SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Solar Powered Wonder Car "Jaguar Mark XXI"

2009-07-17T10:07:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the future. the world creating new wonders wvery srcond. “Jaguar Mark XXI” is one of the wonder. It is Designed by Christopher Pollard. he made this vehicle for nature defense . It drives like a mother. Then when parked, the black panels activate. These panels are photovoltaic, lift from the car automatically, and face the sun, like the sunflower. Scary, right?

The “living” panels signify “the synergy between the car’s energy replenishing function and the natural science from which it takes its inspiration.” The photovoltaic panels use solar power - a power you may have heard of - to power the car. Here is the detail picture of the car:

Space Shuttle Endeavour launch delay for lightning

2009-07-11T10:26:00.000-07:00

11 lightning strikes were reported near the seaside launch pad of space shuttle Endeavour. For that reason NASA scrubbed space shuttle Endeavour's Saturday evening launch.

NASA technicians said they will need at least another day to check critical systems. They did not found any damage after an electrical storm Friday afternoon yet. After all the testing has been completed and whether to fuel Endeavour for a possible Sunday evening launch. Liftoff would be at 7:13 p.m. if NASA attempts to launch Sunday.

Mike Moses, chairman of that team, said there were 11 lightning strikes within three-tenths of a mile of the pad, although none of them struck the shuttle, external tank or the two solid rocket boosters.

At the pad, the shuttle has an elaborate lightning protection system with sensors and wires to direct lightning away from the shuttle and its rockets.

"The lightning protection system did its job," he said.

Sunday's weather is expected to slightly better, with conditions 60 percent favorable for launch. The main concern will be thunderstorms.

Endeavour should have blasted off to the international space station in mid-June, but was grounded by potentially dangerous leaks of hydrogen gas. Repairs to a misaligned plate on the external fuel tank, which hooks up with a hydrogen vent line, solved the problem.

The shuttle and its crew are set to deliver and install the third and final piece of Japan's $1 billion space station lab, named Kibo — Japanese for hope. The first two sections flew up last year.

Desktop Landscape Will Reshaped by Google Chrome OS

2009-07-09T11:20:00.000-07:00

Google is coming into the operating system business.Google is taking on not only nemesis Microsoft but also the idea that applications are typically made to run on the desktop.Here are some thought by Sharon Machlis of www.pcworld.com how it change the desktop landscape:

Watch out Apple:

While much coverage of this news is focusing on the threat to Microsoft's desktop OS dominance, at the outset the biggest loser may be the Mac OS.

Those looking for a desktop OS alternative to Windows typically consider two options: Mac OS X or a traditional Linux flavor. Linux, despite advocates' claim to the contrary, is still daunting to most non power users due to issues like networking and peripheral drivers. Mac, meanwhile, has two chief drawbacks: fewer available applications (not an issue to many consumers) and costly hardware. It's no accident that Microsoft's most successful Windows ad campaign doesn't even talk about software anymore, but rather comparative hardware costs.

If there were a version of the Mac OS that ran on non-Apple hardware, I'm not sure Google would have seen the same market opening for a new operating system. But there isn't, and Google Chrome OS is likely to be targeting the same audience as Mac OS X -- those looking for a Windows alternative -- while offering a platform that runs on more affordable hardware.

Windows 7 pricing, terms likely to get more attractive:

Expect Microsoft to think twice about how much it thinks it can charge for various versions of Windows 7, especially if Google's OS looks like it's gaining market traction. Expect Microsoft to be more receptive to complaints from Vista Ultimate users that they weren't given a better, less expensive upgrade path, and come up with some interesting terms for a Win 7 "family pack."

Netbooks are a wise beachhead for a Google OS:

Power desktop users may initially balk at the idea of ceding application control to the cloud, but those same people might be less resistant on a netbook. Netbook users probably expect (and use) fewer apps, and getting rid of resource-hogging Windows antivirus software might be a welcome upside if the Google OS is, as promised, simple, secure and speedy.

