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The components that make up HTC’s Droid Incredible Android smartphone cost about $163.35, according to a teardown estimate by market research firm iSuppli.

Most touchscreen smartphones today can usually be broken down into $150-$190 worth of components, so the teardown number isn’t a huge surprise. The Droid Incredible retails for $199 with a two-year contract on Verizon.

The phone shares many components with Google’s Nexus One (also built by HTC), so it’s no surprise that it’s similar to the Nexus One’s $174.15 material cost. Both phones share the same Samsung 3.7-inch AMOLED (Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Display) screen, 1 gigahertz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, and 512MB of RAM.

All three of those components also ended up being among the most expensive in the Incredible: The processor cost $31.40, the display $31.20, and the RAM (together with the phone’s 8GB of flash storage) cost $29.80.

The biggest difference between the two phones is the Incredible’s support for the CDMA cellular standard. The Nexus One was originally released for T-Mobile’s GSM network, while the Incredible runs on Verizon’s CDMA network.

Compared to the iPhone 4, which contains around $188 worth of parts according to iSuppli, HTC ended up spending far more on the Incredible’s processor. The iPhone 4’s A4 chip — which was designed by Apple engineers and produced by Samsung — only cost the company around $10.75. Of course, that doesn’t take into account the extensive research and development costs to design the chip — which is also used in Apple’s iPad.

Check out iSuppli’s full Droid Incredible component breakdown below:

Tags: Android, Droid Incredible, iPhone

Companies: HTC, Isuppli

Like many of its counterparts, the individual RTM snake can slither into tight spaces, climb impassible obstacles, or swim where soldiers cannot, all the while beaming back images to the soldier controlling it by remote. Each snake is equipped with a sensor array, not least of which is a LIDAR scanner that lets it render 3-D depictions of objects, landscapes, or faces.

But the snakes also work in groups, acting more like fingers or the tentacles of an octopus. Arranging several of them on a circular base creates an array that can gingerly pick up, rotate, and inspect an IED or possibly even open a door -- a seemingly simple task that falls outside the capabilities of most robotic platforms. Its touch sensitivity allows it to do delicate work -- you don't want to squeeze a live munition, for instance -- yet in tandem the snakes could be reasonably strong.

The developmental hardware that the RTM program is currently working with spun out of research into snakebots conducted in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute and consists of three 9.5-inch tentacles and a large screen laptop for the operator. The master program runs advanced algorithms that are able to manipulate the motors in each link of the snakes to work in concert as though they belong to single organism. But the system is completely scalable, so a small custom array could be designed to give the Army's Warrior robot system a more dexterous "hand," while larger tentacle arrays could be fitted to larger vehicles or robots.

[U.S. Army via CNET]

Despite research showing location based services are little-used and largely unknown, Foursquare's head of development sees big growth and innovation on the horizon.

"We could imagine something akin to a Google AdWords-like model, where merchants can have featured placement based on latitude and longitude, time of the day, or day of the week," says Tristan Walker, head of business development for Foursquare. "We're still exploring, and encouraging all retailers to get on our platform and help us find the product that we could actually charge for."

I spoke with Walker yesterday following the release of a report on location-based apps by Forrester Research. The study found that just 4% of online adults in the U.S. have ever used services like Foursquare and Gowalla, and that 84% of respondents were not even familiar with geo-location apps. Forrester recommends that major marketers should hold off on "check-in" services until they become more popular.

Walker disagrees. "It may be a fair comment on how there needs to be more education around what geo-location can mean in general," he says. "But here's an opportunity for marketers to lead--to take a burgeoning space and do some really exciting things with it." And Walker points out that Foursquare is growing, too. More than 2.3 million users now check-in roughly 1 million times per day, and a "pretty high percentage" of users check-in more than once per week, despite Forrester's conclusion that only 1% update that often. Moreover, while the report claimed 80% of location-based service users were male, Walker said Foursquare's male-female ratio was approaching 60-40, and moving "closer and closer toward parity."

But numbers aren't the only thing that should appeal to marketers. "I don't think we need huge scale to be successful. It's not only about reach, it's about engagement. Foursquare allows consumers to build an even deeper affinity for brands," says Walker, citing successful Foursquare partnerships with Bravo and Starbucks. "Services like Twitter and Facebook have shown that brands can engage with consumers in really interesting ways online, and Foursquare is well poised to take all that engagement offline, providing brands with tools to lead their consumers to do things, as opposed to just suggest."

