“The New York City Department for the Aging is deeply committed to improving the quality of life for older New Yorkers, and this partnership with Microsoft and Selfhelp Community Services in creating the Virtual Senior Center is one more step toward making New York City the most age-friendly city in the nation,” said Lilliam Barrios-Paoli, commissioner of the New York City Department for the Aging (DFTA). “Senior centers are the social hub for many older New Yorkers, and this new model — the Virtual Senior Center — has shown us that technology will help seniors age in place and remain integrated into the community by bringing that same senior center experience into the home.”

The Virtual Senior Center demonstration project — jointly undertaken by Microsoft, the New York City DFTA and the Department of Information Technology & Telecommunications (DoITT), and Selfhelp Community Services — links six homebound seniors (ranging in age from 67 to 103) to Selfhelp’s Benjamin Rosenthal Senior Center in Flushing, Queens. Each of the six seniors’ homes is equipped with a desktop computer running Windows 7 as well as a touch-screen monitor, a small video camera, a microphone and broadband Internet service.

This 100G accomplishment, which occurred on February 25th, used emerging network technology to transmit data over a 1,520-kilometer optically amplified section of the Verizon network in the north Dallas area. The multivendor demonstration validated the maturity of the standard supporting 100G transfer rates, which is scheduled to be ratified by the IEEE and ITU-T in June.

"With IP traffic on the Verizon network growing year over year, 100G is critical to continuing to satisfy customers' demands, which drive the capacity requirements of our core network," said Mark Wegleitner, senior vice president of technology at Verizon. "Verizon has already deployed 100G on a segment of our European network, and trials such as this allow us to refine relevant technologies and push 100G closer to widespread deployment."

This Verizon trial demonstrated end-to-end traffic flow, including live video traffic, through a 100G interface on the Juniper T1600 Core Router to the NEC SpectralWave DWDM system, which was equipped with 100G real-time coherent transponders. The connection between the router and the DWDM system was achieved through an IEEE standard-compliant 100GBASE-LR4 client interface, using 100G CFP optical transceiver modules from Finisar Corp.

Beginning March 12, US customers can pre-order both Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + 3G models from Apple’s online store or reserve a Wi-Fi model to pick up on Saturday, April 3, at an Apple retail store.

“iPad is something completely new,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We’re excited for customers to get their hands on this magical and revolutionary product and connect with their apps and content in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before.”

iPad lets users browse the web, read and send email, enjoy and share photos, watch videos, listen to music, play games, read ebooks and much more. The new device is 0.5 inches thick, weighs 1.5 pounds, and delivers battery life of up to 10 hours.

iPad also features a Multi-Touch interface, large screen, and an almost full-size “soft” keyboard. The App Store on iPad lets you wirelessly browse, buy and download new apps, and iPad includes 12 new apps designed specifically for the device, including the new iBooks app. iPad will also run almost all of the more than 150,000 apps on the App Store, including apps already purchased for your iPhone or iPod touch. Developers are also creating new apps designed for iPad that take advantage of its Multi-Touch interface, large screen and high-quality graphics.

The iTunes Store is also included in the iPad, giving users access to over 12 million songs, over 55,000 TV episodes and over 8,500 films including over 2,500 in high definition.

iPad will be available in Wi-Fi models on April 3 in the US for a suggested retail price of $499 for 16GB, $599 for 32GB, $699 for 64GB. The Wi-Fi + 3G models will be available in late April for a suggested retail price of $629 for 16GB, $729 for 32GB and $829 for 64GB. iPad will be sold in the US through the Apple Store, Apple’s retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers. International pricing will be announced in April.

“We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”

"The emerging picture from the multiple measurements and resulting data of the instruments on lunar missions indicates that water creation, migration, deposition and retention are occurring on the moon," said Paul Spudis, principal investigator of the Mini-SAR experiment at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston. "The new discoveries show the moon is an even more interesting and attractive scientific, exploration and operational destination than people had previously thought."

During the past year, the Mini-SAR mapped the moon's permanently-shadowed polar craters that aren't visible from Earth. The radar uses the polarization properties of reflected radio waves to characterize surface properties. Results from the mapping showed deposits having radar characteristics similar to ice.

