IBLOG SPACE

Logitech has followed the introduction of its Android Squeezebox controller app with a version for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. A free download, Squeezebox Controller for iOS [iTunes link] allows you to control single or multi-room playback from your Apple device, as well as control streaming radio and search. As you’d expect there are different layouts for iPad and iPhone, and all the usual Squeezebox functionality is supported. That means Pandora and custom radio stations, music-on-demand with Napster, Amazon MP3 downloads, podcasts and even images from Flickr and other photo services. It’s another sign of Logitech attempting to chip away at Sonos , with the two companies competing to bring the cost of entry for each platform down as much as possible. You’ll still need a Squeezebox playback device , but they start from $149.99 for the Squeezebox Radio in white.

Samsung had promised a counter-suit against Apple, and the company has delivered, filing a total of ten cases each alleging patent infringement. According to the company’s Samsung Tomorrow blog, five were submitted in Korea, two in Japan, and a final three in Germany. The exact details of the suits are yet to be confirmed. “Samsung is responding actively to the legal action taken against us in order to protect our intellectual property” the company claimed, “and to ensure our continued innovation and growth in the mobile communications business.” Apple had alleged that Samsung was intentionally copying the look and feel of its iOS devices, such as the iPhone, in the design of its Galaxy range of handsets and tablets. As ever with these patent cases, it seems likely that the only winners involved will be the lawyers working for both firms. For more on the case, check out our previous feature .

Leaked details aplenty around Nintendo’s next-gen console to replace the Wii, believed to be codenamed Project Cafe, with IGN reporting on rumors that the Wii 2 will use innovative controllers with integrated “Screen Stream” technology that can stream games direct to an integrated color touchscreen. Mock-up images of the potential hardware – which may reach the marked as the Nintendo Stream, it’s suggested – have been discovered by NeoGAF , meanwhile, showing a somewhat retro, SNES-style console that’s said to be around the size of an Xbox 360. Screen Stream will, it’s said, take the 1080p display the new high-definition Stream is capable of, and split the four individual views of multiplayer games, squirting one to each player’s controller. The TV can then show different camera angles or even be turned off completely. There’s also the possibility of “Virtual Console Games” similar to the tiny titles playable on SEGA’s DreamCast controllers. As for the main hardware, Nintendo is said

So we’ve seen plenty of robots in our time, from the recent ones working in Fukushima to the ones helping cure autism in children and others that just look eerily human for the sake of looking eerily human. But none so far have had quite the life-like fluidity of movement as the Sarcos robot developed by the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon. Not only can it dance, but it can take a good shove from behind without falling over thanks to its unique ability to constantly adjust its balance much like the way humans do. Continue after the jump for videos of it dancing and getting bullied. The Sarcos is a full body humanoid robot that stands and balances on its own two feet with movements that are fluid thanks to the use of hydraulic actuators. Ben Stephens, a Ph.D. research student at Carnegie Mellon, works with Sarcos to develop its balancing abilities. In the first video below you will see him demonstrating Sarcos by having it perform a dance that was programmed from recording huma

It’s been a month since AT&T first announced plans to acquire T-Mobile , a move that made sense to analysts but got consumers concerned about future pricing options. Today, AT&T filed its official application to the FCC detailing why their acquisition should be approved. AT&T emphasized that the acquisition would help speed up the expansion of their 4G network, which would benefit consumers with improved voice and data service as well as coverage. “In just the first five-to-seven weeks of 2015, AT&T expects to carry all of the mobile traffic volume it carried during 2010,” the carrier said in its filing. “This merger provides by far the surest, fastest and most efficient solution to that challenge. The network synergies of this transaction will free up new capacity – the functional equivalent of new spectrum – in the many urban, suburban and rural wireless markets where escalating broadband usage is fast consuming existing capacity.” They also reassured that T-Mobile c

It is widely believed now that the iPhone 5 will be touching down this September, with recent evidence suggesting the device to be a GSM/CDMA world phone , and to run on the speedy A5 chip currently found in the iPad 2. But now, an additional source from 9to5 Mac further supports the A5 claim and also suggests some awesome gaming power to come with the iPhone 5. The source claims that an iPhone prototype dubbed ’4S’ sporting an A5 chip has been seeded to certain high level game developers. It is common for companies to hand out prototypes to developers early on to ensure that apps or games are optimized, take full advantage of the hardware capabilities, and ready by the launch of the device. The prototype appears to be a modified iPhone 4 with an A5 chip and still runs the same iOS 4, but slightly tweaked to work with the new processor. The A5 chip has twice the CPU speed of the previous generation processor and has up to 9 times faster graphics. This is definitely a lot of extra proc

Whether you were disappointed or otherwise with Tron: Legacy , it’s hard to argue with the movie’s blend of CGI graphics and human actors. Digital designer Joshua Nimoy was responsible for much of the software art, and he’s shared some of his tips & tricks, as well as how he used authentic UNIX commands so as to avoid cringeworthy Hackers -style gimmicks. Instead, he recorded himself using legitmate posix kill commands in an emacs eshell. There are also icosahedron and dodecahedron fireworks, tweaking exponential functions for make for “gooey” holographic heads, and more. Apps used included various Adobe tools, Cinema 4D, and then custom code in C++ using OpenFrameworks and wxWidgets. If you’ve ever wondered about the processes behind CGI then it makes for an interesting read – even if you didn’t particularly like Tron:Legacy itself.

