Ford launches ‘new’ ’65 Mustang

today.msnbc.msn.com

 Everything old is new again — especially when it comes to the classic 1964-1/2, ’65 and ’66 Mustangs.

Like many makers, Ford has a catalogue full of parts for those original pony cars, everything from brakes to seats. But now, it seems, you can even order all-new, factory-approved Mustang bodies rather than having to scrounge up rusted and dinged-up originals.

“The 1964-66 Mustang is the most restored vintage vehicle,” said Dennis Mondrach, Ford refurbishment Parts licensing manager. “But the number of original 1964-66 vintage bodies is shrinking every year. Most of the original Mustangs left in scrapyards are rusted or wrecked beyond repair.”

So, for those determined to have an “original” Mustang, Ford turned to Pennsylvania-based Dynacom global, which was given access to original technical drawings, blueprints and specifications for parts. The supplier is producing precise duplicates of the original body – albeit with a few modifications that customers are likely to appreciate.

“The new body shell is made of virgin metal and uses modern welding techniques,” explained Mondrach. “It comes rustproofed, and after last adjustment and finish preparation of the body panels, it is ready for painting and final assembly.”

In fact, the steel used in the new bodies is a higher grade than the original Mustang’s, according to Dynacom Vice President Jim Christina.

“We use a modern universal automotive-grade steel that is actually stronger than the original, and advanced welding techniques along with more welds to strengthen the body,” he said.

The ’65 Mustang body includes virtually all of the original car’s sheet metal from the radiator support to the taillight panel, including trunk id and doors. The only thing missing are the hood and front fenders, which are sold separately.

The body kit costs $15,000 and is shipped directly to a customer.

The kit can be transformed into anything from the original ’64-1/2 Mustang – which comprised introduced by one-time Ford President Lee Iacocca at the New York World’s Fair – to a ’66, depending on the powertrain and trim parts.

Someone purchasing the body shell simply has to transfer the engine and transmission, electric systems and additional parts from a beyond-repair original Mustang – or they can order just about all the replacement parts to build an “original” pony car from the ground up from Ford’s restoration catalogue, at fordrestorationparts.com.

Meanwhile, the maker also has body shells for the 1967-68 and fastback 1969-70 Mustangs available.

Ford will debut the new ’65 body shell at this week’s SEMA appearance, the annual aftermarket extravaganza in Las Vegas. today.msnbc.msn.com

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HP’s TouchPad: The Tablet That Refused to Die

Unceremoniously killed under HP’s prior CEO on Aug. 18 after letting down sales, the device quickly found a market after retailers and HP itself slashed the prices on remaining stock.

This time, according to a Best Buy press release, a 32-gigabyte TouchPad is going for $149 with the purchase of an HP or Compaq-branded notebook or desktop PC. Sold separately, the price jumps to $599.99.

HP, for its part, has sold out of its internal stock of the device, according to a command on it is Web site. They can however still be found on Amazon and on eBay.

By bundling the TouchPad with PCs at its biggest retail partner, HP is affording itself an arguable edge against Acer Dell and Toshiba in what is sure to be a cutthroat holiday season for PC and tablet sales. After about a month on the market, and before the product wound up on the chopping block, Best Buy was able to sell less than 10 percent of the 270,000 TouchPads it had in inventory.

It’s hard to know how long the deal can last. Sources familiar with HP’s build plans say the initial TouchPad order comprised for between 1.8 million and 2 million units, though a third source disputed that number without elaborating. Regardless of the number ordered, sources familiar with the deal say that HP’s decision to killing the product had no immediate effect on the build plans, as components had already been purchased, and manufacturing was already underway. A source familiar with the matter says the manufacturer is Taiwan-based Inventec, not Compal, as has been previously reported. HP was contractually obligated to take delivery on the remaining units in the pipeline.

That makes the TouchPad is now officially a loss leader. As an IHS iSuppli teardown analysis in Aug showed, HP’s cost to build a 32-gig TouchPad is $328.65. At $149.99, HP takes a paper loss of more than $178 per unit.

HP isn’t incisively crying over the lost money. Remember that as part of the hot mess of news it announced on Aug. 18 was included plans for a $1 billion charge to account for costs related to shutting down the TouchPad and WebOS hardware business.

Whatever happens, this is probably the last hurrah for the TouchPad, for real this time. That is unless no one takes advantage of the bid to buy one along with a PC. Any stock left over after the holiday season rush will probably wind up in Best Buy’s equivalent of the bargain bin. allthingsd.com

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Android Apps Get Big Break on Google TV

Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) unveiled a software update for Google TV on Friday that admits a slew of apps.

These are based on Android 3.1, Google spokesperson Jacques Herbert told TechNewsWorld. This is the latest version of the so-called "Honeycomb" release.

An update based on Honeycomb has been expected for a while.

Sony (NYSE: SNE), a long-time Google TV partner, reportedly showed a Google TV set running Honeycomb at CEDIA Expo 2011, the Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association conference held in Indianapolis, Ind., last month.
The Google TV Software Update

The Google TV software update released on Friday focuses on four areas: simplicity, improved search, a custom YouTube feel and Android apps.

The interface is simpler, the customizable home screen has been redesigned to offer swift accession to an owner's favorite content, and all shortcuts are shown within the "all apps" feature, similar to how it's done on an Android smartphone or tablet, Google said.

The search feature has been improved across the board. Further, a new app called "TV & films" lets consumers browse through 80,000 movies and TV episodes across cable, satellite, Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX), Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN), YouTube and other sites.

Google has also integrated YouTube more closely with Google TV search so consumers can turn any topic into a channel.

The YouTube experience for Google TV has been vamped so consumers can get to videos more rapidly.

Finally, Google TV now has access to the Android Market. So far, 50 developers accept put up Google TV apps on the Android Market.

The update will be available on Sony devices early next week and on Logitech (Nasdaq: LOGI) devices after that. Further updates and more Google TV partners are in the works.
It's The Apps That Count

Google reached out to devs to create apps for Google TV at the device's launch back in May of 2010, so why have only 50 devs responded, given the phenomenal growth rate of Android mobile apps?

"We worked closely with these developers to get their apps ready for the update," Google's Herbert said. The update itself bequeath include Android and Web apps from more than 100 partners when it's released, he added.

More than 50 of these partners have developed new apps for the update, and there will be about 800 Android apps available on the Android Market, of which 30 will work well on television.

"With thousands of developers, we expect new apps to appear on Google TV all the time," Herbert stated. Apps will be offered by partners including CNN Money, Flixter, Fox Business, Kraft (NYSE: KFT) Cooking, NPR, Motor Trend and The Wall Street Journal, he complicated.

"Supporting a new platform such as a TV is not simply about porting the code over," Simon Khalaf, president and CEO of Flurry Analytics, told TechNewsWorld. "It's about developing a great experience."

It will take time to develop Google TV apps, "but the excitation [among devs] is there, and in big numbers," Khalaf added.

On the other hand, perhaps Google hasn't funded app developing efforts sufficiently, suggested Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.

Another factor could be that few Android app devs are really making any money, Enderle told TechNewsWorld.
Who Wants Set-Top Boxes Anyhow?

Longtime Google TV partner Logitech had to cut the price of its Google TV offerings double this year, from US$299 to $249 and then again to $99, in an attempt to boost sales.

