IBLOG SPACE

Google has extended its free Gmail calling deal throughout 2012, offering free domestic calls for users in the US and Canada. The extension to the free service is the second since Google launched its VoIP integration in Gmailback in August 2010; US and Canadian domestic calls were included at the start as a promotion, and then kept on throughout this past year. The VoIP system integrates with both the chat contacts list in Gmail as well as offering a regular dial pad to make calls to landlines and mobiles. Google also throws in $0.10 of credit for you to try out its paid calling plans. Unfortunately those outside of North America will still have to pay for all of their calls, as Google is yet to extend the free deal. Still, Gmail voice calls are offered in dozens of countries, and support multiple simultaneous calls at the sort of low rates we’ve come to expect from VoIP. More details on tariffs here.

If you track this story all the way back to the source, you might find the actual factual bits to be less than brick solid, but just like the codename on which this Android-based Siri opponent is based, the reality of the situation might be much less important than what COULD be should the future unfold how this story reads. What we’re to understand here is that Google’s propensity to select much better codenames than the manufacturers who create phones based on their mobile OS Android continues here with “Majel,” a voice controlled assistant made to compete against Apple’s iPhone 4S-based Siri. Majel is short for Majel Barrett, both Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry’s wife and the voice of the computer on the starship Enterprise*. Of course the Trekkies amongst you will recognize instantly that *the Enterprise D wasn’t the only home for Majel in the Star Trek series, but it’s her representation as the voice-activated assistant of that particular starship that makes this unconfirmed r

Clearly the times have gotten as strange and terrifying as they’re going to get over in the UK and police forces are testing laser rifles that are capable of firing a three meter “wall of light” that temporarily blind anyone who glances upon it. While this may bring up images in your mind of everything from your favorite first person shooter to Magic: The Gathering cards, you should know that this is being reported to be completely non-lethal. This weapon will cost £25,000 per unit and was designed by a former Royal Marine Commando who intended it for use against Somalian pirates. The image you see below this paragraph is not an accurate representation of what the rifle will look like, but a rendering of it’s current iteration IS inside this post a bit lower down. Civilians have nothing to fear from this powerhouse of a light blaster of course since makers of the SMU 100 say it’ll only be used against rioters. The makers of this device also note that an unnamed police force is set to b

iOS hit big this past October by surpassing 18 billion total downloads. But the Android Market has 10 billion total app downloads so far, and is growing at a rate of 1 billion a month. Who will turn out to be the victor in the smartphone category? At the Le Web Conference, Google chairman, Eric Schmidt, made a sweeping declaration that “Android is ahead of the iPhone now.” Let’s take a closer look at the numbers. According to comScore’s latest MobiLens report, 46.3% of smartphone users have an Android device, compared to 28.1% for Apple. This coupled with the total downloads in the Android Market, it is not surprising Mr. Schmidt would make such a statement. There are more people with an Android device and an increasing amount of downloads from the Android Market. Mr. Schmidt went on further to say that Android would be first on the list for app developers to build. However, those at Flurry calculated developer support for new projects on iOS and Android. With their calculations we can

Square announced today via Twitter that there are now more than 1 million merchants using its mobile payment services to accept credit cards. The startup has been competing against heavyweights like PayPal, Google, and Intuit in helping small businesses process payments via their mobile phones. “Just as small businesses are growing with Square, we’re growing with them: Over 1 million merchants now accept credit cards,” said the company in a tweet. And in response, Co-founder Jack Dorsey tweeted, “To put that in perspective: there are only 8 million merchants who accept credit cards in the US.” Since debuting in 2009, Square has seen tremendous growth, most recently reporting a signup rate of 30,000 to 50,000 new merchants each month. It has shipped 800,000 card readers to merchants and processes $2 billion in payments a year. Square’s latest offering is a hands-free payment feature using its Card Case app for iOS 5. As more small businesses accept Square, more users may also adopt the

