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Mirasol display gets lighting solution for reading alone at parties, bars
How do you solve a problem like lighting a Mirasol display? Sure, the technology provides something of a comprise between traditional E Ink displays and tablet LCDs, with full video and color, low power consumption, and the ability to be viewed in bright sunlight, but it still has some decided drawbacks: like a lack of backlighting. Qualcomm showed off a simple and elegant solution at this week's CES on the Hill, essentially embedding a book light into the device, lighting it from the front -- it's not the first time we've seen an e-reader arrive at this answer, but still, sometimes the easiest solutions are the best. The prototype shown off in DC this week had buttons on the rear for adjusting brightness, though according to The Digital Reader, Qualcomm will also be showing off a device with an ambient light sensor in the near future. The technology should be on store shelves this fall -- no word whether the device is capable of yelling at you for "ruining your eyes" by reading in the dark.
Location-aware album gives Washington DC dynamically modified soundtrack
Musical duo Bluebrain has taken the guesswork out of listening to music -- their latest album dictates where you can listen to it, what songs it plays, and when it plays them. Take that, playlists! The album, titled The National Mall, will be available only as an iPhone app and the band is calling it the first location-aware album. The app... er, album, uses your phone's GPS to track one's proximity to hundreds of tagged zones spread throughout the landmarks of the Washington DC National Mall, dynamically tweaking the rhythm, melody, instrumentation, and pace of the music as you go. Despite this fancy smartphone integration, Bluebrain stresses that this is still an album, not a toy or augmented reality application. The experience is strictly location specific, no user input necessary, or available. Want to hear a new melody or arrangement? Walk to a different monument. The project's location-specific nature means that fans outside of the DC area are out of luck for now. The band says two more GPS-powered albums are on the way -- one designed for Brooklyn's Prospect Park, and another spanning the entire length of California's Highway 1. Music, measured in miles -- neat, but Hwy. 1 manages just fine on its own, wouldn't you say?
DC election website hacked, John Philip Sousa pleased
Unlike the secrecy that usually surrounds e-voting efforts, the folks at the Washington D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics had a novel approach: Why not invite hacksters of all stripes and temperaments to bust into the new online system being tested for overseas and military voters? Of course, it was only a matter of time before a security hole was discovered -- and now we know that the University of Michigan fight song is called The Victors. It seems that a certain college professor unleashed his students on the site, at which point they quickly sniffed a way in and left an MP3 of the tune ("the greatest college fight song ever written," according to John Philip Sousa) as their calling card. The board has made the source code and server info available (the better to test its mettle) and we must say, it's certainly good to see public officials paying more than lip service to security -- especially where electronic voting is concerned. The site was down over the weekend, and is back up now, but with one crucial difference: ballots will have to be mailed, faxed, or e-mailed in.
Criminal behavior prediction software to go live in D.C., Precogs union up in arms
We all know what happens when people start using supernatural forces to predict and prevent crimes, and we certainly don't want to go there. But software that predicts criminal behavior is already in effect in Baltimore and Philadelphia: while it won't send a SWAT team to a perp's door moments before shots are fired, it will algorithmically show which criminals are most likely to commit or be victims of certain crimes in the future. While the software is now being used to determine how closely parolees should be monitored for murder risk, law enforcement agents in D.C. are hoping to use it to detect the likelihood of lesser crimes as well. Forget all that gobbledygook about immigrants taking all our jobs--let's figure out a better way to keep algorithms from getting into the U.S. of A. [Photo courtesy Bryan Babich]
Washington establishing timeline for sales of 'loud' EVs
Whenever we test drive an EV, we try to bring along a passenger who screams things out the window like "Beware! Silent car!" and "Electric vehicle! Don't get hit!" But we understand that for some of you this might not be an option. Luckily, it looks like initiatives to outfit electric vehicles with warning sounds have been picking up steam, from the Pedestrian Safety Act last year to a new bill that would have the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration establish a three year timeline for auto manufacturers. According to Autoblog, "there's no word as to how loud the noise would be or what it will sound like," although drivers would not be able to turn it off, and it would likely be variable, depending on your speed -- not unlike the system Brabus uses in its Smart High Voltage EV. As for your car-lovin' Engadget editors, we're already looking for one that emulates the growl of the '68 Ford Mustang that Steve McQueen drove in Bullitt.
