Technology Spot

Sony trims price of PlayStation Vita,

2013-02-19T01:53:00.000-08:00

In Japan, gamers can now choose from silver, white, black, red, and blue PS Vitas.

(Credit: Sony Computer Entertainment Japan)

With a little less than 48 hours to go before the world gets a glimpse at the PlayStation 4, there's some news for the PS Vita coming out of Japan today.

Sony announced that the company lowered and equalized the price point for the Wi-Fi and 3G/Wi-Fi-versions of the PS Vita to 19,980 yen ($212) from 24,980 yen ($265) and 29,980 yen ($319), respectively. Sony didn't carry the announcement over to the U.S., but it's possible that the company may use a portion of its PlayStation event in New York on February 20 to announce a similar price cut.

Naturally, those prices depend on currency conversions and don't represent the effect of a Vita price cut in the States, which could see prices for the handheld fall to $199 or less.

In related news, Sony introduced a new color,Ice Silver, for the PS Vita. The Wi-Fi-only gaming device features the same innards as a regular Vita and hits Japan on February 28.

These announcements came way by a video feed shown to Japanese consumers today. The video contained many previews for upcoming Vita titles, including highly-anticipated role-playing games such as Valhalla Knights 3, Eiyuu Densetsu: Sen no Kiseki, Dragon's Crown, and several others.

This long-awaited preview of Final Fantasy X HD for Vita generated a lot of buzz:

Lenovo IdeaPad YOGA

2013-02-02T07:04:00.004-08:00

The biggest hardware trend marking the launch of Windows 8 is the proliferation of touch-screen laptop/tablet hybrids. Some have screens that pull apart to become separate tablets, while others have screens that flip, twist, or rotate to give you a tabletlike shape to hold. We call those latter models convertible laptops, and one of the best examples to date is the new Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13.

The name Yoga is suggestive of the system's big selling point, that the display flips fully over to become a tablet. In fact, it has four basic usable positions -- clamshell laptop, tablet, stand, and tent.

The reason the Yoga stands out from the suddenly crowded touch-screen laptop scene is that it does something other convertible or hybrid laptops do not. When set up as a traditional laptop, the 13.3-inch Yoga doesn't compromise the all-important clamshell experience. The excellent double-hinge design means that it looks and works the same as any other ultrabook laptop, unlike the complex and often clunky mechanisms in systems such as the HP Envy x2,Sony Vaio Duo 11, or Dell XPS 12.

The Yoga works best as a full-time laptop and part-time tablet, because when it's folded back into a slate, you still have the keyboard pointing out from the back of the system. Although the keyboard and touch pad are deactivated in this mode, it's still not ideal. Plus, despite the hype, Windows 8 is still not a 100-percent tablet-friendly OS, and there are some frustrations that span all the Windows 8 tablet-style devices we've tested.

The Yoga certainly seems to be everyone's choice for a great Windows 8 ambassador -- both Microsoft and Intel have touted it as a best-in-class example, and Best Buy is currently featuring it in a television ad. At $1,099, you're paying a bit of a premium, but not outrageously so, for an Intel Core i5/8GB RAM/128GB solid-state drive (SSD) configuration (note that our early review unit had only 4GB of RAM installed), but a less expensive Core i3 version starts at $999. If I had to pick a single first-wave Windows 8 convertible touch-screen laptop, the Yoga would be at the top of my list.

Price as reviewed / starting price	$1,099 / $999
Processor	1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U
Memory	4GB, 1,600MHz DDR3
Hard drive	500GB 5,400rpm
Chipset	Intel HM77
Graphics	Intel HD 4000
Operating system	Windows 8
Dimensions (WD)	13.1x8.9 inches
Height	0.67 inch
Screen size (diagonal)	13.3 inches
Category	13-inch

Design, features, and display
Despite its reputation as a maker of buttoned-down business laptops, Lenovo can always be counted on to produce intriguing designs. Most of those end up, like the Yoga, as part of the company's consumer-targeted IdeaPad line of products.

We've seen similar attempts at laptops that can double as tablets over the years, usually with a rotating center hinge that swivels around to let the device change forms (or more recently with a screen that slides down over the keyboard). Before Windows 8, most of these experiments weren't particularly successful, thanks to a combination of poor design, underpowered components, and an operating system that wasn't touch-friendly.

The other problem with those traditional convertibles has been that the single rotating center hinge was a potential weak point in the design. Lenovo says the Yoga's full-length hinge has been rigorously tested and is stronger than the older rotating convertible design, and in practice that definitely seems to be the case.

When opened into its clamshell position, the Yoga would be tough to pick out of a lineup of recent ultrabooks. The minimalist interior is dominated by a large buttonless clickpad, along with a island-style Lenovo keyboard, which means the flat-topped keys have a small curve along their bottom edges for easier typing.

As good as Lenovo's reputation is for excellent keyboards, I had a surprisingly amount of trouble with the Yoga's keyboard. I narrowed most of my issues down to the half-size right Shift key, which meant I often hit the up arrow when aiming for Shift. The end result was a lot of frustration and retyping, but after a few days one would naturally adjust to this specific layout. The touch pad is the same as you'd find in other clickpad Lenovos, including the recent high-end X1 Carbon. It offers plenty of space for multifinger gestures, but isn't as effective for manipulating the touch-centric Windows 8 UI as a finger would be.

When you flip the Yoga's screen back, the physical keyboard doesn't disappear from view, as it does on most other convertible laptop/tablet combos, but it does get automatically disabled. A slightly raised layer of leather over the wrist rest and keyboard tray lets you rest the tablet on a table, keyboard-side down, without worrying too much about damaging the keys. Some buttons have been moved to the sides so they can be accessed no matter how the system is folded, and the outer shell has a soft-touch coating for easy gripping. While the Yoga isn't particularly comfortable to hold in tablet form, as your fingers are pressing up against the exposed keyboard and the touch pad, you do get easy access to a volume rocker along one edge and a rotation lock button along the other.

Beyond the slate mode, I especially liked the stand or sharing mode, where the screen is folded back 270 degrees or more, turning the system into something like a small touch-screen kiosk. It's great for sharing video or presentations in a group setting, or for just getting closer to the screen while keeping the keyboard out of the way.

Its fourth position is standing upright like a tent, but I can't think of too many reasons you'd want that.

In any of these positions, the Yoga is well-served by its 13.3-inch display, which has a native resolution of 1,600x900 pixels. That's arguably the perfect resolution for a 13-inch laptop, giving you plenty of screen real estate without making onscreen text appear too small, as can happen with 1,920x1,080-pixel resolutions on smaller systems. Off-axis viewing angles are great, and unlike with some Windows 8 convertibles stuck with 1,366x768-pixel screen resolutions, you don't feel like you're paying a premium price for a substandard feature.

	Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13	Average for category [13-inch]
Video	HDMI	HDMI or DisplayPort
Audio	Stereo speakers, combo headphone/microphone jack	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
Data	1 USB 3.0, 1 USB 2.0, SD card reader	2 USB 3.0, 1 USB 2.0, SD card reader
Networking	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
Optical drive	None	DVD burner

Connectivity, performance, and battery life
Even for an ultrabook, this is not among the most connected laptops you'll find. There's a pair of USB ports, one 3.0, one 2.0, and it has an HDMI port, a combo audio jack, and an SD card slot. The lack of built-in Ethernet is understandable, but this is the first laptop in a long while I've seen with only one USB 3.0 port.

