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Apple has won a US patent for touch-screen controls and gained a potential legal weapon against iPhone competitors.

US Patent 7,479,949 is awarded to “(Steve) Jobs et al” for a method of “detecting one or more finger contacts with the touch screen display” to command computing devices.

A multi-page patent available online at the US Patent and Trade Office on Monday details iPhone or iPod Touch commands such as finger or thumb swiping, twisting, or spreading to flip pages, rotate views, or enlarge images.

The patent was issued last week, a day before Apple on January 21 announced record-high quarterly profits.

Word of the patent provides ominous context for a warning made by Apple chief operating officer Tim Cook during a conference call that followed release the California firm’s earnings report.

Cook said he believes iPhones are “years ahead of the competition” and that they are vigilantly watching to make certain rivals don’t usurp Apple’s intellectual property.

“We think competition is good,” Cook said. “We are ready to suit up and go against anyone. However, we will not stand for having our IP ripped off and will use whatever weapons at our disposal.”

While not mentioning a specific competitor, Cook made his comment in reply to a question related to a new Palm Pre touch-screen mobile telephone unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show this month to stellar reviews.

NASA is turning control of the Hubble Space Telescope over to the general public to give non-scientists a chance to choose which target the iconic observatory should turn its camera eyes on next.

The U.S. space agency is inviting the public to vote for one of six candidate astronomical objects for Hubble to observe in honor of the International Year of Astronomy, which began this month. The options, which Hubble has not previously photographed, range from far-flung galaxies to dying stars. Votes can be cast until March 1.

Hubble’s camera will take a high-resolution image revealing new details about the object that receives the most votes. The image will be released during the International Year of Astronomy’s “100 Hours of Astronomy” from April 2 to 5.

Everyone who votes also will be entered into a random drawing to receive one of 100 copies of the Hubble photograph made of the winning celestial body.

NASA is also inviting teachers and students to participate in a related Hubble Space Telescope classroom collage activity that integrates art, science and language arts. Students in participating classes can select their favorite Hubble images and assemble them in a collage. Students in each class will also choose their favorite object from the image voting contest and write essays about why they made their selections.

Launched in April 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope has spent 18 years peering into the depths of the cosmos to return stunning images and help scientists better understand the history of the universe. NASA has launched four shuttle missions to fix and upgrade Hubble. The fifth and final overhaul by astronauts is due to launch on May 12 aboard the shuttle Atlantis.

Commanded by veteran spaceflyer Scott Altman, Atlantis’ STS-125 Hubble servicing crew plans to fly an 11-day mission and stage five spacewalks to add new instruments, batteries, gyroscopes and other gear to extend the space telescope’s mission through at least 2013.

The challengers keep coming, but Microsoft’s Internet Explorer still holds the lion’s share of the Web browser market. Most estimates put Internet Explorer’s market share at around 72 percent, which means that when a new version of the browser is released, a lot of people will likely be upgrading.Internet Explorer 8 (IE 8), the long-awaited successor to IE 7, is about to turn a lot of heads, as Microsoft nears completion of a browser upgrade that does significantly more than tack on enhancements to existing features. Here’s what’s in store.

Performance:

Perhaps the biggest news about IE 8 is what Microsoft has done for performance of the browser. In short, the browser is faster in almost every respect. It loads faster, switches pages faster, and renders complex graphics and videos faster than in previous versions.

No doubt Microsoft is responding, as it has in Windows 7, to users’ insistence that performance is consideration number one when it comes to software. But IE now also has considerable competition from Google’s recently released Chrome browser, which loads faster than any other browser on the market.

Load times, while they may seem trivial on the surface, are actually very important to most of us, since the web browser is typically called up many times during the day, and for many different reasons. Waiting for the browser to load, therefore, becomes a serious productivity issue.

With IE 8, Microsoft has recognised that performance is about more than just the speed at which the browser opens, however. A few new features of IE 8 are aimed at recognising the types of activities you perform on a regular basis and helping you to get those tasks done more quickly.

