Google Earth Street View 3D buildings update

Whenever Google Earth Street View releases a new city with 3 D buildings, they only offer two at a time – they recently went all out and offered us five new cities. These five new cities include, Barcelona, Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth, Pretoria and Mulhouse. See more information on this in the video below. Read more

Google Earth’s Street View: Do you feel safe with 3D Map views?

Google Street View – an ever growing debate on whether Google’s satellite technology provides more use, than actual harm. Following on from reports last week, that Google may have to shut down Street View in Europe, we would like to know your thoughts on the service. Do you like it or not?

If you are unaware by now, Google Street View allows you to view exact street addresses, company buildings, and so on, in both 360 degrees horizontal and 290 degrees vertical panoramic views.

While people such as Tourists may find Street View useful for checking out places they plan to visit, others may find it particularly worrying that their homes are actually left quite vunerable to people on the other side of the law.

To test this out, I put in my own post code and in a matter of minutes, I was practically able to zoom into my front windows of my home, and view it from a series of locations.

While Street View is still a relatively new service, just how many of you are aware of the thorough analysis that Street View provides?

We have created a poll for you to take part in, asking for your opinions on Google’s Street View. Feedback would be appreciated.

Street View Makes Google Earth and Maps More Precise

Google Earth and Google Maps has always been a great tool to use, but there have been times when we get frustrated about inaccuracies when searching for points if interest. Thankfully the addition of Street View has helped to make this feature more precise. Read more

Google Earth and Maps for teaching maths

When it comes to using Google Earth, we are all guilty of thinking that it is a great tool for having fun exploring the globe from the comfort of your own home. However, would you believe that the Google Maps is now being used to help teach students maths in school. Read more

Assassin’s Creed II Outsells Modern Warfare 2 on PS3

For weeks now, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has been at the top of the PS3 game charts, but now things have changed. Assassin’s Creed II is now the best selling PS3 video game, pushing the latest CoD game to number 2. According to Digital Spy, FIFA 1O remains unchanged at number 3. Read more

Assassin’s Creed 2 Glyphs: Answers wanted by gamers

Just yesterday we posted some news on the Assassin’s Creed 2 glyph locations, this was helped by 11 videos that became your glyph guide. Sadly that’s only eleven glyphs, and there is said to be 20 of them. Read more

New Monopoly Game: Google Earth and Street View

The creators of Monopoly (Hasbro) have now released a free web version of their classic board game, however it will differ quite dramatically as it will use Google Maps and Street View to create a global game board. Read more

Battlefield 1943 Game Review: PSN and Xbox Live

Battlefield 1943 has just been released onto Xbox 360 today. A Playstation 3 version is due to hit the Playstation Network tomorrow and we have two reviews for both platforms for you to check out. Read more

Xbox 360 and PC Gamers: Halo Wars vs Dawn of War II

PC users have recently seen the release of Dawn of War II which is a real-time strategy video game, Xbox 360 users will have to wait a few more days until they can get their hands on Halo Wars, this is also a real-time strategy video game. Both are good in their own way and PC and Xbox 360 users are going to argue the point as to which game is better. Read more

BT Launches Work Anywhere Portfolio of Enterprise Mobility Services in North America

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Sept. 17 /PRNewswire/ — BT today announced a holistic suite of mobility solutions and professional services designed to help transform enterprises into flexible, mobile business environments in which employees are fully equipped with the tools needed to work securely and effectively from anywhere, at any time, regardless of the device and network being used Read more

Mercenaries 2 World in Flames Video Review

Mercenaries 2 World in Flames is one of the hottest new releases on the Sony Playstation 3, but just how good is this game and how much enjoyment will you get out of blowing stuff up?

In Mercenaries 2 you get to set the jungle ablaze, destroy buildings and wreck tanks just for the fun of it. You will have the choice to play as Chris Jacobs, Jennifer Mui or Mattias Nilsson with each having their own unique traits.

If your looking for a game that lets you destroy anything or kill anyone for a sum of money, then Mercenaries 2 might be your next gaming fix. Watch the video review below to get the full details or view other gaming news.

VIA Pico-ITX at the Heart of Modern Robots

VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today showcased VIA EPIA Pico-ITX-based entertainment robots at the Taipei International Robot Show (TIROS), being held on 21-24 August at the World Trade Center in Taipei, Taiwan.

With robotics development representing the cutting edge of technological progress, VIA’s commitment to extremely compact form factors, robust performance, extensive feature sets and extremely low power consumption means that VIA’s off-the-shelf EPIA boards are becoming an essential component for academic, hobbyist and commercial robot developers Read more

AT&T Delivers 3G Wireless Access in Westchester, Rockland, Putnam

The need for more speed is always on our minds when we are trying to keep connected while on the move, AT&T Answers this need for speed in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam Counties.