Earlier this year it was announced that the FAA would begin approving the iPad for airline use in cockpits by pilots wishing to use the Apple tablet to navigate with maps – this week American Airlines is the first to be approved to make this situation a reality. This past June the Allied Pilots Association announced that American Airlines was the first to conduct tests of the iPad for all phases of flight as used by the pilots of their planes. The Federal Aviation Administration approved the testing of iPads on American Airlines airplanes with electronic charts this summer, and the final phases appear to have been completed in the weeks leading up to this one. An interesting statistic on this whole situation comes from Seattle Pi who appears to have figured the basic cash-based math behind replacing paper charts and maps with the space and weight reducing iPad. If and when the iPad replaces the approximately 35 pounds of paper pilots currently have in place, this saving $1.2 million wo

MW3 fanatics, I am talking to you! Well, if you’re a fanatic you should know this by now. For those who haven’t logged into XBOX Live in the last few days, an update awaits you! The sixth title update for Modern Warfare 3 focuses on exploits in multiplayer matches, as well as balancing out certain weapons. So far the update has come to XBOX and Playstation 3. For Title Updates 4 and 5, improvements were made to lag. Well, TU6 is no different. You should expect even more improvements to fix dreaded lag. Some other notes for the TU6 includes – Fix for Melee Jump. Clan Tag Validation (remove buttons from clan tags). Improve Host Migration logic. Prevent stat loss when player loses connection from server (internet pull / drop). The MW3 team also has a list for re-balancing and updates that are currently in development. Not surprisingly, there will be further updates for “lag compensation” or “host advantage / disadvantage”. Hot fixes for lag will be taken into account based on feedback fro

Skype rolled out version 2.6 today for Android that lets users easily send photos, videos, and files directly from the app. The update also features improved battery life and video quality on NVIDIA Tegra 2 devices such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, the Motorola XOOM, and the Acer Iconia Tab. Video calling via Skype on Android has been limited but the company continues to test and support new devices. Skype is expanding the whitelisted devices, ensuring that more handsets will support its video calling and provide an optimized video experience. Some of the latest whitelisted devices include the HTC Amaze 4G and the Motorola DROID RAZR. Overall, almost any device running Android 2.2 Froyo or above can try out Skype’s video calling feature. When you first start up Skype on a new non-whitelisted device, the app will let you know whether video calling can be turned on. The app is free, but the service may require a 3G cellular plan when you are not connected to WiFi. The app can be downl

It’s not tough to imagine why schools across the country would be blocking out student access to the newly minted .XXX domain name environment, especially since such a set of three letters defines only one thing: sex — imagine our surprise then when these same schools started purchasing domain names with the triple-X title attached to their own names and sports teams! It’s not nefarious at all though, as it turns out, as groups like the University of Kansas have picked up kansas.xxx and rockchalkjayhawk.xxx and jayhawks.xxx in order to deflect porn-minded individuals from owning them themselves. This all started two months ago with ICM Registry offering trademark holders the opportunity to pay $200 per URL for a one-time block that would assure these owners that their names would not be used to promote pornography. Seems sort of like a scheme of devilish proportions when it comes down to it then, doesn’t it, when you’ve got a brand new service for sale that you “allow” people to purcha

Security vendors have tipped off Google to 22 applications that trick users into accepting fraudulent charges. This “SMS toll fraud”, as Lookout Mobile Security has coined it, will trick users into accepting charges via SMS. The applications will appear similar to well-known software gaining trust of the user so the user accepts the ToS and, unfortunately, the hidden charges that come with it. According to Lookout, the original batch of apps appeared as horoscope apps “with a fairly hidden ToS indicating charges”. This batch, however, only affected those in European countries because the SMS code was gated to a user’s country. As a result, North American SIM cards were spared. More recently, Lookout notified Google of nine more fraudulent applications that were made to look more appealing to users. Three appeared as downloaders for popular games such as Angry Birds and Cut the Rope. Others were disguised to be wallpaper applications with popular movies, including Twilight, as well as o

