It’s pretty ironic that this happened as the search giant claimed its plans for the operating system heralded an end to all security concerns.

Google Chrome OS, due to be launched around this time next year, with netbooks as its initial target market, will be based on open source code, and claims to offer unprecedented safety.

Allegedly, this means an end for the need to run anti-virus software, but also wider security updates and malware.

Simplicity and speed are other key features, say senior Google sources, adding that it’ll be zippy enough to have you online in a few minutes. Google Chrome OS has been made to run on x86 and ARM chips, and operate within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel, the company says.

But already sceptics are dismissing Google’s claims as unrealistic, saying that no software could claim to be free from security problems, and that malware authors are likely to be doing their darnedest to find flaws in the system from the moment it launches.

Already there have been breaches of a kind, with a prankster posting photos purporting to be from the Chrome OS Beta. Granted, this won’t affect the system, but constant press about security issues will knock consumer confidence.

If it wants to be as secure as it claims, Google is going to have to be one step ahead all the time. And it can surely expect more of this sort of prank in the future. And to think the OS hasn’t even launched yet! So will they manage to keep Chrome clear of security threats?

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Pledges Of A Virus-Free Chrome: Empty Promise?

The regulator Ofcom suggests that the timetable be tied to milestones in the use of digital radio sets. Currrently 32% of British households are DAB enabled, but Ofcom say only when 50% are enabled should the switch begin. Paul Donovan, a radio critic, thinks 2015 is unrealistic, he predicts 2025 is a more relastic time frame. And now Tim Davie, the Director of BBC Audio and Music, has admitted DAB radio is not inevitable saying “since I have arrived at the BBC, I certainly haven’t seen it as inevitable that we move to DAB.”

As time has gone on the original claims of “near-CD quality” for DAB struggle to hold ground, and the quality seems to be ever decreasing. With FM transmitters being quite cheap, and the number of negative comments growing steadily, FM radio could be alive for a fair old while yet.

Sources: BBC, Theregister

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DAB Radio Isn’t Inevitable, Says BBC Director

First: you need to login to your Twitter and Flickr accounts.

Once logged in go to the Flickr ‘Blogs’ page: http://www.flickr.com/account/blogs/. Click the set up your blog link.

From the options choose ‘Twitter’ and click next.

Next you have to leave the Flickr site and you are taken to Twitter to ‘authorize’ the set up.

Once redirected to Twitter click the Allow button.

You will then be redirected back to Flickr with details that your set up has been successful.

To then tweet a pic use the email address provided on your mobile device, or go directly to an image on the Flickr website and click the Blog This button. You then enter your text for the tweet and it is done. Easy!

This is a nice little feature making direct image tweets quick and easy.

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Simple Guide: How To Tweet Pics Directly From Flickr

Current Time

Enter into google the word “time” and your location (or just “current time”) and it comes up with the time, no such feature at Bing (click images to enlarge).

Sports Scores

Type the name of a major team, EG “Manchester United”, into Google and it tells you the current score of a match they are in, or if they aren’t playing right now their next scheduled match is shown. Bing has no such feature at all.

Films Times + Reviews

Google has a very nifty feature where all you do is type in “films” and your location. It comes up with the titles of what is currently showing and when the film begins, you can then click through for a trailer, reviews or more info on the film. Once again Bing has no such feature at all.

Maps

If you want to quickly find a map of a town or city you can simply enter the word “map” followed by the place name into Google. Do this in Bing and it trys to locate businesses going by the name of “map” in the place you specified, or sometimes just no map at all it just shows traditional results.

Fill In The Blank

Sometimes you can’t remember a specific detail, only part of it. Google has a feature so you can put a little asterisk (*) at the part of the sentence you want filling in. Bing has no such feature. I tried a search for Bob Marley died on *. Google then highlights the answer in bold font in the results descriptions so it is easy to pick out. You can still find the answer via Bing (it isn’t in bold font) but with more niche info, less specific, I expect you would struggle somewhat in comparison.

Functions Both Providers Can Do

There are some things Bing can do on a level with the Big G. They can; calculate maths equation, perform conversions, weather forecast, flight status & tell you regional hotels. But even when Bing can do the same the Google services still work better. And another thing, certain features are only available to certain regions on Bing, yet another negative point for them.

