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<title>Haaze.com / Allena / Voted News</title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com</link>
<description>Test Web 2.0 Content Management System</description>
<pubDate>Fri, 15 Apr 2011 07:11:22 +0000</pubDate>
<language>en</language>
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<title><![CDATA[Ford names 25 top EV-ready cities in the U.S.]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ford-names-25-top-ev-ready-cities-in-the-u-s-</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ford-names-25-top-ev-ready-cities-in-the-u-s-</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 15 Apr 2011 07:11:22 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>afrolitochka</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ford-names-25-top-ev-ready-cities-in-the-u-s-</guid>
<description><![CDATA[(Credit:Ford)From New York City to Seattle, Wash., Ford this week named 25 U.S. cities that are paving the way for an influx of electric vehicles.By the end of 2012 there will be more than 20 plug-in vehicles on the market, said Mike Tinskey, manager of vehicle electrification and infrastructure for Ford. And major metropolitan areas and utility companies are working together to provide an infrastructure for public charging stations.&quot;Over the next 12 months we will see at least 18,000 new charge stations in U.S. cities,&quot; Tinskey said. &quot;People will start seeing charge stations in some pretty familiar places,&quot; he said.The Ford Focus EV will be available by the end of 2011, and many more electric vehicles makes from other automakers will be available over the next two years. Ford has complied the list to not only recognize which cities are getting EV-ready, but also to encourage other cities to start preparing, Tinskey said.While the list of cities is diverse, it's not surprising that most of the cities flank the coasts while others dot the middle of the map. Honolulu is included, but Tinskey said pretty much the whole island of Oahu is getting EV-ready.The greater San Francisco Bay Area, not surprisingly, is also a larger geographical area that made it to the map.According to Tinskey, it's up to city governments to streamline the permit process for the installation of EV charging stations. And it's up to local utility companies to offer incentives for off-peak charging.&quot;A lot of decisions need to be made, like what the signage should look like, and whether or not local businesses can charge for the electricity, or just for the parking spot,&quot; Tinskey said. &quot;It ends up being an equal pull from the city and the local electric company. Then add a company like Ford, and it becomes the three-legged stool.&quot;<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Apple patent hints at bezel displays for iPhone]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apple-patent-hints-at-bezel-displays-for-iphone</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apple-patent-hints-at-bezel-displays-for-iphone</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 07 Apr 2011 07:10:18 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>cmericamei</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apple-patent-hints-at-bezel-displays-for-iphone</guid>
<description><![CDATA[(Credit:U.S. Patent and Trademark Office)AsiPhone 5 rumors have trickled over the past month, one that's popped up repeatedly is a screen so big it nearly does away with the bezel. That's the area around the display, and right before the very edge of the device that sits as unused space.But such a screen might be at odds with a new Apple  patent application unearthed by Patently Apple. The patent outlines a secondary display embedded within the bezel that would extend what's happening on the main screen to the surrounding area.The applications for such a design are broad, from notifications and other indicators to a display area that apps can make use of to extend the user interface. Such features could be handy on a small screen where even given a high-pixel density, total real estate is limited by the casing itself. The patent description spells this much out:To assist a user in providing inputs, traditional devices use the display to provide indicators to the user regarding where and how to provide a touch input. For example, a traditional device may display a virtual button on a touch screen to indicate that a user can touch that portion of the screen to provide an input. However, providing such indicators occupies space on the touch screen that could otherwise be used for displaying visual content.The patent describes this functionality including not just phones, but media players like theiPod, PDAs, laptops, and cameras. To add to this, the patent says the touch-sensitive area could spill onto this secondary display, effectively opening the device up to a broader array of gestures and types of interactions. The impact on gaming alone could be especially big, with games that make use of onscreen controls choosing to instead go with an off-screen touch pad. As Patently Apple notes, this is not the first such Apple patent to discuss bringing touch controls to off-screen areas of gadgetry. One in 2006 detailed one for iPods that would use the surrounding area to map playback controls depending on the application in use. This was months ahead of the release of the iPod Touch, which would negate the need for this by making use of a touch screen instead.More recently, two patents that were actually granted early last year (unlike the one in this story, which remains a pending application), included a bezel that could be set up to control functions such as volume, screen brightness, and navigation.  Another patent depicted adding touch sensitivity to the back of atablet (such as the iPad) to give users an extra, off-screen area for controlling what was happening onscreen.As with all other patent-related posts, it's worth taking these illustrations and ideas with a grain of salt, as they are not guaranteed to become a part of shipping products. Nonetheless, many have, which can make them fascinating.  <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Must-have restartless Firefox add-ons]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=must-have-restartless-firefox-add-ons</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=must-have-restartless-firefox-add-ons</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 04 Apr 2011 07:10:02 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Cabiness</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=must-have-restartless-firefox-add-ons</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The future ofFirefox's add-ons arrived in Firefox 4 with the introduction of &quot;restartless add-ons&quot;. Based on the new Jetpack API and Add-on SDK, restartless add-ons--also known as bootstrapped add-ons--don't require a restart to be used or removed. Not coincidentally, they also provide Firefox with a venue for competing directly with other browsers, which use add-on frameworks that were created after the technology that supports restartless add-ons was created.Mozilla Home Dash re-imagines the Firefox interface.(Credit:Mozilla)Firefox doesn't offer many restartless add-ons just yet. At the time of writing, there were only 143 restartless add-ons. Also, there's been documented problems by existing add-on authors in making their add-ons restartless, but that doesn't mean that the ones available are worthless. In fact, some of them add some impressively useful functionality to the browser. Here are 13 of the best.The entire collection of Prospector add-ons from Mozilla are a great way to take advantage of the flexibility of restartless add-ons. Install one, test it out quickly, and if you don't like it you can remove it as fast as you installed it.The most interesting Prospector experiment is Home Dash. It's possibly the most annoying, too. Home Dash is a complete re-envisioning of the browser interface, presenting a workflow unlike any other browser out there today that attempts to emphasize tab previews and search queries. It's not for everybody, but it's definitely worth checking out.The current crop of Prospector Experiments includes Speak Words for location bar search completion' Instant Preview for faster page loading from location bar suggestions' Find Suggest for search suggestions when using the in-page Find tool' and Start Faster makes a customization tweak to how Firefox starts when you've just turned on the computer. The short version is that it does what it says it does: Firefox will start faster when you've got it running, at least after you immediately restart your Windows box.The slightly more technical explanation is that it bypasses the Windows prefetch feature. The add-on will install a Faster Firefox icon on your desktop, which has to be used to start the browser after a Windows reboot. To double-check that it's working properly, the developer recommends using the About:Startup add-on, which is also restartless.Type &quot;about:startup&quot; into your location bar and you'll get, in milliseconds, how long Firefox's main process takes to start' how long it takes for XRE_main to be called, one of Firefox's first called functions' how long it takes the tabs from the previous session to be restored but not reloaded' and how long the firstPaint takes, which is time it takes for the the first tab you're looking at to fully load.Note that About:Startup, while technically a restartless add-on, will not be able to display information from before it was installed. In other words, you have to have it installed before Firefox starts to get information from it.While we're on the subject of restarting, Restartless Restart adds a menu button and keyboard hot key combination to allow you to restart the browser. It currently lacks a toolbar icon, yet the core function, on-the-fly restarting, is effective and smooth.LuckyBar restores the &quot;I'm Feeling Lucky&quot; functionality to Firefox 4. The feature was present in Firefox 3, but removed because of Mozilla's concerns over privacy issues relating to accidentally sending search queries to your default search engine instead of restricting the search to your personal Firefox data.Tab Badge provides an unread count for sites like Twitter and Facebook, as well as your RSS feed and webmail.(Credit:Mozilla)Easy App Tabs helps you create and remove App Tabs, the permanently pinned tabs on the left side of your tab bar. Double-click on a tab to set it as an App Tab, or return it to normal status. The feature was left out of Firefox because Mozilla found that users were accidentally creating app tabs when they didn't want to.Another smart and simple tab-focused add-on is Tab Badge. This add-on shows you an unread count on your social networking and e-mail sites as long as the number of unread messages is programed to appear in the site's titlebar. So, if your Gmail title is &quot;Priority Inbox - 10&quot;, the number &quot;10&quot; will appear in a red circle on the tab. While Gmail has the feature available as a lab experiment you can activate, this is a clever way to get it on all your communication sites.Developed by Diigo.com, Read Later Fast saves URLs to be read later. It can be synced locally and with the cloud storage at Diigo, and presents an interesting alternative to other &quot;save-for-later&quot; services. However, this feature is built into Firefox 4 in a very basic way. You can use the bookmark star to quickly mark pages, close the tabs, and then using Firefox Sync re-open the starred pages on a different device. That doesn't mean Read Later Fast isn't useful, though.Long one of my favorite Firefox add-on features has been the ability to drag items from Windows Explorer directly into a text field to upload them. Drag2Up provides that functionality in a restartless add-on, which is great for toggling it off on the rare occasion when the feature interferes with text box functionality.If you've got a favorite restartless add-on not mentioned here, tell me about it in the comments below.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Dialed In 167: March Madness CTIA edition (podcast)]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=dialed-in-167-march-madness-ctia-edition-podcast</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=dialed-in-167-march-madness-ctia-edition-podcast</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 30 Mar 2011 07:10:30 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>svetalaec</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=dialed-in-167-march-madness-ctia-edition-podcast</guid>
<description><![CDATA[We're all back from Orlando, Fla., andCTIA 2011, and we're joined in studio by our wonderful colleague at CNET News Maggie Reardon and our new technical producer Stephen Beacham. We've got a lot to talk about in this week's podcast, including a little story about AT&amp;T buying T-Mobile USA for $39 billion. You know, nothing major. Plus, we recap the highlights from CTIA and discuss our controversial Best of CTIA picks. So grab a seat, cell phone fans, and settle in for an action-packed episode of Dialed In.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Report: Siri's voice tech to come to iOS 5]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-siris-voice-tech-to-come-to-ios-5</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-siris-voice-tech-to-come-to-ios-5</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 29 Mar 2011 07:10:21 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>overmatsapa</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-siris-voice-tech-to-come-to-ios-5</guid>
<description><![CDATA[(Credit:Apple)Apple's Voice Control technology could be getting a big intelligence upgrade in the next major version of iOS, which is expected to be unveiled at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in June. A report posted last last night by TechCrunch says that Apple plans on &quot;deeply integrating&quot; the voice technology from Siri, a company it acquired last April. Such integration could possibly include APIs for developers to hook into the technology and use it in their apps, the report claims.Siri's technology, which was first unveiled in early 2009, uses a mix of natural language processing, semantic Web search, and speech recognition to translate voice queries into Web search-based tasks. The service billed itself as a virtual personal assistant. It also continues to be offered as a standalone iPhone application. Apple has made use of voice commands as part of its iOS since theiPhone 3GS, which was the first device to get Voice Control. The technology can listen to user voice commands to make phone calls and control music playback. Hints that Apple has been planning to improve it have been numerous, from patents to job postings.Competitors like Google have effectively leapfrogged Voice Control on its Android platform, building a cloud-powered voice tool into phones that is also able to launch and control applications, do Web searches, and transcribe voice into text. Microsoft has brought forth similar efforts on itsWindows Phone 7 platform, making use of its own voice processing technologies. No word yet on whether such an upgrade will trickle down to older iOS devices. With the original Voice Control system, only iPhone 3GS owners could make use of the technology, leaving original iPhone and iPhone 3G users behind. However, if this somehow ends up playing into the company's advertising efforts, it's likely there could be a trickle down effect as there was with the iAds platform.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Researchers point out holes in McAfee's Web site]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=researchers-point-out-holes-in-mcafees-web-site</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=researchers-point-out-holes-in-mcafees-web-site</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 28 Mar 2011 07:10:38 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>hyperprofile</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=researchers-point-out-holes-in-mcafees-web-site</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Researchers disclosed on a public security e-mail list today three vulnerabilities in the Web site of security firm McAfee, whose site has been found to have bugs several times before. The YGN Ethical Hacker Group told the Full Disclosure list that it had reported the problems to McAfee on February 10 and two days later the company said it was working to resolve them. The group disclosed them publicly after noticing that they remained open this weekend--a month and a half later.  McAfee says it is aware of the vulnerabilities and is working to fix them. &quot;It is important to note that these vulnerabilities do not expose any of McAfee's customer, partner or corporate information,&quot; the company said in a statement. &quot;Additionally, we have not seen any malicious exploitation of the vulnerabilities.&quot;McAfee characterized the vulnerabilities as: &amp;149'Cross Site Scripting in download.mcafee.com. &quot;In a worst case scenario this vulnerability could allow attacks that spoof the McAfee brand by presenting a URL that looks like it directs to a McAfee Web site but in fact directs elsewhere.&quot;  &amp;149'Information disclosure on www.mcafee.com. &quot;This issue gives some detail on an internally used application to measure Web traffic, but doesn't disclose any proprietary information or any customer information.&quot; &amp;149'Information disclosure on download.mcafee.com. &quot;This issue provides access to the source code for some of the interactive pages on our Web site, but this also does not disclose any sensitive information or any customer information.&quot; &quot;McAfee has strict policies in place for its own Web sites and for services provided by third parties,&quot; the company said. &quot;We are investigating how these particular vulnerabilities were not identified in our screening process and will adjust our processes if necessary.&quot; McAfee has had problems with holes in its sites before, including in 2009 when certain customer accounts were exposed by cross-site scripting and cross-site request forgery vulnerabilities, in 2008 and last year. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[First-gen iPad 3G gets $100 price cut by AT&T]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=first-gen-ipad-3g-gets-100-price-cut-by-att</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=first-gen-ipad-3g-gets-100-price-cut-by-att</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 18 Mar 2011 07:10:29 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>michalbevan13</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=first-gen-ipad-3g-gets-100-price-cut-by-att</guid>
