via:usatoday

If you own a consumer electronics gadget, there's a good chance something from Samsung makes it tick.

The company has traveled far from its roots as a seller of cheap appliances in the 1970s and 1980s when South Korean products were more likely to be panned than praised internationally.

Over those decades it has grown to become the world's biggest manufacturer of memory chips and LCDs — key components that let PCs, digital music players and smartphones store data and display it on flat, high-resolution screens. And they are inside the company's own finished consumer products such as its top selling TVs and No. 2-ranked smartphones.

But Samsung still has a perception problem. It may be massive and its products known for high quality, but it has yet to mesmerize consumers. The idea the company is a follower, not a leader, risks being cemented by the global intellectual property battle that was ignited when Apple Inc. began legal action in April against Samung for what it says is uninhibited copying of its iPhone and iPad designs.

Sue Chung is someone Samsung should be winning over. Young, Korean and studying for grad school, she uses Apple's iPhone for reasons including ease of use and a positive feeling about its maker.

"The image is very important," she said, sitting in a Seoul coffee shop. "Apple's image is very free and more open."

Within South Korea— a searingly ambitious nation that obsesses over its international standings in anything measurable — pride in Samsung's achievements is leavened by comparisons with Apple and its quarter century of game-changing products such as the Macintosh computer and iPhone.

If Samsung Electronics Co. is to live up to the vaulting ambitions of its homeland and its top executives, many feel it must move beyond being a highly efficient imitator to creating products so original and seductive in function and design they become icons of consumer culture. Being big alone no longer cuts it.

Illustrating Samsung's heft, its net profit last year was more than five times the combined earnings of Japanese rivals Panasonic Corp., Sharp Corp., Toshiba Corp., Hitachi Ltd. and loss-making Sony Corp. Total sales in 2010 came to a company record of 154.6 trillion won ($136.6 billion), making Samsung the world's biggest technology company by sales.

Yet even bigger dividends can come from vision such as that possessed by Apple's Steve Jobs or Akio Morita, the late co-founder of Sony, which popularized music-on-the-go with the 1979 introduction of its Walkman music player.

Apple has a market capitalization of about $350 billion, while Samsung, which has seen its share price slump 11 percent this year, is worth much less — about $105 billion.

Tony Michell, a Seoul-based business consultant and author of a book on Samsung, said that the company's dilemma is how to take advantage of its deep well of domestic brainpower.

"Koreans are immensely creative but their traditional culture of hierarchy doesn't let them be creative," he said. "And so Samsung has this problem that it has at the moment: a heavy cultural conservatism which is preventing full creativity."

The intellectual property battle under way with Apple has highlighted one of the perils of playing catch-up.

The Cupertino, California-based Apple, which spurred the smartphone boom with the launch of its iPhone in 2007, slammed Samsung in April by filing a lawsuit in the United States alleging the product design, user interface and packaging of its Android-based Galaxy brand of products "slavishly copy" the iPhone and iPad.

Suwon, South Korea-based Samsung, which supplies key components such as chips to Apple for its smart devices, has fought back with lawsuits accusing the U.S. company of violating its patents. The battle is playing out in 10 countries, according to Samsung, including the United States and South Korea.

A German court recently ruled in Apple's favor and banned direct sales of Samsung's new Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet computer, saying it "did not keep the necessary distance" from the iPad 2 in its design, the news agency dapd reported. A court ruling in Australia on Apple's request to stop sales of the same tablet in that country is expected this week.

Samsung, meanwhile, has asked a Dutch court to prevent Apple from selling iPhones and iPads in the Netherlands, saying the U.S. company does not have licenses to use Samsung-patented 3G mobile technology in the devices.

A development sometimes overlooked amid the arguments over intellectual property is that Samsung, fueled by the Galaxy brand, is gaining fast in the rush to woo global smartphone consumers after a late start.

The company ranked No. 2 globally in smartphones behind Apple in the second quarter of this year, according to U.S.-based market research firm IDC, which cited the growing global popularity of the Galaxy S.

Apple shipped 20.3 million iPhones for a market share of 19.1 percent, while Samsung's results were 17.3 million smartphones and 16.2 percent market share.

Samsung and other manufacturers, however, are far behind Apple in tablets, where the U.S. company controlled 80 percent of the North American market in the second quarter, according to research firm Strategy Analytics.

Song Jaeyong, a professor of strategy and international management at Seoul National University Business School, says Samsung has excelled by being a "fast follower" — imitating or licensing technologies and then competing by lowering costs, improving quality and adding functions.

The company should "hire more outsiders and outcast figures" to spur "creative innovation," said Song, who co-authored a recent study of the company that appeared in the Harvard Business Review.

