Rumored Details For Microsoft's Tablet PC Surface: $599 Price Tag, Wi-Fi Only
Details about Microsoft's new Surface tablet are trickling out. Sources have told Bloomberg that the tablets will be Wifi-only and thus won't run on mobile networks, playing to the traditional PC side of the tablet's character. During the announcement of the Surface, Microsoft was mum on exact pricing, but now TheNextWeb has heard that the price for the Windows RT model will start at $599 (as much as the 32GB new iPad), with the Windows 8 Pro version starting costing about $999.
Flipboard Social News Reader, An iOS Favorite, Storms Onto Android
Flipboard's iPad app, which launched in 2010, and its iPhone app, which came out a year later, were runaway hits. Now the social news reader app is finally ready and available for the Android market. That means anyone with an Android phone, Kindle Fire, or Nook in the U.S can get the free app from Google Play, the Amazon Appstore, the Barnes and Noble Nook store, and Samsung's app store.
Flipboard, which racked up over 1 million downloads in its first week on the iPhone, has found a favorite partner in Samsung: the app will come pre-installed as a standard app in the new Galaxy SIII smartphone.
Earlier this week, Google's Bradley Horowitz named Flipboard as one of the first users of the expanded Google+ API. Now, YouTube and Google+ subscriptions are fair game on the reader, with +1-ability built into the app. Flipboard is also expanding its local edition lineup. Germany, Korea, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands will join local editions Flipboard already has outside the U.S. in France, China(with Renren and Sina Weibo integration), Australia, Canada, and the U.K.
Nintendo Super-Sizes The 3DS Game Console
Nintendo has been trying to expand the market for its 3DS handheld game system, and now they have done so quite literally--by increasing the size of the device. Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata has revealed that the existing game console will be joined by a 3DS LL (XL in the U.S.) which has a larger 4.88-inch top screen alongside a 4.18-inch bottom touch screen. That's about an inch larger than the existing machine's display, and compares to leading-edge Android smartphones and even Samsung's monster 5-inch Galaxy Note. It's also a little bigger than the rumored 4-inch iPhone for 2012. These smartphone devices have transformed the handheld gaming market, and threaten Nintendo's future in this particular game. The 3DS XL will arrive in America on August 19th for $200.
Kickstarter Launches A New Live Stats Page So Anyone Can Track Projects' Funding
Kickstarter launched a live statistics page today on which anyone can view all kind of data behind both successful and unsuccessful projects across the different categories, cofounder Yancey Strickler wrote in a blog post. In addition to the usual Kickstarter facts, such as how much money backers have contributed to projects ($261 million to date), you can now also access stats such as how many projects have failed to reach their funding goal (31,722, of 60,786 total) and how many have never even raised a cent (more than 7,000). Last month, Kickstarter garnered some media scrutiny for actively preventing failed projects from being indexed by search engines, which Strickler later told TechCrunch was a practical move, as "it would expose the creators of unsuccessfully funded projects to unnecessary criticism from the web."
Google-backed Endangered Language Project Helps Preserve Dwindling Dialects
Google is backing a cultural initiative to help preserve more than 3,000 dwindling languages around the world. The Endangered Language project is backed by Google.org and maintained by the Alliance for Language Diversity. According to the group, half the world's 7,000 languages are at threat of disappearing over the next 100 years. The new website is a worldwide record of more than 3,000 languages at threat, with information on programs that are working to keep them alive. Through the website, the cultural conservation group hopes to serve as keepers of the dying tongues, and serve as a resource for other groups who are battling to preserve local lingos.
"Tata eMo" the first electric car developed by Tata group
The Tata group is developing an electric car that is expected to be priced below $20,000 (about Rs 10 lakh) in partnership with France's Dassault Systemes.
The group's engineering services outsourcing and product development IT services arm, Tata Technologies has completed the first feasibility study of the electric vehicle using Dassault Systemes' 3DEXPERIENCE Platform.
In a statement, Tata Technologies President (Vehicle Programs and Development Group) Kevin Fisher said the company is working on with Dassault Systemes to "leverage the talents of a global engineering team to meet numerous design and cost constraints, as well as create the targeted user experience, including a final vehicle price tag of under $20,000."
The statement, however, did not share other details such as when the vehicle is likely to be launched or how much the company is investing to develop the product.
