Nokia just called – their number’s up and they’re going down

Nokia just called – their number’s up and they’re going down: "

Not so long ago, Nokia ruled the world of mobile phones; the Finnish company pioneered mainstream devices and was the undisputed brand on every continent. But then came along the smartphone, a handset which moved the mobile proposition along, and Nokia was caught like a rabbit in the headlights. The world began to realise there was life beyond their small screens, complicated user interfaces and frustratingly slow and buggy software.

Because there phones was ubiquitous, many people thought Nokia was infallible. But in the past year alone, their market share hasn’t declined so much, as it’s jumped off a cliff and landed a big bonfire – in the past twelve months, Nokia’s market share for mobile handsets has plummeted from 39 per cent to 24 per cent.

Today, Nokia has announced the loss of 4,000 jobs worldwide – the majority will be from its headquarters in Finland, as well as Denmark and the UK. The company is also transferring 3,000 jobs associated with the development of its Symbian operating platform to another company, Accenture. Nokia employs 131,000 across its various divisions, so 7,000 jobs lost represents over 5 per cent of the workforce.

Of course they’re not job losses, it’s an ‘alignment of its global workforce and consolidation of site operations’ according to the company. Nokia wants to be lean and fighting-fit - it gearing up to tackle iPhone and Android with its next generation smartphones that will utilise the Windows Phone operating system. So they’ve lost the battle, and not too many people can see them winning the war, either.

"

Apple officially answers questions on location tracking, says it doesn't do it

Apple officially answers questions on location tracking, says it doesn't do it: "

1. Why is Apple tracking the location of my iPhone?

Apple is not tracking the location of your iPhone. Apple has never done so and has no plans to ever do so.



Developing... see the full Q&A after the break.

Continue reading Apple officially answers questions on location tracking, says it doesn't do it

Apple officially answers questions on location tracking, says it doesn't do it originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Apr 2011 08:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lost Maya city revealed in rainforest

Lost Maya city revealed in rainforest: "Three-dimensional mapping has been used to reveal a long lost city in the Guatemalan rain forest. The remains of hundreds of buildings have been ident..."

Motorola promises unlocked bootloaders for future Android phones? (update)

Motorola promises unlocked bootloaders for future Android phones? (update): "

Android users have spoken, and maybe, just maybe, Motorola actually heard -- AusDroid claims to have a statement direct from the mobile phone manufacturer promising unlocked bootloaders later this year:

We completely understand the operator requirement for security to the end user, and as well, want to support the developer communities desire to use these products as a development platform. It is our intention to enable the unlockable/relockable bootloader currently found on Motorola XOOM across our portfolio of devices starting in late 2011, where carriers and operators will allow it.

Wonderfully corporate of them to pass the buck to the carriers, no? This quote comes by way of a gentleman who petitioned Moto for just such a thing, mind you, so please take it with a grain of salt, and you'll be the first to know if we get confirmation from Motorola itself.



Update: AusDroid managed to get in touch with Motorola North Asia, and it sounds like we're looking at the truth -- let's see if Sanjay Jha agrees when he wakes up tomorrow morning.

Motorola promises unlocked bootloaders for future Android phones? (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 22:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dell's new powerhouse Precision M4600 and M6600 workstation laptops on sale May 10

Dell's new powerhouse Precision M4600 and M6600 workstation laptops on sale May 10: "

We got a dose of details on Dell's new Precision M4600 and M6600 workstations yesterday, and though impressed by their specs, we were left without answers to two very important questions: when can we get them, and how much will they cost? There must be some mind readers in Round Rock, because today Dell revealed that the machines will make their debut on May 10 with prices starting at $1,678 for the M4600 and $2,158 for its 17-inch big brother, though prices surely escalate quickly from there. Turns out, the laptops also have optional IPS and four-finger multi-touch displays for your viewing pleasure and RAID support for your (and your employer's) peace of mind. That's some stellar hardware for some serious coin, so interested parties should start brown-nosing the bossman immediately -- or maybe just get a second job. PR's after the break.

