Hasta La Gadget!

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pDespite being an excellent location for bachelor parties, Canada is apparently a laggard when it comes to a href=”http://www.leaderpost.com/technology/Canada+lags+behind/3548534/story.html”country-wide tech proficiency/a. Case in point: it a href=”http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20017234-17.html”just got Netflix/a. Our northern neighbors can now sign up for Netflix’s streaming service for as little as $7.99 per month, which includes feature films from major film studios like MGM, Paramount, Universal, Sony, and more./p

pWe applaud Canada for joining the streaming game, but the news has a catch: although they can access the content online through a computer, a Blu-ray player, and the Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii, Canadians still can’t sign up for Netflix movie deliveries–it’s just streaming, for now. However, they can get the first month free if they sign up now./p

pTwo strange announcements from the world of video games: first, Christopher Nolan revealed that a a href=”http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3ied4f9346f54dc08e0edafc0746cd2ca2″video game based on “Inception”/a is in the works. That’s all we know for now, but we’re looking forward to zero gravity fight sequences…as long as game play isn’t as difficult to follow as the film!/p

pNext, the King of Pop is getting his own online game called a title=”Michael Jackson to get his own MMOG in 2011 — Tuesday, Sep 21, 2010” href=”http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20017141-1.html”Planet Michael/a. The game will be a massively multiplayer online role-playing game like WAR or Guild Wars 2 and will take players through multiple realms, each based on one of Jackson’s famous albums./p

pEven better, Los Angeles-based a href=”http://www.seeglobalentertainment.com/”SEE Virtual Worlds/a is offering the 3D game for free when it comes out in late 2011./p

pYou still have time to win a pair of tickets to see “The Social Network” with The 404 next Tuesday, September 28. To enter, simply follow us a href=”http://twitter.com/the404″@The404/a and Ba href=”http://twitter.com/the404/status/25136539169″RETWEET THIS/a/b./p

pYes, all you have to do is hit that “Retweet” button OR a href=”http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=145655812142600id=9285896730″become a fan of The 404 Facebook Fan Page/a and you’ll be automatically entered to twin. If you’re a fan of us on Facebook already, you’re already grandfathered in, so good luck!/p

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The new titanium foam better imitates the structure of natural bone. Image by Fraunhofer IFAM.

I have a half-dozen titanium plates in my right forearm. They connect a bone graft taken from my left leg to the upper part of my radius and to my wrist. This system isn’t perfect, but it does the job.

When my arm snapped, the lower half of my radius shot out my body; it couldn’t be found, let alone repaired. A full titanium rod would have been stiff, wouldn’t have bonded with the existing bone, and would have been harder to arrange muscles and tendons and nerves and blood vessels around as my arm was rebuilt. Solid metal just isn’t light, porous, malleable like bone. Using an existing bone, from my own body, with its own blood supply, was the surer path to giving my arm some functionality again. So orthopedic surgeons removed my fibula — the thin, “chicken-leg” bone next to the shin that isn’t necessary for walking or even running in humans — and carved it up to make a replacement. Titanium keeps everything together, but it’s not doing most (hardly any) of the structural work.

In many cases, though, this isn’t an option: bone grafts from either the fibula or any other site are the wrong size, shape, or density to be used to strengthen or replace a fractured or missing bone. That’s why surgeons still use titanium rods. Solid metal isn’t as good as bone, but at least it’s as strong as bone.

But what if the titanium were actually structured like bone? Instead of a rod, a foam — strong yet flexible, solid yet porous, composed of a metal alloy but otherwise as similar to bone as possible?

Fraunhofer, a German industrial and medical research firm, has actually created such a substance with their TiFoam project. The titanium foam has a complex internal structure that allows blood vessels and existing bone cells to grow into the foam, integrating them into its own matrix (and vice versa). This makes the foam particularly useful to repair damaged bones that are still partially intact, like the radius in my arm.

For constructing bone replacements or prosthetics, the Titanium foam serves a slightly different function; it become more or less dense as the weight-bearing requirements of the substitute bone demand — meaning, for instance, that a fingertip bone doesn’t need to be as heavy per cubic inch as a femur.

