World Tech.

CD celebrates 25th anniversary

2007-08-17T08:50:00.001-07:00

It was August 17, 1982, and row upon row of palm-sized plates with a rainbow sheen began rolling off an assembly line near Hanover, Germany.

An engineering marvel at the time, today they are instantly recognizable as Compact Discs, a product that turned 25 years old on Friday -- and whose future is increasingly in doubt in an age of iPods and digital downloads.

Those first CDs contained Richard Strauss' Alpine Symphony and would sound equally sharp if played today, says Holland's Royal Philips Electronics NV, which jointly developed the CD with Sony Corp. of Japan.

The recording industry thrived in the 1990s as music fans replaced their aging cassettes and vinyl LPs with compact discs, eventually making CDs the most popular album format.

The CD still accounts for the majority of the music industry's recording revenues, but its sales have been in a freefall since peaking early this decade, in part due to the rise of online file-sharing, but also as consumers spend more of their leisure dollars on other entertainment purchases, such as DVDs and video games.

As the music labels slash wholesale prices and experiment with extras to revive the now-aging format, it's hard to imagine there was ever a day without CDs.

Yet it had been a risky technical endeavor to attempt to bring digital audio to the masses, said Pieter Kramer, the head of the optical research group at Philips' labs in the Netherlands in the 1970s.

"When we started there was nothing in place," he told The Associated Press at Philips' corporate museum in Eindhoven.

The proposed semiconductor chips needed for CD players were to be the most advanced ever used in a consumer product. And the lasers were still on the drawing board when the companies teamed up in 1979.

In 1980, researchers published what became known as the "Red Book" containing the original CD standards, as well as specifying which patents were held by Philips and which by Sony.

Philips had developed the bulk of the disc and laser technology, while Sony contributed the digital encoding that allowed for smooth, error-free playback. Philips still licenses out the Red Book and its later incarnations, notably for the CD-ROM for storing computer software and other data.

The CD's design drew inspiration from vinyl records: Like the grooves on a record, CDs are engraved with a spiral of tiny pits that are scanned by a laser -- the equivalent of a record player's needle. The reflected light is encoded into millions of 0s and 1s: a digital file.

Because the pits are covered with plastic and the laser's light doesn't wear them down, the CD never loses sound quality.

Legends abound about how the size of the CD was chosen: Some said it matched a Dutch beer coaster; others believe a famous conductor or Sony executive wanted it just long enough for Beethoven's 9th Symphony.

Kramer said the decision evolved from "long conversations around the table" about which play length made the most sense.

The jump into mass production in Germany was a milestone for the CD, and by 1982 the companies announced their product was ready for market. Both began selling players that fall, though the machines only hit U.S. markets the following spring.

Sony sold the first player in Japan on October 1, with the CBS label supplying Billy Joel's "52nd Street" as its first album.

The CD was a massive hit. Sony sold more players, especially once its "Discman" series was introduced in 1984. But Philips benefited from CD sales, too, thanks to its ownership of Polygram, now part of Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group.

The CD player helped Philips maintain its position as Europe's largest maker of consumer electronics until it was eclipsed by Nokia Corp. in the late 1990s. Licensing royalties sustained the company through bad times.

"The CD was in itself an easy product to market," said Philips' current marketing chief for consumer electronics, Lucas Covers. It wasn't just the sound quality -- discs looked like jewelry in comparison to LPs.

By 1986, CD players were outselling record players, and by 1988 CDs outsold records.

"It was a massive turnaround for the whole market," Covers said.

Now, the CD may be seeing the end of its days.

CD sales have fallen sharply to 553 million sold in the United States last year, a 22 percent drop from its 2001 peak of 712 million, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Napster and later Kazaa and BitTorrent allowed music fans to easily share songs over the Internet, often illegally. More recently, Apple Inc. and other companies began selling legal music downloads, turning the MP3 and other digital audio formats into the medium of choice for many owners of Apple's iPods and other digital players.

"The MP3 and all the little things that the boys and girls have in their pockets ... can replace it, absolutely," said Kramer, the retired engineer.

CDs won't disappear overnight, but its years may be numbered.

Record labels seeking to revive the format have experimented with hybrid CD-DVD combos and packages of traditional CDs with separate DVDs that carry video and multimedia offerings playable on computers.

The efforts have been mixed at best, with some attempts, such as the DualDisc that debuted in 2004, not finding lasting success in the marketplace.

Kramer said it has been satisfying to witness the CD's long run at the top and know he had a small hand in its creation.

"You never know how long a standard will last," he said. "But it was a solid, good standard and still is."

Sonos Gets Sirius on internet radio

2007-08-16T21:47:00.000-07:00

Category: Communication Systems and Equipment | Type: Corporate Information

Sonos Gets Sirius About Internet Radio
The deal could widen the appeal of Sonos music receivers while helping Sirius win government support for its proposed merger with XM
Sonos is adding Sirius Satellite Radio to its music lineup. In a deal that could widen the appeal of Sonos music receivers while helping Sirius muster government support for a planned merger, the two companies will announce on Aug. 15 the availability of Sirius' Internet radio to Sonos customers.

Starting Aug. 15, owners of the Sonos ZonePlayer will be able to download software that provides access to 80 Sirius channels, including marquee content like Howard Stern and NFL football. After a free 30-day trial, customers who are already Sirius subscribers will have to pay $2.99 a month, while those who are not yet Sirius subscribers will pay $12.95 a month.

The deal comes as Sirius unveils its latest lineup of receivers at an event in New York in the face of renewed criticism from the National Association of Broadcasters against the proposed merger of Sirius (SIRI) and its rival XM Satellite Radio (XMSR) (see BusinessWeek.com, 5/1/07, "An Uphill Climb for XM-Sirius Merger").

Focusing on Content Partnerships
Sonos' ZonePlayers let users play digitally stored music all over the house using wireless networking technology. Aimed at high-end consumers willing to shell out $999 to $1,149 for a starter kit, the ZonePlayer devices connect to existing stereo systems with external speakers and come with handheld remote controls that allow access to a digital music library from any room. But since the ZonePlayer devices are also connected to the Internet via a broadband connection, the company has in the last year focused increasingly on content partnerships with Internet music providers.

Sonos, a privately held manufacturer of hardware used for streaming digital music content around the home, has previously announced partnerships with RealNetworks (RNWK), the company behind the Rhapsody online music subscription service (see BusinessWeek.com, 9/19/06, "A Real Rival for Apple's iPod?"), and with Pandora Media, operators of the Pandora.com streaming music service.

With the explosive popularity of digital music products like Apple's (AAPL) iPod, the sale of traditional stereo systems has been on the decline. Of nearly $10.8 billion spent in the U.S. on home audio products in 2006, $5.6 billion, or nearly 52%, was spent on portable MP3 players such as the iPod and SanDisk's (SNDK) Sansa, according to the Consumer Electronics Assn. That percentage will grow to 60% this year, the CEA reckons. Meanwhile, sales of compact stereo systems, stereo components, and home theater systems amounted to about $2.4 billion and are expected to decline to less than $2.2 billion this year.

