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Thursday, April 14, 2011

Garmin Reveals GPS-Enabled Forerunner 610 Touch Watch

units, tackles a watch? A GPS watch pops out! The company has actually produced a few GPS-enabled wristwatches in the past, but only this week have they introduced one with a touchscreen face. The new Forerunner 610 sports watch is the company's latest, and it's both weather-proof and rather sleek given the technology that's inside. It's designed to be worn by athletes or active consumers who need something sweat-proof and capable of dishing out directions, and there's also a vibration motor for alerts such as heart rate, pace and distance when audible tones cannot be heard (heart monitor included in some bundles or available separately).�

With the heart rate monitor, Forerunner 610 also allows runners to track their training intensity via the new Training Effect feature. With the right information, it is not necessary to be a coach or sports scientist to help you train effectively. Training Effect measures the impact of exercise on aerobic fitness and lets you know how the workout improves your fitness during the workout. The new Virtual Racer feature allows runners to race themselves over their previous bests or against other users, and with the expanded Garmin Connect, you can put those numbers up against others. . Garmin Connect displays metrics such as time, distance, pace, elevation and heart rate. This information is shown through charts, illustrations, reports and a variety of map representations including street, photo, topographic, and elevation maps.

The only problem is likely the ~$350 price point. That high, only the most avid of runners will probably take notice.

Garmin� Adds Its First Touchscreen GPS Watch to Forerunner� Family

OLATHE, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), the global leader in satellite navigation, today announced the Forerunner 610 sports watch ? a slim, yet robust and weather-proof touchscreen solution for serious runners seeking an extra advantage. Forerunner 610 can stand up to rain, sweat and splashes, and is responsive enough that it can be operated with running gloves. Forerunner 610 was announced in preparation for world-class marathons in Boston and London as well as the Australian fitness expo where it will be prominently displayed at Garmin booths in each location.

"From giving the basics such as pace, distance and time to monitoring your effort through heart rate, creating interval workouts and racing a friend on the other side of the world, Forerunner 610 becomes a necessary partner for all serious runners."

"Running with Forerunner 610 is like having a coach with you every step of the way," said Dan Bartel, Garmin's vice president of worldwide sales. "From giving the basics such as pace, distance and time to monitoring your effort through heart rate, creating interval workouts and racing a friend on the other side of the world, Forerunner 610 becomes a necessary partner for all serious runners."

Now it is easier than ever to see how far, how fast and how hard you have worked. Forerunner 610 puts it all at your fingertips. Designed for the runner who is constantly seeking improvement, Forerunner 610 is Garmin's new flagship model. Forerunner 610's sleek stylish design complements the highly responsive touch screen and high resolution display. This innovative design has drawn praise from the International design community by winning the coveted Red Dot Design Award, the world's largest and most renowned design competition in a field of thousands of submissions from over 60 countries. To see the Forerunner 610 in action, go to www.garmin.com/touch.
Forerunner 610 uses a vibration motor for alerts such as heart rate, pace and distance when audible tones cannot be heard (heart monitor included in some bundles or available separately). With the heart rate monitor, Forerunner 610 also allows runners to track their training intensity via the new Training Effect feature. With the right information, it is not necessary to be a coach or sports scientist to help you train effectively. Training Effect measures the impact of exercise on aerobic fitness and lets you know how the workout improves your fitness during the workout.

In a true race against the clock, Forerunner 610 introduces Virtual Racer?. With this new feature, Garmin has an answer for every excuse - no more, "I could have beaten that time" - where runners can race themselves over their previous bests or against other users'. These can be taken from runs stored on the watch or downloaded wirelessly from the huge and expanding Garmin Connect? running community (http://connect.garmin.com). Here users can quickly and easily log their workouts, track their totals, set goals, share workouts with friends and family and participate in an online fitness community of more than 50 million activities around the world. Garmin Connect displays metrics such as time, distance, pace, elevation and heart rate. This information is shown through charts, illustrations, reports and a variety of map representations including street, photo, topographic, and elevation maps.

With the growing popularity of the run/walk training method in the distance running community (example: a runner runs for five minutes, walks for one minute and repeats for the duration of the course), Garmin has included a new run/walk alert. This alert allows Forerunner 610's other features, such as, Auto Lap and Auto Pause, to remain active during a run/walk session.

Forerunner 610 is the latest breakthrough from Garmin, which has spent more than 20 years developing technologies and innovations to enhance users' lives, making Garmin a household name in the automotive, aviation, marine, wireless, outdoor and fitness industries. For more about features, pricing and availability, as well as information about Garmin's other products and services, go to www.garmin.com, www.garmin.blogs.com and http://twitter.com/garmin. To watch step-by-step, feature-specific tutorial videos for Forerunner 610 and other Garmin products, visit the online learning center at www.garmin.com/learningcenter.

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What does Apple have to do to re-revolutionize the iPhone?

Lessien, writing on DiogeneX, asks what Apple has to do, not to catch up with things like notifications or cloud services, not to keep up with things like apps and specs, but to once again truly leap ahead of the competition like they did in 2007 with iOS and 2008 with the App Store.

Apple is as vulnerable as any other company to believing the future is a straight line extrapolation of the present. But eventually the knock-offs will be good enough to fool most people. Solely focusing on incremental improvement is like polishing diamonds. And perfect is the enemy of the good.

I won?t spoil her two answers except to say they?re good.

[DiogeneX]

Note: Comments must be civil, respectful, and on-topic. If a comment does not add to the conversation, if it contains spam advertising, or inappropriate language or content, it will be removed. Comments containing links may be held for moderation. Relax, enjoy, and share in the discussion.

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Mitoza is a fun, freaky Web toy with an artistic look

While not a game per se, I found Mitoza intriguing enough to spend quite some time with it. You start off with a seed, and are then presented with two choices: you can either click a flower pot, or click a cute little birdie.

