An 80 Mile Long, 4.5 Billion Year Old Asteroid Gets Its Close Up [Asteroid]

This is an up close picture of Lutetia, an asteroid that hangs out somewhere between Mars and Jupiter. It's the largest asteroid ever visited by a satellite.

The European Space Agency's Rosetta mission came within 2,000 miles of the asteroid and was able to capture images of Lutetia by using an OSIRIS (Optical, Spectroscopic, and Infrared Remote Imaging System) camera. The closest images got down to less than 200 feet in resolution. It's amazing how peaceful the asteroid looks, lumpy craters and all. Then you remember things like this can destroy planets.

Rosetta actually has bigger plans than the Lutetia, with its end destination being the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. We can't wait to see those pictures.
[Gizmodo via Wired]

Fantastic European Space Agency photo shows light from the time of the Big Bang [Astronomy]

Oh, the joy this photo brings me. It was taken by the European Space Agency’s Planck telescope over the period of a year, and it shows, among other treasures, some of the oldest light in the universe. We’re talking light from right around the time of the Big Bang, light that’s 13.7 billion years old. I dare you to look at this and not be completely amazed.


A little big of explanation may be necessary.

The center disc-like structure? That’s the Milk Way—that’s us! If you look closely, you can see me collecting flowers in Red Dead Redemption.



Off toward the right are the stars that make up the Orion constellation. To the left, Perseus.

Now, here’s where it gets good. You see the comparatively sparse areas on the top and bottom? That would cosmic background microwave radiation, present since the time of the Big Bang.

Tremendous in every sense of the word.

Back to flower collecting…


[CrunchGear]

HTC HD3 Leak: Windows Phone 7 Mega-Phone With 4.5" AMOLED and 1.5GHz Snapdragon [Leaks]

If Microsoft's swift Kin killing had you down on their mobile prospects, the leaked specs for the HTC HD3 might make you reconsider. Among them: a gigantic 4.5" AMOLED screen with 1280×800 resolution and 1.5 GHz Snapdragon processor.



The specs for this hulking slab of Windows Phone 7 come from the Chinese site PCOnline and they'd make even the Evo and Droid X blush:

4.5″ AMOLED screen with 1280×800 resolution

1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor

1080p HD video playback

720p HD video recording

8 megapixel camera with dual-LED flash

Multi-touch screen

Super-thin – just 10mm thick

WiFi, Bluetooth and 3G connectivity

4G connectivity for for blisteringly fast downloads that are over ten times as fast as today's HSDPA phones

1GB onboard RAM

1GB onboard ROM

32GB external memory

3.5″ headphone jack

HDMI output for connecting to your HDTV or monitor

1800mAh battery for super-long battery life

Bigger screen than the HD2, but a smaller overall physical size: 115mm x 65mm x 10mm

Like I said, if you had let your excitement for Windows Phone 7 simmer in the wake of the Kin's failure, the iPhone 4 launch, or the continued march of Android, well, this should bring it back to a boil (as long as you're of the opinion that bigger is indeed better).


[Gizmodo via MobilitySite]

BMW's gorgeous 'Megacity' electric vehicle gets real [Cars]

You know all those awesome concept cars we're always showing you? BMW's 'Megacity' electric vehicle feels a lot like one of those, but the company actually has plans to bring this sleek, weird-wheeled-wonder out as early as 2013.


[DVICE]

Microsoft Announces InstaLoad, Batteries That Work Any Way You Insert Them [Instaload]

Microsoft just introduced InstaLoad, a new battery technology that allows batteries to be placed in any direction without regard to positive or negative polarity. Meaning you can put a battery in however you want and it'll just work. It's genius.

InstaLoad uses a new, patented contact design that doesn't drain battery power or require expensive circuitry. Plus, it's compatible with off-the-shelf batteries used in flashlights, toys, battery chargers, and really anything that uses CR123, AA, AAA, C or D size batteries. We'll never have to look at + or - signs again.

[Gizmodo]

Rumor: 2GHz HTC “Sabor” to Arrive with Gingerbread Late 2010 [Gingerbread]

I love juicy rumors like these. According to Oxford-Zeiss Content & Research Guide (OZCARGuide), HTC is working on a 2GHz 'Sabor' device for Sprint, expected later this year or early next year. Not only that, but the handset maker is developing their own screen technology said to rival Samsung's AMOLED displays.

'The upcoming HTC smartphone destined for Sprint packs a 2GHz processor, over 1000 resolution display, Android OS 2.5 (gingerbread), 2 cameras with one being a 10-megapixel, 1080p video recording and built-in kickstand.'

The 'over 1000' display would match up to yesterday's rumor of 1280×760, said to a minimal requirement for Gingerbread. The 2.5 listed here conflicts with the 3.0 we've heard matched up to the codename, but we can always worry about that later. For now, let's just drool over 10 megapixel cameras and 1080p recording.

If you didn't check your calendar yet today, I'll break the good news to you. We just started the second half of the year. Things could definitely heat up quickly.

Source: DroidDog

NOTE: Rumor: 2GHz HTC “Sabor” to Arrive with Gingerbread Late 2010 originally appeared on AndroidGuys.

Google News: Emblaze extinguishes First Else cellphone

Sad to hear. Maybe make an android launcher app out of it.

Rani Amit Bar-On ranibaron@gmail.com

---

Emblaze extinguishes First Else cellphone Globes - ‎6 hours ago‎ Emblaze Ltd. (LSE: BLZ) is virtually eliminating its mobile business, Else Ltd. (formerly Emblaze Mobile), several months after announcing the launch of its first product, the First Else. Emblaze quits Else mobile device effort FierceWireless Emblaze First Else Officially Shelved Palm Infocenter Unwired View - Softpedia - TMC Net - IntoMobile (blog) all 14 news articles »

---

Browse all of today's headlines on Google News