Google.org's Flu Trends

According to the latest Google Flu Trends, flu related activity has been picking up in US and is set to grow substantially. This can most likely be attributed to the coming of winter season.

On a different note, Australia saw much less flu related activity than it has in the past. Now with the swine flu vaccine coming in, hopefully everything would be hunky dory again. But the real question is, for how long?

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1. Google Captures Latest Flu Trends

With that, there’s a new tagline for Orbit Pulse which to me, goes best with our focus now:
Orbit Pulse – Your savior from MEME hell. Original Content Only™

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Okay, news is in that Orbit Pulse theme for Wordpress
has just been released ;)

If you wish to give it a shot, be sure to replace the Orbit Pulse logo, but you must include a footer link point here (http://www.orbitpulse.com). Here’s the link!

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Yeah, we admit it. The logistics got the better of us. We couldn’t find the time and ran into unforeseen trouble.

While I can’t promise a daily affair at this point of time, I’ll make sure that there’s a post waiting for you, yes..you sir, every three days. I’ve had many more thoughts on restructuring the site which I’ll be sharing in the next post.

On another note, I’ve decided to open-source the blog theme that you see here (the site is running wordpress) under the name Orbit Pulse. I’ll be pushing it shortly to a github.com repository. There are many more goodies to come, so stay tuned!

Update: I posted a detailed update on the shift in our focus.

Update 2: Download instructions and details on the Orbit Pulse Wordpress theme.

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PlayStation 3 Slim

Sony has confirmed a new iteration to the PS3 line-up with a “slim” version. To be priced at $299, it would be released on 1st September, 2009.

The price cut comes as a consequence to the shift in Sony’s processor fabrication process. The earlier cell processor which powered the PS3 was built using the 65nm manufacturing process, whereas slim would utilise a new 45nm manufacturing process. It is said the change in process would lead to better speeds and lower power consumption.

The slim would also carry a new graphics chip, although it’s unclear how would it differ from the early one producted via a Nvidia and Sony collaboration.

Is the matte finish, faster processor, cheaper price-tag and a release  date of 3 years post it’s parent version a reason enough to grab this baby? Find out for yourself! Sony was kind enough to release some images on flickr for us to see. Click to see the image gallery.

There’s also a video featuring Jack Tretton, the CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA) showing off the new PS3:

[via The Inquirer]

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1. PS3 Slim, Is It For Real?

If all this is true, could this be the trump card in Sony’s hand to beat XBOX 360’s cheaper pricing strategy?

Source: CNet News

Update: The PS3 Slim has been confirmed. Head over here to read the details.

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ZuneHD

The wait is finally over.. well almost! Microsoft’s new media player, the Zune HD, will be available for sale from September 15th, and is available for pre-order at Best Buy, Amazaon, Walmart and the Microsoft Store from today.

The black 16GB version will cost you $219.99, and the platinum finish 32GB will set you back by $289.99.

Here is the official press release:

ZUNE HD AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER TODAY

MICROSOFT’S NEW PORTABLE DIGITAL MEDIA PLAYER AVAILABLE FOR ONLINE PRE-ORDER AT AMAZON, BEST BUY, WALMART and MICROSOFT STORE

REDMOND, Wash. – Aug. 13, 2009 – Zune HD, the next generation of Microsoft Corp.’s portable digital media player, is available now for pre-order and is set to hit store shelves on Sept. 15. The player, available in 16GB and 32GB capacities, is the first touch-screen Zune and includes powerful playback technology to give you a different way to experience media on the go. Combined with unparalleled PC software and online services such as Zune Pass, Zune provides a rich and meaningful connection to music, videos, podcasts and more.

Pre-order Zune HD in 16GB Black and 32GB Platinum through http://www.zune.net/zunehd from Amazon.com, Best Buy,Walmart and Microsoft. Beginning September 15, at http://www.ZuneOriginals.net, both 16GB and 32GB capacities of Zune HD will be available in five different colors with the option to customize your player with one of 10 new engravings.

WHAT: With a sleek and stylish design, Zune HD is the first to combine these features:

• Built-in HD Radio™ receiver. Allows you to listen to higher-quality sound than is available from traditional radio channels, as well as access additional programming through HD2 and HD3 multicast channels from many of your favorite local FM radio stations at no extra cost.

• HD video output capabilities. Supports HD video playback from the device through a premium HDMI A/V docking station (sold separately) directly to an HD TV in 720p, making it easy to enjoy better-than-DVD-quality video on your own big screen at home.

• OLED touch screen. Allows you to easily flip through music, movies and other content. The 3.3-inch glass screen and 16:9 widescreen format display (480×272 resolution) offer a premium viewing experience.

• Built-in Wi-Fi. Allows for browsing, streaming or downloading new music from Zune Marketplace.

• Internet browser. Full-screen Web browsing, optimized for the multi-touch screen with zoom-in and zoom-out gestures.

