TechNews24h

The Worlds First Lego Astronaut (Video)

2012-01-30T15:26:00.000+01:00

Two Canadian teenagers have managed to send the worlds first Lego astronaut into space, with a budget of just $400 they managed to send a Lego Minifig out to the edge of space at a height of 85,000 feet.

This was done using a weather balloon which they purchased for $85, a Styrofoam box with some gel hand warmers, and some point and shoot cameras, have a look at the video of the worlds first Lego man in space below.

It cost a total of $400 to send the first Lego man into space, and this included $165 of helium, it was also equipped with a GPS cellphone, which helped them locate their craft after it had returned to earth, 75 miles from where it started out.

Source Lego Man in Space (Facebook), Dvice

Barnes & Noble To Launch New Nook This Spring

2012-01-30T13:35:00.000+01:00

It looks like Barnes & Noble has a new Nook device in the works which will be released some time this spring, and the news was revealed in a recent New York Times article on the future of the publishing industry.

We don’t as yet have any specific details on what the fifth generation Nook will be like, we could see a new Nook Color, or possibly a follow up to the Nook Simple Touch.

Barnes & Noble is trying to strike at Amazon with another device. At its labs in Silicon Valley last week, engineers were putting final touches on their fifth e-reading device, a product that executives said would be released sometime this spring. (A Barnes & Noble spokeswoman declined to elaborate.)

As soon as we get some more information on what Barnes & Noble has planned for their new device we will let you guys know.

Source Android Police

Samsung Galaxy S Advance Gets Official

2012-01-30T13:24:00.000+01:00

Samsung has officially announced their latest Galaxy Smartphone. The Samsung Galaxy S Advance features a 4 inch WVGA Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels and it will come with Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

Other specifications on the Samsung Galaxy S Advance include a dual core 1GHz processor, plus 768MB of RAM, and a front facing 1.3 megapixel camera for video chat, on the back there is a 5 megapixel camera with auto-focus and an LED flash, the rear camera can record HD video in 720p at 30 frames per second.

The Samsung Galaxy S Advance also comes with Samsung’s custom TouchWiz user interface, and a choice of either 8GB or 16GB of built in storage, plus a microSD card slot which can take up to 32GB microSD cards.

Samsung have yet to announce how much the Galaxy S Advance will retail and it will go on sale in Europe in February.

Source Samsung

Sudoku Watch Concept

2012-01-30T13:13:00.000+01:00

A new concept for a Sudoku Watch has appeared on the Tokyoflash website which has been designed by Tokyoflash Design Studio, and is currently looking for votes to help it become a reality.

The unique Sudoku watch needs you to solve the 9×9 games before it will reveal the time. As the missing numbers from the puzzles tell the time. Interested? If you are you can see how the time is revealed on the watch face after the jump.

Other features on the Sudoku Watch include, date, alarm, EL backlight, and if you just don’t have enough time to solve the puzzles, a quick touch of the screen will reveal the answer and the time.

At the moment the Sudoku Watch is in its early stages of development, and Tokyoflash is still taking feedback and thoughts on the design before they jump into production. You can find out more about the design and leave your comments over on the Tokyoflash website.

Source: Tokyoflash : Chip Chick

Firefox To Have New Tab, Home Tab Feature, Finally

2012-01-29T13:43:00.000+01:00

Missing that tab feature present on other browsers when using Firefox? It’s finally coming, with Mozilla announcing an upcoming update to its browser that will not only bring that much-awaited tab feature but also some more features such as apps and chat functions down the line.

Incorporating apps will be rolled out much later but the tab feature will be available on version 12 of Firefox. Mozilla is also adding a home tab which is similar to Chrome but will have extra features thrown in.

The new tab grid also features your most viewed web sites so it’s easier to go to where you want to visit. The home tab will have so-called “launchers” for easy access. The rollout of the second phase of the home tab feature will also have apps, but that will come at a later time.

