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Microsoft’s cloud container continues to evolve. The company has unveiled the next generation of its data center container at its Windows Professional Developers Conference, and it includes significant design advances over the existing containers deployed in Microsoft’s Chicago data center.

The 20-foot container on display at the PDC is an example of Microsoft’s Generation 4 Modular Data Center design, which abandons the raised-floor architecture that has been a staple of modern data center design in favor of a container-based model. Microsoft says the use of server-packed containers – known as Pre-Assembled Components (PACs) – will allow it to slash the cost of building its new data centers, which will have no roofs.

Optimized for Outdoors?
The Generation 4 container on display at PDC looks to be completely optimized for outdoor use, with a design that relies upon fresh air (”free cooling”) rather than air conditioning. While we’re not on-site at PDC and haven’t been able to inspect the container, it features louvers on the exterior of the container to draw fresh air into the cold aisle and expel hot air from the rear of the hot aisle.

UPDATE: Microsoft’s Bob Muglia has more on the design. “ Ambient air is drawn over a membrane onto which a small amount of water is released,” Muglia tells InformationWeek. “I think it’s two gallons an hour. The slow release of water drops the temperature of ambient air coming in through a system of louvers by 20 or 25 degrees and that’s sufficient to keep the servers cool enough. ”

Here’s a look at a video of the container shot by a PDC attendee:

The container features the branding for Windows Azure, Microsoft’s developer-focused cloud computing platform. Windows Azure will run at facilities in Chicago, San Antonio, Dublin, Amsterdam, Singapore and Hong Kong.

This is a departure from the current Microsoft container design, which features one container filled with IT gear and another holding the power and cooling infrastructure. Here’s a look at one of the double-decker data center containers currently in use at Microsoft’s  Chicago data center:

Microsoft’s $500 million Chicago facility uses a hybrid design built around data center containers. The lower level is a vast space with a high ceiling and diagonal parking spaces for the 40-foot container stacks.

The first phase of the 700,000 square foot facility can hold up to 56 containers, and a second phase (currently shell space) offers identical capacity. That gives the Chicago facility a total capacity of 112 containers holding 224,000 servers.

In laying out its Generation 4 design, Microsoft said its future data centers would require no water and have no roofs. The company says the new design may reduce capital investments by 20 to 40 percent by creating a “competitive and innovative supplier landscape.” It is also designed to accelerate Microsoft’s data center deployment process, shrinking the timeline from 18 months to as little as three to six months.

RELATED STORIES:

• Inside Microsoft’s Chicago Container Data Center
• Inside Microsoft’s Dublin Mega-Data Center
• Microsoft Goes All-In On Container Data Centers
• About Those Roofless Data Centers
• Microsoft Unveils Its Container-Powered Cloud
• Video: Microsoft’s CBlox Data Center Containers 

UPDATE: The Bold 9700 battery just died. The BlackBerry Cool official time is 19:22, exactly 29 hours. This is 29 hours while using the device heavily. Let’s see an iPhone do that!

UPDATE: 16:19 and 26 hours into the test, with 10% battery left. Part 2 of the test has sort of changed. It started off as a test of the music playback under more strenuous network conditions and has turned into a test of how long the battery will last under power user conditions. I’ve been playing music, tweeting, taking pics, using Google Maps, running several other apps simultaneously, making and taking calls and constantly pulling data from both Maps and Twitter. There was a break when I went to sleep but I left all the connections and apps running so it was still very much active.

UPDATE: 14:16, 24 hours into the test, and the battery is at 25%. Something I’ve noticed is that making calls depletes the battery much faster than anything else. I knew this intuitively but the test really made it obvious. Streaming music doesn’t seem to have much impact on battery life at all.

UPDATE: 10:40 went through the night and we’ve been back on WiFi, radio for a couple hours. At 30% and around 20 hours we’re definitely going a full day no problem.

UPDATE: It’s 02:29, 12 hours into the test. The batter reads 40% and I have been using a very decent amount of apps and data. Holding the BlackBerry Button, it shows the following apps: Messages, UberTwitter, Home Screen, BlackBerry Messenger, Media, Radio Companion, Setup Wizard (I switch devices a lot), Visual Voice Mail, Google Maps, Browser, Gmail and Phone. I’m going to give the updates a rest until around 8 AM.

