Google today resurrected ancient Rome online, opening a three-dimensional virtual version of the city for cyber-explorers interested in trips back through time.

People using free Google Earth software can seemingly fly past more than 6500 buildings that stood in the city at the peak of the Roman Empire in 320 AD.

Online visitors can swoop in for close-ups of structures and peruse pop-up information "bubbles" written by historians.

Some buildings feature full interiors. Internet surfers can visit the Roman Forum; linger in the Colosseum; pass through the Arch of Constantine and follow in the footsteps of gladiators in the Ludus Magnus.

Rome is the first ancient city recreated at Google Earth, an interactive online Atlas that provides tools and technology that enable people to explore the world.

To commemorate the launch, Google is inviting US educators to take part in a contest promising prizes for innovative lesson plans based on the virtual Ancient Rome feature.

AFP

Fire Eagle, Yahoo's new geolocation service, is fresh out of the company's Brickhouse development team, and third parties are lining up to cut deals.

Who can deny that location is going to become increasingly important for Web services? In the initial rush of coverage, MG Siegler correctly noted that Fire Eagle essentially serves as the intermediary between services offering that geolocation capability and those wishing to make use of it. (Fire Eagle's not an original idea.
There's also Loopt, a cell phone-based service that allows people to track and communicate with friends, as well as Whrrl and Brightkite.)

So this is progress? Maybe it's just my particular hangup but, truth be told, knowing that "they" (and that includes friends and family) may be watching me does not fill me with much enthusiasm. Sometimes it's comforting just being off the grid. I don't think I missed something growing up in a Fire Eagle-less world and I'm in no hurry to change now.

From a business perspective, Yahoo probably has a winner. Whether it's Fire Eagle or a better, similar incarnation by someone else, this is another signpost of a future where we choose from a panoply of location-based services. From what I understand of Fire Eagle, I can't find any evidence that it won't succeed. Already, more than 50 services make use of the Fire Eagle technology and more will follow. Unfortunately, don't you just know that some marketing go-getter is going to figure out a way to exploit location-based programs to shove targeted advertising (and spam, naturally) down our throats as we navigate around town. Again, you don't have to play. And you can shut the darned thing off for a time. Still...

The reassuring part is that Fire Eagle is permission-based. And Tom Coates, who joined Yahoo from the BBC to serve as product director at Yahoo's Brickhouse, said all the right things about protecting privacy rights at the Fire Eagle debut. The service does allow you to restrict location reporting or even shut it down for a period of time.

Without that variable privacy feature, Fire Eagle would be one more hellish intrusion into our already over-snooped, overwrought lives.

So now, Yahoo's (rightly) taking a "let 1,000 flowers bloom" approach by opening up the APIs to the rest of the Internet, and the wisdom of the free market will decide the matter. For better, or for worse. We'll see.

From: Yes, Fire Eagle's cool. It also freaks me out
By: Charles Cooper

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer says any notion of the software giant acquiring Yahoo is a thing of the past.

Yahoo chief executive Jerry Yang this week said it was in Microsoft's best interests to lodge another bid for the global internet company, after its failed bid earlier this year.

Mr Yang's comments in the US came after a proposed advertising partnership between Yahoo and Google was scrapped to avoid a legal battle with US regulators.

Speaking at a business lunch in Sydney today, Mr Ballmer said Microsoft had moved on after its rejected Yahoo acquisition bid.

"We made an offer, we made another offer, and it was clear that Yahoo didn't want to sell the business to us and we moved on," Mr Ballmer said.

"We are not interested in going back and re-looking at an acquisition. I don't know why they would be either, frankly. They turned us down at $33 a share."

Yahoo shares last traded at $US13.96 on the New York stock exchange.

However, Mr Ballmer did raise the notion of a Microsoft and Yahoo partnership in the search engine market.

"I'm sure there are still some opportunities for some kind of partnership around search, but I think acquisition is a thing of the past."

Mr Ballmer took a swipe at internet search providers, saying Microsoft saw an opportunity to "reinvent the whole darn thing".

"If anybody thinks the future of search is going to look like the present search, that's crazy.

"The user interface on search hasn't changed for six years. You still get the same dull, boring ten blue links for God's sake. Can't we do any better than that?"

The average English language search was 2.2 words because users had worked out that "search engines are so dumb that if you tell them more they actually do a worse job", he said.

