It is common knowledge that the Windows Phone 7 GUI looks sweet. And since Microsoft is no dummy when it comes to design, the company apparently filed a patent application for their panoramic type GUI.

Patent serial number 240,729 pertains to a “contiguous background” that is able to extend beyond what is shown on the screen. It was filed back in September 2008 and refers to how the GUI works wherein the image glides either horizontally or vertically (but not both at once) when switching panels. The “mixed media” elements are found anchored on top of the background which will be accessed via a launched media playing device.

That would be Microsoft’s legal speak to prevent any conflicts with other patents. Remember how the Windows Phone 7 layout works. The icons are strategically and uniquely placed on each section’s layout and the background does not tile or repeat. The background design works much like a horizontal or vertical slideshow without cuts. Each section of the interface is tied up to the other in sort of wrapped fashion from the back to the beginning. And why exactly is Microsoft doing this? This is what they had to say:

“Most cellular telephones, personal data assistants, and personal media players utilize a series of discrete, cascading screens to present information to a user. Some users may find such screens and such lists to be uninspiring. Further, some users may not proactively explore such screens and such lists because of the unrewarding user experience.”

There you have it, straight from Microsoft. The design is to encourage people to view the content on each screen. The Panoramic User Interface patent was made public by the US Patents and Trademark Office on April 1 and the detailed terms will prevent other companies from waltzing in with a Windows Phone 7 UI lookalike without having to answer to Microsoft first.

Read more about the patent on Engadget.

What is the real objective of teachers and parents when it comes to teaching children about the internet? It’s a pretty odd thing, since schools have only recently added in the subject into their curriculum and there are still any disadvantaged children without access to the technology.

Regardless of the situation, it is undeniable that with the trend of the world we currently live in, being part of the online community will become a necessity in the coming years. Use of Facebook and Twitter alone has shown how reliant our society can be on digital tools when given an option to socialize online.

For children however, this means that learning about the internet has to start at an early age.

With homework, socialization and even entertainment tied up to online profiles and accounts, many children learn to sign up for their first e-mail account at a very early age. While parents would be able to teach children the necessary skills for this, there are still plenty of adults who are unable to properly use a web browser. Sadly, educating the children about the internet cannot be easily split between teacher and parent.

Though one might assume that it would be okay for parents to handle morality while educators focus on technical skills, it would be impossible for parents to fully take part in the process if they themselves are not tech-savvy.

Before being able to teach what is proper behavior and decorum would require that a parent actually know what it is like to take part in a forum, a bulletin board, a chat room or even a shout out box.

Prof. Byron’s report of safety for children in the digital world has missed out on one crucial factor: educating parents.

Read about child safety on the internet at the Telegraph UK.

While many would be inclined to think that all forms of marketing done through electronic mail or email would be immediately be sent into a spam folder, UK company Thrillist is showing the world otherwise.

By directly getting people to sign up to relevant newsletters and article, this company is getting plenty of profits from marketers who want to get their products directly advertised to their target audience. The concept is simple, by providing geo-specific news, articles and updates that are relevant to a person’s interest, more and more people are willing to read through the daily emails being sent by the company.

In an interview with Ben Lerer, co founder of the company, he stated that many people usually refer to magazines when it comes to checking out places to eat, hang out, clothes to buy and accessories to get. But the problem with magazines is that the information tends to be very general –as published materials do tend to cater to very wide audiences.

But for people who are looking to read up on what’s hot at a more local scene, there is hardly anything online that can provide relevant information.

The solution comes in getting local writers who provide excellent guides and tips about specific locations. These writers can tell readers about the pulse of the local scene because that is where they are. And it is this information that makes people want to read Thirllist’s newsletters.

At the same time, this is what makes companies want to advertise their products as well –people would read the reviews and actually go to the store because it is right there. Naturally, services such as this provide an excellent help for many small businesses that are not usually covered by larger publications.

Get to know more about email newsletters at Times Online UK.

T-Mobile has announced that it is now offering the XPERIA X10 and the HTC Desire to clients on its website. The HTC Desire will ship out after 7 days of ordering and the XPERIA X10 will be available after 10 days.

Both smart phones have been long anticipated by the Android community since they were announced last year.

The XPERIA X10 was originally announced as the Rachael before SE confirmed its name and specs. The device was one of the first Android phones to be confirmed running on a 1GHz Snapdragon processor. Sony has spared no time in preparing other Android devices, during the Mobile World Congress where they showed off the X10, they also featured two new Android smart phones; the X10 Mini and the X10 Mini Pro.  The two 600MHz smart phones will be SE’s offering to the mid range market.

