Ford, Microsoft Team for Improved Electric Car Charging

      Microsoft and Ford have just inked a deal to combine forces on producing a computerized link between people’s homes, their electric cars and the utility companies.
The system will combine Microsoft Hohm with Ford’s electric cars, specifically, next year’s Ford Focus Electric (image above). Hohm will act as an intermediary between a person’s house and the utility company and tell the owner when the most efficient and affordable time to plug their electric car in. It will also help balance demand out as it recommends charging at appropriate moments to consumers by offering reduced costs at the right time.
Smart grid technology is a burgeoning and crucial field of development for environmentally friendly technology and it’s good to see such heavy hitting companies contributing on this front.

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Solar Powered TV Remote Control

     The Leopard by Powerplus is a solar powered universal TV remote control. The Leopard can charge from direct sunlight and ambient light from artificial sources. By simply having the remote on the arm of a chair, a sofa or on a coffee table, the batteries will charge providing you with power to control your TV without worry of running out of batteries.
The Leopard has 34 different function buttons to help ensure it fits all your TV needs, and is easy to program to your particular TV model. The solar panel charges an internal lithium-ion battery and the electrical power is stored there until you require it. Though it may charge faster if left in direct sunlight like that found on a brightly lit windowsill, the remote will charge from artificial light sources, so by simply having the solar panel facing up in a room which is lit the panel will work and charge the internal battery.
The Leopard measures 18.6cm x 4.9cm x 1.7cm and weighs around 76g, which is comparable to standard battery powered remotes.

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# TiVo warns that GPL3 could hurt its business

Since the main point of the Free Software Foundation's new GPL3 (General Public License 3) is to prevent "TiVo-isation," this surely does not come as a surprise. However, Information Week reports that in an SEC filing, TiVo says: "If the currently proposed version of GPLv3 is widely adopted, we may be unable to incorporate future enhancements to the GNU/Linux operating system into our software, which could adversely affect our business."

The crux of the case is that TiVo uses GNU/Linux with added DRM (digital rights management), exploiting a loophole in GPL2. GPL3, according to FSF-founder and GNU-father Richard Stallman, "doesn't forbid DRM, or any kind of feature. It places no limits on the substantive functionality you can add to a program, or remove from it. Rather, it makes sure that you are just as free to remove nasty features as the distributor of your copy was to add them."

TiVo could, of course, stick with GPL2, and this might suit Linus Torvalds, who started the development of the Linux kernel used in GNU/Linux. However, as Stallman points out:

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Which Apple iPad 3G Plan Is Right For You?

        The Apple iPad 3G just went on sale, but in order to make the most of that built-in cellular modem, you need to purchase a data plan for the device. There are only two choices and choosing wisely could save you a lot of money.

There are two service plans available for the Apple iPad 3G: a $29.99 unlimited plan and a $14.99, 250 MB/month plan. Both plans use AT&T's 3G network and plans are unusually flexible: you can swap between them or cancel them at any time. No contracts are required. On the $14.99 plan, you'll be prompted when you get down to your last 50 and last 25 megabytes. If you run out of data, you'll be prompted to buy another 250 MB for $14.99, or upgrade to the unlimited plan. That means if you really want an untethered iPad, you might as well try out the $14.99 plan and see if it fits your lifestyle. But you'll probably find that if you use your iPad for any significant length of time on the 3G network, you'll probably end up on the unlimited plan.

Humans don't understand megabytes, so here's how far you'll get on $14.99 per month.

250 MB is about:

• 500 medium-to-large Web pages such as the PCMag.com home page
• 12 hours of working remotely (as I found when testing Virgin Mobile's Broadband2Go product)
• 8 hours, 40 minutes of Rhapsody music streaming at 64 kbps
• 1 hour, 44 minutes of "medium" quality Web streaming video at 320 kbps video + audio

You can turn the plans on and off on a month-by-month basis, so you could just pony up the $30 for when you're on a trip away from your home Wi-Fi network, for instance. You pay one month at a time.

If you intend to mix limited 3G usage with lots of Wi-Fi, the $14.99 plan might work, as it comes with unlimited access to AT&T's Wi-Fi hotspots at Starbucks, Barnes & Noble bookstores, McDonald's restaurants, and many airports and hotels.

Another option to consider is a nationwide Wi-Fi service, like Boingo's Mobile Wi-Fi.

Boingo's hotspot plan is much more economical costs just $7.95/month, you get unlimited Wi-Fi access at Starbucks, McDonald's, and many other locations. Of course, if you can get by with just Wi-Fi, then you shouldn't have spent the extra $130 for the iPad 3G hardware.

Making the right decision could save you a lot of money over the life of your iPad. In your first year alone, this is how the costs would break down:

iPad 16GB Wi-Fi w/Boingo Mobile: $594.40
iPad 3G 16GB w/250 MB plan: $808.88
iPad 3G 16GB w/unlimited plan: $988.88

Finally, remember that the 3G plan is for domestic U.S. use only. So far, it doesn't include roaming on foreign networks - but Wi-Fi will work overseas, of course.

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PIA flight makes emergency landing in Karachi

Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: A Multan-bound flight of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) made an emergency landing at the Jinnah International Airport, Karachi due to a technical fault, a private TV channel reported on Sunday.

According to PIA sources, the pilot decided to make an emergency landing due to a fault in the hydraulic system of the aeroplane, the channel reported.

Due to the fault, the passengers of the plane were forced to wait for hours in the lounge of the airport, the channel reported.

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Nokia launches first open source Symbian phone

The first handset to use the Symbian operating system since it became open source has been announced by Nokia.

The N8 phone has a 12 megapixel camera and allows people to record and edit High Definition video clips, as well as watch web TV services.

Analysts said the phone was a "pivotal device" in efforts "to make Nokia's high end phones credible again".

It is also a chance for Symbian to prove itself alongside Google's Android operating system and Apple's iPhone.

Despite being the world's most popular smart phone software, Symbian has lost "mindshare" against more high-profile software, according to industry experts.

Analysts at CCS Insight described the Symbian 3 software as "evolutionary not revolutionary" but said it was a "key first step if it proves reliable".

Cinema support

It is the first version of the software since the Symbian foundation announced that it had made its code open source in February.

The Foundation - which includes Nokia, Motorola and Samsung amongst others - gave away the code to developers for free in the hope that it would help speed up the pace of improvements. Any organisation or individual can now use and modify it.

The software in the N8 allows the phone to have multi-touch and multi-tasking, meaning more than one application can be open at any one time.

The device will be Nokia's flagship smartphone. It can be plugged into home theatres and supports surround sound as well as high-quality video.

Social networks, such as Twitter and Facebook, can be displayed on the home screen in a single application.

Lee Williams, executive director of the Symbian Foundation, said he was "stoked" that Nokia had chosen to use the operating system on its phone.

The phone will ship in the third quarter of 2010, following delays.

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Skinput Touch Interface

Skinput is a new futuristic interface currently being developed by Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University. The system is the combination of two technologies, the ability to detect ultralow-frequency sound, and a microchip-sized projector.

This amazing interface can recognise which parts of the body has been tapped using the sounds that is created by the sin, bone and skeleton. The Skinput technology uses a band which is strapped on to the arm. The armband contains piezoelectric cantilevers, or sensors that measure pressure, acceleration and force.
The actual interface is beamed onto the skin using a pico projector similar to those found in mobile phones. The applications for such technology are endless but major ones include gaming systems, phones or PC controllers.

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