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Philips line of notebook accessories include notebook sleeves, a Notebook Cushion Speaker, several models of USB speakers, a Bluetooth- enabled mouse that can be used without a surface, a webcam with cable management and direct YouTube upload. The notebook sleeve consists of  a soft cushion for your lap with a stable hard top that allows you to use the sleeve as a tray. The extra Heat Protect layer prevents overheating by allowing good air flow and also stops your lap from getting too hot. A storage pocket and hidden handle makes it easy carry the sleeve and your accessories. For protection it is lined with a suede-like material and has a rounded, rubberized zip to help protect your notebook’s surface. Available in April 2010 for between $40-$50. Here is the rest of the line.

The Notebook Cushion Speaker has a flat top and built-in speakers for optimal sound quality.  The soft cushion not only makes things more comfortable for long usage, but also helps prevent over-heating of your lap. We all know what that feels like towards the end of watching a 2 hour movie or a long day of work on the laptop. Available in April 2010 for $80.

Sometimes laptop speakers just don’t cut it for listening to music.  The portable Notebook SoundBar is and easy to use accessory with a single USB cable that can either be clipped to the top of your notebook screen or free standing.  The cable neatly wraps around the SoundBar for storage and it comes with a carrying pouch, making it easy to slip into your your pocket! The Philips Notebook USB Speakers are compact, with low power consumption, simple USB plug and cable management, and are perfect for boosting your bass. Soundbar available in April 2010 for $49.99 and the Notebook USB Speakers $24.99

Notebook Bluetooth Mouse has 360 TouchControl. A flat surface is not necessary for this mouse, you can navigate comfortably wherever you are.  The touch sensor gives you the freedom to move in all directions, and it comes with an integrated USB cable for battery recharging.

The Philips Notebook Presenter will make professional presentations easy as cake. Wireless, intuitive and featuring gestural control, this presenter is not only a laser point to guide the audience through your charts, but it works like a mouse in the air. Easy to use with well-designed buttons, just switch to mouse mode and you can control all your files on the projector without going back to your notebook. This intuitive control works with MAC and PC, and no software is needed- you just plug in the nano dongle and you’re ready to go. Available in April 2010 for$89.99. For more information on all the products visit Philips.

Two of the FEMA Mitigation Directorate’s maps, entitled “Sugar House Earthquake Mitigation Return-On-Investment” and “ShakeMap-Based HAZUS-MH Loss Estimation Maps,” have been selected for publication in the 2010 ESRI Map Book, Volume 25. This book will be released in July at the 2010 ESRI International User Conference in San Diego, California.

The poster “Sugar House Earthquake Mitigation Return-On-Investment” shows how HAZUS’ Advanced Engineering Building Module (AEBM) was used to perform a Level 3 analysis of the Sugar House parcels and incorporate a building’s structural components and reaction to strong ground motion. This information helps legislators discover how research at the University of Utah can benefit the community and state, and the public understand the magnitude of losses expected in a major earthquake along the Wasatch fault and implement legislation to promote earthquake mitigation.

For the poster “ShakeMap-Based HAZUS-MH Loss Estimation Maps,” HAZUS’ ShakeMaps is used to determine the ground-shaking intensity in an area to facilitate effective emergency response in the event of a catastrophic earthquake. The addition of preliminary loss estimates will allow emergency personnel to respond more appropriately to the areas of immediate need.

Published annually since 1984, the ESRI Map Book series is dedicated to acknowledging the important and innovative accomplishments of Geographic Information System (GIS) users around the world. Each volume of the ESRI Map Book showcases a small portion of the work presented at the Map Gallery exhibition at the annual ESRI International User Conference.

The Map Book will be distributed at ESRI’s Annual International User Conference held July 12-16, 2010 to attendees and before it becomes available for order. This is an excellent means for FEMA to communicate to a diverse population about our mitigation tools.

The 2010 ESRI International User Conference (ESRI UC), the world’s largest event dedicated to geographic information system (GIS) technology. This conference is where GIS users come together to learn, collaborate, and get updated on the latest in geospatial technology. With approximately 300 technical workshops, 600 user presentations, and 100 special interest, regional, and user group meetings, participants have a wealth of opportunities to become more knowledgeable about GIS and strengthen their skills as GIS users. Over 12,500 attendees were at the 2009 ESRI UC.

