mharms1 - Slashdot User

Submission + - 2.6 metre multi-touch wall in Helsinki (citywall.org)

Submitted by jfanning on Thursday May 31, 2007 @01:48AM

jfanning writes: In Helsinki the 'CityWall' has just gone into operation. It is a 2.6 metre long multi-touch interface developed by the Ubiquitous Interaction group at the Helsinki Institute for Information Technology.

The technology developed for the wall would allow displays that are theoretically 16 meters wide and the number of users is limited only by available space. CityWall is described as 'a large multi-touch display installed in a central location in Helsinki which acts as a collaborative and playful interface for the everchanging media landscape of the city.'

The CityWall is designed to support the navigation of media, specifically annotated photos and videos which are continuously gathered in realtime from public sources such as Flickr and YouTube.

Submission + - Ndiyo low-cost ($10?) terminal starter kit launch

Submitted by

h00manist

on Wednesday May 30, 2007 @07:59PM

h00manist writes: "Ndiyo, the project to build the lowest-cost-ever computer/terminal, made a one-chip prototype, and now has finally launched a sample starter kit. The kit includes 5 ethernet-connecting Nivo terminals, which can be added to a PC to create a 6-user system. Each Nivo is capable of supporting a standard LCD monitor at resolutions up to 1280x1024 and 24-bit colour depth."

Submission + - Palm's Jeff Hawkins Intros "Smartphone Compani

Submitted by

giffnyc

on Wednesday May 30, 2007 @03:04PM

giffnyc writes: "This morning at the Wall Street Journal's D5 conference, Palm Pilot inventor Jeff Hawkins revealed the product he had hinted at in September of 2005. A slim notebook like factor and Linux based OS power a "smartphone companion". The device has WiFi, but also links via Bluetooth to your smartphone, sharing the connection and intelligently syncing email, contacts, etc. All flash driven, the device is instant-on. Checkout TreoCentral for the developing story. Aside from a dedicated keyboard, how different is the thinking on this device from Nokia's Internet Tablet series?"

Submission + - Palm Unveils Folio

Submitted by

CorinneI

on Wednesday May 30, 2007 @02:09PM

CorinneI writes: "Here's something from Palm that's been five years in the making, according to founder Jeff Hawkins. The Foleo boasts a full-size keyboard, a 10.2-inch color screen, and has an SD card slot, VGA out, USB, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and more. Could this be the killer mobile e-mail machine we've been waiting for?"

Submission + - Decrypting DVDs to be legalized in Finland/EU

Submitted by

Lasse

on Wednesday May 30, 2007 @01:52PM

Lasse writes: "Finland has one of the hardest implementations of the EUCD copyright directive, and it is now being tested in the Finnish Court. Basically the law currently criminalizes decryption and bypassing of copy protection mechanisms. It also bans the distribution of decryption tools, and even organized debate of copy protection decryption. On the 25th of May the District Court of Helsinki ruled that decrypting the CSS protection, which is used on almost every DVD video disc, is not a criminal act.

The Court had some valid arguments in their decision, as they did not see the CSS as an effective copy protection mechanics, due to the fact that decryption tools are so widely available for the public. This ruling may have some interesting side effects, as Blu-ray and HD-DVD decryption tools become more widely available, then they cant be considered as effective protection mechanisms either?

http://www.bitburners.com/The_News/Lawsuits_and_Le gal_Issues/Decrypting_DVDs_to_be_legalized_in_Finl and%10European_Union?/"

Submission + - Device lets moviegoers report obnoxious patrons

Submitted by The Iso on Wednesday May 30, 2007 @12:57PM

The Iso writes: Regal Cinemas in New York is using science to enable patrons to report ringing cell phones, crying babies, spies from the Internet, and technical difficulties so a staff member can deal with those problems.

A hand-held pager is given to a random member of the Regal Crown Club Loyalty Program who's attending each movie. "If any situation does arise they can just press a button which goes directly to the pager which the manager will have and they'll signal it and they'll go right into the theater and handle the situation," theater manager Heather Dematteis said.
I know there's a Soviet Russia joke in this.

Submission + - Microsoft unveils new device called Surface

Submitted by GnarlyDoug on Wednesday May 30, 2007 @12:01PM

GnarlyDoug writes: According to MSNBC, Microsoft has a new device called Surface . It is in effect a very large touch-screen device built into a large work surface, and it looks like Bill Gates sees this as the future of computing. What do you think?

Submission + - Say no to traffic shaping

Submitted by

kash2000

on Wednesday May 30, 2007 @11:17AM

kash2000 writes: "UK based blog against Virgin Media and other ISP's who shape or throttle broadband downloads. broadband, virgin media, ISP, throttling, traffic management."

