OmniTouch Projection Interface Makes the World Your Touchscreen

Sometimes you just want to make notes on your forearm. Put that permanent marker down though, because PhD student Chris Harrison at Microsoft Research have created a new system that allows touchscreen interaction on hairy and uneven surfaces. It uses a short-range depth camera instead of the infrared sensor we've seen on similar devices, which allows it to gauge the viewing angle and other characteristics of surfaces being used -- and it can even handle pinch-to-zoom.

 

 

Logitech M525 Wireless Mouse Lasts Three Years on a Single pair of Batteries

That is the Logitech M525 wireless mouse, a rather unassuming hunk of plastic and rubber with a scroll wheel that also tilts for navigating pages both horizontally and vertically. Sure, you get your choice of white or black, for what that's worth, but probably the most distinguishing feature is the battery life. This £35 ($40) pointer gets up to three years on a single pair of AAs. In the states you get a few more color options, including green and blue, and all versions use Logitech's proprietary wireless connection, which lets you connect up to six devices to a single tiny dongle. The M525 is available now in the US and should be available in the UK before the month is out.

 

 

iPhone 4S hits Four Million in Sales After First Weekend

How did you spend your weekend? If you're Apple, the answer is simple, really: selling a whole lot of iPhones. Cupertino this morning announced that iPhone 4S sales have reached four million -- quite an impressive number compared to what its predecessor was capable of, a fact no doubt helped by the addition of some carriers, like Verizon and Sprint here in the States. The handset is currently available in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the UK, with plenty more countries coming by the end of the year.

LG DoublePlay Makes its Official Intro on T-Mobile, Offers Dual-Screens and Split Keyboard

Where have all the split-keyboard phones gone? It's been roughly seven years since the days of the Nokia 6820, a messaging device with an innovative form factor, but handsets with a similar mold have become extreme rarities in the market -- if they even make it to the market at all (remember the MotoSplit?). LG's hoping to gain some ground in this area by officially announcing the DoublePlay, a unique Android 2.3 handset with dual touchscreens and split QWERTY. Here's the scoop: the DoublePlay's powered by a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU and offers a 5MP rear-facing camera capable of capturing 720p HD video. 

Where it gets interesting, however, is in the DoublePlay's design -- it uses a 3.5-inch display on top, sliding out to reveal a 2-inch internal screen sandwiched in between both halves of the keyboard. As it turns out, both screens can be used separately or in tandem with each other, depending on your needs. No pricing or availability was specifically announced, but the presser appears to coincide with the 2011 National Texting Championship beginning October 26th, so the phone will likely launch around the same time. Perhaps we have a device here that'll be a legend in another seven years?

 

 

There’s No Such Thing as Too Many Handles on a Suitcase

Unless you travel with just the clothes on your back, you're going to be spending part of your vacation awkwardly wrangling a heavy suitcase through airports and in and out of taxis. Cursing American Tourist for their single handle designs all the while.

You'd think that by now luggage manufacturers would have realized this and provided ample places to grip, pull and tug a heavy suitcase. But they haven't. Instead, it took a Quirky inventor to come up with a third-party solution called the Lift. It's literally nothing more than an adjustable, heavy-duty, nylon t-strap that wraps around a suitcase. But what makes it awesome is the inclusion of extra handles located all over the strap, making the whole kit and caboodle easier to lift. It attaches with plastic seatbelt-like buckles so you can easily pop it off for inevitable luggage inspections, and is currently available for pre-sale on Quirky for just $24 get it here.

 

 

Colorware Spills its Inks on Your iPhone 4S, Charges Dearly for it

You didn't think the latest iPhone would be saved from Colorware's paint-dipped hands, did you?
Lo and behold, the company's swatches are currently ready for application on the 4S. Similar to its iPhone 4 treatments, you'll be able to spice up your device -- and its earbuds -- with a mixture of glossy, metallic and soft-touch coatings (excluding mainly the front face, which remains stock black or white). Colorware'll gladly sell you a fresh 16 or 64GB model for a whopping $1,500 or $1,700, respectively, or you can mail yours in to get a Benetton-esque makeover for just $250. More here.

 

 

Japan’s Latest Radiation Scare Was Caused by Nuclear Paint

The elevated radiation levels discovered in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward have been confirmed—thankfully—as not having originated from the damaged Fukushima power plant. So what was causing the Geigers to jump? A stash of radium-226 under a home's floorboards.

The mystery, though, is how they got there.

Japan's Science Ministry discovered the cache Thursday which consisted of numerous bottles and vials containing a white, powdered substance believed to be radium. Some containers bore the label, Nihon Yako ("Luminous Japan")— radium-226 can be used as a luminous paint.

Radiation levels at the surface of the bottles measured 600 microsieverts per hour. The elderly owner of the home said she was unaware of the materials stored beneath her. She reportedly had lived in the home from 1953 until February of this year while receiving about 30 mSv of exposure annually. Radium, when inhaled or ingested, accumulates in the bones and for every 100 mSv of exposure, increases one's chances of dying from cancer by one half percent.

