Author: Serkadis

Here comes another blow against skeptics who question whether large, enterprise-scale companies will ever use web-based (or, to use the more trendy term, cloud-based) applications: Electronics maker Panasonic just announced that it’s switching over from Microsoft Exchange and other on-premise technology to IBM’s LotusLive suite of online collaboration software.

That’s about 100,000 people migrating to LotusLive initially, and IBM says the number could reach as high as 300,000. The company is describing this as “the largest enterprise cloud deployment in history,” and while it’s hard to make that statement definitively, it’s certainly up there. For example, one of Google’s big wins for its Google Apps bundle of online business software was Genentech, which has around 11,000 employees.

The move comes as Panasonic says it wants to bring together its various brands and companies into a more unified global organization. Sean Poulley, Vice President of IBM Cloud Collaboration, said Panasonic’s decision to switch to web apps stems from that goal, while Panasonic choice of IBM over competitors like Microsoft or Google came down to IBM’s inter-company collaboration capabilities, and to trust.

“We were designed from the get-go not just for collaboration inside of a company, but between companies,” Pouley said.

This deal is particularly impressive for a company that isn’t as closely associated with cloud computing as Google. And we’re talking about service that only launched last year, and only added email last fall. IBM says LotusLive now has a total of 18 million users. (Back in October, Google said Google Apps has 20 million.)

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Director Ivan Reitman ha confirmed plans to direct Ghostbusters 3. The filmmaker says that he will be helming the second Ghostbusters sequel, which he hopes will go into production later this year. Reitman, as you may know, directed both of the original 1980s Ghostbusters films.

Ghostbusters 3, which is expected to see a younger generation taking over for the cast of the 1984 original, will hopefully “start shooting in this next year,” with a 2011 release likely, an excited Reitman told MTV News on Wednesday.

Reitman’s last effort behind the camera was 2006’s My Super Ex-Girlfriend, starring Uma Thurman and Luke Wilson.

No castings have been revealed yet.

While US copyright law has its problems, one path we have not gone down that many other countries have is the concept of copyright levies on various technologies. These taxes on various technologies, consumer electronics and media storage devices are supposed to “compensate” for any copyright infringement that is done on that equipment (though, it should be noted that, even with these levies, such infringement is still illegal). Think of it as a “you simply must be a criminal” tax. In the US, the entertainment industry has mostly fought against these levies fearing (perhaps reasonably) that they would lead people to think that such copying was, in fact, legal — or much, much worse, convince a court of that fact (by saying “hey, I paid for it via this levy, thus I should be able to do it.”) Still, they do exist in many places, and they generally serve to harm the consumer electronics players by making their devices significantly more expensive. In some cases, the vast majority of the price of certain products is made up of the levy, rather than the price of the product.

Over in Europe, they’ve been fighting about this for years. Back in 2006 there was a proposal to get rid of these levies, but it got shot down due to intense pressure from the collections societies who make a ton of money from them. In 2008, there was even an effort to expand these levies. Copycense points us to the news that in the latest “negotiations” around these levies in Europe, the consumer electronics companies have given up trying to reason with the collections societies, and instead are looking to the EU to put in place some regulations to at least get rid of the worst abuses of such levies that massively hold back the ability of consumer electronics companies to sell products at a reasonable price.

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Former Bachelor Bob Guiney and wife Rebecca Budig of All My Children have split after five years of marriage, sources told PEOPLE.com on Wednesday. The spouses met when Budig hosted repeats of The Bachelor for ABC. Bob later found himself The Bachelor after missing out on love with former Bachelorrette star Trista Sutter.

“They’ve been on the rocks for a long time and lately it’s become clear that nothing is going to save this,” a friend of Rebecca told the mag Wednesday. “They’ve just grown apart and are no longer the people they were when they got married.”

Don’t cry for Bob. Word is Hubby’s already moved on and is happily dating a new woman!

VIA just launched their latest little computer, the M’SERV S2100. Designed for the small business and home user, the M’SERV uses a VIA 64-bit processor with support for DDR2 and SATA.

