Akamai HD network launches, streaming Flash and Silverlight HD to the incredibly bored masses

Filed under: Industry, Internet

While Akamai has been streaming video over the net for years, it realized a couple of years ago even its network wasn't up to the task for all the high definition video on the way. To that end it's been reworking its infrastructure and today announced the launch of the Akamai HD Network with a live inaugural stream from its Network Operations Center -- you can watch a rebroadcast at the read link, but we'd recommend watching grass grow and waiting for aSource: Engadget HD RSS Feed

Disney Replacing Bedtime Stories (and Parents) With Digital Books?

Is Disney trying to put the nail in the coffin of story time? It's not enough that adults have replaced actual paper books with e-readers like the Kindle, now Disney is trying to replace children's books (and parents) with laptops.
A new service, called Disney Digital Books, lets kids read what are essentially advertisements for Disney films on a computer screen. There are 500 books from which to choose, and kids can even assemble their own books. What's more, there isSource: Switched RSS Feed

Biz Information: How Much Is My Website Worth? Some Figures Are Even Accurate

There are so many sites out there that have a stab in the dark to let you know how much your website is worth. Most of these sites dont even get close on the basic metrics let alone of value figure. Today I came across a new website evaluation site that actually gets the basic metrics right, even though the value figure might be a little off.

BizInformation.org is a very simple website idea that valuates any given url. BizInformation presents the value of the site,Source: Crenk.com RSS Feed

CNN: Our iPhone app is "not a hobby"

Filed under: Multimedia, Software, iPhone, App Store

CNN chatted with our good friends at DLS about the news network's iPhone app (scheduled to hit an App Store near you very soon), and it actually sounds pretty premium: in-app video, breaking news live video streaming, a Coverflow-style way to browse news information, the ability to store news to read later, and social sharing through Facebook, Twitter, and the usual suspects. CNN even says they want to add more to the app in theSource: The Unofficial Apple Weblog RSS Feed

Motorola Barrage for Verizon sounds aggressive, has specs to match

Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, Verizon Wireless, EV-DO, CDMA

Casio has a pretty tight lock on Verizon's market for ruggedized gear, but they don't own it outright -- Motorola's got the V750 in the mix, too, though it's a little stale at this point (it launched last July, which amounts to an eternity in phone years). That might just be where this puppy comes into play: meet the "Barrage," a phone that both sounds and looks like it's gearing up to kick ass and take names. VerizonSource: Engadget Mobile RSS Feed

Walmart is now selling the Palm Pre for only $79

So ya think that the Pre is still overpriced at $100 from Amazon, eh? Well, if you’re willing to buy the Pre at Walmart and deal with mail-in rebates, you can snag one for only $79.99.

This deal is of course for new subscribers that sign a 2-year agreement, but the end price is the cheapest we’ve seen yet. With prices this low, it kind of makes you wonder how much the Pre’s little brother, the upcoming Pixi, will be when it’s finally available. [Walmart viaSource: CrunchGear RSS Feed

Cocoon food grower wins Electrolux Design Contest

There comes a time in every writer's life when he or she is faced with a conundrum: how to disarm an unwanted double entendre. And this, campers, is the problem I face with last night's victor of the Electrolux Design Contest. The Cocoon cooker (okay so far) is a great example of forward-thinking tech (yuh, still good) — a food generator (uh-huh) that *cough* lets you grow your own meat.

See? There's nothing I can do to make that last phrase sound acceptable. The brains behind thisSource: DVICE RSS Feed

250GB PS3 shows up for pre-order on Amazon.co.uk, ships on October 1

In what has become the "hip cool thing to do" for consoles these days, the 250GB version of the PS3 Slim is up for pre-order in the UK before it's been even confirmed by Sony for most of the world. Sadly, it's just the boring old black version -- so far the white PS3 Slim has only been seen making nice with Final Fantasy XIII in Japan -- but at 285 (about $455 US) it is more than double the capacity for only 40 more "quid" than the original PS3 Slim. Pre-orders are available now, and Amazon Source: Engadget RSS Feed

Latest attempt to visualize the mess we're in: A wheel of misfortune [The Island of Doubt]

The journal Nature has just published a massive feature series on, to use a well-worn phrase, "the limits to growth." The centerpiece is a graphic created by Johan Rockstr of the Stockholm Resilience Centre and his colleagues as part of "a new approach to defining biophysical preconditions for human development. For the first time, we are trying to quantify the safe limits outside of which the Earth system cannot continue to function in a stable, Holocene-like state." Here's their wheel ofSource: Thoughts from Kansas RSS Feed

Archos 9 Internet Tablet dropping October 22nd

Archos have confirmed that their Archos 9 Internet Tablet will go on sale come October 22nd, with pricing starting from $499.  Speaking at the IDF 2009 conference this week, the company surprised many who had expected the 9-inch touchscreen slate to retail for several hundred dollars more than that.