Authorities have removed the isotopes from the property and stored them at a radioactive isotope disposal agency for the duration of their 1,600-year half life.

Celebrating 50 Years of Space Flight with Corn Mazes?

With what has to be the first crop circles officially confirmed to be related to space travel, NASA is continuing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of manned space flight with a series of complex corn mazes highlighting their achievements.

Space Farm 7, as the program's called, has enlisted seven of the top agritourism farms across the country to each create a unique, elaborate corn maze that highlights the progress and successes of the agency since it put a man into orbit. The mazes are strategically located near NASA's research centers, and each design represents the unique contributions made by each location. 

 

 

Windows 7 Overtakes XP Globally, Vista Found Weeping in a Corner

According to StatCounter, it's taken roughly two years for Redmond's latest to surpass XP and become the world's most popular operating system. October 2011 marks the first time that Windows 7 has overtaken XP globally, with a 40 percent share of the market versus the latter's 38. As for Vista, it's been holding steady at around 11. Not that it's much of a surprise, as in North America, Windows 7 took the crown back in April of this year. Rounding out the top five, are OS X (though it's not clear whether that captures all of Cupertino's beasts) and Linux, which come in at 7 and 0.82 percent respectively.

 

 

NVIDIA Intros 3D Vision 2 Glasses With Brighter Field of View, Comfier Design

NVIDIA's 3D Vision is impressive and all, but one trade-off you'll have to accept when you put on those active shutter glasses is a markedly dimmer field of view than what you'd get if you settled for plain-Jane 2D gaming. Well, the outfit just unveiled the second generation of the technology -- appropriately named 3D Vision 2 -- and this go 'round it promises not to strain your vision quite so much. These shutter glasses have a lens that's 20 percent larger, promising a brighter experience. As an added perk, the frames have been rejiggered to be lighter and more flexible so that you can comfortably wear headphones without pinching your lobes.

As for the newest 3D Vision monitors and laptops, those panels promise reduced ghosting, as well as 120Hz 2D gaming. If a new rig's not in the cards, the company also assures us that these glasses will be backward compatible with older 3D Vision panels. Look for them this month in the form of either standalone frames ($99) or as part of a $149 kit.

 

 

It’s A Case! It’s A Battery! It’s A Projector! It’s … ALL OF THEM

Sometimes, smartphone screens are just not big enough. Linking it to a projector is helpful but it's hardly portable and before you know it, the battery's gone. The Monolith, a triple-threat iPhone case that works as a projector and a battery pack, can light up your room while keeping your gear booboo-free.

The case, made by Japanese accessory maker Century, is said to be capable of providing about three hours of image projection at sizes up to 60 cm (in 16:9 format), in 640×360 resolution, with a 1,000:1 contrast ratio. But with a brightness of a mere 12 lumens, it's certainly no makeshift movie theater. At best, you'll probably end up using it for a viral video party … if you're entertained by three hours of that stuff.

If you are (and I'm not judging you!), you won't have to worry about killing your battery life; the 1,900 mAh battery will either cancel out the drain or boost your iPhone's lifespan up to 50 percent without projector usage and takes four hours to fully charge. For $260, it's a pricey battery pack, but you can decide whether the novelty of having a handy projector is worth the investment. The monolith is available in black or white. More here.

 

 

Stow Your Buds on Your Wrist

Finally, a Live Strong-style bracelet that does more than serve as a smug fashion accessory!

The Budwrap is a silicone wrist strap that securely stores your ear buds. You just tuck the buds under two integrated flaps, wrap the loose wire around it and insert the jack into a small hole in the band.

This Kickstarter project is getting funded and for the next three days (until the campaign ends) Budwrap is giving away a free, bonus bracelet for donations of $15 or more. More here.

 

 

Google Announces Q3 Earnings: $9.72 Billion in Revenue and 40 million Google+ Users

Google's just announced its third quarter earnings and, as expected, the company's numbers are continuing on the upswing (even beating expectations). That includes $9.72 billion in revenue, which represents a 33 percent jump compared to the third quarter of 2010, along with $2.73 billion in net income, which is up from $2.17 billion a year ago. 

There's not a ton of surprises to be found in the results otherwise, although Larry Page and co. sure seem to be busy hiring new folks -- they've brought on 10 percent more employees in the span of three months (for a total of 31,353 full-time employees as of September 30th).

 

 

Google+ Has 40 Million Users, But How Many Use It?

Google has announced its earnings for the most recent quarter, and—surprise!—they made lots and lots and lots of money, mostly off of search revenue. Which is the same story that's been written about Google earnings for the last ten years.

But! While the company didn't break out any specific numbers on Android usage, they did confirm that Google+ has over 40 million users. "Users," here, being loosely defined, since Google+ is a relative ghost town of privately shared links about how Google+ is a ghost town. And given how heavily Google+ was promoted in the early days—across however many millions and millions of Gmail accounts—is it wrong to be a little surprised that there aren't even more people who signed up?

