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<title>Haaze.com / Anila / Voted News</title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com</link>
<description>Test Web 2.0 Content Management System</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 27 Apr 2011 07:10:01 +0000</pubDate>
<language>en</language>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Chrome 11 wants to hear you speak]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=chrome-11-wants-to-hear-you-speak</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=chrome-11-wants-to-hear-you-speak</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 27 Apr 2011 07:10:01 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>EtternaEtta</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=chrome-11-wants-to-hear-you-speak</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Be careful venting your frustrations with modern technology when using the latest version of Google Chrome, released today. Chrome 11 (download for Windows | Mac | Linux) comes with the ability to convert your speech to text, which could prove to be a big boon to people who have difficulty with keyboards as well as providing on the go translations when used with Google Translate.Chrome now can convert your speech to HTML. This can be tested most easily on the Google Translate site. Note that it works only for English at the moment.(Credit:Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)The new feature, based in HTML5, requires a microphone icon embedded in the Web page. Click the icon and then speak into your computer's mike. The input records as text, and the browser automatically inserts the text into the available form field.You can test this by going to Google Translate and clicking the microphone icon in the lower right corner of the text field. At the time of writing, the microphone and voice-to-HTML feature appears to work only with English.While the feature is interesting to include in a browser, it's hardly a random decision on Google's part. By including a speech-to-text feature, the Chrome OS instantly provides a modicum of accessibility for users who have difficulty with keyboards. When the browser is the operating system, being able to speak to the computer and have the computer know how to interpret that speech is a quick way to ensure a broader appeal.Other changes in Chrome 11 include the introduction of hardware accelerated 3D CSS, bug fixes in cloud print, a security update to the built-in version of Adobe Flash, and user agent string changes introduced to bring Chrome in line with user agent changes made in Firefox 4. The jump from Chrome 11 beta to stable also includes 25 security changes, including 15 marked as high risk. These fixes cover potential risks such as URL bar spoofing during navigation errors, and numerous instances of stale pointers in PDF forms, sandboxing, and drop-down list handling.Google has been moving forward with its less stable versions of Chrome too. It recently bumped Google Chrome Canary version 13 (Windows download only), the first version of Chrome to reach that milestone. Chrome Canary 13 doesn't appear to have any features different from Chrome dev 12 at this time.Google Chrome dev 12.0.742.9 (download for Windows | Mac | Linux) includes tweaks to the Sync interface, introduces a new version of the V8 JavaScript engine, and has been offering a still-in-development feature that lets users select multiple tabs at once. There's also an experimental &quot;new tab&quot; page, which users can activate through the about:flags configuration screen, and a multiple profile option for having different user profiles under the same Windows log-in. Currently, this is available only on the Windows version of Chrome dev, though like speech-to-HTML it has bigger implications for Chrome OS.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Russian police free kidnapped Kaspersky son]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=russian-police-free-kidnapped-kaspersky-son</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=russian-police-free-kidnapped-kaspersky-son</comments>
<pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2011 07:10:07 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>yenavsepop</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=russian-police-free-kidnapped-kaspersky-son</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The kidnapped son of Kaspersky Lab's founder has been freed and five suspects are in custody in connection with the abduction, according to a Russian media report today.Russian law enforcement officials freed Ivan Kaspersky, the 20-year-old son of Chief Executive Eugene Kaspersky, through a special operation with company security forces, according to the Interfax news agency. &quot;He has been freed without ransom,&quot; a spokeswoman for the Moscow-based antivirus company told the news agency. The younger Kaspersky, a fourth-year student of mathematics and cybernetics at Moscow State University, was kidnapped Tuesday morning on his way to work at InfoWatch, a company owned by his mother, Natalya Kaspersky, according to the English version of Pravda.ru. Someone claiming to be his abductor later reportedly phoned the father and demanded $4.3 million. No further information about the suspects was available, and Kaspersky representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[At last, you can avoid the public radio pledge drive]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=at-last-you-can-avoid-the-public-radio-pledge-drive</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=at-last-you-can-avoid-the-public-radio-pledge-drive</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 21 Apr 2011 07:10:42 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>goodhost12</dc:creator>
<category>Marketing and advertising</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=at-last-you-can-avoid-the-public-radio-pledge-drive</guid>
<description><![CDATA[San Francisco public radio station KQED has unveiled its pledge-free stream, which allows subscribers to skip annoying pledge breaks.(Credit:KQED)For anyone who listens to public radio, there may be no greater annoyance than the semi-regular pledge drives that seem to go on for weeks and constantly interrupt your favorite programs.Of course, these stations have little choice but to conduct the pledge drives, but if you've already given money, it can be doubly frustrating to continue to have to listen to the pleas. Well, if you're from the San Francisco area, local NPR affiliate KQED may have just the solution.Starting today, anyone who ponies up a donation of $45 will be given access to a special online stream of KQED's programming that is entirely free of interruptions during its upcoming pledge drive. &quot;We had to build a better system for people to donate,&quot; said Don Derheim, KQED's executive vice president and COO. &quot;And maybe this is it. We think it's part of the evolution of on-air fundraising.&quot;According to Derheim, people who sign up for the initiative will get a unique user code that will allow them to access the pledge-free stream on up to four different devices. That means that KQED listeners will be able to run the stream on a computer, and also mobile devices like iPhones, Android gadgets, or other smartphones andtablets. The stream will be accessible through KQED's Web site, said Yoon Lee, the station's director of digital media fundraising, and not via a special application. Those interested must donate before May 5.Derheim said KQED ran the pledge-free stream as a small test experiment a couple of years ago, giving about 50 people access. And while he suggested that the testers liked what they got, the station wasn't ready to roll it out to everyone. Now, however, technology has progressed, and perhaps more important, there's a much wider understanding of what streaming media is. And that means that KQED won't have to work as hard to explain to listeners what it is that it's offering. &quot;There's extraordinary new pressure to continue our innovation,&quot; Derheim said. &quot;The other week we recorded our largest weekly radio audience in our history, and that just tells us that when you're at your top, you'd better make sure you're ready to change.&quot;For media observers, KQED's move may be just the thing to help loyal listeners--especially those who regularly donate--get their public radio fix without having to endure the endless pledge breaks.&quot;I think it's a great idea,&quot; said Mark Glaser, the executive editor of PBS' Mediashift. &quot;One of the things about public media that's always been annoying is that you give money...but then you still have to hear them asking for more. This idea, where once you've given...money you get access to the stream, is great. It makes a lot of sense, and it's rewarding people who have paid.&quot;Or as NPR journalist Chris Amico tweeted yesterday, &quot;I think KQED just saved (public radio) journalism. Been wanting this for years.&quot;Other stationsOne of the biggest questions about this effort is whether other public radio stations around the country will follow KQED's lead. Derheim said the technology behind its effort was built in-house, but that the station would be happy to help others build their own version or replicate KQED's. But he knows that before any of that happens, it will be vital for KQED to show that listeners responded to the offer.&quot;Given the feedback already from other stations and interested parties and public media,&quot; Derheim said, &quot;there's going to be a lot of eyes&quot; on the project.Glaser, who works for PBS but who has no connections with KQED, agreed that the idea could easily catch on elsewhere in the country, saying it makes a lot of sense for many public radio stations. &quot;If KQED can show that it's going to bring in more money,&quot; Glaser said, &quot;or make people giving money more satisfied in some way, then I couldn't see why it wouldn't work in other places.&quot;Of course, for those public radio listeners used to getting gifts like KQED-branded coffee mugs, free DVDs, or other swag, paying the $45 for access to the pledge-free stream means none of those other free gifts will be arriving in the mail in six to eight weeks. Clearly, KQED thinks the pledge-free stream is gift enough.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Lawmakers demand answers from Apple on iPhone tracking]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=lawmakers-demand-answers-from-apple-on-iphone-tracking</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=lawmakers-demand-answers-from-apple-on-iphone-tracking</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 21 Apr 2011 07:10:40 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>bugbewin</dc:creator>
<category>Politics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=lawmakers-demand-answers-from-apple-on-iphone-tracking</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Lawmakers want answers from Apple after a report was published this week that showed that iPhones and iPads track and store users' location information.Congressman Ed Markey, who is the co-chair of the House Bipartisan Privacy Caucus, sent a letter today to Apple CEO Steve Jobs in response to a report published yesterday by Alasdair Allan, senior research fellow in astronomy at the University of Exeter, and Pete Warden. The researchers discovered that the iOS version 4 software for theiPad andiPhone creates a log file of where users have been, based on time stamps and location information. The information is stored locally on the devices without any encryption and it's transferred via iTunes to computers that these devices are synced to.It's unclear what the data is used for or why Apple has been collecting it in iOS products that carry a 3G antenna for nearly a year now. But Congressman Markey said in his letter that he wants some answers.&quot;Apple needs to safeguard the personal location information of its users to ensure that an iPhone doesn't become an iTrack,&quot; he said in a statement Thursday. &quot;Collecting, storing, and disclosing a consumer's location for commercial purposes without their express permission is unacceptable and would violate current law. That's why I am requesting responses to these questions to better understand Apple's data collection and storage policies to make certain sensitive information can't be left behind for others to follow.&quot;Specifically, Markey wants to know if Apple developed the feature intentionally to keep a log of users' whereabouts. And if it did mean to collect this information, what did it intend to do with it He also wants to know if Apple has notified consumers that this information is being collected. If Apple did collect this data and intends to share it with marketers without users' consent, it could violate federal law, Markey said.Apple has not responded to requests for comment on the report, nor has it responded to Markey's or other politicians' letters. Yesterday, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) stated that &quot;the existence of this information--stored in an unencrypted format--raises serious privacy concerns.&quot; And he wanted to know why this feature exists. Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) also issued a statement that criticized Apple for not notifying customers that this information was being recorded and stored on their devices.Markey is seeking an answer to his questions by May 12.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[App Store algorithm change said to be categorical]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=app-store-algorithm-change-said-to-be-categorical</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=app-store-algorithm-change-said-to-be-categorical</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 19 Apr 2011 07:10:12 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Rom467Britney</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=app-store-algorithm-change-said-to-be-categorical</guid>
<description><![CDATA[New third-party data suggests that changes made to Apple's App Store ranking algorithm last week were based not on how often users run applications, but how they are categorized within the directory itself.That claim comes from Fiksu, a company that provides a &quot;mobile app user acquisition platform,&quot; giving developers a way to gain visibility on Apple's App Store and the Android Marketplace. According to the company's data, which includes individual app rankings from the past year, Apple made a change just after midnight on April 14 to weigh some application categories more heavily than others.&quot;Downloads in certain categories are now weighted more heavily than others with respect to determining overall rank,&quot; the company said in an e-mail to CNET. &quot;For example, apps in social networking were big movers in the overall rank charts, while apps in the games category did not appear to show the same gains.&quot;The App Store has 20 categories, though the one for games outperforms all of them in terms of pure volume. Recent data from analytics firm Distimo covering a breakdown of the top 100 most popular applications during the month of February found games to be the leader on iOS and theMac App Store, followed distantly by entertainment, utilities, and lifestyle applications. Each of these categories has its own ranking of top free and paid apps, separate from the overall top rankings, which Fisku says remains unchanged. &quot;This change should not affect intra category rankings and should have very limited impact on the overall rank,&quot; the company said. &quot;However, apps in certain categories may experience a somewhat easier climb to the top of the overall rank.&quot;Facebook in particular saw one of the most dramatic jumps following the changes, with blog Inside Mobile Apps tracking it jumping from the top 10s and 20s to No. 1. This was without any specific news hook or update that would prompt a surge, which raised some eyebrows. As of this posting, it's begun to drop back down and sits at the No. 8 spot. Though its move, along with jumps for applications like Netflix and Pandora are what prompted a look into whether Apple had made changes. Fiksu founder and CEO Micah Adler told CNET that the move to re-weight categories could give applications in smaller categories a better chance at competing with the deluge of games, which frequently make up the majority of the top applications, but since Apple keeps its algorithm private, it's speculation at this point. Adler stressed that the company's findings clearly indicate that any ranking changes have not been based on how much applications are being used, which rival Google began practicing earlier this month according to the company's data. &quot;The clear proof is our evidence. We don't have access to the algorithm, so everything is evidence in one direction or another,&quot; Adler said. &quot;(In Apple's case) we're not seeing any evidence of engagement directly being a driver, and we haven't seen much of a change within these individual categories.&quot; Adler says Fiksu is in a unique position to gauge changes to Apple's App Store as well as Google's Android Marketplace due to its tracking technology and partnerships with ad and download networks like Google's AdMob. The company's core business is delivering scores of users to new applications, which Adler described as loyal. &quot;We deliver users that stick around for quite some time,&quot; he said. So far the company has a few dozen clients including Groupon, Hearst Magazines, TuneWiki, and Ask.com, and reports it has pushed 44 million user downloads of mobile applications. Reports emerged earlier today that Apple was combining the top apps re-weighting with the rejecting applications that made use of such services to get a user boost, though Adler said the company had not noticed that being the case with the company's clients so far.Apple representatives did not respond to requests for comment on this story.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Home electricity monitor hits retail at Lowe's]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=home-electricity-monitor-hits-retail-at-lowes</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=home-electricity-monitor-hits-retail-at-lowes</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 18 Apr 2011 07:11:15 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Chi11eD</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=home-electricity-monitor-hits-retail-at-lowes</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The PowerCost Monitor, one of the few energy-tracking gadgets sold directly to consumers, will now be available at Lowe's hardware stores. The monitor's maker, BlueLine Innovations, said today that the PowerCost Monitor and WiFi Gateway will be available at 319 Lowe's stores in California, Washington, Florida, Massachusetts, New York, and Maryland. The product has been available for sale online but this is its first big-box retail distributor.Microsoft Hohm connects to home electricity monitor (photos) View the full galleryThere are dozens of companies making electricity monitors, with many being trialed through utilities' smart-grid programs geared at reducing energy use during peak time or reducing customers' overall power consumption.The PowerCost Monitor is not as sophisticated as some of the more advanced home energy management systems, but it's a good option for people who want to better understand their overall electricity usage. It doesn't require professional installation.The manufacturer's core technology is optical sensors that can read an electricity meter and transmit that information either to a small monitor, about the size of a home cordless phone, or to the Web via an optional Wi-Fi gateway. Once online, people can use either Microsoft's Hohm or Google's PowerMeter Web application to view real-time or historical power consumption information.People need to attach a clamp with a sensor onto a meter. The Wi-Fi gateway receives information from the sensor and uses a home broadband connection to send meter data to the Web. The full retail price for monitor alone is $109, and it's an additional $159 for the WiFi Gateway.Since it's a whole-house monitor, the system won't give you details on how much energy specific appliances or rooms use, but it does help you understand your &quot;baseline&quot; power usage. To better understand how much power individual appliances use, you can use a handheld power meter, such as the Kill a Watt, which lets you manually test power by plug load.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Best Buy: Delays on DVD rentals boost sales]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=best-buy-delays-on-dvd-rentals-boost-sales</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=best-buy-delays-on-dvd-rentals-boost-sales</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 14 Apr 2011 07:11:09 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>almollaHink</dc:creator>