<description><![CDATA[AT&amp;amp'amp'T is selling original iPads with 3G at a deeper discount than Apple.(Credit:Screenshot by CNET)If you were on the fence between an originaliPad and its successor, AT&amp;amp'T may have just made your buying decision a little more difficult.As noted by CNET contributor Jim Dalrymple on his personal blog The Loop, AT&amp;amp'T today cut the price of the original iPad with 3G by $100, putting the 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB models on sale at $429, $529, and $629 respectively. By comparison, those units cost $629, $729, and $829 when they were first released.This is the second price cut to hit the first-generation iPad. In the first one, which occurred following the announcement of the iPad 2, Apple took $100 off the base price, while throwing buyers who may have bought an iPad in the two weeks leading up to the announcement a $100 refund.Apple continues to sell brand-new versions of the 3G version of the first iPad at $100 off its original price, and refurbished versions of the device at $150 to $170 off depending on the model, leaving buyers who go through AT&amp;amp'T getting a better deal in either case.In order to use the 3G service, users need to sign on to one of the two, prepaid data plans, which can be done from the unit itself. Additionally AT&amp;amp'T is currently running a promotion where new users of its DataConnect personal plans get the first month of 2GB of data free of charge.As of this post's publishing, AT&amp;amp'T's online store appears to be out of stock of the 32GB model, however the 16GB and 64GB models are still available. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Google digitizing lists of Japan shelter dwellers]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-digitizing-lists-of-japan-shelter-dwellers</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-digitizing-lists-of-japan-shelter-dwellers</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 17 Mar 2011 07:10:12 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>riauckter3d22</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-digitizing-lists-of-japan-shelter-dwellers</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Google Maps is showing rolling-blackout information for Japan after the devastating magnitude 9.0 earthquake and resulting tsunamis. This view shows the area around Tokyo.(Credit:screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET)Expanding its efforts to help restore contact among people separated by the Japanese disasters, Google said today it's creating computerized versions of lists of people at emergency shelters.&quot;To help the many people in shelters get word of their whereabouts to loved ones, we're...asking people in shelters to take photos of the handwritten lists of names of current residents and e-mail them to us,&quot; Google said in a blog post. Google scans the data to add to its Japan person-finder site, &quot;but it's a big job that can't be done automatically by computers alone, so we welcome volunteers with Japanese language skills who want to help out.The images of shelter lists are posted to a Picasa album. Those with images can e-mail them to tohoku.anpi.google@picasaweb.com.The country is grappling with death and housing dislocation on a massive scale. Japanese state broadcaster National police said 5,693 have been confirmed dead, and 9,506 people remain unaccounted for, NHK reported Thursday.In another change, Google's crisis response page for the Japanese earthquake and tsunaminow works better when used with mobile phones, in particular lower-end phones that are very common. Google also has made it possible to search by telephone number at its person-finder site.It's provided Google Maps showing rolling blackout locations. And it's continuing to publish updated satellite photos of Japan on Google Maps.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Xbox 360 ruled in February, NPD says]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=xbox-360-ruled-in-february-npd-says</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=xbox-360-ruled-in-february-npd-says</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 11 Mar 2011 08:10:45 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>rsneddonde</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=xbox-360-ruled-in-february-npd-says</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Microsoft's Xbox 360 is No. 1.(Credit:Microsoft)February was theXbox 360's month.Microsoft's console topped hardware sales last month, according to market researcher NPD, the definitive source for gaming sales data. The Xbox 360 was trailed by theNintendo Wii andPlayStation 3, respectively. Unfortunately, NPD stopped providing actual sales figures last year. But that didn't stop Microsoft and Nintendo from releasing such information. Microsoft said that it sold 535,000 Xbox 360 units last month, representing a 27 percent gain year over year. Nintendo says it sold 454,000 Wii units, helping push its total U.S. console unit sales to more than 35 million. Sony did not reveal unit sales. However, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter said in a research note today that Sony sold 403,000 PlayStation 3 units last month. As a whole, the video game industry was up slightly year over year. The industry tallied $1.36 billion in sales in February vs. $1.33 billion in February 2010, NPD reported. Hardware sales were up 10 percent on the month to $466.9 million, while accessories easily bested last year's $210 million figure with a total of $256.9 million in total sales in February. Total software sales, however, were down 8 percent in February to $637.44 million. Speaking of software, Call of Duty: Black Ops once again held onto the top spot in overall sales, NPD found. Moreover, the title, which set record sales on launch day last year and hit $1 billion in total sales during its first six weeks of availability, has reached yet another milestone. &quot;It has now become the best-selling game in history, topping Wii Play,&quot; NPD's Anita Frazier said in a statement. Actual sales figures were not provided by NPD. Trailing Black Ops in February was Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, Just Dance 2 for the Wii, and NBA 2K11. Dead Space 2 rounded out the top five. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Online resources for Japan quake info]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=online-resources-for-japan-quake-info</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=online-resources-for-japan-quake-info</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 11 Mar 2011 08:10:12 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>marbuglatae</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=online-resources-for-japan-quake-info</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Early today, an 8.9-magnitude earthquake hit the coast of northern Japan, spawning aftershocks and a tsunami that swept across the region.There are a number of outstanding online resources that are delivering solid information, up-to-date data, and forecasts on how the world will be affected.Tracking the tsunamiCNN Live Blog: CNN is tracking all the events surrounding the earthquake and tsunami with a live blog. It's currently providing up-to-date information on all the news coming out of Japan as the country tries to address the impact of the natural disaster.Reuters Live Coverage: Reuters is providing a live, minute-by-minute resource for people to get all the latest news on the Japan earthquake. It's tracking events in Japan, as well as those elsewhere around the Pacific as the tsunami continues to travel toward shore.BBC Live Blog: The BBC is also offering a live blog to give people the latest information on the tsunami. In addition, the publication is offering a &quot;wave map&quot; for people to track its progress.Japan Meteorological Agency: Those with loved ones in Japan will want to go to the Japan Meteorological Agency Web site. It has up-to-date information on warnings, forecasts, and other key information on current conditions around the country.NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Tsunami Warning Page is being updated often with information on the latest warnings and information on where the tsunami is headed.Hawaii Red Cross Twitter Page: The Hawaii Red Cross is using its Twitter page to detail information on the impact the tsunami is having on the state. It's also linking to local news stations that have live feeds covering the impact around Hawaii.Map Visage Google Map: A Google Map has been created to provide a visual depiction of where the tsunami is headed. Each marker on the map provides the estimated arrival time for the tsunami, based on NOAA estimates.U.S. Geological Survey: The U.S. Geological Survey is providing constant updates on earthquakes and aftershocks erupting in the Pacific. It's providing exact locations for the earthquakes, a map for users to see where they are, and more.Twitter: As with previous natural disasters, Twitter is becoming a top resource for people to find out what's going on around the world. The tsunami hash tag is proving to be one of the best ways to cull information about the event.The Weather Channel: As one might expect, The Weather Channel is all over the tsunami coverage, providing information on when it might hit the United States, maps showing arrival times, and the latest news surrounding the earthquakes.Finding (and helping) family and friendsGoogle Person Finder: Google has launched its Person Finder for the Japan Earthquake. People can input information about someone or search the service to see if any information is available about someone who might have been impacted by the tsunami. The resource currently has 7,200 records, but it's growing quite rapidly.NTT Docomo Safety Response: One of Japan's mobile-phone providers is allowing people to input a loved one's mobile phone number into a search to confirm the safety of that person. Think of it as a &quot;message board&quot; of sorts.KDDI Disaster Message Board: Similar to NTT Docomo's service, the KDDI Disaster Message Board lets people place messages on its service to find out about a loved one's condition. That person's safety can then be confirmed via mobile phone or on a PC.Softbank Message Board: Softbank's Message Board mimics KDDI's service, allowing people to post a message to loved ones, which can then be viewed on the person's mobile phone. They can respond from that device to confirm they're safe.Japan Shelter Map: A Google Map has been created, listing lodging places for people who have been affected by the tsunami to stay the night.Hawaii State Civil Defense: Hawaii's State Civil Defense released a list of evacuation centers and refuge sites for citizens. In addition, the page features other information that might be of use to those trying to find loved ones.Red Cross Shelters: The American Red Cross has a Google Maps application on its Web site, allowing users to find its shelters around the U.S. According to its Twitter page, evacuation shelters are currently open in Washington, Oregon, and California. This map will help folks find those locations.American Red Cross Donation Page: The American Red Cross has launched a donation page for victims of the tsunami and earthquakes. The Web page lets users donate as much as they'd like from the secure form.General informationGoogle Crisis Response: Google is providing an outstanding resource on its Crisis Response page, listing organizations tracking the earthquakes and tsunami, as well as maps and the latest news surrounding the horrific event.Red Cross Tsunami Checklist: The Red Cross Tsunami Checklist has been updated to provide information on preparedness and tips on what to do after a tsunami has hit.Prime Minster of Japan and Cabinet Page: This page delivers several outstanding links and informational guides on the country's response to the tsunami and earthquake.Red Cross Twitter Page: The Red Cross' Twitter account is providing resources for people to learn more about the tsunami and earthquakes. It also lists a number that people can call to find information about loved ones who might have been affected by the event.Red Cross Newsroom: The American Red Cross' Newsroom page is providing updated information on the tsunami. It also has basic data about the earthquakes.NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory: NOAA has offered up several visual depictions of the tsunami and its impact around the Pacific. It includes a wave-height model, a view of the Pacific Ocean floor, and much more.NOAA Center for Tsunami Research: NOAA has also added an event page to its site for the impact the Honshu tsunami had. The page includes a graphical display forecast, hazard assessments, and research services for those that want to learn more about the event.NOAA Tsunami Informational Page&quot; Those looking to learn more about tsunamis, including how they originate, the history of tsunamis around the world, and how people can prepare for them, can check out the NOAA Tsunami Informational Page. It's a fine resource for all-things tsunami.NOAA Tsunami Fact Sheet (PDF): Aside from an online resources, NOAA also has a PDF document offering insight into tsunamis and the impact they've had around the world. It also discusses the tsunami warning system, Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis stations, and much more.Updated at 12:01 p.m. PTto include more resources.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Geminoid clone-bot hipper than human original]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=geminoid-clone-bot-hipper-than-human-original</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=geminoid-clone-bot-hipper-than-human-original</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 07 Mar 2011 08:11:27 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>ammieamaaa</dc:creator>
