TOKYO: Canon, the world’s top camera-maker, is exploring the possibility of launching a mirrorless model, packing many of the capabilities of an upmarket single-lens reflex camera into a more compact body, a senior executive said.
SEATTLE: Google’s Chrome Web browser has grabbed more than 20 percent of global market share, while Microsoft’s long-time leader Internet Explorer has slipped below 50 percent, according to Internet statistics firm StatCounter.
DUBLIN: Sony Music is investigating the possibility that pranksters rather than hackers posted fake stories on its Irish website, a source close to the company said.
LONDON: Smoke belching from Asia’s rapidly growing economies is largely responsible for a halt in global warming in the decade after 1998 because of sulphur’s cooling effect, even though greenhouse gas emissions soared, a US study said on Monday.
WASHINGTON: Warming air from climate change isn’t the only thing that will speed ice melting near the poles — so will the warming water beneath the ice, a new study points out. Increased melting of ice in Greenland and parts of Antarctica has been reported as a consequence of global warming, potentially raising sea levels.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida.: At $196 billion, the amount of money US taxpayers spent during the lifetime of the space shuttle program seems astronomical.
Al-Falak Electronic Equipment & Supplies Co. (Al-Falak), a leading provider of technology-based end-to-end solutions in the Middle East, is highlighting the protection offered by Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE), an anti-malware solution bundled with the Microsoft Windows 7 operating system.
LONDON: Skype, which is being bought by Microsoft for $8.5 billion (5.3 billion pounds), introduced a new service on Thursday allowing users of Android phones to make free video calls to Skype contacts, including those on Apple iPhones.
LONDON: Despite a recent move to classify mobile phones as possibly carcinogenic, the scientific evidence increasingly points away from a link between their use and brain tumors, according to a new study.
SEATTLE: Facebook, the world’s biggest social networking website, is set to launch a new feature next week, possibly in the mobile or tablet arena, its CEO said.
BERLIN: German federal police say the country saw a nearly 20 percent rise in cybercrime last year, causing €61.5 million ($89 million) in damage.
DUBLIN: Internet giant Google’s tussles with some governments over Internet censorship could get worse, Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said on Monday, adding he feared his own colleagues faced mounting danger of occasional arrest and torture.
SYDNEY: Australia’s problems with high-speed Internet can be summed up in one word: Margaret.
Margaret is a carrier pigeon that raced the nation’s biggest broadband service to send a 700 megabit file over a distance of 132 km (82 miles) — a televised contest that Margaret, with a memory stick taped to her leg, won easily.
WASHINGTON: A new study says one of the few benefits of global warming — fewer deaths from the combination of extreme heat and cold — may eventually melt away in Europe.
TEHRAN: Iran plans to send a live monkey into space next month, the latest advance in a missile and space program which has alarmed Israel and its western allies that fear the Islamic Republic is seeking nuclear weapons.
NEW YORK: A publicity-seeking hacker group that has blazed a path of destruction on the Internet over the last two months says it is dissolving itself.
Brand owners will soon be able to operate their own parts of the Web — such as .apple, .coke or .marlboro — if the biggest shake-up yet in how Internet domains are awarded is approved.
WASHINGTON: The health of the world’s oceans is declining much faster than originally thought — under siege from pollution, overfishing and other man-made problems all at once — scientists say in a new report.
WASHINGTON: Sea level has been rising significantly over the past century of global warming, according to a study that offers the most detailed look yet at the changes in ocean levels during the last 2,100 years.
SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook’s US advertising revenue will total roughly $2.2 billion in 2011, displacing Yahoo Inc to collect the biggest slice of online display advertising dollars, according to a new study.
SINGAPORE: The organization that oversees the Internet address system has voted to greatly expand the number of new website suffixes.
TORONTO: BlackBerry maker Research In Motion has started to hand out layoff notices after it said on Friday it would cut an unspecified number of jobs, a local newspaper said.
SINGAPORE: Nokia Chief Executive Stephen Elop unveiled a new smartphone on Tuesday that uses software the firm plans to ditch, a move analysts said would probably condemn the device to obscurity.
SINGAPORE: Fitch Ratings warned it would treat a voluntary rollover of Greece’s sovereign bonds in any rescue package as a default and would cut the credit rating, keeping pressure on European policymakers who intend to outline a new plan by mid July.
TORONTO: Research In Motion lost a second marketing executive and its shares dropped seven percent, part of a tide of bad news that has halved the BlackBerry maker’s market value this year.
HELSINKI: Struggling Nokia possibly bought itself more time to change itself through a patent deal with Apple, ratings firm Moody’s said.
SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook’s US advertising revenue will total roughly $2.2 billion in 2011, displacing Yahoo Inc to collect the biggest slice of online display advertising dollars, according to a new study.
