Sorry, Smoky. Speeding tickets might become yesterday’s headache for drivers who use an automatic speed-limit detection system in the works from German electronics giant Siemens AG.
The system, expected to debut in as-yet-undisclosed cars in 2008, includes an onboard camera that reads speed limit signs. After it spots a sign, the system uses the car’s navigation system to check whether the number it detected is plausible: Should the speed limit really be 55 in this urban zone?
Once the limit is established, the system can alert drivers in a display beamed onto the windshield that they’re going too fast. Motorists also can let the system tap into the car’s cruise control and automatically reduce the speed to the posted limit.
Say goodbye to Eudora: The Eudora e-mail software has been around nearly 20 years, long before the Internet became a household word. Now, with its glory days behind, its owner is calling it quits.
Qualcomm Inc., the company best known as a pioneer of the CDMA technology that powers many of the world’s mobile phones, says the latest Eudora release will be its last commercial version, available at a cut-rate price of $19.95 with six months technical support.
Beginning next year, Eudora will evolve and incorporate code from Thunderbird, the free, open-source e-mail program from Mozilla Corp. New versions will be based entirely on Thunderbird code, and the software will be given away free.
Steve Dorner created the application in 1988 when he was a computer programmer at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and named it for writer Eudora Welty. San Diego-based Qualcomm bought Eudora in 1991, hired Dorner and made Eudora work on computers running Microsoft Corp.’s Windows as well as the original platform, Apple Computer Inc.’s Mac OS computers.
A host of other e-mail programs, including Outlook and Outlook Express from Microsoft, eclipsed Eudora long ago.
Nielsen targets another audience: The company known for tracking television viewers now plans to do the same thing with video games.
Nielsen Media Research on Wednesday announced an electronic rating service to track who is playing what game. The data will be collected from the same 10,000 sample households used for Nielsen’s television ratings.
Subscribers such as advertisers and video game makers will get a weekly ratings reports and charts showing the most popular games, as well as information about the type of console and the genre of the game.
New York-based Nielsen said it is still putting together a database of games to be monitored. The system, set for launch by the middle of next year, will work on the current and next-generation line of consoles from Microsoft Corp., Sony Corp. and Nintendo Co.
Advertisers have been looking for new ways to reach the lucrative demographic of video game players, and ads have been appearing within games. Company officials said the service will give advertisers a precise way to measure their reach.
Got my degree from Radio Shack U: RadioShack Corp. is turning to online classes to help consumers navigate the confusing world of technology.
Consumers can learn how to edit digital photos, choose and set up high-definition televisions, buy a new computer and explore satellite radio. The free classes announced Wednesday will have staggered start dates beginning this month and November.
Participants who sign up online can take the courses at their own pace but it shouldn’t take more than a month to complete. The classes will be moderated by instructors with experience in the specific topics, company officials said.
The hope is that shoppers will use their newfound wisdom to buy products from RadioShack.
The announcement comes amid a rebuilding effort at Fort Worth, Texas-based RadioShack.
In February, former Chief Executive Officer Dave Edmondson resigned after questions were raised about the accuracy of his resume. In August, RadioShack laid off 400 workers by e-mail.
And so far this year, the company has shuttered nearly 500 stores and suffered from a string of disappointing earnings reports.
AOL sees money in youth: AOL’s portals targeted at kids and teens will soon be available for free as the company continues its chase for online advertising dollars.
The teen-oriented Red service formally launches Friday at beRed.com, while KOL for kids ages 6-12 and KOL Jr. for those 2-5 kicks off Tuesday at kol.com and koljunior.com.
When AOL started giving away its content nearly two years ago, it kept kids-oriented services restricted, figuring parents would be willing to pay for peace of mind. But after seeing its subscriber base plunge anyway, the Time Warner Inc. online unit decided in August to make those portals and other features free as well.
Since then, AOL began giving away AOL.com e-mail accounts and software such as parental controls. The firm expects to make its Latino site free by year’s end.
The shift to free will expose kids and teens to more ads – even for those who continue to pay as much as $26 a month for Internet access.
A news place to speak your mind: Politicians always say every vote counts. But what about every video?
Atlanta-based ViTrue and Friendster are hoping to build buzz by allowing political junkies to post their own campaign videos online.
More popular sites such as News Corp.’s MySpace.com and YouTube.com, which Google Inc. is buying, also allow video, including politically oriented clips.
The ViTrue videos would appear both at ViTrue’s Sharkle.com and at Friendster, a pioneer in social networking that now lags behind MySpace and Facebook in usage.
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