If you click the flower pot, a flower pot appears and the seed is planted inside. You're then presented with two further choices -- a water can or a bottle of fertilizer. Each choice you make causes your creation to morph, and presents you with two other choices.

There's no winning or losing, really. Each "game" usually lasts around four or five choices, at which point the plant/animal dies in some creative (but not too gruesome) way. At this point you instantly start over with a new seed.

The graphics are captivating; the whole thing has a cinematic feel to it, with a bit of artificial camera shake added for style.

All in all, it's a fun, peaceful way to spend a few minutes, and it might even make you think a little bit while you're at it.

Tags: flash, fun, game, games, mitoza, time waster, time-waster, time-wasters, TimeWaster, web

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Daily Tip: How to save a picture from an email message

New to iPhone, iPod touch or iPad and trying to figure out how to save a picture from an email or MMS message; or need to paste the picture into a new message? It is very simple to do and we show you how, after the break!

Here?s how to save a picture from a Mail message:

Open the message in Mail that contains the picture.
If the file has not been downloaded from the server, just click on it and it will download and appear on the screen.
Tap and hold your finger down on the image and a box will pop up with three options.
1. The first option is Save Image. This will save the picture in your Photos App under Camera Roll.
2. The second option is Copy. This will put the picture on your clipboard where you can then paste it into any other application that allows paste.
3. The final option is Cancel to return to your mail message.

That?s it. It �really is that simple! If you have any other good Mail tips let us know in the comments!

Tips of the day will range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you?d like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to�dailytips@tipb.com. (If it?s especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we?ll even give ya a reward?)

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Kyocera's Dual-Screen Echo May Not Reverberate With Consumers

Smartphone maker Kyocera has taken a unique approach in the design on its latest device, the Echo, The Android phone sports dual touchscreens arranged somewhat like those on a Nintendo DS. They can be used to run separate applications or combined to form one large screen -- albeit with a seam straight down the center -- when the device is folded out flat.

The Kyocera (NYSE: KYO) Echo, a dual-screen Android smartphone on the way from Sprint (NYSE: S), will arrive Sunday for buyers who've pre-ordered the device.

The Kyocera Echo from Sprint

What exactly will they get with the two screens? For starters, there's the ability to run separate apps on each screen simultaneously. They'll also be able to lock the screens together when the phone's opened at 180 degrees to create a tablet of sorts.

In sporting dual screens, the Echo perhaps stands out from the many Androids populating the market.

"I think this is going to be one of those devices that people are going to try to figure out where it belongs," Ramon Llamas, a senior research analyst at IDC, told TechNewsWorld. The curiosity factor might push people to buy the device, he added.

However, you can forget about the Echo as a wannabe tablet, advised Michael Morgan, a senior analyst at ABI Research.

"Don't think of it as one giant screen, but as a two-screen device," Morgan told TechNewsWorld.

Kyocera did not respond to requests for comment by press time.

To Have and Have Not

The most striking thing about the Kyocera Echo is what it doesn't have.

It has only a single camera, and there is no HDMI port for output to a television or other large appliance, although the device can take 720p HD videos.

"There is only one 5MP camera with flash, autofocus, digital zoom and HD camcorder capability," Sprint spokesperson Nichole Cappitelli told TechNewsWorld.

The camera is rear-facing and takes both still shots and video, Cappitelli added.

In a world where two cameras and HDMI output for smartphones are becoming the norm, this might be an issue.

Further, the Echo doesn't have 4G support, which could also cost it dearly in the future.

Sounding Off on the Echo's Tech Specs

The Kyocera Echo has two 3.5-inch LCD WVGA capacitive touchscreens with 800 by 480 pixel resolution each. Combined, they give users a viewing area of 4.7 inches with a resolution of 800 by 960 pixels.

The device has a 1GHz Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) Snapdragon processor. It runs on Android 2.2, aka "Froyo," and users can access the Android Market. Kyocera has also launched an Android developer program, accessible here.

The Kyocera Echo has a removable battery and 512MB of RAM.

The Echo has WiFi hotspot capabilities supporting up to five devices. Sensors include a digital compass, an accelerometer, a proximity sensor and GPS.

The Echo supports stereo Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR and WiFi 802.11 b/g. It has a microSD card slot that supports cards of up to 32 GB capacity, and it comes with an 8 GB card.

The device comes preloaded with VueQue, an app that lets owners watch a YouTube video on one screen while doing browsing, queuing and buffering additional YouTube videos on the other.

Preloaded Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) mobile services include Google Search, Google Maps, Google Talk instant messaging, Gmail, YouTube and synchronization with Google Calendar. The Echo ha a full HTML Web browser optimized for a dual-screen experience.

Features for the corporate user include Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Exchange ActiveSync and POP and IMAP email access.

Possible Uses for the Echo

The most useful of its modes is where the top screen is slightly bent forward, "kinda like the Nintendo DS," ABI's Morgan said.

The best use for the Echo is where the user is doing different things on the two different screens, he suggested.

That's because there's a line across the middle dividing the screens when they're locked flat into a 180-degree position, something users might find annoying.

"How are you going to play 'Angry Birds,' which is a popular application, with that big line across the middle?" IDC's Llamas asked.

The Echo can be used as a two-screen device or a single-screen one. The second screen slides out and locks into place, said Morgan, who "played with the Echo a bit" at the CTIA conference, held in Orlando, Fla., in March.

Though the Echo's dual-screen design may make it a bit thicker than rival smartphones, size is not an issue with the Echo, IDC's Llamas stated.

"This device is presumably aimed at the younger crowd, which is used to carrying around dual-screen Nintendo DSes and iPads, and their size didn't turn people away," Llamas pointed out.

