That headline probably would’ve worked better were it Cha Du-Ri the Celtic South Korean international embroiled in a tremendous bit of controversy, but it’s not – it’s Ki Sung-yueng.

After scoring the first goal against Japan, something was perhaps missed by the rest of the world that wasn’t in Japan: Ki made a monkey face. Normally just another in the long line of not-quite-Stjarnan-but-still-that’s-weird goal celebrations peppering football by the week, but not here – it’s a derogatory term South Koreans use against the Japanese.

And this has everyone going…apologies in advance…bananas.

Ki’s initially said it was done at the sudden sight of Japanese flags, seen as representative of their imperialism, in the stands, though you’d have to imagine he had to see this coming given they were playing…Japan.

His defense is that it was done to highlight the racist taunts he receives while playing for Celtic in Scotland, which it seems very few are buying considering the time and place to highlight racism in the Scottish game is neither the Asian Cup nor Doha, Qatar.

But perhaps only slightly less offensive than the gesture is the headline which a certain British newspaper of questionable reputability used for the story:

(That sign in the stands isn’t really helping Ki’s case, either.)

View full post on International Football News – World Cup Blog

There aren’t many 4G phones in the market right now, so we aren’t exactly bombarded with too many choices yet.  As such, it’s quite easy for handsets to separate themselves from the pack with just little changes and the HTC Evo Shift 4G manages to pull that off nicely.

Physically, the handset brings a high-quality design that makes you feel like you’re handling a really premium phone.  The aluminum accents, soft-touch finish and beefy dimensions take it a step up the style ladder.  Display is a 3.6-inch capacitive touchscreen (800 x 480 resolution) that manages sharp and clear pictures, with plenty of bright colors.  The slide-out landscape QWERTY keyboard works great, although the lack of dedicated number keys might put off some users.  Regardless, it’s one of the best keyboards for its size and makes a good case for choosing the Shift over the other keyboard-less 4G offerings from Sprint.

As a phone, the Evo Shift 4G makes for above average call quality.  Everything went through clearly on both ends of conversations, with no background noises to disrupt.  Speakerphone, however, was just average, although we appreciate the high volume level.  Battery should last you over six hours in continuous talk time.

The phone comes in at a cheaper price than other 4G handsets right now.  To allow that, it makes some compromises, such as the lack of a front-facing camera and an HDMI port.  Most notable, though, is the 800MHz processor, which is a downgrade from the 1GHz standard for other 4G devices.  For the most part, though, you’ll only notice the slight drop in speed when you’ve got a plethora of apps open — for regular use, it should be fine.  Plus, it plays Flash even with the lower CPU clock.

As a full-fledged Android 2.2 smartphone running HTC Sense, you get all the usual features you’ll expect: a variety of calling options, basic and advanced messaging and a variety of preloaded apps (both Google’s Mobile Suite, as well as HTC’s own apps and widgets).  Connectivity support is full-blast, with 4G, 3G (when WiMax isn’t available), WiFi, GPS and Bluetooth.  It also supports mobile hotspot capabilities for up to eight phones at a time.

On the multimedia end, it provides average playback of content.  Naturally, Sprint loaded it with their various streaming services, which you’ll likely find plenty useful over the high-speed 4G network (hopefully, you have coverage in your area).   The 5.0 megapixel camera offers plenty of editing options, all while taking above average shots and very watchable 720p clips.

Overall, the HTC Evo Shift 4G is an excellent choice for an Android smartphone, provided you spend most of your time in an area with Sprint’s 4G coverage.   The $149.99 price further makes a compelling case, especially if you’d like a physical keyboard to go with your Android smartphone.

View full post on Latest Cell Phones, iPhone Apps, Android Apps, News & Reviews – Phone Blog

When you’ve got a good thing rolling, why stop? That’s the mantra applied to Razer’s latest, which is actually the third DeathAdder to be released. You may remember the original slinking out way back in 2006, with the southpaws in attendance finally getting one of their own in March of last year. Today, in order to celebrate the device’s Wood Anniversary, Razer’s loosing the USB-connected DeathAdder Black Edition. For all intents and purposes, this is the same DeathAdder that we came to love last decade, but with an ever-so-slightly tweaked design that adds non-slip rubber sides and an all-black finish. It’ll ship globally next month for $59.99 / €59.99, with orders being taken right… about.. now.

Continue reading Razer trots out mildly overhauled DeathAdder Black Edition USB gaming mouse

Razer trots out mildly overhauled DeathAdder Black Edition USB gaming mouse originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 14:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A few times every week I’ll play World of Warcraft with some great friends. Rather than type, we’re much more comfortable using a VOIP solution like Skype. Nothing beats actually hearing the sarcastic abuse your friends heap on you.

