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Internet Error Code

2010-08-08T08:56:00.000+05:30

Sometimes when we surfing on internet, we found some error codes on our browser. What it means? We can solve these problems if we are well-known with the meaning of error codes.

400 : This is bad request error, First check you may be typing wrong URL name and server could not understand your request.

401 : You are trying to open any unauthorized access site or page. Check your user-name and password if you are trying to open any web page.

402 : Payment Required Error

403 : You are trying to open any forbidden page and you are blocked by that domain.

404 : Here you are trying to open the web page that was removed or re-named, also check the URL spelling.

408 : This is time out error. you should send the request with in time that the server set for you.

Videocon launches new range of handsets

2010-08-08T08:37:00.000+05:30

Mumbai: Videocon has unveiled a new range of handsets that include the Qruz V1425, V1424, and V1430. The latest array of handsets takes Videocon's count of mobiles to 25.

The Qruz V1425 is a 100W PMPO Music Output phone. It is a dual SIM phone with extra large boom speaker with back cover Mesh Grill, VGA Camera, Bluetooth, long 1200 mAH battery, MP3 player, high resolution 2 inch TFT screen, expandable memory up to 4GB, 1000 Phonebook/500 SMS memory and LED torch with Mobile Tracker.

The USP of the V1430 is that it is a long battery phone. It is also a dual sim phone and has a VGA Camera with Video Recorder, 1800 mAH battery (up to 600minutes talk/20days standby time), and 1.8 inch TFT screen, MP3 player with dedicated key, Bluetooth and expandable memory up to 4GB.

Completing the range is the V1424, a phone that scores more in the looks area with Gun Metal Linings. This dual SIM phone also comes with VGA Camera, MP3 Player, expandable memory up to 2GB, a 2 inch TFT screen, Bluetooth and Mobile Tracker.

Rahul Goel, COO, Videocon Mobile, said, "Features and functionality desired by customers are our key targets. Long battery life; Music device; and Stylish looks are steps in this direction. With multiple solutions for interconnected life, we are providing customers with device that helps them manage their tasks easily."

http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/Videocon_launches_new_range_of_handsets-nid-70077-cid-31.html

Tips to make your browser secure

2010-08-08T08:07:00.000+05:30

MUNICH: Web browsers are the key to the internet. Without them the internet is an impenetrable black box.

Browsers may be among the most commonly used applications, but they also offer the greatest number of attack options for dangerous content on the net. To keep viruses, worms and other malware away from your computer when surfing, it's crucial to configure your browser for security.

The firewall on a DSL router is a good first step for protecting the computer during surfing, says Marco Rinne from the computer portal chip.de. But that doesn't hold true if your browser is out of date: “Internet Explorer 6 and 7 or Firefox 2 no longer satisfy current security standards,” he says. For optimal protection, he therefore urges users to keep their browsers updated.

There are numerous security tools already present in Firefox and Internet Explorer. The pop-up blocker, for example, prevents more than just annoying ads. It also throttles other windows that can be used to sneak malicious software onto PCs. Phishing filters protect personal data against theft.

Firefox offers additional configuration options under the Settings item in the Security tab of the Options dialog box: this includes the ability to block risky or forged websites. It's also a good idea to prohibit websites from installing add-ons on their own. Similar settings are possible under Internet Explorer in the Security tab of the Internet Options dialog box, accessible from the Tools menu.

Computer owners should also activate all options for warning against attacks, advises Markus Linnemann, managing director of the Institute for Internet Security (ifis) at the Polytechnic University of Gelsenkirchen in Germany. This applies in particular to warnings about suspicious content to be displayed using ActiveX, Flash, or JavaScript.

Yet the warning mechanism on most browsers alone isn't usually enough, Linnemann says. Those who wish to be especially careful can, for example, use the Firefox add-on 'No Script,' which blocks all active content of a website by default and allows the user to decide which should be permitted. The problem is that most users are unable to determine which content represents a threat to their computer, Rinne msays.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/personal-tech/computing/Tips-to-make-your-browser-secure/articleshow/6118586.cms

Google acquiring Slide emerge

2010-08-08T08:02:00.000+05:30

Bangalore: Search engine giant Google has reportedly acquired online entertainment company Slide. Slide is a San-Francisco based manufacturer of social apps for sites like Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Friendster and Orkut.

Sources suggest Google made a payment of $228 million to seal the deal. However, the companies have not yet made any comments on the deal. According to TechCrunch, a confirmation of the deal from the companies' end may come by Friday.

