Karsten Nohl, a PhD from the University of Virginia, looking dreamy above, has broken A5/1, an algorithm to encrypt G.S.M. cellphone conversation. The hack follows a few steps including the use of a distributed key-gathering sytem to capture and decoding of a number of G.S.M. 64-bit encryption keys, the kind of keys that most cellular operators still use. → Read More
After discovering that Apple had registered iSlate.com in late 2006 (we dug a little deeper and found trademarks had been filed for ‘ISLATE’ in both the United States and Europe by a company that was most likely a dummy corporation set up by Apple), MacRumors has now discovered another possible name for the upcoming Apple tablet.
MacRumors bases its report on the filing for a US trademark for ‘IGUIDE’ by another Delaware-registered company called iGuide Media LLC, which can be linked to Cupertino by means of signatures on the documents coming from Apple’s Senior Trademark Specialist, Regina Porter.
Let’s dig a little deeper, once again. → Read More
This doesn’t look dangerous As more people move away from lucrative Windows desktops (OK, more is a relative term, but it’s definitely a countable number) folks like McAfee have to find new threats for us to fear in order to ensure that we purchase their products. → Read More
The buzz around realtime search of social networks has mostly surrounded Twitter and Facebook. Collecta, OneRiot and the search giants, including Microsoft, Google and Yahoo all tap into Twitter (and Facebook too) to capture the realtime stream of content. But MySpace is also getting into the game, recently releasing a set of real-time APIs that both OneRiot and Google will be tapping into to provide content from the social network. Today, real-time search engine Collecta has launched a search platform that offers a real-time view into MySpace.
Based on Collecta’s Site Search Platform and the MySpace real-time stream API, the search portal indexes the collection of public comments, photos, links, and videos that are shared throughout the social network. Both MySpace users and non-users can perform real-time searches on any topic, and the search engine pushes out content the moment it has been published and lets users filter their result streams based on content type (videos, photos, blog comments, articles, updates). Each result includes the poster’s ‘mood’, giving insight to the emotion of the content.
→ Read More
LCD TVs have taken over the world. Market research firm DisplaySearch estimates in a new report that of the 205 million total TVs shipped in 2009, 140.5 million, or 69 percent, were LCD TVs (the rest were plasma and CRTs). In 2010, that percentage is forecast to rise to 78 percent for LCD TVs, when total shipments will rise to 218 million.
Total TV shipments have actually been on the decline since mid-2008 as demand for older CRT TVs plummeted. Only in the third quarter did the increase in shipments of LCD TVs make up for the decline in other kinds of TVs. For the year as a whole, DisplaySearch still expects a 1 percent decline in shipments in 2009, followed by a 6 percent increase in 2010.
Worldwide TV revenues fell an estimated 10 percent to $101 billion, from $112 billion in 2008. But revenues are expected to rise in the first quarter of 2010 for the first time in six quarters. → Read More
We recently wrote about the alpha launch of Spreezio, a platform that makes it easier for shoppers to make deals with local merchants. Today, the shopping engine has launched a new version of the site with a complete redesign and more intelligent technology.
Here’s how Spreezio works: you sign up as a shopper, and browse Spreezio’s product database, which includes over 35 million items, to find what you’re looking for, using the category icons or search bar. Once you’ve found a corresponding item, you can indicate how much you’d be willing to pay for it or what percentage of discount you’d expect in order to get you to go out and buy it from the merchants who can supply it. You then can send out your deal proposal to the local merchants (which Spreezio will locate on a map) and once they get back to you accepting or rejecting your proposal, you can decide if you want to make a short trip and purchase the item(s) either way. → Read More
A Japanese researcher called Hiroshi Liu has developed a robotic hummingbird, which, just a real one, can flutter freely in mid-air by rapidly moving its wings (up to n impressive 30 times per second). Liu, who works for Chiba University just outside Tokyo, says his hummingbird is powered by a small motor and has four wings. It can be remote-controlled through infrared. → Read More
Good old Harry McCracken has build up another one of his exhaustive topical examinations, this time turning his bespectacled gaze towards the iPhone. Like the iSlate or the iTablet or the iNinjaStar, analysts, journos, and bloggers frothed at the mouth for years before the product was announced. Take Kevin Rose’s exciting prediction, straight from “sources:”
* January launch on “all” providers, both CDMA and GSM
* Extremely small form factor
* Two battery design (with single charger) — one for playing music, the other for phone functions
* Flash memory: 4GB for $249, 8GB for $449
* “Slide-out keyboard”
* Possibly touchscreen
After discovering that Apple had registered iSlate.com in late 2006 (we dug a little deeper and found trademarks had been filed for ‘ISLATE’ in both the United States and Europe by a company that was most likely a dummy corporation set up by Apple), MacRumors has now discovered another possible name for the upcoming Apple tablet.