To put things in perspective, Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) quietly discontinued its 40 GB Apple TV set-top box and slashed $100 off the 160 GB model to bring the price to $229 back in September of 2009.

One year later, Cupertino announced a fresh version of the Apple TV for $99.

It could be that consumers may not want to shell out money for a set-top box from a third party when cable companies bid them as part of a subscription package, Enderle stated in a previous interview.

"HP was in this market and it got out," Enderle elaborated. "NetGear and LinkSys had products that never dealt well. The only product that has really moved well is the Xbox, but that's probably because the vast majority of people bought it to play video games." technewsworld.com

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Fiat 500 Abarth coming to US, to debut at LA Auto Show

slashgear.com

Back when I went to the Texas Auto appearance, I got my first up close look at the little Fiat 500 cars and thought they looked pretty cool. Our resident Brit, Chris Davies, pointed out at the time that if I thought the normal Fiat 500 was a cool car, I should see the hopped up enthusiast grade Abarth edition of the 500. That Fiat 500 Abarth version will indeed be coming to the US.

The car will be officially unveiled at the LA Auto Show in November. At this point Chrysler hasn’t offered the fully details of the Abarth version of the car so we don’t have all the specs and pricing on the car. What the maker has confirmed is that the Abarth will use the turbo charged 1.4L MultiAir engine under the hood. In Europe, the base Abarth edition makes 135hp and 152 lb-ft of torque

That certainly isn’t a lot of power by American muscle car standards, but the Fiat 500 is a lightweight and little platform to begin. I would bet this car will match up well against the Mini Cooper S. Also available in Europe is a package called the Esseesse package that ups the power to 160hp and 170 lb-ft of torsion. We will find out all the specs for the America edition in a few weeks. slashgear.com

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China denies it hacked US satellites

THE GLORIOUS People's Republic of China has refused involvement in hacking US environment monitoring satellites.

Last week the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission released a draft report about several incidents where America satellites were interfered with in 2007 and 2008.

The Commission did not say that the attacks were traced back to China, but it did cite China's military as a prime suspect, due to the similarity of the processes used with "authoritative Chinese military writings" on disabling satellite control.

The hackers gained access to the satellites on at least four occasions through a ground station in Norway. The unauthorised access lasted for between two and 12 minutes. While the attacks did no real damage, they did demonstrate that it is possible to hijack satellites, which is a worrying realisation when military satellites are accepted into consideration.

China has a bad reputation throughout the world for alleged cyber attacks, frequently being the first to blame when a major attack has been discovered. The US has not been the only target either, with alleged attacks against Canada and France having been reported earlier this year.

"[The US] has always been viewing China with colored lenses. This report is false and has ulterior motives. It's not worth a comment," said Hong Lei, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, according to Reuters.

Hong also repeated China's assertion that it is also the victim of extensive cyber crime, suggesting that them therefore cannot be behind these attacks. The Chinese government has claimed it was the victim of close to half a million cyber attacks in 2010 lonely, but that does not, of course, eliminate it as a suspect. theinquirer.net

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Samsung surges past Apple in smartphones, upbeat on Q4

video reuters.com

Samsung (005930.KS) only entered the smartphone commercialise in earnest last year, but its sales have skyrocketed thanks to a sleek production system that rapidly brings new products to market. Apple (AAPL.O) introduced its first iPhone in 2007.

"In the handset division, Samsung has no real rival models to challenge its products exclude for the iPhone 4S. Apple and Samsung will continue to dominate the market in the fourth quarter," said Kim Hyun-joong, a fund manager at Midas Asset Management, which owns Samsung shares.

Profits from the South Korean firm's telecoms division, annunciated on Friday, more than doubled from a year ago to a record 2.5 trillion won ($2.2 billion) and accounted for 60 percent of Samsung's total profit, offsetting a plunge in earnings from its bread-and-butter memory chips.

Shipments of smartphones jumped 44 percent from the antecedent quarter to 27.8 million units, up nearly four times from a year ago, according to research firm Strategy Analytics.

Apple's iPhone sales shrank by 16 percent to 17.1 million units in the third quarter. Samsung accepted 23.8 percent of the global smartphone market in the third quarter, 9 points higher than Apple. Samsung's flagship Galaxy line of products is powered by Google's (GOOG.O) Android software.

Apple sold fewer phones in the third quarter, missing street expectations for the first time in year, as buyers held off buying iPhones until the October launch of the latest version.

Samsung shares were up 1.6 percent by 0500 GMT (1 a.m. EDT), against a 0.6 percent gain in the wider market .KS11.

The world's biggest technology firm by revenue reported a 4.25 trillion won operating benefit for the July-September quarter, broadly in line with its earlier estimate of 4.2 trillion won.

That was down from 4.9 trillion won a year ago but up by 3.8 trillion won in the preceding quarter.

Samsung said its fourth-quarter earnings could be better than the third, advanced by one-off gains from its $1.4 billion sale of its hard disk drive business to Seagate Technology (STX.O).

"I am cautiously optimistic on the fourth quarter outlook at this point," Robert Yi, head of Samsung's investor relations, told analysts.

"Looking ahead into the fourth quarter, when industry demand is traditionally at its peak, Samsung expects sales of mobile devices to remain strong and flat-panel TV shipments to increase," the company added in an earnings statement.

Apple, whose iPhone sales account for nearly half the firm's total sales, reported a 40 percent gross margin, or the percentage of sales left after subtracting the cost of goods sold. Samsung's phone division reported a 16.9 percent operating margin, which further takes account of marketing costs.

Nevertheless, Samsung faces challenges as the new iPhone introduced earlier this month is notching up strong sales.

Nokia is also fighting back with its first phones based on Microsoft's (MSFT.O) Windows software. And Sony Corp (6758.T) announced on Thursday it would take full ownership of its mobile venture, Sony Ericsson, in a bid to exploit its music and video library.

Samsung on Thursday announced the launch of its Galaxy Note mobile device, adding to the flagship Galaxy lineup from products. The device, powered by Android, will square off against a series of new models released by Apple, Nokia and HTC Corp (2498.TW).

The iPhone, introduced in 2007 with the touchscreen template now adopted by it is rivals, is still the gold standard in the smartphone market.

Samsung may not have come up with the concept, but it has acquired Apple's breakthrough smartphone idea perhaps better than any other handset maker. It tries to offer the Apple experience at a better price with better functionality.

"Samsung's rise has been driven by a blend of elegant hardware designs, popular Android services, memorable sub-brands and extensive global distribution," said Alex Spektor at Strategy Analytics.

"Samsung has demonstrated that it is possible, at least in the short term, to differentiate and grow by using the Android ecosystem."

Q4 SEEN BETTER THAN Q3

Profits from Samsung's chip business more than halved to 1.59 trillion won, but the division held up well as its relatively high exposure to lucrative mobile chips helped the firm offset a sharp plunge in prices of commodity computer memory chips.

Samsung was the sole profitable firm among major global dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chip makers in the third quarter.

Second-ranked computer memory chip maker Hynix semiconducting material (000660.KS) and Japan's Elpida Memory (6665.T) swung to deep losses as prices of DRAM chips used in PCs tumbled about 50 percent in the third quarter.

Samsung's chip business is also benefiting from strong demand for mobile C.P.U. chips used in Apple's iPhone and iPad tablet as well as its own Galaxy smartphones.