Slide was founded by Max Levchin, a co-founder of PayPal. Some of the apps developed by Slide include SuperPoke Pets, Top Fish, SPP Range and SuperPocus Academy of Magic.

If this deal is confirmed, Google will take another step toward its foray into social gaming. Google, last month, had invested an amount of $150 million in Zynga, the social gaming giant, renowned for the creation of popular games such as FarmVille and Mafia Wars. Now it remains to be seen whether all these acquisitions will lead to the creation of the rumored Google social network, Google Me.

Sony Ericsson launch the Aspen business mobile

2010-02-19T06:58:00.000+05:30

London: Sony Ericsson has announced the launch of its Aspen business mobile phone which uses Windows mobile 6.5.3 operating system and seems like a good contender to challenge blackberry business phones. The newest edition to the Sony Ericsson GreenHeart portfolio, Sony Ericsson Aspen, allows easy multi-tasking combining the touch experience and a real QWERTY keyboard. Organise and adapt panels to change during the day and use Slide View for quick access to common features.

With Sony Ericsson Aspen, users can view and edit office files easily and comfortably with one touch operation, or just access the internet in one click. The QWERTY keyboard is made for fast and easy typing. Simple email set up allows for a maximized messaging experience on the go. Secure the phone's contents through the Microsoft MyPhone service, which remotely erases phone data when the handset is lost or stolen.

"Sony Ericsson Aspen is the business phone with a conscience, perfect for any consumer or company who want to make a green choice in their daily work life," said Quentin Cordier, Global Marketing Manager, Sony Ericsson. "An affordable GreenHeart phone with the latest version of Windows Phone, the Sony Ericsson Aspen has a rich user interface and powerful productivity tools. But it's not all about work, stay in touch with the fun parts of life with Media Browser and PlayNow, with simple access to social networks and quick and easy access to media files. Find the fun with a-GPS, Google Maps and snap pictures with the 3.2megapixel camera."

Aspen has 4x digital zoom and functions like Multishot, Self timer and Smart contrast. It supports various entertainment services and platforms like 3D games, Facebook, FM radio with RDS, Java, Skype, Video streaming, Video viewing and YouTube.

In terms of utility and office related software, Aspen comes loaded with Adobe PDF Reader, Alarm clock, Calculator, Calendar, Flight mode, Microsoft Office Mobile, Notes, Outlook Mobile, Phone book, Stopwatch and Tasks. The phone screen is 2.4 inches, 240 x 320 pixels (QVGA) with 65,536 colour TFT. Its size is 117 x 60 x 12.45 mm and weighs 130 grams. The box version comes with 4Gb SanDisk microSD card which can be extended upto 16GB.

The battery life of phone is quite good. The company claims that it supports up to eight hours of talk time, 12 hours of music time and 600 hours of standby time. Sony Ericsson Aspen will be available in selected markets from Q2 in the colours Iconic Black and White Silver. The price is still not disclosed.

Google plans superfast internet

2010-02-19T06:57:00.000+05:30

San Francisco: Google plans to build a fibre optic broadband network that will connect customers to the internet at speeds 100 times faster than most existing broadband connections in the US, the company announced on its corporate blog.

"Our goal is to experiment with new ways to help make internet access better and faster for everyone," two Google product managers, Minnie Ingersoll and James Kelly, wrote in the blog post Wednesday.

They said that Google plans to build and test the network in trial communities around the country starting later this year and that the tests could encompass as many as 500,000 people. They cited 3-dimensional medical imaging and quick, high-definition film downloads among the applications of such high-speed internet access.

Now, a software to translate as you speak on phone

2010-02-19T06:55:00.000+05:30

Bangalore: Internet giant Google, which has also made an entry in the mobile world with its own phone Nexus One, is working on a software which will interpret foreign languages as a person speak. The translation is done almost instantly and Google hopes to have a basic system ready within a couple of years, reports Chris Gourlay of Sunday Times.

Google has already developed an automatic system for translating text on computers, which is being polished by scanning millions of multi-lingual websites and documents. So far it covers 52 languages, adding Haitian Creole last week.

Recently Google also launched a feature where a user can search on the search engine by saying the key words instead of typing. Now it is working on combining the two technologies to produce software capable of understanding a caller's voice and translating it into a synthetic equivalent in a foreign language. The phone would analyse "packages" of speech, listening to the speaker until it understands the full meaning of words and phrases, before attempting translation. "We think speech-to-speech translation should be possible and work reasonably well in a few years' time," said Franz Och, Google's Head of Translation Services.

