international

Microsoft's Skype is making some serious headway into the international phone traffic scene. New data (PDF) from telecom market research firm TeleGeography shows that Skype broke records in 2012 by hosting the same amount of calls as one third of the world's phone traffic.

International phone traffic typically grows slowly, for example in 2012 it increased by 5 percent to 490 billion minutes. However, voice and messaging call apps are growing at a breakneck pace. Skype voice and video traffic grew 44 percent to 167 billion minutes in 2012. This increase is more than twice that of all … Read more

Chris Hadfield may well be the coolest astronaut in the galaxy.

He spends his time hosting Google+ Hangouts; giving tutorials on how to clip one's fingernails while on the International Space Station; tweeting with William Shatner; and playing space guitar. Space guitar is pretty much like regular guitar, except it happens in zero gravity while in orbit above the Earth on-board the ISS.

Hadfield has applied his space guitar skills to a recording session where he played and sang live along with the Barenaked Ladies and a choir. A large screen projected his part over video so everyone was on the same page during the session.… Read more

Astronauts in the International Space Station have already explained how to clip fingernails and play guitar while orbiting 240 miles above the Earth. But what about all those other questions people may have about life in space?

They can be answered in an upcoming Google+ Hangout with three of the astronauts aboard the ISS -- Kevin Ford, Tom Marshburn, and Chris Hadfield.

NASA announced today that it is hosting its first live Google+ Hangout from space. It's to happen from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. EST on February 22. The space agency is accepting questions in advance … Read more

The International Trade Commission's final ruling on a spat between Apple and Samsung is due this August, following a review of an earlier decision.

The judge presiding over the patent case (which was filed by Apple against Samsung in July 2011) last night said he plans to issue a final decision on the case on August 1, following an updated initial determination that's subject to a review.

Last October, the ITC said that Samsung infringed on four of Apple's patents with a handful of its mobile devices. Late last month the U.S.-based group said that decision would be reviewed … Read more

It looks like Toyota's looking to rebuild buzz for one of the hottest cars launched in 2012 by dropping the top on a convertible concept variant of the GT86 coupe at the 2013 International Motor Show in Geneva.

The FT-86 Open revives the "FT" concept designation and hints at a possible, future open-air version of the GT86 coupe. The 2.0-liter, RWD coupe (which is sold in the U.S. as the Scion FR-S and has been nicknamed the "Toyobaru" thanks to its co-development with Subaru) has been compared on many … Read more

YOKOHAMA, Japan--Most photographers will misplace their lens cap at some point. The Flip Cap could help.

The Flip Cap's name speaks for itself. It's a lens cap that flips up and out of the way when you want to take a picture. You attach the contraption to your camera lens via the filter thread and press a button to make the spring-loaded cap to flip open. A product of Kenko International, which also makes lens filters and bags, the Flip Cap will be available in plain black, or in a set with interchangeable panel designs. There will be two sizes available to fit 49mm and 58mm lens filter threads. … Read more

Rdio announced today that it is offering the majority of its international customers the same deal that people get in the U.S.: six months of free music streaming.

The online music service lets users access its library of more than 18 million songs that come without ads or interruptions and can be listened to and shared across the Web, social networks, and mobile devices.

"The countries that will have free access to Rdio are the United States (where it's been free since October 2011), United Kingdom, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, … Read more

Following Rolls-Royce's announcement of its new Wraith model for the upcoming International Motor Show in Geneva, Kia offered up relatively clear pictures of, but few details about, a concept car it will put on display.

The body style looks like a three-door hatchback, similar to the European-market Pro Cee'd. In a press release, Kia refers to it as a "provocative and racy new urban concept car." Among concept cars, "Urban" often refers to a compact SUV. However, Kia's new concept, despite some resemblance to Nissan's Juke, appears to sit at hatchback height, … Read more

I'm in search of a new phrase to replace "pie in the sky" to describe the latest ambitious space mining startup. On its face, the notion of 3D printers on asteroids seems more ridiculous to me than a simple lemon meringue in the clouds, and yet that is exactly what the just-launched venture Deep Space Industries (DSI) proposes to do.

Less than a year after Planetary Resources announced its own plans to mine asteroids in space, DSI is upping the ante with its own vision for zero-gravity resource extraction that goes one step further to include actually producing things in space using the company's "MicroGravity Foundry... a patent-pending breakthrough in 3D printers able to output complex metal components using a simple process with few moving parts."

The idea is that it should be much cheaper and more efficient to build what's needed to further space exploration using resources extracted from asteroids than shuttling materials from Earth. Imagine sending a robot into a mountain with some mining tools and a 3D printer. The robot mines material to feed into the 3D printer, which prints up more robots and supplies to build a smelter at the mouth of the mine, which is then used to build even bigger things. You get the idea.… Read more