Despite the emergence of alternate browsers such as Chrome, Firefox has managed to keep in step somehow and prevent its loyal followers from shifting to another. With the addition of the tab feature and upcoming app integration, Firefox 12 will surely be something to look forward to.

Via: Extremetech

Kinect Technology Eyed For Future Laptops

2012-01-29T13:33:00.000+01:00

The Kinect technology has been said to be on the way to be integrated to some desktop computers but it appears that even notebooks will get a chance to hang out with Microsoft’s Kinect technology.

The Daily reported that a pair of prototypes has been fitted with the Kinect sensors and it had a chance to get a glimpse of them. The netbooks that mingled with the Kinect technology were running on Windows 8.

A Microsoft source confirmed that the netbooks, which appear to be Asus notebooks but were not identified, are indeed the prototypes that the company is working on. Microsoft has indicated that it was working on a desktop version of Kinect but now it seems it goes further than that as it is also busy checking out ho the technology will fair on notebooks.

Having Kinect on your laptop would surely be a unique experience, with your motions being able to control applications on your computer. As always, since these are also in the testing stage, it remains to be seen if the project will push through although all indications show that Microsoft is determined to make it a reality.

Via: TheDaily

Twitter To Censor Tweets By Country

2012-01-27T17:33:00.000+01:00

At a time when Internet censorship has become a hot topic, Twitter has decided to announced that it will now censor tweets by country, and certain tweets may now be blocked on a particular country depending on the rules of that country.

Previously when Twitter blocked a tweet, it was removed from Twitter, now what will happen is that Twitter will be able to block a tweet from being shown in one country, whilst the tweet can still be seen in other countries around the world.

One year ago, we posted “The Tweets Must Flow,” in which we said,

“The open exchange of information can have a positive global impact … almost every country in the world agrees that freedom of expression is a human right. Many countries also agree that freedom of expression carries with it responsibilities and has limits.”

As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression. Some differ so much from our ideas that we will not be able to exist there. Others are similar but, for historical or cultural reasons, restrict certain types of content, such as France or Germany, which ban pro-Nazi content.

You can find out more information on what Twitter has planned over at the Twitter Blog, thousands users on Twitter seem less than impressed by Twitter’s latest move and the impact it could have on free speech.

YouTube Rolls Out Updated Video Editor, Browser And Manager

2012-01-27T11:56:00.000+01:00

YouTube has today rolled out new updates to a number of its services including a refresh to its browse page, to help users easily find more Channels on YouTube. Together with top lists like Most Viewed Today, you can now discover and subscribe to more YouTube Channels on browse pages, which will then regularly update on your homepage.

The new browse features also now enables you to discover more content under categories including Entertainment, People & Blogs, Science & Technology and more. YouTubes Video editor has also received a visual refresh, as well as a new timeline, easier clip trimming and a moving playhead.

Many YouTube users provided feedback to Google regards the Video manager Update back in December, and now some of this feedback has been used to add search history, and improved display of scheduled uploads and claimed videos. Users also requested that likes and dislikes statistics were returned, which has now happened.

Source: YouTube

Spotify Hits 3 Million Paid Subscribers

2012-01-27T10:48:00.000+01:00

Spotify, the popular online music streaming service looks like it has hit another milestone, the company has announced that they now have a total of 3 million paid subscribers.

This is up 500,000 from 2.5 million in November of 2011, Spotify was sat at 2 million paid subscriber in September of 2011, and the company has said that more than 20 percent of its active users are paid subscribers.

What about the other 80 percent, Spotify are looking to is looking to improve thier ratio of paid to free subscribers, expanding withing their existing markets, of which there are 12 at the moment, and also expanding into new markets around the world.

It will be interesting to see where Spotify is by the end of 2012, and whether the company is able to convert its large user base of free subscribers into paid sunscribers.