UPDATE: It’s 23:11 and I have been out and about for the past 2 hours. During that time, I wasn’t listening to music but I was burning through data and the battery pretty fiercely. I was Tweeting pics, using Google Maps and calling friends. I’m not sure if this corrupts the test or anything, but I’m back at the office and on WiFi, streaming music on Bluetooth. At 55%, the battery is still going strong. We’re about 9 hours into the test.

UPDATE: 20:11 and the battery is at 65%. I’ve been using the device pretty intensely over the past 6 hours. On a normal day, I’ll probably use 20 minutes on headphones and the BlackBerry Media Gateway for 30 mins the odd time. So far, I’ve used about 5 hours of streaming Nobex on WiFi and Bluetooth, and another hour on radio and headphones.

UPDATE: The time is 18:14 and the status screen is telling me the battery is at 80%. By the looks of the meter, I would say it’s around 95%, but we’ll see. We are almost 4 hours on WiFi, taking in emails, BBM, and SMS, streaming music using Nobex and playing it via Bluetooth over the BlackBerry Media Gateway. Go baby go!

UPDATE: The time is 15:55, just over an hour into the test and the battery hasn’t budged, we’re still full bars. I’ve had a few BBM’s, and about 10 emails come in through WiFi, all the while streaming music using Nobex and playing it off the BlackBerry Media Gateway. Things might change if I leave the office and get off WiFi.

UPDATE: Okay we’re good to go. I have the Bold 9700, running all connections, using EDGE, roaming on the Rogers network and this bad boy is sucking in data like a Dyson vacuum. The time is 14:22 and we’re starting off on WiFi, at my office, listening to the Bold 9700 via Bluetooth on 7.1 surround sound. I know, it doesn’t make a difference that it’s 7.1 but it’s still cool. I also made sure to make the amplifier read Bold 9700. Oh yeah, and I’m running Nobex Radio Companion for the music because Pandora and Slacker figured out I’m Canadian. We’re full battery.

So it turns out the BlackBerry Bold 9700 can play music for up to 38 hours, as advertised (the BlackBerry Cool official time is just short of 39 hours).

It seems as though we tested the Bold 9700’s music playback in a similar way that RIM would test it. There might be a standard for such a test somewhere, and maybe the National Institute of Standards and Technology could comment.

Let’s get on to Part 2 because it’ll be much more interesting. Playing the Bold 9700 with the radio turned off is really throwing RIM a bone. It’s time to test the Bold 9700 under some decent Power User conditions. For Part 2 of “Stress Test: How long can the BlackBerry Bold 9700 play music?”, I’m going to use the device as a primary communication and music device. I think the following conditions would be cool:

• Radio On.
• WiFi On.
• American SIM and device roaming on Canadian Network.
• Streaming Slacker Radio during down time.
• Headphones On, Volume Full and Bass Boost On.
• When at office and home, connected via Bluetooth and playing to stereo (this is a personal shout-out to BlackBerry Cool Reader Caspan).
• Taking emails, calls and SMS.
• Taking advantage of GPS and maps when appropriate.
• I might even take a pic or two.

So take your guess, how long will the Bold 9700 play music under heavy usage conditions? Comment your predictions and we’ll see the discrepancy.

© Kyle for BlackBerry Cool, 2009

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This is the first known bird attack against a Google Street camera. But it’s not surprising. Birds have a right to a certain degree of privacy too. [via Jalopnik and Geekologie]

This week, the 15th GeoCAP Annual Conference is gathering around 350 European experts to discuss the latest innovations in remote sensing technologies and their application for supporting agricultural subsidies controls. Since the introduction of remote sensing controls EU regulations in 1992, satellite images have proved to be an efficient tool to verify that agricultural subsidies are correctly paid to farmers. In 2008, on a total of 8.3 million declarations made by farmers, 629,000 checks were performed on the spot, of which 55% were done using remote sensing imagery. The same figures are expected for 2009. Very High Resolution satellites or aerial orthophotos allow to accurately check the size of the parcel, their cover type and possibly cover status, thus reducing considerably the need of physical checks in the farms and consequently contributing towards a more effective and efficient management of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

It was barely a month ago that we re-reviewed TwitterBerry. We originally reviewed it in early 2008, but the company behind it, Orangatame, brought it up to date, adding many features that users demanded. Unfortunately, TwitterBerry is no more. Orangatame has changed the name to OpenBeak in hopes that it “allows the app to grow beyond both the Twitter platform and BlackBerry smartphones.” With the name change comes a few new features, including two that I had complained about in the TwitterBerry review. (more…)

A quick glance at the Casio EX-G1 doesn’t revel that the camera is a rugged-type model. It’s just too good looking. But then you might start to notice that the dials are recessed and reinforced and the case seems like it could work underwater. (it can) It’s just that Casio managed to out a 12.1 MP ruggedized camera that’s actually a looker.

