LQX

SpaceX Dragon is ready for launch (update: launched!), view the live stream now

Engadget — Tue, 22 May 2012 03:20:00 MST

After being scrubbed a few days ago, it appears we are just minutes from viewing the launch of SpaceX's Dragon capsule on a Falcon 9 rocket. The plan is to become the first private company to successfully deliver cargo to the space station, as a step towards manned missions and eventually, Mars. Launch time is officially set for 3:44AM ET, and you can view it live via NASA's UStream embedded after the break or on SpaceX's feed at the source link. Assuming all goes well it will be a few more days until we actually see the capsule dock with the ISS, and we'll keep you updated every step of the way.

Update: This time the launch took place on schedule, and the Dragon capsule is on its way to space. NASA has a press conference planned for after the launch coverage ends at 5:15AM.

Continue reading SpaceX Dragon is ready for launch (update: launched!), view the live stream now

SpaceX Dragon is ready for launch (update: launched!), view the live stream now originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 May 2012 03:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | SpaceX | Email this | Comments

Exploit uses firewalls to hijack smartphones, turns friends into foes

Engadget — Tue, 22 May 2012 03:18:00 MST

Normally, firewalls at cellular carriers are your best friends, screening out malware before it ever touches your phone. University of Michigan computer science researchers have found that those first lines of defense could be your enemy through a new exploit. As long as a small piece of malware sits on a device, that handset can infer TCP data packet sequence numbers coming from the firewall and hijack a phone's internet traffic with phishing sites, fake messages or other rogue code. The trick works on at least 48 carriers that use firewalls from Check Point, Cisco, Juniper and other networking heavy hitters -- AT&T being one of those providers. Carriers can turn the sequences off, although there are consequences to that as well. The only surefire solution is to either run antivirus apps if you're on a mobile OS like Android or else to run a platform that doesn't allow running unsigned apps at all, like iOS or Windows Phone. Whether or not the exploit is a serious threat is still far from certain, but we'll get a better sense of the risk on May 22nd, when Z. Morley Mao and Zhiyun Qian step up to the podium at an IEEE security symposium and deliver their findings.

Exploit uses firewalls to hijack smartphones, turns friends into foes originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 May 2012 03:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Ars Technica | University of Michigan (PDF) | Email this | Comments

Maker Faire Bay Area 2012, in pictures: 3D printers, unicorns, tesla coils and zombies (video)

Engadget — Tue, 22 May 2012 02:33:00 MST

Did you miss Maker Faire Bay Area 2012? Did you go but want to relive the experience a little? Well look no further: we came, we saw, we conquered. As one of our friends acutely observed, you couldn't throw something this year without hitting a 3D printer. Below you'll find pictures of said 3D printers, but also unicorns, Tesla coils and yes, even zombies (!) -- all lovingly curated from the hundreds of shots we took at the event this past weekend. Craving something with a bit more meat? We've made a convenient list of our Maker Faire posts. Once you're done digesting that, hit the break for our lovely video montage.

Gallery: Maker Faire Bay Area 2012

Continue reading Maker Faire Bay Area 2012, in pictures: 3D printers, unicorns, tesla coils and zombies (video)

Maker Faire Bay Area 2012, in pictures: 3D printers, unicorns, tesla coils and zombies (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 May 2012 02:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

MetroPCS and T-Mobile want Dish to give up half of its wireless spectrum, worry about ...

Engadget — Tue, 22 May 2012 01:53:00 MST

Dish Network might not start up its LTE-based 4G network until as late as 2016, but that hasn't stopped MetroPCS and T-Mobile from jointly telling the FCC that the would-be carrier needs to make some concessions for small carriers to rest easy. Both of the complaints have a common proposal that would see Dish give up 20MHz of its 40MHz space in the 2GHz range to prevent the satellite giant from using its abundant airwaves as part of a cash grab: MetroPCS and T-Mobile are worried Dish will just try for a "windfall" and sell the spectrum it doesn't need to AT&T or Verizon. While it's not asking for a sell-off, the Rural Cellular Association is still jittery about concentrations of power and wants the FCC to make Dish hit certain build-out targets, offer roaming at wholesale rates and require FCC approval for any roaming deal that would go to Big Blue or Big Red. The big carriers' advocacy group, the CTIA, is unsurprisingly against build-out demands as "unduly burdensome." FCC officials have been silent by comparison, although the agency has encouraged spreading spectrum around and proposed its own expansion requirements. You'll likely see smartphones with 2GHz frequencies at some point in the future -- it's just a matter of whether Dish or someone else slaps its logo on top.

MetroPCS and T-Mobile want Dish to give up half of its wireless spectrum, worry about AT&T and Verizon swooping in originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 May 2012 01:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink FierceBroadbandWireless | T-Mobile (PDF), MetroPCS (PDF), CTIA (PDF), RCA (PDF) | Email this | Comments

Electric Motor Werks hands-on at Maker Faire (video)

Engadget — Tue, 22 May 2012 00:55:00 MST

Have a BMW 3-Series that requires major engine work? Want to convert it to electric and improve performance, ActiveE style? The folks at Electric Motor Werks have you covered. Instead of making purpose-built electric cars, the company -- which showed a converted 3-Series sedan and coupé at Maker Faire Bay Area 2012 -- provides affordable and environmentally responsible electric conversion kits for the BMW E46. These are available directly to consumers but Electric Motor Werks is also building a network of installers (via tuner / speed shops) and setting up its own facilities.

We chatted with founder Val Miftakhov who gave us a tour of the prototype kit in the vehicles on display, so head past the break for more information and for our hands-on video.

Gallery: Electric Motor Werks hands-on

Continue reading Electric Motor Werks hands-on at Maker Faire (video)

Electric Motor Werks hands-on at Maker Faire (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 May 2012 00:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

Inrix Traffic 4 for iOS helps drivers avoid traffic congestion and estimate arrival times (video)

Engadget — Tue, 22 May 2012 00:01:00 MST

Love driving but hate traffic? We hear you, and so do the people at Inrix. While the company might not come to the forefront of your mind when you consider the crowded world of navigation solutions, Inrix is a significant player in the field -- even if much of its presence exists behind the scenes. The company collects and analyzes data points from nearly 100 million sources, and now it's putting that information to work with Inrix Traffic 4 for iOS. In addition to helping users avoid congestion brought on by road work, police activity, local events and traffic accidents, the app now provides drivers with optimal routes and estimated arrival times for their two most common destinations -- a feature that's somewhat reminiscent of Nokia Drive 3. Inrix also leverages its data analysis to provide users with ideal departure times and even estimate traffic congestion throughout the day based on historical information. What's more, commuters can now quickly provide these estimated arrival times and routes to loved ones and co-workers via text message or email.

While the basic version of Inrix Traffic 4 is free, you'll have the option of upgrading to a premium version for $24.99, which brings traffic camera information and allows you to add more than two common destination points. We're told that Android users will soon find these features work their way across the aisle, although Inrix isn't yet ready to give a specific arrival date. If you're curious to learn more about Inrix Traffic 4, just hop the break for a demo video and the full PR.

Continue reading Inrix Traffic 4 for iOS helps drivers avoid traffic congestion and estimate arrival times (video)

Inrix Traffic 4 for iOS helps drivers avoid traffic congestion and estimate arrival times (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 May 2012 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

HTC One S teardown leaves little to the imagination (video)

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 23:22:00 MST

Whether you're looking to replace a damaged screen, swap a battery, or just make damn sure that the warranty of your HTC One S is void, DirectFix can help with its latest teardown video. This is the first time that we've seen a detailed inner peek at the smartphone itself, and those who appreciate fine craftsmanship are sure to dig this one. To get deep within the phone, you'll need a nylon spudger, a Torx T5 and precision Phillips screwdriver, along with steady hands and -- if the display's adhesive isn't cooperating -- a hairdryer. Once the handset's back cover is removed, it becomes quite easy to see how the battery pack dominates the inner space, which is complemented up top by a blue plastic shield that includes the lens cover and protects the main board. From there, many fragile connectors must be removed before the display can be separated from the handset, which is attached with adhesive. Naturally, putting the phone back together can be a bit tricky in its own right, which makes it quite a shame that YouTube videos can't play in reverse.

Continue reading HTC One S teardown leaves little to the imagination (video)

HTC One S teardown leaves little to the imagination (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 23:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | DirectFix (YouTube) | Email this | Comments

Amazon Appstore's Test Drive try before you buy feature now available on Android phones

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 22:43:00 MST

When Amazon's Appstore initially appeared on the Android scene last year, one of its most innovative features was a Test Drive virtual machine that let users try out apps for free from their desktop, and now that technology has come back to the handset. In the newest update pushed today and pictured above, release-2.6.53 adds beta support for the cloud-based Test Drive feature to let users try out new software within the Appstore app itself. According to the description the feature is enabled on "select" Android phones and apps, although we didn't find any to try it out with on our Galaxy S II. Check for an update within the app to try it out for yourself or click the Appstore link below from your phone to snag the latest version.

Amazon Appstore's Test Drive try before you buy feature now available on Android phones originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 22:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Amazon Appstore APK | Email this | Comments

Autoblog Podcast #283 goes LIVE at 10PM Eastern

AutoBlog — Mon, 21 May 2012 22:30:00 MST

Filed under: Etc.

We're almost ready to record Episode #283 of the Autoblog Podcast, and you can check out the topics below, add your own to the Q&A and join us live via UStream, as well, and we've embedded our UStream player after the jump . Thanks for listening!

Discussion Topics for Autoblog Podcast Episode #283

Continue reading Autoblog Podcast #283 goes LIVE at 10PM Eastern

Autoblog Podcast #283 goes LIVE at 10PM Eastern originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 May 2012 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Virgin Mobile adds $40 payLo unlimited plan for talk and text types

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 22:14:00 MST

Virgin Mobile's feature phone arm just added a third tier, delivering unlimited talk and texting, along with 50 megs of web access for $40 per month. This offering joins Sprint's other payLo budget offerings, including an entry-level option that includes 400 minutes of talk time for $20 per month, and a $30 monthly plan that delivers 1,500 minutes, 1,500 texts and 30MB of data. Overage charges are quite hefty, at $0.10 per minute, $0.25 per message and $1.50 per MB (ouch!), with the option to reset the counter instead by starting a new month once you hit the threshold. Considering that the plans are designed for feature phones (which are seldom used for anything but basic web access), the tier limits do sound manageable -- perhaps even a deal, if you talk a lot and never browse the web. The payLo plan can be paired with any of Virgin's feature phones, which range in price from $15 (for a sold-out LG101) to $50 (for a QWERTY-equipped Kyocera S2300). Get the full scoop from Sprint in the PR after the break.

Continue reading Virgin Mobile adds $40 payLo unlimited plan for talk and text types

Virgin Mobile adds $40 payLo unlimited plan for talk and text types originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 22:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Virgin Mobile | Email this | Comments

Prostitution investigation for DEA agents

CNN — Mon, 21 May 2012 22:06:35 MST

Three Drug Enforcement Administration agents are under investigation for allegedly hiring prostitutes in Cartagena, Colombia, a congressional source confirms to CNN.

Nuance adds Rovi's metadata to Dragon TV, becomes annoyingly good at TV trivia

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 21:33:00 MST

Nuance, of Dragon TV fame announced today that it was licensing Rovi's (formerly known as Macrovision) metadata for its talky-TV platform. Once integrated, the application will be able to marshall far more information than it currently can -- enabling it to give answers to queries like "Who plays Chuck on Gossip Girl?" That said, we're not holding out much hope that it'll be able to answer our question about which guy from CSI played that bad guy in that movie we can't remember the title of, or something.

Continue reading Nuance adds Rovi's metadata to Dragon TV, becomes annoyingly good at TV trivia

Nuance adds Rovi's metadata to Dragon TV, becomes annoyingly good at TV trivia originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 21:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

Video: Jay Leno gets nostalgic driving Shelby GT500 and Boss 302

AutoBlog — Mon, 21 May 2012 21:01:00 MST

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Etc., Videos, Ford, Celebrities

It looks like we weren't the only ones to get our hands on the 2013 Ford Shelby GT500. Jamal Hameedi, SVT chief nameplate engineer, recently stopped by the Big Dog Garage to show off both the Mustang Boss 302 and the GT500. It's no secret that Leno has always been a Mustang fan, and with the ridiculously powerful supercharged 5.8-liter pumping out more grunt than the comedian's own Ford GT, the 2013 Shelby has earned itself another proponent. Leno takes the big horse out for a ride around town, including over some of the more punishing stretches of Los Angeles freeway before heading home.

Of course, it wouldn't be an episode of Jay Leno's Garage without a proper burnout, and the clip doesn't disappoint. Looks like fun to us. Now the only question is whether Leno will add one of these machines to his own personal collection. Scroll down below to watch the video, which concludes with a little tribute to the recently deceased Carroll Shelby.

