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Military Supercomputer Shatters Speed Record

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jun 9th 2008 at 1:20AMBreaking News


When you're looking to set a record, this is how you do it. Not only has IBM's Roadrunner supercomputer come on-line, it's now the world's fastest -- twice as fast as the old BluGene/L champ -- and churning through 1.026 quadrillion calculations per second.

The $133 million supercomputer achieved the milestone with the help of 12,960 "improved" Cell processors (yes, like those powering your PlayStation 3) and a smaller number of AMD Opteron processors -- 116,640 processor cores in total. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending upon your perspective), Roadrunner is for military use only so you'll have to solve the traveling salesman problem on your own time. While not quite into Exaflop territory, we're definitely on the way. [Source: NYTimes]

[Thanks, Chris S.]

Most Cell Phones Still End Up In Landfills, Polluting the Environment

by Will Safer, posted Jan 14th 2008 at 5:32PM

Yesterday, the New York Times Magazine ran a fairly comprehensive piece on the life cycle and environmental impact of mobile phones. The story detailed how many phones are reused, how many others are broken down and "mined" for useful metals such as silver and gold, and how still others – most others, in fact – end up in heaps of discarded electronics, left to leach often dangerous ingredients into the earth, water supply, kids' blood streams, etc.

Some businesses and watchdog groups are doing their darnedest to offset this problem, or at least delay the inevitable discarding of the dead phone, but the report overall is a sobering one.

The main point raised: Despite our love affair and attachment to our mobile phones, we still use, discard and then buy new ones at an alarming rate, with little regard for the environmental impact.

Such eco-carelessness isn't limited to mobile phones and e-waste is not a new issue to the consumer electronics industry. But while mobile phones are small compared to old CRT TVs and computer monitors, they are in use everywhere. In some African nations, where landlines are difficult to build and maintain, mobile phones are the only way for someone to have reliable communications.

As the reporter notes, "There is no heaven for cellphones."

From The New York Times.


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Indian Families To Receive Rice Availability Alerts -- via SMS

by Evan Shamoon, posted Jan 10th 2008 at 8:04AM



In what may be the ultimate illustration of our hyper-industrialized planet, a regional government in India has announced plans to send alerts about the availability of rice and the supply of food to its citizens...via SMS (a type of wireless phone message).

Thanks to India's subsidized food distribution program, each family in the country is granted 35kg of rice per month; now, when it's available at the distribution center, SMS alerts will be sent out to registered families.

The program apparently will cover 3.4 million families -- or about 60 percent of the state's 20.08 million people. Of course, this all requires that the families have both cell phones and Web access, as they'll have to register their cell numbers at the food and civil supplies department website. Officials have admitted they are unclear how many families actually access to this kind of consumer technology we often take for granted.

Once they start checking Switched everyday for updates on the latest rice cookers, it's so on.

From Textually

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2007's Most Beautiful Phones

by Tom Conlon, posted Jul 12th 2007 at 1:17PM

2007's Most Beautiful Phones
The iPhone isn't the only cell phone of 2007 to set tongues wagging. To remind us that, yes, there are in fact other brands of nice looking handsets, Fosfor Gadgets has compiled its list of the 10 most beautiful cell phones of 2007 (so far, we suppose). iPhone is there, of course, but so are two beauties from Helio (the Ocean, and the Kickflip pictured above), the dashing Motorola MOTOROKR Z6 (pictured far left) and the minimalist KDDI au Media Skin (second from the left). Visit Fosfor for the rest of the pageantry.

From Fosfor Gadgets

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iPhone Liquefied in a Blender!

by Tom Conlon, posted Jul 11th 2007 at 10:03AM

You probably already know Blendtec as the company that feeds its nuclear-grade blenders stuff like gardening equipment and consumer electronics. Its commercials have become viral sensations on the Web because the razor-mouthed magarita mixers can blend just about anything that's thrown at them ... hey, did we just fall for a clever marketing gimmick?

Check out the company's latest commercial above: A recipe for iPhone soup.

