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Brett Lee has been ruled out of the Commonwealth Bank Series after suffering a broken foot during Australia's Twenty20 loss at the MCG on Friday. Lee is expected to be out of action for four to six weeks, meaning there could also be doubt over his availability for the limited-overs portion of the tour of the West Indies, which starts in mid-March. "Brett Lee sustained a fracture of his right foot when he was struck by a ball in the last over of his spell during the KFC T20 against India at the MCG on Friday night," Cricket Australia team doctor Trefor James said. "He was able to complete the over however the foot became more painful and swollen the following day. An x-ray has confirmed a fracture of the small toe and we now expect Brett will return to cricket in four to six weeks." Australia will not name a replacement player for the initial matches of the tri-series until after the opening match against India in Melbourne on Sunday. That means Australia's l

India won the World Cup last year and Sri Lanka were the runners-up, but Michael Clarke believes Australia deserve to be the favourites for the Commonwealth Bank Series, which starts on Sunday. Clarke is yet to lose a series as captain but the triangular contest looms as a different kind of challenge, and India's influx of new players after the Test debacle has given them some spark. The series begins with Australia taking on India at the MCG, where MS Dhoni's men on Friday outplayed, and especially outfielded, Australia in the second Twenty20. It was the kind of energetic display that helped India to the World Cup title less than 12 months ago, but since then Australia have won all three ODI series they have played, giving Clarke hope that they can keep that record going. "We're the No.1 one-day team in the world so I'd like to think that we're favourites," Clarke said. "But in saying that we have to be at our best. We have to play at our best to bea

Five summers ago India regained some pride after an unhappy Test series by claiming the triangular ODI trophy. It was the start of their road to lifting the World Cup in 2011. This time around the tourists are again seeking a new start, having been bullied and battered to a 4-0 hiding by Australia in the Tests. There was little of the acrimony that shrouded 2007-08, partly because India were never really close enough to Australia for the two combatants to trade blows, and the tourists will enjoy the chance to return to a format they are well versed in. Despite a mediocre showing at the World Cup, Australia retained their No. 1 ODI ranking, and under Michael Clarke have won series in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and South Africa to maintain the position. The team is in a state of some transition, as injuries and form have resulted in the inclusion of several new faces in the squad for the first three matches, Peter Forrest among them. Ricky Ponting, Clarke and Michael Hussey remain critical co

Guyana has been stripped of its scheduled Test match between West Indies and Australia due to political interference by the country's government, the WICB has announced. The third Test of the series will now be held in Dominica from April 23-27, the dates unchanged from the original schedule. "The change in venue is as a result of the situation in Guyana owing to the Government of Guyana's push to take over the management and governance of cricket in the country," the WICB said in a statement. "The Guyana Cricket Board, which is the agent of the WICB and the legitimate cricketing authority, has been prevented from undertaking the necessary tasks needed to ensure the successful hosting of the match." Last month the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) was locked out of its premises by the Guyana government, which appointed an Interim Management Committee (IMC) headed by Clive Lloyd to govern the sport in the country because the July 2011 GCB elections were being disput

Durham will participate in the Emirates Twenty20 competition, in Dubai at the end of March, for the second year running as part of their preparations for the new county season. The club will also send groups of players to India and South Africa for specialised coaching sessions. Durham's second XI coach Jon Lewis will accompany Gareth Breese, Mark Stoneman, Tim Raglan, Ryan Buckley and James Weighall to the Global Cricket School in India in February; while Mitchell Claydon, Stephen Harmison, Liam Plunkett, Chris Rushworth, Ben Stokes, Josh Bousefield and Usman Arshad will go to South Africa for outdoor practice with bowling coach Alan Walker and limited-overs captain Dale Benkenstein. "Our tours to Dubai have been really successful in previous years and have proved to be an effective way to continue our pre-season preparation in outdoor conditions," Durham's head coach Geoff Cook said. "It's important for the bowlers to get as much outdoor practice as possibl

