IBLOG SPACE

Google intends to continue Motorola Mobility’s demands for 2.25-percent of Apple’s iPhone sales in royalties, the search giant has revealed, once its acquisition of the smartphone manufacturer goes through. Although Google’s letter to the IEE standards agency this week ostensibly called for fair patent licensing deals, it also reiterates commitment to maximum 2.25-percent per-unit royalty that Motorola was roundly criticized for, FOSS Patents spotted. “Following Google’s acquisition of MMI [Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc.], Google will honor MMI’s existing commitments to license the acquired MMI Essential Patent Claims on RAND [reasonable terms and conditions demonstrable free of any unfair discrimination] terms, as required by IEEE rules and consistent with MMI’s longstanding practice. This letter is irrevocable. Google understand that, pursuant to IEEE rules, MMI is prepared to grant licenses for Essential Patent Claims with a maximum per-unit royalty of 2.25-percent of the net sell

A group of Scottish geeks from Robert Gordon University in Scotland laid their hands on the slick and very cool second-generation Microsoft Surface computing system. The system in question uses the Samsung SUR40 display. The guys go through the unboxing of the Samsung display unit and its assembly. After all the screws are turned, they start the system up and fiddle about with a bit. Apparently, the Microsoft Surface device will be used to train developers at the college. After hearing about the second-generation Surface system for so long, it’s cool to see it in the wild and in the hands of developers and end-users. This machine runs Windows 7 Pro and it appears to operate pretty much like a normal computer. Once assembled and booted, the people in the video playing with the device a bit and we see them using Bing for searches, touching the screen all around, and checking out maps. I will say it appears that the graphics are crystal clear and very smooth even when things are being twi

Chinese e-commerce site Alibaba.com is looking to raise $3 billion from six different banks reports the Wall Street Journal. The e-commerce giant wants the money to buy out the 40% stake that Yahoo owns and officially ditch the flailing search engine. The tip comes from people familiar with the situation according to the WSJ. The six banks that are said to be participating in the fund-raising include Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., Credit Suisse Group AG, DBS Bank Ltd., Deutsche Bank AG, HSBC Holdings PLC and Mizuho Financial Group. Right now, the banks are said to be in the process of getting the internal credit approval for underwriting. The payback term is said to be three years, and the loans have a yield of about 4%. According to the sources, the loan is expected to finalize this month. The Wall Street Journal reports that Yahoo is trying to sell shares in the Alibaba Group and Yahoo Japan in an attempt to raise money while it continues to struggle. Yahoo has recentl

Efforts to get Nokia’s N9 running Android look to be bearing fruit, with modders coaxing the MeeGo smartphone into loading Ice Cream Sandwich. The handiwork of Alexey Roslyakov, the NITDroid project builds on earlier workporting Android to the Nokia N900, though there’s not yet a public release or guidance on how you can get your own N9 to dual-boot between the platforms. The N9 was launched to much fanfare last year, though Nokia quickly shifted its attention to Windows Phone and its deal with Microsoft. That’s despite strong reviews – ours included - and a very positive reception to MeeGo itself. Development of the OS has now been pushed over into Tizen, while Nokia has said it will use its own work on MeeGo back in the R&D labs to tinker with next-gen devices. Where MeeGo lacks the bulk of third-party apps, however, Android does not, and for some the polycarbonate 3.9-inch smartphone would deliver the best of both worlds running each OS. At present, pressing the volume-up button

If you are an Android smartphone user who is taking advantage of Google Wallet on a smartphone that is rooted, you need to be aware of a potential major issue. As you know, when you’re making a purchase with your Google Wallet must enter your PIN number to complete the transaction. A reputable security firm called Zvelo has alerted Google that it has discovered the PIN is at risk. That opens the chance that nefarious types could steal your PIN number securing your Google Wallet account. The issue apparently stems from the fact that PIN information is actually stored on the phone without being secured with the NFC chip. According to Zvelo, “this completely negates all of the security of this mobile phone payment system.” The good news if you’re one of the people that could be affected by this vulnerability is that you can fix it yourself. Apparently, what you need to do is add a lock screen security pattern or a PIN to your smart phone and disable USB debugging. It is probably a safe as