Samsung Galaxy S4 a no-show at Mobile World

2013-02-02T06:58:00.001-08:00

Samsung Electronics wants the spotlight all to itself for the Galaxy S4.

The Korean electronics giant will be holding off on any major announcements at Mobile World Congress later this month, according to a person familiar with its launch plans. As with last year, Samsung will likely hold its own separate event to launch the latest iteration of its flagship Galaxy S franchise.

The move is a continuation of the broader trend of larger technology companies utilizing their own events for major product announcements. Rather than battle through the noise of competing news, a solo event allows the product to get the full attention of consumers and media. Over the past year or so, Microsoft and Samsung have dramatically reduced their presence at trade shows, following in the footsteps of Apple.

BlackBerry just launched its next-generation smartphone at its own event this week, and HTC will hold an event a week before Mobile World Congress.

Last year, Samsung launched the Galaxy S3 at its own event in May, just days before the CTIAWireless conference. The move made for a relatively quiet trade show.

Over the past few years, Samsung has made frighteningly quick progress in establishing its Galaxy S franchise as one equal to Apple's iPhone. The latest Galaxy S device now garners the same amount of interest and hype as Apple's marquee smartphone, and the media will flock to wherever the company decides to hold an event.

That's a far cry from its start with the original Galaxy S, which ultimately was tweaked into four separate versions for each of the four national U.S. carriers. The Galaxy S3, as well as the Galaxy Note 2 were both sold by all four carriers unaltered.

While Samsung is the top smartphone manufacturer in the world, it recently lost its U.S. crown to Apple thanks to strong sales of the iPhone 5. Samsung will look to regain its title with the Galaxy S4.

Mobile World Congress kicks off in Barcelona, Spain, in the last week of February, and will still feature plenty of announcements from the likes of Nokia and Huawei.

BloggerGamer

2013-02-01T01:54:00.004-08:00

If you want to read more and nice article you go to Blogger Gamer and you will be able to read more articles hope you will definetly visit the site.

Microsoft's tablet blip versus Android's boom

2013-02-01T01:31:00.001-08:00

As Android tablet shipments surge, probably the best thing that can be said about Microsoft is that it's not going away.

Android tablet shipments totaled about 30 million in the fourth quarter, IDC reported today. And that number (total market) jumps to 50 million if you throw in Apple's iPad.

"There is no question that Microsoft is in this tablet race to compete for the long haul," an IDC analyst said today in a statement, trying to put Microsoft's tablet debut into perspective.

In fact, that's probably about as positive a statement that can be made at the moment.

Then this: "Reaction to the company's Surface with Windows RT tablet was muted at best," IDC added.

So, how does that compare with other major vendors just entering the market? Amazon shipped about 4.7 million Kindle Fire tablets in the fourth quarter of 2011 when that $199 tablet debuted.Muted in this case amounts to 900,000 units shipped "into the channel."

And Asus, which makes Google's Nexus 7 tablet, shipped 3.1 million tablets in the fourth quarter of 2012, the quarter after the Nexus 7's debut. Many if not most of those are undoubtedly the Nexus 7.

Throw in the market totals that IDC reported today (Amazon shipped about 6 million last quarter and Samsung almost 8 million) and it's clear that Android tablets are not only leaving a bigger footprint in the market but are even eroding Apple's share.

That leaves Microsoft, for now, as a blip amid an Android boom.

How does Microsoft gain on Android? Lowering prices might help.

"We believe that Microsoft and its partners need to quickly adjust to the market realities of smaller screens and lower prices," IDC said.

And what about the long haul? "In the long run, consumers may grow to believe that high-end computing tablets with desktop operating systems are worth a higher premium than other tablets," IDC added.

That could indeed be a long haul.

Will Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 Surface Pro with laptop-like performance sell in large numbers? We'll see. But with a starting price of $899, it's certainly not a bargain compared with Android tablets.

Nokia begins work on graphene, world's strongest material

2013-02-01T01:29:00.002-08:00

A model of a sheet of graphene.

(Credit: Swedish Academy of Sciences)

Forget diamonds, graphene is now the world's hardest material. And all sorts of developers most likely want to get their hands on it.

Nokia looks to be ahead of the game in this graphene race. The Finnish mobile-phone maker announced today that it was one of the recipients of a $1.35 billion grant from the European Union to do research and development on the supermaterial over the next 10 years.

"Nokia is proud to be involved with this project, and we have deep roots in the field -- we first started working with graphene already in 2006," Nokia's CTO Henry Tirri said in a statement. "Since then, we have come to identify multiple areas where this material can be applied in modern computing environments. We've done some very promising work so far, but I believe the greatest innovations have yet to be discovered."

Besides being the hardest substance in the world -- 300 times stronger than steel -- graphene has all sorts of other noteworthy qualities. It is also the thinnest object ever obtained by man -- measuring just one atom thick -- and the lightest. It is made of a 2D crystal and looks a bit like scotch tape, only infinitely thinner. Graphene is also transparent, bendable, and a far better conductor than copper.

If Nokia is successful in its development of the material, it will be able to build cell phones that are extremely light, durable, and less susceptible to overheating.

"When we talk about graphene, we've reached a tipping point. We're now looking at the beginning of a graphene revolution," Jani Kivioja, a research leader at Nokia Research Center, said in the statement. "Before this point in time, we figured out a way to manufacture cheap iron that led to the Industrial Revolution. Then there was silicon. Now it's time for graphene."

Here is a video by Cambridge University about the properties of graphene:

A new BlackBerry tablet? Don't bet on it

2013-02-01T01:27:00.000-08:00

Don't hold your breath for a sequel to the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.

Speaking to the press yesterday during the BlackBerry 10 launch event, CEO Thorsten Heins wasn't particularly upbeat about tablets.

"The tablet business is rather difficult," he conceded.

Indeed, the tablet market has seen a lot of entrants, but only a few winners. While Apple's iPad franchise continues to dominate, its market share is eroding to only a few players, including Google's Nexus 7, Amazon's Kindle Fire franchise, and a few of the Samsung Electronics tablets. But that doesn't leave a lot of room for a company like BlackBerry (formerly Research in Motion), which is struggling to claw its way back into the smartphone business.

"Personally, I think it's pretty futile at this point," said Jan Dawson, an analyst at Ovum. "Like Apple, (BlackBerry) really has to make its margin on the device, but it can't charge a premium like Apple."

Heins said as much when he said that he was only interested in pursuing areas that were profitable, indicating he doesn't see much money to be made in the tablet business right now.

BlackBerry, of course, had been burned pretty badly with its first tablet in April 2011. ThePlayBook was a favorite project for then co-CEO Mike Lazaridis that ended up as a major embarrassment for the company when it launched. It was the first device to use the QNX operating system, which is what BlackBerry 10 is based upon, but lacked critical features such as BlackBerry Messenger and e-mail.

BlackBerry steadily updated the software for the PlayBook, filling in missing features, and heavily discounted the product, resulting in an increasing trickle of sales. The company shipped 255,000 PlayBooks in the fiscal third quarter, a paltry number by normal standards, but impressive given that the product is nearly two years old.