<category>Marketing and advertising</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=best-buy-delays-on-dvd-rentals-boost-sales</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The agreement by Netflix and other top video-rental services to wait 28 days before renting newly released DVDs appears to be boosting disc sales--as much as 30 percent in some cases, say two national retailers. A Best Buy ad shows how the company is trying to play up its access to new releases ahead of Netflix and Redbox. (Credit:Best Buy)Representatives from retail chains Best Buy and Hastings Entertainment told CNET during the past week that disc sales and even rentals are up for movies that aren't available at Netflix or Redbox during what has come to be known as the &quot;sales-only window.&quot; &quot;On sales of specific titles, we've seen our market share go up over time and degradation of sales has slowed [as a result of the 28-day window],&quot; said Allen Hughes, merchant director for Best Buy, the man who handles disc sales for the chain of consumer-electronics stores. Last August, Jeff Bewkes, CEO of Time Warner, parent company of Warner Bros. Pictures, credited the sales-only window with lifting DVD and Blu-ray sales at Warner Bros. Pictures, especially for the first four weeks after a title has gone on sale. The sales-only window got its start in January 2010, when Netflix and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment announced an unprecedented deal. Netflix would delay renting the studio's newly released movies and then would use the money saved from purchasing new releases to acquire more content for its streaming-video service. Redbox soon agreed to honor a sales-only window and two other Hollywood film studios, NBC Universal and 20th Century Fox, also adopted similar windows. The windows were designed to help protect sales of DVDs as well as Blu-ray discs, a physical format that is still growing. Overall disc sales for the entire industry, however, have declined for several years. Much of the problem can be traced to consumer tastes, which are shifting toward rental rather than ownership. A year after the Netflix-Warner deal was struck, some retailers say they're encouraged by the results. If the trend continues, Netflix might be able to use the sales-only window to pen similar agreements with other TV and film companies and that could help the company acquire more streaming content. In many tech circles, the thinking is that the Web will become a dominate means for film distribution. Related links&amp;149' Netflix, Warner Bros. rejigger movie renting&amp;149' Redbox, like Netflix, agrees to sales-only windowThe transition from physical discs to the Internet, however, will not occur over night, according to John Marmaduke, CEO of Hastings Entertainment, a retail chain that sells books, DVDs, and CDs out of 146 stores in 21 states. He said there's still big demand for physical media, he said.To learn how the sales-only window has impacted business, Hastings' managers analyzed 24 titles with similar box office receipts--half with the 28-day window and half without--to try and make an apples-to-apples comparison, according to Victor Fuentes, vice president of merchandising. The company tracked sales performance after four weeks and then again after eight weeks. Rentals were tracked at six weeks. &quot;DVDs are still a $12 or $14 billion business. What people from the tech world often do is confuse themselves with the entire marketplace.&quot;--John Marmaduke, Hastings CEOSales for films that were protected by a sales-only window were 32 percent higher for the first four weeks than the group of films that were without a window, Marmaduke said. At the eight-week mark, the numbers were similar. The sales-only category was 29 percent higher for that period. For rentals, discs with the window fared better by 28 percent. Pricing and advertising strategies were the same for both categories, Fuentes said.  &quot;We weren't surprised to see this kind of performance,&quot; Marmaduke said, adding that the way to fix DVD sales isn't a mystery. He said allowing Redbox to sell new releases for 99 cents would naturally make it harder for others to sell and rent movies at higher prices. Techies aren't' whole marketplace &quot;This isn't brain surgery,&quot; Marmaduke said. &quot;We saw the impacts that 99-cent rentals had on sell through. It doesn't take a great leap to figure out how that affects business.&quot; Marmaduke noted that the sales-only window was much criticized by tech pundits and that there's been a lot written by the death of the DVD. &quot;DVDs are still a $12 or $14 billion business,&quot; he said. &quot;What people from the tech world often do is confuse themselves with the entire marketplace.&quot; Critics of the sales-only window predicted that Netflix would alienate a large number of subscribers and in the end the scheme would fail to raise disc sales. They argued that consumers no longer want to collect movies and are unwilling to pay traditional prices to buy or rent. Techies also maintain the Internet has become the main entertainment hub in a growing number of households and that's where they will look to obtain movies as well. It's still early yet in the development of Web TV but all those doomsday predictions haven't become realities. Netflix's decision to adopt a moratorium on rentals of new releases doesn't seem to have slowed the company's growth whatsoever. Last year, Netflix increased the number of subscribers by more than 60 percent from 2009, thanks mostly to the popularity of its streaming service. At the same time, most TV and film viewing still occurs via traditional outlets like DVDs, cable, and broadcast stations. At Best Buy, managers believe Internet distribution will be big but still see a viable market for sales and rentals of discs, according to Hughes. He declined to share the same kind of data that Hastings offered but did provide an example of how the sales-only window was helping his company. He said that if, say, a million discs were sold in the United States for a newly released title and Best Buy stores were responsible for 15 percent of those total sales, then typically for films with a sales-only window, the company might see 20 percent market share later on (note: the figures used by Hughes were just to illustrate his example). (Credit:Greg Sandoval/CNET)No doubt, helping to drive some of the increases is that Best Buy is doing its best to play up its access to new releases. Not only has the company &quot;aggressively priced&quot; new releases, marking them down 10 to 15 percent in some cases, but in the company's online and offline ads for newly released titles it prominently notes that customers won't be able to acquire the videos from Netflix or Redbox until 28 days later. Netflix spokesman Steve Swasey said only a relatively small percentage of subscribers seek new releases. He remarked that the sales-only window provides the company with extra resources to acquire streaming content while also benefiting its suppliers, the major film studios. But when you talk about the future of physical media, it's hard to imagine a comeback--at least to the lofty revenue numbers it once generated. For years, home video sales outpaced box office. At the same time, all the major players are staking out turn in Internet distribution.Netflix is doubling down on Web streaming. Time Warner and Comcast are pushing TV Everywhere, a service that enables subscribers to view cable content over the Web. Google, Wal-Mart, Apple, and Amazon also compete in Web video. Marmaduke says studios shouldn't let themselves be won over by all this technology, and should remember what's missing from all the Web-video talk is profits. &quot;The most important reason not to give up on the DVD is that the studios have to make money,&quot; Marmaduke said. &quot;Digital hasn't done it for them. When media goes digital it's a race to the bottom. The studios shouldn't make the same mistakes the music industry made. They should be more concerned about their profit model and less concerned about how they look in the [news] media.&quot; <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Amazing architecture across the Golden Gate]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=amazing-architecture-across-the-golden-gate</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=amazing-architecture-across-the-golden-gate</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 14 Apr 2011 07:11:02 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>franccanfa</dc:creator>
<category>Gaming</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=amazing-architecture-across-the-golden-gate</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Unassuming and spare from the outside, Gate 5 house is a study in maximizing minimal space. This houseboat is part of the Dwell magazine-sponsored Marin Homes tour taking place April 30 and May 1. CNET takes you inside this and three other interesting homes now.(Credit:Daniel Terdiman/CNET)SAUSALITO, Calif.--Here in Marin, a county forward-thinking enough that it commissioned a world-class civic center by Frank Lloyd Wright, it should come as no surprise that many homes are truly stunning and would be envied the world over.  And the envy will probably be especially strong for those who fork over $150 to visit 10 multimillion dollar masterpieces throughout Marin, just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, on April 30 and May 1. Dwell magazine, in conjunction with Marin magazine, is hosting the Home Tours. But as part of my Road Trip at Home series, I got a chance to visit four of the residences before the tours take place. The four homes I toured provided a terrific cross-section of the best Marin has to offer: a Tiburon hilltop cacophony of windows featuring world-beating views of Marin, the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, and Berkeley and Oakland' a spare but impressive floating home in the middle of one of Sausalito's best houseboat communities' a &quot;Bridge House&quot; that imaginatively spans a small valley and a river below' and a home at the top of a hill in a tree-studded and quiet neighborhood that emphasizes the beauty and grandeur of the outdoors throughout its modern interior.As the home tour's official brochure puts it, these houses are &quot;pushing residential architecture forward in Marin County... Discover the houses that are bringing the outdoors in, realizing dreams, and defining what modern design means.&quot;Gate 5 HouseFor years, one of my favorite things to do in Sausalito has been to go walking on the houseboat docks. And while there are several of them clustered together in a small area on the north end of town, I've long favored one specific dock for its quiet, the lush plants that residents grow outside, the many cats that wander peacefully along the wooden planks, and the whimsical art found up and down the dock.So I was very happy when I discovered that the one houseboat included in the home tour is not only on my favorite dock, but is located right at my favorite part of the dock.This is owner-architect David Spurgeon's Gate 5 House. Unassuming from the outside, inside it's a study in maximizing minimal space. After all, this is a house with two wide-open floors and no other rooms, save for a couple of bathrooms and a closet-cum-bunk-bed. Yet it features a fantastic gourmet kitchen, views to die for of Southern Marin's Richardson Bay, a boat of its own that allows Spurgeon to set sail for just about anywhere he wants to go, and much more.Spurgeon, who works in Sausalito as an architect, started out by buying the aging tugboat that previously filled his slip and turning it over to the local fire department, which in turn moved it nearby and used it to set test fires. Once the slip was empty, Spurgeon began building his new home by hand in 2002, completing it three years later. &quot;I built everything you see,&quot; he told me proudly.North of S.F., stunning architecture dwells (photos) The house is designed to be comfortable in all seasons. When it's warm, Spurgeon can open the wide doors that lead from the main upstairs space to a deck that looks out over the water. When it's cold, he keeps the doors closed, trapping heat inside. Spurgeon touts the house's green credentials: it has radiant heat in the floors, and bamboo flooring, low-E glass, steel siding, and manufactured lumber from new-growth wood. The house also uses space wisely. In the lower level, Spurgeon installed closets that open both into his bedroom area and into the bunk bed room. The bunk is built on top of the closet, which is located at floor level. I thought using the closet would require stooping down, but that wasn't the case. In the bathroom, Spurgeon displays more creative use of materials. For his fixtures here, he employed food service equipment, including a kettle caddy for the main plumbing. It feels industrial, but looks just right. I asked Spurgeon something I've always wanted to know about the houseboats: Don't they suffer from mold, since they're smack dab in the middle of an extremely wet environment The only corrosive he worries about, he said, is the salt from the bay water that can attack the wood and metal of the boat.But it doesn't look like he has much trouble with that, and when I asked him if he likes living here, he glowed. &quot;Basically, you never really lose the connection to the outside,&quot; Spurgeon said, touting the seals that show up outside from time to time and the &quot;pelicans that come in like marauding bombers&quot; about 6 inches off the surface of the water. &quot;It's an absolute cacophony of stuff with all the doors open... I love it here. I always feel like I'm camping out.&quot;And if camping means cooking in a gourmet kitchen, sign me up. The Bridge HouseAnother stop on the tour was a totally unique home a bit further west in Marin: architect Stanley Saitowitz's Bridge House.Designed for a lawyer-technologist couple that bought the property in 2002, Saitowitz saw a small gorgeous, green, lush valley with a river flowing through it and decided that rather than excavating and flattening out the space like other designers wanted to do, he'd simply bridge the gap.Stanley Saitowitz&amp;39's Bridge House, built over five-and-a-half years from 2002 to 2008, uses Cor-Ten cladding to give it a look of &amp;34'a rusty machine in the landscape.&amp;34'(Credit:Daniel Terdiman/CNET) &quot;He walked out here in his tasseled loafers and drew us a picture of this building and its expanse,&quot; said Rebecca, the home's owner, who asked that her last name not be used, &quot;and it was pretty much love at first sketch.&quot;The house is long and fairly narrow, and gets amazing light. It has two floors--the top one has side-to-side and floor-to-ceiling windows facing east, and the lower one has windows facing west. &quot;The whole house is sited in such a way that the sun arcs directly over the house and we don't get (much) direct sunlight,&quot; Rebecca said. &quot;I love it because the shades are always open and I feel in touch with what's going on outside.&quot;Indeed, the house is, as Rebecca said, a very industrial form that's been placed into an extremely natural landscape. The area is quiet, with little more sound than the burbling of the creek under the house and the rustling of the grass in the wind. And the house, with its rusted Cor-Ten cladding, fits right in to the color scheme of the little valley. Though she was a litigator in a past life, these days she's mainly a stay-at-home mom. &quot;Since we moved in, I've enjoyed pretty much every day,&quot; she said. &quot;I don't go out much. I love having people come over&quot; to play in the pool and look out at the wildlife. One theme characterizing the house is floating. The structure itself floats above the little valley, and throughout the building are floating features, like a fireplace that Saitowitz built so the family could have both a stairway where they wanted it and an adjacent fireplace. Once he found the floating motif, Saitowitz continued with it, adding a floating barbeque, entertainment console, and buffet in different rooms. &quot;For a big, heavy, ponderous house,&quot; Rebecca said, &quot;it's incredibly light.&quot;Tiburon ResidenceIf you know anything about Marin, you know that one of the wealthiest communities here is Tiburon. Located a stone's throw--and a quick ferry ride--from San Francisco, it offers most residents incredible views of the city, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the vast amounts of green space Marin boasts.This is the Tiburon Residence, designed by architect Ron Sutton. Located high above Richardson Bay, the house has stunning views of San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge, Angel Island, Oakland, and more.(Credit:Daniel Terdiman/CNET) But if you took all those attributes and combined them into one building, it might be the Tiburon Residence, which architect Ron Sutton designed for former Sun Microsystems engineer Bernard Lacroute and his wife.Situated atop one of the most striking of all the hills in Tiburon, the house was built in 2008 to replace a 1960s-era ranch house that Sutton said didn't seem to take particularly good advantage of the oh-my-god views the property affords. To maximize the space, Sutton came up with a concept to excavate the property in order to build two levels, the top of which is the living space. And what a space. From just about every room there are world-class views, with the Golden Gate Bridge dominating the vistas on the lawn, in the living room, and in the kitchen.Sutton explained that the house is divided into two separate areas--a living space in the front, and a set of bedrooms in the back. A long, light-filled hallway and reflecting pool break up the two spaces. Like the Bridge House and the Gate 5 House, the Tiburon Residence emphasizes bringing the gorgeous outdoors inside, and wherever you are in the home, you can see lush hills or the bay down below. San Francisco is off in the distance, an urban counterpoint to the seeming solitude at the top of this hill.It can be extremely windy up here. But often, it's calm and warm. So Sutton designed the front of the house to feature wide doors that can be opened when the wind is quiet and shut when it's howling. But because the owners were clear that being outside was important to them, there is a sheltered back patio area that lets them take in the fresh air no matter how the wind's blowing.And what keeps the building solid Throughout, Sutton used Texas limestone as his building blocks, a material that is at once solid, graceful, and down to earth. For now, the owners still see signs of outside civilization in the form of a house below them and a new property being constructed just above them. But smart use of vegetation will soon block out the neighbors, and perhaps even a power line that Sutton said he tried to get a neighbor to bury to remove it from the owners' view. But he said the woman wouldn't pay the $10,000 cost of doing so, so it mars an otherwise all-natural view. Pfau HouseLike the other three houses I saw, owner-architect Peter Pfau's house atop a hill in San Anselmo, Calif. about 25 minutes northwest of San Francisco, is built around the idea of enjoying the outdoors while inside. This is the Pfau House, designed and owned by architect Peter Pfau.