# Advances in Computers thread



## ScienceRocks

For the latest advances in computers, hard drives, ram, ect. 




> TDK sets new hard drive density record, paves the way for 6TB HDDs




TDK sets new hard drive density record, paves the way for 6TB HDDs - TechSpot News



> Solid state drives are continuing to build momentum as a speedy and rugged replacement for traditional spinning drive. TDKs ongoing research into mechanical hard drives, however, suggests that we shouldnt give up on the legacy technology just yet. The company recently announced a new milestone that will increase recording density in future drives by 50 percent.
> 
> The team at TDK have managed to achieve densities of 1.5TB per square inch by improving the magnetic head and hard disk medium with help from Showa Denko K.K. In laymans terms, this new advancement will allow a single platter in a 3.5-inch desktop hard drive to achieve 2TB of storage. Add more platters to the mix and youre now looking at hard drives reach 4TB and even 6TB in capacity.
> 
> Perhaps even more interesting is the impact it will have on 2.5-inch notebook drives. TDK says these smaller form factor HDDs will be able to achieve capacities of 1TB. This will allow users that arent yet sold on cloud storage to have a larger amount of data on hand at all times without having to lug around an external storage drive.
> 
> TDK will be showcasing the new technology at CEATEC this week although volume production isnt expected to begin until sometime in 2014. At that point, one has to wonder just how far solid state drive technology will have come in terms of price versus capacity. This ratio has been the Achilles heel for SSDs thus far even as drives continue to be more affordable.


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## Old Rocks

For those doing science involving mathematical modeling and representation, whether physics, chemistry, ect. this site has some wonderful tools available.

Wolfram Alpha


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## ScienceRocks

New interactive system detects touch and gestures on any surface (w/ Video)



> People can let their fingers - and hands - do the talking with a new touch-activated system that projects onto walls and other surfaces and allows users to interact with their environment and each other.
> 
> The system identifies the fingers of a person's hand while touching any plain surface. It also recognizes hand posture and gestures, revealing individual users by their unique traits. "Imagine having giant iPads everywhere, on any wall in your house or office, every kitchen counter, without using expensive technology," said Niklas Elmqvist, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue University. "You can use any surface, even a dumb physical surface like wood. You don't need to install expensive LED displays and touch-sensitive screens."
> 
> The new "extended multitouch" system allows more than one person to use a surface at the same time and also enables people to use both hands, distinguishing between the right and left hand. Research indicates the system is 98 percent accurate in determining hand posture, which is critical to recognizing gestures and carrying out commands. The technology has many possible applications, said Karthik Ramani, Purdue's Donald W. Feddersen Professor of Mechanical Engineering.
> 
> 
> "Basically, it might be used for any interior surface to interact virtually with a computer," he said. "You could use it for living environments, to turn appliances on, in a design studio to work on a concept or in a laboratory, where a student and instructor interact." Findings are detailed in a research paper being presented this week during the Association for Computing Machinery Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (ACM UIST 2012) in Cambridge, Mass. The paper was written by doctoral students Sundar Murugappan and Vinayak, who uses only one name, Elmqvist and Ramani. The system uses the Microsoft Kinect camera, which senses three-dimensional space. "We project a computer screen on any surface, just a normal table covered with white paper," Ramani said. "The camera sees where your hands are, which fingers you are pressing on the surface, tracks hand gestures and recognizes whether there is more than one person working at the same time." The Kinect camera senses depth, making it possible to see how far each 3-D pixel is from the camera. The researchers married the camera with a new computer model for the hand.



 Read more at: New interactive system detects touch and gestures on any surface (w/ Video)


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## PoliticalChic

Matthew said:


> For the latest advances in computers, hard drives, ram, ect.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> TDK sets new hard drive density record, paves the way for 6TB HDDs
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> TDK sets new hard drive density record, paves the way for 6TB HDDs - TechSpot News
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Solid state drives are continuing to build momentum as a speedy and rugged replacement for traditional spinning drive. TDKs ongoing research into mechanical hard drives, however, suggests that we shouldnt give up on the legacy technology just yet. The company recently announced a new milestone that will increase recording density in future drives by 50 percent.
> 
> The team at TDK have managed to achieve densities of 1.5TB per square inch by improving the magnetic head and hard disk medium with help from Showa Denko K.K. In laymans terms, this new advancement will allow a single platter in a 3.5-inch desktop hard drive to achieve 2TB of storage. Add more platters to the mix and youre now looking at hard drives reach 4TB and even 6TB in capacity.
> 
> Perhaps even more interesting is the impact it will have on 2.5-inch notebook drives. TDK says these smaller form factor HDDs will be able to achieve capacities of 1TB. This will allow users that arent yet sold on cloud storage to have a larger amount of data on hand at all times without having to lug around an external storage drive.
> 
> TDK will be showcasing the new technology at CEATEC this week although volume production isnt expected to begin until sometime in 2014. At that point, one has to wonder just how far solid state drive technology will have come in terms of price versus capacity. This ratio has been the Achilles heel for SSDs thus far even as drives continue to be more affordable.
> 
> Click to expand...
Click to expand...




I just checked....my computer seems to be held together with nuts and bolts....not thread.


I may have gotten a newer one than you.....


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## ScienceRocks

Another advance on the road to spintronics: Researchers unlock ferromagnetic secrets of promising materials



> (Phys.org)Spintronic technology, in which data is processed on the basis of electron "spin" rather than charge, promises to revolutionize the computing industry with smaller, faster and more energy efficient data storage and processing. Materials drawing a lot of attention for spintronic applications are dilute magnetic semiconductors  normal semiconductors to which a small amount of magnetic atoms is added to make them ferromagnetic. Understanding the source of ferromagnetism in dilute magnetic semiconductors has been a major road-block impeding their further development and use in spintronics. Now a significant step to removing this road-block has been taken.
> 
> A multi-institutional collaboration of researchers led by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), using a new technique called HARPES, for Hard x-ray Angle-Resolved PhotoEmission Spectroscopy, has investigated the bulk electronic structure of the prototypical dilute magnetic semiconductor gallium manganese arsenide. Their findings show that the material's ferromagnetism arises from both of the two different mechanisms that have been proposed to explain it.
> 
> "This study represents the first application of HARPES to a forefront problem in materials science, uncovering the origin of the ferromagnetism in the so-called dilute magnetic semiconductors," says Charles Fadley, the physicist who led the development of HARPES. "Our results also suggest that the HARPES technique should be broadly applicable to many new classes of materials in the future."
> 
> Fadley, who holds joint appointments with Berkeley Lab's Materials Sciences Division and the University of California (UC) Davis where he is a Distinguished Professor of Physics, is the senior author of a paper describing this work in the journal Nature Materials. The paper is titled "Bulk electronic structure of the dilute magnetic semiconductor GaMnAs through hard X-ray angle-resolved photoemission." The lead and corresponding author is Alexander Gray, formerly with Fadley's research group and now with the Stanford University and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.



Another advance on the road to spintronics: Researchers unlock ferromagnetic secrets of promising materials


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## Mr. H.

My brother worked at Wolfram for a few years.


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## ScienceRocks

Breakthrough Offers New Route to Large-Scale Quantum Computing



> In a key step toward creating a working quantum computer, Princeton researchers have developed a method that may allow the quick and reliable transfer of quantum information throughout a computing device.
> 
> The finding, by a team led by Princeton physicist Jason Petta, could eventually allow engineers to build quantum computers consisting of millions of quantum bits, or qubits. So far, quantum researchers have only been able to manipulate small numbers of qubits, not enough for a practical machine.
> 
> To make the transfer, Petta's team used a stream of microwave photons to analyze a pair of electrons trapped in a tiny cage called a quantum dot. The "spin state" of the electrons -- information about how they are spinning -- serves as the qubit, a basic unit of information. The microwave stream allows the scientists to read that information.
> 
> Petta said the next step is to increase the reliability of the setup for a single electron pair. After that, the team plans to add more quantum dots to create more qubits. Team members are cautiously optimistic. There appear to be no insurmountable problems at this point but, as with any system, increasing complexity could lead to unforeseen difficulties.



Breakthrough offers new route to large-scale quantum computing

Another white man!


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## ScienceRocks

Cassette tapes are the future of big data storage 
19 October 2012 by Paul Marks
Magazine issue 2887. Subscribe and save
Cassette tapes are the future of big data storage - tech - 19 October 2012 - New Scientist



> THE cassette tape is about to make a comeback, in a big way. From the updates posted by Facebook's 1 billion users to the medical images shared by healthcare organisations worldwide and the rise of high-definition video streaming, the need for something to store huge tranches of data is greater than ever. And while hard drives have traditionally been the workhorse of large storage operations, a new wave of ultra-dense tape drives that pack in information at much higher densities, while using less energy, is set to replace them.
> 
> Researchers at Fuji Film in Japan and IBM in Zurich, Switzerland, have already built prototypes that can store 35 terabytes of data - or about 35 million books' worth of information - on a cartridge that measures just 10 centimetres by 10 cm by 2 cm. This is achieved using magnetic tape coated in particles of barium ferrite.
> 
> But the real debut for this technology is likely to be the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), the world's largest radio telescope, whose thousands of antennas will be strewn across the southern hemisphere (New Scientist, 2 June, p 4). Once it's up and running in 2024, the SKA is expected to pump out 1 petabyte (1 million gigabytes) of compressed data per day.
> 
> Current projections by the trade body Information Storage Industry Consortium show that although hard drives will be able to store 3 terabytes a piece in a decade's time, that still amounts to at least 120,000 drives a year.


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## ScienceRocks

Gesture-sensing interfaces to rival keyboards and mice 
20:41 08 October 2012 by Hal Hodson
Magazine issue 2886. Subscribe and save
Gesture-sensing interfaces to rival keyboards and mice - tech - 08 October 2012 - New Scientist

Video: Smart bracelet lets you gesture to your devices



> INTERFACES change, processors come and go, but the keyboard and its trusty sidekick the mouse have been part of the PC for at least 30 years. They may now be about to get stern competition, thanks to two gesture-sensing technologies set to drastically reduce the amount of typing and clicking needed to control the average computer.
> 
> By tracking hand movements precisely, the wrist-mounted prototype of the Digits project, built by a team from Microsoft Research in Cambridge, UK, allows gestures to be communicated in real time to any connected device.
> 
> An array of LEDs mounted on a plastic wrist brace facing the palm bounce infrared light off the user's fingers. A laser shines across the hand to highlight the orientation of the fingers. A camera then reads the reflections, and software builds a model of the moving hand that is accurate to within one hundredth of a centimetre.



http://bcove.me/g0vvwu17

What can I say between whites and east asians...This world is becoming a interesting place.


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## ScienceRocks

IBM brings carbon nanotube-based computers a step closer

Helping the hunt for something to replace silicon transistors, Big Blue researchers have found a way to precisely place carbon nanotubes -- or rather, to encourage them to place themselves.

by Stephen Shankland 
| October 28, 2012 11:00 AM PDT 



> IBM's technique can arrange single carbon nanotubes -- and sometimes pairs -- between two electrical contacts. It's an essential part of making a transistor in which a nanotube leads from a source on one side to a drain on the other. At left in this is an image of a chip designed to test the technology electrically; at right is a close-up of the nanotubes stretching from one electrical contact to another.
> (Credit: IBM)
> In the effort to find a replacement for today's silicon chips, IBM researchers have pushed carbon nanotube technology a significant step ahead.
> 
> Carbon nanotubes are very small structures made of a lattice of carbon atoms rolled into a cylindrical shape, and a team of eight researchers have figured out a way to precisely place them on a computer chip, IBM announced today. That development allows them to arrange the nanotubes 100 times more densely than earlier methods, a key step in economical chipmaking, and IBM has built a chip with more than 10,000 carbon nanotube-based elements.
> 
> The new technique helps improve the nanotubes' chances in the hunt for alternatives once today's silicon transistor technology runs out of steam. Today's chips are made of tiny electrical switches called transistors, and carbon nanotubes are a potential substitute for the silicon channels that carry electrical current in those transistors.
> 
> Moore's Law has successfully improved microchips for decades by shrinking chip elements to ever-smaller sizes, and it's got years of life yet in it. Today's Intel "Ivy Bridge" Core processors found in new PCs have transistor elements measuring 22 nanometers, or billionths of a meter, and Intel thinks it can shrink that over several generations of improvement down to 5 nanometers. Beyond that, though, processors will probably need to be built with very different technology.



IBM brings carbon nanotube-based computers a step closer | Cutting Edge - CNET News


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## ScienceRocks

*Titan supercomputer debuts for open scientific research*



> The system is powered by Nvidia GPUs and thought to be one of the two fastest supercomputers in the world. It's capable of making 20,000 trillion calculations each second.


 
Titan supercomputer debuts for open scientific research | Cutting Edge - CNET News



> The Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility is home to Titan, the world's most powerful supercomputer for open science with a theoretical peak performance exceeding 20 petaflops (quadrillion calculations per second). That kind of computational capability, helped by Nvidia GPUs, is on par with each of the world's 7 billion people being able to carry out 3 million calculations per second.
> (Credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory) Forecasting for weather like this week's "Frankenstorm"  may become a lot more accurate with the help of the Department of Energy's Titan supercomputer, a system that launched this month for open research development.
> 
> The computer, an update to the Jaguar system, is operated in Tennessee by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, part of the DOE's network of research labs. Researchers from academia, government labs, and various industries will be able to use Titan -- believed to be one of the two most powerful machines in the world -- to research things such as climate change and alternative fuels
> 
> 
> *If Oak Ridge upgraded Jaguar by simply expanding the CPUs, the system would be more than four-times its current size and would consume more than 30 megawatts of power.*


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## ScienceRocks

Intel is developing a 48-core processor for smartphones and tablets
Intel is developing a 48-core processor for smartphones and tablets - TechSpot News



> Researchers at Intel envision a future where smartphones are powerful enough to perform tasks typically delegated to full-size computers today. And it&#8217;s not just a pipe dream either - they&#8217;re already working on a 48-core processor for smartphones and tablets designed to replace your desktop or laptop completely.
> 
> Intel&#8217;s focus on the project at this point is finding new ways to manage and use multiple cores in a mobile device. Smartphones and tablets already exist with multiple cores (up to four, typically) but a system with 48 cores would be a real game changer.
> 
> The advantage of having multiple cores, of course, is the ability to divide the workload up among each core. This has several benefits, just as it does today. For one, heavy computational tasks can be completed much more quickly. A system with dozens of cores would be able to multitask much more efficiently than today&#8217;s chips that often struggle to complete several tasks at once.
> 
> Multimedia would also benefit greatly as multiple cores could be used to decode different video frames simultaneously, resulting in a smoother and more seamless experience. Furthermore, by reducing the strain on a single core and spreading the workload among many parallel cores, less energy would be consumed overall.
> 
> Researchers anticipate having such a chip ready for prime time within five to 10 years although Intel CTO Justin Rattner said it could hit the market much sooner than forecasted. He believes that advanced features and functions like speech recognition and augmented reality will accelerate the drive for more processing power.


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## ScienceRocks

As the U.S. launched what&#8217;s expected to be the world&#8217;s fastest supercomputer at 20 petaflops (peak performance), China announced it is building a machine intended to be five times faster when it is deployed in 2015, IT World reports.

China&#8217;s Tianhe-2 supercomputer will run at 100 petaflops (quadrillion floating-point calculations per second) peak performance, designed by China&#8217;s National University of Defense Technology, according to the Guangzhou Supercomputing Center, where the machine will be housed.

The government is aiming for China&#8217;s supercomputers to reach 100 petaflops in 2015, and then 1 exaflop (1,000 petaflops), in 2018, according to Zhang Yunquan, a professor at the Institute of Software Chinese Academy of Sciences, who also keeps track of China&#8217;s top supercomputers.

http://www.kurzweila...s-supercomputer


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## ScienceRocks

China is building a 100-petaflop supercomputer




The supercomputer will be completed in 2015

Article | November 1, 2012 - 6:01pm
Comment0

China is building a 100-petaflop supercomputer | ZeitNews


Errka P. Flickr.



> As the U.S. launched what's expected to be the world's fastest supercomputer at 20 petaflops, China is building a machine that is intended to be five times faster when it is deployed in 2015.
> 
> China's Tianhe-2 supercomputer will run at 100 petaflops (quadrillion floating-point calculations per second), according to the Guangzhou Supercomputing Center, where the machine will be housed.
> 
> Tianhe-2 could help keep China competitive with the future supercomputers of other countries, as industry experts estimate machines will start reaching 1,000-petaflop performance by 2018.
> 
> The Tianhe-2 is not China's first attempt at building a world-beating supercomputer. It briefly took the top spot on the world's list of most powerful supercomputers in 2010 with the Tianhe-1A. That computer is now ranked fifth in the world with a theoretical peak speed of 4.7 petaflops, and uses processors from Intel and Nvidia.
> 
> Like the Tianhe-1A, the Tianhe-2 will also be designed by China's National University of Defense Technology.
> 
> The Chinese government is pushing the development of the country's supercomputing technology, according to Zhang Yunquan, a professor at the Institute of Software Chinese Academy of Sciences, who also keeps track of China's top supercomputers.
> 
> The government is aiming for China's supercomputers to reach 100 petaflops in 2015, and then 1 exaflop (1,000 petaflops), in 2018, he said. This comes from China's "863 program", which was founded in 1986 and is meant to help accelerate the country's development in key technologies.
> 
> "Taking the top spot in the world's fastest supercomputers gave us a lot of drive, and gave us more confidence to develop better machines," he said. But while China has largely relied on U.S. chips and software to develop its supercomputers, Zhang said this could gradually change as the country invests more in developing its own homegrown technology.
> 
> A clear example of this was when last year China's Sunway Bluelight supercomputer grabbed headlines for using a domestically developed processor, the Shenwei 1600.


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## ScienceRocks

A step closer to rollable, foldable e-Devices

2nd November 2012



> The next generation of electronic displays is a step closer thanks to research from the University of Cincinnati.
> 
> 
> Advances that will eventually bring foldable/rollable e-devices, as well as no pixel borders have been experimentally verified and proven to work in concept at UC's Novel Devices Laboratory. The research was published this week in the journal Nature Communications.
> 
> The study, "Bright e-Paper by Transport of Ink through a White Electrofluidic Imaging Film" is authored by Matthew Hagedon, Shu Yang and Ann Russell, as well as Jason Heikenfeld, associate professor of electronic and computing systems. UC worked on this research with start-up company Gamma Dynamics.
> 
> Electrofluidic imaging film
> 
> One challenge in creating foldable e-Paper devices has been the device screen, which is currently made of rigid glass. But what if the screen were a paper-thin plastic that rolled like a window shade? You'd have a device like an iPad that could be folded or rolled up repeatedly &#8211; even tens of thousands of times.
> 
> The research this week experimentally verifies that such a screen of paper-thin plastic, referred to as "electrofluidic imaging film," actually works. The breakthrough is a white, porous film coated with a thin layer of reflective electrodes and spacers. These are subjected to unique and sophisticated fluid mechanics in order to electrically transport the coloured ink and clear-oil fluids (text, images, video) of electronic devices.
> 
> According to UC's Hagedon, "This is the first of any type of electro-wetting display that can be made as a simple film that you laminate onto a sheet of controlling electronics. Manufacturers prefer this approach compared to having to build up the pixels themselves within their devices, layer by layer, material by material. Our proof-of-concept breakthrough takes us a step closer to brighter, colour-video e-Paper and the Holy Grail of rollable/foldable displays."
> 
> 
> No pixel borders
> 
> Importantly, this paper-thin plastic screen developed at UC is the first among all types of fluidic displays that has no pixel borders.
> 
> In current technology, colours maintain their image-forming distinctiveness by means of what are known as "pixel borders." Each individual pixel that helps to comprise the image necessary for text, photographs, video and other content maintains its distinct colour and does not "bleed" over into the next pixel or colour due to a pixel border. In other words, each individual pixel of colour has a border around it (invisible to the eye of the consumer) to maintain its colour distinctiveness.
> 
> This matters, because pixel borders are "dead areas" that dull any display of information, whether a display of text or image. Leading electronics companies have been seeking ways to reduce or eliminate pixel borders in order to increase display brightness.
> 
> UC's Heikenfeld: "For example, the pixel border in current electrowetting displays, which prevents ink merging, takes up a sizable portion of the pixel. This is now resolved with our electrofluidic film breakthrough. Furthermore, our breakthrough provides extraordinary capability to hide the ink when you don't want to see it, which further cranks up the available brightness and colour of the display when you do want to see it. With a single, new technology, we have simplified manufacturability and improved screen brightness."
> 
> 
> Foldable e-devices as environmental electronics
> 
> The first generation of foldable e-devices will be monochrome. Colour will come later. Eventually, in the late 2020s, they will feature magazine-quality colour, be viewable in bright sunlight and run on low power. "Think of this as the green iPad or e-Reader, combining high function and high colour without the weight of a heavy battery, readable out in the sunlight, and foldable into your pocket," says Heikenfeld.
> 
> The device will require low power to operate since it will charge via sunlight and ambient room light. It will only use wireless connection ports, and be so durable that you could leave it out overnight in the rain. In fact, you'll be able to wash it or drop it without damaging the thin, highly flexible casing and screen.
> 
> This latest proof of concept research verifying the functionality of electrofluidic imaging film builds on previous research out of UC's Novel Devices Laboratory. That previous research broke down a significant barrier to bright electronic displays that don't require a heavy battery to power them.
> 
> Most of today's colour-saturated devices &#8211; such as LCDs, tablets and smartphones &#8211; require high power (and consequently, a larger battery). This is largely because they need a strong internal light source within the device to "backlight" the screen, as well as colour filters in order to display the pixels as colour/moving images. The need for an internal light source within the device also means visibility is poor in bright sunlight.
> 
> The new electrofluidic imaging film will require only low-power to produce high speed content and function, because it makes use of ambient light, as opposed to a strong, internal light source within the device.



A step closer to rollable, foldable e-Devices

http://www.uc.edu/news/NR.aspx?id=16686

I want one big enough to  act as the wall paper on one side of my room. This would have full wireless internet and my hand would replace the mouse. 

I'd love it.


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## ScienceRocks

*Efficient Power Amplifier Could Double Battery Life of Smartphones*

By Roberto BaldwinEmail Author
11.01.12
4:21 PM

Efficient Power Amplifier Could Double the Battery Life of Smartphones | Gadget Lab | Wired.com



> The modern smartphone is the Hungry Hungry Hippo of the electronics world. Tablets, e-readers, and even notebooks are more efficient than the power-sucking smartphone in your pocket. While battery technology is slowly moving forward, an MIT spinout company is working to reduce the power consumed by not only smartphones but the base stations that keep them connected to the world.
> 
> MIT Technology review reports that startup Eta Devices is bench testing a new power amplifier chip that consumes less power than those currently found in smartphones and base stations. Power amplifier chips transform electricity into radio signals and keep your smartphone connected to your carrier&#8217;s network.
> 
> In current power amplifier chips the standby mode pulls a hefty amount of power in order to be ready to communicate with cell towers. Smartphones like the iPhone 5 have up to five power amplifier chips in them. These chips lose more than 65 percent of their energy to heat. It&#8217;s the reason your smartphone gets warm when you download large files.


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## Mr. H.

Hungry Hungry Hippo. LOL
Cool reads, these.


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## ScienceRocks

Turning the smartphone from a telephone into a tricorder
By John Hewitt on November 3, 2012 at 10:00 am

Turning the smartphone from a telephone into a tricorder | ExtremeTech



> Earlier this year, well known cardiologist Eric Topol published his highly successful book, &#8220;The Creative Destruction of Medicine.&#8221; In it he describes several examples where smartphones, particularly the iPhone, have been morphed into first-rate medical devices with the potential to put clinical-level diagnostics in the hands of everyday users. Coincidentally, Topol was on a flight not long ago, returning from a lecture where he had spoken about a new device made by AliveCor. The pilot intoned an urgent, &#8220;is there a doctor on board?&#8221; In response, Topol took out the AliveCor prototype, recorded a highly accurate electrocardiogram (ECG) of an ailing passenger, and made a quick diagnosis from 35,000 feet.
> 
> As the leader in the smartphone revolution, the iPhone has been the platform of choice for early adopters in the health and quantified self arenas. Even so, there are a few shortcomings to development on the iPhone which, at least among DIYers, has led to Android becoming the path forward. Apple&#8217;s single-vendor solution and sequestering of many low-level input/output details behind the premise of ease of use have made interfacing the device to external sensors both a difficult and expensive proposition.
> 
> While it can be nearly impossible to write an Android app that will work on every device out there, writing an app to work on one&#8217;s own smartphone or tablet is fairly straightforward. Another challenge to the smartphone as a medical device is that many important sensor variables are analog in nature. It is possible to use the analog-to-digital converter on the audio input for data acquisition, however in the absence of sophisticated multiplexing one is limited to a single channel (unless some kind of expansion device is used).
> 
> Run tracking and calorie counting apps can certainly be regarded among the successes of the smartphone, but without dedicated sensor hardware, the philosophy of &#8220;there&#8217;s an app for that&#8221; only goes so far. A host of products now available for Android let users with a little bit of technical know-how create powerful devices previously found only in the domain of hospitals and law enforcement. One of the most successful expansion boards that allows Android devices to control external instruments and to orchestrate the collection of a variety of sensor data is the IOIO board. The system works well in wireless mode with most Bluetooth dongles, and its on-board FPGA gives 25 I/O channels, including plenty for analog input. It also handles analog output via pulse width modulation (PWM).
> 
> Vendors like Sparkfun, a popular supplier for the Arduino developer market, have realized the power inherent in readily programmable smartphones. They provide inexpensive heart monitors, as well as CO2 gas, dissolved oxygen, and blood alcohol content (BAC) sensors. These sellers provide documentation and, most importantly, access to the source code. With this information, interfacing with a BAC sensor, for example, is relatively straightforward and, if appropriately calibrated by the user, very accurate.


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## ScienceRocks

*Japan Display ditches the backlight with its new LCD*
Japan Display ditches the backlight with its new LCD | TechHive


Kevin Lee@baggingspam
Nov 5, 2012 12:31 PM
print



> Japan Display showed off a low-power display panel last week at the FPD International 2012 show in Japan. Unlike every other LCD in our current devices, this one does not use a backlight to illuminate the panel.
> 
> Instead, it uses reflected light&#8212;sort of like a mirror&#8212;to render a monochromatic image. At the same time, the device deploys color filters to produce the final color image and video that you see.
> 
> An obvious advantage of this display is that it could dramatically reduce power consumption without the need for a backlight. The power savings don&#8217;t stop there.
> 
> According to Diginfo.tv, this display only draws three milliwatts of electricity when showing a still image because each pixel can actually retain a signal and remember what color it was last set to without drawing power. That sort of pixel memory functionality could make it a low-power, color LCD alternative to E-Ink devices or digital picture frames.


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## Mr. H.

Wwjdd?


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## midcan5

Having taught computer basics, I'm waiting for an advance in users. Any progress there?

"Rather than bringing me closer to others, the time that I spend online isolates me from the most important people in my life, my family, my friends, my neighbourhood, my community." Clifford Stoll 

"There is no escaping from ourselves. The human dilemma is as it has always been, and we solve nothing fundamental by cloaking ourselves in technological glory."  Neil Postman

"We have created an industrial order geared to automatism, where feeble-mindedness, native or acquired, is necessary for docile productivity in the factory; and where a pervasive neurosis is the final gift of the meaningless life that issues forth at the other end." Lewis Mumford


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## ScienceRocks

Industry's most powerful server graphics card, exceeding one TFLOPS of peak double precision performance, introduced
November 12, 2012 
Industry's most powerful server graphics card, exceeding one TFLOPS of peak double precision performance, introduced



> AMD today launched the AMD FirePro S10000, the industry's most powerful server graphics card, designed for high-performance computing (HPC) workloads and graphics intensive applications. The AMD FirePro S10000 is the first professional-grade card to exceed one teraFLOPS (TFLOPS) of double-precision floating-point performance, helping to ensure optimal efficiency for HPC calculations. It is also the first ultra high-end card that brings an unprecedented 5.91 TFLOPS of peak single-precision and 1.48 TFLOPS of double-precision floating-point calculations. This performance ensures the fastest possible data processing speeds for professionals working with large amounts of information. In addition to HPC, the FirePro S10000 is also ideal for virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and workstation graphics deployments.


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## ScienceRocks

*Bringing 'Minority Report' touchless gestures to Windows 8*









> Elliptic Labs wants to bring the touchless gesture controls seen in the science-fiction film "Minority Report" to everyday consumer electronic devices, starting with Windows 8.
> 
> The company -- a Norwegian university spinout with offices in Oslo and Silicon Valley -- unveiled a set of tools to help consumer electronic companies enable touchless controls in their products. These would be similar to the kind of gesture controls seen with the Xbox 360 Kinect and in certain smart televisions like a few models from Samsung Electronics, but presumably would work more smoothly.





> While the first step has been to integrate the controls with Windows 8 laptops and PCs, Kjolebakken said that he expects tablets and smartphones to eventually get the feature. Down the line, he sees the potential for cars to get gesture controls as well.



Bringing 'Minority Report' touchless gestures to Windows 8 | Cutting Edge - CNET News


----------



## ScienceRocks

This certainly pertains to computers.

Increasing efficiency of wireless networks
November 13, 2012 by Sean Nealon 
Increasing efficiency of wireless networks



> (Phys.org)&#8212;Two professors at the University of California, Riverside Bourns College of Engineering have developed a new method that doubles the efficiency of wireless networks and could have a large impact on the mobile Internet and wireless industries.
> 
> Efficiency of wireless networks is key because there is a limited amount of spectrum to transmit voice, text and Internet services, such as streaming video and music. And when spectrum does become available it can fetch billions of dollars at auction.
> 
> The "spectrum crunch" is quickly being accelerated as customers convert from traditional cell phones to smartphones and tablets. For example, tablets generate 121 times more traffic than a traditional cell phone.
> 
> Without making networks more efficient, customers are likely to drop more calls, pay more money for service, endure slower data speed and not see an unlimited data plan again.
> 
> The UC Riverside findings were outlined in a paper titled "A method for broadband full-duplex MIMO radio" recently published online in the journal IEEE Signal Processing Letters. It was co-authored by Yingbo Hua and Ping Liang, who are both electrical engineering professors, and three of their graduate students: Yiming Ma, Ali Cagatay Cirik and Qian Gao.
> 
> Current radios for wireless communications are half-duplex, meaning signals are transmitted and received in two separate channels.* Full duplex radios, which transmit signals at the same time in the same frequency band, can double the efficiency of the spectrum.*
> 
> The UC Riverside researchers have found a new solution called "time-domain transmit beamforming", which digitally creates a time-domain cancellation signal, couples it to the radio frequency frontend to allow the radio to hear much weaker incoming signals while transmitting strong outgoing signals at the same frequency and same time.
> 
> This new solution is indispensable for a full-duplex radio in general while it is complementary to other required solutions or components. The new solution not only has a sound theoretical proof, but also leads to a lower cost, faster and more accurate channel estimation for robust and effective cancellation.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*New 3D gesture system could change how we use our phones*


New 3D gesture system could change how we use our phones | DVICE



> The Kinect  has already shown us the beginnings of a new world of console gaming interfaces controlled by gestures, but a new development promises to bring that dynamic to tiny mobile devices using the world's first electrical field-based 3D gesture controller.
> 
> Developed by Microchip Inc., the GestIC  system is designed to allow users to control their mobile devices with simple hand gestures. Instead of using a camera to track your hand movements, the controller maps them using electrical fields. The dynamic appears to be relatively precise, allowing users to swipe to turn pages, engage winding functions with a circular motion, and put the device to sleep with a simple hand wave.
> 
> Although the controller  has a six-inch range of motion limitation because it uses electrical fields rather than cameras, its power usage is more efficient and thus a potentially better solution for mobile applications. Microchip Inc. expects to have the controller operating in a wide variety of commercially available mobile devices in 2013.