Walker isn't shy about Foursquare's lack of a comprehensive plan for revenue, and he shouldn't be. Most� start-ups out there are trying to figure out how to make money in social media, even as the market's popularity soars (see: Twitter). "We're focused right now on making the experience better," he says. "How can we charge for that? We don't know."

Ideas for revenue streams are so far "pie-in-the-sky," according to Walker, but that doesn't mean Foursquare isn't working toward a financially-viable future. The service already charges for sponsored-badge integrations, and in addition to a potential Google AdWords-like service, Walker foresees a time when the New York-based start-up might "charge for really robust analytics that haven't been served before." "We're hoping to offer retailers tools to aid consumer retention and acquisition," he explains. "So, telling them a little more about their loyal customers--that is, who checks in, when, where, how soon, how often, where they go before, where they go after. And on the acquisition side, geo-tag specials that can entice new consumers."

So is geo-location the future of social media? Walker thinks so. And it that's true, don't expect Foursquare to be the only player on the field. Look for competitors such as Google, Twitter and Facebook in the market, too.

Earlier this week we discussed the recent announcement that Seventh Generation is teaming up with Walmart in a strategic partnership that will see the green cleaning brand sell products in 1,500 Walmart stores. It's the most unlikely of alliances, considering that Seventh Generation's co-founder has said in the past that "hell would freeze over before Seventh Generation would ever do business with Walmart." But at the same time, the partnership has been a long time coming, Jeffrey Hollender explains to FastCompany.com.

"They aren't the same company they were when I said what I said," Hollender concedes. "I'm the first one to admit that I was naive in thinking it was impossible for them to change."

Hollender's thinking has slowly changed since meeting with former Walmart CEO Lee Scott in 2005. At the time, Walmart was "fundamentally unwilling to engage in dialogue with its critics." But thanks to guidance from Seventh Generation and a slew of other organizations, Walmart has slowly come around--and in many cases, it has bested its competitors in the sustainability arena.

"I think that the fact that we were as persistent for so many years being engaged with helping [Walmart] become more sustainable helped contribute to positive change, which led to us reexamining and ultimately changing our perspective," Hollender says.

Walmart still has a long way to go, of course. The company's Sustainability Consortium is a start, but Hollender has plenty of other ideas on his wish list. "I think there are huge opportunities for them to push companies to not include chemicals that are proven to be unsafe," Hollender says. Walmart could also stand to improve its abysmal labor practices.

But as Hollender explains, the Walmart of today is hardly recognizable compared to the Walmart of, say, 2006. "Our conclusion is that they are doing more than most. When we see a potential partner exhibit the amount of change that they've exhibited over the past three years or so, it warrants you to reevaluate your position."

Ariel Schwartz can be reached on Twitter or by email.

Inspired, of course, by the ongoing Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico -- which as of this writing appears to still be contained -- the new X Challenge aims to provide impetus for both venture capital and innovative talent gravitate toward next-gen oil cleanup technology.

"The devastating impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill will last for years and it is inevitable that future spills will occur -- both from wells and from transport tankers," stated X-Prize Chairman Dr. Peter Diamandis at this morning's official announcement of the prize in Washington, D.C.

The challenge will be a two-stage affair. Phase one calls for those vying for the prize to put their technical approaches to the problem before a panel of judges that will evaluate them for feasibility, cost, scalability, environmental impact, and the degree to which the technology improves over current methods like skimming and booms.

Phase two, of course, is the demonstration of the technology in action. Competitors won't actually take their ideas to the Gulf for testing -- all evaluations will take place at the National Oil Spill Response Research & Renewable Energy Test Facility (OHSMETT) in New Jersey. But with any luck some of that technology will make it to the field eventually. The team with the single best technology will receive a $1 million prize purse, with second and third place taking home $300,000 and $100,000 respectively.

The prize's namesake and benefactor, Wendy Schmidt, is the wife of Google CEO Eric Schmidt and the philanthropic force behind a handful of charitable foundations, including the Schmidt Marine Science Research Institute, which she co-founded with her husband.

