Nintendo Wii Vitality Sensor Still Puzzles Tech Observers

Nintendo’s Vitality sensor, the latest appendage for its uber popular gamingWii console, is still drawing blanks from a wide range of tech outlets.

Speaking to Fast Company, Reggie Fils-Aime, the Nintendo US Boss, did not make it easier when he failed to deliver some convincing arguments. Unsurprisingly, he pointed out that the software would ultimately be [...]

World’s fastest camera relies on an entirely new type of imaging

Ultrafast, light-sensitive video cameras are needed for observing high-speed events such as shockwaves, communication between living cells, neural activity, laser surgery and elements of blood analysis. To catch such elusive moments, a camera must be able to capture millions or billions of images continuously with a very high frame rate. Conventional cameras are simply not [...]

Nvidia’s Tegra Is the Muscle Behind Microsoft’s Zune HD

Microsoft’s upcoming Zune HD media player is powered by Nvidia’s Tegra computing platform, a source familiar with the device’s specifications confirmed on Friday.
Microsoft hasn’t disclosed detailed specifications for the Zune HD. In a press release issued last month, the company said it will have an HD Radio tuner, HD video out, a 480 by 272 pixel OLED touchscreen display, Wi-Fi, [...]

Launch of ‘iPhone killer’ Palm Pre

Small crowds gathered Saturday for the official launch of Pre, the smartphone seen as Palm Inc’s best chance to claw back market share from Apple Inc’s iPhone and Research In Motion Ltd’s Blackberry.
The new high-end phone, considered a pivotal product for both Palm and Sprint Nextel, has been greeted by rave reviews.
Lines were far shorter [...]

Algeria says to export electricity to Europe in Q3

ALGIERS, May 31 (Reuters) – Algerian state power utility Sonelgaz plans to start exporting electricity to Europe in the third quarter of this year, the company’s chief executive said on Sunday.

‘We plan to export 400 megawatts of electricity to Europe from the third quarter of 2009,’ Nourredine Bouterfa was quoted as saying by the APS [...]

China Great Wall Computer Arranges JV In Algeria

China Great Wall Computer Group Corporation and the Algerian broadband network operator EEPAD have reached an agreement to jointly invest USD4 million to set up a manufacturing joint venture in Algeria.
The new joint venture, in which Great Wall Computer will own about a 30% stake, is expected to produce 100,000 netbooks in the first year [...]

Nokia throws its hat into the app store ring with Ovi Store

Nokia has launched its mobile Ovi Store across the globe, bringing third-party apps to a number of Nokia devices. The store has had its share of launch-day criticisms, but they won’t be dealbreakers in the long run if the store picks up steam.
Nokia’s Ovi Store is officially open for business, bringing Nokia users an App [...]

Play Wii Games From a Hard Drive? Here’s How

Warning, I haven’t personally transmogrified my Wii into a spindle-free digital data bucket (without holes, Dear Liza, Dear Liza) but it’s one heck of a bold little hack if it works. Per this Gawker Media tipster, who got it from a guy who either owns or actually is Che Guevera reincarnated as a bulldog, if [...]

Google’s Chrome 2.0 Is Underwhelming

Google’s upgrade of Chrome to 2.0 is exceedingly underwhelming — there’s so little new that if you blinked you’d miss the changes. It’s baffling that a company that keeps fully featured software like Gmail in beta for years has jumped to 2.0 for a browser with so little to offer.
After the upgrade, you won’t notice [...]

Just how bad is Facebook for you?

Regular columnist Bill Thompson probes media reports that Facebook usage affects grades
The examination period is always stressful, both for those sitting GCSEs, A levels and the International Baccalaureate and for their parents and siblings who get ’second-hand stress’ without even a certificate to show for their efforts.
My [...]