Why smartphones still haven't taken over the U.S. market

Editor's note: Amy Gahran writes about mobile tech for CNN.com. She is a San Francisco Bay Area writer and media consultant whose blog, Contentious.com, explores how people communicate in the online age. (CNN) -- Smartphones may attract nearly all of the marketing hype and news coverage, but comScore's latest statistics show that smartphones still comprise only a minority of the U.S. mobile market -- about 35%, as of July 2011. The other 65% of U.S. mobile handsets in use are "feature phones" -- which tend to be much less expensive to buy and own. Often, these phones do not require a pricey two-year wireless service contract with hefty early termination fees. Even though smartphones cost much more, these devices have been getting popular with U.S. consumers, even in light of the country's economic recession. After all, a 35% market share is nothing to sneeze at -- especially considering that smartphones have only been widely available in the U.S. for about five years. At some point, a majority of U.S. mobile users will indeed own smartphones. But that shift won't happen as quickly as early forecasts anticipated. Back in March 2010, the Nielsen Company proclaimed that smartphones would overtake feature phones by 2011. Specifically, they predicted that by the end of Q3 2011 (about a month from now), most U.S. mobile users would own smartphones. That ambitious prediction doesn't seem to be panning out. For over a year, comScore has been publishing monthly mobile-market-share statistics that show the percentage of U.S. smartphones. I've been tracking these figures. Based on this data, it looks like it'll be roughly October 2012 before smartphones actually take over as a majority of U.S. handsets. That's about a year later than Nielsen's forecast. Even then, there will still be plenty of feature phones in the U.S. market for quite a while. They're definitely not vanishing any time soon. What might speed up or slow down the proliferation of smartphones in the U.S.? It's mostly a cost-benefit tradeoff. Decisions about which mobile phone to purchase are driven by functionality (what people want to do with their phones), access (the quality, speed, and geographic availability of local wireless networks), cost (both up-front and monthly bills), and flexibility (the ability to switch carriers, plans, or to cancel at will). Right now smartphones win in terms of functionality because people can use apps to do almost anything a much bulkier computer would let them do. Still, many consumers prefer simpler phones, and view the mobile app frenzy as a confusing and unnecessary excess. This market segment (and it's not just determined by age, education, or income) will probably keep using feature phones the longest. Access divides on urban and rural lines. Once you get outside of major metro areas, wireless coverage gets spottier. Also, carriers are very slow to roll out faster "4G" networks in less-populated rural areas. Using a smartphone on a slow or spotty data network can be pretty painful, and might not seem worth the extra cost. In terms of overall cost and flexibility, feature phones are the clear winners -- which is probably why they remain so popular. It's easy to get a pretty good, no-contract feature phone for $50 or less (or even for free), and then get a month-to-month or pre-paid plan that allows Web browsing, e-mail, and other data access. That costs around $50 per month. Generally users can cancel these phones at any time, with no early termination fee. In contrast, smartphones typically cost $100 or more (sometimes much more) at a subsidized price on a two-year contract from a wireless service provider. Monthly bills typically start at $80-90, and if you want to cancel early you'll still owe the carrier up to a few hundred dollars for an early termination fee. If the overall U.S. economy improves significantly -- and especially if lots more full-time jobs get created soon -- it's likely that smartphones would take over sooner. But if the recovery continues at its current pace or slows, feature phones could remain the majority into 2013 or beyond. It's also possible that manufacturing advances could bring the cost of smartphones down. Or the major U.S. carriers might decide to offer more smartphones on more flexible and consumer-friendly terms. Personally, I'm not holding my breath for either of these outcomes. The good news is that, for people who stick with feature phones, those devices aren't as limited as they used to be. One of the biggest areas of improvement in the U.S. feature phone market is the Web browser. Most feature phones come with some kind of Web browser, and users can opt to pay a little extra for a data plan that allows them to access the mobile Internet. It used to be the case that feature phones came packaged with horrible, frustrating and slow browsers that displayed most Web pages poorly or not at all. But now it's fairly easy for most U.S. consumers to find feature phones that include a much better pre-installed Web browser such as Opera Mini or Bolt. These display most Web pages pretty well and are easy to use, offering a vastly superior mobile browsing experience. According to Per Wetterdal, Opera's U.S. regional manager, American consumers can currently purchase Opera Mini-equipped feature phones that don't require a two-year contract from AT&T and Virgin Mobile (a brand from Sprint) -- and by this holiday season also from Verizon. (The stock AT&T mobile browser is actually a branded version of Opera Mini.) Discount carriers such as MetroPCS and third-party retailers such as Wal-Mart generally don't yet offer feature phones pre-installed with better proxy browsers. But any feature phone owners usually can download a better browser for free. The possible drawback is that once installed, it may take some extra clicks to launch. Opera Mini and Bolt offer additional benefits that may appeal to smartphone owners, too. These browsers, and others like them, are "proxy browsers" which compress data significantly before transmitting it to the phone. This means they load Web pages faster, and they help control mobile data consumption. So if you're on a tiered data plan, even if you own a smartphone it might be a good idea to install a proxy browser. Using it can help you avoid hitting your data cap, getting charged for overages, or even getting throttled. This will probably work well enough for most of your Web browsing, and you can switch to a fully-featured non-proxy browser for sites that warrant it. Some proxy browsers are specifically designed for smartphones. Opera Mini offers versions for all smartphone platforms, Bolt has BlackBerry versions, and Skyfire offers Android and iOS versions that also play Flash video (something still not fully supported by Apple's Mobile Safari browser). But if you want to stick with a feature phone for a while, don't worry too. You'll probably still get a good-enough mobile online experience if your phone has a decent mobile browser.

When social media 'hinders' revolution

(CNN) -- This has been the year of social media crackdowns. First there was Egypt, where the government shut down the Internet in January amid protests that toppled the 30-year rule of president Hosni Mubarak. Then it was Libya, where something similar happened. And, most recently, UK Prime Minister David Cameron said he was considering shutting down digital-communication channels during riots that had gripped the country. As CNN's Mark Milian reports, the UK has since backed down from that claim, but the discussion caused much controversy online. Behind all of these happenings is a theory: That new-ish communications technologies -- from Facebook and Twitter to BlackBerry Messenger -- help people mobilize and revolt against governments. Tech insiders tend to see the Internet and social media as democratizing forces -- digital tools that can be used to topple dictators and spark change. Perhaps Wael Ghonim, the Google employee who helped organize Egypt's revolution 2.0 over Facebook, put words to this theory best: "If you want to liberate a society, just give them the Internet." But what if that's not true? That's essentially the argument of Navid Hassanpour, a political science graduate student at Yale, who writes in a recent and widely-talked-about paper that social media actually hurts a particular group's chance of organizing a meaningful and successful revolution. "Social media can act against grass roots mobilization," he writes. "They discourage face-to-face communication and mass presence in the streets. Similar to more traditional and highly visible media, they create greater awareness of risks involved in protests, which in turn can discourage people from taking part in demonstrations." He uses mathematical models to map out why this was the case in Egypt. To put this in a pop-culture context, think about Facebook photos of your friends. To some degree, seeing what they're up to all the time could stop you from actually meeting up with them in person to communicate. And that face-to-face interaction is key to political mobilization, Hassanpour says. Here's how the New York Times explains it: "All the Twitter posting, texting and Facebook wall-posting is great for organizing and spreading a message of protest, but it can also spread a message of caution, delay, confusion or, I don't have time for all this politics, did you see what Lady Gaga is wearing?" In the absence of all this digital buzz, he says, people organize. "We become more normal when we actually know what is going on -- we are more unpredictable when we don't -- on a mass scale that has interesting implications," Hassanpour told the Times in an interview. Hassanpour isn't the first to argue against the conventional wisdom that social media helps spark revolution. Evgeny Morozov, a visiting scholar at Stanford University and author of the recent book "The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom," says dictators use digital communications to track and crack down on dissenters. "People who are concerned about freedom and democracy and creating democratic values abroad -- those of us in the West who are concerned about that -- we are probably far better off assuming the worst," he told CNN in February. "We are far better off assuming the Internet will strengthen dictators."

