"They Failed": VC Fred Wilson Gets BoomTown's First Annual Someone-Had-to-Say-It Award

BoomTown has always enjoyed?although I have not always agreed with?the ruminations of Fred Wilson in his must-read blog, A VC.
Today, the New York venture investor?heard of Foursquare, Twitter??penned one that was flatly on point, simply titled ?Chasing Returns? about a potential crisis in start-up funding.
It was all due to a new class of investors too focused on chasing returns, noted Wilson, ?and some of them do not understand what they are investing in.?
Rut-roh.
Perhaps dumb moneybags are not the greatest worry of our time?but dumber justifications of questionable success certainly should be, which Wilson also called out recently in an article in the New York Observer about the bubbly start-up scene there.
Said Wilson:
?It?s not all going great. You know, companies are failing. A couple of high-flying entrepreneurs came crashing to the ground recently. Justin Shaffer of Hot Potato and Sam Lessin of Drop.io?both of those companies essentially failed. Both of them ended up ?selling? their businesses to Facebook, but those were really just?Facebook wanted to hire those people, and they wrapped it up in a ?sale.? But those companies were unsuccessful. They failed. So there is failure out there?like, right in front of us. We can see it.?
Many quickly cried foul after Wilson?s remarks, but many more secretly shook their heads in agreement at the reality distortion field around entrepreneurs.
This has happened a lot lately in Silicon Valley, of course?as evidenced by a series of just-in-time saves of once high-flying start-ups (Slide being bought by Google comes to mind) sold as wins.
Indeed, painting failure as another form of success is one of the favorite and endearing canards of tech, showing an ability to bounce back from any negative and pivot into a new direction.
But most pivoting, as Loren Feldman of 1938 Media recently pointed out, is just another word for covering up misdirection.
Perhaps misdirection?as it should be in any world that thrives on innovation and entrepreneurial instincts?is all well and good, but it is only that way as long as it is identified as such when it occurs.
So, good for Wilson for truth-in-labeling when it comes to start-ups, investing and chasing returns these days.






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Tagged: BoomTown, Facebook, Google, Internet, Kara Swisher, Silicon Valley, digital, financial, innovation, A VC, blog, Chasing Returns, Drop.io, failure, Fred Wilson, funding, Hot Potato, investor, Justin Shaffer, New York, pivot, sale, Sam Lessin, Slide, start-up, success, venture | permalink








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How to turn your iPhone into a 3D mouse

If you have ever felt the need to navigate 3D holographic displays with your iPhone, then fear no longer, because a new app will allow you to do exactly that.US firm Provision Interactive promises to turn your iPhone into a fully-fledged 3D holographic controller with its new app.Provision Interactive has enhanced the capability of its in-store 3D holographic displays to work with Apple's Mobile Mouse, as well as its new iPhone app.The new technology allows retailers to appeal to customers using interactive holographic displays, which they can control and interact with using their iPhones as a wireless air mouse, so you might be able to click on a particular area of the hologram to get more info, or see particular products from a different point of view."Provision is always working on innovative ways to improve our 3D holographic technology and making it interactive was just our first step," says Curt Thornton, President and CEO of Provision. "Allowing consumers to interact with our holograms through a mobile device was always part of our plan and with Mobile Mouse it is now possible."We want to connect our advertisers and brands directly to the consumer, both emotionally and physically, and with this iPhone app we've found a great platform to do that." The app uses the iPhone's built in accelerometer to translate hand motions into mouse movements on the 3D holographic display in the store. Provision is beginning the development of its own Smartphone application due to be released in 2011. Provision claims to be the leader in true 3D consumer display products. You can see more on their latest 3D tech over at www.provision.tv. Related StoriesBuying Guide: 12 best gifts for iPhone ownersHTC Gratia UK release date still on trackUpdated: iPhone 5 rumours: what you need to knowPics of new LG Star superphone emergeGary Marshall: Infinity Blade shows pros and cons of iPad gamingCrafts articles

In Depth: 6 steps to building the quantum computer

Quantum computing is the nirvana state for most technical research and in the exploratory sciences ? and, eventually, for all of computing. The concept comes from quantum physics, which finds that electrons circling an atom are in multiple states at the same time ? they only stop when we observe them. Similarly, a quantum bit (or qubit) can be in either a 0 and 1 state ? or both at the same time. The theory goes that, because of these multiple states, a quantum processor could handle intense computations ? say, factoring a number with 300 digits ? with relative ease. For comparison, when a 232-digit number was factored, those responsible estimated that it would have taken roughly 1,500 years to do using a 2.2GHz AMD Opteron with 2GB of RAM.The great challenge to quantum processors thus far is this: the theory is sound on paper, but how do you actually build a quantum computer? We talked to an expert to find out the roadmap.1. Build the proof of conceptHerb Bernstein, a physicist at Hampshire College, says the first step to building a real quantum computer is to develop a basic working prototype. He says this will involve using a series of controlled optical or electromechnical pulses that work like microwaves. The pulses would control the computations and trigger the qubits to aid in the research project, serving as the core processor.2. Increase the scaleThese initial experiments, he says, would be quite small ? a prototype might use just one quantum bit initially, and quantum physicists have built small-scale quantum processing prototypes. Expanding to 100 qubits would be a logical next step, but to build an actual processor that uses tens of thousands of qubits, or even just one kiloqubit, would require linking multiple lab experiments over networks that, today, are not capable of processing at the same quantum speeds. Still, in the early days of computing, it was inconceivable to design a small computer when vacuum tubes filled an entire room.3. Build a registry for quantum functionsAfter expanding a prototype (and discovering some way to do that without linking lab experiments), another important step involves holding the data. This would work exactly like the computers we use today ? a registry entry is like a temporary holding area. In quantum computing, a registry would hold the results of an experiment calculated with qubits ? what Bernstein called a multiple entanglement of numbers. The registry would not just hold these calculations, but would keep track of how the qubits interact. The model for this is the human brain, which tracks the movement of neurons.4. Create a way to store these calculationsFactoring a number with 300 digits is an admirable goal, and one that is a good fit for quantum computing. However, the resulting calculations would also require massive storage allocation. The closest analogy to this today is a linear accelerator, which calculates the movements of atoms as they move at incredibly high speeds. In these experiments, the calculations are often stored on extremely fast flash storage arrays. For storing quantum calculations, the storage requirements increase greatly ? to the point that we may not have yet invented the storage medium required. It might involve holographic memory that also see bits in multiple states at once.5. Programming techniques to find the valueAnother step, once we find a way to store the calculations, involves figuring out how to write programs to then interpret the calculations. Modern processors run programs that work with binary numbers ? they are either in a 0 or 1 state, but never both. That means, for quantum computing, inventing new ways to write programs that can run much faster, handle the quantum computing calculations, and deliver usable results. One obvious inhibitor to this is that companies have invested many millions in current platforms and programming efforts ? none of which would run on a quantum computer.6. Delivering the results over networksOnce a quantum computer is fully operational, and the calculations can be stored and the programs can interpret the data, it's also important to deliver these findings over networks. In many ways, this is the problem that birthed the internet several decades ago: the scientific calculations had to be moved from one lab to other parts of the country for analysis. Modern fibre channels running at 200MB/s in real world transmissions are not fast enough, so another step to building a quantum computer is inventing much faster network protocols and network switches that can handle the data.Related StoriesApple-1 computer sells at auction for �133,250MSI reveals the R6870 Twin Frozr IIAMD announces two new Radeon mobile GPUsMicrosoft touchscreen patent could bring Braille to tabletsMicrosoft touchscreen patent could bring Braille to tabletsBody detox

Bleacher Report's Brian Grey Talks About New Content Biz, as Patrick Keane Joins Board

Earlier this week, BoomTown went downtown to the San Francisco HQ of Bleacher Report, one of the many interesting efforts trying to change the way content is made and distributed.
Bleacher Report, no surprise, is focused on sports, and competes with sites such as Yardbarker and SB Nation.
All take different approaches, with Bleacher Report delivering a grassroots platform for both professional and hobbyist writers who want give their take on any topic about college and professional sports, from the latest draft to explaining what?s the deal with ?Fear the Beard.?
Bleacher Report vets these writers and does not pay most of them. There are 3,000 contributors, with 750 designated as featured, delivering 500 pieces of content a day.
Bleacher Report also has one million newsletter subscribers across 150 teams.
The writers are presumably attracted to the larger audience?8.8 million unique monthly visitors?they can reach via the site, as well as via newspaper syndication deals.
Think Huffington Post?Bleacher Report?s main business model is advertising too?and you have the right idea.
So far, Bleacher Report has raised $8 million from venture firms, such as Hillsven Capital, and angel investors like Gordon Crawford and Jakob Lodwick, founder of College Humor and Vimeo.
And it recently went out and drafted a pro for a CEO?former Yahoo and News Corp. exec Brian Grey, who focused on online sports content at both those companies.
In addition, it also just added Patrick Keane?former Googler and also former CEO of Associated Content, the social content site recently bought by Yahoo?to its board.
Here?s a video interview I did with Grey?who, full disclosure, was my elder son?s Little League coach for one season (so he does know about baseball, for sure!)?about how the media is morphing, as amateur and professional content is mixed and distributed in new ways:








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Tagged: BoomTown, Google, Internet, Kara Swisher, Yahoo, advertising, digital, interview, media, video, amateur, angel, Associated Content, audience, baseball, Bleacher Report, board, Brian Grey, California, College Humor, content, contributor, deal, Fear the Beard, firm, Gordon Crawford, grassroots, Hillsven Capital, hobbyist, investor, Jacob Lodwick, Little League, News Corp., newsletter, newspaper, Patrick Keane, platform, professional, San Francisco, SB Nation, sports, subscriber, syndication, venture, Vimeo, writer, Yardbarker | permalink








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Have You Taken The Yelp Shop Local Pledge?

