Renault-Nissan could invest USD 1 billion on electric car project Renault-Nissan could invest USD 1 billion on electric car project California-based Project Better Place has said that their partner Renault-Nissan could invest as much as USD 1 billion dollar on their planned electric car project. Renault and Nissan have a deal signed with Better Place to develop electric cars for mass production. The group's aim is to develop [...]

Make Your Own Phone-call Getaways A crafty site allows you to schedule a call to your own phone and get you out of bad meetings.

Meet the Pulverizers: New Munitions Tear Up Rock and Concrete Quick New munitions called Pam, Barnie and Bam Bam tear apart rock and concrete easily -- and that's hard to do with traditional explosives. The new blasters use a two-step process: A "shaped charge" drills a hole, then explosives are fired into the hole, and -- ka-boom.

Card plan splits welfare bodies WELFARE groups are split over a federal plan to quarantine government payments to negligent parents through the rollout of a national benefits card.

Simmons to head G9's net bid THE Optus-led consortium vying for national broadband contract has appointed former SP Telemedia CEO to manage the so-called G9 bid.

Has It Gone, Or Just Gone Online? The Oxford English Dictionary-the 3-volume one with the magnifying glass-has ditched its hard copy and gone digital for good, which makes one "bookish middle-class" writer nervous. "Other totemic college books could go out of style, maybe," Virginia Heffernan writes in the New York Times. But "the OED was forever. Wasn't it?"

Use Flytunes To Get Streaming Internet Radio On Your iPhone This is a demo video of the new FlyTunes Internet radio tuner service. FlyTunes delivers music, talk, weather, and traffic to the Apple iPhone and iPod touch. The video shows the installation process and demos a few stations.

Google Translates English to Hindi Google Translates English to Hindi Search engine giant has added Hindi as one of the new language options in their Translation Service. This means that web users can now use the utility to translate between different languages and Hindi. We tested out the service and found it to pretty inaccurate. It's hard for a computer algorithm to be [...]

Facebook raises another USD 100 million in funding Facebook raises another USD 100 million in funding Facebook has now raised $100 million in funding in the last six months. The company said that these new funds would be used to get more servers as the web service is becoming bigger and bigger attracting thousands of new users every day. This latest investment comes from the [...]

Wi-Fi Blankets U.S. Campuses Cities are still struggling to cut deals for municipal Wi-Fi, and standards remain uncertain, but universities have plunged into wireless nets.

Nvidia CEO denies buyout of Via Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang says he has no interest in buying out or participating financially in Via Technologies.

Stolen Mac helps nab burglary suspects A remote desktop access feature found in some Macintoshes is being credited with leading police to two suspects in the burglary of an apartment in New York.

How to watch live TV on an iPhone/iPod touch (video) There is a new application that you can install on an iPhone or iPod touch that will allow you to stream video media and live TV from your computer to your iPhone/iPod touch. You could also setup a webcam for security purposes and monitor that remotely via an iPhone/iPod touch.

Sprint Jumps the Gun with Lawsuit to Protect WiMax Venture - Seeks declaration from the court that no exclusivity provisions are violated Sprint doesn t want anything to get in the way of the company s plans to merge with Clearwire to build a massive WiMax network . Anticipating potential hassle from wireless service provider iPCS, Sprint has made the first move and asked a judge to declare that the new network does not violate any exclusivity agreements that the company has with iPCS. Sprint has cause for concern considering the history of the companies; iPCS won in court after the company sued over exclusivity violations when Sprint acquired Nextel. However, Sprint believes that the fact that the WiMax network is on a different frequency from the wireless network should negate any exclusivity issues. Should the court issue the declaration that Sprint seeks, Sprint would avoid future court battles with iPCS over the issue. read comment(s)

Vendors Bicker Over Green Networking Crown Who's really got the most eco-friendly networking gear?

Virtual apps try to build camradiere, productivity Once upon a time, people bonded with their co-workers on office softball teams and traded gossip at the watercooler.