It was leaked back in January that Google was busy at work on a Groupon rival called Google Offers. At the time the service appeared almost identical but later leaked reincarnations suggested that Google may be taking a slightly different approach. Today, however, will be the first day that folks may get a more definitive look on exactly what Google has to offer. Their new coupon service gets an official beta launch today starting in Portland with San Francisco and New York to follow. Although, folks from any of the select three cities can start signing up today, they may not receive any coupons via email just yet. The public beta-testing is limited to Portland for now. The sign-up page doesn’t offer up much more information on the service except that you will get discounts of “50% or more off of the places you’ll love.” This is very much along the same vein as Groupon’s discount model and sense of discovery. However, the service is likely to incorporate the NFC-based Google Places pr

Today, Windows Phone 7 turned six. Six months, that is, counted from the October 21 2010 release of the first batch of Windows Phone handsets. It’s a big day for the platform, too; not only a retail milestone, but an early inking of the deal between Microsoft and Nokia which will see the Finnish phone giant bet its smartphone fortunes. So, where next for Windows Phone, and will Nokia’s input – and the “billions of dollars” Microsoft will be pushing its way – help it gain all-important market share? With no publicly released sales figures from Microsoft, it’s hard to know what sort of success – or failure – it’s building on for the six months moving forward. Still, it’s hard not to compare Windows Phone’s track record to-date with that of Android, and find the Microsoft platform lacking. After great fanfare at launch, we’re yet to see a device that wasn’t previewed in some way at that initial debut. True, some have come later to market than others, or with different names, but there’s

It’s a half birthday! Today is 6 months to the day since the official launch of Windows Phone 7, and we’re got a roundup like you wouldn’t believe! How would you like to know everything that ever mattered about the platform in one single post? That’s what’s going on here. Behold the successor to the Windows Mobile platform, one that’s taken the world by storm! — Depending on how you look at it. We’ve got all the big steps complimented by hands-on with all the big guns – reviews too! You all know that Windows Phone 7 launched for the first time on October 21st, 2010, in Europe, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand, right? That was the first time a Windows Phone 7 phone ever saw the light of day, correct? Of course not! Let’s go back much further than that. Our journey begins when Chris Davies first held a Windows Phone 7 handset and got a good look at it back in February of 2010. We got our first look at the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace then as well. Our very first column on the Windo

LG Display has revealed some panel plans – including details on which customers are using its OLED screens for upcoming smartphones – in its Q1 financial results call; however, OLED TV scale displays aren’t expected to reach mass production until mid-2013. According to SeekingAlpha ‘s transcript, LG Display confirmed that, from this month, it will be supplying IPS tablet-scale panels to more than just Apple (which uses the screens for the iPad 2), while implying that as well as supplying Nokia with smartphone-sized screens, it will also be pushing panels for LG handsets in the middle of this year. That could mean that replacements to the T-Mobile G2x and other recent LG handsets might switch to AMOLED panels. The displays used in Nokia’s recent Symbian smartphones have arguably been the best thing about the devices, with the so-called “Clear Black” technology on the E7 and other handsets providing excellent viewing angles and vividly-saturated colors. LG Display will begin its 8-Gen

Remember those rumors about Google’s imminent cloud music service ? Well, we’re still not certain when they’ll be able to work through their licensing issues and get their service off the ground, but we do have word from Reuters now that Apple will be beating them to the punch. According to their sources, Apple has completed work on their own cloud music service and is set to launch ahead of Google. Apple’s cloud music service or “music locker” will allow iTunes customers to store and share their music on a remote server so that they can be accessed from anywhere via the internet. Amazon has already launched their own music locker service called the Cloud Drive but has been faced with some licensing problems. Amazon claimed that new licensing agreements were not necessary because the music stored and streamed from music lockers would be music that was already owned by the user. However, record labels disagreed and threatened with legal action. Apple and Google will certainly face the

There have been great advances in the use of prosthetic limbs, making them lighter, more comfortable, and easier to move. Scientists at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago’s Center for Bionic Medicine are working on a project to create a robotic prosthesis that would be controlled by the person’s own nervous system, and powered so that it can move on its own. Hailey Daniswicz, 20, lost her lower leg to bone cancer in 2005, and is training a computer avatar to recognize slight movements in her thigh. She has electrodes attached to nine different muscles in her thigh, and can see her progress on the screen as she flexes and moves her muscles. The computer begins to recognize the intent of the user over time. Daniswicz is participating in a clinical trial sponsored by the U.S. Army. The study uses electromyography (electrical signals produced by muscles) and pattern recognition computer software to control the next generation of robotic limbs. She will eventually be fitted with a robo

Anonymous has been picking up operations in the wake of WikiLeaks. They are known for spreading their doctrinal messages through YouTube. Today, the folks over at YouTube said, “enough is enough” and pulled the three videos for Operation Sony, Operation Sony Update and Operation Black Out citing Terms of Service violations. Operation Black Out is the most recent video posted by the international hacktivist collective. They voiced their position regarding New Zealand’s new copyright legislation, the Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill. Does this have anything to do with Anon finally turning their Low Orbit Ion Cannons aka LOIC toward a national entity? Michael Stone over at the Examiner saved a text transcript of the message, you can check out his article on Operation Black Out, here . And I’m also attaching the text transcript here. We are Anonymous. We have been watching the actions taken by you and your legislation. The passing of the Infringing File Sharing bill is b

A few years ago I read a book called The Paradox of Choice: Why Less is More by Barry Schwartz . His anecdotes were insightful and pointed to truths about the amount of choice the free market has laid on us as consumers. Of course free markets and consumer choice should be good things, but there are certainly experiences I have had where the overwhelming sense of having too many options made it difficult to actually make a decision. I related to much of what the book was saying, particularly with the experience of picking out a DVD to watch from my massive collection. I recall staring at a wall of DVDs and having the most difficult time deciding what to watch. The decision-making process when faced with so many good choices was simply immobilizing. The book points out how in many cases the burden of decision-making leads to buyer’s remorse in consumers. With so many options, their choice is rarely the clear winner. And when any part of the product purchased did not fully meet the expec