Nook Media LLC is the love child of Barnes & Noble and Microsoft

Barnes & Noble logoWhen you throw Barnes & Noble and Microsoft in to the same room together, you end up with Nook Media LLC, a new entity. The result of a complete strategic partnership, this new subsidiary is said to assist companies in advancing world-class digital reading experiences to the masses. The partnership will require Microsoft to fork out $300 million in advance, where it will be parked under Nook Media LLC’s umbrella.

William Lynch, CEO of Barnes & Noble, said, “As demand for digital content continues to increase, we are focused on bringing ground-breaking reading and learning content and technologies to more people in more formats than ever before, including the imminent launch of our exceptional NOOK reading application for Windows 8. We look forward to working closely with our new partner Microsoft to add value to their innovative new platform by bringing great reading experiences and one of the world’s preeminent digital bookstores to millions of Windows 8 users.”

There will not be any timetable for Barnes & Noble’s next move when it comes to the strategic options involving Nook Media LLC, but one thing is for sure – we do not know whether this might end up as a strategic separation, or might it even result as a stand-alone public company. Only time will tell. [Press Release]

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Facebook: Over one billion served

Mark Zuckerberg has just made a very special announcement – it seems that the social network giant known as Facebook has celebrated the magical number of one billion people on the social network, and in order to honor that particular event, they have come up with a spanking new video in order to express what, in their own words, “our place is on this earth.”

“Thanks for helping connect a billion people,” says Facebook. What are some of your more memorable Facebook moments over through the years? Do you want to share some of the anecdotes that you have when it comes to Facebook which was one of the more unique memories with us in the comments? Did you manage to find your one and only true love on Facebook, or have you forged new friendships which you never knew you would find in the real world? [Press Release]

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Augmented reality/facial recognition company Viewdle has been officially acquired by Google

The other day we reported that according to the word on the street, Google was looking to acquire augmented reality/facial recognition company, Viewdle. Well as it turns out it’s true and Motorola has officially announced that the deal was successful and that Viewdle is now part of Google’s Motorola Unit. For those wondering how it ended up with Motorola, well it seems that Motorola was already in talks to acquire Viewdle before Google acquired them, and we guess the negotiations continued even after Google’s acquisition of Motorola. (more…)

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Curiosity is now Mayor of Mars after checking in Foursquare

While the billions of people here on earth try to carve up some space to live and being the “king/queen of his/her own castle”, the Mars rover from NASA known as Curiosity is living it out on the Red Planet that is thousands and thousands of miles away from us. As far as we know, it is the only man-made object surveying the landscape of Mars at the moment, taking photos and collecting rock samples, but there is one more thing on its “to do” list – to be Mayor of Mars after checking in using Foursquare. This is the first “outside of earth” check-in, and we do not think that anyone else is going to dispute Curiosity’s position anytime soon.

Curiosity will continue to check in at different locations throughout its Gale Crater landing site, while sending back photos as well as tips as it plods along the surface of Mars. David Weaver, associate administrator for communications at NASA Headquarters, said, “NASA is using Foursquare as a tool to share the rover’s new locations while exploring Mars. This will help to involve the public with the mission and give them a sense of the rover’s travels through Gale Crater.”

Foursquare users can pick up a Curiosity-themed badge through checking in at museums, laboratories and other locations which generate an interest in science, engineering and technology, but that badge will only be released later this year at an undisclosed date.

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Gold-producing bacteria used by researchers

Throughout human history, many have tried to ‘create’ gold from other materials. We popularly know these people as alchemists, none of which succeeded of course. Thanks to the modern understanding of the chemical elements and the ability to use them effectively, gold can indeed be created (or rather extracted) in a lab from other elements. But the procedure is too expensive to be financially profitable.

Researchers at Michigan state university have now been able to use a bacteria to precisely this end. The bacteria in question, Cupriavidus metallidurans (discovered in 1976 in a metal processing factory ), turns gold chloride into pure 24-karat gold. However, the big question is how economically feasible this process is. (more…)

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Jury foreman in $1.05 billion Samsung v. Apple case has a serious conflict of interest

Samsung filed over a dozen exhibits in court today in its effort to get the $1.05 billion verdict against it thrown out.  Several of Samsung’s post-trial arguments are trivial, but the most notable concerns the jury foreman Velvin Hogan, who Samsung has accused of juror misconduct. Samsung alleges that Hogan had a significant conflict of interest and argues for the verdict to be thrown out.

Here are the facts: Hogan owns a patent. He also was sued by Seagate (which is now partially owned by Samsung) in 1993, which led him to declare bankruptcy. He did not mention that fact during jury selection. Also, in post-trial interviews, Hogan used phrases like “this trial… protected copyrights and intellectual property rights, no matter who they belonged to.” During jury selection, he said he did not have “strong feelings” about the patent system.

(more…)

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FTC shuts down telemarketing scammers posing as tech support

The FTC today froze the assets of 14 companies involved in a long-term scam. These companies, usually based in India, cold-called up English-speaking consumers posing as a representative of a major tech company, such as Microsoft, Symantec (makers of Norton Antivirus), and Dell. Using the credibility that they stole posing as representatives of a tech company, they told the marks that their PCs (usually Windows) were infected with nasty malware. Regardless of whether the PC was actually infected or not, the scammers offered to clean the machines, but not for free. Usually the scammers asked for $50-$500 in exchange for “cleaning” the computer. (more…)

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Mobiles Republic survey shows users’ news-reading habits

One of the key uses to which most users put their mobile devices is to stay ahead of the latest news updates. Smartphone and tablet users extensively use their devices to subscribe to different news sources so as to get national as well as international news in real-time.

Considering these trends, the apps development company, Mobiles Republic, recently undertook a survey which aimed at quantizing the users’ news-reading habits. News Republic gathered some very interesting statistics which it then turned into an infographic. (more…)

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This newly-discovered dinosaur will haunt your dreams


Researchers at the University of Chicago announced today that they’ve discovered an identified a new dinosaur, Pegomastax africanus. It’s not as big as a Brachiosaurus or as ferocious as a Velociraptor, but it’s still plenty terrifying. According to 3D imaging done by researchers, the cat-sized dinosaur was covered in bizarre spines like a porcupine. Even scarier, the new species had sharp edged enlarged canines like “that of a vampire.” Also, those teeth sharpened themselves:

The tall teeth in its upper and lower jaws operated like self-sharpening scissors, with shearing wear facets that slid past one another when the jaws closed.

What’s incredibly cool is that 3D modeling techniques have progressed to the point where extremely lifelike models are easy for paleontologists to create. Aside from giving a visceral view of the dinosaur, the visual models help scientists make hypotheses about the dinosaur. For instance, it’s strange that a plant-eating dinosaur like Pegomastax would have such a developed jaw. Scientists think that perhaps the terrifying teeth were for self-defense and competitive sparring. Regardless of what Pegomastax ate, it was preserved well enough from lake sediment that it is possible to model what it would look like if it were alive: a “nimble, two-legged porcupine.” With vampire-like fangs.

The whole paper is on the free, open source journal ZooKeys here.

 

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ROHM CIGS near-infrared see-through image sensor

[CEATEC 2012] The ROHM CIGS (Copper indium gallium (di)selenide) Near-Infrared sensor provides the ability to see  near-infrared light waves that are normally invisible to the naked eye. By capturing near-infrared light, it is possible to see through layers of matter without having to use harmful radiations like X-rays. In some ways, it is similar to techniques used to observe space through thick clouds of dust. (more…)

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