Nexus 5 Release Date Tipped For Nov 1

New White Model Teaser In Latest Leak

The release date of Google’s Nexus 5 is still a mystery, and according to the latest rumor, the device is only three days away.

From tech specs to a possible price tag, a lot of "details" about Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) upcoming Nexus 5 have been leaked over the past few weeks. The only thing about the handset that still remains a mystery is its release date and that too may well be put to rest, according to a new leak on Sunday, which predicts the phone may arrive as early as this week.

Thanks to recently leaked photos and details that were claimed to be of the Nexus 5, with even Google accidentally publishing product shots of the device on the Google Play Store, it can be assumed that the new handset is coming sooner than later. And, if @evleaks, the usually reliable tipster on Twitter, is to be believed, the wait for the Nexus 5 could be over by Friday, Nov. 1.

In a tweet on Sunday, @evleaks posted a new rendering of the Nexus 5, showing the device with a white back cover and a short but tantalizing message: “In white. 11/1.” However, it is unclear whether Nov. 1 would be the announcement date or the smartphone's retail launch.

Speculations about the Nexus 5’s availability have been around for quite some time now. For a while it looked like the device would be made official on Oct. 15, a date which eventually turned out to be a dud. A small Google Play event, scheduled for Oct. 24 in New York, was thought to take the wraps off the Nexus 5, but that too did not happen.

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622 Mbps broadband FOUND ON MOON – NASA

NASA has successfully tested a broadband communications system built into its Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) probe, firing data to and from the Moon at rates of up to 622Mbps.
LADEE, launched last month (to the detriment of an unfortunate amphibian), houses a number of instruments designed to measure the state of the Moon's scarce atmosphere while orbiting the space rock.

But it also has NASA's Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration (LLCD) built in, which is a series of lasers on the outer hull designed to shoot back data to three base stations here on Earth much faster than traditional radio data links – and the agency reports the first tests have been a roaring success.
"LLCD is the first step on our roadmap toward building the next generation of space communication capability," said Badri Younes, NASA's deputy associate administrator for space communications and navigation (SCaN) in a statement.

"We are encouraged by the results of the demonstration to this point, and we are confident we are on the right path to introduce this new capability into operational service soon."

NASA has been facing the same problems with space communications that bedevil us here on Earth – too much data and not enough bandwidth. Radio communications have been used ever since the agency first lofted objects into space, but it is stymied by limited spectrum and capacity.
The LLCD system uses lasers mounted on the outside of the LADEE probe to send back bytes to Earth, where base stations in the US and Spain can pick up its signals. These stations use pivoting 15cm telescopes to act as transmitters and four 40cm reflective telescopes as receivers.

Sadly the LLCD system won’t be up and running for much longer. After the LADEE probe has spent 100 days sampling the Moon's atmosphere the craft will be sent on a kamikaze dive into the lunar regolith to avoid cluttering up the dusty globe's orbital paths.

But by 2017 NASA hopes to launch its successor, the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD). This will put new hardware for the space communications system through its paces, and see how well it survives the long-term rigors of space travel to test if it would be suitable for probes going much further than the current relatively short distance of journeying to the Moon and back.

The LCRD will be capable of shifting 1.25Gbps of encoded traffic, or 2.88Gbps of uncoded data using laser equipment that is just four inches long and which uses considerably less power than a radio communications system. The mission will last two years and, if successful, will let a new generation of probes send back petabytes of information about our neighbors in the Solar System. 

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72% Of Americans Holding Back On Spending

NEW YORK, Oct. 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Almost three in four Americans are holding back on spending, according to a new Bankrate.com(NYSE: RATE) report. Stagnant income is the most frequent reason (32%), followed by the need to save more (24%) and worries about the economy (20%). Just 27% of Americans say they are not holding back spending at all.

"With hundreds of thousands of government employees furloughed and many government contractors reeling from the shutdown, feelings of job security plummeted to the lowest level in nearly two years," says Greg McBride, CFA,Bankrate.com's senior financial analyst. "Seventy percent of the economy relies on consumer spending, so when this many consumers are cutting back, it's going to be hard for the economy to get out of first gear."

Almost twice as many employed Americans are feeling less secure in their jobs now than those who are feeling more secure. Every age and income bracket feels less secure, led by the 50-64 age group.

Bankrate's Financial Security Index ticked lower for a fourth consecutive month and fell to its lowest point since February, as Americans feeling worse about their overall financial situations outnumber those feeling better for only the third time this year. The Financial Security Index currently stands at 97.4. Readings below 100 indicate deteriorating financial security compared with one year previous.

Additional Findings:

• Every age and income bracket is feeling less comfortable with the savings they have now compared to one year ago.
• Among 50-64 year olds, those less comfortable with their savings outnumber those more comfortable by a three-to-one margin.
• Every age and income bracket reports higher net worth than one year ago, except households with income under $30,000.
• Americans under age 50 are more likely to say their overall financial situation is better now than one year ago, while those 50 and older typically say it is now worse.

The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International (PSRAI) and can be seen in its entirety here:

http://www.bankrate.com/finance/consumer-index/financial-security-charts-1013.aspx

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Google takes maps into the business world

Maps Engine Pro service costs $5 per user per month and runs on Google's public cloud computing platform

(Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

SAN FRANCISCO -- Google is trying to get its Maps service used by more businesses, not just consumers.

The company unveiled Maps Engine Pro Monday, which lets businesses upload data into Google Maps to visualize and analyze it. The service costs $5 per user per month and runs on Google's public cloud computing platform.

Google is hoping companies use the service in the same way they already use existing work applications and documents, such as spreadsheets, says Brian McClendon, vice president of Google Maps.

The move is part of Google's broader effort to get businesses to use its cloud-based work applications, rather than traditional desktop-based software such as Microsoft's Office suite of programs.

Google Maps is already the leading online Maps service, but it is available for free for most consumers and helps the company generate advertising revenue from local advertisers. Google also offers Maps Engine as a high-end product to heavy enterprise users at a cost of at least $10,000 a year. The new product is a way for Google to generate a different type of subscription revenue from small and medium-sized businesses.

"We want to enable every user to be a cartographer so they can capture their business data and not just visualize but analyze it too," says Vinay Goel, a Google Maps product manager. "We see this becoming the next productivity tool or app."

Google expects the service to be used for lots of data crunching projects, such as analyzing warehouse, inventory, customer and employee locations.

Google uses the service internally to plan how best to shuttle employees from around the Bay Area to its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters and back, Goel noted.

The new service could also be used by a business that is planning a new restaurant and wants to analyze building permits so it knows what will be the busiest area to set up shop, according to Heather Folsom, product manager for Maps Engine Pro.

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Internet begins its move beyond .com, .net, and .edu

The Internet's address books just got the first four new generic top-level domains, but they won't go live on the Net until trademark holders get a chance to stake their claims.

Think .biz, .co, and .mobi were a little weird to see at the end of an Internet address? You ain't seen nothing yet.

Because on Wednesday, the first 4 of a planned 1,400 new Net-address suffixes -- called generic top-level domains, or GTLDs -- were built into the fabric of the Internet. The first four new GTLDs, taking advantage of the newer ability to extend beyond Latin character sets, are the Chinese word for game, the Arabic word for Web, and the Russian words for online and site.

"In addition to facilitating competition and innovation through the New gTLD Program, one of ICANN's key aims is to help create a globally inclusive Internet, regardless of language or region. For this reason, we elected to prioritize the processing of IDN applications and their delegation," Akram Atallah, ICANN's president of generic domains, said in a blog post.

The years-long process is overseen by ICANN, the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which proceeded despite complaints from trademark holders worried about an explosion of new destinations where they must worry about trademark protection.

The new domains have been added to the root servers that hold the master list of Internet addresses, ICANN announced Wednesday, but aren't yet live for real-world use. That change will wait at least 30 days for a "sunrise period" during which trademark holders can register addresses using their own trademarks.

For example, General Motors might also want to register not just chevrolet.com, but also chevrolet.car, chevrolet.nyc, and chevrolet.eco.

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