Google opened its new Knol service to the public today. The company announced Knol last December.

Knols are authoritative articles about specific topics, written by people who know about those subjects. The key principle behind Knol is authorship. Every knol will have an author (or group of authors) who put their name behind their content. It's their knol, their voice, their opinion.

With Knol, Google introduces a new method for authors to work together that they call "moderated collaboration.
Google also announced an agreement with the New Yorker magazine which allows any author to add one cartoon per knol from the New Yorker's extensive cartoon repository.

Adding cartoons to papers and presentations is a thing that got me through University. They nicely distract from the content.
Knol is accessible on knol.google.com.

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Watchmen is one of the most anticipated super hero movies based on a DC comic. Watchmen will premier in March of 2009.

A teaser of the Watchmen movie is now online on Yahoo Movies and on the official Watchmen site.

Watchmen is directed by Zack Snyder, who also directed 300.

Last week we reported about the Watchmen Motion Comics, which are currently free to download on iTunes.

About Watchmen:
About Watchmen: "Watchmen" takes viewers through the critically acclaimed DC Comics and Hugo award-winning graphic novel by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons. Set in 1985 at the height of the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union, costumed avengers have been banned with the exception of two - The Comedian and Rorschach. During this time the mysterious murder of a United States government official named Edward Blake occurs in New York, possibly by Soviet Communists. It is later confirmed that Blake is actually a costumed avenger - The Comedian. The news of the murder is discovered by his fellow costumed avenger, Rorschach, who sets out to discover the murderer. During his search viewers discover whether Rorschach is really insane or if he's uncovered a plot to murder super-heroes and, even worse, millions of innocent civilians. On the run from the law, Rorschach reunites with his former teammates in a desperate attempt to save the world and their lives. But what they uncover will shock them to their very core and change the face of the planet. Following two generations of masked superheroes from the close of World War II to the icy shadow of the Cold War comes this groundbreaking comic story -- the story of The Watchmen.

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Facebook announced a new site design. The new Facebook site promises a cleaner and simpler design, along with the opportunity for users to preview and test the next-generation features and functionality.

Facebook is inviting people to use the new design and try out the improved features by navigating back and forth between the new and current versions of the site. Access to the new design will be limited at first and gradually become available to all of Facebook's more than 80 million users over the coming days.

"We've made the changes rolling out today in order to highlight the most recent and relevant information that users value, give users even more control and ownership over their profiles and simplify the user experience," said Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. "Facebook's new design makes it a lot easier for users to share information, and we encourage them to check it out."

The new Facebook design will be made available to users at http://www.new.facebook.com/. In the coming weeks, all Facebook users will automatically default to the new site design when logging in at Facebook.

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A new bag has been announced today that claims to be the world’s first power assisted luggage.

The bag uses a new pancake wheel technology and an Anti-Gravity handle to distribute a major portion of the weight of the bag over the powered wheels to increase efficiency and make pulling the bag easier. The bag can go for 1.5 miles on a full charge.

The bag uses sensors to detect the tilt when a user is pulling the bag and sends power to the wheels only when needed. The wheels are also powered only at certain angles between 15% and 35% slopes. The wheels stop automatically if the bag is dropped or let go. The bag is powered by 12V batteries and the case weighs 10.6kg empty, 3KG more than a standard bag of the same size.

Via Live Luggage

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Japanese SMK Corp. developed a Wireless Input Pen. The company showed the novelty at the TEXPO 2008 in Tokyo last week.

The pen has built-in triaxial acceleration sensors and Bluetooth.

SMK says that this is the world's first pen device that can transmit characters written in the air to a PC. SMK has filed patents for their wireless pen.