Apple created a device called the iPhone so that the world could enjoy the world of smartphones with a single vision for greatness in this mobile world of ours – I don’t think they ever had it pegged as the back of a beer bottle opener. That’s what the folks at Spicebox have done, and done well, here with the original Intoxicase and the Intoxicase Plus. Should you want to protect your iPhone at the same time as utilizing it as a tool to bring the cool enjoyment of another cold one to your lips all day long, you’re in the right place. Intoxicase doesn’t just represent itself with a case or two, no way, it’s got a whole app dedicated to it as well! What you’re going to do here is to download the very free app, get it prepared to pop open bottles of what you plan on drinking, and get to unlidding! Of course the app contains sharing capabilities, a counter to see how many brews you downed, and a massive library of beers so you can select the exact brand you love most – or if it isn’t there

If you are diagnosed with stomach cancer in the early stages, getting back to full health may be as easy as swallowing a tiny crab. Well, not really a crab, and not really “swallowing,” either. But that is the general principle behind a new robotic device, developed in Singapore, that is able to grab cancerous tissue and pull it out of the body. The idea of removing cancer from the stomach without needing to cut open the body is revolutionary. It’s not just anecdotal to say the robot looks like a crab. The story goes that inventors Lawrence Ho and Louis Phee came up with the idea after eating seafood and realizing how masterful crabs were at using their pincers to grab the most precise objects. The robot, which has similar pincers to grab the infected area, also contains a tiny camera that allows the surgeon to remotely operate the procedure. To get into the patient, it goes down through their mouth and takes the same track that any other object would take to get to the stomach. If you

As I’ve said numerous times on these pages before, I’m deeply concerned by motion gaming. I think it’s holding the gaming business back and helps to make the space seem “gimmicky” — something I thought we were trying to move away from. My issues with motion gaming have prompted me to turn my back on the Wii. In fact, I haven’t even seen my Wii in well over a year, since it’s been sitting in my closet with the rest of the obsolete and boring consoles I’ve bought over the years. [Image credit: Cha già José] Sony’s PlayStation Move is similarly useless to me. The wands add no value to my gaming experience and as far as I’m concerned, should be relegated to the junk heap in the PlayStation 4. And now, we move to the Kinect. I’ve said here before that while the Kinect comes with a really cool technology, I’m not a fan of the peripheral. I do, however, acknowledge — like the Wii — that there are some people out there that see some value in a product like the Kinect. But what saddens me is th

Just as authentication service VeriSign admitted it has been hit by very strong hacking attacks a couple years ago, US officials have revealed that computer crimes will be more of a threat to the country than terrorism. VeriSign is an example of how cyber attacks can affect tens of millions of civilians, but government offices are also the target of malicious hackers. FBI Director Robert Mueller this week noticed that “I do believe that the cyber threat will equal or surpass the threat from counterterrorism in the foreseeable future.” This of course also includes crimes that are categorized as “cyberterrorism,” wherein an individual or group has the sole intention of wreaking havoc on the US for the purpose of creating panic and chaos. In addition to the VeriSign news, it was also revealed this week that the US Commerce Department suffered a virus attack, which resulted in employees being blocked from Internet access for nine ways while it was investigated. There was no serious damage,

When it comes to subcompact cars, there is an always growing market but there is always a sense that they’re not cool or hip. That is, when you hear of the Chevrolet Aveo, you probably think, “Oh yeah, that’s the ‘cheapest car’ option at the rental car place.” So it’s time to put an end to that unfortunate moniker and introduce the next generation of affordable subcompact cars – enter the Chevy Sonic. The Sonic is priced at under $20,000, which is always a nice price range when you’re targeting the 20-somethings looking to get their first real ride. And also for the budget-conscious consumers out there, it has an EPA estimate of 40 miles per gallon on the highway and 29 MPG in the city. Not bad. Also, according to Chevy, the high-strength steel frame makes the Sonic 60% stiffer than its preceding Aveo. The car has a 138-horsepower, naturally aspirated 1.8-liter four-cylinder automatic transmission. Acceleration is designed to be smooth and steady, regardless of how hard you press your

Netflix has become the first client of a new, ambitious startup that promises to offer streaming video content with a significantly reduced bandwidth requirement. In fact, eyeIO says it will cut the amount of bandwidth needed by Netflix streams by more than 50%. With this, the company could potentially further expand its scope on an international level. This could also help with cable broadband customers who are capped on the amount of bandwidth they are allowed to use in a given month. In fact, in Canada, where Netflix streaming is still just beginning to blossom, there are providers that limit users to as low as 2 GB per month, which is hardly enough to stream anything. But if Netflix could reduce the strain by more than 50%, it is pretty much the definition of win-win. Apparently Latin America is the next international market that Netflix is eyeing, and this partnership will go a long way in making that work. In addition, this can really help ease the strain on mobile users who watc