Heins said BlackBerry was working on a BlackBerry 10 update for the PlayBook, although he didn't specify when it would come out.

Former co-CEO Mike Lazaridis and the BlackBerry PlayBook.

(Credit: CNET)

He also opened the door to BlackBerry potentially building tablets to address specific industries, but from the looks of it, those plans are just that. He talked about the potential to sell additional services to that industry.

"We want to provide a value proposition that isn't just hardware, but software too," he said.

But it's unclear whether businesses would even want to use a BlackBerry tablet, especially with tablets running Windows 8 starting to come in to the market. Despite a large presence in the business world, the company doesn't have experience catering its products for individual industries, also known as verticals.

"(BlackBerry) has no real credibility as a vertical provider," Dawson said. "It's never done anything vertical specific before and most industries can see through superficial verticalization pretty easily."

Heins is taking a look at this area because the consumer market for tablets looks even more frightening to a company in BlackBerry's position.

Sony playstation3 slim

2012-09-24T03:01:00.001-07:00

More affordable $299 price; slimmer, more compact design with quieter operation; all games in high-definition; easy-to-use interface; doubles as a Blu-ray and upscaling DVD player; built-in Wi-Fi; spacious hard drive; HDMI output with 1080p support; no external power supply; built-in Web browser; free online gaming service.
Lacks backward support for PS2 games; no infrared port means non-Bluetooth universal remotes aren't compatible; online gaming, media, and commerce options still aren't as fully developed as Xbox Live, though they're getting better.
With a smaller design, more energy-efficient operation, lower price tag, and built-in Blu-ray and multimedia capabilities, the PS3 Slim delivers a compelling package for an affordable price.

Photo gallery:
Sony PlayStation 3 Slim

Back in 2004, four years after first launching the PlayStation 2, Sony brought out a new, much more compact PS2. Timed to come out just as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was hitting stores, theredesigned console helped breath new life into the PS2 franchise. It remains on store shelves today--you can pick one up for just $99.

Needless to say, Sony hopes that a trimmed down--and less expensive--PS3 Slim will similarly invigorate sales of the PlayStation 3, which has lagged behind the Nintendo Wii and the Microsoft Xbox 360 and has taken some of the luster off the PlayStation brand (even as earlier versions of the PS3 received high marks from this publication). To many industry observers, the Slim PS3 represents a moment of reckoning for the PS3--a chance at redemption if you will--and clearly some serious engineering has gone into the creation of Sony's latest black gaming box and media player.

Versions
As of spring 2011, Sony is offering three main models of the PlayStation 3 system, which we've outlined below. Additionally, other PS3 bundles are offered by specific retailers and will often include a game or accessory pack-in. The most notable difference between all of these models is the internal-hard-drive capacity.

PlayStation 3 Slim (160GB): The current baseline PS3 model offers a 160GB hard drive, and sells for $300.

PlayStation 3 Slim (320GB): The $350 version of the PS3 doubles the hard drive size.

PlayStation 3 Move Bundle (320GB): Priced at $400, the PlayStation 3 Move Bundle includes a PS3 with a 320GB hard drive, a PlayStation Eye camera, a PlayStation Move controller, and a copy of Sports Champions.

Design and features
If you're a fan of the PS3 or have been sitting on the fence, waiting for its price to drop to $299, the good news is that from a features standpoint, the 120GB Slim PS3 is nearly identical to the80GB and the 160GB "fat" PS3 models that Sony's in the process of phasing out. Aside from losing the capability to install another OS (Linux) on your PS3, nothing much else has changed. You still get built-in Wi-Fi connectivity (the Xbox 360 Wi-Fi adapter is a $100 add-on accessory), two USB ports for plugging in external storage devices and charging the PS3's Bluetooth wireless controller (one DualShock 3 controller comes with the Slim), and the same built-in Profile 2.0 Blu-ray player with BD-Live capabilities.

Like its predecessor, the Slim also supports playback of MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4/h.264 video files from USB or disc-based media, as well as JPEG image viewing (the slideshow functionality is quite impressive). Like the Xbox 360, the PS3 can act as a digital media hub, with the ability to stream content from any DLNA-compatible network device, including PCs and network attached hard drives. And you also get a built-in Web browser (optional Bluetooth keyboards are available), which is serviceable, though not as good as any of the major browsers available for PCs.

Around back, you'll find an Ethernet jack, an HDMI output (no cable included), an optical digital audio output (SPDIF), and the proprietary PlayStation AV output for analog audio and video. A composite AV cable ships with the unit, and because it uses the same connector as the PlayStation 2, that system's S-Video and component cables should work with it, as well (to get HD video, you'll need component or HDMI).

The bad news is that Sony didn't add new features to the Slim. Alas, while we didn't think the company would be nice enough to throw in an IR receiver so you could control the PS3 with a standard IR universal remote, Sony has eschewed IR again. Also, if you're pining to play your collection of PS2 games on Slim, you'll be disappointed to note that backward capability remains a thing of the past (the option only existed only on some of the earlier PS3 systemsSony released).

The story here, then, is all about design, and it's generally a good one. For starters, the Slim is 33 percent smaller and 36 percent lighter than its predecessors, and it really does look significantly more compact when you put it up against the "fat" PS3. Beauty, of course, is in the eye of the beholder, and many people, including this reviewer, think the Slim's new frame is fairly fetching.

Yet, we've also heard people say that the new "textured," or matte, finish gives the system a cheaper look. Maybe so, but pick the Slim up and it feels quite substantial. And while we're sure Sony doesn't want people referring to the Slim using adjectives like cheap (except when it comes to the price tag), the company does want this PS3 to appear more "casual" and appeal to a wider audience

Windows 8 will refresh your PC without losing your data

2012-01-08T03:40:00.000-08:00

Due to appear in the Windows 8 beta that will debut next month, the refresh option makes good on Microsoft's earlier promise that it would give users an easy way to restore Windows in the event of a problem.

As described in yesterday's Building Windows 8 blog by Desmond Lee, a program manager on Microsoft Fundamentals team, the new OS will actually offer two ways to bring Windows back to factory condition:

• The refresh option will keep all personal data, important settings, and Metro style apps, and then reinstall Windows.

• The reset option will securely remove all data, settings, and applications, and then reinstall Windows.

Refreshing Windows would typically be the first option to try if the OS isn't behaving properly. And it's one that Microsoft promises will be completely automated, meaning there's no need to back up your files or settings beforehand.

To accomplish this, your PC boots up into Windows RE (Recovery Environment), saves your data and settings, installs a fresh copy of Windows 8, restores your data and other content, and then restarts into the fresh new OS. Most key settings are preserved with the exception of file type associations, display settings, and Windows Firewall settings.

Of course, there is one another gotcha. The refresh option will preserve your Metro apps, but not your standard desktop apps. According to Lee, Microsoft nixed the idea of restoring desktop applications for a few reasons.

A single desktop app could be the cause of the initial problem. Certain desktop apps leave no trace of how they were installed, making it difficult to restore them. And unlike Metro apps, Windows has no direct knowledge of the many different installer technologies often used by third-party applications.