Conclusion

I think the conclusion bit is pretty obvious! When it comes to depth and quality of functions Google is clearly way ahead. Bing claim to be a ‘decision engine’, based on the features above Google can help me make decisions a whole lot quicker and more easily.

Considering Bing has only just being released this is very poor by Microsoft, but unfortunately not surprising. I want a genuine challenger to Google, but for me from everything I’ve seen, read and used on Bing this is not it.

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Comparison: 5 Things Google Can Do – That Bing Can’t

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How To Speed Up Your Windows XP

It harnesses something called Super CCD EXR which uses Dual Capture Technology to simultaneously capture two images of the same scene: one taken at high sensitivity and the other at low sensitivity. To you and I, it means that it takes two pictures merges it together, to get the best result!

You know what they say, big things come in small packages, and this charmer drinks faster than a camel in an oasis. The battery life on the one I tested was horrendous, I was quite disappointed with the shutter speed, which was slow, and the amount one is paying for a camera like this, shouldn’t expect a shutter clicks to last more than one mississippi.

However having said that it is still a great digital camera, however, I think you’ll have to wait for something a bit more reliable to hit the market before splashing your cash.

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Quick Review: Fujifilm Finepix F200EXR Digital Camera

Here is a video explaining how Kooaba works:

Benefits Of Using This App
Not only is it a cool thing to use it could also save you time. Instead of going to the Big G and trying to locate the product in question you can just get everything you need in just a few clicks.

All your requests are also saved so you won’t forget that new film you wanted to buy once you get paid! Via an account at the Kooaba website you can also search your library of requests and share items.

Conclusion
I think this is a very nice little app that is simple but serves a purpose and can save time. Is it for everyone? Personally I won’t be using it as I don’t spend very long at all browsing music, films and games to buy and if I do I still quite like a trip into town to the music store, modern tech is amazing but some old fashioned ways I do prefer! Having said that if you are a multimedia nut who lives on their iPhone I would highly recommend this app.

You can download it now from Apple completely free.

Source: email. Gallery Image: screendump

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Kooaba – Snap and Search Cool App

If you read the marketing notes about Bing, it states it has a new look and feel. Yet for my money, the search engine home page, had more than a passing resemblance to Google’s. The only real difference was that there is a picture in the background, and the word ‘Bing’, was used instead of Google.

To see what kind of results Bing would give me, I typed in the name of my website, without out the ‘www’s or the ‘.co.uk’ part. I happen to know that should you search for this on Google, I am number one on the page rank.

On Bing I did not even feature on the first page, and by the time I reached page six, I gave up.  In fact comparing the results of Bing and Google, apart from the odd site, the two search engines did not correspond at all.

This is interesting, because this shows that bing searches on a different criteria to Google.

As Apple and Microsoft have often ‘borrowed’ from each other for the developments of their operating systems, so it appears Microsoft have borrowed from Google. Images, Maps, and Shopping, are all available in very similar formats on Bing.

A nice touch from Bing is that if you hold your mouse over one of the page listings it gives you a brief preview of the site.  So you can tell if its what you were looking for.

Taking on Google, does feel a little pointless, not only do Google do a sterling job but they are everybody’s favourite search engine by a mile.

For Bing to have a chance, it will need to provide either an alternative way to perform searches, and so present results that are more relevant than what Google provides. Or copy Google completely, but provide more features and services.

Do you feel Bing will be the search engine of the future?

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Hands On Review – The Bing.com Search Engine

So how does the Blackberry 8900 Curve shape up? And how are the basic features to use when you get started?

Look and feel: The Curve in my opinion, has that quality look about it.  I think this owes much to the black and stainless steel finish, together with the full ‘QWERTY’ keyboard.

It has a good weight and a nice feel to the hand. I liked it. The Curve is not much wider and taller than many other traditional mobiles on the market.

Navigation and ease of use:  Finding your way around the Curve was easy once I picked up two concepts: The Trackball, and the Menu key.

The Trackball works just like its laptop counterpart – you move it with your finger, select the highlighted option, and then press the Trackball to open it.

The Menu key simply brings up the main menu, or a menu in an application.  At first, I wondered what you did if there appeared to be no other options.  Pressing ‘Menu’ was the answer.

The Curves impressive list of options, are all nicely laid out, and using the Trackball to select the one you want is straight forward.

Getting started: The Blackberry 8900 Curve’s setup wizard was something I found to be equally as impressive. The instructions were neither too easy or too advanced, and they explained concepts and instructions, in a very precise clear way.

