Category: News

Joe Jonas is hoping to make the transition from singing to acting – and has his sights set on a role in the James Bond franchise.

Joe says he’s looking to sink his teeth into a serious role – and would even consider auditioning for a role as a Bond villain in the next 007 feature.

“I’m willing to read for anything. Acting is something I love and I want to do it all. It would be an awesome dream to get a part in a James Bond movie. We’re big fans of Daniel Craig. DC is the best and it would be an honour. It’s a prestigious film series,” he told Scotland’s Daily Record last week.

The middle JoBro has starred in a string of TV and big screen ventures, including Disney film Camp Rock, as well as cameo roles on Hannah Montana and one in the 2009 feature Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.

Kodak pretty much started the point and shoot camera market, but they’ve been behind for a while as far as innovation goes. In fact, this is pretty much an attempt to catch up with Nikon, Canon, and the other manufacturers who are using a touchscreen interface.

The cutely named Slice is a seemingly typical P&S camera, albeit with a 14MP sensor and the previously mentioned touchscreen interface. It’ll shoot 720p 30 FPS video, features image stabilization and a lithium ion battery, just like the other cameras in this market segment. Kodak really isn’t doing anything new with the Slice, however I will have to admit I do like the look of the little guy. The price may be a bit of a problem though, it’s going to MSRP for $350 which might be a bit steep for the casual purchaser. Expect to see the Kodak Slice at your favorite electronics retailer sometime in April 2010.

From the press release:

KODAK SLICE Touchscreen Camera Lets You Share and Relive Moments Instantly

New Digital Camera Boasts Sleek Exterior with Thousands of KODAK Moments Inside

Rochester, NY, January 7, 2010 – Eastman Kodak Company today announced the latest addition to its consumer digital product portfolio, designed to make it easier than ever for people to share pictures with family and friends anytime, anywhere. The KODAK SLICE Touchscreen Camera lets consumers carry a personal photo album worth sharing and reliving at all times. With a sleek and intuitive 3.5-inch touchscreen, and the KODAK SLICE Search Feature, consumers can find the pictures they want from up to 5,000 that can be stored on internal memory. Then, they can easily share those pictures right from the back of the camera.

“Kodak knows that consumers want the ability to share life’s memories at a moment’s notice, whether it’s pictures that evoke a tear or just the funny everyday moments,” said John Blake, General Manager, Digital Capture and Devices and Vice President, Kodak. “The power of sharing and reliving life’s moments drove the development of our new SLICE Camera. It provides instant access to all of your KODAK Moments, and it’s right at your fingertips.”

Store, Sort and Share with the SLICE Camera
With the ability to store up to 5,000 pictures in HD resolution, the SLICE Camera’s onboard KODAK SLICE Search Feature and Face Recognition allow consumers to sort through thousands of pictures by person, place, date, or occasion in order to locate and share a collection of treasured moments.

The touchscreen and Share Button allow consumers to tag pictures directly on the camera for effortless uploading to popular sharing sites including Facebook, KODAK Gallery, Flickr, and YouTube. Pictures can also be tagged to email or to send directly to the new KODAK PULSE Digital Frame.

KODAK SLICE Touchscreen Camera features include:
• Intuitive 3.5-inch, 16:9 LCD touchscreen with anti-reflective coating
• KODAK SLICE Search Feature and Face Recognition to easily sort, locate and share pictures
• Share Button for easy upload to Facebook, KODAK Gallery, Flickr, YouTube sites and e-mail
• Store up to 5,000 pictures in HD resolution
• Stunning image quality with a 14MP CCD sensor and 5X SCHNEIDER-KREUZNACH Lens
• Built-in optical image stabilization
• 720p/30fps HD video capture
• Kodak’s exclusive Smart Capture feature, which analyzes scenes and automatically adjusts camera settings to deliver beautiful pictures more often
• Compatible with PC or APPLE iLife Software
• Li-Ion rechargeable battery included
The KODAK SLICE Touchscreen Camera will be available in black, nickel and radish for US $349.95 MSRP beginning in April 2010. Best Buy will initially be the exclusive retailer for in-store sales. The KODAK SLICE Touchscreen Camera will also be sold online at Amazon.com and Kodak.com.
Kodak is also introducing a case for the SLICE Camera, which was designed in a competition among accessories students at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York City. The final case design was chosen by celebrated designer Steve Madden and FIT faculty.
*Colors and availability may vary by region

