Thursday, May 29, 2008
End of use of Blogger
FryReaders, we have discontinued use of blogger for our site services, and we are switching to the (in our opinion) better, faster, and more customizeable Wordpress. Thanks for staying with us, and by June we will have our new site completely up and running.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Lebanon Under New Rule
After 18 months of grinding political conflict, Lebanon’s Parliament elected a new president on Sunday, in the first formal step toward enacting a new power-sharing pact among the country’s bitterly divided political factions.
Adobe CS4 Sneak Peek
Adobe on Tuesday gave users a look at what’s in store for the next versions of some of its Creative Suite (CS) applications by releasing free public betas of Dreamweaver, Fireworks, and Soundbooth on the Adobe Labs Web site.
Anyone can download the new betas; however, for new customers, the software will only work for 48 hours after the first launch. If you’re an existing CS3 user, you can run the betas until CS4 becomes available; all you need is your sign-in information.
iPhone 2 Discount In France?
Orange has called several readers of French PCImpact. Orange called regarding an update to the future iPhone model
The first solution would allegedly entail a direct swap. A trade-in for the current model would reduce the price of a new iPhone to 50 Euros, effectively subsidizing nearly all the cost of the new phone with the old one. Alternately, subscribers could obtain the next iPhone at what's referred to as a "generous" discount, the website claims, although what this would involve is a mystery.
Any way it plays, I'd love a discount!
The first solution would allegedly entail a direct swap. A trade-in for the current model would reduce the price of a new iPhone to 50 Euros, effectively subsidizing nearly all the cost of the new phone with the old one. Alternately, subscribers could obtain the next iPhone at what's referred to as a "generous" discount, the website claims, although what this would involve is a mystery.
Any way it plays, I'd love a discount!
Apple Files Solar LCD Patent
Apple, our favorite ahead-of-the-rest tech company has made yet another wise and brave move. They have filed a patent for a solar panel that would live inside the LCDs of future laptops.
Goldman Sach Add Apple To Conviction Buy List
We couldn't find a way to make this article as great as the one Apple Insider had, so we're going to leave it to them:
Citing high expectations for the next-generation iPhone leading up to and through its expected launch next month, investment bank Goldman Sach this week added Apple to its Conviction Buy List and also upgraded its price target on the company to $220 per share.
In a research note, analyst David Bailey told clients he expects the combination of a 3G iPhone, third-party applications via Apple's upcoming App Store, and a wealth of new international carriers to push iPhone units of approximately 11 million this year, compared to just 3.7 million in 2007.
"Our analysis shows that Apple will almost double its available subscriber base in calendar 2008 vs. 2007, with 100 percent of that growth coming from outside of the US as Apple signs up carriers in more than 40 new countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa," he wrote.
More specifically, the analyst sees carriers in those new international markets boosting the iPhone's available subscriber base from roughly 97 million in 2007 to 174 million by the end of this year.
"We have only assumed contract subscribers in our analysis, as we think pre-paid customers are not prime candidates for the iPhone," he explained. "While this reduces the available market for iPhone -- it would triple in 2008 if all subscribers were included -- we think it is more realistic to use the smaller subset given iPhone’s higher-end characteristics."
Bailey reiterated his Buy rating on Apple shares, advising investors that now is the time to build on their positions if they want to "capture the catalyst around the 3G iPhone launch next month and the upside potential from sharply higher projected iPhone sales in the back half of the year."
-Apple Insider
Citing high expectations for the next-generation iPhone leading up to and through its expected launch next month, investment bank Goldman Sach this week added Apple to its Conviction Buy List and also upgraded its price target on the company to $220 per share.
In a research note, analyst David Bailey told clients he expects the combination of a 3G iPhone, third-party applications via Apple's upcoming App Store, and a wealth of new international carriers to push iPhone units of approximately 11 million this year, compared to just 3.7 million in 2007.
"Our analysis shows that Apple will almost double its available subscriber base in calendar 2008 vs. 2007, with 100 percent of that growth coming from outside of the US as Apple signs up carriers in more than 40 new countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa," he wrote.
More specifically, the analyst sees carriers in those new international markets boosting the iPhone's available subscriber base from roughly 97 million in 2007 to 174 million by the end of this year.
"We have only assumed contract subscribers in our analysis, as we think pre-paid customers are not prime candidates for the iPhone," he explained. "While this reduces the available market for iPhone -- it would triple in 2008 if all subscribers were included -- we think it is more realistic to use the smaller subset given iPhone’s higher-end characteristics."
Bailey reiterated his Buy rating on Apple shares, advising investors that now is the time to build on their positions if they want to "capture the catalyst around the 3G iPhone launch next month and the upside potential from sharply higher projected iPhone sales in the back half of the year."
-Apple Insider
Monday, May 26, 2008
iPhone 2.0 Overview
This blog post will be as much an informatory piece as much as it is predictory and opinionated. It contains all the information I think FryBlog readers will appreciate and take into account as we all follow the multitude of rumors and theories running around the internet. I have procrastinated this post for a while, and although people have continually asked for my predictions, I wanted to wait for the right time to reveal them.
