Google's Vision for TV Proves a Turnoff your Telivision

Google's hopes of becoming a force in television by releasing software that brings Web video and other online content—including ads—to the small screen appear to be fading fast. In recent months, stores and distributors selling one flagship Google TV device returned more of them than they sold as consumer demand fell.

That embarrassing statistic appeared in a July 28 earnings announcement released by Logitech. The announcement covered the fiscal quarter ending June 30. The company's Revue set-top box was announced in partnership with Google when the search giant introduced its TV software last October. Sony was also part of the launch, and sells television sets with Google TV built in.

But Google TV devices have gained little traction. They launched to poor reviews citing them as difficult to use, and met opposition from broadcast and cable networks wary of the Web content might undermine their hold on viewers. Competition from less expensive machines from Apple and Roku, as well as from game consoles, has been intense.

Logitech chairman and acting CEO Guerrino De Luca told analysts that Google TV has "not yet fully delivered on its own promises." His company had already cut the price of the Revue from $299 to $249. Now the price will be slashed to $99, on par with Apple and Roku's Internet TV devices. Logitech has other challenges, such as distribution problems in Europe that led to flat revenues. However the first Revue price drop and the returns cost Logitech $34 million, and contributed to the departure of De Luca's predecessor, Gerald Quindlen.

Google TV is not finished, though. Apple TV soared in popularity after a similar price drop last September, and Google says it's not giving up. "We launched Google TV with a firm belief that bringing the power of the Web into the living room will significantly enhance the television experience," a spokesman said in a statement. "We believe in this now more than ever."

A new version of Google TV will soon be released for new and existing devices later this summer. These devices may come with a simpler interface (consumers and reviewers have complained that the current version is too complicated).

Google appears to have long-term plans, too. It recently acquired Sage TV, which makes software to turn a personal computer with a TV tuner card into a media center capable of recording, pausing, and streaming shows to devices around the home. Observers said Google bought the company more for the talent of its management team than its product, but it will take more time to apply that expertise to new software.

Google may also have an ace up its sleeve in the form of its mobile app store, the Android Market, a version of which is due to appear on Google TV devices later this year. Software developers are expected to create apps that bring new services to TV, from online social games to apps that turn smart phones and tablets into remote controls. "When Android Market opens up Google TV to more apps, we'll start to see things come about that we haven't thought of before," says Rakesh Agrawal, CEO of SnapStream, which sells technology that enables government agencies and TV production companies to search TV content.

Yet Google's toughest challenge is to convince TV studios and networks to stop deliberately obstructing its service. Days after Google TV debuted last October, CBS, NBC, and ABC started blocking shows freely available on their websites from being viewed using Google TV devices. Attempts to convince the broadcast and cable networks that Google TV was a complement, not a competitor, were fruitless.

That has left a big hole in what users can view on Google TV devices. Virtually every other competitor offers access to the online TV service Hulu, for example, which is operated by a coalition of broadcasters.

Google TV isn't yet a lost cause, according to people who closely watch the still-emerging market for so-called Connected TVs and devices. "The consumer home media experience is set for massive disruption," says Jeremy Toeman, chief product officer for Dijit, a San Francisco startup whose software turns a smart phone into a TV remote control with a program guide and social networking. But unless Google can give consumers a reason to crave Google TV, the company may play only a bit part in that disruption.

More about → Google's Vision for TV Proves a Turnoff your Telivision

A Quick, Cheap Diagnostic Test for HIV and Other Infections

A simple microfluidics chip could improve health care in poor countries by making rapid diagnostic testing a reality.

A small plastic chip that costs just 10 cents to make can reliably diagnose HIV and syphilis within about 15 minutes. The chip, which is based on microfluidics, uses small wafers that precisely manipulate nanoliter volumes of fluid in order to carry out a sequence of chemical reactions.

This is Developed by Samual Sia and collaborators at Columbia University, the system was designed to be used in resource-poor settings. Field tests in Rwanda showed that the chip works as well as traditional laboratory-based HIV diagnostics. Sia wants to deploy the test in prenatal clinics in Africa.

