Pay by waving your phone

“The Nokia 6216 classic will be amongst the first commercial devices in the market complying with operator requirements using the SIM card in connection to secure transactions with Near Field Communications,” says Jeremy Belostock, head of near field communications at Nokia. “With the Nokia 6216 classic in your pocket and the ticketing applications on the SIM you can replace the multitude of cards in your wallet. Having the applications on the SIM consumers can bring their secure applications to their next Nokia NFC enabled phone.”

Owner’s credit card information can be stored securely on the SIM card and waving the device in front of a contactless terminal enables quick payment and simple ticketing services*

7000 sms / day or 583 sms / hour.

Two pals from Pennsylvania sets a new text messaging record by sending 217.000 sms in one month. Thats 7000 sms / day or 583 sms / hour.

Nick and Doug were surprised by a whopping $26,000 phone bill because they were relying on their “unlimited texting’ plan. T-Mobile is reportedly investigating the charges.

Good luck paying that bill guys!

http://dailymobile.se/2009/04/23/sms-record-217000-sms-sent-in-one-month/

Computer giant Acer launches mobile phones in Asia (AFP)

from Yahoo! News: Technology News

AFP - Taiwan-based computer giant Acer on Wednesday launched a series of advanced mobile phones for the Asia-Pacific region, ramping up its expansion into the wireless communication market.

Pirate Bay fileshare four guilty, get year in jail (Reuters)

Reuters - A Swedish court handed down a guilty verdict and a year in prison on Friday to all four defendants in a copyright test case involving The Pirate Bay, one of the world's biggest free file-sharing websites.

Google growth slows dramatically in 1Q (AP)

AP - Google Inc. eked out a higher profit in the first quarter as the Internet search leader trimmed its work force and winnowed other expenses to overcome the slowest revenue growth since the company went public nearly five years ago.

Nokia has reported an 88% fall in profits

Nokia has reported an 88% fall in profits to 514m euros (£107m) as the handset market continues to wilt under worsening economic conditions. The manufacturer reported its results for the first quarter ended 31 March 2009 today (16 April).

Play graphically heavy weight games... without ever updating pc or buying console

AFP - Californian technology firm OnLive is poised to launch a service that streams videogames over the Internet, meaning players can avoid buying expensive consoles or packaged software.

Yung Zun 758 - The first razor-phone in the world

Phone comes with a razor

Yung Zun 758 - The first razor-phone in the world

Source

Obama to answer question on the Web (AP)

AP - President Barack Obama is planning an online town hall-style meeting on the White House's Web site this Thursday.

Google's top execs keep $1 salaries amid turmoil (AP)

AP - Google Inc. Chief Executive Eric Schmidt and co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin maintained their traditional salaries of $1 last year even as the value of their combined stakes in the Internet search leader plunged by nearly $26 billion.

Donors keen to fund Nuclear power plant: Hasina, Bangladesh

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said yesterday donor countries and agencies have expressed interest in funding nuclear power plants, which would help solve the lingering electricity crisis in the country.

http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=80300

Google voice !

Google number - One number for all your calls and SMS

https://www.google.com/voice/about#

IBM in talks to buy Sun Microsystems: (Reuters)

Reuters - IBM is in talks to buy Sun Microsystems Inc, a move that could bolster the technology giant against rivals in the high-end computer server and software markets.

India leaders blog, text to plug in to young voters (Reuters)

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Video clips on YouTube, updates on Facebook, blogs, and an online voter registration campaign.

Welcome to a newly-wired India, where political parties are using text messages to send updates and leaders are sprucing up their pages on social networking sites in an effort to connect with the country's growing young and plugged-in generation

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/nm/20090317/wr_nm/us_india_elections_youth

Nokia cutting 1700 jobs

Reuters - Nokia Oyj will slash 1,700 jobs globally over the coming few months because of falling demand, the world's top cellphone maker said on Tuesday.

