, below.

Panasonic Lumix GX1 Micro Four Thirds camera surfaces in leaked photos Posted: 31 Oct 2011 01:13 AM PDT Panasonic just launched a whole new series of Micro Four Thirds lenses a couple of months ago, and it looks like it might soon also have a new Micro Four Thirds camera to take advantage of them. That photo you see above recently turned up on the Mobile01 forums with a bundle of others, showing a hereto unannounced Panasonic Lumix GX1 MFT camera, which looks like it could be a true successor to the GF1 (as opposed to the GF2 and GF3 that moved in a less pro-minded direction). Rumored specs remain a bit light, but the camera apparently has a touchscreen display 'round back, which will likely see a fair bit of use unless you opt for an external EVF. It's also suggested that the camera will be launching soon -- on November 8th -- although that's obviously yet to be confirmed. [Thanks, Amin]

Dropbox for Teams offers businesses copious amounts of sharable storage Posted: 30 Oct 2011 11:27 PM PDT Dropbox is an indispensable part of many a computer users' arsenal, including several here at Engadget. But, the company hasn't had a viable option for businesses who would have an obvious use for a tool that allows you to easily sync files between PCs, share them amongst users and always have backups in the cloud. The boys and girls at the Y Combinator startup know that there's lots of money to be made in the enterprise space and that's why they've unveiled Dropbox for Teams. The general experience is the same, but rather than individually managed chunks of storage, teams share one large repository, starting at 1TB for five users. The base plan costs $795 a year and additional users, which also includes 200GB of storage, can be tacked on for $125 annually. The business offering also includes special tools for administrators to add or delete users and dedicated phone support. Check out the full PR after the break. Show full PR text Dropbox Now Open for Business Dropbox Launches "Dropbox for Teams" With Administrative Controls and Plenty of Space People Are Using Dropbox in Over One Million Businesses Globally SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – October 27, 2011 - Dropbox, a free service that lets people bring their documents, photos and videos everywhere and share them easily, today introduced Dropbox for Teams. More than 45 million people already depend on Dropbox, and with Dropbox for Teams, businesses can now experience the same ease-of-use along with new administrative controls, centralized billing, phone support, and plenty of space for everyone on the team. "People in over a million businesses around the world trust Dropbox for its simplicity and reliability," said Sujay Jaswa, vice president of business development and sales at Dropbox. "Now, Dropbox for Teams will give businesses the control and freedom to rethink how they work." How Dropbox for Teams Works Dropbox for Teams delivers the same user experience as the free Dropbox service. Adding and updating files is as easy as saving any document, photo or video to the Dropbox folder. Changes sync immediately across all devices which have Dropbox installed. Dropbox is compatible with nearly every computer and smartphone operating system, including Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, and BlackBerry. With Dropbox for Teams, administrators get new features including centralized billing, phone support, and controls allowing them to add or delete users. Dropbox for Teams is priced at $795 annually for five users, with additional seats available for $125 each. The base plan includes 1,000 GB of storage, and each additional seat comes with 200 GB. Like Dropbox, Dropbox for Teams is a secure solution. Files are stored encrypted on Amazon S3 in secure data centers and also remain on users' Dropbox-synced computers for added backup. Visit www.dropbox.com/teams for more information. About Dropbox The mission of Dropbox is to simplify life for people around the world. Dropbox lets people bring their documents, photos and videos everywhere and share them easily. The service has more than 45 million users in 175 countries saving one billion files every three days. Dropbox was founded in San Francisco in 2007 by Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi and has received a total of $257.2 million in funding.

Acer's first venture into Windows Phone arrives in France as the Allegro Posted: 30 Oct 2011 09:31 PM PDT Remember the Acer W4? After seeing it at IFA 2011, it seems that it's finally ready to make some first impressions, and its blind date is with France. Known officially as the Allegro, Acer's inaugural Windows Phone isn't going over the top in the spec department: it has a 3.6-inch WVGA (800 x 480) display, 1GHz single-core Qualcomm MSM8255 CPU, 8GB internal storage, 5MP rear camera with LED flash and a 1,300mAh battery. However, a unique addition to this €299 ($425) device is a feature called Fast Charge, which allows the Allegro to get juiced up to 2.5 times faster than the rest of the company's lineup. Expect the device to land in France in mid-November with two color options -- white and dark blue iceberg. Just make sure, Acer, to walk your date all the way back home from dinner.

