Our planet’s recent close call with one asteroid, and direct visit from another has definitely made it seem important to consider how to avoid the pesky things in the future. One solution is to direct the Sun’s power into pulverizing lasers, but another option just involves covering incoming rocks with spray paint. Simple as that.

The plan, as described by Dave Hyland, professor of physics and astronomy and faculty member in the aerospace engineering department at Texas A&M goes a little something like this: When you see a dangerous space-rock headed this way, you send a special space ship out to meet it and blast it with a coating of space-spray paint. The new coat of paint would then affect the asteroid’s reflectiveness, allowing the Sun’s energy to catch it just right and send it off a collision course.

If we were to pull this off, there’d be a few obstacles to over come. First, you couldn’t use standard Earth-paint. It couldn’t be oil or water-based; it’d probably have to be a dry powder, attracted to the rock with static electricity. Second, you’d have to get to the asteroid early, so that a barrage of photons would have enough time to push it away. Still, it could be a cheap solution, and NASA has approached Hyland about testing it. It probably won’t be ready for Apophis’ close call in 2029/2036, but it could be a viable strategy eventually. Now someone reach out to Banksy, and see what he thinks. [PhysOrg]

Image by Mopic/Shutterstock

The best gadgets are expensive, but so are plenty not-the-best ones too. And regardless of how “good” something is, its only worth as much as it does for you. The best useless machine is, well, useless.

What’s the most you’ve paid for a gadget that just didn’t cut it, either because it was overpriced, underwhelming, or just ultimately not your style? We all make mistakes, but some hurt a little more than others, especially in the wallet. But if you play on the cutting edge, you’re bound to get some nicks, right?

Image by Ryabitskaya Elena/Shutterstock

Asked in an interview whether the ownership of U.S.-based Verizon Wireless — which is held 55 percent by Verizon Communications Inc. and 45 percent by Vodafone — will be the same in a year’s time, Mr. Colao said “I don’t know,” adding that Vodafone has an open mind “on everything.”

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Happy Friday dear readers, it’s time for our weekly look back at all things Microsoft. As per usual, ensure that you are following TNW’s Microsoft channel on both Twitter and Facebook, and let’s dispense with babble and embark into the news.

Outlook.com: big, growing

This week Microsoft announced that its Outlook.com product had crossed the 60 million active user mark, causing the firm to both rip the ‘Preview’ tag from the service, and start a massive advertising campagain in its favor.

That Oulook.com is succeeding as it is can be viewed as both tribute to its quality, and a point in favor of the argument that Hotmail was in effect all but unsavable.

The advertising campaign that Microsoft has in mind will not be limited to nerds and general techies. As a fun aside, if you have found yourself, over the past few months, inundated with Outlook.com ads, Microsoft’s targeting systems have determined that you are a geek. However, the new advertising push will hit the general populace.

And Microsoft is now in the process of shunting folks from Hotmail to Outlook.com with a bit more oomph. All will be shifted by ‘summer.’

Skype and Lync are buds

Microsoft, working to better integrate its products, announced that Skype contacts are coming to Lync, allowing for users of its enterprise communications client to reach out to its consumer voice and video service seamlessly.

This both increases the value of Lync and Skype individually, as they now enjoy larger use-cases, but also helps to ensure that Lync itself isn’t isolated from other Microsoft products and services. When Microsoft dropped more than $8 billion on Skype, it felt akin to a slight of Lync; would there still be a place for Lync at the firm?

The answer appears to be yes, if for no other reason than the product has real market adoption momentum. Unifying it with the freshly acquired Skype might be a long-lasting compromise.

Surface RT: not big in China

The Surface RT has sold [redacted] units thus far the world around. However, in China, it might not be performing as expected:

Microsoft has gotten off to a slow start with sales of its Surface RT in mainland China, according to new estimates from IDC that peg the company’s fourth quarter 2012 shipments at just 30,000 units.

However, the Surface RT is but one half of the Surface lineup, which

Surface Pro: big in the United States

The Surface Pro remains hard to find in the United States, if you want to pick up the 128 gigabyte model. However, Microsoft did add a bit more stock to its online store, but those who picked up a device had to wait up to three weeks for their Surface to ship.

Those pre-sells have sold out as well. Microsoft stores that did have stock advised folks calling in to get over in a hurry, or face another waiting period. Whatever demand level Microsoft anticipated for the Surface Pro, it undershot the mark by a multiple.

Top Image Credit: ToddABishop

It’s been almost a year since SeatGuru first launched for iOS, letting travelers secure the best seats on their flights from their mobile device. And yesterday, the TripAdvisor-owned company quietly launched a brand new iOS app with a revamped design and additional photo features to help illustrate aircraft seat and cabin appearance.

Just to recap, SeatGuru was launched by business traveler Matthew Daimler more than a decade ago, after becoming frustrated at the differences between seating arrangements across airlines. In short, he was determined to collect this data and share it with other fussy travelers. The result? A single, color-coded interactive airplane seating chart. Green is a ‘good’ seat, red is a ‘not-so-good’ seat, and yellow is a ‘avoid-at-all-costs seat’.

