Category Archives: Gadgets
Casio Terrorism
Want to buy a cheap Casio watch like this? You should think twice now, because wearing such watch could make you a terrorist suspect. Euronews reports:
“WikiLeaks has released more than 700 top secret US military documents, which provide intelligence assessments of nearly all those detained in the infamous Guantanamo prison. In some cases the ownership of a certain model of Casio watch, thought to have been given to al-Qaeda students, was enough to get a one way ticket to Gitmo.”
How does a simple Casio watch become an indicator of terrorism? The leaked report, which is now public courtesy of the Guardian, explains:
“The Casio was known to be given to the students at al-Qaida bomb-making training courses in Afghanistan at which the students received instruction in the preparation of timing devices using the watch … Approximately one-third of the [Gitmo] detainees that were captured with these models of watches have known connections to explosives…”
On the other hand, the accused Casio F91W is globally popular. According to AOL News,
“Millions of innocent people around the world are believed to wear the Casio F-91W.”
BBC News says the watch’s low price and durability are generally considered to be the reasons for its popularity.
“It’s cheap enough to be disposable but, unless you hit it with a hammer, it will never stop.”
And Muslims have another reason to love the watch. According to Spiegel, when being interrogated, one of the detainees at Guantanamo said:
“We have two watches in Kuwait: Fossil and Casio. This watch has a compass that shows the direction of Mecca. I am Muslim and pray five times a day.”
Some critics say the issue isn’t about the watch, but rather, the absurdity of Guantanamo. As Andy Worthington says on Democracy Now:
“It is symptomatic how Guantanamo is a world to itself. And really, the military invented any kind of reasons that it could to hold people.”
The U.S. Government issued a statement on April 25th regarding Wikileaks’ Guantanamo files, which didn’t mention the Casio watch. Casio has not responded yet.
Poli-silicone Screen for iPhone 6
Forget the iPhone 5 — it was SO this year. Rumor has it Apple has already chosen one manufacturer for the iPhone 6 screen.
Japanese newspaper Nikkan reported last week that Toshiba was going to be Apple’s sole manufacturer, but now the paper is changing its story. Sharp is said to be making a new poli-silicone screen that will be better than the current Toshiba-made one.
A writer for Apple Bitch explains the many advantages to the new p-Si screens.
“Aside from being thinner and requiring less battery power, the new display would allow components to be placed on the surface of the display. Poly silicon displays can also be more durable and require less connections than existing amorphous silicon displays.”
Mac Rumors assumes Sharp purposefully leaked the p-Si information to the paper to restore its reputation.
“…today’s report has led to speculation that Sharp may have intentionally leaked information about the new p-Si displays in order to counteract the earlier report about Toshiba.”
Speaking of reputations, while Apple is always quiet about its R&D and new product launches, a critique from The Street notes, there might be extra reasons why they’re keeping a cap on any iPhone 6 talk.
“iPhone 6 will likely have LTE 4G, with download speeds and upload speeds faster than you’re enjoying now and Thunderbolt. So, what does that mean for Apple now. The iPhones are selling like crazy, and they probably will for most of the year. But once word gets out a superphone is just around the corner, you might see a dip in iphone 5 sales.”
Regardless of the situation between Sharp and Toshiba, Apple Insider says Apple has always put a lot of focus on its LCD screens to set the iPhone apart from its competitors — and this one is no different.
“The display of the iPhone 4 is a major selling point of the device … The rumors of a p-Si LCD would suggest that Apple is not considering organic LED displays, an alternative low-power technology that has been pushed in iPhone-competing devices like the Samsung Galaxy S.”
Macgasm suggests with all the iPhone 6 rumors, perhaps the iPhone 5 will actually be a iPhone 4GS. Apple has not confirmed any of the rumors regarding either phone.
Last Night Never Happened
Remember that night you drunkenly Facebook messaged your boss? Or tweeted how much you missed your ex-girlfriend? Well now you don’t have to… or at least you don’t have to see the evidence.
“Introducing Last Night Never Happened. The world’s first ‘morning after’ app.
Erase Facebook photos, Facebook comments, tweets, Twitter Direct messages.
Cover your tracks. Avoid Embarrassment. Save your social life. Download LNNH today.”
(Video Source: YouTube)
The app works by connecting to users’ various social media accounts, then allowing them to choose a certain time frame to erase.
A writer for The Huffington Post’s technology blog says Last Night Never Happened just might be a smart purchase.
“The last five years have been an incredibly rude awakening for millions of people having to face the fact that online privacy may increasingly be an oxymoron.”
But a blogger for The Portland Mercury isn’t buying it, and actually finds the whole idea kind of sad.
“I thought it was funny to joke about my iPhone needing a breathalyzer—until someone actually invented one. But as etiquette has tended to develop a few steps behind technology it is interesting to now see technology specifically addressing questions of etiquette.”
Anchors for The Young Turks are locking horns over L-N-N-H. One thinks it’s brilliant, and one finds it laughable.
“Ya genius, best app of all time.”
“It’s not though.”
“It’s one of the most necessary apps in the history of the world.”
“It’s not.”
“I guarantee that by the time you sober up the entire world has already seen your rant, okay? It’s like the UCLA girl. She posted that video and an hour later she’s like ‘oh bad decision I’m gonna take it down’– by the time she took it down it was already posted on several other accounts.”
“No you’re not gonna talk me out of this, it’s definitely a good app.”
Finally, Gizmodo’s Kat Hannaford admits she enjoys laughing at crazy posts, but thinks Last Night Never Happened is a good fix for those who need it.
“It’s not fun to embarrass yourself in front of colleagues, prospective employers and your friend’s Mom who bizarrely started following you on Twitter the other week, though. Hence why fellow boozehounds should probably cough up the $2 this app costs.”
According to the Business Insider, Last Night Never Happened is 99 cents for a limited time– and works on iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.
Amazon Releases Cloud Player
Amazon has officially beaten Google and Apple in the race to the Music cloud.
For the cloud clueless- it’s basically a digital locker to store duplicates of the files on your computer- and with Amazon, the first 5GB are free. Once your files are on the cloud, you can stream them from your computer or Android device.
Fortune explains…
“Amazon’s cloud isn’t just for music. It also stores documents, photos, videos and any file under 2GB in size. The player works on PCs, Macs and Android devices.”
A Mobilesplease blogger test drove the new service and sings its praises.
“Here’s why this is cool; no more synching…Got a new phone? No need to copy anything across. Computer gone wrong? Not a problem. Want to play a song at work or a friend’s house? Easy.”
Music lovers may be cuddling the cloud but according to The Wall Street Journal, the excitement level of the music industry isn’t exactly sky high.
“Amazon is still working out key legal issues related to the storage service…Most notably, Amazon has yet to secure content licenses from at least some major record labels and movie studios. “
An analyst for Bloomberg believes- if music companies want to make money, they need to cozy up the cloud.
“On the one hand at the end of the day all the music business wants to do is make more hits and sell more music. These days that’s digital music. Is this the kind of thing that could boost sales for them? It’s tough to say. You might see music labels try to make more deals with Amazon to make this work.”
With mostly-glowing reviews, will Amazon’s cloud overshadow Google and Apple’s future music-streaming services? Mashable’s Ben Parr says, the online mega store has set the bar high.
“Apple and Google…will have to match Amazon on usability and price if they’re going to compete. Amazon can’t rest on its laurels though; Apple will surely harness its control of the iPhone, iTunes and iOS to boost its own offering and give the shopping giant a run for its money.”
Amazon’s new service isn’t compatible with iPads and iPhones- but according to Fortune, you can upload your iTunes library to the cloud.
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