Continue reading Jay Leno gets nostalgic driving Shelby GT500 and Boss 302

Jay Leno gets nostalgic driving Shelby GT500 and Boss 302 originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 May 2012 20:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Bananaphone touch synthesizer replaces ring ring rings with chiptunes (video)

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 20:59:00 MST

If you're tired of bananaphones that just make calls, the crew at Gadget Gangster now has a homebrew project to use them for musical escapades. A custom-coded (and appropriately named) Adafruit Propeller board turns a bunch of bananas into the Bananaphone TouchSynth, a synthesizer using the same capacitive touch principles that let a MaKey MaKey turn anything into a controller. The project as it's built won't be rocking stadium-sized crowds anytime soon -- not with those beeps and that lone speaker -- but there's nothing stopping it from scaling up to bigger sounds. Just remember that your fresh beats will turn very brown within a few days.

Continue reading Bananaphone touch synthesizer replaces ring ring rings with chiptunes (video)

Bananaphone touch synthesizer replaces ring ring rings with chiptunes (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 20:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Gizmag | Gadget Gangster | Email this | Comments

Bicom turns to Kickstarter to fund its new playGo AP1 AirPlay device

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 20:34:00 MST

Bicom, makers of the Corian-hewn playGo USB will unveil a new AP1 AirPlay device, but only you if help fund it. After finding out that it wasn't able to produce last year's gear in enough quantity to bring the price down, the company has gone down the Kickstarter route to raise $150,000 in advanced funding. If it reaches its goal, the AP1 will connect to any stereo or pair of powered speakers, pumping out lossless audio for the audiophile in all of us. You can pre-order one right now for $200 or wait and see if the company succeeds, when it'll cost $275 off the shelf.

Continue reading Bicom turns to Kickstarter to fund its new playGo AP1 AirPlay device

Bicom turns to Kickstarter to fund its new playGo AP1 AirPlay device originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 20:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Kickstarter | Email this | Comments

Apple Board Member: Steve Jobs' dream was to design iCar [w/video]

AutoBlog — Mon, 21 May 2012 20:30:00 MST

Filed under: Etc., Technology, Videos

There have been rumors of an Apple iCar for much longer than five years. But it was five years ago that there was enough heat under them for a German newspaper to report that Steve Jobs and Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn had met to discuss the idea. A year later another German outlet printed a photo of a VW concept (pitured) alongside an iPhone, and a columnist in the New York Times kindly asked Steve Jobs to save Detroit.

But did the iCar ever really exist as more than an idea? Mickey Drexler is the CEO of J. Crew and sits on the board of Apple Computer, and at a recent conference in New York he said that Steve Jobs' "dream before he died was to design an iCar." Drexler doesn't say when Jobs had this dream, whether it was just before he died or so long ago that it could substantiate the ancient rumors. No matter, Drexler said "He never did design it."

The edited video of Drexler's comments is posted below. And know that this doesn't mean the rumors, nor the iCar itself, are dead.

Continue reading Apple Board Member: Steve Jobs' dream was to design iCar [w/video]

Apple Board Member: Steve Jobs' dream was to design iCar [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 May 2012 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Koubachi WiFi Plant Sensor takes your cactii's temperature, sends it to your iPhone

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 20:08:00 MST

Plants, like pets, need to be constantly cared for, but not everyone's blessed with the requisite green thumb. So, for those of you imbued with what we'll call the bad, brown touch, Swiss outfit Koubachi's got a cloud-based solution to sidestep those negligent ways and keep your window garden thriving. Dubbed the WiFi Plant Sensor, this wireless peripheral nestles into the soil of any potted flora or fauna, sending relevant vitality data off to the company's servers where it's then analyzed and beamed back to your handset (via iPhone app) or online account with care instructions in tow. You'll have to cough up £99 (about $156 USD) for the currently available European-only, golf club-like device, but that's about all -- access to the company's apps and services are free for users. So, if you've been dying to pull back the curtain on the secret life of plants or just sick of shelling out to replace your withering window collection, hit up the source below to get your order on. Official presser after the break.

Continue reading Koubachi WiFi Plant Sensor takes your cactii's temperature, sends it to your iPhone

Koubachi WiFi Plant Sensor takes your cactii's temperature, sends it to your iPhone originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 20:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

ITC judge says Apple, RIM still aren't violating Kodak patent

Ars Technica — Mon, 21 May 2012 20:05:08 MST

The US International Trade Commission has again�sided with Apple and Research In Motion�in their patent disputes with Kodak. ITC administrative law judge Thomas Pender posted his initial determination (PDF) today. In the document, Pender states the two companies did infringe on one claim within the patent, but that this should be considered invalid "for obviousness." Overall, Pender's determination supported the ITC's decision from last year, stating neither company infringed on a Kodak patent related to mobile devices.

Kodak's original lawsuit against Apple and RIM was filed in January 2010. The company claimed that iPhones and BlackBerrys violated a number of both hardware and software patents. �At the time, Kodak went as far as to file a complaint with the ITC to block the import and sale of iPhones and BlackBerrys believed to be infringing on its imaging patents.�The company's claim included "Electronic Camera for Initiating Capture of Still Images while Previewing Motion Images" (US Patent #6,292,218)?the specific patent Judge Pender commented on today.

In January 2011, an ITC administrative law judge found no violation of the patent. The ITC's commission later opted to review that decision however, and the situation was drawn out further by the retirement of the ITC's chief administrative law judge (and then the corresponding transfer of the case to Pender). Today's ruling is only preliminary and approval from the full ITC commission is still to come. Final ruling in the case is due by September 21, 2012.

Read more | Comments

Motorsports: Rally car plows into crowd in France, kills two [w/video]

AutoBlog — Mon, 21 May 2012 19:59:00 MST

Filed under: Motorsports, Europe, Safety, Videos

A rally race in France ended in a tragedy this weekend, when a driver missed his turn and hit a crowd of people. Two deaths were reported, with 17 injured including a race marshall and several children, according to the BBC.

Four of the injuries were deemed "serious," and the scope of the accident overwhelmed rescue services, according to the report. The driver was also injured, and is in the custody of the police, who have launched an investigation, according to iafrica.com.

The Pays des Maures race was being held in Southern France, with the accident occurring on Saturday afternoon near Toulon, according to the BBC.

Scroll down to see a TV report on the accident, in French.

Continue reading Rally car plows into crowd in France, kills two [w/video]

Rally car plows into crowd in France, kills two [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 May 2012 18:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

RSA SecurID software token cloning: a new how-to

Ars Technica — Mon, 21 May 2012 19:55:58 MST

A cloned SecurID software token created by security consultant Behrang Fouladi.

Behrang Fouladi

A researcher has devised a method attackers with control over a victim's computer can use to clone the secret software token that RSA's SecurID uses to generate one-time passwords.

The technique, described on Thursday by a senior security analyst at a firm called SensePost, has important implications for the safekeeping of the tokens. An estimated 40 million people use these to access confidential data belonging to government agencies, military contractors, and corporations. Scrutiny of the widely used two-factor authentication system has grown since last year, when RSA revealed that intruders on its networks stole sensitive SecurID information that could be used to reduce its security. Defense contractor Lockheed Martin later confirmed that a separate attack on its systems was aided by the theft of the RSA data.

Last week's blog post by SensePost's Behrang Fouladi demonstrated another way determined attackers could in certain cases circumvent protections built into SecurID. By reverse engineering software used to manage the cryptographic software tokens on computers running Microsoft's Windows operating system, he found that the secret "seed" was easy for people with control over the machines to deduce and copy. He provided step-by-step instructions for others to follow in order to demonstrate how easy it is to create clones that mimic verbatim the output of a targeted SecurID token.

Read more | Comments

Pentax makes K-30 official with weatherproofing and 1080p video

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 19:44:00 MST

Pentax didn't wait long after a rather conspicuous leak to make the details official: welcome the K-30, the company's spiritual successor to the long-serving K-r. The camera makes its biggest numerical jump in sensor size, from 12.4 megapixels to 16, but you're primarily shelling out for a much tougher body that's both resistant to rain as well as to dust and temperature extremes; one of the cheapest cameras to do so, if you go by Pentax's word. We're slightly down on the light sensitivity being unchanged from three years ago at ISO 100 to 25,600, though you can now shoot video at a much higher 1080p at 30 frames per second -- and that French catalog was wrong about a drop in burst speeds, which still top out at a healthy 6 fps. Should you be committed to the K-mount ways, stores will have the K-30 in July at $850 body-only and $900 for an 18-55mm kit. While you're in the shop, there will also be a new 50mm f/1.8 prime lens to pick up for $250.

Gallery: Pentax K-30

Continue reading Pentax makes K-30 official with weatherproofing and 1080p video

Pentax makes K-30 official with weatherproofing and 1080p video originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 19:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Pentax | Email this | Comments

Top Gear building its own Nissan DeltaWing race car

AutoBlog — Mon, 21 May 2012 19:30:00 MST

Filed under: Motorsports, Etc., Nissan, UK, Humor, Specialty, Racing

Think back to childhood for a moment. What did you do when you wanted, say, a new skateboard, but mom and dad were dragging their heels about ponying up for one? That's right, you built your own, out of bits of scrap plywood and some old wheels discarded by an older sibling. And it sucked.

We see the same situation playing out here. The children at Top Gear are absolutely gaga for the DeltaWing race car, which Nissan will be campaigning at this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans. And even if they are Top Gear, nobody at Nissan is going to just give them an experimental race car for futzing around. So they are building their own. Or at least a simulacrum of the DeltaWing, out of what appears to be junk.

Details are scarce, but the image gallery Top Gear has on its website tells enough of the story that we're pretty sure they aren't going to come anywhere close. Not only does the 1,100-pound curb weight of the revolutionary race car present something of a challenge when you're basically welding the thing up from scratch, but whatever that ancient engine sitting in the nose of the Top Gear project is, we're plenty sure it won't be packing the 300-plus horsepower of Nissan's turbocharged four.

But just as your pre-pubescent charm and pluckiness eventually prevailed in the skateboard scenario, we're thinking Top Gear might be on to something with its fanboy-ish DeltaWing replica. After all, mom may have embarrassed you in the skate shop, but she did get you the real thing, didn't she?

Top Gear building its own Nissan DeltaWing race car originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 May 2012 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

4 die after reaching Mt. Everest summit

CNN — Mon, 21 May 2012 19:27:22 MST

The climbers, hailing from four nations, died while coming down the southern slope of Mount Everest after reaching the 29,028-foot summit, officials said.

Obama to Joplin grads: 'Pay it forward'

CNN — Mon, 21 May 2012 22:24:50 MST

Calling the students an inspiration "to me ... the world," President Barack Obama urged Joplin High School graduates Monday to heed the lessons they've learned and spirit they've shown to rebuild not only their tornado-ravaged city, but their nation.

Iran sanctions get unanimous Senate OK

CNN — Mon, 21 May 2012 21:50:55 MST

The U.S. Senate unanimously voted to tighten sanctions on Iran on Monday, three days after a dispute over including the threat of American force stalled the legislation.

NATO backs Obama's Afghan exit plan

CNN — Mon, 21 May 2012 22:32:18 MST

NATO leaders signed off on President Obama's exit strategy from Afghanistan that calls for a 2013 end to combat operations.

Ex-student gets 30 days in Rutgers case

CNN — Mon, 21 May 2012 19:46:24 MST

Ex-Rutgers student Dharun Ravi got 30 days for spying on his gay roommate, Tyler Clementi, with a webcam. Clementi killed himself after he found out about the camera.

Aereo gets unfair competition claim dismissed, still faces two claims of copyright infringement

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 19:21:00 MST

Aereo's mini-antenna arrays started streaming OTA television broadcasts in Gotham a couple months ago in spite of the lawsuit filed by a few of New York's local stations to stop them from doing so. Today, it was able to dismiss its opponents' state law unfair competition claim under the theory of federal preemption. Essentially, Aereo argued (and the judge agreed) that the anti-competition claim was actually an attempt to vindicate the broadcasters' rights to control the performance of their copyrighted materials. Because those rights are granted under federal law, the state law claim was preempted and dismissed from the lawsuit pursuant to the Copyright Act. Despite this courtroom victory, Aereo still has a lot of legal legwork to do, as it still faces two copyright claims that could still shut down the OTA streaming party. Stay tuned.

Aereo gets unfair competition claim dismissed, still faces two claims of copyright infringement originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 19:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Court Order (PDF) | Email this | Comments

Official: Volkswagen Golf GTI Cabriolet toots its 207-horsepower horn

AutoBlog — Mon, 21 May 2012 19:01:00 MST

Filed under: Convertible, Volkswagen

While we get the Volkswagen Eos, other markets get this: the Golf GTI Cabriolet. We had a good look at it under the lights of the Geneva Motor Show, and now VW has dropped a slew of photos of the convertible in its natural environment.

Under the hood is a 207-horsepower, 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder, mated to either a six-speed manual or dual-clutch gearbox. The car's feminine aspect has been mentioned, but VW would like to focus people's attention on the 0-to-62 time of 7.3 seconds, making it the fastest GTI convertible ever, the top speed of 147 miles per hour, and it being "the most economical model in its class." And the man at the wheel in the press photos.

You can have a good, varied look at it in the gallery of high-res photos, and check out the press release by scrolling down.

