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<title>Haaze.com / SusanHomer / Voted News</title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com</link>
<description>Test Web 2.0 Content Management System</description>
<pubDate>Mon, 25 Apr 2011 07:10:17 +0000</pubDate>
<language>en</language>
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<title><![CDATA[Cobra Tag finds your lost keys, phone, other junk]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=cobra-tag-finds-your-lost-keys-phone-other-junk</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=cobra-tag-finds-your-lost-keys-phone-other-junk</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 25 Apr 2011 07:10:17 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>yeroppy</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=cobra-tag-finds-your-lost-keys-phone-other-junk</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The Cobra Tag sensor ties your keys and your phone together via Bluetooth.(Credit:Cobra Electronics)For some odd reason, I put my keys in a different place every time I take then out of my pocket at night. The problem is that I can never remember these unique locations when the time comes to retrieve those keys. The simple solution would be to change my behavior, but I'd rather solve my problems with technology and apps. Enter the Cobra Tag by Cobra, a two-part hardware and software solution to finding your misplaced stuff.The first part of the system is the Cobra Tag sensor, a small electronic dongle that can be attached to a keychain, purse, backpack, or other valuable item that you'd like to keep track of. The second part is the Cobra Tag app foriPhone, Android, or Blackberry that allows your smartphone to communicate with the Cobra Tag hardware via Bluetooth connection.Now, when you lose your keys, simply launch the Cobra Tag app on your phone and activate an audible chime from your keychain. The connection is bidirectional, so in the event that you misplace your smartphone, you can tap a button on the Cobra Tag sensor to ring your phone. Of course, the phone and the tag have to be within Bluetooth range to communicate. However, the extra paranoid can also activate a function called Phone Halo to automatically lock down the smartphone when it gets outside of the range of the Cobra Tag sensor.Of course, if you misplace both your keys and your phone, you'll be without a way of finding either. Plus, you'll have lost the $59.95 Cobra Tag sensor. So, you won't be completely absolved of the responsibility of keeping up with your stuff when the Cobra Tag by Cobra debuts in July 2011.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Voice control comes to Facebook, recipes]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=voice-control-comes-to-facebook-recipes</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=voice-control-comes-to-facebook-recipes</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 12 Apr 2011 07:10:02 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>svetalabv</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=voice-control-comes-to-facebook-recipes</guid>
<description><![CDATA[At last, the face has taken control of Facebook--well, the mouth part, at least. Once theFirefox fans at Firesay demonstrated that hands-free browsing was possible, it was only a matter of time before the technology was co-opted by the Facebook hive mind.The original Firesay was a Firefox extension that allowed for Google searching, limited browsing, and even launching specific Hulu videos through voice commands. The new Firesay InPage is an attempt to broaden the reach of the voice-browsing concept, albeit slowly, by offering new voice controls for Facebook and KitchenPC. Right now, the Facebook app only allows users to snap a Webcam pick by uttering a few quick words, while the other offers an introductory platform for hands-free cooking at KitchenPC.com.Firesay&amp;39's Facebook Webcam app in action.(Credit:Video screenshot by Eric Mack/CNET)Currently, Firesay InPage is a two-trick pony with the further limitations of only being available on Chrome. You'll also want to be runningWindows Vista or better. But the start-up behind the concept is promising much more to come. Led by CEO Ehud Halberstram, who was formerly on Microsoft's Phone 7 team, the company is Nuiti, and it's not only looking to expand their roster of apps and compatible sites. There's also something in the works called Firesay VoiceAds. Here's Nuiti's pitch to advertisers on the concept:With our patent-pending Firesay VoiceAds, users can talk with your ads, repeat your messages and better remember them. You win improved campaign performance, stronger brand awareness and invaluable information for your campaign. Your audience wins you.Not sure how excited I am about that concept, but I am rooting for Nuiti to keep expanding its user-focused voice apps in the hopes that one day I'll be able to write these articles while perfecting my juggling routine.Here's a quick video on InPage:<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[iPad 2 battery life results (or, where is my video loop feature!)]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ipad-2-battery-life-results-or-where-is-my-video-loop-feature</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ipad-2-battery-life-results-or-where-is-my-video-loop-feature</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 11 Apr 2011 07:10:25 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>hongchen</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ipad-2-battery-life-results-or-where-is-my-video-loop-feature</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The real reason these battery results took so long to get.(Credit:Eric Franklin/CNET)Testingtablets can sometimes be a time-consuming endeavor, especially when a tablet like theiPad 2 can last for well over 10 hours on one charge while running video. To make matters worse, the iPad 2 has no loop option for video. This means that when running a movie like &quot;Toy Story 3&quot; to drain the battery, every 1 hour and 40 minutes, I am required to be standing in front of this thing to restart the movie.I have to basically plan my entire day around testing: when I take lunch, bathroom visits, meetings, Starcraft II matches, etc. It also means I have to be at work for more than 12 hours on the days the iPad is battery-tested. Being able to loop the video until the battery dies would be the obvious, desired solution, but unfortunately, there is no way (that I know of) to loop iTunes-downloaded video on the iPad. There are a few apps out there that claim to loop video, but I had little luck with them. Sure, one was able to loop video recorded by the iPad 2, but again, not with video downloaded from iTunes. Below you'll find new results for video battery life of the iPad 2 and gaming battery life on all three tablets featured here. Also, if you're privy to a workaround that allows iTunes downloaded video to loop on the iPad 2, do not hesitate to pass it along. You'll save me from some very long workdays.Tablet nameVideo battery life (in hours)Gaming battery life (in hours)Web site load time (in seconds' lower is better)Maximum brightness (in cd/m2)Default brightness (in cd/m2)Contrast ratioApple iPad 211.98.35432176939:1Apple iPad12.68.36388161881:1Motorola Xoom9.37.263121311,200:1How we test tabletsIn the CNET Labs, we currently run three different tests to evaluate the performance of non-Windows tablets. Battery lifeWe evaluated battery life in two ways. First, by continually running a movie file on the tablet until its battery died and also by running a game on the tablet until the battery died.We set each tablet to Airplane mode and adjusted its respective brightnesses to 150 candelas per square meter (cd/M2), or as close to that number as is possible. With movies, for the iPad, we run the iPad version of &quot;Toy Story 3.&quot; For Android tablets, a 720p version of &quot;Toy Story 3&quot; was run. The reason we chose 720p for Android was that not every tablet can run 1080p video just yet, and we wanted to make sure we tested Android tablets under the same methodology.On the iPad, we ran the movie through itsiPod app' for Android, we used the movie player mVideoPlayer, as it provides a much needed repeat video function that not all native Android movie players include. For gaming, we used Dungeon Defenders First Wave. We started the game, kept the default visual settings, walked our character over near the fireplace, and let it sit idle until the battery died.  We understand that this is different from actually playing and interacting with a game. While playing a game, the processor and memory would be accessed more frequently, likely increasing its power draw. However, the impetus for this test was our desire to determine what kind of difference gaming graphics would have on battery life versus watching a movie.  Site-loading speedWe used GiantBomb.com as our Web site of choice, as it doesn't use Flash or have many dynamic elements. Each tablet was connected to the same closed network with no other devices on it, with the router about 5 feet away. The test began the moment we pressed Enter, with the end of the test signified by the disappearance of the browser's blue progress bar. We measured speed in seconds, with a lower number indicating faster performance.  We used the latest version of iOS for the iPad, and the Xoom is, of course, using Honeycomb, with all other Android tablets using Android OS 2.2. Contrast ratio and brightnessWe also tested the maximum brightness, default brightness, and contrast ratio for each tablet. We conducted these tests using the Minolta CA-210 display color analyzer. With each screen at full luminosity, we placed the sensor in the middle of the screen. We used a completely white screen to test the brightness and a completely black screen to test the black level. We then divided the maximum brightness by the maximum black level to get the contrast ratio. ConclusionThe iPad 2 battery lasted only a little less than the iPad, but their duration was equal in the gaming battery test. Both iPads lasted longer than the Xoom in gaming, which is likely to translate to users being able to game on their iPads longer than on their Xooms, but not too much longer. Look for more tablet tests later this week.  The following products are available: On Sale Now: $599.00 - $919.96  View the latest prices for Apple iPad (64GB)  On Sale Now: $599.00 - $849.99  View the latest prices for Apple iPad 2 (32GB, WiFi, black)         Eric Franklin     Full Profile E-mail Eric Franklin   E-mail Eric Franklin If you have a question or comment for Eric Franklin, 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       Eric Franklin refused to update his bio, saying, &quot;No one actually reads these things anyway, do they Well, do they Why are you not answering me Oh, you've left the room. Curses!&quot; E-mail Eric.  <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Dairy farm feeds grid with manure and food waste]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=dairy-farm-feeds-grid-with-manure-and-food-waste</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=dairy-farm-feeds-grid-with-manure-and-food-waste</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 04 Apr 2011 07:11:40 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>svetalamv</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=dairy-farm-feeds-grid-with-manure-and-food-waste</guid>
<description><![CDATA[RUTLAND, Mass.--The road up to Jordan Dairy Farm here offers a typical New England view of rolling hills, wood-frame houses, and shade trees. Then up on a hill, there appears a dome-capped silo, a structure that's bringing renewable energy to agriculture. The silo-like building is an anaerobic digester, one of five that will be installed at small dairy farms here in western Massachusetts. If they perform as hoped, they will allow these farmers to reduce their wastes and make some money in the process. They will also recycle food residue that would normally be thrown away. Turning farm waste into biogas (photos) The digester, which is expected to go online in the coming weeks, will convert cow manure from this family-owned dairy farm and food wastes into biogas. That biogas will be pumped into an adjacent generator to make electricity that will be fed to the grid, giving owner Randy Jordan additional revenue beyond milk. Any residual material will be converted into animal bedding and fertilizer for his fields.Anearobic digesters have been on farms for years and even the people behind this project admit that most have fallen into disuse. But the project's organizers have changed how things have traditionally been done, creating a model for these dairy farms to earn some money and reduce their environmental footprint. &quot;Getting a methane digester has been a dream for more than 10 years,&quot; Jordan said standing in a barn that houses his 300 head of dairy cows. &quot;We could have done it with just manure but then we would have had to hire another man just to run it and the numbers didn't work out.&quot;Related links&amp;149' Next wave of recycling Check your dinner plate&amp;149' Garbage to gold: Ways to get value from waste (images) In this case, both manure and liquid food waste from food processing plants will be shipped in, giving the operation more waste volume and more biogas. Farms are part investors along with New England Organics, a division of Casella Waste Systems, which will operate the facility. Since the operation will be making renewable energy, it benefits from a 30 percent federal tax credit.The most significant difference from the majority of farm digesters is that these farms will be making electricity. The 300-kilowatt generator will run on the biogas, a combination of 60 percent methane and 40 percent carbon dioxide, and will operate around the clock, producing an estimated $20,000 a month in additional revenue and enough to power about 2,000 homes, according to New England Organics. Progressive policies also made the project possible, said Jay Kilbourn, director of business development at New England Organics, who was one of the leaders of the tour organized by MassRecycle here last week. In 2008, Massachusetts passed a law that allowed distributed generation systems to get full retail price for electricity fed to the grid, rather than the much lower wholesale price.But because the project is unusual--there are two similar anaerobic digesters operating in Ohio--it still took about five years to go from concept to this point because the rules around permitting don't address this technology. &quot;We had to deal with everything from the definition of biogas not being in the building codes to working with local fire officials, up to dealing with state officials at multiple agencies,&quot; Kilbourn said.Mesophilic bacteriaUsing anaerobic digesters to turn organic material into biogas, which can be burned for heat or electricity, is far more common in Europe. But there has been growing interest in recycling organic material in the U.S. through municipal composting programs. Massachusetts is pushing for collection of organics, including food wastes, to boost the household recycling beyond paper, plastics, and yard waste.The Jordan Farm generates about 10,000 gallons of manure every day. From the barn, manure falls through slots in the barn floor and is collected in a chamber below. Before, Jordan pumped the slurry and stored it until he could pump it onto his fields in the warmer months.Garbage to gold: Ways to get value from waste (Images)  View the full galleryWith the new system, the slurry will be pumped into a storage tank and mixed about half and half with liquid food wastes. The liquid food waste will come from food, juice, or milk processors, who typically have to pay for disposal of their waste, either as waste water or by incinerating the waste. In this case, the food processors will pay the farm to take the waste, which will be transported in trucks.Eventually, New England Organics intends to get feed stocks, in the form of a slurry, from restaurants or grocery stories, said Kilbourn. Wastes need to be separated at the source so they aren't comingled. In the second phase of the project, the company envisions an organic material recycling center in the metro Boston area.To make the biogas, anaerobic digesters rely on naturally occurring microbes that digest organic material and give off methane and carbon dioxide gas. The digester operates with no oxygen at about 100 degrees Fahrenheit. A combined heat and power unit will use the heat from the generator to keep the temperature high and to dry residual material. The starter microbes will come from other digesters.Inside the silo-like structure is a column into which the waste is pumped and where the gas is produced. At the top of the column is a flexible membrane that expands during digestion. Designed as a continuous process, gas is siphoned off and sent to the generator. To maintain the correct milkshake-like consistency, the slurry is aerated at the barn and mixed with big propellers once inside the digester.Any residual material after gas has been produced will be dewatered, creating a fiberous material that can be used for animal bedding. The remaining liquid will be pumped to a storage tank where it will be used to fertilize fields. Since nothing is thrown away, both the energy content and nutrients will be recycled, noted Kilbourne.The farms anticipate getting slightly different food feedstock, so getting the biology right can be tricky process, said Shannon Carroll, who will manage this and the four other anaerobic digesters. The digesters will be heavily instrumented with sensors and connected to the Internet so she can monitor the status of the plants from a PC and remotely control gauges or other settings. New England Organics said the project will cost about $2.5 million, although Kilbourn declined to say what the exact return on the investment is. He said the farms will get a steady financial return in the form of revenue from electricity. But there are significant environmental benefits to removing manure from lagoons, since methane is a potent greenhouse gas and all the organic material is recycled, Kilbourn noted.Jordan said this model could work just about anywhere with a sufficient volume of waste. New England Organics will operate the facility, which means he can continue to focus on farming, but he expects to learn how the digester works along with plant manager Carroll so he's ready when things go wrong. Meanwhile, Jordan is already thinking about putting up a wind turbine on his farm. &quot;Milk and power are both livelihoods for us,&quot; he said. &quot;I want to do it all and I'll just keep cows as a hobby.