You can see a demonstration of how the controller works in the video below. 
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eyw6t85Ub6Y&feature=player_embedded]Microchip&#39;s Revised MGC3130 Demonstration - YouTube[/ame]


----------



## ScienceRocks

New WiFi protocol boosts congested wireless network throughput by 700%
By Sebastian Anthony on November 14, 2012 at 2:08 pm
2 Comments
New WiFi protocol boosts congested wireless network throughput by 700% | ExtremeTech



> Engineers at NC State University (NCSU) have discovered a way of boosting the throughput of busy WiFi networks by up to 700%. Perhaps most importantly, the breakthrough is purely software-based, meaning it could be rolled out to existing WiFi networks relatively easily &#8212; instantly improving the throughput and latency of the network.
> 
> As wireless networking becomes ever more prevalent, you may have noticed that your home network is much faster than the WiFi network at the airport or a busy conference center. The primary reason for this is that a WiFi access point, along with every device connected to it, operates on the same wireless channel. A channel is basically a single-lane road, a lot like an electrical (copper wire) bus. Each channel, depending on the wireless technology being used, has a maximum bandwidth (say, 100 megabits per second), with that bandwidth being distributed between all connected devices.
> 
> At home, you might have exclusive use of that road, meaning you can drive as fast as you like and suck up every last megabit &#8212; but at a busy conference center, you are fighting tens or hundreds of people for space. In such a situation, your bandwidth allocation rapidly dwindles and your latency quickly climbs. This single-channel problem is also compounded by the fact that the road isn&#8217;t just one-way; the access point also needs to send data back to every connected device.



This will hopefully speed up large "hotspots" speed to where there's no difference between at home and at a airport.


Chemists create self-assembling polymer that increases hard drive capacity by 5X
By James Plafke on November 14, 2012 at 10:25 am
Comment
http://www.extremetech.com/computin...ymer-that-increases-hard-drive-capacity-by-5x




> When you think of increased storage capacity, you most likely don&#8217;t think of self-assembling polymers that only require heat in order to rearrange themselves. However, with the potential to increase HDD storage capacity fivefold, researchers at the University of Texas might make self-assembling polymers the norm.
> 
> Currently, information is stored through the use of printing zeroes and ones as magnetic dots on a metal surface, with the amount of information able to be stored being relative to the spacing of the dots. The closer the dots, the more information can be stored. With current technology, the dots have become so close together that any decrease in the spacing between them would cause instability due to the neighboring dots&#8217; magnetic fields. However, if there was a way protect the dots from neighboring magnetic fields, they could be moved even closer together, creating more storage space.
> 
> University of Texas chemists and engineers teamed up to apply a coat of a substance known as a block copolymer &#8212; a grouping of polymers made out of more than one bondable molecule &#8212; to a metal surface. If delicately coaxed, such as with a bit of heat, the block copolymers are able to reorganize themselves into a regular pattern. If a surface contains some kind of guide, the block copolymers can follow it. It just so happens that the magnetic dots on a hard drive provide the perfect guide for the block copolymers, and the copolymers provide just enough shielding from magnetic fields, thus being able to push the dots much closer together than the normal spacing, and without worry of data corruption.


----------



## Mr. H.

Since the University students returned, my DSL bogs down big time at night. Called Mediacommie and he said "yup". Called another local provider that runs all that shit on a dedicated phone line. 
I was told I won't be bogged down at night. Does that sound kosher?


----------



## ScienceRocks

First teleportation between macroscopic objects leads the way to a quantum internet
By James Plafke on November 15, 2012 at 1:53 pm
Comment
First teleportation between macroscopic objects leads the way to a quantum internet | ExtremeTech



> The long-range teleportation barrier has already been broken multiple times, but the information being transported, such as a single quantum bit (qubit), has always been relatively small, usually between two photons. This time around, a team of physicists have managed to transport information from one macroscopic (visible to the naked eye) object to another for the first time, potentially leading us towards the first quantum network routers.
> 
> Qubits  the basis for quantum networking and computing  are highly unstable, and are destroyed by a single measurement. However, physicists have figured out how to send a qubit without destroying it through the use of teleportation, managing to send them over large distances in the past  once over a distance of 60 miles, and another over a distance of 89 miles. Essentially, two quantum objects are linked together, so a measurement of one affects the other, which has allowed physicists to teleport a qubit without it actually moving through the space between two locations.
> 
> However, up until now, each successful teleportation has been between either two microscopic objects, or one micro and one macroscopic object. Now, Xiao-Hui Bao and a team at the University of Science and Technology in China reported that they have managed to teleport information between two macroscopic objects  two groups of rubidium atoms  over a distance of 150 meters. Though it wasnt over a distance of 60 or 89 miles, this was the first time quantum information has been teleported between two macroscopic objects, and at a macroscopic scale.


----------



## ScienceRocks

World's first stream aggregation technology to rapidly process both historical and incoming data 


 Characteristics of existing technologies and the new technology. Fujitsu Laboratories announced development of the world's first stream aggregation technology able to rapidly process both stored historical data and incoming streams of new data in a big data context. 



> The nature of big data requires that enormous volumes of data be processed at a high speed. When data is aggregated, longer aggregation times result in larger data volumes to be processed. This means computation times lengthen, which causes frequent updating operations to become more difficult. This is why improving the frequency of updates when aggregation times are lengthened has so far been challenging. Fujitsu Laboratories has therefore developed a technology that returns computation results quickly and manages snapshot operations, without re-doing computations or re-reading a variety of data types that change over time. As a result, even with high-frequency updating and long aggregation times, data can be processed 100 times faster than before. This technology promises to improve both large volumes of batch processing and the processing of streaming data. Furthermore, in meteorology, it is now possible to show concentrated downpours in specific areas. As well as the utility gained for future weather forecasting, it may also have uses in new fields that demand the ability to process longitudinal data in real time.



 Read more at: World's first stream aggregation technology to rapidly process both historical and incoming data


----------



## ScienceRocks

*WD introduces Black 4TB desktop drive*

by Geoff Gasior &#8212; 7:00 AM on November 20, 2012
WD introduces Black 4TB desktop drive - The Tech Report



> Western Digital hasn't bumped up the capacity of its high-end Black mechanical hard drive since the 2TB model debuted over three years ago. That older drive was eventually replaced by an upgraded variant with a 6Gbps SATA interface, but the total capacity remained unchanged. Today, there's a new addition with twice the storage: the Black 4TB.
> 
> Aside from doubling the capacity of its predecessor, the new Black has much in common with existing members of the family. The spindle speed is 7,200 RPM, the interface is 6Gbps SATA, and the DRAM cache is 64MB. The Black 4TB also features a dual-stage actuator whose design originated in the Black 2TB. This mechanism uses a second arm to move the drive head with additional precision, helping to keep


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Quantum cryptography done on standard broadband fibre*

BBC News - Quantum cryptography done on standard broadband fibre



> The "uncrackable codes" made by exploiting the branch of physics called quantum mechanics have been sent down kilometres of standard broadband fibre.
> 
> This "quantum key distribution" has until now needed a dedicated fibre separate from that used to carry data.
> 
> But a new technique reported in Physical Review X shows how to unpick normal data streams from the much fainter, more delicate quantum signal.
> 
> It may see the current best encryption used in many businesses and even homes.
> 
> The quantum key distribution or QKD idea is based on the sharing of a key between two parties - a small string of data that can be used as the basis for encoding much larger amounts.


----------



## ScienceRocks

America&#8217;s Titan Surpasses Sequoia as World&#8217;s Fastest Supercomputer
America&#8217;s Titan Surpasses Sequoia as World&#8217;s Fastest Supercomputer | Singularity Hub



> Last week, a throng of computer geeks descended on snowy Utah to show off, admire, and debate the future of the fastest computers on the planet. And of course, to find out which Boolean monster rules the roost. For the second time in 2012, a different supercomputer took top honors: Titan.
> 
> Titan is a Cray XK7 residing in Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). According to the November Top500 list of most powerful supercomputers, the system  notched 17.59 petaFLOP/s (floating point operations per second) as measured by the Linpack Benchmark. The previous mark of 16.32 petaFLOP/s was held by Lawrence Livermore Laboratory&#8217;s BlueGene/Q system, Sequoia.
> 
> While Titan is a new name, it is not an entirely new computer.
> 
> The system is a souped up version of ORNL&#8217;s previous Top500 list champ, Jaguar (November 2009 to June 2010). Although Titan occupies the same footprint and consumes about the same power as Jaguar, *it is almost ten times faster*. A mark that won Titan third on the Green500 list of most power efficient machines.
> 
> And that&#8217;s really a key point. Measuring and comparing speed is exciting, but the future of supercomputing depends on efficiency gains too.
> 
> In the last decade or so, engineers have increased power by building massively parallel systems. That is, engineers have been linking more and more processors and stuffing them into tighter and tighter spaces.
> 
> Indeed, the previous record holder, Sequoia, packs over 1.6 million processing cores. And to get from Jaguar to Titan, engineers increased the number of processing cores per node from 12 to 16&#8212;for a total of over 560,000.
> 
> But simply increasing the number of cores isn&#8217;t scalable long term&#8212;practically or economically. According to ORNL computational scientist Jim Hack, &#8220;We have ridden the current architecture about as far as we can.&#8221;
> 
> Jaguar was powered by 300,000 processors in 200 cabinets&#8212;upping performance by ten (as Titan has) would have required &#8220;2,000 cabinets on the floor, consume 10 times the power, et cetera.&#8221;
> 
> *Titan is ten times speedier&#8212;but is also about the same size and requires the same amount of power as Jaguar. The system&#8217;s superior efficiency is thanks in part to an improved Cray system interconnect, upping communication volume and efficiency between processors. But Titan makes use of another increasingly popular strategy.*
> 
> Instead of relying on traditional CPUs to do all the heavy lifting and higher level decision-making and communication, engineers are taking a page from high performance gaming. Installed in each of Titan&#8217;s 16-core nodes is an NVIDIA K20X Graphics Processing Unit (GPU).
> 
> The GPU co-processor serves as the system workhorse&#8212;not terribly bright, but immensely powerful.
> 
> GPUs handle all the really heavy computational work superfast, leaving the CPUs to direct traffic. This specialization realizes some pretty awesome efficiency gains without sacrificing speed to get there.
> 
> 
> NVIDIA Tesla K20X GPU co-processor.
> 
> Beyond Titan, China&#8217;s Tianhe-1A&#8212;Top500 champ in 2010, now #8 on the list&#8212;uses GPU co-processors. In fact, 62 of the top 500 supercomputers use co-processors, up from 58 systems in June.
> 
> Chipmakers are taking note too.
> 
> Three big players revealed ultra high performance GPUs in November&#8212;NVIDIA&#8217;s Tesla K20X (utilized in Titan), Intel&#8217;s Xeon Phi (Knight&#8217;s Corner), and AMD&#8217;s FirePro S10000.
> 
> Supercomputers aren&#8217;t just getting speedier. They&#8217;re getting more speed per unit of power and space too. Maybe in the not too terribly distant future, we&#8217;ll remember today&#8217;s giant, power hungry machines with an incredulous shake of the head. Like those old room-sized Crays that now fit into a laptop


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Fast forward to the past: Technologists test 'game-changing' data-processing technology*



> Analog-Based Microchip
> 
> The new technology is an analog-based microchip developed with significant support from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Instead of relying on tiny switches or transistors that turn on and off, producing streams of ones and zeroes that computing systems then translate into something meaningful to users, the company's new microchip is more like a dimmer switch. It can accept inputs and calculate outputs that are between zero and one, directly representing probabilities, or levels of certainty.
> 
> "The technology is fundamentally different from standard digital-signal processing, *recognizing values between zero and one to accomplish what would otherwise be cost prohibitive or impossible with traditional digital circuits,"* Pellish said.
> 
> The processor's enhanced performance is due to the way the technology works, he explained. While digital systems use processors that step through calculations one at a time, in a serial fashion, the new processor uses electronic signals to represent probabilities rather than binary ones and zeros. It then effectively runs the calculations in parallel. Where it might take 500 transistors for a digital computer to calculate a probability, the new technology would take just a few. In other words, the microchip can perform a calculation more efficiently, with fewer circuits and less power than a digital processor&#8212;attributes important for space- and power-constrained spacecraft instruments, Pellish said.



Fast forward to the past: Technologists test 'game-changing' data-processing technology


------
*New computerized approach could revolutionize design and manufacturing*
November 27, 2012 

http://phys.org/news/2012-11-computerized-approach-revolutionize.html



> Engineers at Oregon State University and other leading institutions have made important advances that may dramatically change how machines get built, with a concept that could turn the approaches used by modern industry into a historic relic.
> 
> 
> They will essentially throw out the old "design it, build a prototype and test it, then fix the mistakes and test it some more" method that's been in place since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. Approaches that worked for Robert Fulton or Henry Ford are now considered too expensive, wasteful, unpredictable and time-consuming.
> 
> Instead, virtually all of the design, testing, error identification and revisions will be done on a computer up to the point of commercial production. In theory, a new machine should work right the first time, and perform exactly as the computer said it would.
> 
> "If this works, and we believe it will, then it will revolutionize the way that machines get built," said Irem Tumer, an associate professor in OSU's School of Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering.
> 
> "The field holds great promise to design and test completed machines on a computer before they are ever built," she said. "We'll see what works, identify and solve problems, make any changes desired, and then go straight to commercial production."
> 
> The concept is called "model based design and verification," and is getting initial impetus from a design challenge sponsored by the U.S. military, which wants a new amphibious vehicle in about one-fifth of the time it would ordinarily take to build it. They also want lower cost and excellent performance.
> 
> "You can understand why our armed forces are interested in this," she said. *"They want to speed production of needed military vehicles by five times over the conventional approach, which is a pretty aggressive goal.* For them, it's about saving money, saving time, and ultimately producing technology that helps to save lives."
> 
> After that, Tumer said, the systems could be used anywhere. There's little downside to producing cars, aircraft, or new industrial machines that work right the first time, cost less and get produced more quickly.




---

*GM cars to use Apple voice assistant Siri*
November 27, 2012 
http://phys.org/news/2012-11-gm-cars-apple-voice-siri.html



> General Motors said Tuesday it will integrate Apple's voice-activated software Siri in some of its cars next year to allow iPhone users to perform hands-free tasks.
> 
> GM announced at the Los Angeles International Auto Show it will use the Siri intelligent assistant in the Chevrolet Spark and Sonic LTZ and RS.
> 
> "Through the cars' standard Chevrolet MyLink infotainment system, customers with a compatible iPhone running iOS 6 can direct Siri to perform a number of tasks while they safely keep their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel," GM said in a statement.


----------



## ScienceRocks

Tiny USB packs 1TB of storage in Swiss Army Knife body



Tiny USB packs 1TB of storage in Swiss Army Knife body
It's common to see USB thumb drives in relatively large capacities these days, with 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB sizes fairly de rigeur. But what to do if your portable storage needs are larger much, much larger?




> Victorinox, the company best known for its popular line of convenient multi-bladed Swiss Army Knives, has a solution for the storage-hungry among you. Its new Victorinox SSD product delivers an amazing 1TB of storage in a container the size of your average USB thumb drive or, more literally, the size of a Swiss Army Knife.
> 
> The technology inside is actually a Solid State Drive  the same type of fast and light drive found in ultra-slim notebooks like the MacBook Air. Only this one is much smaller than your typical SSD  tiny enough to actually fit inside a pocketknife. The drive also comes loaded with a combination of both hardware and software encryption, making all that valuable data highly secure and safe from prying eyes.


----------



## ScienceRocks

Taiwan engineers defeat limits of flash memory
December 2, 2012 by Nancy Owano  

Taiwan engineers defeat limits of flash memory



> (Phys.org)&#8212;Taiwan-based Macronix has found a solution for a weakness in flash memory fadeout. A limitation of flash memory is simply that eventually it cannot be used; the more cells in the memory chips are erased, the less useful to store data. The write-erase cycles degrade insulation; eventually the cell fails. "Flash wears out after being programmed and erased about 10,000 times," said the IEEE Spectrum. Engineers at Macronix have a solution that moves flash memory over to a new life. *They propose a "self-healing" NAND flash memory solution that can survive over 100 million cycles.*
> 
> 
> 
> News of their findings appears in the IEEE Spectrum, discussing flash memory's limitations and the Taiwan company's solution. Macronix is a manufacturer in the Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) market, with a NOR Flash, NAND Flash, and ROM products. Before their solution announcement, though, many engineers inside and outside of Macronix were aware of a life-giving workaround: heat. The snag is that applying heat was not found to be practical. As the Macronix team put it, the "long baking time is impractical for real time operation." Although subjecting the cells to high heat could return memory, the process was problematic; the entire memory chip would need heating for hours at around 250 °C.&#8233;
> 
> They redesigned a flash memory chip to include onboard heaters to anneal small groups of memory cells. Applying a brief jolt of heat to a very restricted area within the chip (800 degrees C) returns the cell to a "good" state. They said that the process does not have to be run all that often. According to project member Hang&#8209;Ting Lue, the annealing can be done infrequently and on one sector at a time while the device is inactive but still connected to the power source. It would not drain a cellphone battery, he added.&#8233;
> 
> Macronix estimates that the flash memory cells could beat the 10,000 cycle limit by lasting for as much as for 100 million cycles but a commercial product is not imminent. Instead, Macronix will present their approach&#8212;very high temperature in a very short time&#8212; this month at the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) from December 10 to 12 in San Francisco. This is the forum for presenting breakthroughs in semiconductor and electronic device technology. Lue observed that in coming up with the approach, his team would not be able to lay claim to any new physics principle. "We could have done this ten years ago." He said it took merely a leap of imagination into a different "regime."


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Technology makes smartphone screens feel like keyboards*
Technology makes smartphone screens feel like keyboards | DVICE



> Kyocera has created a touchscreen that, when you press buttons on it, it feels like you're actually pushing a physical button. You can even choose between making it feel like a button or a soft-touch keyboard.
> 
> It works by using piezoelectricity (i.e. electricity resulting from pressure) to create an extremely high-speed, intense little vibration where you touch the keyboard. Thus, it feels like you've actually touched something.
> 
> While this might not seem like a big step, it can actually be pretty helpful: typing accuracy will go nowhere but up, and it'll probably open up some pretty neat gaming opportunities.



Cool, this will help tablets gain more of the laptop market.




*Kyocera demonstrates new touchscreen that feels like it has physical keys*

November 8, 2012 By Andy Boxall
http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/kyocera-demonstrates-new-tactile-touchscreen/




> Kyocera has demonstrated a touchscreen that it's claimed, feels like touching a physical keyboard. Using similar technology to haptic feedback, it can be adjusted to provide a different feel depending on what you're touching on screen.
> 
> Japanese technology firm Kyocera has come up with a new touchscreen, which it demonstrated at the Digital Contents Expo in Tokyo last week. It uses similar technology to that which gives us haptic feedback, and when described, may remind you of Research in Motion&#8217;s SurePress technology seen on its Storm phones.


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## ScienceRocks

*  Research could lead to more efficient integrated circuits*

5 December 2012



> Engineers in the US have fabricated transistors with 20nm gates &#8212; a development that could lead to faster, more compact and more efficient integrated circuits.
> 
> &#8216;It&#8217;s a preview of things to come in the semiconductor industry,&#8217; said Peide &#8216;Peter&#8217; Ye, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue University.
> 
> Researchers from Purdue and Harvard universities created the transistors with indium-gallium-arsenide, a material that could replace silicon within a decade. Each transistor contains three tiny nanowires made from the material that are progressively smaller, yielding a tapered cross section that resembles a Christmas tree.



Read more: Research could lead to more efficient integrated circuits | News | The Engineer


----------



## ScienceRocks

*DNP unveils new plastic cover sheet for handheld devices *



> (Phys.org)&#8212;Japanese AV equipment maker Dai Nippon Printing (DNP) has unveiled a new type of plastic cover sheet that may soon replace glass screen covers on smartphones and tablet computers. The new material is reportedly as hard as gorilla glass and is extremely resistant to scratching. And because it's made of plastic, can also be bent.
> 
> The sheet is actually a sandwich of three components: a fingerprint proof layer on the front and a plastic substrate coated with a hardening agent on the back. The result is a sheet of plastic just 0.5mm thick that can be manufactured in virtually any size. DNP says testing of the new plastic cover sheet has shown it to have a pencil hardness of 9H, which is comparable to the gorilla glass now commonly used as a cover sheet for the screens on most handheld electronic devices. They also brushed samples with steel wool with a weight of 500g/cm2 applied, 200 times and found no scratching had occurred.
> 
> The company says the new covers would be a superior alternative to glass cover sheets because they would be far less susceptible to scratching and breaking. The team also tested the bendability of the cover sheet using a mandrel test on 1.0mm and 0.5mm thick sheets and found them to be 140mm and 90mm diameters, respectively. Thus, the new covers would be suitable for use in bendable smartphones and/or tablet computers.



 Read more at: DNP unveils new plastic cover sheet for handheld devices


----------



## ScienceRocks

Breakthrough in augmented reality contact lens: Curved LCD display holds widespread potential 



> The contact lens display with the dollar sign held next to a human eye. The Centre of Microsystems Technology (CMST), Imec's associated laboratory at Ghent University (Belgium), announced today it has developed an innovative spherical curved LCD display, which can be embedded in contact lenses. The first step toward fully pixelated contact lens displays, this achievement has potential wide-spread applications in medical and cosmetic domains.
> 
> Unlike LED-based contact lens displays, which are limited to a few small pixels, imec's innovative LCD-based technology permits the use of the entire display surface. By adapting the patterning process of the conductive layer, this technology enables applications with a broad range of pixel number and sizes, such as a one pixel, fully covered contact lens acting as adaptable sunglasses, or a highly pixelated contact lens display.



Read more at: Breakthrough in augmented reality contact lens: Curved LCD display holds widespread potential


----------



## ScienceRocks

Mushkin unveils world&#8217;s first 480GB mSATA solid state drive
Brittany Hillen, Dec 6th 2012 Discuss [0] 



> Mushkin has unveiled what it claims to be the world&#8217;s first 480GB mSATA SSD. The device is part of the Atlas line, and joins Mushkin&#8217;s large catalog of SSD offerings, which includes the Callisto, Catalyst, and Chronos lines. The 480GB SSD is slated for release in January for $499.99, which prices it at a little over $1 per gigabyte.
> 
> Keeping z-height as low as possible and managing to fit eight NAND flash chips and a controller on a mSATA PCB was no easy feat, *but now capacity-hungry Ultrabook and notebook users can go beyond the 256GB mSATA barrier*


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## ScienceRocks

Text messages direct to your contact lens
New technology that will allow information, such as text messages from a mobile phone, to be projected onto a contact lens worn in the human eye has been developed by Belgian researchers. 
.  
12:52PM GMT 07 Dec 2012
Comments 


> Ghent University's centre of microsystems technology has developed a spherical curved LCD display which can be embedded in contact lenses and handle projected images using wireless technology.
> 
> "Now that we have established the basic technology, we can start working towards real applications, possibly available in only a few years," said Professor Herbert De Smet.
> 
> Unlike previous contact lens displays, which are limited to a few small pixels to make up an image, the new technology allows the whole curved surface of the lens to be used.
> 
> One application suggested by the researchers is a "one pixel, fully covered contact lens acting as adaptable sunglasses".
> 
> "This is not science fiction," said Jelle De Smet, the chief researcher on the project, who believes commercial applications for the lenses will be available within five years.


Text messages direct to your contact lens - Telegraph


----------



## Rct_Tsoul

Sprint and Oakley owned by that Virgin Mobile British guy are coming out with that next year, it will be more like a HUD (heads up display), voice commanded and holographic interface when wearing the glasses, and they will look cool too, so when Sprint and Oakley stock come down, start buying.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Engineers make tiny, low-cost, terahertz imager chip *



> The new terahertz chips developed by Caltech electrical engineers, shown with a penny for scale. A secret agent is racing against time. He knows a bomb is nearby. He rounds a corner, spots a pile of suspicious boxes in the alleyway, and pulls out his cell phone. As he scans it over the packages, their contents appear onscreen. In the nick of time, his handy smartphone application reveals an explosive device, and the agent saves the day.
> 
> Sound far-fetched? In fact it is a real possibility, thanks to tiny inexpensive silicon microchips developed by a pair of electrical engineers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The chips generate and radiate high-frequency electromagnetic waves, called terahertz (THz) waves, that fall into a largely untapped region of the electromagnetic spectrum&#8212;between microwaves and far-infrared radiation&#8212;and that can penetrate a host of materials without the ionizing damage of X-rays.
> 
> *When incorporated into handheld devices, the new microchips could enable a broad range of applications in fields ranging from homeland security to wireless communications to health care, and even touchless gaming. In the future, the technology may lead to noninvasive cancer diagnosis, among other applications.* "Using the same low-cost, integrated-circuit technology that's used to make the microchips found in our cell phones and notepads today, we have made a silicon chip that can operate at nearly 300 times their speed," says Ali Hajimiri, the Thomas G. Myers Professor of Electrical Engineering at Caltech. "These chips will enable a new generation of extremely versatile sensors." Hajimiri and postdoctoral scholar Kaushik Sengupta (PhD '12) describe the work in the December issue of IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits. Researchers have long touted the potential of the terahertz frequency range, from 0.3 to 3 THz, for scanning and imaging.
> 
> Such electromagnetic waves can easily penetrate packaging materials and render image details in high resolution, and can also detect the chemical fingerprints of pharmaceutical drugs, biological weapons, or illegal drugs or explosives. However, most existing terahertz systems involve bulky and expensive laser setups that sometimes require exceptionally low temperatures. The potential of terahertz imaging and scanning has gone untapped because of the lack of compact, low-cost technology that can operate in the frequency range.



 Read more at: Engineers make tiny, low-cost, terahertz imager chip

This is pretty interesting.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Researchers develop the smallest indium gallium arsenide transistor ever built *




> A cross-section transmission electron micrograph of the fabricated transistor. The central inverted V is the gate. The two molybdenum contacts on either side are the source and drain of the transistor. The channel is the indium gallium arsenide light color layer under the source, drain and gate. Silicon's crown is under threat: The semiconductor's days as the king of microchips for computers and smart devices could be numbered, thanks to the development of the smallest transistor ever to be built from a rival material, indium gallium arsenide.
> 
> The compound transistor, built by a team in MIT's Microsystems Technology Laboratories, performs well despite being just 22 nanometers (billionths of a meter) in length. This makes it a promising candidate to eventually replace silicon in computing devices, says co-developer Jesús del Alamo, the Donner Professor of Science in MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), who built the transistor with EECS graduate student Jianqian Lin and Dimitri Antoniadis, the Ray and Maria Stata Professor of Electrical Engineering.
> 
> To keep pace with our demand for ever-faster and smarter computing devices, the size of transistors is continually shrinking, allowing increasing numbers of them to be squeezed onto microchips. "The more transistors you can pack on a chip, the more powerful the chip is going to be, and the more functions the chip is going to perform," del Alamo says.



 Read more at: Researchers develop the smallest indium gallium arsenide transistor ever built


---

*Silicon nanophotonics: Using light signals to transmit data *



> An IBM 90nm Silicon Integrated Nanophotonics technology is capable of integrating a photodetector (red feature on the left side of the cube) and modulator (blue feature on the right side) fabricated side-by-side with silicon transistors ( red sparks on the far right). Silicon Nanophotonics circuits and silicon transistors are interconnected with nine levels of yellow metal wires. (Phys.org)&#8212;IBM announced today a major advance in the ability to use light instead of electrical signals to transmit information for future computing. The breakthrough technology &#8211; called "silicon nanophotonics" &#8211; allows the integration of different optical components side-by-side with electrical circuits on a single silicon chip using, for the first time, sub-100nm semiconductor technology.



 Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-12-silicon-nanophotonics-transmit.html#jCp


----------



## Mr. H.

RIGZONE - BP Starts Building World's Biggest Commercial Research Computer

_BP has begun building a new supercomputing complex for commercial research that it claims will be the biggest in the world at its Westlake Campus in Houston, the company reported Friday.

The project is designed to keep BP at the forefront of seismic imaging technology and, the firm said, will be a critical tool in its global hunt for oil and natural gas in coming years._


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Toshiba develops MRAM for smartphone processors*

The Japanese conglomerate says MRAM can replace the SRAM currently used with mobile CPUs

Toshiba develops MRAM for smartphone processors - Computerworld



> .
> IDG News Service - Toshiba has developed a low-power, high-speed version of MRAM memory that it says can cut power consumption in mobile CPUs by two-thirds.
> 
> The company said Monday that its new MRAM (magnetoresistive random access memory) can be used in smartphones as cache memory for mobile processors, replacing the SRAM that is widely used today.
> 
> "Recently, the amount of SRAM used in mobile application processors has been increasing, and this has increased the power usage," said Toshiba spokesman Atsushi Ido.
> 
> "This research is focused on cutting the power consumption, while increasing speed, as opposed to increasing the amount of memory."


