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<title>Haaze.com / Ayesha01 / Voted News</title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com</link>
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<pubDate>Mon, 25 Apr 2011 07:10:39 +0000</pubDate>
<language>en</language>
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<title><![CDATA[Nintendo: Wii successor coming in 2012]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=nintendo-wii-successor-coming-in-2012</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=nintendo-wii-successor-coming-in-2012</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 25 Apr 2011 07:10:39 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>bimraspnogtryn</dc:creator>
<category>Gaming</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=nintendo-wii-successor-coming-in-2012</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The Nintendo Wii.(Credit:Nintendo)Nintendo today confirmed that it plans to release aWii successor in 2012.In a three-paragraph note (PDF) issued this morning, the game company said it &quot;has decided to launch in 2012 a system to succeed Wii.&quot; Nintendo said it had sold 86.01 million Wiis since the console's launch in 2006.A playable version of the new system, as well as its specs, will be unveiled at the giant E3 video game show in Los Angeles in June, Nintendo said.The news should not come as a shock to industry observers. Rumors have been circulating for some time about a potential new Wii that could cost between $350 and $400. It was thought that the console could hit shelves as early as October. But Nintendo's announcement would seem to throw cold water on that potential date.On Thursday, the game-focused site IGN reported that its sources were telling it that the next Wii was being code-named Project Cafe:According to sources with knowledge of the project, Nintendo's next console could have a retail price of anywhere between $350 and $400 based on manufacturing costs, and will ship from Taiwanese manufacturer, Foxconn, this October, putting the earliest possible retail release anywhere between mid-October and early November.However, Nintendo could also opt to build up a sizable supply of the system and allocate more time for software and games development by launching in early 2012. Similarly, Nintendo could attempt to lower the retail price of the system with lower profit margins to make the price more alluring. Clearly, the company seems to have chosen the latter route, at least as far as the release date. If IGN's reasoning is correct, that decision could be because Nintendo doesn't want customers to repeat the experience of previous years, when a Wii was nearly impossible to find in stores during the holiday season. On the other hand, it would be interesting for Nintendo to launch the Wii's successor in early 2012. The original Wii was released in the fall (of 2006) as was Sony'sPlayStation 3. Microsoft'sXbox 360 also came out in the fall, albeit of 2005. All three of those releases were timed to the holidays, and led to significant sales of the respective consoles.In its announcement today, Nintendo did not address the specifications for the new system. But IGN seems to believe that the console will have a lot more horsepower than the existing Wii. &quot;The system will be based on a revamped version of AMD's R700 GPU architecture, not AMD's Fusion technology as previously believed,&quot; IGN wrote, &quot;which will, as previously reported, out perform the PlayStation 3's Nvidia 7800GTX-based processor. Like the Xbox 360, the system's CPU will be a custom-built triple-core IBM PowerPC chipset, but the clocking speeds will be faster. The system will support 1080p output with the potential for stereoscopic 3D as well, though it has not been determined whether that will be a staple feature.&quot;  Related links &amp;149' Major retailers cut price of Wii to $169.99 &amp;149' iOS, Android gobbling Nintendo DS market share &amp;149' Xbox birthday signals death of 5-year console cycle  Many people have been wondering when, or if, Nintendo would put out a system rivaling the performance of the PS3 or the Xbox 360. If IGN's sources are correct, 2012 would appear to be the answer. Of course, Microsoft and Sony are hardly going to stand still and let their consoles be overtaken by a rival that has sold 86 million systems in large part because of its ease of use, not its appeal to core gamers. But if either Sony or Microsoft is to step up their games, as it were, it's most likely going to be after Nintendo makes its next move. A report last week suggested that neither Sony nor Microsoft will come out with a new console until 2014. &quot;Both companies are hoping to wait out the current generation, and extending an already elongated console life-cycle despite clear signs that Nintendo will launch its next machine by the end of 2012,&quot; cited the report from the video game blog Kotaku. &quot;Both MS and Sony are telegraphing to each other that they're delaying, to milk the current [generation] and fill in previous craters better,&quot; one insider who has worked with the first-party companies like Sony and Microsoft told us.&quot;No matter what happens, of course, the idea of the five-year console generation--which was the industry standard for years--has gone out the window. If it hadn't, Microsoft would have put out the next Xbox in 2010, while both Sony and Nintendo would have followed suit this year. On the other hand, as Kotaku suggested, all three of the current-generation consoles are still selling well, and there's no immediate reason for any of the companies to supersede their existing hardware. That's particularly true for both Microsoft and Sony, which have breathed new life into the current-gen machines with the release of new motion control systems, Kinect for Xbox, and Move for PS3.          Daniel Terdiman     Full Profile E-mail Daniel Terdiman   E-mail Daniel Terdiman If you have a question or comment for Daniel Terdiman, 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       Daniel Terdiman is a staff writer at CNET News covering games, Net culture, and everything in between.  <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Bucky Dome: Daddy of all geodesic dome homes]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=bucky-dome-daddy-of-all-geodesic-dome-homes</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=bucky-dome-daddy-of-all-geodesic-dome-homes</comments>
<pubDate>Sat, 16 Apr 2011 07:10:07 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>juwanpno8w8</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=bucky-dome-daddy-of-all-geodesic-dome-homes</guid>
<description><![CDATA[It&amp;39's a bubble! It&amp;39's a gumdrop! It&amp;39's a geodesic dome home.(Credit:RBF Dome NFP)CARBONDALE, Ill.--When you see a geodesic dome, you know exactly what it is. You don't have to wonder if it's Georgian, Victorian, or neomodern. It's a dome. All those geodesic dome homes trace their lineage back to a quiet corner of Forest and Cherry in Carbondale, Ill. R. Buckminster Fuller was the mind behind the dome home. He built what's known locally as the &quot;Bucky Dome&quot; just over 50 years ago, out of panels of plywood. He meant for it to be cheap and easy to put together. The original assembly took just seven hours. Since the 1960s, domes have reproduced and spread out around the country in a wide migration of Fuller's ideas. It's no wonder many people think of him as the grandfather of the sustainability movement.Not for sale: Geodesic dome home. Needs a little TLC.(Credit:Amanda Kooser/CNET)An effort to restore the dome has been given new life with the recent award of a Save America's Treasures matching grant to the tune of $125,000. &quot;He envisioned the dome as a house. It was the first dome home. It's the only one he ever lived in,&quot; says Janet Donoghue, development director of the nonprofit RBF Dome NFP, which is looking to resuscitate the worn structure.The group has its work cut out for it. &quot;When it was built, he said the material he needed to make it waterproof wasn't invented yet,&quot; says Donoghue. The Bucky Dome is in rough shape. Sad brown shingles cling helplessly to the outside, mold has taken hold on the inside, and many of the plywood triangles are water-damaged.A much more modern geodesic dome in the form of metal piping and tarps covers the entire outside in an attempt to protect Bucky's former residence.Related links&amp;149' Geek's guide to Route 66, part 1&amp;149' Route 66: Build your own giant Blue Whale&amp;149' Dungeons &amp; Dragons park: Dice not includedThere are signs of life. The upstairs loft/study area looks ready to move in to. The swooping bookshelves look just like they did in old photographs. Mold treatment is under way. The nonprofit has raised about $25,000 since the beginning of the year to get the restoration going. Plywood is cheap and plentiful. &quot;We're going to do it piece by piece. We're going to preserve as much as we can,&quot; says Donoghue.My visit to the Bucky Dome comes as part of a Carbondale side trip from the Geek's Guide to Route 66. It's a perfectly geeky place to visit, a way to bring myself back down to earth after the flights of fancy I found at the Dungeons &amp; Dragons-themed Boo Rochman Memorial Park. The dome is an efficient use of space and it still has a groovy futuristic look to it.We may never turn into a culture of dome dwellers, but there is something appealing and comforting about a circular abode. I think I might like a dome of my own to call home.Bucky Fuller contemplates some awesome bookshelves.(Credit:RBF Dome NFP)<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[At Eco-Marathon, going for 2,500 mpg--or more]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=at-eco-marathon-going-for-2500-mpg-or-more</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=at-eco-marathon-going-for-2500-mpg-or-more</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 12 Apr 2011 07:10:42 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>uvesucasantos</dc:creator>
<category>Gaming</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=at-eco-marathon-going-for-2500-mpg-or-more</guid>
<description><![CDATA[A team works on its vehicle in the 2010 Shell Eco-Marathon. The 2011 edition of the competition kicks off this week in Houston.(Credit:Shell Eco-Marathon)If you're walking the streets of Houston this week and happen upon a group of very strange, oddly-shaped vehicles, there's a good chance you'll have wandered into the future of efficientcars.From April 14 to 17, Shell is hosting the Eco-Marathon, a competition that tasks high school and college students with designing, building, and testing highly energy-efficient vehicles.And the goal that every team that entered the Eco-Marathon is out to achieve this year To beat last year's winning team, from Laval University in Quebec, Canada, which built a car that gets 2,487.5 miles per gallon.The competition--something Shell also runs in Europe and Asia during other parts of the year--gives student teams a choice: they can build a vehicle that has an internal combustion engine, or one that is a plug-in electric. As well, they have to choose between a prototype or an urban concept vehicle.Urban concept vehicles, said Mark Singer, the global project manager for the Eco-Marathon, are those that pretty closely resemble the cars that already clog our roads. Prototypes are &quot;more torpedo-like,&quot; Singer said, and are usually more fuel efficient and streamlined than those from the first category. The prototypes are generally more efficient, he said, because they are lighter than those in the urban concept category.Related links&amp;149' At Eco-marathon, teen driving team races to 2,843 mpg&amp;149' Photos: At Eco-marathon, a race to burn less fuel &amp;149' Photos: Revving up for the Eco-marathonIn recent years, the Eco-Marathon has focused mainly on the prototypes, but Singer said that Shell added the urban concept category to the mix this year because of a sense that such cars are more practical and have more applicability in today's automotive environment. The prototypes, he said, may be sleek and efficient, but are generally not very comfortable to ride in.On the other hand, they do get a great deal better mileage. The winner in last year's urban category got 437.2 miles per gallon equivalent, Singer said, a figure that blows away any production car available today, but which pales in comparison to the nearly 2,500 miles a gallon figure turned in last year by the winning Quebec team.Singer said the competition is interesting each year because of the improvements the teams make over previous years' entrants. In particular, he said, teams are getting smarter each year about the weight of the vehicles, and are coming up with more aerodynamic designs as well. At the same time, the students are also becoming more savvy about how they drive the Eco-Marathon course, allowing them to gain efficiency. &quot;One of the first things students ask for,&quot; Singer said, &quot;is the topography of the course so that they can learn where the inclines are, and where the declines are.&quot;In other words, the students want to know how best to drive the course to maximize fuel efficiency. This week, Shell is expecting 77 teams to participate in Houston, but is also expecting 200 teams for the European competition from May 26 to 28, and about 100 during the Asian Eco-Marathon from July 6 to 9. And why does Shell put its time and energy, so to speak, into the project Singer said the company has found value in working with schools and universities and watching those institutions start to build energy efficiency programs into their curriculums. And, he said, the Eco-Marathon is a rare opportunity for students and educators to work on the design, mechanical, and electrical elements of their vehicles, rather than just one or two of those.The Eco-Marathon, Singer said, allows students to work on their &quot;vehicle from start to finish and creates that holistic approach to project development.&quot;<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[IBM says it knows how bad your commute will be]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ibm-says-it-knows-how-bad-your-commute-will-be</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ibm-says-it-knows-how-bad-your-commute-will-be</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 12 Apr 2011 07:10:40 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>dergtyuibdw</dc:creator>
<category>Gaming</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ibm-says-it-knows-how-bad-your-commute-will-be</guid>
<description><![CDATA[A new system from IBM Research could make it possible for commuters to see ahead of time whether their drive to work is likely to be delayed by accidents or bad traffic.(Credit:IBM Research)If you're a commuter stuck in traffic, it doesn't help you all that much to know what road conditions are like right now. You already know you're being delayed. But what if there was a way to alert you to problems before you even get in yourcarThat's the premise behind a new project being announced tonight by IBM Research, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), and the University of California at Berkeley's California Center for Innovative Transportation (CCIT). The idea behind the project is simple: as a commuter, you're better off if you know what problems might await you on your normal drive, and even better off yet if an alternative route is automatically suggested to you.The three partners think that the answer lies in a troika of building blocks: first, a system for measuring traffic' second, a system for predicting how traffic will react to accidents and other anomalies' and finally, a system for communicating information to people before they get on the road.And that's just what the three have built, said Stefan Nusser, the director of services research at IBM's Almaden Research Center in San Jose, Calif.: a predictive modeling tool that can learn individual commuters' driving patterns and give them advanced warning on problems that may lie in their way.The system could send a text message or an e-mail to uses alerting them of potential problems along their commute.(Credit:IBM Research)Based on traffic information feeds coming in from CCIT, IBM's system is designed to run a traffic prediction, said Nusser, and send users alerts--perhaps text messages, e-mails, or even calendar or social networking pop-ups--in advance of their drives. But those alerts will only come if something is amiss--an accident, construction, or some other delay. That's because, Nusser said, if people are constantly getting alerts that don't mean much to them, they'll stop paying attention.Currently, a group of people are involved in a test program and is carrying mobile devices with an installed client application. But rather than send information to the drivers while they're in their cars, IBM is intent on delivering the predictions to them before they depart.That's why, Nusser said, the client application has no user interface and as such, isn't meant to be used by commuters while on the go. Rather, the mobile application is meant solely for gathering and feeding traffic data back to IBM's systems for analysis. After all, Nusser said, IBM doesn't want users fiddling with their mobile devices while behind the wheel.Ultimately, IBM sees this kind of service as one it can sell to cities and municipal transportation agencies that want to create new relationships with citizens and riders. One idea the company has is that the system may be able to tell users that although their normal route to work might be slower than usual, there's a parking spot at the train station and the trains are running right on time. For now, the system is only in trials, but Nusser said he envisions it being rolled out in cities in the near future. Whether or not people will adopt something like this depends, of course, on how well it works, and how unobtrusive it is. But there is already evidence that traffic and transportation portals like 511.org in the San Francisco Bay Area can provide commuters with a wide range of information about getting around. So IBM and its partners are betting services like that will be very interested in branching out and giving users the kind of up-to-the-minute data that will help everyone get more out of their commutes.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Kyocera Echo review: Double the fun or double trouble]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=kyocera-echo-review-double-the-fun-or-double-trouble</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=kyocera-echo-review-double-the-fun-or-double-trouble</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 12 Apr 2011 07:10:21 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>elisadiiis</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=kyocera-echo-review-double-the-fun-or-double-trouble</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Microsoft previews IE10 at Mix11 show]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-previews-ie10-at-mix11-show</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-previews-ie10-at-mix11-show</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 12 Apr 2011 07:10:14 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>zoranzrnrr</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-previews-ie10-at-mix11-show</guid>