With the North American International Auto Show starting in Detroit next week, the editors at Cars.com took a look at 10 current or planned new car introductions they believe can help turn the Big Three around in 2010 and beyond.

“Despite the poor shape of the domestic auto industry, we do see some signs of hope from the Big Three,” said Cars.com Editor in Chief Patrick Olsen.

“A string of model introductions and redesigns could bring them back to solvency and beyond if done well — or mean disaster if they don’t win over consumers.”

Here’s a look, automaker by automaker, at the cars to watch from the Big Three.

Ford Motor Co.

Ford Fiesta: A feisty import from Europe could erase memories of the last U.S. version of the Fiesta. If you’re old enough to remember it, you might recall an econobox with a festive name, but poor reliability.

Ford’s new version claims to get around 40 mpg, and the Euro version that we drove has a great interior to boot. Its price starts just north of $13,000, which sure helps in the current economy; it could build a new generation of Ford fans from teens and 20-somethings.

Ford Taurus: While the Fiesta could make a big splash with its quality and high mileage, in reality, Ford needs a car like this to appeal to Baby Boomers looking to downgrade from expensive luxury makers and still generate profits.

The Fiesta’s dirt cheap price likely means a narrower profit margin. The Taurus, though, has a name with equity and enough extra features that could make it a big moneymaker for Ford.

Despite its sharp looks, the Taurus’ cramped cockpit may put off some family shoppers, although Ford’s ridiculously powerful EcoBoost engine could make dads overlook the tight fit.

Boomers will appreciate the huge trunk that can store more golf bags than the car can carry passengers. Could the Taurus be the once and maybe future king of sedans? Ford sure hopes so.

Ford Explorer: Speaking of nameplate equity, the Explorer practically invented and owned the SUV segment during the 1990s.

It’s moving to a unibody platform, which should help it drive more like a car and get more carlike mileage.

Although the SUV category has slumped, a new Explorer could help cement Ford in the family car business, where it has seen modest success with the Flex and the Edge. It’ll go head-to-head with Jeep’s revamped Grand Cherokee.

What’s Missing: Ford hasn’t given the Escape compact SUV a full redesign since it debuted in 2000, and it doesn’t hold up well to new entries like the Hyundai Tucson and Chevy Equinox.

Yet it’s one of the best-selling vehicles in the country. Ford better not drop the ball on this like it did with the Taurus two generations ago.

Chrysler

Jeep Grand Cherokee: Chrysler is wise to kick off its rebirth with a unibody family hauler that has an advanced off-road system to satisfy the broadest swath of consumers.

But given its recent history, the Cherokee’s mileage is likely to lag its competitors despite an estimated 11 percent gain in mileage — and Chrysler desperately needs to solve the reliability problem that has dogged the Grand Cherokee for years. Still, the Cherokee is one of only two new models for Chrysler next year.

It needs to sell well to help get Chrysler to the rest of its recovery plan. However, even well-executed redesigns or new models like the Nissan Murano and Ford Edge have not been huge successes.

Fiat 500: Chrysler today doesn’t have a single model that gets better than 31 mpg; will this small car, already popular in Europe, give the company enough cache to get young buyers into the shop?

Once there, will those shoppers even look at anything else on the showroom floor?

The company plans to start selling the 500 in January 2011 at “salons” in select urban dealerships. While it could become as successful as the Mini Cooper, that level of sales volume won’t be enough to help Chrysler pay off its government debt, much less reach profitability.

Chrysler 300: Whereas the Fiat 500 might not pave the road to cash flow, the 300 may.

This style-centric rear-wheel-drive sedan helped revive Chrysler in the early 2000s, and it’s getting a redesign for the 2011 model year. Like the Taurus for Ford, the 300 could provide plenty of profit margin, along with a huge cabin.

Mileage could be a concern, but with an improved interior expected and lots of space, the 300 could win back fans of flashy looks while the masses focus on value.

