http://www.ecoustics.com/latest/news Latest news, updated every five minutes http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/17777 Russia's largest mobile phone operator MTS has announced it will offer the Apple iPhone for sale—although it offered no other details. The announcement means Russia's three largest mobile operators—Vimpelcom, MegaFon and now MTS—all have agreements with Apple to sell the iPhone. Presumably, all three operators will be offering the iPhone 3G, although details and pricing information haven't been announced. Sales are expected to get underway before the end of the year, and the operators aren't expected to be subsidizing the cost of the handRead | Permalink | Linking Blogs Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:10:00 -0400 http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/8301-11128_3-10033616-54.html?part=ecoustics-cnet Tata to bring small, all-electric car to Norway next year; a banner years for wind power; a home hydrogen-filling station; comparing the presidential candidates on plug-in cars; a microbial fuel cell for developing world; tips on greening your PC. Fri, 05 Sep 2008 10:24:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/17771 If you’re very definite on the issue of privacy, you’ll want to make a few tweaks if you’re a Chrome user.Currently, according to TechNewsWorld, everything you type in the location bar – be it a URL or search query – could be logged, along with your IP address, by Google. You don’t even have to hit enter.However, currently only around 2% of that data is being collected, the company insists.Google spokesperson Carolyn Penner told the news service:"If Google is set as [the] default search engine, any entry into the Google Chrome Omnibox that returns seRead | Permalink | Linking Blogs Fri, 05 Sep 2008 08:00:00 -0400 http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/8301-13578_3-10033014-38.html?part=ecoustics-cnet Former NFL player Cris Carter showed up at the Republican convention to promote a video game that teaches fiscal responsibility. Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:35:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/17769 Leave it to Sony to win the battle for a high-definition disc format, then—just as the market starts to swing toward consumers with pocketbook-friendly prices—"lead" the industry by zig-zagging the other way. But that's exactly what Sony's doing—at least for the home theater crowd—at this year's CEDIA Expo, introducing a new Blu-ray player that'll carry a $2,000 price tag, rather than the $200 price tag consumers seek.And, while most LCD TV manufacturers are working on introducing sets with 120 Hz refresh rates to produce smoother, flicker-free images, Sony ups the ante once again, unveiling an LCD TV with a 240 Hz refresh rate.First up, the newRead | Permalink | Linking Blogs Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:30:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/17766 Moving away from the current crop of nearly identical digital photo frames that do nothing but serve up pictures, Sony released a more capable multi-tasking frame on Wednesday with the Vaio CP1. Besides display photos from camera memory cards, the new frame comes with Wi-Fi for pulling images from the Web, playing radio, and even delivering RSS feeds.The frame’s 7-inch LCD can display 16 million colors in 800 x 480 resolution, making it one of the higher quality displays used in digital photo frames. It accepts photos from SD cards, CompactFlash andRead | Permalink | Linking Blogs Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:50:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/17758 The Information and Communication Technology Ministry (ICT) in Thailand is taking drastic action against a large number of web sites that it claims "disturbed the peaceful social order and morality of the people, and/or which were considered detrimental to national security" and contravened the Computer Crime Act, according to the Bangkok Post.It’s seeking court orders to close 400 sites and advising ISPs to block 1200 others, and has asked the police to help “bring all the violators to trial.”Among them are sites deemed to carry obscene content and over 300 the ICT claims are contemptuous of the Thai Royal family.This comRead | Permalink | Linking Blogs Thu, 04 Sep 2008 10:00:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/17755 You could say Google’s Chrome browser is a hit, capturing 1% of the market in its first day, but security researchers have already been all over it, searching for flaws – and they’ve found a couple.According to Vnunet, yesterday researcher Avi Raff discovered that Chrome is vulnerable to the same kind of carpet bombing attack that could have hit Safari. Apple patched that, but since Chrome is based in part of the same WebKit software from Apple, the flaw is there.That was quickly followed by another discovery. Chrome’s URL bar can expose a vulnerability it the chromium.dll cRead | Permalink | Linking Blogs Thu, 04 Sep 2008 07:00:00 -0400 http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/8301-13578_3-10032471-38.html?part=ecoustics-cnet Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman and HP Chairman Carly Fiorina talk up the Republican presidential candidate, saying he's much better on the economy than his Democratic rival. Thu, 04 Sep 2008 03:31:00 -0400 http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/8301-13860_3-10031661-56.html?part=ecoustics-cnet If you are not careful with your privacy settings, Google has the right to log every keystroke you type into Chrome's address bar. Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:31:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/17754 We know, we know: these days most people want an ultra-slim laptop they can carry with them anywhere as easy as a digital media player. (That is, they want it in addition to their digital media player.) But for folks whose work has them on their feet all day in the field or running around a facility like a hospital—or in the case of, say, theater pros setting their lights—tablet PCs have definitely carved out a niche. It might not be practical to use a full keyboard and set up a notebook everywhere you go, but a tablet with an integrated handle and stylus might just do the job.With that in mind, the Texas-based Motion Computing has rolled out uypgrades to itsRead | Permalink | Linking Blogs Wed, 03 Sep 2008 13:30:00 -0400 http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/8301-11128_3-10031391-54.html?part=ecoustics-cnet Enhanced geothermal firm AltaRock digs ahead; a cheaper approach to concentrating photovoltaics; details on Tesla's planned plug-in hybrid sedan; battery maker turns to electric scooters; Dubai invests in carbon offset projects. Wed, 03 Sep 2008 11:56:05 -0400 http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/8301-11128_3-10031239-54.html?part=ecoustics-cnet This month's CNET Living with Tech feature covers green tech with how-to guides on the home and cars with a look ahead at electric cars and power-generating homes. Wed, 03 Sep 2008 09:09:07 -0400 http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/8301-13526_3-10030748-27.html?part=ecoustics-cnet I tried the MediaGate iKit to connect my iPhone to my car's FM radio, preparing to be disappointed. Lo and behold, I got no interference and decent sound quality, even in urban Seattle. Tue, 02 Sep 2008 17:28:00 -0400 http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/8301-13772_3-10030509-52.html?part=ecoustics-cnet According to co-host Adam Savage, legal counsel from the largest credit card companies told Discovery Channel not to air an episode on RFID hackability. Tue, 02 Sep 2008 17:22:00 -0400 http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/8301-13845_3-10030523-58.html?part=ecoustics-cnet It's two-fer Tuesday at Woot.com. Grab this 2-pack of 2GB microSD cards, with adapters, for a mere $6.49. Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:59:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/17731 The iPhone is going to Russia: a few days ago, Russian mobile operator Vimpelcom announced it would be offering the Apple iPhone 3G for sale within Russia, and today Russian mobile operator MegaFon issued a one-line statement saying it would also be offering the iPhone during 2008.Neither company has offered any further details on their plans, including availability dates or pricing. Vimpelcom markets mobile handsets under the brand name Beeline, and is the second-largest mobile operator in Russia with operators in neighboring countries including the Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Armenia, and Turkmenistan. MegaFon is the third-largest mobRead | Permalink | Linking Blogs Tue, 02 Sep 2008 11:45:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/17730 Nokia has announced that the United Kingdom will be the first market to be lit up with its its Comes with Music service. The deal will be exclusive to Carphone Warehouse—pre-orders are available today—although Nokia is holding back all the details of the service until a launch event in London on October 2. The first Comes with Music handset will be the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic "Comes with Music" Edition."We believe that Comes With Music will transform the way people enjoy music," said Nokia's executive VP for entertainment and communities Tero Ojanperä, in a statementRead | Permalink | Linking Blogs Tue, 02 Sep 2008 11:30:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/17728 UK pay-as-you-go customers who’ve been wanting a 3G iPhone are in luck. From September 16, O2, which has the handset franchise for Britain, will be offering it, but the set itself will cost you – around $700 for the 8GB model and $800 for the 16GB.The phone will be available at O2 and Apple stores, as well as at Carphone Warehouse.O2 noted that the price “includes unlimited browsing and Wi-Fi for the first 12 months after you activate your iPhone 3G. At the end of the 12 months you can continue to receive unlimited browsing and Wi-Fi for jusRead | Permalink | Linking Blogs Tue, 02 Sep 2008 09:00:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/17727 In what might be very chilling news, journalist Magomed Yevloyev, who ran a site loudly opposing the Kremlin-back regime in Russia’s troubled Ingushetia region, has been killed by police, the Guardian reports.Yevloyev ran the site Ingushetiya.ru, where he accused Russia of crushing free speech in the area.According to reports, he flown into Ingushetian capital of Nazran from Moscow, and was met by police at the airport. Kaloi Akhilgov told Reuters:"As they drove he was shot in the temple ... They threw him out of the car near the hospital. He was discovered there aRead | Permalink | Linking Blogs Tue, 02 Sep 2008 08:00:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/17726 Surnames, we all have them. But do we know where they came from and how they’re distributed around the globe. Possibly not, but now there’s an easy way to find out – the Public Profiler web site.Developed by geographers from University College London, it uses data from electoral rolls and phone books covering 26 countries and 300 million people to offer maps of surnames – where they’re from and where they’ve gone.One of the researchers, Professor Paul Longley, told the BBC:"The information is not just historical but geographicaRead | Permalink | Linking Blogs Tue, 02 Sep 2008 07:00:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/17725 Microsoft’s Internet Explorer dominates the PC browser market. But that might end up a historical fact as today Google launches its own open-source browser for Windows, named Chrome. The beta will be available in 100 countries, and the company promises Linux and Mac versions will arrive soon.In a blog posting announcing the browser’s arrival (which includes a carton, oddly), Google's Sundar Pichai wrote:“We realized that the Web had evolved from mainly simple text pages to rich, interactive applications and that we needed to completely rethink the browser. What we really needed was not just a browser, but also a moRead | Permalink | Linking Blogs Tue, 02 Sep 2008 01:46:49 -0400 http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/2300-11389_3-6246178-1.html?part=ecoustics-cnet With population growth and the environment in mind, French automaker Peugeot gets designers to propose far-out ideas for future city driving. Mon, 01 Sep 2008 09:00:00 -0400 http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/8301-1035_3-10029577-94.html?part=ecoustics-cnet With the vicious hurricane on a path toward New Orleans, emergency workers and telecom carriers are rushing to prevent a repeat of Katrina. Sat, 30 Aug 2008 18:58:00 -0400 http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/8301-13580_3-10028706-39.html?part=ecoustics-cnet Dear Adobe, a site where customers of the company's products can carp about problems and pass judgment on others' gripes, has caught Adobe's attention. Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:00:00 -0400