Speechless: AT&T Lets You Talk, But Limits What You Say

from Gizmodo by Mark Wilson

AT&T has revised their Terms of Service in a manner that should horrify the consumer public. Usually such updates screw the customer subtly, but AT&T's new adjustment ironically pulls freedom of speech directly from those using AT&T's service to speak. In short, if you slam AT&T, they can pull your service:

AT&T may immediately terminate or suspend all or a portion of your Service, any Member ID, electronic mail address, IP address, Universal Resource Locator or domain name used by you, without notice, for conduct that AT&T believes...(c) tends to damage the name or reputation of AT&T, or its parents, affiliates and subsidiaries.

Of course, AT&T has overlooked one important fact about their TOS: they can't cancel a customer's service who will no longer do business with them anyway. Changes in TOS are often a loophole out of your contract. And if I were an AT&T customer, my choice would be pretty clear. [TOS via morningpaper]

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Intel fleshes out 45nm Yorkfield launch details

from Engadget by Donald Melanson

It's been quite a while since we've heard anything from Intel on the Yorkfield front, but that looks to have changed in a hurry, with the company now busting out a whole slew of specifics on the forthcoming processors. First up is news that Intel will be releasing an "Extreme Edition" of the 45nm quad-core processor on November 12th, well ahead of the January 2008 launch for its decidedly less-extreme counterparts. Helping the processor (dubbed the QX9650) earn that designation is its top of the crop 3.0GHz clock speed, along with 12MB of L2 cache, and an extremely hot 130W TDP rating, not to mention a price just shy of $1,000. If that's all a bit too extreme for you, you'll also be able to get your choice of 2.5GHz, 2.66GHz, or 2.88GHz models, each of which scale the TDP rating down to a more manageable 95W, with prices running $266, $316, and $530, respectively. Even further on down the line, Intel's announced details on three dual-core Wolfdale desktop processors, which clock in at 2.66GHz, 3.0GHz, and 3.16GHz. No word on a price for the low-end model just yet, but the 3.0GHz and 3.16GHz are apparently set to run $183 and $266, respectively, with a mid-range 2.83 GHz version expected to eventually round out the lot, according to DailyTech. As if that wasn't enough, Intel's will also apparently be slippig out a 65nm 2.4 GHz dual-core Conroe processor dubbed the E4600 on October 21st, although there's no word on what it'll cost.

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iPhone 1.1.1 "bug" unleashes music over Bluetooth

from Engadget by Paul Miller

The iPhone 1.1.1 update has a hidden little surprise for y'all: Bluetooth audio streaming is now available off of your iPhone for whatever you darn please, meaning you can finally listen to music from the phone wirelessly. Oddly enough, this "function" has been unleashed by a Visual Voicemail bug that leaves Bluetooth audio on even after you've left the Voicemail interface. Of course, it's only mono audio, and the audio keeps playing out of your built-in speaker -- if you plug in headphones to cut off the speaker you'll lose Bluetooth streaming as well -- but it's nice to see Apple forking over some "should have been there in the first place" functionality accidentally to go along with all that stuff of the same ilk 1.1.1 took away from us.

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Sony Drive XEL-1 OLED TV

from Engadget by Thomas Ricker

It's here friends, Sony's Drive teaser is none other than their 3-mm thin, 1,000,000:1 OLED TV, just announced official with a December 1st Japanese retail date. The 11-inch SonyDrive XEL-1 set features a 960 x 540 pixel resolution, terrestrial digital tuner, 2x 1W speaker, and HDMI, USB, and Ethernet jacks in a package measuring 287 x 140 x 253-mm and 2-kg (3.3-pounds). How much? Well, ¥200,000 or about $1,740 -- That's about $160 per inch of OLED. Rich indeed, but so it goes for first generation technology.

Gallery: The SonyDrive XEL-1 OLED TV: 1,000,000:1 contrast starting December 1st

[Via Impress]

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In the Lab: Beetle Juice

from Earth2Tech by Georgia Flight

We know you're busy, so we'll forgive you for overlooking this week's announcement that researchers at England's University of Leeds have discovered a way to mimic the toxic defensive spray of the bombardier beetle. But you'll want to sit up and pay attention when you find out why: to create a new water-based compression technology called µMist that's being touted as the key to everything from improved fuel efficiency to next generation fire suppression to chemical-free drug delivery.

The lead researcher, Professor Andy McIntosh, describes the beetle's abilities as a type of complex pressure cooker. "Essentially it's a high-force steam cavitation explosion," he says in the release , "Using a chamber less than one millimeter long, this amazing creature has the ability to change the rapidity of what comes out, its direction and its consistency."

The µMist spray technology represents a huge potential leap forward for the precision control of droplet size, velocity and consistency, which in turn could have a massive impact on the efficiency of any system that uses mist as a delivery system–namely fire suppression, medical drug delivery and of course, fuel injection. The team has built a 2-cm chamber that can deliver mists up to 13 feet away, or produce a mist as fine as two microns. Hmm, imagine a fire extinguisher that fits in your pocket…

Say it with us now: Beetle juice, beetle juice, beetle juice. Biotech startup Swedish Biomimetics 3000, a self-described "V2PIO" (that's virtual venture philanthropic intersectional organization), found the research so promising that the company has inked a worldwide exclusive development and marketing deal for the µMist technology. No word yet on when these beetles will make their U.S. invasion.

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