Reuters reports that once massive Internet service provider AOL is planning to cut a third of its workforce or 2,500 jobs.

The layoffs are part of a plan to cut down some $300 million in annual costs before its spin off from corporate owner Time Warner. The company has asked for volunteers but will make involuntary layoffs if necessary.

AOL expects to incur about $200 million in restructuring costs associated with the spin off from December 9, the date of the spin off, through the first half of 2010.

If you were anywhere but under a rock during the 90s you have probably heard of AOL and many people used to use it when dial-up was the only option for Internet. It was one of the most widely spread ISPs available in the days before broadband—if you didn’t have you at lest saw those free trial discs that were everywhere.

Then came AOL’s merger with Time Warner, which is lampooned by PC Mag as "one of the most disastrous corporate mergers in history." Nine years later AOL is spinning off and becoming independent once again.

The newly and once again independent AOL will focus primarily on advertiser-supported content.

LaCie, in collaboration with designer PhillippeStarck — the designer responsible for the Virgin Galactic Spaceport — recently released the LaCie Starck Desktop Hard Drive and the LaCie Starck Mobile Hard Drive, born from a 15-year partnership between the two companies.

“Choosing to work with my good friend and exceptional designer Philippe Starck is always exciting. He brings a poetry to his work, and helps us deliver products that combine function and beauty.” said Philippe Spruch, Chief Executive Officer of LaCie. “The new Starck products showcase this amalgamation perfectly with LaCie’s constant innovation and Starck, who is the ultimate designer.”

The two drives both come with a USB 2.0 interface. Both drives feature aluminum cases to serve as both protection for internal components and to aid in heat dissipation. The mobile model features a conveniently placed built in USB 2.0 cable, allowing for easy access without the worry of misplacing or forgetting a cable on the go. The desktop edition features a touch sensitive surface capable of launching an application of the user’s choice. It also features an LED Starck signature symbol which glows orange or green to indicate activity. Both also include LaCie’s Desktop Manager and Backup Assistant software.

These meticulously designed peripherals are available at www.lacie.com as well as other authorized dealers and resellers. The Mobile drive is available in 320GB and 500GB and goes for a starting price $99.00. The Desktop drive is available in 1TB and 2TB flavors and retails for a starting price of $129.00.

“Technological genius explodes exponentially, each time with incredible power whose limits are yet to be known,” said Starck “The power remains, never abating, symbolically characterized by the sculptural magma that one attempts to cleave, to master within this geometrically perfect strongbox. A symbol of strength mastered, of freedom guided, of incandescent magma heeding to the form of its cast. The interpretation is free. But the mystery remains.”

Widget Factory LLC, creators of the “world’s thinnest iPhone and iPod touch stand” has introduced their newest collection”"the iBend Artist Series.

The iBend itself weighs less than one gram and is incredibly thin. They come 2 to a pack and are easy to store.

Three renowned artists from Canada, New York and California designed the Artist Series. Each artist was responsible for four designs, which come two per pack. This resulted in a grand total of 12 new designs for iPhone and iPod Touch owners.

The iBend Classic is available in black and white for $4.99 and the Artist Series packs are available for 7.99 from www.myibend.com

Tele-Publishing, Inc, a subsidiary of Phoenix Media/Communications Group is stepping in the ring with Facebook over an alleged patent infringement.

As reported by Universal Hub, the group says it owns a patent for the type of layout that Facebook uses in its user profiles.

Tele-Publishing says their patent was awarded in 2001.

The federal suit, filed in US District Court in Boston seeks unspecified damages, but Facebook’s owners recently settled for millions in a suit brought by ConnectU, for allegedly stealing its creator’s idea. The current lawsuit also seeks an end to Facebook using their patented layout

If Tele-Publishing wins, this could be a game changer for the social networking world. The patent denotes a method by which a user can upload data and images to a server to create a web page.

The Boston e-mail scandal shook city hall during this pivotal election season. Here at Blast, we’re pretty tech-minded. So we went to some e-mail experts for some technical analysis on this story.

We talked to Barracuda Networks, a California-based company best known for its spam and virus firewalls. The company also offers storage, backup and e-mail archiving solutions.

The controversy originated from a Boston Globe request to review e-mails from advisers to Mayor Thomas M. Menino. But city hall could only account for 18 e-mails sent or received in a six month period from Michael J. Kineavy, Menino’s Cabinet chief of policy and planning and one of his closest advisers. City hall acknowledged that Kineavy deletes his e-mails on a daily basis, which circumvents the city’s nightly backup process. The city has said Kineavy’s actions exploited a glitch in the backup process because he both deleted his messages from his inbox and cleared his deleted items folder.

Government officials’ e-mails are a matter of public record.

Kineavy has since taken an unpaid leave of absence. But could this all have been prevented?

After talking with Barracuda and doing some of our own research, it is clear that City Hall addressed the issue of preserving its e-mail messages incorrectly. Boston’s backup process is a poor solution for archiving e-mails, and it runs contrary to accepted best practices.

“Relying on users to save e-mails (i.e. ‘do the right thing’) and not delete e-mails is prone to failure as people can mistakes,” said Barracuda spokeswoman Kylie Heintz.

