Sony unveiled new NW Vaio series. The most remarkable feature of it is BD-Rom. Yeah, I was surprised when I first see that laptop.
15.5-inch WXGA display with XBRITE, 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7350, ATI Mobility Radeon HD4570 with 512MB VRAM, a 4x BD-ROM drive, 4GB of DDR2 RAM, webcam, 802.11a/b/g/n, a 400GB HDD, and 5.5-hour-Lion-battery. These are really exciting and I want one of these.
Mercedes introduced 2010 Mercedes S400. It produces 295 brake horsepower and get 33 mpg. After seeing S400, I thought it's nonsense and ridiculous. Because new S-Class was published on the web and people expect to see it on the ways later 2011 or Q1 of 2012. Why on earth Mercedes attempted this hybrid attack? The answer is simple: Credit Crunch! They need to sell more cars because of slumping profits. Mercedes's cercern about market is absolutely right.
They aimed a car like Lexus's LS 600h. But Lexus has gone far, when Mercedes stood still.
Microsoft unveiled Bing on 1st June and actually it is a big problem for companies like Alexa. Because it uses benefits of AJAX in every part of it. Time on Site data which traffic metrics compainies have is right about Bing. But all of the others are wrong. Because sites like Bing, for example Netvibes are formed with less pages and they don't need to be refreshed.
Briefly, Bing changed web when it came to life. It changed click-based web system. I think this problem can be solved by metering users data transfers.
I came across a popular article on Twitter today: Adobe BrowserLab. It is based on a simple and a great idea. You log in that site with Adobe ID and test your site or another ones.
Adobe BrowserLab has a basic user interface but it makes what it gotta do perfectly. It takes snapshots of the site in diffrent browsers and platforms. It supports Internet Explorer 6.0 - 7.0, Mozilla Firefox 2.0 - 3.0, Safari 3.0 - 4.0 and Windows XP & Mac OS X. I hope they will add an option for Opera which has solid fans.
Microsoft Corporation unveiled Bing search engine on 1st of June. (I know, I'm late to blog that.) My concern about internet users is they judge search engines with their result numbers. They say: "Google gives much more search results. So it's better." Does this idea make sense? Absolutely no!
The new search engine offers modern features which its rivals doesn't have. For example, Bing welcomes you with great a image which is different every day.
When you move your mouse over a search result, Bing shows its content in a pop-up window briefly. That's really useful and I already got used to it.
If you type "Yahoo", it shows only Yahoo's homepage link and its searchbar. On the bottom of the search, a link available to show rest of the results. That's so great.
Left menu which is brand new lists related searches and your search history. If you type "Michael Jordan", you will see "Dunks", "Biography", "Quotes" and more items on the top of left menu.
Bing lists thumbnails faster than Google and Yahoo. AJAX powered image search does its work properly. On the left menu, related searches appear, too. On the bottom of that, you can filter your search by size, layout, color, style. The new feature here is "People" option. The image which you search can include just faces, head & shoulders and other.
Bing's video search which is unique makes your search easier. When you move your mouse over a video thumnail, it starts to play it! But, adult movies can be played if you disable Safe Search.
In this video, a guy from CNET shows off Microsoft's new hope to overcome Apple's iPod. I can't say it looks the greatest but actually it's pretty fast. 3D menu effects looks beautiful. The greatest thing about Zune HD is that it supports HD audio, video and radio! That's absolutely great and Microsoft finally got the soul of the current media technology.
Apple's iPod has dominated the music player market so Zune HD should have less price tag than Apple's iPod.
The question is that "Will Zune HD help Microsoft to end Zune nightmare or we'll keep talking about Apple's stylish media products.
Last day Google showed its new communication service: Wave. It's basically a live chatroom which includes projects, documents, photos, videos and more. It's some kinda e-mail client and Twitter and IM. Google also put its services together in Wave. For example Google Maps.
Actually, Google realized that current IM apps are not really useful and they aren't armed with Web 2.0's improvements.
I've seen Microsoft Kumo & Bing's photos around the web and blogged Kumo once but I saw Bing was one of the trending topics in Twitter and felt the demand on a new search engine. (You know, the old one is Google.) Web users look forward to a search engine which has much more related searches, more web 2.0 capabilities(I mean AJAX).
Even the co-founder of Apple Inc. Steve Wozniak said: "I thought it was one of the most astounding software demos I've ever seen." after Bing's presentation.
There is no doubt football is the most popular sport around the world. And later this day we will see the best football team in Europe or in the world.
Unsuccessful Italian teams made Champions League an arena which English and Spanish teams fighting.
Christiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will be orserved very sharply by the media and fans. Will modesty of Lionel Messi or self-confidency of Criastiano Ronaldo win? We'll see this that night...
I will log my new ideas about future. For now, here is what I predict:
Video projector cell-phones which Samsung already introduced will be popular. That will be an easy way to share your data, documents with other people.
Flexible screens which allow us to have non-rectangular screens. By this technology which Nippon Hoso Kyokai(NHK) have developed we'll have larger and unusual screen shapes like square, round.
Internet will be changed. Firstly, 3D Web(Probably it will be called "Web 3.0") will change the idea of surfing. And then we will say "Goodbye" to classical old fashioned web pages. So our greater helper on the web -Google- will be dead.