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This cute bear is equipped with a 1/3" CMOS black and white camera placed discreetly in the bear's nose. It also contains a built-in 2.4 GHz transmitter which sends a video signal to the receiver that you simply connect to your TV. The transmitter is completely wireless, so you don't have annoying wires running all over your house. The video receiver can be connected to any TV using the included A/V cable. You can monitor your baby from any room as long as it has a TV within 100' to 300' of where the cuddly bear is placed. The camera produces a great picture on your TV with 582 lines of resolution and an impressive low minimum light level of 0.5 lux, which captures images even in dimly lit rooms. So if you're worrying non-stop about your baby just get him this cute bear for his room. It will be a great gift for yourself as well. However, this bear should not be abused and used as a spy camera on babysitters or nannies and should not be used as a toy.

Find the TeddyCam Baby Monitoring System here...

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Sony introduced the HT-IS100 BRAVIA Theater Micro System in the States.

The HT-IS100 features 5 small speakers roughly the size of a golf ball or strawberry as you can see in the photo.

The system includes three 1080p HDMI inputs with repeater functionality and support for eight channels of uncompressed audio. The HT-IS100 is an ideal complement for Blu-ray Disc players, PS3 consoles and other high-definition sources.

With the ability to add optional wireless rear surround speakers and multi-room wireless speakers that configure automatically, the HT-IS100 system can be set up with fewer wires and without complicated wireless IP settings.
The 5.1 channel system, with 450 watts (RMS) of power, includes a subwoofer with integrated 32-bit S-Master digital amplifier for superb audio performance.

Featuring Sony’s S-AIR™ technology, you can add wireless multi-room listening throughout the home using Sony S-AIR Air Station speakers, which are sold separately. Television audio and music can be transmitted from the main system to multiple rooms throughout the home by connecting the Air Station into a power outlet. An optional speaker kit (WAHT-SA10 sold separately) delivers audio wirelessly to rear speakers, eliminating the need to run speaker wire from the front to the back of the room.
The system features Sony’s Digital Media Port, which adds control, networking and connectivity options for music playback through various accessories, including a Cradle for iPod (TDM-iP10), a Network Walkman cradle, a PC client device and a Bluetooth adapter (each is sold separately).
The Sony HT-IS100 system will be available in July for about $700.

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Sony announced today that YouTube is the latest online video provider to join the company’s BRAVIA Internet Video Link service. The service went live today providing BRAVIA Internet Video Link users access to millions of videos on YouTube at no additional charge.

The BRAVIA Internet Video Link is a small module that attaches to the back of a selection of the company’s 2007 and 2008 BRAVIA LCD flat-panel television models.
The service seamlessly streams on-demand entertainment including movies, TV programs, your favorite YouTube videos and a variety of other free content as well as news, weather and traffic information via an existing Ethernet connection without the use of a personal computer.

A broadband connection of at least 2.5 Mbps is recommended. Content is easily navigated with Sony’s Technical Emmy award-winning Xross Media Bar (XMB) user interface.

Sony’s BRAVIA Internet Video Link module is currently available for about $300. The module is compatible with a majority of the latest 2007 BRAVIA television models, as well many new 2008 models.
Via this Sony announcement.

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The tiny DLP projector from Foxconn measures 55x46x26mm and weighs only 65g.
The .3 inch TI DLP inside the Foxconn Pico projector creates a WVGA (854x480px) resolution image.

We have reported the Microvision pico projector at CES 2008. The Foxcoon Pico projector is way smaller.
Apparently Foxconn plans to release this tiny projector by Q2 2009. Foxconn signed on as partner for the Texas Instruments Pico projector technology back in October of 2007.
More Computex 2008 News.

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When you want to go out to the club and get some extra added attention, here is a gadget that will get it for you. The Show Off T-Shirt. With a built in equalizer panel, this t-shirt doesn't just have those boring 2D graphics! It is sound sensitive and the equalizer works just like one would on your home stereo � it lights up to the beat of the music!

The actual t-shirt is made from comfy 100% cotton. And the batteries that run the EL (Electro Luminenscence) panel on the front are hidden in a small pocket inside.

