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Issue no. 25, 2005 Published: Sep 02, 2005
Creative's patent award could hit Apple
Mobile phone cancer link rejected
Microsoft plans telephone service
Dutch hooligans rounded up by text
Ireland gets world's first disposable 'credit card'
US tests $3.5m computerised lie detector
Robotic space penguin to hop across the Moon
Robot dog - man's best friend or a no-fat nag?
Invention: A music lover's dream

Creative's patent award could hit Apple
Creative Technology, a maker of portable music players, said it was awarded a US patent that applied to Apple's iPod and other rivals. Creative did not say whether it would file a patent suit, which is typically an expensive process, seek licensing agreements or whether if it had even talked with Apple. Creative said the patent covers the way music tracks are selected on a device using a hierarchy of three or more successive screens. On the iPod, for instance, users can scroll from artists to albums to songs. Creative said it had applied for the patent - dubbed the Zen patent after its Zen player - on January 5, 2001, and it was awarded on August 9, 2005.
CNN / Reuters Aug 31, 2005	back to top

Mobile phone cancer link rejected
A long-term study by the British Institute of Cancer Research found that using a mobile phone for ten years does not result in an increased risk of developing a tumour in the nerve connecting the ear to the brain. But scientists warned that they could not rule out higher risk over a longer period. The institute's analysis pooled studies conducted in Britain, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The study focused on the risk of acoustic neuroma, benign tumours which grow in the nerve which connects the ear and inner ear to the brain. Researchers have investigated the possible association of other kinds of brain tumour with mobile phones but scientists said acoustic neuroma would be a prime candidate to be affected. Previous independent studies have found mobile phone radiation may have some effect on the human body, such as heating up the brain and causing headaches and nausea. But no study that could be independently repeated has proved mobile phones have permanent harmful effects.
CBC News Aug 31, 2005	back to top

Microsoft plans telephone service
Microsoft is preparing to enable computer users to make a normal phone call from their PC. The computer giant has increased its presence in the fast-growing internet phone sector by purchasing leading player Teleo for an undisclosed sum. Microsoft and rivals AOL, Google and Yahoo all currently allow phone calls between computers, but not yet to a domestic or mobile handset. Teleo's technology allows computers to make and receive standard phone calls. Several independent companies - such as Vonage and Skype - already allow computer users to call normal phones around the world using internet telephony at rates of a few pennies a minute. Yahoo is also in the process of introducing such a system, after it bought internet phone company Dialpad two months ago.
BBC News Aug 31, 2005	back to top

Dutch hooligans rounded up by text
Some of the Netherlands' most wanted football hooligans handed themselves in to police yesterday after being sent text messages telling them their mobile telephones had been logged as active at a riot in Rotterdam after a match between Feyenoord and Ajax in April. Rotterdam police asked mobile phone operators to hand over the numbers of all handsets active near the stadium at the time of the violence. The resulting list amounted to 17,000 numbers. The police sent them a terse message, informing users that they were known to have been in the vicinity of the riots, giving them the address of the Rotterdam-Rijnmond police website, and asking for their assistance. The website has been used since shortly after the riot to display images of some 200 suspected hooligans, or spectators who actively egged on the violence. Police had already identified and charged 143 people, but had been unable to identify a last batch of alleged offenders. Within hours of the text being sent out, 12 people came forward to say they were pictured on the website.
Daily Telegraph Sep 02, 2005	back to top

Ireland gets world's first disposable 'credit card'
If you've ever been nervous about using your credit card to order the latest bestseller online or buy roses for a loved one over the phone, an Irish bank thinks it has solved the problem. Permanent tsb will launch the world's first pre-paid, disposable credit voucher, opening up internet and telephone shopping to those previously put off by the security implications of handing over their credit card details. In the same way that owners of pre-paid mobile phones top up their credit at shops, registered users of the new service will be able to buy vouchers for between 20 and 350 euros at retail outlets. Each voucher will carry its own unique number which can then be used to shop online, by phone or by mail with any retailer who accepts cards issued by Visa.
Yahoo! / Reuters Aug 30, 2005	back to top

US tests $3.5m computerised lie detector
The US Department of Homeland Security has earmarked $3.5m to help scientists develop next-generation computer-based lie detectors. The funds will be awarded to computer scientists at Rutgers University, New Jersey, who are already researching how subtle body movements, such as shoulder shrugging, hand gestures or slight changes in facial expression, may indicate deception. The goal is to capture these non-verbal cues on camera, have a computer analyse them and deliver immediate input on the subject's likely truthfulness. Researchers foresee their techniques helping immigration officers screen people more quickly and accurately at border crossings and ports of entry into the US. The techniques could also bolster security for buildings such as embassies, and help law enforcement personnel in routine interrogations.
VNUnet UK Sep 01, 2005	back to top

Robotic space penguin to hop across the Moon
The first lunar colonists may not be a humans but compact robots capable of jumping more than a kilometre in a single bound. Engineers at US defence contractor Raytheon, in Massachusetts, have developed a robot, dubbed the Lunar Penguin, that could one day bounce across perilous craters and imposing mountains on the Moon's craggy surface using a set of compact rocket boosters. The robot, in fact, bears no physical resemblance to a real penguin, but looks like a simple, squat, four-legged lunar lander. It is just under one metre tall and weighs 104 kilograms. The bot could be launched as soon as 2009. The Lunar Penguin was demonstrated for the first time at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' 2005 SPACE Conference and Exhibition in California, US. The event, which takes place between 30 August and 1 September, provides a showcase for many new technologies, from supercharged jet engines to giant hot air balloons.
New Scientist Aug 31, 2005	back to top

Robot dog - man's best friend or a no-fat nag?
It could be a dream or a nightmare - scientists have created a robotic dog that tells you when it is time for your daily walk. Researchers at the MIT in the US plan to recruit Sony's 'canine entertainment robot' Aibo into the obesity police. The dog would be connected by radio to the bathroom scales, a pedometer and a personal organiser in which the owner would note his daily food intake. Asked 'How am I?' the robot would either jump excitedly, play funky music and flash coloured lights, or flop down and play a dirge, according to whether its owner has followed his or her diet. The plans for the robotic dog - which need never be let out or fed - are due to be presented to a conference in Tokyo on September 11.
Yahoo! / Reuters / New Scientist Aug 31, 2005	back to top

Invention: A music lover's dream
There are now so many internet radio stations that it is impossible to keep scanning for your favourite tracks or new tunes. Thankfully, your computer could soon do all the hard work for you. Californian company Gracenote has figured out a way have a PC identify your favourite music genres and automatically record new tracks for later playback. Gracenote's system 'fingerprints' the user's songs by analysing peaks and troughs in the audio of a digital file and uses this to build a profile of a user's musical preferences. A user's PC will then listen to internet radio broadcasts, and compare new songs to the user's music profile. If the music seems likely to appeal, the recorder saves the song to permanent memory for playback later. Gracenote says the system can perform another clever trick - if the same song is played more than once, it will automatically choose the better quality one, discarding, for example, the one with too much DJ chatter.
New Scientist Aug 30, 2005	back to top