MacRumors bases its report on the filing for a US trademark for ‘IGUIDE’ by another Delaware-registered company called iGuide Media LLC, which can be linked to Cupertino by means of signatures on the documents coming from Apple’s Senior Trademark Specialist, Regina Porter.
Let’s dig a little deeper, once again. → Read More
A young man named Jeremy Gillian stole another young man’s XBox 360 in a robbery and then turned it on… with the network and Gamertag intact. The results are as you’d expect: the victim was able to grab the IP, police tracked it to Gillian’s grandmother’s house, and the XBox and a trove of other stolen stuff were discovered. → Read More
Palo Alto, CA-based GlobalMotion Media has raised $1 million in Series A financing from the Band of Angels and a group of domestic and international private investors. The young company is probably best known for operating EveryTrail, a GPS travel community and interactive trip sharing service.
The startup is today also announcing the release of its latest iPhone application, EveryTrail 3 (iTunes link), which allows users to easily record and share their hiking, driving, skiing, motorcycling, running, skateboarding or other trips. → Read More
With its 140 character limit, Twitter is all about brevity. But if you think the same shouldn’t apply for a job application, well then, “you’re done.”
This Craigslist job listing has some interesting rules, to say the least. While the eye-grabbing headline is asking for a “Twitter Genius” in Greenwich Village, the actual role is an “expert” social media marketer for some sort of e-commerce startup. “I need someone who tweets in their sleep and updates their fb status before calling their mom on Mother’s Day,” the description reads. And it gets better. → Read More
More competition is the color E-book market can only be a good thing. The Nook is just sort of in color, the Kindle is the 800 pound gorilla, no one knows what exactly Apple’s got planned, and now there’s this new guy Paradigm Shift, talking about launching a full-color e-book reader at CES. Bet they wish they’d come to market before the holidays. → Read More
I’m afraid it’s time for me to upgrade my media center. My old Xbox just isn’t cutting it any more, between the composite input and the lack of processing power, it looks like it may be time to put the old reliable out to pasture and upgrade to something new. Is the Patriot Box Office Media Player the solution? Well HardOCP seems to think so, and I think it just might be. → Read More
Before we actually discuss the rumor, let me just say that having a product called 3D is misleading when it’s not actually 3D in any way but that it exists in a three-dimensional space. Really. People these days hear “3D” and they don’t think “Hmm, like the 5D?” — no, they think “OMG Avatar!” So keep that in mind, Canon.
But as for the rumor itself, it’s actually kind of interesting. Apparently the 3D will be aimed at wedding photographers (!) and will incorporate new sensor technology to increase dynamic range and high-ISO clarity. → Read More
Remember that time you left your phone in the car on a cold night when you went to dinner, and when you got back to it, the battery was nearly dead because it had gotten so cold? Yeah, that would be happening a lot if you had an electric car that didn’t take temperature into account.
And so the testers of BMW Mini Es are finding out in cold weather: range seems to be reduced by half in 23° temperatures. → Read More
So, you want to play some Super Nintendo games. You’ve got some ROMs, but you don’t want to play it on one of the many devices already out there. No, you want to drop some serious cash on a homemade version of a portable player. Well, this guy has got your back. Or at least your wallet. → Read More
Finally. Over a year after iPhone users got their native Yammer fix, Android has an official Yammer application available on Android Market. The application, while still fairly basic, comes with support for most of Yammer’s core functionality. If you use Yammer and you have an Android phone, you’ll want this app. We can’t link directly to the app because Google still hasn’t launched a strong web presence for the Market, but you can find it by running a query for “Yammer” from your phone.
The new application is actually derived from the codebase of Yowl, a third party app for Android that Yammer acquired a couple months ago. CEO David Sacks says that the application has been off the Market since the acquisition, primarily so that the team could fix a few issues. Now it’s good to go. → Read More