As a workaround, Microsoft will offer a manual way to create an image of your existing Windows environment, desktop apps included. But this is something you'd have to run on a regular basis to ensure that all newly installed desktop applications are part of the image.

Microsoft's 'avoid ghetto' GPS patent

2012-01-08T03:38:00.000-08:00

The gist of it seems to be that Microsoft's GPS--which will reportedly be inserted into Windows Phones in the future--will use input from more varied and up-to-date sources in order to create suggested routes.

Among these sources are crime statistics. Which has led some to the thought that this will somehow be an insult to poor neighborhoods.

What is unclear, at least from my reading of the patent--which isn't written by anything resembling a human hand or mind--is what kind of crime statistics the GPS might choose to use.

It's one thing to avoid areas where there might have occurred physical assaults and gunfire. It's another to avoid, say, places where burglaries are popular, as one suspects quite a few allegedly nice areas are subject to burglars' desires.

With some areas, past performance isn't a guarantee of future results. What if someone using a route from this system does get mugged, shot, assaulted, or robbed? Would they feel entitled to sue Microsoft because the route was supposed to be "ghetto-free"?

The patent talks about the quality of the information. But quality is a subjective notion, so one wonders just whose assessment of quality will be deemed significant.

The patent also holds within it some other little gems. It seeks to help the pedestrian avoid "harsh temperatures." Some people like harsh temperatures, but this system will also store people's pedestrian information to offer, one assumes, a more personalized heat-level for the route.

How personalized should it be, though? My eyes perform slightly odd twitches when I read this sentence from the patent: "Various features can integrate with route presentment, such as integrating an advertisement targeted to a pedestrian with a direction set."

Is this suggesting that Windows Phones will give pedestrians a route that will take them past specific ads? What a curious and slightly mind-altering thought.

One wonders whether those who use the system might also be offered an "avoid ads" option

Google tablet that will challenge Kindle

2012-01-08T03:36:00.001-08:00

That's according to DigiTimes, which reported today that sources in Google's upstream supply chain believe the tablet could be positioned to challenge Amazon's 7-inch Kindle Fire. The sources expect the Androidtablet to arrive in the spring at a price below $299 to compete with Amazon.

The report comes a few weeks after Google Chairman Eric Schmidt allegedly told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that the company plans to "market a tablet of the highest quality" in the next six months. It's possible that the newspaper misunderstood or misquoted Schmidt, but Google has refused to clarify his comments.

However, this rumor should be taken with a grain of salt as the Taiwan news site already has a shaky reputation for accuracy; sources have told it three different tablet suspicions in as many weeks.

The tech blog reported in mid December that Apple would "likely" launch a 7.85-inch tablet in the fourth quarter of 2012 to compete with Amazon's Android-based tablet. The site then reported last week that Apple would unveil two 9.7-inch versions later this month at the Macworld|iWorld conference--a report that was largely rebuffed by the many tech observers.

Kindle fire kill the 500$ tab.

2011-11-12T22:33:00.000-08:00

Will Amazon's $199 Kindle Fire reset the tablet market, rendering the $500 tablet obsolete?

Let me preempt any challenges from Apple iPad folks. Yeah, I know, Apple will continue to sell the iPad at $499, $599, and $699. And, yes, Apple is slated to ship more than 12 million iPad 2s in the current quarter. Android rivals like Motorola's Xoom or Toshiba's Thrive aren't even close.

With that out of the way, the most immediate impact will be on the pricey Android guys. "I think [the Kindle Fire] resets the bar," Carter Nicholas, CEO of market researcher eDataSource told CNET this week.

To expand on Nicholas' argument, why buy a $500 Xoom if you can get most of what you need from a $199 Fire or a $199 Samsung Galaxy Tab? Or a $249 Nook Tablet? Or a 10-inch Lenovo IdeaPad for $349.99?

But I'm guessing that the longer-term impact will be on Apple too, as immune as it seems today to price pressure--despite these results from a recent CNET poll (44 percent said they're sticking with the iPad).

We may not see the impact on Apple--the torchbearer for $500-and-up tablets--until late next year or even 2013, but it's as inevitable as the $999 MacBook Air. Remember, the MacBook Air started at the $1,800 to $3,000 price range and stayed in rarefied pricing tiers for a couple of years.

No, the iPad is not the Air but it competes with low-end laptops as well as the cheaper tablets. (Even the iPhone 4's pricing with a carrier contract is $99 now.)

And I think this will go beyond downstreaming old iPads. At some point, even a new $500 iPad 3 or iPad 4, not to mention a $700 one, is going to seem too pricey for iPad owners who aren't necessarily wedded to Apple products.

But until that day comes--however distant--here's the latest crop of alternatives to the iPad and pricey Android tablets. These tablets are already doing their part to hasten the demise of the $500 tablet.

Sub-$350 tablets:

Will Netflix comeback start tomorrow?

2011-10-24T04:07:00.000-07:00

For the past three months, Netflix managers have fumbled and bumbled their way into one controversy after another. They could help end the slump tomorrow when the Web's top video-rental service is due to report third-quarter earnings after the close of trading.

Much of the attention will be on the number of U.S. subscribers. Managers initially projected 25 million subscribers, but after announcing an unpopular price hike, they later lowered estimates to 24 million. Those figures may have taken another hit after CEO Reed Hastings announced two weeks before the quarter's end that he had decided tosplit the company into two separate services, a plan that was later canceled.

To meet financial expectations, Netflix must report quarterly revenue of around $800 million and a profit of about 94 cents a share, according to a poll of analysts by Thomson Reuters. Wall Street seems to be betting Netflix will make good. The company's shares closed trading on Friday up 5 percent to $117.04. A Netflix spokesman wasn't immediately available for comment.

If Netflix hits its numbers and offers a moderately rosy picture for the fourth quarter (remember, Hastings said in July that Netflix could see its first $1 billion quarter in Q4), then Hastings could seize an opportunity to show that this is still a growth company and begin to silence his critics. It's hard to believe that Hastings, the man who toppled Blockbuster and one of tech's marquee managers, is now fielding questions about whether he has considered resigning.

"Not for a second," Hastings recently told The New York Times. "I founded Netflix...I've built it steadily over 12 years now, first with DVD becoming profitable in 2002, a head-to-head ferocious battle with Blockbuster, and evolving the company toward streaming. This is the first time there have been material missteps. If you look at the cumulative track record, it's extremely positive."

How to add a back to top button in php template

2011-10-19T07:52:00.000-07:00

First of all, create and upload an image you want to use to your WordPress ftp, and save the url to it’s location.
Secondly, log into your dashboard and click on Editor, then Header.php.
Look for the following code:
</head>
<body>
If the body element already has an id, copy that id name, but if it does not, give it an id by changing it to the following and save your template:
<body id=”top”>
Now, go to your Footer.php and find the following code
<p> class=”art-page-footer”></p>
</div>
Directly after that code, add this code:
<div>
<a style=”display:scroll;position:fixed;bottom:10px;right:10px;” href=”#top“><img
src=”THE URL TO YOUR IMAGE HERE”/></a>
</div>
Change the URL to your actual image url, and you can change the position on the screen by changing the red elements above.
Make sure, that if your Header.php already had an id associated with the body, that you replace “#top” to that id instead making sure to keep the # and quotation marks.
Save your template, and you are all done!
If you also want to add a text link to the bottom of your posts, all you need to do is add the code below to the bottom of each post that you write (just make sure that you are in HTML mode and not Visual):
<a href=”#top”>Back to Top</a>

Apple is going up

2011-10-17T07:18:00.000-07:00

Apple said that it sold 4 million iPhone 4S units worldwide between Friday and Sunday. According to Apple senior vice president for worldwide product marketing, Phil Schiller, that figure is "more than double the iPhone 4launch during its first three days." Last year, Apple announced that it sold 1.7 million iPhone 4 units in the smartphone's first weekend of availability.