&quot;<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[FTC to investigate Google's search dominance]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ftc-to-investigate-googles-search-dominance</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ftc-to-investigate-googles-search-dominance</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 04 Apr 2011 07:11:19 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>nycity2010</dc:creator>
<category>Marketing and advertising</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ftc-to-investigate-googles-search-dominance</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The U.S. Federal Trade Commission may soon be adding its name to the list of government agencies investigating Google's dominance of Internet search.The FTC is awaiting the Justice Department's decision on Google's planned acquisition of airline flight and ticket information provider ITA Software before initiating a probe, according to a Bloomberg report that cited people familiar with the matter. The FTC shares antitrust oversight with the Justice Department, which is expected to issue a decision soon on the $700 million deal. Google representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The ATI deal has raised concerns among rival search engine companies such as Microsoft and online travel companies, including Expedia and Travelocity. They have all argued against the deal, saying that it would give the search giant a monopoly over online travel searches. Related links&amp;149' Why Microsoft is taking on Google in Europe&amp;149' Microsoft to file antitrust complaint against Google&amp;149' Has Google learned Microsoft's antitrust lessonsGoogle fields nearly 67 percent of Internet searches in the U.S., according to ComScore market research, and that domination has led to increased scrutiny of the company over the past several years.Microsoft filed an official complaint with the European Union last week, claiming that Google is engaging in anticompetitive behavior in Internet search and online advertising, as well as other sectors. (Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith explained the company's rationale in a blog.)Microsoft was adding its voice to a probe that began when European regulators sent a letter to Google in February 2010 asking the company to explain how it ranks search results and advertising after European price-comparison sites complained that Google penalized their Web sites in search results under competitive pressure.The Texas attorney general's office followed suit with its own antitrust review in September 2010, demanding that Google turn over a broad range of internal documents, including its formula for determining advertising rates and information on the company's closely guarded algorithms that run its search engine and AdWords, Google's system for displaying ads with keyword search results. Ohio and Wisconsin are also said to be considering antitrust probes.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Report: Sprint also planning mobile payment service]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-sprint-also-planning-mobile-payment-service</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-sprint-also-planning-mobile-payment-service</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 04 Apr 2011 07:10:50 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>jerrodsrjr</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-sprint-also-planning-mobile-payment-service</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Sprint is reportedly setting up a mobile payment network via cell phones, Bloomberg reported today.The carrier's Vice President of Product Platforms Kevin McGinnis told Bloomberg that Sprint phones will eventually have near-field communication (NFC) chips inside and those phones can be waved over a terminal installed in retail stores in order to pay for items.Items paid for via NFC will show up on a user's credit card statement, and not their cell phone bill. Sprint will likely not take a percentage of each transaction, but instead take a share of revenue generated from coupons or deals for certain retailers that users would have access to via the mobile payment system, according to the report.Related links&amp;149' Report: Amazon exploring mobile payments via NFC&amp;149' Samsung, Visa to give NFC payments a boost&amp;149' Report: Google one step closer to mobile paymentsAll across the mobile ecosystem, companies are angling for a piece of the burgeoning mobile payments business, including wireless providers, smartphone manufacturers, credit card companies, retailers, and mobile advertisers. T-Mobile, AT&amp;T, and Verizon have already announced they've formed a joint-venture payment system called Isis, which is expected to be ready for mobile customers this fall.Both Amazon and Google are reportedly working on their own mobile payment networks for phones with NFC-enabled chips, and both Microsoft and Apple have reportedly been working on building phones with NFC chips inside.Later this year, Visa is also planning to roll out its own mobile payments system via phones called PayWave.Sprint did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the mobile payments service. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Next iPod Nano to get camera]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=next-ipod-nano-to-get-camera</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=next-ipod-nano-to-get-camera</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 04 Apr 2011 07:10:33 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>mickifhfii</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=next-ipod-nano-to-get-camera</guid>
<description><![CDATA[An alleged picture of what may be the casing for the next iPod Nano.(Credit:apple.pro)Some people were disappointed when Apple chose to shrink the iPod Nano, give it a smaller 1.5-inch multitouch display, and lose the built-in video camera. Well, if this photo from the TaiwaneseMac Blog Apple.pro--which has been fairly reliable with Apple &quot;spy&quot; pics in the past--is any indication, Apple may be bringing the camera back while retaining the current-generation Nano's tiny form factor.It would be interesting to speculate how you'd shoot with such a small camera, but one obvious method would be to clip it on lapel-style, turning the Nano into sort of a spycam with the proper camouflage. As I wrote before, I'm personally more interested in seeing the Nano get Bluetooth (so you can use wireless headphones with it), though combining a camera with Bluetooth would be intriguing, opening up the possibility to broadcast video wirelessly via a Bluetooth cell-phone connection.The next Nano would be the seventh-generation model. If the past is any indication, Apple will unveil its newiPod products in the September time frame.Source: Apple.pro via 9to5Mac<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Verizon to install 100 gigabit network in U.S.]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=verizon-to-install-100-gigabit-network-in-u-s-</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=verizon-to-install-100-gigabit-network-in-u-s-</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 30 Mar 2011 07:10:46 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>kabuuto95</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=verizon-to-install-100-gigabit-network-in-u-s-</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Verizon Communications plans to upgrade segments of its U.S. Internet backbone to 100 Gigabit Ethernet by the end of the second quarter, the carrier said today.The upgrade to 100G will happen in three segments: Chicago to New York, Sacramento to Los Angeles, and Minneapolis to Kansas City.The upgraded network can offer backbone speeds of 100 gigabits per second, up to 10 times faster than is generally now available. Verizon said the upgrade can benefit business customers that increasingly depend on video streaming, cloud-based applications, and other bandwidth-intensive services.Internet backbones use high-speed fiber-optic networks to send data between major routers on the Internet. The various backbones that support the Internet are maintained by different organizations, including telecom companies such as Verizon. Providing a major improvement in performance over 1G and 10G Ethernet and the more recent 40G Ethernet, the 100G Ethernet standard was ratified last summer by the IEEE, or Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.The U.S. effort will follow a deployment earlier this month in Europe, where Verizon set up a 100-Gigabit Ethernet network between routers on a 555-mile stretch from Paris to Frankfurt. As in Europe, Verizon's U.S. backbone upgrade will use Juniper Networks' routers and Ciena's equipment to help the link bridge the long distance between cities.Beyond offering faster speeds, 100G Ethernet is more efficient than other network standards.Verizon can upgrade its current fiber-optic system by simply installing new equipment on the network rather than replacing the underlying infrastructure. The network is also more efficient, according to Verizon, because it can carry traffic on a single 100G wavelength as opposed to 10 different wavelengths, each running at 10 gigabits per second. And the overall efficiency of 100G Ethernet can help cut down on latency, or the total time it takes for the data to reach its destination.&quot;Advancing to 100G is a significant step in strengthening our global IP network to handle the bandwidth demands of our customers--whether it's large enterprises or the average consumer,&quot; Ihab Tarazi, vice president of network planning at Verizon, said today in a statement. &quot;Besides greater scalability and network efficiencies, we also expect 100G deployment to improve latency on a route-by-route basis.&quot;<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[Apple's Schiller: White iPhone will debut in spring]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apples-schiller-white-iphone-will-debut-in-spring</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apples-schiller-white-iphone-will-debut-in-spring</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 14 Mar 2011 07:10:25 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>raslaria</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apples-schiller-white-iphone-will-debut-in-spring</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The elusive whiteiPhone should finally surface this spring, at least according to someone who should know.(Credit:Apple)Responding to a question from 16-year-old Twitter user Eric Anderson asking how to get the white iPhone, Apple's vice president of worldwide product marketing, Phil Schiller, tweeted yesterday that the phone would be available this spring. And in Schiller's opinion, the new phone is a &quot;beauty.&quot;The tale of the white iPhone has been a long and mysterious one since last June's debut of the iPhone 4.Pointing to a delay caused by manufacturing problems, Apple initially said the white version would be available in July. When July came, Apple was forced to push the launch date until later in 2010, admitting that the white handset was proving more &quot;challenging to manufacture than we originally expected.&quot; Then in October, Apple announced yet another postponement, this time pushing back the phone's appearance until this coming spring.Apple hasn't given any specific reasons for the ongoing series of delays, other than citing manufacturing challenges. Some sources claimed the issue has been due to light leaking out and affecting the camera, while others pointed to a mismatch in the color for the home button.Whatever the cause, Apple may have resolved the problem--consider the iPad 2, which debuted this weekend in both white and black.Schiller's tweet also comes on top of a report from an analyst with Concord Securities who said last week that Apple has solved the issues with the white iPhone, which he believes were due to a full-lamination problem that affected the coating of the phone. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo added that Apple is ramping up production this month to ship the white phone at the beginning of April.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Facebook tests souped-up privacy policy]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=facebook-tests-souped-up-privacy-policy</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=facebook-tests-souped-up-privacy-policy</comments>
<pubDate>Sat, 26 Feb 2011 08:10:14 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Redepenning</dc:creator>
