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| Google's Self-Driving Car Gets a License in Nevada | |  The state of Nevada has issued a first license for one of Google's self-driving cars -- provided there are two people inside the car at all times, the Associated Press reports. Nevada's DMV has issued the license after conducting demonstrations that the car is safe for testing on public streets. Google's self-driving cars use a laser radar on the roof of the vehicle to detect obstacles, pedestrians and other cars. With the help of GPS and a bit of artificial intelligence, the car can drive itself with very little or no intervention from the human sitting inside. That said, Nevada's regulations require two people in the test cars: one in the driver's seat, and other monitoring a computer screen that shows the car's planned route as well as traffic lights and other potential hazards on the road. As soon as the "driver" touches the brake or the wheel, he takes control of the vehicle. We had a chance to test out one of Google's self-driving cars in March 2011, and the results were good: no glitches, no unwanted close encounters with walls or other obstacles. However, in August 2011 one of Google's cars caused an accident on the road. What are your thoughts on self-driving cars? Are they the future of transportation or an accident waiting to happen? Let us know in the comments. |
| High Tech, High Fashion: Clothes Hangers Show Real-Time Facebook Likes [VIDEO] | |  Do you love to shop for clothes, but worry what people will think of your sartorial choices? Now some real time fashion feedback has arrived in Brazil via Facebook. Retailer C&A has started a marketing push there that marries online groupthink with real-world decision making. Called FashionLike, it works like this: Whenever sometime Likes a clothing item online at C&A Brasil's site, that thumbs-up is tallied on a screen embedded in clothes hangers on the store's physical racks. Shoppers can then consider that input as they browse the store aisles. Do you take the popular shirt with more than 1,000 likes, or go under-the-radar and pick the one with just a couple hundred? C&A is not the first to marry digital and real life in the world of fashion marketing. A Stussy campaign last month promised that a model dressed for winter warmth would shed clothing layers according to how many likes the campaign generated on Facebook. Others have sought to crowd-source design feedback from the masses online. And Maybelline recently hired the star of the popular "Sh*t Fashion Girls Say" parody video for a stint as the brand's new spokesmodel. As many have pointed out, however, there is one major potential stumbling block with C&A's FashionLike: What if someone just walked into the store and switched items between hangers? But stumbling blocks or not, C&A's effort is an interesting intertwining of Facebook and the real world -- a trend that will likely become more and more common. How else would like to see Facebook actions integrated into real life? Let us know in the comments. |
| Earth-Like Alien Planets Unlikely Around Stars with 'Hot Jupiters' | |  Alien solar systems that are home to so-called "hot Jupiters" — gas giants circling sizzlingly close to their stars — are unlikely homes for Earth-like planets, researchers say. Hot Jupiters get their name from the fact that they are approximately Jupiter's size, but extraordinarily near their stars, at about a tenth of the distance from Mercury to our sun. These roaster planets are among the alien worlds that astronomers have discovered most often since their size and proximity to their parent stars mean they exert large gravitational tugs on their hosts that scientists can readily spot. This planet-finding technique, known as the "wobble method," detects the presence of giant planet near a star by the wobble motion induced on the star by the planet's gravity. The closer and larger the alien planet is, the more pronounced the wobble. To explain how hot Jupiters form, researchers have developed two broad classes of explanations — one that also predicts the presence of nearby companion planets, and one that does not. Astronomers recently detected more than 2,000 candidate alien worlds with NASA's Kepler spacecraft, and by looking at whether hot Jupiters were found together with other types of planets, they can begin to pin down which theory of hot Jupiter formation is correct. Astronomers looked at 63 hot Jupiter candidates. They found no compelling signs of planets elsewhere in their systems. [Gallery: Alien Planets Discovered by Kepler] "A sample of 63 is an order of magnitude larger than all of the previous studies combined, making the results pretty definitive," study lead author Jason Steffen, an astrophysicist at the Fermilab Center for Particle Astrophysics in Batavia, Ill., told SPACE.com. "It should give people who model planet formation a good piece of information to work with." The researchers also investigated other planet types. These included 31 "warm Jupiters," gas giants orbiting a bit farther away from their stars, as well as smaller worlds, including 52 "hot Earths" and 222 "hot Neptunes." These may