"After analyzing the data, our science team determined a strong indication of water ice, a finding which will give future missions a new target to further explore and exploit," said Jason Crusan, program executive for the Mini-RF Program for NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate in Washington.

"...The Rocket Project is giving a group of highly dedicated science students the rare opportunity to take their ideas beyond the surface of the Earth and actually reach for the stars. We could not be prouder of the role Sony VAIO technology is playing in making their ideas come to life,” said Alberto Escobedo, Director of Brand Messaging at Sony.

“We’re grateful to all of our customers for helping us reach this amazing milestone,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of Internet Services. “We’re proud that iTunes has become the number one music retailer in the world, and selling 10 billion songs is truly staggering.”

“Our Sony Style stores are often used as a test ground for new products and technology before they become available through our authorized retail network,” said Linda Turner, SVP of Sony Style retail stores. “Being able to demonstrate a new technology like 3D allows us to gain valuable insight into consumer reaction which we share with our engineers.”

"Let me try to capture the enormity of this integration in 140 characters or less: We're turning the key to the online social universe -- you will find the most personally relevant experiences through Yahoo!," said Bryan Lamkin, senior vice president, consumer products group, Yahoo!. "We're also simplifying people's lives by bringing their social worlds -- and the world --- together for easy access."

"The information in one single tweet can travel light-years farther with this Yahoo! integration," said Twitter cofounder, Biz Stone. "Tweets in more places brings relevance where and when you need it most."

VUDU is built into a growing number of broadband-ready TVs and Blu-ray players, and delivers instant access to thousands of movies and TV shows directly through the television. Customers with broadband Internet access and an Internet-ready TV or Blu-ray player can rent or purchase movies, typically in high-definition, without needing a connected computer or cable/satellite service.

"The real winner here is the customer," said Eduardo Castro-Wright, vice chairman for Walmart. "Combining VUDU's unique digital technology and service with Walmart's retail expertise and scale will provide customers with unprecedented access to home entertainment options as they migrate to a digital environment."

VUDU has licensing agreements with almost every major movie studio and dozens of independent and international distributors to offer approximately 16,000 movies, including the largest 1080p library of video on-demand movies available.

"We are excited about the opportunity to take our company's vision to the next level," said Edward Lichty, VUDU executive vice president. "VUDU's services and Apps platform will give Walmart a powerful new vehicle to offer customers the content they want in a way that expands the frontier of quality, value and convenience."

"We are pleased to have entered into this patent license agreement with Amazon.com," said Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel for Intellectual Property and Licensing at Microsoft. "Microsoft's patent portfolio is the largest and strongest in the software industry, and this agreement demonstrates our mutual respect for intellectual property as well as our ability to reach pragmatic solutions to IP issues regardless of whether proprietary or open source software is involved."

"We're excited to welcome the On2 team to Google and to continue to enhance the video experience for users on the web," said Sundar Pichai, Vice President of Product Management at Google. "Through rapid innovation in browsers and web standards, the Internet is becoming the leading platform for development. We believe On2's engineering talent and technology will be an incredible asset for us as we work to improve this platform."

"Since the launch of our popular Kindle for iPhone app last year, customers have been asking us to bring a similar experience to the BlackBerry, and we are thrilled to make it available today," said Ian Freed, Vice President, Amazon Kindle. "Kindle for BlackBerry is a great way for customers to continue reading their current book wherever they are - in between meetings, at the grocery store or waiting in the doctor's office. We think customers are going to love how easy and fun it is to read their Kindle books on their BlackBerry."

IEEE, the world’s largest professional association with more than 395,000 members in 160 countries, aims to advance innovation and technological excellence of the global community by equipping its members with access to Microsoft student programs and technology, as well as explain the benefits of IEEE membership to science, technology and engineering students who are currently using Microsoft software and solutions.

