All New Gadgets Updates

Indications are that Microsoft's "Metro" design scheme, which found its way into Windows Phone 7 and the Zune HD, will play a part in the design for Windows 8. Metro embraces a "less is more" aesthetic, with a distinctive typeface.

Indications are that Microsoft's "Metro" design scheme, which found its way into Windows Phone 7 and the Zune HD, will play a part in the design for Windows 8. Metro embraces a "less is more" aesthetic, with a distinctive typeface.

(Reuters) - Twitter experienced service disruptions on Tuesday, displaying an older version of the social networking website to some users and becoming completely inaccessible to others.

A message on Twitter's Web page that provides updates on the service's status said: "We've temporarily disabled #NewTwitter. Our engineers are working on re-enabling it and we'll update you shortly."

Twitter, which allows users to send short, 140-character messages to groups of "followers," has more than 200 million registered accounts and has become a popular communications service with businesses, celebrities and protesters in the Middle East.

Last month Twitter announced that it had moved its infrastructure to a new home at an undisclosed location, which the company said would allow it to constantly "stay abreast" of its capacity needs and provide greater reliability.

But a custom-built datacenter in Utah that was meant to house Twitter's gear has been plagued with problems, according to people familiar with the matter, forcing Twitter to move most of the site's operations to a facility in Sacramento, California instead.

Tuesday's disruptions meant that some people were using the version of the Twitter site that preceded a redesign unveiled in September. Other Twitter users were unable to log on at all, and were greeted with a page informing them that "something is technically wrong" and promising to have things "back to normal soon."

A Twitter spokeswoman said the company had no details to provide beyond the statements on its special technical status Web page.

(Reuters) - Twitter experienced service disruptions on Tuesday, displaying an older version of the social networking website to some users and becoming completely inaccessible to others.

A message on Twitter's Web page that provides updates on the service's status said: "We've temporarily disabled #NewTwitter. Our engineers are working on re-enabling it and we'll update you shortly."

Twitter, which allows users to send short, 140-character messages to groups of "followers," has more than 200 million registered accounts and has become a popular communications service with businesses, celebrities and protesters in the Middle East.

Last month Twitter announced that it had moved its infrastructure to a new home at an undisclosed location, which the company said would allow it to constantly "stay abreast" of its capacity needs and provide greater reliability.

But a custom-built datacenter in Utah that was meant to house Twitter's gear has been plagued with problems, according to people familiar with the matter, forcing Twitter to move most of the site's operations to a facility in Sacramento, California instead.

Tuesday's disruptions meant that some people were using the version of the Twitter site that preceded a redesign unveiled in September. Other Twitter users were unable to log on at all, and were greeted with a page informing them that "something is technically wrong" and promising to have things "back to normal soon."

A Twitter spokeswoman said the company had no details to provide beyond the statements on its special technical status Web page.

Spring is upon us and summer is not that far behind. For many, this is the time of year that planning begins for hikes, camping trips, backpacking adventures or whatever outdoor activity you favor. While some may still enjoy "roughing it" outdoors, others prefer to stay plugged in to some extent. For the latter group, a solar powered charging device is one of those new gadgets that could become a welcome addition to backpacks. The solar charger, like many new devices, has benefited from on-going improvement over the years. The Guide 10 Adventure Kit, from portable power maker Goal Zero, is one of the latest additions to this product category that, according to the company, addresses some of the previous limitations of solar chargers and offers a practical and eco-friendly power solution for those times when an electrical outlet or car battery are nowhere in sight.

The Guide 10 kit is comprised of a flat, fold-able 7-watt solar array, a rechargeable battery pack that is compatible with AA or AAA rechargeable batteries, a USB and 12 volt direct charging adapter a USB to mini USB cable and a 6.5v direct charging cable. The company claims that the battery pack can be charged in a little as 1.5 hours if provided with direct and bright sun exposure. Once charged up, the battery pack is said to be able to charge phones, portable media players and other portable devices about as quickly as a wall charger will.

