Technology

With Microsoft's new Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system (OS) recent debut, experts are already debating whether or not it's a success. One source claims first-day sales were nowhere close to the release of other high-profile phone systems, ... while others report significant stock shortages. The sales figures come from an unnamed market research source speaking to a financial news website. The source claims a total of 40,000 handsets running Windows Phone 7 were sold the first day it went on sale. That compares poorly to the 1.7 million sales of the iPhone 4 in the first three days it was on ... (view more)

A Chinese "supercomputer" has been confirmed as the fastest in the world, the first time the country has taken the honor. But the United States is currently working on two machines that could be 10 times faster. The ranking comes from the TOP500 ... project, which produces a list twice a year to show how quickly computers have been proven to work for a sustained period. This is usually much lower than the computer's theoretical maximum speed (which is used in the rare case of tiebreak situations). Japanese, American Dominance Ends Since the list began in 1993, only the United States and Japan ... (view more)

Five portable devices have become the first certified as 'WiFi Direct,' a new system designed to rival Bluetooth in making it easy to connect devices without wires. At the moment, most WiFi-enabled devices can only connect through a router. The ... alternative is to use a tool in Windows known as an ad-hoc network connection, but this is difficult to establish and often unstable. While that's fine for home and office environments, it's of little use to business users on the road. It's also tricky to use with devices such as phones and digital cameras. The main solution to that problem has been ... (view more)

Crimeware is a class of malware designed specifically to automate cybercrime. The term was coined by Peter Cassidy, Secretary General of the Anti- Phishing Working Group to distinguish it from other kinds of malevolent programs. Crimeware: ... Definition Crimeware is a form of malicious software. It is distinct from spyware, adware, and malware. Crimeware is designed through social engineering or technical stealth to perpetrate identity theft. Once an identity is stolen, it is used to access a computer user's online accounts at financial services companies and online retailers for the purpose of ... (view more)

If regulators have their way, cellphone companies will have to warn customers before they incur unusually high charges. It's a new program designed to prevent situations where a customer unexpectedly receives a bill for $68,505, as was the case for ... one customer in the first quarter of 2010. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which oversees the mobile industry, is proposing three new rules regarding how and when companies should tell users about potential charges beyond their normal fees. Cell Phone Bill Shock: Shocking Statistics In May, the FCC released a report suggesting that ... (view more)

Computer Science researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have created a computer system capable of performing tasks never thought possible. Dubbed "NELL" (short for Never-Ending Language Learning), the computer system has the ability to learn, ... read and express assumptions on a variety of topics. Researchers were provided funding from Google and DARPA agency (a research and development arm of the U.S. Department of Defense) to create a system capable of understanding the entirety of the human language. The Carnegie Mellon group programmed NELL to categorize the information it finds on the ... (view more)

When you've got as much money as Google, you can afford to try out some crazy-sounding ideas. But none are quite as wacky as the company's latest project: self-driving cars. The search engine giant has been trying out the system in California ... recently. It involves a combination of robotics, road data and processing power. Self-Driving Car Use Lasers, Radar Sensors The technology includes video cameras, radar sensors and a laser range finder, all of which are designed to detect the position of other vehicles and adjust the car's movement appropriately. The data was collected by Google cars ... (view more)

Verizon will issue refunds to around 15 million customers after mistakenly charging them for non-existent data use. But the company may wind up paying a bigger price for the error. Phone Users Victims of 'Technical Errors' in Billing In a statement ... attributed to deputy chief counsel Mary Coyne, the company said the mistaken bills were issued over the past several years. It said the customers did not have data plans, but were victims of technical errors, either with phone software sending and receiving "minor" data, or being billed for following web links that shouldn't have incurred data ... (view more)

Verizon has revealed it won't be stocking any handsets running Windows Phone 7 until next year. It means a big dent in Microsoft's plans to firmly establish the new mobile phone operating system this fall. Uncertainty over Windows 7 Phone Launch ... Date Brenda Raney, a spokeswoman for Verizon Wireless, said that not only will the network not carry any handsets when Windows Phone 7 launches, but that it won't have any devices until next year. Although Raney described the two companies' relationship as being solid, Bloomberg reports Verizon plans to support the system and will "probably" release a ... (view more)

Yahoo has announced the opening of a new data center that uses wind power to drastically improve its electric efficiency. The technology used is based on chicken coops and fowl smells. Data Centers Power Hungry for Electricity Data centers, which ... process information on a huge scale, are a huge problem when it comes to energy efficiency. That's because, as you'll probably have experienced by using a notebook computer on your lap or touching the case of a desktop computer after prolonged use, processors build up a lot of heat as they work. It also takes a lot of energy running fans to keep ... (view more)