(Credit:Daniel Terdiman/CNET) In 2008, Pfau and his wife decided to remodel the 1950s-era house that stood atop this hill for decades, but when they did, they chose to maintain the character of the original building--and its relationship with the surrounding nature.This, Pfau said, is a classic California house, in that there is a strong relationship between the building and the landscape, and indeed, most of the rooms in the house are dominated by the views of the many oaks on the property and nearby. Also, when working on the remodel, Pfau chose to use steel beams that were &quot;pegged to the color of the oak trees,&quot; and said that &quot;for us, it's about what does it mean to live in California How can a house be about the climate&quot;The question, he said, is how the couple could live outdoors even as they reside indoors. And that was just the problem he tackled when designing the remodel. And it works. The house is a big &quot;L,&quot; with bright, wide rooms and big windows that make it feel as though the exterior landscape is part of what's in the rooms.As well, the Ashlar Masonry walls--the original stone from the house that was here since the 1950s--help make this feel like a natural compromise between old and new, outside and inside. Pfau calls this a &quot;dialogue between the exterior and the interior.&quot;And like Spurgeon, Pfau harks back to that most ancient of pastimes. &quot;Really, it's elegant camping,&quot; Pfau said. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Microsoft fixes IE, SMB bugs in big Patch Tuesday]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-fixes-ie-smb-bugs-in-big-patch-tuesday</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-fixes-ie-smb-bugs-in-big-patch-tuesday</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 12 Apr 2011 07:10:27 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Bakeruc</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-fixes-ie-smb-bugs-in-big-patch-tuesday</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Microsoft today urged customers to apply fixes for holes in Internet Explorer, including one being exploited in attacks, and for vulnerabilities in Windows Server Message Block (SMB) client and server software as part of a whopping Patch Tuesday. The company released 17 bulletins resolving 64 vulnerabilities, nine of them rated &quot;critical&quot; and eight rated &quot;important.&quot; However, 30 of the vulnerabilities are addressed by one bulletin, a kernel update that is rated &quot;important,&quot; that was discovered by one researcher.  First priority is MS11-018, a cumulative security update for IE that is rated critical for IE6, IE7 andIE8 on Windows clients, but does not affect IE9. The company is aware of limited, targeted attacks against one of the holes, Jerry Bryant, group manager for response communications at Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing Group, told CNET. The bulletin also addresses problems uncovered in the Pwn2Own contest at CanSecWest last month.  Two vulnerabilities associated with the bulletin are being exploited in the wild, but they require attackers to set up a malicious Web site and lure victims there to compromise their computers in a drive-by attack, said Josh Abraham, security researcher at Rapid7.  Also high priority, according to Microsoft's TechNet blog, are two SMB-related bulletins. One, MS11-020 is in SMB Server and affects all supported versions of Windows. It could allow an attacker to take over a server by creating a specially crafted SMB packet and sending it to any open SMB network share.  Meanwhile, MS11-019 addresses two vulnerabilities in the SMB Client that could enable an attack if an attacker sent a specially crafted SMB response to a client-initiated SMB request.Bryant said that with an exploitability index rating of &quot;one,&quot; he expects to see exploit code in the wild within the first 30 days after the release of the bulletin.  Other software affected by the updates, which are detailed in this security advisory, include Visual Studio, .NET Framework and GDI+.  Also today, Microsoft unveiled a new Rootkit Evasion Prevention tool and said it would apply Office File Validation, which is built into Office 2010, to Office 2003 and 2007.  The Rootkit Evasion Prevention tool for 64-bit Windows systems will make it easier for antivirus products to detect and remove installed rootkits, which offer admin access to a machine and remain hidden from view by bypassing driver signing checks done by winload.exe.  Adding Office File Validation to older versions of Office, which Microsoft announced in December, enables files to be scanned before they are opened and opens in Protected View or alerts the user if anything out of the ordinary is detected, Bryant said. It is included in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Publisher. &quot;About 80 percent of Office vulnerabilities have to do with file parsing and this functionality mitigates the majority of those,&quot; he said.  &quot;While this is obviously a good development this feature doesn't stop the recent Flash zero-days we've seen,&quot; said Roel Schouwenberg, a senior antivirus researcher at Kaspersky. &quot;After all, those are simply using a feature from Word and not a bug. Hopefully Microsoft will be able to back-port the Office 2010 sandbox at a later date, as the sandbox is able to stop the Adobe Flash zero-days.&quot;  Adobe warned yesterday of a critical hole in Flash Player that is being exploited in the wild to take control of computers or cause them to crash.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Friday Poll: What would you do without the Net]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=friday-poll-what-would-you-do-without-the-net</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=friday-poll-what-would-you-do-without-the-net</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 08 Apr 2011 07:10:43 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>bugterreskitchen</dc:creator>
<category>Marketing and advertising</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=friday-poll-what-would-you-do-without-the-net</guid>
<description><![CDATA[When I was younger (25), my mother would often take away the power cord to my computer monitor because I was on the Internet too much.  The eventual rule was that I could only use the computer for two hours every day. That eventually lessened my urge to get online and got me spending more time outside. This week, a 75-year-old woman hunting for scrap metal in Armenia destroyed a portion of the cable that feeds the Internet to her country and neighboring Georgia. Nearly 12 hours passed before the issue was resolved, and it left two countries (and millions of residents) without the Web for hours. One wonders what all those people did with their free time without the ability to check Facebook and Twitter every other minute. I can't even imagine the Internet completely going out in the U.S. The consequences could be devastating financially, and even the online trolls might have to emerge from the shadowy depths of their basements after a couple of hours. Anonymous wouldn't be so...anonymous anymore. Single-player games would get unprecedented play time. So how would you react if the Internet went down for nearly half a day<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Blinkx to acquire Burst Media for $30 million]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=blinkx-to-acquire-burst-media-for-30-million</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=blinkx-to-acquire-burst-media-for-30-million</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 08 Apr 2011 07:10:06 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>mdalim</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=blinkx-to-acquire-burst-media-for-30-million</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Video search engine Blinkx has agreed to acquire online advertising company Burst Media, the firms announced today.Under the terms of the deal, Blinkx will pay Burst $30 million in stock and cash, the company said. In addition, Burst's senior management, including its co-founder and CEO Jarvis Coffin and co-founder David Stein, will stay on in a temporary role to aid in the transition.Over the last several years, Burst, which provides online video advertising solutions to Web publishers, has been generating sizable revenue. According to Blinkx, Burst generated $37.7 million in revenue last year, up from the $31.4 million it captured in 2009. However, the company posted an earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) loss of $1.4 million in 2010. Its 2009 loss was $600,000.For its part, Blinkx, which calls itself &quot;the world's largest and most advanced video search engine,&quot; has been able to generate a slight profit as of late. According to the company, its revenue was up 109 percent during the six-month period ended September 30, 2010, to $27.4 million. During that time, it was able to post a profit of $2 million.Blinkx said that it plans to integrate &quot;relevant video and video channels&quot; into Burst's network of &quot;thousands&quot; of publisher sites. For example, the company said, it will supply publisher sites focused on food with &quot;video content on cooking demonstrations, advice on choosing fresh ingredients, and utensil testing.&quot;&quot;By fusing Blinkx's unique patented technology and large video index with Burst's massive reach, we will have the potential to create personalized, online television that is watched by hundreds of millions of users,&quot; Blinkx CEO Suranga Chandratillake said in a statement.Blinkx expects to close the acquisition on May 9.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[iPad 2 mic quality said to differ between models]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ipad-2-mic-quality-said-to-differ-between-models</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ipad-2-mic-quality-said-to-differ-between-models</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 17 Mar 2011 07:10:26 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>svetalash</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ipad-2-mic-quality-said-to-differ-between-models</guid>
<description><![CDATA[An iPad 2 with 3G. The microphone is the small hole in the middle.(Credit:Josh Lowensohn/CNET)If choosing between the 18 different models of theiPad 2 wasn't hard enough, new findings suggest that the hardware differences between the Wi-Fi-only and 3G models of the iPad 2 lead to different audio recording quality, with buyers of the less-expensive Wi-Fi only versions coming out on top.That claim, made by iLounge as a footnote to its iPad 2 review, centers on how the same microphone is placed in the two different models. On the Wi-Fi-only version, the microphone hole is simply carved out of the larger piece of metal that makes up the back of the device, whereas on the models with the 3G antenna, it's built into the antenna casing.&quot;Perhaps due to this change in materials, the Wi-Fi model offers markedly cleaner audio than that of the 3G, which sounds slightly muffled and echo-prone as a result,&quot; wrote iLounge senior editor Charles Starrett in a post about the findings. With the iPad 2, Apple changed the location of the microphone from right next to the headphone jack to the very top of the unit. With the original iPad, this situating meant that the 3G antenna, which sits along the top of the device, did not affect the microphone's placement. Along with the audio differences between the 3G and Wi-Fi-only models, Starrett said that the site had discovered further differences between the two different 3G models--the GSM AT&amp;T version, and CDMA Verizon version--finding the GSM 3G model &quot;slightly preferable&quot; by comparison. The microphone has become an exceedingly important aspect of the iPad 2's hardware specifications with the inclusion of FaceTime, Apple's video chat service. Besides FaceTime, recent iPad-specific applications from Apple like GarageBand and iMovie also take advantage of the microphone to let users do things like create audio samples and record voice-overs. Worth noting on top of these observations is that the iPad--like theiPhone,iPod Touch, and Apple's Mac computers--can record audio from external microphones through the 3.5mm headphone jack, as well as attached accessories via the 30-pin dock connector. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Second explosion at Japanese nuclear plant]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=second-explosion-at-japanese-nuclear-plant</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=second-explosion-at-japanese-nuclear-plant</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 14 Mar 2011 07:11:06 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Kareena</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=second-explosion-at-japanese-nuclear-plant</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Four of the Fukushima Daiichi plant&amp;39's six reactors are shown in this satellite photo from Geoeye via Google Earth. The reactors are the four tall buildings inland of the four longer buildings' the Pacific Ocean to the east is on the bottom of this photo. Reactors four, five, and six had been shut down before the earthquake and tsunami, but plant operators are struggling to cool down units one and three.(Credit:screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET)Buildup of hydrogen gas at a Japanese nuclear reactor caused an explosion today, but as with an earlier explosion Saturday, the reactor's containment vessel remains intact, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.The explosion took place at the unit 3 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi at 11:01 a.m. local Japan time, the United Nations agency said in a statement. And Tokyo Electric Power, which operates the plant, said in its own statement, &quot;The status of the plant and the impact of radioactive materials to the outside environment are presently under investigation.&quot;All personnel at the site are accounted for. Six people have been injured,&quot; the IAEA said. &quot;The reactor building exploded but the primary containment vessel was not damaged. The control room of unit 3 remains operational.&quot;It was the latest in a series of serious problems triggered by Friday's earthquake, now upgraded by the Japan Meteorological Agency to magnitude 9.0, and the resulting series of tsunamis that swept over Japan. The 170,000 residents living within 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) of the Fukushima Daiichi plant have been evacuated, piling another major problem on top of thousands of deaths, extensive property damage, rolling power blackouts, a run on food and water in Tokyo, and economic troubles. Japan's Nikkei 225 stock-market index declined 6.2 percent today despite the Bank of Japan's emergency injection of billions of dollars into the economy.The nuclear reactors are drawing particular attention. Reactors work when the radioactive decay of uranium fuel pellets inside fuel rods heats water into steam. That steam drives turbines to generate electricity. However, to function, they rely on a constant supply of cool water in which they're immersed.To control the nuclear reaction and stop it in an emergency, control rods can be inserted between the fuel rods. Control rods absorb the neutrons produced by the uranium's radioactive decay, slowing the reaction because the absorbed neutrons don't trigger more radioactive decay in the chain reaction.If the fuel rods get too hot, for example if they can't be kept immersed or when the cooling system fails, the uranium can melt. This scenario, called a meltdown, covers a wide spectrum of severity. The extreme heat also can produce dangerous amounts of gas that must be vented into the air to prevent an explosion.At the Fukushima Daiichi plant, the regular power for the cooling system failed after the earthquake, after which diesel generators kicked in for backup system. Less than an hour after the earthquake, though, the tsunami arrived and the generators failed.At 4:30 p.m. Saturday, the first explosion occurred at unit 1 of the Fukushima Daiichi plant a few hours after workers began preparations to vent some gases. That explosion didn't damage the reactor's primary containment vessel, but it did damage the containment building outside it.As an emergency measure, plant operators have been pumping seawater into the unit 1 and unit 3 reactors to cool them.Meanwhile, workers are trying to safely cool down at another damaged nuclear energy complex, the Fukushima Daini plant, which has four reactors, the IAEA said. Its third unit is safely shut down and cooled. Workers got a cooling system working again at its first unit, which is cooling down. They're working to restore cooling systems at the plant's second and fourth units.The 30,000 people living within 10km of the Fukushima Daini plant have been evacuated, the IAEA said. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Live from NYC, SF: iPad 2 launch (semi-live blog)]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=live-from-nyc-sf-ipad-2-launch-semi-live-blog</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=live-from-nyc-sf-ipad-2-launch-semi-live-blog</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 11 Mar 2011 08:10:19 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Imminkamumb</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=live-from-nyc-sf-ipad-2-launch-semi-live-blog</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Four people sit outside the Apple store on Fifth Avenue in New York at 12 p.m. ET yesterday, lining up for the new iPad 2, which goes on sale at 5 p.m. today.(Credit:Marguerite Reardon/CNET)The Apple iPad 2 hits store shelves at 5 p.m. local time today all over the country, and the second-generationtablet is already generating a lot of buzz with a few eager customers lining up outside some Apple stores at least a day in advance. Unlike notable Apple product launches of the past, this time, the company didn't offer an extended preorder period. And it wasn't allowing customers to reserve devices weeks in advance of the sale. Instead, the company only began taking orders for the iPad 2 starting at 1 a.m. PT with orders expected to arrive at customers' homes sometime next week. What does this mean for potential customers on launch day It could mean long lines at some stores with potential shortages of certain models and configurations of theiPad 2. But Apple employees and workers at its retail partners say they're ready. Unlike last year's launch, when the original iPad was available in Apple stores and select Best Buy stores, this year, the iPad 2 will be also be available at Target, Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, Verizon and AT&amp;T retail locations, and online at Amazon.com.When we spoke with a sales representative at Apple's flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York yesterday, where four people were already in line at noon, he was confident the company would have enough iPads on Friday evening to satisfy customer demand.