The FCC has laid its grubby little mitts on the cool Lytro Light Field Camera and torn the device apart to see what’s on the inside. The normal camera hardware was spied along with something that was unexpected. Inside the camera, a Marvell Avastar 88 W8787 SoC was discovered, which adds in a couple capabilities that we didn’t know the Lytro camera offered previously. Namely, that little SoC gives the Lytro camera both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. With those two capabilities inside the camera, it would be easy to see the ability to wirelessly transfer photos taken with the camera to your computer or other device. That hardware would also allow the control of the camera from a smart phone or other device. However, just because both capabilities are available on that chip doesn’t mean Lytro will enable both. Other hardware the FCC tear down turned up includes the 11-megaray sensor, which is by far the largest thing on the camera’s mainboard. You can also see the 2100mAh battery and

Apple stores across the world will face demonstrations over worker mistreatment among suppliers today, though research by SlashGear suggests public opinion is strongly divided over whether Cupertino company should shoulder the ethics blame. Two concurrent petitions demanding Apple force change among its manufacturing partners have prompted the protests, with Change.org telling CNN that the signatures will be presented at six Apple stores at 10am local time today. However, in a SlashGear survey, votes were split between holding Apple responsible or whether the electronics industry as a whole is flawed. Asked whether they believed Apple should be singled-out over workforce mistreatment allegations, 31-percent of the 5,444 responses said they felt responsibility should be shared across the electronics industry. 30-percent, however, said that Apple’s heft in the consumer technology market meant that it should bear the brunt of the blame. Interestingly, 26-percent agreed that if Apple led t

Apparently, the end is near for the deal that will see Google acquiring Motorola Mobility and get its own hand in the smartphone hardware business. The Department of Justice said to be ready to approve the acquisition with the final word to be handed down on February 13. The Department of Justice is ready to give the purchase its approval, but there are still some in the US and Europe that worry Google might use its acquisition to force licensing of the patents Motorola Mobility holds to other companies on unfair terms. Motorola Mobility will continue to operate separately from Google, but you can bet that Google has plans for all the patents Motorola Mobility holds. In the realm of patent suits, I think there could be worse companies making this acquisition than Google. Google bid $12.5 billion to purchase Motorola Mobility. When the deal was first announced some feared Google could make Android less open and more focused on Motorola devices, but those fears seem to have abated.

HTC‘s increasing reluctance to commit solely to Qualcomm chipsets in its devices and instead look to NVIDIA and others is gaining momentum, with further signs that Tegra 3 is set to feature in HTC devices in the first half of this year. Shipments of the quad-core chip are tipped to explode in early 2012, DigiTimes‘ sources claim, with “increasing cooperation with NVIDIA” expected to result in a Tegra 3 based HTC Edge and likely more. The Edge is believed to be at the pinnacle of HTC’s new “Hero Device” strategy, as the company attempts to break away from the quantity-over-quality strategy that saw it lose market share in 2011. HTC has also formed a new “HTC Studio” division, bringing together key engineering, design, software and other expertise to focus on polished phones and tablets, along with the flexibility to look beyond current bosom-buddy Qualcomm for its chip supplies. Companies opting for Tegra 2 last year saw their dual-core Android phones hit the market well in advance of H

Sony has been keeping its best point-and-shoot cameras for the home market, quietly launching the Japan-only Cyber-shot TX300V, a wireless charging and content-offloading version of the recent Cyber-shot TX200V. Like the TX200V, the TX300V has an 18.2-megapixel backside-illuminated CMOS sensor and BIONZ processing, as well as integrated WiFi; however, Sony will also bundle a TransferJet-enabled “Multi-Cradle” dock, that simultaneously charges the camera and sucks out your photos. We’ve seen Sony experiment with TransferJet before, launching memory cards with the wireless technology integrated as far back as 2010, though it’s yet to see significant market penetration. Like NFC it only has a few centimeters range, but TransferJet boasts significantly higher speeds: 560 Mbit/s in theory, or around 375 Mbit/s in practice. Sony has coupled the system with an inductive charging plate, to rejuice the camera while it shuffles data. The Multi-Cradle dock itself can be USB bus powered, and since