<category>Social</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=geminoid-clone-bot-hipper-than-human-original</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Henrik Scharfe checks out his robot clone Geminoid DK, the perfect stand-in for professors who want to skip class.(Credit:Geminoid.dk)Here's a nifty way to preserve your youth and popularity: get Japanese entertainment company Kokoro to make an ageless robot clone of yourself. Danish academic Henrik Scharfe did just that and his clone looks ready to get out and party. Or perhaps play the villain in a reboot of &quot;Die Hard.&quot;  Aalborg University's Scharfe (no relation to Alan Rickman) has been working with Kokoro and Japan's Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR) to create Geminoid DK, a lifelike android copy of himself. DK follows in the silicon footsteps of Geminoids HI-1 and F1, developed in collaboration with Osaka University roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro, father of the Telenoid robo-fetus. Scharfe plans to test his clone at ATR and then ship it back to the new Geminoid Lab in Denmark, where he presides over Aalborg University's Center for Computer-mediated Epistemology. Geminoids are basically remote-controlled slave robots powered by a quiet air servo system. They mimic the facial expressions, lip movements, and body motions of a human user through motion-tracking gear and an Internet link. As the vid below shows, Scharfe's clone is already quite lifelike. So when it starts projecting his voice and mimicking his idiosyncrasies, students may freak a bit. See more videos and pics here. I love its evil sideways glance. The Geminoid DK page lists the following research subjects for Geminoid: &quot;emotional affordances&quot; in human-robot interaction' blended presence' and cultural differences in the perception of robots.I suspect Scharfe will use his dummy to teach his classes while he sits back in the comfort of his home. What would Hans Gruber say(Via IEEE Spectrum) <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[iPads could replace paper charts in airline cockpits]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ipads-could-replace-paper-charts-in-airline-cockpits</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ipads-could-replace-paper-charts-in-airline-cockpits</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 07 Mar 2011 08:10:59 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>inglaliaugust</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ipads-could-replace-paper-charts-in-airline-cockpits</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Jeppesen&amp;39's iPad app offers electronic aeronautical charts.(Credit:Jeppesen Systems)Apple's iPad my soon find its way onto your next commercial flight, and not just in the cabin as an entertainment device. Major airlines and a charter jet company are considering using thetablet as a way to replace paper navigation charts and laptops both on the ground and during flight.So far, no U.S. airline has adopted iPads exclusively, but Delta Airlines and Alaska Airlines are testing the device for navigational purposes. Alaska spokeswoman Maryanne Lindsay told the Seattle Times that the carrier is running a trial program with a select group of pilots. Calls made by CNET to the Alaska Airlines press office were not returned at the time of this writing.Switching to iPads or other tablet devices would cut down on paper, and on the equipment pilots have to carry. While some specially designed laptops, or &quot;electronic flight bags,&quot; can weigh up to 18 pounds, the current iPad weighs just just 1.5 pounds (the recently announced iPad 2 is a tad lighter). What's more, it should save airlines money as well.Yes, there's an app for thatTo power the iPads, Englewood-Colo.-Jeppesen Systems has developed an iPad app called Mobile TC that delivers electronic charts (available now for free in the iTunes App Store). At the the time of this writing, Mobile TC covers only airport terminal charts, but Jeppesen spokesman Brian Rantala told CNET that the app will be expanded to cover in flight use.Last month, the Federal Aviation Administration authorized private jet charter Executive Jet Management to begin using the app as an alternative to paper aeronautical charts. A wholly owned subsidiary of Boeing, Jeppesen also developed aniPhone and iPad app called CrewAlert manage airline crew fatigue.  And back in the cabin, Qantas subsidiary Jetstar is close to using iPads as in-flight entertainment units on selected Airbus A320 and A330 aircraft. Though JetStar initially announced its iPad plans last summer, Flightglobal reported today that the airlines airline has compiled a presentation  for major movie studios. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Warning: Coupons make you spend more]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=warning-coupons-make-you-spend-more</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=warning-coupons-make-you-spend-more</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 17 Feb 2011 08:10:02 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>garretkrgr</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=warning-coupons-make-you-spend-more</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ I've said before, and not too long ago, that only people with poor impulse control buy things at retail prices. But I've recently come to understand that deal-seekers, people who habitually try to save money by using social-shopping sites like Groupon or coupon directories like RetailMeNot, may actually be even more valuable to the retail industry than people who buy stuff at list price. Because they spend more. Cotter Cunningham, CEO of WhaleShark Media, which runs RetailMeNot, explained to me recently why his straightforward coupon site is working well, and how the Internet is changing how pricing and consumer marketing is done.Cotter Cunningham says coupons make for bigger online orders.(Credit:Rafe Needleman/CNET) Affiliate marketing--paid links to commercial destinations--is the third-most efficient way for consumer goods and services companies to get online business, after e-mailing existing customers and doing good SEO. Coupons make for very effective and trackable affiliate links, because users have to click on them to get the deal, not just visit the site selling the product they want. And coupon sites succeed because the business of aggregating coupons is very strong: each link is a CPA, or cost-per-action link, which pays out at a much higher rate than CPC, or cost-per-click advertising links.  The goal is to become the big site with the most coupons, as getting into that position makes for a virtuous SEO cycle: the more coupons you have, the more people link to and visit the site, and the higher you rise in the search engines. RetailMeNot pursues this strategy by including even nonaffiliate coupon deals in its listings. Unlike some of the original coupon sites, where each coupon has an affiliate or CPA link attached to it, RetailMeNot encourages its users to submit coupon codes they find around the Internet. These coupons don't generate direct revenue for the site (although pages they're on do serve ads), but they do serve the incredibly important function of improving RetailMeNot's depth and thus its SEO juice and its traffic, making its paid links bigger revenue drivers.  According to Cunningham, retailers don't mind the couponification of their customers. While it's certainly true that the profit margin a coupon-using consumer generates is less than somebody paying full retail price, advertisers effectively use coupons to &quot;march you up the AOV (average order volume) food chain,&quot; he says. You know those offers to get a discount or free shipping only on orders over a certain amount They work. People spend up, and spend more, to get to the coupon threshold. RetailMeNot has both paid coupons and those discovered by its users.(Credit:Screenshot by Rafe Needleman/CNET) The current challenge for the standard coupon site business is the competitive threat posted by the social coupon sites like Groupon and LivingSocial. RetailMeNot has some of its own social initiatives on Facebook and Twitter, and the company is working on ways to add more compelling game mechanics to the site to get people to use it more. Also, Cunningham says, RetailMeNot will soon launch a partnership with a social deals site as a test project.  Cunningham sees the effect of the group deals sites already. He says consumers are getting more disciplined, and this is good for his business. Consumers are learning the value of waiting for a coupon or group deal to appear' this realization will lead to enhancements in the alerting system in RetailMeNot.  The other coming improvement on RetailMeNot is a mobile app to help users find deals on items they're right in front of at physical retail stores (see also: eBay building mobile apps to grow user base). The site has focused on electronic commerce to date, so this is a bit of a branching out.  I still maintain that retail prices are for suckers' with the growth of social deal sites, now more than ever. However, it appears that thanks to retailers' smart use of coupons and deals, it's still just as easy to get suckered into paying more than you need to.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Nokia, Microsoft becoming Windows Phone bedfellows]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=nokia-microsoft-becoming-windows-phone-bedfellows</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=nokia-microsoft-becoming-windows-phone-bedfellows</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 11 Feb 2011 08:10:21 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>ingmanbug2</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=nokia-microsoft-becoming-windows-phone-bedfellows</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Nokia and Microsoft plan a &amp;34'third ecosystem,&amp;34' an alliance that touches all parts of the mobile phone business.(Credit:Nokia)Microsoft and Nokia announced a broad mobile phone partnership today that joins two powerful but lagging companies into mutually reliant allies in the mobile phone market.As expected, Nokia plans to use Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 operating system as part of a plan to recover from competitive failings detailed in Nokia Chief Executive Stephen Elop's &quot;burning platform&quot; memo.But it's deeper than just an agreement to install the OS on Nokia's phones. Instead, the companies call it an attempt to build a &quot;third ecosystem,&quot; acknowledging that competing with Apple's iOS and Google's Android involves a partnership that must encompass phones, developers, mobile services, partnerships with carriers, and app stores to distribute software.Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, left, and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer explained their company&amp;39's new tight alliance for mobile phones at an analyst and strategy meeting in London.(Credit:screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET)&quot;There are other mobile ecosystems. We will disrupt them. There will be challenges. We will overcome them. Success requires speed. We will be swift,&quot; Elop and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in a boldly worded open letter. &quot;Together, we see the opportunity, and we have the will, the resources and the drive to succeed.&quot;The companies will cooperate tightly under an agreement the companies just describe so far as proposed, not final. Under the deal,Windows Phone 7 would become Nokia's &quot;principal&quot; operating system, and Nokia would help Microsoft develop it and ensure a broad range of phones using it are available globally.Nokia will use many Microsoft online services, many of which trail Google rivals, such as Bing for search and maps and AdCenter for advertisements.When it comes to the sales part of the ecosystem, each company brings something to the deal. Microsoft phones will be able to link up with Nokia's agreements for carrier billing--a popular option in parts of the world where credit cards are less common. And Nokia will fold its own app store into the Microsoft Marketplace.Elop the optimistIn a press conference today, Elop and Ballmer touted the alliance as good for both companies' aspirations.&quot;A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity, but an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty,&quot; Elop said, quoting England's historic prime minister Winston Churchill as he spoke in London. &quot;I am an optimist.&quot;It's not immediately clear what needs to be done to make the deal final' details &quot;specific details of the deal are being worked out,&quot; the companies said.Nokia, once the dominant power of the mobile phone industry, has ceded the smartphone initiative to Apple'siPhone and Google's Android, and Elop believes Nokia's own Symbian and MeeGo operating systems aren't competitive. Microsoft has tried for years to penetrate the mobile phone market, and although it now has a credible option with Windows Phone 7, it trails Android when it comes to developer interest and the breadth of phones available.The two companies can expect their combined might will be more convincing for software authors debating whether they need to bring their apps to yet another ecosystem. But it's not yet clear how the alliance will extend to another hot new market,tablets, where Microsoft prefers Windows instead of the Windows Phone operating system. In contrast, iOS and Android developers enjoy the same mobile operating system on phones and tablets.An end for Symbian, MeeGoThe partnership means a gradual end for both Symbian and MeeGo, Nokia's mainstream and next-generation smartphone operating systems, respectively. Symbian will be gradually phased out in favor of Windows Phone, though Nokia expects to ship 150 million more Symbian phones in the meantime. Nokia CEO Stephen Elop(Credit:Nokia) And although Nokia will ship a single MeeGo-based smartphone later this year, Elop consigned it to near-oblivion by calling it merely &quot;an opportunity to learn.&quot; MeeGo engineers will &quot;change focus into exploration&quot; of future devices and user services.Nokia seriously considered using Google's Android operating system, but feared it would ultimately be a boon for Google and a bane for Nokia, Elop said.&quot;We would have difficulties differentiating within that ecosystem,&quot; Elop said. Joining the Android world would make it even bigger, &quot;with prices, profits, and everything being pushed down, and value moving to Google.&quot;Nokia cost-cuttingAlong with Nokia's new operating system strategy come major internal changes. Leadership in the United States, a large market now awakened to smartphones but where Nokia trails particularly badly, is being replaced. Bureaucracy will be cut. Research and development costs will be cut but R&amp;D will become more productive. And there will be substantial layoffs, in Finland and elsewhere, Elop said, though the company will not move headquarters anywhere else.&quot;Already evolving rapidly at Nokia is a change in attitude and behavior&quot; that shows &quot;the fighting spirit of Nokia worldwide and the fighting spirit of the Finnish people,&quot; Elop said. In communicating with employees about the change, including an company-wide message earlier this morning, he added, &quot;We've been vocal and transparent about the challenge. I think it's having a positive effect.&quot;Nokia will pay Microsoft royalties for use of its operating system, but apparently money will likely flow the other way, too, Ballmer and Elop said.&quot;We have different forms of value transfer in different directions,&quot; Elop said. &quot;We have new opportunities that come from advertising and new forms of monetization.&quot;&quot;We the ability to activate users and put them in a position to be more effective in what we call local commerce,&quot; added Ballmer. &quot;Nokia has not just got mapping but other assets that we will import, if you will. There are a set of financial considerations for that as well.&quot; Nokia is touting its Microsoft alliance on its Web page.(Credit:Nokia) Elop and Ballmer detailed their proposal immediately before the vast Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona, Spain, where a large number of new Android phones and tablets can be expected.It's uncertain what effect the alliance will have. Microsoft has had strong operating system partnerships with multiple competing PC makers, but the Nokia alliance, with mutually developed products and shared road maps, appears much deeper than the average relationship Microsoft has with hardware makers. That could encourage those who've made strong Android commitments--HTC, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, LG Electronics, Samsung, and more--to double down. After all, they're all enjoying a period of relative freedom with Nokia in its present relatively uncompetitive state, and strongly pushing Windows Phone products arguably would be abetting the enemy.Although the alliance is nonexclusive, Nokia clearly is becoming the premier Windows Phone partner. &quot;There are things we are planning to do with Nokia that are unique,&quot; Ballmer said.The announcement was accompanied by a YouTube video featuring Microsoft and Nokia's chief executives praising the deal.&quot;Today, Nokia and Microsoft intend to enter into a strategic alliance,&quot; Elop said in the video, a precursor of a turnaround plan he's set to detail later today at an analyst conference in London. &quot;Together, we will bring consumers a new mobile experience, with stellar hardware, innovative software, and great services. We will create opportunities beyond anything that currently exists.&quot;Ballmer said the partnership &quot;brings the brands mobile consumers want, like Bing, Office, and of course Xbox Live.&quot;  Updated several times, most recently at 3:18 a.m. PT with further details of the partnership.. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Amazon streaming to launch later this month]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=amazon-streaming-to-launch-later-this-month</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=amazon-streaming-to-launch-later-this-month</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 02 Feb 2011 08:10:20 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>affordabletowncarservice02</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=amazon-streaming-to-launch-later-this-month</guid>