Gooogle Chrome looks a basic browser. But it shows its power when you are surfing around the web. New version of Google Chrome(2.0) promises new features but I think they are not enough. Form-filler, full screen mode and Opera inspired thumbnail system fix(Removal of thumbnails) are small improvements.
Why should I use Google Chrome instead of Opera? I think there is no reason to do that. Because Internet Explorer doesn't render pages properly, Firefox is boring and Chrome has poor features. But Opera has various things like mouse gestures, speed dial, e-mail, widgets, session recovery(Others have this feature, but not so improved.) and many many more.
At the first race of this season I thought new Formula cars were ugly and useless. As a "Petrol Head" I need to see muscle F1 cars. But we have been watching an exciting Formula One season.
This weekend, Brawn GP's exciting performance which rejects "big names" like Ferrari, Mclaren Mercedes and worst performer of these three BMW out of the game continued. But Jenson Button's gamble in qualifying sessions will probably be a problem for Brawn GP. Because you can't win all the time. But it's nearly certain that Brawn GP is the champion of this year after the result of diffuser & KERS trial.
Ready for some more PSP rumors? CNET's got it on good word that Sony's been talking to some of the big recording labels about putting their music on the PlayStation Network for download, specifically with the PSP in mind. It really isn't much of a stretch, especially when you think about the service's ever-growing library of movies and TV shows. And of course, Sony itself is one of the four largest music companies in the world, so if it really had to go on its own for a bit, it should be able to muster a few good artists. It's just a rumor for now, but this definitely feels like the natural progression for PSN and the company's do-everything device. You know what would go great with a PSP music download service? A slide-out gamepad and a Memory Stick HG-Micro slot to replace UMDs... Just sayin'.
Microsoft on Tuesday will open the beta for its My Phone Windows Mobile backup service to anyone who wants to try it out. The company has also disclosed some forthcoming features for the service, including ways to wipe data remotely and find lost phones using GPS.
My Phone, introduced as a limited beta in February, lets Windows Mobile users back up information such as text messages, contacts, photos and calendar items to an online storage service. Microsoft pitches it as a backup service, designed to save important data that could disappear if a user loses their phone. The service, which is free, may also be useful to people who upgrade their phone, because it should make it easier to transfer data such as contacts to a new device.
Starting Tuesday, anyone using a Windows Mobile 6.0 or higher phone can start using the service, which comes with 200MB of storage. As of Tuesday, it will also be available in all 25 languages that Windows Mobile supports. The limited beta was offered in only a handful of languages.
My Phone is still considered to be in beta, however, and will stay that way until the next version of the phone operating system, Windows Mobile 6.5, comes out.
"The general release will be much more than backup and restore," said Michael Chang, a senior product manager at Microsoft. "Now we're just getting the synch right."
One of the features that will come with the full release will let users find a lost phone, plotting its location on a map. The service will use GPS if the phone has it. If not, it will use cellular tower triangulation, or the phone's IP address if it is connected to Wi-Fi, to find the general location of the device.
My Phone will also include a remote wipe capability that allows users to erase data on the phone if it is stolen. The remote wipe and location features are sometimes offered by companies to employees but are uncommon for the mass market.
With My Phone on Windows Mobile 6.5, users will also be able to remotely make the phone ring, even if it's in silent mode. That should help people find a lost phone hiding in the couch cushions, said Chang.
Some of the new features might come with a fee each time people use them, he said. "The basic backup and restore will be free," he said. But Microsoft incurs costs when remotely waking up the phone to do things like wipe it, and it will likely pass on that cost to users.
The current My Phone service has been criticized for being too basic, but Chang said that's by design. Services from Microsoft competitors, such as Apple's MobileMe, include wireless backup features among other capabilities. "You can't really unpair the backup," he said. While Microsoft plans the additional services like the remote wipe, it wanted backup to be a given. "Every mobile user should have that enabled and it should be drop dead simple for them," he said.
The number of people using My Phone in the limited beta phase has been in the high tens of thousands, he said.
Buena Guzman is one of them. A producer at Cappy Productions and an independent computer tech support professional, she values the text message backup service the most. Logging onto her My Phone page from a computer, Guzman can search through her text messages to look for specific bits of information. That's not possible from the phone.
The 200MB storage limit is enough for her, but Chang said others have asked about the limit. While the average customer is using under 30MB and fewer than 5 percent are using up the full 200 MBs, Microsoft plans to raise the cap, although it won't be unlimited, he said.
Microsoft has begun to broaden the testing of its next-generation search technology.
For the past two months, Microsoft has been running an internal test of the technology, which is code-named Kumo. However, some of the design changes that are part of that update are now in limited public testing.
Enthusiast Ryan Rea said on Friday that he got a Live Search result that looked a lot more like screenshots of Kumo than it does to Microsoft's standard search results (see screenshot above). Of particular note is the left-hand navigation pane, a key feature of Kumo.
Rea said he started getting the new results using Live Search in Internet Explorer 8 using the release candidate build of Windows 7.
Using the same set-up, I still get the standard result, shown in the screenshot below. Microsoft told CNET News that Rea's result page is part of the company's testing efforts.
"We are continuously looking for ways to improve Live Search for both advertisers and consumers," the software maker said in a statement. "As part of that effort, we regularly conduct public tests of certain feature sets. This is an example of one such test with a very limited audience."
Microsoft is preparing for a launch of the Kumo technology as well as a rebranding of its search engine, though sources have said that name is not final and several other names have also been floating about.
