inspiration

How many people know the recipe for President Barack Obama's family chili? Before today, probably not many. But now anyone on the social-networking site Pinterest can find out how many onions, ground beef, and kidney beans the recipe takes, and then pin it to their own profile if they like.

Obama has added the popular virtual pinboard site Pinterest to his social-networking trove and today his filled-out profile page with eight boards and 44 pins was made public. According to tech news site Mashable, the Obama campaign set up the account a few weeks ago, but there wasn't … Read more

TED, the esteemed nonprofit organization and popular video-driven Web site, has brought its TED Talks to Android devices. With the official TED app, you can now browse and watch more than 1,000 TED Talks from the organization's popular TED Conferences while on the go.

If you're not familiar with TED, it's a nonprofit organization devoted to "Ideas Worth Spreading." While it may sound a bit hokey, TED produces annual conferences featuring some of the most brilliant speakers from around the world. These speakers often cover topics like technology, entertainment, design, science, and social justice. … Read more

Beware! Future robot overlords could have dual-purpose appendages.

Well, that might be an exaggeration, but this leg-wheel hybrid mobile robot is definitely a front-runner to star in my recurring robot domination nightmares. Meet Quattroped, a remote-controlled walking and wheeling robot that can function in "flat or rough environments," according to the Bio-Inspired Robotic Laboratory team of mechanical engineers at National Taiwan University. … Read more

LAS VEGAS--I am the earbud killer. They fall out. They are uncomfortable. They don't last long in my hands. So far, a set of $60 Ironman series Yurbuds is beating out its predecessors.

Yurbuds earbuds were invented by triathlete Seth Burgett, so overachievement comes naturally. He wanted to design earbuds that wouldn't fall out and wouldn't press on sensitive nerves. That's a tall order.

Yurbuds started out as semi-customized creations. The company matched a photo of your ear to the right earpiece. The new Ironman series contains two different sizes of earbuds. If neither fit right, … Read more

Hulu Plus has made its long-awaited debut on Android.

Launching in Google's Android Market yesterday, the new Hulu Plus app allows Android users who subscribe to the $7.99-per-month service to stream TV shows and movies directly to their mobile devices.

For now, the app supports just six Android phones--the Nexus One, Nexus S, HTC Inspire 4G, Motorola Droid II, Motorola Droid X, and the Motorola Atrix. But Hulu is promising support for more Android phones as the year progresses.

New subscribers to Hulu Plus can try the service free for one month before deciding whether to kick in … Read more

As we learned in early May, the Samsung Infuse 4G will be the first AT&T smartphone to allow for applications outside of the Android Market, and it looks like more are on the way.

Citing a desire to open up a bit, AT&T indicated it would be embracing third-party app stores and the side-loading of apps and games. At the time of the announcement, I was hopeful that the carrier would adopt this policy going forward with all of its Android phones. It appears my suspicions are correct, as AT&T plans to enable this … Read more

HTC Inspire 4G and Motorola Atrix 4G owners, your slow-upload woes are almost over.

AT&T just sent CNET a note letting us know that it has started rolling out an update for the Inspire 4G that will enable the HSUPA radio on the smartphone, along with a number of other bug fixes and performance improvements. The carrier has completed testing on the update for the Atrix 4G as well and will begin deploying the software soon.

The updates will roll out in batches over the coming weeks, and users will receive a message on their phones when it'… Read more

Smartphone maker HTC took home record profits and revenue in the first quarter thanks to surging consumption of its smartphone lineup.

For the quarter ended March 31, the Taiwanese company earned $14.8 billion in Taiwan dollars (US$513 million), almost triple the NT$5 billion profit from the year-ago quarter. Net income easily surpassed the average analyst estimate of NT$12.8 billion as compiled by Bloomberg.

Revenue soared to NT$104.2 billion, a gain of almost 175 percent from the prior year and a leap over the NT$95 billion forecast by the average analyst, said Bloomberg.… Read more

CNET has confirmed with AT&T that it will enable the HSUPA radios on the Motorola Atrix 4G and HTC Inspire 4G via a software update in April.

HSUPA, which stands for High-Speed Uplink Packet Access, is the protocol that enables faster upload speeds (up to 5.76Mbps) on your mobile phone. However, it recently came to light that the technology was disabled on the Atrix 4G and Inspire 4G, crippling the smartphones with slow-as-molasses upload speeds.

The fact that these radios were not turned on was not disclosed to customers who bought the Atrix and Inspire, prompting calls … Read more