"The real question is, what's the user experience going to be?" Llamas asked.

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Mitoza is a fun, freaky Web toy with an artistic look

The graphics are captivating; the whole thing has a cinematic feel to it, with a bit of artificial camera shake added for style.

All in all, it's a fun, peaceful way to spend a few minutes, and it might even make you think a little bit while you're at it.

Tags: flash, fun, game, games, mitoza, time waster, time-waster, time-wasters, TimeWaster, web

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HTC Sensation, Will we see Sense 3.0 on the Thunderbolt? [from the forums]

Android Forums at Android Central

Nothing like some official device news to set the tone for the day, that's exactly what happened with the announcement of the HTC Sensation. Long awaited, oft rumored and now official. If you;re looking to talk about the HTC Sensation or any other device jump on into the Android Central forums and get started. Some new threads below are heating up:

If you're not already a member of the Android Central forums, you can register your account today.

�

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VelEau, The Most Complicated Bike Drinking System You Could Possibly Imagine

Why use a perfectly good water bottle on your bike when you could use a complex, expensive and awkward to use ?hydration system? instead? That?s the promise of the VelEau Bicycle Mounted Hydration System.

The VelEau comes in several parts. First, there?s a saddlebag which holds 42 ounces (1.4 liters) of water. Then there?s a tube through which you drink, much like those found on CamelBak water bags. This runs from under the seat, along the top-tube to the handlebars, where it is secured to a retracting cord on the stem. This cord pulls the mouthpiece back into place when you?re done drinking, where it is secured by magnets.

If that seems like it?s complex, unnecessarily heavy and annoying to use, that?s because it probably is. However, there is at least a compartment to carry a multi tool in the same bag, which adds some utility.

The VelEau will cost just $80, or the price of around 16 water bottles. Available now.

VelEau product page [VelEau via Bike Snob]

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

LG Revolution hits testing hands, inches ever closer to actual release

Good news for those of you waiting anxiously for the LG�Revolution -- the 4.3-inch, LTE-capable Froyo device (see our first look from CES)�is hitting the hands of testers, which brings it that much close to hitting your pocket. The Revolution isn't the latest and greatest from LG, which is a shame, cause its latest and greatest is pretty darn good. But it's a slight shade better than a lot of what's out there, even if Bing is still on board.

We've got more shots of the demo phone after the break. Thanks, anon!

�

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FRIDA Robot Could Appear in an Assembly Line Near You

Workers in factory assembly lines could be rubbing elbows with the FRIDA Concept Robot. Photo: Geeky-Gadgets

Manufacturers and factory owners needn?t worry about pesky human workers for too much longer.

ABB has introduced FRIDA, a half-humanoid robot designed for the industrial life.

Although FRIDA could easily replace a horde of human workers, it?s actually designed to work side-by-side with its mortal counterparts. The robot features a human-like torso with padded arms that are capable of a wide range of motion, a flexible gripper for handling small components, and cameras for identifying and locating parts.

FRIDA?s humanoid build makes it easy to be interchanged or inserted between human workers. It has a convenient handle placed where a head would normally go, which makes the worker bot easy to carry while eliminating that nasty uncanny valley problem.

FRIDA, a ?harmless robotic coworker?, has already left the research stage, with prototypes currently being tested in pilot applications.

Perhaps FRIDA will be the one putting together the components of your next smartphone or tablet.

FRIDA Concept Robot [ABB via Geeky-Gadgets]

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Bamboo MacBook Cases Offer Sustainable Style

The bamboo Silva case looks mighty tasty to a panda

Bamboo: lightweight, strong, cheap, handsome and sustainable. And ? if bamboo-scoffing pandas are anything to go by, an excellent anti-aphrodisiac. Now it comes in the shape of an MacBook case.

It?s called the Silva, and it comes sized to fit 13 and 15-inch MacBook Pros (but not MacBook Airs). The cases are CNC machined and then hand assembled, and have a leather strap for carrying. They are lined with wool felt and finished on the outside with tung oil and then a couple layers of polyurethane.

The Silva is certainly striking, and offers a lot of protection for its diminutive two-pounds weight. It?s also a little precious. I use a padded, bubbled envelope to protect my MacBook, and it does a great job. Then again, I seldom get out of bed before I have finished the day?s work, so perhaps my testing isn?t the most rigorous there is.

Also, my padded envelope cost almost nothing, whereas the Silva case goes for $180 (both sizes cost the same). You can buy one now, if you can live with the guilt of denying a panda a meal.

Silva product page [Silva Ltd. Thanks Justin!]

Sprint Music Plus Debuts, Powered By RealNetworks

Does the mobile realm really need another way to download music? Competition is almost always a good thing for consumers, but we're guessing that Sprint's new service will have a tough time rivaling the likes of

Music Plus is the new service, powered by RealNetworks and capable of delivering ringtones and songs. All of the content is DRM-free, and Sprint will be selling bundles that include f

Rock Out No Matter Where You Go - New Sprint Music Plus Application Provides Access to Full Music Tracks, Ringtones, Ringback Tones and More on Sprint Phones

Want your music downloaded FAST? The Sprint 4G network enables downloading music up to 10 times faster than 3G1

OVERLAND PARK, Kan., Apr 12, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) --

Most people never leave home without their mobile phone, although they may leave behind their MP3 player. Now you can share your musical tastes with those around you - or those who call you - with Sprint Music Plus, a new music application, accessed either on a Sprint phone or sprint.com, which serves as a single, convenient destination for customers to discover, purchase and play individual and bundled offers of full track music, albums, ringtones and ringback tones.