DOJ files antitrust suit to block AT&T merger with T-Mobile

                                        

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against AT&T on Wednesday seeking to block its $39 billion merger with T-Mobile. The merger would create the largest wireless company in the United States, combining AT&T's 98 million customers with T-Mobile's 34 million users, for a total of 130 million subscribers. AT&T is currently the second-largest wireless company by number of subscribers, and T-Mobile is fourth.  The DOJ said the merger would lead to a situation in which just two companies -- the AT&T-T-Mobile combination and Verizon Wireless -- would dominate the mobile market. The new AT&T and Verizon would account for more than two-thirds of wireless subscribers and 78% of the wireless industry's revenues.

 "We feel the combination of AT&T and T-Mobile would result in tens of millions of consumers across the U.S. facing higher prices, fewer choices, and lower quality products for wireless services," James Cole, deputy attorney general, said in a press conference Wednesday.

AT&T must lawyer up in T-Mobile deal

The Federal Communications Commission, which oversees the wireless industry, is in the midst of its own review of the proposed merger. Following the DOJ's announcement, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said that the agency also believes the merger raises "serious concerns about the impact ... on competition." Shares of AT&T (T, Fortune 500) tumbled more than 4%. Wayne Watts, AT&T's general counsel, said in a statement that the company was "surprised and disappointed by today's action." He went on to say that the company remained "confident that this merger is in the best interest of consumers and our country, and the facts will prevail in court." AT&T has claimed that the merger is necessary in order to significantly expand its faster 4G wireless network to compete with Verizon (VZ, Fortune 500). Without the acquisition, AT&T says it would lack the necessary wireless spectrum and wherewithal to cover 97% of the U.S. population with 4G. But the Justice Department said it didn't buy AT&T's argument. Following what the regulator called "an exhaustive investigation," the DOJ said it concluded that AT&T did not need to buy T-Mobile to remain competitive, and that the company could deploy next-generation technology by simply investing in its own network. "AT&T had not demonstrated that the proposed transaction promised any efficiencies that would be sufficient to outweigh the transaction's substantial adverse impact on competition and consumers," the DOJ said in a statement. Back-to-school smartphone shopping tips Sprint (S, Fortune 500) and many of the smaller carriers have argued that the merger will harm competition and raise prices for consumers, because it would eliminate T-Mobile, the last low-cost carrier with a national footprint. "By filing suit to block AT&T's proposed takeover of T-Mobile, the DOJ has put consumers' interests first," Vonya McCann, Sprint's senior vice president of government affairs, said in a written statement. The DOJ said it concurred with the smaller carriers' opinions, noting that the agency filed the lawsuit to protect price competition. The regulator labeled T-Mobile as an important source of competition in the wireless market. "Any way you look at this merger, it is anticompetitive," said Sharis Pozen, acting head of the DOJ's antitrust division. "It raised serious concerns, and we believe it violates the law." The lawsuit does not necessarily mean the deal won't get done. In April, the DOJ filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google (GOOG, Fortune 500), following its $700 million takeover bid for ITA, the world's largest airline search software company. The DOJ and the search giant then quickly settled the claim, with the Justice Department approving the deal, provided that Google accept certain concessions and restrictions.

Facebook to launch music platform with Spotify, MOG and Rdio

                                                

(Mashable) -- Facebook intends to launch its long-rumored music service next month with Spotify, MOG and Rdio as three of the company's launch partners, Mashable has learned. The music and media platform will be announced at Facebook's f8 developer conference on September 22. It will allow users to listen to music from within Facebook.com. Evidence of Facebook's music platform first surfaced in the code of Facebook's video chat service. According to two sources familiar with the matter, Facebook will not directly host or stream any music or media. Instead, it will rely on partners to provide the content. This is in contrast to Apple, Google and Amazon's strategy of hosting music content on their servers. Facebook's plan is to become a platform for media content in the same way it is a platform for applications and games. One of our sources specifically mentioned three music services as launch partners: Spotify, Rdio and MOG. It's unclear whether Facebook has lined up other launch partners for its music platform or whether Facebook will open up its platform to other developers. One of our sources noted, however, that Facebook doesn't like playing favorites, so our bet is that Facebook will open up its music platform to other third-party developers. We've also heard whispers that Facebook intends for this platform to go beyond music -- for example, it's possible that Netflix could stream movies through Facebook. However, we don't know if Facebook will go beyond the music platform announcement at f8. Update: "There's nothing new to announce," a Facebook spokesperson told us. "Many of the most popular music services around the world are integrated with Facebook and we're constantly talking to our partners about ways to improve these integrations." See the original article on Mashable.com

Tech's next industry trend: Grilled cheese?

San Francisco (CNN) -- While much of the technology industry scrambles to embrace tablets as the next big thing, veteran Jonathan Kaplan is applying his tech savvy to a completely different market: grilled-cheese sandwiches. Even stranger than that? He's not alone. On Tuesday, the inventor of the Flip video camera opened the Melt, the first of a proposed chain of grilled-cheese restaurants, in the hip San Francisco neighborhood called SoMa, or South of Market. Kaplan managed to talk Sequoia Capital, the venture-capital firm that funds tech startups, into backing his grilled-cheese venture. He plans to open a handful of Melts across the city in the coming months and 500 restaurants nationwide in the next five years. And he's now going up against Heidi Gibson, a former Oracle manager, and Nathan Pollak, a former consultant for tech firms, including Oracle. The pair runs the American Grilled Cheese Kitchen, a year-old gourmet sandwich shop also in SoMa that has attracted Lady Gaga and other celebrities. Pollak's take on Kaplan's heavily financed upstart sounds similar to one you might hear from a scrappy Web startup that's about to have its niche product emulated by Google or Facebook. "I'm not looking at it so much as competition but more as 'coopetition,' " Pollak said last week. "The fact that grilled cheese is now a legitimate food business and someone is taking a gamble on 500 locations. ... All of a sudden, there's a grilled-cheese industry, and this is great."

