According to Cambridge computer scientist William Tunstall-Pedoe, April 11th, 1954 was the most boring day since 1900, with almost nothing of note occurring.

A general election happened in Belgium, a Turkish academic was born and Jack Shufflebotham, a famous soccer player for Oldham Athletic, passed away. Other than that, nothing of note happened on April 11th, 1954.

Tunstall-Pedoe used his computer program True Knowledge to come to that conclusion.

The program was fed 300 million facts about "people, places, business and events" that made news (even small-town local) and uses complex algorithms to link information together.

Adds Tunstall-Pedoe of the day (via the Register):

"Nobody significant died that day, no major events apparently occurred and, although a typical day in the 20th century has many notable people being born, for some reason that day had only one who might make that claim - Abdullah Atalar, a Turkish academic. The irony is, though, that - having done the calculation - the day is interesting for being exceptionally boring."

As for what True Knowlegde is really used for? The program should "provide a more intelligent way of searching the internet."

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New sources have reported that the upcoming iPad 2 will include 5 new "key" features, ones that will likely boost the tablet's sales exponentially.

If accurate, the reports say the iPad 2 will add a front-facing camera for video conferencing (and FaceTime), USB ports, Retina Display, 3-axis gyroscope and a carbon fiber (lighter/thinnner) body.

The most notable of the features may be the addition of USB ports, which Apple has never added to any of their iOS devices.

Retina Display, seen on fourth-generation iPods and iPhones, enhances image performance and colors.

The 3-axis gyroscopes, paired with the existing accelerometer, should provide game developers a new platform for full six-axis gaming.

While still unconfirmed, the iPad 2 should see an April 2011 release, possibly available in multiple sizes.

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Boxee has released the first major firmware update for their recently launched Boxee Box set-top, addressing some of the major bugs in the hardware.

The update will fix video artifacts seen in 1080i content via the Internet.

Networking has seen an overhaul, as well, with Boxes now having a "more accurate signal meter" when connected or trying to connect to Wi-Fi. All encryption modes are now supported, as well, and setup is streamlined for faster access.

Shared media will now work better, especially if you are using a Mac computer.

Scaling issues with the browser are now fixed, also, compensating for TV overscan.

Boxee sells the Box for $200, as a universal streaming device.

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Microsoft has said this week that there are now 15,000 registered Windows Phone 7 developers, and a total of 3000 apps in the WP7 store.

The number of developers is jumping at an incredible pace, moving from just 8,000 in September, and 13,000 on November 1st.

Marketplace app count has jumped significantly, as well, moving from 1000 last month to the current 3000.

Says Todd Brix, Group Product Planner for the Mobile and Embedded Devices Division at Microsoft (via WR):

"Clearly we're just getting warmed up. We know that many Windows Phone developers have gone to great lengths to ensure that their apps and games are in Windows Phone Marketplace this holiday season…We're heading into one of the biggest shopping weeks of the year and we're on pace to offer roughly 3,000 apps and games by the end of this week."

As a way to promote the apps, Microsoft says Bing Visual search will prominently list WP7 games and apps.

Earlier this week, ChevronWP7 hit the net, giving users a chance to unlock their phone and install homebrew or unsigned apps.

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Caltech (California Institute of Technology) has sued Nokia, LG, Pantech and a number of chipmakers this week, claiming phones made by the companies have components that infringe on their patents.

The university says the mobile phone makers infringe on nine patents relating to camera technology.

Caltech is seeking monetary damages.

Similarly, last year Caltech sued Canon, Nikon and 4 other digital-camera makers, for infringing on six patents relating to pixel sensors in digital cameras.

All of the patents came after research the university was doing for NASA.

The chipmakers named are STMicroelectronics, Seti, Siliconfile Technologies and Toshiba.

None of the companies named have responded to the allegations yet.

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Microsoft has posted an official response to the emergence of ChevronWP7, the unlocking software used to "jailbreak" Windows Phone 7 devices.

ChevronWP7 gives WP7 owners a chance to install homebrew and unsigned applications on their smartphones.

Until this week, you had to have a Marketplace developer account, which costs $99 per year to side load apps.

Microsoft has said today that using Chevron may brick your device, so would-be hackers should take note (via WinR):

"We anticipated that people would attempt to unlock the phones and explore the underlying operating system. We encourage people to use their Windows Phone as supplied by the manufacturer to ensure the best possible user experience. Attempting to unlock a device could void the warranty, disable phone functionality, interrupt access to Windows Phone 7 services or render the phone permanently unusable."

It is unclear whether Microsoft will disable "Windows Phone 7 services" like XBL for users with unlocked phones.

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