FCC Head Wants New Wireless Devices Unlocked 221
[TheBORG] writes with news that FCC chairman Kevin Martin wants 700-MHz wireless devices and services to be unlocked. Spectrum auctions for the 700-MHz airwaves, being opened up for fixed and mobile broadband, are scheduled for early next year. "The proposed rules would apply only to the spectrum being auctioned, not the rest of the wireless business, which still makes most of its revenue from voice calls. But Martin's proposal, if adopted by the FCC, could reverberate through a U.S. wireless industry that has tightly controlled access to devices and services... Like most devices sold in the USA, the iPhone ... allows only features and applications that Apple and AT&T provide and works only with an AT&T contract. The FCC chairman said he has grown increasingly concerned that the current practices 'hamper innovations' dreamed up by outside developers. One example:... 'Internationally, Wi-Fi handsets have been available for some time,' Martin noted. 'But they are just beginning to roll out here.'"
Submission + - Spammers haven't solved CAPTCHA after all
An anonymous reader writes: According to New Scientist's Technology blog, spammers probably haven't figured out how to defeat CAPTCHAs at all, despite recent reports suggesting they had. It seems that the Trojan program credited with creates free email accounts by 'overcoming' CAPTCAs actually just copies each CAPTCHA and sends it off somewhere else for processing. The CAPTCHA is indeed solved, but the process may well be done done manually. And at least one CAPTCHA expert things the speed with which it works — 500 accounts an hour — suggests a person is doing it.
Submission + - Atlantis launched without incident (forkforge.org)
forkazoo writes: "Space.com is reporting the successful launch of the space shuttle Atlantis. There were no major incidents or problems during the launch, except that there was some concern about the weather at the two European abort landing sites. The weather cleared up and the launch was pretty much perfect. I watched on the live NASA TV stream."
Submission + - MIT team demonstrates wireless power transfer (mit.edu)
tuomas_kaikkonen writes: "MIT team demonstrated the wireless electricity based on using coupled resonant objects. Two resonant objects of the same resonant frequency tend to exchange energy efficiently, while interacting weakly with extraneous off-resonant objects. They were able to light a 60W light bulb from a power source seven feet (more than two meters) away; there was no physical connection between the source and the appliance. The work has been reported in the June 7 issue of Science Express, the advance online publication of the journal Science."
Submission + - Google, Microsoft and Yahoo DNS records hacked (thecoils.com)
Yaron Orenstein writes: "I wanted to point your attention to a very interesting story we have found two days ago and just published. The DNS records of three of the top world Internet companies Google, Microsoft and Yahoo has been hacked.
I have published the whole story in English here: http://www.thecoils.com/2007/06/08/google_microsof t_yahoo_dns_hack/"
Submission + - Transformers Movie Theme Song (myspace.com)
XGecko writes: "A clip of new Transformers theme from the soundtrack has been posted on the Mutemath My Space page. It kinda has a techno-alternative feel."
Submission + - Interview with hardware modder Ben Heck (gamealmighty.com)
Jaklar writes: "Posted an interview with hardware modder extraordinaire Benjamin Heckendorn, best known for his portable Xbox 360. Interview covers his inspirations, how he got started, dream projects, favorite inventor and more. Your readers should find it interesting.
http://www.gamealmighty.com/story-individual/story /Interview_with_Modding_Genius_Ben_Heck/"
http://www.gamealmighty.com/story-individual/stor
Submission + - Liquid Puddles on Mars? (newscientist.com)
An anonymous reader writes: It seems hard to believe, but physicist Ron Levin claims that the Opportunity rover found puddles on Mars filled with a clear substance (possibly water or ice). That is to say, he is suggesting that water CURRENTLY exists on the surface of Mars. Could this possibly be consistent with the laws of physics, previous Mars survey mission photos, or previous Matrian spectroscopy? Is this just totally crazy? Judge for yourself. Details here.
Submission + - Ode or Code?-Programmers Be Mused! (acmqueue.com)
ChelleChelle writes: In his usual satirical style, author Stan Kelly-Bootle discusses what is widely called "literate programming." With a good dose of biting humor and several asides on classic literature he ponders the wars of the programming languages and the debate over which language is best.
Submission + - Gateway customer has to sue to get his PC fixed (sacbee.com)
prostoalex writes: "Sacramento Bee tells the story of an El Dorado resident who had to go to the small claims court to get his Gateway PC fixed: "Right out of the box, he says, the computer displayed scattered graphics and wouldn't work properly. He says he called a Gateway salesman five times and sent him an e-mail to get an authorization number to send the computer back, but his phone calls and message were never returned. Then, over the course of months, Sheehan said he called Gateway technical support dozens of times. Technicians kept telling him the problems could be fixed, but they never were, he says." What's more alerting in the story is that Gateway insists that by clicking 'Accept' on customer service EULA, Mr. Sheehan has waived his rights to sue the computer manufacturer in United States courts, agreeing to resolve the conflicts via private arbitrage."
Submission + - Apple's New Animation/UI Framework (neosmart.net)
mqudsi writes: Apple is show-casing a new animation/user-interface framework due to ship with OS X Leopard. According to Apple, this new API will make it possible for software developers to easily and quickly add advanced custom 3D animations and interactions to their applications — in effect creating a new 3D UI — with little time and difficulty. While this concept isn't new, it's up to Apple to prove if they can make it easy, seeing as previous attempts by Microsoft and Adobe have failed to do what some say Apple just might accomplish: bring on desktop 2.0.
Submission + - Phone Patent Battle Hurts Millions of Consumers (pcmag.com)
CorinneI writes: "The patent battle, brewing since May 2005 when Broadcom Corp. filed suit against Qualcomm for infringing upon 10 Broadcom patents related to wired and wireless communications, has resulted in a International Trade Commission's decision to ban the import of new models of cell phones containing Qualcomm 3G broadband chipsets. This strikes a serious blow to consumers hoping to buy any one of Verizon's and Sprint's high-speed models and many AT&T phones. Collateral damage from this legal dirty bomb will hit Motorola, Samsung, LG, and HTC, all of whom use some Qualcomm components."