The camera’s equipped with all the standard modern conveniences too. It sports a 12.1 MP sensor, a 960 x 240 2.5-inch reinforced LCD, a 3x zoom, and microSDHC storage. But more importantly the camera is shockproof, dustproof, freezeproof and waterproof up to 10 feet for 60 minutes, which makes it an awesome option for those that enjoy beaches, snowbording, and surfing. (not me) The EX-G1 should be out for $300 in December and available in both red and black.

According to the Maemo marketing team, it looks like it’s already in motion. Apparently Nokia still has some Nseries devices in the pipeline which will still use S60 as the operating system, but after those are out of the factory, it seems like Maemo will be the OS of choice for Nokia’s Nseries. That doesn’t mean that Nokia has plans to ditch Symbian altogether yet, as the enterprise-friendly Eseries and new Xseries will still run Symbian for the foreseeable future.

Read

Samsung has announced the South East Asian availability rates and prices for their Windows Mobile Omnia line-up.

The Samsung Omnia 2  is of course already released in Singapore and other SEA markets, but the Samsung Omnia Pro B7610 (QWERTY Slider)will only be coming to SEA in December 2009 and Singapore mid-January 2010.

The Samsung Omnia Pro B7330 (Front-facing QWERTY) will be coming to SEA this month November 2009.

Lastly the Samsung Omnia Lite will be coming to Singapore November 21st for $598 and the rest of SEA December 2009.

Read more details at CNET Asia here.

The future is looking bright at Digg, or at least that’s what cofounder and CEO Jay Adelson is claiming. The social news aggregator has been trying a lot of things lately to spur growth and, more importantly, revenue and it’s clear that at least some of them are working; the CEO especially notes Digg Ads. They’re working so well in fact that revenue is no longer an issue at Digg and profitability is just around the corner.

In an interview with Fox Business News, the CEO made some interesting comments regarding Digg’s present and future, but also on the state of ‘news’ in general. One of the first questions most startups are being asked is how are they doing financially. This has been an issue for Digg also and there has been a lot of pressure on the company to start making money. This was evident from all of the focus on generating revenue especially over the summer, but this isn’t as much of a concern now and Digg is actually doing quite well revenue-wise with profitability now not so far ahead.

Digg has tried a number of products and it looks like Digg Ads turned out to be the most popular. These type of ads combine advertising with content, making them much more engaging for the reader, so much so that Digg has been seeing very high click-rates, as much as 100 times more than the one… (read more)

Via Romenesko comes this little gem of how the online editor of StlToday.com got upset about a “vulgar” comment that was left on a story. The editor, Kurt Greenbaum, noticed that the commenter in question’s IP address was a local school, and contacted the school to alert them that someone from there had left a comment. And then:

“About six hours later, I heard from the school’s headmaster…The headmaster confronted the employee, who resigned on the spot.”

Lesson of the day? Don’t post comments on StlToday.com or its editors may call your boss.

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Unfortunately for Toyota, rumors of rampant incidents of unintended acceleration have been irresponsibly perpetuated by news organizations more concerned about ratings than facts. The L.A. Times has been particularly aggressive in their efforts to slander Toyota and stoke public fears. Two “news stories” have printed un-substantiated opinions as fact and used incendiary imagery to stoke fear in the hearts of Toyota owners.

While the L.A. Times isn’t alone in this practice, they’ve been leading the charge. Here’s what Toyota owners need to know.

NOTE: It should be stated clearly for all to hear that our blog isn’t living up to any high journalism standards. We were completely and totally wrong about the 2009 Tundra diesel and the Tundra hybrid…embarrassingly so. When we accuse other journalists of being “sloppy,” it shouldn’t carry a lot of weight. Still, the truth must be told.