Having faith in traditional backup systems is not the right answer. Even without the “glitch” that allowed e-mails to be permanently deleted, the City of Boston’s approach to ensuring all e-mails are saved by backing up the e-mail system was not ideal.

–

There is a functional difference between “archiving” and “backing up.”

Archiving is like storing e-mails in a filing cabinet in your office or an alphabetized library card catalog. Backup is like locking them all in a safe deposit box in the bank, behind a time-lock and a password that only the bank manager knows.

Backup systems typically compress all the files and messages into a single file — similar to “zipping” your photos so they take up less room on your hard drive. This creates another problem, because it’s more difficult to search inside these compressed files.

Even if Kineavy hadn’t deleted his e-mails, it still may have been difficult for the city to find, isolate and release his messages.

A backup process is routine, predictable and easy for an end-user to avoid. These processes rely on the end-user’s system. Products like the Barracuda Message Archiver and many of its competitors completely take the end-user out of the equation. An archiver is ideal in these situations, because these products save messages at the server level. Whenever an e-mail is sent or received by the server, the archiver takes it, copies it, saves it and makes a search-able index so that messages can be found later on.

Since public officials’ e-mails need to be saved, it is expected that they will need to be searched through at some point in time — like if a journalist requests copies of them. Backup systems are not designed with archiving in mind. The only way to access e-mails from backup systems is to restore the backup file and then manually search through the results. This is very time consuming, error prone and expensive.

Several cities in Massachusetts use hardware archiving solutions, and Heintz confirmed that some used Barracuda’s Message Archiver. None of the cities would go on the record for Blast, however, given the controversy surrounding e-mail

Boston’s backup script was a good solution for a disaster or system failure, but not necessarily the best solution for a public records request. Archiving is a superior method for public records requests.

“Organizations have needs for both” according to Aseem Asthana, Message Archiver Product Manager at Barracuda Networks. Backup is vital to organizations. If something happens to an e-mail server, or a natural disaster wipes the server out, a backup can be used to restore all the data present at the time of the backup. But pulling individual files is more difficult. Often, an information technology professional is required to restore individual files from a backup.

An archiver, as opposed to a backup, allows e-mails to be accessed readily and seamlessly.

Menino’s office did not respond to a request to comment on this story.

We acknowledge that Barracuda is a for-profit company. Its Message Archiver starts at $1,999, but it would cost about 10 times that for a model amped up to serve a major city like Boston.

But it would also have saved a few headaches and maybe prevented Boston’s E-mailgate scandal.

John M. Guilfoil of the Blast staff contributed to this report.

Clarification: We changed the sentence “A backup process is routine, predictable and avoidable.” to “A backup process is routine, predictable and easy for an end-user to avoid.”

In an effort to begin shedding dealers and unprofitable brands, General Motors will stop manufacturing Saturn vehicles this year.

GMC had announced earlier in the year that it would continue to manufacture Saturns until 2011 but in April they stated they were looking to sell or close the brand.

In June, negotiations began with Roger Penske, and his company Penske Automotive Group Inc, to sell off Saturn. In the deal Penske would get roughly 350 dealerships and 13,000 employees. The deal, which was supposed to close today, fell through because Penske could not find a manufacturer to provide the vehicles. GM had previously agreed to continue producing the vehicles until 2011, and after that Penske and Saturn would be on their own. Penske had a tentative deal with a third, unnamed auto company, but that company’s board of directors rejected the agreement, bringing the entire deal to its knees.

GM will stop producing Saturns as soon as possible and will phase out its dealerships. Saturn owners can still receive service at a Saturn Dealership or any GM certified dealer after the closures.

Kensington announced a new car mount, which amplifies sound on September 22. The new mount can be used with any iPhone navigation application and is the newest addition to Kensington’s iPhone accessory line.

The Kensington Windshield/Vent Mount with Sound Amplified Cradle nearly doubles the sound of turn-by-turn navigation instructions or other sound without the need for additional batteries or draining of the iPhone battery by redirecting the sound towards the listener instead of straight down.

The device mounts to either the user’s windshield or vents and comes with rubber inserts to fit with all models of the iPhone. Another benefit to mounting your iPhone is to give it better reception.

This is a great addition for those of us who live on the go and need to keep our attention on the road while also being productive. The device will be available in Apple retail stores beginning in November 2009 and will cost $39.99.

Rock Band 2. Image courtesy of Harmonix.

The folks at Autodesk have a great product. While the Autodesk suite is made up of of an astounding array of software, many of their 3-D visualization titles that have became industry standards in special effects development. Autodesk’s software is the workhorse behind movies like G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen as well as video games like Gears of War 2 and Rock Band 2.

Blast recently sat down with Maurice Patel, entertainment industry manager at Autodesk:

Blast: Tell us a little about Autodesk and your software products.

Patel: Autodesk software is the secret sauce behind many of the movies, games and TV ads you see today: from G.I. Joe to Evian’s skating babies. We also make design software for everything from automotive design to architecture. Our digital solutions provide powerful tools for building greener buildings, eliminating wasteful physical prototypes and helping build a better, more sustainable, human environment. Our entertainment software is used to create compelling entertainment from 3D stereo movies like ‘Monsters and Aliens’ to games like ‘Rock Band.’

Blast: What exactly is your software used for in video game production?

