iTech Mail

Sandisk releases first 32GB microSDHC card

2010-03-23T12:12:00.000+05:00

If that 16GB microSDHC card in your mobile phone is starting to burst at the seams with music and video files, not to mention photos of your BFF, then Sandisk’s new 32GB card is arriving just in time. The company has announced the availability of the world’s highest capacity removable memory card to enhance the storage capacity of devices that will support it.

SanDisk is mass-producing the new Class 2 cards based on its third-generation 32nm X3 (3-bit-per-cell) technology, which makes a 32GB capacity possible in such a small form factor. The company is taking orders from OEM customers and is making the card available to them in a variety of card and adapter configurations as well as with the option to pre-load the card with custom software.

According to SanDisk the 32GB card can store enough music to outlast 35 round-trip flights between San Francisco and New York before repeating a single song. But we’re assuming delays aren’t being factored into the calculations, so if you’re planning on making such a journey you might want to wait for a 64GB card to appear - or possibly a 128GB. The 16GB microSDHC cards were only announced six months ago so you shouldn't won’t have to wait too long.

SanDisk's 32GB microSDHC card comes with a five year limited warranty and should be appearing on US online stores for US$199.99 shortly. It will also be available in Europe soon, with worldwide availability to follow in the next month.

Source: GziMag

Motorola’s i1 – the first push-to-talk Android handset

2010-03-23T12:10:00.000+05:00

Motorola has announced details of its i1, the world’s first Android-powered smartphone with push-to-talk. Headed for Sprint Nextel’s iDEN network in the U.S. the i1 features a 3.1-inch 320 x 480 HVGA touch screen, 5-megapixel camera and Wi-Fi. It includes the mobile phone equivalent of cursive writing – the Swype on-screen QWERTY keyboard entry system – and boasts a solid body construction that meets military specs for protection against dust, shock, vibration and blowing rain.

The device will run Android 1.5 and the push-to-talk feature allows users to connect to each other almost instantly. The phone also includes the ability to view who is calling regardless of what application is being used and push-to-talk calls can be toggled to the background to make multitasking easier.

In addition to the Swype keyboard entry system the i1 also includes XT9 for those who like texting old school. Office and personal info such as emails, calendar appointments and contacts are automatically synced and integrated throughout the device and Word and Powerpoint documents can also be reviewed on the go with the built-in Microsoft Document Viewer.

The Opera Mini 5 browser is included for browsing over the Nextel National Network and Wi-Fi, while the Android browser for use over Wi-Fi includes Flash 8 support. Additional applications and widgets can of course be downloaded from Android Market. Although the provided screenshots suggest a MOTOBLUR interface, it hasn’t been confirmed whether the i1 will actually run it.

The i1 is the first truly rugged Android phone we’ve seen, meeting the 810F military specification. Its 5-megapixel auto-focus camera comes with an LED flash, 4X digital zoom, video capture, geo-tagging and panoramic capabilities.

Source: GizMag

The world’s first tribrid – human-sail-electric watercraft range

2010-02-19T12:04:00.000+05:00

The evolution of the sailcraft has been underway for thousands of years but March could well become the significant point at which sailpower begins to merge with other energy forms to create a suite of harnessed energies when the history books are written 1000 years from now … and the electric announcement continues Hobie’s design and innovation ethic which has a sixty year tradition of creating brand new markets globally, something it has done half a dozen times with a remarkably good batting average .

The key to the entire hybrid and tribrid kayak capabilitiy from Hobie is its new eVOLVE™ electric drive. The Hobie eVOLVE™ rudder-mounted motor can be used by itself or it can be combined with the MirageDrive™ pedal system and, in the case of several of the kayaks and the Adventure Island and new Tandem Island, sail for extra propulsion and added range to power across a current-ripped bay or put some quick miles behind you to get across a lake or a long way up an inland waterway.

I’m not sure what is more amazing about the new capability – its weight, which comes in at a maximum of 8.16 kg (with heavier mounts) or the fact that it comes with two ingenious mounting options and can be added to the rudder, or slotted into the mirage drive well of any of the existing kayak range. That’s 8 kilos with everything included – the motor, throttle, cables and Lithium Manganese battery. And if you have a mirage drive capability and two motors, you can fit them both – one in the mirage well and one on the rudder. And indeed, with the new Tandem version of the adventure island, with two seats and two mirage drives, that could include up to three drives.

Now the kit comes with a surprisingly generous range, of roughly eight hours at 2 mph though if you use it at full throttle for short periods, that will obviously rapidly decline. The new eVOLVE™ is the perfect partner for the Mirage pedal drive and the wind-powered sail as all are completely silent, so the relaxing aspect of kayaking need not be destroyed - it might be a novelty on the road, but the silence of paddling or sailing will not be disturbed by sound. Based on the Torqueedo Ultra light 402 motor, the Hobie eVOLVE™ battery case has a built-in GPS which means you will always know your real speed as it reads out on the display of the remote throttle. The throttle display also shows charge status, distance remaining, and power consumption in watts.

One of the first things I thought about with regards to the eVOLVE electric motor in an open kayak is how incompatible water and electricty seem to be – one leak, one short, and your free ride home has gone. Not so, as the entire kit is waterproof to IP68 standards, international standard for marine electronics, and self contained and the throttle can be mounted at any point you wish in relation to your seating position and there’s even a kit comes with it for through-the-hull wiring so you can have a clean deck with minimal exposed wire. The US$1899 eVOLVE™ kit means that Hobie’s entire range of MirageDrive™ pedal kayaks can become hybrid human-power and electric kayaks, and the Adventure Island and new tandem Island can become legitimate tribrids.

