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Welcome to our newest Monday feature — Android Ecosystem!

We’ve provided a lot of coverage of the HTC Sense interface on Android phones, as it is very well done; what we’ve been wondering is how the next version of Sense will look, since HTC is going to update it to work with Android 2.x. Well, a video of the new version has appeared, and it looks pretty slick. The program icons now have a translucent background, and it has an updated look overall. I’m not sure I like that new unlock screen, as it doesn’t seem to indicate which home screen is active, but that may just be me.

T-Mobile G1 owners may be chowing down on some tasty Eclair next year, if this rumor pans out. It is reported that Android 2.x, aka Eclair, will be doled out to the G1 early next year. It wasn’t clear if the older G1 could handle the next version of Android, but apparently it can. Android 2.x brings a lot of new features, such as multiple email account support. It is also compatible with all the features of Google Maps Navigation.

HTC Sense is a distinctive interface, largely due to the attractive widgets that HTC employs. Copying may be the sincerest form of flattery, but HTC is having none of it. The company has issued a cease-and-desist order to LevelUp Studio, a developer that produces the Beautiful Widgets for Android. LevelUp has taken the offending widgets off the market.

Filed under: Sedan, Plants/Manufacturing, Buick, Saab, Rumormill

In a rumor sure to irk many Saab faithful, Dagens Industri in Sweden is reporting that “sources within Saab Automobile are stating that GM now sees positive opportunities in a closing of Saab.” Ouch, that hurts in an insult-to-injury kind of way, dontcha think?

Specifically, General Motors is said to be considering taking the recently competed but not-yet-on-sale 2010 Saab 9-5 and resuscitating it as a Buick for America. If true, the move does make a bit of sense as the car is by all measures ready to go and it would be quite a waste to put it out to pasture before it ever sees the light of day – especially if the car is anywhere near as good as early reports suggest.

Further, the going speculation is that The General could raid Saab’s parts and technology bins for more future products, including a possible revival of the large Opel Senator for Europe. If this rumor proves accurate, it would appear that there may not be much hope left for a Saab purchase by Dutch automaker Spyker as indications are that GM is telling suppliers that it is estimating a five-year wind-down of the brand.

[Source: DN.se via Saabs United]

If Saab closes, will the new 9-5 live on wearing a Buick badge? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I received an unusual email from, of all people, the Nobel Prize website editor! He was notifying me that the Nobel Prize folks have started a new series of videos where people get a chance to ask questions of Nobel laureates, who will then answer them on YouTube. Pretty cool, and something I heartily approve of. I love it when people get more contact with scientists, especially ones who are doing research that qualifies them for the Nobel!

They started the series off with astronomer John Mather, the Principal Investigator for the James Webb Space Telescope, who won the prize for his work with COBE, the Cosmic Background Explorer. I worked on that project very briefly, and over the next few years had the pleasure of working with John, who is just about as nice as he can be.

Here’s an example of one of the questions — what happened before the Big Bang — with John’s answer:

There are quite a few more, too. If you have an account on YouTube, you can subscribe to the Nobel channel and find out when they will do the next laureate Q&A, too. Very cool.

By John Keilman, Chicago Tribune

Seven years ago, animal lover Jennifer Pitek took note of the holiday food drives on the Harper College campus in Palatine and asked herself, “Why not something for pets?”

She set out a box and asked for donations.

“I knew there was a great need for shelter and food,” she said. “I thought I would try it, and it’s been successful.”

Today, Pitek, a secretary in Harper’s Center for New Students, collects food, toys, treats, leashes and bedding for dogs and cats each year.

The need appears to be spiking in the weak economy. Kibble Korner, a Rockford-based pet food pantry, helps 300 households.

“We have a lot of people unemployed, and the pantry as a whole has a greet need,” said Melissa Seeling, the pantry’s founder. “What we’re finding is that animals are being returned to shelters because families can’t afford to feed them, or because they lost their home to a foreclosure and have to move into an apartment.”

The other half of the college’s donations will go downstate to Perry County, where high unemployment has also imperiled many animals.