Source Techmeme, FT

Angry Birds Headed To Facebook On Valentines Day

2012-01-26T15:15:00.000+01:00

Angry Birds is the world’s most popular mobile game, its is available on a number of different platforms, including Android, iOS, the Mac and PC, and now it looks like those angry birds and green pigs are headed to another platform, Facebook.

Rovio Mobile have told the guys from Penn Olson, that they will be launching Angry Birds on Facebook, on the 14th of February 2012, Valentines day, and the launch will take place in Jakarta.

Angry Birds has been now been downloaded more than 700 million times, and Rovio Mobile are expecting to hit over 1 billion downloads in 2012.

Rovio Mobile have done a great job with their Angry Birds games, and one of the reasons it has become so popular is that the company continues to provide free updates for all of it Angry Birds games.

It will be interesting to see how popular Angry Birds becomes on Facebook, we suspect it could end up being one of the most popular games on the social network.

Source The Next Web

Image Credit My Nokia Blog

Microsoft Paid Nokia $250 Million For Windows Phone In Q4 2011

2012-01-26T15:05:00.000+01:00

Microsoft and Nokia announced their partnership to produce Windows Phone smartphones last year, and at the time we were told that Microsoft would pay Nokia a considerable amount of money to use Windows Phone.

We have always wondered just how much Microsoft were paying Nokia for Windows Phone, and now we get some actual figures, Microsoft paid Nokia a total of $250 million for Windows Phone in quarter four of 2011.

Quarter four was the first time that Nokia released its new Windows Phone devices, as the first one launched in October, so the payment probably relates to quarter four only of 2011.

This would mean that Microsoft will be paying Nokia around $250 million per quarter in 2012, which would mean that the Microsoft and Nokia deal is worth around $1 billion to Nokia each year.

Considering that other manufacturers are paying Microsoft to license Windows Phone, the $1 billion dollar a year deal with Microsoft seem like a good deal for Nokia.

Source Slashgear

Pentax Optio VS20 Compact Camera Announced

2012-01-26T14:53:00.000+01:00

Pentax has added another compact camera to their line up with the launch of the Pentax Optio VS20, which is described as a pocket megazoom, and it features a 20z optical zoom lens with a range of 28mm to 560mm.

The Pentax Optio VS20 features a 16 megapixel CCD sensor, and the device comes with dual shutter buttons, on top of the camera you get a standard zoom control and shutter button, and on the side of the camera there is a secondary shutter release button and a zoom control.

The dual shutter buttons are designed to make it easier to take photos when you are holding the camera vertically or horizontally and the VS20 also comes with a secondary tripod mount on the side of the camera.

The Pentax Optio VS20 also comes with a 3 inch LCD display, and the device is capable of recording high definition video in 720p at 30 frames per second, plus it comes with a range of built in features which include digital image stabilization, ISO optimization and sensor-shift.

The Optio VS20 will go on sale in the US in February and it is expected to retail for around $250.

Source PC World

Apple Employees Will Soon Get $500 Off Macs, $250 Off iPads

2012-01-26T12:11:00.002+01:00

At Apple's Town Hall Meeting yesterday, CEO Tim Cook announced that employees will get $500 off Macs and $250 off iPads starting this June, according to 9to5Mac.

The new discount program will officially kickoff at some point during the month of June. A major caveat is that Apple employees may only utilize this opportunity every three years, and employees must have been working for Apple for at least 90 days. The Mac discount side of the program excludes the Mac mini, which is already close to that $500 of credit. Apple employees currently have a 25% discount on Macs, so in many cases the $500 is a big deal.

Read More

Command & Conquer Converted Into HTML 5 Browser Game (video)

2012-01-25T17:56:00.000+01:00

Gamers who enjoyed the classic Command & Conquer game which was originally launched back in 1995. Will be pleased to know that developer Aditya Ravi Shankar, has now created the game as a HTML 5 version which can be enjoyed directly from your browser. The new browser based version is still a work in progress at the moment explains Shankar, but it still provides you with all the classic gameplay of the original.