For instance, how many times have you found an address on the Web and then proceeded to Google Maps, MapQuest, or Microsoft’s own Live Maps to find directions? If the answer is ‘plenty’, then IE 8 will be a boon to your productivity. Thanks to the browser’s new ‘accelerators’ feature, you can highlight an address, right-click, and select Map to get almost instantaneous directions from your location, assuming you’ve registered your existing address with whatever mapping site you use regularly.

The same principle applies to e-mail addresses, words you’d like to define, words you’d like to translate, or e-mail addresses to which you’d like to send a message.

Features:

Beyond performance enhancements, IE 8 plays some catch-up with features that other browsers have pioneered. Among them is the new InPrivate browsing mode, which allows you to browse the web without having your browsing history stored for others to see. Google’s Chrome calls this Incognito mode. In Firefox, you can achieve something close to Incognito mode by choosing to clear private date from the Edit - Preferences - Privacy dialog box.

Whatever the name, the intention is the same: to give you a way to browse the Internet without enabling others to see which sites you’ve visited. The ramifications of this feature are obvious, but the fact is that users want it, and browser makers are delivering. Microsoft’s InPrivate mode works as well as Google’s Incognito, and it means never having to worry about whether the sites you visit can be revealed to those who snoop after you.

For those who frequently visit the same web site over and over again, waiting for updates, IE 8 introduces Web Slices, a feature that allows you to be notified via IE’s favourites bar when a site has been updated with new information. Sites have to be ‘Web slice enabled’ in order for this feature to work. When they are, a green Web slice button will appear in the upper right-hand corner of your browser window. Click it, and you are subscribed to the site and notified instantly of updates.

Enhanced security was the headline feature of IE 7, and IE 8 improves on the foundation built in its predecessor. A new SmartScreen filter is a refined version of the phishing filter found in IE 7. Even better, an impressive domain highlighting feature helps to alert you when you stumble upon a potentially unsafe site. Lots of malicious sites use spoof domain names that resemble legitimate ones.

When IE 8 detects that you’re on a potentially dangerous site, the entire address bar turns red. Additional security controls help to prevent malware from being loaded onto your computer surreptitiously.

Compatibility:

The pre-release version of IE 8 is not compatible with all existing web technologies. Microsoft is aware of that and consequently has incorporated a ‘compatibility mode’ into IE 8, accessible by clicking a toolbar button. Unfortunately, not everyone will even know that a compatibility mode exists, so web site owners who find that their sites do not display correctly in IE 8 will want to avail themselves of code that forces IE 8 into compatibility mode. There are ample instructions on how to do this at various locations on the web.

Users, on the other hand, can only hope that Microsoft works hard to ensure that its newest browser doesn’t break a number of existing web sites. If it does, that commanding market share that Microsoft enjoys just might become endangered.

Beta 2 of IE 8 is available now at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/Internet-explorer/beta/default.aspx. It works with Windows XP and Windows Vista.

A survey of 10-year-old children suggests that a 10p pencil is as good as a much expensive Nintendo brain-trainer at stimulating the memory.The study’s finding dismisses the claim in Nintendo’s advertising campaign, featuring Nicole Kidman, that users can test and rejuvenate their grey cells.

“The Nintendo DS is a technological jewel. As a game it’s fine. But it is charlatanism to claim that it is a scientific test,” Times Online quoted Alain Lieury, professor of cognitive psychology at the University of Rennes, Brittany, who conducted the survey, as saying.

Nintendo claims to have developed certain “edutainment” programmes-like Big Brain Academy and Brain Training-which improve “practical intelligence by improving blood flow to the brain.

The company claims that its programmes can make users “two to three times better in tests of memory.” It even claims to assess capacity by measuring “brain age”, and insists that older people can keep their minds young by using the console.

“The more you use the brain in a challenging way, the better it can work. We know that the mental processes of our brain start to weaken if we only use it in our routine daily life,” the Japanese neuroscientist Ryuta Kawashima, who developed Brain Training, says on the Nintendo website.

Professor Lieury said that helping children with their homework, reading, playing Scrabble or Su Doku or watching documentaries, rather than soap operas, matched or beat the console.

The researchers conducted an study on 67 ten-year-olds with a view to testing whether Nintendo’s claims were true.

“That’s the age where you have the best chance of improvement. If it doesn’t work on children, it won’t work on adults,” Professor Lieury said.