<description><![CDATA[LAS VEGAS--Just weeks after launching Internet Explorer 9, Microsoft previewed an early version of Internet Explorer 10 at its Mix11 developer conference here today.Microsoft went to great lengths to illustrate how deep its commitment is to HTML5 in IE9--the Web standard is pushed hard the new browser. That allows developers to create programs more simply so that they can be used on a variety of devices. &quot;It's just closer to what people expect from apps,&quot; said Dean Hachamovitch, corporate vice president of Internet Explorer, in a keynote address.Microsoft&amp;39's Dean Hachamovitch at Mix11(Credit:Jay Greene/CNET)By putting its considerable weight behind the HTML5 standard, Microsoft is hoping to convince other developers to follow.Hachamovitch's speech focused on the geeky details that the Web developers who come to Mix11 love to hear. The first platform preview of IE10 includes support for standards such as CSS3 Gradients on background images and CSS3 Flexible Box Layout. Hachamovitch was joined on stage by Steven Sinofsky, president of Microsoft's Windows and Windows Live division, and the pair ran IE10 through the paces next to Google's Chrome. Not surprisingly, the demo showed Microsoft's browser rendering faster and more smoothly.Developers can download the preview of IE10 on its IE Test Drive site.Microsoft has been criticized for being slower than rivals in updating the builds of its browser. Hachamovitch addressed that head on, saying faster isn't always better. &quot;Increased cadence just means bigger version numbers,&quot; Hachamovitch said. That makes Web developers lives more difficult, as they try to keep up with the latest builds.Hachamovitch added that developers should expect new builds every 12 weeks, instead of the eight-week pace Microsoft held with IE9 development. &quot;It just wastes less of your time,&quot; Hachamovitch said.Seperately, Sinofsky mentioned, before heading off stage, that Microsoft has scheduled a Professional Developers Conference for September 13 through 16 in Anaheim, Calif. PDC's are benchmark moments for Microsoft, where the company lays out its vision for developers. It's likely the spot where Microsoft will unveil details of Windows 8.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Back up your data before April Fools' Day]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=back-up-your-data-before-april-fools-day</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=back-up-your-data-before-april-fools-day</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 31 Mar 2011 07:10:02 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>edwardwwdd</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=back-up-your-data-before-april-fools-day</guid>
<description><![CDATA[March 31 is World Backup Day.(Credit:Screenshot by Dong Ngo/CNET)Hello, world! Today it's your Backup Day. World Backup Day is a new idea promoted by a small team of Redditors, and it's a good idea. You can never be too careful when it comes to backing up.By the way, this is about your data, and not calling your buddies over for help in a hostile situation, which is not really my area of expertise. So let's talk backups!Basically it means putting your data in multiple places so that if something happens to one place (let's say you forget your laptop on the top of yourcar and subsequently back over it), that important PowerPoint presentation you've been working on isn't lost. Backing up is much easier than you might think. For example, if you've been working on an important essay, you can just e-mail it once in a while to your mom or to yourself. Just make sure you use an online free e-mail service, such as Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, or all of them. This goes for photos as well. If you remember to e-mail them to your mom when you have new ones (and she'll probably appreciate that very much), chances are she'll save them for you on her computer, and even if not, they are still in the Sent Items folder of your online e-mail account in case you have lost the originals.Obviously, e-mailing can only handle a relatively small amount of data and you'll have to remember to do that manually. If you have many files that need backing up, you'll want something more robust. This is when a backup plan is necessary.Online backupSimilar to e-mailing, an online backup plan provides you with a certain amount of storage space that you can access over the Internet, aka &quot;the cloud.&quot; And no, your data is not flying in the sky, it's stored and managed on one or multiple servers located in different parts of the world. There are many online backup services, such as Amazon S3, McAfee, Mozy, or even Comcast. Most of these services offer a certain amount of storage space, like 2GB, for free. While 2GB doesn't seem like much, that's enough to hold about 500 songs or thousands of pages of Word documents, definitely more than enough to store your essays for the finals. In honor of World Backup Day, an online backup company called CrashPlan even offers a few lucky Twitter followers a free year's subscription.The advantages of online backup are that it's convenient and generally safe from disasters. However, it depends heavily on your connection to the Internet. For example, say you have a connection that offers 12Mbps upload speed. That would take about 20 minutes to back up the free 2GB of data. Existing very fast Internet connections at home (which most of us don't have) offer around 2Mbps upload speed at most. If you have lots of photos, songs, and even homemade movies that you need to keep safe, maybe it's better to think of something else.Local backupThis means you back up data on an external storage device, such as an external hard drive or a USB thumbdrive. The good news is that these devices are progressively getting larger in capacity, smaller in size, and cheaper in price. Examples of these are the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Ultraportable, Western Digital My Passport Studio , Clickfree C2N, and even the supercompact Lexar Echo MX backup drive. If you want something that can even survive disaster, such as fire or flood, the Solo Fireproof Waterproof hard drive from IoSafe is a good choice.Most of these drives come with free backup software to help you back up important data on a regular basis. Or you can use the operating system's built-in backup utilities to get the job done.Mac OS has the renowned Time Machine, andWindows 7 has Backup and Restore. You can make backups of the entire system by using software like Acronis' True Image, which enables you to quickly restore the whole system, not just important files, in the case of hard drive failure. Local backup is fast and can handle lots of data' however, generally you can only back up one computer at a time. If you have multiple computers at home and want to manage backups in one place, it's a good idea to think about network backup. Network backup This means you have one computer as a backup destination for all other computers. The best way to do this is by using a NAS server. Backing up is one of the main features of any NAS server, in addition to media streaming and so on. Using a NAS server, you can even store data directly on the server itself and access it from your computer.  For backup purposes, it's good to get a NAS server that has multiple hard drives set up in a fault-tolerant RAID configuration, such as RAID 1 or RAID 5. Examples of these NAS servers are the Synology DS410, DS1511+, and DS411slim' Netgear ReadyNAS Ultra 4' and Seagate BlackArmor 440. A NAS server is generally a much bigger investment than an external hard drive, but in return it offers a lot more features and keeps your desk from getting cluttered with devices. Best practicesWith all the options above, the best practice when it comes to backing up is using all of them, when possible, and doing that regularly. If you have a NAS server, it's still a good idea to back up important data on a disaster-proof external hard drive or with an online service or both. For this reason, most NAS servers offer the option of automatically sending a portion of their data to the cloud. And all of them have USB ports to host an external storage device as a data backup destination.  If you have a mobile device such as a smartphone, make sure you sync it with your computer regularly. If you have an iPhone, then a backup device such as the Iomega SuperHero is handy to have.  It also doesn't hurt to keep e-mailing your mom.  So there you go. Those are a few options you can choose for backing up your data. Remember that this is just a reminder. Backups need to be done regularly, not just today. For important documents, for example, you could back them up each time major changes have been made. April Fools' Day is around the corner, but today, treat this as serious business and back up your important data. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[How a Zune tablet could beat Apple and Android]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=how-a-zune-tablet-could-beat-apple-and-android</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=how-a-zune-tablet-could-beat-apple-and-android</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 30 Mar 2011 07:10:54 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>absirresjia</dc:creator>
<category>Marketing and advertising</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=how-a-zune-tablet-could-beat-apple-and-android</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Zune HD Tablet: Like the Zune HD &amp;39'cept bigger. Back on March 14, Microsoft confirmed plans to discontinue making its Zune player, a device that arrived a little too late to be a successful challenger toApple's iPod, but nonetheless had plenty of fans. At least enough that Microsoft still sees value in the brand and platform. According to a statement issued to CNET by a Microsoft representative, it's &quot;absolutely committed to providing the best movies, music, and TV show experiences through Zune onXbox, the PC,Windows Phone 7, and Zune devices.&quot; It was that last part about Zune devices that got me. While on the surface it could be read as &quot;Microsoft is not going to leave Zune player owners out in the cold,&quot; it also left me wondering if a Zune tablet might be in the works. And I'm not talking about tablets from other manufacturers running a Windows OS. I mean a Zune tablet.  But, like the Zune player, is it too late for Microsoft to get in and become a leader in the category instead of a footnote I don't think so, but it'll have to act fast. Here's what it would take to make a solid entry in the category.   No Windows 7 Windows 7 might be a good computer OS and Windows Phone 7 might be a good mobile platform, but a successful Microsoft tablet will need to be separated from the Windows OS, even if it's just in name. Any tablet running a version of anything with the words &quot;Microsoft Windows&quot; will be thought of as just another Windows PC. Microsoft needs its own iOS, its own Android OS. It needs to drop &quot;Windows&quot; for its tablet operating system and create a Zune OS. A Zune tablet should not be a full PC, so let's keep this OS clean and simple, OK Microsoft needs to be the only hardware manufacturerJust like it did with the Zune player, a Zune tablet needs to strictly come from Microsoft. It makes developing apps easier, rolling out new features simpler, device support better, and kills any fragmentation arguments. The Zune HD is a nice-looking device, so there's proof Microsoft can design attractive hardware. And actually, there's no reason it can't just be a 10-inch Zune HD with an updated OS. After all, didn't everyone call the iPad a supersize iPod Touch Zune software for everythingWhen Microsoft softly killed PlaysForSure with the Zune, it should've made a clean sweep and replaced Windows Media Player with the Zune software. If people buying Windows computers over the past several years had gotten used to using Zune for everything like they do iTunes, there's a good chance Apple wouldn't own the space with its insufferable software. Regardless, the Zune software with the Zune Marketplace is the perfect gateway for media and app purchases and device management for a tablet. Zune Pass' unlimited music streaming already offers something iTunes doesn't and it had a social network built into it before Apple invented social networking. If Microsoft can add in cloud storage for music and video, it would be hard to overlook a Zune tablet. Full Xbox and Xbox Live integrationApple iPad users might think they've got the perfect gaming platform, but a Zune tablet with Xbox integration would take it out of the running. Just let your mind run through all the possibilities--starting a game on your Xbox and continuing it on the tablet to using it as a media controller to turning it into a customizable HUD.  Take advantage of Windows Phone 7 appsI'm not a software developer, but it seems like it wasn't too difficult for iPhone app developers to tweak what they already had to run on the iPad. All the key apps that most people would want to start off with on a tablet are available for Windows Phone 7 and Xbox Live, so a Zune tablet would have no problem out of the gate. Add in easy access to Office Web apps, so Microsoft Office users can see immediate value, and you're set. And before the iPhone users get all &quot;we have 350,000 apps to choose from&quot; on me, everyone knows most of them are crap. And really, think about how many apps you use regularly' I'm sure you can get by with only a couple thousand apps being available at launch.  Needs to be the same price as the iPadA Zune tablet needs to be seen as a legitimate competitor to the iPad, so selling it for more is out of the question and selling it for less cheapens the product. As long as its performance and specs are on par with the iPad, Microsoft should have no problem moving units. Needs the same dimensions as the iPadIs there any reason--legal or otherwise--manufacturers can't make a tablet with the same dimensions as an iPad I understand that before the iPad came out it would have been difficult to make one, but what's stopping manufacturers from making something the same size now One of the reasons people like Apple's products are the available accessories, and if you can take advantage of Made for iPad stuff, why wouldn't you Microsoft couldn't come out and say, &quot;hey, you can use our Zune tablet with iPad cases,&quot; but I'm pretty sure people would figure it out on their own.  Standard ports instead of a proprietary connector That 30-pin proprietary port makes Apple a lot of money, but I've never read or heard anyone say, &quot;I'm so happy it has a proprietary port!&quot; So instead of relying on the Zune's proprietary connector, Microsoft should use three ports: microSD, Micro-HDMI, and Micro-USB. Ports do ugly up devices, so for aesthetics maybe it could have them in a small flip-down bay like that on the Samsung Series 9 laptop. Using all micro versions would allow it to be a fairly small bay and putting the card slot between the two ports would space them far enough apart for cables. Over-the-air updates and syncingI know I just made an argument for having ports, but I see no reason why a Zune tablet shouldn't have OTA updates and the ability to do wireless syncing with the Zune software. It's something that's sorely needed in the iPad and would give Microsoft an edge. While I'm at it, add NFC to the list.  Adobe Flash supportThis is kind of a no-brainer since its part of every Android fans first salvo against the iPad. However, I agree with a lot of comments that I've read suggesting it should just be something that can be conveniently turned on and off. So, Microsoft, give us Flash, but let us take it away.  That seems like everything that would be pretty crucial to making a good run at Apple and the majority of Android tablets. If I missed something or you think I'm completely insane for thinking Microsoft has a chance, well, that's what comments are for. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Amazon launches its digital music locker]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=amazon-launches-its-digital-music-locker</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=amazon-launches-its-digital-music-locker</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 28 Mar 2011 07:10:46 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>TiffSweetin</dc:creator>