Microsoft had detailed earlier this month its plans to challenge cable TV by adding more content and improved features to its Xbox Live service. Today, the first wave of new content and video services has hit Xbox Live, including apps like YouTube and Verizon’s FiOS TV. The newly added video services for the Xbox 360 console can be downloaded now via the Apps Marketplace in Xbox Live. Verizon FiOS TV is available to users in the US, while Rogers on Demand is available for those in Canada. Other entertainment services include iHeartRadio and MSNBC.com for US users only, while TMZ is available in both US and Canada. There are also video services available now for users outside of North America, including SBS On Demand for Australia, Blinkbox for the UK, RTVE for Spain, and MUZU TV for several European countries. Other services expected to roll out include Comcast and HBO Go, but they’ll likely turn up in late December or early 2012.

Google has posted the final stable release version of Chrome 16. This update to the Chrome browser was mainly focused on supporting multiple account sign-ins so that more than one user can share the same browser. This way you can access your own bookmarks, extensions, web apps and more, while also being able to bring this personalized experience to all your devices. New user accounts can be easily created under the Options and Preferences section by clicking “Add new user.” A new instance of Chrome then appears with a badge at the top left indicating which user the instance belongs to. Clicking on the badge shows a drop down list of other signed-in accounts that you can switch to. This makes it more convenient and less of a mess to sync bookmarks, apps, and extensions, especially when multiple people in a family are using the same browser. However, it is not intended to secure your data and you can easily switch between any accounts that are signed in.

Google’s Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich hero device, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, may be heading to Costco in a $289 bundle. A leaked Costo ad revealed the special pricing along with a release date that supports previous rumors for a December 15 launch. The $289 Galaxy Nexus bundle at Costco manages to include a leather pouch, car charger, and screen protector, and still beat out what’s believed to be the official on-contract Verizon pricing of $299 for the device. The unsubsidized device itself is expected to be $649. Verizon has yet to confirm any details, but so far reports point to a 32GB capacity model to hit the carrier’s stores at the same time as when the Costco special kicks off. It’s possible that the Costco version has a smaller storage capacity of 16GB, which could explain the value pricing.

While it might seem like an awesome idea to some of you that the government ban the use of smartphones, cellphones, and mobile devices in general from those driving vehicles on the road in front of the house where your children play, the National Transportation Safety Board this Tuesday has so far just made a recommendation that all states in the USA prohibit such activity. What they’ve actually done is to vote amongst themselves whether or not to make the recommendation, saying it’s “risks of distracted driving” that make them feel as though a law should be passed in each state. Do you think such a law should be inflicted? You aught to know that this narrator thinks there’s no good reason to take a call, make a call, or tap away at a phone for any reason while driving a vehicle capable of destroying human life. That said, I’m a hypocrite as well, having used streaming music through the headphone port to my in-car stereo as recently as last night, make no mistake. Independent federal a

This week the folks at SkyDrive.com cloud storage system have announced the simultaneous release of both an iOS application and a Windows Phone application so you can use SkyDrive‘s storage across a whole new set of platforms. What you’ll be doing here is using a simple to access user interface to save and share your data in many different ways. SkyDrive is using this move to find their way into the mobile market and hopes that it’ll be impressive enough to get manufacturers to opt to have the app on devices right out of the box – but is it good enough? First lets have a look at the Windows Phone version of this application. Clearly what we’re dealing with here is an application well suited for the Windows Phone aesthetic, flat panels and immersive buttons galore, folders and icons all looking very much at home here in the SkyDrive cloud space. You’ll be able to create folders, photo albums, delete and save, all the stuff you’re used to with your browser-based SkyDrive account as acces

Ever since video games were first invented, it has been both graphics and gameplay that have dominated talk about their quality and vision — what we’re seeing now is games such as Dimensions (for iOS) that bring our mobile modernity into focus with sound-based gameplay. This game has been worked on by developers at RjDj and takes what you may well have experienced in the Inception application from earlier this year to a whole new level. The developers here have worked with Oscar winning soundtrack producer Hans Zimmer (also having worked on Inception, mind you), to bring you the music and sound environments you experience in the game. If that wasn’t enough to get you to drop the $2.99 in the iTunes Appstore, do read on. What you’re going to experience here has been described by musician Pharrell Williams as “like legal drugs with no side effects” and been summed up by Zimmer as “an amazing immersive Soundtrack for your life.” Essentially it’s sounds all around you that you’re going to