Calling and messaging. The Curve also has a similar approach to displaying information. In effect everything you need to know is presented, everything you do not need to know, is discarded.

I found this extremely useful, for all the messaging options available. A lovely touch is that your own number is displayed when calling or messaging someone, which is great if you are like me, and you can’t  remember it.

Calls on this phone, seem to be much clearer than other phones I have used. It reminds me a little of the old ‘Noise reduction’ option on an old tape player. The calls have a deep clarity about them.

Media. The camera on this phone is 3.2 megapixels, and seems to be one of quality. It also has facial recognition built in. The picture quality is high. The same can be said of music quality, and the Curve’s screen lends itself well to video.

In summary, I found this phone to be packed with great features, useful touches, and nearly everything about it had a crisp stamp of quality.

If I had one critism, using the keyboard to type on is a little left of field for me, especially as I am used to touch typing, and therefore using too hands. But this I’m sure is a reflection on me, rather than the phone. All-in-all it is very impressive.

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Hands On: Blackberry 8900 Curve Review

The idea, is that to transfer and work on files, rather than plugging in memory sticks and messing around with other portable storage, the work surface, or table, simply reads devices placed on it. These are then displayed, and using touch-screen technology, manipulated.

Is this ‘Seamless Experience’ the future? This video shows the idea in action:

Other than being a clever bit of fun at an exhibition, it does raise questions about green technology, and about how we will work in the future. How, and if the technology is fully utilised would depend on how well we could manipulate the data stored on the devices.

Could we print it out, add information to it, or delete information from it. Could we copy it, paste it. Change the font? If it was mathematical data, could we add something to an equation, or change a formula.

The more you think about what it would need to have, the more questions are asked.

New technologies emerge all the time, and many are consigned to exhibitions for their moments of glory. The feeling about this one is that it is little more than a clever bit of fun.

However with green issues being discussed at all levels, could there be enough push to get this one off the ground? I have to say though, if the information was displayed in a desk, what were the monitors all over the table for?

Gallery image: ndevil/flickr

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Have Asus Got The Future Sussed? Seamless Experience

The idea, is that by creating a robot that copies the motions of a fish, a new more eco-friendly ship propulsion system could be developed.

Ships often damage the seabed and coastlines are often eroded by submarine installations, Smokey, and his soft drive propulsion system, is hoped by his developers, to be an eco-friendly option for moving ships from one point to another. Especially as it is not just rocks and mud that is churned up or destroyed, but all related plant and marine life that goes with it.

Smokey consists of 10 sections that are covered in an elastic skin. He is 1.5m long- his size was worked out by basing him on a 5:1 ration with a sea bream. Smokey moves by snaking through the water, like a fish.

Scientist working on Smokey, are stuyding other fish, to try and mimic the fishes movements in to make him more efficient.

The idea of scientists copying animal movements is not new, as the evolutionary process has served the surviving animals well. Wouldn’t it be amazing if you had a robot that could run like a cheetah, or fly like an eagle, so when looking at a way to move through water, copying a fish is a sound idea.

Whether or not Smokey and his soft drive will ever propell a ship through the open waves, remains to be seen.

Source: Robotnext.

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Sea Propulsion, Is Looking A Bit Fishy! Meet Smokey The Robot

To use the app is super easy. To use it simply register at the dustytunes site, upload your list and away you go!

Other People
Via the dustytunes website you can also browse the lists by other people. A nice feature is the ability to browse by genre so rather then just looking at random lists it is easy to find people with a similar taste.

I hate getting a mental block when you want to buy some music but can’t for the life of you think what to look for! Artists and track names completely escape the mind. So I will be using this new service to see what other people like so I can get some ideas.

Conclusion
All-in-all this is nothing amazing but is a nice way to share the music you like with the world in a simple and nicely presented way – and get some ideas for your next downloads.

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Quick Look At DustyTunes App – Show Off Your Music Collection

Sony Ericsson claim the new models are eco-friendly and cheaper to run. They also say the new phones won’t compromise on product design or functionality.

Made from up to 50% recycled plastics, the C901 Greenheart (image left) is a mid-range mobile complete with a five-megapixel camera, geo-targeting, quad-band GSM connectivity, no paper manual and a screen which uses less power than other phones. Its display light sensor uses less energy, and the C901 is coloured with waterborne paint which lowers exposure to Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC).