To be sure, Samsung has made efforts to bring in outsiders, with powerful Chairman Lee Kun-hee repeatedly urging creativity.

"Samsung actually is a great employer of foreigners at all levels," said Michell, the consultant and author. "But the Korean voice doesn't listen to the foreigners working inside enough."

American Michael Kim can attest to that. He says he was recruited to work at Samsung and did so in 2008 and 2009, serving as a senior manager in the semiconductor business.

"People at the top of Samsung want the company to become more innovative and not be perceived as the imitator that it has been perceived as for so long" but a rigid corporate culture works against that, he said.

"They would tell us that they want us to be change agents and that they want us to try to fix whatever we see that needs fixing," said Kim. "You're appreciated until you actually try to start changing things."

Kim said a hope for the company could be when the current crop of smart, talented younger engineers, who he says are discouraged from speaking up, advance into middle management where they can wield more influence.

Samsung disputed Kim's remarks, saying they "do not represent the views of former and current employees."

Lee Younghee, a senior vice president and chief of global marketing for mobile communications, the division that includes smartphones and tablets, concedes that if the definition of creativity is limited to Apple or Sony, then Samsung has lagged. But that is just part of the story, she says.

"Samsung has been leading," she said in an interview, referring to innovations in areas such as wireless communications technology, where it owns numerous patents. "Isn't that innovation?"

Ultimately, she said, the question of creativity will be judged by consumers.

"I think the market is fair and consumers are very fair," she said. "Consumers know what they want, they know what's the best. I think the consumer will answer to this."

 

via:lifehacker

We've seen how easy it is to turn an iPod touch into an iPhone using a few tricks and some sort of VOIP service, and it's just as easy with an old phone—so long as you have a constant Wi-Fi connection. It can be nice to have a home phone or two you can use to answer calls when your cellphone isn't handy, you don't have great reception, and you don't want to leave the VOIP app unattended. So grab a mobile copy of Skype,Fring, Line2, or whatever, and leave it open and ready on your old mobile device. It'll wait for someone to call it, or you can just pick it up and, say, order a pizza without the fear of yet another dropped call.

9. Create a Wireless Internet Radio from an Old Router

 

Radios and routers aren't exactly technology of the future—more of the past and present, really—but when you combine them with the internet you've suddenly got a pretty awesome device for streaming music. The process isn't even that complicated. All you really need is a particular wireless router (theAsus WL-520GU is recommended in this case) and a USB sound card. Pretty neat.

8. Create a Home Security System with a Webcam

When you buy a new laptop, or even a monitor monitor, these days you're almost guaranteed a built-in webcam. That's great, but what do you do with your old bulky, USB-cabled micro-camera? You use it as a security monitor for your home. You can even make it motion-sensing. Better to have it catching criminals than collecting dust, right?

7. Use an Old PC Fan to Create a Battery-Charging Wind Turbine

 

Maybe wind power is the future and maybe it's not, but we're headed towards something sustainable so you might as well get started now. If you'd like a means of recharging your batteries without relying on an outlet,create this wind turbine out of an old PC fan. This project involves a little hacking and tinkering, but it's worth it just to have power anywhere the wind blows.

6. Turn an Old Projector into a Book Scanner

 

Most kids born in the last decade don't know whiteout from Britney Spears, so someday you're going to hear the question "did you really used to read books on paper?" Perhaps it's time to accept the inevitable and realize that the medium we know as print is a bit more ephemeral than we may like. But losing our books isn't an option, so the only thing we can really do is take an old projector and turn it into a book scanner, of course! If you've got the time, patience, or lower-level employee you can torture, this little project will finally help you evolve those dead tree tomes into their next state of being.

 

5. Make a Touchscreen Tablet Out of an Old Netbook

 

Netbooks had their moment, but their sales are dwindling thanks to the popularity of the tablet. If you wish your netbook actually was a tablet, you're not really out of luck. Just turn it into one. (That linked post even includes software we made to provide it with a heads up display to make it feel even more touch-friendly.) It's not going to be as magical as an iPad, but it's a fun upgrade for a computer you may not use so much anymore. Alternatively, you can do the same with an old MacBook if you've got one of those lying around instead.

 

4. Build a Cellphone-Powered Robot

 

Even your old cellphone, smart or not, has enough power to create a personal robot. The video to the left is proof of how an old mobile can create a "cardboard truckbot." The additional parts you'll need will only cost you $30, and Cellbots provides instructions on how to put it all together. You've likely got an old feature phone you've been planning to recycle for the past five years. Rather than wait for that day to never come, provide that gadget of the past with new life as talking, robotic truck.

