larryshouse.com

Nokia and the University of Cambridge are showing off a new stretchable and flexible mobile device of the future called Morph.

(Credit:
Nokia)

The new concept phone is part of an online display presented in conjunction with the “Design and the Elastic Mind” exhibition underway through May 12 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The device, which is made using nanotechnology, is intended to demonstrate how cell phones in the future could be stretched and bent into different shapes, allowing users to “morph” their devices into whatever shape they want. Think Stretch Armstrong for cell phones. Want to wear your cell phone as a bracelet? No problem, just bend it around your wrist.

Nokia says the concept device demonstrates handset features that nanotechnology might be capable of delivering, including flexible materials, transparent electronics, and self-cleaning surfaces.

(Credit:
Nokia)

“Nokia Research Center is looking at ways to reinvent the form and function of mobile devices,” Bob Iannucci, chief technology officer for Nokia, said in a statement. “The Morph concept shows what might be possible.”

Even though Morph is still in early development, Nokia believes that certain elements of the device could be used in high-end Nokia devices within the next seven years. And as the technology matures, nanotechnology could eventually be incorporated into Nokia’s entire line of products to help lower manufacturing costs.

Update: Friday, May 2, at 1:57 p.m. PDT

Yahoo closed the day with a sizable 6.92 percent gain to finish up at $28.67 per share. And in after-hours trading, it continued its ride, gaining an additional 1.12 percent to reach $28.99 a share.

Reports Friday that Yahoo and Microsoft finally entered into serious merger talks gave the Internet search pioneer a huge lift in its share price.

Microsoft, meanwhile, wasn’t as lucky–falling 0.54 percent to $29.24 a share. The software giant dipped even further by 0.24 percent in after-hours trading.

Yahoo investors, you may want to cool your heels.

If Microsoft acts like a number of any other corporate America titans, chances are it’s not likely to announce any “big” market-moving news until after the bell closes–at the earliest.

Public companies tend to roll out their huge news either before or after the markets open. And Microsoft falls into that corporate titan category.

In the meantime, Yahoo is up a respectable 4.35 percent in Friday morning trading at $27.98 per share, while Microsoft has been bouncing back and forth between positive and negative territory this morning. Microsoft’s stock is currently down 0.34 percent at $29.30 a share.

Adding a little background to their share performance this morning, over the last 24 hours, reports have surfaced that Microsoft is leaning toward a “hostile” tender offer for Yahoo, while the Internet company could announce a search ad deal with Microsoft’s archrival Google next week.

The pitch this week has become more fevered after Microsoft’s ultimatum for Yahoo to respond by Saturday came and went and Microsoft said it anticipated making an announcement this week on its next course of action. Well, this week is almost over.

You love this story and you want to Digg it. Or maybe you want to put it on Reddit. Or maybe you’re just in love with Delicious and feel like saving the story there. We’re open to anything, but we don’t always know your tastes.

The same goes for a lot of sites, which is where Add to Any has created a really smart sharing tool that will read your browser’s mind instead. Well, actually it will just give your history a once over to do the heavy lifting. Based on where you’ve been the most, relevant sites for sharing will come up in the very top of the menu. If none are there you can also expand the menu downward to choose from one of the 200 other sharing and bookmarking sites.

It’s not unlike other competing services that do the same thing (ShareThis and Add This), although it’s the only one of the three giving people targeted sharing options based on what they’re probably using. In case you’re wondering what happens if you’ve got your browser history turned off or are working off a public computer, the top of the list will just revert to the dozen most popular sites by use.

I’ve embedded the widget below. Feel free to give it a spin.

Android is based on a Linux kernel that already supports ARM-based processors. Software development for the ARM world, however, can be tricky, which is why ARM has close relationships with all the other mobile-software vendors in the world. Different handset makers utilize ARM’s cores in different ways, which makes it a challenge to create software that works consistently across phones from multiple vendors.

ARM’s technology is found at the heart of almost every mobile phone on the planet. The company designs the processor cores that companies like Texas Instruments, Samsung, and Marvell manufacture into chips that run cell phones and smartphones. But ARM was a curious omission from the initial list of companies that agreed to join Google’s Open Handset Alliance when it was announced in November along with the Android software.