This isn't just a generic equalizer that will look the same with every beat, either! Each individual frequency of music activates a different bar! So, just like the equalizer on your stereo at home, you will see a brand new kind of show with each type of music played!

So, have a lot of fun at the next party you attend. Or get some comments and attention surrounding your cool shirt at the dance club this weekend. Look at buying a gadget you can wear � The Show Off T-Shirt.

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Do you want to learn how to fly a remote control helicopter? If so then this is the helicopter you need. No longer do you have to spend close to $1000 dollars to have a real remote control helicopter. R/C technology has come along way in the past 10 years and R/C helicopter technology has came even farther. Now you can buy your own 4-channel R/C helicopter which is ready to fly for under $100 dollar. The Falcon 40 is here!

The Falcon 40 100% RTF (Ready To Fly) is a 4-channel fixed pitch R/C helicopter. This is a real R/C helicopter and not just a toy like the Indoor Palmsize Mirco R/C Helicopter we wrote about early. The Falcon 40 is designed for beginners and will teach you the basics of helicopter flight. The Falcon is also great for experienced pilots because it is 100% ready to fly out of the box. The technicians at XHeli actually test fly each and every Falcon 40 they sell. This ensures the Falcon 40 comes trimmed and all setup for you. All you have to do is charge the batteries and you are ready.

The 4-channel Falcon 40 gives you throttle (1st channel), elevator (2nd channel), aileron (3rd channel) and rudder (4th channel) control. This helicopter has a fixed pitch which makes it easier to fly than a collective pitch helicopter so it is great to learn on.

Read more about the Falcon 40 RTF and get your own for under $100 right here...

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Japanese Carrot Systems developed a LED flashlight with integrated video camera. The Video camera flashlight enables security personal to record evidence as it happens with just one handheld device.

The AD-1500 flashlight has a built-in 300,000 pixel CMOS camera and microphone. The flashlight records MP4 video onto miniSD cards.

In dark areas the flashlight automatically switches to infra-red video recording.
The camcorder Flashlight is offered in Japan through AlterPlus.
More details on the AD-1500 product page (Japanese). Via Nikkei.

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NASA's Phoenix spacecraft landed in the northern polar region of Mars successfully today.
Radio signals received at 4:53:44 p.m. Pacific Time (7:53:44 p.m. Eastern Time) confirmed the Phoenix Mars Lander had survived its difficult final descent and touchdown 15 minutes earlier. This time was predicted by NASA elier today. The signals took that long to travel from Mars to Earth at the speed of light.

The photo shows one of the first photos Pheonix already transmitted from the Mars surface.
Phoenix will now for three months examine the landing area on Mars to try to find frozen water within reach of the lander's robotic arm.
More details on the NASA site. See also the first photos sent by Phoenix here.

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The Telectroscope connects London and New York virtually. The installation near Tower Bridge is a great application of a giant webcam.

These real-time tele-presence installations are not new, but what is great about the Telectroscope is its size and its great Victorian era design. The story behind it is that there is a giant tunnel under the Atlantic connecting New York with London.
The Telectroscope is an invention of Paul St George, a 53-year-old artist in based in London. You can use the Telectroscope for £1 and you will be able to wave into the earth and see New Yorkers waving back.
The Telectroscope is at the Fulton Ferry Landing by the Brooklyn Bridge in New York.
More details on the Telegraph.

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Last summer GameStop still felt the love for the Microsoft Zune player. A year ago the video game retail giant offered exclusively the Halo 3 Zune. Now GameStop says that they will stop selling the Zune player and leave the Zune Category.

GameStop says that the Zune has not had the appeal they had anticipated.

Microsoft sold about 2 million Zune players since the launch in 2006. The Zune is still only available in the United States.
Other retailers like Amazon.com, Wal-mart, and Best Buy continue to offer the Microsoft iPod alternative.
Via the The Street.

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Microsoft announces that it will expand the formats supported by Office.

