3M reader concept looks familiar, begs you not to judge an ebook by its cover

This image purporting to be the current concept design for 3M's upcoming ereader looks awfully familiar. In fact, the similarities to the txtr reader we saw a couple of years back are pretty uncanny -- and they're likely more than skin deep, seeing as how 3M has been investing in the company. There's a decent chance, however, that the device will hit the market looking a bit different -- and hopefully with a few other changes on-board, since the txtr reader is now a bit ancient. One thing does seem fairly likely: the device will probably play nicely with 3M's recently announced Cloud Library lending service. You didn't expect 3M to let other companies have all the fun, did you?

3M reader concept looks familiar, begs you not to judge an ebook by its cover originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Jun 2011 13:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/28/3m-reader-concept-looks-familiar-begs-you-not-to-judge-an-ebook/

Janine Hillenbrand Vivien Strupp Elena Lasch Hans-Jürgen Haake

Google's New Home Page Pushes You to Plus [Google]

Scribbly Is Still Just an iPad Stylus, but a Really Fun-Looking iPad Stylus [Video]

The Scribbly stylus doesn't do anything that any other iPad doesn't do. It's just taken the form of a giant marker, which tricks us all into thinking it's more fun. It's probably more comfortable to hold as well. £10. [Scribbly via Oh Gizmo via UberGizmo] More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/44PG60QDfe8/scribbly-is-still-just-an-ipad-stylus-but-a-really-fun+looking-ipad-stylus

Edith Berner Lea Linden Kevin Fickenscher Amelie Schweizer

Yahoo! Messenger now censors the links you share

Yahoo Messenger Big Brother censorshipWe've all thought it, but never dared think it could be true: what if Microsoft, Yahoo, and AOL actively monitor our instant messenger chats? What if mentions of 'bomb' and 'underage' are tracked and sent to law enforcement agencies? What if chat providers don't agree with the things we say, or the links we share, and filter or censor the content of our transmitted messages?

Well, it looks like our fears may actually have some basis in reality: Yahoo Messenger strips FilesTube links from instant messages. It doesn't tell either party that a URL has been removed from chat -- it just deletes it. Poof. FilesTube, in case you were wondering, is one of the largest file hosting meta search engines on the Web -- it indexes RapidShare, Megaupload, Mediafire, and many other 'cyberlocker' services.

It's fairly obvious why FilesTube links are being removed -- the Censor General at Yahoo is probably one of those perplexed primates who think all uses of BitTorrent are illegal -- but this situation poses a far more important question: is Yahoo censoring messages on the client side, or the server side. Does the messenger client itself maintain a list of 'blacklisted' words -- and if so, why are we not told that FilesTube links are banned? What other words and terms does Yahoo protect us from?

Continue reading Yahoo! Messenger now censors the links you share

Yahoo! Messenger now censors the links you share originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 05:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/30/yahoo-messenger-now-censors-links-raises-serious-privacy-issue/

Sylvia Lösche Steven Walnsch Lennart Tonn Simone Temme

Yahoo gone haywire, Google [From the Forums]

From the Forums

Wow.. busy Tuesday. New Google services, new devices and some nice app updates -- gotta love it. If you've missed out on the action today then by all means, skip on back to read through some of the blog posts and don't hesitate to jump on into the Android Central forums either for more discussion:

If you're not already a member of the Android Central forums, you can register your account today.


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/SvemOln-Oi8/yahoo-gone-haywire-google-forums

Frieda Falkner Hans-Joachim Kammann Antonio Fellberg Emma Knebel

Microsoft files antitrust complaint against Google in Europe, showdown imminent

Bill Gates and Paul AllenMicrosoft, citing Google's tyrannical 95% share of the European search market, has lodged a formal complaint with the European Commission. It's not like Microsoft is breaking any ground here -- the European Commission has been investigating Google's alleged violation of European competition law since November 2010 -- but there's no doubt that the addition of Microsoft's gravitas will affect the proceedings.