That launch date puts the Archos 9 right at the release of Windows 7, and it will be a good opportunity to see how relatively low-powered processors – the Archos 9 uses an Intel AtomSource: SlashGear RSS Feed

Club3D Radeon HD 5850 and 5870 launched

Today is the big ATI Radeon HD 5800 series launch day and Club3D is the first video card maker to send us a press release. These Radeon HD 5870 features a 850MHz GPU and 1GB GDDR5 clocked at 1200MHz, while the Radeon HD 5850 has a 725MHz core with 1GB GDDR5 clocked at 1000MHz. Prepare to experience a riveting high-definition gaming experience with Club 3D HD5800 series. Expand your visual real estate across up to three displays and get lost in the action with revolutionary ATI EyefinitySource: DV Hardware RSS Feed

Samsung debuts Genio Touch TXT and Pro

Following on from the debut of the 2.8-inch touchscreened Genio Touch earlier this month, Samsung has unveiled two new touchscreen siblings – the Genio TXT and Pro.

Like the Genio Touch, both are equally focused at the budget end of the market and are lightweight, colourful and tough devices which we'll get fully hands-on with very soon.

Like the Genio Touch, the new models feature Samsung's proprietary TouchWiz interface, meaning access to the imminent app store as well.Source: TechRadar RSS Feed

Squidoo Aims To Make Brands Pay For Dedicated Web Dashboards

Remember Squidoo? Founded by current CEO and famous marketing guru Seth Godin, the service allows Internet users to generate rich, topical web pages (dubbed ‘lenses’) to serve as a hub for information, videos, links etc. centered around any given subject. The concept is similar to what companies like HubPages, Mahalo and Helium are all about.

Now Squidoo is looking to monetize the web service directly – rather then depend on on-site advertising – by persuading brands to paySource: TechCrunch.com RSS Feed

Google Sync now added Gmail Push For iPhone and WinMo devices

For iPhone, iPod touch and Windows Mobile users, Google has just announced their Google Sync push Gmail service yesterday. The Google Sync service was initiated at the early of this years, however at the beginning only able to synchronize the Gmail Contacts and Google Calendar. And, as of today, it also offers Gmail messages pushed directly on your handset.

“Using Google Sync, you can now get your Gmail messages pushed directly to your phone. Having an over-the-air, always-onSource: Myhphone dot Com RSS Feed

Print Publishers Embracing Mobile Market

More print publishers are focusing on the mobile market as a way to expand their brands, reach new audiences and generate additional revenue while offering advertisers the chance to reach locally targeted engaged audiences, according to a new survey from the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC).

Forty-five percent of respondents who track mobile's impact on their website traffic said the devices increased visits by up to 10 percent today. Half believe mobile traffic to theirSource: WebPro News RSS Feed

China Cites 'Public Morals' In Defense Against WTO Media Ruling

A World Trade Organization ruling that would stop China from "routing" US artists and companies through its own state-controlled distributors, giving some measure of content and operations autonomy back to the creators. (Take, for instance, China's demands for content control that shut down the Chinese servers of World of Warcraft, only recently re-opened under a new Chinese operator and without the offending zombie/skeleton bones and other objectionable material). As Activision could tellSource: GayGamer.net RSS Feed

Much ado about swine flu [Neuron Culture]

The swine flu triage tent at Dell's Children's Medical Center, in Austin, Texas
photo: Ralph Barerra, Austin American-Statesman

I can't keep up with the flu news. (If you want to, best single bet -- the wide net -- is Avian Flu Diary.) But as the World Health Organisation meets in Hong-Kong to discuss, among other things, swine flu, here are a couple that make good follow-ups to my Slate piece on how adjuvants gobble up vaccine antigen supply:

Source: Thoughts from Kansas RSS Feed

FCC Launches Site to Promote Net Neutrality

I am now officially a fan of the Federal Communications Commission. No, really, I just signed up on their Facebook fan page. Just as Obama launched Recovery.gov to monitor how tax dollars are spent on his stimulus package, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski launches OpenInternet.gov to rally support for Net neutrality.

This is sheer genius. After all, who would speak out for an open Internet more vocally than Internet users themselves? Complaints about throttlingSource: 901am RSS Feed

GSM Palm Pre coming soon

According to a PreCentral report, the GSM model of the popular Palm Pre smartphone should be coming soon, at least sometime in the "autumn."
Previous reports had pegged the phone as being launched vaguely as "before the end of 2009."
The O2 website in Germany shows the Pre as "Exklusiv ab Herbst bei O2," meaning "autumn," and PreCentral thinks late October is the likely launch date.
Updates coming when official date, as well as price are announced.