<description><![CDATA[All signs point to Amazon.com launching a streaming service to compete with Netflix. However, its arrival may already be delayed.Citing unnamed sources, The Los Angeles Times reported that Amazon initially wanted to launch its streaming service in early February. However, due to issues with getting the service up and running and the difficulty it is having acquiring content, the publication's sources say Amazon has pushed the launch back to as early as late February.Reports of Amazon launching a streaming service have been surfacing for quite some time. Back in August, the company was said to be in negotiations with film and television studios to start bringing content to the as-yet announced service. Last month, it announced plans to acquire the remaining shares it didn't own of U.K.-based Netflix equivalent Lovefilm, prompting some to wonder when, not if, Amazon would bring a streaming service to the U.S.The flames were stoked even more late last month when Engadget received some screenshots of what's believed to be the Amazon streaming service running. The screenshots indicate that the service has over 5,000 movies and television shows available, and Amazon Prime customers who pay $79 a year for free two-day shipping will be able to stream content from the service for free.Assuming the screenshots are actually Amazon's streaming service, it's hard to say what shows or films make up the 5,000 pieces of content.The Los Angeles Times' sources say Amazon is having trouble getting major film studios on board. The publication said that as of now, none of the major film studios have signed on to Amazon's service over concerns that such a deal might negatively impact physical disc sales. The studios are also unsure if Amazon will ante up the same cash Netflix has paid for content.That won't help Amazon's chances of competing with Netflix, which has been able to bring all kinds of major studio content to its service. The company's offering has many modern movies, as well as classics, like The Godfather. Moreover, it has been able to bring its streaming service to several different devices, including the Apple TV and a slew of televisions, helping it see its subscriber base grow to over 20 million at the end of 2010.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[eBay snags Bing's development manager, Facebook scientist]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ebay-snags-bings-development-manager-facebook-scientist</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ebay-snags-bings-development-manager-facebook-scientist</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 31 Jan 2011 08:10:32 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Sonia01</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ebay-snags-bings-development-manager-facebook-scientist</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Prevost weighing in as a panelist during 2009&amp;39's Semantic Technology Conference.(Credit:Tom Krazit/CNET)Adding to the list of recent departures, Microsoft has lost the principal development manager of its Bing search engine to commerce giant eBay. According to All Things Digital, Scott Prevost who joined Microsoft as part of the Powerset acquisition in 2008, has left to become the VP of product management for eBay's search tool. He's joined by now former Facebook research scientist Dennis DeCoste, who will be eBay's director of research. Together, the pair are said to be working on improving the relevancy of eBay's built-in search tool. A Microsoft representative confirmed Prevost's departure and said &quot;we wish him well in his future endeavor.&quot;Prior to his two-year stint as the GM and director of product for Powerset, Prevost had been the CEO and CTO at the Animated Speech Corporation, which merged with educational software and research company TeachTown in 2006. As for DeCoste, he too had been a Microsoft employee, though he had worked as a principal scientist for the company following his stint as the director of research for Yahoo's Research group.Prevost joins a handful of recent departures from Microsoft's management and engineering ranks. Earlier this month, Microsoft announced that server and tools boss Bob Muglia would be leaving the company later this year. More recently, Brad Brooks, who served as corporate vice president in Microsoft's Windows Group, left the company to join Juniper Networks. Meanwhile, Matt Miszewski--the former general manager of Microsoft's government business--left Microsoft for Salesforce.com in late December, though he was temporarily blocked from taking his post as a VP due to Microsoft winning a restraining order based on non-compete and confidentiality agreements Miszewski had signed. There's also Johnny Chung Lee, theWii hacker Microsoft hired to work in its Applied Sciences group to develop Kinect algorithms, who jumped ship for Google earlier this month.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Vint Cerf takes rap for running out of IP addresses]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=vint-cerf-takes-rap-for-running-out-of-ip-addresses</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=vint-cerf-takes-rap-for-running-out-of-ip-addresses</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 24 Jan 2011 08:10:13 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>LisaMaiden</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=vint-cerf-takes-rap-for-running-out-of-ip-addresses</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Who knew that 4.3 billion Internet addresses wouldn't be enoughVint Cerf(Credit:Google)Internet pioneer Vint Cerf has sounded the alarm bell once again by warning that the world is about to run out of IP addresses. Cerf, who also serves as Google's chief internet evangelist, pinned the blame on himself for the lack of sufficient addresses in a recent interview published in the Sydney Morning Herald.Initially seeing the Internet as just an experiment that would eventually end, Cerf said he never anticipated the world would need more than the 4.3 billion addresses currently capable of being allocated.&quot;Who the hell knew how much address space we needed&quot; Cerf said in an interview with journalists in Sydney, Australia.Of course, Cerf is certainly being hard on himself. No one could have foreseen the huge number of mobile devices, consumer appliances, and array of Internet-connected gadgets that would require their own unique addresses.Cerf, known as a father of the Internet, also cautioned that the current crop of 4.3 billion addresses is due to run out within a few weeks. But when Cerf points to those addresses, he's specifically talking about ones that use the current IPv4, a protocol that limits an IP address to four 8-bit numbers, or 32 bits in total, thus allowing for around 4.3 billion possible combinations.The world has known for years that we would eventually run out of IPv4 addresses, so industry has been busy striving to make the transition to IPv6. The new protocol, which uses four 32-bit numbers, or 128 bits in total, would allow for 340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456 unique addresses, hopefully enough to last the world for quite awhile.Among those working on the jump to IPv6 is Google itself. A recent blog post from the search giant discussed the coming of World IPv6 Day. Set as the first real test flight for IPv6, that day will see Google, Facebook, Yahoo, and a host of Web sites and Internet providers offer their content and services through the new protocol. The goal will be to see what works and what doesn't and determine what kinks need to be ironed out.Though Google says the vast majority of Internet users should be unaffected by IPv6 day, some may run into connection problems depending on how their devices are configured. The World IPv6 Day Web site offers a test that people can run to see if their own PCs and their Internet providers are set up to handle the new protocol.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Report: First Windows 7 service pack sent to OEMs]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-first-windows-7-service-pack-sent-to-oems</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-first-windows-7-service-pack-sent-to-oems</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 14 Jan 2011 08:10:12 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>winmansufes</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-first-windows-7-service-pack-sent-to-oems</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The first service pack forWindows 7 has been sent to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), according to a post on TechNet by Microsoft's Russian Windows Visualization team.Microsoft launched the first release candidate for Windows 7 SP1, and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 in late October of last year, saying that it would be the only RC prior to the software being finalized and made available to manufacturers. The company also promised that SP1 would arrive in the hands of users in the &quot;first half&quot; of 2011.Blog Winrumors, which reported the news earlier today, weighs in, saying that while SP1 is indeed going out to OEMs, it may be a while longer before consumers get their hands on it.A Microsoft spokesperson told CNET, &quot;we have nothing to share at this time but will keep you posted.&quot;SP1 packs together a round of hotfixes, as well as an updated remote desktop client that makes use of RemoteFX. Besides bringing a boost to 3D applications, RemoteFX helps IT admins deploy Windows 7 through virtual machines using the technology, which it picked up with its acquisition of Calista Technologies back in 2008. Other SP1 adds include dynamic memory support for Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2, and all previous Windows security fixes.Earlier this week, Microsoft released KB 976902 through its Windows Update software before having the knowledge base article to explain what the update was for. Security expert Brian Krebs dug a little deeper and found out it was an update to the Windows stack to get the OS ready for future updates, something the company did ahead of the SP1 beta back in July. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[CES: Verizon's CES keynote hails a 4G world]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ces-verizons-ces-keynote-hails-a-4g-world</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ces-verizons-ces-keynote-hails-a-4g-world</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 06 Jan 2011 08:10:26 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>NurgeNicesmum</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ces-verizons-ces-keynote-hails-a-4g-world</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Time Warner CEO Jeffrey Bewkes (left) talks with Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg at the CES trade show on Thursday.(Credit:Screenshot from Verizon livestream)It's all about the network: Verizon's new 4G LTE broadband infrastructure was the cornerstone of Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg's keynote address on Thursday morning at the 2011CES trade show in Las Vegas, where he hailed the possibilities of the &quot;creative revolution&quot; stemming from the increasingly hyperconnected words we live in.&quot;Wireless data is now more than doubling every year,&quot; Seidenberg said. &quot;Smartphones are growing at almost 90 percent a year, and a whole new computing platform for mobile broadband has emerged.&quot;This power of the network was key to all the topics Verizon touched upon in its talk: faster broadband's evolution into a more connected world, the new Droid Bionic dual-core smartphone and Xoomtablet in partnership with Motorola, and the power of Google's Android operating system (and its new Honeycomb edition for tablet computing). There was not, as some had eagerly hoped, the announcement that Apple'siPhone would finally be available on Verizon. President and Chief Operating Officer Lowell McAdam joined Seidenberg on stage to talk about Verizon's development of its 4G network, and its 2007 promise to build &quot;the fastest, most advanced network in America.&quot; &quot;We sent a signal to the entire consumer electronics industry that this market would develop very quickly,&quot; McAdam said. &quot;In 2011, that vision becomes a reality. One month ago, Verizon launched commercial LTE service in 38 major markets.&quot; He also talked about &quot;big broadband,&quot; the fiber infrastructure needed to power 3D technology and media-heavy activities like holographic games and high-quality videoconferencing. McAdam predicted &quot;huge growth in video traffic&quot; and claimed that there is &quot;no practical limit to the speed that this fiber can deliver.&quot; Ultimately, he said, this will result into an even more hyperconnected world. &quot;Network innovation not only changes what we can do, it changes what you can do with us,&quot; McAdam said. &quot;Your home will be a smart hub for managing your energy use, your health care, your security system, and your appliances...I call these high I.Q. networks, and these networks are the hubs of the wheel that will drive this industry forward.&quot; The Verizon executives paraded out Time Warner CEO Jeffrey Bewkes--now that Time Warner Cable is a separate company, Bewkes no longer runs a competitor to Verizon's broadband service--who talked about the need for good infrastructure to power consumer demand for &quot;TV everywhere,&quot; on mobile devices as well as throughout the home. &quot;All of that is going on-demand, on every device, in ever higher quality, HD soon 3D,&quot; Bewkes said, &quot;and it is an explosion of vitality that is moving from the TV screen, still on TV, but to every other screen that you have.&quot; He name-checked the Verizon FlexView on-demand service that the company offers for its Fios home access service. Many of Verizon's CES-related announcements had already trickled out over the past few days or through weeks of a constant rumor mill: the first phones to use its 4G LTE network, like the Motorola Droid Bionic, which is shaping up to be one of the must-see mobile devices at CES' and the Honeycomb-powered Xoom tablet, which Motorola had unveiled on Wednesday. Indeed, Verizon's focus was less heavy on the news and more focused on the power of the network in the future. &quot;The sheer scale of connections in this new world will be truly mind-boggling,&quot; Seidenberg said at the conclusion of the event. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Ringing in a new smartphone year (week in review)]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ringing-in-a-new-smartphone-year-week-in-review</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ringing-in-a-new-smartphone-year-week-in-review</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 31 Dec 2010 08:10:08 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>respnomafranf</dc:creator>
<category>Business &amp; Finance</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ringing-in-a-new-smartphone-year-week-in-review</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The new year is expected to bring a bumper crop of new smartphones, and Apple may reap the greatest harvest.Perhaps the most long-awaited wireless announcement, Apple will introduce an iPhone for the Verizon network &quot;sometime after the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in early January,&quot; according to a Bloomberg report that cited &quot;a person familiar with Apple's plans.&quot;Although we've heard countless similar reports and rumors in the past, there's mounting evidence that 2011 will be the yeariPhone customers finally get a carrier option other than AT&amp;T. For starters, the Businessweek story comes on the heels of a DigiTimes report indicating Apple plans to ship 5 million to 6 million CDMA iPhones in the first quarter of 2011. Verizon's network runs on CDMA' AT&amp;T's doesn't.Meanwhile, T-Mobile and Motorola are expected to unveil the successor to their 2009 handset, the Cliq. A handful of images of the Cliq 2 made their way onto Cell Phone Signal's site, and they show a device that looks nearly identical to its predecessor outside of a redesigned keyboard and a shinier bezel around the screen. &amp;149'&amp;nbsp' CES: HTC Evo Shift 4G could get Jan. 9 release &amp;149'&amp;nbsp' Mobile security firm warns of new Android Trojan &amp;149'&amp;nbsp' McAfee: Smartphones, Apple top '11 crime targetsMore headlinesSkype for iPhone adds two-way video callingWhile Skype is nowhere near first to wave the video-calling banner, waiting may not have been a bad move. For a player this major, quality and timing are everything.&amp;149'&amp;nbsp' Skype blames recent outage on buggy softwarePaul Allen revises patent suit against 11 tech firmsMicrosoft's co-founder amends his patent infringement suit against Apple, Google, Facebook, and other tech giants, alleging that they're using technology owned by his firm, Interval Licensing. Amazon: Many iPad owners also buying KindlesAs Amazon touts the Kindle 3 becoming the best-selling product of all time on Amazon worldwide, CEO Jeff Bezos says many people who are buying the new Kindle also own an LCD tablet.&amp;149'&amp;nbsp' Amazon: Third-gen Kindle is all-time bestseller&amp;149'&amp;nbsp' Kindle book lending now available B&amp;N: Nook line 'biggest best seller ever'First, Amazon said the Kindle was its best-selling product of all time. Now it's Barnes &amp; Noble's turn to tout the holiday success of its e-reader line.&amp;149'&amp;nbsp' Barnes &amp; Noble's Nook server woes rectified&amp;149'&amp;nbsp' Hack turns Nook Color into KindleISP won't reveal names of alleged porn piratesTime Warner Cable once again refuses to give up names of customers accused of copyright violations, according to the attorney overseeing Larry Flynt Publishing's copyright case.Most don't want the FCC to regulate the InternetOnly 21 percent of U.S. adults polled by Rasmussen Reports said they'd want the FCC to regulate the Internet, with 54 percent opposed to such action and 25 percent undecided.Study: So people do pay for online contentAlmost two-thirds of Internet users polled by Pew Internet have paid for music, software, or other intangible online content, with the typical person shelling out around $10 a month.&amp;149'&amp;nbsp' Amazon 2010 tops: Stieg Larsson, giraffe baby toys&amp;149'&amp;nbsp' Facebook dominates Hitwise list of top searchesRumor: Apple prepping three iPad 2 versionsApple is reportedly working on three versions of theiPad 2, claims a report in DigiTimes. Apple may also be trying to reduce smudging on the screen.&amp;149'&amp;nbsp' Apple sued over privacy in iPhone, iPad appsAlso of note&amp;149'&amp;nbsp' Sears, Kmart launching movie download service&amp;149'&amp;nbsp' Korean schools welcome more robot teachers&amp;149'&amp;nbsp' Rumor says Groupon raising $950 million.postBody h3, .postBody h4{font-size: 1.2em'margin: 10px 0 0 0 'padding: 0px'font-weight: bold'border-bottom: none'}<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[RIM rejects claims of weak PlayBook battery]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=rim-rejects-claims-of-weak-playbook-battery</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=rim-rejects-claims-of-weak-playbook-battery</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 30 Dec 2010 08:10:22 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>limaparx232</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=rim-rejects-claims-of-weak-playbook-battery</guid>
