Tweets Grow, But Facebook Leads Social Networking

By Jennifer LeClaire , toptechnews
ime spent social networking soared 83 percent in the last year, with Twitter growing fast but Facebook the number-one site. As Facebook grew, MySpace declined, and Twitter exploded. MySpace, however, led in time spent viewing video. It seems everyone is tweeting, from the military to churches, but popularity can be fleeting.
Twitter investors may be speculating about the value of social-networking sites, but no one is speculating about their popularity.
In the U.S. alone, the number of minutes people spend on social-networking sites has increased 83 percent year over year, according to Nielsen Online. In fact, total minutes spent on Facebook increased nearly 700 percent year over year, growing from 1.7 billion minutes in April 2008 to 13.9 billion in April 2009, making it the number-one social-networking site for the month.
"We have seen some major growth in Facebook during the past year, and a subsequent decline in MySpace. Twitter has come on the scene in an explosive way, perhaps changing the outlook for the entire space," said Jon Gibs, vice president of online media and agency insights for Nielsen.
MySpace Wins with Video. Read more...

Laptop Rugged Devices - Dell Latitude XFR D630

pcmag
Today the Dell Latitude XFR D630 makes its debut as the company's first fully rugged laptop that delivers extreme durability. So how's this different from Dell's current Latitude ATG D620? The ATG series is a semi-rugged laptop that meets half of the requirements of the MIL-STD 810F spec, a standard set forth by the Department of Defense for products that operate in extreme environmental conditions. The XFR D630, on the other hand, meets all of the requirements of the MIL-STD 810F spec.
The XFR D630 is built like the Panasonic Toughbook CF-52, with a thick die cast magnesium alloy chassis, a sealed keyboard, and port covers along the sides. It brings to the table features that are similar to the ATG series: Solid state drives are offered in 32GB and 64GB capacities. Dell's ExpressCharge technology claims to charge batteries 30 minutes faster than the competition. The XFR D630 also comes with a 14-inch widescreen that is outdoor-viewable, with a brightness rating of 500 nits. For scenarios where using a finger is faster than the keyboard, the screen has built-in touch capabilities.
The XFR D630 is built on the Latitude D family, so it maintains commonality with the Latitude D630 series. In other words, the system is highly configurable with a rich selection of processors, RAM configurations, and graphics options. All of the AC adapters, batteries, and docking stations are also compatible across the Latitude family. As you can imagine, this heavy duty piece of machinery doesn't come cheap. Prepare to drop at least $3,899 on the base configuration.
Available on amazon shop...

Hard Drive Rugged Devices - Iomega eGo BlackBelt Portable

iomega
Kick your digital storage up a notch with the new super rugged Iomega® eGo™ BlackBelt Portable Hard Drive. The Iomega Drop Guard™ Xtreme feature provides unparalleled protection and protects your drive from a 7' drop - over twice the industry average! You'll have lots of room for all your photos, music and important files. Plus, the Iomega eGo BlackBelt Portable Hard Drive requires no external power supply and includes free EMC® Retrospect® and MozyHome™ Online backup software (2GB Free). Software available via easy download. Includes Iomega Power Grip band.
Iomega eGo BlackBelt Portable Hard Drive

• USB 2.0/power cable
• Iomega Power Grip Band
• Quick Install Guide
• HTML User Manual and Help Files
• Backup software license included, software via download (PC only)
• One year warranty

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Bluetooth headset Rugged Devices - Plantronics's Explorer 370

Bluetooth headset
If you thought Bluetooth headsets couldn't be built to last, think again. Plantronics's Explorer 370 Rugged is a lightweight, water-resistant Bluetooth headset with good sound and a rugged design. Just how rugged is it? After being left outside in freezing temperatures and drizzling rain, and after being run over twice with an SUV, it still worked! The Explorer 370 is an in-ear design, which may bother folks who don't like in-ear stereo earbuds.
Available on amazon shop...

10 Rugged Devices for the Outdoors for all conditions

pcmag
Before you venture on that kayaking or beach trip this summer, you may want to leave your precious Apple iPhone 3G or Canon EOS Rebel T1i at home. It's not that these devices weren't highly rated by PCMag analysts, earning our Editors' Choice award, too; it's just that they're not the type of device you'd want to bring along if there's water, sand, or dirt involved. What you need is a device that can withstand the outdoors. Thankfully, there are plenty of rugged tech products to choose from, whether you need a Bluetooth headset, a laptop, a camera, and more.
1. Phone - Sonim XP3.20 Quest
2. Keyboard - Adesso Flexible Full Sized USB Keyboard
3. Bluetooth headset - Plantronics's Explorer 370 Rugged
4. High-end camera - Pentax K-7 D-SLR
5. Laptop - PeeWee Pivot Tablet
6. Video Camera - Kodak Zx1 Pocket
7. Portable Hard Drive - eGo BlackBelt
8. Laptop - Dell Latitude XFR D630
9. Digital cameras - Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1
10. GPS - Garmin Oregon 550t

Bing vs. Google competition, review 2

betanews
The way we left things yesterday, we gave Microsoft's newly revamped Bing search engine some moderately tough, everyday search tests, and gave Google the same treatment. After three heats, the score thus far is Bing 2, Google 1, with Bing performing quite admirably in the computer parts shopping department.
Search engines are fairly good for finding something you know you're searching for. In the real world, folks don't often know what or who it is they're searching for, which is why they're searching for him. So suppose someone sends you out on the Internet to find...
he most obvious deficiency search engines have today is that they gather no collective context about images, and people don't always remember names. With Google, Bing, and all the other major search engines, the only context their indexes can gather about images comes from the text in the immediate vicinity of the Web pages where those images reside. Now, hopefully those images have captions, and those captions include the basic information about who's in the photograph. That's helpful if you're specifically looking for a picture of, say, William Holden.
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Project Natal - control video games with your body

pcworld
At E3 2009 yesterday, Microsoft blew the media away with Project Natal, a motion sensing device that allows you to control video games and Xbox 360 menus with your body instead of a peripheral controller. Natal gives you voice and full-body motion control over your on-screen avatar using an RGB camera, depth sensor, multi-array microphone, and custom processor running proprietary software.
Project Natal will work with current XBox 360 systems. Microsoft also released yesterday the Project Natal software development kit to game makers who want to incorporate Natal functionality into their products.
Based on what Microsoft was showing off at E3, Natal promises to open up a new world of gaming, and bring us one step closer to a Minority Report-style future--Microsoft's Natal demo included an appearance by Minority Report director Steven Spielberg. But Microsoft is making some big claims with Project Natal, and Redmond's demonstration left some crucial unanswered questions about Natal and its future under the Xbox brand.
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