It comes with the MH300 headset, which, according to Ericsson, is the greenest device of its kind. It is made up of recycled plastic in four out of five hard plastic parts, far exceeding minimum legal environmental requirements.

The other mobile phone, the Naite, has a two-megapixel camera and can read microSD cards but no M2 models. Its low-power charger consumes up to seven times less power than the industry average. Other eco-friendly features include an Ecomate application which helps users to make ‘greener’ choices in their daily lives, as well as a Carbon Footprint Calculator which shows the amount of CO² saved by walking instead of taking the car.

Less packaging also helps reduce carbon emissions – traditionally packaging has been one of the most environmentally damaging aspects of mobile phone use.

Overall, the carbon footprint over the full life of the C901 GreenHeart and Naite is reduced by 15% when compared to other mobile phones.

In the past, mobile phones have been blamed for a wide range of environmental disasters, from their heavy metals such as mercury and lead, which have been linked with cancer if released into the environment, to producing radiation which stops bees pollinating crops, leading to failed harvests.

So the new models from Sony Ericsson, set to come on to the market within the next few months, should be seen as encouraging, and ought to please the green lobby.

But, since Sony Ericsson has not yet released the price of either model, it remains to be seen whether the company will put its money where its mouth is by making the ‘green’ phones affordable to most users as well as environmentally friendly. Failure to do so could lead to these launches being described as ‘green washing’, or paying lip service to ecological issues.

And, with more than four billion global users of mobiles, can the Naite and C901 ever be more than the smallest of steps towards genuine sustainability?

Source: press release. Image: sony ericsson press image

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Green Tech: Are The Eco Friendly Sony Ericssons Green Washing?

This February it had over seven million unique visitors, compared to 475,000 a year earlier, huge growth!

Everyone’s supposed to be doing it – including high-profile users like Stephen Fry, and Britain’s Got Talent judge Amanda Holden, who invited Hollywood star Demi Moore to the show’s final by tweet.

But now fresh research from Harvard Business School suggests that only a minuscule proportion of Twitter fans generate virtually all the content. More than half place just a handful of posts a year.

Researchers, who last month studied the Twitter habits of some 300,000 users, found that that just 10 percent of Twitter account-holders were responsible for generating more than 90 percent of the site’s content.

The median number of lifetime ‘tweets’ per user is only one, the research reveals.

The research throws doubt on how accurately companies can use the micro-blogging site to assess public opinion, although researchers say that Twitter could still be useful in responding to specific customer concerns, and an effective marketing tool, since companies can advertise promotions to their followers via the site.

Established in 2006, Twitter shows no signs of going away just yet. But this new research does throw some interesting light on its limitations.

Some people are already questioning the purpose of Twitter, and this new study will no doubt cause more to do the same.

Source: Reuters. Image: screendump

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Research Suggests Life May Not Be That Tweet After All

I had the pleasure of getting a hands on analysis of this beauty of a machine.

First of all, its not very compact, in fact its a bit bulky, it kind of reminds me of the old 35mm cameras we all have lying around in the house somewhere.

As for the optics, my eyes were blown away! It was clear, crisp and at a very high magniture of depth, all being displayed on a large 3 inch LCD screen.

The G10 produced images, that I thought couldn’t look any better! Then they already were, it picked up so many unseen features. With 28 shooting modes, with auto choice for optimisation, one can’t be let down by pictures being produced.

You can tell the camera was doing its job, optimising the picture from click to production in 2 seconds. The Exposure correction was spot on, and optimised the picture quality, where-ever i took the camera, shooting at different angles and in different lighting.

The G10 by-far surpassed my expectations, it brings a bit of nostalgia back to clicking images with a foray of new technology practibility.

Info: Canon

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Canon Powershot G10 Digital Camera Review

Before downloading Windows 7 Release Candidate and or buying the final version, the kind people at Microsoft have laid down a few minimum requirements for your current machine to meet upto, to get the most out of Microsoft Windows 7.

Written in cold hard Microsoft sans serif font:

• 1 GHz processor (32- or 64-bit)
• 1 GB of RAM (32-bit); 2 GB of RAM (64-bit)
• 16 GB of available disk space (32-bit); 20 GB of available disk space (64-bit)
• DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

For us mere mortals, the above looks like gibberish, so the thoughtful engineers at Redmond (Microsoft’s HQ) came up with the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor.

