According to the officials, the first launch window of GRAIL would take place on 8^th September at 8:37 AM EST and the second launch occurrence 39 minutes later at 9:16 AM EST.

The GRAIL mission aims to achieve a series of goals in it voyage of almost nine months around the moon. The mission would consist of two spacecrafts GRAIL-A and GRAIL-B. Wonder why does all this remind of the movie, Armageddon. Coming back to the details, the spacecrafts would be launched with the help of the specially designed, Delta II Rockets. Both the spaceships would would record sensitive data including measurements as they move along a defined path.

The basic reason for this mission is to record the strength of the gravity field around Earth as well as taking recordings between them using radio signals. The measurements would be beamed down to the lab to compare the Moon's gravitational field according to Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. After gathering these records, scientists would be able to claim them as the most accurate measurements to date.

Moreover, the GRAIL mission would also figure out the composition of the lunar crust. This study would help scientists construct a proper theory as to "how the moon came to be a debatable subject". The findings would also help in determining on how the inner planets were formed during the formation of the Solar System.

Maria Zuber, GRAIL principal investigator from MIT told:

GRAIL will unlock lunar mysteries and help us understand how the moon, Earth and other rocky planets evolved as well

NASA would make the launch details live with webcasts on various blogs. To keep a follow on the mission, follow the link here.

After climbing thousands of miles across the earth's surface, Expedition 28 International Space Station Crew took various snaps on August 21, of an on-going brightly lit orange line jutting across the earth. Be not alarmed, as the picture does not display anything supernatural. The spectacular camera shot below displays the planet's, only visible, land borders.

The orange line passing in an orderly fashion indicates the border between India and Pakistan. In addition, you would also be able to witness various lightened places which point towards one of the busiest cities.

Back in 2003, the Indian government made a move to erect floodlights along the terrain separating both the countries. The move was sanctioned by the state to prevent smuggling and arms trafficking. Both the borders have regularly witnessed attempts at infiltration by terrorists as well as other banned activities.

From a total of 1800-mile (2900 km) long India-Pakistan border, the Indian government hopes to cover 1248 miles (2900 km) with floodlights. So far, 1156 miles (1861 km) of the border has been erected with floodlights which includes 286 miles (460 km) bordering the Pakistan state of Punjab, 635 miles (1022 km) across Rajastan, 109 miles (176 km) across the Jammu border and 125 miles (202 km) through Gujarat.

In addition, the Indian government has high hopes on completing the floodlight operation by March 2012.

via [DailyMail]

It was back in May 2009 that Google had rolled back the option of uploading videos on to Google Video, however the company had assured users that Google would continue to host their content. However, this report is likely to irk those users who have significant amount of videos uploaded on the service and it would definitely be a nuisance for them to first download all of those videos and upload them on to YouTube.

This is the email that Google Video team is sending out:

Dear Google Video User,

Later this month, hosted video content on Google Video will no longer be available for playback. Google Video stopped taking uploads in May 2009 and now we’re removing the remaining hosted content. We’ve always maintained that the strength of Google Video is its ability to let people search videos from across the web, regardless of where those videos are hosted. And this move will enable us to focus on developing these technologies further to the benefit of searchers worldwide.

On April 29, 2011, videos that have been uploaded to Google Video will no longer be available for playback. We’ve added a Download button to the video status page, so you can download any video content you want to save. If you don’t want to download your content, you don’t need to do anything. (The Download feature will be disabled after May 13, 2011.)

We encourage you to move to your content to YouTube if you haven’t done so already. YouTube offers many video hosting options including the ability to share your videos privately or in an unlisted manner. To learn more go here.

Here’s how to download your videos:

Go to the Video Status page.
To download a video to your computer, click the Download Video link located on the right side of each of your videos in the Actions column.

Once a video has been downloaded, “Already Downloaded” will appear next to the Download Video link.

If you have many videos on Google Video, you may need to use the paging controls located on the bottom right of the page to access them all.

Please note: This download option will be available through May 13, 2011.

Thank you for being a Google Video user.

