BlackBerry
The wide, but lean, shape turns off some. But the full keyboard and e-mail capability of the traditional BlackBerry caught fire years ago with financial professionals, event planners, government and law enforcement, salespeople and journalists, and has never let go of its hold.

In the last 18 months, Research In Motion, which makes BlackBerry, has expanded to a consumer range, thanks to models of its sleek Pearl, with its QWERTY keyboard and plethora of software applications, said Mark Guibert, RIM’s vice president of corporate marketing. Now, he said, the BlackBerry is better able to merge the personal chores of life with the professional, so that the soccer mom at home is as apt to have one as the doctor next door.

There is a reason people who have the devices call them CrackBerries. “They are still the best solution for staying constantly connected to corporate e-mail systems,” - said Avi Greengart, New Jersey-based research director of mobile devices for Current Analysis.

“BlackBerry users tend to quickly become addicts, and a range of named afflictions have followed, from ‘BlackBerry thumb’ (a repetitive stress problem) to ‘phantom BlackBerry syndrome,’ ” when a user isn't carrying the device, but feels the hip buzz anyway.

Treo
Slightly bulkier than the BlackBerry, this multi-tasking device is a favorite among publicists and artsy self-starters. But it’s harder to peg by type because of its versatility.

“There's no single Treo user, but Treo users tend to be more organization-minded than, say, iPhone or Sidekick buyers,” - said Greengart.

“Many Treo owners upgraded from Palm's excellent PDAs, which could be expanded with any number of software applications, but always started with a solid collection of personal information management applications.”

Palm spokeswoman Dolleen Casey added, “Generally, Treo buyers tend to be mobile professionals around ages 35-54, across a variety of industries, from manufacturing and healthcare to banking and law.”

Palm’s newer smartphone, Centro, is “targeted at a younger audience with the smaller size, multimedia and messaging options,” she said.

Sidekick
Sidekicks, sold exclusively by T-Mobile, “are built around instant messaging, and which demographics are completely addicted to IM? Teens and young adults,” - Greengart said.

“T-Mobile's marketing has stressed celebrities and youth, and you're extremely unlikely to find a white-shoe lawyer carrying one, unless his client is Jay-Z.”

Jackson Jeyanayagam, a publicist for Waggener Edstrom whose clients include T-Mobile, said the traits of a typical Sidekick user are: “considered an influencer within their peer group, multi-cultural background and/or friends, early-adopter with music and gadgets, always on the go, has a large (social) network that they always need to be connected; multitaskers, tech-savvy and always in the know with what’s hot.”

The professions of people who tend to use Sidekicks, generally, he said, include “publicists, talent managers, event/party planners and promoters, writers, business moguls, musical artists (who use the Sidekick to write lyrics), DJs, actors, professional athletes, young entrepreneurs, college students.”

iPhone
The iPhone’s owner wants the latest and supposed greatest. With the phone’s unbelievably thin size - 0.46 of an inch thick - and touch screen, everything screams future fantastic. Everyone who’s anyone has it - including high-profile users across the spectrum of professions and lifestyles. The iPod’s dominance as a music player made the transition easy for iPhone users, who were already comfortable with that system of music organization.

“The iPhone is definitely tilted toward entertainment, and it is sought out by consumers seeking the best integration of music and other iTunes content,” - said Greengart.

New York-based Warner Music undermined that claim, declaring in a statement that it "has not authorized the use of our content on Qtrax's recently announced service."

Universal Music Group and EMI Group PLC later confirmed they did not have licensing deals in place with Qtrax, noting discussions were still ongoing. A call to Sony BMG Music Entertainment was not immediately returned. Music services such as Qtrax must secure licensing agreements from the record companies, which own the rights to master recordings, and music publishers, which control the rights to song compositions. Each of the major recording companies also operates music publishing units.

Allan Klepfisz, Qtrax's president and chief executive, acknowledged Sunday that the deal with Warner Music had not been signed, but said he expects to reach an agreement on terms "shortly."

Qtrax had been scheduled to make its online debut on Monday, a day after its splashy coming-out party at the annual Midem music business conference in Cannes, France.

Qtrax shut down after a few months following its 2002 launch to avoid potential legal trouble. The company said it latest version of the service still lets users tap into file-sharing networks to search for music. Downloads however come with copy-protection technology known as digital-rights management, or DRM, to prevent users from burning copies to a CD and calculate how to divvy up advertising sales with labels.

