Switched http://www.switched.com Switched http://www.switched.com/media/feedlogo.gif Switched http://www.switched.com en-us Copyright 2008 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Pioneer to Stop Making Plasma TVs]]>http://www.switched.com/2008/03/07/pioneer-stops-producing-plasma-panels/http://www.switched.com/2008/03/07/pioneer-stops-producing-plasma-panels/http://www.switched.com/2008/03/07/pioneer-stops-producing-plasma-panels/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Pioneer Stops Producing Plasma Panels

In the battle for thin-panel television supremacy, the plasma display for many years has been the superior choice, relying on individual pockets of excitable gas to produce bright colors and rich blacks. But ever since the upstart LCD panel display came into the HDTV market, it's been gradually nipping at plasma's heels, and, after years of refinements, has finally started to offer similar visual performance at lower price and in a much lighter package. This has meant bad news for the plasma industry, with the latest blow being word that Pioneer, one of the leading plasma manufacturers, will stop making plasma panels.

Pioneer will still sell its well-respected Kuro series plasma displays, known for being some of the best on the market. But it will no longer actually manufacture the panels used inside of those sets, instead turning to a third-party (in this case, Panasonic). What this means for the cost and quality of these sets remains to be seen. If Panasonic makes the panels but adds Pioneer's excellent video processing and other technologies, perhaps the Pioneer that many videophiles (including us) know and love will live on. Or maybe Pioneer will figure out some way to give us in LCDs what we loved in its plasmas, since the company plants to start releasing Kuro-branded LCDs televisions this Fall.

So, sorry plasma lovers. It's quite possible that your format of choice is going the way of HD-DVD. With any luck, though, the new crop of Organic Light Emitting Diode or OLED televisions, which deliver even brighter colors and deeper blacks than plasmas, will be inexpensive enough to fill the void in a few years.

From Engadget

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Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>HDTVPioneerPlasmaFri, 07 Mar 2008 08:51:00 EST<![CDATA[Corporate Email Coming to iPhone - Look Out BlackBerry!]]>http://www.switched.com/2008/03/06/corporate-email-coming-to-iphone-look-out-blackberry/http://www.switched.com/2008/03/06/corporate-email-coming-to-iphone-look-out-blackberry/http://www.switched.com/2008/03/06/corporate-email-coming-to-iphone-look-out-blackberry/#commentsFiled under: , ,

The Apple iPhone, soon to be corporate email capable.
One of the biggest knocks against the iPhone has been its inability to handle enterprise email, which is how companies manage the email that is delivered to employees who, for example, use Blackberry's as their smartphones. That's changing now, as Apple today announced it will support the "push" e-mail systems necessary for corporate email to show up on their popular phone and music-playing devices.

People have, of course, been using iPhones for email reading and writing since they were launched last year -- but it's been of the individual Web account variety, typified by Google's Gmail service.

With this new advancement, expect to see more and more people using iPhones for business purposes. That's good news if you're an iPhone user and have been eager to ditch your work-supplied BlackBerry. This isn't great news if you're BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion, which until now has dominated the workplace handheld market.

The release of the iPhone 2.0 software in June will include support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync to provide secure, over-the-air push email, contacts and calendars. The software beta will be available to users by the end of June, so companies can start integrating the application into their systems and get things started with their employees.

The software rollout doesn't mean everyone will immediately be able to use their iPhones for work. Developers will still have to set the systems up for each business and an annual fee will apply to each user who wants the service on his or her iPhone. Still, expect to see many BlackBerry's disappear from workers' belt clips this summer, as Apple continues to be the hot alternative for mobile connectivity.

To read the entire transcript from the Apple event, click here.

From Engadget.