What’s Missing: The Fiat 500 may make a splash in the subcompact market, but Chrysler needs a successful compact car that the Dodge Caliber never was. The company also can’t figure out the vital compact SUV market with various entries that are either too small – Jeep Patriot – or too big — Dodge Nitro.

General Motors

Chevy Equinox/Traverse: These are two cars masquerading as one entry on our list, but these models are already in production, have sold well and made the brand a true innovative player in the family car market.

The Traverse is now the top large crossover, beating out Toyota’s Highlander and Honda’s Pilot for a few months now. The Equinox has a top-class cabin and class-leading gas mileage.

Chevy Cruze: Like Ford with the Fiesta, the Cruze is GM’s effort to get a 40-mpg small car on the market. Although the Cruze is more a competitor for Toyota’s Corolla or the Honda Civic, where the Fiesta goes up against the subcompact Toyota Yaris and the Honda Fit, among others.

For GM, there’s a PR move behind this car as well. Now owned in part by U.S. taxpayers, GM sees the Cruze as a shot at making its case that they can build a desirable, fuel-efficient car, proving that the federal bailout was worth the money and effort.

The company’s current compact, the Cobalt, has the best fuel mileage in the class and has not been a success.

Chevy Volt: A lot rests on the Volt. Could the electric-gas hybrid be GM’s opening shot in the electric-car wars, or will it be outmoded the moment it arrives?

It’s reasonable to ask why consumers would pay upward of $40,000 for a car that gets great mileage when they can buy another car that gets great mileage for closer to $20,000, say the Toyota Prius or Honda Insight.

Of course, there’s a halo effect that GM will expect from having the Volt in its lineup, and federal tax credits should chop a hefty $7,500 off the Volt’s MSRP. The next question for GM: How long till your plug-ins make it to market?

What’s Missing: There are plans for a new Chevy Aveo subcompact, but the current generation shouldn’t even be in the consideration set of shoppers who can pick up a new Toyota Yaris or Nissan Versa. Chevy needs to get a new Aveo on the market quickly or lose domestic shoppers to Ford’s Fiesta.

About Cars.com

Cars.com is the leading destination for online car shoppers, offering credible, easy-to-understand information from consumers and experts to help buyers formulate opinions on what to buy, where to buy and how much to pay for a car.

With comprehensive pricing information, side-by-side comparison tools, photo galleries, videos, unbiased editorial content and a large selection of new- and used-car inventory, Cars.com puts millions of car buyers in control of their shopping process with the information they need to make confident buying decisions.

Launched in June 1998, Cars.com is a division of Classified Ventures, LLC, which is owned by leading media companies, including Belo (NYSE: BLC), Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI), Tribune Company and The Washington Post Company ( WPO).

O trailer do filme A-Team (Esquadrão Classe A) foi acidentalmente espalhado na Internet, podem ver aqui um pouco daquilo que o filme promete.

WebTuga – Trailer do filme “A-Team”

A Peugeot revelou recentemente o seu mais novo protótipo que de acordo com a empresa fará muito sucesso na Europa.

O novo modelo traz o sistema Hibrido até então desconhecido denominado “HYbrid4″ alem de um logotipo novo. Esse sistema consiste em um motor a gasolina que movimenta as rodas dianteira alimentando um motor de quatro cilindros elétrico ligado as rodas traseiras desenvolvendo assim 313 cavalos de potencia.

Esse sistema deixa o veiculo menos poluente gerando apenas 119 gramas de CO2 o que é pouco comparado a potencia do motor.

No interior do conceito Peugeot SR1 cabem 3 pessoas grandes afirma a fabricante isso graças ao sistema de deslizamento dos bancos dianteiros que podem deslizar em direção ao painel frontal dando assim acesso ao banco traseiro.

De acordo com informações da Peugeot esse protótipo dará os dados necessários para o desenvolvimento dos novos modelos Peugeot 408 e 208.

Há quem arrisque um palpite de que o conceito Peugeot SR1 será o próximo 408 Coupé porem isso não foi confirmado tendo em vista que o modelo apresentado exibe um design muito futurista.