VIVA Communications launches internet based voice and video services

2010-02-19T06:53:00.002+05:30

Bangalore: VIVA Communications, a venture in the converged IP communication solutions space promoted by an Indian-born serial entrepreneur, is rolling out internet based voice and video services such as HD Voice solutions, IP Centrex, IP video and audio conferencing, remote and rural broadband, IP surveillance, along with WiFi services as well.

Intel launches vPro processors for Business PCs

2010-02-19T06:52:00.000+05:30

California: Intel has unveiled its 2010 Intel Core vPro processor family to meet the needs of businesses of all sizes for PCs with greater, more flexible performance, theft prevention and cost savings in a rapidly changing business computing environment. These and several other capabilities are at the heart of many new Intel-based business laptop and desktop computers beginning to roll out from computer manufacturers worldwide.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

2010-02-07T07:22:00.000+05:30

Scientists create world's first light-powered circuit

2010-02-07T07:16:00.000+05:30

Bangalore: For the first time, scientists have created a circuit that can power itself, as long as it's left in a beam of sunshine. The world's first photovoltaic circuit could eventually power a new line of consumer devices or even model the human brain, reports Discovery News.

"This as the potential to create a new generation of optical and electronic devices," said Dawn Bonnell, a Scientist from the University of Pennsylvania who co-authored a recent ACS Nano paper describing the research. "The touchscreen of your computer could act as both the electrical charger and the computer chip."

Right now Bonnell and her colleagues can only coax minuscule amounts of electricity from their photovoltaic circuits, which is too little to power consumer electrical devices. Those amounts could quickly skyrocket. "We would have one amp with one volt in a sample the diameter of a human hair and an inch long," said Bonnell. "If the efficiency scaled up without any additional limits."

Yet another way to get more power is by turning their 2D structures into 3D structures. Stacking multiple layers of light-collecting and electricity-using circuits would also boost power.

The photovoltaic circuit developed by Bonnell and her colleagues is a scientific breakthrough, not a technological one. These new circuits will most likely never replace their silicon counterparts.

Photovoltaic circuits could be ideal for other applications, however, such as powering tiny robotic devices or running computer calculations at the speed of light. Far into the future, these circuits could even be used to set up as artificial neural networks that could model the brain.

"This could open the door for many kinds of new devices," agrees Lukas Novotny, a Scientist at the Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester. Novotny notes that right now the circuit turns light into energy. He wonders if the circuit could turn energy into light, creating an entirely new class of lighting materials.

NASA and GM to build robotic astronauts

2010-02-07T07:14:00.000+05:30

Bangalore: NASA and General Motors are working together to develop and build humanoid robots that can work side-by-side with humans. The aim is to build robots that can help astronauts during dangerous mission and help GM build cars and automotive plants, reports Computer World.

"This cutting-edge robotics technology holds great promise, not only for NASA, but also for the nation," said Doug Cooke, Associate Administrator for NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. "I'm very excited about the new opportunities for human and robotic exploration these versatile robots provide across a wide range of applications."

Earlier this week NASA had announced that the White House's proposed budget for the agency includes $3 billion for developing robotics, with a focus on preparing for robotic precursor missions. NASA is planning to land robots on the moon, for example, so they can gather information and send back data and video in advance of future human space missions.

Now, NASA and GM are working with engineers from Oceaneering Space Systems of Houston to create what they're calling the Robonaut. If the project comes to fruition, it would be NASA's second Robonaut.

"Our challenge today is to build machines that can help humans work and explore in space," said Mike Coats, a Director at Johnson Space Center. "Working side-by-side with humans, or going where the risks are too great for people, machines like Robonaut will expand our capability for construction and discovery."

Apple designs its own chip for iPad

2010-02-07T07:12:00.000+05:30

San Francisco: Usually device maker buy their primary chips from specialized microprocessor companies, but Apple has defied the normal procedure by designing an A4 fingernail-sized chip for iPad. By designing its own processors burdens Apple with additional engineering costs and potential product delays, reports New York Times.

The hype surrounding Apple's tablet did not help Apple as many expert felt disappointment for the end product. "I don't see anything that looks that compelling," said Linley Gwennap, a Chip Analyst at the Linley Group. "It doesn't seem like something all that new, and, if it is, they are not getting far with it."

