26
December
2007
|
06:36 AM
America/Los_Angeles

Newswatch 12.26.07: AAPL hits $200

GOOG knows your friends - or so it thinks

[NYT] Now Google is assuming that anyone you have had a conversation with using Google Talk is a friend, so they’ll automatically be able to see and read what you’ve read and marked as shared.

Russia launches sats for its GPS

[Reuters] The military-run GLONASS mapping system works over most of Russia and is expected to cover the globe by the end of 2009, once all its 24 navigational satellites are operating.

AAPL working on auto-volume controls for iPod

[PCW] Apple is reportedly working on a new iPod feature that automatically regulates volume levels to make sure you don't damage your hearing with excessively loud playback, according to the The Daily Mail.

FBI building biometric database

[ZDNet] In The Simpsons movie, Marge, Bart and Lisa’s conversations are tracked by the NSA. It’s not that they’ve been targeted as specific threats to the EPA’s plans to wipe Springfield off the map but because the NSA listens to every American’s conversation. That scenario — which an ACLU officer calls the Always On Surveillance Society — looks increasingly unridiculous.

Hebrew Bible on a pinhead

[BBC] The 0.5sq-mm (0.01sq-in) nano-Bible was written on a silicon surface covered with a thin layer of gold (20nanometres thick - 0.0002mm). It was written using a device called Focused Ion Beam (Fib).

A very Amazon Christmas

[TechCrunch] In electronics , Apple iPods took four of the top five spots, but coming in at No. 2 was Amazon’s own Kindle book reader. (Garmin took the No. 6 slot with its portable GPS Navigator).

AAPL hits $200

[Bloomberg] Apple Inc. rose to a record in Nasdaq Stock Market trading after more than doubling this year on sales of Macintosh personal computers and demand for the iPhone.