Sincerely,

The Google Video Team

What do you think is the reason behind finally shutting down Google Video? Obviously, its because of the fact that YouTube is the numero uno (number one) destination on the web to watch videos online, so naturally when a dominant player exists, and Google owns it, why does the company need to operate two similar services?

We'd love to hear your thoughts about this, sound off in the comments below.

This move was a planned one and was announced by the search engine giants in January. Eric Schmidt at that time said that this decision was taken to speed up decision making:

Larry, Sergey, and I have been talking for a long time about how best to simplify our management structure and speed up decision making.

Eric Schmidt is now the chairman of Google and here is how he described his role:

externally, on the deals, partnerships, customers and broader business relationships, government outreach and technology thought leadership that are increasingly important given Google's global reach; and internally as an advisor to Larry and Sergey.

Even though Larry Page who is the co-founder of Google, Sergey Brin being the other founder, is responsible for calling the shots, big decisions will be taken by Schmidt, Brin and Page.

These motion control enthusiasts are the FAAST guys, yes those geeks that brought the keyboard emulator of Kinect for World of Warcraft.  They've made a software that gives life to Gmail Motion, using the exact same actions.

Intrigued? Check the video demonstration below:

[youtube=

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lfso7_i9Ko8

While all of this may not be that easy to implement for the average joe, its nice to see that something like Gmail Motion is actually achievable. Lets just hope that next Google announces Gmail Motion, its not on April Fools day.

Google says:

The mouse and keyboard were invented before the Internet even existed. Since then, countless technological advancements have allowed for much more efficient human computer interaction. Why then do we continue to use outdated technology? Introducing Gmail Motion -- now you can control Gmail with your body.

The Gmail team made a highly interesting and remarkable video demonstration of Gmail motion. Frankly, if you practice any of the necessary moves required with Gmail motion at your workplace, your reputation as a mad man will escalate almost immediately.

[youtube=

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu927_ul_X0

Detailed list of Gmail motion actions:

The team at Google has said that they plan on taking this new motion detection technology to greater heights. So expect Google Docs Motion to be released later this year.

Excited? Want to give Gmail Motion a try? Head over to the Gmail Motion landing page.

Mark Abu-bakar said:

I've been wanting to convert since a very long time. Yesterday, when we finally decided to shut down Facebook for 24 hours in October, i took some time out to think about what actually defines my life. I came to the conclusion that if there's no Facebook, there's no Mark Zuckerberg. That's when it hit me. I was lucky that someone on Facebook had a web app for online conversion, so i went forward with it. Yes, its true. The app also posted a notification on my wall, you can check it out. May the lord be with you.

Mark Abu-bakar has also said that he now plans to take time off Facebook to concentrate on something that has a more positive outcome. He also hinted that Facebook headquarters might be shifted to Afghanistan as well.

When Apple CEO Steve Jobs was asked to comment on this, he said that he's quite happy for Abu-bakar and he hopes that Facebook also merges with MicroApple to form MicroFaceApple. As a token of respect, an iPad Nano was shipped to Abu-bakar.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said:

We want people go out in farms and shit their time out like they do on Farmville. Hell! I need a fuking life too

image credit

Well, we won't blame Facebook for shutting the service down for a whole 24 hours. We can imagine that the team needs some well deserved rest, when no one in the world, not even the team itself, would be able to log on to Facebook and spend time on what might be the new opiate of the digital world, FarmVille.

Also, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that he will use these 24 hours of Facebook black out to think on future plans that just might change the course of his life. Intrigued? We are too. Check back soon to find out what happens.

As far as the existence of Google Music is concerned, all of us got a pleasant surprise from XDA Developers Forums, when a user who ported Honeycomb to his smartphone was able to use the musical service in what could be described as an accident. Music Industry insiders have confirmed CNET that the service was indeed a real one but the final version could bring a few surprises which I am sure will be the pleasant ones.

Google Music which is a streaming based service in essence will be accessible over the web and will work on internet connected phones and Tablets.