Submission + - Shigeru Miyamoto and Yahoo Answers

Submitted by

JeremyDuffy

on Monday March 19, 2007 @10:22AM

JeremyDuffy writes: "Shigeru Miyamoto asks in Yahoo's answer service, "How old were you when you first heard of Nintendo and what does it mean to you?". Here's a chance to submit information to Nintendo's head man semi-directly."

Submission + - Google Phone in the Works

Submitted by Vacardo on Monday March 19, 2007 @02:19AM

Vacardo writes: Google is developing its own mobile phone, according to industry insiders and analysts.

The device described could handle voice over internet phone-calling. He said it is being developed within a 100-person mobile phone group at Google that includes Andy Rubin, the creator of Sidekick, a popular phone and internet device that he developed at a prior company he founded, Danger Inc.

"Mobile is an important area for Google," Google spokeswoman Erin Fors said on Friday. "We remain focused on creating applications and establishing and growing partnerships with industry leaders to develop innovative services for users worldwide. However, we have nothing further to announce."

Submission + - New info on CD lifetimes

Submitted by

Jeff1946

on Sunday March 18, 2007 @07:35PM

Jeff1946 writes: "One of the science fair entries I judged this week was on the use of CDs to archive data and the expected lifetime. The students did accelerated lifetime testing at 80C to determine the failure rate of the cyanine dye on which is written the data. They didn't have enough time at 80C to detect any failures. Of more interest to me and /. folks is conversations they had with people at NIST and the Library of Congress. The students learned that CDs lifetimes have greatly improved due to metal stabilizers being added to the dye and it is now reasonible to expect no degradation for at least 50 years if the CD is kept at room temperature away from bright light. They also were told that DVD-Rs are much more prone to degradation. Another tidbit they learned was the least reliable part of a CD is near the outer edge due to the fact that the dye is spun onto the CD and may not coat it as well there. My take away from this is that is probably a good idea to copy any older CDs with valuable data to new ones."

Submission + - DS and Wii Beat Out Xbox360 And PS3 in February

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 16, 2007 @09:04PM

An anonymous reader writes: According to this Gamasutra article Nintendo got the #1 and #2 spots in the console sales figures with the DS (485,000 units) and Wii (335,000 units) respectively. Xbox360 pulled in 225,000 units, and the PS3 a mere 127,000 units. Even the PS2 (295,000 units) and the various Gameboy Advance iterations (136,000 units) sold more than the PS3. While the Xbox had a serious head start, Sony cannot be enjoying the fact that the GBA is selling more than their super-machine.

Pokemon DS Title Includes VOIP Element 36

Posted by Zonk on Friday March 16, 2007 @02:17PM from the chat-with-the-guy-you're-pwning dept.

Via Joystiq , a press release that reveals a new feature for the upcoming Pokemon Diamond/Pearl titles. In addition to new graphics, the title offers a new twist for the gotta-catch-em-all set: voice communication via wireless networking. You'll only be able to talk to people you've exchanged friend codes with, so there's no chance for an anonymous player to traumatize younger players. The PR release they link to mentions that the game will also have a world-wide trader board: "For kids, it's like having a cell phone that can only connect with their friends. The Nintendo DS Headset, sold separately, makes these conversations a breeze ... Players can trade Pokemon or battle with players anywhere in the world, even without voice communication. The Global Trade Station allows players to post Pokemon they want to trade on a board and browse through Pokemon other players have posted."

Wii, DS Dominate February Hardware Sales 149

Posted by Zonk on Friday March 16, 2007 @11:41AM from the nintendo-built-this-city-on-mario-and-link dept.

Gamasutra has the NPD numbers for last month, which shows a continuation of Nintendo's sales dominance. Overall the new consoles have again meant that industry sales were up, some 28% over last year's same-month figures. Hardware sales were up some 98%, with much of that performance attributable to the DS and Wii. Here's the breakdown: "Turning to hardware, the DS headed overall hardware sell-through with an impressive 485,000 units, followed by Nintendo's Wii, which sold 335,000 units despite continued issues with shortages. The Xbox 360 sold through a reasonable, if not spectacular 228,000 copies, and the PlayStation 3 slumped to a disappointing 127,000 units, despite no apparent shortages. Elsewhere, the PlayStation 2 moved a still impressive 295,000 at its relatively cheap current price, and the PlayStation Portable sold 176,000, markedly behind the DS. Finally, the various varieties of the Game Boy Advance sold a not unreasonable 136,000 units."

Submission + - Wii in-game friend lists won't be universal

Submitted by

John

on Thursday March 15, 2007 @07:41PM

John writes: "As reported on Tuesday, GameSpy are assisting Nintendo in implementing Wi-Fi driven features into future Wii games. Rather than provide one friend list applicable for all Wii online games though, as is the case with many of the other formats, Nintendo has decided to stick with the current set up: users still have to make their friends list for every game played.http://www.gamepro.com/news.cfm?article_id= 106333"

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