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Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>appleblackberrycorporateemailenterpriseexchangeiphoneresearch in motionResearchInMotionrimThu, 06 Mar 2008 14:55:00 EST<![CDATA[Games and Apps Coming to iPhone, Including AIM and Spore]]>http://www.switched.com/2008/03/06/games-and-apps-coming-to-iphone-including-aim-and-spore/http://www.switched.com/2008/03/06/games-and-apps-coming-to-iphone-including-aim-and-spore/http://www.switched.com/2008/03/06/games-and-apps-coming-to-iphone-including-aim-and-spore/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Piles of Games and Apps Coming to iPhone
Today Apple officially unveiled its anticipated iPhone / iPod Touch SDK (software development kit) that will allow third parties to create applications that take full advantage of those devices' capabilities without all the hacking. A whole host of applications and games will be available via the "App Store" either on your iPod Touch or iPhone or in iTunes when it launches in June as part of the iPhone 2.0 software update.

On the productivity side, Salesforce.com and AOL are working on applications for the devices. Salesforce will be offering an iPhone-specific interface for its customer relationship manager and sales tracking software for the mobile professionals, and AOL will offer a version of its ubiquitous AIM instant messaging application.

But if AIM wasn't enough to excite you, then check out the games. Apple developers threw together a quick demo called 'Touch Fighter,' a fully 3D space fighter game. Your craft is controlled by turning and tilting the handheld and you fire weapons by touching the screen. Sega is also getting in on the accelerometer-controlled gaming with a version of the popular (and quite addictive) 'Super Monkey Ball.'

But most exciting is the announcement of a version of the highly anticipated EA title 'Spore' from god-game guru Will Wright, creator of 'The Sims' and 'Sim City.'

Apps and games will vary in price, set by the developer. The software update to unlock these features will hit in June for free on the iPhone, and for a "nominal charge" on the Touch.

From Engadget

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Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>applegamesiphoneipodipod touchIpodTouchsdkThu, 06 Mar 2008 14:48:00 EST<![CDATA[Unmanned Spy Plane To Stay Aloft for Five Years]]>http://www.switched.com/2008/03/06/unmanned-spy-plane-to-stay-aloft-for-five-years/http://www.switched.com/2008/03/06/unmanned-spy-plane-to-stay-aloft-for-five-years/http://www.switched.com/2008/03/06/unmanned-spy-plane-to-stay-aloft-for-five-years/#commentsFiled under: ,

Unmanned Spy Plane To Stay Aloft for Five Years
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will award contracts to design and build an unmanned spy plane they've dreamed up that will stay aloft for for an amazing five years. The pseudo satellite will circle the globe for years at between 60,000 and 90,000 feet, gathering photos, communications, and generally watching everything you do.

The craft will have to answer a number of design challenges, not the least of which is how to keep this thing powered for such a long period of time. The sub-orbital satellite will also have to carry a 1000-pound payload in extremely high winds (and become airborne in the first place).

DARPA would like to have the craft built ASAP, but you know how these things work, the government will be lucky to have non-functional scale model by the year 2020.

From Gizmo Watch

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Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>darpagovernmentmilitaryspysurveilanceThu, 06 Mar 2008 14:25:00 EST<![CDATA[Microsoft Releases Internet Explorer 8 Beta]]>http://www.switched.com/2008/03/06/microsoft-releases-beta-of-internet-explorer-8/http://www.switched.com/2008/03/06/microsoft-releases-beta-of-internet-explorer-8/http://www.switched.com/2008/03/06/microsoft-releases-beta-of-internet-explorer-8/#commentsFiled under: ,

Microsoft Releases Beta of Internet Explorer 8These days, the Internet browser wars are hotter than they've been since the late-90's (when Microsoft challenged Netscape and, eventually, killed the competition). Today, the battle is between Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Mozilla's Firefox. Mozilla is currently putting the wraps on its 3.0 version of Firefox, a major update with many stability and usability improvements, but Microsoft isn't sitting idle. Yesterday it released the first public beta of Internet Explorer 8.

IE8 promises a suite of improvements, with the usual visual refresh that major releases receive, but of course going much deeper than that. IE8 will now include integration with Facebook and eBay out of the box, meaning you can make and check status updates quickly and keep tabs on a set of auctions right from a browser menu. You can view maps from Microsoft's Live service just by highlighting an address on any page, and the browser can remember its current set of displayed pages so if you close the browser (or if it crashes) it'll come right back to where you were.