In a debate on oil consumption, energy experts Dr. Richard Pike and Dr. Robert Hirsch trade ideas over when demand for oil will peak. The scary numbers: oil demand will be 37% over 2006 levels by 2030 and the amount of available oil will begin its decline in 2020.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Why CERA Thinks Peak Oil Is Total BS
• Peak Oil Is Real, Says The EIA
• Did Rock Music Predict Peak US Oil Production?

HECUA seeks a highly motivated and organized Office & Program Assistant. This is an entry-level position that combines office and program support. This is an excellent opportunity to learn how a small nonprofit functions and to gain communications, administrative, and organizational skills. This position is based in HECUA’s central office located in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The successful applicant will utilize his/her skill set in many areas:

• Office Support – Serve as primary receptionist; assist with data entry, file updates, recording meeting minutes, and daily mail preparation and distribution. Other projects to include logistical support to Executive Director and mailing fulfillment.
• Program Support – Provide general logistical and administrative support for HECUA’s Director of Programs across a range of programs, committees, and projects. Duties will include coordinating the logistics of student and faculty contract programs and committees, documenting the work or teaching faculty and staff, documenting credit relationships between HECUA and higher ed institutions, managing end-of-program evaluation compilation, and library/resource management.

HECUA is an organization of 18 liberal arts colleges, universities and associations dedicated to education for social justice. Together we shape academically rigorous, study-abroad and off-campus study programs that address the most pressing issues in our neighborhoods, nations and world. This unique educational collaboration engages students, faculty and community members in learning that generates knowledge and tools for social transformation and community building. Our international program sites are in Bangladesh, Ecuador, Northern Ireland and Norway. Programs based in Minnesota focus on issues of poverty and inequality; writing, art and social change; and environmental sustainability. For more information about HECUA, visit the Web site at www.hecua.org.

Qualifications: Required: B.A., strong attention to detail, data entry experience, communication & organizational skills, initiative, and the ability to work on with multiple project supervisors/teams and independently. Strong proficiency in Microsoft Word and Excel.
Preferred: Familiarity with HECUA, experiential education, higher education, and/or nonprofits. Proficiency in web-based applications (Moodle & Salesforce). Familiarity and interest in social justice pedagogy. Interest in higher ed curricula, policy, academic department structures, HECUA programs, and issues related to them.

Terms: This is part-time ongoing. Approx. 20 hours/week. $12.15/hour with full benefits. We offer a flexible schedule, stimulating work environment and opportunity for growth in responsibilities. Will require attendance at monthly staff meeting and some evening hours monthly Sept – May.

To Apply: Send cover letter of interest with résumé. Application deadline is January 27, 2010. Send print materials via USPS to:
HECUA Search Committee – Office & Program Assistant
2233 University Ave W, Suite 210
Saint Paul, MN 55114
Direct questions (no applications please) to: search {at} hecua(.)org. No phone calls, please.

The posting and job description are available at: http://www.hecua.org/jobs.php

HECUA is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Candidates of color are encouraged to apply.

App downloads on the iPhone and iPod Touch saw a huge spike this Christmas, especially on the Touch. I know I downloaded more games this weekend than I’ve ever used in my life, just to entertain kids I was visiting.

With all this app downloading going on, though, which apps will prove to have staying power? What can you download today and expect to keep using throughout the next year? Below is my collection of the downloaded apps I used the most in 2009. I’d love to compare lists, so let me know in comments about any hidden gems that you’ve come back to again and again throughout the year.

Sponsor

See also: The Favorite iPhone Apps of Five Geek Rock Stars

Those are the apps I kept coming back to all year, what about you?

The app sharing widget above is from AppsFire, my favorite way to share single or groups of apps with other people by widget or email, and one of 5 app recommendation services we compared feature-by-feature last month.

While we all appreciate the vividness of AMOLED screens, the displays have always come with a caveat – poor visibility in direct sunlight.

Apparently with today’s brighter displays this is no longer an issue, with the Samsung Omnia 2’s AMOLED display besting the transflective LED on the Nokia N900.

With this major disadvantage overcome there is no longer any reason why OLED can not be considered the superior display technology, with its lower power requirements, move vivid colours, deeper blacks and better display angles.