                                            

While Pollak looks at his new restaurateur life as an escape from tech, Kaplan is shoehorning his industry knowledge into the Melt. Kaplan had hardware manufacturers develop a special grill that can toast bread and cheese efficiently and reliably, with minimal effort from the staff. Kaplan tested the software -- yes, this grill runs apps -- over six months, tasting thousands of sandwiches until the process was tweaked to his liking, he said. The Melt also deploys a mobile-ordering system that lets customers buy a sandwich on their phone and then scan a QR, or Quick Response code (those pixelated black-and-white squares) on the phone's screen when they arrive. The QR code triggers the grilling process; Kaplan hopes to deliver hot grilled-cheese sandwiches, which cost $5.95, within two minutes. Other restaurants might be interested in licensing this technology, but the company has no plans to do so, said Michael Moritz, a Sequoia partner. In addition to the prestige that comes with having Sequoia as an investor, the Melt has a powerhouse board of directors. Celebrity chef Michael Mina gives Kaplan advice on which soups to pair with which types of cheeses. Ron Johnson, the wizard of retail who directed the rise of the Apple Store and recently became CEO of J.C. Penney, is also on the board and provided capital. Moritz and Johnson are betting on Kaplan because he has a history of successes. In addition to Pure Digital Technologies, the Flip camera maker that was bought by Cisco Systems in 2009 and shuttered two years later, Kaplan sold FamilyWonder, an entertainment-media company, to Sega.

"Jonathan is someone we've had a decade-long relationship with," Moritz said. "He's a man who can clearly express what he thinks it is that will delight a consumer, whether it's a video camera or a grilled-cheese sandwich."

Before the first location's opening, Kaplan expounded on the parallels between his past consumer-electronics ventures and sandwich shops while potential customers peeked through the windows and tugged on the door

handles.a company, to Sega. "I like consumers," Kaplan said. "This is totally 'consumer.' Look, there's a consumer coming through the door right now. I can't wait to talk to this guy." The Melt is, by design, a business on a high trajectory, thanks to its factory-line infrastructure and fast-ordering tools. Kaplan's one regret is selling Flip to Cisco rather than taking it public, he said. This time, he's dedicated to a full-course meal. "I know as much about the restaurant business as I knew about video cameras five years ago," Kaplan said. "Grilled cheese makes people happy. Food is fundamental to our daily lives."

Sony rolls out 'personal 3-D' goggle set

(CNN) -- A shiny headset that lets you watch 3-D video, play video games or listen to music -- not to mention looking at home on an extra from your favorite sci-fi film -- is on the way. Sony on Wednesday announced the HMZ-T1, a head-mounted "personal 3-D viewer," will be rolled out later this year. The headset includes a pair of goggles housing a 0.7-inch, high-definition OLED panel that Sony says is the equivalent of a 62-foot virtual screen. It includes virtual surround-sound and can be used for watching movies or other videos, listening to music and playing video games (we're assuming they'd prefer you to do so on the PlayStation, although they say the headset is hardware-neutral). "This new 3-D viewing style provided by 'HMZ-T1' will enable users to enjoy the movie theater-like experience whilst relaxing on their living room sofa, thus further expanding Sony's 3-D world," the company wrote Wednesdayin a news release. The headset will be released in Japan (where else?) on November 11 for the equivalent of about $780, according to Sony. No release dates for other countries were given. Sony had rolled out a prototype version of the headset at January's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, but it was far from fully formed and no timeline for its release was announced then. If it all seems a little Geordie La Forge from "Star Trek: Next Generation" to you, well, you're not alone. "Geordi La Forge may not be scheduled to don his replacement eyesight for another 329 years, but Sony's the latest company to take a stab at the basic idea," Sean Hollister wrote Wednesday for tech site This is My Next. Hollister got to test-drive the headset and, while generally positive, said it's a bit front-heavy and not entirely comfortable. But he called its visuals "nothing short of stunning." "[T]hose twin 0.7-inch OLED displays shot out deliciously crisp images with deep blacks and beautiful vibrant colors," he wrote. Gizmodo's Mat Honan also gave the experience high marks. "This was one of the more immersive entertainment experiences I've yet had," he wrote. "When I tried playing 'Gran Turismo', I found myself pivoting my head to look left and right although that has no effect on the display (of course). It was just a natural reaction. "I felt like I was in the driver's seat of a car, and was scanning the road as I normally would. When we popped in a 3-D movie, I actually ducked a bit as a shark swam overhead."

AT&T and T-Mobile: Is the deal dead? No one knows.

 

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The U.S. Department of Justice wants to roadblock AT&T's merger with T-Mobile. But does that mean the deal is off? Welcome to uncharted territory. The kind of lawsuit that the Justice Department filed against AT&T is an extreme rarity. The DOJ has probed 4.4% of all merger filings since 1990, according to Maurice Stucke, a law professor at the University of Tennessee and former U.S. Attorney for the DOJ's antitrust division. Most times, the agency investigates and then steps aside. The DOJ filed lawsuits against just 0.3% of mergers in the past 20 years -- and the vast majority of those were then settled outside of court. "The fact alone that the DOJ wants to go through legal proceedings increases the uncertainty of the completion of the merger," said Michael Hausfeld, founder of Hausfeld LLP and lead U.S. prosecutor in several antitrust cases against Intel. The DOJ filed its lawsuit before AT&T (T, Fortune 500) even had time to submit a response to the agency's latest request for information on the proposed deal. That means a settlement isn't likely -- which is how several of the DOJ's recent merger challenges ended. The agency only approved Google's (GOOG, Fortune 500) acquisition of ITA and Comcast's (CMCSA, Fortune 500) purchase of NBCUniversal after the companies agreed to a set of provisions and restrictions. "It probably means that there was nothing more that AT&T could have produced to persuade the DOJ that this deal wasn't anti-competitive," said Melissa Maxman, co-chair of the antitrust practice group at Cozen O'Connor. "It suggests that discussions had broken down, and there was no divestiture or behavioral remedy possible that would have ameliorated the potential wrong that the DOJ saw." But before we start writing requiems for the deal, it's important to note that companies have coin-flip odds of successfully challenging the Justice Department in court. The DOJ has won just under 50% of its court cases, according to Salil Mehra, an antitrust law professor at Temple University and former U.S. Attorney for the antitrust division of the DOJ. A prominent example is the 2004 lawsuit the agency filed objecting to Oracle's purchase of PeopleSoft. The DOJ maintained that PeopleSoft was one of just two direct competitors to Oracle in the human resource management software business. But Oracle (ORCL, Fortune 500) fought back hard, and seven months later, a judge ruled in Oracle's favor. The DOJ chose not to appeal, and the deal went through. AT&T has 3 billion reasons to fight the lawsuit tooth and nail. If the merger is not approved, the company needs to pay a reverse termination fee of $3 billion to T-Mobile, and it has to forfeit several billion dollars more in wireless spectrum allotments. Legal battles can be pricey. But even if AT&T goes the distance, an antitrust attorney with knowledge of the costs of such battles said AT&T's legal fees probably wouldn't top $10 million. "AT&T has every incentive to litigate the hell out of this," said Danny Sokol, a professor at the University of Florida's Levin College of Law. Still, that's not the only financial consideration. Time isn't on AT&T's side. If AT&T loses its first-round court battle, an appeals process would drag on for months, delaying the deal and reducing its economic benefits. AT&T wants to take advantage of T-Mobile's spectrum in order to quickly deploy its 4G network nationwide. The longer it waits, the more that advantage erodes. Another bit of uncharted territory: The DOJ's lawsuit is the first test of the Obama administration's new merger guidelines. Announced a year ago, the new rules stipulate that a merger will be evaluated not only on how much it shifts market share, but also by its impact on rivals. The proposed T-Mobile deal would increase AT&T's share of the wireless market from 32% to 43%, and reduce the number of nationwide carriers from four to three. Is that a huge change? It's debatable. But T-Mobile is the last remaining national, low-cost carrier. Eliminating T-Mobile from the market would likely have a major impact on wireless prices for all consumers. "The DOJ is saying that people won't be better off in terms of pricing and product innovation if the deal goes through," said Evan Stewart, partner in the antitrust practice at Zuckerman Spaeder. "This isn't wacky legal theory from the DOJ; this is right down the middle of the fairway." Yet other antitrust experts look at the same DOJ filing and see it as saber-rattling. "I think this is a bump in the road. The deal is still going to get done," said David Kaufman, partner in the antitrust practice at Duane Morris LLP. "The Obama administration feels a lot of pressure to show it's tough, but AT&T has too much at stake to let this fall through. They're going to get a deal done." So: Will it go through or not? No one knows. But either way, AT&T is going to have a lot more explaining to do. To top of page

