Today at Facebook’s press event, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, announced its latest product, called Graph Search.

Two of the members of the Graph Search team,Lars Rasmussen and Tom Stocky, were very high up at Google, which is extremely important to note. Facebook is calling it a “Dream Team.”

Zuckerberg made it very clear that this is not web search, but completely different:

What’s more interesting than any of these things (that Facebook currently does) is giving people power and tools to take any cut of the graph that they want.

Zuckerberg explained the difference between web search and Graph Search. “Web search is designed to take any open-ended query and give you links that might have answers.” Linking things together based on things that you’re interested in is a “very hard technical problem,” according to Zuckerberg.

Graph Search is designed to take a precise query and give you an answer, rather than links that might provide the answer.” For example, you could ask Graph Search “Who are my friends that live in San Francisco?” Zuckerberg joked that a difference is “filters,” which grabbed a few chuckles.

Zuckerberg says that Graph Search is in “very early beta.” People, photos, places and interests are the focus for the first iteration of the product.

Facebook Graph Search is completely personalized. Tom Stocky of the search team explains he gets unique results for a search of “friends who Like Star Wars and Harry Potter.” Then, “If anyone else does this search they get a completely different set of results. Even if someone had the same set of friends as me, the results would be different [because we have different relationships with our friends].”

Stocky says you can also use Graph Search for dating. He wanted to set up a girl with a potential date so he searched “Who are single men?” Stocky says. “I get the set of single men that are friends of people I’m friends with.” Then he can refine that to just San Francisco, and add the filter “and are from India” since his friend is Indian.

You can also use Graph Search for recruiting. Stocky says if he was looking for people to join the team at Facebook, he could search for NASA Ames employees who are friends with people at Facebook. If I wanted to reach out and recruit them, I could see who their friends are at Facebook. To refine them I can look for people who wrote they are “founders.”

Photos is another big part of Graph Search. Results are sorted by engagement so you see the ones with the most likes and comments at the top. For example, Lars Rasmussen, Facebook engineer, searched for “photos of my friends taken at National Parks.” He got a gorgeous page of photos from Yosemite, Machu Pichu, and other parks.

Some more things you can do include searching for photos you Like, or query for “Photos of Berlin, Germany in 1989″ that brings up Berlin Wall tear-down shots.

The interest search portion of Graph Search is pretty extensive, unlocking all types of content on Facebook. This is why the company has been collecting your interests for all of these years. Graph Search makes it so that you’ll never want to leave Facebook. Before, to find out what your friends liked, you had to go to everyone’s different profile.

But with Graph Search you can query “Movie my friends like,” which brings up the movies liked by most of my friends. A “People also liked” suggestion section shows movies also liked by the people that liked a result. So for “The Dark Knight Rises,” you get suggestions to check out “Batman: The Dark Knight,” and “Transformers.”

It seems a lot like Amazon, but for interest discovery rather than purchasing — at least for now.

Stocky explained that “If I wanted to find a new show to watch, the best way is to see a video clip of it.” He showed a search for what friends have watched that brought up clips of Archer, Modern Family, Seinfeld, and more. Stocky beamed “I can find something new to watch through the filter of my friends.”

The last area that Graph Search touches is “places,” allowing you to search through places by city, or places where your friends have been anywhere in the world. This will definitely grab the interest of Foursquare, which has been working on its own search and exploration product.

The new Graph Search product will be integrated into privacy, as well. In the upper-right of Facebook’s bar, you will find shortcuts to privacy settings. You can granularly control which photos show up to the world, which will of course remove them from search results.

Zuckerberg, re-joining the stage, then announced a partnership with Microsoft’s Bing, so Facebook, in a way, is a true Google competitor. This is a huge lift for Microsoft.

Graph Search is rolling out in “limited beta” today, says Zuckerberg:

We’re going to start with a limited rollout of Graph Search now but starting very slowly. We need to get data from people using it so we can make the data better. But we’re looking forward to getting more people onto it over the coming weeks and months.