Developer Aditya Ravi Shankar who recreated the game using Html 5 and Javascript explains:

“This is a recreation of the original Command and Conquer, Real Time Strategy game entirely in HTML5 and Javascript. The game page works best on Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. The images can take a little while to load so please be patient.
My goal is to take this game as far as possible – Add more units, optimize the code, add better AI and multiplayer games. You would be able to come to this page, find a random partner and start playing!!”

You can find out more about the project over on Shankar’s website and blog.

Source: DVICE

Google Announces New Privacy Policy Across All Services

2012-01-25T12:01:00.000+01:00

Google has announced that the company will be updating its privacy policies and terms of service for all of its range of products, and the new changes will take place from the 1st of March 2012.

Google has said that it has around 70 different privacy policies for all the services it offers, and now the company will consolidate more than 60 of these into one single privacy policy.

First, our privacy policies. Despite trimming our policies in 2010, we still have more than 70 (yes, you read right … 70) privacy documents covering all of our different products. This approach is somewhat complicated. It’s also at odds with our efforts to integrate our different products more closely so that we can create a beautifully simple, intuitive user experience across Google.

Google are hoping that having just one privacy policy for all of their services will make things easier for them to manage and also make things easier for users to understand.

You can find out more information about Google’s new privacy policy over at the Google Blog.

Apple’s iCloud Hits 85 Million Users

2012-01-25T11:51:00.000+01:00

Earlier today we got some information on how many iPhone’s Apple sold in its most recent quarter, the quarter where Apple launched the new iPhone 4S, and at the same time they also launched iCloud.

iCloud is Apple’s new online cloud service, which has replaced their previous offering MobileMe, and it gives you access to email, the ability to backup and sync your data on your iOS devices online.

The service launched in October of last year, and we now get to find out how many people are using Apple’s iCloud service, there are now more than 85 million users of iCloud.

Those figures are impressive, considering that iCloud only launched just over three months ago, and the service is obviously considerably more popular than the previous MobileMe, although iCloud is now free whilst MobileMe required an annual subscription.

It will be interesting to see how Apple develops their iCloud service over the next year, it could definitely do with some improvements and we suspect Apple has big things planned for iCloud in 2012.

Source TechCrunch

Apple Reports Record Profits And iPhone Sales

2012-01-25T11:31:00.000+01:00

Apple has released its latest earnings report for the first fiscal quarter of 2012, which covers the period of 14 weeks up to the 31st of December 2011, and the company has once again reported record profits.

Apple generated a total of $46.33 billion for the quarter with a net quarterly profit of $13.06 billion, and we also got some details on how many iPhones, iPads and Macs the company had sold.

Once again Apple have beaten their previous records for iPhone sales with a total of 37.04 million iPhone sales, which is a 128 percent increase over the same period in the previous year.

Apple also sold a total of 15.43 million iPads which is a 111 percent increase over the same period in the previous year and they sold a total of 5.2 million Macs, which is up 26 percent on the previous year.

“We’re thrilled with our outstanding results and record-breaking sales of iPhones, iPads and Macs,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Apple’s momentum is incredibly strong, and we have some amazing new products in the pipeline.”

“We are very happy to have generated over $17.5 billion in cash flow from operations during the December quarter,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO. “Looking ahead to the second fiscal quarter of 2012, which will span 13 weeks, we expect revenue of about $32.5 billion and we expect diluted earnings per share of about $8.50.”

Apple’s strong iPhone sales were boosted by the launch of the new iPhone 4S which went on sale in October of last year, we wonder if Apple can continue to keep up this massive growth over the next quarter.

Source Apple

Geohot Quits Working at Facebook, Competes in Backplane Hackathon [Video]

2012-01-24T22:20:00.000+01:00

Geohot, the popular hacker made famous for contributions to the iPhone community and for hacking the Sony Playstation, has quit his job at Facebook, according to BusinessInsider.

The hacker was spotted competing in a hackathon at Backplane, a startup funded by Lady Gaga.