----------



## ScienceRocks

*IBM ushers in the age of silicon nanophotonics*




> Years ago IBM began its gradual shift from consumer-facing computer company to focusing more on research targeting "big ideas." Now one of those deep research areas has yielded fruit that could influence the next phase of general computing and it's called silicon nanophotonics.
> 
> The development allows for the integration of electrical circuits alongside optical components on a single silicon chip. The announcement was made in conjunction with this week's IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting in San Francisco. This new combination configuration facilitates data transfers of up to 25 gigabits per second and could improve the efficiency and overall architecture of large data centers. The sub-100nm semiconductor technology was first trumpeted a couple of years ago by IBM Research, but it is only now ready for commercial deployment


IBM ushers in the age of silicon nanophotonics | DVICE


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Engineers develop new magnetoelectric computer memory *



> By using electric voltage instead of a flowing electric current, researchers from UCLA's Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have made major improvements to an ultra-fast, high-capacity class of computer memory known as magnetoresistive random access memory, or MRAM.
> 
> The UCLA team's improved memory, which they call MeRAM for magnetoelectric random access memory, has great potential to be used in future memory chips for almost all electronic applications, including smart-phones, tablets, computers and microprocessors, as well as for data storage, like the solid-state disks used in computers and large data centers. MeRAM's key advantage over existing technologies is that it combines extraordinary low energy with very high density, high-speed reading and writing times, and non-volatility&#8212;the ability to retain data when no power is applied, similar to hard disk drives and flash memory sticks, but MeRAM is much faster.
> 
> With MeRAM, the UCLA team has replaced STT's electric current with voltage to write data into the memory. This eliminates the need to move large numbers of electrons through wires and instead uses voltage&#8212;the difference in electrical potential&#8212;to switch the magnetic bits and write information into the memory. *This has resulted in computer memory that generates much less heat, making it 10 to 1,000 times more energy-efficient. And the memory can be more than five-times as dense, with more bits of information stored in the same physical area, which also brings down the cost per bit.*



 Read more at: Engineers develop new magnetoelectric computer memory


----------



## ScienceRocks

*PhD student creates AI machine that can write video games *
by Bob Yirka Enlarge (Phys.org)&#8212;



> Micheal Cook, a PhD researcher in the Computational Creativity Group at Imperial College in Britain, along with colleagues, has released a video game that was written in part by an Artificial Intelligence (AI) "machine." The video game, called "A Puzzling Present" is the latest co-developed by an AI machine named Angelina.
> 
> Cook et al have been working on ways to program AI machines to write video games and Angelina is the result &#8211; a system made up of various code modules that allow for learning to take place. In the case of Angelina, the learning comes about by examining and borrowing code from existing video games and applying them in unique or novel ways to new games that are being developed. At the heart of the new games are properties known as mechanics &#8211; code that gives characters special characteristics, such as the ability to fly, bounce or jump when commanded to do so by the human player.


 Read more at: PhD student creates AI machine that can write video games


----------



## ScienceRocks

German research could be a route to faster computer chips 

18 December 2012

.


> Researchers in Germany claim to have paved the way for faster and more powerful computer chips by combining two kinds of technology.
> 
> 
> 
> The scientists from two research institutes based in Berlin and Frankfurt have managed to integrate traditional silicon-based circuits with indium-phosphide circuits on a single semiconductor wafer, which could lead to chips that operate at terahertz frequencies without the need to completely replace existing technology.
> 
> These could be used for applications that require large amounts of computing power such as high-resolution imaging systems for medical and security technology, as well as ultra-broadband mobile communication applications.
> 
> &#8216;It was particularly challenging to make both technologies compatible at the interfaces,&#8217; said Wolfgang Heinrich of the Ferdinand-Braun-Institut (FBH), who carried out the research with Bernd Tillack of Innovations for High Performance Microelectronics (IHP).
> 
> &#8216;We managed to align both technology worlds so smoothly that the circuits deliver fully the specified high-frequency performance. This also demonstrates what added value can be created by bundling the competencies of two institutes such as IHP and FBH.&#8217;
> 
> The research is an attempt to address one of the problems with the continuing trend for smaller circuitry driven by the need for more computing power on individual chips.
> 
> When processors using silicon-based CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) circuitry operate at speeds of 100GHz or higher, their breakdown voltage decreases and so their available power output declines.
> 
> This means their capability to generate sufficiently strong signals to establish a radio link and to detect material defects becomes insufficient.
> 
> The IHP and FBH team combined a standard CMOS circuit with a second indium-phosphide circuit in a sandwich-like design, *which it found increased the breakdown voltage and gave higher output powers at high frequencies.*
> 
> Because the technology retains the use of CMOS circuits, future devices using this approach would benefit from the established production methods and low costs of traditional electronics.
> 
> To make the combined chip work, the researchers had to merge the whole development environment of both technologies, including the software for the circuit layout, and ensure very high precision in order to adjust the circuits with an accuracy of less than 10 micrometers. The next steps will be to further stabilise the process and to optimise the circuits.




Read more: German research could be a route to faster computer chips | News | The Engineer


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Small, portable sensors allow users to monitor exposure to pollution on their smart phones*December 18, 2012 




> (Phys.org)&#8212;Computer scientists at the University of California, San Diego have built a small fleet of portable pollution sensors that allow users to monitor air quality in real time on their smart phones. The sensors could be particularly useful to people suffering from chronic conditions, such as asthma, who need to avoid exposure to pollutants.



http://phys.org/news/2012-12-small-portable-sensors-users-exposure.html


----------



## ScienceRocks

*AirHarp uses Leap Motion to let you play music with the air *



> Earlier this year we went hands-on with Leap Motion and its gesture interface that promises to bring the seemingly high-priced dream of Minority Report-style interfaces to the masses. We're still a few months from its official launch, but one developer has already come up with an amazing innovation on the technology called the AirHarp



AirHarp uses Leap Motion to let you play music with the air | DVICE



*Leap Motion giving 10,000 developers free Leaps* 
Startup with revolutionary gesture control technology is giving 10,000 more developers free units, and it is updating its SDK with a new library of pre-defined interaction APIs.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57559110-76/leap-motion-giving-10000-developers-free-leaps/

by Daniel Terdiman 
| December 18, 2012 5:00 AM PST 


> Leap Motion, which created an innovative gesture control technology that measures users' movements to an accuracy of a hundredth of a millimeter, is expanding its developer program and releasing a new software development kit.
> 
> According to Michael Buckwald, CEO of the San Francisco startup, Leap Motion is giving 10,000 developers free Leap units over the next two weeks in a bid to dramatically increase the number of potential applications being designed to work with the new technology.
> 
> 
> All told, 40,000 people have applied to be part of Leap Motion's developer program, in part because the number of potential applications that could integrate the company's gesture control technology is almost limitless.
> 
> When Leap Motion first announced its technology, it expected the Leap would be ideal for disrupting industries like surgery, gaming, architecture, design, engineering, and more. But almost from the get-go, some of the most interesting projects developers were suggesting involved things like automatically translate sign language.
> 
> Some developers proposed using the Leap to fly planes or drive cars, or to support physical rehabilitation and special needs. More than 400 people suggested using the Leap in computer-aided design software -- the same computing challenge that led Leap co-founder and CTO David Holz to begin creating the technology in 2008.
> 
> Leap Motion has said that 14 percent of developers want to do gaming-related applications, while 12 percent want to use the technology for music or video applications, 11 percent for art and design, 8 percent for science and medicine, and 6 percent for robotics. At launch, the company plans an Apple-style app store, and more than 90 percent of developers asking for SDKs want to sell their work through such a store. All told, developers have proposed more than 40,000 different applications.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Now this technology could be huge!
Click to expand...


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Smartphone 'Lab' Detects Allergens in Food*





> The iTube is a new smartphone add-on, still in its prototype stage, that lets anybody test food for allergens such as peanuts using their phones.
> 
> 
> A smartphone that can be transformed into a lab with the ability to detect food allergens is the latest in add-on technology from inventor Aydogan Ozcan. He and his researchers are creating prototypes of these devices that turn the phones into precise lab instruments.
> 
> The iTube, Ozcan and his colleagues' new device, converts smartphones into colorimeters that are able to detect minute amounts of allergens, such as peanuts, in food. It's designed for use at home or in public, such as at a restaurant, said Ozcan, an engineering professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.



Smartphone 'Lab' Detects Allergens in Food | TechNewsDaily.com



*LG refreshes Magic Remote with Siri-style speech smarts*
Chris Davies, Dec 19th 2012 Discuss [0] 

http://www.slashgear.com/lg-refreshes-magic-remote-with-siri-style-speech-smarts-19261595/


> LG knows you scream at your TV, but now it wants some good to come from it, with a new version of its Magic Remote that can control not only an LG smart TV but other A/V kit in your rack too. The updated lounge wand now supports conversational commands, meaning you can ask for specific content &#8211; such as &#8220;Show me Call Me Maybe videos&#8221; &#8211; and it will know what you&#8217;re asking for.
> 
> 
> That&#8217;s all down to LG&#8217;s new Natural Language Recognition software, which does some Siri-style parsing to understand exactly what you&#8217;re asking for. Though the previous version could follow basic voice commands, it did so in a more step-wise fashion: first ask for the source, then ask for the search term, and then refine after that.
> 
> LG&#8217;s new Magic Remote keeps the gesture control, as well as the pointing feature which allows you to navigate the TV&#8217;s UI simply by waving it around &#8211; you can choose a channel number by tracing it in the air, for instance &#8211; and there&#8217;s also a scroll-wheel for zipping quickly through lists. The buttons are backlit,and the whole thing is smaller and more ergonomically curved, which LG says makes for easier use.



WOW, holy shit. Some cool stuff is hitting the market!


----------



## ScienceRocks

DIY augmented reality eyepatch boosts senses
Chris Davies, Dec 19th 2012 Discuss [0] 

 Rate This



> Augmented reality has blown up in 2012 thanks to Google&#8217;s Project Glass, but a DIY eyepiece likened to a hearing aid for those without 3D vision shows there&#8217;s more to wearables than recording point-of-view video. Gregory McRoberts&#8216; Borg-like DIY eyepatch augments his vision with senses humans wouldn&#8217;t normally be blessed with: the ability to &#8220;see&#8221; temperature and precise distance.


DIY augmented reality eyepatch boosts senses - SlashGear


----------



## ScienceRocks

*The &#8220;Z Space&#8221; display, developed by Californian company Infinite Z, tracks a user&#8217;s eye and hand movements and adjusts the 3-D image that he or she sees in real-time, MIT Technology Review reports.*



> The resulting effect is stunning. Unlike the 3-D video seen in a movie theater or on a 3-D TV, you can move your head around an object &#8212; to look it from the side or from below, for instance &#8212; and the Z Space display will adapt and show you the correct perspective.
> 
> The technique, which the company calls &#8220;Virtual Holographic 3-D,&#8221; also lets you manipulate virtual objects as if they really were floating just inches in front of you.
> 
> A special stylus connected to the display also contains sensors that allow its movement to be tracked in three dimensions. You can use the stylus to &#8220;grab&#8221; parts of the virtual image in front of you and move them around in 3-D space.



A display that makes interactive 3D seem mind-bogglingly real | KurzweilAI

If Obama doesn't screw things up...We can expect some cool stuff to hit the market over the next 10-15 years.


----------



## ScienceRocks

Artificial intelligence helps sort used batteries 


Wed, 12/19/2012 - 12:07pm 

Artificial intelligence helps sort used batteries | News | R&D Magazine


> Research at the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers University of Technology has resulted in a new type of machine that sorts used batteries by means of artificial intelligence (AI). One machine is now being used in the U.K., sorting one-third of the country&#8217;s recycled batteries.
> 
> &#8216;I got the idea at home when I was sorting rubbish. I thought it should be possible to do it automatically with artificial intelligence,&#8217; says Claes Strannegård, who is an AI researcher at the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers University of Technology.
> 
> Strannegård contacted the publically owned recycling company Renova in Gothenburg, who were positive to an R&D project concerning automatic sorting of collected batteries. The collaboration resulted in a machine that uses computerized optical recognition to sort up to ten batteries per second.
> 
> The sorting is made possible by the machine&#8217;s so-called neural network, which can be thought of as an artificial nervous system. Just like a human brain, the neural network must be trained to do what it is supposed to do. In this case, the machine has been trained to recognize about 2,000 different types of batteries by taking pictures of them from all possible angles.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*On-Demand Synaptic Electronics: Circuits That Learn and Forget*



On-Demand Synaptic Electronics: Circuits That Learn and Forget | ZeitNews



> Researchers in Japan and the US propose a nanoionic device with a range of neuromorphic and electrical multifunctions that may allow the fabrication of on-demand configurable circuits, analog memories and digital-neural fused networks in one device architecture.
> 
> Synaptic devices that mimic the learning and memory processes in living organisms are attracting avid interest as an alternative to standard computing elements that may help extend Moore's law beyond current physical limits.
> 
> However so far artificial synaptic systems have been hampered by complex fabrication requirements and limitations in the learning and memory functions they mimic. Now Rui Yang, Kazuya Terabe and colleagues at the National Institute for Materials Science in Japan and the University of California, Los Angeles, in the US have developed two-, three-terminal WO3-x-based nanoionic devices capable of a broad range of neuromorphic and electrical functions.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*All Systems Go for Highest Altitude Supercomputer *

Fri, 12/21/2012 - 12:42pm 


News | Product Design & Development



> One of the most powerful supercomputers in the world has now been fully installed and tested at its remote, high altitude site in the Andes of northern Chile. This marks one of the major remaining milestones toward completion of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), the most elaborate ground-based telescope in history. The special-purpose ALMA correlator has over 134 million processors and performs up to 17 quadrillion operations per second, a speed comparable to the fastest general-purpose supercomputer in operation today.
> 
> The correlator is a critical component of ALMA, an astronomical telescope which is composed of an array of 66 dish-shaped antennas. The correlator's 134 million processors continually combine and compare faint celestial signals received by the antennas in the ALMA array, which are separated by up to 16 kilometres, enabling the antennas to work together as a single, enormous telescope. The information collected by each antenna must be combined with that from every other antenna. At the correlator's maximum capacity of 64 antennas [1] as many as 17 quadrillion calculations every second must be performed [2].* The correlator was built specifically for this task, but the number of calculations per second is comparable to the performance of the fastest general-purpose supercomputers in the world* [3].


----------



## ScienceRocks

*PA Consulting creates mobile basestation with Raspberry Pi*
Brittany Hillen, Dec 22nd 2012 Discuss [0] 



> PA Consulting has created a mobile phone basestation using the Raspberry Pi. In doing so, they replaced a giant 30-foot GSM cell basestation that is scarcely larger than your Internet modem. The consulting group based in Cambridge, UK, detail briefly how they achieved this in a video that you can watch after the jump.
> 
> According to the consulting firm&#8217;s team, a variety of wireless experts using the Raspberry Pi, a radio interface, and a couple pieces of open source software create the mobile basestation. As you can see in the video, the team uses two cell phones and successfully has them communicate with each other. The purpose?
> 
> To show that it can be done, and for a very small price. &#8220;We&#8217;ve shrunk a 30ft basestation into a 3-inch Raspberry Pi and created our own mobile phone network. This proves what can be achieved through low cost, off the shelf systems.&#8221; Of course, they had to do this in a screened room in order to avoid running afoul of the law.
> 
> The system is run using three applications: OpenBTS, FreeSWITCH, and a script for assigning telephone numbers. OpenBTS is used for providing the GSM standard, while FreeSWITCH is used to route calls &#8220;in a similar way to Skype,&#8221; the consulting firm explains. *Condescending a 30-foot tower into a 3-inch Raspberry Pi is perhaps the epitome of demonstrating low-cost solutions for the future*.


PA Consulting creates mobile basestation with Raspberry Pi - SlashGear


----------



## ScienceRocks

*LuminAR Bulb turns any surface into a touch screen*



> A new computer being developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology can display interactive images on any surface, just by screwing into a light socket.
> 
> The team behind the device &#8211; led by student Natan Linder &#8211; aims to create "a new form factor for a compact and kinetic projected augmented reality interface."
> 
> LuminAR combines a laser pico-projector, camera and wireless computer, with software that can recognise objects and sense when a finger or hand is touching the surface. It also functions as a scanner with built-in wi-fi.
> 
> The project was developed through 2010, and demonstrated earlier this year at the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. The team has now released a video of its design evolution and potential commercial applications


:
LuminAR Bulb turns any surface into a touch screen


----------



## ScienceRocks

Tobii's eye tracker REX will showcase at CES (w/ video)
January 3, 2013 by Nancy Owano  



> (Phys.org)&#8212;Tobii Technology is introducing the REX, a USB-connected peripheral that works with Tobii's software Gaze. The Stockholm-based company will show its REX device for Windows 8 at the CES show in Las Vegas, from January 8. Visitors will see how REX offers an eye-tracking difference in the way that desktop and laptop users can manage their screen images, pages and content. One example is a computer user looking at an app for its launch and then just tapping once on the touchpad. The eye-tracking technology from Tobii is designed to use eye positioning to help control the computer, but working in combination with, rather than replacing, other controls such as touch, mouse and keyboard. The user will still find the mouse useful for interacting, but the eyes will handle movements across the screen.



http://phys.org/news/2013-01-tobii-eye-tracker-rex-showcase.html


----------



## Mr. H.

Why not open an app by blinking instead of having to tap the touchpad.


----------



## ScienceRocks

Mr. H. said:


> Why not open an app by blinking instead of having to tap the touchpad.



That would be a good idea.


*Leaping off: Asus and Leap Motion tie knot for laptops, all-in-ones *

Leaping off: Asus and Leap Motion tie knot for laptops, all-in-ones | DVICE

The Leap Motion sensor



> A gesture-filled Windows 8 experience is headed your way before we ring in 2014. Asus, seeking an advantage for its high-end laptops and desktops, has inked a deal with Leap Motion. The Taiwanese giant and the Californian start-up have already begun integrating Leap's gesture-based sensor system into PCs.
> 
> Leap told The Verge that the company is working at full capacity to meet orders for Asus, developers and consumers who pre-ordered the device. Leap also hinted that deals with other manufacturers were in the works. That's great news for Leap, but it potentially erodes the advantage Asus is seeking to add to its line of Zenbooks and ET series of computers.



Now imagine 15 feet away moving your finger at your t.v to play on the internet?


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Germanium transistor could increase speed of computers*

3 January 2013



> An experimental design for electronics components made from conventional materials could provide a new way to increase the speed of computers.
> 
> Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology&#8217;s (MIT&#8217;s) Microsystems Technology Laboratories (MTL) have developed a type of transistor that is twice as fast as previous experimental models and almost four times as fast as the best commercial equivalent.
> 
> The new p-type transistor is made from germanium, alloys of which are already found in commercial microchips, so germanium transistors could be easier to integrate into existing chip-manufacturing processes than those made from more exotic materials.


Read more: Germanium transistor could increase speed of computers | News | The Engineer


----------



## ScienceRocks

Quartz could save data for about 300 million years


> Ever pop in that old Hanson cassette tape only to find it doesn't play quite as well as it once did? Perhaps the "mmm's" in "MMMBop" are a bit scratchy, or the thing won't play well at all. That's because magnetic tape degrades over time, but it's what most research labs use to store data. Quartz might prove to be the end of that, however.
> 
> Hitachi got together with Kyoto University's Kiyotaka Miura and created "semiperpetual" slivers of quartz glass, which might not sound interesting until you consider this: the stuff can hold data for hundreds of millions of years without degrading one bit. "MMMBop" would never lose its luster.




Quartz could save data for about 300 million years | DVICE


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Vuzix Smart Glasses M100 hands-on*
Chris Davies, Jan 6th 2013 Discuss [0] 



> Google&#8217;s Project Glass may have made the augmented reality headlines in 2012, but Vuzix&#8217;s Smart Glasses M100 is set to be the first wearable on sale in 2013. Packing a full Android-based computer in a headpiece, with an eye-mounted 800 x 480 display and both Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity, the M100 is at CES 2013 in prototype form, ahead of a launch at &#8220;under $500&#8243; later in the year. Read on for our hands-on first impressions.



Vuzix Smart Glasses M100 hands-on - SlashGear


----------



## ScienceRocks

*New Chip Adds Kinect-Like Control to More Gadgets*


Michael Gowan, TechNewsDaily contributor 

January 03 2013 09:00 AM ET


New Chip Adds Kinect-Like Control to More Gadgets | TechNewsDaily.com



> Remember when controlling a character in a video game by moving your body seemed amazing? Now get ready to use gestures to interact with more digital devices.
> 
> PrimeSense, the company whose technology powers Microsoft's motion-reading Xbox Kinect device, has released a new, smaller version of its 3D sensor, which promises to bring gesture control to TVs, tablets, even smartphones. The new sensor is small enough to be embedded into the devices, eliminating the need for a separate unit as with Kinect.
> 
> The newest sensor, called Capri, is one-tenth the size of the current-generation technology. And because the sensor will be less expensive, it could appear in more situations. PrimeSense will first demonstrate it to the public at the Consumer Electronics Show, which begins next week in Las Vegas.


----------



## ScienceRocks

Samsung unveils gesture-control TVs at gadget show
January 7, 2013 by Ryan Nakashima 


> New TVs from Samsung will recognize an expanded range of gestures so people can swipe through on-screen menus in a way that revolutionizes the old remote control.
> 
> Samsung Electronics Co., the Korean electronics maker that is successfully challenging Apple in smartphones, touts the new user interface as faster and more intuitive than before.
> 
> Samsung said Monday that the new interface will be a feature of upcoming smart TVs. In addition, certain high-end Samsung smart TVs sold since last year can be upgraded with an add-on kit&#8212;complete with the required quad-core processor&#8212;that will be sold separately for a few hundred dollars


Samsung unveils gesture-control TVs at gadget show


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Kingston: Behold the 1-terabyte flash drive*



> Available sometime this quarter, the DataTraveler HyperX Predator will offer a whopping terabyte of storage with USB 3.0.
> 
> 
> Want to back up your entire computer and more on a single flash drive? You'll be able to do that courtesy of the latest gadget from Kingston.
> 
> The DataTraveler HyperX Predator 3.0 USB flash drive is currently shipping with 512 gigabytes of storage. But the next generation due out this quarter will ramp up the capacity to a full terabyte, making it the largest USB drive available on the market.
> 
> Kingston is also touting the drive as fast. With SuperSpeed USB 3.0 support, the HyperX Predator offers transfer speeds of up to 240MB per second when reading data and up to 160MB per second when writing data. And with a zinc alloy metal casing, the drive is made to be durable as well. It also comes with a five-year warranty.


Kingston: Behold the 1-terabyte flash drive | Internet & Media - CNET News


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Delphi upgrades your 'dumb' car to a smart one*

Delphi upgrades your 'dumb' car to a smart one | DVICE



> With cars as with televisions, the main drawback manufacturers face when introducing the latest high-tech features is that consumers don't upgrade these big-ticket items frequently. Instead, people opt for cheaper DIY options that prolong the lifespan of otherwise dated technology. When it comes to television, that alternative was a set-top box. Meet the Roku of the car world.
> 
> Hot off the heels of a partnership with Verizon, Delphi at CES showed off its Vehicle Diagnostics, a plug-and-play device that transforms "dumb" cars into smart ones. Connecting to the vehicle's OBD II diagnostic port, which exists on all vehicles manufactured since 1996 &#8212; making this sort of like the USB drive of cars &#8212; the CMDA-enabled auto accessory can:
> 
> Locate your car (like Find My iPhone, except for your auto) Set up alerts when entering or leaving a preset geo-fenced area Send alerts about your vehicle's status, from fuel levels to engine health Diagnose issues based on your car's trouble codes Allow you to control your car remotely That last one in particular is most intriguing, replicating your car's key fob on the app. Based on how advanced your vehicle is, this means you could lock and unlock the doors, pop open the trunk, sound the alarm and start the engine from anywhere in the world so long as you have a data connection. "Your key fob went from a range of 100 feet to unlimited range," said Craig Tieman, advanced concepts and market develop manager at Delphi. Say goodbye to keys accidentally locked in the car.
> 
> In the event you want to communicate with your car but are in a reception dead zone, you can also connect via a modified Bluetooth technology that allows for faster response time of about six seconds. In contrast, standard Bluetooth typically takes a minute, Tieman said.
> 
> With a system that can be updated over the air, Delphi intends to add more capabilities, such as route tracking or alerts when the car alarm goes off, to Vehicle Diagnostics and the accompanying app.
> 
> Specifics on pricing weren't available, but Tieman said each unit sold will include two years of service. Overall though, we're excited about the promise this simple gadget holds. Maybe this can stave off plans to replace that clunker by a few years. At the very least, the device will tell you what's wrong with it.


----------



## Mr. H.

Matthew said:


> *Delphi upgrades your 'dumb' car to a smart one*
> 
> Delphi upgrades your 'dumb' car to a smart one | DVICE
> 
> 
> 
> 
> With cars as with televisions, the main drawback manufacturers face when introducing the latest high-tech features is that consumers don't upgrade these big-ticket items frequently. Instead, people opt for cheaper DIY options that prolong the lifespan of otherwise dated technology. When it comes to television, that alternative was a set-top box. Meet the Roku of the car world.
> 
> Hot off the heels of a partnership with Verizon, Delphi at CES showed off its Vehicle Diagnostics, a plug-and-play device that transforms "dumb" cars into smart ones. Connecting to the vehicle's OBD II diagnostic port, which exists on all vehicles manufactured since 1996  making this sort of like the USB drive of cars  the CMDA-enabled auto accessory can:
> 
> Locate your car (like Find My iPhone, except for your auto) Set up alerts when entering or leaving a preset geo-fenced area Send alerts about your vehicle's status, from fuel levels to engine health Diagnose issues based on your car's trouble codes Allow you to control your car remotely That last one in particular is most intriguing, replicating your car's key fob on the app. Based on how advanced your vehicle is, this means you could lock and unlock the doors, pop open the trunk, sound the alarm and start the engine from anywhere in the world so long as you have a data connection. "Your key fob went from a range of 100 feet to unlimited range," said Craig Tieman, advanced concepts and market develop manager at Delphi. Say goodbye to keys accidentally locked in the car.
> 
> In the event you want to communicate with your car but are in a reception dead zone, you can also connect via a modified Bluetooth technology that allows for faster response time of about six seconds. In contrast, standard Bluetooth typically takes a minute, Tieman said.
> 
> With a system that can be updated over the air, Delphi intends to add more capabilities, such as route tracking or alerts when the car alarm goes off, to Vehicle Diagnostics and the accompanying app.
> 
> Specifics on pricing weren't available, but Tieman said each unit sold will include two years of service. Overall though, we're excited about the promise this simple gadget holds. Maybe this can stave off plans to replace that clunker by a few years. At the very least, the device will tell you what's wrong with it.
Click to expand...


Now this...

is brilliant.


----------



## ScienceRocks

Elliptic Labs uses ultrasound for touchless gesture control



> The Silicon Valley startup shows off its new technology at CES and discusses its plans to partner with computer makers, as well as its software development kit.
> 
> LAS VEGAS--Touch screens are so last year.
> 
> These days, touchless gesture control is the hot thing. Just last week, San Francisco startup Leap Motion, which developed a motion-control technology with sub-millimeter accuracy, announced a $30 million B round of funding. And at CES here, there are multiple companies showing off technology that lets users control their computers with little or no physical contact with a screen or a mouse.
> 
> One of them is Palo Alto, Calif.-based Elliptic Labs, which has pioneered an ultrasound-based touchless gesture control system. In a demo for CNET, Elliptic showed off its Windows 8 Gesture suite, technology designed to make it possible to control Microsoft's new operating system without touching the screen.
> 
> 
> 
> The technology works by detecting echoes of signals put out by a series of ultrasonic transmitters as they reflect off a user's hands. That means that a user can control activity on the computer -- in this case, a prototype laptop -- from in front of the screen, or even off to its side. Elliptic Labs said that is one advantage of its approach over touchless gesture control systems that rely on cameras to capture users' movements. Another advantage over camera-based systems is that it is far more energy efficient, the company said.
> 
> According to Elliptic Labs product manager Morgan Kjolerbakken, the Windows 8 Gesture suite allows users to do all the basic Windows 8 gestures -- such as swiping, scrolling, or making selections, without touching the screen. A slight delay is built into the system, he said, so that it doesn't mistake typing for a touchless gesture.


 Elliptic Labs uses ultrasound for touchless gesture control | Cutting Edge - CNET News


I think the smart t.v at 20 feet away is the best use of a future "long range" type of this. Personally, I'd have 1# Voice control telling the t.v when you want to use your hand to play on the net, or 2# A sign that you make with your hand. This would stop it from doing things when you don't want it to do it.

This could advance smart t.v internet functions. Not so much charging the channel in which I'd add voice control. 

Say "Channel" with # and it will take you to it. This I don't see much future for it unless it has a pop up menu.
Another could be volume
----


That's how I'd develop a smart t.v of the future. You could easily take this idea and expand it into a smart home...
-Climate control
-lock or unlock doors
-lights on or off

Voice command is going to have a big place. Gesture control is only to fuck with the internet from 20 feet away...I don't see the point at 4 inches away.




*Voice recognition will make touch obsolete, Intel exec says*

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-5...ion-will-make-touch-obsolete-intel-exec-says/



> Intel Senior Vice President Mooly Eden tells CNET that other forms of "perceptual computing" will change computing as we know it. And they may not be as far away as they seem.
> 
> LAS VEGAS -- Watch out, touch screens. You may be hot now, but one Intel executive predicts voice recognition will eventually make you obsolete.
> 
> Mooly Eden, the Intel senior vice president who oversees the company's "perceptual computing" operations, told CNET today that voice recognition will do to touch what touch has done to physical keyboards -- making many things unnecessary.
> 
> "Voice is the best means of communication between humans," Eden said. "We finally have enough compute power to do what we want from science fiction."
> 
> Intel is working with partners on complete systems for such devices, including the hardware (run by an Intel processor, of course), software, cameras, and other features. It's still early days, Eden said, but voice, for example, could overtake touch in as little as three to five years.
> 
> Eden demoed features like an eye-tracking "Where's Waldo" game (the camera knows exactly where the eyes are focused) and other games that follow hands and let them do things like pick up and drop virtual objects.
> 
> Other possibilities in the future include computers that can perform real-time translation when two people are speaking, as well as movies that change plot based on where the eyes are moving. For example, if someone looks away every time there's blood, the movie may adjust to include less gore.
> 
> "Everything is going to be immersive," Eden said. "I'd like you to work with the computer the same way you work with me.... I want you to say 'I'm not ashamed that I love my computer.'"
> 
> "Imagine how many people who are afraid of computers will be able to use them," he added.



Voice is going to have its place but touch is here to stay! 
Voice like I said above is going to be huge, but touch and gesture is going to have a big place.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Revolutionary paper tablet computer revealed: Thin and flexible as sheets of paper (w/ video)*
January 9, 2013 




> School of Computing professor Roel Vertegaal is working with Intel and Plastic Logic to develop a paper-thin, flexible computer tablet.
> 
> (Phys.org)Watch out tablet lovers  a flexible paper computer developed at Queen's University in collaboration with Plastic Logic and Intel Labs will revolutionize the way people work with tablets and computers.
> 
> The PaperTab tablet looks and feels just like a sheet of paper. However, it is fully interactive with a flexible, high-resolution 10.7-inch plastic display developed by Plastic Logic and a flexible touchscreen. It is powered by the second generation I5 Core processor developed by Intel.
> 
> Instead of using several apps or windows on a single display, users have ten or more interactive displays or "PaperTabs": one per app in use.