This holiday season, Yelp is pledging to support our local businesses, our cities and our economy by shopping local whenever possible -- and we?d love for you to do the same! Today Yelp released 50 city-specific holiday shopping guides in...application

Turn the Heat Around: Miami SuperGroup Looks to Get Right Against Nominal NBA Team

For all the press's hemming and hawing about the new-look Heat's struggles this season (from this corner included), there have been a healthy number of games where the Nicknameless Bunch have actually put in work. One example would be in the Sixers' home opener this year, where Dwyane Wade scored 30, James Jones went 6-9 from beyond the arc and Miami outscored Philly 31-13 in the third quarter on their way to a 97-87 victory that wasn't as close as the final score indicated. Amidst their lowest ebb of the season thusfar, the Heat hope to use our Sixers as a rebound game (possibly in more ways than one), and given the way the team's been playing recently, it's hard to really blame them. After Tuesday's brutal loss to the Wizards, the Sixers decided to take the suspense out of it early on against the Raptors on Thursday, falling behind by 15 after one and never really cutting into the lead any afterwards. There were some nice overall stat lines from Jrue Holiday (17 points, seven boards, six assists) and Andre Iguodala (17 points, eight rebounds, six assists), but Evan Turner was invisible (Two points on zero shot attempts in 16 minutes) and Lou Williams was downright self-destructive (Eight points on 1-11 FG). The Liberty Baller that had the best night was actually ex-Sixer Reggie Evans, who had 12 points and a staggering career-high 22 boards for his new friends up north. Just haaaaad to rub it in our (and Spencer Hawes's) faces, didn't you, Reg? Tonight's game is the crew's third of four this week, with the final contest another (supposedly) winnable home game vs. the Nets tomorrow night. "I think we've shown that we can play with most anybody," said Coach Collins recently when addressing the team's 3-12 record. "We've just got to do a better job of closing them out." I don't even know if it's worth the effort to try to take issue with Collins's definition of "play with," and wonder if the lack of "closing them out"-ability negates it entirely. Frankly, at this point, a little self-delusion might not be the worst thing for this team. 7:30 tip from the American Airlines Arena. With the added double-whammy of taking another swing at the Miami Heat pinata, it wouldn't be the worst time for the team to pull off a feel-good upset road win. But if you're banking your Thanksgiving Friday night on that possibility, I suggest your hopes for this team badly need recalibration.

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Hands on: Altec Lansing Octiv 450 iPad dock review

When Steve Jobs announced the iPad way back in January, the machine not only marked a whole new computing area for Apple, it also gave third-party manufacturers a brand-new toy to accessorise.It's surprising, then, that it's taken this long for a handful of iPad docks to come to the market.While the Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 8 was very much a premium product, the latest iPad dock TechRadar has gotten its hands most definitely caters to the mainstream. Altec Lansing has been one of the big names in the dock market, offering decent functionality at a reasonable price. The Altec Lansing Octiv 450 is of no exception. What's surprising about the dock is its footprint. The base of the Octiv 450 is smaller than you would imagine an iPad dock to be.This is because it has been designed to make sure that the iPad is pride and place on the dock, with the stand sitting behind it.Within the base is the speaker system. The speaker stretches round the base and makes good use of the sound ? which is crisp and clear.The iPad slides easily into the cradle of the dock and the back is large enough to make the iPad feel secure in the device. Not once did we feel the iPad was to big for the dock.The cradle arm will also hold the iPad in both landscape and portrait mode. A gentle turn of the cradle will achieve this.When it comes to connectivity, the dock has the obligatory 30-pin connector that also acts as a charger and there is a 3.5mm jack on the back for any other device you want to plug in.Altec Lansing has created something special with the Octiv 450. It's a device that suits the iPad well and wouldn't look out of place in your kitchen, bedroom or even living room.The iPad isn't as portable as Jobs and co would want you to believe, so connecting it to a dock makes a lot of sense, and the Octiv 450 does everything right in an accessory market it's pretty much created.The Altec Lansing Octiv 450 audio dock has a UK release date of 1 December and is priced at �129.99.Related StoriesPure Twilight: dawn-simulating DAB radio launchesHands on: Libratone Beat reviewBlog marketing

Highlights This Week from the Inside Network Job Board: Zynga, Digital Chocolate, Solvate, & More

We recently launched the Inside Network Job Board ? dedicated to providing you with the best job opportunities in the Facebook Platform and social gaming ecosystem. Here are this week?s highlights from the Inside Network Job Board, including positions at Zynga, Digital Chocolate, Solvate, SpanTran Educational Services, NaturalMotion Limited, BringIt, Ubisoft, Tencent America, Lolapps, and [...]Boarding

Hands on: Altec Lansing Octiv 450 iPad dock review

When Steve Jobs announced the iPad way back in January, the machine not only marked a whole new computing area for Apple, it also gave third-party manufacturers a brand-new toy to accessorise.It's surprising, then, that it's taken this long for a handful of iPad docks to come to the market.While the Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 8 was very much a premium product, the latest iPad dock TechRadar has gotten its hands most definitely caters to the mainstream. Altec Lansing has been one of the big names in the dock market, offering decent functionality at a reasonable price. The Altec Lansing Octiv 450 is of no exception. What's surprising about the dock is its footprint. The base of the Octiv 450 is smaller than you would imagine an iPad dock to be.This is because it has been designed to make sure that the iPad is pride and place on the dock, with the stand sitting behind it.Within the base is the speaker system. The speaker stretches round the base and makes good use of the sound ? which is crisp and clear.The iPad slides easily into the cradle of the dock and the back is large enough to make the iPad feel secure in the device. Not once did we feel the iPad was to big for the dock.The cradle arm will also hold the iPad in both landscape and portrait mode. A gentle turn of the cradle will achieve this.When it comes to connectivity, the dock has the obligatory 30-pin connector that also acts as a charger and there is a 3.5mm jack on the back for any other device you want to plug in.Altec Lansing has created something special with the Octiv 450. It's a device that suits the iPad well and wouldn't look out of place in your kitchen, bedroom or even living room.The iPad isn't as portable as Jobs and co would want you to believe, so connecting it to a dock makes a lot of sense, and the Octiv 450 does everything right in an accessory market it's pretty much created.The Altec Lansing Octiv 450 audio dock has a UK release date of 1 December and is priced at �129.99.Related StoriesPure Twilight: dawn-simulating DAB radio launchesHands on: Libratone Beat reviewDigital camera

Can the Egyptian Government Rip Out Facebook Pages? [TNW Middle East]

Egyptian online activism is attempting, for the first time in Middle Eastern political history to use Social Media to get people to take to the streets. And the Egyptian regime is not liking it one bit.
Activists from all over the world have poured anger online after a sudden blockage of several Facebook pages both official and unofficially attributed to Egyptian opposition. Naturally they?re accusing the Egyptian regime of this, and we thought we?d give it a look.
I was once a loyal fan of the show CSI while it was aired briefly in the Middle East. One of the things I learned from it was that to try a crime you required three elements: A victim, a motive, and the smoking gun. So let?s break this down.
The Victim: I?m assuming most of you won?t find it a challenge to come up with this one. I wouldn?t go as far as to calling the victim the Egyptian people, but by blocking certain Facebook pages, in addition to the heavy security presence on the ground, the result of this anti-campaign is to silence the people.
Reports have been coming in over the past 24 hours about Faecbook pages being blocked yesterday, coincidently one day before opposition?s ?Angry Friday? which is a call for Egyptians to take to apartment balconies, streets, and public restaurants and simple scream or yell in an expression of civil anger at the regime for the atrocities committed by them topped with the death of a young man named Khaled Said. Today is Angry Friday and the screaming is scheduled to begin at 19:00 (EET).�Element one established.
The Motive: Well if you listen to what the opposition has to say, you?ll clearly hear a cry for unity to change a regime that has basically done everything to help it?s�dis-creditors�make the case against them.
Covering everything from smear campaigns to torture and arrests, it?s in the Egyptian regime?s best interest to see the online side of Egyptians opposition stay online, and inaccessible. Element two established.
Now for the Smoking Gun: Up until now all reports have been�accusations made against the Egyptian regime alone. The only thing supporting them is the fact it?s believable. Having established a behavioral pattern, the people of Egypt seem�to�have only�2 out of 3 elements on the spot.
Two hours separate the Middle East from the first documented incident of Social Media platforms such as Facebook, Twitters, and blogs actually bringing Arab nationals to the streets in hoards. This could be the day Egypt?s dissent moves from Facebook, to the streets.
My bets are that Facebook disabled the accounts at the request of Egyptian authorities under false�pretenses. But is what we have above enough to criminalize an Arab regime?
The answer to both questions is: Most probably Yes.
Hat tip to Ahmed Faidy.