As of now, unfortunately, that functionality is apparently especially useful as, according to early reports, the browser isn't very stable at this point. It seems that many of the problems are related to incompatibilities with Yahoo's and Google's popular toolbars. So, like many betas (early and largely untested versions of software), the thing isn't quite ready for prime-time. But, if you're brave and want to give it a shot head on over to Microsoft's IE8 page.

From Digg, Read Write Web, and Washington Post

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Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>FacebookFirefoxIE8Internet ExporerInternetExporerMicrosoftNetscapeThu, 06 Mar 2008 11:22:00 EST<![CDATA[Steven Spielberg Launching a MySpace For 'Close Encounters' Types]]>http://www.switched.com/2008/03/06/steven-spielberg-launching-a-myspace-for-close-encounters-type/http://www.switched.com/2008/03/06/steven-spielberg-launching-a-myspace-for-close-encounters-type/http://www.switched.com/2008/03/06/steven-spielberg-launching-a-myspace-for-close-encounters-type/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Spielberg Launching Paranormal Social Network?

Rumor has it that Steven Spielberg is getting ready to prove that you really can have a social network for just about anything. His latest online project started out with Yahoo!, but has since found a home with an independent company after the mega-portal shelved the movie director/mogul's idea of a social network dedicated to those who have had or want to share a paranormal or extra terrestrial experience.

Stories have circulated about Spielberg having such an encounter himself at the Excelsior House hotel, where he was so frightened by ghosts that he fled the hotel for another one... 20 miles away.

Sources say the site should launch in the next couple of months.

From TechCrunch

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Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>aliensghostsparanormalsocialsteven spielbergStevenSpielbergufosThu, 06 Mar 2008 09:12:00 EST<![CDATA[Lifecar Eco-Roadster Gets 150 Miles-Per-Gallon]]>http://www.switched.com/2008/03/05/lifecar-eco-roadster-gets-150-miles-per-gallon/http://www.switched.com/2008/03/05/lifecar-eco-roadster-gets-150-miles-per-gallon/http://www.switched.com/2008/03/05/lifecar-eco-roadster-gets-150-miles-per-gallon/#commentsFiled under: , ,



We've seen a lot of green gadgets and products coming to market lately, but we're pretty impressed with a new car that promises an high speeds and incredible mileage in a sporty, streamlined and eco-friendly design. Partially funded by the UK government, the green Lifecar project hopes to build excitement and support for zero-emissions technology.

Built to be extremely efficient by a consortium of UK auto manufacturers and universities, this sleek concept car runs on hydrogen fuel cells powered by a regenerative braking system (a technology already seen in some hybrid cars such as the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight). In other words, as the driver brakes and the car slows down, the system captures energy -- usually lost in a normal car -- and uses it to recharge the batteries.

Built to be as lightweight as possible, the car lacks a stereo, airbags and other modern amenities, but it does have a top speed of almost 100 miles per hour -- fast for a hydrogen fuel cell car -- and yet still gets over 150 miles per gallon.

Later this month, the concept car will debut at the Geneva Auto Show, where its top speed and acceleration abilities will be tested for the first time in public.

From BBC News and Crave

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Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>biofuelcargreenWed, 05 Mar 2008 18:12:00 EST<![CDATA[Windows and OS X Vulnerable Via Firewire]]>http://www.switched.com/2008/03/05/windows-and-os-x-vulnerable-via-firewire/http://www.switched.com/2008/03/05/windows-and-os-x-vulnerable-via-firewire/http://www.switched.com/2008/03/05/windows-and-os-x-vulnerable-via-firewire/#commentsFiled under: ,

Windows and OS X Vulnerable Via FirewireIt seems like everyday computer users have a new reason to fear that their data is unsafe. And to be fair, it isn't. Unless you lock vital PC components up in separate bank quality vaults, encrypt all your data, and never go online, you're always in some danger, and at that point what use is a computer anyway? But every once in a while a hacker demonstrates a vulnerability in our computers that makes us second guess our ability to be even slightly secure.