Kumo, however, is expected to include more than just changes to the look of Microsoft's search engine. Among the enhancements is expected to be the inclusion of semantic search technology Microsoft got as part of last year's purchase of Powerset.
The software has a considerable game of catch-up to play as it has continued to trail Yahoo and Google despite years of investment. According to March numbers from Nielsen Online, Microsoft had 10.3 percent of the U.S. search market, as compared to 15.8 percent for Yahoo and 64.2 percent for Google.
Up until now, if you wanted Mozilla's dearly anticipated mobile port, you had a couple options: you could buy a Nokia N800 / N810, or you could score a Touch Pro and deal with a build ominously described as pre-alpha. Now the software's finally matured enough to hit Alpha 1 status -- although the Touch Pro requirement's still in place, so you fake Touch Viva owners are sadly still have to hold off a while longer. The major release improves memory behavior, moves the UI to a CSS-based solution that'll make resolution independence easier, and -- here's the biggie -- adds support for add-ons, so it seems like it's a worthwhile download if you're doing even a modicum of browsing from your phone. Next up, Mozilla plans to tackle overall Fennec performance on the WinMo platform head-on; maybe they'd care to have a go at Firefox 3 while they're at it?
With the latest update to http://developer.windowsmobile.com, Microsoft now allow developers to register to participate in Windows Marketplace for Mobile. According to Microsoft's Windows Mobile Team blog, this marks another milestone in providing Windows Mobile Developers a clear path to develop, test, certify and distribute their Windows Mobile applications via the Windows Marketplace for Mobile. Throughout the registration process, links to key documentation for distributing apps through Windows Marketplace for Mobile are provided.
While Windows Marketplace for Mobile isn't yet operating, it's expected it will be launched together with the release of Windows Mobile 6.5.
When it comes to a franchise as beloved as Star Trek, I suppose it's important to let people know where you stand, right at the beginning: I never was able to get into the original Star Trek series (probably because I'd already been indoctrinated into the Star Wars religion), but I knew enough to become a big fan of the first three cinematic adaptations. I think The Motion Picture is a fine (if slightly overlong) re-awakening of the franchise, and I'm a big fan of both The Wrath of Khan and The Search for Spock. The rest of the features are slight and forgettable (at best) or drearily familiar, which is slightly annoying because I absolutely adore The Next Generation on the small screen. On the big one? Not so much.
But beyond the impact and popularity of a lone franchise, I'm just a huge science fiction fan. Anything that can delve deep into the future and dazzle me with something flashy or fascinating is a good thing indeed. But what makes Star Trek such a long-lasting and rabidly adored franchise is that it goes beyond simple "alien adventures" and touches upon ideas, questions, and issues that we always contend with in the "real" world. If you have to travel 100,000 miles and deal with purple aliens to make a clever point about, say, racism, then let's hear it for basic-yet-admirable subtext. So yes, Star Trek has always been a smart, insightful, and topical space adventure, but this time out ... it's mostly just fun.
Yes, it's an all-new reboot of one of the most beloved series of all time. Which means director J.J. Abrams and his filmmaking crew are walking on very thin ice. True, it's not like the Star Trek series has never seen a bad film, but when you're retro-fitting a mega-franchise in very loud and expensive fashion ... the fans take notice. And they're not afraid to call bullshit at the drop of a hat or a crack in the canon, which is part of what makes the new Star Trek such a pleasant surprise. Not only did they "pull it off," but they've done so in rather grand fashion: This is the best Trek since Khan got all wrathful and such.
It's an origin story, which is normally snooze central, but in this case ... well, do you actually KNOW how Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Uhura, etc., all met up at the start? I'd assume that only the hardest of hardcore fans know that stuff, and the "flashback" approach allows us to accept an all-new cast as a simple part of the equation. The story of young Kirk, who lost his father only one second after being born, turning away from a rebellious streak and enlisting in Starfleet, only to slowly acquire a rather eclectic crew of friends while battling a mercilessly evil villain ... yeah, this stuff is just plain old fun.
And what a entertaining film this will be for the movie geeks to dig through: Shot like a dream, cut real tight, scored with majesty and power, packed with dazzling sights and sounds and sly little pieces of banter. We've also got the requisite chase and escape stuff, a few nifty creatures, a sweet dash of romance, and even some time-travel twistiness that all but demands repeat viewings. Hell, you could know nothing about the words Star Trek and still find a lot to enjoy here.
Any of the old-school Star Trek fans can tell you: It's the cast that makes or breaks a series. And while it's way too early to tell if this new gang will make a fan-friendly impact, going only by one fine film, this ensemble is aces across the board. So while we don't have that friendly sort of familiarity that we normally have with Star Trek, it's replaced with the sensation of meeting interesting "new" characters who might be a little bit younger (and, yes, a lot prettier) but are still just as likable. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto excel as Kirk and Spock (respectively), but big chunks of the film are stolen by the likes of Uhura (Zoe Saldana), McCoy (Karl Urban), and good ol' Scotty (Simon Pegg). Compliments also to Eric Bana's brooding villainy, Bruce Greenwood's classy authority, and Ben Cross' overt Vulcanosity. (And was that ... Winona Ryder? Nah, couldn't be.) No, this is not the Enterprise crew we know and love, but I know enough to crave a few more adventures with the new guys.