Uphill Battle in Washington
Sonos co-founder Tom Cullen wouldn't disclose revenue figures, but said the business is growing fast. The company has sold more than 200,000 ZonePlayers since launching the product in 2005. "We doubled in size last year in an audio equipment industry that is shrinking," he says.

For Sirius, the step may represent an attempt to widen its Internet audience. The company already offers online subscriptions, letting existing subscribers listen online for free from computers. It also offers a high-audio-quality version of programming online for $2.99 a month for subscribers and $12.95 month for nonsubscribers. Sirius doesn't say what percentage of its 7.1 million subscribers are Internet-based, but Troy Mastin, an analyst at William Blair & Co. in Chicago, says that up to now, Sirius's Internet business has seemed more of a sideshow. "It's hard to justify an Internet subscription if you're not already a Sirius subscriber," he says.

Still, boosting its base of Web customers might help Sirius make headway on its plans to merge with XM. The companies need to convince officials at the Federal Communications Commission and Justice Dept. that a merger of the two satellite radio providers won't harm competition. The more Sirius competes on the Web, the more it can argue it's in the running with not only conventional radio broadcasters but with Internet broadcasters, says Mastin. "It might make it appear that the competitive set is broader if you were to define that as a music broadcaster with a potentially infinite number of competitors on the Internet," he says.

Inside news from sonos desk

It's no surprise that all of us at Sonos are die-hard music fans. We too love to listen to salsa in the kitchen, techno in the office and rock in the garden. Which is why we worked so diligently and passionately to create the Sonos® Digital Music System. It sounds great, looks amazing and works the way it should—easily and intuitively. We hope you'll agree.

When we set out to create a digital music system that would revolutionize the way people listened to music in their homes, the first thing we did was to recruit the best and the brightest. At Sonos, you'll find experts from every discipline—consumer electronics, software, networking, and professional audio, combined. They came to Sonos with product resumés that would make any company proud, including everything from LCD remote control devices and Internet mail to Web authoring tools and a synthesized grand piano.

And, because it takes a truly Herculean team effort to make truly great products, our software developers work side by side with audio engineers, hardware engineers, industrial designers, and usability engineers. It's not a common occurrence—so we've been told—but we have proof that it work

MOTOROLA'S RAZR REBORN

2007-08-15T06:03:00.000-07:00

The new RAZR2 V9 - deep,
dark purple in color.

The original RAZR was one of the most successful designs in cell phone history.

When it was originally released, the phone was revolutionary. It was slim, sleek and sexy – looking like no other contemporary phone of the time.

Motorola also gave it a high price tag of $500 to ensure exclusivity.

As time went on, though, Motorola did little to improve the design while competitors were busy catching up.

Now those competitors will need to try harder because Motorola’s new handset, the RAZR², has gotten a ground-up redesign.

The RAZR² is not just one, single new phone. It’s really a number of new phones. Each U.S. cellular provider has been given the opportunity to tailor the phone to the services they offer.

The new RAZR2 models are the V9 (for AT&T), the V9m (Sprint and Verizon) and the V8 (T-Mobile). They differ by which features are highlighted on the outer screen – messaging, music or video.

Similarities

All RAZR² models have a new, lighter weight, stronger frame. They also have a number of features in common: the handset is about 4-inches long and less than a half-inch thick. There’s a 2.2-inch screen on the inside -- twice the resolution than the screen on the original RAZR -- and a new, larger 2-inch touch-sensitive screen on the outside.

There are new faster processors and a micro-SD slot for up to 2GB of additional storage for things like music, photos and video. Motorola says the battery will last nearly 8 hours when talking and up to 330 hours in standby mode. There is stereo Bluetooth. The 2.0 megapixel camera on the back has either a 4x or 8x digital zoom depending on the model.

Connections are via a micro-USB port. The little connector is even smaller then the mini-USB jack on most phones. Motorola’s new standard saves interior space but makes attaching the AC charger and other accessories more difficult.

In addition to providing settings for eleven of the most popular e-mail providers there is also IM software for AIM Instant Messenger, Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger.

There also are about a dozen three-day trial versions of games plus streaming media programs from companies such as MobiTV, MySpace Mobile and XM Radio Mobile.

Differences

Each model highlights favorite features on their front screen. For instance, the AT&T and Verizon models highlight music playback of your compressed music files, the Sprint model features their SprintTV service, and Alltel’s model enables you to handle their advanced messaging features without opening the handset.

I’ve been playing with an AT&T V9 phone and can tell you absolutely everything has been improved from the original RAZR.

The first thing I noticed was the speed. All the new V9 models can use 3G data networks for speedy downloads – especially helpful when it comes to sending and receiving video. Apple’s iPhone, by comparison, is strictly a 2G data device, which is much slower. The content from MobiTV looked great – very fluid – and the music from XM streams seemed to download without a glitch.

And there’s a cool new feature called “See What I See” which lets you stream live video over your handset to another wireless customer while a call is in progress. And owners can watch the video on the RAZR2 V9’s large internal screen with twice the resolution of the original RAZR.

I particularly like the vibrating feedback when you press a control on the external screen and buttons. You can tell, without looking, that you’re actually touching and changing something.

The V9 also works well as a cellular phone! I’ve been able to hear callers and they’ve been able to hear me – always a good sign. In my standard coverage torture test, the GSM/GPRS radio system inside the V9 was above average in pulling-in and holding onto a signal.

Motorola really has brought the RAZR up to a new level of usability. While not a smartphone per se, it is a clever phone with great speed and a slew of new features.

Sprint has announced that their RAZR2 will be available beginning August 22. Others will follow in the next few weeks. Prices, depending on your carrier, should hover in the $300 range.

