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The first roadable aircraft, the Transition, made its first flight yesterday at Plattsburgh International Airport.  Also known as the flying car, it seats two and can take off and land in any local airport.  It can also cruise along any road with its wings folded.  It has a front-wheel drive and fits into a normal garage.  This new innovation was created by Terrafugia, a company founded by graduates of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

This milestone in transportation can cruise up to 450 mi at 115 mph.  It runs on regular unleaded gasoline.  It is estimated to be able to fly within a range 100 to 500 miles.  It is categorized as a Light Sport Aircraft and requires a Sport Pilot license to fly.  It is expected to be released in 2009 with a price tag of $194,000.

I’ve been trying to get a video showing its capabilities, but I have yet to find one that clearly shows how high it can go.  If all the claims about its abilities are true, it is truly a preview of what the future can bring.

My kids were given a Brain Age game for their Nintendo DS a few years ago and I was thrilled. Finally, a game that can make them smarter. However, researchers at the University of Rennes, Brittany claim that the game not only failed to improve the abilities of 10 year olds, but even worsened their memory. Really?

According to Alain Lieury, research lead and professor of cognitive psychology, the Nintendo DS is a technological jewel but it is charlatanism to claim that it is a scientific test. Their tests and studies proved that those who were placed under the Brain Age group performed 17% worse in memorization while those in the pencil and paper group had a 33% improvement. He claims that Dr. Ryuta Kawashima, the game’s developer, is one of a long list of dream merchants.

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Activision announced in the recent CES convention that sales of their popular Guitar Hero III have surpassed US$1 billion, the first ever video game to reach that mark. As a matter of fact, the company announced a year ago that their Guitar Hero franchise as a whole have already surpassed the US$1-billion mark. These include all versions of the game released since 2005.

However, Guitar Hero III sales are more astounding considering that it was able to accomplish the feat all its own in under years. Activision publishing CEO Mike Griffith warns other media sectors that video games are poised to eclipse other segments of the entertainment industry.

Nevertheless, recording artists whose music was featured in the video games have also enjoyed a substantial increase in download sales. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith Game was a big success for the rock band. Moreover, the games success have also driven the sales of actual guitars.

I guess the Mario Brothers will have to learn to play the guitar real soon.

Here’s good news for techies and IPhone junkies. Apple just released its 2.2 Firmware update and other goodies for the IPhone.  Also available is Google Street View and over the air Podcast downloads from iTunes.  Google Street View shows public transit and walking directions plus the ability to share your location via email.

Aside from bug fixes and Safari enhancements, the ability to toggle auto-text correction was added as an additional feature.  Another big update are podcast downloads.  Here are more shots courtesy of Engadget.

In the 20th century, nothing provides more cheer to kids than video games on high tech video consoles. The video game console market is controlled and dominated by only 3 players, Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft. For more than 5 years, these 3 giants have been engaged in the console wars. In the past 5 years, it has been Sony winning the console wars with the Playstation and the Playstation 2. In 2006, the console giants launched another full-scale war with their new consoles — the Sony Playstation 3, the Microsoft XBox 360, and the Nintendo Wii. This time, Nintendo has emerged the winner with the highest worldwide sales that has reached 34.55 million as of September 2008.

What makes the Wii better than its competitors? The Wii is a the game console that can be enjoyed and played by the entire family together. While the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360 were both targeted for hardcore gamers, the Wii features games that will make the family have fun. Another distinguishing feature that sets it apart from its competitors is its wireless controller (the Wii Remote) that can be used as a handheld pointing device and can detect movement in three dimensions. Father and son can play a game of tennis together and controlling the game would mean holding the remote and swinging your arms to simulate a real tennis swing in coordination with the character on the monitor. When I got my kids a Wii, it came with the Nintendo Wii Sports where we played tennis, baseball, bowling, and a lot more. It is probably the only game console that allows its players to exercise.

And because the Wii has been known to provide its players exercise, one of its bestselling games that was launched this year was the Wii Fit. The game was so in demand that it had become difficult to find one in the market. Same as the Wii, people were willing to pay a fortune to be able to get their hands on one. I have found it to be the best fitness tool so far. It comes with a Wii Balance Board that measures a user’s weight and center of gravity. The software then calculates the user’s body mass index and it includes activities like yoga, push-ups, and other exercises to keep you fit and strong.