Powering prosthetics with thoughts alone

(CNN) -- It may be disembodied now, but this cutting-edge robotic arm will soon spring into action as U.S. researchers begin a landmark experiment which, if successful, will see it controlled by mind power. Starting next month, researchers at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Maryland and the University of Pittsburgh will begin testing on spinal cord injury patients whose brains have been implanted with a tiny (2mm by 2mm) electrode array. "When a neuron fires an electrode will pick it up the signal will travel to a transmitter and it will be transmitted to a computer in the arm which then interprets that signal and converts it into a motion," program manager at the APL, Michael McLoughlin explained. "It's a really exciting point in the program. We've been working on getting to this point for the past five years," he added. The Modular Prosthetic Limb (MPL) itself weighs in at around nine pounds -- the same as a natural arm -- and comes close to the dexterity of a natural limb, McLoughlin says, offering 22 degrees of motion, including individual finger movement. We can't do the Vulcan salute! We can't cup the palm. But other than that we can do pretty much everything," he said. The APL was awarded the contract to develop and test the arm on human subjects in 2010 as part of the $100 million Revolutionizing Prosthetics program run by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Touch sensors in the fingers and the palm will also pick up vibrations, temperature and surface textures, McLoughlin says, although tests on these won't start until next year. The goal is for the system to be wireless with everything contained in the body, much like a pacemaker, he says. "The results of this program will help upper-limb amputees and spinal cord injury patients, as well as those who have lost the ability to use their natural limbs, to have as normal a life as possible despite severe injuries or degenerative neurological disease," McLoughlin said. A commerically available thought-controlled device may be some way off, but companies like Scottish-based Touch Bionics are meeting the demand for highly sophisticated upper-limb prosthetics. Their i-LIMB Pulse is the latest in a range of myoelectric prosthetic devices which "utilize the electrical signal generated by the muscles in the remaining portion of the patient's limb." All five digits on the bionic hand function like a real human hand, says the company. Lower-limb amputees are also feeling the effects of improving technology. Kevin Murray, a prosthetist at the UK's National Center for Prosthetics and Orthotics, says advances in materials and technology have been dramatic since he began his career. "(When I started) the majority of amputees would have been wearing stump socks or occasionally you might see suction sockets above the knee level ... The standard foot was a simple wooden uniaxial foot," Murray said. "The range available now is huge by comparison to what was around 20-25 years ago." Ossur, an Icelandic orthopedics company, which supplies South African athlete Oscar Pistorius with his carbon fiber running blades -- called the Flex Foot Cheetah -- is one of the leading innovators in hi-tech lower-limb devices. Why Oscar Pistorius deserves to run Bionic prostheses such as its "Rheo Knee" use artificial intelligence which adapts to the wearer's gait speed and their walking environment. The more recent "Power Knee" is the world's first motorized, artificially intelligent prosthesis, Ossur says, helping wearers up steep slopes and stairs as well as reducing wear and tear on the remaining good leg. "We've started to raise the bar," said Hilmar Janusson, Ossur's Vice President of Research and Development. "My vision for the future is that we will see the activity level of the people who use our products multiply three to four times."

Apple rejects pollution allegations

 
Beijing, China (CNN) -- Apple has defended itself against allegations its suppliers in China committed environmental violations. In a report, "The Other Side of Apple II," a coalition of Chinese non-governmental environmental organizations detailed alleged pollution caused by Apple's supply chains in China, among those companies handling iPhone and iPad parts. The 46-page report provided maps showing more than 20 suspected and confirmed Apple suppliers, as well as photos and descriptions of the alleged damage caused to local environments and communities. "Apple is committed to ensuring the highest standards of social responsibility throughout our supply chain," Apple said in an e-mail reply Wednesday to the organizations making the allegations. Apple said the companies it does business with "use environmentally responsible manufacturing processes." The NGOs also produced a video and posted on ku6.com, a popular Chinese video-sharing website. The video shows a small river with a yellow hue, allegedly polluted from the discharge of two companies nearby, one of them a suspected Apple supplier. "We hope Apple will face the reality. The more its business grows, the more pollution it will cause," said Ma Jun, director and founder of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, which spearheaded the report. Apple said there are "discrepancies" in the list of suppliers mentioned in the report and suggested a "private conference call" with the NGOs behind the report, a move that the Institute accepted. "This is progress, and we welcome it," said Ma. "We sent a different pollution report to Apple earlier this year, but received no response." Apple is widely popular in China. Earlier this year Apple's new CEO Tim Cook said the company's revenue in greater China reached $8.8 billion as of Q3 this year, a more than six-fold increase in year-to-date revenue.

Oprah to appear live on Facebook

(Mashable) -- Oprah Winfrey is coming to Facebook next week. On September 8, the TV star will be the one answering questions rather than asking them, appearing on a one-hour Facebook Live streaming video interview at 4:30 p.m. ET. To see the live webcast, go to Facebook Live on September 8 and Oprah will answer questions shared by visitors to the Facebook Live event wall. Fans are invited to share their questions now, with the promise that "you might hear Oprah answer your question during the live show." Oprah is no stranger to Facebook. Her official Oprah Winfrey page is liked by more than 6.2 million fans. She's also hip to the iPad-based magazine app Flipboard, where there is an official "Oprah" section. Oprah has a burgeoning Twitter account as well, where she has 7.2 million followers. That number is dwarfed by the throngs of devotees the woman enjoys elsewhere. For instance, soon after she joined Twitter and featured it on her TV show in 2009, Twitter traffic was boosted by an astonishing 24% compared to day before the segment aired.

