Hugo Chavez Delegates Some Duties To Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro

CARACAS, Venezuela — Hugo Chavez has delegated some administrative responsibilities to Venezuela’s vice president, allowing his close confidant to make decisions related to the budget, expropriations and government debt.

Chavez passed on the duties to Vice President Nicolas Maduro on Dec. 8, three days before the socialist leader underwent cancer-related surgery in Cuba. The measure took effect Wednesday upon its publication in the Official Gazette.

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Engadget UK Giveaway: win a Nexus 4 courtesy of MobileFun

Engadget UK Giveaway: win a Nexus 4 courtesy of MobileFun

Who cares whether you’ve been naughty or nice this year? Not UK phone and accessory retailer MobileFun.co.uk, that’s for sure. Because the team there has been kind enough to pass along one shiny new Nexus 4 for us to give away (indiscriminately) to one lucky UK reader. MobileFun sells the latest in mobile tech all year round, but if Santa didn’t give you everything you wanted, there’s a good chance it’s on sale over there, so do go check it out. Not until you’ve entered the competition by leaving a comment of course. Good luck!

The rules:

  • Leave a comment below. Any comment will do. Duplicate entries will be filtered out and discarded, so adding additional comments won’t increase your likelihood of winning.
  • This contest is open to all UK residents — aged 18 years or over! Sorry, we don’t make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so direct your anger at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
  • Winners will be chosen randomly. One winner will receive one (1) new Nexus 4. Service does not come included with the prize.
  • If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of being contacted. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen.
  • This unit is purely for promotional giveaway. Mobilefun.co.uk and Engadget / AOL UK are not held liable to honor warranties or customer service.
  • The full list of rules, in all its legalese glory, can be found here.
  • Entries can be submitted until 30th of December, 2012 at 23:59 GMT. Good luck!

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Federal regulators want black boxes in cars made after September 2014

We mentioned earlier this month that rumors were circulating that the federal government would move to place event data recorders inside new vehicles. Federal regulators are now proposing that all new automobiles sold in the US after September of 2014 will be required to be equipped with these event data recorders. The recorders are somewhat like the black boxes that are found inside aircraft.

crashed-car

The boxes will reportedly be able to record all sorts of information about a vehicle including how fast it was traveling, the number of passengers, and the vehicle location. The National Transportation Safety Agency is calling for public comments on the proposed rule by February 11, 2013. The NTSA has the authority to set motor vehicle safety requirements and it is within the agency’s power to require automakers install event data recorders in the vehicle.

The way these boxes would work is that the devices would activate the record data for about 30 seconds during certain events. This would mean during sudden braking, acceleration, swerving, or other types of driving that could lead to an accident. The information would be able to be downloaded from the box remotely or through physical connection depending on the vehicle model.

The federal regulators say that the data would be used “primarily for the purpose of post-crash assessment of vehicle safety performance.” You can bet if the information is available; it will also wind up being used in court to prove or disprove the drivers fault in an accident. Privacy advocates want the data to be anonymized and wants guarantees that the information won’t be marketed. Insurance companies could potentially take this information and use it to increase rates for an area.

[via Wired]


Federal regulators want black boxes in cars made after September 2014 is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Apple Interested In A Smart Watch Of Their Own? [Rumor]

timthumb Apple Interested In A Smart Watch Of Their Own? [Rumor]With the previous design of the iPod nano, many accessory manufacturers took the opportunity to create watch straps that would accommodate the device, essentially turning the iPod nano into a watch-like device. Now we’ve seen several smart watches created in the past, such as the Pebble smart watch, but if the rumors are to be believed, it seems that Apple could be interested in such a device themselves. According to Tech.163, they claim that they have heard whispers in the supply chain that Intel has developed a smart watch that Apple could be interested in.

The rumored device is said to feature a 1.5” OLED display with indium tin oxide, or ITO coated glass. Supposedly Apple could be gearing up to release such a device as soon as next year. While it is not entirely possible that Apple is looking to introduce new devices in their portfolio, Apple rumors have typically been rather fanciful rather than believable, so we will be taking this with generous doses of salt and suggest you do the same, but for the sake of discussion, what do you guys think? Could you see Apple launch a smart watch of their own in the future?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Taiwan’s Unimicron could produce future Apple chipsets [Rumor], Apple and Sharp in talks over IGZO displays,

iPhone 5S Concept Incorporates Four Pico Projectors

I have to admit I love concept phones simply because of all the rather creative features that can be put into it – some of them might not be feasible with today’s technology, and some are, but it’s nice to imagine what a phone could have been like anyway. Well if you’re wondering what the future might hold for the iPhone, at least as far as a fan’s imagination can take it, Frank_Snk has imagined an iPhone 5S concept in which the phone will incorporate four pico projects – two of which will be used to project a full-sized keyboard on a flat surface, and the other two to project a display in which a full unadulterated version of OS X will be running. The top and bottom portion of the iPhone 5S can be pulled out to activate the projectors, with an app running the whole show. We have to wonder what sized battery it has to use if it hopes to perform all of that, but then again that’s pretty much the beauty of concept phones – it doesn’t always have to make sense.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: This iOS notifications concept looks like a good idea, iPhone 5 Smart Cover concept looks pretty good,

Hollywood Studios Reportedly Using BitTorrent To Pirate Movies

hollywood Hollywood Studios Reportedly Using BitTorrent To Pirate MoviesMovie studios and record labels have always lamented how online piracy is destroying the industry and as we have seen in the past, these media giants have gone to rather extreme measures to punish individuals who have allegedly downloaded copyrighted material illegally. Interestingly it seems that despite their stance on the whole issue of piracy, it would seem as though some Hollywood studios might be guilty of pirating movies themselves. The folks at TorrentFreak are reporting that they are using BitTorrent monitor Scaneye to track down IP addresses they believe are associated with Hollywood studios.

