Bits Blog: AltaVista. What’s That?

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What’s The Big Frigin’ Difference?!

What's the Big Frigin'
DIFFERENCE?!

Even though these rockin' pics of Gwen Stefani? Miley Cyrus and Bon Jovi look the same, there are some sneaky differences jammed into them. Are you good enough to spot 'em?

**HINT -- There are THREE differences in the above photographs!**

Lil Wayne — To Be Blunt … What’s He Smokin??

Lil Wayne
To Be Blunt ...
What's He Smokin??
Now we're not sayin' Lil Wayne got stoned at his 30th bday party in Hollywood on Thursday ... but the guy was definitely smokin' something that bares a striking resemblance to a fatty blunt ... and TMZ has the footage.

Now, if ... and ONLY IF ... Wayne WAS puffin' on weed, it could spell BIG TROUBLE for the rapper ... because he's still on probation from a 2008 drug and weapons case ... and he's been ordered to keep his nose clean.

Of course, since Weezy is only on informal probation and probably won't be tested for drugs anytime soon, there's really no way anyone can know for sure what Weezy was smokin' that night ... except Weezy.

In other words -- no worries.

TMZ spoke with Mack Maine, President of Young Money, who tells us Wayne was puffin' on an Al Capone Cigar that night ... and nothin' else.

What's so Great About iOS 6?

iOS 6: All the Best New Features - IGN var IGN = IGN || {}; IGN.pagetype = "article"; var igndrones = igndrones || {};igndrones.async = igndrones.async || [];igndrones.async.push(function() { igndrones.init({"audience":{"csid":"C07583","property":"ign","pagetype":"article","topic_wireless":"yes"},"chartbeat":{"uid":"21105","domain":"ign.com","authors":"Jon Fox","sections":"Desktop Web,articles"},"comscore":{"c2":"3000068"},"exelate":{"p":"373","g":"001","c":"901810"},"ga":{"account_number":"UA-23541058-1","_setDomainName":".ign.com","custom_vars":[[1,"pagetype","article",3],[3,"article-id","505a5f839e4ee52a5f9d4ec1",3],[4,"content-title","iOS 6: All the Best New Features",3],[5,"author","Jon Fox",3],[6,"publish-date","2012-09-19",3],[7,"article-type","news",3],[12,"categories","tech.wireless",3],[13,"tags","iphone",3],[15,"action","articleview",3],[16,"controller","v2articles",3],[17,"module","default",3],[18,"resource","articles",3],[20,"is-community","no",3],[21,"signed-in","no",2],[22,"subscriber","no",1]]},"linksmart":{"site_guid":"e8001434aabca750c585a401b7ccebf4adefde9ccece2151f848d46543c18009"}}); igndrones.fireTop();});SugarAds.adsData = {"adsDisabled":"false","dfp_network":"5691","dfp_adunit1":"IGN","resource":"articles","pagetype":"article","tags":["iphone"],"article_types":["news"],"categories":["tech","wireless"],"route":"articles","year":"2012","article_id":"505a5f839e4ee52a5f9d4ec1"};SugarAds.renderAds(["prestitial","728x90","300x250","featured","side300x250","s728x90","2x2"]); Prime Newsfeed Latest View My Newsfeed » Pick Your Xbox 360 Representative Xbox 360 PS3 Wii U PC Vita 3DS iPhone Tech Movies TV Comics Reviews Wikis & Cheats Upcoming News Videos Boards IPL Blogs Podcasts Blu-ray Games Sites Stars Wiki Guide News News Features Previews Reviews Videos Games iOS 6: All the Best New Features Before you get an iPhone 5, get the software that makes it tick. Facebook integration, new Maps with turn-by-turn navigation, Passbook, panoramic photos, other cool stuff. by Jon Fox September 19, 2012

Apple's latest refinement to its mobile operating system is now available. Just plug your iPhone, iPad, or recent iPod Touch into iTunes and check for a software update.

Whether you've been keeping up with Apple's announcements or not, here's a run-down of what to expect from the update:

No more Google Maps, but turn-by-turn is finally here.