Hobie’s MirageDrive™ offers a remarkably compatible synergy with both the electric drive and in the case of the Adventure Island range, sail too, and it is a masterpiece of design in enabling human power to be brought to kayaking in a non-traditional way. If you're a technophile and haven’t seen Hobie’s MirageDrive™ pedal-propelled kayak and Pro Angler fishing boats, you’re in for a treat. The MirageDrive™ offers a highly efficient way to propel a small kayak for long distances. The Mirage drive is pedaled like a bicycle, and the slot-in drive produces motion in two penguin-fin-like flippers underneath.

Hobie borrowed the fin ideas from nature after noting that university studies show the oscillating fins of tuna and penguins are more efficient than propellers because they can make use of vortices that are naturally shed from anything going through the water to offset the vortices that would normally be generated by fins. This means less turbulence in the water and as in aerodynamics, where it’s just as important to leave the air smoothly as to cut through it smoothly, the MirageDrive™ completely validates itself in the almost identical field of fluid dynamics. Just the same, I still look on it in wonder – the physics of the device are certainly difficult for the eye to behold, and it’s an understatement to say they belie its efficiency.

If you go to the HobieCat site, you’ll see that there’s a comparison test – a tug of war between the designer of the MirageDrive™, Greg Ketterman and an olympic kayak paddling champion using the traditional double ended paddle. The mirage wins easily. There’s also a two person kayak versus the mirage with Greg peddling and the two person narrowly shades it – bearing in mind that the two paddlers were arguably two of the strongest paddlers in the world in their day, we’ll give that one to the mirage too. Now the mirage drive doesn’t look as powerful as it is but when you’ve tried it, you realize it’s much more efficient than normal kayak paddling with your arms. For any given amount of energy, the MirageDrive™ gets you further. Indeed, it’s still almost as efficient as running.

Here’s the maths. The current half marathon record is 58:33 set by Kenya’s Samuel Wanjiru in 2007. Adjust that same speed to cover an hour and you get 21.6 km or 13.4 mph. A kayak with a MirageDrive™ with turbo fins and an athlete peddling would cover better than eight to nine miles in an hour – significantly better than half and maybe two thirds of the speed of an equivalently fit person. At far gentler inputs, the mirage would probably be more efficient comparatively as it can glide long distances with almost no input, as the MirageDrive™ fins "feather" into the flow when not pedaling and create very little drag; by comparison, a propeller creates significant drag when it is not spinning. The motion of the pedals provides a long, smooth stroke and the back-and-forth movement allows the pedals to be positioned much lower in the cockpit than a circular peddling motion. Whatsmore, the MirageDrive™ can be adjusted to allow any length of stroke desired and can easily accommodate different size pedalers. Now I have actually owned an Adventure Island with a pedal MirageDrive™ for the last two and a half years and I can vouch it does all the things asked of it, gets continually abused on rocks and in shallow water, and will happily do so for ridiculously long periods. It is far more reliable than a bicycle chain in far more hostile conditions and fins fold up next to the hull for beaching and in shallow water by simply putting one foot forward. It seems impervious to neglect and punishment, has never once fouled on anything and it’s as efficient a drive system as you can get in the water.

With the two drives available in the tandem kayaks and now the tandem island, there’s suddenly a lot more horsepower available. Two fit peddlers should give the Tandem Island a speed of more than 10 mph. As mentioned, I’ve lived with an Adventure Island for 30 months now using it daily when I’m home – it’s basically a Hobie kayak with a mirage “pedal drive” and 57.5 sq. ft. (5.34 sq. m) of sail on a 15' 2" (4.62 m) carbon fibre mast with retractable amas on each side – it has been embraced worldwide as the Swiss Army Knife of adventure transport. It is capable of hitting 10 mph under sail, will do a comfortable 5 mph pedaling alone and offers a unique hybrid human (HPV) power plus sail capability, where Hybrid HPV sailing is enhanced by your ability to give it a burst of speed to catch a swell or get the bow across the wind. You’ve got 5mph of leg power sitting below the sail and now the tandem island is avsailable, the prospect of two fit peddlers is incredibly enticing. Human power and sail power fit so incredibly well together that its’ almost a different form of sailing – an incredibly rewarding one at that. Now with the larger more stable boat underneath, the Tandem can carry a lot more sail. Mast height has been increased to 18' (5.49 m) and sail area increases to 90 sq. ft. (8.4 m2) compared with 57.5 sq. ft. of the single seater, giving it 56% more sailing power.

A human walking can carry a large amount of gear – maybe 40 kilograms at a pinch. But you won’t set any running records with that much weight on your back, and an 80 kg pilot in the Adventure Island can comfortably carry as much again if the Island is packed with balance in mind. The much larger Tandem with two 80 kg occupants can carry another 112 kilograms of weigh if it’s distributed properly – more than enough for a tent, cooking gear, and sleeping in luxury. And you won’t be much down on speed.