Continue reading Volkswagen Golf GTI Cabriolet toots its 207-horsepower horn

Volkswagen Golf GTI Cabriolet toots its 207-horsepower horn originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 May 2012 18:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Nintendo plans virtual wall of E3 coverage, wants no eyeball left behind

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 18:56:00 MST

With E3 2012 right around the corner, Reggie and co. want to make sure your oft-distracted eyes catch every drip drop of the impending Wii U news flood. Much like it did last year, Nintendo's yet again taking to media outlets old and new for coverage of its All-Access Presentation, scheduled for June 5th at 9AM PST, that should prove an unavoidable must-see for any gamer bred on the house that Mario built. Whether you take your news via flat-screen or monitor, the gaming giant's got a solution to sate your preferred means of consumption, making its press conference available ad-free on Spike TV and MTV2, or online with a Facebook-hosted live stream. Of course, you can always set your browser to the Big N's own dedicated site on the big day to keep abreast of its next planned dive into the deep Blue Ocean. Check out the presser after the break for all the necessary informational bits.

Continue reading Nintendo plans virtual wall of E3 coverage, wants no eyeball left behind

Nintendo plans virtual wall of E3 coverage, wants no eyeball left behind originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 18:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Joystiq | | Email this | Comments

Toyota CEO lists favorite cars from other automakers

AutoBlog — Mon, 21 May 2012 18:35:00 MST

Filed under: Etc., Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Toyota

During a meeting of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Toyota president Akio Toyoda offered a "Chapeau!" to his fellow CEOs by listing his favorite cars from other makers. He listed just one vehicle from five makers represented on the board, in alphabetical order: the Honda NSX, Isuzu Bellett, Mazda Cosmo, Mitsubishi Pajero (our Montero) and Nissan Skyline.

Toyoda didn't give his reasons for choosing these car beyond each being "memorable." Even so, going through the list any car enthusiast knows the Honda (Acura in the States) NSX needs no introduction nor explanation. The Mitsubishi Pajero is probably as well known for it's off-road excellence as it is for its name change in Spanish-speaking lands due to the word "pajero" - all the more intriguing when it's apparently named after an Argentine cat, Leopardus pajeros. And although the "Skyline" moniker was made famous overseas by the GT-R, the Nissan Skyline that Toyoda references has a long history and is our Infiniti G.

The Mazda Cosmo (pictured) was an Italian-esque little coupe produced from 1967 to 1995, the first series production vehicle with a two-rotor rotary engine. The Isuzu Bellett was that firm's in-house replacement for the English Hillmans it was rebranding, the first Japanese car to get GT badging (it would also get a GT-R version), and it would cover just about every segment with sedan, coupe, station wagon and pickup truck variants.

Toyota CEO lists favorite cars from other automakers originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 May 2012 17:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Amazon puts Samsung Galaxy S III up for US pre-orders, offers a slice of quad-core, unlocked utopia

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 18:33:00 MST

Sufficiently enamored with Samsung's Galaxy S III that you've got to have one in the US before anyone else, and you don't want it sullied by carrier customizations in the trip across the Pacific? Amazon has your back with pre-orders for 16GB versions in both Marble White and Pebble Blue. Either will keep the speedy Exynos 4 Quad and will stay unlocked, so you can hop networks to your heart's content. Do expect to pay a steep premium for being the first kid on your block: at $800, you're spending a lot to get an HSPA+ model on June 1st when the LTE-toting, cheaper (if carrier-locked and possibly part-swapped) editions should reach the US days later.

Amazon puts Samsung Galaxy S III up for US pre-orders, offers a slice of quad-core, unlocked utopia originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 18:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Unwired View | Amazon (Pebble Blue), (Marble White) | Email this | Comments

Submit your questions for Autoblog Podcast #283 LIVE

AutoBlog — Mon, 21 May 2012 18:25:00 MST

Filed under: Etc., Ford, GM, Kia, Holden

We record Episode #283 of the Autoblog Podcast tonight, meaning you can drop us your questions via our Q&A module below and chime in to direct our conversation. Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes if you haven't already done so, and if you want to take it all in live, tune in to our UStream (audio only) channel at 10:00 PM Eastern tonight.

Discussion Topics for Autoblog Podcast Episode #283

[iTunes] Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes
[RSS] Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator

Can't see the EventBox? Click Here.Voices Heard Media

Submit your questions for Autoblog Podcast #283 LIVE originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 May 2012 17:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Business world gets a new way to monitor employee text messages

Ars Technica — Mon, 21 May 2012 18:15:42 MST

Jhaymesisviphotography

A startup called Uppidy has unveiled a service that backs up SMS services to the cloud, making it easier for individuals, parents, or even your employer to read your text messages.

Uppidy was founded by entrepreneur Joshua Konowe, who came up with the idea after dropping his cell phone in the toilet and going through a difficult process to retrieve his text messages from AT&T. The small startup in Washington, DC launched almost a year ago with a free service for consumers. In the past few weeks, the company started selling to the corporate world.

So far, a few unnamed businesses are testing Uppidy on corporate phones, Konowe told Ars. One customer is backing up and monitoring text messages from 500 phones, and another is doing so on 200. Konowe said he was initially just going to sell to consumers (including parents who want to monitor their kids? messaging), but interest from corporations led him to develop a business-focused service as well.

Read more | Comments

Sprint to begin shipping the HTC EVO 4G LTE for arrival 'on or around' May 24th, pre-orders get ...

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 18:08:00 MST

We can't be certain as to how many units of the HTC EVO 4G LTE have made it out of customs thus far, but it appears the number is high enough for Sprint to officially set a date for shipping the device out to those who pre-ordered it online. A Sprint representative reached out to us to share the company's statement from this afternoon that customers should expect to receive their valuable treasure "on or around" May 24th. We're not in love with the "around" terminology, but this could simply be due to a high amount of demand. Of course, there are no details concerning when the phone will be in stock at your local store, but this is a clear indication that things are looking up for HTC in its current situation. You can find the statement below.

Customers who pre-ordered HTC EVO 4G LTE...Your wait is almost over! Sprint expects to begin shipping HTC EVO 4G LTE for arrival on or around Thursday, May 24 to customers who pre-ordered the device online from Sprint. We will provide details on the full national launch as soon as possible. To access the latest news and device information, visit our Sprint Community page where we'll be providing regular updates. To check the status of your pre-order, please visit www.sprint.com/myorder.

Sprint to begin shipping the HTC EVO 4G LTE for arrival 'on or around' May 24th, pre-orders get first dib originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 18:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

Disentangling the wave-particle duality in the double-slit experiment

Ars Technica — Mon, 21 May 2012 18:00:43 MST

Interference patterns produced by double-slit experiments.

mit.edu

The subtlest experiment in quantum mechanics is also one of the simplest: send a stream of particles through two openings in a barrier, and you'll produce an interference pattern because the particles act as waves. Amazingly, this also works if you send the particles through one at a time?the interference pattern builds up slowly as more particles go through.�The double-slit experiment has been replicated with photons, electrons, atoms, and even�entire molecules.

Typically, the particle nature and the wave nature have to be observed separately; if you track the particles through a single slit, the interference pattern vanishes. However, Ralf Menzel, Dirk Puhlmann, Axel Heuer, and Wolfgang P. Schleich entangled two photons and allowed one to pass through a barrier with two slits. The entanglement enabled them to determine which opening the photon went through, but a detector on the other side still picked up an interference pattern, demonstrating light's wave- and particle-like characteristics simultaneously.

The key to the experiment is the particular state in which the photons were produced. The researchers started with a laser in a configuration known as TEM₀₁ mode, which means the electric (E) and magnetic (M) fields are perpendicular (or transverse, T) to the direction the photons travel. The "01" means there are two distinct points of maximum intensity.

Read more | Comments

Studio Effect turns your snapshots into studio glamor shots

AutoBlog — Mon, 21 May 2012 17:59:00 MST

Filed under: Etc.

If you sift through eBay Motors like a junkyard dog looks for bones, you may have already come across a Studio Effect image from Dimostra. They look a little out of place in an eBay Motors auction gallery, perhaps because they're a bit too perfect compared to the usual lot of hastily snapped images. The irony, however, is that these glossy-looking glamor shots don't come from a physical studio at all, but are rather the result of renting the Photoshop expertise of Dimostra's digital artists to turn those hastily snapped images into something special.

This Chicago-based company offers a number of services related to vehicle photography, but the Studio Effect is what caught our eye. Company spokesman and partner David Nawrocki tells Autoblog that many hours of Photoshop manipulation go into each Studio Effect image despite the price of just $49 per image. Doesn't sound reasonable to you? Try finding an independent digital artist with skills like this and see what he charges. That price includes a digital copy of the resulting Studio Effect image, but Dimostra also offers accessories on which you can emblazon your Studio Effect shot - everything from a keychain and coffee mug to a T-shirt or framed gallery picture.

We were curious how the process works, so we sent Dimostra some images of one of our own cars - a 1986 Porsche 911 Turbo - to see what they could do. Turnaround time was a few days, during which time the company helped us choose the best image to use from ones we already had, as well as offered tips on how to go out and shoot the sort of image that results in the best looking Studio Effect shot. Check out the results in the gallery above, as well as some other before-and-after shots from the Dimostra artists.

Studio Effect turns your snapshots into studio glamor shots originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 May 2012 16:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Must See HDTV (May 21st - 27th)

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 17:55:00 MST

House
After eight seasons, the run of Gregory House MD comes to an end on Fox tonight with a double episode. While we'll miss Hugh Laurie fumbling around on our American TV screens every week, it definitely felt like time for the series to come to an end. We'll see how Wilson's cancer diagnosis wraps up and if any other old characters stop by after Thirteen popped up last week, although we will avoid throwing back a Vicodin just for old time's sake.
(May 21st, Fox, 8PM)

Awake
Another series coming to a slightly less glorious end is NBC's Awake. The story of a cop who suddenly finds himself splitting time between two worlds, one where his son died in a car accident and the other where his wife was the victim, this week's episode is the show's last chance to give viewers resolution as to what's happening. According to its creator Kyle Killen this episode wasn't originally shot as a series finale, but says it should be satisfying.
(May 24th, NBC, 10PM)

Continue reading Must See HDTV (May 21st - 27th)

Must See HDTV (May 21st - 27th) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 17:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

ASUS and MSI launch Thunderbolt motherboards, tie for first place

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 17:38:00 MST

You wait for one Thunderbolt-compatible motherboard and then two decide to arrive on the same day. Going alphabetically, ASUS' P8Z77-V Premium is its first Intel-certified board to pack Thunderbolt and it's followed immediately by the P8Z77-V Pro / Thunderbolt. The connection will hook up to multiple storage drives or any Thunderbolt-friendly display -- it can be daisy-chained to up to six different devices. MSI's Z77A-GD80 packs a similarly complicated naming convention (although it's not yet certified by Intel) and like ASUS' offerings, will arrive with Intel's Z77 chipset ready to play nice with those new 22nm processors. Alongside storage and monitor support, MSI also throws in the extra nugget that it'll connect to a graphics card, if you're so inclined. The full technical breakdown on both motherboards is housed after the break.

Continue reading ASUS and MSI launch Thunderbolt motherboards, tie for first place

ASUS and MSI launch Thunderbolt motherboards, tie for first place originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 17:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

Official: 2013 BMW M5 configurator revs up

AutoBlog — Mon, 21 May 2012 17:32:00 MST

Filed under: Car Buying, Sedan, Performance, BMW, Luxury

With a starting MSRP of $90,695, the 2013 BMW M5 is spendy to begin with. But loading it up with all the trimmings, you'll see a sticker price north of $116,000. And we know this because we just spent a few minutes playing with the M5 configurator, which is now live on the BMW consumer website.

While we're not really that shocked by the price, we are kind of confused by the M5's color palette. While mainstays like Monte Carlo Blue Metallic and Alpine White are there, you cannot have an M5 in red - Sakhir Orange Metallic will have to do if you're the flamboyant type. If you're into earth tones, however, BMW has you covered, with five silver and gray tones, three shades of black, and two browns.

When it comes to options and packages, there's all kinds of way to drop several thousand dollars at the tick of a box, including an Executive Package that bundles together a bunch of stuff you probably don't need - active front seats, heated rear seats, sunshades, soft-close automatic doors, yada, yada, yada - and charges you $5,500 for it. It makes the Driver Assistance Package with lane departure warning and blind spot detection seem like a steal at just $1,900. A night vision system with pedestrian detection ($2,600), a head-up display ($1,300), and a rear-seat entertainment system ($2,200) are also offered, though the best piece of optional kit is one BMW isn't charging for: a manual transmission.

Check out all 14 exterior M5 colors in our gallery.

2013 BMW M5 configurator revs up originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 May 2012 16:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Supreme Court to decide if journalists can sue over warrantless wiretaps

Ars Technica — Mon, 21 May 2012 17:31:44 MST

The United States Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether a coalition of human rights groups and journalists has standing to challenge the 2008 FISA Amendments Act. The Obama administration has argued that because none of the plaintiffs can prove that their communications were intercepted by any of the government's secret surveillance programs, they lack standing to challenge the legislation that authorizes them.

