Google Search Fully Blocked in China

 According to several reports and data from Google, the search engine is fully blocked in mainland China as of

today.

Also fully blocked are ads and mobile access. Image search is partially blocked, as are Google Docs, Google News and Google Groups.
Other sites and apps that were previously and remain blocked include YouTube, search suggestions, Google Sites, Blogger and Picasa.
Google and China have been at odds since at least the beginning of this year, when a “highly sophisticated and targeted attack” was conducted on Google’s corporate infrastructure; the attack originated in China. As a result, the search engine, which had been serving censored search results to comply with the demands of the Chinese government, announced it would no longer be modifying search results.
The company said it would even be willing to pull out of China altogether if search results were to be censored.
However tense relations were between the company and the country, negotiations continued — even past the point where some felt that Google’s stand for freedom of information had been compromised. Our Ben Parr wrote in March:

After Google was hacked, it was put in between a rock and a hard place. Its actions, while still bold, will not change how things are done in China. Its indecisiveness with how to proceed has made the pressure on China all but evaporate.

Intel's Light Beams Replaces Electronic Signals For Future Computers

Intel Corporation today announced an important advance in the quest to use light beams to replace the use of electrons to carry data in and around computers. The company has developed a research prototype representing the world's first silicon-based optical data connection with integrated lasers. The link can move data over longer distances and many times faster than today's copper technology; up to 50 gigabits of data per second. This is the equivalent of an entire HD movie being transmitted each second.

Today computer components are connected to each other using copper cables or traces on circuit boards. Due to the signal degradation that comes with using metals such as copper to transmit data, these cables have a limited maximum length. This limits the design of computers, forcing processors, memory and other components to be placed just inches from each other. Today's research achievement is another step toward replacing these connections with extremely thin and light optical fibers that can transfer much more data over far longer distances, radically changing the way computers of the future are designed and altering the way the datacenter of tomorrow is architected.

Whats This Magic Trackpad From Apple All About

Today  as we all know Apple has become an organization which is constantly changing the current generation tech gadgets both physically and functionally by its revolutionized products. I mean everything that Aple produces is seen by others as their next milestones. A Perfect example of this theory has already been seen by the world through Apple's iPhone and iPad. So today we are going to discuss another Trump Card from Apple that will surely going to change the way we handles our track pads on our laptops specially .Please Welcome: The Brand New Magic Trackpad from none other than Apple, California.

This wireless touch input receptacle -- already thoroughly leaked, trademarked, and FCC-approved -- has just made its debut in Apple's Store app for iOS 4. It's basically exactly what you'd expect: a glass-covered, aluminum-shelled replicator of the glorious multitouch experience on offer in Apple's MacBooks, only for the desktop. The Trackpad is battery-powered, communicates via Bluetooth fairy dust, and is ready to ship out right this minute for a dollar under 70 bucks.

Sharp Making E-Book Readers Sharp

Sharp's newest microchip is likely to draw some serious industry attention. Improving on an idea that began in 2008, the company has recently shown off a new chip (dubbed LR388G9) that can control two mobile LCDs and can simultaneously display a pair of different 1,024 x 480 pixel clips on a pair of screens; moreover, it can output full 1080p to any source connected via HDMI. Since '08, Sharp has increased memory capacity from 16Mbits to 32Mbits while boosting the image processing speed, and the company now intends to hawk this new guy to outfits who manufacture smart phones, e-readers, digital photo frames and even netbooks. If all goes well, the chip will ship within a 261-pin WFBGA package this September, with volume pricing pegged at around ¥2,400 ($27).

India Develops World’s Cheapest Tablet

Finally realising his dream project, Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal on Thursday launched a $35 computing device that will be made available to ‘learners’ right from primary schools to universities. Aiming at bringing down the price to $10, the Ministry has also begun discussions with global manufacturers to start mass production of arguably the world’s cheapest laptop. The device is released after understanding the ever increasing impact of heavy books filled bags and the fully-loaded homework on school going childrens. All thanx to the team of 200 engineers from IIS Bangalore, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Madras and IIT Kanpur.


