Techno-News Blog

by the Independent

With demand for three-dimension visual technology continuing to grow, Toshiba Corp. appears to have stolen a march on its rivals by announcing the world’s first LCD televisions that are fully 3D capable but do not need a viewer to wear special glasses to see the images. Toshiba unveiled its glasses-less 3D Regza GL1 series shortly ahead of the opening of the CEATEC Japan 2010 exhibition. The annual technology show is the largest of its kind in Asia and organizers are hoping 200,000 people will attend this year.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/new-3d-television-technology-does-away-with-glasses-2097391.html

by io9

At Carnegie-Mellon university, a massive computer system called NELL (Never Ending Language Learner) is systematically reading the internet and analyzing sentences for semantic categories and facts, teaching itself English and educating itself in human affairs. We spoke to NELL’s creators. NELL reads the Web 24 hours a day, seven days a week, learning language like a human would — cumulatively, over a long period of time. It parses text on the Internet for ontological categories, like “plants,” “music” and “sports teams,” then uses contextual clues to sort out what things belong in which categories, like “Nirvana is a grunge band” and “Peyton Manning plays for the Indianapolis Colts.” And, perhaps most Skynet-horror-inducing, “anger is an emotion.”

http://io9.com/5659503/a-computer-learns-the-hard-way-by-reading-the-internet

by Nanotech-Wire

Optical gyroscopes, also known as rotation sensors, are widely used as a navigational tool in vehicles from ships to airplanes, measuring the rotation rates of a vehicle on three axes to evaluate its exact position and orientation. Prof. Koby Scheuer of Tel Aviv University’s School of Physical Engineering is now scaling down this crucial sensing technology for use in smartphones, medical equipment and more futuristic technologies.

http://nanotechwire.com/news.asp?nid=10710

by WYTV

Middle school bullying can be brutal, but the Internet has taken it to a new level. “It’s shocking sometimes how the kids kind of hide behind the technology and what they would say that they necessarily wouldn’t say to someone’s face, but will through a text message or computer,” said Kristie Sallee, guidance counselor at W.S. Guy Middle School in Liberty. Her advice: Communicate with your kids, tell them not to retaliate and keep as much evidence as you can, in case it becomes a legal issue.

http://www.wytv.com/content/news/local/story/Stopping-Cyber-Bullying/b00L3Hih10ucGyilGUY7Pw.cspx

School Installs Facial Recognition for Roll Call5:10 AM – By Jane McEntegart, Tom’s Guide US

Schools in Britain are currently testing facial recognition software as a way to curb lateness and absenteeism. Facial recognition technology is being tested in 10 schools in Northamptonshire, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire in the United Kingdom and may be rolled out in more schools if the trials prove successful. The system costs £9,000 (just over $14,300) and uses a camera to take 3D photos of students. Pupils must then confirm their identity by entering in a four-digit PIN code. Though it’s aimed at reducing lateness and recording absences, the faceREGISTER system from Aurora Computer Services can also deliver messages to students when they sign in and can be used to track who is in the building during emergencies.

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Facial-Recognition-Schools-UK-Britain-United-Kingdom,news-8204.html

By Brian Prince, eWeek

The Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security have agreed to work closer to fight threats to military and civilian computer systems and networks. The new memorandum of agreement was reached to coordinate and improve efforts to secure the country’s cyber-infrastructure, according to the document. “With this memorandum of agreement, effective immediately, we are building a new framework between our departments to enhance operational coordination and joint program planning,” Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a joint statement. “It formalizes processes in which we work together to protect our nation’s cyber networks and critical infrastructure, and increases the clarity and focus of our respective roles and responsibilities.”