<category>Marketing and advertising</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=amazon-launches-its-digital-music-locker</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Amazon&amp;39's new digital music locker service.(Credit:Screenshot by Steven Musil/CNET)Amazon got the jump on Apple and Google this evening with the launch of a much-anticipated digital music locker service that allows users to store their music on the Web and then listen to their collections on computers with a Web browser or on Android devices.Amazon Cloud Drive allows users to upload their digital music files--either AAC or MP3 formats--at their original bit rate to Amazon servers for storage and playback on any PC,Mac, or Android device, where ever they are. The Cloud Player for Web allows customers to listen to their music on any computer running Internet Explorer,Firefox,Safari for Mac, or Chrome. The Cloud Player of Android is a new version of the Amazon MP3 app and includes the full Amazon MP3 Store and the mobile version of Cloud Player. Customers can use the app to play music stored on their Cloud Drive and music stored locally on their device. The Cloud Drive also allows customers to upload music, photos, videos, and documents, but those digital files are accessible only via a Web browser on a computer.Customers will automatically start with 5GB of free storage, upgradeable to 20GB with the purchase of an Amazon MP3 album. Additional storage space can be purchased in plans beginning at $20 per 20GB per year.  &quot;We're excited to take this leap forward in the digital experience,&quot; Bill Carr, vice president of Movies and Music at Amazon.com, said in a statement. &quot;The launch of Cloud Drive, Cloud Player for Web, and Cloud Player for Android eliminates the need for constant software updates as well as the use of thumb drives and cables to move and manage music.&quot; CNET reported last week that Amazon was working on creating a digital locker service for users' film and music libraries and might make an announcement as early as this week. Sources told my colleague Greg Sandoval that as of last week the online retailer giant had not obtained all the necessary licenses, but that Amazon might announce the service before all the negotiations were complete. This evening's launch give's Amazon a leg up on Apple and Google, which are reportedly working on competing efforts. Apple has reportedly been looking to expand its MobileMe service into a music storage and streaming service. However, Apple is supposedly looking at a fall release date to coincide with a revamped mobile OS with a greater focus on cloud-based services and other enhancements. Meanwhile, Google has begun testing its Google Music streaming service for Web-connected devices with its employees--a sign that the much anticipated service is nearly ready to launch. A working version of the service was reportedly discovered after an installation of the Honeycomb version of the Android operating system on a phone. It's reportedly close to being ready to launch but is being held up by music licensing negotiations. Amazon already has extensive experience with cloud services. Amazon stores electronic books on its servers for owners of the company's popular Kindle e-book reader. Kindle users can buy e-books from Amazon.com, download them to their devices from wherever they can access the Web, and Amazon will save the digital copy in the customer's digital locker. Updated throughout the evening. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Dual Core rocks the 'nerdcore' hip hop stylings (Q&A)]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=dual-core-rocks-the-nerdcore-hip-hop-stylings-qa</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=dual-core-rocks-the-nerdcore-hip-hop-stylings-qa</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 28 Mar 2011 07:10:44 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>fferdolage</dc:creator>
<category>Gaming</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=dual-core-rocks-the-nerdcore-hip-hop-stylings-qa</guid>
<description><![CDATA[If you don't know what nerdcore is, you might find the lyrics to the song &quot;My Girlfriend's a Hacker&quot; a little strange. &quot;My girlfriend's a hacker, best hacker ever,&quot; the song begins. &quot;She's quick on her feet and her code is so clever. Yes she's a hacker and brilliant as well. Who knows what she cast, but I'm under her spell.&quot;The song is from nerdcore hip hop specialists Dual Core, the duo made up of a programmer from Cincinnati, Ohio, known as Int Eighty, and a graphic designer from Manchester, England, dubbed C64. Nerdcore has no clear origins, but several well-known practitioners, artists like MC Frontalot, MC Paul Barman, MC Lars, Beefy, ytcracker, Schaffer the Darklord, Random, and perhaps, MC 900 Ft. Jesus, have been leaders in the underground genre for years. The themes are geek, the musical stylings are hip hop and rap. Just without all the references to drugs and guns. But nerdcore rappers definitely extol their virtues. They might just use their lines to tell the world how much better a programmer they are than anyone else.Being that Dual Core's front man is U.S.-based and his producer partner is in England, Int Eighty spends a lot of time on stage at hacker and geek-oriented conferences and other events by himself. Indeed, the two didn't even meet face-to-face until after they'd already released their first album, 2007's &quot;Zero One.&quot; But they've been &quot;rocking the more studious side of the hip-hop underground since&quot; then, their Web site proclaims.I recently caught up with Int Eighty for a 45 Minutes on IM interview. And before getting into any other subjects, we cleared up what had to be the most important point.Q: Welcome to 45 Minutes on IM. Thanks so much for doing this. So, first things first: Is your girlfriend a hackerInt Eighty: Thanks for having an interest in our music. My girlfriend is a hacker. Technically, she's actually a Java developer, but she knows how to test Web apps for security vulnerabilities.How much of what's in that song is realInt Eighty: The majority. She did not post on every site in my RSS reader, and she did not pwn a random person in the park. However, she did camp out with me in a below-freezing Cincinnati night to be No. 1 and No. 2 in line for aNintendo Wii. She also did come home and exploit some sites with XSS after seeing me give a talk about it at 2600. It is a matter of public record that my girlfriend is the best hacker ever (to me, at least).So, explain your names, Int Eighty and c64. I'm assuming that c64 means Commodore 64 Int Eighty: Yes, though his name has better double-meanings than mine. His first system was a Commodore 64, his first name is Chris, and his height is 6-feet, 4-inches. My name is from an assembly instruction in Linux on x86, technically &quot;int 0x80.&quot; It's the interrupt used to interface between ring3 (userland) and ring0 (kernel). In Windows, developers use the windows API, but in Linux a developer can just use syscalls loading the registers appropriately and then interrupting the kernel to make the needed syscall.Related links &amp;149' The Force is strong with 'Clone Wars' writer &amp;149' The art of making Google Art Project &amp;149' LivingSocial: We're set to overtake Groupon &amp;149' Author Jane McGonigal explains why 'reality is broken'My first system was a Commodore Vic-20, and my second was a C64. What did you start withInt Eighty: The first place I really got into coding and hacking was on my parents' old 486dx. I wrote tools for AOL, &quot;proggies&quot; as they were known there, and hacked Gibsons with Windows 3.1 and vb3.How did you get started as a nerd-core rapperInt Eighty: I was peer-pressured into writing my first raps by a guy with whom I programmed online. He was from New Jersey and got me into hip hop. Then he challenged me into writing some. In college, I began free-styling, since it was fun to do at parties and was also challenging. Everything collided at a hacker conference called Notacon in Cleveland when one of my friends told the people throwing a room party that I could freestyle. Not knowing what to rap about in a room full of hackers, I just started free-styling about the programming and hacking I've known and loved.What was that likeInt Eighty: It was really surprising that people enjoyed rap music about technology, or anything at all. Pretty much every hacker I'd met had only liked some form(s) of electronic music and had an avid dislike for hip hop.Its seems like that's changed thenInt Eighty: Probably I've just met more people. I didn't really know a lot of hackers up to that point, as that was only my second hacker conference. We do have people come up to us at almost every show to say they don't like rap music but they love our songs. To me, it just sounds like they haven't found rap music with appealing subject matter. But the sound of hip hop is aurally pleasing.A significant portion of rap music is about violence or drugs, neither of which are interests of mine. So I don't [generally] identify with most rap music. The beat still sounds good, though, and I definitely love the feel and texture of hip hop. But like the people who &quot;don't like rap&quot; but like our stuff, I don't waste my time listening to unappealing music either.How much of an audience have you found outside the geek communityInt Eighty: We have a pretty decent cross-over, if you'd call it that. One of our good friends has played our stuff for all of his friends who like hip hop but aren't into nerd-core, and he says they all love it. We do play regular hip hop shows, and people have a good time there. But I would say nerds are our primary constituency.What's your favorite lyric you've written--and how comeInt Eighty: The first one that came to mind was from our song &quot;Rock It,&quot; from the album &quot;Lost Reality:&quot; &quot;Mortars'll fly 'til they're scorching the sky, sorta like the northern lights on the Fourth of July.&quot; I like that one because of the rhyme scheme and because I remember the site I was hacking into when I first thought of the lyric. What was the site you were hackingInt Eighty: It was a client when I was employed by Neohapsis. My NDA won't let me say who it was, but you've heard of them, and quite possibly use their services.Do you write raps about newsy geek issuesInt Eighty: We definitely make songs about current technology, but not about individual news pieces. for example, we don't have any songs about Nate Dogg passing away or Charlie Sheen/Tiger blood/Winning. We do, however, have a song called &quot;Painting Pictures&quot; about a girl who is born deaf then is the recipient of a cochlear implant and is then able to hear.Would you write about, say, theiPhone 4 antenna issuesInt Eighty: That could definitely be included as a line or used as a simile/metaphor in a lyric, but we wouldn't dedicate a whole song to it.I want to ask you to dissect a song. &quot;The Game.&quot;Int Eighty: Sure. That's one of my favorites. You write, &quot;Pack my own malware, write my own crypters, With more entropy than a Mersenne Twister.&quot; Can you explain those lyrics, and tell me why the song is one of your favoritesInt Eighty: So, let's start with &quot;pack my own malware.&quot;A packer is a program that can compress and obfuscate a target program. This can be used to make smaller sizes or just bypass antivirus. Almost all malware is packed. In this case, it's the author of the song who is writing and packing the malware.Then, &quot;Write my own crypters.&quot;A crypter can encrypt sections of a target program. This can be to protect your intellectual property or to bypass anti-virus. Writing a crypter is no small task, and reversing encrypted binaries, or programs, can be a huge pain. The author writes his own crypters.Finally, &quot;With more entropy than a Mersenne twister.&quot;Entropy is the measure of disorder or randomness in a system. A Mersenne twister is a rather fast pseudo-random number generator. The more entropy you have, the more random your &quot;random&quot; numbers are, and in cases like crypto, you want more entropy so that it would be more difficult to predict the seed or the next number in the pseudo-random number sequence.'The Game&quot; is a favorite of mine because C64 initially pitched the idea for the track, and he was beyond pleased with the way I wrote the song. Additionally, I feel that most people automatically paint malware authors in a bad light, and in reality, yes they are doing bad things. But I was able to portray a malware author in a different context and our fans really seemed to enjoy the different perspective that was offered in the song. Also, the hook in the song samples my voice, and usually you have to be famous like Nas or Mobb Deep to have your voice sampled in a track. If you write the lyrics, what does C64 doInt Eighty: He does all of the hard work in making the beats, mixing the songs, and he even creates our artwork. I have the easy job of writing, recording, and performing the raps.How long does it generally take you to write one of your songsInt Eighty: It can be anywhere from five minutes up to a couple hours. I almost always walk the walk before talking the talk, so writing about what you know is pretty easy, and songs are much shorter than the 20-page papers I would have to write in political science class.When you say you walk the walk, you meanInt Eighty: I rap about hacking computers, and I hack computers. I rap about cracking software, and I crack software. Are you a PC guy, or aMac guy Or do you build your own machines Or is that the kind of question a Luddite would askInt Eighty: I build my own desktop, rock the eee 900a (Atheros chipset with Madwifi) for my tracktop (backtrack). I never owned a Mac because when I was in school I couldn't afford them. Now they use Intel chips, so the only difference is the OS, and I'm a Linux guy at heart. I wouldn't turn down a MacBook Pro if someone gave me one, though.What's your idea of geek heavenInt Eighty: Geek heaven would be somewhere with infinite video games, computers, software, vodka and Red Bull, and everyone would be there and they would all love all the things there and be friends.Last question--and it's my standard for this interview series: I really like doing IM interviews, for several reasons. First, I get a perfect transcript. Second, it gives my subject a chance to be a little more thoughtful and articulate than they might be in a phone or in-person interview. And finally, because IM allows for multi-tasking. So, what else were you doing while we were doing this interviewInt Eighty: Listening to a metric butt-load of new beats from C64. I have to go buy all new pants now. Correction at 4:17 p.m. PT: Due to a typo, this story originally misstated the source of Int Eighty's name. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[U.S. warns of more SCADA software holes]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=u-s--warns-of-more-scada-software-holes</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=u-s--warns-of-more-scada-software-holes</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 24 Mar 2011 07:10:33 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>xkufiv</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=u-s--warns-of-more-scada-software-holes</guid>