The company is delivering ultra fast wireless access to more mobile applications every month, and now they have expanded again. Read the press release below for full details Read more

Apple HQ fire contained says Firefighters

Firefighters have said that the fire that has been blazing at Apple HQ in California has been contained.

The fire at the headquarters of the computer giant had been blazing for about three hours.

Santa Clara County Fire Department said that the three-alarm fire had burned the roof of the second level of one of the six Apple buildings. There were no injuries.

Rafael Salcedo, Senior Communications Dispatcher said that some flames still continue to burn, these are in a hard-to-reach area under an air conditioner. He added “The fire itself is not very big, but there is going to be a lot of smoke damage.”

Reports of the fire at Apple HQ first broke on Tuesday around 10 p.m. By 12.30 a.m. on Wednesday the fire had been contained.

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More Apple News

Town Approves Video License for Verizon: Can Get FiOS TV

NORTHBOROUGH, Mass. – Residents of Northborough are a major step closer to having another choice for their cable television services, thanks to a newly approved agreement authorizing Verizon to offer its FiOS TV service via the most advanced all-digital, fiber-optic network straight to customers’ homes.

The Board of Selectmen in Northborough granted a cable franchise to Verizon Monday (July 21), paving the way for video choice for thousands more Massachusetts households Read more

Motorola Launches Easy-to-Use 11n Network Migration Wizard

The Enterprise Mobility business of Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) today announced the most robust 802.11n planning tools featuring predictive networking capabilities—Motorola’s 11n LANPlanner. The award-winning software suite – now in its 11th edition – has been enhanced to simulate the performance of 802.11n products like Motorola’s AP-7131, the industry’s first tri-radio 802.11n access point (AP) Read more

Civilization: Revolution Xbox 360 review: next gen transition

For all those who are a fan of the Civilization series, you will be pleased to know that Sid Meier has added a new game to this ever popular game series. Civilization: Revolution which will be available for the Xbox 360 on July 9th will help to bring the next generation of game play to this great title.

The new game is much the same as previous games from the series, as you would expect all the controls are the same so you will have no trouble learning how to play the game. The game like all the others is simple, all you have to do is select your country and leader from people like Bismark, Caesar, Lincoln an more. You then choose your military culture and go about your quest to become the dominant country; this is done by achieving one of the major advancements first.

Having Civilization: Revolution on the Xbox 360 does have some great advantages; one of these is the ability to control all of your cities from one location on the game. As you would expect the controls of the game on the Xbox 360 are very simple and is very easy to navigate around. Having this game move across to the nex-gen system has some great advantages, but it is in the graphics that matter most, and there are a number of improvements.

As the game is on the Xbox 360, you are able to focus more on your country as well as the battles and on buildings. The sound has also been improved for the Xbox 360 version, the theme music that the countries have are very enjoyable.

411mania’s final thoughts are: Civilization: Revolution is not a game for evrybodies taste however; if you are a fan of the original series then I think that this game will please you very much.

Spore Creature Creator free trail download: full version $9.99

It has been over six years in the making but now it is time to test the limits of your imagination, with Spore Creature Creator. There is a free download version, this trail version features just 25% of what the full version offers. The full version of Spore Creature Creator is available for just $9.99; this is the stand-alone product for the much anticipated and groundbreaking video game Spore, which is released this September.

Spore Creature Creator is available for both the PC and Mac is the perfect companion for Spore, it is great how you are able to now create your very own creatures. You just create them yourself and then bring them to life; you can even share your newly created creature with your friends online.

Once you have created your creature you can then import them into the full Spore game, you will then be able to have all your own creatures roaming the galaxy when the full game of Spore ships this September. With Spore Creature Creator, you are able to try out the creatures that you have created yourself just to see if you like them or not. There are a number of things that you are able to do with them, these include taking pictures of them to making movies of them.

Spore, which is due out in September, is the highly-anticipated game which comes from the same guys who gave us The Sims. You know that a lot of effort would have gone into the game; the new game allows you to create your own universe. In Spore you are able to customise almost everything, from buildings, UFOs and vehicles. So it only seems fair to use Spore Creature Creator to customise your creatures.

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HP Labs today announced new research initiatives

HP today announced new research initiatives from HP Labs, the company’s central research arm, aimed at developing new technologies and business models that leave a lighter carbon footprint.

Initially, HP Labs will focus its research in sustainability on three major projects, including: an industry-first initiative to reduce the carbon footprint of data centers by 75 percent; groundbreaking research to replace copper wiring in servers with laser light beams; and tools for measuring and managing the amount of energy used to develop products.

Sustainability is one of five major research themes of the newly redesigned HP Labs, which recently refocused its efforts to address the most complex challenges facing technology customers in the next decade.

“HP’s long-standing commitment to the environment is second to none in the technology industry. Today, HP Labs extends our dedication with these important research initiatives that will advance the state of the art in sustainable IT,” said Prith Banerjee, senior vice president, research, and director, HP Labs. “HP Labs will lead the industry in developing the technology that could dramatically reduce energy consumption and the carbon footprint of entire industries.”