Steven P. Jobs, Apple's Chief Executive Officer, says that the A4 chip is "the most advanced chip" Apple had ever used and said it was crucial to the iPad's speed, reliability and 10-hour battery life. Apple had entered the chip business in 2008 by acquiring the 150-employee start-up PA Semi. That company had been working on chips that could handle large volumes of data while consuming very low amounts of power.

The A4-powered iPad's battery life and speed is similar to those of computers running on competing chips. Apple will soon be launching iPad in March which will be offering up to 16 hours of battery life when playing video. These will run on chips by Nvidia and Qualcomm that have designs reminiscent of the A4.

"From what we have seen so far, Apple's product seems to stack up evenly with the competition," said Dean McCarron, a chip analyst with Mercury Research. "Clearly, Apple is using their own metric for whatever 'best' is." Apple's laptops and desktops run on Intel chips, while Samsung has been selling Apple the primary chips for the iPhone.

Apple still appears committed to its chip plans. "This is somewhere where Apple thinks it can make a unique product, and it definitely signals a new direction for them," said Nathan Brookwood, a Chip Analyst at Insight 64.

Boeing to deliver 9 planes to Indian carriers

2010-02-07T07:08:00.000+05:30

MUMBAI - U.S. aircraft maker Boeing plans to deliver nine planes to Indian carriers in calendar 2010, a senior company official said on Tuesday, and expects fresh orders from airlines in India by next year end.

Boeing will deliver the planes, a part of its order backlog of 85 aircraft for delivery over a four-to-five year period, to Air India, Jet Lite and SpiceJet, said Dinesh Keskar, president of Boeing India.

Office 2010 hits the release candidate stage

2010-02-07T07:00:00.000+05:30

Microsoft has provided some early testers with a near-final "release candidate" version of Office 2010 as the software maker works to make the suite broadly available in June.

"Microsoft made a release candidate available to members in the technology adoption program (TAP)," a Microsoft representative told CNET. "This is one of Microsoft's planned milestones in the engineering process; however (we) do not have plans to make this new code set available broadly."

A beta version of Office 2010 was released in November and had been downloaded 2 million times, as of last month.

The company officially started public testing of the product with a Technology Preview version that was released in July, although an earlier version of that code leaked out in May.

Office 2010 features a variety of improvements to each of the core programs, but maintains the XML file formats and ribbon interface introduced with Office 2007. Probably the biggest change is the addition of companion, browser-based versions of Excel, Word, OneNote and PowerPoint, known as Office Web Apps. Also, for the first time, Microsoft will offer both 64-bit and 32-bit versions of the software.

Meanwhile, Windows enthusiasts have also spotted an update build of Windows 7--build 7700--making the rounds. According to Neowin, a Russian Web site has posted leaked screenshots of build 7700 of the operating system. However, it's not clear from the images just how much is new in that build.

Google shows off Chrome OS tablet ideas

2010-02-07T06:59:00.000+05:30

Who could resist the months of hype that paved the way for Apple's iPad debut last week? Apparently not Google, which has shown its interest in tablet computing with its browser-based Chrome OS.

On Monday, Glen Murphy, a user interface designer for Google's Chrome browser and the Chrome operating system based on it, pointed to image and video concepts of a Chrome OS-based tablet that went live two days before the iPad launch. Apparently nobody noticed initially, because only now did Murphy tweet, "Apparently our tablet mocks have been unearthed."

The site also shows the array of devices Google envisions for Chrome OS.

"While its primary focus is Netbooks, Chrome OS could eventually scale to a wide variety of devices. Each would have vastly different input methods, available screen space, and processing power," according to the Chromium form factors site. Chromium is the name of the open-source developer project that underlies the branded Chrome product.

It's possible that Chrome OS could be an easier sell on tablets than on Netbooks, the class of device on which Google said it plans to launch Chrome OS. Netbooks often are used as general-purpose PCs, so the browser-based philosophy of Chrome OS is a more jarring transition.

Abu Dhabi to plug in solar air conditioner

2010-02-07T06:57:00.000+05:30

Abu Dhabi to plug in solar air conditioner
Start-up Chromasun plans to install a solar-driven air conditioner--a technology with the potential to cut peak-time electricity use--at a commercial building in Abu Dhabi this year.

The company is showcasing the Chromasun solar collector, which concentrates sunlight 25 times, at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi this week, CEO Peter Le Lievre said Thursday.

Chromasun's collectors use a Fresnel lens made from aluminum to concentrate light and then heat a liquid used in an absorption chiller, an air conditioning system used in some commercial buildings. It's the same basic concentrating-solar technology used by solar thermal company Ausra, of which Le Lievre was a co-founder. But the "micro-concentrator" is designed specifically for existing air conditioners.

