BMW has hosted a video on how they are implementing Microsoft Surface for product configuration. BMW is the first car manufacturer worldwide to use this product commercially. By interacting with this multi-touch surface that runs on special hardware and software provided by Microsoft, customers can configure their BMW and instantly see their results.

The Microsoft Surface is a multi-touch interface that allows a user or multiple users to manipulate digital content by using hand movements instead of a mouse or keyboard. BMW will take the customer experience to another level with this technology, basically each customer can configure their future car by simply placing some small tiles on the touch-screen and the car’s color will change instantly. This also applies to different trims or wheel.

Vectorform is the company that has developed this tecnology for BMW and as we reported back in August, they have more exciting things to come.

BMW Product Navigator

Source: BMW Blog

148Apps, which tracks and reviews iPhone Apps, says 10,000 applications have now been released on the iPhone App store (the site is named after the fact that you can add up to 148 applications to an iPhone or iPod touch).

A tribute page shows a mini icon for every application. And it also gives some interesting data. About 24% of apps are free; 35% cost $.99. The average cost is $3.12, including free apps. About 34% are games or entertainment, and there are 49 weather related apps for the iPhone despite the fact that a weather app is built in.

If you’re an iPhone user, tell us the apps you can’t live without in the comments. The ones I use every day: Aqua Hoops, Recorder, SearchMe, iGolf, Google, Zombie (its cathartic), iThread (CrunchBase on the iPhone), and the social networks (Loopt, Facebook, MySpace).

Source: TechCrunch

According to a report on the Times of London Web site, Microsoft Corp. has resumed its pursuit of Yahoo in a deal that could cost the Redmond-based company $20 billion, less than half of what it offered for the search site this summer.

The report, which you can read here, says Microsoft has put forward Jonathan Miller, ex-chairman and chief executive of AOL, and Ross Levinsohn, a former president of Fox Interactive Media, to lead a new management team at Yahoo under a 10-year agreement. Microsoft would have a two-year option to buy Yahoo outright for $20 billion. The report also says senior management at both companies "have agreed (to) the broad terms of a deal, but there is no guarantee that it will succeed."

As recently as last week, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told company shareholders that the company had no intention of resuming its pursuit of Yahoo, which collapsed over the summer when Yahoo rejected Microsoft’s offer of $33 per share, or nearly $50 billion. Since then, Yahoo shares have dropped to less than $9 per share, although the stock has rebounded above $11 recently.

The P-I is awaiting a comment from Microsoft.

The situation at Yahoo has changed considerably in recent weeks as CEO Jerry Yang, one of the founders of the company, has announced he will step down from his post. Yang led the fight to reject Microsoft’s offer earlier this year. Since then, billionaire investor Carl Icahn has won a fight to get a seat on the Yahoo board and has built a 5.5% stake in the company, according to the Times report, which cited Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

Source: Seattle PI

Baidu, China’s largest search giant has been accused by the state run media that it is allowing unlicensed medical providers to buy high search rankings. Baidu dominates the Chinese market with about 60% of the market; as a result of the information Baidu’s stock tumbled on the Nasdaq.

Robin Li, Baidu’s chief executive officer, told the state run media that many employees had been fired because of the incident and more layoffs may occur. We have removed the keywords of all four clients mentioned in the report and have begun to double-check the licences of all other hospitals and pharmacies on our client list" he added.

Reports had risen that Baidu was posting results for medical care from facilities that were not licensed. Consumers that were steered toward the medical facilities were given medicine that they did not need and received services that were not required. Also, it was mentioned that legitimate medical facilites were omitted from results due to not paying for keyword searches, Baidu denied this claim.

One should always take into consideration when searching the internet for medical treatment that results may be skewed due to paid for searches and keywords. Always double check references and pay careful attention to any advice you may receive from any internet source.

We knew this day would eventually come, but somehow we’re still misting up a little — Linux has been ported to the iPhone and iPod touch. Dev Team member planetbeing is the mastermind in charge of bringing everyone’s favorite open-source OS to Apple’s handhelds, and while it’s a little rough around the edges (read: no touchscreen drivers, sound, or WiFi / cell radio support), it’s definitely the first step on the road to hacking nirvana. The team is hard at work, and it even sounds like they’re thinking about porting Android in the near future (!), so hit the read link to try it out and lend a hand if you can — or just head on past the break for a quick vid of the port in all its text-scrolling glory.

Link: Linux on iPhone
Download: iPhone Linux Demo
Video: iPhone Linux Demo video
News source: Engadget

Recently, there were concerns that a Gmail exploit may allow attackers to forward e-mail.
A proof of concept was posted online but Google has now denied there’s any evidence of a Gmail vulnerability.