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Department-of-Defense-DHS-Team-for-CyberSecurity-565133/

by Stephen Shankland, CNet news.com

With extensions coming to Opera 11, the Norwegian browser maker it’s time to consider making the technology a standard that would work on all browsers. That’s because Opera 11 extensions will use the same collection of Web-page technologies–HTML for page contents, CSS for formatting, JavaScript for processing–as extensions in Chrome, Safari 5, and Firefox’s upcoming Jetpack. The approach generally makes it easier for at least lightweight extensions, and browser technologies handle the interface. “We think extensions are ripe for standardization,” said Hakon Wium Lie, Opera’s chief technology officer, at a press conference here.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20019579-264.html?tag=cnetRiver

by Martin LaMonica, CNet news.com

People in the auto industry are opening up a new chapter in its history by transitioning to electric vehicles but they’re writing the book as they go along. The technology to make fun-to-drive, well connected plug-in vehicles is already here. Now, auto and utility companies are grappling with how to make these electric vehicles a commercial success, speakers at the Business of Plugging In conference said here today. Rather than see predictable and steady demand in the next few years, automakers should expect sales to spike and dip with the cost of gasoline and government incentives, said auto industry executives. Just like hybrid sales have zigzagged over the past decade, plug-ins will likely do the same because they are typically more expensive than gasoline cars.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-20019626-54.html?tag=topStories2

by the BBC

Manchester Police tweet every incident for a day. One of England’s biggest police forces is “tweeting” every incident it deals with over a 24-hour period. Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is using Twitter to give the public an idea of the workload officers face. Chief Constable Peter Fahy said it would also give politicians an idea of the kind of incidents “not recognised in league tables and measurements”. Officers were posting updates on three GMP feeds on the social networking site until 0500 BST on Friday.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-11537806

by the BBC

Google has pledged to ‘aggressively’ invest Google’s latest quarterly results have beaten market expectations after it posted a 32% rise in profits. The internet giant made a net profit of $2.17bn (£1.4bn) in the three months to 30 September, up from $1.6bn for the same period a year earlier. Google thanked higher advertising revenues, but also the success of its newer businesses, such as its Android mobile phone operating system. Its overall revenues were up 23% to $7.29bn. Google chief executive Eric Schmidt said the company had enjoyed “an excellent quarter”.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11545463

by the BBC

Cyber attacks, like nuclear weapons, should force a change in defence policy Nations need to define the rules of engagement for acts of cyber terror. The call for clarity was issued by Michael Chertoff, former head of the US Department of Homeland Security, at the RSA security conference in London. He said the lack of direction was giving the initiative to criminals and hampering co-ordinated responses to the growing number of hi-tech attacks. Countries should be able to defend themselves, he suggested, if an attack posed imminent danger to human lives.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11545040

by Lance Whitney, CNet news.com

Among those CEOs profiled, 93 percent have been reaching out to people outside their companies in traditional ways. Most have been quoted in news and business publications, while 40 percent have talked to audiences directly at public events. But in the online world, most information on top CEOs is found through Wikipedia, which is typically written by people outside the companies. Otherwise, only 36 percent of the CEOs were found to engage with the public through their own corporate Web sites via podcasts, blogs, and YouTube channels or through social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and MySpace. Why aren’t more CEOs taking greater advantage of social media?

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20019465-93.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

by Don Reisinger, CNew news.com

Nearly 20 percent of all American adults have participated in a video call either online or on their mobile phone, according to a study released today by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. The study, which surveyed 3,001 people over the summer, found that 74 percent of American adults use the Internet. And out of that group, 23 percent of folks have tried video calls, chats, or teleconferences over the Web. Approximately 85 percent of adults use a mobile phone, Pew said, and out of that group, 7 percent of respondents said that they have chatted over video on their handsets. That comes out to about 19 percent of adults having placed at least one video call.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20019479-17.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

by Erica Ogg, CNet news.com

Macs now have their highest share of the PC market ever, according to IDC.  U.S. computer sales were pretty disappointing during the past three months, unless you’re talking about Macs. According to the Quarterly PC Tracker Survey released by IDC today, Apple shipped 1.99 million Macs in the U.S. during the third quarter of 2010. That’s good for 10.6 percent of the 18.9 million PCs shipped in the U.S., putting Apple’s share at its highest in the U.S. in the company’s history, according to IDC. While that’s still far behind Hewlett-Packard’s 24.3 percent share and Dell’s 23.1 percent share, both of those companies’ shipments remained relatively static over the last year. Apple saw its shipments grow 24 percent from the same quarter a year ago.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-20019514-260.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