Revolutionary paper tablet computer revealed: Thin and flexible as sheets of paper (w/ video)


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Eyes-on with Innovega's augmented reality eyewear from the future*



> You remember that magical "One Day" video that Google created to show off its Google Glass concept? Yeah, too bad it was all fake, because it's not physically possible for your eye to focus on so much detail that close. Unless, of course, you hack your eye.
> 
> This is what Innovega has done, and at CES, the company is showing a functional prototype that looks to be quite a bit further along than what we've seen from Google Glass.
> 
> The reason that we'll never have eyeglasses that can project video is that you just can't focus on something at the distance of the lens of a conventional pair of glasses. Go on, try it. You'll just give yourself a headache. There are two ways to sort of fake it: giant lenses and high resolution screens like you'll find on the Oculus Rift, or chunky optics and a low resolution projected display, like Google Glass has.
> 
> The way Innovega gets around this problem is by modifying your eyeballs to focus much, much closer. Innovega has developed a special contact lens called iOptik that is completely transparent, except that it can refocus polarized light (like the light from a display) so that you have no problems seeing it. And it's not an either-or thing: with the contact lenses in, the world looks completely normal, except that you can suddenly see a high resolution display that's projected on a pair of glasses, superimposed transparently across up to 120 degrees of your field of view.
> 
> A year ago, Innovega just had the contact lens and a proof of concept system, but the company made a lot of progress since then. This year, it's showing off an actual prototype of the glasses as well. It's almost fully functional: the last piece of the puzzle is to develop optics that will allow the projectors on the sides of the glasses to bounce the image sideways off the lenses without distortion. Relative to what Innovega has pulled off so far, this seems like a pretty minor thing, and they'll have a completed prototype up and running later this year.
> 
> As a demonstration, Innovega set up a mannequin head with the glasses and a contact lens, plus a camera where the eye would be. This image shows the view through the camera, looking through the lens at the image projected on the glasses:
> 
> We just want to emphasize that while Innovega's concept video is very similar to Google's concept video for glass, the key difference is that this thing is achievable in less than a year using Innovega's current hardware, while Google is (as far as we know) nowhere near that close with the current incarnation of Glass. You can see it in the sample footage: it's not as elegant as what Google's fantasizing about, but that's largely fantasy, and Innovega's iOptik display is real, right now.


Eyes-on with Innovega's augmented reality eyewear from the future | DVICE

!


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Sharp provides a glimpse of the future*



> The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) &#8211; the biggest technology exhibition of the year &#8211; is currently underway in Las Vegas. Among the companies present is Sharp, which has just released a video exploring the future possibilities of "IGZO", a new semiconducting material that has already begun to appear in its products.
> 
> 
> IGZO stands for "Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide" and is used as the channel for a transparent thin-film transistor. It replaces amorphous silicon for the active layer of an LCD screen, and, with 40 times higher electron mobility than amorphous silicon, allows either smaller pixels (for screen resolutions higher than HDTV), or much higher reaction speeds for a screen. It is ultra-responsive to touch, drastically minimising the noise caused during touch input. This allows for quick, easy and more natural-feeling writing and smooth lines. It is also far more energy efficient, maintaining onscreen data for a period of time without refreshing the data, even when the current is off.
> 
> Sharp is the first company to successfully mass produce IGZO. In April 2012, it was announced that they would be producing bulk volumes of 32-inch 3840×2160, 10-inch 2560×1600 and 7-inch 1280x800 panels. In addition to IGZO, Sharp is showcasing a range of other next-generation TVs and devices &#8211; including its 2013 AQUOS® LED TV lineup, featuring the world's biggest LED TV (90" diagonal).
> 
> Toshi Osawa, the CEO and Chairman of Sharp: "Whether in your home or in your hand, display technology is everywhere. From game changing IGZO, to stunning Ultra HD products, and large screen televisions, the introductions we are making at CES 2013 will advance people's lives at home, work and everywhere in between."


Sharp provides a glimpse of the future


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Displair gives you a touchscreen out of thin air (video)*
Displair gives you a touchscreen out of thin air (video) | TechHive



> LAS VEGASYou can build more than you might expect with just a little bit of air flow and two microns of water. Like a virtual touchscreen display that appears out of nowhere. That's what Displair can boast anyway, with one of the more eye-catching demos I saw at CES 2013.
> 
> Air flows out of the device, interacting with water drops to form a screen where you can beam images from a computer or tablet. But this is no mere projection screen, it's a fully interactive display, as I found it when I was able to play a game of Fruit Ninja just by waving my hand across the Displair's virtual screen.
> 
> Displair's Alexander Chachava touted the device's energy efficiency and eco-friendly features when we talked. And it's certainly cleaner than a regular display. It's kind of hard to leave smudges on a screen made up of air, after all.



Holy, holy shit!!!


----------



## ScienceRocks

Qubit control method bodes well for future of quantum computing 


Tue, 01/15/2013 - 11:25am 

by 
Eric Gershon 



> An innovation by Yale University physicists offers scientists greater control in the volatile realm of quantum mechanics and greatly improves the prospects of quantum computing. Quantum computers would be exponentially faster than the most powerful computers of today. Credit: Yale UniversityYale University scientists have found a way to observe quantum information while preserving its integrity, an achievement that offers researchers greater control in the volatile realm of quantum mechanics and greatly improves the prospects of quantum computing.
> 
> Quantum computers would be exponentially faster than the most powerful computers of today.
> 
> &#8220;Our experiment is a dress rehearsal for a type of process essential for quantum computing,&#8221; said Michel Devoret, the Frederick William Beinecke Professor of Applied Physics & Physics at Yale and principal investigator of research published Jan. 11 in the journal Science. &#8220;What this experiment really allows is an active understanding of quantum mechanics. It&#8217;s one thing to stare at a theoretical formula and it&#8217;s another thing to be able to control a real quantum object.&#8221;
> 
> In quantum systems, microscopic units called qubits represent information. Qubits can assume either of two states&#8212;&#8220;0&#8221; or &#8220;1&#8221;&#8212;or both simultaneously. Correctly recognizing, interpreting, and tracking their state is necessary for quantum computing. However, the act of monitoring them usually damages their information content.
> 
> The Yale physicists successfully devised a new, non-destructive measurement system for observing, tracking and documenting all changes in a qubit&#8217;s state, thus preserving the qubit&#8217;s informational value. In principle, the scientists said, this should allow them to monitor the qubit&#8217;s state in order to correct for random errors



Qubit control method bodes well for future of quantum computing | News | R&D Magazine


----------



## ScienceRocks

Google Glass patent hints at laser-projected keypad on your hand

Google Glass patent hints at laser-projected keypad on your hand | DVICE


> Tweet Laser-projected keyboards have been around forever. But laser keyboards projected onto the palm of your hand from Google's Project Glass? That's new.
> 
> In most cases, blinks, nods and voice control will be sufficient for taking photos and sharing them to Google+ and such. However, Google might have a solution for more advanced forms of input.
> 
> A new Google patent filed on June 26, 2012, but only recently made public suggests the $1,500 glasses may use a camera and projector to project a virtual keyboard on your hand.
> 
> According to the patent abstract:
> 
> 
> "The present application discloses systems and methods for a virtual input device. In one example, the virtual input device includes a projector and a camera. The projector projects a pattern onto a surface. The camera captures images that can be interpreted by a processor to determine actions. The projector may be mounted on an arm of a pair of eyeglasses and the camera may be mounted on an opposite arm of the eyeglasses. A pattern for a virtual input device can be projected onto a "display hand" of a user, and the camera may be able to detect when the user uses an opposite hand to select items of the virtual input device. In another example, the camera may detect when the display hand is moving and interpret display hand movements as inputs to the virtual input device, and/or realign the projection onto the moving display hand."


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Code of life becomes databank*

Thursday, 24 January 2013 
AFP

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



> DNA data storage would be appropriate for data that would be stored for between 500 and 5,000 years, such as a doomsday encyclopaedia of knowledge and culture(Source: alengo/iStockphoto)
> 
> Scientists have announced a breakthrough in the quest to turn DNA into a revolutionary form of data storage.
> 
> A speck of synthesized DNA can hold mountains of data that can be freeze-dried, shipped and stored, potentially for thousands of years, they say.
> 
> The contents are "read" by sequencing the DNA - as is routinely done today, in genetic fingerprinting - and turning it back into computer code.



Code of life becomes databank  News in Science (ABC Science)


----------



## ScienceRocks

Storing data in individual molecules: Molecular memory near room temperature
January 23, 2013 by Larry Hardesty 



> The new molecules are known as 'graphene fragments,' because they largely consist of flat sheets of carbon (which are attached to zinc atoms). That makes them easier to align during deposition, which could simplify the manufacture of molecular memories. Credit: Christine Daniloff/MIT
> 
> Moore's law&#8212;the well-known doubling of computer chips' computational power every 18 months or so&#8212;has been paced by a similarly steady increase in the storage capacity of disk drives. In 1980, a hard drive could store about a half-megabyte of data in a square inch of disk space; now, manufacturers are closing in on a million megabytes of data per square inch.



Storing data in individual molecules: Molecular memory near room temperature


----------



## Soggy in NOLA

Question:

I have new Dell XPS with Win 8 and I've learned to navigate it it fine, but I find  the new Win 8 Start Screen to be very anoying... people tell me to buy Start8 and use it as it returns Win 8 back to a Win 7 style... anyone familiar with this product?


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Smart floor produces a virtual mirror world you can control*

Adario Strange

Thursday, January 24, 2013 - 1:28pm

Smart floor produces a virtual mirror world you can control | DVICE



> Some of the most important innovations start out as projects that, at first, don't look particularly useful or practical. That might be the thought to keep in mind as you familiarize yourself with GravitySpace, and interactive floor that mirrors the movements and physical dynamics of the people standing on it.
> 
> Developed at the Hasso Plattner Institute in Germany, with support from Microsoft Research in Cambridge, U.K., the pressure-sensitive floor acts as a kind of virtual mirror by displaying computer-generated versions of the people standing on it, and mimicking that person's actions in real-time.
> 
> The glass floor uses a high-resolution projector and infrared LEDs to detect footsteps and other objects to produce the effect, which at this stage is still a bit laggy in terms of tracking motion rapidly. The research group envisions the prototype system as a way to control household functions, and as a possible interface for future gaming applications.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*2.5 Million Computers Give PetaFLOP/s Power to Einstein@Home, Other Projects*


2.5 Million Computers Give PetaFLOP/s Power to Einstein@Home, Other Projects | Singularity Hub


> In early 2013, a distributed computing project called Einstein@Home registered a petaFLOP/s (10^15 floating-point operations per second) of computing power for the first time. Considering that Einstein@Home is a volunteer network of personal computers crunching numbers in their downtime&#8212;that&#8217;s quite a feat. What&#8217;s even more remarkable is Einstein@Home isn&#8217;t the first to make a petaFLOP/s.
> 
> You might be thinking, of course it isn&#8217;t. IBM&#8217;s Roadrunner supercomputer was the first back in June 2008. And you&#8217;d be off by eight months. In fact, the distributed computing network Folding@Home first recorded a petaFLOP/s in September 2007.
> 
> As home computers have become near ubiquitous, unused computing power has risen in tandem. Just think how often your laptop is asleep on your desk. So, why let all those idle processors go to waste? Einstein@Home&#8212;a web of over 335,000 private personal computers&#8212;and other projects like it aim to put lazy machines to work.


----------



## Mr. H.

Matthew said:


> *2.5 Million Computers Give PetaFLOP/s Power to Einstein@Home, Other Projects*
> 
> 
> 2.5 Million Computers Give PetaFLOP/s Power to Einstein@Home, Other Projects | Singularity Hub
> 
> 
> 
> In early 2013, a distributed computing project called Einstein@Home registered a petaFLOP/s (10^15 floating-point operations per second) of computing power for the first time. Considering that Einstein@Home is a volunteer network of personal computers crunching numbers in their downtimethats quite a feat. Whats even more remarkable is Einstein@Home isnt the first to make a petaFLOP/s.
> 
> You might be thinking, of course it isnt. IBMs Roadrunner supercomputer was the first back in June 2008. And youd be off by eight months. In fact, the distributed computing network Folding@Home first recorded a petaFLOP/s in September 2007.
> 
> As home computers have become near ubiquitous, unused computing power has risen in tandem. Just think how often your laptop is asleep on your desk. So, why let all those idle processors go to waste? Einstein@Homea web of over 335,000 private personal computersand other projects like it aim to put lazy machines to work.
Click to expand...


This reminds me of the SETI distributed computing project. I loaned out my computer's down time about 15 years ago. Gave it up after a few. 

Joined up 'cause I had a crush on Jodi Foster. 

Yeah she's gay. But she's also hot.


----------



## ScienceRocks

"Scientists at University College London (UCL) ( the univeristy who accepted me for my Phd) have created a self-healing computer, a revolutionary new computer based on the apparent chaos of nature can reprogram itself if it finds a fault. The systemic machine, according to a report in the New Scientist, can instantly recover corrupted data. The invention is expected to have far-reaching consequences for physicians and the military. It could allow drones to recover from combat damage in a matter of seconds, or create a more realistic model of the human brain."





http://www.newscient...er-crashes.html


----------



## ScienceRocks

TED 2013: SpaceTop 3D see-through computer revealed
By Jane Wakefield

BBC News - TED 2013: SpaceTop 3D see-through computer revealed



> A transparent computer that allows users to reach inside and touch digital content has been unveiled at the TED conference in Los Angeles.
> 
> TED fellow Jinha Lee has been working on the SpaceTop 3D desktop in collaboration with Microsoft.
> 
> Allowing people to interact with machines in the same way they do with solid objects could make computing much more intuitive, he told the BBC.
> 
> He can see the system coming into general use within a decade.
> 
> The system consists of a transparent LED display with built-in cameras, which track the user's gestures and eye


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Quantum Computing Breakthrough With New Algorithm*

0 Comments


Quantum Computing Breakthrough With New Algorithm : Physics : Science World Report

First Posted: Feb 26, 2013 02:09 PM EST



> Quantum computing is still in its early infancy, but is evolving quickly. In what could be compared to solving the first simple puzzle by itself, an international research group has demonstrated a quantum algorithm that performs a true calculation for the first time.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Google could unify chat services under a single product called Babble*


Google could unify chat services under a single product called Babble - TechSpot


> Google has built a number of communications platforms around different services over the years. There&#8217;s Google Talk for text, voice and video chats, Hangouts for group video conferencing, Messenger for mobile messaging, Chat for Drive collaboration, and Voice for online voicemail and merging all your phone numbers into one.
> 
> They&#8217;re mostly based on an open platform called XMPP but they don&#8217;t always interact with each other very well -- if at all. According to a report on Geek.com, however, that&#8217;s about to change soon.
> 
> Google is reportedly working to combine its existing communication platforms into one unified service called Babble. Details are scarce at the moment but the site&#8217;s unnamed sources believe the service is likely to be unveiled at Google I/O in mid-May. Not a lot is expected in the way of new features, but rather a consistent experience across platforms and services, and Geek.com says the change will happen in two phases:
> 
> 
> Babble continues Google&#8217;s trend towards organization by conversation. You can share photos in chat windows just like you would in G+ Messenger, start a Hangout with anyone in your contact list, and the conversations are threaded across all the existing services. Moving forward, the individual services will all be pushed onto the single platform, and you&#8217;ll be able to use the same chat window across all of Google&#8217;s products with the same features available everywhere


.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Intel's Core i7-4770K 'Haswell' CPU gets benchmarked*




 By Shawn Knight



> If you&#8217;re considering upgrading to a Haswell CPU or building an entirely new system built around the chip but have been holding out to see what performance is like compared to existing processors, today is your lucky day. That&#8217;s because the first round of benchmarks from Haswell have hit the web courtesy of Tom&#8217;s Hardware.
> 
> The publication was able to get their hands on a Core i7-4770K which will replace the i7-3770K at the top of the chip maker&#8217;s food chain (excluding Sandy Bridge-E). The chip retains the same base / Turbo clock speeds, core count (4/8) and 8MB of L3 cache as the Ivy Bridge counterpart. The only exception is the GPU clock which has been bumped up by 100MHz.


Intel's Core i7-4770K 'Haswell' CPU gets benchmarked - TechSpot


----------



## ScienceRocks

*
'Hologram-lite' idea for 3D phone displays*




> Tiny gratings in a visual display could beam images in different directions.
> Maggie McKeeForget 4G &#8212; the future of mobile technology is 3D. Researchers in California have built a prototype three-dimensional (3D) display using a method that might one day be developed to create videos that dance above a tablet, mobile phone or wrist watch and can be viewed from a range of angles.


'Hologram-lite' idea for 3D phone displays : Nature News & Comment


----------



## ScienceRocks

Hybrid Memory Cube receives its finished spec, promises up to 320GB per second

 By Jon Fingas posted Apr 3rd, 2013 at 12:57 AM


> The Hybrid Memory Cube Consortium has been almost too patient in developing a standard for for its eponymous technology -- efforts began 17 months ago -- but it at last has more than good intentions to show for its work. Its just-published HMC Specification 1.0 lets companies build platforms and RAM with 2GB, 4GB and 8GB chips incorporating the stacked, power-efficient technology, all without compatibility jitters from other supporters. The completed spec is a scorcher when living up to its full potential, too. With eight links, a memory cube can reach a peak 320GB/s (yes, that's gigabytes) of aggregate bandwidth -- more than a hair faster than the 11GB/s we often get from existing DDR3 memory.



Hybrid Memory Cube receives its finished spec, promises up to 320GB per second


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Rumour: AMD to unleash the Centurion - FX at 5GHz*

Rumour: AMD to unleash the Centurion - FX at 5GHz - CPU - News - HEXUS.net
by Tarinder Sandhu  on 12 April 2013, 10:00   

Tags:  AMD (NYSE:AMD) 


> AMD's focus for the start of this year has been on explaining the virtues of Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) and driving up gaming interest with the impressive Never Settle bundle, available for most mainstream and high-end Radeon cards.
> 
> With attention directed elsewhere, AMD's beleaguered FX processors have, it seems, been consigned to the ash heap of history. These chips do without the baked-in graphics present on APUs and, while perfectly reasonable in their own right, are overshadowed by Intel's third-generation Core 'Ivy Bridge' processors.
> 
> So how about this as a rumour for a Friday morning? Though AMD will never go on record and confirm this, we have it on good authority that the chip-maker will soon be releasing a super-FX chip. Based on the same 'Vishera' architecture powering the current FX-8350, which runs at up to 4.2GHz, this new FX, codenamed 'Centurion', is to be made available in very limited quantities.


----------



## ScienceRocks

First silicon-based, long-lasting nuclear spin qubit created by quantum researchers
By Sebastian Anthony on April 19, 2013 at 11:16 am

First silicon-based, long-lasting nuclear spin qubit created by quantum researchers | ExtremeTech

Researchers at the University of New South Wales in Australia have created the first quantum bit (qubit) based on the nuclear spin of an atom, within a silicon transistor. This breakthrough is significant for two reasons: The qubit produced by the researchers is highly stable &#8212; and it&#8217;s in silicon, meaning it can be wired up and controlled electronically, just like a conventional computer chip.


----------



## ScienceRocks

Disruptions: Brain Computer Interfaces Inch Closer to Mainstream
Brain Computer Interfaces Inch Closer to Mainstream - NYTimes.com

By NICK BILTON


> Muse, a lightweight, wireless headband, can engage with computers, iPads and smartphones.Cadeau CreativeMuse, a lightweight, wireless headband, can engage with computers, iPads and smartphones.
> 
> 
> Last week, engineers sniffing around the programming code for Google Glass found hidden examples of ways that people might interact with the wearable computers without having to say a word. Among them, a user could nod to turn the glasses on or off. A single wink might tell the glasses to take a picture.
> 
> But don&#8217;t expect these gestures to be necessary for long. Soon, we might interact with our smartphones and computers simply by using our minds. In a couple of years, we could be turning on the lights at home just by thinking about it, or sending an e-mail from our smartphone without even pulling the device from our pocket. Farther into the future, your robot assistant will appear by your side with a glass of lemonade simply because it knows you are thirsty.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*In first head-to-head speed test with conventional computing, quantum computer wins*

21 hours ago by Peter Rooney 



> (Phys.org) A computer science professor at Amherst College who recently devised and conducted experiments to test the speed of a quantum computing system against conventional computing methods will soon be presenting a paper with her verdict: quantum computing is, "in some cases, really, really fast."




 Read more at: In first head-to-head speed test with conventional computing, quantum computer wins


----------



## ScienceRocks

*5G Is Already Ridiculously Fast*

5G Is Already Ridiculously Fast - SourceFed - SourceFed



> Samsung has already developed 5G speeds for mobile data plans and it&#8217;s reportedly hundreds of times faster than current 4G networks.
> 
> The company announced the world&#8217;s first adaptive array transceiver echnology operating in the millimeter-wave Ka bands for cellular communications. The tech will allegedly be the core component of the 5G mobile communication system.
> 
> However, there are no defined set of standards on what comes after 4G even though Samsung plans on commercializing their new tech by 2020. In testing, the transfer speeds for the &#8220;5G&#8221; network sent data at a staggering 1.056 Gbps to a distance of up to 2 kilometers.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Photonic Quantum Computers: A Brighter Future Than Ever*
Photonic quantum computers: A brighter future than ever



> May 13, 2013 &#8212; Harnessing the unique features of the quantum world promises a dramatic speed-up in information processing as compared to the fastest classical machines. Scientists from the Group of Philip Walther from the Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna succeeded in prototyping a new and highly resource efficient model of a quantum computer -- the boson sampling computer


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Facial-Recognition Technology Proves Its Mettle*



> May 24, 2013  In a study that evaluated some of the latest in automatic facial recognition technology, researchers at Michigan State University were able to quickly identify one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects from law enforcement video, an experiment that demonstrated the value of such technology.



Facial-recognition technology proves its mettle


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Advanced Biological Computer Developed*




> May 23, 2013 &#8212; Using only biomolecules (such as DNA and enzymes), scientists at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have developed and constructed an advanced biological transducer, a computing machine capable of manipulating genetic codes, and using the output as new input for subsequent computations. The breakthrough might someday create new possibilities in biotechnology, including individual gene therapy and cloning.


Advanced biological computer developed


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Intel: Haswell will draw 50% less power than Ivy Bridge*
By Sebastian Anthony on May 24, 2013 at 1:38 pm
Intel: Haswell will draw 50% less power than Ivy Bridge | ExtremeTech



> Presumably in response to a glut of AMD-related news, Intel has preempted its formal Haswell unveil to announce that its chips will draw &#8220;50% less power&#8221; than Ivy Bridge on &#8220;active&#8221; workloads, such as playing a game or watching a movie. This is a dramatic turnaround, considering the latest leaks and rumors had suggested that Haswell was struggling to reach its TDP targets.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*New Intel chips to boost laptop battery by 50 percent*

Raymond Wong

Monday, May 27, 2013 - 2:08pm



> Today's laptops are held back, not by processing power, but by battery life. Even the best laptops can't go more than an average of five hours with multiple intensive applications running. Intel's fourth-generation "Haswell" chips are going to change that.
> 
> Intel's new 22-nanometer microarchitecture will reportedly boost laptop battery life by 50 percent, over computers running Ivy Bridge-based chips. It's not quite as impressive as previously reported, but we'll take it. Laptops with Haswell chips will use a feature called "power gating" to intelligently turn off features that suck battery life when the device is not in use.


New Intel chips to boost laptop battery by 50 percent | DVICE


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Twin-beam signals send data 4x faster than conventional speeds*


> Many researchers over the years have worked towards increasing data speeds, something that has had breakthroughs in various ways over the years. The latest one involves a method the creators say is a simple concept, but one that &#8211; for whatever reason &#8211; was never done. By creating mirrored beams of light that cancel out noise, the researchers sent a 400GB/s signal down nearly 8,000 miles of fiber optic cables.
> 
> According to the researchers, fast data transfers over long distances is best achieved using two beams of light rather than a single one ran down a fiber optic cable. These twin beams, as they&#8217;re called, are mirrored images of each other, something that has the added benefit of cancelling out the noise resulting from traveling down the cable. As such, data can be send across long distances.
> 
> The merging of the signals is done at the end of the cable, with the noise-cancelling effect being the result of something call phase conjugation. When light beams are sent down the fiber optic, they produce a pattern full of essentially &#8220;ups&#8221; and &#8220;downs&#8221; referred to as peaks and troughs. The way phase conjugation works is by forming an inverse of one light beam so that a peak becomes a trough and vice versa. As a result, the noise effects are cancelled out


Twin-beam signals send data 4x faster than conventional speeds - SlashGear


----------



## ScienceRocks

Intel Haswell Launched: 5 Things You Need to Know

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jun 1, 2013 10:01 AM EDT by Daniel P. Howley, LAPTOP Staff Writer  






> Intel&#8217;s new Haswell chips couldn&#8217;t come at a better time for the PC industry. According to IDC, PC sales suffered the worst drop on record during the first quarter, due to both increasing tablet demand and a lukewarm reception for Windows 8. For its fourth-generation Core series processors (Haswell is the code name), Intel is promising a significant improvement in battery life and much better graphics performance.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The goal of Haswell? Push Ultrabooks further into the mainstream and make 2-in-1 systems (think detachable tablets and other hybrids) more compelling for consumers. Here&#8217;s what Haswell has in store.
> 
> Improved Battery Life
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Intel power savings
> 
> The biggest, and perhaps most impressive, improvement Intel&#8217;s latest Core series chips offer is a more than 20 percent increase in battery life over the company&#8217;s previous generation CPUs. Intel managed this by reducing the total wattage the CPU requires to run various applications.
> 
> 
> Whereas watching HD Video used to require more than 8W of power, Intel&#8217;s fourth-generation chips now need a little more than 5W. Similarly, Office applications, which used to require 8W of power, now need just under 6W.
> 
> Overall, the changes should result in some serious power efficiency improvements, with Intel estimating an additional 3 hours of HD video playback and anywhere from 10 to 13 days worth of standby power.



Intel Haswell Launched: 5 Things You Need to Know


----------



## ScienceRocks

Sharp To Incorporate IGZO Screens In All Devices

2013/05/23 23:49 - Sharp To Incorporate IGZO Screens In All Devices


> TOKYO (Nikkei)--Sharp Corp. (6753) said Thursday that it plans to use its energy-efficient IGZO display panels in all the smartphones, tablets and other devices it ships in fiscal 2014.
> 
> The screens were featured in just over 40% of its devices in the second half of fiscal 2012, but those equipped with the screens offered by the three big domestic telecommunications firms have been selling well.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Ultra fast 'Li-Fi' is only a year away, says French start-up*

Colin Druce-McFadden
Ultra fast 'Li-Fi' is only a year away, says French start-up | DVICE
Thursday, May 30, 2013 - 5:24pm



> Li-Fi, short for Light Fidelity, is a wireless data transfer technology first made popular by Harald Haas in his 2011 TED Talk. Now a Parisian company by the name of Oledcomm has announced that they'll have Li-Fi devices on the market sometime next year.
> 
> Li-Fi technology works by rapidly turning on and off a light source, creating binary code. The flashing of the light actually happens much faster than the human eye can detect, allowing for a Li-Fi data connection to resemble a simple LED bulb.
> 
> Sensors attached to computers or other smart devices collect the data as long as they're in the light's path. This leads to very specific areas in which Li-Fi can be used, ultimately meaning a more secure data connection &#8212; since someone would have to be sitting on your lap to steal it. This also means that, as opposed to Wi-Fi, Li-Fi is safe for locations that require low radiation &#8212; like doctor's offices or airplanes.
> 
> Li-Fi speeds are also way faster than traditional Wi-Fi. Oledcomm claims to have already achieved a 3 Gbps connection speed. Haas has also made the case for a whopping 10 Gbps connection in the near future. So, if screaming-fast download speeds coming out of your desk lamp sound good to you, keep your eyes peeled for those Li-Fi devices possibly hitting shelves next year. And while you're at it, check out one of Oledcomm's Li-Fi radios in action in the video below.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Using your WiFi for gesture recognition*


> University of Washington computer scientists have developed gesture-recognition technology called &#8220;WiSee&#8221; that uses ambient Wi-Fi signals to detect specific movements (to turn off lights or flip through songs, for example )without needing sensors on the human body or cameras.
> 
> 
> By using an adapted Wi-Fi router and a few wireless devices in the living room, users could control their electronics and household appliances from any room in the home with a simple gesture.
> 
> The concept is similar to Kinect &#8212; which uses cameras to recognize gestures &#8212; but the UW technology is simpler, cheaper, and doesn&#8217;t require users to be in line of sight, or even in same room as the device they want to control. That&#8217;s because Wi-Fi signals can travel through walls and aren&#8217;t bound by line-of-sight or sound restrictions.
> 
> The system requires one receiver with multiple antennas. Each antenna tunes into a specific user&#8217;s movements, so as many as five people can move simultaneously in the same residence without confusing the receiver. To use the WiSee, you would perform a specific repetition gesture sequence to get access to the receiver.
> 
> WiSee doesn&#8217;t require the user to be in the same room as the receiver or the device.



http://www.kurzweilai.net/using-your-wifi-for-gesture-recognition

Now when this becomes a product you can buy then you're talking about something interesting. A real smart home.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Airbus Bag2Go smart luggage wields GPS, RFID to skip airport hassles *

By Jon Fingas posted Jun 7th, 2013 at 12:03 PM 0   

Airbus Bag2Go smart luggage wields GPS, RFID to skip airport hassles



> Many of us avoid flying with checked baggage when possible, and for good reason: even a simple delay can sour a whole trip. Airbus' new Bag2Go prototype could save us from having to pack light, however. The smart luggage carries a raft of sensors that work with an iOS app to bypass the usual airport drudgery. Its RFID chip lets travelers check in their bag and link it to every step of their itinerary; in theory, couriers can ship baggage to the hotel at a lower cost than usual. Bag2Go should also provide some reassurance through GPS tracking and alerts to any possible tampering. Airbus is still early into development, but it foresees a business model where customers can either buy a Bag2Go suitcase at a premium or rent one for a long vacation. As for us? We'll just be happy if our luggage avoids an unexpected detour to Belize.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*World's fastest thumb drive lets you transfer files in a flash*

Michael Trei

Friday, June 7, 2013 - 12:13pm



> Most of us don't worry too much about the few seconds it takes to transfer a bunch of files between a flash memory stick and a computer, but if those extra seconds could lead to problems, Intel has a solution for you.
> 
> Instead of the more common USB port, the new Thunderbolt thumb drive takes advantage of the extra speed available from your computer's Thunderbolt port. At 10 gigabits per second, this port has about twice the throughput of even the latest USB 3.0 ports, allowing you to transfer your stuff in half the time. The drive will also be able to keep up when the 20 Gbit/s Thunderbolt 2 arrives later this year.