The man who was in charge of deciding who should live and who should die (in the world of Xbox Live gamertags, that is) has stepped down from his position after nearly 18 years at Microsoft. Stephen Toulouse will no longer be the Xbox Live policy and enforcement director. Toulouse was responsible for making sure Xbox Live users has a safe and friendly experience, but was known more in the public eye for his reactions to some of the more bizarre Xbox Live user issues. Toulouse perhaps gained the most notoriety when he tried to respond to angry gamers who disapproved of Microsoft’s policy of not allowing gamers to reveal their sexual identity in their username. That is to say, users were not allowed to have the words “gay” or “homo” in their account ID, even if they were using it as a positive means of self expression. Toulouse eventually publicly announced he wanted to banish that policy. He also presided over decisions like banning all Xbox Live users who gained illegal early access to

According to recent leaks, the latest iteration of Motorola’s Droid brand will be priced at $200 for those who sign a new two-year service agreement. And now, we’re hearing that the device will be available really soon; in fact, it’ll be here in less than a week. According to the latest report, it will be available in Verizon Store locations nationwide on February 10. The “Droid” name has proven to be really powerful for the Android brand, and the one reaping the rewards is Verizon, which holds the rights to the name. However, after the original Droid came and gone, there were other handsets that made their splash, like the new Evo phones and HTC’s myriad models that have come out over the past couple years. However, Droid is making a comeback, notably with the Droid Razr and Droid Razr Maxx, and with the Droid Xyboard tablet. It’s time to revive the name in a big way, and bring the Droid brand into the same path as the iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy S – numbered phones. We all know som

Motorola demanded 2.25-percent of Apple‘s sales in royalty fees, in return for licensing the FRAND 3G/UMTS patent at the heart of a 2011 German infringement suit, court documentation has revealed. The offer, which Motorola was obliged to make “fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory”, could amount to almost $15 on the unsubsidized price of each entry-level iPhone 4S, FOSS Patents‘ digging has shown, though full terms of the 2.25-percent deal are unclear. It’s assumed it refers to Apple’s sales and covers all Motorola Mobility patented technologies the Cupertino company uses. Even so, the figure appears excessive. Apple has argued that it is covered by a cross-licensing agreement between Motorola and Qualcomm around 3G standards, since it uses Qualcomm radio chipsets in its more recent products. However, Motorola has made several attempts to block Apple’s request to bring that licensing agreement in front of the German courts, only eventually succeeding to have it discussed in a closed

For years, if you tuned in to watch the Academy Awards at some point you would hear the phrase “from the Kodak Theatre.” Now, the once dominant film behemoth says it’s no longer worth paying $75 million a year to put its name on the door. That’s probably a smart move considering the company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The Kodak Theatre has been the stage not just for the Oscars but for so many Hollywood spectacles. For the nerds out there, it has also been the setting for many of Nintendo’s E3 press conferences. The theater sits at the majestic Hollywood & Highland outdoor mall and is one of the biggest tourist attractions in the area. It has become a staple in the city, rivaling other staples like Staples Center (had to throw that in there). But clearly $75 million is a lot for a company that can’t even afford to pay its own employees. The story of Kodak, which has itself won a multitude of Academy Awards for innovation in film and theatrical technology, is one that will

When you think of colorful, odd-shaped birds flinging into a group of circular green pigs, does a man who dresses up in gaudy black-and-white makeup and gothic black outfits come to mind? Well, maybe. But then again, with the number of different promotions and partnerships Rovio has managed to milk out of Angry Birds, pretty much anything sounds like it makes sense at this point. So yeah, apparently Gene Simmons, who you either know as the star of the reality show Gene Simmons Family Jewels, or as the lead man in the band KISS, or don’t know at all, depending on your generation, has a soft spot for ill-tempered avians. According to a recent interview, he has been talking with developer Rovio about some sort of KISS-Angry Birds partnership. A bunch of different mental images certainly come to mind, and not all of them are incredibly pleasant. We can see an Angry Birds game with a very dark and gothic background, a version where the birds are decorated in KISS garb, or a setting in which