A micro-concentrator will not be sufficient to cool an entire building, but its maximum output coincides with the hottest times of the day when air conditioning systems are maxed out. The installation in Abu Dhabi, which is being demonstrated at the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority's stand at the energy summit, can significantly reduce peak-time demand and help stabilize the grid during hot days, Le Lievre said.

In Abu Dhabi, temperatures can break 100 degrees on a daily basis for five months out of each year.

What Is Mozilla Prism Again?

2010-02-07T06:38:00.001+05:30

Beta 3 of Mozilla Prism 1.0 has just been released and it is probably a good idea to answer a question that is probably in your mind right now: What is Mozilla Prism again and why would I need it?

Mozilla Prism is offered as a Firefox extension and standalone application. It can basically turn a website into an application so that the website is untied from the web browser.

There are a few advantages but also disadvantages of using Prism to run websites in their own application window instead of running them in the web browser.

Advantages include increasing the stability of the system as the single application window is no longer affected and affecting the web browser window. The other is unaffected from crashes or other problems.

The application window is also inheriting all the benefits of programs including the ability to run them at system startup or minimizing them in the system tray.

Prism is available for Windows, Macintosh and Linux computer systems. The extension’s add-on page has not been updated as of now and the last version of Prism that is offered there for download is not compatible with Firefox 3.6 yet. It will take less than 24 hours for the page to be updated with the latest version that is compatible with Firefox 3.6

Prism can be downloaded from the Mozilla website or the Prism project page.

Molecular Venus flytrap could munch nuclear waste

2010-02-04T08:54:00.000+05:30

THE molecular equivalent of a Venus flytrap could capture water-borne nuclear waste.

So say Mercouri Kanatzidis and Nan Ding from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. They have synthesised a sulphide-containing material with a flexible structure that mimics the flytrap's jaws.

The structure has "windows" measuring 0.8 nanometres by 0.3 nanometres - just large enough for caesium ions to squeeze through. Once inside, the caesium bonds with sulphide ions, and this changes the material's structure in a way that closes the windows and traps the caesium.

"The trigger for closing the trap comes from the caesium-sulphide interactions in the material," says Kanatzidis. Even if other ions such as sodium are present, they bond so strongly to water molecules that they can't react with the sulphide, he says (Nature Chemistry, DOI: 10.1038/nchem.519).

Kanatzidis thinks the flytrap could be used to trap radioactive caesium at nuclear disposal sites.

It's elegant chemistry, says Alan Dyer at the University of Salford, UK, but it's unclear if it could perform as well as existing mate.

Google proposes geo-smart Internet speedup

2010-01-30T09:26:00.000+05:30

Google and other companies interested in the Internet's addressing system have proposed a technology they hope will get Net users to nearby servers more quickly.

The technology in question is called the Domain Name System, which resolves alphabetical Net addresses such as CNET.com to the numeric addresses actually used to reach the appropriate server. Google's interest in DNS is so strong the company launched its own service in an effort to lower some of the delays that can result when the network equipment most proximate to a Net user doesn't have the numeric address for a particular server immediately on hand.

The move is interesting not just because it has the potential to speed up a very common chore--DNS resolution queries take place many times a day as a person surfs the Web, sends e-mail, and performs other tasks on the Internet. It's also intriguing because it shows Google's desire to gradually re-engineer the Internet, not just provide its own services. The company also is active in developing and promoting a variety of Web standards.

The process of finding the correct numeric address is called DNS resolution, and it can involve a request hopping several steps from server to server trying to find the right answer. The problem is that sometimes by the time the answer is retrieved, it comes from the far side of the planet and gives a geographically inappropriate answer. In general, the farther away a server is, the slower communications with it are.

Think of it as looking up an item's price in Auckland and getting the answer in U.S. dollars instead of New Zealand dollars. Sure, you can do the math to get the local answer, but it's an extra step.

This is where Google and Neustar UltraDNS come in. They proposed a DNS extension Wednesday to try to build some geographic smarts into the system.

Specifically, the proposed extension, called Client IP information in DNS requests, would send along the first three quarters of a user's Internet Protocol (IP) address with the DNS request. The last quarter would be lopped off to preserve some privacy, but the first part should be enough to geographically target the answer in some cases. As designed, it would for example return the address for Google's Dutch server, not Google's California server, to a person in the Netherlands who needs to reach it.

