NASA's Mars rover ready to "drive, drive, drive"

Pictures from protests against Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu





By Irene Klotz

PASADENA, California | Fri Sep 14, 2012 3:24am IST

(Reuters) - The Mars rover Curiosity was due to wrap up an exhaustive, weeks-long instrument check on Thursday, clearing the way for its first lengthy drive to determine whether the Red Planet has ever been hospitable to life, NASA officials said.

The six-wheeled, nuclear-powered rover landed five weeks ago inside a giant impact basin called Gale Crater, near the Martian equator, to conduct NASA's first astrobiology mission since the 1970s-era Viking probes.

For its final equipment check, Curiosity will maneuver its robot arm so its close-up camera touches the tray where processed rock and soil samples will be analyzed.

The rover, equipped with an array of the most elaborate laboratory instruments ever sent to a distant world, also has a bit of sightseeing on its agenda. Scientists want to obtain video footage of the Martian moon Phobos passing by the sun.

Starting Friday evening, the plan is to "drive, drive, drive" until scientists find a suitable rock for the rover's first robotic "hands-on" analysis, mission manager Jennifer Trosper told reporters during a conference call on Wednesday.

It will stop when scientists find suitable soil to scoop up and run through Curiosity's onboard chemistry lab.

All the while, the rover will be heading toward a site scientists have labeled "Glenelg," where three different types of rock intersect. Glenelg, which lies about 1,312 feet away from Curiosity's current position, was named by mission geologists after a rock formation in northern Canada.

The overall purpose of the $2.5 billion Mars Science Lab mission is to search for places where microbial organisms could have evolved and been preserved. In addition to ferreting out the chemical and geologic footprints of water, Curiosity will hunt for organic compounds and other ingredients believed to be necessary for life.

Curiosity, which is designed to last two years, will venture about 4.3 miles from its landing site to climb a 3-mile-high mound of layered rock rising from the floor of Gale Crater. Dubbed Mount Sharp, it is believed to be the remains of sediment that once filled the 96-mile wide (154-meter) basin.

The rover has racked up 358 feet on its odometer during test drives. Before setting out for Mount Sharp, scientists expect to drive Curiosity about 131 feet a day during its planned trek to Glenelg, with several stops for science observations.

(Reporting by Irene Klotz; Editing by Steve Gorman and Stacey Joyce)

Digital catwalk: where fashion meets technology

Fashion designer Henry Holland talks augmented reality magazines and live streaming at London Fashion W


Henry Holland. Photograph: Frank Baron/Guardian


How are you using new technologies to improve customer experience and drive sales in-store and online?

We're using social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to build a direct relationship with our consumers and bring to life the House of Holland experience. We monitor where our customers are coming from, how they shop, what they are buying and when they make purchases – from this we can see that a large proportion come from these channels. One key move for us was to integrate our online store within our Facebook profile, allowing customers to shop directly through Facebook as well as the main website.

Can you tell us a bit more about the augmented reality app with Aurasma and InStyle from last year?

We worked with Aurasma to create an augmented reality magazine cover – this was a first for the industry and as far as I know, one of the first augmented reality magazine covers in the world. This season we are looking forward to the SS13 pre-collection for which we are developing similar technology using motifs used within the clothing, allowing us to animate and bring to life T-shirt graphics and placement prints.

With the wave of a hand, Intel wants to do away with passwords

By Noel Randewich

SAN FRANCISCO | Fri Sep 14, 2012 3:32am IST

(Reuters) - Passwords for online banking, social networks and email could be replaced with the wave of a hand if prototype technology developed by Intel makes it to tablets and laptops.

Aiming to do away with the need to remember passwords for growing numbers of online services, Intel researchers have put together a tablet with new software and a biometric sensor that recognizes the unique patterns of veins on a person's palm.

"The problem with passwords -- we use too many of them, their rules are complex, and they differ for different websites," Sridhar Iyengar, director of security research at Intel Labs, said at the annual Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco on Thursday. "There is a way out of it, and biometrics is an option."

Iyengar demonstrated the technology, quickly waving his hand in front of a tablet but not touching it. Once the tablet recognizes a user, it can securely communicate that person's identity to banks, social networks and other services where the person has accounts, he said.

Making laptops, tablets and smartphones responsible for identifying users would take that requirement away from individual websites and do away with the need to individually enter passwords into each of them, Iyengar said.

"We plan to work with service providers to take full advantage of this," he said.