Large companies are unlikely first customers, except as small experiments:

I don't see major IT organizations happily ditching their Windows-based software in order to turn control of the desktop over to Google. While a Google OS is likely to gain entry in small numbers at large corporations as people check out the newcomer, large-scale adoption is unlikely unless and until the OS proves it has enterprise-class management capabilities. However, those small businesses with limited application needs might be more interested, especially if cost and maintenance are both low.

College students are a likely market:

Today's students are mobile in ways that those even five years ago couldn't imagine, and they're less likely to be concerned whether an application is on their desktop or over the Web.

Sun flashback:

It looks like Google is trying to bring to fruition that Sun Microsystems mantra, "the network is the computer."

Would Google dominance be any better than Microsoft's?

In the short run, this announcement adds to the OS competitive landscape and is likely to encourage Microsoft to give better terms to those opting for Windows 7. Plus, it's unlikely Google can make a short-term dent in Windows' gargantuan desktop OS market share. However, Google already has a great deal of control over the search-engine market, and thus has become a prime director of traffic around the Web. Despite Google's now-cliched "do no evil" corporate mantra, the idea of a single company controlling the desktop, the application and the data is not without concern. It will be interesting to see whether the open-source community welcomes Google's entry into the OS arena or has concern about the company's growing reach.

Sony joins in Netbook game with the Vaio W

2009-07-07T12:52:00.000-07:00

Sony has finally caved to market demand. Sony is introducing what the company calls, "a chic new line of mini notebooks."The Sony Vaio W is a 10.1-inch Netbook, with an Intel Atom N280 CPU, 1GB of RAM, Windows XP, and a 160GB hard drive--all fairly common specs for the category. But many laptops with similar specs run $299-$399, while Sony says the Vaio W "will retail for about $500.

It's a gamble, but Sony is attempting to do what many Netbook makers wish they could do--introduce a higher-priced "premium" version of a Netbook. To that end, the Vaio W packs in a higher-resolution screen at 1,366x768. There's also 802.11n Wi-Fi, a separate Memory Stick slot (on top of the standard SD card slot), Bluetooth, and Sony's typical fit and finish, which usually includes excellent keyboards and touchpads.

Sony's proprietary media software should also help the system connect to other DLNA devices easily, including the PlayStation 3.

The Vaio W is 1.3 inches thick, weighs 2.6 pounds, and will come in three colors--berry pink, sugar white, and cocoa brown. If that would make for an awkward conversation with a retail store clerk, you can probably just ask for it in plain old pink, white, or brown, and they'd be able to figure it out. The system is available for pre-order from Sony starting Tuesday, and should be arriving in retail stores sometime next month.[collected from: news.cnet.com]

The Oldest Christian Bible of World goes online

2009-07-06T11:33:00.000-07:00

World's oldest Christian Bible is digitized. The work known as the Codex Sinaiticus. It has been housed in four separate locations across the world for more than 150 years.The Codex Sinaiticus is the oldest version of the Christian Bible in book form, and, according to many scholars, one of the world's greatest written treasures. The actual leaves and fragments from the book are in the British Library in England, as well as in various archives in Germany and Russia, and the St. Catherine's Monastery of Sinai, where the text was originally discovered. Starting today, however, anybody with access to an Internet connection and a modern browser can now see a virtual facsimile of the book online. so scholars and other readers can get a closer look at what the British Library calls a "unique treasure."

Scot McKendrick, head of Western manuscripts at the British Library, said the book "offers a window into the development of early Christianity and firsthand evidence of how the text of the Bible was transmitted from generation to generation."

The 4th-century book, written in Greek on parchment leaves, has been housed in four separate locations across the world for more than 150 years. It has been digitally reunited in a project involving organizations from Britain, Germany, Russia, and Egypt, each of which possessed parts of the 1,600-year-old manuscript.

They worked together to publish new research into the history of the Codex and transcribed 650,000 words over a four-year period.

Juan Garces, the Codex Sinaiticus project manager, said it was a "definitely a historical moment."

The Codex was both a key Christian text and "a landmark in the history of the book, as it is arguably the oldest large bound book to have survived," McKendrick said.

iPod Touch getting a camera?