Google was initially expected to launch Google Music in late 2010 which clearly didn't happen. Then Google set a new tentative goal of demonstrating the music service in early March at the South by Southwest conference. While a delay clearly exists, it isn't one where technology is the barrier. Instead, it has to do with Google attempting to go after cloud music rights and not being content with Google Music proprietary songs.

Google Instant Previews for mobile are similar to the desktop version which allows you to visually compare search results from webpage snapshots, enabling you to choose the required webpage easily, when we know what content you specifically want to see.

Consider that you're looking for a webpage with both descriptions and photos. Google Instant Previews for mobile will help you to quickly identify these pages by navigating across the visual search results with a few swipes of your finger. Instant Previews makes it rather easier for you to dig for the exact content bearing website you want, rather than surfing through a plethora of useless ones.

As of now, Google Instant Previews for mobile are available in 38 languages and you can access by tapping on the magnifying glass icon next to search results on Google's mobile web interface.

[youtube=

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZubLyCg4zms

The problem which can easily be categorized as a major one is really a strange one. Affected users report that they are able to receive new emails but their existing emails, labels, themes and other personalized settings are no where to be seen.The good thing to come out of this is that you are not alone and several other users have been affected by this unexplained behavior.

Moreover Google has recognized this upsetting problem and its engineers are busy in getting things back to normal. According to a statement issued by Google, only a small percentage of Gmail users, 0.08% to be exact have been affected by this issue. Those who were lucky enough to not be affected by the bug are well advised to backup their Gmail accounts as a precautionary message.

[via The Huffington Post]

Intel released a statement to the media today saying that on Thursday in San Francisco it will "host a...press briefing to discuss a new technology that is about to appear on the market."

There will also be a media event held the same day at the Intel campus in Santa Clara, Calif., where the chipmaker will conduct technology and product demonstrations.

Digitimes claims, while iting sources from HP’s upstream component partners, that HP is going to start sale of the TouchPad from April while on the other hand, shipments to start delivery will commence from the end of March.

The sources pointed out that HP internally is aiming to ship 45-48 million notebooks and tablet PCs combined in 2011. After deducting the volume of HP’s notebook shipment forecast, HP’s TouchPad series product shipments in 2011 are forecasted to be around 4-5 million units.

We can only hope that HP starts selling the webOS powered TouchPad, as the tablet is definitely something worth getting your hands on.

Love it or hate it? Share your views with us in the comments below.

Here's an in-depth look at what Google intends to with its Console specific interface for YouTube:

• Build the next generation game-console-based TV experience with YouTube video content.
• Deliver a compelling lean back experience with monetization and e-commerce offerings (ie, pay-per-stream, ads).
• Integrate and optimize with distribution channels and devices including all major game platforms.
• Develop leading edge User Interfaces and delight users with innovative media rich solutions.

The idea that Google is working on is pretty impressive and smart as the proud makers of the Android intend to reap maximum benefits out of their sensational video portal that is YouTube. The term monetization is a pretty strong clue of Google bringing Adsense to gaming consoles which will without any doubts serve Google extremely well. Let us see what kind of interface Google brings for the growing Xbox, PlayStation and other major game platforms.

[via Geek]

Geohot speaks in detail in his blog post:

Again, it's not about me, I was on the verge of quitting this stuff last June, and I would hate to be the one who sets a reputation for hackers that all a company has to do is sue us and we back down. In fact, I want the opposite reputation set, that the more a company tries to abuse the legal system, the harder we rally back. I will be the first person in line on the launch date of the Xperia Play, and itching to get my hands on the Next GEOHOT Project.

Are you excited about getting your hands on the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play? Or more excited about the fact that Geohot might jailbreak the PlayStation Phone as well.

Stay tuned as we'll bring up more updates as they develop.

Just like the Cupertinos, Google has launched One Pass with an intention of giving publishers a system through which they can charge their consumers for news, magazines and other content. But one thing which gives One Pass the edge over Apple's subscription model is the freedom, purchase-once, and view-anywhere functionality Google intends to give to its publishers.

