Jemblog

The iPad Orchestra

The iPad Orchestra from Alex Shpil on Vimeo.

I use to love the iPhone, but now i’m sold on Android!!! I don’t care what anyone says, Sprint is the best cell phone company.

Denver—The race to build the world’s first flying military jeep just moved a step closer to the finish line. The Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has selected two companies to proceed with the next stage of its Transformer, known as TX—a fully automated four-person vehicle that can drive like a car and then take off and fly like an aircraft to avoid roadside bombs. Lockheed Martin and AAI Corp., a unit of Textron Systems, are currently in negotiations with DARPA for the first stage of the Transformer project, several industry sources told Popular Mechanics at a robotics conference here in Denver. DARPA has not announced the official winners yet.

It’s unclear how many companies competed for the DARPA project, but the competition brought together an unusual mix of large defense companies with smaller aviation firms vying to build the vertical takeoff and landing craft. Perhaps most surprising—and for some competitors galling— is that DARPA selected a rotor-based aircraft for one of the two winning submissions. At an industry day held earlier this year, DARPA officials had initially said they weren’t interested in a traditional rotary-wing aircraft, though they might consider a vehicle if the rotor was shrouded. (more…)

Apple Inc is expected to show off a snazzier line of iPods on September 1, as speculation mounts the consumer electronics giant may also unveil plans to reinvigorate its long-neglected TV project.

Analysts expect the makers of the iPhone and the iPad, which has always labeled Apple TV a hobby, to showcase a new iPod Touch with dual cameras in time for the holidays.

Its shares climbed 1.2 percent. The company has in recent years used splashy September events to showcase new iPod models for the year-end spending spree. It typically also describes tweaks and new features for its iTunes online media store.

Last year’s event marked the return of Steve Jobs to the public eye after a long hiatus, during which he underwent a liver transplant. This year, blogs
are afire with talk about a souped-up Apple TV, though analysts deem unlikely a major announcement on that front next week.

Sources have told Reuters Apple is in the throes of negotiations with the major U.S. TV networks from Walt Disney Co’s ABC to General Electric Co’s NBC, hoping to offer TV shows for rent via iTunes for 99 cents per episode.

But those sources also said it was not a done deal. Apple and the media companies have declined to comment.

“From our checks with supply chain and industry sources, we believe potential changes could turn Apple TV into a bigger hobby and a multimillion unit seller,” Shaw Wu of Kaufman Bros wrote. (more…)

Apple Inc is expected to show off a snazzier line of iPods on September 1, as speculation mounts the consumer electronics giant may also unveil plans to reinvigorate its long-neglected TV project.

Analysts expect the makers of the iPhone and the iPad, which has always labeled Apple TV a hobby, to showcase a new iPod Touch with dual cameras in time for the holidays.

Its shares climbed 1.2 percent. The company has in recent years used splashy September events to showcase new iPod models for the year-end spending spree. It typically also describes tweaks and new features for its iTunes online media store.

Last year’s event marked the return of Steve Jobs to the public eye after a long hiatus, during which he underwent a liver transplant. This year, blogs are afire with talk about a souped-up Apple TV, though analysts deem unlikely a major announcement on that front next week.

Sources have told Reuters Apple is in the throes of negotiations with the major U.S. TV networks from Walt Disney Co’s ABC to General Electric Co’s NBC, hoping to offer TV shows for rent via iTunes for 99 cents per episode. (more…)

It looks like New Yorkers may finally get 4G next month. The high-speed wireless network, run by Clearwire but also available from Sprint, Time Warner Cable and various other companies, has been up and down in New York City for weeks as Clearwire has been testing it, Sprint spokeswoman Stephanie Vinge told me on Twitter.

Walking through the Queens Center Mall today, though, I found a Clearwire store promising to open in September. They could open the store as an information kiosk without a network available, but it would help pay the rent if they could actually sell modems.

To double check, I emailed both Sprint and Clearwire. Clearwire spokeswoman Susan Johnston said, “In advance of Clearwire’s commercial 4G launches we regularly conduct operational readiness activities, which include preparing our local market retail presence.  These activities are underway in a number of cities, including NYC.  As we stated during our recent 2Q earnings call, we expect to launch commercial service in NYC by the end of the year, but we are not providing additional details at this time.”

Looks like some white paint at the Queens Center Mall may be providing additional details!

This is kinda silly, but interesting if you like science. Got to the 3:00 minute mark to see the fun.

You can get it here

If you thought beds were just built for sleeping, think again – or at least sleep on it to be sure. The futuristic gadget-loaded HiCan bed design is so tech-heavy it is a virtual all-in-one stand-alone room with everything you need to read, relax and remain comfortably isolated and asleep or to stay awake and entertained.

A theater screen pulls down at the foot of the bed for viewing television or movies. An integrated personal computer system means you can work or surf the web in bed as well. Game consoles are built in for added entertainment value. Lights for reading and shades for sleeping are also fully integrated.

The U.S. Copyright Office and the Library Congress gave the OK to iPhone jailbreaking, ruling against Apple. In the past Apple has claimed jailbreaking violated the terms of fair use and jeopardized security.

Apple lost a bid to have jailbreaking the iPhone declared a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

In a decision today, the U.S. Copyright Office and the Library of Congress sided with the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s contention that jailbreaking the iPhone was not prohibited by the act.

The decision comes (PDF) as part of a regular process where the copyright office reviews exceptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) every three years. Through jailbreaking, users can unlock a device and enable third-party unsigned code to run.

Citing security and privacy concerns, Apple has called jailbreaking illegal and fought to keep today’s decision from becoming a reality.

In his decision, Librarian of Congress James Billington wrote that Apple called jailbreaking a “violation of the prohibition against circumvention of access controls. It stated that its validation system is necessary to protect consumers and Apple from harm. Apple further contended that modifying Apple’s operating system constituted the creation of an infringing derivative work.”

On the other side of the issue was the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which heralded the copyright office’s decision earlier today.

“Copyright law has long held that making programs interoperable is fair use,” said Corynne McSherry, EFF senior staff attorney, in a statement. “It’s gratifying that the Copyright Office acknowledges this right and agrees that the anticircumvention laws should not interfere with interoperability.”

The EFF also applauded a decision it says “holds that amateur creators do not violate the DMCA when they use short excerpts from DVDs in order to create new, noncommercial works for purposes of criticism or comment if they believe that circumvention is necessary to fulfill that purpose.”

I can’t stand HP laptops, but they do promote their product.