Google Maps 8-bit version for NES: April Fools arrives a day early in Mountain View

Well, it appears that April Fools is in full effect -- at least if you ask Google. Today the company introduced its "latest" build of Google Maps, dubbed Google Maps 8-bit version, tailored specifically for the Nintendo Entertainment System. According to Google, this Dragon Quest spoof version of Maps will come in the form of a special NES cartridge that can connect to the internet via dial-up. This apparently allows most of the heavy lifting to get done on Google's servers, where the maps are rendered to 8-bit form "in real-time." Better yet, it even supports voice search. Naturally, there's no word on a release date, but you can currently check out the "beta" by visiting Google Maps in your browser and selecting "Start Your Quest." That said, that company warns that "your system may not meet the minimum requirements for 8-bit computations" -- something tells us it'll still be less resource-intensive than Crysis, though. We've checked it out and found some goodies, including an alien at Area 51, so let us know what you come across during your journey in the comments.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

BMW adds extra sportiness to its i-series lineup, unveils i8 Concept Spyder

We've swooned over BMW's i3 and i8 plug-in gasoline electric hybrids for some time now, so naturally our hearts raced today when the company announced its latest addition to the series, the i8 Concept Spyder. What you're looking at is essentially a sportier version of the i8 Coupe, with the appropriate accents and design tweaks to match. So, what's different in this variant of the nearly gull-winged wonder with a 96 kW / 131hp electric motor up front and 164 kW / 223hp gasoline engine on back? BMW notes that the vehicle features a shorter wheelbase and overall length (all while maintaining its 50-50 weight distribution), a slighter darker interior and refreshed paint job on its exterior, topless roof and even a pair of matching folded kickboards(!) that stow in the back. BMW hasn't mentioned when they'll be showing this Spyder in flesh, but as Autoblog notes, the New York Auto show is only a week way -- and we'll be sure to let you know if we spot it ourselves. In the meantime, you can zip over to Autoblog and the press release after the break for the details.

 

Mobile Miscellany: week of March 26th, 2012

Not all mobile news is destined for the front page, but if you're like us and really want to know what's going on, then you've come to the right place. This past week, we've seen hints of a Droid Bionic 2, and unfortunately, a number of T-Mobile customers will need to brace for a price hike. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore the "best of the rest" for this week of March 26th, 2012.

Amazon Appstore updated to 2.3

If you prefer skirting the Play Store with Amazon's alternative, you may be glad to know that the Appstore's latest version now allows users to download applications up to 50MB in size over their mobile data connection -- a significant increase from the previous 20MB limitation. [Thanks, Drew] [Android Police]

Signs of life: the Droid Bionic 2

Even though by all accounts, the Droid Bionic 2 doesn't exist, if seems that Asurion's more than happy to sell you insurance for the handset. Could they know something we don't? [Droid Life]

PSA: Sprint to shutter Picture Mail online service on April 30th

Sprint Picture Mail, an online service once commonly used to retrieve and archive MMS messages, will be no more as of April 30th. Users must backup their data before this date, which will otherwise be obliterated like so many ones and zeroes before it. [Android Central]

Nokia Reader comes to Series 40 handsets

Nokia is making a big bet on its Series 40 feature phones being a hit in emerging markets, and in effort to bolster the platform's usefulness, it's now announcing the availability of Nokia Reader for users of the C2-02, X3-02, C3-01, Asha 300 and Asha 303. The app is currently in beta form, which offers notification integration and instant access to locally relevant content. Additionally, users can add their own news sources from an online directory. [Nokia Beta Labs]

LTE goes live for AT&T users in St. Louis

AT&T had previously tested its LTE network in the Gateway to the West last month, but now it's officially fired up its 4G service for all St. Louisan's to enjoy. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

T-Mobile increasing Classic Unlimited 5GB and 10GB data pricing on April 4th

April 4th will bring a $5 increase to T-Mobile's promotional 5GB and 10GB data bundles. The price bump will bring the total respective cost to $35 and $65 for the subsidized plans. Users that'd signed up prior to this date will not be affected. [TmoNews]

T-Mobile UK increasing current contract pricing by 3.7 percent

A clause in the contracts of T-Mobile's UK customers currently allows the carrier to raise the prices of existing contracts in accordance with the British Retail Price Index. Now, T-Mobile UK has announced that it'll put this loophole into effect on May 9th for all customers that'd signed aboard prior to February 1st. Nearly all subscribers will see a 3.7 percent increase to their monthly phone bill, although Full Monty and You Fix customers won't be affected by the price increase. [The Verge]