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Review: Asus NX90JQ

Every company has its 'hero' products, such as Asus' NX90JQ. These hero laptops usually boast cutting edge design or power (or both), cost an enormous amount of money and ? most importantly ? boost the brand awareness of the company.Take Dell's Adamo XPS laptop and Sony's X-Series as examples, both of which happen offer class-leading portability.But with the NX90JQ, the Taiwanese electronics giant has gone a different route ? in this case creating a multimedia monster targeted at those after a premium sounding product and who aren't bothered about the matching price tag.And at around �2,500 the price tag is a heavy one. But with the NX90JQ you do get bang for your hard-earned buck. There's the much touted Bang & Olufsen (B&O) speaker system, high-end components, an impressive features list and a gorgeous polished aluminium design. Some could correctly argue you can get this kind of performance elsewhere for less cash, and they'd be right. MSI's excellent GX660R offers a very similar experience, including dedicated speakers, while the Acer Aspire Ethos 8943G should also be considered. But neither offers quite the swagger or beauty of the Asus NX90JQ ? even if the laptop fails to deliver in certain areas.The first thing you'll notice about the Asus NX90JQ is the sheer size of the laptop. A lot of this is down to the 18.4-inch screen. The Full HD 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution offers a very detailed picture, but is lacking the brightness we'd expect of a multimedia centre, and colour vibrancy isn't fantastic as a result.Nevertheless Blu-ray movies ? watched on the integrated Blu-ray optical drive ? look fantastic on the NX90JQ's screen, which also makes the laptop suited to editing HD movies and photos.The two B&O speakers sitting either side of the screen are the main reason the laptop is so large. Positioned to offer the best audio experience, and combined with Asus' SonicMaster technology, sound quality is great. We tested a broad range of music genres ? from classical to hip-hop ? and were largely impressed by the quality and clarity of audio produced.Before we get too carried away, it's important to note that, as good as the NX90JQ is, it'll never replace a dedicated hi-fi system. We also compared the laptop with a set of �200 desktop speakers and found the latter outgunned the NX90JQ in most areas, especially stereo and bass. It's also important to note that there are other options with dedicated speaker systems, such as the HP Envy 14 Beats Edition and MSI GX660R, that offer a very similar experience sonically, but don't cost nearly as much, so it's important to consider your options before making a purchase.The combination of speakers and screen give the laptop a unique appearance that divided opinion at TechRadar. Some thought it looked great while others argued it gives the NX90JQ an unfortunate top-heavy appearance. However all agreed how good the polished aluminium finishes is. When closed, the NX90JQ looks more like a piece of art than a laptop, and the same goes when the machine is open thanks to the large polished aluminium palmrest, which sits completely unblemished. You'll quickly realise the reason the palmrest looks so great ? apart from the material used ? is the lack of a touchpad. This is because Asus has employed an innovative design that employs not one but two touch pads, each with left- and right-click buttons. Placed either side of the keyboard, they're supposed to be used in conjunction with Asus' Desktop Rotation software, which features special gestures but the company decided to leave out at the last minute. As a result you're left with two touchpads that nicely use up quite a bit of excess chassis space. Nevertheless, they support full multi-touch functionality, although aren't as intuitive as Apple's MacBook Pro system. The Asus NX90JQ's keyboard is large and comfortable to use, and if you want a laptop for regular typing you could do a lot worse. There's no dedicated number pad, however, which may put off those who regularly input data. The NX90JQ's plastic chassis is well put together and features a wealth of ports and connections. Down the left side you'll find the slot-loading Blu-ray optical drive as well as multi-card reader and a USB port. Down the right side of the laptop sit three more USB ports. Two boast USB 3.0 technology ? for rapid data transfers to external devices ? while one doubles as an eSATA port. There are also VGA and HDMI outs, as well as the Ethernet port and a digital TV tuner aerial port. Considering the quality and power of components beneath the hoo,d we expected the NX90JQ to be exceptionally powerful, but it didn't quite match our expectations. Don't get us wrong. The quad-core Intel 1.73GHz Core i7-740QM, which overclocks itself automatically to 2.93GHz thanks to an Intel's Turbo Boost technology, is more than capable of running pretty much any commercially available program as smoothly as you'd like ? thanks in part to the 6GB of memory on board. However, the laptop is outperformed by the Sony VAIO-VPCZ12V9E/X and also Asus' own G73JH.We don't know about you, but we'd expect the best power on the market for this price, regardless of if we were ever going to need or even use it, and the Asus NX90JQ doesn't deliver.The same can be said for graphical performance. The NX90JQ features a Nvidia GeForce GT 335M graphics card with 1GB of dedicated video memory, and again benchmark results were disappointing ? and the MSI GX740 provides significantly more graphical performance at a fraction of the price.If you want to casually edit high-definition film and play the latest games without too many issues, the power is fine, but for the money we still expect more.The NX90JQ boasts two 640GB hard drives offering acres of storage for your multimedia files and folders, so those with hundreds of movies, songs and photos should be well catered for well into the future.As mentioned above, a Blu-ray drive is included for watching the latest films, but while you can't write to Blu-ray disks (another shame considering the price of the NX90JQ) you can to CDs and DVDs. 802.11n Wi-Fi and Gigabit Ethernet are on board, and are the current fastest networking technologies around.As you'd expect, portability isn't the NX90JQ's strong card. The 4.4kg the machine weighs is hernia-inducing, and the polished aluminium finish will quickly attract scratches and scuffs on the road. Contrastingly, however, the 210 minute battery life isn't bad at all considering the power of the components involved.We found it very hard to come to a conclusion about the Asus NX90JQ. On the one hand, it's a laptop with a uniquely gorgeous design, great audio, innovative usability ? courtesy of the twin touchpads ? and powerful performance.But there's a nagging feeling that, while the NX90JQ does its job well, the audio isn't that spectacular, the twin touchpad design ? which does work ? is a little pointless without the excluded Desktop Rotation software and the performance isn't all conquering. All these arguments are placed into even sharper relief when the price is chucked into the mix.It's important to note, however, that the above qualms may be of little consequence to those simply after something a little different and have the cash to splash. For the rest of us, however, better value for money (if that's what you're after) can be found elsewhere. The Acer Aspire Ethos 8943G or the HP Envy 14 Beats Edition (if you're after something a little more portable) are good starting points.We likedThere's a lot we liked about the Asus NX90JQ. First and foremost, the design is killer, and the glorious polished aluminium finish is beautiful to behold. The sound quality produced by the B&O speakers is also impressive and some will really enjoy using the twin touchpad system ? especially the left-handed.This is a very powerful machine that will carve its way through pretty much anything you care to throw at it. Add in the Blu-ray drive and considerable storage space and you're looking at a highly specified laptop.On-top of the above the NX90JQ boasts a wealth of features including a TV Tuner, USB 3.0 and cutting edge networking technologies.We dislikedFirstly the cost, and ultimately it's hard to see how the NX90JQ offers value for money.Sound quality is good for a laptop, but equalled or bettered by a standard set of desktop speakers ? which may be a better and cheaper option if you're looking to enhance your audio experience.Performance is good, but not all-conquering, and for those with serious multimedia interests, such as gamers and serious movie editors, there's more power on offer elsewhere for cheaper.For a multimedia machine, the screen brightness isn't quite up to scratch.Related LinksRead more laptops reviewsTechRadar's Reviews GuaranteeRelated StoriesReview: Dell XPS 15Computer games & Systems

Yelp Webinars: A Great Way to Stay Up to Speed on Product Updates

Business owners have an important voice on Yelp. We encourage them to claim this voice by unlocking their free business tools on biz.yelp.com. There are a lot of benefits to unlocking Yelp?s free business tools. One of them is a...Alternative Energy

XM Canada & Sirius Canada Merge. Huh? What? [TNW Canada]

The move follows longtime speculation about the two combining their operations to save costs and build two audiences into one of about 1.7 million.
The all-stock deal was valued at about $520 million and included $130 million in long-term debt.
?As a combined entity, XM Canada and Sirius Canada will deliver exceptional value to subscribers, and enhance the long-term success of satellite radio in Canada,? John Bitove, chairman of Canadian Satellite Radio, said in a statement.
via�CBC News ? Technology & Science ? XM, Sirius to merge in Canada.
Digital Home and CBC News didn?t say what was probably on all our minds (though Engadget did say it)?hold on, they hadn?t already merged? It?s easy to understand the confusion, actually, because the companies have been under one roof in the States since 2008. I think there is a larger question here: Is satellite radio still relevant and viable today?
I gave XM Radio a try some time ago (I even still have the little mini player, headphones and antenna) and thought the content was good, but in the city? Line of sight really killed reception. Even now I don?t listen to CBC Radio OTA most of the time, I listen to it streamed through iTunes, my iPhone or iPad (like the Jazz stream from Radio 2 especially and listen to it almost all the time now). Now in the car, I always have the radio on. I don?t understand why my wife likes to have the radio off to talk ? just odd being in a car means having the radio on to me.
Where does satellite radio fit into this? I don?t pay for radio stations over the air or over the Internet? Are the subscription fees worth it? I think Internet options like Pandora (wish we could get it in Canada again) and Last FM are spelling the end of satellite radio. And if I want custom mixes of songs (granted only Canadian indie bands), I don?t have to go farther than CBC Radio 3.
I must be missing something, because XM-Sirius have 1.7 million subscribers in Canada.
Sound off in the comments?does satellite radio still have a strong future or is something free and internet-based better?
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Yes That Is a Wrecking Ball Poised to Strike Down the Spectrum

Demolition of the Philadelphia Spectrum is set to begin at noon today, televised locally on CSN and on the Web at CSNPhilly.com. It was spectral to walk past the old building on the way out of the Wells Fargo Center late last night with no one around. After a long stay of execution, America's Showplace will be in pieces within a few hours.� Pics of edificial impending doom taken by WYSP's Spike Eskin and CSN producer Dan Roche after the jump.� Yes, we are indeed in an age where even a building demolition has a sponsorship/marketing campaign.�Follow Spike on twitter here, and Dan here.

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Video How to: Using iOS 4.2 on the iPad Part 1: Multitasking [TNW Lifehacks]

While iPhone owners have been spoiled with iOS 4 features like multitasking and app folders for months now (seems like an eternity to me), finally today iPad owners get the same coolness.
Instead of just writing out how to use multitasking on your iPad, we thought we?d show you how it works. But first a little tip I picked up recently, using microfibre cleaning cloths to polish your iPad or iPhone (or iPod Touch) screen:

No, I?m not going to be selling these on infomercials, I just thought you?d like to see this. My wife found them with other cleaning products and cloths.
Regardless, multitasking in iOS 4.2.1 (on the iPad) here?s the video:
Summary:
Remember double-clicking the home button doesn?t bring up iPod controls anymore, it brings up the multitasking pane
Press and hold (like deleting or moving apps) to close
Slide to the right to get to rotation lock and iPod controls
Not all apps have been updated for multitasking as yet, so I?d keep checking for app updates over the next few days (week?) for updates as they roll in.
Next up?App folders!

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Lights, Cameras... Community Managers!

We?ve always known our Community Managers are more than just pretty faces. They?re rock stars who throw massive events, write insanely witty Weeklies and everything in between to support the amazing locals in their communities! That being said, they also...Aikido

Google marries Profiles and Places with new recommendation service, HotPot

By Tim Conneally, Betanews
Google on Monday unveiled a new service called Hotpot which marries Google Places with Google Profiles to try to provide more accurate recommendations when searching for physical destinations such as local restaurants and businesses.Users of the new service are encouraged to use their Google Profile to rate and review businesses they've had experience with. These reviews then serve two main purposes: to strengthen the database of Google Places reviews, and to build a profile of what the user likes and dislikes to help Google learn what to suggest to him in the future.Also, the user's friend list is included into the service, so when a friend provides a review for a particular business, that review is included as a relevant search result when applicable. For example, if you're looking for a restaurant while you're in a neighborhood that you know is popular among your friends, your search for nearby restaurants will include their most highly-rated picks. Reviews and searches can be done in a desktop browser, or on an Android 1.6+ smartphone running the Google Maps 4.7 update, which recently went live in the Android Market.The focus of this launch appears to be restaurants and cafes, but reviews can be submitted for anything in Google Places: general retail, parks, libraries, hospitals, schools, law firms and doctor's offices. Google Product Manager Lior Ron yesterday said there are more than 50 million entries in Google Places already.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010





Diamonds

Kazakhstan beats India and China in startup awards [TNW Asia]

Last week, Red Herring announced the winners of their ?Red Herring 100 Asia? awards for the top one hundred tech. start-ups in the region. The distribution of awards by country held little in the way of surprises with India and China sharing the top two spots with just over 50% of the honoured companies coming from those two nations.
We thought, however, that it would be interesting to correlate the number of winning companies against the population of their home countries so see which countries are producing the most successful start-ups per head of population. �The following,�decidedly�unscientific, table, based on the results shows a completely different picture.
It?s notable that the acknowledged tech. hotspots in the region, Singapore and Hong Kong, hold the top two places with Singapore a clear winner having almost three times the number of winning startups per million population (according to the awards) than it?s nearest rival Hong Kong.
And who would have thought that even Kazakhstan would best the mighty combination of India and China?

