Daily Dispatch: Google phone buzz builds; NY tests Xbox alert system

The Daily Dispatch is a collection of interesting news about computing, consumer electronics, and other technology gathered from around the Web by Dirk Klingner, our technology-trend watcher, and other staffers. If you have a tip on news you want to share, leave a comment below.

The Googlephone: Google gears up for attack on mobile-phone market (Times UK)
Details on the Googlephone continue to emerge. It is predicted to be one of the fastest mobile devices and will be unique in that:

...a single company will control everything from the software in users’ phones to the services they use to make calls and surf the web.

Interop: New York Tests Xbox-Based Alert System (Information Week)

...The goal, said New York State Deputy CIO Rico Singleton, is to reach younger residents who spend more time on the Xbox, PlayStation, or Wii than with television or radio.

Daily Dispatch: Amazon adds Kindle features; Ocean waves power Scotland

The Daily Dispatch is a collection of interesting news about computing, consumer electronics, and other technology gathered from around the Web by Dirk Klingner, our technology-trend watcher, and other staffers. If you have a tip on news you want to share, leave a comment below.

Amazon Boosts Kindle Features (Information Week)

The market-leading e-book reader is getting PDF support and longer battery life.

Wave energy generator pumps power to Scotland (Cnet)

...The device is a hydraulic pump operated by a "hinged flap," where a large metal piece moves back and forth from the motion of the waves. The movement moves a hydraulic piston that pumps water underground to a hydro-electric turbine that drives a generator to make electricity.

Time Inc.'s Squires Assembles Team of Rivals to Harness Digital Media (The New York Observer)

...The company will prepare magazines that can work across multiple digital platforms, whether the iPhone, the BlackBerry or countless other digital devices. The company will not develop an e-book, but create something that people familiar with the plans compare to iTunes—a store where you can buy new and distinct iterations of The New Yorker or Time. Print magazines will also be for sale.

Daily Dispatch: Roku adds channels; IE 6 & 7 targeted by hackers

The Daily Dispatch is a collection of interesting news about computing, consumer electronics, and other technology gathered from around the Web by Dirk Klingner, our technology-trend watcher, and other staffers. If you have a tip on news you want to share, leave a comment below.

Roku Channel Store Hangs Out Shingle (ECommerce Times)

...Roku is making additional types of content available via its set-top players with the introduction of the Roku Channel Store. Participants so far include Pandora, Facebook Photos, Revision3, Mediafly, TWiT, blip.tv, Flickr, FrameChannel, Motionbox and MobileTribe.

Older versions of Internet Explorer are targeted by hacker (PC World)

..."Symantec has conducted further tests and confirmed that it affects Internet Explorer versions 6 and 7," the company wrote on its Web site Saturday. "We expect that a fully-functional reliable exploit will be available in the near future."

Daily Dispatch: Create PDFs with your phone; next Flip video to feature Wi-Fi

The Daily Dispatch is a collection of interesting news about computing, consumer electronics, and other technology gathered from around the Web by Dirk Klingner, our technology-trend watcher, and other staffers. If you have a tip on news you want to share, leave a comment below.

Adobe's Upgrades Acrobat.com, Launches New Mobile App (ReadWriteWeb)

...Also new are 35 user-requested features, including file searching capabilities and integrations with web services like Flickr and Google Image Search. However, one of the most exciting pieces to the upgraded service is the newly launched mobile component. With Acrobat.com's smartphone application, users won't just have access to their files on the go - they can also scan in new documents with their phone's camera.

Next-gen Flip camcorder to boast Wi-Fi (Pocket-lint)

Cisco will launch a new Wi-Fi-enabled Flip digital camcorder to go on sale in the early half of 2010, Pocket-lint has learnt.

Motorola Droid's strange camera bug

I have been seeing a lot of blog posts, discussions, and tweets about a bug in the Motorola Droid phone that causes autofocus to fail on certain dates and work on others.

I decided to talk to Mike Gikas, a Senior Electronics editor here at Consumer Reports to see if he could replicate the problem. I brought along my pocket video camera to record the action.

Mike's findings confirm that the autofocus bug is somehow date related. Images taken with the camera set to November 11th, were very blurry. Images taken with the camera set to November 17th were much more in focus. (Click on the images to see examples.)

Many blogs are reporting that the bug cycles every 24.5 days. Since the camera currently appears to be working correctly, users may be able to coast until December 11, when a patch for the Droid is expected to fix this problem.