<description><![CDATA[RIM&amp;39's BlackBerry PlayBook(Credit:Research In Motion)RIM has rebutted recent claims that its upcoming BlackBerry PlayBook tablet is hampered by a short battery life.On Tuesday, Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu issued a report in which he cited unnamed sources saying that the PlayBook's battery lasts only a few hours, compared with Samsung's Galaxy Tab, which lasts for six hours, andApple's iPad, which runs for 10 hours on single charge. The analyst pointed to the weak battery life as a reason why Research In Motion has delayed the launch of the device until the company's May 2011 quarter.But in a response issued today, RIM rejected those claims, according to Reuters, and insisted that the development of the battery was on schedule and that its life would be comparable to that of the competing tablets. The BlackBerry maker also offered an explanation of why outside testers may have assumed the battery would be weak.&quot;Any testing or observation of battery life to date by anyone outside of RIM would have been performed using pre-beta units that were built without power management implemented,&quot; the company said in a statement e-mailed to Reuters.Even with comparable battery life, the PlayBook faces an uphill battle competing against the likes of the iPad. An analyst from Oppenheimer expects RIM to sell only around 3.3 million units over the course of the year after it launches. In contrast, Apple sold 3 million iPads just in the first three months.See also:BlackBerry PlayBook, first impressionsRIM BlackBerry PlayBook (photos) <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[The 411 on AT&T's 4G strategy (FAQ)]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-411-on-atts-4g-strategy-faq</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-411-on-atts-4g-strategy-faq</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 21 Dec 2010 08:10:35 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>materliqazwsxedc</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-411-on-atts-4g-strategy-faq</guid>
<description><![CDATA[AT&amp;T took another step toward filling out its 4G wireless broadband strategy with the announcement yesterday that it plans to spend $1.9 billion to buy wireless spectrum from chipmaker Qualcomm.The new spectrum will be used to help build the carrier's next generation LTE network. This is the same technology that Verizon Wireless is using to build its 4G network. In some ways, AT&amp;T may seem a little late to the 4G wireless party. Competitors Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile USA have already been touting their fourth generation networks. Verizon just launched its service earlier this month. And Sprint has been offering 4G service using a technology called WiMax for more than two years. Even T-Mobile USA--the smallest of the major four national wireless operators--is claiming to offer 4G wireless. For the most part, AT&amp;T has been quiet about its 4G plans. But now the company is making nearly a $2 billion investment in the new network. To help shed some light on AT&amp;T's 4G strategy and what consumers might expect, CNET put together this FAQ.What is AT&amp;T's strategy for 4G, and is it really lagging its competitorsIn terms of marketing, AT&amp;T is definitely behind its competitors in getting its 4G message out. But in terms of technology, the company isn't really that far behind its competitors. It's just taking a slightly different route. In short, AT&amp;T has decided to upgrade its existing 3G network before it deploys LTE. This is the same strategy T-Mobile USA is taking as well. AT&amp;T and T-Mobile are both GSM carriers, using HSPA 3G technology. HSPA 3G has an easier path toward LTE, so it makes sense for these carriers to invest in these networks as long as they can before building an LTE network. Meanwhile, Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel, which are CDMA-based carriers, use a 3G technology called EV-DO that doesn't have as clear an upgrade path to 4G. So this is why these carriers have decided to move to next-generation technologies. Verizon is using LTE, while Sprint is using WiMax.What technology has AT&amp;T already deployedIn 2009, AT&amp;T upgraded to HSPA 7.2 technology. This 3G technology provides a theoretical download speed of 7.2 Mbps. The company completed that upgrade and is now working to upgrade the network yet again with HSPA+ technology. The technology it is using can theoretically offer between 14 Mbps and 21 Mbps downloads.In November, AT&amp;T's CTO John Donovan said the company had completed 80 percent of its network upgrade to HSPA+. And now AT&amp;T claims it offers this faster service to 250 million potential users.Are there products that take advantage of these new faster speedsSo far AT&amp;T has introduced only USB modems that offer HSPA+ speeds. But there is a good chance the company will offer HSPA+ handsets early next year. T-Mobile, which touts its HSPA+ network as 4G, was the first carrier in the U.S. to launch HSPA+ phones in the U.S.: the G2 and myTouch 4G.If LTE is the next evolution in AT&amp;T's roadmap, how much faster will it be than HSPA+AT&amp;T has not said how fast it expects the new service to be, nor has AT&amp;T published its own estimates for actual speeds on its HSPA+ network. If you look at competitors using similar technologies, the actual speed of its HSPA+ is likely around 3Mbps to 7Mbps. Verizon, which is the only major U.S. carrier that has deployed LTE, is reporting average download speeds around 5Mbps to 12Mbps.When is AT&amp;T launching its LTE networkThe network is expected to launch commercially in mid-2011. AT&amp;T is already testing the service in Dallas and Baltimore. The company has said it plans to cover 70 million to 75 million potential customers with the service by the end of 2011. AT&amp;T plans to spend $1.9 billion on new spectrum from Qualcomm. How will this new spectrum be used in building the LTE networkAT&amp;T plans to use the spectrum as a supplement to the spectrum it's already using for 4G services. Specifically, it plans to use &quot;carrier aggregation technology&quot; to enable supplemental downlink capacity. Carrier aggregation technology has been discussed as a technique to be used in the next generation of LTE, known as LTE-Advanced. Using this technology, LTE Advanced could provide peak download speeds of 1Gbps.In a separate announcement, Qualcomm said it intends to integrate carrier aggregation technology into its chipset road map. The company said demand for the technology will be driven by more consumers downloading rich content onto their phones.Will the addition of new wireless spectrum help AT&amp;T deal with its dropped call issues on devices like theiPhoneUnfortunately, it will not help solve the dropped call issues. Neither Verizon Wireless nor AT&amp;T will use LTE for voice services anytime soon. For now, voice traffic will remain on the carriers' existing 2G and 3G networks.I thought the FCC said there was a spectrum shortage. Where did this spectrum come fromThe spectrum AT&amp;T is buying from Qualcomm was originally used for analog broadcast TV. It is in the 700MHz band of spectrum, which is the same band of spectrum that the FCC auctioned off a couple of years ago. Verizon Wireless bought a nationwide license of similar 700MHz spectrum. And that is what Verizon is using to build its 4G LTE network.This 700MHz spectrum is considered valuable because it can travel long distances and penetrate walls. Qualcomm is a cell phone chip company. What was it doing with this spectrum That is correct, Qualcomm is a chip manufacturer. And it used the spectrum to build a mobile broadcast TV network it calls Flo TV. The service tied into Qualcomm's business because the company made the chips that went into devices to receive the TV signals.The Flo TV service covers more than 300 million people nationwide. Qualcomm reportedly invested $683 million to build the network. It started as a wholesale provider, allowing carriers like AT&amp;T and Verizon Wireless to resell its mobile TV service. It eventually launched its own device with service using its network. But neither mobile TV business ever got enough subscribers to sustain the business. And so the company announced earlier this year that it would shut down the service in March. CEO Paul Jacobs said the company would evaluate options for the spectrum, which included selling the spectrum license to another carrier.What spectrum is AT&amp;T currently using to build its LTE networkCurrently, AT&amp;T is using 700 MHz spectrum holdings as well as spectrum it acquired in the FCC's Advanced Wireless Services spectrum auction. Why is AT&amp;T taking its time with the 4G rolloutNew networks take time to build. So part of AT&amp;T's strategy is to make sure that its legacy 3G network is as fast as it can be before investing in a new generation of network. This will help the company in two ways. For one, it helps the company wring out as much use as it can from its existing network investment. And second, Donovan believes it gives AT&amp;T a competitive advantage over rivals such as Verizon. WhyAccording to a recent blog post defending AT&amp;T's strategy, Donovan said AT&amp;T's decision to take HSPA to its limit is in part to get better network coverage. &quot;Our HSPA+ network and upgraded backhaul is expected to deliver speed performance similar to initial LTE deployments. That matters, because when we begin commercial deployment of LTE in mid 2011, customers on our LTE network will be able to fall back to HSPA+. As they do, they'll receive a more consistent mobile broadband experience that supports simultaneous voice and data connections and higher speeds than the others can provide outside their LTE footprint.&quot;Does this strategy make sense Or will AT&amp;T be left behind as Verizon Wireless, AT&amp;T's main rival, gets at least a six month jump on the marketThe answer likely lies in how quickly the LTE device market evolves and matures. Verizon, the first major U.S. operator to launch LTE, isn't expected to announce handsets for the new network until early January at the CES tradeshow in Las Vegas.It will be interesting to see how these handsets compare with other hot smartphones on 3G networks in terms of battery life and functionality. The 4G network will definitely offer more speed for these devices. But early versions of these products are likely to be somewhat clunky in network handoffs and could have serious battery life issues.By the time, the device kinks are worked out, AT&amp;T could be launching its own service. And as Donovan points out, if AT&amp;T introduces LTE/HSPA+ handsets, it could very well offer the fastest and widest footprint of ultra fast 4G wireless broadband. Verizon's customers will experience 4G speeds where LTE is available, but dramatically drop down to EV-DO in places where LTE is not available.The real trick is whether AT&amp;T can execute on its strategy. And a big part of that will be getting the right kinds of devices on its network as quickly as it can to compete against rivals. But AT&amp;T might have another problem to deal with once it loses its exclusive contract for the Apple iPhone. While the exclusive deal for the iPhone has helped AT&amp;T win millions of new subscribers, it's also hurt the company's reputation. Poor network performance has caused the company to place last in customer satisfaction in a recent Consumer Reports survey. Perhaps a speedier network with a wider footprint than its competitors could help it rebuild its reputation.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Apple's stock surge makes its secrets a big target]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apples-stock-surge-makes-its-secrets-a-big-target</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apples-stock-surge-makes-its-secrets-a-big-target</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 17 Dec 2010 08:10:27 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Doreen93</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apples-stock-surge-makes-its-secrets-a-big-target</guid>
<description><![CDATA[It's no surprise that Apple secrets were so highly coveted. Check out the two-year chart.(Credit:Screenshot by Larry Dignan/ZDNet)A massive insider trading probe focused on expert networks illustrates just how valuable Apple's secrets--product road maps, new features, and forecasts--have become.Yesterday, the feds arrested four people in an insider trading probe. According to the Associated Press, the U.S. government alleges that James Fleishman, an executive at Primary Global Research, used four consultants employed by public companies to deliver confidential information. The companies were AMD, Flextronics, Dell, and TSMC. The Holy Grail for traders looking to game the system, however, were details about Apple's plans via Flextronics, a contract equipment manufacturer.The AP says a government complaint details how Primary Global Research clients were told about Apple's trade secrets including sales forecasts, newiPhone features, and a project known as K48, which became theiPad. The complaint was filed, but is sealed. There was an order to unseal the complaint on Dec. 16, according to the court's electronic filing system.Read more of &quot;Apple's stock surge makes its secrets a big target&quot; at ZDNet's Between the Lines. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[iPhone, Android battle for top spot on ad network]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=iphone-android-battle-for-top-spot-on-ad-network</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=iphone-android-battle-for-top-spot-on-ad-network</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 14 Dec 2010 08:10:31 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>vanessarice</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=iphone-android-battle-for-top-spot-on-ad-network</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Apple and Android continue to duke it out for the top spot on Millennial Media's ad network.Each of the two competing platforms captured 38 percent of all smartphone ad impressions (how often an ad appears) in the U.S. for November, according to Millennial Media's &quot;November Mobile Mix Report.&quot; That number reflects a 1 percentage point gain in ad impressions for both Apple and Android from October's results following Android's 6 percentage point gain and Apple's 9 percentage point drop from September.BlackBerry maker Research In Motion took third place on Millennial Media's network with 19 percent of all ad impressions, leaving Microsoft's Windows Mobile OS and Nokia's Symbian each with a 2 percent share.(Credit:Millennial Media)Looking strictly at mobile-device manufacturers, Apple kept its top spot on the ad network with theiPhone,iPod Touch, andiPad collectively capturing 25 percent of all ad impressions. Grabbing 17 percent of all impressions in November, Samsung held onto second place with its mixture of feature phones and Android smartphones. Motorola took home a 15 percent share, helped by its Droid 2 and Droid X phones. And with five BlackBerry devices on Millennial Media's top 30 mobile device list, RIM won 11 percent of all ad impressions last month. Overall, smartphones accounted for 19 of the top 30 mobile devices in November.  Android mobile apps grabbed 54 percent of all ad impressions seen among apps on the Millennial Media network, averaging 10 percent monthly growth over the past four months. Apps created for Apple's iOS accounted for 38 percent. Gaming apps proved the most popular category in general, winning 28 percent of all ad impressions, with Music and Entertainment in second place with a 22 percent share. Millennial Media currently covers and tracks ads on 85 percent of all mobile devices in the United States. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Survey: 8 percent of online Americans use Twitter]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=survey-8-percent-of-online-americans-use-twitter</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=survey-8-percent-of-online-americans-use-twitter</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 09 Dec 2010 08:10:37 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>latering04</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=survey-8-percent-of-online-americans-use-twitter</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Twitter is now being used by 8 percent of online adults in the United States, according to a report out today from Pew Internet.Based on survey results, the study found that among the Twitter users interviewed, 24 percent check their tweets several times a day, while 12 percent check in once a day.