For those of you wishing to get up close and personal with the destruction and collapse of massive parts of Northeastern Japan as crushed up by the earthquakes and tsunami from March 2011, you can certainly do so thanks to Google Maps new initiative to archive images of the area in the weeks after the disasters unfurled. In addition to being able to see these areas inside Google Maps (until they’re updated as repairs are made and new images are collected), you can see before and after shots at a special site Memories for the Future, fully optimized for a browser-centric experience. What do you think, citizens of earth, is this a suitable memorial for the terror that occurred earlier this year? You can explore the area with Street View on Google Maps, one of the greatest ways to explore any area you’ve never been to before as you can look forward, backward, left and right, and double-tap to zoom in on any given area. Of course there are strange bits that change as you go down the road a

A bit earlier this month the folks at Qualcomm had an analyst summit with about 50 industry analysts from both North and South America to show off their developing technologies and in particular one device which had us raising our eyebrows – a new Snapdragon S4 developer tablet running Android 2.3 Gingerbread — news today from Qualcomm shows off how this tablet is now prepped to be running the newest OS, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. You’ll remember the MDB Qualcomm handset we had earlier this year, that one of the last developer-centric devices the chip manufacturer had out for purchase. Now we’ve got this lovely tablet coming out sooner than later, and complete with the tastiest Android flavor yet! Though details aren’t especially numerous or expansive at the moment on this build, Qualcomm themselves have provided the images you’re seeing above and below. Qualcomm is sure to be releasing their S4 processor as well inside 2012, and based on what we’ve seen with the massively popular

The folks at Microsoft appear to be taking several opportunities to give away Windows Phone devices on Twitter with a clever usage of the hashtag term #droidrage – thus far the response has been a mixed bag of respondents having real problems and a gigantic collection of obvious user errors gone wild. Taking the opportunity to gather in those Android users who aren’t able to fix problems on their own into the Windows Phone 7 and Windows Phone Mango fold is Microsoft’s latest tactic in showing off how simple the platform can be – what we’ll be waiting for here is the response from the people who though they weren’t able to figure out how to use an Android phone were then able to use a Windows Phone without a hitch. It’s likely that the storyline ends here, on the other hand, tracking further likely impossible. Will you join in on the fun? Do you have an Android phone that’s been giving you so much trouble you could spit? Or in the case of the recent malware outbreak (which, mind you, ha

Very recently Facebook introduced a feature you may not have noticed, but will very likely have you flipping your lid when you see it for yourself for the first time – a “Social Inbox” as they call it, sorting your messages into two categories, making you miss a massive amount of connections if you do not make that extra click. An interesting source of people responding to the news of this extra inbox comes from Slate where everything from returned wallets to finding a lost father of twins have popped up in that extra “Other” box, enraging users who feel they weren’t sufficiently informed about it. Now the question is this: should Facebook have made a greater effort to tell you that you had a new place to click if you wanted to get messages from strangers? What do you think, ladies and gentlemen? Since Facebook is without a doubt a site that is at once completely free and compulsory to use yet for many is impossible to set aside, does Facebook have the same duty as Spiderman? That duty

Facebook and Google may have fallen out over contacts sync, Google stripping support for adding Facebook friends into the Android address book back in the Nexus S days, but that hasn’t stopped modders from adding it back into Ice Cream Sandwich. A newly released MoDaCo ROM includes contacts sync support once more, along with some relatively low resolution contact photos that show up for each user. By default, although the Facebook app is available for use on Ice Cream Sandwich handsets, it doesn’t support integration of Facebook friends with the new People app in Android 4.0. Officially, that’s down to Facebook not falling in with Google’s data policy, with the fact that the previous behavior “created a false sense of data portability” as contacts were updated with information but those details couldn’t then be exported off the handset. Unofficially, however, the decision was seen as a further cooling of the relationship between Google and Facebook, particularly with regards to how muc