Many health clinics and even city hospitals in Africa must send out blood samples to a national laboratory for processing—a process that can take days or weeks. But in poor, rural areas, where patients may have to travel days to reach a clinic, many people are unlikely to return for a second visit to get their results. Tests that give reliable results in minutes could make a huge difference by letting the physician treat the patient during the visit.

While rapid diagnostic tests for HIV and some other infections already exist, they are typically not used in poor areas of Africa because they are more complicated to read and more expensive to use. Such tests are limited to detecting a single disease per use. With Sia's chip, additional tests, such as for hepatitis or malaria, can be added to the chip without increasing the cost significantly.

To make microfluidics technology more practical to use in poor countries, Sia's team designed it to be inexpensive to make and easy to read, and then tailored manufacturing methods for those purposes. The chips are produced via a plastic injection molding process that has been optimized to create nanoscale features. The reagents for the detection reaction are stored in a tube, separated by bubbles of air, and brought into the chip with the simple pull of a syringe.

The process requires no moving parts, electricity, or external instrumentation, and it requires a very small amount of blood—about one microliter. Unlike many microfluidics devices, the results can be read without microscopes or other expensive optical systems. A simple optical sensor on an instrument that's about the size and cost of a cell phone gives the test results.

Sia's team worked with Columbia's School of Public Health, the Rwandan administrator of health, and nongovernmental health organizations to test the device in Rwanda's capital city of Kigali. As many as 8 percent of women in Kigali are HIV positive, and it can take days or weeks to get the results for HIV tests at the hospital because blood samples must be sent to an outside lab for analysis. When Sia's device was used to test for HIV, and HIV and syphilis in combination, it detected 100 percent of cases, with a false positive rate of about 4 to 6 percent—on par with standard laboratory tests. The findings were published today in the journal Nature Medicine.

Recognizing the challenge of raising funds to commercialize a technology for poor nations, Sia and two partners founded a company called Claros Diagnostics. They won venture funding to develop a device for use in doctors' offices in wealthy countries to monitor signs of prostate cancer—a device that garnered marketing approval in Europe in June. Sia's team at Columbia then adapted the technology to test for sexually transmitted diseases; in addition to HIV and syphilis and hepatitis, they are working on tests for hepatitis B and C, herpes, and malaria. While the test was developed for use in poor countries, it might ultimately find appeal elsewhere as well.

Sia's initial focus is on prenatal clinics. "If you catch the diseases in mothers, you can prevent transmission to newborns, increasing clinical impact," says Sia. According to the research, syphilis testing in mothers and pregnant women could reduce the number of years lost due to ill health, disability, or early death by 200,000 in Rwanda.

Sia and his collaborators still face a major hurdle: finding funding to develop the STD device into a commercial product. While the researchers won grants and garnered venture-capital funding to develop the technology, including money from the Gates Foundation to find the best market, they have yet to secure funds to widely implement the technology. Ironically, the Gates Foundation declined to fund the next step in development, though research showed that STD testing was the optimal market to apply the technology.

More about → A Quick, Cheap Diagnostic Test for HIV and Other Infections

How to download Xperia-X10 mi pro software

Sony Ericsson PC Companion 2.0

PC Companion is a software that acts as a portal to Sony Ericsson and operator applications, such as phone software updates, online user service connections, and the Sony Ericsson support and user guides. More applications can be downloaded and added when made available by Sony Ericsson or the operator.

Requirements

Recommended system requirements:

· Internet broadband connection

· Intel® Pentium® 4, 3.6 GHz or equivalent AMD processor

· 500 MB free hard disk space

· 2 GB RAM

· 1 available USB 2.0 port and USB cable

· Microsoft® Windows XP™ SP2 (32 bit), Vista (32/64 bit) or Windows 7 (32/64 bit)

DOWNLOAD HERE

Installation instructions

1. Download the installation package to a temporary folder on your PC.

2. Run the downloaded file, and follow the instructions that appear.

How to use

1. On the computer: Start PC Companion.

2. Connect the USB cable to your computer and then to the phone..

3. On the phone: Select the "Connect your phone" option.

4. Wait for the phone to connect.

5. On the computer: From the Dashboard, select the applications to start different services and get information.

Note: If PC Companion doesn't find your phone within 60 seconds, disconnect the phone and redo steps 1 to 4.