That said, it's worth noting that at least in the U.S., the iPhone 4S had a bit of an advantage over the iPhone 4. When Apple shipped the iPhone 4 last year, the device was available only to AT&T customers. The handset then came to Verizon Wireless earlier this year and Sprint last week. The iPhone 4S, however, launched with availability on Sprint's and Verizon's networks, in addition to AT&T's service.

Apple's iPhone 4S, which launched on Friday, features the same design as the iPhone 4, but adds several improvements, including a dual-core processor, 8-megapixel camera, and full 1080p HD video recording. The device also ships with support for virtual personal assistant application, Siri.

Last week, several analysts chimed in on how many unit sales they expected Apple to sell over the weekend. The majority of those folks said that sales would likely hit between 2 million units and 3 million units. However, the Yankee Groupthought sales could hit 4 million units.

"The biggest factor driving this is the huge loyalty associated with Apple phones," Yankee Group analyst Carl Howe said. "They have the highest loyalty of any of the smartphone OSes."

For the first time, Sprint was a beneficiary of that. The company reported on Fridaythat as of 10 a.m. PT, it had witnessed a record sales day. But it wasn't alone: by 1:30 p.m. PT, AT&T said that it had activated a record number of iPhones.

The success of the iPhone 4S in its first weekend of availability seems to eliminate all doubt over consumer reactions to the device. Earlier this month, when Apple unveiled the new iPhone, the company was expected to show off the iPhone 5, as well. That device, rumors suggested, would be the major update consumers were expecting. After it wasn't revealed, however, many called the event a disappointment. But the smartphone's early sales figures seem to prove that many consumers had a much different reaction to the smartphone.

It also appears that some folks are moving to the iPhone 4S from other platforms. In an informal poll Reuters conducted on Friday, the news service found that nearly 25 percent of iPhone 4S buyers were ditching a BlackBerry OS-, Symbian-, or Android-based smartphone for Apple's latest device.

Aside from the iPhone 4S, Apple also said that 25 million users have already started using its new mobile operating system version, iOS 5, and 20 million folks have signed up for iCloud.

Although 20 million iCloud users is impressive in its own right, some analysts believe the service will grow to much greater heights in the future. Over the summer, RBC Capital Markets released a study that found 76 percent of the 1,500 iPhone users it polled planned to sign up for iCloud. By applying that percentage to the entire market, the firm said that it believes as many as 150 million users could sign up for iCloud eventually.

Samsung is jealous toward i4

2011-10-17T07:16:00.000-07:00

After losing an important patent battle with Apple in Australia last week, the company has now fired back with Apple's new iPhone4S in its crosshairs.

Samsung today filed an injunction request in an Australia court, saying that Apple's iPhone 4S, which launched on Friday, violates wireless patents it holds. According to ZDNet Australia, a CNET sister site, Samsung argues that Apple's new smartphone (in addition to the iPhone 4 and iPad 2) violate three patents in Australia. In a similar suit filed today in Japan, Samsung argues that those devices violate four of its patents.

In Australia, the patents relate to the use of wireless technology, including WCDMA and HSPA, in mobile devices. According to ZDNet Australia, the patents in the Japanese suit relate to HSPA and user-interface elements.

Apple launched its iPhone 4S on Friday. The device features the same exterior design as its predecessor, the iPhone 4, but comes with a host of improvements, including a dual-core processor and an 8-megapixel camera. The device is running Apple's latest operating system release, iOS 5.

That ruling came just before a U.S. District Court judge in Northern California said that Samsung's devices violate patents that Apple holds in the U.S., but the iPhone maker must prove that the patents it holds are, in fact, valid. So far, no injunction has been ordered in the U.S.

Last week's rulings are just the latest setbacks for Samsung and its mobile products. In the Netherlands, the company has been forced to rework its Galaxy S, Galaxy S II, and Ace smartphones, so it can continue selling the devices after a court ruled they violated Apple patents. In Germany, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 has been barred from sale due to alleged infringement on Apple patents.

But in Australia in particular, Samsung seemingly believes that the best defense is a good offense. Prior to this latest filing, the company took aim at Apple's iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4, arguing that those devices violate patents it holds.

Neither Samsung nor Apple immediately responded to CNET's request for comment on the latest lawsuit.

Tablets

2011-10-10T01:52:00.000-07:00

Lenovo and Best Buy are the latest to bring down pricing, selling the 10-inch Lenovo IdeaPad K1 tablet with 32GBtoday and Monday for $329, down from $499. And that 10-inch tablet comes with a dual-core Nvidia processor and Android 3.1.

At Best Buy, HTC also recently knocked down the 7-inch HTC Flyer to $299 from $499. This happened--probably not coincidentally--right after the $199 Amazon Kindle Fire was announced--which is selling briskly, thank you.

RIM and Best Buy have also been testing the $299 price-point waters for the 7-inch BlackBerry PlayBook, $200 off the regular price. As of Sunday, it's back up to $499. But that price seems almost fanciful now.

And India's $60 Android tablet--albeit with very-low-end features--offers a whole new take on tablet pricing.

Tablet price reality check:

HP TouchPad (10-inch, WebOS): sold at fire-sale for $99.99 (16GB), reduced from $499.
Amazon Kindle Fire (7-inch, Android): $199.99 (8GB).
BlackBerry PlayBook (7-inch, QNX): periodically on sale for $299.99 (16GB), reduced from $499.
Lenovo K1 (10-inch, Android): on sale for $329.99 (32GB), reduced from $499 (Sunday, Monday only).
HTC Flyer (7-inch, Android) : $299.99 (16GB), reduced from $499.
Asus Eee Pad Transformer (10-inch, Android): regular price of $399 (16GB).
Acer Iconia (7-inch, Android) : $329.99 (8GB).
Toshiba Thrive (10-inch, Android): $399.99 (16GB).

But don't expect Apple's iPad to come down in price anytime soon. It still starts at $499.99 and is still listed as a top seller at Best Buy and Amazon.

That doesn't mean Apple is invulnerable of course. A future 10-inch Amazon tablet priced aggressively could put pressure on Apple. "Amazon is already working with Foxconn to develop a direct competitor to Apple with a 10-inch display," said Ashok Kumar, an analyst at Rodman & Renshaw. "Potentially they could come up with some disruptive pricing. For that, I think Apple would have to react," he said.

That may be wishful thinking though. Apple is famous for sticking to its price guns. Kumar suggests one scenario, however, where Apple reduces the price on an older iPad, similar to what it has done withe iPhone 3GS.

iPhone 4s is coming

2011-10-07T08:36:00.000-07:00

Amid this morning's iPhone 4S preorder meltdown on Apple's online store, the company quietly announced that an unlocked version of the device is coming next month.

