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Sunday, February 17, 2008
Nokia integrates Google into its search application
Nokia will integrate Google's search engine into its own search application on four of its latest phones unveiled at the Mobile World Congress, the companies said on Tuesday.
Google will appear on the N96, N78, 6210 Navigator, and the 6220 classic in select markets at first. Eventually, the option will be extended to other handsets in more than 100 countries, Nokia said.
Nokia has collaborated with Google before, although Google is increasingly encroaching on its partner’s turf.
In Barcelona this week, several chip manufacturers are displaying prototypes of mobile phones using Google's Android software stack. If other phone manufacturers embrace Android, it could eventually pose a challenge to Nokia's dominating share of the mobile market.
Nokia first integrated Google's search engine on its Internet tablet PCs. The company also enabled support for Google's YouTube video-sharing Web site on its popular N95 phone.
The Google search option will supplement Nokia's Search software, which is free to download and compatible with a range of the company's handsets. That search function can be used to find content on the phone as well as on the Internet.
Yahoo buys Maven Networks for $160 million
Yahoo has acquired Maven Networks for $160 million in a deal that will help the search provider boost its video advertising capabilities.
Media companies including Fox News, CBS Sports, and Sony BMG use Maven's platform to manage, distribute, and earn advertising revenue from their online video content. The platform includes an advertising insertion engine, as well as inventory management and reporting tools. Companies use it to post videos on their sites and insert interactive ads into the videos.
On Tuesday, Yahoo said it plans to contribute its display advertising sales force and technologies to Maven's platform to help publishers display more targeted ads in videos. The deal means that advertisers can buy video, search, and display ads through Yahoo, which believes that video is a fast-growing segment of the online ad market.
Maven has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Yahoo, which has established a Cambridge, Mass., office with the acquisition.
Yahoo makes the acquisition in the midst of an increasingly hostile attempt by Microsoft to buy the search company. In response to Yahoo's rebuttal of its buyout offer, Microsoft on Monday said that it thinks its offer was fair and that it might take the offer directly to Yahoo shareholders.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Samsung develops advanced digital X-ray detector
Samsung Electronics has successfully developed a flat panel X-ray detector (FPXD for short) for radiology machines in a joint venture with Vatech from Korea. It utilizes digital imaging with thin-film transistor technology, whereby the diagnostic process is enhanced in more than one way. Not only do you end up with a far more precise image, the new FPXD imaging sensor from Samsung will also go a long way in helping medical labs cut their costs where time and money are concerned since there is no longer any need for film or development processes.
In Finland, people use the cellphone to…
While in most parts of the world, the process of going to the theaters to watch a movie includes old-school methods, in Finland the scenario is distinguishable - you can simply use the cellphone to do most part of the tasks that otherwise would be made “normally”.
For instance, instead of buying tickets at the theater, you can do it on your cellphone. And if you want snacks for the interval, just order and pay them also using the mobile phone. On top of those two details, you can also download a video trailer of the movie you’d like to watch, and when the movie is over, order a taxi.
Popular search engines pay millions for illegal ads
Illegal ads affiliated with gambling actions have been under investigation by the FBI, IRS, and others, since 2000, and only now they have reached an agreement with the 3 biggest search engines to pay what they deserve.
- Who are the big 3? Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft.
- How much are they going to pay, in total? $31.5 million.
- How much per each? Microsoft - $21 million, Yahoo - $7,5 million, Google - $3 million
Queen Elizabeth goes for YouTube
I must admit this is a move that many people surely didn’t expect, having the Queen Elizabeth sending a dedicated message on YouTube, but taking in consideration the number of people she can affect this way, instead of going for the traditional route of the television, it is certainly a smart move.
So what it the message about? Christmas, of course! As far as I can tell, the video isn’t live yet, but you can check other Christmas messages and broadcasts of previous years, in the recently created YouTube channel - The Royal Channel.
According to the Queen, she expects this new kind of video Christmas message to be more personal and direct. If she is using YouTube this year, what did she use on 2006? Believe it or not, the message was in the form of a podcast.