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Video: The Switched iPhone Verdict

by Switched Staff, posted Jul 4th 2007 at 8:02PM



Now that we've had a few days to play around with our shiny new iPhones, here's what we think.

Video: iPhone Obsession a Mental Disorder?

by Switched Staff, posted Jun 28th 2007 at 1:23PM



The iPhone can't love back (at least Rev 1 can't), but that hasn't stopped people from dedicating their lives to it. In this special report, Switched investigates iPhone lust.



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Verizon Gives Away Prince's New Single

by Tom Conlon, posted May 31st 2007 at 5:02PM

Verizon Gives Away Prince's New Single
Who said nothing in life is free? In a whirlwind of cross-promotional, down-your-throat synergistic marketing, Verizon has teamed with Prince to offer free exclusive downloads, starting today, of the new single 'Guitar,' from the petite rocker's upcoming album, 'Planet Earth,' weeks before its release.

The hoopla is being stirred up to promote Prince's new jams, as well as Verizon's new V CAST Song ID feature. Song ID allows a Verizon customer to hold his or her phone up to any audio source. Song ID identifies the track and lets the user buy either the ringtone, ringback tone or full-track -- right from the phone.

To get 'Guitar' for free, head to Verizon's music site, play the Prince video and hold your Song ID-enabled phone up to your computer speakers. The song is free, but the ringtones will cost you.

Hey, if you're a fan of Prince's patented blend of guitar funk and helium-voiced shrieks, this deal can't be beat.

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Camera Phones Replace Darts

by Evan Shamoon, posted May 7th 2007 at 9:39AM



A new game for your phone delivers all the fun of darts with none of the accidental eye stabbings. It also does something pretty cool: Instead of using your keypad to fire off virtual projectiles, the game uses your camera phone to detect motion in much the same way an optical mouse's sensor does. Sadly, Santa Monica-based developer GoSub 60 gave this new game just about the least creative name in the history of entertainment: 'Camera Phone Darts.'

Camera. Phone. Darts.

But we digress, because the game is really fun. The dartboard is placed on a virtual wall in front of you. You must then twist and turn the phone until the cross hairs are where you want them. Pressing the OK button throws the dart.

Motion sensing isn't all this nifty little game uses the camera for. You can also snap photos of friends and throw tomatoes, spitballs, water balloons and other projectiles at their heads.

'Camera Phone Darts' will be available for download from most major carriers by the end of May for around $2.99 per month (or $7.99 for unlimited access).

Celebrity BlackBerry Addicts

by Tom Conlon, posted Apr 26th 2007 at 9:30AM


If there's one thing celebrities love more than their L. Ron Hubbard, it's their BlackBerrys, Sidekicks and other text-tacular smartphones. These days, being photographed thumbing away on your mobile is as trendy as buying children from foreign continents. From Andre to Usher and Beckham to Spears, Switched has assembled a slideshow of phone-strapped stars, which begins on the next page.

Celebrity BlackBerry Addicts

by Tom Conlon, posted Apr 25th 2007 at 6:30PMFeatured Story


If there's one thing celebrities love more than their L. Ron Hubbard, it's their BlackBerrys, Sidekicks and other text-tacular smartphones. These days, being photographed thumbing away on your mobile is as trendy as buying children from foreign continents. From Andre to Usher and Beckham to Spears, Switched has assembled a slideshow of phone-strapped stars, which begins on the next page.

Zap Impolite Cell Callers

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Apr 13th 2007 at 2:30PM

Cell Phone JammerFists are one way to stop someone from rudely gabbing on his cell phone in public. But if assault ain't your thing, you might consider the equally illegal JAM1000 from Spycatcher. This wonderful little gizmo kills nearly all cell phone chatter within a 50-foot radius.

Is some teenage girl ruining a movie for you? Are you done listening to the guy you're sharing an elevator with sweet talk his mistress? Does that business woman have no respect for the fact that you're currently at a funeral? Zap them all! Just be careful not to gloat so openly since, after all, it's against the law in most places to even own a cell phone jammer.

From Spy Review


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