<description><![CDATA[(Credit:ICS-CERT)Flaws in SCADA software, used to monitor and control sensors and operations at utilities and other critical infrastructure facilities, seem to keep coming out of the woodwork:  &amp;149' Last week, the U.S. ICS-CERT (Industrial Control System Computer Emergency Response Team) issued several advisories about vulnerabilities exposed in SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) software. One was in an ActiveXcontrol in WellinTech KingView V6.53 human machine interface (HMI) software used in power, water, and aerospace industries, mostly in China. The researcher publicly released exploit code for the hole and the vendor released an update that resolves the problem. The second vulnerability was reported in Progea's Movicon 11 HMI product, used primarily in Italy. It too has been patched.  &amp;149' Also last week, a Russian firm released exploits targeting 11 unpatched, or zero-day, holes in SCADA software, which The Register was first to report.  &amp;149' Three days ago, an Italian researcher publicly released information on dozens of unpatched holes in four different products and released exploits for targeting them. The move prompted an ICS-CERT warning. &amp;149' On Tuesday, Spanish researcher Ruben Santamarta told the BugTraq e-mail list that he had found flaws in BroadWin WebAccess, a Web browser-based HMI product from Advantech that ICS-CERT says is used in energy and other industries in North America, Asia, North Africa and the Middle East. Santamarta released details of the vulnerability and exploit code and ICS-CERT issued an alert.  &amp;149' And yesterday, ICS-CERT released yet another advisory, this one warning about a SQL (Structured Query Language) vulnerability in the Ecava IntegraX or HMI product that could allow data leakage or manipulation as well as remote code execution on the backend host running the database service. Ecava has developed a patch for the hole.  Security problems with software used to monitor and control systems in the electric grid, refineries, gas pipelines, and other critical operations are moving to the forefront as the industries adopt Web-based technologies and connect previously isolated networks to the Internet.  &quot;What is the acceptable tolerable level for security with industrial control systems We don't know,&quot; Mike Ahmadi, co-founder of consultancy GraniteKey told CNET. &quot;Systems have been isolated from the outside world...It's a very significant change we're going through right now.&quot; While the SCADA bug reports appear to be accelerating, it's unclear if any of the vulnerabilities have been used in attacks on working plants or systems. However, last year the threat became reality with Stuxnet, sophisticated and multipronged attack targeting specific Siemens software used in industrial control operations that experts said appeared to be directed at nuclear facilities in Iran. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Sony: PS3 hacker GeoHot fled to South America]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sony-ps3-hacker-geohot-fled-to-south-america</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sony-ps3-hacker-geohot-fled-to-south-america</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 23 Mar 2011 07:10:47 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Poereelsoprip</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sony-ps3-hacker-geohot-fled-to-south-america</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Update, 7:01 p.m. PT:with Hotz saying he is on a long-planned vacation.If you've been following the drama between Sony and hacker GeoHot (aka George Hotz) then you're in for a fun twist today: Sony is accusing Hotz of fleeing the country, but Hotz says he's just enjoying spring break.Sony makes the allegation in a court filing (PDF, see page 2, line 24) dated Friday.After news stories began appearing today, Hotz wrote a blog post to set the record straight.&quot;Actually, it's true I'm in South America, on a vacation I've had planned and paid for since November. I mean, it is spring break' hacking isn't my life,&quot; he writes. &quot;Rest assured that not a dime of legal defense money would ever go toward something like this. And of course [Sony-employed law firm Kilpatrick Townsend &amp; Stockton] loves the idea of painting me as an international fugitive. I have been in contact with my lawyers almost every day' I would not let the case suffer.&quot;George Hotz telling Sony how he feels.(Credit:YouTube)Hotz is well known for reverse-engineering the multi-digit code that allows the installation and execution of non-Sony-recognized code onPlayStation 3s, essentially allowing anyone with a PS3 to run homebrew software, or even pirated games.A federal magistrate a couple weeks ago OK'd Sony's request for Hotz to hand over his hacking gear--his PS3 consoles, computers, and other equipment--untouched. It seems that before turning the stuff in, he allegedly made edits, deleting key evidence that Sony likely planned to use against him.What's more, Hotz was allegedly caught lying about having a PlayStation Network (PSN) account. But Sony says it was able to prove that in February of last year, Hotz allegedly purchased a new PS3 and, tracing the serial number, Sony says it concluded that he had set up a PSN account under the screen name &quot;blickmanic,&quot; which is also a name Hotz used on previous Web forums oniPhone jailbreaking.Besides jailbreaking PS3s for non-sanctioned use on PSN, Hotz was a very vocal and active member of the iPhone/iOS jailbreaking community, bringing several key userland jailbreaks to the devices, including blackra1n and limera1n. While Apple consistently moved to patch the exploits Hotz used in its software, it never went overtly litigious as Sony has.It's unclear what will happen in this case next. It's not publicly known where in South America Hotz is staying, what gear he has with him, and what assets he has access to. Recently, a court granted Sony access to Hotz's donation-based PayPal account, so that cash source may well be totally unavailable.Whatever the case, we expect this to be far from over. There are egos, weird and obscure copyright laws, and potentially millions of dollars still at stake. If you're like me, you might want to make some metaphorical popcorn as well.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Burglar alarm marks territory with pepper spray]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=burglar-alarm-marks-territory-with-pepper-spray</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=burglar-alarm-marks-territory-with-pepper-spray</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 23 Mar 2011 07:10:45 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>ingwanbugqwerty</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=burglar-alarm-marks-territory-with-pepper-spray</guid>
<description><![CDATA[(Credit:Heracles Research Corporation)Burglar alarms usually work by scaring off criminals with loud noises and the threat of police action. The Burglar Blaster from Heracles Research Corporation takes the law into its own hands.  It comes loaded with 4 ounces of painful, burning pepper spray. That's enough to dissuade a small elephant from stealing your flat-panel TV and cubic zirconia jewelry collection.  The concept behind the Burglar Blaster is really pretty simple. You screw this little terror to the wall where you expect criminals to come busting in. An intruder triggers the passive infrared motion sensor and the Blaster commences spraying mace at the offender. It runs on batteries, so all you really need for installation is a screwdriver and some determination. I know what's on your mind. What if you forget you have a Burglar Blaster and you come stumbling home late Saturday night with a hot date Hopefully, you had the foresight to set the entry time delay at up to 40 seconds. The device emits an obnoxious high-pitched tone to remind you to shut it off using the key or the hidden manual switch. The Burglar Blaster probably isn't the best solution for people who keep a Great Dane in the house or have sugar gliders on the loose. The potential to accidentally trip the mechanism is too high. It's also not ideal for cheapskates, as this pain dispenser costs a budget-thumping $600. Just be sure to warn your mother-in-law before she shows up for the weekend with a spare house key. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Clear Channel kicks tires on Playlist.com assets]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=clear-channel-kicks-tires-on-playlist-com-assets</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=clear-channel-kicks-tires-on-playlist-com-assets</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 22 Mar 2011 07:11:04 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>stephainer</dc:creator>
<category>Marketing and advertising</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=clear-channel-kicks-tires-on-playlist-com-assets</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Clear Channel Communications is one of the companies taking a serious look at the assets of Playlist.com, the once promising digital music service that filed for bankruptcy protection last summer, according to a source with knowledge of the negotiations. Details are few, but apparently Clear Channel, the media conglomerate with a large stake in broadcast radio, concert promotion, and billboard advertising, is interested in the user interface and other technology belonging to the defunct Playlist.com, once known as Project Playlist. Playlist.com, which enabled users to create and share music playlists with friends, filed for bankruptcy protection in August, and at the time company leaders suggested Playlist.com might manage to reorganize and re-emerge. Records show that there was little hope of that. In the company's Chapter 11 filing on August 6, it reported $2.2 million in total assets (only $203,000 in cash). Playlist.com owes the four largest record companies a combined $25 million.It's still not clear what Clear Channel would want to do with Playlist.com's assets. A Clear Channel representative said &quot;the company doesn't comment on rumor or speculation.&quot; One of the attorneys overseeing the bankruptcy also declined to comment. After thumbing its nose at the music industry by operating without obtaining music licenses from most of the labels, Playlist.com had to spend big on legal fees. To critics of the big labels, Playlist.com was crushed by big licensing fees. Music industry insiders, on the other hand, say Playlist.com was a classic example of a start-up that built a large following by offering free music and worried about licenses later. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Japan struggles in quake's aftermath (week in review)]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=japan-struggles-in-quakes-aftermath-week-in-review</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=japan-struggles-in-quakes-aftermath-week-in-review</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 18 Mar 2011 07:11:13 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>ArmandSEO</dc:creator>
<category>Social</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=japan-struggles-in-quakes-aftermath-week-in-review</guid>
<description><![CDATA[It's been a week since Japan's devastating 9.0-magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami. Amid the disaster cleanup and relief efforts, new problems continue to evolve, such as the crisis at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.Before and after the Japanese tsunami (photos) Anxiety over the damaged facility increased Wednesday as the United States' top nuclear regulator told Congress the situation was worse than reported by the Japanese government and that &quot;extremely high&quot; radiation levels could hamper containment efforts. On Friday, Japan's nuclear safety agency raised the severity of the crisis to level 5, up from 4, on a scale going up to 7, according to The New York Times.  The American Embassy in Tokyo, meanwhile, recommended evacuation to U.S. citizens within 50 miles of the plant--an area much larger than the approximately 12-mile radius established by the Japanese. Still, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission maintained that there was little cause for worry about radioactive drift on the part of residents of Hawaii or the West Coast of the U.S. Among other efforts to address the issues at the plant, the facility's operator was able to connect a new power line to help restore crucial cooling systems.       Michelle Meyers    Full Profile E-mail Michelle Meyers   E-mail Michelle Meyers If you have a question or comment for Michelle Meyers, 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       Michelle has been editing CNET stories for more than five years, but her background in newspapers (when copy was actually cut-and-pasted) keeps her working extra hard to be a cool kid in new journalism. She tracks online happenings in media, entertainment, and politics, and she remains Oakland's biggest fan.  <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Mini, not Minnie, mouse]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mini-not-minnie-mouse</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mini-not-minnie-mouse</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 16 Mar 2011 07:11:54 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>metteremme</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mini-not-minnie-mouse</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Mini&amp;39's optical computer mouse features a model car floating in liquid.(Credit:Mini)For the Mini Cooper fan who already has the Mini-branded shirt, windbreaker, hat, shoes, cufflinks, backpack, wallet, keychain, towel, water bottle, and coffee mug, there's always more. Mini announced a new computer mouse and two new USB drives that carry its winged badge.The Mini computer mouse, which Mini should really call the Mini pointing device to avoid notices from a certain notoriously litigious company, features a little white Mini Cooper floating in an orange liquid at its base. This optical mouse, or pointing device, has a typical two-button-plus-scroll-wheel configuration.One of the USB keys features a bulldog, the semi-official Mini mascot, whereas the other comes in the shape of a Mini key fob. The key fob USB drive has a red ring around its edge that lights up when plugged into a computer, and has a capacity of 8GB.These computer accessories should be available soon at the online Mini store or at a Mini dealer. While pricing hasn't been announced for the mouse or bulldog, the key is listed on the site at $25, somewhat pricey for a USB drive. (Credit:Mini)(Credit:Mini)<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Quake, tsunami test Japan's warning systems]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=quake-tsunami-test-japans-warning-systems</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=quake-tsunami-test-japans-warning-systems</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 11 Mar 2011 08:11:01 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>lanulim2</dc:creator>
<category>Social</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=quake-tsunami-test-japans-warning-systems</guid>
<description><![CDATA[This map issued Saturday shows the entire coast of Japan under tsunami alert, with red lines indicating waves more than 3 meters (about 10 feet). (Credit:Japan Meteorological Agency)As Japan staggers in the aftermath of the devastating quake that pummeled the northern half of the archipelago Friday, killing at least 200 and causing a nuclear emergency, the tech powerhouse's quake and tsunami warning systems predicted that the devastation would continue. The stunning tsunami warning map above, issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency Saturday, shows the country's entire coastline under threat, with many areas on the Pacific side facing possible waves more than 3 meters (10 feet) tall. The tsunami warning system worked Friday, with the agency alerting people to imminent tsunamis within three minutes of the quake, and the first waves struck 10 to 15 minutes later. The alert may have saved hundreds of lives, as some residents were able to flee to higher ground. Japanese broadcasters issued automatic earthquake alerts by the agency predicting more aftershocks for Tokyo, and new, unrelated temblors for the Niigata and Nagano on the other side of the country by the Sea of Japan. Japan straddles several tectonic plates and is one of the world's most quake-prone countries, with hundreds of tremors every year. The agency has had an Earthquake Early Warning service in place since 2007, issuing alerts to media outlets.  The system is triggered when the agency's myriad seismometers detect primary waves generated by earthquakes. If the tremors are expected to be strong enough, a public alert will be issued and relayed on broadcasters like NHK TV as well as by cell phone carriers.  But since seismic waves travel so quickly, viewers will have seconds at most to prepare. Meanwhile, public address systems in many Japanese communities can relay urgent info, or urge residents to conserve electricity, as they were doing in Tokyo on Saturday. The quake warning system has had mixed results, failing to predict the massive tremor on Friday. It also failed to issue warnings for relatively strong quakes in 2007 and 2008 (in Kanagawa and Ishikawa prefectures, respectively) by underestimating the intensity. In 2009, the system warned of a strong quake that threatened Tokyo, causing the subway to shut down. However, only a minor shaking was felt. There's still little information on how the system dealt with the Friday earthquake, but the tsunami warning may have saved many lives. So far the death toll is relatively low for a quake of such intensity, but officials fear it may climb far higher. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Google wakes up to new photo reality]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-wakes-up-to-new-photo-reality</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-wakes-up-to-new-photo-reality</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 10 Mar 2011 08:10:14 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Michle</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-wakes-up-to-new-photo-reality</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Google is adding Picasa Web Albums photos to its Profiles page, lending more social heft to its online hub for people to record their online identity.