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If there is such a thing as a digital photo frame specialist, Pandigital might very well be it. It should come as no surprise then, that the company has just announced a new cellular-connected product to compete with the forthcoming Vizit frame. Focused on making photo sharing as easy as possible, this new 8-inch LED-backlit display comes with an AT&T cellular connection and associated email account, making the process of getting pictures on it effortless — and sufficiently remote to let you drop photos off with grandma without having to actually be there. The first 300 mailed snaps are free, at which point you’ll have to choose between the 6-in-1 card reader or paying a per-pic charge for further emailing to the 1GB of built-in memory. Costing a cent under $150, the Photo Mail frame will be finding store shelves early this year — skip past the break if you want to learn more.

Continue reading Pandigital Photo Mail LED frame lets you email snaps over AT&T’s wireless network

Pandigital Photo Mail LED frame lets you email snaps over AT&T’s wireless network originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Jan 2010 05:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Olive and Thiel team up for a high end, high priced audio server

Olive and Thiel team up for a high end, high priced audio server originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Jan 2010 05:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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At least one TV provider is taking advantage of Sling’s veritable bounty of new hardware, and rather predictably it is Dish Network. The rebranding (instead of being SlingLoaded, the ViP 922 DVR is now “with TV Everywhere”, the Sling Monitor 150 is dubbed the Dish Network WiFi Monitor and the Slingbox 700U has become the TV Everywhere Adapter) is enough to make your head spin, but at least we don’t have to miss our stories, thanks to the recently released Dish Remote Access Mobile App for iPhone and iPod Touch with remote scheduling and remote control capabilities for most Dish receivers. All of the hardware is scheduled to arrive in the second quarter, we’ll need at least that long to get our Everywhere and Anywhere TV straightened out.

Dish takes Sling’s new boxes for its own TV Everywhere in 2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Jan 2010 04:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here’s how not to signal strength and confidence to the rest of the world: Let your 77-year old finance minister fall ill, go to the hospital, ask to resign, and then reject his request, presumably because there’s nobody who can step into fill his shoes.

Up until late last night, that was the situation with Hirohisa Fujii.

Well, finally prime Minister Hatoyamai is letting him off the hook. According to Kyodo newswire, he will be replaced by his deputy Naoto Kan.

What a fiasco.

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See Also:

• Japan Is About Lose Another Finance Minister, As Exhausted Hirohisa Fujii Offers To Quit
• Finance Ministers Of Japan And Ireland Reveal Health Problems In The Same Week

“Numbing the pain for a while will only make it worse when you finally feel it.”–Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, p. 695

As we greet Winter Quarter after three weeks of eggnog-sloshing, snow-related shenanigans and other holiday festivities, it is likely that most of us have boxed up all of our less-than-pleasant Fall Quarter memories and sent them to the Azkaban. Nobody wants to remember that week that we thought would never end, the sour note that that one class ended on, or the mini panic attack we had back in Week Six. While it makes sense to package these unseemly items away and to move ahead with the fresh start that is the new quarter, Harry’s own dealings with the struggles in his life suggest an interesting approach to these issues.

After getting thrown in some Triwizard Tournament deal, scraping through three tasks, watching Voldemort return to power and kill Robert Pattinson–oh wait, Cedric Diggory–right in front of him, one could only imagine how physically and emotionally exhausted Harry was. With both Harry’s mind and body aching for dreamless sleep and an escape from inquiring minds, the last thing he wanted to confront was Dumbledore telling him to engage with his pain. Although Harry’s instincts screamed for him to flee from the horror of the present, Dumbledore wisely recognized that there is immense power and healing in openly acknowledging and sharing agonizing feelings.