<category>Marketing and advertising</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=facebook-tests-souped-up-privacy-policy</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Facebook announced this week that it's seeking user comment on a proposed redesign of its privacy policy that's meant to make the policy easier to understand while bringing the world of legalese-smothered documents into the widget-filled realm of the 21st century.In a post to Facebook's site governance section, the company's privacy team offers a look at its &quot;first attempt&quot; to re-organize, rewrite, and add interactivity to the current policy, which is essentially your standard mass of small black text.Among other potentially interesting re-imaginings, the proposed redesign features an interactive tool intended to demonstrate how profile data is put to use in serving advertisements (click &quot;Personalized ads&quot; and scroll down to &quot;Try this tool&quot;). The tool puts Facebook members into the shoes of someone creating and targeting an ad. It's not clear if users would deem it an educational aid or a nuisance in practice, but that seems to be part of why the potential redesign is being put to public scrutiny in this way.The privacy team says the rough redesign is &quot;outside of even our regular process of notice and comment,&quot; and it continues:&quot;Because we're tackling a challenge that matters to so many people--and doing it in a way that is so different from what we've done before--we're giving you a look even earlier in the process. If people like what we have, we'll put it through our regular notice and comment process at a later date.&quot;Facebook&amp;39's privacy team offers up several illustrations comparing its current, old-school privacy policy with its proposed new approach. This one focuses on interactivity and other such features.(Credit:Facebook)The team also makes it clear that the effort is meant to involve the reorganization and presentation of the privacy policy, not any significant changes to its actual content. &quot;We've tried not to change the substance of the policy but, in our effort to simplify, we have added some new things that were elsewhere on the site (like our help center) and have made some other concepts clearer,&quot; it says.Facebook, of course, has been battered by high-profile complaints from privacy advocates, including a U.S. senator or two. Last year, the company, which hosts the private data of many millions of members around the globe, instituted major changes to user privacy controls in response to such concerns.Still, the company has given some indication that it could continue its &quot;shoot first, ask questions later&quot; approach to privacy-related site changes. It launched a tweak this past January that potentially made users' addresses and phone numbers available to app developers. That change was hastily reconsidered after it touched off yet another kerfuffle about the company's practices.In its post about the redesign, the privacy team speaks proudly of Facebook's &quot;unconventional, innovative spirit.&quot; True, the aforementioned tool for explaining ads could conceivably break new ground in the staid world of &quot;reading the fine print.&quot; (Heck, if you're gonna go interactive, why not get Zynga involved--&quot;MarketingVille&quot; anyone) But the truly visionary move here might just turn out to be the outreach effort itself. Making an extra effort to solicit comment before instituting a privacy-related change For Facebook, that could be the real innovation.You can check out the potential redesign, and leave a comment for the Facebook privacy team, here. And, as always, we encourage you to leave a comment for CNET readers and staff below.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Get backstage at Oscars with your iPad/iPhone]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=get-backstage-at-oscars-with-your-ipadiphone</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=get-backstage-at-oscars-with-your-ipadiphone</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 24 Feb 2011 08:10:26 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>CarPsyday</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=get-backstage-at-oscars-with-your-ipadiphone</guid>
<description><![CDATA[I need to ask you a personal question: when was the last time you had a two-screen experienceI know you'll be able to fill the comments section with your interesting experiments--and hopefully there will be things like watching one movie at the movies, while watching another on youriPad,iPhone, oriPod touch. Thankfully, ABC is thinking of you, the multiple screeners, when it comes to Sunday's Oscars. For you will be able to buy, for a mere 99 cents, the Oscar Backstage Pass app that will screen live backstage footage simultaneously while you're attempting to laugh at Anne Hathaway's scriptwriters' jokes. (Credit:Screenshot: Chris Matyszczyk/CNET) According to The New York Times, there will be more than two dozen cameras backstage, each hoping to capture Tom Hanks gesticulating wildly on the topic of Ricky Gervais, or Leonardo diCaprio explaining how it is he made &quot;Shutter Island&quot; and &quot;Inception&quot; and tried to play the same character twice and see if anyone would notice. You will even have the chance to wander into the Governor's Ball, stare at the dresses, and, hopefully, see at least one or two stars who have let their hair down (I am not specifically referring to John Travolta here) and begun to sound like Marlon Brando in his mumbling period. The Oscars' own Web site is also allowing you a peek. Though some might feel it has pricing ideas beyond its exalted station by charging $4.99 for its full 32-camera intrusion. I do think of this two-screen action as a coming trend. Personally, I find watching &quot;Keeping Up With the Kardashians&quot; while writing elegiac poetry on my laptop an especially productive experience. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Report: Apple's subscription plan draws antitrust scrutiny]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-apples-subscription-plan-draws-antitrust-scrutiny</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-apples-subscription-plan-draws-antitrust-scrutiny</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 17 Feb 2011 08:10:54 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>kermiteac</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-apples-subscription-plan-draws-antitrust-scrutiny</guid>
<description><![CDATA[U.S. antitrust investigators are examining the terms Apple placed this week on publishers wishing to sell digital subscriptions through the App Store, according to a Wall Street Journal report that cited people familiar with the matter.The Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission are interested in whether Apple is violating antitrust laws by routing customers through Apple's App Store and taking a 30 percent cut of each subscription, sources told the newspaper. Regulators' interest in the subscription terms is reportedly preliminary and might not lead to a formal investigation.Representatives for Apple, the Justice Department, and the Federal Trade Commission did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Apple announced Tuesday it was launching a subscription service for magazines, newspapers, videos, and music bought through its App Store. Apple said that publishers would be allowed to set the price and the length of the subscription terms but that Apple would handle the payments through its App Store, for which it would receive 30 percent of the revenue. The relationship between the publisher and the App Store isn't exclusive' publishers can sell subscriptions on their own site or offer free access to existing customers, Apple said. However, the Apple subscription system uses the same billing information already on file at the App Store, making it a convenient option for many consumers. And publishers wishing to use the App Store to get their content on Apple devices such as theiPad must make it available via the online store at the best available price. In addition, publishers' apps would be prohibited from linking to stores outside the App Store or offering more attractive prices elsewhere.Apple's requirement that publishers offer the same subscription prices for the app as it does outside of it could &quot;bump into the common publisher practice of selling subscriptions at different prices across [distribution] channel's,&quot; Chuck McCullagh, a former senior vice president with the Magazine Publishers Association of America, told CNET's Greg Sandoval this week. Some of those channels include the publisher's Web site, direct mail, and newsstands.The day after Apple officially shared details of its new App Store subscription plan, Google announced the launch of One Pass, its online charging service for newspapers and magazines. Google's rival service offers two big differences from Apple's: content providers will get to keep 90 percent of revenue from One Pass sales and publishers will retain control of consumer data.The App Store has raised antitrust regulators' interest before. At issue last May were the restrictions placed on programming languages used to createiPhone apps. Changes to the company's developer agreement prompted both the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice to consider whether Apple might be unfairly squeezing out competitors. The software development kit license for iPhone OS 4 precluded using other platforms that allow developers to make one application that runs on multiple devices. However, Apple announced in September it would allow developers to create applications with just about any tool they want, relieving that antitrust concern.Disclosure: Chuck McCullagh is the father of CNET reporter Declan McCullagh.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Nvidia CEO: Future laptops will mirror MacBook Air]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=nvidia-ceo-future-laptops-will-mirror-macbook-air</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=nvidia-ceo-future-laptops-will-mirror-macbook-air</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 16 Feb 2011 08:10:05 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>CocoChanel</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=nvidia-ceo-future-laptops-will-mirror-macbook-air</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Nvidia's CEO added his two cents to an increasingly popular theory on laptop design: that is, the MacBook Air as a template for all future designs. The Toshiba AC110, based on an Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, hints at what&amp;39's to come.(Credit:Toshiba)In case you're wondering where the laptop is headed--circa 2014--Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang offered what could be considered a highly educated guess in response to a question I posed to him in a phone interview today. &quot;You'll have trouble finding one that doesn't look like the MacBook Air,&quot; he said. &quot;I think the Macbook Air is a good mental image of what a clamshell laptop will look like.&quot; &quot;They'll be thin because you won't need any heat pipes, the fan, and extra batteries to lug around,&quot; according to Huang. Nvidia chips have played an important role in the MacBook Air. Apple chose Nvidia graphics silicon beginning with the second-generation Air. And its role eclipsed that of Intel in the 2010 MBA (third generation): Nvidia's GeForce 320M graphics processor is the only major logic chip to see a significant upgrade in the Air (Intel's silicon changed very little from second- to third-generation). But Huang's vision for the future laptop goes beyond today's Air. It is rooted in devices running on power-sipping ARM chips, of which Nvidia is now a major supplier totablet makers like Motorola, Samsung, and LG. And by 2014, ARM laptops will likely be running a full-blown version of Windows--if that's even necessary in light of the burgeoning popularity Google's Android, which runs almost predominantly on ARM. Speaking of Android, if the present is prelude to what's to come, the Toshiba AC110 represents the future of extremely thin and light laptops thanks to its use of an ARM-based Nvidia Tegra 2 processor. And don't think will they will be slow. Nvidia is already hawking a third-generation quad-core Tegra processor that should make it into tablets this year. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Will Apple find publishing execs 'technologically innocent']]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=will-apple-find-publishing-execs-technologically-innocent</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=will-apple-find-publishing-execs-technologically-innocent</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 15 Feb 2011 08:10:07 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>siringbim252</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=will-apple-find-publishing-execs-technologically-innocent</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Newspaper and magazine publishers are mulling over the price that Apple requires to be part of The iPad and App Store. (Credit:James Martin)While there's no shortage of people criticizing Apple's new App Store subscription service, some executives at major media companies are still unsure what to think. Some said Apple's plan to allow app publishers to sell subscriptions for the first time through the iTunes App Store was a step in the right direction. Others saw many of Apple's new requirements for app sales, which include a guarantee that publishers offer their best subscription price at the App Store, as the newest way for the company to grab more control of online media. One possible reason for why reaction was so mixed was that Apple didn't prepare the media world for what it intended to offer. Apple was expected to roll out a subscription service, sure, but the company doesn't appear to have sought any early feedback from some of the nation's top media companies. An executive at a top newspaper said leaders there were huddling in the afternoon to try to understand the significance of Apple's announcement. A manager at a media conglomerate said most companies would have tested reaction by running the plan past top publishers before going public. Not Apple. In a Rolling Stones interview, Steve Jobs called music industry leaders &amp;39'technologically innocent.&amp;39' How will he find magazine and newspaper execs(Credit:Rolling Stone)The magazine and newspaper sectors are among the most affected by today's announcement. Since theiPad went on sale last spring, Apple has mostly limited their app sales to individual issues. But they aren't the only industries that must figure out whether the iPad and the App Store are now a viable option. Companies such as Netflix, the Web's top movie-rental service, and Spotify, a popular European streaming music trying to make the jump to the United States, could be forced to start paying Apple 30 percent of the subscription fees they see from the App store, although that sounds difficult to believe in Netflix's case. Netflix's distribution network now includes more than 200 devices and the company boasts more than 20 million paying subscribers. The iPad and thetablet market, on the other hand, are still early in their development and soon a glut of iPad competitors will debut. Netflix could conceivably swat Apple's demands away by announcing that anyone signing up for Netflix via the App Store would be forced to pay 30 percent more--thanks to Apple. So, which company needs the other more Spokesmen for Netflix and Spotify didn't respond to interview requests. The dealHere's a couple of questions: if Apple execs didn't run the new requirements past big media companies, can Apple be sure how they will respond What if Apple succeeds only in pushing them into the arms of Amazon or another competitorAt first glance, Apple appears to have yielded ground to magazine and newspaper companies. The Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple said publishers now have the ability to sell subscriptions through the App Store, which they didn't have before. Where Apple once took 30 percent from every app sale, the company now says publishers can sell their iTunes apps on their own sites or elsewhere and Apple won't expect a cent. But if Apple became more flexible in some areas, it didn't budge nearly enough on other important issues, such as the sharing of customer information, say observers. In prior talks, Apple refused to hand over customer data, such as names and e-mail addresses, to publishers. Now the company says it will share info with publishers only if a subscriber permits it. That is unlikely to go far enough to appease some publishing companies, experts said. In other ways, Apple became even more restrictive. The company will no longer allow apps to include links to other app-selling sites and established a most-favored nation stipulation. Publishers that sell their iTunes apps from their own sites or third-party Web stores must offer the same price, or less, at iTunes. Web pundits howled over this one. Some suggested Apple is trying to fix prices, and even The Wall Street Journal speculated that the company could be inviting antitrust scrutiny. Tablet kingsSome newspaper publishers suspect Apple is trying to lock them into the App Store and is &quot;setting itself up as a toll taker,&quot; according to Joshua Benton, director of Harvard's Nieman Journalism Lab who formerly worked for the Dallas Morning News. &quot;It's disappointing to learn that in exchange for the convenience of a 'Buy' button in their iPad app,&quot; Benton wrote, &quot;[publishers will] have to give up 30 percent of the revenue.