How to update the Flash Player
A few weeks ago, the Adobe folks presented a security bulletin stating that previous Flash versions have plenty of bugs, such as versions 9.0.48.0 and others, which have (9) bugs on the critical level. Considering the level of the bugs, and the number of people using the buggy versions, I’d say there are many flash users that are targets for the so called “bad guys”. And since the mere action of checking a website is more than enough to damage/control your computer, the situation is really critical.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Download DivX Pro for free
The DivX folks have become generous during this Christmas season, and decided to give the Pro version of the DivX player for free. Usually, it costs $20, but they are offering the software on their website, as a freebie. There is no information related to the end date of the promotion, so head over to the download link and get it while it doesn’t cost anything.
PS – DivX Pro is available for Windows and Mac.
Phishing folks win $3.2 Billions during 2007
According to a survey made by Gartner, it seems that phishing still exists heavily, and unfortunately, some people still fall for it. Replace the “some people” with 3.6 million, and that is the number of persons that got literally phished this year.
Interestingly enough, the most spoofed sites were 2 of the biggest money related makers in the web - eBay and PayPal. In case you didn’t know, spoofing is the act of creating a site (or email) with the intention of misleading readers that the website has been created by a different person or organisation – wiki.
I thought that at this time there weren’t many people falling for the phishers, but 3.6 million is truly a high number. Really, it is so easy, and evident, to check if an email/website is spoofed, that even monkeys can probably do it right.
Microsoft Word will create audio from words
In the never ending quest for Microsoft Office to become more popular, they will release a plug-in that will transform the content inside Office 2007 files into audio. This new feature will be available at no cost, and will come in a shape of “Save as Daisy” function available in Word files.
In the geek world, Daisy is also known as Digital Accessible Information System, which basically are XML files that offer the possibility to be read by “speech synthesizers”. SourceForge is also collaborating in the creation of the new plug-in that is suppose to become available next year (2008).
AMD drops new components
AMD, Intel’s perennial rival, has just introduced a bunch of new components with the next-generation AMD Phenom quad-core processor leading the way, followed by the ATI Radeon HD 3800 series graphics processors and AMD 7-Series chipsets. These new developments have already received backing from industry leading components such as AsRock, Asus, Biostar, Club 3D, DFI, Diamond Multimedia, ECS, Foxconn, Gigabyte, HIS, Info-Tek, Jetway, J&W, MSI, NVIDIA, Micron Technology, Palit Multimedia, PCPartner, Qimonda, Samsung Semiconductor, Sapphire, Tul, Visiontek and Uabit, bringing together a synergy never seen before where high-quality HD resolution, responsive performance, and energy efficiency are concerned.
Windows XP SP3 getting closer
While most people are still using Windows XP with the Service Pack 2, the beta testers for Microsoft have recently got a test version of the upcoming SP3.
Sadly, there is no exact information when this pack is going to be available to the public, at first it was speculated a 2006 release, but Vista got in the middle and didn’t let the Microsoft folks work on upgrade. So now, the expected release date is somewhere in the first half of 2008, in the meanwhile, the 15,000 beta testers will report all the bugs they can find, and hopefully the final product won’t have many glitches.
MySpace to get new Celebrity site
MySpace has received a new addition in the form of a website dedicated to celebrities, and everything that relates to them, such as “behind-the-scenes” content.
The website can be viewed at - http://celebrity.myspace.com - and contains a small index of real celebrities that have a real MySpace profile, unlike the other thousand which are fake. At the moment, there are more than 300 celeb profiles in the directory, including people like: Beyonce, Chris Cornell, Paris Hilton (duh),Shakira, Tom Hanks, Usher, even Snoop Dogg, and many more.
New Apple Xserve: First 8 Core Verson
The second announcement from Apple today (the first being the new 8 Core Mac Pro) brings us a new Apple Xserve.
Starting at just $2,999, the new Xserve has up to two Quad-Core 3.0 GHz Intel Xeon processors for 8-core performance, a new server architecture, faster front side buses, faster memory, up to 3TB of internal storage and two PCI Express 2.0 expansion slots for greater performance and flexibility. “With the latest Intel processors and no client access licenses, Xserve offers unbeatable server performance and value for under $3,000,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. The new server is up to twice as fast as its predecessor.