Now first thing’s first, download the software provided by Microsoft, and Install it onto your hard-drive.

Start up the program and click “Start Check”.

Sit back for a few minutes while the software determines if your PC or Laptop in it’s current state can run Windows 7.

You should eventually arrive at “System requirements”.

It’s seems like my PC has been a naughty girl, or perhaps it’s just me!

Take up the recommendations stated by the program, and rectify them, run the software again, and once you are given all green, you can install the release candidate or wait for the full retail version to come out.

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How To: Prepare Your PC For Windows 7

As always, a Tom Tom One Europe has been used for the purposes of this article.

1. POI’s or Points of Interest, is a little misleading, as this gives the impression that it is referring to sight seeing.  In actuality, it is referrering to finding practical places, such as petrol stations and post offices.  By selecting one of the POI’s from the options menu, the satnav will plot a route to the nearest one.  The list is extensive, and includes ones you may not expect like beeches, and campsites.
2. If you make regular journeys, why not utilise the favourites feature, and list them as such.  There is also a homefunction too, and if you set this as home, it makes it that little bit easier to set your satnav to guide you home.
3. If you are travelling to a place in a city centre but do not know the postcode, why not just select the city from the “Address” section.  Just type in the city name on the keypad, select it, and let the satnav tell you where to go.
4. Your satnav also records where you made your last stop.  By selecting the option, it will plot a course to it.  Could be useful if you feel you have left something there.
5. Don’t forget you can change preferences too.  These include:

• Sound on/off
• POI warning on/off (Remember to switch this on if you are looking for one)
• Safety preferences
• Volume
• Change Home Location           
• Planning preferences- When to avoid motorways and so on

Together with our previous Tom Tom articles, we feel you have a good round up of how to get the most out of it. Just remember to keep the maps up-to-date. You do not want to end up in a river or down a dead end!

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5 Ways To Make The Most Of Your Satnav

MSl’s

The Apple Airbook is what we expect from Apple: A classy piece of kit that does a very good job. The specifications are good, it looks amazing, and is a dream to use.

MSl’s new X-Slim 340 Notebook which goes on sale in the UK in June, boasts the following:

• 2GB RAM
• 13.4” inch screen. (1366 x 768)
• 320GB Hard drive
• 1.4GHz Core 2 Solo ULV SU3500 processor
• Intel GMA 4500MDH IGP graphics card
• Under 1” inch thick.

In its own right this looks impressive, and it does have a stylish, streamlined look.  But can it take on the King of class, Apple?

Well from a specification point of view, no it can’t.  The Airbook has a 1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo part processor, and a GeForce 9400M graphics card to boot.

The one thing the X-Slim does have going for it, is that at £859, it is £412 cheaper than the Airbook.

Can the X – Slim stand up to Apple, or is it a step to far for this notebook?

Source:Hexus

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MSl’s X-Slim Notebooks, Worthy Rival To Apple Airbook?

The advantages of notebooks over full size laptops, is that they are more portable, and providing you do not have any tasks that are too advanced, they can be useful little things.

The disadvantages are there ergonomics. The keyboards and screens are that much smaller, making information that little bit harder to see, and entering information that little bit harder on smaller keyboards.

So what has Samsung improved to address these issues.

Well the chassis on this notebook is a little larger, and this has made typing that much easier.  The keys are said to be 90% of the size of a standard laptop keyboard, and this is a significant step in the right direction.

The screen to is a 10.1” inch display, (1024 x 600) pixels, which gives a good image, especially on a notebook.

The newest feature is the sound. The notebook boasts a 1.5 watt subwoofer, which is situated just below the keyboard. This is earning it rave reviews as having the best sound on a computer of this size.  But is that necessary on a notebook?

The specs for this machine are below:

• 160GB Hardrive.
• 802.11 b/g wifi
• Weighs 2.8lbs, or 1.27 kg.
• 3 USB ports
• Available in black or white
• 1.6GHZ Intel Atom processor.
• 1GB RAM(Upgradeable to 2GB)

Subwoofers are all very well but could the space have been used for something more useful on a notebook, like extra ram, or more USB ports?

Source: Hexus

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The New Samsung N120 Notebook, The Right Stuff?

