Weather layer added to Google Maps

Weather geeks (we know you're out there) and lifehackers alike now have a new tool to feed their obsessions. Google has added a weather layer to Google Maps that displays current conditions from around the world, from London right down to the tiniest town in northern New Mexico, where the weather's always likely to be better than in London.

Google shows clear skies over the Land of Enchantment on Thursday.

(Credit: Screen capture by Eric Mack/CNET)

In Google Maps, hover over other the widget in the upper-right corner and you can chose the weather layer from the drop-down to make it visible. To actually see cloud cover and current weather conditions, you'll need to zoom out quite a ways, generally to at least a state-level view.

Don't forget the umbrella if traveling to Labrador City, and watch for that ugly cloud swirl off Mexico's west coast.

(Credit: Screen capture by Eric Mack/CNET)

The cloud-cover and other weather visualizations come courtesy of the U.S. Naval Research Lab. Current condition information and the local forecasts that pop up when a certain locale is clicked are provided by Weather.com.

The weather layer doesn't seem to be supported just yet on the Android version

Kaspersky: 12 different vulnerabilities detected on every PC

Researchers from Kaspersky have sampled their customer base, and found out that on average, every PC has 12 different vulnerable applications installed.

During the second quarter of 2011, the company saw 27,289,171 vulnerable applications and files detected on users’ computers, and detected an average of 12 different vulnerabilities on each computer.

Here are the vulnerabilities discovered:

• Adobe Reader / Acrobat SING “uniqueName” Buffer Overflow Vulnerability
• Sun Java JDK / JRE / SDK Multiple Vulnerabilities
• Adobe Flash Player SharedObject Type Confusion Vulnerability
• Adobe Flash Player Multiple Vulnerabilities
• Adobe Flash Player Multiple Vulnerabilities
• Sun Java JDK / JRE / SDK Multiple Vulnerabilities
• Adobe Flash Player / AIR AVM2 Instruction Sequence Handling Vulnerability
• Adobe Flash Player Unspecified Memory Corruption Vulnerability
• Adobe Shockwave Player Multiple Vulnerabilities
• Adobe Flash Player Unspecified Cross-Site Scripting Vulnerability

The company contributes the decline in Windows vulnerabilities, to improvements in the automatic Windows update mechanism and the growing proportion of users who have Windows 7 installed on their PCs. Moreover, Kaspersky Labs emphasizes on the fact that seven of the Top 10 vulnerabilities are found in one product only — Adobe Flash Player, and that vulnerabilities from 2007-2008 remain in the Top 10, with seven of the ten vulnerabilities were discovered in 2011, and the other three in 2010.

Android users prefer mobile apps over mobile Web

Android owners like to use mobile apps over the mobile Web, says a new study from Nielsen.

The average Android user in the U.S. spends 56 minutes a day surfing the Web and firing up apps on their phone. In that amount of time, two-thirds is spent using mobile apps, while only one-third is spent using mobile Web sites.

Even further, among the hundreds of thousands of apps available in the Android Market, only a small number of them are used the majority of the time.

The top ten Android apps chew up 43 percent of the time spent by Android users, while the top 50 grab 61 percent of time spent, according to Nielsen.

Estimating more than 250,000 Android apps currently available, this points to more than 249,950 that have to battle for the remaining 39 percent of an Android owner's attention.

Nielsen compiled this information from its Smartphone Analytics, a new service that looks at data from meters installed on iOS and Android smartphones.

Whether they're using apps or the Web, smartphone owners are consuming more and more data. In June, Nielsen found that the average user is grabbing 89 percent more data each month compared with last year. The amount of data used per month jumped to 435 megabytes in the first quarter, up from 230MB during the same period in 2010.

Android owners in particular eat up the most data, according to another Nielsen study from June. Specifically, Android users captured 582MB of data each month during the first quarter, compared with iPhone users, who consumed 492MB of data.

Source : cnet

Logitech unveils the new G300 gaming mouse

Nice new plaything for all you gamers out there - the Logitech G300 gaming mouse.

The Logitech G300 packs an awful lot of features into a package which will retail for under $40.

• 2500 dpi multi-surface optical sensor
• Nine programmable controls, three onboard profiles stored in onboard memory
• Sculpted ambidextrous shape (no thumb button)
• 1,000 reports per second communication rate
• User-configurable seven-color lighting scheme to make it easy to see which profile you’re using
• Easy-to-use software (compatible with G-Series keyboards and headsets)
• Durable build - buttons rated for up to 10 million clicks

“The Logitech Gaming Mouse G300 is perfect for PC gamers who want intelligent features that give them real benefits in-game” said Chris Pate, senior product marketing manager for gaming at Logitech. “Whether you need more programmable buttons for your MMO, better precision for targeting enemies in an FPS, or a compact, comfortable shape to get you through hours of gameplay, we’ve got it covered.”

