We had earlier blogged about rumors regarding Google’s proposed acquisition of FeedBurner sometime last week. TechCrunch has confirmed same, the $100 million acquistion of FeedBurner, the site used by DG Tech Publishing (PC World, Computerworld, Macworld), Reuters, USA Today, AOL, The Nation, Newsweek and many bloggers to publish their feed.

FeedBurner is an excellent pickup and that too at $100 million rather inexpensive considering the pile of data and reach Google will get from FeedBurner. Google will gain a lot form a working feed-based ad network, but more importantly it keeps Google close to publishers, which it can then try to entice to take on more of its services. FeedBurner manages about 7,21024 feeds owned by 400,000 publishers that’s a lot of ad impression and click opportunities to cash on by Google .

Feedburner linked RSS URLs to human readable HTML pages instead of pages of XML code. Now with the power of Google behind FeedBurner, we can expect a growth in RSS advertising in very short time. And moreover RSS advertising is more effective than email marketing.

Not every one happy with the takeover, Shelly Powers has said bye to her FeedBurner feed because she’s paranoid that Google knows more about her blog readers than her.

On a different note, a few aren’t happy with Technorati either. Engtech has said good bye to Technorati because of all the problems that he has had with them.

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Note: If you don’t know what Joost is, please read this and watch this video before reading any further.

As a person who generally does not watch TV much, I was surprised at my interest and extensive usage of Joost. The interest is probably because I rather sit in front of the computer instead of the TV. I have tried out Joost at various speeds, ranging from 128 kbps (at home) to 2 mbps (friend’s office) and I have come to the conclusion that the developers of Joost took only a minority of web users who have a high speed internet connection (read as more than 512 kbps) into consideration. Also, even though Joost is free, most internet users have a bandwith limit on their usage and if they don’t keep a check on it, their bills will skyrocket!

While I was installing Joost, I wasn’t really expecting any well known channels and I was again pleasantly surprised at the choices such as MTV, VH1, National Geographic, Nickelodeon etc. I also heard that a few American broadcasters would soon be adding some of their programs to Joost. The audio and video clarity is good too.

Joost does seem very stable for being a beta release. It did crash for me twice and refused to open about 5 times. I also experienced a disconnects a few times but I’m sure that is due to my average internet connection speed. From what I heard from people abroad, Joost seems to work smoothly on a nicely endowed broadband connection.

In the ‘My Joost’ area of the program, there are invites, channel chat and a notice saying that in the future there will be widgets that users can create and add. These are the current widgets available - News Ticker, Instant Messaging, Clock, Invites, Rate It, Channel Chat, an advanced settings area (with parental controls), and a Notice Board. I was able to use the Instant Messaging widget to chat with googletalk users. It also supports jabber.

Overall, I’m highly impressed with what Joost has got to offer and that too for Free. If you still haven’t got an invite, do leave a comment here and I’ll be happy to send you an invite!

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Considering the poor economic status of rural India, which is where the majority of the population lies, the plan for Nicholas Negroponte’s $100 laptop for schoolchildren has been thumbed down as expensive. India’s HR ministry is now pushing engineers and innovators to do the unthinkable. To make an almost impossible ‘$10 laptop’ possible.

Well, you might think that, it might take years for something like that to be developed using new technologies. The news is, 2 designs are already available and multiple firms including a Public Sector Undertaking Company – Semiconductor Complex, are started working on it.

The two designs with the ministry are from a final year engineering student of Vellore Institute of Technology and a researcher from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. So far, the cost of one laptop, after factoring in labor charges, is coming to $47 but the ministry feels the price will come down dramatically considering the fact that the demand would be for one million laptops.

Due to IPR issues, details have not been relieved, except that it will be based on a single board making it easy to repair and maintain.

If this project succeeds, a laptop for $10 could spark off a huge wave of development around the world and it would turn out to be a boon for all those students in third world countries to have an enriching education which is now possible only in developed countries.

Via: Trak.in

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Google research team found that 450,000 pages, out of a sample of 4.5 million pages, contained scripts to install malicious code, such as Trojans and Spyware on vulnerable PCs. Thats 1 in every 10 webpages.

A further 700,000 sites hosted similar code that, while not necessarily malicious, could harm the security of the PC viewing the page. The study called ‘Ghost in the Browser’ reveals that average computer users have no means to protect themselves from this threat. Their browser can be compromised just by visiting a page and become the vehicle for installing multitudes of malware on their systems.