Before we rollout Graph Search we’re going to put an encouragement on the homepage for people to check out what they’re sharing. We built a few tools so you can see the photos and information that will be in Graph Search. You can bulk untag things for the first time.

Our own Josh Constine asked Zuckerberg how this new product could open up new avenues for revenue, via advertising, and Zuckerberg responded:

This could potentially be a business over time, but we’re just focusing on building a good experience for users.

When asked about whether Facebook was interested in working with Google, after a few laughs from the audience, Zuckerberg said “I would actually love to work with Google.” Zuckerberg contests that even with Bing’s integration, Facebook still doesn’t assume that users will want to come to Facebook to do web search.

It will be interesting to see how this is received by Facebook users, as the team feels like this initial offering is strong. There have been a few rounds of testing in a “user experience lab,” with people playing with the product while Facebook collected feedback. Currently, there is no mobile interface built; that will come in the future, Zuckerberg says. Also in the “list of things we’ll get to,” according to Zuckerberg, is the inclusion of Instagram photos.

This is developing, so the stock market isn’t quite sure how to react to this news yet. Its stock currently sits at $30.67.

Dell Inc. (DELL), the personal-computer maker that lost almost a third of its value last year, is in buyout talks with private-equity firms, two people with knowledge of the matter said. The shares surged.

The company is discussing going private with TPG Capital andSilver Lake, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. A deal could be announced as soon as this week, one person said. The discussions could fall apart because firms may not be able to line up the needed financing or resolve how to exit the investment in the future, the people said.

Several large banks have been contacted about financing an offer, one of the people said. The computer maker had a market value of $18.9 billion as of Jan. 11.

Taking the company private could help Dell, the third- largest PC maker, accelerate efforts to revive growth and cope with competition without quarter-by-quarter scrutiny from public shareholders. Chief Executive Officer Michael Dell, 47, has been using acquisitions to sell more products to businesses as consumers shun PCs in favor of tablets and smartphones, including devices that run Apple Inc. and Google Inc. software.

“The stock has not done much, and he’s under pressure to boost numbers,” said Abhey Lamba, an analyst at Mizuho Securities USA Inc. “He wants to de-emphasize about two-thirds of his business, and that’s a hard strategy to push because it would mean overall revenue will shrink.”

Software giant's "experiment in open search" is designed to be a research tool in which students share information on a variety of topics of interest.

by Steven Musil  May 20, 2012 9:25 AM PDT

Microsoft launches So.cl.

(Credit: Screen shot by Steven Musil/CNET)

In the wake of the IPO of social-networking giant Facebook, Microsoft has quietly launched So.cl, its own social networking foray.

However, So.cl isn't designed to be a Facebook challenger. The project, the details of which leaked out last year, is designed to give students the ability to network with their peers to share information.

"FUSE Labs' So.cl project is now accepting all users interested in joining the site," a Microsoft representative told CNET. "So.cl is an experimental research project focused on the future of social experiences and learning, especially among younger people."

"So.cl (pronounced 'social') combines search and social networking for the purpose of learning and is the latest experiment from FUSE Labs," Microsoft said in a description of the app. Users log in to the network with their Facebook or Windows Live accounts. Once logged in, users are presented with a variety of suggested topics of interest.

Much like Facebook's share or recommend buttons, So.cl has a "bookmarklet" feature that adds a "Share on So.cl" button to users' bookmarks toolbars, allowing them to share interesting Web sites with other So.cl users. In addition to sharing, commenting, and tagging other users' posts, they can also "riff" on the post -- a feature that Microsoft describes as "a new way to interact and improvise with content."

A standout feature in So.cl is the ability to create "video parties" that allow users to search for and assemble videos they can share with other users.

A video party on So.cl.

(Credit: Screenshot by Steven Musil/CNET)

 

Microsoft refers to the network as "an experiment in open search," meaning searches will be viewable to other So.cl users and to third parties. Microsoft also said it won't automatically post users' So.cl activity unless they opt in. Likewise, Facebook friends won't be contacted unless users invite them.

