Armed stand-off ends with robot shot, man in hospital

Backed by NBC, News Corp, Hulu seeks to deliver TV online (AFP)

The new company, drawing on News Corporation's and NBC's stable of television shows, is planning to deliver TV programming online, allowing people to watch their favorite shows anywhere at anytime as long as they are logged onto a computer or laptop. "Consumers are clearly interested in easily accessing a broad spectrum of programming," said Peter Chernin, News Corporation's president and chief operating officer. Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation owns the Fox television network in the United States. Hulu will offer Fox shows as part of its menu. Hulu said its on-demand online video service will provide programming on a free ad-supported basis. In a boost to its test launch, Hulu announced it had signed licensing deals with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., and Sony Pictures Television. As a result, over 40 television shows from Sony and other television shows and feature films from MGM will be available through Hulu which can be accessed through . The online TV service also plans to offer programming carried by more than 15 US cable television networks. In a boost to its financial position, Hulu said it had also won 100 million dollars in investment from Providence Equity Partners, a private equity firm. Jason Kilar, Hulu's chief executive, said the service would deliver episodes and clips of shows such as The Simpsons, The Office, House, and Heroes to users. Hulu has signed online distribution agreements with AOL, Comcast, , MSN, MySpace and Yahoo!

OLPC developing new ’supercharger’ (InfoWorld)

The supercharger is a box that will charge 15 batteries at a time, said Mary Lou Jepsen, chief technology officer for OLPC. The supercharger complements other environmentally friendly battery charging technologies being used or under development for the XO laptop, Jepsen said. Users can hook up handcranks, cows, yo-yos, foot pedals and solar panels to the box to recharge batteries. Last week OLPC said it was designing a through a dynamo with a system of belts and pulleys using cattle to generate power. A typical charge cycle for a laptop battery should be about three hours, Jepsen said. Groups of children will be able to share batteries. Currently in design, the supercharger will be ready for manufacturing next year, Jepsen said. A laptop's mileage depends on its usage, so OLPC designed an environmentally friendly laptop that could work with a rugged, low-power battery, Jepsen said. The laptop's specially designed lithium-ferro phosphate battery consumes between 2 watts to 8 watts depending on usage, Jepsen said. It lasts five years and works in environments up to 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius), Jepsen said. The XO batteries do not work on normal laptops, which can sap up to 40 watts of power depending on usage, Jepsen said. The XO is also the first laptop that uses only alternative energy, Jepsen said. Low-cost solar panels are great as a power option where there is plenty of sunlight, Jepsen said. Energy is especially scare in developing nations, so the laptop will hopefully pass on energy preservation lessons, which could help preserve battery life in the XO, Jepsen said. The laptop goes into manufacturing this week after three years of design experimentation and attempts to reduce manufacturing cost. It will first be offered in two weeks to consumers in the program, in which two laptops can be purchased for about US$400, with a user getting one laptop and the other being donated. "We're exhausted, but exhilarated," Jepsen said. REFERENCES:
OLPC experiments with cow-powered laptops … seriously, Oct. 24, 2007

AT&T, T-Mobile unveil messaging phones (Reuters)

The companies are bolstering their phone ranges in time for the holiday shopping season, competing with other smartphone makers such as the Blackberry's Research in Motion () or the Treo's Palm Inc (PALM.O). AT&T said its new Pantech "duo" runs on Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) mobile phone operating system and has a miniature computer-like keyboard, as well as a standard phone keypad. T-Mobile USA, owned by Deutsche Telekom (), unveiled the Shadow, made by Taiwan's High Tech Computer () and also running Microsoft's software. It has one keypad that includes both phone and text symbols. T-Mobile USA said it hoped to attract consumers who may not have used e-mail on their phone before with a $149.99 price tag and a simpler version of the Microsoft software. For example, users could dial friends directly from the phone's home screen instead of scrolling through menus, T-Mobile USA said. AT&T, which is charging $199.99 for the duo, said it expects the Pantech phone to appeal to both executives and teenagers, more of whom are turning to phones with computer-like features. "That category of device is growing faster than any category we have," Kent Mathy, president of AT&T's business markets group, said in an interview. The smartphone market is forecast to increase to about 6 percent of the 160 million handsets expected to be sold in the United States 2007, up from a 5.8 percent share in 2006, according to Yankee Group analyst John Jackson. SHADOW VERSUS DUO Current Analysis analyst Avi Greengart said Shadow's simpler interface would likely appeal more to young people than the duo, whose dual keypad could attract business users. "This will appeal to people who've been told they need a Windows mobile device but want a more consumer friendly form factor," he said. "Where duo's crossing over is between business and personal use, not between executives and teenagers." Both phones enter a market that also include the Ocean, a Pantech device with two keypads sold by small service provider Helio, a venture of EarthLink (ELNK.O) and SK Telecom (017670.KS). Verizon Wireless, the venture of Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N) and Vodafone Group Plc (VOD.L), and Sprint Nextel Corp (S.N), which has been losing market share, have also revealed new handsets for the holiday season. Mathy said AT&T has more new devices to launch before the November 22 Thanksgiving holiday, considered to be the start of the holiday shopping period. He did not give details. Unlike Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) iPhone — already a key product for AT&T this year — the Pantech duo, which went on sale Monday, runs on AT&T's high-speed network. T-Mobile, which has yet to upgrade its cellular network for fast Internet services, has included Wi-Fi in its device. The gray Pantech phone has a relatively big screen for Web surfing and a standard phone keypad that slides out from under the bottom of the phone and a so-called "QWERTY" keypad that slides out from under the side of the phone for e-mailing. Both AT&T and T-Mobile prices apply to customers who sign up for two-year service contracts. South Korea's Pantech had its shares delisted in April as the company under-went a credit-led restructuring. It trails bigger Korean rivals Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and LG Electronics Inc (066570.KS) and has suffered from stiff competition from Nokia Oyj (NOK1V.HE). Pantech's chief marketing officer Jay Yim said because the company had pulled out of markets such as India and parts of Europe, it would have lower unit sales this year than its 15 million phone sales in 2006.