often be found in multi-planet systems. Models that suggest hot Jupiters are loners propose that these giants initially had highly elliptical orbits that eventually shrunk over time into tight, circular paths. As they migrate inward, their gravitational pull would likely scatter other planets away from their systems, which would explain the apparent solitude of hot Jupiters. Still, Steffen warned that it may be possible that their results could miss very small planets that lie in the same systems as hot Jupiters, or planets in distant orbits. The scientists detailed their findings online May 7 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook. Gallery: The Smallest Alien Planets How Planets in Alien Solar Systems Stack Up (Infographic) Oozing Super-Earth: Images of Alien Planet 55 Cancri e Copyright 2012 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
| HTC Droid Incredible 4G Announced, Headed To Verizon [PICS] | |  HTC and Verizon announced the HTC Droid Incredible 4G on Monday, the third phone in the Droid Incredible line. The HTC Droid Incredible 4G has a 4-inch Super LCD display, and 1.2 GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor. The phone has an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera for shooting pics, and can also capture photos while simultaneously shooting high-definition video. A forward-facing camera is also available for video chatting. The phone will ship running the latest version of Android - Ice Cream Sandwich - as well as the latest version of HTC Sense, the software that HTC puts over Android. Both the HTC One S (available on T-Mobile) and HTC One X (available on AT&T) run Ice Cream Sandwich and Sense 4.0 as well. The One X and S both have unibody designs with no removable battery or expandable memory. The Droid Incredible 4G strays from that trend, giving you the ability to swap out your battery and offering microSD expansion up to 32GB. While Verizon has announced the phone will be coming to its network "in the coming weeks," it hasn't announced an actual release date for the handset or any pricing information. We had a chance to spend a few minutes with the HTC Droid Incredible 4G at a Verizon event on Monday evening. Check out the gallery below for some pictures of the handset, and let us know what you think about the phone in the comments. |
| Samsung Focus 2: Samsung's First LTE Windows Phone [PICS] | |  Samsung got official with the Samsung Focus 2 Monday, the third Windows Phone smartphone on its 4G LTE network. "Samsung is the unmatched leader in offering smartphones across a variety of platforms and the Focus 2 is a powerful example of our continued commitment to Windows Phone," said Dale Sohn, president of Samsung Mobile. "As our first 4G LTE Windows Phone, the Focus 2 is a fast and versatile device for productivity, entertainment and social networking." The Focus 2 follows in the footsteps of the Focus, Focus Flash, and Focus S. The handset has a 4-inch Super AMOLED screen, and a 5-megapixel camera that is also capable of shooting 720p HD video. The handset also has forward-facing VGA camera for video chatting. "AT&T offers our customers the broadest Windows Phone portfolio of any carrier, with three 4G LTE Windows Phones - the only 4G LTE Windows Phones in the U.S. - now at a variety of price points and form factors," said Jeff Bradley, senior vice president, Devices, AT&T Mobility. "The Samsung Focus 2 brings the people-first Windows Phone interface together with AT&T's fast 4G LTE network for an unbeatable experience." We had the opportunity to spend a little bit of time with the Focus 2 at an AT&T event at CTIA. First impressions? While we couldn't recommend the Focus 2 over the Lumia 900 (which is currently selling for the same price point), the lightweight handset is priced right at $50 for entry-level smartphone buyers who might want to give Windows Phone a try. The Focus S will be available on May 20 from AT&T. |
| Analyst Says Don't Believe What Analysts Say About Tech Products | | Monday, May 07, 2012 8:29 PM | TechNewsDaily |
|  At TechNewsDaily, we write about how real tech products, services, tips and cultural trends affect real people. But it’s impossible not to also hear business pundits spinning their interpretations in the press. You’re just not going to avoid news of Apple’s current or Facebook’s expected share price, for example. So reading something like “Amazon's Kindle Fire shipments slump in Q1: IDC,” as Reuters wrote last week, might give you pause. If no one's buying the product, should I? Will it even be around in a year, and will there be any new software for it? That headline was based on estimates from an analyst firm called IDC. Now, one of its rivals, NPD (they always seem to be three-letter names) offered a different view in a blog post, titled “Shipments Are Not Sales.” Analyst Steven Baker pointed out that “shipment” simply means how many of the gadgets went from factories to warehouses and stores. The drop off, he said, was probably just because the shelves were still well stocked. NPD estimates that in the past three months, Amazon sold over twice as many Kindle Fire tablets as it “shipped,” since it already had a lot of inventory. Bottom line: The Kindle Fire probably isn’t going away. If the slim, $200 media tablet with a seven-inch touchscreen and plenty of online content appeals to you, go ahead and get it. Don’t take too seriously what the number crunchers say. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Muhla1 |
