Discovery Blazes One Last Trail

The space shuttle Discovery may be the most successful spacecraft in history. She launched the Hubble telescope and carried more crews safely to and from space than any other ship. She was first to bring a satellite back to Earth; first to have a female pilot at the helm; first to carry the oldest person into space -- 77-year-old John Glenn; first to host an African-American space walker; and first to fly a member of Congress into orbit, Utah Senator Jake Garn.

Just shy of 40 successful space journeys, the NASA shuttle Discovery headed to the International Space Station (ISS) Thursday on a final mission that followed repair problems and bad weather.

Known as "STS-133," Discovery's last voyage will take 11 days. The shuttle is delivering a variety of parts and modules to the space station and carrying an interesting hitchhiker --a humanoid robot named "Robonaut 2," or "R2."

"Discovery's final flight involves delivery of a last few components to the ISS," said Stevens Institute of Technology space systems engineering professor Debra Lepore, former lead engineer for the technical panel of the U.S. Congressional Space Launch Modernization Plan.

"The components can house science experiments, help expand laboratory capabilities, and increase storage space," Lepore told TechNewsWorld. "Think of them like additional rooms added to a modular home."

With Discovery in retirement, NASA will shutter its entire shuttle program after two more missions are completed.

U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords -- recovering from gunshot wounds in a Houston rehabilitation clinic -- will watch as her husband Mark Kelly joins the shuttle Endeavour crew for its final flight April 19.

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Apple's March Madness: In Like a Lion

Apple kicked off what looks to be a few weeks of big news by putting a new line of MacBook Pros on the shelves as well as giving developers a new OS X Lion preview. News about iPad 2 and iOS 4.3 is expected soon. Meanwhile, a WinPho 7 update snuffed some phones, Amazon ruffled Netflix's feathers and Apple's board scuffled with investors.

If you nauseate easily at the prospect of non-stop Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) announcements, right now might be a good time to take a long hike in the woods, weather permitting. Apple's given developers a brand-new preview of OS X Lion; next week we'll see an announcement that's almost certainly going to be all about iPad 2; and there are rumors that iOS 4.3 is just around the corner.

Previews and just-about-there hearsay aside, Apple also pulled off an actual product release this week. A new batch of MacBook Pros washed ashore, and in terms of design, they're really very similar to last year's models. There were a few notable steps forward, though, including a new technology Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) has been talking up over the last few months.

But first, processors: All three models -- 13, 15 and 17 inches -- have Intel's latest Core processors, and the bigger two offer quad-core options. In graphics, the larger models have ditched Nvidia (Nasdaq: NVDA) and jumped over to AMD's (NYSE: AMD) camp.

Apple's also polished up the webcam to provide 720p HD video-calling abilities. You can use FaceTime, too, if you happen to have an extra dollar.

Then there's Thunderbolt, the new input/output system built on Intel's Light Peak technology. It's all about fast data transfer speeds -- up to 10 gigabits per second. So you can move lots of data into and out of the computer -- as long as that other data bucket happens to be have a Thunderbolt port as well. Several companies say they have stuff on the way, but it's going to be a while before you'll find it everywhere you turn.

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Motorola Xoom Designed for Heavy Meddling

 Teardowns of the new Motorola Xoom tablet reveal a device designed to be easily disassembled -- more easily disassembled, at least, than Apple's iPad. Those who've put the tablet on the dissecting table say this is probably due to the fact that Xooms will be upgradeable to 4G LTE data services, which requires a small hardware swap-out. It'll also require owners to part with their Xooms for the better part of two weeks.

Unlike its arch-rival, the Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPad, the Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Xoom tablet is easy to open up for repairs and upgrades.

"It appears Motorola built the Xoom to be upgraded, so they have this parting line about an inch from the top on the back that lets you separate the device into two pieces," Miroslav Djuric, who tore down the Xoom for iFixit, told TechNewsWorld.

"A large portion of the back cover that slides down just enough to expose the PCIE slot and that lets you swop out PCIE cards and upgrade the device from 3G to 4G LTE," Djuric added.

PCIE stands for PCI Express.

The Xoom also has plastic cards in its SIM card and microSD card slots, Djuric said.

Owners will have to send the devices back to Motorola to have it upgraded to 4G LTE by installing a SIM card. That process will take six business days, but will be done at no charge.

Verizon Wireless has put up a website about upgrading the Xoom to 4G LTE. However, spokesperson Brenda Raney declined comment further.

Motorola Mobility spokesperson Kira Golin referred TechNewsWorld to the Verizon website. 

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Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc handset arrives at the FCC

We do know that the Android-powered Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc made its debut at CES 2011 earlier this year, and it has now arrived at the FCC – which can only mean one thing, that is the American public will have to prepare their wallets for an imminent release – at least, for those who are interested in this handset. Having been approved for quad-band GSM capabilities alongside WCDMA bands I, II, V and VI, the Xperia Arc does seem suitable for AT&T in this part of the world, since it plays nice with AT&T’s 3G and GSM frequencies. Of course, it will also work just fine on T-Mobile, sans 3G support though. No idea on how much this Android 2.3 Gingerbread handset will cost when it comes out, but you can be sure that all that thin form factor isn’t going to mean you’re missing out on features – no sir, ith this, you get a speedy 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8250 processor that handles multimedia very well.

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Google Docs Mobile Editing Gets 44 New Languages

Google docs, a cloud based office suite offering word processing, spreadsheets and presentation tools with collaborative editing capabilities, had moved onto mobile devices in November last year after tasting much success. The portable version Google Docs Mobile now has the capability to edit documents in 44 different non-English languages of your choice. You can see the complete list of supported languages by clicking here
The best part is that it supports editing in Indian languages like Hindi, Gujarati, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu, in addition to foreign languages like Spanish, French, Chinese and German. While Google Docs mobile allows spreadsheet editing for Android, iPhone, BlackBerry, Nokia S60, Windows Phone 7 and others, the foreign language feature applies only to the document editor, which is available only for iPhone and Androids devices with 2.2 (Froyo).

To edit a document, open the browser on your phone and visit docs.google.com. Select a document and press edit to launch the mobile editor. Note: Google Docs Mobile only allows you to edit documents, and not create new files. Before you start editing in a foreign language, the language settings must be changed on the desktop browser, as they can't be changed on your phone.




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A computer that gives you the perfect makeup!

For every woman who wished she had her personal make up artist, this piece of news is going to make her very happy – a computer of your own that gives you a perfect make up.

The technology, showcased at CeBIT, the world's biggest high-tech fair, takes a 3D image of your face and measures your complexion, shadows and lines.

The software matches your face to 60 pre-programmed models and advises how much makeup should be applied to which parts of your face based on professional makeovers conducted on the models.

It can also tell if your tried-and-tested makeup combination are actually right for your face, according to Kristina Scherbaum, who developed the program at the Max Planck Institute.

"We also take into consideration certain personal facial characteristics, like freckles or moles. Furthermore, we can determine whether or not already existing makeup on a woman suits her face," Discovery News quoted her as saying.

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Now a software which provides holistic health care solutions - Sify

Now a software which provides holistic health care solutions - Sify: "

Sify

Now a software which provides holistic health care solutions Sify A generic picture of a woman in an office using a computer mouse. REUTERS/C... Pune: Aiming cost effective promotion of health care systems, the Pune based Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) has developed a 'decision support system' ... C-DAC's healthcare tool receives awardTimes of India all 3 news articles »

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