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| Today's Top Stories: CISPA Passes House, BlackBerry 10 Phone Rumors | |  Welcome to this morning's edition of 'First To Know,' a series in which we keep you in the know on what's happening in the digital world. Today, we're looking at three particularly interesting stories. CISPA Cybersecurity Bill Passes House The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) passed the House of Representatives on a 248-168 vote late Thursday afternoon. CISPA's goal is to allow private companies to share information about cybersecurity threats with one another and the federal government, but critics say it might result in serious breaches of Internet users' privacy. BlackBerry 10 Phone Rumored for October The first BlackBerry 10 smartphone might hit the stores as early as October 2012. Citing multiple unnamed sources, Laptop Magazine reports RIM plans to announce the device by mid-August. Details about the device are very scarce -- it might be a slider with a touch screen and a QWERTY keypad, but nothing is confirmed at this point. Space Shuttle Enterprise Is Coming to the Big Apple NASA's prototype shuttle orbiter Enterprise is flying to NYC today. The Enterprise has been on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum since 2003; its new location will be Manhattan's Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, mattjeacock |
| Space Shuttle Enterprise to Fly to NYC Today | |  NASA's prototype shuttle orbiter Enterprise, which had been on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum since 2003, is set to fly to the Big Apple today (April 27). Enterprise is due to take up residence at Manhattan's Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum starting this June, when its temporary display facility will be ready. For now, the orbiter is scheduled to fly from Virginia's Dulles International Airport to the John F. Kennedy International Airport today between 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. EDT. The space shuttle will be carried piggyback by a specially modified Boeing 747 jumbo jet. En route, the linked planes will make low flyovers above the Intrepid, the Statue of Liberty, and other landmarks. This flight was originally slated for Monday (April 23), but was postponed due to cloudy and rainy weather. NASA and Intrepid officials are hoping the skies hold clear this morning to allow the move. [Photos: A Space Shuttle Called 'Enterprise'] Intrepid, which is housed on a retired U.S. Navy aircraft carrier on the west side of Manhattan, is preparing a temporary bubble tent to cover Enterprise on the ship's deck. When that is ready, Enterprise will be transported from JFK up the Hudson River by barge. Eventually, the museum plans a permanent showcase for the orbiter in a separate building. That building, however, will likely take two to three years to complete. Enterprise never flew to space, but it was the first space shuttle built by NASA. Named after the fictional starship Enterprise from the 'Star Trek' TV series, the orbiter prototype was used for glide flights to test the space shuttle design and its unpowered landing approaches. Enterprise was moved from the Smithsonian to make way for the retired space-flown orbiter Discovery, NASA's most-traveled shuttle. That orbiter arrived in Virginia last week, and is now on public display at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. NASA's two other space shuttles, Endeavour and Atlantis, are also slated to be sent to museums this year. Endeavour is bound for the California Science Center in Los Angeles, while Atlantis will stay close to its home spaceport at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. If you snap an amazing photo of space shuttle Enterprise soaring over the New York City skyline and would like to share it with SPACE.com for a photo gallery and story, send it to senior writer Mike Wall at: mwall@space.com. You can follow SPACE.com assistant managing editor Clara Moskowitz on Twitter @ClaraMoskowitz. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook. How NASA Flies Space Shuttles on 747 Jets (Photos) Rare Photos: Discovery and Enterprise - 2 Space Shuttles Nose-to-Nose NASA's Space Shuttle Museum Flights: Complete Coverage Copyright 2012 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
| Adapter Could Let Any Smartphone Camera Shoot in 3D [VIDEO] | | Thursday, April 26, 2012 10:11 PM | Emily Price |
|  You may soon be able to shoot 3D video with your cellphone -- even if that phone doesn't have a 3D camera. Fujitsu is working on a new way for phones that just have one rear camera to shoot three-dimensional videos -- a process that traditionally requires two cameras. The magic would be done using a special attachment that uses mirrors to send two different images to the camera's sensor. After recording a video with the attachment, you would upload your creation to Fujitsu. The company would then add some image processing and send your masterpiece back to you in 3D. It's not ready for market just yet, but the image sensor would be about the size of a chapstick tube. When shooting videos, it would use only about 25% of your camera's sensor -- which means you're walking away with videos not near as high-quality as if you had recorded them in 2D with your phone's camera. If you're interested in shooting 3D videos with your phone, there are a number of 3D smartphones currently out there that can get the job done. The HTC EVO 3D for instance, can capture 3D pictures and video and can display those photos and movies on its glasses-free 3D screen. LG also makes a 3D smartphone, the LG Thrill, which can shoot 3D videos and pictures and has a glasses-free 3D display. Would you want to add the ability to shoot 3D videos to your smartphone, or do you think it's an unnecessary feature? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. |