We'll check back with Mike and other Consumer Reports experts after December 11th to see if a permanent fix has been released. —Dirk Klingner

Intel Reader: A device that turns any book into an e-book

The Intel Reader (Click to enlarge.)
[PHOTO: Intel]

Today, Intel launches a mobile reading device that converts printed text to digital text and then reads it aloud. The device weighs a little more than one pound, has a 4.3 inch screen and a 5 mega-pixel camera with a flash. Similar to netbook computers, the Intel Reader is powered by an Atom processor and promises long battery life: more than 4 hours of book "reading" or the ability to remain in standby mode for up to 5 days.

This small, portable device will allow blind or dyslexic users to gain freedom and independence by being able to read everything from menus to tax forms without waiting for assistance.

Last week, I got a chance to try out the device and was impressed by its ease of use and versatility. For starters, it is significantly smaller than previous reading assistance devices that were often confined to a desk at a local library. Capturing text from a book or magazine with the Intel Reader was made easy by the fact that the camera faces downward, perpendicular to the screen, allowing the user to hold the device comfortably in front of them. This innovation may spread to cell phones and shopping devices as it is currently very awkward to photograph text or bar codes with the rear facing camera on most cell phones.

Google Navigation app for Android: A GPS killer?

Previous navigation applications for smart phones have usually fallen short when compared to dedicated navigation units. But the new Google Maps Navigation program for Android 2.0 that's just been announced is worth watching as a possible game changer.

Why? Because Google has lots of experience working with data-intensive map applications and has built both web and mobile applications that work when the user is online or off. Even more importantly, the Google Maps Navigation app will be free to own and use on any Android 2.0 phone–such as Verizon's soon-
to-be-released Motorola Droid. (Note: We recently acquired a
Droid from Verizon and will be testing and reporting on it here in this blog soon.)

Google Maps Navigation for Android 2.0 includes all the features you expect from stand-alone portable GPS units, including turn-by-turn voice guidance, automatic rerouting and visually appealing 3-D views. But, it's also designed to take advantage of your phone's Internet connection. According to Google, the app will have:

1. Constantly updated maps and business information from Google's database.
2. Voice recognition, so you can search by just speaking.
3. A traffic view from Google's live traffic feed.
4. Data for gas stations and other points of interests that can be layered on a route map, allowing users to find what they need without straying from their original route.
5. A satellite view that, according to Google, may help users see upcoming complicated maneuvers more clearly.
6. Street eye-level views for many roads allows you to see exactly what your next turn looks like in the real world.

Gizmodo is reporting that Google has indicated the application will be available for other platforms eventually, including the iPhone. We'll share our own hands-on experiences with it soon. –Dirk Klingner

Google Voice now lets you use your existing phone number

Google Voice is an innovative phone service that provides a rich array of features including the ability to access your voicemail via your computer, sharing and transcription of your voicemail messages, custom greetings based on the caller, and low-cost international calling. Until this week, this free service from Google, required that you choose a new phone number to gain access to these great features.

Now Google has announced that users can get most Google Voice features while using an existing mobile number, saving users the hassle of giving out a new number to all their contacts. This video explains some of the benefits of Google Voice with your existing number:

The Official Google Blog explains how to get started:

U2 concert to stream live on YouTube

I recently attended a U2 show at Giants Stadium, and was excited to learn that this Sunday, October 25th, U2 plans to stream their final tour stop, live on YouTube for free. With 96,000 tickets sold to the Pasadena Rose Bowl show in California, this is expected to be largest concert ever streamed online.

This will be another first for U2 who produced the first concert performance to be shot in 3D for a theatrically released film.

Paul McGuinness, U2's manager tells of U2's desire to share their music across the Internet:

'The band has wanted to do something like this for a long time. As we're filming the LA show, it's the perfect opportunity to extend the party beyond the stadium. Fans often travel long distances to come to see U2—this time U2 can go to them, globally.'

The show starts at 8:30 Pacific time and can be found at: http://youtube/u2official

So fire up your computers, Internet connected televisions or Apple TVs and enjoy the free show. —Dirk Klingner

Internet use is a brain changer

Scientists at UCLA have found that middle-aged and older Internet newbies actually experienced altered brain activity patterns after a week of daily Internet search sessions.

The first scan of participants with little Internet experience demonstrated brain activity in regions controlling language, reading, memory and visual abilities, which are located in the frontal, temporal, parietal, visual and posterior cingulate regions,researchers said. The second brain scan of these participants, conducted after the practice Internet searches at home, demonstrated activation of these same regions, as well as triggering of the middle frontal gyrus and inferior frontal gyrus—areas of the brain known to be important in working memory and decision-making.

The study suggests that searching online may someday be used as a "brain exercise" for older adults, and the researchers say additional studies may explore how Web use has an impact on younger people (stay tuned!). Turns out all this time we spend searching the Internet may actually be good for us. —Dirk Klingner