"Everybody needs a good competitor, and we just want the other guys in this business to have a good competitor that they have to think about every day," Mr Ballmer said.

Meanwhile, the Microsoft boss said optimism could soften the damage of the global slowdown.

"You have got to get out of the sense of pessimism and back into a sense of optimism.

"As long as we are still in the downward spiral, where people don't see the light at the end of the tunnel, we are going to get job cuts and unemployment."

He said Barack Obama's presidential election win could be a catalyst for change.

On the local broadband debate, he simply stated high speed broadband was "very important".

"We need high speed broadband networks," Mr Ballmer said.

The federal government's process of selecting a builder for its national broadband network has repeatedly been delayed, while the potential bidders have been debating the logistics and details of the massive infrastructure project.

The federal government will contribute $4.7 billion to the project, aimed at delivering high-speed internet to 98 per cent of the population.

Apple announced on Tuesday that the employee credited with being the "father of the iPod" is stepping down from his post at the iconic California company.

Apple said iPod division vice president Tony Fadell and his wife, Danielle Lambert, who is vice president of the company's human resources department, are "reducing their roles" to "devote more time to their young family."

While the spotlight routinely shines on Apple's notoriously involved chief executive Steve Jobs, Fadell is said to be the one behind the idea for iPod MP3 players that rocketed to global success and revived the company's fortunes.

"Tony and Dani have each made important contributions to Apple over the past eight years," Jobs said in a release.

"We're sorry to see Dani go, and are looking forward to working with Tony in his new capacity."

Lambert is to leave Apple at the end of the year and Fadell is to become an advisor to Jobs.

IBM executive Mark Papermaster has been hired to replace Fadell. Papermaster's former employer is challenging the move on the grounds Papermaster is contractually restricted from working for a competitor.

AFP

Quarterly sales of notebook computers have topped those of desktop computers for the first time ever in the United States, market intelligence firm IDC reported on Wednesday.

IDC said notebook sales made up 55.2 per cent of computer sales in the July to September quarter, 18 percent growth over the same period last year and the first time they have surpassed 50 per cent.

It said a record 9.5 million notebooks were shipped during the quarter.

"These figures were reached amid a relatively active back-to-school season and the burgeoning financial crisis, which captured headlines but did not immediately affect the PC market's performance," the IDC said.

"The consumer market continued to be the top driving factor in the notebook offensive but the commercial sector played a critical role too," IDC research manager David Daoud said.

"Prolonged economic tension could have an adverse effect on the PC space leading to reduced growth, but the good news is that virtually every buyer considers PCs as must-have products and not a secondary wish-list items," he added.

AFP

A draft US Army intelligence report has identified the popular micro-blogging service Twitter, Global Positioning System maps and voice-changing software as potential terrorist tools.

The report by the 304th Military Intelligence Battalion, posted on the website of the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), examines a number of mobile and web technologies and their potential uses by militants.

The posting of the report on the FAS site was reported Friday by Wired magazine contributing editor Noah Shachtman on his national security blog "Danger Room" at wired.com.

The report is not based on clandestine reporting but drawn from open source intelligence known as OSINT.

A chapter on "Potential for Terrorist Use of Twitter" notes that Twitter members sent out messages, known as "Tweets," reporting the July Los Angeles earthquake faster than news outlets and activists at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis used it to provide information on police movements.

"Twitter has also become a social activism tool for socialists, human rights groups, communists, vegetarians, anarchists, religious communities, atheists, political enthusiasts, hacktivists and others to communicate with each other and to send messages to broader audiences," the report said.

Hacktivists refers to politically motivated computer hackers.

"Twitter is already used by some members to post and/or support extremist ideologies and perspectives," the report said.

"Extremist and terrorist use of Twitter could evolve over time to reflect tactics that are already evolving in use by hacktivists and activists for surveillance," it said. "This could theoretically be combined with targeting."

The report outlined scenarios in which militants could make use of Twitter, combined with such programs as Google Maps or mobile phone pictures or video, to carry out an ambush or detonate explosives.

"Terrorists could theoretically use Twitter social networking in the US as an operation tool," it said. "However, it is unclear whether that same theoretical tool would be available to terrorists in other countries and to what extent."

Besides Twitter, the report examined the potential use by militants of Global Positioning Systems and other technologies.

"GPS mobile phone service could be used by our adversaries for travel plans, surveillance and targeting," it said, noting that just such uses have been discussed in pro-al-Qaeda forums along with the use of voice-changing software.