Patel: Our software is used in many places throughout the entertainment production chain. Products like Autodesk 3ds Max and Autodesk Maya are used for visualizing, prototyping and testing ideas; for building detailed scenes and texturing and lighting them and for creating compelling digital characters like Altair.

Autodesk also develops middleware solutions that give artificial intelligence to digital characters so that they behave more realistically in the game. If you have played games like Assassin’s Creed you’ll have seen technology in action. When Altair, runs, rides and jumps our middleware makes sure he doesn’t slip and slide but interacts realistically with objects and the environment.

Photos by CIS Hollywood. Copyright: (c) 2009 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

Blast: What makes your software different then similar software on the market?

Patel: There are many things. Firstly we believe we have some of the best tools for making compelling, believable digital characters and imbibing them with great performances. Obviously the tool is only as great as the artists that use them, the talent that makes the game, movie or TV ad so spectacular, but we strive to provide them with great technology so that they can be truly free to experiment and try out new ideas. This is done by focusing on interaction “" making things perform fast enough to provide immediate feedback, as well as by creating sophisticated tools that enable artists to produce the highest quality work without compromise. Also the diversity of our product portfolio helps us take the best techniques from one area and apply them in another “" such as compositing images or tracking objects “" and enables us to provide customers with more efficient production workflows

Blast: What projects has your software been used on in the past?

Patel: Wow, where to begin the list is very long; Autodesk software has been used to create countless movies, commercials, TV shows and video games.

Recent movies created with Autodesk solutions include: “Ëœ9′ “ËœG.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra’ “ËœStar Trek’ “ËœTransformers: Revenge of the Fallen’ “ËœTerminator Salvation’ and “ËœHarry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.’ Many of this year’s Oscar-winning and nominated films were also created with Autodesk software, such as “ËœThe Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ “ËœIron Man’ “ËœThe Dark Knight’ and “ËœKung Fu Panda.’

Popular video games created with Autodesk art creation tools and middleware solutions include: “ËœFIFA 09′ “ËœRock Band 2′ “ËœPrince of Persia’ “ËœWarhammer Online: Age of Reckoning’ “ËœAmerica’s Army’ “ËœFallout 3′ “ËœGears of War 2′ and “ËœMortal Kombat vs. DC Universe.’

Blast: Are there any upcoming projects using your software that you would like to share with our readers?

Patel: Well our customers don’t like us to steal their thunder by talking about projects before they have been released publicly, but many of the upcoming visual effects movies and games slated for the holiday season have used our software as part of their production process. We always post our latest feature stories here.

On September 15, DAP technologies announced its new Kinysis rugged tablet. The device weighs about three pounds and runs with Microsoft Windows.‚  The Kinysis also features a hot swappable battery, modular customizability, and integrated wireless communication.

The device is fully rugged and complies with MIL-STD-810F, a military standard for in-field use. To comply, a device has to pass free-fall resistance, immersion, rain, humidity, and vibration tests.‚  For example, the Kinysis can be submerged up to a meter in water and still maintain full operational functionality. You gonna do that with your ThinkPad tablet? Didn’t think so.

“Whether it’s outside standing up to what Mother Nature dishes out, docked inside a service vehicle, or being tossed into a greasy toolbox, DAP’s Kinysis rugged computer is built for challenging environments,” said Gianni Parisse, general manager of DAP Technologies. “Maintaining the integrity of our customers’ data through their daily environmental challenges is our top priority because we understand that data is both mission-critical and essential for operational efficiency.”

The full touch-screen version of the Kinysis tablet PC.

DAP’s Kinysis runs Microsoft Windows Embedded Standard Operating system on an LX800 processor. Storage is handled by an SSD of up to 32GB and the seal expansion bay on the device can house custom modules. Another option is a Universal Imager that has auto focus and the ability to capture video and read certain bar codes. For wireless productivity, the Kinysis has Bluetooth and wi-fi with optional 3G connectivity.

The device also comes with two screen options, either a color TFT half-SVGA screen LCD screen and a tactile QWERTY keyboard or a color TFT full WVGA LCD screen. The screens are anti-glare and vibration and shock resistant. They can be operated with a stylus or a finger.

The Kinysis is ideally suited to field service operations. It gives teams the ability to track customer requests, access how to guides and maintain full data synchronization with the main database. The batteries for this device are hot swappable and designed to last a full 8-hour shift.

And so we flip open another chapter in the debacle between Apple and Google. As reported by the Washington Post, Google has just let loose a game changer by releasing part of their previously redacted letter to the FCC. You guessed it: the content pretty much completely contradicts Apple’s. Someone must be lying.

Apple maintains, at least since yesterday, that they are working with Google on the Google Voice App for iPhone.

Apparently Google is saving its best for last. It has in its possession an image of the rejection letter. So Apple will most likely approve the Google Voice App to save face, and we’ll probably see it in a few days as the Post speculated.

The questions remains, if Apple did lie to a federal regulatory agency, what will come of that?

Boston purchased land on the banks of the Charles River to protect the city from possible future flooding.

Today Boston was named one of the top communities for protecting clean water and the public health with green solutions. The report by American Rivers comes at a time when congress is debating sections of a climate bill that will help communities prepare for natural disasters including waterborne diseases and droughts.

“We are at a transformational moment for our nation’s rivers and water infrastructure, and Boston is forging the path to a healthier, more secure future” said Rebecca Wodder, president of American Rivers.