In the ten years since launch, SeatGuru has expanded to cover more than 700 aircraft seat maps across almost 100 airlines. Oh, and in 2007, SeatGuru was acquired by TripAdvisor.

SeatGuru v2.0

With the latest version of the iOS app, it does hold a similar look and feel to the original, so it’s not a complete redesign. But it does now support the iPhone 5 (which means full screen), and there is new high-res seat maps with new iconography. Moreover, true to any modern app worth its salt, it now has a Facebook login feature that enables you to group all your contributions in a new ‘My Stuff’ section.

As alluded to already, users can also now upload photos of their seating arrangement, and annotate with comments.

At the time of writing, SeatGuru draws on more than 45,000+ reviews on airline seats and associated services and, since last month, TripAdvisor integration lets users search for and book flights directly through the app too.

SeatGuru has come a long way since its original Web-only guise, developed from one man’s frustrations around lack of detailed information on flights. Version 2.0 is available to download from the App Store now.

SeatGuru | iOS

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Feature Image Credit – Thinkstock

Wallets can get cumbersome and annoying — there’s even a whole Seinfeld episode about it. If it’s cold out and you’re wearing gloves, or just happen to have full pockets, having to reach into your pants for your wallet becomes a hassle, then trying to slip cash or a credit card out of it often remains troubling. One college in South Dakota understands your first-world problem, and debuted a fingerprint-scanning payment system so you can leave your wallet in the glass bowl by the front door of your apartment where it belongs.

At he School of Mines & Technology, in South Dakota, two vendors on campus are now employing biocryptology in order to speed up the payment process. The system works via two main components: Being able to verify the person swiping his or her finger, then being able to use the identification to link to a customer account and make a charge. Like when asked to show your ID when using a credit card, the finger-scanning system attempts to verify the swiper in order to prevent fraud — in this case, by detecting that the swiper’s blood is flowing. After the purchase is made, the shop sends a receipt to the customer’s email, which can be instantly viewed in 2013, the age of smartphones.

Now, though fingerprint-scanning verification systems are uncommon, they’re not exactly rare, or even new. Certain gyms, for instance, employ a fingerprint scanner so patrons can check in without having to carry around a membership card. However, the technology isn’t entirely secure — it’s not that difficult to reproduce a fingerprint. No one’s going to devise a dastardly scheme to steal your fingerprints so they can check into your gym, but if they could use said stolen prints to drain your bank account? Much more incentive there.

The exciting piece of tech used in this payment system is the aforementioned verification process. Rather than sliding a copied fingerprint up to the scanner — or even cutting off someone’s finger and using that — the device checks for a pulse. Sure, you can just put a gun up to someone’s head and force them to use their live, pulse-filled finger, but you can use that same threat to force someone to type their PIN into an ATM, or to simply give you everything in their wallet. Pulse-and-fingerprint detection seems like a safer system than one you can bypass by stealing someone’s credit card and then making a fake ID in case the cashier asks.

At the moment, the system is being tested in the Rapid City school, but those of us who hate having to stuff everything into a wallet that we then stuff into our pocket can’t wait for this payment system to hit stores near us.

Flying can be a white-knuckle affair for even the heartiest of travelers. But it turns out what you should really fear are airports; almost 60 percent of all aircraft incidents happen there during taxiing, take-off, approach or landing. Here are runway horrorshows from around the globe that may make you rethink your next trip.

Barra Airport, in the Hebrides off the West Coast of Scotland. Yes, it is a beach for take-off and landing. At least it’s only for daytime flights.

Photo: calflier001

Water, water, Chubu Centrair International Airport, water, water. (Tokoname, Japan.)

Photo: Kyodo News/AP

Approaching the Congonhas Airport in the middle of Sao Paulo, Brazil is highly challenging for pilots.

Photo: Joao Carlos Medau

Another risky beach airport: the Copalis State Airport’s (Grays Harbor County, Washington) runway is located between the Copalis River delta and a barrier of rocks.

Photo: Alex Derr

The mountain runway at Courchevel Airport (France) is just 545m long. As if that’s not scary enough, it’s also got a gradient of 18.5% and a vertical drop at the end.

Photo: Peter Robinett

Gibraltar Airport is located between a bustling city and a crashtastic mountain. Moreover, its 1800m long (short) runway intersects the Winston Churchill Avenue, Gibraltar’s busiest road, which has to be closed every time a plane lands or departs.

Photo: kimhollingshead

This is the Gustaf III Airport aka Saint Barth lemy Airport on the Caribbean island of Saint Barth lemy. The short airstrip starts with a slope and ends on the beach.

Photo: John M

Kai Tak International Airport, famous and hated for its heart-stopping approach low over Hong Kong, ended its 73-year reign of terror in 1998.

Photo: Vincent Yu/AP

Kansai International Airport, Osaka, Japan. Approaching this feels like your pilot is about to land on water.

Photo: mrhayata

Between mountains and the Atlantic Ocean, on the island cliffs, waits the frightening Madeira Airport (Portugal).

