OnLive Desktop Plus for iPad

During CES 2012, the surprise appearance of OnLive Desktop was an intriguing idea for Windows-lovers: rent a Windows 7 computer remotely, and stream the whole experience to your iPad.

Helping the cause for the first iteration of OnLive Desktop was its price: free. That version only had 2GB of cloud storage and the Windows 7 environment only ran a suite of Microsoft Office applications (sans Outlook), but for the cloud-curious and those who lack a word processor for their iPad, OnLive's streaming solution is a clever way to explore a mobile office.

Related stories

• OnLive Desktop brings Windows 7 to the iPad
• Review: OnLive MicroConsole
• Hands-on: OnLive gaming on the iPad
• Review: Logitech Tablet Keyboard for iPad

OnLive was slated to release a Pro version with more dedicated servers, 50GB of stora... [Read more]

Related Links:
CNET Labscast 16: OnLive Desktop, laptop backbacks, and the Sony Headman visor
What I'd like to see in a new Apple TV
Microsoft Office app coming to iPad?
A Windows 8 tablet offers hope as potent iPad foe
Google secretly testing pair of connected devices

Workers on the iPhone assembly line make $1.78 an hour.

An unprecedented peek behind the curtain of Foxconn's factories in China may have revealed new hints to how much it actually costs to make each iPhone.

ABC's "Nightline" was recently given access to the factory floor, and the resulting reporting has provided some new insights into exactly how iPhones are built, a part of the gadget's gestation process that's typically been a very closely guarded trade secret.

Horace Dediu, blogger, analyst, and former business development manager for Nokia, tried to parse some of the clues and came to some interesting conclusions.

Dediu took two key revelations from the "Nightline" report--that each iPhone takes 24 hours to be built, including 6 to 8 hours of software and component "burn-in" and testing, and that workers on the line make $1.78 an hour.

He then ran that information through some calculations to come up with a new cost range for the labor it takes to make each iPhone, and found the following.

• Those costs are likely ... [Read more]
  
  Related Links:
  Apple supplier employee describes working conditions
  ABC peeks into Apple factory's working conditions
  Apple's new Foxconn inspections could start chain reaction
  Apple launches Fair Labor inspections of Foxconn
  Apple catches flak in China supply chain saga
  

An artist's rendering of the chip, driven by magnetic currents, in an artery.

As implantable medical devices become smaller and less power hungry, they are taking on a variety of new roles. What began as largely stationary objects, such as pacemakers and cochlear implants, are becoming small enough to actually pass through our bodies (i.e. in the form of pills) to deliver drugs and perform diagnostics.

Now, a new class of medical devices is emerging that adds a twist to the traditional implant: the devices are so small that they can travel through our bloodstream, not to mention are powered wirelessly via electromagnetic radio waves, according to Stanford electrical engineer Ada Poon.

By moving through the bloodstream, these tiny implants will be able to perform minor surgeries such as removing blood clots, Poon told an audience at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference in San Francisco this week.

Related stories

• Bass-heavy rap powers implantable medical sensors
• ... [Read more]
  
  Related Links:
  Bass-heavy rap powers implantable medical sensors
  Researchers still stuck on electronic tattoo
  Surgery on Mars: Headset could let astronauts wield scalpel
  Cloak's on you: Scientists create 'invisible' object
  Are you ready for a car that teleports?
  

"She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid."

Released over the last decade, the Lego Star Wars ultimate collector series contains many elaborate sets, including "the ship that made the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs." This "hunk of junk," officially known as set #10179, sold for $500 when it launched in 2007.

Over the course of three years, Francisco Prieto created a 3D stop-motion video of the Lego-ized Falcon being born.

Related stories

• Lego-like church perfect for Brick Testament
• Finally, a cost estimate for building a real Death Star

Prieto tediously created frame-by-frame sequences of the actual assembly using 3DS Max and V-Ray software. We must commend this level of dedication, as the results are a visual feast for a Lego lover's eyes.

So what's next for the graphics guru? Well, Prieto claims in a Vimeo comment that the Lego Death Star is next, but amusingly suggests such a feat could take seven years.

This Motorola smartphone is expected to run an Intel Medfield chipset.

Both Motorola and Lenovo are expected to announce Android devices powered by Intel Medfield chips at next week's Mobile World Congress.

First disclosed all the way back in December 2008, the Intel processor has been making some noise lately with terrific benchmark scores.

Motorola is reportedly set to unveil a Medfield smartphone that runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and features a camera with 15-frame-per-second burst capture. Based on the first images of the handset, we also can surmise that Moto is ready to give us a refreshed custom interface as well.

Lenovo, for its part, should provide new details for the K800 smartphone and a ... [Read more]

Related Links:
Moto's first Ice Cream Sandwich, Medfield handset leaked?
Hey Intel, lower chip prices for Windows 8 stuff, says Asia pub
What to expect out of HTC at Mobile World Congress
A quad-core iPad 3? Not so fast
Plenty of new phones could land in Barcelona

If you've been inspired by Jeremy Lin's story and want to work on honing your basketball skills, Nike has a new solution to help motivate you and track your progress.