Samsung expected demand for PCs to remain weak in the 4th quarter because of weak seasonality, while demand for mobile devices and servers will be relatively strong.

"I see some signs that chip prices have hit bottom as inventories are running out. However, we don't yet know when the industry is going to pick up since macroeconomic uncertainties overshadow the demand outlook," said Park Hyun, an analyst at Tong Yang protections.

Samsung's display business posted losses for a third consecutive quarter on weak demand for TVs and PCs.

But losses narrowed from the previous quarter, helped by strong net profit from the OLED display, which is widely expected to replace LCD as the next-generation flat-screen in mobile devices and TVs.

($1 = 1,115.250 Korean won) reuters.com

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Fully Functional Siri Ported to iPhone 4, iPod Touch

We have previously highlighted the overworks of the iPhone hacking community in it is attacks to break Siri's exclusivity to the iPhone 4S. And while various device modders have been successful at getting the application itself ported over to devices like Apple's iPhone four and iPod touch, they didn't bring off to address the elephant in the room: How to get Siri to work with Apple's servers, which don't seem to allow requests from unauthorized (non-iPhone 4S) devices.

Two hackers have since discovered the secret Siri sauce, but neither has spilled the beans as to incisively how their non-iPhone 4S Siri app works. According to Steve Troughton-Smith, however, the tweak was built using a single line of code and "a ton of filesystem changes." And as long as a user beginning jailbreaks his or her device before installing the to-be-released tweak, Siri is unlocked with no restrictions on its use: It works with the same speed and speech credit as its iPhone 4S counterpart.

According to Apple Insider, Troughton-Smith has promised to reveal the secret to his workaround at one time he can confirm that the tweak works without messing up any other parts of iOS. As for a release date for the hack, however, he's a bit murkier: He has no plans to announce one just yet, claiming that acting so would, "anger the hive."

Of course, it remains to be seen just how Apple could respond to an "unauthorized" version of Siri on a non-iPhone 4S device. Jailbreakers worldwide might find themselves in yet another game of cat-and-mouse, similar to how Apple's frequent iOS updates can either nullify new jailbreaking formulas or otherwise force third-party hackers to design new ways to have the best of both worlds: An updated and jailbroken i-device. If Apple amps up the means by which Siri authenticates to servers, it could very well break the unofficial Siri App ahead it makes much headway.

Siri, in many ways, has been the standout feature for the iPhone 4S. But it was not a home-grown app from Apple initially; Apple instead acquired Siri–the company behind the personal digital assistant–in April of 2010 for an undisclosed amount at the time. Rumors pegged Apple's total buy price at around $200 million for Siri. pcmag.com

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Microsoft Video Predicts Dazzling Technology Future

pcworld.com

Microsoft’s promotional video depicting a future in which complected touchscreen and gesture-controlled devices diffuse every facet of daily life will make people crave the possibilities, but also wonder how they will afford them.

It’s hard to conceive of the average human shelling out the kind of cash it would take to buy super smart appliances, the latest intelligent car as well as an entire range of interactive computing devices.

And while creating hardware that make 3D holographs jump off a screen or interactive family chalk boards that a parent can write on while traveling may be possible, the amount of data and programming needed to make these things actually play out in everyday life would likely be extraordinary.

The video also shows walls made of grass, car windows that display the time and a refrigerator with an interactive front face that communes what food is inside.

In a blog post, Microsoft Office Division President Kurt DelBene wrote that all of the ideas in the video are based on real technology either already existing or in development at Microsoft and other companies.

“Collaborating on projects with remote confreres gets easier. Information can be interacted with and manipulated using touch and voice commands to create beautiful and useful documents. Better decisions can be made faster with information that is contextually relevant to where you are and what you are doing,” he wrote.

According to Wired, the video explores what productivity technology could look like in five to ten years, although the concepts in the video don’t necessarily indicate plans for future Microsoft products.

TechFlash points out that Microsoft’s vision looks like an extension of Microsoft's Metro design ethos, the user interface produced for Windows Phone and the focus of its upcoming Windows 8 operating system.

Want more? Check out this equally tantalizing video posted by Corning earlier these year in which glass surfaces of all sorts become interactive communication and computing marvels.

Here’s Microsoft’s rendering of the future:

pcworld.com

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Galaxy Nexus release date confirmed; ICS Android flagship sails soon

blogs.computerworld.com

Samsung Electronics, the self-styled "top smartphone maker", has at once affirmed the Galaxy Nexus release date in Europe, but is being slenderly fuzzier about the U.S. date. However, we should see the long-anticipated reference Android Ice Cream Sandwich design on Verizon within weeks. While JR Raphael's on vacation, here's what we know, in The Long View...

Greetings from a sunny England, where Samsung's been holding its establish party this week. You may remember that Samsung delayed the launch in deference to the death of Steve Jobs (or perhaps in honor of the all-powerful news cycle -- you be the judge).

Amongst the announcements were the latest details on Google's flagship smartphone for the new version of Android -- version 4.0, or Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS). Formerly known as the Nexus Prime -- at least by fandroid rumor-mongers -- this has been an eagerly anticipated announcement, coming as it does, hard on the heels of Apple's iPhone 4S introduction.

We now finally have a hard date for European availability, but still a slightly fuzzier U.S. date; we act know it'll be on Verizon initially, though. In Europe, it'll be out on November 17; in the U.S., well, sometime in November.

The European version will support the über-fast 21 Mb/s HSDPA, but Verizon's will get a "admittedly 4G" LTE upgrade. Rocking a dual-core, 1.2GHz OMAP 4460 SoC from TI, based on an ARM Cortex-A9, plus a 384 MHz PowerVR SGX540 GPU, and 1GB of RAM, it's expected to be a scorching power-house.

Rear camera is 5 megapixels, which can record 1080p30 HD video; front snapper is 1.3. It even has NFC and a barometer, just in case you want to predict the weather... or something.

It weighs 4.8oz, and it's got a 4.7" Super AMOLED, oleophobic screen (OK, 4.65", whenever you want to be really pedantic) with a better-than-HD, WSVGA resolution of 1280x800 an HD resolution of 1280x720. The bezel's pretty thin, so it doesn't seem as bulky in your hand as you might imagine.

The form-factor reminds me of the much-underrated Dell Streak (a/k/a the Mini five). I purchased a mint one of these on eBay recently, for $240; it's a wonderful little toy. The Dell doesn't quite have that resolution, being WVGA, but that's still pretty dense for a 5" screen. Perhaps Dell was just ahead of its time?

Speaking of 5" form-factor tablets, Samsung also announced its Galaxy Note device. Same resolution as the Nexus, but 1280x800 WXGA resolution, with a 5.3" screen. Amusingly, it comes with a stylus, which should bring back "nostalgic" memories of poking at Palms and iPaqs of old...

Anyway, back to the Galaxy Nexus: I see the 16GB version advertised for pre-order in the UK at around the £500-to-£525 mark -- that's including the Britain ludicrous 20% sales tax, which works out around $650 plus tax. This is, of course, unsubsidized, unlocked, and SIM-free; it'll also be available in the UK via the O2 network initially.

No word yet on U.S. pricing, but I can't see it coming to these shores unbarred sans-contract this year, can you?  blogs.computerworld.com

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Review: Nike Device Improves, but Oversimplified

abcnews.go.com

Since 2003, I've tried several fitness accessories that use the Global Positioning System system to tell you how far and how fast you're running. I have generally liked them, exclude for the fact that they don't work well in big cities.