As Star Trek is character(s) first and plot second, it's understood that we spend a lot of time getting reacquainted with everyone, but of course there's just enough of an adventure story to keep the flick cooking. Eric Bana stars as a horrific Romulan with a massive grudge, one who's not afraid to leap back in time to satisfy his lust for revenge. But the real arc of the flick is Jim Kirk, and his journey from Enterprise stowaway to captain. The screenwriters run through a whole lot of road-blocks and temporal contortions to give the Star Trek faithful a reboot to remember, and I'd say they've done one heck of a job. Via http://www.cinematical.com
Check it suits, Nokia just spat another E-series device into the boardroom. What the E52 lacks in looks it makes up for with battery specs: 8 hours of talk or 23 days of standby. Otherwise it's an A-GPS, WiFi, HSUPA data, and 3.2 megapixel candybar with generous support for your IT environments via built-in mobile VPN, Call Connect, and choice of corporate email options including Nokia Messaging, Exchange, and yes, Lotus Notes too for all you accountants. Ships in the second half of the year for €245, pre-subsidy and pre-tax. Get your corporate funk on with the video after the break.
Anticipated for months, Samsung's first Android phone is finally a (paper) reality after being flushed through the rumor mill just hours ago. Launching "in major European countries from June," the 11.9-mm slim quad-band GSM, tri-band 7.2Mbps HSDPA (900/1700/2100MHz) candybar packs a 3.2-inch, 320 x 480 pixel AMOLED touchscreen, WiFi, GPS, 5 megapixel camera with Power LED, 1,500mAh battery, 8GB of storage (plus MicroSD expansion for up to 32GB more), and a standard 3.5mm headset jack. Step aside HTC, you had your chance, let's all welcome Samsung to the Android party. Another picture and full press release after the break.
P.S. Although no US announcements have been made, that 1700MHz HSPA frequency could make T-Mobile USA customers very happy.
April 27, 2009, Seoul, Korea - Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a leading mobile phone provider, today unveiled the I7500, its first Android-powered mobile phone. With a launch of I7500, Samsung became the first company among the global top three mobile phone manufacturers to unveil an Android-powered phone.
"Samsung is among the earliest members of the Open Handset Alliance and has been actively moving forward to introduce the most innovative Android mobile phone," said JK Shin, Executive Vice President and Head of Mobile Communication Division in Samsung Electronics. "With Samsung's accumulated technology leadership in mobile phone industry and our consistent strategy to support every existing operating system, I believe that Samsung provides the better choices and benefits to our consumers" he added.
The Samsung I7500 is a cutting-edge smartphone, featuring a 3.2" AMOLED full touch screen and 7.2Mbps HSDPA and WiFi connectivity, giving users access to Google Mobile services and full web browsing at blazing speeds.
The Samsung I7500 offers users access to the full suite of Google services, including Google Search, Google Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Google Calendar, and Google Talk. The integrated GPS receiver enables the comprehensive use of Google Maps features, such as My Location, Google Latitude, Street View, local search and detailed route description. Hundreds of other applications are available in Android Market. For example, the application Wikitude, a mobile travel guide, allows consumers to access details of unknown sights via location-based Wikipedia articles.
Based on Samsung's proven product leadership, Samsung I7500 comes with latest multimedia features. The large and vivid 3.2"AMOLED display ensures the brilliant representation of multimedia content and enjoyable full touch mobile experience. Along with supporting a 5-megapixel camera and various multimedia codec formats, the I7500 also provides a long enough battery life (1500mAh) and generous memory capacity up to 40GB (Internal memory: 8GB, External memory: Up to 32GB) to enjoy all the applications and multimedia content. The phone also boasts its slim and compact design with mere 11.9mm thickness.
The Samsung I7500 will be available in major European countries from June, 2009.
HSDPA 7.2Mbps / HSUPA 5.76Mbps (900 / 1700/ 2100MHz)
EDGE / GPRS (850/ 900/1800/1900)
OS
Android
Display
3.2" HVGA(320x480) AMOLED
Camera
5 MP Camera (Auto Focus), Power LED
Video / Audio
Video: MPEG4, H.263, H.264, WMV
Audio: MP3, AAC, AAC+, e-AAC+, WMA, RA
Value Added
Features
Full Web Browser Google Search, Maps, Gmail,
YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, Android Market
Connectivity
Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0, WiFi, MicroUSB, 3.5mm ear jack
Memory
Internal memory: 8GB
External memory: Micro SD (Up to 32GB)
Battery
1500 mAh
Size
115 x 56 x 11.9mm
Here's what the official press release won't tell you about Ubuntu 9.
Its designers have polished the hell out of its user interface since the last release in October.
So much so, in fact, that I am starting to prefer using my Ubuntu "Jaunty Jackalope" desktop over the similarly slick Windows 7 beta (which I am currently running full-time on one desktop) and Mac OS X Leopard operating ...
We've seen plenty of speculation on this date, but thanks to a quick email from Microsoft reps -- and a handy post on the Windows Blog -- we now have confirmation. According to the cats and kittens in Redmond, the Windows 7 RC will be officially available to MSDN and TechNet subscribers on April 30th, and will be made publicly available on May 5th. End transmission... and bust out the champagne.