(Credit:Google)Google is showing some signs it understands how photography is changing on the Net.In the olden days, people posted batches of digital photos on the Web in photo albums their friends would look at occasionally. Often half the point of uploading the shots was getting them to a place like Snapfish or Shutterfly that could create prints.Picasa Web Albums, Google's photo-sharing site, was born in this era. Now, though, photos are becoming an in-the-moment part of people's online social lives, notably with Net-connected smartphones and Facebook sharing with friends. Picasa Web Albums--never a product that advanced at blazing speed--is beginning to adapt to this era. Perhaps Google's success with its Android operating system has made the company more aware of just how far the world has moved from the shoebox-of-prints-in-the-closet days.First up is a more social interface to Picasa Web Albums that shows what your contacts on the site are up to. Google has struggled for a couple years now to build social connections into its products, nevertheless falling ever further behind Facebook in the area, but this change could help people branch out.Yahoo's Flickr, of course, has had social connections built in from the start with groups, comments, and sharing, and Yahoo has been trying to promote those aspects by spotlighting this activity at log-in. But here, too, Facebook's key asset--the active participation of many of your social connections--is a more powerful draw when it comes to using photos to stay in the loop. Also, Facebook can share text, but Picasa and Flickr really don't do well for sharing anything besides photos or videos.Second for Picasa Web Albums is a photo and video price break. The site previously was free to use for up to 1GB of data, but that amount of space could quickly be gobbled up, especially with videos.The new pricing means photos smaller than 800 pixels on a side or videos shorter than 15 minutes don't count toward the 1GB freebie limit. Given the dropping cost of storage, it's a reasonable way to lower a barrier that might keep people from using Picasa. (Buying more storage space costs $5 a year for 20GB, but other sizes are available too--$50 annually for 200GB or $4,096 for 16 terabytes, for example.)Most new smartphones take shots more than 800 pixels on an edge, though, so until &quot;share a smaller version&quot; becomes a common option, people might still be reluctant to build Picasa into their online daily lives.Last is the addition of Picasa Web Albums photos to people's Google Profile. People often care how they appear and don't care to express that with just a little thumbnail' but more to the point, this change makes the Profiles page a more fleshed-out hub for whatever online social activity Google plans to launch next.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Navy: Full steam ahead on Great Green Fleet]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=navy-full-steam-ahead-on-great-green-fleet</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=navy-full-steam-ahead-on-great-green-fleet</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 02 Mar 2011 08:10:51 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>dskertisis6</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=navy-full-steam-ahead-on-great-green-fleet</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The RCB-X is powered by an alternative fuel blend of 50 percent algae-based and 50 percent NATO F-76 fuels.(Credit:U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Gregory N. Juday)NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.--U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus can measure the cost of transporting oil to combat missions in dollars and in lives. Mabus gave the keynote talk today at the ARPA-E Summit here, where he announced an agreement between the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy to create energy storage systems geared at providing reliable power and reducing fossil fuel use.His talk followed speeches by Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and representative Steve Israel of New York, who both highlighted the importance to national security of fossil fuel alternatives.Navy Secretary Ray Mabus(Credit:MC2 Kevin S. O&amp;39'Brien/U.S. Navy)The Navy has a program, launched in fall 2009 and called the &quot;Great Green Fleet,&quot; to convert 50 percent of its energy to fossil fuel alternatives by 2020 and to have half of the Navy's thousands of bases become net energy zero consumers. It's a reference to the &quot;Great White Fleet,&quot; the nickname used under President Theodore Roosevelt for a battle fleet which circled the globe almost 100 years ago.&quot;Every time we make changes to improve the efficiencies of our engines or systems or we use alternative sources of power, we get better and we make people safer,&quot; Mabus said.In the agreement between the Departments of Defense and Energy, the Navy plans to take advantage of grid storage technologies developed in the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). The cost of the project would be $25 million and start in fiscal year 2012.The first project will seek to develop hybrid storage systems with higher energy density than what's available in batteries today. Mabus said the technology could lead to mobile storage units for charging military equipment at bases or be used to reduce fuel consumption in vehicles.The second project will look at using storage for providing reliable power in conjunction with renewable energy systems at Navy buildings. The Navy operates 72,500 buildings across 3.3 million acres of land.A base in Afghanistan is already using solar panels to partially power its base, which has reduced the amount of diesel fuel it uses for generators. Military personnel are also using solar panels that roll up and fit into their packs, saving foot patrols from carrying 700 pounds of batteries to charge radios and electronics.In Afghanistan, fuel is the largest cost to operations and a huge logistical challenge that involves delivering the fuel across an ocean and multiple countries, Mabus said. For every $1 per barrel that the price of fuel goes up, the Navy spends $31 million more for fuel. When the price of oil went up $30 per barrel a few years ago, the Navy paid an additional $1 billion to power its aircraft, ships, and ground vehicles. Beyond those &quot;strategic and economic&quot; arguments for changing to less fossil fuel, Mabus said the military loses lives transporting fuel to bases. &quot;The single thing we spend the most effort on getting to Afghanistan is fuel,&quot; he said. &quot;The Army did a study and found that out of every 24 fuel convoys we use, a soldier or marine is killed or wounded guarding that convoy. That's a high price to pay for fuel.&quot;The need for steady and reliable power are on the rise, too, given the military's growing dependence on digital technologies. In Vietnam, a Marine patrol had two radios, compared with 30 or 50 today.The Navy is already testing biofuel replacements for its aircraft and other equipment, either made by growing plants and converting them to fuel or through &quot;electrofuels&quot; that use genetically engineered organisms that make fuel from water, carbon dioxide, and another energy source, such as hydrogen or electricity.The Defense Department's pursuit of fossil fuel alternatives was called into question by a RAND report in January that said alternative fuels for aviation offered &quot;no direct benefit&quot; from a military perspective over fossil fuels.Mabus didn't address the report specifically but said that all major energy transitions in the history of the Navy were considered too expensive and too risky by military top brass, including the move from sail to coal. He said that the Navy would never allow oil-producing countries in volatile regions to produce its ships and aircraft, but the military does give them a say in whether the Navy's equipment will work.&quot;Our dependence on fossil fuels creates strategic, operational, and tactical vulnerabilies for our forces and makes them too susceptible to price and supply shocks caused by instability or natural disasters in volatile areas of the world where most of our fossil fuel is produced,&quot; he said.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[At Demo, virtual dressing rooms promise big sales]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=at-demo-virtual-dressing-rooms-promise-big-sales</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=at-demo-virtual-dressing-rooms-promise-big-sales</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 28 Feb 2011 08:10:46 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Lumpkine</dc:creator>
<category>Gaming</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=at-demo-virtual-dressing-rooms-promise-big-sales</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Swivel, from FaceCake Marketing Technologies, is one of two virtual dressing room products unveiled at Demo Spring 2011.(Credit:Daniel Terdiman/CNET)PALM DESERT, Calif.--It seems like a no-brainer, but why don't the thousands and thousands of online clothing retailers offer customers a way to stand in front of a Webcam and virtually try things onThat's a question a couple of companies that presented at the Demo Spring 2011 conference here today were trying to answer. Both Zugara and FaceCake Marketing Technologies showed the audience here forthcoming offerings that would integrate virtual dressing rooms into e-tailers' sites.Although Demo often showcases companies with related technologies, I don't recall a time in my many years of attending this show that two outfits have taken the stage with more or less the same product. But Zugara, with its Webcam Social Shopper, and FaceCake, with Swivel, both seem intent on building a business around the licensing of these Webcam-based augmented reality changing rooms to retailers.And while the two companies' approaches differ slightly, they were close enough to make one wonder how both can succeed.For Zugara, the key selling point of such a system is making it easy for consumers to use. That means Webcam Social Shopper requires no downloads, and essentially interacts directly with a user's PC- orMac-based Webcam. The customer would stand in front of the camera while on an e-tailer's shopping site and simply &quot;try on&quot; an outfit. The software figures out where the user's face is, and then superimposes a garment on his or her body. In the onstage demo here, the implementation of this was good, if not great. You could certainly see what, say, a dress looked like on a woman, but you could also see what she was wearing underneath it. That made it look a little sloppy. Still, you would have little trouble imagining whether the garment would look good or not, and in the end, that's the goal.FaceCake's Swivel is designed to be used either at home, or placed in brick-and-mortar retailers' dressing rooms. In the latter case, it's likely that Swivel would utilize Microsoft's Kinect motion-sensing camera to sense the customer's body. But if the buyer is at home, he or she can use a simple PC or Mac Webcam. Like Swivel, Webcam Social Shopper puts a customer virtually in the clothes they want to try on. Both offer sharing options for quick feedback.(Credit:Daniel Terdiman/CNET)For both, the value proposition seems to be the same: &quot;To make shopping more engaging,&quot; as Zugara vice president of product and marketing Jack Benoff put it. Or, as FaceCake's Tom Chamberlin put it, a user who goes into a dressing room is 70 percent more likely to buy something than one who doesn't. So why not help e-tailers take advantage of that math.With Swivel, users see their body on the screen and when they raise their hand in the air to automatically select a garment type--handbag, tops, dresses, glasses, pants, and so on--from the left side of the screen, the right side then displays a column of possible choices. They point at the exact item they want to try, and the software does the rest: the garment appears superimposed over their body.With Webcam Social Shopper, the interface is a bit simpler, but it works more or less the same. A user selects a garment, and it is automatically placed digitally over his or her body. The look and feel of the two offerings is different, but the end result is similar.Another facet that both companies see as essential is to make it easy for shoppers to share the image of what they look like in a garment with their friends. So both services offer a quick sharing option so that they can, with one-click, post an image of themselves &quot;wearing&quot; the dress or pants or other piece of clothing to Facebook or Twitter. The idea here is that with direct feedback from friends, a buyer would feel more comfortable pulling out their credit card.With both companies relying on a licensing model, it's clear that in order to make money, they'll have to sign up a critical mass of retailer customers. For now, the two are saying little about actual business, but it sounds like neither has worked out any particularly impressive deals. So it remains to be seen if these companies are going to be the ones to bring this technology to the masses.There are, of course, other competitors. Outfits like Holition, Metaio, Total Immersion, and others seem to be providing pieces of the puzzle, but both Zugara and FaceCake seem to feel they are the only ones with the whole thing. This is promising technology, but as shown here at Demo, it would seem that both Swivel and Webcam Social Shopper have a ways to go before this is a fully seamless, modern integration. Still, with e-tailers surely eager for ways to boost customer satisfaction and loyalty, it would appear likely that technology like this is going to find a customer base. Whether one of these companies will benefit from that remains to be seen.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Motorola sings TiVo the 'sue me, sue you' blues]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=motorola-sings-tivo-the-sue-me-sue-you-blues</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=motorola-sings-tivo-the-sue-me-sue-you-blues</comments>
<pubDate>Sat, 26 Feb 2011 08:10:18 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>anybgado</dc:creator>
<category>Marketing and advertising</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=motorola-sings-tivo-the-sue-me-sue-you-blues</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Motorola has filed a patent-infringement suit against TiVo over digital video recorders, according to a report.The suit claims TiVo willfully infringed patents that were filed in the mid '90s on behalf of a company later acquired by Motorola, according to a story in The Wall Street Journal.The Journal reports that the suit also mentions a DVR patent claim filed by TiVo against Verizon--which offers a service that uses set-top boxes made by Motorola--and that the Motorola suit seeks &quot;all available remedies&quot; for TiVo's alleged infringements, as well as a declaration that Motorola set tops don't infringe TiVo's patents.The Motorola suit is but one of several DVR-related broadsides fired by various companies over the years.Rear view of a Motorola set-top box.(Credit:Verizon)TiVo's suit against EchoStar and Dish Network, which claims TiVo owns the patent on time-warp DVR technology, has been trudging through the courts since the mid '00s. The claim was rejected by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office last summer, but the case is ongoing. And earlier this year, Microsoft followed up a patent suit against TiVo by filing a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission that seeks to prohibit TiVo from importing or selling its set tops in the United States. The original suit involves video purchasing and delivery technology that Microsoft says is covered by patents it owns.Patents, of course, have long provided a busy battleground for tech companies, which seek to file as many patent claims as possible, to protect themselves from suits as well as come out stronger in settlements.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[After raid, hacker releases 'bible' for PS3 reverse engineering]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=after-raid-hacker-releases-bible-for-ps3-reverse-engineering</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=after-raid-hacker-releases-bible-for-ps3-reverse-engineering</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 24 Feb 2011 08:10:43 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>lifleisher</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=after-raid-hacker-releases-bible-for-ps3-reverse-engineering</guid>
