Can you feel the excitement? We can. USB 3.0 is inching closer and closer to reality, which means your current PC is inching closer and closer to being a token of yesteryear. USB 2.0 has been around for years now, and by and large, it has been sufficient. Transfer rates are fairly quick, and industry support couldn’t be higher.

But hey, this industry is all about progress, and we aren”t about to complain about newfound speed. The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) today announced the availability of the USB 3.0 (SuperSpeed USB) Compliance and Certification Program, which basically means that companies can have their products tested to receive the SuperSpeed USB logo/certification.

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Canon has announced a new mid range digital SLR; the EOS 7D. This is a very needed camera to complement the range. It comes with 18MP resolution, a new Autofocus system (19-point), new Metering System and also Full HD video recording (upto 30fps) which is now expected to see in new cameras. This camera will support an ISO range from 100 to 12,800 and its Dual DIGIC 4 Imaging Processors will allow it to capture upto 8 fps.

It also has some changes on the body itself. It has better grip and two new buttons; a Quick Control button to access camera settings and a RAW/JPEG toggle button.

Also, Canon announced its first lens with Hybrid Image Stabilization. The EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM. It can compensate both angle and shift camera shake to four speed steps. It will be available by the end of the month.

Check out the full article on HotHardware.

Canon 5D Mark II is almost here. Don’t bother rushing to the stores yet (if you have the money for it), it will only be available this November.

This is a fantastic camera that will replace the already-becoming-old-but-still-great Canon 5D. The most amazing features for the Mark II are:

• 21.1MP full frame CMOS sensor
• DIGIC 4 processor
• ISO range expandable to 25600
• Full HD (1080, 30fps) movie recording
• High-res 3.0” VGA LCD with Live View
• 3.9fps JPEG shooting up to card capacity
• 9-point AF + 6 Assist AF points
• Magnesium alloy body

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 “The Large Hadron Collider is the largest and most complex scientific instrument ever built and the highest energy particle accelerator in the world. The accelerator is located 100 m underground and runs through both French and Swiss territory.”

The LHC is a huge (and I mean HUGE) machine built to be part of CERN’s scientific complex. The size of this particle accelerator is 26659 meters (circumference) with a total of 9300 magnets inside which will be pre-cooled to 80 Kelvin (-193.2 degrees Celsius) using more the 10 thousand tonnes of liquid nitrogen. These will also be filled with about 60 tonnes of liquid helium so that they can reach the temperature of 1.9 K (-271.3 degrees Celsius). That’s less than 2 degrees above absolute zero.

After 20 years of hard work LHC is ready to fire the first beam this Wednesday (10 September 2008) after passing the final test of its synchronization systems.You can watch this event online through http://webcast.cern.ch/.

For more information about the largest particle collision ever built you can visit CERN’s website.

Scientists have developed robots that can climb a multitude of different surfaces. These tank-toy-shaped robots use electrostatic power to be able to stick to the wall.

“In some ways it is similar to rubbing a balloon and sticking it on the wall, except we carry our own power supply and are able to control the adhesion.”

The scientists are now trying to develop insect robots using the same technology. Well, another science fiction theme coming to life.

Read the full article on BBC NEWS.

I’ve just received a confirmation from Vodafone (Portugal) that I am in the queue to buy an iPhone. It’s great to be on a list to spend some money

It seems that finally I got some confirmation of what the price will be for the iPhone here in this little country (but lovely) called Portugal.

Here is the table that I got on that same email:

So, this means that to get the iPhone 3G without robbing a bank you need to obtain a 24 month contract. The table already contemplates a €10 deduction if you give them an old phone. This is a promotion operators are doing in Portugal (almost worthless, but good if they recycle the phones).

To be eligible for a best iPhone contract you also need to be on the Vodafone network for at least 6 months.

Ok, so what kind of money is Vodafone asking you per month? If you don’t want (or are not eligible for) a best iPhone plan you need to spend €3 per day to enjoy surfing the web and read emails. In this plan you only have 20MB per day to use. If you use more than that Vodafone automatically start a second day tariff. I reckon this tariff is only for people that don’t use that much the Internet on the iPhone (what’s the point then?). Or you can add the iPhone extra (aditivo iPhone) for €9.90 per month to have 250MB allowance with €0.08 per extra MB. To be able to use this extra you need a plan other than Vitamina Shock, Vita Clube, Vitas ao Segundo, best iPhone, best Total ao Segundo, Vodafone Directo and Vodafone Casa. All these are not eligible to have this extra.

For the ‘best iPhone’ plans the monthly tariffs are as follows:

The number you see on the plan is the minutes/sms allowance you have monthly.  Per aditional minute/sms you pay 0.149, 0.129 or 0.099 according to the plan you choose. In the best plans you will have a 250MB allowance per month and you pay €0.06 per extra MB.

You can also check the page https://loja.vodafone.pt/homephone/iPhone/tarifario/ to see for yourself the plans and prices available (in portuguese).

Well, I remember someone saying that the iPhone wouldn’t cost more than $199 on any country. Yeah sure, put all the huge monthly bills of the tariff and you will get that right. For the ones that don’t know how much the euro is compared to the dollar all I can say is that €129.90 is $204.34. This is the cheapest price you will get for the 8GB iPhone 3G in Portugal. For this price you will need to pay €64.90 monthly for 24 months. Cheap…

Pioneer has just come up with some “big” news. 400GB in an optical disk. It’s 16 layers of data in one DVD size disk. Now that Blu-ray has won the battle of HD formats Pioneer comes and tells us that they have a better technology (derived from DVD). That makes us think that Blu-ray doesn’t quite appeal with the current capacity. We want more… yes we do…

Read the Pioneer Press Release!

(Article found through TrustedReviews)

Some time ago I was quite interested in programming languages but that interest wore off because I found a bit hard to get a job on that area. Of course, things have changed and now it’s quite easy to get a job on that specific area. You can even choose what language you want to use. But now, and because I’m part of a Development team, although I’m not developing anything, the “bug” has returned and I feel like experimenting with new technologies out there.

I’ve been reading a bit about WPF and XAML. It seems like this is the future, or at least that’s what most people are saying. The first time I heard someone talking about that my question was “what the hell is that?”. Simply put XAML is very similar to XML and it stands for eXtensible Application Markup Language. WPF stands for Windows Presentation Foundation (complicated name). I am not going to explain what those things are and what you can do about it. The purpose of this article is to share, with someone also interested in learning a bit more about it (like me), a website that contains a nice bunch of tutorials that I found very interesting.

If someone knows about any interesting reading about these subjects drop me a line. Don’t forget I’m learning. Also need to spend some time looking at C# or VB. It’s been a long time without look at it.

You can check these in here: http://joshsmithonwpf.wordpress.com/a-guided-tour-of-wpf/

“US and Canadian scientists have built a novel device that effortlessly harvests energy from human movements.”
It looks like 1 minute walking provides power to charge a mobile for 30 minutes. That’s impressive. Imagine if you walk for 30 minutes.
Let’s walk and power up your entire gadget collection. Better still, let’s run and stop paying that expensive electricity bill :p

Read the full article on BBC NEWS. Via TechDigest.

It is now possible to use the great software Skype on your PSP (in case you own one of course). All Skype’s features will be available including the free calls between Skype users. Using the PSP you can also have access to your contact list. All you need to do is to get your hands on the 3.9 firmware and update your PSP.

Article in Tech Digest.