Why mobile Japan leads the world

A combination of an urban lifestyle and infrastructure advantages mean that the fixed internet is being left behind by the mobile
Michael Fitzpatrick
The Guardian, Thursday 27 September 2007

Japanese commuters while away the journey by watching TV on their mobiles. Photograph: David Sacks/Getty


The following correction was printed in the Guardian's Corrections and clarifications column, Tuesday October 9 2007

Bouygues Telecom, rather than Telecom France, has had success with mobile internet services. The QR bar codes that can be read by mobile phones are Quick Response, rather than Quick Read, codes. These did not make their debut in the UK last month. Kerrang! magazine used them in November 2006. The second of these three errors has been corrected.





Yasuko San is aiming her mobile at a small, square tattoo on paper, clicking a little and peering happily at the result. Her prize? The latest novel written for the mobile, entitled "Teddy". Such serialised novels for mobiles are just the latest phone application that has caught the Japanese imagination, but - apart from neighbouring South Korea - few others.

Those printed square icons, however, made their debut in the UK earlier this month (to promote the DVD of the film 28 Weeks Later). Known as QR (quick response) codes, they have aided Japan's mobile revolution by making it easy to access a web page via mobile. Users can be directed to sites by snapping the codes printed in magazines, posters and even on biscuits.

On second thought: Maybe smartphones make us 'SuperStupid'?

By John D. Sutter, CNN
September 12, 2012 -- Updated 1506 GMT (2306 HKT) |



Some commenters say mobile phones are overpowering us.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Readers react to a CNN story on the powers of smarpthones
Instead of "superhuman," one reader says phones make us "SuperStupid"
Commenters raise issues of safety, health and social impact
"Smartphones have created a generation of narcissistic snobs"

(CNN) -- On Monday, I wrote a story arguing that smartphones have the potential to make us "superhuman." Commenters on the article sure didn't like that phrasing.

"Smartphones also make us SuperStupid," wrote one commenter, WWWYKI. "Just watch somebody with kids in the backseat as they text 'lol wut' and run red lights."

Fair point. For all of the benefits of an always-connected society -- one where phones help people in rural areas get information they never had access to, or bring medical professionals, at least virtually, into difficult-to-reach locations -- there are plenty of drawbacks, too.

As the commenters pointed out, these include physical dangers.

"The next time a teenager almost kills you while they are texting little love letters while driving you better hope you are superhuman!" wrote open400.

The battle of the smartphones

first look: Kindle Paperwhite an easy read

By Edward C. Baig, USA TODAY
Updated 4d 5h ago

SANTA MONICA, Calif. – I've only had a hands-on demonstration of the new Kindle Paperwhite electronic reader that Amazon announced on Thursday. Amazon didn't provide review units. But it is immediately obvious the first time you pick up the thin and light reader and look at its impressive display that these new Kindles are very sweet.



David McNew, Getty Images

Amazon unveiled the Kindle Paperwhite and the Kindle Fire HD in 7- and 8.9-inch sizes, as well as a new price of the basic Kindle at $69.
Enlarge


David McNew, Getty Images

Amazon unveiled the Kindle Paperwhite and the Kindle Fire HD in 7- and 8.9-inch sizes, as well as a new price of the basic Kindle at $69.

As a conventional monochrome e-reader, Paperwhite may not have the sex appeal of color tablets such as its new and more expensive siblings, notably the Kindle Fire HD devices. But if reading books is your primary purpose, the Paperwhite models have plenty to recommend them. The company sells two versions, one with Wi-Fi for $119; one with Wi-Fi plus 3G cellular for $179. Prices climb to $139 and $199, respectively, if you order the Kindles without what Amazon refers to as "special offers" — meaning ads. Units ship Oct. 1, though you can pre-order one now.

Amazon says the touch display on this fifth-generation Kindle boasts 62% more pixels (212 pixels per inch resolution) and a 25% increase in contrast over earlier versions, with whiter whites and blacker blacks. All this sounds good, well, on paper. But in fact it's all borne out when you examine the screen and see just how crisp the fonts look.

Student, 12, one of youngest to create app for iPhone

by Therese Apel, The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger
Updated 1d 10h ago



Vickie D. King, Gannett

Charley Hutchinson, a 12-year-old student at St. Andrew's Episcopal School in Jackson, Miss. has created a free iPhone application called, Friends of Flickr. He is among the youngest to have an app accepted by Apple's App Store.
Enlarge


Vickie D. King, Gannett

Charley Hutchinson, a 12-year-old student at St. Andrew's Episcopal School in Jackson, Miss. has created a free iPhone application called, Friends of Flickr. He is among the youngest to have an app accepted by Apple's App Store.