With two complete drives aboard, you’ll sacrifice 16 kg of that carrying capacity but gain an extra 16 hours of 2mph cruising speed – 32 miles of additional range. Combined with a second peddler, and/or an electric drive with 18 foot of sail power, the Tandem Island is a very efficient, fast touring boat with almost no carbon footprint. The electric drive is the least environmentally sound power source on the menu, and you'll be taking your hydrocarbon emissions home with you - nothing noxious will be dumped directly in the waterway. By intelligently combining the power of 18 ft of sail with human power and now adding enough electric power to take you 16 miles in eight hours, regardless of wind, rips or currents, the Tandem Island with electric is a landmark watercraft, as is the Adventure Island which gets the same tribrid capabilities.

The eVOLVE™ doesn’t just add tribrid power to the island range though, and that’s what makes it such a big announcement – it adds hybdrid power to the entire Hobie Mirage kayak range, meaning that the inflatable range now has an electric option, as does the fishing range, the single and double mirage sit-on kayaks.The accessories for this Roll-Royce Adventure complete it even more – getting continually hit by spray occasionally happens in a sit-on kayak and it can be deeply unpleasant, so they have created a clip-on spray guard which does the trick nicely. In announcing the new drive, Hobie’s CEO noted that Hobie intends to “stay ahead of the curve and work with partners like Torqeedo to devise products that enhance kayaking, fishing, and sailing experiences of our customers.”

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Hiperwall software video wall uses normal PCs and monitors

2010-02-19T12:00:00.000+05:00

Video walls – a wall of monitors displaying large quantities of information at a single glance - have traditionally been the domain of air-traffic control, NASA, television stations, and big budget marketers, but no longer. Hiperwall’s high-performance, low-cost video wall system uses a software solution that is hardware agnostic (meaning it can work with any size, resolution or type of display, whether it’s LCD, plasma, CRT even rear-projection) and allows non-technical users to manage the display of video and data feeds using just a mouse. This is a killer app in that it enables complex information display at a fraction of the cost of previously!!

Used to view large quantities of information at a single glance on a “wall” of monitors, video wall technology has previously been considered the exclusive domain of large organizations because of high costs and complexity. However, the Hiperwall software-centric solution requires only ordinary PCs and monitors and a standard Ethernet network, making the technology accessible to small-to-medium businesses and state and local government agencies for the first time.

The Hiperwall system displays still images up to 1GB resolution or larger, HD videos, HD streaming content and PC applications, turning a bank of monitors into an ultra-high resolution video wall. The system enables multiple feeds to be displayed on the wall simultaneously and allows the user to reposition and resize each feed as easily as moving and resizing windows on a PC desktop. A feed can be scaled up for viewing on several monitors or the entire wall instantly depending upon the user’s discretion.

For example, the Western States Information Network, an agency that provides support to U.S. law enforcement operations nationwide and an early customer of Hiperwall’s, uses its system to view communications, CNN news feeds, surveillance, maps, and events and conflicts tables at the same time due to the multi-source streaming and configuration flexibility.

Hiperwall’s pioneering video wall system not only offers a solution that’s easy to install, easy to use and easy to afford, it offers features and performance capabilities previously unseen in this space,” said Hiperwall CEO Jeff Greenberg. “Based on its completely scalable architecture, the Hiperwall system is uniquely suited to meet the visual communication requirements of many diverse applications,” Greenberg added. “These include command and control rooms at government, military, utility, transportation installations as well as use on trading floors and in digital signage, medical/scientific imaging, aerial imaging, broadcast, fleet management and more.”

In addition to locating and sizing data feeds on the video wall, the feature-rich Hiperwall software allows a variety of custom display configurations, including the ability to:
• Reproduce on the video wall everything on the screen of any network-attached PC • Designate any portion of the wall to cycle through any sequence of images, videos, streams or virtually any data from the PC • Rotate any piece of content to any orientation • Adjust the transparency of any piece of content from fully opaque to fully transparent, particularly helpful for visual overlays • Adjust the color shading of any content The Hiperwall system is “hardware agnostic,” meaning it can work with any type of display, whether it’s LCD, plasma, CRT or rear-projection, of any size and resolution, as well as any PC that meets the minimum requirements of today’s standard PC, including dual-core process, 1GB RAM, GbE Ethernet and 256MB video memory.

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Samsung Diva and Diva Folder details revealed

2010-02-19T11:55:00.000+05:00

Samsung revealed more details of its Diva S7070 and Diva Folder S5150 mobile phones, both designed for female users. The Diva is a bar-type touchscreen phone with a 2.8-inch 240×320 touchscreen while the clamshell Diva folder has a 2.2-inch screen.

Both devices have a 3.2 Megapixel camera with built-in image editor, integrated music player, video player, FM tuner, Bluetooth and a microSD slot. They offers Fake Call, SOS Message, Speakerphone functions as well.

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Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H55 10x Zoom Camera

2010-02-19T11:52:00.000+05:00

Sony introduces the Cyber-shot DSC-H55 digital camera with 10x zoom, alongside the four-proof Cyber-shot TX5. The H55 features a 10x optical zoom Sony G lens with 25mm wide angle, a 14.1 Megapixel CCD image sensor, and a 3-inch Clear Photo LCD display.

The Cyber-shot DSC-H55 includes the Optical SteadyShot image stabilization, and the SteadyShot Active Mode that lets you shoot smoother movie clips even if you are walking while shooting. It includes the Sweep Panorama mode, iAUTO mode and Smile Shutter.
Movies are captured in 1280×720 HD resolution at 30fps. Sony’s H55 is compatible with Memory Stick PRO Duo and SD/SDHC cards. It will be available in April in black and silver and the price is $250.