Publishers have control over how users can pay to access content and set their own prices. They can sell subscriptions of any length with auto-renewal, day passes (or other durations), individual articles or multiple-issue packages. Google One Pass also enables metered models, where a publisher can provide some content or a certain number of visits for free, but can charge frequent visitors or those interested in premium content based on the business model that the publisher prefers.

Google Checkout, which isn't that popular among  some Android developers  is being designated the payment processing role. Google's One Pass service will be available to publishers located in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the U.K. and the U.S. If you are a publisher and are based in one of these countries, you can sign up for the service right here.

Here's what's wrong about Apple's and Google's current app sales model:

You purchase an app for one operating system, and if you want it on another device or platform, you have to buy it again,That's not how our customers expect to experience this environment.

So what's the alternative or the proposed solution. Stephenson introduced the concept of an emerging system that lets carriers like AT&T sells apps directly to users. The way the proposed system will work is use HTML5 as the web apps development language. The apps will be available for all phones under the Wholesale Applications Community umbrella. WAC is an "app store" that will be managed by carriers which explains why Stephenson is all of a sudden thinking about the welfare of the Android and iOS powered smartphone owners.

[via USAToday]

The meeting comes after Apple CEO Steve Jobs took a medical leave of absence from the company, so it indicates that the meeting would definitely be of high importance, enough to make CEO Steve Jobs attend whilst being on a medical leave.

A White House official has said:

The President and the business leaders will discuss our shared goal of promoting American innovation, and discuss his commitment to new investments in research and development, education and clean energy

What do you think may be the outcome of this high profile meeting? Share your thoughts with us, in the comments below.

It appears as if Opera isn't all excited about bringing the Opera Mini for iPad as it buried the announcement in their lengthy PR, even though its iPhone version brought a lot of mobile web users to their territory:

At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, new versions of the Opera Mini browser on Android, iPhone, J2ME, BlackBerry, Symbian and even the iPad will appear.

What we don't know is what features will the iPad version of Opera Mini bring. I guess we would be getting our answers in the coming week.

Die hard fans of Opera will be pleased to know that Opera now has more 100 than million mobile users browsing the web using Opera's browser for mobile be it Opera Mobile or Opera Mini. Opera Mini is more popular among the two mobile products as 85 million people use the data and bandwidth saving browser. Only 15 million smartphone enthusiasts use Opera Mobile on their handset.

[via Opera]

Here is the full press release:

Nokia outlines new strategy, introduces new leadership, operational structure

London, UK – Nokia today outlined its new strategic direction, including changes in leadership and operational structure to accelerate the company’s speed of execution in a dynamic competitive environment.

Major elements of the new strategy include:

- Plans for a broad strategic partnership with Microsoft to build a new global mobile ecosystem; Windows Phone would serve as Nokia’s primary smartphone platform.
- A renewed approach to capture volume and value growth to connect “the next billion” to the Internet in developing growth markets
- Focused investments in next-generation disruptive technologies
- A new leadership team and organizational structure with a clear focus on speed, results and accountability

“Nokia is at a critical juncture, where significant change is necessary and inevitable in our journey forward,” said Stephen Elop, Nokia President and CEO. “Today, we are accelerating that change through a new path, aimed at regaining our smartphone leadership, reinforcing our mobile device platform and realizing our investments in the future.”

Nokia plans to form a strategic partnership with Microsoft to build a global mobile ecosystem based on highly complementary assets. The Nokia-Microsoft ecosystem targets to deliver differentiated and innovative products and have unrivalled scale, product breadth, geographical reach, and brand identity. With Windows Phone as its primary smartphone platform, Nokia would help drive the future of the platform by leveraging its expertise on hardware optimization, software customization, language support and scale. Nokia and Microsoft would also combine services assets to drive innovation. Nokia Maps, for example, would be at the heart of key Microsoft assets like Bing and AdCenter, and Nokia’s application and content store would be integrated into Microsoft Marketplace. Under the proposed partnership, Microsoft would provide developer tools, making it easier for application developers to leverage Nokia’s global scale.

