World Newspapers. 06-04-2013 ScienceTech

The iPhone maker has been considering a music-streaming service to complement iTunes, the largest repository of music for sale, for the past year, but progress has been slow in hashing out deals with music companies, sources told Reuters earlier.

An Apple spokeswoman could not be immediately reached for comment.

Apple inked the deal with Warner over the weekend for both recorded music and publishing rights, the New York Times said, attributing the information to people briefed on the talks. The iPhone maker also signed a deal with the Universal Music Group for only its recorded music rights, according to the newspaper.

Apple is also in talks for music rights with Sony Music Entertainment and Sony's separate publishing arm Sony/ATV, the newspapers said.

The tech show in Taipei, Taiwan runs from Tuesday to Saturday.

Other launches included the first PCs to feature Intel's new processor, codenamed Haswell.

The event comes a week after researchers suggested PC sales were declining faster than had been thought.

IDC predicted that shipments of personal computers - including both desktops and laptops - would fall by 7.8% over the course of 2013. The firm had previously forecast a 1.3% decline.

It added that it believed tablet shipments would grow by 58.7% over the same period, putting them on course to overtake PCs by 2015. That trend poses a potential problem for manufacturers since margins on tablets are often thinner than they have been accustomed to with PCs.

Hybrid devices

Acer kicked off the announcements with news of an 8.1in tablet capable of running the full Windows 8 operating system.

The firm described the Iconia W3 as being the first device that lets Microsoft's desktop OS be used comfortably with "a single hand".

The Taiwanese company also announced a 5.7in Android handset which it called its "first phablet" - signifying a cross between a phone and a tablet.

The Liquid S1 offers slots for two Sim cards - allowing consumers to use it with both their business and personal accounts. However, its 720p resolution screen and a lack of 4G support may limit its appeal to buyers wanting a high-end device.

Asus - which is also based in Taipei - announced the Transformer Book Trio as the centrepiece of its news conference.

The device is marketed as a three-in-one device which can be used as a desktop, laptop or 11.6in tablet. Its key feature is that it can run both the Jelly Bean version of Google's Android OS and Windows 8.

The firm said users would be able to synchronise data between the platforms in order to enjoy a "smooth transition" between each mode.

Other news from the firm included the Fonepad Note - a 6in phablet featuring a stylus and 1080p resolution display - and the Zenbook Infinity Ultrabook, a laptop which has toughened glass covering the back of its display. At 15.5m (0.61in) thick, it is thinner than Hewlett-Packard's Envy Spectre 14 which pioneered the idea of a glass-clad laptop in 2012.

Perhaps more unusual was the company's VivoMouse. The wireless device combines a circular touchpad and mouse into a single device which can be dragged across a surface or operated while being held in the air.

This change has been in the works since December, when Yahoo, under the guidance of new CEO Marissa Mayer, announced a major and long-awaited overhaul of e-mail. "You've told us loud and clear that you want fewer distractions when it comes to e-mail," Mayer said at the time. "You want to quickly login, communicate, and get on with your day. And we've listened."

The upgrades were made available for Web, Windows 8, iPhone/iPod touch and Android. But as is always the case when faced with change, some folks were more comfortable with older versions, including "Yahoo Classic," and were given until Monday to switch.

In a Yahoo Help post the company noted that upgrading requires users to agree to terms including "automated content scanning." That's technology similar to that used by Google with Gmail, which uses search algorithms, not real people, to read through the content of people's messages in order to target relevant advertising -- as well as other features -- to them.

Users may opt out of that feature by changing their settings.

The changes to the latest version of Yahoo Mail include removing some of the boxes that filled the page in the Web version and offering thumbnail images of attachments, presumably to help avoid clicking on scams, spam and other unwanted content.

On Mail for iPhone, users can select multiple messages and swipe to delete, highlight or file them away. The Android app was upgraded to, among other things, put less drain on battery life.

A Captcha is a graphic or sound of a random word or number users must key in to prove they are human.

The petition, on the White House website, has received just 8,200 signatures.

The White House says the site complies with US accessibility standards.

Chris Danielsen of the US-based Federation for the Blind told the Politico website that he realised there was a problem after publicising the petition.

"We had asked people to sign the petition and we're getting these emails saying that people can't," he said.

"The constitution allows all of us to petition our government for a redress of grievance. It says nothing about needing to be able to see in order to do so."

Damon Rose, editor of the BBC's Ouch blog for people with disabilities, said: "Captcha graphics are a nightmare - visually impaired people use screen readers to interpret their computer rather than their eyes and the screens can't manage them.

"Ironically if I see an audio capture I tend not to bother with it because it's usually such a poor experience... some of them sound like aliens talking and they put weird background noises over them. They are a bit of a joke in the blind community. I've spent half an hour on some and had to give up."

As a result, many visually impaired people could not contribute to debate and discussions on messageboards and blogs, Mr Rose added.

At the beginning of the year, ticketing service Ticketmaster removed Captchas from its sales website.