The problem with being private is that it increasingly means that you have to choose to drop out of society. You would never let the government put a tracking device on you, but you may be carrying a cell phone that tracks your location. You don’t want the government monitoring your internet usage, but Google collects data on you.

Since most people find they can’t live without a cell phone or Google, they grudgingly accept that they will lose their privacy and become trackable. That doesn’t sit well with Moxie Marlinspike, a security hacker with the Institute for Disruptive Studies. He is a common speaker at security events, and he spoke at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas today about how to give users more choices by allowing them to hide from both Google and cell phone carriers without losing access to their services.

Marlinspike (pictured) has set up two experimental services that allow you to stay anonymous and still use the internet. One service circumvent’s Google’s data collection methods. Google itself “anonymizes” search engine data after nine months by deleting the last eight digits of Internet Protocol address data. But Google gathers a lot of data on you through Gmail, Google Analytics, Google Checkout, and Google Health. You have to be logged in to use Gmail, and so that gives Google the ability to track you for advertising purposes.

“Make no mistake,” Marlinspike said. “They are a surveillance business. Their intent is not the same as the government eavesdroppers. The effect is the same. Who knows more about citizens in their own country, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, or Google? Why is Google not scary? Because we choose to use it.”

To create anonymous access to Google, Marlinspike created an add-on for the Firefox web browser with a custom proxy server, which redirects you when you are using a Google application. If Marlinspike’s software detects a request for a Google service that does not require a login, it sends the request to the Google Sharing proxy server. That server anonymizes your identity and assigns a cookie to you that will work with the Google service. The link from you to the proxy server is encrypted using SSL technology.

You can then use the Google service without being tracked. It has been available for about six months and about 80,000 people are using it. Meanwhile, Marlinspike has also set up a way to do voice-over-internet-protocol VOIP calls on cell phones without being identified. The system, dubbed Whisper Systems, lets you make calls (via RedPhone) or send text messages (TextSecure) without being tracked. RedPhone creates encrypted phone calls so no one can listen into your conversation. TextSecure also encrypts your text messages.

The Whisper Systems service has been available for two months and has about 2,000 users. It is interesting and noble that Marlinspike wants to create a third path, which lets you participate in society without being tracked. But the sad truth is that many people probably won’t care enough to use these services.

Tags: Black Hat, Whisper Systems

People: Moxie Marlinspike

The Fengyun satellite that China blew up in 2007 is space enemy number one

This month, NASA's Orbital Debris Program Office released data naming the top ten incidents contributing to the space junk problem. The Fengyun fiasco is hands down the largest single contributor to the growing space junk crisis. NASA has identified some 19,000 objects larger than four inches that are running loose in orbit at extremely high rates of speed just waiting for a functioning satellite, a spacecraft, or the ISS to get in their paths. Of those, 2,841 are thought to have come from the destruction of Fengyun 1C.

Most of the garbage hurtling through space belongs to China and the Soviet Union, the report says, though Western commercial interests and space agencies also shoulder their shares of the blame. Some of the blame can even be divvied up; last year an operational Iridium communications satellite collided with a spent Russian Cosmos spacecraft, spawning nearly 2,000 pieces of smaller debris.

But Europe could soon take the top spot on the space junk tally. When the European Space Agency's Envisat Earth observation satellite goes defunct in three years, the ESA will be the proud owner of the largest and most dangerous piece of junk out there: a nearly 9-ton, $2.9 billion piece of orbiting detritus that won't be pulled into Earth's atmosphere for 150 years. The danger isn't that the massive satellite might slam into the ISS -- the chances of that are quite slim. But if it collides with another large piece of junk at high speed -- say, a rocket stage or another retired satellite -- the impact could release 10 times as much junk as the Iridium-Cosmos smash up.

With so much junk up there, the DoD has even warned of a scenario in which such a massive collision could trigger a cataclysmic chain reaction in which one impact begets another and then another until entire orbits are unusable. Unlikely, sure, but some insist it's possible. The good news is we're working on the problem. Northrop Grumman is working with DARPA to develop a ground-based radar system to help track space debris from the ground, and the U.S. Air Force is planning to launch a Space-Based Space Surveillance satellite in the near future that will help direct traffic in space. Assuming, of course, a piece of orbiting junk doesn't knock it clean out of the sky.

[Space, Network World, Voice of Russia]