4:52 PM
Sending this from my phone while my kids are in gymnastics class...please forgive any typos.
Classes were canceled at UT-Austin today because a sophomore math major carried an automatic weapon around campus, firing between 4 and 10 shots. Police chased after him and he eventually killed himself in the Perry-Castaneda Library:
http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/blotter/entries/2010/09/28/police_on_scene_of_shooting_on.html
Stanford researchers found that solar cells thinner than wavelengths of light may absorb as much as 10x more energy from sunlight than was thought possible. This can lead to ultra-thin solar cells absorbing sunlight more efficiently than the thicker, more expensive silicon cells used today:
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2010/september/nanoscale-solar-cells-092710.html
Swiss researchers are developing swarms of flying robots that can be deployed in disaster areas to create communication networks for rescuers. Their projects includes robust, lightweight flying robots and software that allows the robots to wirelessly communicate with each others:
http://www.rdmag.com/News/2010/09/Information-Tech-Robotics-Interconnected-robot-swarm-takes-to-the-skies/%5C
China has just 37% of the world's estimated reserves of rare Earth elements but produces 97% of the world's rare Earth elements because environmental and cost issues have made mining rare Earth elements unattractive. It is becoming more and more likely that "element wars" will happen soon:
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/rare-earth-elements-war-offing
Wavion announced the release of its new family of base stations for the 700 MHz band that uses 6 antenna beamforming for increased capacity, superior indoor penetration, and range extension:
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/45627.php
Best Buy announced they will be having Free Phone Fridays in October, where a high-end smartphone will be free for each of the 4 major wireless carriers:
http://www.bby.com/2010/09/28/tgif-best-buy-mobile-launches-free-phone-fridays-for-the-month-of-october/
Study over a diverse set of wireless carriers and device types found rapid Android and iPad growth over wireless networks. Android had 26% of the ad impressions (up from 19% last month) while the iPhone has 29% of the ad impressions in the study. iPad ad requests increased *76%* over the previous month while Android ad requests increased 39% month-over-month. Since January, Android has grown *996%*:
Here are some highlights from this month's report:
http://www.millennialmedia.com/2010/09/millennial-media%E2%80%99s-august-mobile-mix%E2%84%A2/
19% of BlackBerry users getting their phones from their companies while just 4% of Android or iPhone users get their phones from their companies. This interesting study result found that only 35% of people who got their smartphones from their company were very satisfied with their phone while 60% of people who chose their phone were very satisfied--so, the report says that companies that force employees to use BlackBerries are hurting the BlackBerry brand:
http://www.crowdscience.com/blog/article/low_brand_loyalty_among_blackberry_users_may_be_fueled_by_corporate_ma/#When:16:40:56Z
This InfoWorld reviewer feels that the BlackBerry tablet is no threat to the iPad. He points out that there are no apps--even BlackBerry Apps won't work on the tablet!
http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobilize/why-rims-playbook-no-ipad-killer-890
RIM released its BlackBerry tablet, called the PlayBook, which has a very interesting wireless choice--in addition to WiFi, the tablet can get internet access via Bluetooth connections to BlackBerry smartphones instead of having its own 3G or 4G connection. So, users can use their tablets to have a larger display for their BlackBerry, use RIM's BlackBerry Enterprise Server, and the tablet does NOT need a data plan:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/rim-unveils-blackberry-playbook-tablet/2010-09-27
While everyone tries to catch up to the iPad, Apple appears set to release their next iPad by June:
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-09-28/apple-may-unveil-next-ipad-by-june-2011-goldman-says.html
About 59% of developers surveys in September believe that Android is the OS to beat over the long haul, up from 54% just 3 months ago, with those expecting iOS to win out dropping from 40.4% to 34.9%. However, right now 91% of developers are very interested in creating apps for the iPhone and 89% for the iPad, with 82% very interested in creating apps for Android smartphones. 62% are very interested in creating apps for Android tablets, but just 34% want to make apps for BlackBerry and just 28% have interest in apps for Windows Phone 7. webOS is just at 16%, Symbian is at 13%, and only 7% of developers care about Nokia's MeeGo and Amazon's Kindle:
http://www.fiercedeveloper.com/story/developers-high-androids-future-favor-ios-now/2010-09-27#ixzz10qSiOd00
Android app lets consumers know how much radiation they are exposed to while talking on a phone. The GPS and accelerometers are used to follow the position and proximity of the device to the body:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-20017815-266.html