Joshua Topolsky   Year:by , posted Jul 2nd 2008 at 2:17AM   Source Site:engadget

If you just shelled out some pretty pennies for the a high-speed, low-power SSD, Toms Hardware may have stumbled onto some findings that wont sit well. According to a rigorous benchmarking session, they discovered that not only do the drives not save you battery power... they eat more of it. How is this possible you ask? Well mechanical drives only hit peak drainage when the actuator has to move the heads, whereas SSDs use full power whenever theyre in use, so the end result is actually a diminished efficiency. What that means is that the hype over "green" drives may be just that: pure hype. On the other hand, youre still getting a drive with no moving parts, which at least makes your data more secure, if not more eco-friendly. [Via Eeeuser; Thanks, Tony]...

...

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 7:33 am   Year:July 1st, 2008   Source Site:zdnet

July 1st, 2008 Scathing report slams UK govt data loss Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 7:33 am Categories: Project failures, Government projects, IT issues, CIO issues, Politics Tags: Information Security, Data Loss, Accountability, HMRC, Security, Michael Krigsman The UK government has released a scathing report, called the Poynter Review, criticizing Her Majestys Revenue and Customs (HMRC), following the loss of confidential data belonging to 25 million UK citizens. The report concludes the loss was entirely avoidable and the fact that it could happen points to serious institutional deficiencies at HMRC. The report describes organizational insensitivity around security issues: Operational concerns placed ahead of security risks These concerns [about releasing large amo...

...

Hacked Gadgets - DIY Tech Blog   Year:19 hours ago   Source Site:technorati

From the Gadgets channel ? LED Painter - RGB Lighting System http://hackedgadgets.com/ 2008/ 07/ 01/ led-painter-rgb-lighting-system/ This LED Painter system looks like it works very well. If you want your living-room to groove this may be the ticket for you. It is using a chip by TI that I have never heard about before, I can see the TLC5940 being incorporated in many products and DIY projects. "The LED Painter is a 16 channel RGB LED controller (or 48 independent LEDs) using the Texas Instrument TLC5940. This PCB is improved with a better layout that allows easy connection of independent LEDs (not just RGB), as well as the ability to daisy chain multiple boards together. 19 hours ago Tagged: complex hacks, cool gadgets, crazy hacks, electronic hacks Hacke...

...

Posted by Larry Dignan @ 7:19 am   Year:July 1st, 2008   Source Site:zdnet

July 1st, 2008 ATT details iPhone plans; Rolls out iReady tips (yes were serious) Posted by Larry Dignan @ 7:19 am Categories: General, Personal Technology, Hardware Infrastructure, Wired & Wireless, Mobile, Apple, Telecommunications, AT&T Tags: Apple iPhone, AT&T Corp., iReady, 3G, Cellular Phones, Wireless, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Larry Dignan AT&T on Tuesday outlined its pricing structure for the rollout of the 3G iPhone and cooked up one cheesy marketing word: iReady. Just imagine the new uses for iReady. Lets get iReady. iReady, set, iPhone. Are you iReady? Ok, Im getting distracted here. AT&T isnt exactly on par with Microsofts Wow marketing thing with Vista, but it is damn close. The bottom line: Its safe to say that AT&...

...

Nilay Patel   Year:by , posted Jul 2nd 2008 at 2:17AM   Source Site:engadget

Municipal WiFi systems in the US have been pretty much failures across the board, but the good people of Akron, Ohio are apparently in for another go-round -- the citys just committed some $800,000 to build out a free wireless network over the next five years. The service will be installed and operated by a nonprofit called OneCommunity, which just received a $4.5M grant as part of a $25M commitment from the John S. and John L. Knight Foundation to implement digital access projects in 26 cities. The University of Akron has kicked in another $350,000, since the signal will cover its campus as well as the downtown area -- all in, some 90,000 residents and 31,000 workers will get access through the project. The network will start lighting up in the next year -- lets hope it fares bette...

...