During the hackathon, I got to work with him as he built an app that allows you to see where your Facebook friends are on a map. Aviv Ovadya, a Quora engineer, was also on the team. Ovadya focused on the front end mapping part of the program. Hotz was focused on getting the API info and programming that into location data.

His entry didn't win, it lost out to a group of high school students.

Geohot hasn't been on the iPhone scene since the release of a bootrom exploit called limera1n for the iPhone 3GS, iPod Touch 3G, iPad, iPhone 4, and iPod Touch 4G. A bootrom exploit still hasn't been discovered for the iPhone 4S or iPad 2.

Check out the video below...

Ubuntu Unveils New HUD Menu System, Dropping Traditional Menus (video)

2012-01-24T21:40:00.000+01:00

Ubuntu has unveiled a new innovative user interface system called Head-Up-Display (HUD) today which it has been testing, and has designed to replace the traditional menu system used by nearly every computer software application to date.

The new user interface has been designed to provide a HUD that would search through all the possible commands to find the action you’re looking for. Watch the video after the break to see the new user interface in action.

The new HUD is still currently in its early development stages at the moment but its hoped a similar user interface maybe ready to use in the Ubuntu 12.04 release expected to be released this April. Allowing you to invoke the HUD from any standard Ubuntu app that supports the global menu. But don’t worry too much as the the first public version of HUD won’t entirely replaces old-fashioned menus.

Mark Shuttle worth explains:

“The desktop remains central to our everyday work and play, despite all the excitement around tablets, TV’s and phones. So it’s exciting for us to innovate in the desktop too, especially when we find ways to enhance the experience of both heavy “power” users and casual users at the same time. The desktop will be with us for a long time, and for those of us who spend hours every day using a wide diversity of applications, here is some very good news: 12.04 LTS will include the first step in a major new approach to application interfaces.”

Source: Liliputing

Beer Prescription Can Holder is Perfect for the Party Geek

2012-01-24T19:28:00.001+01:00

If you are the sort of geek that likes to get your adult drinking on after class or work on the weekends you need this can holder.

The thing will keep your hands from freezing and presumably will keep your beer nice and cold. It looks like a prescription bottle and appears to be made out of foam of some sort. I really like the label; can you tell what the RX# says?

This would be the perfect thing for that party after medical school graduation. This can holder can’t cost too much, I can think of several people I know that might get this as a gag gift for summer birthdays.

via CNET

Casio G-Shock Android Smartphone Revealed

2012-01-24T15:28:00.000+01:00

It looks like Casio is working on a new Android smartphone, and from the looks of this photos this will probably be the most rugged Android device when it finally goes on sale.

The Casio G-Shock Android smartphone was apparently on show at CES, and now we get some new photos and details on the device, and it will come with Android as its OS, although there are no details on which version as yet.

The Casio G-Shock smartphone is designed to be shock resistant up to 10 feet and also water resistant up to 10 meters, and it features a rugged casing made from a combination of plastic and metal.

There are no details as yet on when the Casio G-Shock Android smartphone will be available and how much it will retail for, as soon as we get some more information we will let you guys know.

Source G-Shockzone, Droid Life

Check Out This Amazing iDesk Concept [Images]

2012-01-24T14:17:00.000+01:00

MacLife has posted concept photos of the Apple iDesk, a multitouch table that functions similar to the Microsoft Surface.

Imagine an entirely adaptable workspace that doesn't just hold your equipment, but enhances and interacts with it. As with Microsoft's Surface technology, the entire desk would be a touch-sensitive display capable of running several simultaneous apps, some of which--such as a calendar, phone, and digital Post-It notes-would replace their physical counterparts entirely. Notifications, to-do lists, video conferencing, Adobe tool palettes, and countless widgets such as calculators and weather reports would all appear right on the surface of your desk, literally putting your entire working world at your fingertips.