Beneath the options to get the iPhone 4S on either AT&T, Sprint, or Verizon, the company teased that users can also wait until November to get an unlocked and contract-free version of the device.

"The unlocked iPhone works only on supported GSM networks, such as AT&T in the U.S.," Apple says in its description. "When you travel internationally, you can also use a micro-SIM card from a local GSM carrier. The unlocked iPhone 4 will not work with CDMA carriers such as Verizon Wireless or Sprint."

Apple began offering a similar unlocked version of the iPhone 4 in June, though made no mention of such an offering during Tuesday's unveiling.

In other countries, Apple has started taking preorders for unlocked iPhone 4S phones now. In the U.K., the phones cost 499 pounds for 16GB models, 599 pounds for 32GB, and 699 pounds for 64GB. In France and Germany, those three models cost 629 euros, 739 euros, and 849 euros, respectively.

The steve jobs

2011-10-07T08:35:00.000-07:00

In this archival photograph, Pixar CEO Steve Jobs is seen with the studio's other lead executives, Ed Catmull (left) and John Lasseter (right).

(Credit: Pixar)

There's never been a movie studio with an unbroken streak of hit movies like Pixar. From the original "Toy Story" to "Finding Nemo" to "Cars," "Ratatouille," and "Toy Story 3," the animation wizards at Pixar have won over the industry, forcing Hollywood to change how it makes films, and it's made billions in the process.

And it never would have happened without Steve Jobs.

Pixar began as a division of George Lucas' LucasFilm, working on the development of imaging technology and its own imaging computer. But inside, some were more interested in making animated films than expensive machines, and LucasFilm soon lost interest in the project.

According to "The Pixar Touch," by David Price, LucasFilm in late 1985 was on the verge of selling the unwanted division to a partnership of Philips Electronics and General Motors subsidiary Electronic Data Systems. Only a boardroom spat started by EDS founder and GM board member Ross Perot over a $5.2 billion buyout of Hughes Aircraft--and the subsequent souring of GM on anything Perot and EDS were involved in--scuttled the deal.

And along came Jobs to save the day. Brandishing a $5 million check, the Apple founder--by then kicked out of his own company--bought Pixar on January 30, 1986, setting in motion a string of events that would generate some of the best-loved films of the late 20th century and result in Disney's 2006 acquisition of Pixar for $7.4 billion. Jobs' initial $5 million purchase price, plus the additional $5 million in capital he invested in his new baby made him Disney's largest shareholder and instantly one of the most powerful people in Hollywood.

Won over
To Price, Jobs was an "accidental visionary" in the film industry. Speaking to CNET by phone Thursday, the author said that though Jobs had at first bought Pixar mainly because he was enthralled by the outfit's computer technology, he was soon won over by the passion of John Lasseter, an animator who had flamed out in an initial stint at Disney in the 1980s, but who found a home at Pixar. Lasseter, Price said, "wanted to build an animation studio, and it's a great tribute to [Jobs'] genius that he was flexible enough to put aside his original idea of being a computer company owner with Pixar [and to] turn it into the incredible artistic powerhouse it is."

This is Steve Jobs' mailbox in the Pixar mailroom, as seen in May 2010.

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET)

By now it's common knowledge that over time, Jobs held the CEO titles at both Apple and Pixar. But where he was the everyday leader at 1 Infinite Loop, he let his lieutenants--Lasseter and Ed Catmull--run things at Pixar.

Still, it may well be that Jobs' general approach to completing projects, his insistence on waiting until something was good enough to be released, was what gave Lasseter and Catmull the confidence to put in the time and energy to make so many of Pixar's films as good as they are.

"Steve Jobs was an extraordinary visionary, our very dear friend, and the guiding light of the Pixar family," said Lasseter and Catmull in a public statement upon news of Jobs' passing. "He saw the potential of what Pixar could be before the rest of us, and beyond what anyone ever imagined. Steve took a chance on us and believed in our crazy dream of making computer-animated films; the one thing he always said was to simply 'make it great.' He is why Pixar turned out the way we did and his strength, integrity, and love of life has made us all better people. He will forever be a part of Pixar's DNA."

Creating a new industry
In the 1990s, Pixar was "not the only [studio] working on [computer animation] for movies," said David Cohen, an editor at Variety. But "they were the ones that succeeded and showed everybody how to do it, both technologically and creatively, and the extent [to which] that changed the entertainment landscape is hard to overstate."

After all, Cohen explained, until "Toy Story" hit theaters in 1995, Disney had been pretty much the only maker of animated films in the United States. And based on the success of "Toy Story" and subsequent Pixar films, a whole animation industry was born in Hollywood. Today, Cohen pointed out, there's a Best Animated Feature Academy Award, meaning that there is at least one such film released a month on average. "That's a completely different world than before Pixar," Cohen said. "Would that have happened without Pixar? Well, somebody had to come along and show it could be successful."

Driving Pixar
Because Jobs had a creative team at Pixar led by Lasseter and Catmull, there was no need for him to try to drive that process. Over the years, Jobs was known to spend about a day a week at Pixar's Emeryville, Calif., headquarters, just across the Bay Bridge from San Francisco. But he most likely wasn't sitting in animation meetings, or working on scripts. "Steve's major impact was on the strategic direction of the company," Price said. "He had the crucial insight that Pixar could one day be the equal of the Walt Disney Company in animation. He made this vision a reality by overseeing the IPO of Pixar stock in 1995, a week after 'Toy Story' was released. He foresaw that if they had that capital, it would give them the independence to create a body of work and to become a brand that would become as powerful in entertainment as Disney. He was very explicit about this."

And obviously, he was able to pull off that vision. Over the years, Pixar's 12 feature films have generated about $7.2 billion worldwide, according to The-Numbers.com. And Jobs succeeded in selling the studio to Disney, a move that was celebrated within the ranks at Disney's animation house. Lasseter's and Catmull's arrival at Disney was "greeted with cheers," Price recalled. "People within Disney animation knew that the studio had fallen on terribly hard times, and that its films were not doing well. And they knew that they needed something and they rightly saw John Lasseter and Ed Catmull as their best hopes in bringing Disney animation back to life."

The entire Pixar team, with Jobs, Lasseter, and Catmull in front, photographed at studio headquarters in Emeryville, Calif., for its 20th anniversary.

(Credit: Pixar)

Yet even without the library of films and influence on the wider computer animation industry, Pixar's impact on Hollywood may still have been profound. That's due, said Cohen, to RenderMan, the computer rendering software that the company developed in 1987. Today, that software is not only used in-house at Pixar, but also at studios throughout Hollywood and the global film industry and the software alone "would have made Pixar a significant company to the movie business," Cohen said.

Still, what will always be Pixar's calling card is its long history of turning out top-quality films that make hundreds of millions of dollars--notwithstanding the mediocre reviews for 2011's "Cars 2." And the studio's ability to succeed again and again and again, when almost everyone in Hollywood falters most of the time, is likely due to the ethos that Jobs instilled there--and at Apple--that Pixar would take whatever time was necessary to get each film right.

