Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Might Walmart Devour Vudu? [Vudu]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/q2hkdPOiT4A/might-walmart-devour-vudu

Sources have told AllThingsD that Vudu is in "meaningful" acquisition discussions, with Walmart being the most likely analog moneybags candidate. Given that Vudu is making its way to most new TVs, acquisition sounds like a good plan for Walmart. [AllThingsD]

OpenGL 3.0 Support Leaks in OS X 10.6.3 Beta [Apple]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/GXcBnIXx354/opengl-30-support-leaks-in-os-x-1063-beta

Apple's not always the quickest on adopting new standards (or even old standards). Luckily, their OS X 10.6.3 beta has revealed at least partial support for OpenGL 3.0. [Hardmac via AppleInsider]

Wet Computers Headed to Fill Your Body With Drugs and Love [Science]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/REBwCoSiUPU/wet-computers-headed-to-fill-your-body-with-drugs-and-love

Wet computers—devices made of lipid-covered cells that handle chemical reactions similarly to neurons—are the key to machines with the processing power of the human brain. But for now, they may deliver drugs in a better way:

The type of wet information technology we are working towards will not find its near-term application in running business software, but it will open up application domains where current IT does not offer any solutions - controlling molecular robots, fine-grained control of chemical assembly, and intelligent drugs that process the chemical signals of the human body and act according to the local biochemical state of the cell.

That's what University of Southampton's Klaus-Peter Zauner says, pointing out that the molecular computer they are working on is a "a very crude abstraction of what neurons do." When the lipid-covered cells contact each other, a passage opens between them so chemical reactions can pass from one to the next. Inside the cells, a reaction—called the Belousov-Zhabotinsky or B-Z—happens, triggered by other cells. This reaction can pass from one cell to the next, or can be contained within the cell, allowing for cell networking, which is key to form these wet processors.

Did you get any of that? Good. I just like the idea of my processors getting wet. [BBC]

Droid security flaw makes lock screen a mere inconvenience for evil-doers

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/11/droid-security-flaw-makes-lock-screen-a-mere-inconvenience-for/

You might recall Apple having a hard time keeping its lock screen locked at one point, and it looks like we've got a common theme brewing here now that Android's suffering from the same drama. Turns out that Android 2.0.1 -- the build currently deployed on the Droid -- suffers from a flaw whereby you can back out to a locked phone's home screen simply by pressing the Back button after accepting an incoming call. Of course, you'd either have to know a phone's number or wait for a call to actually take advantage of this, but we'd argue that it's a pretty low barrier of entry. The bright side of the story, we suppose, is that the phone goes back to being locked as soon as the call ends, but then again it doesn't take much time to peep your juicy emails. Google's aware of the issue, so we're thinking this'll make it into the Droid's next software update; we don't have a launch window for that just yet, so in the meantime... you know, just make sure no one ever calls you and you should be good to go.

Droid security flaw makes lock screen a mere inconvenience for evil-doers originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jan 2010 15:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PhoneArena | source

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Intel's Atom-powered home energy dashboard concept gets itself a website, no closer to retail reality

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/11/intels-atom-powered-home-energy-dashboard-concept-gets-itself-a/

If you recall all the way back to last week -- yes, it's a bit of a blur to us, too -- Intel CEO Paul Otellini brought to his keynote an Atom-powered home monitor system, demonstrated by him and his rockstar compadre Craig. It was actually quite impressive, and thankfully Intel's gone ahead and launched an educational page for the Intelligent Home Energy Management Proof of Concept. The specs break down as follows: a gorgeous 11.5-inch capacitive OLED touch screen, Z530 processor, motion sensor and video camera support, stereo audio, WiFi, and Zigbee integration. Throw in an open API and we're pretty sold on this -- assuming it was real, of course, and at this point it's nothing more than a teaser of things to come. Hit up the source link and expect a notable uptick in your longing for the future.

Intel's Atom-powered home energy dashboard concept gets itself a website, no closer to retail reality originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jan 2010 18:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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OLED-Display | source