When Toyota announced their voluntary recall in September, two reporters (we’ll call them V and B) began gathering data to see if they could embarrass Toyota somehow. Two weeks later, they published this story with the headline “Toyota’s runaway-car worries may not stop at floor mats.” The article hints that Toyota’s electronic control systems might be faulty, a very scary prospect that probably got their article a lot of page views…yet 6 NHTSA investigations have determined unequivocally that there’s no problem with Toyota’s throttle control systems.

Yes, that’s 6 separate investigations that determined Toyota’s throttle control system is completely safe. Yet the L.A. Times asks “Might a vehicle’s complex electronic features make it hard for drivers to react quickly when accelerating out of control?”

Obviously V and B have not driven one of the vehicles in question, because there’s nothing complicated about the gearshift, start button, or the function of the pedals. The only complexity is in the system behind these things…which is where the slander comes in. “Complex electronic features” insinuates there’s some sort of bug in Toyota’s throttle control system. Not true.

Additionally, many of the accusations leveled at Toyota in this article advocate that a person in a panic situation might not be able to control their vehicle. No kidding?! Panicked people aren’t rational. There’s no way to “panic proof” an automobile, and it’s not a reasonable standard when it comes to assessing safety.

V and B didn’t stop with the “runaway” accusations. Two and a half weeks later they published this story, which claims that Toyota and NHTSA are irresponsibly ignoring “1,000’s” of cases of runaway Toyotas. While the reporters make some interesting points, it’s hard to give V & B a lot of credit for being objective when they lead with this image:

The lead image for the L.A. Times second "runaway Toyota" smear story (click the image to see the original).

Talk about a smear job! That picture and the headline “Runaway Toyota cases ignored” make it look like a Toyota will plunge off a nearby cliff at a moment’s notice. Ridiculous.

It’s true that NHTSA and Toyota systematically exclude complaints without investigation, and the process may need a review. However, accusing NHTSA and Toyota of negligence in their response is irresponsible and incendiary. Here’s why:

• NHTSA (and Toyota) HAVE to figure out a way to disqualify some complaints as a matter of practicality. With tens of thousands of claims filed with NHTSA every year for every make and model on the road, NHTSA can’t investigate each and every complaint.

• Not all complaints are equal. Some people file a complaint with NHTSA because they really have a problem to report, and others complain because they’re angry with the manufacturer, because they’re trying to secure some sort of financial benefit, or because they’re trying to avoid prosecution. After all, it’s much easier to say “my car accelerated on it’s own” that it is to say “I was negligent.”

Specifically, let’s look at what types of claims were thrown out:

• Cases of unintended acceleration sustained for more than 1 second. Why? Because, according to NHTSA and their decades of investigation experience, most of these cases are the result of driver panic.

• Cases of vehicles that couldn’t stop. Why? Because, according to a NHTSA study from 2004, most vehicle brake systems can stop an out-of-control vehicle with ease. If there’s a point to be made in the L.A. Times article, it’s here. The results of the study are (obviously) not correct.

• Cases where the complaint isn’t specific as to the “cause” of the problem, meaning the owner didn’t register a specific enough complaint. When owners aren’t specific about their problem, their complaints are ignored.

So what complaints does NHTSA listen to? Complaints from safety experts, police investigators, auto repair professionals, and specific complaints that match an existing pattern. Since the year 2000, NHTSA has investigated Toyotas for unintended acceleration 9 times…seems like NHTSA is doing their job.

V and B do make some valid points. NHTSA’s processes could probably stand some improvement and Toyota needs to upgrade their vehicle computer systems. However, there’s no disputing that these articles are designed to scare people, and for that we say BOO.

Read user reviews of Tundra Accessories.

Android is still in its infancy in Japan where most domestic makers still stick with their proprietary operating systems, with basically no one outside the geek community knowing what it is. But things are changing slowly. Last week, SoftBank (the country’s third biggest cell phone carrier) announced an Android-powered phone for next year when the company announced their new models for the next months.

And yesterday, Sharp announced at an event in Tokyo it will roll out a yet to be specified number of Android-based handsets as early as the first half of next year. Sharp commands the biggest market share of all eight cell phone makers in Japan so this is very good news for the Google OS in what is the most advanced mobile society in the world.

There are several big trends in the web space at the moment and one great emphasis has lately been on media content, be it video or music. Online video is hitting the mainstream in a big way and new music services are popping up faster than the unsuccessful ones are closing down. So, it’s only natural to combine the two and music video is quickly becoming a hotly disputed market. Now, with the announcement that Hulu is also starting to experiment with music videos, concerts, and other related material, it’s clear that the battle is heating up in this space as well.

