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Submission + - Microbin: Bluetooth 4.0 devices to make the scene later this

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We were glad to see Bluetooth low energy actually added to the Bluetooth 4.0 spec, but of course the question remained: when are we going to get our hands on it? By Q4 this year, apparently -- at least according to the Bluetooth SIG. But don't expect any dramatic changes in battery life for most of your gadgets: while the low energy spec introduces connectivity to a host of lower-power devices that have in the past relied on proprietary technology (such as watches, pedometers, and cats), your traditional Bluetooth devices, such as phones and laptops, will consume roughly the same amount of power. Indeed, the low energy spec is merely throwing smaller devices (with smaller amounts of data to transfer) in to the mix: if you want Trans-Siberian Orchestra to sound as glorious as ever on your wireless headphones, you'll need to push as much data (and hence draw as much power) with version 4 as you would with version 3. If you've ever heard "A Mad Russian's Christmas," you'd know what we're talking about.

Bluetooth 4.0 devices to make the scene later this year originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 12:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Submission + - Microbin: US military surrenders to social media, changes po

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Members of the US Military will now have limited access to certain social media sites thanks to a new policy (PDF) from the Department of Defense. The DoD finally released its updated policy late last week, which will also apply to parts of the military that have banned social media use from their own networks. Commanders will still have the ability to cut down on the use of Twitter or Facebook if they feel the need to protect against malicious activity and preserve bandwidth.

According to the memorandum, members of military departments and all authorized users of the Non-classified Internet Protocol Router Network (NIPRNET) can now use the publicly accessible capabilities of various social networking and user-generated content sites, instant messaging, forums, and e-mail. This includes YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and others. Access to porn, gambling, or hate crime sites will remain restricted, however, and commanders can cut down on social media use if they feel the need to "preserve operations security."

In August of 2009, the US Marine Corps issued a policy of its own that banned the use of social media on the Marine Corps Enterprise Network (MCEN) due to malware concerns and "information exposure" to adversaries. It wasn't much of a surprise, either: security exploits are sprinkled throughout social networking sites, not to mention that fact that people just plain share too much. If IT admins are uneasy about the totally careless behavior of workers on social networking sites, the Marines undoubtedly had that much and more to worry about.

Of course, NIPRNET is separate from MCEN, but the Armys Chief of Public Affairs advisor Lindy Kyzer told the New York Times that the new policy will indeed override the Marine Corps' current ban, as well as the Army's older ban on YouTube. All military units will need to open up access to social media sites, and any bans that take place must be temporary. "DoD is moving away from the silly notion of having blacklisted social media sites and saying, Were not going to lay down the hammer and tell you where you can and cannot go, were going to mitigate risk as it comes,'" she said.



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Submission + - Microbin: Pelikon's MorphPad demoed, combines touchpad, morp

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British firm Pelikon was showing off its MorphPad technology at MWC this month, undoubtedly hoping to score some interest from representatives of handset manufacturers who just happened to be wandering the show floor -- but this isn't just any old morphing keyboard, you see. Not only can the board be dynamically reconfigured by backlighting different portions of the keys -- the entire surface of the thing doubles as a touchpad, which you can probably imagine has virtually limitless utility in a mobile device where the space for a true touchpad simply doesn't exist. Pelikon already works with Toshiba on its domestic-market Biblio, but we'd love to see it hit devices around the world -- in fact, we wouldn't really mind if they just released this prototype they're showing as a Bluetooth accessory. diNovo Mini competitor, anyone? Follow the break for video of the touch-enabled MorphPad in action.

Continue reading Pelikon's MorphPad demoed, combines touchpad, morphing keyboard into one awesome rectangle

Pelikon's MorphPad demoed, combines touchpad, morphing keyboard into one awesome rectangle originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 08:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Submission + - Microbin: Recommendation algorithm wants to show you somethi

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When it comes to recommendation systems, everybody's looking to increase accuracy: the Netflix Prize was awarded last July for an algorithm that improved the accuracy of the service's recommendation algorithm by 10 percent. However, computer scientists are finding a new metric to improve upon: recommendation diversity. In a paper that will be released by PNAS, a group of scientists are pushing the limits of recommendation systems, creating new algorithms that will make more tangential recommendations to users, which can help expand their interests, which will increase the longevity and utility of the recommendation system itself.

Accuracy has long been the most prized measurement in recommending content, like movies, links, or music. However, computer scientists note that this type of system can narrow the field of interest for each user the more it is used. Improved accuracy can result in a strong filtering based on a user's interests, until the system can only recommend a small subset of all the content it has to offer.





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Submission + - Microbin: Site Hopes Automatic Arabic-English Translation Tr

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Wired writes: A new site hopes the seemingly simple idea of eliminating the language barrier, letting you write in English and be read in Arabic — and vice versa — will cultivate citizen diplomacy between the Middle East and the West, reducing tensions at the grassroots level between two cultures that increasingly co-exist but seem a world apart.



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