The researchers divided the children into four groups-the first two did a seven-week memory course on a Nintendo DS, the third did puzzles with pencils and paper, and the fourth just went to school as normal.

Before and after the programmes, the children undertook a variety of tasks-logic tests, memorising words on a map, doing sums and interpreting symbols.

The researchers said that the children who used the Nintendo DS system failed to show any significant improvement in memory tests.

They agreed that the children using the Nintendo DS did do 19 per cent better in mathematics, but so did the pencil-and-paper group, while the fourth group did 18 per cent better.

The researchers also observed that the pencil-and-paper group recorded a 33 per cent improvement in memorising, while the Nintendo children were 17 per cent worse.

In logic tests the Nintendo children registered a 10 per cent improvement, as did the pencil-and-paper group.

According to the researchers, the children who had no specific training improved 20 per cent.

In a book titled Stimulate Your Neurones, due out this month, Professor Lieury says: “There were few positive effects and they were weak. Dr Kawashima is one of a long list of dream merchants.”

India, touted to be the fastest growing telecom market in the world, will now have a centre to promote research in communication theory and systems at the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IITB).

The Bharti Centre for Communication, set up in partnership between Bharti Foundation and the IITB, at the electrical engineering department in the institute’s campus on Friday, houses state-of-the-art laboratories and infrastructure and will focus on communication theory, practice and applications.

Some of the broad research areas at the centre would include 4G technology, next-generation IP/MPLS services, optical fiber communication, networking, communication and signal processing.

Rakesh Bharti Mittal, vice chairman and managing director, Bharti Enterprises, which set up the Bharti Foundation eight years ago for creating and supporting programmes to bring sustainable improvement in education, said, “The telecom revolution has completely transformed the nation. India must also strive to become a global centre for research and development of future communication technologies that are of benefit to consumers across the world.  Bharti Centre for Communication is an initiative in this direction and we are delighted to partner with IITB, which attracts some of the best talents in area of technical research. We also look forward to this centre becoming a resource for quality talent in the country.”

IITB has received Rs 1 million from Bharti Foundation for setting up this centre. Professor Devang Khakhar, director, IITB, said, “The launch of this centre is a major initiative for IITB and will give a new thrust to our research in the field of communication theory and systems. It will also help in fostering technical collaboration between researchers and several user groups.”

Make what you will of Sony’s embryonic PlayStation Home, the PS3’s online matchmaking service ultimately costs nothing, while Microsoft’s Xbox Live equivalent reaches into your wallet and extracts $50 annually. It’s all a bit strange, really, considering the Xbox’s Windows-based sibling, Games For Windows Live, made the transition to “on the house” this summer. Now Amazon’s thrown a $20 curveball at the issue by discounting their Xbox 360 Live 12 Month Gold Card plus 1 Month Bonus card, making the new price just $29.97 — a 40% markdown.

Temporary one-off vendor sale? Or harbinger of an official Microsoft price drop?

I’ve asked Microsoft why they won’t zero out Xbox Live and personally argued for fee (or at least matchmaking fee) abandonment. The company’s response is predictably elusive and generalist. “We’re going to continue to deliver even more value to Xbox Live gold subscribers,” said Microsoft Senior Global Director of Games For Windows Kevin Ungangst when I spoke with him this summer. “Frankly, Xbox Live members are going to get more people to play with as a result of the GFW Live announcement, and I think that community will get exponentially larger as a result of what we’re doing on Windows. They’re different services designed for difference audiences that happens to be connected and share a Gamertag.”

Cut through the PR flak and the only notable difference is online matchmaking and multiplayer (sorry Netflix, you’re a for-money service regardless of Live’s cost). The rest, as they say, is noise.

$50 a year is a pittance to some, an unjustified expense to others. The arguments for or against line up accordingly.

Of course PCs offer the same online services and thousands more besides, just not tied up with a neat bow in a simplified format.

That said, is Amazon’s $30 a deal? Sure. It’s 40 points less than you had to pay 48 hours ago, and for online multiplayer aficionados, Xbox Live isn’t optional.

