Super Smash Bros Brawl Part 2 snapshotUnlike its predecessor, "level evolution looks to be a huge focus this time around, and it works wonderfully, as our free-for-all fights were not only about person vs. person survival, but also a constant battle for an ever-changing position against a world that didn't seem to want us there."

My personal favorite as far as levels go has to be the Bridge of Eldin from Zelda, as it's a no-BS flat world that allows for the purist face-off I play the game for.

Source- http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/video-super-smash-bros-brawl-challenger-approaching-part-2
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Wii Virtual Console getting Sega Master gameIts latest Virtual Console addition: the Sega Master System. That's right, if you happen to be nostalgic for a certain Z80A kind of action -- and you live in Japan -- you need only look to Nintendo's cash-cow for help. Starting this February, you can play Fist of the North Star and the hallucination-inducing Fantasy Zone to your heart's content, though just like other VC offerings we expect to see more games and more territories included later on.

What's important for Nintendo to know is this: the sooner we're deep in a game of Wonder Boy in Monster Land, the happier everyone will be...

Source- http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/26/wii-virtual-console-getting-sega-master-system-games/
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Build own Apple storeIf you have been thinking about remodeling your home, and you just can't get enough of the atmosphere your neighborhood Apple Store, oobject has tracked down 24 items that you will need to get the job done. Sure, it will cost an absolute fortune, but I'm sure that there is at least one well-to-do hardcore Apple fanboy out there willing to do it.

Source- http://gizmodo.com/349250/build-your-own-apple-store
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Unleashed PS3 footageThis latest clip "showcases the triple-play of Havok physics, Pixelux's Digital Molecular Matter, and NaturalMotion's Euphoria, showing how the three technologies are combining to make Star Wars: The Force Unleashed."

Surely it's a massive, irrational intrusion into Star Wars canon, but when you compare it to Soulcalibur IV suddenly it doesn't seem so bad.

Source- http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/video-amazing-star-wars-force-unleashed-ps3-footage
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Dollar money picsWhat would you do if the US patent office gave you the go-ahead on a far-reaching, non-specific application filed for a "mobile entertainment and communication device"? If your answer was that you would immediately draw up lawsuits against almost every major electronics manufacturer that even looked at a smartphone funny, you get a cookie. Yes folks, as impossible as it is to believe, the holders of the aforementioned patent have just sued Apple, Nokia, RIM, Sprint, AT&T, HP, Motorola, Helio, HTC, Sony Ericsson, UTStarcomm, and Samsung... amongst others. So eager was this company to sue, in fact, that legal papers were filed a day before the patent was granted, and subsequently had to re-submitted.

The real sucker-punch here is that the patent simply combines a list of prior technologies jumbled into one product, a practice which has recently been ruled against by the Supreme Court.

Source- http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/25/patent-granted-on-smartphones-everyone-sued/
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iPhone uses examplesiPhone uses demoThe iPhone is a popular gadget, there is no doubt about it. As with all popular gadgets, people tend to get a little overenthusiastic. This enthusiasm can take multiple forms—like waiting in line for days to get the product, dressing up like the gadget for Halloween, selling cheap knockoffs or completely ridiculous accessories, or even building their own from scratch.





The above images featured after the jump illustrate this phenomenon as it relates to the iPhone, and the video below shows just how much the new fangled iPhone technology can piss off a strung out old hippie.

Source- http://gizmodo.com/349001/10-examples-of-the-iphone-making-people-crazy
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Next Gen HDTV picsFast moving images at that resolution will probably cause motion sickness according to the eggheads at Japan's NHK who are developing the technology. Adding to the practical issues the format will face is that there's no real way to cram that many lines of resolution into a display any smaller than 60 inches, and even if you could cram them into a smaller screen there'd be no point to it. You wouldn't be able to tell the difference anyways at that point.

Despite the fact that the format isn't expected to be broadcast until 2025, NHK has built what's probably the sweetest home theatre setup in the world to play around with it: a 500 inch Super Hi-Vision screen hooked up to the world's only 22.2 multi-channel surround sound system.

Source- http://gizmodo.com/348985/next+gen-hdtv-is-so-clear-itll-make-you-throw-up-i-see-no-problems-with-this
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Bill gates picsApparently money has burned quite the hole in Bill Gates' philanthropic pocket, as during this week's World Economic Forum in Switzerland, Gates pledged $306 million in grants to fund farming in in poor/developing countries through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. To the audience he said:
If we are serious about ending extreme hunger and poverty around the world, we must be serious about transforming agriculture for small farmers, most of whom are women...The challenge here is to design a system including profit and recognition to do more for the poor.
I dunno, Apple. The way things have been going lately, maybe that giant head* on the big screen wasn't to be feared after all.

Yes, before our commenters flip out, we realize the 1984 spot was a shot at IBM, not Microsoft.


Source- http://gizmodo.com/348946/bill-gates-gives-away-306-million-goes-green-acres
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Sony Mylo on saleAll five of you who have been waiting patiently for Sony to upgrade its mylo Personal Communicator should be pleased to learn that the revised internet tablet has finally gone on sale at SonyStyle. With its high-res 3.5-inch touchscreen, 1GB of storage, and improved Flash support, the $299 mylo 2 does indeed offer a number of attractive feature bumps over its predecessor -- however, we're still a little wary of how Sony's positioned this product in the market. But hey, what do we know: apparently they pushed enough first-gen units out the door to give this restyled number a shot.

Starts shipping on the 28th, in either white or black, says Sony.

Source- http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/25/sony-mylo-2-on-sale/
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Flying Stick Camera imagePhotographers interested in taking endless shots of themselves with their arms outstretched will surely love this flying stick camera concept from designer Tsunho Wang. Just "rub the stick" between your palms and use the built up energy to send the camera whizzing into the air. Once airborne, the camera will automatically take a series of photographs at set intervals.

No specs were mentioned regarding the stick cam, but seeing as how it is a concept that won't see the light of day, it probably doesn't matter all that much.

Source- http://gizmodo.com/348801/flying-stick-camera-rub-it-between-your-palms
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Xbox profit achievementAfter years of watching Microsoft chase billions of dollars into the bottomless pit that has been its Xbox Entertainment and Devices Division, the company is finally, as predicted, returning with some loot -- $524 million in income over the past six months, compared to $423 million in losses over the same period last year. Microsoft says the achievement was primarily due to 360 successes, even though Zune and PC sales are factored in there somewhere. Sounds like decreasing production costs, decreased marketing and a little thing called Halo 3 all worked together to help rake in the cash, and Microsoft has high hopes for the rest of fiscal '08, since they "expect revenue to increase due to increased sales of Xbox 360 consoles and related games, accessories, and services."

Apparently Nintendo isn't the only manufacturer this generation that's figured out how to make some money...

Source- http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/25/dells-xps-one-product-red-a-charitable-rip-off/
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Aquos x- the world's thinest tvThe new Sharp AQUOS X series are only 1.35 inches deep, which is thinner than their old IFA bags and, according to Sharp, makes them the world's thinnest LCD televisions in production. All of them have full high definition resolution at 37, 42 and 47 inches. What is Sharp thinning trick this time? Among other things, all the tuner and in/out connections are in a separate box, which is connected to the panel by a single cable.

Sharp claims a 15,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio (900:1 absolute) for these LCDs, and a 450 cd/m2 brightness with double-speed 120 Hz refresh rate and 176 degree viewing angle. A proprietary 12-bit processor, designed to give smooth tone variations, handles the color processing. The system has 3 HDMI inputs along with analog and digital tuners. It has a thin-profile 8-speaker soundsystem integrated in the chassis, with a 1-bit digital amplifier.

Putting about 10 pounds of electronics in the separate tuner box means that the 46 inch model weighs only about 48 pounds, which will be great for your back if you hang it. It will be available in Japan this March for ¥350,000 ($3,290) for the LC-B-37XJ1, ¥430,000 ($4,050) for the LC-B-42XJ1, and ¥480,000 ($4,510) for the big LC-B-46XJ1.

