Filed under: Cell Phones

The cell phone is a powerful tool when you’re trying to meet up with friends somewhere, especially if they’re the bar-hopping type who don’t stay at any one place on a Friday night any longer than it takes to down a pint. But, in New York City, you can forget about staying in touch with friends if you’re traveling by subway — the city’s biggest cell-phone dead zone. Thankfully, that’s finally about to change with New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority working to install underground cell phone systems in its stations.

A company called Transit Wireless has pledged $4.6 million per year for each of the next ten years for the privilege of bringing connections to MTA stations. The company will then turn around and sell that access to individual cell providers like AT&T and Sprint. Since all providers will be able to share the same Transit Wireless services, there’s no reason not to expect the same level of underground coverage no matter what carrier you’re on. Unfortunately, your carrier might not be interested in paying whatever Transit Wireless charges. When asked how much it would invest to bring cell phone coverage to subway stations, a consortium of carriers including Verizon and Sprint offered the MTA a mere $40 compared to Transit Wireless’s $46 million. Yes, $40.

The first six stations, all based in downtown Manhattan, will get cell service some time in the next two years, with additional stations getting connected once all the kinks are worked out. And, if you were worried about having to listen to dozens of bits of communication during your morning commute, fear not, because signal will not be extended to the tunnels, only the stations. Not that you can hear anything but your iPod anyway …

From Engadget and textually.org

Related Links:

• Camera Phone Nabs Perv on NYC Subway
• Cell Phones Versus Terrorists
• Direct-to-Cell Phone Advertising Coming

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Share This

So, apparently some kids were spending more time on video games than on their studies. So a GameStop manager decided to stop selling them games.

He ended up getting suspended for it, but I think it’s a good idea. In the end, it’s only for the kids’ own good. In fact, the idea ought to be expanded to help more…uh…(shouldn’t say stupid)…educationally challenged people. Even adults.

Alright, there ma’am, you want this particular blender? Now, it’s got sharp parts, can I just see your report card for Handling Pointy Spinny Things? Ah, a D? Too bad.

Okay, sir, you want to buy this engagement ring? Can I just see your Relationship IQ? Ah, that low? Sorry, stupid; get smart, then get married.

Well, before I give you this motor scooter…oh, heck, just go away, man.

…yeah. That’d make life better.

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Videos and Screenshots, e-Distribution Games

It’s amazing to see what adding two letters to the end of a word can do. thatgamecompany, creators of the fan-favorite fl0w, is working on a brand new project. Not much is know about the new project, but considering the unique atmosphere created by the team’s previous endeavors, we’re excited to see what they can bring to the table.

[Via Joystiq]

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Share This

Filed under: Action & Adventure, Deals, RumorMonger, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels

While I was into a lot of boy-themed entertainment as a kid — The Incredible Hulk, He-Man, The Super Friends — Transformers was just something I could never get into. However, there are masses upon masses of fanboys who could, and as we all know, Transformers hit the big screen under Michael “Big Explosions, Cash-Lovin’, Ladies Man” Bay this year. After putting in an estimated $150 million, the flick grossed approximately $310 million. That’s not a bad chunk of change, so, of course, that would mean that a sequel is sure to follow — but it might not be with Bay.

According to SuperHeroHype, the director got chatty on his official message board about the flick and its potential sequel (the board is here, but you need a password to enter). He thinks the IMAX print of Transformers, which will be released with extra scenes this week, is “freakin AWESOME,” and that they “need to bottle the magic of IMAX because it’s the future of cinema.” But as for “Transformers 2, well that’s another story. Iching [sic] to work pre-strike (June) so I might jump ship and come back a year or so later cause people at the studio have been dragging for two months. Not sure why. I’ll keep you informed.” So it sounds like he wants to secure some projects before the strike, and would rather risk losing the sequel than waiting around. Bay isn’t universally loved in the world of cinema, so what do you think — would Bay bailing be a blessing?

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Share This

Filed under: Cellphones, GPS

It’s been some time since we’ve heard anything from Mexens Technology, but now its virtual GPS system is finally available for the iPhone. Yeah, the program still utilizes “WiFi and cellular tower triangulation techniques,” but according to the firm’s CEO, “this is just as if the iPhone were equipped with a GPS chip.” Of course, we’re still doubtful that this peer-to-peer location approach works just as good as a bonafide GPS receiver, but considering that you won’t be forced to pay the $24.99 purchase price until after 15 days are up, why not give it a go and find out?