You know that 3D bandwagon you're still hesitant to jump on? We get the feeling that this year's NAB show may just push you over the top. Shortly after hearing of Fujifilm's newest P2 memory cards comes this, a conceptual camcorder in which to eventually slot 'em in. Currently, Panasonic's 3D Full HD Camera Recorder is merely a prototype, but it's made clear that the company intends to bring this to market as soon as possible. Essentially, the device will boast a twin-lens system for capturing 3D footage natively in 1080p, and all of the video streams will be stored on Panny's professional P2 cards. It's hard to say if this would even be useful for 2D shooting on the side, but with practically every major studio at least considering (if not committing to) 3D production, we'd say it's a solid investment on Panasonic's part either way.
If you didn't like the way Android 1.0 looked, odds are you're not going to find 1.5 much more to your taste, but some ultra-minor refinements to the latest version's UI elements help add some extra spit and polish that's been missing since the initial launch. The official Android Developers Blog has published a heads-up to devs out there over concerns that the tweaks could break UIs in existing applications; specifically, the minimum width of some elements has been slashed by 20 pixels, so certain layouts could end up looking all wonky. That said, we're digging the revamped contact creation screen (pictured on the right, versus the old style on the left) -- so even if the changes are glacial, at least they're glacial moves in the right direction.
Federal authorities aren't looking to prosecute them, but to pay them to secure the nation's networks.
General Dynamics Information Technology put out an ad last month on behalf of the Homeland Security Department seeking someone who could "think like the bad guy." Applicants, it said, must understand hackers' tools and tactics and be able to analyze Internet traffic and identify vulnerabilities in the federal systems.
In the Pentagon's budget request submitted last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Pentagon will increase the number of cyberexperts it can train each year from 80 to 250 by 2011.
With warnings that the U.S. is ill-prepared for a cyberattack, the White House conducted a 60-day study of how the government can better manage and use technology to protect everything from the electrical grid and stock markets to tax data, airline flight systems, and nuclear launch codes.
President Barack Obama appointed a former Bush administration aide, Melissa Hathaway, to head the effort, and her report was delivered Friday, the White House said.
While the country had detailed plans for floods, fires or errant planes drifting into protected airspace, there is no similar response etched out for a major computer attack.
David Powner, director of technology issues for the Government Accountability Office, told Congress last month that the U.S. has no recovery plan for a digital disaster.
"We're clearly not as prepared as we should be," he said.
Administration officials says the U.S. has not kept pace with technological innovations needed to protect its computer networks against emerging threats from hackers, criminals or other nations looking for national security secrets.
U.S. computer networks, including those at the Pentagon and other federal agencies, are under persistent attack, ranging from nuisance hacking to more nefarious assaults, possibly from other nations, such as China. Industry leaders told Congress during a recent hearing that law enforcement and other protections are too outdated to fend off threats from criminals, terrorists and unfriendly foreign nations.
Just last week, a former government official revealed that spies had hacked into the U.S. electric grid and left behind computer programs that would let them disrupt service. The intrusions were discovered after electric companies gave the government permission to audit their systems, said the ex-official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Cyberthreats are also included as a key potential national security risk outlined in a classified report put together by Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Pentagon officials say they spent more than $100 million in the last six months responding to and repairing damage from cyberattacks and other computer network problems.
Nadia Short, vice president at General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, said the job posting for ethical hackers fills a critical need for the government.
The analysts keep constant watch on the government networks as part of a program called Einstein that was initiated by the Bush administration under the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team.
Short said the $60 million, four-year contract with US-CERT uses the ethical hackers to analyze threats to the government's computer systems and develop ways to reduce vulnerabilities.
Faced with such cyberchallenges, Obama ordered the 60-day review to examine how federal agencies manage and protect their massive amounts of data and what the government's role should be in guarding the vast networks that control the country's vital utilities and infrastructure.
Over the past two months, Hathaway met with hundreds of industry leaders, Capitol Hill staff and other experts, seeking guidance on what the federal government's role should be in protecting information networks against an attack. She sought recommendations on how officials should define and report cyberincidents and attacks; how the government should structure its cyberoversight; and how the nation can increase security without stifling innovation.A task force of technology giants, including representatives from General Dynamics, IBM, Lockheed Martin and Hewlett-Packard Co. urged the administration to establish a White House-level official to lead cyberefforts and to develop ways to share information on problems more quickly with the private sector.The administration has struggled with the basics, such as who should control the nation's cyberspace programs. There appears to be some agreement now that the White House should coordinate the overall effort, rejecting suggestions that the National Security Agency take it on — a plan that triggered protests on Capitol Hill and from civil liberties groups worried about giving such control to spy agencies.
To design Windows 7, Microsoft analyzed billions of pieces of data. It studied exactly what PC users do in front of their screens. It tallied hundreds of thousands of Windows surveys. It got feedback from people all over the world who tried different versions of the software.
As a result, every change or new feature in Windows 7 comes with a back story. Here is a sampling of things you'll see in the next operating system and explanations of how each came about.
• New feature: You decide the left-to-right order of icons in the task bar at the bottom of your screen.
• Back story: Microsoft's research showed Vista users commonly launching a series of programs, then closing and immediately reopening some. Microsoft realized that these people wanted their programs to appear in the same order on the task bar every time.
• New feature: Right-click on a task bar icon and get a "jump list," a menu of important or frequently used options for the program.
• Back story: Microsoft had resisted the idea of hiding a key feature behind a right click, worried people wouldn't find it. But the data showed most people right-click on icons to see what that might do.
• New feature: Drag one open window to the left side of the screen, then another to the right side to line them up so they are the same size and side by side.
