Right now, many of you are likely downloading iTunes 10, the latest version of Apple’s media software. The most notable feature in this new version is Ping, Apple’s first stab at building a music social network (or really any kind of social network). It’s interesting on a number of levels, but even the most basic level is pretty interesting: Ping’s social graph.

First of all, to use Ping at all you have to opt-in to it. While Apple CEO Steve Jobs touted the 160 million built-in users (it’s currently available in iTunes in 23 countries), that’s a bit misleading because many people won’t opt-in to using it — many of them for no other reason than they’re lazy or just don’t care. But assuming you do opt-in to it, the next social layer is interesting as well. Immediately, you’re taken to a Privacy Settings page where Apple asks you how you’d like to use the service. This is where you decide if you want to use the friend model, the follow model, or the lurk model.

To be more clear, Apple asks you to decide between two things: do you want to allow people to follow you, or do you want no one to be able to follow you? The latter is a nice option because you can still use Ping, you simply use it as a lurker. You can see what other people with public profiles are doing, but they can’t see what you are doing. The other option is to let people follow you — but there’s a sub option to this. You can either let anyone follow you (think: Twitter) or you can get notifications to approve everyone who wants to follow you (think: Facebook).

Leave it to Apple to come up with a social graph dynamic that is fairly complicated but made to seem simple. I mean, this is almost the opposite of many of Facebook’s convoluted social rules. My argument recently has been that Facebook should have a simplified option to allow you to have both friends and followers — you know, like what Apple is doing here. Instead, everyone on Facebook is a friend or they’re some sub-list quasi-friend that you really hate but are connected with anyway. Or something. Or you can make a Page — which creates double the work for you and those people who also happen to be friends and followers. It’s just so ugh.

I didn’t even consider this lurker option for Facebook because quite frankly, it would freak out a lot of people. But Apple does this smartly as well. While you’re free to roam and and see other public updates, if you do want to post something like a comment, your identity is shown. So no, there will be no anonymous trolling.

I haven’t used Ping enough to tell if it will actually be useful. Given that this is Apple’s first real foray into social, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise. But they’ve won the first battle: simple privacy settings. Facebook could learn a thing or two from this.

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The iTunes Ping Social Question: Follow, Friend, Or Lurk? is a post from: World's Geekiest Dad ... and all my favorite geeky toys.

New Apple TV hits the FCC with Bluetooth, dual-band WiFi originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New Apple TV hits the FCC with Bluetooth, dual-band WiFi is a post from: World's Geekiest Dad ... and all my favorite geeky toys.

Apple’s specifications page for the Touch lists a resolution of 960-by-720 pixels for the rear camera, which is roughly one megapixel. That’s several steps below the 5-megapixel camera seen in the iPhone 4.

Then again, the iPod Touch is about one millimeter thinner than the iPhone 4 (which is significant when it comes to pocketability). Anything bigger than a one-megapixel sensor probably would have been a squeeze, especially when you consider that the Touch includes a front-facing camera, too.

When Apple refreshed its iPod family last year, many expected the iPod Touch to gain a camera and were left disappointed when it didn’t. However, a teardown by iFixIt revealed that was just barely enough room for a camera. iFixIt CEO Kyle Wiens speculated that the feature was omitted due to engineering challenges.

Long story short, the iPod Touch’s camera probably isn’t great, but we’re glad it’s finally here.

See our earlier posts for more details on the new iPods announced today.

Via DaringFireball

See Also:

• Live Blog: Apple’s iPod, Music Event
• Sporty New iPods Tout Tiny Touchscreens, Retina Display

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

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iPod Touch Camera Is Less Than One Megapixel is a post from: World's Geekiest Dad ... and all my favorite geeky toys.

After months of competing, the first MoonBots Challenge has come to a close with Team Landroids, a group from Livingston, New Jersey taking first place. The team is made up for five eighth-grade neighborhood friends named Karlin, Stanley, Brian, Gage and Jeffrey. The Landroids were captained by a dad: John Yeh. The winning team’s members are veterans of FIRST Lego League and are no strangers to science and robotic competitions. You can learn more about the Landroids and the protoypes they worked through by watching their documentary or visiting their Web site.

While the Landroids’ final run for the points makes the competition look easy (watch their video after the jump), it was anything but simple. All of their plans were nearly dashed as  problem after problem popped up for the Landroids. But in the end, all was good and the Landroids emerged victoriuous.

