NYT: NBC News buys Stringwire, hopes to bring user-generated live video to the news room

According to the New York Times, NBC News has just purchased Stringwire, a web service the organization hopes will allow viewers to live stream video content from their phones directly to its control room, and thus to the world. Vivian Schiller, chief digital officer for NBC News told the Times that she plans to use Stringwire for coverage of critical mass events like the protests in Cairo or the bombings in Boston. While the service itself is at its nascent stage, the key part of the acquisition is its inventor, Phil Groman, who will whip the Stringwire into shape as its product lead.

The Times reports that those interested in sharing their live video streams need not bother with a special app. Anyone who tweeted they witnessed a particular news event will get a Twitter reply from a Stringwire-linked account that request they click a link. The link will then prompt them to point a camera and live stream whatever it is they're seeing. And don't worry about your local station accidentally showing something more suited for Chatroulette than breaking news; Groman assured the Times that all videos will be vetted. As immediate on-the-ground reporting becomes even more urgent in today's fast-moving world, NBC's move toward citizen journalism could be a very smart one. NBC News is expected to make its formal acquisition announcement tomorrow.

[Original image credit: Paul Stein, Flickr]

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Source: New York Times

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/A7IcYvuU6uE/

VIEWSONIC VERISIGN

IE9 and Firefox 4 post top marks in Web browser power use comparison

Over on the Internet Explorer Blog, Microsoft has posted results from an extensive comparison of the top five Web browsers. The goal: to determine whether Internet Explorer 9, Firefox 4, Chrome 10, Safari 5, or Opera 11 is able to squeeze the most life out of your laptop's battery.

A baseline was determined with test systems sitting idle, and then browsers were pointed at about:blank, a news site, the HTML5 Galactic demo, and the IE9 fish tank demo. Perhaps unsurprisingly, IE9 came out on top -- though Firefox 4 was a very close second on nearly every test. As you can see, the other browsers didn't necessarily fare quite as well, with Google Chrome, Safari, and Opera all posting significantly worse scores. In Opera 11's case, a laptop battery would last over one hour more with Internet Explorer 9 installed.

But what we'd really like to know is where did Microsoft find the dilithium crystals required to run a Galactic Total Power Consumption test...

IE9 and Firefox 4 post top marks in Web browser power use comparison originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/30/ie9-and-firefox-4-post-top-marks-in-pc-power-use-comparison/

YAHOO YAHOO

Nokia's Apple-Bashing Video Speaks to My Heart

Nokia saw an opening to attack Apple through the world's most-used camera, the itty bitty unit on the iPhone. The attack? A politely sarcastic ad on YouTube that parodies the generally excellent Apple version that -- also politely -- brags that every day, more photos are taken with the iPhone than with any other camera. While Apple won't feel the sucker punch, I've got to admit, the Nokia version was speaking to my heart. I currently pack an iPhone 5, and the 8-megapixel camera and brains represent a massive leap forward from my iPhone 4.

Source: http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/78674.html

LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS LAWSON SOFTWARE

NASA Predicts How Common Forest Fires Will Be By 2100

It's been a terrible few years for fires, with thousands of homes lost every summer. NASA is using its two earth-monitoring satellites, Terra and Aqua, to help monitor forest fires from space—and to find out how much worse it's going to get.

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/vNlVjJXHUVM/nasa-animation-shows-how-common-forest-fires-will-be-by-1091863598

SAIC ROCKWELL AUTOMATION

This Week’s Apple Rumors, Ranked From Dumbest to Most Plausible

This week's Apple rumors, served up with a heaping dose of skepticism.

Source: http://feeds.wired.com/c/35185/f/661457/s/2fc54a76/sc/5/l/0L0Swired0N0Cgadgetlab0C20A130C0A80Capple0Erumors0Eroundup0C/story01.htm

LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS LAWSON SOFTWARE

A sneak peek at the next version of Android Market and Music app

Update: Tech From 10 seems to be offline -- but we have lots of images and a hands-on review if you want to see what the new Music app is like.

In what is probably a bit of a big-G whoopsie, the folks at Tech From 10 woke up to find a new, test version of Android Market installed on their Galaxy S.

Visually, the new version is almost identical. The carousel of featured apps has been updated slightly, and apps now have a 'Content rating,' but that's it (image after the break). The interesting bit, however, is the inclusion of alpha and beta apps -- most notably, there's a new version of the Music app, which looks like a scaled-down version of the Android 3.0 Honeycomb Music app (see right).

Also available from the test Android Market is 'Google Gallery 3D New 10.2', 'Google - Camera v12' and 'Google Desk Clock 10' -- but, curiously, all of the apps refused to launch on Tech From 10's Galaxy S (Vibrant) smartphone. Are they Honeycomb apps? Or, more likely, are they destined for the next Android smartphone OS, Ice Cream?

If you want to try out the new Honeycombish Music app, Tech From 10 has made the APK available for download. You can also download the three Google apps, if you want to have a poke around.

Continue reading A sneak peek at the next version of Android Market and Music app

A sneak peek at the next version of Android Market and Music app originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/05/a-sneak-peek-at-the-next-version-of-android-market-and-music-app/

ZORAN ZIONS BAN

Get free MLB.tv access during April with MLB.com At Bat app

If you're a baseball fanatic, the MLB At Bat app is a must-have. It's packed with live updates, scores, stats, news, and videos -- and right now there's another great reason to pick up At Bat. Pony up for At Bat and you'll get to enjoy MLB.tv free for the entire month of April.

The service streams games in HD to just about any connected device you can imagine, from iPhone to PS3, and even Roku boxes and LG Internet-ready televisions. The basic subscription will set you back $99 for the season, and a Premium sub is an extra $20 (and adds DVR functionality, multi-game PIP, and more).