With the help of Dassault Systemes' technologies, the Tata group firm had completed its first electric MObility (eMO) study, demonstrating the feasibility of developing an electric vehicle at an attractive price, the company said.
The company said a significant challenge in the development process was the requirement to fit all the vehicle systems into a small footprint, while maintaining spacious seating for four adults.
"To achieve this, Tata Technologies utilised the powerful capabilities within CATIA and ENOVIA applications to quickly develop various studies, allowing global collaboration to rapidly evaluate and converge on optimal solutions," it added.
The development of the eMO is a global effort, requiring collaboration among over 300 Tata Technologies engineers from different places, including India, the US and Europe.
Commenting on the development, Dassault Systemes Executive Vice President (Industry) Monica Menghini said: "Tata Technologies is a key business partner for us and we see its innovative and forward-looking project as the perfect example of how our 3DEXPERIENCE platform is critical to collaboration with OEMs for accelerated development cycles."
Another Tata group firm Tata Motors had announced that it was developing an electric version of its hatchback Indica with a Norwegian firm for launching it in the British, Norwegian and Danish markets by 2011, which has not taken place yet.
Microsoft Corp is looking at making its own smartphone to kickstart sales of its Windows mobile software, according to a Wall Street analyst who has followed the company for many years.
The talk - unconfirmed by Microsoft - comes a day after the company unveiled its latest Windows Phone 8 software, and the same week it announced an own-brand tablet, signaling a break with 37 years of focusing on software and leaving hardware manufacturing to its partners.
"Our industry sources tell us that Microsoft may be working with a contract manufacturer to develop their own handset for Windows Phone 8," wrote Nomura analyst Rick Sherlund in a note to clients on Thursday.
"It is unclear to us whether this would be a reference platform or whether this may be a go-to market Microsoft-branded handset," wrote Sherlund, who covered Microsoft for Goldman Sachs when the bank brought Microsoft public in 1986.
Microsoft did not confirm or deny the speculation. A spokesman said the company was a "big believer in our hardware partners and together we're focused on bringing Windows Phone 8 to market this year."
Windows Phone 8 is the latest version of Microsoft's mobile software, set for release in autumn. So far, the software giant has struggled to make a mark, with Windows-powered smartphones taking only 2 percent of a worldwide market dominated by Apple Inc's iPhone and devices running Google Inc's Android system.
Microsoft built its business on creating software to be used on other companies' hardware, but the success of Apple's iPhone and iPad have demonstrated that making both and integrating the two smoothly has its benefits.
Microsoft charted a new course this week by announcing two own-branded tablet PCs, although doubts remain whether that was a move to invigorate hardware makers or a genuine attempt to compete with its partners.
A similar move in phones could make sense, and the company has little to lose by trying its own handset, said another analyst, considering the strategic importance of smartphones and poor sales of Windows phones.
"Microsoft can't afford not to have phones sell. They have to find a way of selling it," said Sid Parakh, an analyst at fund firm McAdams Wright Ragen. "It's a significant piece of their long-term vision of integrated devices."
If Microsoft did make its own phone, it would be a blow for struggling Finnish handset maker Nokia, which pledged to use Windows software in its smartphones under a multi-billion dollar pact last year. If Microsoft wanted to be in the handset business, it might even consider buying Nokia, suggested Parakh, although he said that was unlikely.
Such a move would also bring Microsoft into competition with Samsung Electronics, HTC Corp and Huawei, which are slated to bring out new Windows phones later this year.
Microsoft has experimented unsuccessfully with handsets before. It bought fashionable phone designer Danger and developed a phone in-house called Kin, which was pulled off the market months after launch in 2010.
Google shareholders gave CEO Larry Page what he wanted Thursday by approving an unconventional stock split meant to cement his authority, but he wasn't around to hail the victory.
Page missed the Internet search leader's annual shareholders meeting because he has lost his voice, a previously undisclosed problem. Google didn't provide any other details about co-founder Page's condition except that whatever is ailing him isn't serious enough to prevent him from fulfilling his duties as CEO.
The voice difficulty is serious enough to prevent Page, 39, from speaking next week at a conference in San Francisco, where Google is expected to show off some of the latest innovations in its Android operating system for smartphones and tablet computers. He also is expected to skip a conference call next month to review Google's financial results for the second quarter.
Until his voice recovers, Page is relying on email and other written forms of communication to convey his thoughts. It might not be a huge adjustment for him. Even when his voice is at full strength, the soft-spoken Page can be reticent.