Master Lego robot builder and MoonBots judge, Steve Hassenplug, talked about what set Team Landroids apart from the others. “I am very impressed with the results from all the finalists.  Clearly all the teams worked hard and had a great deal of fun, but it appeared Landroids approached the competition with a level of professionalism unmatched by any other team, and they truly earned first place. I enjoyed the opportunity to judge the excellent work the teams did.  They were all very impressive.”

Also recognized were the Shadowed Craters, who captured second place, and Team Moonwalk, which grabbed third. The Shadowed Craters were profiled here a couple weeks ago and are from the Miramar area of San Diego. Team Moonwalk is another New Jersey team (with part of the team hailing from Connecticut).

Anousheh Ansari, another MoonBots judge, commented on third place winners, Team Moonwalk: “Two things stood out for me in this team. One was because they used their technical knowledge to outline the scientific benefits of space exploration but also looked into the social benefits of space exploration and the opportunity for different nations to collaborate and create a lasting peace. This was one of my personal experiences on my flight to ISS. This collaborative aspect of space is what most people forget about.”

The long road to the finals began with more than 200 applications from around the globe, but mainly located in the United States. These teams were tasked with creating a documentary about their team, creating a prototype using Lego Digital Designer, Google Sketchup or LDraw and create a Web site to share information about their team.

From there, the field was narrowed down to 20 teams for Phase Two. (You can review the documentary entries from the top 20 teams who made it into Phase Two here and here.) These Phase Two teams were given Mindstorms kits and a set of objectives to complete within a three minute time period. Based on the team’s performance and some other criteria, a winner was chosen by a panel. Judges for this final phase included Anousheh Ansari, Steve Hassenplug, Dean Kamen and Jeff Kodosky.

“Congratulations to all of the MoonBots winners and finalists,” said Jeff Kodosky, Cofounder and NI Business and Technology Fellow at National Instruments. “NI is proud to join with all the other MoonBots sponsors and partners in this incredibly innovative challenge that will help advance science, technology, engineering and math education throughout the world.”

Team Landroids will enjoy  the grand prize of a trip to Billund, Denmark to visit Lego headquarters, as well as a  kit and registration for either FIRST Robotics FRC or FTC. The Shadowed Craters receive a 64GB iPod Touch for each team member and a kit and registration for FIRST competition. Team Moonwalk receives a kit and registration for a FIRST competition too.

Thanks to all teams who entered. Every team did a fantastic job, according to William Pomerantz, Senior Director of Space Prizes for the X Prize Foundation. “The work these students did this summer was truly spectacular. The mission very closely paralleled the work our Google Lunar X Prize teams were doing, so we greatly enjoyed watching those technical challenges worked out on a different scale. The new era of lunar exploration is being built on the contribution of people of all ages and nationalities, and it is clear that the MoonBots participants have what it takes to make important contributions.”

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Results Of The MoonBots Challenge Announced — Houston, We Have A Winner! is a post from: World's Geekiest Dad ... and all my favorite geeky toys.

Everyone deserves a second chance, right? In the world of cheapo tablets, sure! Or at least that’s our attitude when it comes to a company like Augen. Sure, it was just about a month ago that it released its $150 GenTouch78 at Kmart, but it’s planning some future tablet products and hoping to right all those previous wrongs. According to the statement put out by the company, this new set of “Espresso” tablets will be unveiled at CES 2011 and will span from 7 to 10 inches diagonally. They’ll still be aggressively priced and range from $200 to $400, but at least this time around it’s planning for some with capacitive touchscreens. Other specs are of the fairly cookie cutter mold: WiFi, an accelerometer and more storage space. No word on what version of Android they’ll run, but there’s mention of a new “human friendly input.” That all sounds much better than the previous GenTouch products we’ve seen, but by the time January rolls around there’s no telling what the tablet landscape could look like. We’ll be following this one to see if Augen can keep the caffeine in its system, but hit the break for the full statement and one more render.

Continue reading Augen planning its next generation of tablets, not giving up without a fight

Augen planning its next generation of tablets, not giving up without a fight originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 02:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Augen planning its next generation of tablets, not giving up without a fight is a post from: World's Geekiest Dad ... and all my favorite geeky toys.

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The GeekDads Live is a post from: World's Geekiest Dad ... and all my favorite geeky toys.

Tel Aviv-based

The purchase, which will benefit 3M by providing the company with GPS and radio frequency technology, is the second in a line of security-related acquisitions this week; 3M bought fingerprint ID company Cogent Inc yesterday for $943 million.

Yoav Reisman, Attenti CEO on the sale:

“3M’s culture of innovation fits well with our own and its R&D capabilities and global reach will help accelerate the growth of our business.”

Francisco Partners and the Israeli branch of Sequoia Capital jointly invested in Attenti in December of 2008, the sale represents a hefty exit for both.