More about → How to download Xperia-X10 mi pro software

Samsung S3850

Vibrant and exciting, Samsung's Corby II brings colour and pizzazz to your mobile life! With a wide variety of multimedia options and Wi-Fi b/g/n access, you’ll always be connected to the world around you. You can chat with friends through one integrated IM platform and update your latest adventures on Facebook and Twitter. It’s the ultimate device for your mobile needs, and thanks to the slim and easily portable 11.7mm size and colourful battery cover options, the Corby II is always on hand so you can express exactly who you are with style!

Amazing Variety to Express ‘You’

Show off your style, show off your personality! Samsung’s new Corby II helps you stand out from the crowd with trendy colour options. Fun and youthful, this mobile is slim enough to slide into your pocket and hold comfortably in the palm as you navigate on the large 3.14” touch screen. It’s the ultimate device for you to express yourself with! Get your colour with the Corby II!

Always Connected

No matter where you are, no matter what you’re doing, you’ll never be more than a click away from the rest of the world thanks to fast Wi-Fi b/g/n access for easy access to the internet and social networking sites. Change your status update, read your news feeds, check out your friends’ profile pages, and chat on multi instant messenger (including Google Talk, Yahoo, Facebook Chat and MSN). Native SNS for Facebook and Twitter offer seamless connections to accounts, or you can download widget for LinkedIn. Stay connected while you roam the world!

A New Touch Experience

Enjoy the Corby II’s improved touch experience! Glide your finger along the large glossy screen and experience how the new TouchWiz 3.0 user interface works like a dream! Whether you’re navigating menus or flipping through your photos, it’s just easier to everything - especially writing text messages thanks to QuickType by T9 Trace, which lets you slide your finger across the letters on the keyboard to write what you want to say.

Social Hub (Basic)

An integrated message box gives you a “whole picture” view of messages status across all messaging types: E-mail, instant messaging, social network, and SMS messages. From there, you can access your messages and respond directly without dedicated applications, thus becoming a hub for checking and responding to all messaging updates.

Easy Email Setup

A one-time easy set-up helps you to send and receive important messages from all your friends - up to 8,000 contacts!
On the go and without computer access, you can still have ready access to your E-mail

Multimedia

The Corby II offers you full multimedia options on the go. When a photo opportunity pops up, you are always ready with the 2MP camera. Instead of carrying around a separate MP3 player, you can play your favourite songs stored on the mobile’s microSD or tune into FM radio.

Samsung Apps

Samsung offers amazing options to take this mobile experience to a higher level. You can browse through a wide variety of apps and games and download them to your mobile! Also, Samsung Kies offers a new way to download large contents easily.

Active SyncYou will always be in sync whether you are using your mobile or PC. Any changes made to your calendar, contact list on the mobile, it will be changed on the PC, too, and vice versa. So, E-mails, schedules, phone numbers, memos, and more are always kept up to date

More about →

Samsung B7722

Samsung B7722

With the first 3.5G + 2.5G dual standby mobile in Samsung, you can experience wider simultaneous coverage. You won’t have to shut off the phone to switch SIMs with dual standby – just one touch of a button and you’re on the other line. You can enjoy full touch convenience and intuitive, easy access to your favourite applications through fingertips. A terrific multimedia package lets you bask in leisure time on a large 8.13cm (3.2) WQVGA screen, including pictures taken by 5MP Camera installed with Power LED.

3.5G + 2.5G Dual Standby

With the first 3.5G + 2.5G dual standby mobile in Samsung, you can experience wider simultaneous coverage. You won't have to shut off the phone to switch SIMs with dual standby – just one touch of a button and you're on the other line.

Full Touch Experience:

You can enjoy full touch convenience and intuitive, easy access to your favourite applications through fingertips. Glide through three pages of main menu, customised and extendable according to individual preferences for quick and nimble access to popular sites and apps.

Multimedia on the Go

A terrific multimedia package lets you bask in leisure time on a large 8.13cm (3.2) WQVGA screen, including pictures taken by 5MP Camera installed with Power LED. Revel in your built-in MP3 Player and features like Find Music that sources new unfamiliar songs, and the All Tracks "unlimited playlist" option that really lets the music flow.

More about → Samsung B7722