MLB At Bat is available for Android and iOS and both apps run to $14.99 US.

Get free MLB.tv access during April with MLB.com At Bat app originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/04/get-free-mlb-tv-access-during-april-with-mlb-com-at-bat-app/

MOTOROLA MOODYS

Why Founders Fail: The Product CEO Paradox

A

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/uv3W_1KATEw/

ARROW ELECTRONICS ASML HOLDING

Google bids $900 million for Nortel's patents to protect against litigation trolls

Nortel, once one of the biggest telecoms company in the world but now in the death throes of bankruptcy, has selected Google's $900 million bid for its patent portfolio as the stalking horse bid. This doesn't mean that Google will automatically win Nortel's massive array of telecoms patents, but it does mean that Google is the preferred buyer.

Google, which has a history of lobbying for patent law reform, has been the target of many patent litigation suits. Google's relative infancy means that it has a lot less patents in the vault than big-hitters like Microsoft, Oracle and IBM, and buying Nortel's portfolio of 6,000 patents could provide better protection against patent litigation in the future. It's worth noting that both Apple and RIM have showed interested in the portfolio, too.

Mashable speculates that the patents -- which are nearly all telecoms-related -- will be used to defend against Oracle's attacks on Android's use of Java. We reckon that Google is simply looking to cover its future endeavors in the world of networking. In the absence of patent law reform, and continued threats to net neutrality, owning a bunch of telecoms patents sounds like a very sensible move.

Google bids $900 million for Nortel's patents to protect against litigation trolls originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/04/google-bids-900-million-for-nortels-patents-to-protect-from-li/

PROGRESS SOFTWARE PLANAR SYSTEMS

This Week's Top Comedy Video: Disney's Vehicle Movies

If you're over the age of 12, you probably wondered why the hell Pixar ever made Cars 2. And then when you heard about Planes, you probably wondered who in the world would go see a Pixar-less Disney movie that sounds like the direct to DVD cousin of Cars. Merchandising is not an excuse for crap! The formula is simple, really: any vehicle-related movie made by Disney or Pixar is a must not watch. Funny or Die pokes fun of Disney's Jay Leno-like vehicle obsession by showing just how many vehicle-related movies they have in the pipeline.

Read more...

Source: http://gizmodo.com/this-weeks-top-comedy-video-disneys-vehicle-movies-1085592487

TIBCO SOFTWARE TIBCO SOFTWARE

Real-World Vaporware: Charge Your Phone With a Hydrogen Reactor

Most portable chargers won’t last long if you’re away from a power outlet for more than a couple of days. The vast majority of them need to be plugged in so their internal batteries can get recharged. The Brunton Hydrogen ...

Source: http://feeds.wired.com/c/35185/f/661457/s/2f9f9e4f/sc/28/l/0L0Swired0N0Cgadgetlab0C20A130C0A80Cbrunton0Ehydrogen0Ereactor0C/story01.htm

AMAZONCOM AMERICA MOVIL

Make Sure Everyone Knows How Popular You Are With the Smiirl Fliike

Facebook employees: Looking to blow some cash now that your stock is actually worth something? Check this Smiirl out.

Source: http://feeds.wired.com/c/35185/f/661457/s/2fc65e24/sc/4/l/0L0Swired0N0Cgadgetlab0C20A130C0A80Clets0Emake0Esure0Eeveryone0Eknows0Ehow0Epopular0Eyou0Eare0Ewith0Ethe0Esmiirl0Efliike0C/story01.htm

ACCENTURE ACER

Firefox 4 rockets to 5% global usage share, IE9 wallows at 1.5%

Using some early numbers from both StatCounter and Net Applications, Mozilla's noisiest hominid, Asa Dotzler, has illustrated Firefox 4's meteoric rise to around 5% of Web browser global usage share. Internet Explorer 9, which launched two weeks ago, seems to be enjoying a much more casual stroll in the park with just 1.5% of the global Web usage share.

Interestingly, we can see IE9 dipping between March 20 and 21, just before the 'Important' Windows Update rolled out. It's hard to say whether IE9 is only growing because of the installed-by-default Windows Update, but that small dip definitely sticks out -- did excitement peter out? Did people download IE9, try it out, and summarily uninstall it? Perhaps, given their close proximity, the stats show an attention shift from Microsoft to Mozilla?

Numbers-wise, if the bottom left corner of the graph shows 2.3 million downloads for IE9, we can guesstimate that that it has now been downloaded 5 million times. Firefox is clocking in at 37 million downloads after five days of public availability.

We wonder whether Microsoft knew its release schedule would coincide so closely with Firefox 4. Internet Explorer 9 -- a great browser by almost every metric -- was never going to do well against anything emanating from the maws of Mozilla. The main thing, though, is that Microsoft has now shown that it's serious when it comes to the Open Web. If Internet Explorer 10 is good, and 11 and 12, then we might finally see it compete with the zealous Mozillan horde.

Firefox 4 rockets to 5% global usage share, IE9 wallows at 1.5% originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 28 Mar 2011 05:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/28/firefox-4-rockets-to-5-global-usage-share-ie9-wallows-at-1-5/

IMS HEALTH IMATION

Philips Adds Accent Light Fixtures to Smartphone-Controlled LED Lineup

The Philips Hue lighting system is a great way to spice up the ambient color of your home by just swapping out a few lightbulbs. Now the smartphone-controlled illumination system is getting its own TRON-like hardware meant for accent lighting.

Source: http://feeds.wired.com/c/35185/f/661457/s/2faee8c0/sc/28/l/0L0Swired0N0Cgadgetlab0C20A130C0A80Chue0Efixtures0C/story01.htm

GOOGLE FORMFACTOR