Next up: evaluation of the proposal. "We plan to continue working with all interested parties on implementing this solution and are looking forward to a healthy discussion on the dnsext mailing list," said Google Public DNS team members Wilmer van der Gaast and Carlo Contavalli in a blog post about the proposal.

Endeavour cleared for Feb. 7 launch

2010-01-30T09:24:00.000+05:30

NASA managers Wednesday cleared the shuttle Endeavour for a predawn launch February 7, the first of a final five space station assembly flights before the shuttle fleet is retired later this year.

The countdown is scheduled to begin at 2 a.m. EST on February 4, setting up a launch attempt at 4:39 a.m. February 7 from launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. It is the last planned night launch on the shuttle schedule.

"We reviewed all aspects of the shuttle and the space station," Bill Gerstenmaier, chief of space flight operations, said after an executive-level flight readiness review. "It was an extremely thorough review. We set the launch date for February 7 at 4:39 and so far, things look pretty good."

Launch Director Mike Leinbach said Endeavour's processing was going smoothly and "we're in outstanding shape."

"We're not looking at any problems," he told reporters. "We have a good, low constraints count now in the firing room, so really in great shape there."

Assuming an on-time launch, commander George Zamka, pilot Terry Virts, Kathryn Hire, flight engineer Stephen Robinson, and spacewalkers Robert Behnken and Nicholas Patrick plan to dock with the International Space Station two days later, at around 1:23 a.m. February 9.

The primary goal of the flight is to attach the new Tranquility module, or node 3, to the left side of the lab complex to house life support gear, exercise equipment and a robotics work station. Three spacewalks by Behnken and Patrick are planned before undocking February 17 and landing back at the Kennedy Space Center around 11:16 p.m. on February 19.

"We're embarking on probably the last of the assembly flights to install a complicated module on the ISS," said station Program Manager Mike Suffredini. "There are still other assembly flights ahead of us, but node 3 is probably the last of the very complicated modules that'll have its own cooling system and be the home of all the regenerative (environmental control and life support) systems as well as some other critical systems that support the crew on orbit."

The astronauts will attach Tranquility to the left port of the central Unity module. Electrical and data lines will be connected, along with hoses that will tie the new module into the station's two independent ammonia coolant loops.

NASA originally planned to attach Tranquility to Unity's Earth-facing port, but engineers decided to move it to the left side of the module to improve options for docking future commercial cargo ships and NASA's planned Orion crew transfer vehicle.

But connectors needed to circulate ammonia coolant to and from Tranquility were not correctly positioned, or "clocked," for Tranquility to be attached to Unity's left-side port. Long extension hoses were ordered, but problems during recent pressure tests forced NASA to develop an alternative approach.

NASA managers ultimately decided to connect shorter flight-qualified hoses to solve the problem while improvements were ordered to bring the longer hoses up to flight standards as a backup. Suffredini said the modified shorter hoses were ready for shipment to the Kennedy Space Center.

"All of that allows us to activate the node and begin the process of installing the (life support system) racks into node 3," he said.

But first, engineers want to get run time on a new urine processor system distillation assembly being ferried up aboard Endeavour.

The station's urine processing system, which converts urine into ultra-pure water for drinking, crew hygiene, and oxygen generation, has been shut down in recent weeks because of problems with a critical distillation assembly. More recently, blockage in a line knocked out the part of the system that converts condensate into clean water.

"We brought home the other failed distillation assembly on the last shuttle flight," Suffredini said. "Through a failure investigation, we found calcium deposits inside the distillation assembly and we're doing quite a bit of investigation to determine how to prevent that in the future.

"One way is to not process to as high a concentration of brine inside the system, meaning we empty the tank that carries the ultimate waste from the urine processor, we empty it a little more often. So we want to run the processor with the new distillation assembly inside long enough to fill the tank up to the new level we plan to operate at, remove that tank, and bring it home.

"That will take us almost the entire mission, from the time we're able to install the spare until the time the crew has to depart," Suffredini said. "That's what's driving us not to do the rest of the rack moves until the urine processor can move."

As for the presumed line blockage problem with the water processing system that is preventing conversion of condensate, a filter will be carried up aboard Endeavour that should resolve the issue.

"The plan is, as early as we can, to install those new components, before the shuttle arrives, and when the shuttle arrives we'll install the filter and then we'll activate the water processor along with the urine processor and recover our regenerative (environmental control and life support) system by the end of the mission," Suffredini said.

