Pluto loses status as a planet

Pluto was discovered in 1930 by US astronomer Clyde Tombaugh. Astronomers have voted to strip Pluto of its status as a planet. About 2,500 scientists meeting in Prague have adopted historic new guidelines that see the small, distant world demoted to a secondary category.The researchers said Pluto failed to dominate its orbit around the Sun in the same way as the other planets.The International Astronomical Union's (IAU) decision means textbooks will now have to describe a Solar System with just eight major planetary bodies.

Source: BBC News

Firefox welcomes Microsoft's offer of help

Mozilla has accepted Microsoft's offer of help in porting Firefox to Vista, but some issues still need to be ironed out. Mozilla has accepted Microsoft's offer of help towards ensuring interoperability between Firefox and the upcoming Vista operating system.

Microsoft's offer to help came on Saturday when the director of the company's open source lab, Sam Ramji, posted an open letter on a blog used by Mozilla developers. Microsoft offered to open up a new open source facility at its headquarters in Redmond to Mozilla software engineers, including giving them one-on-one time with Microsoft people. The offer includes help with the Thunderbird email client.

In reply, Mike Beltzner, a "phenomenologist" for Mozilla and the company's spokesman on this issue, said: "Yes, we'd definitely be interested in getting some one-to-one support".

Source: Zdnet

Battery Exchange Program iBook G4 and PowerBook G4

Apple has determined that certain lithium-ion batteries containing cells manufactured by Sony Corporation of Japan pose a safety risk that may result in overheating under rare circumstances.




The affected batteries were sold worldwide from October 2003 through August 2006 for use with the following notebook computers: 12-inch iBook G4, 12-inch PowerBook G4 and 15-inch PowerBook G4.

Apple is voluntarily recalling the affected batteries and has initiated a worldwide exchange program to provide eligible customers with a new replacement battery, free of charge. This program is being conducted in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and other international safety authorities.

Source: Apple

All Tech Blog- The Latest In Technological Analysis

Siren DP300

Available in 1GB ($128) or 2GB ($171) capacities, the Siren DP300 is a budget-priced digital media player that packs plenty of multimedia features. Boasting a crisp 128 x 128 TFT-LCD screen, an FM tuner, five-preset EQ modes, built-in games (Blackjack/Biorhythm), voice recorder, USB 2.0 connectivity, and up to 24-hour battery life. Supported media formats include MP3, WMA, OGG, WAV, AVI, MPEG, WMV, ASF, DivX, and JPEG. It measures 71 x 33.5 x 17mm and weighs in at just 43g. This player goes on sale August 25th in Japan.

Source : Siren

The Robots Are Coming!

The robots are on the move--leaping, scrambling, rolling, flying, climbing. They are figuring out how to get here on their own. They come to help us, protect us, amuse us--and some even do floors.

Since Czech playwright Karel Capek popularized the term ("robota" means "forced labor" in Czech) in 1921, we have imagined what robots could do. But reality fell short of our plans: Honda Motor (nyse: HMC - news - people ) trotted out its Asimo in 2000, but for now it's been relegated to temping as a receptionist at Honda and doing eight shows a week at Disneyland. The majority of the world's robots are bolted to a spot on a factory floor, sentenced to a repetitive choreography of welding, stamping and cutting.

Source : Forbes

Synaptics Mobile Phone Concept

The Onyx, a phone concept by Synapics, uses touch-sensitive technology to control the device via its horizontally oriented screen. Though touchs-sensitive control is nothing new in phones—they've been in Windows Mobile 5 phones for a while now—this one recognizes "not only points and taps but also shapes and complex movements, together with multi-point input." Some cool applications of that would be:

a phone call to Onyx can be answered by simply holding it to your cheek, messages sent by swiping them off the screen with the whole finger.

Though this is just a concept, Synaptics says the first phone using this technology will be out sometime this year. Slashgear is taking a wild stab and thinking it may be used in the iPhone, but we'll believe it when we see it

Source : Gizmodo

Samsung Develops 70″ LCD HDTV

Samsung today unveiled the world’s first 70-inch LCD HDTV, which boasts 1920 x 1080 Full HD resolution, 2000:1 contrast ratio, 600nit brightness, 180-degree viewing angles, and 92% color saturation for optimum image quality. Pricing and availability have not yet been announced.