(Credit:Pew Internet)Breaking down the demographics, adults ages 18-29 are much more likely to use Twitter than are older adults, minority users (African-Americans and Latinos) are twice as likely to use the service as are white users, and city dwellers are twice as likely to hop onto Twitter as are rural residents.Looking at the people who like to tweet, Pew found that 72 percent of them post updates about their personal lives or interests, 62 percent post updates about their work lives, 55 percent share links to news stories, and 53 percent retweet items tweeted by other people.This latest survey from Pew follows several other polls conducted between August 2008 and September 2010 in which the results were misinterpreted by several analysts and readers, according to the research firm. For the August poll, 6 percent of Internet users said they used Twitter or a similar service, while in September, 24 percent said the same thing. But some people thought those numbers represented just Twitter users when they actually covered other social networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace.To clear up that misconception and to focus strictly on Twitter, Pew framed the question in its new survey as simply: &quot;Do you use Twitter&quot;The results were compiled by Pew from a November tracking survey that reached around 2,250 people. But two omnibus surveys run in October asking the same question also found around 8 percent of those polled use Twitter.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[iPad band gives new birth to Xmas carols]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ipad-band-gives-new-birth-to-xmas-carols</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ipad-band-gives-new-birth-to-xmas-carols</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 08 Dec 2010 08:10:27 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>cash21</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ipad-band-gives-new-birth-to-xmas-carols</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Why should you have to tolerate people with strange eyebrows, woolly hats, and shaving problems turning up at your door and singing badly this Christmas Especially when you can enjoy the full power of festive composition brought to you by nice men with iPads, a couple of iPhones, and fingers as dexterous as those of the national knitting champion Please welcome the Northpoint Community Church iBand. In a year or two, all rocks bands will look like this. But, for now, with your festive proclivities leaning you towards your relaxed side, please bathe in the band's unique exposition of familiar tunes like Boney M's &quot;Feliz Navidad.&quot;As Christmas comes to soothe us from the year's turbulence, the sheer harmony and ingenuity displayed by these very happy men from Alpharetta, Ga., will surely lead this YouTube video to become one of the Web's most beloved.As the members of the band twist their iPads towards the audience, tap them with certainty and guile, and even offer something of a hip-hop accent to holy tunes, only one thing seems to be missing: ultimately, theiPad is a little restrictive as an instrument of performance. If you want to go all Pete Townshend on this thing, you'll only need a dustpan and brush to clear up the mess.If a guitarist were to offer a rock-out version of &quot;God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen,&quot; he would, at the very least, be able to point his axe towards the audience, fling it over his shoulder, play it behind his back, and pluck the strings until they snapped in pain.Instead, the Northpoint iPad performer holds his instrument politely in his left hand while his right taps out the requisite notes, like a personal assistant tapping in the minutes of a board meeting.It might have been a little more physical had the soloist been able to avail himself of the (sadly fictional) iArm from the folks at PrankPack.com .Still, it's clear that an inexorable trend, first set by the universally admired concert pianist Lang Lang when he iPadded his way through the &quot;Flight of the Bumble Bee,&quot; is now upon us.Oh, come (and rock yon iPad), all ye faithful.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Robot's singular job: Cutting flesh from pig bone]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=robots-singular-job-cutting-flesh-from-pig-bone</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=robots-singular-job-cutting-flesh-from-pig-bone</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 07 Dec 2010 08:10:29 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>minisa</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=robots-singular-job-cutting-flesh-from-pig-bone</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Insert Sarah Connor joke here. (Credit:Video screenshot by Matt Hickey/CNET)Sure, we've got robots programmed to make cars, vacuum our floors, and even make sweet, sweet love, and on some level I'm frightened of all of them. But there's a new beasty that will haunt my dreams tonight: the multijoint pork de-boning robot.It's an articulated arm with a razor-sharp knife at the end. It's called the HAMDAS-R, and it's made by Japan's Mayekawa Electric. The thing is programmed with one purpose: separating pork flesh from thigh bone, a task that's supposed to be tough for humans.  It just won the top prize in the small business and venture category at the 4th Robot Awards sponsored by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry.  This HAMDAS-R system has achieved a higher yield of deboned pork than skilled workers do, according to Mayekawa. It's smart enough to change its instructions on-the-fly to account for different meat forms and bone sizes, which means it autonomously learns the best way to cut up formerly living things. That means it could very easily make work of a human, like me, even if it's never been programmed to. See why I'm so scaredAnd why yes, we do have a video of the monstrosity in action. You can view it below.(Source: Bot Junkie)         Matt Hickey    Full Profile E-mail Matt Hickey   E-mail Matt Hickey If you have a question or comment for Matt Hickey, you can submit it here. However, because our editors and writers receive hundreds of requests, we cannot tell you when you may receive a response.   Submit your question or comment here: 0 of 1500 characters       With more than 15 years experience testing hardware (and being obsessed with it), Crave freelance writer Matt Hickey can tell the good gadgets from the great. He also has a keen eye for future technology trends. Matt has blogged for publications including TechCrunch, CrunchGear, and most recently, Gizmodo. Matt is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CBS Interactive. E-mail Matt.  <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[R2-D2 swimsuit gets a friend: Threepio]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=r2-d2-swimsuit-gets-a-friend-threepio</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=r2-d2-swimsuit-gets-a-friend-threepio</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 07 Dec 2010 08:10:27 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>DefevantHat</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=r2-d2-swimsuit-gets-a-friend-threepio</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Why yes, this would be the droid I&amp;39'm looking for.(Credit:Black Milk Clothing)Remember the R2-D2 one-piece swimsuit from a few weeks back Some readers thought it needed a C-3PO swimsuit to go with it, and the people at Black Milk, the design company that makes the swimwear, agreed.  Meet the C-3PO swimsuit, Threepio. Like the Artoo model, it costs $85 and is amazing.And it's a good move by Black Milk, marketing-wise. Now every girl (or guy) who bought the Artoo version will have to get a friend to buy this one. You can't very well have R2-D2 without C-3PO, can you I don't speak droid and 3PO always did a fine job translating.On a personal note, I love that my job includes posting pictures of girls in swimsuits on the Internet. Call me creepy, but it's better than blogging about politics.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[eBay buys Milo to unite online, offline shopping]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ebay-buys-milo-to-unite-online-offline-shopping</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ebay-buys-milo-to-unite-online-offline-shopping</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 03 Dec 2010 08:10:04 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Sophia004</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ebay-buys-milo-to-unite-online-offline-shopping</guid>
<description><![CDATA[eBay has bought a local-shopping service that it expects will help both buyers and sellers by uniting online and offline shopping.The auction site said yesterday that it has acquired Milo, a Web site designed to help shoppers find products available at their local brick-and-mortar stores and compare prices with those from online retailers.Though pointing buyers to products at local stores may seem at odds with eBay's online marketplace, the company believes the acquisition will open up new opportunities for buyers and sellers.&quot;Since eBay is an online marketplace and doesn't compete with brick-and-mortar stores, adding local store inventory to the eBay marketplace is a natural extension of what we've been doing for 15 years--bringing buyers and sellers together to access the largest selection available anywhere,&quot; Mark Carges, chief technology officer and senior vice president for global products at eBay Marketplaces, said in a statement.Partnering with 140 different retail outlets, Milo offers prices for around 3 million products across 52,000 stores in the U.S. Its search results include more than 90 small and medium-sized businesses, according to eBay, helping the small fry compete with larger retailers. By integrating Milo, eBay said it plans to bring the inventories of small retailers into the online world and allow eBay sellers with physical storefronts to sell their goods locally. &quot;Local commerce companies like Milo are blurring the lines between in-store and online shopping,&quot; Carges said. &quot;By making accurate, real-time, local store inventory and pricing available to online and mobile shoppers, we see a huge opportunity for local retailers, small businesses, and eBay sellers to reach more buyers, and for consumers to make more informed buying decisions.&quot;eBay is looking to add Milo's local product engine to its online marketplace and mobile apps. eBay's RedLaser iPhone app, which scans product barcodes to compare prices, will also soon incorporate results from Milo.Terms of the deal were not announced. However, the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) said that several blogs reported a purchase price of $75 million.eBay's once weakening auction business has staged a recovery this year, helping to deliver stronger earnings and sales over the past couple of quarters. But the company is still searching for new ways and new markets to drive profitability.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Samsung TV apps hit 1 million downloads]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=samsung-tv-apps-hit-1-million-downloads</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=samsung-tv-apps-hit-1-million-downloads</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 02 Dec 2010 08:10:09 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Nena01</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=samsung-tv-apps-hit-1-million-downloads</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Samsung TV's apps marketplace features 200 applications.(Credit:Samsung)Samsung has hit an important milestone with the apps marketplace on its HDTVs.According to the company, 1 million applications have been downloaded from its Samsung Apps since it launched in March. Samsung said that Hulu Plus, ESPN Next Level, CinemaNow, and Texas Holdem are among the &quot;the most frequently downloaded applications&quot; in its store. In addition, the company said that Samsung Apps now features 200 applications, including MLB.TV, Vudu, Netflix, and many others.Currently, Samsung offers its marketplace on over half of its 2010 line of HDTVs. The company said that it expects TV vendors to sell a total of 6.5 million HDTV units featuring applications by the end of the year. By 2012, it believes that market will expand to 20 million unit sales. Most major television makers also offer apps on their sets. And one of those companies--Vizio--is battling it out with Samsung for dominance in the HDTV market.According to research firm iSuppli, Vizio led the LCD market in overall shipments during the third quarter, nabbing 19.9 percent market share. Samsung came in second with 17.7 percent market share. But when it came to all television shipments to the U.S., Samsung was helped by an increase in plasma sales. The company led the way in overall TV shipments with 19.3 percent market share, besting Vizio's 17 percent overall market share.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Apple patents glasses-less 3D projection]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apple-patents-glasses-less-3d-projection</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apple-patents-glasses-less-3d-projection</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 01 Dec 2010 08:10:19 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Fameka</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apple-patents-glasses-less-3d-projection</guid>
<description><![CDATA[A diagram of how Apple&amp;39's proposed 3D projection system would work.(Credit:U.S. Patent and Trademark Office)It's not that much of a surprise that Apple thinks watching 3D content with plastic glasses is dumb.And the company that's all about sleek, cool, and simple has actually been granted a patent on a method of projecting a 3D image that can be perceived properly without glasses.The system would work like this: each pixel would be projected onto a reflective, textured surface, which is then bounced into a viewer's left and right eye separately, producing the 3D, or stereoscopic, effect. it would sense the locations of both eyes of the each viewer, so multiple people could watch from a variety of angles.The goal of the technology they've cooked up is &quot;inexpensive auto-stereoscopic 3D displays that allow the observer complete and unencumbered freedom of movement,&quot; according to the patent application the Patent Office granted yesterday. In other words, 3D displays should have no need for special glasses, and viewers shouldn't be limited by viewing angle, or be forced to sit and not move in order to see the 3D effect.Interestingly, the patent breaks down why they think current offerings for glasses-free 3D aren't good enough, including parallax barrier, volumetric, and hologram.A parallax barrier display, which is what is used in some auto-stereoscopic phones and likely the Nintendo 3DS, uses one liquid crystal display layered under another. Each has tiny stripes that will hide certain pixels so that some are only visible to your left eye, while others will only be seen by your right eye. In that way, each eye gets its own image, producing the illusion of 3D without the need for glasses.Toshiba and Sharp both have prototype glasses-less3D TVs and expect to begin selling them in Japan by the end of the year. Toshiba's method is to use a fast, powerful processor to take a 2D image and simultaneously create nine images of it from nine different directions, in real time, and display it on a high-definitionLED TV.Apple says those aren't good enough because of the processing power needed for the hologram style of Toshiba and Sharp, and the limits on movement or more than one viewer with parallax. &quot;A need still remains for highly effective, practical, efficient, uncomplicated, and inexpensive autostereoscopic 3D displays that allow the observer complete and unencumbered freedom of movement,&quot; the patent application reads.Of course, like any patent, this doesn't mean we should expect an Apple-branded 3D projector anytime soon. The original patent was applied for in 2006, and these are the kinds of technologies that tech companies like to keep in their back pocket, just in case.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Google expects to launch e-book sales soon]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-expects-to-launch-e-book-sales-soon</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-expects-to-launch-e-book-sales-soon</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 30 Nov 2010 08:10:34 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>norncrymoup</dc:creator>
<category>Marketing and advertising</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-expects-to-launch-e-book-sales-soon</guid>
<description><![CDATA[We may get to check out Google's long-anticipated entry into the digital-book sales market before the end of the year.Google Editions, which was announced in spring and expected to launch in summer, is expected to be available in the U.S. by the end of the month, Google spokeswoman Jeannie Hornung told CNET today. In September, Hornung talked with CNET about some of the difficulties in launching the ambitious project, saying, &quot;The real answer is, we'll launch the service when it's ready.&quot;Google Editions is expected to open up a new distribution channel for digital-book publishers and give Amazon and Apple a new competitor in the booming digital-book market. However, a key difference is Google's &quot;buy anywhere, read anywhere&quot; approach, which means customers will purchase titles exclusively through a Web browser, instead of through an online store, as Amazon and Apple customers do. Customers will also be able to use any Internet-connected device--be it a personal computer, smartphone, or tablet computer--to access the books on Google's servers.Google hasn't revealed who or how many partners it has in the effort. But traditional revenue-sharing models could be upset by the fact that customers wouldn't actually have their own copy of the books they purchase.Amazon is the dominant player in the e-book field, claiming to command upward of 80 percent of the market. However, in an apparent effort to stave off defections to rival e-book sellers, Amazon recently announced plans to give newspaper and magazine publishers a greater share of the revenue it collects.Google is no stranger to digital books' the Internet giant announced plans in December 2004 to scan, digitize, and make searchable the collections of five of the largest libraries in the world. However, the effort quickly became embroiled in lawsuits and negotiations over copyright issues. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Smartphone users: I want my unlimited data]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=smartphone-users-i-want-my-unlimited-data</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=smartphone-users-i-want-my-unlimited-data</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 22 Nov 2010 08:10:30 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>liesourse</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=smartphone-users-i-want-my-unlimited-data</guid>
