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It's hard to argue the fact that this week's Apple iPad launch disappointed the tech crowd, and not just because of that inexplicable name. Despite its lovely design, beefier core apps, and new e-book features and store, the iPad is hampered by a well-documented string of missing features: a camera, 16:9 support, Flash support (seriously?), multitasking, SD card slot, HDMI or high-res video output support, USB ports, GPS, and so on. Plus, it's exclusive to the AT&T network (again: seriously?) in this iteration, the pricing scheme is overly complex, and while I'm not sure it's genuinely overpriced, it's nevertheless expensive,...

Yesterday I sat and watched liveblog coverage of the long-awaited announcement from Apple. To no one’s great surprise, they unveiled their newest device, the iPad. While everyone knew this tablet device was coming, everyone had wondered exactly what it would be. Apple has high standards when it comes to devices like this one and I, for one, was prepared to be amazed. Alas, I was disappointed. iDisappointed, even. I’m ready to declare that the iPad is the greatest disappointment in all of human history (at least since The Phantom Menace). Let’s get this out of the way. The thing looks...

It's called the iPad... but news is coming out slowly because the Verizon data network crashed under the load... I will post details later... when they are known.

“The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” So said legendary tech visionary Alan Kay. He was absolutely correct. But he might have added that inventing the future is anything but a cakewalk. Even though everyone who does it has the luxury of learning from predecessors who tried and failed. The brightest inventors on the planet keep coming up with ideas that never amount to much–even when they set out to solve real problems, and even when their brainchildren foreshadow later breakthroughs. And professional tech watchers have long proven themselves prone to getting irrationally exuberant about stuff...

Well it couldn’t be a much more dramatic announcement. At Steorn.com on successive multicolored screens in large letters moving against a swirling background we get this: THIS SATURDAY STEORN PRESENTS THE FINAL DEMO PROVING OVERUNITY 30th JANUARY 16:00 GMT AT THE WATERWAYS CENTRE WITH LIVE STREAMING STEORN.COM

MIAMI (Reuters) - As international aid agencies rush food, water and medicine to Haiti's earthquake victims, a U.S. faith-based group is sending Bibles to Haitians in their hour of need. Not any Bible. These are solar-powered audible Bibles that can broadcast the holy scriptures in Haitian Creole to 300 people at a time. Called the "Proclaimer," the audio Bible delivers "digital quality" and is designed for "poor and illiterate people," the Faith Comes By Hearing group said. It added 600 of the devices were already on their way to Haiti.

Abortion rights activists have long preferred to hold themselves at some remove from the practice they promote; rather than naming it, they speak of “choice” and “reproductive freedom.” But those who perform abortions have no such luxury. Instead, advances in ultrasound imaging and abortion procedures have forced providers ever closer to the nub of their work. Especially in abortions performed far enough along in gestation that the fetus is recognizably a tiny baby, this intimacy exacts an emotional toll, stirring sentiments for which doctors, nurses, and aides are sometimes unprepared. Most apparently have managed to reconcile their belief in the...

A couple of weeks ago, my 23 year son bought his first new 20 inch color TV. The picture quality is very good, and it cost him less than $140. Thirty-Three years ago, I bought a new 20 inch color TV, and it cost me $300. In dollar terms, the price of color TVs today is less than half than it was in 1977. And the $140 of 1977, was worth more than twice that the $140 of today is worth. That means that color TVs are, in inflation adjusted dollars, worth about 80 percent less than they were in...

Before you write off the American economy, consider this remark from Nathan Myhrvold, the ex-Microsoft genius who now runs an idea factory called Intellectual Ventures: “For the last few decades I’ve bought Japanese or German cars but no Japanese or German software. Only the United States can handle the thinking speed of the software field.” We live in a country where makers of high-value-added software are hounded as antitrust outlaws, while the smoke-belching industry of making money-losing cars is lavished with government bailouts, but never mind that. US business ingenuity is so robust that not even the government can kill...

A senior US defense official on Wednesday voiced doubts about China's insistence that its use of space is for peaceful means as Washington appealed for steady military ties with the rising Asian power. "The Chinese have stated that they oppose the militarization of space. Their actions seem to indicate the contrary intention," said Wallace Gregson, the assistant secretary of defense in charge of Asia. "We continue to press the Chinese for explanation," Gregson told a congressional hearing. China says its rapidly growing military budget is for defensive purposes. Chinese President Hu Jintao pledged with US President Barack Obama at a...