Many runners I know accept one of this devices — usually a watch that gets signals from GPS satellites in the sky to calculate distance and accelerate. These don't offer street maps, the way GPS devices in cars do, but some models have rudimentary navigation features to help acquire you back to your starting point. Some also try to coach you — they'll beep when you are going faster or slower than your specified target.

Nike's $200 SportWatch GPS doesn't offer that. What you get alternatively is a simplified device that works exceptionally well in big cities, including my hometown New York.

The trouble with big cities is that tall buildings block some of the GPS signals. It might take 10 or 15 minutes for a device to find the signals, rather than just a minute or so elsewhere. As the weather gets colder, I'd prefer starting my run sooner and spending lower time standing around outside waiting for the watch to activate.

The SportWatch addresses these shortcomings in two important ways.

As long as you plug the watch in to a computer regularly, applying a standard USB port, it retrieves data that can help locate signals faster.

It also has a backup system when no signal is uncommitted at all. The SportWatch comes with a small sensor that attaches to your shoe and measures the amount of time between footsteps and the time your foot is on the ground. The SportWatch picks up that information wirelessly and uses it to calculate pace and distance.

With this backup, you can start your run before the SportWatch finds the GPS signals. The device acts even when you're running through a tunnel or on the lower level of a bridge — places GPS can't always reach. The SportWatch automatically goes back to using the more accurate GPS system once it gets signals again.

Unfortunately, the backup sensor system is designed specifically for Nike shoes, which have slots assembled into them to hold the sensors. Runners can be quite particular about their shoes, and wrong ones can lead to injuries, as I've learned the hard way.

The good news is that many running stores sell Velcro attachments for other shoes, though you won't find out about them in Nike's manuals. I've found in years of testing that these third-party attachments don't work as well as Nike shoes, but a new auto-calibration feature should abbreviate the errors in calculating distance and pace.

The SportWatch, which incorporates a GPS receiver arrived at by TomTom, has clear improvements over earlier models from Nike and others, though I stop short of giving it a ringing endorsement.

I find that it tries to simplify too much and allows for little customization.

Many of the settings can't be changed directly from the watch. You have to create an online account and download free software package from Nike to make such adjustments from a computer. abcnews.go.com

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Siri Ported To iPhone 4 and iPod Touch 4G

In a moment as historical as Alexander Bell’s call to his assistant, an iPhone hacker wrote on Twitter that he had with success ported Siri to the iPhone 4 and iPod Touch. He wrote “Actually, it just worked,” informing the world that he had completely ported Siri to the iPhone 4 and that more versions are on the way.

The hack requires a jailbroken device. By re-creating the app onto the device, the iPhone 4 can call up Siri and, more important, associate to the Siri servers. You can follow these instructions to install the app yourself and it seems to currently also work with the iPod Touch 4G although those instructions are forthcoming.

Mark Gurman at 9to5mac interviewed Steven Troughton-Smith, another iPod Touch/iPhone four hacker, answering a few questions about the feat:

    Mark: Do you ever see Siri showing up in Cydia (or another jailbreak store) for non natively supported devices?

    Steven: No, I could not be a part of that. I have no doubts that others will package this up and distribute it quasi-illegally, or try and sell it to people. I am only interested in the technology and making it work; proving that it works and works well on the iPhone 4 and other devices

    Mark: So, you also got Siri working on the fourth-generation iPod touch, how is that working out?

    Steven: We got chpwn’s iPod touch up and running with Siri after demonstrating it works on my iPhone 4. Unfortunately the microphone on the iPod is nowhere near as good as the iPhone – you will notice that the Siri level meter barely moves when you talk to it. While it does work, you have to talk loudly and clearly to the iPod

We’ll give it a try this weekend and report back. techcrunch.com

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Apple rumored to take on Google's 3D maps with superior technology

Evidence continues to point to Apple actively developing a 3D mapping surface through a combining of acquisitions and in-house development, with recent rumors suggesting that the iPhone maker has acquired a Swedish 3D mapping company.

A bevy of reports noted on Saturday (via PC magazine) that Apple may have purchased its third mapping company in roughly two years.

In August, MacRumors noted that, agreeing to local reports, a "company in the Western world" had bought Sweden-based 3D mapping company C3 Technologies. At the time, Apple was amid those speculated to be the purchaser, with Microsoft and Google also named as possible buyers.

It has now comprised suggested that Apple was indeed the company that snatched up C3. The mapping company uses once classified military targeting technology to create 3D maps. Technology Review accounted in April of this year that C3's 3D mapping method entailed using planes equipped with angled digital SLR cameras to take aerial photos that capture the sides of buildings as well as the tops. Those images were then supplemented with photos from another camera angles to create a full 3D rendering of a city.

"Unlike Google or Bing, all of our maps are 360° explorable," C3 Chief Strategy Officer Paul Smith said earlier these year. "Everything, every building, every tree, every landmark, from the city center to the suburbs, is captured in 3D—not just a few select buildings."

Swedish defense accompany Saab AB, also the parent company to Saab Automobiles, reportedly sold its 57.8 percent bet on in C3 for as much as $150 million. As such, some have said that a full purchase of the company may have cost Apple upwards of $250 million.

Apple has shown a keen interest in mapping companies in recent years. In 2010, the iPhone Creator acquired Web-based map company Poly 9. Prior to the acquisition, Poly 9 offered a "cross-browser, cross-platform 3D globe" product that did not require any downloads.

In 2009, the Cupertino, Calif., company purchased Placebase, a Google Maps challenger, sparking speculation that it was looking to decrease it is dependance on Google technology for the Maps application on the iPhone. In 2010, it was revealed that Apple had begun using its own databases for location-based services, although it continues to rely on Google for maps and the Street View feature.

Apple's bet with its Siri voice assistant technology, also an acquisition from 2010, could help further reduce the reliance. Though the service is able to query Google's search engine, it also relies heavily on non-Google services such as Wolfram Alpha, Wikipedia and Yelp. Interestingly enough, Apple's FAQ on Siri notes that currently Maps and local explore support are only available in the U.S., with support coming to additional countries in 2012.

Patents and job openings at Apple continue to point to adding up advances in mapping technology from the company. Earlier this year, AppleInsider discovered two job listings for the position of "iOS Maps Application Developer." According to the posting, Apple is looking to "radically improve however people interact with maps and location-based services." The developers Apple was seeking were to have experience developing "sophisticated user interfaces" and would be required to work closely with the company's human interface team to craft "fresh and innovative features for iOS devices."

In 2010, a set of Apple patent applications showed that the company was looking into using future iPhones to bring forth 3D models of an object or place. More recently, Apple filed an application entitled "Augmented Reality Maps" for an invention that would overlay data such as directions or street names in real time on top of live video. Apple has also filed for a "Schematic Maps" patent where a mapping application would dynamically emphasize or exaggerate details such as roads or landmarks. appleinsider.com

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A Windows 8 smartphone could be coming next year

news.cnet.com

In Technology aggroup has seemingly dedicated itself to merging the Windows PC experience with the smartphone--something the company has dubbed the "post-smartphone." They started with phones running Windows XP a few years ago, and by earlier this year, ITG's XPPhone was available on Windows 7. At once it says a far slimmer, lighter, and energy efficient XPPhone 2 that will run both Windows 7 and the PC edition of Windows 8 (once it's released) is in the works.