&quot;I can't guarantee that we will have every model in stock,&quot; he said. &quot;But we will be getting more over the weekend.&quot;A sales associate at the Apple store on the Upper West Side of Manhattan said the store may sell out the first evening the iPad is on sale, but he said the store would get more shipments over the weekend to fulfill demand.Across the street and down the block, a salesman at the Best Buy store on 62nd and Broadway in New York, said the store has more iPad 2s in stock for the launch than it had for last year's launch of the initial iPad. While he wouldn't guarantee that the store won't sell out the first day or even the second day, he was confident that this particular Best Buy location had enough iPad 2s to meet a higher demand than last year. &quot;But there's going to be a line,&quot; he said. &quot;If you want one, I'd show up no later than 2 p.m. just to make sure you get the one you want.&quot;CNET reporters on both coasts will once again be tracking the lines that form and providing insight into the initial sales of the iPad 2. CNET reporter Marguerite Reardon and photographer Sarah Tew will be in Manhattan, while CNET reporter Josh Lowensohn and photographer James Martin will be providing updates from San Francisco.  Check out our coverage throughout the day and evening right here, where we will post updates as well as photos. College student Chris Tantillo of Rockland, N.Y., was first in line at the Upper West Side Apple store in Manhattan. He was getting paid $25 an hour to hold a place in line for an eager iPad 2 customer. He had been there since 7 a.m. ET yesterday.(Credit:CNET/Marguerite Reardon)New York 1:30 p.m. ET: About three and a half hours before the iPad 2 goes on sale, there are between 500 and 600 people crammed into police barricade pens outside the Apple store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Brian Ceballo and his cousin Joseph Cruz, both of Brooklyn, have been here since 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday night. They waited in the drizzling rain all day Thursday and braved a torrential downpour late Thursday night and into the wee hours of Friday morning to be the second and third people in line for the new iPad 2. The cousins did take shelter for a couple of hours inside the Apple store between 1:30 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. this morning.Amanda Foote, a college student originally from Florida, was the only person ahead of them. She got to the store at 5:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday. I spoke with her yesterday when I checked out the line at the Apple store. But Foote was gone by 9 a.m. after she sold her first spot for $900 to Hazem Sayed, founder of the app developer Zami. Sayed has developed aniPhone app that allows people to chat with each other while standing in line. The $900 he spent to buy Foote's spot, which she originally advertised on Craigslist for $600, was part of a publicity campaign to get people to notice his app.The line at the Apple store on Fifth Avenue in New York was at least 500 people deep by 2 p.m. ET on Friday as people gathered to buy the iPad 2, which goes on sale at 5 p.m. ET.(Credit:CNET/Sarah Tew) New York 2 p.m. ET: The line has started to grow beyond the caged-in barrier area right next to the glass cube at the Apple store on Fifth Avenue. Apple security has been setting up more barricades to fence people in along the the 58th Street side. Apple product launches have become old hat for security workers and businesses surrounding the Apple store here. And they seem to deal with the crowds without much effort or fanfare. The line at the Apple store on Fifth Avenue in New York is growing. It started to wrap around the block along the West 58th Street side of the building around 2 p.m. ET, three hours before the iPad 2 goes on sale.(Credit:CNET/Marguerite Reardon) New York 3 p.m. ET: While I've been hanging out on the steps outside the big glass cube above the Apple store on Fifth Avenue, my colleague, CNET photographer Sarah Tew, checked out Apple's Upper West Side store a few blocks away at 68th and Broadway. Like the store on Fifth Avenue, hundreds of people are lined up outside the store waiting for the iPad 2 to go on sale at 5 p.m. ET.The following are several pictures she shot from the Apple store on the Upper West Side. At least 200 people waited outside the Apple store on the Upper West Side of Manhattan this afternoon waiting for the iPad 2 to be released. (Credit:CNET/Sarah Tew)Only a handful of people waited all night at the Apple store on the Upper West Side. (Credit:CNET/Sarah Tew)Food vendors lined up 67th Street in New York were doing good business as people lined up for the iPad 2.(Credit:CNET/Sarah Tew)New York 3:15 p.m. ET: After hitting the Apple store on the Upper West Side, Sarah strolled down to a nearby Best Buy store on 62nd and Broadway. Unlike the Apple stores, which were surrounded by people waiting in line, there was no one standing in line for the iPad 2 at Best Buy. Salespeople in the store said if she wanted an iPad 2, she could come back at 4:30 p.m. ET when they expected the line to form. The iPad 2 goes on sale at 5 p.m. ET. A salesman on Thursday said the Best Buy store on 62nd Street should be well-stocked. Maybe some of the folks standing in line at the Upper West Side location should go to Best Buy instead. There was no line at the Best Buy store on 62nd Street and Broadway in New York City just a few blocks from the Upper West Side Apple Store, where at least 200 people were lined up. (Credit:CNET/Sarah Tew)New York 3:30 p.m. ET: The crowd has continued to grow all afternoon at the Apple store on Fifth Avenue. The single-file line was starting to wrap around the block.Two hours before the iPad 2 will go on sale, the line at Apple&amp;39's store on Fifth Avenue was starting to wrap around the block as people lined up along 58th Street next to the FAO Scwhartz toy store.(Credit:CNET/Sarah Tew)More from the Apple store on Fifth Avenue as people wait for the launch of the iPad 2.(Credit:CNET/Sarah Tew) New York 4:30 p.m. ET: Apple has closed the Fifth Avenue store to regular shopping. And the employees downstairs below the cube are starting to cheer and chant in anticipation. Apple employees manning the line outside told me they have no idea if they have enough iPad 2s in stock to meet the demand at the store right now. The line of people is wrapped around the block down 58th Street along Madison Avenue to 59th Street. The apple employee we spoke to said they will be handing tickets out soon. And those who get a ticket will be guaranteed an iPad 2. Apple has closed the store to regular shopping until after 5 p.m. ET.(Credit:CNET/Marguerite Reardon) New York 5 p.m. ET: Just before 5 p.m., Apple lined up its employees outside to cheer and clap as they counted down to the official launch of the iPad 2. And moments later the first iPad 2 customers were escorted into the store.Apple employees started clapping and cheering about five minutes before they let the first iPad 2 customers into the store on Fifth Avenue.(Credit:CNET/Marguerite Reardon) Brian Ceballo and his cousin Joseph Cruz were the first two people in the Apple store on Fifth Avenue who were buying the new iPad 2. Ceballo and Cruz had waited in line since Wednesday evening at 8 p.m. ET.(Credit:CNET/Marguerite Reardon)New York 5:10 p.m. ET: The first iPad 2 customer at the Fifth Avenue store has emerged from the Apple cube with two iPad 2s in hand. Alex Scumilov came to the Apple store on Thursday afternoon to buy a MacBook Pro. But he ended up staying the night and waiting in line with about 15 other people for the new iPad 2. He was fifth in line, but was the first person to come out of the store. He said he was keeping one iPad 2 for himself and selling the other to a friend.Alex Scumilov was the first iPad 2 customer to emerge from the Apple store on Fifth Avenue in New York.(Credit:CNET/Marguerite Reardon) San Francisco 3:45 p.m. PT (and switching from Maggie Reardon to Josh Lowensohn): This is CNET's third time checking in on the San Francisco store, but the first update. We swung by here last night around 6:30 p.m. PT, and there was no line to be seen. At around 8:30 a.m. PT this morning, there were 100 or so folks lined up in front of the store, the first of which had gotten there just after 4 a.m. PT. Now the line stretches well around the block, only to be broken up in a few places by parking garages, mailboxes, and sidewalk crossings.The front of the line at the Apple store in downtown San Francisco.(Credit:Josh Lowensohn/CNET)At the front of the line is not the typical Apple fan. Instead, it was an enterprising young man named Josh Elavitti, who was doing a running job for paid errand service TaskRabbit. Elavitti was buying two iPad 2s for clients, one who lived just across town in Hayes Valley, and another who planned to snatch the iPad 2 just after sales began and take it on a direct flight to Singapore.  How much is this that 13-hour wait worth, you might be wondering Just $60 a piece from the two buyers, the majority of which will end up in Elavitti's hands. The rest, around $12 or so, goes to TaskRabbit.  In the middle is Jonathan Ive, Apple&amp;39's SVP of industrial design.(Credit:Josh Lowensohn/CNET)Leonard Yeung is flying to Singapore tonight with his new iPad 2. He got it by spending $60 to have someone from TaskRabbit (Josh Elavitti) sit in line for him for 14 hours. (Credit:Josh Lowensohn/CNET)San Francisco 4:29 p.m. PT: Those who were sitting down near the front of the line are now up and ready to go. That includes a group of about 25 who were just graced with an Apple store employee who is going to act as a translator since they speak Cantonese, and not English. One of their bilingual group members, who was going to have to act as the translator for all of them, told CNET the move made his life much easier. There was also a 20-minute or so demo session of iPad 2 apps by their developers, which Apple shut down after the iPad 2 demo units were swarmed by tourists and other passers-by looking to get their hands on the unit. Among the three were Chair, the makers of the hit game Infinity Blade, Firemint, who was showing off Real Racing 2 HD, and Synthetic Corp., which was demoing the new version of its Incredibooth photo taking software.  San Francisco 5:11 p.m. PT: Jonathan Ive, Apple's senior VP of industrial design, is here watching from the top deck inside the store. The first sale took eight minutes.  San Francisco 5:18 p.m. PT: Grabbing one of the first iPads was Elavitti, with whom CNET had spoken earlier. Right after he came out, he handed it over to Leonard Yeung, who was later catching a flight to Singapore. Yeung told CNET he intended to keep the iPad, and wasn't going to sell it, unlike a handful of other line-waiters CNET talked to who said they had already secured buyers on both Craigslist and eBay. And here we have Josh Elavitti, with iPad in hand.(Credit:Josh Lowensohn/CNET) San Francisco 6:17 p.m. PT: The line here now wraps nearly around the entire block. CNET talked to the manager at The Body Shop, the cosmetics retail chain, who said he was pleased with foot traffic brought in from the release. The store had anticipated it ahead of time, though was also given a heads up by Apple last week. This happens every time there is a product release, he said. iPad 2 buyers work their way inside the downtown San Francisco Apple store.(Credit:James Martin/CNET)More than an hour after the device went on sale in San Francisco, the line was wrapping nearly around the entire block. (Credit:Josh Lowensohn/CNET) Others weren't so pleased though. An employee at Crate &amp; Barrel, which is a few stores up the street from Apple's downtown store, told CNET that the store tends to get less foot traffic on launch days, with this launch being no different.  San Francisco 6:27 p.m. PT: I'm following up on rumor that there are no more white Wi-Fi iPads. San Francisco 6:33 p.m. PT: The people at the front of the line have been here since around 2 p.m. PT. Sold out are 16GB and 32GB models of the white, Wi-Fi-only models.  San Francisco 6:36 p.m. PT: I also swung by the Verizon retail store earlier, which sold out if its stock in about 10 minutes. Employees there didn't know when they were going to have more, and they were not doing rain checks or reservations. The following are more shots taken by our photographer James Martin around the time Apple started selling the iPad 2 here at the downtown San Francisco store (Enjoy while I take a break):After the long wait, Apple starts to lower the black curtain inside the downtown San Francisco store. It&amp;39's 5 p.m. PT sharp. (Credit:James Martin/CNET)This shot shows the reflection of the crowd as Apple gets ready to let iPad 2 buyers inside.(Credit:James Martin/CNET) A view from above after the first few iPad 2 buyers are let into the downtown San Francisco Apple store.(Credit:James Martin/CNET)James Alimeda, who was second in line for a iPad 2 in at the downtown San Francisco store, was also one of the first to walk out of the San Francisco store.(Credit:James Martin/CNET)Another shot inside the downtown San Francisco Apple store just after iPad 2 buyers were let in.(Credit:James Martin/CNET) San Francisco 7:55 p.m. PT: The line now stretches completely up the block and around the side a bit, but not completely around the block as it did before. Part of the reason for that is probably because all the Wi-Fi-only models in both colors are completely sold out. All that remains are all capacities and all colors of the 3G models on Verizon's network and the black 64GB model on AT&amp;T. One salesperson told us &quot;we have tons of Verizon, in both colors.&quot; They have all colors of Smart Covers in stock.  That's a wrap for now from San Francisco. Stay tuned for a post-game story about the overall iPad 2 sales launch. Thanks for reading, and please feel free to send us your stories (and photos) or leave them in the comments below. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Quakes, tsunamis strike Japan]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=quakes-tsunamis-strike-japan</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=quakes-tsunamis-strike-japan</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 10 Mar 2011 08:11:08 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>octavio4ga</dc:creator>
<category>Marketing and advertising</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=quakes-tsunamis-strike-japan</guid>
<description><![CDATA[(Credit:USGS)An 8.9-magnitude earthquake and series of major tsunamis struck Japan on Friday, generating an upswell of news and concern from users of social networks around the world.&quot;Our hearts go out to everyone Japan&quot; was a frequent message on both Twitter and Facebook, joined by hundreds of similar tweets in the space of a few minutes after quake struck Friday afternoon local time about 230 miles northeast of Tokyo.Japanese media reported that office workers were trying in vain to make calls over jammed cell phone networks. People were reportedly turning to Twitter to communicate with friends and family. Television images on CNN showed waves exceeding 12 flowing inland and receding with massive debris.A tsunami warning was in effect for the islands of Hawaii, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). However, the western coast of North America was in no immediate danger of a tsunami, saying that no warning, watch, or advisory was in effect for these areas. However, &quot;Earthquakes of this size are known to generate tsunamis potentially dangerous to coasts outside the source region,&quot; NOAA said in a statement. &quot;The West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center is investigating the event to determine the level of danger. More information will be issued as it becomes available.&quot;CNET's Ed Moyer contributed to this report.  More to come        Steven Musil    Full Profile E-mail Steven Musil   E-mail Steven Musil If you have a question or comment for Steven Musil, 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       Steven Musil is the night news editor at CNET News. Before joining CNET News in 2000, Steven spent 10 years at various Bay Area newspapers. E-mail Steven.  <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Gartner prophesies Apple's Post-PC era]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=gartner-prophesies-apples-post-pc-era</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=gartner-prophesies-apples-post-pc-era</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 03 Mar 2011 08:10:23 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>libeju8</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=gartner-prophesies-apples-post-pc-era</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Steve Jobs would have you believe that the post-PC era is here. Market researcher Gartner seems to agree. Apple iPad 2(Credit:Apple)At the rollout of the iPad 2 yesterday, the Apple CEO's carefully calculated musings about the post-PC world were meant to sow just enough doubt in consumers' minds that they think twice when buying that second PC. (And he was also careful to couch this as the post-PC era, not the post-Mac era. You can have your cake and eat it too if your Apple apparently.) Maybe Gartner sees this as a self-fulfilling prophesy. Whatever the case, the market research firm made some dark prognostications today about the future of PCs. It seems thattablets will not be &quot;additive&quot;--a word that Intel likes to use--but subtractive. In short, instead of opting for that second PC and then maybe a tablet on top of that, consumers will opt for just the tablet. &quot;We expect growing consumer enthusiasm for mobile PC alternatives, such as theiPad and other media tablets, to dramatically slow home mobile PC sales, especially in mature markets,&quot; George Shiffler, research director at Gartner, said in a research note today. &quot;We once thought that mobile PC growth would continue to be sustained by consumers buying second and third mobile PCs as personal devices. However, we now believe that consumers are not only likely to forgo additional mobile PC buys but are also likely to extend the lifetimes of the mobile PCs they retain as they adopt media tablets and other mobile PC alternatives as their primary mobile device.&quot; That last sentence is powerful. A consumer will hold off on buying a new PC and allocate that money instead to a tablet or other mobile device--like a high-end smartphone. And the verdict &quot;Overall, we now expect home mobile PCs to average less than 10 percent annual growth in mature markets from 2011 through 2015.&quot; Overall, Gartner is lowering its PC unit forecast for 2011 and 2012. Worldwide PC shipments are forecast to reach 387.8 million units in 2011, a 10.5 percent increase from 2010, according to Gartner's preliminary forecast. But this is down from Gartner's previous projection of 15.9 percent growth this year. And Gartner expects worldwide PC shipments to total 440.6 million units in 2012, a 13.6 percent increase from 2011. This is also down from Gartner's previous outlook of 14.8 percent growth for 2012. There were other factors too, like China. &quot;These results reflect marked reductions in expected near-term unit growth based on expectations of weaker consumer mobile PC demand, in no small part because of the near-term weakness expected in China's mobile PC market, but also because of a general loss in consumer enthusiasm for mobile PCs,&quot; said Ranjit Atwal, another Gartner analyst. But Gartner devoted most of the note to tablets. In a section titled &quot;PCs' Limitations Are Exposed,&quot; Gartner said that &quot;not too long ago, PCs were a 'fashion accessory' in mature markets with vendors linking themselves to fashion designers and even creating PCs specifically for women. The current 'cool' device is the smartphone, and now PCs will soon have to do battle with media tablets when they are launched in large numbers in the second quarter of 2011.&quot; Mobile PCs are not keeping up with the times, according to Gartner. &quot;Mainstream mobile PCs have not shed sufficient weight, and do not offer the all-day battery life, to substantiate their promise of real mobility. These limitations have become all the more apparent with the rapid spread of social networking, which thrives on constant and immediate connections. In short, all-day untethered computing has yet to materialize, and that has exposed the 'mobile' PC as merely a transportable PC at best,&quot; according to the note. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[China Unicom to take on Apple, Google with OS]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=china-unicom-to-take-on-apple-google-with-os</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=china-unicom-to-take-on-apple-google-with-os</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 28 Feb 2011 08:10:42 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>bivesiebev</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=china-unicom-to-take-on-apple-google-with-os</guid>
