The report is part of a $50 million initiative to investigate how digital media affect the way teenagers learn and socialize. Twenty-eight researchers conducted the study.

"When adults look at teens today, they think what they are doing is different and seem to be wasting a lot of time online hanging out with their friends or playing video games, and these are activities that can seem quite foreign," said Mizuko Ito, the report's lead author and a researcher at the University of California Irvine. "But when we look closely at what kids are doing, it's not much different than what their parents did. They are hanging out with their friends, finding romantic partners, and trying to identify their status and identity."

Ito added that today's teens are being raised with technologies that allow them to pursue self-directed learning on their own terms, on their own time, and without the restrictions of a classroom setting. This gives the teens a feeling of freedom and autonomy.

"This is very different from how kids learn in school when they are handed a set body of knowledge they are asked to master and the expertise really resides in the teachers," Ito said.

Some Specifics

There were two significantly different categories in which the teens were motivated to engage online. They were either driven by interest or friendship, according to the 58-page report.

Four specific findings stood out from the rest of the research.

One major finding is that there is a generation gap in how parents and...

IBM and its collaborators -- Stanford University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Cornell University, Columbia University Medical Center, and University of California-Merced -- have been awarded $4.9 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for the first phase of DARPA's Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics (SyNAPSE) initiative.

According to IDC, digital data is growing 60 percent each year, giving businesses access to incredible new streams of information. But without the ability to monitor, analyze and react to this information in real time, most of its value may be lost. Until the data is captured and analyzed, decisions or actions may be delayed.

Cognitive computing offers the promise of systems that can integrate and analyze vast amounts of data from many sources in the blink of an eye, allowing businesses or individuals to make rapid decisions in time to have a significant impact.

Artificial Intelligence in Action

"Exploratory research is in the fabric of IBM's DNA," said Josephine Cheng, an IBM fellow and vice president of IBM's Almaden Research Center in San Jose, Calif. "We believe that our cognitive-computing initiative will help shape the future of computing in a significant way, bringing to bear new technologies that we haven't even begun to imagine. The initiative underscores IBM's capabilities in bold, exploratory research and interest in powerful collaborations to understand the way the world works."

Big Blue offers some examples of cognitive-computing benefits. Bankers, for instance, have to make split-second decisions based on constantly changing data that flows at a fast pace. And monitoring the world's water...

The smartphone boasts an innovative touchscreen that actually depresses slightly when the screen is pressed. That means the user can feel the screen being pressed and released with a gentle "click," similar to the feeling of a key on a physical keyboard or a button on a mouse. The "clickable" touchscreen gives the user positive confirmation that a selection has been made.

"The BlackBerry Storm offers our customers more ways to stay connected to both their personal and professional lives -- whether in their communities or around the globe," said Mike Lanman, vice president and chief marketing officer of Verizon Wireless.

Storming the Market

In addition to the familiar navigation keys common to other BlackBerry smartphones, the Storm adds support for multi-touches, taps, slides and other touchscreen gestures, so customers can easily highlight, scroll, pan and zoom for smooth navigation. The Storm also features a built-in accelerometer that allows its touchscreen to automatically switch between landscape mode and portrait mode as the user rotates the handset.

The Storm is a multimedia BlackBerry. It comes preloaded with DavaViz Documents to Go, which allows users to edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files directly on the handset. It has a 3.2-megapixel camera with variable zoom, autofocus and a flash that also provides continuous lighting when recording video. It also makes room for built-in GPS to support location-based applications and services, as well as geotagging of photos.

A media player can play movies smoothly in full-screen mode, display pictures and slideshows quickly and manage an entire music collection. Playlists can be created directly on the handset and there's an equalizer with 11 preset filters -- including Lounge, Jazz...

Lotus Notes has almost 140 million licensed users. The announcement opens the door for more than 80 million Nokia S60 3rd Edition devices to connect to corporate e-mail accounts through Lotus Domino Server software known as Lotus Notes Traveler. The software provides real-time access to e-mail, calendars, address books, journals and to-do lists.

According to Soren Petersen, senior vice president at Nokia, the deal with Big Blue is another affirmation of the company's business mobility vision: To establish partnerships with the world's leading enterprise vendors.

"This collaboration means nearly 90 percent of business e-mail can be mobilized with Nokia devices, without needing to purchase additional servers, middleware or licenses," Petersen said. "With the presence, position and technology that IBM has in the corporate e-mail market, they are an essential partner for us in enterprise."

The Rise of Mobile Devices

According to IBM's Institute for Business Value, this year, for the first time, more people in the world will have a mobile device than a landline telephone. In fact, Big Blue predicts one billion mobile Web users by 2011 and a significant shift in the way the majority of people will interact with the Web over the next decade. Mobile devices already outnumber television sets, credit cards and personal computers.

While Nokia casts the announcement as affirmation of its vision, IBM calls it a major development in its efforts to expand mobile support for the Lotus software portfolio. Secure connection to e-mail is an example of IBM's Tomorrow at Work, an initiative that examines a changing work environment and anticipates trends in technology, business, society and culture.

Lotus Sametime for instant messaging...

The machine's touch-sensitive screen and MediaSmart software work together to recognize and execute commands based on motions such as pinch, rotate, arc, flick, press and drag, as well as single and double taps. The technology combo enables users to more naturally select, organize and manipulate photos, music tracks, video clips and other Web content by touching the screen -- including content from 10 cable-TV channels and online brands owned by MTV Networks.

"With the introduction of the TouchSmart tx2, HP is providing users with an easier, more natural way to interact with their PCs," said Ted Clark, the manager of HP's notebook group.

A Convertible Twist

Empowered by Windows Vista Home Premium, the tx2 sports an AMD Turion X2 dual-core mobile processor, a built-in Webcam with integrated microphone, and a rechargeable digital ink pen. The laptop's convertible design also incorporates a twist hinge that enables the machine to be configured in three different modes: PC, display and tablet.

Users can transform the tx2 into a tablet PC in order to write, sketch, draw, take notes or graph right onto the screen, with handwriting automatically converted into typed text. The tx2 also ships with a notebook stand that elevates the unit while stationary, which enables the user to put the machine in an upright position to allow for full interactivity with the device's touchscreen.

Rival Dell blazed a trail in the multi-touch notebook field late last year with the introduction of the Latitude XT -- a convertible tablet PC priced at $1,829 that features both pen and capacitive touch capabilities. However, HP's TouchSmart tx2 is available now at a base price of $1,149.

Vast Product Offerings

With its release of the tx2, HP has...