The M’SERVE also has a bootable CF socket, allowing you to install your OS on a compact flash card, and then boot from said card. A pretty neat feature. The S2100 also has dual gigabit LAN, and very low power consumption so you don’t have to feel guilty about leaving it on all the time. VIA hasn’t announced how much the M’SERVE is going to cost, or when it will be available.

From the press release:

Thanks to the VIA Nano processor and its 64-bit architecture and integrated hardware assisted virtualization technology, the VIA M’SERV S2100 is capable of hosting multiple virtual environments. In addition, the VIA VX800 single-chip media system processor provides support for SATA, USB, and a whole host of other essential functions.
The VIA M’SERV S2100 mini server is even smaller than most small form factor (SFF) desktop PCs. Its ultra compact size and whisper quiet operation makes it a perfect server for the home, or any place where space is at a premium or noise is an issue.

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Filed under: App Review

We did a write-up of apps used at Disneyland and Walt Disney World back in November, but I just spent a week at Walt Disney World where my daughter got married, and wanted to add some personal perspective on my experience with five iPhone/iPod touch apps for seven days. There are a lot of apps out for Walt Disney World, but from reviews both here and anywhere else I could find, I decided upon, and bought, five of them. The quality of these apps ranged from beautiful but arcane, to incredibly useful.

The most eye-catching of all the apps has to be The Walt Disney World Maps Boxed Set US$3.99 [iTunes Link]. This set contains maps of all four parks: Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Epcot, along with Downtown Disney, Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon and the Orlando International Airport tossed in for good measure. Maps of each of the parks can be bought individually for US$.99. When running the app, you are presented with the main screen which goes black for a few seconds and then re-appears. Odd. Tapping on any of the parks gives you a detailed “cartoony-looking” map that can be pinched and stretched to an extent. You can’t pinch any map enough to see the entire park on one screen. This means that you really have to know basically what you’re looking for before the app can be of much help, and since the map has no text of what the buildings represent, it’s hit or miss. At least it was until I found the spyglass button which brings up a screen that searches attractions either by A to Z, by location, or by category. Choosing one brings up a screen with the name, a one line description, and some additional information.We did a write-up of apps used at Disneyland and Walt Disney World back in November, but I just spent a week at Walt Disney World where my daughter got married, and wanted to add some personal perspective on my experience with five iPhone/iPod touch apps for seven days. There are a lot of apps out for Walt Disney World, but from reviews both here and anywhere else I could find, I decided upon, and bought, five of them. The quality of these apps ranged from beautiful but arcane, to incredibly useful.

The most eye-catching of all the apps has to be The Walt Disney World Maps Boxed Set US$3.99 [iTunes Link]. This set contains maps of all four parks: Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Epcot, along with Downtown Disney, Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon and the Orlando International Airport tossed in for good measure. Maps of each of the parks can be bought individually for US$.99. When running the app, you are presented with the main screen which goes black for a few seconds and then re-appears. Odd. Tapping on any of the parks gives you a detailed “cartoony-looking” map that can be pinched and stretched to an extent. You can’t pinch any map enough to see the entire park on one screen. This means that you really have to know basically what you’re looking for before the app can be of much help, and since the map has no text of what the buildings represent, it’s hit or miss. At least it was until I found the spyglass button which brings up a screen that searches attractions either by A to Z, by location, or by category. Choosing one brings up a screen with the name, a one line description, and some additional information.

TUAWWalt Disney World on five apps a week originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 13 Jan 2010 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As is the normal way on the internet, people love to read headlines. Of course they rarely read the substance of the article behind the headline. They take the headline and run with it as gospel. This is particularly true of internet video and the presumption by many that the internet will be so vast and powerful that its a foregone conclusion that video on the internet will replace traditional television delivery.

Aint gonna happen.  I can go into depth about it, but my buddy Dan Rayburn does a far better job of it.  He asks the simple question of “how is it the Youtube , with all of google’s resources,. cant solve their buffering problem ? ” Then he answers much of it.

Now maybe Youtube will fix their buffering problem someday, along with the other issues that Dan addresses, but it wont be easy and it wont be quick.