How would you change RIM's BlackBerry Bold 9930? Posted: 30 Oct 2011 08:22 PM PDT There's no QNX (or BBX, we should say) here, but the Bold 9930 is still taking baby steps towards the future with BlackBerry OS 7. Now that you've had a few months to tinker with your latest and greatest, we're interested to hear how you'd tweak things if given the keys to Waterloo. Would you make it look a bit more like this? Change up the screen? Toss that chrome ring around the edge? Chunk it to another carrier? Go on and get creative in comments below, but keep it civil, cool?

Switched On: The clamshell mystique Posted: 30 Oct 2011 07:16 PM PDT Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. In 2009, Switched On discussed the potential of Android on netbooks, finding an uneasy match between what was then high-flying hardware and still nascent software. More than two years later, though, the tables have turned in terms of momentum. As netbooks have settled into a relatively small part of the overall PC market, Android is leaping beyond the smartphone. In doing so, though, it is focused on tablets, not clamshells, There are a few ways today to get Android on a diminutive notebook, but all have major flaws. On eBay, for example, you can buy cheaply made 7-inch Android netbooks for about $100. These are little more than novelties with poor ergonomics and battery life. Or one can download the Android x86 distribution and fire it up on an Asus Eee or other netbooks, but this is a hobbyist pursuit. New software from Bluestacks lets you run Android atop Windows, but this nullifies many of Android's advantages such as quick wake times and the long battery life the OS enjoys on ARM processors (this situation may well improve running Bluestacks on Windows 8). And there have been a few Japanese Android clamshell efforts such as the 5-inch Sharp Lynx and the 7-inch NEC LetsNote Touch. Both are pricey -- at least as imports -- and the LetsNote Touch has a resistive touchscreen. As for other ARM-friendly operating systems, HP -- which produced the Compaq Airlife Android netbook sold in Spain prior to buying Palm -- had held out hope for a native webOS netbook, but that concept was certainly axed with the rest of the company's webOS device roadmap.Then there's the MeeGo-based X101 from ASUS that shows what kind of sleek design one can achieve with a mobile OS. However, it has arrived just as the MeeGo lineage is being rolled up yet again, this time to a new OS dubbed Tizen. If you want keys clacking up characters to a Honeycomb home, iPad or Playbook, there's a whole mouthful of Bluetooth options such as standalone keyboards, integrated keyboard cases and things like the Clamcase that can produce a "shamshell." On the Android side, ASUS has won fans with the integrated keyboard of the Eee Pad Slider that is arguably functionally equivalent to a clamshell and the more cosmetically similar Eee Pad Transformer with its detachable battery-packing keyboard. But it seems no one dares take on the form factor so wildly popular when running Windows or Mac OS. In a recent conversation with an ascendant Android tablet maker, the company said that it has no plans to pursue an Android clamshell nor did it think such a device was on any competitors' roadmaps. Sure, the traditional Android experience has involved a touch screen and using one with a distant display can be awkward or tiring, but that hasn't stopped PC makers from putting touchscreens on Windows notebooks or even desktops. And then there is the Windows Netbook Curse. Microsoft likes to remind us that Windows netbooks quickly trounced those running mostly homegrown Linux variants. But, again, that was long before the iPad showed the viability of a mobile OS on a netbook-sized screen or Honeycomb sent a group of licensees scrambling for features to differentiate. It is a humorous paradox that consumers should increasingly embrace keyboards on an Android tablet but forever reject an Android notebook. The clamshell is a brilliant form factor that clearly has potential beyond today's duopoly. With Windows 8, Microsoft is asserting that an operating system can traverse notebooks and tablets. What is good for the goose, though, can't seem to entice major competitors to take a gander. Ross Rubin (@rossrubin) is executive director and principal analyst of the NPD Connected Intelligence service at The NPD Group. Views expressed in Switched On are his own.