<description><![CDATA[(Credit:Sony)A Playstation 3 hacker says he has released information about reverse engineering hypervisor technology used in thePS3 after his home in Germany was raided earlier this week, reportedly at Sony's request. In a comment to a post on his PS3 Linux and Hyper Reverse Engineering Blog, Graf-chokolo writes in the comments section: &quot;Guys, SONY was today at my home with police and got all my stuff and accounts. So be careful from now on.&quot;  After several readers expressed doubt about the legitimacy of the post, he says in another comment: &quot;Guys, I don't joke, it's serious. And to prove it, I kept my word and uploaded all my HV reversing stuff. Upload it everywhere so SONY couldn't remove it easily. Grab it guys, it contains lots of knowledge about HV and HV procs.&quot;  He writes: &quot;Here is my HV bible&quot; and provides four links to sites where he placed his files. As of this afternoon, the files had been removed from three of the sites, with one of the sites citing a copyright complaint.  Sony did not immediately respond to an e-mail request for comment, but gaming news site Kotaku reported that a representative from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe had confirmed the raid.  Sony is taking aggressive action against PS3 hackers. Last month, Sony requested a restraining order against George Hotz for releasing a jailbreak for firmware version 3.55 that allowed people to run home brew applications on the console. Sony says the action violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the Computer Fraud Abuse Act, but Hotz disagrees. Game consoles are not mentioned in the DMCA. A U.S. District Court ruled in Sony's favor, granting a temporary restraining order. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Intel details Thunderbolt tech]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=intel-details-thunderbolt-tech</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=intel-details-thunderbolt-tech</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 24 Feb 2011 08:10:31 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>mi4lewis</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=intel-details-thunderbolt-tech</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Intel today detailed its high-speed Thunderbolt connector tech, which is appearing first on Apple's MacBook Pros--also announced today. Thunderbolt, formerly known by its codename Light Peak, is a new high-speed PC connection technology that combines high-speed data transfer and a high-definition display on a single cable. Running at 10Gbps, Thunderbolt can transfer a full-length HD movie in less than 30 seconds.The Intel-developed technology is coming to market through a technical collaboration with Apple, and is being made available first on Apple's new line of MacBook Pro laptop computers, which were rolled out this morning. Probably one of the most salient points today made by Jason Ziller, an Intel manager heading up Thunderbolt work, is that very-high-speed external devices will look like they're actually &quot;in the computer,&quot; due to the use of PCIe (PCI Express) technology. PCIe, to date, is a high-speed standard typically used for internal devices like video cards. Ziller was speaking at an Intel event that CNET covered live earlier today. Ziller also addressed the optical connection question. Though originally code-named Light Peak--which makes an obvious reference to optical technology--the connector is currently being implemented as an electrical technology based on copper. Intel will work toward enabling optical Thunderbolt connectors but is not committing to any kind of firm schedule at this point, Ziller said. Intel did say, however, that it is working on an optical cable that &quot;has the optics in the cable...[which] will extend to tens of meters. We expect to see that a little later in the year, &quot; according to Ziller. Whither USB 3.0 An oft-voiced claim is that Thunderbolt will replace USB 3.0, the latest version of the universally used connector standard. Thunderbolt will complement USB 3.0, according to Ziller. &quot;They will co-exist on the same platform...in terms of storage (devices) we'll see both [USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt] products on the market,&quot; he said. Addressing USB 3.0, he did mention that Intel plans to &quot;integrate it in the future&quot; in silicon. It's also worth noting that because both Intel and Apple are the driving forces behind Thunderbolt, it should have a very good shot at gaining acceptance--down the road--by major PC makers. That said, no major PC companies chimed in today announcing support, and Ziller deflected questions about wider adoption by specific PC makers. One reason for the lackluster support out of the gate is likely due to the close cooperation between Apple and Intel, which seemed to be exclusionary to some extent. Thunderbolt highlights: Intel-Apple collaboration Physical connector is compatible with DisplayPort and supports legacy DisplayPort devices 10Gbps per channel, bidirectional' small connector that can fit on ultraslim devices PCIe and DisplayPort protocols, compatible with standard DisplayPort displays Expect an increase in external devices that tap into the &quot;flexibility&quot; and speed of PCIe Daisy chains up to seven devices Moves media files faster: complements Intel's Sandy Bridge-based Quick Sync Video transcoding tech Copper (electrical) connection for now, optical connectors possible in the future but no firm schedule Optical cables (not connectors) are coming later this year, however Will complement USB 3.0, according to Intel The nuts and bolts of Thunderbolt. (Credit:Intel)Updated at 1:35 p.m. PST: throughout.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Apple shareholders nix CEO succession disclosure]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apple-shareholders-nix-ceo-succession-disclosure</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apple-shareholders-nix-ceo-succession-disclosure</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 23 Feb 2011 08:10:17 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Tonylasky</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apple-shareholders-nix-ceo-succession-disclosure</guid>
<description><![CDATA[CUPERTINO, Calif.--Apple shareholders today rejected a proposal that would have required the company to disclose its succession plan for senior management.The proposal was one of two by shareholders aimed at adding transparency and a new voting standard to what is considered one of the most secretive technology companies. In its proxy materials ahead of the meeting, Apple's board had urged shareholders to vote against both proposals.As expected, Jobs was not present during the meeting. In his place was Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook, who has filled in for Jobs since January when Jobs, a pancreatic cancer survivor who has received a liver transplant, announced his latest medical leave. A group of shareholders had asked the company to reveal its plans for replacing Jobs, a request Apple had rallied against, saying such a revelation would give competitors an &quot;unfair advantage&quot; by publicizing the company's confidential objectives and plans. Nonetheless, earlier in the month Institutional Shareholder Services endorsed the proposal, which was originally put forward by the Central Laborers' Pension Fund, a holder of about 11,500 shares of Apple stock. The second proposal, which concerned majority voting of board members, passed, giving share owners the power to cast Nay votes against unopposed directors. Apple said its objection to the measure was based on differences in majority voting requirements by state, which, the company said, could add a &quot;layer of complexity&quot; to implementation. During the question and answer session that followed, Cook was joined on stage by Phil Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, and Peter Oppenheimer, senior vice president and CFO. Cook talked up Apple's services over the past year, including its opening of 44 new retail stores and shipping of 40 million iPhones, doubling unit sales from the previous year. Cook also said the company had made great advances in China, tripling revenue there since last year.Pixelated motif on signage at Apple's Cupertino, Calif., campus.(Credit:Josh Lowensohn/CNET)Cook paid special attention to iOS, including theiPhone andiPad, saying that the OS continued to be &quot;years ahead&quot; of competitors' platforms. Cook also brought up next week's press event, saying that the invitation had provided some clues about what Apple planned to announce. Even so, audience members peppered the company about its strategic plans for iOS, including things like whether it would ever allow plug-ins, or how Apple could avoid the sort of hardware-specific software distribution limitations it experienced during theMac versus PC era in the early '90s, which went Microsoft's way. Schiller responded by saying that that had been &quot;a different time,&quot; and that the iPhone was a &quot;post-PC&quot; product. Apple's senior vice president of iOS Software, Scott Forstall, jumped in on the third-party plug-ins question, saying that plug-ins had been kept off the platform for stability and security, citing some of the difficulties in moving from Mac OS 7 to 8 as being a leading factor in that decision.  One audience member also brought up the conditions for workers at overseas factories where Apple products were produced, as well as asking if Cook, Schiller, or Oppenheimer had seen the play &quot;The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs,&quot; playing about an hour away from Apple's campus, at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. All three said they hadn't, with Schiller seeming visibly frustrated by the question. Cook followed by offering details about Apple's considerable efforts to go through its supply chain to find problems that could be fixed, as well as noting that the company had helped reimburse close to $300 million in fees paid by workers. &quot;I am really proud of the changes we've forced,&quot; Cook said.Also of special interest was a question about whether Apple would ever offer a way for consumers to ditch their television sets to watch streaming TV shows on their computers instead. Schiller answered by saying that Apple was always adding &quot;new types&quot; of media. Even so, he said, counting out the TV at this point for live events would be a rash decision.And speaking of entertainment devices, Cook fielded a question about whether Apple had plans to get more serious about gaming, particularly with a dedicated device, by saying that the company was already in the gaming business with the iPod Touch, and had great success with a large library of games on the App Store. &quot;There's a segment who are using it as a primary gaming device,&quot; he said. &quot;We think that's a good place to be, where we are right now.&quot;One audience member also questioned what Apple was up to with its license of Liquidmetal, a query Cook politely shot down, saying the company does not discuss what it does with its investments short of saying that such investments were often for personnel, infrastructure, and intellectual property. Correction, 1:18 p.m. PT: This story initially misstated the nature of one of the shareholder votes. Apple shareholders at the meeting today voted against requiring the company to make public its plans for CEO succession. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Which fish dish TopDish, Spork have advice]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=which-fish-dish-topdish-spork-have-advice</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=which-fish-dish-topdish-spork-have-advice</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 23 Feb 2011 08:10:03 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>maria900</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=which-fish-dish-topdish-spork-have-advice</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Spork finds the dish you like near you.(Credit:Screenshot by Rafe Needleman/CNET)SAN FRANCISCO--With the restaurant rating and recommendation business being pretty well locked up (by Yelp, OpenTable, Foursquare, etc.), the new game in town is apparently recommendations on individual dishes. Got a hankering for tom kha gai soup You can check out Spork (live) or TopDish (invite-only beta) to find the best restaurant nearby that serves that particular dish' both companies are presenting in the low-rent &quot;launch pad&quot; sideshow of the Launch conference here.These two services collect user reviews--ratings and pictures--of dishes to help you make the life-critical decision of where to find the best of whatever you're looking for, or if you're sitting at a restaurant, which dish to order. Both sites let you profile your tastes to help decide for you what you're more likely to like.Spork is a bit more social at the moment. It connects to your Facebook network to prioritize food ratings from your friends. An upcoming feature will let you gift a dish to a friend via a PayPal credit for the cost of the dish. A future network update may work the credit through restaurants directly.Co-founder Dan Cheung told me he's also considering adding a &quot;reverse Groupon&quot; feature to the service: If enough users like a restaurant's dish, Spork may ask the restaurant to create a coupon for it, to stimulate demand just a little bit more.TopDish is a bit newer, still in closed beta. Its recommendations are network-wide, for the time being, and the mobile app isn't out yet. The model is largely the same as Spork's, but co-founder Salil Pandit told me his service's secret sauce will be communication with restaurants: If you run an eatery, you'll be able to see how all your individual dishes rate. This will be a free service for a while, although the value to a restaurant could obviously be quite high. &quot;We just want to help start a conversation,&quot; Pandit told me.The increasing granularity of data in new Web services is an important trend to watch. Highly-specific recommendation databases don't work unless there's enough volume of users and data feeding into them. Without that, you get a lot of empty records and unsatisfied users. But with everyone getting with the program of recommending things to friends, checking in, and Tweeting or Facebooking their every move, it's not surprising that companies like these (and some others, launching tomorrow at this conference) are tying to make sense of these little tidbits of opinion.TopDish is creating a database of individual menu items, too. Mobile is coming' Web site shown.(Credit:Screenshot by Rafe Needleman/CNET)<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Microsoft responds to Google's copycat claims, again]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-responds-to-googles-copycat-claims-again</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-responds-to-googles-copycat-claims-again</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 02 Feb 2011 08:10:40 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>James01</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-responds-to-googles-copycat-claims-again</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Following yesterday's fracas over whether Microsoft was culling search results from rival Google, Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft's senior VP of its Online Services Division, has weighed in, reiterating that Google's claims are false.&quot;We do not copy results from any of our competitors. Period. Full stop,&quot; Mehdi said in a post on Bing's community blog titled &quot;Setting the record straight.&quot; &quot;We have some of the best minds in the world at work on search quality and relevance, and for a competitor to accuse any one of these people of such activity is just insulting,&quot; Mehdi said.Mehdi went on to mirror some of the statements made by Harry Shum, Microsoft's head of core search development, during the company's Farsight event. Shum had discussed allegations on stage with Google's head of Web spam, Matt Cutts' Mehdi outlined how Bing made use of anonymous click stream data, along with &quot;more than a thousand inputs&quot; to create Bing's ranking algorithm.Mehdi said that Google's plan to check whether Bing was looking at that click stream data was &quot;rigged to manipulate Bing search results,&quot; and called Google's honeypot attack &quot;click fraud.&quot; He then compared Google's efforts to the the methods used by spammers to create fraudulent search result pages.&quot;What does all this cloak and dagger click fraud prove Nothing anyone in the industry doesn't already know,&quot; Mehdi said. &quot;As we have said before and again in this post, we use click stream optionally provided by consumers in an anonymous fashion as one of 1,000 signals to try and determine whether a site might make sense to be in our index.&quot;Mehdi closed up the post by saying that the company would continue to focus on innovating the product, though added a jab about the timing of Google's honeypot discovery, saying it was directly related to some of Microsoft's recent improvements to Bing, which were &quot;so big and noticeable that we are told Google took notice and began to worry,&quot; Mehdi said.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Motorola Xoom as a test for life beyond the iPad]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=motorola-xoom-as-a-test-for-life-beyond-the-ipad</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=motorola-xoom-as-a-test-for-life-beyond-the-ipad</comments>