Sprint promises 'many' new 4G markets in 2010; New York, SF included
With LTE onslaughts from Verizon and AT&T (not to mention countless carriers around the world) drawing near, Sprint's wasting no time beefing up its WiMAX network ahead of its competitors' 4G launches in an effort to give WiMAX the best chance it can. Without giving a hard figure, the company says that it expects to launch WiMAX service in "many" markets this year, with several notables among the lot: Boston, Denver, Kansas City, Houston, Minneapolis, New York, San Francisco and Washington, DC are all called out by name. SF and the Big Apple in particular will be huge wins -- assuming the deployments go smoothly -- thanks to abnormally high concentrations of geeks (including yours truly, of course) that will immediately appreciate faster wide-area broadband. They're not listing dates just yet, so it's unclear just how soon we can expect these to light up.
AT&T sued by Washington DC for unused balances on calling cards
Here's a superficially curious, but fundamentally quite important, bit of legal wrangling for you. Reuters is reporting that the District of Columbia has filed suit against AT&T Corp for the recovery of unused balances on calling cards purchased from the telecom giant. Estimated at somewhere between 5 and 20 percent of the overall value of the cards, the so-called breakage -- leftover credit that customers neglect to use -- has typically remained with the carrier as a sort of predictable bonus. The DC Attorney General, however, is seeking to have breakages treated as unclaimed property, which under district law means that after three years they must be returned to the state. Whichever side of the fence you sit on, the decision on this case will set a significant precedent for the future of such prepaid services.
How green was my virtual valley? Linden Lab pairs with Terremark
One of the tales you see circulating in the media every quarter is that the carbon footprint of a Second Life avatar is the same as that of a citizen of Brazil, based on energy consumption. The story goes around a few times each year, though technically it wasn't really all that accurate even when it began to circulate. Around the time that the calculation was done, Linden Lab was already in the process of slashing power-consumption across its facilities, and presently uses only a third compared to similar servers. Plus, there's the little detail that the carbon footprint of the average Brazilian is quite small, a mere fraction of the world average. Now the Lab is moving into newer, greener pastures err ... facilities, having closed a deal with Miami-based Terremark to start moving Second Life servers into Terremark's colocation facilities outside of Washington DC.
Washington DC announced as first MPH mobile TV market
In the 22 city-strong foot race to get a live MPH-based mobile TV network up, running, and available to anyone who wants it, it looks like Washington DC's poised to come out on top. Raleigh has already deployed a handful of transmitters for the benefit of bus-goers, but the Open Mobile Video Coalition has announced that Washington DC's local CBS, PBS, NBC, and Ion affiliates plus a Fox-owned independent will all be ready to roll with MPH transmissions by late summer; of course, what remains to be seen is what sort of hardware will be ready to take advantage of the tech by then. We can likely count AT&T and Verizon out for offering MPH-enabled handsets seeing how they're still trying to figure out how to profit from their MediaFLO-based networks, so T-Mobile and Sprint's decisions to take a wait-and-see approach to the mobile TV phenomenon may really end up working in their favor here. Moving beyond the phones, it's said that Dell will be showing some sort of netbook this week with an integrated MPH tuner at the NAB show in Vegas this week, while Kenwood has in-car solutions in the works. As long as the broadcasts stay free -- which by all accounts they will -- the standard has a fighting chance at relevancy, assuming hardware comes to the table.