The company also promises that its music downloads will be playable on Apple Inc.'s iPods and Macintosh computers until April 15. That's unusual, as iPods only playback unrestricted MP3s files or tracks with Apple's proprietary version of DRM, dubbed FairPlay.

Apple has been resistant in the past to license FairPlay to other online music retailers. That stance has effectively limited iPod users to loading up their players with tracks purchased from Apple's iTunes Music Store, or MP3s ripped from CDs or bought from vendors.

Rob Enderle, technology analyst at the San Jose-based Enderle Group, said he expects Apple would take steps to block Qtrax files from working on iPods.

Last fall, the company issued a software update for its iPhones that created problems for units modified by owners so they would work with a cellular carrier other than AT&T Inc. As a result, some modified phones ceased to work after the software update.

The move prompted antitrust lawsuits on behalf of some consumers.

The research team succeeded in creating a man-made copy of the genome for a bacterium, the first time that's been done. A genome is the complete set of DNA in the chromosomes of a living organism, the instruction set for how an organism works.

But while they were able to copy the genome of an existing organism, they weren't able to create a brand new one. Essentially, they managed to write the "software code" for a bacterium but they haven't yet figured out how to turn it on and make it live.

Once that's possible, it opens the door to building made-to-order organisms that could do things natural organisms don't: plants that take up large amounts of carbon from the atmosphere to slow global warming, microbes that turn grass clippings into fuel, bacteria that eat sugar and produce medicine. Some researchers believe that's a long way off.

"These guys have not synthesized a brand new life form," - says Jim Collins, a professor of biomedical engineering at Boston University. Science still has a long way to go to understanding the underlying biology of life necessary to do that, he says.

There are "multiple barriers to this," - Venter acknowledges. "But we're confident that they can be overcome."

Another worry: Once this technology becomes commonplace, it can be used to create both good organisms and dangerous ones, says David Magnus, director of Stanford University's Center for Biomedical Ethics.

Venter's team has already genetically modified the bacterium to make it non-infectious.

Apple turned in revenue of $9.6 billion and profit of $1.6 billion for the holiday quarter, blowing past the average analyst estimate. The company shipped a record 2.3 million Intel (INTC)-based Macs during the period, and actually sold as many iPhones as computers. In the process Apple generated $2.7 billion in cash, bringing its war chest to $18.4 billion.

On the conference call with analysts, Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer admitted that iPod sales merely met the company’s expectations, rather than exceeding them. Part of the reason, he said, was that U.S. iPod sales weakened in December - it took overseas sales to make up the difference. “In the U.S., in the gift-buying season, we saw a slightly different curve, that was made up for in our very, very good growth internationally.” - he said.

It was clear that Apple executives weren’t sure what to make of the iPod slowdown. Maybe it’s the U.S. economy. Maybe the presence of the higher-priced iPod touch convinced people to save up and buy one iPod instead of two, they suggested. And then there’s the possibility that the iPhone is starting to eat into iPod sales. “In the U.S., where iPod unit sales were flat year over year, it could have been one of the factors, but other factors played into that as well, so it is very difficult to say with any precision whether there was cannibalization or not,” - said Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook. Cannibalization would be a bad thing. It would mean that iPhone growth doesn’t purely add to Apple’s results — it also takes away from the iPod.

For this current quarter that will end in March, executives promised revenue of $6.8 billion and earnings of about $850 million. And while ordinarily analysts would take that number with a wink and expect Apple to easily beat it, this year they’re not so sure Apple can.

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The move marks EA's first major attempt to tap into new sources of ad-driven revenue in Western markets. The firm has a free version of its Fifa game in South Korea, earning more than $1m a month through in-game sales. "Online gaming has a massive audience," - said EA's Gerhard Florin, in a statement.

"People want to play games in new ways, with easier access that is quick to the fun. With Battlefield Heroes, EA brings its first major franchise to North America and Europe with a new distribution model and pricing structure adapted to the evolving way that people play."

The video games industry is taking its first steps away from a retail-focused sales environment and towards digital distribution. EA hopes the model of a free game as download that is supported by adverts and micro-payments could be applied to other franchises it owns.

The new version of Battlefield is designed to have more mass market appeal than current titles in the series, which have sold about 10 million copies worldwide.