| Why Apple's CEO Is Right About 'Refrigerator-Toasters' -- and Laptop-Tablets | | Thursday, April 26, 2012 8:58 PM | Pete Pachal |
|  Few people have the kind of clout that their off-the-cuff asides qualify as world news. Apple CEO Tim Cook is such a person. His ad-libbed comment during this week's company earnings call about "convergence" devices has inspired more online buzz than a Kardashian marriage. Answering a question about whether an Apple tablet-laptop hybrid is inevitable, Cook said convergence shouldn't be done for convergence's sake. Then, to illustrate his point, Cook appeared to take the first two kitchen appliances that popped into his head. A refrigerator-toaster hybrid was theoretically possible, he said, but it wouldn't work as well as either product individually. In response, the Internet exploded. Cook's comment went viral, partly because of the imagery of the example, but mainly because it was a clear dig at the competition. And he wasn't talking about Android. In the lead-up to Windows 8, many manufacturers have showed off prototype laptop-tablet hybrids. In fact, a big chunk of Microsoft's strategy for Windows 8 tablets rests on convergence: your tablet and PC are one and the same. The Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga is probably the most famous -- and arguably the best -- example of the hybrid idea. It's an ultra-thin notebook (or "Ultrabook") whose monitor can fold over a complete 360 degrees to become a tablet. The keyboard automatically switches itself off, so you needn't worry about knees touching the keyboard in tablet mode. The Yoga has generated a lot of excitement due to its compelling design. But is it useful? Do designs like the Yoga (and some of these other prototypes) really address a need? To answer this question, look to Cook's predecessor, Steve Jobs. When Jobs unveiled the first iPad, he made a powerful case for its existence. In that 2010 keynote, Jobs said a tablet had to justify its existence by being better at some key activities -- web browsing, reading, using email and watching video, in the iPad's case -- than a laptop or phone. Sixty-seven million iPads later, and I think we can safely say the iPad has filled the niche it was designed to fill. Still, people still use both tablets and laptops. Wouldn't it be easier to just have one device? Easier, yes, but not better. Or more precisely, the experience surrounding those activities is lessened, particularly in tablet mode. Here's the rub for laptop-tablet hybrids: Even if the issues surrounding battery life, performance and overall weight are somehow addressed, those improvements will also improve tablets themselves. Say it does become possible to create a sub-2 pound notebook that folds into a tablet that gets great battery life. That means a dedicated tablet would probably weigh less than a pound and runs for days between charges. So what's the advantage of the single device again? SEE ALSO: What Would It Take to Beat Apple? Oh yeah, the all-in-one form factor. It's nice, but it's overrated, particularly since both laptops and tablets are trending toward lighter weights in any case. Besides that -- and this is the hurdle Microsoft is going have the hardest time leaping -- consumers have now been trained to think of laptops as "work" devices and tablets as "lean back" (or "consumption") devices. As they say, customer habits are the hardest thing to break. Sure, the Yoga has a curious and fairly slick laptop design as laptops go. Those kinds of projects always garner lots of attention, but redefining the laptop is another matter entirely. I have a hard time seeing the Yoga becoming anything more than a good-looking device that a few enthusiasts will buy. That's why Cook's right: bringing two products together that serve different needs lessens the experience of both. Apple made the iPad because it actually did things better than phones and laptops. It wasn't combining categories, it created one. As slick as the Yoga has shown a hybrid can be, at the end of the day I don't go to my fridge for toast. BONUS: Lenovo Yoga in Pictures Image by Tommaso Gecchelin |
| Amazon Stock Surges on Strong First Quarter Results | | Thursday, April 26, 2012 6:51 PM | Brian Anthony Hernandez |
|  Internet retailer Amazon beat analysts' estimates for its first quarter on Thursday, prompting a 15% surge in its stock price in after-hours trading. Net income for the quarter dropped 35% to $130 million, or .28 per share, compared with its 2011 figures of $201 million, or .44 per share. Revenue, however, reached $13.18 billion, besting Amazon's guidance of between $11.9 billion to $13.3 billion for the quarter, and analysts' consensus estimate of $12.8 billion. Amazon's first-quarter revenue last year was $9.86 billion. Amazon touted strong Kindle sales in Thursday's earnings announcement. The Kindle Fire is Amazon's "bestselling, most gifted and most wished for product across the millions of items available on Amazon.com since launch," according to the company. SEE ALSO: Amazon 2012 -- What the Future May Hold for the Web's Largest Retailer "In the first quarter, nine out of 10 of the top sellers on Amazon.com were digital products -- Kindle, Kindle books, movies, music and apps," Amazon reports. Most recently, Amazon made a software update to the Kindle Fire, making its ebooks experience more social. BONUS: Amazon Kindle Fire, iPad's First True Competitor "The $199 Amazon Kindle Fire is a worthy device. It's not an iPad slayer, but it could be the first tablet to ably stand atop Mount Tabulous (or at least on a rock ledge just a few dozen feet lower) with Apple's industry-dominating slab computer." Read the full review here.