 

The network, which Microsoft in an earlier blog post described as an "experimental research project," initially made the service available to information and design schools at the University of Washington, Syracuse University, and New York University.

Nevada has approved Google’s application for a license to test its driverless cars on Nevada’s roads today, a big step for the project and for autonomous cars overall.

The license will allow Google to drive these cars across the state under a few preset conditions: Two people, — one behind the steering wheel and one with the ability to control the car — must be in the vehicle at all times. Google must also retain a $1 million insurance bond and make very clear where the car will be driven.

Nevada recently approved regulations surrounding these self driving cars, which received the green light from insurance companies, car manufacturers, law enforcement and other agencies.

“Self-driving cars have the potential to significantly increase driving safety,” a Google spokesperson told VentureBeat at the time. “We applaud Nevada for building a thoughtful framework to enable safe, ongoing testing of the technology and to anticipate the needs and best interests of Nevada citizens who may own vehicles with self-driving capabilities one day.”

The license plates that self-driving cars will have in the state of Nevada are different from regular cars. They will be red with an infinity logo in the center. When car companies begin selling these vehicles regularly, civilian license plates will be green with the same infinity symbol. Test vehicles will remain red, however.

Google has hinted at it the self-driving car being used for things like deliveries and taxi services, but there’s a huge potential to help the disabled and elderly as well. In March, the company released a video of the autonomous vehicle escorting a legally blind man from his house to wherever he wanted for the day (his first stop was Taco Bell).

If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out below:

http://www.klikk.com.mt/?l=8

hat tip Ars Technica; Self-driving car photo via Zack Sheppard/Flickr

BARCELONA, Spain — Feb. 29, 2012 —Microsoft Corp. today announced the availability of the Windows 8 Consumer Preview — the next milestone of the Windows operating system. This latest preview will be made available for download starting today at http://preview.windows.com. The Windows 8 Consumer Preview offers a more robust experience for testing the world’s most popular operating system and is available to the widest range of people yet following the initial release of the Windows 8 Developer Preview late last year. The Developer Preview received more than 3 million downloads.

“With Windows 8, we reimagined the different ways people interact with their PC and how to make everything feel like a natural extension of the device, whether using a Windows 8 tablet, laptop or all-in-one,” said Steven Sinofsky, president of the Windows and Windows Live Division at Microsoft. “The Windows 8 Consumer Preview brings a no-compromises approach to using your PC.”

At a Windows 8 Consumer Preview event in Barcelona that was attended by partners from Europe and around the world, the company shared some key new updates in the Windows 8 Consumer Preview:

The Windows 8 Consumer Preview will be available worldwide for download in English, French, German, Japanese and simplified Chinese languages. More information about Windows 8 and how to download the Consumer Preview is available at http://preview.windows.com or http://windowsteamblog.com.

By Emil Protalinski | February 7, 2012, 2:31pm PST

Last week, Facebook started testing at least three different variants of a new photo viewer, all of which looked like the one Google+ currently offers: image on the left and everything else on the right. Today, the company pushed out a new photo viewer to many of its users.

Update: “We can confirm that the new photo viewer has been rolled out,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement. “Yes, to all users.”

I have asked friends and colleagues if they’re seeing the new photo viewer, and they have all confirmed that, yes, they are seeing it. Furthermore, everyone is seeing the same new one.

As you can see in the screenshot above, the image is on the left and the comments are on the right. The new format means photos shown can be even larger (the maximum resolution was increased to 960 x 960 back in August 2011, and now users can finally take full advantage), if available, since all the precious vertical space can be put to use.

On the desktop, Facebook has more room horizontally than vertically, so it makes sense to have all extra information and comments on the side, so users don’t have to scroll down to see them. I would suspect that mobile devices accessing Facebook in portrait orientation will continue to see the older design, as it makes more sense for that form factor.