Sprint Music Plus, powered by RealNetworks(R) Inc. (Nasdaq: RNWK), is a full-featured music and tone manager, which allows users to:

�� * Create music playlists.
�� * Assign ringback tones to play for different callers and times of day.
�� * Search for music by artist, title or keyword.
�� * Organize full tracks/albums by artist, genre and custom playlists using the music library manager.
�� * Preview content - sample millions of music tracks and tones, which are updated daily.
�� * Get new music recommendations based on their musical tastes.

Love a new song and want the full track, ringtone and ringback tone? Customers can save money when buying a bundle of all three products with just one click. DRM-free full tracks range from $0.69 to $1.29 per song. Customers are conveniently charged right on their Sprint bill.

"Sprint Music Plus is an easy way for our customers to discover new music and tones and manage all of their music content in one convenient place," said Sean Khurana, vice president-Consumer Product Marketing at Sprint. "Sprint makes sure our customers always have access to their favorite music by providing a wide array of options, ranging from free apps downloaded from Android Market(TM), BlackBerry App World(TM) or GetJar.com to Sprint Radio to purchasing tunes from Sprint Music Plus."

Everyone is busy these days and the last thing we have time for is to wait for our music to download. The Sprint 4G network offers one of the fastest wireless experiences among all U.S. national wireless carriers and enables downloading music up to 10 times faster than 3G. Sprint 4G, available today in 71 markets across the country, was the first national carrier to offer wireless 4G service.

Sprint Music Plus is available for Android(TM) powered Sprint smartphones from the Sprint Zone app and can be found on the home screen of BlackBerry(R) and Java Feature Phones launched after May 2010. Devices introduced before May 2010 will have access to ringtones and ringback tones from Sprint Music Plus via Sprint Mobile Web (WAP). For more information and to download the application, visit http://sprint.us/smp on your Sprint phone.�

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Daily Crunch: Original Vs. Copy Edition

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Best Buy Forces Purchase Of Warranty To Buy iPad 2 �

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Acer Gets Its Paws Into The Honeycomb �

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Reporters Wanted For CrunchGear �

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Jerry Lawson, creator of cartridge-based video game consoles, dies at 70

Gerald "Jerry" Lawson, the man who invented the video game cartridge, died Saturday morning of a heart attack at a Mountain View, California hospital at the age of 70. His brainchild, the Fairchild Channel F Video Game System, more commonly referred to as the Channel F, came out just one year before Atari's cartridge-based console, the VCS, opening the floodgates of modern gaming. His earliest foray into consumer electronics began early on, but it wasn't until he joined Fairchild in 1970 that he really made his mark on the tech industry. During that time, he became the only black member of the infamous Homebrew Computer Club that counted Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniack as members. He was honored at this year's GDC for his monumental contribution to modern gaming.

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YouTube Live now streaming select partners in real time

Not content with limiting its dominance in streaming uploaded videos, YouTube is now ready to take on competitors like Justin.TV and Ustream. The new YouTube Live service is being rolled out to select YouTube partners and will enable real-time broadcasting. In its official announcement, Google states that "The goal is to provide thousands of partners with the capability to live stream from their channels in the months ahead."

You can check out live broadcasts at http://www.youtube.com/live, where you'll also find a schedule of upcoming episodes from beta partners like Revision3 and Destructoid. You're also able to subscribe to YouTube Live broadcasts -- which will ensure you're notified when a new episode is coming up.

Tags: google, justin.tv, live, streaming, ustream, video, web, youtube, youtube live, YoutubeLive

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Line Grapefruit is a tricky Flash "path" game

Okay, see that snaking line coming in from the right on the screenshot? That's you. And see those large round circles? Those are supposedly grapefruits, only they won't sit still ? they keep moving up and down and cutting across your path. And if you touch one, you die!

That's what you have to deal with in Line Grapefruit. But that's not all ? you're also on a time limit. In fact, you have a very limited amount of time to make it through the "path" (for lack of a better word). You need to snake your way through the winding trail without touching anything. The good news is that a grapefruit only kills you if it touches the end of the line ? once you've made it past the grapefruit, nothing happens if it crosses the path you've made.

This is not an easy game, but it's quite unique ? I can't recall seeing another game quite like it.

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The Virtual Workplace: Lean and Green

Working together has never been easier. From file sharing to online meetings to mobile apps for on-the-go workers, collaborative technologies allow companies to save time, energy, fuel and other resources. The fact is, the more virtual the workplace becomes, the more energy it can potentially save.

When collaborating with others in the workplace, physically being there is nice. The fact is, though, that one's physical presence almost always leaves an unavoidable carbon footprint -- one that companies focused on going green might want to erase.

As an answer to this dilemma, new and emerging collaborative technologies offer a way to be there in spirit, voice and mind, without having to hop on a plane, take a cab, or print out a document. These technologies are one way that companies can make themselves greener -- limiting the time, money, and carbon output of travel, commuting, sharing, talking and creating.

Meeting Up

Online and mobile platform meetings are increasingly becoming the norm in the business world. Offerings like Citrix (Nasdaq: CTXS) Online's GoToMeeting, which was launched in 2004 and has since captured a large share of the online meeting space, offer Web-conferencing, demonstration and collaboration capabilities to those who want to work with colleagues around the world.

"We disrupted the Web-conferencing market with a product that is incredibly simple and easy to use, yet delivered high performance at an affordable price," Citrix Online Vice President Bernardo de Albergaria, general manager, collaboration, told TechNewsWorld. "Businesses of any size are able to quickly adopt, use and benefit from a truly powerful online meeting experience."

GoToMeeting is a quick and secure way to attend small online meetings for up to 25 attendees. It lowers the environmental impact of meetings by reducing the necessity of travel, and it also lowers operational costs, while potentially increasing sales and productivity.

"By being able to participate in meetings remotely through GoToMeeting, the need for travel and commuting is greatly reduced, providing valuable and responsible environmental advantages," explained de Albergaria. "These include the preserving of natural resources through a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions."