You can find Dan’s work here. Make sure to also read the comments. He does a good job there as well

Let me add a couple other thoughts. There are many that think that video over the internet will “set them free” from having to deal with a small number of big companies (think cable, telco). . If that is what you think, you better think again.  There are maybe 3 companies that can stream to 1mm or more simultaneous users. Google, Limelight and Akamai.  And that 1mm simultaneous users isnt just for your content. That is for EVERYONE’s content and they cant get much beyond 2mm without big problems.  More importantly, if you want to stream your content to millions of users at once, its going to cost you an incredible amount of money.

Which leads me to a lesson for all you netizens who are jazzed up about over the top video.  If you really believe the demand is there and your content will command 1mm simultaneous users , its probably cheaper to pay Directv, Dish Network and Comcast to create a channel for you and let your viewers watch it on tv.

Let that sink in. Its going to be cheaper to have the big traditional cable distributors offer your content to viewers than it will be to reach a large audience on the net. Thats for a one time offering. If you plan on doing it more than once or on a regularly scheduled basic, there is no question its cheaper to do it this way. And the picture quality will be dramatically better.

In fact, that is probably a great business opportunity for satellite, telco and cable companies. Open up times to bid to offer content over their networks. You want channel 1020 on Directv, its X dollars per hour minimum or the best price bid. Here is how you provide your content to us. You can buy marketing from us as well. Directv, Dish, Comcast could make a boatload of extra money offering this service.

And i can give you one more option.  It may be cheaper to go to a movie theater chain and pay them to broadcast the content you want people to see via digital to their theaters. As long as its a slow night and they can sell popcorn, I can assure you it will cost you less than a content distribution network would charge to deliver to thousands of viewers.

Maybe someday over the top video will be a realistic alternative to traditional distribution of content, but its not now and its not this year or next or the next and probably not the year after that

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Snook will soon be fist pumpin’ all the way to the bank! It turns out getting the daylights knocked out of you on national television can be very beneficial for your finances. Who knew?

Just last month, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi was the bargain basement star of MTV’s breakout hit Jersey Shore, charging just $2,000 for personal appearance and hosting gigs. Of course, that was before the pint-sized Italian was sucker-punched by brute Brad Ferro, a girl-beating gym teacher from Long Island. According to Gawker.com, being punched has boosted Snooki’s popularity — and her appearance fee — the star now commands up to $10,000 per event! The figure officially solidifies Snooki’s place as the show’s most expensive star.

Ferro, by the way, has since fired from his position with the New York City Department of Education. Snooki will be spending Valentine’s Day Weekend back on the beach; she’s hosting a Jersey Shore-themed bash at Peabody’s Nightclub in Virginia Beach on Feb. 12.

Satellite images of the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake are now available on Google Earth. The search giant partnered with imagery specialist GeoEye to provide a markup that shows satellite photos of Haiti from around 7:30 a.m. Pacific time this morning.

The company lets you download the markup here and open it in Google Earth. There’s also a browser plug-in here.

At right is a birds-eye view of the Presidential Palace before and after the quake.

For perspective, below is an on-the-ground view of the palace from The Boston Globe’s Big Picture blog. The building was apparently three stories tall and the second floor completely collapsed, according to Reuters.

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We had no idea the market of iPhone filmmakers out there was big enough to support pro-quality accessories, but it looks like we were mistaken: Tiffen just announced the Smoothee Steadicam rig for all you mobile Tarantinos out there. As with all Steadicam rigs, the Smoothee stabilizes a handheld camera by means of a counterweight, and the phone cradle can also be detached and mounted on a tripod or used as a stand on a flat surface. No pricing or availability yet, but those things don’t matter when your masterpiece is at stake. Video after the break.

Continue reading Tiffen Smoothee brings Steadicam to the iPhone 3GS

Tiffen Smoothee brings Steadicam to the iPhone 3GS originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Jan 2010 22:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Listen up, Classic Sitcom Fans: A Golden Girl needs our good vibes…..Actress Rue McClanahan suffered a stroke while recovering from a heart bypass operation last November.

McClanahan is best remembered as aging vamp “Blanche Devereaux” on the comedy smash The Golden Girl, which aired on NBC from 1985 to 1992.