Notice the “Tag Photo” and “Add Location” buttons on the right side. They look just like the Timeline and the Activity Log buttons. The ads have also been relocated to the right side, but on the other hand they are now being pushed down by the photo’s comments. If my image didn’t have comments, there would be two Sponsored Stories, not just one.

This screenshot also shows what happens when you hover over an image: previous and next arrows appear, outlined “Like” and “Tag Photo” buttons show up, as does the title of the album, and which photo you’re currently viewing out of how many. What you can’t see in the screenshot above is that the new photo viewer also darkens the background of the Facebook webpage while you are viewing an album, rather than just making it transparent.

Overall, it’s an improvement, and one that I think we can thank Google for (see Google+ is the best thing that ever happened to Facebook).

I’m not sure if all of Facebook’s 845 million monthly users have the new feature. Facebook does all of its rollouts gradually, so it’s very possible that many still don’t have it. What does seem to be happening today is that Facebook has chosen which new design it is going with. I have contacted Facebook for more information and will update you if I hear back.

Lenovo is entering the TV business at this year’s CES, and it’s doing so with a splash: The company announced the world’s first TV set running Android 4.0, a.k.a. Ice Cream Sandwich, Sunday. The device, dubbed the Lenovo K91 Smart TV, will initially be available only in China, but Lenovo is looking to launch it in other countries later this year.

Here’s what the TV will offer aside form the latest version of Android:

• The K91 is powered by Qualcomm’s 8060 Snapdragon processor, which clocks 1.5 Ghz.
• It will have 1 GB of RAM, 8 GB of storage and 2 GB SD card.
• There will be two models, one with a 42” and one with a 50” 3-D LED screen.
• It will have an integrated 5 MP webcam, which will be used for facial recognition. Why would you need that? Parental control, of course.
• There will be a 3-axis gyro gamepad, but the regular remote control sounds pretty cool, too: It will have a touchpad as well as an integrated microphone, and voice recognition will make it possible to control the devices without pressing any buttons at all.

Owners of the device will be able to access Lenovo’s yet-to-be-launched cloud services from the TV to stream personal media stored in the cloud. Lenovo hasn’t officially announced its cloud plans yet, but it sounds like it will offer media and screen sharing across mobile, PC and TV devices.

It’s worth pointing out that the K91 won’t actually be running Google TV, which is based on Android 3.1 a.k.a. Honeycomb. Lenovo instead chose to customize Android 4.0. It’s unclear whether it will have access to the Android Market, or whether Lenovo is launching its very own app store to power its foray into the TV market.

Since 2010 a group of self-confessed pirates have tried to get their beliefs recognized as an official religion in Sweden. After their request was denied several times, the Church of Kopimism – which holds CTRL+C and CTRL+V as sacred symbols – is now approved by the authorities as an official religion. The Church hopes that its official status will remove the legal stigma that surrounds file-sharing.

All around the world file-sharers are being chased by anti-piracy outfits and the authorities, and the situation in Sweden is no different. While copyright holders are often quick to label file-sharers as pirates, there is a large group of people who actually consider copying to be a sacred act.

Philosophy student Isak Gerson is such a religious file-sharer, and in an attempt to protect his unique belief system he founded The Missionary Church of Kopimism in 2010. In the hope that they could help prevent persecution for their beliefs, the Church then filed a request to be officially accepted by the authorities.

After two failed attempts, where the Church was asked to formalize its way of praying or meditation, the authorities finally recognized the organization as an official religion. The Church’s founder is ecstatic about this news, and hopes that it will motivate more people to come forward as ‘Kopimists’.

“I think that more people will have the courage to step out as Kopimists. Maybe not in the public, but at least to their close ones,” Isak tells TorrentFreak. “There’s still a legal stigma around copying for many. A lot of people still worry about going to jail when copying and remixing. I hope in the name of Kopimi that this will change.”