Goal Zero says that, when designing the kit, they looked to address the shortcomings of other portable solar charging devices including size, practicality, efficiency and affordability. At $139.99 MSRP, if the product performs as claimed, then it could meet the demands of outdoor enthusiasts who are equally enthusiastic about their portable devices.

The kit is marketed as being small enough to fit in a pocket, though we think they may be referring to backpack pockets since, when folded, the kit measures 6 x 9 x 1 inches-a little big for the average pants pocket. The kit does not come with the necessary rechargeable batteries-those must be purchased separately.

Reprinted with permission from EarthTechling

Spring is upon us and summer is not that far behind. For many, this is the time of year that planning begins for hikes, camping trips, backpacking adventures or whatever outdoor activity you favor. While some may still enjoy "roughing it" outdoors, others prefer to stay plugged in to some extent. For the latter group, a solar powered charging device is one of those new gadgets that could become a welcome addition to backpacks. The solar charger, like many new devices, has benefited from on-going improvement over the years. The Guide 10 Adventure Kit, from portable power maker Goal Zero, is one of the latest additions to this product category that, according to the company, addresses some of the previous limitations of solar chargers and offers a practical and eco-friendly power solution for those times when an electrical outlet or car battery are nowhere in sight.

The Guide 10 kit is comprised of a flat, fold-able 7-watt solar array, a rechargeable battery pack that is compatible with AA or AAA rechargeable batteries, a USB and 12 volt direct charging adapter a USB to mini USB cable and a 6.5v direct charging cable. The company claims that the battery pack can be charged in a little as 1.5 hours if provided with direct and bright sun exposure. Once charged up, the battery pack is said to be able to charge phones, portable media players and other portable devices about as quickly as a wall charger will.

Goal Zero says that, when designing the kit, they looked to address the shortcomings of other portable solar charging devices including size, practicality, efficiency and affordability. At $139.99 MSRP, if the product performs as claimed, then it could meet the demands of outdoor enthusiasts who are equally enthusiastic about their portable devices.

The kit is marketed as being small enough to fit in a pocket, though we think they may be referring to backpack pockets since, when folded, the kit measures 6 x 9 x 1 inches-a little big for the average pants pocket. The kit does not come with the necessary rechargeable batteries-those must be purchased separately.

Reprinted with permission from EarthTechling

University of Arizona scientists have found convincing evidence for the presence of liquid water in a comet.

The finding has shattered the current paradigm that comets never get warm enough to melt the ice that makes up the bulk of their material.

UA graduate student Eve Berger, who led the study, and her colleagues from Johnson Space Center and the Naval Research Laboratory made the discovery analyzing dust grains brought back to Earth from comet Wild-2 as part of the NASA's Stardust mission.

"In our samples, we found minerals that formed in the presence of liquid water. At some point in its history, the comet must have harbored pockets of water," said Berger.

"When the ice melted on Wild-2, the resulting warm water dissolved minerals that were present at the time and precipitated the iron and copper sulfide minerals we observed in our study.

"The sulfide minerals formed between 50 and 200 degrees Celsius (122 and 392 degrees Fahrenheit), much warmer than the sub-zero temperatures predicted for the interior of a comet," she said.

In addition to providing evidence of liquid water, the discovered ingredients put an upper limit to the temperatures Wild-2 encountered during its origin and history.

"The mineral we found - cubanite - is very rare in sample collections from space. It comes in two forms - the one we found only exists below 210 degrees Celsius (99 degrees Fahrenheit). This is exciting because it tells us those grains have not seen temperatures higher than that," said Berger.

"Wherever the cubanite formed, it stayed cool. If this mineral formed on the comet, it has implications for heat sources on comets in general," she added.

According to Berger, two ways to generate heat sources on comets are minor collisions with other objects and radioactive decay of elements present in the comet's mixture.

Heat generated at the site of minor impacts might generate pockets of water in which the sulfides could form very quickly, within about a year (as opposed to millions of years). This could happen at any point in the comet's history.