“Engineers make tremendous contributions to society by creating technologies that drive global economic growth,” said Walid Abu-Hadba, corporate vice president of the Developer & Platform Evangelism Group at Microsoft. “The Microsoft-IEEE collaboration will provide aspiring engineers around the world with tools and resources to convert their innovative thinking into marketplace innovation by equipping today’s technical students for tomorrow’s jobs.”

To help students better reach their goals, Microsoft and IEEE will work together to provide IEEE student members with access to the latest Microsoft servers, development tools and eLearning — with privileged access to more than 300 software titles as part of the MSDN Academic Alliance, a subscription service traditionally available only through educational institutions. The two organizations will also help lead science, technology, engineering and math students to job opportunities with Microsoft partners and customers through the Microsoft Students to Business program.

“IEEE’s collaboration with Microsoft furthers our mutual efforts to provide students and young professionals in technology fields with resources and skills that will prepare them for the future,” said Cecelia Jankowski, managing director, IEEE Member and Geographic Activities. “IEEE student members will benefit from access to free Microsoft software, training and opportunities to connect to the Microsoft community through speaker invitations, connections to Microsoft-sponsored student clubs, and increased access to internship and job opportunities.

To highlight this service, SPAN is offering a virtual tour of its new online community on March 3, 2010, at 6:00 pm (EST). SPANnet.org features a "My Page" section which provides users a personal profile, links to their other web resources, photos of book covers, a comment wall, and their own blog.

The "Groups" section of the community unites members in discussions ranging from book production to publishing entrepreneurship, and E-Books to Digital Printing. The site also offers a forum, chat room, and video/photo posting services.

SPAN's Executive Director, Scott Flora says: "Our association has always provided profitable benefits to our members, and the goal of the new online community is to contribute in an even larger way to the success of authors and publishers. I invite everyone to join us for this virtual tour of our online community by registering at SPANnet.org/page/virtual-tour-webinar"

"Available exclusively from T-Mobile, the HTC HD2 is like putting Blockbuster in your pocket," said Kevin Lewis, senior vice president of digital entertainment at Blockbuster. "T-Mobile and HTC have a long history of partnering to deliver innovative, cutting-edge products - and we're glad to provide customers the latest way to enjoy entertainment from Blockbuster."

Consumers will be able to download and watch new releases with the multi-screen mobile movie application, which is part of a multichannel offering to connect customers with more than 100,000 movies, television shows and games. Available at launch, customers will be able to buy or rent movies digitally, and download them to their smartphone via Wi-Fi, while on-the-go, and without the use of a computer. Following launch, the application is planned to let customers access actual store inventory and update their mail queues.

With the support of the Blockbuster digital library, users can buy a title on their HTC HD2 phone and watch it on a BLOCKBUSTER On Demand enabled TV set or Blu-ray disc player and even be able to return to their HTC HD2 to finish. In addition, there are no monthly fees. Customers are able to buy or rent as they go.

The two companies have created an exclusive, easy-to-use Skype mobile offering for 3G smartphones. Verizon Wireless 3G smartphone users with data plans can use Skype mobile to make and receive unlimited Skype-to-Skype voice calls to any Skype user around the globe, call international phone numbers at competitive Skype Out calling rates, send and receive instant messages to other Skype users, and remain always connected with the ability to see friends’ online presence.

Initially, Skype mobile will be available on Verizon Wireless 3G smartphones with data plans, including the BlackBerry Storm 9530, Storm2 9550, Curve 8330, Curve 8530, 8830 World Edition and Tour 9630 smartphones, as well as DROID by Motorola, DROID ERIS by HTC and Motorola DEVOUR.

“Skype mobile on Verizon Wireless changes the game. For Verizon Wireless’ more than 90 million customers, Skype mobile adds great value because we’re effectively giving customers with smartphones and data plans the option to extend their unlimited calling community to hundreds of millions of Skype users around the globe. And you’re not limited to using a single type of phone; we’ll have nine smartphones ready right at launch in March,” said John Stratton, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Verizon Wireless.

Josh Silverman, chief executive officer of Skype, said, “People want to take their Skype conversations with them wherever they go, whether it’s on a PC, TV or increasingly mobile phones. Verizon Wireless will give US consumers the best Skype experience on mobile phones and will truly change the way people call their friends and family internationally.”

