iPhone 4 spontaneously combusts
It was your pretty standard Regional Express flight from Lismore to Sydney...well up until a passenger's mobile phone self-combusted shortly after landing.
Luckily the phone wasn't in the passenger's trouser pocket at the time, and no people on board were harmed. After the plane landed, the iPhone started to glow red and emit a dense cloud of smoke, which the Flight Attendant was quick to extinguish.
HP LaserJet Printers suffer from huge security flaw
MSNBC has reported an apparent security risk that may affect millions of HP LaserJet printer owners; giving hackers the opportunity to steal data or physically destroy your printer through uncertified software updates.
Rumour: Kinect 2 Can Lip-Read And Interpret Facial Emotions
The successor to Microsoft’s hugely successful motion-sensing device, Kinect, will be so accurate that it will be able to lip-read and be able to detect human emotion from subtle facial expressions, Eurogamer reports.
Rumour: Apple TV re-emergence
Having shifted the portable music player market with the iPod, shaking up the smart-phone with the iPhone and dominating the tablet PC market ever since the launch of the iPad in early 2010, Apple is now rumoured to be on the verge of starting commercial production of its own line of TVs for an estimated late-2012 launch, according to a report by analyst Peter Misek from US bank Jeffries.
The Computer System that recognises human emotion via your voice
Two groups of scientists in Spain have created a prototype computer system that is able to recognize the emotional state of a person from the intonations in his/her voice.
A significant step forward from the run-of-the-mill automated telephone services (you know, the ones that ask "you said *insert word here* is that correct?" after every phrase), this is set to be slightly less annoying, thanks to the Universidad Calos III de Madrid and Universidad de Granada in Spain's research.
Best Buy UK Closing Down Sale starts tomorrow
Well we all know what's become of Best Buy's efforts in the UK (insert pun of it being an open-shut case here); but there's always one good thing to take away from the demise of reputable businesses. That thing being closing down sales.
Martin says its jetpack is practical. Proven with poorly rendered animation
So Jetpacks, for all their impressive prestige for Nazi combat and general procrastination, they haven't been seen within the wider public agenda than the tech followers (people beyond we enthusiastic readers) as applicable to other situations. But Martin wants you to know about that they're actually useful.
Siri protocol hacks: start your car and control your house
As soon as mobile developers Applidium cracked the Siri security protocol (the wall that stops it from working on anything other than an iPhone 4S) and released a set of developer tools to expand upon what the service does already, various prototypes have already made it into the wild: from the menial tasks of changing your thermostat temperature to the more scary possibilities like starting your car.
NASA's Mars Rover Curiosity successfully launches
The $2.5 billion Mars Rover Curiosity successfully launched from Cape Canaveral at 10:02am, beginning the eight month journey to determine whether or not Mars was ever suitable for life.
"We are very excited about sending the world's most advanced scientific laboratory to Mars," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said.
Government releases 'The UK Cyber Security Strategy.'
The UK government released its 2011 Cyber Security plans to protect and promote the UK in a digital world.
The new strategy reports to increase its focus on cybercrime, and place a spotlight on maintaining the economic and social prosperity found in the cyberspace. It's clear to see that Whitehall is definitely moving in a positive direction in terms of getting to grasps with these ever-growing complexities of our global produce. From the sights of it, it's not going to be easy; but it's a long-term set of tasks and incentives that will benefit both private and public sectors.
The DIY 'Privacy Monitor:' hide porn in plain sight
We've seen filters applied to displays before for privacy reasons; but a monitor hack to remove the built-in polarizing filter? That got us interested.
U.S. Senator asks Google to add a terrorist flagging button to blogger
U.S. Senator Joe Liberman of the Democratic Party has written a letter to Google, requesting that its blogging platform be equipped with a flagging feature for terrorists...we're absolutely not joking about this.
Modular USB flash drive concept. An ingenious way to sort out your data
USB storage seem to come in plenty of shapes and sizes. To carry around a library of various different materials you either have your run-of-the-mill USB hard drive or a bundle of USB pen drives to categorise what content you have on which. Presenting the conceptual middle ground.
The DisplAir: That awesome computer from Minority report, only real
Ever since Tom Cruise fired up his elaborate computer set-up to target pre-emptive crimes, we've always been a little bit fascinated with the opportunity of the gesture based control. Removing the need for a display and allowing the user to manipulate 3D images in midair. Turns out Russia has a working prototype called the DisplAir.
Bionic contact lenses to give us augmented reality eyeballs
Get pumped, tests are beginning to give us awesome Terminator-vision augmented reality vision. This new generation of contact lenses is a step closer after successful animal trials.
Scientists at Washington University conducted studies into the area via lenses with a single LED installed being trialed on rabbits.
WHSmith releases 7-inch Android colour tablet.
WHSmith seems to have grown rather out-of-date as of late. As a brand around here, except for the Smiths at Lincoln and Notts train stations, are starting to become rather overlooked. So to bring itself back into Christmas contention, they've released the Kobo Vox: a 7-inch Android powered tablet (hello Kindle Fire).
Rumour: iPad 3 Is Smaller, Production To Start In January
This rumour seems to always circulate at this time; but it's retaining it's travels around the web, indicating what we might expect from the next-generation of Apple’s iPad. If rumours prove to be correct, we might well be seeing a much smaller model from the rather beefy iPad 2.
BBC leaks external prototype of responsive news page
The BBC News developers have created a fascinating blog about the new trend of responsive web design and furthermore, have leaked an external prototype of the BBC News site with the concept implemented.
Signal Snowboards pay tribute to Steve Jobs
California based Signal Snowboards experiment with new designs and ideas every third Thursday, creating a rather popularly viral web series in the process. This time around, they created the iShred: a custom ride with a built in iPad, to create a fitting homage to Jobs.
First Gen iPod Nano switched for the same model
Remember when Apple started the iPod Nano (first generation) replacement program in fears of overheating batteries? Turns out questions around what model they'll be replacing it with for customers have finally been answered...they're being replaced with the same model.