Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Friday, May 02, 2008

Chinese Facebook Clone Xiaonei Raises $430 Million

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/281174754/

Chinese social networking site Xiaonei has raised $430 million in funding from Softbank, according to a report from VentureBeat.

Xiaonei was founded in December 2005 by Qinghua University graduates Wang Xing, Wang Huiwen, Lai Binqiang and Jacky, then was acquired by Oak Pacific Interactive in 2006 for an undisclosed sum. As of November 2007, the site was said to be the most popular social networking site among university students in China, with 15 million registered users and 8.8 million active users.

The company likes to call itself the Facebook of China, and we’d never guess why (note, shot as run through Google Translate, they don’t offer an English version from what I could see):

CrunchBase Information

Xiaonei

Information provided by CrunchBase

Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.

Benq C36 Cellphone Thinks it's a Webcam and Radio Recorder Too [Cellphones]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/281470232/benq-c36-cellphone-thinks-its-a-webcam-and-radio-recorder-too

Benq's new C36 cellphone is labelled a "Music Phone" but it also squeezes in a 1.3 megapixel webcam function and has a built-in FM radio with a recording function. This last even has a scheduling function, so you won't miss your shows. It plays MP3s, WAV, MIDI and AMR, has a 2-inch color LCD, built-in speakers, records voice notes, has microSD memory expansion and 180 hours standby and 2.4 hour talk time. The phone even has a "Health management" option, dealing with BMI and menstrual matters—we'd love to have been at the design meeting where they dreamed that up. The little 0.17-pound phone is available in blue, in Indonesia in May at first, with other countries to follow. No info on pricing. [Benq via TFTS]

Dragon Power Station Harnesses Kinetic Energy From Passing Vehicles to Power Stuff [Energy]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/281596556/dragon-power-station-harnesses-kinetic-energy-from-passing-vehicles-to-power-stuff

Terry Kenney's Dragon Power Station prototype works by harnessing the kinetic energy of trucks passing over plates buried in the road and turning that energy into electricity. The system he's got set up now in the Port of Oakland, with 2,500 trucks passing over it in a day, is enough to power 1,750 homes. It's a very interesting concept that can be extended to busier streets, harnessing a little bit of the energy that would otherwise be lost.

It's not all free energy, however, as these trucks slow down ever-so-slightly as they depress the plates in the road. TreeHugger supposes that this would be even better for the times when you actually do want to slow down, like going down a hill, where they could load up on these plates and slow down cars enough to not have to ride the brakes the whole way. Sounds good to us. [Treehugger]

CTL IL1 Netbook $50 Cheaper Than Eee PC, Has Better Specs [Netbook]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/281714375/ctl-il1-netbook-50-cheaper-than-eee-pc-has-better-specs

Ultraportables or netbooks as Intel is wont to call them, are officially a dime a dozen now, but an upcoming model, the IL1 from CTL (who's making the Classmate 2) looks like it might shake up the market, at least a bit, if being the cheapest thing around is the bottom line. A 1GHz Via processor, 1GB of RAM, 4GB SSD or 60GB HDD plus an SD card reader, with Linux or Windows XP. The screen's Eee-sized, an LED-backlit 7-inch LCD, all for "less than $350." It's also got less of a kiddie or toy-look to it than either the Classmate or Eee PC, which might be a selling point for suits. Full stat smatter below.

CPU & PLATFORM Via C7-M 1000MhZ Processor Bios: 1MB Flash Rom Via VX800U Chipset ACPI 2.0 Power Management
MEMORY
1GB SO-DIMM
200 Pin Socketx1
200-pin socket x 1

VIDEO
7" LCD, 800x480
Embedded Graphics
Color LCD TFT, LED Backlight
Dual Display Support through 15 Pin D-Sub out

STORAGE
4GB Solid State Flash Drive
Supports boot from Card Reader and USB
2USB Ports
USB2.0 Interface for external storage

WIRELESS LAN
WI-FI 802.11 B/G
Mini Card form factor, single antenna

AUDIO
Integrated Mono Microphone
Microphone in and Line out
2 integrated 1-watt speakers

I/O Ports
2 USB 2.0 Ports
1x RJ-45 10/100 LAN
56K Modem
1/8" External microphone-in jack
1/8" External headphone jack
3-in-1 SD/MMC Memory Card Reader

Operating System
Microsoft Windows XP Ready
Supports Linux

Dimensions & Power
Size: 9.6"W x 6.8" x 1.7"
Weight: 2.6 LBS
4-cell Li-Ion Battery
Approx 4.5 Hours Typical Usage

Other
Integrated Camera
30FPS @640x480, .03M
Integrated Microphone

[CTL]

JVC Makes First Super Hi-Vision Display, 16 Times Full HD Resolution [Super Hi-vision]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/281985491/jvc-makes-first-super-hi+vision-display-16-times-full-hd-resolution