&quot;Benton also noted that Apple's offer to allow newspapers and magazines to keep the revenue generated from outside sales won't mean much. Newspapers already enjoy a relationship with older audiences so converting them isn't a necessity. The iPad is supposed to help draw younger audiences, and they are likely to discover a new digital publication, not from picking up a newspaper ad but from finding it on the iTunes store. When they do, the newspapers must hand over 30 percent to Apple.No doubt Apple and the iPad are the kings of the tablet market, but the company is also taking a big risk. Magazine and newspaper publishers won't like much of what Apple proposes, but it goes further than that. There's plenty of distrust of Apple in many media circles. Nobody talks about Apple making a foray into a new area without bringing up the music industry. After Apple all but took ownership of the music sector's digital distribution, the company began dictating terms on pricing, promotion and practically anything else that mattered. The top record companies have been looking for an iTunes challenger to loosen Apple's grip for 10 years.Back when iTunes first launched, Apple CEO Steve Jobs was dealing with music industry executives who didn't have a lot of tech savvy. He once called them &quot;technologically innocent.&quot;The question now is, as magazine and newspaper publishers try to navigate the new tablet world that Apple helped to forge, are they just as &quot;innocent.&quot; <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Mozilla embracing Chrome's fast-rev ethos]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mozilla-embracing-chromes-fast-rev-ethos</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mozilla-embracing-chromes-fast-rev-ethos</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 07 Feb 2011 08:10:02 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>eczema</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mozilla-embracing-chromes-fast-rev-ethos</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Mozilla has a new plan forFirefox in 2011: Turn the crank faster.The organization is set to deliver Firefox 4 in coming weeks. And according to a draft Firefox roadmap, Mike Beltzner, Mozilla's director of Firefox, proposed releasing versions 5, 6, and 7 in 2011, too. This fast-release ethos, pioneered in the browser world by Google's Chrome, means smaller changes arrive more frequently.For comparison, Firefox 1 arrived in 2004, Firefox 2 in 2006, Firefox 3 in 2008, with Firefox 4 slipping past a hoped-for 2010 ship date and likely to slip past another date set for the end of February.The faster schedule is designed to make Firefox more competitive by getting new features into users' hands faster. According to Beltzner:We succeeded in re-energizing the browser market, creating competition and innovation which benefits Web application developers and users alike. This newly competitive market has presented challenges for the continued success of Firefox, and in 2011 we must ensure that we can deliver a product that is compelling to users in order to continue to be able to demonstrate our vision for the Web. To do this we must:&amp;149' provide a browser that is stable and responsive,&amp;149' build a product for modern desktop and mobile hardware,&amp;149' provide a simple set of features and experiences to help users get the most out of the Web,&amp;149' support Web technologies that are desired most by application developers and users,&amp;149' deliver those technology improvements quickly to our user base.It's not easy turning the crank faster, though.&quot;Changing the way we ship products will require the re-evaluation of many assumptions and a large shift in the way we think about the size of a 'major' release,&quot; Beltzner said. &quot;The criteria for inclusion should be no regressions [new bugs], well understood effects for users, and completion in time for a planned release vehicle.&quot;Firefox's share of worldwide browser usage has remained largely flat, with Chrome andSafari steadily picking up usage in recent months. Chrome, which often serves as a vehicle for Google to promote favored new technologies, moved last year from a quarterly release cycle to an even faster one with twice that pace.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Can The Daily beat free news sources on iPad]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=can-the-daily-beat-free-news-sources-on-ipad</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=can-the-daily-beat-free-news-sources-on-ipad</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 02 Feb 2011 08:10:55 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>healthcentral</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=can-the-daily-beat-free-news-sources-on-ipad</guid>
<description><![CDATA[(Credit:The Daily)Watching with great interest (and a little skepticism) the launch of The Daily, the newiPad new publication, it's easy to marvel at the design, technology, and ambitious scale of the project. But after spending a few hours leafing through the inaugural issue, you are left with the same nagging questions. Will readers pay 99-cents a week, or $40 a year, for what is essentially a daily downloadable news app, especially when so much high-quality news is available online at no costThe real litmus test (at least for someone such as myself, having worked in newspapers, magazines, and broadcasting before the Web), is whether The Daily can make itself truly indispensable in a world acclimated to 24-hour news cycles and feature-free blogs and RSS feeds. Free iPad news alternatives to The Daily (screenshots) Since the iPad's April 2010 launch, I've developed what I think is a pretty killer daily reading list, designed to give me a look at the day's top issues from a variety of perspectives. Interestingly, while I initially used reader apps, such as Pulse, for content aggregation, I've since gone back to simply using the iPad'sSafari browser, and I choose news outlets that format themselves well to being viewed and navigated on a touch screen. While The Daily's scope and deep editorial bench are impressive, the product is by its nature not as dynamic or real-time as Web-based news, and largely ignores the most basic of interactive features--the outgoing link to another Web page or publication. There are a handful of Web links, but they launch in their own feature-free mini browser, rather than in Safari. (I once worked at a media company skittish about linking out to other sites...back in 1999). And while the team behind The Daily certainly has editorial experience and credentials to spare, will it really have the boots-on-the-ground ability, or the institutional memory, to master complex global stories Put another way, I'm not yet convinced The Daily can compete with my preferred one-two punch of the New York Times and The Atlantic for up-to-the-minute current events reporting and analysis. I've put together a quick tour of my daily iPad reading list. It's not designed for everyone or every topic, but I do consider myself a lifelong news addict, and I find the iPad mostly ideal for news consumption (my biggest current complaint is that the videos on CharlieRose.com are in Flash and won't play on the iPad). My main criteria for inclusion are: Good-to-excellent formatting in Safari on the iPadReal-time updates to contentEasy to read with plain black text on a white backgroundQuick loading, even on a 3G connectionFew, if any, intrusive adsNo registration required (with a single exception for the New York Times)Peruse the full list in the slideshow here, and let me know which sites you'd recommend instead in the comments section below. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Report: Verizon asks employees to delay iPhone purchases]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-verizon-asks-employees-to-delay-iphone-purchases</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-verizon-asks-employees-to-delay-iphone-purchases</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 02 Feb 2011 08:10:30 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>resbimmarlk</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-verizon-asks-employees-to-delay-iphone-purchases</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Verizon Wireless doesn't want to see the iPhone in its employees&amp;39' hands any times soon.(Credit:Bonnie Cha/CNET)Citing expected &quot;unprecedented&quot; demand for Verizon Wireless' forthcomingiPhone 4, the carrier is asking its employees to delay iPhone 4 purchases, according to a memo obtained by AppleInsider.&quot;Customers and non-customers alike have waited for years to see this product on America's most reliable wireless network. Demand will be unprecedented,&quot; Verizon Wireless Chief Operating Officer John Stratton wrote in an e-mail addressed to &quot;U.S.-Based Management Employees.&quot; &quot;To help ensure we meet customer demand for iPhones, Verizon is urging employees and their families to postpone purchases of the popular smartphone, whether online or in retail stores, for the time being.&quot;&quot;I know customers aren't the only ones who are excited--employees are, too. While I share your excitement, over the coming weeks we all need to do our part to meet our customers' needs--this means putting our customers first,&quot; Stratton wrote.Verizon Wireless representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The newVerizon iPhone is expected to be a hot seller when it goes on sale February 10. Verizon executives have not provided exact projections for iPhone sales, but they say that analyst estimates of 11 million new subscribers for the iPhone are likely accurate.The company announced last month that it added more than 800,000 new subscribers during the fourth quarter as it prepares for the launch of the Verizon iPhone. When Verizon announced the impending availability of the iPhone on its network, the company said current customers would be allowed to preregister for the device beginning tomorrow, giving them first crack at the CDMA iPhone.Related:  CNET's full Verizon iPhone reviews<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[In browser fight, Microsoft's silver lining grows]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=in-browser-fight-microsofts-silver-lining-grows</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=in-browser-fight-microsofts-silver-lining-grows</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 01 Feb 2011 08:10:17 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>starnowyar</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=in-browser-fight-microsofts-silver-lining-grows</guid>
<description><![CDATA[IE continues to lose share of the browser market to Chrome and Safari, but the losses come from older versions.(Credit:Data from Net Applications' chart by Stephen Shankland/CNET)When Microsoft starts pointing to statistics that don't make it look so great, you can expect the company has a strong turnaround plan in place. Today's example: its share of browser usage.Microsoft, while still the top browser maker, saw Internet Explorer slide as a fraction of worldwide usage from 57.1 percent in December 2010 to 56 percent in January, according to statistics from analytics firm Net Applications released today. That decline continues a years-long trend for the company, which first lost share to Mozilla'sFirefox but now is losing it primarily to Google's Chrome and Apple'sSafari.Specifically, from December to January, Mozilla stayed flat at 22.8 percent, Chrome rose from 10 percent to 10.7, Safari rose from 5.9 percent to 6.3 percent, and Opera rose from 2.2 percent to 2.3 percent.But there's an important detail hidden in the statistics--namely, the makeup of the different versions of IE. Microsoft is actively trying to discourage use of decade-old IE6, which is the bane of Web developers who want to use modern programming features, and to encourage adoption ofIE8 and forthcoming IE9.With that view, Microsoft has got more to show for itself. Here's how Roger Capriotti, director of Internet Explorer product marketing, put it in a blog post today:Internet Explorer 6...continued its decline, with a 1.77 [percentage point] drop reaching 12.03 percent in January worldwide. IE6 has dropped 3.9 [percentage points] over the last three months (an average of 1.3 [percentage point] drop per month) and 9.31 percent from a year ago. During that same time, IE8 has grown 9.15 [percentage points] since January 2010. This trend is even more accelerated in the commercial segment. I blogged last year that [among commercial users] IE6 usage share was already at 10.3 percent, and IE8 at 34.1 percent last November.So Microsoft has some trends in its favor--thus, the earlier point about Microsoft's willingness to spotlight statistics that don't look great at first glance.Here's an earlier example. With IE9, which embraces a host of new Web standards and emphasizes hardware-accelerated performance, Microsoft is eager to have a cutting-edge browser. In IE9's infancy, Microsoft was willing to point out how poorly it fared on the Acid3 test of various browser features, but the browser's score has steadily improved with each new version. By the way, IE9 accounted for 0.5 percent of browser usage in January, up only a smidgen from December. Expect that to change, though. It's still in beta testing, but expect a release candidate soon--likely February 10, judging by an invitation to a Microsoft IE event.Of course, Chrome and Safari are growing, too, but without much of the prior-version cannibalization. Another qualifier: even usage statistics that remain flat in percentage terms represent significant growth in absolute terms, since the overall number of browser users are increasing.Modern browsers are critical to a widespread trend on the Net: the development of increasingly sophisticated Web applications. People are spending ever more time on sites such as Google Docs or Facebook, so the higher performance and elaborate user interfaces enabled by modern browsers play a starring role in people's satisfaction with the Web. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Cell phones in the sky: Airlines that allow mobile use]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=cell-phones-in-the-sky-airlines-that-allow-mobile-use</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=cell-phones-in-the-sky-airlines-that-allow-mobile-use</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 31 Jan 2011 08:10:51 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>dezoxe</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=cell-phones-in-the-sky-airlines-that-allow-mobile-use</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Few things in air travel are as polarizing as cell phone use on commercial flights. Though many people quake at the thought of being sealed in a metal tube next to a loud talker, others aren't quite as concerned with peace and quiet. Similarly, while some travelers savor the idea of being out of touch for a few hours, others can't bear the thought of going more than a few minutes without checking their e-mail or updating their Facebook status.In the United States, at least, such a debate is moot since the Federal Aviation Administration shows no sings of budging from its firm &quot;no phones&quot; rule in the sky. But outside our airspace, some international airlines have introduced cell phone use while aloft. The services are available only on select flights, and exactly what you can do with your phone will vary, but more airlines are warming to the idea.Most restrict use to &quot;silent&quot; activities like texting and e-mail, but four airlines--Emirates, Saudi Arabian, TAM, and Malaysia--allow you to make voice calls. Takeoff and landing are still times when your handset must be powered off, but calling Mom is now an option if you're flying to Dubai, Riyadh, Sao Paulo, or Kuala Lumpur. And in case you're keeping score, Emirates is the only airline to install showers on certain aircraft.The technology, which doesn't use standard cell towers, is provided through two companies, AeroMobile and OnAir (Aircraft manufacturer Airbus is a partner in the latter company). In OnAir's case, a &quot;leaky cable&quot; inside the plane broadcasts the cellular signal in the cabin and also converts your communications into a satellite signal. And don't worry about possible interference, as neither company's technology will interfere with navigational systems. Of course, whether that interference even happens is a whole other debate.Keep in mind that in an era when airlines charge for food and pillows, using your phone won't come cheap. For voice calls you should count on paying at least $3 per minute. Data charges will vary, but count on them being pricey as well. If you have an opinion on in-flight calling--and I'm sure that most of you do--be sure to answer our poll or leave your comment below.table.geekbox th{background-color:E6ECEF'text-align:left'font-weight:bold'}table{width:100%'}table.geekbox tr.even{background-color:CCCCCC'}.ratingGood{color:093'} .ratingAverage{color:666'} .ratingBad{color:C00'}AirlineWhich flightsVoice callsTextingE-mail/dataAeroflotSelect short-haul flightsXXAir AsiaSelect short-haul flightsXXBritish AirwaysFlights between London City Airport and JFKXXEmiratesSelect long-haul flightsXXXEgyptAirSelect long-haul flightsXXLibyan AirlinesSelect short-haul flightsXXMalaysia AirlinesSelect Boeing 777 flightsXXXOman AirSelect Airbus A330 flightsXXQatar AirwaysSelect Airbus A320 flightsXXRoyal JordanianSelect short-haul flightsXXSaudi Arabian AirlinesSelect Airbus A330 flightsXXXTAMSelect Airbus A321 flightsXXXTAP PortugalSelect Airbus A319 flightsXXWataniya AirwaysSelect short-haul flightsXXAirlines that have announced cell phone serviceAir New ZealandCathay PacificLufthansaSingaporeTurkish AirlinesV AustraliaVirgin AtlanticAirlines that have completed trials of cell phone useAir FranceQantasRyanair<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Five bargain TVs worth taking a chance on]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=five-bargain-tvs-worth-taking-a-chance-on</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=five-bargain-tvs-worth-taking-a-chance-on</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 31 Jan 2011 08:10:49 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>ulucysmiley</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=five-bargain-tvs-worth-taking-a-chance-on</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The 40-inch Samsung LN40C530 may have some small shortcomings, but it&amp;39's inexpensive and has a nice design.