• Back story: Microsoft couldn't initially figure out why people were spending so much time resizing windows and dragging them around. It turned out that users were trying to give themselves a side-by-side view of documents for easy comparison.
• New feature: Libraries, or virtual folders that have shortcuts to files that are actually stored in many different places on a hard drive or home network.
• Back story: From its Vista data, Microsoft could see people's photos, music and other files were swelling in number and stashed all over the place, not organized into the dedicated folders Microsoft had set up.
• New feature: "Shake" an open window with your mouse to make all the other ones "minimize" into the task bar.
• Back story: Microsoft's research showed that people often had six or even 10 windows open at once, which gets distracting. Shake is one of several features designed to help people tame all the open windows.
• New feature: Move your mouse to the bottom-right corner to make all your windows temporarily transparent. Then click the mouse, and all the windows minimize.
• Back story: What's notable here is what Microsoft didn't do. There's no tutorial or bubble advertising the feature, a small step toward making Windows 7 quieter than Vista. "We want people to confidently explore the system," said Sam Moreau, a user experience manager.
It's kinda cool when someone in the family releases a top-rated mobile app, we thought it'd be a good opportunity to sit down for a second and compare it to Stocks -- the built-in "finance" app that every iPhone owner has whether they want it or not -- and another top-rated finance app, Bloomberg. The screen shots tell much of the tale; read on for the quick take, but here's a preview of what we found: Apple should get out of this business and let the big boys play. We're no Wall Street wizards -- we're more Kevin Bacon's character in his bike messenger days in Quicksilver than Vin Diesel in his Ferrari days in Boiler Room -- but in the final analysis, one thing's very clear: the iPhone's built-in Stocks app sucks, which you don't really come to realize and appreciate until after you've played with these heavier-duty options from AOL and Bloomberg. It leads us to wonder why it's there to begin with, and furthermore, why they've continued to work on it for 3.0 by adding landscape mode. Like the equally-weak Weather app, Apple would be better served by cutting Stocks out of the firmware and leaving it to companies that have the know-how and the vested interest in producing a quality product (like, say, The Weather Channel in place of Weather). As for the battle between Bloomberg and Daily Finance, they're both fantastically detailed with tons of options for tracking your portfolio, checking out a variety of chart time ranges in landscape view, staying up on corporate and world news, and keeping tabs on global indexes. Ultimately, we'd say they're neck-and-neck; since they're free, we recommend you download and try them both. We preferred the way that Daily Finance presented news for individual stocks -- on their own tab to reduce clutter -- and liked the fact that you have far more news categories available to you. On the flipside, we marginally preferred the high-contrast visual appearance of Bloomberg -- it seemed just a little more "professional" to us. Either way, though, do yourself a favor and relegate Stocks to some unused page at the very back of your home screen.
As fast-growing Facebook closes in on MySpace in the U.S. in terms of unique visitors later this year, it's burning through millions of dollars a month (some claim it's as high as $20 million), with no magic levers to reverse the trend in the short term.In November 2007, when Facebook took a $240 million stake from Microsoft, the investment was at a $15 billion valuation. Now it's down to $4 billion and probably less. As Caroline McCarthy reported a few days ago, rumor has it that "one potential investor submitted a term sheet for a valuation in the neighborhood of $2 billion."As Facebook works its way toward a probable IPO, the big question is: how can it show it can make money? Well, one way--and I'm not the first to suggest it--would be to charge a nominal monthly fee. With that in mind, I ask a simple question: how much would you be willing to pay to use Facebook per month?A lot of people I ask say they'd pay $1 a month--or, preferably, a yearly fee of $10 if paid in one shot. But some say they have Facebook fatigue and would rather quit than pay a dime.
Commercial and grassroots efforts to reskin Windows Mobile are nothing new, but we were particularly taken aback by the "WM7 Titanium Project" that's coming together over on xda-developers (where else?) with the goal of crafting a Windows Mobile 7-like experience from a device running 6.5. Of course, no one's exactly sure what version 7 is going to look like just yet, but that's not going to stop folks from taking a stab at it -- and we've got to say, when random individuals can make WinMo-based user interfaces look this good in just a few weeks' or months' worth of fiddling, it really does make you wonder what the hell Microsoft is doing up in Redmond with its gobs of money, talent, and time. Unfortunately, the skin's only compatible with WVGA devices running cooked 6.5 ROMs right now, which limits your selection pretty significantly to say the least -- but WQVGA is in the works, so stay tuned.
Microsoft has identified May 11th as the official release date for Windows Mobile 6.5, according to a corporate blog. The date coincides with the opening of Microsoft's TechEd 2009 conference, where developers and IT specialists will be given a demonstration of the OS accompanied by a list of planned changes. TechEd visitors will also have the option of attending separate sessions on v6.5 topics, such as touch and gesture commands.
An updated Windows Mobile may be critical to the software's persistence. Though currently widespread amongst smartphones, the v6.1 OS is threatened by a growing wave of platforms more friendly to touch commands, such as the Apple iPhone and the Palm Pre. Windows Mobile 6.5 has been designed to be easier to use on touch displays, for instance through the accommodation of large icons on the Home screen. Phones preloaded with the OS are not expected until the fall.
Automakers have to walk a thin line when updating a sales success or perennial favorite. It's even worse when the outgoing model embodies both traits. The "evolution not revolution" line gets tossed around the engineering and design centers with the hope the two teams can build off the current model's strengths while simultaneously delivering the upgraded content consumers expect. The 2010 Mazda3 proves it can be done.