The actress’ husband, Morrow Wilson, tells GLOBE that Rue collapsed in a New York City hospital a week after undergoing surgery. Doctors managed to remove a blood clot, but the 75-year-old is still struggling to walk and talk nearly two months later.

“Then, her right leg began to move and, not long afterward, she was able to walk a bit. They kept her in ICU (intensive care) for two weeks and then put her into the rehab center. She’s come out of that and is now in a nursing facility,” says Wilson, who married Rue 12 years ago. “She can understand what you are saying in conversation, but still has some trouble speaking. Her speech is slower than it once was and she hasn’t completely recovered on the right side of her body.”

Rue’s is the latest is a series of health dramas for the former cast of The Golden Girls; Estelle Getty (“Sophia”) died in 2008 and Bea Arthur (“Dorothy”) lost her battle against cancer last April. While Rue — who also appeared on the ’80s series Mama’s Family – is lucky to be alive, the stroke has taken its toll on the beloved celeb, says her spouse. The road to recovery will be a lengthy one.

“She’s going to require a lot more physical and speech therapy… but at least it’s not like I stay awake at nights anymore thinking that Rue is going to die.”

We have seen a couple of new mice on the floor at CES, however these two have not made it there. Sony has a steady history of making new accessories to complement your new and your older VAIOs and these two are not an exception.

This wireless laser mouse (VGP-WMS30) comes in 2 flavors: black and white. It pretty much packs the same tech of all previous VAIO mice released in 2009, however the little USB transmitter that connects your wireless mouse is quite unobtrusive.  Here are some details for you.

Cruise through your workload or browse the internet with pinpoint accuracy using the VGP-WMS30 wireless laser mouse. In addition to a modern design, this wireless mouse features an ultra-slim wireless receiver which blends in with the contours of your PC. An 800dpi laser provides precise navigation while the ergonomic design fits comfortably in either hand while the low friction, non-stick PTFE sole allows for easy and swift movement. Additionally, the USB receiver fits into the mouse battery compartment for easy storage when not in use. Also, it promises 4 months of battery life with this new energy efficient technology!

VAIO VGP-BMS15 is a step up if we can say so from its previous brother VGP-BMS10. It’s a bluetooth mouse featuring an interchangeable form-fitting cover that adds stylish good looks. Equipped with laser technology, you can use this 800-dpi laser mouse on virtually any surface, while the low-friction, non-stick PTFT sole reduces hand strain.

A sliding, interchangeable aluminum cover turns this mouse on and off while also protecting the scroll wheel and buttons from accidental scratches.

You can also customize this mouse by selecting from an additional 8 unique colored sliding covers (sold separately).

Mice will be available at Sonystyle.com pretty soon.

Here is a product, and here is a question. The product is a steadicam for the iPhone and Flip. Certainly video on those devices is shaky enough to warrant such a product. The question, then, is this: is there anyone who cares enough about their video to want a steadicam, yet still shoots with a Flip or iPhone?

It seems to me that if you care at all about the quality of your video, you won’t be shooting it on such a tiny, shaky device that has poor video quality when compared with slightly larger camcorders with real lenses. For streaming video off your phone, I guess I can see it, but that video is so low-rez and so highly compressed that if the image is jittery, no one will notice.

So, while I can’t think of anyone who requires smooth video, yet is content with 640×480 or smeary, fixed-focus 1080p, perhaps there are a few of you out there and this thing is for you.

[via OhGizmo and Electronista]

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Like them or not, e-books are here to stay. Personally, I don’t like them — but that’s mainly because e-book readers have been ugly, clumsy, and limited in function and selection. The tidal wave of readers we saw at CES, however, suggests that even die-hard curmudgeons like myself may soon be among the faithful. What this means, of course, is that e-books, while a real business already, are going to be looking at serious growth over the next two years. And since that necessarily will impact negatively the sales of real ink-on-paper books, retailers are looking for a way to ride the e-book wave.