VOIP and video chat solutions are becoming much more common and user-friendly. While I’m going to go over multiple programs (Skype, iChat, and FaceTime) my preferred app is Skype because it’s available for most platforms, allowing you to talk to people on almost any kind of hardware.

Managing Your Default Preferences

If you’re using the built-in microphone and iSight camera you can skip over this part. Please, for the love of Steve Jobs, don’t use the built-in microphone. You will end up producing a sound not unlike yelling into a flushing toilet bowl, albeit one with great acoustics. Headsets with boom microphones are relatively inexpensive at around $30, so do your listeners a favor and buy one.

If you have an external headset, open up your System Preferences and choose Sound, then go to the Input tab. Make sure your microphone is plugged in to your Mac, and that OS X sees your microphone and you’ve set it as the default input device, and set the headset as the default output device.

Now, the dirty secret is, this isn’t really going to have much effect in many programs, except for iChat. Since it’s unlikely you’ll keep your headset plugged in all the time, when you unplug it, OS X will go back to the default setting of the built-in gear. Even so, it’s the perfect place to make sure OS X can detect and use your hardware.

Setting up iChat

Apple provides an A/V communications program on every Mac called iChat. It’s very easy to set up and use, but for video the protocols it supports are limited. Google Video Chat accounts, for instance, are rumored to not work well with iChat video. MobileMe and AOL Instant Messenger accounts work well, however.

As with most Apple programs, setting up iChat is pretty easy. Open up the iChat Preferences, choose Audio/Video, and choose your camera from the drop down list — I’m using an Xbox 360 Camera as my test, so that’s why I have a “Camera #2″ showing. So long as you have a recent USB webcam (one that’s USB Video Class compliant and uses USB 2.0), it should be recognized under OS X 10.6.6 (the latest version).

Setting up FaceTime

FaceTime for the Mac lets you video chat with a supported iOS device or another Mac user. Currently FaceTime only supports recent iPod touches, iPhone 4s, and Macs running 10.6.4 or higher, making the number of people you can reach fairly limited. Another limitation is that I couldn’t get FaceTime to detect my external video camera. This could be a major issue if you’re using a MacBook with the lid closed, or a Mac mini.

Setting it up is easy, though, if you’re content with your built-in iSight camera. You download the program from Apple’s site, login with your Apple ID. FaceTime will then prompt you for the email address you want calls to be received on.

Below is a cropped screenshot of the settings panel, but all it has is an On/Off switch and a display of what email addresses you’re using. FaceTime uses your default audio input and output devices.

Setting up Skype

As I mentioned earlier, Skype is my favorite of the video conferencing apps. It’s easy to set up, and since everyone is using the same network (Skype doesn’t support multiple protocols like iChat) a lot of hassles are eliminated.

If you haven’t already set up a Skype account, the first time you open the app you’ll be prompted to create one. Then go to Preferences, Audio/Video and select your preferred Microphone, Speakers and Camera from the dropdown source lists. Skype lets you specify different devices for in-call audio and the ringer for incoming calls, which can be useful if you have your headset plugged in but you aren’t wearing it.

What I love is since Skype lets you call toll-free numbers free of charge, you can easily take notes or browse the web while on a conference call without having to awkwardly shoulder your phone.

Final Thoughts

If you’re video chatting for work, still make sure you’re in business attire when working from home. As someone who works from home a significant amount of time, I know it’s easy to end up in sweat pants. Also, if it’s a business call make sure your on-camera surroundings are neat, and your camera is not aimed at the pin-up calendar on your back wall. And make sure you’re wearing pants, just in case you need to stand up suddenly.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req’d):

• Here Come the Social TV Apps
• Report: The Enterprise Videoconference Landscape, 2010 – 2015
• Report: Google’s Voice Possibilities

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Can Andy Murray, left, stop Novak Djokovic winning his second Australian Open title? (Getty Images)

It was a difficult time heading into the tournament. Everyone was in shock with the floods up in Queensland, we couldn’t believe what we were seeing. It’s happened before, many years ago, but it’s been all over the news non-stop, so the Australian Open has certainly been a distraction. With the floods and losing the Ashes cricket, we were very happy to get the tennis under way!

Before play started, I had the belief that Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray were closing the gap on the top two, there’s no doubt about that. They were improving and they were working on their game.

Roger Federer, who was defending his title, was also working on his game, but Rafael Nadal traditionally doesn’t do that well at the beginning of the year, and he’d had a big year.

So for me it wasn’t surprising at all to see Djokovic and Murray going through to Sunday's final, and Nadal and Federer not. It’s very close now at the top, and unfortunately Rafa got injured, but these things happen and he couldn’t play his best.

