Heck hacks again! Check out his newest mod: an iPhone controller made from an iCade, and inspired by CES.
Twitter's getting snarky, the FTC is checking it out, and privacy advocates are up in arms -- but what do Google's inhabitants say about its newest mash-up?
Helpful features could move this card-swiping system ahead of Square and Intuit GoPayment in mobile payments.
Microsoft is custodian to a priceless trove of valuable threat data gathered from botnet takedowns, and now it is reportedly beta testing a system to share that data with others.
As the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers moves forward, despite ongoing concerns, with its decision to launch a program to sell new generic...
A new gadget lets you turn your electronic devices on and off from anywhere that you have Internet access.
This year's big camera announcements were all about built-in Wi-Fi, zoom lenses in pocketable frames, and powerful-but-pricey cameras.
Seeking to transform the way its staff communicates and collaborates worldwide, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) will roll out Google Apps to its 110,000...
Astronomers and the Hubble Telescope peer deep into space and spot the youngest galaxy formation observed after the Big Bang.
The soon-to-be-released iBike Powerhouse system will measure your watts for much less than most power meters.
We boil down the tablet flood here at CES to just the best.
It is now unclear exactly when Oracle's lawsuit against Google over alleged Java intellectual property violations in the Android mobile OS will go to trial...
LightSquared is seeking an investigation of a federal official involved in deciding whether the company can deploy its hybrid satellite-LTE network, saying he...
Microsoft and LG have entered into a licensing deal over Android and Chrome OS devices which could push Microsoft revenue from Google's "free" platforms over half a billion dollars in 2012.
A member of the Anonymous hacktivist collective has published a list of Internet-facing Israeli SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) systems and...
Google and Facebook filed petitions before the Delhi High Court after a lower court asked them and other Internet companies to remove certain objectionable...
The move has the potential to befuddle consumers and provide a gold mine for scammers.
The new MakerBot Replicator can do some cool stuff with its single and double extruders. Read on for plenty of photos of the new 3D printer and examples of what it can create.
The Tiki, Mikey Digital and Spark Digital range in price from $59 to $199 and are perfect for people who don't want to settle for mediocre audio capture.
Oracle on Thursday rolled out an updated version of its TimesTen In-Memory Database, which is a key component of its upcoming Exalytics appliance as well as a...
Most observers believe that Apple will move into the textbook market, but how it will do so remains unclear.
Ultra-high-end specs and an aggressive price mark Samsung’s entry into the domestic gaming market against companies like Alienware and Asus.
Ford wants to show that in-vehicle technology can be used for tasks other than finding your favorite radio station or checking your Facebook status.
The PHP development team has released version 5.3.9 of the popular Web development platform in order to address a recently disclosed denial-of-service (DoS)...
Microsoft's CES swan song of product and technology announcements this week in Las Vegas may leave the biggest wake among news makers.
The Wireless Speaker & Audio Association is working on specifications for wireless high-def audio so that consumers can mix and match components from different manufacturers.
Forget about waterproof cases for your phone and think about waterproofing its internal components. HzO introduces a special coating material that makes your phone completely waterproof. The company hopes to convince phone manufacturers to use on phones in the future.
A $100 box the size of a small bar of soap, CloudFTP turns any USB drive into a wireless file server for iPhones, iPads and any other Wi-Fi enabled devices.
Open-source BI (business intelligence) vendor Jaspersoft wants its software to become another arrow in the quiver for developers using commercial PaaS...
A mobile TV effort by local broadcasters in the U.S. is entering a new phase, with two large groups of stations showcasing new partnerships at the International...
As wireless access is added to new types of devices, Ericsson is reorganizing its licensing department in an effort to make more money from its patents, the...
Infosys cut its revenue growth forecast for its fiscal year ending March 31, citing slowing demand in Europe which is hit by a debt crisis.
Smartphones using quad-core processors may not have made a splash at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, but the devices will be coming in a few...
Microsoft investigated a workers protest at its contract manufacturer Foxconn Technology Group, and found that the dispute in Wuhan, China had nothing to do with...
Advanced Micro Devices demonstrated its upcoming mobile chips for thin-and-light laptops, which the company said will lead to cheaper but equally speedy...
The Xbox 360 is big for Microsoft this year, but it might not be so big for the devoted fans.
Software on these small SSD drives from Corsair intelligently store the files you access the most, which should speed your PC significantly.
