iPad vs. Kindle: Which is the better e-Reader?

The iPad is indeed a useful, entertaining, engaging and disruptive product, but is it really a better reading device than the traditional e-Ink readers currently on the market? We put the iPad’s backlit IPS LCD screen to the test and compared it to its competitors under various lighting conditions. (click here to view testing gallery)

So after all of the fallout, just under three weeks after the iPad’s availability on April 3, I’ve had a decent amount of time to spend with my new device and explore its capabilities. For the most part, the product has delivered very well on its promises as an industry leading and powerful digital convergence device, particularly in the consumption of Web, multimedia and informational content.
The iPad is a non-stop source for consuming updated news feeds, is a phenomenal casual web surfing device, is great for viewing and listening to streamed media, has freed me from my desktop for at least 3 or 4 hours during the work week and has allowed me to relax with technology over the weekend and evenings. In that respect, the device has already justified its purpose.
However, one of the reasons why I purchased the iPad was that I wanted a single device that indeed would be a universal content consumption device and would replace the e-Readers that I have been flirting with on and off over the last several years. I say flirting because I primarily use e-readers for recreational reading when I am on vacation or when I have ample time to spare.
Over the years I have been highly critical of e-Reader devices such as the Kindle. Their internal processing power has been limited and I have found overall performance and responsiveness to be slow, particularly as it comes down to user interface and screen refresh. Most importantly, their cost relative to their limited function, which is to read books has also been traditionally high when compared to multifunction devices. Continue to ZDNet: http://asurl.net/9Yc

Hubble Telescope at 20: Images now on Google Earth

I have a special affinity for the Hubble Space Telescope. Run by the Space Telescope Science Institute on the Johns Hopkins University campus and developed in part by scientists at the JHU Applied Physics Laboratory, Hubble is closely tied to my alma mater. It also launched in 1990 and, to a 14-year old geeky kid who had just gotten his own telescope for Christmas, Hubble was incredibly cool. Now 20 years old, the telescope is on its last legs with just four more years of life expected before it is replaced by the infrared James Webb Space Telescope. Even at the ripe old age of 20, though, Hubble continues to amaze, and its galleries are well worth exploring on Google Earth.
Although Hubble images have been available in Google Earth for some time, a new tour of the available images is available from Google in honor of the 20th anniversary. The zooming capabilities are pretty remarkable and each part of the tour links to the relevant areas of hubblesite.org. The Cat’s Eye Nebula, for example, shown below,

 is linked to information about its formation, high-resolution photos, video (shown below embedded form YouTube, but available as high-resolution downloads on Hubblesite), and additional resource links online. Continue: http://asurl.net/9qX

There Are Now Over 50,000 Android Apps

Android's app trajectory is insane: December saw 4,000 new apps. Last month saw 8,000. This month? On track for more. In a year, the App Market will approach infinity, and our universe will collapse into a sizeless point.

For reference, it's Apple's App Store is on a similar tear, adding nearly 85,000 apps to its ranks since the beginning of the year, when it had just passed 100k. But at this scale, comparing raw numbers doesn't tell us much—the fact here is that Android and iPhone OS are the only two OSes with the meteoric growth in app development commensurate with the widespread demand and appreciation for smartphone apps. In other words, they're the only platforms that get it, for now. Source: http://asurl.net/9H9

Twitter Launches Countdown to OAuthcalypse

In 9 weeks, 3 days and some change, Twitter will turn off basic authentication for apps, making OAuth the only way to connect to Twitter applications. The Twitter API team has even launched a countdown to what it calls “OAuthcalypse.”
Currently, there are two ways to connect to apps: basic authentication, where you provide your username and password to a third party, and OAuth, which allows you to connect to apps without giving away your account information. As part of a move to make Twitter more secure and stable, basic authentication will be removed on June 30th. Apps will no longer be allowed to ask for your username and password.
Twitter revealed the news and the countdown clock in an announcement on the Twitter API Google group:

“you’re going to be hearing a lot from me over the next 9 weeks. our plan is to turn off basic authorization on the API by june 30, 2010 — developers will have to switch over to OAuth by that time. between now and then, there will be a *lot* of information coming along with tips on how to use OAuth Echo, xAuth, etc. we really want to make this transition as easy as we can for everybody.”

Continue: http://asurl.net/9LO

U.S. students suffering from Internet addiction: study

American college students are hooked on cellphones, social media and the Internet and showing symptoms similar to drug and alcohol addictions, according to a new study.

Researchers at the University of Maryland who asked 200 students to give up all media for one full day found that after 24 hours many showed signs of withdrawal, craving and anxiety along with an inability to function well without their media and social links.