Wii Music introduced into D.C. school's curriculum
A Washington D.C. elementary school has turned to Wii Music to help win support for its music program. FOX News 5 D.C. reports H.D. Cooke Elementary school isn't using the software to replace the music curriculum but to further pique the students interest in music. The Wii Music injection is, in part, a response to a mandate by D.C. School Chancellor Michelle Rhee for every school to have a music teacher on staff. H.D. Cooke is the first school to use such a program; however, the program is planned to spread to 50 schools across the United States. The supplemental usage of Wii Music is a good example of engaging kids with popular tech from their generation; however, it will give them the false hope that playing a trombone is as simple as waving your hands around like a crazy person. [Via Kotaku]
Georgetown Apple Store to move forward after redesign is approved
ifoAppleStore has an update on the battle between Apple and Washington D.C. Advisory Neighborhood Commission: A new design for the Georgetown Apple Store is close to approval, and includes a subtle Apple logo and trees growing inside the building. The ANC's objections, ranging from rejecting an all-glass storefront to requiring a two-story masonry facade had been the reason for so many design submissions from Apple. While Apple wanted to maintain consistency among all its stores, the ANC wanted to make sure the Apple Store fit in with the other, older buildings on that street. Most interestingly is the rear 20 feet of the store: It has a higher ceiling and skylights to accommodate two living trees inside the building. This isn't the final design, however: The ANC is requesting additional minor changes, and has wondered aloud why there isn't an actual second story behind the two-story facade. Even so, locals suggest the plan is likely to be approved today. If it is, the store will likely open in 2010. In other retail store news, MacNN notes that stores are planned or in progress for: Churchill Square in Brighton, UK Rideau Centre in Ottawa, ON, Canada Hamburg, Germany (Thanks, Steffen!) and Greensboro, NC, which we mentioned in July. [Via MacNN.] Update: Commenters Brad and Chris noted that in a meeting last night, the Georgetown board rejected Apple's plans even after the ANC approved them. So much for that. Thanks, guys!
GM to mold San Fran and D.C. into early adopter markets for Chevy Volt
If General Motors has anything to say about it, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. will be the first early adopter markets for its plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt. The company is currently working with the local municipalities to flesh out the details. The goal is to make tax incentives for purchasing electric cars and build an infrastructure that'll support them. San Francisco is already part of the way there since they, along with San Jose and Oakland, have already endorsed Better Place's $1 billion plan to put electric grids in the Bay Area. Of course, GM's deeds aren't exactly selfless -- after all, more markets mean more potential Volt customers -- but if this is what it takes to foster an eerily silent rush hour, we're all for it.[Via Yahoo!]
RCN's Analog Crush nears completion, 100 HD channels coming soon
RCN's Analog Crush initiative has been steamrolling for a few months now, and according to the cable carrier, the elimination of old school analog is all but complete in its major markets. By the end of January, RCN anticipates 100% digital penetration in the Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and Chicago markets, which will free up spectrum in order to get more HD (and SD, and international) programming onto the EPG. In fact, the company is hoping to surpass 100 high-definition channels by March, which makes us wonder why every other cable company out there isn't on this very same warpath.[Image courtesy of TJooning]
Washington Nationals to see at least 100 games in HD
Last year, locals in and around the Metro DC area considered it a miracle that Washington Nationals games were broadcast in high-def at all. Now that MASN has had some time to get its act fully together, it's no wonder that fans are expecting more. This season, at least 100 of the club's games -- which will air on MASN or MASN2 -- will be shown in HD compared to just 40 last year, and of course, any that end up on FOX as national telecasts will also be featured in high-definition. Unfortunately, it seems that actually finding the game could be an issue for novice channel surfers, but all the details are ready for digestion in the read link below.[Image courtesy of NationalsClub]
Washington, D.C. mayor signs bill approving FiOS TV implementation
Go 'head, Adrian -- brush your shoulders off. In a day where politicians are allowed to make and break promises with no real repercussions, the Washington, D.C. mayor deserves a hearty round of applause. After suggesting last May that FiOS would be landing in the District by early 2009, we're now informed that he has signed a bill authorizing the carrier to implement its fiber-based services in the region. Adrian M. Fenty has signed legislation into law that will give Verizon the ability to make FiOS TV available throughout DC over the next nine years, with the first residents able to order service within the next dozen months. Sure, there's a hoop or two more to jump through before this is all set in stone, but it's probably close enough to done to start celebrating.