55% of Business Elite Buy Products Advertised Online - Big spenders are heavily influenced by digital media If there was any doubt that online advertising works, that doubt is diminished with the findings of a new study which show that fifty five percent of America s business elite will make a purchase based on an Internet ad. This group of people is making high-end personal purchases as well as bulk purchases for their businesses which means that they re flooding the market with their money. While they still rely heavily on print media and network TV, their buying is beginning to be highly influenced by digital media (especially via email and broadband video). This makes these people the target for advanced digital marketing efforts as well as for the growing interest in cell phone marketing. read comment(s)

Flaw turns Gmail into spamming machine A "serious security flaw" in Gmail allows spammers to send thousands of bulk e-mails through Google's SMTP service, according to a recent report.

FCC to Test DTV Transition - NC analog signals shut off in September to provide analysis Taking a cue from recent efforts by a small Las Vegas television station, the FCC has plans to test out the switch to digital television as part of a goal to make sure that all consumers are ready for the change. The test will take place in North Carolina television markets in September and is designed to shed some light on any remaining concerns that exist about the transition. Broadcasters in the area will shut off their analog signals on September 8th in order to determine whether TV consumers who still use rabbit ears realize that they re going to lose service in February. The National Association of Broadcasters agrees that the test is a good idea but warns that results will need to be reviewed carefully to determine whether or not they really apply on the national level. read comment(s)

Microsoft has now sold more than 2 million Zune players Microsoft has now sold more than 2 million Zune players Software giant Microsoft has said that they have now sold more than 2 million units of their Zune portable media player. Zune is Microsoft's challenger to the Apple iPod range of players and it has had little success in the market. Microsoft had sold one million units by [...]

Samsung Guru200 mobile phone launched in India Samsung Guru200 mobile phone launched in India South Korean mobile phone maker Samsung has announced the launch of their latest product in the Indian market. The company has now launched their Guru200 model here in India. The phone features FM recording facility which could attract a lot of customers here in India. Samsung Guru200 is a sleek bar-type [...]

Nationalize Twitter? Hmm, not so fast A lot of chatter recently that Twitter has become vital to our daily lives--with some suggesting it to a question of national security.

Facebook borrows $100 million Social-networking site Facebook has reportedly borrowed $100 million to finance the expansion of its server farms.

Experts Trust Americans To Behave Online In Flight - Social norms will develop to keep bad behavior limited on in-flight broadband As in-flight broadband becomes a reality, concerns continue to be raised about how to monitor and control the use of the service. Concerns have included that customers would talk excessively on VoIP services and browse porn while seated next to children. Different airlines around the world have instituted different rules for monitoring the content, use and features available on their planes. However, experts seem to believe that we can trust society to more or less behave appropriately when it comes to using in-flight Wi-Fi. Aircell s chief executive has been quoted as saying that decency, good sense and normal behavior will prevail in the use of the service. Wireless news editor Glenn Fleishman notes that public Internet surfing generally doesn t raise issues of content like porn because people censor themselves when they know others are watching. And professors at major universities believe that social norms will develop that make it safe to leave the responsibility for self-control primarily in the hands of the consumers. read comment(s)

LG KF510, LG KP320 and LG KP110 mobile phones launched in India LG KF510, LG KP320 and LG KP110 mobile phones launched in India South Korean tech giant LG has launched three new mobile phones in the Indian market. These new phones are: LG KF510, LG KP320 and LG KP110. These phones are targeted at the three different market segments. KF510 is a high end mobile phone. KP320 is for [...]

Wireless Companies Crack Down on Phone Spam - Two thirds of messages on the Sprint network are blocked as spam Cell phone spam is on the rise with one prediction being that wireless customers are going to receive one and a half billion unsolicited text messages this year (double what the rate was for 2006). Wireless companies have been accused of supporting phone spam because they make a profit off of those people without text message plans who receive these messages. However, the companies respond that they are opposed to cell phone spam because it makes their customers irate. It s also because they want to exploit the opportunity for cell phone marketing in the future and don t want customers completely turned off to the idea of cell phone spam. As a result, wireless companies are implementing actions to protect customers from cell phone spam. Sprint has a filter in place to catch spam before it gets to your phone; reportedly two thirds of all text messages sent on the network are identified as spam and blocked. Verizon uses a combination of blocking mass spammers and filing lawsuits about the issue to protect its customers. And AT&T notes that all three major wireless companies have agreed to share information about text spammers to make solving the problem more efficient. read comment(s)

