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Archive for May 16, 2008

Carl Icahn sends open letter to Yahoo! Board of Directors

Carl Icahn sends open letter to Yahoo! Board of Directors
In a recently published open letter to the Yahoo! Board of Directors, Carl Icahn makes things pretty clear, he wants to dump the entire current board. He is not very happy with the way the current board acted with Microsoft’s offer of $47.5 billion and feels the $33 per share price was a “superior alternative” to what Yahoo could do on their own. “It is clear to me that the board of directors of Yahoo has acted irrationally and lost the faith of shareholders and Microsoft.” In a long and thorough letter he present a list of 10 members that he feels should replace the current board. The new list includes not only himself, but also Lucian A. (Read the full post about ‘Carl Icahn sends open letter to Yahoo! Board of Directors’…)

VIA reportedly set to roll out 45nm, dual-core processors by 2009

VIA reportedly set to roll out 45nm, dual-core processors by 2009
by Donald Melanson, posted May 15th 2008 at 4:02PMNothing seems to be official just yet, but it looks like VIA is set to both adopt an always-desirable 45nm manufacturing process for its processors and roll out its first dual-core processors by the end of 2009, at least if the “sources at the company” DigiTimes has heard from are to be believed. (Read the full post about ‘VIA reportedly set to roll out 45nm, dual-core processors by 2009′…)

Beavers and bugs inspire robotic creations

Beavers and bugs inspire robotic creations
by Darren Murph, posted May 15th 2008 at 3:30PMRest assured, this won’t be the first or last time you hear of insects and mammals being used as inspiration for robotic creatures. Nevertheless, a recent MIT mechanical engineering course saw students craft bots that could handle “beaver-like tasks” such as “knocking down trees and gathering food in the form of street hockey balls” while fending off competitors in 45-second rounds. (Read the full post about ‘Beavers and bugs inspire robotic creations’…)

Medic Vision intros haptic Mediseus Surgical Drilling Simulator

Medic Vision intros haptic Mediseus Surgical Drilling Simulator
by Donald Melanson, posted May 15th 2008 at 3:01PM We can’t say we’ve ever felt the need to experience an accurate sensation of drilling through bone, but if you’ve always wondered what that was like (or, you know, are actually training to become a surgeon), you may want to take Medic Visions new Mediseus Surgical Drilling Simulator for a spin, which makes use of SensAble’s PHANTOM haptic device for that added sense of realism. That’ll apparently not only give you force feedback that’s able to “distinguish between the feeling of different parts of the temporal bone drilling procedure,” but some audio cues as well to round out the entire quease-inducing process. (Read the full post about ‘Medic Vision intros haptic Mediseus Surgical Drilling Simulator’…)

WD launches My DVR Expander for DISH Network

Western Digital is giving some DISH Network subscribers an easy way to increase the storage size of their DVRs. A new 500GB external drive will be able to increase the size of DISH Network ViP Series HD DVRs by 300 hours for digital standard-definition or 60 hours of high-definition programming through a USB connection. Western Digital has kept in mind that the external hard drive will most likely be used in a living room or bedroom so the company is using GreenPower technology to keep the hard drive quiet since it does not require a fan for cooling which also makes it eco-friendly.

Though the My DVR Expander USB Edition is currently only compatible with a specific DISH Network DVR, Western Digital believes that compatibility with other cable and satellite DVRs will be possible in the future as the USB port on these receivers are enabled.

(Read the full post about ‘WD launches My DVR Expander for DISH Network’…)

Icahn initiates proxy battle with Yahoo! over Microsoft bid

Yahoo! may have thought the battle to keep Microsoft from buying the company was over, but it sounds like that couldn’t be farther from the truth. The latest round in the saga is being pushed by Carl Icahn who wrote a public letter to the Board of Directors of Yahoo! which includes Icahn’s slate for a new Board of Directors. Icahn has been making news over the last couple of weeks through his purchase of 59 million shares of Yahoo! and his desire to purchase US$2.5 billion dollars worth of Yahoo! stock.

Icahn takes a very sharp tone in his letter which accuses the Yahoo!

(Read the full post about ‘Icahn initiates proxy battle with Yahoo! over Microsoft bid’…)

Mobile Projectors in Cell Phones

Mobile Projectors in Cell Phones
Texas Instruments have confirmed that cell phones with mobile projectors within will be released later this year, and apparently there is a belief that such handsets will be as popular as camera phones today within five to ten years from now. I suppose that is a pretty safe estimate, but one main thing such cell phones will have to look out for is the problem of battery life. After all, projectors do consume a whole lot of power, and they let out plenty of heat as well. Hopefully fuel cell technology will be able to cater for such devices in the near future, while engineers get to work on an efficient cooling solution. Wouldn’t want your pants to catch fire and risk being called a liar now, eh? (Read the full post about ‘Mobile Projectors in Cell Phones’…)

iPod Lamps

iPod Lamps
iPods are everywhere - you cannot deny that fact. The ipod accessory market is also a profitable one, as evident by tons of speaker docks to suit every taste and fancy. The iPod Lamp you see here offers something a little bit different - not only does it provide adequate reading light at night, there is a tiny speaker located at the base so that you will be able to enjoy your favorite tunes while catching up on your reading. The iPod Lamp retails for $150 a pop and comes in white, pink, black and brown colors. (Read the full post about ‘iPod Lamps’…)

Acer Ships Gemstone Blue in US

Acer Ships Gemstone Blue in US
The Aspire Gemstone Blue notebooks from Acer are starting to ship in the US via authorized resellers and selected retailers. Acer certainly took their time, considering how these notebooks were unveiled back in March this year. The Gemstone Blue line are touted to be the first 18.4″ and 16″ notebooks in the market with true High Definition cinematic capabilities. The Acer Aspire 8920 and Aspire 6920 will retail for $1,299 and $849 upwards, respectively, depending on the innards you choose. Each purchase will come with a one-year parts and labor warranty. Specifications for both notebooks are available after the jump. Tags: buyers guides, robots, cool gear, consumer technology (Read the full post about ‘Acer Ships Gemstone Blue in US’…)

Samsung F400 Announced

Samsung F400 Announced
Samsung has just launched its new F400 dual slider music cell phone that specially targets music lovers. Some of the features include :- ICEpower technology for superior audio Stereo speaker 3 megapixel camera with autofocus microSD memory card slot Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity 3.5mm output jack Integrated FM radio 2.2″ 262k TFT LCD display HSDPA supportThose living in France will get this first, followed by other folks in Europe and Asia. Hey, what about folks living across the pond? Are we left out yet again? Tags: gadgets, pvr, lcd, hdtv (Read the full post about ‘Samsung F400 Announced’…)


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