60-inch Apple iTV to launch this year

NEW YORK (AP) -- It's no secret that Apple wants to get into the living room by making its own TV set, and there have been plenty of rumors and reports about how and when it's going to happen. Now, an analyst says he's learned that the set will go on sale late this year, for $1,500 to $2,500. In a research note Wednesday, Brian White of Topeka Capital Markets says the "iTV" will be 60 inches on the diagonal, but could also come in 50- and 55-inch versions. Apple will also release a small "iRing" that fits on the viewer's finger, allowing the user to control the screen by pointing, White says. In addition, the set will come with tablet-like "mini iTVs" with 9.7-inch screens, the same as the full-size iPad, White said. The "iTV" will be able to send video to the smaller screens wirelessly around the house. The concept is similar to the way in which cable and satellite TV companies are starting to let their set-top boxes send video to iPads and other tablets. White says his report is based on gleanings from visits with unnamed Chinese and Taiwanese companies that supply Apple with components.

Apple doesn't comment on future products before its launch events, but late company co-founder Steve Jobs told biographer Walter Isaacson that he wanted to remake the TV and had figured out a way to do it. Last year, there were numerous analyst reports that said Apple would launch a TV set in 2012.

Apple does sell an "Apple TV," but it's a small box that connects to a TV to display movies and shows from iTunes. Apple shares rose $4.91, or 1.1 percent, to $434.70 in midday trading, as the tech-dominated Nasdaq index fell 0.3 percent. Apple's stock is still close to the 52-week low of $419, which it hit a month ago. MadOne

North Korea issues fresh threat to U.S. Bases!

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said it would attack U.S. military bases on Japan and the Pacific island of Guam if provoked, a day after leader Kim Jong-un oversaw a mock drone strike on South Korea. The North also held an air raid drill on Thursday after accusing the United States of preparing a military strike using bombers that have overflown the Korean peninsula as part of drills between South Korean and U.S. forces. North Korea has stepped up its rhetoric in response to what it calls "hostile" drills between South Korea and the United States. It has also been angered by the imposition of fresh U.N. sanctions that followed its February 12 nuclear test. Separately, South Korea said a hacking attack on the servers of local broadcasters and banks on Wednesday originated from an IP address in China, raising suspicions the intrusion came from North Korea.

"The United States is advised not to forget that our precision target tools have within their range the Anderson Air Force base on Guam where the B-52 takes off, as well as the Japanese mainland where nuclear powered submarines are deployed and the navy bases on Okinawa," the North's supreme military command spokesman was quoted as saying by the KCNA news agency.  Japan and U.S. Pacific bases are in range of Pyongyang's medium-range missiles. It is not known if North Korea possesses drones, although a report on South Korea's Yonhap news agency last year said it had obtained 1970s-era U.S. target drones from Syria to develop into attack drones. "North Korea has strongly stepped up development of asymmetrical strategy with nuclear development and many types of ballistic missiles as well as a special forces of 200,000 strong."  MadOne

Michael Jordan Highland Park, IL Mansion Listed for $21 Million

  

According to the Tribune, Jordan’s sprawling estate is listed as the highest priced home in Chicago and boasts features such as nine bedrooms, 15 full baths, three-bedroom guesthouse, indoor-outdoor entertaining and pool area, tennis court, putting green and a 15-car garage. For basketball lovers, Jordan’s Highland Park mansion also includes an indoor basketball complex featuring a full-size regulation court with specially cushioned hardwood flooring and competition-quality high intensity lighting. The front gates of the estate are also emblazoned with a telltale “23,” the jersey number MJ wore when he was part of the Chicago Bulls. The IBTimes writes that the house was built during Jordan’s first hiatus from the hardwood, between 1993 and 1995, and that the “true” king of the court used to live there with his wife and three children, until his divorce in 2006. According to public records, the property taxes on the home were $165,224 in 2010. MadOne. More Pictures below

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

 

Beyonce's Exotic Skins Sneakers Under Attack

 

Well here's one organization not feeling all the post-Super Bowl Beyonce love -- PETA, who's calling out the superstar for her new Isabel Marant wedge sneakers. ET can confirm that the exclusive sneakers are made out of crocodile and anaconda skins along with stingray, ostrich and calf hair. The shoes in question are custom designed by PMK, which explains the conception behind the design of the "King Bey" sneakers on its website. 

"Summoned by King Bee and given the task to create a custom design worthy of her approval, PMK takes the Isabel Marant sneaker wedge back to the beginning of time and gives it what they call the Eden treatment. A hybrid of land and sea skins are used to create this handcrafted creation. Stingray, Ostrich, calfs fur, Crocodile, and Anaconda give the already impeccable design attitude and the tones of white mixed with gold stitched details produces a feeling of elegance, mimicking the southern belle’s sweet and fierce persona."  The original Isabel Marant wedge sneakers -- sans the exotic skins -- have been a celeb favorite, worn by the likes of Anne Hathaway, Kate Bosworth and Gisele Bundchen. Beyonce herself wore an all-black suede version in the music video for her hit single Love on Top. Isabel Marant wedge sneakers retail for approximately $660 a pair.


 

Maybe she should keep it simple in the future with a pair of reebok classics.... it's still a good look and affordable might I add that in... I can't remember the last time a reebok was under attack.. lol MadOne

Vertical-Takeoff Jets Coming Soon

 
Imagine a fighter jet that can hover, lift, and land like a helicopter while still maintaining lightning-quick speeds, a wide mission range, and good fuel efficiency. Now, go design it! The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is looking for aerodynamic engineers to design, develop, and demonstrate a vertical take off and landing (VTOL) experimental aircraft. The military has dreamed about this type of aircraft for the past half a century, but engineers have failed so far to come up with a vehicle that can maneuver in tight spaces, land in unprepared areas, move in all directions, and hover in midair while holding a position. 

The typical design obstacles faced by aerodynamics engineers working on such X-Planes include lowered fuel efficiency, and less lift capacity, controllability, simplicity, and reliability of design. DARPA hopes that this time around, engineers will be able to design a VTOL aircraft that would allow special operation units to be transported both quickly and safely. They also imagine such a vehicle being used as a reliably quick transport option for medical units that transport patients to care facilities. MadOne

Miami Heat do the Harlem Shake!

Drones Large and Small Coming to US

 

Most of the drones that have begun to appear in the skies above the U.S. homeland don't resemble the Predators or Reapers flown by the U.S. military and CIA above Afghanistan and Pakistan. Instead, these smaller versions of flying, unmanned vehicles almost rival the animal kingdom in their diversity. Government agencies such as NASA and U.S. Customs and Border Protection operate aircraft-size military drones that take off from runways like airplanes. Labs in the United States have even built tiny drones that look like hummingbirds. But most drones resemble the radio-controlled aircraft and toy helicopters flown by hobbyists for decades, capable of taking off horizontally, vertically or by being thrown into the air like a trained falcon or hawk. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration does not plan to permit drones armed with weapons in U.S. civilian airspace, according to an official quoted by the Washington Times. But state agencies, sheriff's offices and universities have already found more widespread use for drones that carry cameras for taking photos or video from above. 

Draganfly Innovations builds small drones weighing less than 5 pounds that fly under the control of a human operator using two joysticks. The Canadian company has sold some drones to law enforcement for taking pictures or video of traffic accidents or crime scenes, as well as aiding SWAT teams preparing to storm a building or housing compound. FAA drone license applications tracked by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit digital rights organization, suggest many other possible uses. Some U.S. states have begun considering drones for checking on highway traffic conditions, inspecting bridges and fighting wildfires. U.S. corporations, such as FedEx, have already begun planning for the day when drones could deliver packages. Bird watchers accustomed to spotting a gaggle of geese or a murder of crows may someday spot similar groupings of drones. Such drone swarms will likely use advanced forms of today's artificial intelligence programs to coordinate their missions without precise human control, a future with possibilities both delightful and daunting. Tech News Daily

PlayStation 4 unveiled

 

NEW YORK (AP) -- Sony unveiled its next-generation gaming system, the PlayStation 4, and promised social and remote capabilities. Wednesday's announcement gives the struggling Japanese electronics company a head start over Microsoft and an Xbox 360 successor. The new PlayStation's controller resembles that of the PlayStation 3, but adds a touchpad, motion control and a "share" button. The Japanese electronics giant said the console will be part of a new ecosystem focused on hardware, software and "the fastest, most powerful gaming network." The PlayStation 4 will be Sony Corp.'s first major game console since the PlayStation 3 went on sale in 2006. Microsoft Corp. is expected to unveil the next Xbox in June at the E3 video game expo in Los Angeles. Last fall, Nintendo started selling the Wii U, though it plays catch-up in some respects in bringing the ability to play high-definition games.