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Samsung Halo i8520 Projector Phone with Android

2010-02-18T15:32:00.000+05:00

Samsung brings to the MWC 2010, other than the Bada-based Wave, another flagship device, the Halo i8520 Android phone with built-in DLP projector, in addition to the 3.7-inch Super AMOLED WVGA touchscreen. It includes also the so-called “Specialized Projector UI”. Samsung’s Halo comes with a 8 Megapixel auto focus camera and a front VGA camera for video calling. The phone is able to record 720p HD video at 30fps and suppors playback of H.264, h.263, MPEG4, and DivX/XviD video files as well as popular audio files. The i8520 supports A-GPS, Bluetooth and WiFi 802.11b/g/n connectivity. DLNA is also supported.

Samsung Halo i8520 runs Android 2.1 OS and includes Hybird Widgets and a Bada-like UI. It has 16GB MoviNAND internal storage and supports microSD/SDHC card. The projector phone works on Tri-band HSPA/UMTS and quad-band GSM/EDGE networks.

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HTC Legend Android 2.1 Phone with HTC Sense

2010-02-18T15:29:00.000+05:00

In addition to the HTC Desire, HTC introduces another Android smartphone, called the Legend, at the MWC 2010. Basically, the Legend is just a redesigned Hero running Android 2.1 Eclair with the enhanced HTC Sense.

HTC Legend boasts a 600MHz processor, 384MB RAM and 512MB ROM. It features a 3.2-inch 320×480 capacitive touchscreen, a 5 Megapixel auto focus camera with flash, Bluetooth, GPS, WiFi and a microSD/SDHC slot. The phone has G-sensor, Digital compass, proximity sensor. Like the Desire, the Legend gets an optical joystick instead of trackball.

TheHTC Legend will be available in April.

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Acer beTouch E400 and E110 Android Smartphones

2010-02-18T15:17:00.000+05:00

Acer, other than the flagship Liquid e, introduces the beTouch E400 and beTouch E110 smartphones, both running Android unlike the three old beTouch models. The E400 is the more advanced model powered by Qualcomm 7227 600MHz processor and runs Android 2.1 Eclair OS while the E110 is an affordable phone with 416MHz CPU and Android 1.5 with Acer’s special UI.

The beTouch E400 has 256MB RAM and 512MB ROM. It features a 3.2-inch HVGA touchscreen, a 3.2 Megapixel camera, GPS, Bluetooth and WiFi 802.11b/g. It has 3.5mm jack and a microSD slot. DocumentToGo and nemoPlayer are pre-loaded. It will be released in April.

The entry-level beTouch E110, on the other hand, has 256MB RAM. It sports a 2.8-inch touchscreen, a 3.2 Megapixel camera, GPS, Bluetooth but lack WiFi. 3.5mm audio jack and microSD card slot are available. It will come in black and dark blue and be released in March.

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OpenPeak OpenTablet 7 Multimedia Tablet

2010-02-18T13:48:00.000+05:00

OpenPeak announced the new OpenTablet 7 portable multimedia tablet device. The tablet combines telephony with multimedia function. It features a 7-inch multiotuch display with LED-backlit, Bluetooth and WiFi 802.11b/g/n connectivity. It has also cellular connectivity for making phone calls.

The OpenTablet 7 gets also dual cameras and HDMI output. There are built-in speaker and microphone as well as USB port and microSD card slot. The unit is based on Intel Moorestown platform (based on Atom) and runs the OpenPeak platform. It’s just 15mm thick. Wide selection of services and applications are pre-loaded and developers can create highly interactive applications using Adobe Flash CS4.

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Kingston 16GB Class 10 microSDHC

2010-02-18T11:42:00.000+05:00

Kingston announced its 16GB Class 10 microSDHC memory card that complies with the SD Specification Version 3.00. The 16GB card offers Class 10 10MB/s data transfer rate, ideal for use with your smartphone and portable media players.

Versions available: SDC10/16GBSP – 16GB microSDHC Class 10 single pack (card only) $ 138.00

SDC10/16GB – 16GB microSDHC Class 10 card with SD adapter $ 139.00

SDC10/16GB-2ADP – 16GB microSDHC Class 10 card with two adapter pack (miniSD & SD adapter) $ 140.00

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Sony Ericsson quick to update Vivaz handset with Vivaz pro

2010-02-18T11:38:00.000+05:00

Only a month after releasing its flagship Vivaz handset, Sony Ericsson has upgraded the model with the pro version, which adds a QWERTY keyboard to the touch screen offering for faster for messaging and communicating via email, SMS or social networking updates. The announcement was made at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. Sony Ericsson says the new version is “just like flagship phone Vivaz, announced in January,” which allows users to produce and broadcast their own HD video. The open platform phone also allows users to personalise their entertainment experience by downloading applications through PlayNow and the Symbian Developer Community.

“We are now adding a sister phone that includes a QWERTY keyboard along with the touch screen for a superior messaging and entertainment experience,” said Daniel Sandblom Marketing Business Manager, Sony Ericsson. Sony Ericsson Vivaz pro features “human curvature”, which the company says is designed to “mirror the shape of the human body, and at the same time deliver a precise and compelling way of interacting with the phone”.