"Back then there were 26 web servers. Now there are 10 to the power 11 pages, that's a many as the neurones in your brain," said Berners-Lee, who still has an active hand in the web's development.

The World Wide Web (WWW) on Friday marked its 20th anniversary and its founders admitted there were bits of the phenomenon they do not like: advertising and "snooping."

The creation of the web by British computer software genius Tim Berners-Lee and other scientists at the European particle physics laboratory (CERN) paved the way for the Internet explosion which has changed our daily lives.

Berners-Lee and former colleagues such as Robert Cailliau, who originally set up the system to allow thousands of scientists around the world to swap, view and comment on their research, regardless of the distance or computer system, took part in commemorations on Friday at the laboratory.

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/afp/20090313/tc_afp/internetmediaitanniversary

Phone banking service launched in Africa, Mideast

Now MTN is planning to offer a fully-fledged bank account on mobile phones called MTN MobileMoney which will allow users to pay for purchases or check balances. A credit card will be optional.

South African mobile phone operator MTN on Monday said it was launching a banking service on mobile phones in 21 African and Middle East countries where access to traditional banks is poor.

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/afp/20090316/tc_afp/safricamideastbankingtelecommobilephone

NZealand court serves papers through Facebook

A New Zealand judge Monday approved the serving of court documents through the social networking website Facebook on a man being sued over his business dealings.

Largest phone

The largest cell phone !
It's not just a dumb nice looking shell.. it is a working phone!

The guy there sent a text message from there as a proof!

Smallest music player, new apple ipod shuffle

Cute and nice !

But since the control is done by some switches attached to the headphones, that means, you have to stick with those headphones only!

Well, I have an old generation ipod nano. If they have not improved the headphones much, I would say the headphones sucked!

3D UI

Cars started by iphone !

It can send e-mails, play video, access the Web and snap pictures, but control a car? Swiss automobile design house Rinspeed will unveil a concept electric car controlled by an iPhone at next week's Geneva Motor Show.

The car is nicknamed as iChange!

Designer Frank Rinderknecht, who came up with the iChange, is well-known in his native Switzerland for creating interesting concept cars. Last year it was the "sQuba," a sports car that can drive underwater, that he unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show. The cars he designs typically never make it to market so don't go looking for the iChange at a car dealership anytime soon.

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/pcworld/20090223/tc_pcworld/iphonecontrolledcartodemoatgenevamotorshow

Sky falls when cloud fails

Kristian Luoma, an Ovi product manager wrote: "Words can't explain how incredibly sorry we are for the inconvenience. We're sorry for the lost contacts in your phonebooks. We're sorry that the profile pictures you love, and we love, too, are gone. Nothing can make this right, we know, but we're hoping that you can forgive us and give another chance to give you good service."

When The Cloud Fails: Nokia's Ovi Service Loses 3 Weeks Of User Data

http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2009/02/when_the_cloud.html?cid=nl_IWK_ota_txt

By the way, I dont know how, but my data and contacts are there! May be they lost last three of weeks data only??

Beep, Beep: You’re Fired!

Image: YLE

Sacking by text message is becoming an increasingly popular way for employers to instantly deliver termination news.

Getting the axe via text message is becoming common in the IT sector, says chairman Tapio Huttula of the Finnish Confederation of Professionals, STTK.

“It’s incomprehensible that this has become a method of contacting staff to tell them they’ve lost their jobs. The correct way of notifying workers is outlined in labour agreements,” says Huttula.

Source : http://yle.fi/uutiset/news/2009/02/beep_beep_youre_fired_551123.html?origin=rss

Mobile phone makers agree to create standard charger

Mobile phone makers agree to create standard charger

"The target is that the majority of mobile phones shipped by 2012 will support this new interface," added O'Hara.

Manufacturers had been under pressure from the European Commission to produce a standardised charger.

Introducing a one-size-fits-all charger might help the firms to cut costs since new handsets would no longer necessarily need to be sold with a charger in the future.