Online meeting and collaboration services also allow more employees to work remotely or at home, or what Citrix Online calls "workshifting." If 40 percent of Americans worked from home half time, it would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 5 million tons -- or the equivalent of taking over 9.6 million cars off the road for one year, according to Citrix Online's report, "Workshifting Benefits: The Bottom Line."

The company practices what it preaches, doing its part to lessen its carbon footprint in a variety of ways.

"Our employees use our products daily to reduce their travel and lower their impact on the planet," said de Albergaria. "About one-third of our workforce is virtual, which has not only helped increase productivity and driven our growth, but has also contributed to environmental benefits."

The Paperless Office: Are We There Yet?

It's been a dream for the last decade: the paperless office. Increasingly, though, this dream is becoming a nuts-and-bolts daily reality, saving not just paper but the energy it takes to print, ship and share paper documents. Collaborative file-sharing options are another way that offices can save the planet and save money at the same time.

It can be as easy as using Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Docs to share drafts of memos or reports, or as complex has building an entire office around the principle of sharing all files and data electronically.

Companies like Smart Solutions, for instance, offer document and email management, knowledge management, portals and document collaboration.

"[We] reduce the creation, storage and transmittal of physical paper documents in document-intensive organizations," Rajiv Mukerji, Smart Solutions' director of collaborative technology solutions, explained to TechNewsWorld.

Smart Solutions works with education, professional services, and other industries to manage information in electronic form. In some cases, the dream of a paperless office -- in offices that once were drowning in paper -- has become a reality.

"Many law firms have done away with large file rooms entirely," said Mukerji.

Into the Cloud

Other services, like Box.net, provide access to cloud-based computing, storage and management services for 5 million users and 60,000 companies, from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies.

"Since Box is cloud-based, content can be accessed from a desktop, laptop, iPad or even a smartphone," Dan Levin, Box's chief operating officer, told TechNewsWorld. "The company offers a service that is a secure, low cost and user-friendly alternative to traditional enterprise software solutions."

Storing information offsite, in short, can make companies greener, and the economies of scale with those offsite data centers potentially saves energy overall.

"Box requires no hardware or infrastructure investments from its customers, allowing businesses to drastically reduce carbon overhead often associated with an on-premises solution," explained Levin.

Using a service like Box can also facilitate telecommuting and remote working.

"For companies who allow their employees to telecommute, Box is accessible online and via a number of mobile devices," said Levin. "This means that employees no longer have to struggle with accessing content behind a firewall or trying to remotely log in to a VPN."

The Future of Collaboration

The fact is, the more virtual the workplace becomes, the more energy it can potentially save.

"Find a way to do more things virtually," David Coleman, founder of Collaborative Strategies, advises businesses seeking greener territory.

"Knowledge workers -- except in specific circumstances -- do not always need to physically be at a workplace -- they work is where they are," he observed. "Provide your employees with great tools for collaboration and a consistent environment so that they can work from anywhere. There are lots of green benefits to this."

Coleman noted there has been a proliferation of new services and sites: mobile apps that allow for on-the-go collaboration, such as FuzeMeeting; augmented reality services like Layar; online community services like those offered by Jive; and virtual team spaces like those available through Huddle, PBWorks and Central Desktop.

"The focus of evolution of these tools is not so much a focus on content and tool features, but more about people and process," explained Coleman. "Provide your employees with great tools for collaboration and a consistent environment so that they can work from anywhere. There are lots of green benefits to this."

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DirecTV Giving Pay-TV Subscribers HBO Go And MAX Go

There's no question that Internet TV has changed the entire entertainment landscape. Pay-TV providers don't have the assurances they once had, and now they're branching out and providing all sorts of extra services in an effort to entice consumers to stay who might otherwise ditch cable / satellite and rely solely on Hulu / Netflix for their entertainment fix.

is obviously a huge player in all of this, and they're certainly working to beef up efforts to keep consumers happy. One of the ways is by launching HBO Go and MAX Go on April 12th, which gives customers who subscribe their TV lineup access to the premium channels on-the-go.

It's an extension of their pay-TV offerings, and it's obviously only available to those who pay for such. You'll need to have a standard subscription to HBO and Cinemax before gaining access, but if that's you, you'll have visibility to over 1400 titles. Is something like this enough to make you switch to DTV, or better yet, keep you onboard? The perks are certainly starting to add up, with remote viewing options such as these, but there's no question that costs are increasing as well.

DIRECTV to Launch HBO GO� and MAX GO�, April 12th

Latest Online Offerings from HBO� To Bring More Than 1400 Titles To DIRECTV Customers Who Subscribe to HBO, With an Additional 400 Titles to Cinemax� Subscribers

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--DIRECTV, the world?s largest pay TV provider, is giving customers even more control over their viewing experience with the launch of HBO?s new authenticated online video destinations, HBO GO and MAX GO, beginning tomorrow, April 12th. The services are provided free, with unlimited access, to DIRECTV customers who subscribe to the premium channels. HBO GO and MAX GO allow subscribers to instantly watch every episode of every season of the best shows from HBO, plus hundreds of Hollywood hit movies, indies, cult favorites and more from Cinemax ? any time and from any U.S. location through a broadband connected computer.

�� ?Giving our customers the opportunity to experience their favorite programming, no matter where they are, truly enhances their overall viewing experience and helps them get the most out of the content they subscribe to.?

?The addition of HBO GO and MAX GO is the next step in bringing quality video content to our customers anytime, anywhere,? said Derek Chang, executive vice president, Content Strategy and Development, DIRECTV. ?Giving our customers the opportunity to experience their favorite programming, no matter where they are, truly enhances their overall viewing experience and helps them get the most out of the content they subscribe to.?