Weibo services 'punished' for Beijing coup rumors, comments temporarily disabled

By Richard Lai

For a country who doesn't really do April Fools' Day, you know China means business when it lays the smackdown on its weibo services. Here's the background story: about a week ago there was a rumor on the Chinese web about a military coup on one of the main streets in Beijing, and coincidentally I was in town around the time (for the Windows Phone launch). Funnily enough, I wasn't aware of this at all until my taxi driver in Hong Kong asked me about my visit, as he claimed that the passenger he picked up beforehand was actually a Chinese military officer who had several intense phone calls about said coup.

But of course, nothing actually happened. In fact, the guards at Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City were pretty relaxed when I visited on that very day. As for the rumormongers, the Chinese government announced through Xinhua that 16 websites have been shut down and six people have been detained, while local microblogging platforms Sina Weibo and Tencent Weibo have been "criticized and punished accordingly," though it didn't elaborate on the details. All we know is that comments under each weibo post are now disabled until local time 8pm on April 3rd, during which these two companies can, in their own words, clean up the mess. Well, at least we now know where to draw the line for China's April Fools'.

World's slowest Linux computer, says 'Hello Wor...' (video)

Evidently tired of smooth running graphics, lightning fast processing and bags and bags of available memory, programmer Dmitry Grinberg decided to go back to computing basics. And then some. As Linux was developed on a 32-bit machine with 1MB of RAM, this has always been considered the minimum system requirements to run the open source OS. Dmitry, however, put this theory to test, building a barebones set-up with just an 8-bit RISC microcontroller at its heart. Running at a somewhat sedentary 6.5KHz, with only 16KB of SRAM and 128KB of flash storage, these are specs that make most phones look like supercomputers. To get things working, Dmitry had to write an ARM emulator so that the system appeared as having a 32-bit processor with an MMU, and it looks like a 30-pin 16MB SIMM was added, plus as SD card to house the Ubuntu image. Despite all this, he was able to load Ubuntu successfully. Sure, it took four hours, and that's after two hours waiting for the bash command prompt, but hey. Grinberg claims that the system is still useable, with the command line typically responding "within a minute." So Dmitri, if you're reading this on the machine, happy new year! Check the time-lapse video after the break to see it in full, patience testing, action.

Extremetech

Dmitry Grinberg

Billions of habitable worlds in Milky Way

Astronomers hunting for rocky planets with the right temperature to support life estimate there may be tens of billions of them in our galaxy alone. A European team said that about 40 percent of red dwarf stars - the most common type in the Milky Way - have a so-called "super-Earth" planet orbiting in a habitable zone that would allow water to flow on the surface. Since there are around 160 billion red dwarfs in the Milky Way, the number of worlds that are potentially warm enough and wet enough to support life is enormous. Here's a look at artistic samplings of some far-away worlds:

This artist's impression shows a sunset seen from the super-Earth Gliese 667 Cc. The brightest star in the sky is the red dwarf Gliese 667 C, which is part of a triple star system. The other two more distant stars, Gliese 667 A and B appear in the sky also to the right. Astronomers have estimated that there are tens of billions of such rocky worlds orbiting faint red dwarf stars in the Milky Way alone.

Read More : http://in.news.yahoo.com/photos/tens-of-billions-of-habitable-worlds-in-milky-way-slideshow/#crsl=%252Fphotos%252Ftens-of-billions-of-habitable-worlds-in-milky-way-slideshow%252F2planet-photo-1333113992.html

 

Torture and humilation tools go on display

Tools used for torture and humiliation, part of a collection of some 250 items, are displayed at the Hotel Salomon de Rothschild in Paris March 31, 2012.

Tools used for torture and humiliation, part of a collection of some 250 items, are displayed at the Hotel Salomon de Rothschild in Paris March 31, 2012. The auction of torture and humiliation devices from the collection of Fernand Meyssonnier has been cancelled due to public reaction. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes (FRANCE - Tags: SOCIETY)

Read More : http://in.news.yahoo.com/photos/torture-and-humilation-tools-go-on-display-slideshow/#crsl=%252Fphotos%252Ftorture-and-humilation-tools-go-on-display-slideshow%252Ftools-used-torture-humiliation-part-collection-250-items-photo-101141920.html