Read more at OLED-Info.

Via Pocketnow.com

Last week, Honda unveiled its HSV-10 GT Super GT race car, a model which is based on the Acura / Honda NSX that we’ll never get to see on the roads. The front-engined HSV-10 GT is powered by a 3.4L V8 making more than 500-hp mated to a Ricardo sequential gearbox.

The HSV-10 GT was recently spotted at the Suzuka Circuit ahead of its first race scheduled for May.

Of course after seeing these pics and videos (posted after the jump) we’re left craving a road-going version.

Click through for the videos and the high-res image gallery.

Honda HSV-10 GT:

Honda HSV-10 GT:

– By: Omar Rana

Source: Temple of VTEC (via AutoBlog)

The Smartphone Round Robin rambles into week three – and this week I’m taking a look at the BlackBerry platform. RIM has recovered from the original Storm (which we luckily didn’t need to review last year) and brought the Storm 2, which seems legitimately decent. The Bold 9700 is also in the house, which to mind is the pinnacle of BlackBerrys today.

I’m seeking help from the good people at CrackBerry.com, so keep an eye on the conversation there. Also keep an eye on our own forums for a post from CrackBerry Kevin, who has webOS this week.

After the break, my hands-on video with BlackBerry!

read more

What with crooks who post status updates while on the lam and snap self-portraits with stolen iPhones, it seems incompetent criminals find technology irresistible. Our latest tale of blundering criminality involves a Bronx man who is quite adept at stealing electronics, but a bit confused about how they work, according to the New York Post:

Jeremiah Gilliam, 22, was caught after playing a stolen game console online — allowing cops in Pelham, where it was stolen, to trace the IP address to his grandmother’s address, cops said.

There, detectives found dozens of video games, laptops, and GPS devices believed to have been stolen from as many as 200 car break-ins and several home burglaries in Westchester County.

While Jeremiah was online gaming away with a stolen Xbox, the console’s owner, a kid, noticed his system was online while playing on another Xbox. He told his parents, who then called the police.

Related Content:
Discoblog: A New Facebook Game: Taunting the Cops When They Can’t Catch You
Discoblog: iPhone Thievery 101: Don’t Send Pics of Yourself to the Rightful Owner
Discoblog: Stole a Piece of the Internets? Prepare to Be Arrested.

Image: flickr / benjamin-nagel

In a somewhat odd interview at Barron’s, hedge fund managers Kevin Duffy and Bill Laggner of Dallas-based hedge fund Bearing Asset Management lay out their view on what they’re shorting and going long.

What’s strange is that the fund is super tiny —  just $60 million under management. But they’ve done well, so for now they get to be experts.

Two years ago, they were shorting Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, money-center banks and brokers, builders, mortgage insurers, etc. Here’s what Duffy and Laggner are thinking today.

Bearing is long on:

• gold (they think it could rise in value to as much as four times the S&P 500)
• consumer staples, discount retailers and pharmaceuticals

Bearing is short on:

• S&P 500
• Japanese and U.S. government long-term bonds (“heavily short”)
• Goldman Sachs

Why short Goldman? “We’re essentially short the political economy, and the most politically connected firm is Goldman Sachs.”

At the heart of our instability, they say, is fractional-reserve banking. They say the government has essentially socialized risk and prevented the bank run, which used to impose discipline on an unstable system.

Read the full interview with Duffy and Laggner at Barrons — >

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Analyst Estimates Shoot The Moon For 2010
• JPMorgan: Short The Dollar, Buy AAA CMBS, And Go Long Emerging Market Credit In 2010
• Morgan Stanley: These 10 Trades Will Make You Rich In 2010

Filed under: Etc., Europe, Videos, Alfa Romeo

Years ago, we read a book by Jerry Mander called Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television. While we can’t remember the four arguments, we’ll never forget one point Mr. Mander made. “People in advertising are either good at controlling peoples’ minds, or they enjoy it.” With that said, it looks like Alfa Romeo hired a bunch of people that enjoy controlling folks’ minds, but aren’t very good at it.