Sponsored Links

As Apple is expected to introduce a new iPhone on Wednesday, it will come with the next version of iOS, the iPhone operating system. With that introduction, iPhone users will be upgrading apps and trying out all of Apple's cool, new features.

One of those new apps users may download has been made by one of the youngest app developers in Apple history.

Charley Hutchison is a seventh-grader from Mississippi and his goal was to have an app in the Apple App Store before his 12th birthday.

"I've always been really interested in computers. Then my parents had an iPhone, and I really loved playing with apps on there, so I decided, why don't I make my own app?" Charley said. "If there's so many already on the store, surely I can make one myself."

Charley enjoys using his iPhone but is also a fan of the photo sharing website Flickr. He wanted to design a mobile app to sync an iPhone contact list with a corresponding Flickr account.

Baig: Apple iPhone 5 makes glowing first impression

by Edward C. Baig, USA TODAY
Updated 47m ago


GLENN CHAPMAN AFP/Getty Images

Apple CEO Tim Cook presents the new iPhone 5.
Enlarge


GLENN CHAPMAN AFP/Getty Images

Apple CEO Tim Cook presents the new iPhone 5.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Over the past several weeks and months, I can't tell you how often I've gotten the question, "When is the new iPhone coming out?'" We now know the answer to the question. Apple announced a brand new iPhone 5 today. The obvious follow-up question: "Is it worth it?"

My true answer must wait until I've had a chance to put the iPhone 5 through its paces, and details are still emerging as I sit in the audience at Apple's event here. But the new iPhone looks awfully inviting from my vantage point. Like many people, I've had an iPhone 4 that has frankly grown stale. But I also postponed the purchase of a new smartphone -- waiting to see what Apple would do.

The new iPhone 5 has the same retina display as on its predecessor. But Apple finally upped the screen size to 4 inches, up from the 3.5-inch display that was on all its predecessors. That permits a fifth row of app icons on the home screen. It's still a smaller screen than the display on many rival Android devices. But the extra real estate is welcome, just the same.

Apple says the new device a little taller than its earlier models and is the thinnest and lightest iPhone ever made -- 18% thinner, in fact, than its immediate predecessor, the iPhone 4S. And the iPhone 5 is one-fifth lighter than the 4S. It is made entirely of glass and aluminum.

IBM LEGAL VICTORY CRUSHES NEON'S JPRIME FEE-DODGING SOFTWARE

On May 31 IBM obtained a permament injunction barring Neon from selling its zPrime product, software that enabled many general-purpose mainframe jobs to run on specialty engines.  Once moved, these jobs let users dodge software charges based on the use of general purpose computing capacity.  The technical tricks were, as IBM seems to have shown, a violation of IBM's policies and practices and a breach of IBM's mainframe software licensing agreement.  Game over.

The injunction appears to permit users of the jPrime product to continue running the code under the terms of their contracts with Neon.  Neon appears to be obliged to do everything it can to unwind these deals short of defaulting on its obligations.

The personnel behind jPrime are specifically prohibited from using their knowhow to outfox IBM.  They are also enjoined from sharing or making public their understanding of the IBM software that attempts to govern and meter workloads on IBM mainframes.  Basically, IBM found a legal solution to the problems posed by jPrime but from the looks of things Big Blue could not come up with a technical remedy for the bill-beating technology.

New Apple accessories could create inconveniences

by RYAN NAKASHIMA, Associated Press
Updated 13h 10m ago



Jeff Chiu, AP

Apple's new EarPods are free with the iPhone 5 and sell for $29 separately.
Enlarge


Jeff Chiu, AP

Apple's new EarPods are free with the iPhone 5 and sell for $29 separately.

Sponsored Links

Along with a new iPhone 5, Apple unveiled accessories Wednesday that could prove to be a blessing and a curse for customers: a set of earbuds that are meant to fit comfortably in more people's ears, and a new adapter that will be needed to plug the new phone into older car dashboards and speaker systems.

The new earbuds, called EarPods, are being sold separately for $29 but will be included at no extra charge with the iPhone 5 and the refreshed iPod Touch and iPod Nano.

The company says the earbuds were three years in the making and required scanning hundreds of ears looking for commonalities. They are more elliptical than the current earbuds and have a smaller speaker that points into the ear canal. They also have other ports meant to maximize airflow.