The games has a "cartoon-feel" and has been made simpler to play, with more emphasis on participation and fun than skill and strategy. Ben Cousins, senior producer at Dice says that no adverts would be appear in the game itself: "They wouldn't work inside the fictional world. Instead, adverts will appear on the website and the 'front-end' of the game." Gamers will be able to buy items which customize their appearance in the world, but will not be able to seek an advantage through buying weapons.

Mr. Cousins said Battlefield Heroes was about exploring new revenue models as well as making a game more accessible: "I've always felt there was some really good fun core gameplay which was locked away by several barriers to entry: the game is complex, it is full of skilled people, you need quite a high-end PC on which to play and you need to go to store to purchase a copy. We're removing all barriers to entry and we hope there is broader audience for the title. You will be able to play this game on grandma's laptop."

Mr. Cousins said EA expected 95% of people who played the game never to spend any money.

"If you look at Korea and Asia this is a model that works. Given the enormous explosion in web-based gaming products, this is going to be a real source of growth in the industry and Battlefield Heroes is the first step towards doing that in West."

Late Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission said the devices — developed by Adaptrum Inc., Microsoft Corp., Motorola Inc. and Philips Electronics North America Corp. — will be tested in laboratory and real-world conditions.

The agency said testing will take three months and issue a report about six weeks after the testing ends.

Last year, a high-technology coalition — which includes Microsoft, Philips, a division of Netherlands-based Royal Philips Electronics NV, Google Inc., Dell Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co., Intel Corp. and EarthLink Inc. — submitted prototypes they said could transmit broadband Internet service over unlicensed and unused TV spectrum, known as "white spaces."

The coalition — which does not include Motorola and Adaptrum, a Mountain View, Calif.-based startup — says using white spaces could make Internet service more accessible and affordable, especially in rural areas. However, television broadcasters and the wireless microphone industry say such devices could interfere with programming.

Initial prototype testing failed. In July, the FCC gave a failing grade to Microsoft's prototypes, saying the devices did not reliably detect and avoid TV programming signals and could have caused interference.

Two weeks later, though, the agency said one of the Microsoft-built devices was broken, accounting for the failed results. A duplicate Microsoft device sent to the FCC was never tested.

At the time, the coalition also said a second prototype Philips developed was able to detect TV and wireless microphone signals, but only in a laboratory setting.

If the tests are successful this time and the devices are approved, the coalition plans to introduce commercial devices for sale after the digital television transition in February 2009.

"It seems to me this timeline is reasonable and could lead to a final decision by the end of the June," - said Scott Blake Harris, who represents the coalition.

Scrabulous is currently one of Facebook’s ten most popular applications - little programs that Facebook members can add to the profiles they maintain on the site.

The request to remove the add-on came from both Hasbro and Mattel because ownership of the Scrabble trademark is split between the two. Hasbro owns rights to the game in the US and Canada while Mattel has rights everywhere else in the world.

Facebook makes no comment to make at this stage.

The Scrabulous add-on was not created by Facebook but was built for the site by Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla - software developers based in Kolkata. According to the Scrabulous website it has 594,924 daily active users - about a quarter of the total that have signed up to play it. The game has spawned a host of "scrabble cheat" sites which work out every possible word that can be made from the available letters. The threat to the game has spawned a new Facebook group called "Save Scrabulous" that already has more 600 members.

Karl Savage, a member of the Save Scrabulous group, said: "A lot of people are saying shame on Hasbro, shame on Mattel, if you wouldn't be so short-sighted about this then you have an opportunity to actually make some money from this rather than alienate your existing customers.

"I'd say find some common ground. Look at licensing," added Mr Savage. "Perhaps sit down together and say look, these guys have created this fantastic piece of software that lots of people use why not employ them or have a similar product on there that is licensed but use that to advertise your other products?"

There has been speculation that the challenge to Scrabulous had been launched as Hasbro and Mattel prepare their own online version of Scrabble. Mr Savage said he doubted that would be a big success. He said: "The main feature with Scrabulous for me is that I can play it in Facebook. I don't have to go to an external site and then search for all my friends all over again because I don't think that would work and I don't think many people would sign up for it."

Links have also been posted to the customer service areas of the Hasbro and Mattel websites so fans can register their protests with the toy makers.

These two chains as polar opposites - one designed as a sophisticated faux living room where customers could get a decent coffee drink and read their newspapers; the other, a riot of plastic-and-vinyl booths and bright fluorescent lighting where meals are counted in billions served.