World's fastest thumb drive lets you transfer files in a flash | DVICE


*Researchers create temporal cloak that can erase digital data from history*
By Ryan Whitwam on June 6, 2013 at 2:55 pm
3 Comments


> What if you could harness the fundamental nature of the universe to make your data completely secure? It might be possible sooner than you think. Researchers have managed to create a so-called temporal cloak that acts as a pocket in time through which data can pass and leave no trace. The temporal cloak is so complete, the event is entirely obliterated from history.
> 
> Recent years have been filled with announcements of rudimentary invisibility cloak technology that relies on bending light around an object. The temporal cloak idea is built on the same principles, but in this case light waves are pulled apart then compressed to generate time pockets that cloak events.


http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/...loak-that-can-erase-digital-data-from-history


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Contact Lens Computer: Like Google Glass, without the Glasses*
Contact Lens Computer: Like Google Glass, without the Glasses | MIT Technology Review



> Soft contact lenses could display information to the wearer and provide continuous medical monitoring.
> By Katherine Bourzac on June 7, 2013
> 
> For those who find Google Glass indiscreet, electronic contact lenses that outfit the user&#8217;s cornea with a display may one day provide an alternative. Built by researchers at several institutions, including two research arms of Samsung, the lenses use new nanomaterials to solve some of the problems that have made contact-lens displays less than practical.
> 
> A group led by Jang-Ung Park, a chemical engineer at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, mounted a light-emitting diode on an off-the-shelf soft contact lens, using a material the researchers developed: a transparent, highly conductive, and stretchy mix of graphene and silver nanowires. The researchers tested these lenses in rabbits&#8212;whose eyes are similar in size to humans&#8217;&#8212;and found no ill effects after five hours. The animals didn&#8217;t rub their eyes or grow bloodshot, and the electronics kept working. This work is described online in the journal Nano


----------



## ScienceRocks

*The body electric: Researchers move closer to low-cost, implantable electronics*

30 minutes ago by Pam Frost Gorder 



> (Phys.org) &#8212;New technology under development at The Ohio State University is paving the way for low-cost electronic devices that work in direct contact with living tissue inside the body.
> 
> The first planned use of the technology is a sensor that will detect the very early stages of organ transplant rejection.
> 
> Paul Berger, professor of electrical and computer engineering and physics at Ohio State, explained that one barrier to the development of implantable sensors is that most existing electronics are based on silicon, and electrolytes in the body interfere with the electrical signals in silicon circuits. Other, more exotic semiconductors might work in the body, but they are more expensive and harder to manufacture.



 Read more at: The body electric: Researchers move closer to low-cost, implantable electronics


----------



## ScienceRocks

*
Tianhe-2 supercomputer at 31 petaflops is title contender*

6 hours ago by Nancy Owano weblog



> (Phys.org) &#8212;How is this for bragging rights in the always-on title grab for the world's fastest supercomputer: China's Tianhe-2 supercomputer, aka Milkyway-2, recently measured at speeds of 31 petaflops (30.65) out of a theoretical peak of 49.19. The kicker is that it was not even running at full capacity. The fastest result was only using 90 percent of the machine. The stats come from a five-hour Linpack test using 14,336 nodes and 50 GB of memory of each node. (The Linpack benchmark is a measure of a computer's floating-point rate of execution. It is determined by running a computer program that solves a system of linear equations.) The numbers were revealed by University of Tennessee professor Jack Dongarra, who introduced the Linpack benchmarks, and who helps compile the biannual Top500 list of the world's most powerful supercomputers.


 Read more at: Tianhe-2 supercomputer at 31 petaflops is title contender


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Gesture controller uses webcam to control software in 3D*

Adario Strange

Monday, June 10, 2013 - 4:06pm


> It's starting to look like Leap Motion may have waited just a little too long to release its product, which was, incidentally, pushed back a few months again, from May to July 22. Just last week we told you about the WiSee Wi-Fi based gesture control hack, and now another company that has been working on gesture control for several years has unveiled a new development that instantly makes it more competitive with the Leap Motion.
> 
> Back in February, Israel-based eyeSight Mobile Technologies showed off the gesture control capabilities of its system that worked rather seamlessly as a 2D interface solution. The company has just posted a video that reveals an update to the software that includes the ability to simulate 3D tracking using the basic webcam already embedded in most laptops.
> 
> The demonstration video shows a user manipulating the 3D spatial controls of Google Earth with all the ease and smoothness that we've seen in similar videos showing off the Leap Motion. According to the company, the software allows any camera, in conjunction with the software, to control devices such as tablets, laptops, televisions, and even digital signage from up to 16 feet away.
> 
> You can see the new 3D gesture capabilities of the eyeSight system in action in the video below.



Gesture controller uses webcam to control software in 3D | DVICE


----------



## ScienceRocks

*SlashGear 101: Mac Pro 2013*

SlashGear 101: Mac Pro 2013 - SlashGear



> Apple doesn&#8217;t normally preview upcoming hardware, so when Tim Cook & Co. whipped out the new Mac Pro 2013 at WWDC 2013 this week you knew the company was particularly proud. Throwing away the old-style tower and completely rethinking not only the design, but the internal architecture, cooling, expansion, and ethos of a workstation, the Mac Pro 2013 will demand a new approach to computing from users, too, when it hits stores later this year. Read on as we break down what makes this Mac particularly special.
> 
> Design
> 
> Apple&#8217;s old Mac Pro has looked largely the same since 2006, a silver tower clad in perforated aluminum. The new Mac pro keeps the aluminum &#8211; now in a polished black finish &#8211; but otherwise changes everything, now a cylinder 9.9-inches tall and 6.6-inches in diameter. &#8220;It&#8217;s a pro desktop computer that can actually sit on your desk,&#8221; Apple says.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Physicists show self-correcting quantum computers are theoretically possible*

19 hours ago by Lisa Zyga feature




> *(Phys.org) &#8212;Using exotic components such as color codes, new phases of quantum matter, and extra dimensions, a team of physicists has shown that it's theoretically possible to construct a quantum computer that has the ability to correct *




 Read more at: Physicists show self-correcting quantum computers are theoretically possible


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Mind-controlled cursor may be easier than previously thought*



> University of Washington researchers discover that, when learning to control a cursor with thoughts alone, the brain behaves within mere minutes as if it is performing basic motor skills.
> When scientists at the University of Washington recently drilled into the skulls of seven people with severe epilepsy and placed thin sheets of electrodes directly onto their brains, they were surprised by the brain activity they observed.
> 
> While physicians were studying neuro activity to investigate seizure signals, a separate team of bioengineers was simultaneously on the lookout for exactly how the brains of the seven volunteers behaved as they learned to move a cursor using their thoughts alone. It turns out that, in as few as 10 minutes, activity went from being centered on the prefrontal cortex, which is associated with learning new skills, to areas seen during more automatic functions, such as waving one's hand or kicking a ball.


Mind-controlled cursor may be easier than previously thought | Cutting Edge - CNET News


----------



## ScienceRocks

This is gong here because it has something to do with it. 


*Nano-thermometer enables first atomic-scale heat transfer measurements*

10 hours ago 



> In findings that could help overcome a major technological hurdle in the road toward smaller and more powerful electronics, an international research team involving University of Michigan engineering researchers, has shown the unique ways in which heat dissipates at the tiniest scales.




 Read more at: Nano-thermometer enables first atomic-scale heat transfer measurements


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Researchers overcome show-stopping problems with ferroelectric RAM*
By Joel Hruska on June 13, 2013 at 3:01 pm
Researchers overcome show-stopping problems with ferroelectric RAM | ExtremeTech


> Over the past five years, NAND flash has gone from an exceedingly expensive storage solution that only a handful of customers could afford to a mainstream product used by millions of high-speed storage devices. This shift has been great for consumers and materially impacted the performance of even older systems, but NAND flash has long-term scaling and reliability issues. Researchers across the world have continued searching for alternative storage mediums that can store data for longer periods of time and use less power to perform read/write


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Google&#8217;s Project Loon uses giant balloons to bring affordable Internet*


Brittany Hillen, Jun 15th 2013 Discuss [0]	
Google?s Project Loon uses giant balloons to bring affordable Internet - SlashGear




> On May 24, we reported on a tip that Google plans to launch wireless Internet service in emerging markets that have little or no access to the Internet. While the leaked details were extensive, one bit stuck out among the rest: the use of balloons to transmit signals over long distances. At least that aspect of the rumor has turned out to be true, with Google announcing the method as Project Loon.
> 
> According to Google, two of every three individuals on Earth either do not have access to the Internet, or don&#8217;t have access to a connection that is both fast and within their financial means &#8211; in some areas, individuals are faced with prices equal to more than a month&#8217;s paycheck. This issue isn&#8217;t going to resolve itself without thinking outside of the box, according to the company, and that is where the balloons come in.





*Google using balloons to deliver sky-high Wi-Fi*
http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2021192935_googleballoonxml.html?prmid=4939
By Cecilia Kang

The Washington Post



> Google is announcing Saturday it has 30 balloons floating over New Zealand to provide free Internet access to disaster-stricken, rural or poor areas.
> 
> Google has a truly sky-high idea for connecting billions of people to the Internet &#8212; 12 miles in the air &#8212; through giant helium balloons circling the globe that are equipped to beam Wi-Fi signals below.
> 
> Google will announce Saturday it has 30 balloons floating over New Zealand to provide free Internet access to disaster-stricken, rural or poor areas. Eventually, as the balloons move across the stratosphere, consumers in participating countries along the 40th parallel in the Southern Hemisphere could tap into the service.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*A global quantum network*

June 14, 2013


> Atoms, coupled to a glass fiber &#8211; the basis of the worldwide communication network of the future? (credit: Vienna University of Technology)
> 
> By quantum-mechanically coupling laser-cooled atoms to glass fiber cables, Vienna University of Technology researchers have developed a way to store quantum information over a long enough period of time to allow for entangling atoms hundreds of kilometers apart via fiber cables.
> 
> This finding is a fundamental building block for a global fiber-based quantum communication network, the researchers suggest.


A global quantum network | KurzweilAI


----------



## Glensather

Matthew said:


> *A global quantum network*
> 
> June 14, 2013
> 
> 
> 
> Atoms, coupled to a glass fiber  the basis of the worldwide communication network of the future? (credit: Vienna University of Technology)
> 
> By quantum-mechanically coupling laser-cooled atoms to glass fiber cables, Vienna University of Technology researchers have developed a way to store quantum information over a long enough period of time to allow for entangling atoms hundreds of kilometers apart via fiber cables.
> 
> This finding is a fundamental building block for a global fiber-based quantum communication network, the researchers suggest.
> 
> 
> 
> A global quantum network | KurzweilAI
Click to expand...


Maintaining a pair of quantum entangled atoms requires enormous amounts of energy.
It's a start, but first we need to figure out a way to make it cost-efficient.


----------



## ScienceRocks

China just ass raped America! 



*Chinese supercomputer tops the charts -- two years early*



> Tianhe-2, with 3.1 million processor cores and a lot of Chinese-build technology, is the new leader of the twice-yearly list of the world's 500 fastest supercomputers.
> 
> Stephen Shankland
> http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57589374-76/chinese-supercomputer-tops-the-charts-two-years-early/
> 
> *Performing more than 33 quadrillion calculations per second,* a new Chinese supercomputer called Tianhe-2 arrived two years earlier than expected to claim the top spot in a list of the 500 most powerful supercomputers in the world.
> 
> The Top500 list, updated twice a year at the International Supercomputing Conference, measures performance for mammoth systems typically used for jobs like modeling nuclear weapons explosions and forecasting global climate changes. And the Chinese machine, at the National University of Defense Technology, is more mammoth than most.
> All that means the machine's sustained performance is 33.86 petaflops, or a quadrillion mathematical calculations per second, a figure all the more notable given that the researchers who compile the Top500 list expected Tianhe-2, also called Milky Way-2, to be deployed in two years.
> 
> Its performance is nearly double that of the machine now bumped to second place, the Cray XK7 system called Titan at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, with a speed of 17.59 petaflops. Third place went to Sequoia, an IBM BlueGene/Q system installed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory with a speed of 17.17 petaflops.




You could very nearly put two titans together!!!


----------



## RoadVirus

Matthew said:


> China just ass raped America!
> 
> 
> 
> *Chinese supercomputer tops the charts -- two years early*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Tianhe-2, with 3.1 million processor cores and a lot of Chinese-build technology, is the new leader of the twice-yearly list of the world's 500 fastest supercomputers.
> 
> Stephen Shankland
> Chinese supercomputer tops the charts -- two years early | Cutting Edge - CNET News
> 
> *Performing more than 33 quadrillion calculations per second,* a new Chinese supercomputer called Tianhe-2 arrived two years earlier than expected to claim the top spot in a list of the 500 most powerful supercomputers in the world.
> 
> The Top500 list, updated twice a year at the International Supercomputing Conference, measures performance for mammoth systems typically used for jobs like modeling nuclear weapons explosions and forecasting global climate changes. And the Chinese machine, at the National University of Defense Technology, is more mammoth than most.
> All that means the machine's sustained performance is 33.86 petaflops, or a quadrillion mathematical calculations per second, a figure all the more notable given that the researchers who compile the Top500 list expected Tianhe-2, also called Milky Way-2, to be deployed in two years.
> 
> Its performance is nearly double that of the machine now bumped to second place, the Cray XK7 system called Titan at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, with a speed of 17.59 petaflops. Third place went to Sequoia, an IBM BlueGene/Q system installed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory with a speed of 17.17 petaflops.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You could very nearly put two titans together!!!
Click to expand...


The supercomputer wars have gone back and forth between the US and China for at least several years. One or two years, we win it; then one or two years, the Chinese win it. You're making a big deal out of nothing, Matty.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*GEAK Watch packs Android, WiFi and a plethora of sensors, likely 'world's first true smartwatch' *

By Richard Lai posted Jun 17th, 2013 at 2:23 PM 126   

GEAK Watch is 'world's first true smartwatch,' packs Android 41 and a plethora of sensors





> Nowadays, we can't help but be skeptical of products that claim to be a smartwatch. In fact, what is a smartwatch, anyway? Perhaps GEAK, a Shanghai-based subsidiary of content giant Shanda, has a somewhat convincing answer. Simply dubbed the GEAK Watch, this wearable device packs a surprising number of components, with the most notable one being the 802.11b/g/n WiFi module. This lets the Android 4.1 system download apps directly or even receive OTA updates, but you can also create a wireless ad hoc network to do instant messaging with fellow users nearby -- the watch can apparently do voice-to-text input. There's also Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC for device pairing, along with GPS and FM radio -- yes, there's a headphone jack, too.


GEAK Watch packs Android, WiFi and a plethora of sensors, likely 'world's first true smartwatch'

NICE...Voice to text input!!!!


----------



## ScienceRocks

*DARPA developing digital airstrikes*


By David Szondy

June 17, 2013

DARPA developing digital airstrikes


> The popular image of modern warfare is the digital battlefield where cyber soldiers have Terminator-like video displays and can call in an airstrike with the shine of a laser beam. While information technologies are revolutionizing the military, when it comes to calling in Close Air Support (CAS), it&#8217;s still World War One &#8211; where a misread or misheard grid reference can end up with soldiers being hit by their own artillery. DARPA&#8217;s Persistent Close Air Support (PCAS) program hopes to improve this.
> 
> Smart bombs, laser targeting and intelligent missiles have made laying a munition on exactly the desired spot so common that it&#8217;s hardly newsworthy. For most ground commanders, however, calling in CAS still involves pilots and ground observers relying on voice directions and a common paper map, which isn't always available. It can take up to an hour for a strike to be arranged, during which time an enemy can escape or get in the first punch, and even then there&#8217;s an ample chance of a fatal error.
> 
> The PCAS program is an all-digital system that lets a joint tactical air controller call up CAS from a variety of sources, such as aircraft or missile platforms, to engage multiple, moving and simultaneous targets. By eliminating all the radio chatter and map fumbling, the exercise is much faster and more accurate with reduced risk of friendly fire incidents.



Way fucking cool!

DARPA developing digital airstrikes - Images


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Team builds first integrated graphene digital circuit to function at gigahertz frequencies*

3 hours ago by Bob Yirka report




> Phys.org) &#8212;A research team with members from the U.S. and Italy has succeeded in building an integrated graphene digital circuit that is able to function at gigahertz frequencies. In their paper published in the journal ACS Nano, the team describes how they built their circuit, its performance, and its limitations.
> 
> Researchers around the world continue to look to graphene as a means to overcome the size limitations of silicon&#8212;making circuits smaller than 10nm. Graphene is an ideal candidate because electrons can pass through the single layer of carbon atoms as if they had no mass. Unfortunately, graphene is not a semiconductor, thus other materials have to be included in a device to allow graphene to be used in a circuit. To date, efforts to do so have met with limited success&#8212;current leaks at the juncture points leading to poor performance.
> 
> In this new effort, the researchers built a ring oscillator&#8212;a circuit used to evaluate the performance limits of digital electronic devices&#8212;based on graphene using a new technique (prior attempts by other teams to build such a device exhibited limited performance). To create a stronger connection between the graphene and other components, the team grew the graphene directly on them. Once all the pieces were in place, the team tested the device by applying electricity, slowly lowering the voltage. As they did so, the oscillation frequency increased&#8212;*moving from 350MHz to 1.2GHz. Such a frequency is routine for silicon based devices but marks a new high point for those based on graphene.*
> 
> In running their circuit, the researchers noted one feature of their device that was actually better than those based on silicon&#8212;performance wasn't degraded due to fluctuations in voltage.



 Read more at: Team builds first integrated graphene digital circuit to function at gigahertz frequencies


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Huge 'holograms' offer medics more memorable classes*

Technology reporter, BBC News



> A system which uses an illusionary effect to help medical students master their subject has been pioneered by two London-based junior doctors.
> 
> They have demonstrated a 3D graphic of a kidney measuring 4m (13 ft) to demonstrate renal function at a "test lecture" last week.
> 
> It was one of a series of hologram-like animations they are developing.
> 
> However, the university which hosted the event, said it was not ready to be rolled out yet.
> 
> "The cost would be prohibitively expensive," said a spokesman for St George's, University of London. "It's more a proof-of-concept at this stage."



BBC News - Huge 'holograms' offer medics more memorable classes


----------



## ScienceRocks

*ivee Sleek: Wi-Fi Voice-Activated Assistant *

Meet ivee . . .


> She answers questions, obeys commands, and controls other internet-connected devices.
> 
> Our world is changing, and already there are thermostats, door locks, security systems, light bulbs, and even vacuums that are connected to the Internet. How do we control all these devices? How do you manage your "Internet of Things"?
> 
> ivee Sleek is the first Wi-Fi Voice-Activated Assistant for the home that helps you manage and control your connected devices without any hands. In addition, ivee helps you set reminders, wakes you up on time, and even fetches live Internet content (like weather, stocks, and news) that is relevant to you. Our goal is to create a simpler and more natural way of interfacing with the Internet and your smart home.


ivee Sleek: Wi-Fi Voice-Activated Assistant by ivee ? Kickstarter

This is a voice command system that can allow you to control your lights, climate control, etc.


----------



## ScienceRocks

Surprising turns in magnetic thin films could lead to better data storage

12 hours ago by David L. Chandler 

Surprising turns in magnetic thin films could lead to better data storage 



> A magnetic phenomenon newly discovered by MIT researchers could lead to much faster, denser and more energy-efficient chips for memory and computation.




 Read more at: Surprising turns in magnetic thin films could lead to better data storage


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Virtual reality display lets fire crews see in a blaze *
16:05 18 June 2013 by Hal Hodson 

Virtual reality display lets fire crews see in a blaze - tech - 18 June 2013 - New Scientist


> When firefighters enter a burning building, they usually go in blind. Smoke often shrouds their view and it can be hard to know exactly where they are, or where the fire is.
> 
> A virtual reality project called ProFiTex at the Vienna University of Technology in Austria is attempting to change that by giving firefighters a head-up display which helps them navigate in the dark.
> 
> The system uses head-mounted infrared sensors that overlay surface temperatures onto the display, which also shows a 3D model of the surroundings created by a head-mounted depth camera. This gives firefighters an idea of how hot their surroundings are, whether it is safe to enter a room and the layout of the rooms in front of them.
> 
> "We basically reproduce the real environment virtually," explains project lead Hannes Kaufmann . "It can be invisible for the firefighter, so we give him a model which is visible, and we enhance it with thermal data. If a room wall is dark red from the outside, then it's dangerous inside."


----------



## ScienceRocks

*LG to mass-produce flexible displays for smartphones*



> Looking to get a leg-up in the bendable display market, LG Display is going full throttle ahead with production of the new technology for mobile devices.
> 
> LG Display is about to embark on the mass production of smartphone display panels that reportedly don't break, crack, or shatter -- because they can bend.
> 
> By the fourth quarter of this year, the electronics company plans to be supplying the flexible displays to a host of major clients, according to The Korea Times.
> 
> "We have completed the development of our first flexible displays. We will mass produce flexible displays from the fourth quarter of this year," the company told The Korea Times. "We will apply a 4.5th generation glass-cutting technology for the OLED flexible displays. Monthly capacity for the line was set as 12,000 sheets."
> 
> The push for flexible displays comes at a time of growing demand for new screen technology. LG spokesman Frank Lee told The Korea Times that one of the reasons the company was heading toward mass production was to meet "the rapid need for display advancements."



LG to mass-produce flexible displays for smartphones | Mobile - CNET News


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Using nanotechnology, researchers have developed a technique to increase the data storage capacity of a DVD from a measly 4.7GB to 1,000TB*
More data storage? Here's how to fit 1,000 terabytes on a DVD


> In Nature Communications today, we, along with Richard Evans from CSIRO, show how we developed a new technique to enable the data capacity of a single DVD to increase from 4.7 gigabytes up to one petabyte (1,000 terabytes). This is equivalent of 10.6 years of compressed high-definition video or 50,000 full high-definition movies.
> 
> On the basis of this law, the diameter of a spot of light, obtained by focusing a light beam through a lens, cannot be smaller than half its wavelength &#8211; around 500 nanometres (500 billionths of a metre) for visible light.
> 
> And while this law plays a huge role in modern optical microscopy, it also sets up a barrier for any efforts from researchers to produce extremely small dots &#8211; in the nanometre region &#8211; to use as binary bits.
> 
> In our study, we showed how to break this fundamental limit by using a two-light-beam method, with different colours, for recording onto discs instead of the conventional single-light-beam method.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Much faster Wi-Fi coming soon*
 By David Goldman    [MENTION=40697]DavidG[/MENTION]oldmanCNN June 19, 2013: 7:39 PM ET

Only a handful of Wi-Fi devices feature the new "ac" technology, including this Netgear router.



> A new, faster version of Wi-Fi was officially rubber-stamped Wednesday.
> 
> The latest Wi-Fi technology, called "802.11ac," offers speeds of up to 1.3 Gigabits per second. That's fast enough to transfer an entire high-definition movie to a tablet in under 4 minutes, share photo albums with friends in a matter of seconds or stream three HD videos at the same time. It's more than double the top speed of the previous standard, known as 802.11n
> 
> "The ratification of the 802.11ac standard will significantly improve the usefulness of Wi-Fi to carriers," said Mike McCormack, analyst at Nomura Equity Research.
> 
> Carriers have begun testing out technology that automatically switches users from 3G and 4G networks to Wi-Fi. As the number of "ac" mobile devices grow, McCormack said consumers may all soon be connecting to Wi-Fi networks without even knowing it



New Wi-Fi tech doubles connection speeds - Jun. 19, 2013


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Harnessing the potential of quantum tunneling: Transistors without semiconductors*

10 hours ago by Marcia Goodrich 



> (Phys.org) &#8212;For decades, electronic devices have been getting smaller, and smaller, and smaller. It's now possible&#8212;even routine&#8212;to place millions of transistors on a single silicon chip.
> 
> But transistors based on semiconductors can only get so small. "At the rate the current technology is progressing, in 10 or 20 years, they won't be able to get any smaller," said physicist Yoke Khin Yap of Michigan Technological University. "Also, semiconductors have another disadvantage: they waste a lot of energy in the form of heat."
> 
> Scientists have experimented with different materials and designs for transistors to address these issues, always using semiconductors like silicon. Back in 2007, Yap wanted to try something different that might open the door to a new age of electronics.
> 
> "The idea was to make a transistor using a nanoscale insulator with nanoscale metals on top," he said. "In principle, you could get a piece of plastic and spread a handful of metal powders on top to make the devices, if you do it right. But we were trying to create it in nanoscale, so we chose a nanoscale insulator, boron nitride nanotubes, or BNNTs for the substrate."



 Read more at: Harnessing the potential of quantum tunneling: Transistors without semiconductors


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Researchers discover way to allow 80 percent of sound to pass through walls*

12 hours ago by Bob Yirka report



> (Phys.org) &#8212;A team of researchers in Korea has discovered a way to allow sound to pass through walls almost as if they were not there at all. As the group describes in their paper published in the journal Physical Review Letters, the technique involves drilling very small holes in a wall and then tightly covering them with a thin sheet of plastic.




 Read more at: Researchers discover way to allow 80 percent of sound to pass through walls


----------



## ScienceRocks

*New step towards silicon-based quantum computer*

June 21, 2013
.
New step towards silicon-based quantum computer | KurzweilAI


> Researchers at the University of New South Wales have proposed a new way to distinguish between quantum bits that are placed only a few nanometers apart in a silicon chip, taking them a step closer to the construction of a large-scale quantum computer.
> 
> Quantum bits, or qubits, are the basic building blocks of quantum computers &#8212; ultra-powerful devices that will offer enormous advantages for solving complex problems.
> 
> Professor Michelle Simmons, leader of the research team, said a qubit based on the spin of an individual electron bound to a phosphorus atom within a silicon chip is one of the most promising systems for building a practical quantum computer, due to silicon&#8217;s widespread use in the microelectronics industry.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Scientists create nanoscopic data storage using graphene &#8216;paper&#8217; and electron &#8216;ink&#8217;*
By Sebastian Anthony on June 24, 2013 at 12:43 pm
0 Comments

Drawing on graphene paper with electron ink
Scientists create nanoscopic data storage using graphene ?paper? and electron ?ink? | ExtremeTech



> Using graphene &#8220;paper&#8221; and electron &#8220;ink,&#8221; Danish and Chinese scientists have created one of the tiniest data storage methods ever devised. In the photo above, captured by a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM), the thickness of the lines &#8212; the font size if you will &#8212; is just 2-3nm, or about 50,000 times thinner than a human hair. This technique could eventually be used as a means of nanoscale data storage (can you imagine storing the entire Library of Congress on a single gram of graphene?), or to create graphene-based computer circuits.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Sony SmartWatch 2 unveiled: a water-resistant 'second screen' for Android devices  Mobile *

By Joseph Volpe posted Jun 25th, 2013 at 4:30 AM 35   

Sony SmartWatch 2



> Sony's taking a second stab at the fledgling wearable category it helped pioneer with today's announcement of the SmartWatch 2. The Android-powered wristwatch retains the familiar remote functionality of its predecessor (i.e., allowing users to answer calls, read email and texts, snap photos, etc.), albeit now from a larger, 1.6-inch (220 x 176) touch display. Sony's packed all of this "second screen" functionality into a handsome, aluminum body design that's crafted to be dust- and water-resistant (IP57), much like the Xperia Z line before it. And for users that want a little variety, the company's also offering a pack-in stainless steel wristband that can be swapped out for any other 24mm strap (Sony plans to offer alternative straps sometime soon).


Sony SmartWatch 2 unveiled: a water-resistant 'second screen' for Android devices


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Lift-off for O3b satellite network*
By Jonathan Amos

Science correspondent, BBC News


> Lift-off The Soyuz launched from French Guiana after a day's delay forced by the weather
> 
> The satellites' deployment marks the first phase in O3b's construction of a novel telecommunications network.
> 
> It plans to put a constellation in the sky to handle voice and data traffic for mobile phone, internet and other service providers.
> 
> O3b is targeting parts of the world that currently have poor fibre-optic infrastructure.
> 
> With backing from blue chip companies such as Google, it believes its network can change the broadband experience for millions of people.
> 
> The Soyuz carrying the four satellites lifted clear of the Sinnamary launch gantry at 16:27 local time (19:27 GMT). It took more than two hours and several burns from the rocket's Fregat upper-stage to get the spacecraft into their correct 8,000km-high orbit.


BBC News - Lift-off for O3b satellite network


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Kreyos Meteor smartwatch brings Star Trek tech to life*
Kreyos Meteor smartwatch brings Star Trek tech to life



> Smartwatches could be the next big thing in mobile technology. Dozens of companies are gambling on this being the case, but naysayers point to the fact that they will only ever have limited appeal thanks to their superfluous nature. Most, after all, do not replace your smartphone, they merely prevent you having to take it out of your pocket or bag. Only time will tell, but some smartwatches are gaining momentum and fans. The Kreyos Meteor smartwatch, currently being funded through Indiegogo, being one such example that also promises Star Trek communicator-style functionality.



If it has voice command and voice text=going to work. http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/kreyos-the-only-smartwatch-with-voice-gesture-control


----------



## ScienceRocks

*SK Telecom introduces world's fist LTE-A network*

2 hours ago 



> South Korea's SK Telecom announced Wednesday the launch of a new generation mobile network that offers speeds twice that
> The new LTE-Advanced, which will be immediately available in Seoul and 40 other cities, will allow users to download an entire movie in about 40 seconds.
> 
> In May, researchers at Samsung Electronics said they had successfully tested super-fast 5G wireless technology that would eventually allow users to download an entire movie in one second.
> 
> The South Korean giant said the test had witnessed data transmission of more than one gigabyte per second over a distance of two kilometres.



 Read more at: SK Telecom introduces world's fist LTE-A network


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Large-scale quantum chip validated*

14 minutes ago 


> A team of scientists at USC has verified that quantum effects are indeed at play in the first commercial quantum optimization processor.
> 
> The team demonstrated that the D-Wave processor housed at the USC-Lockheed Martin Quantum Computing Center behaves in a manner that indicates that quantum mechanics plays a functional role in the way it works. The demonstration involved a small subset of the chip's 128 qubits.


 Read more at: Large-scale quantum chip validated


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Google and NASA Snap Up Quantum Computer D-Wave Two *

 By Nicola Jones and Nature magazine  
Google and NASA Snap Up Quantum Computer D-Wave Two: Scientific American


> D-Wave, the small company that sells the world&#8217;s only commercial quantum computer, has just bagged an impressive new customer: a collaboration between Google, NASA and the non-profit Universities Space Research Association.
> 
> The three organizations have joined forces to install a D-Wave Two, the computer company's latest model, in a facility launched by the collaboration &#8212; the Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California. The lab will explore areas such as machine learning &#8212; making computers sort and analyse data on the basis of previous experience. This is useful for functions such as language translation, image searches and voice-command recognition. &#8220;We actually think quantum machine learning may provide the most creative problem-solving process under the known laws of physics,&#8221; says a blog post from Google describing the deal.





> D-Wave has battled to prove that its computer really operates on a quantum level, and that it is better or faster than a conventional computer. Before striking the latest deal, the prospective customers set a series of tests for the quantum computer. D-Wave hired an outside expert in algorithm-racing, who concluded that the speed of the D-Wave Two was above average overall, and that it was 3,600 times faster than a leading conventional computer when working on the specific type of problem that the quantum computer was built to solve.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-Wave_Two


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Apple iWatch trademark application filed in Japan*


Chris Davies, Jul 1st 2013 Discuss [1]	


> Apple has filed a trademark application for &#8220;iWatch&#8221; in Japan, fueling speculation that the company is preparing to launch a smartwatch companion device for the iPhone and iPad. The filing, made on June 3 Bloomberg reports, refers to potential uses of the name as being for a watch device or a &#8220;handheld computer&#8221;.
> 
> Apple&#8217;s plans for its wearable are still unofficial, though that hasn&#8217;t stopped ongoing speculation about the rumored iWatch project. Earlier this year, the company was tipped to have around 100 designers and engineers working on the smartwatch, while chatter back in December 2012 suggested Apple was working with Intel on the digital timepiece.
> 
> Intel later confirmed it was developing smartwatches, though declined to comment on whether Apple was involved.