The 2007 Microsoft Office system already provides support for 20 different document formats within Microsoft Office Word, Office Excel and Office PowerPoint.
With the release of Microsoft Office 2007 Service Pack 2 (SP2) scheduled for the first half of 2009, the list will grow to include support for XML Paper Specification (XPS), Portable Document Format (PDF) 1.5, PDF/A and Open Document Format (ODF) v1.1.

When using SP2, customers will be able to open, edit and save documents using ODF and save documents into the XPS and PDF fixed formats from directly within the application without having to install any other code. It will also allow customers to set ODF as the default file format for Office 2007. To also provide ODF support for users of earlier versions of Microsoft Office (Office XP and Office 2003), Microsoft will continue to collaborate with the open source community in the ongoing development of the Open XML-ODF translator project on SourceForge.net.

In addition, Microsoft has defined a road map for its implementation of the newly ratified International Standard ISO/IEC 29500 (Office Open XML). IS29500, which was approved by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) in March, is already substantially supported in Office 2007, and the company plans to update that support in the next major version release of the Microsoft Office system, code-named Office 14.
Via this Microsoft press-release.

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Napster announced today that it now has the largest MP3 store around with a total of 6 million tracks in DRM-free MP3 format. Napster claims its store is 50% larger than any other MP3 store and that it features the largest catalog of major label tracks as well as independent tracks.

The MP3 format is compatible with both the iPod and the iPhone. Pricing for the digital tracks with Napster will be $0.99 per song and $9.95 for most MP3 albums. The tracks are available in 256kbps bit rate and downloads include high resolution album art.

"Music fans have spoken and it's clear they need the convenience, ease of use and broad interoperability of the DRM-free MP3 format, and they want to be able to find both major label artists and independent music all in one place. Napster is delighted to deliver all of this and more with the world's largest MP3 catalog," said Napster's Chairman and CEO Chris Gorog. "Our new MP3 store, together with our award-winning 'all you can eat' music subscription service, provides the most comprehensive and exciting music experience available. Virtually any portable device in the world can now be used to enjoy tracks purchased at Napster, which is an important breakthrough for our company."

Via Napster

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At the CEO Summit 2008 Bill Gates demonstrated the Touch Wall, a new hardware technology from Microsoft that creates a touch-based white board interface that lets users interact more naturally with data and applications on their computer.

Microsoft already brought a multi-touch interface to tables with Surface, now the company tackles touch walls.

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Microsoft announced today that its really cool WorldWide Telescope was now in an open public beta. The application is from Microsoft Research and allows students and fans of Space view seamless images of the night sky composed from land and space-based telescopes.

"The WorldWide Telescope is a powerful tool for science and education that makes it possible for everyone to explore the universe," said Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft. "By combining terabytes of incredible imagery and data with easy-to-use software for viewing and moving through all that information, the WorldWide Telescope opens the door to new ways to see and experience the wonders of space. Our hope is that it will inspire young people to explore astronomy and science, and help researchers in their quest to better understand the universe."

The application is described as a blend of software and web 2.0 services created with the Microsoft Visual Experience Engine. Users get seamless panning and zooming of the heavens similar to Google Earth. Guided tours by astronomers and educators from major universities and planetariums.

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According to research firm ComScore the number of online videos viewed in March 2008 jumped 13% to 11.5 billion. That number represents a 64% gain when compared to March 2007. Google sites were number one for online videos during the month with a 38% share of all the videos watched online.

YouTube accounted for 98% of the videos viewed at Google websites. Second place went to Fox Interactive Media with 477 million videos watched; Yahoo was next with 328 million videos with Viacom Digital recording 249 million videos watched. The last place site that was measured by ComScore was ESPN with 89,760 videos watched.

The report also says that 139 million U.S. Internet users averaged 83 videos per viewer in March. Google viewers averaged 51 videos per user for the month. YouTube is no doubt helped by the availability of videos on the iPhone and Apple TV.

Via Comscore

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