Permalink Source: AfterDawn.com RSS Feed

ASUS adds textured pattern 'wow-factor' to purported Eee PC 1001HA

Whenever an Eee PC roadmap leaks out, it's generally followed by a torrent of new machines that are just marginally different than the ones before. Granted, we've got Microsoft to thank for that, but it's still getting tougher by the day to keep all of these things from running together. Shortly after having a peek at the supposedly upcoming Eee PC 1201n comes this -- a smattering of hands-on shots of the purported Eee PC 1001HA. Slated to be available with Linux, Windows XP or no OS Source: Engadget RSS Feed

The Living In Sin Belt

Poking around the CensusScope site I found some interesting maps to compare & contrast. Here are the frequency of "nuclear families":

No big surprises here. Utah & the Heartland have a high proportion of households composed of nuclear families. The Black Belt, not as much.

How about families composed of people "living in sin"? That is, unmarried couples.

Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post...

Source: Gene Expression RSS Feed

Jay Leno Show: Drew Barrymore Drives a Prototype Electric Ford Focus

Jay Leno’s new “Green Car Challenge” is similar to Top Gear’s “Star in a Reasonable Priced Car”, but features a prototype electric Ford Focus — “a 23 kWhr li-ion battery (7 kWhr more than the Volt), supplying a 141 HP electric motor.” Video after the break.

All we know is we really like hearing Drew Barrymore say she likes feeling anything in her face. Also, we find it sad Barrymore doesn’t have a license.

[via Jalopnik] Source: TechBlogger RSS Feed

Zune HD a hit?

Did you miss your chance to pre-order a Zune HD. The device was released just this past Tuesday and already Amazon is showing up to a two month wait for 16 GB model while the more expensive 32 GB is expected in up to 2 weeks’ time. Sure the Amazon store is notoriously conservative when they estimate shipping days (my Kindle arrived … [visit site to ]

Related posts:

1. Zune 4GB plus free car kit – $80.99 shipped
2. Zune HD is announced for FallSource: Gear Diary RSS Feed

PSP Weekend Warrior: PSP Go or no go?

We're less that two weeks away from the PSP Go's launch but it looks like people are still very divided over it. It's not just the gamers too -- even retailers are torn. Some have predicted its failure while a few have even outright opposed the handheld and Sony's download-only model for it. Sony, on the other hand, seems all set to follow through not only with the Go, but with the PSP brand as a whole, as rumors (and history, really) suggest that there are more hardware Source: QJ.NET RSS Feed

Drop in for ODST midnight launch events

Ah, what's a Halo game release without midnight launch events? Unsurprisingly, both Best Buy and GameStop will be hosting midnight launches for Halo 3: ODST. While Best Buy will simply be selling the game at midnight, Monday, September 21, GameStop has some festivities planned. According to Team Xbox, activities planned include RC Warthog and "pedal-powered go-cart" races, Halo trivia contests as well as a Halo cosplay contest. Before you don your favorite Cortana costume, you should callSource: Houstonist RSS Feed

EA done with Boogie franchise for now, SSX revived if market is 'ready'

In an interview with Gamesindustry.biz, EA Montreal general manager Alain Tascan discussed the possibility of a SSX franchise revival, saying, "If the market is there and is ready for a new one then we'll consider it." While Wii gamers have already hit the slopes with SSX Blur, the closest PS3 and Xbox 360 users have been to the franchise is through shoddy backwards compatibility features.
Tascan also discounted a new installment in the rhythm music franchise, Boogie. AccordingSource: Houstonist RSS Feed

AVRSH command interpreter for Arduino/AVR

Instructables user nevdull writes:

Ever wanted to be "logged in" to your AVR microcontroller? Ever thought it would be cool to "cat" a register to see its contents? Have you always wanted a way to power up and power down individual peripheral sub-systems of your AVR or Arduino in *real time* ? Me, too, so I wrote the AVR Shell, a UNIX-like shell.

| Permalink | Comments | articles in Arduino | Digg this!

Source: MAKE: Blog RSS Feed

How To Disguise an Audi R8 as a BMW [LOLCars]

Not content with the absence of a mid-engined super car in BMW's lineup since the M1 of 1978, an Audi R8 owner took matters into his own hands, re-badging an Audi R8 as a BMW.

Posted on the French car blog Autoboost with helpful annotations, and distributed across the internets with due haste, the implications of such blatant intra-Bavarian treachery raise interesting questions we haven't yet been able to formulate — until now.