Apple iWatch trademark application filed in Japan - SlashGear


----------



## ScienceRocks

Pebble smartwatch rumored to be sold at Best Buy soon



> Pebble was one of the first smartwatches to debut and it looks like the device soon may become more mainstream.
> 
> The Pebble smartwatch is rumored to be sold at Best Buy within the next few weeks, according to claims from two employees who said they were briefed on the matter and a leaked document given to 9to5Mac.
> 
> The document shows an inventory form for a device classified as a "digital communication appcessory" that is to be in stock as of July 7. As 9to5Mac points out, the date could mean when the device goes on sale or just &#8230;



Pebble smartwatch rumored to be sold at Best Buy soon | Cutting Edge - CNET News


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Microsoft develops 3D touchscreen with tactile feedback*
By Leo Kelion

BBC News - Microsoft develops 3D touchscreen with tactile feedback


> Microsoft 3D screen By adjusting resistance against a person's touch the screen can make some objects feel heavier than others
> 
> Details of a touchscreen showing 3D images that can be felt and manipulated have been published by Microsoft's research unit.
> 
> The project combines an LCD flat panel screen with force sensors and a robotic arm that moves it back and forwards.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*New programming language makes turning GPUs into supercomputers a snap*
By Ryan Whitwam on July 3, 2013 at 12:24 pm
New programming language makes turning GPUs into supercomputers a snap | ExtremeTech


> Most of the bits you&#8217;ve ever crunched were run through a CPU, but your computer&#8217;s graphic processing unit (GPU) is increasingly being used for general computing tasks. The problem has always been designing applications that can take advantage of the raw computing power of a GPU. A computer science Ph.D. candidate at Indiana University by the name Eric Holk has created a new programming language called Harlan to make the process easier.
> 
> CPUs and GPUs are both important for modern computing, with each being better suited for different tasks. Most CPUs have several cores capable of running a few processing threads. It runs each thread very fast, then moves on to the next one. A GPU typically has a large number of slower processing cores (sometimes called stream processors) which can run more simultaneous threads. We would say that GPU computing is inherently more parallel than the CPU variety.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Samsung unveils plans to build five new research and development centers*Samsung unveils plans to build five new research and development centers - SlashGear


> A Samsung official who spoke to The Korea Times revealed that Samsung has plans to build five new Research and Development centers in South Korea, a project that will cost approximately $4.5 billion. The centers will each focus on their own aspects of R&D, with one being used for maximizing creativity, another for study and development of different components and materials.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Samsung Galaxy Note III specifications leak with 3GB RAM*

Samsung Galaxy Note III specifications leak with 3GB RAM - SlashGear

 It's become a race, suddenly, to deliver the first Android smartphone - or first smartphone with any mobile operating system, that is, to bring on a whopping 3GB of RAM, here between the Samsung Galaxy Note III and the LG Optimus G2. While neither device has been confirmed with full specifications delivered by its creator - or confirmed to exist, at that - both machines have been rumored just today to be carrying the next-level amount of processing capability


----------



## ScienceRocks

*MIT researchers build an all-optical transistor*

14 minutes ago by Larry Hardesty 


> Optical computing&#8212;using light rather than electricity to perform calculations&#8212;could pay dividends for both conventional computers and quantum computers, largely hypothetical devices that could perform some types of computations exponentially faster than classical computers.



 Read more at: MIT researchers build an all-optical transistor


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Wimoto wireless sensor system now offers motion detection and water sensing*

Derek Markham
Technology / Gadgets
 July 5, 2013 



> The citizen scientist in me, along with my inner geek, are really jazzed to see so many innovations in remote sensors and connected devices and smarter homes these days.
> 
> After all, it's one thing to have a subjective observation about our environment ("It seems hotter in here than normal."), and another thing entirely to look at the data and see if it truly is hotter than normal, and if so, exactly how much hotter it is.
> 
> This trend of small wireless sensor systems makes it easier than ever to get started, and for those who want to integrate some of this technology into their lives, the options just keep increasing.
> 
> Wimoto, whose remote wireless sensors we've covered before, just added a couple of new options to their system, as well as tripling the battery life of the sensors, so they are well worth taking a look at if you're considering getting started in remote monitoring for your home, office, or garden


Wimoto wireless sensor system now offers motion detection and water sensing : TreeHugger


----------



## ScienceRocks

*CGI lighting, scanning deliver more realistic face (w/ Video)*

7 hours ago by Nancy Owano weblog



> (Phys.org) &#8212;Gaming and movie leaders might in the past have put up with CGI faces with that wax-museum look reminding users that the faces are anything but real, but this is a new day with advanced technologies that can make faces look very real. Computer generated imagery (CGI) expertise can perform facial imagery wonders. A team of collaborators with expertise that includes computational illumination and photography for graphics have developed a technique to produce CGI faces that look true, down to the skin cell level. Call it ultra-realistic skin simulation.




 Read more at: CGI lighting, scanning deliver more realistic face (w/ Video)


----------



## ScienceRocks

*New technique would allow a petabyte of data on a single disc *

New technique would allow a petabyte of data on a single disc


> Data storage and preservation are no longer restricted to the needs of individual users, or even of companies or governments large and small. Instead they are the only remaining approach to preserving the history associated with the evolution of the digital age, and possibly the post-human era to follow. A research team headed by Prof. Min Gu of Swinburne University of Technology has developed a new data storage method that may be of considerable use for such civilization-sized concerns by putting a petabyte of information on a DVD-sized polymer disk.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Silicon oxide memories transcend a hurdle*

3 hours ago 



> A Rice University laboratory pioneering memory devices that use cheap, plentiful silicon oxide to store data has pushed them a step further with chips that show the technology's practicality.
> The team led by Rice chemist James Tour has built a 1-kilobit rewritable silicon oxide device with diodes that eliminate data-corrupting crosstalk.
> 
> A paper on the new work appears this week in the journal Advanced Materials.
> 
> With gigabytes of flash memory becoming steadily cheaper, a 1k nonvolatile memory unit has little practical use. But as a proof of concept, the chip shows it should be possible to surpass the limitations of flash memory in packing density, energy consumption per bit and switching speed.



 Read more at: Silicon oxide memories transcend a hurdle


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Garmin launches HUD-based in-car navigation for just $130*
By Bill Howard on July 9, 2013 at 8:45 am
5 Comments
Garmin launches HUD-based in-car navigation for just $130 | ExtremeTech


> Garmin just sliced the cost of head-up displays from more than $1,000 to just $130 with the introduction of a stick-on-the-dash HUD that projects navigation information on your windshield (pictured above). The Garmin HUD (its name) pairs with your smartphone running Garmin StreetPilot or Navigon GPS software via Bluetooth. Just like high-end HUDs, the information bounces off a transflective patch on the windshield.
> 
> Displayed information includes turn arrows, distance to the next turn, your speed, the speed limit, excessive speed, estimated time of arrival, and lane guidance (which lane for exits vs. through traffic). If you subscribe to premium services, you can also get traffic info and photo radar alerts.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*

Welcome to the fifth dimension, where data is stored on crystals*

Colin Druce-McFadden

Tuesday, July 9, 2013 - 5:54pm


Welcome to the fifth dimension, where data is stored on crystals | DVICE


> It sounds like a bunch of sci-fi hullabaloo, but data storage has just crossed into the fifth dimension. That's right: the dimension sometimes referred to by physicists as the fabric of spacetime can now be harnessed to store you cat videos. And they've done it with frikkin' lasers and quartz.
> 
> Basically, science just created Superman's data crystals and they're gonna last forever. And we don't mean "forever" as in "ugh, my progress bar is taking forever," but the real end of time kind of forever. Bare minimum, these things will hold up for a million years. As group supervisor Peter Kazansky states: "it is thrilling to think that we have created the first document which will likely survive the human race. This technology can secure the last evidence of civilization: all we've learnt will not be forgotten."
> 
> If timeless, fifth dimensional storage written into quartz isn't cool enough for you, then check out the storage capacity on these suckers: a single crystal disc can store up to 360 terabytes of data. That's a lot of cat videos.


----------



## ScienceRocks

Invention transforms plain surfaces into low-cost touch screens

5 hours ago 



> Imagine turning a whiteboard, glass window or even a wooden table top into a responsive, touch sensitive surface. A low cost system developed by Nanyang Technological University (NTU), based on the principles of vibration and imaging that is able to track the movements of multiple fingers and of objects, can do just that.
> 
> Retrofitting the system onto existing flat-panel TVs will transform it into new, touch sensitive display screens, at only a fraction of the cost of new touch-sensitive display screens, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
> 
> Once hooked up to a computer, the modified TV screens can then be used as interactive billboards, mall directories and even as a digital whiteboard which can track what is drawn or written.



 Read more at: Invention transforms plain surfaces into low-cost touch screens


----------



## ScienceRocks

*LG intros world's thinnest smartphone screen *
LG intros world's thinnest smartphone screen | DVICE
Adario Strange

Thursday, July 11, 2013 - 12:12pm



> With all the attention currently being directed toward wearable computers like smartwatches, developments in the smartphone space seem to have slowed to an incremental pace, with few companies introducing revolutionary ideas or functions in the last year. LG is hoping to distinguish itself with a development that could inject new life into the smartphone space.
> 
> Today the company unveiled what it claims is the world's thinnest full HD LCD panel for a smartphone. The 5.2-inch panel is just 2.2 millimeters thin framed by a 2.3 millimeter bezel. The super thin panel was created using dual flexible printed circuit places between the panel and the touch film, thus reducing the panel lines by 30 percent.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Video: Samsung presents lighter, bendier phone concepts*

Megan Wollerton

Thursday, July 11, 2013 - 3:12pm
Video: Samsung presents lighter, bendier phone concepts | DVICE
.


> Samsung's Device Solutions President and Chief Strategy Officer, Young Sohn, presented the video below on Tuesday at San Francisco's MobileBeat conference. It's a bit of a sneak peek into the future of cellphones at Samsung and how mobile commuication might change.
> 
> Large displays that are also sleek and super lightweight? Check. Wearable sensors that allow you to monitor your health stats on the go and send the results directly to a doctor? Double check. Not surprisingly, Sohn emphasizes the importance of medical tech at the conference: We think the health area is a really key area of innovation.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*This little gesture-controlled cube wants to be your next mouse*

Colin Druce-McFadden
This little gesture-controlled cube wants to be your next mouse | DVICE
Thursday, July 11, 2013 - 2:25pm



> The computer mouse's days are numbered &#8212; that much is certain. Ever since motion-capture devices like Leap Motion and the Kinect showed up on the market, the writing has been on the wall. Now, a new option has hit Kickstarter and it just might give Leap Motion a run for its money.
> 
> Skymouse is a plug-and-play motion controller which requires minimum setup. There's also very little to learn as far as how you go about using the Skymouse. The same gestures you're used to using while giving yourself carpal tunnel via your traditional mouse all work with Skymouse.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Half the price of a Trim-Slice: CompuLab unveils the Utilite miniature computer*



> Mini-PC maker CompuLab has unveiled the next generation of its teeny, Tegra 2-powered Trim-Slice computer. Now called the Utilite, Nvidia's processing heart has been swapped for a Freescale i.MX6 system-on-chip that's available with single, dual or quad cores. The system can run either a desktop-grade Ubuntu or a fully-featured Android operating system, but probably the best news is a starting price of just US$99.
> 
> Cheap entry doesn't mean that the Israeli company has sacrificed performance for cost. Buyers of the new Utilite can look forward to up to twice the performance offered by its full-size-PC-in-a-small-package Trim-Slice ancestor for less than half the starting price.



Half the price of a Trim-Slice: CompuLab unveils the Utilite miniature computer


----------



## ScienceRocks

*bRight: Taking human-machine interaction to the next level*



> As I sit here tapping away at my keyboard, I'm flanked by a computer screen showing news feeds from the world of technology, another frantically tumbling away with Twitter updates, and another still that's telling me that yet another email has landed in my inbox. While I sometimes feel like I'm drowning in data, my woes are as nothing to those experienced by air traffic controllers, network administrators, operators in emergency response control rooms, and even busy stock traders. bRight from SRI International &#8211; the Californian research institute which originally developed the Siri virtual assistant &#8211; has been designed to make life a little easier for folks who need to make snap decisions in time critical situations, but are faced with an overwhelming amount of information flowing in all at once. In addition to offering task automation and data filtering, the system can predict the actions, behavior and needs of a user or group based on previous activity.



bRight: Taking human-machine interaction to the next level


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Review: Celluon Epic projection keyboard*

Review: Celluon Epic projection keyboard



> Today more and more people use smartphones and tablets as their main computing devices. But these devices typically don't have physical keyboards, and that leaves the door open for innovation and creative alternatives. Take, for example, the Celluon Epic projection keyboard. Read on, as Gizmag goes hands-on with a device that will turn any flat surface into a full QWERTY keyboard.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*NearBytes short-range communication technology transmits data as sound*



> NFC has been hailed as the next big thing for a few years now, but adoption has been a lot slower than anticipated with people required to update their phones to NFC-capable models to take advantage of the technology. Brazilian startup Kinetics has developed a new communication technology called NearBytes that allows data transfer between older smartphones, including all existing Android and iOS smartphones, by using sound
> 
> Pitched as an alternative to Near Field Communication (NFC), NearBytes sees the transmitting device encrypt the data and send it as a series of chirps that sound similar to a cricket. The receiving device then captures these sounds and decodes the data. As it relies only on the devices' microphone and speaker, NearBytes doesn't require any special hardware. The only requirement is that the devices be within 10 cm (3.93 inches) of each other


.

NearBytes sounds like an NFC alternative


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Samsung reveals entry-level 1TB 'SSDs for everyone' *

Samsung reveals entry-level 1TB 'SSDs for everyone' | DVICE



> Just a handful of years, solid state drives (SSD) were considered "nice to have" storage. While everyone from professionals to gamers to casual users now see how beneficial faster SSD transfers are, there are still a few reasons why they're not "must haves." Price and capacity still continue to deter users from choosing SSDs over traditional platter-based hard drives. The tables are finally starting to turn, though, at least for capacity.
> 
> At its SSD Global Summit, Samsung announced its new SSD 840 EVO, the successor to last year's 840 Series SSDs, now with capacities from 120GB up to 1TB. Yes, the era of 750GB SSD and 1TB SSD is finally upon us.
> 
> Using a 10-nanometer class manufacturing process, the new 250GB 840 EVO SSDs are two times faster than the previous generation &#8212; with write speeds of 520MB/s. A 120GB 840 EVO SSD model isn't far behind with write speeds of 410MB/s &#8212; three times faster than the previous 120GB 840 SSD, according to Samsung.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*GlassUp AR glasses challenge Google Glass with cheaper price*
GlassUp AR glasses challenge Google Glass with cheaper price | DVICE



> With major sports figures and even congress exploring the features of Google Glass, it's clear that, despite privacy concerns, wearable computers are here to stay. But Google hasn't cornered the market on such devices, with Recon Jet offering its own version of the construct for about a third of the price. Now another company has tossed its hat into the computer-glasses category with a device that has already raised the legal ire of the Google Glass team.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*11,000-electrode reprogrammable chip takes brain-computer interfaces to a new level*
By John Hewitt on July 22, 2013 at 2:36 pm
0 Comments



> The ability to dynamically reconfigure hardware components has become critical to many computing systems. For example, to maintain optimal performance when the protocols, data rates, or physical medium attachment (PMA) layers change in communications systems, it is often essential to able to change more than just the software. Modern FPGA (field-programmable gate array) chips, which can be partially reconfigured at run time, are now in ubiquitous use to meet some of these needs in dedicated systems. For the rapidly advancing class of chips that have been developed to communicate with the brain, the ability to dynamically reconfigure the interface nodes has emerged as one of the most desirable features. A group of researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology has built a powerful new chip that can be rapidly adapted to changing conditions at its interface points. Furthermore, they have used their chip to show that the speed of communication between neurons is not independent from any computations a brain might be said to perform, but rather, it is an essential component of the computation itself.



11,000-electrode reprogrammable chip takes brain-computer interfaces to a new level | ExtremeTech


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Computer program replicates artist *



> A computer program that can mimic the abstract portrait drawings of specific artists has been built by experts at Disney Research.
> 
> Seven artists were asked to create quick sketches based on portrait photographs, taking various lengths of time to complete their work.
> 
> Each artist generated about 8,000 pen strokes for the sketches.



BBC News - Computer program replicates artist sketches


----------



## ScienceRocks

*SanDisk Connect storage drives can wirelessly stream to multiple mobile devices*



> Like many mobile workers, my notebook, tablet and smartphone share backpack space with portable storage. Accessing stored files over a physical connection, however, can be something of a challenge. Even if you're luckier than I and manage to find a free USB port when you need one, connecting multiple devices to your storage can quickly turn into a messy cable fight. SanDisk has launched a new Connect range of storage vaults that can bypass that nightmarish tangle soup altogether. The Wireless Flash Drive and Wireless Media Drive are each able to wirelessly connect with up to eight mobile devices simultaneously without so much as an external router in sight.


SanDisk Connect storage drives can wirelessly stream to multiple mobile devices


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Red Pitaya: Open instruments for everyone *

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/652945597/red-pitaya-open-instruments-for-everyone
Technologies yesterday available only to research labs and industry turn your iPhone, tablet or PC into an amazing instrument.


RED PITAYA ECOSYSTEM


> Red Pitaya is an open source measurement and control tool replacing many expensive laboratory instruments at a surprising price tag.
> 
> This powerful exotic tool is at the heart of a revolutionary Red Pitaya Ecosystem, which facilitates discovering, experiencing, learning, developing and sharing a variety of applications.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Disney's Aireal delivers precise tactile feedback out of thin air*
Disney's Aireal delivers precise tactile feedback out of thin air



> With systems like the Kinect and Leap Motion, controlling a gadget with just the wave of a hand is starting to become much more commonplace. The one drawback to those gesture-based devices however is that you never actually touch anything. No matter what you see on the screen, you're still very aware that you're just moving your hands through the air. The Pittsburg branch of Disney Research may be able to change that with Aireal, a low-cost haptic system which fires out small rings of air that allow people to feel virtual objects


.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Reevu aims to be first to bring a motorcycle helmet HUD to market*


> Motorcycle helmet innovator Reevu has come up with what it claims is the world's first commercially available intelligent helmet with a built-in heads-up display, or HUD. While that's a bit misleading &#8211; it won't actually be available for another 18-24 months &#8211; a HUD for bikers is clearly an exciting prospect, and Reevu with its experience in building in rear-vision capabilities is probably in an excellent position to get it to market.


Reevu aims to be first to bring a motorcycle helmet HUD to market


----------



## rdean

Gotta love the amazing work all these liberal scientists are involved in.  As this proves, it's not just the age of the earth.  It's, well, everything.


----------



## ScienceRocks

Outside of issues of race...I do agree with you quite a bit rdean 


*Type in mid-air with a Leap Motion and DexType*


> The news release announcing the availability of the Leap Motion controller and supporting software isn't even cold yet, and the first applications that make use of its gesture recognition capabilities are already making a break for freedom. Asetniop creator Zack Dennis has joined the fray with an alternative to the physical keyboard he's calling DexType. Essentially a Google Chrome browser plugin, the Dex-typist uses mid-air point and poke gestures to select characters from a strip at the bottom of the screen.



Type in mid-air with a Leap Motion and DexType


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Gadget genius*



> University of Akron researchers have developed new materials that function on a nanoscale, which could lead to the creation of lighter laptops, slimmer televisions and crisper smartphone visual displays.
> 
> Known as "giant surfactants" &#8211; or surface films and liquid solutions &#8211; the researchers, led by Stephen Z. D. Cheng, dean of UA's College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering, used a technique known as nanopatterning to combine functioning molecular nanoparticles with polymers to build these novel materials.




 Read more at: Gadget genius


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Smart home security device gets even smarter over time*



> Wouldn't it be nice to have an intelligent home system you can control from your phone? A system that is smart enough to know what is normal? A system that averts false alarms that fray the nerves of responders? A "smart" home security system called Canary is in the wings as an Indiegogo crowdfunding project. Canary seeks to convince people that it can be used as a standalone, well-featured system they can confidently continue to use, unlike some other alarm systems that send off repeated false alarms that discourage users from sticking with their alarm systems. Canary has a built in HD camera with night vision and wide-angle lens and monitoring sensors. Sounds, air quality, humidity, and temperature can be monitored. Sudden changes in temperature, for example, could mean a fire.



 Read more at: Smart home security device gets even smarter over time


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Speed limit set for ultrafast electrical switch*



> Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have clocked the fastest-possible electrical switching in magnetite, a naturally magnetic mineral. Their results could drive innovations in the tiny transistors that control the flow of electricity across silicon chips, enabling faster, more powerful computing devices.
> 
> Scientists using SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) X-ray laser found that it takes only 1 trillionth of a second to flip the on-off electrical switch in samples of magnetite, which is thousands of times faster than in transistors now in use. The results were published July 28 in Nature Materials.
> 
> "This breakthrough research reveals for the first time the 'speed limit' for electrical switching in this material," said Roopali Kukreja, a materials science researcher at SLAC and Stanford University who is a lead author of the study.



 Read more at: Speed limit set for ultrafast electrical switch


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Nokia releases augmented reality job search*

Nokia releases augmented reality job search | DVICE



> Augmented reality has served a few purposes, such as giving us Japanese pop singers in boxes. Nokia decided it might have a more useful purpose, so on Friday the company launched an augmented reality job search app called JobLens.
> 
> The Windows 8 app could be the future of job hunting. Instead of simply offering a list of jobs, as most of us are used to, JobLens uses augmented reality to display jobs over a map, showing exactly where the offices are in relation to your home.
> 
> It also dives into your social media to see if any of your friends are connected with a hiring manager at any available jobs. Finally, it allows for easy resume sharing and even directions to any interviews to which you might be invited.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Scientists realize quantum bit with a bent nanotube*


> One of the biggest challenges in quantum science is to build a functioning quantum bit, the basic element for the quantum computer. An important theoretical candidate for such a quantum bit is using a bent carbon nanotube. Scientists at the Delft University of Technology and the Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (FOM), led by Professor Leo Kouwenhoven, have succeeded for the first time to create a working quantum bit using a carbon nanotube. On July 28 they published their results in Nature Nanotechnology.



 Read more at: Scientists realize quantum bit with a bent nanotube


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Researchers discover novel material for cooling of electronic devices*



> A team of theoretical physicists at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and Boston College has identified cubic boron arsenide as a material with an extraordinarily high thermal conductivity and the potential to transfer heat more effectively from electronic devices than diamond, the best-known thermal conductor to date.
> 
> As microelectronic devices become smaller, faster and more powerful, thermal management is becoming a critical challenge. This work provides new insight into the nature of thermal transport at a quantitative level and predicts a new material, with ultra-high thermal conductivity, of potential interest for passive cooling applications.



 Read more at: Researchers discover novel material for cooling of electronic devices


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Sony and Panasonic team to develop 300GB optical discs*

The push by major tech companies over the last few years to get everyone to embrace cloud computing suffered a major setback in recent months as new data privacy concerns have been raised around some of the top brands in Silicon Valley. Of course, not everyone bought into the notion of storing everything from your personal diary to your financial information in the cloud, a fact that has allowed removable storage to just barely survive the cloud trend. Now two major Japanese tech companies have announced a partnership that could ensure the future of consumer-ready local storage for years to come.

Sony and Panasonic have just entered into an agreement to work together to develop a new super high capacity 300-gigabyte memory disc. In the joint announcement from the two companies, the move is said to target professional-use customers looking for long-term digital data storage solutions. The new disks are also meant to ensure inter-generational compatibility between various formats, thus cutting down the frequency of archiving updates required when storage mediums inevitably shift due to changes in hardware constructs.
Sony and Panasonic team to develop 300GB optical discs | DVICE


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Heartbeats now in 3D, no special glasses required*
Heartbeats now in 3D, no special glasses required | Cutting Edge - CNET News



> When surgeons thread a catheter through a vein to the heart -- a procedure called cardiac ablation -- they are relying on electrodes at the catheter's tip to listen to the heart's electrical activity and find the source of -- and hopefully fix -- any heartbeat irregularities.
> 
> Now, a new system called the Rhythmia Mapping System, recently bought by Boston Scientific, translates that activity into a 3D map of the heart as it pumps blood. The system received FDA 510(k) clearance in the U.S., only months after receiving the similar CE Mark of approval in Europe.
> 
> In clinical trials, Rhythmia cut the time it takes to map electrical activity in half, Boston Scientific's Peter Sommerness told Fast Company last fall. A 64-electrode catheter tracks the heart's shape and electrical signals as it beats, and then the system's software turns that data into a 3D map of the organ. The idea is to help surgeons and physicians spot abnormalities right down to the precise section of muscle where the electrical activity is disrupted.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Printing silver onto fibers could pave the way for flexible, wearable electronics*

6 hours ago 



> A new technique for depositing silver onto clothing fibres could open up huge opportunities in wearable electronics.
> 
> Scientists at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), the UK's National Measurement Institute, have developed a way to print silver directly onto fibres. This new technique could make integrating electronics into all types of clothing simple and practical. This has many potential applications in sports, health, medicine, consumer electronics and fashion.




 Read more at: Printing silver onto fibers could pave the way for flexible, wearable electronics


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Towards a global quantum network: Photoelectron trapping in double quantum dots*
Towards a global quantum network: Photoelectron trapping in double quantum dots



> (Phys.org) &#8212;While the journey from today's fledgling quantum computers to a global quantum information network may seem daunting, researchers are continually, and at an accelerating pace, making progress towards that goal. One key element essential to that progress is the transfer of quantum information between single photons and solid-state quanta &#8211; and the properties of semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) make them excellent candidates for photon-electron quantum coupling. One historical stumbling block has been that although quantum circuits require nondestructive transfer between separate dots, using single QDs usually fails due to destructive transfer in which photoelectrons are immediately lost upon measurement.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Diablo&#8217;s Memory Channel Storage tech will deliver terabytes of RAM &#8211; using NAND flash*
Diablo?s Memory Channel Storage tech will deliver terabytes of RAM ? using NAND flash | ExtremeTech



> One of the most fundamental problems in computing is the relationship between a CPU and its memory hierarchy. The problem, in a nutshell, is that fast, low-latency memory is extremely expensive and can&#8217;t hold much information. Larger, slower memory pools are far cheaper, but can&#8217;t be searched as quickly and take time to access. Thus, a typical CPU has a small, low-latency L1 cache, a larger, slower L2, and so on. If a chip can&#8217;t find data in cache, it has to go out to main memory and from there to storage. The problem is that even pulling data from L3 has a noticeable impact on a chip&#8217;s performance &#8212; going to main memory takes hundreds of cycles, while accessing primary storage takes tens of thousands.
> 
> That&#8217;s why I was initially skeptical when Diablo Technologies claimed to have found a way to drop NAND flash into the main memory bus of a system. DRAM and NAND flash are designed for entirely different purposes, starting with the fact that DRAM is volatile, while NAND flash isn&#8217;t. NAND isn&#8217;t designed to be read or written in the same fashion, and it takes far longer to perform a read/write cycle to flash than it does to DRAM.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Simulating 1 second of real brain activity takes 40 minutes and 83K processors *



> Researchers have simulated 1 second of real brain activity, on a network equivalent to 1 percent of an actual brain&#8217;s neural network, using the world&#8217;s fourth-fastest supercomputer. The results aren&#8217;t revolutionary just yet, but they do hint at what will be possible as computing power increases
> 
> A team of Japanese and German researchers have carried out the largest-ever simulation of neural activity in the human brain, and the numbers are both amazing and humbling.
> 
> The hardware necessary to simulate the activity of 1.73 billion nerve cells connected by 10.4 trillion synapses (just 1 percent of a brain&#8217;s total neural network) for 1 biological second: 82,944 processors on the K supercomputer and 1 petabyte of memory (24MB per syapse). That 1 second of biological time took 40 minutes, on one of the world&#8217;s most-powerful systems, to compute.



Simulating 1 second of real brain activity takes 40 minutes and 83K processors ? Tech News and Analysis


----------



## ScienceRocks

*ReRAM, the memory tech that will eventually replace NAND flash, finally comes to market*



> A new memory technology company, Crossbar, has broken cover with a new ReRAM design it claims will allow for commercialization of the technology. The company&#8217;s claims aren&#8217;t strictly theoretical; today&#8217;s announcement reveals that the design firm has successfully implemented the architecture in silicon. While that&#8217;s not the same as initiating mass production, it&#8217;s an important step in the search for a NAND flash replacement.
> 
> ReRAM (also known as RRAM) works by creating resistance rather than directly storing charge. An electric current is applied to a material, changing the resistance of that material. The resistance state can then be measured and a &#8220;1&#8243; or &#8220;0&#8243; is read as the result. Much of the work done on ReRAM to date has focused on finding appropriate materials and measuring the resistance state of the cells. ReRAM designs are low voltage, endurance is far superior to flash memory, and the cells are much smaller &#8212; at least in theory.


ReRAM, the memory tech that will eventually replace NAND flash, finally comes to market | ExtremeTech


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Samsung now mass producing 3D vertical NAND flash chips*


New 3D chips offer at least twice the reliability and speed over 10nm chips.



> Following the logical progression along flash storage development, Samsung has just announced that it will begin mass producing 3D "vertical NAND" (V-NAND) flash chips. Although we know Samsung as a massive consumer electronics company, the Korean manufacturer also has a lucrative business making the internal components &#8212; such as processors, flash storage and displays &#8212; for many different device manufacturers.
> 
> We've talked before about the move by Samsung (and other manufacturers) to smaller technology for fitting a denser amount of storage on the same physical area with the move to a 10nm-class manufacturing process, but as the name would lead you to expect this new 3D NAND system goes a step further. Rather than sticking to a traditional "planar" (flat) structure, Samsung is now building chips that stack components vertically &#8212; up to 24 cell layers high.


Samsung now mass producing 3D vertical NAND flash chips | Android Central


----------



## ScienceRocks

*StyleShoots automatically gives product shots transparent backgrounds*




> When incorporating photographs of products into catalogs or websites, it&#8217;s always helpful if those photos have a digitally-transparent background. This means that a computer working with the photo will allow the user to add in whatever background they wish behind the product &#8211; or give it no background at all &#8211; instead of being stuck with the background against which it was originally shot. In the past, creating such an image has often required graphic artists to manually cut the product out of the shot, using a program such as Photoshop. Now, however, the StyleShoots system is able to create product shots with transparent backgrounds within seconds, as the photos are being taken.
> 
> Each StyleShoots rig consists of a large glass light table, overhead daylight simulation lamps, an integrated Mac mini, an iPad and a Canon 5D Mark II camera.