Although the Xbox 360 came out a year before PlayStation 3, Microsoft's game machine has been more popular, largely because of its robust online service, Xbox Live, which allows people to play games with others online. The original Wii has sold more units since its launch than both its rivals, but it lost momentum as the novelty of its motion controller faded. Sales of the new Wii U have been slow. Underscoring the importance of a new PlayStation and the U.S. market, Sony is holding its announcement event in New York rather than in Japan, as it had in the past. The event is at the Hammerstein Ballroom in midtown Manhattan.

RareInk NBA Gallery vol. 2

The Black Mamba

K8

Derrick Rose

Elgin Baylor

Kobe

Kobe to Shaq

D. Rose

James Harden

Russell Westbrook

K.D.

Dwayne Wade

The Truth

B.G.

Chris Paul

Penny Hardaway

Dwight Howard

Blake Griffin

Dominique Wilkins

Spud Webb

Blake

Dr. J

K.G.

Rondo

Apple, Mac computers hit by hackers who targeted Facebook

 

BOSTON/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc (NSQ:AAPL - News) was recently attacked by hackers who infected the Macintosh computers of some employees, the company said on Tuesday in an unprecedented disclosure that described the widest known cyber attacks against Apple-made computers to date. Unknown hackers infected the computers of some Apple workers when they visited a website for software developers that had been infected with malicious software. The malware had been designed to attack Mac computers, the company said in a statement provided to Reuters. The same software, which infected Macs by exploiting a flaw in a version of Oracle Corp's (ORCL.O) Java software used as a plug-in on Web browsers, was used to launch attacks against Facebook (FB.O), which the social network disclosed on Friday
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The malware was also employed in attacks against Mac computers used by "other companies," Apple said, without elaborating on the scale of the assault. But a person briefed on the investigation into the attacks said that hundreds of companies, including defense contractors, had been infected with the same malicious software, or malware. The attacks mark the highest-profile cyber attacks to date on businesses running Mac computers. Hackers have traditionally focused on attacking machines running the Windows operating system, though they have gradually turned their attention to Apple products over the past couple of years as the company gained market share over Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O). MadOne

North Korea threatens South with 'final destruction'

  

GENEVA (Reuters) - North Korea threatened South Korea with "final destruction" during a debate at the United Nations Conference on Disarmament on Tuesday, saying it could take further steps after a nuclear test last week. Jon's comments drew quick criticism from other nations, including South Korea, France, Germany and Britain, whose ambassador Joanne Adamson said such language was "completely inappropriate" and the discussion with North Korea was heading in the wrong direction. 

"In the 30 years of my career I've never heard anything like it and it seems to me that we are not speaking about something that is even admissible, we are speaking about a threat of the use of force that is prohibited by Article 2.4 of the United Nations charter," Catalina said. Since the North tested a nuclear bomb last week in defiance of U.N. resolutions, its southern neighbour has warned it could strike the isolated state if it believed an attack was imminent. Pyongyang said the aim of the test was to bolster its defences given the hostility of the United States, which has led a push to impose sanctions on North Korea. "If the U.S. takes a hostile approach toward the DPRK to the last, rendering the situation complicated, it (North Korea) will be left with no option but to take the second and third stronger steps in succession," he said, without indicating what that might entail. North Korea has already told key ally China that it is prepared to stage one or two more tests this year to force the United States into diplomatic talks, a source with direct knowledge of the message told Reuters last week.

Impoverished and malnourished North Korea is one of the most heavily sanctioned states in the world. It is still technically at war with South Korea after a 1950-53 civil war ended in a mere truce.
Washington and its allies are believed to be pushing to tighten the noose around North Korea's financial transactions in a bid to starve its leadership of funding. Jon said last week's test was an act of self-defence against nuclear blackmail by the United States, which wanted to block North Korea's economic development and its fundamental rights. Jon said the United States had conducted most of the nuclear tests and satellite launches in history, and he described its pursuit of U.N. Security Council resolutions against North Korea as "a breach of international law and the height of double standards".

Neither Russia nor China, which are veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council, spoke at Tuesday's meeting in Geneva. Before its nuclear test, North Korea was already facing growing diplomatic pressure at the United Nations. The U.N. Human Rights Council is widely expected to order an inquiry next month into its leaders' responsibilities for crimes against humanity. MadOne

LeBron James Responds To Michael Jordan Saying "Give Me Kobe Over LeBron"