"His experience with Pixar was representative of the same kind of acumen and vision that he showed at Apple," said Doug Seibold, president and publisher of Agate, which will soon release "I, Steve: Steve Jobs in his Own Words." "One of the things that comes up over and over again in 'I, Steve' is his belief that in order to really satisfy what people wanted, you had to look beyond what people were doing right now, and even beyond what people were telling you they wanted, in order to see the next thing."

That may manifest, Cohen explained, in Pixar's challenge to traditional Hollywood business rhythms. "The movie industry has to fill a [release] pipeline, and Steve Jobs and Pixar have not been willing to put something out just to fill a pipeline...and meet a release date," Cohen said. "They've always been willing to [wait until a film] was great. I think that's a huge challenge to Hollywood, because Hollywood doesn't run that way. James Cameron works that way [and] there's a handful of powerful auteurs that work that way, but for the most part, it's [usually] good enough, get it out the door, get it into theaters. There's a lot of settling, and [Jobs] didn't settle."

Yet, despite Pixar's tremendous success, that model may not have the lasting influence some might expect. That devotion to quality--without worrying so much about the bottom line, or tight schedules--is not compatible with most corporate structures, which is how Hollywood tends to operate. "It is very difficult for corporate environments...to adapt to the Pixar model," Cohen said, "because it's artist driven. The artists have control."

As such, Cohen lamented, "I wish I could say that all of Hollywood had looked at Steve Jobs, [at] his absolute conviction in his own vision, his passion for what he did...and determined [it would do the same]. I don't think that's remotely true."

Still, Jobs' reach in the world of film is vast, and will likely continue to grow, long after his death. His commitment to the development at Apple of devices like the iPad, as well as cloud services like iTunes and the increasing availability of streaming movies, will almost certainly be felt in consumers' living rooms and inside studios for years. "I think the influence that Steve Jobs had on Hollywood has not even been fully realized," Cohen argued. "I think we won't fully appreciate it for 10 or 15 years....He was a master of disruptive technologies. His innovations were feared as much as admired [in Hollywood], and for good reasons."

Whos-amongs-us

2011-09-29T05:28:00.000-07:00

It is a software which is very useful for us that who is see or getting information about from our site.Here are the steps which is use full for you and your blog or site.

GO TO YOUR BLOGGER DASHBOARD
THEN GO TO THE DESIGN OPTION
CLICK ON ADD A NEW WIDGETS
AND SELECT THE JAVA/HTML OPTION
PASTE THE CODES GIVEN BELOW(WITHOUT NAMING IT).

Apple's App Store a cellular data hog

2011-09-26T21:15:00.000-07:00

A recent report from Onavo, which has developed an app for tracking data usage on iOS devices, indicates that simply looking for and downloading apps from Apple's iOS App Store can chew up about 13 percent of all data consumed in a monthly data plan.

The company analyzed 8 terabytes of data it has gathered anonymously from iPhone and iPad users who have downloaded its app. While it comes as little surprise that the No. 1 data hog on the iPhone and iPad is streaming data and audio, usage of Apple's iOS App Store came in third place right behind Web browsing.

According to the report, the App Store accounts for more than 13 percent of all iPhone data usage in the U.S. each month. Three quarters of that data comes from downloads, while 24 percent is attributed to searches within the App Store.

Watching movies and listening to streaming music services, such as Pandora, accounted for about 35.3 percent of data consumed. And Web surfing ate up about 17.1 percent of usage.

Another surprising tidbit is that Facebook, which many people might assume consumes a good chunk of a monthly data plan, wasn't even in the top five apps that consumed data. After video and audio streaming, Web surfing, and Apple's iOS App Store, Google Maps consumed 8.3 percent of data, while e-mail consumed about 4.0 percent of total data. Facebook ate up only 2.8 percent of the total data for the month.

Onavo's report is interesting because it sheds some light on how real wireless subscribers are using their data plans. Understanding which applications are used most often and consume the most data is very important for consumers as wireless operators eliminate unlimited plans in lieu of usage-based data plans.

"Most people are blissfully unaware the App Store is hoovering up their data plan," Guy Rosen, co-founder and CEO of Onavo said in a statement. "iPhone users should be much more careful when downloading their Angry Birds--it's something best done at home, within the safety of Wi-Fi."

An Apple spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Onavo's report.

AT&T, which had the exclusive contract to sell the iPhone in the U.S. until February this year, was the first major wireless operator in the U.S. to move to a tiered offering for its smartphone customers. Verizon Wireless, which began selling the iPhone in February, discontinued its unlimited data service for new smartphone subscribers in July.

T-Mobile USA still offers an "unlimited" data plan, but it has begun limiting how much data its subscribers can use by slowing down service after customers hit a monthly usage threshold. AT&T has adopted this same plan for smartphone subscribers grandfathered into its unlimited data plan. And as Sprint is rumored to be getting the iPhone 5 when it's launched next month, there are some who speculate the carrier may ditch its unlimited data plan to ensure it can handle the anticipated traffic load associated with the iPhone.

Wireless operators that have put these data caps in place say that only a small percentage of their users actually exceed the defined limits. And data from companies, such as Validas, which tracks smartphone subscribers' data usage, backs up these assertions. In fact, most wireless subscribers are over-paying for data. And wireless operators say usage-based data plans are necessary to ensure that a small minority of customers don't consume more than their fair share of resources.

But one thing is clear, usage is increasing. Validas issued a report this summer that said Verizon Wireless customers have increased their usage by 150 percent over the past year. AT&T subscribers have increased usage by about 116 percent. What may be unclear and confusing to smartphone wireless subscribers, however, is what applications are actually eating up that data. Onavo executives say that is a key question that they can help consumers answer.

"Data addiction has taken hold across America, with U.S. smartphone users spending $55 billion a year," Rosen said. "Our monthly reports shine a light on where this money is going, so people can make informed choices about their data usage and save money."

Onavo has developed apps for the iOS devices as well as for the Google Android operating system. Primarily, these apps track and record how much data individual users are consuming. And they provide subscribers with the data in easy to read formats. The iPhone app also compresses certain types of data to help wireless subscribers conserve their data plans.

The app is available for iOS and Google Android devices. But the iPhone and iPad apps, which were developed before the Android app, also compress certain data to help subscribers' conserve bandwidth.

Based on the data from its first report, which included only usage from iOS users, Onavo came up with five tips to help consumers cut their mobile data bills.

Neutrinos is faster than light

2011-09-23T09:32:00.000-07:00

As part of the OPERA experiment, physicists tracked how long it takes for neutrons generated at CERN to reach a detector 730km away in Italy.

(Credit: National Institute of Nuclear Physics (ITFN) in Italy)

European physicists have measured tiny particles called neutrinos moving just faster than the speed of light--only a smidgen faster, but enough to raise a serious possibility that Einstein's physics need a major overhaul.

The scientists sent a beam of neutrinos from CERN, on the Swiss-French border near Geneva, to the INFN (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare) Gran Sasso Laboratory in central Italy, 730 kilometers (454 miles) away, in a research project called OPERA. The physicists had planned to study a rare event, the transformation of the muon variety of neutrinos into the tau variety. Instead, they found the extraordinary result that the neutrinos appeared to travel faster than the speed of light.