The two were locked in a fierce monthlong competition to bike at least 1,000 miles. They rode at the same time, trading small talk and stats after each ride, and urged each other on. Shaner said that because of the close competition, he doubled the number of miles he would normally have biked in a month. The biking, sweat and pain were all real.

But the race itself was virtual. The conversations were on Twitter, the rides tracked by an iPhone app. The friend, someone Shaner had never met, lives halfway around the world in Japan.

Welcome to the new world of fitness-tracking technology.

The tech has taken off over the past few years, led by small wearable pedometers like the FitBit and Nike Fuel Band, and apps that use the GPS and accelerometers in smartphones, like RunKeeper and Endomondo.

On their own, these tools can be helpful for anyone trying to get into shape. They collect all manner of data, tracking workouts so people can set goals and self-monitor their progress along the way. That's an important factor in changing any behavior, according to sports psychologists.

But newer social features are turning the gadgets into even more powerful motivation tools. People are connecting with friends on the apps and embracing official and unofficial ways of swapping encouraging messages and trash talk, comparing workout stats, and using peer pressure and the need for approval to push each other to work out more and meet their goals.

People who have friends on RunKeeper, even just one, are two to three times more active than people who use the app solo, according to CEO Jason Jacobs. FitBit says its users who use the social features on FitBit also tend to be more active.

Working out for approval

What is it about friends that makes us work out a little harder? When deciding how to add social features, many of the app and device makers were influenced by the research of Stanford professor BJ Fogg, who studies behavioral motivation. Fogg said social features on fitness devices play three roles: They motivate people; the various interactions act as triggers for action; and sharing information and tips can increase ability.

Almost all fitness tracking tools now let you share your workout through the apps or on social media sites so people can see that you just finished a workout. Some even let them track you during the workout or, for example, a big race.

On a narrow 5-4 vote the court reversed a decision last April by Maryland's highest court that overturned the 2010 conviction and life sentence of Alonzo Jay King for a rape committed seven years earlier.

The high court, in an opinion written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, handed a victory to the state of Maryland by saying taking of DNA samples from arrestees was similar to taking fingerprints. Of the 50 states, 29 have such laws along with the federal government.

DNA samples can be taken if police have probable cause to detain a suspect facing charges relating to a serious offense, Kennedy said.

Taking a sample using a swab of the cheek is "like fingerprinting and photographing, a legitimate police booking procedure," Kennedy said.

King's right under the U.S. Constitutional Fourth Amendment to be free from unreasonable search and seizure had therefore not been violated, the justice added.

Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler welcomed the decision, saying it was a "resounding victory for law enforcement." Laws like the one in Maryland help close "unsolvable cold cases" and can help exonerate those wrongly accused, he added.

King's attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.

The sample King gave after a 2009 arrest in Wicomico County on two unrelated assault charges linked him to a 2003 rape. He was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of the rape and was convicted of one count of misdemeanor assault on the 2009 charges.

The Maryland appeals court had concluded that King's Fourth Amendment rights were violated when he was required to provide his DNA upon being arrested. The key legal question before the Supreme Court was whether police could take his DNA sample when, at the time of the test, they had no evidence linking him with the rape.

Six people died in the Czech Republic from the worst flooding in a decade and a state of emergency was declared, while in Austria two people died and another two were missing.

The flooding, which also affected parts of Germany, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland, sent shares in reinsurers Munich Re and Hannover Re down by about 2.5 percent, with markets anticipating big claims from property owners once the waters recede.

The flooding arose from several days of torrential rainfall. In some places two months worth of rain fell in just a few days.

Carmaker Volkswagen temporarily shut its plant in Zwickau, in the eastern German state of Saxony, because the flooding stopped workers reaching the factory.

In the centre of the west German town of Passau, people took off their shoes and rolled up their trousers to walk through the ankle-deep water.

The last time central Europe saw similar floods was in 2002, when 17 people were killed in the Czech Republic, and damage estimated at 20 billion euros ($26 billion) was inflicted.

Officials in Prague, the Czech capital listed by the U.N. cultural agency as a World Heritage Site, said they did not anticipate the waters of the Vltava river would reach 2002 levels.

But they were taking no chances. They shut the metro system and, in streets near the river, soldiers put up metal fences - the sort of flood defenses ordered after the disaster 11 years ago. Elsewhere, volunteers built walls of sandbags.

Tigers at Prague zoo were tranquilized and moved out of an enclosure at risk from flooding.

Czech officials said the flood defenses in Prague should hold, but that the river level was likely to rise again on Tuesday morning. "The story is not yet over here," said Czech Environment Minister Tomas Chalupa.

CAFES SUBMERGED

The Charles Bridge, a favorite spot for tourists that dates to the 14th century, was closed. Tree trunks floated by in the muddy brown water. A riverside path that is below street level, is usually populated with cyclists and people sitting at cafes, was under water on Monday.