The Logitech Gaming Mouse G300 is expected to be available in the US and Europe some time in September, for a suggested retail price of $39.99.

Compatible with Windows XP, Vista or 7.

Apple grabs top spot in mobile PC market from HP

Fueled by demand for the iPad, Apple has shot past Hewlett-Packard to claim the leading share of mobile PC shipments during the second quarter, according to data out today from DisplaySearch.

For the quarter, Apple shipped 13.6 million mobile PCs. That figure marked a leap of 136 percent from the prior year's quarter and gave the company more than 21 percent of the market, according to preliminary results from DisplaySearch's "Quarterly Mobile PC Shipment and Forecast Report."

How did Apple reach the top spot? In its report, DisplaySearch defines a tablet as a mobile PC. Though some many disagree with that definition, it means the iPad alone gave Apple the lead, accounting for 80 percent of the company's mobile PC shipments. Apple shipped more than 10.7 million iPads, a gain of 107 percent from a year ago.

In contrast, HP shipped 9.7 million mobile PCs, giving it a 15 percent share of the market.

Apple had initially captured the top mobile PC perch from HP during last year's fourth quarter, as noted in aDisplaySearch report released in February.

Tablets also fueled overall growth for the mobile PC category, according to DisplaySearch. For the quarter, tablet vendors shipped almost 16.4 million units, a surge of more than 400 percent over the prior year. Even discounting Apple, shipments of non-iPad tablets reached 5.6 million units for a growth rate of 25 percent.

In contrast, notebooks makers eked out just 48 million units, an increase of only 2 percent from the prior year's quarter. Weakening consumer demand for notebooks continues to stall the sector following a 2 percent drop in shipments during the first quarter, the report noted.

Total mobile PC shipments around the world hit 64.4 million in the second quarter, a gain of 28 percent from a year ago.

Looking beyond Apple and HP, Samsung and Dell experienced the biggest jumps in shipments, rising 44 percent and 33 percent, respectively. Dell's shipment growth was boosted by a recovery in PCs for the business market, said DisplaySearch. Among the top five mobile PC shippers, Acer saw the biggest drop in shipment growth, falling 12 percent from the prior year.

Grand Theft Auto 3 hits Mac App Store

DON’T PANIC! Your time machine HASN’T worked! You’re still safe and well in good old 2011!

Ten years following its release on PS2, Grand Theft Auto 3 (GTA III) has finally made it to the Mac App Store.

GTA III has had a long arc. Released on PS2 back in October 2001, then for Windows in May 2002, then Xbox in November 2003. Then there was a long wait until it became available for Mac OS X in November 2010. Now, ten years since the original release, the game finally makes its way to the Mac App Store.

The game description on the Mac App Store comes makes it seem pretty tame, especially if you’refamiliar with the title:

Crime does pay.

The hugely successful, highly controversial Grand Theft Auto franchise moves into three dimensions in the dark and seedy underworld of Liberty City.

With the freedom to go anywhere and jack anyone, Grand Theft Auto III puts the dark, intriguing and ruthless world of crime at your fingertips, if you have enough guts to take it.

The game is $14.99 and a 705MB download. Your chance to grab a bit of history.

Smile for Photovine, Google's photo sharing iOS app

Never content to leave a market untapped, Google is taking on Instagram with Wednesday’s public availability of photo sharing tool Photovine, currently only for Apple iOS by way of theiTunes App Store.

If you were one of the chosen few who landed an invite over the last month or so Photovine was in beta, this may not be news to you. But Photovine differs from those other photo sharing services by pooling your pictures into various topic-based pools, called “vines.”

Here’s Photovine’s own definition of a vine, from its FAQ:

A vine is like a constantly growing family of photos connected through a common caption created by you, your friends, and people all over the world. Some examples of vines could be: “What Weekends Are Made Of”, “Secret Stuffed Animal”, “Party People” or “Love of My Life”.

As people add photos to vines, they tell their own stories about the moments, images, and ideas that define our lives in a way that’s social, creative, and fun.

What’s really interesting is how loosely tied Photovine is to the overall Google ecosystem: Photovine was developed by Slide Inc., which was snapped up by Google last year. And there’s barely a Google logo to be seen anywhere on Photovine.

While users can share their photos with friends on Facebook and Twitter, there’s no Google+ support. Moreover, Photovine’s Apple iOS availability comes well before the app hits Google Android devices, which is a mobile space oddity.

Perhaps Google is testing the waters before it brings Photovine in under its own brand.

Source : zdnet

Lenovo says 'mainstream' Ultrabooks coming

Lenovo, which reported strong first-quarter earnings in Hong Kong on Thursday, discussed its upcoming strategy for Ultrabooks--ultraslim, light Windows laptops that compete with the MacBook Air.

The ThinkPad X1 represents the kind of ultraslim design that will hit mainstream price points in the coming quarters, Lenovo said Thursday.