Future space tourism

2007-08-15T05:01:00.000-07:00

Category: Space | Type: Mission & Vision

The world's first privately financed space station could be launched before 2010, a statement by Bigelow Aerospace suggests. The company is accelerating its schedule to save money.
Based in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, Bigelow Aerospace has successfully placed two inflatable spacecraft, called Genesis I and Genesis II, in Earth orbit. It wants to eventually launch habitable space stations to be used by paying customers such as space tourists.
The company had planned to orbit a third spacecraft called Galaxy in 2008 before lofting its Sundancer space station, able to support a crew of three, into orbit in 2010.
But a statement by company founder Robert Bigelow that was posted on the company's website on Tuesday says rising launch costs have pushed the company to forgo the launch of Galaxy and bring forward Sundancer's planned launch.
The company had previously said it planned to launch Sundancer in 2010. Although Bigelow has not given a new date for launch, the statement says the schedule change means private space habitats "could be arriving much earlier than any of us had previously anticipated".
It is still unclear how any customers would travel to the Sundancer station, however.
In n other report just yesterday from
Galactic Suite, a private space tourism company, is planning to build a three-bedroom hotel using pods joined together in orbit. They hope to be open for business by 2012.
But tickets for a trip aboard the Galactic Suite will not be cheap, with a three-day stay costing about £2 million.
For that price, the company claims it will train customers for their space flight on a tropical island before flying them to the hotel. Once there, they will be able to enjoy spectacular views of the Earth and experience life in zero gravity. The hotel is expected to make a complete orbit of the Earth every 80 minutes, so in 24 hours the sun will rise and set behind our planet 18 times.
Xavier Claramunt, a director with the Barcelona-based company, says they have already achieved substantial financial backing for the £3 billion project from a wealthy space enthusiast and a series of other companies.
One American company intent on colonising Mars has also added its support after seeing the hotel as a first step towards the red planet, while other private investors from Japan and the United Arab Emirates are in talks.
Mr Claramunt refuses to reveal the identities of his backers, but says there are more than 40,000 people in the world who could afford to stay at the hotel.
He said: "Whether they will want to spend money on going into space, we just don't know.
"I'm hopeful that the impact of seeing the earth from a distance will stimulate the guests' urge to value and protect our planet."
Space tourism is now seen as one of the biggest drivers of exploring the solar system in the future as wealthy individuals pursue the ultimate thrill-seeking trip. The space flight outfit Space Adventures has sent five private tourists into orbit with the help of the Russian space programme.
Sir Richard Branson's plans to send his parents and children on the first flight in his own space tourism venture suffered a setback last month when three people were killed during a test of the rocket systems to be used by Virgin Galactic

News Inside News:
About Bigelow Aerospace
Mission and Vision
Vision Statement: Near Term
Develop Pathfinder demonstrator spacecraft that can validate spacecraft hardware and systems. Our near term vision for Bigelow Aerospace is to play a major role in drastically altering the current cost and availability surrounding commercial and public use of non-habitable and habitable space complexes.
Mission Objectives
Primary Objectives
Validate expandable structures as a certified spaceflight technology. Provide a low-cost, low earth orbit (LEO) human-rated space complex that is accessible to the commercial sector. Develop an affordable and flexible space complex architecture that can be adapted for any manned or unmanned mission requiring a large pressurized volume. Provide a ground-based infrastructure that the commercial and public entities sector can utilize for developing low-cost, space-based missions.
Secondary Objectives
Create new ways of generating revenue through the use of these demonstrators that lead to full-scale business development engaging the public in fun and interesting pilot revenue generating programs.
Genesis I
Launched on July 12, 2006, from the ISC Kosmotras Space and Missile Complex in the Orenburg region of Russia, Genesis I ushered in a new era of private space vehicles. The spacecraft was designed to enter space and expand to increase its volume. A one-third scale model of the eventual modules, Genesis I contained various items, photos, and a NASA experiment. Shortly after launch, Genesis I expanded successfully and sent back extensive data and images to the North Las Vegas, Nevada, Mission Control Center.
Genesis II Different From Genesis I
The successful development of Genesis I has brought forth the creation of Genesis II.

Since our first launch, we have been able to learn and grow from the information we compiled from our orbiting vehicle — expanding our knowledge to improve upon our new creation. We have been able to use and improve upon many of the materials and systems found on Genesis I and incorporate them into the construction of Genesis II, resulting in a similar, yet improved vehicle. With upgrades to vehicle control and sensory equipment, we are able to improve our interaction with the public. These new upgrades contribute to our ultimate goal: the evolution of product development for a pathway to manned missions.
Since the launch of Genesis I, we have tripled our high-data-rate communication coverage for our vehicles by expanding beyond our original Las Vegas and Virginia sites and constructing ground station sites in Alaska and Hawaii. The launch of Genesis II requires Bigelow Aerospace to coordinate multi-vehicle simultaneous operations. With the increase in ground stations and orbiting vehicles, we will be able to communicate with Genesis I and II up to five hours per day. We hope this will enhance our monitoring of Genesis II during the critical initial acquisition phase. These preliminary constellation operations present new challenges in prioritizing resources for data links, command and control and processing of vehicle data. New domestic and international communication sites are planned for the coming year.
The vision system aboard Genesis II is one example of how we hope to be able to utilize our enhanced communication capabilities. The vision system contains marked improvement in design over the system in Genesis I. Considerable effort has been made by Bigelow Aerospace engineers to improve the overall performance, reliability, and data-flow capabilities of the vision system to enhance the images from each of the 22 cameras onboard Genesis II. Technology demonstrators include a refined networking architecture over the Genesis I design, dual FireWire and Ethernet camera interfaces, and multiple new camera types including articulated cameras and a wireless camera for additional exterior shots. The cameras have allowed us to make our upcoming flight more personal and insightful for the public.
The images recorded from the 22 onboard cameras are expected to be sent back to our mission control headquarters, giving the public a chance to view payloads on and in Genesis II. We have expanded upon Genesis I payloads in complexity and number. This includes the “Fly Your Stuff” program, which will allow customers to see their own objects floating around in microgravity. A new exterior image projection system will allow for existing customers, as well as new ones, to display any picture of their choice on the main body of the vehicle. The public interaction has been further expanded into post-launch activities with the fun and experimental Space Bingo project.

For space hotel details see-
http://www.galacticsuite.com/

A possible new explanation for the origin of life on earth

2007-08-15T03:38:00.000-07:00

Category:Space | Type: Conferences, Meetings and Events

Could extraterrestrial life be made of corkscrew-shaped particles of interstellar dust? Intriguing new evidence of life-like structures that form from inorganic substances in space are revealed today in the New Journal of Physics. The findings hint at the possibility that life beyond earth may not necessarily use carbon-based molecules as its building blocks. They also point to a possible new explanation for the origin of life on earth.
Life on earth is organic. It is composed of organic molecules, which are simply the compounds of carbon, excluding carbonates and carbon dioxide. The idea that particles of inorganic dust may take on a life of their own is nothing short of alien, going beyond the silicon-based life forms favoured by some science fiction stories.
Now, an international team has discovered that under the right conditions, particles of inorganic dust can become organised into helical structures. These structures can then interact with each other in ways that are usually associated with organic compounds and life itself.
V.N. Tsytovich of the General Physics Institute, Russian Academy of Science, in Moscow, working with colleagues there and at the Max-Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany and the University of Sydney, Australia, has studied the behaviour of complex mixtures of inorganic materials in a plasma. Plasma is essentially the fourth state of matter beyond solid, liquid and gas, in which electrons are torn from atoms leaving behind a miasma of charged particles.
Until now, physicists assumed that there could be little organisation in such a cloud of particles. However, Tsytovich and his colleagues demonstrated, using a computer model of molecular dynamics, that particles in a plasma can undergo self-organization as electronic charges become separated and the plasma becomes polarized. This effect results in microscopic strands of solid particles that twist into corkscrew shapes, or helical structures. These helical strands are themselves electronically charged and are attracted to each other.
Quite bizarrely, not only do these helical strands interact in a counterintuitive way in which like can attract like, but they also undergo changes that are normally associated with biological molecules, such as DNA and proteins, say the researchers. They can, for instance, divide, or bifurcate, to form two copies of the original structure. These new structures can also interact to induce changes in their neighbours and they can even evolve into yet more structures as less stable ones break down, leaving behind only the fittest structures in the plasma.
So, could helical clusters formed from interstellar dust be somehow alive? "These complex, self-organized plasma structures exhibit all the necessary properties to qualify them as candidates for inorganic living matter," says Tsytovich, "they are autonomous, they reproduce and they evolve".
He adds that the plasma conditions needed to form these helical structures are common in outer space. However, plasmas can also form under more down to earth conditions such as the point of a lightning strike. The researchers hint that perhaps an inorganic form of life emerged on the primordial earth, which then acted as the template for the more familiar organic molecules we know today.