"Terrorists may or may not be using voice-changing software but it should be of open source interest that online terrorist and/or terrorist enthusiasts are discussing it," the report said.

The Bluetooth technology has obviously being one of the latest and necessary technology trends, which you can easily find it on the mobile phones, sunglasses and now on the motorcyclists' helmets as well.

As one of the motorcyclists, I loved to drive my bike to my workplace three times a week, where it can help me to reduce the expenses of high oil price. Well, when I'm driving my car, I can easily answer to my mobile phone calls with hands-free without even needing to picki it up.
However, it will become a difficulty if I'm driving my bike, as I need to stop at the roadside and answering my phone calls!



I knew there is something out there that can help me overcome this hassle and I've finally found it. Guys, let's meet this amazing Parrot Bluetooth, SK4000 model. This is a Bluetooth enabled earpiece, which is specially designed for the motorcyclists!

By wearing it, you can answer to any incoming phone calls without even needing to stop your bike on the roadside and you can listen to MP3 music while there is no phone call.

Yeah, I know this is a cool stuff and I have waiting for it to be released. I will keep you all inform about the release date for this Parrot SK4000 model!

Apple has reported a 26 per cent profit jump in the last quarter thanks in large part to sales of its new iPhone 3G which outsold the market-leading BlackBerry smartphone from Research in Motion Ltd.

Apple sold a staggering 6.9 million of its iPhone 3Gs in the quarter, more than the 6.1 million total first-generation iPhones sold. The iPhone launched July 11 and is available in more than 50 countries.

Research in Motion reported it sold 6.1 million BlackBerry smart phones in the quarter that ended August 30.

Edward Jones analyst Bill Kreher said overtaking RIM in such short order was a "tremendous accomplishment".

"It's jaw-dropping," Kreher said.

On a conference call with analysts, chief executive Steve Jobs claimed the result made Apple the world's third largest mobile phone company, based on revenues.

"But even more remarkable is this: measured by revenues, Apple has become the world's third largest mobile phone supplier. I know this sounds crazy, but it's true. As measured in revs, not units, Apple has become the third largest mobile phone supplier."

Based on revenues, Nokia and Samsung are first and second.

Apple also set quarterly records for Macintosh and iPod sales. Apple said it sold 2.6 million Macs and 11.1 million iPods, further allaying fears that the sluggish economy would weigh on Apple's back-to-school sales.

California-based Apple's profit reached $US1.14 billion ($A1.62 billion), or $US1.26 per share. Sales jumped 27 per cent to $US7.9 billion ($A11.2 billion) in the three months that ended in September.

Despite the blockbuster performance, which sent Apple's shares soaring in after-hours trading, the company issued what it called "prudent" predictions for the current quarter, because of broader economic uncertainty.

On the conference call, Jobs addressed concerns that economic weakness will eat into Apple's business through the holidays and beyond.

Jobs said Apple's customers are more likely to put off buying a new computer than to defect to other brands of PCs with lower prices. Apple, which is sitting on about $US25 billion in cash, could use the downturn to invest in research and development, he said.

"We may get buffeted around by the waves a little bit, but we'll be fine," Jobs said.

The company said Mac sales growth was hit as educational institutions cut back on computer purchases, and as regular consumers waited for news of new laptops, which Apple unveiled last week.

Apple's profit topped Wall Street's expectations, but sales missed. Thomson Reuters says analysts had expected the company to sell $US8 billion ($A11.35 billion) worth of Macintosh computers, iPods, iPhones and other gadgets, for a profit of $US1.11 per share.

The iPhone has become a virtual goldmine for budding software developers.

The iPhone App Store - like iTunes but without the music - allows iPhone users to buy third-party plug-in applications to expand the functionality of their devices.

Virtually anyone can create an application and list it on the App Store for sale or as a free download.

Games have fast become the most popular applications. Trism, a $5 puzzle game similar to Bejeweled, earned $US250,000 in profit in just two months, its creator, Steve Demeter, announced at the Mobilize conference in San Francisco last month.

Applications on the iPhone are usually small, simple ideas that can easily be built by software developers or by paid contractors for a small fee. There are more than 3000 applications to choose from so far and that number is booming as developers realise their money-making potential.

Mick Johnson, 28, born in Townsville but educated in Sydney, works as a marketing manager for an internet start-up in Silicon Valley and develops an iPhone application in the evenings.