Susan Moeller, the study's project director and a journalism professor at the university, said many students wrote about how they hated losing their media connections, which some equated to going without friends and family.

"I clearly am addicted and the dependency is sickening," said one student. "Between having a Blackberry, a laptop, a television, and an iPod, people have become unable to shed their media skin."

Moeller said students complained most about their need to use text messages, instant messages, e-mail and Facebook.

"Texting and IM-ing my friends gives me a constant feeling of comfort," wrote one of the students, who blogged about their reactions. "When I did not have those two luxuries, I felt quite alone and secluded from my life."

Few students reported watching TV news or reading a newspaper.

The American Psychiatric Association does not recognize so-called Internet addiction as a disorder.

But it seems to be an affliction of modern life. In one extreme example in South Korea reported by the media, a couple allegedly neglected their three-month-old daughter, who died of malnutrition, because they were on the computer for up to 12 hours a day raising a virtual child. Continue: http://asurl.net/9mA

Microsoft, Google eye Arabic web growth potential

The further integration of Arabic language capabilities in internet and other technological architecture will grant millions access to the digital world, Microsoft and Google executives said.

As devices and applications become more ubiquitous in less developed countries, their content will grow and an embryonic e-economy should flourish, they said.

"(Microsoft CEO) Steve Ballmer and I a few years ago talked and believed Arabic would be an increasingly important language," said Craig Mundie, Microsoft's chief research and strategy officer. "And yet, because of the way the internet was evolving, it wasn't a language that was getting a lot of use."

But while Arab world internet use since 2000 has grown faster than anywhere else and access costs have shrunk, content still punches below its weight and ad spending remains tiny.

Arabic content is less than 1 percent of world totals though speakers constituting 5 percent of the global population.

The Arabic portal of online encyclopedia Wikipedia carries less words than its Catalan site, Google's regional marketing manager Wael Ghonim said.

"There is a lot of Arabic content but it is not well structured," he said. "We want more structured content. We want more of the professional, niche sites, more businesses."

"One of our biggest missions is to enable Arabic users to find the right tools to enrich Arabic content," Ghonim said. "It would be great to see more e-commerce in the region, more publishers, more news sites. We are committed to help them."

Asked how Google could aid such regional growth, Ghonim said: "We have a very ambitious plan in the next few months, we are working on many initiatives." He did not elaborate. Continue: http://asurl.net/9v8

Japan firms to standardize mobile software: report

Four major Japanese electronics companies will standardize their core software platform for next-generation cellphones aimed at reducing costs and raising competitiveness, the Nikkei business daily reported on Sunday.
The firms -- Sharp, Panasonic, Fujitsu and NEC -- will apply the software system, used to drive animations and music, in the next-generation cellphones developed by NTT DoCoMo, the newspaper said without citing any sources.

The unified software will be loaded in NTT DoCoMo's next-generation model set to be launched during the financial year ending in March 2012, Nikkei said.

Electronics makers currently have their own software platforms but the move to unify all systems will lead to 50 percent reductions in development costs of next-generation phones, it said. Continue: http://asurl.net/9fn

The intelligent Fluent News Reader best iPhone app for news junkies

Any news junkie should look no further than the free Fluent News Reader iPhone app when it comes to a news aggregator for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.
Fluent News Reader displays a list of new stories like many other news apps, but what is different is its smart grouping of articles. Next to a popular story, users will see a button showing a number and a related word. Tap this to see all the other versions of these news stories from different sources, including The Washington Post, Time, TMZ, BBC and Sports Illustrated. You can choose to read the story from your favorite source—or on particularly polarizing topics, find a different viewpoint elsewhere.
The app's startup is relatively slow, but the load time of stories is quick. Articles are pulled from mobile Web sites, so they’re optimized for reading on your iPhone, plus you can read stories in landscape mode or in full screen. Offline reading is also supported. Fluent News Reader has built-in Facebook and Twitter sharing, or you can save articles in-app for later reading.
Premium access to Fluent News Reader is available for $1.99 per month, or $2.99 per quarter, and gives users the ability to create unlimited custom sections and source filtering. The free version provides the creation of up to three custom content sections, and the ability to promote one source and disable one source. Source: http://asurl.net/9kS

Microsoft profit jumps 35 pct but investors shrug

A global rise in computer shipments that helped carry Microsoft Corp.'s net income 35 percent higher in the most recent quarter wasn't enough to satisfy investors who were looking for a bigger boost from recovering business spending.

Microsoft's Windows division reported strong consumer demand but more muted growth from corporate customers.