News Inside News:

Genetic code
The spirals even feed, in a sense, as they need fresh plasma to survive and grow, suggesting they may compete with one another for food. Since they are also capable of passing on their genetic code, then perhaps they could evolve into more complex structures.

But that is very speculative, says Morfill, explaining that the simulation is far too simple to include such complex processes as evolution. "It has a lot of the hallmarks for how we define life at present, but we have not simulated life," Morfill told New Scientist. "To us, they're just a special form of plasma crystal."

"It's interesting," says astrobiologist Chris McKay of NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, US.

"Some people have argued that life is a self-organising system [that is out of equilibrium], but you could say that of a hurricane," he told New Scientist. "What these guys have done is one step up from pointing at a hurricane and saying it's a living organism. They argue there's a way this can store information, which is a central feature of life. But it's somewhat disappointing that this is only theoretical work."

"Claiming that something is (or is not) alive is almost pointless because there is no mathematically rigorous definition of life," agrees David Grier of New York University in New York City, US.

Life in Saturn's rings?
The team is now setting up an experiment to find out whether real dust spirals exist. It's tricky, because gravity will tend to disrupt the delicate dust structure, but they can get around that to some extent by compressing the dusty plasma, increasing electrical forces within it. To go much further, they will have to find another way to counteract gravity – perhaps by using magnetic fields, or by putting their experiment in free-fall on the International Space Station.

Alive or not, these dust structures could exist in nature. There are many places in space where small grains of material are immersed in a plasma.

"In our solar system, the places most likely to have the right conditions are planetary rings, especially the rings of Saturn and Uranus," says Morfill. There the "dust" would actually be fine ice grains, and the nourishing plasma would be supplied by the solar wind, channelled by planetary magnetic fields.

But Grier says the dusty spirals may be difficult to form in space, since they require grains of uniform shape and size: "I cannot imagine this will happen in space on a large enough scale to be observable."

If there are any ice-grain creatures roaming the rings of Saturn, though, the pace of life would be leisurely, because plasma-crystal processes run more than a hundred thousand times more slowly than the biochemistry of Earth. So even if they are alive, there's no need to worry about them possessing malign alien intelligence. They probably won't have had time to evolve very far.

The Plasma Crystal Experiment
Plasma Crystals form under certain conditions in a complex ("dusty") plasma. There, the electrically charged dust particles arrange in a regular macroscopic crystal lattice. This allows the investigation of the properties of condensed matter on the most fundamental level, the kinetic one. This means that basic processes, such as melting, can be followed by observing the motion of individual particles. Since plasma crystals were discovered in 1994 the interest in this research area - in theory and experimentally - has grown exponentially.
Gravity plays an crucial role for the structure of plasma crystals. In ground-based lab experiments mainly 2-dimensional crystals can be observed. This is due to the sedimentation of the micron-sized particles which build up the crystal.

In microgravity big 3-dimensional plasma crystals can be grown. Therefore, our institute deals - besides ground-based lab research - with the investigation of plasma crystals under microgravity conditions, e.g. on parabolic flights and rocket experiments.

In March 2001 the ''Plasmakristall-Experiment'' (PKE) of our institute - in collaboration with the Russian Space Agengy and the Institute for High Energy Densities (IHED), Moscow - was the first scientific experiment to be flown on the International Space Station ISS. It was used in 45 successful complex plasma experiment sessions in microgravity and was decommisioned in 2005.
More Complex Plasmas in Space...

Since December 2005 the successor of PKE-Nefedov is onboard the International Space Station: PK-3 Plus.

It was operated for the first time by the Expedition 12 Crew (William McArthur, Valery Tokarev) in January 2006.
PK-3 Plus is to continue the successful story of PKE-Nefedov. Many new features promise totally new results with a much higher accuracy, a deeper insight into the physics of complex plasmas.

At MPE also the next-generation complex plasma experiment is under construction: PK-4. In contrast to PKE-Nefedov and PK-3 Plus, PK-4 uses a DC discharge to generate the plasma. Whereas the former experiments are optimized for plasma crystals, PK-4 will be ideal to study fluid dynamics on the kinetic level. It will be sent to the Space Station in 2010.

V.N. Tsytovich & his previous research-
General Physics Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences,
ul. Vavilova, 117942 Moscow, Russia
Tel. (7-095) 135-02 47.
Fax (7-095) 135-02 70
E-mail: tsyt@ewm.gpi.msk.su
The experimental and theoretical aspects of the dust particle phenomenon are discussed. The subjects include dust particle attraction in open systems ( in spite of charges of up to 10^5 e on individual particles); dust molecule formation; large (100 eV and higher) values of the dust-plasma crystal binding energy; self-contraction instabilities (similar to and operating together with gravitational instability in cosmic structures); free boundary dust-plasma crystals; new dust attraction mechanisms; the growth and agglomeration of dust particles; and the development of long order in dust plasmas. New estimates for understanding the fireball phenomenon and star production are given.

In The Images-
1.The image to the right shows the sideview of a plasma crystal in the laboratory. Dust particles are suspended in an argon plasma above a high-frequency electrode (bottom). The horizontal field of view is 1 cm. If you touch the image with the mouse pointer you will see a view of one crystal lattice. (Javascript must be activated.)
2.The crystallization of a plasma - without losing the plasma state - can be achieved with an additional component: micro-particles or 'dust'. These particles (actually melamine-formaldehyde spheres provided by Microparticles GmbH, see microscopic image) with the size of several microns (1 µm = 1/1000 mm) get charged inside the plasma by the bombardment with free electrons and ions. Due to the much lower mobility of the heavier ions, the particles are hit on average by more electrons. They accumulate a negative charge of several 1000 - 10,000 electron charges. This negative charge is, at a certain distance, screened by a positive cloud of ions around the particle.
3.Charging and screening of a
micro-particle in a plasma.
4.Crystallization of a complex plasma.
The width of the image is ca. 4 mm.
5.View into the plasma (blue glow) with the
microparticles illuminated by a red laser beam
6.'Plasma crystals' that behave like life could exist in Saturn's rings, where the 'dust' would actually be fine ice grains, and the nourishing plasma would be supplied by the solar wind

NASA With Microsoft for Space Shuttle in 3-D

2007-08-15T03:22:00.000-07:00

Category: Engineering Design , Display & Presentation | Type: Corporate Information

NASA and Microsoft have joined forces to give computer users a three-dimensional look of the space shuttle Endeavour as it is primed for a planned Wednesday launch.