Source- http://gizmodo.com/348378/aquos-x-is-worlds-thinnest-production-tv-says-sharp
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Super smash bros gameplay footageIn Super Smash Bros. Brawl, "the fighter runs not only in 480p and 16:9 widescreen modes, but it does so at a spectacular 60 frames per second, never once disturbed."

The title's exceptionally varied and clean, sharp environments are bombarded by never-ending particle explosions and other effects while characters jump around and animate flawlessly through the foreground and background. The result is stunning, especially given the scale of some stages.

Source- http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/video-super-smash-bros-brawl-5-minutes-of-new-gameplay-footage
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Microsoft vista first year vulnerability reportLike an evil pope preparing to capture the Holy Land, Jeff Jones, Microsoft's self-proclaimed "Security Guy" (and Microsoft Director) just published the Vista One Year Vulnerability Report. As you can see from the graph above, JJ's methodology concludes that Microsoft's Vista easily bests the first year vulnerabilities found in XP, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Ubuntu, and Apple's own OS X.

As contentious as the report is, is anyone else reflecting on the fact that Vista is more than a year old for businesses (almost exactly one for consumers) yet XP continues to ship standard on many PCs.....

Source- http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/24/microsoft-vista-has-fewer-first-year-vulnerabilities-than-any-m/
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Phone wires with connectorIf you really want to screw with someone, put this Wrong Number Generator on their landline. When your victim (wife) tries to make a call, it'll screw up some digits and randomly dial someone. Better yet, it only does this 75% of the time, meaning that it'll let them dial the right number 25% of the time—which allows them to think that they've got the sloppiest fingers in the world.

We thought this would be even more exciting when someone's trying to dial 911, but apparently it lets all of those calls through unmolested.

Source- http://gizmodo.com/348068/wrong-number-generator-makes-dialing-exciting
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Hottie weather info with hot girlMaxim Magazine isn't usually known for their software engineering efforts (though I know for a fact that software engineers love them despite of this), but their iPhone weather checker takes the cake. And by cake, we mean boobs. Lots of boobs. Every time you refresh your weather, you'll get a new "hometown hottie" from Maxim's extensive archives.

Sure, the default weather app can give you the temperature and tell you if you need to wear a jacket, but it's a little short on the "rub-one-out-o-meter".

Source- http://gizmodo.com/348195/here-comes-the-greatest-iphone-webapp-ever
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Apple Dtrace debugging toolIt looks like the cat-and-mouse game of DRM exploits is starting to inflict some collateral damage -- the DTrace debugging tool built into Leopard is apparently locked out of iTunes and any other app that opts-out. Reasons aren't clear, but it sure looks like Apple is trying to keep interested parties from seeing the inner workings of FairPlay and other DRM-enabled apps -- which probably makes the RIAA happy, but makes it harder for devs to get work done.

In the words of one DTrace developer, the lockout is "antithetical to the notion of systemic tracing, antithetical to the goals of DTrace, and antithetical to the spirit of open source."

Source- http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/23/apple-crippling-os-x-debugging-tool-to-protect-itunes-drm/
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Virgin galactic shipVirgin Galactic is on track to start launching commercial space flights in 2009, and they just announced their new spaceship designs.

Virgin galactic ship with partsSpaceShipTwo is the spaceship that'll actually go into space, while White Knight Two is the plane that'll bring it up high enough to launch itself away. SpaceShipTwo will be able to tote eight people at a time into sub-orbit, two pilots and six passengers, each of whom will pay $200,000 for the right to be one of the few humans to see the earth from above.

Virgin galactic ship demoThe White Knight Two is already almost complete, with testing scheduled for later this year, while SpaceShipTwo is about 60% complete. The flights will take off from the Spaceport that Virgin Galactic is building in the New Mexico desert.

Source- http://gizmodo.com/348092/virgin-galactic-unveils-spaceships-thatll-take-passengers-up-in-2009
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Palm retail storeOh Palm, things just seem to be going from bad to worse. After your recent (and repeated) Palm OS II delays and employee layoffs, you really should be due for some good news -- but that's not the case today. According to a member of the TreoCentral forums who cites "sources," Palm will be folding all but its airport-based retail locations by the end of January.

Apparently, other forum members have checked in with their local stores and gotten word from reps there that the doors are indeed shutting, so it seems like this is a go. Palm, we're not going to say you're in your darkest hour just yet, but we're pretty sure you can see it from where you're standing.

Source- http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/23/palm-retail-stores-to-close-by-months-end/
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Three MacBook Air reviews are in from USA Today, Newsweek and the WSJ. The first two reviews are both fairly positive, with caveats, but the WSJ's reads slightly less so.

Macbook Air displayUSA Today: USA Today's Ed Baig summarizes with this verdict: "Given the compromises, I don't expect anyone to use Air as their only computer. But it is a yummy machine for people who spend a lot of time traveling." Going more in depth, he lauds the Air's thinness, and revels at the little things like the magnetic latch and the backlit LED display. The worst part? He got more than an hour less than Apple's rated battery life.

Baig also notes that this is the weakest Core 2 Duo in the entire Mac lineup, which means you won't be using this for video editing. He knocks points of for the sacrifices, such as the internal optical drive, the scant 80GB hard disk space, the one USB port, lack of FireWire, and the average battery life. Apple rated it at 5 hours, but he only got three hours and 40 minutes just surfing the web, using Remote Disc and writing. It only lasted two hours and 40 minutes when watching a movie. Verdict: Not for everyone (mostly travelers), and definitely not a main computer.

Newsweek: Steven Levy at Newsweek compares the Macbook Air's thinness to ritualistic circumcision, noting that they sliced off just enough to make it meaty, yet super thin. Thin enough for him to spend a good third of his review saying how thin it is, and how it's so great on a lap, on a Starbucks' table, on a conference table, and on an airplane seatback tray. He then decries the obvious lack of features we've been talking about since we heard about the Air: lack of user-replaceable battery, the one USB port, no optical drive, blah blah blah.

It essentially reads like Levy reviewed off the spec sheet, and doesn't have many tales of his first-hand experience with such topics as how snappy the sluggish processor is or how convenient (or inconvenient) using the Remote Disc is (he does note that you have to lower your Firewall to its lowest setting to allow easier configuration). Verdict: Not much of one, but what he does have agrees with Baig: it's thin and even though Apple's removed much of its innards, "the things that Apple left on were the ingredients for a quality computer." Also, he spends much of the review talking in a roundabout way about penises, so it's worth a read just for that.

Wall Street Journal: Mossberg from the big J also loves the svelteness, owning up to his own Contact moment by saying that "it's impossible to convey in words just how pleasing and surprising this computer feels in the hand." Of course, he hates the non-removable battery, the 1 USB port, the fact that you can't put a bigger hard drive in there and the lack of an optical drive.

In his own tests, he says the machine was "speedy" and the keyboard and screen were a "pleasure to use". His own battery tests gave him three hours and 24 minutes with Wi-Fi on and playing music nonstop. He theorizes that you could possibly get 4 hours and 30 minutes without playing music and just working normally, bug Baig's own test disproves that. Verdict: Great if you love thinness or a full-sized screen and keyboard on a "subnotebook", but he "can't recommend it for all."

Source- http://gizmodo.com/348306/macbook-air-reviews
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Burnout Paradise Xbox 360 PS3 imageIGN reviews EA's Burnout Paradise, which is now available on the Xbox 360 and PS3 platforms. The game was rated very highly to say the least.

Here's the bottom line: Criterion has once again delivered a racing experience that can best be described as controlled chaos, one where even crashing is immensely rewarding.

Source- http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/video-review-burnout-paradise-xbox-360-ps3-
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Youtube imageYouTube, the world's most popular online video-sharing website, launched a localised service in South Korea Wednesday to capitalise on the country's fast-growing user-created content market.

Sakina Ariswala, head of YouTube's international operation, said it has secured content from local companies for its Korean operation to supplement the vast collection of the US-based operation.

"South Korea is a very interesting market," Ariswala told Yonhap news agency, citing its well-established IT infrastructure.

The company's main focus is first to build global communities and then consider how to make a profit, she said. YouTube now provides localised services in 19 countries.

Users can upload, view, and share video clips through YouTube, which was bought by the world's top Internet search engine Google in 2006.

YouTube became well known in South Korea after a video clip of a self-taught amateur Korean guitarist playing Pachelbel's "Canon in D" received more than 36 million clicks worldwide last year.

But it faces tough competition with home-grown user-created content sites, which have dominated the local market.

Yonhap quoted Lee Won-Jin, CEO of Google Korea, as saying the launch of YouTube here would help spread the country's popular culture and video content worldwide.

Google launched a Korean-language search site in 2000 but has been striving to boost its presence against competition from local firms in one of the world's most wired societies. Some 70% of Korean homes have high-speed Internet access but most prefer local search engines.

Source- http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080123/tc_afp/skoreausitinternetgoogleyoutube;_ylt=AlKFPVIL6NTzkVmgM5UjJxMjtBAF
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Girl using Wi-Fi on LaptopAs everybody know, American Airlines is prepping in-flight WiFi in addition to, uh, anti-missile systems. Good news on the former, pricing is set. Good if $10 WiFi for flights less than three-hours or $12.95 for longer flights excites your fiscal sweet-spot like it does American's.

Rollout will begin this summer on AA's 767-200 jets before rolling out across its entire fleet.

Source- http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/23/american-airlines-wifi-will-cost-10-13-anti-missile-system-s/

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BMW M3 convertible 2009BMW's all-new 2009 M3 convertible is powered by a "V-8 displacing 4.0 litres and developing maximum output of 309 kW/420 hp; maximum torque is 400 Nm/295 lb-ft at 3,900 rpm and maximum engine speed 8,400 rpm." Check out the video also-



BMW's new M3 Convertible was supposed to be unveiled in March, but several leaked photos led to a flood of official photos and information straight from BMW.

Source- http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/video-2009-bmw-m3-convertible
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Disney use Nintendo DSThe DS has already proven some of its versatility by ordering food and dishing out replays at Safeco Field, and it looks like Disney's set to expand those non-gaming capabilities even further, with it now testing a system that turns the handheld into an interactive tour guide.

Dubbed the Disney Magic Connection, the app appears to be fairly extensive, including not only maps of the Magic Kingdom, but details on wait times at various attractions, directions to the nearest washrooms and ATMs and, of course, the odd game.

Unfortunately, at least in its current state, you'll only be able to take advantage of those features with one of Disney's pre-set up DSs and not your own -- no word if that'll change once the system moves beyond the testing phase.

Source- http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/21/disney-puts-nintendo-ds-to-use-as-interactive-tour-guide/
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Fox Digital Copy Family Guy DvdAmid all of the MacBook Air hullabaloo, you might have forgotten about the Apple announcement that Fox would begin providing "free" iTunes versions of programs via DVD. The first release was Family Guy Presents: Blue Harvest, a Star Wars parody.

You pop in the special Digital Copy disc, and on a Mac, a window automatically pops open telling you to launch iTunes. In iTunes, you are directed to a page where—get this—you enter a code printed on slip inside the DVD case.

The "download" completes, and you have a copy of the show that's identical in file format to anything you get from iTunes, and it's locked to your account in the same way. Only you copied it over from a disc.

As you might expect, the disc and code are useable just once. So why the hell was there a disc at all? I imagine this whole thing would be simpler if Fox would just print the slip and let you redeem it with a bonafide over-the-net download via iTunes.

Fox Digital Copy DarthThe version itself looks great, about equal to the DVD, quality wise, and far better than the downsized legal version that Toast 8 lets you move to your iPod if you TiVo'd it when it originally aired. (In case you're wondering, the DVD is good too, with a Seth MacFarlane/George Lucas interview and a reel showing all of the Family Guy Star Wars references throughout the years.)