Integrated data connections in tablets along with mobile hotspot connected slates are falling from favor, new research suggests, with WiFi-only use proliferating among owners of iPads and other models. While 60-percent of tablet owners used WiFi only and 5-percent reported some intent of subscribing to a mobile broadband plan within the next six months back in Apri, NPD Group discovered, cellular use has actually shrunk in intervening period. In fact, WiFi-only use is now up to 65-percent, indicating tableteers are sticking to WiFi hotspots and avoiding cellular data plans. “Concern over the high cost of cellular data plans is certainly an issue,” NPD’s Eddie Hold says, ”but more consumers are finding that Wi-Fi is available in the majority of locations where they use their tablets, providing them ‘good enough’ connectivity.” Hold told SlashGear that NPD had 3,300 participants in the survey, with a mixture of WiFi-only and WiFi + 3G tablets owned.. “But even Wi-Fi only tablets could be

We love our robots around here and when those robots can make lunch or a snack for you, I am even more interested. That is the case with these cool bots that the robotics team form the Technical University of Munich designed named Rosie and James. The bots used to be able to make pancakes and sausage only. Now the bots can make salami and cheese sandwiches and stovetop popcorn as well. That means the bot can now make your breakfast, lunch, and an afternoon snack. Eh bots are able to do all the little steps including turning the oven on and have impressive dexterity. The bots are able to respond to orders like make me a sandwich. They use the Kinect visual detection system to assess the surroundings and make the food. The sandwich command even gets you toasted bread. It’s impressive that these robots can perform these tasks from voice commands only. Check out the videos to see the bots in action.

A new attack has been discovered that is focused on Windows Phone devices. The attack is an SMS message that forces the WinPo device to reboot and disables the messaging hub on the phone. Apparently, the entire range is susceptible to the SMS hack that only requires the attacked send an SMS message. Once the SMS is received and the device reboots the messaging hub won’t open for users no matter how many times they try. Winrumros reports that it has tested the attack on a couple photo and found that it works for sure on the HTC Titan and Samsung Focus Flash. The attack is not device specific and exploits some sort of flaw in the way the Mango OS handles messages. The flaw can be exploited when a Facebook chat message or Windows Live Messenger message is sent to someone as well. Apparently, the flaw can even be exploited if a user has a friend on Facebook pinned to a live tile and that friend posts a message. That Facebook message can trigger the exploit. Check out the video for a demo o

Microsoft has released Kinectimals for iOS, a version of its Kinectimals on Kinect for Xbox 360 game, working as both a standalone title and as a way of accessing new content in the console version. Available for $2.99 in theiOS App Store, the game runs on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad; it has already been available through theWindows Phone Marketplace since late October. For those with a copy of the Xbox 360 game, the mobile version allows you to take your pet with you on the move, playing with it while on the bus or tickling it while queueing in the store. There’s also the ability to unlock five new pets using the mobile game, that then becomes available on the console version. Those without the main game can still use Kinectimals as a standalone title, however. Although a Microsoft app for iOS isn’t exactly a new thing – the company has a reasonably long history of pushing out titles for Apple’s devices – a game is quite unusual. If you download it, let us know how you get on in t

Nokia has dismissed the iPhone as so ubiquitous as to be unfashionable while Android is too complex and too insecure, and hopes to persuade young people that its Windows Phones “are different” from a sea of touchscreen slabs. “Youth are pretty much fed up with iPhones” Niels Munksgaard, director of Portfolio, Product Marketing & Sales at Nokia Entertainment Global told Pocket-lint, “everyone has the iPhone.” In contrast, Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform and Nokia smartphones have been a relatively rare sight among the general public, something Munksgaard obviously believes will play into the two companies’ advantage when it comes to perceived uniqueness. “What we see is that youth are pretty much fed up with iPhones. Everyone has the iPhone. Also, many are not happy with the complexity of Android and the lack of security. So we do increasing see that the youth that wants to be on the cutting edge and try something new are turning to the Windows phone platform” Niels Munksgaard, N