Jessica Dolcourt   Year:July 1, 2008 2:17 PM PDT   Source Site:newsblog

(Credit: Fring) After so many announcements for this or that applications Facebook appearance, its nice to see Facebook play a supporting role in kind. On Tuesday, Fring, a VoIP and IM application for a range of mobile phones, added the ability to fold Facebook into the communicator, through a new Settings menu option called fringAdd-ons. Gmail Notifier, Orkut, vTap videos, and Yandex.mail are also in there, together representing the first extensions created by third-party developers using Frings application programming interface. Exactly how many add-ons join this handful will depend on Frings popularity with casual developers. Fring is not the only mobile software company opening its API to programmers. In fact, crowd-sourcing software authors is now seen as integral to a mobile sof...

...

iPhone Buzz   Year:17 hours ago   Source Site:technorati

From the Technology channel ? AT&T announces iPhone 3G prices for customers not eligible for an upgrade http://www.iphonebuzz.com/ att-announces-iphone-3g-prices-for-customers-not-eligi... Well folks, it looks as though we finally have the answer to that burning question. Just how much will AT&T want from customers already under contract (that arent eligible for an upgrade) for a new iPhone? Hit the jump for the answer. Those customers not eligible for an upgrade will have to pay $399 for an 8GB iPhone 3G and $499 for the 16GB model. While this is still considerably more than the $199 price for new customers, it is still cheaper than the original iPhone. Additionally, AT&T has announced that they will offer no-contract-required iPhones in the future at $599 and $699 p...

...

Darren Murph   Year:by , posted Jul 2nd 2008 at 2:17AM   Source Site:engadget

Attention all trinket lovers, your next must-buy piece of garbage has just arrived. For years, mom n pop stores (not to mention Cracker Barrel Country Stores) have raked in serious profits selling wooden animals with round knobs for feet, but now those manual farm-derived masseurs are likely out of a job. The USB Animal Massager ups the ante in a serious way by getting powered by USB, meaning that you wont even have to lift a finger as you watch that dog, panda or pig go to town on your toes or aching back. $10 spells relief (and embarrassment, but whatever). [Thanks, Fanny]...

...

Posted by Jason D. OGrady @ 7:06 am   Year:July 1st, 2008   Source Site:zdnet

July 1st, 2008 Apple posts iPhone 3G guided tour Posted by Jason D. OGrady @ 7:06 am Categories: iPhone, 3G Tags: Apple iPhone, Apple Inc., Video, 3G, Corporate Communications, Cellular Phones, Wireless, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Marketing As was the case this time last year, Apple has posted a 30 minute Web video demonstrating some of the features of the new iPhone 3G. Youre host is, you guessed it, the same guy that did the first iPhone videos (Bob?). Last time he was a little more mellow, this time he must have been tanking Red Bull or something because hes decidedly more hyped. Either way, the Web video is a good way to learn some of the new iPhone 3G features before it hit stores on 11 July 2008. You can watch the Flash stream on Apples site (in S, M ...

...

Posted by Andrew Nusca @ 7:05 am   Year:July 1st, 2008   Source Site:zdnet

July 1st, 2008 Adobe makes Flash searchable, crawlable Posted by Andrew Nusca @ 7:05 am Categories: Uncategorized Tags: Adobe Systems Inc., Search Engine, Shockwave Flash, SWF Specification, Search, Andrew Nusca Its not gadget news per se, but if you consider Adobe Flash a tool in your arsenal, this is big news. Posted on Slashdot today is news that Adobe has figured out a way to make Flash crawlable by search engines: Today Adobe systems made an announcement that it has provided technology and information to Google and Yahoo! to help the two search engine rivals index Shockwave Flash (SWF) file formats. According to the company, this will provide more relevant search rankings of the millions pieces of flash content. Until now, developers had to implement workarounds for...

...

Google LatLong   Year:1 day ago   Source Site:technorati

From the Technology channel ? Golly Gee, look whos 3... http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/ 2008/ 06/ golly-gee-look-whos-3.html Pegg, Product Marketing Manager Were pretty excited about all of these birthdays that have been happening lately. The Google Outreach program just celebrated its first birthday, and Google Maps Street View is happy to also be going one year strong. Were also pleased as punch to wish our pride and joy for geoweb developers everywhere, the Google Maps API, a happy third birthday. It was June 29th, 2005, but it seems like only yesterday that we were marvelling at what context the Gmaps Pedometer was giving us for our running routes or walk to work. 1 day ago Google LatLong http://google-latlong.blogspot.com view larger thumbnail Authority...

...