What are we talking about? Alfa is selling its sexy little 147 for less than €15,000 (circa $21,600 USD) with a tagline, “We Couldn’t Go Any Lower.” To prove that mantra, they decided to go ahead and lower a billboard more than 36,000 feet down into the Marinas Trench. If you don’t know, the Marianas Trench is the absolute lowest point on earth, more than seven miles below sea level (actual depth is 11,034 meters, or 36,200 feet). And Alfa Romeo just dropped a billboard into it.

We don’t know about you, but we had a pretty visceral reaction to this video. From the self-satisfied, spiky-haired, twenty-something Euro-boy ad men to the fact that they actually went ahead and stuck a billboard in the Marianas Trench, the whole thing feels wrong and sits wrong with us. It would be like placing a Big Mac ad on top of Mount Everest, or advertising Quarter Pounders atop Angel Falls. Of course, there is the chance that either A) The whole campaign is a well staged hoax – although they’ve gone to the trouble of building a whole website to chronicle the process B) They raised the billboard up after filming the video. But still… bad taste… or is that just us? Make the jump to watch the video, decide for yourself, and then drop us your thoughts in Comments. Hat tip to Oliver!

[Source: YouTube via Expedition 147]

Continue reading VIDEO: Alfa Romeo proves that no place is safe from billboards – not even Marianas Trench

VIDEO: Alfa Romeo proves that no place is safe from billboards – not even Marianas Trench originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 28 Dec 2009 12:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s too early to tell how many iPhones were unwrapped Christmas morning, but early predictions are guessing that the newly pumped up userbase will drive record sales of iPhone games during the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Release.

The report was released by PlayHaven, which helps drive game referrals via social networks, and Mobclix, a mobile ad exchange. The study looked at historical app download data from Mobclix and and projections on how many iPhones were sold during the year. The companies predict that game downloads may soar to levels 28 times greater than the same weekly period last year (although they did not provide totals for either period). PlayHaven’s CEO Raymond Lau: “The week between Christmas and New Years has become the great ‘Game Rush’ for iPhone games—essentially what Black Friday is to brick and mortar retailers. UPDATE: According to Flurry, a mobile app analytics company, iPod Touch download volume jumped almost 1,000 percent on Christmas Day, and overall, the App Store saw a 51 percent increase in downloads from November to December. Furthermore, the Android Market saw a nice 20% bump in app sales as well, sparked primarily by an uptick in downloads from the Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Droid, reports MobileCrunch.

While the study is very vague, you can see how downloads will jump for all application categories, as new users download their initial apps, and other more established users may look for something to kill time with, or cash in on iTunes gift cards.

Related

• Can Playhaven Turn Promoting iPhone Games—And Developers—Into A Viable Business?

We knew it was coming soon, and after perusing through Sprint’s support website for the Palm Pre, it appears that today (December 28th) is the official release date.  According to the website, webOS 1.3.5 will offer the following:

• Improvement in battery life optimization when in marginal coverage areas.
• QCELP capability fix to allow play and audio of video sent via MMS.
• Launch Google Maps or Sprint Nav when tapping an address from contacts.
• Minimized package of MR size through binary difference. Customers can now download over 2G connections if necessary.

Not as major as 1.3.1 or other versions of the past, but it’s nice to see Palm continue to address concerns.  Keep your fingers on the upgrade button, download it, and let us know what you think!

Via: BGR

FCC broadband advisor Blair Levin tells B&C that he does not think any of the commission’s plans for spectrum reclamation “threatens the future of over-the-air broadcasting.” But he also says that broadcasters own actions and revenue streams do not support retaining all of their spectrum all of the time. 

Levin’s team has been working over the holidays as they bear down on a Feb. 17 deadline for getting the national broadband plan to Congress, a deadline Levin tells B&C they will meet, if not beat.

He says broadcasters need to be thinking about how to work with the FCC to help resolve the looming spectrum crisis, and calls “quite extraordinary” some broadcasters suggestion there is no looming crisis. Though he concedes the crisis is not yet upon us, he also suggests that the time to fix the roof is when the sun is still shining. Full interview on B&C.

Also, Levin did an interview with C-Span last week, on similar issues, and the video is embedded below: