A car that reads out emails, Facebook updates unveiled

Scientists have developed what they say is the world's first "Internet Car" which can read out your emails, Facebook and Twitter updates.

The unique Rinspeed BamBoo car can also help motorists behind the wheel surf the net by using a series of voice commands.

To avail the facilities, drivers only need to attach their smart phones or iPads into a charger in the electric car before they set off, the Daily Mail reported.

Designed by global audio and infotainment group Harman, the vehicle also allows drivers to search radio stations with voice commands using it's special "infotainment" technology.

The car was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show recently.

According to Harman, the first cars fitted with the technology could be on the road within 18 months.

NASA earth observation satellite fails to reach orbit

The earth observation satellite Glory failed to reach orbit on Friday after its protective cover did not detach following its launch, a NASA official said.

"The fairing did not separate and the vehicle does not have sufficient velocity with the fairing on to achieve orbit," an official said on NASA TV, adding that there was "no indication as to why it did not separate."

He said there would be a press briefing at around 7:30 am (1230 GMT).

The launch of the satellite -- which was to measure aerosols in the Earth's atmosphere to help clarify their impact on climate -- was delayed on February 23 after an unexpected ground control reading 15 minutes before liftoff.

On Friday it rocketed away from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California aboard a four stage Taurus-XL rocket at 2:09 am (1009 GMT), but NASA soon reported that it was slowing down and would not reach orbit.

A similar mishap took place in February 2009, when a satellite designed to monitor global carbon dioxide emissions plummeted into the ocean near Antarctica after failing to reach orbit, in a setback for climate science.

Now, a software for police to find criminals easily

Crime investigators could soon find it little more easier to nab suspects, as a team led by an Indian-origin scientist has developed a new software and some algorithms that can automatically match hand-drawn facial sketches to mug shots stored in police databases.

Researchers at the Michigan State University in the US said once in use, the implications of their programme would be huge.

The research, published in the journal IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, was led by Anil Jain, a MSU professor of computer science and engineering.

Researcher Brendan Klare, a doctoral student at MSU, said: "We're dealing with the worst of the worst here."

"Police sketch artists aren't called in because someone stole a pack of gum. A lot of time is spent generating these facial sketches so it only makes sense that they are matched with the available technology to catch these criminals ."

Now, a human-shaped mobile phone with skin-like outer layer

Japanese researchers have developed a mobile phone that resembles a human being, and which has a skin-like outer layer to enable users to feel closer to those on the other end.

The Elfoid is a smaller version of the Telenoid R1, the robotic answering machine developed by the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR).

Telenoid R1 looked more than a little like a disembodied Casper, and could mimic speech and gestures sent to it by videophone, replicating a distant caller’s presence.

The Elfoid is the same, but fits in your pocket and tickles you when you’ve got a call.

“The mobile phone may feel like the person you are talking to,” News.com.au quoted the ATR as saying, while describing the gadget as a “revolutionary telecom medium”.

The project is a collaboration between Osaka University, the mobile telephone operator NTT DoCoMo and other institutes.

Samsung sees iPad 2 thinness, price as challenge

South Korean giant Samsung Electronics on Friday admitted it faced a tough challenge to compete with Apple's new slimmer and cheaper iPad, saying "inadequate" parts had to be improved.

The iPad 2 unveiled this week was described by Apple chief executive officer Steve Jobs as "dramatically thinner" than the previous model.

The tablet is one-third the thickness of its predecessor at 8.8 millimetres (about one-third of an inch) and also thinner than Samsung's latest 10.9-millimetre Galaxy gadget announced last month.

"We will have to improve the parts that are inadequate," Lee Don-Joo, executive vice president of the Korean firm's mobile division, told Yonhap news agency. "Apple made it very thin."

Apple is also winning on price so far.

Samsung's original seven-inch screen Galaxy Tab was priced at nearly $900 if bought without a two-year contract from mobile operators, while the cheapest iPad 2 costs $499.

Facebook 'helps save boy suffering from cancer'

Facebook seems to be emerging more than just a popular social networking website -- it has helped save a four-year-old boy suffering from leukaemia.

The boy was reportedly diagnosed with the blood cancer after his worried father put a photo of him on Facebook.

Anaesthetic assistant Philip Rice noticed rash all over his son Ted's body as he put him to bed. He took a photo and put it on the social networking site.

Within minutes a doctor friend recognised the rash as a symptom of acute lymphocytic leukaemia and urged him to take Ted to hospital immediately, the 'Daily Express' reported.