Page's absence was the biggest surprise at an annual meeting in Mountain View that featured familiar jokes about Google's free food and prosperity. A few critics also raised frequently asked questions about Google's methods for tracking its users' preferences and Web surfing activities.
Even the approval of the first stock split in Google's eight years as a publicly traded company was a foregone conclusion. That's because it had the backing of Page, fellow co-founder Sergey Brin and Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt. Combined, the three control about two-thirds of the voting power at Google.
The company didn't announce the specific vote results Thursday, but said the stock-split plan had won majority support.
Google Inc. doesn't expect be able to split the stock until at least October. That's because Google won't do so until it resolves a shareholder lawsuit challenging the plan. The complaint, filed in Delaware state court, alleges that the board breached its fiduciary duty by acceding to the wishes of Page and Brin.
The stock split is meant to ensure Page and Brin can overrule all other shareholders on any vote. They have retained this power since Google went public in 2004, but they worried that their authority could be undermined as Google issues more shares to compensate employees and finance future acquisitions.
To preserve their power, Page and Brin persuaded Google's board to approve a new class of non-voting stock. Google can draw upon this new "C" class of shares without diluting Page and Brin, who currently hold a combined 56 per cent of the voting power at the company.
The plan calls for a share of Class C stock to be given for every share of the existing Class A stock. That has the effect of cutting the value of each Class A share in half while doubling the total owned by each stockholder. In other words, 100 shares of Class stock worth $565.21 apiece at Thursday's closing price would become 200 shares worth about $282.60 apiece after the split.
Page is protecting his power at a time when Google's stock has been lagging the overall market and the company's peers.
Since Page replaced Schmidt as CEO in April 2011, Google's stock has declined 4 percent while the technology-laded Nasdaq composite index and Dow Jones industrial average have gained 2 per cent. The Standard & Poor's 500 index has dipped by less than 1 percent during the same period.
Meanwhile, investors have been embracing two of Google's biggest rivals. While Page has been running Google, Apple Inc.'s stock has surged 68 per cent and Microsoft Corp.'s has risen 18 perc ent.
Google has been hurt by investor concerns about the falling prices for its online search ads, the risks posed by its recent $12.5 billion purchase of device maker Motorola Mobility Holdings and the potential fallout from intensifying battles with government regulators around the world.
Another potentially thorny issue emerged on the regulatory front Thursday with the news that the Texas attorney general's office is accusing the company of improperly withholding internal documents to stymie an investigation into its business practices. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is seeking a court order that would require Google to turn over more of the evidence that it's trying to shield.
Introducing the Sensordrone — Your Personal Sensor Assistant –Tricorder and Bluetooth Interface Between your Physical & Virtual Worlds
What is Sensordrone?
The Sensordrone is a programmable multi-sensor platform that dramatically extends the sensing capability of your smart phone or tablet computer. The Sensordrone uses Bluetooth to communicate data from several useful internal sensors as well as other hardware devices connected to the Sensordrone’s external conector. All this functionality from a small device that you can attach to your key-chain!
Your phone can sense motion, but it can’t sense the environment like the Sensordrone, i.e. sense and measure toxic gases, air quality, temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, light, color, help you hang your pictures on the wall, tell you when you drank too much and more…
In this intro video, the Sensordrone’s precision gas sensor is used to measure alcohol content above beakers of beer and whisky. Then, the Sensordrone’s color sensors are used to measure the color of the 2 drinks. Raw data is streamed to an android Phone. If you are a developer, imagine what kind of applications you can develop with a suite of new sensors.
Designed to be Simple
Everything is included in the Sensordrone's sleek & compact metal/plastic housing. No configuration is required. Just run an app, and it works. There are no switches or dials to adjust. You don't have to buy new sensors to do anything shown in the video. Just run an app. Truly a major extension of your mobile device, everything is controlled by the app. Here are just 6 apps that are already running with our Sensordrones.
Sensors to Make Your Life Better
Sensordrone is a sensor computer.
Just like a computer can run many different applications, Sensordrone can run many sensor applications. And, just like the best computers using the best processors, we put the best sensors available into Sensordrone, including our own sensors.
If you have a Sensordrone, you can run apps on your tablet or smartphone to monitor carbon monoxide and air quality, find gas leaks, measure your child's temperature, log the weather, and much more.
