PASADENA, Calif. – Five years after the NASA rover Spirit landed on Mars, the six-wheel robotic geologist and its twin Opportunity are still on the job.
Expectations were far lower when Spirit made a bouncing landing in a cocoon of air bags on Jan. 3, 2004, followed 21 days later by Opportunity: The goal was to try to operate each solar-powered rover for at least three months.
"That's an extraordinary return of investment in these challenging budgetary times," Ed Weiler, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said in a December statement.
Combined, the rovers have made more than 13 miles of tracks on Mars' dusty surface and sent a quarter-million images back to Earth. Their instruments have uncovered evidence that Mars was once a far wetter and warmer place than the frigid, dusty world it is now.
An accumulation of dust on the rovers' electricity-generating solar panels was expected to be one of the most likely causes of their eventual deaths, but wind has occasionally cleaned the panels.
Spirit, however, has an 18-month buildup of dust and its panels were barely able to provide sufficient power during Mars' just-ended southern hemisphere winter. At one point it failed to receive commands, and its status fell to "serious but stable" condition.
The winter was a "squeaker" for Spirit, John Callas, the rover project manager at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, said in the NASA statement.
"We just made it through," he said.
Mission managers are pressing ahead with plans for more exploration even though NASA says either rover could fail without warning.
Spirit has begun stirring after sitting immobile for most of the autumn and winter, JPL spokesman Guy Webster said Saturday. Plans are being made to drive it about 200 yards to a pair of sites that have drawn interest.
Opportunity, which is closer to the equator and has cleaner solar panels, has been driving toward a 14-mile-diameter crater, stopping on the way to examine interesting rocks.
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On the Net:
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html
Online Business
Sony's Rolly
Rolly is an egg-shaped digital robotic music player made by Sony, combining music functions with robotic dancing. It has several motors that allow it to rotate and spin, as well as two bands of LED lights running around its edge and cup-like "wings" (or "arms" according to the Sony sonystyle USA website) which can open and close on either end, all of which can be synchronized to the music being played.
Sound-sensitivity components detect beat, rhythm, voice and pitch, which can be used to have the device automatically react to music. It also has a G force sensor (accelerometer) which detects if the player is moving up or down. Preprogammed movements along with music can be downloaded from personal computers using Bluetooth, having been composed on the computer or obtained from Sony's repository of user-made movement schemes. It has two gigabytes of flash memory to store music files.[1]
On August 20, 2007, Sony launched an initial teaser advertising campaign for the product.[2] By September 2nd the advertisement was the 3rd most popular video on YouTube, with 123,000,000 views.. The product was unveiled on September 20, 2007, and went on sale in Japan on September 29, and its currently for sale at the Sony sonystyle USA website[3] for $399.99 USD. Its available in black and in white. Sony offers the "Engrave it." option for this item, and a number of accessories, including "arms" in different colors.
Mars rover mission reaches 5th anniversary
AP – In this April 13, 2005 iimage provided by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory shows a synthetic image of …
Google's Android on the Asus Netbook
Could Google's Android be positioned as a viable netbook operating system?
Freelance writers Matthäus Krzykowski & Daniel Hartmann think so, and in about four hours have compiled the mobile device platform to run on an Asus EEEPC 1000H netbook. The Android Open Source Project and its push to use the platform and applications on more devices could extend well to netbook's.
"For Silicon Valleys myriad of software companies, it means a well-backed, open operating system that is open and ripe for exploitation for building upon. Now think of Chrome, Google’s web browser, and the richness it allows developers to build into the browser’s relationship with the desktop — all of this could usher in a new wave of more sophisticated web applications, cheaper and more dynamic to use."
Krzykowski and Hartmann run a startup called Mobile-facts and believe that "getting an Android netbook to market is doable in as few as three months. Of course, the timing depends as much on decisions by the partners in Google’s OHA alliance and other developers contributing to Android, as it does on Google itself. It is these partners — including device makers and carriers — who decide how and when to adopt Android for different devices and markets."
Google's OHA (Open Handset Alliance) partners include numerous companies that could easily, if given the greenlight, push the Android platform to netbook's, and beyond. Intel, Asus, Broadcom, Nvidia, and Samsung are just a few of the notable members that could be key to this movement.
In the Android-Porting Google Group you can find step by step instructions to compile for an ASUS Eee 701 for those wanting to experiment.
Industry insiders say that the probability of a production Android Netbook might not be viable until 2010.
Netbook's are designed to be a small form factor, very portable, mobile computer with a lightweight operating system and a sub $500 price. Combine this with an open source operating system like Android that is heavily backed by Google with (hopefully) a large selection of consumer friendly applications available in the near future and you will have a portable processing package that could very well be a Microsoft killer on this front.
Freelance writers Matthäus Krzykowski & Daniel Hartmann think so, and in about four hours have compiled the mobile device platform to run on an Asus EEEPC 1000H netbook. The Android Open Source Project and its push to use the platform and applications on more devices could extend well to netbook's."For Silicon Valleys myriad of software companies, it means a well-backed, open operating system that is open and ripe for exploitation for building upon. Now think of Chrome, Google’s web browser, and the richness it allows developers to build into the browser’s relationship with the desktop — all of this could usher in a new wave of more sophisticated web applications, cheaper and more dynamic to use."