• Accessories, at home and on the road. Zune HD and AV Dock charges and syncs players while playing supported 720p HD videos on HDTVs. Play HD Radio, music and podcasts from your Zune HD device through your car stereo using the Zune Premium Car Pack.

WHY: Pre-order now to be one of the first to experience the new Zune HD’s advanced design,innovative technology and rich multimedia capabilities powered by the NVIDIA Tegra™ chip ultra low-power HD processor.

PRICING: Zune HD 16GB: $219.99 (estimated retail price); Zune HD 32GB: $289.99 (estimated retail price)

WHEN: Pre-order starting Thursday, Aug. 13. Purchase in stores on Tuesday, Sept. 15.

WHERE ONLINE: http://www.zune.net/zunehd

WHERE IN STORE: Place a pre-order in person at Best Buy beginning August 16. If you want to sneak a peek, visit select stores in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C., areas on August 22 and 23.

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HotGloo is a startup that aims to simplify the prototyping phase in the design of a web-site. In their own words, “Hot Gloo is designed by IA’s for IA’s” (Information Architect, I’d presume). Having read that, I immediately recognized the need for improving wire-frames in an app’s development. Not much has been done in this space. With no standard “efficient” practices, we’ve got conflicting ideologies with the 37signal crowd preferring to skip this stage altogether and coding directly in HTML, albeit through several iterations.

Hoping for something unexpected and without any particular expectations, I signed up for their beta. What followed left me with mixed feelings. I’ll begin with the good. The quality of their web-application was impressive. Their Flash based app is extremely snappy. Runs quite well on my old Centrino based laptop, which I use for internet browsing. The not so good included the widgets. There’s a common set of widgets like the checkbox, radio, text-box, et al and from here on, its the usual drag and drop like other prototyping tools. This is also where the problem with HotGloo begins. Not matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t see anything innovative in their features! Yes, they’ve added collaboration. Agreed, it’s online in one place, but just for those two I could’ve used DropBox with OmniGraffle or Visio or even Pencil, which is free. Startups need to understand, not only is innovation nice, it’s necessary to innovate. Of course, you can’t wait for a million dollar idea to come to you, so it’s prudent to start off somewhere on the map and innovate in iterations. But then I could argue, beta is an advanced stage in software production when a product is close to being shipped. The feature set is already frozen.

Startups today are moving away from innovation and treading closer to becoming a meme-plague. Everyone wants to make a quick buck and retire early, which is alright. Nothing wrong in that. But could there be a better way?

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Friendfeed + Facebook: Match Made In Heaven?

Today is a big day for FriendFeed, Facebook and certainly a day of significance for Silicon Valley. The news is still fresh that Facebook has acquired Friendfeed. The details of the purchase have been covered in a press-release by facebook. It’s hard to guess the consequences of this deal as of this moment, and where would it really lead Facebook. It is however confirmed that the highly talented Google veterans behind Friendfeed would be joining Senior ranks at Facebook. The purchase does seem well thought of and a good strategic blend between the two.

Whatever the repercussions be, it’s a most definite win-win for the users!

Here’s the official press-release by Facebook:

PALO ALTO, CALIF.—August 10, 2009—Facebook today announced that it has agreed to acquire FriendFeed, the innovative service for sharing online. As part of the agreement, all FriendFeed employees will join Facebook and FriendFeed’s four founders will hold senior roles on Facebook’s engineering and product teams.

“Facebook and FriendFeed share a common vision of giving people tools to share and connect with their friends,” said Bret Taylor, a FriendFeed co-founder and, previously, the group product manager who launched Google Maps. “We can’t wait to join the team and bring many of the innovations we’ve developed at FriendFeed to Facebook’s 250 million users around the world.”

“As we spent time with Mark and his leadership team, we were impressed by the open, creative culture they’ve built and their desire to have us contribute to it,” said Paul Buchheit, another FriendFeed co-founder. Buchheit, the Google engineer behind Gmail and the originator of Google’s “Don’t be evil” motto, added, “It was immediately obvious to us how passionate Facebook’s engineers are about creating simple, ground-breaking ways for people to share, and we are extremely excited to join such a like-minded group.”

Taylor and Buchheit founded FriendFeed along with Jim Norris and Sanjeev Singh in October 2007 after all four played key roles at Google for products like Gmail and Google Maps. At FriendFeed, they’ve brought together a world-class team of engineers and designers.

“Since I first tried FriendFeed, I’ve admired their team for creating such a simple and elegant service for people to share information,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO. “As this shows, our culture continues to make Facebook a place where the best engineers come to build things quickly that lots of people will use.”

FriendFeed is based in Mountain View, Calif. and has 12 employees. FriendFeed.com will continue to operate normally for the time being as the teams determine the longer term plans for the product.

Financial terms of the acquisition were not released.

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Google.org's Flu Trends

Catch the latest flu trends, around the world through Google.org’s flu-trends.

Related posts:

1. Flu Activity To Rise In US, Dips In Australia: Google Flu Trends