Although the formal status of the Church doesn’t mean that copyright infringement is now permitted, the Church’s founder hopes that their beliefs will be considered in future lawmaking.

During the last half year the Missionary Church of Kopimism tripled its members from 1,000 to 3,000 and it’s expected that the recent news will cause another surge in followers. Official member or not, Gerson encourages everyone with an Internet connection to keep on sharing.

“We confessional Kopimists have not only depended on each other in this struggle, but on everyone who is copying information. To everyone with an internet connection: Keep copying. Maintain hardline Kopimi,” Gerson concludes.

Prospective followers who embrace the same calling are of course welcome to join the movement, free of charge.

A year ago Steven Levy suggested that Facebook should give us each a single “friend-list do-over.”

A lot of commenters challenged him. “Grow some balls and just unfriend people,” said one of the more even tempered readers. Another – “These comments are too constructive. Someone should just call this guy an idiot.”

Steven probably didn’t see that criticism coming, because he probably assumed people understand how difficult it is to unfriend people on Facebook at any sort of scale. You have to find the person, hover over the friend button, select unfriend and then click a confirmation.

That’s a few seconds, and when you are trying to remove hundreds, or thousands, or people you don’t know as friends, that takes Too Long. And so the friends stay, for the same reason that every clock in my house is off by an hour for half the year.

So, no, most of us aren’t going to spend the time removing friends on Facebook. Instead many of us are using new social networks, like Path (we’re an investor) and the upcoming Just.Me (we’re also investors, guess how much we like this space) to start fresh. Facebook is for thousands of people you don’t know. The start fresh new services can be finely crafted from the start to include only your actual friends. And they’re made for mobile. Update: Check out Ourspot as well.

Path and others are giving us what we want – A nice, sophisticated and diverse conversation with friends, like sitting together at a table just laughing and talking and drinking a latte. Facebook is more like the top picture above. Chaos.

I don’t like sweater vests, but I’ll take them over hordes of strangers yelling at me any day. I can politely ask that guy to take off that stupid vest anyway. Then everything would be perfect, really.

Sure, lots of people say this is our own fault for showing zero restraint on adding friends over the years. But what seemed like a fun “sure why not, this is adventurous!” in 2006 and 2007 when Facebook allowed open registrations now feels like a bad hangover.

Anyhow, Facebook today is so crowded and messy that no one ever goes there anymore. Or at least that’s what I imagine Yogi Berra would say.

So Facebook, I ask you. Give us the Steven Levy do-over. Or give it a Jack Welch twist and auto suggest we unfriend the 10% of our Facebook friends that we interact with the least once a year. Or both.

I promise, cross my heart and pinky swear, I’ll be more restrained and focused this time. I’ll realize the long term consequences of my more hasty why the hell not click yes decisions, and I won’t repeat my past sin of not saying “no” more often.

Ok, I may repeat past sins. But you can just let me start fresh again next year, right? That wouldn’t be so bad. I could live with that.

Because if you don’t, eventually Facebookers may not wanna come over to the site since it’s so crowded, and no one can stop ‘em. You can observe a lot just by watching. Facebook is 90% mental, but the other half is making me insane.

You’ve come to a fork in the road, Facebook, and you should take it.

Apple’s Senior Vice President of Design Jonathan Ive can add a new title to his resume: Sir Jonathan Ive. According to BBC, Ive was granted knighthood in the United Kingdom in the New Year Honours List. The report said that Ive’s official title is a Knight Commander of the British Empire. Ive, who was born and raised in the United Kingdom before moving to the United States to pursue design work, said that the honor is ‘absolutely thrilling.’

