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Supermarket generates piezoelectric power in parking lot

admin — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:53:43 +0000

Remember that piezoelectric road prototype we saw late last year? Looks like someone (besides us) thought it was a good idea. According to The Daily Mail , a Sainsbury’s supermarket in Gloucester, UK (you’ve never been there), has installed kinetic plates in the parking lot that use the weight of shopper’s cars to pump a series of hydraulic pipes, which in turn drive a generator. The system is said to generate up to 30kw of green energy an hour — or enough to power the store’s checkouts.

Read the whole article on Engadget

HTC Hero – plus QWERTY “Memphis” version – tipped for June 24th

admin — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:25:06 +0000

When the invitation for HTC’s mysterious June 24th press event came in earlier this week , we speculated that it could see the launch of the HTC Hero. After all, the third Android handset is already showing up in leaked promo videos , suggesting it’s teetering on the edge of availability. Now, Chinese paper Economic Daily News is reporting that yes, not only will the Hero drop on the 24th, but a second version of the smartphone with a QWERTY keyboard. According to their sources, unspecified of course, the model that includes the keyboard will be the HTC Memphis. However in the US, the handset will be a six-month AT&T exclusive starting from its Q3 2009 launch, and known as the HTC Lancaster. The report continues that the Hero/Memphis will both use HTC’s own TouchFLO 3D UI on top of Android. While it seems vaguely unbelievable that the company would carry over their Windows Mobile interface to Android, it does fit in with recent leaks showing a TouchFLO 3D-inspired adaptation of Android believed to be of HTC’s making. SlashGear will be attending the June 24th event, so you know we’ll be bringing you all the details no matter what HTC announce.

Read the whole article on SlashGear

Bing Goes Live.com – Is it More Than Just Hot Air?

admin — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:24:55 +0000

Microsoft’s new search engine Bing unexpectantly went live tonight, including as a re-direct from http://www.live.com – previously Microsoft’s ‘personalized start page’ destination. So search has usurped a Netvibes-like start page as Microsoft’s default homepage for its web services. In last week’s launch announcement , Bing was being bandied about as Microsoft’s latest attempt to steal market share away from Google. In particular, according to Microsoft, Bing will focus on four verticals: making a purchase decision, planning a trip, researching a health condition, and finding a local business.

Read the whole article on ReadWriteWeb

Twitter and TV: The New Backchannel

admin — Sat, 30 May 2009 02:31:23 +0000

ITV , the oldest commercial television network in the UK, just announced that it will use Twitter as a backchannel for its coverage of the FA Cup final between Chelsea and Everton tomorrow afternoon. The ITV Twitter app was built by thruSITES using Twitterfall , and the ITV team will use Audioboo Pro for moderating the Twitter stream. Given how popular Twitter has become in the U.K., this is definitely a smart move by ITV to use it as a backchannel. While soccer (or football, for our European readers) might not be your thing, it is interesting to see how many TV networks have now made Twitter a part of their daily routine.

Read the whole article on ReadWriteWeb

LifeCase & LifeApp Solution Wins $10,000 Diabetes Challenge

admin — Thu, 21 May 2009 15:35:40 +0000

A prototype for an iPhone app that provides an integrated hardware-software solution for diabetes patients, has won a $10,000 prize in a competition run by DiabetesMine . The competition aimed to find an iPod-like device or web app for diabetes management. The winning concept was designed to solve a problem that all diabetes patients (including this author) are familiar with: carrying around a number of disparate diabetes devices. It’s often awkward and inconvenient, for…

Read the whole article on ReadWriteWeb

Roger McNamee Invests In The Stimulist, News Site For The Obama Generation

admin — Thu, 21 May 2009 12:05:14 +0000

MSNBC anchor Carlos Watson noticed during the presidential campaigns and election of President Obama last year that a new generation of media consumers had emerged. The “Change Generation,” Watson calls it (wonder where he got that name from), is educated, edgy and curious about the world and news, and in contrast to the yuppies from 20 years ago, doesn’t find news solely in the New York Times or on CNN. This generation cares about pop culture, social activism, fresh opinions and of course, change. So Watson has…

Read the whole article on TechCrunch

What’s More Important – Craigslist or South Carolina? A TechCrunch Poll

admin — Mon, 18 May 2009 23:09:46 +0000

South Carolina has the dubious distinction of being the first state to secede from the United States, in 1860. You could say that they had very strong feelings on the issue of slavery. If they’re still up for it, I say let them leave. Craigslist is way more important than they are. Congratulations to Craigslist for standing up to South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster and demanding an apology . The situation they find themselves in, facing threatened criminal prosecution, is …

Read the whole article on TechCrunch

Vanna White loves Slingbox on her iPhone — if only she could find three Gs!

admin — Sun, 17 May 2009 03:56:37 +0000

At what appeared to be a totally wild and awesome search for Wheel of Fortune contestants in a mall, Vanna White confessed on camera her deep love of gadgets, particularly her excitement about Slingbox and the new Slingbox app for the iPhone. We suppose it’s fitting for somebody who’s been playing with touchscreens since before most of us knew how to spell “technology,” though it’s really too bad she can’t enjoy her daily The Price Is…

Read the whole article on Engadget

It’s Down! The Day Google Stood Still (Updated)

admin — Sat, 16 May 2009 16:29:20 +0000

We have seen our fair share of failures from web based products, but this morning, for a large number of users (at least in the U.S.), it looks like every Google service has been either wiped off the Internet or is running extremely slow for a large number of users. Even Google Search is only creeping along slowly right now, and YouTube, Google Reader, Blogger, Google Analytics, Gmail, Google Maps, and Google Apps are pretty much unavailable as well. Typically, these outages have never lasted for long, but …

Read the whole article on ReadWriteWeb

The Daily Roundup: here’s what you might’ve missed

admin — Thu, 14 May 2009 04:25:44 +0000

Video: Apple responds to Microsoft’s Laptop Hunters… with a Megan According to Apple, there aren’t any PCs with fast processors and big screens that work without viruses, crashes or headaches. Intel fined record $1.45 billion in AMD antitrust case The verdict is in and it’s huge. As expected, the EU is fining Intel a record €1.06 billion or $1.45 billion (Billion!) dollars due to violations of antitrust rules in Europe. Slimmer PS3 in store at E3? Rumors of…

Read the whole article on Engadget