BRACE YOURSELF FOR ROCK BAND BEATLES. WE ALSO HAVE NEWS
ABOUT THE UPCOMING ASUS E-READER AND HOW TO LAND ON
BOARDWALK AND PARK PLACE ON GOOGLE MAPS. ITS TUESDAY,
SEPTEMBER 8TH. I'M NATALI DEL CONTE. IT'S TIME TO GET LOADED.
[*]
THE BEATLES ROCK BAND LAUNCHES ON WEDNESDAY. DAN ACKERMAN
AND HIS "BAND" GOT A CHANCE TO PLAY WITH IT EARLY. YOU'LL WANT
TO WATCH THAT FULL REVIEW ON CNET TODAY. ALSO ON WEDNESDAY IS
THE APPLE CONFERENCE. WE ARE EXPECTING THAT APPLE MAY HAVE
CHOSEN THIS DATE TO ANNOUNCE THAT IT WILL FINALLY CARRY THE
BEATLES MUSIC IN ITUNES. WE ARE ALSO EXPECTING A NEW LINE OF
IPODS, A NEW VERSION OF ITUNES, AND AN APPEARANCE BY STEVE JOBS.
I WILL BE COVERING THE CONFERENCE TOMORROW FROM SAN
FRANCISCO. FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER FOR LIVE UPDATES.
[*]
MONOPOLY IS GOING ONLINE. ON WEDNEDAY, HASBRO WILL LAUNCH A
LIVE ONLINE VERSION OF THE FAMOUS BOARD GAME CALLED
MONOPOLY CITY STREETS. PLAYERS GET $3 MILLION TO START WITH AND
CAN BUILD ANYWHERE THEY WANT, THANKS TO THE WONDERS OF
GOOGLE MAPS. THIS IS COOL ALTHOUGH I NEVER HAVE THE PATIENCE TO
FINISH A MONOPOLY GAME IN THE REAL WORLD. I WONDER IF I'LL HAVE
THE STICKTOITIVENESS FOR THE WEB VERSION.
[*]
WE HAVE A FEW MORE DETAILS ABOUT THE UPCOMING ASUS BOOK
READER. A SPOKESPERSON FOR THE COMPAKY TOLD THE TIMES OF
LONDON THAT THERE WILL BE TWO VERSIONS: A REGULAR TABLET
VERSION AND A FOLD OPEN VERSION WITH A SPINE AND TWO
OPPOSINGSCREENS LIKE A REAL BOOK. APPARENTLY ONE SIDE CAN BE
USED FOR THE BOOK AND THE OTHER SIDE FOR THE WEB, ALTHOUGH I
RATHER LIKE NOT HAVING EASY WEB ACCESS ON MY KINDLE SO THAT I
CAN CONCENTRATE ON THE BOOK WITHOUT BEING DISTRACTED. BOTH
READERS WILL ALSO HAVE SPEAKERS, A WEBCAM, AND A MICROPHONE
FOR SKYPE. WE DON'T HAVE PRICE OR RELEASE DATE YET BUT WE ARE
EXPECTING THEM TO HIT MARKET BY THE END OF THE YEAR.
[*]
DEUTSCHE TELEKOM AND FRANCE TELECOM CONFIRMED THAT THE TWO
COMPANY WOULD MERGE THEIR UK MOBILE BUSINESSES. BOTH HAVE
BEEN STRUGGLING IN THIS ECONOMY BUT THIS DEAL WILL CREATE THE
LARGEST MOBILE CARRIER IN BRITAIN, TAKING THAT TITLE FROM O2,
WHICH IS OWNED BY TELEFONICA. THE DEAL IS SAID TO CLOSE BY THE
END OF OCTOBER.
[*]
SPRINT IS GOING TO BE THE SECOND U.S. CARRIER TO OFFER AN ANDROID
PHONE. THE HTC HERO WILL COME TO SPRINT IN OCTOBER FOR $179 WITH
A $100 MAIL-IN REBATE, ALTHOUGH YOU CAN FOREGO THE REBATE IF
YOU PURCHASE THE PHONE AT BEST BUY. THIS IS A 3G PHONE WITH A 5
MEGAPIXEL CAMERA. IT GOES ON SALE ON OCTOBER 11.
[*]
RESEARCHERS IN GERMANY HAVE FOUND A WAY TO MAKE HITCHHKING
EASIER WITH DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY. A PROGRAM CALLED OPENRIDE
WOULD USE MOBILE DEVICES TO MATCH UP DRIVERS AND POTENTIAL
PASSENGERS. A SERVER WILL TRACK CARS AND SCAN FOR RIDE
REQUESTS. IF A MATCH IS FOUND, THE DRIVER IS NOTIFIED AND HAS THE
OPTION TO PICK UP A STRANDED NEIGHBOR IN NEED OF A RIDE. I GUESS
THIS WOULD BE GOOD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT BY PROMOTING RIDE
SHARING AND ALL. BUT I AM OLD FASHIONED ABOUT THE NOTION OF
HITCHHIKING. TOO DANGEROUS!