Although it appears doubtful to me that many consumers will find a need for so much Windows in their pocket, ITG has made sure to pack the XPPhone 2 with the meaty hardware to pull it off. This beast will boast a 1.6GHz processor and 2GB of RAM. ITG's Web site also mentions the possibility of an insane 2GHz model. There's also plenty of storage space to house Microsoft's notoriously bulky OSes, with 112GB on circuit board.

ITG is billing the XPPhone 2 not just as a phone but as the "littlest notebook PC in the world," measuring 140mm X 73mm X 17.5mm. The pitch is basically that the phone is easily dockable and can stand in for a laptop, desktop and in-car navigation system.

The success of this kind of a device leave likely depend on it being at least more usable than the English translation of its press release, which requires several aspirin to navigate, with sentences like: "The Editor considers that, presently it forms 3 camps of smart phone in the way of tripartite confrontation--The Apple, Google & Moto, and Intel & Microsoft & xpPhone, of which stands for three complete a different technical orientations." news.cnet.com

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Facebook Boosts Security With App Passwords, Trusted Friends

pcmag.com

 Facebook on Thursday continued to fortify its security features, adding the option for app passwords as well as "trusted friends."

With Trusted Friends, Facebook will allow users to decide three to five friends who can help if you're ever locked out of your account. "We'll send codes to the friends you have selected, then you can log back into your account using these codes after your friends have passed them along to you," Facebook said.

The social network likened the feature to affording a friend a key to your house when you go out of town.

Given some of the security issues that have cropped up approximately third-party apps, meanwhile, Facebook will allow users to add passwords for some of these apps.

"There are tons of applications you can use by logging in with your Facebook certificate. However in some cases you may want to have a unique password for that application," Facebook said. "This is especially helpful if you have opted into Login Approvals, for which security codes don't always work when using 3rd party applications."

To enable, go to Account Settings, Security tab, and the "App Passwords" department. "You can generate a password that you won't need to remember, just enter it along with your email when logging into an application," Facebook said.

To highlight some of the other security features it has released in recent years, meanwhile, Facebook produced an infographic, which is posted below.

"Our appreciable work has undoubtedly made Facebook a safer environment—less than half a percent of users experience spam on any given day and only a fraction of fraction of a percent of our users ever experience any security-related issues," Facebook said. "But we know at that place plenty of more act to be done, so we will keep striving to make sure that every time you log in to Facebook, you have a safe and social experience. We are adapting and responding to fresh threats everyday and will continue to bring the people that use our internet site new ways to protect themselves." pcmag.com

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Samsung Focus S and Flash WP7 Mango phones headed to AT&T on November 6

slashgear.com

AT&T will be launching Samsung’s approaching Windows Phone 7.5 Mango handsets, the Focus S and the Focus Flash, on November 6. The carrier made the annunciation today via its Facebook page, revealing that the Samsung Focus Flash will comprise priced at a very budget-friendly $49.99 while the Samsung Focus S will be priced at $199.ninety-nine. And of course that’s each with a new two-year service agreement plus a $15 minimum data plan.

The Samsung Focus S boasts a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus display, 1.4GHz processor, a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, and will support AT&T’s 4G HSPA+ network. The Samsung Focus Flash features a smaller 3.7-inch Super AMOLED exhibit, 1.4GHz processor, a VGA front-facing camera, and a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera as well as support for AT&T’s 4G HSPA+ network.

The timing just about lines up with Microsoft’s planned Windows Phone events that are adjust to take place in five major US cities starting November 7 through December 7, when it will culminate in a celebration in San Francisco. The Samsung Focus S and the Focus Flash are among the phones to comprise shown off during the events, including the HTC Titan and HTC Radar. slashgear.com

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iPhone 4S Battery Life Powers Complaints

Apple's iPhone 4S, as did its predecessor, has a problem. The highly successful iPhone four suffered by what was initially believed to be an antenna design flaw and comprised subsequently explained as a math error in Apple's software. The iPhone 4S, off to a start that suggests it may be even more successful than its antecedent, suffers from what appears to be poor battery performance, likely from a software bug.

The scope of the battery issue isn't absolved: Apple did not respond to a request to provide more information about claims from iPhone 4S users about poor battery life. But the growing thread of complaints about poor iPhone 4S battery aliveness on Apple's iPhone support forum--1,327 replies and 100,349 views as of 1:32pm PT on Friday, and 1,384 replies and 101,567 views an hour later--suggests more than a handful of Apple customers are dissatisfied.

As the owner of an iPhone 4S myself, I can attest to the fact that the phone's battery drains faster than it did when I was using the iPhone 4.

[ What can iOS 5 do for you ? Check out 10 Innovative iOS 5 Apps. ]

Users report situations like finding 20% less power after leaving the phone unused nightlong, 10% loss of power in 15 minutes of iMessage usage over WiFi, and 50% ability loss in three hours without use.

According to a report in The Guardian, Apple engineers have been contacting some iPhone 4S clients and asking them to install performance profiling software. iOS 5 already includes a capability to report diagnostic information to Apple, with user consent. Presumably, the standard diagnostic routines do not provide data that Apple engineers need to identify the issue.

Speculation about the source of the power drain has suggested a number of possible culprits related to iPhone 4S features: iCloud, Siri, Location Services, Bluetooth, Calendar/Reminder Sync, and automated diagnostic transmissions to Apple, among others.

In general, anything that utilises network connectivity is going to drain more power than an app that just runs locally. Some users report being able to improve battery performance by crippling various network access and location data settings, and restoring only necessary services.

In my case, my battery performance is poor and I have not enabled iCloud, so iCloud isn't a suspect for me.

To undo the brand harm of "antennagate," Apple went all out, jettisoning an executive whom it fought to bring over from IBM, accommodating a press conference to correct misapprehensions about its antenna engineering, and advertising its antenna laboratory.

If Apple isn't able to describe and resolve the battery issue fairly quickly, the company may get to repeat the ritual. It leave be interesting to see whether CEO Tim Cook handles things differently than his predecessor. It's conceivable that a week or two from now, at that place could be a iOS 5 update that reconfigures whatever has been misconfigured and the incident could be largely forgotten. informationweek.com

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Silent MacBook Pro Update Provides Faster CPUs

In an update too minor to warrant mention by Apple, the full MacBook Pro line now features slightly faster CPUs and options for larger hard drives, along with some beefier graphics processors.

   

      13-inch MacBook Pro: The smallest MacBook Pro now comes with either a 2.4 or 2.8 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 CPU, up from 2.3 GHz and 2.7 GHz. The new models also come with either a 500 GB or 750 GB hard drive; previously the options were 320 GB or 500 GB.
   

      15-inch MacBook Pro: The mid-level MacBook Pro gains slightly more CPU speed, moving to either a 2.2 or 2.4 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 CPU, up from 2.0 and 2.2 GHz. Previously, the only 7200-rpm hard drive available to replace the 5400-rpm stock hard drive was 500 GB; it’s at once 750 GB.

      In the 2.2 GHz configuration, the discrete art C.P.U. moves from being an AMD Radeon HD 6490 with 256 MB of GDDR5 memory to the Radeon HD 6750 with 512 MB of GDDR5 memory. The 2.4 GHz configuration jumps from the Radeon HD 6750 with 1 GB of memory to the 6770, also with 1 GB of memory.
  