By Nicholas Kolakowski, eWeek

Research In Motion’s upcoming PlayBook tablet, its BlackBerry-themed competitor to the Apple iPad, is aimed first and foremost at the enterprise market. But given RIM’s recent focus on consumers—as evidenced by the BlackBerry Torch 9800 and shiny BlackBerry 6 OS—it wouldn’t be too far a stretch to assume the company has designs on the consumer tablet market as well. While significant details about the PlayBook remain scarce, including a price point and definitive release date, the tablet does boast some features that will make it a serious competitor: Adobe Flash support, front- and rear-facing cameras for video conferencing, the ability to sync with users’ BlackBerry smartphones, and multitasking and multimedia capabilities. The leveraging of BlackBerry smartphones and BlackBerry Enterprise Server could appeal heavily to those enterprise users who want a business tablet but haven’t taken the plunge with the Apple iPad.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Desktops-and-Notebooks/Apple-iPad-vs-RIM-PlayBook-Could-Be-Real-Title-Fight-568676/

by Michelle Maisto, eWeek

The Nokia N8 smartphone, which began shipping Sept. 30, is the latest victim of a teardown by iFixit. The repair site’s team went to work with its Torx screwdriver to offer a look inside Nokia’s new flagship smartphone. In all, the iFixit team gave the N8 high marks. They were impressed with several design decisions, including Nokia’s “creative” placement of the device’s antennas (you may recall, creative antenna placement got Apple into trouble with the iPhone 4) and its EMI (electromagnetic interference) shields, which protect the phone’s chips from interference. The N8’s 12-megapixel camera, which Nokia paired with the type of flash normally found in a full-size camera, also impressed.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Nokia-N8-Is-Beefy-with-Moments-of-Genius-Design-iFixit-815983/

By: Nicholas Kolakowski, eWeek

Verizon Wireless is reportedly prepping its network to transmit simultaneous voice and data, in anticipation of carrying the iPhone in early 2011. However, Verizon executive Brian Higgins gave the Wall Street Journal no idea of when such capability would be active on the company’s network. “I think there are fringe cases where something like that could be terribly important,” the newspaper quoted him as saying Oct. 9. “For the vast majority of customers, I don’t think it’s a terribly important use case.”

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Verizon-iPhone-Could-Carry-Simultaneous-Voice-and-Data-Report-392476/

By: Don Reisinger, eWeek

Google’s Android operating system is easily besting the competition in today’s mobile market. In fact, the company’s operating system, which runs on several devices from a number of vendors, is outselling Apple’s iPhone, RIM’s BlackBerry and other products that haven’t been able to captivate audiences as effectively as it has. And now with Windows Phone 7 out of the bag, it’s clear that Google’s operating system will only grow even more rapidly. Microsoft’s operating system lacks the key features that most consumers really want, and it’s arguably going to fall even further behind due to the limitations in its functionality.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Android-OS-Keeps-Gaining-Momentum-10-Reasons-Why-373786/

by the BBC

The cars have done thousands of miles, Google says Engineers at Google have tested a self-driving car on the streets of California, the company has announced. The cars use video cameras mounted on the roof, radar sensors and a laser range finder to “see” other traffic, software engineer Sebastian Thrun said. They remain manned at all times by a trained driver ready to take control as well as by a software expert. Google hopes the cars can eventually help reduce road traffic and cut the number of accidents.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11508351

by Jane Wakefield, BBC

Microsoft’s flagship product, its Internet Explorer browser, appears to be teetering on the brink of losing its dominant position in the market, according to the latest number crunching. Internet measurement firm StatCounter puts IE below the magic half-way point (49.87%) for the first time. Its closest rival is Firefox with 31.5%, while Google’s Chrome is also creeping up at 11.5% of market share.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/seealso/2010/10/tech_brief_102.html

by Rory Cellan-Jones of the BBC

I didn’t quite believe it until I saw it in the catalogue. Next, the UK fashion retailer, is selling a tablet computer, and at £180 it looks like an attractive alternative to Apple’s iPad, which starts at more than twice the price. The pictures in the Next Directory made it look just like, well, an iPad, with a 10-inch touchscreen, wireless networking and plenty of applications. It runs on Google’s Android operating system, has all sorts of connectivity options – something you won’t find on Apple’s tablet – and all in all looks like it could be a hot new gadget from an unlikely source.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/rorycellanjones/2010/10/a_cutprice_tablet_computer_whatev.html