[*]
FLICKR FINALLY HAS A NATIVE IPHONE APPLICATION. THE COMPANY HAS
BEEN SURPRISINGLY SLOW AT LAUNCHING ONE. PRIOR TO THIS, YOU HAD
TO GO THROUGH THE SAFARI BROWSER TO UPLOAD TO FLICKR.
TECHCRUNCH IS GIVING THE APP HIGH MARKS. THEY SAY THAT
UPLOADING IS EASY AND SO IS TAGGING AND VIEWING PERMISSION. OF
COURSE THE APP IS FREE.
[*]
SAMSUNG SAYS THAT IT HAS DEVELOPED THE FIRST LTE MODEM IN
COMPLIANCE WITH THE 3RD GENERATION PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM. LTE
IS A 4G NETWORK THAT WILL COMPETE WITH WIMAX. THE MODEM IS
CALLED THE KALMIA AND IT IS SAID TO BE ABLE TO DOWNLOAD AT A
RATE PF 100 MEGABITS PER SECOND AND UPLOAD AT 50 MEGABITS PER
SECOND WITH THE 20 MEGAHERTZ FREQUENCY. SO IF THEY BUILD THIS
INTO YOUR CELL PHONE, YOU COULD STREAM HD MOVIES SEAMLESSLY.
OF COURSE WE DON'T KNOW WHICH PHONES WILL GET THIS CHIPSET OR
WHEN. BUT IT WOULD BE NICE.
[*]
SONY THINKS IT CAN BRING 3D TO ALL PLAYSTATION GAMES BY 2010.
QUITE A LOFTY GOAL IF YOU ASK ME. SONY WILL DO THIS BY BRINGING A
3D MODE TO THE CONSOLE THAT WILL ALLOW ALL EXISTING GAMES TO
BE PLAYED IN 3D. OF COURSE YOU'LL NEED A 3D TV, WHICH PRETTY
MUCH NO ONE HAS.
[*]
BOTH TOSHIBA AND TOYOTA HAVE ANNOUNCED CAR TECHNOLOGY THAT
COULD IMPROVE SAFETY. TOSHIBA IS REPORTED TO HAVE DEVELOPED
PEDESTRIAN DETECTION TECHNOLOGY THAT WILL WARN YOU WHEN
PEOPLE ARE WALKING AROUND YOUR CAR. THE SYSTEM USES TWO
CAMERAS THAT ARE SAID TO BE ABLE TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN PEOPLE
AND OBJECTS SO THAT YOU DON'T BREAK FOR STRANDED BIG WHEELS IN
THE DRIVEWAY. TOYOTA IS WORKING ON AN IN-CAR BREATHALYZER
THAT WILL CHECK THE BLOOD ALCOHOL LEVEL IN YOUR BREATH
BEFORE IT ALLOWS TH CAR TO START UP. IF IT DETECTS BOOZE, THE CAR
WON'T START. THIS ISN'T THE FIRST TIME WE'VE HEARD OF THIS
TECHNOLOGY BUT IT IS THE FIRST TIME A MANUFACTURER HAS
SUPPORTED IT.
[*]
THE WORLD'S OLDEST WORKING STORED-PROGRAM ELECTRONIC
COMPUTER IS BEING RESTORED IN ENGLAND. IT IS CALLED THE WITCH,
WHICH IS AN ACRONYM FOR WOLVERHAMPTON INSTRUMENT FOR
TEACHING COMPUTING FROM HARWELL. IT WAS FIRST USED IN 1951 FOR
ATOMIC RESEARCH AND IT WAS FED DATA THROUGH PAPER TAPE. THIS IS
NOT THE OLDEST COMPUTING MACHINE BUT THOUGHT TO BE THE
OLDEST ONE THAT STILL WORKS. RESEARCHERS THINK IT WILL TAKE
ABOUT A YEAR TO RESTORE. WHEN IT DOES, IT WILL BE ABLE TO
PERFORM CALCULATIONS AT ABOUT THE SAME SPEED AS A HUMAN
BEING COULD WITH A MECHANICAL CALCULATOR.
[*]
THOSE ARE ALL OF YOUR HEADLINES FOR TODAY. MARK LICEA WILL BE
DELIVERING YOUR HEADLINES TOMORROW WHILE I AM TRAVELING TO
SAN FRANCISCO FOR THE APPLE EVENT SO BE SURE TO TUNE IN. THANK
YOU FOR WATCHING. I'M NATALI DEL CONTE WITH CNET TV AND YOU'VE
JUST BEEN LOADED.