Foxconn, the Taiwanese manufacturer best known for producing the iPad and iPhone, has been the target of a server hack, with a group calling itself Swagg Security leaking login details for every user in the company, up to and including CEO Terry Gou. The security breach – done, it’s suggested, to simply prove that it could be achieved, and for the pleasure of the ensuing mayhem – was eventually shut down by Foxconn, which cut external access to its servers. The group reportedly took advantage of an Internet Explorer vulnerability that had been left unpatched by a Foxconn employee, pulling out sensitive information from the company’s servers and bundling it into a freely-available torrent. Other users were encouraged to access the servers using the disclosed passwords, which could reportedly be used to place fake orders with Foxconn under the names of its vendor partners like Apple, Microsoft, Intel and Dell. “This is Swagg Security, we aim to to reshape your perspectives, our perspecti

Google is preparing to launch a cloud storage service, Google Drive, sources claim, taking on iCloud and Dropbox with free and paid accounts. Set to open for uploads “in the coming weeks or months” the WSJ‘s insiders say, Google Drive will supposedly undercut Dropbox’s paid subscription pricing, which begins at $10 per month for 50GB. A free plan, meanwhile, will offer both individual and business users some cloud-based space without cost, likely ad-supported like free Gmail. Dropbox also offers a $20 per month plan for 100GB of space. Google Drive is the culmination of “G Drive” rumors and plans dating back several years, with the much-tipped service originally expected to debut in 2007 but failing to materialize. Drive will contain documents, photos and videos, and allow users to share their files via a download link rather than send the content directly through email or similar. There will also be Google Drive apps for mobile devices, it’s suggested, for uploading photos and video d

GigaOM, a San Francisco-based Web 2.0 online news site, has acquired fellow digital media company ContentNext Media, the parent company of the popular site paidContent.org. ContentNext was put up on the market last November after its previous owner, Guardian News & Media, decided to ditch the brand and focus instead on expanding the reach of its other online publication. In other words, it’s a whirlwind of corporate hand-offs that was officially announced today. PaidContent is not only just a news website but it also functions as a catalyst for change in the industry, sponsoring its own branded conferences that discuss the evolution of media and technology. Through the acquisition, GigaOM will be able to expand its reach beyond tech heads and enthusiasts. PaidContent and its parent company ContentNext were previously owned by Guardian News & Media. That company is best known for its namesake UK-based website Guardian.co.uk. In recent years, though, the site has been attracting

Publisher Activision has been granted the rights to release a video game based on a movie based on a board game. We’re talking about Battleship, and even though you may think you know how to play the game, trust us when we say this PS3 and Xbox 360 title will involve a little bit more than plastic red and white pegs. It’ll be an all-out naval combat simulation, and it’s due out in the spring of this year ahead of its theatrical tie-in namesake. It’s pretty ridiculous in the first place to think of the classic board game being turned into a full-length feature film. But then again, the connection between the two really exist in name only, as the movie seems to be your standard popcorn action flick. What will be more interesting is to see how the video game version adapts and whether or not it will include odes the deacdes-old strategy game classic. Here’s how a press release describes the game: “Combining naval strategy simulation with first-person shooter gameplay, players fend off the

Glasses-free 3D technology has been hit or miss since it first started making its way to the consumer market in late 2010. It’s a neat feature to have in 3D digital camera preview displays and digital photo frames, but it’s not winning a lot of fans when it comes to 3D phones, and the Nintendo 3DS hasn’t exactly been a blockbuster. But if all it took was an accessible and relatively inexpensive peripheral to bring your computer to the next dimension, would you? A company called Spatial View is hoping you’ll say yes. Its new 3DeeScreen is a lenticular lens filter that snaps onto your laptop’s display via a magnetized mounting frame. It actually manages to create the same kind of effect as glasses-free 3D displays, which use a technology known as autostereoscopic 3D and incorporates walls of tiny mirrors to create the impression of depth. At the moment there is only one available version of the 3DeeScreen and it is designed to fit 15.6-inch laptop displays. When it comes to 3D and comput