I have to say though, that after receiving the Olympus X-480 digital camera as a gift, I am very impressed with it, especially as I have probably pushed my average up by at least ten percent over the last few months. Sadly, this is down to the camera.

So for the purposes of this review, I have gauged the camera on four elements.  Ease of use, picture quality, battery life, and criticisms.

Ease Of Use

The camera is a basic point and click, but you can adjust the settings very easily to suit your surroundings.  For example, by selecting “Scene” from the options wheel, you can take more effective pictures depending on the environment.  I found the “Behind glass“, and “Sports” settings, extremely useful.  It also starts fairly quickly, so it is possible to capture, “that shot“.

This picture was taken from the apartment where I stayed, in Amsterdam.  The camera was set to “Behind glass“.  (Between the church and me was a window.)  Incidentally, behind the church is The Anne Frank museum.

Picture Quality

The standard of pictures in ‘normal’ light is very high.  The camera has 8.0 megapixels to this end, and has a 5.0 optical zoom.  Not that this means much to me, but in short the picture quality is good.  The zoom works well in normal light too.  The camera struggles with night time shots, even if the camera is set to settings designed for this environment, but a fair picture is able to be taken when set on “Auto“.  Using zoom at night, is out of the question.

Battery life

Battery life is fine for general picture taking providing you remember to switch off the camera between shots.  Where the battery is a little weak is when you are uploading pictures, as this seems to zap the battery life in minutes.  I would recommend using a SD card, and SD card reader to transfer pictures.

Criticisms

I have two criticisms with this camera: 

• Without an SD card the cameras memory is limited to around ten pictures, which is not the best lets face it.
• The camera batteries are disposable and not rechargeable.  This can be annoying at times, especially if it keeps draining.

Overall, I would say this is a very good point and click camera.  The price varies from £80-120.  I would say for someone who is a beginner, or you just want a good basic camera with a few features to explore, you could do a lot worse.

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Digital Camera Hands On Review: Olympus X-840 Review

Designed for use in an intimate bedroom setting, Mutsugoto is a new way of communicating with your long-distance lover by allowing your body to become a human canvas. In fact, its creators claim the installation is virtually as good as having your partner in bed with you.

While lying in bed, separated from each other by hundreds of miles, couples wear rings which are activated by touch, and which can be seen by a motion-sensitive camera set up above them. A computer vision system can follow the track of one ring as one partner runs it over their body or bed, projecting virtual pen strokes on their body. Simultaneously, these movements are projected in beams of light on the other partner. If the lines cross, they react with each other and change colour. The intensity of the stroke of light indicates the pressure of the virtual touch.

Mutsugoto aims to give partners the same emotional satisfaction as real physical touch. To enhance the overall romantic experience of this way of communicating, a special range of curtains and bed linen has been designed to go with the device.

The tool has been in development for the last couple of years, and is the brainchild of Tomoko Hayashi, Stefan Agamanolis and Matthew Karau, working for Scottish-based creative research organisation called Distance Lab.

The installation is already receiving plenty of attention, and has been shown at several global exhibitions in London, Japan and Singapore.

Mutsugoto has also garnered a £5000 Alt-w Production Award, administered by managed by New Media Scotland (New Media Scotland)and funded by Scottish Screen and the Scottish Arts Council towards the end of last year.

Now Distance Lab is now choosing three couples to take part in the first trials of Mutsugoto this summer. The installation is touring in a satellite bedroom, whose first public outing will be at the Centre for Contemporary Arts in Glasgow’s Sauciehall Street in early July.

And don’t worry if the love turns sour, or the pressure of distance from your partner finally becomes too much – a remote fighting device is in the pipeline for warring couples.

Image: flygraphix/flickr

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Help At Hand For Long Distance Lovers: Mutsugoto

Problems have included crashes, freezes and volume issues.

Now, amid rumours that Blackberry Storm 2 will be unleashed this autumn, allegedly complete with Wi-Fi, makers RIM are upgrading the firmware of the original incarnation well in advance. It (proper name: Update 4.7.0.141) is available to download now by desktop, visit http://devicehelp.vodafone.co.uk/storm/.

The update is set to put right the bugs which have plagued the Blackberry Storm, along with some fresh features, including what one reviewer described as ‘a helping of cheap music.’

Other plans for the upgrading include a more responsive camera, which will be able to take higher resolution pictures than are possible now. A greater number of file types will be supported through multimedia playback, and the all new Storm is to increase its reliability of streaming music as well.

