Sony adds TV to video Walkman players

Sony is adding mobile digital TV to the video Walkman it sells in Japan.

The new Walkman will be launched on Nov. 17 and will be compatible with Japan's "OneSeg" digital TV system for mobile and portable devices. The system is only used in Japan so the TV function won't work overseas. Sony did not announce similar products for other markets.

OneSeg has proved a popular addition to many portable electronics products in Japan and can now be found on many high-end cell phones, laptop PCs, car navigation systems and even electronic dictionaries. It's an MPEG4 stream of the major terrestrial TV networks and is offered at no charge.

The only difference between the three new Walkman devices is their memory capacity. The NW-A916 has 4GB of memory, the NW-A918 has 8GB and the NW-A919 16GB.

The screen size has been increased to 2.4-inches from the 2-inch screen used on the first-generation video Walkman players that went on sale in April.

In addition to displaying live TV, they can also record programs. About 100 hours of TV can be stored on the 16GB model, as long as the memory is empty of other content. Users can also call up an electronic program guide or subtitles to TV shows.

Sony says a fully charged battery provides enough power for as many as six hours of TV watching and 36 hours of audio playback. Other features include the ability to directly connect a Compact Disc or MiniDisc player and record content into the Walkman's memory.

Sound recording and broadcast digital TV isn't available on Apple's iPod. The iPod is Sony's chief competitor in the digital audio market and Sony has been trailing the popular music player on features ever since it was first introduced. In the case of video, when Sony introduced the feature earlier this year it was 18 months behind the iPod.

The new Walkman remains compact. It measures 47 millimeters by 86mm by 12mm and weighs 74 grams.

The NW-A916 will cost about ¥30,000 (US$260), the NW-A918 ¥35,000 and the NW-A919 ¥45,000.

Making the iPod family, all over again

All right, that may not be what you're thinking these days. But that is what Apple was thinking when it intro duced its annual revision of the popular iPod family last week. Over all, these music/video players have shrunk in size and price, but have grown in capacity, features and number of models.
The baby of the family, the screenless iPod Shuffle, is almost unchanged. It's still only about one-inch square, with a spring clip. It still holds about 240 songs, but now comes in five brushed-metal color finishes.

The full-size iPod has had a visit from the brushed-metal makeover fairy, too. Its face now comes in silver or black brushed metal - the first major departure from the iconic acrylic façade that has served it well since 2001.

This model, now called the iPod Classic, is the only iPod containing a hard drive. It's for people who want to transport big music or video collections - or who want to use the iPod as an external computer hard drive.

That prospect is easier to imagine than ever now that the hard drives in these iPods hold 80 or 160 gigabytes (for $250 or $350).

Wait a minute - 160 gigs? That's bigger than many computer hard drives. It's enough to hold 40,000 songs, which would take about three solid months to play. If the battery could last that long, that is; Apple clocks the larger model at 40 hours of music playback, 7 hours of video.

Stir the stew, surf the Web

Dream kitchens may soon include a computer along with the latest refrigerator or oven. That way people gathered at the family hub can satisfy their digital needs along with nutritional ones.
Hewlett-Packard's new TouchSmart IQ770 PC ($1,699 at Circuit City) is designed for that kitchen of the future, where people turn on the computer along with the coffeepot, and then check the screen for the weather, ball scores and the family calendar as they breakfast.

The calendar on the TouchSmart is easy to use. Entries can be written on the touch-sensitive screen with a finger or stylus, or entered on a keyboard, so that everyone knows what's ahead during the day, from the dentist at 9 am to the PTA at 7 pm.

The computer also has a high-definition TV receiver, a DVD player and a 19-inch screen that moves up and down as well as tilting, so that people having a snack at the counter or a nearby table can watch their favorite show or video. Putting a computer in the kitchen is not a new idea. Neiman Marcus, the department store, included an ad for a Honeywell kitchen computer, priced at $10,600, in its 1969 Christmas catalog, said Dag Spicer, senior curator at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California.