Apple has ditched its Google-based Maps app, in favor of a home-grown solution. The good news: Apple's default Maps app finally incorporates turn-by-turn directions, and it's integrated with Siri.

The bad news: ditching Google means losing Google's map data. As Noam Bardi, CEO of mobile mapping company Waze, explained to Business Insider, Apple is "coming out with the lowest, weakest data set and competing against Google, which has the [largest] data set." So while you won't have to resort to a 3rd-party app to get turn-by-turn directions, Apple's maps won't be as complete or accurate as Google's for some time.

iOS gets friendly with Facebook.

Like one of your phone's new features? Good news: now you can "Like" it, as iOS 6 integrates Facebook with (almost) all corners of your iPhone or iPad. The best part of this, of course, is the automatic sync feature between your contacts in iCloud and your Facebook friends.

Also, a friendly reminder: Remember when Facebook changed the email address on your profile to something@facebook.com? Well if you haven't changed it back yet, all your friends with iOS 6 are about to think that's your email address.

Passbook eats half your wallet.

Say goodbye to loyalty-cards, movie tickets, gift cards and everything else that's got your poor wallet as bloated as Jabba the Hutt. Passbook is here! It may not support your whole wallet-distending miscellany out of the box, but just wait.

Siri gets smarter, sort of.

No offense to Apple's over-worked personal assistant software, but let's just say iOS 5 left room for improvement. Apple says it's arrived, and while we may not know how extensive the upgrades are till we've had a few weeks with them, at least we know Siri's kept up with iOS 6's brand new features.

Panorama mode does exactly what it sounds like.

Want to take panoramic photos with your iPhone but don't want to use a 3rd-party app? Now you can. Go nuts.

Do-Not-Disturb screens your calls for you.

It's true. You can auto-reply with an explanatory text or set yourself a location-based reminder to return the call when you get home.

iMessage issues get fixed (probably).

Had trouble getting integrated iMessages to work on your Mac? The iOS 6 update, along with Apple's 10.8.2 update to OS X Mountain Lion seems to have fixed whatever the problem was.

What about the YouTube app?

It's gone, but don't worry. Google already released a redesigned app, and it's better than the old one.

Let us know how you're liking the new OS (or what you're doing with yourself while you wait for that download) in the comments.

Gadgetwise Blog: A Bike Camera to Record What's Sneaking Up

Carbon fiber frames and automatic shifters have brought bikes into the 21st century. The Cerevellum Hindsight 35 brings bike mirrors up to date as well. This $300 video camera system ($364 with a heart rate monitor) mounts on any bicycle and offers a bright image of what is coming up behind you as well as important speed information.

The Cerevellum Hindsight 35 rearview video camera system for bikes records what is coming at you from behind.

The Hindsight is encased in hard black plastic and is waterproof. A long cable runs from a3.5-inch LCD screen on the handlebars, along the bike to the rear seat post, where the camera and included LED safety lights survey the scene. The system also records five minutes of video as long as you’re riding. The recording system will shut itself off automatically if you crash (or are hit), in that way ensuring you have a record of the accident.

As Nick Wingfield reported in The New York Times on Saturday, video cameras are increasingly being used by cyclists to record accidents.

Because it is ANT+ compatible, the Hindsight can also take heart rate, speed and cadence readings from low-power wireless sensors on your body and bike. The upgradable hardware allows you to add new features as they become available. It runs for about five hours on one charge.

Bikers in bad parts of town can remove the screen with a few quick twists of a waterproof connector cable. While performance bikers may be put off by the weight–eight ounce– city riders will definitely appreciate the durability, and the security that comes with knowing what is behind them.

Bits Blog: Betaworks Buys What's Left of Social News Site Digg

7:21 p.m. | Updated Adding additional price information.

10:11 p.m. | Updated Adding details of the deal.

For a while, Digg, the social news site, was one of the hottest things on the Web. But then it fell on hard times as services like Twitter and Facebook emerged and captured the Web’s attention.

Digg’s founders fled to greener pastures, and it seemed the service was headed for the technology boneyard. But on Thursday the site’s saga got a fresh twist: Betaworks, a technology incubator in New York, said it had acquired Digg.