Back to the XPERIA X10, this high end device will come with a 4 inch capacitive touch screen with a resolution of 480 x 854 pixels. The device also has an 8 mega pixel camera with LED flash, autofocus and geo-tagging. This high end device comes in a classic black finish though an exclusive white version has been announced for Orange Mobile.

The HTC Desire was part of the leaked 2010 roadmap for the Taiwanese company. The list of devices showed off not only the Desire, but also the upcoming Legend as well. The phone was finally shown off by HTC at Barcelona last month.

Running on a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, this Android device really works as an alternative to the Nexus One. Not only do the two phones share the same manufacturer, but their specifications are also similar as well. Aside from the 1GHz CPU, both devices come with 3.7 inch AMOLED capacitive touch screens and 5 mega pixel camera.

Find out more about T-Mobile’s latest offerings at Know Your Mobile

According to the Telegraph UK, about ten thousand Britons have banded together to oppose the Digital Economy Bill. All over the internet, there are thousands more opposing the passing of the new Bill and with it, the government’s bid to control internet activity.

The reason for the opposition is simple; the bill is a potential threat to the privacy and well being of every free citizen in the UK. Part of the fundamental rights that every citizen is granted under Great Britain is that each person would have the right to privacy in their home and with communications. This is the right that protects letters, text messages and even phone calls from being exposed, this is also the very same right that protects our emails, chats and other internet based communications.

With the Digital Economy Bill granting the government access to all our activities online, even private correspondences will not be safe.

According to Lord Erroll, even the actual proceedings regarding the bill are no respecting the proper procedures. With the elections not too far away, there not enough time for an adequate debate which will allow the parliament to properly examine the Bill. Add to this the unnecessary pressure from many groups that are blindly pushing for the bill, and we have the recipe for disaster.

Groups such as workers unions are easily swayed by survey results –such as the recently released survey that points a cold hard finger at piracy costing the UK over a million jobs by 2015 –an assumption that has no backing since the cost of pirated material was equated to the cost of originals and the value was then marked as a “financial loss” which was then calculated with current trends in cost reductions in order to create a prediction regarding job loss.

But in truth, the monetary value of pirated material is close to practically nothing, and while the practice is illegal, people who support creative industries will continue to purchase original content despite already having pirated copies –which means that the media industries would never be in a deficit and effectively, no jobs will be put to risk.

Get to know more about the protest against the Digital Economy Bill at the Telegraph UK.

There are plenty of reasons why the smart phone apps industry is continuously growing. In fact, some people have even said that by 2012, apps will sell be selling more than audio CDs. With software downloads becoming more and more convenient for getting bits of digital content, more and more people find themselves preferring to just purchase online instead of heading to the closest brick and mortar store.

The reasons are simple; first, downloading is quite easy. Smart phone operating systems have access to online stores that provides users with thousands of available content. Users simply need to go online, browse for apps, and download their preferred content. Of course, apps are worth downloading because they provide much of that added functionality that users need. Aside from practical functions, apps are also a good source of games and entertainment.

The growing number of smart phones also helps. With more and more people switching to smart phones over regular devices, the value of apps for these phones becomes more and more evident.

Aside from apps, downloadable music content is also causing the sales of CDs to decrease. After all, with the ability to choose specific tracks to download, people no longer have to spend the extra money just to buy the whole album.

Of course, the retail industry has nothing to fear. Despite the many advantages of digital content, nothing beats actually having your own copy of an album or cherished soundtrack. Music fans would certainly bulk at the idea of sticking with pure digital downloads –the same goes for movie addicts, after all, not streaming download would ever match having your own copy of an epic movie on Blu-Ray. Apps may outsell CDs, but they would never replace the industry.

Get to know more about the app industry on the Guardian UK.

Just a couple of days ago, we got treated to seeing some of the most promising developer tools –from a consumer’s perspective. With particular focus on the XNA Game Studio and the Visual Studio for gaming apps, it seems like we will get to see some pretty inventive new gameplay mechanics using the motion sensitive smart phone and the Microsoft Xbox game console.

Now, further demonstrations on the new features for WP7 have revealed that aside from the first set of phone functions shown at the Mobile World Congress, new features are still being added in. The most prominent of all the new additions is the inclusion of an Application page –missing in the original demo.

New Apps for the OS are based either on Silverlight which delivers impressive web based displays and the XNA studio which is geared more towards games. Speaking of Silverlight, there is a new Media Diary function that looks utterly impressive –it is reported to be created from the ground up using Silverlight.

The Microsoft Location Service will provide geo-sensitive news feeds and other similar data. Users can also hunt down specific feeds to be used for this. Combined with the Microsoft Notification Service, this creates a steady stream of real time news updates. In addition to these new features, WP7 will retain all of the original functions announced with the device.