The Xserve is configurable with up to two Quad-Core Intel Xeon 5400 processors running up to 3.0 GHz with 12MB of L2 cache per processor. Like the Mac Pro, the Xserve features a new high-bandwidth hardware architecture, dual-independent 1600 MHz front side buses and up to 32GB of 800 MHz DDR2 ECC FB-DIMM memory. This gives the Xserve a 64 percent increase in memory throughput, according to Apple.
PED3 Rotating Stand for iPhone
I must say, watching videos on a portable media player on a long haul trip can be quite a pain on your hands if you have to hold it, but thankfully we have peripherals like the PED3 Rotating Stand for iPhone. This is pretty much a self-explanatory product that can be rotated 360 degrees, gripping the iPhone in both vertical and horizontal manner with some semblance of cable management thrown in. After splashing out that kind of dough on the iPhone, forking out another $40 for the PED3 Rotating Stand ought to be chump change.
Transmitta II spreads sound around
Transmitta II might sound a little bit dyslexic, but this is a pretty nifty device when you think about it.
The Transmitta system comprises of two small, rechargeable, and very portable units - one is the transmitter, the other is the receiver. You can plug the transmitter into your audio source (be it an iPod, CD player, computer, TV, Radio, you name it) via a headphone socket or USB. If you choose the latter then the transmitter will also recharge as it works. The receiver can be plugged into whatever device you are using via an auxiliary socket, and voila - you can send your music wirelessly around your house, flat or workplace. You might love your on-line radio stations, but you want to listen to them in the living room where your computer ain’t - just use your Transmita VII to send your radio tunes to your hi-fi. Play MTV on your TV and listen to it through your radio in the bathroom. The Transmita units speak to each other via 2.4GHz frequency allowing for CD quality audio to be streamed, and uses frequency hopping to make sure there is no conflict with any other devices using that frequency.
iPond plays sounds, stores fish
Fancy this portable speaker that carries a fish along with it? That’s exactly what the iPond is - it hooks up to portable audio devices like the iPod, but has in recent times drawn the ire from animal rights groups as the iPond is said to offer inadequate space for a fish to live. Meant for Betta fish (also known as Siamese fighting fish), the 650mm iPond has been said to be insufficient, since a single Betta fish requires around 10 liters of water to swim around and receive a proper amount of oxygen. In addition, the speaker is located at the bottom, so your favorite trance sounds might actually unsettle the fish further. The iPond retails for $60.
Mustek Digital Picture Frames: Big and Small
Since digital picture frames are quite the hit for this year’s Christmas season, it stands to reason that more companies are putting out quite a few, in all varieties.
Such is the case of Mustek. One of their newest models is the PF-i700, a very cool digital frame made for the iPod. All you need to do is just plug it in, and you’ll be seeing your favorite pictures for the iPod on a 7-inch LCD panel. The screen is also a 16 x 9 aspect ratio with a low resolution 480 x 234 screen.
Details on the PF-i700 are a little sketchy, but I would think that Mustek would put some speakers or headphone jack in there. I mean, why not put in music if you can do pictures?
Anyway, the PF-i700 will be available in March. However, there is a tiny picture frame that is available now called the PF-L100. This one doesn’t even have a screen that is 1 inch, but is a simple keychain that plugs into the USB.
Retro iPod Alarm Clock
We all have dreams of rock stardom. However, most of us should never be heard by other sentient beings trying to belt out our early-morning version of “Total Eclipse of the Heart”.
You can solve your rock star problems or drown out your lack of singing skills by waking up to the Retro iPod Alarm Clock. It’s a clock, it’s a dock and it will wake you up to your favorite tune - even if it’s something by 98 Degrees. What makes this iPod alarm clock unique is that once you plug in your iPod to the dock, the iPod switches to clock mode and will even charge up while you’re sleeping.
Tiny Audio Bug Speakers for iPod
The iPod is great. You can take most (or all) of your music with you and listen to it whenever you want. But what about those times where you want to listen to your music, but don’t want to use your headphones to do so? You need an external speaker. But most speakers are bulky and not that portable or they need some sort of external, corded power source.
The Audio Bug speaker is small, extremely portable and runs on two AAA batteries and plugs directly into your iPod (or other mp3 player) headphone jack to play your music wherever you want. The speaker is small enough to fit into a pocket and is ready to plug in at any time for music wherever you are.
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