IBM SNAzzy Knows Your Circle of Friends Better Than You Do [Privacy]

That heavy breathing you hear on the phone sometimes? It's IBM.

Specifically, it's the IBM Social Network Analysis for Telecom Business Intelligence data mining tool, or SNAzzy for short, and it knows all about who called who and for how long on the network of "one of the largest mobile operators in the world."

The purpose of this snazzy snooping, as explained by Big Blue researchers, is to spot "churners" on a cell network who might influence their circle of friends with "profit-threatening behavior." The reasoning goes that when one person ditches a cell network for greener pastures, they can inspire their friends to do the same. Enter SNAzzy, which can apparently recognize this behavior, alert the carrier, and allow them to swoop in with retention materials and keep their remaining customers happy. It does this by mapping out call behavior, time, and a bunch of other heavy metrics that seem to be copy/pasted right out of the NSA.

Better still (I say sarcastically), IBM is already eying larger deployments beyond telecoms into areas like social networks. Personally, I can't wait to see what my Facebook picture stalking looks like when presented to me in graph form. [IBM va Slashdot]

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Rumor: Nikon VP650 Camera/Projector Combo to Be Revealed This Week [Rumor]

CrunchGear was reporting earlier today that a big "groundbreaking" Nikon event was coming our way this week, and now we might know what, exactly, all the fuss is about: It's a camera/projector hybrid called the VP650.

The big rumor/tip comes from someone at the French photo magazine Chausseur D'Image, which has some established Nikon rumor cred thanks to a D300 specs scoop that they ran in their July issue (before anyone else, notes Crunch). Their next issue apparently features the VP650, and this is what the source is saying Nikon will "break ground" with this week.

The combo unit would officially drop in August, to be shipped to consumers by September. The camera would sport an LED projector, would have a compact size/form factor, and is capable of producing 8x12in. pictures in a dark environment. So, a camera with a projector built in. Is that "groundbreaking" to you? It's certainly interesting, to say the least. [Nikon Rumors via CrunchGear]

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Intel discontinuing Z-series Atoms?

It's sourced from Digitimes, so don't get too worked up, but word on the street is that Intel's no longer accepting orders for Z-series Atom chips. If you'll remember Intel's initial distinctions, the Z-series was for MIDs and the familiar N-series was for netbooks, but since the Z-series didn't carry the same max hardware restrictions as the N-series, it became popular in a whole host of devices that didn't fit the traditional mold, like the Sony VAIO P and the ASUS Eee PC T91. Of course, Intel's got the next-gen Pine Trail Atom platform on tap, so killing the Zs might not have a huge impact in general, but it's just one more nail in the MID coffin.

[Via SlashGear]

Filed under: Laptops

Intel discontinuing Z-series Atoms? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 01 Aug 2009 01:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HP Compaq's $300 laptop reviewed, makes strong case to bypass netbook

For all intents and purposes, HP's Compaq Presario CQ60 is a pretty unremarkable laptop -- but slap a $300 price tag on it like Walmart has done, a price comparable to most netbooks on the market, and that reframes the entire conversation. Computer Shopper has gotten some hands-on time with the machine, and while not spectacular, it seems to outperform Intel Atom-based machines. You're still not gonna be able to do much more than check your email and browse the web, though, and the tradeoff for having a 15.6-inch display and DVD burner is a bulkier, less travel-friendly form factor. Still, this seems to do an apt job at filling in that gap between netbook and laptop, and we're sure someone out there will appreciate or feeling nostalgic over that modem jack.

Filed under: Laptops

HP Compaq's $300 laptop reviewed, makes strong case to bypass netbook originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 02 Aug 2009 00:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows Mobile 6.5, HTC Touch Diamond2, and Flash collide on video

Remember that pretty Windows Mobile 6.5-ish skin for AT&T's Warhawk (a.k.a. HTC Touch Diamond2) we saw last week? Looks like it (or another very similar skin) is ready to make another appearance. The Inquirer managed to get a walkthrough of what's being called the final build of WinMo 6.5, and while there isn't a lot of new functionality shown -- large portions of the video are devoted to My Phone syncing and QR codes -- we do get to seem a few Zune inspired ideas and a brief glimpse of how it handles flash. It's still on track for release by Christmas, and if you want your glimpse now, check out the video after the break.

Continue reading Windows Mobile 6.5, HTC Touch Diamond2, and Flash collide on video

Filed under: Cellphones

Windows Mobile 6.5, HTC Touch Diamond2, and Flash collide on video originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 02 Aug 2009 03:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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JKWedding Video was real but viral effect was manufactured

originally investigated and reported by Augustine Fou, with Tugce Esener @tesener Chris Brown is successfully tapping into the viral halo of a funny video that coincidentally used his song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0 ReadWriteWeb article on how rights owners (Sony, Chris Brown) can make viral profits on other people using their work instead of suing them - http://bit.ly/KA3HI The video was real. But promotional activities (possibly/likely paid) created the initial viral effect (led to the tipping point of the viral effect) which then got carried a further by people thinking they were simply late to the party, including myself (e.g. 440k bit.ly clicks and 3k detectable retweets out of the 13M views). The numbers don't jive. The viral halo has added 1 million more views to the video from August 1 - August 2. (13.1 M to 14.5 M) Ten ELEVEN TWELVE proof points to follow, each with screen shot to illustrate. 1. see the fine print in the YouTube description -- For more information or to make a donation towards violence prevention please visit our website: http://www.jkweddingdance.com/ -- why would a normal wedding video ask people to make a donation towards violence prevention? (see screen capture below), the WHOIS record shows the domain jkweddingdance.com was created 29-Jul-09 -- today is 31-Jul-09

Continue reading about the digital forensics used to detect this really good fake ...

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For conspiracy theorists - Chris Brown's #JKWedding video was real, but viral effect was manufactured - http://bit.ly/8K9pW - whaddya think?

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http://bit.ly/8K9pW - the only example of a viral video that actually drove sales #jkweddingdance

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Would you be embarrassed to serve Trader Joe's branded wine even if the wine was actually awesome? Give a shout out in comments.

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@jbruin - JK Wedding Dance Phenomenon was no phenomenon at all - http://bit.ly/8K9pW

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