The quest for an unhackable code

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Every day the news hits of another company, website or long list of credit cards that's been hacked. But what if there was a foolproof technology to fend off cyberattackers by keeping secret information secret? Would an unhackable encryption algorithm do the trick? * 28 * * * Print That's what a father and son team from Calgary, Alberta, say they've created. For the past several years, cryptographic hobbyists Robert and Frederik Kleiner have been working to develop Enigma-DS, an encryption code that they claim cannot be broken. Rather than encrypt a bit of text letter by letter (A becomes Q, B becomes H, etc.), Enigma-DS converts text into code based on language, sentence structure and words. For example, the word "rose" could become "wp76546hj!lldrk," but "rise" might become "aq!@#Qh!21mb." A unique key is generated for every encoded item. Even if someone were able to discover the key to unlock and decrypt one file, others would remain unaffected by the breach, the Kleiners say. They're so sure of their code's security that the Kleiners ran a contest this summer offering $100,000 to anyone who could crack it. No one broke the code during the two months that the little-publicized competition ran. They even challenged the National Security Agency to break it, which declined to comment beyond saying the agency welcomes such submissions. If you're skeptical, so are cryptography and cybersecurity experts. Encryption, they say, is not the weakest link in the security chain. People are. Security professionals already use cryptography that, for all intents and purposes, cannot be cracked. Tools like one-time pads, which generate new code-unlocking keys for each encryption, or encryption methods like the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) are so complex that they could not be broken by modern supercomputers in our lifetime. But human beings, unfortunately, just aren't that dependable. "The problem isn't encryption, the problem is people using weak passwords or the same passwords on 100 different places," said Chuck Easttom, a cybersecurity trainer at EC-Council's Center of Advanced Security Training. "The past six months have been replete with hacking stories, and not one has been because an encryption was broken." 0:00 / 2:35 Worry about the hackers you don't know For instance, RSA, a division of EMC Corp. (EMC, Fortune 500) and one of the world's preeminent security and encryption companies, was hacked in March, rendering many of its popular SecurID tags less secure. But RSA's encryption wasn't hacked -- attackers simply sent phishing e-mails with the subject line "2011 Recruitment Plan" to RSA employees. One worker opened the Excel file attached to the e-mail, which set loose a program letting the attacker control the employee's PC. From there, the attackers roamed through RSA's systems. The cybersecurity landscape can change in an eyeblink -- as RSA found out. "We're implementing techniques that just a couple of weeks ago I thought were in the realm of long-term roadmaps," Uri Rivner, RSA's head of new technologies for consumer identity protection, wrote in a blog post soon after. A changing landscape Even if we don't need better encryption now, we may need it soon -- perhaps even within the next decade or two. Mathematicians say that the theories of quantum mechanics could eventually be applied to decryption, giving computers the ability to crack in seconds a code that a supercomputer today would take 150 years to crack. "Virtually any encryption program can be broken, it's just a matter of time," said Patrick Carroll, CEO of security firm ValidSoft Limited. "Current models will stand the test of time for the foreseeable future, because modern resources can't break them quickly enough. But quantum theory is probably a decade or two away from commercialization." Still, even experts who applaud the attempt say Enigma-DS raises two big red flags: no encryption algorithm was made available, and sufficient time was not given to test the code. Analysts note that encryption algorithms are generally released to the public so that they can be tested for security. They also say peer reviews typically last several years. The 75 days Enigma-DS offered is not sufficient. Uncrackable code claims are common, according to Brian Tokuyoshi, a product manager on Symantec's encryption team. Cyptography discussion groups are filled with them. "There is a difference between unbreakable and unsolved," Tokuyoshi said. "There is a long list of famous unsolved encrypted messages." One of the best-known is viewed daily by some of America's finest cryptographic minds. A sculpture called "Kryptos," which sits at the Central Intelligence Agency's headquarters, features four encoded messages. Three have been deciphered, but the fourth still remains a mystery 20 years after the artwork's debut. Typically, "unbreakable codes" remain unsolved if the sample encoded message is so short that cryptographers cannot do sufficient analysis on it or if the randomized key is known only to the author. Both are true of Enigma-DS: Robert Kleiner says he is unwilling to share his algorithm, maintaining that it's intellectual property and the key to his business. The encoded text offered on his website is also relatively short. Yet the Kleiners say they are willing to go through just about any test apart from divulging the algorithm to prove their concept. They say they will demonstrate it live, and they offered to provide analysts with a clear text to help them reverse-engineer the code. "If you think it's too good to be true, then hack us!" Robert Kleiner said. Some analysts we spoke to tried -- and failed. But that doesn't in itself indicate that it's unbreakable. A preliminary assessment of the code by EC-Council's Easttom, for instance, revealed that it failed every test of randomness he threw at it. Randomness is one of the key elements cryptographers look to when approving new encryption methods. Multiple cryptography experts called Enigma-DS a publicity stunt. Alex Gostev, chief security expert at Kaspersky Labs, dismissed it "snake-oil cryptography," citing the group's short peer review and desire to sell its technology. Robert Kleiner, in turn, accused security professionals of having ulterior motives. In his view, an unhackable code could put them out of business. "They're so stinkin' lazy," he said. "We always hear security professionals lament that there is no such thing as an unhackable code; now someone claims they have it and they immediately dismiss it. These security guys are a bunch of hypocrites." So is Enigma-DS truly an unhackable code? Without sufficient testing, we may never be sure. But as cybercrime escalates, the need for creative approaches -- even ones that sound crazy -- is also growing. To top of page

Netflix stock plunges as Starz ends contract talks

 
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Netflix's streaming content catalog is about to take a big hit: Starz said late Thursday that it has ended contract renewal negotiations and will pull its movies and TV shows from Netflix early next year. The move effectively kills an arrangement that Netflix (NFLX) earlier this year called "one of our most important deals" -- because it was was one of the few that gave Netflix streaming access to relatively recent films. * * * * Print Netflix stock fell almost 9%, to $212.39 per share, in early trading Friday morning following Starz' announcement. Netflix tried to downplay the effect the cancelled contract will have on its streaming catalog. "Starz content is now down to about 8% of domestic Netflix subscribers' viewing," the company said in a written statement. "We are confident we can take the money we had earmarked for Starz renewal next year, and spend it with other content providers to maintain or even improve the Netflix experience. Starz, a pay cable network, struck a four-year licensing deal with Netflix back in 2008. Because Starz has licensing deals with several major movie studies, Netflix was able to piggyback on the arrangements and beef up its catalog of recent releases. But in June, hundreds of Sony (SNE) movies -- including high-profile titles like "The Social Network" and "Salt" -- abruptly vanished from Netflix's "watch now" catalog. In a blog post, Netflix pinned the blame on a "temporary contract issue." The issue, according to the L.A. Times, was that Starz' deal with Sony included a cap on the number of subscribers who can watch Sony movies online. Once Netflix's audience exceeded the cap, the contract was null. Netflix's vanished Sony films are an ominous sign Starz' catalog of Disney (DIS, Fortune 500) movies available for online streaming is on the verge of triggering a similar contractual cap, the newspaper reported. Netflix still has access to most of Starz' offerings, but its current deal with the network expires on Feb. 28, 2012. The two sides had been negotiating for months about an extension. Starz said Thursday that its decision to end the talks stems from "our strategy to protect the premium nature of our brand by preserving the appropriate pricing and packaging of our exclusive and highly valuable content." Translation: Starz wants more money. Now that streaming video is so popular, providers are upping the price for the content they're licensing to Netflix. One analyst predicts that Netflix's streaming content licensing costs will rise from $180 million in 2010 to a whopping $1.98 billion in 2012. But Starz' move hits at a particularly delicate time for Netflix, which is hiking its prices to offset those mounting content costs. Netflix said in July that it would begin charging separate prices for its DVDs-by-mail and streaming video plans, raising the cheapest-possible bill for customers who want both from $10 to $16 a month. Those price hikes kicked in on Thursday -- the same say Starz dropped its contract bombshell.

