Sony's Android-powered X10 $50 From Amazon

Already available outside the U.S., the Xperia X10 packs a 4-inch touchscreen display; a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU; 8GB of on-board memory and a 2GB in-box memory card, with expandable memory up to 32GB; an 8.1-megapixel camera with LED flash, smile detection, and auto-focus; and Android 1.6.

Though it's disappointing to see the flagship Android device from Sony ship with Android 1.6, keep in mind that this phone has been available in other countries (Canada, UK, Ireland) for months and months. It's also slightly cheaper than other devices running newer versions of Android. The phone will cost $149.99 on contract with AT&T, $129.99 from Sony Style stores and, if you're willing to wait a week, $49.99 on Amazon.com.

Read more: http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Xperia-X10-Android-AT-T,news-7730.html

Bitstream Technology Licensed by Cox Communications for Interactive Programming Guide

MARLBOROUGH, Mass.--(Business Wire)--
Bitstream, Inc., (NASDAQ: BITS) announced today that Cox Communications, the nation`s third largest cable operator, has licensed Bitstream`s FontFusion technology, Bitstream typefaces and the Tiresias screenfont for use in its interactive program guide. This is the first agreement between the two companies.

Bitstream's Font Fusion is a font subsystem that allows developers to render high-quality characters in any format, at any resolution, on any device. It is designed to support all displays, including high-definition television screens (HDTVs), but also has a wide range of uses, including cell phones and handsets, operating systems, software applications, Web applications, low-resolution screen devices, multimedia servers, high-definition television screens (HDTVs), set-top boxes, continuous tone printers, and other embedded systems and Internet appliances.

The Tiresias screenfont was developed specifically for closed captioning by the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB). It was designed to improve the legibility of text used for television subtitling. In designing the font, key factors that affect legibility were studied, including character shapes, relative thickness of the character shapes, inter-character spacing, and aspect ratios that affect the maximum size at which the font can be used.

Anna Chagnon, President and CEO of Bitstream, Inc. commented on the agreement, saying "We developed Font Fusion to render high-quality characters in any format, at any resolution, on any device. Combine the text rendering technology of Font Fusion with the exceptional readability of the Tiresias screenfont and the result produces the best text display for the interactive programming guides used by Cox Communications. Bitstream is delighted to be working with this industry leader."

About Bitstream

Bitstream Inc. (NASDAQ: BITS) is a software development company focused on bringing unique software products to a wide variety of markets. The company`s core software products include award-winning fonts and font rendering software, mobile browsing and variable data publishing and Web-to-print software for personalized marketing. For more information about Bitstream please visit www.bitstream.com.

About Font Fusion

Font Fusion is Bitstream`s premier font subsystem, rendering high-quality characters in any format, at any resolution, on any platform or device. Delivering exceptional text rendering for consumer electronics devices and mobile phones, Font Fusion is the ideal solution for small embedded systems, including consumer electronics devices, mobile handsets, PDAs, set-top boxes, digital TVs, printers, graphics applications, and embedded systems.

Available as an SDK (Software Developers` Kit), Font Fusion renders a wide variety of industry-standard and compact font formats: OpenType, TrueType, Type 1, CFF/Type2, T2K Latin, T2K Asian, TrueDoc PFR (portable font resource), Bitstream Speedo, Font Fusion stroke (FFS), BDF (bitmap distribution format) format, as well as embedded bitmaps. Developers can also license different suites of worldwide fonts, including a certified Chinese (PRC) font, delta-hinted screen fonts, stroke-based Asian fonts, the Tiresias Screenfont, the CCTV Font Set, and the TV Font Pack.

Bitstream Inc.
Marion Williams-Bennett, 617-520-8311
mbennett@bitstream.com

Tip: Change your system & TouchFLO 3D fonts in Windows Mobile 6.5

Posted on Thursday, Nov 5, 2009 by Malatesta

Bored of your regular old system font for Windows Mobile 6.5 and TouchFLO 3D? We've covered changing system fonts before, but it turns out that WM6.5 changes it up a bit and the old ways don't work so well.

