Microsoft Live Labs today released a free public version of Photosynth, which allows you to mesh a collection of photos into a 3D, 360-degree environment, which can then be embedded in any web page.

“Synths constitute an entirely new visual medium. Photosynth analyzes each photo for similarities to the others, and uses that data to build a model of where the photos were taken. It then re-creates the environment and uses that as a canvas on which to display the photos,” according to Microsoft Labs.

Photos are uploaded into Photosynth, which stitches — “synths” — them together into a 360-degree environment. A browser plugin is needed to view the montage, and the images are stored online. Read the rest of this entry »

The saga between Electronic Arts (ERTS) and Take-Two (TTWO) continues as takeover bids are proposed and rejected. The transactioninfo.com coverage only goes back to February, but late last August EA had already made an offer to the New York-based creators of the Grand Theft Auto franchise. Repeated offers to Take-Two have all been rejected, for various reasons enumerated by Strauss Zelnick, Executive Chairman of the Board of Take2.

Among these reasons is that the unsolicited proposal from EA, made back in February, is simply inadequate. The tender offer of $25.74 per share was “inadequate, and undervalued” the franchises and business performances of Take-Two. Interestingly enough, the market saw TTWO at $23.07 August 19, the day after the conditional offer expired. Read the rest of this entry »

It has been a bad week for music on the internet, as one of the web’s most popular music sites was shut down, and another left word that it might be soon to follow.

Popular music-sharing site Muxtape, which allows users to create 12-song online mixtapes, has been shut down by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) for hosting “illegal content.”

“Muxtape was hosting copies of copyrighted sound recordings without authorization from the copyright owners. Making these recordings available for streaming playback also requires authorization from the copyright owners. Muxtape has not obtained authorization from our member companies to host or stream copies of their sound recordings,” said a representative of the RIAA Read the rest of this entry »

It seems the only thing the smartphone has yet to replace is cash. That might soon change if a newly launched Japanese initiative, headed by government and industry representatives and aimed at expanding Japan’s international cell phone market presence, is successful.

Headlining this technology is the popular wallet phone (osaifu keitai). A FeliCa chip, developed by Sony, embedded in the phone allows users to use the phone like a cash card, paying for items at in-store or vending-machine reader devices. Wallet phones can also be used as membership cards, rewards cards, concert tickets, and . . . door keys. Japanese users can even use the wallet phone to check in at the airport.

Money can be put on the phone through in-store machines, or can be tied into a credit card account; transaction histories and account balances are available on the phone’s display. Read the rest of this entry »

Biofuels can be produced by any number of oil- or sugar-producing plants. Switchgrass, wood chips, and sugarcane have all had turns being the new buzz in the alternate fuels market. A new contender joins the scene, potentially cheaper and more efficient: algae.

Still in the experimental stage, there are several companies and several methods being developed to harness the power of microalgae, the “original oil producer.” Why original? Crude oil’s most significant source is the fossilized remains of algae bodies. Today’s developers are faced with the task of speeding up a process that until now has taken millions of years. Whether grown outside in ponds or in labs fed on sugar, that process can be truncated to several days. The genetic strains undergo directive evolution by specialized, hybrid breeding. Read the rest of this entry »

Dell is currently marketing its new line of business laptops, the Latitude E Family, which comprises seven laptops for mainstream business users and three laptops that are targeted toward “power users,” also known as engineers and graphic designers. Most notably, the E4200 model weighs in at an effortless 1 kg—or 2.2 pounds. Dell is expected to release the Latitude E Family to the public in the coming weeks.

With a display size of 12.2 inches, Dell designed the E4200 to compete with its Sony, Apple, and HP counterparts in the United States. The Sony Vaio TZ offers an 11.1 inch screen at 2.7 pounds and the Macbook Air offers a 13.3 inch screen at 3 pounds. HP offers a 2133 Mini-Note PC with an 8.9 inch display, weighing in at 2.63 pounds. Read the rest of this entry »

Google is lobbying the FCC to open up “white spaces” – the space between channels on broadcast TV – calling them “the building blocks for Wi-Fi 2.0” or, more evocatively, “Wi-Fi on steroids.”

White spaces are spaces used to separate private TV channels; they are the static we (or our parents) used to see between stations when tuning on UHF TVs. Largely unused after television switches to digital next February, they will offer “the possibility of affordable, ubiquitous, high-speed Internet connections to all Americans, anywhere, at any time.” Read the rest of this entry »

In 2008, five states incorporated digital download taxes into law. This makes seventeen states including the District of Columbia, not to mention four additional states presently considering iTax measures. It appears the days of tax-free digital downloading are numbered.

A potential barrier to iTax legislation is the current semantics of some state laws. When they were written, the Internet had not yet been invented, and lawmakers may have unintentionally immunized digital downloads by only permitting the taxation of tangible goods. Read the rest of this entry »

Intel this week released architecture that will allow all other USB vendors USB 3.0 capability, which means that the faster and more energy efficient “SuperSpeed USB,” USB 3.0 will soon be on the market.

USB 3.0 developed by the USB 3.0 Promoter Group (HP, Intel, MSFT, NEC, NXP, and TI), offers ten times the bandwidth as USB 2.0, offering a throughput speed of 4.8 gigabits per second, in order to meet our continually more sophisticated computing needs. Read the rest of this entry »

It was the Privacy Nightmare that Ruined Christmas. Now it’s The PR Nightmare on Facebook Street.

Facebook’s ill-fated Beacon experiment has haunted the world’s fastest growing social networking site the ad service’s conception, having been vehemently criticized since its debut last November. Now it’s being taken to court.

Facebook’s Beacon-caused PR woes continued Tuesday, as a new class-action lawsuit was filed against them. The suit also names Blockbuster, Fandango, Overstock, Hotwire, STA Travel, Zappos and Gamefly as defendants.

The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleges that Facebook invaded users’ privacy, gathering and broadcasting their information without consent. Read the rest of this entry »