Hasta La Gadget!

Apple’s New York Grand Central store is at the heart of a debate over preferential treatment, with claims that the company and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) acted uncompetitively in planning the new location. The Apple Store, which takes pride of place in the cavernous station, opened to huge response in December 2011, but according to an investigation by the New York State Comptroller was the culmination of more than a year of exclusive negotiations that contravene fair practice recommendations.

“Auditors and investigators found that the MTA worked exclusively with Apple behind the scenes on a lease for more than a year” the Comptroller’s office wrote in its report, “before issuing a request for proposals (RFP) that resulted in only one response – from Apple.” The MTA was apparently fully aware that Apple had been negotiating with the prior tenant, a restaurant, a year in advance of the RFP being issued, and indeed those negotiations went on to set the final terms for the RFP.

In fact, only two of the twelve recommendations from a previous, 2010 audit of real estate practices had been adhered to. The Comptroller says that, although Apple may indeed be a good match to the location, the behaviors of the company and the MTA demand further investigation and the possibility of statutory changes to oversight regulations.

“While Apple may turn out to be a good tenant, the MTA set a troubling precedent when it played favorites and gave Apple a competitive edge over others for the Grand Central space,” Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli said in a statement. “Apple was directly involved in setting the terms of the lease and given exclusive access to information more than a year before any other vendor knew the Grand Central location was available. The company even signed a $2 million agreement with the current tenant to vacate its space five days before the MTA issued the RFP.”

According to the official timeline, the MTA approached restaurant owners Metrazur in April 2009 to discuss buying out the lease (on which 18 months remained); Metrazur then approached Apple in July 2009, with negotiations ongoing between the two pairs. Apple agreed to pay $2m early to Metrazur, and indeed did so on the same day that the MTA released the RFP to third-party bidders.

Apple bias identified in Grand Central Store negotiations is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It is rather disappointing to see just how Michael Phelps is a shadow of his former self in Beijing 2008 at this year’s Olympics, and everyone loves a happy ending, so I hope that the most decorated Olympian will have his chance to increase his medal haul before the summer Olympics is over. As for the world of gaming hardware, you can say that Razer has come up with peripherals that have dominated the scene for quite some years, and the Razer BlackWidow can be an example worth citing. This time around, the Razer BlackWidow is said to be locked and loaded for more mechanical domination in the gaming keyboard market.

The latest evolution of the Razer BlackWidow family will include a couple of improved models, as well as one totally new edition which will certainly tempt gamers to see whether their coffers have the relevant amount of dough to bring one of these puppies home. Touted to be the “World’s Best Mechanical Keyboard Series”, Razer claims that it has just got better – which is something that we will look at in closer detail after the jump.

The first update in the mechanical keyboard series which has long been famous for its crisp, tactile actuation and gaming-grade responsiveness, would be the Razer BlackWidow 2013, where it will come with heightened anti-ghosting and Razer Synapse 2.0 cloud technology. The Razer BlackWidow 2013 series’ enhanced anti-ghosting allows it to support up to 10 simultaneous key presses in game mode, not to mention coming with other improvements such as an anti-fingerprint matte black finish surface.

As for the new BlackWidow Ultimate 2013, do note that the name “Ultimate” will convey a sense of superiority over the rest of the crowd. This model, too, will be able to showcase improved anti-ghosting that supports 10 simultaneous key presses in gaming mode, in addition to a soft pronounced tap and distinctive tactile feedback for gaming purposes. There is also an enriched backlight that ensures you are able to quickly spot the keys that you want to press in the event of a frenzied gaming moment, even when the light condition around you is deemed to be poor.

Last but not least, the all-new BlackWidow Tournament Edition will be a tenkeyless mechanical keyboard that sports a simple, elegant form factor, making it ideal for portability. It has no numpad to speak of, and the layout is light and highly compact, making it ideal for non-accountants and those who have an extremely limited amount of desk space.

The asking price? We are looking at $139.99 or €139.99, depending on which side of the pond you reside on.

Press Release

[ Razer BlackWidow returns to dominate the gaming keyboard scene copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

We all know that NASA put men on the moon in the 1960s during the Apollo program. Each one of the landing sites on the moon from the Apollo missions has its own American flag standing proudly. One question that many fans of space exploration in the US have wondered is, are those flags still standing after all these years.

Scientists have been pouring over the moon photographs taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter camera and have determined that most of the flags are still standing after all these years. According to the scientists, all the American flags are standing with one exception. The flag from Apollo 11 has fallen over.

“From the LROC images it is now certain that the American flags are still standing and casting shadows at all of the sites, except Apollo 11,” LROC principal investigator Mark Robinson wrote in a blog post today(July 27). “Astronaut Buzz Aldrin reported that the flag was blown over by the exhaust from the ascent engine during liftoff of Apollo 11, and it looks like he was correct!” The one flag that is no longer standing was blown over before the Apollo 11 mission ended.

It’s really not much of a surprise that all of the flags are still standing considering the moon has little gravity and no wind. The image you see here is of the Apollo 11 landing site showing no flag shadow. The scientists studied photographs taken at various times of day looking for shadows cast by the flags from various angles to confirm that they were still standing. Maybe one day we will go back to the moon and see these flags in person.

“Intuitively, experts mostly think it highly unlikely the Apollo flags could have endured the 42 years of exposure to vacuum, about 500 temperature swings from 242 F during the day to -280 F during the night, micrometeorites, radiation and ultraviolet light, some thinking the flags have all but disintegrated under such an assault of the environment,” scientist James Fincannon, of the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, wrote in the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal.

[via Space.com]

LRO photos show most American flags on the moon still standing is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Troubling times still lie ahead for RIM. The company announced during its most recent financial results that BlackBerry 10 would be delayed until the beginning of 2013. On top of that, RIM announced that further layoffs at the company would be necessary, with thousands of jobs already having been cut. A source speaking to Cantech Letter has now revealed that 3,000 employees at RIM will lose their jobs on August 13th.

RIM reportedly wants to finalize the layoffs before its next quarter closes on August 31st. Around 3,000 jobs will be cut in all, the remaining amount from the 5,000 that RIM previously announced would be cut. According to the source, those working on BlackBerry 10 are safe, as are those dealing with the enterprise side of the business, but many from customer services, human resources, marketing, and RIM’s global repair services will be let go.

The company is trying to cut back on its spending, hoping that the restructure of the company will save $1 billion. In its most recent financial results, RIM revealed that it had lost $518 million, and that revenue had also dropped by a third to $2.8 billion. The company struggled to shift its PlayBook tablet as well, with just 260,000 shipping out.

RIM has defended its decision to delay BlackBerry 10, saying that while it was ready to go at its core, the operating system still needed fine tuning before it could be unleashed on customers. The CEO of RIM, Thorsten Heins, also dismissed the idea of the company adopting Android or Windows Phone, saying that there was still room in the market for an alternative OS.

[via MobileSyrup]

RIM reportedly cutting 3,000 jobs on August 13th is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It looks like Sony has got another tablet up its sleeve. According to German news site, Mobiflip, Sony is going to be releasing a successor to its Tablet S and it’s currently being referred to as the Xperia Sony Tablet. It looks like the new tablet will still feature the unique curved edge of the Tablet S but at the same time shaving off a couple of centimeters to provide a slimmer profile and lighter weight.
(more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Sony Xperia advance hits the FCC, Sony Xperia 2011 devices getting Jelly Bean after all,