Ive credits his home country for some of his incredible design work: ‘I am keenly aware that I benefit from a wonderful tradition in the U.K. of designing and making.’ While Ive has had an extremely successful career in Cupertino, California as Apple’s design chief, recent rumors said the designer of the iPod, iMac, iPhone, and most recently the iPad, was considering a move back to the United Kingdom. Soon after those rumors, a reliable report claimed Ive would not be leaving…

Ive joins a long list of New Years 2012 Honours List members and John Patrick Richardson is the only other international KBE that accompanies him from outside of the United Kingdom. Richardson is known as a famous author and art historian. Notably, on the subject of Apple and knighthood, a report from early 2011 claimed that Apple cofounder Steve Jobs was in the final stages of receiving knighthood, but his honor and ‘Sir’ title was blocked at the last minute by Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown over Jobs refusal to speak at an event.

Jonathan Ive became the leader of Apple’s design team in 1996 and has since then transformed the company’s design philosophy. Newcastle Polytechnic awarded Ive with a Bachelor of Arts and an honorary doctorate. In addition, today’s United Kingdom-related award was not Ive’s first major award from the country. According to Ive’s official Apple biography, in 2003, he was named Designer of the Year by the Design Museum London and The Royal Society of Arts awarded him the title Royal Designer for Industry.

Screenshot from the Honours List for 2012:

Walter Isaacson’s biography of the Apple Cofounder and former CEO Steve Jobs, ‘Steve Jobs’, highlighted some of the interactions between Ive and Jobs, calling them ‘spiritual partners.’ According to Ive, Jobs would attempt to take credit for some of his ideas from time-to-time. ‘I pay maniacal attention to where an idea comes from, and I even keep notebooks filled with my ideas,’ Ive said. ‘So it hurts when he takes credit for one of my designs.’ In addition, the biography said that Jobs setup Apple’s internal organization so that Ive would have ‘more operation power’ than anyone else.

Many of Ive’s design principles and ideas are inspired by the great work of Dieter Rams. In 2009, Ive’s participated in a video interview for a film called ‘Objectified.’ In his portion of the film, embedded above, Ive discussed some of the work behind the unibody engineering efforts put into products like the MacBook Pro. Ive also discussed the simplicity of a product like the iPhone where the design ‘defers to the display.’ Ive also discussed how different materials affect overall product design motifs.

Summary: Facebook has responded to the leak of its Messenger for Windows application by simply releasing an official download. It’s a great way to downplay the leak while keeping users excited.

Mere hours after Facebook Messenger for Windows leaked, Facebook has released the official desktop client. Facebook contacted me and said the official Messenger for Windows download link is available from fbcdn_dragon-a.akamaihd.net.

Facebook would not confirm the version number with me, but given that the application updates automatically, I think Menlo Park made a decision to officially release it instead of trying to combat the leak. Smart move. This means that the screenshots I put together earlier today still apply: Facebook Messenger for Windows leaks (screenshots).

Facebook started testing the Messenger for Windows desktop client with a limited group of users last month. The application, which requires Windows 7, provides access to three main Facebook features: Facebook Chat, the new Ticker feed, and notifications. In addition to Windows 7, Facebook Messenger is also already available for Android, iPhone, and BlackBerry.

Facebook has hinted at a few upcoming features for the Windows flavor already: chatting with multiple friends, video calling, limiting chat availability, and editing settings. It’s not clear if the company will be making announcements for every new version or if they will be just quietly released like this first version.

So, what does this application require to keep you updated? First and foremost, you must be logged into Facebook. After you click on the blue “Log In” button pictured above, you will redirected to the facebook.com/desktop/login webpage where Facebook explains that Messenger for Windows requires you stay logged in so that it can deliver chat and notification messages to your desktop. This means you will stay logged into Facebook even after you close your browser. To log out of Facebook, you’ll need to actually do so from Facebook Messenger for Windows.

Facebook believes users want to use the social network’s real-time features without having to keep a browser window open. The social networking giant is clearly hoping that users will leave Messenger for Windows on throughout the day, probably since most Facebook addicts already do so with a browser tab. In addition to being a standalone application, Facebook Messenger for Windows can be snapped to the side of the screen; that’s probably why it only works for Windows 7.