Let them E-cake

French retailers, like most in the world, are in an awkward position. They know how widely-available, easy-to-download, easy-to-steal e-books on popular, cheap devices will affect their business: in five to eight years they’ll be begging for scraps from Google and Amazon. So they’ve gone arm-in-arm to see the wizard, in hopes that France will set up some sort of national e-book “hub,” by which I suppose they mean website or software. They’ve all already got something or other in place, but they think the only way to stand against the big bad Google is to join forces.

There would be protections in place for pricing, which would be lower with the French retailers working together, and the single-point service would be helpful to consumers. And although it’s doubtful that anyone trusts a major retail chain that much more than Amazon.fr, there is something to be said for keeping familiar brands alive.

There’s something noble in this scramble for self-preservation, like an antelope kicking a lioness in the jaw, but it seems to me that it’s too late: the pride is closing in. The fact is that Amazon and Google hold all the power in this relationship — them and the publishers, who have no sympathy for retailers who have likely been trying to gouge them for years. Why should the publishers give a hand? Pour La France? These are book chains owned by multinational corporations, not mom-and-pop corner book stores scraping by. No, the publishers must look to their own survival and profit, and for e-books, Google and Amazon are the 500-pound gorillas they need to appease.

The rhetoric being employed attempts to cast the retailers as the little guy. Says Guillaume Decitre, head of retailer Decitre:

If we don’t manage to do this, what’s going to happen? We will find ourselves in front of a platform, or hub, already made by a private company … whether Amazon, Google or Apple.

It’s unclear what they propose as an actual benefit to having a French hub run by them, other than a stay of execution for the retailers involved. An analyst makes noises about “preserving the culture,” but how much culture do you feel the US lost when Circuit City closed? Brick and mortars were our biggest loser of the decade for a reason. Smart ones, like Barnes and Noble, have ensured a position in the new e-book world order by creating powerful, unique IP that they can wield like a club. Want to put your books on our sweet nook? Well, let’s talk turkey. But these French retailers saw the writing on the wall too late and now all they can do is beg and hope for more scandals like 1984 to put off the inevitable.

As the publishers and analysts note, however, it seems unlikely that everyone is going to set aside their differences and put something together. There are just too many conflicting interests involved, and at any rate none of these monster businesses could launch a product fast enough to deal with the steadily advancing Amazons and Google of the world.

I feel sorry for them, and I appreciate them not taking out their looming obsolescence on the consumers, but that isn’t going to change the fact that their business model is simply out of date. Megastores like Virgin’s and the others are dinosaurs, and they shouldn’t be surprised when they start going extinct.

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While FoMoCo attracted a lot of attention at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show with the 2011 Ford Mustang GT and the 2012 Ford Focus, the Dearborn automaker stole the show by winning the 2010 North American Car and Truck of the Year awards.

Ford’s Fusion Hybrid won the Car of the Year award while the Ford Transit Connect stole the Truck of the Year award.

“Winning both of these prestigious awards is confirmation that the ONE Ford plan is working, delivering industry-leading products for our customers,” said Mark Fields, president of The Americas.

This was only the third time in 17 years that one manufacturer has won both titles.

Click through for the press release.

Press Release:

FORD SWEEPS N.A. CAR AND TRUCK OF THE YEAR AWARDS

* Ford swept the North American Car and Truck of the Year awards today at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), winning both prestigious awards for the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid and the 2010 Ford Transit Connect, respectively
* It is the third time in 17 years that one manufacturer has won both awards
* The Ford Fusion Hybrid is America’s most fuel-efficient midsize sedan with an EPA-estimated 41 mpg rating in the city and 36 mpg on the highway, topping the Toyota Camry hybrid by 8 mpg in the city and 2 mpg on the highway
* The Transit Connect is an industry-exclusive vehicle developed to be a smart new choice for small business owners; it offers double the fuel economy of full-size vans, generous and accessible cargo space, and the agility and maneuverability to operate in crowded urban areas

DETROIT, Jan. 11, 2010 – Ford Motor Company scored a historic doubleheader today, capturing both the North American Car of the Year and North American Truck of the Year awards for the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid and 2010 Ford Transit Connect, respectively, at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS). It is only the third time in 17 years that one manufacturer has won both titles.