(Credit:Samsung)When it comes to TVs, everybody likes to know what CNET--and in particular, senior editor David Katzmaier--thinks are the best models. That's why we have top products lists and why a lot of people tend to check out the sets on those lists. But then there's a whole group of TVs David doesn't get a chance to review that are popular with readers and show up high in CNET traffic reports.Those models usually are more entry-level sets that manufacturers tend to avoid sending to us because they know we grade pretty tough and it's not worth risking a middling or bad review. Not that we necessarily would dole out a bad grade for these products, but most of these &quot;hot&quot; sets share one thing in common: they're value priced for their size. So, as we head into Super Bowl weekend, here's a look at 5 sets that a lot of readers are looking at right now. We can't tell you exactly how good they are because, as I said, we haven't reviewed, but they all offer appealing price points. Toshiba 55HT1U: This &quot;basic&quot; 55-inch 120 Hz LCD TV can be had for $999, which is a good price for a 55-inch LCD TV. This is a non LED model and while we haven't been too enthused about Toshiba's offerings in the recent past, if you're not a stickler for the best picture in the world, the 55HT1U appears to be a reasonable deal. However, we can't tell you if it's any better than the Vizio E550VL, which offers similar specs for the same price. (We gave the Vizio 2.5 stars in our full review of that set).Panasonic TC-P50CR: We've noticed that a lot of folks have been looking at this 50-inch 720p plasma from Panasonic. That's because it can be had for as low as $600. While it doesn't offer 1080p, this would certainly make for a decent bedroom set (or would be fine for the playroom for the kids). Unless you're using a computer with your TV, you just won't notice much difference between 720p and 1080p, particularly if you're watching from a reasonable distance.Samsung PN50C490: This is a 50-inch 720p3DTV that goes for around $800. It's just not going to give you great picture quality but for someone looking at a second set for a bedroom or playroom that has 3D capabilities, this has some appeal at this price point.Vizio Razor M470NV: This 47-inch LED-backlit LCD TV with Vizio's Internet app (it's a &quot;connected&quot; TV) is priced around $999 (without shipping), which is right about the lowest price you'll see for an LED backlit TV at this size and break that magic $1,000 barrier. While we haven't reviewed this model, higher-end models like the Vizio XVT3SV series have done well in our reviews lately. Note: The step-up Vizio M550NV, a 55-inch model with the same features, retails for around $1,350.Samsung LN40C530: This 40-Inch 1080p LCD TV is 60Hz model (as opposed to 120HZ), but it looks nice cosmetically and only costs $549. We haven't reviewed it but the user opinions are very favorable and it seems well suited for bedroom or playroom duty.If you've run into any other TVs you consider good deals, post them in the comments section. While we don't like to endorse sets we haven't fully reviewed, we'll do our best to help steer you away from anything that you shouldn't buy.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[New array of telescopes could help search for E.T.]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=new-array-of-telescopes-could-help-search-for-e-t-</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=new-array-of-telescopes-could-help-search-for-e-t-</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 27 Jan 2011 08:10:57 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>sbvoor</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=new-array-of-telescopes-could-help-search-for-e-t-</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Multiple antennas of the LWA-1 station of the Long Wavelength Array in central New Mexico.(Credit:NASA)A new telescope array could bring us closer to better understanding the universe and perhaps even answer an age-old question: are we aloneTapping into the combined power of 13,000 individual antennas, the new Long Wavelength Array will be able to scan our corner of the galaxy using a wide and rarely explored range of frequencies, according to NASA. That power will give it the ability to find new worlds beyond our solar system by scanning for their radio waves.Led by the University of New Mexico and joined by NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab, which is supplying the digital electronic systems, the project will start off small this summer by powering up 256 antennas in central New Mexico. Once it's completed, though, the Long Wavelength Array will contain 53 stations with the 13,000 antennas taking up a space 248 miles in diameter.Beyond looking for distant worlds, the telescope array will be able to detect other events among the stars, those that occur naturally and possibly some that don't.&quot;We'll be looking for the occasional celestial flash,&quot; Joseph Lazio, a radio astronomer at JPL, said in a statement. &quot;These flashes can be anything from explosions on surfaces of nearby stars, deaths of distant stars, exploding black holes, or even perhaps transmissions by other civilizations.&quot;The Long Wavelength Array will use a radio frequency of 20 to 80 megahertz, says NASA, which corresponds to wavelengths of 49.2 feet to 12.5 feet. That's significant because these frequencies point to one of the last and least explored regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. On Earth, scientists will be able to examine high-resolution, detailed images of regions in space that are hundreds of times larger than the full moon.Radio astronomy and the project itself are the beneficiaries of lower costs and advances in technology, such as enhanced image processing, according to NASA. As a result, researchers are now able to grab a much better glimpse of the galaxy and learn more about the universe in which we live.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Hey, interested in robotic dinosaurs from China]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=hey-interested-in-robotic-dinosaurs-from-china</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=hey-interested-in-robotic-dinosaurs-from-china</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 13 Jan 2011 08:10:34 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>nicesteroon</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=hey-interested-in-robotic-dinosaurs-from-china</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Eat your heart out, Spielberg.(Credit:Alex from China) So if you look just below the end of this post, you'll see my bio. All of us here at Crave have similar bios, including contact information. Consequently, we get a ton of e-mails. Some are from readers (and I'm sorry I don't have time to respond to them all). We also get e-mails from manufacturers in China. Take this one I got this morning from what appears to be a Chinese manufacturer of dinosaurs named Alex. Here's the copy:helloI am China dinosaur factory .Hope that you know our product more .Also hope that we can establish long-term cooperative relation.Thanks, Alex, sounds fun! But that's not the great part. The great part is the photos, one above, and the rest included below.Herbivores!(Credit:Alex from China)Imagine a &amp;34'rawr&amp;34' sound in your head. Yeah, he&amp;39's doing that.(Credit:Alex from China)As I said, life-size, right(Credit:Alex from China)Just last week I was talking with a friend about where I could find some life-size animatronic dinosaurs, and just like that, boom! Right into my inbox. Alex also included information about the control panels, which apparently include a microphone. My dino will recite Mark Twain, I think.Sadly, I don't really have a budget for robot dinosaurs, and I'm actually quite afraid that they'd malfunction, go crazy, and eat me and everyone I love alive. I'm sorry, Alex, but it's just not worth the risk.But that's me. Maybe you need giant robotic dinos If so, Alex has a Web site where you can see them in action and even order your own. Maybe you can establish a long-term cooperative relation!        Matt Hickey    Full Profile E-mail Matt Hickey   E-mail Matt Hickey If you have a question or comment for Matt Hickey, you can submit it here. However, because our editors and writers receive hundreds of requests, we cannot tell you when you may receive a response.   Submit your question or comment here: 0 of 1500 characters       With more than 15 years experience testing hardware (and being obsessed with it), Crave freelance writer Matt Hickey can tell the good gadgets from the great. He also has a keen eye for future technology trends. Matt has blogged for publications including TechCrunch, CrunchGear, and most recently, Gizmodo. Matt is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CBS Interactive. E-mail Matt.  <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[At last, iPhone comes to Verizon]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=at-last-iphone-comes-to-verizon</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=at-last-iphone-comes-to-verizon</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 11 Jan 2011 08:10:22 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>newsEgor76</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=at-last-iphone-comes-to-verizon</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Apple COO Tim Cook and Verizon COO Lowell McAdam on stage at the Verizon iPhone announcement this morningAt a press conference in New York City today, Verizon said it will soon begin selling Apple'siPhone. The device will be available on its network starting in early February, COO Lowell McAdam said to a gathering of press at Lincoln Center. It's the same model iPhone 4 that AT&amp;T and international carriers currently sell except that it connects to the CDMA network instead of GSM.Starting on February 10, a 16GB model will cost $199.99 with a two-year contract, according to Verizon Wireless' Web site. The 32GB model will sell for $299.99. An extra feature Verizon will offer is the phone's ability to be a personal Wi-Fi &quot;hot spot.&quot; Up to five Wi-Fi devices can connect to the Verizon iPhone at one time. Despite early rumblings, Steve Jobs did not join McAdam on stage for the announcement. That job fell to Apple COO Tim Cook. He told the gathering of press that Apple is &quot;very excited to bring the iPhone to Verizon's 93 million customers and new customers who want to use the iPhone 4 on Verizon.&quot; Verizon's customers will get first dibs on the phone. On February 3, a week before the scheduled launch, existing subscribers will have opportunity to pre-order the phone. McAdam did not delve into any details about pricing plans during the event. (See CNET's first take of the new iPhone here.)Despite the white version of the iPhone 4 being listed in Verizon's marketing materials on its Web site, a Verizon representative told CNET there is no confirmed date when the white model will be available. The white iPhone 4 for all carriers has been delayed several times since June.Speculation that a Verizon iPhone announcement was coming today had been rampant following a press invitation from the carrier Friday announcing a &quot;news&quot; event. But rumors of such a device have been around for years. At the event this morning, McAdam acknowledged the speculation, joking, &quot;If the press writes something long enough and hard enough, it comes true.&quot;Verizon getting its hands on the iPhone means AT&amp;T is no longer the only iPhone carrier in the U.S. AT&amp;T reportedly had an exclusive contract with Apple for what was initially reported to be five years, starting in 2007. McAdam said the journey to bring the iPhone to Verizon began two years ago. In 2008, they talked about bringing an iPhone to the CDMA network and it was designed and tested &quot;to make sure it would come up to the standards of Verizon.&quot; Despite its launch of almost a dozen 4G phones for its upcoming LTE network atCES last week, the iPhone Verizon sells will use CDMA technology, not LTE. Apple's Cook said there were two reasons for that: the first generation of LTE chipsets &quot;forced design compromises,&quot; and &quot;Verizon customers want the iPhone now.&quot; Though it will be first, Verizon does not have an exclusive contract to carry the CDMA model iPhone, Cook said. That means we can likely expect announcements from CDMA carriers in other countries in the next few months. While Apple did not redesign the iPhone 4's infamous wraparound antenna band in the course of building the CDMA model for Verizon, there has been at least one subtle design change: the ringer/mute switch on the left side was moved down slightly. That means iPhone 4 cases currently in stores and bumpers won't fit this model. Corrected at 9:42 a.m. PT with accurate information about the availability of the white iPhone 4. Though Verizon has listed it in its press materials, it will not be available next month.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[CES: Philips intros first wireless HDMI Blu-ray player]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ces-philips-intros-first-wireless-hdmi-blu-ray-player</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ces-philips-intros-first-wireless-hdmi-blu-ray-player</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 07 Jan 2011 08:10:31 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Commodorrenite</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ces-philips-intros-first-wireless-hdmi-blu-ray-player</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The Philips BDP7580 is due out in April for $499.99.(Credit:David Carnoy/CNET)LAS VEGAS--If you always wished you had a Blu-ray player equipped with wireless HDMI to stream video from across the room to a wall-mounted TV, Philips has a new solution: the BDP7580 wireless HDMI Blu-ray player.Due out in April with a price tag of $499.99, the BDP7580 offers 3D playback, NetTV, Netflix, and Blockbuster streaming, as well as Philips MediaConnect, which allows you to stream content from your PC to your TV via a Wi-Fi connection. NetTV is Philips' integrated Internet TV feature that offers a built-in browser for accessing standard Web sites, including Facebook and Twitter. The Vudu video streaming service is also available as part of NetTV. Philips was showing the BDP7580 in action at a hotel suite here atCES and we watched some 3D content (that's why the picture on the screen looks blurry--because it's in 3D). All in all, it seemed to work well without any hiccups, and while the $500 price tag is pretty high, it's not as outrageous as what some of the earlier wireless HDMI options cost.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Apple job posts suggest voice is key to iOS success]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apple-job-posts-suggest-voice-is-key-to-ios-success</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apple-job-posts-suggest-voice-is-key-to-ios-success</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 21 Dec 2010 08:10:19 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>healthcentral</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apple-job-posts-suggest-voice-is-key-to-ios-success</guid>