Photo: Thilo Hilberer

Look at the horrifying Matekane Air Strip in Lesotho (Africa). 400m, and then nothing.

Photo: Tom Claytor

Narsarsuaq Airport, Greenland. Severe turbulences and winds from the surrounding fjords make this airport a hard task for pilots. Only daytime take-offs and landings allowed, thankfully.

Photo: Jim Stewart

Paro International Airport, the home of the Royal Bhutan Airlines, is located at an altitude of 2236m and surrounded by over 5000m-high-peaks of the Himalayas. Night or foggy landings are strictly prohibited.

Photo: Gelay Jamtsho

Pegasus White Ice Runway, Antarctica, the southernmost of three airfields serving McMurdo Station. Believe it or not, aircraft take off and land here all year long.

Photo: Tech. Sgt. Shane A. Cuomo/U.S. Air Force

Because of the short (2300m) runway at Princess Juliana International Airport (St. Maarten), large planes fly right over the tourists’ head on Maho Beach. It’s a spectacular sight—from the ground.

Photo: Takashi

A densely populated neighborhood, a cramped runway, active volcanoes, and frequent fog make Quito’s high-altitude airport a threat for only a little longer; Ecuador’s main airport is going to be moved to an agricultural setting 12 miles (20km) northeast of the city.

Photo: Dolores Ochoa/AP

Svalbard Airport in Longyearbyen on the Norwegian archipelago Svalbard in the Barents Sea was built upon a layer of permafrost in 1975. Continuous repaving makes it a hard landing place, literally and figuratively.

Photo: rune Petter Ness/AP

The Tenzing-Hillary Airport (Lukla, Nepal) is located 2860m above sea level, and its runway is only a few hundred meters long.

Photo: Alex Smith

Toncont n International Airport has an extremely short runway—and a mountainous surrounding—in Honduras.

Photo: Enrique Galeano Morales

Toronto Islands Airport (Ontairo, Canada) is another pinpoint landing site. And there’s a nude beach close to the runway, which I’m sure isn’t the least bit distracting.

Photo: John Steadman

Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport, Saba. This Caribbean landing site is surrounded by high hills, and both ends of the runway drop into the sea.

Photo: Patrick Hawks

Wellington, New Zealand: short runway, hilly landscape, strong crosswinds, turbulent landings.

Photo: Phillip Capper

Williams Field, Antarctica, has two snow runways limited to ski-equipped aircraft during the summer season. Airplanes land on 8m of compacted snow, lying on top of 80m of ice, floating over 550m of water. Must be a blood-chilling experience.

Photo: U.S. Air Force

Top image: Target for Tonight-Toronto, O’Keefe’s ad (Mayfair, March 1944) via Jamie

Do we miss something is the list above? Post your favorite below!

Almost three months after the BBC optimized iPlayer for iPhone 5, the British broadcaster has rolled out another new update to its iOS app.

Version 2.0.3 of the mobile app now lets you push iPlayer to the background on your mobile device, and continue watching the programme on your TV using AirPlay, Apple’s wireless audio/video-streaming service enabled by such receivers as Apple TV.

In addition to this, the BBC says it has also improved playback quality and fixed a handful of other bugs.

This update comes a week after the Android incarnation also received an update, with the BBC reintroducing the much-missed ‘Favourites’ section, though it still doesn’t let users download programmes, as is possible with the iOS version.

So with the latest version of iPlayer for iOS, this means you can continue to browse the Web on your mobile device, and even use second screen apps such as Zeebox, while continuing to watch the action unfold on the big screen.

iPlayer | iOS

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Fortumo, a fast-growing company with offices in Estonia, San Francisco and Beijing, has raised a new ‘growth round’ (size undisclosed) to solidify its position as one of the leading providers for mobile payments in emerging markets.

The round sees Intel Capital and Greycroft Partners buy a stake in the company, effectively relieving Estonian mobile solutions company Mobi Solutions from its role as majority owner of the business (although it remains a shareholder).

In addition, Fortumo is announcing new contracts with two of the largest telecom groups in the world, namely Vodafone (for direct operator billing in 13 countries) and China Mobile.

Fortumo has also recently added Electronic Arts, Gameloft, Vostu and Cut the Rope game-maker Zeptolab to its list of blue chip merchants, which already includes Angry Birds maker Rovio, Badoo and others.

Marcin Hejka, Managing Director of Intel Capital EMEA, says:

“The opportunity in the mobile payments segment is enormous, and we believe that Fortumo is well positioned to capitalize on the trend of operator based billing. The Fortumo team is a great example for the strong talent in the Central and Eastern European region able to build innovative and globally successful solutions.”

Fortumo’s system works via direct carrier billing, which means consumers pay for digital goods via their mobile billing plans with their operators rather than cash, credit cards, or debit cards.

The company boasts payment connectivity with over 300 mobile operators in 80 countries, including a number of exclusive direct carrier billing partnerships.

Its payments system is optimized for all key platforms, including the Web, HTML5 and in-app purchases on both smartphones and tablet devices.

The company says it has been profitable since 2009 and has added over 72,000 registered merchants over the past five years.

Image credit: Thinkstock