A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rejected that argument last year, holding that it was reasonable to assume the government would use the new powers Congress had granted it. The plaintiffs regularly communicate with overseas individuals who fear surveillance by the US government and say they've been forced to spend money arranging face-to-face meetings because their sources no longer feel comfortable communicating electronically. A majority of the Second Circuit ruled that these costs were sufficient to give the plaintiffs standing to challenge the legislation.

But not everyone agreed. Indeed, the court was evenly divided on the government's request for the case to be re-heard by all 12 judges of the Second Circuit. Chief Judge Dennis G. Jacobs ridiculed the plaintiffs' case, comparing it to a "plaintiff?s allegation that the CIA is controlling him through a radio embedded in his molar." He argued that "the only purpose of this litigation is for counsel and plaintiffs to act out their fantasy of persecution, to validate their pretensions to policy expertise, to make themselves consequential rather than marginal, and to raise funds for self-sustaining litigation."

Read more | Comments

Early 2013 becoming new "holiday season" for some game developers

Ars Technica — Mon, 21 May 2012 17:28:31 MST

This happy fellow won't be bursting through your door until 2013.

Sega / Gearbox

The "holiday season" window that generally runs from September through November every year always sees more than its fair share of big name video game releases. But in recent weeks, a number of publishers have delayed their anticipated titles into the early part of next year, rather than having them face what's sure to be another overcrowded marketplace at the end of 2012.

First, Irrational Games announced that long-awaited BioShock Infinite would hit stores next February, rather than its originally planned October 16 release date. Then Crystal Dynamics announced last week that the latest reboot of the venerable Tomb Raider franchise would be hitting in the first quarter of 2013. Finally, just today, Sega announced that its Alien: Colonial Marines game will be released on February 12, 2013 rather than the previously planned "Fall 2012" window (the new date doesn't apply to the planned�Wii U version, which is still up in the air at this point).

It's not like these delays will leave the holiday game shelves barren. Plenty of highly anticipated games are still planted firmly in the busy three-month span, including the newest entries in the Assassin's Creed, Borderlands, Halo, Medal of Honor and Call of Duty franchises (and probably some games that aren't sequels, but who cares about them?). The end-of-year glut of major releases is the obvious result of a flood of extra holiday gift dollars pouring into the game market during the holiday season. After all, would you rather release a game during a month when only serious gamers are going to be looking to buy it, or during a month when those gamers' non-playing friends and relatives are also looking to spend some extra money in the sector.

Read more | Comments

Minecraft mod adds programmable 8-bit computer, lacks cassette deck (video)

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 17:16:00 MST

Never one to focus exclusively on the very latest hardware, a new mod has brought an 6502 microprocessor to a Minecraft world near you. The system is made from three separate cubes, representing the CPU, monitor and disk drive, respectively, all connected by ribbon cables. Part of pre-release 5 of the RedPower 2 mod, programmer Eloraam has also thrown in pumps and solar panels to keep crafters busy -- you're no longer limited to light switches. The emulated 8-bit processor can interact with other Minecraft blocks and while the computer can be programmed alone, its creator has been kind enough to include a Forth interpreter alongside the hardware, for those looking to get a little more involved. Such types can also skip over the break for an intense 23-minute tutorial on the mod.

Continue reading Minecraft mod adds programmable 8-bit computer, lacks cassette deck (video)

Minecraft mod adds programmable 8-bit computer, lacks cassette deck (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 17:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Verge | Eloraam | Email this | Comments

Official: BMW 3 Series, Acura RDX named IIHS Top Safety Pick

AutoBlog — Mon, 21 May 2012 17:00:00 MST

Filed under: Sedan, Safety, Crossover, Acura, BMW, Luxury

The IIHS Top Safety Pick list is already quite long, but it keeps growing, with five more vehicles added this month alone. The latest pair are the 2012 BMW 3 Series sedan and the 2013 Acura RDX. The BMW needs no introduction, as the new F30 chassis has already earned its right to sit alongside previous generations of the well-loved sport sedan, while the RDX is a refreshed version of the midsize Acura crossover.

Both vehicles earned their listed status by upgrading the strength of their roofs. The previous-generation 3 Series scored only acceptable on roof strength testing, while the 2007-2012 RDX earned a marginal rating. The newest models are now rated "good" for roof strength.

Scroll down to read the full press release.

Continue reading BMW 3 Series, Acura RDX named IIHS Top Safety Pick

BMW 3 Series, Acura RDX named IIHS Top Safety Pick originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 May 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Spotify hits Australia and New Zealand, can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 17:00:00 MST

Music fans in Australia and New Zealand are waking up some happy news this Tuesday morning. Spotify announced that it's bringing its streaming services to those markets, starting today, offering up access to some 16 million tracks via PC, smartphone and iPad, bringing Spotify's availability to a grand total of 15 countries. Each new country will also be getting Spotify apps to call their own: Triple J in Australia and NZ Top 40 in New Zealand, both of which offer up curated music access. More information on the launches -- including prices for premium accounts -- can be found in press releases after the break, and a playlist of some of our favorite local jams (and a locally-themed Kinks number) can be heard below.

Continue reading Spotify hits Australia and New Zealand, can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?

Spotify hits Australia and New Zealand, can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 17:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

OS X Mountain Lion Bringing Automatic App Downloads to Mac

MacRumors — Mon, 21 May 2012 16:52:22 MST

As noted by Zach Kahn (via 9to5Mac), the latest developer build of OS X Mountain Lion released last week sets the stage for bringing iOS-like automatic app downloads to Mac App Store purchases.

Like on the iPhone and iPad, when you buy and install an app on one of your Macs, all of your other Macs logged into the same App Store account will automatically install the app too.

Unfortunately, the feature does not seem to be working completely. While the App Store will still offer to enable automatic downloads (as seen above), it does not actually install anything when you purchase apps from another computer.

Apple has been issuing regular updates of OS X Mountain Lion to its Mac developer community, and the company is expected to offer many more details on the next-generation operating system at next month's Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. OS X Mountain Lion is currently scheduled to see a public launch in "late summer" of this year and will bring a number of enhancements including several features drawn from iOS such as Notification Center, Game Center, Messages, and Reminders.

Recent Mac and iOS Blog Stories
• Physics Puzzler 'Feed Me Oil' Free for Today Only
• Comcast Dropping 250GB Data Cap In Favor of "Improved Data Usage Management"
• China Mobile Again Confirms iPhone Talks with Apple
• In Lawsuit Over Siri, Apple Says the Technology is "Cutting Edge"
• iPhone a 'Game Changer' for Customer Satisfaction

Panasonic launches 12-35mm Micro Four Thirds lens with constant f/2.8 aperture

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 16:43:00 MST

As powerful as they've become, Mirrorless camera systems can't match the versatility of a full-size DSLR. One key component we haven't seen is a constant-aperture lens, offering a consistent large aperture size throughout the zoom range. That changed today. Panasonic's new Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm optic packs one incredible advantage over its compact competitors -- a constant f/2.8 aperture. Because of the Micro Four Thirds system's 2x multiplication factor, this 12-35mm lens covers the same zoom range of 24-70mm glass on a full-frame camera, in a significantly smaller package. The optic consists of 14 elements in nine groups, and includes UED and UHR lenses to increase image quality and minimize distortion, along with built-in image stabilization and Panasonic's Nano Surface Coating to reduce ghosting and lens flare. It's also splash- and dust-resistant, and features a metal mount on the rear. Panasonic has yet to release pricing in the US, but the European price tag has been estimated at €1,100 (about $1,400) -- by comparison, Canon's equivalent optic (from a specification perspective) will run you $1,600. For its part, the 12-35mm MFT lens is expected to hit stores in August. Full PR is just past the break.

Continue reading Panasonic launches 12-35mm Micro Four Thirds lens with constant f/2.8 aperture

Panasonic launches 12-35mm Micro Four Thirds lens with constant f/2.8 aperture originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 16:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

The Engadget Interview: Ben Heck talks Raspberry Pi at Maker Faire (video)

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 16:35:00 MST

It's really no surprise that we bumped into the legendary Ben Heck at Maker Faire Bay Area 2012. Still, he was kind enough to give us a few minutes of his time. We talked about the Raspberry Pi, robot luggage, portable 3D printers, pinball machines, pretzels and cheese curds -- oh my! Just take a look at our video interview and don't miss the outtakes at the end.

The Engadget Interview: Ben Heck talks Raspberry Pi at Maker Faire (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 16:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

Report: Remember the electric Rolls-Royce Phantom? Forget it

AutoBlog — Mon, 21 May 2012 16:31:00 MST

Filed under: Concept Cars, Sedan, Etc., Europe, Rolls-Royce, UK, Electric, Luxury

Motor Trend reports Rolls-Royce has pulled the plug (literally) on its electric Phantom. Word has it none of the ultra-luxury automaker's current clients have any interest in an electrified land yacht due to niggling factors like range anxiety and a perceived loss of premiumness. Apparently the world's super wealthy only feel content when their transportation runs on the tears of crushed ecosystems. That's a bit odd considering the 102 EX Concept bowed at the Geneva Motor Show with more torque than the buttery-smooth V12 in the standard Phantom. Still, all the torque in the world is no balm for a range of under 100 miles.

While it's true Rolls-Royce officially quoted a total range of around 120 miles from the 1,452-pound battery pack in the machine's nose, we're more than a little skeptical of that figure. Then there's the issue of keeping the electric Phantom charged. We can imagine the typical Phantom owner isn't accustomed to waiting for anything, let alone twiddling their thumbs for eight hours while their cripplingly expensive sedan charges. With all that compromise, Rolls-Royce says it just doesn't make sense to produce the 102 EX.

Remember the electric Rolls-Royce Phantom? Forget it originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 May 2012 15:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Join the Engadget HD Podcast live on Ustream at 5:30PM ET

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 16:30:00 MST

It's Monday, and we're back to our regular time and day where you get to listen into the recording booth when the Engadget HD podcast goes to mp3 at 5:30PM. Please be a part of it by reviewing the list of topics after the break, then participating in the live chat as you listen in.

Continue reading Join the Engadget HD Podcast live on Ustream at 5:30PM ET

Join the Engadget HD Podcast live on Ustream at 5:30PM ET originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 16:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

Of myths and 41-megapixel sensors: Nokia looks back on the 808 PureView (video)

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 16:17:00 MST

It's a tale as old as the introduction of the 808 PureView, itself. Something about a bar and Tokyo and scribbling ingenious ideas on a napkin -- you know, the same 'ol humble origin story that seems to surround every impactful creation. Spoon-fed mythology aside, Nokia's decided to shift things into meta mode by composing a making of mini-doc for its hump-backed Symbian Belle cameraphone shot entirely with that much-ballyhooed 41-megapixel sensor (insert feigned amazement here). If you haven't heard Espoo spin this yarn before, settle in for an eight minute, accented ~~tribute~~ journey that takes navel-gazing and self-congratulations to an uncomfortable level. We get it, guys, the camera's good. Really, really good -- there's no need to sell us on it any further. 'Tis a pity, then, that the handset's been restricted to "select markets." Hop on past the break to gawk at this scripted enthusiasm first-hand.

Continue reading Of myths and 41-megapixel sensors: Nokia looks back on the 808 PureView (video)

Of myths and 41-megapixel sensors: Nokia looks back on the 808 PureView (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 16:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

Spy Shots: Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet caught topless

AutoBlog — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:59:00 MST

Filed under: Spy Photos, Convertible, Performance, Porsche, Luxury

Our trusty spy photographers have caught the upcoming Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet with its top down and its tail up on a stroll through German streets. To our eyes, the extended length and wheelbase are accentuated in the rear-end packaging, but it's still a looker.

Some reports say that motivation will come from a twin-turbo 3.8-liter flat-six, others say there will be three turbos affixed for immediate low-end action. Horsepower ratings are also a muddle for now, with various reports suggesting 515 horsepower or thereabouts, making for a 15-hp increase over the current Turbo, and that would be followed by a Turbo S with somewhere around 550 hp, a 20-hp bump on the present Turbo S. Other reports say the regular turbo will go straight for the 550-hp jugular, leaving the S to haunt the neighborhood of 600 hp.

What we do know is that it will pack all-wheel drive, a seven-speed transmission in traditional stick or PDK, and every electro-bauble in Porsche's arsenal when it finally is revealed. For now, catch what you can in the high-res gallery of spy photos.

Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet caught topless originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 May 2012 14:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

ITC says again that Apple and RIM don't violate Kodak patent

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:59:00 MST

Kodak hasn't caught a break lately, and that trend isn't easing up any time soon with a second rejection arriving in its main International Trade Commission (ITC) patent dispute with Apple and RIM. Despite having had its case remanded after a loss last year, Kodak is once more being told that BlackBerrys and iPhones don't violate a patent on previewing photos. The one violation was rendered moot through "obviousness," according to administrative law judge Thomas Pender. It's still an initial ruling, and Kodak is trying to put a positive light on the situation -- it's "pleased" there's still an infringement, even if the patent claim is invalid -- but the patent wars aren't looking good for a photography company that has already had to give up cameras to have a chance of staying afloat. Most of Kodak's hope, then, will be pinned on a second wave of ITC disputes that might stand a better chance of putting at least Apple's feet to the fire.