The use of GPS is so prevalent all around the world that a lot of people never stop to think about the satellites in orbit that make it all work. The US is set to start testing of a new generation of GPS satellites with the first of the Block III GPS satellites showing up in Colorado for its first tests in an extensive series to ensure that the tech will work. Anyone who uses GPS has had the frustration of not being able to get an accurate location reading under trees, indoors, and under cloud cover. The new generation of satellites is said to be much more powerful allowing the devices to get readings when they previously could not. The new-generation satellite also uses a common band that is shared with other countries so GPS devices can work wherever you are. The best part though is that the new satellites have better accuracy than older versions. The new satellites have the ability to determine your location within roughly one meter whereas the older satellites needed had a range of

If you have a home or office full of iOS devices like the iPad or iPhone that receive hoards of emails all day and need to print sans wires you a printer you already have, it can be done. A company called Lantronic has unveiled a new device for iOS gadgets called the xPrintServer. The device is a little box that is roughly the size of an iPhone. What you do is plug the box into the wired network in your home or office. Once connected the device will let your iPhone print to any shared or network printer on the network. The device will work with just about any device on iOS, including iPads and iPhones. The device will be on display at Digital Experience during CES and will start to ship in January. The device supports over 4,000 different printers, including office stalwarts like Epson, Brother, HP, and a bunch more. The xPrintServer will cost you $149.99. It uses the native iOS print menu needing no app to work, and it needs no printer drivers either.

Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) believe they may have spotted signs of the Higgs boson, it has been announced this morning, though the recorded evidence “is not large enough to say anything conclusive.” In a comprehensive presentation of the latest results from the particle-smashing Atlas and CMS experiments today, scientists in Geneva suggested that the output “is consistent either with a background fluctuation or the present of the SM Higgs boson.” That evidence presents as a set of consistent spikes or “modest excess of events” that occur between 115 and 127 gigaelectronvolts (GeV), with the prediction that the multiple independent measurements at 124 to 126 GeV are the most likely to be signs of the Higgs boson, if it exists. If they can identify it, the hope is that CERN scientists could lead the way in developing a new physics model to replace or augment the existing Standard Model, the theory of fundamental particles and forces. Such a new model would address the h

If you are in the UK and have your eyes set on getting yourself a shiny new iPhone 4S, but you don’t want a long contract or a big upfront cost, O2 has a new deal for you. The company has announced new lease plans for the iPhone 4S that won’t cost you anything upfront. There are two plans that both include the iPhone 4S and a contract for a year. The first plan will get you the iPhone 4S in 16GB guise with 750 minutes monthly for the life of your lease, unlimited text messaging, 500MB of monthly data, 20 UK picture messages, and unlimited access to O2 WiFi hotspots and insurance to protect the phone. That plan will cost users £55 monthly. You can upgrade to 1GB of data and 50 UK picture messages for another £4 monthly. If that 16GB device isn’t enough storage space for you, the 32GB iPhone with the same monthly allowances will set you back £65 monthly. You can pay the same £4 upgrade fee to get yourself the 1GB of storage as the other plan along with the 50 picture messages. It’s worth

Apple is loosening its stringent iAd regulations in the hope of better taking on Google AdMob in mobile advertising, it’s reported, with lower promotional spend commitments and more flexibility in pricing structures. The tweaks have been made in response to persistent negative feedback from marketers, WSJ reports, critical of Apple’s stubborn approach to ads served up on iPhone and iPad. Currently, Apple holds roughly 20-percent of the US mobile ad market, IDC claims, with Google on top with 24-percent. In reaction, Apple is supposedly further lowering the cost of entry to iAd. The marketing spend commitment – originally $1m and then lowered to just half that – will be trimmed to $400m, insiders claim, with a cap on price-per-tap being applied as Google handles adverts. Previously, no caps were permitted, meaning that eager viewers could chew through an advertising budget in short order; Apple charges $10 per thousand ad views and $2 per tap. Meanwhile, Apple is also holding outreach t

