The European Space Agency’s GOCE satellite has been on a quest to study the Earth’s interior, from space. Now the results are in, and a pioneering effort to map the Earth’s gravitational field in high detail, has just been published in the journal Nature Geoscience. It’s giving researchers an unprecedented look at our planet’s mantle.
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OMG! Mario on iOS! Not! According to a brief in Japan’s Nikkei (translated by TC writer Serkan Toto), Nintendo will announce plans to use Android and iOS as marketing vehicles, allowing Link, Mario, and the various and sundry Pokemen to appear on mobile devices to promote the company’s games.
Legend Of Zelda on the iPhone this ain’t.
Nintendo will announce the plans in an investor briefing this Thursday. “To be more concrete, The Nikkei writes that Nintendo wants to use smartphones to expand its potential user base by spreading information about new game releases, i.e. by using video to introduce future titles. (This will probably happen through some kind of official Nintendo app.)” wrote Toto.
This is obviously all conjecture at this point but if even the barest hint of Nintendo appears on mobile devices I suspect the fanbois will go mental. It will be fascinating to watch Nintendo’s first trepidatious steps into treacherous waters, to be sure.
The quickly-growing world of 3D printing technology has found itself utilized in a variety of fields, serving all sorts of purposes in each of them to improve or create things … Continue reading
Good old geothermal plants generate power using water heated by hot rocks deep underground. But what if we could get energy directly from the seething magma down below? In Iceland, an accidental discovery let scientists actually stick a pipe into magma to test this idea—and the results of their experiment has just been published in the journal Geothermics.
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As far as behemoth man-made objects, few things are more dwarfing than a cruise ship. That’s why it’s so incredible to see such a thing in the process of being taken apart. This striking timelapse video, posted at FStoppers, shows off the entire process.
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On today’s Q1 earnings call, Apple’s CFO Peter Oppenheimer bragged that “nearly all NFL teams use iPads as playbooks.”
This wouldn’t necessarily be interesting, except for the fact that Microsoft has a multi-year contract with the NFL to provide players, coaches and other personnel with a Surface tablet.
Of course, NFL teams have been using the iPad for years.
In 2011, a number of NFL teams had figured out how to transfer their playbooks over to iPad, as well as view and edit game film on the fly. By fall 2012, the number of NFL teams using iPads as playbooks had grown from 2 to 14.
In 2013, though, Microsoft signed a multi-year deal with the NFL that had a number of stipulations. As the official sideline technology partner of the NFL, Microsoft Surface and Windows would be “the official tablet and PC operating system of the NFL.”
This is made clear when you watch the NFL on Fox, as all the sports announcers sport kickstand-equipped Surface tablets on-air.
However, it seems that coaches and players prefer iProducts, according to Oppenheimer’s statements on today’s call. And it wouldn’t be the first time something like this has happened.
Last year, erstwhile BlackBerry spokesperson Alicia Keys was caught tweeting and Instagramming from her iPhone despite promising herself to the BlackBerry Z10.
The iPad has been a major tool across a number of enterprise businesses. Originally, health companies and car companies began using the iPad for sales purposes. Inevitably, the iPad became a sales tool across many verticals in the enterprise. More recently, industries are looking to replace paper manuals, as is the case with airlines and flight manuals.
In fact, American Airlines will save $1 million in fuel costs because of the weight decrease on flights.
In accordance with orders sent out earlier this month by the President of the United States on intelligence reforms, the US Department of Justice has begun “acting to allow” more … Continue reading
Apple’s iPhone sales for Q1 2014 have broken the company’s previous record, and they also mark the company’s ability to ship as many smartphones as Samsung, which was previously the only company in the world to move over 50 million units in a single quarter back in 2012. But the number represents only 3 million more devices sold than in the same quarter last year, or around 7 percent growth. That’s a far cry from previous years, and it’s already caught the attention of those watching the company.
@llsethj I think you are right.—
Ben Bajarin (@BenBajarin) January 27, 2014
This suspicion that the iPhone 5c is not selling quite as well as Apple might have expected is backed up by the average selling price (ASP) of devices. The ASP dropping would suggest that the more expensive iPhone 5s is far and away the stronger seller, which is also supported by Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer’s assertion on the earnings call that the iPhone 5s faced supply constraints, while no mention was made of the iPhone 5c. They sold more iPhone 5s devices than expected in North America, CEO Tim Cook explained, which made it difficult for them to get the right “mix” and caused the North American market to actually contract year over year. Cook also suggested that changes in carrier upgrade policies negatively affected North American sales.
https://twitter.com/asymco/status/427923677271695360
There are a couple of potential takeaways which could suggest changes to Apple’s iPhone strategy: First, it could indicate that Apple needs to really deliver on the idea of a cheaper iPhone – the iPhone 5c was anticipated to be that, but in the end it was the same price as older devices bumped down the line in previous quarters. Second, it could provide the reasoning behind the recent report from the Wall Street Journal that Apple will ditch the plastic case for any upcoming iPhone devices to be released this year.
Refocusing on the top end and premium metal finishes is one way to address the iPhone 5c, but it’s unclear what effect that might have on growth plans. Emerging markets are still the prime target when it comes to driving continued smartphone growth, and that’s where cheaper devices are going to stand out. Apple may discuss iPhone 5c specifically during the conference call, so stay tuned to find out more.
Coffee can be super-geeky when you want it to be. Not everyone is content with Nespresso or Keurig, but while drip methods can be simple and still deliver far greater … Continue reading
Over the past year we’ve had no shortage of rumors surrounding Apple’s next iPhone – not all of which were centered on the iPhone coming after the iPhone 5s. This … Continue reading
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