Talking specifically, It's a sort of tablet and, while we don't know full specs, is said to have 2GB of RAM memory, run on Linux or may be the Android Platform, be able to connect to the internet over WiFi, open PDFs, and even play YouTube videos. It may not looks like as glossy as Apple's i Pad both physically and technically but at this type of cost lets understands the importance of advantages that the device will prevails all over the country if implemented in a wise direction. The Indian government plans to subsidize their sale to students such that they'll cost only $20. The goal is to have them selling for as little as $10 in the future. Exciting?

Chilled Fruits, From Markets To Mouth

 

Crazily enough, the device you're staring at above -- jaw solidly on the floor, we're sure -- is real. As in, you can purchase one for you and yours. So far as we can tell, this here watermelon cart (priced at ¥19,950, or a whopping $231) serves to keep your voluptuous fruit cool when being transported from market to mouth, but everything beyond that is lost in translation. What's curious, however, is that this seems like a device created and sold exclusively in Japan. If we had to bet, though, we'd say it was originally dreamed up by a farmer in eastern North Carolina -- you know, the home of watermelon Cook-Out milkshakes, an official watermelon license plate and roads where chop-top school buses are frequently used as watermelon hauling machines.

Sony Ericsson Vivaz dressed in pink, says Hi to the ladies

It seems the Vivaz fella is selling quite well in all the four colors, because Sony Ericsson is launching a new pink version.

Sony Ericsson Vivaz in Light Pink will be available in the selected markets by the end of September.

Vivaz is one of the best sellers this year and definitely a huge success for Sony Ericsson. The manufacturer claims all the colors are well accepted by the users and that’s the reason they are launching a new one, specifically targeting the ladies.

You can find the full Vivaz specs here

LG goes all in with 3D: announces a notebook, a monitor and a projector

LG has announced a trio of new 3D-enabled products and declared their commitment to the 3D technology. The company went official with a 15-inch 3D notebook, a 3D monitor and a 3D projector.

The LG R590 3D notebook is certainly the most interesting of the new announcements. It packs a 15.6-inch display, Intel Core i7 Processor with HM55 chipset and NVIDIA GeForce GT335M graphics card with 1GB of dedicated DDR3.

The new notebook also features SRS Tru-Surround HD for an even better 3D experience and in case you feel like it, you can also get the optional Blu-ray drive.

LG’s first 3D notebook will be launched in Korea this month and introduced globally in the weeks to follow.

The Fastest Electronic Bike Money Can Buy

Impressed by the Brammo Empulse, which just became official earlier this week? Wait 'till you get a load of this. Roehr Motorcycles has just confirmed that its eRoehr line of bikes is now available for order, and they are quite a suite of machines. If you're not familiar with the company, they're about the only American manufacturer making a proper sportbike these days, and now they have a suite of electric offerings too. Full details after the break.

500 Million Users For Facebook Next Week

Facebook will finally reach the impressive 500 million user milestone sometime this coming week. To celebrate, it’ll launch “Facebook Stories,” a visual memorial to all the ways the social network has changed people’s lives.

All Things Digital’s BoomTown blog uncovered the details in an interview with Facebook marketing guru Randi Zuckerberg last week. She said that while previous announcements of this nature have been about the numbers, this time the company wants it to be all about the users.
That’d be empty PR-speak on its own, but she’s talking about a real initiative: Facebook Stories will be a website within Facebook that’ll sort actual, submitted user stories by location and theme. Theme examples given included “finding love” and “natural disasters.” Each story will be limited to the same number of characters a Facebook status caps out at: 420.
Facebook has already posted a form through which you can submit your own story. If your story becomes popular — that is, if it gets more “Likes” than most — it could be featured among other popular stories.
Facebook reached 400 million users five months ago. This time last year, it had just reached 200 million, and eight months before that it was at just 100 million. The site launched in February of 2004, and has since become the most popular social site on the web.

Vaccine that will protect against every type of flu

A "universal" flu vaccine that protects against many strains of the virus could be available within a few years, scientists have said They believe they have solved the problem of designing a "one fits all" jab using a new two-step approach to immunisation.

