Archive for May 18th, 2008
FCC Filing Teases WiMAX Option for Future Apple MacBooks [Apple]
 A new FCC filing for an Intel 5350 WiFi/WiMAX combo card that fits into Mini PCI Express slots is probably the best evidence yet for future WiMAX functionality in Apple MacBooks, but it’s still far from a confirmation. The bottom line is that with the new card, the WiMAX option officially exists for MacBooks, but as of yet there are no drivers written that would allow it to work with Apple’s line of laptops. You could actually hack your laptop and plug the card in just fine as it is now, but without the drivers (which do exist for Windows), it’s pretty useless. That said, the drivers—especially with Intel Macs—are a mere Leopard update or MacBook redesign away. [FCC Filing via ComputerWorld]
 
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Cellphone Use While Pregnant Causes Kids To Go Haywire, Study Says [Cellphones]
 Pregnant women should probably add cellphones to the list of things they need to avoid, along with alcohol, sushi and cat poo. A giant study that surveyed over 13,000 children found that women who used mobile phones when pregnant were more likely to give birth to kids with behavioral problems.
The study, conducted by UCLA and Aarhus University in Denmark, found that using cell phones just two or three times a day would raise the risk of their babies developing hyperactivity and emotional disorders by the time they enter Kindergarten.
The scientists responsible for the study say that the results were “unexpected,” and that they haven’t discovered what biological mechanisms causes the problems. But the results stayed the same even when they accounted for other possible causes—such as smoking, family psychiatric history or socio-economic status.
But before everyone freaks out and buys a MummyWrap, the scientists stress that the results “should be interpreted with caution” and affirmed by other studies. In the meantime, maybe tell Mommy-to-be to limit her cellphone use a little bit, just in case. [The Independent via Textually]
 
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Posted by: admin in Gaming
RIM launching $150 million VC fund for mobile apps
Filed under: Cellphones
 Following the lead of Google and Apple in providing a hefty chunk of some sort of funding up front for app developers, RIM is teaming up with RBC and Thomson Reuters to provide a $150 million fund to invest in “mobile applications and services.” Interestingly, RIM isn’t limiting those apps and services just to the BlackBerry, and instead the fund is designed to “advance the industry.” The fund will be open to companies from all over the world, and sounds like it’ll be open to pretty much any type of mobile application or service developer that plans on kicking ass in its respective field. We’re curious as to how BlackBerry slanted the fund will end up being, but hey, it’s their money, so we really couldn’t complain either way.
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Fujitsu set to debut AMILO GraphicBooster external graphics card
Filed under: Gaming, Laptops, Peripherals
We’ve heard plenty of promises of external graphics solutions for laptops in the past, and it looks like Fujitsu Siemens is now about to join the party as well, with it reportedly set to debut its AMILO GraphicBooster in the “next couple of weeks.” That word apparently comes from a leaked presentation from the company which, unfortunately, doesn’t include all the details we’d like, but does at least reveal a few tantalizing bits of information. As Notebook Review reports, the device is based on ATI XGP technology, which supposedly provides a 4.7X boost in graphics performance over a standard Fujitsu AMILO laptop (it’s not clear if they’re talking about integrated graphics or not), or a score of about 8,000 in 3DMark06 benchmarks. What’s more, the device will also apparently let you connect up to three external displays to your laptop, with both DVI-D and HDMI ports provided. Of course, there’s no word on pricing or availability, which could lead one to suspect that this is yet another device we’ll still be hearing about a year from now — if you’re the cynical type, that is.
[Thanks, Master_P]
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Posted by: admin in Gaming
Filed under: Robots
All your unicellular buddies are just going to love this. The National Institute of Standards and Technology is rallying a trio of student-built nanobot teams to compete at the world’s most popular sport, which will be the second time nanosoccer has accompanied the RoboCup Open. The difference with this year’s competition is that the public will be invited to watch. Of course, with a playing field the size of a grain of rice, a microscope will be used to show the crazy antics of the remote-controlled robots as they bat around nanoballs the diameter of a human hair. Sounds harmless, but just you wait: before you know it these little bots will start marrying Spice Girls and faking on-field injuries just like the pros.
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 Via [Engadget]
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Posted by: admin in Gaming
Filed under: Robots
All your unicellular buddies are just going to love this. The National Institute of Standards and Technology is rallying a trio of student-built nanobot teams to compete at the world’s most popular sport, which will be the second time nanosoccer has accompanied the RoboCup Open. The difference with this year’s competition is that the public will be invited to watch. Of course, with a playing field the size of a grain of rice, a microscope will be used to show the crazy antics of the remote-controlled robots as they bat around nanoballs the diameter of a human hair. Sounds harmless, but just you wait: before you know it these little bots will start marrying Spice Girls and faking on-field injuries just like the pros.
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Via [Engadget]
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Posted by: admin in Gaming
Apple Goes To War (This Time Not With Microsoft) [Apple’s Military Contract]
 When Apple purchased chip manufacturer P.A. Semi, the Department of Defense was worried. Why? P.A. Semi manufactures chips for ten different military systems, and has $100 million in deals with the DoD over the next four years. And the DoD never expected Apple to keep supporting the sweet, deadly chips.
But they were wrong.
According to The Register, while Apple does not plan to continue modifying/improving P.A. Semi’s PowerPC-based processor architecture, Apple has employed a number of veteran P.A. Semi staff members just for the task of supplying the current chips for years to come.
To us, it seems pretty logical, as if Apple is simply honoring the existing contracts/promises of P.A. Semi. Then again, it’s just such a strange move from such a painstakingly marketed company—Apple and the military certainly make for strange bedfellows. More on this point from The Register:
While the information is limited at this point, we believe the military interest in PA Semi’s low-power chip may have forced Apple’s hand here. Uncle Sam hates to design new missiles only to have the guts ripped out by some dude in a mock turtleneck.
Think deadly? [The Register via Valleywag]
 
