3G, 4G, VoIP, Google Voice, a crippling growth in data usage—the bottom line is that there have been a lot of changes to the wireless industry recently. Are you one of the masses maxing out your minutes and data?
How Many Minutes Do You Use On Average?(opinion)
How Much Data Do You Use On Average?(survey)
Brando's new Steering Wheel Bluetooth MP3/FM Car Kit is a wacky little device that hangs on your steering wheel, giving you all sorts of different features probably done better by a nice in-dash stereo kit.
First, there's a Bluetooth speakerphone for hands free driving, including an ugly little Bluetooth headset. There's also a built-in MP3 player that reads files off microSD cards and transmits audio to your stereo via an FM transmitter.
The phonebook holds 600 numbers, the battery is rechargeable, and this thing seems like a crappy substitute for any number of better gadgets. But hey, for $48 it's probably one of the cheapest ways to get all of these features into a beater you don't feel like upgrading with a nice in-dash stereo. [Brando via CrunchGear]
It's a little behind schedule, but Mac users can now run Windows 7 natively after today's Boot Camp update. Boot Camp 3.1 supports both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate. Multiple OS enthusiasts, rejoice!
The software update also adds Magic Mouse and Apple wireless keyboard support and fixes up some trackpad issues. Pretty good day's work! And if you're at all confused or intimidated about Boot Camp, our handy survival guide should get you through in one piece. [AppleInsider]
The rumored HTC + Google Chrome OS tablet might have to wait, based on HTC's sales and marketing director claiming that the company will kill that off and focus on Android smartphones instead.
This doesn't mean that an HTC tablet is dead forever; I bet the company is just waiting for both Apple's tablet and Chrome OS to prove themselves first before sinking their development money into a completely new field. [Channel News via Electronista]
Based on what I have seen in the past, there probably isn't much hope for the major slobs among you, but for the rest of us, the Space Bar might help free up some desktop space.
The Space Bar is basically an aluminum platform with six USB ports that you can use to stow a keyboard, elevate your monitor and the like. In fact, the concept is so simple, I'm still debating whether or not it would actually make a difference or just add yet another useless bit of clutter to your workspace. I'll let you decide if it's worth spending $42 on. [Quirky]
More kids are getting mobile phones: Last year, more than 35% of U.S. children ages 10-11 had cellphones, almost double the amount in 2005, according to Mediamark data, via eMarketer. And more than 5% of 6-7-year-olds had cellphones last year.
Takeaway: The audience for kids-focused mobile content, apps, and advertising is growing rapidly.
AT&T just wants you to know, their service will be ready to cover Dolphin Stadium for Super Bowl XLIV. Which makes you wonder, why wouldn't AT&T's service be prepped to handle the stress of a packed stadium?
A skeptic might see AT&T's distribution of a press release to promise adequate bandwidth during a professional sporting event as implication that, normally, AT&T isn't so reliable at sporting events!
But how big of a deal are sports, really? If you combine regular season games of the NBA, NHL, NFL, and MLB, you'll realize there are 5,146 instances yearly in which, apparently, AT&T sees some reason to doubt their own coverage. And we're not even talking about preseason or playoffs.
That's 100 massive groups of people every week, sitting in one spot for several hours, all whom are on contract with a self-implied questionable service.
Congrats AT&T! A 0.02% success rate is really something to brag about!
AT&T Preps South Florida Wireless Network for Pro Bowl and Super Bowl
MIAMI, Jan 19, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Football players and fans aren't the only ones gearing up for the Jan. 31 Pro Bowl and Feb. 7 Super Bowl XLIV in Miami. AT&T is gearing up its South Florida network to help ensure those in town for the games have a winning wireless experience. AT&T announced today it is expanding capacity and coverage in and around Dolphin Stadium and other key areas in anticipation of increased voice and data traffic on its wireless network.