First it was breaking encryption with a can of DustOff, then a flash drive hack that required a simple (if slow) reboot, and now an even more direct attack: connecting via Firewire to the target computer.

The new method requires only a Linux based laptop and a Firewire cable. An attacker can then get to the contents of your system's RAM and grab your password. This works on both Windows (Vista and XP) and OS X. So much for Macs being more secure.

From Engadget

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Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>firewirehacksos xOsXsecuritywindowsWed, 05 Mar 2008 16:17:00 EST<![CDATA[U.S. Air Force Wants 300 PlayStation 3's]]>http://www.switched.com/2008/03/05/u-s-air-force-wants-300-playstation-3s/http://www.switched.com/2008/03/05/u-s-air-force-wants-300-playstation-3s/http://www.switched.com/2008/03/05/u-s-air-force-wants-300-playstation-3s/#commentsFiled under: , ,

U.S. Air Force Wants 300 PS3s
What do you do when you're the U.S. government and you need heaps of computing power, quick and on the cheap? You snatch up 300 Sony PlayStation 3's of course. We've seen researchers use the gaming consoles before to crunch numbers and study gravity, and now the Air Force wants in on the Cell processor-powered action.

What exactly the Air Force plans to use the 300 PlayStations for is unclear, but the branch of the armed forces is getting price quotes from resellers.

Knowing that the PS3 is less a gaming machine and more a super computer in disguise, all we can say is we're glad it's the Air Force and not the NSA.

From Newsvine

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Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>air forceAirForcebreaking+newsgovernmentplaystationplaystation 3Playstation3ps3researchtopWed, 05 Mar 2008 12:06:00 EST<![CDATA[Google Gives Free Phone Numbers and Voicemail to Homeless]]>http://www.switched.com/2008/02/29/google-gives-free-phone-numbers-and-voicemail-to-homeless/http://www.switched.com/2008/02/29/google-gives-free-phone-numbers-and-voicemail-to-homeless/http://www.switched.com/2008/02/29/google-gives-free-phone-numbers-and-voicemail-to-homeless/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Google Gives Free Phone Number and Voicemail to San Francisco HomelessGoogle's one phone number for everything service, GrandCentral, is getting a new trial of sorts. Google is taking its 'Do no evil' mantra to the streets of San Francisco -- literally. A partnership between Google, the San Francisco city government, and Project CARE (Communications and Respect for Everybody) is offering a free phone number and voicemail box to every homeless person in the city for life.

The philanthropic program is aimed at helping the homeless not just communicate with friends and family, but also land jobs. One of the big stumbling blocks for the downtrodden is their inaccessibility. When emerging from job training programs, folks need a method of contact, preferably a phone number. By calling from any phone, including pay phones, the homeless will also be able to get a phone number and set up the voicemail box.

Project CARE also sees the voicemail box as a doorway to proper medical testing and care. If the project is successful, Google will expand it through the rest of the state, and hopefully the country.

From MSNBC

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Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>breaking+newscharitygooglegrandcentralhomelessphilanthropyphoneproject careProjectCaresan franciscoSanFranciscotopvoicemailFri, 29 Feb 2008 09:03:00 EST<![CDATA[Online Encyclopedia Will Include Every Living Organism]]>http://www.switched.com/2008/02/27/online-encyclopedia-will-include-every-living-organism/http://www.switched.com/2008/02/27/online-encyclopedia-will-include-every-living-organism/http://www.switched.com/2008/02/27/online-encyclopedia-will-include-every-living-organism/#commentsFiled under: ,

Work on Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Life Begins

About 20 years ago, the encyclopedia was undoubtedly the go-to place for information. It had plenty of drawbacks, though, among them size, cost, and lack of options. These days, there are dozens of encyclopedias, with the online and free Wikipedia getting much of the attention. However, despite each of them having a ridiculous number of entries, you wouldn't say that they cover everything there is to know about a given topic. That is exactly what a new encyclopedia lead by Massachusetts' famous Woods Hole Laboratory plans to offer: a comprehensive Encyclopedia of Life that will cover every living organism on our planet.