They don't create a seal like other in-ear headphones, but Apple says the audio quality is "just as impressive as what you'd hear from more expensive headphones." Like the older versions, the EarPods come with a microphone and a remote control on the cord to adjust volume, control playback of music and movies and answer and end calls.

One design change that could cause some annoyance is the iPhone 5's new "Lightning" port, through which the device gets charged.

Microsoft struggles with viruses, counterfeit software

Microsoft struggles with viruses, counterfeit software
by Richard Lardner, Associated Press
Updated 9h 26m




Associated Press

David Anselmi, a Microsoft senior manager of investigations in the company's Digital Crimes Unit, sits in a lab in Richmond, Va.
Enlarge


Associated Press

David Anselmi, a Microsoft senior manager of investigations in the company's Digital Crimes Unit, sits in a lab in Richmond, Va.

Sponsored Links

WASHINGTON (AP) - A customer in Shenzhen, China, took a brand new laptop out of its box and booted it up for the first time. But as the screen lit up, the computer began taking on a life of its own. The machine, triggered by a virus hidden in its hard drive, began searching across the Internet for another computer.

The laptop, supposedly in pristine, super-fast, direct-from-the-factory condition, had instantly become part of an illegal, global network capable of attacking websites, looting bank accounts and stealing personal data.

For years, online investigators have warned consumers about the dangers of opening or downloading files emailed to them from unknown or suspicious sources. Now, they say malicious software and computer code could be lurking on computers before the bubble wrap even comes off.

The shopper in this case was part of a team of Microsoft researchers in China investigating the sale of counterfeit software. They suddenly had been introduced to a malware called Nitol. The incident was revealed in court documents unsealed Thursday in a federal court in Virginia. The records describe a new front in a legal campaign against cybercrime being waged by the maker of the Windows operating system, which is the biggest target for viruses.

Huawei Ascend P1 Launches in Malaysia

Stuff\ Justin Chee

Huawei announced that its flagship dual-core smartphone, the Huawei Ascend P1 is now available in Malaysia.

It also announced the expansion of its device business through a new distribution partnership with ECS ICT Bhd (“ECS”) via its who
lly-owned subsidiary ECS Astar Sdn Bhd, which will open up access to more than 3,000 resellers nationwide.

The Huawei Ascend P1 features a dual-core 1.5GHz TI OMAP 4460 Cortext-A9 processor and measures 7.69mm thin and 64.8 mm long. It also has a 4.3-inch super AMOLED 960 x 540 touch screen with Corning® Gorilla® Glass, an 8-megapixel BSI rear-facing camera and Dolby Mobile 3.0 + 5.1 surround sound technology.

“The availability of the Ascend P1, which combines smart features and a sexy design, represents a significant milestone for Huawei Device. Furthermore, we are pleased to announce that it is the first 1.5GHz Dual-core smartphone (with Super AMOLED) with a Special Introductory Price of RM999 (Normal RRP: RM1,299)” said Wong Wey Hwa, Head of Consumer Business, Huawei Device Malaysia.

Sharp Debuts Dual-SIM SH530U In Malaysia, Priced At RM1288

September 13, 2012
By Loh Ving Sung


13 September 2012 - While the name might not roll off the tongue, the SH530U was just announced by Sharp. The 5-inch device has a roundish design and is 9.9mm thick.





The Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) equipped phone is skinned with Sharp Feel UX. A Sharp spokesperson also mentioned the phone’s ability record voice and video calls.

Its 5-inch screen is a WVGA TFT touchscreen displaying 800 x 480 pixels. The SH530U also rocks dual-standby dual SIM slot, meaning both phone lines are active at the same time. Inside, there is a Cortex Dual Core A9 1GHz processor with 512MB RAM.

Moola, A Mobilephone Friendly Loyalty Program

September 13, 2012
by Lim Pei Hao
0 0 0 13

13 September 2012 – Moola is a new wave of loyalty program by ICT Utopia that utilizes mobile apps and QR code technology instead of conventional card system. It is designed for the convenience of the customers, and eliminating the hassle of carrying an additional loyalty card in their pocket. All the customer need to download the Moola app to their mobile phone and they can start enjoying Moola privileges.

Pay88 At ITX Asia 2012

September 14, 2012
By Loh Ving Sung
0 0 0 1

14 September 2012 - ITX Asia 2012 is a 3-day trade expo is targeting 12,000 enterprises, government and SMB buyers and decision makers. iPay88 is there showcasing its Online Payment Gateway as well as its latest Fraud Monitoring System. Its technical team is there too, so let them answer all your e-commerce questions.