Network preparations for the big games include:
Three mobile cell sites on wheels, or COW, in the stadium parking lot;
A new distributed antenna system, or DAS, inside the stadium;
Fourth additional layer of capacity added to AT&T cell site inside the stadium: 2G (GSM/Global System for Mobile Communications) voice and data capacity increased by 100 percent and high-speed 3G (UMTS/Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) voice and data capacity increased by 280 percent;
Capacity added to cell sites in the vicinity of the stadium;
Capacity added to cell sites serving hotels and resorts in Fort Lauderdale and South Beach where Super Bowl activities will be hosted;
A COW set up to serve Fort Lauderdale hotels where teams will be staying;
Capacity added to cell sites surrounding the facilities where the teams will be practicing; and
The addition of backhaul connectivity to cell sites surrounding the stadium to increase voice and data capacity between the sites and the routing switch.
"These are two of the biggest games of the year, and fans attending them want to be able to share the experience, as it's happening, with those back home, whether its through a voice call, text message, e-mail or picture and video messaging," said Rich Guidotti, vice president and general manager, AT&T Mobility & Consumer Markets for South Florida. "Our network team has been working for months to deliver the best possible wireless experience for the games and their related activities."
AT&T network personnel will be on site for the games to monitor the network. Traffic on the stadium cell sites will be balanced as needed during the games in order to maximize the ability for customers to make calls and use data services.
In addition to the network upgrades for the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl, AT&T substantially increased capacity on its 3G network throughout South Florida in 2009 with the addition of a third layer of capacity, or "third carrier" to several hundred cell sites from Key West to Vero Beach. AT&T also activated 20 new cell sites, added 3G technology to dozens of existing cell sites, upgraded its UMTS/3G switching center, added 7 new Radio Network Controllers to significantly increase capacity and added more than 2,500 backhaul connections in 2009.
From 2007 through third quarter 2009, AT&T invested more than $134 million in its wireless network in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties alone.
"We'll continue to invest and innovate to strengthen our wireless network performance so that our customers can have the best experience with their AT&T devices," said Marshall Criser, lll, AT&T president, Florida. "Our network investments and upgrades have made it possible for us to continue to deliver the nation's fastest 3G network and national voice call retainability scores that are near best-in-class."
AT&T's 3G network is now available in more than 350 U.S. cities, including all major metropolitan areas.
AT&T recently completed a software upgrade at 3G cell sites nationwide that prepares the nation's fastest 3G network for even faster speeds. The deployment of High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) 7.2 technology is the first of multiple initiatives in AT&T's network enhancement strategy designed to provide customers with the best possible mobile broadband experience, both today and well into the future. Faster 3G speeds will become available as AT&T combines the new technology with our second initiative during 2010 and 2011 to dramatically increase the number of high-speed backhaul connections to cell sites, primarily with fiber-optic connections, adding capacity from cell sites to the AT&T backbone network.
For more information about AT&T's coverage in South Florida or anywhere in the United States, consumers can visit http://www.wireless.att.com/coverageviewer/. The online tool can measure the quality of coverage based on a street address, intersection, ZIP code or even a landmark.
For updates on the AT&T wireless network, please visit http://www.att.com/networknews.
*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.
[Silicon Alley Insider and Research by David Chaid]
The People's Republic has unveiled more details on its quest to phase U.S.-made processors from its microchip diet. China's next supercomputer will run purely on Chinese processors, possibly before the end of this year.
China has been developing its own CPUs at the state-run Institute of Computing Technology (ICT) for several years, but iterations of its chip – known as Loongson or "Dragon Core" – have been incapable of breaking into the elite ranks of supercomputing. China's last supercomputer, the Dawning 5000a, was intended to run on Loongson processors, but was eventually constructed around AMD processors when the ICT couldn't deliver a powerful enough chip quickly enough.
The Loongson 3, under development since 2001, should change all this if the ICT can deliver on its promise. Based on the MIPS architecture, the chips theoretically can be strung in 16-core clusters to perform at extremely high speeds, possibly hitting the petaflop performance mark with just 782 16-core chips. That's one quadrillion operations per second, for those of you keeping score.
