The good people over at jkontherun have “totally unconfirmed” news about Microsoft’s plans for a Zune Phone. Yep, that’s right, although the Zune hasn’t made much of a splash, Microsoft seems to think that making it a phone will help it compete against the hugely popular iPhone… jkontherun’s anonymous source stated that there was […]

The good people over at jkontherun have “totally unconfirmed” news about Microsoft’s plans for a Zune Phone. Yep, that’s right, although the Zune hasn’t made much of a splash, Microsoft seems to think that making it a phone will help it compete against the hugely popular iPhone…

jkontherun’s anonymous source stated that there was a meeting in Redmond this week about the Zune phone and that it will be based on a specialized variant of Windows Mobile 7, with functionality centered around Windows Live Services and a touch-screen based design.

We’re keeping the Zune phone still at the rumored stage, but it seems those rumors just keep popping up. Keep your ears open.

Via [crunchgear]

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Charismatic San Franciso Mayor Gavin Newsom, did it again, this time convincing rogue network administrator Terry Childs to hand over passwords to the city’s captive network. Childs was jailed July 13 after hijacking the city’s multimillion network and refusing to hand over passwords to the system. Though city officials stated the network had been […]

Charismatic San Franciso Mayor Gavin Newsom, did it again, this time convincing rogue network administrator Terry Childs to hand over passwords to the city’s captive network. Childs was jailed July 13 after hijacking the city’s multimillion network and refusing to hand over passwords to the system. Though city officials stated the network had been functioning without error, administrators couldn’t gain access or control of the system.

According to reports Childs said the Major was the only person he could trust. Mayor Newsom secured the passwords without telling the cities Department of Telecommunications and Information Services.

Child’s lawyer reportedly stated that none of the people, other than the mayor, who requested the cities password information “were qualified to have it,” and that in his defense Child’s hopes to “expose the utter mismanagement, negligence, and corruption at DTIS, which if left unchecked, will in fact place the City of San Francisco in danger.”

Childs is being charged with four counts of personal tampering.

Photo credit: the Associated Press.

Via [crunchgear]

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Designer Joost van Bleiswijk makes everything flat. He designs components on a computer and then essentially laser cuts them out and folds them together into full-sized candelabras, clocks, and even this insane fireplace thing. Everything is made of stainless steel. It kind of reminds me of Ponoko but clearly this guy has taken it to a […]

Designer Joost van Bleiswijk makes everything flat. He designs components on a computer and then essentially laser cuts them out and folds them together into full-sized candelabras, clocks, and even this insane fireplace thing. Everything is made of stainless steel.

It kind of reminds me of Ponoko but clearly this guy has taken it to a whole other level. There’s an altar in that fireplace thing, for Prometheus’ sake.

[via Treehugger]

Via [crunchgear]

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Nobody knows exactly when, how many will be available, their price, charge time, range, or pretty much anything about the electric cars BMW is planning on selling. But we do know that they plan on selling them, probably in about a year. Not really big news unless you were one of those people planning on […]

Nobody knows exactly when, how many will be available, their price, charge time, range, or pretty much anything about the electric cars BMW is planning on selling. But we do know that they plan on selling them, probably in about a year. Not really big news unless you were one of those people planning on investing in an electric vehicle sometime in the middle of 2009. Oh wait, that’s me!

Let’s hope (for my sake) that they’re inexpensive. They might beat the rest of the auto makers, who are by and big planning to make their huge electric push in 2010. [via Gas 2.0]

Via [crunchgear]

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What do former vice president and environmental activist Al Gore and Texas oil man T. Boone Pickens have in common? Both believe the U.S. should cut back on its dependence on foreign oil and that the government needs to cease pussyfooting around on issues of greener energy, particularly wind power. Forbes website, recentlyreported that GE […]

What do former vice president and environmental activist Al Gore and Texas oil man T. Boone Pickens have in common? Both believe the U.S. should cut back on its dependence on foreign oil and that the government needs to cease pussyfooting around on issues of greener energy, particularly wind power.

Forbes website, recentlyreported that GE Energy is the leading wind turbine manufacturer in North America and that it is sold clean out of turbines until 2010, thanks in part to Pickens current order of 667 turbines for his huge wind farm in the Texas panhandle. Pickens, with his privately funded project, has publicly called for the U.S. to generate 20% of its electricity from wind power within 10 years. While Gore set a more audacious goal that the country should eliminate its use of carbon-based fuel within the same timeline. According to Forbes, wind currently accounts for less than 1% of the U.S. electric power.

Still GE states its possible to meet Pickens goal and points to places like the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, where scientists have improved blade design, increased efficiency in the transfer of energy into electricity and improved gearboxes that attach the turbines to the shaft.

Still experts in the green energy field state no matter how good the technology is, without a “national push” nothing major can change.

Via [crunchgear]

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AT&T is looking to create tiered access to the World wide web for subscribers. Currently, the company offers World wide web speeds “up to” their subscribed amount. At a recent FCC hearing AT&T Senior Federal Regulatory Vice President Robert Quinn said, “When AT&T provides broadband service by speed, it will do so in discrete, non-overlapping tiers.” Of course, the knee […]

AT&T is looking to create tiered access to the Internet for subscribers. Currently, the company offers Internet speeds “up to” their subscribed amount. At a current FCC hearing AT&T Senior Federal Regulatory Vice President Robert Quinn stated, “When AT&T provides broadband service by speed, it will do so in discrete, non-overlapping tiers.”