<pubDate>Sat, 15 Jan 2011 08:10:02 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>resminmin23</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=motorola-xoom-as-a-test-for-life-beyond-the-ipad</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Is theiPad a one-hit wonder or will thetablet market take off broadly in 2011 That's the question Motorola's Xoom tablet will likely answer. Motorola&amp;39's Xoom may determine how real the broader tablet market is. (Credit:Motorola)And this broader market, of course, includes Hewlett-Packard's WebOS tablet and RIM's PlayBook, among others. But Motorola's Xoom stands as the biggest potential consumer rival to the iPad 2 because Motorola is a first-tier supplier that has already competed mightily against Apple in the smartphone market (think Droid) and, more importantly, packs in plenty of eagerly awaited goodies, including: Google's Android Honeycomb operating system for tablets, a powerful dual-core processor, a high-resolution (1,280x800) display, dual cameras, and lest we forget, the Verizon 3G (and soon-to-come 4G) network. That said, tucked into a research note I received on Friday from Ashok Kumar, an analyst at Rodman &amp; Renshaw, was this morsel: &quot;The magnitude of tablet opportunity beyond Apple is unclear.&quot; And he also writes that &quot;we believe that iPad volumes in the current quarter will dry up ahead of the iPad 2 launch.&quot; So, will we see long lines at Verizon stores the day of launch, like the iPad Or has the tablet novelty worn off enough that it's not a line-forming impulse-buy anymore And/or is it principally a phenomenon linked to the cachet of Apple products Based on my own experience, I believe that the media tablet is more than a one-hit wonder. The sheer utility of my iPad has cut my laptop use almost in half, as I've written before. (And the iPad trumps myiPhone too, in a number of respects, like mapping.)  So, what kind of numbers do we need to see Considering that the market is still nascent, that's a tough call. Kumar said that Apple shipped between 6 and 7 million iPads in the most recent quarter, &quot;with the lower end (Wi-Fi) dominating the mix.&quot; With Apple as the high-water mark, we can't expect those kinds of numbers from Motorola initially.  Asia-based rumors claim Motorola is aiming to ship as many as 800,000 out of the gate and RIM a bit more. Those would be healthy numbers.  And Motorola appears to be doing all it can do to make interesting accessories, too--like this speaker dock and Bluetooth keyboard, among other add-ons.  Who knows, the tablet, in one form or another, could eventually make the laptop obsolete. That would result in huge, market-upending numbers. But I'll leave that highly-speculative analysis for next year.  <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Control4 powers into home energy with grid deals]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=control4-powers-into-home-energy-with-grid-deals</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=control4-powers-into-home-energy-with-grid-deals</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 12 Jan 2011 08:10:42 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>valentaava</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=control4-powers-into-home-energy-with-grid-deals</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Control4 spread further into energy on Wednesday, announcing deals with Silver Spring Networks and utility AEP around its home energy management system. The home automation company said that Silver Spring Networks, which provides a networking card for smart meters and business software for utilities, will resell Control4's products. Through its deal with Control4, Silver Spring Networks said it can now offer potential utility customers a consumer-facing energy dashboard and home networking system.The energy dashboard for Control4&amp;39's home energy management system.(Credit:Martin LaMonica/CNET)With the Control4 Energy Management System 100, consumers can get up-to-the-minute information on electricity usage and program wireless thermostats and other connected devices.  Silver Spring said it will integrate Control4's system with its demand-response programs, where a utility offers a consumer a financial incentive to turn down power during peak times. In a statement, Silver Spring Networks said it chose Control4 because its energy management system is easy to use for consumers and integrates with utilities' back-end software. In a deal with utility American Eletric Power (AEP) in Ohio, Control4 was chosen for use in a smart-grid trial. One thousand people will have the dashboard and thermostats installed for monitoring electricity usage and automated demand response, according to Control4.Control4 is one of the companies in the home automation, most often used for high-end entertainment systems, that is getting into home energy management. To complement smart meters, some utilities are giving home energy dashboards to consumer as a tool to conserve energy overall and cut down on energy during peak times. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[CES: Verizon's 4G is more than just phones]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ces-verizons-4g-is-more-than-just-phones</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ces-verizons-4g-is-more-than-just-phones</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 07 Jan 2011 08:10:22 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>absirresjia</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ces-verizons-4g-is-more-than-just-phones</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Verizon Wireless did its best to steal the mobile show at its CES press conference yesterday. Not only did we get the long-rumored Xoom Honeycombtablet, but the carrier also unveiled the first selection of handsets to go with its new LTE 4G network.Admittedly, we're focused on the new handsets, like the Motorola Droid Bionic, the Samsung 4G LTE, the HTC Thunderbolt, and the LG Revolution, but Verizon had a couple of other tricks up its sleeve. In addition to Samsung's new Mobile Hotspot, which Bonnie Cha already mentioned, Big Red also unveiled another hot spot and two 4G Netbooks. Read on for the details on each device (all images are from Verizon Wireless).Novatel MiFi 4510L Intelligent Mobile HotspotBuilt for users of laptops, tablets, and gaming devices, the Novatel MiFi Hotspot is optimized for LTE, but it's also backwards compatible for the carrier's 3G EV-DO. network. The simple design includes a status display for battery life, roaming, and connectivity information and it's small enough to fit in a jacket pocket. Like with Samsung's Mobile Hotspot, it can support up to five devices and Verizon is promising 4G download speeds of 5Mbps to 12Mbps and upload speeds of 2Mbps to 5Mbps. Novatel and Verizon also introduced the 4G LTE USB551L modem, which offers similar capabilities for a laptop.Compaq CQ10-688nrMeasuring less than an inch thick, the Compaq CQ10-688nr has a 10.1-inch diagonal wide-screen LED display with antiglare. It's powered by an Intel Atom N455 processor and promises up to 8.5 hours of battery life, a multiformat digital media card reader, and a Webcam and multiple connectivity options. HP Pavilion dm1-3010nrEqually slim, the HP Pavilion dm1 has a 11.6-inch display that can show HD (1080p) video. Inside are an AMD Fusion APU that integrates a Microsoft DirectX 11-capable graphics processing unit, 320GB of memory, a multiformat digital media card reader, an HDMI port, Dolby Advanced Audio, and GPS for mapping and navigation. Battery life should be 9.5 hours.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[CES: Nvidia unveils site for 3D video, photos, sports]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ces-nvidia-unveils-site-for-3d-video-photos-sports</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ces-nvidia-unveils-site-for-3d-video-photos-sports</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 04 Jan 2011 08:10:37 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>AspisaMypsupt</dc:creator>
<category>Business &amp; Finance</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ces-nvidia-unveils-site-for-3d-video-photos-sports</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Nvidia&amp;39's new site for showcasing and rating 3D content.(Credit:Screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET)Graphics chipmaker Nvidia, eager to hasten the arrival of the 3D graphics era and spur demand for new 3D hardware, today unveiled a site for content called 3DVisionLive.At the site, people can share their own 3D photos and see more from professional photographers' watch short videos, trailers, and sports' and rate the content they see. The site supports Nvidia's 3D Vision technology and old-school anaglyph technology with the blue and red glasses.3D is a theme at CES this year--and not for the first time. Moving the industry is a massive undertaking that involves content creation, content distribution, and any number of hardware support and compatibility issues.&quot;The goal of 3DVisionLive.com is to create an online community where users can experience the best applications and content for 3D PCs,&quot; said Phil Eisler, general manager of 3D Vision, in a statement. &quot;Now photo and video professionals and enthusiasts will see the future of their profession or passion in 3D with an easy-to-use Web site.&quot;A quick glance at the site reveals some imagery that one might expect to appeal to the stereotypical gaming nerd who pays for premium graphics technology--photos of scantily clad women and stills from various video games. There also are plenty of landscape and other subjects with potentially broader appeal.Videos cover sporting subjects such as surfing, mountain biking, flying, and racing. Here, too, video game content and &quot;Bikini Carwash&quot; duke it out with nature documentaries for setting the tone.Nvidia announced the site at the Consumer Electronics Show, taking place this week in Las Vegas.Also at the show, Nvidia will demonstrate several new PCs and displays with 3D Vision.One will be the Asus All-in-One PC ET2400XVT, available now for sale online. It has a 23.6-inch, 1920 x 1080, multitouch display, a Blu-ray drive, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 460M GPU.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[RIM's Playbook the linchpin of a 10-year plan]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=rims-playbook-the-linchpin-of-a-10-year-plan</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=rims-playbook-the-linchpin-of-a-10-year-plan</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 07 Dec 2010 08:10:38 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Adam01</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=rims-playbook-the-linchpin-of-a-10-year-plan</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Research In Motion co-CEO Mike Lazaridis shows off the Playbook tablet on the sidelines of the D: Dive Into Mobile conference.(Credit:Tom Krazit/CNET)SAN FRANCISCO--Research In Motion co-CEO Mike Lazaridis hopes the company's investment in its QNX software will carry the venerable smartphone company for the next decade. Lazardis showed off the first fruits of that investment, the Playbook tablet, to attendees here at D: Dive Into Mobile today. RIM has taken the tablet--expected to arrive in the first quarter of 2011--for several test drives over the past few months but hoped to wow the Silicon Valley mobile elite with the QNX software on which it's betting the future of the company. There's little doubt that RIM has lost a bit of respect along the Left Coast' although RIM is the largest tech company in Canada and a significant market share player around the world, as Lazaridis reminded hosts Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher multiple times, it's seen as a laggard against what Apple and Google have done with the iOS and Android operating systems. The CEO didn't exactly refute that analysis but suggested that by designing an operating system with a tablet first and foremost in mind, it might actually be able to get the drop on its South Bay competitors. Lazaridis also made some interesting comments regarding the application of the old &quot;megahertz myth&quot; from the PC wars to the smartphone market, declaring that smartphones are on the cusp of a similar transition in which fast single-core processors are simply too hot and too power-hungry for future mobile devices. His competitor, Google's Andy Rubin, showed off an unannounced tablet geared for dual-core mobile processors on the first day of the conference, and based on Lazaridis' comments RIM believes that such a transition is imminent in the mobile space. &quot;All these pieces are coming together to set up BlackBerry for next decade,&quot; Lazaridis said. It's not clear whether he convinced anyone that RIM should be back in the favor of the digerati, but left a clear impression that RIM isn't ceding any ground in the race to build a mobile stronghold.Lazaridis demonstrates the Playbook calculator as the official All Things D photographer records the moment.(Credit:Tom Krazit/CNET)<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[iPhone 4, Nexus S--rivals with a common core]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=iphone-4-nexus-s-rivals-with-a-common-core</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=iphone-4-nexus-s-rivals-with-a-common-core</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 06 Dec 2010 08:10:24 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>zimanbim4</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=iphone-4-nexus-s-rivals-with-a-common-core</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Apple'siPhone 4 and Google's freshly minted Nexus S share a critical core component inside, underscoring Samsung's presence in some of the most popular devices on the market and how it is triangulates relationships between its own products and it chip customers. Google&amp;39's Nexus S has a contoured 4-inch screen.(Credit:Google)Google makes no bones about what's inside its slick Samsung-manufactured Nexus S: a 1GHz &quot;Hummingbird&quot; processor. That's a close cousin of--if not identical in many respects to--the processor inside of Apple's A4 system-on-a-chip, as a TechInsights analysis (PDF) revealed earlier this year. &quot;It's common in the electronics industry for competitors to get chips from the same source,&quot; said Joe Byrne, an analyst The Linley Group. &quot;But it is somewhat of an odd situation for Samsung to develop chips and make their own systems (products). It does put them in a weird position,&quot; he said. Byrne continued. &quot;The Samsung-Apple deal is odd in that a system company (Apple) is doing a custom chip with a semiconductor supplier--that is, Samsung--that also has a system business. There's a potential triangle there.&quot; The plot thickens when the new Samsung Galaxy Tab is added to the mix. That tablet has emerged as the principal competitor--with 1 million units sold in about two months--toApple's iPad. Samsung's Galaxy Tab uses the same--or similar--processor as the iPhone 4 and Nexus S. Samsung is obviously a large company with different arms that have competing interests. And, in that sense, it's not unlike Intel. Samsung is doing, however, what Intel, on principal, has avoided: making branded consumer systems and also supplying chips to companies that compete with those systems. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Report: Groupon rejects Google's offers]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-groupon-rejects-googles-offers</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-groupon-rejects-googles-offers</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 03 Dec 2010 08:10:02 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>analryexpandy</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-groupon-rejects-googles-offers</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Google's pursuit of red-hot social buying start-up Groupon may have come to an end. Citing two sources familiar with the talks, the Chicago Tribune is reporting that Groupon, a fellow resident of Chicago, has decided to go it alone, passing up an offer to be acquired by Google for between $5 billion and $6 billion. The report suggested Groupon hasn't made a final decision about whether it wants to pursue an initial public offering but might go down that road next year. Talks had been reportedly hot and heavy between Groupon and Google, always looking to boost its presence in local advertising markets and acquire sources of data about consumer buying intent. Groupon offers a &quot;deal of the day&quot; to users, usually a significant discount on a sought-after product or service in their city or town. Google would love to add that kind of service geared around specifically targeted local markets, which is seen as a big source of future Internet advertising growth. It's not clear if Google was unwilling to go high enough for Groupon's tastes (although $6 billion would have been Google's largest purchase by a significant margin) or if Groupon simply believed it could chart its own path, following start-ups such as Twitter that have drawn Google's interest but generated momentum on their own: All Things D reported earlier on Friday that Groupon was doing as much as $2 billion a year in revenue. A Google representative declined to comment on what the company termed &quot;rumor and speculation,&quot; while representatives Groupon did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[HP discontinues MediaSmart Server line]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=hp-discontinues-mediasmart-server-line</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=hp-discontinues-mediasmart-server-line</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 01 Dec 2010 08:10:24 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>remenginatkan</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=hp-discontinues-mediasmart-server-line</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Windows Home Server, running &amp;34'Vail.&amp;34'(Credit:Microsoft)One of Windows Home Server's staunchest allies is now moving on.HP has decided to discontinue its MediaSmart Server line of products featuring Windows Home Server. The news was confirmed by Microsoft on its Home Server Blog yesterday.&quot;HP has told us they do not plan to provide a platform for Windows Home Server, codenamed 'Vail,'&quot; Microsoft wrote on its blog.Microsoft went on to say that HP plans to sell its existing MediaSmart Server platform through the rest of the year &quot;and will honor service support agreements.&quot;HP reportedly confirmed the news to MediaSmartServer.net, a site that focuses on Windows Home Server. The publication, cites a member of the HP StorageWorks team, who reportedly told the publication that HP &quot;is transferring the MediaSmart Server team to the Palm Global Business Unit to help with the future development of WebOS.&quot;HP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Losing HP's support for Windows Home Server is an obvious blow to Microsoft. But in the same blog post, the software giant said that Vail will still have support from Acer and Tranquil PC, along with &quot;many system builders.&quot;&quot;We are entirely committed to the future of Windows Home Server V1 and V2,&quot; Tranquil PC managing director D.J. Thompson said in the post. &quot;We will also ensure that there is a suitable transition path from V1 to V2 for our existing and new clients.