Right now, of course, this is all on paper (well, a quad-core chip is in prototype, but the proposed 16-core bad boy is still under development). But authorities in the supercomputing field seem to agree that the chips, running in clusters, can hit the performance marks necessary to create a top-tier supercomputer. This isn't the first time the Chinese have promised a home-grown high-performance supercomputer, but for the first time it looks like they are going to deliver.
Popular Science is your wormhole to the future. Reporting on what's new and what's next in science and technology, we deliver the future now.
He isn't the youngest kid to write an iPhone app, but 11-year old Cameron is wise beyond his years. He is donating a substantial part of the proceeds from his drawing app iSketch to the Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA.
Writing to Crunchgear, Cameron's father explains the situation:
My son Cameron is 11 years old and, last year, he had a medical problem that prevented him from participating in the physical activities he otherwise enjoys. (He is nearly fully recovered.) During that time, Cameron became interested in computers, and he began to read anything he could get his hands on. He watched Stanford University professors on iTunes, scoured the web for articles on programming and taught himself several different programming languages. (Neither my wife nor I have any idea how to program.) Cameron began to focus on the iPhone and iPod touch devices as the "apps" offered for sale for use on those devices seemed really cool to him. He began to work on a few different apps. After completing some summer camps on programming and continuing to read and learn, Cameron finalized an app, which he calls iSketch, and submit it to Apple. The app, which is a painting/drawing program, was approved by Apple for sale on its App Store in December. (He has since updated it several times..)
Inspired by the care he received at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital, Cameron has dedicated a substantial portion of the proceeds from his sales to purchase entertainment and electronic items for Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA's Child Life/Child Development programs in Westwood and Santa Monica so that pre-teens and teens will have additional age-appropriate options available to them during their Hospital stays. Cameron's sales so far have been good, but he hopes to accelerate them so that he can donate even more to the Hospital.
Damn, that is humbling.
Despite Cameron's age, iSketch looks like one of the better drawing apps in the App Store. Even if you aren't interested in drawing on your phone, the 99 cent price tag is going to be worth every penny. [iTunes and iSketch via Crunchgear]
As if we didn't have enough with crotchbombs and the TSA, the FAA is now saying that "[passenger networking] may result in security vulnerabilities" exposing flight systems to hackers. But, how serious is this danger?
The FAA says that their airworthiness tests "do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for these design features." So basically, it seems that there's a grey area for now, leaving the responsibility to the airplane manufacturers. They gave these guidelines to Boeing, but that's about it:
1. Boeing must ensure electronic system security protection for the aircraft control domain and airline information domain from access by unauthorized sources external to the airplane, including those possibly caused by maintenance activity.
2. Boeing must ensure that electronic system security threats from external sources are identified and assessed, and that effective electronic system security protection strategies are implemented to protect the airplane from all adverse impacts on safety, functionality, and continued airworthiness.
In theory, the flight systems and passenger networks on the Boeing 747-8 and the ever-delayed Dreamliner are separated. But Vijay Takanti, VP for Security for Exostar (which is partially owned by Boeing, according to Runway Girl Mary Kirby), says that "there is some crossover and [the industry] is trying very hard to make sure the number of crossover points are very limited."
What does Takanti mean with "crossovers points"? And why don't just keep both networks separated to avoid any potential hacking nightmares? That would fix any potential security breaches, right?
It seems that this may not be the case, which is what the FAA is hinting at in their guidelines: The mere existence of two networks in a plane—one accessible by the passengers—is a security hole in itself. The FAA says that Boeing should find a way to prevent "access by unauthorized sources external to the airplane, including those possibly caused by maintenance activity."
That's the key. While it could be quite difficult to do, tampering with the networking systems inside the plane is a possibility during the maintenance stage. And, if history has taught us anything, any security system can be broken, no matter how well engineered it is. Add to this the fact that planes are now being connected to the internet itself, and you have the potential ingredients for some remote hackers to do something bad.