With more than 1400 titles offered online, HBO GO includes instant access to the best and latest HBO shows and hit movies including highly anticipated upcoming series like Game of Thrones� (premiering April 17), current award-winning series like Boardwalk Empire� and True Blood�, HBO classics like The Sopranos�, Sex and the City� and Deadwood�, plus HBO original films, miniseries, sports, documentaries and specials, as well as a wide selection of blockbuster theatricals.

HBO?s sister service, MAX GO, adds more than 400 titles of Cinemax programming online, featuring Hollywood?s hottest hits, the best in new cinema, action-packed thrillers, comedies, classic screen gems and the Max After Dark series.

With these online services, DIRECTV customers will also have access to:

�� * New titles immediately after their premiere on the networks;
�� * The ability to create a ?Watchlist? that keeps track of bookmarked content for later viewing;
�� * Bonus content including interviews, recaps, and behind-the-scenes extras;
�� * Customizable views showing titles in slideshow, grid or list format;
�� * And the ability to pause, rewind and view at their convenience.

In addition, HBO GO can be personalized through a ?Series Pass�? capability which automatically alerts viewers to new episodes of favorite HBO programs when they arrive on the service. MAX GO includes ?Browse by Tags,? a feature that allows users to find titles via keywords.

To view online, DIRECTV?s HBO and Cinemax subscribers can go to HBOGO.com and MAXGO.com, sign in with their DIRECTV user ID and password, make their selections and view. DIRECTV customers can also go to DIRECTV.com/watchonline to learn how to gain access to HBO GO and MAX GO. DIRECTV?s HBO and Cinemax subscribers will be able to access this new service through mobile devices, including the Apple iPad and iPhone and Android products later this year.

HBO GO and MAX GO are the latest additions to HBO?s digital offerings and a perfect complement to HBO On Demand� and Cinemax On Demand� with even more viewing choices. On both services, most programming is available in high definition.�

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$30 Infra-Red iPhone Dongle Marred by Hideous Interface

Ri is a perfectly good IR dongle for the iPhone, with a perfectly ugly companion app

Apptwee?s Ri is yet another device that promises to turn your iPhone into another universal IR remote. Unlike the slick $100 Peel, though, the Ri distinguishes itself by being cheap ($30), small and sporting one of the ugliest interfaces ever to appear on an iOS device.

You can probably guess how the dongle works. Like the Square credit card reader, it is a tiny white plastic chunk which plugs into the headphone socket. Once configured, software tells it to beam an IR signal out to your various home entertainment machines. And therein lies the problem.

What is the point of a touch-screen universal remote if not to toss away various physical remotes and consolidate their functions into an easier to use and prettier interface? None, which seems to be the aim of the Ri. After using some menus to tell the device which IR ?drivers? to download, you are presented with an interface that looks like the IR remote app I had on my early 2000s-vintage Sony Ericsson P900 ? only uglier. Check it out, if you dare. Skip to a minute in to see the horror begin:

Ugh, right? You get all the buttons you need, but the interface does nothing to take advantage of the iPhone?s multitouch gestures.

Still, the app is free, and presumably you could grab any number of other IR apps and use them with the device instead. At $30, it?s not much more expensive than making your own.

Ri product page [AppTwee]

Ri app [AppTwee]

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

$30 Infra-Red iPhone Dongle Marred by Hideous Interface

Ri is a perfectly good IR dongle for the iPhone, with a perfectly ugly companion app

Ugh, right? You get all the buttons you need, but the interface does nothing to take advantage of the iPhone?s multitouch gestures.

Still, the app is free, and presumably you could grab any number of other IR apps and use them with the device instead. At $30, it?s not much more expensive than making your own.

Ri product page [AppTwee]

Ri app [AppTwee]

Hello Expense is a simple, reliable expense tracker for Android

A good mobile application is a fine balance between simplicity and functionality. You're using it on the go, so you don't have a lot of time to sit there and fumble with the phone to figure it all out. But you also need it to be powerful enough to let you do whatever it is you're trying to get done.

Hello Expense is one mobile app that gets it right. It's an expense tracker that lets you use your Android-powered phone to quickly log the money you spend and then analyze it and see where it all went.

I recently had the chance to use it in a real-life situation ? a road trip that took a few days and involved quite a few expenses. Logging each expense took seconds, and at the end of each day I could get a great overview of how much money I spent on each category so far.

Categories and tags are user-configurable; the app also sports its own number pad to make number entry easy, regardless of what keyboard you're using.

Tags: android, apps, expense, expenses, finance, hello expense, mobile, office, productivity, spending

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Google Chrome now uses SPDY HTTP replacement, halves page load time

We're not entirely sure of the time line here, but it looks like Google has now rolled out the SPDY HTTP replacement to its full bevy of Web services, including Gmail, Docs, and YouTube. If you're currently using Google's Chrome browser you're probably already using SPDY.

We originally reported on SPDY way back in November 2009, when Google introduced it as yet another experiment in making the Web faster, like Go, Native Client and speculative pre-connections. Over the last 18 months, though, SPDY support has found its way into the stable build of Chrome.

SPDY is basically a streamlined and more efficient version of HTTP. At its most basic, SPDY introduces parallel, multiplexed streams over a single TCP connection -- but at the same time, SPDY allows for prioritization, so that vital content (HTML) can be sent before periphery content (JavaScript, video). All in all, the SPDY protocol can halve page load times, which is obviously rather significant.

The best bit, though, is that SPDY is an open-source project. HTTP 1.1 is a lumbering beast that needs to be replaced before low-latency real-time computing really becomes a reality, and SPDY is one of the best options currently on the table. To be honest, we're not sure why SPDY hasn't received more coverage -- it's awesome in every way. At the moment, though, the only way to help speed up SPDY's proliferation, is with an experimental Apache mod.