The EOL has gone live, and, with 30,000 entries completed thus-far, barely scratches the surface of what's out there. But with an impressive amount of funding, and support coming from diverse places like the Missouri Botanical Garden and Harvard University, it certainly has friends in the right places. It is anticipated that the encyclopedia will be complete with 1.8 million pages of information by 2017. The comes out to a page for every species that has thus-far been identified.

Again, the site is live now, but only a handful of those 30,000 entries are currently available. Look for more to go online in the coming months -- and years.

From TG Daily

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Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>breaking+newsEncyclopedia of LifeEncyclopediaOfLifeEOLtopWoods HoleWoodsHoleWed, 27 Feb 2008 12:24:00 EST<![CDATA[Report Confirms That 16% of Xbox 360s Are Broken]]>http://www.switched.com/2008/02/27/16-percent-of-all-xbox-360s-are-faulty/http://www.switched.com/2008/02/27/16-percent-of-all-xbox-360s-are-faulty/http://www.switched.com/2008/02/27/16-percent-of-all-xbox-360s-are-faulty/#commentsFiled under: ,

Xbox 360 Failure Rate Confirmed - 16%

Finally, a third party has confirmed what many have been saying for a while: Xbox 360 failure rates are much higher than the three to five percent Microsoft claims. Though not quite as high as the 30 percent some retailers have suggested, the 16 percent failure rate reported by SquareTrade is way beyond an acceptable rate.

SquareTrade is an independent warranty provider, covering products after the manufacturers warranty has expired, so its numbers don't include 360s that fail while still under Microsoft warranty. Microsoft recently extended the warranty on Xbox, leading SquareTrade to suggest that the failure rate is actually much higher than 16 percent since customers may have been bypassing its reporting system and going straight to Microsoft.

The infamous Xbox 360 failure has been colloquially called the "Red Ring of Death," because the console displays a red ring upon startup (like the photo above) to let its owner know that it's time to dial Microsoft 911. Causes are unconfirmed, but the most recent reports say that poor component choices in a rush to get the 360 out to market are to blame.

SquareTrade's study tracked 1,040 Xboxes over six to ten months after Microsoft's warranty expired. In that time, 171 claims were filed.

From Team Xbox

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Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>breaking+newsfailuremicrosoftred ring of deathRedRingOfDeathrrodtopwarrantyxboxWed, 27 Feb 2008 11:29:00 EST<![CDATA[Hotmail and Other Windows Live Services Suffer Outage]]>http://www.switched.com/2008/02/27/hotmail-and-other-live-services-go-out/http://www.switched.com/2008/02/27/hotmail-and-other-live-services-go-out/http://www.switched.com/2008/02/27/hotmail-and-other-live-services-go-out/#commentsFiled under: ,

Hotmail and Other Live Services Go OutYou can't beat free online e-mail. You want a different e-mail address for every day of the week? You got it. Need separate accounts for those sites you just know are going to spam you like there's no tomorrow? No problem.

No problem, that is, until those sites go down, which is exactly what happened to Microsoft yesterday. Most users of the company's Windows Live suite of tools, which includes the free online e-mail client Hotmail, were unable to access the site for much of the day, leaving them with no way to look at all of their spam.

The outage was total, leaving the service's 260 million subscribers with nothing but a "Service Unavailable" message when they attempted to view the site.

Today, we're happy to report, things seem to be back up and working correctly -- if a bit slowly. Spam ahoy.

From CNET News.com

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Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>breaking+newsHotmailMicrosoftOutagestopWindows LiveWindowsLiveWed, 27 Feb 2008 09:27:00 EST