Is this car owned Source: Jalopnik RSS Feed

Air Mouse Elite from Gyration makes a play for the living room

Section: Peripherals, Mice / Keyboards

There’s a brand new in-air mouse called the “Air Mouse Elite.” What’s different about this model? It’s definitely prettier than previous Gyration mice as it resembles a standard Microsoft or Logitech mouse. There is a modified button layout with additional buttons below the scroll wheel in a circular pattern. The Air Mouse Elite can be used as a regular mouse on a desktop surface or can be picked up to control your mouse cursor Source: Gadgetell RSS Feed

Bloodbot draws blood, inspires fear

We've seen our fair share of scary robots in these parts, and we're not going to mince words here: there is no way we are going anywhere near one that's armed with a hypodermic needle -- and we sure as hell aren't going to sit still and let it draw blood! Currently being developed by a team at Imperial College in London, the Bloodbot is designed to probe your arm for the presence of a vein, stick you with the needle, puncture the vein, and then stop short of rupture. The system, which Source: Engadget RSS Feed

Bose SoundDock 10 iPod speaker system is $600 of digital envy

If you’re an iPod owning Bose loving rich person then you’ll be excited to learn that the SoundDock 10 has arrived for a mere $599. This new sound system for the iPod and iPhone looks great on your shelf, sounds great when you play it and say’s “I have a lot of money” to anyone who visits and views it on your … [visit site to ]

Source: Gear Diary RSS Feed

Archos makes new Android-powered Internet Tablet official; 3.5G Phone Tablet partially unveiled

At a special event in Paris, France, Archos made its next-generation Internet Tablet official today. The Android powered multimedia device will outmatch the iPod touch with a Ti OMAP3 processor and a huge 4.8-inch touchscreen display with 80080 resolution and 16 million colors. In addition to its fast processor and high resolution screen, the Internet Tablet will also include:

• HD video support (H.264, WMV, Mpeg-4 up to 720P)
• Archos AppsLib storeSource: The Boy Genius Report RSS Feed

Things I like to Blog About: Ritalin [Neurotopia]

It seems, from the time I first heard about it, there's been an eternal flare-up about Ritalin, and its similar counterparts, including things like Concerta and Tranquillyn. Issues with who should get it, who HAS attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), whether or not ADHD is is even a real diagnosis. Issues about whether people who DON'T have ADHD should get Ritalin, and whether it's ethical to use Ritalin (or other stimulant medications used for ADHD) for things like "cognitiveSource: Thoughts from Kansas RSS Feed

Sprint launches Samsung M330, camera-less BlackBerry Tour 9630

Less than one week after the introduction of Samsung M240, Sprint has now launched the Samsung M330.

The M330 is a simple slider that features 3G (EV-DO) connectivity, Bluetooth, web browser and a VGA photo camera.

Measuring 3.7 x 1.7 x 0.6 inches, the phone comes with a 960 mAh battery that can provide a talk time of up to 6.3 hours.

Samsung M330 is available for free with a 2-yr contract agreement – you can get it online here.

Source: Unwired View RSS Feed

Rebel Scholar… Again….

(Editorial note: Larry would be writing this himself but he is in the midst of a 24 hour shift at the firehouse and is dealing with his 3rd call of the night!)

One of the great things about the iPhone accessory world these days is the huge number of different accessory companies making awesome cases, cradles and more for our favorite device. It means you can always find the right case for your budget and taste. (Heck, you can even get a custom Gear Diary case!!) Source: Gear Diary RSS Feed

Sony's PS3 Slim gets the ColorWare treatment

You know, sometimes it's just fun to go to ColorWare's site and see just how ugly we can make our favorite consumer electronics. It was while trying to find just the right shade of puce for that Cisco 7900 Series desk phone when someone pointed out that the company is now offering custom-colored Sony PS3 Slims. Color the logo, the top, the base, and up to four controllers. They'll sell you a console outright for $449, or send yours in and they'll ugly it up for $149 (controllers costSource: Engadget RSS Feed

Forza Motorsport 3 goes gold, demo confirmed for September 24

Turn 10 has announced that Forza Motorsport 3 is now gold and is racing into the final lap for its October release. To mark the occasion, they've also given the green light for a demo set to hit the Xbox Live Marketplace later this month.
The demo, which will be available on the Marketplace starting September 24, will put gamers behind the wheels of the following cars in full cockpit view:

• 2007 Porsche #80 Flying Lizard 911 GT3-RSR
• 2010 Audi

Sprint adopt Qualcomm Brew; entry-level HTC incoming?

Sprint have obviously decided that it helps to have fingers in as many developer pies as possible, with the announcement that they will now be launching Qualcomm’s Brew mobile platform.  No specific devices are mentioned by the carrier, only that they will run both native Brew apps together with “high-performance mobile Java” software.

The decision moves Sprint further in line with Verizon, who use Brew for the majority of their feature phones.