Continue reading Dell's new powerhouse Precision M4600 and M6600 workstation laptops on sale May 10

Dell's new powerhouse Precision M4600 and M6600 workstation laptops on sale May 10 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 18:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink PC World | Dell | Email this | Comments"

Windows Phone and BlackBerry struggle to attract developer attention

Windows Phone and BlackBerry struggle to attract developer attention: "

We're taking this with a grain of salt, since it applies only to users of the cross-platform Appcelerator Titanium development environment, but it appears that Windows Phone 7 is facing an increasingly uphill battle for mobile mind-share. At this point it should go without saying that a platform lives and dies by its developers and, according to Appcelerator, they're growing less and less interested in creating apps for Microsoft's smartphone OS. Only 29-percent of devs responded to the company's quarterly survey that they were 'very interested' in putting their wares on WP7, a fall of 7 points from last quarter and far less than market leaders Android and iOS. News is even worse for RIM, which saw a fall of 11-points in developer interest for BlackBerry, and now trails the folks from Redmond. Again, this survey is based only on the responses of 2,760 developers using a particular product, so we'd refrain from calling the results incontrovertible. Still, it reinforces something that even a casual observer could discern: BlackBerry and Windows Phone 7 have a tough row to hoe. Two more charts after the break.

Continue reading Windows Phone and BlackBerry struggle to attract developer attention

Windows Phone and BlackBerry struggle to attract developer attention originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 18:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink ZDNet | Appcelerator | Email this | Comments"

Sony provides PSN update, confirms a 'compromise of personal information' (updated)

Sony provides PSN update, confirms a 'compromise of personal information' (updated): "

It's looking like things are just as bad as we feared and that 'external intrusion' got a little deeper than we might have liked. In an update on its PlayStation.Blog, Sony just confirmed that the ongoing PSN outage was caused by 'malicious actions,' which we already knew, but continues by indicating that there has also been 'a compromise of personal information.' Exactly what that means Sony isn't saying, and it stops short of saying that credit card data for PSN and Qriocity users has been exposed, but the company does say 'your credit card number (excluding security code) and expiration date may have been obtained.' Yes, it may have been obtained -- even Sony isn't sure. There's no further ETA for when PSN may be back up online or when you might be able to finally sample Portal 2's delicious online co-op mode, but at least you can still watch Netflix.



Update: Our friends at Joystiq are reporting that Connecticut Senator Blumenthal is rip roarin' mad about the situation, 'demanding answers' from SCEA president Jack Tretton. Right now, we're more curious what Kevin Butler has to say about things.



Update 2: Sony UK is shedding more light on just what data has been exposed, and frankly we were happier when it was dark. By the sound of things, everything Sony had about you has been accessed. There's a full list after the break, so only click on through if you dare.



Update 3: Sony's just posted a clarification regarding the delay of their response: in a nutshell, PSN was shut down after the intrusion on April 19th, and the company needed to work with outside experts to 'understand the scope of the breach' before posting the full lowdown earlier today. For those interested, Sony has a lengthy FAQ page regarding this incident.



[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Sony provides PSN update, confirms a 'compromise of personal information' (updated)

Sony provides PSN update, confirms a 'compromise of personal information' (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 16:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Learn the math behind doubling your money: How to Use the Rule of 72

Learn the math behind doubling your money: How to Use the Rule of 72: "

The rule of 72 is useful for approximating doubling time in exponential growth.

The rule of 72 is a handy rule used in finance to estimate quickly the time it takes to double a sum of capital given an interest rate, or to estimate the interest rate it takes to double a sum of money within a given amount of time. The rule states that interest percentage times the number of years it takes to double a principal amount of money is approximately equal to 72.

The Rule of 72 is applicable in exponential growth (as in compound interest) or in exponential decay.

Steps

Exponential growth

Estimating doubling time

1. Let R * T = 72, where R = the rate of growth (for example, interest rate), T = doubling time (for example, time it takes to double an amount of money).
   
2. Plug in the value for R = rate of growth. For example, how long does it take to double $100 to $200 at an interest rate of 5% per annum? Substituting R = 5, we get 5 * T = 72.
   
3. Solve for the unknown variable. In the example given, divide both sides by R = 5, to get T = 72/5 = 14.4. So it takes 14.4 years to double $100 to $200 at an interest rate of 5% per annum.
   
4. Study these additional examples:
   
   • How long does it take to double a given amount of money at a rate of 10% per annum? Let 10 * T = 72, so T = 7.2 years.
     
   • How long does it take to turn $100 to $1600 at a rate of 7.2% per annum? Recognize that it takes 4 doubling to get from $100 to $1600 (double of $100 is $200, double of $200 is $400, double of $400 is $800, and double of $800 is $1600). For each doubling, 7.2 * T = 72, so T = 10. Multiply that by 4 yields 40 years.
     