The new OS was first unveiled last month and is due to be release late this year. The LG Panther and a yet to be named Samsung super AMOLED touch screen smart phone are already confirmed devices that will be using the new mobile platform. It is also reported that HTC is working on its own Windows Phone 7 device.

For more details about the new WP7 features and applications go to GSM Arena.

A baby monitor in an infant’s room is one of the most accepted and basic forms of surveillance, the ability to keep track of audio to know if a baby is asleep, awake or even crying.
Many parents feel the need to monitor the growth of their children on a very direct basis. With the advent of technology and devices such as smart phones, computers and the internet, the number of activities children have access are almost uncountable. Going online presents a constant threat of exposure to many of the things that parents would rather not discuss with their children at such early ages.

Providing parents with software and other digital tools to monitor the activities of their children may seem like a solution (it certainly makes money at least) the problem is that this practice actually cultivates a concept that parenting should not evolve. Many people fail to realize that with the world constantly changing, even rudimentary things such as parenting also have to adapt.

The things we once thought were meant for teenagers to handle are now just as easy for a pre-teen kid to find online. This is why parents have to start the education and guidance of children at an earlier age. Sheltering children is an old tradition that has to adjust. While this may seem cruel, it prepares children better, making them more disciplined and well adjusted.

As for cyberguards, there is an innate danger to using such programs. Key logging and other similar hidden software are originally used by hackers in order to get information from people –if these software are taken control of by attackers in your network, they could steal valuable information from your account.

To find out more about assistive software for parents and the features they provide, go to Times Online UK.

Stanford University’s Materials Science division Assistant Professor Yi Cui had a breakthrough in the development of electrical energy storage. The assistant professor and his team have discovered some means to extend the total capacity of current Lithium Ion batteries by a whopping ten times.

The new development promises to extend a mobile phone’s battery life from a standard talk time of 4 hours to an incredible amount of 40 hours.  The team has already filed the battery’s patent application and is hoping for big mobile phone battery manufacturers to go ahead and adopt the new technology.

Or possibly get a tie-up with leading mobile phone developers to launch their invention to the public packed with a mobile phone. According to Cui, it is no small feat:

“It’s not a small improvement, it’s a revolutionary development.”

And it really is. Usually, lithium ion battery power is limited by the number of ions in the battery’s carbon-based anode. Instead of being made of a solid chunk of silicon and carbon however, Professor Yi Cui has replaced it with a bundle of silicon nanowire tubes to extend the capacity.

The standard lithium ion battery was limited by the swelling and shrinking of the silicon base as it absorbs lithium ions while charging.  This causes the anode to crack over time and that limits the battery’s allowance to store energy.

It is not that companies have not tried to revise the process before. Altairnano and A123 have both tried developing a bigger capacity battery by using substitute nano-sized elements but only Cui has been able to successfully expand the lithium ion battery capacity by a tenfold.

It looks to be an interesting development. Even though the team claims it is a safer alternative to existing batteries, making way for the new technology will most likely mean new waste created in disposing the old ones. Hopefully the battery does not only have a larger capacity but a larger lifespan as well. At this day and age, scientists should really focus on responsible, economical solutions to minimize our technology’s ill effects to the environment.

Jump to Engadget for more details about this breakthrough.

Microsoft is launching a new mobile operating system later this year and while there is plenty of buzz about this new platform, let us take the time to run through some of the core facts that we have already confirmed about this new device.

WP7 is a new platform and not a sequel to WinMo. No doubts about it, the new user interface, features and style of the mobile platform is quite promising. Compared to the older Windows Mobile operating system, the new platform combines many of the best features of touch screen capabilities.

The user interface is fully customizable with the Tiles system. Tiles are like widgets, controllable contents and user defined positioning. While the anchoring of tiles are limited to OS defined locations, the overall feel of the phone can be set with images and colors of the user’s choosing.

Xbox Live is coming to mobile. As you may have already seen in screenshots, the new WP7 OS will support XBL connectivity. Mobile phone game achievements are already reported to be implemented so expect mobile players to start comparing gamer scores.

Speaking of games, the Visual Studio and the XNA Games Studio will be bringing some impressive new changes to the way we look at mobile games. On the graphics side, the XNA Games Studio will be enabling full 3D graphics on games. No full demos have been seen, but the initial tests with basic two-character 3D games are already graphically impressive.

We can expect to see some new 3D games from developers being announced once the OS comes out. Developers will certainly love the new Visual Studio as it allows for game progress to be carried over between smart phones, the Xbox game console to a PC.

Read more about the new WP7 OS at GSM Arena.