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| Google Actually Sells a Service: Sketchup is Going to Trimble | | Thursday, April 26, 2012 6:13 PM | Zoe Fox |
|  Google announced Thursday that it was selling 3D modelling tool SketchUp -- an unusual event for the tech giant known for aqcuiring companies more than for selling them. Trimble Navigation is purchasing the platform for an undisclosed amount of money. Google acquired SketchUp in 2006 and has used the tool to design building models within Google Earth. "In its time at Google, SketchUp has become one of the most popular 3D modeling tools in the world," SketchUp wrote on its official Google blog. "With over 30 million SketchUp activations in just the last year, we're awfully proud of our accomplishments. But there's still so much we want to do, and we think we've found a way forward that will benefit everyone-our product, our team and especially our millions of users." SEE ALSO: Google Wants to See Your Town in 3D Trimble, the new parent of SketchUp, makes surveying, mapping and marine navigation equipment. SketchUp says Trimble's commitment will help the platform return to its core communities -- both veteran and new modelers, designers and makers -- which it calls its heart and soul. SketchUp says it will keep the free version of the platform, which is used by a wider audience. Do you think SketchUp will be better served by Trimble, a more niche parent company than Google? Sound off in the comments. BONUS: 12 Mysterious Google Maps Sightings |
| Amazing Video of Planets, Stitched Together from NASA Photos | | Thursday, April 26, 2012 5:06 PM | Space.com |
|  A spectacular new video combines NASA images of the Saturn and Jupiter systems into an eye-popping montage of moons, rings and swirling otherworldly storms. The video strings together photos snapped by NASA's Voyager and Cassini spacecraft, according to its creator, Netherlands-based freelance editor Sander van den Berg. He posted the black-and-white piece, called "Outer Space," earlier this month on the video-sharing site Vimeo. "Outer Space" begins with close-up shots of Saturn's iconic rings, then zooms out to show them whirling in space like a gigantic cosmic buzzsaw. Some of Saturn's many moons occasionally zip through the field of view as they journey around the huge The video focuses for a few seconds on one of the most intriguing of these moons, the ice-encrusted Enceladus. Icy plumes of water vapor, salts and carbonates spew from the south polar region of Enceladus, which many researchers think harbors a deep subsurface ocean of liquid water. "Outer Space" also shows huge storms racing through the atmospheres of both Jupiter and Saturn, cosmic hurricanes that dwarf anything we experience here on Earth. The twin Voyager spacecraft launched a few weeks apart in 1977, tasked primarily with studying Saturn, Jupiter and the gas giants' moons. The probes made many interesting discoveries about these far-flung bodies, including spotting live volcanoes on Jupiter's moon Io — the first time such current geophysical activity had been observed beyond Earth. And then the spacecraft just kept going, checking out Uranus and Neptune on their way toward interstellar space. Both are now actively observing the strange environment at the edge of the solar system; Voyager 1 is about 11 billion miles (18 billion kilometers) from Earth, and Voyager 2 is 9 billion miles (15 billion km) from home. The $3.2 billion Cassini mission launched in 1997 and arrived at Saturn in 2004. The spacecraft has been studying the ringed planet and its many moons ever since, and will continue to do so for years to come. Last year, NASA extended the probe's mission to at least 2017. You can watch "Outer Space" on Vimeo here: http://vimeo.com/40234826 You can follow SPACE.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter: @michaeldwall. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook. |
| Twitter Updates Its iPhone and Android Apps | | Thursday, April 26, 2012 4:39 PM | Emily Price |
|  Twitter has updated its iPhone and Android apps, tweaking the design and adding a number of improvements to the mobile version of the service. Amongst the new enhancements: the addition of a discover tab to the app, improved search functionality, and push notifications for Interactions. Discover: Thursday's update brings the Discover tab from Twitter on the web to its mobile app. Much like the web version, the Discover tab lets you know what tweets people you follow have favorited or retweeted. The tab also lets you know if someone you follow has decided to follow a new person or add a new person to a list. Activity appears below stories in Discover, and tapping on a story will let you see more tweets about a trend or news story that can be replied to, retweeted, or favorited. Search: The updated apps have improved search functionality, which offers suggested spellings and related terms when you search. When performing a search for people, the app will autocomplete searches for people you follow when you start typing in his or her first or last name or username. Specifically for the iPhone, Twitter has added the ability to tap the search box in Discover and see your recent queries, as well as the ability to go directly to someone's profile when searching for a username in Connect. Notifications: Twitter's app now supports push notifications for interactions. Now you can choose to be notified when someone new follows you on the service, or when your tweets have been retweeted or favorited Have any of you downloaded the update? What do you think about the improvements? let us know your thoughts in the comments. |