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We Love Music: Simian Mobile Disco @ U Street Music Hall 11/17/10

Photo courtesy of Motormouthmedia.
I love U Street Music Hall.
and I love Simian Mobile Disco.
The two combined for one of the most fun nights of electronic dance music that I have had in Washington DC since the heydey of 90’s techno at Trax or Capital Ballroom/Nation. It was so much fun, I can hardly believe that [...]Breast Feeding

In Depth: 3D Blu-ray on PlayStation 3: why it's a letdown

Sony has come good on its promise to turn the ubiquitous PS3 console into a 3D Blu-ray player by way of a free firmware update. No cost; no catches; your console just went fully 3D. It's a remarkable piece of forward planning by the PlayStation division that not only gives its black box an edge in the war with Microsoft's Xbox 360, but also lends the 3D movement a much needed leg up, effectively putting a 3D Blu-ray player in millions of homes around the world. But was 3D ever on the roadmap for PS3, or is this a compromised version of it, rushed out in time to play Sony's solitary 3D Blu-ray release and deliver the 3D message being pushed by Sony's marketing? Extensive testing of an updated PS3 Slim and an older PS3 'Fat' reveals some shortfalls. Old dog, new tricks Early adopters that already have a 3DTV to go with their PS3 will have been playing three-dimensional games since the 3.4 firmware update in June. I for one have been hooked on Wipeout HD all over again now that the extra dimension has been added. With the 3D gaming update came a compromise, though. The maximum resolution in 3D mode dropped to 720p, which of course looks a little soft on a large 1080p screen. Fears of the same thing happening with 3D Blu-ray are unfounded. Both PS3s manage full HD 3D output, which means you see a frame sequential 1080p image through each eye and a very sharp image on screen. But that's at the expense of audio support for Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio. Without an HDMI v1.4 port, the PS3 seems unable to output full HD 3D video and high-resolution surround sound at the same time. In other words, the DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix of Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs drops to compressed DTS 5.1. This probably won't mean anything to the majority of PS3 owners, but it's a major blow for cinephiles seeking the ultimate home cinema experience. Perhaps it's a situation that can be fixed by firmware at a later date, but Sony's reluctance to reassure HCC readers makes us suspect not. Updating both a new European PS3 Slim and a legacy PS3 console from the first production batch to hit the US, gave slightly different results. Firmware 3.5 is a big update of 170MB and it brings an attractive orange interface, but few other changes beyond 3D BD compatibility. Now when you load the 3D Blu-ray release of Cloudy... the '3D detected' message pops up and you have the choice of watching in either 2D or 3D. Played on the PS3, the movie has all the detail and depth of field you get with a dedicated 3D player. The film's colour palette is the highly unrealistic and lurid mix of reds and purples that appeals to kids and it is all faithfully reproduced by the console. The image is sharply resolved at 1080p, although there is, however, the usual drop in brightness, which means you'll get much better results if you dim the room lighting. The 3D effect is just as successful here as on Sony's dedicated deck, the BDP-S470. There's a clearly defined perspective to the film that puts key characters in the foreground and scenery behind, and it adds to the fun when hamburgers appear fly through the screen and into the room. There are scenes, however, where the 3D scope just looks odd. Fast-forward to Chapter 12 and the warehouse looks suitably cavernous with ropes dangling eerily in the foreground, but the view of lead character Flint in the dustbin is strangely out of focus on one side. All of the rubbish at the bottom of the bin should be on the same plane, but instead only half is sharply resolved, while the other half is blurred. This seems to be more an issue of the disc than the PS3, however. Apart from the criminal lack of lossless audio, another oddity of the firmware updated PS3 is the way the film flips into 2D whenever you call up the onscreen menu. It automatically reverts to 3D when you resume play, so it's not a problem by any means, but just a little inconsistent. Far more worrying are the compatibility issues. Our legacy PS3 wouldn't recognise Monsters vs Aliens on 3D Blu-ray for example, which is frustrating given the dearth of 3D material available right now. It does play on the PS3 Slim, though, which may indicate a limitation of the older console. So, the PS3's transition to a full HD 3D Blu-ray player is a bit of letdown. Free 3D playback can't be sniffed at, but the lack of lossless audio is a major issue. Basically, if you're as committed to lossless audio as you are to 3D images, the PS3 is a no-go as a 3D player, and you're best off buying a dedicated deck. We desperately hope that Sony will figure out how to fix this ? and iron out the disc incompatibility issues.Related StoriesFarmVille maker heads to CityVilleOnLive to offer flat-rate fee for back catalogue gamesGame streaming service Gaikai launches open betaRazer Nostromo gaming keypad announcedIn Depth: 3D Blu-ray on PS3: why it's a letdown for home cinemaAffiliate-Marketers

Another Hacker?s Laptop, Cellphones Searched at Border

A well-known and respected computer-security researcher was detained for several hours Wednesday night by border agents who searched his laptop and cellphones before returning them to him.
The researcher, who goes by the hacker handle Moxie Marlinspike, was met by two U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents at the door of his plane when he arrived at JFK airport on a Jet Blue flight from the Dominican Republic. The agents escorted him to a detention room where they held him for 4 1/2 hours, he says. During that time, a forensic investigator arrived and seized Marlinspike?s laptop and two cellphones, and asked for his passwords to access his devices.
Marlinspike refused, and the devices were later returned to him.
?I can?t trust any of these devices now,? says Marlinspike, who prefers not to divulge his legal name. ?They could have modified the hardware or installed new keyboard firmware.?
Marlinspike gained attention last year at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas when he revealed a serious vulnerability in how internet browsers verify digital security certificates. The flaw would let a hacker create a fake website for Bank of America or some other legitimate business, obtain a fake digital certificate and trick a browser into thinking the fake site was the legitimate one, allowing the hacker to conduct a phishing attack against unsuspecting users who entered their bank credentials into the fake site. He released two free tools that would help an attacker conduct such an attack.
Three months later, PayPal froze his account with $500 in it because the company objected to the use of its logo on his website, where visitors could download the free tools. A PayPal representative said at the time that the company did not allow PayPal ?to be used in the sale or dissemination of tools which have the sole purpose to attack customers and illegally obtain individual customer information.?
The border search comes on the heels of two similar incidents targeting other white hat hackers. In July, security researcher Jake Appelbaum was intercepted at a New Jersey airport and detained. And earlier this month, MIT researcher David House had his laptop seized when he deplaned at Chicago?s O?Hare Airport on his way back from Mexico.
Under the ?border search exception? of United States criminal law, international travelers can be searched without a warrant as they enter the United States. Under the Obama administration, law enforcement agents have aggressively used this power to search travelers? laptops, sometimes copying the hard drive before returning the computer to its owner. Courts have ruled that such laptop searches can take place even in the absence of any reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing.

Marlinspike first began experiencing increased scrutiny about two months ago during domestic flights.
He found he was unable to print out a boarding pass either from his computer or from airline kiosks at airports. And when he approached ticket agents, they were blocked from producing a boarding pass for him without first calling a Secure Flight number at the Department of Homeland Security. Secure Flight is a program that requires airlines to submit passenger names and birthdates to DHS in advance of a flight, to be checked against watchlists. Marlinspike said ticket agents told him he was on a federal watchlist.
The harassment took a more ominous tone last Saturday, when Marlinspike was on his way home to the San Francisco Bay Area from Abu Dhabi, where he?d given a presentation at the Black Hat security conference. He was snoozing on an airport chair during an extended layover at the airport in Frankfurt, Germany, when he was awakened.
?Some dude shows up with a picture of me on his cellphone,? Marlinspike said. ?He?s going around looking at everyone and finally he finds me asleep with drool coming down my chin and he wakes me up.?
The agent said he was from the U.S. Consulate and told Marlinspike he?d have to answer a number of important questions. The questions, however, turned out to be routine customs question asking him where he?d been and why he?d gone there. The agent did not search his electronics, but after completing his questions told Marlinspike, ?Now I have to call Washington.?
?I said, Washington, D.C.? He said yes. He goes to make a call and comes back after seven minutes and asks more questions,? Marlinspike said.
The agent didn?t seem to know why Marlinspike was being targeted but said, ?When my boss? boss tells me to come pick someone up, I know something?s really going on.?
This week?s incident was the first time his electronic devices were searched, and their contents potentially copied.
Marlinspike says the forensic investigator told him at one point that he wouldn?t get his devices back unless he disclosed his passwords. His list of contacts and phone numbers weren?t secured, he says, but other data on his laptop and phones was encrypted.
?At first he was like, ?You have a choice you can give me your password and we can just do this all here, or we can send them to the lab and you?re not going to have the equipment anyway and we?re going to get all the data,?? Marlinspike said. ?I said, ?It?s encrypted and you?re not going to get anything off of it.??
CBP spokeswoman Kelly Ivahnenko said that the federal Privacy Act prevented her from discussing any specific case involving a passenger, but said that laptop searches are rare occurrences. ?Between October 1, 2008 and August 11, 2009 CBP encountered more than 221 million travelers and of these, fewer than 1,050 searches were performed on laptops,? she said.
Marlinspike says he has no idea what would have interested the agents.
?If there?s some information that they think I have ? I can?t speculate about what that might be ? they can?t legally get that because they don?t have any reasonable suspicions,? he said. ?But they can do whatever they want at the border. And it feels like that is possibly being abused.?
At one point, he asked a TSA airport supervisor what he could do about getting off the watchlist and relieving some of the hassles he?d experienced. The supervisor gave him a phone number but it went to a voice mailbox that was full and didn?t allow Marlinspike to leave a message.
He currently travels internationally between one and three times a month in connection with his company, Whisper Systems, which recently released two free encryption applications for Android phones that protect SMS messages and voice calls.
?They?re beginning to destroy my ability to run a business with international customers, ? he says. ?I can?t travel internationally without assurances that I?m not going to spend five hours in a detention room and am not going to lose whatever electronic devices I have with me at the time.?
Like Marlinspike, Jake Appelbaum, was detained in July at a New Jersey airport, after arriving on a plane from Holland on his way to the DefCon hacker conference in Las Vegas. Appelbaum, who is a U.S. representative for the secret-spilling site WikiLeaks, was questioned by agents over a three-hour period about WikiLeaks, its founder Julian Assange and Appelbaum?s opinion about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Agents seized his laptop and three mobile phones. They reportedly returned the laptop but have never returned his phones.
In another case related to WikiLeaks, David House was met by U.S. customs agents as he deplaned earlier this month at Chicago?s O?Hare Airport on his way back from Mexico.
The agents searched House?s bags, then took him to a detention room and questioned him for 90 minutes about his relationship to 23-year-old Bradley Manning, the former Army intelligence analyst who is in custody for allegedly leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks.
House helped set up the Bradley Manning Support Network, a grassroots group raising money for Manning?s defense, and has also visited Manning in custody at the Marine Corps? Quantico brig where he?s being held. The customs agents confiscated House?s laptop computer, a thumb drive and a digital camera and reportedly demanded, but did not receive, his encryption keys.
A graduate of Boston University, House is a computer scientist who works at MIT?s Center for Digital Business as a research software engineer, according to his resume. At BU he founded the campus hacker space for student tinkerers.
Marlinspike, who knows Appelbaum, says he has no connection to WikiLeaks. But he believes his name and phone number would have been in the phone that authorities seized from Appelbaum in July.
UPDATE 11.19.10: This story has been modified to clarify the context of House?s detainment.
Photo of Moxie Marlinspike by Dave Bullock
See also:
Vulnerability Allows Hacker to Impersonate Any Website
PayPal Suspends Researcher?s Account for Distributing Hacking Tools
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Motorola Milestone 2 comes to the UK unlocked