Features:
● Sync with any iOS device simply by placing it upon the desk.
● You won't need a mouse when any area of your touch-sensitive desk can be designated as a trackpad.
● Making calls, scheduling appointments, and much more could be done from the surface of a clean, clutter-free workspace.

Check out the full concept at the link below...

Read More

NYTimes: Why Apple Outsources Its Manufacturing to China [Video]

2012-01-23T13:08:00.000+01:00

The New York Times has published an excellent piece on why Apple outsources its manufacturing to China. We recommend you read the entire article at the link below; however, here is a few highlights...

According to Apple executives, manufacturing overseas is their only option at this point. Why? Because no American plant can match what overseas manufacturers can offer. "The speed and flexibility is breathtaking," the executive said. "There's no American plant that can match that."

For Apple CEO Time Cook, the focus on Asia "came down to two things," said one former high-ranking Apple executive. Factories in Asia "can scale up and down faster" and "Asian supply chains have surpassed what's in the U.S." The result is that "we can't compete at this point," the executive said.

"The entire supply chain is in China now," said another former high-ranking Apple executive. "You need a thousand rubber gaskets? That's the factory next door. You need a million screws? That factory is a block away. You need that screw made a little bit different? It will take three hours."

As an example, the Times tells the story of how the iPhone came to have a glass screen:

In 2007, a little over a month before the iPhone was scheduled to appear in stores, Mr. Jobs beckoned a handful of lieutenants into an office. For weeks, he had been carrying a prototype of the device in his pocket. Mr. Jobs angrily held up his iPhone, angling it so everyone could see the dozens of tiny scratches marring its plastic screen, according to someone who attended the meeting. He then pulled his keys from his jeans.

People will carry this phone in their pocket, he said. People also carry their keys in their pocket. "I won't sell a product that gets scratched," he said tensely. The only solution was using unscratchable glass instead. "I want a glass screen, and I want it perfect in six weeks."

Steve Jobs' demand for a glass screen meant a last minute overhaul of the assembly line. The new glass screen arrived at the assembly plant near midnight and a foreman immediately woke up 8,000 employees in the company's dormitories.

Each employee was given a biscuit and a cup of tea, guided to a workstation and within half an hour started a 12-hour shift fitting glass screens into beveled frames. Within 96 hours, the plant was producing over 10,000 iPhones a day.

Check out the video below and hit the link to continue reading...

BMW Drives Itself On The Autobahn With ConnectedDrive (Video)

2012-01-23T12:42:00.000+01:00

We have already seen a number of self driving cars, the latest company to show off their concept of a self driving car is BMW with their ConnectedDrive.

BMW’s Connected Drive uses a number of different sensors to drive the car which include cameras, laser scanners, ultrasound distance sensors and radar, and you can see a car using BMW’s new system driving down the Autobahn in the video below.

BMW has fitted the technology to a normal 5 series, and as you can see from the video it keeps to the speed limit and also follows the specific traffic laws of the road it is on.

Don’t expect to see this technology in any of BMW’s new cars any time soon, as the company has said that it will be at least ten to fifteen years before the technology is ready for their production cars.

Source Technology Review, Dvice

SOPA And PIPA Bills Postponed After Web Protests

2012-01-23T12:34:00.000+01:00

Last week some of the worlds largest websites, including Wikipedia, Reddit, Google and thousands of other sites protested against the controversial proposed anti piracy laws SOPA and PIPA.

And now after the protests both SOPA and PIPA have been postponed for now, as the House Judiciary chairman and co-sponsor of SOPA has said that the vote for both bills has now been postponed.

The protests last week draw a massive response for both the web community and web users, with more than 13 million Americans taking some sort of action against the controversial bills.

And now web companies are trying to get Congress to start again with a new bill which wouldn’t have the same affect as the proposed SOPA and PIPA bills, but would still be able to deal with the problem with online piracy.

We suspect this isn’t the end of the matter as the issue needs to be dealt with, but not with legislation which would damage the web and penalize legitimate websites.

Source GigaOM