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Sprint dropped 1.09 million subscribers in Q1
Filed under: Cellphones
Q1 2008 wasn’t a pretty one for Sprint. The company lost 1.09 million subscribers to the competition, while also losing a bit of ground on its average revenue per customer, now at $56 a month. Sprint’s got 52.8 subscribers left to squander work with, so we’ll see if initiatives like a potential Nextel spinoff or the upcoming Samsung Instinct (pictured) can do anything to staunch the bleeding.
[Via Electronista]
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AirFox Live Helicopter Streams Traffic, Utter Chaos [News]
 The Chicago Fox affiliate WFLD has embraced a touch of Justin.tv with their new AirFox Live helicopter feed. Viewers can now visit the AirFox website and view Google Maps GPS tracking of the chopper, along with a real-time video feed sharing whatever it sees.
Sure, this could be a novelty during their daily traffic reports, but more interestingly, the feed will be live any time that the chopper is in the air—including breaking news like fires, police chases and parade balloons gone amuck. WFLD will probably broadcast a better signal of these more intense moments as they go live to TV, but the point is more that viewers aren’t defaulting to the choices of producers, directors or sponsors to get information from a major news outlet. Then again, it’s such choices that save the average person from staring at webcams all day waiting for something to happen. [myfoxchicago via techcrunch]
 
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Posted by: admin in Gaming
PC Club Gets Purchased by VC Firm [Retail]
 Not so fast employees and customers of PC Club. The computer store isn’t closing down and firing all its workers as we saw on Wednesday, they’re getting a bailout by NAOC Holdings. Reader dudersnoopz says that managers are calling up their workers and telling them that they can get their job back if they want, and all customer warrantees will still be observed.
One of the commenters (centerpeace) last time pointed out that their strategy was to open up right next to a CompUSA and staff their stores with people who actually knew something about computers. Come to think of it, our PC Club was right next to a CompUSA too, which was weird since they were both out in the middle of nowhere. Guess when CompUSA took a dive and got resurreted by Tiger Direct, PC Club just had to follow. [Club IT - Image Credit]
 
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