A Bright Idea: Wireless Networking Through Light Bulbs (2)
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Brian X. Chen (180)
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Boston University researchers are devising a method to transmit data through light rather than a traditional Wi-Fi router. The technology involves utilizing LEDs that flicker at imperceptible speeds, communicating with network-enabled devices at speeds from one to 10 megabits per second. That's a tad slow compared to the current 802.11g Wi-Fi standard, which transmits data at rates up to 54 megabits per second. But researchers are aiming the light technology at networking household appliances, such ...
Apple Reluctantly Tries Out Transparency (6)
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Brian X. Chen (180)
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1 week, 4 days
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"One of the things that's happening to Apple is that it's less able to keep secrets than it used to be, because it has a broader supply chain and broader distribution," said Roger Kay, an Endpoint Technologies analyst. "And because it's dealing with parties that need plans -- partners as well as some customers -- they need to disclose their plans."
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Saket said:
Welcome to the big leagues, Apple. :)
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Panda said:
Giraffe, you are right about the totalitarian design scheme that dominates Apple.
Apple TV 2.2 Adds Music Video Playlists to the Mix (1)
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Apple on Thursday night rolled out an update for Apple TV, introducing several new features to the TV set-top box -- most interestingly, the ability to play music-video playlists. In order to view music-video playlists, users must upgrade to the latest version of iTunes, 8.0.1, which adds the ability to create such playlists so they can be synced to Apple TV. Other new features include Genius automatic playlist creation and the ability to purchase high-definition ...
iPhone Beats Kindle in E-Reader Popularity Contest (2)
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1 week, 6 days
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Apple has gone and done it: Its popular iPhone has surpassed the Amazon Kindle in popularity -- as a book reader. Since the launch of the iPhone App Store in July, a book-reader application called Stanza has accumulated 395,000 downloads, and the app continues to be installed on 5,000 iPhones a day, according to a Forbes story. By way of comparison, Citigroup estimates Amazon will sell about 380,000 Kindle e-book readers in 2008. Who would've ...
Obama Invades the iPhone App Store (1)
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1 week, 6 days
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As if starting a Twitter account wasn't enough, Senator Barack Obama has released an iPhone application to recruit supporters as part of his presidential campaign. The application is actually much more sophisticated than it looks. The "Call Friends" feature doesn't simply open your contact list; it "organizes and prioritizes your contacts by key battleground states, making it easy to reach out and make an impact quickly." On my iPhone, the app listed my Florida contacts ...
Kawasaki Motorcycle Now Runs On Solar Energy (3)
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2 weeks, 1 day
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The solar industry may be eternally crippled by today's stock market crash, but Jim Corning's solar-powered motorcycle is an interesting spectacle anyway. Corning, founder of Prometheus Solar LLC, turned his wife's 250cc Kawasaki Ninja into a peculiar looking two-wheeler powered by a lithium-ion phosphate battery that draws energy from four 800-watt solar panels. In the process, according to AutoBlogGreen, Corning blew up two batteries, hence the dramatic modifications to make the bike aerodynamic to reduce ...
Drink to Your iPhone Pride With Special Coasters (10)
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2 weeks, 2 days
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For those completely intoxicated with their iPhones, Meninos is selling this set of 16 coasters based on the handset's standard application icons. Constructed of plywood, each coaster measures 3.3 inches, sports a vinyl decal protected with varnish, and is lined with a rubber layer underneath. All for the low price of $60... Product Page [Meminos via Technabob]
Showdown: HTC T-Mobile G1 VS. iPhone 3G (1)
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3 weeks, 1 day
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The HTC T-Mobile G1 clearly has Apple's iPhone in mind as its top competitor, so we've compiled a side-by-side comparison of their specifications. Behold (below the jump): Here are some major differences you'll notice: iPhone 3G has a multi-touch screen while the G1 just has a touch screen (meaning it can't track multiple simultaneous gestures) although it does have a trackball and QWERTY keyboard; the G1 doesn't have true video playback capabilities (although it does ...
IPhone Developers Go From Rags to Riches (19)
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3 weeks, 3 days
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The iPhone is a revolutionary handset. But it is also the key to a virtual gold mine -- the iTunes App Store, where independent developers can become multimillionaires in just a year. Since its launch in July, the App Store has grown to become an indie developer's dream come true. Steve Demeter, developer of the vastly popular $5 iPhone game Trism, announced he made $250,000 in profit in just two months. His team? Himself, mainly, ...
LEGO Mac Will Make Apple Geeks Salivate With Envy (1)
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3 weeks, 5 days
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Apple mods don't get much cooler than this. Gizmodo stumbled upon photos of this model of a Mac Pro composed of 2,588 LEGO bricks. But wait -- it's not just a Mac. The plastic-brick tower actually contains both a Mac mini and a hacked PC running Mac OS X. The PC is a 2.4 GHz Core 2 Quad; the Mac mini is a 1.66GHz Core Duo. There's even a turtleneck-wearing Steve Jobs LEGO man perched ...
Apple Recalls iPhone 3G Power Adapters (1)
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Apple on Friday issued a recall for ultra-portable iPhone 3G power adapters that pose potential safety risks, which an analyst said may be due to a cheap manufacturing process. According to Apple's support bulletin, power adapters shipped with iPhone 3G handsets in the United States, Japan, Canada, Mexico and several Latin American countries contain metal prongs that "can break off and remain in an outlet, creating a risk of electric shock." No injuries have been ...
Joy of Tech: How Apple Decides Which Apps Make It Into the App Store (2)
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This Joy of Tech comic pokes fun at Apple's App Store approval process, in light of recent rejections of some apps submitted by developers. It's funny because, well, it's pretty much true. In particular, Apple's rejection of the Podcaster app has stirred controversy among the iPhone community. The application would allow iPhone users to remotely download Podcasts rather than sync them via iTunes; Apple's reasoning for the rejection was that the application duplicates the functionality ...
McDonald's: Would You Like Free Wi-Fi for Your Zune? (1)
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A new partnership between McDonald's and Microsoft enables Zune users to soup up their media players over a free Wi-Fi connection while munching on burgers and sipping on shakes. McDonald's will make the internet service freely available in 9,800 of its U.S. locations, courtesy of Wi-Fi provider Wayport. Microsoft announced the partnership simultaneously with the release of a major software update for Zune, allowing users to wirelessly stream, download, tag and purchase songs through Zune ...