The ad featured a woman in need of a computer to manage recipe quantities and carried the slogan, "If she can only cook as well as Honeywell can compute." But Mr Spicer said the marketing campaign failed. "As far as we know, Neiman Marcus didn't sell a single computer."

The latest generation of kitchen computers may be more successful, and not just because the ads are less patronising. The difference instead may lie in the spread, and speed, of broadband connections and the way that, in turn, is changing people's computer habits.

Adelka's Childbirth

A Baby Delivery

child birth

Space Shuttle Atlantis SRB Camera Video

Amazing video captured by the cameras on the side of the Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) as they're blown clear of the space shuttle Atlantis during the launch of STS-115.

Indian pilot for Iraq

An Indian American Army pilot is breaking new ground by becoming the first Hindu to be deployed in Iraq for combat operation. Parag Desai, 35, a resident of Minnesota, is a US Army reserve pilot going to serve in Iraq for the next one year.

On Sunday, around 300 community members came together to give a warm send-off to Mr Desai. Mr Desai said all community members of Minnesota were like his own family-news site wcco.com reported. "It?s very much like everyone?s son is going. We?re really proud of him," said Sonal Reddy, Mr Desai?s sister.

newborn

Tara, a koala at Sydney's Wildlife World, sits with her newborn joey on her back in their enclosure in Sydney on Tuesday. Tara's as yet unnamed baby is one of three newborn koalas at the inner city zoo.

Coffee and exercise could cut risk of skin cancer

A combination of coffee drinking and regular exercise may help to lower the risk of developing skin cancer, according to scientists in the US.

The two are thought to work together to kill off precancerous cells whose DNA has been damaged by ultraviolet-B radiation from the sun.

If the cells are left to divide, they can form malignant skin cancers and ultimately become fatal.

Previous studies have suggested that exercise and coffee may each play a small role in protecting against skin cancer, but the latest research shows for the first time that when combined, the two may offer far more protection.

Scientists led by Allan Conney at Rutgers University, New Jersey, examined the effect of ultraviolet light on mice bred to be hairless, and so particularly vulnerable to the effects of sunlight.

Four groups of mice were exposed to UV-B radiation, but were given different diets and exercise regimes. One group drank caffeinated water, giving them a caffeine intake equivalent to one to two cups of coffee a day. A second group was fed pure water but allowed to exercise on a running wheel. The third group was given caffeine and access to a running wheel, while the fourth did no exercise and had no caffeine.

The scientists later took samples and checked for signs of UV-induced genetic damage. They also looked for evidence of a natural survival mechanism called apoptosis, in which damaged and potentially cancerous cells are forced to commit suicide before they can form tumours.

The tests showed that caffeine alone led to a 95% increase in programmed cell death and there was a 120% increase from exercise alone. But when combined, exercise and caffeine led to a four-fold increase in cell death, suggesting the body was able to rid itself of pre-cancerous cells much more effectively.

Details of the study appear in the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The team plans to investigate the underlying reasons for its findings before organising a clinical trial in humans.

cannabis joint damage lungs more than tobacco

A single cannabis joint may cause as much damage to the lungs as five chain-smoked cigarettes, research has found. Medical examinations of cannabis and cigarette smokers found the drug increased specific lung problems, including obstructed airways and hyperinflation, a condition where too much air remains in the lungs when a person exhales.

Smoking one cannabis joint caused damage equivalent to smoking 2.5 to five cigarettes in rapid succession, researchers at the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand found. Doctors who carried out the study believe the damage is linked to the difference in the way cannabis is usually smoked, with users inhaling hard, holding their breath for longer and failing to use filters.

The report follows a flurry of confessions from ministers who admitted having used the illegal drug and comes days after a review of cannabis research, published in the Lancet medical journal, revealed that cannabis use may be to blame for 800 cases of serious psychosis in Britain.

The scientists set out to investigate whether smoking cannabis put users at greater risk of developing emphysema, a progressive and potentially fatal lung disease.