Continue reading ITC says again that Apple and RIM don't violate Kodak patent

ITC says again that Apple and RIM don't violate Kodak patent originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 15:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink CNET | ITC (PDF) | Email this | Comments

2012's solar eclipse in pictures

Ars Technica — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:57:48 MST

Enlarge

Kunio Sayanagi

Ars contributor Kunio Sayanagi was in the desert at New Mexico's�El Malpais National Monument when the solar eclipse took place yesterday. He sent us in a couple of photos, and we've searched for others to give anyone who couldn't see the event directly the chance to appreciate it.

Although the visibility of the eclipse from Earth was limited to the Pacific Rim, it was also possible to watch it from space, as evidenced by this image from the joint JAXA/NASA Hinode mission.

Click to enlarge.

JAXA/NASA

Elsewhere in space, the ISS passed over the Pacific, allowing its occupants to photograph the shadow cast by the eclipse on the clouds below.

Read more | Comments

Microsoft kills Aero Glass (and may actually fix hot corners)

Ars Technica — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:47:20 MST

Microsoft

The Windows 8 user interface is a mix of old and new. While we think that both the old desktop and the new Metro interface work well when considered individually, the combination of the two leaves something to be desired, thanks to, among other things, radically different looks-and-feels, and a dependence on hot corners that play poorly with multimonitor systems.

Microsoft is planning a bunch of changes to Windows 8 that directly address the concerns we had, changes that should greatly improve the Windows 8 user experience. The company has outlined them in a pair of posts on its Building Windows 8 blog: the Windows 8 desktop will sport a new, simpler, flatter theme, and the handling of multiple screens is going to be vastly enhanced with a couple of changes. The desktop will now contain special "traps" in the corners to stop the mouse sliding between screens, and the Start screen, charms bar, and task switcher will be invokable on every screen, not just the primary.

Strangely, the multimonitor post was originally published?briefly?last week, before being removed. It was reposted today.

Read more | Comments

Google rolls out improved Gmail search, scans your emails for better results

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:41:00 MST

Oh those Googlers, always tirelessly tweaking code behind-the-scenes to make our lives that much more easily indexed. So it should come as no surprise that Mountain View's begun rolling out a streamlined Gmail search feature to English-language users today, replete with "tailored" autocomplete suggestions. Now, instead of simply returning results for labels and contacts, queries will also include relevant email info based on the conversations stored in a user's account, like flight or hotel reservations. At the moment, this improved ease-of-use applies to only the web-based version of the service, but a planned extension to its ever popular GApp is on deck, as well support for additional languages in the coming months. Hit up the source below for the finer details.

Google rolls out improved Gmail search, scans your emails for better results originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 15:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Official Gmail Blog | Email this | Comments

Report: Shanghai GMC dealer offering five tons of free gas with truck purchase

AutoBlog — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:32:00 MST

Filed under: Car Buying, Truck, China, GMC

Big trucks just aren't appealing enough on their own, at least in some places. For proof, look to a Shanghai GMC dealer who is offering about three years worth of free gas to anyone who buys a new Sierra Denali. Too bad it'll take about 20 years to pay off the big truck.

The dealer is giving away five tons - about 2,000 gallons, worth around $8,000 in China - of petrol to new Sierra Denali buyers in China's largest city, according to The Detroit Bureau. The offer appears to be a nod to rising China gas prices, which are climbing towards levels similar to those in the U.S. now that the Chinese government is doing less to artificially keep gas prices down. Full-size trucks have been sold in China for about three years and are known to be status symbols in China, says The Detroit Bureau.

There is, of course, a catch. The Denali, unlike most General Motors vehicles sold in China, is built in the U.S., so the price tag is about $134,000, or almost three times what the model sells for in the States. Here's hoping a few free car washes come with those full tanks.

Shanghai GMC dealer offering five tons of free gas with truck purchase originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 May 2012 14:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

gTar iPhone guitar hands-on

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:21:00 MST

When we first caught word of the gTar, it was a bit of a mystery, with an online presence amounting to little more than a low-res press shot, an enigmatic YouTube teaser and assorted specs coming out of South By Southwest and various investor sites. This week, however, brings TechCrunch Disrupt to town -- and Incident Technologies has braved some unseasonable New York City storms to come along for the ride. We managed to snag some time with the iPhone-docking instrument ahead of its debut on stage this afternoon.

Details are still a little scarce -- but here's what we know: the company is looking for a summer release for the educational instrument. In the meantime, Incident has thrown up a Kickstarter page, so you can get in on the action. A limited number of investors can get their hands on a unit for the low, low donation price of $350, once it goes into production. That's $100 off the estimated $450 retail price point -- not cheap, sure, but there are a couple of things to note here. First, we played with the gTar for a bit and we can say, definitively, that this isn't just some cheap, plasticky toy -- this feels like a real, amateur-level electric guitar. Also, for whatever it's worth, that price also includes a backpack carrying case -- so that's something, right?

Follow along after the break to get some fingers-on impressions.

Gallery: gTar hands-on

Continue reading gTar iPhone guitar hands-on

gTar iPhone guitar hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 15:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Kickstarter | Email this | Comments

Apple details neighbors on Campus 2 plans, extends rare request for feedback

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:20:00 MST

Cupertino residents may have received an unsolicited package from their most prominent neighbor this week. No, it's not a new iPad, or an early look at the iPhone 5 -- instead, people close to Apple (from a physical perspective) opened the glossy mailing to reveal a detailed look at Apple Campus 2, which will consist of 176 acres currently occupied by "aging buildings" and trees. As we already know, the campus will feature one main circular four-story building with 2.8 million square feet of office and common space, along with an additional 300,000 square feet set aside for dedicated (secure) research buildings. There will be a restaurant, fitness center and other facilities aimed to "reduce automobile trips" as part of the company's plan to protect the environment. Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer appeals to neighbors in a single-page letter, offering additional information upon receipt of a pre-stamped response card, which also prompts neighbors to add their name to a list of supporters, attend a public meeting or write a letter to show their support for the new Apple complex. You'll find Oppenheimer's letter in full after the break, along with additional photos at the source link.

Continue reading Apple details neighbors on Campus 2 plans, extends rare request for feedback

Apple details neighbors on Campus 2 plans, extends rare request for feedback originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 15:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | MacRumors | Email this | Comments

Ex-Rutgers student webcam spy sentenced to 30 days in jail

Ars Technica — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:05:44 MST

Dharun Ravi, the former Rutgers student who was convicted in March of spying on and intimidating his gay roommate, has been sentenced to 30 days in jail by a New Jersey judge.

Following Ravi?s actions, which included using a webcam and iChat to remotely watch a few seconds of roommate Tyler Clementi with another man in their dorm room, Clementi committed suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge in September 2010. In addition to the jail time, Ravi will now serve three years on probation and must complete community service that will help those affected by ?bias crimes.? He is also ordered to pay $11,000 in restitution.

Ravi has 10 days to file an appeal before he must begin serving the sentence. His attorneys have said previously that they would appeal.

Read more | Comments

Toyota recalling 2013 Lexus GS 350 F Sport over faulty ECU

AutoBlog — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:01:00 MST

Filed under: Sedan, Performance, Recalls, Safety, Lexus, Luxury

Lexus has announced a voluntary recall of roughly 650 2013 GS 350 F Sport models over a potential issue with one of the electronic control units.

When the vehicle is parked with the steering wheel turned, the calibration of the ECU for the Variable Gear Ratio Steering can cause the steering wheel to "become off-centered" if the car is immediately restarted.

Lexus will be notifying owners in early June, at which time they can take their cars to the dealer to have the ECU recalibrated free of charge. Scroll down for the press release.

Continue reading Toyota recalling 2013 Lexus GS 350 F Sport over faulty ECU

Toyota recalling 2013 Lexus GS 350 F Sport over faulty ECU originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 May 2012 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Ion iCade Mobile and iCade Core review

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:00:00 MST

The iCade Arcade Cabinet famously began life as an April Fool's joke, pulling the video game equivalent of Pinocchio by transforming in a real salable product. The $100 arcade machine-shaped iPad enclosure / controller hit the sweet spot between functionality and retro gaming nostalgia, proving successful enough that Ion found itself with a solid reason to expand the line. Notable amongst the new arrivals are the iCade Core, which offers up the same feature set as the original iCade in a more portable joystick form, and the iCade Mobile, a re-imagining of the product as an oversized iPhone case. The Core carries the same price tag as its predecessor, while the Mobile clocks in at $20 less. So, are these additions worthy of the iCade name? Or would the line have been better served as a one-off? Insert a coin and find out after the break.

Gallery: Ion iCade Mobile and iCade Core review

Continue reading Ion iCade Mobile and iCade Core review

Ion iCade Mobile and iCade Core review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 15:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

O2 UK offers Samsung Galaxy Note and Galaxy Y in Olympics versions, S Javelin sadly missing

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 14:39:00 MST

Are you so enthused with the 2012 Olympics that special tablets and non-stop TV coverage won't fully scratch the itch? O2 UK is letting you flaunt your British competitive pride every time you check Twitter by selling Olympic editions of Samsung's Galaxy Note and Galaxy Y. Either comes with a choice to drape your Android gear in a Union Jack or the Team Great Britain logo. If cosmetic patriotism isn't enough, O2 is making it meaningful by contributing £1 from every sale to future athlete training along with giving a chance to win two tickets to attend the London games, a special event and even the training camp. The bundles are ready to go now, although we're slightly bummed that there isn't an extra-long S Pen to commemorate the javelin toss or pole vault.

O2 UK offers Samsung Galaxy Note and Galaxy Y in Olympics versions, S Javelin sadly missing originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 14:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink SamMobile | Samsung UK | Email this | Comments

Collaboration will join Payday: The Heist with Left 4 Dead

Ars Technica — Mon, 21 May 2012 14:38:19 MST

When we reviewed Overkill Studios' Payday: The Heist last October, the very first words in our headline compared the game to Valve's co-operative zombie killfest Left 4 Dead. So it seems more than appropriate that Overkill has officially announced that an "in-depth collaboration" between the two studios, and the two games, is currently in production.

Overkill has apparently been dropping hints about the collaboration into the game itself recently. Company Game Director Ulf Andersson confirmed the cross-company team-up in a message on the company's website today, putting a stop to the rumors.

Aside from the project's existence, though, there are painfully few details offered about what this "very cool blend of Payday and Left 4 Dead" will be like or when we can expect to see it. In fact, the statement doesn't explicitly mention that the collaboration will even be a game at all. Could there be a cross-marketed Payday/Left 4 Dead cartoon series/toy line/breakfast cereal in our future? Our common sense says "no," but our hearts' fondest desires say, "I hope so!"

Read more | Comments

Official: Mini adds revised powertrain, automatic option to John Cooper Works models

AutoBlog — Mon, 21 May 2012 14:31:00 MST

Filed under: Convertible, Coupe, Performance, Etc., Hatchback, Mini

The Mini John Cooper Works line is set to get a little more efficient. Engineers have given the turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine a tune-up with new reinforced pistons, a sturdier cylinder head laded with lightweight cams, and sodium-filled exhaust valves. Though the forced-induction four-pot is good for 208 horsepower and 192 pound-feet of torque, an overboost function can step up the power to 207 lb-ft.

For the first time, Mini buyers can snag their own John Cooper Works creation with a six-speed automatic transmission, complete with wheel-mounted shift paddles. Combined with electric power steering, the changes should be good enough to offer a sizeable jump in fuel economy.

No official numbers have been released as of yet, but Mini says the new John Cooper Works Hardtop is capable of returning 7.1 liters per 100 kilometers on the EU cycle when equipped with the automatic gear box. That works out to around 33.1 mpg, though the Environmental Protection Agency figures are bound to vary greatly.

Mini has also officially announced the John Cooper Works Countryman will feature all-wheel drive as standard equipment. Using the same engine and transmission options as the rest of the JCW line, the high-riding JCW Countryman can nip to 60 mph in 6.6 seconds. Scroll down for the full press release.

Continue reading Mini adds revised powertrain, automatic option to John Cooper Works models

Mini adds revised powertrain, automatic option to John Cooper Works models originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 May 2012 13:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Comcast's 'Project Dayview' does PDA duty across TV, phone, PC and tablet (update: video)

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 14:19:00 MST

While we expected to see Comcast roll out its X1 DVR platform today at the Cable Show, more surprising is the new Project Dayview initiative. As seen above, it attempts to provide a single cross-platform home screen that combines info from its services and third party sources to give customers a quick look at what's important to them, on any screen. Potential sources include Comcast services (DVR schedule from your cable box, voicemails from the home phone, email, or home security / automation updates when you're away) as well as third party information like your current calendar software, social media and local news. While ambitious, it does reflect a futuristic ability to bring its users relevant information (based on the time of day, it could pull the traffic report before you leave for work or TV listings in the evening, for example) automatically. How well it all works remains to be seen once this is integrated with the new DVR software and apps later this year, but you can get an idea of what Comcast has up its sleeve for your four screens from the pictures in the gallery below.

Update: Check out a video of CEO Neil Smit demonstrating Project Dayview on the show floor embedded after the break.