      17-inch MacBook Pro: On the CPU end, the largest MacBook Pro moves from a 2.2 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 up to 2.4 GHz. It too gains the option of a 750 GB 7200-rpm hard drive and replaces its AMD Radeon HD 6750 graphics processor with a 6770.

Obviously, these changes are minor and there is no way short of formal benchmarks to know how much faster the fresh CPUs and graphics processors will make everyday jobs. If you have been planning to buy a new MacBook Pro, it’s worth making sure you acquire one of these new models. Prices and all additional options remain the same. tidbits.com

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Google TV Tries Again, Adds Android App Suppport

Google is prepare to release a software update for its partners' Google TV hardware. The update focuses on interface simplification, improved articles discovery, YouTube integration, and Android app support.

Mario Queiroz, VP of product management, and Vincent Dureau, director of engineering, said in a blog post that Google anticipates to deliver the software update to Sony Internet TVs next week and Logitech Revue devices shortly after that.

The new customizable home screen is easier to understand and organize than its previous incarnation. Google has added an Android app called "TV & Movies" to help people find something to watch when they don't know what to search for--the ability to run Android apps on Google TV hardware is the product's most significant feature. YouTube is now more tightly tied to Google TV, such that virtually any content topic keyword can be turned into its own channel.

Google's pitch for the "new Google TV" no longer breaths at a revolution. It used to be Google TV aimed to "open up the living room." But "open" in Hollywood means opening the company wallet. Hence the Web content blockade initiated late last year by ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, and Viacom to keep their online appearances from being viewed through Google TV's Web browser: The studios feared that Google TV would convert the TV audience to a Web audience, reducing their advertising and articles deals with cable and broadcast channels.

At the Game Developers Conference in March, Google engineer Andres Ferrate in a presentation to potential Google TV developers acknowledged that the company's messaging about Google TV had missed the mark. It was clear and then that Google wanted to distance itself from the misunderstanding that Google TV aspired to be a cable killer. Google TV still acts the marriage of TV and the Internet, but now the newlyweds are sleeping chastely in separate bedrooms.

[ Find out what Google said about Google TV to developers in March. Read GDC: Reframing Google TV. ]

Thus we have Google's fresh messaging: "Plays nice with the stuff you already have." Move along, there's no revolution to see here.

The Mr. Nice Guy approach may be fight-the-power fatigue, the result of blow-back from years of right of first publication lawsuits, Google's Street View privacy problems, and a battle with Microsoft that has spiraled into a serious antitrust problem. Or them may just be a pragmatic approach to dealing with an industry wherever costly content can't just be indexed, aggregated, and organized in the way that commodified text has been. But either way, Google is hoping that Google TV will receive a better reception than the rough cut that came last year.

If Google TV flops the second time around, it becomes more likely that Apple will conquer the living room without opposition. Apple is said to be working on a television, a project that could turn its Apple TV "hobby" into a important revenue stream. informationweek.com

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Google Launches Indoor 'Street View' Shots

pcmag.com

Google is taking its Street View mapping service indoors. No, it won't capture you vegging out on your couch, but the feature will be exploring the interiors of certain businesses.

A pilot program began in April 2010 and back in May, Google announced plans for 360-degree Business Photos, a program that would send Google photographers to various businesses to snap professional photos for their Places Page. A spokeswoman said today that "we're seeing renewed interest in the past few days because as promised, as more of the imagery becomes available, we're getting more of it online."

Atlantic Wire pointed to a comical book store in Tustin, California that has interior Street View activated. Arrows come along on the floor, allowing you to walk right in and peruse the layout. If you're at the street level, you can just "walk" into a store following the same arrows.

"These experience, using Street View technology, includes 360-degree imagery of the business interior and storefront," Google said back in May. "With this immersive imagery, potential customers can easily imagine themselves at the business and decide if they want to visit in person."

Photographs are taken by "trusted" photographers, Google said, though businesses can also upload their own images via Google Places. The company is currently setting up shoots in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Japan, France, and the UK. In the U.S., that includes Los Angeles, Miami, Houston, Austin, D.C., Boston, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York. Google said it is starting with businesses "that we know are explored for most regularly," like restaurants, hotels, retail shops, gyms, salons, and repair shops.

If you want your business photographed, you can apply online. Google will personal the photos it takes, but businesses can request to have shots they don't like removed.

By nature, taking internal photos and posting them online brings up some security questions. But Google said its photographs will "capture nothing different to what a buyer would see by visiting the business in real life." The search giant asked that stores notify customers about the photo shoot by putting up signs so they don't inadvertently end up in the background of a shot.

If someone does end up in the photograph, "we'll either run the 360-degree imagery through our state-of-the-art blurring technology to blur out faces of any employees and customers who appear in the imagery, or we won't publish the still photos if people are in view," Google said. "Remember, only people with the authority to make agreements on behalf of the business can submit an application for photography, and by submitting the application you're confirming that you have that authority and that you will follow the steps set out here."

The main Street View feature, meanwhile, has made headlines recently for privacy concerns abroad. In May, Google voluntarily opted out of enlarging its Street View program within Germany. Last year, Italian officials required Google to allow adequate warnings about when its Street View vehicles would be passing through. A month before, Google was banned from expanding Street View in the Czech Republic due to security concerns. Not everyone is hesitant, though. In August, Google said Street View will blow up to Israel.

pcmag.com

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Windows Phone Apollo: What We Know So Far

pcworld.com

With Windows Phone Mango coming on in new smartphones and rolling out to old ones, it's time to look ahead to the next big update to Microsoft's mobile operating system, code-named Apollo.

Even though we don't know much about Windows Phone Apollo, hints and teasers are fueling plenty of speculation. Most recently, Michael Halbherr, Nokia's executive vice president for location and commerce, told Engadget to expect the update in mid-2012. Although Microsoft quickly clarified that Halbherr's timing is inaccurate, the company didn't confirm or deny any other details that have slipped out so far.

Here's what we've discovered so far about Windows Phone Apollo:
The Grand Convergence

It's no secret that Microsoft wants completely of its devices to be part of a single ecosystem. “We won’t have an ecosystem for PCs, and one for phones, and one for tablets -- they’ll all come together," Andy Lees, president of Microsoft's Windows Division, said in July. According to some reports, this convergence could happen with Windows Phone 8, "Apollo."

In September, Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang said he expects Windows eight to eventually run Windows Phone apps. It's easy to imagine how this would work, with the desktop simply showing simultaneous panels from Microsoft's Metro interface, whereas phones would show only one panel of information at a time.
What Nokia Knows

Halbherr told Engadget that Windows Phone Apollo is a "very different game" from Mango, advising that the update could also be known as Windows Phone 8. He also said Nokia is pushing Microsoft to add near-field communications support and "positioning framework" to Windows Phone Apollo, which would improve Nokia's navigation and location services.

NFC is the technology that will let people swipe their phones like credit cards at retail stores. Google is pushing ahead with NFC in Android phones, and Apple is rumored to be eying the technology as well, so the idea of Microsoft working on NFC for future Windows Phones seems plausible.