The Motorola Milestone 2 has arrived in the UK, with a multitude of online sites stocking the device.The Android-toting handset - which is an update of the Motorola Milestone - from Moto brings Android 2.2, a 3.7-inch WVGA screen, 8GB of internal storage and a 1GHz processor inside.The phone itself is a rather slender slider ? at 13.7mm ? and includes MotoBlur, the app that's brings all your social feeds into one place.Pre-orderVodafone, O2 and T-Mobile have put the Motorola Milestone 2 up for pre-order on their respective sites, with the phone costing �379.99.You can also get the device for free, with a two-year contract that will cost you �30 a month.Other features on the Motorola Milestone 2 are: a 5MP camera with LED flash, HD 720p video capture and GPS support.The last time we saw anything of the Motorola Milestone 2 was back in September, so it is good that the handset is finally getting its time in the limelight.Related StoriesApple co-founder: Android will dominate phonesYahoo adds GetJar apps to its mobile searchReview: Sony Ericsson Xperia X8Nokia N8: company admits switch-off problemsVideo: HTC Merge - pictures and video emergeCredit cards

Five Favorites: Neighborhood Elements

‘Colors!’
courtesy of ‘kimberlyfaye’
For the past year and a half I wrote the Where We Live feature for We Love DC. Every edition would take me to another neighborhood in the city, where I’d talk to residents and find out what makes that neighborhood a great place to live. And while every neighborhood was different, and [...]Air Freight

Yelp Webinars: A Great Way to Stay Up to Speed on Product Updates

Business owners have an important voice on Yelp. We encourage them to claim this voice by unlocking their free business tools on biz.yelp.com. There are a lot of benefits to unlocking Yelp?s free business tools. One of them is a...Collectible Dolls

Exclusive: HTCSense.com coming to the HTC Desire?

HTC has hinted that its cloud-based HTCSense.com service may be made available to older handsets in the near future, with the original HTC Desire looking likely to get the functionality.A TechRadar reader kindly gave us a tip-off that HTC had contacted him about the HTCSense.com service.While the phone company couldn't confirm if the HTC Desire was compatible with HTCSense.com, it did reveal that more details should arrive 'by the end of the year'.While we knew HTC was looking at porting the service to other compatible devices, it's the first time we have heard of any sort of timeframe.Makes SenseHTCSense.com was announced back in September and it is currently only available on the HTC Desire HD and HTC Desire Z handsets.If you have these phones then you can log on to HTC.com to lock your handset if you have lost it, track its location and even take it off mute so you can hear its ringtone. The service is completely free and also allows you other synching options.The rather cryptic message our reader got from HTC was as follows: "At this time we are unable to confirm when the Desire will be compatible with HTCSense.com."We hope to make this available before the end of the year."We have contacted HTC to see if there is any official information/confirmation on this.Related StoriesSharp to take 3D phones into US, India and ChinaVirgin Media offering Nokia 6700 slideReview: BlackBerry Bold 9780Apple iAd mobile advertising coming to UK in DecemberApple co-founder: Android will dominate phonesCredit score

Is Twitter really worth $3 billion?

Twitter is currently looking to raise over $100 million investment funds, suggesting that the company is valued at around $3 billion (�1.89 billion).The latest Twitter news comes courtesy of reports on TechCrunch, which claim that Russian tech investor DST Global is looking to lead the next funding round into the microblogging phenomemon.Twitter triples in value?Twitter currently has around 175 million users and has only recently introduced a limited ad-revenue based model to generate some cash.Back in 2009, Twitter raised $100 million from investors including Insight Venture Partners, Spark Capital and T. Rowe Price. At that time, the company was valued at $1 billion. Which means, if the latest reports are true, that the company has tripled in value in less than a year.DST Chairman Yuri Milner said during an on-stage interview at the Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco this week that DST invests in companies that typically have a $1 billion-dollar plus valuation, that are in the "social Internet space," and can be located anywhere. "My guess is there are probably 25 to 30 companies like that," said the tech investment guru.Meanwhile, Twitter co-founder Evan Williams said his company was not running low on capital, claiming that Twitter has "a lot of money in the bank." Williams added that Twitter was in talks with Facebook, looking at new ways in which the two companies can work together. "We're talking to them often to see if there is a way to work together, but so far neither side has found out a way to do that," Williams told the Web 2.0 crowd.Related StoriesGoogle Docs editing comes to Android, iPhone and iPadVirgin Media starts campaign against broadband speed conLatest IE9 tops benchmark, but Microsoft stands firmGary Marshall: Dumping net neutrality could be disastrousTwitter Analytics: chart your popularity soonsports

Android Market readied for Gingerbread 2.3 update

Google's Android Market app store is set to get an overhaul, after it was revealed that the service's publishing interface has been given a whole host of new features.The publishing interface is the part of Android Market which is used by app devs, and the main changes come in an improvement in graphics.This may not sound that impressive but it may well have to do with making sure application icons look good on bigger-sized screens like tablets.Market makeoverOther changes include the option to add a promotional video to the Android Market and a feature graphic.The new updates may also point to an improved web interface for Android Market, which would be welcomed as the current one is less than satisfactory.This is something that has been teased as far back as May at the Google I/O conference.Just this week, Eric Schmidt showed off his very own Nexus S handset and confirmed that the next OS for Android would indeed be Android 2.3 Gingerbread.Related StoriesZuckerberg weighs in on Google Contacts rowMySpace to Connect with Facebook?UK Culture Minister looks to kill off net neutralityAmazon turns movie producer with Amazon StudiosGoogle Docs editing comes to Android, iPhone and iPadBirth control