Millions of people can’t be wrong about the Wii. Why not get one for the entire family and enjoy hours of fun together this holiday season? It would be the perfect gift for the kids. As a matter of fact, it has become the perfect tool for me and the kids to bond together.

Since I already got my kids a Wii, I’m planning on getting them a Nintendo DS this Christmas, Nintendo’s handheld game device. And like the Wii, it will definitely provide them hours of fun and entertainment. Check out price comparisons online and make sure you get a good deal on your Nintendo products.

The T-Mobile G1 just shipped and some are actually excited about it. It’s the touchscreen competitor of the IPhone which is touted to be the IPhone Killer. Really now? Based on the initial look of the cellphone, I don’t feel so hot about it. I will try to summarize most of its salient features in comparison to Apple’s IPhone.

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Another contender to the Apple IPhone’s coveted market share is the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. It had been subject to speculation and rumors months ago as the Nokia Tube. Scheduled to hit stores in the last quarter of 2008, here’s a quick round up of what it can offer.

As an IPhone contender, of course it comes with a multi-touch screen but likewise accepts input via stylus and plectrum.  It has a 3.2-inch display in high resolution.  Since it will cater to music lovers, it has an 8 GB memory and a microSD slot that supports 16 GB cards.  It also has a graphic equalizer and a built in stereo surround sound that supports all major digital music formats.

The rest of the features are pretty standard — 3.2 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens, Bluetooth, dual LED flash, GPS, WiFi, and runs on Nokia’s S60 5th edition.  Price tag is estimated at $392.   Is the Nokia 5800 the One?  We’ll see.

Finally, RIM unveils the Storm, the Blackberry that promises to unseat the IPhone in the mobile phone market. The Storm is the first ever touchscreen Blackberry with a 480 by 360-pixel, 3.25-inch glass display. Like the IPhone, it supports multi-touch (good for 2-finger gestures) but with a “ClickThrough” feature where the user will distinctly feel the screen being pressed and released. Can it deliver tactile touch capabilities that is missing in the IPhone?

Besides the multi-touch screen, the Storm will come with an ambient light sensor and an accelerometer that automatically turns the screen when you move it sideways. In landscape view, the touch keypad is a full QWERTY while in portrait mode, it has the SureType pad similar to the Blackberry Pearl. It will also come with full-on Office document editing—including support for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents.

It is roughly the size of the IPhone which will include CDMA and GSM radios and 3G access. The GPS feature will have a turn-by-turn directions. Of course, it will have Bluetooth capabilities, Blackberry email support, and also a 3.2 megapixel camera with flash and autofocus. For now, it will be exclusive for Verizon Wireless (no confirmation yet) and pricing still remains a mystery. There are rumors that it will match IPhone 3G’s $199 price. Rumors also abound that a Blackberry Store is in the works, like the Apple’s App Store and the Android Market.

Whether the Storm will a better alternative to the IPhone or the upcoming T-Mobile G remains to be seen.

I love sports. The excitement . . . the thrill . . . and the human skill involved amazes me. For that reason, I always look out for the world’s best athletes. Whether it’s in the Olympics, the NBA, Major League Baseball, or NFL, I just enjoy watching them.

Being a frustrated athlete, I do try my hand at any sport available to me. But despite the skills I developed in swimming, volleyball, badminton, and a lot more, nothing beats watching the pros show you how it’s supposed to be done. And if it’s sports video you want, only SportsVids can give them to you in their website. Aren’t you tired of searching for sports videos in a video site where it’s free for all? Now, search, watch, or upload your favorite sports video in a site dedicated to the excellence of the human body and spirit. Watching videos of Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Tiger Woods, or Usain Bolt lifts the soul. It tells me there’s so much more we are capable of doing if we put our heart, mind, and soul into it. I believe that sports is the best representation of a human beings ability to persevere against all odds.

If you’re looking for a video clip of Tiger Woods’ amazing shots or older clips from Michael Jordan’s buzzer beaters, SportsVids.com is definitely the website for you. Watch or upload videos in this premier online sports video site. Below is one of the more famous athletes that have graced the headlines in the past months as he attempts the impossible and succeeds even more than expected. Watch Michael Phelps in one of his memorable races in the Beijing Olympics as he breaks the World Record and wins one of the many gold medals in the 400 Individual Medley swimming event.