The application was developed entirely by Facebook and does not constitute a new partnership with Microsoft, which is a big investor in Facebook. It’s not clear if Facebook will offer support for anything before Windows 7, or if it will simply move on towards Windows 8. Clients for Mac and Linux will likely only be released if the Windows 7 version proves popular.

Lytro's light field camera captures 'unprecedented' images, lets you choose focus later

THE world's fastest computer is being built in Japan — and it is as strong as a MILLION 

It's Japan again!!

Japanese "K Computer" becomes the World's Fastest Super Computer !! 

A Japanese supercomputer has become the fastest in the world, making calculations more than three times faster than a Chinese rival.It is capable of performing  8.162 quadrillion calculations per second, or 8.162 petaflops in computer jargon, according to developers Fujitsu Ltd. and the state-funded Institute of Physical and Chemical Research, known as RIKEN.

In doing so K Computer overtook China's Tianhe-1A of the National Supercomputing Centre in Tianjin, which became the world number-one in November and is capable of operating at 2.566 petaflops.

The K Computer's performance was recognized by the Top500 List of Supercomputers released on Monday at the 2011 International Super computing Conference in Hamburg, Germany, Fujitsu and RIKEN said in a statement.

It is the first Japanese supercomputer since 2004 to become the world's fastest, a symbolic moment for a nation proud of its cutting edge technology.

NEC's Earth Simulator was the world's fastest machine between June 2002 and November 2004.K Computer's developers say the machine will be powerful enough to tackle complex calculations relating to climate research and disaster prevention.

K Computer is still being configured and has been assembled since October 2010 at a RIKEN's facility in Kobe, western Japan, where it should be completed by June 2012, the statement said.

"Use of the K computer is expected to have a groundbreaking impact in fields ranging from global climate research, meteorology, disaster prevention, and medicine, thereby contributing to the creation of a prosperous and secure society," the statement added.

It is made up of 672 computer cabinets currently equipped with of 68,544 computer processing units (CPUs), Fujitsu and RIKEN said in a press release.

When finished, the machine will have more than 80,000 CPUs and be able to operate at 10 petaflops.

Fujitsu and RIKEN chiefs said in statements that the project, launched in 2006 with a total budget of about 112 billion yen ($1.4 billion), had overcome supply chain difficulties caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that devastation the country's northeast Tohoku region.

Fujitsu chairman Michiyoshi Mazuka said he was grateful to "our partners in the Tohoku region for their commitment to delivering a steady supply of components, even though they themselves were affected by the disaster."

RIKEN president Ryoji Noyori said: "I very much believe that the strength and perseverance that was demonstrated during this project will also make possible the recovery of the devastated Tohoku region."

Noyori, the 2001 Nobel laureate in chemistry, told a news conference later: "I am glad because the world number-one spot, by such an overwhelming margin, has proven that our country's industrial technology remains sound."

It's here folks -- the planet's first Android 3.2 tablet. Huawei just introduced a downright luscious new slate over in Singapore, with CommunicAsia being the launchpad for the 7-inch MediaPad. It's the first high-profile 7-inch tablet we've seen in quite some time, and somehow or another, it's managed to leapfrog most of the currently shipping Honeycomb tablets with a build of Android we've only everjoked about. Huawei tells us that Honeycomb 3.2 is essentially the same as 3.1, but specifically tailored to 7-inch tablets as opposed to 10-inch. Packed within the MediaPad's 10.5mm shell, there's a 217 pixels-per-inch IPS capacitive touchpanel, GPS, 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera, 5 megapixel rear-facing camera, 802.11n WiFi, a battery good for around six hours of life and a bona fide racehorse as a processor: a dual-core 1.2GHz chip from Qualcomm. If all goes well, it'll ship in the United States in Q3 2011.