In the meantime, he said the station had plenty of stockpiled water for extended operations while work to fix the current problems is carried out. Depending on how that work goes, some of the life support system racks bound for Tranquility may not be moved into the new module before Endeavour departs.

Astronauts finally get Internet access in space

2010-01-28T10:03:00.000+05:30

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In a high tech first — really, really high — astronauts in space finally have Internet access.

Space station resident Timothy (TJ) Creamer had been working with flight controllers to establish Internet access from his orbital post ever since he moved in last month. He posted the first live Twitter post truly from space.

"Hello Twitterverse!" he wrote. "We r now LIVE tweeting from the International Space Station -- the 1st live tweet from Space! :) More soon, send your ?s"

Before, orbiting astronauts had to send such Twitter updates by e-mail to Mission Control in Houston. Then controllers posted the tweets.

The International Space Station crew can now use an on-board laptop to reach a desktop computer at Mission Control, and thereby browse the Web. This remote Internet access is possible whenever there is a solid high-speed communication link.

It's expected to provide a big morale boost.

"Long-duration astronauts, they commit to spending months away from family and friends. It's a pretty unique state of isolation," said NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries. "We expect this to enhance morale and productivity."

The astronauts will be subject to the same Internet access guidelines as other on-the-job government employees, namely no interfering with work.

Is NASA worried the astronauts might spend too much time online, more than 200 miles up?

"These are highly driven individuals," Humphries said with a chuckle, "so they're going to get their work done first."

The astronauts already had an Internet Protocol phone for private calls to family and friends.

Creamer is one month into a five-month mission. He is sharing the space station with another American, one Japanese and two Russians.

Apple earnings jump 50 percent

2010-01-28T10:01:00.000+05:30

Apple first-quarter 2010 earnings soared past Wall Street expectations Monday, with the company reporting a profit of $3.37 billion, or $3.74 per share.

That's up 50 percent from the same quarter a year ago, when profits reached $2.26 billion, or $2.54 per share.

Revenue for the quarter was $15.6 billion, up 32 percent from the same quarter a year ago. Wall Street was expecting between $11.21 billion and $12.6 billion in revenue on earnings of $2.07 per share. And Apple always gives an overly conservative estimate; last quarter, Apple said it was anticipating earnings between $1.70 per share and $1.78 per share, and revenue of between $11.3 billion and $11.6 billion.

In short, it was Apple's best quarter in company history. One of the reasons the numbers were so far ahead of what many had been anticipating is the company's decision to adopt the new accounting principles laid out by the Financial Accounting Standards Board last fall for the first quarter of 2010, which ended on December 26, 2009. That means that revenue from the iPhone and Apple TV can be recognized the same quarter that the sales are made, rather than over a two-year period, as had previously been Apple's practice.

As with the previous two quarters, there was good news on the Mac and iPhone fronts, with iPod sales lagging once again. Apple sold 3.36 million Macs, up 33 percent from a year ago, 8.7 million iPhones, a 100 percent gain over the last year, and 21 million iPods, 8 percent fewer.

In a statement, Apple CEO Steve Jobs called it "surprising" that Apple is now a $50 billion company, and he hinted at Wednesday's event, saying there will be a "major new product that we're really excited about." It's widely assumed that the new product will be a tablet computer.

Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer said Apple's retail stores did their best business ever during October, November, and December of last year. Sales totaled $1.97 billion, up 13 percent from the same holiday shopping period a year ago, but Mac sales did particularly well. Together the 283 Apple Stores worldwide sold 689,000 Macs, a record for them. And half of them were to first-time Mac customers, Oppenheimer said. Foot traffic to the stores was also the highest ever: Apple says 50.9 million people went through their doors for the most recent quarter.

AT&T and Verizon

Oppenheimer handled the bulk of the earnings call. Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook stayed silent until it was time to respond to questions from investors. And when he did speak, he revealed some interesting tidbits. Notably, Cook came to the defense of AT&T, the exclusive iPhone carrier that has gotten battered on the public relations and customer service front for the past few months.

"AT&T is a great partner. We've been working with them since well before we announced the first iPhone. They had more mobile broadband usage than any other carrier in the world...In the vast majority of locations we think iPhone customers are having a great experience. As you know, AT&T has acknowledged they're having issues in a few cities," and are working on a plan to correct them, Cook said. "We have personally viewed these plans and we have high confidence that they'll make significant progress in addressing them."