Like Harry, we can all recall a time where sharing the truth about our emotional state was supremely difficult. Taking a Portkey back to Freshman Year, after the NSO-fueled dream of consistently happy students dies with Autumn Quarter finals, the administration auto-corrects with Mid-Year Convocation’s warnings of impending nervous breakdowns. Suddenly, “Stanford Duck Syndrome” (SDS) goes into full effect. Any signs of actual problems or stress must be kept hidden in the cupboard underneath the stairs, easily ignored as busy schedules, piles of work and friendships demand our attention.

Herein is where the problem lies. We may readily admit that mental health is an issue that affects us all, but it is much harder to realize, as Dumbledore does, that it is an issue that demands action from us all. Because we are constantly made aware of the resources available to those who may need emotional support, we tell ourselves people will get help if they need it or make false assumptions about the well being of others just because they do not outwardly display signs of distress. By even tacitly buying into the idea of SDS, a façade is created that not only allows a person to be dishonest with themselves about what they are truly experiencing, but that also prevents others from perceiving these struggles and taking them seriously.

Looking back at Dumbledore’s interactions with Harry, it is clear that he was careful not to let Harry make excuses or avoid confronting the issue at hand. As Dumbledore so astutely points out, by ignoring the problem at that moment, Harry would have only been allowing it to eat away at him and manifest itself in a much more damaging fashion later. On our campus, busyness and quick reassurances from our peers that they’re “fine” are just two Harry-esque distractions that soothe our consciences and that allow a few emotional struggles to fester and escalate into something more serious. Even though Sirius’ belief that such things can be managed later maybe more appealing and practical to us, it is imperative to acknowledge that we must be persistent and timely in dealing with these problems.

The real Stanford syndrome is the one that allows us to fountain hop at obscene hours of the day, cheer on the “truly incomparable” LSJUMB’s clothing (or lack thereof) and believe in the entrepreneurial way. What “SDS” or any mental health issue does is rob individuals of what a Stanford life should be about. As we are constantly reminded of the stigma of seeking help, it naturally follows that an absence of much-needed encouragement and support makes getting help that much harder. Even Harry, the Chosen One, needed a “soft” cry from Fawkes the phoenix and a hand on the shoulder from Sirius to share his struggles.  Thus, we are all called upon to actively check in on the well being of those around us and to adopt a lifestyle of open-mindedness. Ultimately, we all need a group of peers to support us and resources to help us if we are, in fact, suffering from mental health issues. While it is the University’s responsibility to provide the latter, it is all of our responsibilities to ensure the former.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with eggnog or snow either.  From what we hear, Dumbledore is a pretty big fan of lemon drops and tenpin bowling himself.

Eco Factor: Concept electric bicycle harnesses solar energy.

Designed by industrial designer Alejandro Sanchez, the OneTicket Car is a one person electric bicycle with transparent solar panels installed on the front glass. The idea behind the design is to make self-propelled systems more efficient with the use of renewable energy.

(more…)

Running at the same time with the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), the 2010 Tokyo Auto Salon, Japan’s custom and after-market parts exhibition, will witness a powerful display of Nissan vehicles and technology.

Among the stars of Nissan’s lineup will be the Roox Highway Star Urban Selection (a premium model based on the Roox and equipped with custom parts such as an advanced HDD navigation system, lighting components with custom exterior, and stylized cabin interio… (read more)

Although the Paris’ Tribunal de Grande Instance overturned the FIA’s lifetime ban for Flavio Briatore, the international motor racing body still claims that the 59-year old Italian is very much guilty of fixing the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

Indeed, the French judges did not issue any verdicts as to whether Briatore was guilty or innocent in the crash-gate, but only referred to the FIA’s right to issue a ban for a person that does not have a racing driver’s license. And, in a pres… (read more)

Well, if I didn’t have a chance to offer you a “Merry Christmas” in person, I am hereby extending my very best (belated) wishes to you for a very happy Christmas. I offer my benevolence to each of you, regardless of your religious beliefs, political platforms, philosophical tendencies, ethnic origins, or gender.

