Technology News Daily

Audi 2.0 TFSI wins “International Engine of the Year” Award for 2008

* Fourth award in a row for Audi 2.0 TFSI four-cylinder engine
* More than a million ordered by customers to date
* 2.0 TFSI now available with 200kW (272 hp) in Audi TTS

A specialist jury made up of 65 respected automotive journalists from 32 countries has voted the 2.0 TFSI winner of the 1.8-litre to 2-litre category at the International Engine of the Year Awards for the fourth year in a row.

Trolltech® announced the financial results for the first quarter 2008. Trolltech ASA generated revenues of NOK 55.6 million in the first quarter, which constitutes a year-over-year revenue growth of 15.5 percent. There has been a positive sales trend in Q1 driven by the sales of the Qt® application framework and Qtopia® software.

- We continue to build our business through an increasing number of market leading customers. Trolltech has a global client base in a wide range of industries, ensuring that Qt continues to be a world-class cross-platform tool at the forefront of innovation, says CEO Haavard Nord.

The FutureGen project restructuring aims to demonstrate cutting-edge carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology at multiple commercial-scale Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) clean coal power plants. Under this strategy, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will join industry in its efforts to build IGCC plants by providing funding for the addition of CCS technology to multiple plants that will be operational by 2015. This approach builds on technological research and development advancements in IGCC and CCS technology achieved over the past five years and is expected to at least double the amount of carbon dioxide sequestered compared to the concept announced in 2003.

SNAP Mobile has released its latest Software Development Kit (SDK 2.0). After several years of market deployment and continuous technology development based on developer feedback, the SNAP Mobile SDK 2.0 has evolved to make game development even more intuitive with a simpler API, faster emulation and testing tools. The SDK is free of charge and available through Forum Nokia.

The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) has taken delivery of a new IBM supercomputer that will advance research into severe weather and the future of Earth's climate. The supercomputer, known as a Power 575 Hydro-Cluster, is the first in a highly energy-efficient class of machines to be shipped anywhere in the world.

Embarcadero Technologies has signed a definitive asset purchase agreement with Borland Software Corporation (NASDAQ: BORL) to purchase its CodeGear division. The transaction is expected to close in 30 to 60 days. With more than $100 million in annual revenue and over 500 employees worldwide, the combined companies will operate under the Embarcadero Technologies name.

A major exercise and demonstration of unmanned autonomous undersea vehicles (AUVs) will take place in Narragansett Bay from May 12-23, 2008 during AUVfest 2008. The event is hosted by the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport and co-sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Office (NOAA) of Ocean Exploration.

Since 1997, the U. S. Navy´s Office of Naval Research has sponsored Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Festivals to expose both the defense and scientific communities to technical advances and common applications in AUV technology. The AUVfest 2008 theme is "Partnership Runs Deep: ONR Unmanned Mine Hunting Technologies help NOAA Explore Sunken History."

Chevrolet's all-new Midget racing engine was unveiled at Indianapolis Motor Speedway by GM representatives and United States Auto Club (USAC) team owner Tony Stewart. Designed by GM Racing specifically for the USAC National Midget Car Series, the new purpose-built, four-cylinder Chevrolet racing engine will initially power Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) drivers Tracy Hines and Levi Jones in upcoming events. The new Chevy Midget engine will be available to all USAC competitors through independent engine builders.

Three researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have proposed an innovative way to improve global climate change predictions by using a supercomputer with low-power embedded microprocessors, an approach that would overcome limitations posed by today’s conventional supercomputers.

A single botnet has grown so dramatically in the last two months that it now accounts for half of all the spam, according to new research from Marshal’s TRACE team. The Srizbi botnet has steadily increased its network since the beginning of 2008 and is now the world’s largest spam botnet.

“Srizbi is estimated to comprise at least 300,000 compromised computers and sends more than 60 billion spam messages per day. Recently, the botnet has been used to promote a range of products including watches, pens and male enlargement pills. Srizbi also actively distributes copies of its own malware in malicious spam campaigns using social engineering ploys to trick recipients into infecting their computers.