Android made easy with the LG Optimus

The LG Optimus, or GT540 for the techheads out there, has been designed with ease-of-use in mind. It may not be the smartest of smartphones, and only runs on Android 1.6, but it offers a large enough feature list to satisfy an entry-level user.
With an automatically-synched  Google account, the phone allows easy access to YouTube, Gmail, Gtalk, Google Maps and a whole host of other branded goodies. And it's compatible with tens of thousands of Android apps currently available on the Market.
Social networking integration is another big selling point for the Optimus, and LG's proprietary client aims to make using Facebook, Twitter and Bebo a doddle. It also provides a real-time update service on the home screen.
The entry-level phone also simplifies file loading, being able to accept and play DivX and XviD video files through a drag-and-drop interface, rather than having to re-encode them to a new format. There is also an on-board video editor, so text and music can be added to recordings.
Coming to stores on the May 1, the price of the LG Optimus hasn't been confirmed, but we're pretty sure that it will depend on contract and service provider.
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Senators see privacy problem in Facebook expansion

Four U.S. senators want Facebook to make it easier for its more than 400 million users to protect their privacy as the website develops new outlets to share personal information.
The call for simpler privacy controls came in a letter that the senators plan to send Tuesday to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. The Associated Press obtained a draft of the letter signed by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.; Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo; Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska; and Sen. Al Franken, D.-Minn.
It marks the second time in the past three days that Schumer has expressed his misgivings about a series of changes that Facebook announced last week. The new features are designed to unlock more of the data that the online hangout has accumulated about people during its six-year history.
Schumer sent a letter Sunday to the Federal Trade Commission calling for regulators to draw up clearer privacy guidelines for Facebook and other Internet social networks to follow.
The political pressure threatens to deter Facebook's efforts to put its stamp on more websites, a goal that could yield more moneymaking opportunities for the privately held company.
Facebook's expansion "raises new concerns for users who want to maintain control over their information," the senators wrote in their preliminary draft.
In a statement late Monday, Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes said the company wants to meet with Schumer to explain its commitment to privacy.
"We've developed powerful tools to give our users control over what information they want to share, when they want to share it and with whom," Noyes said.
Among other things, Facebook is plugging into other websites so people can communicate their interests with their online entourages. Facebook also tweaked its own website to create more pages where people's biographical information could be exposed to a wider audience.
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China wants telecom companies to inform on clients

China is poised to strengthen a law to require telecommunications and Internet companies to inform on customers who discuss state secrets, potentially forcing businesses to collaborate with the country's vast security apparatus that stifles political dissent.
The move, reported Tuesday by state media, comes as China continues tightening controls on communications services. It also follows a spat over censorship that prompted search giant Google Inc. last month to move its Chinese site to Hong Kong, which provides broader protection of civil liberties than mainland China.

A draft of amendments to the Law on Guarding State Secrets submitted to China's top legislature for review will make more explicit the requirement that telecoms operators and Internet service providers help police and state security departments in investigations about leaks of state secrets, the state-run China Daily newspaper said.
"Information transmissions should be immediately stopped if they are found to contain state secrets," the official Xinhua News Agency cited the amendment as saying. Xinhua said that according to the amendment, once a state secret leak has been discovered, records should be kept and the finding reported to authorities.
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New Core i7 MacBook Pros reach 100 °C

Apple finally put out new MacBook Pros earlier this month, but the launch with Intel’s latest processors hasn’t come without a few problems. PC Authority’s hands on testing with the new 17” MacBook Pro found that the internal Core i7 topped out at around 100 degrees Celsius.
The computer review company found that when performing various benchmarks with the laptop, the processor generated so much heat that they had to stand the MacBook Pro on its side in order to complete their testing. (as pictured above) Testing in both Mac OS X and Windows cranked up the heat output to over 100 degrees.
The 2.66 GHz Core i7 620M inside the laptop reached 84 degrees in the Dwarf Fortress graphics benchmark and 100 degrees in the Cinebench 3D rendering benchmark. For comparison, they tested a Fujitsu Lifebook SH760 that used the same processor and found that it only reached a maximum of 80 degrees and kept cool to the touch thanks to its thicker plastic casing which allowed for greater airflow and a larger copper heat sink.
Engadget’s own testing found that the new MacBook Pros were actually cooler than previous models in real world usage, so new owners should not worry too much. They do recommend that Apple should consider sacrificing its low noise output when the CPU gets worked though, as it can get toasty at times.
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