[Via Shareloc’s Blog]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Share This

Its good news for all Rani-Abhishek fans, the duo is back again with their new movie Laaga Chunari Mein Daag. Just three weeks to go and we can see then shaking a leg together in LCMD. The movie is a woman oriented film and Rani Mukherjee and Konkona Sen hold the main role. Kunal Kapoor […]

Share This

Electrical engineer Scott Brusaw has developed a system which generates electricity using roads by covering the roads to a strip-like solar farm. His solution consists of a 3-layer system that replaces tarmac, where the upper layer would be translucent yet weatherproof, allowing sunlight to pass through. The middle layer holds LEDs and solar cells that capture electricity, while the bottom layer prevents soil humidity from getting through while hosting communication cables and different systems. The power stored will be especially beneficial when winter comes around as it can be used to heat the road in order to prevent unwanted accidents. According to Bursaw, if the US Interstate Highway system adopted his system, an solar cell efficiency of 10% is more than capable of powering the entire whole country, while making Bursaw a very, very rich man in the process.

Permalink | Comment | Uberbargain | Uberphones

Share This

Filed under: Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Apple Inc (AAPL), China, Halliburton (HAL), Aetna Inc (AET), CIGNA Corp (CI), Lockheed Martin (LMT), Politics, Presidential elections

What if politics was like the stock market and you could buy politicians you like and sell the ones you didn’t without envelopes of sequentially numbered small money orders in the same Chinese handwriting or cold cash hidden in the freezer?

For those rich enough — they can buy a politician or two. The rest of us probably could rent a couple minutes of time with a big campaign contribution, and get lots of promises from a politician. Knowing the integrity of politicians and the value of political promises I am not sure how good of an investment politicians turn out to be.

Maybe you are one of the people smart enough to pick up a couple of bucks around the office at election time with bets on who is going to win. I have to admit I lost the last political bet I made. Good thing it was only a buck. What if there was a stock market where you could buy and sell shares in the candidates? The candidates would move up and down every day and those of us who are financial analysts could quantify the likelihood of people winning based on how bets are placed.

Now I am not into horse racing, poker or sports betting; but I do have to check up on the political bets every once in a while. With real money on the line there is a big incentive to be right. If you do not like the odds you can jump into the market and take the other side of the action. So what do the bookies think is going to happen in the coming election? Well it appears that Clinton is the favorite for the Democratic nominee with 67.8% and the Republican Rudy Giuliani leads the GOP with 35%.

Let’s explain briefly how this works. Intrade.com acts as a political futures market with each contract worth $10 if the specified conditions are met. For example, it is like me writing Hillary elected President in ‘08 on a $10 bill and seeing what action I can get on it around the office. People buy and sell those $10 contracts in a stock exchange-like market. If Hillary is trading at $4.30 (she is), then this means that the people perceive her to be 43% likely to win the election. And with a volume of 101,000 contacts, there is about one million dollars currently riding on the outcome.

The table shows the probabilities of the top four candidates for both the Republican and Democratic nominations. Currently Clinton leads the Democrats with a 67% chance of the the Democratic nomination. Barack Obama comes in at 16%, with John Edwards and Al Gore both at 7%. Giuliani has a 35% chance of the Republican nomination, while Fred Thompson comes in at 24%, Mitt Romney 23% and John McCain at 16%.

There is also a separate contract for the final election; at this point Hillary comes in at 43% for winning the Presidential Election. Considering that the elections are typically close, and that gives gives each party about a 50% chance right before the election, a 43% chance of winning now shows there are some real believers out there several months before the first primary.

While not promoting gambling, as a financial analyst needing to continually weigh the risks in the market place, it is good to be able to quantify political events. The election is still a ways away, but who wins will significantly affect the stock market.

With Clinton you have heath care on the line, which could affect the insurance companies like Aetna (NYSE: AET), Cigna (NYSE: CI) or United Health (NYSE: UNH). Obama is promising to do away with the capital gains tax breaks, so companies that appreciated like Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) or Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) could see profits taken and the market as a whole could plunge. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has been in antitrust trouble and a new administration may affect it. Of course a retreat from Iraq would hurt defense or oil stocks like Cheney’s Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) or Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT). But this early, it is hard to predict who exactly the winners will be.

What do you think? Are these numbers accurate? Who is your favorite for the election?

Kevin Kersten is an Options Analyst with InvestorsObserver.com. Disclosure note: Mr. Kersten owns and or controls a diversified portfolio of long and short positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Share This

Filed under: Desktops, Gaming

Intel’s Paul Otellini IDF keynote shed some new light on the company’s Larrabee processor, which is now set for a 2010 release and will compete against AMD and NVIDIA in the realm of high-end graphics. Paul says the chips will scale up to teraflops in speed, and be targeted at science and analytics in addition to graphics — though he dodged questions about Larrabee potentially being a discrete graphics competitor for AMD and NVIDIA, and only reiterating that “Graphics will also be an area for the chip.” Intel has so far stayed squarely in the realm of integrated graphics, but a move to discrete graphics would be quite a welcome shakeup to the current market, and teraflops would certainly make it all the more interesting.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Share This