Apollo isn't going to be the next edition of Windows Phone. First, Microsoft plans to release "Tango," a minor update akin to the "NoDo" update that added copy-and-paste and other tweaks last spring. Apollo will be the next major update, as confirmed at an MSDN seminar in August. Altho Halbherr's mid-2012 timeframe appears a bit early, a fall or winter 2012 launch seems like a safe bet. pcworld.com

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News popular on tablets but few want to pay

AFP

WASHINGTON — Catching up on news is among the most popular activities for tablet computer owners, but most are not amenable to pay for it, according to a study published on Tuesday.

The joint study by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism and The Economist Group brings unwelcome news for media outlets hoping to bolster flagging print revenue with paid digital news content.

Eleven percent of America adults now own a tablet computer such as Apple's iPad or some other device, according to the study.

Seventy-seven percent of 1,159 US tablet owners surveyed said they use their tablet every day, spending an average of about 90 minutes on the device.

Sixty-seven percent said they use their tablet daily to surf the Web, 54 percent said they use it to send and receive email and 53 percent said they use it to get news.

39 percent said they use their tablet daily for social networking, 30 percent for gaming, 17 percent for reading books and 13 percent for watching movies and videos.

But while more than half of tablet owners were using the devices daily to get news, just 14 percent said they have paid directly for content, the study ascertained.

Another 23 percent have a subscription to a print newspaper or magazine that includes digital access.

Twenty-one percent of the tablet news consumers who haven't paid directly for news said they would be willing to spend $5 a month if that were the only way to access their favorite news source on the tablet.

"When it was launched, many observers believed that the tablet might help change the experience of news consumers and the economic ground rules of digital news consumption," the study's authors said.

"That belief was based on the sense that people would consume information on tablets largely through especial applications or apps... which news organizations might be able to charge for," they said.

The study found, however, that while two-thirds of tablet news consumers have a news application on their tablet, most rely on their ordinary browsers.

40 percent said they get their news mainly done a Web browser, 31 percent said they use news applications and the Web browser equally, and 21 percent said they get their news mainly through apps.

"If news organizations are more successful at finding a way to reap revenue in the tablet environment than they have on the Internet more broadly, the movement toward tablet consumption could be quite promising," the study's authors said. "The likelihood of that, though, is uncertain at best."

"And the further movement away from print and television suggests that news companies have little time to ascertain that fresh economic model before the revenue from their legacy platforms completely dries up," it said.

The study was conducted between July 15 and July 30 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. AFP

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Dell announces its XPS 14z laptop

LAPTOP MAKER Dell has debuted its XPS 14z, a mid-sized thin and shiny laptop.

theinquirer.net

The XPS 14z follows on from the larger XPS 15z that we saw in June. It will bid high end performance in a more compact package. Dell has said it will be uncommitted on 15 November priced from £799.

"The XPS 14z delivers what professionals want - raw power paired with a stunning, sophisticated design that signals 'I've arrived'," said Steve Felice president of the consumer business group at Dell. "The XPS 14z is specifically engineered to help our clients do more in their personal and professional lives - and it advances our industry-leading vision for thin-and-powerful solutions that deliver performance without compromise."


The laptop will come with an Intel Sandy Bridge Core i5 or Core i7 processor to deliver good performance. It leave have 4GB of DDR3 RAM with the option of doubling to 8GB.

The hard drive will come in either 500GB or 750GB capacitance but there is also the choice of a 256GB solid state drive. An Nvidia Geforce GT 520M GPU with 1GB of RAM rounds off the key hardware specfications.

Dell said, "The 14-inch HD display easy fits into a 13-inch laptop form factor". The laptop is 23mm thin and tips the scales at just under 2kg. Unlike the XPS 15z, the XPS 14z has a standard definition display with 1366x768 resolution.

Battery life is quoted as a specific maximum of 6 hours and forty-nine minutes. The XPS 14z will come with USB 3.0, USB 2.0, HDMI and mini display port connectivity. It will as well have a 1.3MP webcam. theinquirer.net

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"Father of the iPod" shows off his new project

tech.fortune.cnn.com

FORTUNE -- Tony Fadell has defied skeptics before. 10 years ago, when a slick gadget he conceived and helped to build hit the market, most analysts shrugged, saying the new tech toy would be inapplicable to most people. The prediction ranks among to top bloopers in the history of tech punditry. Fadell's gadget, the iPod, sold more than 300 million units and, in the process, revolutionized the music industry.

Now Fadell, who has been called the "father of the iPod," is hoping to prove skeptics amiss one more time. After leading the team that built the iPod and playing a key role in the development of the iPhone, Fadell left his executive role at Apple (AAPL) in 2008. For the past 2 years, he has comprised hard at work quietly building a new electronic gadget. Like the iPod, it is controlled through a simple dial. And like the iPod, it's likely to be greeted with skepticism. It is, after all, a thermostat.

But whenever the iPod was no ordinary music player, the thermostat built up by Nest Labs, Fadell's startup, is nothing like the drab plastic devices that control heating and air conditioning in millions of American homes. For starters, the device, which is being introduced on Tuesday and will be available in mid-November, has the kind of elegant, minimalist design that Fadell acquired while working for his former boss, Steve Jobs. More important, just like the iPhone made cellphones smart, Nest wants to bring intelligence to thermostats: the device programs itself based on your daily routines and the temperatures you set. It constantly refines itself, senses your comings and goings to adjust accordingly, and automatically turns itself off when you are away.

Fadell says Nest was built on approximations that he learned at Apple, where the iPhone was conceived not as a cell phone with smarts, but rather as a computer that could make phone calls. "This is not a thermostat with a bunch of communicatings features," Fadell said during a recent interview in the company's unmarked offices in Palo Alto. "It is a computer and communications platforms with a little bit of thermostat." And it is designed to help people cut their energy bills, he said.

The idea for Nest came out of defeat. Fadell was building an energy-efficient home near Lake Tahoe. When his contractor showed him his thermostat choices, Fadell balked. "There has to be something better," he said. While thermostats manage roughly 50% of a home's energy use, they haven't changed much in years. Millions from homes are stillequipped with manual thermostats. The more advanced programmable thermostats are difficult to use and require constant allowances. "If you want to do any kind of energy savings, you are programming them all the time," Fadell says.

Nest ThermostatWith a team of veterans from Apple, General Magic, Sling Media and Web TV, and with financing from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Google Ventures (GOOG) and others, Fadell set out to design and build the Nest thermostat. The device, which will be sold directly to consumers at electronic stores like Best Buy (BBY) for $249, comes in an elegant box and is easy to install. In the first week, it relies on manual adjustments. But after that, algorithms designed by machine acquiring experts, set the temperature automatically. Those algorithms refine themselves every time you manually adjust the temperature. Sensors constantly monitor temperature and humidity, as well as ambient light and activity near the device or farther away in the house. "We can see if there is anyone in your home," says Fadell. "We learn your schedule and your temperature preferences over a week. And we adapt continuously over time."

Adjusting the Nest thermostat is easy: you simply rotate the outer ring up or down. Pushing on the display opens a set of intuitive menus. It also can connect to your home's Wi-Fi network, allowing you to control it remotely from a phone or tablet. PC and mobile apps allow you to monitor your energy use and savings. Fadell says that energy savings will help buyers recoup the cost of device in about a year.

