activities

Surfers, snowboaders, skaters, and action sports enthusiasts everywhere, there's finally a smartphone just for you.

Sony has partnered up with action sportswear company Billabong to release a special edition model of the Xperia Active. The Billabong Edition features a special back cover and comes preloaded with exclusive screensavers, videos, and a Billabong Live app, which offers live streaming, as well as photos and news, of the company's surf contests. In addition, you get a copy of the Billabong Surf Trip game.

Like the regular Xperia Active, the Billabong Edition has a dust-proof and water-resistant design with a 3-inch, … Read more

Scientists and engineers have built a monitor that tracks heart rate, respiration, and movement--without requiring direct contact with skin.

The "life and activity" monitor, developed at Oregon State University, is wearable and non-invasive. The team worked with researchers at the University of California at San Diego to develop a noncontact sensor that is essentially an electric field sensor for tracking the heart rate through materials such as clothing.

The sensor also includes a 5-axis inertial measurement unit that allows for ongoing and simultaneous monitoring of movement, heart rate, and respiration. Imagine adhering such a device to your pants … Read more

As the case for Web censorship moves forward, Twitter announced today that it'll soon block tweets on a countrywide basis when they violate local restrictions, so we can look forward to our government making it illegal for Nickelback to fight back against their Twitter haters.

We're surprised that some Google users are upset about the company's new "streamlined" privacy policies--don't they know that Google knows more about you than your own mother?… Read more

Last time, we took a look at how cars protect their passengers in the event of a crash. This week, we're taking a look at a few high-tech ways that modern vehicles can help prevent accidents in the first place.

Modern tech cars can be equipped with a host of driver aid systems that help make driving easier for your average commuter. From road-aware cruise control systems to self-aware headlight systems, cars are getting smarter every day.

Adaptive cruise control If the standard cruise control system was the first step toward vehicular autonomy, then adaptive cruise control system is … Read more

Microsoft is carving out a new niche for itself on the Amazon Kindle Fire.

A free mobile app for the company's Hotmail service is now available in the Kindle store for all Fire tablet owners.

Microsoft already offers an app for Google Android devices, which is up for grabs in the Android Market. But some tweaks were needed to make the software compatible with the Fire since Amazon uses its own customized version of Android.

The Hotmail app for the Fire boasts at least one advantage over the tablet's native e-mail app, according to a Microsoft blog. The … Read more

The times have a-changed. This generation's Bob Dylans, Joan Baezes, and Ramblin' Jack Elliotts aren't gathering in locales like New York's legendary Washington Square Park to swap chords and licks. They're busily congregating in the gigantic public park that is the Internet, via social media.

And, as a recent video makes clear, YouTube, Facebook, and other such sites seem also to be taking the place of street corners or truck beds when it comes to providing a stage for budding protest singers and their songs.

Forest Gibson and Zachary Cohn's "The Day the LOLcats Died" (embedded below) is certainly not the first Internet protest song, or even the first anti-SOPA tune to wend its way across the Web. ("Firewall" and "SOPA Cabana" are but two other anti-antipiracy screeds that have come before--with "Cabana" even suggesting Dylan and his "Subterranean Homesick Blues" via handwritten lyrics on cards).

But the presentation and form of "LOLCats" call to mind, in a way these other tunes don't, the stereotypical image of the protest singer: a lone soul busily killing fascists with his or her acoustic machine.… Read more

With only 700 ActiveEs to lease, you'll have to move fast if you want to be one of BMW's electric pioneers.

Months later than expected, BMW officially opened the order books for the all-electric ActiveE field trial today. The manufacturer was supposed to take reservations last year, but delayed it to streamline the delivery process. The first electric sedan has already been delivered to EV veterans Tom and Meredith Moloughney, who lease an electric MiniE from the manufacturer. If you think you're ready to go electric, don't drag your feet--availability will be on a first-come, first-served … Read more

Anyone who works understands workflow as an intuitive concept, but analyzing, modeling, and designing workflow processes is another thing. Workflow Designer is a freeware workflow application that does much more than map out processes and procedures: it serves as a centralized access point for the data and graphics tools you need to create everything from drawings of simple processes to elaborate mind maps and process diagrams. The optional cloud-based Workflow Connect system gives users access to a wide range of modules to expand their capabilities on demand without committing to unneeded tools.

Workflow Designer opened with an optional tool tip, … Read more

Hackers in China have found a way to infiltrate supposedly secure smart cards used by U.S. government employees, according to security company AlienVault.

The security firm said it has seen dozens of such attacks, which tap into a unique variant of a nasty bit of malware known as Sykipot.

The hackers appear intent on stealing data from the Department of Defense and other related agencies. The malware is capable of capturing the PIN numbers used by government smart cards, thereby allowing access to supposedly secure information.

"Like we have shown with previous Sykipot attacks, the attackers use a … Read more