I am a fan of this concept. DVD sales aren't doing so hot, and something like this could really perk them up. Think of all the TV series box sets that would be way more desirable if they came with an automatic iTunes version. Yes, I know there are ways to do it yourself, but those ways are time consuming, not to mention of legal dubiousness. (I think ripping a DVD for yourself is well within the fair-use doctrine, and that Roxio and Nero, not to mention iTunes, should be all over that, but I still worry that the legal squabbles will continually make it hard for mainstream software to embrace it. The music biz may be casting off DRM, but Hollywood is a much more organized, high-tech beast.)

Fox doesn't appear 100% committed to this. Maybe it was just the need to keep it hush-hush before the Jobsnote, but the case bears a single little sticker saying "Digital Copy," with no mention of iTunes anywhere. Nor was there a reference to this clearly valuable bonus feature anywhere on the case itself. Even on Amazon, there's no mention of the fact that you can rip it to your iTunes. That's why it was all the more surprising when I found the second disc inside: a whole disc wasted for something that they didn't even mention on the label.

Via- [Gizmodo]
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Mortal Kombat 2In Mortal Kombat II -- released in 1993, the characters "have a less digitized and more hand-drawn look to them than in the first game."

One of the greatest fighters of all time was good on the home consoles but there's nothing like playing it in the arcades... with a mod chip.

Source- http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/video-game-vault-mortal-kombat-2
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Carlos Ghosn- Renault SA Chief ExecutiveThe Renault-Nissan alliance on Monday signed a deal to begin mass producing electric cars as part of an Israeli-led project to develop alternative energy sources and slash oil dependency.

Renault-Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said the cars, with a range of about 100 km in city driving and up to 160 km on the highway, will accelerate from zero to 100 kph in 13 seconds and have a top speed of 110 kph -- similar to many gasoline-powered cars.

Ghosn said a key reason why the company chose Israel to launch the project is because 90% of Israelis drive less than 70 km a day and all major urban centers are within 150 km of each other. For Israel the cars would mean less dependency on oil imports, mostly coming from Russia.

The cars, to be made in Europe, will run on a battery developed by Nissan and Japan's and will be available in 2011. A prototype is already on the road in Israel and various models will be sold by Renault and Nissan.

"It will be the most environmentally friendly mass-produced car on the market," Ghosn said at a Fuel Free Transportation ceremony at the office of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, adding the main appeal of the cars is that they were as "normal as possible" while operating quietly.

He said the car would cost the same or less than comparable gasoline engine autos and would have a lifetime warranty.

Ghosn said Renault-Nissan will also market the cars in yet to be determined European countries and Asia and later to the United States.

"We expect this car to be successful," Ghosn told reporters. "We want to make sure we mass market 10,000 to 20,000 cars a year in Israel ... We are determined to make it a success."

ENERGY SUBSCRIPTIONS
Israel's government will offer tax incentives on the cars and Project Better Place, a venture-backed company, will set up a recharging grid using electricity from renewable sources.

"The state of Israel has set itself the goal of making our lives here better and cleaner, with less dependence on gasoline and petroleum," Olmert said. "By the end of the next decade, we will be completely free of petroleum and its by-products as the fuel which powers transportation in Israel."

Project Better Place is headed by former SAP executive Shai Agassi, who said Israel's grid would be powered by 200 megawatts generated by wind and solar power sources.

"For the first time in history, all the conditions necessary for electric vehicles to be successfully mass-marketed will be brought together in a partnership between the Renault-Nissan Alliance and Project Better Place in Israel," the two sides said in a statement.

Consumers will buy their car and subscribe to an energy supply, including the use of the battery, on the basis of kilometers driven, similar to the way mobile phones are sold.

Israeli President Shimon Peres said he wanted Israel to push forward with the electric car plan because oil has become the "greatest polluter of our age and the greatest financier of terrorism."

California-based Project Better Place said it will set up a network of 500,000 charging points in Israel. The car's computer will indicate when recharging is needed and the nearest charging point.

The initial $200 million investment in Project Better Place is led by holding company Israel Corp and includes investment bank Morgan Stanley, venture capital firm Vantage Point and a group of private investors.

Israel Corp, which will invest $100 million, said it had signed agreements with the other investors. The Ofer family, which controls Israel Corp, will invest $30 million through a private firm while the other investors will put in $70 million.

