Google tests intelligent cars

Engineers at Google have tested a self-driving car on the streets of California, reports BBC.

The cars use video cameras mounted on the roof, radar sensors and a laser range finder to "see" other traffic, said software engineer Sebastian Thrun.

They remain manned at all times by a trained driver ready to take control, as well as by a software expert.

After working through iPhone 4 complaints regarding unreliable reception and a dodgy antenna, Apple is now facing a fresh round of criticism connected to the sassy glass backing on its latest smartphone handset, writes TheTechHerald.

Specifically, technology Web site Gdgt.com reports that third-party slip-on protection cases are capable of causing significant aesthetic damage to the iPhone 4's rear plating.

This damage apparently builds as dust, dirt and other everyday detritus finds its way between the case and the phone's backing, gouging scratches into its surface and even potentially cracking and shattering the glass.

Research In Motion averted a ban on its BlackBerry smartphone in the United Arab Emirates after the country's phone regulator said the company's messaging services now comply with local regulations, reports Bloomberg.

“All BlackBerry services in the UAE will continue to operate as normal,” the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, which had threatened to ban the service over security concerns, said in a statement.

The regulator didn't give further details of how the company and local wireless operators addressed the government's concerns.

Virgin Galactic has conducted the first piloted gliding flight of its commercial suborbital spaceship, the VSS Enterprise. It released the winged rocket plane from the WhiteKnightTwo mothership at an altitude of 45 000-feet above the Mojave Desert, states CNet.

With Scaled Composites pilot Pete Siebold and co-pilot Mike Alsbury at the controls, the futuristic twin-tail spacecraft glided to a touchdown at the Mojave Air and Space Port 11 minutes after its release from WhiteKnightTwo, also known as Eve.

The craft was not equipped with a rocket motor for the glide test.