The North American Car and Truck of the Year awards recognize vehicles based on factors including innovation, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction and value for the dollar. A jury of 49 automotive journalists in the United States and Canada vote for the vehicles, which must be “all-new” or “substantially changed” from the previous model to qualify for the award.

The Fusion Hybrid edged out finalists including the Buick LaCrosse and Volkswagen Golf/GTI to win the North American Car of the Year award. It is the fourth hybrid vehicle in 17 years to win recognition as North American Car (or Truck) of the Year. It also is the second hybrid win for Ford – the most hybrid wins for any automaker. The Ford Escape Hybrid was named North American Truck of the Year in 2005.

The Transit Connect bested finalists including the Chevrolet Equinox and Subaru Outback to win the North American Truck of the Year award. It is the sixth Ford truck to win the award – the most wins of any automaker in the 17-year history of the awards program. It also is the second year in a row that Ford has captured the title. Last year, top honors went to the 2009 Ford F-150.

Fusion Hybrid a winner out of the gate
The North American Car of the Year award is the latest in an impressive string of awards and accolades for the Fusion Hybrid. Most recently, the vehicle was honored as CAR and DRIVER Magazine’s “10Best” Cars for 2010, one of AUTOMOBILE Magazine’s 2010 All-Stars, and the entire Fusion lineup captured the acclaimed MOTOR TREND Car of the Year® award.

The all-new Fusion Hybrid arrived in dealers in March, complete with a powertrain system that combines the best attributes of the gasoline engine and electric battery-driven motors to deliver the optimal experience for the customer in terms of driving performance and fuel economy.
The Fusion Hybrid also offers drivers a way to be more connected to the hybrid driving experience thanks to Ford’s SmartGauge™ with EcoGuide, a unique instrument cluster execution that helps coach them on how to optimize the performance of their hybrid.

Other class-exclusive technologies and features that set the Fusion Hybrid apart from the competition include Blind Spot Information System (BLIS®), Ford SYNC®, SIRIUS Travel Link™ and more total passenger and luggage capacity than the Toyota Camry.

Despite the slump in overall industry sales, 2009 was a record-breaking year for the Ford Fusion. Sales are at an all-time high, with the Fusion Hybrid accounting for almost 20 percent of total Fusion retail sales. Perhaps even more significant, more than 60 percent of Fusion Hybrid sales have been to customers coming from import brands – mostly Toyota and Honda.

Awards and accolades for the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid include:

* MOTOR TREND Car of the Year Award
* One of CAR and DRIVER Magazine’s “10Best” Cars for 2010
* One of AUTOMOBILE Magazine’s 2010 All-Stars
* 2009 “Top Safety Pick” rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
* 2009 Ward’s Interior of the Year Special Achievement Award for Best Graphic Display for SmartGauge with EcoGuide digital instrument cluster
* Great Car for the Long-haul Salesman by Kelley Blue Book kbb.com
* One of America’s Top 40 New Cars by MOTOR TREND magazine
* Rated the No. 1 Hybrid Family Sedan by CAR and DRIVER in a recent comparison test by the magazine
* 2009 and 2010 Editors Choice for Fuel Sipper by CAR and DRIVER Magazine
* Best Hybrid for the Money in the Midsize Car segment by cars.com
* One of 2009 Top 10 Green Cars by Kelley Blue Book kbb.com
* The Detroit News Readers’ Choice Award for “Best Value”
* 2010 Consumers Digest Best Buy
* Detroit Free Press 2010 Car of the Year
* 2010 Most Environmentally Progressive Car of the Year by Earth, Wind & Power
* 10 Best Engine by Ward’s Auto World

The 2010 Fusion Hybrid is built at Ford’s Hermosillo (Mexico) Stamping and Assembly Plant.

Transit Connect fills unmet needs of small businesses and fleets
The Transit Connect was brought to the U.S. to fulfill the unmet needs of small business owners and entrepreneurs, offering them a new vehicle choice with significantly improved fuel economy, generous and accessible cargo space, and the agility and maneuverability to operate in crowded urban areas.