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, California: The Air Force says the second test of a hypersonic experimental aircraft ended in a crash off the Southern California coast earlier this week.
WASHINGTON: I recently spent eight days in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) conducting training under the patronage of The Protocol Department - Dubai. One of the most striking things about the experience was the abundance of Blackberries, iPhones, and other digital devices seemingly in the hands of the entire populace. I even noticed when I met with one of the UAE rulers that he carries his iPhone like a warrior with a weapon.
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza: A group of students from United Nations Relief and Works Agency's (UNRWA) Khan Younis Training Center (KYTC) in Gaza has created a Formula 1-style racing car from scratch, out of recycled parts. The students decided to embark on the project as part of this year's prestigious Formula Student competition, organized by the Institution for Mechanical Engineers.
NEW YORK: Facebook, it turns out, isn’t just a waste of time. People who use it have more close friends, get more social support and report being more politically engaged than those who aren’t, according to a new national study on Americans and social networks.
NEW YORK: Facebook has hired Joe Lockhart, who served as press secretary during President Bill Clinton’s second term, as vice president of global communications.
HELSINKI: Samsung Electronics will become the world’s largest smartphone maker this quarter, overtaking struggling Nokia Oyj which has lead the market since 1996, Nomura said.
HELSINKI, Finland: Finnish handset maker Nokia Corp. says it has settled an outdrawn patent dispute with Apple Inc, putting an end to “all patent litigation” between the two companies.
SHANGHAI: Google Inc has applied for a license to operate its Google Maps product in China, China Business News reported on Tuesday, quoting an unnamed official.
AMSTERDAM: A UN agency says reducing emissions of black carbon and ozone, the main ingredients of soot and smog, will slow climate change.
TOKYO: Vast deposits of rare earth minerals, crucial in making high-tech electronics products, have been found on the floor of the Pacific Ocean and can be readily extracted, Japanese scientists said on Monday.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida: The four astronauts who will close out NASA’s 30-year space shuttle program arrived Monday for their history-making launch week, saluting the nation’s birthday and all those who contributed to Atlantis’ final flight.
The confused query of a visitor to Nokia’s stand at the CommunicAsia exhibition in Singapore said it all. “Is that the new mango device?” the man asked when shown Nokia’s N9 smartphone.
Reaching out through the web, social networks, smartphones and iPads is a new game called "The Floating City." In the game, players explore a fictional Google map, forming tribes and trading amidst a strange sea-going barter society. The game is a creation of 1980's pop singer Thomas Dolby who is using the game as a vehicle for the release of his new musical endeavors. The game is free to play and there are rewards such as free music downloads and merchandise for the most successful tribes. Give it a try at www.floatingcity.com.
• Easy listening anytime
•Cloud storage and backup
•Disney takes comics digital
•Google goes on the attack
Cool Tools - June 22, 2011
Crafts for men have come a long way since the days when “Popular Mechanics” advised returning World War II soldiers in the rustic arts of whittling and leather tooling.
• LG’s Cinema 3D TV
• Asus’ PadFone Android
• Logitech’s Touch Lapdesk N600
RIYADH: A group of young Saudi philanthropists has launched an e-portal in Riyadh on Monday to help Saudi and expatriate women to find employment in the Kingdom. Glowork (www.glowork.net) is the first website in the GCC that aims to provide fully-fledged career guidance to women. The website currently serves the Kingdom and will expand to other countries in the region as demand increases.
Andrew Dennison has a very unassuming title printed on his business cards, “senior programmer.” It sounds a bit dull — a title that could be held by a cube dweller working at any major company. But then, Dennison isn’t working at the average office. He’s a senior programmer for Codemasters Software Company, Ltd., one of the oldest British video game developers.
The coming months will see the launch of some great gaming titles. So don’t waste all your pocket money on summer vacation madness. Here’s a peek at the excitement ahead to encourage you to stash some cash and be prepared with the assets needed to get in on some amazing gaming action!
• Fight fatigue-related accidents
• Something old, something new
• Something old, something new
• Corporate tablet, back-end services
In a week, AMD launches its 32nm AMD Fusion Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) code-named “Llano.” Manufactured by GlobalFoundries, an ATIC portfolio company and one of the world’s leading semiconductor chip manufacturers, the upcoming “Llano” APU is set to enhance the computer user experience, increase battery life and provide consumers with powerful discrete-level graphics capabilities.
With Sony's online destinations fighting off continuing threats, maybe right now the PlayStation Network isn't the best venue for online fun. So why don't you consider amusing yourself by playing free EA SPORTS games on Facebook?
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida: Space shuttle Atlantis rocketed off its seaside launch pad on Friday, rising atop a tower of smoke and flames as it left Earth on the shuttle program’s final flight.