Of course, the knee jerk reaction is that the company is looking for ways to charge more for what it already provides, but it may be even more devious than that.

Could this be a plan to meter access to the World wide web in a way similar to how gas and electricity is delivered? Possibly. The big companies would surely like to see it become a reality. Time Warner Cable is selling their triple-play services in Texas with some small print stipulating the customer paying for overages. Buyer beware.

Via [crunchgear]

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Windows Mobile phones are still the way to go, according to Scott Rockfeld, group products manager for the mobile communications business at Microsoft. Despite all the ballyhoo surrounding the iPhone 3G launch, nearly 20 million Windows Mobile licenses were sold for Microsoft’s fiscal year ending June 30. Microsoft’s visibility in the business sector has always been […]

Windows Mobile phones are still the way to go, according to Scott Rockfeld, group products manager for the mobile communications business at Microsoft. Despite all the ballyhoo surrounding the iPhone 3G launch, almost 20 million Windows Mobile licenses were sold for Microsoft’s fiscal year ending June 30.

Microsoft’s visibility in the business sector has always been well noted, which Rockfeld pointed out in a recent interview. By citing strong security features and the capability to encrypt removable data storage cards, he noted it was predicted by IDC Corp to anticipate Windows Mobile phones to continue to outsell the iPhone 9:1 in business utilization. But for now, the point might be moot, as BlackBerry still remains the ubiquitous leader when it comes to business usage.

Windows Mobile phones were purchased by seven out of ten largest companies in the world (as ranked by Fortune), while sales of at least 500 phones were tabulated at 325 different companies.

Rockfeld criticized Apple’s decision to limit, at least for now, the number of developers who could create apps for the iPhone. He further noted that there are over 18,000 publicly available applications for Windows Mobile. By comparison, the Apple App Store has about 500.

While the Microsoft/Apple war always seemed to center around business applications, it will be interesting to see how it shapes up in the mobile market. While Microsoft may have growing numbers to back it up, the mobile landscape is set to be redefined if Google’s (sort of) open-source Android platform takes off.

Via [crunchgear]

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Hot Hardware has had their tiny hands on one of OCZ’s “Neural Impulse Actuator” doodads for a while and they’ve decided to drop a surprisingly positive review on us. Words cannot describe how skeptical I am of the concept, having studied neuroimaging a bit, but behind the highfalutin nonsense in which the NIA is wrapped, […]

Hot Hardware has had their tiny hands on one of OCZ’s “Neural Impulse Actuator” doodads for a while and they’ve decided to drop a surprisingly positive review on us. Words can’t describe how skeptical I am of the concept, having studied neuroimaging a bit, but behind the highfalutin nonsense in which the NIA is wrapped, there’s a limited capacity for coolness that I would be happy to make part of my personal experience.

Briefly, the NIA consists of a set of sensors that sit on your dome and purportedly measure conductance and/or muscle movements around there. With such an incredibly imprecise method of looking into your brain, the amount of recognizable signals you can create for it is pretty limited — the NIA supports less than a dozen “brainfingers”. That said, apparently once the guys there got it all calibrated (a long process) and got used to the concept (not easy), it was very, very cool. Envision being able to think a certain thought or concentrate a certain way and have your guy reload, or perform a macro, or sprint. It’s possible with the NIA and the concept is solid, but I think at the moment it’s a bit too much for even a hardcore gamer to deal with. I salute OCZ, though, for doing something absolutely weird and kind of succeeding.

Via [crunchgear]

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Major Nelson has a great video preview of the upcoming Netflix service that’ll be available on the Xbox 360 this Fall. I’ll be resubscribing to Netflix when this rolls out later in the fall.

Major Nelson has a great video preview of the upcoming Netflix service that’ll be available on the Xbox 360 this Fall. I’ll be resubscribing to Netflix when this rolls out later in the fall.

Via [crunchgear]

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Augmented reality (AR), the combination of virtual worlds and reality, is a cool concept that leads to useful applications in navigation systems, medicine, architecture and many other fields. Geisha Tokyo Entertainment Inc. [JP] now found a way to help all single otaku overcome their problems in finding a real girl friend. Their alternative to heal loneliness […]

Augmented reality (AR), the combination of virtual worlds and reality, is a cool concept that leads to useful applications in navigation systems, medicine, architecture and many other fields. Geisha Tokyo Entertainment Inc. [JP] now found a way to help all single otaku overcome their problems in finding a real girl friend.

Their substitute to heal loneliness 2.0 is called “Dennou Figure ARis”, or “Cyber Figure Alice” in English. This is how it works: Buyers receive the AR software, 2 cybersticks and 2 cybercubes. Put one of the cubes in front of the computer, point a webcam at it and the screen will display a 3D image of Alice standing on top of the cube.

Using the cyber sticks, you can then “touch”, caress and (naturally) peep at your new girl friend. It is even possible to undress Alice and change her clothes.

This unbelievable example of otaku madness will be sold in Japan starting this fall. As there will most probably no language barriers, I assume “Cyber Figure Alice” will be soon offered by American and European web shops specialized in Otaku products as well.

Via Asiajin

Via [crunchgear]

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