It’s going to be tough to say who'll win, but Djokovic and Murray are two in-form players, there’s no doubt. I’m not going to be very popular back in Britain, but Djokovic has got a bit more to his game at the moment, a bit more power. It’s very much going to be down to who plays well at the right times, who grabs those opportunities.

It could be a long, tough match. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Murray came away with the title, but I'm going to have to say Djokovic should win. After beating Federer and having a couple of days’ rest, he’s looking in pretty good shape.

As far as the women's final goes, Li Na has definitely got a chance. But I don’t think she’s as powerful, and she doesn’t have the all-round game of Kim Clijsters.  She didn’t do her best last year losing to Serena Williams in the semifinals, but she has that experience to draw on.

It really is down to playing best on the day. It’s going to be warm, and Clijsters can tend to hit a lot of unforced errors, so I give Li Na a bit of a chance. I'm not sure if she will win, but she’s got a chance.

On a sadder note, it’s disappointing to see Justin Henin retire for the second time. Injuries are unfortunate, but that’s what happens in sport. It’s a pity that she couldn’t give it 100% her second time around, but she’s played a lot of tennis in her career and sometimes the body breaks down.

She’s one of the superstars – she’s little "Mighty Mouse," I like to call her. She’s brilliant to watch, I’ll miss her. I’ll be disappointed not to see her on the circuit.

View full post on CNN World Sport

You read that right.  A Disney-branded phone is actually coming out in Japan and it will have a stereoscopic display.  We totally don’t understand how the Japanese name their phones, but it sounds like it’s going to be the Disney Mobile DM009SH.

Based on the Sharp Galapagos 003SH, the new handset will get the same hardware as the original 3D Android smartphone.  If you’re not familiar with that device, it sports a 3.8-inch stereoscopic touchscreen, which can display 3D images without requiring any special glasses.

Aside from the special screen, other details of the Disney Mobile DM009SH include a 9.6 megapixel camera module, WiFi, aGPS, Bluetooth, a TV tuner and e-wallet function (Japan-only).   No word on the Android version included, but action will be controlled by a 1GHz Snapdragon processor.

Being Disney-branded, it’s naturally brimming with the entertainment company’s content.  Buyers get a unique @disney.ne.jp mail address, apart from a smattering of Disney-themed wallpapers, icons and media files.  Most of the UI is drenched in Disney, too, with special clocks, schedulers, calendars, widgets and even full-fledged apps.  They’re even going so far as to set up a “Disney Market” where special Disney-themed apps can be downloaded.

The Disney Mobile DM009SH is slated for availability in Japan beginning next month.  No word on pricing.

[Disney Mobile via MobileCrunch]

View full post on Latest Cell Phones, iPhone Apps, Android Apps, News & Reviews – Phone Blog

When you go into cardiac arrest, you’ve got about ten minutes to live if you don’t receive medical attention, and the average emergency response time is seven minutes after you dial 911. In an effort to get folks help more quickly and leverage the iPhone’s life saving abilities, the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District in California has created the FireDepartment app to enlist the help of the citizenry in fighting the (unfortunate) results of a lifetime of eating tacos. The iPhone app — Android and BlackBerry versions are currently in the works — allows emergency dispatchers to notify users via text of a nearby crisis. For those feeling heroic, the app displays a map with the victim’s location and any nearby automatic electronic defibrillators, and provides “resuscitation reminders” in case you’re the CPR teddy-toting type. For now, the service only works in San Ramon but there are plans to port it for use elsewhere. That means we can look forward to a nation of amateur EMTs, which makes us thankful that mouth-to-mouth is no longer a part of CPR. Check the video after the break to see the app in action.

Continue reading Geolocation app appeals to your inner good samaritan, makes you an amateur EMT

Geolocation app appeals to your inner good samaritan, makes you an amateur EMT originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 08:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster was caught unawares on a winter test run in Lapland. Leaked pictures show a deliberate effort by Mercedes to hide the car from any onlookers or spy photographers – guess that didn’t workout!

The roadster’s soft top- retractable can be immediately recognized from the pictures and contrasts to the SLS AMG coupe. It will be the successor to the legendary Gullwing 300SL of the 1950’s. Unlike its coupe version the AMG roadster will have non-gullwing doors.

The car will have AMG’s 6.3 L V8 engine which first came in S63 AMG sedan, with 420 kW (571 PS / 563 hp) and 650 Nm (479 lb-ft) of torque. It can reach 0-100 Km/h in 4.0 seconds flat and has a top speed of 309 Km/h (192 mph). This tarmac shredding performance is a credit to the car and AMG the racing and tuning section of Merc.

There is no official announcement on when the car will be on sale, but is expected in the second half of 2011 as a 2012 model. However the car would possibly be unveiled at the Frankfurt Auto Show in September.

(Via WCF)

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