3. Turn an Old Computer into an XBMC Home Theater PC

XBMC is our favorite media center software. It's free and it's better than it's paid alternatives thanks to a slick, customizable interface that plays all sorts of media from the majority of networked and local destinations. It can pull content from the web, tell you the weather, double as a retro video game console, and much more. What's really great is that it can run on a super cheap, underpowered nettop. That may also mean your old computer is entirely adequate for the job. Either way, you'll be up and running a home theater system that's ahead of its time before you know it.

2. Automate Your Home with an Old Router

 

The homes of the future will be automated, but you can have that now with the help of an old router. Said router needs to beOpenWRT compatible and this project will require a few other things, but if you're up to the challenge you'll be controlling your home from your smartphone on the cheap.

1. Turn an Old Computer Into an Internet PVR, Downloader, and NAS

The future of home entertainment ought to be as elegant and wonderful as the systems we can put together ourselves today. Old computers are perfect machines for creating a fully-featured content downloader. You can simply set up automated BitTorrent and Usenet downloads, or go so far as to turn that old machine into a NAS and installUsenet tools like SABnzbd and Sickbeard as well. This will make an old machine, seemingly destined for obsolescence, into an incredibly powerful server that will provide you with virtually any entertainment you want. It's unfortunate there isn't a comparable product and service available for purchase right now, but that's part of what makes doing it yourself seem so amazing when you're through.

By: Michelle Castillo

 

Many people are aware of the disastrous effects that tossing old electronics in the garbage can have on the environment and take special care to dispose of these products properly. While most recycling centers will make sure that your devices are dismantled and reused, a recent NPR story shows us that companies might not be as honest about what they are doing with your old electronics. More often than not these items are shipped outside the US, moving the toxic waste dump from our shores to developing countries, according to Basel Action Network executive director Jim Puckett. The non-profit organization focuses on protecting the environment from dangerous waste.

 

"The dirty little secret is that when you take [your electronic waste] to a recycler, instead of throwing it in a trashcan, about 80 percent of that material, very quickly, finds itself on a container ship going to a country like China, Nigeria, India, Vietnam, Pakistan — where very dirty things happen to it," Puckett said to NPR.

While recyclers do make money selling metal scraps, such as gold and liquid solder, it is cheaper to have the hard labor of pulling apart and melting down pieces done outside the country even if that means the useless scraps and other hazardous materials will liter that area. 60 Minutes went to one of these illegal electronics stripping shops in Guiyu, China (pictured above) in 2008, which employed workers for $8 a day. Despite the fumes that made them cough and other health hazards, the workers said they opted to work at recycling factories because it was one of the only jobs in this region that paid a living wage.

 

The environmental damage on the area because of all the toxic materials has left a permanent scar. Scientists who have examined Guiyu have determined that because of the waste, the location has the highest levels of cancer-causing dioxins in the world. Pregnant women are six times more likely to suffer a miscarriage, and seven out of ten kids have too much lead in their blood. Many of the devices broken down in the town came from other countries including the US, who in 2008 according to Natural Resources Defense Council Allen Hershkowitz tossed out 130,000 computers each day and dispose of over 100 million cell phones each year.

 

The problem is still ongoing. A few weeks ago in the South China Morning Post, a story said that a new law effective January 1, 2011 forcing Chinese recycling firms to turn away imported electronic waste has created a stockpile of toxic materials in Hong Kong. Since overseas countries still ship old devices to the region to be stripped for minerals, which are then resold by traders, the poisonous junk is stuck in the country with no way to sell or dispose of it because local businesses fear the law. "I don't know what to do with [the electronic waste]. I'm looking for recyclers who know how to treat them," an anonymous recycler said to the newspaper. "But I know many others are having the same problem. It's a problem for Hong Kong."

 

Basel Action Network suggests taking an extra step and using one of the e-Stewards , certified recyclers that do not ship their electronic waste to be disposed of in different countries. It may narrow down the choices of where you can dump your old computer or cell phone, but the extra effort is worth it

 

 

In March, Maine's legislature will begin debating a bill she submitted that would require manufacturers to put a warning label on every cell phone sold in the state declaring, "This device emits electromagnetic radiation, exposure to which may cause brain cancer." Her warning would continue, "Users, especially children and pregnant women, should keep this device away from the head and body."  

For those of you now eyeing your cell phones suspiciously, it's worth noting that both the National Cancer Institute and the World Health Organization say there isn't evidence to support the assertion that cell phones are a public-health threat. But a number of scientists are worried that there has been a dangerous rush to declare cell phones safe, using studies they feel are inadequate and too often weighted toward the wireless industry's interests. An analysis published by University of Washington neurologist Henry Lai determined that far more independent studies than industry-funded studies have found at least some type of biological effect from cell-phone exposure. 