That didn't mesh with the high expectations recently set by Intel Corp. and other big tech companies. Intel's net income nearly quadrupled on strong sales of chips for corporate PCs and servers.
Specifically, investors predicted better sales in Microsoft's server division, and expected companies to have placed advance orders for more new software, said Andrew Miedler, an Edward Jones analyst, in an interview.
During a conference call, Microsoft CFO Peter Klein tried to rein in expectations for the pace of a recovery for software companies.
"If you think about what's happened over the last year, the first thing that got hit and decreased earliest and fastest was hardware, and that's what's coming back first," Klein said. "Over the course of calendar 2010 and certainly into 2011 you'll start to see the growth in the overall IT (information technology) spend."
Microsoft's stock fell $1.15, or 3.7 percent, to $30.24 in extended trading Thursday. Before results were released, the stock gained 6 cents to close at $31.39. Continue: http://asurl.net/99o

IPv4's Last Day: What Will Happen When There Is Only IPv6?

How will we know when IPv4 address space is all used up? And what will happen when that day comes?

The modern Internet has been built using IPv4 (define), which provides for 4.3 billion address, a supply that could run dry within the next two years. Organizations that allocate IP address space like the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) have attempted to forecast when IPv4 address space will be gone, but it's not an exact science, and there is no precise date to mark on a calendar.

At the ARIN XXV policy meetings held here this week, ARIN CIO Richard Jimmerson explained how the organization expects to know when the final IPv4 address is gone.


"We will run out of IPv4 address space and the real difficult part is that there is no flag date. It's a real moving date based on demand and the amount of address space we can reclaim from organizations,"

Jimmerson told InternetNews.com

"If things continue they way they have, ARIN will for the very first time, sometime between the middle and end of next year, receive a request for IPv4 address space that is justified and meets the policy. However, ARIN won't have the address space. So we'll have to say no for the very first time."
Continue: http://asurl.net/9ET

Scam Constellations and Link Architectures

Scams come in all shapes and sizes, even on the Internet. One thing that I've noticed while doing research for RescueTheWeb is that the scammers are persistent in inventing new architectures that meet their needs. This article is a brief survey of the scamming link architectures I've found.

When I talk about scamming architecture I'm referring to the link structure that scammers use to 1.) raise their Google Page Rank and 2.) draw you to their scam websites. Continue: http://asurl.net/eRE

The End of the 3.5 Inch Floppy Continues

Sony announced on April 23rd that they will be discontinuing sales of the classic 3.5 inch floppy disk in Japan in 2011. The news marks a major end to a nearly three decade history of the disk type that the company helped to pioneer.

According to Sony, they introduced the 3.5 inch floppy disk size to the world in 1981, and began sales within Japan in 1983. Sony had shipped approximately 47 million disks within the country at its peak around the year 2000, but that number had fallen to around 8.5 million by 2009, Sankei News reported.

In 2008 Sony accounted for around 40% of the world’s market share in 3.5 inch floppy disks, Nikkei wrote; within Japan, Sony has held about 70% of the market share in recent years, the Asahi added.

Sony will stop sales within Japan in March of 2011, and with the exception of a few niche markets such as in India, the company’s worldwide sales finished in March of this year, the Mainichi stated. Sony ceased its outsourced production of the 3.5 inch floppy in 2009.  It is also noted that most other major manufacturers of the disk type have already withdrawn from the market entirely.

Lack of demand was stated as the major reason for the decision, with many pointing to the rapid expansion of other media saving methods, such as CDs, DVDs, and USB drives, as well as a significant decrease in floppy disk-supporting hardware.

Beyond the floppy, the 3.5 inch size is still used for Sony’s magneto optical disks.
From:  http://asurl.net/ep4

Ubuntu to kill its notification area (system tray)

Ubuntu will soon begin to phase out its traditional "system tray" in favor of a new overhauled menu and notification system. Citing inconsistent behavior and weak notification ability, the Canonical Design Team has announced that the current notification area will be dropped in favor of more consistent and user friendly status menus.

The problem: A weak and inconsistent notification area.

To explain its decision, the team went back to the origins of the current notification area that many operating systems incorporate. Originally conceived in Windows 95, the notification area began its life as a place to see the time and adjust the volume, but soon started to become known as the “system tray” as Microsoft allowed developers to use “systray.exe" for their own applications.

As much as Microsoft has tried to dispel the term “system tray” in favor of “notification area", the Ubuntu team cite two main reasons for it still being used. The first, as stated above, developers are able to use the notification area for uses that aren’t even notifications (such as hiding an application to its tray icon). For the second, they state that the use of extremely small icons do not effectively alert the user other than small case scenarios such as “you have new mail” or “your battery charge is at 10%”. Continue http://asurl.net/etZ

Microsoft Office 2010 arrives soon

Chances are, you're still using Office 2003 or earlier, but get ready for the next gen: Microsoft Office 2010 is coming, and sooner than you might think.