Inhabitat's Week in Green: CR-V hybrid, Facebook's server farm and robot costumes Posted: 30 Oct 2011 05:19 PM PDT The world of green tech presented us with some neat tricks and eco-treats this week from this plan to 3D print new shells for homeless hermit crabs to this handy LeafSnap app that helps you identify all different kinds of fall foliage to an energy-efficient UFO hotel room, which recently "landed" in the forests of Sweden. Speaking of spaceships, we also spotted this Star Trek Enterprise feeding system for babies (you're never too young to live long and prosper) as well as plans for a massive nuclear-powered airport/airplane that could fly as many as 3,000 passengers through the sky, and Philips showed off its eerie and futuristic bacteria-powered lamps. In honor of All Hallow's Eve, we rounded up the top six creepiest buildings of all time as well as six spooky churches made of bones. And just in case you missed the craziest Halloween story of the week, check these photos of a trio of ghastly zombies bursting out of the world's largest pumpkin's hell, er, shell. On the green transportation front, we took the Honda CR-V hybrid for a spin and came across news that Tesla will reintroduce its sexy roadster in 2014. We also saw that GM is working on cars that could drop drivers off at their destinations and even park themselves, and the auto giant impressed us even further by joining Ford and Chrysler, who are working closely with engineering students from the University of Michigan Solar Car Team to create viable solar-powered cars for the future. But if you can't wait that long, this Solarship is a blimp-like solar-powered airship that actually exists today. In tech news, Facebook announced that they'll be building a fancy new server farm in the Arctic. And speaking of cold weather, we also spotted where this clever Umbrella coat that has a handy umbrella instead of a hood - perfect for rainy fall days. A new study showing that TV is officially harmful to children under two confirmed some of our suspicions and we also saw news of a judge who ruled that cell phone warnings be blocked in San Francisco. If you're planning on dressing up for Halloween, don't forget to enter our Green Halloween costume contest (or your kids in our Inhabitots costume contest) for some frightfully fabulous prizes. If you need some inspiration, we've got a slew of techie costume ideas you could cobble together from things you already own like this delightful iPhone getup or this homemade robot outfit.

Roku adds more games, cleans up the PQ on its latest streamers Posted: 30 Oct 2011 03:15 PM PDT Don't think Roku is sitting back on its laurels after rolling out a slew of new hardware including the Roku 2 family and the new, low end Roku LT. As promised, it has issued a firmware update enabling new gaming options including Pac Man:CE, Galaga, and Angry Birds Seasons. Even if you're committed to Roku's hockey pucks as purely video streamers, there's a new firmware update to correct, among other things, issues that caused a darker than normal image on some displays, WiFi performance, boot performance, readiness for HBO Go, and subtitles on Netflix. Check out Roku's blog for the full list of fixes or just hit the software update section in your settings menu to make sure you have the latest software.