With nearly one-third of all Mazdas sold with a 3 appended to the rear, the 2010 model had to continue to meet and exceed expectations in its class, something that's difficult to do when battling it out for compact supremacy among Toyota Corollas and Honda Civics. Thankfully, the features that made the original Mazda3 the leader in its segment – an expressive exterior, well-appointed interior and surprisingly engaging driving dynamics – not only carry over for 2010, but have been improved across the board.
After a day of driving, the new 3 wasn't the only one wearing a grin. And oh, what a grin it is.
The new corporate face of Mazda is unexpectedly endearing in person. Pulled from the series of Nagare concepts that have graced show stands over the past three years, the new fascia is slightly overwhelming at first glance, but once you get past the massive five-point grille and start admiring the details, it's far more cohesive than it comes across in photos.
Despite the arresting amount of black plastic, the air inlet feeding the radiator is actually smaller than the outgoing model. Most of the stretched, diamond-shaped detailing is blocked off, further enhancing the new 3's aerodynamic shape that registers in at .29 Cd for the sedan and .31 for the wagon. The intakes flanking the grille are sculpted in such a way that they protrude out of the front bumper in a series of angles and lines that prove incredibly complimentary and tie in with the bulbous front fenders and swept back headlamps. The 3 is unmistakably Mazda, but fans of the Nagare theme may question if this was the best application of the marque's "flow" aesthetic.
The sides of both the sedan and wagon benefit from a subtle crease that begins at the leading edge of the front door, sweeps upwards and widens at the rear. While we've always been fans of the five-door over the standard sedan, the new four-door model is remarkably more attractive than before, losing much of the outgoing model's anonycar profile for something that's both aggressive and subdued.
More surprisingly, it's hard to pick a favorite rump between the hatch and the sedan. Both are completely reworked, with the four-door benefiting from a strong character line surrounding the trunk and a small lip spoiler that perfectly accentuates the organic creases. The hatch also undergoes an overhaul, but the design is much closer to the first generation model, save the stretched pentagon-shaped window inspired by the new fascia and a tweaked spoiler that bleeds off the roof. Both body styles feature distinctly different tail-lamps, each angular and each bulging off the fenders. They're incredibly attractive, although the clear housings are a nod to the '90s that disrupts an otherwise 21st century design.
Mazda isn't immune from the trend of making vehicles larger and safer – and thus, heavier – but with the strategic use of high-tensile steel, bending rigidity is up by 7% and torsional rigidity is the same as the outgoing model, helping the body-in-white drop some 24 pounds.
However, when applying the new trim levels and optional equipment, the overall weight is increased by between 50 and 100 pounds. It's a nominal gain in this day and age, but still means the 2010 model can exceed 3,000 pounds depending on spec.
Although the wheelbase of the new 3 still spans 103.9 inches, the front and rear overhangs have increased the overall length to 180.9 inches. The larger fuel tank and redesigned exhaust suck up any additional space inside, but when an interior is this good, both driver and passengers alike aren't worried about a few fractions of an inch here and there.
Inside, it's clear Mazda's "Zoom-Zoom" ethic doesn't stop with an exceptional chassis and competent drivetrains. The interior is focused on the driver, with all the primary controls within easy reach and in many cases, canted inward ala old-school BMWs. The instrument panel is comprised of an oversized speedometer and tach, with a digital fuel gauge and trip computer nestled in between. Disturbingly, there's no coolant temperature gauge, something we hope is rectified when the Mazdaspeed3 goes on sale later this year.
To the right of the driver are two displays: a multi-information screen showing fuel metrics, stereo settings and other useful tidbits (or houses the optional navigation system), with a smaller LCD to the right that displays the climate control and shows basic audio information. Both displays are clear and uncluttered, although the tiny screen makes the navigation system seem like an afterthought and the software's ease-of-use is hit-and-miss. More problematic: the controls for the GPS are only accessible by steering wheel-mounted switchgear, so passengers who want to select a destination are left twiddling their thumbs while the driver navigates through the menu substructure.
The list of options on our maxed-out S Grand Touring tester reads like a late-model Mercedes-Benz, and includes automatic, self-leveling bi-xenon headlamps; push-button start; dual-zone climate control; rain-sensing wipers; heated mirrors and seats; leather; an eight-way adjustable driver's seat with three-position memory; a Bose 10-speaker audio system with iPod and Bluetooth connectivity; Sirius satellite radio; and stability and traction control. In short, there's more kit available than the outgoing 3 and it comes in $240 less than a comparably equipped 2009 model. Looking to downsize, but still want a modicum of luxury? The Mazda3 has you covered. And fuel-economy and power is up to boot.
Two engines are available for 2010: the "i" model's 2.0-liter inline-four putting out 148 hp and 135 lb-ft of torque, or the all-new 2.5-liter MZR four-cylinder (which replaces the 2.3-liter mill). The latter puts out 167 hp and 168 lb-ft of torque in "s" trim. Coupled with either a five-speed auto 'box or a welcomed six-speed manual, the "s" with the manual gearbox is rated at 21 mpg city and 29 mpg highway, while the "i" variant comes in at 25 city and 33 highway.
