Google, in partnership with some of the world’s major music labels, has launched a new free music download service in China. The advertising-supported service is designed to lure Chinese music lovers away from the pirate music download culture that currently rules that market. The deal makes available almost the entire catalogues of both western and […]

A new robotic pizza-making kiosk has drawn mixed reviews — ranging from ambilvalence to disdain — from traditional pizza makers and pizza lovers, alike. The Let’s Pizza machine actually creates a complete, fresh pizza, to order, from scratch, using advanced infrared baking and robotics technology, in less than three minutes. It’s proved very popular in […]

The Canadian government is planning to set up a new online auction site, in some ways similar to auction icon eBay, to sell off its constant stream of surplus goods and equipment. Word has it that the current CGSurplus site will be massively revamped, making it easier for buyers to find what they’re looking for […]

The electric toaster turns 100 this year.  As the UK’s Daily Express newspaper notes, General Electric technician Frank Schailor built a prototype, on a hunch, back in 1909 — 20 years before someone else invented pre-sliced bread! Schailor’s idea was to provide a way for people to make stale bread palatable again. It worked. It […]

Pioneering consumer Internet phone (VoIP) service provider Skype is available on the iPhone today. “The number-one request we get from customers is to make Skype available on iPhone. There’s a pent-up demand,” Skype CEP Scott Durchslag told Reuters news service at the CTIA annual mobile showcase in Las Vegas. Skype already offers versions of its […]

Apple has finally released a promised graphics firmware update for its 17 in. MacBook Pro portable. The 17 in. MacBook Pro — recently released. The patch, announced at Macword back in January, addresses stability issues with the computer’s display. A sigificant number of users reported seeing vertical lines disrupting their screens, after the new 17 […]

It might be seen as homage to master conman Frank Abagnale Jr., who went to work for the FBI helping to catch fraud artists after being convicted of passing bad cheques just about everywhere in the world the major airlines fly. An 18-year-old New Zealand hacker who allegedly caused (US)$20 million worth of damage around […]

Inventorspot.com brings us word of a new technique, currently in devlopment, that could fix broken bones in minutes, rather than the weeks now required for most fractures. UK medical research firm RegenTec has come up with a new two-part ceramic-based substance they call Injectable Bone which can be injected into bone breaks filling any voids […]

In the latest chapter of the controversy over redesign of Facebook’s home page, the company had responded to an avalanche of reader feedback with a list of proposed changes and improvements based on what the users wanted most. The ‘most-wanted’ list includes: Adding more control and relevance in the stream via live updating, photo tags […]

The New Zealand government earlier this week withdrew a bill before Parliament there which would have forced Internet service providers (ISPs) to disconnect customers accused of illegally downloading copyrighted music or movies. One aspect of the bill that civil rights advocates had real trouble with was the part about banning ‘alleged’ offenders, whether the allegations […]

A new bill being prepared for introduction in the U.S. Senate would take responsibility for U.S. cyber security away from the Department of Homeland Security and place it directly under the control of U.S. President Barach Obama through a newly-appointed National Security Advisor. According to a summary of the proposed bill leaked last week, the […]

Macworld.com reports that U.S. federal officials have charged a Michigan con man with fraud and money laundering after Apple apparently brought the guy to their attention by suing him over the use of the name ‘iPod’ in his company name, iPod Mechanic. The iPod famly as it was in when Woodhams was operating. Shuffle, far […]