Samsung says it plans to sell 50 million flat-screen TVs in 2012, and hopes that at least half of them are capable of connecting to the Internet as it steams ahead with its plans to shake up the previously rigid industry. Since the HDTV revolution several years ago there have not been many fundamental changes to the TV interaction experience, and since 3D was kid of a dud it’s now widely believed that online interactivity is the next step. Samsung launched its first line of what are now considered “smart TVs” in 2009. These sets included a proprietary Samsung operating system that allowed users to download apps and widgets so they could watch Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon videos without the need for an external set-top box or connectivity to a computer. In addition, the Samsung TV app store has become stocked with games, weather information, news tickers, and all manner of content that makes it look more like a smartphone than a boob tube. In 2012, Samsung smart TVs are even more advanced,

If you’re into cars, you’ll like the new additions YouTube just rolled out to its ever-expanding list of sponsored video channels. The first is a series of original Web shows from industry veteran MotorTrend. The second is a channel known only as Drive and will focus more on in-depth car reviews and automotive culture. This is the latest effort from YouTube as it seeks to increase its scope from the place where you watch cats dancing, to the place where you come for new and exciting original content. Google announced that it wanted to launch more than 100 new channels over the next several months that include brand new, exclusive content to YouTube. The idea is to make the site’s visitor loyalty a more known quantity. That is to say, if new episodes for an online show are uploaded to YouTube every week or every day, it would encourage users to visit the site on a regular basis as opposed to just every now and then when work is boring or you need to play that Bee Gees song that’s stuck

This guy eats Roombas for breakfast. It’s called the Warrior, it weighs 450 pounds, and it can carry stuff, destroy stuff, or do stuff (like opening a door). Although you won’t find this bad boy at Sears anytime soon, it is created by the same company everyone knows and loves for the Roomba and Scooba floor-cleaning robots. But iRobot’s reach has long extended beyond the domesticated fare. This latest creation is the newest in its history of offering military-grade robotics. And it’s all powered by an Xbox controller. Microsoft’s ergonomics were apparently just right for the process of carrying out tasks remotely. With the controller, users can navigate the Warrior and send basic functions to it, such as smashing windows or transporting heavy material. It can zoom by at up to eight miles per hour. The biggest advantage is its small footprint. iRobot VP of operations for military and industrial robots Tim Trainer was quoted as saying, “With the small robots, you really have to optimize

Instead of traditional reconstructive surgery, an 83-year-old patient was outfitted with a new jaw that came not from another human body but from a 3D printer. Doctors had decided it was too risky to perform the more common form of surgery because of the patient’s age and fraile condition. And believe it or not, it appears to have been a resounding success. The operation took place in Europe, with a team of medical professionals from Belgium and the Netherlands involved in the groundbreaking procedure. They used a 3D model of her lower mandible and printed it out using titanium. Upon the successful printing process, the “bone” was sprayed with a compound that made it look and feel more like a real part of a human body. While 3D printing has been used in limited capacity in medical procedures before, never had there been an attempt to use the technology to replace an entire jaw. This is without a doubt one of the most remarkable uses of 3D printing to date. The still-niche industry is p

In 2008, a seemingly massive 56 million people said they played a video game at least one hour per month. In 2011, that number is 135 million, and these figures are only representative of the US. And you know what the population of the US is, right? Around 307 million, In other words, around 44% of the entire country is now a gamer, a number that would probably near 50% if you took out newborns and others without the capacity to play video games. The study that revealed this information came from Parks Associates and is titled Trends in Digital Gaming: Free-to-Play, Social, and Mobile Games. Based on the title of the report alone, you can probably guess what the conclusion of the study was. It’s thanks to the explosion of games on new and non-barrier-heavy platforms on which to play video games like Facebook and cell phones. These are platforms that everyone has access to, as opposed to the old environment where gamers had to go out and buy a dedicated game system or piece of computer