Years ago CEA stopped letting the public into its huge annual gadget show in Las Vegas, but the conference still attracts a fair share of non-industry people...
Each year the rugged hard drive company tries to outdo itself by attempting to destroy its hard drives. This year, ioSafe tried to kill one with one million volts of electricity.
Fighting games fans are in for a treat this year--Mad Catz is releasing several new FightStick arcade sticks for Xbox 360 and PS3, as well as a new pair of PC gaming headsets.
Justin Bieber caused a minor scrum on the floor of the Consumer Electronics Show Wednesday when he stopped by to launch a dancing robot for Vietnamese toy and...
Both companies build on old strengths, but don’t venture out into uncharted territory.
Toy and robotics company Tosy introduced a new singing/dancing robot with the help of Justin Bieber.
Verizon used the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas as an opportunity to show off some of the unique applications and products being developed on its LTE...
Amazon.com is selling the 16-megapixel Fujifilm FinePix P550EXR for only $203.
WowWee showed an upcoming game platform at the Consumer Electronics Show called AppGear, which combines real toys with on-screen animation to create a new...
Search Plus functions that draw results from sources in your circles seems invasive to some users.
Julius Genachowski, chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, used his time on stage at the Consumer Electronics Show Wednesday to warn that if...
The cloud-based Windows desktop management tool is already great for small businesses, except for one thing.
Research In Motion is highlighting the native and Android apps available on its struggling PlayBook at the Consumer Electronics Show as it prepares to launch the...
An anonymous reader writes "FreeBSD 9.0 has been released. A few highlights include: A new installer, bsdinstall(8) has been added and is the installer used by the ISO images provided as part of this release, The Fast Filesystem now supports softupdates journaling, and Kernel support for Capsicum Capability Mode, an experimental set of features for sandboxing support."
alphadogg writes "Google, joining forces with CERN, The LEGO Group, National Geographic and Scientific American, has announced the 2012 Google Science Fair, an online competition open to 13-to-18-year-olds around the world. Prizes include a $50,000 college scholarship, a 10-day trip to the Galapagos Islands and more. Judges include Google VP and Internet pioneer Vinton Cerf, CERN Director Steve Myers, oceanographer Sylvia Earle and others."
Lucas123 writes "IBM researchers say they've been able to shrink the number of iron atoms it takes to store a bit of data from about one million to 12, which could pave the way for storage devices with capacities that are orders of magnitude greater than today's devices. Andreas Heinrich, who lead the IBM Research team on the project for five years, said the team used the tip of scanning tunneling microscope and unconventional antiferromagnetism to change the bits from zeros to ones. By combining 96 of the atoms, the researchers were able to create bytes — spelling out the word THINK. That solved a theoretical problem of how few atoms it could take to store a bit; now comes the engineering challenge: how to make a mass storage device perform the same feat as scanning tunneling microscope."
itwbennett writes "The Consumer Electronics Association stopped letting actual consumers attend the gadget extravaganza years ago, but even so, plenty of attendees can't exactly be described 'industry affiliates'. IDG News Service turned up a motorcycle stuntman, a restorer of 8-track tapes, and a lot of folks who were there just for fun."
NicknamesAreStupid writes "Over the past twenty years, car theft has declined as new models incorporated electronic security methods that thwarted simple hot-wiring. The tide may now be turning, as cars become the next Windows PC. The Center for Automobile Embedded Systems Security has posted an interesting paper from UCSD and UW that describes how modern cars can be cracked (PDF). Unlike the old days of window jimmies, these exploits range from attacks through the CD or iPod port to cellular attacks that take inventory of thousands of cars and offer roaming thieves Yelp-like choices ('our favorite is mint green with leather') with unlocked doors and running engines."
adeelarshad82 writes "Eric Schmidt took issue with the idea that the Android mobile operating system is fragmented, arguing that it's a differentiation between devices rather than a fragmentation. The difference, as he explains it, is that differentiation means manufacturers have a choice, they're going to compete on their view of innovation, and try to convince consumers that their innovation is better than somebody elses whereas fragmentation is quite the opposite. Not surprisingly, some company analysts beg to differ, pointing out the ever increasing incompatibilities between OS and apps across different Android devices and other problems with Android."