Peugeot SR1

Fonte: MotorSpain

The front page is one of the best ways keep on top of the latest Palm related news and the forums are one of the best places to talk about such things with your fellow enthusiasts.  The PreCentral forums are a bustling place indeed, and you can find many topics being discussed there, from the latest rumors to the latest hacks and the greatest apps.  Here’s some of the what’s being discussed, in the forums:

• Sprint users: feeling sore that Verizon getting the Pre and Pixi plus only 7 short months after the initial launch of the Pre?  Join others in the conversation here.
• The forums are alight with CES talk, and folks are pouring over the coverage of Palm’s presentation yesterday.  There’s discussion of the upcoming features we’ll see in webOS 1.4, and since CES is far from being over, there’s talk of what else might come the way of webOS during the course of the trade show.
• People are getting creative with accessories, and enterprising individuals are talking about the best way to integrate their touchstone charges into the dashboard of their vehicles.
• For those GSM bound Pre users among you, don’t fret – there’s a forum for that.
• Leathal over in the webOS Development forum has posted a handy guide that’ll help you get your tether on.
• The developers of some of your favorite programs maintain a sub forum in our webOS Developer forums – hit ‘em up and give ‘em some love and feedback.  You can find the likes of Keen Studios (Checkers Pro), Canuck Software (webOS Quick Install) , webOS Internals (Preware), and many more who are eager to hear from you.

We’ll see you in the forums!

Hearst is showing the Skiff e-reader at CES this week, but the company also just announced a deal with Format Dynamics that focuses on a very different aspect of the online content business: printing hard copies of websites. Printing from most websites tends to result in wasting lots of paper on printing empty pages. Often, the layout of the site also doesn’t look quite right on the printed page. Format Dynamics works with publishers to create printed pages that are professionally formatted – and in the process, the company also adds advertising to those pages.

Sponsor

Hearst is rolling out Format Dynamics CleanPrint technology on GoodHousekeeping.com now, and plans a larger roll-out later this year on its other sites like Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar, Redbook, Popular Mechanics and Seventeen. Some of the larger websites that already use Format Dynamic’s technology include the Denver Post, Politico, CNN Money, Slate and the Wall Street Journal.

Format Dynamics takes a publisher’s HTML code and reformats it into a multi-column layout. The service then adds advertising to these printouts based on criteria set by both the advertiser and the publisher. Advertisers are charged per printed ad.

Catering to Big Publishers for Now – Self-Serve Services Coming in the Future

For the time being, Format Dynamics is only working with larger publishers, but the company’s CEO Ethan Holien told us that a self-serve product for small publishers is also on the company’s roadmap.

Question: Do People Still Print?

We couldn’t help but wonder how many people actually still print anything from a website. According to Holien, this number is higher than most people expect. He couldn’t disclose the exact data – though the company does offer detailed statistics to its customers. The only statistic we were able to get was that for a typical news site, about 0.5% of all visitors print out news reports. According to Holien, for other types of content, this number can often be much higher and given the content on GoodHousekeeping.com, Hearst will likely see printout rates higher than 0.5%.
Discuss

We’re big fans of the idea of external keyboards for the iPhone around these parts, so I more than get where ION’s going with the nearly full-sized keyboard accessory they just launched. Unfortunately, decisions on Apple’s part keep the idea from really being worthwhile.

You see, limitations of the iPhone platform prevent accessories like this from being able to input keystrokes to any and all applications. As a result, ION’s new keyboard can only type into its own companion app, from which you can then take the text and push it into an email or copy it to your clipboard for use in any other app. It’s by no means the optimal execution, but it’s about as good as it gets until Apple gets around to supporting proper text-input.

No official word yet on pricing, but we’ve heard rumblings that they’re aiming for around $100 bucks.

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

A number of smartbooks are floating around CES, and after spending much of the day looking at them, talking about them, and using them, several things are clear. Vendors are eager to exploit the power of ARM chips and Linux to deliver great devices with novel features and long battery life at low cost, and they’re succeeding. But their success will depend on raising the level of polish and the smoothness of the user experience, something that’s lacking in the models on display here at CES.