AT&T has announced that it will complete a US rollout of its HSUPA 3G service by the end of June. We're guessing that a little bird from Cupertino might have made its way to AT&T, pushing them along. Hmmm, now some of you who have been following the iPhone since its release might find this scenario familiar: do you remember AT&T boosting EDGE speeds last year on the iPhone's launch date?
Rumored New Features-
GPS
2 Cameras (1 on front, 1 on back)
3G (duh)
Skype/AIM
Geotagging
Larger screen
higher resolution
more gestures
much more to be added tomorrow
AT&T has announced that it will complete a US rollout of its HSUPA 3G service by the end of June. We're guessing that a little bird from Cupertino might have made its way to AT&T, pushing them along. Hmmm, now some of you who have been following the iPhone since its release might find this scenario familiar: do you remember AT&T boosting EDGE speeds last year on the iPhone's launch date?
The new network proposes speeds of 1.4 Mbps down and 800Kbps up, which AT&T claims "will be as speedy as logging onto the high speed Internet service that many consumers enjoy at home". The only thing I can say is that I pity those who enjoy internet at those speeds...
In the latest build of the iPhone 2.0 software, Apple has added a system wide "Location Service", and you can choose whether you want to let the camera application to add positional data to your photos. Geotagging on the iPhone is a very plausible new feature, would intergrate with "Maps" and "Camera" very well. Apple doesn't reveal
whether this will be done by GPS (Another plausible new feature) or by the iPhone's current triangulation methods. What it does mean, though, is that geotagging is about to break big for mobile users with the iPhone.
Rumored New Features-
GPS
2 Cameras (1 on front, 1 on back)
3G (duh)
Skype/AIM
Geotagging
Larger screen
higher resolution
more gestures
much more to be added tomorrow
Airport=10.6% 802.11n WiFi Market
Apple has managed to grip an amazing 10.6% of the US WiFi market with its line of Airport products. This amazing statistic is predicted to rise even more over the next year, as an upgrade for the MacBook line is due, and the iPhone 2 is rumored to be ready by June 9th
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Indiana Jones
"Indiana Jones" unearthed box office gold at domestic theaters with a performance that puts it on track to become the second biggest Memorial Day movie opening ever, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Harrison Ford stars in Paramount Pictures' "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull."
The fourth installment of the whip-cracking professor's exploits, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," grossed an estimated $101 million from Friday to Sunday, plus $25 million from its opening Thursday, distributor Paramount Pictures said. The company expects it to earn another $25 million on Monday.
That would put it behind only "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," which had a Friday-through-Monday total of $139.8 million, in the pantheon of Memorial Day weekend blockbusters.
Including Thursday's receipts, "Indiana Jones" was expected to collect $151 million over five days, slightly behind "Pirates," which took in $153 million with a partial Thursday included.
"'Indiana Jones' did incredibly well for a film that comes 19 years after the previous installment," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of tracking firm Media By Numbers LLC.
The adventure flick received a lackluster reception from critics at the Cannes Film Festival, but audiences thought otherwise.
Box office estimates grew from $25 million on its opening Thursday through $37 million on Saturday, suggesting strong word of mouth, Dergarabedian said.
"This is the definition of a summer movie from two of the architects of the summer movie season -- George Lucas and Steven Spielberg," he said. "These guys have it down to a science and audiences want to go along for that ride."
The first three Indy movies took in $1.2 billion worldwide.
Disney's action sequel, "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian," slipped to second place with $23 million, for a total of $91.1 million over two weeks. The company expected the movie to continue to play well as school lets out.
"Once you start getting the mass number of kids out of school, it turns into some serious money," said Chuck Viane, president of distribution for Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
Marvel Studios' "Iron Man" clinched another $20.1 million, bringing its domestic total to $252.3 million. A sequel is set for release in 2010.
The 20th Century Fox comedy, "What Happens in Vegas," continued to roll with $9 million in its third week, for a total of $54.2 million.
Fox senior vice president Bert Livingstone said high gas prices were encouraging people to see movies rather than take long trips away from home.
"This is the last great bargain," Livingstone said.
-CNN
Harrison Ford stars in Paramount Pictures' "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull."
The fourth installment of the whip-cracking professor's exploits, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," grossed an estimated $101 million from Friday to Sunday, plus $25 million from its opening Thursday, distributor Paramount Pictures said. The company expects it to earn another $25 million on Monday.
That would put it behind only "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," which had a Friday-through-Monday total of $139.8 million, in the pantheon of Memorial Day weekend blockbusters.
Including Thursday's receipts, "Indiana Jones" was expected to collect $151 million over five days, slightly behind "Pirates," which took in $153 million with a partial Thursday included.
"'Indiana Jones' did incredibly well for a film that comes 19 years after the previous installment," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of tracking firm Media By Numbers LLC.
The adventure flick received a lackluster reception from critics at the Cannes Film Festival, but audiences thought otherwise.