| MasterCard Unveils PayPass Wallet Services, A New Way To Pay | | Monday, May 07, 2012 7:30 PM | Emily Price |
|  MasterCard announced PayPass Wallet Services Monday, a new global offering that makes it easier and faster for customers to make purchases in stores and online, by allowing those purchases to be made with a single click or tap. "We think of MasterCard's mission as using technology to make payments safer, simpler, smarter and this is just one of the ways we're progressing against that mission" Ed McLaughlin, chief emerging payments office, MasterCard told Mashable. "We realize that when it comes to payments, no single wallet will rule them all. PayPass Wallet Services simplifies the shopping experience while providing flexibility and choice to merchants, banks and consumers," says McLaughlin. PayPass Wallet Services has three components: PayPass Acceptance Network, PayPass Wallet and PayPass API which together are designed to streamline your shopping experience no matter how you shop. PayPass Acceptance Network: The PayPass acceptance network includes both online and contactless payments, and gives merchants a consistent way to accept electronics payments across multiple channels. NFC payments can be made in-store by tapping your mobile phone, and a new PayPass online element lets you check out at a retailer by clicking a PayPass button -- automatically providing your shipping and payment information to a retailer without having to fill that information out each time you pay. PayPass Wallet: PayPass wallet enables banks, merchants and partners to white label their own wallets. Consumers can store payment and shipping information in one secure place including American Express, Discover, Visa and other branded credit, debit and prepaid cards. PayPass API: The PayPass API allows partners to connect their own wallets into the PayPass network, and lets those partners user MasterCard's check-out, fraud detection and authentication services to allow their customers to make purchases wherever PayPass is accepted. MasterCard will make PayPass Wallet Services available to partners in the third quarter of 2012, initially in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Australia later including other countries. MasterCard's first partners for the project include big names like American Airlines and Barnes & Noble. American will be integrating the PayPass Wallet into its mobile application, and Barnes & Noble will be including the PayPass online checkout button on its website. "Consumers are at a pivotal point now where smartphone adoption has exploded and well over 50 percent of Americans own one," says Marc Parish, vice president of retention and loyalty marketing for Barnes & Noble. "The technology that will allow customers to make mobile payments at the point of sale has already begun to make a different, and Barnes & Noble is proud to be leading retail in this technology shift" Other partners include Jagex, JB Hi-Fi, MLB Advanced Media (MLB.com), Newegg, Runningshoes.com, TigerDirect.com and Wine Enthusiast Companies. MasterCard is also working with financial institutions such as Citibank, Fifth Third Bank, and National Bank of Canada. A number of technology partners are also already on board. "MasterCard's PayPass Wallet Services has the potential to streamline the payment process for consumers, whether they're online or offline." Mark Hung Research Director, Wireless at Garner told Mashable. "The open nature of the PayPass Wallet looks promising: besides allowing competitors' offerings to reside in the wallet (e.g., Visa, Amex, and Discover), the PayPass API allows other digital wallets to connect to MasterCard's acceptance network as well," says Hung. "It will be interesting to see when the full product will be launched, as well as the breadth of its partners that will be supporting this new initiative." What do you think about MasterCard's new PayPass Wallet services? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. |
| MasterCard Unveils 'The Future of Payments' [LIVE] | | Monday, May 07, 2012 6:50 PM | Emily Price |