Common ways of spreading malware include, Hacking into a web server to plant malware and planting it within third-party widgets or advertising. User-generated content also creates a means to upload malware. The researchers hope to use their findings to map the problem and aid the development of a new generation of safe surfing tools that steer users away from harm.

The team found that much of the malware on the web is very advanced and can bypass most signature-based anti-virus software.

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Its just out. It’s bound to be a treat for those hardcore gamers out there, who are ever craving for faster graphics and more processing power. Well, the HP Pavilion HDX Dragon is ready to take you on a thrill ride and storm the gaming market by force.

Featuring an astounding widescreen 20-inch display capable of resolutions upto 1680 x 1050. It uses the Intel ‘Santa Rosa’ platform (which is the evolution of the widely popular Centrino) based Core 2 Duo processors at 2.4 Ghz. But there are rumors that factory unlocked models powered by Core 2 Duo Extreme at 2.6 Ghz may be in the offering.

To complement all this, a high end ATIâ„¢ Mobility Radeonâ„¢ 256MB dedicated video card is included. Along with shared memory, the Total Graphics memory can be extended upto 2GB and 4GB of DDR2 RAM. Along with that, is 2 x 200GB (400GB) SATA Hard Drives.

There is no compromise on the media end either. A HD-DVD Drive with HDMI output and an adjustable webcam are part of the package. Another delight is a fully featured Windows Media Center remote that docks to the left of a full size keyboard complete with touch sensitive media keys at the top.

The HDX along with a monstrous size is weighs 12 pounds (5.3 kgs), which is very heavy. Its not just the weight, but with such a high end configuration it also ends up being quite heavy on your wallet. At $2999, the HDX is one of the costlier laptops out there, but that is no reason to stop you from experiencing its ultimate visual thrill, if you are among those who afford it.

Read a full review of ‘The HDX Dragon’ at LaptopMag.com

Image Gallery:

Via: Gizmodo

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HP Labs has launched mscape, a new social networking technology that incorporates digital images and audio interactions into GPS-enables devices.

The mscapers portal had its origins about five years ago as Mobile Bristol, a project that explored how mobile devices and pervasive information technology could enhance people’s interactions with their physical environments and with each other.

mscape is short for mediascapes which are mobile, location–based experiences that enhance digital media with the sights, sounds and textures of the world around you. Mediascape blends digital images, video, audio and interactions with the physical landscape. Games, guided walks, tour destinations are among the mediascapes created till date.

To experience a mediascape, you need a GPS-enabled HP iPAQ or other handheld device running the Windows® Mobile operating system. With the device and the mscape player (also free for download on the site or click here), you can trigger digital media including images, text, sounds, audio and video in response to physical events such as location, proximity, time and movement. The system will connect to real-life markers showing imaginary images over the real landscape. Mscape software is currently free for download, and there are some social components added in as well. You can create and share mobile, location-based media within the mscapers community, providing tools for interactive experiences. A mscape that you create can be downloaded by another user as well.

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Technologies and Innovations that we had thought of as futuristic just a few years ago have now become a part of our daily routine. Who would have imagined seamless connectivity spanning multiple devices at super high speeds? Well, its all happening now and we have accepted them as normal. The good news is that its going to get much better. There are plenty of new technologies that are waiting to be released into the market for us to indulge in. One such place that is a breeding ground for such innovations is Microsoft’s Center for Information Work (CIW).

At CIW, technologies that are 5 to 7 years ahead of current trends are continuously being evolved along with innovative productivity software advances that will make this vision real for people and organizations. These developments are focused on improving productivity and efficiency while solving problems being faced today.

StraTech, DigiDesk, RoundTableâ„¢ and other Future Workspaces are some of the technologies that are being readied to enrich offices and homes of the future. The real value addition to these technologies comes with advanced software that is adapted for ease of use. Such a combination can see users shielded from information fatigue, unify various modes of communication, make information universally available across different applications and devices, and make information easier to find and share.

StraTech is a large monitor that wraps around the person viewing it. DigiDesk is a touch sensitive work space featuring advanced visualization, modeling of information, smarter integration of metadata and more sophisticated pattern recognition. The Microsoft RoundTableâ„¢ (tipped to hit the markets in 2007), is a collaboration tool with a 360-degree camera designed to deliver an immersive conferencing experience that extends the meeting room across multiple locations.

These tremendous innovations from CIW along with enhanced software can provide a big boost to individual and workplace productivity by providing an immersive and highly customized experience.

Take a Virtual Tour or visit the Gallery of Microsoft’s Center for Information Work.

Via: Microsoft

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