Gallery: Comcast Project Dayview UI

Continue reading Comcast's 'Project Dayview' does PDA duty across TV, phone, PC and tablet (update: video)

Comcast's 'Project Dayview' does PDA duty across TV, phone, PC and tablet (update: video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 14:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

[Sponsor] Bronson Watermarker

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 14:10:50 MST

Personalized PDFs and images in one click. $10 in the Mac App Store. There’s even a free demo.

Apple Reaches Out to Cupertino Neighbors Regarding 'Campus 2' Plans

MacRumors — Mon, 21 May 2012 14:01:17 MST

Apple last week sent out a mailing to neighbors of its planned Apple Campus 2, a massive new facility on the site of an old HP campus in Cupertino that is set to host 13,000 workers. The mailing offers details on the project, solicits feedback, and asks whether neighbors will support the project either in person at public meetings or by writing letters of support.

Click for larger
In the mailing, Apple touts how the project will enhance the neighborhood around the campus, from both functional and aesthetic perspectives. Apple notes that the project will bring upgrades to streets and sidewalks in the area and add more than 2,000 tress will replacing acres of parking lots with green space. Apple also emphasizes the environmental side of its efforts, from a commitment to 100% renewable energy including a massive solar installation to water reclamation and improved drainage.

Click for larger
Apple does note that the campus will not be open to the public, although many of its planned improvements will impact neighbors. The plan has not been without some controversy, however, as some critics have spoken out against the project design, the closed campus, and the amount of traffic it will bring to the area.

Apple's timeline calls for the City of Cupertino to review and approve the campus plans later this year, with construction to begin immediately following approval and the first move-ins planned for 2015.

(Thanks, Hansen!)

Recent Mac and iOS Blog Stories
• Physics Puzzler 'Feed Me Oil' Free for Today Only
• Comcast Dropping 250GB Data Cap In Favor of "Improved Data Usage Management"
• China Mobile Again Confirms iPhone Talks with Apple
• In Lawsuit Over Siri, Apple Says the Technology is "Cutting Edge"
• iPhone a 'Game Changer' for Customer Satisfaction

Sony Music Unlimited comes to iPhone with streaming music app

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 14:01:00 MST

Android and PlayStation Vita owners have felt the Music Unlimited love on their respective devices for quite some time now, but the Spotify / MOG / Rdio competitor has finally made its way to the App Store, bringing with it yet another option for streaming music on iOS. The free app appears to be optimized for iPhone and iPod touch (though it's also compatible with iPad), and will enable on-the-go jammin' with a $4-per-month Basic subscription over 3G, 4G or WiFi connections. You can pull in tunes from the millions of tracks in Sony's collection, or access songs on your PC using the Music Sync service. The app is currently only available in the New Zealand App Store, but it's expected to hit other Music Unlimited countries soon. For now, you can hit up the source link for the Kiwi App Store preview, or head over to the Music Unlimited site to sign up.

Sony Music Unlimited comes to iPhone with streaming music app originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 14:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink 9to5 Mac | App Store (NZ), Music Unlimited | Email this | Comments

Video: Carbon monoxide nearly costs this track day racer his life

AutoBlog — Mon, 21 May 2012 13:59:00 MST

Filed under: Motorsports, Coupe, Performance, Europe, Safety, Videos, Toyota

There are plenty of dangers to contend with at a track day. High speeds, inexperienced drivers, faulty equipment and foul weather can all play havoc on an otherwise friendly fender-to-fender weekend. We can now add carbon monoxide poisoning to the list of potential threats.

One Finnish Toyota MR2 owner took his machine out for a quick sprint at Ahvenisto just outside of Hameenlinna. After a few minutes behind the wheel, the driver begins struggling to keep control of his car, eventually spinning into the infield. He maneuvers back on track and pulls off, and it isn't long before he blacks out entirely. Later, he would have no recollection of anything after the car hit the grass.

He stays unconscious for nearly 11 minutes before rescue workers resort to smashing his passenger window to gain access. By the time he receives medical attention, his blood was packed with 67 percent carbon monoxide. Any longer in the vehicle's cabin and the day very well could have been his last. Check out the scariness for yourself.

Continue reading Carbon monoxide nearly costs this track day racer his life

Carbon monoxide nearly costs this track day racer his life originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 May 2012 12:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Can mammals outrun climate change?

Ars Technica — Mon, 21 May 2012 13:45:11 MST

Despite its reputation, the sloth apparently disperses to new habitats with relative ease.

duke.edu

One of the ways in which climate change impacts Earth?s ecosystems is through the movement of climate zones. In order to stay in the climate zones they?ve adapted to, species will have to shift poleward (or, in the case of mountainous regions, upward). This trend is already apparent, occurring at an average rate of about 6 kilometers poleward per decade, or 6 meters higher in elevation.

Obviously, some species are more capable of this than others. Trees, contrary to the depictions in The Lord of the Rings, are not terribly good at getting from place to place. They rely on the scattering of seeds and growth of new individuals to advance into a new area. Migratory species, on the other hand, already undertake tremendous journeys every year. These disparities could lead to some significant shuffling of ecosystems as fast-moving species begin catching up to and interacting with slow-moving species that they've never seen before.

The Red Queen in Through the Looking Glass tells Alice that ?it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place.? The plight of species in shifting climate zones is similar. Previous research on the subject had focused on the climate zones, using the simplifying assumption that mammals would be able to move along with them. In a paper published last week, researchers from the University of Washington examined mammals in the Western Hemisphere to find out how well they'll keep up.

Read more | Comments

Motorola reinvents the TV interface with DreamGallery concept (video)

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 13:42:00 MST

Motorola is demonstrating how it expects TVs of the future will work with its DreamGallery concept. Powered by the company's Medios cloud-service, the display is designed to let you browse content as if it was the internet -- with bookmarks, personalized recommendations and interactive search tools. Its designed to work across your TV, computer, tablet and smartphone, aggregating Cable, Internet TV and VOD under a single interface that sits behind pull-tabs around the picture. If you're curious to see if this is easier to use than TiVo, head on past the break to catch your first glimpse.

Continue reading Motorola reinvents the TV interface with DreamGallery concept (video)

Motorola reinvents the TV interface with DreamGallery concept (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 13:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

Elgato announces Game Capture HD, shows off your deathmatch prowess in H.264

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 13:24:00 MST

Elgato is releasing the Game Capture HD, a device that lets game-casters and YouTube walkthrough mavens shed low-resolution, over-the-shoulder smartphone footage once and for all. The sleek black box sits between console and display, enabling gamers to record their speed runs and kill records for the world to see. Xbox 360 users can daisy-chain the gear into their HDMI set-up, while PS3 users will have to use the bundled AV cable to circumvent Sony's stronger copy protection. The footage will then be compressed with the company's H.264 know-how and pushed to your PC or Mac for uploading. When it arrives at the start of June, it'll set you back $200 -- just giving you enough time to get practicing your soothing and confident narration voice.

Continue reading Elgato announces Game Capture HD, shows off your deathmatch prowess in H.264

Elgato announces Game Capture HD, shows off your deathmatch prowess in H.264 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 13:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Elgato | Email this | Comments

Microsoft reveals more multi-monitor improvements in Windows 8 Release Preview (video)

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 13:06:00 MST

If you're a multitasking extraordinaire who depends on Windows as your primary computing platform of choice, there's a good chance you utilize more than one monitor to get your work done -- unfortunately, the seventh iteration of Microsoft's OS didn't offer as much support in this arena as most display warriors would prefer. The Consumer Preview of Windows 8 offered a few functionality improvements, and with its upcoming Release Preview, Microsoft is focusing on further enhancing the experience. Mark Yalovsky, a lead program manager on the User Experience team, put together a lengthy piece on what kind of goodies we can expect.

Among the highlighted changes is the ability to access the Start, app switching and charms menus from the corners on any monitor, rather than just having these options locked to only the primary display. The Release Preview also improves shared edges and corners so that the flow of cross-display navigation won't get interrupted by obnoxious corners popping up when you don't intend them to. Finally, the option of dragging and dropping Metro-style apps (as well as snapped apps) between monitors has also been included in the new build. These enhancements may seem small, but will go a long way toward appeasing those of us who can't live without more than one screen. For the full listing of feature changes, view Microsoft's video below and check out Mark's post at the source.

Continue reading Microsoft reveals more multi-monitor improvements in Windows 8 Release Preview (video)

Microsoft reveals more multi-monitor improvements in Windows 8 Release Preview (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 13:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Microsoft | Email this | Comments

First Drive: 2013 Ford Shelby GT500 [w/video]

AutoBlog — Mon, 21 May 2012 12:57:00 MST

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Ford, First Drives

The Biggest Hammer Of Them All Is Sharper Than Ever

We would love to be able to look you square in the eye and say, "All you need to know about the 2013 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 can be summed up in one figure: 662." After all, that's the obscene amount of horsepower ripping at the rear tires courtesy of the supercharged 5.8-liter V8 under the hood. Unfortunately, it's not quite that simple. For the first time in its life, the GT500 has found itself lined up against a legitimate competitor in the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. The muscle car/supercar crossbreed from General Motors is stitched to conquer not only the quarter mile, but the nation's road courses as well.

In order to answer that threat, the engineers at Ford have laid a hand on nearly every mechanical and electrical system on board the GT500. While that means the blown V8 churns out a diabolical 112 more horsepower than the previous model, it also means the top-tier Mustang now comes with tricks like user-selectable Bilstein dampers, adjustable electronic power steering, larger brakes and an array of optional cooling systems. In fact, if this car came wrapped in a slightly different shade of sheetmetal, we'd be talking about an all-new model instead of a refresh.

Continue reading 2013 Ford Shelby GT500 [w/video]

2013 Ford Shelby GT500 [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 May 2012 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Qualcomm hires former AMD CTO, makes 'em pay for dropping mobile

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 12:43:00 MST

Qualcomm is hiring AMD's former CTO Eric Demers to help the company produce a blockbuster mobile graphics chip. It needs the silicon for its big push for smartphone dominance (and tablets running Windows RT) in the face of strong competition from Imagination Technologies' Series 6 PowerVR and NVIDIA's Tegra 3. Demers' first job will be to merge Qualcomm's in-house Adreno team with ATI's Imageon mobile graphics chip team, which AMD flogged off for $65 million back in 2009 -- a move Sunnyvale is probably regretting now that it too is trying to get its hardware into mobile devices, unless it included a do-over clause in the sales contract.

Qualcomm hires former AMD CTO, makes 'em pay for dropping mobile originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 12:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink TechEye | Tom's Hardware | Email this | Comments

Rhythm platformer Sound Shapes is shaping up for its Vita debut

Ars Technica — Mon, 21 May 2012 12:40:18 MST

Jonathan Mak (left) and Shaw-Han Liem (right) in the office of Capybara Games, where some of Sound Shapes' part-time developers work.

Matthew Braga

Jonathan Mak sighs.

After three years of work, development on Sound Shapes is finally wrapping up. And yet, Mak and co-creator Shaw-Han Liem don't seem particularly relieved.

"At this point, all you're seeing are problems," says Liem. "It's hard to appreciate how cool it is sometimes, because all you're dealing with all day are issues."

Read more | Comments

Supreme Court declines to hear $675,000 file-swapping case

Ars Technica — Mon, 21 May 2012 12:29:12 MST

Appeal denied

United States Supreme Court

The Supreme Court this morning declined (PDF) to hear the appeal of admitted file-swapper Joel Tenenbaum, who recently asked the court to consider the proper process for slashing his $675,000 damage award.

The trial judge in Tenenbaum's case initially ruled that the jury verdict was unconstitutionally punitive, but the appellate court overturned this ruling and said that the judge first had to use the common-law process of "remittitur" to cut down the verdict before reaching the broader constitutional question. (Judges must typically try to address cases by dealing with lower-order issues, only reaching high-level claims about things like constitutionality when unavoidable.)

Tenenbaum's lawyer, Harvard Law professor Charles Nesson, told the Supreme Court that the labels want to maintain their high damage award "for the ulterior purpose of creating an urban legend so frightening to children using the Internet, and so frightening for parents and teachers of students using the Internet, that they will somehow reverse the tide of the digital future." The judges didn't buy it.

Read more | Comments

Spy Shots: Next Land Rover Range Rover reveals more of its lighter body

AutoBlog — Mon, 21 May 2012 12:28:00 MST

Filed under: Spy Photos, SUV, Land Rover

This isn't the first (or second, or third) time we've caught the next-generation Big Daddy Range Rover out testing, but this latest set of spy photos gives us our best look yet at some of the SUV's new exterior details. (Sidenote: We have to commend Jaguar Land Rover for having some of the coolest camouflage patterns in the world.)

As you might expect, the Range Rover's shape hasn't changed too much from the current generation, though we can clearly see a sleeker front fascia with headlamps that seem to incorporate new LED running lights, as well as a slightly sleeker roofline. But the big news for this next-generation vehicle is the huge reduction in weight that's supposedly on tap - reports have estimated that as much as 800 pounds have been shed from the SUV's body. This weight savings is largely due to an all-new aluminum platform, as well as widespread use of lightweight materials throughout the body.