<description><![CDATA[(Credit:Apple)Apple has posted job listings for engineers specializing in voice technologies such as speech recognition, iOS software development for speech applications, and speech research. Apple recently filed for patents related to greater integration of voice commands throughoutiPhone,iPad, andiPod Touch apps, including a customizable API that developers could use to include voice control in their software. The recent job postings on Apple's Web site suggest that this patent, along with other voice control technologies (such as the purchase of Siri earlier this year), are being taken seriously. Each of the four open positions relate specifically to sectors of voice technology, namely:  Senior Speech Research ScientistiOS Speech Application Engineer2 Speech Recognition Engineers Perhaps Steve Jobs and Apple are envisioning an OS that can be controlled by your voice alone. Certainly, speech recognition and commands have been around for a while in the computer world, but it doesn't seem like Apple is giving up on it just yet. Does this signal that a new, voice-controlled OS is on the way from Apple Let me know your thoughts in the comments! <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[SUNY to get Microsoft's Live@edu program]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=suny-to-get-microsofts-liveedu-program</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=suny-to-get-microsofts-liveedu-program</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 21 Dec 2010 08:10:11 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>healthcentral</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=suny-to-get-microsofts-liveedu-program</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Microsoft is now providing e-mail, calendaring, and instant-messaging programs for students of the State University of New York.SUNY's 64 campuses are part of a university-wide Live@edu agreement that covers more than 465,000 students with Microsoft's online productivity suite. Besides the aforementioned tools, this includes things like online storage, video conferencing, and access to Microsoft's Office Web Apps--all of which are offered up free of charge.In a post yesterday announcing the rollout, Microsoft U.S. Education CTO Cameron Evans said that the deal is saving Monroe Community College--one of the SUNY schools involved with the program--$600,000 over five-years. That money, Evans said, would be spent on making the campus &quot;greener.&quot; SUNY's implementation of Live@edu is one of the largest yet, though overshadowed by the London Grid for Learning's deployment in 2009, which offered the free suite of online tools to more than 1 million students. A close second is the Kentucky Department of Education, which earlier this year moved 700,000 users to Live@edu. Interestingly enough, that move took Kentucky off the on-premises Microsoft Exchange Servers and into Microsoft's cloud instead.Prior to the agreement, Microsoft says some 70,000 SUNY students were using Live@edu. The other 395,000 or so will presumably be moved over in the first few months of 2011. Update at 4:45 p.m. PDT: A SUNY student has e-mailed CNET and pointed out that some campuses made the switch to Google's Apps for education platform as recently as last year. According to Microsoft's response (below), it may stay that way for some:&quot;The agreement announced today makes Live@edu available as an option for all of SUNY's 64 campuses, effective immediately. Some campuses are already using Live@edu today, and for those who are using other offerings and choose to switch, it's up to the campus on how/when they want to roll out Live@edu to their students and faculty.&quot;A Google representative confirmed that indeed 13 SUNY schools currently run Google Apps for education, with a total of 23 schools on or considering using Google's apps platform, though would not say whether those schools plan to drop the program in favor of Microsoft's system. What was said to be a more common occurrence was that schools offered up multiple platforms, letting students choose which one they wanted.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Uber lives on despite SFMTA cease-and-desist]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=uber-lives-on-despite-sfmta-cease-and-desist</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=uber-lives-on-despite-sfmta-cease-and-desist</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 14 Dec 2010 08:10:13 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>rissbobet</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=uber-lives-on-despite-sfmta-cease-and-desist</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Uber looks beyond apps and is building a mobile Web site. The technology company may launch its service in New York City in 2011.(Credit:Uber)Uber (formerly UberCab), which received a cease and desist order from the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority, is alive and kicking despite the SF taxi commission's best attempt to squelch the privatecar network. In fact, the company is looking to expand in 2011. This week, the company launched in Paris for a day to demonstrate just how easily and quickly it could expand to new cities, and CEO Ryan Graves tweeted that he's studying maps of Brooklyn.Not bad for a company that started just a few months ago and faced some serious backlash from the local city government. A few months ago, I eagerly blogged about Uber, which connects users with a network of livery drivers and helps them hail a town car instead of a cab. Car-less, I've spent my fair share of drizzly San Francisco days waiting in vain for a cab to know of a good transportation solution when I see one. Uber fills the taxi void by providing a reliable and safe alternative to taxis by creating a network of on-duty livery drivers and making an application that will lets users connect with them to request rides.Shortly after the post went live, I received an e-mail from a taxi driver calling the service illegal and unsafe. We agreed to disagree, and then I moved to New York where cabs are more plentiful and less expensive, but equally terrifying. In October I received another e-mail from the same taxi driver (who I found out was soon to be a San Francisco taxi medallion holder), showing the cease-and-desist order that the SFMTA issued Uber, detailing the numerous ways it was in violation of city and state regulations. Once the taxi commission sighted Uber in its crosshairs, I figured it was the end of the company.But Uber is far from struggling. Since the blog post, it raised $1.25 million in venture capital, moved into new office space in San Francisco, and released an Android app. Despite the cease-and-desist order, Graves says his company never shut down or stopped service, and has been working with the SFMTA to address each of violations, beginning with the obvious company name change. In San Francisco, only permitted taxis can advertise themselves as taxis or cabs, including having those words in the company name. Hence the name change from UberCab to just Uber.Since there's a 10-year waiting list to get one of those coveted taxi medallions in San Francisco, I can see why cab drivers would be threatened by the service and worried that it would take away potential revenue. While that remains to be seen, the technology has been a boon to another segment: livery drivers. Graves says that his application and platform has enabled private car companies to increase revenue, add more cars, and hire more drivers. The chilly reception from start-up-friendly San Francisco local government was a good learning experience as Uber looks to expand next year to other cities, and is already eyeing New York City as its next potential target. Uber's app is available for Android and iPhones, but in addition to SMS service (which Graves tends to use), the start-up is working on a universal mobile site that will work on any mobile device browser. The move should enable the company to reach a larger share of the smartphone demographic. Although cabs aren't in short supply, the expansion to NYC is a much-needed service for those dead hours and during shift changes when it's next to impossible to get a cab to stop for you. And the service would be a great marketing tool for smaller car services that don't have the marketing budget to compete with larger private car services services that offeriPhone apps for easier booking. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Chrome OS puts the cloud in your hands]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=chrome-os-puts-the-cloud-in-your-hands</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=chrome-os-puts-the-cloud-in-your-hands</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 09 Dec 2010 08:10:02 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Elsa</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=chrome-os-puts-the-cloud-in-your-hands</guid>
<description><![CDATA[$lazy(window.GeckoVideoPlayer, CBSi.lazy.videoPlayer, function(){loadGeckoVideoPlayer({parentElement: 'universalVideoid50097179',flashVars:{autoplay: 'false',adTargetType: 'Page',adPreroll: 'true',contentType: 'id',contentValue: '50097179',playlistDisplay: 'over'}},'blogLarge')'})'<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Nissan Leaf opens door for electric cars]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=nissan-leaf-opens-door-for-electric-cars</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=nissan-leaf-opens-door-for-electric-cars</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 06 Dec 2010 08:10:41 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>rejubug2</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=nissan-leaf-opens-door-for-electric-cars</guid>
<description><![CDATA[(Credit:Josh Miller/CNET)Taking a big risk, Nissan pushed ahead of the pack to release the first mass production electriccar. Although some people might find the limited range of the Nissan Leaf makes it impractical for their needs, it will fit into the lifestyles of many suburban commuters. And clean air aside, it has the advantage of costing about 70 percent less to run than an equivalent gasoline-powered car.We drove the Leaf through the urban and suburban landscape of the San Francisco Bay Area, and found its 100 mile range enough to cover quite a bit of ground. It felt comfortable running down the freeway, drove easy in city traffic, and even charged up steep hills accelerating continuously. But one drawback that will affect the car's usefulness in many areas of the country is the fact that using climate control shaves more than 10 percent off the range.Nissan fitted the Leaf with its standard cabin tech, including navigation and a Bluetooth phone system, the only real news here is that navigation comes standard with the car. But in the Leaf, the navigation system serves the very important purpose of helping you find charging stations, adding any place you happen to recharge to the vehicle's database.Check out our 2011 Nissan Leaf review.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Energy Department awards supercomputing time]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=energy-department-awards-supercomputing-time</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=energy-department-awards-supercomputing-time</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 01 Dec 2010 08:10:49 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>healthcentral</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=energy-department-awards-supercomputing-time</guid>
<description><![CDATA[(Credit:National Center for Computational Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory)Look at who's logging supercomputing time these days and you are likely to get a glimpse of some major innovations on the horizon.The U.S. Department of Energy announced today it has just granted the largest award ever of the department's supercomputing time through it's Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment (INCITE) program, now in it's sixth year.The large award, a total of 1.7 billion hours distributed over 57 projects, was partially attributed to the fact that the Energy Department has been expanding its supercomputing capacity, and, therefore, simply has the means to grant more time. But it also reflects a growing interest in using computer modeling now that it has increased in sophistication, according to the Energy Department.The INCITE program is somewhat like the lottery in that everyone has a chance. The Energy Department has an open application process in which any scientist, whether working in the academic or commercial world, is welcome to submit a request to win supercomputing hours, and it's not restricted to energy-related science.(Credit:Argonne Leadership Computing Facility, Argonne National Laboratory)The winning hours are divided between two supercomputers, the IBM Blue Gene/P supercomputer at Argonne National Laboratory aka &quot;Intrepid,&quot; and the Cray XT5 supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory aka &quot;Jaguar,&quot; which recently lost its first place status to China's Tianhe-1A as the world's most powerful supercomputer.Among these latest 57 recipients, are large companies like Boeing and General Electric that are going to use the time for sophisticated modeling of potential designs for jet engines and wind turbines, respectively. There are also the climate change and earthquake prediction simulation projects, as one might expect.Most interesting to the energy sector perhaps is the Lithium/Air Battery Project led by Jack Wells, group leader of the Computational Nanotechnology Group at the Center for Engineering Science Advanced Research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. His team will be running simulations of lithium/air battery reactions. A successful version of the air battery would be capable of storing 10 times the amount of energy as a lithium ion battery of the same weight. Such a battery might make electriccars more competitive compared to gas-powered cars since it would offer greater driving range on a single charge than current models.A serious commitment to next-generation nuclear power plants might also be on the U.S. energy horizon as several of the recipients are leaders of nuclear energy research projects. The Energy Department's own Argonne National Laboratory Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) team is going to use its time to test design ideas for a next-generation nuclear reactor. Specifically, it's developing a new type of fast neutron reactor that can partition and transmute the elements contained in spent nuclear fuel to reduce the amount of spent nuclear material that would need to be stored underground post-reactor use.But the Energy Department supercomputing time was not just granted to energy-related projects or even U.S.-based institutions.George Karniadakis, professor of applied mathematics at Brown University, scored time to run multiscale simulations of blood flow in the human brain. The information learned could lead to prevention of brain aneurysms and strokes, and a better understanding of diseases like sickle cell anemia. And a team led by Richard Needs, a professor of theoretical physics and a professorial fellow of Robinson College at the University of Cambridge in England, won time to study the behavioral properties of homogeneous electron gas, the charge carriers in semiconductors.The Energy Department released a report with the full list of projects (PDF) that were granted supercomputing time, and include more technical specifics for each simulation being run.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Google expects to launch e-book sales soon]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-expects-to-launch-e-book-sales-soon</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-expects-to-launch-e-book-sales-soon</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 30 Nov 2010 08:10:34 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>norncrymoup</dc:creator>