   
   

Estimating growth rate

1. Let R * T = 72, where R = the rate of growth (for example, interest rate), T = doubling time (for example, the time it takes to double an amount of money).
   
2. Plug in value for T = doubling time. For example, if you want to double your money in ten years, what interest rate do you need? Substituting T = 10, we get R * 10 = 72.
   
3. Solve for the unknown variable. In the example given, divide both sides by T = 10, to get R = 72/10 = 7.2. So you will need 7.2% annual interest rate to double your money in ten years.
   

Estimating exponential decay

1. Estimate the time to lose half of your capital: as in the case of inflation. Solve T = 72/R, after plugging in value for R, analogous to estimating doubling time for exponential growth (it's the same as the doubling formula, but you think of the result as inflation rather than growth), for example:
   
   • How long will it take for $100 to depreciate to $50 at an inflation rate of 5%?
     
     • Let 5 * T = 72, so 72/5 = T, so that T = 14.4 years for buying power to halve at an inflation rate of 5%.
       
     
     
   
   
2. Estimate the rate of decay for a certain time span: Solve R = 72/T, after plugging in value for T, analogous to estimating growth rate for exponential growth, for example:
   
   • If the buying power of $100 becomes worth only $50 in ten years, what is the inflation rate per annum?
     
     • Let R * 10 = 72, where T = 10 so that we may find R = 72/10 = 7.2% for that one example.
       
     
     
   
   
3. Beware! Different things decay in value at various rates and over different times; a study of many products over time would be required to find a general trend (or average) of inflation – and 'out of bounds,' outliers, or odd examples are simply ignored, and dropped out of consideration.
   

Video

Tips

• The value 72 is chosen as a convenient choice of numerator, since it has many small divisors: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, and 12. It provides a good approximation for annual compounding, and for compounding at typical rates (from 6% to 10%). The approximations are less exact at higher interest rates.
  
• To estimate doubling time for higher rates, adjust 72 by adding 1 for every 3 percentages greater than 8%. That is, T = [72 + (R - 8%)/3] / R. For example, if the interest rate is 32%, the time it takes to double a given amount of money is T = [72 + (32 - 8)/3] / 32 = 2.5 years. Note that 80 is used here instead of 72, which would have given 2.25 years for the doubling time.
  
• For continuous compounding, 69.3 (or approximately 69) gives more accurate results, since ln(2) is approximately 69.3%, and R * T = ln(2), where R = growth (or decay) rate, T = the doubling (or halving) time, and ln(2) is the natural log of 2. 70 may also be used as an approximation for continuous or daily (which is close to continuous) compounding, for ease of calculation. These variations are known as rule of 69.3, rule of 69, or rule of 70.
  
  • A similar accuracy adjustment for the rule of 69.3 is used for high rates with daily compounding: T = (69.3 + R/3) / R.
    
  
  
• The Eckart-McHale second order rule, or E-M rule, gives a multiplicative correction to the Rule of 69.3 or 70 (but not 72), for better accuracy for higher interest rate ranges. To compute the E-M approximation, multiply the Rule of 69.3 (or 70) result by 200/(200-R), i.e., T = (69.3/R) * (200/(200-R)). For example, if the interest rate is 18%, the Rule of 69.3 says t = 3.85 years. The E-M Rule multiplies this by 200/(200-18), giving a doubling time of 4.23 years, which better approximates the actual doubling time 4.19 years at this rate.
  
  • The third-order Padé approximant gives even better approximation, using the correction factor (600 + 4R) / (600 + R), i.e., T = (69.3/R) * ((600 + 4R) / (600 + R)). If the interest rate is 18%, the third-order Padé approximant gives T = 4.19 years.
    