<description><![CDATA[U.S. wireless smartphone subscribers will do almost anything to keep their unlimited data plans, which could spell trouble down the road for AT&amp;T, the only U.S. operator without an unlimited plan. For the growing number of smartphone users in the U.S. market, loyalty to a particular phone or a specific carrier is trumped by the availability of an unlimited data plan. Cell phone consumers are a notoriously fickle bunch. And for the past couple of years, wireless operators have been stepping over each other to gain exclusive deals on hot new phones to attract new subscribers.This strategy has helped operators, such as AT&amp;T, win new subscribers. But a recent survey by Wall Street research firm Sanford Bernstein indicates that for existing smartphone customers, the security of knowing they won't exceed a monthly data usage cap takes priority over which carrier's network they subscribe to or which phone they use.&quot;It is fashionable to argue that loyalty to carriers is dead (except perhaps to Verizon Wireless, whose service level is perceived to be markedly higher than that of its competitors),&quot; writes Craig Moffett, an equities analyst with Sanford Bernstein who wrote the report analyzing the study. &quot;The new conventional wisdom is that carrier loyalty has been replaced with loyalty to the device. But high inclination to switch carriers and phones to maintain an unlimited plan suggest that perhaps the plan itself is more important than either one.&quot;What's this mean for wireless operators For AT&amp;T, which has benefited from die-hard loyalty to theApple iPhone for more than three years, it means the carrier may be vulnerable when it loses the exclusive contract for the iPhone. As for the other three wireless operators that have not yet eliminated an unlimited data plan, it means they might be able to scoop up valuable customers. AT&amp;T was the first major U.S. carrier to eliminate its $30 a month unlimited data plan. In June, right before it launched the iPhone 4, the company adopted a two-tiered pricing model for new subscribers. The new pricing scheme forces new smartphone users to sign up for either a $25 a month 2GB monthly plan or a 200MB $15 a month plan. AT&amp;T &quot;grandfathered&quot; existing smartphone subscribers, allowing them to keep their $30 unlimited data plans. But according to Sanford Bernstein's survey, the move has left a bitter taste in some AT&amp;T subscribers' mouths.About a third of the more than 800 people responding to the Sanford Bernstein survey said AT&amp;T's move toward usage-based billing sparked negative sentiment toward the company. The study also suggests that if forced to take a tiered data plan in lieu of an unlimited plan, a large proportion of consumers would switch carriers even if it means buying a new phone and paying a premium on a different carrier for the unlimited plan. AT&amp;T spokesman Mark Siegel said that AT&amp;T's new pricing plans give customers more flexibility and more choice when it comes to data. &quot;We have found that our customers in fact like usage-based billing,&quot; he said. &quot;They appreciate having choices in data plans. This is probably because a majority of customers can reduce their costs through our plans.&quot;He said the response to the tiered plans has been strong both with new customers and existing customers. AT&amp;T has been signing up huge numbers of new smartphone users. In the third quarter, it activated 8 million smartphone accounts, of which 5.2 million of those devices were iPhones. This was the largest number of iPhone activations for AT&amp;T in a single quarter.But Siegel would not disclose how many of the existing iPhone subscribers have actually switched to one of the tiered plans. Moffett speculates in his report that the loyalty consumers feel toward the iPhone is uncharacteristic. Consumers don't get the iPhone because they want to be on AT&amp;T's network' they subscribe to AT&amp;T because it's the only place in the U.S. to get the iPhone. Once the iPhone is available on other networks, AT&amp;T will likely find itself in the same position as Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA, whose customers appear to have far less loyalty to the network than they do the cost of the overall plan.&quot;Respondents were more loyal to their pricing plan than to either their carrier or their phone,&quot; he says in the report. &quot;More cynically, they were simply not loyal, and cared merely about price.&quot;Copycats The big question since AT&amp;T introduced its plan is whether its competitors would follow with usage based plans of their own. So far only Verizon Wireless has dipped its toe in the waters of tiered data pricing. Verizon recently introduced a new tier of service that offers 150 MB of data for $15 a month. But the company wisely kept its $30 a monthly unlimited plan. Since the plan was introduced, executives have been quick to point out that the tiered offer is for the company's 3G pricing. It will be launching its 4G LTE network later this year, and when it does, it will adopt a new pricing plan. But according to a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, even though Verizon will likely offer a tiered service offering, it may also keep the unlimited plan.  Meanwhile, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile, which are each rolling out upgrades to their network and each with far fewer customers than either AT&amp;T or Verizon Wireless, say they may consider usage based pricing in the future. But for now, they will continue offering unlimited data service.This could prove to be a major differentiator for these operators, according to Moffett.&quot;Unlimited data plans could become a major source of differentiation, attracting customers and giving still-unlimited carriers a subscribership boost,&quot; he writes. &quot;At the same time, however, carriers who maintain unlimited pricing in the face of AT&amp;T's move to usage based pricing (and Verizon's expected move to follow) could self-select to the heaviest users, impairing future profitability.&quot;The problem that wireless carriers face right now is that they need to increase adoption of data services without increasing consumption of those services. They're unable to keep pace with network upgrades to meet data demands. But more importantly, they can't afford these upgrades. Flat-rate unlimited pricing reduces how much revenue carriers make on each bit of data traversing their networks. In other words, the more data consumers use on an unlimited data plan, the less money carriers make from that service on a per-bit basis. So they need to be able to find a balance in which they can charge customers who use more of the network's resources more money for access to those resources.Of course, this is very unpopular with consumers, who have gotten used to all-you-can-eat Internet data buffets.People are willing to overpay For most consumers, who are likely only consuming about 300MB of data per month, the $25 plan from AT&amp;T would actually save them money since it's very unlikely they'd ever be charged overages for exceeding the 2GB cap. But many people are willing to pay for more than they need simply to have the peace of mind that they won't be hit with an overage charge. Even though the math doesn't work in their favor, the psychology of paying extra for this insurance is worth it. Indeed, the Sanford Bernstein survey found that a large number of light users, people consuming less than 200MB of data per month, prefer unlimited plans, too, even if their usage patterns suggest that they would save money by getting a plan that's capped. The problem is that people drastically overestimate how much time they spend doing data-intensive activities and thus they grossly exaggerate how much data they use. Another study by the Technology Policy Institute (PDF) that was published last week on the cost of broadband plans, discovered that most consumers on broadband data plans with data caps actually save between 15 percent and 25 percent compared with people who are on unlimited plans. The report, authored by Scott Wallsten and James Riso, stated that residential standalone broadband plans with bit caps are, on average, $164 less per year than similar, but unlimited plans. &quot;Policymakers should not immediately conclude that data caps and other pricing schemes that differ from traditional unlimited plans are necessarily bad,&quot; the report said. Instead, the authors suggest, pricing trends should be evaluated over time to identify the effects on prices, investment and usage.AT&amp;T's Siegel said the company's less expensive data plans have helped AT&amp;T tap a new crop of customers. The Sanford Bernstein survey also suggests that capped services, priced lower than unlimited plans can expand the market for operators. &quot;There is some upside for AT&amp;T and other UBP (usage based pricing) carriers, in the form of late smartphone adopters,&quot; Moffett writes in the report. &quot;There are people currently without smartphones but who would be interested in adopting one in light of cheaper data plans.&quot;The biggest hurdle may be simply persuading consumers to abandon the safety net of unlimited plans. Until then, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless may rack up some new customers at AT&amp;T's expense.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA['Unforgettable' iTunes announcement tomorrow]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=unforgettable-itunes-announcement-tomorrow</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=unforgettable-itunes-announcement-tomorrow</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 15 Nov 2010 08:10:17 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Kethy</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=unforgettable-itunes-announcement-tomorrow</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Apple is advertising an &quot;exciting announcement&quot; for iTunes that the company claims will make tomorrow a day you will never forget. The intriguing ad says that the news will be revealed at 7 a.m. PT on Tuesday, November 16.Until now, there has been no consensus on which features will come next for iTunes. Some industry insiders have speculated that Apple will announce a cloud-based music management system--perhaps related to new data centers it's building in North Carolina--but others suspect that Apple will announce a subscription-based streaming service.Apple&amp;39's announcement suggests the new features coming to iTunes will be &amp;34'unforgettable.&amp;34'(Credit:Apple)Apple's acquisition of the Lala streaming service about a year ago initially suggested a move to the cloud for iTunes. Apple shut down LaLa, however, making many wonder whether iTunes would see a merge with these technologies.Regardless of the specifics, Apple's wording of this announcement suggests that we may hear answers to these questions Tuesday morning.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[New Honda Odyssey goes where no minivan has gone before]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=new-honda-odyssey-goes-where-no-minivan-has-gone-before</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=new-honda-odyssey-goes-where-no-minivan-has-gone-before</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 05 Nov 2010 07:11:18 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Michle</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=new-honda-odyssey-goes-where-no-minivan-has-gone-before</guid>
<description><![CDATA[(Credit:Josh Miller/CNET)Although maligned as a boring, suburban family hauler, the minivan offers undeniable utility. The new Honda Odyssey rolls out as a very tech-friendly vehicle with new looks that may be hard to take for some. We like the angular styling, but found the rear section, which looks like it's falling off, disconcerting.Tech highlights are the ultra-wide-screen rear-seat LCD, which includes an HDMI input, the first installation we've seen in a productioncar, and an advanced voice command system that not only lets you dial phone contacts by name, but also request specific artists and albums from aniPod.Check out our 2011 Honda Odyssey Touring Elite review.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[How one company games Google News]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=how-one-company-games-google-news</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=how-one-company-games-google-news</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 04 Nov 2010 07:10:03 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>linkcxzbuildingf</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=how-one-company-games-google-news</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Note the second cluster of stories produced by a Google News search for &amp;34'iTunes&amp;34' yesterday afternoon. All of those Red Label News stories were basically the same: spammy SEO-keywords alongside Web ads.(Credit:Screenshot by Tom Krazit/CNET)Red Label News is not exactly a household name. But yesterday afternoon, it was one of the top news sources on Google News for stories about Apple's iTunes song previews. How'd that happen Red Label News, it appears, is a cleverly designed collection of links and headlines meant to game Google News rankings. CNET stumbled upon Red Label News after doing one of the most basic Google searches: the vanity search. In this case, we were attempting to figure out how many news outlets were writing about Apple's decision to extend iTunes song previews to 90 seconds, news my colleague Greg Sandoval first reported in August and further revealed yesterday in a letter that was part of an effort to gain the upper hand in negotiations with small record labels. The first Google News cluster was home to reports from some of the usual tech industry suspects: CNET, BetaNews, PC Magazine, and others grouped within the &quot;all articles&quot; section. But underneath that cluster was a second, more interesting grouping, comprised solely of stories from Red Label News all with slightly different headlines based around the iTunes news. Upon clicking on any of the Red Label News stories, it became instantly clear that all of the stories were pure spam: ads from Google's AdSense and Amazon's affiliate program wrapped around barely cohesive sentences of SEO-friendly keywords along with a few links to other stories about the news. With a little more digging, CNET has learned that Red Label News is just one of 44 news-related domains owned by a Los Angeles-based company called 70 Holdings, according to a WHOIS listing and a separate report from Domain Tools listing the various URLs owned by that company. Some of those sites are inactive, but others, like ElectronicTechNews.com, appear to be playing the same game of blending ads and SEO keywords with little to no usable content on the page. For example, one of the Red Label News stories supposedly about the iTunes song previews (linked here but may not last the day) began by saying this:If you are trying to find the hottest Apple sales at locations like Best Buy or Amazon.com you are at the best website. The Sales season is upon us and now is the best time to buy Apple at major department stores--there are gigantic bargains at all major retailers on the most popular electronics of the year. We have put together the latest news, sales &amp; info here so that you won't need to spend countless hours looking for the hottest Apple sale around.An example of a Red Label News &amp;34'story&amp;34' on Apple&amp;39's iTunes song preview changes. (Click for larger image.)(Credit:Screenshot by Tom Krazit/CNET)The story then went on to link to a PC World report about the song previews with a three-sentence blurb lifted from that report. Another 70 Holdings site, Electronic Tech News--a name under which one might expect to find electronic tech news--ran several &quot;stories&quot; on Monday before Election Day on the California gubernatorial race and the state's proposition on legalizing marijuana, hot search topics as election results started to come in Tuesday night. 