As far as actually 'trying it out,' your best bet is downloading Chrome, hitting up some Google sites, and then checking chrome://net-internals to see your active SPDY sessions. SPDY is a transparent replacement for HTTP, though, and as such it's rather hard to see its effects. Google's sites definitely feel fast in Chrome, but there are more technologies than just SPDY at work.

Tags: browsers, chrome, faster, google, google chrome, GoogleChrome, http, http 1.1, Http1.1, spdy, speed, web

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What do screen resolutions mean?

Now that smartphones have evolved largely into touchscreen-centric multimedia devices, screen resolution and size have become some of the most important features. If the screen is too small or the resolution is too low, it can make the phone itself a hassle to use. Having a big screen is great, but it will look terrible if the resolution isn't high enough.

Various resolutions have been created to help distinguish between each other, and here is a list of the most common ones you will find on Android powered devices:

QVGA (320x240) Used in small phones like the Motorola Charm
HVGA (480x320) Common in older devices like the HTC Hero
WVGA (800x480) The most common these days for phones like the Evo 4G
qHD (960x540) Used on high-end phones like the Atrix 4G
WSVGA (1024x600) Common for tablets like the OG�Samsung Galaxy Tab�
WXGA (1280x800) Used for the high-end tablets of today like the Motorola Xoom

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Daily Crunch: Spar Edition

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Garmin intros the Forerunner 610, its first touchscreen GPS watch for runners (video)

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Robotics Merit Badge Gets Real: Geeks Unite!

It's not often that you hear of the Boy Scouts of America making the tech news wires. So why now? Simple: a new merit badge. That new badge just so happens to be called "Robotics," and it's easily one of hippest things to happen to BSA in some time. The Scouts currently offer over 120 badges, but the newest is the most geek-friendly of all. The Robotics badge is aimed to promote science, technology, engineering and math, and after a year or so of putting the badge criteria together, Scouts can now seek to earn it.
Officials are expecting over 10,000 Scouts to earn the badge in the next year, and the badge will require them to "design and build a robot while learning about robot movement, sensors and programming." Even video game controllers can be considered Robotics, which leads to us thinking that DIY/hacking is probably a great way to get this badge. You know things are going the way of the nerd once the Boy Scouts devote a merit badge to it. Power to the hackers!

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Android Quick App: simplePlay

There's a definite lack of Windows Phone-themed music players in the Android Market -- can't imagine why -- but simplePlay hopes to remedy that.

SimplePlay is actually a dual music/podcast player that boasts a clean UI, innovative navigation system, and some slick, eye-catching effects. Setup is simple, with the app asking you to locate your music and podcast folder on its first boot up. From there, you're given the option to download album art, and after that you're off to the races. Let's take a closer look after the break.

Twisted Pixels Multimedia really thought outside of the box when they designed both album and track navigation. Track navigation is all gesture-based; no buttons on screen while music is playing. Select a song and you're greeted only with the album art, artist name, and album name. Tapping the screen pauses or plays the music, while a swipe down will take you back to the main menu. A swipe right takes you back a track and a swipe left advances you forward.

The coolest part of getting around is what Twisted Pixels calls their "Quick Letter" feature. On any of your lists, be it Artists, Songs, or Podcasts, tapping the letter of the alphabet you're looking at pops up a menu of the other available letters of the alphabet. Simply tap another letter and simplePlay jumps you to that point on your list. It's new, it's different, and I think it's a great way to move from song to song or album to album.

Where simplePlay really shines, though, are the visual effects. The album art is large and clear, filling up half the screen in landscape and a little more than that in portrait. Menus do a cool zoom-from-small-to-large effect when you pick an album, for example, and while it's largely inconsequential, it's a step up from the traditionally Android stock sliding-to-and-fro we've become accustomed to.

The biggest fault I can find with it is there's no podcast searching, (guess you'll have to add the Android Central podcast manually!), but from an app that looks like it's mainly about the aesthetic experience, it does well.

For a mere 99 cents, if clothing your Android in Windows's clothing is your thing, it's defintely worth the buy. Besides, it'll look great with your Metro UI or Launcher7.

�

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Live from HTC's April 12th event!

Alright, so the cat may already be out of the bag (thank you, Vodafone!), but HTC still has a swanky London venue booked for today and the show, as they say, must go on. What's more, there's no reason to believe the 4.3-inch HTC Sensation will be the only thing announced at today's marquee event from the Taiwanese smartphone and tablet maker. More buddies for the Flyer, perhaps? Unlikely, but weirder things have happened. Join us after the break for a little bit of good old liveblog action.

2:04PM That's all for now!

2:04PM Time to start making our way to the hands-on area. Hold tight, we'll have video for you.

2:03PM "With our broadest range of products, we're reaching to more and more consumers to help them enjoy smartphones."

2:03PM "As you can see, 2011 is shaping up to be another great year."

2:02PM We're going to try and get some more hands-on time with the Euro model.

2:02PM Things look to be wrapping up.

2:01PM On the Sensation, "it's fast, it's a beast."

2:01PM Now touting Vodafone's investments in 3G infrastructure. "We are putting in place the infrastructure, both technically and commercially" to facilitate the growth mentioned earlier.

1:59PM "A real revolution."

1:59PM Within the next two years, they expect at least 70 percent of cell phones to be smartphones.

1:59PM Vodafone passed a key milestone. �5 billion of mobile internet revenue. Mobile internet revenue has taken over SMS revenue for the company!

1:58PM Shockingly, he loves the product.

1:58PM A "very special guest" from Vodafone coming on stage, Patrick Chomet.

1:57PM Available across the rest of Europe and other partner carriers from June.

1:57PM Will be available first with Vodafone across their key markets in Europe starting from the middle of May.