As they admit themselves, the FAA doesn't have regulations for these inflight networking systems. This makes me a bit nervous. It is not that their regulations or tests could make things hacker-proof—nothing is hacker-proof—but the idea of leaving this responsibility to private companies is not good enough, as demonstrated in recent times.
The only 100% secure option is this: Fly without any kind of passenger networking. But then again, would you live without your newly-acquired habit of viewing YouTube cat videos during flights? Would you sacrifice your inflight mail or your web browsing, like you have already sacrificed your dignity at the security checkpoint? Should we stop running our always-connected lives because of a remote security threat?
Maybe we need to update the True Odds of Airborne Terror Attack chart. Maybe there's nothing to worry about. Do terrorist have the resources to coordinate a sophisticated attack like this, and take control of a plane in any meaningful or dangerous way? Given their crotchbomb plans, probably not. But I don't want to find out, FAA. Let's nail all these issues before they become a real problem. [Runway Girl — Photo by Jeff McNeill]
Here are four robots that leave me unsettled in four unique ways. The robots in this clip, developed at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, each employ their own distinctive method of wall-climbing. This snail-inspired bot uses hot glue.
One of the robots is equipped with magnetic treads for sticking to any metal surface. Another, looking like some sort of terrifying mechanical arachnid, has four legs with fishing hooks for scuttling around on textured surfaces. I already worry about spiders crawling on my walls. Now, thanks to the roboticist behind the project, Amir Shapiro, I have to worry about robots creeping up on me too.
The least menacing of the bunch, seen in the video climbing a white board, has four tiny wheels covered in 3M sticky tape, allowing it to roll slowly across smooth vertical surfaces. That guy? He's OK with me. [Bot Junkie]
Stan Shih, founder of Acer, has made a bold prediction with a cowardly timeline: that US computer brands aren't competitive enough to stick it out another 20 years. That'd work out just great for, let's see... oh, right, Stan Shih!
Shih's claim is that US manufacturers are incapable of putting lower priced products on the market, and so will die off like so much chaff. BUT: while companies like Lenovo and Acer have made strides recently, in the PC market there's still high demand for top-tier products, and Dell and HP are still huge—and hugely popular—companies.
The bigger problem, of course, is that in twenty years anything can happen. Maybe we won't be using laptops at all by then. Maybe we'll do all our computing from the Google chips implanted in our brains. So before Stan Shih gets too excited about 2030, maybe he should focus first on making laptops that don't melt in 2010. [PhysOrg]
This bad-boy-in-a-shell could be used as inspiration for body armor, according to scientists. Meet the Crysomallon Squamiferum, or 'scaly-foot gastropod.' He could end up saving your life.
Hailing from the Central Indian Ridge, the snails can ward off attacks from crabs and other menaces thanks to what its hard shell is composed of. Inside hydrothermal vents iron sulphide particles are found, and combined with a spongy middle layer it means that when something strikes it—like a mean crab's claw—it absorbs energy by allowing the shell to crack, or "microcrack" as the scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are calling it.
The shells also offer a form of attack, as well as defense. In a small way, at least. The iron sulphide will apparently make any attacking claws blunt, by grinding them down.
Whether we'll see it on the next stab-proof vests is anyone's guess, but at least we now know to avoid these scaly-foot gastropods. I'm certainly not going to eat any when I'm next in France, anyway. [New Scientist]
For this week's Photoshop Contest, I asked you to re-imagine the current Late Night battle through the lens of your favorite sci-fi movies. And wow, some of these are absolutely epic. One of our best contests yet, to be sure.
First Place—Greg Reese
Second Place—Jelani Memory
Third Place—Bobo the Teddy
Watching this ad for Grasshopper phone systems, you might not notice anything amiss. Watching this ad for Grasshopper phone system while fast forwarding, you still probably won't notice anything amiss. And that's the whole point.