When it comes to Google, however, ARM has been taking a wait-and-see approach so far. In some ways, that makes sense as Android is not exactly a finished product. But the promise of Android is something that has to interest ARM: if Google can galvanize the Linux community around its product and deliver a compelling user experience for handset makers and carriers, that just might boost sales of mobile phones using ARM’s chips.

And coming off a worse-than-expected fourth quarter, ARM’s probably looking for some positive momentum. The ARM representative declined to comment on whether the scheduled demonstrations meant the company would be joining the Open Handset Alliance, but ARM is clearly stepping up its public support for Android before phones using the software arrive later this year.

ARM plans to demonstrate prototype phones based on ARM processors and Google’s Android operating system next week, possibly paving the way for the chip designer to join Google’s Open Handset Alliance.

It won’t be the first Android prototype to get a public airing, but this one will come on one of the biggest stages of the year for the mobile-phone industry. An ARM representative distributed invitations Wednesday to come see and play with the Android prototypes next week in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress.

See interesting Pownce items, pulled together on one page (by robots).

Compared to TechMeme, it’s certainly not as advanced, as it won’t clump together similar stories or show which Powncer has the most clout, but it’s not a bad place to find new people to befriend. Pearson is still fine-tuning the algorithm, and Version 2.0, which is due out later this year, is being written entirely in Ruby on Rails.

One thing Pownce is still missing after opening up earlier this week is a public feed. While the creators have hand-picked a selection of mostly San Francisco socialites for everyone to view on its main page, there’s not a simple way to pull together some of the hottest activity on the site short of tapping into the API. An enterprising developer Bryan Pearson has done just that, creating Powncememe, a site that rates people’s Pownce messages based on various characteristics including user ratings, the number of recipients, and replies from other users. When combined it’s a fun way to see what’s interesting on the service as a whole, including pictures and links.

(Credit:
CNET Networks)

See also:
RandomPownce

With all the talk of lolcats and their beloved “cheezburgers,” it’s no surprise that this cheeseburger in a can is spreading like wildfire across the Web. Apparently you just open up the can and take out the cheeseburger, and maybe heat it up somehow before you eat it. Amazing. I guess these mean we’re really prepared for the zombie apocalypse.

The “Cheeseburger in a Can,” sold by a German outdoors retailer called Trekking Mahlzeiten, is only 257 calories, which is awesome, but it still costs 3.95 euros, which our lousy exchange rate translates into about six bucks. Can or no can, that’s just exorbitant; I’ll only eat a six-dollar hamburger if it’s served at a restaurant with a full bar and a mechanical bull…with really tasty fries on the side.

(Credit:
Trekking Mahlzeiten)

The facility in Pennsylvania will be able to produce about 40,000 to 50,000 gallons per year. Once scaled up, the cost will range depending on the feedstock but it will be about $1 per gallon, Roe said.

Then genetically optimized, proprietary bacteria digest the synthesis gas and convert it into ethanol. There is a third step for upgrading that liquid into fuel-grade ethanol, with a lot of the water being recovered in the process, according to the company. The greenhouse gas reduction compared with gasoline is 96 percent, it says.

Start-up Coskata on Thursday is starting up a facility that can turn wood chips into ethanol, a step toward producing at large scale next year.

Coskata’s hybrid process combines different technologies, including a gasifier and a bioreactor that uses micro-organisms to produce ethanol.

It plans to test a number of different feedstocks at the Pennsylvania plant, called Lighthouse, and is now negotiating with feedstock providers for planned large-scale operations next year, Coskata CEO Bill Roe said in a phone interview. It is also designing a 50 million to 100 million gallon per year facility somewhere in the southeast U.S. that would use southern pine wood chips, he said.

At the Pennsylvania facility, Coskata will use a plasma gasifer from Westinghouse Plasma that converts biomass, such as wood chips, into what’s called synthesis gas, a combination of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen, Roe explained.

The ethanol industry has slowed down significantly over the past two years with a number of producers shutting operations in the face of falling gas and commodity prices. Corn ethanol has also been accused of having questionable environmental benefits. Meanwhile, there still aren’t commercial-scale second-generation ethanol operations with use nonfood, cellulosic biomass for fuel.

