10749212
submission
gyrogeerloose writes:
According to Gizmondo, a leaked internal Apple corporate document states that iPhones are now available for purchase without proof of an existing AT&T contract. While his makes it possible for users to unlock their phones for use on Verizon's network, AT&T remains the only U.S. carrier that will support all of the iPhone's features, such as visual voice mail.
10189836
submission
gyrogeerloose writes:
A French amateur radio operator who built his own ground station using equipment from an abandoned telecom uplink site has listened in on the ESA's Mars Express space probe. While his antenna is too small to allow him to download actual data, he was able to record and convert the signal of the probe's X-Band transmitter into an audio file, which can be heard here.
9655052
submission
gyrogeerloose writes:
In a recently-published paper in the magazine Science, researchers have demonstrated a radio-frequency graphene transistor with the highest cut-off frequency achieved so far for any graphene device — 100 GHz, roughly four times faster than any previous transistor. Graphene is a single atom-thick layer of carbon atoms bonded in a hexagonal honeycomb-like arrangement. This two-dimensional form of carbon has unique electrical, optical, mechanical and thermal properties and its technological applications are being explored intensely.
9327338
submission
gyrogeerloose writes:
The FCC is concerned that the iPad will overburden already slow wireless networks. In a a blog posted on an FCC Web site, Phil Bellaria and John Leibovitz likened the iPad's potential impact to "the congestion dialup users experienced following AOL’s 1996 decision to allow unlimited internet use." They propose solving the problem by allocating more of the RF spectrum to cellular networks. Given the finite nature of the RF spectrum, this means taking bandwidth away from current users, Bellaria and Leibovitz say, stating "spectrum can no longer remain attached solely to uses deemed valuable decades ago."
9153192
submission
gyrogeerloose writes:
At an Apple Town Hall meeting last week, Apple CEO Steve Jobs acknowledged that Google is now a competitor in the smart phone market. "We did not enter the search business", Jobs said. "They entered the phone business. Make no mistake they want to kill the iPhone. We won’t let them." He also said that Google's "Don't be Evil" mantra is "Bullshit."
On Adobe, "they are lazy," Jobs says. "They have the potential to do amazing things but they don't." And he explained why Flash won't ever be supported on the iPhone or iPad: "It's buggy," he said. "Whenever a Mac crashes more often than not it’s because of Flash. No one will be using Flash. The world is moving to HTML5."
9153154
submission
gyrogeerloose writes:
At an Apple Town Hall meeting last week, Apple CEO Steve Jobs acknowledged that Google is now a competitor in the smart phone market. "We did not enter the search business", Jobs said. "They entered the phone business. Make no mistake they want to kill the iPhone. We won’t let them." He also said that Google's "Don't be Evil" mantra is "Bullshit."
On Adobe, "they are lazy," Jobs says. "They have the potential to do amazing things but they don't." And he explained why Flash won't ever be supported on the iPhone or iPad: "It's buggy," he said. "Whenever a Mac crashes more often than not it’s because of Flash. No one will be using Flash. The world is moving to HTML5."
9067136
submission
gyrogeerloose writes:
In an event eerily reminiscent of Cisco's suit over Apple's use of the "iPhone" name, Japanese firm Fujitsu is consulting it's attorneys in preparation for going to court over Apple's use of "iPad" for it's latest computing device. Quoted in a New York Times news story, Masahiro Yamane, director of Fujitsu’s public relations division, said “It’s our understanding that the name is ours.”
Fujitsu’s application to trademark the iPad name stalled because of an earlier filing by another company and The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office listed Fujitsu’s application as abandoned in early 2009, but the company revived its application in June. Apple, which has applied for an international trademark on "iPad" through a proxy company, has filed a number of requests with the U.S. Patent Office for more time to oppose Fujitsu’s application.
8532968
submission
gyrogeerloose writes:
A test published by MOTO labs comparing the accuracy and sensitivity of smartphone touchscreens among various makers gave the iPhone top marks ahead of HTC’s Droid Eris, the Google-branded Nexus One and the Motorola Droid. The test was conducted within a drawing program using a finger to trace straight diagonal lines across the screens and then comparing the results. While it's not likely that a smart phone user is going to draw a lot of lines, the test does give some indication of which phones are most likely to properly respond to clicking on a link in a Web browser.
