People may tell you that literature is dying, but plenty of authors are hard at work redefining the book world with groundbreaking and mind-bending works sure to be read and reread for quite some time. With so many books vying to be the next “Great American Novel”, this is merely a list of those who have earned their eminence and moved a generation some believed was devoid of literacy. Let us know what makes your list of modern classics in the comments.
Favorability ratings for Congress are still in the tank, but among Latinos it has gained some support as immigration reform talks take place there, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll released Wednesday.
A majority of Latinos — 56 percent — had a favorable view of Congress, up from about 35 percent who held such a view in November 2011. That could be in part thanks to work on immigration reform, an issue most Latino voters support and place high on their list of priorities.
The public as a whole is closer to the stance of Latinos in 2011: As of Wednesday’s poll, only 30 percent of Americans saw Congress in a positive light.
“My kids are the reason I have always done everything.” That is a statement that Kate Gosselin has lived by every day since giving birth to sextuplets back in 2004. The mother of eight, who got her own reality series “Jon & Kate Plus 8” after the birth of her children, quickly skyrocketed to fame and found herself, along with her family, on the cover of every major tabloid in America.
Following a messy divorce and the cancellation of her TLC show, Kate’s life turned upside down, and so did her style. Gosselin, a former devotee to mom jeans, turned to slinky dresses and stilettos (otherwise known as a fashion 180).
Her hair has also been a major topic of conversation. “The Gosselin” didn’t exactly inspire women like “The Rachel,” but countless memes and articles have been dedicated to the short and spiky ‘do.
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Apple is in court again in China, defending another of its products from attack based on pre-existing claims from a Chinese company. This time around it’s Siri, Apple’s virtual assistant, that has landed it in Chinese legal trouble, after last year another company took issue with the iPad trademark resulting in a $60 million settlement deal.
The claim this time is from Zhizhen Technology Co., a Shanghai company that holds a patent for voice recognition software for its “Xiao i Robot,” software that was originally patented back in 2004. Siri, Inc. was founded in 2007, after being spun out of SRI International and before being acquired by Apple in 2010. Zhizhen first filed suit back in July last year, at which time this video supposedly demonstrating a version of Xiao i Robot in action on a Lenovo device surfaced.
Xiao i Robot can be installed on smart TVs, and is employed by countries around the world in customer service functions, according to an article from Shanghai Daily published back in June 2012. The tech has apparently been used by 360buy.com, as well as the Chinese government and a number of other enterprise customers.
Zhizhen told says it will ask Apple to “stop manufacturing and selling products using its patent rights, once Apple’s infringement is confirmed,” one of its lawyers told the AFP. Should it be successful, it may also seek compensation down the road for any damage done by Siri to its financials to date. Apple had asked for the case to be dropped, and was rejected in that effort, the lawyer said. Today’s hearing paves the way for a full trial beginning in July 2013.
Recently, Apple has fallen under attack by Chinese media for customer service and return policy complaints. The company has responded on its official website to respond to some of these attacks, but analysts suggest this could be part of an effort to encourage more consumption of home-grown tech solutions by Chinese consumers. China also recently partnered with Ubuntu creator Canonical to develop a China-specific open source operating system that seems in part designed to wean its IT sector off of foreign-developed software tools.
* Euro still smarting from ‘Cyprus model’ suspicions
* Little sign of contagion to Italy, Spain
* Yen under pressure ahead of April 3-4 BOJ meeting
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It is safe to assume that the iPhone 5S will most likely resemble the iPhone 5, with the main differences being under the hood. However the question is what will Apple go with for the iPhone 6, presumably with a release for 2014? While we will have to wait for the inevitable leaks or official announcement, designer Abel Verdezoto I has come up with his own concept of what the iPhone 6 could look like (pictured above). This particular concept is a pretty drastic departure from the current design and loses the more rounded edges in favor of sharper corners. It also appears to have taken on a chrome-like edge which is reminiscent of the iPhone 3GS. We’re not sure what sort of size we are looking at here, but if we had to guess, it’s probably based on the rumored 4.8” rumored display that the iPhone 6 is supposed to feature. To be honest this particular concept reminds us a bit of the Sony Xperia Z, which is a good thing, but what do you guys say, aye or nay?
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Puzzle Keyboard Concept Sure To Make Heads Spin, iOS 7 App Switcher Concept Looks Useful, 
Strong growth in tablet sales is helping to drive overall growth in the global smart connected device market, according to analyst IDC, as the market reshapes itself with mobility at its core. Posting a new report for full year 2012 and projections through to 2017, the analyst notes that market expansion last year was “largely driven” by 78.4% year-over-year growth in tablet shipments — which exceeded 128 million units. But this is just the beginning for tablets: IDC expects tablet shipments to surpass desktop PCs in 2013, and portable PCs in 2014.
Overall, worldwide shipments of smart connected devices grew 29.1% year over year in 2012, and the entire market pushed past one billion units shipped, with a total market value of $576.9 billion.
IDC said it expects tablets to grow their share of the overall smart devices market from 10.7% in 2012, to an estimated 16% by 2017 — with a projected growth rate of 174.5% between 2012 and 2017. Over the same period, the desktop PC category will have negative growth of -5%, and will slide from 12.4% share in 2012 to 6% share in 2017.
Portable PCs are also project to take a declining share of the market, dropping from a 16.8% share in 2012 down to 11% estimated for 2017. The category will still see some growth, according to IDC, which is projecting 19.3% growth for portables over 2012 to 2017. But the powerhouse growth is in the tablets and smartphone categories — the latter projected to also grow by triple-digits (109.9%).
