Link Collection

Two robots have been unveiled in Japan that warn people if they smell bad.  One robot looks like a woman's head and judges the person's breath and the other robot looks like a dog and growls when it smells smelly feet:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22453872


A plague of locusts are devastating Madagascar--about 500 billion hungry locusts are grouped in 100 swarms, with the locusts eating 100,000 tons of vegetation every single day:
http://au.sports.yahoo.com/news/locust-plague-ravages-madagascar-132254321.html


The water is finally receding in flood-ravaged areas across Canada, but many communities in western Canada need help to rebuild and 14 communities are still under a state of emergency:
http://globalnews.ca/news/547971/communities-across-canada-asking-for-disaster-relief/


Tesla Motors is now worth $7.9 bil, which means that Tesla is worth more than Fiat (which is the majority owner of Chrysler):
http://nextbigfuture.com/2013/05/tesla-motors-worth-more-tha-fiat-which.html


Huawei's CEO and founder *never* gave an interview to the media since he founded Huawei 26 years ago...until today, when he denied that Huawei is connected to US cyber security concerns about China.  I think that it is amazing that he founded a company that grew to the #2 infrastructure vendor in the world ($35.5 bil in sales last year in that single category of Huawei's business) and the #5 smartphone seller in the world while completely avoiding the media for 26 years:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/huawei-ceo-ren-speaks-out-denies-involvement-us-cyber-security-issues/2013-05-09


YouTube now is offering paid channels, with subscription fees starting at 99 cents per month.  Each channel has a 14-day free trial so you can decide if it is worth the money and many channels offer discounted annual rates.  They have a range of channels--from Sesame Street to UFC fights.  Subscribers can watch paid channels on their computer, phone, tablet and TV:
http://youtube-global.blogspot.com/2013/05/yt-pc-2013.html?feature=inp-tw-paq


Verizon Wireless patented a mobile notification system that alerts parents or other caregivers if they left a child in a car seat.  The system also provides information about the temperature inside the car, how fast the car is moving, etc.:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/verizon-patents-car-seat-alerts-parent-if-child-forgotten-car/2013-05-09


AT&T launched another prepaid service, with unlimited voice/texting and 2GB of data for smartphones for $55/month.  The interesting thing to me about this prepaid plan is that customers can get smartphones that are partially subsidized--most prepaid plans require customers to pay the full price for the phone:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/att-launches-new-prepaid-service-under-aio-wireless-brand/2013-05-09


A teardown of the International version and the US version of the Galaxy S4 reveals that the two smartphones may look the same but "are as different from each other as kimchee and coleslaw.   Samsung's 8-core processor is apparently much more powerful than Qualcomm's 4-core processor (in the US version), which enables the Samsung processor to enable processor-intensive applications such as eye-movement recognition.  Samsung's processor also features an architecture where it uses the high-performance cores when needed and uses the less powerful cores for less demanding tasks (which saves battery life):
http://www.isuppli.com/Teardowns/News/Pages/Korean-and-American-Versions-of-Galaxy-S4-as-Different-as-Kimchee-and-Coleslaw,-IHS-Teardown-Reveals.aspx


The Samsung Galaxy S4 is the first device to ship with Hotspot 2.0 enabled.  Roaming partners around the world enables Hotspot 2.0 to seamlessly let a device to use millions of WiFi access points owned by tens of thousands of different organizations.  Hotspot provides an encrypted airlink, so users at a coffee shop or airport don't have to worry about the security of their WiFi network, a problem with current public hotspots:
http://www.theruckusroom.net/2013/05/samsung-launched-the-new-galaxy-s-4-with-great-fanfare-but-the-greatest-thing-about-that-device-is-buried-rather-deep-in-the.html


Samsung is showing off the power of SideSync, which enables a Galaxy smartphone/tablet to work in tandem with a PC.  The Samsung device becomes an extension of the PC and is available through the Samsung Apps app on Samsung devices:
http://sammyhub.com/2013/05/09/samsung-details-sidesync-feature-in-a-video/


Samsung is reportedly planning to release in June or July their first camera phone with a 16 megapixel camera.  It won't be able to make calls or use 3G/4G data (which means no monthly service plan payments), but the WiFi device will run Android (Jelly Bean), have GPS, and has decent storage specs:
http://www.sammobile.com/2013/05/07/exclusive-samsungs-first-camera-phone-called-galaxy-s4-zoom/


Microsoft is using TV white spaces to provide wireless broadband internet access to students and professors in Tanzania.  Wireless broadband services are too expensive for most people in Africa and Microsofts believes that TV white space technology (using frequency spectrum between TV channels that aren't being used now) can solve that problem in Tanzania.  Microsoft launched in Kenya a TV white space project in February that uses solar-powered base stations to deliver low-cost broadband access to rural areas and other unserved communities.  Google is also using TV white spaces to provide wireless internet service to 10 schools in South Africa:
http://www.fiercebroadbandwireless.com/story/microsoft-unveils-tv-white-space-pilot-tanzania/2013-05-08


Microsoft is reportedly offering $1 bil to get Nook Media, which includes the Nook tablets and ebook and mobile applications.  Documents reveal that Nook Media plans to stop making tablets by the end of its 2014 fiscal year.  The Nook currently uses Android and it is possible that Microsoft wants to buy the Nook platform and get its tablets to run Windows 8:
http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/report-microsoft-offers-barnes-noble-1b-acquire-nook-media/2013-05-09


Apple is using its lawsuit against Samsung to try to get Android's source code from Google.  By not including Google in the lawsuit, Google doesn't have the right to ask Apple for iOS's source code:
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-05-07/apple-seeks-android-source-code-documents-in-samsung-patent-suit


BlueStacks is selling a gaming console that allows Android games to be shown on the TV and controlled either from an Android phone or a dedicated game controller:
http://www.androidcentral.com/bluestacks-announces-android-powered-gamepop-gaming-console-and-subscription-service


American Idol's ratings have really dropped this year...they were even beaten by a repeat of Big Bang Theory one week and The Voice has far surpassed American Idol this season.  Fox is responding by firing ALL FOUR of the judges and firing the producer that has been in charge of the show forever:
http://www.thewrap.com/tv/article/insider-american-idol-firing-all-four-judges-getting-massive-makeover-90256


Lead singer of a San Diego-based Christian heavy metal band was arrested for trying to hire an undercover sheriff's detective to kill his wife:
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-tim-lambesis-arrested-20130507,0,6424921.story


I think that this is the most entertaining kiss cam video that I've seen.  That guy should be ashamed of himself:
http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-kiss-cam-couple-20130508,0,2263968.story