Betaworks paid $500,000 for Digg’s assets, including the site and its technology, and Digg shareholders received equity in a new Betaworks unit that will use those assets, according to a person involved in the deal. That equity was worth something in the “single-digit millions,” this person said.

The precise value of the deal was not clear, but it was no doubt far less than what Digg was once worth. An investment round in 2008 valued it at more than $150 million, and at one point Google was said to have been interested in buying the site for around $200 million.

Betaworks invests in technology services and also creates them, having spawned Bit.ly, the link-shortening service, and News.me, an iPad-based news aggregator developed in collaboration with The New York Times Company. The new unit will combine the Digg assets and News.me, and John Borthwick, the founder of Betaworks, will become chief executive of Digg. Betaworks plans to create a new version of Digg that will be a complement to News.me’s iPhone and iPad applications.

Matt Williams, Digg’s chief executive, will become an entrepreneur in residence at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz when the deal closes. In an interview, Mr. Williams said Digg had spent a significant amount of time looking for the right buyer, zeroing in on technology incubators that were interested in news-related start-ups. “Betaworks seemed like a great fit,” Mr. Williams said. “They want to reinvent Digg, and that’s exactly what they will do.”

Kevin Rose, the founder of Digg, said he had always been a fan of Mr. Borthwick and the companies he had nurtured at Betaworks.

“John understands the real-time nature of the Web and how to capture and surface trends as they occur,” said Mr. Rose, in a blog post on Digg’s Web site. “Given his experience with Bit.ly, News.me and Chartbeat, I can’t wait to see what he does with Digg.”

Mr. Rose is now at Google’s venture capital fund, and The Washington Post hired 15 employees away from Digg in May. No Digg employees will be making the move to Betaworks.

Bits Blog: Betaworks Buys What's Left of Social News Site Digg

7:21 p.m. | Updated Adding additional price information.

10:11 p.m. | Updated Adding details of the deal.

For a while, Digg, the social news site, was one of the hottest things on the Web. But then it fell on hard times as services like Twitter and Facebook emerged and captured the Web’s attention.

Digg’s founders fled to greener pastures, and it seemed the service was headed for the technology boneyard. But on Thursday the site’s saga got a fresh twist: Betaworks, a technology incubator in New York, said it had acquired Digg.

Betaworks paid $500,000 for Digg’s assets, including the site and its technology, and Digg shareholders received equity in a new Betaworks unit that will use those assets, according to a person involved in the deal. That equity was worth something in the “single-digit millions,” this person said.

The precise value of the deal was not clear, but it was no doubt far less than what Digg was once worth. An investment round in 2008 valued it at more than $150 million, and at one point Google was said to have been interested in buying the site for around $200 million.

Betaworks invests in technology services and also creates them, having spawned Bit.ly, the link-shortening service, and News.me, an iPad-based news aggregator developed in collaboration with The New York Times Company. The new unit will combine the Digg assets and News.me, and John Borthwick, the founder of Betaworks, will become chief executive of Digg. Betaworks plans to create a new version of Digg that will be a complement to News.me’s iPhone and iPad applications.

Matt Williams, Digg’s chief executive, will become an entrepreneur in residence at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz when the deal closes. In an interview, Mr. Williams said Digg had spent a significant amount of time looking for the right buyer, zeroing in on technology incubators that were interested in news-related start-ups. “Betaworks seemed like a great fit,” Mr. Williams said. “They want to reinvent Digg, and that’s exactly what they will do.”

Kevin Rose, the founder of Digg, said he had always been a fan of Mr. Borthwick and the companies he had nurtured at Betaworks.

“John understands the real-time nature of the Web and how to capture and surface trends as they occur,” said Mr. Rose, in a blog post on Digg’s Web site. “Given his experience with Bit.ly, News.me and Chartbeat, I can’t wait to see what he does with Digg.”

Mr. Rose is now at Google’s venture capital fund, and The Washington Post hired 15 employees away from Digg in May. No Digg employees will be making the move to Betaworks.