7607658
submission
gyrogeerloose writes:
Sixty-eight years after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, intelligence agencies trying to prevent another unpleasant surprise are still stymied by the same thing: how to sort all the data they've collected in a timely manner. Although there was evidence to suggest that the Japanese navy was up to something in December 1941, that information was scanty and came too late. Today's intelligence agencies have another problem altogether--more information than they can deal with, and computers aren't helping as much as one might expect for reasons that will be familiar to Slashdot readers: computers can crunch numbers faster and more accurately than humans but they're still easily baffled by language as it is commonly used in the real world. Metaphor, slang and simple figures of speech can confuse the best algorithm and, as quoted in an article in the San Diego Union-Tribune , 'A system that takes a week to discover a bombing will occur in a day isn't very useful.'
7566650
submission
gyrogeerloose writes:
During it's last mission, astronauts from the Space Shuttle Atlantis installed an Automatic Identification System (AIS) antenna on the outside of the International Space Station that will allow astronauts aboard the ISS to monitor signals from the AIS transmitters mandated to be installed most large ocean-going craft. Although these VHF signals can be monitored from the Earth's surface, their horizontal range is generally limited to about 75 km (46 mi), leaving large areas of the ocean unwatched. However, the signals easily reach the 400 km (250 mi) orbit of the ISS.
The ESS sees this experiment as a test platform for a future AIS-monitoring fleet of satellites that will eventually provide worldwide coverage of sea traffic.
7108080
submission
gyrogeerloose writes:
Bloomberg news reports that Qualcomm Inc, the world's largest manufacturer of cellular phone handset chips, is in talks to with Apple to supply it's chips for use in the iPhone.
Currently, Qualcomm manufactures chips only for phones that use it's aging DMA2000 3G technology, namely Verizon and Sprint. However, it's unlikely that Apple could build a phone using this technology before the carriers have phased it out in favor of LTE 4G. Add to this the fact that Apple has repeatedly stated it's not interested in building a CDMA phone and it appears doubtful that the talks will amount to anything.
6475743
submission
gyrogeerloose writes:
Forget filching picnic baskets. Black bears in Yosemite National Park have learned that the best place to find food is is the family minivan. According to a story in the Fresno Bee, a study published in the Journal of Mammalogy "shows tha bears break into minivans more often than any other vehicle." The study puts forth several possibilities for this: minivans, because they're most often used by families with children, are more likely to emit food odors; minivan owners are more likely to leave caches of food in their vehicles and minivans are structurally easier to break into than other types of vehicles. There is also evidence that bears are teaching this behavior to their offspring.
5327205
submission
gyrogeerloose writes:
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports in a New York Times wire service story that a black bear known as "Yellow-Yellow" (named for the two yellow ear tags she sports) has solved the problem of opening a food container that was previously thought to be bear-proof. The container, known as The Bear Vault, was constructed in a manner similar to a child-proof pill bottle and had passed tests at zoos where bears were given a certain time to break in. The only bears able to open it were grizzlies large and strong enough to rip the lid off using brute force--up several years ago, when campers in the High Peaks region of New York's Adirondack Mountains started reporting successful break-ins. A redesigned canister was introduced last year; Yellow-Yellow, a relatively petite 120-pound black bear, figured that one out too. The manufacturer is working on a new design expected to be released next year. New York state officials have agreed to test it by filling it with food and placing it in Yellow-Yellow's territory.
2004211
submission
gyrogeerloose writes:
Groklaw reports that Apple has filed an amended complaint in the lawsuit it has filed against Pystar, the unauthorized Mac clone builder. Most interesting among the new claims is that Apple believes that there are other persons or corporations behind the scenes and that they will be added to the lawsuit once Apple discovers who they are. Although it could be construed as paranoia on Apple's part, the claim does make a certain amount of sense. For instance, if a computer builder wanted to start building Macintosh clones, one way they might do it is to set up a paper company, start selling the clones and then see what happens in court when the inevitable lawsuit comes. If the paper company wins, then the floodgates are open for cloners. If they lose, the paper company goes down but it's puppet master is safely hidden. In any case, the Apple -v- Pystar lawsuit has suddenly become much more interesting.