Michael Phelps 400 Medley Original – Click here for more sports videos

As fuel costs remains high, the upside is that the world now realizes how important it is to find an alternative source of energy. Once again, mankind’s ingenuity is put to the test and many are rising to the challenge. Not only are alternative sources now being researched, but they are also ensuring that this new source would likewise be the solution to the world’s environmental dilemma.

The newest innovation launched in West Coast Green, an environmentally-focused conference with an emphasis on sustainable building at San Jose, is the Magnetic Air Car. A silicon salt battery, which has 30% more mass power than a lead acid battery and can charge completely in an hour, starts a magnetic motor that drives a small on-board air compressor. The airflow is turbocharged and multiplied to where the resulting horse-power smoothly powers the car. The idea is based on technology developed in 1932 by J.M. Custer.

Other air cars being developed in India and Korea use traditional pistons. They use compressed air to drive a piston and can take anywhere from 10 minutes to 4 hours to fill. One French design can only drive a distance of about 160 kilometers (100 miles) before the air tanks need to be refilled. Filling their air tanks also consume energy. These designs are considered inefficient and a waste of mechanical energy.

The magnetic air car’s design is targeted for further use in the future in SUVs or even planes. The vehicle is expected to be ready by 2010, and hopefully sooner, to solve the current energy crisis.

Apple now offers users the ability to get an IPhone 3G and sign up for AT&T service online before visiting an Apple Store. It will allow users to enter billing information, review their eligibility, and choose an AT&T plan. As soon as you have completed the process, you can then visit an Apple Store to complete the purchase. The issue behind the scheme is that you still need to go to an Apple Retail Store. It would have been a great service if everything was possible online. Apparently, you still need to go to the store to get your IPhone and activate it.

Looks like Apple is forecasting total sales of the IPhone 3G to reach 5 million during the holiday season. If their projections are accurate, Apple would meet their 10 million target for IPhone 3G sales in 2008.

Promotional videos of the upcoming Nokia E72 and the Nokia E75 leaked around the web, showing the QWERTY pads of the mobile phone successors of the Nokia E71. The E72 is the candybar version with full QWERTY pads while the E75 is a slider with both the normal Nokia keypad and a QWERTY pad with the slide out feature.

Assuming that these are upgraded versions of the E71, it is likely that it will have the same capabilities but with GPS receivers and advanced email capabilities. Watch the Nokia E72 and E75 videos while it is still available.

The most common mistake that businesses make is neglecting customer satisfaction. They fail and lose money without even realizing what went wrong. They focus on advertising, financial management, or product/service enhancements without even considering customer interactions. One dissatisfied customer is not something that should be taken lightly. Word of mouth can sometimes have a stronger effect than big-budget advertising. Customer experience packs in more credibility than promotional stunts.

If your business involves regular customer interactions, VeCommerce can offer the best solution to improve customer satisfaction. VeCommerce provides businesses the best software/application that utilize voice recognition and voice biometrics. Their advanced communication technology understands the caller just as well as a call center agent, allowing them to simply say what they want without the need to push so many buttons before getting their solutions. Customers don’t get redirected several times and waiting time is minimized.

VeCommerce has the best speech recognition technology that provides customers fasters results and more security. Their technological innovations have awarded them international patents on several voice recognition applications and are known to be pioneers in the industry. The company’s biometric technology is so advanced that its speaker verification software prevents multiple identity fraud over the telephone.

If your company is currently experiencing complaints toward customer support, maybe it’s time to get an IVR software that will improve interaction with clients that will provide more satisfaction. Better customer satisfaction means more customers and a bigger bottomline.

Aside from online shopping, one of the many perks of the internet is the ability to meet other people online from any part of the globe. Internet chatting has been on the rise for several years now and has even led to numerous successful partnerships. Whether you’re looking for a friend or a partner, it has helped so many people deal with boredom or depression. Of course, caution should always be foremost in your mind when you do chat with strangers. As such, many do tinker with chatting just to pass the time.

Regardless of what your intention is, chatting can be a fun experience for anyone. What’s even better is that you can find a friend from the opposite part of the world. Interracial Chat City is one of the newest online chatting hubs in the web that offers free membership. Signing up is easy because there is no need to download anything. Meet new people from all walks of life and learn about cultures that are unlike your own. Join Interracial Chat City now and grab your webcam and enter their Interracial Chat Rooms. Find a unique and interesting friend and discover a whole new world without leaving the safety of your own home.