StyleShoots automatically gives product shots transparent backgrounds


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Atom Everywhere: Intel breaks ground on first 450mm fab*




> Intel has broken ground on its first dedicated facility for 450mm wafer production. The new foundry  D1X Module 2  is scheduled to come online in 2015, with Intel committing to roughly $2 billion in bring-up costs through the end of the year. Foundry costs have continued to balloon in recent years; the 450mm facility will likely set records in this area due to the cost of the new manufacturing equipment.
> 
> A calculated bet
> 
> The advantage of 450mm wafers is that while the equipment costs are formidable, the long-term production costs are advantageous. GlobalFoundries has done an extensive presentation on this  for a chip of a given size, a 450mm wafer can yield 3,400 dies while a 300mm wafer yields just 1,450.



http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/GF-2.png


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## ScienceRocks

*E-Ticket Usage Projected To Increase 3-Fold During Next 5 Years*



> E-ticket usage will increase three-fold by the year 2018 &#8212; with more than 18 billion transport and events tickets being delivered to mobile devices annually by that point &#8212; according to a new report from Juniper Research.
> 
> Growth is expected in nearly all markets, according to the report, but the most significant growth will be seen in the metro and public transportation markets, especially the relatively undeveloped US market.



Read more at CleanTechnica | Clean Tech News & Views: Solar Energy News. Wind Energy News. EV News. & More.


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## ScienceRocks

*IBM unveils computing architecture based on the brain*



> Company says its breakthrough could allow for a next generation of applications that mirror the brain's efficiency in perception, cognition, and action.
> IBM scientists unveiled an all-new computing architecture on Wednesday that's based on the human brain.
> 
> In an announcement tonight, IBM Research said that its new software ecosystem was built to program silicon chips whose architecture is directly inspired by the brain's size, function, and minimal use of power. The company hopes that its breakthrough may support a next generation of applications that could mirror what the brain can achieve in perception, cognition, and action



IBM unveils computing architecture based on the brain | Cutting Edge - CNET News


----------



## ScienceRocks

*EUV machines to swing into commercial action in 2015*



> (Phys.org) &#8212;ASML develops technology for high-tech lithography machines for the semiconductor industry. The company, based in The Netherlands, manufactures equipment that is used to transfer circuit patterns onto wafers. For them and their customers, EUV, or extreme ultraviolet, is a significant term that comes down to producing wafers in a better way. The chip industry has long hoped to use the short-wavelength light to make circuits that are cheaper and denser. The company, according to IEEE Spectrum's detailed report, has announced its work with extreme ultraviolet and related goals, and that its EUV machines will by 2015 be bright enough for commercial production.



 Read more at: EUV machines to swing into commercial action in 2015


----------



## ScienceRocks

Review: First peek through Google Glass impresses



> Google hopes to change the face of technology by persuading people to wear computers on their heads.
> 
> That's the inspiration behind Google Glass, a spectacle-like device that contains a hidden computer, a thumbnail-size transparent display screen above the right eye and other digital wizardry. This Internet-connected headgear is set up to let users receive search results, read email, scan maps for directions and engage in video chats without reaching for a smartphone. Google Glass' grasp of voice commands even makes it possible to shoot hands-free photos and videos.



 Read more at: Review: First peek through Google Glass impresses

If they can do voice command accurate then this is going to kick ass.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Scientists seek silicon's successor*

15 hours ago by Lisa M. Krieger 



> In the hunt for a sequel to silicon, scientists at the SLAC National Accelerator Lab have flipped an "on-off" switch in the mineral magnetite that is far faster than today's transistors
> 
> Computer circuits can't be made ever-smaller and faster with existing materials. So researchers at the Stanford-operated lab are preparing for the day when the famed Moore's Law hits the speed limit - that is, the number of transistors on a circuit no longer double every 1.5 years, as forecast by Intel co-founder Gordon Moore.
> 
> Magnetite, a naturally occurring mineral, isn't the answer, but it puts science one step closer




 Read more at: Scientists seek silicon's successor


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Mystery particle could shrink your hard drive to the size of a peanut*


> A strange, newly discovered particle could shrink a laptop computer's hard drive to the size of a peanut and an iPod's drive to the size of a rice grain.
> 
> The particle, called a skyrmion, is more stable and less power-hungry than its conventional, magnetic cousin. Besides storing data in ultra compact media, skyrmions could lead to faster computers that combine storage with processing power and usher in smaller and smaller devices that have the same computing power as a desktop machine.



Mystery particle could shrink your hard drive to the size of a peanut - NBC News.com


----------



## ScienceRocks

*7Gbps transmissions up to a mile will boost wireless Internet coverage*
7Gbps transmissions up to a mile will boost wireless Internet coverage | Ars Technica



> The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has changed its rules to allow higher-power outdoor operations on the 57-64 GHz band, enabling wireless transmissions "over distances up to a mile at data rates of 7Gbps," the agency said.
> 
> This is the same swath of spectrum used by Wireless Gigabit technology, which allows fast streaming between devices in living rooms and offices. Transmissions at this frequency are easily blocked by walls and objects. However, the FCC said the transmissions will still be useful outdoors in line-of-sight applications. Unlike a home network, the 7Gbps of bandwidth would be shared among many users


----------



## ScienceRocks

*New &#8220;semi-floating&#8221; gate makes for fast, low-power circuitry*

New ?semi-floating? gate makes for fast, low-power circuitry | Ars Technica



> After a long period during which the emphasis had been on building ever-faster computer circuits, things have shifted toward making them more energy-efficient. Some efficiency gains have come through small tweaks to the layout of the individual components, but most of the efficiency was a product of changes to the manufacturing process: new materials and ever-smaller features. Unfortunately, we're getting close to the point where shrinking the features of circuits any further will cause the inherent noise of quantum mechanics to start interfering with the chip's operations


.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Meta, The Crazy AR Glasses That Aim To Do What Google Glass Can&#8217;t, Go Up For Pre-Order*


Meta, The Crazy AR Glasses That Aim To Do What Google Glass Can?t, Go Up For Pre-Order | TechCrunch


> Over a year after the announcement Of Google Glass, many folks I talk to still seem to be misunderstanding what Glass can actually do.
> 
> &#8220;It&#8217;ll be great for Augmented Reality!&#8221; they say, assuming that Glass can render objects directly into your full view of the world (it can&#8217;t.) &#8220;Ooh! It&#8217;ll be like Minority Report!&#8221;, expecting Glass&#8217; camera to pick up your every hand wave (it doesn&#8217;t.)
> 
> Then they try on a pair and realize that&#8230; well, that&#8217;s not what Glass is. But it&#8217;s what Meta is aiming to be &#8212; and their first (read: still a bit rough) version is going on sale to the public starting today.
> 
> To picture the Meta, picture a pair of glasses &#8212; or, more accurately in its current stage, a pair of safety goggles. Put a translucent, reflective surface in each eye piece, displaying images on top of your field of view as piped out of a tiny projector built into each arm of the frames. Take a couple tiny RGB/Infrared cameras &#8212; essentially a miniature Kinect &#8212; and strap them to the frame. That&#8217;s the Meta.
> 
> The Meta then plugs into another device to help it with the data crunching; right now, that&#8217;s a laptop. Moving forward, it&#8217;ll be your phone.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Computer scientists develop new model to simulate cloth on a computer with unprecedented accuracy*



> Computer scientists at the University of California, San Diego, have developed a new model to simulate with unprecedented accuracy on the computer the way cloth and light interact. The new model can be used in animated movies and in video games to make cloth look more realistic.



 Read more at: Computer scientists develop new model to simulate cloth on a computer with unprecedented accuracy


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Google Glass update offers alerts, new voice commands*

You can now dictate more (and better) commands with the latest software update for Google Glass.



> As promised, the team behind Google Glass is rolling out its monthly update, and this one especially taps into third-party offerings.
> 
> Baking in extra features and taking further advantage of the very small but growing third-party ecosystem for the  Android-based spectacles is incredibly important for touting Glass as a viable consumer product.
> 
> New voice commands, as simple as they might be, really could be "just the beginning," as touted by the  Google Glass team on Monday.
> 
> Specifically, the additional commands play well for Path and Evernote.
> 
> On the private social networking app, users can "Post an update" audibly to Path and "Take a note" on Evernote. The latter one seems especially more useful on Glass for on-the-go users who wouldn't even have time to record a message on a smartphone.
> 
> Google also introduced a number of other Now cards for staying in the loop, notably one for weather emergency alerts when severe thunderstorm and/or flash flooding warnings are in effect.


Google Glass update offers alerts, new voice commands | Cutting Edge - CNET News


----------



## ScienceRocks

DARPA, IBM Neurosynaptic Chip and Programming Language Mimic the Brain | Singularity Hub


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Teleported by electronic circuit*

Published: Wednesday, August 14, 2013 - 13:34  in Physics & Chemistry 



> ETH-researchers cannot "beam" objects or humans of flesh and blood through space yet, a feat sometimes alluded to in science fiction movies. They managed, however, to teleport information from A to B -- for the first time in an electronic circuit, similar to a computer chip. Physicists at ETH Zurich have for the first time successfully teleported information in a so-called solid state system. The researchers did it by using a device similar to a conventional computer chip. The essential difference to a usual computer chip is that the information is not stored and processed based on the laws of classical physics, but on those of quantum physics. In a study, which is published in the current issue of the scientific journal Nature, the researchers were able to teleport information across a distance of about six millimeters, from one corner of a chip to the opposite one. This was shown to be possible without transporting the physical object carrying the information itself from the sender's to the receiver's corner.
> 
> "Usually, in telecommunication information is transmitted by electromagnetic pulses. In mobile communications, for example, microwave pulses are used, while in fiber connections it is optical pulses," explains Andreas Wallraff, Professor at the Department of Physics and head of the study. In contrast, quantum teleportation does not transport the information carrier itself, but only the information. This is possible due to the quantum mechanical properties of the system, in particular the entanglement established between the sender and the receiver. For non-physicists, entanglement constitutes a "magic" link between the two parties which exploits the laws of quantum physics.
> 
> "Like beaming"



Teleported by electronic circuit | e! Science News


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Advancing resistive memory to improve portable electronics*



> A team at the University of California, Riverside Bourns College of Engineering has developed a novel way to build what many see as the next generation memory storage devices for portable electronic devices including smart phones, tablets, laptops and digital cameras. The device is based on the principles of resistive memory, which can be used to create memory cells that are smaller, operate at a higher speed and offer more storage capacity than flash memory cells, the current industry standard. Terabytes, not gigbytes, will be the norm with resistive memory.
> 
> The key advancement in the UC Riverside research is the creation of a zinc oxide nano-island on silicon. It eliminates the need for a second element called a selector device, which is often a diode.




Advancing resistive memory to improve portable electronics | e! Science News


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Haptix turns any surface into a multi-touch interface for $70*



> Haptix Touch has just announced a new input device that turns any surface into a 3D multi-touch interface. The device, called the Haptix, closely resembles the Leap Motion gesture controller in terms of appearance and underlying technology. Whereas Leap is placed on a surface and points up, though, Haptix points downwards at whatever surface your hands are currently resting on. This means that you can comfortably use Haptix for extended periods &#8212; and it should also mean that input is a lot less finicky than the Leap, which has been broadly panned since its public release last month.
> 
> The Haptix controller is being developed as a Kickstarter project by Darren Lim and Lai Xue, the former being a Thiel fellow and the latter being the &#8220;youngest engineer at Intel&#8221; back in 2011. Early birds can get a Haptix for $60, while the retail price will be $70 &#8212; $10 less than the Leap. The funding goal is $100,000, which as long as people aren&#8217;t too disaffected by the lackluster launch of Leap shouldn&#8217;t be too hard to reach.




Haptix turns any surface into a multi-touch interface for $70 | ExtremeTech


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Laptop clip-on is on a mission to outdo mouse*


> (Phys.org) Haptix is a newly announced gesture-based controller that launched this week on Kickstarter. Haptix looks like a sleek ice cream bar with its anodized bead-blasted aluminum casing. The Haptix is designed to transform tabletops and keyboards into tools that you use to interact with your computer. Basically, it wants to be the reason that workers can finally say, without fear, goodbye mouse. The creators consider their device "Multitouch Reinvented." They say that it is as intuitive and natural as a multitouch screen, just without the actual screen. They have a point. This product is no Leap Motion me-too hiccup, but rather an attempt to create a practical alternative for people who work with spreadsheets, reports, and design projects where traditionally the mouse and keyboard have been thought to be the most practical tools to get the work done.



 Read more at: Laptop clip-on is on a mission to outdo mouse


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Pen-shaped gStick mouse promises extra precision*

Pen-shaped gStick mouse promises extra precision



> A normal computer mouse is an innovation many of us take for granted, especially those of us who use one all day, every day. This also means we may ignore the limitations of this device which has been with us for more than 40 years. That is until the dreaded carpal tunnel strikes or we come up against a task that requires an extra degree of precision difficult to attain using a conventional mouse. Mimicking a pen in shape and size, gStick is looking to join the ranks of alternative mouse designs that aim to address these problems.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Memory tech breakthrough eliminates the magnet *


Thu, 08/15/2013 - 1:09pm 



> Memory devices like disk drives, flash drives and RAM play an important role in our lives. They are an essential component of our computers, phones, electronic appliances and cars. Yet current memory devices have significant drawbacks: dynamic RAM memory has to be refreshed periodically, static RAM data is lost when the power is off, flash memory lacks speed, and all existing memory technologies are challenged when it comes to miniaturization.
> 
> Increasingly, memory devices are a bottleneck limiting performance. In order to achieve a substantial improvement in computation speed, scientists are racing to develop smaller and denser memory devices that operate with high speed and low power consumption.
> 
> Prof. Yossi Paltiel and research student Oren Ben-Dor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem&#8217;s Harvey M. Krueger Family Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, together with researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science, have developed a simple magnetization progress that, by eliminating the need for permanent magnets in memory devices, opens the door to many technological applications.


Memory tech breakthrough eliminates the magnet


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Intel developer event to discuss 1.6 Tbit/s MXC interconnect breakthrough*



> (Phys.org) &#8212;The word is out that Intel will present an entirely new optical interconnect technology for servers at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco next month. The MXC interconnect is capable of a peak transfer rate of 1.6 terabits per second. In advancing notes of what's on the agenda at the upcoming developer forum, Intel posted a brief description of its MXC presentation scheduled for September 12. Once the posting went up, it did not take long for tech sites to see it and catch the significance. This is something big.


 Read more at: Intel developer event to discuss 1.6 Tbit/s MXC interconnect breakthrough


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Microsoft India team develop secure Peer-to-Peer acoustic NFC system*



> (Phys.org) &#8212;A team of researchers at Microsoft India has developed an alternative to standard NFC communications between hand-held devices&#8212;a software only system that makes use of the speaker and microphone already in use by phones and other devices. Called (Dhwani-"sound" in English) the new system can transmit small amounts of data without the need for any additional hardware.


 Read more at: Microsoft India team develop secure Peer-to-Peer acoustic NFC system


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Image-processing 1,000 times faster is goal of new $5M contract*

3 hours ago 



> Loosely inspired by a biological brain's approach to making sense of visual information, a University of Michigan researcher is leading a project to build alternative computer hardware that could process images and video 1,000 times faster with 10,000 times less power than today's systems&#8212;all without sacrificing accuracy.



 Read more at: Image-processing 1,000 times faster is goal of new $5M contract


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Ubi brings touchscreen functionality to any projection surface*



> If you&#8217;re someone who does a lot of presentations in front of images projected onto a wall, do you ever wish that you could manipulate those images with your fingers? If so, well, now you can. Ubi is a new piece of software that works with a video projector, a Kinect for Windows depth sensor and a PC running Windows 8, to turn any projection surface into a touchscreen.
> 
> Ubi (not to be confused with the computer of the same name) runs on a PC that&#8217;s supplying the projected video, and monitors the projected image via the linked Kinect. Apparently any projector and any surface (such as a table top) will do, as long as the image is sufficiently bright.



Ubi brings touchscreen functionality to any projection surface


----------



## ScienceRocks

*NIST study advances use of iris images as a long-term form of identification*


> A new report* by biometric researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) uses data from thousands of frequent travelers enrolled in an iris recognition program to determine that no consistent change occurs in the distinguishing texture of their irises for at least a decade. These findings inform identity program administrators on how often iris images need to be recaptured to maintain accuracy.



 Read more at: NIST study advances use of iris images as a long-term form of identification


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Researchers discover quantum algorithm that could improve stealth fighter design*

just added 



> (Phys.org) &#8212;Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) have devised a quantum algorithm for solving big linear systems of equations. Furthermore, they say the algorithm could be used to calculate complex measurements such as radar cross sections, an ability integral to the development of radar stealth technology, among many other applications. Their research is reported in the June 18 issue of Physical Review Letters.



 Read more at: Researchers discover quantum algorithm that could improve stealth fighter design


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Telepathy raises $5 million to develop Google Glass rival*

The Silicon Valley startup uses the funding to hire new engineers for its wearable, programmable computing device.



http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57599592-76/telepathy-raises-$5-million-to-develop-google-glass-rival/


> Telepathy, a Silicon Valley startup, has raised $5 million in a first round of funding to develop wearable computing technology that rivals Google Glass.
> 
> "Wearable technology will enable the next wave in social networking," Telepathy CEO Takahito Iguchi said in a statement. "The $5 million funding will enable us to enrich the user experience of Telepathy One, which we expect to bring to market in 2014."


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Project Loon looking for Internet-by-balloon testers in central California*


> Project Loon is looking for folks in California&#8217;s Central Valley who are willing to have a Loon Internet antenna installed on their house or small business building to help test the strength of the Loon Internet balloon connection, Google has announced on Google+.
> 
> &#8220;When  balloons fly overhead, the Loon Internet antennas will generate traffic that will load-test our service,&#8221; Google says.
> 
> Google is inviting residents of Madera, Chowchilla, Mariposa, Merced or Turlock who own a single-family home or business building with an Internet connection to participate.


Project Loon looking for Internet-by-balloon testers in central California | KurzweilAI


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Apple granted patent for 3D gesture control for iPad *



> The entire world seems to be focused on Apple's upcoming September event where the rumor is that new iPhones will be revealed, as well as the never-ending hints that the company is developing a smartwatch. But while most of us are looking toward the obvious, Apple has just been granted a patent that may help it to push interface innovation even further ahead of its competition.
> 
> Applied for way back in 2010 and just approved this week, the patent details a dynamic that would allow a user of a tablet, presumably an iPad, to generate 3D objects from 2D objects using finger gestures. Although the patent doesn't mention holograms, one aspect of the patent's description indicates a kind of half step toward the era of holographic interfaces by getting users accustomed to manipulating 3D objects virtually.




http://www.dvice.com/2013-8-21/apple-granted-patent-3d-gesture-control-ipad


----------



## JQPublic1

Matthew said:


> China is building a 100-petaflop supercomputer
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The supercomputer will be completed in 2015
> 
> Article | November 1, 2012 - 6:01pm
> Comment0
> 
> China is building a 100-petaflop supercomputer | ZeitNews
> 
> 
> Errka P. Flickr.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> As the U.S. launched what's expected to be the world's fastest supercomputer at 20 petaflops, China is building a machine that is intended to be five times faster when it is deployed in 2015.
> 
> China's Tianhe-2 supercomputer will run at 100 petaflops (quadrillion floating-point calculations per second), according to the Guangzhou Supercomputing Center, where the machine will be housed.
> 
> Tianhe-2 could help keep China competitive with the future supercomputers of other countries, as industry experts estimate machines will start reaching 1,000-petaflop performance by 2018.
> 
> The Tianhe-2 is not China's first attempt at building a world-beating supercomputer. It briefly took the top spot on the world's list of most powerful supercomputers in 2010 with the Tianhe-1A. That computer is now ranked fifth in the world with a theoretical peak speed of 4.7 petaflops, and uses processors from Intel and Nvidia.
> 
> Like the Tianhe-1A, the Tianhe-2 will also be designed by China's National University of Defense Technology.
> 
> The Chinese government is pushing the development of the country's supercomputing technology, according to Zhang Yunquan, a professor at the Institute of Software Chinese Academy of Sciences, who also keeps track of China's top supercomputers.
> 
> The government is aiming for China's supercomputers to reach 100 petaflops in 2015, and then 1 exaflop (1,000 petaflops), in 2018, he said. This comes from China's "863 program", which was founded in 1986 and is meant to help accelerate the country's development in key technologies.
> 
> "Taking the top spot in the world's fastest supercomputers gave us a lot of drive, and gave us more confidence to develop better machines," he said. But while China has largely relied on U.S. chips and software to develop its supercomputers, Zhang said this could gradually change as the country invests more in developing its own homegrown technology.
> 
> A clear example of this was when last year China's Sunway Bluelight supercomputer grabbed headlines for using a domestically developed processor, the Shenwei 1600.
Click to expand...


Another Asian Man...


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Samsung moves into mass production of 3D flash memory*
Samsung moves into mass production of 3D flash memory



> Samsung has announced production of the first solid state drives (SSD) based on its new 3D V-NAND flash memory. V-NAND flash memories read and write twice as fast as conventional NAND memories, and last 10 times longer while consuming 50 percent less power. At present, the 3D chips offer about the same physical bit density as do more conventional NAND flash memory chips, but while 2D geometries are reaching the end state of their scaling potential, the 3D chips offer as much as two orders of magnitude of additional elbow room for denser devices.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*iPhone 5S&#8217; A7 SoC rumored to bring 64-bit support, 31% speed boost, but no quad-core*



> It&#8217;s been nearly a year since the introduction of Apple&#8217;s A6 SoC, so the recent rumors surrounding the launch of the iPhone 5S and its A7 chip next month is making the whole internet begin to froth at the mouth. Not only are we supposedly going to see a substantial CPU speed boost over the A6 processor, but sources indicate that Apple is finally making the switch to a 64-bit CPU in its mobile devices. While it likely won&#8217;t make much of a difference right off the bat, this does set the stage for faster apps and more memory down the road.



iPhone 5S? A7 SoC rumored to bring 64-bit support, 31% speed boost, but no quad-core | ExtremeTech


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Skype confirms 3D video calls are under development* 


> Skype has confirmed it has developed 3D video calls.
> 
> The news was revealed by a senior executive in an exclusive interview with the BBC to mark Skype's 10th anniversary.
> 
> There had been speculation about the possibility after the firm posted an advert in April saying it wanted to find a way to create "body-doubles" for workers unable to travel to meetings.
> 
> However, the executive warned it could be many years before the tech launched.
> 
> "We've done work in the labs looking at the capability of 3D-screens and 3D-capture," said Microsoft's corporate vice-president for Skype, Mark Gillett.
> 
> "We've seen a lot of progress in screens and a lot of people now buy TVs and computer monitors that are capable of delivering a 3D image.
> 
> "But the capture devices are not yet there. As we work with that kind of technology you have to add multiple cameras to your computer, precisely calibrate them and point them at the right angle.
> 
> "We have it in the lab, we know how to make it work and we're looking at the ecosystem of devices and their capability to support it in order to make a decision when we might think about bringing something like that to market."
> 
> 3D indifference
> 
> A decision by Skype to support 3D could provide a boost to device-makers at a time the format has shown signs of flagging.



BBC News - Skype confirms 3D video calls are under development


----------



## ScienceRocks

*New breakthrough could bring quantum encryption to smartphones*

New breakthrough could bring quantum encryption to smartphones | ExtremeTech


> In light of recent events, you have to wonder where your data is really going every time you pull the phone of of your pocket and type your deepest, darkest secrets into it. Even with encrypted connections, a third party could access all the data if they managed to surreptitiously snatch the encryption key. Then theres the concern that encryption as we know it isnt as secure as we once thought. A shining beacon of hope that would allow us to reclaim our mobile privacy may be coming as a result of a breakthrough in quantum cryptography.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Advancing graphene for post-silicon computer logic: Researchers pioneer new approach for graphene logic circuits*



> A team of researchers from the University of California, Riverside's Bourns College of Engineering have solved a problem that previously presented a serious hurdle for the use of graphene in electronic devices.
> 
> Scanning electron microscopy image of graphene device used in the study. The scale bar is one micrometer. The UCR logo next to it is implemented with etched graphene.
> 
> Graphene is a single-atom thick carbon crystal with unique properties beneficial for electronics including extremely high electron mobility and phonon thermal conductivity. However, graphene does not have an energy band gap, which is a specific property of semiconductor materials that separate electrons from holes and allows a transistor implemented with a given material to be completely switched off.





 Read more at: Advancing graphene for post-silicon computer logic: Researchers pioneer new approach for graphene logic circuits


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Sony to launch own VR headset for PlayStation 4 - Report*


> Sony to launch its own virtual reality headset for the PlayStation 4 and compete with the Oculus Rift, according to sources.
> 
> The next chapter in Sony's next-gen technology strategy might come in the form of a custom virtual reality headset for the PlayStation 4, reports have claimed.
> 
> Sony's virtual reality plans for the PlayStation 4, reported by both Eurogamer and CVG, are said to involve hardware technology similar to the Oculus Rift headset, which has been a source of intense industry interest since its barnstorming Kickstarter success in August 2012. A consumer version of the Oculus Rift has yet to be dated


Sony to launch own VR headset for PlayStation 4 - Report - GameSpot.com


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Samsung beats Apple to the punch, unveils Galaxy Gear smartwatch*



> We've known for a while now that just about every company under the sun is making a smartwatch. Apple, Microsoft, Google, LG ... you name the manufacturer, and it probably a wrist-based computer in the works. Sometimes there's something to be said for being first, though, and Samsung just beat out the other major mobile manufacturers. Say hello to the well-leaked, but no less intriguing, Samsung Galaxy Gear.


Samsung beats Apple to the punch, unveils Galaxy Gear smartwatch


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Samsung announces the Galaxy Note 3*




> The term "phablet" became something of a household name during the last couple of years. Though we've seen some solid entries from other companies, Samsung's Galaxy Note line deserves full credit for popularizing the giganto-phones. Today the company announced the 2013 edition of its flagship phablet, the Galaxy Note 3.
> 
> The Note 3 should have plenty of horsepower under its hood, as it rocks Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 processor. The LTE version has a quad core processor clocked at 2.3 GHz. The HSPA+ version, meanwhile, rocks a 1.9 GHz octa core CPU. With an abundant 3 GB of RAM rounding out the performance-related specs, this puppy should scream.



Samsung announces the Galaxy Note 3


----------



## ScienceRocks

*HDMI Forum announces specs for HDMI 2.0*


> HDMI 2.0 specifications have just been released by the HDMI Forum&#8217;s technical working group. Most importantly, HDMI 2.0&#8217;s extra bandwidth of up to 18Gbps will allow 4K (2160p) pictures at 50Hz and 60Hz frame rates (3,840 x 2,160 resolution video at up to 60fps), which is four times the clarity of existing 1080p at 60Hz video resolution. The new functionality also includes 32 audio channels, dynamic auto lip-sync and extensions to the Consumer Electronics Control (CEC).



HDMI Forum announces specs for HDMI 2.0


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Pioneer's new HUD gives drivers Terminator-style vision*


> Many of the Head-Up Displays (HUDs) in the market right now focus on unobtrusively giving drivers navigation information. Pioneer doesn't seem too interested in that model. Instead of being mounted on the dashboard, their NavGate SATNAV HUD hangs from the driver's visor, encompassing much of their field of view. It looks pretty cool, from a Terminator-y perspective.
> 
> However, whether actually floating ten feet in front of you or just pretending to, a 30-inch (virtual) screen takes up a sizable portion of your field of vision. With the NavGate HUD capable of displaying all kinds of augmented reality data including turn-by-turn directions, the current speed limit, a clock, and the remaining travel time and distance to your destination, it's hard to think of a time when you wouldn't want the thing powered on.


Pioneer's new HUD gives drivers Terminator-style vision | DVICE


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Scientists Demonstrate Leaner System For Quantum Encryption*


> Scientists have demonstrated the ability to scale-up an 'uncrackable' computer encryption system that utilizes quantum physics to ensure security.
> 
> The technique is based on information that is carried by photons, the basic particles of light. While it's been demonstrated on a small scale, the team headed by Andrew Shields and publishing in Nature says they've shown that up to 64 users can share a single photon detector, eliminating the need for each one to have such an (expensive) device.
> 
> It's part of a burgeoning technology known as Quantum Key Distribution, or QKD, that works off the principle that a quantum system cannot be observed without being disrupted &#8212; thus revealing that encrypted information has been compromised.
> 
> We don't claim to really understand all this stuff, but others do. As PhsyOrg writes:


Scientists Demonstrate Leaner System For Quantum Encryption : The Two-Way : NPR


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Quantum chip connected to internet is yours to command*
00:01 06 September 2013 by  Jacob Aron
For similar stories, visit the Quantum World Topic Guide


> Quantum computing is in the cloud, and you don't need a degree in advanced physics to run your own programs. For the first time, anyone with a web browser will soon be able to log in and run basic algorithms on a quantum chip hooked up to the internet.
> 
> A quantum chip processes information in qubits, or quantum bits, which, unlike the digital bits in a regular computer, can be both 0 and 1 at the same time. In theory, this ability should allow quantum computers to offer far speedier computation than current PCs &#8211; although devices that can definitely outperform standard machines don't yet exist.
> 
> "A quantum computer can do things faster for you, but someone has to program it, and at the moment there are only a handful of people around the world who would be qualified," says Bristol's Jeremy O'Brien, who led the development of the quantum chip being used in the cloud project.
> 
> Quantum sim
> 
> The more traditionally quantum chip made at the University of Bristol works by guiding two photons through a series of optical channels. As the photons pass through the chip they become entangled, meaning that a measurement on one influences the outcome when measuring the other. Programming the computer involves tweaking the extent of this entanglement to produce different computations.
> 
> Would-be quantum coders will first use an online simulator that lets them practice programming. A tutorial explains the key quantum-mechanical ideas that are central to the device, then guides users through the steps required to adjust the chip and change its output. Once experienced enough, users can ask for permission to connect to the real chip, which is sitting in a lab in Bristol. It will run programs and return results via the internet.
> 
> "You can sit on the bus with your mobile phone and do a quantum optics experiment which might never have been seen before," says team member Peter Shadbolt. The simulator is already online, but the ability to directly access the chip won't launch until 20 September.
> 
> Cloudy future
> 
> Exactly what a member of the public might want to use the quantum chip for is unclear. And the version being used online only has two qubits, so its processing power is a very limited.
> 
> "It's not going to calculate something that your PC couldn't calculate, because it's not at that scale by a long way," says O'Brien. His team has made 6-qubit and 8-qubit computers, but those projects are still in development. In the meantime, they are happy to let others use their older technology for free as a way to encourage engagement.
> 
> The beginnings of a quantum cloud should be a fun way to demonstrate the technology for the public, says Scott Aaronson at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who is not part of the project. And while a 2-qubit device won't be more useful than your regular PC, putting it online might foreshadow how we will access large-scale quantum computers in future, he says.
> 
> "If quantum computing does become a practical technology, there will be a relatively small number of quantum computers, which people will access remotely."