1:56PM "A blazingly fast, beautiful smartphone with an unprecedented multimedia experience."

1:56PM Uses progressive downloading. "The moment you press play, the moment you start watching."

1:55PM You can rent movies or buy them. You can access them on other devices, such as the Flyer.

1:55PM HTC Watch is fully integrated into HTC Sense, so you get the best experience possible.

1:54PM "Watch deliveries you a library of blockbuster titles straight to your fingerptips."

1:54PM HTC Sensation will be the first smartphone to feature HTC Watch.

1:53PM DLNA wireless streaming, as is almost standard with HTC these days.

1:52PM Stereo sound recording too! There's also a new video trimmer.

1:52PM Full 1080p HD video at 30 fps. Nice!

1:52PM Instant Capture feature on the camera promises truly instant shots.

1:51PM Better email, WiFi printing.

1:50PM "Launching apps is now twice as quick as before. And multitasking gets even better."

1:50PM Features a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon. "This chip is a monster!"

1:49PM Fancy new animations on the full-screen weather widget.

1:49PM "Weather is one of the top three things that people want to see on a phone."

1:49PM Also delivers "a beautiful new home screen."

1:48PM Basically, you can launch apps from the lockscreen. Yay!

1:48PM Dragging an app into the unlock circle and "you're straight there."

1:47PM "The most dramatic set of improvements to HTC Sense"... ever!

1:47PM 35 percent more pixels than a regular screen thanks to qHD resolution on the Super LCD display.

1:46PM "the first phone in the world to have countoured glass along the entire edge of the screen."

1:46PM "HTC Sensation embodies the very best of our famed design language."

1:45PM "More excited about this phone than any one we've ever launched before."

1:44PM Video demo time!

1:43PM And third of all, "it would have to give you an easy new way to experience and enjoy all your favorite content on your device."

1:43PM First, it'd have to look beautiful. Second of all, it'd have to have "top notch specs."

1:43PM "What would such a phone have to look like?"

1:43PM The challenge is in tying all these good things in a "fun, rich and easy way."

1:42PM The challenge is no longer just the hardware, or the network speed, or having enough content available.

1:41PM Another groundbreaking device... "video, music, games and reading books has become even more popular with consumers, turning their smartphones into pocket-sized multimedia centers."

1:40PM The HTC Flyer will go on sale from May 9th across Europe!

1:40PM Last week, HTC announced its best quarterly results ever.

1:39PM The Facebook phones, and the new S family. Namedrop for the Desire S going on sale in the UK in the last weekend. "Extremely strong" customer response.

1:39PM Starting off by recounting the MWC announcements.

1:38PM Here we go!

1:34PM Some crazily oversized telephoto lenses on show in the front of the crowd. Some photographers seem to be keen to get hands-on pics with Peter Chou as their model.

1:32PM Press conference will be starting in five minutes. Chilled music fills the air.

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Adblock Plus developer pokes holes in Mozilla's new add-on performance tests

Wladimir Palant, developer of the most popular add-on in the world, Adblock Plus, is also an active contributor to the Planet Mozilla blog community. Over the last few days, in response to Mozilla's new name and shame list of slow add-ons, Palant has been investigating whether Mozilla's testing methods are actually accurate.

Rather surprisingly, it turns out that Mozilla's numbers could be significantly wrong -- and if they're not wrong, the factors that Mozilla uses to tabulate an add-ons final score should definitely be made more transparent.

In the first set of tests, Palant shows that FlashGot's position in the top 10 is probably due to a fault in Mozilla's testing setup, and that add-ons can perform very differently depending on which operating system they're being tested on. In the second analysis, Palant uncovers an irregularity that doesn't seem to have an obvious cause -- but it could be due to an I/O bottleneck on Mozilla's test machines. Basically, even though performance testing of Read It Later is disabled because of a bug, it still (somehow!) manages to record a 14% slow-down on Windows 7.

Palant concludes both analyses by scolding Mozilla for going public with the performance data before its testing methods had been confirmed accurate. It definitely looks like Mozilla has been more than a little reckless, considering the importance of Firefox's add-on ecosystem.

Tags: adblock plus, AdblockPlus, add-on, add-ons, addon, addons, apps, browsers, extension, extensions, firefox, firefox 4, Firefox4, mozilla, performance, speed, testing, web, wladimir palant, WladimirPalant

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Nokia X7 with Symbian 'Anna' now official on Three UK (Updated)

Nokia X7 coming soon to Three.

Today Three confirms that it will range the Nokia X7. Built for multimedia, it showcases a 4" touchscreen with an OLED Clearblack display, HD video and an 8MP camera with dual LED flash and zoom. All this and it is still pocket-friendly.

Underneath the stainless steel construction and smooth curved edges, the Nokia X7 runs on the new Symbian Anna operating system, which features more than 50 new enhancements. Highlights include a faster browser and full on screen Portrait QWERTY keyboard. Plus, with the new split view, users can see their message conversations, webpages, maps, contacts or email while writing.

The X7 also includes Nokia's best in class free navigation that now allows check-in from the homescreen direct to destinations such as Foursquare, Facebook and Twitter.

Sylvia Chind, head of handsets commented, "The Nokia X7 is a great multimedia device, combining picture, video and mobile internet needs into one savvy smartphone. With a best-in-class four inch OLED ClearBlack display, superb camera and fully customisable operating system, our customers will have a great entertainment experience on this phone using out super-fast 3G network."

Key features:
? Symbian^3 OS
? 8MP camera Dual LED Flash
? 4.0" OLED ClearBlack display, widescreen 16:9
? HD Video recording
? Flash10
? Expandable memory of up to 32G
? Ovi store access
? 256MB RAM, 1GB ROM memory

Pricing and availability will soon be announced, but in the meantime check out the sneak peak video which has just gone live on the Three blog.

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