Krzykowski and Hartmann run a startup called Mobile-facts and believe that "getting an Android netbook to market is doable in as few as three months. Of course, the timing depends as much on decisions by the partners in Google’s OHA alliance and other developers contributing to Android, as it does on Google itself. It is these partners — including device makers and carriers — who decide how and when to adopt Android for different devices and markets."
Google's OHA (Open Handset Alliance) partners include numerous companies that could easily, if given the greenlight, push the Android platform to netbook's, and beyond. Intel, Asus, Broadcom, Nvidia, and Samsung are just a few of the notable members that could be key to this movement.
In the Android-Porting Google Group you can find step by step instructions to compile for an ASUS Eee 701 for those wanting to experiment.
Industry insiders say that the probability of a production Android Netbook might not be viable until 2010.
Netbook's are designed to be a small form factor, very portable, mobile computer with a lightweight operating system and a sub $500 price. Combine this with an open source operating system like Android that is heavily backed by Google with (hopefully) a large selection of consumer friendly applications available in the near future and you will have a portable processing package that could very well be a Microsoft killer on this front.
Google, Microsoft, Apple sued over preview icons (CNET)
A Michigan-based networking company on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against Google, Microsoft, and Apple alleging that all three tech giants violated a patent it owns on the use of document-preview icons--or thumbnails--in operating systems.
In the suit (PDF), Cygnus Systems targets Google's Chrome, Microsoft's Vista and Internet Explorer 8, and Apple's iPhone, Safari, and Mac OS X as patent infringers. Apple uses the patent-protected technology in its Finder and Cover Flow Mac OS X features, the lawsuit claims.
Cygnus describes the technology covered by the patent as "methods and systems for accessing one or more computer files via a graphical icon, wherein the graphical icon includes an image of a selected portion or portions of one or more computer files."
E-mails seeking comment from Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Cygnus' attorney were not immediately returned.
The case was filed in Arizona District Court, where company owner Gregory Swartz lives, according to PCWorld.
Cygnus was granted the patent in March 2008, according to the lawsuit, although it first applied for it back in 2001 as a continuation to a 1998 application, according to Ars Technica, which appeared first to report the case.
Cygnus is seeking damages and a permanent injunction preventing further infringement. It's also indicated that it might go after other companies as defendants.
In the suit (PDF), Cygnus Systems targets Google's Chrome, Microsoft's Vista and Internet Explorer 8, and Apple's iPhone, Safari, and Mac OS X as patent infringers. Apple uses the patent-protected technology in its Finder and Cover Flow Mac OS X features, the lawsuit claims.
Cygnus describes the technology covered by the patent as "methods and systems for accessing one or more computer files via a graphical icon, wherein the graphical icon includes an image of a selected portion or portions of one or more computer files."
E-mails seeking comment from Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Cygnus' attorney were not immediately returned.
The case was filed in Arizona District Court, where company owner Gregory Swartz lives, according to PCWorld.
Cygnus was granted the patent in March 2008, according to the lawsuit, although it first applied for it back in 2001 as a continuation to a 1998 application, according to Ars Technica, which appeared first to report the case.
Cygnus is seeking damages and a permanent injunction preventing further infringement. It's also indicated that it might go after other companies as defendants.
Cool Tata Sky+
For more info, refer to TataSkyPlus.com
Google Earth now on iPhone
Google Earth for the iPhone and iPod Touch is available for free in 18 languages and 22 countries through the iTunes App Store, Google said in a posting on the official blog of the Mountain View, California-based company.
"With just a swipe of your finger you can fly from Peoria to Paris to Papua New Guinea, or anywhere in between," the posting said.
"It may be small, but it brings all the power of Google Earth to the palm of your hand, including all of the same global imagery and 3D terrain," it added.
Just by touching the screen, a user can move from point to point around the world, zooming in or out by pinching the screen and tilting the device to get a 3D view of mountainous terrain.
The "My Location" feature instantly shows a user's real world location while Google Local Search helps locate nearby places, businesses and landmarks.
More than eight million photos pictures of landmarks and scenery are integrated into the phone allowing users to take a "virtual tour" of the world.
The Google Earth application also includes links to Wikipedia articles.
PSP 3000 Series
The PSP 3000 Series is the third installment of the PlayStationPortable Series, followed with PSP and PSP Slim & Lite.PSP 3000 is unofficially nicknamed as PSP Brite.It was released on 15th October,2008 in Europe, Middle East, Australia and New Zealand.
The PSP 3000 when compared with the PSP 2000 series has added up much more to it with new titles Buzz!: Brain Bender and LocoRoco 2 on the horizon.It has imporved LCD screen with an increased colour range, five times the contrast ratio, half the pixel response time to reduce ghosting and blurring effects, and anti-reflective technology to improve outdoor playability. The screen draws more current than the screen for the PSP-2000, initially causing a reduction in the console's battery life by "about 20 minutes" according to SCEA director of hardware marketing John Koller.
It has been added with a Microphone as suggested by a user, which enables more flexiblity with Go Messenger and Skype.
The PSP 3000 when compared with the PSP 2000 series has added up much more to it with new titles Buzz!: Brain Bender and LocoRoco 2 on the horizon.It has imporved LCD screen with an increased colour range, five times the contrast ratio, half the pixel response time to reduce ghosting and blurring effects, and anti-reflective technology to improve outdoor playability. The screen draws more current than the screen for the PSP-2000, initially causing a reduction in the console's battery life by "about 20 minutes" according to SCEA director of hardware marketing John Koller.
It has been added with a Microphone as suggested by a user, which enables more flexiblity with Go Messenger and Skype.