If you’re willing to let Google track you like a hawk over an extended period, the online search giant is willing to pay you $25. That is, $5 for signing up and then $5 in monthly installments if you continue to feel like you don’t deserve any privacy on the Internet. Oh, and that’s not in cash either. It’s paid in a series of Amazon.com gift cards. It’s not exactly break-the-bank kind of money, but it is probably incentive enough to draw in a pretty significant user base. “What we learn from you, and others like you, will help us improve Google products and services and make a better online experience for everyone,” Google explained in a statement. Only those who are 13 years of age or older are eligible to apply. In addition, participants are oliged to use Google’s Chrome browser when surfing the Web. This program comes after Google faced heavy criticism for revamping its privacy policies across most of its online platforms. Google noted that Amazon is not a sponsor of the promotion,

One of most powerful looking beat machines you can get for your iPad or iPad 2 is none other than the FingerLabs DM1 Drum Machine – and today it’s updated to its full level of software power. With the iPad you can do just about anything in the beat creation world, including making a beat fantasy with your fingertips – and the DM1 is about to make that a whole lot simpler for you. Inside there’s 64 electronic drum kits. 18 classic vintage drum kits , 20 Acoustic kits, and a total of 26 in-house produced electronic kits, all the sounds you’ll need to make the most intense gallery of sound you’ve ever conjured up. This 2.0 update will bring you several new features you’ve perhaps been waiting since the inception of this application to try. Though the original version had the ability to create music, sure, it lacked such amazing features as AudioCopy, the ability to reverse a sound clip, and MINI-in. Well what do you know, this update has those features and a whole heck of a lot more, too!

You think your home-built gaming PC is rocking with a dual-slot PCI-E graphics card wedged into your blinged-out case? You haven’t seen anything yet. Asus just pulled the curtain off its newest piece of gaming indulgence, the Radeon HD 7970 DirectCU II TOP. It’s the latest in the manufacturer’s series of factory-overclocked cards, which include massive cooling systems designed to keep the GPU running at efficient combinations of speed, heat load and fan noise. This configuration has a new trick up its sleeve: a triple-slot configuration, where the combined circuit board and cooling unit take up the same amount of space as three normal-sized discrete cards . To create the 7970 DirectCU II TOP, Asus used AMD’s reference design and built outwards, pairing a huge system of copper blades and pipes with two powered fans. Despite appearances, this card isn’t an all-in-one Crossfire solution: it’s running a single GPU under all that metal and plastic. The emphasis is on keeping the card runnin

Adobe has announced the pricing for its new Creative Cloud service that lets you use the company’s popular Creative Suite software via the cloud and makes it easy to sync and share content. The service was first announced last October and now it has been priced at $50 per month with a one-year contract. The Creative Cloud offers access to the latest version of Creative Suite software, Lightroom 4, Muse, Edge, touch applications, and 20GB of cloud storage. Although $50 a month seems steep, it may still be more desirable to some than purchasing the full license for the Creative Suite, which runs between $1,300 and $2,600. An advantage to using the Creative Cloud is that you will get the latest software updates right away, which may appeal to high-end users that tend to be early adopters. The 20GB of cloud storage plus syncing and sharing options also offer advantages over the traditional software route. The shift towards the cloud-based platform will help Adobe curb the piracy issues it

Over in the Bristol Robotics Laboratory there’s a robot that’s capable of not only running on organic matter it consumes, but of pooping out the waste as well. This robot has been created in the never-ending quest to create a robot that’s able to sustain itself, of course, and may well be the next step to a human poo-powered robo-maid if they don’t gain a conscience before they learn to clean our houses. As it stands now, the “Ecobot-III” can consume masses of its own food and water from its environment, including human feces if you let it, and “craps” out what it can’t use into its own litter tray.. I don’t use the word “crap” lightly, as it’s Ioannis Ieropoulos, a roboticist at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory, who uses the term in a description of the robot. This isn’t the first prototype created by the lab, but it does share it’s name. Ecobot has been the name of this project since the first iteration, one equipped with a microbial fuel cell that allowed the robot to be powered by

According to a report by Chinese technology website DoNews, Apple is preparing its Siri intelligent voice-controlled assistant feature to support Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and Russian. The update is expected to arrive for the iPhone 4S sometime next month. The claims come from an Apple engineer who’s reportedly working on the Chinese-language version of Siri. The engineer claims that the Chinese language feature is already undergoing internal testing and that the version of Chinese will be the standard Mandarin or “putonghua.” Currently, Siri only supports English in American, British, and Australian accents, French, and German. On Apple’s Siri FAQ page, the company promises support for additional languages to come later this year. Those imminent languages include Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Italian, and Spanish.