I am always amazed come Christmastime that this jolly phrase manages to offend certain factions of society. “I do not celebrate Christmas,” sniff the killjoys. “Not only do I reject your Christmassy inclinations, I take umbrage at the fact that you did not find out my holiday habits (or lack thereof) and personalize your sentiments accordingly.”

Apparently the problems with a casual “Merry Christmas” range from the presumption that Christianity is the predominate American religion (…which it is, by the way) to a sort of inherent insult to all other religions/holidays by neglecting to mention them.

When I experience this negative reaction to my Christmas wishes, I am almost paralyzed by the flurry of responses that occur to me. I suppose I must start with the obvious fact that Christmas, though a holiday of religious origin, is hardly an exclusively religious holiday. As a non-Christian celebrator of Christmas, I assert that my enjoyment of Christmas trees, boisterous holiday music, stocking stuffers and fat men in red suits has absolutely nothing to do with the birth of our “savior,” baby Jesus. However, even if I were the most devout of Bible brandishers, I am thankfully guaranteed the right to celebrate my religion in any way I choose, provided it causes no harm to others nor prevents others from celebrating their own religions. I honestly cannot see how wishing you enjoyment of the holiday I celebrate causes you any harm or prevents you from getting on with your own celebrations.

Furthermore, whether you like it or not, Christmas is an American holiday. You do not have to observe it, but it is recognized by the American government, just as Memorial Day and Thanksgiving are. These days are not celebrated ubiquitously or unanimously, but they are official American holidays. In other words, my acknowledgement that Christmas is occurring and my wishing you a merry one should not be taken as attack or indoctrination.

“Merry Christmas” does not carry weighted implications that everyone must celebrate. It does not mock other holidays, or imply that Christmas is superior. It does not prevent someone from replying with “Happy Hanukkah.” In fact, I am grateful when I am wished happiness at any time of the year, regardless of the religious context. I find it pleasant that someone is wishing me well. Why does our society demand that I address each individual with the holiday wish best suited to that person’s particular beliefs? Or that, if I am unwilling to learn each individual’s particular beliefs, that I degrade my phrase to a generic hallmark “Happy Holidays?” And really, in that vein, shouldn’t “Happy Holidays” be forbidden for fear of offending those who choose not to celebrate any holiday?

In this beautiful world of political correctness that we have constructed, the only innocuous phrase we should utter is a banal “I wish you the best this winter season.” Of course, should I like to bestow good will to my friends abroad in Australia, I would have to cut out “winter” as it is not winter in that region of the globe and I might offend the Australians. And possibly the koalas.

I have a few theories on the possible development of this phenomenon. Firstly, basic jealousy may the explanation. Let’s face it: Christmas is a fantastic holiday. Whether or not you believe in baby Jesus, a holiday that emphasizes love, family, food, sales, gift-giving and candy canes is an enviable holiday indeed. I respect the right of various friends and family members to choose not to acknowledge Christmas, but I confess I do pity them. Perhaps they reject my Christmas wishes because of sheer holiday envy. I think the more likely explanation is that some people grow bored with the daily routine and, in desperation, they subsequently search out methods of creating excitement and drama in their humdrum lives. Displays of outrage and indignation serve this purpose well, but I refuse to apologize and will continue to offer a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all.

It seems that Aussies who had some money to spend on a luxury vehicle this year preferred the BMW brand. According to 2009 official industry figures, the Bavarian brand has been crowned king of luxury sales in Australia for the sixth year in a row. This year BMW managed to sell more than 17,000 passenger cars.

To record sales in excess of 17,000 units for the third consecutive year is a testament to the strength of the BMW product range and dealer network, says Stavros Yallouridis… (read more)

Update: The original title to this post said “Democratic Nightmare” and it’s true that this is turning into a nightmarish year already for the incumbent party.

But in reality, this specific news can be interpreted as good for Democrats, especially if you figured that Dodd was goose-meat come general election time.

The new candidate — most likely AG Richard Blumenthal — should do better against whichever GOPer gets in.

So, the Dodd retirement is emblematic of the nightmare, but not necessarily a nightmare itself.

Original post: Wow, this really is going to be the year of the elephant.

