Steve Smith Unhappy With Cam Newton: Panthers WR Says He Called Out QB During Loss To Giants

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Panthers receiver Steve Smith says he” lit into” Cam Newton about his actions on the sidelines when the young quarterback was replaced late in the fourth quarter of Thursday night’s 36-7 blowout loss to the New York Giants.

Smith says he was upset when Newton remained sitting on the bench instead of watching backup Derek Anderson and trying to learn from his own mistakes.

Read More…
More on New York Giants


Apple Loses German Patent Case vs. Samsung, Motorola

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – A German court ruled against Apple Inc in two patent cases against Samsung Electronics and Motorola Mobility, owned by Google.

The Mannheim court ruled that Samsung and Motorola didn’t infringe a technology related to touch-screen functions.

The ruling came as customers queued at Apple stores across the world to buy the new version of the company’s iPhone.

The touch-screen technology is used in a number of applications running on Google’s mobile platform Android. Industry analysts had feared a ruling in favor of Apple could have a wider impact on the smartphone industry.

Samsung said in a statement it welcomed the ruling, while Apple declined to comment.

Motorola could not immediately reached for comment.

Last month Apple scored a landmark legal victory over Samsung when a U.S. jury found the Korean company had copied critical features of the iPhone and iPad and awarded Apple $1.05 billion in damages.

Technology companies have invested billions of dollars in buying up patent portfolios that they can use against rivals and have also ploughed money into litigation in the United States and Europe.

Germany has become a major battleground in the global patent war between makers of mobile phones, tablet computer devices and their operating software, as court actions there have proved to be relatively cheap and speedier than in other jurisdictions.

Last week a court in Munich ruled that Motorola had infringed Apple’s “overscroll bounce” technology patent, which enables users to move documents over the screen of their device and let them bounce back to the center after releasing their fingers.

(Reporting by Harro ten Wolde in Frankfurt; Additional reporting by Miyoung Kim in Seoul; Editing by David Holmes)

Read More…
More on Germany


See-Through Public Toilet Lets You Do a Number Two While the Rest of the World Passes You By

Having to take a dump in public is the subject of many people’s nightmares. And that nightmare is about to become a reality if you suddenly have the urge to go and the closest toilet you can find is Monica Bonvicini’s public toilet-slash-art installation called ‘Don’t Miss A Sec.’

That title’s certainly appropriate, since the toilet is located right on the sidewalk. And with its one-way mirrors, you can see whatever is happening or whoever happens to be walking by while you do your thing, while nobody outside can see in. At least I hope not.

Saw your girlfriend pass by while you’re inside? “Hey, I just saw you while I was…” Or maybe you witnessed a robbery while you were finishing up? “Yes, Officer, I was right inside when the whole thing happened. Look, I even capture the whole thing on my phone. Oh, sorry, you weren’t supposed to see that, I was just about to flush…”

You won’t miss a sec, all right, but I’m sure you’ll have the hardest time going when you’re in this bathroom.

[via Incredible Things]


Pre-Peeled, Re-Wrapped Bananas Are the Most Wasteful Sign of the Apocalypse Yet [WTFriday]

In what has to be the worst case of wasteful packaging in the history of modern conveniece, a grocery store in Austria is actually selling pre-peeled bananas that have then been re-packaged in cellophane-covered foam trays. More »

Inside The Favelas, New Book, Explores Life And Death In Rio De Janeiro’s Slums (PHOTOS)

A new photo-heavy book, Inside the Favelas, explores with great depth the shantytown neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro.

Photographer and author Douglas Mayhew digs deep into the economies and societies of these slums, documenting a much more interesting version of the city than is usually seen in beach-and-bikini postcards.

A forward from the governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Sergio Cabral Filho, sets the tone for the book:

Inside the Favelas is the result of diligent work and research, whose richness of detail offers the reader a historic and sociological view of the day-to-day life of the favelas communitities infiltrated by the drug traffickers and the struggle for peace and consolidation since the installation of the [Police Peace Units]. Reason and sensibility are found in his sound text, in the fine writing and in the photos.