The man who was in charge of getting new apps and content on the Windows Phone Marketplace has left Microsoft to pursure a similar occupation at Amazon. Brandon Watson apparently feels that the online bookseller-turned-behemoth has a brighter future. Or they offered him more money. Or both. Either way, it’s definitely a setback for Microsoft. For most people, landing an executive position at Microsoft would be the pinnacle of their career. Watson’s new position at Amazon is working on Kindle apps, so it is almost exactly the same line of work, though now for what was one of his biggest competitors. It leaves a question mark about Microsoft’s future in the mobile space, though not a black hole. The software giant has actually done a formidable job at building the Windows Phone brand. It got a much-needed boost from Nokia, which recently launched its Lumia 710 smartphone in the US. At $50, the Lumia 710 is seen as a great entry-level smartphone. But alas, selling Windows Phone as the “ch

If your parents were robots, you wouldn’t have to do chores. If your teachers were robots, learning would be fun. At least, that’s the response that kids provided in a study conducted by a research company called Latitude, in tandem with a group called the LEGO Learning Institude and Project Synthesis. The experiment looked at 350 elementary-grade students from the ages of 8 and 12, from the countries of Australia, France, Germany, South Africa, the UK, and the US. The children – who are perhaps the best subjects in any study because society hasn’t taught them to lie and cheat – were asked to describe what life would be like if robots were part of their everyday routine. They were also asked to draw a corresponding picture. The results as tabulated by Latitude were interesting – 38% described robots that could help them learn, and the same amount, 38%, described robots that could play with them. And those two 38% overlapped significantly in their descriptions. Many children talked abou

At Super Bowl XLVI, Tom Brady will pretty much have the best seat in the house. But last year was a bit different – he was in Costa Rica and couldn’t exactly tune in to watch the game on TV. So he did what any good football fan would have done. He watched it on an illegal Super Bowl website. For shame, Tom. For shame. And I’m not just saying that because I’m a Giants fan. During one of the many media events leading up to Sunday’s big game, Brady was asked about where he was last year at this time and was quoted as saying, “I was rehabbing my foot in Costa Rica watching the game on an illegal Super Bowl website and now I’m actually playing in the game, so it’s pretty cool.” We have to wonder how many of his fellow Costa Rican posse will be watching him from the same illegitimate site this year. Although, for the first time, if you don’t have access to a TV and you want to tune into the live action, you will have a legal way to do so. The game will be streamed on the official websites of

Attila Nemeth’s accommodations for the next 2.5 years won’t exactly be like a Marriott. The Hungarian man was convicted on charges that he hacked into the computer system of the giant hospitality chain and threatened company executives that he would leak sensitive data unless they met his demands. And you know what his demands were? All he wanted was a job at Marriott. Now, we know the job market is tough right now, but let’s hold on for a minute. Here’s a guy with enough savvy to infiltrate a computer system of a company that brings in $11.7 billion every year, and he can’t get a decent job somewhere? It sounds to us like Nemeth has more than enough skill to land something pretty worthwhile. Instead, he’ll be behind bars until the second half of 2014, and will live under supervised release for the next three years. Nemeth was accused of gaining access to the company’s internal systems by sending a computer virus to employees. Only one employee needed to open the file for the entire se

The unconscious body of a 23-year-old sat slumped over at a Taiwanese Internet cafe for several hours before anyone noticed or said anything. The man was playing the online game League of Legends. When he passed out, there were as many as 30 other players surrounding him in the crowded space. It is unclear how long he had been at the cafe before his untimely death. According to local authorities, the man, Chen Rong, had a pre-existing heart condition. That, combined with the cold temperature of the Internet cafe and his lack of movement may have resulted in a blood clot. The police also described Rong’s body as being rigid and his hands stretched out across the keyboard and mouse. Granted, that may be the position of many living gamers, but still, how could any man be dead for nine hours before anyone says anything? It is beyond sad that this isn’t the first time something like this has happened. There have been multiple reports over the years of gamers, mostly in Asian countries, suff