Interactive views of Endeavour, its Pad 39A launch site in Florida and of the orbiter as it was assembled for its planned Aug. 8 launch were stitched together from hundreds of NASA photographs using Photosynth, a new imaging software created by Microsoft Live Labs.

"This collaboration with Microsoft gives the public a new way to explore and participate in America's space program," said William Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for space operations, in a statement. "We are looking into ways of using this new technology to support future missions."

Created by the Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft and the University of Washington, the Photosynth software is designed to assemble between hundreds and thousands of digital images into a three-dimensional (3-D) scene of a subject. NASA's Photosynth image collections were created under a collaborative effort between the agency's Kennedy Space Center spaceport in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California and Microsoft's Live Labs.

"With Photosynth, we take pictures of an environment and knit them together into an experience that people can move through like a 3-D video game," Microsoft Live Labs architect Blaise Aguera y Arcas. "NASA provided us with some outstanding images and the result is an experience that will wow anyone wanting to get a closer look at the Endeavour and its travels."

In addition to views of Endeavour, NASA's Photosynth collection includes views of the Atlantis orbiter after its jumbo jet piggyback ride back to KSC following its June 22 landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California, the space agency said.

"We see potential to use Photosynth for a variety of future mission activities, from inspecting the International Space Station and the Hubble Space Telescope to viewing landing sites on the moon and Mars," said Chris Kemp, director of Strategic Business Development at Ames.

NASA's space shuttle Endeavour is poised to launch towards the International Space Station at 6:36 p.m. EDT (2236 GMT) on Aug. 8 to haul cargo, spare parts and a new piece of starboard-side truss to the orbital laboratory.

Veteran shuttle flyer Scott Kelly is commanding Endeavour's seven-astronaut STS-118 crew. The mission also marks the first flight of educator-turned-astronaut Barbara Morgan. The former McCall, Idaho schoolteacher was originally selected in 1985 to serve as NASA's backup Teacher in Space to New Hampshire high school teacher Christa McAuliffe, who died aboard the space shuttle Challenger in January 1986.

Endeavour's up-to-14-day mission will mark NASA's second of up to four planned shuttle flights dedicated to space station construction this year.

More News on Photosynth
Photosynth uses hundreds of standard digital camera images to construct a three-dimensional view of an environment or "synth". These synths can be explored much like a video game, allowing you to explore, zoom into tiny details, and see where the photographer was standing (or flying) when they took the pictures.

Current collections include:

The interior and surrounding area of the Vehicle Assembly Building, the largest one-story building in the world, used for housing external fuel tanks and flight hardware, and the location of the Orbiter stacking with the solid rocket boosters and external fuel tank to prepare for the space shuttle launch.
Endeavour on the launch pad including amazing detail shots taken from a helicopter
The previous flight STS-117 Shuttle Atlantis returning from Edwards Air Force Base in California to Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility.

In video: STS-118, replacement of gyroscope and make an attempt repair

2007-08-15T03:18:00.000-07:00

Category: Nasa | Type: Mission & Vision

The American space agency should decide tomorrow Wednesday of a possible repair of the damage noted in the thermal coating of Endeavour, which one knows now that they were caused by a piece of detached insulating foam of the ventral tank.
The technicians of NASA used a laser printer with three dimensions to reconstitute a model in real size of the part damaged in order to determine the best strategy of repair. This one could be carried out Monday August 20 during a fifth exit, the mission itself being able to be prolonged on this occasion.
This morning, the American astronaut Richard Mastracchio and his Canadian colleague Dafydd Williams left and carried out the replacement of one of the four gyroscopes, broken down since last October, intended to maintain the attitude of the station. This one was initially tested successfully with a mode of 500 t/minute, then will be carried at its normal speed of operation of 6600 t/minute. The faulty apparatus will be brought back on ground for expertise.
Lastly, NASA congratulates on excellent operation on SSPTS (Station-Shuttle Power Transfer System), which henceforth makes it possible the shuttle to directly draw its energy in the food of the ISS, and allows to increase the duration of the missions significantly.

In The Image-
1.The model in 3D obtained by NASA.

Logitech V470: Bluetooth mouse for portable computers

2007-08-15T03:10:00.001-07:00

Category: Computer Hardware, Software and Peripherals | Type: Product Highlights & Product Test

Logitech, manufacturer of Swiss origin famous for its data-processing products of quality of which we presented to you the mouse VX Nano Cordless Laser Mouse for Notebooks, as well as the mouse G9 and the G15 keyboard more recently, come to announce a new mouse.
Baptized V470 and available in white or blue, it acts of a peripheral of pointing intended for the portable computers. This new model wireless telegraphy using the laser technology does without receiver to connect on a port USB since it is compatible Bluetooth 1.2, which avoids the presence of a wire and the loss of the receiver. Concerning autonomy, the manufacturer announces up to 4 months. A point which remains to be checked in the facts. As for the design of the mouse, it is certainly not slap-with-the eye, but is far from being unpleasant.

News Inside News:

Price and availability:
Available to the United States and in Europe at the beginning of next September, this new mouse will be posted with 49,99 euros
Characteristics:

Type: wireless telegraphy
Techology: laser
Compatible Bluetooth 1.2
Two buttons

Vertical and horizontal serrated roller
Indicator of battery
Color: white or blue
Autonomy: up to 4 months

Logitech V470: Bluetooth mouse for portable computers

2007-08-15T03:10:00.000-07:00

A dubious future for the screens plasma

2007-08-15T02:27:00.000-07:00

Category: Consumer Electronics | Type: Policy and Funding

The studies on this subject confirm it in turn, the flat-faced screens based on technology plasma do not manage to be made a place of choice on the market.
In March 2007, the cabinet iSuppli published a study on the future of the flat-faced screens. Last Thursday, the same cabinet delivered a new report/ratio arriving at the same conclusion: the screens of the plasma type do not make any more the weight vis-a-vis their counterparts with liquid crystals.

Towards a fall of the prices and sales turnover…
Compared to the previous year, the sales turnover generated by the sector will have progressed from 12% to reach 8,6 billion dollars (6,28 billion euros) during this year. If it will continue to grow the next year to reach 10,2 billion dollars (7,45 billion euros), it will be its last rise there.

Indeed, in order to face the hard competition of screens LCD (Liquid Hook Display), the various manufacturers (the first world one being Matsushita Electric Industrial with 27,6% in the first quarter, follow-up of Samsung and LG Electronics) will have to reduce their tariffs. Consequence of this fall of the prices, the sales turnover of the screens plasma, in spite of a growth in volume, will start to fall to arrive at 8,7 billion dollars (6,35 billion euros) in 2011.

Does one have for envisaging as much the abandonment of technology plasma by the great groups of electronics? Wait & See.

GTA Music Video

2007-08-13T06:06:00.001-07:00

Microsoft Surface - The Possibilities

2007-08-13T05:25:00.001-07:00

Showcase for gadgets of future

2007-08-13T05:07:00.001-07:00

Nasa probes shuttle damage

2007-08-13T05:05:00.001-07:00

Astronauts from the US space shuttle Endeavour are examining a gouge in its heat shield, sustained during take-off from Cape Canaveral on Wednesday.

