Reality Bites
A cryptology instruction book…202 years old. A photograph of the U.S. Army’s cypher bureau…from 1919. A breakdown of Russian electoral districts…circa 1948. Schematics for a magnetic tape memory system…nearly half a century old. More »
With the disappointing box office results for the latest Pirates of the Caribbean and Kung Fu Panda installments, reports that 3D is in trouble have flooded a number of industry publications.
You probably know the drill by now — Cupertino introduces a new product with a name that ostensibly belongs to someone else, and for better or worse that someone decides to take Apple to court. Today, it’s iCloud Communications charging out of the left corner to sock Apple’s iCloud square in the wallet. Arizona-based iCloud Communications appears to be a VoIP equipment and service provider, though in court documents it claims to be a cloud computing company as well, and says that it’s been using the term iCloud (and the above logo) to sell such services since 2005. It’s asking the court to destroy all of Apple’s iCloud marketing materials, pay damages and even invalidate the iCloud trademark that Apple bought from Xcerion — the only registered iCloud trademark so far — but what’s probably going to actually happen here is a nice little settlement out of court. We’ll let you know if there’s any reason to break out the popcorn.
[Thanks, Tamaine M.]
iCloud Communications sues Apple for obvious reasons originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 12 Jun 2011 01:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
A week-long mediation effort has failed to produce a new contract for Saskatchewan’s 12,000 teachers.
Chevy wants to know what it can do to get you into one of its plug-in hybrids today. A $1,000 price drop? You got it. The carmaker announced this week that the 2012 Volt base price will come in a grand lower than its predecessor, thanks to the sorts of additional configurations that come with increased availability. The 2011 version was available in seven states and the District of Columbia and came in three configurations — 2012’s Volt is available nationwide in seven different packages, ranging from $39,995 to $46,265. And keep in mind that those prices don’t factor in potential tax credits. The latest version of the plug-in vehicle is available now for order and offers up features like MyLink media streaming, OnStar driving directions, and passive locking (though the new base model does strip away a couple of features found in its predecessor). Also there’s the whole lessening your dependence on gasoline, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Chevy drops Volt base price by $1,000 for 2012, makes saving the world slightly more affordable originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 11 Jun 2011 16:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Samsung’s been a frequent source of frustration, teasing us with its fabulous flexible displays for years, while never giving us a date when we could buy one for our very own. However, word on the web suggests that Sammy is finally ready to unleash its pliant panels upon the world in Q2 of 2012. Apparently, the company’s mobile display division opened a new manufacturing plant with Ube (who produces the plastic substrate for the screens) last month to mass-produce bendy AMOLEDs for watches and phones. Let the countdown to the ductile display revolution begin.
Samsung to finally roll out flexible AMOLED displays for public consumption in 2012? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 11 Jun 2011 15:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
On June 8th, as previously reported by Neowin and other sites, hundreds of web sites participated in a 24-hour trial of IPv6. The new version allows practically unlimited IP addresses and better performance compared to IPv4. According to Ars Technica, the test day went smoothly for users. However, sites did…
Oh, ASUS — what a teaser. Especially when it comes to the release dates and exact prices of your latest keyboard-packing Eee Pad 10.1-inch Android tablets. The word remains mum regarding final pricing, but the company’s UK division recently announced via its Facebook page that the Transformer 3G and Slider tabs will be available in the region during August; and sadly, that’s about all. It’ll be letting out more details on how to snag one just before they’re out, and hopefully you’ll get a chance to before they sell clean out. For now, you can re-skim our review of the UK Transformer and additional Slider coverage — just think of it as a consolation prize.ASUS slipping Eee Pad Slider and Transformer 3G into UK hands this August originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 11 Jun 2011 04:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The union representing customer service and sales staff at Air Canada has given the airline a 72-hour strike notice.
The master of bizarre marketing ploys, HTC, has employed a more militant approach to its latest PR stunt. In a move apparently aimed at promoting the launch of a bunch of new Android phones (specifically the Flyer, Sensation, Incredible S, Desire S, and Wildfire S), the outfit meticulously filled railway stations in Antwerp, Brussels, and Namur with varied configurations of the little green monsters. While the stunt’s grabbed our attention, we’re happy the bantam buggers weren’t there to greet us at the outset of our morning commute. More pictures await you at the source link below.