<description><![CDATA[China Unicom, one of China's three largest wireless operators, plans to introduce its own mobile operating system to compete head-to-head with Apple'siPhone and Google's Android OS in China.The Wall Street Journal reported today that the wireless operator, which is building a third-generation wireless network that competes with China Mobile and China Telecom, is developing a new mobile OS brand known as &quot;WoPhone.&quot;The new operating system is based on Linux, and it's geared toward mobile handsets andtablets. Companies that plan to build devices using the new OS include China's ZTE, Huawei Technologies, and TCL. South Korea's Samsung Electronics, U.S.-based Motorola, and Taiwan's HTC are also building devices using the new OS, China Unicom's parent company, China United Network Communications Group, said in a statement today.The company said in its statement that it hopes the new software will help the company develop 3G wireless devices more rapidly, thus getting them into the market more quickly. This is important because the Chinese 3G wireless market is just heating up with the major carriers battling for new 3G subscribers. China Unicom has a long way to go in terms of winning new customers and trails behind larger players, such as China Mobile. As of January, China Unicom had 169.7 million mobile subscribers, including 15.5 million 3G customers. Meanwhile China Mobile had 589.3 million subscribers, including 22.6 million 3G customers. Late last year, China Unicom launched WoStore, a mobile-application storefront that it said would support &quot;all open smartphone platforms.&quot;Apple's iOS and Google's Android operating systems are starting to gain market share in China. But they are not as prevalent as they are in other markets, such as the U.S. or Europe. In China, Nokia's Symbian platform still garners the greatest market share in the smartphone market with 60.1 percent of all smartphones, according to Analysys International, a Beijing-based market research firm. Windows Mobile has the second highest market share with 13.1 percent.Google Android is third with 10.7 percent of the market. And Apple's iOS has about 5.4 percent.Other wireless operators in China have also said they'd build their own operating systems for wireless devices. China Mobile launched its Android-based OS called &quot;Ophone&quot; in 2009, but the platform hasn't been a hit with customers.A China Unicom spokesman told The Wall Street Journal that the China Unicom WoPhone platform will not be based on Android. But he declined to comment on whether that is because of Google's dispute with China's government last year. Google moved its search servers to Hong Kong from mainland China because it was worried about hacking and censorship. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA['Morris Model' solar financing shines]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=morris-model-solar-financing-shines</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=morris-model-solar-financing-shines</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 24 Feb 2011 08:11:11 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>parriawin1</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=morris-model-solar-financing-shines</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The new solar carport at Mennen Arena in Morris County, N.J., is part of the Morris Model solar financing plan.(Credit:Tioga Energy)In the last eight months, Morris County, N.J., has undergone a significant energy change of which many of its residents are probably not even aware.The partners involved call it the &quot;Morris Model.&quot; It's a new financing model that allows municipalities to partner with solar-energy companies to incorporate solar energy into their energy portfolio for little outlay.In June the Morris County Improvement Authority (MCIA) announced it was entering into this Morris Model financing plan with Tioga Energy and SunDurance Energy to install about 3-megawatts worth of solar panels by offering up something it already had: property.Yesterday, the MCIA and Tioga Energy announced Morris County's solar installation was complete and, so far, a financial success.While there are many property-for-discount-energy programs going on, this one is unique. The William G. Mennen Sports Arena gets 30 percent of its electricity from its newly installed solar panels.(Credit:Tioga Energy)Specifically, the MCIA issued $22.3 million in low-interest government bonds to cover the cost of the initial installation. Tioga Energy--the solar-energy company that owns and operates the systems, and sells the solar electricity back to the municipality--used federal income tax incentives unavailable to municipalities, and New Jersey's Solar Renewable Energy Certificates (SREC) program to cover more of the costs. As part of the agreement, Tioga Energy then passed the money it earned from the incentives and SRECs on to Morris County in the form of discounted electricity. SunDurance Energy, working in conjunction with Tioga Energy, designed and installed the solar-energy system configurations for each property.The pilot program's swift eight-month completion is a test case that could offer a win-win solution for both cash-strapped municipalities and solar-energy companies looking for business. Keep in mind, however, that this Morris Model would only work in states with SREC programs. The county also had the benefit of being home to a local sports complex with lots of roof and parking space on which 1.6 megawatts of the 3.1-megawatts worth of solar panels could be installed.In states with legislated Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS), energy companies and utilities are required to either use a certain percentage of alternative energy or buy SRECs to make up the difference. According to the terms of New Jersey's SREC program, Tioga Energy earns one SREC for every 1,000 kilowatt-hours of solar electricity it generates, and is then able to sell those SRECs. The money it makes from the sale of the SRECs is being passed on to Morris County via savings on its electricity bills through a 15-year power purchase agreement.MCIA says the electricity generated from this program costs 35 percent less than what its local utility is charging them for electricity.To date Morris County now has 3.1 megawatts of solar power, has solar panels installed on 19 properties (16 of them schools and government buildings) and has saved $3.8 million in electricity costs, according to the MCIA.Most interesting to New Jersey natives may be that one of the properties being used for solar paneling by the county is the William G. Mennen Sports Arena, Morris County's 2,500-seat arena which includes three ice rinks, and an outdoor rugby field. In addition to the Mennen Arena roof, a solar carport now covers Mennen Arena's 500-space parking lot. Together, the roof and carport solar panels totaling 1.6 megawatts, generate 30 percent of the arena's electricity.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[An early look at Firefox 5]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=an-early-look-at-firefox-5</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=an-early-look-at-firefox-5</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 18 Feb 2011 08:10:02 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>nanoensure</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=an-early-look-at-firefox-5</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Mozilla starts on Firefox 5 designs (screenshots) Firefox 4 hasn't even been fully baked and served up yet, but that's not stopping Mozilla from pushing ahead with plans for Firefox 5. In this slideshow, we get a sense of some of the ideas that Mozilla is toying with for the next version of the browser, including Mozilla's version of Internet Explorer 9's pinned sites feature, a redesigned add-on updater workflow, and heavy promotion ofFirefox Sync.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[HTML5 spec set for 2014 completion]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=html5-spec-set-for-2014-completion</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=html5-spec-set-for-2014-completion</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 14 Feb 2011 08:10:19 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>deshawnste21</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=html5-spec-set-for-2014-completion</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The W3C&amp;39's new HTML5 logo(Credit:W3C)It's been a work in progress for years, but there are a few more years to go yet before the next version of Hypertext Markup Language is finalized.Specifically, the World Wide Web Consortium's HTML Working Group is set to announce today that it expects to anoint HTML5 as an officially recommended standard in the second quarter of 2014. That drawn-out schedule contrasts with another effort to make HTML a more fluidly updated &quot;living standard.&quot;&quot;We started working [on HTML5] in 2007,&quot; Philippe Le Hegaret, the HTML activity leader for the W3C, told CNET. &quot;We're targeting seven years for completing HTML5.&quot;HTML5 will become the first new revision since HTML 4.01 was released in 1999. Among the features in the next-generation Web page description language: built-in video and audio, a &quot;canvas&quot; element for two-dimensional graphics, new structural labels such as &quot;article&quot; to smooth programming, and a codified process to consistently interpret the hodgepodge styles of real-world Web pages, even when improperly coded.That doesn't mean interested parties won't be able to employ the new technology until 2014, though. On the contrary, key phases of the coming years' development involve getting feedback from real-world use that's already well under way and ironing out wrinkles that may arise implementing the standard in Web browsers.At the same time, work continues on a broad range of HTML standards--geolocation, offline data storage, background processing, a direct browser-server communication conduit, and more--that aren't strictly speaking part of HTML5. And after the W3C releases the first &quot;last call&quot; draft of the standard in May--the point at which the W3C thinks the standard's features are set--the W3C plans to begin tackling the early stages of what it's calling HTML.next for now.Clearly, then, the W3C isn't idling while browser makers and Web developers aggressively push ahead. But the W3C's schedule contrasts sharply with the speed at which the Web is developing today, growing beyond its role as a medium for static documents into a foundation for sophisticated applications. But the schedule also is not a great surprise given the complexity of HTML, the technological and political wrangling among the 55 organizations in the group, and an interest in HTML that's broadening beyond browser makers and Web programmers.&quot;When you want interoperability at a global scale across a broader industry, it takes time [and] more investment than single-platform stability,&quot; said Ian Jacobs, head of W3C marketing. For example, although the Web began as a phenomenon on personal computers, it's becoming a reality on mobile devices and another domain, TV, is coming, as exemplified by a recent W3C workshop dedicated to the subject.&quot;The key thing here is that there are lots of stakeholders, some of whom may not move at the same speed. One of the pieces of feedback from the TV and Web workshop is that TV manufacturers expect a shelf life of 7 years,&quot; Jacobs said. &quot;Because the W3C has as its mission to make the Web available to everybody, we always have to take into account the multiple needs of multiple audiences.&quot;The WHATWG's living documentEven as the W3C proceeds methodically, though, another group involved in developing HTML is changing its philosophy to an even more fluid arrangement. The WHATWG--Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group--began work on what became HTML5 in 2004 when the W3C declared that the 1999 update to HTML4 was the final version and that the future lay with an incompatible standard called XHTML 2.0. That proved to be largely a dead end, however, and the W3C resumed HTML work in 2007 and now has phased out work on XHTML 2.0.The WHATWG got its start as an open mailing list, but its founders and decision-makers all came from browser makers--Opera and Mozilla to start, with Apple joining later. HTML governance now essentially involves both the W3C and the WHATWG. One key figure is Ian Hickson, a former Opera and now Google employee who serves as an editor of the somewhat divergent versions of HTML maintained at both the W3C and the WHATWG.In January, Hickson declared that at the WHATWG, HTML has now become a &quot;living document,&quot; a specification that is constantly updated according to need. Abandoning version numbers that no longer are needed, Hickson ditched the term &quot;HTML5&quot; in favor of just &quot;HTML.&quot; And he said he'd like to see the W3C follow suit.Don't expect the standards group to do so, though.The W3C has always revised its standards, Jacobs said. &quot;That doesn't mean everybody wants the nightly build of a specification,&quot; he said, referring to the software development practice of building a new test version of software every night to include programmers' latest patches. &quot;We also have stable versions of standards, because there are some communities who need those for the level of interoperability they require...We think both innovation and stability are valuable, and they are not mutually exclusive.&quot;Another factor is intellectual-property rights--specifically, patents. Those who participate in creating the W3C's specifications agree not to sue those implementing the specification for infringement of any patents those participants own. It's a bit of legal reassurance in a technology world that has plenty of patent risks, but technically that assurance only comes with the final version of a specification.The final scheduleWhat exactly will happen between now and mid-2014 with HTML5 Several steps, according to Le Hegaret and Jacobs:In May 2011 comes the first &quot;last call&quot; draft of HTML5. This version is feature-complete, meaning no new features will be added, but that existing features will be refined. The W3C expects to deal with thousands of comments through this phase, some of them likely to lead to &quot;substantial&quot; changes.Likely by the end of 2011, the W3C will issue a second last-call version and begin a second round of refinements.In the second quarter of 2012, a new phase begins, in which &quot;implementors&quot; of the specification--browser makers, essentially--provide feedback. During this phase, the W3C concentrates on a suite of thousands of tests to see if implementations of HTML5 really do get the same results when interpreting a Web page's code.The culmination of this phase is a &quot;candidate recommendation&quot; of the HTML5 spec and at least two &quot;interoperable implementations&quot;--in other words, two different browsers that produce the same results on the test cases. The implementors' feedback is scheduled for completion by the first quarter of 2014.Last comes a final review period of about six weeks, then some time to get the promotional gears engaged.Then, in the second quarter of 2014, HTML5 should be done.&quot;We're excited to be able to say we now have a time frame,&quot; Jacobs said.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Pentagon: Space junk could knock out your cell phone]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=pentagon-space-junk-could-knock-out-your-cell-phone</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=pentagon-space-junk-could-knock-out-your-cell-phone</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 03 Feb 2011 08:11:12 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>sweacyaccindy</dc:creator>
<category>Social</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=pentagon-space-junk-could-knock-out-your-cell-phone</guid>
<description><![CDATA[You have probably become used to dropped calls. It is a fact of life, like sofas that won't stay clean and bankers who won't be reasonable.I would, however, like to warn you that there might soon be a new reason for your conversations about bars,cars, and Mars to be rudely curtailed. Yes, even if you have aVerizoniPhone 4.You see, space debris might have simply smacked into your Verizon satellite, rendering it just another exploding piece of metal.I am passing this along from the Telegraph, which passed it along from the Pentagon.This information has apparently been bouncing around for a little while, thanks to the U.S. Defense Department's interim Space Posture Review. And yet no one is sure what can be done about it. What&amp;39's going on up there could spoil our fun down here.(Credit:CC Raven Vasquez/Flickr) The Telegraph quotes Bharath Gopalaswamy, who sits at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute and behaves like a rocket scientist, as saying that there are, as you read this, 370,000 pieces of space junk floating in an area between 490 and 620 miles above us.In that same area, there are only 1,100 satellites.So a swift calculation suggests the area might appear a little like the Long Island Expressway on a Friday night, where a mere single figure percentage of drivers are following highway rules.All this junk is apparently made up of satellites that have had their day and split apart, rockets that have been thrust out to pasture, bits of missiles, debris from space missions, and, who knows, a couple of characters from &quot;Space Jam.&quot;Just one little collision might knock out not only your cell phone conversations but also, perhaps, even your reality TV pleasure or your closest family dependent--yes, your GPS.The most troubling aspect of all this is that it seems very hard to control. Authorities are begging those who send things up into space not to litter. But the situation doesn't appear all that easy to police--which risks a doomsday scenario, a sort of multiple fender bender called by the scientists an &quot;uncontrolled chain reaction,&quot; with which any interstellar AAA will not be able to cope.Space, it seems, may be the final frontier for annoying, destructive garbage. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[CES: Hands-on with the Taser shotgun]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ces-hands-on-with-the-taser-shotgun</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ces-hands-on-with-the-taser-shotgun</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 10 Jan 2011 08:10:31 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>josie21</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ces-hands-on-with-the-taser-shotgun</guid>
