Hi-Tech News from around the world

The European Commission's Directorate-General for Research has launched a call for tenders for technical assistance by scientific-technical and industrial experts. Referred to as 'project technical advisers' (PTAs), they will …...

Microsoft just launched Bing a few weeks ago with lots of and . Already the service, but it seems that Microsoft is ready to the mobile field as well. But, unlike the Internet site which received an extreme makeover, the mobile client might simply be a rebadging if these screenshots are true. These screenshots come from an April-build of the Bing mobile app. (Kumo was the codename for Bing, btw) It should look familiar as, well, it's basically Live Search. That's not all bad though. Live ...

We're always big fans of mixed-use gadgets -- but these ones kind of mutilate the principle. On hand today we've got a two pack of bedazzled necklaces -- one an MP3 player, the other a USB flash drive / watch combo. We've also unearthed a USB speaker that claims to be a whale, but more closely resembles a weird, in our opinion. Finally (and this one was worth the wait, trust us), we've got a tiny Moto Horn for your bike, which makes it "safer" to ride your bike by. . . making vroom vroom mot...

New research shows that twins born with the use of assisted reproductive technology (ART) have a higher chance of being admitted to neonatal intensive care and being hospitalised during their first three years of life compared with twins conceived …...

Summer 2009 is shaping up to be the season of the smartphone, as one device is launched after another. Next up is T-Mobile's Google Android phone, the myTouch.

Sick of having to use your inconvenient mouse and keyboard to do "internet searches" for ROMs of your favorite retro games? Well a gentleman named Matthias might just have the answer to your prayers -- a USB cartridge adapter. The enterprising DIY'er has created a combo hardware and software solution that allows you to plug in your dusty carts directly to your rig, and see the ROMs appear as standalone files which you can then load into the emulator of your choice. Apparently there are st...

"Barney wanted a tiny waterproof computer for his million-dollar playboy lifestyle submersible, and he wanted it for under $2,000. We told him, 'you find it, you keep it. '" Apple can't say that in their I'm a Mac ads, can they? But Microsoft can, now that contends users could throw everything, including the kitchen sink, at their WPC-500F PC and it'd come out unscathed. Actually, throw the thing in the sink and it'd be fine too, because it's 100% waterproof. Now, what companies say and what ...

is one mobile application that has definitely managed to get quite some tongues rolling and this past week, including at the conference in Spain where I just got back from (video demo below). Layar is a so-called 'augmented reality browser', an application that turns you mobile phone's camera viewer - only on Android-powered phones for the time being - into a full-fledged information portal and local business search engine. It essentially puts an information overlay on top of your camera vie...

Nintendo is taking over Japanese living rooms and proving the Wii has legs beyond being a game console.

T-Mobile's represented a huge leap forward in the hiptop sector. Not only was the swiveling motion as smooth as ever here, but this was the first Sidekick that seemed to really take its user interface seriously. To that end, we're interested in knowing how you -- the opinionated consumer -- feel about Danger's latest effort. Are you impressed by the grown-up features? Does the form factor still have a place in your life? Is the UI snappy enough? Do you still get enough stares from potent...

We're just hearing about it now, but back in March a quick-thinking air traveler took advantage of a dim-witted TSA official who had let that fancy little patch they wear go to his head. Weapon of choice? An iPhone. The man, , was detained for carrying too much money. Not that this is a crime or anything (it isn't), but it was enough of a phantom infraction for the unnamed TSA official to remove him from line, put him in a windowless room, and interrogate him for an hour. Enter the iPhone, a...

SEATTLE (AP) -- Five and a half months ago, word that Steve Jobs would only work part-time as he recovered from a liver transplant would have sent investors into a selling frenzy, so closely linked was Apple's charismatic co-founder and CEO to the company's success. . . .

The EU-funded CRIME AND CULTURE project will present its findings and analytical results at a conference on 10 July in Brussels, Belgium. The CRIME AND CULTURE project 'Crime as a cultural problem. The relevance of perceptions of corruption …...

IT departments struggling to keep legacy data alive should consider a new cloud-based storage offering from RainStor.

Yes, you could just run out and buy a vocoder, but they're kinda pricey and this way is so much more fun! Using an IKEA clock, a fluorescent desk lamp, an HT8950 voice modulator, a condenser microphone and some miscellaneous stuff you're crafty self is bound to have just laying around, you can make one of your own! Doesn't look terribly complicated to us, but then, we love things that are terribly complicated. Get to it, sirs -- hit the read link for full instructions. Dōmo arigatō.

[ Engadget ]

Facebook has a big revenue target this year - $550 million, according to investors who were in the last round of funding. That's nearly twice 2008 revenues of $280 million. A big part of that revenue comes from cost-per-click advertising from small self serve advertisers. And right now those advertisers aren't very happy. They've been complaining about click fraud of up to 100% for weeks, and the situation doesn't seem to be getting any better. Scores of complaints can be , where adverti...

An electrical fault has delayed the LHC startup to October. The silver lining is events have aligned in such a way that I can wear my Higgs Boson costume with confidence. October, as you know, is home to Halloween.


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Savvy consumers often go online for independent consumer reviews of products and services, scouring through comments from everyday Joes and Janes to help them find a gem or shun a lemon. . . .

Homebuilt motion controllers may be a fairly common occurrence these days -- especially with the simplifying things considerably -- but this so-called "PC VR Game Gun" takes a slightly different approach than most, and has the added benefit of a pitchman firmly committed to selling it as the greatest thing since ShamWow. As you can see above, the rig consists of a toy gun with an LCD screen attached to it, but the real secret is a mounted on top, which allows for some full, seemingly respo...