Source- http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/renault_israel_dc;_ylt=Ap6SgBV8iSFUaPhyZXHYpaIjtBAF
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SEGA Superstar tennis trailorSEGA Superstar Tennis features "a toal of 15 playable characters (and a host of SEGA icons cheering on from courtside), each with their own over-the-top tennis skills."

SEGA Superstars Tennis features classic SEGA characters - including Sonic the Hedgehog and Ulala from Space Channel 5 - plus some of the most unusual courts and outrageous settings ever imagined in a rousing match of tennis.

Source- http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/sega-superstar-tennis-wii-debut-trailer
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Turkey ban youtubeA Turkish court has again blocked access to the popular video-sharing Web site YouTube because of clips allegedly insulting the country's founding father, according to reports Sunday.

It was the second time Turkey banned the site because of clips deemed disrespectful to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. It is illegal in Turkey to insult the revered figure, whose portrait still hangs in nearly all government offices nearly 70 years after his death.

Users trying to access the Web site from Turkey were met with notices in English and Turkish saying it was banned under an Ankara court order issued Jan. 17.

Last March, another court blocked access to YouTube for two days after a complaint that some clips insulted Ataturk, a war hero who founded Turkey from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire. The ban was lifted after YouTube removed the offending videos.

In September, a court in the eastern city of Sivas ordered a ban after saying video on the site insulted Ataturk, President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the army, but the ban was never implemented.

Vatan newspaper reported Sunday that the current ban also was imposed because of videos that were allegedly disrespectful of Ataturk.

It was not clear how long the current ban would last. The state-run Anatolia said officials from YouTube, which is owned by Google, issued a statement saying the company hoped access would be re-established quickly.

The YouTube bans in Turkey have highlighted the country's troubled record on free expression. Several prominent Turkish journalists and writers — including Nobel literature prize winner Orhan Pamuk — have been tried for allegedly insulting "Turkishness."

Turkey is not alone in blocking YouTube. Last year, the Thai government banned the site for about four months because of clips seen as offensive to Thailand's revered monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

And in May, Moroccans were unable to access YouTube after users posted videos critical of Morocco's treatment of the people of Western Sahara, a territory that Morocco took control of in 1975. An official blamed a technical glitch, but could not explain its nature or why it affected only the YouTube site.

Source- http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080120/ap_on_re_mi_ea/turkey_youtube;_ylt=Ap85AY9WHGbX.rqOENrQ2jIjtBAF
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Researchers should study more children and pregnant women in trying to figure out if cell phones or other wireless devices could damage health, the U.S. National Research Council has advised.

A few studies have indicated a possible link between mobile telephone use and brain tumors, although far more show no connection. But because wireless devices have become almost ubiquitous, researchers wants to ensure their safety.

The Food and Drug Administration asked the National Research Council to recommend some future lines of study. The Council, which advises Congress and the federal government on scientific matters, held a meeting of experts including engineers and biologists and has now released the full report.

Most studies have looked only at short-term effects on healthy adults, the report said.

RF Exposure Concerns:
More study needs to be done on multiple, long-term, low-intensity radiofrequency (RF) exposure, the report said.

"Measuring the amount of RF energy received by juveniles, children, pregnant women, and fetuses from wireless devices and RF base station antennas could help define exposure ranges for various populations," the council said in a statement.

"Although it is unknown whether children are more susceptible to RF exposure, they may be at increased risk because of their developing organ and tissue systems," it added.

"Additionally, Specific Absorption Rates for children are likely to be higher than for adults, because exposure wavelength is closer to the whole-body resonance frequency for shorter individuals."

The report also notes that children today will experience a longer period of RF field exposure from mobile phones than adults, because they will most likely start using them at an early age.

Researchers should also analyze the different types of antennas for the amount of RF energy they deliver to different parts of the body. For more info, please have a look- [Pcworld]
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Panasonic Lumix LS80 model imagePanasonic's latest digital camera- When a product is marked by such breathtaking features as 8.1-megapixel resolution, 4 x zoom, "MEGA O.I.S." image stabilization, ISO up to 1600, SDHC card support, and 16:9 recording modes, it's easy to get carried away -- though we suggest simple breathing exercises to keep your pulse in check.

