Technology

Smokers wanting to kick their addiction might receive a helping hand from a neat little tech gizmo called the "electronic cigarette" or "e-cig" for short. The device runs on a rechargeable battery and requires a nicotine cartridge. E-cigs only have ... four ingredients: water, propylene glycol, a special added flavoring, and nicotine. The liquid substance is transformed into a smoke-like vapor that is then inhaled by the smoker. Once the smoker takes a drag, nicotine is released into the mist and the sensation of hitting the lungs is almost identical to actual cigarettes. All The Flavor, Without ... (view more)

Microsoft has revealed more about Windows 7 and its support for touch screen technology. The system sounds impressive, however, reports suggest it appears to have a high error rate. The Redmond-based company originally considered setting up a ... completely separate interface for software which used touch screens, similar to the way Media Center works. Instead, Microsoft opted to build everything into the main Windows 7 experience in order to cut down on switching back and forth between two interfaces. When Windows 7 is used with a touch screen, there will now be some slight tweaks to make it ... (view more)

An average of 22 million Americans accessed online information via mobile device each day in January, double the amount for the same period last year. That's good news for advertisers, who say mobile users are much more likely to click on ads. The ... figures, from market research firm Comscore, show 63 million people accessed the web on a mobile device at least once during January, also a steep rise. Oddly, however, the figures showed that 19 million accessed the mobile web once a week, which is lower than the daily figure. These figures may actually be quite conservative. They don't include ... (view more)

Research suggests that global warming could have a significant impact as sea levels continue to rise. True, it was hard to tell last month that global warming was ever a problem. However, it is having an impact, even if we haven't yet seen any 70 ... degree Fahrenheit January mornings. Instead, the effect could drastically change what a summer is like in New York City and the rest of the heavily-populated Northeast and it won't necessarily be limited to temperature -- it could have a direct impact on all weather in this part of the country. Among the Most Vulnerable Regions According to Florida ... (view more)

An ophthalmologist at the University of Tennessee has unveiled a new imaging technique used to diagnose diabetes over the Internet. A specialized camera is used on a potentially diabetic patient to analyze the inner surface of their eye. The photo ... is then uploaded to a database of thousands of other images (a mix of healthy and diseased pictures) for comparison. Algorithms then assign a disease level to the uploaded image by taking into account similar factors such as damaged blood vessels and discoloration. (Source: whytewolf.us ) While the creator of the system, Andrew Chaum, still ... (view more)

It seems automobiles aren't the only consumer item 'going green' these days. At last week's annual Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, popular electronics manufacturer Samsung unveiled a solar-powered cellphone constructed from recycled plastic ... water bottles, making quite the splash with enviro-techies worldwide. At the Toronto International Auto Show this past week, just about everyone was thinking green. Hydrogen, electric, and hybrid cars dominated center stage throughout the event, just as they had weeks before at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. With automotive ... (view more)

Microsoft is set to release a new application for mobile phones that run Windows Mobile 6.0 and higher. The free application is called Microsoft Recite and, as an added bonus, Microsoft is granting some of their users early access to fiddle around ... with it before the official launch date. Recite allows users to speak into their mobile phones and record any message they wish to retrieve later. All a person has to do is press the "remember" button, record their thoughts and later retrieve their messages by pressing the "search" button and saying just a couple of keywords. (Source: zdnet.com ) ... (view more)

If you are planning a trip to Mexico in the near future and forget your mobile phone at home, try to resist the urge to purchase a replacement (no matter how inexpensive the phone plans are over there!) The Mexican government has agreed to start a ... national register filled with the fingerprints and personal information of every new mobile phone owner in the country. Why start a national register now? A disturbing trend has emerged in which criminals are extorting money via kidnappings and using their mobile phones to text their demands for ransom. In Mexico, hundreds of people are kidnapped ... (view more)

According to a UCLA professor, today's kids might use their brains much differently than children in previous generations. The findings could mean that current teaching and testing methods are ineffective in estimating their intelligence. Patricia ... Greenfield looked at more than 50 studies of technology's effects on children. She found that media such as television and video games do limit some aspects of their mental skills, but also help improve them in other ways. Tests over the last 50 years show a clear and consistent increase in visual reasoning skills. These involve seeing information ... (view more)

Television stations in 22 major U.S. cities have come together to announce that they will soon broadcast their signals in a format designed for mobile devices like cellphones, mp3 players and GPS units. The 22 stations, which include broadcasts out ... of New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston, would reach over 35 percent of all U.S. households. In total, 54 commercial network affiliates have committed to launching broadcasts, while another nine PBS affiliates are considering joining the project. (Source: canoe.ca ) The difference between these broadcasts and current mobile television ... (view more)