Early safety trials of the vaccine have already started and it could be tested on patients as early as 2013.
Working with mice, ferrets and monkeys, the US team "primed" the immune system with a "base" of influenza DNA. They added a "booster" consisting of a regular seasonal flu vaccine which increased and broadened its immunity. The vaccine's effectiveness improved each year until, theoretically, recipients would be immune to flu.
The "priming" or base vaccine came from a 1999 virus but antibodies were generated that neutralised viruses of different sub-types and from different years, the researchers report in the journal Science.
Mice and ferrets were able to fight off viruses dating from before 1999, including the deadly strain of 1934, and also strains from 2006 and 2007. The vaccine was also effective against H5N1 "bird flu".
Dr Gary Nabel, the study leader from the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, Maryland, said: "We are excited by these results.

I Still Rules The World....I Am Windows XP

Windows 7 might be flying off the shelves at an amazing pace but it’s the good ol’ Windows XP that powers the huge chunk of the computers around the world, Microsoft admits. To be specific 74 percent, or about three in every four PCs worldwide are still running loyal to XP.

Most users are obviously reluctant to upgrade from the old but still pretty functional OS. Several years back most industry watchers used to point at the Vista shortcomings as the explanation, but now that Windows 7 fixed almost all of them it’s obvious that the problem is a good portion of users finds XP good enough and an update simply isn’t worth the extra dollar. 

That way everyone will be able to stick with XP for as long as they want, until they are ready to switch to Windows 7 or Windows 17 – whatever the current version is in 2020. 

Google Fiber Is One Step Closer to Reality

Google has launched a new website to centralize its efforts to build an ultra high-speed fiber optic Internet network, better known as Google Fiber.
Earlier this year, Google announced its plan to build a high-speed network, delivering connection speeds 100 times faster than typical U.S. connections. The announcement produced a frenzy of interest: 600+ communities applied to become ground zero for Google’s experimental high-speed network. Topeka, Kansas even changed its name to Google, Kansas in order to win the contract.
The search giant is once again moving forward with its fiber network plans. It announced the launch of Google Fiber for Communities, a simple and straightforward homepage for the project, complete with videos, an FAQ, suggestions for how to take action, and a full list of the communities that have requested more information on Google Fiber.
It’s another step towards the eventual announcement of the first community to gain Google’s high-speed network, expected later this year.

Good news for diabetics: No more daily jabs

Diabetics of the world, rejoice.

That daily shot of insulin may soon be a thing of the past.

Scientists at the National Immunology Institute, New Delhi, led by its director Dr Avadhesha Surolia,  have developed a new form of insulin which can could  maintain normal blood sugar levels for  over 120 days.

The insulin currently available can do this for a maximum of 18 hours, forcing diabetics to take at least one injection daily to sustain their sugar levels.  With this new product, they can now restrict their shots to once every four months.

Dr Surolia said the new product was based on the principles of ‘protein folding’, and could release insulin molecules in a controlled and sustained manner for over 120 days.

YouTube is ready for the big screen, now supports 4K ultra high-res videos

It seems YouTube always thinks big and the result is the new support for 4K videos – 4096×2304 resolution.
Man, that’s some serious resolution. As the official YouTube blog states, to see such a movie in its full glory you’ll need a 25 feet (7.62 meters) screen. As a comparison IMAX is projected through 2K resolution projectors and the standard IMAX screen is 22×16.1 meters.

But let’s cut to the chase. Here is the YouTube’s playlist with 4K videos. Be aware you’ll need very fast internet connection, but even then I am still concerned that our screens are no meant for that thing.
To watch the videos in their full resolution, (larger than 1080p), you must select Original from the video quality menu.

Ajmer students create their own Nano

Engineering students in Ajmer are working overtime to create a dream car for the middle class families. Inspired by the Tata Nano, these students have toiled eight hours a day for the past one year to come up with a small car that runs on diesel and costs just 70 thousand rupees.

