The i(Pad)s of March: Apple plans tablet event

Apple Inc. is expected to unveil the second generation of its wildly successful iPad media tablet next week, widening its head start against competitors just starting to sell their first tablet computers.

The Cupertino, California-based company e-mailed invitations to a media event in San Francisco Wednesday that show a calendar page with the corner peeling away to reveal an iPad underneath. The large ``2'' on the calendar page denotes the event's March 2 date, but is also a hint that Apple is about to announce the follow-up to the original iPad.

The iPad, about the size of a large book, has been likened to an overgrown iPhone or iPod Touch, as it is powered by similar software and can run the same applications, or ``apps.''

But it has a bigger screen that makes reading e-mails, surfing the Web and watching movies easier on the eyes. With a starting price of $499, it's less expensive than many computers and, at 1.5 pounds (680 grams), it also weighs less. Unlike small, inexpensive laptops such as netbooks, the iPad turns on instantly, so people don't have to wait through a sluggish boot-up. And the iPad also lasts about 10 hours unplugged, making it ideal for travelers and other people on the go.

Apple sold more than 15 million iPads in its first nine months on sale, including 7.3 million to holiday shoppers during the October-December quarter about a million more for the quarter than analysts were expecting.

Samsung launches ultra-slim notebook, targets Apple

South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd launched an ultra-slim notebook on Thursday, seeking to bolster its presence in the high-end mobile computer segment dominated by Apple Inc.

Samsung, emerging as one of the strongest rivals to challenge Apple in the booming smartphone and tablet computer market, is eyeing the notebook market, in which Apple is seeking to replicate the success of the iPhone and iPad with its MacBook series.

Samsung launched the lightweight 9 Series notebook on Thursday to compete with Apple's ultra-thin MacBook Air, introduced in October. Samsung said the new laptop would cost 2.5 million won ($2,218) in Korea and would launch globally launched from next month in the Americas and Europe.

Apple displaced Hewlett-Packard Co last quarter as the world's top mobile PC maker, propelled by strong sales of its iPad tablet, according to research firm DisplaySearch. It shipped more than 10 million notebook and tablet computers last quarter for a 17 percent market share, nearly a million more than HP, which had a 15.6 percent market.

Samsung said on Thursday that it wanted to become the global No.6 player in the mobile PC market this year from last year's seventh place.

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

Google asks Swiss court to lift Street View curbs

Google Inc. is seeking to lift a temporary court order that has prevented it from updating its Google Street View service in Switzerland for more than a year.

Lawyers for the search giant appear in court Thursday to challenge attempts by Switzerland's data protection commissioner to impose stricter privacy rules for the service.

Street View allows Internet users to virtually tour locations on a map at ground level.

Google says the service is popular in Switzerland and comparable to similar offerings by rivals.

The data protection commissioner, Hanspeter Thuer, wants the Swiss Federal Administrative Court in Bern to require that Google guarantee all faces and car plates are blurred.

He also wants sensitive locations and private gardens obscured.

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

App to convert cell phone into personal concert speaker!

Open-air music festivals often have poor sound quality, but that could soon change, courtesy an audio-enhancing app for cellphones.

Researchers at the Technical University of Denmark, led by Jakob Eg Larsen, have developed an application that could convert your mobile phone into a personal concert speaker, reports New Scientist.

The result is an augmented listening experience in which every note could be heard clearly through headphones.

The researchers carried out experiments during two performances at the Nibe music festival in Denmark last June and involved 19 test participants who used the application on their mobile phones to augment their sound experience at the concerts.

A mixing device on the stage usually sends certain frequencies to an FM radio antenna that broadcasts the signal to phones at the gig.

Since simple portable radio won''t work as a receiver, the FM signal must be delayed once it reaches the phone in order to align with sound from the stage.

The phone''s GPS sensor measures how far it is from the stage, and the software calculates the necessary time delay.

Several study subjects reported that the sound was ‘clean’ and were able to hear the vocals and guitars clearly.

NASA delays Glory launch

NASA announced Wednesday that it has postponed the launch of its earth-orbiting Glory Mission spacecraft due to technical problems, a newspaper reported.

During the final 15 minutes before Wednesday's scheduled launch at 5.09 a.m. from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base, the vehicle interface control console, a ground interface with Orbital Sciences' Taurus XL rocket, gave an unexpected reading, NASA said in a press release.

The cause and potential effect of the reading was not fully understood, the release said.

With a 48-second available launch window, there was insufficient time to analyze the issue causing the launch to be postponed, NASA said.

It said members of the Taurus team are troubleshooting the issue. The next launch attempt is no earlier than Thursday, Feb 24, at 5.09 a.m., it said.

Glory will send back data to help scientists improve their ability to predict Earth's future environment and to distinguish human-induced climate change from natural climate variability, NASA scientists said.

The $434-million mission is managed by the NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

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