Volta BCN electric motorcycle announced, set to go on sale in Q2 2012 Posted: 30 Oct 2011 01:12 PM PDT Your all-electric motorcycle options are getting more and more plentiful these days, and it looks like you'll soon have yet another option consider. Volta Motorbikes officially announced its new Volta BCN motorcycle this week, with a complete unveiling set for the EICMA Motorshow in Milan next month. It will be available in three different models -- the BCN Sport, BCN City, and BCN My Volta -- each of which pack the same 35 horsepower and 70 kilometer range, but have various other tweaks to suit different tastes (with the My Volta being customizable through an online ordering tool). Details remain a bit light otherwise, but pricing is expected to come in around the €7,000 mark (or just under $10,000), with the first units set to roll out in the second quarter of 2012 -- a reservation list will also be opened up at the start of the year for those interested. Head on past the break for a quick teaser video, and check out the gallery below for a closer look. Volta BCN Show full PR text Volta Motorbikes unveils his first electric motorbike, the Volta BCN, in the coming EICMA 2011 The pre-reservation list will be opening at the start of 2012, and the first units will be sold during the second quarter of the year Between 8th and 13th November, amid the backdrop of the Milan Fair (69th International Motorcycle Exhibition), Volta Motorbikes, an electric motorbike manufacturer created with the mission of providing new solutions for the pollution problems in big cities, will be presenting its star project: the Volta BCN. The first electric motorbike designed entirely in Barcelona has received the name of the Catalan capital thanks to an agreement with the City Council, which hopes to display the city's aspiration to become a European benchmark in sustainable mobility and environmental respect. The Volta BCN combines design, a sporty feel, innovation and sustainability all in one. This goes to show that a practical and sustainable vehicle can also be dynamic, while boasting an urban image and high performance. After months of work and perseverance, the Volta Motorbikes project has now come to fruition and is about to begin the production phase. Thus, during the first quarter of the forthcoming year, a pre-reservation list will be opened on the Internet; and in the second quarter, the first units will be released for sale, for an estimated price of €7,000. At the moment, Volta is putting the final touches on the shape of the Volta BCN distribution network and points of sale throughout Europe. The fact that Volta bears the name of Barcelona forms part of the intention to help forge the image of a city that is capable of converting urban thoroughfares into a pollution-free public space, yet with no sacrifices regarding the mobility-related needs of the people who live there. And so, Barcelona is pushing to become a benchmark for sustainability in Europe, while at the same time reasserting its ambition to be a hub for design and quality. The Volta BCN is different from other urban electric motorbikes, as it combines technology, design and a sporty feel, to afford users the opportunity to experience motor passion while also being respectful of the environment. Volta Motorbikes envisages launching its product in Spain first, and will subsequently make the leap over to the international market, with its first appearance at the Milan Fair, the quintessential showcase for any new product in the two-wheel sector. As Volta Motorbikes Manager Marc Barceló says, "the Milan Fair is the ultimate test to assess the entrance of a new brand, and we hope to firm up our first orders with the European market during the days of the show". BCN SPORT, BCN CITY AND BCN MY VOLTA The Volta BCN, with 35 hp, will be available in several different models, yet as Barceló cites, all are founded on the same philosophy: "Volta aims to transmit the DNA of a brand with a sporty nature while also being efficient and environmentally friendly". In Milan, the company plans to present three models with the same power yet different aesthetics and finishes. The BCN Sport is an urban motorbike that projects a dynamic image with a personality of its own, without skimping on performance, quality or practical features. The BCN City offers a cosmopolitan design and targets those who wish to combine an elegant look with the spirit of sustainable mobility and practical, comfortable driving. The BCN My Volta is the customisable model, meaning that the motorbike can be adapted to the needs and preferences of the user in terms of the design of its finishes and accessories. The My Volta will offer customised ordering through an online tool that will be implemented with the new Volta website, coinciding with the brand's presentation at the Milan Fair. All of these models require the same A2 driving license and are the ideal choice for those who need a means of daily transport to get about in the city, while serving as a road of entry into the two-wheel world for new users. €0.45 PER RECHARGE With a full battery recharge cost of €0.45, this bike can recharge completely in just two hours when plugged into a 220-V household socket or at any public charging point. The Volta BCN has a range of approximately 70 kilometres and a lithium-polymer battery. After 1500 charging cycles, which is the equivalent of five years of daily recharges, the battery still has 80 % of its initial capacity. One thing that we must point out about the Volta BCN is the quality of its components, as all of its parts are supplied by prestigious brands in the sector. The motorbike comes with a trunk with capacity for a full-face helmet, as well as a mobile phone charger.Particularly worthy of note is the relaxed and comfortable position of this bike, which makes for agility and free movement when driving. Moreover, it includes the added feature of connectivity with mobile telephone devices, as well as a wide range of applications such as programming recharges and power setting limits, among others; a package that will be available when the first Volta BCN bikes reach the market.

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