<category>Marketing and advertising</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-expects-to-launch-e-book-sales-soon</guid>
<description><![CDATA[We may get to check out Google's long-anticipated entry into the digital-book sales market before the end of the year.Google Editions, which was announced in spring and expected to launch in summer, is expected to be available in the U.S. by the end of the month, Google spokeswoman Jeannie Hornung told CNET today. In September, Hornung talked with CNET about some of the difficulties in launching the ambitious project, saying, &quot;The real answer is, we'll launch the service when it's ready.&quot;Google Editions is expected to open up a new distribution channel for digital-book publishers and give Amazon and Apple a new competitor in the booming digital-book market. However, a key difference is Google's &quot;buy anywhere, read anywhere&quot; approach, which means customers will purchase titles exclusively through a Web browser, instead of through an online store, as Amazon and Apple customers do. Customers will also be able to use any Internet-connected device--be it a personal computer, smartphone, or tablet computer--to access the books on Google's servers.Google hasn't revealed who or how many partners it has in the effort. But traditional revenue-sharing models could be upset by the fact that customers wouldn't actually have their own copy of the books they purchase.Amazon is the dominant player in the e-book field, claiming to command upward of 80 percent of the market. However, in an apparent effort to stave off defections to rival e-book sellers, Amazon recently announced plans to give newspaper and magazine publishers a greater share of the revenue it collects.Google is no stranger to digital books' the Internet giant announced plans in December 2004 to scan, digitize, and make searchable the collections of five of the largest libraries in the world. However, the effort quickly became embroiled in lawsuits and negotiations over copyright issues. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA['Avatar': Behind the scenes at Weta Digital]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=avatar-behind-the-scenes-at-weta-digital</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=avatar-behind-the-scenes-at-weta-digital</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 24 Nov 2010 08:10:28 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>mamapapa2010</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=avatar-behind-the-scenes-at-weta-digital</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Instead of computer-animating the Na&amp;39'vi, &amp;34'Avatar&amp;34' creators used a technique known as &amp;34'motion capture,&amp;34' which helps to create more natural-looking characters. Click on the image for more pictures from the behind-the-scenes tour.(Credit:Ty Pendlebury/CNET Australia)New Zealand may be known as the home of &quot;Lord of the Rings,&quot; but you may not know that it's also the unofficial birthplace of &quot;Avatar.&quot; You see, Peter Jackson's Weta Workshop in Wellington is behind the special effects of films such as &quot;Heavenly Creatures&quot; and &quot;Prince Caspian.&quot; But more famously, it has produced the effects in both the &quot;Lord of the Rings&quot; trilogy and &quot;Avatar.&quot; In fact, the company was working up until July to finish work on the Extended Edition of the &quot;Avatar&quot; Blu-ray version. To celebrate the release of the Avatar Extended Collector's Edition, CNET Australia got to go behind the scenes at Weta studios to witness how the movie was made. As this extensive photo gallery shows, we were taken through each step of the process--from motion capture through to the finished product.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[The 404 716: Where we're thankful for enhanced pat-down searches (podcast)]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-404-716-where-were-thankful-for-enhanced-pat-down-searches-podcast</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-404-716-where-were-thankful-for-enhanced-pat-down-searches-podcast</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 24 Nov 2010 08:10:19 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>maralyn45</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-404-716-where-were-thankful-for-enhanced-pat-down-searches-podcast</guid>
<description><![CDATA[It's the last day of the week for us! Mark Licea joins us today to fill in for the day before Thanksgiving. We hope all of your enjoy your new TSA-approved enhanced pat-downs when you're flying to see your loved ones. Justin isn't even leaving the city, but he's making daily trips to the airport to meet his special security officer.First Black Friday Deal!(Credit:CBS Interactive)Speaking of the TSA screenings that have become all the rage on the news these days, Jeff thinks that it's the dearth of news in American media that is letting the issue blow up on cable news and across the Web. In part, Wilson agrees given that the new regulations, backscatter (cool name for a band) X-ray scanning machines and pat-down searches have been planned for months. While the general populace might be a bit surprised by the new TSA regulations, Wilson doesn't believe it makes it right to be photographed through our clothes just because we want to fly.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Mozilla develops social skills with F1]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mozilla-develops-social-skills-with-f1</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mozilla-develops-social-skills-with-f1</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 15 Nov 2010 08:10:03 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>winmansufes</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mozilla-develops-social-skills-with-f1</guid>
<description><![CDATA[As Flock and RockMelt duked it out for social-networking addicts' attention, browser kingpin Mozilla quietly introduced last week a new add-on for Facebook, Twitter, and Gmail users. Called F1 (download) and created by Mozilla Messaging, the division of Mozilla that manages the e-mail client Thunderbird, the secure and unobtrusive add-on provides fast sharing of URLs via a dedicated navigation bar button. It mimics one of the best features found in social-networking browsers without having to deal with hassle of switching browsers, although the add-on is definitely still a bit rough.The Firefox add-on F1 makes it much easier to share links via Twitter, Facebook, and Gmail.(Credit:Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)Once installed, F1 will create a button on the right side of the search box that looks like a comic book word balloon. Click it and the F1 interface appears to add accounts from Twitter, Facebook, and Gmail. Type in a message to accompany the link you're sharing and then hit Share on the right. The Gmail option will also provide To and Subject fields. In my instance of F1, it didn't support searching recipient field completion from a partial e-mail address, although the F1 demo video did show that feature working. The add-on currently supports only one iteration of each account, too. It works onFirefox 3.6 and later, but it does not re-map the F1 hot key from Help to opening the sharing drop-down box. Mozilla stated in the blog post announcing the add-on that one of its goals with F1 was to cut down on cluttered and potentially insecure sharing buttons that have become ubiquitous on Web pages, a task that sounds Sysiphean at best, although Mozilla has taken some steps to make using F1 easier. The add-on relies on services that support OAuth, and the open-source add-on has an extensive developer's wiki. F1 developers said that Yahoo Mail was left out of the initial release because it required an extra captcha authentication on top of OAuth support.Prospector: Find Suggest is a Mozilla experiment for Firefox that adds suggested words to your in-page search queries.(Credit:Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)Mozilla has also released other &quot;experimental&quot; add-ons recently that demonstrate its take on &quot;future Web&quot; features and technology. One of them is called Prospector, which is what Mozilla is calling a series of search experiments. One Prospector add-on is called Speak Words and allows the browser to auto-complete words as they're typed into the location bar. It's based on your browsing history, so depending on the user typing &quot;Gia&quot; could get you They Might Be Giants, the San Francisco Giants, or a lot of Italian actresses. Another Prospector experiment is called Find Suggest, and as the name states, it suggests complete words to search for as you type into Firefox's search box. Click on one to add it to the search box. Both Prospector experiments are restricted to the Firefox 4 beta.A third experimental add-on for the Firefox 4 beta is called Lab Kit, and it serves the simple task to automatically update specific Mozilla Labs add-ons without having to restart the browser. While the concept is still foreign to Firefox users, Google Chrome add-ons have been auto-updated by their publishers since extensions were added to it. So far, Lab Kit supports the two Prospector add-ons, Mozilla Contacts, and the Test Pilot add-on which anonymously collects Firefox 4 beta user data.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[AT&T launches health care business]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=att-launches-health-care-business</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=att-launches-health-care-business</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 04 Nov 2010 07:10:14 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Sheree</dc:creator>
<category>Business &amp; Finance</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=att-launches-health-care-business</guid>
<description><![CDATA[AT&amp;T is making a new foray into the health care market with a business geared toward improving patient care and trimming medical costs.Announced today, the new AT&amp;T ForHealth unit will deliver a range of wireless, networked, and cloud-based products to doctors, hospitals, insurers, and pharmaceutical companies. The goal is to push the adoption of new technologies to the industry as the country tries to switch over to electronic and digital health care management.AT&amp;T said it's looking to expand upon some of its current health care projects, which include medicine bottles that remind people when to take their pills, devices that can monitor a person's heart at home, and audio/video links that allow a doctor and patient to talk without the need for a more expensive office visit.The ForHealth intiative will drive a variety of services, according to AT&amp;T. The new mHealth Services will focus on helping patients take the right medicine, get home health care, manage weight loss, and monitor wellness programs. New cloud-based image archive programs and security software will let doctors share video, images, and other medical records in a more secure way. AT&amp;T said it will work with a variety of different customers to pilot these new services.As one specific example, AT&amp;T Labs is working with hospitals and universities to design &quot;smart slippers&quot; that would monitor a patient's walk and signal doctors if the person falls or seems about to fall.&quot;We believe the health care industry is at a 'tipping point' for fundamental change that will improve patients' care and lead to better health care outcomes,&quot; John Stankey, president and CEO of AT&amp;T Business Solutions, said in a statement. &quot;Networking solutions, using cloud-based, mobility, and telepresence technologies, can help the overall industry deliver better care to people while driving costs out of the system.&quot;AT&amp;T already has a strong hook into the U.S. IT health care market, bringing in around $4 billion in sales last year to hospitals, insurers, pharmaceutical companies, suppliers, and doctors. So far in 2010, overall spending on U.S. IT health care services has reached $33.9 billion and is forecast to grow 24 percent over the next four years, according to IDC numbers cited by AT&amp;amp'T.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Windows Phone 7 has an app kill switch, too]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=windows-phone-7-has-an-app-kill-switch-too</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=windows-phone-7-has-an-app-kill-switch-too</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 04 Nov 2010 07:10:12 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>winliab365</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=windows-phone-7-has-an-app-kill-switch-too</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Updated at 2:12 p.m. PT, with additional comment from Microsoft.Microsoft has joined the ranks of Apple and Google in placing what, to some, is considered a controversial security measure into its mobile application platform. Built intoWindows Phone 7, and the apps made available through the included marketplace application, is a layer of security that lets Microsoft disable or remove entirely an application from a user's device. The safety feature, it turns out, was also included in Windows 6.5 through the Windows Marketplace for Mobile.According to a PC Pro interview with Todd Biggs, Microsoft's director of product management for the Windows Phone Marketplace, this is a worst-case scenario type of security measure, and something that is unlikely to be a common occurrence given the company's testing process prior to an app becoming available on the market.The more common route, as explained to CNET by Todd Brix, Microsoft's senior director of Windows Phone Product Management, is that Microsoft will get in touch with a developer and try to get them to fix a problem once it's discovered. If that can't be done quickly, an app will be pulled down from the Marketplace. Brix told us that using the kill switch, or &quot;revocation&quot; as it's officially known, is mainly there to solve something with a widespread negative impact on users.Brix noted that people thinking about picking up a Windows Phone 7 device shouldn't live in fear of having their applications disappear. &quot;It's about making sure we have access to high quality apps--a broad selection of apps--and music and other types of content through that shopping experience, and to be able to download and purchase with convenience and confidence,&quot; Brix said.The other part of the equation, Brix explained, was making the list of what can and can't be done as transparent as possible. &quot;We don't have any secret rules. We publish all the test cases--we certify those against what users test to.&quot; That includes things like keeping applications from inadvertently sharing user information or location, and keeping malware out. &quot;This is common sense protection for the general consumer,&quot; Brix said.Apple made headlines in late 2008 when it was discovered that built into every app was a line of code that would phone home to make sure it wasn't on Apple's blacklist, and the app would become disabled if it was. This was later revealed to be more about protecting the security of a user's location for apps that might seek to share it without the user knowing. Around the same time it was discovered that Google's Android had a kill switch of its own that would let Google remove an application remotely.The presence of a software kill switch would not be a first for Microsoft, which as mentioned earlier included such a feature at the tail end of the previous Windows Phone generation. It was also put into place at an OS level in the first incarnation ofWindows Vista. However, that in itself was less about stopping potentially harmful developers, versus keeping people who might have pirated the software from using it to its fullest. That feature was later removed with the software's first major service pack, due in part to what Microsoft said was a much lower rate of piracy.