ananyo writes "Adding to its already long roster of firsts, NASA's Kepler spacecraft has found the three smallest extrasolar planets ever detected — all of them smaller than Earth, and the most diminutive no larger than Mars. The newly discovered trio forms a miniature planetary system orbiting a cool, dim red dwarf star called KOI-961. Because they are so close to their star, the three exoplanets are too hot to support life. But unlike most previously known exoplanets, the vast majority of which are Jupiter-scale gas giants, all three are thought to be rocky worlds like Earth and the other worlds of the inner Solar System."
snydeq writes "Canonical CEO Jane Silber discusses the Ubuntu maker's ambitions in the mobile market, saying there is plenty of room for a new player in tablets, TVs, and maybe even smartphones. 'There is a real demand for an alternative platform. We believe Ubuntu has all the characteristics that are needed to become that platform,' Silber says, adding that she expects to see Ubuntu on tablets later this year. 'And we think we can do that effectively because of characteristics of Ubuntu as a platform, industry dynamics, and an increased wariness around the walled gardens of Apple and to some extent Google and even Amazon, as they are increasingly in this game as well.' Silber cites openness, open governance, collaboration, and a strong developer ecosystem as key for Ubuntu as a tablet platform, when compared with Android and iOS."
PerlJedi writes "InformationWeek reports that LG is the latest in a string of companies who have been bullied into paying 'license fees' to Microsoft for the use of Android on their products. 'Microsoft said the deal with LG means that 70% of Android-based smartphones sold in the U.S. are now covered by its licensing program. ... Microsoft does not disclose how much revenue it's obtaining from Android, Chrome, and Linux licenses, but some analysts believe it may be substantial, to the point where the company is making significant profits from the mobile revolution even though its own offering, Windows Phone, commands a market share of less than 2%, according to Gartner.'"
An anonymous reader writes "One persistent theme from this year's CES is that television manufacturers are racing to establish the concept of 'Smart TVs,' sets that integrate modern browsing features, control through voice or motion, application support, and even upgradability. This article suggests the living room will be the location of the newest tech war. Quoting: 'To compete, the companies will have to offer carefully curated, high-quality applications and be open to supporting mobile devices such as tablets. Other media companies have already started: Comcast, for example, announced that it's going to allow OnDemand streaming not only to Samsung Smart TV's but also to the iPad. The TV makers are hoping that the multitude of additional features will be enough to trigger turnover like the industry saw after the introduction of flat-panel screens, Bloomberg noted. It's a big market, if the television makers can figure out how to crack it.'"
smitty777 writes "The Wall Street Journal is reporting on some unprecedented steps being taken by major financial institutions to combat online theft. The initiatives include a new type of data center that would be used to analyze bank data for potential security threats. Additionally, a quarterly round-table between the rivals to attack security issues was proposed. The article notes that 'security threats are pushing the big banks to do something that doesn't come naturally for these secrecy-steeped institutions: share information with one another.' A video at MarketWatch digs into it a little bit more, and points out that the banks will spend an estimated $1 billion on protection this year, which represents a 12% increase. Technologically, there has been much discussion of two-factor authentication to improve security. In fact, security officials in Singapore are even hinting at biometric solutions."
Slashdot's Timothy Lord is at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. There is no way any one person can take in the whole show. It's just too big for that. But on Timothy's first day, he spotted an overlay keyboard for the iPad that's been mentioned on Slashdot before, an invisible keyboard for your smartphone or tablet, and a crazy-interesting all-in-one computing device with a built-in projector and built-in virtual keyboard. Watch the video and join Timothy as he learns about these three devices. (Before you ask: Yes, we'll have more videos from CES over the next few days.)"
Sparrowvsrevolution writes "James Gross, a resident of Washington State, filed what he intends to be a class action lawsuit against Symantec in a Northern District California court Tuesday, claiming that Symantec defrauds consumers by running fake scans on their machines, with results designed to bully users into upgrading to a paid version of the company's software. 'The scareware does not conduct any actual diagnostic testing on the computer,' the complaint reads. 'Instead, Symantec intentionally designed its scareware to invariably report, in an extremely ominous manner, that harmful errors, privacy risks, and other computer problems exist on the user's PC, regardless of the real condition of the consumer's computer.' Symantec denies those claims, but it has a history of using fear mongering tactics to bump up its sales. A notice it showed in 2010 to users whose subscriptions were ending in 2010 warned that 'cyber-criminals are about to clean out your bank account...Protect yourself now, or beg for mercy.'"