6:04 PM
Bomb sniffing dogs could be replaced by bomb sniffing rats, with rats having the advantage of not setting off explosives such as land mines because they weigh less than a pound. The Colombian National Police has been demonstrating how they have trained rats to detect hidden explosives and say that a rat's sense of smell is just as good as a dog's. The rats follow simple verbal commands, are not afraid of their human handlers, and detect 7 different types of explosives. Rats are also much cheaper--the cost of feeding 1 dog for 1 day is equal to the cost of feeding 7 rats for 7 days:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/13/world/americas/colombia-bomb-detecting-rats/index.html?hpt=hp_bn2
Instead of issuing the standard boring annual report, a Solar trade association in Austria has released their annual report that is invisible until revealed by sunlight! Sunlight reveals the text and graphics...great video with this link about the report:
http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/solar-companys-annual-report-visible-only-sunlight-138584
German researchers have created a new way to bridge the "last mile" problem, developing a wireless bridge that can transmit data at up to 20 billion bits per second, operating at 200 GHz:
http://www.osa.org/About_Osa/Newsroom/News_Releases/Releases/02.2012/Record-Speed-Wireless-Data-Bridge-Demonstrated.aspx
Sprint's board rejected a proposal to buy MetroPCS last Wednesday, with multiple reports stating that Sprint would have valued MetroPCS at $8 bil (the purchase was mostly in Sprint stock) and that the deal was to be announced as early as last Friday. Some analysts said that the board's last-minute decision to kill the deal reflected badly on Sprint's CEO, as it is very unusual for a deal to get that far and be recommended by the buyer's CEO but be rejected by the buyer's board:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/report-sprint-board-nixes-metropcs-acquisition-last-minute/2012-02-24
Study supports the criticism that data throttling is just a way to get grandfathered unlimited users to switch to more costly tiered data plans instead of being a way to reduce data usage over wireless networks. The Validas study found that there was virtually no difference in data consumption between customers on unlimited plans and those on tiered plans. Validas found little difference in usage between users on unlimited and tiered plans, but pointed out that only unlimited users could have their data speeds throttled:
http://www.fiercebroadbandwireless.com/story/next-generation-hotspot-launches-stimulate-wi-fi-offloading/2012-02-26
Endgadget was happy to review how well Android apps worked on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, with the Dolphin HD browser one of the first Android apps they checked. However, they were shocked to find out that MotoTap (the makers of the Dolphin HD browser) did NOT authorize any submission to the BlackBerry App World...Handster submitted their app (and other Android apps apparently) to the BlackBerry App World without permission:
http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/25/is-your-android-app-on-blackberry-app-world-without-you-knowing/
Nokia announced that they will ship a smartphone in May with a *41 Megapixel* camera. The smartphone will cost $585 and will run the Symbian operating system, not Windows Mobile like almost all of the other phones Nokia will be releasing:
http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4237006/Nokia-announces-camera-phone-with-41-megapixel-sensor
Domino's is celebrating the release of their Android app by offering FREE with contract Android smartphones--free phones include the Droid 3 and Droid X2 with Verizon, HTC EVO Design 4G with Sprint, and HTC Wildfire S from T-Mobile:
http://www.androidcentral.com/dominos-delivers-android-app-and-free-contract-smartphone-offer
Motorola is going after BlackBerry customers by offering $200 cash back for customers who trade in their old smartphones for a Business Ready phone from Motorola, with Motorola IT experts helping with any Enterprise connectivity questions:
http://www.motorola.com/Consumers/US-EN/Consumer-Product-and-Services/Business-Smartphones/Business-ready
http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/13/world/americas/colombia-bomb-detecting-rats/index.html?hpt=hp_bn2
Instead of issuing the standard boring annual report, a Solar trade association in Austria has released their annual report that is invisible until revealed by sunlight! Sunlight reveals the text and graphics...great video with this link about the report:
http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/solar-companys-annual-report-visible-only-sunlight-138584
German researchers have created a new way to bridge the "last mile" problem, developing a wireless bridge that can transmit data at up to 20 billion bits per second, operating at 200 GHz:
http://www.osa.org/About_Osa/Newsroom/News_Releases/Releases/02.2012/Record-Speed-Wireless-Data-Bridge-Demonstrated.aspx
Sprint's board rejected a proposal to buy MetroPCS last Wednesday, with multiple reports stating that Sprint would have valued MetroPCS at $8 bil (the purchase was mostly in Sprint stock) and that the deal was to be announced as early as last Friday. Some analysts said that the board's last-minute decision to kill the deal reflected badly on Sprint's CEO, as it is very unusual for a deal to get that far and be recommended by the buyer's CEO but be rejected by the buyer's board:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/report-sprint-board-nixes-metropcs-acquisition-last-minute/2012-02-24
Study supports the criticism that data throttling is just a way to get grandfathered unlimited users to switch to more costly tiered data plans instead of being a way to reduce data usage over wireless networks. The Validas study found that there was virtually no difference in data consumption between customers on unlimited plans and those on tiered plans. Validas found little difference in usage between users on unlimited and tiered plans, but pointed out that only unlimited users could have their data speeds throttled:
http://www.fiercebroadbandwireless.com/story/next-generation-hotspot-launches-stimulate-wi-fi-offloading/2012-02-26
Endgadget was happy to review how well Android apps worked on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, with the Dolphin HD browser one of the first Android apps they checked. However, they were shocked to find out that MotoTap (the makers of the Dolphin HD browser) did NOT authorize any submission to the BlackBerry App World...Handster submitted their app (and other Android apps apparently) to the BlackBerry App World without permission:
http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/25/is-your-android-app-on-blackberry-app-world-without-you-knowing/
Nokia announced that they will ship a smartphone in May with a *41 Megapixel* camera. The smartphone will cost $585 and will run the Symbian operating system, not Windows Mobile like almost all of the other phones Nokia will be releasing:
http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4237006/Nokia-announces-camera-phone-with-41-megapixel-sensor
Domino's is celebrating the release of their Android app by offering FREE with contract Android smartphones--free phones include the Droid 3 and Droid X2 with Verizon, HTC EVO Design 4G with Sprint, and HTC Wildfire S from T-Mobile:
http://www.androidcentral.com/dominos-delivers-android-app-and-free-contract-smartphone-offer
Motorola is going after BlackBerry customers by offering $200 cash back for customers who trade in their old smartphones for a Business Ready phone from Motorola, with Motorola IT experts helping with any Enterprise connectivity questions:
http://www.motorola.com/Consumers/US-EN/Consumer-Product-and-Services/Business-Smartphones/Business-ready