|  MasterCard is unveiling what it calls "the future of payments for consumers, merchants and partners" at the CTIA Wireless conference in New Orleans Monday. We're streaming the whole thing live exclusively on Mashable starting at 6:00 p.m. EST, 3:00 p.m. PST. Since the conference is held by the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), it's a good bet MasterCard's announcement about the future of payments will have focus on its mobile strategy. Earlier Monday, MasterCard unveiled its Mobile Payments Readiness Index (MPRI), an analysis of 34 countries and their readiness to use mobile payments. The index identified Singapore, Canada, the United States, Kenya and South Korea as the most prepared markets. MasterCard also recently unveiled a new brand identifier called "MasterCard PayPass Ready" that certifies several NFC-capable phones including the LG Viper, HTC One X, and Samsung Galaxy Nexus, as tested and certified by MasterCard for use with its PayPass technology. Near-Field Communication (NFC) allows data to be transferred by tapping a phone on the surface. In the case of mobile payments, payments can be made by tapping your NFC-capable phone at a merchant rather than handing over your credit card. SEE ALSO: Near Field Communication: A Quick Guide To The Future Of Mobile Phones that have received the "PayPass Ready" certification may be branded as such via a sticker or marking on the device's packaging. The certification may also be mentioned in advertising materials. What do you think MasterCard has planned? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. |
| Apple Releases iOS Update That Fixes Streaming Audio, Video Issues | | Monday, May 07, 2012 5:51 PM | Tecca |
|  If you've been having trouble with AirPlay on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, help has arrived. Apple has released an update to its mobile operating system that fixes problems related to streaming your audio and video to supported devices, in addition to correcting a few other small issues. Version 5.1.1 of iOS addresses AirPlay playback problems, fixes a fickle HDR photo option when activating the camera app from the iPhone and iPod touch lock screen, makes syncing bookmarks and reading lists from mobile Safari more reliable, and takes care of problems some iPad users were having switching from 2G to 3G networks. It also banishes a rare error message that could crop up after making purchases from the App Store. If you're already using iOS 5, which came pre-loaded on the iPhone 4S and the new iPad, it's possible to update to the latest version without connecting your phone, tablet or iPod to your computer. That's thanks to iOS 5's new over-the-air update feature. Still, it's recommended that you plug your device into a charger to prevent its battery from dying mid-update. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, TommyL |
| 4 Mobile Business Applications to Watch | | Monday, May 07, 2012 4:58 PM | Layla Revis |
|  Layla Revis is vice president of digital influence at Ogilvy PR Worldwide. Her specialties include international affairs, tourism, and multicultural marketing. With the recent acquisition of Instagram by Facebook, hedging bets on what may be the next application to be acquired for $1 billion is all the rage among geeks. Although most developers are putting emphasis on consumer-facing apps, the app sector with the ability to generate income from acquisition is likely in the business-to-business space. Social business tools are going to become more popular as tablets and smartphones become the norm at companies and the consumerization of IT is adapted at a rapid pace. And there's no question the market will be huge, what with mobile application downloads approaching 48 billion by 2015. But what business apps are leading the way? Here are four examples of mobile business applications to watch. 1. BoardVantage BoardVantage is a collaboration app for boards of directors at large companies. It is programmed with extensive security policies and allows a board meeting to take place entirely on an iPad, which stores all related important information in an IT-secure application. The app is a must for CIOs who want to transform their company so that instead of the C-suite using laptops, they are all armed with iPads. Although it's free to download, it requires a subscription to use. 2. IBM bCase IBM's bCase for IBM Business Partners helps businesses create amazing sales presentations on an iPad. Ed Abrams, vice president of marketing for IBM Midmarket, says the app is highly dynamic and can pull in content from a wide variety of sources, allowing for a much more vibrant experience than you get from, say, Microsoft PowerPoint. It's free to download, but requires a password issued by IBM. 3. The Merck Manual The 100-year-old manual's content has been transferred from book to iPad in both a home and professional edition. The app can be accessed anywhere via wi-fi and allows doctors to find symptom information for patients and email a relevant link to either the patient or a patient's specialist. Robert S. Porter MD, an editor of the app, said, "The Manual has always been highly regarded for its clarity and focus on delivering just the right amount of information. This app for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch now provides that information in a convenient form that will make it even more valuable for healthcare professionals on the go." 4. Cisco WebEx This application allows anyone to join a web conference from an iPad or iPhone. Any number of people can attend these meetings, but a WebEx host account is needed to schedule or host a meeting. The app also allows one to attend a meeting from anywhere in the world and present PowerPoint presentations. It makes the possibility of conferencing from anywhere very simple. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, franckreporter |
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