To prevent floods and water damage to the city, Boston followed a plan drafted by the Army Corps of Engineers to purchase and preserve about 8,000 acres of wetlands along the upper Charles River. Instead of building an extensive system of levees, dams, and plumbling, the city was able to protect itself from future flooding and protect a very diverse ecosystem at the same time.

These are the hallmarks of green solutions, and in an economy where state budgets are tighter than ever, these measures add up to saving close to $40 million in flood damage every year. Considering that rebuilding New Orleans’ levees had a price tag of around $10 billion, purchasing a little bit of land seems like a really good deal.

The American Rivers group stresses that preserving floodplains, grasslands, and forests is one of the most cost-effective solutions to preventing flooding and protecting environments to recharge the rivers and aquifers that supply our drinking water, and here in Boston, we seem to be doing our part.

Google announced in a conference hosted by TechCrunch on Monday that they have released a new document reading format for online use. Referred to as Fast Flip, this site is meant to mimic the feeling, process, and texture of reading a real book. Google, of course, thinks this will lead to more advertising revenue for publishers and themselves.

Fast Flip is indeed a fast way to scan across the many websites who have signed on. Instead of loading every website you might want to read, Flat Flip displays screenshots of the websites’ stories, organized by category, topic, and headline.

The homepage at Google's Fast Flip.

The stories are displayed on electronic pages that can be flipped through similar to a PDF file. About 30-40 publishers, web outlets and broadcasters have signed on to support this new format right now. The groups include such giants as Newsweek, Businessweek, the New York Times and the Washington Post.

This is part of Google’s Dedication to publishers, which includes funneling more profits towards publishers and helping newspaper companies to develop a model by which they can charge for access to premium website content. Google hopes Fast Flip will become popular by making online reading easier and more enjoyable, leading to showing more advertisements to more people and ideally give most of the ad revenue to publishers. It would only make sense that Newspapers would want fast flip to be successful”"but not too successful. The newspaper executives still need people to actually go to their sites where they can charge for ads without having to share with Google.

Clicking on an article embiggens that article. A sidebar allows you to navigate to other related stories.

This seems like a great partnership, further expanding Google’s reach and influence while preserving one of the oldest and most fundamental arts of American culture. That being said, it also sounds like Google might be attempting to reinvent the web’s wheel, the PDF. As with most Internet start-ups, only time will tell.

A former prison inmate at Plymouth County Correctional Facility pleaded guilty to the federal crime of damaging the prison’s computer systems.

Acting US Attorney Michael K. Loucks and Warren T. Bamford, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation-Boston Field Division announced September 15 that Francis G. Janosko, 43 pleaded guilty to one count of intentional damage to a protected computer in Federal District Court in Boston.

During 2006 and 2007 While an Inmate at Plymouth, Janosko hacked a computer provided to inmates for legal research. The computer had restrictions disallowing use of email or Internet and various other functionality. Janosko was also able to gain access to a file containing names, addresses and social security of around 1,000 current and former employees of Plymouth County Correctional Facility. Janosko also attempted, albeit unsuccessfully to access a vital prison management software.

Janosko had been released from Plymouth County Correctional for some time but has been incarcerated since his apprehension in November 2008. The FBI and the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office investigated this case. Assistant US Attorney Scott L. Garland of Michael K. Loucks’s Computer Crime Unit is prosecuting the case.

Judge O’Toole set the sentencing date for December 15. Under the terms set forth in a plea bargain Janosko faces 18 months in prison.

Moog’s Little Phatty synthesizer just got better. Announced September 15, the Little Phatty Stage Two and Tribute Editions now come with a new Control Voltage Output Modification. The new modification allows musicians to control Moogerfooger Effects Processors and other analog gear with the voltage outputs generated by the Little Phatty synthesizer.

The Control Voltage Output Modification adds five 1/4′” analog Control Voltage outputs to the right side panel of the Little Phatty. This limits the possible applications only by the imagination of the user.

“Use MIDI Clock Sync to synchronize the Little Phatty’s arpeggiator to a drum track, and the Pitch CV output becomes an incredible production tool.” said Chris Stack, Moog Music Marketing Manager. “You can route it to a wide variety of Moogerfooger parameters to create a universe of tempo-synced analog effects, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.”

The Control Voltage Output Modification is available from Moog for $199.99 as a factory upgrade.

Toshiba announced on ‚ September 9 that it would be releasing a new line of 1.8-inch single platter hard disk drives with capacities up to 160GB. These new products are being targeted towards next-generation portable media players and digital video camcorders.

The new drives, under the unwieldy MKxx34GAL line moniker, offer a thin and light package with the highest single platter storage capacity in the industry, the quietest seek function, and the most efficient power consumption. It appears they will only be available to manufacturers with the 160GB model shipping now and the 60GB, 80GB and 120GB models following later in the month.

“1.8-inch HDDs are key components in a variety of handheld and mobile products that require the combination of high-capacity, durability, cost-effectiveness and reliability in a small and compact footprint,” said Maciek Brzeski, vice president of marketing at Toshiba Storage Device Division.

“With the increasing demand for anytime content access and capture, we continue to see healthy opportunity for 1.8-inch HDDs in portable devices. Our 1.8-inch products have fueled innovation in a variety of markets, and have been installed in many products that are today, common household items.”