70 Holdings' strategy exposes a hole in Google News: its inability to quickly detect these types of spammers in the first few hours after a breaking news event or a search term begins to spike on Google Trends. This creates an opening for companies like 70 Holdings to create ephemeral content in hopes of enticing clicks and ad impressions on that content simply because it ranked among the highest--and supposedly most trustworthy--results on Google News. Building a long-term news brand isn't exactly the goal here. Google said in a statement that it could not comment on individual publishers within Google News. &quot;We have certain guidelines in place regarding the quality of sites included in the Google News index. We do this to ensure that we offer a high-quality experience for Google News users. Our support team periodically reviews news sources, particularly following user complaints, and takes action when appropriate.&quot; With over 50,000 publishers around the world contributing stories to Google News, it can be extremely difficult even for a company with Google's resources to detect every single publisher that is violating its quality guidelines, which cover both regular Google search and Google News. Some of the obvious violations of those guidelines committed by Red Label News and 70 Holdings include: &amp;149' &quot;Don't load pages with irrelevant keywords,&quot; also known as &quot;keyword stuffing.&quot; &amp;149' &quot;Don't create multiple pages, subdomains, or domains with substantially duplicate content.&quot; At one point on Wednesday, Red Label News had published 42 separate headlines tangentially related to the iTunes song preview news that weren't all that different from each other. &amp;149' &quot;If your site participates in an affiliate program, make sure that your site adds value. Provide unique and relevant content that gives users a reason to visit your site first.&quot; Even the most strident content-farm defenders would have trouble standing behind the uniqueness and relevancy of Red Label News' content. The number listed for 70 Holdings on its WHOIS record led to a cell phone with a Maine area code, and answered by a man who said that I had the wrong number when asking for 70 Holdings. Repeated calls to the number, registered to a company that provides prepaid mobile numbers to resellers, were forwarded automatically to a voice mail recording. A source familiar with the Google News review process said to expect content from Red Label News to start disappearing from Google News over the course of the day. However, the vast number of domains owned by 70 Holdings (certainly not the only company in the world pursuing such a strategy) shows that Google is forced to play Whac-a-Mole every time something like this comes up, relying on reports from users, employees, or the media to find such sites. Google News is a white-list system, in that publishers have to be approved by a human at the company in order to appear within Google News results. An algorithm then ranks stories from approved publishers according to the Google News secret sauce. As demand for instant news increases, both Google and news junkies will increasingly encounter sites like Red Label News. People flock to Google in times of breaking news or rumors to try and confirm what they've heard on TV or from a friend, and this is a huge opening for unscrupulous publishers to attempt to trick users into clicking on their content simply because it contains a few keywords related to the search of the hour. Google has always faced this kind of struggle as it has grown into the dominant source of information on the Internet, and keeps the lion's share of spam attempts out of Google. But if the company is unable to train its algorithms to detect this kind of news spamming strategy, one of Google's greatest fears--that people will rely more on information curated by friends on Facebook or Twitter as opposed to search--could come true. Updated 2:37 p.m. PDT: After this story went live, Google's Webmaster Central Blog released a post reminding Webmasters how they can help Google identify Web spam.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[TomTom announces capacitive-screened GO series]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=tomtom-announces-capacitive-screened-go-series</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=tomtom-announces-capacitive-screened-go-series</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 01 Nov 2010 07:10:16 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Savariya</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=tomtom-announces-capacitive-screened-go-series</guid>
<description><![CDATA[TomTom updates its GO series of navigators with a new capacitive touch screen and an updated graphic interface.(Credit:TomTom)TomTom GO 2405 TM (photos)  TomTom continues to update its line up of GPS navigation devices. This time, it has announced the two newest models of its top-tier GO line of GPS navigators, the TomTom GO 2405 TM and the GO 2505 TM. These models feature a new external aesthetic, an updated user interface, and the promise of faster routing.  The GO 2405 TM and GO 2505 TM differ from one another only in screen size (4.3 inches for the 2405 and 5 inches for the 2505). Both units feature glass capacitive touch screens that allow users to swipe and pinch their way around the TomTom interface. There's also a new metallic chassis with an asymmetric rear-panel design and a suction-cup mountcar cradle that holds the GO unit in place with a strong magnet for easy attachment and release.  One area where TomTom has typically struggled (at least in our eyes) is its menu structure and graphic user interface (GUI). The TomTom GUI saw marked improvements with the entry-level TomTom Ease and further refinement with the XL 350 and XXL 550 software update. The new GO models feature a further evolution of TomTom's interface with dramatically improved graphics and reduced aliasing on the map screens, vibrantly colored icons in the menus, and easy-to-read text throughout. The new screen is a gem, and the updated interface really shows it off. You probably won&amp;39't spend much time admiring the GO&amp;39's asymmetrical rear panel.(Credit:TomTom) Beyond the eye candy, the GO series seems to benefit from TomTom's simpler home screen interface, which puts the option most often used front and center and hides lesser-used options in nested menu screens. At first touch, we like what we see, but we've already discovered a few quirks deeper in the menu structure that will merit mention when our full review goes up. For example, there are no back buttons anywhere in the menu, and so far, accidentally tapping the wrong icon means we had to jump back to the map screen and start over with whatever we were doing. Also, some menus, such as the Advanced Options, are simply long multipage lists of check boxes that users will have to wade through in their entirety just to make one change. These are only our first impressions and perhaps menu navigation will get easier as we spend more time with the new GO and learn more about the control scheme.  The TM at the end of each model number is an indicator that these units benefit from TomTom's lifetime RDS-TMC traffic service and lifetime map updates. Both units also feature text-to-speech, voice recognition, and Bluetoothhands-free calling when paired with a compatible phone, which should make you feel a bit better about the GO 2405 and 2505's MSRPs of $299 and $319, respectively.  The new TomTom GO series models are currently available only at Amazon.com, BestBuy.com, and TomTom.com in the United States and will see widespread release to brick and mortar retailers in mid-2011. We have a GO 2405 TM in hand and will be evaluating its performance and user friendliness over the next week. Stay tuned. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Oxford, Rice, Open University release eBooks on iTunes U]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=oxford-rice-open-university-release-ebooks-on-itunes-u</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=oxford-rice-open-university-release-ebooks-on-itunes-u</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 01 Nov 2010 07:10:08 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Sarah01</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=oxford-rice-open-university-release-ebooks-on-itunes-u</guid>
<description><![CDATA[(Credit:The Open University)Oxford University, The Open University, and Rice University are three of the first schools to release eBooks on Apple's iTunes U, the part of the iTunes Store dedicated to offering free educational content.The Open University has released 100 free, interactive eBooks and promises an additional 200 titles by the end of the year. The school said its eBooks aren't just digital versions of existing books, but rather books that are designed specifically for the electronic format.As an example, Martin Bean, vice chancellor of The Open University, said that if you are learning about Schubert, you can hear the music while you follow the score and read the text.In June, The Open University became the first school to reach 20 million downloads of its material on iTunes U. It now has over 27 million downloads worldwide.Oxford University joined the eBook release party as it pushed out Shakespeare's entire First Folio. Oxford's Shakespeare contribution is available free from iTunes U.Oxford said it is also making six plays by contemporaries of Shakespeare available, including &quot;The Duchess of Malfi&quot; by John Webster.Rice University released 18 of its most popular free textbooks available as part of its open education initiative, Connexions.The books are available for download on iTunes U in the open ePub format. iTunes U, providing free educational material such as lab demonstrations and lectures, launched in 2007. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[California approves Tessera solar plant]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=california-approves-tessera-solar-plant</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=california-approves-tessera-solar-plant</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 29 Oct 2010 07:10:31 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>megaicenek</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=california-approves-tessera-solar-plant</guid>
<description><![CDATA[NTR's Tessera Solar won approval for a 663.5-megawatt solar plant near Barstow in Southern California, the latest in a string of giant solar plants planned for the nation's most populous state.The Calico Solar Project won the green light from the California Energy Commission (CEC) yesterday afternoon, following last week's approval from the Interior Department.Development of alternative energy has been a major platform of President Barack Obama and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, as a way to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and create new jobs.The Calico project will use SunCatcher mirrored dishes developed by Sterling Energy.(Credit:Salt River Project)Tessera's Calico plant will cost more than $2 billion and will power 200,000 to 500,000 homes, according to the Interior Department. If the company secures financing, it could start construction by year-end and begin generating power late in 2011.Calico would use a concentrated thermal-power technology called SunCatcher that relies on mirrored dishes to convert sunlight into electricity. The technology was developed by Sterling Energy, which like Tessera is majority-owned by Irish infrastructure company NTR.The plant is one of a group of fast-tracked solar power projects that state and federal agencies are coordinating. Those include projects from Abengoa Solar, NextEra Energy, and Solar Millennium.If they start construction by December 31, the plants can qualify for a program that provides a 30 percent cash grant from the Treasury Department.For many of the projects, securing a loan guarantee from the Department of Energy is just as important as the regulatory approvals.&quot;To get this first wave of projects off the ground, the loan guarantee is pretty much critical,&quot; says Sean Gallagher, vice president of marketing and regulatory affairs for Tessera Solar North America.Tessera is also applying for a loan guarantee for a 709-megawatt solar plant in California's Imperial Valley. That plant won CEC approval last month and Interior Department approval this month.But the Department of Energy is moving slowly on its approval process. Earlier this month, Solar Millennium said it did not know if it would receive a guarantee by year's end, which throws the future of its 1,000-megawatt solar plant near Blythe, Calif., into question. The company is also trying to develop a 500-megawatt solar plant in Palen, Calif.Like many of the other planned solar plants, Tessera's Calico plant has met opposition from environmentalists over fears it will harm desert tortoises, a threatened species in the state.Environmentalists are also concerned about water use and bighorn sheep that live in the mountains above the planned project.Story Copyright (c) 2010 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Firefox 4 release slips to 2011]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=firefox-4-release-slips-to-2011</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=firefox-4-release-slips-to-2011</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 28 Oct 2010 07:10:16 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Dhoni</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=firefox-4-release-slips-to-2011</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Mozilla has pushed back the plannedFirefox 4 release to 2011, a delay that's no surprise given the difficulties in releasing the first full-featured beta of the open-source browser--but that also gives breathing room for several competitors.Mozilla had hoped to release Firefox 4 in 2010, but a newly updated Firefox 4 schedule shows the first release candidate arriving in early 2011.&quot;Development on Firefox 4 has not slowed down, and strong progress is being made daily. However, based on the delays in completing the 'feature complete' Beta 7 milestone against which our add-on developers and third-party software developers can develop, as well as considering the amount of work remaining to prepare Firefox 4 for final release, we have revised our beta and release candidate schedule,&quot; said Mike Beltzner, vice president of engineering for Firefox, in a mailing list message yesterday. &quot;The frequent beta releases have been extremely helpful in identifying compatibility issues with existing web content, so we plan on continuing to release beta milestones through the end of December. Our estimate is now that release candidate builds will ship in early 2011, with a final release date close behind.&quot;Six beta versions have arrived in recent weeks, but Firefox 4 beta 7 hasn't appeared, despite more than six weeks of frenzied development. One big issue holding up release has been the integration of Firefox's older Tracemonkey engine for running Web-based JavaScript programs and the new JaegerMonkey engine that draws on Google's V8 engine in Chrome.Mozilla's arewefastyet.com site shows progress matchingSafari and Chrome JavaScript execution speed, but new JavaScript engines can be tough to tune. Several JavaScript bugs are blocking Firefox 4 beta 7.The JaegerMonkey JavaScript engine in Firefox 4, whose performance is shown here in purple, has proven competitive against the engines in Apple&amp;39's Safari and Google&amp;39's Chrome, as measured by the SunSpider and V8 benchmark suites. (Click to enlarge.)(Credit:Mozilla)Among other changes in Firefox 4 are a revamped interface, a Bing search option, hardware-accelerated graphics, the new Jetpack foundation for add-ons to customize the browser, an HTML5 parser to interpret Web pages with the new standard for creating them, and WebGL for 3D Web graphics.And presenting a major new front in the browser wars, Firefox 4 also works on Google's Android operating system for phones and other mobile devices. Today, the cutting edge in that market is dominated by the WebKit engine used on Android, Apple's iOS, and several other mobile operating systems.Releasing the new version is important for Mozilla. Firefox remains the second most popular browser as measured by Net Applications usage statistics, but the browser market hasn't been as competitive as it is now in more than a decade.Firefox and Opera kept the independent-browser fires burning during the years when Microsoft's Internet Explorer was dominant but somewhat dormant after its victory in the first browser wars of the 1990s.In September&amp;39's browser usage, IE dipped back below 60 percent share and Chrome gained 0.5 percentage points of usage.(Credit:Net Applications)Web technologies started picking up steam again, with Apple's Safari engineers joining the development effort begun by Opera and Firefox, and Firefox started wrenching significant share away from IE. But in the last two years, Google Chrome burst onto the scene, rising rapidly to third place and flattening Firefox's growth.And even more recently, Microsoft began fighting back again with IE9, currently released in a first beta version. This browser was developed more in the open, letting outside developers get more of a say in its workings, and features many new modern abilities. Perhaps chief among them is ambitious hardware acceleration.Firefox 4 has hardware acceleration, too, and unlike IE9 offers it forMac OS X, Linux, and most important the vast number of Windows XP systems still in use. Firefox 4 beta 1 for Android was powerful enough to run the full JavaScript-intense desktop version of Gmail, including the priority inbox. However, in this case, the Web application fell back to its more basic HTML interface.(Credit:Stephen Shankland/CNET) <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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