If you download the Mass Effect 3 demo for Xbox 360 on its Valentine’s Day launch day, you’ll get a free month of Xbox Live Gold. That isn’t because Microsoft and Bioware are feeling generous; it’s because of the somewhat ridiculous restriction that prevents non-Gold members from playing online games. And as anyone who knows Mass Effect knows, if you want to show the best content, you need to try the online multiplayer. The Xbox Live bonus for the upcoming demo is perhaps a realization of just how crazy the two-tiered online system is. Just for players to access a demo requires a service that costs $60 per year. By comparison, the PS3, which will also have its own version of Mass Effect 3, has never once charged a single player for the ability to play a game online against others. The Xbox Live infrastructure was put in place in 2005, when online gaming was still a niche concept. The PS3 does still monetize its online network, but only for users who want access to exclusive content and

You can say a lot of things about Nokia, but you can’t really say that it ever runs out of ceative ideas. Enter Nokia Hello, which strives to make it easier if you’re trying to talk to someone who speaks a different language than you. Powered by Near Field Communication (NFC), Nokia Hello lets one user type a message in one language, and then swipe it next to another phone to get an instant translation on the recipient’s end. This of course isn’t the first attempt at using phones to break the language barrier. There are several other apps that allow text-based translations, or even allow users to speak something in one language and have the translation read aloud. However, this project from Nokia unique because it actually sends the message between phones. Although, according to Nokia, it isn’t just about sending messages between different languages. “The team working on the project estimate that the need for speech interactions with work colleagues could be eliminated entirely by 2015

Today there’s been a bit of a scare out there in the Android world as Google changed its official support pages to stop support for some CDMA features on devices. This seemed to include the Verizon Galaxy Nexus at first along with all CDMA devices in all ways . In fact the situation is simply this: CDMA devices have been removed from some developer support pages simply because not all features are fully supported. The Verizon Galaxy Nexus along with all other Galaxy Nexus devices in the future will continue to get official firmware updates unless Google deems them unworkable. It was less than an hour ago that Google clarified what was turning into a heart-attack of a story in Android forums about how CDMA was dead and Android was going down the tubes. What Google notes instead is that recent CDMA Android devices have implemented core telephony functionality in APK files provided by carriers in binary form. Each of these APK files must have a platform key to function, and if a custom bu

When you think of earbuds for listening to music and working with audio, you generally don’t expect the kind of quality that thinksound presents here. What we’ve got here is a wooden pair of earbuds by the name of ms01, an entry into thinksound’s monitor series. These in-ear earbuds each feature an acoustically enhanced 8mm high-definition driver, each with passive noise isolation to back them up – and that wood certainly warms up your world from the outside in. This pair of earbuds is one of several created in collaboration between thinksound CEO and acclaimed Audio Engineer Aaron Fournier and a set of musicians all aiming to create a pair of earbuds with nothing less than a full range of sound and acoustics worthy of their end price. At $99.99 a pop, we’d expect nothing less than the best for our ears constantly bombarded by the evil of lesser sound-blasters. That’s just what thinksound delivers, thankfully, and in the video you’re about to see you’ll hear just that. What you’re list

Microsoft announced today that its Windows Phone Marketplace is opening up in five new countries. Those countries include Argentina, Indonesia, Malaysia, Peru, and the Philippines. Users in these regions will have to make sure their devices are updated to Windows Phone 7.5 in order to access the Marketplace. The Marketplace may take a few hours to be fully activated in all regions and not all apps may be available right away. Developers are encouraged to make their existing apps available in these new countries. To do so, log into the App Hub and select the “worldwide” option. This has to be done even if an app was previously set to be available globally. However, apps submitted for Indonesia, Malaysia, and China are subject to additional requirements due to local regulations. With the addition of five new countries, the Windows Phone Marketplace now reaches 41 markets around the world. It also has more than 50,000 apps available since December.