It's a fair bit chunkier than the newfangled Galaxy Tab 10.1 (8.6mm), but still slimmer than the original Tab, which clocked in at 11.98mm. It weighs in at 390g (0.86 pounds), supports full 1080p playback, includes HSPA+ (14.4Mbps) 3G support, offers 8GB of internal storage (as well as a microSD slot) and comes pre-loaded with Facebook, Twitter, Let's Golf and Documents To Go. There's also a Bluetooth module, an HDMI output for catching those high-def flicks on the go, and the Flash 10.3 player ensures that those websites won't be a problem. Unfortunately, the company's left a great deal to the imagination -- like pricing, which is being "sorted with retail partners and providers" -- and all we've got for system RAM is a promise that it's "working with partners on specifics." Oddly enough, the company has "no current plans" to produce a WiFi-only model, which definitely puts a damper on those who aren't interested in ponying for carrier data. You can bet we'll be digging for more, but even with the surrounding mystery, calling us "excited" would be a severe understatement.

Nissho starts selling 52-inch, glasses-free 3D TV with Full HD resolution in Japan

Remember Dimenco? A four-man splinter group of former Philips employees, the company has been hard at work refining its glasses-free 3D display tech and today some of the earliest fruit of its labor is going on sale. Nissho Electronics in Japan is beginning sales of a 52-inch LCD panel that can pump out full 1080p of 3D vision without requiring any headgear from the viewer. Initially, this big lenticular display will target businesses, who'll be among the few to be able to afford the ¥1.7 million ($20,820) asking price. Other specs include a 2,000:1 contrast ratio, 8ms response time, 700 nits of brightness, and a 60Hz refresh rate. The 3D on this TV is actually described as a unique "2D + depth" implementation, which can also be used to convert 2D images in real time. Great, now take a zero out of that price, ship it westwards, and watch the sales really take off.

Android-based Cellular printer writes text messages on your wall (your real-life one)

Ever wish you could write on people's walls in real life? Behold the Cellular Wall Printer, a collection of felt markers that receives messages via Facebook, Twitter, and SMS, and then transcribes them across any flat surface. Here's how it works: seven individually controlled servo motors push the felt pens up and down to leave dots and dashes in their wake. The contraption is manually operated, and Liat Segal, the inventor, adds that there's a timing system to ensure the printer transcribes neatly, even if you are in motion. Most interesting, perhaps, is the fact that the rig is controlled by an Android application, and uses an IOIO board to connect the electronic components to an Android device. 

Forget OLPC, just give kids one of these things

The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project was an ambitious and forward-looking plan.  Unfortunately for all its ambition, it might have been a bit poorly executed.  The initial target cost of $100 ballooned to $188 per laptop.

However, a software great in Britain has devised [video] what could be the salvation of OLPC and similar future programs -- a fully functional computer that's as small as a USB stick and costs only $25 USD (£15) to make.

The tiny computer -- dubbed "Raspberry Pi" -- looks somewhat like a standard USB memory stick, as a USB 2.0 connector juts out of it.  But on the side it packs a SD/MMC/SDIO card reader to provide Flash storage (of course buying said storage might bump the price $10-$20).  And on the side opposite to the USB port an HDMI connector sits, capable of piping out 1080p video to a monitor/TV.

The little board has smartphone-esque hardware, with a 700MHz ARM11 processor and 128 MB of SDRAM packed in.  Specifics on the processor, including the manufacturer were not yet revealed.  The GPU also was not revealed, but it is said to be capable of handling OpenGL ES 2.0 (hence the 1080p output).

Mice/keyboards can be plugged in via the USB slot.  The computer runs a version of popular open-source Linux distribution Ubuntu 9 and comes with a variety of open source software tools (Iceweasel, KOffice, Python).

A closeup of the marvelous mini-computer, that's the size of a USB stick -- and almost as cheap as one.  (Source: p Raspberry Pi Foundation)

With a mouse, keyboard, and monitor/HDMI-compatible TV, a child is set to play on the device.  (Source: p Raspberry Pi Foundation)

The Raspberry Pi foundation plans to distribute the tiny PC to children in the UK, as well as third world children, though no solid release date has been announced yet.