Backpack Scooter for Speedy Mountain Descents

“Bergmönch” might sound more like something Beavis would call Butthead, but it in fact means “mountain monk.” Seemingly unrelated to any of this is the the actual Bergmönch itself, which is a folding scooter in a backpack. The idea is that the Bergmönch can be carried up a mountain on your back and make the descent [...]

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/07/backpack-scooter-for-speedy-mountain-descents/

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TabletBuzzBlog News:Apple finds more ipad 2?s

In spite of confirming in April they’d presented ?only? 4.69 million Apple ipads, stating they had been scrambling to fulfill ?staggering? demand, and had been heavily back logged, Apple appears to have replenished their way to obtain more iPad 2s. Clients buying an apple ipad 2 are now able to order one from the organization [...]

Source: http://tabletbuzzblog.com/tabletbuzzblog-newsapple-finds-more-ipad-2s/

Jim Hall Duncan Hamilton Lewis Hamilton David Hampshire Sam Hanks Walt Hansgen

DIY Hoverpuck: Fun For The Whole Family

If you’ve always wanted to play air hockey in real life and couldn’t shrink yourself down enough to stand comfortable on a regulation table, this may be a solution. It is a DIY hoverpuck that uses a motor, propeller, and a puck-shaped case to create a real air hockey experience at full scale. Don’t want to waste your life building this thing? If you’re a teacher you can pick one up here and use it for physics experiments. I’d suggest actually doing it yourself, though. Project Page

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/WE37UpY1QC8/

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Microsoft's Skype Deal Offers Strategic Landmines

Now that the feds have approved Microsoft's plans to acquire Skype, the difficult part's about to begin. If Microsoft succeeds, it's going to create an 800-pound gorilla in the VOIP/video-chat space--one that makes impressive amounts of money, to boot. If it fails, it'll mean the end of the Skype brand and a waste of $8.5 billion.

No pressure, people.

Under the terms of the agreement, Skype will become a Microsoft division headed by Skype CEO Tony Bates, with its services meshed with a variety of Microsoft products such as the Lync unified-communications platform, Outlook and Xbox Live. The incorporation of Skype's assets into those products represents a substantial challenge, even before you add Microsoft's determination to monetize its new toys.

Skype's audience is used to paying little or nothing for VOIP and video calling; if you change that, there's a significant chance they could run for the hills. If you lard up the Skype/VOIP experience with ads, you likewise risk alienating that core constituency--and sending them right into the loving arms of Google and Apple.

As I mentioned in an eWEEK article yesterday, Microsoft will also need to find a way to preserve Skype's immense brand equity--after all, it's a big part of why the software giant paid that $8.5 billion. Big enterprises have an unnerving habit of acquiring startups and smaller companies, only to smother everything that made the latter so appealing in the first place. If Microsoft tarnishes the Skype brand, that would dampen its ability to present strongly in the communications space--and raise serious, stockholder-frightening questions about its ability to execute on strategy.

Yep, no pressure at all.

This isn't Skype's first time on the acquisition block. In 2005, eBay paid some $2.6 billion in cash and stock for the then 2-year-old communications company. Four years later, the auction site sold a majority of its Skype holdings to a team of private investors (including Silver Lake Partners and Andreessen Horowitz) for $1.9 billion in cash.

"Wall Street hated the deal when eBay bought it, and they only paid 1/4 of what Microsoft is now paying," Roger Kay, founder and president of Endpoint Technologies Associates, wrote in a May 10 email to eWEEK. "In eight years, Skype hasn't made any money, and even at the operating level, it would take three decades to pay out in cash terms alone."

Some analysts have been more optimistic.

"While it's true that Skype has been slow to make money off its service, the potential is there," Forrester analyst Ted Schadler wrote in a May 10 blog posting. "Local phone numbers, three-way video conferencing, business administration, and making calls to real phone numbers are all things that people will pay for." It could also boost the consumer appeal of Microsoft's more business-centric products, notably Lync.

I guess we'll just have to see.


Source: http://feeds.ziffdavisenterprise.com/~r/RSS/MicrosoftWatch/~3/VVCw6PtVhg0/microsofts_skype_deal_offers_strategic_landmines.html

Willi Heeks Nick Heidfeld Theo Helfrich Mack Hellings Brian Henton Johnny Herbert

Microsoft Reveals Explorer Touch Mouse

Microsoft's cooking up a new mouse? It sure looks like it! Without any fanfare to speak of, the Microsoft Explorer Touch Mouse has popped up across the pond at a Christmas in July event. First snapped by Pocket-lint, this new touch/haptic-sensitive mouse was seen first at a showcase, and even still hasn't officially been announced. The real...

Source: http://hothardware.com/News/Microsoft-Reveals-Explorer-Touch-Mouse/

Narain Karthikeyan Ukyo Katayama Ken Kavanagh Rupert Keegan Eddie Keizan Al Keller

Williams blames poor wet pace

Williams felt it was quick enough in the dry to get a good result in the British Grand Prix, but felt it lost too much time in the wet part of the race to recover into the points. Rubens Barrichello and Pastor Maldonado finished only 13th and 14th, despite the latter qualifying seventh. "It was quite difficult for us today especially with the light rain shortly before the start," said Maldonado.

Source: http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/formula-one-news/f1-formula-one-news/williams-blames-poor-wet-pace/

Miguel Ãngel Guerra Roberto Guerrero Maurício Gugelmin Dan Gurney Hubert Hahne Mike Hailwood

iMAME4All gains experimental support for iCade, iOS gamers gain infinite happiness

Guess what, emulation junkies? iMAME4All, a staple amongst retro iOS gamers, can now support iCade. Thanks to one Todd Laney, there's now a 3.5MB download that'll bring the joys of iCade to a relatively commonplace MAME application (and vice-versa). We're told that the best way to use these two is in fullscreen portrait mode, and after tapping the option button (and selecting "Options), the onscreen controls will fade out and the iCade buttons will appear. Looks like that Benjamin you just saved up now has yet another reason to be spent.

[Thanks, Jim]

iMAME4All gains experimental support for iCade, iOS gamers gain infinite happiness originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Jul 2011 23:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/caeXQtbUoHg/

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