Roe said Coskata’s demonstration facility will give it a technical and engineering blueprint to scale up. Financially, it intends to license its technology and to finance at least it first plant, he said. General Motors, a supporter of flex-fuel vehicles, is an investor and is testing its fuel.

A 1,500-gallon bioreactor at Coskata's demonstration ethanol facility.

(Credit:
Coskata)

The “semi-commercial” plant in Madison, Pa., will use a variety of techniques to convert the cellulosic material in plants or even municipal trash into liquid fuel that’s cheaper than gasoline, according to the company. Its method reduces greenhous gas emissions dramatically and uses less than half the water than is needed to process gasoline, according to the company.

“Because we have the ability to use a wide array of feedstocks, the cost point for this ethanol will be world class. It’s a whole new game. If you’re limited to one feedstock like a grain, you’re probably setting yourself up for challenges,” he said.

It’s a good fit for Hulu’s first live concert broadcast–the site’s first live streaming event was a presidential debate last October. The Dave Matthews Band’s original Gen-X and Gen-Y fan base is exactly the demographic of 20- and 30-somethings–though not necessarily tech-savvy ones–who would tune into a concert stream online. And conveniently, the date of the show is the day before the band’s long-anticipated new album, “Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King,” hits stores online and offline.

Frontman Dave Matthews was, on an unrelated note, one of the first mainstream musicians to use Twitter actively.

Pop culture brush-up: the Dave Matthews Band was really, really, really huge in the ’90s, known for lengthy live jams, for a Phish-like cult following that skewed more preppy than hippie, and for “Ants Marching,” which was inescapable if you ever got anywhere near a frat house between 1994 and 1997. People generally loved them or hated them back then, due in no small part to the fact that they were the soundtrack of choice for the jocks rather than the indie kids or nerds.

Hulu, meanwhile, is riding the wave of mainstream success in the wake of an edgy TV ad campaign and the big news that Disney would be joining News Corp. and NBC Universal as a partner in the joint venture.

The online video hub, which announced the event Thursday, will be the only place streaming the concert live, at least legally.

Hulu will live-stream a concert for the first time: Dave Matthews Band at New York’s Beacon Theater on June 1.

Want to feel old? This album came out 15 years ago.

The API makes Photophlow on Photobucket possible, said Photophlow co-founder Neil Berkman. “We’re interested in enabling real-time media sharing in a variety of contexts, and since Photobucket is one of the largest hosts of photos and video, we’d certainly consider building on top of their API,” he said. “Their audience is a bit different from Flickr’s, so this would likely be a separate application, taking advantage of the same technical core we’ve built Photophlow on,” he added.

Even if many impressive but unprofitable Web sites fall by the wayside, those with the programming skills will likely stay gainfully employed. A Monday report by analyst firm Forrester says corporations will spend a lot of money to use Web 2.0 technologies within their walls. In the report, the firm predicts growth from $764 million in spending in 2008 to $4.65 billion in 2013.

Ultimately, Welch believes the move will mean more Web site traffic for PhotoBucket and potentially lucrative advertising and sponsorship deals. Toyota, for example, sponsored a Photobucket partnership with an online image-editing tool, FotoFlexer.

(Credit:
Photobucket)

Missing from Welch’s peer-pressure list is Flickr, a Yahoo photo site that rivals Photobucket in scale. But Walsh wasn’t afraid to give his competitor some props. “I think it’s a fairly well done API,” Welch said. “It’s been interesting to watch and learn from.”

• Snapvine is integrating Photobucket into its Web-based audio commentary and blogging technology.

Photobucket, is making a significant change aimed to weave the widely used photo-sharing site more tightly into the Web 2.0 fabric.

The company will announce several new partnerships Tuesday, too:

Photobucket’s move is just the latest in a long line of companies to woo programmers; that courtship has moved online as the Web has grown to house rich, sophisticated applications.

• Time Warner’s AOL will launch an application called BlueString that will let people browse Photobucket and other content.