Radioactive decay on the other hand, would point to a very early formation of the minerals since the radioactive nuclides would decay over time and cause the heat source to flicker out.

According to Lauretta, the findings show that comets experienced processes such as heating and chemical reactions in liquid water that changed the minerals they inherited from the time when the solar system was still a protoplanetary disk, a swirling mix of hot gases and dust, before it cooled down enough for planets to form.

The discovery is to be published in an upcoming online edition of the journalGeochimica et Cosmochimica Acta.

University of Arizona scientists have found convincing evidence for the presence of liquid water in a comet.

The finding has shattered the current paradigm that comets never get warm enough to melt the ice that makes up the bulk of their material.

UA graduate student Eve Berger, who led the study, and her colleagues from Johnson Space Center and the Naval Research Laboratory made the discovery analyzing dust grains brought back to Earth from comet Wild-2 as part of the NASA's Stardust mission.

"In our samples, we found minerals that formed in the presence of liquid water. At some point in its history, the comet must have harbored pockets of water," said Berger.

"When the ice melted on Wild-2, the resulting warm water dissolved minerals that were present at the time and precipitated the iron and copper sulfide minerals we observed in our study.

"The sulfide minerals formed between 50 and 200 degrees Celsius (122 and 392 degrees Fahrenheit), much warmer than the sub-zero temperatures predicted for the interior of a comet," she said.

In addition to providing evidence of liquid water, the discovered ingredients put an upper limit to the temperatures Wild-2 encountered during its origin and history.

"The mineral we found - cubanite - is very rare in sample collections from space. It comes in two forms - the one we found only exists below 210 degrees Celsius (99 degrees Fahrenheit). This is exciting because it tells us those grains have not seen temperatures higher than that," said Berger.

"Wherever the cubanite formed, it stayed cool. If this mineral formed on the comet, it has implications for heat sources on comets in general," she added.

According to Berger, two ways to generate heat sources on comets are minor collisions with other objects and radioactive decay of elements present in the comet's mixture.

Heat generated at the site of minor impacts might generate pockets of water in which the sulfides could form very quickly, within about a year (as opposed to millions of years). This could happen at any point in the comet's history.

Radioactive decay on the other hand, would point to a very early formation of the minerals since the radioactive nuclides would decay over time and cause the heat source to flicker out.

According to Lauretta, the findings show that comets experienced processes such as heating and chemical reactions in liquid water that changed the minerals they inherited from the time when the solar system was still a protoplanetary disk, a swirling mix of hot gases and dust, before it cooled down enough for planets to form.

The discovery is to be published in an upcoming online edition of the journalGeochimica et Cosmochimica Acta.

Announced at MWC 2011 as LG’s first tablet, theOptimus Pad is currently available only in Japan, where NTT DoCoMo launched it last week.

The new tablet will, of course, be released in more countries soon, including the US (where T-Mobile re-branded the tablet to G-Slate), and India.

In India, the Optimus Pad will be available starting June.

An LG official told The Economic Times that the tablet might cost under 30,000 INR ($680), although this would depend “on currency valuation and import duties at the time of the launch.”

The Optimus Pad runs Android 3.0 Honeycomb and features an 8.9 inch display with 1280 x 768 pixels, Wi-Fi, 3G, 3D video-recording, and a dual-core processor.

Announced at MWC 2011 as LG’s first tablet, theOptimus Pad is currently available only in Japan, where NTT DoCoMo launched it last week.

The new tablet will, of course, be released in more countries soon, including the US (where T-Mobile re-branded the tablet to G-Slate), and India.

In India, the Optimus Pad will be available starting June.

An LG official told The Economic Times that the tablet might cost under 30,000 INR ($680), although this would depend “on currency valuation and import duties at the time of the launch.”

The Optimus Pad runs Android 3.0 Honeycomb and features an 8.9 inch display with 1280 x 768 pixels, Wi-Fi, 3G, 3D video-recording, and a dual-core processor.