(Credit: Lenovo)

During the earnings conference call on Thursday, Chief Operating Officer Rory Read spoke about Lenovo'sUltrabook strategy in response to a question from an analyst. "Lenovo will invest in innovation to be a leader in that space and that will drive demand. No doubt," he said.

Read continued. "You'll see us introduce over the coming quarters the ability to reach mainstream price points with [Ultrabook] solutions that were only 18 months ago in premium segments. That's just a natural evolution of the space."

He implied that mainstream pricing--which can be a frustratingly vague term but typically means under $1,000--would happen in 2012. "I wouldn't say by the end of the year necessarily but...that's definitely going to happen."

Ultrabooks are defined, in part, by being very thin but also having long battery life, he said.

The world's third-largest PC maker's first-quarter net profit doubled to $108.8 million from the year-earlier period when it was $54.9 million. Revenue was up 15 percent to $5.92 billion from $5.15 billion. Both profit and revenue beat analyst estimates.

IBM creates cognitive semiconductors: A step toward right brain computers

IBM on Thursday will unveil experimental semiconductors that aim to match the human brain and its ability to interpret its surroundings and learn. The development could lead to a series of “right brain” computers.

Simulation of IBM's chip. Source: IBM

These so-called cognitive chips have two prototypes that are currently being tested. The semiconductors were created out of standard technology in IBM’s fabrication plant. Both cores were fabricated in a 45 nanometer process and feature 256 neurons. One core contains 262,144 programmable synapses—basically the social network in the chip—and 65,536 learning synapses. IBM has demonstrated navigation, machine vision, pattern recognition, associative memory and classification with these chips.

What do these cognitive chips add up to? Dharmendra Modha, a project leader for IBM Research, said these new prototype chips can lead to systems that complement today’s computers. Computers today revolve around structured data and various calculations, said Modha. Cognitive computers would be more about processing unstructured data and various inputs.

Map of the brain's network connections. Source: IBM

“These cognitive chips can create a new generation of computers to complement today’s. Today’s computer would be left brain—fast, analytical, rational and structured—the cognitive side would be the other side, which is slow, low power and unstructured. It’s right brain to left brain,” explained Modha. “Bringing this technology forward completes the computing tool chest.”

In many respects, the brain—which packs a lot of low power computational heft in a tight space—is the Holy Grail of computing. Big Blue is looking to put these chips together to recreate the neurons and synapses in biological systems (right).

Add it up and computing today is basically operating with half a brain—the left side.

The upshot is that these chips could be cobbled together to correlate data, create hypotheses and remember things. The product of these chips would be a cognitive computer, according to IBM.

IBM said the research effort behind the project combines disciplines such as neuroscience, nanotechnology and supercomputing. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded IBM and a team of university researchers $21 million to carry out the second phase of a project dubbed the Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics (SyNAPSE) project.

Columbia University; Cornell University; University of California, Merced; and University of Wisconsin, Madison worked with IBM on the project. Modha said IBM had been working on cognitive computing for about six months. DARPA started investigating the topic three years ago. When the timing—and funding—lined up the effort to create cognitive systems picked up steam. “DARPA demands dream on a deadline,” said Modha. “That’s how fast paced (development) is.”

IBM sees multiple applications for these cognitive computing systems, which would fit in the size of a shoebox. Among potential uses:

• Computers that could take in inputs such as texture, smell and feel to gauge whether food was outdated.
• Financial applications to monitor trading and recognize patterns in a way today’s algorithms can’t.
• Traffic monitoring.
• And system monitoring for waterways and other natural resources.

These cognitive systems could have multiple uses. In the future, your data center may come complete with left brain and right brain racks

Source : zdnet

Skype Wi-Fi comes to iOS devices

Skype's Wi-Fi access app is coming to Apple iOS devices.

The company said Wednesday that its Skype Wi-Fi app, formerly called Skype Access, will soon be a free app in the Apple Store, allowing iPhone, iPod Touch (running iOS 4.1 and above) and iPad users to connect to over 1 million Wi-Fi hotspots around the world via their existing Skype accounts.

This will let people connect to Wi-Fi hotspots in hotels, airports, train stations convention centers bars and restaurants using Skype Credit in their accounts. The benefit of accessing these hotspots through Skype is two fold: It allows users to use their existing Skype account and credits. And it also allows people to use the Wi-Fi hotspot for short durations without paying for a full hour or a full day.

"Skype Credit you only pay for the minutes you use," the company said in its blog. "So, there's no need to buy an hour or day WiFi voucher if you're only looking to check your email or make a quick Skype call."

The company says the app is great for travelers all over the world, offering a cost-effective and simple way to get online with an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad.

Pricing for Wi-Fi access via the Skype app is about $0.06 per minute, and users are only charged for the minutes they use. There are no limits on the amount of data you can upload or download while in the hotspot.

Source : cnet