Based on their results, they have found that IP addresses associated with Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox, and Walt Disney were using BitTorrent in order to access copyrighted material illegally. For example they found that someone over at Paramount was downloading an illegal copy of The Hunger Games, while someone at Disney was caught downloading an episode of Downton Abbey. It’s rather ironic when you think about it – granted these are probably individuals working at these studios who were doing the downloading as opposed to some conspiracy theory, but you would think that these studios would have some sort of security measure in place to prevent the downloading of torrents, right?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Samsung Teases Its New Smart TV Bound For CES 2013 In Video, Google Testing “Quick View” On Mobile Search Results,

Nextdoor is Facebook for your neighborhood

I’d wager most of you are on Facebook and I’d also bet that you have more than a few of your neighbors who live in your neighborhood has friends on Facebook. You may have never heard of a social network called Nextdoor. This is a network that focuses on the entire country or world; rather Nextdoor focuses on your neighborhood.

nextdoor

Nextdoor is sort of a cross between neighborhood level social networking and a neighborhood watch meeting online. You can sign up for an account if your area is served, set up borders for your particular neighborhood, and then invite your neighbors to join the service. The only caveat is that you have to sign up at least 10 neighbors within the first 21 days to be able to keep the site active for your neighborhood.

The idea is that you and your neighbors can use the site to warn each other about strange characters lurking in the neighborhood, stray animals causing havoc with your trash, or creepy door-to-door salesman. You can also use the service to organize neighborhood activities such as block parties or cleanups.

I suspect if you sign up a number of your neighbors it will also end up being a place for people to complain about those who don’t keep their grass or yard just right. On the other side the service can be used to help people find lost pets and to keep an eye on children as they play with friends in the neighborhood. This is an interesting concept that I can see good and bad things in. It could be a place for people to simply congregate to complain or it could be a place to help get your neighborhood organized and safer.


Nextdoor is Facebook for your neighborhood is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Winter Storm Whips Into Northeast Bringing Snow, Rain

CONCORD, N.H. — A powerful winter storm was expected to drop one to two feet of snow on parts of the Northeast just a day after it swept through the nation’s middle, dumping a record snowfall in Arkansas and ruining holiday travel plans for thousands.

The storm, which was blamed for six deaths, pushed through the Upper Ohio Valley and made its way into the Northeast Wednesday night. Within hours, there was anywhere from a few inches of snow to a dozen in some locations.

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NVIDIA TegraZone For Windows RT

tegrazone windows rt 02 640x359 NVIDIA TegraZone For Windows RTIn our review of the Microsoft Surface RT, we mentioned that good games were very hard to come by on Windows 8 RT. This is something that just got easier as NVIDIA has launched TegraZone for Windows RT. If you are not familiar with the Android version, TegraZone is an application that looks like a mini app store which features games and apps that are optimized for NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 processor that is inside the Microsoft Surface RT. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Asus ME172V Images Leaked, Toshiba Excite 10 Gets Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean Update,

Huawei Ascend D2 Caught On Camera

HUAWEI ASCEND D2 FRONT Huawei Ascend D2 Caught On CameraSo word has it that Huawei’s Ascend D2 could be making an appearance at CES 2013, and given the scale of CES it wouldn’t be surprising if Huawei decided to take that opportunity to show off their new products. We’ve seen renderings of the device before, but if you’re curious as to how it might look like in real life, photos of the Ascend D2 handset have been caught on camera (via IT Home). Unfortunately these are not full body shots so we guess we will have to wait for more leaks or the official unveiling to see more of it. In the meantime hopefully these photos will be enough to give you guys a basic idea of what to expect. For those who might have forgotten, the Ascend D2 will be Huawei’s take on the phablet with a 5” 1920×1080 Full HD display. It will come with a 1.5GHz quad-core processor reportedly of Huawei’s own making, 2GB of RAM, a 13MP rear-facing camera, a 3,000mAh battery and will come with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean on board. It is also said to retail about $500 which given its specs might be a good deal for some.



huawei ASCEND D2 BOTTOM 99x64 Huawei Ascend D2 Caught On Camera


HUAWEI ASCEND D2 CAMERA 99x64 Huawei Ascend D2 Caught On Camera


HUAWEI ASCEND D2 FRONT 99x64 Huawei Ascend D2 Caught On Camera


HUAWEI ASCEND D2 TOP 99x64 Huawei Ascend D2 Caught On Camera


By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Instagram’s Top Location Of 2012 Is An Airport in Bangkok, Facebook For Windows Phone 2.8 Released,