The astronauts are using the shuttle's robotic arm and extension boom, tipped with a laser and a camera, to determine the exact size and depth of the gash.

Nasa experts on Earth detected the damage as the vessel docked with the International Space Station (ISS).

A piece of foam which broke off the external fuel tank may be responsible.

Three-dimensional images and other information collected would be sent back to mission control in Houston and the conditions of re-entry into the atmosphere simulated in a laboratory, Nasa said.

If repairs are necessary, the Endeavour mission would have to be prolonged to allow for an additional spacewalk, Nasa said.

Foam problems

The 3in (7.6cm) square was first spotted as the shuttle approached the International Space Station (ISS) prior to docking on Friday.

The crew guided it into a backflip manoeuvre once it was about 200m (650ft) away from the station, so it could be photographed and checked in a routine inspection for possible damage from foam insulation.

Nine pieces of foam are thought to have broken away during launch.

Mission Management Team chairman John Shannon said a mould of the gouge would be reproduced in thermal tiles and tested in a laboratory simulating the extreme heat and friction encountered on re-entry to the Earth's atmosphere.

The tests - to be carried out within 48 hours - should allow engineers to determine whether repairs were needed, he said, quoted by AFP news agency.

"This is something we would rather not deal with but we have really prepared for exactly this case," he said.

Foam damage has been a major concern for Nasa since the Columbia disaster in 2003 when a briefcase-sized chunk of foam insulation broke off during launch and pierced the shuttle's heat-protection tiles.

This caused the shuttle to disintegrate on re-entry into the atmosphere, killing all seven crew.

More spacewalks

The mission is scheduled to last for 11 days but can be extended to 14 thanks to a new piece of equipment that allows the shuttle to tap into the power grid of the ISS.

On Saturday, two astronauts attached a new beam to the ISS on the mission's first spacewalk.

American Rick Mastracchio and Canadian Dave Williams attached the 1.58-metric ton beam, or truss, to extend the space station's length to 108m (354ft).

At least two other spacewalks will be held to replace a defective gyroscope, one of four keeping the ISS on an even keel, and install a 3.3-ton stowage platform.

Each of the spacewalks is scheduled to last six-and-a-half hours.

The mission is the second of four that Nasa plans this year to finish the $100bn (£49.1bn) space station before the shuttle fleet retires in 2010.

Hynix develops new chip for mobile phones

2007-08-13T04:32:00.000-07:00

SEOUL (AFP) - South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor said Sunday it has developed the world's fastest and smallest one-gigabyte chip for mobile phones with mass production scheduled for early next year.

The new chip is capable of processing 1.6 gigabytes of data per second, the world's second-largest computer memory chip maker said.

The company said it would start mass production in early 2008 of the chip, which can be applied to "ultra-small electronic devices and memory products." Hynix aims to become the world's top chipmaker in 10 years through aggressive investment in next-generation products.

Alliant Techsystems Wins $1.8 Billion NASA Contract

2007-08-13T04:15:00.000-07:00

Category: Engineering Design , Display & Presentation | Type: Corporate Information

ATK TO PERFORM WORK IN CALIFORNIA AND COLORADO

MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK) announced today that its Mission Research & Technical Services (MRTS) business division has been awarded a $2.8 million dollar contract by Sandia National Laboratories to build a unique multi-channel test source for the U.S. Nuclear Detection System (NDS) program, with disturbed channel capabilities. The enhanced testing source substantially expands the scope of earlier modeling and simulation analysis work to include hardware development.

"This multi-channel satellite signal generator contract provides an enhanced nuclear scintillation communications test capability to our important Sandia National Laboratories customer, evolving both system flexibility and test realism," said Arde Bedjanian, vice president and general manager of MRTS. "Beyond these important customer advances, this effort also enhances our advanced scintillation test services capability which is applicable to other related customers," according to Bedjanian.

Options for $1.2 million have been negotiated, but not yet exercised, that would extend the effort through March 2009. Work will be performed at ATK facilities in Santa Barbara, CA and Colorado Springs, CO.

ATK is a $4.0 billion advanced weapon and space systems company employing approximately 16,500 people in 21 states. News and information can be found on the Internet at http://www.atk.com/.

Certain information discussed in this press release constitutes forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Although ATK believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be achieved. Forward-looking information is subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Among those factors are: changes in governmental spending, budgetary policies and product sourcing strategies; the company's competitive environment; the terms and timing of awards and contracts; and economic conditions. ATK undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. For further information on factors that could impact ATK, and statements contained herein, please refer to ATK's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

SOURCE: Alliant Techsystems

CONTACT: media, Tracy Imm, +1-410-864-4824, tracy.imm@atk.com, or
investors, Steve Wold, +1-952-351-3056, steve.wold@atk.com, both of Alliant
Techsystems

Web site: http://www.atk.com/

From another source
(http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a4CDLXMEbpes&refer=home)

Alliant Techsystems Inc., the only maker of reusable solid-rocket motors for U.S. space shuttles, won a $1.8 billion contract from NASA for the first stage of the Ares I rocket.

The new contract replaces a temporary agreement in place since last year. The award covers five ground static-test motors, two ground vibration-test articles and four flight-test stages and runs through Dec. 31, 2014, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said in a statement today.

The Ares I is the rocket that will lift the Orion spacecraft, which will replace the current shuttle fleet, into low Earth orbit. Alliant Chief Executive Officer Daniel Murphy said Aug. 2 he expected the award, and at the time he put the value at more than $1.5 billion.

Edina, Minnesota-based Alliant began work on Ares in April 2006.

Alliant's first-quarter sales grew 16 percent to $958.4 million, including $50 million from work on the Ares program, Murphy said on the call.

Shares of Alliant gained $1 to $107.47 at 4:16 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They have risen 38 percent in the past year.

Halo 3 Presales On Record Pace

2007-08-09T23:01:00.000-07:00

Microsoft said Thursday that presales for its forthcoming Halo 3 video game for the Xbox 360 have surpassed 1 million and set an industry record.

Halo 3 is the "fastest selling preordered video game in history," Microsoft claimed.

A number of major online retailers, including Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, and Wal-Mart, are accepting preorders for the game. "What we've experienced is nothing short of phenomenal," said Bob MacKenzie, senior VP for merchandising at GameStop, in a statement.

Most retailers are selling the title for around $60. A special "Legendary Edition" sells for about $130 and includes a helmet-style case, bonus discs, and collector's art. The game is scheduled to ship Sept. 25.

Halo 3 is a first-person shooter featuring Master Chief, a biologically enhanced soldier who has to blast his way through a futuristic, 3-D landscape to survive and accomplish missions.

Version 3 of the game, developed by Bungie Studios and published by Microsoft, features a host of new levels, weapons, vehicles, and game types.

Last month, Microsoft introduced a special Halo 3 edition of the Xbox 360 and matching wireless controller featuring a Spartan green and gold finish, mirroring the colors worn by Master Chief.