"I don't sleep much. Sleep is for the weak," he said in a telephone interview.

Johnson's partners are two other geeks in Sydney and another in California. Their project is a tool called GasBag, which pinpoints the user's location on a map using the iPhone's built-in GPS and shows them all of the petrol stations in that area, including fuel prices.

GasBag relies on users to enter fuel prices when they are filling up or driving past a petrol station.

The app, supported by advertising, has already been launched in the US and Johnson said he was aiming to have an Australian version by next month. More than 100,000 users had signed up to the US version in under six weeks.

"We reckon we can monetise this to the tune of between $1 to $5 per user per year," Johnson said.

"We got 100,000 [users] in six weeks ... we grow at 2000-2500 users a day and that's just for the US."

Another popular iPhone app is Tap Tap Revenge, a music rhythm game in the tradition of Guitar Hero that is free to download and counts more than 2 million users. It is also supported by advertising.

Andrew Lacy, an Australian living in Silicon Valley, is the chief operating officer of the game's developer, Tapulous.

Tapulous is keeping mum on how much profit it makes but its CEO, Bart Decrem, recently told Wired that top iPhone apps made roughly $US5000 to $US10,000 a day.

New Zealand artist David Frampton's $7.99 helicopter game, Chopper, launched in July was earning Frampton $4000 a day, The Australian Financial Review reported.

But not everyone is in it for the money. Dean Robinson, 24, a web developer at the University of Newcastle, created an application called Hahlo as a way of "getting my name out there".

Hahlo is a version of the Twitter messaging tool optimised for the iPhone. It's free, contains no advertising and now services 150,000 users a month, Robinson said.

"One of the main reasons [for not placing advertising] was the limited screen space; I didn't want to fill it up with ads and push people away," he said.

Building apps and widgets for large internet and mobile phone platforms has become a thriving industry following the introduction of "applications" on Facebook, which was soon copied by MySpace.

Facebook has created an "FBFund" grant program, offering some of the best application developers between $US25,000 to $US250,000 each from a total pool of $US10 million in grant money.

On mobiles, the iPhone App Store is rivalled by a similar store for phones based on Google's Android platform. Research in Motion is also working on an "application centre" for its BlackBerry devices.

Apple, which takes a 30 per cent cut from all App Store sales, has been heavily criticised for rejecting certain applications for arbitrary reasons or because they compete with Apple's own products.

The company earned $US30 million from sales of iPhone applications in the App Store's first month of operation, CEO Steve Jobs told The Wall Street Journal.

Scientists have revealed the sharpest ever image taken of Jupiter from the ground.

The incredible image reveals changes in the gas giant's smog-like haze, probably in response to a planet-wide upheaval more than a year ago.

It was taken using a new image-correction technique that removed atmospheric blur over a two-hour observation.

A series of 265 snapshots were captured using a prototype instrument, the Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics Demonstrator (MAD), mounted on ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT).

The new images of Jupiter prove the value of the advanced technology used by MAD, which uses two or more guide stars instead of one as references to remove the blur caused by atmospheric turbulence.

'This type of adaptive optics has a big advantage for looking at large objects, such as planets, star clusters or nebulae,' says lead researcher Franck Marchis, from UC Berkeley, California.

'If it were not for MAD, we would not have been able to perform these amazing observations.'

MAD allowed the researchers to observe Jupiter for almost two hours on 16 and 17 August 2008, a record duration, according to the observing team.

Conventional systems using a single Jupiter moon as reference cannot monitor Jupiter for so long because the moon moves too far from the planet.

The Hubble Space Telescope cannot observe Jupiter continuously for more than about 50 minutes.

Using MAD, ESO astronomer Paola Amico, MAD project manager Enrico Marchetti and Sébastien Tordo from the MAD team tracked two of Jupiter's largest moons, Europa and Io.

'It was the most challenging observation we performed with MAD, because we had to track with high accuracy two moons moving at different speeds, while simultaneously chasing Jupiter,' says Marchetti.

With this unique series of images, the team found a major alteration in the brightness of the haze around Jupiter's equator, compared with images taken by the Hubble Telescope in 2005.

The Hubble images show more haze in the northern half of the bright Equatorial Zone, while the 2008 new images show a clear shift to the south.

'The change we see in the haze could be related to big changes in cloud patterns associated with last year's planet-wide upheaval, but we need to look at more data to narrow down precisely when the changes occurred,' team member Mike Wong said.