With Nokia’s planned move to Windows Phone as its primary smartphone platform, Symbian becomes a franchise platform, leveraging previous investments to harvest additional value. This strategy recognizes the opportunity to retain and transition the installed base of 200 million Symbian owners. Nokia expects to sell approximately 150 million more Symbian devices in the years to come.

Under the new strategy, MeeGo becomes an open-source, mobile operating system project. MeeGo will place increased emphasis on longer-term market exploration of next-generation devices, platforms and user experiences. Nokia still plans to ship a MeeGo-related product later this year.

In feature phones, Nokia unveiled a renewed strategy to leverage its innovation and strength in growth markets to connect the next billion people to their first Internet and application experience.

New leadership team, operational structure
This new strategy is supported by significant changes in Nokia’s leadership, operational structure and approach. Effective today, Nokia has a new leadership team with the commitment, competencies and innovative thinking needed in today’s dynamic environment.

The Nokia Leadership Team, previously the Group Executive Board, will consist of the following members: Stephen Elop, Esko Aho, Juha Akras, Jerri DeVard, Colin Giles, Rich Green, Jo Harlow, Timo Ihamuotila, Mary McDowell, Kai Oistamo, Tero Ojanpera, Louise Pentland and Niklas Savander.

Alberto Torres has stepped down from the management team, effective February 10 to pursue other interests outside the company.

The renewed governance will expedite decision-making and improve time-to-market of products and innovations, placing a heavy focus on results, speed and accountability. The new strategy and operational structure are expected to have significant impact to Nokia operations and personnel.

New company structure
As of April 1, Nokia will have a new company structure, which features two distinct business units: Smart Devices and Mobile Phones. They will focus on Nokia’s key business areas: high-end smartphones and mass-market mobile phones. Each unit will have profit-and-loss responsibility and end-to-end accountability for the full consumer experience, including product development, product management and product marketing.

Smart Devices will be responsible for building Nokia’s leadership in smartphones and will be led by Jo Harlow. The following sub-units now in Mobile Solutions will move under Smart Devices:
- Symbian Smartphones
- MeeGo Computers
- Strategic Business Operations

To support the planned new partnership with Microsoft, Smart Devices will be responsible for creating a winning Windows Phone portfolio.

Mobile Phones will drive Nokia’s “web for the next billion” strategy. Mobile Phones will leverage its innovation and strength in growth markets to connect the next billion people and bring them affordable access to the Internet and applications. The Mobile Phones unit will be led by Mary McDowell.

Markets will be responsible for selling products, executing compelling marketing and communications, creating a competitive local ecosystem, sourcing, customer care, manufacturing, IT and logistics across all Nokia products. It will be headed by Niklas Savander.

Services and Developer Experience will be responsible for Nokia’s global services portfolio, developer offering, developer relations and integration of partner service offerings. Tero Ojanpera will lead the Services and Developer Experience unit in an acting capacity.

NAVTEQ, an integral part of Nokia’s location and advertising business, will be headed by Larry Kaplan, and continue as a separate reporting entity.

The CTO Office will be responsible for Nokia’s technology strategy and forward-looking technology activities, including Nokia Research Center. It will be headed by Rich Green.

Design, responsible for Nokia product and user experience design, will be led by Marko Ahtisaari.

The CFO Office, responsible for all financial activity, will be headed by Timo Ihamuotila.

Corporate Development, responsible for driving implementation of Nokia’s ecosystem strategy and strategic partnerships, will be headed by Kai Oistamo.

Corporate Relations & Responsibility, responsible for Nokia’s government and public affairs, sustainable development and social responsibility, will be led by Esko Aho.

Human Resources will be led by Juha Akras.

Legal and Intellectual Property will be led by Louise Pentland.

Nokia Siemens Networks continues in the Nokia Group as a separate reporting entity.

Do you think this partnership can prove to be beneficial for Nokia's burning platfrom? This partnership does mark the end of Symbian and MeeGo. Do you think Nokia will benefit from it? Sound off, in the comments below.