Google security engineer Chris Evans explained in a blog post that Google "mounted an immediate investigation" after the recent speculation but "results indicate no evidence of a Gmail vulnerability". With help from Gmail users Google has determined that the cause was a phishing scheme, a common method used by malicious actors to trick people into sharing their sensitive information.

Evans explains "Attackers sent customized e-mails encouraging web domain owners to visit fraudulent websites such as "google-hosts.com" that they set up purely to harvest usernames and passwords. These fake sites had no affiliation with Google, and the ones we’ve seen are now offline. Once attackers gained the user credentials, they were free to modify the affected accounts as they desired. In this case, the attacker set up mail filters specifically designed to forward messages from web domain providers."

Phishing attacks are becoming increasingly popular and security researchers believe social networking sites like Facebook are ideal for phishing.

According to reports, a Belgian boy was purchased over the Internet by a couple in Ghent. Reports indicate that the potential parents paid between $6421.90 and $12843.81 USD for the child.

The couple denies paying for the actual child, stating that any costs they paid were merely pregnancy costs that were charged to the natural parents.

Dutch officials state that the couple have broken the laws for adopting children and as such the baby must be handed over to welfare authorities. The Netherlands courts have asked that the boy be placed into temporary custody until a decision is made by the Belgian government as to what action is required.

The temporary withholding of the child according to the Netherlands Justice Council is due to the lack of clarity in regards to the child’s family history, something that "is of fundamental importance for a child growing up."

Inquiries are being made by both Dutch and Belgian officials.

In what seems to be a never ending lineup of lawsuits, this time around Apple is being sued for patent infringement. This time, real estate developer Elliot Gottfurcht and two co-inventors have brought a suit against Apple Inc. claiming that a technology used by the iPhone to browse websites infringes on their patent.

The lawsuit has been filed by EMG Technology LLC, (a company founded by Gottfurcht) on Monday in the US District Court located in Tyler, Texas.

Stanley Gibson, Gottfurcht’s lawyer has noted that they have not considered suing HTC or RIM, even though both companies use similar technology to that of Apple. Strange. Perhaps they’re testing the waters with Apple and will move on from there.

Even stranger is a comment from Gibson:

“We haven’t looked at anything other than the iPhone…That was the device that we looked at. Obviously it’s very popular.”

The iPhone is the only device you’ve looked at!? Surely you’ve got to be kidding me. Surely it’s not out of your reach to get your hands on the latest BlackBerry or HTC device. Something is up.

Obviously I’d like to see more details on their actual patent before I make any further comment… But one thing you can count on, Apple’s lawyers are hard at work on this one. I’ll keep you posted.

Source: RedOrbit

When Dr. Don Pettit lived aboard the International Space Station in 2002, he became known for his "Saturday Morning Science" sessions, during which he would demonstrate really cool, simple microgravity experiments.

Earlier this month, Pettit returned to space, this time as member of space shuttle Endeavour’s crew on a mission to upgrade the outpost. After 10 days of hard work, the STS-126 crew got some time off Sunday morning and Pettit took the opportunity to film a special episode of Saturday, err, Sunday Morning Science.

In his video, which he later narrated for Mission Control, Dr. Pettit demonstrated his take on a zero-gravity coffee cup…

Astronaut demos drinking coffee in space

Sony has previously offered credit cards, but not, until this week, a PlayStation card, in the U.S. Also, for a limited time only, those who sign up to the new PlayStation card will receive a $150 discount on a new Sony PS3. For those who don’t want to wait, you can sign up immediately, receive instant approval, and get "an immediate $150 credit when you purchase a PS3 directly through the website", bringing the total cost of an 40GB PlayStation 3 down to $249.99 (although this offer can be used with any model).

Those who don’t mind the wait can sign up here, and be redeemed later on, after approval - the only difference being that, with this option, the card can be used at any retail store too. In addition to the $150 discount, gamers will also receive a coupon entitling them to a buy one, get one free offer on any Blu-Ray DVD.

Whilst the price cut, coupon and full Visa benefits will appeal to the financially stable gamers, anyone who has had recent financial issues may struggle to get one of these, with tighter lending policies, since the economic downfall. However, gamers who can get one will undoubtedly appreciate what comes with it, with Black Friday coming soon, and the Christmas period that edges closer.

Some have called this a response to Microsoft’s price cuts earlier this year, and more cuts last year. However, others are sceptical, reminding us that Microsoft never required gamers to sign up for a credit card. Either way, the credit card should bring in some sales from the more financially sound gamers, although whether or not the card receives such positive reception after the special offer expires is debatable. So, what, if any, effect do you think this latest move by Sony will have on their PS3 sales, and what’s your opinion of the PlayStation card?