The ad foils commercial-skipping DVR users by planting a brand icon—that grasshopper there—in the middle of the screen throughout the ad, and ending with a simple information panel. It looks more or less the same whether viewed at regular speed or high speed, so even if ad-skippers don't have to sit through the audio pitch, they still end up absorbing some of the ad's information, in theory. Another neat trick: By using this gimmick, Grasshopper has fooled numerous bloggers into posting about their ad. Planning on spending your commercial break browsing Giz? Ha. Grasshopper'd.
If they have the choice, people don't watch ads, and increasingly, people do have a choice. I imagine we'll see more than a handful of awkward stunts like this over the next few years, at least until traditional TV advertising falls by the wayside, replaced by something more akin to the unskippable ads we're starting to see in online video. [Adrants via Gawker]
Here's what we know, from MacRumors: last July, Apple dummy corporation Slate Computing, LLC applied for a trademark for an "iPad." Similar applications have since been filed in England, Australia and Hong Kong. Also: what a terrible name.
We'd heard rumors of the iPad starting way back in August, when it appeared on a mysterious Border's survey. Since then, though, iSlate has been the frontrunner. But with some of the iPad applications being filed just this week, we may be looking at an awkwardly named tablet device indeed.
The first reactions here at Gizmodo HQ were that it sounded like anything from a feminine hygiene product to a terrible way to nickname your apartment, but it turns out MADtv beat us to the punch:
With all the lawsuits Apple's already facing, can they really stand another from a defunct late-night sketch comedy show? Guess we'll find out soon enough! [MacRumors]
This seems like a harmless tube. In fact, it was harmless: Israeli farmers used the first version to scare birds from crop fields. Then, somebody converted it into a crowd dispersion mechanism. And then, they discovered it could kill.
The Thunder Generator uses mixture of liquefied petroleum, cooking gas, and air to create explosions, which in return generate shock waves capable of stunning people from 30 to 100 meters away. At that range, the weapon is absolutely harmless, making people run in panic when they feel the sonic blast hitting their bodies. However, at less than ten meters, the Thunder Generator could either cause permanent damage or kill any person.
It comes in a single-barrel configuration, but according to the manufacturer—ArmyTec—you can mount it everywhere, and combine it with other barrels to create even more powerful design. You can even mount several cannons on different places, and synchronize them so you can create a sound barrier perimeter capable of dissuading your enemies. In fact, you can even make the sonic wave to turn 90 degrees to fire around corners, all by using a curved barrel design.
I can wait these people to install a sightly-lower power version of these things in raving clubs everywhere. My bones and ears are not crushed enough. [Thunder Generator via Defense News]
I'll be honest: I'd watch Will Forte in a mullet wig for 90 minutes whether or not the trailer looked good. Luckily, it looks amazing. Screw the A-Team movie, this is the upcoming action movie I'm most excited about. [Rogue]
Apple isn't going to use LaLa to launch a subscription service, a "variety of insider sources" have told the founder of MP3.com. It's exactly what we speculated: Storing your iTunes library in the cloud and access it from anywhere.
It's a bit hard to tell where his insider sources stop and his own thoughts begin, but Robertson says that the next version of iTunes will integrate one of LaLa's premiere features: scanning you entire music library, and letting you access the whole thing from the internet (it uploads any songs it doesn't already have on the service), via a "personal URL using a browser-based iTunes experience," not to mention from your iPhone.
The reason Apple didn't just build it themselves, he says, is speed. We'll probably see in September, like always with Apple and music events. [TechCrunch]
Teac and German manufacturer Avantgarde Acoustics have teamed up to produce a line of speakers that I can only hope sound as good as they look.
The G2 line consists of three models: the Duo, Duo Omega and Uno. All three models feature a frequency range of around 170-20,000Hz for speakers and 20-350Hz for the subwoofer, but the Duo Omega is the most expensive at the equivalent of $41,592. Even if you could afford it, there is no word on whether or not the speakers will be available outside of Japan. [Avantgarde via Le Journal du Geek via Newlaunches]