Though he appeared to be standing by AT&T, it wasn't what potential and current iPhone users who hope to see the iPhone on Verizon soon probably wanted to hear. However, Cook didn't rule out new or additional carrier partners in the future. As with most things in Apple's future, he was vague. In response to a question from an analyst about iPhone growth in countries where additional carriers had been recently added, Cook said this:

"We've seen in the countries where we had (added carriers) the sales are largely incremental as we add carriers."

He said it was true for the U.K., France, and Scandinavian countries, and he expected it to be the same for Canada.

He added: "However, we've also selected in most cases countries that we thought that would happen in. I don't want to imply that would happen in every market or that we are headed that way in every market."

Waiting for Wednesday

But despite the record-breaking quarter, most investors and analysts are more curious about the future than the past. Several analysts tried to ask questions about the impending Apple tablet and were rebuffed. Oppenheimer flat-out refused to answer a question about whether the guidance for the next quarter included any unannounced products, and Cook told another analyst, "I wouldn't want to take away your joy of surprise when we reveal our latest creation on Wednesday."

Looking ahead to the next quarter, Apple again stayed conservative, saying it expects revenue between $11 billion and $11.4 billion, and earnings per share from $2.06 to $2.18.

Google uses mobile Web to bypass Apple's app block

2010-01-28T09:59:00.000+05:30

SAN FRANCISCO – Google Inc. is trying to make its Voice application easier to use on the iPhone, whether Apple Inc. likes it or not.

In an upgrade announced Tuesday, Google revised the mobile Web site for Voice so that it's easier to display the service's most popular features on the iPhone's latest operating system.

Among other things, Voice offers an alternative dialing pad, voice mail and international calling discounts.

Apple has refused to allow the Voice program to be distributed through the iPhone's applications store since last summer on grounds that it would duplicate or alter important iPhone features. To get around that roadblock, Google is trying to entice iPhone users to rely on a mobile Web browser to access Voice.

Google says the overhaul will make the Web browser experience more like what users would get if Google were allowed to offer a downloadable app that could be installed on the iPhone.

Google already offers downloadable Voice apps for Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry phones and devices running on Android, an operating system developed by Google. The upgrade to the mobile Web site also makes Voice simpler to use on devices that run on Palm Inc.'s operating system.

The jousting over the Voice application underscores the rising tensions between Google and Apple, the two most valuable companies in Silicon Valley.

Apple's rebuff of Google's Voice application triggered a Federal Communications Commission inquiry into whether Apple and AT&T Inc., the iPhone's exclusive U.S. service provider, were trying to stifle potential competition.

Apple told the FCC that it hasn't rejected the Voice application outright, but Google says it still hasn't heard anything further on its attempts to make the program available for iPhone downloading. AT&T says it didn't take part in Apple's review of the Voice application.

Google's Voice service had 1.4 million users as of October, according to a company disclosure to the FCC.

Google releases new Google Voice for iPhone

2010-01-28T09:56:00.000+05:30

SAN FRANCISCO - Google Inc unveiled a new version of its Internet phone service on Tuesday in its latest effort to bypass Apple Inc's gatekeepers and make Google Voice a popular service on the iPhone.

The new version of Google Voice can only be accessed through a smartphone's Web browser, unlike the so-called native apps that can be downloaded directly onto an iPhone.

In July, Google said that Apple had turned down its application to offer Google Voice as a native iPhone app. The rare public spat underscored the growing competition between the two tech giants and prompted the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to request more information from the companies on the matter.

Apple responded at the time that the Google Voice app had not been rejected, but that it was under review.

Google Voice allows users to make cheap long-distance calls and to forward calls from a single phone number to multiple phones, among other things.

The disagreement over Google Voice comes as Google, the world's No. 1 search engine, and Apple are increasingly encroaching into each other's markets. Earlier this month, Google began selling the Nexus One smartphone directly to consumers, and Google is developing an operating system for PCs that could compete with Apple's line of Mac PCs.

In August, Google CEO Eric Schmidt resigned from Apple's board of directors.

Google already had a version of Google Voice available through mobile Web browsers.

But Google described the new version of Google Voice as a "Web app," noting that it is much more interactive than the previous browser-based version of the service, with the ability to listen to voice mails directly from within the browser and to dial phone numbers on an interactive on-screen keypad.

Google said the new version of Google Voice is designed for iPhone 3.0 and higher and Palm Inc Web OS smartphones.

A Google spokeswoman said the company had not received any updates from Apple regarding offering a native app version of Google Voice on the iPhone.