Mum's the word on what's going to be found underhood, but we'd expect the usual range of eight-cylinder engines to be offered here in the United States. Murmurs of a hybrid powertrain have also been spinning 'round the rumormill, so don't rule out the possibility of some electric boost being on tap, as well. Click through the above gallery to see the full slate of spy shots for yourself.

Next Land Rover Range Rover reveals more of its lighter body originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 May 2012 11:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Verizon purportedly giving DROID 4, RAZR and Rezound 'global' designation via software update ...

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 12:18:00 MST

There's one major drawback that jet-setters and globetrotters utilizing one of Verizon's current LTE handsets must deal with: the lack of a GSM radio frequency. It's true, while CDMA and LTE have carved out a place for themselves here in the States, when the rubber literally meets the road (or tarmac), it's a GSM world we're living in. With that in mind, it appears as though Verizon is planning to make several of its current smartphones a bit more cosmopolitan by enabling the "global" capabilities already embedded within. Blog Droid-Life is reporting that new in-store collateral for the DROID 4, RAZR and Rezound contains the tagline, "Coming Soon: Use in an additional 185 countries." The new proficiency should be made available via a software update pushed out by Big Red, although some of you may have already taken matters into your own hands. No word on what the precise definition of "soon" is, but we've reached out to Verizon for comment and will update this post with any relevant information provided.

Update: Verizon officials reached out to us and confirmed that the rumors are indeed true: the HTC Rezound, Motorola Droid RAZR / RAZR Maxx and Droid 4 will all be updated "this summer." The carrier told us:

Customers will see a notification on their device when the software update is available for their device. After the software update, customers will be able to take their smartphone overseas and use voice service in more than 220 countries and receive data in more than 205 countries.

Verizon purportedly giving DROID 4, RAZR and Rezound 'global' designation via software update (update: confirmed) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 12:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Droid-Life | Email this | Comments

Motorsports: Audi R8 LMS Ultra claims overall victory at N�rburgring 24 Hours

AutoBlog — Mon, 21 May 2012 11:59:00 MST

Filed under: Motorsports, Audi

Audi has claimed its first overall victory at the Nürburgring 24 Hour race with the R8 LMS Ultra finishing in both first and second place. The win comes after a slew of endurance race wins for Audi in the last 12 months including the Bathurst 12 Hour and the 24 hour races at Spa and Zolder.

The winning Phoenix Racing R8 LMS Ultra, driven by a German quartet of Marc Basseng, Christopher Haase, Frank Stippler and Markus Winkelhock, managed to complete 155 laps of the Green Hell free of technical issues or crashes, and finished over three and a half minutes ahead of the second place R8 run by Abt. A Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 claimed the final place on the podium.

"We are absolutely delighted about this long desired victory," said Dieter Gass, Head of Racing Commitments at Audi Sport, after the race. "For three years the Audi R8 LMS was always the best GT3 car at the Nürburgring. Now we have taken overall victory in the fight with seven other brands."

Scroll down to see the official announcement from Audi or view photos from the race in the high-res gallery above.

Continue reading Audi R8 LMS Ultra claims overall victory at N�rburgring 24 Hours

Audi R8 LMS Ultra claims overall victory at N�rburgring 24 Hours originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 May 2012 10:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Kinect for Windows SDK reaches v1.5, now works when you're sitting down

Engadget — Mon, 21 May 2012 11:53:00 MST

Microsoft is busting out version 1.5 of its Kinect for Windows runtime and SDK that includes a raft of new features for the Xbox-lacking hoi polli. The update includes 10-joint skeletal tracking that'll work even when seated, face following capabilities and joint orientation -- the latter enabling it to predict how your body will move for greater accuracy. It's also gaining four extra languages for speech recognition: French, Spanish, Italian and Japanese, not to mention Kinect Studio, which will help developers record and play back your movements to fine-tune their applications. In addition, Redmond is offering language packs to ensure the sensor will play harmoniously with your local dialect, cobber.

Kinect for Windows SDK reaches v1.5, now works when you're sitting down originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 11:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Windows Blog | Email this | Comments

Cities offer free rent, other incentives to bring in an Apple Store

Ars Technica — Mon, 21 May 2012 11:50:02 MST

Apple's Lincoln Park, Chicago store is located next to the North/Clybourn Red Line stop. Apple paid $4 million to renovate the stop and build a plaza on a disused bus turn-around.

Apple

Cities and shopping centers are apparently keen to attract shiny new Apple Stores to their areas. So keen, in fact, that Apple routinely gets special deals on leasing, taxes, and other incentives. Other retailers aren't jealous, however, because Apple Store customers add to the bottom line, according to The Next Web.

Among the deals Apple has received recently, The Next Web cites two prominent "sweet deals." One is the leasing deal Apple signed to move into New York's Grand Central Terminal. While New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli thought the deal was too sweet in Apple's favor, the Metropolitan Transit Authority defended the deal, noting that Apple�brought in more rent than any other tenant in the space would have. The deal also included $2.5 million in infrastructure improvements paid for by Apple, and is driving notable increases in revenue for nearby stores and restaurants in the terminal.

The other recent deal is one recently closed to bring a second Apple Store to Salt Lake City, Utah. While the details of the lease aren't public, the local ABC News affiliate reported that City Creek Mall offered the company five years of free rent to bring the store in. A commercial real estate broker in the area called the deal "unprecedented."

Read more | Comments

Cable companies to allow WiFi roaming across 50,000 hotspots

Ars Technica — Mon, 21 May 2012 11:34:32 MST

Five major cable companies have signed a deal to let customers access WiFi hotspots regardless of which Internet provider they use. Bright House Networks, Cablevision, Comcast, Cox Communications, and Time Warner Cable today said the service will initially include 50,000 hotspots in New York City, the surrounding Tri-State area, Los Angeles, Central Florida, and Philadelphia, with "several additional cities" coming later.

Internet subscribers can get online by locating the "CableWifi" network name (you can find hotspots through this link). Generally, it appears the service will be free, or at least there will be no additional charge for existing customers of the five Internet providers mentioned above. Bright House said it is "providing free wireless Internet access" to its high-speed Internet customers, while Comcast's Xfinity WiFi is also available to Comcast customers at no extra charge. Time Warner WiFi is available to its subscribers or to anyone who buys a temporary pass.

Cablevision, Comcast, and Time Warner Cable signed a similar agreement in 2010 to allow WiFi sharing in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Connecticut, but the deal announced today is "the largest and most inclusive" to date, the cable companies said. At first, users will have to sign in to WiFi networks with their usernames and passwords, but automatic connections when users are within range of a Cable WiFi hotspot will be supported in "the coming months."

Read more | Comments

Leap Motion promises Kinect-beating 3D tracking

Ars Technica — Mon, 21 May 2012 11:03:59 MST

Wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle

Leap Motion

While Microsoft's Kinect brought the idea of 3D motion tracking to the masses, the 3D camera's low, 640x480 resolution, moderate input lag, and bulky form factor have somewhat limited its practical uses. Now, a startup called Leap Motion wants to revolutionize the motion-tracking space with a chewing-gum-pack-sized 3D tracker that promises sub-millimeter accuracy.

Leap Motion claims its small sensor creates a "three-dimensional interaction space" of four cubic meters that can track the 3D position and orientation of individual fingers and even thin objects like pencils in real time, all to a tolerance of one-hundredth of a millimeter. The company says the breakthrough in resolution comes not from the hardware, which consists of relatively standard parts, but from what CTO David Holz calls "a number of major algorithmic and mathematical problems that had not been solved or were considered unsolvable."

A demonstration video shows the technology being used in everything from a first-person shooter to pinch-and-zoom navigation of 3D spaces to mid-air stylus writing in an area smaller than a square centimeter. Writers from CNET�and The Financial Times came away impressed by hands-on demos as Leap Motion emerged from its stealth phase.

Read more | Comments

Apple looking for neighborly feedback on its UFO-like "Campus 2"

Ars Technica — Mon, 21 May 2012 10:40:38 MST

Apple's new "spaceship" campus will be entirely closed off to outsiders, so don't count on taking a leisurely stroll through the quad or stopping by a new campus store anytime soon. That's just one of several details that Apple has begun revealing to neighbors as it prepares to build the new campus, which will act primarily as a research facility in Cupertino. (It won't replace the 1 Infinite Loop headquarters?at least not yet.) The company is asking neighbors for feedback on the designs before it finalizes the plans and begins building. Apple doesn't expect to occupy the new campus for another three years.

Apple has begun mailing pamphlets to neighbors of the new campus outlining the company's plans. 9to5Mac obtained one of these brochures and posted several photos?the letter to residents outlines the boundaries of "Apple Campus 2" and explains which changes will be made to the current landscape of the area. The company also highlighted its commitment to the environment and said that the main, ring-shaped 2.8 million square foot building (as well as the surrounding research buildings) will all be LEED certified. "Respect for our neighbors was a priority as we designed Apple Campus 2," wrote Apple.

Although the Campus 2 will have some of the same amenities as the original campus, such as a restaurant and fitness center, the general public won't be able to visit it. This is most likely to keep Apple's R&D work under even tighter wraps than it is at 1 Infinite Loop, which is often sprinkled with visitors and executives from other companies. Apple was also recently approved to build a separate off-campus restaurant in Cupertino for its employees so they can discuss projects freely without worrying about outsiders spying on their discussions.

Read more | Comments

Tim Cook and Samsung CEO Choi Gee-sung Meeting Today to Discuss Patent Issues

MacRumors — Mon, 21 May 2012 10:34:05 MST

Following last month's announcement that Apple and Samsung had agreed to high-level talks involving the two companies' CEOs in an attempt to resolve ongoing patent litigation, Reuters provides a preview of the session set to begin today in San Francisco. The talks, which will be mediated by a federal judge, are scheduled to take place over the next two days.

Commenting before his departure to the United States for the talks, Samsung mobile division chief JK Shin noted that while significant differences between Apple and Samsung still exist, a number of "negotiation options" remain on the table.

"There is still a big gap in the patent war with Apple," JK Shin said, before departing for the United States for the mediation talks. "But we still have several negotiation options."

Court documents show the two companies have had at least one mediation session, although it is not clear if Cook and Choi were involved.

Legal experts are not optimistic that the two companies will reach a settlement, but with courts increasingly pushing companies to seek alternative dispute resolution processes in hopes of staving off drawn-out court battles, Apple and Samsung have agreed to participate in the talks.

Samsung is just one of Apple's main targets in its patent battles with Android-based hardware manufacturers. In another case, Apple succeeded in slowing U.S. imports of several HTC smartphones earlier this month, forcing the company to delay the launch of the Evo 4G LTE on Sprint although HTC has indicated that some shipments of some models are being released by U.S. Customs.

But while Apple's disputes with several Android device manufacturers center on functionality of the devices, the company's dispute with Samsung extends further to claims that Samsung has "chosen to slavishly copy" the design of Apple's products with its own line of Galaxy smartphones and tablets.

Recent Mac and iOS Blog Stories
• Physics Puzzler 'Feed Me Oil' Free for Today Only
• Comcast Dropping 250GB Data Cap In Favor of "Improved Data Usage Management"
• China Mobile Again Confirms iPhone Talks with Apple
• In Lawsuit Over Siri, Apple Says the Technology is "Cutting Edge"
• iPhone a 'Game Changer' for Customer Satisfaction

European regulators offer Google chance to settle antitrust violations

Ars Technica — Mon, 21 May 2012 10:15:34 MST

The European Commission today accused Google of abusing its dominant position in the search engine market to benefit its own advertising services at the expense of competitors. But rather than launch "formal proceedings," Europe is giving Google a chance to settle the matter.

EC Vice President Joaquin Almunia outlined European concerns today in a statement and letter to Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt. Almunia outlined four areas where the EC believes Google is violating competition laws:

�"In its general search results, Google displays links to its own vertical search services differently than it does for links to competitors," Almunia said. "We are concerned that this may result in preferential treatment compared to those of competing services, which may be hurt as a consequence."

"Our second concern relates to the way Google copies content from competing vertical search services and uses it in its own offerings. Google may be copying original material from the websites of its competitors such as user reviews and using that material on its own sites without their prior authorization. In this way they are appropriating the benefits of the investments of competitors. We are worried that this could reduce competitors' incentives to invest in the creation of original content for the benefit of internet users. This practice may impact for instance travel sites or sites providing restaurant guides."

"Our third concern relates to agreements between Google and partners on the websites of which Google delivers search advertisements. Search advertisements are advertisements that are displayed alongside search results when a user types a query in a website's search box. The agreements result in de facto exclusivity requiring them to obtain all or most of their requirements of search advertisements from Google, thus shutting out competing providers of search advertising intermediation services. This potentially impacts advertising services purchased for example by online stores, online magazines or broadcasters."

"Our fourth concern relates to restrictions that Google puts to the portability of online search advertising campaigns from its platform AdWords to the platforms of competitors. AdWords is Google's auction-based advertising platform on which advertisers can bid for the placement of search ads on search result pages provided by Google. We are concerned that Google imposes contractual restrictions on software developers which prevent them from offering tools that allow the seamless transfer of search advertising campaigns across AdWords and other platforms for search advertising."