Maybe we’ll see one of these in the next iPod refresh?

Product Specifications

Model Number ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  MXX34GAL
———— ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ——–
Maximum Capacity ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  160GB / 120GB // 80GB / 60GB
(Formatted) 1
—————- ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  —————————-
Number of platters ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  1
—————— ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚ —
Areal density ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚ 467 Gb/in(2)
————- ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚ ————
Average seek time ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  15 ms
—————– ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  —–
Rotational speed ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚ 4,200 RPM
—————- ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚ ———
Buffer memory ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚ 8 MB
————- ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚ —-
Interface ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  Parallel ATA
——— ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ————
Interface transfer ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  100 MB/sec rate
—————— ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ———-
External ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  54.0 mm x ‚ 71.0 mm x 5.0 mm dimensions (WxDxH; mm)
———— ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚ —————————-
Weight (g) ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  48 g (max)
——— ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚ ———-
Energy consumption ‚ 0.0019 / 0.0025 // 0.0038 / 0.0050 W/GB efficiency
—————— ‚ —————————————
Shock resistance:
Operating ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚ 5,880 m/s(2) (600 G, 2ms)
Non-operating ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  14,700 m/s(2) (1,500 G, 1ms)
————- ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  —————————-
Acoustics:
Idle ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  14 dB
Seek ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  15 dB
—- ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  ‚  —–

Sony released the BDP-N460 Networked Blu-Ray disc player last week, a Blu-ray playing, media streaming machine.

The player is capable of typical features like playing Blu-Ray dics and DVDs as well as streaming several kinds of pay and free video content from Sony’s BRAVIA Internet platform, including content from YouTube and Slacker. Late this fall, the player will also get streaming content from Netflix.

“Whether its full HD 1080p or streaming video and audio from the Internet, entertainment comes in so many flavors that consumers want choice,” said Chris Fawcett, vice president of Sony Electronics’ home audio and video business “Leading the entertainment experience, Sony brings the best of both worlds together in one player that offers more content than other stand-alone devices on the market.”

The BDP-N460 is capable of 1080p output and is compatible with the latest audio codecs. It is even BD-LIVE compatible with a broadband Internet connection and external storage.

The device incorporates cross search functionality with the BRAVIA Internet platform, making finding content much easier. It also includes Sony’s Precision Upscale HD, which upscales DVDs to near HD resolutions. The player even prevents damage to discs and itself using Sony’s Precision Drive technology, which helps detect and correct wobbling discs in the drive.

The device is available now, and retails for around $250.

For those who grew up in the information age, the convenience of being able to manage multiple devices from a central location “" namely, our couch “" is very important. Well now, thanks to IOGEAR’s HDMI control center, you can now mange all of your HDMI inputs and home office peripherals from your couch.

The IOGEAR HDMI Control Center.

The device is complete with a wireless keyboard with a built in laser trackball allowing users to easily navigate, switch, and interact with all their HDMI peripherals. For example, the device allows users to quickly switch from a Blu-ray movie to a computer connected to their HDTV, type and send a quick email, then switch back and continue the movie all from the device’s remotes. This is extremely useful for those who work in front of the TV or prefer the ease and organization of a central organized location for work. It may also be the solution for those of us that lack a home office.

The device is simple plug and play with a sleek design and, according to IOGEAR, works with game consoles, set-top boxes, Blu-ray and DVD players and media servers/computers.

“At IOGEAR, we are constantly innovating new technologies to give consumers the easiest and most complete computing and entertainment experience,” said Miranda Su, executive vice president of IOGEAR. “As convergence increases between these two mediums, we strive to offer solutions that efficiently and cost-effectively bridge this gap.”

IOGEAR’s HDMI Control Center is at the 2009 CEDIA Expo in Atlanta, GA right now and until September 13^th at booth 5715.

The SafeLawns foundation and the Toxics Action Center are up in arms over a Worcester city proposal to spray more then a million gallons of the insecticide Imidacloprid over a million acres to combat an out of control Asian longhorn beetle infestation in the area. The problem, the groups say, is that Imidacloprid is linked to colony collapse disorder in bees and is toxic to aquatic life earthworms and birds, according to a recent study completed in the UK.

Imidacloprid is a synthetic form of nicotine. On September 16 the Pesticide Board Subcommittee of Massachusetts will rule on whether to go through with this soil drenching plan. Imidacloprid has been banned in France and Germany as a soil drenching agent and a recent study done in England recommends it be banned there as well.

“Certainly the Asian longhorn beetle is a devastating problem and no easy answers exist. Drenching your soil with this toxin, however, is most certainly not the solution” said Paul Tukey, founder of The SafeLawns Foundation. “It’s imperative that this Worcester proposal “" which calls for three times the EPA recommended amount of imidacloprid to be applied “" be declined. The impacts on bees, the soils and the watershed of that region could be devastating.”

The SafeLawns Foundation, based in Washington, D.C and the Toxics Action Center, based in Boston, plan to team with other environmental organizations over the next few days.

The recent British study that links imidacloprid to colony collapse disorder, said Tukey, creates an even greater sense of urgency. Colony Collapse Disorder, by some estimates, has killed nearly a third of the nation’s honeybee population since 2006.