The sportswear giant expanded its Nike+ line today with the introduction of Nike+ Basketball. The solution includes a new line of sneakers with pressure sensors strategically placed throughout the soles to measure how hard you're playing, how fast you're moving, and how high you're jumping (as if I need an app to tell me my vertical sucks).

The sensors then wirelessly transmit this data to your iPhone via Bluetooth, so you can see the results and track your progress. Social networks also play a big part of Nike+ Basketball, as you can share your stats with friends on Facebook and Twitter, or compare them to other users via the app's global leaderboard. There's even a showcase mode that lets you superimpose the data onto a video of you working your magic on the court.

Not a baller? Not a problem. Today, Nike also introduced Nike+ Training, which should appeal to a broader group. The mobile app portion offers videos of various drills and challenges, while the sensors provide real-time feedback on your performance. You can customize workouts everyday, depending on what you want to focus on, and... [Read more]

Related Links:
Apple's new Foxconn inspections could start chain reaction
Stomp some baddies in Mario Converse sneaks
Marty McFly wannabes, your hoverboard awaits
Baseball Boyfriend app: Fantasy fun or insultingly immature?
Apple's mess in China: What you need to know (FAQ)

It's cool, but you'll probably want to leave it at home if you're going to the airport.

Been looking for a way to look like Billy Badass at parties or cookouts without incurring broken limbs and/or pesky restraining orders? Who hasn't, right? Well, should your bottled beverage of choice not have the convenient screw-cap top, don't reach for that boring old standard bottle opener.

Instead, whip out the Bottle Blade Bottle Opener, which looks like a razor blade. The oversize bottle blade is made of brushed stainless steel and measures 4.5 inches by 2.25 inches, so you're probably not going to confuse it with your shaving blades.

You can preorder yours from GadgetsandGear.com for $9.99; they're expected to arrive in March. Booze and friends sold separately.

It's time to celebrate!

Aunt Jill won't be here for our 1000th episode this Friday because she only works out of the CNET office on Wednesdays, so we're popping bottles prematurely because hey, it's the 90s.

Along with a light wine tasting, Jill also gives a quick duster on the state of the Greek debt crisis and the Dow cracking 13000 after almost four years. In return, we'll tell Jill about the wonders of Instagram and Kim Dotcom's release from the New Zealand prison system.

Leaked from 404 Podcast 998:

• Motorhead follows Elvis Costello, asks fans to NOT buy $600 box set.
• Megaupload founder released from prison.
• Google now asks for your credit card to create an account.
• Check out Jill's podcast, Jill On Money!
• Follow ... [Read more]
  
  Related Links:
  The 404 984: Where we plan the 404 IPO (podcast)
  Ep. 984: Where we plan the 404 IPO
  Bail denied for MegaUpload's Kim DotCom
  The 404 977: Where we're getting an upgrade (podcast)
  Low Latency No. 7: Mega-pileup
  

Can a trackpad on your notebook really work like a touch screen on your phone? Google seems to think so.

In the future, your Google-powered computer could run the same apps you have on your Google-powered smartphone in a way that works with the hardware you have right now.

At least that's the vision laid out in a newly unearthed patent application picked up earlier today by Patently Apple.

The patent filing, titled "mapping trackpad operations to touch-screen events," describes a system for turning something like a trackpad on a notebook computer into an analog for the touch screen used in conjunction with touch-based applications.

If you've ever seen a software-based mobile phone simulator on a computer (including the one Apple includes as part of its iPhone SDK) the idea here is basically the same.

"Touch-screen devices allow a user to provide direct interaction with a computing device, while... [Read more]

Related Links:
Google files for slide-to-unlock patent as Apple battle heats up
Apple seeks U.S. ban on Galaxy Nexus
It's official: DOJ believes in the tooth fairy
Apple eyeing move to 'programmable magnets'?
Google files for patent on Siri-like TV user interface

The PS Vita is obviously not ready to be a phone. Yet.

I've had the PlayStation Vita for a week. In that time, I've been impressed with the system's potential, and I appreciate the effectiveness of its dual analog sticks, but I've come away with one conclusion stronger than all the others:

The Vita needs to be a phone.

By that I mean, in a phone. The current PS Vita, despite coming in a 3G version with AT&T mobile broadband, is far too large, and obviously couldn't be a phone, unless you used a Bluetooth or wired headset (then again, the Samsung Galaxy Note is basically the same size). However, the fingerprints of a phonelike OS are everywhere. The large, multitouch OLED screen, the gesture-based motions, the Android/iOS-like app icons, the open app pages, the Web browser, the Twitter app, the front- and rear-facing cameras...the PS Vita is so much like a phone that it becomes confusing to describe to anyone who hasn't heard of it before.

I've explained the Vita to several people who didn't know about it, and while "next-generation PSP" does get used quite a bit, so does "like a phone." The interface and the downloadable music, movies, and apps are ... [Read more]

Related Links:
What the PS Vita really needs: Versatility
iPhone vs. Vita gaming: Comparing FIFA iOS (99 cents) with FIFA Vita ($39.99)
PlayStation Vita and the complexity conundrum
Will the PlayStation Vita OS land on smartphones, tablets?
What if the Vita had an Apple logo instead of Sony's?