For example, apps using the capacitance sensor can work as a stud finder, a proximity monitor, or a liquid level monitor. Apps using the pressuresensor can work as a barometer, an altimeter, calculate elevation differences so you can measure the height of a building, be hooked up to a pressure cuff to work as a blood pressure monitor, and more. Humidity sensing is not just for weather, it determines comfort level for infants, finds the optimum conditions for storing foods, and could even helpprevent mold from growing in your home
Sensordrone makes any sensor application as easy as running an app!
If you've ever wanted a Tricorder like in Star Trek, this is a step in that direction. If you join the Sensor revolution, this is how your smartphone can look soon.
Its only limit is your imagination.
More Than Just Data
The sensors in Sensordrone don't just give you data, they guide you to smart decisions. Sensor apps will teach you, help you, and guide you. You'll be informed enough to demand action. For example, the carbon monoxide sensor will measure carbon monoxide, but combine that with an Air Quality Index guide, and you'll get much more information than just a number.
Carbon Monoxide Air Quality Monitor + Guide
Connect & Share
The Sensordrone can give you data anywhere you go. Maybe you'll find a gas leak or a polluted area and want to share that information with your colleagues. Maybe you'll use it as a breathalyzer after having too many drinks and it will automatically have your phone call a designated driver. Since the Sensordrone is essentially an extension of your internet connected smartphone or tablet, you can easily share vital data via your preferred web service. This includes Twitter, Facebook, sensor sites like Pachube, and much more.
3 Modes of Operation:
You'll have full control over the Sensordrone, like LED colors and timing, which sensors are on, how often to collect data, and when to transmit the data.
1. Call-Respond Mode - (just give me the most recent data now).
3. Data Logging Mode - (store data in memory until called upon, then download and export to a .csv file)
Application examples:
Air quality
Breath alcohol
Color matching
Non-contact thermometer
Weather monitoring
Crowd sourced Sensor Data
Games (totally new concepts)
Flatulence (use gas sensors for both serious and not so serious measurements)
Totally new applications/Multi-sensor mayhem!
Technical Details:
The Sensordrone has all the sensors your phone doesn't have. It is meant to extend your mobile devices capabilities, not duplicate them (so we didn't include motion or magnetic sensors which are common in phones/tablets)
Features:
Included Sensors
Precision Electrochemical Gas Sensor - Calibrated for Carbon Monoxide (Also can be used for precision measurements of Alcohol, Hydrogen, and others)
Gas Sensor for Oxidizing Gases - MOS type for Chlorine, Ozone, Nitrogen Dioxide, etc.
Gas Sensor for Reducing Gases - (MOS type for methane, Propane, alcohols, other hydrocarbons, etc.)
Temperature - Simple resistance temperature sensor type
Humidity
Pressure - can be used for Barometer, Altimeter, Blood Pressure, etc.
Non-Contact Thermometer - Infrared sensor for scanning object temperature
Proximity Capacitance - fluid level, intrusion detection, stud finder & more applications
Red Color Intensity
Green Color Intensity
Blue Color Intensity
Illumination - combine RGB & illumination for color matching
Digital & Analog Interface - Expansion connector for connecting anything you want to your mobile device through the Sensordrone
Expandable!
Anybody can connect any device/hardware project to the Sensordrone via a standard 0.1” pitch header, supports digital (RS-232, I2C) and analog signals. This makes Sensordrone an "Easy Bluetooth Interface" for your project. First for Android, then for iOS and other platforms. We're making external expansion modules that will connect to the expansion connector. To give you a sneak peak, one expansion module we're working on is a complete air quality monitor for precision measurements of Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) & Ozone (O3).
During the last managing committee meeting on May 28, some members of the association had suggested having a Sachin Tendulkar replica to commemorate the batting legend’s 100 international centuries in March this year. “It is a very big achievement for all, especially Mumbaikars. So, this would be an ideal way to recognise his monumental feat. Wankhede is his home ground and we need to do something special,” said a source.
The source said the idea was inspired by Sir Don Bradman’s statue outside the Adelaide Oval. “Sir Don is Australia and Adelaide’s pride. Similarly, Sachin is India and Mumbai’s jewel. At the moment, we just have a stand named after the legendary batsman, which is not enough,” added the source.
The Melbourne Cricket Ground has statues of legendary Australian cricketers like Bradman, Shane Warne, Dennis Lillee and Keith Miller.