Two key Senators will not be standing for re-election in November. The first is ND Senator Byron Dorgan, who announced his retirement plans late afternoon yesterday.

The STUNNER though was Chris Dodd, the Connecticut Senator, who, according to various news reports, has decided to throw in the towel as well.

Dodd’s close ties to the financial industry made him vulnerable in this time when anti-Wall Street sentiment runs deep.

The political winds, plus the depleting funds of his core base (hedge funds, insurance, etc.) has put him in a tought spot. A trio of eager Republicans — Peter Schiff, Linda McMahon, and Rob Simmmons — are vying for that seat.

That seat could still be a hold for Democrats, though Dorgan, in deep-red North Dakota may be a lost cause.

Anyway, there goes 60, and in reality, there goes a lot more, both in the House and Senate, because if there were any remaining doubt that it’s a bad year to be a Democratic Candidate for Congress, this is just the icing.

Throw in the tight Mass. Senate race, and you have to figure that the Obama administration has, oh, about a week left to pursue its agenda.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Another Blow To Embattled Dodd: Senator Caught Cutting Bomb-Detection Funding To Fund A Pet Pork Project
• Upset In Massachusetts Special Senate Race May Be The Political Earthquake Of 2010
• Dear Wall Street, Your Worst Nightmare Is Coming To The Senate

Andy Rubin, pictured above surrounded by press after the Nexus One event today, is the guy who founded Android and sold it to Google in 2005. And he’s starting to remind me a little of another product fanatic, Steve Jobs.

Everyone knows about Jobs’ amazing ability to build hit products and disrupt entire industries. I wrote extensively about this in What If Steve Jobs Hadn’t Returned To Apple In 1997?. Jobs is all about the product. Every last detail. And it shows. He’s disrupted the mobile phone, music, film and television industries, and we haven’t even mentioned the Macs yet.

But Jobs is also notoriously touchy and difficult to work with. He demands perfection and doesn’t really work well with others. And Jobs is distrustful of the press. Apple’s PR group is mostly there to not return calls.

We forgive him all that, of course. Because he’s changing the world, and forces competitors to do better just to try to keep up. The world, particularly the tech world, is a far more colorful place because of Jobs. There is no one at Apple who has the product vision to push that company forward once he steps down. He’s the Alexander the Great of today’s tech world. And he’s also able to captivate a crowd when he’s on stage.

Rubin isn’t Steve Jobs. He doesn’t have the product track record that Jobs has (no one in the world does). And Rubin is shy on stage – he doesn’t make any real effort to win over the crowd. There was no “and one last thing” line at today’s Nexus One launch by Rubin. Only Steve Jobs can really pull that off.

But Rubin is a product fanatic in the same way that Jobs is. The NY Times did a good overview of Rubin in 2005. One line about Rubin, a former Apple engineer and cofounder of WebTV and Danger, stuck with me from that article: “Mr. Rubin is a proven member of an earlier group of engineers-turned-entrepreneurs who have a passion for building complete digital systems.”

I’ll say. A lot of credit for the Nexus One goes to his senior team, particularly Mario Queiroz and Erick Tseng (two people Google put on stage today). But the vision for the Nexus One was all Rubin, we keep hearing from people at Google. And he wouldn’t compromise, even after it was clear Google would miss their original deadline of shipping the Nexus One in time for the 2009 holiday rush. “Rubin kept saying it has to be thinner,” mumbled one tired team member to me after the event, “so we made it thinner.”

He has incredible power within the Android group at Google, and even VPs at Google there make sure not to cross him. People who work with him have told me of his amazing attention to detail and his unbending demands that a product be perfect before it goes out the door. A lot of that shows in the Nexus One, Google’s first complete end to end hardware and software system.

Rubin has many of the same personality traits as Jobs. He’s a product visionary and fanatic who likes the dictatorial style of product development. He’s not great with people, and doesn’t deal well with the press. At today’s Nexus One event you could see his barely contained frustration at the questions fired off at him during the Q&A session. “I’m just not going to say anything else about that” was one quip he fired off after a reporter kept asking the same question over and over. Jobs, of course, doesn’t do Q&As.