Box office estimates grew from $25 million on its opening Thursday through $37 million on Saturday, suggesting strong word of mouth, Dergarabedian said.
"This is the definition of a summer movie from two of the architects of the summer movie season -- George Lucas and Steven Spielberg," he said. "These guys have it down to a science and audiences want to go along for that ride."
The first three Indy movies took in $1.2 billion worldwide.
Disney's action sequel, "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian," slipped to second place with $23 million, for a total of $91.1 million over two weeks. The company expected the movie to continue to play well as school lets out.
"Once you start getting the mass number of kids out of school, it turns into some serious money," said Chuck Viane, president of distribution for Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
Marvel Studios' "Iron Man" clinched another $20.1 million, bringing its domestic total to $252.3 million. A sequel is set for release in 2010.
The 20th Century Fox comedy, "What Happens in Vegas," continued to roll with $9 million in its third week, for a total of $54.2 million.
Fox senior vice president Bert Livingstone said high gas prices were encouraging people to see movies rather than take long trips away from home.
"This is the last great bargain," Livingstone said.
-CNN
Pheonix Lands On Mars
Just before 8 p.m. Eastern time, mission controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory here received a radio signal from the Phoenix on the ground in the icy plains north of Mars' Arctic circle. The lander kept contact with Mission Control throughout the landing process. NASA had predicted that technicians would lose contact when the lander created hot plasma during atmospheric deceleration, but the signal was never lost. The lander is sitting a half degree off-axis, a near perfect landing. When asked if the landing could have gone better, Phoenix project manager, Barry Goldstein replied, "
The lander is now transmitting data to the Mars Odyssey and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. These satellites currently in orbit around Mars are rebroadcasting the data from the Phoenix Lander in what NASA call a "bent-pipe" relay. That data is being received by the giant antennas at the Goldstone Deep Space Network Complex and sent directly to Mission Control at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for processing. If all is operating properly, the next few days will be spent checking out the instruments aboard the lander. Then, it will begin the first upclose investigation of Mars' north polar regions. That area became a prime area of interest for planetary scientists after NASA's orbiting Odyssey spacecraft discovered in 2002 vast quantities of water ice lying a few inches beneath the surface in Mars' polar regions.
All of Mars' surface is currently far too cold for life to exist, but in the past, Mars' axis may have periodically tipped over so that its north pole pointed at the sun during summer. That conceivably could have warmed the ice into liquid water, and a possibility of life.
On Phoenix, a robotic arm with a scoop at the end will dig into the permafrost terrain into the ice. Instruments on the spacecraft included a small oven that will heat the scooped-up dirt and ice to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit. Analyzing the vapors will provide information of the minerals, and that will, in turn, provide clues about whether the ice ever melted and whether this region was habitable for life.
The lander is now transmitting data to the Mars Odyssey and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. These satellites currently in orbit around Mars are rebroadcasting the data from the Phoenix Lander in what NASA call a "bent-pipe" relay. That data is being received by the giant antennas at the Goldstone Deep Space Network Complex and sent directly to Mission Control at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for processing. If all is operating properly, the next few days will be spent checking out the instruments aboard the lander. Then, it will begin the first upclose investigation of Mars' north polar regions. That area became a prime area of interest for planetary scientists after NASA's orbiting Odyssey spacecraft discovered in 2002 vast quantities of water ice lying a few inches beneath the surface in Mars' polar regions.
All of Mars' surface is currently far too cold for life to exist, but in the past, Mars' axis may have periodically tipped over so that its north pole pointed at the sun during summer. That conceivably could have warmed the ice into liquid water, and a possibility of life.
On Phoenix, a robotic arm with a scoop at the end will dig into the permafrost terrain into the ice. Instruments on the spacecraft included a small oven that will heat the scooped-up dirt and ice to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit. Analyzing the vapors will provide information of the minerals, and that will, in turn, provide clues about whether the ice ever melted and whether this region was habitable for life.
2,584 Baseball Games?!?!
Omar Vizquel played in his 2,584th major league game on Sunday to surpass fellow Venezuelan Luis Aparicio for most games played by a shortstop.
Scott Nixon Wins Indy 500
Scott Dixon stayed ahead of the trouble, got a boost from his crew and drove to his first Indianapolis 500 victory Sunday.
Dixon got out of the pits ahead of Vitor Meira on the final round of stops, then held off the Brazilian and hard-luck Marco Andretti to win the first 500 since the two warring open-wheel series came together under the IndyCar banner. Danica Patrick failed to finish for the first time in four trips to Indy, though it wasn't her fault. She was clipped on pit road by Ryan Briscoe with 29 laps to go, breaking the left rear suspension on a car that had run in the top 10 most of the race but never seriously challenged for the lead. She finished 22nd.
Andretti appeared to knock teammate Tony Kanaan out of the race with an aggressive move just past the midway point, but all he got was another close call for a family that is now 1-for-57 at the Brickyard. The 21-year-old settled for third.
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