HTC invades Belgian train stations with miniature Android army originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Jun 2011 20:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Scientists have refined tissue repair techniques using stem cells to the point where they believe we might have pills that repair heart muscles in 10 years. Reports the BBC: More »
The home of Canadian Pacific’s future intermodal hub was unveiled Friday on the outskirts of Regina.
This is part of a regular series of Google Apps updates that we post every couple of weeks. Look for the label “Google Apps highlights” and subscribe to the series. – Ed.
Over the last few weeks, we’ve made it easier to see recent interactions you’ve had with people in Gmail, added a set of customization options to Google Calendar and streamlined the discussions feature in Google documents. We also welcomed tens of thousands of new customers, including our largest governmental customer to date.
Gmail’s new people widget
The new people widget in Gmail shows up alongside email conversations and conveniently displays the contact information you have for people included on the message. When you click on someone in the widget, we’ll automatically show you a snapshot of the recent interactions you’ve had together, including email messages, calendar appointments and shared documents.
Calendar appointment slots
You asked and we listened: as of Monday, Google Calendar lets you set up blocks of appointment slots that colleagues, students and customers can reserve online. For example, professors can let students book time during office hours, and accountants can allow clients to make consultation appointments. It’s easy to embed an interactive calendar of your availability on any web page, so others can view and reserve your open appointments.
Default meeting lengths and more print options in Google Calendar
Last week, Google Calendar got two new customization options: adjustable default meeting lengths and new print options. If your typical meeting is longer or shorter than the default 30 minute appointment, you can tailor the default length once and spend less time changing the details of each meeting you create. If you prefer to have a paper printout of your agenda, Calendar now lets you print custom date ranges in addition to the standard day, week and month views.
Improvements to discussions in Google documents
A few months ago we introduced discussions in Google documents, and on Wednesday we improved the way you can converse with collaborators in a document. The discussion pane now shows the snippet of text being discussed, which adds context to each conversation, and you can view document statistics like how many people have recently viewed your document. We also made long discussions more compact by collapsing extended conversations and streamlined the format of email notifications for discussions.
Who’s gone Google?
Businesses and other organizations continue to migrate from legacy communication and collaboration technologies to Google Apps. Summer may be upon us, but Directski.com is preparing to help more people “ski for less” next winter by streamlining their operations with Google Apps. LXR Luxury Resorts & Hotels—with 7,000 employees and 20 hotel and resort properties—is moving to Google Apps to help their staff provide a more enjoyable guest experience. Among other uses, LXR’s human resources team is using video chat to conduct interviews instead of flying remote candidates to Florida.
This week we also gathered in Washington, D.C. with more than 100 government IT leaders to explore how state, local and federal agencies can increase productivity and conserve taxpayer dollars with our cloud-based solutions. As part of the agenda, we took some time to celebrate dozens of agencies that have selected Google Apps in the last few months, including the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). With more than 25,000 employees, contractors and associates who will use Google Apps for email, document collaboration, video chat and more, it’s the largest government agency to move to Google Apps yet.
I hope these product updates and customer stories help you and your organization get even more from Google Apps. For more details and the latest news, check out the Google Apps Blog.
Posted by Jeremy Milo, Google Apps Marketing Manager
Alexander Graham Bell’s great grandson is sworn in as a Canadian citizen at a special citizenship ceremony in Baddeck, N.S.
In this week’s app roundup: iPhones, morphed into kaleidoscopes; Android phones, controlled by a hand wave; iPads, becoming a great blogging tool; Dinosaurs, sent to the zoo; auto correction mistakes, fixed; BBC News, available worldwide; and much, much more. More »
Telus wireless customers will be able to make Skype calls on their smartphones more easily under a new partnership announced this week.
Summer may be approaching but the nights can still get a little chilly, so hook yourself up with this surprisingly easy to make and inexpensive personal fire pit. More »