And that’s just fine with me. I don’t care if the people we cover are likable, or like me. Being affable or loquacious isn’t a job requirement for Awesome Product Guy. You just have to have a strong vision, be unwilling to bend, and have the means of following through with that product to launch.

Like Jobs, Rubin has known failure. He’s even been fired from his own company, Danger. But like Jobs, he went on to bigger and better things. For Jobs it was NeXT and Pixar, then back at Apple. For Rubin, it was Android.

Is the Nexus One as disruptive as the iPhone? No. Apple started this party and the Nexus One is part of that same revolution. But it’s disruptive in different ways, and its openness (and paring with Google Voice) is pretty exciting. And I get the feeling that his team is just getting started with this whole Android thing.

Ten years from now we’ll look back. Rubin may just be another exec at another big company. Or he may be something more. Heck, he may even be running Apple. His personality would fit right in.

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

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Some products I am not meant to understand. I know that. Take the Polar Bear TV from Hannspree. In my book, it’s one of the complete losers of the CES Unveiled, the opening press reception for the Consumer Electronics Show. I can’t tell you how appalling it would be to play Modern Warfare 2 on a TV like this, with the polar bear looking back at you every time you squeezed the trigger of your machine gun in the video game.

But I’m not a 9-year-old kid who likes cute and cuddly things. This $299 television has a 17-inch screen and it can display 720p digital TV. It’s available this March for anybody who has a streak of silliness in them. And if this one doesn’t float your boat, you can also get an apple-shaped TV as well.

I’m sure the folks at Roku, the set-top box maker, think the next one is a loser too. The Popbox competes with Roku’s offering and delivers just about everything to your TV. It’s one of those boxes that can play just about any type of video or display different kinds of photos. And it organizes a lot of things on a TV screen that you would normally view on the web, from Netflix to Twitter.

You can use it to view apps such as Photobucket, Shoutcast, Revision3, Channels.com, Fun Spot Games and lots of other stuff. It will be available in March for $129 or $149 for a version with built-in Wi-Fi. You can use it for movies, music, games, social networking and news. Put this one in the winner camp, but I’m sure there are going to be a lot of other services just like it.

Inada has been coming to CES Unveiled for years with massage chairs that seem like they’re from science fiction. This year, they have the Doctor’s Choice by Inada chair, wihch the company says “fits the human form like a glove.” It’s designed to give you posture correction benefits. It wraps around you and gives you 800 square inches of massage coverage and customizes to 106 body types. Of course, the price tag is crazy at $5,799. But the company kindly points out that if you use it for more than 10,000 massages, which would cost about 58 cents per massage. Uh, I can’t say this one is a winner for that many people.

iGo showed up with a bunch of products that are aimed at saving energy. The iGo Power Smart Tower has eight outlets so that you can charge eight different devices at the same time. Since it has iGo Green Technology, it will charge a device until it is fully charged and then won’t consume any energy after that. It is available now at $79.99. Other products include the iGo Green Laptop Anywhere Charger ($129) and the iGo Power Smart Wall ($29.99). All of the devices are aimed at eliminating energy vampires that suck electricity even when they’re done charging. It’s a winner, but it competes with other rivals such as Green Plug.

PicoChip makes flexible wireless chips that can be the heart of a femtocell access point. These are cool devices that you put into your home or any weak spot for cellular reception. They essentially serve as small, self-configuring cellular basestations. They can give you perfect voice reception in a place where you normally don’t get good coverage, like indoors. It’s already being used by 17 customers such as Alcatel Lucent and Sagem who are selling the boxes. The chip maker, PicoChip, is venture-backed and is contemplating an initial public offering. Consider it a winner.

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Eco Factor: Multi-purpose device runs on solar energy.

Eton radios are known to be cool and ecofriendly. However, unlike previous models, the company’s latest Scorpion radio is different – it doesn’t rely on electricity from the wall socket neither does it trusts a hand crank, but it does in fact rely on the most abundant source of renewable energy: the sun.

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