Powered by a 2.0-liter I-4 engine with a four-speed automatic overdrive transmission, the
Transit Connect offers double the fuel economy of full-size vans, delivering an EPA-estimated 22 mpg city and 25 mpg highway.

The Transit Connect also has more than double the cargo-carrying capacity of the Chevrolet HHR Panel, making it suitable for a broader range of commercial-use applications. And it offers commercial users a cargo payload of up to 1,600 pounds – a larger payload than the full-size Dodge Ram 1500 standard-cab short-box pickup truck.

The Transit Connect also is available with the industry-exclusive Ford Work Solutions™, a suite of affordable technologies that provides customers with connectivity, flexibility, visibility and security to better run key aspects of their business.

On Transit Connect, Ford Work Solutions delivers three innovative features:

* A wireless in-dash computer that provides full high-speed Internet access, Bluetooth-enabled hands-free calling and navigation. The system also allows customers to print invoices, check inventories and access documents stored on their home or office computer networks right on the job site.
* Tool Link™, a Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) asset tracking system that enables customers to maintain detailed real-time inventory of the tools or equipment.
* Crew Chief™, a fleet tracking, telematics and diagnostics system that provides dynamic location and performance data fleet owners need to more efficiently manage their vehicles, quickly dispatch workers to job sites, monitor driver performance for safety and economy, and keep detailed vehicle maintenance records.

Awards and accolades for the 2010 Ford Transit Connect include:

* 2010 Editors Choice for Vans by CAR and DRIVER Magazine
* Detroit Free Press 2010 Truck of the Year
* The Detroit News 2010 Truck of the Year
* 2010 Popular Mechanics Automotive Excellence Award for Best Workhorse Vehicle
* A Great Car for the Small Business Delivery/Utility Worker by Kelley Blue Book kbb.com

The 2010 Ford Transit Connect is built at the Ford Otosan Kocaeli Plant in Kocaeli, Turkey.

# # #

– By: Stephen Calogera

Ironically, I Am Alive by Ubisoft won’t be stirring to life on its scheduled 2010 date. Ubisoft has confirmed the delay to IGN, stating that the survival title has now been pushed back to next year.
 
 
 

A federal lawsuit alleging collusion among the major music labels over digital download pricing can proceed, a three judge Appeals Court panel ruled today.

As lawsuits go, this one’s a humdinger, charging that the labels engaged in a price-fixing conspiracy to ensure that they each made about 70 cents per track sold online, and that no one received a better deal than anyone else. The case had earlier been tossed for a “failure to state a claim,” but the Second Circuit Court of Appeals has reinstated it and ordered the trial judge to proceed with the case.

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Like it did last year, Stanford University has posted the complete lecture and presentation slides for the Winter 2010 term’s iPhone Application Development course. If you aren’t in school or your local center for higher education hasn’t jumped on the bandwagon and offered its own course, the Sanford course may be a good substitute.

The course, overseen by Apple’s Paul Marcos and taught this term by Alan Cannistraro, also from Apple, has proven quite popular: it was downloaded from iTunes more than 4.4 million times last year. The latest series of lectures are updated to include APIs from the latest iPhone OS 3.1 SDK. Furthermore, the videos are also closed-captioned for better accessibility. “In addition to helping those with hearing disabilities, the captions will be helpful to English language learners or students trying to understand the more technical aspects of the classes,” Julie Zelenski, a Stanford computer science lecturer, told The Loop.

Unlike on-campus students that are officially enrolled in the class, however, you won’t be able to turn to the professor or TAs for help following along. “We get a lot of e-mails from people asking, ‘Hey, I have problems with this SDK function, can you help me do it?’” Cannistraro told The Chronicle of Higher Learning. “And we can’t, unfortunately.”

Lecture videos and materials are already posted for weeks one and two on iTunes, with the remaining eight lectures being posted after they are given. They are absolutely free to download via iTunes, and are published under a non-commercial Creative Commons license.

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We thought it would be a great idea to ask you guys (and girls) the things you love most about your Android devices, and also what you might not care for. We’ve linked the survey below and will post the results after we’ve received a decent amount of entries! This will be fun…

Android survey

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