Several countries — including Finland, Israel and France — have issued guidelines for cell-phone use. And San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who began researching the issue when his wife was expecting their first child, is hoping his city will adopt legislation that would have manufacturers print radiation information on cell-phone packaging and manuals and require retailers to display the data on the sales floor.

With 270 million Americans and 4 billion people around the world using cell phones — and more signing up every day — a strong link between mobiles and cancer could have major public-health implications. As cell phones make and take calls, they emit low-level radio-frequency (RF) radiation. Stronger than FM radio signals, these RF waves are still a billionth the intensity of known carcinogenic radiation like X-rays.

The wireless industry contends that RF radiation lacks the strength to alter molecules in the human body; the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) maximum for cell-phone-signal exposure is intended to prevent RF radiation from heating tissue to the point that cells are damaged. Cell-phone RF radiation's "effect on the body, at least at this time, appears to be insufficient to produce genetic damage typically associated with developing cancer," Dr. Robert Hoover, director of the National Cancer Institute's Epidemiology and Biostatistics Program, testified at a 2008 congressional hearing.

But the body of research is far from conclusive. In 1995, Lai co-wrote a study showing that a single two-hour exposure of RF radiation — at levels considered safe by U.S. standards — produced the sort of genetic damage in rats' brain cells that can lead to cancer. Though subsequent researchers — often funded in part by the wireless industry — failed to replicate Lai's results, a 2004 European Union — funded study reported similar findings.

Dariusz Leszczynski, a research professor at Finland's Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority in Helsinki, has done studies indicating that RF radiation may create a stress reaction in the cells that line blood vessels, leading to a dangerous breach in the blood-brain barrier. "Mobile-phone radiation may be able to indirectly hurt cells, perhaps by interfering with their ability to repair normal DNA damage," he says. "Given the scientific uncertainty, it's premature to say the use of cell phones is safe."

If RF radiation increases the chances of developing brain cancer, it should show up in long-term studies of cell-phone users. But many epidemiological studies have found no clear connection, including a 2007 Danish Cancer Society study of 421,000 cell-phone users, which led many in the media to conclude that mobiles are harmless. To date, "peer-reviewed scientific evidence has overwhelmingly indicated that wireless devices do not pose a risk," says John Walls, a spokesman for CTIA, a global wireless association. 

There are problems with many of these studies, however. For starters, the Danish one — which reviewed the medical records of people who had signed up for cell phones from 1982 to 1995 — didn't include all the business users, who were among the earliest adopters and most intensive users, because they were not billed directly.

Also, the study looked only at tumors that were diagnosed by 2002 — not long after daily use of cell phones became widespread. Brain cancers can take several decades to develop, so it might be many years before a measurable bump in cancer rates shows up. "The latency period we have is far too short," says Dr. Siegal Sadetzki, a cancer researcher at Israel's Gertner Institute whose epidemiological studies have found some connections between cell-phone use and salivary-gland tumors. "And today, people are using the phone much more heavily." 

Sadetzki served as Israel's principal investigator in the Interphone study, which was conducted over the past several years by 13 countries, most of them European. The Interphone results initially were to be published in 2006, but the final report has been postponed repeatedly, and the study investigators are reportedly deeply divided. In the U.S., which isn't one of the Interphone countries, the National Toxicology Program is launching studies of the health effects of cell phones. But peer-reviewed results won't be available until at least 2014.

That's a long time to wait for definitive data. The good news is that there are easy ways for those concerned about RF radiation to cut down on exposure. Using your cell phone's speaker or connecting a wired headset — while keeping the handset away from your body — drastically reduces RF exposure. (Bluetooth headsets help too, but they still emit some radiation.) And given the potentially more serious risks for children, who have thinner skulls than adults, parents might want to wait before handing teens their first phone — or at least ensure they use it mostly for texting.

Meanwhile, a start-up, Pong Research, is selling cell-phone cases that significantly reduce radiation exposure by channeling waves away from the head. Says Alfred Wong, Pong's chief scientist and a professor emeritus of physics at UCLA: "I think it's best to avoid as much of the risk as possible until the verdict is in."

That's exactly what Boland and other advocates of warning labels are arguing. It's true that cell-phone use has yet to be linked to cancer risk. "Scientifically speaking, we don't have the proof yet," says Sadetzki. "But as a public-health concern, I'm saying we definitely should adopt precautions."