Starbucks has primed the American drinking public well. McDonald's mixed coffee drinks have profit margins that rival even its regular cup of drip, an appetizing prospect in a week when shares of McDonald's fell more than 7 percent on reports of slow December sales. The company is betting its new drinks, which will be priced lower than equivalent Starbucks offerings, will also drive between-meal traffic into McDonald's restaurants.

Is really possible for these two worlds to collide? If McDonald's built its own version of a grande nonfat latte, would Starbucks customers come? Here we’ve got some information that helps us to determine which one McDonald's or Starbucks? Visitors to Starbucks.com skew female: Starbucks' website has 8.3% more female visitors than does the McDonald's site. While McDonalds.com visitors cluster in the 18-to-34 age range, Starbucks owns the 35-to-44-year-old group. There's also a clear income gap between the two: McDonald's visitors tend to live in households earning less than $60,000 per year; Starbucks customers lean toward households earning over $60,000. The interesting point, though, is the difference in demographic trends between each restaurant's clientele over the last two years. The Big Mac customer base has remained relatively stable, while Starbucks' coffee-drinkers have diversified. It used to be that Starbucks attracted customers from a small, elite segment of the country; now, its visitors pervade many more segments across America. The strongest Starbucks and McDonald's types: For Starbucks, its segment B03, the Urban Commuter Family, described as "college-educated households containing dual income couples." These folks favor golfing as their exercise of choice. The segment that visits McDonald's is type J03, the Struggling City Centers, described as "lower-income households living in city neighborhoods in the South."

The theory says that customers' habits are changing, and their eating times are changing and that’s true. But there are limits. McDonald's is developing sugar-free flavorings, but don't look for them in restaurants anytime soon. And how about the increasingly popular soy latte or green tea chai? "Not yet," says McDonald's Frick. Starbucks, take note.

Beyond these innovations, however, there are likely to be many, many more. One of the most important areas of research in the world of computers is that of artificial intelligence. When many people think of artificial intelligence, they may picture fully aware machines, complete with emotions, and the problems that can arise from them. Even though this remains the goal of many artificial intelligence researchers, in fact artificial intelligence technology is already in place and already serving the needs of humans everywhere.

One of the most powerful uses of artificial intelligence thus far is in the world of speech recognition. This powerful technology is already in place in call centers, banks, brokerage centers, insurance companies and other businesses throughout the world. While speech recognition is still imperfect, it has improved greatly in recent years, and in the future many routine, and even non-routine, phone calls and telephone inquiries may be handled completely without human intervention.

Robot technology has also come a long way, but it still has a long way to go. Robots in the future are unlikely to take human form, expect in a few specialized applications. Instead, robots are likely to do a great deal of work that is simply too dangerous for humans to accomplish. From spaceflight applications to search and rescue, robots are likely to continue down the learning curve they have already entered, further enhancing human lives and providing valuable services for a fraction of the cost of today’s robot helpers.

Quantum computers are also likely to transform the computing experience, for both business and home users. These powerful machines are already on the drawing board, and they are likely to be introduced in the near future. The quantum computer is expected to be a giant leap forward in computing technology, with exciting implications for everything from scientific research to stock market predictions.

Nanotechnology is another important part of the future of computers, expected to have a profound impact on people around the globe. Nanotechnology is the process whereby matter is manipulated at the atomic level, providing the ability to “build” objects from their most basic parts. Like robotics and artificial intelligence, nanotechnology is already in use in many places, providing everything from stain resistant clothing to better suntan lotion. These advances in nanotechnology are likely to continue in the future, making this one of the most powerful aspects of future computing.

And if history is to be any guide, some of the most powerful advances in the world of computers and computer technology are likely to be completely unforeseen. After all, some of the most powerful technologies of the past have taken us by surprise, so stay tuned for a truly fascinating future.

"Winter is warming greater than any other season," - said Elizabeth Burakowski, who analyzed data from dozens of stations for her master's thesis in collaboration with Cameron Wake, a professor at the University of New Hampshire's Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space. Burakowski, who graduated from UNH in December, found that the biggest snowfall decreases were in December and February. Stations in New England showed the strongest decreases in winter snowfall, about 3 inches a decade. There were wide disparities in snowfall over the eight-state region, with average totals ranging from 13.5 inches at Cape May, N.J., to 137.6 inches at Oswego, N.Y. Some stations on the Great Lakes, where lake-effect storms are common, showed an increase.