| Are Kickstarter Investors Idiots or Geniuses? | | Thursday, April 26, 2012 4:31 PM | Lance Ulanoff |
|  Kickstarter, the crowd-sourced project funding platform, is now officially a thing. It's being actively parodied by comedians all over the web with videos that mock the slick, yet warm and heartfelt-approach of its best pitches. Those jokesters can make fun all they want. Many Kickstarter projects are laughing all the way to the bank. Every day I read a story about a new Kickstarter project zooming to $1 million dollars. The Double Fine Adventure Kickstarter gobbled up $3.3 million and Pebble sought $100,000 and got $7 million. This is serious funding. It's angel-investor level stuff, but without a venture capitalist in sight. Kickstarter is, ostensibly, not about starting a business. Instead it promotes closed-loop projects. When someone has an idea -- whether a movie or a new piece of technology -- and cannot make it without some cash, it's a way to solicit enough cash to make the idea a reality. If the project doesn't reach its funding goal, it doesn't get any money. On the other hand, what's the purpose of building one of these projects if you're not intending to start a business? Surely Pebble wants to finish building the E Ink-based smart watch, sell a billion of them and use the profits to make more. I have never funded a Kickstarter project. No, I'm not immune to the lure of a good pitch. I've watched videos for everything from the Galileo remote-controlled iOS robot to Versalette sustainable woman's clothing and thought, "Wow, that's cool." I've also wondered how some Kickstarter projects create such awesome videos. These pitches look like mini movies. Though, as parodies point out, they all use similar tricks: the defocus/focus, a project leader staring off into the distance, close-ups, clichés and aphorisms overlaying imagery, artsy shots of the team and where they work and a moving soundtrack. These videos make the project ideas and prototypes many times more compelling than they might be otherwise. SEE ALSO: Kickstarter Project Wants You to Drink 999 Bottles/a> The more cynical side of me wonders if we aren't all being played. I mean, who wouldn't watch these videos and want to make these projects a reality? I wonder if venture capitalists watch the pitches and laugh. Before they back something, they get a good look -- a really good look -- at the people, the product/prototype/project and the market. They know so much before they decide to invest at any level. For them, it's all about measuring risk. Kickstarter investors get the satisfaction of knowing the project will get done and, if the project warrants it and the pledge covers the retail cost of the final project, a copy of the product. Not every project allows for that. Spencer Tunick's Dead Sea Art Installation, for example, is pure satisfaction. He plans on filling the dead sea with naked people, and managed to surpass his goal of $60,000, by almost an additional $60,000. The platform has its own fairly obvious charms. It's proven effective. It's public and, therefore, open to social sharing. And there are no VCs leaning over your shoulder, asking you tough questions about your project or trying to steer it in a, potentially, more market-friendly direction ("Hey, maybe we could just put some clothes on all those people in the Dead Sea."). I do wonder, though, if all of the buzz surrounding Kickstarter is now driving funds into projects that would otherwise never make it in the real world. There's sort of an irrational exuberance around every new Kickstarter idea. Pebble is a good example. Smart watches, or watches that connect to your phone, are not a new idea. I reviewed one (WiMM One) earlier this year. Sony has one, too. But something about Pebble's E Ink-based version captured the imagination and it zoomed well past its $1 million goal to $6.5 million. This is not the company's first smart watch. As the video notes, they started with one for BlackBerry (what company targets BlackBerry users first?). This is the follow-up, but they needed funding to complete it. In other words, they didn't make enough revenue to build and sell the Pebble. It's also possible that a tiny company like this sees Kickstarter as a way to spread the risk. The company cannot afford to pour $100,000 into its own project, so it let fans do it (or at least the fans they expect to garner on Kickstarter with their awesome video). Like I said, Kickstarter investors get satisfaction and, sometimes, a product. But if a product like Pebble is a failure, all they have is a really cool end-of-life gadget. Something that, as technology moves along, will be no more useful than the rock it's named after. |
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