The new model is available in stylish black, pink, or silver, no word on price or release date, so just wait & check regularly.

Source- http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/20/panasonics-lumix-ls80-the-most-exciting-digital-camera-ever/
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Microsoft surface picsThis is one of the better “over-dubbed” videos I have seen in a while. With all the talk surrounding Microsoft Surface, it is about time someone gave it to you straight.



So the question remains; which is cooler MS Surface or Apple’s iPhone? Discuss it as everybody should know the optimal one.

Source- http://www.gadgetell.com/tech/comment/is-microsoft-surface-cooler-than-an-iphone/
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Laptop comparison with MacWe already gave you a spec-wise comparison of the Macbook Air and its prominent competitors, but The Usual Suspects—the Lenovo X300 (recently leaked), Sony TZ and Dell XPS m1330—are all back for a photo shoot. Jump for the fantastic line-up of the laptop bad boys bearing it all.

If the relative scale between the laptops still has you baffled to how small everything is, check the Coke can on the far right. Not only does it look like the Dell is a hard-ass, as it appears to have brought a Cola with it during its incarceration period, it also gives you more of an idea of how small these devices really are.

The Macbook Air is unquestionably the thinnest, but the sexiest in picture?

Source- http://gizmodo.com/346949/macbook-air-and-the-usual-suspects
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Bytes image with sexy girlsGone are the days of the TMS 9900 -- when "two bytes are better than one", but these retro computer ads will forever live on. Yes, now you could've picked up a 300MB disk system for under $20,000 back in the 80s.

Source- http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/feature-when-two-bytes-are-better-than-one-
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Tiberium debut trailerTiberium, set in the Command & Conquer universe, is a "squad-based action game where Ricardo Vega leads a crew of soldiers, with the player right there on the frontlines."

Source- http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/tiberium-ps3-xbox-360-debut-trailer
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Teclast M30 PMPTruth be told, Teclast's M30 seems be to a real looker at first, but we're knocking off a few style points due the complete absence of originality. All it takes is a simple glance at the unit's predecessors to realize that the outfit isn't exactly going out on any limbs to innovate. Nevertheless, those still interested can look forward to a 2.8-inch 320 x 240 AMOLED display, USB 2.0 connectivity, FM tuner / recorder and support for AVI, RM, RMVB, BMP, MP3, JPEG and GIF file formats.

Thankfully, the mediocrity is met with a suitable price tag -- just $69 for the 2GB model and $82 for the 4GB edition.

Source- http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/19/teclasts-m30-pmp-is-mildly-attractive-mostly-lackluster/
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Playtv with PS3PlayTV enables PlayStation 3 users to "watch live digital TV using the device as well as record shows direct to the PS3's hard drive, which they can then watch back either through the television or via a PSP, by connecting to the home console wirelessly over the internet."

it won't take more than a few seconds to plug in - and easy to use, thanks to the user-friendly menus that work with both the SIXAXIS and Blu-ray remote. This simplicity is carried over into the media library too, where viewers can check out everything they've recorded from a simple visual-based menu.

Source- http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/video-playtv-is-tivo-for-your-playstation-3
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Exploded bed from laptopEngadget is fairly certain this BoringTrash fellow's statement that his IBM ThinkPad R50e "tried to kill" him is a bit unfair -- it appears to us that the R50e was merely attempting to get him out of the way so that it could completely devour his bed.

The best part of it all is that the three-year-old exploding laptop still works when plugged into an external monitor, but BoringTrash is keeping this one away from from mattresses for the time being.

Source- http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/19/exploding-thinkpad-attacks-man-burns-through-bed/
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Macbook air 4 featuresFrom Joyoftech, you may have thought that the Macbook Air was just some silly contraption without any practical application. But then again, you may have wet the bed last night and gambled your life savings away in pyramid "investments."


Source- http://gizmodo.com/346856/4-reasons-you-absolutely-need-the-macbook-air
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