5 Tech Stories Worth Reading

1. Your next set-top box could be the size of a deck of cards
The future of TV navigation is upon us, as cloud-driven programming guides could soon make it possible to disrupt the current set-top box market. As we’ve written before, we’re dreaming of a future where we don’t need a cable TV set-top box at all. In that utopia, users will be able to plug a TV in, connect it to their wireless home network and it’ll just work. In the meantime, though, we’ll settle for something like Sigma Designs’ new self-installable thin client.

2. How NASA, DARPA Are Keeping Kids Interested In Space
The end of the Space Shuttle era is slightly depressing. NASA won't be flying its own astronauts into space for a while, either, putting a further damper on the good PR that comes from the visually and intellectually stimulating space program, which encourages students of engineering and science. To keep folks interested, NASA and DARPA are pushing (a little) money into a program that's directly aimed at students themselves.

3. CHART OF THE DAY: People Are Spending More Time In Mobile Apps Than On The Web
People are spending more time inside mobile applications on average than they are on the web, according to an analysis from Flurry, a mobile analytics firm.

4. Adobe releases tools for creating mobile apps
Adobe has released an update to its Flash Builder 4.5 and Flex 4.5 software to enable developers to build applications for iPhone, iPad and BlackBerry PlayBook.

5. Windows SkyDrive Says Sayonara To Silverlight, Embraces HTML5
We’ve been hearing a lot lately about consumer cloud services. There’s Apple’s recently-announced iCloud, Amazon’s Cloud Drive, Google’s Music Beta (which is your music in the cloud) and, of course, Microsoft’s SkyDrive. All of these to one extent or another are moving away from simple online lockers, and we see that today with the release of the latest update to SkyDrive.

BONUS

6. Sony Ericsson Preps NFC For Android Phones
Talk of NFC has been around longer than I can remember, but when are we actually going to get to wave our phones around and magically pay for soda, or a movie, or whatever else our little hearts desire?

7. An educator’s thoughts on using iOS 5 features in an iPad classroom
Apple’s announcements at WWDC included a large array of improvements to iOS, including beefier AirPlay support, wireless syncing with iTunes and iCloud backups. Fraser Speirs, the Head of IT at Cedars School of Excellence in Greenock, Scotland, recently took a look at what those new features mean for an educator using iPads in the classroom.