One of the wackiest looking and feeling games to have been released in what seems like forever has been officially brought out of Beta yesterday and today, rolling out to the PC, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3 in turn. This game is a download-only game but looks to be a gigantic bash of a good time hit as the waves created by the smash hit game Gotham City is scooped up here in a comedic rendition of what would happen if Batman was no more. It’s a first person shooter this time around, Batfriends, and noone is safe! The storyline here is loosely based around the idea that Batman impersonators would certainly take to the streets if Batman ever went missing (it’s happened before!) and tossing in a whole clown-car full of Junior Jokerz, this game blows the top off of what was established in Gotham City and pours a bunch of hot sauce into it. Inside the game you’ve got the option of playing to your own skillset and are able to turn your character in to whatever you want it to be – hair, weapo

A component purported to be the back panel of Apple’s future iPad 3 has surfaced and when compared with the back panel of an iPad 2, several differences are apparent. The comparison was posted by RepairLabs, which points out that the new panel design suggests a larger battery, a new LCD, and a tweaked camera. The key differences between the iPad 2 and iPad 3 back panels include very different mounts for the logic board, which implies a major change in the shape of the logic board in the next-gen iPad. This change gives more space for a larger battery, which falls in line with rumors that the iPad 3 would offer greater battery life. The back panel also reveals that the camera on the iPad 3 will be mounted at a new location, implying that there may be some tweaks to the camera as well. The mounting for the LCD is also modified suggesting a new display. The iPad 3 is rumored to sport a new high-res Retina Display.

The social network known as Google+ has once again shown another tiny improvement set to make big waves, and it’s got us all thinking that Skype may be on its way out alongside all over enterprise conferencing systems. Google+ Hangouts (the On Air version) now has a Full Screen button, this allowing you to turn your entire monitor into your conferencing station. While Skype and other conferencing systems have had similar functionality to this for a while now, Hangouts ability to use virtual whiteboards and screen sharing have the potential to put the competition out of business. You’ll see quite a rabble of people jumping for joy when Vic Gundotra makes simple note of the Full Screen option this week, with Gerwin Sturm getting credit as an avid coder and contributor to the Google+ project from the odd angles. It’s the community that surrounds a platform that makes it strong, of course, and though Skype does have one massive following and brand recognition to spare, there’s something to

The Ultrabook wave continues with the HP Envy 14 Spectre and it’s fabulous HD+ Radiance Infinity display and a Core i5 or Core i7 processor under the hood. This Ultrabook is now up for pre-order straight from HP and will ring in at $1399 for the least expensive model. Not only will you be rolling out with Beats, a fantastically high definition display, and a lovely light-up HP symbol, you’ve got Gorilla Glass covering so many parts of the device you’ll wonder how you ever went without it! This computer’s least costly model is again $1399 and includes a Core i5 processor running at 1.6GHz per core with 4GB of memory and a lovely 128GB of SSD. That’s more space than any normal person could possibly want, yes? You can upgrade to a full Core i7 processor for $200 more if you wish, and if you’re in the mood for more space you can get another whole 128GB for $300 more. Any setup you get at the moment will be set to ship on the 17th of February, 2012, so get em in now! As for how lovely this

Today there’s been a bit of controversy surrounding the Path app for iPhone and how it gains access to your contacts without asking you permission to do so. While its customary for such requests to go down with most major apps and is required by every single app in, for example, the Android Marketplace, it’s only today become an issue for Path developers. Per the public’s request though, and not a moment too soon, Path’s Dave Morin has let loose an apology as well as an update to the app live in the iTunes App Store now. One of the major investors in Path mister Michael Arrington earlier today suggested that the correct way to move forward after this PR debacle fell was to first off delete all the information Path had collected. Path had collected the contacts from every person they had open their app – just so you know. The note left by David Morin today puts it all in perspective and makes it clear that the creators of Path take the whole situation very seriously: As our mission is t