ZDNet reported that the software was released to manufacturing last week (RTM, in computer-speak), which means that it's now being frantically pressed to discs in Chinese sweatshops so that it can be on Best Buy and Office Depot shelves by summer. [Update: This post originally said it'd be on shelves by Memorial Day, and the headline said "Microsoft Office 2010 arrives May 12." May 12 is the business launch; consumers will be able to buy it in June, Microsoft Office's PR team says.]

What's the horoscope for Office 2010? (A Taurus, by the way.) Will it be a hit? Continue: http://asurl.net/eCv

Cops reportedly investigating case of lost iPhone 4G

If you're the guy who sold Gizmodo the lost iPhone 4G prototype that made headlines this week, now might be a good time to lawyer up.

CNET has a law enforcement source who claims that Silicon Valley police are looking into the case of Apple's lost iPhone 4G prototype, which was reportedly left on a barstool in Redwood City by an Apple software engineer who'd been field-testing the ultra-top-secret device.

The prototype, as we all know by now, eventually wound up in the hands of another patron at the bar, who ended up selling it to Gizmodo for a tidy $5,000. Gizmodo's subsequent posts on the thoroughly poked and prodded iPhone made a gigantic splash this week, racking up millions of hits. Gizmodo ultimately gave the iPhone back after Apple sent a formal request for the return of its lost property.

Investigators are looking at "whether sufficient evidence exists to file criminal charges," according to CNET. Continue: http://asurl.net/elU

New way to guide a car: With your eyes, not hands

Tired of spinning that steering wheel? Try this: German researchers have developed a new technology that lets drivers steer cars using only their eyes.

Raul Rojas, an artificial intelligence researcher at Berlin's Free University, said Friday that the technology tracks a driver's eye movement and, in turn, steers the car in whatever direction they're looking.

Rojas and his team presented the technology-packed prototype under a clear blue sky at an airport in the German capital.

The Dodge Caravan crisscrossed the tarmac at the abandoned Tempelhof Airport, its driver using his line of sight to control the car. The car's steering wheel was turning as if guided by ghostly hands.

The technology called eyeDriver lets the car drive up to 31 mph (50 kph).
"The next step will be to get it to drive 60 miles per hour," Rojas said. Continue: http://asurl.net/eBw

Israel ends ban on iPad imports

Israel has ended its ban on Apple's iPad tablet computer, imposed over concerns its wireless signal could be disruptive.
Israel's Communications Ministry says that after a technical review, officials have decided to allow the popular device into the country.
Israel banned iPad imports after their U.S. release earlier this month, after fears that the powerful gadget's wireless signals could disrupt other devices. At least 10 iPads were seized at the country's international airport.
The ministry says officials determined the iPad meets local standards. Beginning Sunday, they were to be allowed into the country.
The iPad combines the features of a notebook computer with the touch-pad functions of the iPod. It is set to launch internationally in late May. Source: http://asurl.net/eQr

A Camera for Video and Photos

One of the first things that impressed me about this camera was the placement of the snapshot and video-record buttons – not in one, but in two places on the camera, the back end and the front end. When I held the camera above my head to shoot something, it was easy to grip the camera and press record or capture a still image. When I held the camera at a low angle, my thumb easily reached the set of buttons near the lens.
Although research shows that consumers generally prefer slim cameras, this camera's body is bulkier than the VPC-CS1, another new camera from Sanyo that's got a vertical form factor. But, despite the fact that the SH1 didn't fit in a small purse alongside my smart phone and wallet, I liked the substantial body of the camera; it had a more stable feel. I didn't get those shaky video clips that I sometimes shoot with the Flip MinoHD. Also, the Sanyo's image stabilization setting really helped steady some potentially shaky shots. The view screen is a 2.7 inch LCD pop-out that turns to a 285 degree angle.Continue: http://asurl.net/e0P

The End Of The BlackBerry Elite

In many companies, smartphones are status symbols. Senior executives and key staff are armed with BlackBerrys or other premium smartphones to accelerate communication.
But when the "BlackBerry elite" started years ago, most companies did not allow executives to use their BlackBerrys for personal calls and e-mails as well, and this forced executives to carry two phones.

In recent years companies have extended mobile phone privileges to rank-and-file workers, but the two-phone scenario has been unappealing to most. The solution: Let workers use one phone for both company and personal business. And now that smartphones are relatively inexpensive and many workers own one, companies are encouraging employees to use their personal phones for work. One retail executive told me that most of his employees were eager to use their personal phones to stay in touch with work e-mail, and some workers could be reimbursed for their phone and texting charges.Continue: http://asurl.net/ebF