  
  
• Here is a table giving the number of years it takes to double any given amount of money at various interest rates, and comparing the approximation with various rules:
  

Rate	Actual Years	Rule of 72	Rule of 70	Rule of 69.3	E-M rule
0.25%	277.605	288.000	280.000	277.200	277.547
0.5%	138.976	144.000	140.000	138.600	138.947
1%	69.661	72.000	70.000	69.300	69.648
2%	35.003	36.000	35.000	34.650	35.000
3%	23.450	24.000	23.333	23.100	23.452
4%	17.673	18.000	17.500	17.325	17.679
5%	14.207	14.400	14.000	13.860	14.215
6%	11.896	12.000	11.667	11.550	11.907
7%	10.245	10.286	10.000	9.900	10.259
8%	9.006	9.000	8.750	8.663	9.023
9%	8.043	8.000	7.778	7.700	8.062
10%	7.273	7.200	7.000	6.930	7.295
11%	6.642	6.545	6.364	6.300	6.667
12%	6.116	6.000	5.833	5.775	6.144
15%	4.959	4.800	4.667	4.620	4.995
18%	4.188	4.000	3.889	3.850	4.231
20%	3.802	3.600	3.500	3.465	3.850
25%	3.106	2.880	2.800	2.772	3.168
30%	2.642	2.400	2.333	2.310	2.718
40%	2.060	1.800	1.750	1.733	2.166
50%	1.710	1.440	1.400	1.386	1.848
60%	1.475	1.200	1.167	1.155	1.650
70%	1.306	1.029	1.000	0.990	1.523

• Felix's Corollary to the Rule of 72 is used to approximate the future value of an annuity (a series of regular payments). It states that the future value of an annuity whose percentage interest rate and number of payments multiply to be 72 can be approximated by multiplying the sum of the payments times 1.5. For example, 12 periodic payments of $1000 growing at 6% per period will be worth approximately $18,000 after the last period. This is an application of Felix's Corollary to the Rule of 72 since 6 (the percentage interest rate) times 12 (the number of payments) equals 72, so the value of the annuity approximates 1.5 times 12 times $1000.
  
• Let the rule of 72 work for you, by starting saving now. At a growth rate of 8% per annum (the approximate rate of return in the stock market), you would double your money in 9 years (8 * 9 = 72), quadruple your money in 18 years, and have 16 times your money in 36 years.
  

Derivation

Periodic compounding

1. For periodic compounding, FV = PV (1 + r)^T, where FV = future value, PV = present value, r = growth rate, T = time.
   
2. If money has doubled, FV = 2*PV, so 2PV = PV (1 + r)^T, or 2 = (1 + r)^T, assuming the present value is not zero.
   
3. Solve for T by taking the natural logs on both sides, and rearranging, to get T = ln(2) / ln(1 + r).
   
4. The Taylor series for ln(1 + r) around 0 is r - r²/2 + r³/3 - ... For low values of r, the contributions from the higher power terms are small, and the expression approximates r, so that t = ln(2) / r.
   
5. Note that ln(2) ~ 0.693, so that T ~ 0.693 / r (or T = 69.3 / R, expressing the interest rate as a percentage R from 0-100%), which is the rule of 69.3. Other numbers such as 69, 70, and 72 are used for easier calculations.
   

Continuous compounding

1. For periodic compounding with multiple compounding per year, the future value is given by FV = PV (1 + r/n)^nT, where FV = future value, PV = present value, r = growth rate, T = time, and n = number of compounding periods per year. For continuous compounding, n approaches infinity. Using the definition of e = lim (1 + 1/n)^n as n approaches infinity, the expression becomes FV = PV e^(rT).
   
2. If money has doubled, FV = 2*PV, so 2PV = PV e^(rT), or 2 = e^(rT), assuming the present value is not zero.
   
3. Solve for T by taking natural logs on both sides, and rearranging, to get T = ln(2)/r = 69.3/R (where R = 100r to express the growth rate as a percentage). This is the rule of 69.3.
   

Warnings

• Don't let the rule of 72 work against you, when you take on high interest debt. Avoid credit card debt! At an average interest rate of 18%, the credit card debt doubles in just 4 years (18 * 4 = 72), and quadruples in only 8 years, and keeps escalating with time. Avoid credit cards like the plague.
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Teach Kids About Compound Interest
  
• How to Save Money
  
• How to Save for Retirement
  
• How to Solve Differential Equations
  

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Sony aren’t sure whether hackers have your credit card details

Sony aren’t sure whether hackers have your credit card details: "

Sony are wringing their hands at the moment because they’re not certain about whether hackers have managed to steal customers’ credit card information when they tapped into the PlayStation network platform.

The network was hoiked offline following an attack, which left the gaming platform inaccessible for nearly a week.