But should online multiplayer cost so much as a dollar? I don’t think so. And if Sony drops the price of the PS3 by $100 in April, as some are suggesting they might, don’t be surprised if Microsoft’s rejoinder involves finally goose-egging Xbox Live…or at least migrating the “online multiplayer” component into its freebie Xbox Live Silver membership column.

Intel Capital, part of the world’s largest chip maker, on Wednesday said that its investments into India will not be affected by the Satyam episode and such incidents happen in every country.

“It shouldn’t,” Intel Capital managing director for India, Japan, Australasia and south-east Asia Sudheer Kuppam said when asked if there would be impact on Intel capital investment in India after the Satyam episode.

He said, “don’t single out India for that. What about Madoff in the US?

You have scam and scandal everywhere.”

The company announced an investment of USD 23 million (about Rs 115 crore) in three Indian companies, Indiamart.com, One97 Communications and Global Talent Track (GTT). However, figures were not disclosed.

Indiamart.com is the largest online business to business marketplace, while One97 Communications provides telecom managed value added services. GTT is a vocational education institute.

The funding will come from the USD 250 million Intel Capital India technology fund. The fund invests in Indian technology companies to help stimulate local technology innovation.

Intel Capital invested around USD 50 million last year in nine Indian companies, six of these were new investments.

Kuppam said the company sees the global crisis as a good opportunity to invest in companies, which are available in good valuations.

He added that the company will also invest in the Indian telecom companies after they obtain spectrum, refusing to give any investment figures.

If you are the victim of a car accident, then you should start thinking about the legal steps you will need to take. You are going to need money to repair your vehicle and heal any injuries from the wreck. If you want to protect your rights, then you need to have an Arizona personal injury attorney. They will be able to handle the legal aspects while you focus on healing.

You also need to hire one as quickly as you can. The insurance companies don’t usually wait. They are usually right on the case with paperwork that limits their liability. Don’t sign anything until you get a lawyer to look at the paperwork. It’s really that simple. There are other precautions though. You shouldn’t discuss the case with any representatives or agree to be recorded. These can be attempts to trap you and limit their liability too. Just be polite and refer them to your attorney. They’ll know what to do. With any luck, you should be able to get your case settled out of court for a fair amount. In a few cases, you will have to go to court though. In this event, you’ll be even happier that you already have a good attorney on your side.

If you want to get your just compensation, then you need legal aid. Don’t hesitate to hire one of the many Arizona personal injury attorneys who have experience you need.

Pregnant women who are vitamin D deficient are at an increased risk for delivering a baby by caesarean section, say researchers.Over a two-year period, experts from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Centre (BMC), analyzed the relationship between maternal serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] and the prevalence of primary caesarean section.

In total, 253 women were enrolled in this study, of whom 43 (17 per cent) had a caesarean section. The researchers found that 28 per cent of women with serum 25(OH)D less than 37.5 nmol/L had a caesarean section, compared to only 14 per cent of women with 25(OH)D greater than 37.5 nmol/L.

“In our analysis, pregnant women who were vitamin D deficient at the time of delivery had almost four times the odds of caesarean birth than women who were not deficient,” said senior author Michael Holick, MD, PhD, director of the General Clinical Research Centre and professor of medicine, physiology and biophysics at BUSM and Anne Merewood assistant professor of paediatrics at BUSM and lead author of the study.

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine, have revealed that a study is being carried out to see whether a peer-to-peer (P2P) system, similar to the one used by Internet users to share files, may be helpful in reducing road congestion and traffic accidents.The researchers say that the zero-infrastructure system called ‘Autonet’ is being checked for its ability to create a network of vehicles that can exchange timely information about traffic conditions, incidents, and accidents.

They have already carried out a validation of the Autonet system, reports Science Daily.

In a prototype created by them, based on readily available 802.11b wireless technology, an in-vehicle computer “client” with an informative graphical user interface (GUI) continuously monitors other nearby clients on the wireless network, and then exchanges knowledge about local road conditions.

The researchers have revealed that their system can handle measurements for approximately 3,500 traffic incidents for two vehicles passing each other at highway speeds.

According to them, not all the wireless clients in the network need be vehicles, but roadside monitoring posts could also be embedded in the network.