Review: Not much to see on this 3-D phone

(CNN) -- Someone with a standard smartphone might look with envy at the emerging breed of 3-D handsets with displays that don't require special glasses. However, the grass isn't always greener in three dimensions. It's just slightly fuzzier and sort of pops out of the screen at times. For the last few weeks, I've been testing LG's Thrill 4G, one of the first phones with a 3-D screen. It's set to debut in stores on Sunday, and AT&T will exclusively sell the device for $99 with a two-year service contract, or $450 without. The Thrill runs a year-old version of Google's Android operating system with add-on applications from AT&T and LG. The one I checked out immediately is called 3D Space, the playpen for the device's unique aspects. Flicking through the onscreen wheel reveals the various specialized 3-D apps, including games, a separate YouTube section and preloaded video clips. The rest of the apps are displayed in boring old 2-D. So much for the dream of seeing my e-mail inbox in the third dimension. Fact Box Gadget Review: LG Thrill 4G phone Features: 3-D display that doesn't require special glasses; dual cameras; 16G of memory; phone acts as mobile hotspot; runs on AT&T's network Price: $99 with two-year contract Our Verdict: Smartphone lovers can find better phones elsewhere, and gamers who love 3-D will be better served by Nintendo's handheld system The Thrill comes packaged with a racing, a shooting and a golf game, each made by Gameloft, as well as an interactive Gulliver's Travels e-book. The latter is a visually stunning demo of the phone's capabilities but light on story. The other games don't particularly benefit from the 3-D effects. There doesn't appear to be a way to download more games or apps that take advantage of the 3-D feature. Developers don't seem particularly eager to code their graphics in 3-D in order to feed the few Android devices on the market that support the capability. Sprint Nextel released a similar product from HTC called the Evo 3D in June. It costs twice as much as the Thrill but runs a slightly newer version of Android and runs on Sprint's faster 4G network. The Thrill, despite having 4G in its name, doesn't work on the top-of-the-line 4G network AT&T launched recently. The YouTube 3-D app on both platforms is sparse, with a handful of home movies.
 
In terms of display quality, Nintendo's 3DS handily beats the two phones and is better suited for gamers, thanks to its much larger catalog. But a recent price cut and humbling statements from executives indicates that most people aren't sold on having a portable 3-D system. Indeed, the novelty can wear off pretty quickly. The most appealing aspect of having a 3-D device, especially when there are so few worthwhile things to see, is the ability to snap pictures and videos that add an extra dimension. The Thrill has two cameras on the back to capture stereoscopic images, and they look great on the big 4.3-inch hand-held screen. A feature for converting 2-D pictures to 3-D and vice versa doesn't work very well. Pulling another dimension out of thin air, it turns out, isn't an easy task, even for mini computers. The phone has a port for plugging in an HDMI cable to a TV for viewing recordings on the big screen, but like most people, I don't own a 3-D TV to watch them on. As a phone, the Thrill works well -- or as well as one can expect on AT&T in San Francisco, where service is notoriously spotty. But 3-D features aside, the Thrill lags when compared to other Android phones. Literally. There's a noticeable split-second delay, sometimes longer, every time I wake the phone from its slumber. All that waiting doesn't help the battery life, either. A full charge doesn't even last an entire day with moderate usage.

 
The Thrill unit I tested went limp on my third day using it and was unresponsive when plugged into a charger. After removing the battery and putting it back in, the phone came back to life, and I haven't had that problem since. It's a good thing I was able to access the battery, unlike with most Apple products. Because the Thrill runs outdated software, it lacks some of the enhancements of the newer Android phones, such as a better keyboard and copy-paste functions. LG has apparently tried to make up for that with some makeovers of its own, but perhaps the company should enlist the eye of a better interior director. Smartphone lovers can find better phones elsewhere, and gamers thrilled about the idea of 3-D would be better served by Nintendo's system. But proud parents who believe a 2-D camera won't do justice to their kid's first steps may want to give the Thrill a closer look.

Google tries to reassure TV industry it's no ogre

Edinburgh, Scotland (CNN) -- Google has moved to reassure a global television industry quaking at the prospect that the Internet search giant is about to move onto TV sets and into living rooms around the globe.

In a keynote speech to Europe's leading broadcasting industry conference, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt acknowledged the company's immense scale built on search advertising -- a scale which almost everyone in the media industry fears as a threat to their existing businesses -- but said the nature of technology and the internet also made Google vulnerable.

"Online, competition is only ever a click away ... it's common for once-leading services to become out-innovated and overtaken," Schmidt said in the annual MacTaggart lecture at the Edinburgh Television Festival.

Many of the broadcasting executives, producers and advertising industry leaders in the audience fear Google's entry into their territory with its Google TV internet-connected device, threatening the kind of dislocation it has triggered in online and print media with search advertising and the mobile phone business with its now leading Android operating system.
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Schmidt, whose company has been seen as arrogant and no respecter of copyright, struck a conciliatory tone, saying Google had moved to be more speedy in taking down content which breached copyright and would be more active in supporting the business models of content owners that wanted to charge for their content online.

It had no intention to move into content creation, believing its core skills remained in technology and in focusing on three trends: Mobile, local and social.

Google TV would be launched in Europe early in 2012, he said.
A year later BBC Director General Mark Thompson used the same platform to defend an institution he portrayed as more trusted by the British public than either politicians or the empire of Rupert Murdoch.

Schmidt portrayed Google as more vulnerable and bashful than critics recognize.

"I didn't get social networking as fast as I should have done," he said, referring to what many see as the belated launch of the company's Google+ social network, still in prototype, having been caught napping by the explosive growth of Facebook. at the same time, Schmidt claimed some personal success in changing Google's course on mobile.

Did Google just turn Motorola into the new super-Tivo?

He didn't dwell on the issue of privacy; he has been criticized in the past for glib comments about consumers worrying less about privacy than questioning what they wanted to keep private.
CNN's Talk Asia show interviews Eric Schmidt

"We provide platforms for people to engage with content and, through automated software we show ads next to content that owners have chosen to put up. But we have neither the ambition nor the know-how to actually produce content on a large scale," he said.