Nintendo has announced a huge line up new video games that will be coming in early 2012. The launches cover all of the devices available from Nintendo and there are also new offerings in the Nintendo eShop for 3DS. You can check the screen shots in the gallery to see the full listing of games and launch dates. There are a few notable titles that are coming. On the 3DS, Resident Evil Revelations will be landing on February 7. There is also a new Metal Gear Solid 3D Snake Eater coming in Q1 for the 3DS. In the Nintendo eShop for the 3DS will be a number of new download games including Dillon’s Rolling Western tower defense strategy game are coming. There are a number of other games coming to the eShop too like NightSky. The Circle Pad Pro is also set for launch on February 7 via GameStop locations and online for $19.99. The Wii is getting notable games like PokePark 2: Wonders Beyond and Mario Party 9. Check out the gallery to see the full line up of games.

Gracenote is readying a “second screen” platform that would use digital audio fingerprinting to show related information to TV shows on an iPad or other tablet. The new system listens in to TV shows or movies with the tablet’s microphone, comparing snippets of audio with its database of content to identify not only the show but whereabouts in its timeline it is. That process takes around five seconds at most, GigaOm reports, after which point the app can show contextually-relevant information on the tablet’s display. Digital watermarking shows isn’t a new concept, and indeed a Gracenote subsidiary is behind the technology ABC uses with select content to match apps up with what’s happening on-screen. However, those shows require ABC to insert the digital fingerprint itself at the point of broadcast, whereas Gracenote’s new system is network-agnostic. It relies on a database of known shows to use basic audio to identify them, similar to existing song ID apps that can report track and art

The Android operating system is turning up in all sorts of tech gear from smartphones and tablets to set-top boxes and MP3 players. Sony has a new product called the NW-Z1000 that is a portable MP3 player carrying the Walkman name. This device launched in Japan previously, but it has been spied crossing the FCC for approvals. The NW-Z1000 has the style of a mobile phone and will compete against the Apple iPod touch. The device has both Bluetooth and WiFi inside for connectivity. It has a big 4.3-inch screen with a resolution of 800 x 480. The processor is an NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core and the MP3 player has 512MB of RAM. The operating system is Android 2.3 Gingerbread. In Japan there are three versions with different storage amounts available. Versions come with 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB with Japanese prices that work out to $365 to $561. The official US pricing is unknown at this time.

Google has launched a new Street View tour that takes you through the Japanese areas that were devastated by the tsunami and earthquakes earlier this year. The tsunami virtually destroyed the areas in March. Google had promised previously to put up Street View images of the devastated areas for people to view. Google notes that its Street View vehicles drove more than 44,000 kilometers though the areas that were affected by the tsunami and has posted the are in 360-degree panorama. Google is also offering the images via a special page called Building the Memory where you can see before and after photos of the area in one place. The new photos are also time stamped and Google notes that the time stamp feature with the month and year is now available on all images, not only those of the devastated areas of Japan. Google says that the imagery is hoped to help people including scientists better understand how disasters such as this affect communities. Do you think this is in poor taste?

Dell has launched its latest gaming PC, the Alienware Aurora, a hexacore-based powerhouse with liquid-cooling as standard and eye-catching active vents running across the top. Running a choice of Intel 3000 Core i7 processors, paired with the X79 Express chipset, quad-channel DDR3 memory and dual-graphics options each with GDDR5 memory, the new Aurora even managers to look almost subtle with its matte black case and red LED highlights. Easy access to the internal components is a given, with the whole side-panel slotting off easily. Four hard-drive bays side side-on, with a choice of HDD or SSD storage, while there’s room for two extra 5.25-inch drives up-front alongside the standard optical drive. LED lighting means not only does the Aurora look good in the dark, but it’s easy to see what you’re poking at when working on the insides. An Intel factory overclock, optional 3D graphics and multi-display support, and tool-free component fittings round out the key points. The Alienware Auror