Apple today updated its new e-book publishing app, iBooks Author, to version 1.0.1, but the only change was in the End User License Agreement. The update clarifies a controversial portion of the EULA that suggested any content created by the app could only be sold and distributed through Apple’s iBookstore if it were to be sold at all. “If you charge a fee for any book or other work you generate using this software (a ‘Work’), you may only sell or distribute such Work through Apple (e.g., through the iBookstore) and such distribution will be subject to a separate agreement with Apple,” read the original iBooks Author EULA terms. Apple has changed those terms in today’s update, saying that only the iBooks Author files in the .ibooks format are restricted to distribution through Apple. The restriction does not apply when the content created with iBooks Author is distributed in other forms. This means that creators retain the rights to their content and can distribute it in other formats,

It appears that both Samsung and LG are both keeping their panels to themselves this season as the Smart TV market fires up and Apple sets its sights on IGZO. Sources are speaking to the tune of Sharp being the next on the list for Apple to be looking to for Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide displays for their upcoming iTV production line. Meanwhile the competition in LG and Samsung, who’ve both provided parts to Apple in the past, are tipped to be holding back in this case to keep their HD Smart TVs strong in and of themselves. When you plan on creating a revolution in the market, it essentially does not matter who you are, even Apple has to work with 3rd party companies to create their devices. LG and Samsung are set up quite nicely in this case to produce their own panels for the Smart TV revolution, both of them already well into the market with such things as HDTV and 3DTV. What Apple has been tipped to be waiting for then is Sharp’s IGZO panels specifically as the Japan-base group readie

According to detailed Q4 2011 shipment estimates released by research firm Canalys, global smartphone shipments have surpassed that of PCs for the very first time. Vendors shipped 488 million smartphones in 2011 compared to 415 million PCs. During the fourth quarter last year, vendors shipped 158.5 million smartphones, which is a 57% boost from the 101.2 million units sold in Q4 2010. Vendors shipped 120.2 million PCs in Q4, but that number includes tablet PCs. If you take out tablets from the mix, only 93.7 million PCs were shipped. Leading the pack in global smartphone shipments is Apple, which shipped a record 93.1 million iPhones in 2011, while Samsung came in second with 91.9 million. Nokia dropped to third place with 19.6 million followed by RIM, but the BlackBerry maker’s shipment numbers were not disclosed.

Approximately 252 homes are in a trial run this month with a brand new Google Entertainment Device which very well may be the project thus far known as Android@Home. This project has been tipped by the FCC where a collection of pre-run devices have been OK’d for testing, each of them working with Wi-fi and/or Bluetooth to connect the home. This filing was made this December and is only popping up now, Google making no official word on it because it’s a big secret – but chances are, it’s the Android@Home Hub. This filing contained 252 devices which each were going to be tested in various locations across the United States. Locations include Los Angeles, Cambridge Massachusetts, and Mountain View New York. The FCC filing itself has a tiny bit of information on what the project will contain, including the note on the Bluetooth and Wifi situation. It reads thusly, word for word: Google is developing an entertainment device that requires testing outside the laboratory environment. The devic

Yahoo launched a new category for its search engine this week that makes it easy to browse and find either iOS or Android apps. You’ll notice the addition of an “Apps” filter option above Yahoo’s search bar and a new portalthat makes it easy to sift through apps by various categories and ratings lists. The new Apps feature lets you type any search terms into the main Yahoo search bar and then gives you results for just those pertaining to apps. You can filter by price and category and view only iOS or Android apps. You can also go directly to the Yahoo Apps portal, where you’ll get to browse by categories. When you find an app of interest, you can go straight from the search results to the Android Market or iTunes App Store to download the app, send a link for the app to your phone, or scan a QR code for the app. Yahoo also offers a “trending now” interface along with Yahoo user reviews for the apps.

Attacks this week by hacker collective Anonymous appear to have taken the Boston and Salt Lake City police by surprise once more as they retaliate for police brutality at Occupy Wall Street weeks ago. Though it’s not been immediately apparent why this second attack has come when it has, Anonymous does appear to have left a message on Boston Police news website BPDNews.com currently being redirected to their Facebook blast page instead. On that page they currently have a statement which speaks on how irritated they are that the site would be brought down when all it aims to do is bring safety information to fair citizens. Anonymous also had a news tip pop up this morning on how they’d intercepted a phone call between Scottland Yard and the FBI, this racking them up another notch in their belt for impressive cuts in the hacking world against major targets. What we’ve got here is what Anonymous billed as “Anonymous hacks Boston Police website in retaliation for police brutality at OWS.” T