While the Nest thermostat is clearly aimed at early adopters in the iPhone generation, Fadell says the potential market is large. There are some 150 million thermostats in American homes and another 100 million in small offices and businesses. Every year, some 10 million new units are sold. "That's as many as bicycles are sold in the United States," he says.

That may be true. But bicycle are toys that people love to play with and many fans will pay good revenue for bicycles they can show off. Thermostats? Not so much, which makes it all the more difficult to handicap's Nest future.

Regardless, Fadell plans to push his company beyond thermostats. As the name Nest advises, the company will continue to be focused on products for the home. "It's our first product," he says. "We have ambitions for more. There is a lack of innovation in the home and we can apply our design talents to things other than thermostats." tech.fortune.cnn.com

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Nokia prepares for 'solid' Windows Phone launch

telegraph.co.uk

Nokia is set to launch its comeback bid in London tomorrow – the clambering mobile phone manufacturer is likely to unveil three new Windows Phone handsets, being given the latest version of the software and aimed at the midrange of the market, as well as new handsets based on its aging Symbian operating system.

The new devices will be the first since Nokia chief executive officer Stephen Elop announced that the Finnish giant was betting its future from Microsoft’s operating system. But they are unlikely to launch in America this year – the company has already confirmed that it won’t be shipping “in volume” until 2012 – and are also unlikely to contain hardware surprises.

Although Nokia itself has revealed no details of the devices, which sources say are called the 800, Ace and Sabre, the company’s close relationship on networks and retailers means that the devices have been seen widely across the mobile phone industry. Buyers and analysts, who did not wish to be named, said the new phones marked an advance on Windows Phone’s chances of success and were a “solid start” for Nokia’s transition.

The Nokia 800, originally codenamed Sea Ray and based on the Nokia N9 ‘all-screen’ phone, is likely to retail in high street shops for £300 from mid-November, but discounts are widely expected to boost sales. It will feature a 3.7” screen and an 8 megapixel camera, while the Sabre is likely to have a 3.5” screen and 5 megapixel camera. The Ace will offer a slide out keyboard and an 8 megapixel camera, it is believed.

The new devices will face fierce challenger, from Google’s Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Apple’s iPhone 4S and Motorola’s new Razr, and analysts said them was sensible for Nokia to focus on slightly lower cost handsets. The maker is also set to launch new Symbian handsets, probably on Thursday, building on it is recent success in the developing world. telegraph.co.uk

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Samsung Wave 3 pre-orders start in the UK for £399.99

unwiredview.com

 Samsung’s 3rd attempt at a Bada-powered flagship smartphone, the (aptly named, of course) Wave 3, comprised announced in August. Since then though, we’ve heard very few affairs about it. One of them was that it was apparently going to become accessible in October. That hasn’t happened yet, but we’re still a couple of weeks or so away from the end of this month, so keep your fingers crossed.

One thing that does show us that the launch is at least approaching is the fact that the Wave 3 has now gone up for pre-order in the UK. Online retailer King Of Gadgets is bidding the Samsung Wave 3 for £399.99, which is rather steep for a Bada phone. Still, it’s the higest-end Bada phone to date, so maybe it will be worth that amount of cash. You be the judge.

The Wave 3 has a 4-inch 480×800 Super AMOLED touchscreen, a 1.4 GHz single-core processor, a 5 MP autofocus rear camera with LED flash and 720p HD video recording, a secondary front-facing camera, 3 GB of built-in storage, microSD card support, 14.4 Mbps HSDPA, 5.76 Mbps HSUPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and a 1,500 mAh battery. It runs Bada 2.0.

Unfortunately, King Of Gadgets does not list a shipping date for the pre-ordered Wave 3 units, so there’s no telling when you’ll be able to act with yours if you do decide to go ahead with the purchase. However, you’ll still be among the first people in the UK to receive the smartphone, so that may be a good enough reason to pre-order. Whenever you’re interested, head over to King Of Gadgets. unwiredview.com

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NEC’s new battery technology said to last double as long

ubergizmo.com

While we long for fresh battery technology that will be able to let us use our smartphones or tablets for longer periods of time, NEC has managed to develop a new lithium-ion battery technology that they are claiming will be able to double the life span of the conventional model, but the downside here is that it seems to be limited to just electrical power systems found in buildings and homes.

The argue behind this is because battery longevity in homes and commercial buildings is apparently a major concern, and to be fair we guess this is a growing market that should not be neglected. According to NEC, this new battery technology will allow the battery to retain 83% of its original charge even after twenty-three,500 charge cycles, which the company is estimating to be about four years worth of use.

The technology behind the longevity of these new batteries is the use of an organic sulfur compound, which reportedly helps to prevent the buildup of internal resistance in lithium batteries. This buildup is what causes established lithium batteries to lose its power output and life span over time. Now if only NEC were to take that technology and focus it onto our smartphones and tablets, and maybe we could go back to the old days of the feature phone, whose batteries are usually able of lasting us a good many a long time even with moderate usage.ubergizmo.com

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Kodak certifies Movie Projection Patents to Imax in Bid to Meet Cash Needs

Eastman Kodak Co. (EK) accorded to provide laser-projection technology to Imax Corp. (IMAX), bolstering profit as the unprofitable 131-year-old camera company seeks to stave off bankruptcy.

Kodak, based in Rochester, New York, will receive an upfront payment of more than $10 million, a milestone payment and ongoing royalties, said a person with knowledge of the matter. Imax gains technology allowing it to expand the use of digital projection on its giant-screen theaters, the Mississauga, Ontario-based company said yesterday in a statement.

The 10-year deal helps Kodak narrow a cash shortfall and advances a goal of engendering $250 million to $350 million in revenue this year from licensing intellectual property. The company said on Sept. 30 that it has “no intention” of filing for bankruptcy.

“This is the ordinary course of business and I think, if anything, it demonstrates that they have intellectual material possession other than the image capture and printing side,” said Mark Kaufman, an analyst at Rafferty Capital Markets in New York.

The cash in will be used for general corporate purposes, said Gerard Meuchner, a spokesman for Eastman Kodak. He declined to disclose terms.

Kodak put a separate set of digital-imaging patents valued at an estimated $3 billion up for sale in July. The company is facing pressure from its bondholders to use cash from asset sales to pay down debt, people familiar with the situation said last week. Some bondholders have met with bankruptcy lawyers and restructuring advisers to help ensure they are paid, the people said.
Bright Image

The Kodak technology will raise the brightness of digital projection, Imax Chief Executive Officer Rich Gelfond said. This will enable Imax to display pictures using digital images on its screens larger than 80 feet (24 meters) instead of being dependent on 70mm film, as well as in dome theaters, Imax said. The technology is expected to debut by the second half of 2013, the company said.

“The Eastman Kodak technology helps present a really bright image,” Gelfond said in a telephone interview. “The cost comes down and enables this to happen.”

Kodak engineers will work with Imax employees during the next 18 months to bring the technology to Imax theaters, the company said. Kodak’s technology is expected to illuminate screens as large as 100 feet and dome theaters with a brightness and clarity not currently available, Imax said.

Kodak’s operations used $847 million in cash on the first half of this year, company filings show. At the end of the second quarter, Kodak had $957 million in cash and near-cash items.

Eastman Kodak shares accrued 4 cents to $1.24 on Oct. 14. The stock has declined 77 percent this year. Imax slid 2 cents to $17.38, and the shares have fallen 38 percent this year.bloomberg.com

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