&quot;Microsoft has faced some adversity with its Windows Home Server as of late.Last week, the company announced that it was removing the drive extender feature in beta versions of Windows Home Server, as well as Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials and Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials, starting next year. The feature allowed users to quickly add hard drives of different sizes to their devices to increase total storage.After announcing its decision, the Windows Home Server team faced angry users who were upset to see the feature go. Microsoft then wrote another post on its blog in response, saying that the decision to remove the drive extender feature was &quot;incredibly hard.&quot;<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[No, you can't see who viewed you on Facebook]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=no-you-cant-see-who-viewed-you-on-facebook</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=no-you-cant-see-who-viewed-you-on-facebook</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 29 Nov 2010 08:10:35 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Fely</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=no-you-cant-see-who-viewed-you-on-facebook</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Don&amp;39't fall for these false promises.(Credit:Sophos)Let's put this matter to rest right now: Any Facebook application that offers to reveal who is viewing your profile is a scam. Period. Security research firm Sophos posted a memo about a rogue app that was spread on Facebook recently with messages like &quot;OMG ... I can't believe this actually works! Now you really can see who viewed your profile!&quot;  The app is bogus. I've asked a Facebook representative about this before, and he told me that apps on the site do not have the ability to track who is viewing profiles.  In this particular case, clicking on the link provided in the message takes users to a Web page that encourages people to permit an application to access their Facebook profile.  &quot;But do you really want complete strangers to be able to e-mail you, access your personal data, and even post messages to any Facebook pages you may administer&quot; the Sophos post asks.  Nearly 60,000 people have fallen for the latest scam, based on figures from Bitly using a search on one of the URLs used in this campaign, according to the post.  Facebook representatives did not return e-mails and phone calls seeking comment this morning.  Remember to be cautious when adding new applications on Facebook. Try to stick with reputable apps and pay attention to what permissions they seek.  If you have been duped by a scam, you should remove references to it from your News Feed, and revoke the right of the app to access your profile via Account, Privacy Settings, Applications, and Web sites. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Aquamarine lands ABB as investor for wave power]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=aquamarine-lands-abb-as-investor-for-wave-power</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=aquamarine-lands-abb-as-investor-for-wave-power</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 24 Nov 2010 08:10:45 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>sirrasuck252</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=aquamarine-lands-abb-as-investor-for-wave-power</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Artist&amp;39's rendering of the Oyster 2 to be built and installed off the Orkney Islands by summer 2011.(Credit:Aquamarine Power)Scottish wave power company Aquamarine Power today said it raised funds to commercialize its wave power machine, including an investment from Swiss industrial giant ABB.Edinburgh-based Aquamarine secured $17.36 million, with $12.6 million coming from ABB, which has a large portfolio of products in the power utility sector.The investment from ABB is a significant endorsement for wave power, which is being pursued actively in the U.K. There is a European marine energy test site at the Orkney Islands off the coast of Scotland along with several other research efforts.&quot;Wave energy is primed to become an important part of the world's renewable energy portfolio,&quot; Brice Koch, the head of ABB marketing and customer solutions, said in a statement. &quot;This investment reflects our belief in its technical viability.&quot;Ocean power dips its toes in water (photos) Aquamarine is one of few companies in the wave and tidal power industry with machines generating electricity in the water. Its first product was connected to the grid about a year ago in Scotland for testing and the company is working on a second-generation.Its Oyster product is a large, clamshell-shaped machine. When the underwater &quot;hinged flap&quot; moves from the motion of waves, the device pumps water to a hydro-electric turbine on land to generate electricity. In the U.S. there appears to be an uptick in interest among energy entrepreneurs in tidal and wave energy, although the U.S. lags Europe in development and deployment. There are now 17 locations which are testing hydrokinetic devices, both wave and tidal, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. There are significant challenges to making functioning wave and tidal power devices, such as operating in harsh environments and understanding the potential effects on the local ecosystem. There's an effort in Massachusetts to establish a marine energy test bed off the coast of Cape Cod to test tidal power and offshore wind in order to gather environmental testing data and speed up the permitting process. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Bing updates its movie search]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=bing-updates-its-movie-search</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=bing-updates-its-movie-search</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 24 Nov 2010 08:10:13 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>germkaammg</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=bing-updates-its-movie-search</guid>
<description><![CDATA[(Credit:Bing)Those of you planning to catch a film this holiday weekend may want to check out the latest changes at Bing Movies.The search engine's movie site has updated its lineup with some new features to help you decide what you want to see.Users can now more easily see all the local theaters showing a particular picture rather than bouncing from one venue's site to another. Just search for or click on a title like the latest Harry Potter movie, and Bing lists all the theaters in your area where it's playing along with their showtimes and driving distances.A new trailers page provides a host of clips, previews, and interviews on new movies. You can watch each video full screen and share it with other people via Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks.Bing now combines a variety of reviews on each film from both the critics and other users, giving you one page where you can decide if the movie is worth your hard-earned dough.Finally, the Bing Movie home page ties all the new features together nicely, providing a single spot where you can view trailers, read a synopsis, and check out local show times.Bing's revamped movie page is now similar to the one offered by Google. Searching for a movie at Google also shows you local show times, links to reviews, and a video of the movie's trailer all in one spot. But Bing offers a greater variety and number of reviews and a wider selection of trailers and other clips.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[People Power rides 'Internet of things' to smart grid]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=people-power-rides-internet-of-things-to-smart-grid</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=people-power-rides-internet-of-things-to-smart-grid</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 23 Nov 2010 08:10:21 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Niki</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=people-power-rides-internet-of-things-to-smart-grid</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The best path to energy-efficient electronics is connecting them to the Internet, according to People Power.The Silicon Valley-based company today launched a system that uses embedded networking chips and Internet software, called the Energy Services Platform, to monitor and control plugged-in devices for better efficiency. It says it's working with some business partners and expects its products to be available in the first quarter of next year.People Power is targeting manufacturers with its networking chip which can be embedded in electronic devices for remote control and monitoring.(Credit:People Power)There are dozens of companies seeking to reduce waste in electronics with energy monitoring and control technologies, with many developing home energy management systems made available through utilities.People Power, by contrast, is targeting electronics manufacturers, such as Japanese office equipment and appliance manufacturers. It has developed an embeddable networking module that will connect equipment, such as TVs and copy machines, to the Internet over a wireless network. Once connected, electronics can be monitored for power consumption and controlled to improve efficiency. A person could, for example, view how much electricity different plugged-in devices use, turn them on and off from a smartphone, and schedule when to turn them off. From the cloud-based energy management service, People Power can compare one home's energy usage to neighbors and provide recommendations to optimize power, said Gene Wang, the CEO and co-founder.The company intends to make money by licensing its wireless module and providing data services, such as energy monitoring, from its hosted software. &quot;We are licensing to manufacturers so we can really go mainstream,&quot; said Wang, who previously worked at Bitfone, which developed software for businesses to manage cell phones using the cell phone network. &quot;This is best done by piggybacking manufacturers that are already there.&quot;The company developed the wireless module, which is built around software called Open Source IPv6 Automation Network (OSIAN) that uses a communications protocol which is low-power like Zigbee but has longer range than Wi-Fi, explained Wang. The radios in the module will work with other wireless protocols, including Wi-Fi and Zigbee.People Power said that it is partnering with other companies around its automation system, including Ricoh Innovations which it says is a customer, although no third parties have announced plans to use the technology in products. In addition to giving end users more data on energy usage and remote control, the Energy Services Platform can give electronics manufacturers a better way to demonstrate improvements in efficiency, Wang said.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Dell replacing employee BlackBerrys with its own phone]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=dell-replacing-employee-blackberrys-with-its-own-phone</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=dell-replacing-employee-blackberrys-with-its-own-phone</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 05 Nov 2010 07:11:03 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>BeekQueeste</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=dell-replacing-employee-blackberrys-with-its-own-phone</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Dell will hand out its Venue Pro to its employees who currently carry BlackBerrys.(Credit:Bonnie Cha/CNET)Dell is looking to market its own smartphone as an alternative to the BlackBerry and is starting the push with its own employees.The PC maker will give its BlackBerry-carrying employees new Venue Pro smartphones in return for their existing phones. The transition is expected to save the company around 25 percent in mobile communications costs, mostly by getting rid of its BlackBerry servers, Dell's chief financial officer Brian Gladden told The Wall Street Journal.The 25,000 employees who currently have BlackBerrys will receive Venue Pro phones with both voice and data plans' remaining employees (about 71,000) will also get Dell phones but only with voice plans.Dell spokesman David Frink confirmed to CNET that this program will start shortly and take several months to complete.RunningWindows Phone 7, the Venue Pro will be the first phone provided internally, but Dell will eventually offer its employees Android phones as well, according to Gladden. Dell just hit the U.S. market with the launch of its first smartphone, the Android-based Aero.&quot;Clearly in this decision we are competing with RIM, because we're kicking them out,&quot; Gladden told the Journal.The internal move also opens the door for a new service that will try to convince other businesses to switch off their current smartphones in favor of a Dell device. According to the Journal, the company will start marketing this service to business customers within the next couple of weeks. Dell couldn't provide CNET with any details on this new service, but a company spokeswoman said that &quot;obviously we believe over time we can demonstrate the value and benefits of Dell smartphones to our commercial customers.&quot; The move is part of Dell's overall strategy to carve off a bigger slice of the business smartphone market, particularly against Research In Motion. Dell is also eyeing the new service as a entry point to sell its customers more than just low-margin phones. The company is aiming to set up networks and manage assets as part of an overall wireless package, Gladden told the Journal.&quot;I'm not sure I care as much about the devices as the services,&quot; Gladden said in his Journal interview. &quot;There's a services opportunity that we think is even bigger.&quot;<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[People feel safer on a PC than on a mobile device]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=people-feel-safer-on-a-pc-than-on-a-mobile-device</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=people-feel-safer-on-a-pc-than-on-a-mobile-device</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 28 Oct 2010 07:10:28 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Sanya01</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=people-feel-safer-on-a-pc-than-on-a-mobile-device</guid>
<description><![CDATA[If you feel safer online using your PC instead of your mobile phone, you are not alone.A majority 87 percent of people polled for a new study think their home PCs offer better defense against viruses, malware, and hackers than do their mobile phones. Released today by the National Cyber Security Alliance and Symantec, the study (PDF) also discovered that people may be overconfident in the power of their computers to protect them as less than half are using full security software.Though only 24 percent of those polled said they feel very safe using their home computers to surf the Net, 61 percent said they feel somewhat safe. In contrast, just 18 percent said they feel very safe using their mobile phones to access the Web, while only 28 percent feel somewhat safe.When asked if they run a complete security suite, 58 percent said yes. But Symantec's scans found only 37 percent fully protected. Symantec's definition of a complete security suite includes antivirus, firewall, antispyware, spam filtering, antiphishing, and identity protection. Like many of these polls, the companies doing the polling have a vested interest in the results--in this case Symantec sells its own complete security suite. But that by itself doesn't necessarily make the findings less credible or relevant.The study also learned that people are connecting to the Internet from a wider array of devices. Half of those polled said they have two or three PCs at home, with 74 percent owning a laptop or Netbook. Almost 17 percent are able to access the Internet from their TV and 24 percent from a gaming console.To surf the Net from all their gadgets, 70 percent have a Wi-Fi router at home. Some 85 percent of those people said their routers are password protected. But among all of those polled, 43 percent admitted to jumping onto Wi-Fi networks not secured by a password, a number that surged to 66 percent for those 18 to 29 years old. &quot;Computer users can run into online threats regardless of where they might be connected and what device they're using,&quot; Marian Merritt, Norton Internet Safety Advocate, said in a statement. &quot;However, on a Wi-Fi network, there are other risks consumers can run into, like 'evil twin' networks that trick people into connecting to unknown networks, giving cybercriminals access to their computer and its contents. Consumers should ensure they're connecting to a legitimate network, using the access keys or portal given to them by the Wi-Fi provider.&quot;Only 5.1 percent of those surveyed think the Internet is safer than it was a year ago, while 68 percent feel it's about the same, and 21.2 percent believe it's less safe. Half of those polled cited identify theft as a major concern. Overall, 44 percent of the respondents see themselves as responsible for their own online safety. Only 30 percent believe keeping the Internet secure is the responsibility of Internet providers, while just 4 percent feel it's the government's job.To compile the study, the NCSA commissioned a survey of 3,498 Americans, while Symantec ran an analysis on some 400 PCs.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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