2009-07-06T11:31:00.000-07:00

iPod Touch users have been requesting from Apple is a camera.iPod Touch users may be getting their wish.MacRumors is taking the camera information a step further, claiming that both the iPod Touch and iPod Nano will receive cameras when they are updated. New case designs, purportedly for the iPods, show a hole for the camera.In May, AppleInsider said that iPods would get cameras similar to those found in iPhones.

At this point the only handheld device from Apple with a camera is the iPhone. All three models of the iPhone come with a one.

In addition to its 3-megapixel still camera, the iPhone 3GS includes video recording and basic video-editing software, which allows chunks of video to be uploaded to YouTube or MobileMe.

'Rachael' Android XPERIA of Sony Ericsson Leaked ?

2009-07-06T11:29:00.000-07:00

Sony Ericsson has been relatively quiet regarding their development of Android Phones but we've known for quite some time that they've planned to release a high-end Android device in 2009. Our previous thought was that they'll continue to use the beautiful XPERIA line to release their first Android effort and it looks like it may be true. Internal documents gathered by Mobil have pointed that the phone above, the 'Rachael', will be the first Sony Ericsson device to run Android and boy does it look 'high-end'.

The specs, if true, are stunning: it's supposedly using the Qualcomm Snapdragon processor clocked at 1 GHz, has an 8 megapixel camera with auto-focus, 3.5 mm headphone jack, and 7.2 megabytes HSDPA. We're hoping that this is all true because it'll certainly make for one heck of an Android device. It's supposed to be announced later in the year, so we just might hold off on that myTouch 3G purchase...[collected from: www.androidcentral.com]

LG GD910 watchphone go to sale on this August in UK

2009-07-06T11:14:00.000-07:00

We don't know about anyone else, but we've been waiting on LG's GD910 ever since we first heard about it way back around CES. We've already heard that the watch / phone-loving combo would hit shelves sometime in July (that's now) in Europe, but it looks like it's going to be more like August -- at least in the UK. T3 says they've confirmed this with Orange (the GD910's exclusive carrier), and though the price remains unspecified, we're expecting it to cost somewhere between $1,000 and way-more-than-you-should-spend. We're not going to bother with the requisite Dick Tracy comments this time (though we'll freely admit we're somehow fond of the Warren Beatty disaster), but hit the read link for fuller details.[collected from: www.engadgetmobile.com]

Nokia Denies to Work on Android Phones

2009-07-06T11:11:00.001-07:00

The interwebs were ablaze when The Guardian cited 'industry insiders' saying that Nokia, the world's largest phone manufacturer, was making an Android device to be introduced in September. The logic was understandable: though Nokia was the #1 phone manufacturer, they've been losing market share since smartphones have become more popular. Competitors like the iPhone, Blackberry, and Android have been slowly chipping away at their lead and it may be only a matter of time before Nokia is overtaken. A Nokia built, Android powered device could potentially prevent that.

Our friend Matthew Miller of NokiaExperts weighed in on these Nokia to Android rumors saying:

A Nokia Android device could have some very compelling specs and given the reputation of Nokia phones in regards to phone calls, media capture, and battery life I would be first in line to buy a Nokia Android unit

And though the prospect of a Nokia and Android union is exciting and makes some sense, it doesn't seem to add up or fit Nokia's current plans. Nokia phones run Symbian, another smartphone OS that Nokia has pledged their allegiance (and cash) to--to jump ship would be a complete shift in strategy that could prove unnecessary and too risky. But all this speculation is much ado about nothing as Nokia (predictably) squashes these rumors before they get out of hand, stating:

"There is no truth to this story whatsoever," a statement from the company read. "It is a well known fact that Symbian is our platform of choice for smartphones."

So though it looks like Nokia has nothing Android-related in the works, it certainly won't stop Nokia and Android fans from continuing to hope. We'd love to see if Nokia can deliver a great experience on our lovely Android. What do you guys think?[collected from: www.androidcentral.com]