“What’s happened in the developer community is that we have a ton of developers writing applications for OpenSocial and Facebook. There’s a huge appetite for writing against these APIs,” Welch said, and now it’s time for Photobucket to take the plunge.

“If we see a noncommercial application that’s doing something clearly in our commercial terms of service or doing something very creative, it’s our responsibility to go out and figure a way to partner,” Welch said.

The API will let developers write applications that can be used to log in to accounts, upload photos and videos, search public content, access and change metadata such as titles and tags, and share content through e-mail, Photobucket said.

Programmers who want to use Photobucket’s API can sign up for a free key online, Welch said, and they’re free to try to profit from the resulting work. “For the small developer, we’re not concerned if they’re monetizing it in some way,” Welch said.

Some developer limitations
Well, not concerned up to a point. The developer API will let Photobucket throttle Web site traffic to prevent abuse, but the company will watch for busy applications that could be new business opportunities, he added.

The company is releasing an application programming interface (API) for its site, said Chief Executive Alex Welch. That means that ordinary developers will be able to build more sophisticated services around the Photobucket services and content.

• Intercasting is working on technology that could let mobile phone users upload their pictures taken with camera phones to Photobucket accounts.

Photobucket got its start as a no-frills site that could store photos, but hardly as an island. It’s widely used to host pictures that actually appear on Web sites such as MySpace, eBay, or Facebook. And after Photobucket’s 2007 acquisition, it’s a part of News Corp.’s Fox Interactive Media division, along with MySpace. And it’s gradually become more fully featured.

Photobucket CEO Alex Welch

Web 2.0 loosely refers to the gradual rebuilding of the Internet as a more interactive domain, with users supplying their own content, information from one Web site being embedded into services from another, and bloggers avidly commenting on all the developments. APIs are the mechanism by which much of those interconnections are made, and without them, a Web site risks being an island unto itself.

Current partners using Photobucket’s commercial API include FotoFlexer and TiVo, which can present slideshows on TVs drawn from Photobucket members’ accounts and let people search Photobucket content.

Photobucket already made its API available to commercial partners, but now ordinary coders will be able to get access by signing up on the Web site, Welch said. The company is announcing the news in conjunction with the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco.

Following Flickr
For an illustration of what an open API can get you, look no farther than Photophlow, a site that builds a lively photo-sharing and chat room interface atop Flickr. With it, users can post photos into a chat room for discussion, add comments directly onto the Flickr site, and flag pictures as favorites in their own Flickr account. It was put together without formal help from Flickr.

The new features carry a host of caveats: the in-game XMB, customized soundtracks, and trophies aren’t supported on all games; in-game XMB features are fairly limited; and the trophy system (with the a few exceptions) won’t be retroactive to already-accomplished goals.

So what do you think? Does the 2.40 update add some worthwhile features to the PS3, or does the Xbox 360 or
Nintendo Wii still have an edge? And what other features would you like to see come in future PS3 software upgrades?

The 2.40 firmware update for the PlayStation 3 is now available. The free update, which Sony has been talking up for the past several days, adds a smattering of new features, including in-game access to the XMB (Cross Media Bar) home screen, custom soundtracks, a new trophy system, and a shortcut to Google searches.

Update: Sony has suspended the 2.40 upgrade, following reports that it has fouled up some
PS3 systems (see Joystiq for more). While the two PS3s we have here at CNET were able to install the update with no adverse effects, it appears that some users were considerable less fortunate.

Trophies, for instance, are better viewed as a feature that will begin becoming more useful as future games begin supporting the feature. That said, both the trophy system and in-game XMB help the PS3 better compete with the achievements and
Xbox Live or Xbox Dashboard features offered by the Xbox 360.

PS3 users will also notice a handful of other simple but useful touches with this update, including an on-screen clock, a quick shutdown icon, and a shortcut to Google searches. And speaking of the PS3’s browser: while it’s not new for 2.40, it’s worth noting that the Web browser splash screen now includes shortcuts to YouTube, Flickr, and Facebook.

PlayStation.com: Firmware 2.40 walk-through, part 1 (embedded above)
PlayStation.com: Firmware 2.40 walk-through, part 2
PlayStation.com: Firmware 2.40 FAQ