Read More…
More on Destinations


Wall of Wind costs no mana to cast, simulates Category 5 hurricane winds

Have you ever played Magic: The Gathering before? Assuming you answered in the affirmative, surely you are familiar with the concept of walls which come in handy for defense purposes, but walls were a whole lot more prevalent during the days of Revised and 4th Edition decks. I lost touch with Magic since Homelands, and am not quite sure whether walls even have a place in the deck these days. Well, what you see in the video above is known as the Wall of Wind, where it is more than able to simulating Category 5 hurricane winds.

The Wall of Wind hails from the Florida International University, and it is the first university research facility which is able to churn out Category 5 hurricane winds, at least within a simulation. A dozen fans make up the Wall of Wind, with each fan coughing out up to 700 horsepower, generating winds of up to 157 miles per hour. The test section stands tall at 15-feet high by 20-feet wide, paving the way for researchers, businesses, government agencies and industries to test and analyze how structures and products actually perform under different hurricane conditions. It might not require a single mana to “cast”, but cost approximately $8 million. [Press Release]

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Apple wants more more money from Samsung in patent case settlement, Facebook disables facial recognition in the European Union,

Europe approves Universal – EMI merger, cements the dominance of the ‘big three’

Europe approves Universal  EMI merger,

The European Union has signed off on Universal’s $1.9 billion purchase of EMI music, provided that it sells off two-thirds of the fallen giant’s assets to comply with competition regulations. The most notable jewel on the auction block is label Parlophone, home of the early Beatles records, Pink Floyd, Radiohead and Kylie. Chiefs added the conditions in the hope of preventing the new mega-corporation from gaining too much market share, but given that Sony (which bought EMI’s publishing arm) and Warner Music are its only real competitors — it’s sealed the trio as the only guests at the top table of the music industry, problematic for anyone looking to found an iTunes or Spotify rival and doesn’t fancy playing by their rules.

Filed under: ,

Europe approves Universal – EMI merger, cements the dominance of the ‘big three’ originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Sep 2012 12:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceThe Wall Street Journal  | Email this | Comments

Verizon Galaxy Nexus receives Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update

Verizon Wireless has just announced that they will be rolling out the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update for the Galaxy Nexus, and to be more exact, we are referring to Android version 4.1.1, whereas if you want to get all the more technical, then make sure you place “JRO03O” into your memory for the time being. This particular Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update will be made available to Verizon’s subscribers via Over The Air (OTA).

For those who have yet to receive the alert on your Galaxy Nexus device, then you might want to check out the About Phone section in your settings, select System Updates, and continue refreshing later if you have yet to receive it. Assuming you are a Galaxy Nexus owner on Verizon Wireless, have you received the Jelly Bean update already?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Verizon Galaxy Nexus update fixes signal issues?, Jelly Bean for Verizon Galaxy Nexus available (pre-release),

Hulu Plus, HBO Go and Max Go apps for Android updated with support for closed captions

Sound familiar? Just days after the mobile apps for HBO, Cinemax and Hulu added closed captions support on iOS, a similar slew of upgrades have come to their apps on Android. Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be any change in the number of supported devices for any of them at this time. Hulu’s upgrade also adds on the option to share videos via Twitter, Facebook and other services, although the 10 second rewind button added on iOS does not appear to have made the cut. As usual you should see the new versions rolling around in the app store, hit the source links for more info.

Filed under: , , ,

Hulu Plus, HBO Go and Max Go apps for Android updated with support for closed captions originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Sep 2012 12:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceHulu Plus, HBO Go, Max Go  | Email this | Comments

Facebook disables facial recognition in the European Union

Social networking giant Facebook has turned off facial recognition in the European Union, although they did receive the all-clear from Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) with regard to several points concerning its review. Just to recap, there was some investigation going on concerning Facebook’s transparency on user data and privacy, and we are pleased to say that everything has ended on a positive note.

Several recommendations were made earlier in the year in order to help Facebook’s policies toe the line with data protection regulations in the region. Facebook announced officially that “the great majority of the recommendations have been fully implemented to the satisfaction of this Office.” One of Facebook’s success in meeting the criteria is called “Tag Suggest”, where facial recognition has been turned off for new users in the EU.

Facebook will be checking out facial recognition technology in the future though, where they mentioned that “It’s worth us reiterating that once we have a agreed an approach on the best way to notify and educate users with the DPC, we hope to bring back this useful tool.” All the best to Facebook then!

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Facebook allows users to delete search history, Goodbye fake accounts: Facebook is asking your friends if you’re using your real name,