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79 percent of adults believe web access is a ‘fundamental right’
The BBC World Service has conducted a poll of more than 27,000 adults across 26 countries to answer one primary question: is internet access a fundamental human right? We can skip right past Finland and Estonia who’ve already made laws to that effect, and take a look at what the other nations thought. Mexico, Korea and Brazil lead the way here with all having greater than 90 percent agreement, while Pakistan, India and Kenya — countries with a slightly different perception of what fundamental needs are — offer the least support, though they’re all still above 50 percent in agreement. Other interesting stats include the claim by 85 percent of Japanese internet users and 81 percent in Mexico that they would not be able to “cope without the internet,” while 55 percent of Brits and most other European nations believe that the internet should be regulated by governments in at least some way. Ghana and Nigeria are most worried about fraud (ha!), while people in the Philippines see explicit content as the web’s biggest threat. Hit the source for more such pearls of wisdom and do let us know what you think in the comments below.
79 percent of adults believe web access is a ‘fundamental right’ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 06:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Unauthorized iPhone news readers raise eyebrows
Here’s an interesting little new media legal dilemma for you: apparently there are several paid apps in the iPhone App Store that bill themselves as “readers” for publications like the New York Times, CNET, and the BBC, but aren’t actually licensed or official in anyway — they’re just pulling RSS feeds. That means people paying for an app like The New York Times Mobile Reader aren’t actually getting an app from the Times — and, perhaps more importantly, the Times isn’t getting anything from anyone. Seems like Apple should probably just shut these apps down, but that’s the interesting part: all these apps are pretty much just custom-built feed readers, and you can generally access all of the same content using Safari. Now, there’s obviously a trademark issue involved here, especially if these apps are confusing people into thinking they’re official, but we’re curious to see how these pubs and Apple handle the situation in the next few weeks, since it’s relatively uncharted territory.
P.S.- Let’s not even get into the fact that Apple’s rated the NYT Mobile Reader app “12+” for “Infrequent / Mild Mature / Suggestive Themes.” Oh, the App Store.
Unauthorized iPhone news readers raise eyebrows originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Jan 2010 13:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Marketing FAIL: Reporter wrecks ‘unbreakable’ phone
Last week at CES we saw Sonim’s “unbreakable” cellphone, the XP3.20 Quest Pro, and were impressed when the company CEO let us take a hammer and nail (that he provided) to the screen and found that we couldn’t even scratch it.
Cellphone encryption code cracked: eavesdroppers rejoice
I do so like that weird period between Christmas and New Year — 2009 still isn’t through and we’re already getting end-of-the-world stories. A 22-year-old algorithm that encrypts cellphone conversations has been cracked by a German computer scientist. Karsten Nohl claims that he, along with five other experts, recently broke the secret code that keeps cellphone calls private.
Hummingbird Robot being prepared to rescue humans
Chiba University researcher Hiroshi Ryu has unveiled what may be the first of a new wave of rescue robots. Dubbed the Hummingbird Robot, the tiny robot features four wings that flap 30 times per second, a miniature motor, and is controlled via infrared sensors
BBC’s iPlayer streams to Cello iViewer HDTVs, those iElsewhere get iNothing
Hopefully you haven’t exceeded your daily allowance of the letter ‘i’ yet this morning; this post could push you into CamelCase overload. British electronics maker Cello has announced iViewer, a line of LCD HTDVs available in £399 ($650) 26- and £499 ($815) 32-inch models that will directly stream BBC’s iPlayer, no silly gaming console or set-top box required. They’ll also stream a variety of other digital channels, including YouTube and American CNN — so why is it that Americans still can’t stream content from the Beeb? Sets will be selling soon exclusively at Marks and Spencer stores, and would have been available months ago if not for a delay thanks to an unidentified but apparently American chip maker. Sure, blame the US. Everything’s our fault.
BBC’s iPlayer streams to Cello iViewer HDTVs, those iElsewhere get iNothing originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 09:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Nao offers next-gen household humanoid robot
As this week’s International Robot Exhibition drew to a close, one last humanoid robot called Nao caught the attention of attendees. Created by Aldebaran Robotics , the 23-inch tall robot has a full range of motion that allows it to get up from a sitting position, as well as walk
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