Britain’s Ministry of Defence unveils unmanned Taranis combat aircraft
Well, it looks like Boeing’s unmanned Phantom Ray stealth aircraft just got a bit of company courtesy of Britain’s Ministry of Defence. It’s now unveiled the BAE-built Taranis, which is not just an unmanned aircraft, but an unmanned combat aircraft that promises to be capable of penetrating enemy territory — as opposed to something like a Predator drone that’s only suitable for use if the airspace is under control. As you might expect, complete details on the aircraft are still being kept under wraps, but the MoD says there’s “more than a million man hours” behind it, and that its first flight trials will begin early next year
Skype says Fring violated its Terms of Use, ‘damaging our brand and reputation’ in the process
It looks like Fring’s recent decision to block Skype access to its iPhone 4 video app was the final straw for Skype, who charges that VoIP network was in breach of the Terms of Use and EULA for the Skype API. “Over time,” writes General Counsel Robert Miller, “Fring’s mis-use of our software was increasingly damaging our brand and reputation with our customers.” Although they’ve “been talking with Fring for some time to try to resolve this amicably,” Friday’s action is being called “disappointing [for] our customers, who have high expectations of the Skype experience.” He goes on to say that “Skype will rigorously protect our brand and reputation, and those developers that do not comply with our terms will be subject to legal enforcement.” Meaning, presumably, that in the case of more Fring shenanigans there will be some sort of red-hot legal action.
Bina48 is one humanoid robot you’re going to want to hang out with
The photo you see above is of Bina48, one of the most advanced humanoid robots around.
Switched On: Photography is dead, long live photos
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On , a column about consumer technology. Portraying the digital still camera as an endangered species has been a popular pastime for years in the cellphone industry, and with the high-resolution stills and high-definition video capabilities of the latest round of smartphones, the argument is more convincing than ever when applied to the casual snapshot. But this week at the World Expo in Shanghai, Canon — a name synonymous with high-quality photography — offered a vision of a device that not only supersedes the digital still camera, but will likely eliminate photography as we know it.
Cellphone inventor Marty Cooper says he knew everybody would have one someday
Marty Cooper may have kept a fairly low profile since inventing the cellphone in the early 1970s, but he has been out in the public eye a bit more recently , and has now given a fairly lengthy interview to CNN in which he ruminates on the invention that quite literally changed the world. Perhaps most notably is that he says he and his team at Motorola always “knew that someday everybody would have a cellphone,” but that he found it “hard to imagine that that would happen in my lifetime.” Of course, he was also once again asked about his current cellphone, and surprisingly revealed that he’s actually been trying out a Vertu recently. Hey, you’ve earned it, Marty
Citrix enlists iPhone 4 in its quest for ‘Nirvana phone’ portable desktop client (video)
Critix has been touting its ” Nirvana phone ” concept — a handheld device that can be paired with a monitor / keyboard for remote desktop use — for quite some time now. Back in February, the minimum hardware specs were nothing to challenging, and as it turns out, Apple’s iPhone 4 pretty much exceeds ‘em by a long shot. And it has VGA out capabilities and Bluetooth keyboard support.