Patrick Seybold, the senior director for corporate communications & social media, says:

“Our efforts to resolve this matter involve re-building our system to further strengthen our network infrastructure. Though this task is time-consuming, we decided it was worth the time necessary to provide the system with additional security”

Nearly 70 million people have been denied a key feature thanks to this PlayStation hack, which has left many a little shaken over trusting Sony’s products ability to deal with attacks.

[ITP]

"

NEW! Solitaire Heaven

NEW! Solitaire Heaven: "Solitaire isn't just a solo game anymore!

"

Movies to be streamed on YouTube

Movies to be streamed on YouTube: "

Seeing as the cinema is one of the most miserable places on Earth, it is good to hear that YouTube is now seen as a viable alternative by Hollywood studios who are looking to stream their wares online.

YouTube are prepping the launch of this new movie service, which will charge viewers to screen the latest films as soon as they are released on DVD.

Sony, Warner Brothers and Universal are already signed-up and will be providing content as early as next week. Alas, Paramount, Fox and Disney have thus far declined YouTube’s offer.

At present, Google is yet to comment on the speculation other than issuing an obligatory no comment and stating, “We’ve steadily been adding more and more titles since launching movies for rent on YouTube over a year ago, and now have thousands of titles available.”

There’s no pricing plan as yet, which is going to be the main sticking point if this is going to succeed. We’ll just have to see if there’s an appetite for watching flicks on YouTube, especially given that there are other ways of watching movies online that are free, if legally dubious.

[t3]

"

Apple’s location data hoarding – there may be an app for that

Apple’s location data hoarding – there may be an app for that: "

Since it was revealed that the Apple (and latterly, Android) handsets record and store a user’s location without permission, there’s been outrage, dismissal and no word from either party. This ganting void of explanation has led many to wildly speculate and plenty of fanboy bashing and counter-bashing.

A clue to what Apple are planning to do with all your location data may have been uncovered in a patent filed by the company last month. The patent is called “Location histories for location aware devices” and it outlines an application that allows an iPhone user to visualise where their handset has been and associated those data points with a corresponding activity. Or as Apple put it: “Data associated with a picture taking event, data associated with a financial transaction, sensor output data, data associated with a communication event.”

So far from being a bug or a mistake, it seems Apple has been recording the location data intentionally. Will a new location app provide a useful and relevant user experience? Or will be it be as unloved and misguided as Ping? Wait – record our location without consent, then monitor our money? *dons tin foil hat*

[Gawker]

"

Chicago's Adler Planetarium to start projecting 8K by 8K images from this July, put cinema screens to shame

Chicago's Adler Planetarium to start projecting 8K by 8K images from this July, put cinema screens to shame: "

Okay, so it's not quite 8K video, we're not there yet, but the Adler Planetarium and its brand new Grainger Sky Theater are about to show us what 64 megapixel images look like on a big screen. Described as the 'largest single seamless digital image in the world,' the picture inside the planetarium will come from 20 projectors hooked up to 45 computers processing data, and should provide the most lucid and captivating view unto our universe that one can get without actually exiting the Earth's atmosphere. The new show kicks off on July 8th, having been put together with aid from NASA and IBM among others. Jump past the break for the full press release.

Continue reading Chicago's Adler Planetarium to start projecting 8K by 8K images from this July, put cinema screens to shame

Chicago's Adler Planetarium to start projecting 8K by 8K images from this July, put cinema screens to shame originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 03:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Adler Planetarium | Email this | Comments"

Use a High Pass Filter to Quickly Improve the Detail in Your Photos Without Adding Noise [Video]

Use a High Pass Filter to Quickly Improve the Detail in Your Photos Without Adding Noise [Video]: "

Here's a quick and easy image editing tip to improve the detail of your photos without adding a bunch of noise. More »

"

A Systematic Approach to Solving Just About Any Problem [Problem Solving]

A Systematic Approach to Solving Just About Any Problem [Problem Solving]: "

Problems can be difficult to solve when we only know the issue and none of the steps to fix it. Sometimes it's even more daunting to figure out what those steps are at all. This guide will help you take just about any problem and figure out a plan to solve it and stay motivated when handling long-term issues. More »

"

Top 10 Photography Hacks [Lifehacker Top 10]

Top 10 Photography Hacks [Lifehacker Top 10]: "

Your digital camera, whether it's built in to your cellphone or it's a hefty DSLR, is an incredible creative tool. If you've only used it as it comes straight out of the box, however, you're only scratching the surface. Here are our top 10 photography hacks to supercharge your camera. More »

"