The Vivaz pro features a full slide-out keyboard for faster typing, a 3.2” 16:9 wide touchscreen, the ability to video in HD resolution and upload to YouTube via Wi-Fi, and connectivity to PlayNow for online access to applications, games and music. Sony Ericsson Vivaz pro will be available in selected markets from Q2 in black and white.

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Motorola QUENCH with MOTOBLUR and Swype – 50 wpm texting!

2010-02-18T11:35:00.000+05:00

Motorola has announced a new touchscreen handset, QUENCH (CLIQ XT in the US) with MOTOBLUR, the company’s Android-powered content delivery service, which organizes messages and syncs contacts. QUENCH features pinch and zoom and a touchpad as well as Adobe Flash Lite to make web browsing easier on the 3.1-inch high-resolution display. It has also incorporated Swype - technology that enables users to input words faster and easier than other data input methods, claimed at more than 50 words per minute. Making the announcement today at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona, Spain, Motorola said the handset would become available next month in the US exclusively through T-Mobile USA. This is the eighth Android-powered device launched by Motorola.

“As we continue to expand Motorola’s portfolio of Android-powered devices, we remain committed to delivering more of what people want from their handheld devices in easier ways,” said Sanjay Jha, co-CEO of Motorola and CEO of Motorola Mobile Devices and Home business. “QUENCH with MOTOBLUR showcases Motorola’s design heritage by offering a compelling differentiation from the traditional Android experience, giving people an easier way to have more messaging, more Web and more music.”

MOTOBLUR is the company's first Android-powered content delivery solution to sync contacts, posts, messages, photos and much more — from sources such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Gmail, work and personal e-mail and Last.FM — and automatically deliver them to the home screen. Content is fed into easy-to-manage streams.

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ASUS swivel multi-touch Eee PC T101MT confirmed

2010-02-18T11:30:00.000+05:00

The new Eee PC T101MT 10.1 inch LED backlit resistive touchscreen notebook computer was first shown at this year's CES in Las Vegas and was known about even before that. Now ASUS has made things official with a product website, confirming that it will ship with an Intel Atom N450 processor, up to 2Gb RAM and a choice of 160Gb or 320Gb hard drive. It will also come with a year's worth of online storage thrown in.

Users of the Eee PC T101MT from ASUS will be able to choose between a familiar, standard Windows 7 mode when using it as a clamshell notebook or a Windows Touch mode when swiveled round and folded into a tablet. The 10.1in (1024 x 600) LED backlit resistive multi-touch screen has a 256-level pressure sensor to accurately register gesture-based commands input by the user. As you would no doubt expect, the unit recognizes handwriting input by finger or by the included ergonomic stylus and detects the difference between intentional input and incidental screen pressure.

The 264 x 181 x 31 mm (10.4 x 7 x 1.2 inch), 1.3 Kg (2.86lbs) T101MT is powered by Intel's Atom N450 processor which, when working with the ASUS Super Hybrid Engine energy management technology, should get six and a half hours from the Li-polymer battery. There's a choice of 1Gb or 2Gb DDR2 RAM and the 160Gb or 320Gb of HDD storage is supplemented by 500Gb of online storage in the shape of ASUS Webstorage (which is free for the first year).

Other features include an ergonomic chiclet keyboard, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR, a 0.3 megapixel integrated webcam, HD audio codec, three USB 2.0 ports and SDXC card support (up to 32Gb). The Eee PC T101MT, available in either black or white, has been penciled in for an April release and the only word on pricing comes courtesy of Amazon's German website which is showing the notebook for pre-order at a rather expensive Euro 499 (US$685).

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Two faces of Andromeda

2010-02-18T11:19:00.000+05:00

NASA's Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, highights the Andromeda Galaxy in one of the first images sent down from orbit. The top image shows our next-door galaxy's older stellar population in shades of blue. The image was taken using the shortest-wavelength camera on WISE. You can clearly see a pronounced warp in the spiral arm on the upper left side of the galaxy's disk. Scientists believe the warp is the result of a collision with another galaxy. The bottom image is a mosaic created by combining data from all four of WISE's infrared detectors. Once again, shades of blue highlight mature stars. The yellow and red areas indicate where dust has been heated by newborn, massive stars. The images were released Feb. 17.

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Canon updates EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens

2010-02-14T12:14:00.000+05:00

Canon introduces the second generation EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens. Canon has redesigned the internal elements of the lens and adds a fluorite element and a fifth UD element for improved optical performance.

Built for the professional, the body structure of the new EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens has been enhanced to provide better durability and strength without a significant increase in weight. Thanks to these enhancements and a new focusing algorithm, the new lens has a faster AF speed and reduced minimum focusing distance of 3.9 feet, The Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens will come with a detachable tripod collar, a reversible bayonet mount lens hood and a lens pouch. It will be available in April.

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BMW Oracle rocks the America's Cup

2010-02-14T12:11:00.000+05:00

There’s an old maxim in racing, and it goes along the lines of “when the flag drops, the bulls**t stops” and after more three years of legal action and posturing between the teams' billionairre principals, Larry Ellison and Ernesto Bertarelli, it was a much awaited start in many ways that mercifully kicked off the America’s Cup yesterday. Just 40 nautical miles later, the whole event seems all but over, as BMW Oracle was clearly faster downwind and particularly so upwind in comparison to the defending champ Alinghi V in conditions which were expected to favour the Swiss. The racing was compelling and very spectacular, but in the best of three series, with the second race scheduled for Sunday

The first race got underway after three frustrating days of unsuitable conditions. The defending champion from the Société Nautique de Genève took a 660 metre advantage onto the course, but such was the speed of the BMW Oracle trimaran that in a straight drag race, the advantage was held for just 16 minutes. After crossing the starting line with a 1m27s lead, by the time the windward mark was reached after 20 nm, Alinghi V was 3m21s in arrears. With the ultra lightweight construction of the Swiss catamaran, Alinghi V was expected to peg back at least some of the advantage downwind, but Team USA showed unprecedented (for an America’s Cup) 30 knot speeds to be nearly ten minutes faster over the 20 nm downwind leg.