Fret not as MajorSarcasm has stepped up and cab'd up various system fonts that will also alter the fonts for TouchFlo 3D. Just download the .cab for which font you like, disable TF3D (if using), install, restart device and re-enable TouchFlo.

Don't care for how it looks? Simply uninstall the cab and restart your phone again. Choices include Eras, Century Gothic, Jott, Helvetica (great film by the way), Droid, Lucida Handwriting, Comic Sans and 13 others.

We have to admit, these new fonts breathe new life into our phone (we're partial to Kabel, pictured) and there seems little risk, so give it a shot.

The attack of the Androids

November 2, 2009

By Paul Withers

Google’s populist Android platform will do more than Apple’s elitist iPhone to deliver the mobile internet to the masses. All the industry is hitching a ride

Google’s Android platform is a year old, and its deployment on mobile handsets next year will be commonplace. It appears to make manufacturers look good. Taiwanese maker HTC, responsible for the Android’s debut handset, the T-Mobile G1, has gained real momentum in its portfolio from the platform.

And suddenly every manufacturer is readying Android models for a 2010 splurge, with Samsung and Motorola in an end-of-year flurry and LG and Sony Ericsson to make major statements in the first quarter.

The already buoyant among them are looking to Android as a way to share in the buzz of new mobile applications, and the long-time deflated are looking to it as a way out of the doldrums.

The industry has finally declared that the mobile internet revolution is here (see Speakers’ Corner, Mobile News issue 451), and a major reason for this appears to be the ground broken by the Apple iPhone, but also by Google’s Android.

The everyman Android system will likely ensure Apple’s elitist message about the mobile internet spreads to the masses.

Google chief executive Eric Schmidt sent out a bullish message during a conference call for the company’s Q3 financials: “Android adoption is literally about to explode. You have all the necessary conditions – vendors, distribution, and so forth.”

Full article in Mobile News issue 451 (out November 2, 2009).

EU reaches agreement over telecoms reforms package

By Bate Felix

BRUSSELS, Nov 5 (Reuters) - European Union lawmakers and

the bloc's governments, clinched a deal early on Thursday over

a stalled telecommunications reform package aimed at boosting

competition, EU officials said.

A committee made of EU government representatives, members

of the European Parliament and the European Commission, ironed

out differences over the bill between the three EU bodies,

paving the way for a final rubber stamp by the EU authorities.

EU lawmakers sent the reform package back in May due to

concerns the proposed bill would not adequately protect the

rights of Internet users.

"I am very happy that we have reached an agreement on the

telecoms package," said Asa Torstensson, Communication Minister of Sweden, which holds the collective EU's Presidency.

"This agreement strengthens the competitiveness among

enterprises and enhances the consumer protection in Europe,

which will lead to ... better and less expensive broadband

services and substantially stronger protection for all Internet

users."

The proposed reform would beef up consumers' contractual

rights and also create a pan-EU supervisory body to improve how

the 27-nation bloc's telecoms rules are applied so no operator

can be shielded from competition.

In May, The EU Parliament voted 407 in favour, 57 against

and with 171 abstentions on an amendment to strengthen the

rights of Internet users.

The lawmakers wanted to make it harder for the authorities

to cut off Internet access for any subscriber suspected of

breaches such as illegal downloading of copyright material.

The assembly and EU states have a joint say on the reform,

which comprises several parts that were all adopted by broad

majorities. But due to the amendment, the prior informal deal

with EU states was reopened.

The deal reached by a so-called conciliatory committee on

Thursday, allows the parliament and the council of EU telecoms

ministers another eight weeks to pass the final text without

making any amendments.

Intel in threats and bribery suit

Intel is facing a federal lawsuit that accuses it of using "illegal threats" to dominate microchip sales.