Under Einsteinian physics, nothing can exceed the speed of light, and so far, nothing has challenged that conclusion. At particle accelerators over the decades, subatomic particles are pushed to ever-higher speeds, but it takes ever more energy to attain each new fractional step toward the speed of light. Instead of going faster when driven with higher-energy accelerators, the particles get heavier. That phenomenon is described by Einstein's famous equation linking energy (E), mass (m), and the square of the speed of light (c): E=mc².

But over the last three years, the OPERA experiment has gathered high-precision data on exactly how long it took for the neutrinos to make a journey that should last about 2.4 thousandths of a second. The neutrinos, though, arrived about 61 billionths of a second sooner than would light traveling in a vacuum, where its speed is at a maximum.

That's about 2 thousandths of a percent faster than the speed of light--not much, but more than enough to throw a major wrench into the workings of physics if the result is validated.

The dry language of a paper, written by 174 authors, describes the result this way: "We cannot explain the observed effect in terms of presently known systematic uncertainties," referring to factors within the equipment that generates and detects the neutrinos. "Therefore, the measurement indicates an early arrival time of...muon neutrinos with respect to the one computed assuming the speed of light in vacuum."

'A complete surprise'
In the official announcement comes the more human reaction from a profession for whom the speed of light's unbreakability has been a core belief for generations.

"This result comes as a complete surprise," said Antonio Ereditato, spokesman for OPERA and a professor a the University of Bern, in a statement.

But he didn't dwell on the research's implications: "The potential impact on science is too large to draw immediate conclusions or attempt physics interpretations."

No doubt plenty of speculation will begin. But first things first: it's time for other physicists to try to figure out if the measurements could have been wrong and to see if they can be reproduced.

If the results hold up, it won't be the first time scientific beliefs have been upended. But Einstein's work has held up superbly under decades of verification and challenge.

The researchers will detail their results today at CERN, and they've published the results in a paper at Arxiv, a site for research that's not yet passed the peer-review scrutiny required for publication in academic journals.

"After many months of studies and cross checks we have not found any instrumental effect that could explain the result of the measurement. While OPERA researchers will continue their studies, we are also looking forward to independent measurements to fully assess the nature of this observation," Ereditato said.

Neutrino behavior
It's another surprise from neutrinos, particles that lack any electrical charge and that interact only rarely with anything else. For decades, physicists thought neutrinos had no mass, but in the 1990s, research showed they actually are very light.

Neutrinos constantly stream through the earth, only rarely fazed by what they encounter. The sun produces them, but people also have figured out ways; CERN does so by smashing protons into a graphite target.

The rarity of neutrino interactions makes it hard to perform scientific experiments involving them. The physicists, though, measured 16,111 neutrino interactions over three years--enough to narrow the error bars that show the statistical uncertainties that plague smaller data sets.

Much of the paper, naturally, dwells on just exactly how the scientists measured the neutrinos' time of flight. To do so, they used very precise GPS measurements and atomic clocks to sychronize timing between the two facilities. Ultimately, the distance from the neutrino source to their detection was measured with an accuracy of 20cm.

Combining it all, the researchers concluded they had enough precision in their measurements. The ultimate finding was that the neutrinos arrived in 60.7 nanoseconds, with a statistical uncertainty of only plus or minus 6.9 nanoseconds and measurement uncertainty of plus or minus 7.4 nanoseconds.

The researchers know their work isn't done when it comes to convincing the world that a supposedly unbreakable law has been broken.

"Despite the large significance of the measurement reported here and the stability of the analysis, the potentially great impact of the result motivates the continuation of our studies in order to investigate possible still unknown systematic effects that could explain the observed anomaly," the paper concludes. "We deliberately do not attempt any theoretical or phenomenological interpretation of the results."

Facebook's colonization of the Web gains steam

2011-09-23T09:31:00.001-07:00

About a year ago I wrote about Facebook's growing dominance of the social Web casting a huge shadow over the Internet of people. At that time the service had 500 million users. In his F8 keynote yesterday, Mark Zuckerberg said that as many as 500 million people used Facebook in a single day, with the total Facebook tribe approaching 800 million.

According to Experian Hitwise, Facebook had a 10 percent share of Internet visits in the U.S. for the week ending Sept. 17, followed by Google at 7 percent. Among social networks, Facebook garnered more than 65 percent share of visits, compared with YouTube at 19.5 percent for the same time period.

With the new features announced yesterday at F8, Facebook is poised to cast a bigger shadow over the Internet of people and things

With the new Open Graph and other features, Facebook is not only capturing the data of your life and delivering new kinds of social interactions and experiences on line, but also deeply entangling (in the quantum sense, one object cannot be fully described without considering the others) a large portion of humans on the planet in its service.

Zuckerberg and team are moving as fast as they can to make Facebook a place where people can live online, with every application social and tied into Facebook's matrix, or platform. "The next five years are going to be defined by the apps and depth of engagement," Zuckerberg told the F8 crowd.

"All those activities people perform with these apps -- listening to a Bjork tune, reading about same-sex marriage laws, cooking Arroz con Pollo, running four miles, donating to Amnesty International -- will be stored permanently and made accessible (if the user allows it) on a greatly enhanced profile page that will essentially become a remote-control autobiography," wrote Wired's Steven Levy.

With Facebook's new kinds of apps, users can allow others to see what music they listen to and to view and their listening history, and join them in listening to a song, which is also great for the music services looking to sign up new paying subscribers.

Facebook's ongoing colonization of the Web, by continuing to innovate and offer more engaging services to its substantial base of users, will result in an increase of its share of visits, visitors, time spent on the service, and revenue. A more than $100 billion valuation is not out of the question.

Of course, any user is free to leave the Facebook world, and seek a home elsewhere--such as with Google+ or on other social platforms. But leaving the colony, where a person has spent "many months or years curating the stories of their life and sharing them on Facebook's platform," as Zuckerberg described his vision for the future, will become increasingly difficult as their Facebook interactions and entanglements grow more dense.

you should see this.

2011-09-17T09:36:00.000-07:00

www.blogogeek.in

this is the site that you should see and follow it.

2011-09-12T07:00:00.003-07:00

Chandhok, meanwhile, knows a thing or two when it comes to where mobile trends are headed. As part of his responsibilities, he runs Qualcomm's innovation center. The Internet services division originally delivered data services to feature phones but has since transitioned to focus on services designed for sophisticated smartphones.

In regard to HTML5, Chandhok said it's just easier to build apps using that standard. It takes a lot of work to update and tweak an app, which also requires the consumer to download a new version. Because it's browser based and works like a Web site, the HTML5 app could be changed on the fly.

"It's economically important for people to do," Chandhok said.

With the PC moving to browser-based programs and services, Chandhok said he sees a similar migration on the wireless side. Despite running on a browser, it feels like an app, he said.

One obstacle for HTML5 right now is the inability for such programs to take advantage of a phone's different features, including the camera, global positioning system, or accelerometer. A native application has access to the phone's software development kit, allowing it to work with the hardware to provide different services such as augmented reality or directions to a shop.

Other people are just getting up to speed on HTML5 and figuring out what they can do with the code.

"You'll see a smoothing out of the experience," he said.

While HTML5 will become more popular, Chandhok said he doesn't see native applications going away. Instead, he expects there to be a mix of native and Web-based apps.

Which, thankfully, means plenty more fodder for this column.