Lenovo Skylight

The most-awaited smartbook here is the Lenovo Skylight, which uses Qualcomm’s celebrated Snapdragon ARM chip and runs a custom version of Linux. It’s got a 9″ 720p screen, advertises ten hours of battery life with the 3G running, which is likely, even accounting for exaggeration, to exceed current Atom netbooks by a wide margin. It will sell for $500 before contract, and is virtually certain to be carrier-subsidized by AT&T, the launch carrier.

Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]

Article

Teva’s CEO said yesterday he expects his company’s revenues to double to $31 billion by 2015. The market apparently believed him: The company’s shares were up more than 3% in U.S. trading this afternoon, to a 52-week high.

Teva’s growth is the latest reminder of the way generic drugs and the companies that make them are changing the global pharma landscape. It’s no longer correct to think of generics manufacturers as scrappy little competitors nipping at the heels of big pharma.

Teva’s market cap is around $50 billion — bigger than Eli Lilly’s and comparable to Bristol-Myers Squibb’s. (Of course, Teva trades at a much higher multiple than either Bristol or Lilly.)

It’s not even right to think of Teva as a pure-play generics shop; a big chunk of its revenue comes from the patented multiple-sclerosis drug Copaxone, and the company plans to keep a sales mix of 70% generics and 30% branded drugs, Dow Jones Newswires reports. Other big generics companies are also working on branded drugs; Dr. Reddy’s of India said this week that an experimental diabetes drug it’s working on with a European partner reduced blood-sugar levels in a late-stage trial.

At the same time, branded drug makers are moving further into the generics business. Pfizer made a deal this week that adds to the list of off-patent drugs it’s selling in the U.S. GlaxoSmithKline has cut its own generics deals, Sanofi-Aventis has bought some generics makers outright and Merck recently set up a unit to sell generic copies of biotech drugs.

PPCGeeks member and LG eXpo owner junkyard12320 has managed to hack together a video out cable for the LG eXpo.  Unfortunately he did not include instructions on this feat, so Junkyard, if you are out there, why not pop over and give us the blow by blow.

Via Youtube.com

Do you have bags under your eyes? Do you have excess skin that hangs down from the upper eyelid, possibly even impairing your vision? Do you have Excess fatty deposits that make your upper eyelids look puffy? Do you have extra skin that causes wrinkles on your lower eyelids? If any of these questions apply to you then you could be a good candidate for Cosmetic Eyelid Surgery.

Blepharoplasty is a plastic surgery procedure that can be the solution to all of the questions above as well as improve the look of you eyelids and cause your facial expressions to look a lot more rested.

When deciding whether or not to get this procedure done, it is very important to learn as much as you can about it, so you can know if the procedure is right for you. For anyone looking to learn more about this procedure here is a page that I found very useful in making the decision to have Blepharoplasty.

Using a cloud computing service may sound enticing, but you better consider how that data can be moved around if you want to switch to a different provider.

It’s a big problem that now has the attention of Vint Cerf, who is calling for standards to define how customer data gets passed between different cloud service providers.

Cerf, Google’s chief Internet evangelist, is one of those legends of the tech world, up there with people like Steve Wozniak. He is one of the co-designers of the TC/IP protocol. He is one of those few who had this idea way back when of hooking computers together to create a network. Today we call that network the Internet.

Sponsor

So you listen when Cerf gets up to speak and says that it’s like 1973 out there when it comes to cloud computing data portability.

According to InfoWorld, Cerf said major cloud service providers like Amazon, Google and IBM have no real form of interoperability. Cerf spoke Thursday night at the Churchill Club in Menlo Park, Ca.

“We don’t have any inter-cloud standards,” Cerf said. “The current cloud situation is similar to the lack of communication and familiarity among computer networks in 1973.”

People will want to move data around. They may have multiple cloud service providers. They may want to use different cloud service providers as an interconnected network. Moreso, customers will simply want to move data from Cloud A to Cloud B.

Cerf went on to say that the industry needs to develop protocols and standards to make this all happen. It’s important to note that Google, Cerf’s employer, obviously has a stake in how this all pans out.

We went to Aardvark to ask about this issue.

What can you do right now to avoid getting locked into one cloud service provider?