However, some in the MCA are not convinced with the idea. The reason is lack of space. “There is already a huge space crunch at the Wankhede Stadium during matches. So, erecting a statue is not practically feasible.
“Another reason is the statue may get damaged in crowd frenzy,” said another source.
MCA has already announced that it would felicitate Tendulkar with 100 gold coins, which would cost approximately Rs 28 lakhs.
The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) felicitated the master batsman with 100 gold coins, and a golden bat and ball during Mumbai Indians’ match against Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League-V at the Eden Gardens last month.
Oracle Corp. (ORCL) Chief Executive Officer Larry Ellison has agreed to buy 98 percent of the Hawaiian island of Lanai, according to the current landowner and the state’s governor.
Lanai, Hawaii’s sixth-largest island with an area of 141 square miles (365 square kilometers), is owned and developed by billionaire David Murdock’s Castle & Cooke Inc. since 1985. Ellison’s software industry rival Bill Gates married his wife Melinda on the island in 1994.
The sale includes two resort hotels, two championship golf courses and club houses, more than 88,000 acres of land including a 600-acre residential development, a solar farm, parks and utilities, according to an application filed by Castle & Cooke with Hawaii’s Public Utilities Commission requesting interim approval for the sale by June 26 so it can close the transaction the following day.
No price was disclosed. The transaction is valued in the “hundreds of millions of dollars,” according to the application to the commission. In a statement, Murdock, 89, said he would keep his home on the island and retain rights to develop a wind energy farm there.
Ellison is the world’s sixth-richest man, with an estimated net worth of $36.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Gates is the second-richest man with a fortune of $62 billion.
The island has 47 miles of coastline and is accessible from neighboring islands by helicopter and small planes. It has no stoplights and 93 percent of the 430 miles of roads are unpaved. More than 3,200 residents live there and about 26,000 tourists visited the island in the first quarter of this year, according to the state.
Onyx Pharmaceutical ( NASDAQ: ONXX ) jumped more than 45 % and trading at 52 week high around $ 64, as the company's blood cancer drug gets US FDA panel backing. It will be a huge positive as far as the development is concerned. Stock might see more upside in course ahead, if drug gets through the trials and approved by USFDA. Also, it might be a takeover target for big companies at a huge premium from current levels as well. Investors should keep following the stock for any further development.
Below is the news release from reuters
Reuters reported that U.S. drug advisers backed Onyx Pharmaceuticals’s drug for patients who have failed to successfully treat their blood cancer with other medicines, making it likely the drug would secure approval from U.S. regulators. A panel of outside advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously to recommend approval of Onyx’s drug, to be sold as Kyprolis, for treating multiple myeloma in people who have tried at least two other medicines
Ford approaching keyfree car entry concept by developing Ford Keyfree app, it solves password management on Macs.
What is Ford Keyfree app?
Ford Keyfree is a Chrome extension that stores passwords for Facebook, Google, and Twitter. Then, whenever you’re near your Mac using a pre-approved smartphone, the app can “unlock” these sites automatically via Bluetooth. Your phone serves as your ID, thanks to the unique identifiers already in Bluetooth.
In an actual use case scenario, this means you can sit down to your computer, and without hitting any buttons at all, log in to your social networks.
The logic behind it was somewhat elusive as of now. Ford, like many other auto manufacturers, has embraced NFC key fobs, allowing you to unlock your car without fiddling with pesky keys. And to demonstrate it, they created one of the most awesome password tools for computers ever--one that has nothing at all to do with cars.
Because Ford Keyfree is an elegant piece of work, no matter who’s behind it. And besides, all those tech companies are getting way too cocky for their own good.
As of today, the release is by Ford France, and I’m not spotting how exactly you can download it. Luckily, an international version should be coming soon.
Sensors to Make Your Life Better
Its only limit is your imagination.
Connect & Share
The Sensordrone can give you data anywhere you go. Maybe you'll find a gas leak or a polluted area and want to share that information with your colleagues. Maybe you'll use it as a breathalyzer after having too many drinks and it will automatically have your phone call a designated driver. Since the Sensordrone is essentially an extension of your internet connected smartphone or tablet, you can easily share vital data via your preferred web service. This includes Twitter, Facebook, sensor sites like Pachube, and much more.
3 Modes of Operation:
Connect & Share
3 Modes of Operation:
