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Man sues Google over Street View urination shot

The English like to say that their home is their castle. One Frenchman would like his home to be, well, his home.

Indeed, he is suing Google for his right to pee--should he so choose--on his rhododendrons in private.

This is, sadly, another case in which Google's prying, human-driven Street View cars have captured something that was not really theirs to see.

For, as Reuters tells this pitiful tale, a man was in his garden in the Maine-et-Loire region of France and was caught short.

Believing he was in the privacy of his own natural outdoor privy, he urinated. … Read more

The secret behind Nokia's 41-megapixel camera phone

When Nokia announced the 41-megapixel 808 PureView smartphone at MWC 2012, CNET's associate editor Lynn La said "it is a phone that has so many megapixels, its megapixels have megapixels." That, it turns out, was a pretty accurate statement.

But, before I get into what that all means, judging by comments I've read there seems to be some confusion about the largeness of the sensor. The 808's image sensor is not only larger in resolution, but physical size. It's larger than the ones in most--if not all--current smartphones as well as the majority of point-and-shoots.

Packing 41 megapixels into a smartphone camera

Links from Tuesday's episode of Loaded:

PureView packs 41 MP camera IBM's quantum computing breakthrough Yahoo picks fight with Facebook over patents Hardly any time is spent on Google+ New way to gift with Karma Subscribe: iTunes (MP3) | iTunes (320x180) | iTunes (HD) | RSS (MP3) | RSS (320x180) | RSS HD

Google, Apple sued over Street View technology

A new lawsuit claims Google and Apple have infringed a patent by using the Street View feature in Google Maps.

In a lawsuit filed last week in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Florida-based PanoMap Technologies accuses Google and Apple for infringing on its patent covering the the 3D panorama mode found in the Google Maps app on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

The lawsuit (pdf), picked up by PaidContent, says both companies knowingly infringed on U.S. Patent No. 6,563,529, issued to developer Jerry Jongerius in mid-2003. That patent covers an &… Read more

Nokia's 808 PureView has a whopping 41-megapixel camera

Well, it looks like we finally get to know what that vague snow video was all about.

A few days ago, Nokia released a 22-second teaser trailer hinting about something so "pure," it mentioned the word at least three times.

Now we know it's in reference to the manufacturer's newest device, the 808 PureView. A phone that has so many megapixels, its megapixels have megapixels. Okay, that may be an exaggeration, but the Symbian-powered phone -- unveiled at Mobile World Congress 2012 in Barcelona, Spain -- does have a whopping 41-megapixel camera. And that makes our … Read more

Google launches underwater endeavor with Seaview

Imagine if Google Earth could take users under the ocean. People on laptops sitting hundreds of miles away from any body of water could dive down and spot colorful reef fish, coral forests, sea snakes, and rare turtles. A program just like this was officially announced today.

In a partnership with Google, the global insurance company Catlin Group Limited and nonprofit Underwater Earth launched the Catlin Seaview Survey. The goal is to let people explore the ocean from afar and also carry out the first detailed study about the composition and health of coral reefs. The mapping expedition is expected … Read more

iPad facing threatened import, export ban in China

Apple's legal headache over the iPad trademark in China is getting worse, now that a local company is seeking a ban on iPad imports and exports there.

Bloomberg reports that Proview International Holdings, which says it owns the rights to the iPad name in China, has filed paperwork with the country's customs body seeking a ban of both imports and exports of the device.

Should Proview succeed, its move could dramatically affect Chinese sales of the popular device--not to mention its worldwide distribution. The iPad, just like many other popular Apple products including the iPhone and iPod Touch, … Read more

Google Street View goes cave-diving in Japan

Sit behind the computer too much and you might find yourself wanting to see more natural wonders. Well, Google Japan found a new way for people to explore the world, one cave at a time.

The search giant sent several photography crews to shoot long exposures of several popular underground (natural and man-made) formations in Japan. The two areas include the centuries-old Okubo-mabu mineshaft (part of Iwami Ginzan) and massive Akiyoshi-do limestone cavern, available for viewing via the Street View interface. Click on the gallery below; 360-degree views of silver, stalactites, and stalagmites await your eyeballs...

(Via AV Watch)

Walking and texting just got a tiny bit safer

Using real-time camera trickery, Transparent Screen for Android makes your mobile device "see-through" so you can use it to text or check e-mails while you're walking. It's a fun tool that could definitely come in handy for the multitaskers among us.

After downloading the free app from the Android Market, fire it up and adjust the settings. You can manipulate resolution, camera orientation, and transparency level. Once you're done, tap Start and you'll be able to use your device as normal, but you'll see a semitransparent layer of whatever your camera sees in … Read more

Go big with Fullscreen Photo Viewer

You have a high-resolution wide-screen LCD monitor, good video card (or cards), and HD sources, yet you're using Windows to display images? Or maybe you've had to flip through huge batches of image files and wished there was an easier way. There is, in the form of Fullscreen Photo Viewer. This simple, free tool is optimized for displaying high-resolution images in full-screen mode. With keyboard, mouse, and command line options, it lets you move quickly through batches of images with minimal effort.

Fullscreen Photo Viewer opened with a black screen with basic instructions displayed DOS-style in the upper-left … Read more