"When Tata launched its Nano car, we started thinking about all the areas where costs can be cut. Our basic idea was to locate all factors through which costs can be reduced and our car can be within the reach of the middle class," said Chaturbhuj Sharma, Engineering student, Bhagwant University.

Another student Samir Singh says, "We had to change a lot of designs and specifications to increase the fuel economy of the car. And through the efforts of our dedicated team, this car will run 35 kilometers per litre."

Besides creating numerous designs and fabricating several parts themselves, the students have fitted a Lambretta engine and a Fiat suspension system in their Nano version.

MTNL Bringing WiMAX To Dlhi & Mumbai....BSNL to handle the remaining areas

MTNL has proposed to invite large scale bids from private players to establish a business alliance, in the deployment of WiMAX services on revenue sharing basis.
MTNL Chairman and Managing Director, Kuldip Singh has reportedly said, "The expression of interest for BWA for deploying network on a revenue sharing basis, which was to open last month (June 19) will now be open shortly."
MTNL plans to allow only one successful bidder to hold the license in each designated area of Delhi & Mumbai and proposes to implement the IEEE 802.16e standard for WiMAX services.
In a related news, Public Sector Unit (PSU) BSNL plans to launch WiMAX services in Chandigarh within the next two months time frame. As per the latest reports, BSNL’s services are presently available in 61 tehsils out of the 74 tehsils and 80 blocks out of 143 blocks across Chandigarh. The remaining areas are proposed to be covered in the next 6 months. The current estimated subscriber base for WiMAX services is around 1,000 and BSNL aims to achieve close to 18,000 subscribers by the end of the current financial year.

A Limited Edition 4GB Monster !!!!

ASUS ARES is the new king of the GPUs. It’s an upgraded ATI Radeon HD5970 with 4GB GDDR5 video memory and overclocked core and memory speeds.

Just in case you forgot, Radeon HD5970 is made of two HD5870. The two Cypress cores in HD5970 have been downclocked from 850MHz to 725MHz and the memory clock has been reduced from 1200MHz to 1000MHz too.

Well, it seems ASUS felt they can do more with such a card, so they’ve added two more gigs of video memory and clocked the cores and memory up to their native speed.

The result is ASUS ARES – the true combination of two HD5870 with a total of 4GB.

The monstrous ARES costs 1200 US dollars, but that’s not the worst part of it. This fella requires three power connectors from a minimum 750W power supply. ARES consumes 350W-450W when loaded, so I guess you’ll need a lot better PSU than 750W.

ASUS ARES is limited edition and comes in stylish aluminum suitcase with ASUS ROG laser mouse. The card, case and mouse look awesome, I give them the credit, but $1200 is to much.

Free facebook access for Airtel users for two months

Leading telecom operator Bharti Airtel has made access to online social networking site Facebook free for its over 130 million subscribers, the company said Monday.

The offer will, however, be available only for two months till Aug 31.

The Facebook site will be available in English, Hindi and five more Indian languages - Punjabi, Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam.

"For the two-month period, the partnership enables Airtel customers to access Facebook’s full mobile site faster and at no data cost from their Airtel mobiles via m.facebook.com," said an Airtel statement.

Customers, accessing mobile Internet for the first time need to SMS ‘FACEBOOK’ to 54321 to take advantage of this offer.

No +/- Clash In The Batteries Now, Thanx To Microsoft

Ever been frustrated by devices not working because you put the batteries in the wrong way? Well, the days of making sure the + and – side of your AA batteries are in the right direction are over, thanks to a new technology developed by Microsoft.  InstaLoad is a new battery technology from Microsoft that gives devices power, regardless of how users insert the batteries. It doesn’t matter which side is positive or negative; the device will simply work.  The technology is in the mechanical battery contact design. Each side of the metal contacts in a device have positive and negative points, rather than just a positive or negative point. The technology works with most barrel-type batteries, so your AA, AAA, C and D batteries are all compatible. It also doesn’t matter whether the batteries are rechargeable or not

Face Detection : New Photo Tagging Feature From Facebook

This is the first of what seems like a series of new features for its popular photo product.
The tests, which some users will see starting today, focus on decreasing the tediousness of “tagging” friends in Facebook photos. In the current Photos feature, users upload photos, click on each face in a photo, tag that photo with the friend pictured therein and continue the process until the album is tagged.
If you’ve got a large album or a lot of friends in a single photo, this process is inefficient and tedious.