“This is the most comprehensive review of the scientific evidence yet and it has revealed the disturbing amount of damage these poisons can cause” said Matt Shardlow, chief executive of Buglife, the non-profit organization that commissioned the British study.

A safer and cost-effective technique to combat the Asian longhorn beetle, said Tukey, involves injecting affected trees. That reduces the amount of toxin used and generally contains any poisons to within the tree. When applied as a soil drench, the material can seep into surface and groundwater, or be taken up directly by birds, pets and humans. A Massachusetts company known as ArborJet of Winchester pioneered the injection technique that is now considered to be the USDA standard treatment for several exotic invasive tree pests, including the Asian longhorn beetle.

Today, Atdec launched its Telehook TH-1040-VFM full-motion mount. The mount allows the viewing angle to be adjusted up to 40 degrees, useful for those with TVs in high glare areas. The Telehook TH-1040-VFM also allows TVs to be moved to landscape and portrait mode after installation. Pinwheel TV, anyone?

This is made possible through use of a ball joint which offers wide adjustment of up to 40 degrees in any direction, allowing users to find that perfect sweet spot for our TV. There is no need to screw and unscrew numerous bolts with Atdec’s “Simple Tension” Adjustment system, and their Smooth Glide technology allows for effortless adjustment of screens up to 55 pounds. ‚ The TH-1040-VFM’s quick release mechanism guarantees fast and easy TV attachment and removal, though the idea of a quick release on our giant glass TV scares us more than anything else. Also, Atdec also says the mount is theft resistant, though that seems to be the opposite of “quick release.”

“We are really in the TV viewing business and that’s what Atdec’s mounting solutions are all about: providing the best and most elegant way to ensure optimum viewing experience no matter what the environment may be. The new Telehook TH-1040-VFM is a perfect example of this philosophy with its ability to offer infinite fine-tuning of the viewing angle via a variety of easy to adjust pivot points. Innovative design, matched with a stylish look and reliable build, make the new mount an ideal choice for any home or commercial TV installation.” Said Jerome Green Director of Atdec.

The TH-1040-VFM supports panels between 12 inches and 40 inches and a weight up to 55 pounds. It will be available in mid September for $169.

Tech giant Panasonic announced a nationwide truck tour designed to lure us all into the cutting edge world of 3D TV’s, and 3D films like “James Cameron’s Avatar.”

The “3D Full HD Home Theatre Tour” is powered by three expandable tractor-trailers, which were custom built for the event. Each vehicle houses a theater powered by Panasonic’s plasma technology that uses a custom built Blu-Ray player to deliver 3D content to screens.

“Panasonic is proud to once again lead the way into the next frontier in home entertainment” said Bob Perry, Executive Vice President, Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company. “Through our Full HD 3D Home Theater Truck Tour, consumers will, for the first time, have a chance to experience the immersive world of Full HD 3D TV for themselves, and we have no doubt that they will love what they see.”

The purpose of the tour is to help consumers build an understanding of available 3D Full HD technologies that will soon be available. Panasonic has also announced it has partnership with Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. and Lightstrom Entertainment for the purpose of Global promotion of James Cameron’s AVATAR Film. This film will be the first 3D live action film and is due to hit theaters Dec 18, 2009.

Panasonic provided some of its latest products to help create AVATAR, and the film will debut in theaters worldwide in both 2D and 3D. As part of the partnership, Panasonic will launch a global advertising campaign tied to AVATAR, which will promote numerous Panasonic products, including 3D. It will mark the first time Panasonic has run a worldwide advertising campaign focused on a single film.

The Panasonic Full HD 3D Home Theater Truck Tour is expected to run through March 2010 with the scheduled stops being released at a later date. Not sure about Boston yet.

Today, Atdec launched its Telehook TH-1040-VFM full-motion mount.

This TV mount will be useful for those of us who have chosen to put our TVs in high glare areas, as it allows the viewing angle to be adjusted up to 40 degrees. The Telehook TH-1040-VFM even allows us to use our flat panels in landscape and portrait mode after installation and can support panels between 12″ and 40″ and a weight up to 55 pounds.

This is made possible through use of a ball joint which offers boundless adjustment up to 40 degrees in any direction, allowing us to find that perfect sweet spot for our TV. There is no need to screw and unscrew numerous bolts due to Atdec’s “Simple Tension” Adjustment system, and their Smooth Glide technology allows for effortless adjustment of screens up to 55 pounds. The TH-1040-VFM’s quick release mechanism guarantees fast and easy TV attachment and removal.

The TH-1040-VFM offers a maximum reach from the wall of 17 ‚½” and a minimum distance from the wall of 4″. It supports VESA mounting hole configurations of 4″x 4″, 8″x 4″ and 8″x 8″. It features a cable management system, a theft resistant design and is compatible with masonry and timber stud wall mounting hardware.

“We are really in the TV viewing business and that’s what Atdec’s mounting solutions are all about: providing the best and most elegant way to ensure optimum viewing experience no matter what the environment may be,” said Atdec’s Jerome Green.

“The new Telehook TH-1040-VFM is a perfect example of this philosophy with its ability to offer infinite fine-tuning of the viewing angle via a variety of easy to adjust pivot points. Innovative design, matched with a stylish look and reliable build, make the new mount an ideal choice for any home or commercial TV installation.”