Call sound quality is also in line for improvement, and the upgrade also aims to clear up problems some users experienced when operating the Storm with a headset.

The idea is also to make the messaging application crash much less frequently. A cursor will now be visible as users type. Touchscreen responsiveness is also to benefit from the upgrade, and it will now be possible to lock the screen to save power.

As if all that wasn’t enough, unlimited music downloads for a fiver will be up for grabs from Vodafone Live.

RIM has set itself a tall order in appeasing Storm’s critics while winning over new customers. Only time will tell if it succeeds.

Source: Mirror

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New Firmware Upgrade Now Available For Blackberry Storm

Jim Fitzpatrick, the British road safety minister said “Our message to all drivers is simple, don’t use your mobile phone when you are driving.” It is common sense really! Not only are you risking the lives of other motorists and people on the street, but also yourself. The majority of people understand this, but clearly it is enough of a problem for the Government to act with TV ads, a radio campaign and also an online ‘driving challenge’ game.

Jim Fitzpatrick also said “It doesn’t matter how good a driver you are, if you text while driving then you cannot be giving the road your full attention.” He is spot on, and if you don’t give the road your full attention we know what happens – accidents.

So the next time your phone beeps when you are driving leave it for the few minutes until you don’t need to give driving your attention. You will potentially save your own life and others.

Source: PublicTechnology. Image: Holtkampw

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Texting + Driving = Putting Lives At Risk

It is exclusive to Vodafone in the UK. For an 18 month contract you will have to cough up £35 per month, or if you want a 24 month contract the price will be £30 per month. The phone is free (as they say). Or alternatively you could just wait a couple of weeks/months for some unlocked ones to start appearing on eBay.

Despite the credit crunch plenty of press for this phone should see plenty of sales, so get in early if you want one.

Source: T3

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HTC Magic On Sale Today In The UK – From £30 Per Month

First of All you’ll need to register, make sure you tick that you live in the USA.

Confirm Registration Via URL in your Email Inbox

You can always find people upload their albums, you can have a look when you get some time .

I’m not the most wonderful of sights, so I chose Keira Knightley to take my place.

Hit the Upload Button, and get ready .

Hit Upload

Hit Edit to get started

Use the Left Panel to use the tools to edit your photo, as you can see, I’ve used the crop & rotate tool to make the image smaller and to lean it to the right. Remember to save your changes periodically!.

Add some saturation to bring your skin alive, in essence it adds a bit of temperature to the image, I’ve certainly given her a more deserning Italian look!.

Make a Sketch of her, remember, if you dont like what you’ve done to your masterpiece, hit the “red” back arrow to revert to your last change.

Distort at your own peril….you might make some enemies for life .

Once your ready and satisfied with your work, save it.

Then go back to your homepage by clicking the house.

Click “decorate” to have even more fun!.

Click on the bubbles tool, then click on any design, hit add, then edit the text.

Play around with the wacky decorations!, and save accordingly!. Once your done, head to your library.

Now, if you have facebook, you might want to edit some of your pictures, for fun or to save yourself from further peer embarrasement.

Click the Facebook Login link

Fill in your facebook account details. Once its gone through, the page below will come up.

Follow the instructions on Photoshop express, and your images from your facebook account will now import into Photoshop Express!.

Play around with your images!, and remember to save!!!.

Now go and Enjoy this great free service from Adobe!.

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How To Use: Photoshop Express

First lets come to the aesthetics of camera, it itself is incredibly light, and incredibly thin. I thought i’d lost the camera, as it was as light as a feather!. It snaps open and closes, as quick as that banana phone from the Matrix.

The Lens is fantastic it produces sharp and clean 10.1 megapixel images, although the lens could be wider, its only 35mm, others in it’s class are 28mm to get those big group pictures in.

It’s Wifi enabled, so you can send your pictures and videos online, it has built in instant connections with YouTube and Picasa, so you can have your images and videos up online for the world to see in a matter of minutes!.

The camera also shines when it comes to focusing, it has a 4x optical zoom, and can pick out peoples faces in the shot and automatically optimise itself accordingly.

I recommend this as a must buy!

Image Source: Sonystyle

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Hands On Review: Sony Cybershot DSC-G Digital Camera

But in terms of style, the speakers can get down and dirty with the best of them.  In fact, you could say they’re are downest, the dirtiest, and the funkiest speakers, on the planet.

They are transparent, no wood or plastic casing here, and when they’re switched on, the LED effects are near rave quality. In fact, if you had a pair of these, you could probably rest assured that the club-style atomosphere, will be recreated.

To get a pair you will have to go to Japan, as they are currently unavailable anywhere else, and no release date has been set for any other country.  They cost in the region of $1000.

Here’s how these two special effects speakers, rock and roll:

• 10 watt, 2 channel
• 6cm woofers
• 2.5 cm tweeters
• Tranparent
• LED effects capability

We all know that what comes out of the speakers is more important than what they look like.  But if you had speakers that looked this good, would you care?

Source: engadget

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It Is Time To Get Funky, With Transparent Speakers

You can also add an extra destination or way-point into your satnav, either before you start your journey, or during it. This could be useful, especially as you won’t have to waste time resetting the original journey, especially if you can’t remember what the postcode was.

This guide will take you through the steps needed to use this function.  A TomTom ONE Europe, has been used in the pictures, other brands that have the function, may work slightly differently, but the principle should be the same.

To begin select your journey as you would normally. In this case, Norwich to Windsor Castle, 150 miles, journey time of two hours forty five minutes. Remember, that if you are planning the journey in advance, select the final destination, and not the first.

 To add another destination or way-point, press Find alternative.

Now press Travel via..

As you can see, the destination screen reappears.  Simply choose the destination to add in the normal way.

The satnav shows the extra destination by hi-lighting it in yellow.  It also recalculates the journey time and distance.  Press Done.

This little trick is one to know, as it could prove handy, espeically if something unforseen occurs. Like all good gadgets, this can make life that bit easier.

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How To: Make A Detour Using A Sat Nav

This project was designed and built by a Japanese man from the province if Ibaraki. It took him 11 years to complete the beast, which has been named after Kabuto-mushi, or Rhinoceros-beetle, due to its shape.

The Robot can carry passengers, and can be controlled remotely, or from a cockpit located at the side of the creature.

It weighs 15 tons, and is 11metres long. 

The Kabutom MX-03, is built for transportation, rather than warfare, but how good would it have been if all the robots on Robot Wars were like this! 

The creature has wheels located underneath it to help support the weight.  The legs are functional however, and are used to drag the beast along, rather than walk.

Here is a video, enlarge to full screen to make it all come to life!

Robots do seem to be in the blood of the Japanese, and they always seem to come up with something that makes their robots, that much more special and interesting. This beast is as ingenious as it is big, and who knows one day, could be the method of transportation of choice, if if only in Tokyo, and let’s hope, that if Robot Wars is ever remade, it is with the warriors this size!

Source: nerdwithswag

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If Only The Robots In Robot Wars Were Like This….

The semantic web potentially means an end to web searches which leave you with dozens of irrelevant web pages, by addressing some of the limitations of current Internet searches.

The semantic web makes use of semantics, or the science of meaning in language, to produce highly relevant search results. So a semantic search has an understanding of the ’senses’ of words and phrases and the linguistic relationship between them, rather than just relying on keywords.

Put simply, for example, it would mean being able to type something like ‘what movies are on TV this weekend?’ and getting a coherent answer.

It’s a concept which has sparked a strong debate, with some sceptics saying the semantic web is just not feasible. Another criticism is that it would take much more time to create and publish content because there would have to be two formats for one piece of data: one for human viewing and one for machines. However, many developing web applications are working to address this issue.

Google
Google has some stiff competition from rivals, such as Microsoft’s latest version of Live Search, Kumo, a three-column web page with search results in the middle, and the search engine Wolfram Alpha, which appears to make some truly extravagant claims.

Google says its search engine will be able to understand and associate your queries with related keywords. It will then display other related items at the bottom of the page. For example, if you were hunting for ‘principles of physics’, then the new Google would also appreciate that things like ’special relativity,’ ‘big bang’ and ‘quantum mechanic’ could also contain the information you were looking for.

Google remains the first port of call for almost all of us when trawling the net for information. However, with some critics saying its new ‘semantic’ version doesn’t differ enough from the Google we have always known and used, this Internet giant will certainly have a massive challenge on its hands if it wants to be the leader of the semantic pack.

Image credit: dullhunk

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Emerging Tech: Googles Hunt For Semantic Search Engine