Microsoft is counting on the game's debut -- and a $50 Xbox 360 price cut -- to help boost its console sales. Xbox 360 sales plunged 60% year over year in Microsoft's fiscal fourth quarter.

Toshiba announces its 3rd generation of platinums HD-DVD

2007-08-09T22:57:00.000-07:00

Category: Consumer Electronics | Type: Product Highlights & Product Test

Toshiba has just announced its third generation of readers HD DVD with a price of launching of 299 $.
The electronic manufacturer general public Toshiba engages of new forces, with three new models, in the commercial battle which opposes format HD DVD to Blu-Ray.

Resolutely engaged in the cause of continuous HD DVD Tohiba to promote its format by affirming in particular by the way of Jodi Sally, responsible marketing of Toshiba DIGITAL A/V Group, that “the consumers prefer to buy readers or films with format HD DVD”.

The price, new war-horse
For the entry of range the HD-A3 will be proposed with an exit in 1080i only whereas the HD-A30 and the HD-A35 offer them 1080p/24 images per seconds and an interface HDMI-CEC which will be at the same time used to control the reader and the television set. A35 is affirmed like models it top-of-the-range with an optimization Deep Color, exits analogical 5.1 and one audio exit HDMI compatible 7.1.
These three new models propose new design with a chassis slim equipped with revètement an acrylic black.

News Inside News:
Availability and price
Toshiba announces an availability for September for A30 at the cost of 399,99 $, A3 and A35 will follow in October for respective prices of 299,99 $ and 499,99 $. The battle of the prices began bus there is no doubt that the Blu-Ray readers will be aligned on these new tariffs. The large one gaining will be obviously the consumer.

Mainnav MW-705: a watch GPS with Bluetooth

2007-08-09T22:55:00.000-07:00

Category: Consumer Electronics | Type: Product Highlights & Product Test

This watch will indicate the hour as well to you as the good way to be followed thanks to its gps integrated.
Mainwav is a company specialized in the design of products GPS which presents his MW-705 to us. It is about a watch which will act also as receiver GPS.
As a watch it is equipped with functions rather traditional (date, hour, alarm and meter) which will interest nevertheless the sportsmen for the recording of their performances.
Most interesting in this model resides rather in its functions multimedia: a Bluetooth compatibility which will enable him to be connected on a portable telephone and a receiver GPS which will reveal certainly all its potential at the time of an excursion.

News Inside News:

Availability and price
The editor does not have for the moment given any information concerning the provision of this watch, a little patience thus…

Design features
Posting OLED 1. 5 inch
Cardiac sensor pulsations, Sensor vitesse+distance, temperature gauge, countdown, alarm
GPS: Chip SiRF Star III LP
Dimensions: 69 X55X23.5 mm, weight 75g
Bluetooth 2.0 (optionel) transmission on 10 meters of signal GPS towards any compatible peripheral (PDA, smartphone)
Possible recording of position GPS
Battery: Li-ion 400 mA/h, Autonomy: in normal use 66 hours
Interface of the charger: mini USB
Resistant to water (IPX7)
Guarantee 1 year

Trust announces an audio helmet 5.1: the HS-6400

2007-08-09T22:51:00.000-07:00

Category: Controls and Controllers | Type: Product Highlights & Product Test

The HS-6400 of Trust is a helmet which promises a complete immersion in the sound environment of a film or a video play.
Trust presents the HS-6400 to us: a compatible helmet 5.1 thanks to its 6 mini loudspeakers distributed in the two ear-phones. The sound surround is reproduced using the audio decoder 5.1 embarked in the helmet without the assistance of any chart sound. A catch USB is on the other hand essential to the correct operation of this one.

It in is more equipped with a removable microphone to connect on the ear-phone of left as well as remote control accessible on the wire from the helmet. This one gathers, in addition to the buttons of control of volume and extinction, a button of commutation with which one decontaminates the helmet to send the sound towards the enclosures. Finally this helmet is adjustable in height and its ear-phones are provided with foam.

This helmet will show all its interest if you live in apartment and that you do not wish to sacrifice your musical passions to your neighbors.

News Inside News:

Availability and price
The Trust 5.1 Surround USB Headset HS-6400 is available to the prices of 50 €.

Design features
Type Tightens head
Restitution of sound 5.1
Integrated microphone
Interface USB 2.0
Orders on the cable
Food USB
Removable bearings for arrangement

NASA Tests Cars At Kennedy Space Center

2007-08-09T07:53:00.000-07:00

The new BMW Hydrogen 7 sedan uses the same fuel powering the space shuttle to reduce CO2 emissions by 90 percent, according to a news release.

"It is the high-energy density of liquid hydrogen that allows the space shuttle to be accelerated into space," said Karl Heinz Ziwica, vice president of engineering at BMW. "The same concept is used to power the BMW Hydrogen 7."

The hybrid sedan features a dual combustion engine capable of running on liquid hydrogen or regular gasoline.

It is environmentally friendly because in liquid hydrogen mode, the only exhaust is water vapor.

An insulated keg-type container in the trunk of the vehicle keeps the liquid hydrogen at -423 degrees.

Other car makers are experimenting with compressed hydrogen, which is a gas.

But, BMW said liquid hydrogen provides more power so motorists can travel 125 miles before needing a fill-up.

Some have been concerned about the explosive properties of liquid hydrogen.

"Like any fuel, it is made to burn," Klugescheid said. "So, it is a different type of safety concern than gasoline. Some are more dangerous than gasoline and some are less dangerous than gasoline."

BMW officials said that by promoting the car, they hope liquid hydrogen will some day replace gasoline.

The car's top speed is 143 mph and acceleration is from zero to 60 is 9.2 seconds.

New exoplanet 20 times Earth's size

2007-08-09T07:33:00.000-07:00

PHOENIX, Arizona (AP) -- Scientists have discovered the universe's largest known planet, a giant ball made of mostly hydrogen that is 20 times larger than Earth and circling a star 1,400 light-years away.

An illustration of the new planet, called TrES-4, with its host star.

Scientists believe the planet is 1.7 times the diameter of Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, and has a temperature of 2,300-degrees.

"There is probably not a really firm surface anywhere on the planet. You would sink into it," said Georgi Mandushev, a research scientist at Lowell Observatory and lead author of an article announcing the finding in the peer-reviewed Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Lowell, along with the California Institute of Technology's Palomar Observatory in San Diego County and telescopes operating in Spain's Canary Islands, discovered the planet circling a star in the constellation Hercules.

Lowell announced the finding Monday. Scientists first spotted the new planet, called TrES-4, and a smaller one in spring 2006. Scientists at Caltech, Harvard University and the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii later confirmed the discovery.

"It's very solid stuff," astronomer Alan Boss at the Carnegie Institution of Washington said of the discovery of TrES-4. He marveled at the planet's extremely low density, about half that of Saturn in our solar system.

"It's just letting us know that nature has some surprises for us ... a much wider range of possibility than we could imagine," Boss said.

He said scientists "can't understand why these so-called fluffy planets are so fluffy. It really is a mystery, just how they can be so low-density."