Intel Just Blew The Doors Off Joe Weisenthal Jan. 14, 2010, 4:19 PM Chipmaker Intel (INTC) just delivered a huge positive surprise on earnings ($.40 vs. expected $.30) and a killer top line ($10.6 billion vs $10.2 billion). The stock is soaring after hours. Guidance is looking strong as well. Its Q1 guidance of $9.7 billion blows past consensus of $9.3 billion. Giddy up!

Anyone paying attention to the Irish company Steorn will be familiar with their claims of 'free, clean and constant energy' producing Orbo technology. Following a rather quiet two years the company has suddenly sprung into the public view again by holding an extensive public demonstration of their technology in Dublin, Ireland over a six week period ending on January 31. It appears that little has been spared in the way of expenses to publicize and carry out this demonstration. We see high quality video presentations, an extensive and robust web site, a 24/7 staff on hand, lots of expensive testing...

Voice stress analysis has been proven effective by law enforcement, but a turf war stands in the way of using it to catch terrorists.

I was recently reminded while troubleshooting a friend's small business network of where most computer systems' real security weaknesses lie. Where do you think it is? The desktop operating system, which was Windows XP SP3? The server operating systems, which were Windows Server 2003 SP2 and Novell's SLES (SUSE Linux Enterprise Server) 11 SP1? Or, the Sonicwall TZ 210 firewall appliance? The answer was, of course, none of the above. The weakest spot on your network is never your operating systems, your hardware, your applications, your security software or any of the rest of the technical side. The weakest link...

Scientists have discovered that the DNA of babies conceived through IVF differs from that of other children, putting them at greater risk of diseases such as diabetes and obesity later in life. The new research could explain why IVF babies tend to be at higher risk of low birth weight, defects and rare metabolic disorders. The changes are not in the genes themselves but in the mechanism that switches them on and off, the study of which is known as epigenetics. “These epigenetic differences have the potential to affect embyronic development and foetal growth, as well as influencing long-term patterns...

You know those airport scanners that can see through your clothes, offering an intimate look at your junk and your lovehandles and every other part of you that you keep between you, your spouse, your doctor and the bathroom mirror? You know how the TSA swore up and down that these machines didn't store and couldn't transmit the compromising photos of your buck-naked self? They lied.

Aneesh Chopra and Consumer Electronics Association head Gary Shapiro find some areas of agreement.By Kenneth Corbin: More stories by this author: The head of a large and ardently free-market trade association might not see eye to eye with the Obama administration on a broad swath of its policy agenda, but when it's boiled down to entirely uncontroversial themes, like the importance of innovation in reviving the economy, agreement seems to come easier. So it was today, when Gary Shapiro, the president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), spoke to reporters alongside Federal CTO Aneesh Chopra at CES, the...

Silicon Valley is beset by the biggest office property glut since the dot-com bust, leaving the U.S. technology hub with empty high-rises and office parks that make it impossible for landlords to sustain average rents. More than 43 million square feet (4 million square meters) -- the equivalent of 15 Empire State Buildings -- stood vacant at the end of the third quarter, the most in almost five years, according to CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. San Jose, Sunnyvale and Palo Alto have 11 empty office buildings with about 3 million square feet of the best quality space. “There is...

The number of people employed in the industry is now about the same as it was in the mid-1950's. And this is good. Talent and resources should go where they are used most efficiently. Obviously all printed news will soon be online. Those who have talent will move into those areas (lots of us are already here) and will be able to make a living doing it. The greenies will celebrate all the trees that will be spared. And while nobody cheers the fact that people are losing their jobs, we should take comfort that the free market is alive...

The US blocked Dutch attempts to install full-body scanners for passengers travelling to the US before the failed suicide bombing of a transatlantic flight on Christmas Day, the Dutch interior minister said today. Authorities at Schipol airport in Amsterdam had wanted to introduce the devices to monitor US-bound flights, but the scanners were not installed because US authorities wanted them to be used on flights to all destinations, said Guusje Ter Horst The disclosure could put further pressure on Barack Obama, who has come under criticism in the US after the security lapse that allowed a young Nigerian Islamist to...