<description><![CDATA[You can put the Taser cartridge in either the company&amp;39's yellow shotgun or a normal one.(Credit:Crave UK)LAS VEGAS--Taser International is aCES regular. This year, the company's staff was at the trade show in force, demonstrating its new technology and offering to fry anyone crazy enough to volunteer. The highlight of its new range is a shotgun with self-contained bullets of electrical agony. As ludicrous as Tasers are, we can't help but be drawn to the bright yellow guns and incredible electrical power. Most incredible is the Taser X12 shotgun, which can fire a projectile up to 82 feet--most Tasers can only be used from about 16 feet meters away--and doesn't have wires attached to the gun itself. The cartridge is entirely self-contained, has little fold-out wings that keep it stable in flight, and is designed to puncture the target's skin to deliver its electrical punch.Read more of &quot;Hands-on with the Taser shotgun, and other non-lethal fun,&quot; and see more photos, at Crave UK. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[CES: Ford unveils the all-electric Focus]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ces-ford-unveils-the-all-electric-focus</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ces-ford-unveils-the-all-electric-focus</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 07 Jan 2011 08:10:49 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>duoutras</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ces-ford-unveils-the-all-electric-focus</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Alan Mulally shows enthusiasm for the Focus Electric by kissing the hood.(Credit:James Martin/CNET)Ford Focus Electric (photos) LAS VEGAS--Ford choseCES 2011 as the venue to introduce its all-electric Focus. Thecar, based on the 2012 Focus model being introduced this year, is actually Ford's second electric vehicle, as it has already begun delivering electric versions of its Transit Connect utility vehicle.Ford has been reluctant to state a range figure for the electric Focus, as it is still undergoing EPA testing, but a spokesman told us it would go up to 100 miles. The car uses a 23 kilowatt-hour liquid cooled lithium-ion battery pack and has a top speed of 84 mph. What differentiates it from other electric cars on or coming to market is that recharge time from empty to full should take from 3 to 4 hours when plugged into a 240 volt source, half the charge time of the Nissan Leaf. Ford achieved this figure by including a more robust onboard charger.Ford will also make available a 240 volt charging station, with installation through Best Buy. This station is designed with two components, one hard-wired bracket and the charging unit, which plugs into the bracket. This arrangement allows flexibility, letting the Focus Electric owner take the charging unit to a new garage, only needing to purchase a new bracket.Along with a version of Ford's MyFord Touch dashboard interface designed specifically for electric vehicles, there is also an app called MyFord Mobile that lets owners set charging times and remotely unlock the doors, among other functions. The dashboard includes a screen that shows an increasing amount of butterflies as the car is driven more efficiently, much like the tree display in the Nissan Leaf.The Ford Focus Electric becomes available in November of 2011, where it will compete with the Nissan Leaf and the Mitsubishi iMiev.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[This week in Crave: The hangover edition]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=this-week-in-crave-the-hangover-edition</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=this-week-in-crave-the-hangover-edition</comments>
<pubDate>Sat, 01 Jan 2011 08:10:04 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>AfishaOnlink</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=this-week-in-crave-the-hangover-edition</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Happy New Year! If you rang in 2011 with a bang, you may be wandering about in an alcoholic stupor with a throbbing head. I have no doubt that science will eventually produce the perfect hangover cure. Meanwhile, I could use this sleep mask right about now. Anyway, if partying has kept you too busy to keep up with the latest on Crave, here's what you missed from a light but interesting final week of 2010. &amp;149' Will Verizon be the next iPhone carrierHow about a hangover mask(Credit:Video screenshot by Tim Hornyak/CNET)&amp;149' The Kindle becomes Amazon's biggest bestseller, and the Nook does the same for Barnes &amp; Noble. &amp;149' More robot teachers invade Korean schools. &amp;149' RIM says its PlayBook battery can match those of rival tablets. &amp;149' Skype foriPhone gets two-way video chat. &amp;149' Ford will add start-stop technology to its conventionalcars. &amp;149' Should Apple buy Netflix&amp;149' Rumor has it the iPhone 2 will come in three versions and have a USB port. While you're busy working on resolutions for the new year, we're prepping for CES next week. Bookmark this page now to keep up with all news related to the annual gadget blowout.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[U.S. at risk of rare earths supply disruptions]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=u-s--at-risk-of-rare-earths-supply-disruptions</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=u-s--at-risk-of-rare-earths-supply-disruptions</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 15 Dec 2010 08:11:12 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>footballtshirts1</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=u-s--at-risk-of-rare-earths-supply-disruptions</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The United States risks major supply disruptions of rare earth metals used in clean energy products unless it diversifies its sources of the minerals, the Energy Department warns in a report released today.The United States and other countries are worried that China, which controls 97 percent of the world trade in rare earth metals, will use those supplies as a political weapon and cut back their export when it is in a dispute with another country or to grow China's clean energy technology sector.&quot;The availability of a number of these materials is at risk due to their location, vulnerability to supply disruptions and lack of suitable substitutes,&quot; U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said in the report unveiled today at a rare earth metals conference at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.The release of the report coincides with trade talks in Washington between the United States and China. U.S. officials are expected to push Chinese officials to loosen export restraints on rare earth elements.(Credit:U.N. Environment Program)China, which said on Tuesday it planned to raise export taxes on some rare earth metals beginning next month, holds 37 percent of known rare metal reserves, the United States has 13 percent, and the rest is in other countries.The 17 rare earth metals, with exotic names like lanthanum and europium, form unusually strong lightweight materials and are used in a wide range of applications including high-tech and defense products,car engines, and clean energy.China has vowed that it would not use its dominance of rare earth supplies as a bargaining tool with foreign economies but it has cut its exports of the materials on environmental grounds.U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton raised U.S. concerns over Beijing's export policy with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi during a visit to Asia at the end of October.The Energy Department said in its report that it looked at the use of rare earths in wind turbines, electric vehicles, solar cells, and energy-efficient lighting because these clean technologies are expected to be deployed substantially on a global basis over the next 15 years, increasing demand for rare earth metals.It said that in order to manage the risk of rare earth supply disruptions, the United States must increase its domestic extraction and processing of the materials.There is only one U.S. rare earths producer, Molycorp. It is the largest non-Chinese rare earths firm and the only rare earth oxide producer in the Western Hemisphere.The report said the United States must work closely with its international partners, including Europe and Japan, to boost their production of the materials.&quot;Diversified global supply chains are essential,&quot; the report said.However, mining rare earth metals can be very expensive and the lead times for new mining operations are long, ranging from two to 10 years. &quot;Whether a deposit can be mined economically will depend on a number of factors, including rare earth prices, regulatory requirements and improvements in extraction and separation technologies,&quot; the report said.Recycling and reusing the rare earth metals could also significantly lower world demand for the materials.Traditional energy sectors are also at risk from rare earth supply problems, the report said.Rare earth ores are used in the fluid cracking catalysts that convert heavy oils in the refining process into more valuable gasoline, distillates and lighter products. Rare earth elements are used in catalysts to produce higher yields of more valuable products such as gasoline.A disruption in rare earth supplies could have a noticeable impact on refinery yields and require oil refinery owners to make investments so the fluid cracking process will work without the rare earth materials, the department said.The department said it will develop an updated strategy by the end of next year for increasing supplies of critical rare earth metals.&amp;149' See also:Pay dirt: Why rare earth metals matter to tech (FAQ)Story Copyright (c) 2010 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Study: 'Building IT' to speed energy efficiency]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=study-building-it-to-speed-energy-efficiency</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=study-building-it-to-speed-energy-efficiency</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 13 Dec 2010 08:10:43 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>marelimcheffe</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=study-building-it-to-speed-energy-efficiency</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Buildings are the next frontier for computerized instrumentation, leading to a collision between building management incumbents and IT companies looking for new markets, according to a report.Lux Research tomorrow is expected to release a report that predicts a wave of acquisitions at the intersection of buildings and IT. One of the best examples of energy efficiency retrofits through green technology is the Empire State Building.(Credit:Empire State Building Company)Building control companies Siemens, Honeywell, Johnson Controls, and Schneider Electric are likely to purchase smaller companies, as they already have. Meanwhile, IT companies IBM, Cisco, Microsoft, and Google will continue to look for a foothold in building energy efficiency. In the past few years, several new and established companies have moved into building control in part because buildings, in general, perform very poorly when it comes to meeting their expected performance on energy efficiency.Adding modern controls to HVAC systems, such as sensors, and introducing energy monitoring systems and efficiency lighting could improve commercial building efficiency by 24 percent and 16 percent in residential homes, Lux said. These types of improvements could save hundreds of billions of dollars a year worldwide, it said.On the business side, building efficiency is ripe for innovation because it fits the venture capital investment model relatively well.In the beginning of the decade, entrepreneurs and investors who moved into green technology often focused on power generation, such as solar or biofuels. Increasingly, green-technology venture capitalists are moving into energy efficiency because it requires less money to develop and commercialize a product.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Google's Web e-book store ready for chapter 1]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=googles-web-e-book-store-ready-for-chapter-1</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=googles-web-e-book-store-ready-for-chapter-1</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 06 Dec 2010 08:10:17 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Michle</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=googles-web-e-book-store-ready-for-chapter-1</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Google eBooks and the eBookstore are based entirely within a Web browser, allowing readers to log into their books from a wide variety of devices.(Credit:Google)Google is finally ready to get into the bookselling business, one Web browser at a time. The Google eBookstore is set to launch in the U.S. this morning after months of planning on Google's part to be the latest entrant into the hot market for e-books. Google has cut deals with many top-tier publishers, including Random House, McGraw Hill, Simon &amp; Schuster (a division of CBS, which also publishes CNET), Penguin Books, and MacMillan. And it will have &quot;hundreds of thousands&quot; of in-print e-books to sell today along with the huge number of public domain books that Google has already scanned through its Google Book Search project, for a total of just over 3 million titles, said James Crawford, director of engineering for Google Books.Formerly known as Google Editions when in the planning stages, the Google eBookstore is notable because of its Web-based approach to e-book selling. Customers will be able to buy books through their Google accounts and access them on just about any device with a modern Web browser, Crawford said. The company also plans to develop e-reader applications for both Apple's App Store and the Android Market that will sync with a customer's account, allowing you to purchase a book on your home PC, start reading it on your phone on the way into work, and sneak in a few pages at lunch on your work system without having to re-discover your place each time you log in, he said. &quot;The idea is to never have to wonder where you are,&quot; Crawford said of the autosync feature. Books will be locked to individual Google accounts, however, and protected by Adobe's ACS4 technology. Google's books should also work on several e-reader devices that support Adobe's technology, like Barnes &amp; Noble's Nook or Sony's Reader, with a notable exception: Amazon's Kindle doesn't support ACS4, Crawford said.A look at the dashboard for Google eBooks (click for larger image).(Credit:Google) Google has also cut deals to let other bookstores sell electronic copies of Google's inventory, including famed Portland, Ore., bookseller Powell's, Alibris, and the American Booksellers Association, which helps indie bookstores get online, said Amanda Edmonds, director of strategic partnerships for Google Books. Goodreads, a book-oriented social-networking site, will also serve as a Google eBookstore affiliate, offering users links to the store to buy books they are discussing. As always, pricing is key to any new retail venture. Crawford said Google intended to be &quot;comparable&quot; to other e-book stores, such as Amazon's or Apple's. &quot;We've set up a pricing algorithm to be competitively priced with the going rate in the market,&quot; he said. &quot;We're not trying to buy our way into the market by (underpricing), but we don't want anybody to say that we have higher prices.&quot; Google's been talking about building a digital bookstore for years, but its entire Google Book Search project has been shrouded in controversy over the proposed settlement it brokered with groups representing authors and publishers that, if approved, would give it the right to sell the out-of-print yet copyright-protected books it has scanned from library partners. Final approval of that settlement has now dragged on for years, with a decision following a &quot;final hearing&quot; in February--that had itself had been delayed several times--having languished for months. However, the eBookstore as launched today really has nothing to do with that controversy: Google is only selling books for which it either has an explicit agreement with the clear rights-holder of the book, or it's a title that has passed into the public domain, Crawford said. Google has attempted to drum up support for its settlement by arguing that authors whose books have gone out of print will have a chance to earn revenue from a digital store that wasn't possible before Google made a digital copy, but until the settlement is approved it doesn't have the legal clearance to go ahead and sell those books. The eBookstore will live as a link off the main Google Book Search page, where visitors will be asked if they are interested in searching or buying. Previews of millions of books can be found in Google Book Search, but until today Google had been directing those looking to purchase a copy to other book stores.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Spread Christmas cheer with Angry Birds]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=spread-christmas-cheer-with-angry-birds</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=spread-christmas-cheer-with-angry-birds</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 30 Nov 2010 08:10:27 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Samya01</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=spread-christmas-cheer-with-angry-birds</guid>