Review: Asus P7H55-M

The release of Intel's Clarkdale chip and its accompanying H55 chipset means new boards all round for Intel's LGA1156 boys. The shiny new P7H55-M from ASUS aims to offer a full-blooded experience at little more than budget price and comes with a raft of overclocking tools to keep the most dedicated explorer of performance tweaks happy. It has the neat ability to adjust its base clock in 1MHz increments, and you've got a Marvell SATA controller running two internal SATA 600 ports, and two external USB 3.0 ports, so you're tooled-up for fast drives. The feature list is full of Asus' unique features; some lovely, some fairly pointless (does anybody on earth use Express Gate?). The two Asus is most pleased about are the new green-friendly Energy Processor Unit, which does clever things to voltage and multipliers across the whole board, and Turbo Unlocker ? press a button and get an instant boost with unlocked chips (they tell us).We tested the P7H55-M with an Intel i7-870, a meaty Radeon graphics card and two sticks of Corsair memory running at 1,333MHz (although it isn't, true memory speed is arcane knowledge). Here we've pitched the new bug against a Gigabtye H55M-UD2H ? not quite as feature-rich perhaps, but using the same Intel chipset and aimed at the same buyer and sells for about the same, too. Both boards were run without any overclocking (not as easy as it sounds; they were quite keen). As you might expect, it's a close-run thing. The Asus has a slim but clear lead in the application benchmarks. Why the memory bandwidths differ is a bit of a mystery. An erroneous timing setting perhaps?CPU rendering Cinebench R10 ? time in seconds, lower is betterAsus P7H55-M: 47Gigabtye H55M-UD2H: 52Cinebench R11 ? index, higher is betterAsus P7H55-M: 5.52Gigabtye H55M-UD2H: 5.13Video encodingX264 V.2 ? frames per second, higher is betterAsus P7H55-M: 28.57Gigabtye H55M-UD2H: 27.84Game physicsWorld in Conflict ? frames per second, higher is betterAsus P7H55-M: 239Gigabtye H55M-UD2H: 238Memory speedSiSoft Sandra ? data transfer rate, higher is betterAsus P7H55-M: 16.1GB/sGigabtye H55M-UD2H: 16.7GB/sWe were looking forward to seeing just how the P7H55-M could stretch Intel's marvellously stretchy i7. The automated overclocking features proved to be damp squibs. The OC Tuner in the BIOS turned our 2.93GHz chip into a 3.88GHz one, which was a good start. Unfortunately, it did it by dropping the clock multiplier to 20 and pushing the base clock to 194MHz, which was too much for the rest of the system to cope with and stay stable. It booted, but benchmarking revealed that the processor throttled back under the stress. The software-based TurboV auto-tuner wasn't any better. This left the multiplier alone and pushed the base clock from 133MHz to ? wait for it ? 136MHz. We were unimpressed.Back to the old fashioned way and into the BIOS we went, loaded the defaults and set controls to manual. At an x24 multiplier and a 155MHz base clock, we had a stable 3.72Ghz system. For the more dedicated speed merchant there was more to come, adjusting the voltages and tweaking the memory timings and so forth. There are many adjustable settings, clock skew, differential amplitude, individual memory timings and more that might require some form of electrical engineering knowledge to use with confidence. The Turbo Unlocker feature, when you've set it all up, should give a boost to CPU performance when you hit the hotkey. We remain unconvinced here. If it will overclock without tears, then why not leave it overclocked?Motherboards have caught the fashion for 'green' features. The P7H55-M boasts an EPU, Energy Processing Unit, this will adjust the core voltage, the FSB, clock multiplier, spin down drives and more. It's something Asus appears particularly pleased about, and it's clever stuff. This new-found righteousness is even accompanied by a little counter which tells you how many mg of CO2 you've avoided emitting. Saving power is good, of course, however, Cinebench R10's score was crippled, rising from 47 seconds to over 80 seconds running maximum power saving mode, which is rather against the whole point of building a fast PC. It's nice but you would do better green work using sleep and low power modes rather than leaving it to EPU to run at reduced ability. There is also something deliciously ironic about watching your CO2 saved meter running. What else? Well there's a wonderfully bullet-proof BIOS, it'll recover from any stupid mistakes you might make (ahem) and you can switch between multiple BIOS set-ups. We likedAt this price its hard to get too fussy about the P7H55-M, it covers all the bases rather well. It has the all-important high-speed controllers, although an external SATA port is notable by its absence. As an over-clocking board it has plenty of potential, too: there's support for 2,000MHz memory and that incremental base clock adjustment is hours of fun. We dislikedThe auto-tuning needs some work though. The small form factor means only one x16 PCIe slot, so no dual-card action, so this isn't the board for that ultimate games monster you always promised yourself. Related LinksRead more motherboard reviewsTechRadar's Reviews GuaranteeRelated StoriesCES 2011: Intel Sandy Bridge CPU to be unveiled in JanuaryCES 2011: Intel Sandy Bridge CPU to be unveiled in JanuaryReview: AMD Athlon II X4 645Review: AMD Phenom II X4 970 Black EditionReview: AMD Phenom II X6 1075TDieting

Yelp Me, Yelp You: Bincho Yakitori, London

At Yelp, we?ve heard from thousands of businesses and yelpers on how the site has brought them together or changed their life. From growing a one car limousine service to a multi-car company based solely on Yelp reviews; leveraging Yelp...Creating an online business

Yelp Me, Yelp You: Bincho Yakitori, London

At Yelp, we?ve heard from thousands of businesses and yelpers on how the site has brought them together or changed their life. From growing a one car limousine service to a multi-car company based solely on Yelp reviews; leveraging Yelp...Digital Cameras 2

AMD joins MeeGo, cuddles up to Nokia and Intel

AMD has stunned mobile world, announcing it will be working alongside rivals Intel on MeeGo ? the Linux open source project that's headed up by Nokia.MeeGo wasinitiated by Nokia and Intel and is mesh of Intel's Moblin (mobile Linux) operating system and Nokia's Maemo software platform.It seems while Intel will be bringing CPUs to the MeeGo party, AMD is looking to offer up its upcoming APUs - so-called Accelerated Processing Units that combine the traditional functions of CPUsandgraphics processing in the same chip.Expanded opportunitiesIn a statement, Ben Bar-Haim, corporate vice president of software development at AMD, said: "MeeGo represents an exciting, open-source mobile operating system we expect to be adopted by mobile and embedded device makers over time."We are glad to provide engineering resources to joint industry efforts like MeeGo and expect that this operating system will help drive our embedded plans and create expanded market opportunities for our forthcoming Accelerated Processing Units."In a way the move makes a lot of sense for AMD. AMD is a gold level member of The Linux Foundation, so it seems fit that it makes a contribution to the MeeGo Project.Considering Intel has a big part to play in MeeGo, though, it is great to see two rivals working together in the name of open source.Via RecombuRelated StoriesUpdated: Android 3.0 and Android 2.3 rumours: what you need to knowVirgin Mobile HTC Desire Android 2.2 update arrivesAndroid 2.3: what you need to knowWindows Phone 7 takes SD cards, never gives them backGoogle boss teases Nexus S handset, confirms Android 2.3technology

DeSean Jackson's No. 10 Jersey Only Eagle Among NFL's Most Popular

An interesting read from CNBC's Darren Rovell about the sales numbers for NFL player jerseys. Not surprisingly, Ben Roethlisberger jersey sales have tanked after his rocky offseason away from the field. But what I found interesting was that sales of Michael Vick jerseys skyrocketed him to the 4th best selling jersey before the start of last season while he didn't even crack the top 25 in the most recent rankings of jersey sales. The lone Eagle in the top 25 list was speedster DeSean Jackson who cracks the top 15. Jackson's talent, ability, and flashy play are surely a good enough reason to purchase a No. 10 midnight green jersey. On the other hand, not sure exactly why so many people purchased Tim Tebow jerseys.

Divorce rebuild life articles

Branded 'dumbphones' are being squeezed out, research shows

By Tim Conneally, Betanews
For years, Industry researchers have been saying that the drop in price for pocketable technology will cause more people to switch from simple "voice and text" phones to sophisticated smartphones. Now, after four years of smartphone sales growth in the neighborhood of 30-50% per annum (source: IDC, Gartner, ABI research) an explosion in smartphone sales is now taking place. However, in emerging markets, it's a different story.Market analysts at Gartner Inc. today published their worldwide mobile phone sales numbers for the third quarter of 2010; and smartphones, which includes BlackBerry, iPhone, Android, Symbian, and Windows Phone devices, has grown 96% since the third quarter of 2009. These results sync very closely with the shipment figures published by IDC last week, which tracked an 89.5% annual growth in the number of smartphone shipped to retailers. "Smartphone OS providers have entered a period of accelerated platform evolution, stimulated by more regular product releases, new platform entrants and new device types," said Gartner principal research analyst Roberta Cozza today. "Any platform that fails to innovate quickly --either through a vibrant multi-player ecosystem or clear vision of a single controlling entity-- will lose developers, manufacturers, potential partners and ultimately users."Kevin Restivo, senior analyst of Mobility at IDC last week said, "The market transition to smartphones is proceeding at a brisk and unabated pace." IDC predicted 20% of all mobile devices shipped worldwide will be smartphones by the end of this year, the first time the category has ever reached this height.
The conversion to smartphones is taking place mostly in developed markets, and trends in emerging markets differ in an interesting way. Consumers in markets such as India, Russia, Africa, and Latin America are often first-time mobile device buyers, and Gartner says these users are buying "white box" dumbphones. In fact, these unbranded devices now comprise 33% of the total mobile device market because of this, and combined are outselling all branded handsets. Market leader Nokia, which has consistently taken the largest chunk of the mobile device market, now has the second largest share behind the category Gartner calls "Others." These "others" are typically made in China, have extremely low manufacturing costs, and can be offered to consumers very cheaply. "We firmly believe this phenomenon will not be short-lived as we still see a continued need for non-3G devices. Although we have seen acceleration in sales this quarter, we expect an even bigger volume in the fourth quarter of 2010," Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner said today.The near-term result looks like a serious squeeze on branded dumbphones. In established markets, consumers are replacing their feature phones with smartphones at a record rate; and at the other end of the spectrum, users in emerging markets are opting for cheaper "generic" phones in larger numbers than ever.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010





cell phones

Microsoft's Kin gets second chance on Verizon as a "feature phone"

By Ed Oswald, Betanews

About five months after Microsoft decided to kill off its Kin phone project, leaked documents obtained by mobile blog PPC Geeks indicates that the company plans to bring back the devices as feature phones, but without the functions that set it apart.Tech blog Engadget says sources have told it that the Kin's most data-intensive features have been disabled. This would mean its "Loop" feature -- possibly one of the most unique qualities of the device -- would no longer work. However, Zune Pass would still operate over Wi-Fi as long as the customer carries the appropriate data plan.Microsoft's attempt to make a basic smart phone for the masses was almost dead from the start. Originally, the device was supposed to include its own inexpensive data plan which would allow for users to take advantage of the Kin's connectivity features.For whatever reason, Verizon balked and forced consumers to pick up the standard $29.99 per month smartphone data plan, which pushed the phone out of the demographic Microsoft was trying to reach. The Kin now had to compete with smartphones with a feature set much larger than its own: something Redmond never intended.It's believed that the phone sold about 8,000 units during its previous two month stint on the Verizon network. It is not known how many phones overall had been produced for Verizon.Sources tell Betanews that Microsoft had handed over all the updates for the device to Verizon after the project was canned. It does appear that the entire Kin development team has been assigned to other units, Betanews was told, so it is likely this move is not being spurred by Microsoft itself."If we gave them all the technology, they could run with it on their own," one source said.As a feature phone, the price of acquisition drops dramatically. Instead of a $30 per month plan, Kin users will now likely pay $10 to $15 a month for data access. Neither Verizon nor Microsoft have commented publicly on the situation.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010





Baby

Flyers Extend Team-Building Trip in Carolina by One Night, Drop Hurricanes 8-1

Where do we start with this one?
The Flyers just mauled the Carolina Hurricanes at the RBC Center in Raleigh by an 8-1 count. Despite the dominance and the increasingly empty building, they played all the way until the final whistle and extended their streak without a straight loss to the Hurricanes to 17 (14-0-3). Damn near impossible to pick a star of this game, because so many Flyers did just about everything right.
Jeff Carter earned himself the most anticlimactic hat trick we've seen in a while, Danny Briere had a pair of his own, Claude Giroux assisted on two goals with great plays, Ville Leino worked his ass off for a brilliant night that won't show up on the scoresheet, and Sergei Bobrovsky and his defense nearly pitched a shutout. 
Highlights and video after the jump.