Since launching a couple of years ago, Hulu has seen a surge in popularity in the US, where it is available, becoming one of the most popular video services, helped by the exclusive long-form content it carries. Even though YouTube also has a lot of TV shows and similar content available, Hulu, with its specialized focus, is the preferred source for this kind of material. But this specialization has a downside and the site is now reluctant to add other types of content, like music videos, with the fear that it may alienate its core audience.

Still, it doesn’t want to be left out completely so it’s partnering with EMI, the smallest of the four big record labels, and launching a limited test to see how the music content is received. The material will be li… (read more)

Often it’s not the scarcity of information but its abundance that is the problem. This is especially true online, the web holds huge amounts of information, yet finding it can be more hassle than it should in some cases. And it’s even harder for very specialized information which, while publicly available, can be buried deep enough that it’s practically useless. That is why Google is now introducing full legal texts in Google Scholar, making it easier to find legal options on any number of topics albeit limited to the US for now.

“Starting today, we’re enabling people everywhere to find and read full text legal opinions from U.S. federal and state district, appellate and supreme courts using Google Scholar. You can find these opinions by searching for cases (like Planned Parenthood v. Casey), or by topics (like desegregation) or other queries that you are interested in,” Google’s Anurag Acharya writes. “We think this addition to Google Scholar will empower the average citizen by helping everyone learn more about the laws that govern us all.”

Google Scholar enables users to find all manner of academic and research papers. As the name implies, it’s not exactly designed to be a thorough research tool, but rather to come to the aid of those doing a school project or just for per… (read more)

NEC Electronics, an NEC subsidiary, has announced the development of a remote control [JP] that works without using batteries. Every time users push a button on the device, they generate a small amount of electricity through vibration. NEC says this is enough to turn on or off a TV (or any other electric appliance), switch channels or control the volume.

The power generation unit in the prototype is made by a company called Soundpower [JP]. NEC teamed up with the Yokohama-based venture back in December 2006 to develop the battery-less remote control. Both companies plan to start marketing it to makers of home electric appliances next year.

Via Asiajin [ENG]

You just knew it would happen again. Every time the recording industry finally agrees to license a new music service to try to take the “sting” out of “piracy,” it demands licensing terms that are ridiculous. From the execs at the labels’ perspective, unless you pay an arm and a leg, you don’t get to offer music. So, a few companies agree, and then realize it’s impossible to make any money and shut down. In the meantime, the whole point of those legal licensed music services (to compete with “pirate” sites and services) is lost entirely. Wired is chronicling how all of the legal music sites are finding it impossible to survive and offer a free music service — including MySpace music (which beyond not offering much of value in terms of user experience) “is struggling to keep up with its own payments to music copyright holders.”

Of course, it’s really no surprise that most of these sites have struggled. Beyond the ridiculously high licensing rates that the labels forced on them (often by negotiating through lawsuits), none of these sites put together a well thought-out business model. Instead, they all seemed to think that they could just slap ads on the site and that would be enough. But, of course, when you’re listening to music, you’re not looking at that website or paying attention to the ads — and if the ads got too intrusive, they’d just go elsewhere. A real business model would have been setting up something more comprehensive, that gave listeners a real reason to buy associated with the music. Eventually we’ll get there, but in the short-term, the graveyard of failed “licensed” music startups will grow, just as more and more “unauthorized” sites grow in popularity.

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The general layout of a search results page seems to have stayed pretty much the same since Google cracked it about a decade ago. At the time, everyone realized that Google had the right idea and most search engines today have a very similar way of showing the results. But, despite looking very similar, the design has evolved over time, small changes adding up to make for a much better experience. Now Google is introducing yet another small change that enhances the functionality in a subtle way, by modifying the way the web addresses are displayed, showing up in green in the results.

“Today we’re rolling out an improvement that replaces the URL in some search results with a hierarchy showing the precise location of the page on the website. The new display provides valuable context and new navigation options. The changes are rolling out now and should be available globally in the next few days,” Harvey Jones and Daniel Rocha, software engineers in the Result UI Team, wrote.

You hardly realize it, but the page address is a huge factor in choosing a result which you believe is relevant. Having the exact URL is good for determining if the result comes from a site you’re familiar with and you trust, but for navigational information it isn’t always very useful. With the new “breadcrum… (read more)