With team president Ernesto Bertarelli at the helm, the catamaran was 15m28s behind at the finish after performing a penalty turn for a pre-start infraction. Alinghi skipper Brad Butterworth said: "As long as you’ve got a life you’ve got a chance. We will regroup and think about race two. Sunday's race will be a different sort of race. We’ll see what conditions lend themselves. They looked pretty awesome upwind, and it was hard for us to hold them back. We’ll have our work cut out."
He was right. Alinghi’s chances of winning the cup for a third time are now close to zero, as evidenced by one of the few bookies still taking bets after the race showing 16/1 on for Team USA.

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50th Anniversary model of the iconic 1960 Gibson ES-335TD

2010-02-14T12:08:00.000+05:00

Musical instrument manufacturer Gibson has released a 50th Anniversary 1960 Gibson ES-335TD, perhaps the most legendary semi-hollow electric guitar of all. In 1960, the ES-335 was an instant classic, embraced by blues, rock, country and jazz players the world over and in one form or another the ES-335TD (and its siblings, the ES-345 and ES-355) would land in the hands of Eric Clapton, Alvin Lee, Chuck Berry, B.B. King, Larry Carlton, and countless other groundbreaking guitarists. The Gibson Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD is the closest today’s player can come to obtaining the look, feel and tone of an original dot-neck 1960 ES-335TD, short of remortgaging the house.

In the beginning of 1960, the ES-335TDs were built to the same specs as the 1959 versions and were offered in only Natural and Sunburst finishes.
By about midyear, neck specs began to change to a thinner and more elliptical feel and ultimately, production of the Natural ES-335TD would cease and the Cherry finish would take its place in the latter part of the year. It is this later version that many argue the 1960 ES-335TD’s features had settled into their optimum form. With a fast new neck profile, striking new “insert” or “reflector” tone and volume knobs, the ES-335TD still retained early-spec details such as the dot fingerboard inlays, a double cutaway profile, full-length maple centerblock, and nickel-plated hardware that players have long seen as indicative of the model’s zenith.
All these and more are brought back to life in the Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD, a reincarnation of one of the most legendary semi-hollow electric guitar of all time, handcrafted by Gibson Custom’s Memphis division to celebrate the model’s “golden anniversary”. For this celebration, Gibson Custom is offering the later 1960 “fast neck profile” version, the most unique of the year, and is available in three finishes Antique Vintage Sunburst, Antique Faded Cherry or Antique Natural, all aged in Gibson’s acclaimed VOS (Vintage Original Specs) process, and loaded with period-correct hardware including “insert” volume and tone knobs, double band tuners and a pair of accurate PAF-style 57 Classic humbucking pickups.

The Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD is equipped with pickups and electronics that accurately reflect the original units of the most desirable ES-335TDs ever made. A pair of ’57 Classic pickups capture that highly sought-after “PAF” style tone, noted for its unparalleled blend of warmth, richness and clarity, while quality CTS potentiometers with “bumblebee” tone caps and a Switchcraft selector and output jack translate the signal in pure vintage style Additionally the neck features a holly head veneer, tortoise shell side dot material and has been completely re-tooled with accurate truss rod channel depth and profile based on scans by the Gibson Custom Shop Engineering Team. The Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD is the closest today’s player can come to obtaining the look, feel and tone of an original dot-neck 1960 ES-335TD.
The original ES-335TD (“TD” for “thinline, double-pickup”) was a huge hit simply because it addressed so many different guitarists’ needs in one new design. The arched top and f-holes appealed to jazz and dance-band players who were still attached to the look of traditional Gibson “jazz boxes”, but who appreciated advancements such as a thinline, double-cutaway body. The maple center block that ran from neck tenon to end pin reduced feedback and provided the sharper, snappier tone that rock and roll and country players demanded, and also enabled the use of Gibson’s solid new Tune-o-matic bridge and stop-bar tailpiece pairing, which further aided tone and sustain. With its historically accurate tone woods, electronics, and hardware, the Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD packs all the tonal versatility of the original, and proves once again why the design has remained a favorite of guitarists from every genre of music since its introduction half a century ago. All Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TDs come with a silkscreened Gibson Custom Shop hard-shell case, a Certificate of Authenticity and a full complement of “how to” literature.

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Top 5 Olympic Sites for Following the Games

2010-02-13T12:42:00.002+05:00

Sarah Jacobsson, PCWorld

Don't let a little thing like being at work get in the way of following your favorite sporting events and athletes at the Winter Olympics. From streaming video to event explanations to ski slope imagery courtesy of Google, these five handy sites will help you follow all the action.

NBC Olympics Useful for: Video highlights/live streaming coverage of the Games. If you're in the United States, this is the only place you'll (legally) get it.

NBC is still partnered with MSN and Microsoft's Silverlight, so you'll need to have Silverlight 3 (along with the latest version of Adobe Flash Player) installed in order to view any video content on the NBC site. Don't worry, though — it's a quick and painless download. If, for some reason, NBC doesn't work out for you, you can check out our article on how to stream the Olympics from anywhere (including outside the United States).

Google Maps' "Inside the Games" Useful for: Visuals — maps and pictures of the event venues, official courses, and slopes.

Now, in addition to venue and event locations, you can also see the ski slopes, bobsleigh courses, and luge courses in Google Street Views. Google's site also features a simple event schedule, medals chart, and news feed for the Olympics.

JVC Everio GZ-HM1 Full HD Camcorder

2010-02-13T12:31:00.000+05:00

JVC launches its 2010 flagship Everio, the Everio GZ-HM1 Full HD camcorder that is ideal for high-end video enthusiasts and semi-professionals. The HM1 features a 1/2.3-inch 10.62 megapixel Back-illuminated CMOS sensor for recording 1920×1080p Full HD video in AVCHD format and real 10 Megapixel still images.

Thanks to the back-illuminated technology, the sensor is more sensitive to light allowing the Everio GZ-HM1 to capture high quality images even in low-light locations. JVC’s new Everio features a KONICA MINOLTA HD LENS with 16x dynamic zoom, new optical image stabilization system with Advanced Image Stabilizer, Face Detection, ISO up to 6400 for stills, and K2 Technology for High-Quality Audio.

JVC GZ-HM1 is capable of Time-lapse recording, High-Speed Recording (600fps) for Ultra-Slow Motion Playback, 15fps 10 Megapixel Motor Drive Shooting and simultaneous recording of Full HD Video and 5.7 Megapixel stills. It offers One Touch Export and One Touch Upload to YouTube. The HD camcorder has 64GB internal memory and SD/SDHC card slot.

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Happy 20th birthday to Adobe PhotoShop

2010-02-13T12:28:00.002+05:00

The pace of change in the last two decades is lost on no-one, but a birthday later this week might serve to remind everyone of the magnitude of the digital renaissance. On February 19, 1990, Adobe sent out its initial batch of 200 copies of Photoshop 1.0. In two decades since, it has transformed the imaging and graphics world and sits on the desktop of than 90% of creative professionals. There are 2,500 English language books with Photoshop in the title, more than 50,000 blogs with Photoshop in the name and almost every computer training facility in the world teaches courses on the subject. Photoshop 1.0 launched into and helped catalyse the DTP revolution and it’s birthday serves as a timely reminder that just word publishing meant “printing on paper” just two decades ago. Happy birthday Adobe!

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Google to launch experimental 1Gbps fiber-to-the-home network

2010-02-13T12:23:00.000+05:00

Google plans to roll-out an experimental trial of an ultra high-speed 1 gigabit per second (1Gbps) fiber-to-the-home (FFTH) broadband service that is around 100 times faster than most Americans experience today. Google says the service will be delivered to a number of cities or communities – 50,000 to 500,000 residents - somewhere of its choosing in the USA in a effort to investigate new ways of making Internet access better and faster for everyone.

Internet at this speed means remotely-located doctors could quickly check 3D medical images of patients sent by a clinic thousands of miles away, universities could share facilities on-line with other campuses without tying up precious resources and, at home, viewers could live stream any HD content or download a HD full length movie before they’ve finished making a cup of coffee.

Google product manager James Kelly says all these applications are possible and a broadband network this fast opens up opportunities for applications we haven’t dreamed of yet. Kelly says Google has urged the Federal Communications Commission to deliver to Congress a National Broadband Plan. But it seems it is no longer willing to sit back and wait and has decided to forge ahead with its own broadband network to show the Government what can be done. Google says its network will be "open access", allowing other service providers to use its infrastructure to deliver services to their customers.

“We're planning to build and test ultra high-speed broadband networks in a small number of trial locations across the United States. We'll deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today with 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections. We plan to offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people,” said Kelly.

Google wants to see what developers and users can do with ultra high-speeds, whether it's creating new bandwidth-intensive "killer apps" and services, or other uses not yet imagined. The company says it will test new ways to build fiber networks, and to help inform and support deployments elsewhere. It adds that is willing to share key lessons learned with the world. Google says it will manage its network in a non-discriminatory and transparent way.

“Like our WiFi network in Mountain View, the purpose of this project is to experiment and learn. Network providers are making real progress to expand and improve high-speed Internet access, but there's still more to be done. We don't think we have all the answers – but through our trial, we hope to make a meaningful contribution to the shared goal of delivering faster and better Internet for everyone,” says Kelly. He adds that the company will have a competitive pricing structure for users of the network.

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Radical DeltaWing rocket-shaped car proposed to revitalise IndyCar

2010-02-13T12:19:00.000+05:00

Two of four submissions have now been unveiled by the companies wishing to produce the next generation of IndyCar open-wheel racers, and the most recent one is one of the most fascinating looking racecars we've ever seen. The DeltaWing submission is a radical departure from traditional open-wheeler design - in fact, the only thing you could really compare it to is the bizarre lovechild of a drag racer and a Batmobile. With its comically narrow rocketship front end, broad rear end and narrow tyres, the DeltaWing aims to outperform the current crop of IndyCars for significantly less money, while delivering extraordinary efficiency gains and leaving a clear airstream for following cars, in order to promote close racing and overtaking. But is the public ready for a car that looks... so little like a car?
IndyCar racing is a close-fought and exciting spectacle, tailor-made for the American TV audience with its combination of oval tracks and road racing.
In recent years, it has become pretty much a one-make series - Honda engines in a Dallara chassis - and while the Dallara gear has been successful, IndyCar's organizers are looking for a way to move forward in a way that promotes closer racing and technological development.