JVC's new Direct-Drive Image Light Amplifier can produced images at a staggering 8192 x 4320 resolution—that's 35 megapixels, or around 16 times more than full HD. In fact, JVC are saying the little single-device reflective liquid crystal imager has the highest resolution in the World, and the first to enable projectors to produce "Super Hi-Vision" images. The technology behind it has been worked on since 2003, refining the pixel count and contrast upwards with each generation. Last year JVC made a 1.27-inch 4096 x 2400 version, which went on sale in a projector in February 2008. So does this mean we'll see the new 1.75-inch, 20,000:1 version in projectors soon? Very likely, but we expect you'll find it in professional projector gear, rather than for your home. [Akihabaranews]

AT&T WiFi hotspots free to iPhone owners, anyone with a brain

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/281466053/

Filed under: Cellphones, Networking

Now that AT&T has full control of wireless hotspots like Starbucks and Barnes and Nobles, it looks like they're doling out freebies to their favorite customers: iPhone users. Apparently, if you've got one of Apple's devices, you can hop on the WiFi networks for exactly zero dollars provided you enter your phone number at a login screen. Great for iPhone owners, but a raw deal for everyone else, right? Not so fast, apparently a dumb hack gets you the service on the house too -- just switch your browser's user agent to Mobile Safari, and presto! Free internet. We can't imagine this is a hole that won't get plugged real fast, so get it while the gettin's good.

[Via TUAW]

Read - AT&T Providing Free Wi-Fi Access to iPhone Users
Read - Hotspot hack

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Researchers tout progress towards graphene-based gadgets

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/281538070/

Filed under: Displays, Misc. Gadgets

We've heard researchers tout the many benefits of graphene before, and it doesn't look like they're showing any signs of letting up, with a group from the University of Manchester now boasting that they've made even more progress with the material that was created only a few years ago. Specifically, they've apparently found a way to develop graphene-based films (an alternative to the current indium-based options) more cheaply by simply "dissolving" chunks of graphite into graphene and then "spraying the suspension onto a glass surface." What's more, the researchers say that there are only a "few small, incremental steps" remaining before the graphene film is ready for the mass production stage, after which they say we could be seeing graphene-based LCD products within "a few years." As you may recall, this all follows some similar developments from researchers at the Max Planck Institute in Germany, although their method apparently "involved several extra steps," and they weren't making any promises about actual products turning up anytime soon.

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Researchers design "malicious circuits," warn of potential risk

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/281623942/

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

We've already seen a few viruses delivered via hardware, but a group of researchers from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are now warning that we may not have seen anything yet. As New Scientist reports, they've apparently managed to develop their own "malicious circuits," which they say can interfere with a computer at a deeper level than a virus, and completely bypass traditional anti-virus software. To accomplish that slightly unsettling feat, the researchers created a replica of the open source Leon3 processor, and added about 1,000 malicious circuits not present in the original processor. Once they hooked that up to another computer they were apparently not only able to swipe passwords from memory, but install malware that would allow the operating system to be remotely controlled as well. Of course, they admit that sneaking such malicious circuits onto a chip isn't exactly an easy proposition, given that someone would either need to have access to a chip during its manufacturing process, or have the ability to manufacture their own. Or, as the project's lead researcher puts it, it's "not something someone would carry out on weekends."

[Via TG Daily, image courtesy Actel]

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SUNRGI, University of Tel Aviv boast of solar power advances

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/281649700/

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

It looks like we've got a bit of intercontinental solar power action today, with Silicon Valley start-up SUNRGI and the University of Tel Aviv both recently boasting of some advances in the field, which they each unsurprisingly say could change things in a big way. For its part, SUNRGI claims that its "concentrated photovoltaic" system (pictured above) can produce as much electricity as much larger solar panels thanks to its use of lenses that magnify sunlight 2,000 times. That, they say, could allow the system to produce electricity for as little as 7 cents per kilowatt hour, or roughly the same price as coal -- and as soon as mid-2009, no less. Not to be outdone, some scientists at the University of Tel Aviv say they've managed to create some super-efficient photovoltaic cells of their own that cost "at least a hundred times less than conventional silicon based devices." The key to their system, it seems, is the use of some good old fashioned photosynthesis, which they were able to achieve not-so-old-fashionedly with the aid of some genetically engineered proteins and a little bit of nanotechnology. As with SUNRGI, they're also promising to get the system out the door as soon as possible, with them reportedly aiming to get a "cost effective" 10mm X 10mm device produced "within three years."

Read - USA Today, "Start-up: Affordable solar power possible in a year"
Read - EETimes, "Researchers claim photovoltaic cell advance"

[Via Next Big Future, thanks Jonathan]

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