But the manufacturers will lose the revenues they currently make from replacements of lost or broken chargers.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ih_j32054dBCTph_Ah6l-9WdDfPA

two nuclear subs collided?

Nuclear subs 'collide in ocean'

A Royal Navy nuclear submarine was involved in a collision with a French nuclear submarine in the middle of the Atlantic, it has been reported.

The crash between HMS Vanguard and Le Triomphant is said to have occurred earlier this month.

The BBC's Caroline Wyatt said despite being equipped with sonar, it seems neither vessel spotted the other.

The UK's Ministry of Defence is not commenting on the reports, but insisted nuclear security had not been breached.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7892294.stm

$20 laptop? India tries

India's $20 laptop computer was formally unveiled Tuesday, and while there are questions whether the device can be made and sold at that price point, officials responsible for the "Sakshat" laptop are promising it will be available for $10 six months after it goes into mass production.

The Sakshat model scheduled for display in the city of Tirupati Tuesday has 2 GB of memory, which is expandable. It has Wi-Fi and fixed Ethernet capability and will consume just 2 watts of power. The laptop was created over several months in a cooperative effort involving government, academic, and commercial interests.

http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/handheld/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=213000685

Do you know where your kid is? Check Google's maps

With an upgrade to its mobile maps, Google Inc. hopes to prove it can track people on the go as effectively as it searches for information on the Internet.

The new software to be released Wednesday will enable people with mobile phones and other wireless devices to automatically share their whereabouts with family and friends.

The feature, dubbed "Latitude," expands upon a tool introduced in 2007 to allow mobile phone users to check their own location on a Google map with the press of a button.

It could also raise privacy concerns, but Google is doing its best to avoid a backlash by requiring each user to manually turn on the tracking software and making it easy to turn off or limit access to the service.

Google also is promising not to retain any information about its users' movements. Only the last location picked up by the tracking service will be stored on Google's computers, Lee said.

The software plots a user's location — marked by a personal picture on Google's map — by relying on cell phone towers, global positioning systems or a Wi-Fi connection to deduce their location. The system can follow people's travels in the United States and 26 other countries.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j-M-K-pIKopEG408pEwSho6rDeVwD964I9D80

When you watch these ads, the ads check you out (AP)

Watch an advertisement on a video screen in a mall, health club or grocery store and there's a slim — but growing — chance the ad is watching you too.

Small cameras can now be embedded in the screen or hidden around it, tracking who looks at the screen and for how long. The makers of the tracking systems say the software can determine the viewer's gender, approximate age range and, in some cases, ethnicity — and can change the ads accordingly.

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090131/ap_on_hi_te/tec_nosy_ads

Google warns entire Internet is malware (CNET)

I myself had faced this error !!

TechCrunch and CNET reported around 7 a.m. PST that every site found via Google search was flagged with this message: "This site may harm your computer." As part of Google's malware protection, clicking on a flagged site's link would pull up an additional warning. Although a link could simply be cut and paste, Google's warning was unnerving enough to keep some people from pushing their luck.

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/cnet/20090131/tc_cnet/8301100131015394292

Google said, "human error".

Nokia threat to leave

Nokia threat to quit Finland 'unless law changed'


HELSINKI (AFP) – Mobile phone giant Nokia threatened to leave its native Finland if a change to laws blocking companies from monitoring employee emails was not introduced, a respected Finnish newspaper said Sunday.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090201/bs_afp/finlandpoliticsrightstelecomequipcompanynokia

Last day at work ? burn it with virus!

A 35-year-old computer programer pleaded not guilty on Friday to charges that he planted a computer virus designed to destroy all the data on 4,000 Fannie Mae computer servers the day he was fired from the company.

Rajendrasinh Babubhai Makwana, an Indian citizen who had been working as a contractor employee at Fannie Mae's facility in Urbana, Maryland, was indicted on Tuesday by a federal grand jury for computer intrusion.

