.. The Gears that power the tubes ..

Google is rolling out a technology designed to overcome the major drawback faced by all web-based applications: the fact that they don't work without an internet connection.

Google Gears is an open source technology for creating offline web applications that is being launched today at Google's annual Developer Day gatherings around the world.

"With Google Gears, we're tackling the key limitation of the browser in order to make it a stronger platform for deploying all types of applications and enabling a better user experience," Google CEO Eric Schmidt said in a statement.

The Google Gears technology is designed to be used for web applications such as email and word or image processing.

While it can be used with non-Google applications, it's clear that the web search and advertising giant will be the major beneficiary of what is expected to be an enthusiastic take up.

That enthusiasm is not expected to extend to Microsoft. Google has already invaded the software company's turf, offering Google Apps - its package of workplace programs - as an alternative to Microsoft's Office suite.

To date, the Google replacement proposition hasn't been appealing to large private and public sector organisations partly because of the lack of offline access.

Launched in February, Google's suite of web-based programs includes a word processor, email, a spreadsheet and a calendar.

Google said it would charge corporate customers $US50 ($61) a year for the suite, about a tenth of what Microsoft charges for its Office package.

But there haven't been many takers. In February, it was reported that the Commonwealth Bank suspended a trial of Google Apps, which it was looking at rolling out for its 50,000-strong workforce.

The Gears technology promises to give Google a better platform from which to go after Microsoft's very lucrative Office franchise.

"This is a core piece of technology that we're releasing to the community to really help move the industry forward on solving this problem," Google Australia's senior product manager Carl Sjogreen told smh.com.au.

"For your average web user, the end goal is that basically it's seamless whether you're connected to the internet or not."

He described Gears as a "critical missing piece in the evolution of making the web and the browser a platform for all applications".

The search for a way to give web-based programs the stability and portability of desktop applications has been going on for over a decade.

Several organisations, including Mozilla Corporation, Adobe and Opera Software, have been working on a similar project and are backing the Google push.

Mozilla has already flagged that its upcoming Firefox 3 browser will support offline applications.

To start the ball rolling, Google has "Gears-enabled" its RSS feed reader, Google Reader.

After downloading the Gears plug-in, the browser will automatically determine whether a user is online or offline. If it's the latter, the next time the user is online, the application will synchronise with the server.

Google says it will work with others in the web community to help develop an industry standard that will further facilitate the rollout of hybrid programs which work both online and offline.

"It's something that we're making this available in its early stages and in an open source environment so that everyone can help test its capabilities and help improve upon it," said Mr Sjogreen.

"As more and more people are depending on web applications to manage their lives and get information about what's going on, it becomes and increasing problem when you can't access those applications when you're offline."

.. more here

Filipino kills 10 in drunken rampage

A man armed with a long knife has killed 10 people, including five children, and wounded 14 more, on a drunken rampage in the Philippines.

The man first attacked and wounded six members of his own family with whom he lived in a remote village outside Calbayog city in central Samar province around 2am (0400 AEST) today, police spokesman Jessie Gianan said by telephone.

The man then barged into two neighbouring homes where he stabbed and hacked at the sleeping occupants, then he returned to a wake where he had been drinking earlier and attacked everyone in his path, Gianan said.

Eight of his victims died on the spot and two died later at a hospital, Gianan said. Another 14 were wounded.

The man then surrendered to another villager who turned him over to the authorities. It was not immediately clear what prompted the rampage.

stolen from smh

Microsoft takes the wraps off "Surface"

Microsoft has taken the wraps off "Surface," a coffee-table shaped computer that responds to touch and to special bar codes attached to everyday objects.

The machines, which Microsoft planned to debut on Wednesday at a technology conference in Carlsbad, California, are set to arrive in November in T-Mobile USA stores and properties owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide and Harrah's Entertainment.

Surface is essentially a Windows Vista PC tucked inside a shiny black table base, topped with a 30-inch touchscreen in a clear acrylic frame. Five cameras that can sense nearby objects are mounted beneath the screen. Users can interact with the machine by touching or dragging their fingertips and objects such as paintbrushes across the screen, or by setting real-world items tagged with special bar-code labels on top of it.

Unlike most touchscreens, Surface can respond to more than one touch at a time. During a demonstration with a reporter last week, Mark Bolger, the Surface Computing group's marketing director, "dipped" his finger in an on-screen paint palette, then dragged it across the screen to draw a smiley face. Then he used all 10 fingers at once to give the face a full head of hair.

With a price tag between $US5000 and $US10,000 per unit, Microsoft isn't immediately aiming for the finger painting set. (The company said it expects prices to drop enough to make consumer versions feasible in three to five years.)

Some of the first Surface models are planned to help customers pick out new mobile phones at T-Mobile stores. When customers plop a phone down on the screen, Surface will read its bar code and display information about the handset. Customers can also select calling plans and ringtones by dragging icons toward the phone.

Guests sitting in some Starwood Hotel lobbies will be able to cluster around the Surface to play music, then buy songs using a credit card or rewards card tagged with a bar code. In some hotel restaurants, customers will be able to order food and drinks, then split the bill by setting down a card or a room key and dragging their menu items "onto" the card.

At Harrah's locations, visitors will be able to learn about nearby Harrah's venues on an interactive map, then book show tickets or make dinner reservations.

.. more info

Robot to stand guard at school

A robot is to be deployed as a security guard at a South Korean school in what its creators claim is a world first, the Korea Times reported Thursday.

The robot, dubbed OFRO, will be posted at a Seoul middle school to test its potential before going on sale.

OFRO possesses a sensor head which rotates 360° automatically with integrated thermo camera, two ultrasound distance sensors, GSM module and WLAN built in.

Makers DU Robo said it could be used to alert staff to attempts by outsiders to seduce students.

"One possible scenario is that OFRO will alert officials when it detects someone trying to seduce a student," the firm's CEO Kang Jung-Won told the newspaper. Teachers could then either warn the offender through a loudspeaker or send human security guards.

The firm claims it is the first time a robot has been used to guard an educational institution.

"After going through the feasibility test, we (will) look to commercialise the feature-rich OFRO that retails at around $US100,000 as a school guardian," said Kang.

OFRO moves at a leisurely maximum of five kph (three mph) and can either patrol pre-programmed routes or be manually controlled. It has a camera and microphone link to teachers or a security firm.

Last summer, OFRO provided security services during the World Cup in Germany.

pilfered from smh

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