Washington, DC's WJLA (ABC 7) turns on HD newscasts
It's time to celebrate, DC, as you finally have more than one option to turn to when scouting HD news. For some four years, WUSA (CBS 9) has been the lone high-def news station in the immediate region, but at long last WJLA (ABC 7) has stepped in to give it some much needed competition. Reportedly, the station aired its first HD newscast during the noon hour on December 8th, with the next episodes to hit at 5:00PM and 6:00PM for those scooting out of work. So, which network has next?[Thanks, Ammar]
Verizon gets political with FiOS1 local TV channel in DC Metro Area
Now here's an interesting one. Verizon, the carrier who offers up FiOS TV, is actually getting set to launch its very own channel. Granted, it'll only be available to FiOS TV users -- and for now, users in the Washington, DC Metro area -- but still, it's a touch peculiar (albeit useful). For FiOS subscribers in Northern Virginia and parts of Maryland, you'll now be able to tune into Channel 1 (FiOS1, predictably), which will reportedly act as a "one-stop shop for local weather, traffic, news, sports and community features." From now until November 4th, however, it will be airing "rebroadcasts of the three presidential debates and the vice-presidential debate, as well as key speeches from the Democratic and Republican conventions." There's no mention of FiOS1 making a debut in other areas (nor of it going HD), but we'd keep an eye out on Channel 1 just in case.Update: Seems FiOS1 has been available for a tick, but it's the political coverage that's changing things up. Thanks, urfloormatt!
Fallout 3 ads criticized by Washington D.C. Metro rider
In a recent letter to the editor published in the Washington Post, D.C. resident and frequent Metrorail rider Joseph Anzalone criticizes ads for Bethesda's upcoming post-apocalyptic blockbuster, Fallout 3, which are plastered all over the city's various forms of public transportation. The ads in question depict a number of Washington D.C.'s more recognizable landmarks, which look "ravaged, as if hit by missles." Anzalone suggests that such imagery only serves as "a daily reminder that Washington is a prime target for an attack."We certainly understand Anzalone's point, though we disagree with the justification behind his request to remove the ads -- he claims they aren't protected by the First Amendment as they "do not present a true viewpoint or political message." The commercial speech doctrine clearly states that advertisements which don't contain false or misleading messages are completely protected under the First Amendment. Legality aside -- what do you, dear readers, think about the situation? Are the ads insensitive? Should they be removed?[Via GamePolitics]
Fallout 3's Washington D.C. Metro ads
Washington D.C. resident John Cangany sent us a tip this morning about a Fallout 3 advertisement he saw in the Metro last night and subsequently blogged about. Amused by this ad push in Fallout 3's setting (before the nuclear apocalypse), we actually wanted to know if there were more ads than the one we were told about at the Metro Center station. We contacted Fallout 3's PR people and they sent us several images of various ads found in the city's subway. We didn't receive any details about which stations these images were taken from, but we've placed all the pictures we got in the gallery below. So, residents of D.C., can you name the stations you've seen the ads in while going about your pre-Vault lives?Update: Pete Hines, Fallout 3's product manager, wrote us to say the ads are currently only at the Metro Center station. He explains the company took over all the ad space there for the month, adding that DC residents will start seeing bus and bus shelter ads in the near future. The company plans to promote Fallout 3 in other US cities soon.%Gallery-33933%
Sprint XOHM WiMAX networks reportedly active in other cities
Flying out of BWI to Chicago, Boston, Dallas, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. or Northern Virginia? Make sure you pack in that SWC-E100, because we're hearing that Sprint's XOHM WiMAX networks are already live in each of those locales. According to a XOHM representative at a booth in Baltimore, the networks in each of those cities are already up, though they aren't officially supported as they're still "being tested." If any of you XOHM early adopters happen to head to any of the previously mentioned regions, bust out your ExpressCard and see if you get lucky (and then let us know how it goes).