Aamir Khan Production 'Peepli Live' Theatrical Trailor

Releasing on 13 Aug 2010

Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk is the World’s first 3TB external hard drive

Looking for a place to store about 2000 movies or a few million photos? Well today Seagate gave it to you in the form of FreeAgent GoFlex Desk. The 3TB external flash drive will set you back 250 US dollars but will make sure you won’t run out of free space anytime soon.
And in case you are wondering how would you go about uploading such massive amount of data, don’t worry – the FreeAgent GoFlex Desk comes complete with USB 3.0 and FireWire connectivity options. 

Google Creates YouTube Video Game to Highlight Chrome and Flash

The latest stable release of Google Chrome comes with Adobe Flash built-in. To highlight the addition, Google has created Google Chrome FastBall, a Flash-based game for YouTube.

The FastBall game tasks users to complete a series of web-oriented challenges that integrate with APIs from a combination of Google (Google) and social services like Last.fm and Twitter (Twitter) in a series of YouTube (YouTube) videos. The idea behind the game is to both demonstrate Chrome’s Flash capabilities and the underlying speed of the browser.

The game itself requires a tad too much thought for this early riser, but the more rested among us should try their hand at completing each of the five challenges as fast as possible. If you’re super speedy, try and get the ball from one end of the obstacle course to the other in 66 seconds — the current record — or less.

We should note, that though the game is meant to highlight Google Chrome (Google Chrome) with Flash, the game appears to play quite well in other browsers too. At the very least, FastBall is a fun distraction that demonstrates how Flash can enhance the YouTube experience.

Try It Out

New “Paranormal Activity 2″ Teaser Spreads Across the Web

The first teaser trailer for Paranormal Activity 2 has just been released. For those who don’t remember, the first Paranormal Activity was a smash hit at the box office, grossing more than $100 million despite an original budget of just $15,000.
How did the movie become such a success? Much of it had to do with a successful viral and word-of-mouth campaign that was significantly aided by social media. The film’s producers used Facebook to spread the word to college students and then created Eventful campaigns so that would-be watchers could request shows in their home towns. The film was consequently able to create and sustain buzz without having to finance an expensive traditional media campaign — that came later, after the film was a hit.
The sequel, while not as low-budget as the original, was still produced relatively quickly. Paramount hopes that the film will have the same degree of success as the original, potentially creating a Saw-like franchise for the studio. It comes to theaters this October.
What do you think of the teaser trailer?

70,000+ People Get Facebook Tagged in Huge Panoramic Photo

Now this picture, which was snapped during the halftime of the England-Slovenia World Cup Match, is being circulated around the web and tagged via Facebook Connect. The panoramic photograph has already been tagged with thousands of people and is, in all likelihood, the most-tagged photo in existence.


In addition to this fascinating exercise in photo-tagging, the Glastonbury organizers have also developed a cool mobile app for navigating the festival, including current and upcoming acts on various stages, exits, amenities and more in an augmented-reality interface. Kudos to that team for making such great use of available digital media tools.
The Glastonbury Festival is the largest open-air music and performing arts festival in existence. Although Glastonbury is best known for showcasing musical groups, it also features dance, cabaret, theater, comedy, circus and other types of acts.
Would you like to see more massive photos from events like this tagged via Facebook? What do you think about this from a viral marketing perspective?

Microsoft : We Have One More 'Blunder' For You

Microsoft has decided to kill off the Kin, two Microsoft-branded phones targeted at teenager users, we have confirmed.
The Kin, formerly known as “Project Pink,” was revealed in April and lauched on the Verizon network in May. However, ominous signs emerged for the phone’s demise after Microsoft cut the price of the Kin in half.

However, it doesn’t look like it was enough — the Kin until will be folded into the Windows Phone 7 team after abysmal sales and millions of dollars lost in R&D and marketing.