A group of 339 volunteers aged 18 to 70 were divided into four groups according to whether they smoked only cannabis, only tobacco, both, or were non-smokers. Each volunteer was then subjected to lung function tests and x-ray scans of their chests to assess the level of damage to their lungs and airways.

In the study, published in the journal Thorax, all smokers complained of coughs and wheezing, while only tobacco smokers showed signs of emphysema. Coughing was reduced among people who smoked cannabis and tobacco, possibly because these people smoked pure cannabis joints and so less tobacco leaf.

The extent of lung damage was directly related to the number of joints smoked. "The most important finding was that one joint of cannabis was similar to 2.5 to five tobacco cigarettes in terms of causing airflow obstruction," the authors write. "This pattern is likely to relate to the different characteristics of the cannabis joint and the way in which it is smoked. Cannabis is usually smoked without a filter and to a shorter butt length, and the smoke is a higher temperature," they add.

China's third manned space mission to have three astronauts

Zhengzhou, July. 31:

China's third manned space mission in 2008 will carry three astronauts, who are expected to undertake a space walk, the official media reported today. Compared to the previous two manned space missions, the Shenzhou VII space mission, which includes a space walk, is more complex, a senior space official said. The astronauts are scheduled to perform work outside the capsule such as installing equipment and "tightening screws".

The Xi'an Satellite Control Centre, a major Chinese institution responsible for recovering satellites and spaceships, has started training its rescue and search teams for the third manned space mission, scheduled to be launched in 2008.

Initial training for this started after the Shenzhou VI space mission in 2005 and dozens of workers are being trained for four hours per day, Yao was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

"We have been organising training in accordance with new requirements and are learning to operate new equipment on the spaceship and deal with any possible hitches," he said. He said the team had recruited more workers this time as there will be three astronauts on the next spacecraft. Two workers will be assigned to each astronaut, the report said. China had launched its manned space programme in 1999.

It successfully sent Yang Liwei, the country's first astronaut, into orbit on the Shenzhou V spacecraft in 2003. Yang spent about 21 hours in orbit. Two years later, astronauts Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng completed a Chinese record five-day flight on the Shenzhou VI. All astronauts returned to the ground safely.

Invisible nanofibres conduct electricity, repel dirt

In a new study, scientists from Ohio State University grew nanofibres of different heights and diameters, and were able to modify the fibres’ molecular structures by exposing them to different chemicals.

The plastic fibres could be the key to some diverse technologies in the future — including self-cleaning surfaces, transparent electronics, and biomedical tools that manipulate strands of DNA.

The patent-pending technology involves a method for growing a bed of fibres of a specific length, and using chemical treatments to tailor the fibres’ properties, explained Arthur J. Epstein, Distinguished University Professor of chemistry and physics and director of the university’s Institute for Magnetic and Electronic Polymers.

In the June issue of the journal Nature Nanotechnology, Ohio State University researchers describe how they created surfaces that, seen with the eye, look as flat and transparent as a sheet of glass.

But seen up close, the surfaces are actually carpeted with tiny fibres.

“One of the good things about working with these polymers is that you’re able to structure them in many different ways,” Epstein said. “Plus, we found that we can coat almost any surface with these fibres.”

Repel oil

They devised one treatment that made the fibres attract water, and another that made the fibres repel water. They found they could also make the surfaces attract or repel oil.

Depending on what polymer they start with, the fibres can also be made to conduct electricity, according to an Ohio State University press release. The ability to tailor the properties of the fibres opens the surface to many different applications, he said. Since dirt, water, and oil don’t stick to the repellent fibres, windows coated with them would stay cleaner longer.

Anti-fog coating

In contrast, the attracting fibres would make a good anti-fog coating, because they pull at water droplets and cause them to spread out flat on the surface. What is more, researchers found that the attracting surface does the same thing to coiled-up strands of DNA.

When they put droplets of water containing DNA on the fibres, the strands uncoiled and hung suspended from the fibres like clotheslines.

Epstein said scientists could use the fibres as a platform to study how DNA interacts with other molecules. They could also use the spread-out DNA to build new nanostructures.