Google's success in search, he said, had allowed it to invest billions of dollars in infrastructure which benefited broadcasters and the media industry, while its advertising platform "shared" more than $6 billion with broadcasters, publishers and newspapers.

Schmidt departed from his prepared speech to note Steve Jobs' retirement as chief executive of Apple. Jobs, he said, was the only business leader he had seen move easily between media and engineering.

Schmidt said Jobs had "an artist's eye as well as a definition of what great engineering is."

In delivering the Edinburgh lecture, Schmidt followed two memorable speakers in the annual address, named after Scottish-born television pioneer James MacTaggart.

Two years ago James Murdoch, then chairman and chief executive of News Corporation in Europe, and speaking before the company was plunged into scandals over telephone hacking and illegal payments to police, used the same speech to condemn the publicly funded BBC as a "chilling" influence on media competition.
Personalization required personal data which drove the accuracy of online services like search. But he added: "It will be vital to strike the right balance, so people feel comfortable and in control, not disconcerted by the eerie accuracy of suggestions."

Mobile, local and social were the key three trends to watch and all would transform television. He predicted a golden age of internet-connected television creating new forms of entertainment, advertising and connections between audiences and content.

"The internet is fundamental to the future of television for one simple reason: Because it's what people want," he said. "It makes TV more personal, more participative, more pertinent. People are clamoring for it."

Why Google TV isn't dead yet

In comments directed at a British audience where the BBC has led the way in many areas of TV content and technology, and in Scotland where television was invented, Schmidt said Britain needed to do more to promote careers in technology or squander its intellectual potential.

He also made a plea for low regulation, suggesting politicians not interfere in an internet era where "innovation and speed" are paramount.

No jobs in the U.S.? I'm moving!

After getting fed up with the sluggish U.S. economy, these job seekers tell their stories about trying their luck elsewhere.
Two grads start a business in China

With all the horror stories of the job market in the USA, my best friend Jamie and I decided we were not going to do the traditional job search back home.

Instead, after moving to China to study and teach English, we decided to start our own company.

I wanted to get paid to run, and she wanted to get paid to eat, so we decided to start UnTour Shanghai, which is an urban adventure tourism company specializing in sightseeing runs, culinary foodie tours, and cultural excursions here in China.

We offer tourists and guests visiting on business a range of half-day culinary experiences, from an expansive tour of China's delicious noodles to a wet market tour and Chinese cooking workshop, night markets, oddly edible "weird meat" and tea ceremonies.

For the non-foodies, I have routes of anywhere from 10-25Ks, so that we can jog together and I can point out all the main sights of the city in just a few hours and give a little history.

We now love our jobs, our customers are always fun and amazingly adventurous, and we are really having the time of our lives. Best of all, we don't have to worry much about the economy, as there is a constant stream of people coming to China for a wide range of reasons.

GameStop: Sorry we ripped out those 'Deus Ex' coupons

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Video game retailer GameStop issued an apology Friday for opening up copies of the just-released PC game Deus Ex: Human Revolution to remove a coupon that would have led customers to one of its competitors.

GameStop (GME, Fortune 500) said it would provide a $50 gift certificate as well as a "buy two, get one free" deal on used games to any customers who purchased a copy of Deus Ex that GameStop had opened

"We regret the events surrounding this title release and that our customers were put in the middle of this issue between GameStop and Square Enix, the publisher of this game. And for this, we are truly sorry," Paul Raines, CEO of GameStop, said in an e-mail.

GameStop took a lot of heat from the gaming community earlier this week after GameStop directed its employees to open up copies of Deus Ex to remove a coupon that was meant to give all physical copy buyers free access to the game on an online gaming service called OnLive.

OnLive is a streaming service that brings cloud-based games onto on TVs, computers and, soon, tablets. The service had priced its own version of the game at $49.99, the same price as a physical copy -- which meant customers were effectively getting a $50 game for free.

But GameStop also sells a digital edition of Deus Ex, and its views OnLive as a direct competitor. The company's position had been that the game's publisher, Japan-based Square Enix, should not have packaged the coupon with the game without informing GameStop.

"GameStop's policy is that we do not promote competitive services without a formal partnership," a GameStop spokesman told CNNMoney earlier this week.

Square Enix later said it felt that felt GameStop was within its rights to remove the coupon. Fans of Deus Ex, however, felt that GameStop had crossed the line by opening up software package and altering it before selling it to consumers. To top of page

Apple gives Tim Cook $384 million stock grant

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Steve Jobs took home $1 a year for serving as Apple's CEO. The company's new leader, Tim Cook, is getting a richer deal.

Apple's board has given Cook a restricted stock grant of 1 million shares, Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) reported late Friday in a regulatory filing. Those shares have a market value of $383.6 million, based on the stock's closing price on Friday.

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But Cook will collect the shares only if he remains an Apple employee for the next decade. Half of his stock will vest in August 2016, and half will vest five years later, in 2021.

As Apple's chief operating officer, Cook collected an annual salary last year of $800,000 and an additional bonus of $900,000. He also took home a special award from the board for his "outstanding performance" as acting CEO during Jobs' 2009 medical leave: A $5 million cash bonus and a grant of 75,000 shares.

That put Cook's total 2010 compensation at $59 million -- enough to make him one of the tech industry's highest-paid executives.

In contrast, Steve Jobs earned a $1 annual salary every year since he rejoined Apple in 1997. While many $1-a-year CEOs reap big back-end stock and options packages, Jobs was almost a financial ascetic: He collected no stock awards most years, no cash bonuses and no perks, even turning down a 401(k) match from Apple.

But in late 1999, Apple's board famously came through with a whopper of an executive bonus: The company spent $90 million to buy Jobs a Gulfstream V airplane. It also tossed in options on 10 million Apple shares.

"Apple's market cap has risen from less than $2 billion to over $16 billion under Steve's leadership," Apple board member Ed Woolard said at the time. "Steve has taken no compensation thus far, and we are therefore delighted to give him this airplane in appreciation of the great job he has done for our shareholders during this period."

Apple's market cap currently stands at $355.6 billion -- making it the most valuable publicly traded company in the world. To top of page

Amid devastating New York flooding, a stream of information

Sharon Springs, New York (CNN) -- Hurricane Irene may have been a wash for New York City residents poised for the storm of the century, but counties in its upstate watershed will be feeling its effects for a long time.

Crowdsourced reports streaming in from New York's Dutchess, Ulster, Sullivan, Schoharie and Greene counties show firsthand images and accounts of businesses, homes and entire towns entirely engulfed by water.

Several deaths have been reported and many areas are in a state of emergency.

With official information in short supply as floodwaters rose, Julia Reischel and her team at Watershed Post (http://www.watershedpost.com/) employed a liveblogging service called Cover It Live to collect Twitter feeds from local news sources, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Red Cross, the hashtag #catskills as well as queries and reports from readers from around the region.

A dire picture quickly emerged.

"I just read about the Old Blenheim covered bridge being washed away. It was built in 1855 and was the longest single-span bridge in the world." wrote one commenter.