The Dallara chassis looks a lot like a Formula One car - open wheelers with big, flat wings at front and rear - and it's this aerodynamic configuration that has been proving problematic of late, as it has in Formula One. Because the cars rely on such massive downforce from their front and rear wing spoilers for cornering traction, a car that's following behind another car is at a severe disadvantage because it's traveling in a turbulent airstream that's been disturbed by the car in front. Overtaking becomes more difficult and the racing becomes less fun and compelling to watch.

The new machines need to help bring costs down too - in the aftermath of the global financial meltdown, there's not as much money going around to spend on things like racing, so the series is hoping to find a local American manufacturer that can bring entry costs down and encourage more teams to participate. On top of that, the new designs are being evaluated on their safety, light weight, modern look, green credentials, sponsorship logo area and their ability to outperform the current generation's laptimes despite a drop from 3.5 liter engines to 2.0 liter engines. Quite an ask.
The DeltaWing solution Through 2009, a group of IndyCar team owners collaborated on a secret project to develop a prototype racer for the next generation of cars. The team surfaced publicly in December last year, and yesterday revealed their radical proposal for the IndyCars of tomorrow. The DeltaWing solution is a wild-looking machine that pushes the boundaries of what you'd call an 'open-wheeler' to concentrate on massive aerodynamic drag reduction. For starters, the wheels are almost fully enclosed - as much a safety feature as a drag consideration, when you think about how close IndyCar racing can get and how often wheel entanglements can send one car or the other airborne.

The front of the car is incredibly narrow, the wheels only 24 inches apart leading a spaceship-style fuselage that swoops back toward the cockpit. The rear of the car becomes gradually wider toward the rear wheels, which are 70 inches apart, and the rear wing spoiler has been ditched in favor of a vertical tail fin, helping to stabilise the car and prevent high-speed spinouts. The vast majority of downforce is produced by the ground effect underbody, which sucks the car down onto the track while producing a negligible wake - trailing cars should find it much easier to overtake.

Crucially, the car will weigh only half of what the current generation IndyCar weighs, and will produce only half the aerodynamic drag. This means it should be able to reach similar top speeds, around 240mph (386kmh), but with substantially smaller engines and getting somewhere near double the fuel efficiency. Teams should be able to buy the car, complete with engine, for around US$600,000 - and it will be manufactured in America by various parts suppliers and constructors, keeping transport costs to a minimum.

Dallara's competing design has already been shown - a fairly conservative reworking of the current IndyCar shape, but it's still going to be Italian-made, which will go down as a point against it as the IndyCar organisation considers proposals over the next few months.

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Seagate touts Savvio 10K.4 HDD as world’s highest capacity, most reliable 2.5-inch drive

2010-02-13T12:13:00.000+05:00

Ads by GoogleFlash-based Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) may have stolen most of the spotlight in recent years when it comes to data storage, but the traditional HDD still has some life left in its platters. For proof of this look no further than Seagate’s new Savvio 10K.4 enterprise hard drive. Seagate bills the new drive as the world’s highest-capacity, most reliable small form factor enterprise drive with its 600GB capacity and two million hour mean time before failure (MTBF) in a 2.5-inch drive.

Designed to meet the demands of enterprise servers and to enable new levels of data density, the 2.5-inch 10K-rpm Savvio 10K.4 has twice the capacity of its nearest competitor and allows a doubling of capacity within the same rack space of current 3.5-inch 15K 600GB drives. Seagate says it does this while increasing overall system-level performance and decreasing power usage.

As the industry's only fourth generation, field-proven, 2.5-inch HDD designed for the enterprise, Savvio 10K.4 also features Protection Information for enhanced protection of data-in-flight, a self-encrypting drive (SED) option for the protection of sensitive data-at-rest and PowerChoice, which allows the Savvio 10K.4 hard drive to deliver improved power savings while idle.

The Seagate Savvio 10K.4 drives are available in 450GB and 600GB capacities. Its physical dimensions are 14.8 x 70 x 100.2mm (0.58 x 2.75 x 3.94 inches) and it weighs 208g (0.5lb). It boasts a sustained data transfer rate of 141Mbps with an average latency of 3.0ms. It has I/O data transfer rate of 600MBps and random read and write seek times of 3.89ms and 4.54ms respectively.

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Motorola sets breakup for 2011

2010-02-12T13:13:00.000+05:00

Motorola on Thursday said it will split into two separate companies in the first quarter of 2011, roughly a year from now.

The company had initially planned to spin off the mobile devices unit on its own. Now Motorola plans to spin off the mobile devices and home units into one company led by Sanjay Jha, co-CEO of Motorola. Jha will have a portfolio of mobile devices and home entertainment technology such as the company's set-top boxes.

The second company will comprise Motorola's enterprise mobility solutions and networks businesses (statement). That company will be led by Motorola co-CEO Greg Brown. Brown and Jha will assume their roles as CEO of their respective divisions effective immediately.

Motorola shareholders will get shares of both companies via a tax-free stock dividend. Both companies will use the Motorola brand.

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