The reduction in days with at least an inch of snow on the ground was the most pronounced at stations between 42 and 44 degrees latitude - a band that includes most of Massachusetts, a thick slice of upstate New York and southern sections of Vermont and New Hampshire.

Burakowski cites two likely causes for the reduction in so-called snow-covered days: higher maximum temperatures and "snow-albedo feedback," in which less snow cover to begin with allows more sunshine warmth to be absorbed by the darker ground, making it less conducive to snow cover.

The research has yet to appear in a peer-reviewed journal, though meteorologists who have studied long-term climate trends said the observations appear to be in line with other research.

Richard Heim of the National Climatic Data Center looked at trends in snowfall totals nationwide from 1948 to 2006 and found that patterns varied regionally and seasonally. For the Northeast in winter, he found totals mostly decreasing along coastal areas, with an increasing trend along the Great Lakes. Art DeGaetano, of the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University, said regions around New York State have recorded negative trends in snowfall since 1970.

DeGaetano cautioned that snowfall totals can vary a lot from year to year. Last month, for example, snow totals were well above average for December across much of the Northeast.

Ski center operators also have noticed an incremental increase in temperatures over the decades, said Parker Riehle, president of the trade association Ski Vermont, but he echoed DeGaetano's point that snow totals have gone up and down.

"We've seen some erratic winters in recent years," - Riehle said. "The mood swings of Mother Nature, perhaps, are deeper than they used to be." But while ski slopes can fire up snow-making guns to compensate for lack of flurries, snowmobilers and cross-country skiers have complained about later starts and fewer trails covered with snow.

Cross-country skiers never even get in the right frame of mind during some winters, said Mark Booska of the Hudson Valley Ski Club. "They look out their window and they're not thinking skiing," - he said.

The final material is called Litrosphere, which is not affected by heat or cold, can emit any color except white. The Litrosphere can be used in the form of paint injection-molded plastics. It costs you as little as 35 cents for getting it to cover a standard sheet of paper. MPK specializes in glow-in-the-dark paint and other glow products, although the new material does not need to be exposed to light in order to work. The company predicts that the technology could be used for light safety tape, lighted life rafts/flotation equipment, toys, sports/camping equipment, and bikes, making it the coolest in the dark lonely nights.

"This has potential to save billions in energy costs world-wide. Litroenergy surpasses all known available lighting options for cost/durability/reliability and safety," - said Steve Stark, MPK engineer.

Litroenergy has recently been added to the New Energy Congress' (NEC) list of Top 100 Technologies (rank pending). However, its use will likely be limited to applications that don’t require a great deal of light.

There are also rumors that MPK may use similar technology as a power source in the future.

"It’s not something the company is ready to talk publicly about yet, but they do have battery technology that would be of the same ilk: betavoltaic technology allowing continuous power for years in all battery applications, including automobiles. They think they will be able to win the DoD (Department of Defense) contest for the $1 million prize for backpack battery tech." - said NEC member Sterling D. Allan."

Will this replace traditional lighting anytime soon? Probably no, as an expert in the matter claims that the intensity is not strong enough to match the light output or replace electric light bulbs. Add that to the fact that there is absolutely no way to turn this thing off, and you've got yourself quite a conundrum.

• Twenty-one percent of the workers polled believe their job prospects will be worse in the coming year, up from 15 percent last year.
• Thirty percent say it is not at all likely they will be looking for a new job next year, compared to 26 percent one year ago.

Forty-six percent feel their organizations’ leaders are expecting the economy to get worse next year, and only 22 percent say executives think the economy is getting better.

Fifty-seven percent of the workers polled said they expected to earn significantly or a little bit more in 2007, down from 63 percent in 2006.

Hiring practically stalled in December, driving the nation’s unemployment rate up to a two-year high of 5 percent. The jobs outlook for 2008 looks anything but rosy. Unfortunately, economists, employment reports and staffing experts are pointing to a tough jobs outlook, at least for the first half of this year. “Most of us believe the first half of the year will be a slow growth period. Every forecast I’ve seen is for unemployment to creep above 5 percent by the middle of next year. It will be a less than hospitable job creation environment”- says Jared Bernstein, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute.

“The forward indicators of the labor market activity offer little hope that the labor market will be spared. It’s not good news when more people are signing up