Verizon and Samsung jointly announced today that the Phoenix Suns will be the first NBA franchise to integrate the usage of wireless tablets in both its on-court and off-court operations. And that wireless tablet will be Verizon’s 4G LTE Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. The LTE-enabled Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 will be given to each Suns player complete with the team’s playbook, video from team practices and games, and scouting reports on opponents. It will also be easier for the team to manage their master itinerary and other travel plans. The Samsung Galaxy Tab will also be used by the Suns throughout US Airways Center on game-nights such as for showing clients interactive views of game seating, presentations for season ticketholders, and other in-game promotions. The tablets will also be integrated into the Suns’ TV and radio broadcasts as a way to interact with digital fans via social media.

Yesterday we saw the dropping of the first Android-based Chrome browser, made specifically to work with Android devices with version 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and higher working on them. Today we’re seeing an update of Chrome for desktop computers (the web browser, not the operating system) which integrates the functionality of the mobile release perfectly, including the pre-loading of content amongst many other tinier changes. It’s time to adopt Chrome for all your platforms all over again! This newest version of Chrome is a stable release, this meaning it’s not a Beta like the mobile version is, and should have absolutely no glitches while you’re using it on a daily basis. This version has Google using their “Omnibox” term again to describe the URL bar, this being because of its ability to also search for items should you type in anything other than a url. Chrome’s newest desktop version here has two steps in the Onmibox: 1. You type in your url and it suggests what you’re likely lookin

DARPA has begun real world testing of a quadruped robot that can traverse all sorts of terrain and act as a pack mule for soldiers. This semi-autonomous robot is called Legged Squad Support System (LS3) and is developed from Boston Dynamic’s Big Dog and Alpha Dog robots. The agency has released the first field test video of the LS3 navigating an outdoor terrain. The LS3 prototype is equipped with sensors that allow it to distinguish between trees, rocks, soldiers, and other obstacles in the terrain. An 18-month test will start in July before the LS3 is deployed in an actual field exercise for the US Marines. The LS3 will continue to be refined during this period and ultimately must be able to carry 400lbs for 20 miles without refueling within 24 hours. Its vision sensors will be tested and refined to ensure that it can properly detect obstacles and autonomously correct its course as needed. Hearing sensors will be added so that the LS3 can follow verbal commands from soldiers. It also

This week the folks at Ubisoft are transitioning between servers for their massive data library and while this operation goes on, many of their games, even ones that do no require an internet connection for gameplay, will be rendered completely unplayable. This is because Ubisoft employs a DRM (Digital Rights Management) system which checks to make sure the copy of the game you’re using is legitimate each time you start the game up – if the server where this check occurs is down (as it is now), you will be unable to play these games entirely. In other words – it’s not just you, it’s every single person who owns a list of games from Ubisoft until the end of February the 8th. The first few games that have been listed by Ubisoft that are certainly affected by the transition time are Assasin’s Creed, Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. 2, Might & Magic : Heroes VI, Splinter Cell Conviction, The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom, and The Settlers. While this list appeared at first to be the only set of

The portfolio case you’re about to see is so hardcore that it can carry essentially any 10-inch tablet from here to outer space and plummet back to the ground with the tablet unharmed. This case is the baddest mother to have come out on the case circuit since the launch of the original iPad, having so much padding that you’ll struggle to find a way to do the protection justice. This is the G-Form Extreme Portfolio, and if you put your iPad in it, start a movie up, toss it out of your car off of a bridge onto a rocky ground below, you’ll also be able to find it easily because it’s BRIGHT yellow – and it won’t have been damaged either – your movie will still be rolling. This case is 11 inches tall, 9 inches wide, and 1 inch deep, it weighing in at 1.25 points on its own, so it’s not exactly the most tiny case in the land. It’s not made for your briefcase, it’s not made to be used with your day to day school backpack (everyone knows that’s already full to the brim with textbooks anyway, r