It's easy to focus on what led to the 8 in the score, but let's start with the 1, and the tweet of the night by @ThatBeerSnob, talking about Bobrovsky's performance:
?Even on a night when they don't NEED him to be a stud, he still is.?
Bob had 35 saves on 36 shots, eating up angles and still finding a way to get in position to stop rebounds. Watch how demoralized Chad LaRose's slumpy body language is after he gets stoned like a character in The Lottery.









Briere's line got the scoring tempo started in the first, although the presumed opener was taken off the board after it was deemed Scott Hartnell directed a brilliant Leino pass in with a distinct kicking motion. Looked to me more like he purposefully moved his skate into the perfect spot to redirect it, rather than kick the puck, but I'm not getting the big War Room bucks. What'd you all think? Kick or no?
The line didn't hang their heads over it though, scoring on their next shift. Once again, Leino was the feeder, finding an open Briere sitting on the back doorstep from whence he rarely misses. 









That's great finishing from in close by Danny, but that goal was all Leino. He drew the attention behind the net and into the circle, then fed a perfect pass through traffic to a wide open Briere.
Nik Zherdev earned the Flyers a power play by suckering the Hurricanes into taking a dumb penalty. He rifled a long shot in on Cam Ward, then subtly slewfooted a Carolina defender to the ice on his way past the net. Erik Cole responded immediately by plastering Zherdev into the boards, giving the Flyers a man advantage. They won the ensuing draw, another prominent storyline in this game, and Chris Pronger unloaded a point shot into a crowd that included a pair of Flyers camped out in front of Ward. One of them was Carter, who dunked it. 
Carter would score the next Flyers goal too, but we wouldn't know it was his until after he'd scored again, and a scoring change on the Flyers' third goal was made from Andrej Meszaros to Carter. Giroux accepted a great pass, glided in on Ward, got a little too far past him, but rather than bail on the play, he slid it behind Ward and into the slot, and it was drawn back to Meszaros, who put it on goal.






What we didn't know initially was that Carter tipped it in. Would have been nice to see Meszaros finally get his first goal as a Flyer after having a few come very close, but we'll take the no-hats hat trick for Carter.
Carter's third came on another power play, this time on a much cleaner shot than the first two. While still on a 4-on-4, the Hurricanes overskated their ability to get back, lost the puck just as Zherdev was coming out of the box, and Carter skated in on a 2-on-1 with Zherdev. Hepaused for just a second as though he might dish it, which made Ward cheat off the short-side post, and it was just enough for Carter to snipe one. Gorgeous. Danny had the assist on that one, his 300th career helper. Exit stage left for Ward. 
Giroux and Mike Richards were menacing on the penalty kill, and some great work by Richie while shorthanded actually earned the Flyers the power play that generated Carter's third goal. In the third period, more pressure by the best shorthanded duo in hockey led directly to a goal, when Richie nearly scored on a breakaway, then Giroux caught a terrible clearing attempt near the blue line, skated it in, and found Richards with a pass he buried behind Justin Peters for the Flyers' fifth of the night. Mr. Cheeks would tell ya to give it up for the shortie:






How much fun does it have to be to play with Giroux? 
And hey, speaking of AWFUL, half-assed clearing attempts... 









Some might think it a tad unsportsmanlike to run up the score, but hockey's a tough sport to lay off in, especially with a team just falling apart like the Hurricanes did. Plus, you never want to see a team play at half speed for any part of a game, regardless of the score, and one of the most encouraging signs in this one (and there were many to choose from) was that the Flyers played hard for 60 minutes. They'd add two more goals in this one, seemingly energized that LaRose had the gall to ruin Bobrovsky's shutout bid. 
Briere scored his second on the strength of some hard work by Scott Hartnell and Jody Shelley, and Zherdev closed it out with a no-doubt breakaway on Peters.






As soon as he hit the open space, you knew he was going to score. 
A few final points in brief:

Hard to believe after seeing all that, but the Flyers were actually outshot in this one, 36-26. Philadelphia did win 11 more faceoffs though. 
Carter's three goals came on just 12:36 of ice time, with the Flyers getting some minutes for lower liners late in the game (and not losing a step).
Jody Shelley skated for 12 minutes, led the team with 8 hits, and got his first point of the season on the second Briere goal.
Blair Betts somehow managed to be a -1 in an 8-1 game. That's just bad luck right there. 
Dan Carcillo had the least amount of ice time among Flyers forwards, but he did spend 5 minutes in the box after obliging Tom Kostopoulos (and tuning him up). 

Perfect start to a difficult run of games. Despite the total team effort, there should be plenty left in the tank for the busy upcoming schedule.


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Crumbs Bakery Opens First D.C. Location Tomorrow

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courtesy of ‘BrentOzar’
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Boras and Ruben: Not Ignoring Each Other

While Jayson Stark's sources put the chances of Jayson Werth returning to the Phillies at a very round number of ZERO, Scott Boras says the two sides are still keeping an open dialogue. Boras was a guest on MLB Network's Inside Pitch show yesterday during which he talked about two of his big time clients, Jayson Werth and Adrian Beltre. WEEI in Boston (via) has the transcript of the entire interview, but here's the part about the two sides still talking. Do the Phillies have any chance at Werth? Shane Victorino said he hasn?t received an offer from the Phillies. [Phillies GM] Ruben [Amaro] and I have had conversations. We?ll continue to have them. The best thing I can say is the dialogue continues. That?s not something I can really define at this point. It's kind of like dividing by zero. Or something. Hard to define. >>Boras: Unprecedented market for Adrian Beltre, and why Jayson Werth is the second coming of Dwight Evans [WEEI]

Domain Names

Gran Turismo 5 gets UK release date

Sony has finally announced the UK release date for Gran Turismo 5 ? with the UK getting its hands on the racer on 24 November. Delays have beat GT5 for years ? leaving gamers frustrated and angry at not being able to play one of the games that was being talked about as akey title for the launch of the PlayStation 3 back in 2006. Although Gran Turismo 5 Prologue at least gave people a chance to play an incarnation of the racing game on the PS3, this will be the first full numbered version for this generation of the console. Jewel in the crownThe game will be released in both the US and UK on 24 November ? and will feature over 1,000 cars. The Gran Turismo series developed by Polyphony Digital ? is one of the jewels in the crown of the Sony PlayStation world. The original game arrived back in 1997 ? and more than 50 million copies of the franchise have been sold in the 13 years since. At least they managed to get it out before we had all given up on cars and were flying solar-powered jetpacks around. Related StoriesUpdated: Kinect games: here's what you can buyKinect for Xbox 360 on sale nowReport: Xbox Kinect costs just �35 in partsAffiliate Marketing on the internet

Linc Ranked No. 1 in Vegetarian-Friendly Stadium Fare

The Michael Vick-led Philadelphia Eagles' home of Lincoln Financial Field has been ranked by PETA as the most vegetarian-friendly stadium in the NFL. Apparently there is such a thing as a "mock-steak sandwich," but has anyone actually ever enjoyed such a thing? When I hear "mock-steak" sandwich I simply picture a big fat Eagles fan eating a Tony Luke's wiz wit while screaming mockingly at Andy Reid about his inability to manage time.

Christmas shopping

Mozilla releases beta 7 of Firefox 4, claims 3-5x performance boost

By Tim Conneally, Betanews
Mozilla Wednesday released a significant update to the beta of its Firefox 4 browser. The update adds a new JavaScript JIT compiler, going by the name of J�gerMonkey, and improves the browser's support for hardware acceleration, OpenType fonts, and WebGL 3D graphics (the technology used to create an HTML5 version of Quake II back in April.)Additionally, the latest beta includes a stable add-ons API, so developers can finally update their add-ons to Firefox 4. Of course, the first thing Mozilla is touting about this version of the browser is the performance boost it gets from the new J�gerMonkey JavaScript compiler."The Firefox SpiderMonkey JavaScript engine now incorporates the new J�gerMonkey JIT compiler, which, along with enhancements to the existing TraceMonkey JIT and SpiderMonkey's interpreter, add up to speeds that really show off today's rich Web apps. You'll notice this in faster start-up time, improved page-load speed and the performance of Web apps and games," Jay Sullivan wrote in the Mozilla Blog today.In Scott Fulton's Browser Performance tests in October, he ranked Firefox 4 Beta 8 behind both Opera and Chrome, but well ahead of Safari and Internet Explorer. At the time, however, the feature-complete version of Beta 7 was not available for testing. That milestone has been reached, and it can be downloaded now.Using the Kraken and Sunspider benchmark test suites, Mozilla says FF4 beta 7 runs 3 times faster than beta 6; and in the V8 Benchmark suite, it counts a 5x improvement.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010





Auto-Leasing

Amazon opens beta of publishing platform for periodicals, ups royalties

By Tim Conneally, Betanews
Amazon on Tuesday announced it will begin paying 70% royalties to magazine and newspaper publishers who release their periodicals on the Amazon Kindle starting in December. The move follows a similar royalty increase Amazon made in June, when the company began offering a 70% option for books published through its Digital Text Platform (DTP.)Coincidentally, the company today launched the Beta of the Kindle Publishing for Periodicals tool, which is similar to DTP, but lets publishers add content and preview Kindle formatting prior to making their titles available on the E-reader.For publishers to qualify for the increased rate, magazines and newspapers must be uniformly presented across all Kindle devices (e-reader, mobile app, or PC application,) in all regions where publishing rights are held, must match its print counterpart 95% (including the order of the sections,) and it must be published to Kindle 3 hours before print copies are delivered via XML, RSS 2.0, NITF, or XHTML feeds.If there isn't a print counterpart, the periodical falls into the blog category, which will retain 30% royalties because, according to Amazon, "existing terms are generally more advantageous for them.""Building on the recent introduction of Wi-Fi-enabled Kindles and the upcoming availability of newspapers and magazines on Kindle Apps, we're pleased to add an increased revenue share and a great new tool for making Kindle better and easier than ever for publishers," Peter Larsen, Director of Kindle Periodicals said in a statement Tuesday.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010





