Aside from cheese, a camera phone's clicking sound might be one of the most prevalent sounds each time a picture is taken. No more subtle picture taking here and there even with cellphone cameras. A bill, Camera Phone Predator Alert Act, has been introduced in Congress. This bill requires camera-phone makers to provide an audible sound to the camera phone whenever a picture is taken and that sound must not be silenced or disabled. This particular sound must be audible from a reasonable distance the bill said.

As expected, many people were glued to their TV screens and PCs during new U.S. President Barack Obama’s inauguration. How did technology fare during this time? Well, despite preparations, wireless networks’ services had some difficulties. Even the web had traffic jams! Websites that were expected to deliver live feed couldn’t keep up with the demands of the public. An example is CNN. Not many were able to avail of the live video feed during and shortly after the inauguration. CNN recorded approximately 18.8 million live streams Tuesday morning between 3 and 10 a.m., and to think not all were able to gain access. Another site that had some problems was Twitter. Updates sent by users were slow or inaccessible during the height of Obama’s speech.

Anyone who sees Steve Jobs these days will know there’s something wrong with him. He was not even able to make the keynote address at this year’s Macworld expo. He was so thin when he made an appearance at the 2008 Worldwide Developers Conference. And in August Bloomberg accidentally published his obituary though he was still very much alive! All speculations about his health condition has already triggered concern among Apple investors thus, he was forced to break his silence regarding the issue.

There’s no hiding the fact that Yahoo is experiencing setbacks at this moment. Just last week the company has begun layoffs due to low profitability. But with its new offering Yahoo hopes to make things turn for the better. To gain more users, the company is enhancing its email service, making it a social place where users can bond and interact in a much better way, at the same get more work done. Since Yahoo’s email service will be made as a more social tool, it is also welcoming third-party applications to make the experience even better. Third-party applications that Yahoo’s is testing out are Flickr, WordPress, and XoopIt. Right now a beta version is already up and running to a select number of users.

Have you ever wondered how your helpful computer mouse came about? Me, I haven’t. From the time I learned to use a PC, the computer mouse has always been there so, I guess I just take it for granted. But, do you know that your helpful computer mouse is already 40 years old? It’s true. Yesterday, December 9 marked its 40th year of existence. The first mouse was introduced on December 9, 1968 by Douglas Engelbart during the Fall Joint Computer Conference (FJCC).

Have you ever injured yourself while trying to unwrap a package? I never have and I thought no one has either. But I guess I was wrong. It has only come to my knowledge that there is such a thing as “wrap rage”. This term was used by Amazon.com’s CEO Jeff Bezos when he unveiled the company’s newest initiative “Frustration-Free Packaging”. According to him, “Wrap rage describes the frustration we humans feel when trying to free a product from a nearly impregnable package”. Hence, to avoid this frustration, Amazon has come up with the scheme “Frustration-Free Packaging”.

Due to the losses it has experienced in the past six quarters Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is making a drastic move, the last resort in order for it to keep up with its competitor, Intel. AMD is now breaking into two companies. One will be dedicated to designing the chips while the other one will be involved in the manufacturing. Two firms from Abu Dhabi will also be investing in AMD’s two new companies. The Abu Dhabi firms will give $6 billion and will help out in building a new chip factory in Albany, New York as well as in refurbishing another in Germany.

The factory that will be build in New York has been named Foundry Company, but that’s only for the time being. This factory will be the one to manufacture AMD chips and all the while it will also produce chips for other companies. 44.4 percent of this new company will be owned by AMD while the rest will be controlled by Advanced Technology Investment, one of the investment firms from Abu Dhabi.

A $12 computer?! Is that really possible? We just have to wait and see if the outcome of M.I.T.’s efforts will really be that affordable. Derek Lomas and his associates at M.I.T. are working on this initiative to enable Third World residents to buy a computer for their personal use. Massachusetts Institute of Technology is becoming known for its charitable works. You’ll remember that it is also the same university that initiated the One Laptop Per Child program. The computers that they are working on are based on the Apple II. This idea came about when Lomas came across the unused computers in Bangalore last summer while on an internship stint.

Finally, I get to read something about Friendster. This is the only social networking site where I have an active account. Friendster is the site that is very popular in Asia Pacific and its still growing. Maybe its reach will grow even further as Richard Kimber takes his position as the new CEO and a member of the board of directors. Richard Kimber is Google’s former regional managing director of South Asia. In a statement he made, Kimber seems to be really looking forward to the challenge of improving Friendster’s operations even more.

Would you believe that maybe someday Bluetooth would fade from existence? I think it is likely to happen, especially now that it has a new competitor. A start-up company, Ozmo Devices, offers a new short-range connectivity service. Ozmo launched a new Wi-Fi chip and software that will enable device producers to link up computing accessories without chords. Your headsets, speakers, keyboards and mobile phones can now be connected via Wi-Fi. According to Ozmo, using their software is much more convenient because almost all laptops, handsets, and consoles nowadays are integrated with Wi-Fi chips. So, now it is only a matter of imbedding Ozmo’s software in the accessories to establish fast and convenient connectivity.

They say the best businesses are not those that create trends, but use existing fads to their advantage. And UAE telecommunications company Etisalat is obviously very good at this. They have just launched a new service for their customers who are also fans of the social networking site ‘Facebook’ and use their mobile phones as a camera. If you are an Etisalat user then under the new ‘Weyak MMS’ service you will be able to MMS photos directly to your Facebook account so your friends and family can enjoy the photos you took with your phone.

Unlimited calls, anyone? Maybe you’d like the new service that Skype is now offering for the public. This is in the form of an unlimited international calls service to landline connections as well as some mobile phones. For a monthly fee as low as $9.95, subscribers can now make unlimited international calls. Yes, this new service targets almost 34 countries; to name some we have Australia, China, Chile, Canada, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, and European countries. Personally, I think this is a great and beneficial offer from Skype; for just an affordable fee you can now connect internationally.

I have lots of friends who are into photo editing so much. They say they have fun improving their pictures, well you know, editing those red eyes, changing the background and lots more. Most them make use of Adobe Photoshop. So, I’m sure they will be glad to know that their favorite photography software has a new offering – Photoshop Express, a new online version of the program. This new online Adobe Photoshop version is easier to use and, take note, it is free! For sure, many photography enthusiasts out there are glad to know that they can now upload, store and edit their favorite images using a browser. Tinkering with your pictures need not be confined on one PC. With Photoshop Express you can do so anywhere as long as there’s internet connectivity.

After Blu-Ray’s triumph in the format war, many HD-DVD owners may be wondering what is in store for them. Best Buy, as one of HD-DVD’s major retailer is giving away free gift cards to its customers who bought HD-DVD players as well as its attachments. Customers who are legitimate for the $50 gift cards are those who made their purchase in U.S. stores before February 23, 2008. In case you bought two or more players, you can have a gift card for each of them. This also goes for the HD-DVD attachments bought.