In addition, its video signal is reproduced at 120Hz, compared to a video signal of 60 Hz for a conventional Full HD LCD panel, enabling rapidly moving video images to be reproduced with crystal clarity. Samsung will begin producing the new 70-inch LCD during the first half of 2007, bolstering its position in the ultra-large-screen TV segment.

Source : TecheBlog

Deal of the Day : 1GB USB Flash Drive - $15.99

Insane deal at Micro Center. Check it out.

Google is No. 1 search on AOL

Out of more than 36 million search queries that hundreds of thousands of AOL users typed into AOL's Internet search engine from March to May, here is the term most queried: Google.

That so many customers would use one search engine to find another is among the odd truths being mined from AOL's public release of search data. The company last week called the incident involving 658,000 users' queries a "screw-up" and apologized. But for better or worse, the data offer the first widespread public glimpse of how people search the Internet, of what they are interested in. Of how people think.

The safest iPod

I've got an iPod nano, and I'll admit that it almost never, ever leaves its case. While not everyone is as scratch-phobic as I am, I know that I'm not alone. Check out the iTank cases by YoTank. Formed from a single piece of machined aluminum, the iTank nano weighs 3 oz., costs $45US and all but guarantees that you will be pulled aside at the security checkpoint in your local airport. iTank cases are also available for the iPod mini and iPod with video with a polished aluminum finish (black coming soon).

Sony Transparent TV

No kidding! This “transparent” TV really exists, and it’s from Sony. Look at the screen, it’s like floating…and the speakers, freaking awesome!

Vista joins MS patch treadmill

Microsoft has released a couple of patches for Windows Vista after realising that the pre-release OS is vulnerable to some of the security bugs addressed in its last (mammoth) Patch Tuesday update cycle.

Of the seven critical Windows updates released in August, two (MS06-042 and MS06-051) also affect Windows Vista Beta 2 or later, prompting the release of additional patches.
Click here to find out more!

The most threatening of the Windows flaws addressed on 8 August (MS06-040) - the subject of active malware exploitation over recent days - leaves Vista untouched.

Source : The Register

Intelligent road system to boost traffic safety

Japan’s National Police Agency is moving forward with plans to introduce a road safety system that alerts drivers to potential hazards through audio and visual notifications on in-vehicle navigation systems. With testing scheduled to begin in Tokyo this year, the system is expected to be rolled out in 2008 after the test results are verified.

Source : Pinktentacle

Astronomers sharply divided on new planet definition

A 12-person committee representing the world's largest group of planetary scientists on Thursday threw its support behind a new planet-defintion proposal that would increase the tally of planets in our solar system to 12. Visit the site to read the full article...

Source : SPACE.com

Speedy silicon sets world record

Modern circuits contain millions of transistors
A simple tweak to the way common silicon transistors are made could allow faster, cheaper mobile phones and digital cameras, say UK researchers. Visit the source to read more..

Source : BBC News

PlayStation’s online network is up and running

GameSpot previewed Full Auto 2 for the PlayStation 3 the other day, and revealed that Sony’s readying their online network for a November launch. In fact, the network is already running internally. For a while, it seemed like PlayStation was going to disappoint us with all of the talk of delays and such, but it looks like they’re finally getting their act together.

Source : Gadgetell

Virtual Dissections Reveal 3-D Images Of Ancient Life

Researchers at Bristol University used a technique called synchroton-radiation X-ray tomographic microscopy (SRXTM) to give vivid details to embryos millions of years old without violating the embryos' integrity. A 500-meter wide particle accelerator scans the delicate embryos and the data is fed to a computer were realistic 3-D images are developed in the most excellent details. How do you think this technology will assist us in addressing the deficiency that has limit evolutionary biology in term of closing evolutionary gaps if any?

Source: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7004485432

Scientist discover new Alzheimer's mechanism by that may start to explain why Alzheimer's is a disease of aging. The study reveals ways that cells naturally fend off amyloid build-up thus promising new pathways to the development of better anti-Alzheimer's drugs. In this study, scientist used C. elegans to show that two key proteins, HSF-1 and DAF-16, are responisble for the conglumeration and decomposition of amyloid plaques. As the cells mature, the HSF-1 protein become less effective, the decomposition of the plaques also decreases hence suggest a molecular correlation between Alzheimer's disease and aging. Let me know your thoughts.
Source: http://ktla.trb.com/news/ktla-alzheimersclue,0,541478.story?coll=ktla-news-1