The ultimate sustainable data center

HP Labs unveiled its Sustainable Data Center project, which is focused on reducing the carbon footprint of data centers by 75 percent while simultaneously reducing the total cost of ownership. For example, an average data center that consumes five megawatts of electricity annually could power more than 4,300 homes in the United States for a year. This research project will enable companies to drastically reduce the amount of electricity consumed in the data center.

Under the leadership of Chandrakant Patel, HP Fellow and director of the Sustainable IT Ecosystem Lab, researchers will study how energy is used and managed for the entire lifetime of a data center, from its design, synthesis, operation and end-of-life for its components. The research team, which includes computer scientists, materials scientists, physicists, and mechanical and electrical engineers, will use this information to develop data center technologies that achieve a massive reduction in resource consumption while maintaining performance, reliability and uptime requirements.

HP expects this research to open up new markets for its business by extending the technology to other areas such as smart buildings, grids and print factories.

Replacing copper with light to improve energy efficiency

A second sustainability research initiative is focused on replacing the copper-based electrical connections used in today’s IT systems with optical laser communication links.

The Photonic Interconnect project, led by HP Senior Fellow and Director of Information and Quantum Systems Lab, R. Stanley Williams, builds on years of research dedicated to building photonic optical connections and components.

Photonic interconnections make it possible to fit dozens, and eventually hundreds, of processors on server system chips. In addition, the optical connections are 20 times more efficient than what is on the market today and will save companies multiple gigawatts of power annually, thus driving down IT costs. The photonic interconnects, which range in distance from 100 meters to 100 nanometers, also enable more flexible system configurations that can be quickly redeployed based on business needs.

New approach for modeling and measuring energy and material use

HP Labs also introduced a new project, to be led by Patel, focused on developing a set of tools that can model, predict, measure and manage the environmental impact of product manufacturing, supply chains and business processes.

HP will develop software and services tools to measure and manage key environmental impact metrics, such as carbon emissions, total energy usage and non-recoverable energy consumption. HP will use the tools to help customers re-engineer their businesses to be more sustainable and cost-effective through the innovative use of IT. This project will initially focus on three primary areas:

• HP Labs researchers are developing analyses of commercial printing and publishing industries that compare the sustainability impact of their current business models against a reduced impact that would result from the deployment of new research technologies. The aim is to identify and quantify how such research technologies can be best deployed to increase efficiency and reduce resource and energy use as well as carbon emissions. HP plans to extend this research to its customers in other vertical industries.
• HP Labs researchers have developed a unique approach to quantify the costs and environmental impact of a product by looking at the amount of available energy, known as exergy, that was used in that product’s life cycle from extraction, manufacturing, shipping, usage and recycling. HP Labs and the University of California at Berkeley have jointly developed the Lifetime Exergy Advisor, a software tool designed to assess a product’s total environmental impact through joules, units of available energy. The Lifetime Exergy Advisor can help organizations determine the environmental benefits gained from using alternative materials and processes across every phase of the product life cycle. HP believes that as the world’s energy resources are increasingly tapped, companies will measure the amount of joules associated with the creation of a product much they way they measure dollars, so joules will be valued as much as currency.
• To harness the knowledge of the world’s leading experts in sustainability, HP Labs researchers plan to create an open online resource, called a “sustainability hub,” to gather and share data and information about the sustainable design of products. Sustainability experts, researchers, scientists, engineers and academia from around the world are invited to contribute to the hub, which will have a repository of research information dedicated to the development of tools and methodologies for sustainability. The sustainability hub is expected to be available to the public in 2009. HP Labs intends to apply the data in future research to quantify the amount of available energy used when new products and supply chains are created across the entire global ecosystem.

More information on these projects is available at the HP Labs website at www.hpl.hp.com.

Google Earth Plugin: infuse maps and web apps with 3-D geographic views

If Google Earth was not big enough, it has now been given a boost in its reach thanks to a new Google Earth browser plugin and API. This new interface will allow developers to use the features of Google Earth without having to run the client installation and that enables them to infuse 3-D geographic views into Web applications.

Many developers already know how popular Google Maps has been, many use it in their applications and computer users see Google Maps everywhere online and offline on weather channels. This new API and plug-in is aimed at making Earth as popular as the Maps service which is said to be integrated into over 150,000 websites.

The API has some great features and these include support for switching to Google Sky mode for high-resolution imagery of stars, planets and galaxies. The ability to view the thousands of existing 3-D buildings or add a developer’s own 3-D models. Support for manipulating KML and the 3-D environment to create polygons, lines and place marks. A JavaScript API to enable rich Earth-based Web applications and the ability to embed Google Earth inside any Web page with only a few lines of code.

We would imagine that Google Earth’s API will be used on a lot of real estate sites for 3D views of houses. Are you a developer and do you plan on using the new API and plug-in? You can get more information on code.google.com

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