Camera bag

Computer Virus Leads to $20 Million Scam Targeting Pianist Composer

A noted classical pianist, composer and Latin music producer found himself drawn into an elaborate years-long extortion scheme that cost him between $6 and $20 million after he brought his laptop into a computer repairman to help rid it of a virus.
The alleged fraudsters, a computer repairman and his girlfriend in suburban New York, convinced the wealthy 58-year-old that he was the victim of an especially sophisticated piece of malware controlled by a devious group in Honduras, and that he and his family were also targeted for harm by a group pf Polish priests out to topple the U.S. government. The scam was reported in a statement released by the Westchester County District Attorney?s office on Monday and in a New York Times story.
The complex scam continued for six years before the two suspects, who claimed to be working with the CIA to thwart the Polish priests, were arrested as they prepared to leave on a trip to Iceland.
It began in 2004 when composer Roger Davidson brought his troubled laptop to Datalink Computer Products, a shop in the affluent town of Mount Kisko, New York, run by Vickram Bedi, 36, and his Icelandic girlfriend Helga Invarsdottir, 39. Davidson suspected his computer was infected with a virus and was concerned that music compositions he stored on the computer would be destroyed.
Once Bedi and Invarsdottir realized the extent of Davidson?s wealth, they began to hatch an elaborate scheme alleging various security threats against not only Davidson and his family but the U.S. government, the district attorney?s office says. Davidson, who produced the Grammy-winning album Te Amo Tango for musician Raul Jaurena, is also heir to the Schlumberger oil fortune as a descendant of two brothers who launched the multinational oilfield services company.
Bedi confirmed for Davidson that his computer was infected and added that the malware was so virulent it had infected and damaged Datalink?s computers, as well. Bedi promised to investigate the source of the malware, claiming to have special familial connections to help him do so.
Bedi later claimed the malware had been tracked to a hard drive in a remote village in Honduras. As proof, he claimed that an uncle in the Indian military had flown to Honduras for a reconnaissance mission and seized the hard drive while there.
That?s when things got really weird.
Bedi claimed his uncle had uncovered a plot, perpetrated by Polish priests associated with Opus Dei, to harm Davidson and his family. Opus Dei, of course, gained public acclaim for its imagined role in Dan Brown?s Da Vinci Code novel, which was published in 2004. Bedi claimed he was helping the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency thwart Opus Dei?s efforts to infiltrate the U.S. government.
Davidson, convinced he and his family were in danger, agreed to pay Datalink not only for computer services to rid him of the harmful virus but to pay for protective services to guard him and his family. The costs, charged to Davidson?s American Express card on a monthly basis, eventually added up to $6 million before authorities, responding to a separate complaint against Bedi this last July, began to unravel the plot. The two defendants were arrested in their home as they were preparing to leave the country.
Authorities say the final cost of the scam could amount to $20 million.
?These two defendants preyed upon, duped and exploited the fears of this victim with cold calculation and callousness,? said District Attorney Janet DiFiore in a statement Monday. ?The systematic method with which they continued the larceny over a period of more than six years is nothing short of heartless.?
The two have been charged with one count of felony grand larceny. If convicted, they face a maximum sentence of 25 years in state prison.
A spokesman for the district attorney?s office indicated it was unclear why Davidson fell for the ruse but said the victim may not be at a complete loss.
?He may get a fair portion of [the stolen money] back,? said spokesman Lucian Chalfen.
Photo courtesy Westchester County District Attorney
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In just 2 quarters, Sprint will sell 3 million EVO and Epic 4G phones, says research

By Tim Conneally, Betanews
ABI Research today made a bold prediction regarding WiMAX adoption in the United States: that Sprint will sell nearly 3 million WiMAX-capable smartphones by the end of 2010."Sprint's 4G smartphone sales have been partially responsible for its recent subscriber growth. ABI Research forecasts that the carrier will ship almost three million 4G handsets for its WiMAX network by the end of 2010," ABI Research director Philip Solis said in a statement today. "That number is greater than many observers expected."If this prediction proves accurate, it means that the only two WiMAX smartphones available --the HTC EVO 4G, and the Samsung Epic 4G-- are selling like crazy. Based upon Sprint's total postpaid CDMA subscriber base at the end of the third quarter, ABI's prediction means that 12% of Sprint subscribers will be using one of those two phones.This is noteworthy for a couple of reasons. Firstly, they have only been available for a limited time: the EVO 4G has been available for purchase since June, and the Epic 4G only went on sale a little less than two months ago.Secondly, they are only available in ZIP codes where Sprint offers its 4G service, and the U.S.' most densely populated cities will only contribute to the growth for a short period of time before the year ends. The most densely populated city, New York City, only just went live this week, and Los Angeles, number two in population, is expected to go live some time in the next month. In its third quarter report, Sprint said its WiMAX network would cover an area including 120 million people.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010





Air Ambulance

4G LTE set to be $100bn business by 2014

Research has suggested that 4G LTE - a next generation mobile network - could generate more than $100 billion (�62bn) globally by 2014. With 3G now commonplace, the attention has turned to the next generation and 4G LTE could provide the kind of data rates that will keep us connected in style, for a while at least. Juniper Research's latest report suggests that, once launched, the 4G LTE networks will appeal to high traffic subscribers - particularly companies. European woe?But Western Europe has been tagged as an area that may not bring immediate profit ? unless the network operators concentrate hard on offering businesses a premium package they are willing to fork out for. 4G LTE Business Models report author Howard Wilcox noted: "In the new report, our business modelling evaluated three scenarios. "The most optimistic view revealed scope for higher revenues and ARPU if network operators adopt premium pricing strategies for enterprise users." That's because, the report suggests, consumer users will generate less than half of the total revenues ? at least until 2015.Related StoriesHasbro launching 3D viewer for Apple iPhoneBudget slider T-Mobile Vibe launchedBBC News app hits 1.5m non-UK downloadsGoogle search app for Windows Phone 7 arrivesReview: LG Optimus OneDental

Harrods starts selling crystal-encrusted Samsung Galaxy Tab

Harrods has officially unveiled its crystal-encrusted special edition Samsung Galaxy Tab ? yours for a shade under �2,700. The high-end London shop is offering the blinged up Tab with the promise that every crystal has been painstakingly hand-applied to the case. When you consider that means that someone has had to glue on 5,700 Swarovski Bright crystals, it makes it even more pressing to ask exactly which magpie wants a 7-inch Android 2.2 tablet that glistens. Lavish"The Crystal Samsung Galaxy Tab combines lavish design with incredible product features, such as a 1GHz processor, Google's Android 2.2, Froyo operating system, a front facing camera for video calls and a 7-inch TFT-LCD display," added the official press release."The 7-inch size means the Galaxy Tab is perfectly portable, fits in a pocket or handbag and can be used for everything from watching films and TV, viewing pictures, reading ebooks and sharing documents, to talking to friends and colleagues via voice and video call, e-mail, instant messaging, SMS/MMS or social networking."So, if Swarovski crystals and tech is your thing, then you might want to crack open the crystal-encrusted piggy bank and delve around for the �2,699. The Crystal Galaxy Tab is available exclusively from Micro Anvika at Harrods ? with custom designs available.Related StoriesCreative outs Android Zen Touch 2 MP3 playerTizi brings Freeview to the iPadApple iOS 4.2 update imminentToshiba releases Folio 100 tablet PCSamsung: Galaxy Tab to hit one million sales 'this year'music video

Your Asbestos Free Sixers-Knicks Gamer

If NFL pregame shows aren't up your alley, the Sixers and Knicks provide a nice sporting alternative with tipoff from the now (assumedly) asbestos-free MSG at noon today. The Sixers are coming off a strange loss on Friday night in which they were blown out by as many as 17 points by a mediocre Cleveland team in the first quarter but found a way to scrap back to take a second half lead only to give that away in the final minutes. Big swings are expected with such a young team, but it'll be coach Collins' job to ensure they work on and limit such big runs by opponents. They'll face a retooled Knicks team led by Amare Stoudemire and a cast of characters who have been shooting the ball well to start the season. Amare, Wilson Chandler, Toney Douglas, Raymond Felton, and Danilo Gallinari are all averaging double figures in scoring to start the season, so New York has plenty of guys that can beat you. The Sixers will be without Andre Iguodala who will miss his first start in 252 games with a strained Achilles tendon -- quite a stretch. The one very vocal anti-AI fan who sat near us in section 116 on Friday night at the WFC will get a chance to see how the team does without 'Dre tonight. The Sixers will give Evan Turner his first NBA start this afternoon as they try to avoid going 1-6 for the first time since 1994-95. Tipoff scheduled for shortly after 12:00 on Comcast SportsNet.

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Take the BoomTown Vs. Zuckerberg Survey: Is the Apple iPad Mobile or Not?

Yesterday, BoomTown wrote a post titled ?Dear Zuck: The Apple iPad Is Mobile (So Sorry!),? countering Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg?s statement at a press event earlier this week that the popular tablet device is not.
As I wrote about what the kingpin of the social networking giant said:
Ben Parr of Mashable asked a question everyone has been speculating about recently?whether and when there would be an iPad app for Facebook coming.
A fumbling ?no comment? would have worked fine, but the real Zuckerberg seemed to have decided to channel the clever Aaron Sorkin-ish repartee of the fictional Zuckerberg in the movie ?The Social Network.?
?It?s not mobile?it is a computer,? he said flatly.
?I think Apple would disagree with you,? noted Parr.
?Well, sorry,? Zuckerberg spat out, his voice dripping with the kind of sarcasm that only a super-nerdy Silicon Valley engineer can pull off properly.
I disagreed, noting:
The iPad is a computer, because that is technically true, even though that makes a smartphone a computer too. (And, now that I think of it, my car is a computer.)
But actual civilians don?t make these kinds of distinctions and, if one spends any time watching consumers use tablets, mobile is entirely how they think of it.
The post got a lot of comments, and tweets too, so I thought I would post a survey so that everyone can cast their own vote.
And I won?t blame the economy if I lose, so click away (and I will post the results later):


Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world?s leading questionnaire tool.






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Tagged: Apple, BoomTown, Facebook, Internet, Kara Swisher, Silicon Valley, Twitter, digital, hardware, media, mobile, social networking, telecom, Aaron Sorkin, app, Ben Parr, civilian, computer, device, engineer, iPad, Mark Zuckerberg, Mashable, nerd, post, question, result, smartphone, survey, tablet, The Social Network, tweet | permalink








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