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/nm/20090202/wr_nm/us_fanniemae_virus

Google underwater

'Google Ocean' launched as extension of Google Earth to map the seabed

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/technology/google/4434916/Google-Ocean-launched-as-extension-of-Google-Earth-to-map-the-seabed.html

Spy on google earth

AP - Swiss police said Thursday they stumbled across a large marijuana plantation while using Google Earth, the search engine company's satellite mapping software.

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090129/ap_on_hi_te/eu_switzerland_dope_farmers

Japanese secuirty robot catches theives with nets

apanese on Thursday unveiled a security robot that can be operated remotely by cellphone and launch a net to capture an intruder.
http://tech.yahoo.com/news/afp/20090122/tc_afp/lifestylejapanrobottechnology

Yahoo freezes salary

Yahoo's new CEO imposes salary freeze (AP)

Pay freezes are becoming more commonplace across the country as companies scramble to lower their expenses without firing employees. President Barack Obama joined in the trend on his first full day in the White House by eliminating raises for workers making more than $100,000 annually.

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090122/ap_on_hi_te/yahoo_salary_freeze

Technology salaries rise by 4.6 percent (CNET)

Salaries of tech professionals managed to spike up an average of 4.6 percent last year to $78,035, according to survey results released Thursday by tech career site Dice.com.

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/cnet/20090122/tc_cnet/8301100131014841992

Obama keeps Blackberry

In The Onion's visualization, the subject line of an e-mail from wife Michelle Obama asked him to pick up some eggs "on your way back from the Middle East,"

The world's biggest to-do list, on the desk of President Barack Obama, now has one less item. Obama will keep his BlackBerry.

Among the many issues the new president faced, the tug-of-war with his security team on continuing to use his portable device received more than its share of attention. But, in the post-partisan manner favored by the 44th president, a compromise was announced on Thursday.

Under the arrangement, a super-encryption package will be added to Obama's BlackBerry, giving the most powerful person on the planet on-the-go access to e-mail.

The highest level of encryption for BlackBerrys currently used by top-level government officers is Secret, and -- as the most visible target for hackers -- Obama's security needs are higher. For instance, a BlackBerry can become a homing device broadcasting its user's location, or it can be hacked to act as a remote microphone, in addition to more standard e-mail and voice-communication prying.

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/nf/20090123/tc_nf/64260

Tea

Since I have lots of choice of drinks during 'Coffee break' at work, I was wondering which one would be better (if I ignore the taste fact)! Here are some quick facts I found about teas. Green tea and Rooibos sounded interested !

Green Tea:


Tea plant (Black Tea, Green Tea...) Camellia sinensis foliage

• Green tea is a type of tea made solely with the leaves of Camellia sinensis, that has undergone minimal oxidation during processing.
• Some evidence suggests regular green tea drinkers may have lower chances of heart disease and developing certain types of cancer.
• Green tea has also been claimed useful for weight loss management.
• In a study performed at Birmingham (UK) University, it was shown that average fat oxidation rates were 17% higher after ingestion of Green Tea Extract than after ingestion of a placebo.^[4] Similarly the contribution of fat oxidation to total energy expenditure was also significantly higher by a similar percentage following ingestion of Green Tea Extract. This implies that ingestion of Green Tea Extract can not only increase fat oxidation during moderately intensive exercise but also improve insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance in healthy young men.

Rooibos:

• Rooibos (African translation red bush) is from a different plant than tea plant.
• No caffeine !
• High level of antioxident
• Traditional medicinal uses of rooibos in South Africa include alleviating infantile colic, allergies, asthma and dermatological problems.

It's a free world

WWDC survey suggests 70% of planned iPhone apps may be free!! the average cost of a third-party iPhone application will fall well below $3.00

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/06/11/wwdc_survey_suggests_70_of_planned_iphone_apps_may_be_free.html

The sphere

Sphere is an interactive spherical display prototype that uses custom optics hardware as well as computer vision and graphics software to enable interaction on a spherical surface.

Source: http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/benko/projects/sphere/