The boy has now started a chemotherapy programme. 34-year-old Rice said his friend Dr Sara Barton, a colleague at Royal Salford Hospital, in Greater Manchester, may have saved his son's life.

Dr Barton said, "Philip just happened to mention, on Facebook of all places, that his son had a non-blanching rash. Next day I learned that he had acute lymphocytic leukaemia.

"It's a condition with reasonable odds of cure but Ted faces three years of gruelling chemotherapy to get better."

Rice has now shaved his head to match his son Ted and is hoping his son be well enough to start school part-time in September. Ted is now in a wheelchair, having chemotherapy.

The family, including mum Sarah, 33, and daughter Pippa, aged two, are trying to raise awareness and funds for The Rainbow Trust who have helped them.

Rice said, "We have had so much support from our neighbours. The whole community has been absolutely incredible."

Disclaimer: All information on this news has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct. If you would like to advertise on our site please contact us

More pain ahead for netbook makers?

Taiwanese netbook makers, the low-priced darlings of the personal computing industry just a few years ago, are jumping into the high-margin tablet space after seeing their market eroded by the stylish gadgets .

Though Apple Inc's iPad has become a roaring success, Asustek and Acer, who together control more than half of the global market in netbooks, are still banking on sales growth in emerging markets such as China.

Some analysts still expect strong demand in emerging markets for the affordable netbooks, which took off in 2008, and captured a big slice of the overall laptop market.

Acer shares have fallen about 20 percent over the past 3 months while Asustek shares have been steady in a flat broader market .

JOINING THE TABLET RUSH

Analysts expect 2011 netbook shipments to be flat to 15 percent lower from the previous year, while tablet shipments may triple to quadruple this year and account for around 30 percent of the total notebook PC market.

"The aggressive netbook shipments target will likely be achieved through increased market share in emerging markets like Brazil after the company's success in Russia, China and India ," said KGI analyst Angela Hsiang , who has an outperform rating on Asustek.

HBC analyst Jenny Lai said if netbook PC makers are successful in selling more tablets, this will give a big boost to their profit margins and valuations.

Microsoft adds local bargains to Bing results

Microsoft on Thursday added local bargains to results served up with mobile and desktop versions of its Bing Internet search engine in the United States.

Bing incorporate offers by startups including Groupon and Living Social that alert users to deals at shops, restaurants or other nearby businesses, according to a blog post by Andy Chu of the Bing team.

"Calling all bargain hunters, deal lovers, Groupon groupies and Living Social fanatics!" Chu wrote. "Things just got easier."

Bing added the localized bargain results under a "deals" search filter option. Deals sifts through more than 200,000 offers in more than 14,000 cities and towns across the United States, according to Chu.

Founded in 2008, Chicago-based Groupon offers discounts to its members on retail goods and services, offering one localized deal a day.

Disclaimer: All information on this news has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct. If you would like to advertise on our site please contact us

Half of UK population using Facebook

Around 30 million people in the UK, nearly half of its population, are now active Facebook users.

The social networking site has announced that four million more people in the UK have registered since July 2010, reports the Daily Mail.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Joanna Shields, vice president of Facebook Europe, made the announcement during a conference here and said that the company was ‘really excited’ about now having 30 million active users.

Facebook, founded by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004, has become a global phenomenon with more than 500 million active users, meaning those users who have logged in during the past 30 days.

Half of the website''s users are spending more than 700 billion minutes a month on the site - the equivalent of 1.3 million years.

The average user has 130 friends and will create 90 items of content every month.
Disclaimer: All information on this news has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct. If you would like to advertise on our site please contact us

Apple, Google, RIM neck-and-neck in smart phone market

Apple, Google, Research In Motion (RIM) are neck and neck in the cut-throat smart phone market in the US , according to a Nielsen survey Thursday.

While Apple and Google have their own individual operating systems to run their respective smart phones, Google's Android operating system (OS) supports the rest of the competition.

"When it comes to consumer market share by operating system, Android (29 percent ) appears to be pulling ahead of RIM Blackberry (27 percent) and Apple iOS (27 percent)," Nielsen said in its survey.

But the analysis shows "RIM and Apple to be the winners compared to other device makers since they are the only ones creating and selling smart phones with their respective operating systems."

According to the survey, HTC follows with 12 percent of consumer smartphone owners having an HTC Android device and 7 percent owning an HTC device running a Microsoft OS.

Only 10 percent of consumer smart phone owners had a Motorola Android device and one percent owned a Motorola device running a Microsoft OS, the survey said.