Marc Limotte, director of engineering at Feeva Technology, writes:

“The obvious problem is that the difficulty in switching limits consumer choice and therefore competition. You can’t “vote with your feet”, if you can’t walk away.

This is common in IT, though. It’s never been easy to switch from one enterprise package to another, or from one hosting facility to another.

The data isn’t even the worst of the problem. In most cases, you can at least get an extract (even if it is terabytes of data), and perform a load in to some other system. The more complex issue is when you architect your solution to take advantage of a vendor’s proprietary services (e.g. the data store in Google App Engine, or the Amazon’s SQS). Not that you shouldn’t use these features… they’re useful, just be aware that they start to limit your options is you want to someday move away from that platform.

My suggestion… make sure you know how to export your data. And try and use your own interfaces in front of custom services. that way if you want to move, you just have to write an adapter, and not a complete re-architecture.”

Discuss

CES, gadgets like this are why I love you. CES, gadgets like this are why I hate you.

The Ion iType keyboard is pretty self-explanatory, which means you already know if you think it’s a stupid idea, or a brilliant idea. If your’e conflicted, here’s a hint: it can be both.

The keyboard is limited to typing in one app, not because of some kind of engineering shortfall, but because that’s all that Apple allows—third-party apps or accessories can’t serve as text input devices, which is why dictation apps are all self-contained. Basically, you can export to email, save, or copy text in apps like that, and that’s exactly what you can do with the iType’s bundled app. Typing is fine, shift and caps lock keys behave as you’d expect, and although the text input isn’t totally instant, it’s very close. A battery is built in, which keeps the keyboard running and recharges your phone for a few hours.

It works, and its heart is in the right place, but that was never really the question. So, does it make sense? The iType, but a netbook. essentialy turns your iPod or iPhone into a netbook. A tiny, gimpy, flat, slow netbook. It’ll only be $70, so if you don’t have an iPod Touch, want a tiny-top for sofa browsing and are strapped for cash, then I guess you could buy one. It’d make a good icebreaker, too, as long as you don’t mind your new friend’s first words being “HAHAHAHAHA, LOOK AT THAT GUY”

You probably have a laptop already, and you should probably just use that. The iType should be available in Fall of this year.

Brunswick Corporation (NYSE: BC) will release its fourth quarter 2009 financial results on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010, before the market opens.

The company will hold a conference call at 10 a.m. CST that same day, hosted by Dustan E. McCoy, chairman and chief executive officer, Peter B. Hamilton, senior vice president and chief financial officer, and Bruce J. Byots, vice president – corporate and investor relations.

The call will be broadcast over the Internet at brunswick.com.

To listen to the call, go to the Web site at least 15 minutes before the call to register, download and install any needed audio software.

Security analysts and investors wishing to participate via telephone should call (866) 831-6224 (passcode: Brunswick Q4). Callers outside of North America should call (617) 213-8853 (passcode: Brunswick Q4) to be connected.

These numbers can be accessed 15 minutes before the call begins, as well as during the call. A replay of the conference call will be available through midnight CST Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010, by calling (888) 286-8010 or (617) 801-6888 (passcode: 87644274).

The replay also will be available at brunswick.com.

About Brunswick

Headquartered in Lake Forest, Ill., Brunswick Corporation endeavors to instill “Genuine Ingenuity”(TM) in all its leading consumer brands, including Mercury and Mariner outboard engines; Mercury MerCruiser sterndrives and inboard engines; MotorGuide trolling motors; Attwood marine parts and accessories; Land ‘N’ Sea, Kellogg Marine, Diversified Marine and Benrock parts and accessories distributors; Arvor, Bayliner, Bermuda, Boston Whaler, Cabo Yachts, Crestliner, Cypress Cay, Harris, Hatteras, Kayot, Lowe, Lund, Maxum, Meridian, Ornvik, Princecraft, Quicksilver, Rayglass, Sea Ray, Sealine, Triton, Trophy, Uttern and Valiant boats; Life Fitness and Hammer Strength fitness equipment; Brunswick bowling centers, equipment and consumer products; Brunswick billiards tables and foosball tables.

For more information, visit brunswick.com.