Apple reportedly begins notifying iPhone 3G S owners that they may experience additional delays due to "system issues" and offers a $30 iTunes Store credit as an apology.

The chatter surrounding a was downright feverish Thursday, prompting many to speculate the event was imminent. Details were sparse, and the launch didn't come, but Google is definitely ready to do something based on new info. That info? How about one million newly reserved phone numbers with , the provider Google's been using in tandem with Voice since the beginning? Does that get your telecommunications itch scratched? Well, it should, especially if you've been following all the great things ...

A course on 'Philosophy of risk in health risk assessment' will be held from 12 to 16 October in Stockholm, Sweden. Via a combination of lectures, exercises and discussions, the course will provide an overview of important aspects of …...

As the world watches the violence and post-election protests escalate in Iran, startling images from the streets of Tehran are disseminating through various social media. Many of them are tagged #iranelection, a hashtag which started but is and elsewhere. Since it is difficult to find photos in the sea of Tweets using the same #iranelection tag I've been using Twicsy, an image search engine for photos posted to Twitter which . If you search or , dozens of images from the protests will pop up...

DENVER/NASHVILLE (Billboard) - In April, soon after Apple gave labels the ability to set different prices for their songs on iTunes, every track on Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" was raised to $1. 29.

Terrorist groups that have long used the Internet to spread propaganda are increasingly tapping the Web to teach Islamic extremists how to be hackers, recruit techies for cyberwarfare and raise money through online fraud, U. S. officials say. A senior defense official said intelligence reports indicate extremist groups are seeking computer experts.

Now that we know the iPhone 3G S and the Palm Pre , it's time to break out the stopwatches and see how these blood brothers stack up. Anandtech has the first head-to-head tests we've seen, and it seems like the 3G S has the slight edge, loading a series of web pages 11 percent faster and a whopping 54 percent faster than the iPhone 3G. Not too shabby, but not exactly a thorough drubbing either -- especially when you consider webOS is still 1. 0 and there's likely some optimizations to com...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Apple Inc. co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs, whose recovery from pancreatic cancer appeared less certain when he had to take medical leave in January, received a liver transplant two months ago but is recovering well, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. . . .

Sitting on a plane during boarding on the way to start Road Trip 2009, CNET's Daniel Terdiman uses Verizon's new mobile hot spot technology to create a Wi-Fi signal and downloads a large file on his iPhone.

Google has stepped up its efforts to fight Internet pornography in China, following Beijing's move on Friday to block some Chinese-language results delivered by its search engine. "We are undertaking a thorough review of our service and taking all necessary steps to fix any problem with our results," said Google spokesperson Scott Rubin.

The Apple iPhone may have got a makeover but it's not enough to convince CIOs the device has a place in business, according to a jury of CIOs. The Apple iPhone may have got a makeover but it's not enough to convince CIOs the device has a place in. . .

While we know how to switch on tethering on the iPhone 3G, we still don’t know what AT&T will charge when the service finally goes official. But around the world, news of updated tariffs is trickling in, and it doesn’t look good. Spain’s Telefónica, for instance, will be introducing a new €39 ($54) per month data ...

The recession may indeed be forcing you to cut back on some cellphone and cable television services, but apparently it will only get your high-speed Internet access when it pries your computer mouse from your cold, dead hands. The latest Pew Internet and American Life Project study, released Wednesday, shows broadband adoption growing in the face of a sour economy.

Releasing odors in movie theaters to enhance the viewing experience is an idea . Now , a wholly-owned subsidiary of Japan’s telecommunications behemoth , takes the idea to another level: The company today announced that makes it possible to send smells over the web. NTT Communications is currently recruiting monitors for their so-called i-Aroma service, which will go through a test run from mid-July to the end of August. i-Aroma is based on a USB device (15cm tall) that contains six base o...

Looking for something a little more in your HTPC keyboard than just a ? Then how about a built-in 3D mouse that'll have you waving the keyboard around at some potential peril to your couch-mates? That's just one feature of Cideko's new Air Keyboard, which also packs a pair of gamepad-style shoulder buttons in place of more standard mouse buttons, all the usual; dedicated media control buttons, and a promised range of 50 meters -- not to mention a purported battery life of 50 hours. Still n...

Almost no one else will see a bigger boost from the most-heralded feature in the new iPhone OS than the hit microblogging service.

This is certainly not a new image, but once you add the proper caption, the whole Wiimote bridging the generation gap concept gets a little bit disturbing. OK, it freaks me out almost as much as the .


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Redmond may be losing market share to Mozilla in browsers, but its open-source license is gaining ground fast against Mozilla for some very good reasons.

MOAR ROBOTS. Sure bilateral symmetry is where it's at for humans, but sometimes you just need more. Radial symmetry rocks, and the entire robot posse (both radial and bilateral. . . and . . . whatever) knows it. They're representing, and you should, too. $20. 99 - $21. 99...

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- A federal jury in Minneapolis is considering whether a Minnesota woman is responsible for sharing music over the Internet. . . .

Perhaps our aren't planning on decimating the human population after they take over -- they might have a good reason to retain a handful of bipedal hominidae. Who knows, really? But we're betting that if they do, the lucky slave population is going to want to hear some bed-time stories from time to time. To that end, Japanese researchers have developed Ninomiya-kun, a 3. 2-foot tall aluminum-framed robot capable of reading aloud from printed material. Developed at Waseda University and r...