Can’t say we’ve ever heard of Taica Corporation, but apparently that very company has developed a so-called shock absorber that somehow boosts LCD performance. Sounds crazy, we know. Reportedly, the outfit has crafted a resin material that is based on a soft gel made primarily from silicon. As the story goes, that very substances helps to improve the luminance and contrast ratio of liquid crystal displays. While the whole thing is pretty technical, we’re told that the effect is achieved by slotting the material

Citing a new (?), voluntary Code of Practice, mobile broadband providers in the U.K. are blocking access to The Pirate Bay. But the Code of Practice has been around since 2004 (according to the date on the PDF file), so why start blocking now? Answer: the verdict against The Pirate Bay from last Friday, obviously. Why block period? It seems related to the large (ahem) amount of porn available via torrents hosted on the site. Using BT as an example, users see the following when trying to surf to The Pirate Bay:

Anyone paying close attention to the computing industry would realize that a few trends are picking up steam. Netbooks, smartphones and cloud computing — and that’s just to name a few. Cisco Systems, which definitely isn’t immune to security breaches, is keying in on the latter one with a new network security lineup engineered to “help protect companies’ Web-based software and services from attacks on their networks.”More and more, companies and individuals alike are relying on “cloud computing,” which is a

We’ve done it before, and admit it, so have you. You’ve typed in your name into the Google search box, just to see what comes up. Starting on Tuesday, if you enter just the word “me” in their search box, users will be given an opportunity to create or modify their Google Profile. To be clear, however, the prompt (shown above) which will appear at the top of your search results, will only display if you are not already logged into your Google account (or Gmail). Here’s what Google says: To give you greater control

AMD reported revenue for first quarter of 2009 of $1.177 billion. First quarter 2009 revenue was flat compared to the fourth quarter of 2008 and decreased 21 percent compared to the first quarter of 2008. This means that AMD lost $416 million, or 66 cents per share, in the opening three months of the year. It wasn't as bad as Wall Street projected though, which I guess is a good thing.

AMDs sequential microprocessor unit and revenue growth in difficult economic conditions demonstrate we can grow in an environment where customers are looking for maximum value, said Dirk Meyer, AMD president and CEO. We delivered on a number of important priorities in the first quarter. We launched GLOBALFOUNDRIES, maintained our cadence of new product and platform introductions, and made solid progress on our restructuring activities. The result is a more nimble AMD, capable of achieving long-term success based on our strengths designing and integrating industry-leading computing and graphics technologies.

Google employees have certainly put their “20% time” to good use creating lots of helpful features and additions to various Google products. In keeping with the company’s tradition of rolling out new features early in the development process, Google has added two new offerings to Google Labs: Similar Images and Google News Timeline. Similar Images If you’ve ever tried to find an image but weren’t sure how to describe it using words, Google’s new Similar Images feature will come in handy. This feature helps you

TiVo has partnered with Amazon.com to make HD movies and TV shows available for download from Amazon’s Video on Demand service. The new service is available to all broadband connected subscribers with a Series3, TiVo HD, or TiVo HD XL box. The service will offer hundreds of selections for purchase. This will include high-definition episodes of current TV seasons for $2.99 as well as new-release HD movies for rent at prices ranging from $3.99 to $4.99. Special prices and offers for select content will also be

Video:HIS Radeon HD 4870 IceQ 4+ Turbo @ Legion HardwareAsus EAH4870 Dark Night Review @ OCC22-Inch PVA: NEC MultiSync P221W Monitor Review @ XbitLabsASUS LS221H and LG Flatron W2284F Monitors Review @ XbitLabsMotherboards and Chipsets:ASUS M4A78T-E 790GX AM3 Motherboard Review @ Hardware CanucksPower:In Win 850W Commander Series Gaming Power Supply Review @ OverclockersHQCases, Cooling & Misc.:Antec P183 Mid-Tower Case Review @ Tech-Reviews.co.ukMicrosoft SideWinder X6 Gamer Keyboard @ DragonSteelModsSaitek

Spb Mobile Shell has long been one of our favorite UI replacement options for Windows Mobile.  Unlike so many of the alternatives, Mobile Shell offers a Windows Mobile-esque look that doesn’t make Windows Mobile proper feel to alien when you run other software.

Spb Mobile Shell 3.0 adds widgets, Facebook integration, management options for wireless connectivity and ringtones, a 3D carousel for choosing an activity, a task manager and more.  Check out the video below to see Mobile Shell 3.0 in action.

Current Mobile Shell users can upgrade at a reduced cost, and first time users are, of course, welcome.

Buy from Handango before the end of the day and save 15% with code SPB15.

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Now that AT&T is taking on iPhone 3G customers by the truckload, not to mention its endeavor to sell all sorts of data-using netbooks, it only makes sense to push some of that subscriber revenue back into the network. Recent reports are suggesting that the nation’s largest GSM carrier is looking to double the capacity of its high-speed mobile broadband network “in order to accommodate a slate of new data-heavy devices that may include a new iPhone from Apple.”Beyond that little ‘new iPhone’ hint — which