Out on the road, everything we loved about the original 3 is present in spades. The steering is more communicative than some sports cars we've sampled, transmitting information directly from the road to your palms, yet the system avoids any sensation of on-edge skittishness. The brakes are both progressive and powerful, and after repeated threshold stops and ABS activations, they never faded and continued to offer a predictable pedal feel.
While the new 2.5-liter doesn't offer a particularly sexy or refined engine note, power delivery is linear and more than adequate for both runs around town and the occasional back-road excursion. The six-speed manual is exactly what we'd expect in a modern-day Mazda – smooth, precise and rewarding to row – while the learning curve for clutch take-up is as shallow as a middle-school cheerleader.
But more than anything, it's how all these pieces play together with the chassis and the 205/50 R17 rubber (on "s" models) that continues to amaze and inspire. Unlike its closest competitors, you get the sense Mazda's engineers put the driving experience at the top of their task list, but not at the expense of ride and comfort. The chassis soaks up road imperfections with aplomb, and only the most maniacal mid-corner corrections on less-than-perfect surfaces upset the 3's composure. When pushed, the Mazda3 shoves, transitioning from class-leading levels of grip to progressive understeer that's easily controlled with a slight lift of the throttle or a left-foot dab of the brake.
Although the tweaks to the 3's chassis are minimal – an additional mount for the steering rack (from two to three), the aforementioned structural enhancements and front and rear anti-rollbars positioned further outward – it all adds up to deliver a crisp, polished package that stands in stark contrast to the dynamically numb competition that often charge more and deliver less.
Both the Mazda3 four-door and five-door are available for almost every budget, ranging from the entry-level "i" sv sedan with a five-speed manual starting at $15,045, to the range-topping, automatic-equipped "s" wagon GrandTouring at $22,300. With a plethora of options that could keep even the most jaded luxury refugee pleased and a chassis that delivers almost all the dynamic thrills of a focused sports sedan, the 2010 Mazda3 is easily the final word on engaging transportation on a budget. And above all else, that's something to smile about.
In what's being described as a landmark verdict, four men responsible for assisting throngs of dubious internet users to download all sorts of copyrighted material are being ushered off to prison cells for twelve whole months. The Stockholm district court in Sweden found the defendants guilty not of hosting materially illegally, but of "providing a website with sophisticated search functions, simple download and storage capabilities, and a tracker linked to the website [that helped users commit copyright violations]." As expected, the foursome seems unaffected by the ruling, with Peter Sunde (shown) tweeting that "it used to be only movies, now even verdicts are out before the official release." After jail, the crew will be forced by pay 30 million kronor ($3.56 million) to a number of entertainment companies, which is far less than those firms were hoping for. Curiously, we're told that the verdict didn't include an order to shut down The Pirate Bay website, and you can pretty much bank on an appeal being filed in record time.
Denon released the AVC-1610 receiver to its Japanese customers, and we can only assume it will make its way to other markets soon as the replacement for, of course, the AVR-1609 model. The specs we teased out of the machine translation look pretty good -- the same 75-Watt (130-Watt maximum into 6-Ohms) amplification as the outgoing model, but HDMI inputs have moved up a notch to three, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD MA and Dolby ProLogic IIz have been added to the surround audio processing support, and analog-to-HDMI video conversion is now onboard as well, which should help clean things up your cabling. Now if Denon would only add preamp outputs to this model, we'd be set. The AVC-1610 is set for mid-May availability in Japan at ¥55,000 ($550), which should give interested shoppers plenty of time to start planning whether to buy a new AVR-1610 or score a deal on last year's AVR-1609.
Enough is never enough. Not when you're talking supercars and Nürburgring lap times. As if enough jaws weren't dropped when Nissan posted their fantastic initial time of 7:29 around the vaunted Nordschleife (besting Porsche's best), the automaker's engineers went back to the garage looking for a little extra for 2010. They came back with a slightly updated version, with five extra horsepower and revised dual-clutch transmission with updated launch control, plus a bigger fuel tank, new tires and a retuned suspension. So what effect would these modifications have on the GT-R's 'Ring run? About a second and a half off the record, which now stands for the Japanese supercar at an awe-inspiring 7:27.56.
According to Nissan, the time was posted using a 2010 GT-R with the optional V-Spec wheels and tires, driven by former F1 tester Toshio Suzuki. Fantastic as that time is, it's still another second short of the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1's 7:26.4 (to say nothing of the Dodge Viper ACR's 7:22.1), so Nissan will be back at it. And without the dirt and dust which the Japanese team says was coating the track to impede its lap time, they figure they just might find enough extra speed to claim the record. Details in the press release after the jump.
So, there's good news and bad news here, and we're opting to go against tradition by dishing out the positive first. Nokia just pushed out its Q1 2009 results, and while many firms have been struggling to stay afloat, at least it managed to turn a profit of €122 million ($160 million). That said, it's still looking at a staggering 90 percent drop in profits compared to its first quarter of 2008, where it raked in a mind-boggling €1.222 billion ($1.6 billion). Not surprisingly, sales were also down 27 percent to €9.28 billion ($12.2 billion) from €12.7 billion ($16.7 billion). Of course, Nokia's far from being alone in having to showcase less-than-beautiful Q1 numbers, but in reality, the damage could've been much worse; in fact, shares of the company's stock inched up by 8 percent following the reveal, as many had feared an even more significant decline. All in all, Nokia's still holding strong to a 37 percent market share worldwide, and if CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo has anything to do with it (hint: he does), things should be on the up and up here soon.
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