"We left England yesterday and it was sunny and warm. We didn't expect this, we don't even have our raincoats," said British tourist Alison Tadman, who came to Prague with her husband, Adrian, to celebrate her 47th birthday.

Yukiya Amano also said his agency's talks with Iran on unblocking an IAEA inquiry into possible nuclear arms research by Tehran had been "going around in circles" for some time.

Amano was airing unusually blunt criticism that reflected the mounting tension over Iran's disputed nuclear energy program that has increased fears of a new Middle East war.

Israel, widely assumed to be the Middle East's only nuclear-armed state, sees Iran's declared civil nuclear program as the most serious risk to its security and has threatened air strikes if diplomacy and sanctions fail to rein in Tehran.

Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, vented growing frustration at the lack of results in getting Iran to address international concerns. Tehran denies its nuclear energy quest is a disguised bid for atomic bombs.

In hard-hitting comments to the IAEA's 35-nation Board of Governors and later at a news conference, he also said Iranian advances in building a research reactor and in its uranium enrichment work were in "clear contravention" of U.N. Security Council resolutions calling for a suspension in such activities.

The IAEA has been trying since early 2012 to engage with Iran over what the Vienna-based U.N. agency calls the "possible military dimensions" to the country's nuclear program.

But 10 rounds of negotiations in the last 17 months have failed to achieve any breakthrough. Western diplomats accuse Iran of stonewalling the IAEA, an allegation Tehran rejects.

"To be frank, for some time now we have been going around in circles," Amano, a veteran Japanese diplomat, said.

The IAEA's priority has been to gain access to Parchin, a sprawling military compound where it believes Iran may have carried out explosives tests applicable to developing a nuclear weapon, possibly a decade ago. Iran denies this.

But Amano acknowledged for the first time that "extensive activities" by Iran - including removal of soil and asphalting - now meant inspectors may return empty-handed even if Iran were to allow them to visit. Iran says Parchin is a conventional military site and has dismissed the cleansing allegations.

The trial pits the maker of the popular iPad and iPhone against the U.S. Justice Department in a case that tests how Internet retailers interact with content providers.

"This case will effectively set the rules for Internet commerce," said David Balto, a former policy director for the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

The Justice Department filed its case against Apple and five of the six largest U.S. book publishers in April 2012. The lawsuit accused them of conspiring to increase e-book prices and break Amazon.com Inc's hold on pricing.

Apple is going to trial alone after the five publishers agreed to eliminate prohibitions on wholesale discounts and to pay a collective $164 million to benefit consumers.

The five publishers were Pearson Plc's Penguin Group, News Corp's HarperCollins Publishers Inc, CBS Corp's Simon & Schuster Inc, Hachette Book Group Inc and MacMillan.

The U.S. government is not seeking damages but instead an order blocking Apple from engaging in similar conduct. However, if Apple is found liable, it could still face damages in a separate trial by the state attorneys general and consumers pursuing class actions.

'DIRECT EVIDENCE'

Based on a comment by the presiding judge at the final hearing before the trial, Apple may face an uphill battle.

"I believe that the government will be able to show at trial direct evidence that Apple knowingly participated in and facilitated a conspiracy to raise prices of e-books," U.S. District Judge Denise Cote, who is hearing the case without a jury, said on May 23.

While those comments suggested Apple might be smart to seek a settlement, Chief Executive Tim Cook said in an interview Tuesday with All Things Digital that Apple was "not going to sign something that says we did something we didn't do."

Apple may be calculating that future damages claims by states and class actions make it worth going to trial, said John Lopatka, a law professor at Pennsylvania State University.

Hulu board members, who are being advised by Guggenheim Partners on the auction, fielded at least seven buyout offers last week, the source said.

That number will be whittled down in the next two or three weeks, the source told Reuters on condition of anonymity because the process was private.

It was unclear which two other bidders offered $1 billion for Hulu. The service has more than 4 million subscribers and generates revenue of about $700 million through subscriptions and a free ad-supported service.

The proposed price tag heightens the likelihood that News Corp and Disney will find an acceptable offer price, which was the sticking point of the 2011 round of buyout negotiations.

DirecTV spokesman Darris Gringeri declined to comment, as did Meredith Kendall, a spokeswoman for Hulu. Bloomberg first reported the news on Friday.

Sources have said the other bidders are Yahoo, former News Corp president Peter Chernin, private equity firm KKR, cable operator Time Warner Cable, Guggenheim Digital, and Silver Lake Management and talent agency William Morris Endeavor Entertainment in a joint bid.

Draper Laboratory is teaming up with NASA, MIT and others to take on the challenge of making it easier for astronauts to move through space both inside and outside a spacecraft.

Their work centers around incorporating control moment gyroscopes (CMGs) into astronauts’ space suits and jetpacks.

But wait, what is a CMG?

I asked Draper to send me a video illustrating how a CMG works. They pointed me to one on YouTube, which shows how a swiveling chair can be turned using an attached, spinning bicycle wheel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=aZlT26lF5Fw

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