This year IDC said it expects the tablet market to reach “a new high” of 190 million shipment units, with year-on-year growth of 48.7%. While the smartphone market is expected to grow 27.2% to 918.5 million units.
“Consumers and business buyers are now starting to see smartphones, tablets, and PCs as a single continuum of connected devices separated primarily by screen size,” said Bob O’Donnell, IDC Program Vice President for Clients and Displays, in a statement. “Each of these devices is primarily used for data applications and different individuals choose different sets of screen sizes in order to fit their unique needs. These kinds of developments are creating exciting new opportunities that will continue to drive the smart connected devices market forward in a positive way.”
Powered by growth in the tablet and smartphone categories, IDC predicts the worldwide smart connected device market will continue to “surge” — with shipments forecast to surpass 2.2 billion units and revenues reaching $814.3 billion in 2017. By 2017, 83% of the market is projected to be composed of smartphones and tablets, up from 70.8% in 2012.
Returning to 2012, IDC noted that in Q4 of the year Apple significantly closed the gap with market leader Samsung in the quarter, thanks to the combination of its refreshed smartphone (iPhone 5) and new smaller tablet (iPad Mini). Apple took 20.3% unit shipment share in the quarter versus 21.2% for Samsung, according to IDC. On a revenue basis, Apple continued to dominate with 30.7% share versus 20.4% share for Samsung.
For those who are fans of military-inspired games like Call of Duty and Battlefield, we’re sure that you would have heard by now that Battlefield 4 will be making its way onto the PC later this Fall. However if you own the Nintendo Wii U and you were wondering if the game would make its way onto the console, you’re out of luck.
This was confirmed by DICE’s creative director, Lars Gustavsson in an interview with Videogamer. Gustavsson went on to explain the reason behind their decision, stating that “I think overall for me as creative director, number one is to deliver a really great game and experience […] Sometimes, at least for us, it’s focusing on what you do well and what you know well, and ensuring that you deliver something good than trying a bit too much, stretching yourself too thin and risking it. I’d rather play it safe, deliver something really good and then look at the future and what could possibly be done than trying a bit too hard and [failing].”
We’re not sure if the game will remain out of the Wii U’s reach forever, but in the meantime apart from the PC, Battlefield 4 is also expected to arrive on the PS3 and the Xbox 360 as well.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Temple Run Makes Its Long-Awaited Debut On Windows Phone, GTA 5 Screenshots Highlight Multiple Views Of Los Santos, 
Did you ever wish that you could get up and about without being seen? You know, just to be like the invisible man, although it would be cooler if one had the choice of turning invisible and visible at will, and this includes the clothes that you come into direct contact with. Otherwise, you would have to walk to the wardrobe and wear something before turning visible again, unless you do not mind appearing to the rest of the world in your birthday suit. Alternatively, the fantasy world had always offered the idea of an ‘invisibility cloak’, where throwing this over you would render you invisible to anyone who looks your way. I can think of many naughty applications for such an item like this, but I guess the military would find a far more practical use for such an idea. Well, researchers over at the University of Texas in Austin have managed to come up with a spanking new, ultra-thin invisibility cloak that measures all of just 0.15mm – now is that thin or what?
Most of the invisibility cloaks that have been created until now come in large, cumbersome, desk-mounted machinations, and these will definitely stretch the definition of the word ‘cloak’, and they tend to lean more towards proof of concepts for the kind of invisibility material being tested, instead of being an actual invisibility cloaks. This particular invisibility cloak, however, measures a mere 166 micrometers thin, clearly making this a ‘cloak’ in every sense of the word.
Just how is this invisibility cloak achieved? Well, it uses something that is called a “metascreen,” which is made out of a 66µm-thick sheet of copper which has been attached to a 100µm-thick sheet of flexible polycarbonate. This particular cloak will then be attached to the object, which is an 18cm cylinder here, allowing the cloak to conform to the object’s shape perfectly. It is noted that the copper has been patterned in such a way for the scattered light from the cloak and the cloaked object to cancel each other out, hence resulting in its invisibility. How would you make use of a cloak like this?
Source
[ New kind of invisibility cloak created copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Barnes & Noble subsidiary Nook Media LLC, which is a leading retailer of digital media and educational products, has announced a new feature is coming soon to the Nook line of tablets and digital readers. The devices will soon be getting in-app purchasing options thanks to a partnership with a mobile payment provider called Fortumo. The new feature will allow app and game developers to sell premium digital content to millions of customers via the Nook Store.
Barnes & Noble isn’t giving a specific time frame for when in-app purchasing will be available. The closest the company comes offering a timeframe is stating “in the coming weeks and months.” Barnes & Noble says that thousands of the most requested games and apps will feature in-app purchasing for customers using the Nook line of tablets, including the popular Nook HD and HD+ tablets.
Barnes & Noble says that in app purchasing will offer customers greater access to popular games and free apps on the company’s line of tablets. Users will be able to buy extra levels, coins, and other upgrades to make their app experience more enjoyable. The potential downside for some people who use the Nook devices is that offering in-game purchases means more apps will move to that payment model.
Barnes & Noble says that customers will need to register for in-app purchasing. The company also points out that consumers will need to enter credit card numbers before each payment, it will simply be able to click a Pay button and the transaction will be completed in seconds.
[via Barnes & Noble]
Nook devices to get in-app purchasing soon is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
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