Google will be hosting a call to discuss earnings (a not at all shabby $9.72 billion revenue, $2.73 billion net income) at 4:30EST, which will hopefully include some goodies on Android activations, Ice Cream Sandwich, and the Motorola acquisition.

 

 

Dennis Ritchie, Co-Creator of Unix and Founder of C, Has Died

In less than a week, the world has lost two tech pioneers. Last week, we mourned the passing of Steve Jobs, and now we say goodbye to computer scientist Dennis Ritchie who also recently died.

Ritchie, or dmr as he was called in programming circles, worked most of his life at Bell Laboratories where he helped create the C programming language and worked extensively on the Unix operating system. Without his work, many of the computing products we have today would not exist. Apple, whose OS X operating system is based on Unix and whoseObjective C programming language is rooted in C, has benefitted greatly from Ritchie's work.

Ritchie also co-wrote the definitive bible on C programming (a must have for any programmer) and has been awarded the Turing Award, the National Medal of Technology and, recently, the Japan Prize for his work in the field of computer science. He died at home over the weekend of Oct 8/9th from an unknown illness. He was 70-years-old.

 

 

Microsoft Officially Launches Windows Phone in India

You may have already been able to get a Windows Phone device in India without too much trouble, but Microsoft has only just now made things fully official -- complete with Windows Phone Marketplace, voice recognition support, and a trio of Mango devices. That includes just the HTC Radar initially, which will be available next week for the local equivalent of $490, while the Samsung Omnia W and Acer Allegro (believed to be the same as the W4) are set to follow sometime in November. Of the three, the Allegro is said to be the cheapest of the lot, and there's also some reports that it will launch in Europe for €299 (or roughly $400) off-contract.

 

 

Samsung Crashes iPhone 4S Block Party, Lures Aussies with $2 Galaxy S II s

Can't say we didn't see this catfight coming after Apple boldly rejected Samsung's settlement offer in Australia, but man, the latter certainly isn't afraid of striking back in its enemy's front yard. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Sammy's set up a pop-up store merely meters away from Apple's Sydney store, all for just stealing the thunder from the iPhone 4S launch this Friday. The campaign? For the first ten customers each day up to Friday, the Korean giant's offering its Galaxy S II for just $2 sans contract -- no wonder the line's already longer than Apple's, according to the Herald. But of course, Samsung's also effectively funding some of these folks for their iPhone 4S from next door, so it's pretty much a win-win situation for both companies. See? There's always a happy ending, and let's hope that the upcoming Nexus Prime won't add fuel to the ongoing patent dispute.

 

 

iOS 5 and OS X 10.7.2 Available for Download

Even if you were one of those Apple fans who was less than impressed by the iPhone 4S, there is still reason for excitement -- and that reason's name is iOS 5. If you've got an iPhone 3GS, 4, third- or fourth-gen iPod touch, or either of the iPads you can download Apple's latest and greatest mobile OS right now. That's right, all the fun new features like pull-down notifications, iCloud, iMessage, Find my Friends, Twitter integration and lock screen access to your camera will be at your disposal. Sadly you will not be getting a taste of Siri, which appears to a 4S only feature for now. Still, there's more than enough here to make it a worthy upgrade to your device. So, what are you waiting for? Go hit that update button now. Just so you're aware, you'll need iTunes 10.5 installed to get the latest iOS. There's also an update to OS X coming down the pipes -- version 10.7.2 -- which officially delivers iCloud to your Mac.

 

 

BlueStacks App Player lets you run Android Apps on Windows PCs or Tablets

If you've been dreaming of a world where Android apps are free to roam across your Windows desktop, you're in luck, because BlueStacks has just turned your reverie into reality. Today, the startup unveiled an alpha version of its App Player -- software that allows users to run a host of Android apps on Windows PCs, tablets or desktops, without requiring them to make modifications to their original OS. Available as a free download, this early test version comes pre-loaded with ten apps, and can support an extra 26, on top of that. 

BlueStacks' free Cloud Connect app, meanwhile, allows you to port third-party apps directly from your handset to your computer, though some games, including Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja, are prohibited. Those, it turns out, will be included under a paid version of the App Player, which BlueStacks hopes to launch at a later date. You can take the free software for a spin at the source link here.

 

 

Acer Aspire S3 Ultrabook Rings in at $899

And the Ultrabooks have arrived! Acer Aspire S3 will go on sale in the US and Canada this week for $899 -- making it the first pinch-thin, MacBook Air competitor to hit the market, landing ahead of competing models from Toshiba, Lenovo and ASUS. To recap, this 2.98-pound aluminum beaut has a 13.3-inch (1366 x 768) panel, is rated for six hours (or 50 standby days!) of battery life and promises to wake from sleep in a mere two seconds. For the money, you'll get an ultra low voltage Core i5 CPU, 4GB of RAM and 20GB of solid-state storage combined with a 320GB HDD. This $899 version will be followed by models with Core i3 and i7 processors and beefier storage capacity. Intrigued?