Finally, titanium foam allows for stress to be replaced on the repaired bone immediately. In fact, it requires it: only load-bearing stress can trigger the proper density formation of the graft and integration of the existing bone with the foam, fostering faster and more substantive healing.

On this project, Fraunhofer worked with researchers at the technical university of Dresden, and medical manufacturers InnoTERE; InnoTERE had already announced that they are beginning to develop and produce TiFoam-based bone implants.

See Also:

• Pyramids, Nanowires Show Two Futures for Artificial Skin
• Viruses Might Help Make Better Batteries
• Dell Streak Is Perfect For A Doctor's Lab Coat
• Forgotten Drug Helps Stem Cells Repair Bone Marrow

The next (and most likely last) step in extending the lifespan of 3G data is dual-carrier HSPA, a technology not unlike using two modems at the same time to effectively double the width of the pipe. Novatel’s got a new dual-carrier-capable USB stick out that it claims to be the world’s smallest — and it’s launching as a Movistar exclusive in Spain initially where the company demonstrated speeds this week topping out at a face-melting 40.5Mbps downstream. Who needs 4G when you’re getting those kinds of numbers? After its tour of Spain, the Ovation MC545 will launch with other carriers around the world, though with just 900, 1900, and 2100MHz 3G support onboard, we wouldn’t expect to see it grace North America — at least, not without a radio swap back at the factory. Follow the break for Novatel’s full press release.

Continue reading Novatel’s Ovation MC545 modem suggests extremely fast things come in small packages

Novatel’s Ovation MC545 modem suggests extremely fast things come in small packages originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Sep 2010 14:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Upgrading the original Tunebug, a small audio device that turns your bike helmet into a speaker, TuneBug Inc., has released the Tunebug Shake. The Shake works with any kind of helmet–ski, snowboard, skateboard, cycling, or hard had–and sends sound waves through the surface of the helmet. This creates an all-over listening experience and removes the need for earphones or earbuds.

The Tunebug Shake can be connected to iPods, MP3 players, mobile phones, or any other portable music device. It works wirelessly via a Bluetooth connection, or you can use an audio cable. The included rechargeable battery is good for about five hours of playtime, and it charges through the included USB cable. Pick it up for $99.99. 

The tablet wars are set to heat up. BlackBerry maker Research In Motion may announce its tablet next week at the company’s developer conference — which starts Monday in San Francisco — according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

RIM has already trademarked ‘BlackPad’ and ‘SurfBook,’ and it’s likely that the firm’s new tablet could carry one of these names.

Chinese paper Apple Daily reported last month that RIM has chosen Taiwanese notebook manufacturer Quanta to produce at least 2 million tablets this year. RIM and Quanta were said to be targeting a $500 price tag for the BlackPad to make it competitive against Apple’s iPad.

RIM’s tablet announcement, if it happens next week, will come just weeks after the debut of the Samsung’s 7-inch tablet, the Galaxy Tab.

Since Apple introduced the iPad in April, tablets have made a big comeback and become the hottest consumer gadgets of the year. Apple has sold more than 3 million iPads. Dell launched the Streak, a tablet with a 5-inch screen, in June. Samsung has already said its tablet will be available on all four major U.S. carriers — AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile — but hasn’t announced exact pricing or availability.

BlackBerry’s new tablet will differ from its peers. It will support Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 3G connectivity but through tethering the device to a BlackBerry smartphone. (Other tablets have these connectivity features built in.) Essentially, the BlackBerry tablet has been designed as a “companion” to the phone, according to earlier reports.

The BlackBerry tablet will likely have a 7-inch screen and run a new operating system designed by QNX Software, a company that RIM acquired earlier this year, says the Journal.

RIM has been trying to go beyond its core audience of business users and attract more consumers, especially with the launch of such devices as the recent touchscreen phone Torch. A BlackBerry tablet seems like yet another step in that direction.

See Also:

• BlackBerry Tablet ‘BlackPad’ Readies to Take On the iPad
• Research In Motion Is Testing a Tablet
• Cisco Announces the Cius, the BlackBerry of Tablets
• Samsung Introduces 7-Inch Tablet to Rival iPad
• Samsung Tablet to Debut on Big Four U.S. Carriers

Photo: (Sean Hobson/Flickr)