The investigation comes after complaints "from smaller Web businesses and from Microsoft that Google downgraded their sites in its search results to weaken potential competitors for advertising," the New York Times notes. The EC told Google it has "a matter of weeks" to propose remedies to the four concerns, or face formal proceedings that could end in a fine or remedies imposed by European regulators.

Read more | Comments

Foxconn Building New $210 Million Production Line for Apple Products

MacRumors — Mon, 21 May 2012 10:13:26 MST

China Daily reports that Apple's manufacturing partner Foxconn continues to expand its operations in support of Apple's strong growth in product sales, investing $210 million to build a new production line for unspecified components. The new production line is said to be set to come on line in October of this year and will be located in the Chinese city of Huai'an in the eastern province of Jiangsu.

The plant, covering an area of 40,000 square meters, plans to hire 35,800 employees.

The annual output value of the plant is expected to reach 6 to 7 billion yuan ($949 million to $1.1 billion), and the import and export value will be $55.8 million, the office said.

Foxconn, which has come under scrutiny regarding workers rights issues and has recently been working with Apple to monitor issues and improve standards, has been aggressively expanding its facilities to support Apple's production needs. In addition to new production facilities for the iPhone and iPad in Brazil, the company has also recently adopted a strategy of decentralizing its Chinese production facilities, building some of its new plants in interior regions closer to the homes of many of the young workers seeking jobs with the company.

Foxconn workers polishing iPad rear shells (Source: ABC/Nightline)
It is unclear what role the forthcoming Huai'an facility will play in the production of Apple devices, and while the addition of nearly 36,000 workers marks a substantial investment in new production for Apple, it will represent only a small fraction of Foxconn's overall workforce, which currently includes well over one million employees.

Recent Mac and iOS Blog Stories
• Physics Puzzler 'Feed Me Oil' Free for Today Only
• Comcast Dropping 250GB Data Cap In Favor of "Improved Data Usage Management"
• China Mobile Again Confirms iPhone Talks with Apple
• In Lawsuit Over Siri, Apple Says the Technology is "Cutting Edge"
• iPhone a 'Game Changer' for Customer Satisfaction

Smartphone hijacking vulnerability affects AT&T, 47 other carriers

Ars Technica — Mon, 21 May 2012 09:18:09 MST

Cisco Systems' ASA 5500 series is one of many firewalls that drops data packets that contains invalid TCP sequence numbers. The feature can leak data that can be used to hijack connections.

Cisco Systems

Computer scientists have identified a vulnerability in the network of AT&T and at least 47 other cellular carriers that allows attackers to surreptitiously hijack the Internet connections of smartphone users and inject malicious content into the traffic passing between them and trusted websites.

The attack, which doesn't require an adversary to have any man-in-the-middle capability over the network, can be used to lace unencrypted Facebook and Twitter pages with code that causes victims to take unintended actions, such as post messages or follow new users. It can also be used to direct people to fraudulent banking websites and to inject fraudulent messages into chat sessions in some Windows Live Messenger apps. Ironically, the vulnerability is introduced by a class of firewalls cellular carriers use. While intended to make the networks safer, these firewall middleboxes allow hackers to infer TCP sequence numbers of data packets appended to each data packet, a disclosure that can be used to tamper with Internet connections.

"The TCP sequence number inference attack opens up a whole new set of attack venues," the researchers from the University of Michigan's Computer Science and Engineering Department wrote in a research paper scheduled to be presented at this week's IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy. "It breaks the common assumption that communication is relatively safe on encrypted/protected WiFi or cellular networks that encrypt the wireless traffic. In fact, since our attack does not rely on sniffing traffic, it works regardless of the access technology as long as no application-layer protection is enabled."

Read more | Comments

Frum: Yes, worry about the euro crisis

CNN — Mon, 21 May 2012 08:55:06 MST

The European financial crisis is poorly understood in the United States.

2 priests out over sex abuse allegations

CNN — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:27:08 MST

The troubled Archdiocese of Philadelphia said Monday that it has ousted two priests due to allegations of sexual abuse of minors.

No benefits for posthumous conception

CNN — Mon, 21 May 2012 17:00:07 MST

A mother of twins born 18 months after the death of the biological father lost her Supreme Court appeal Monday, and the children are not eligible for survival benefits under Social Security.

Weekend Ar(t)s: Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream Book shares simple secrets

Ars Technica — Sun, 20 May 2012 22:30:49 MST

During the weekend, even Ars takes an occasional break from turning Vitas into phones or worrying about Best Buy's PC setup procedures. Weekend Ar(t)s is a chance to share what we're watching/listening to/reading or otherwise consuming this week.

This is our damn video about making "Here's your damn chocolate ice cream."

If you're the kind of ice cream eater who only opts for the classic swirl, the genius of Humphry Slocombe is lost on you. On any given day inside the San Francisco flavor factory, sure, you can find some form of chocolate and vanilla. But it's likely Chocolate Smoked Salt and Tahitian Vanilla. And those can usually be found next to tastes that really make all other parlors jealous: Peanut Butter Curry or Jesus Juice (a red wine and cola sorbet) for instance.

Last month Humphry Slocombe did foodies everywhere a favor. They took 40 of their favorite recipes and compiled them into the inaugural Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream Book. Finally, the world could learn the secret behind mind-melting experiences like your first scoop of Secret Breakfast (bourbon and cornflakes).

Read more | Comments

Bad romance: Internet scammers prey on the love-struck and lonely

Ars Technica — Sun, 20 May 2012 21:00:44 MST

So many victims.

Interscope Records

You're not the kind of person who would ever fall for a "relationship scammer" on the Internet, of course, so you might wonder whether anyone actually sends tens of thousands of dollars in gifts to a romantic partner they have met only online. The answer is: yes, yes they would. And it happens far more often?and involves far more money?than you might suspect.

Case in point: back in 2005, in the great state of California, a woman named Paula met a "man" named Jesse while participating in an online discussion forum around the show Deadwood. Paula fell in love. Hard. But "Jesse" wasn't a man; she was apparently a woman named Janna, who lived in Batavia, Illinois?just up the road from me and right next to the Fermilab research complex.

This led, eventually, to a lawsuit. Here's how an Illinois appeals court summed up the complex claims that Paula made in the case. (Pardon the length, but it's needed to convey the full-on bizarreness of what happened.)

Read more | Comments

The future is forever: the state of IPv6 in the Apple world

Ars Technica — Sun, 20 May 2012 20:30:04 MST

Photo illustration by Aurich Lawson

With the demise of Apple's own networking protocol AppleTalk, Apple's products are suffering from the same issue as anyone else's: the Internet is running out of addresses. Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Netflix, and others will permanently turn on IPv6 in less than a month with the World IPv6 Launch, so here's everything you need to know about IPv6. The short version? IPv6 has 79,228,162,514,264,337,593,543,950,336 times more addresses than the current IPv4.

Unlike Windows XP, which supports IPv6 if the user turns it on first, the protocol was turned on by default for Mac users as part of the OS X 10.2 Jaguar release in May 2002. This means that Macs running Jaguar (or later) will detect IPv6 routers on the local network and use those to talk IPv6 to the rest of the world. But even if there is no IPv6 router present, your Mac will have special IPv6 addresses for local use ("link local" addresses in IPv6 lingo), so those so inclined can do things like this in the Terminal:

 $ ping6 nirrti.local. PING6(56=40+8+8 bytes) fe80::60c:ceff:fee3:1860%en0 --> fe80::21b:63ff:fe95:7d9b%en0 16 bytes from fe80::21b:63ff:fe95:7d9b%en0, icmp_seq=0 hlim=64 time=1.272 ms 16 bytes from fe80::21b:63ff:fe95:7d9b%en0, icmp_seq=1 hlim=64 time=3.391 ms 16 bytes from fe80::21b:63ff:fe95:7d9b%en0, icmp_seq=2 hlim=64 time=3.354 ms

What I did above was use the IPv6 version of the ping command toward my other computer using its local name (hence the .local.).

Read more | Comments

Future U: Library 3.0 has more resources, greater challenges

Ars Technica — Sun, 20 May 2012 20:00:43 MST

Libraries are changing, despite their facades. And they're changing to high-tech service companies with embedded librarians, according to some library professionals. Of course, that assumes they aren't defunded out of existence.

For ladies and gentlemen of a certain age, the library is changing too fast. For kids, it's not changing fast enough. University students are caught in the middle. Their library experience must be like surfing: riding the edge of a moving wave, never quite cresting, never quite crashing. Such a state has to be thrilling, but ultimately exhausting.

One popular image of the library of the future comes from the cartoon Futurama. The temporally misplaced character from our own time, Fry, enters Mars University?s Wong Library with his friends. It contains the largest collection of literature in the universe. Zoom in on two CDs, one labeled ?Fiction? and the other ?Non-fiction.?

In many ways, the library of today looks much the same as the library of yesteryear. The card catalogs may be consigned to a basement storage area and the tables where they used to stand are studded with computers. But otherwise there are carrels and stacks, stairs and information desk, patrons and librarians.

Read more | Comments

Running client-side Ruby on the Web with Native Client or Emscripten

Ars Technica — Sun, 20 May 2012 19:30:43 MST

The Ruby programming language runtime has been ported to Google?s Native Client (NaCl) framework. The port, which was implemented by Google, will make it possible for NaCl-enabled Web browsers to execute client-side Ruby code.

Google engineer Yuki Sonoda merged the patch into MRI, the standard C-based Ruby reference implementation. It?s now possible to generate an NaCl-compatible build of Ruby by using a compile-time option. The resulting ruby.nexe can be loaded by the NaCl browser plugin and used in Web applications.

Native Client is a mechanism for running arbitrary native code within a Web browser. A custom development toolchain supplied by Google can be used to compile conventional C/C++ code into OS-neutral binary executables that can be run by the browser plugin. NaCl uses a sophisticated sandboxing mechanism to avoid the security pitfalls that afflicted similar legacy technologies, such as ActiveX.

Read more | Comments

Digital archivists: technological custodians of human history

Ars Technica — Sun, 20 May 2012 19:00:13 MST

Mat Hampson

Game creator Jordan Mechner wanted to teach the next generation. So the man behind the groundbreaking 1989 Apple II game Prince of Persia recently posted his original 6052 assembly source code to Github. But getting the code from decades-old floppy disks "covered with dust" was no simple task. Mechner employed the services of vintage computer expert Tony Diaz and digital archivist Jason Scott to extract the bits from the floppies and assemble it into a readable code file.

Without Diaz and Scott, Mechner's code could have been lost forever. The exact methods he used to create this landmark game would have become as obsolete as the 1976 technology it was played on.

But old source code isn't the only cultural artifact that requires specialized knowledge to preserve. As paper and dyes deteriorate, acetate degenerates, and the minute magnetic flux recorded in analog tape fades with the ages, how do we preserve cultural artifacts like photographs, music, and film? And what of more modern digitally created media? Images and video are shot directly in digital formats and stored on flash media. Music is recorded in 24-bit, 192kHz digital resolution onto massive hard drives. All these files exist in various codecs, formats, and file systems; on spinning magnetic platters or in solid state NAND flash. How do we preserve these files for future reference, study, and appreciation?

Read more | Comments

ElcomSoft's Phone Forensics Software Offers Near Real-Time Access to iCloud Backups

MacRumors — Fri, 18 May 2012 16:11:08 MST

Russian forensics firm ElcomSoft earlier this week announced that it has discovered a way to easily access iCloud backups of iOS devices, incorporating the functionality into its Elcomsoft Phone Password Breaker software. While the Apple ID and password must be known in order to access the iCloud data, once that information has been obtained the software makes it easy for investigators to download full iCloud backups and then follow incremental backups in near real-time to track a device's use without the knowledge of the user.

ElcomSoft researchers analyzed the communication protocol connecting iPhone users with Apple iCloud, and were able to emulate the correct commands in order to retrieve the content of iOS users? iCloud storage. It?s important to note that, unlike offline backups that may come encrypted and must be broken into (a time-consuming operation), data retrieved from iCloud is received in plain, unencrypted form . The 5GB of storage space can be retrieved in reasonable time, while receiving incremental updates is even faster.

Obtaining a user's Apple ID password may not always be trivial, but ElcomSoft tools can also be used to capture that information from offline backups stored in iTunes. And of course if the user disables iCloud syncing on its device or changes the Apple ID password, remote access is lost.

ElcomSoft has been at the forefront of development of password-cracking tools, last year incorporating a tool to bypass hardware encryption included in iOS 4. Such tools are increasingly being used by law enforcement to aid their investigations as smartphones become increasingly common and collect a growing amount of information about users and their activity.

ElcomSoft offers several levels of its software, with the most powerful versions restricted to certain governmental agencies, including law enforcement, intelligence services, and other qualified forensic organizations.

Recent Mac and iOS Blog Stories
• Physics Puzzler 'Feed Me Oil' Free for Today Only
• Comcast Dropping 250GB Data Cap In Favor of "Improved Data Usage Management"
• China Mobile Again Confirms iPhone Talks with Apple
• In Lawsuit Over Siri, Apple Says the Technology is "Cutting Edge"
• iPhone a 'Game Changer' for Customer Satisfaction