The TH-1040-VFM will be available in mid September for $169.

Last Wednesday, YouTube began talks with Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., Sony Pictures, and Warner Brothers concerning a movie rental service similar to iTunes and Netflix. This would mark the first time ever that the Google owned video site would charge for content. The fee would also be similar to the other video services, charging around $3.99 a rental.

YouTube is also in talks with many other partners in an effort to shore up its offerings of professional grade content, which advertisers prefer.

“We hope to expand on both our great relationship with the movie studios and the selection and types of videos we offer our community,” said YouTube spokesman Chris Dale.

Such a program would be quite a change for YouTube. We think this is due to pressure from investors who see that the cost of supplying video to users all over the world still isn’t bringing in its equivalent in advertising revenue.

YouTube became successful because it allowed people to share their own personal “LOL” with the world “" for free! Considering that there are plenty of other and more well established places to stream movies, most offering better quality or lower prices at this point, and YouTube is a late entrant into the game.

The Sqeezebox Radio.

Logitech finally released details on its newest additions to the Squeezebox series of internet radios, and they’re just as exciting as we’d hoped.

The Logitech Squeezebox radio offers simple set-up through your wi-fi network sporting a similar “plug it in, turn it on, and go” endorsement from its maker. The Squeezebox radio gives you access to all the glories “" and terrors “" of internet radio as well as giving you access to music subscriptions services such as Napster, Rhapsody, Pandora, Sirius-XM and last.fm from anywhere you take the device, played through on-board speakers.

The device also has a color screen capable of displaying album art and track information for mp3s streamed from your computer as well as for radio station information. Features include six preset buttons, a brightness sensor for the screen, a built in alarm clock and, because technology isn’t advanced enough to pipe the music directly into your skull, your old friend, the handy dandy 3.5mm headphone jack is there as well.

The Squeezebox Touch.

The size of the device is 5.12in x 8.66in x 5.04in and it sports a 3-inch woofer and a three-quarter inch tweeter. Suggested retail pricing for the Squeezebox Radio is $199.99 and it will be available this month. A limited edition will also be available in red. A rechargeable battery pack is also available for the Squeezebox Radio, sold separately, of course. Battery life is rated at six hours. This will be included in the Squeezebox Radio Accessory pack available from Logitech for $49.99 in November.

The Logitech Squeezebox Touch sports a 4.3in color touch screen and needs to be attached to your existing speakers for music playback. The Touch also sports a USB port and a SD card slot to allow access to pictures and music on external devices. The Logitech Squeezebox Touch will be available in December with a suggested retail price of $299.99. There is also a wall mount bracket available for the Touch”"again, sold separately”"for $99.99.

Netgear announced September 1 that its new RangeMax Dual-band Wireless N gigabit router is now be available. The new device is packed with features relevant to those with high bandwidth needs “" which is really all of us.

Most notable is ReadyShare, which allows high-speed access to a USB hard drive from any device on the network. The RangeMax also comes equipped with a 680Mhz MIPS processor, one of the latest processors on consumer routers today. The router is also capable of simultaneous dual band activity using both the 2.4Ghz and the 5Ghz bands. This allows for a real world throughput of 350mbps, which is faster than most competing products.

This device is also functional as a plug and play media server for an Xbox360 or PS3 using the integrated DLNA functionality. The RangeMax Dual Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router features Quality of Service algorithms that enable seamless streaming of HD video over Wi-Fi, usually a frustrating experience for anyone who’s ever tried. These algorithms also allow support for a number of simultaneous high bandwidth connections and also enable lag-free online gaming.

The router also comes with a built in broadband usage meter, useful for those dealing with those god-awful bandwidth caps. The built in gigabit Ethernet ports are capable of 500 mbps speeds “" more than twice the speed of competing routers.

The router also features three adjustable power and range settings capable of cutting its power consumption by up to 75 percent for those who like a bit of green in their electronic devices. There is also a dedicated wireless on-off switch which when used to deactivate the wireless can cut power consumption by up to 30 percent.

Netgear’s RangeMax Dual Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router is now available worldwide for $189.99 with 24/7 tech support and a one-year warranty. This appears to be the first relatively solid competitor to Apple’s Airport Extreme with a reasonable price tag.

Hulu continues to permeate society as the video and TV content medium of choice for the internet savvy. The last time we looked at them, they were gaining serious ground. So, just how “big” is Hulu?

According to comScore some 38 million people used Hulu this July. This surpasses Business Insiders estimate of 34 million subscribers for Time Warner Cable, the United States second largest cable company. To put this all in perspective Comcast, the US’s largest cable company, has about 62 million viewers. Viewership statistics for the cable companies were derived by multiplying the number of subscribers by 2.59, which is what the census bureau tells us is the average person per household.

Some numbers to consider.

This means that Hulu is effectively the second largest provider of television content for Americans. If only the internet could prove a reliable cash cow for producers Hulu could easily be the platform of the future; however, for now they will have to be content with second place.

NAS, an acronym for Network Attached Storage, is essentially a self-contained computer, connected to a network, with the purpose of providing bulk data storage. A NAS device has a bare bones operating system and is not designed for typical computing tasks. Oftentimes these system lack a display or input device and are instead managed remotely through the network.

