Microsoft Files to Dismiss Apple’s “App Store” Trademark

Apple’s App Store has been a huge part of the success with iPhones, iPod Touches and iPads and now with the Mac App Store launched, the Apple App Store grows even bigger. It would seem fitting that Apple would own the trademark to the words App Store. Although Microsoft isn’t to happy about this and they have filed a motion to dismiss Apple’s holding of the trademark because they say that the term “App Store” is generic.

I think Microsoft is getting envious of Apple basking in the light of the world of mobile and desktop apps and since Microsoft will probably want to launch there own version of the app store for Windows Phones and for Windows PC’s they probably want to use the name App Store as well. If they do do that it will look really bad on Microsoft and it will show that they have no creativity and they only want to steal the brilliant ideas from Apple.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/12/microsoft-opposes-apples-app-store-trademark-claim-says-term/

Porsche 918 RSR, 767 HP Hybrid!

On stage at the 2011 North American Car Show, is the Porsche 918 RSR. The Porsche has a traditional 563 horsepower engine and then two electric motors at the front of the car powering the 2 front wheels and those bring the horsepower up to a staggering 767 Horsepower! The motors are not powered by batteries though, they are powered by a flywheel that sits where the passenger seat would go and uses momentum to keep the motors running and the momentum is turned into an acceleratory boost. Full details have not yet been announced.

This is awesome that Porsche is starting to get into alternative technologies to run their cars. Tesla was one of the first car companies that made hybrid cars that actually looked good and went fast and it is good to see that Porsche has decided to start making hybrid cars and they have so with a bang!

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/10/porsche-unveils-918-rsr-the-767hp-hybrid/

Beats by Dr.Dre Killer? Sleek by 50 Cent

Dr. Dre has had his own headphones made by Monster for a while now and there are now a variety of Beats headphones to choose from such as the solo’s, studio's and pro’s. These headphones all offer phenomenal bass and great overall sound quality. 50 Cent is now jumping on the bandwagon and releasing his own pair of headphones called Sleek and they may be the Beats killer. The build quality of the Sleeks will most likely surpass the quality of the beats seeing that it is made out of certain metals and such and If the price is better than that of the Beats than the Sleeks do have a significant advantage over the Beats. The sleeks are also wireless and come with a rechargeable battery and if you run out of juice you can also plug them into a standard headphone jack to keep on listening.

I like how artists are getting involved in the making of good quality headphones and also making them look very stylish. In my opinion both the Beats by Dre’s and the Sleeks both look absolutely amazing. I like the competition in the headphone market as well as it will make companies work harder to make better products for us, the consumers. Though these headphones are most likely going to be more DJ oriented I still would want to pick up a pair to see how they match up against my Beats by Dre.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/06/sleek-by-50-cent-platinum-headphones-announced-invites-beats-to/

Helping Out Gambling Addicts

Casinos across Ontario are now going to start implementing facial recognition software into all casino’s to help identify someone who is a registered gambling addict. These people would be placed in a database that this recognition software has access to. The project has been checked by the Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner and they say it is safe. Casino’s should have these systems in by 2011 and the first slot machines that will include these scanners will be the ones at Woodbine Race Tracks. The cameras use biometric scanning technologies and the people who have been marked as addicts will be flagged. Some people are skeptical about their picture being taken but the OLG has guaranteed that the information will be safe and not used for any other purpose. If the data is somehow stolen, there is no actual information that is given away to the thief, it is just the biometrics of your face which is basically good for nothing except this.

This is a great way to help gambling addicts get away from their habits because if they know that they will be flagged if they are repeatedly seen gambling it may make them want to stop. This technology could also go further than this and could be used to contact someone from the casino to escort the person out of the casino or for other things like law enforcements can use biometrics to identify someone's face. This is a really good idea and it will be very helpful to a lot of people.

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/11/25/tech-facial-biometrics-ontario-lottery-gaming-casinos-slots.html

Malware Mostly Incompatible on Macs

Sophos a company that makes anti-virus software for Macs and PC’s. They recently collected data from 150,000 users and at least 50,000 of them had at least one piece of malware on their computers. With Macs though, different from PC’s the Malware doesn’t do anything because Malware is a program that is written for Windows in .exe format but .exe files are not compatible on Macs therefore the program is not able to execute and the only thing that is does to your Mac is take up a very small portion of space on your hard drive.

To me, this is just helping Mac in the Mac vs PC internet flame wars. People always say that there are no viruses for Macs and now we know that this statement is very true. I own a Mac myself and I can say in the 2 years of use it hasn’t shown signs of any sort of virus or unexpected popups or random shutdowns like viruses on PC’s do. The fact is that Mac’s are a much better computer in general.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/24/mac-malware-survey-finds-mostly-incompatible-nasties/

Airforce Warning US Troops about New Facebook Feature

A new feature on Facebook was recently unveiled. This feature allows users to post were their account is being used from. For example, say I am sitting in a Starbucks, I go onto my Facebook and use this new feature to locate were I am and then it will be posted to my profile for everyone to see. If a soldier’s phone got hacked or a terrorist group somehow got a location of a soldier, they could send an ambush and it may even be a soldier who is at a base and the base would be unexpectedly under attack.

It is Obvious why the army would warn troops about such a thing because of the dangers involved. These soldiers would be like sitting ducks to the terrorists if their locations got found out and then a whole army base could be destroyed all at the hand of a soldier who wasn’t careful with Facebook.

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/SciTech/20101118/air-force-facebook-warning-101118/

OnLive MicroConsole

OnLive is a new gaming console/service that just launched in the past 2 years and the concept is really cool. The concept is that everyone should be able to play games no mater what computer they are running or how slow or fast their internet connection is. People always say that you need to have a computer with amazing specs to be able to play games and this has been true up until OnLive. OnLive will take into account if you have a really fast computer and will turn up the graphics to a resolution your computer can handle and if you have a really old computer and you want to play game it will turn down the graphics and allow you to play the game with no lag. Anyone can play and people are also not restricted by their operating system because it is available for Mac and PC.

In my opinion OnLive is a great piece of technology and finally the console war will be over and we will no longer have to say that Mac’s suck because they cannot play games like our regular computers do and we will also not have to deal with frustrating lag that comes with having a computer with specs that are not great. OnLive is very new though but it could turn out to be a revolution in the gaming industry. If a lot of people start to buy this instead of regular consoles then the PS3’s and XBox’s will be in trouble and OnLive may start to rule the market.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/18/onlive-microconsole-official-at-99-we-go-hands-on/