 

You don't need to be a camera geek to get excellent photos. Virtually all point-and-shoots and many SLRs feature scene modes. Turn a dial to specify the shooting situation. Or, select it from a camera menu. The camera optimizes the settings.

Available scene modes vary by manufacturer. Modes are more common on point-and-shoots and entry-level SLRs. You won't find them on high-end SLRs. Let's take a look at some common scene modes and when to use them.

 

Starting with portrait mode, use this when shooting well-lit people or animals. Its icon is typically a person. You'll get soft, natural skin tones. Focus is on the subject's face, drawing viewers' attention.

The background will be blurred to eliminate distractions. However, the closer your subject is to the background, the clearer the background.

The sports mode icon is a person running. Use it for children, pets or any fast-moving subject. Exposure time is minimized, so you take photos quickly. Continuous shooting is enabled for rapid, multiple shots. Focus tracking is also enabled. The subject should always be in focus.

Sports mode may yield noisier photos, particularly in poor lighting. Noise is off-color pixels; it looks somewhat similar to film grain.

The icon with a mountain and star is night (or night landscape) mode. Use it for night scenes without a person or other central subject. It is perfect for photographing skylines. Night mode brings as much of the scene into focus as possible. Settings are optimized for low light. You'll get detailed dark areas, but lights and other bright areas won't lose detail.

Again, noise may be a problem. Also, flash is disabled. Use a tripod to avoid camera shake.

Use night portrait when shooting a central subject at night. Night portrait mode is represented by a person and star. The background may be dark, but, your subject will be well lit, thanks to your camera's flash. Night portrait may add noise to your shots.

Photographing bugs or flowers? Select the flower icon to put your camera in close up (macro) mode. It also works well for shots of small objects or details.

Your camera will focus at its closest distance. The background is softened so that your subject stands out. Additionally, flash settings may be tweaked to prevent bleached out subjects.

The picture of mountains is landscape mode. Use it for capturing detailed landscapes and streetscapes. Landscape mode puts as much of your scene in focus as possible. Foreground objects and distant objects should be equally sharp.

Use sunset mode for sunsets and sunrises. It is represented by a picture of the sun. Sunset mode preserves warm tones. You'll get the rich colors you want. Flash is turned off and your camera focuses farther away.

Child mode is represented by a picture of a child. It yields smooth, natural skin tones, but background details and clothing are vivid. The camera will track the child and focus continually. Settings are changed to avoid blurring.

The scene modes on your camera may differ slightly. Try using them. Experiment. After all, there is no more film to waste.

State leaders in Florida are in a battle with technology: new forms of communications that make it difficult for public officials to follow the law.

The state has one of the best government public record laws in the country. Virtually every public document is accessible to the public. And though the state is embracing the perks of advanced technology — the Legislature just started piloting the use of electronic meeting packets, instead of printing them on paper — the use of cell phones and BlackBerrys is causing concern. It's simply too difficult to archive all communications.

E-mails sent from a BlackBerry are easily tracked and archived by government servers. But the wireless devices can also send electronic messages in another way called "PINing," and those communications often are not tracked. The practice stirred controversy last summer when staff members of Florida's Public Service Commission were caught exchanging PIN messages with a lobbyist for a utility it regulates.

"People need to understand that they cannot use these kinds of modes of communications to conduct official business if they have no way of capturing the record that it creates," says Anne Weissman of the nonpartisan watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

'Where Do You Draw The Line?'

Weissman says that during the Bush administration, some officials used Republican National Committee e-mail accounts and PIN-to-PIN messaging to avoid record keeping. She says states across the country need to be careful.

"I'd be inclined to ban the use of BlackBerrys during those kinds of proceedings, just because of the risk that they could be used for inappropriate or ex parte communications," Weissman says.

But Ron Book, a Tallahassee lobbyist, disagrees. He says that's just not possible in this technological age. "Where do you draw the line? Do you draw the line at a BlackBerry, but yet it's OK to bring a personal computer in?" Book says.

State Sen. Mike Fasano remembers that at a committee meeting last year on property insurance, a lobbyist in the audience was sending to a senator's BlackBerry questions to ask the office of insurance regulation. "That is, in my opinion, way out of line," Fasano says.

But Fasano, who chooses to leave his phone in his office during meetings, says he doesn't believe there should be a ban. "Certainly, a lobbyist should not be texting messages or PINing messages to a senator, asking him or her to ask these specific questions. If a lobbyist had any courage or guts, he or she would get up there and ask those questions himself before the Senate committee," Fasano says.

Florida law already covers electronic communications, noting that any discussion that has to do with public issues is a public record. Open-government experts say it just comes down to enforcement and hope that governments can keep up with the changes in technology.