The networking solutions company Netgear announced August 31 that its ReadyNAS storage appliance line, designed for Small to Medium Businesses (SMB) would now support the Remote Agent for Linux and UNIX Servers (RALUS) for Symantec Backup Exec for Windows Servers. Now installed directly on the ReadyNAS device, the Symantec developed Backup Exec agent communicates directly with Symantec Backup Exec Software to provide significant performance boosts in backup, restore, archive and disaster recovery.

Ian Moran from UK Reseller Konnexion described his experience as such: “Disk-to-disk backup performance with the RALUS Add-On for ReadyNAS runs at 3GB/minute. Most importantly, I am now managing backups from various systems using a single tool without error messages or concerns. Thanks to Netgear and Symantec, my SMB customers now have a cutting-edge backup and recovery solution to cut costs and reduce management pain even further.”

RALUS extends the Backup Exec technology of Symantec beyond Windows and Netware to Linux and Unix Systems. This helps meet the backup and storage needs of businesses that choose Linux. Netear is the first to offer Small to Medium Businesses sub-$5000 solutions with this functionality.

“Our work with Symantec is indicative of our commitment to providing SMBs with a full range of options in order to store, share and protect their data,” said Paul Tien, vice president and general manager of Netgear’s Networked Storage Business Unit. “As a leading SMB storage vendor, this kind of cross-vendor support is proof of our commitment to this market. ReadyNAS owners and channel partners are building ever more powerful solutions at a more affordable price point with industry leaders like Symantec.”

The RALUS add-on for Backup Exec is priced at $395 and licensed from Symantec; it is supported by Backup Exec versions 10.5 and newer. It is available for download from both Netgear and Symantec. Curious? More information for the entire ReadyNAS product line is available at their site too.

Recently, Legitscript.com and KnujOn.com released a report analyzing the Yahoo Search engine’s advertisements for online pharmacies. The results are quite disturbing and it’s a wonder law enforcement agencies have not yet cracked down.

Legitscript.com is the only Internet pharmacy verification organization in the United States identified by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy as adhering to its standards for certifying Internet pharmacies. KnujOn.com tracks Internet criminality and has succeeded in removing over 100,000 spam websites from the Internet.

The report, released by these companies on August 18, showed that around 80 percent of the search engine’s advertisements concerning online pharmacies reviewed by the researchers were not operating in compliance with United States federal laws. The report states the researchers were able to order and receive medication normally requiring a prescription without one “" a clear violation of Drug Enforcement Administration regulation of potentially habit-forming medications. One site even imported the medications ordered from India, which is also in violation of United States Law.

The report also touches on Pharmacychecker.com, the pharmacy verification service used by Yahoo, Google and Microsoft to determine the legitimacy of pharmacies in ads they display. The researchers were able to obtain drugs without a prescription from an online pharmacy listed on and approved by Pharmacychecker.com. These drugs were also imported from India.

Yahoo’s current policy mandates that an online pharmacy advertised through the search engine be “based in” the United States or Canada; however, three sites in the study which were approved based on having Canadian pharmaceutical licenses actually shipped their medications from places like India, Singapore And Barbados. A fourth site, also approved in Canada, stated it could only fill prescriptions in Canada and to do so in other countries would be illegal.

It is important to note that these issues are far from isolated, as a previous report focused on Microsoft’s search engine Bing.com and the findings were similar. Also, the American Pharmacists Association, the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy and the National Association on Addiction and Substance Abuse have written Google, Microsoft and Yahoo informing them that they were profiting from online pharmacies acting unlawfully.

“We’re making this a public issue because it’s time for this to stop,” KnujOn President Garth Bruen said. “If the search engines continue to knowingly facilitate illegal prescription drug sales, then we’ll continue to issue these reports. Our reports stop when the problem is fixed.”

“Yahoo needs to require that its Internet pharmacy ads adhere to US laws and National Association of Boards of Pharmacy standards,” LegitScript President John Horton said. “These are the same safeguards that govern brick-and-mortar pharmacies used throughout the US everyday. Shouldn’t American Internet users be assured of the same safeguards online?”

If you are someone who gets his or her medications from an online pharmacy, you may be putting yourself and your family in danger. If this is the case, we suggest you look further into the companies from which you choose to procure your medications.

Maxthon International Limited, China-based developer of the Maxthon web browser for the Windows operating system, has begun testing a new feature for their browser. In this new addition floating windows allow users to watch two videos at once or watch videos while using a different web page entirely.

To activate this feature the “Float button” option must be enabled in the Maxthon Browser’s configuration panel. This will then cause a “Detach Video” button to appear in the upper right-hand corner of videos. Clicking the button detaches the video from the main page allowing the user to drag it anywhere on screen (or to a second screen should a user have dual monitors) and the video is automatically set to stay on top of other windows.

Internet videos are displayed with a detach button that allows the user to "rip" the video off the page.

The video can be hidden by use of another button and when closed the browser automatically reattaches the video to the original window. Maxthon developers released version 2.5.6 yesterday with the detach video button live. This feature is already supported by a slew of popular videos site including Youtube, Hulu, Yahoo Video, Shockwave.com, Truveo, AOL Video On Demand, Heavy.com and Atom.

If you want to give the Maxthon browser a try, download it here (Maxthon is Windows-only).