“Today, I’m proud to introduce Windows Phone 7 Series, the next generation of Windows Phones,” said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer at Microsoft. “In a crowded market filled with phones that look the same and do the same things, I challenged the team to deliver a different kind of mobile experience. Windows Phone 7 Series marks a turning point toward phones that truly reflect the speed of people’s lives and their need to connect to other people and all kinds of seamless experiences.”

With Windows Phone 7 Series, dynamically updated “live tiles” show users real-time content directly, just by glancing at Start. Additionally, every Windows Phone 7 Series phone will come with a dedicated hardware button for Bing, providing one-click access to search from anywhere on the phone. Other features include Windows Phone hubs, which bring together related content from the Web, applications and services into a single view to simplify common tasks. Windows Phone 7 Series includes six hubs, including People, Pictures, Games, Music + Video, Marketplace, and Office.

"This is going to be sensational," said Richard R. Fisher, director of the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "SDO is going to make a huge step forward in our understanding of the sun and its effects on life and society."

The sun's dynamic processes affect everyone and everything on Earth. SDO will explore activity on the sun that can disable satellites, cause power grid failures, and disrupt GPS communications. SDO also will provide a better understanding of the role the sun plays in Earth's atmospheric chemistry and climate.

“Millions of people love using iPhoto to organize, edit and share their digital photos,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Aperture 3 is designed for both professionals who edit and manage massive libraries of photos and iPhoto users who want to take their photos further with easy-to-use tools such as Brushes and Adjustment Presets.”

With consumers using more platforms than ever – including TV, PCs and mobile phones – to view high-definition video, NBC needed reliable network bandwidth to effectively deliver live and recorded Olympic Games content. Under a seven-event contract through 2012, AT&T is providing a managed private networking solution that connects NBC's space in the International Broadcast Center (IBC) production facilities at the Olympic Winter Games with NBC facilities in the U.S. Through this networking arrangement, AT&T is able to transfer bandwidth-intensive, high-definition video from the Vancouver Games to NBC's U.S. facilities, which are then able to distribute the coverage on televisions, AT&T mobile phones and NBCOlympics.com for video streaming of events.

“Cloud computing can transform how research is conducted, accelerating scientific exploration, discovery and results,” said Dan Reed, corporate vice president, Technology Strategy and Policy and eXtreme Computing at Microsoft. “These grants will also help researchers explore rich and diverse multidisciplinary data on a large scale.”

The goal of the new program is to make simple yet powerful tools available that any researcher can use to extract insights by mining and combining diverse data sets. Microsoft will provide cloud computing research projects identified by NSF with access to Windows Azure for a three-year period, along with a support team to help researchers quickly integrate cloud technology into their research. Windows Azure provides on-demand compute and storage to host, scale and manage Web applications on the Internet through Microsoft datacenters. Microsoft researchers and developers will work with grant recipients to equip them with a set of common tools, applications and data collections that can be shared with the broad academic community, and also provide its expertise in research, science and cloud computing.

“We’ve entered a new era of science — one based on data-driven exploration — and each new generation of computing technology, such as cloud computing, creates unprecedented opportunities for discovery,” said Jeannette M. Wing, assistant director for the NSF Computer and Information Science directorate. “We are working with Microsoft to provide the academic community a novel cloud computing service with which to experiment and explore, with the grander goal of advancing the frontiers of science and engineering as we tackle societal grand challenges.”

Designed and built by Graham Hawkes, of Hawkes Ocean Technologies, Necker Nymph represents a new class of high-performance, positively buoyant vehicles which safely extend the overall capabilities of scuba, while offering the unique experience of underwater flight. Unlike all conventional subs which use ballast to sink in the water, Necker Nymph uses downward 'lift' on the wings to fly down to depth.

Available either when chartering Necker Belle, a luxury 105 foot catamaran, or when staying on Necker Island, the Necker Nymph allows passengers to fly side-by-side with dolphins and whales, or glide over reefs. The open cockpits offer 360 degree viewing for occupants, and dives can last up to two hours.

Motorola DEVOUR will feature: