After a few weeks delay due to a security breach at the kernel.org website, Linus Torvalds has released Linux kernel 3.1 update which brings with it a range of new features. The new Linux version took around 3 months to develop and includes enhancements that improve the speed or expand the capabilities of both the KVM and Xen virtualisation systems.

Linux 3.1 adds support for the open source OpenRISC CPU architecture, near-field communication (NFC), dynamic writeback throttling, a new iSCSI implementation as well as Nintendo’s Wii controller.

An overview of these and other advances in the kernel, and a look at upcoming changes in Linux kernel 3.2, is available in an article on The H Open:  ... Read more »

Nokia’s N9 smartphone will only be available in some countries around the world after Nokia announced that it would no longer be producing MeeGo based devices, and it wont be available in the US, which is a shame as it could have been a popular device from Nokia.

Later this week we will see Nokia’s first Windows Phone device, one of which is rumored to share a similar design to the Nokia N9, and now Nokia has released a video showing how the Nokia N9 is made.

We are hoping that Nokia’s new Windows Phone device, which will be announced tomorrow look as good as the Nokia N9.

Google has announced this week that it will soon be rolling out Google+ integration for users of its Blogger service. When you log in to Blogger  in draft mode at the top a new message is shown stating "Connect Blogger to Google+”. However Google says they are now rolling the integration out to all regular Blogger user interfaces within the next couple of weeks.

Once connected your Blogger posts will automatically trigger Google+ posts, the new features will also synchronise  Blogger/Google+ comments. Their will also be a few casualties in the process and the Friend Connect feature will be discontinued and obviously replaced by Google+.

Note Google explains:  "If you blog under a pseudonym and do not want your blog to be associated with your real name, you should not ... Read more »

The need to customize the appearance of the iPhone is pressing for, many users. They want things ranging from cases to screen savers and just about everything in between to set their devices apart from the masses. iSkin makes a bunch of the cases and other things that folks that want to customize their iPhone 4/4S will like.

The latest device to surface from the company is called the Glam Protective Screen Film. This screen protection film will keep scratches away from your screen and gives the smartphone a different look. The section of the film over the screen is invisible.

The part of the film around that clear section is colored in metallic, silver, pink, or purple colors. The screen films are designed to match some of the protective cases that iSkin offers for a more custom look. Any of the three colors is available now for $19.99 each. That is a lot of money for a ... Read more »

If you are looking forward to getting your hands on the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim game, this short live-action movie should whet your appetite a little further in anticipation of the release of the new game.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a role-playing video game which has been developed by Bethesda Game Studios and is the fifth instalment in The Elder Scrolls action role-playing video game series and allows players to explore the land at will and ignore or postpone the main quest indefinitely if they prefer.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will be launching on November 11, 2011 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

LG announced the LG Optimus LTE recently, which will go on sale in South Korea, the company has yet to confirm when it will launch in the US, but it would appear that it is headed to Canada as the LG Eye.

It looks like the LG Optimus LTE will be available with Canadian carrier Bell, although the carrier has yet to confirm it, as a reminder the LG Optimus LTE or LG Eye as it will be called in Canada features a 4.5 inch IPS HD display which comes with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels, which means it will be able to display HD movies in 720p.

Other specifications on the LG Optimus LTE include Android 2.3 Gingerbread, plus a dual core 1.5GHz processor, and a 8 megapixel camera which is capable of recording full HD video in 1080p, plus WiFi, Bluetooth, DLNA, HDMI and a 1,830 mAh battery.

We are still waiting for confirmation form LG on when the LG Optimus LTE will be available i ... Read more »

With unemployment at record levels, it’s great to hear menial jobs are now destined for robots. Cheeky statements aside, there’s absolutely no photo evidence available of these so-called strawberry pickers. So in absence of such material, let a stand in suffice for now.

Yes, that’s a combat mech from Mass Effect 2. Fitting ain’t it? But don’t worry because the NPL don’t intend theirs to fire rockets.

Anyway, the really smart people over at the (again) National Physical Laboratory in the merry olde United Kingdom have been developing a picker robot since 2009. Initial tests involved cauliflowers but that proved unsustainable due to the vagaries of demand.

The value of having robots pick strawberries is plain and simple. It all boils down to efficiency and, uhm, further efficiency. There’s this feeble suggestion having robots do the job reduces waste, but then again that’s a tricky c ... Read more »