Scientists also are working on the possibility of another planet in the same constellation. "It's tough," Mandushev said. "We're not really sure what's going on there. There might actually be another planet in this field, which would be incredible."

The participating Lowell telescope is housed on top of Anderson Mesa, about 15 miles south of Flagstaff.

Lowell is best known for the 1930 discovery of Pluto, which since has been demoted from planet status.

Microsoft Hires EA Executive to Run Xbox Live

2007-08-09T07:18:00.000-07:00

Microsoft Corp. has hired another Electronic Arts Inc. executive in an effort to help support a surprisingly successful part of the Xbox group.

John Schappert, who was executive vice president at EA, will fill a new position at Microsoft as corporate vice president of Live, software and services in the Microsoft Interactive Entertainment Business. He'll oversee activities related to Xbox Live, the service that lets subscribers play games against each other online and buy content such as TV shows and arcade games.

Schappert will focus on expanding Live's online services and broadening the audience using it, Microsoft said in a statement. Live users can also do video, voice and text chat with each other.

Xbox Live is one of the best performing parts of the Xbox business, gaining subscribers faster than Microsoft expected and earning more money than the company anticipated, said Matt Rosoff, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft.

The service has more than 7 million users and has had 220 million downloads of content, including 45 million paid arcade games, Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's entertainment and devices business, said at a recent meeting with financial analysts.

The Xbox Live video marketplace has been a "pleasant surprise" for Microsoft, he said. Strong subscriber growth is expected to continue, he said.

Schappert's move follows other recent executive exchanges between EA and Microsoft. Last month Peter Moore, formerly the head of Microsoft's Xbox and Windows gaming initiatives, joined EA as president of EA Sports. Don Mattrick, a former president at EA, took his place at Microsoft. Schappert will report to Mattrick.

Moore left the company shortly after Microsoft acknowledged that some Xbox 360 consoles have a hardware problem. Microsoft took a more than US$1 billion charge related to fixing and replacing the consoles.

Astronomers Find Highly Elliptical Disk Around Young Star

2007-08-08T05:16:00.000-07:00

Category: Space | Type: Innovation & Discovery

Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope and W. M. Keck Observatory have found a lopsided debris disk around a young star known as HD 15115. As seen from Earth, the edge-on disk resembles a needle sticking out from the star.

Astronomers think the disk's odd imbalanced look is caused by dust following a highly elliptical orbit about the star. The lopsided disk may have been caused by the gravity of planets sweeping up debris in the disk or by the gravity of a nearby star.

The observations were made by Paul Kalas, James Graham, and Michael P. Fitzgerald, all from the University of California at Berkeley. Their paper appeared in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

"The lopsided disk presents a host of new challenges for theorists," said Kalas.

Debris disks are produced by dust from collisions among protoplanetary bodies, which are the building blocks of planets. These dusty disks can be affected by planets nearer to the star, much as Jupiter's gravity affects asteroids in the asteroid belt.

This discovery is consistent with models for planetary upheavals in our own solar system, where Neptune may have originally formed between Saturn and Uranus. Neptune was eventually kicked out to its present location by a gravitational dance between Saturn and Jupiter before their orbits stabilized. "Therefore, we speculate that if such a planetary upheaval were occurring around HD 15115 at the present time, it could explain the highly asymmetric disk," Kalas said.

This might happen through a powerful gravitational interaction between planets that kicks one or more planets into highly elliptical orbits, or even ejects them into interstellar space. When the planet's orbit becomes elliptical through a violent upheaval, the rest of the disk can be disturbed into an elliptical shape, according to Kalas.

Kalas also is studying whether the gravity of a star known as HIP 12545, located about 10 light-years from HD 15115, may have created the disk's lopsided shape due to a close encounter in the past.

Dusty disks are known to exist around at least 100 stars, but because of the difficulty in observing material within the glare of a star, less than a dozen have been studied closely.

HD 15115 and HIP 12545 are among nearly 30 stars that belong to the Beta Pictoris Moving Group. Moving groups are expanded clusters of stars believed to have a common birthplace and age that are traveling loosely together through space.

The dusty disk around HD 15115 was first inferred by observations at infrared wavelengths in 2000 and its existence confirmed in 2006 when the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) resolved the disk in reflected light for the first time. The disk was investigated further using Keck adaptive optics in 2006 and 2007.

"The disk was seen in the HST data, but its appearance was so extraordinary we could not be certain that it was real. It took follow-up observations at Keck to confirm that it was a real disk," Kalas said.

CONTACT

For more information, contact:

Dr. Paul Kalas
University of California, Berkeley, Calif.,
510-642-8285; kalas@astron.berkeley.edu or

Dr. Michael P. Fitzgerald
University of California,
Berkeley, Calif., 510-643-8530; fitz@astron.berkeley.edu

Apple debuts new iMac computers

2007-08-08T05:03:00.000-07:00

Apple Inc. updated its iMac computers Tuesday with a slimmer design, faster chips and glossy screens, hoping to further propel sales that already outpace the rest of the PC industry.

The all-in-one desktop computers now have aluminum casings, replacing the white plastic facade that has defined the computer lineup for years. The new iMacs will come in only 20-inch and 24-inch versions.

With starting prices at $1,199 and $1,799, respectively, the computers are also $200 to $300 cheaper than their predecessors.

Analysts have been anticipating an iMac revamp for some time from the trendsetting company. Apple last introduced a new iMac in September 2006 when it debuted the large 24-inch model.

The success of the iPod, Apple's retail stores and the company's switch to Intel-based computer chips have all helped boost the Macintosh maker's computer sales and profits to record levels. In recent quarters, Apple's sales have been growing three times faster than the rest of the PC industry.

"The iMac has been very successful for us and we want to make it even better," Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said in announcing the new products.

In the company's fiscal third quarter that ended in June, Apple shipped a record 1.76 million Macs, up 33 percent from the year-ago period, accounting for $2.5 billion, or more than 60 percent of the quarter's revenues.

More than a million of those Mac units were laptops — which also represents the fastest-growing segment across the PC industry — but most of the remainder were iMac sales, Apple officials said.

"Notebooks are where there's growth, but I think desktops still have a long life ahead," said Phil Schiller, Apple's executive vice president of worldwide marketing.

Though Apple will no longer offer its older 17-inch iMac model to the general retail market, Apple's chief operating officer, Tim Cook, said the company will continue to sell the computer to educational institutions "for a little while longer."

Apple also upgraded its so-called iLife suite of applications, with a host of new features for its photo management and video creation programs. It also updated its iWork productivity software to include a new spreadsheet program called Numbers — filling a void and perhaps providing some of its customers one less reason to have to buy from rival Microsoft Corp.

Many Mac users often buy Microsoft's Office for Mac software to be able to use Microsoft's Excel spreadsheet program, said Michael Gartenberg, a JupiterResearch analyst.

"They've raised the bar again in terms of functionality," Gartenberg said of Apple.

Shares of Apple fell 22 cents, or less than 1 percent, to $135.03. In extended trading, shares gained 69 cents.