The New York attorney general accuses Intel of using "bribery and coercion" to make computer manufacturers buy its chips instead of those from its rivals.

Andrew Cuomo said the anti-competition federal lawsuit follows an investigation lasting almost two years.

Intel said in a statement that the "decision to file suit against [us] is just plain wrong".

"Neither consumers, who have consistently benefited from lower prices and increased innovation, nor justice, are being served by the decision to file a case now," it added.

In May, Intel was fined $1.5bn (£948m) by European competition authorities.

The firm denied any wrongdoing in that case and is now appealing.

'Systematic campaign'

Mr Cuomo said Intel - the world's largest maker of semiconductors - had been engaged in a "worldwide, systematic campaign of illegal conduct".

"Rather than compete fairly, Intel used bribery and coercion to maintain a stranglehold on the market," he added.

"Intel's actions not only unfairly restricted potential competitors, but also hurt average consumers who were robbed of better products and lower prices."

Mr Cuomo said the details of the case were revealed in email exchanges.

Intel is accused of paying millions of dollars each year - and "in some years billions" - in payoffs to computer makers in exchange for them only buying its chips.

It is further said to have withdrawn this payments to punish those computer firms "perceived to be working too closely with Intel's competitors".

Ed Black, president of trade body Computer and Communications Industry Association, said Mr Cuomo had put forward a "strong case".

"The quicker Intel owns up to its actions the quicker it, and the entire computer industry, can move on," he said.

In the European case, the European Commission ruled in May that Intel had paid manufacturers and one retailer to favour its chips over those of key rival Advanced Micro Devices between 2002 and 2007.

From BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)

Major quakes could be aftershocks

Many recent earthquakes may have been the aftershocks of large quakes that occurred hundreds of years ago, according to scientists.

In the journal Nature, researchers described a new pattern in the frequency of aftershocks that could explain some major quakes.

They found that, away from plate boundaries, echoes of past earthquakes can continue for several hundred years.

Here, in the middle of a continent, the earth takes longer to recover.

It's something we had never spotted before," said Seth Stein from Northwestern University in Illinois, US.

"Most big earthquakes happen at [plate] boundaries - like the San Andreas fault. There is a lot of movement there and aftershocks go on for about ten years after a big quake."

When the aftershocks have dissipated, scientists monitor regular movement of the earth to gauge the likelihood of a future quake.
Earthquake data gathering (Seth Stein)
The researchers gathered data from faults in the US

But small earthquakes also occur where there is none of this regular movement, he explained. "So if the ground has not been storing up energy for future earthquakes, these must be aftershocks."

This, the scientists say, could explain the disastrous earthquake in 2008 in China's Sichuan province. The event shocked many scientists as this was an area where there had been hardly any earthquakes in the past few centuries.

But these "aftershock quakes", the scientists say, get smaller over time.

"It even looks like we see small earthquakes today in the area along Canada's Saint Lawrence valley where a large earthquake occurred in 1663," Professor Stein said.

"If you look at where they are - they're on the fault plane of the big earthquake."

He and his colleague, Mian Liu from the University of Missouri, found the same pattern repeated in seismic data from faults around the world.

Forecasting tremors

This discovery could help scientists to foresee the location of big earthquakes.

"Predicting big quakes based on small quakes is like the 'whack-a-mole' game," Professor Stein explained. "You wait for the mole to come up where it went down.

"But we now know the big earthquakes can pop up somewhere else."

He recommended that, instead of just focusing on the regions where small, regular earthquakes happen, scientists should use methods like GPS satellites and computer modelling to look for places where the earth is "storing up energy for a large future earthquake".

Tom Parsons, a scientist from the US Geological Survey (USGS) in California was not involved in this study, but wrote an accompanying article in the same issue of Nature, explaining its significance.

He said that with a more comprehensive approach to studying earthquakes, researchers would eventually be able to "arrive at a practical solution" - balancing the available resources with the need to protect areas that were at risk.

from BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)