BlackBerry Curve 8330 now available through Sprint BlackBerry Curve 8330 now available through Sprint Sprint has now begun offering the new Blackberry Curve 8330 Smartphone to their customers. The phone is being offered at a retail price of $179.99 with a two-year contract and after rebates and discounts. This model comes loaded with Bluetooth 2.0, a 2-megapixel camera, and integrated GPS. Sprint said that the [...]

Tethered Gadgets Stagnate the Net, Researcher Says The newest Internet-enabled gadgets stifle creativity along with collaboration, according to new academic research.

Copyright Cop Position Added to White House - Pro-IP Act passes House to the glee of RIAA and MPAA Congress has been considering a bill called the PRO-IP Act since late last year and the House of Representatives has now decided to pass that bill. The bill, heavily supported by RIAA and MPAA, originally had a controversial section which would allow for fines on compilation CDs to be unusually excessive . That portion of the bill was dropped before the bill was passed but there remain several areas of concern about the impact the bill will have on filesharing. The biggest area of concern is the fact that the bill creates a new position in the White House called the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Representative. This new position helps to make sure that organizations like RIAA can continue to gain legal ground even after the presidential election changes major players in the government. The main goals of the act are to strengthen copyrights, make it easier to prosecute people who violate copyrights and increase fines associated with copyright infringement. read comment(s)

Samsung DVD Claims 22X Recording The new Super-WriteMaster SH-S223, touted as the fastest 22x writer, is available in the Indian market.

Sexist culture driving women out of science-oriented careers London, May 11 : Women in their late 30s are turning their backs on careers in science and technology and undermining key sectors of the economy due to a time warp of 1970s sexist attitudes, according to a new research.

Construction company develops peel-and-stick solar panels Washington, May 11 : Solar-panels have long been considered as those traditional tilt-it systems that are installed on roofs, but now a construction company has developed solar panels that use peel-and-stick technology to attach to roofs.

Satyam reports 100 percent growth in Middle East revenues Leading Indian software company Satyam Computer Services has registered over 100 percent growth in revenue, pushing it to 102.76 million dirhams ($28 million), from the Middle East in 2007-08.

Climate Counts' deceptive and meaningless attack on Apple Copying the self-serving campaigns run by SVTC and Greenpeace, the group Climate Counts has made Apple, Inc...

Toshiba Qosmio G40: Toshiba planning a Cell processor based Laptop Toshiba planning a Cell processor based Laptop Japanese tech giant Toshiba is expected to bring to the market a new notebook model powered with a processor based on the Cell technology. Cell processors are already being used in the Sony Playstation 3 gaming console and some servers made by IBM. Market sources say that the Toshiba Qosmio G40 [...]

Pope Goes Digital to Communicate with Youth Text messages and a 'Catholic Facebook' are components of an electronic outreach.

Social Networks Go Corporate Businesses are realizing--and investing in--some of the functions of social networking sites for internal communicaitons.

Is Your Car the Ultimate 'Mobile Computer'? Microsoft wants to turn your car into a Windows machine (please, no "crash" jokes) with in-dash infotainment and diagnostic systems.

User Names and Passwords: How to Manage the Keys to the Kingdom Creating and remembering strong passwords -- like backing up our computers' contents -- is something many of us know we should do, but don't. And can you blame us? Having to come up with user names and passwords for virtually everything we do on a computer is enough to make anyone use "Magic123" over and over. I've even heard of people who keep lists of passwords taped to their computer screens.

Environmental Group Puts More Heat on Apple Apple has been given a failing grade by Climate Counts, and was placed at the bottom of a list of 12 electronics companies also ranked by the organization. Climate Counts ranks companies on their practices to reduce global warming on a scale of zero to 100, and Apple was given a score of 11, some 66 points behind sector leader IBM, which scored a 77.