Most of us are very concerned about the security of the data that is stored on our smartphones. That concern is only going to grow as services like Google Wallet take more than our contacts or emails and store the data on phones. The security of Google Wallet has been called into question by a security firm called viaForensics. According to the security firm, the Google Wallet app has failed their security tests. ViaForensics reports that the Google Wallet app stores too much of the personal data of the consumer on the handset itself. The app doesn’t store the entire credit card number, but according to the firm, there is enough personal data stored on purchases and credit cards that a social engineering attack could be crafted that would fool most people. Information on transaction dates, limits, expiration date, and the last four numbers of the credit card are stored in databases on the phone. A carefully crafted email to confirm an order might fool some users. Google’s response to t

Microsoft’s Windows Phone exec shuffle yesterday could have significant implications on harmonizing the codebase for Windows 8 and the smartphone OS, it’s been suggested, amid long-running rumors of boosted kernel efficiency. CEO Steve Ballmer described Andy Lees switch from Windows Phone chief “to a new role working for me on a time-critical opportunity focused on driving maximum impact in 2012 with Windows Phone and Windows 8″ as vital to the “tremendous potential” of the two platforms; The Register attempts to join the dots, pointing to “FrankenOS” rumors around Microsoft’s ongoing Menlo project. Ballmer was coy with details as to exactly what the “tremendous potential” Microsoft had identified could be, though the company has worked hard to bring the disparate elements of its PC, smartphone and gaming platforms closer together over the past few months. Last week, the company released a Windows Phone Xbox Controller app as part of its Xbox 360 update, turning the smartphone into a r

The speed of the camera sensor is virtually unfathomable to my mind. MIT has created a new imaging solution that is capable of taking photos at a trillion frames per second. That number is mind boggling and very hard to comprehend until MIT puts that enormous speed into perspective. The photographic system shoots so fast that it can actually visualize the propagation of light.

The internet connected set-top box market isn’t exactly the hottest market in the tech world right now, but it is doing decently. There have been some notable failures in this market such as the Logitech Revue set-top box that was discontinued with no replacement coming after interest in the device wasn’t there. Much of the issue with that product was the price for the capability offered. According to Strategy Analytics, the clear leader in the connected set-top box market is Apple. Apple has 32% of the set-top box market with the Apple TV box. The analytics firm predicts that in 2011, total global sales of the connected TV boxes like the Apple TV and Roku boxes will more than double compared to the number that sold in 2010. The company thinks that the total market will see nearly 12 million units sold this year with Apple alone selling almost four million units. One interesting thing that the analytics company came up with in their report about the market is that Apple TV users are sp

Carrier IQ has admitted that its cellphone monitoring software contains an SMS bug that can inadvertently collect text message data, though the company says such accidental records are “not human readable.” Detailed in a comprehensive Carrier IQ FAQ document supplied to SlashGear – and which you can read after the cut – the bug only exists in embedded versions of the service tracking software, and the company says it has already released an updated version that addresses the issue. “Carrier IQ has discovered that, due to this bug, in some unique circumstances, such as a when a user receives an SMS during a call, or during a simultaneous data session, SMS messages may have unintentionally been included in the layer 3 signaling traffic that is collected by the IQ Agent. These messages were encoded and embedded in layer 3 signaling traffic and are not human readable” Carrier IQ Despite the flaw, Carrier IQ insists that the potential for privacy leaks is minimal. ”No multi-media messages (

Intel is hoping to leverage the hard-drive shortage to drive its SSD business, in the attempt to offset its slashed Q4 revenue estimates after lower than expected processor sales. The chip company warned yesterday that the Thai flooding – and an ensuing reduction in new computers being built – could knock $1bn off its next set of financial results; however, Intel CFO Stacy Smith also reckons there’s an opportunity there to push another aspect of the company’s business, the NYTimes reports. Intel will “be using this as an opportunity” Smith confirmed. Although Intel is best known for its processor line-up, with chips for everything from performance desktops through notebook sand ultraportables and into low-power netbooks and embedded devices, the company also has a solid-state drive division. Intel’s SSDs and NAND flash storage has received positive reviews in general, and found its way into several enterprise data centers, though relatively high prices still mean HDDs dominate the stor