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3M Captures Attenti For $230 Million is a post from: World's Geekiest Dad ... and all my favorite geeky toys.

In a press bulletin, Apple said it would be streaming its event using “Apple’s industry-leading HTTP Live Streaming, which is based on open standards,” even though the viewing requires a Mac running Snow Leopard, or an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad running iOS 3.0 or higher.

Some technology observers speculate the live stream will accompany Apple’s release of a new version of iTunes capable of streaming live video and TV rentals.

Wired.com’s Gadget Lab will be live blogging the event, which commences 10 a.m. PT. Stay tuned for our coverage. Meanwhile, read our predictions of what to expect at the event.

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

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Apple to Live Stream Press Conference — to Apple Customers Only is a post from: World's Geekiest Dad ... and all my favorite geeky toys.

Photo by Wil Wheaton's friend loren.

Perry White has his “Great Caesar’s ghost!” Doc Brown has his “Great Scott!” Fallout Boy has “Jiminy jillikers!” And the characters in the Harry Potter stories are fond of “Merlin’s beard!” Yes, a good, solid swear phrase is always good to have ready for those times when you feel the need to yell, but don’t want to say anything inappropriate in front of young ears.

Here, then, are ten geeky oaths that, to our knowledge, have never been used before. We offer them, royalty-free, to the geek community at large. Use them in good health, with or without a “great” in front of them (which you should probably reserve for extreme situations).

1. “Riker’s beard!” – It really was hard to take Jonathan Frakes seriously that first season of TNG, and it wasn’t entirely because his uniform was a bit too tight. He just looked a bit too much like an overgrown boy scout, and the beard really did help a lot. We think that makes it a suitable subject for swearing.

2. “Cesar Romero’s mustache!” - You know, the one he refused to shave off to play Joker in the old Adam West Batman TV show and movie, so they simply covered it up with white makeup and hoped for the best.

3. “Coulton’s Zendrum!” - If you’ve seen JoCo play “Mr. Fancy Pants” in the last few years, you know what we’re talking about. If you haven’t, seek enlightenment.

4. “Wheaton’s clown sweater!” – Need we elaborate? We didn’t think so.

5. “Bard’s arrow!” - If you’ve read The Hobbit, you get the reference. If you haven’t, what in the wide wide world of sports are you waiting for?

6. “Fozzie’s necktie!” – Not only is it remarkable because it’s one of the only two items of clothing he typically wears (the other being his hat, naturally), but it’s also integral to one of the funniest gags on The Muppet Show (naming or linking to the joke would spoil it).

7. “Boba Fett’s rocket pack!” – On the one hand, how awesome would it be to always have a rocket pack on your back in case you need it? On the other hand, it does sort of end up not being the best idea for poor Boba, doesn’t it?

8. “Superman’s underpants!”- Seriously, if you’re the most famous superhero ever, why would you go around with your underpants on the outside? Especially when you can hear pretty much everyone who makes fun of you, no matter how quietly they whisper?

9. “Wolverine’s claws!” - No explanation needed, we hope.

10. “Shatner’s hairpiece!” – Bill, really, we love your hammy over-emoting, and especially. Making fun. Of it. But when you’re in your forties and actually gain hair in between movies, nobody buys it.

Any other good ideas out there? Leave a comment.

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10 Geeky Swear Phrases That Don’t Exist (Yet) is a post from: World's Geekiest Dad ... and all my favorite geeky toys.

Yearning for a bit of dual-core action on the move? Who isn’t. Hannspree will soon try to quell that 1080p-sized hunger in all of us with its freshly announced €399 ($507) Froyo tablet. There’s no lack of spec sheet ambition here: a 1GHz Tegra 2 SOC is surrounded by 16GB of internal storage (expandable via MicroSD), an accelerometer, WiFi and Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity, a 1,024 x 600-pixel capacitive touchscreen, and mini versions of HDMI and USB ports. Flash 10.1 is also proudly supported, while the 3,500mAh battery is said to last up to 8 hours when playing 1080p movies. We’d be getting real excited right about now, but we’ve learnt to be cautious with such lofty promises — remember the Gemini?

Continue reading Hannspree pairs Android 2.2 with Tegra 2 for a 10.1-inch multitouch tablet

Hannspree pairs Android 2.2 with Tegra 2 for a 10.1-inch multitouch tablet originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Aug 2010 08:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hannspree pairs Android 2.2 with Tegra 2 for a 10.1-inch multitouch tablet is a post from: World's Geekiest Dad ... and all my favorite geeky toys.