Polaroid announced it is closing its last film plant in Concord, Mass. Not so long ago Polaroid was a huge hit, because you could get pictures in minutes, rather than taking a trip to a store that offered 1 hour photo processing. Polaroid had the added advantage of keep those naughty pictures private too. Those days are now gone, and Polaroid has been replaced by instant high definition digital pictures, which can be shared by phone, computer, or digital storage media. On the plus side the Internet is booming with instant news, scandals, and social networking.

SanDisk is cutting the cord with the forthcoming Ultra II SDHC cards, with capacities up to 8GB. The card folds in half, turning it into a USB drive, so you don’t have to tote a card reader around with you at all times.

They hit the shelves later this month for less than $100 for 8GB, and $80 for 4GB.

Sony probably won’t be able to give their memory sticks the same USB capability due to their design, and the way they fit into Sony devices. Too bad Sony didn’t plan ahead in this area.

Access, the owners of the Palm OS, are apparently porting the 3.5 version of the NetFront browser to Windows Mobile. NetFront is the basis of Palm’s Blazer browser, a perfectly workable way to get on the Web. It’s better than Pocket Internet Explorer, so WinMo users might want to consider the option. When are they going to come out with a 3D holographic projected browser? I’m still dreaming of it.

Comcast, America’s most beloved ISP, has reacted to an FCC investigation into its alleged traffic shaping by updating its terms of service for the first time in two years. The new TOS says it “uses reasonable network management practices that are consistent with industry standards” to prevent “spam, viruses, security attacks, network congestion, and other risks and degradations of service.” All done, of course, to “deliver the best possible Internet experience to all of its customers.”

This could mean heavy tech savvy nerds, like you and I, might see a degradation in our service. So far however, I use Comcast at home and my service has never degraded. Those Comcast customers, and those sending stuff to customers, are most likely the ones who have seen the impact on their illegal packets sent into and out of the Comcast network. A good rule of thumb is to engage in online activities that are legal. Traffic shaping is the smart way to manage network usage, which also helps keep those clear Comcast phone calls clear.

An international solid state circuit conference, which sounds super fun, has been going on this past week. One thing that we should care about is IBM’s announcement that it has figured out a way to shrink the Cell processor that’s used in the PS3, cutting its power consumption in half (or just about). Following the imaginary flow chart, less power consumed leads to less heat generation which leads to less chance of overheating and failure. It’ll also be cheaper to produce, which could, one day, help Sony lower its price. IBM has also found a way to cut the power usage of the light bulb that appears over their heads, each time they get a bright idea.