Microsoft's complaint reads like a sincere and plaintive cry for help against the Google Overlord. Microsoft lists no less than six damning reasons why Google's behavior is anti-competitive -- from Windows Phone 7's incompatibility with YouTube, to its nefarious handling of Google Books -- and finishes with a wide-eyed plea to the European Commission to please find Google guilty.

For those of you that have been following Microsoft's own antitrust troubles over the last decade, don't worry: MS is quick to point out the irony in the situation. "There of course will be some who will point out the irony in today's filing. Having spent more than a decade wearing the shoe on the other foot with the European Commission, the filing of a formal antitrust complaint is not something we take lightly. This is the first time Microsoft Corporation has ever taken this step. More so than most, we recognize the importance of ensuring that competition laws remain balanced and that technology innovation moves forward."

It sounds like Microsoft, having well and truly gone through the wringer, wants Google to be held similarly accountable. That's fair enough, right?

Microsoft files antitrust complaint against Google in Europe, showdown imminent originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 05:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/31/microsoft-files-antitrust-complaint-against-google-in-europe-sh/

Heidemarie Frick Maike Beetz Fiona Henschel Joshua Heinlein

Fring optimizes its four-way video calling app for smiley iPad 2 owners

Fring
Sure, you could have fired up Fring to make four-way video calls from your iPad 2 this whole time, but you'd have saddled with an iPhone-sized interface on your 9.7-inch IPS screen. And, as we say around the Engadget compound -- tablet optimized or get the frack out. OK, we don't really say that, but everything is better when it's designed for the screen you intend to use it on. So, we're very pleased to tell you that Fring has been updated with proper iPad support (cue cheers). Basically there's no reason to use Facetime now, with its lame single-caller and WiFi only limitations. Hit up the source link if you're in the group video chatting mood.

Fring optimizes its four-way video calling app for smiley iPad 2 owners originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Jun 2011 06:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/wTLKa-rmbx4/

Robin Jones Ingeburg Otte Moritz Beller Gabriela Prell

What do you love, asks Google with a new portal to its many web services

Say hello to your new online friend, wdyl.com. An eagle-eyed TechCrunch tipster spotted this freshly launched Google portal, whose purpose it seems to be to gather up all of the company's multifarious web services under one umbrella. A Google search for Google products, in other words. Punching in a topic brings up its popularity in Google Trends, lets you set up Google Alerts, plan related events in Google Calendar, email someone in Gmail, or hit up Picasa, YouTube or Google News with the same query. You get the picture. It hasn't yet been made official and hitting up the site without the "www." prefix throws up a bad URL error at the moment, but it's there and seemingly fully functional. Give it a try and let us know which search terms bring up the most humorous results.

What do you love, asks Google with a new portal to its many web services originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Jun 2011 02:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/28/what-do-you-love-asks-google-with-a-new-portal-to-its-many-web/

Michel Rohr Hilde Baaden Hartmut Theobald Nicholas Graul

OliPad 110 video preview makes us wish we'd paid attention in Italian class

Looking for a little more insight into the second tablet from Italy's first consumer tablet manufacturer? Olivetti's product manager Richard Jelmini was caught on camera extensively demoing the Honeycomb-running device, and like the 100 before it, the OliPad 110 looks like a pretty solid piece of hardware. The tablet has a 10-inch touchscreen, front and rear-facing cameras, and 16GB of built-in memory. The video after the break, naturally, is entirely in Italian. It's not Fellini, but it'll do.

[Thanks, Alessandro]

Continue reading OliPad 110 video preview makes us wish we'd paid attention in Italian class

OliPad 110 video preview makes us wish we'd paid attention in Italian class originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Jun 2011 17:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/27/olipad-110-video-preview-makes-us-wish-wed-paid-attention-in-it/

Hartmut Theobald Nicholas Graul Malin Hock Helmut Hölzer