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Bing goes live with Facebook social search]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=bing-goes-live-with-facebook-social-search</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=bing-goes-live-with-facebook-social-search</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 03 Nov 2010 07:10:11 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Dhoni</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=bing-goes-live-with-facebook-social-search</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Bing&amp;39's new social search lets you access the profiles of your Facebook friends.(Credit:Bing)Bing has rolled out its new social search, a feature that can display profiles and updates from your Facebook friends as part of your Bing search results.This step of the Facebook integration has been in the works for a few weeks, but the techs at Bing fine-tuned the feature before yesterday's rollout, according to a post on the official Bing blog.The new social search integrates with Facebook in a couple of ways.If you opt to link your Facebook account with your Bing log-in, searching for the name of one of your Facebook friends in Bing brings up a link to that person's entire profile in your results. This is true even if that person has elected not to share their Facebook profile with any search engines, since only you can see those results. So if you have a Facebook friend named Jerry Seinfeld, a link to his profile will appear alongside results for the famed comedian.Early testers of the Facebook integration were apparently unhappy that they couldn't view the profiles of their friends through Bing with the same ease they could through Facebook itself, according to the blog, leading Microsoft to set up this specific type of access.Further, Bing tweaked the age requirements. Facebook requires its users to be 13 or older, but Bing initially limited profile search results to people 18 and older. Based on customer feedback, Microsoft changed this option to let all your Facebook friends regardless of age show up in your Bing search results.The Bing and Facebook team-up also can retrieve results for items &quot;liked by your Facebook friends.&quot; So if you're looking for opinions on a certain movie or restaurant, Bing can show you any Facebook friends who &quot;liked&quot; those specific items.The ease with which Facebook information can flow into Bing may arouse some privacy concerns. The integration is a one-way street, so no information goes from Bing back to Facebook. But still, anyone wary of the new social search can control or turn off the feature on both accounts.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[High Court's violent-game sales ruling: Why now]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=high-courts-violent-game-sales-ruling-why-now</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=high-courts-violent-game-sales-ruling-why-now</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 02 Nov 2010 07:10:21 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Dhoni</dc:creator>
<category>Politics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=high-courts-violent-game-sales-ruling-why-now</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Editors' note: This is a guest column. See Larry Downes' bio below.The U.S. Supreme Court today heard arguments in Schwarzenegger v. EMA, a case that challenges California's 2005 law banning the sale of &quot;violent&quot; video games to minors. The law has yet to take effect, as rulings by lower federal courts have held it to be an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment.There's little doubt that banning the sale of nearly any content to adults violates the protections of free speech, including, as decided last year, video depictions of cruelty to animals. In today's hearing, California's legal arguments centered largely on another case, the Supreme Court's 1968 decision in Ginsberg v. New York. There, the court upheld state restrictions on the sale of pornography to minors, even though the material is protected speech for adult purchasers.As technology has made video game graphics more realistic and lifelike, the games have only now captured the attention--and invaded the nightmares--of regulators in the real world. In Schwarzenegger v. EMA, California is urging the court to extend Ginsberg's reasoning to content that meets its definition for violent video games. Ginsberg, the state argues in its brief (PDF), upheld a ban on the sale of sexual content to minors because such content is dangerous to their development. So too, it argued today, with violent video games. Indeed, the state argues that such material has as much, if not more, of a negative impact on the development of children than does sexual material. That, of course, is a question open to considerable debate. After the fact, the state cited a number of academic studies that find a correlation between exposure to violent video games (including games, such as Super Mario Bros., well outside the California definition) and antisocial behavior. But as scholarly briefs from the Entertainment Merchants Association (PDF) and a joint brief from the Progress and Freedom Foundation and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (PDF) point out, the methodology in these studies has been roundly criticized. Why now The court may focus on those studies in its decision, but I have a different question. Why are California and other states focusing on video games, and why now As Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg asked at today's argument, &quot;What about films What about comic books Why are video games special&quot;The answer has everything to do with timing. As EMA's brief points out, similar attacks have accompanied the rise in popularity of every new form of media throughout U.S. history:The California statute...is the latest in a long history of overreactions to new expressive media. In the past, comic books, true-crime novels, movies, rock music, and other new media have all been accused of harming our youth. In each case, the perceived threat later proved unfounded. Video games are no different. Video games have been around since the 1970s, but state legislatures have only recently begun trying to regulate them. So why the delay The answer, not surprisingly, is Moore's Law. As technology has made video game graphics more realistic and lifelike, the games have only now captured the attention--and invaded the nightmares--of regulators in the real world. High-end games such as Grand Theft Auto and Resident Evil generate what the PFF/EFF brief calls &quot;moral panic.&quot; Legislators equate what they see on the screen with behaviors that gleefully flaunt the laws and norms of the real world. Their first impulse is to find a way, somehow, to stop it--even though it's only a simulation.Realism matters. It's hard to remember that not so long ago, video games began their Neolithic Age. Consider Pong, the first home video game from Atari in 1975. It would take an imagination greater than mine to think of the batting of a block of monochrome pixels by a bar of pixels to be violent enough to corrupt youth' likewise, the breaking of a wall of pixels one at a time in the follow-on game Breakout. But a few years later, consider the commercial for Activision's ice hockey game: The game promises to be one of the &quot;roughest&quot; video games ever, &quot;battling for the puck&quot; with &quot;fierce body checking&quot; and &quot;ruthless tripping.&quot; Just watching the players fight it out drives a meek-looking Phil Hartman into a frenzy' within a few seconds, he seems ready to attack the clerk who teases him that he's not yet ready for it.Despite an ad that explicitly suggests a connection between playing (or even watching the game) and becoming violent, the actual graphical quality of the violence is so disconnected from visual reality that it never occurred to any state legislature to ban or otherwise restrict it.Now fast-forward just a few short decades later to the imminent release of Xbox 360's Kinect. Using Microsoft's new sensor technology, players of the forthcoming Kinectimals can control realistically rendered animals simply by issuing voice commands or by mimicking the desired movements. It hardly seems possible that the same beings who invented Pong could have advanced to Kinectimals within the span of one human lifetime. But we did.Coupled with new 3D technology and increasingly large, high-fidelity displays, video games have in the span of only a few decades advanced to the point of challenging the cinematic qualities of movies. Indeed, games and films are converging. They now use much of the same technology to produce and to display. Now that video games offer fidelity in imagery and movement that is comparable to film, the law has awakened to both the positive and negative impacts they have on those who interact with them. Since the First Amendment doesn't allow interference with the sale of violent content to adults, California focused on children. But it's clear from the tone of the state's brief that it just plain doesn't like certain video games, just as it didn't like certain movies and certain books in an early age of mass-market technologies. Frozen in time, laws become irrelevant As before, legislators would like, if they could, to turn the clock back.Of course, that is always the response of the law to new technologies that challenge our conceptions of reality. The only difference between the comic book burnings of the 1950s and the video game laws of today is the speed with which revolutionary technologies are arriving. The killer apps come faster all the time. And with them come the counterrevolutionaries. This is why the California statute also suffers from another common and fatal flaw of laws attempting to hold back new technologies: early obsolescence. Lost in today's legal arguments is the impending anachronism of the California statute. It assumes a world, disappearing almost as quickly as it arrived, in which video games are imported into California as physical media in packages and sold in retail stores. Consider, for example, Section 1746.2:Each violent video game that is imported into or distributed in California for retail sale shall be labeled with a solid white &quot;18&quot; outlined in black. The &quot;18&quot; shall have dimensions of no less than 2 inches by 2 inches. The &quot;18&quot; shall be displayed on the front face of the video game package.As broadband connections make it possible for game developers and platform manufacturers to transport the software over the Internet, sales of video games in media form are rapidly declining. So even if the law is ruled constitutional, it will apply to an ever-shrinking portion of the video game market. There will soon be no &quot;retail sale&quot; and no &quot;front face&quot; of a &quot;package&quot; onto which a label can be put in the first place. These industry changes aren't being made to evade laws like California's. Digital distribution reduces costs and eliminates middlemen (the retailers, the packagers, the truckers) who add little or no value. More to the point, it enables companies to establish ongoing relationships with their customers, which can be used to sell add-on chapters and levels, online play, and the sale of related products and content, including films.The industry, in other words, is evolving not only in terms of sophistication and realism of the product. The same technologies are also scrambling its supply chain. And what is emerging as the new model for &quot;games&quot; is something in which California and other states have almost no regulatory interest. The pace of legal change can't hope to keep up with the pace of technological change, making this law, like many others, out-of-date, even before the ink is dry. So it seems an odd time to target legislation at a particular and disappearing version of the industry's content and retail channels. But that's often the case with laws trying to manage the unpleasant social side effects of new technologies, just as they become mainstream. The pace of legal change can't hope to keep up with the pace of technological change, making this law, like many others, out-of-date, even before the ink is dry. This is not to say that the Supreme Court's decision in this case won't matter, even if it rejects the California law. Another feature of statutes like this, unfortunately, is a high likelihood of unintended consequences. The potential for the court's decision to do future mischief to unrelated industries and dissimilar content is legion. For example, as the PFF-EFF brief points out, California and other states may try to extend the ban on sales to minors to other content and to online channels. But it isn't as easy to determine the age of an online buyer as someone in your brick-and-mortar store. &quot;Applying the law online would likely require mandatory age verification of all online gamers because the law prohibits any sale or rental to a minor,&quot; according to the brief.A similar feature in an earlier federal effort to control pornography on the Internet led the Supreme Court to void the statute on First Amendment grounds. But in the Supreme Court, and in the lower courts that interpret its decisions, anything can happen. In fact, it usually does.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Man bites dog Google sues the government]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=man-bites-dog-google-sues-the-government</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=man-bites-dog-google-sues-the-government</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 01 Nov 2010 07:10:04 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Collinsmith</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=man-bites-dog-google-sues-the-government</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Google and the U.S. government are headed for a legal showdown, but on different sides of the courtroom than one might expect. Eric Goldman, a law professor with Santa Clara University who closely follows the tech industry, spotted a lawsuit filed by Google against the federal government claiming that the U.S. Department of the Interior did not properly evaluate Google Apps when choosing a new Web-based document system. Google alleges that because the Interior Department specified that the system needed to be part of Microsoft's Business Productivity Online Suite, Google Apps never had a chance despite repeated attempts by Google to explain the product. &quot;Significantly, the SOW (statement of work) and even certain terminology were closely aligned with Microsoft's product literature for its Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and Office Communications Online applications. This was because the DOI had defined its needs and requirements around the Microsoft products,&quot; Google wrote in its complaint. Government agencies generally have to follow a complicated process to purchase products or services from technology companies, and Google has increasingly sought to position itself as an alternative to Microsoft's office software in companies and governments. And, of course, the federal government and Google are no strangers when it comes to legal maneuverings. The most current dispute involves Google's proposed acquisition of ITA Software, but the list stretches back several years.Updated 4:25 p.m. PDT: Google issued the following statement on its lawsuit: &quot;Google is a proponent of open competition on the Internet and in the technology sector in general. Here, a fair and open process could save US taxpayers tens of millions of dollars and result in better services. We're asking the Department of Interior to allow for a true competition when selecting its technology providers.&quot; A copy of the complaint follows below:Google v US Complaint        Tom Krazit   Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Google, as the most prominent company on the Internet defends its search juggernaut while expanding into nearly anything it thinks possible. He has previously written about Apple, the traditional PC industry, and chip companies. E-mail Tom.  <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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