<description><![CDATA[A festivus for the rest of us: First, Angry Birds Christmas ornaments, and now an Angry Birds Christmas edition.(Credit:NickandChapin Channel/YouTube)Everyone's favorite finch-flinging frolic is going festive for both iOS and Android devices (just try saying that five times fast after downing a glass of egg nog). Rovio Mobile's next big update for Angry Birds, which celebrates Christmas, has been hinted at, detailed, and screenshotted, and now the company has made it official, though we don't have an exact release date yet.  Angry Birds Christmas will be free if you purchased the 99-cent Angry Birds Halloween edition for iOS devices. Rovio had initially tweeted that the Christmas title would only be coming to theiPod Touch,iPhone, andiPad, but today posted a message that it's flying onto Android too.  Now we're just waiting to hear if Angry Birds fans with MeeGo, WebOS, and Symbian devices will see their Yuletide cheer turn into jeer this holiday.   Angry Birds has steadily been growing into a phenomenon (being No. 1 in most mobile app stores for a while can do that for you), and Rovio is riding the wave with an official Angry Birds Day scheduled for December 11. Nearly a thousand people in 65 countries have already signed up for the meetups, which Rovio is flavoring as a celebration of popping 3 trillion piggies, and the chance to meet, play, and compare scores with Angry Birds fans. I'm pretty decent at Angry Birds, and have had many three-star rounds, if I may brag for a moment. Comparing scores against others might be intimidating, though. I fear the grand master of Angry Birds in my area would probably show up and school everyone. (Credit:Rovio) <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Mobile game revenue to top $11 billion by 2015]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mobile-game-revenue-to-top-11-billion-by-2015</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mobile-game-revenue-to-top-11-billion-by-2015</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 30 Nov 2010 08:10:13 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Geumdius</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mobile-game-revenue-to-top-11-billion-by-2015</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Mobile game revenue is expected to nearly double by 2015, Juniper Research predicted today.According to the market researcher, mobile game revenue topped $6 billion last year. By 2015, Juniper predicts, that figure will be over $11 billion. However, the research firm noted that as time goes on, a shift will occur with revenue migrating from the &quot;traditional pay-per-download model&quot; to in-game purchases.Juniper expects that by 2013, more revenue will be generated from in-game purchases than from actual downloads of mobile games. The research firm said &quot;discoverability remains a problem for developers and publishers on some app stores,&quot; so offering a free title and then getting people to pay for more levels or virtual goods is becoming the more desired way to attract gamers and revenue.It could be a smart move. Earlier this month, research firm In-Stat reported that virtual goods revenue is expected to reach $7.3 billion this year. In 2007, consumers spent just $2.1 billion on virtual goods. By 2014, the firm predicts, customers could spend more than $14 billion on in-game virtual goods. Although those figures include data from social-networking titles, in addition to mobile games, it effectively highlights the growth in this area. Juniper also reported that although games are available on several different mobile platforms, &quot;Apple'siPhone/App Store combination has set the benchmark, with a higher share of revenue for developers.&quot;<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Previewing Microsoft's Office 365]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=previewing-microsofts-office-365</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=previewing-microsofts-office-365</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 24 Nov 2010 08:10:14 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Preety01</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=previewing-microsofts-office-365</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Microsoft's Office 365, the next piece of a broader play by Microsoft to bring its suite of Office server tools and collaboration work flows onto the cloud, is expected to launch sometime next year.The company is already in the stages of testing it with small businesses and has a list of some 60,000 organizations, which are waiting to get access. In the meantime, Microsoft is continuing to fine-tune the product and expand its testing group--both in scale and the size of the companies that are being allowed in. CNET was lucky enough to get early access to Office 365, which has been designed to work on a number of Web browsers, includingFirefox andSafari--though not yet Chrome, which will work when the product is finalized. Office 365 is also cross-platform, so it works with both Macs and PCs. The good news is that in our brief testing, everything worked as advertised. The bad news is that you can't get it right now, and it's still a long ways off from something that lets you every feature out of the Office ecosystem without installing software. What it is and what it isn'tThe first thing we should say up front is that Google Apps this is not. That's not to disparage the service, which hasn't even hatched yet, rather it's to point out that its core offering takes some of Microsoft's on-premises software tools and hosts them for companies. Microsoft still maintains consumer-facing Office and collaboration tools with its Windows Live services, Docs.com, and Office Web Apps, but Office 365 is a different animal. What that means to the end user is that you get things like a hosted version of Outlook, Sharepoint (which has been nicknamed &quot;Team Site&quot; in the small business Office 365 variant), and Lync--the latest version of the recently rebranded Office Communicator platform--all without having to buy your own servers or worry about keeping them up to date. As such, Microsoft is positioning it as a subscription service that runs anywhere from $2 to $27 per user per month, depending on what size of a company you're running and what services you decide to include. Notably absent from Office 365's overall interface is Microsoft's suite of Office Web Apps, which is where many of those comparisons to Google Docs have centered. The Office Web Apps only take center stage when working in the hosted version of SharePoint, where shared documents can be viewed and edited in its Office Web App counterpart. If you actually want to create something, there's still a reliance on having to have the Office software, or go off to the Office Web apps site itself, where users can save to their SharePoint.Microsoft's current alternative for this is to send small-business users to its Office Web Apps site to do things like pen documents and put together presentations, while those who subscribe to a particular Office 365 tier can opt in for a subscription of Microsoft's Office 2010 plus software that can be installed locally, which ties into things like the Office 365 Team Site and Outlook through the Backstage menu in Office applications. The net result of all of this is that Office 365 is not yet quite the true jump to a cohesive set of all of Microsoft's services, gone online and tied together in a way where you can hop from task to task between different 365 components. There is still an incredible reliance on the software itself, which is bound to change down the road, but for now makes basic workflows like creating a document and getting feedback from team members a hybrid experience, or one that involves juggling products. It's getting cloudy The core of Office 365's UI centers on breaking up the hosted services into three chunks: home, Outlook, and Team Site. The links to these items stay the same no matter what you're doing, except if you hop over to Team Site, which jettisons you off to your own Sharepoint site. Office 365&amp;39's home screen lets you hop to Outlook and your team&amp;39's &amp;34'Home Site.&amp;34'(Credit:Josh Lowensohn/CNET)Of the bunch, one of the most obvious draws is the the hosted version of Exchange, which companies can move all their mail to, or run alongside on-premises deployments. In our preview with it, the Web client of Outlook was fast loading and had a few nice tricks up its sleeve, like letting you open up Office attachments in a pop-up Window--something that's quite useful if you're on a public computer that does not have Office installed. It's also keyboard shortcut friendly, letting you cruise through a large group of unread messages.Outlook&amp;39's Web app shouldn&amp;39't look all that different from what people are used to. Users get all the usual trimmings like e-mail, calendars, and contacts.(Credit:Josh Lowensohn/CNET)We couldn't perform a large-scale test on Lync, formerly known as Office Communicator, but we got a thorough demo last week as part of its launch. Lync is Microsoft's an instant messaging system with presence' an audio and video conferencing tool' and a voice call service. By design this is something that users install and run locally, so it sits outside of whatever software program you're using, though over time it's been built into more and more facets of the Office software. How Lync translates to the Web experience is that users can get a slightly less capable version of it inside a browser window--all without having to install the software client. This has been implemented with a presence setting you can toggle that stays with you in both Office 365's home screen and Outlook, so if you're busy working on something, you can make a note of it from your inbox. You're also able to chat in the hosted Outlook Web app with anyone who is online.One thing that was not yet available for a spin was Lync's planned client for Windows Phone 7 and theiPhone. This would let you see people's presence, and chat from your phone. When combined with Microsoft's Office software on Windows Phone 7, this will open things up for a more cohesive hand-off for people going back and forth between a computer and a phone. The third branch of Office 365 is the Team Site, which should be quite familiar to SharePoint users, as it's got the same exact features and workflows. It's also one of the places where Office 365 shows its strengths, since you can get into a shared group of documents and very quickly give them a read and an edit in the same place without leaving the page to go off to some other property. This is what a cohesive Web office experience should feel like, though like we mentioned earlier, it still feels like its on its own island instead of being more tightly knit with the Office 365 start page, and Outlook client.  Team Sites should also not look too unfamiliar to SharePoint users. (Credit:Josh Lowensohn/CNET) Not so cloudy, yetWhile really impressive, there are still some questions over Microsoft's vision of making Office 365 less of a jump-off point for its software and more of a one-stop solution for getting things done from any computer, anywhere. Some of these issues have been alleviated, though in most cases, it depends on what tool you're in and how you're using it.Another issue--though one that is arguably of smaller concern as a growing number of devices have gotten an always-on Internet connection--is that Office 365 still relies on an active connection to use it. Microsoft's trump card in this respect is that unlike Google, it's already got the software part of the equation taken care of, so that work can be done locally when need be. The only problem comes when you're asking people to jump between those two experiences. It also puts into question the utility of the package for workers who want to go software-free, yet stay as mobile as possible. These items are likely to be addressed as the platform grows. In the meantime, it's worth looking at Office 365 for what it is, which is Microsoft continuing to move some of the very complicated pieces of its Office software ecosystem into the cloud--in part to make it easier for businesses large and small to get going. The Office software itself is a separate part of the equation--one that's well on its way in that direction. Updated at 10:15 a.m. PDT to include additional pricing information, and clarification about SharePoint's nickname for the small business edition of the Office 365 product. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Nielsen: Kids want iPad for holidays]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=nielsen-kids-want-ipad-for-holidays</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=nielsen-kids-want-ipad-for-holidays</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 23 Nov 2010 08:10:10 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>sypecease</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=nielsen-kids-want-ipad-for-holidays</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The iPad is the most desired piece of tech among 6- to 12-year-olds.(Credit:James Martin/CNET)If your kids are begging for tech, the iPad might just top their holiday wish-list.According to Nielsen, which conducted a survey in October to see which tech products American kids want through the beginning of next year, Apple's tablet sat at the top of a 17-item list, with 31 percent of children between the ages of 6 and 12 saying they want to get their hands on the device.A computer andApple's iPod Touch tied for second, with 29 percent of children saying they wanted those products. Nintendo's DS took the fourth spot with 25 percent of kids eyeing the portable gaming device.Sony'sPlayStation 3, any (non-iPhone) smartphone, and a mobile phone all tied for fifth place with 21 percent of kids having interest in those products this year. TheApple iPhone, a television, and the as-yet released Nintendo 3DS rounded out the top 10, each with 20 percent of children's interest. An e-reader was the least popular gift this year, ranking 17th, with just 11 percent of kids saying they wanted one. Nielsen also found out what youths 13 and up are coveting. Among that group, a computer led the way with 20 percent desiring a PC or Mac. A television and a (non-iPhone) smartphone tied for the second spot with 19 percent. Apple's iPad, a Blu-ray player, and an e-reader took the next three spots with 18 percent, 17 percent, and 15 percent of teens showing interest, respectively. The Nintendo Wii ranked seventh among teens with 15 percent saying they wanted one. It was followed by the iPhone and PlayStation 3, each with votes from 13 percent of teens. Sony's PlayStation Portable was the least-desired tech product among teenagers, ranking 17th, with just 5 percent of showing interest in it. Nielsen's study follows a similar survey released last month by the Duracell Toy Report. According to that survey, nearly 40 percent of kids between the ages of 5 and 16 want an iPhone 4, iPod Touch, or iPad this holiday season. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[BlackBerry Traffic app pulls into App World]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=blackberry-traffic-app-pulls-into-app-world</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=blackberry-traffic-app-pulls-into-app-world</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 18 Nov 2010 08:10:04 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>InsovonDast</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=blackberry-traffic-app-pulls-into-app-world</guid>
<description><![CDATA[BlackBerry Traffic rolls out of beta.(Credit:RIM/BlackBerry)BlackBerry-maker RIM has just promoted its free BlackBerry Traffic app from beta status to a general software release. Now that its available in the BlackBerry App World beginning today, BlackBerry Traffic could threaten competitors like Waze.BlackBerry Traffic is a driving tool that estimates the real-time distance between you and your destination. The app sources a combination of historical traffic patterns and real-time data taken from other BlackBerry Traffic users in the area. Like competitor Waze, which also crowd-sources its traffic details, BlackBerry Traffic displays travel times, alternate routes, and incident reports. There's a sharing feature so you can send your ETA ahead, using SMS, e-mail, or the BlackBerry PIN. BlackBerry Traffic also adds an element of location-based advertising by offering deals along your route.Setup is straightforward. You can add your location manually from your address book, and it's easy to search for and add other places using the built-in Bing search engine. Though clear enough to read, the app is rather text-heavy. There are other reasons it's not quite ready to leave Waze (in beta) or even the Google Maps traffic layer in the dust. Waze, which is completely based on user data, has many more social interaction elements and a much more appealing design. Google Maps' integrated traffic layer may not have as many standalone features, but it's got a more natural fit inside the app.In addition to a standalone version, we'd also like to see BlackBerry Traffic as an option within BlackBerry Maps, especially when it comes to sharing favorite places between the two. We'd also prefer a failover location-fixing mechanism so you can estimate your ETA before exiting a building that may block your GPS signal.BlackBerry Traffic is currently available in the U.S. and Canada on GPS-enabled BlackBerry smartphones running OS 4.6 and above. The software is the fruit of a Bay Area-based mapping team that RIM acquired in 2009.Article updatedat 12:20pm PT with more details.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Symantec: Stuxnet clues point to uranium enrichment target]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=symantec-stuxnet-clues-point-to-uranium-enrichment-target</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=symantec-stuxnet-clues-point-to-uranium-enrichment-target</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 15 Nov 2010 08:10:28 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>ballmurderer</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=symantec-stuxnet-clues-point-to-uranium-enrichment-target</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Stuxnet looks for frequency converters that control motors in industrial control systems, Symantec says.(Credit:Symantec)Symantec researchers have figured out a key mystery to the Stuxnet worm code that strongly suggests it was designed to sabotage a uranium enrichment facility.The program targets systems that have a frequency converter, which is a type of device that controls the speed of a motor, Eric Chien, technical director of Symantec Security Response, told CNET today. The malware looks for converters from either a company in Finland or Tehran, Iran. &quot;Stuxnet is watching these devices on the target system that is infected and checking what frequency these things are running at,&quot; looking for a range of 800 hertz to 1200 Hz, he said. &quot;If you look at applications out there in industrial control systems, there are a few that use or need frequency converters at that speed. The applications are very limited. Uranium enrichment is an example.&quot; There had been speculation that Stuxnet was targeting an Iranian nuclear power plant. But power plants use uranium that has already been enriched and don't have the frequency converters Stuxnet seeks like those that control centrifuges, Chien said.  The new information from Symantec would seem to bolster speculation that Iran's Natanz uranium enrichment facility was a target. The worm spreads via holes in Windows and saves its payload for systems running specific industrial control software from Siemens.  Also on Symantec's short list of possible targets are facilities using computer numerical controlled equipment, commonly referred to as CNC equipment, such as drills used to cut metal, he said.  The Stuxnet code modifies programmable logic controllers in the frequency converter drives used to control the motors. It changes the frequencies of the converter, first to higher than 1400 Hz and then down to 2 Hz--speeding it up and then nearly halting it--before setting it at just over 1000 Hz, according to Chien.  &quot;Basically, it is messing with the speed at which the motor runs, which could cause all kinds of things to happen,&quot; he said. &quot;The quality of what is being produced would go down or not be able to be produced at all. For example, a facility wouldn't be able to enrich uranium properly.&quot; It could also cause physical damage to the motor, Chien said. &quot;We have confirmation that this industrial process automation system is essentially being sabotaged,&quot; he added.  Symantec was able to figure out what the malware does and exactly what systems it targets after getting a tip from a Dutch expert in the Profibus network protocol, which is used in these specific industrial control systems. The information had to do with the fact that the frequency drives all have a unique serial number, according to Chien. &quot;We were able to pair up a couple of numbers we had with some devices and figured out they were frequency drives,&quot; he said.  &quot;The real world implications [to Stuxnet] are pretty frightening,&quot; Chien said. &quot;We're not talking about a credit card being stolen. We're talking about physical machines potentially causing damage in the real world. And clearly there are some geopolitical concerns, as well.&quot; Chien has more detailed technical information in this blog post. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Google's Schmidt teases new Android phone]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=googles-schmidt-teases-new-android-phone</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=googles-schmidt-teases-new-android-phone</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 15 Nov 2010 08:10:04 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>wanminlim1y</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=googles-schmidt-teases-new-android-phone</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Google CEO Eric Schmidt holds up an unannounced Android phone that is probably the rumored Nexus S.(Credit:Tom Krazit/CNET)SAN FRANCISCO--Google plans to support Android phones with near-field communications chips in the next version of Android, which CEO Eric Schmidt said today would arrive in the next few weeks. Schmidt, kicking off the Web 2.0 Summit at the Palace Hotel here in downtown San Francisco, held up an &quot;unannounced product&quot; that appeared to be the Nexus S, which leaked out on Best Buy's Web site last week. The phone--Google unhelpfully covered over the brand label--was running Android 2.3, code-named Gingerbread and used a near-field communications chip that Schmidt thinks could eventually replace credit cards.Near-field communications chips allow for fast short-range wireless transmissions, and credit card companies believe that those transmissions are actually more secure than the mag-stripe technology on your current credit cards, Schmidt said in a discussion with reporters following his discussion with Web 2.0 Summit hosts Tim O'Reilly and John Battelle. Credit cards aren't going away for quite some time, but Google is interested in getting the technology out in front of developers in order to see what happens, he said. Schmidt touched on several topics during his talk and in the briefing afterward. &amp;149' Android: Google is pretty satisfied with how Android has worked out, but Schmidt said if he had to nitpick one thing it would be how Google chose to focus on developing Android itself over emphasizing third-party application development. He bemoaned how people focus on the competitive battle between Google and Apple in smartphones while missing the point that the entire market is growing like crazy. &amp;149' Raises: Schmidt confirmed that Google gave employees the option of taking home last week's bonuses in actual cash, but declined to say how much money the company had sitting around last Tuesday night. A Google engineer stepped forward over the weekend to claim that the person who was fired for leaking the memo about the $1,000 bonuses put employees in danger. &amp;149' Privacy: Google is under a ton of scrutiny from privacy advocates this year following its embarrassing Street View Wi-Fi scandal, and Schmidt reiterated that Google takes its responsibilities seriously, noting that even though the technology is available to permit real-time face-recognition in products like Google Goggles, the company has made a conscious decision to hold back. What &quot;we learned with all of these things is you just can't rush a product out any more. An engineer's political views is not (necessarily) what governments would accept,&quot; Schmidt said. &quot;What we have learned is that people disagree on where that line is, and it is not up to Google to make that decision.&quot; &amp;149' Social: Schmidt didn't have much to say about social technologies, which has long been a weak spot for Google. He expressed the potential for social cues to continue to enhance search results. &quot;We agree that social information's very important, in particular the name value graphs that they generate,&quot; he said. &quot;We can produce a better search result with your permission. Information that is anonymous about what your friends are doing is made available as one of the many signals we provide.&quot; &amp;149' Facebook: Likewise, he also declined to say anything about the fact that Facebook's revamped messaging system, while not an e-mail client, may be intended to sway consumers away from more traditional e-mail like Gmail (but which, on the flip side, exhibits many of the real-time messaging vibes of the failed Google Wave). &quot;It would not be appropriate for me to comment on their product. I am the CEO of Google, not Facebook,&quot; he said.Though he had insisted it was not in specific reference to an incident last week in which Google stopped permitting Facebook users from importing Gmail contacts--a sign that some saw as an early shot fired in the two companies' supposed forthcoming showdown over e-mail and other messaging--he said, &quot;In general, we've taken the position that user data is the user's, and that it should be possible for them to move it back and forth.&quot; &amp;149' Chrome OS: Netbooks running the Chrome OS operating system are expected to arrive any week. Schmidt painted the difference between Google's two mobile operating systems in terms of the input methods used with those devices. &quot;Android is optimized for things that involve touch, (while) Chrome OS is focused on keyboard-based solutions. That's how the market is evolving.&quot;CNET's Caroline McCarthy contributed to this report.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Audi's first hybrid leaked before LA show (video)]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=audis-first-hybrid-leaked-before-la-show-video</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=audis-first-hybrid-leaked-before-la-show-video</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 11 Nov 2010 08:10:30 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Kavita01</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=audis-first-hybrid-leaked-before-la-show-video</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Rather than waiting until the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show to reveal it's first production hybrid, Audi released near full specs and video clips of its soon-to-be released 2011 Q5 Hybrid Quattro SUV. The Q5 Hybrid Quattro promises the power of a V6 and the fuel consumption of a four-cylinder from its 2.0 TFSI engine and electric motor. Combined, the gasoline engine and electric motor deliver 245-horsepower yet achieve an estimated 33.6 mpg--around the same fuel economy as a Volkswagen Golf.It may be one of the last manufacturers to add a hybrid to its lineup, but Audi's showing showing some of the most advanced hybrid technology on the market. The Q5 Hybrid can operate in EV-only mode while driving up 62 mph--the highest electric-only top speed for a hybrid . The EV-only range is less impressive: on a full battery, the Q5 can travel only 1.86 miles at 37 mph, similar to existingcars such as the Ford Fusion Hybrid and the Toyota Prius. The 2011 Q5 Hybrid will be outfitted with Audi's latest telematics system using 3-dimensional Google Earth navigation and internet connectivity for other Google services, such as news and search. There's also hot spot connectivity for up to eight devices, so whatever the navigation can't deliver, youriPad can. The price for all this technology was one of the few details not revealed by the manufacturer.Audi's not the first manufacturer to drop the cloth early--Mitsubishi released images of its i-Miev. If you're unable to attend the official reveal of the 2011 Audi Q5 Hybrid Quattro, Audi released 11 minutes of video to the public, which isn't a bad second place to seeing the real thing: The following product is available: On Sale Now: $37,200.00   View the latest prices for 2009 Audi Q5         Liane Yvkoff     Full Profile E-mail Liane Yvkoff   E-mail Liane Yvkoff If you have a question or comment for Liane Yvkoff, 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       Liane Yvkoff is a freelance writer who blogs about cars for CNET Car Tech. She is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. E-mail Liane.  <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Facebook, Google spar over data policies]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=facebook-google-spar-over-data-policies</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=facebook-google-spar-over-data-policies</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 09 Nov 2010 08:10:03 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Shiree</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=facebook-google-spar-over-data-policies</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Google's spat with Facebook over data portability and contacts isn't over. A few days after Google changed the terms of service for sites using Gmail contacts data to require two-way data exporting if they want to allow their users to automatically import Gmail contacts, Facebook figured out a way around the restriction. TechCrunch noticed that Facebook installed a button on its &quot;find your friends&quot; page that lets Gmail users automatically download their contacts as a CSV (comma-separated value) file and then import that file into Facebook. In response, Google e-mailed tech reporters an unsolicited statement on Facebook's move. &quot;We're disappointed that Facebook didn't invest their time in making it possible for their users to get their contacts out of Facebook. As passionate believers that people should be able to control the data they create, we will continue to allow our users to export their Google contacts.&quot; All this posturing is about whether or not Facebook should allow users to export all their data from the social network. Facebook currently lets you export things like photos, but doesn't let you export the list of friends--and the corresponding contact information--that make up your social network. Google has made data portability a key portion of its manifesto, while Facebook isn't sure that this is proper in social media, since a Facebook user hasn't necessarily given their friends permission to take that data outside of the service. What's really at stake is that both companies want access to the data found in Facebook. Google wants Facebook to be more open so it can index its pages and develop its own repository of socially tuned data, something that has long eluded the search giant. Facebook wants to keep that data behind closed doors as to keep Facebook users active on the site, forcing advertisers to come to Facebook in order to reach those people with highly targeted ads.  But yeah, data portability and privacy and stuff.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Apple adds calendars back to iPhoto]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apple-adds-calendars-back-to-iphoto</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apple-adds-calendars-back-to-iphoto</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 04 Nov 2010 07:10:06 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>chdresource</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apple-adds-calendars-back-to-iphoto</guid>
<description><![CDATA[For those of you befuddled as to why Apple didn't support calendars in the latest version of iPhoto, wonder no more.Apple just today sent us a note saying that it has pushed a software update that adds calendars to iPhoto '11. There's no explanation as to why they were missing in the first place, but it's a safe bet that it just wasn't ready when Apple introduced the latest version of the photo software along with iLife '11 and two new versions of the MacBook Air on October 20.In addition to the calendar option, there are now a dozen more letterpress card design options--a feature new to iPhoto '11--including (of course) holiday themes.For a comprehensive review of the entire iLife '11 software suite, don't miss CNET's review.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[W3C seeks help, patience with HTML5 tests]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=w3c-seeks-help-patience-with-html5-tests</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=w3c-seeks-help-patience-with-html5-tests</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 04 Nov 2010 07:10:05 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>valentaava</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=w3c-seeks-help-patience-with-html5-tests</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The World Wide Web Consortium is griping about this week's premature judgments regarding which browser best complies with the HTML5 standard and is asking for help to improve its tests.Philippe Le Hegaret, who oversees HTML5 and other standards at the W3C, today chastised those who concluded from tests done so far that Internet Explorer 9 is leading the race to support the new Web page technology. The W3C has added 135 new HTML5 compliance checks in the last month, bringing the total to 232, but that's nowhere near enough, he said.&quot;It seems that people are trying to draw conclusions from the tests or from the results, including whether one browser or another is better,&quot; Le Hegaret said in a blog post.Apparently they shouldn't be doing that yet. &quot;An increase of 135 tests isn't meaningful. It's way far from making the results significant in fact. We'll need several dozens of thousands of tests to make those results indicative,&quot; Le Hegaret said.Le Hegaret's remarks appear aimed at media reports that jumped on the idea that IE was leading the standards race after Microsoft pointed to the &quot;Official HTML5 Test Suite Conformance Results&quot; in an IEBlog post last week. It's a juicy idea, given how many years IE spurned Web standards, but browser standards experts bristled at conclusions being drawn from the limited set of tests.What Le Hegaret would rather see is more assistance in fleshing out the test suite. &quot;We need all the help we can get to make the test suite relevant and informative,&quot; Le Hegaret said. &quot;Unless the community starts helping W3C, we won't be able to properly test HTML5.&quot;Microsoft, eager to move to something more sophisticated than the Acid3 test that's been cited widely in recent years, has been helping with the testing effort. It's submitted 2,853 tests to the W3C so far, though many of those are for other Web standards besides HTML.Microsoft's active participation has indeed forced Web standards insiders to update their views on the company. The changes wrought by the new era were on display this week when Microsoft evidently ran out of IE Acid T-shirts to hand out at the W3C's Technical Plenary Advisory Committee meeting (TPAC) in France.&quot;Never imagined when [I] took this job that people at tpac would ask for IE shirts. Times change,&quot; Sylvain Galineau, a Microsoft program manager dealing with IE Web standards, tweeted today.Updated at 6:13 a.m. PDTto remove a Galineau tweet that wasn't in fact related to the W3C test situation.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Hotmail now works with other e-mail accounts, even Gmail]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=hotmail-now-works-with-other-e-mail-accounts-even-gmail</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=hotmail-now-works-with-other-e-mail-accounts-even-gmail</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 01 Nov 2010 07:10:04 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>pnopnolim34</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=hotmail-now-works-with-other-e-mail-accounts-even-gmail</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Windows Live Hotmail has a new trick up its sleeve--one that's aimed directly at getting users with e-mail accounts on other services to use it exclusively, even if they keep that address. That trick, which begins rolling out to Hotmail users today, lets them add accounts from other Web mail services that can be read and sent from within the Hotmail Web client.As Hotmail's group program manager Dick Craddock writes on the Inside Windows Live blog, this functionality is something that's long been available in the Outlook software client, but not on the Web. Craddock also notes that more than 30 million Hotmail registrations have taken place where users provided another service's e-mail address to get in the door, and that these will now show up as an account you can link up to within the Web client.Once a user has set up their outside account within Hotmail, they can read and search through messages, as well as respond to them from that address. The feature uses POP, meaning that unlike IMAP (which may, or may not be available through the other e-mail provider), whatever changes are made in Hotmail don't make an impact on things like read count or organization back on the source account.Microsoft is billing the new send from account feature as a way to make use of Hotmail's specialty features, which includes spam filtering, media sharing, and the mass deletion and reorganization tool it's dubbed as &quot;sweep&quot;--all without having to leave whatever account you're already using. Hotmail will now let you use an e-mail address from another provider to read and send from that address. (Credit:Microsoft)<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[More proof the white iPhone 4 is on the way]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=more-proof-the-white-iphone-4-is-on-the-way</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=more-proof-the-white-iphone-4-is-on-the-way</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 26 Oct 2010 07:10:11 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Samya01</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=more-proof-the-white-iphone-4-is-on-the-way</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Is the white iPhone 4 on its way(Credit:James Martin/CNET)An update to the Apple StoreiPhone application has given further hints that the white iPhone 4 might not be far off.This morning, the application's new &quot;Reserve Products&quot; feature offered users the option to reserve the 16GB and the 32GB white iPhone 4 for in-store pickup. However, when users clicked on the option, they weren't actually able to reserve the smartphone.Soon after the option was discovered, Apple removed it and placed a &quot;not available to reserve&quot; label on each white iPhone 4 listing.It's unknown whether the option to reserve the white iPhone 4 was a glitch or something that the company plans to offer soon, but mistakenly made available today. But it was notable nonetheless, considering the online Apple Store still lists the white iPhone 4 as &quot;unavailable for order or in-store pickup.&quot;The white iPhone 4 is one of Apple's most anticipated products. When the black iPhone 4 went on sale in June, Apple said the white version would be made available in July. The company then pushed the white iPhone's launch back to &quot;later this year&quot; due to &quot;challenges&quot; it was facing with manufacturing. Since then, speculation has been running rampant on when the device will finally be made available.That speculation only increased earlier this month when U.K. tech blog Pocket-lint reported that it had witnessed a man at a recent press event using the white iPhone 4. That person told Pocket-lint that an Apple employee &quot;fixed him up&quot; with the device. He also told Pocket-lint that Apple headquarters is &quot;swimming with white iPhones.&quot;Apple did not immediately respond to request for comment on when it plans to make the white iPhone 4 available, and whether its app update indicates the impending release of the device.(Via Engadget)<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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