Another reported, "West branch river levels in Walton are expected to crest below 13 feet. Very fortunate for the Walton community who has had huge problems with flooding."
iReporters track Irene
Island cut off by Irene
Irene's damage will take time to repair
Rafts float on Irene floodwaters

A commenter named Henry shared, "No power in Hensonville -- Firehouse is open as a shelter, bridges and roads are washed out. Very bad situation in Windham, Maplecrest, Hensonville area."

Despite road closures, mandatory evacuations and widespread power and cell phone outages, residents of these towns reported the damage from the ground, uploading images and the damages around them.

While some towns such as Sharon Springs, New York, weathered several inches of steadily flowing water pouring down through the center of town, and Cairo and Durham encountered light flooding, video (http://www.watershedpost.com/2011/middleburgh-irene-update ) of nearby Middleburgh, New York, showed the town's main street overflowing from the storm-engorged Schoharie Creek that runs through the center of town.

From Twitter came, "@dannyhakim Pictures of flooded Arkville, N.Y., here: http://t.co/ldJCEFb and here:http://t.co/tp44UFd #irene #catskills"

Some of the worst damage fell upon the towns of Margaretville (https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=2314970564331 ) and Phonecia ( http://www.watershedpost.com/2011/phoenicia-residents-asked-evacuate-state-emergency-declared-many-side- ) , as well as the Schoharie Valley ( https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150272161572607&set=a.54681592606.66513.526582606&type=1&theater ) and a devastating series of photographs and reports emerged.

Homes, businesses and local landmarks were covered with water, and in some cases, washed away entirely.

Concerned family members and friends checked into the live feed for news on loved ones. A commenter named Ed asked, "I am very concerned as that was definately our garage that slid into the Batavia. My mom has a hardline phone in the house but probally does not realize it is a cordless requiring power. She is 70 and alone. We have not heard from her since 9:15 this morning."

A daughter, Missie, sought news of her mother, writing, "My Mom is trapped in Phoenicia which looks to be devastated. I don't mean to be selfish. It's just killing me not being able to reach her and the lack of news :("

Another named Chris noted, "I am clinging to this blog like a lifeline."

"Dilbert" cartoonist Scott Adams was one of the many people turning to the internet for any details from the scene. His 84-year-old father lives alone in Adams' hometown of Windam, New York, which by various reports has been hit by "total devastation."

Adams wrote a plea for information on his website ( http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/windham_ny_wiped_out/ ) and told CNN via email, "Windham is a small town, and any of the locals would know where my Dad lives, just up the hill from the flooded Main Street. I'm sure he's one of many seniors stranded with no electrical, no water, no phone, and no idea if anyone is going to find him soon. That would be the scariest part -- the not knowing when help might come."

Adams continued, "If he's home, which he should be, he's hunkered down with his flashlights and wood stove and canned foods and riding it out. I'm hoping the roads are clear tomorrow so someone, such as my sister, can get to him by car. But if he ventured outside, that's not good. His mobility is limited. Any help would be much appreciated."

"This is what we do during floods," Reischel said.

As publisher of Watershed Post, she and her team have given around 30 volunteers permission to moderate incoming comments and links on the liveblog so that both people watching from afar and those in the midst of the flooding have real time, useful information.

While Reischel and her team are currently high and dry working from a home in Andes, New York, their business headquarters in Delhi are currently under some water.

"This is not our first flood," she said. "Before this, like when Cat Hollow flooded in 2006, people would just listen to the police scanner, hunker down and not know much. This is about sharing information -- such as evacuations and shelter locations and drawing attention so the people who desperately need it can get some aid."

Facebook kills off Groupon competitor

(Mashable) -- Facebook has decided to shut down Facebook Deals, its four-month-old Groupon competitor.

"After testing Deals for four months, we've decided to end our Deals product in the coming weeks," Facebook told Reuters in a statement.

The product, which launched in late April, was an attempt to bring the popular daily deals phenomenon to Facebook's 750+ million users. It launched in San Francisco, Austin, Dallas, Atlanta and San Diego, but quickly rolled out to other cities.

The market for daily deals has become more competitive in recent months, however, and many are questioning the entire business model in light of Groupon's questionable financials.

"We think there is a lot of power in a social approach to driving people into local businesses," Facebook said in its statement. "We've learned a lot from our test and we'll continue to evaluate how to best serve local businesses."

We have reached out to Facebook for more information.

See the original article on Mashable.com

From pit-stop to take-off: How F1 is changing the future of air travel

The beauty of McLaren's system is that it reduces the complexity of a racetrack into a circle "so at the point of decision, presentation of the data is very simple, which allows the engineer in a very stressful environment to make the right strategic decision and also see the data in a very clear, crisp format," said Tomlinson.

(CNN) -- The world of Formula One may seem an unlikely source of inspiration for a major carbon-cutting initiative, but technology used for coordinating pit-stops is primed to slash emissions from airports across the globe.

According to Britain's National Air Traffic Services (NATS), more than half the planes landing at London's Heathrow airport are stuck in circles overhead -- often for 20 minutes at a time -- as they wait for its congested runways to clear.

NATS says the carbon cost of this pile-up in the sky is an estimated 600 tons a day.

And this is where McLaren, the hugely successful Formula One team behind former world champions Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, have come in with an unexpected solution.

Over the years the company has developed modeling software to analyze live racing data and visualize a range of potential scenarios -- allowing pit crews to make strategic decisions in the blink of an eye -- all in an effort to get their cars back out onto the racetrack milliseconds ahead of their competitors.

It's this ground-level tracking technology that could hold the key to unlocking congestion, reducing CO2 emissions by streamlining the way aircraft make their own pit-stops once they've landed -- dropping off passengers, refueling and departing again with F1 efficiency.

This similarity between a motor race and an airport runway was first observed by Peter Tomlinson, head of aviation data solutions at NATS, while attending a workshop on cross-industry collaboration at McLaren's UK technology center three years ago.

"It became clear that the pit-stop in a race track, with cars coming in, changing tyres and refueling and going out again actually is pretty similar to an aircraft arriving at the airport, parking at the gate, passengers getting off, refueling and going out," said the air traffic veteran, who has over 30 years experience in the industry.
For the last three years NATS has been working with McLaren's engineers to map Heathrow's taxiways and runways -- much as they do a Formula One track.

But now, says Tomlinson, in place of a race strategist the system is operated by Heathrow's air traffic control, and instead of a circle the airport's network of runways and taxi lanes are represented by a simple rectangle -- enabling planes to be guided around the airport with greater ease and accuracy once they've landed.

The collaboration has been "groundbreaking" according to Geoff McGrath, managing director of McLaren Applied Technologies -- the F1 team's tech division.

"To my knowledge this is a first -- NATS has invested in this because there is nothing like it available," he added.

The system is now in its "proof of concept" stage and hopes are high that it will be used by airports around the world within a year.

"Think in terms of the environmental benefits of that," enthused Tomlinson. "Large airports with about 1300 to 1400 flights a day - if you save just one minute of taxi time per flight on average, that equates to one day's worth of taxi time - and that's how much we could save using McLaren's technology."