Quantum chip connected to internet is yours to command - tech - 06 September 2013 - New Scientist


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Nissan launches Nismo smartwatch for drivers*


> A smartwatch that monitors the performance of a vehicle as well as the driver has been launched by car manufacturer Nissan.
> 
> Just like a traditional smartwatch, the Nissan Nismo measures the user's heart rate, temperature and other biometrics.
> 
> But it also allows users to keep an eye on their car's performance - including average speeds and fuel consumption.
> 
> Experts say that the watch could be an important step towards greater connectivity in cars.
> 
> "Connectivity is the new battleground for car manufacturers," said Chas Hallett, editor-in-chief of What Car?
> 
> "In-car internet is coming and now with consumer electronics focusing on watch-based connections, Nissan is getting ahead of the game and joining the two together very cleverly."
> 
> The Nismo watch can be connected to the car's on-board computer system to allow users to monitor vehicle telematics and performance data. Users can also receive tailored messages from Nissan via the gadget.
> 
> It was unveiled ahead of the Frankfurt Motor Show, which runs until 22 September.


BBC News - Nissan launches Nismo smartwatch for drivers


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Seagate's super skinny 500GB hard drives are ready for tablets*


> In general, tablets top out at around 128GB or 256GB of storage. But, most people don't need that much for a tablet. The rising popularity of cloud storage has also cut the need for tons of internal storage.
> 
> Storage maker Seagate doesn't see things that way, though. Its 3.3 ounce &#8212; about the weight of a lightbulb &#8212; Ultra Mobile HDD is a 5mm thick 500GB hard drive; perfect for Android tablets.


Seagate's super skinny 500GB hard drives are ready for tablets | DVICE


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Apple's iPhone 5s: 64-bit A7 chip, with Touch ID fingerprint sensor*


> If you were hoping Apple would break from tradition with its latest iPhone, well, today wasn't your lucky day. As expected, the company stuck with its "S-phone every other year" pattern, and pulled back the curtain on the iPhone 5s. Like previous S-series entries, the iPhone 5s looks almost exactly like its predecessor, only with a few upgrades thrown in. Here the big star of the show is the long-anticipated biometric fingerprint sensor, which Apple branded as Touch ID.



Apple's iPhone 5s: 64-bit A7 chip, with Touch ID fingerprint sensor


----------



## ScienceRocks

*A world first! Success at complete quantum teleportation*



> Furusawa group at the University of Tokyo has succeeded in demonstrating complete quantum teleportation of photonic quantum bits by a hybrid technique for the first time worldwide. In 1997, quantum teleportation of photonic quantum bits was achieved by a research team at Innsbruck University in Austria.  However, such quantum teleportation couldn't be used for information processing, because measurement was required after transport, and the transport efficiency was low. So, quantum teleportation was still a long way from practical use in quantum communication and quantum computing. The demonstration of quantum teleportation of photonic quantum bits by Furusawa group shows that transport efficiency can be over 100 times higher than before. Also, because no measurement is needed after transport, this result constitutes a major advance toward quantum information processing technology.



A world first! Success at complete quantum teleportation | AkihabaraNews


----------



## ScienceRocks

*iPhone transforms security with fingerprint reader*


> With the swipe of a finger, Apple could jumpstart a new era of smartphone security and strip away fear of tending to banking or other business on mobile devices.
> 
> Fingerprint recognition technology built into a sophisticated iPhone 5S set to hit the market on September 20 was hailed by computer security specialists as a welcome move that rivals will likely rally to match.
> 
> "It could be amazing," Lookout principal security researcher Marc Rogers told AFP on Wednesday.
> 
> "What is going to happen really depends on Apple's implementation," he continued. "We've seen Apple take obscure technologies and make them mainstream overnight."




 Read more at: iPhone transforms security with fingerprint reader


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Flexpad: Moveable displays made of paper (w/ Video)*


> Recently at the 2013 IFA international trade show for consumer electronics and home appliances in Berlin, major electronics manufacturers displayed new types of displays that are thin, and even curved, but expensive. IT experts in Saarbrücken have gone a step further. Their more cost-effective approach, called Flexpad, allows a simple, standard sheet of paper to be transformed into a moveable, flexible display. Already today, this could help patients better review the results of a computer tomography, for example. In the long term, the IT experts want to discover what new applications are viable in future for ultra-thin, deformable, mobile end devices, and how they can best be operated.



 Read more at: Flexpad: Moveable displays made of paper (w/ Video)


----------



## ScienceRocks

*In-flight Wi-Fi to get 6x faster than current turtle speeds*


> Even faster in-flight Wi-Fi is coming. Gogo Inc., the leading airline ISP is planning to roll out a new system that will boost Wi-Fi speeds to six times over. Virgin America will be the first carrier to use Gogo's new 60 megabits per second &#8212; current speeds max out around 10 megabits per second) &#8212; in-flight Wi-Fi staring in mid-2014. From there, the company plans to trick out its fleet of 53 planes with the faster surfing speeds.
> 
> Just last week, JetBlue Airways Corp. got the green light from the government to install a high-capacity satellite link that would enable them to provide Wi-Fi that would allow fliers to use their video streaming services right on their own devices.
> 
> The previously Internet-less airline decided to go with an ISP that uses the high-cap Ka-band spectrum, ViaSat Inc, which uses a different connection than Gogo's. While JetBlue plans to charge fliers for streaming their own video due to the increased bandwidth it would use, basic Internet browsing will be gratis (subject to change, of course, as they deliberate pricing). So far, that's a great deal compared to Virgin's Gogo service, which will charge fliers $14 for a one-day pass and $50 for a monthly one to use their internet.


In-flight Wi-Fi to get 6x faster than current turtle speeds | DVICE


----------



## ScienceRocks

*The '50-50' chip: Memory device of the future?*


> A new, environmentally-friendly electronic alloy consisting of 50 aluminum atoms bound to 50 atoms of antimony may be promising for building next-generation "phase-change" memory devices, which may be the data-storage technology of the future, according to a new paper published in the journal Applied Physics Letters, which is produced by AIP Publishing. Phase-change memory is being actively pursued as an alternative to the ubiquitous flash memory for data storage applications, because flash memory is limited in its storage density and phase-change memory can operate much faster.


The '50-50' chip: Memory device of the future? | e! Science News


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Software turns 2D objects 3D; lets you 'reach into' photos; bends your mind*


> Modeling products in three dimensions can be a time-consuming process. It's easy enough for humans to identify the presence of 3D objects in 2D scenes, but extracting these with algorithms is tricky. A new system developed by a team of researchers from the Interdisciplinary Center in Israel and Tel Aviv University aims to simplify the process by using a technique to pull out 3D shapes and objects from regular photos.
> 
> The system is simple enough to be used and understood by almost anyone. To start with, the user traces around the object, defining its three dimensions. Then the outline will automatically snap to the object in the photo.
> 
> But 3-Sweep is not just for tracing out 3D objects. The resulting model can then be edited or manipulated, and placed back into photos or 3D scenes. This might not sound like much on paper until you see the results in the video below.


Software turns 2D objects 3D; lets you 'reach into' photos; bends your mind | Cutting Edge - CNET News


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Samsung says to unveil smartphone with curved display*



> Samsung said Wednesday it would unveil a smartphone with a curved display in October&#8212;a technological innovation aimed at maintaining its lead in a lucrative but increasingly saturated market.
> 
> Curved displays are at a nascent stage in display technology which is shifting towards flexible panels that are bendable or can even be rolled or folded.
> 
> "We will introduce a smartphone with a curved display in October," Samsung mobile business head of strategic marketing D.J. Lee told reporters.


 

 Read more at: Samsung says to unveil smartphone with curved display


----------



## ScienceRocks

*A first: Stanford engineers build computer using carbon nanotube technology*

7 hours ago 



> A team of Stanford engineers has built a basic computer using carbon nanotubes, a semiconductor material that has the potential to launch a new generation of electronic devices that run faster, while using less energy, than those made from silicon chips.
> 
> This unprecedented feat culminates years of efforts by scientists around the world to harness this promising material.
> 
> The achievement is reported today in an article on the cover of Nature magazine written by Max Shulaker and other doctoral students in electrical engineering. The research was led by Stanford professors Subhasish Mitra and H.S. Philip Wong.



 Read more at: A first: Stanford engineers build computer using carbon nanotube technology


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Intel Demos 14nm Broadwell: Up to 30% Lower Power than Haswell*
 by Anand Lal Shimpi on September 11, 2013 12:42 PM EST 




> Intel just demonstrated 14nm Broadwell ULT (Y-series) silicon, normalized for performance against 22nm Haswell ULT (Y-series) silicon running a multithreaded Cinebench test. Intel was monitoring SoC power during the benchmark and demonstrated a ~30% reduction in power, at the same performance level.
> 
> The other reveal? Broadwell ULT, albeit still a two-die, single chip MCM, is physically smaller than Haswell ULT. A physical size reduction is necessary to get Broadwell into fanless tablet designs that can have competitive battery capacities to ARM based designs.




AnandTech | Intel Demos 14nm Broadwell: Up to 30% Lower Power than Haswell


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Google unveils major upgrade to search algorithm*



> Google has unveiled an upgrade to the way it interprets users' search requests.
> 
> The new algorithm, codenamed Hummingbird, is the first major upgrade for three years.
> 
> It has already been in use for about a month, and affects about 90% of Google searches.
> 
> At a presentation on Thursday, the search giant was short on specifics but said Hummingbird is especially useful for longer and more complex queries.




BBC News - Google unveils major upgrade to search algorithm


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Breakthrough in photonics could allow for faster and faster electronics*



> (Phys.org) &#8212;A pair of breakthroughs in the field of silicon photonics by researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Micron Technology Inc. could allow for the trajectory of exponential improvement in microprocessors that began nearly half a century ago&#8212;known as Moore's Law&#8212;to continue well into the future, allowing for increasingly faster electronics, from supercomputers to laptops to smartphones.



 Read more at: Breakthrough in photonics could allow for faster and faster electronics


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Disney creates tactile touchscreen feedback for virtual 3D objects*


> Whereas touchscreens are one of the easiest interfaces to manipulate, their biggest downfall is the lack of tactile/haptic feedback. While you don&#8217;t need resistance or vibration when scrolling up and down a mobile webpage, tactile feedback would make games, touch keyboards, and a host of other uses much more interesting. In fact, Disney Research&#8217;s new tactile feedback algorithm allows you to &#8220;feel&#8221; virtual 3D objects that are displayed on-screen.


Disney creates tactile touchscreen feedback for virtual 3D objects | ExtremeTech


----------



## ScienceRocks

*LG is making &#8216;bendable and unbreakable&#8217; OLED display, for useless curved smartphone*



> LG has confirmed that it has begun mass production of a flexible, 6-inch OLED display for smartphones. According to LG, these displays are both bendable and unbreakable (if LG would like to send us a prototype so that we can test the latter claim, that&#8217;d be lovely). LG&#8217;s flexible OLED display will apparently hit the market inside the &#8220;G Flex,&#8221; a 6-inch curved-screen smartphone that&#8217;s expected to be announced in November. Unfortunately, curved smartphones are virtually useless &#8212; and actually worse ergonomically than normal, flat smartphones.



LG is making ?bendable and unbreakable? OLED display, for useless curved smartphone | ExtremeTech


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Major silicon photonics breakthrough could allow for continued exponential growth in microprocessors*


> Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Micron Technology Inc. have developed a new technique in silicon photonics that could allow for exponential improvement in microprocessors to continue well into the future.
> 
> The technique allows microprocessors to use light instead of electrical wires to communicate with transistors on a single chip, a system that could also lead to energy-efficient computing.


Major silicon photonics breakthrough could allow for continued exponential growth in microprocessors | KurzweilAI


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Samsung Announces Galaxy Round With 5.7-Inch Curved Display*


> Samsung has announced its first smartphone with a curved display, called the Galaxy Round.
> 
> The device has a slightly rounded 5.7-inch, 1080p Super AMOLED screen in a 7.9mm-thick case, with the weight being 154 grams.
> 
> Samsung claims the curved design of the phone offers a very comfortable grip, plus some unique features. One of these is the Roll Effect (check it out in the video above), which lets users check info such as data, time, missed calls and battery status when the home screen is off. Another is the Gravity Effect, which creates a visual interaction with the screen when the device is tilted.


Samsung Announces Galaxy Round With 5.7-Inch Curved Display


----------



## ScienceRocks

*LG Chem turns to stepped, curve and cable batteries*



> (Phys.org) &#8212;Stories have been rolling in from technology news sites this week about vendors in a race to debut curved smartphones and flexible OLED panels for smartphones. Also making news on Tuesday is Seoul, South Korean-based chemical company LG Chem, which has curved batteries in production. The company, which is a major lithium-ion battery manufacturer, on Tuesday said it has curved batteries in mass production, and in fact has been producing curved batteries since July this year, at a plant in China. Curved batteries are being used to power G2 smartphones manufactured by the company's affiliate, LG Electronics.


 Read more at: LG Chem turns to stepped, curve and cable batteries


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Sound waves create touch feedback without actual touch*


> In the realm of Tony Stark, computer displays appear spontaneously in mid-air on command, without any physical display device being required. Stark uses his hands to interact with this high-tech interface, all the while touching nothing tangible. It&#8217;s no secret that we&#8217;re already on the brink of taking this sort of tech from the movies into real life, but how do we make it even better? Enter ultrahaptics, which uses sound waves to create the sensation of touch when no touch is actually present.
> 
> With an ultrahaptic device, ultrasound transducers create sound waves at a high frequency. These waves create isolated changes in air pressure that mimic the sensation of touch. No contact with a physical object is necessary. A research team at the University of Bristol recently demonstrated how the system works with a display that projects the sound waves. A user interacts with items on the display by using his hands several feet above it, but he feels as if he is actually touching the display as vibrations reach the fingertips. By changing that vibration, the team discovered that they can create different sensations, making the air the user is touching feel like it has texture, and even creating the sensation of raised areas and edges.


Sound waves create touch feedback without actual touch | DVICE


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Interactive holographic interfaces will soon be everywhere*


Interactive holographic interfaces will soon be everywhere | DVICE


> Imagine a future world where you order your lunch by reaching out and touching a floating image of the food you want. It's a world where your car's dashboard isn't a physical thing any longer, but a series of floating, touch-sensitive meters and data screens. It may sound far-fetched, but this holographically powered future could be closer than you think.
> 
> A Japanese company going by the name of Asukanet is developing practical holograms. They've already got working prototypes which display anything from ATM screens to slot machine reels in mid air. This by itself isn't all that amazing, as projector-based holograms have been around for years now. But the holograms at Asukanet aren't just passive images &#8212; they're next-gen touchscreens.



*Paper Generators bring a spark of new life to the printed page*

http://www.gizmag.com/disney-paper-generators/29366/


> Disney Research, Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University have released details of another one of their collaborative projects, this one involving thin, flexible generators that can be built into paper items such as the pages of a book. By simply rubbing or tapping one of these pages, users can illuminate LEDs, prompt applications on linked computers, or even activate e-ink displays &#8211; no batteries or outlets required.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*App lets you retrieve ATM cash using just your phone*

Terry Chao

Thursday, October 10, 2013 - 5:03pm



> Waiting in line for an ATM is never an enjoyable experience, less so fumbling for your debit card in the process. That's why three banks in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Illinois have been testing a service that allows bank customers to use an app that would allow them to retrieve ATM cash in mere seconds, no plastic necessary.
> 
> The three banks, Wintrust (IL), BMO (Chicago), and City National (Los Angeles), are all making banking easier with the app called Cardless Cash Access (CCS), which generates a QR code to scan at the ATM to make sure you are actually at the machine when the cash is dispensed. The app is developed by bank technology firm FIS, who has seen a surge of interest in its cardless ATM innovations.



App lets you retrieve ATM cash using just your phone | DVICE




*XFINITY Home: easy, integrated security and control*
XFINITY Home: easy, integrated security and control | DVICE



> There are all kinds of ways to automate everything in your home, from monitoring your doors and windows, to installing remotely accessible cameras, to taking control of your thermostat. It's possible to cobble together these pieces by yourself using an assortment of hardware and services, but it rapidly gets expensive, and you have to be willing to invest a lot of time and effort into getting everything to coherently talk to everything else.
> 
> XFINITY Home is a hardware and software service from Comcast that does all of this home automation and integration for you. Once installed, it can monitor and control a comprehensive array of sensors, including indoor and outdoor cameras, motion sensors, door and window sensors, carbon monoxide and smoke detectors, and more. Besides security, XFINITY home also lets you remotely control your thermostat, your lights, and any small appliance that's attached to an outlet. All of this stuff is accessible from anywhere with an Internet-connected app or web browser.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Ultrasound chip offers gesture control for mobiles*


> Ultrasound technology that enables mobiles and tablets to be controlled by gesture could go into production as early as next year.
> 
> Norwegian start-up Elliptic Labs is in talks with Asian handset manufacturers to get the chip embedded in devices.
> 
> The technology works via an ultrasound chip that uses sound waves to interpret hand movements.
> 
> The move towards gesture control has gathered pace and there are now many such products on the market.
> 
> Big gestures
> 
> What sets Elliptic's gesture-control system apart from others is its wide field of use, up to a metre away from the phone. It means it can identify mid-air gestures accurately.
> 
> Because it uses sound rather than sight, the sensor can recognise gestures from a 180-degree field. It also consumes less power and works in the dark.
> 
> By contrast Samsung's Galaxy S4 uses an infrared sensor that can only interpret hand movements within a very small zone.



BBC News - Ultrasound chip offers gesture control for mobiles


----------



## ScienceRocks

*General Electric Expands Internet of Things to More Industrial Equipment*



> The Internet of Things &#8212; a network that connects devices, from sneakers to massive industrial oil- and gas-drilling equipment, and runs the information they provide through big data-analyzing software &#8212; has been over-promised and under-delivered. Yet tech companies are still lumbering toward such a network.
> 
> General Electric recently took a big step, more than doubling the vertically-specialized hardware/software packages it offers to connect machines and interpret their data. The company hopes to make its mark by significantly reducing the amount of &#8220;unplanned downtime&#8221; that industrial equipment undergoes, thereby bringing about economic benefits.


General Electric Expands Internet of Things to More Industrial Equipment | Singularity Hub


----------



## ScienceRocks

*World&#8217;s fastest wireless network hits 100 gigabits per second, can scale to terabits*


> German researchers have combined photonics and electronics to create a world-record-breaking wireless network that can send and receive data at a heady 100 gigabits per second (Gbps). This beats the same team&#8217;s previous world record of 40Gbps. At 100Gbps, or a transfer rate of 12.5 gigabytes per second &#8212; ten times faster than Google Fiber &#8212; you could copy a complete Blu-ray disc in a couple of seconds


.


World?s fastest wireless network hits 100 gigabits per second, can scale to terabits | ExtremeTech


----------



## ScienceRocks

*castAR: the most versatile AR & VR system* 



> castAR: bridging the physical world with the virtual worlds; 3D holographic like projections in AR, fully immersive environments in VR
> 
> What is castAR?
> castAR is a projected augmented reality system that displays holographic-like 3D projections right in front of you. Star Wars: Episode IV &#8211; A New Hope sparked our imaginations of what might be possible in the future by showing R2-D2 and Chewbacca playing a holographic 3D chess-style game. It has taken nearly 35 years since the film was released for this technological dream to come to reality, but with castAR, that reality can be yours.
> 
> castAR includes a very fast and highly precise tracking solution, allowing you to change your experience by holding your 3D world in place while you are free to move around in it.


castAR: the most versatile AR & VR system by Technical Illusions ? Kickstarter


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Lono Sprinkler Controller* 


> Now you can control your sprinklers with your smart phone. Easy peasy, limon squeezy.
> 
> We have the technology. We&#8217;ve sent a man to the moon. So why are we still running in and out of the garage to see if our sprinklers are working? Lono lets you control your sprinkler system anywhere, anytime with your smart phone. And the things that should be automated, finally are.
> 
> Control From Anywhere
> Fixing a broken sprinkler head can put undue stress on our relationships &#8211; all that shouting and running back and forth from the garage. "Is it working? Which zone is on? Turn it off! Turn it off!"



Lono Sprinkler Controller by Lono ? Kickstarter


----------



## ScienceRocks

*3D magnetic storage breakthrough enables 100TB+ hard drives*


> At long last, engineers at Florida International University have found a way of breaking the 2D limitation of magnetic hard drive storage. By moving to three dimensions, the researchers have massively increased areal density, with the possibility of 100-terabyte (and larger) hard drives now firmly on the horizon.
> 
> While we&#8217;ve covered a lot of magnetic storage breakthroughs, they have all been fundamentally 2D in their implementation, and thus are ultimately restricted by superparamagnetic limits (magnetic bits can only be so small, before neighboring bits/changes in temperature can randomly alter the magnetism). Heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR), for example, can allow for magnetic grains that are just a few nanometers across and areal densities in the terabits-per-square-inch domain &#8212; but even then, we&#8217;re still looking at a hard cap of around 60 terabytes per hard drive.


3D magnetic storage breakthrough enables 100TB+ hard drives | ExtremeTech


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Zoomable holograms pave the way for versatile, portable projectors*


> Imagine giving a presentation to a roomful of important customers when suddenly the projector fails. You whip out your smartphone, beam your PowerPoint presentation onto the conference room screen, and are back in business within seconds. This career-saving application and others like it are the promise of a new generation of ultra-small projectors. Now researchers from Japan and Poland have taken an important step toward making such devices more versatile and easier to integrate into portable electronic devices.
> 
> The team has created a small holographic projection system with a lensless zoom function. When fully developed the system should be cheaper and smaller than other projection systems. The researchers report their findings in a paper published today in the Optical Society's (OSA) open-access journal Optics Express.
> 
> Zoom functions magnify an image to fit on an arbitrarily sized screen, but they typically require complicated lenses and mechanical components. "A zoom lens in general projectors occupies a large area in the systems," said Tomoyoshi Shimobaba, a professor in the graduate school of engineering at Chiba University in Japan. "If I remove the zoom lens, the system will be small and cost-saving."
> 
> Though the new holographic lensless zoom is not the first lensless zoom system to be developed, Shimobaba notes that other systems require extra components. His team's system requires only a laser and an LCD panel.


 Read more at: Zoomable holograms pave the way for versatile, portable projectors


----------



## ScienceRocks

*The new manufacturing tech that will bring high-resolution displays to every device*



> Ever since Apple rolled out the Retina display on the 3rd gen iPad, users have been clamoring for high resolution displays on larger devices. Fifteen months ago, when we last dove into this topic, it was clear that while ultra-high resolution displays were coming, it was going to be quite some time before they truly hit the mass market. Today, Applied Materials is launching a trio of new manufacturing systems that are designed to address the limitations keeping next-generation displays out of reach of consumers.
> 
> The biggest reason you can&#8217;t stroll down to Fry&#8217;s or NewEgg and by yourself a 30-inch, 7680×4320 monitor is that producing such a panel is incredibly expensive with current manufacturing techniques. Even Asus&#8217; 4K display, released earlier this spring, is retailing for $3500. For decades, LCDs were built on a substrate of amorphous silicon (a-SI), a cheap, easily constructed substance that&#8217;s extremely scalable, fairly easy to work with, and incapable of scaling effectively to meet the pixel densities or power requirements of high resolution displays. Two standards have come forward to take its place &#8212; metal oxide technology, which we&#8217;ll primarily be discussing today, and LTPS (low temperature polysilicon).



The new manufacturing tech that will bring high-resolution displays to every device | ExtremeTech


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Honeywell WiFi Smart Thermostat with voice control hands-on*



> Think of smart home thermostats and you probably think of Nest, but HVAC stalwart Honeywell wants to change all that with its WiFi Smart Thermostat with voice control. The touchscreen heating and air conditioning control unit not only allows you to fiddle with your settings with a fingertip, but call out instructions not only from up close but from across the room and, potentially, elsewhere in the house. We stopped by to pretend we were talking to the computer out of Star Trek; head on past the cut for some early impressions.
> 
> 
> Honeywell has had touchscreen thermostats for some time now, making things like multi-day programming more straightforward than the traditional combination of switches, LCD-segment displays, and cryptic abbreviations that send you running to the user guide. It&#8217;s also been experimenting with cloud-control, allowing for remotely setting the temperature from a phone or tablet.
> 
> What the Smart Thermostat adds is the ability to adjust things hands-free. It&#8217;s not full control of every setting via spoken command &#8211; you&#8217;ll still have to get up close and hands-on to do things like change regular on/off times &#8211; but it gives easy access to the basics.
> 
> You trigger the system by saying &#8220;Hello thermostat&#8221; and, after that, have a choice of commands. They range from the basic &#8211; &#8220;make it warmer&#8221; for instance &#8211; to the specific &#8211; like &#8220;decrease the temperature by five degrees&#8221; &#8211; as well as more natural language instructions. Saying &#8220;Help&#8221; calls up a list of supported commands on-screen.



Honeywell WiFi Smart Thermostat with voice control hands-on - SlashGear



I'd like to see such voice command control 

-Lights

-T.v

-Lock or unlock the door


This is what a real smart home looks like  Or even turn on or off the stove. 


Like t.v charge channel to " " or maybe turn down volume.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*IBM unveils two new Watson-related projects with Cleveland Clinic *



> IBM Research has released details on two new Watson-related cognitive technologies that are expected to help physicians make more informed and accurate decisions faster and to cull new insights from electronic medical records (EMR).
> 
> The projects known as &#8220;WatsonPaths&#8221; and &#8220;Watson EMR Assistant&#8221; are the result of a year-long research collaboration with faculty, physicians and students at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University. Both are key projects that will create technologies that can be leveraged by Watson to advance the technology in the domain of medicine.
> 
> With the WatsonPaths project, IBM scientists have trained the system to interact with medical domain experts in a way that&#8217;s more natural for them, enabling the user to more easily understand the structured and unstructured data sources the system consulted and the path it took in offering an option. The Watson EMR Assistant project aims to enable physicians to uncover key information from patients&#8217; medical records in order to help improve the quality and efficiency of care.


IBM unveils two new Watson-related projects with Cleveland Clinic


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Adidas Micoach smartwatch has heart-rate sensor*

BBC News - Adidas Micoach smartwatch has heart-rate sensor



> A watch with a colour touchscreen and built-in heart monitor that studies the wearer's pulse to create training programmes has been unveiled by Adidas.
> 
> The gadget - which is being targeted at runners - also includes a GPS location chip to maximise the accuracy of its readings.
> 
> It marks a move by the German firm into the smartwatch sector, although the device does not run third-party apps.
> 
> The news comes the same week as rival Nike updated its own activity tracker.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*LED light bulb 'li-fi' closer, say Chinese scientists*



> Wi-fi connectivity from a light bulb - or "li-fi" - has come a step closer, according to Chinese scientists.
> 
> A microchipped bulb can produce data speeds of up to 150 megabits per second (Mbps), Chi Nan, IT professor at Shanghai's Fudan University told Xinhua News.
> 
> A one-watt LED light bulb would be enough to provide net connectivity to four computers, researchers say.


BBC News - LED light bulb 'li-fi' closer, say Chinese scientists


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Giga-year storage medium could outlive human race *



> Mankind has been storing information for thousands of years. From carvings on marble to today's magnetic data storage. Although the amount of data that can be stored has increased immensely during the past few decades, it is still difficult to actually store data for a long period. The key to successful information storage is to ensure that the information does not get lost. If we want to store information that will exist longer than mankind itself, then different requirements apply than those for a medium for daily information storage. Researcher Jeroen de Vries from the Univ. of Twente MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology demonstrates that it is possible to store data for extremely long periods




Giga-year storage medium could outlive human race


----------



## ScienceRocks

*IBM unveils computer fed by 'electronic blood'*
By James Morgan

Science reporter, BBC News, Zurich


> IBM has unveiled a prototype of a new brain-inspired computer powered by what it calls "electronic blood".
> 
> The firm says it is learning from nature by building computers fuelled and cooled by a liquid, like our minds.
> 
> The human brain packs phenomenal computing power into a tiny space and uses only 20 watts of energy - an efficiency IBM is keen to match.
> 
> Its new "redox flow" system pumps an electrolyte "blood" through a computer, carrying power in and taking heat out.



BBC News - IBM unveils computer fed by 'electronic blood'


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Tiny, cheap water-sensing chip outperforms larger, pricier sensors*


> Whether you're growing wine grapes or mixing cement, there are some situations in which it's vitally important to monitor moisture content. Normally water sensors are used, although these can be both large and expensive. Now, however, a team from Cornell University has created a water-sensing silicon chip that's not only tiny, but is also reportedly "a hundred times more sensitive than current devices." What's more, the chips might be possible to mass-produce for just $5 a pop.
> 
> Known as a "lab on a chip" device, the chip contains a tiny water-filled cavity. Once placed in soil, inserted in the stem of a plant, stuck in a cement matrix or put somewhere else, the chip exchanges moisture from that cavity with moisture in its environment via a nanoporous membrane. The chip measures any changes in the pressure within the cavity, that result from water either entering it or being drawn out.


Tiny, cheap water-sensing chip outperforms larger, pricier sensors


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Researchers develop thin film semiconductor that will drive production of next-generation displays*



> Researchers at the National Institute for Materials Science have developed a pixel switching semiconductor, which will be the key to driving next-generation displays, by using an oxide film with a new elemental composition.
> 
> A flat panel display is an important interface in modern information society, which displays the electronic bit information used in machines in a human-recognizable form. Conventionally, amorphous silicon thin films and polysilicon thin films had been used to make field-effect transistors to be used as pixel switches for TVs and smartphones, but there have been strong calls for the development of high-performance semiconductor films with higher definition or higher speed. At present, indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) transistors are potential oxide semiconductors with high field-effect mobility. However, it is generally difficult to adjust the manufacturing conditions for stably and efficiently producing high-performance oxide semiconductors, and this is presenting a major challenge in actual production.



 Read more at: Researchers develop thin film semiconductor that will drive production of next-generation displays


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Apple releases new iPad Air, replaces original iPad with Retina display*


Apple releases new iPad Air, replaces original iPad with Retina display | ExtremeTech


> At Apple&#8217;s special October 22 event in San Francisco, the company has unveiled the iPad Air. It is significantly thinner and lighter than the fourth-generation iPad, and looks a lot like a larger iPad Mini. It replaces the fourth-gen iPad completely, will be priced at $500 for the 16GB WiFi model, and will be released on November 1. $630 will get you a cellular-enabled iPad Air.
> 
> iPad Air
> 
> Unlike the last few iPad generations which have been relatively minor updates, the fifth-gen iPad &#8212; now called the iPad Air &#8212; is a major departure. The iPad Air has a 43% smaller bezel than its predecessor. It is 7.5mm thick (down from 9.4mm), and weighs just one pound (453 grams), down from 1.4 pounds. As far as we can tell, the iPad Air&#8217;s screen is still the same 10.1-inch Retina display.
> 
> The 64-bit A7 SoC, which debuted in the iPhone 5S, powers the iPad Air. The M7 coprocessor is also present. Apple says the new iPad Air is the thinnest and lightest &#8220;full-size tablet,&#8221; and yet it still manages 10 hours of battery life. MIMO WiFi 802.11n is supported, but no 802.11ac.
> 
> The iPad Air is available to pre-order today, with a November 1 release date. You can choose from space gray or silver. The fourth-gen iPad will disappear entirely, while the iPad 2 is being kept on as Apple&#8217;s cheap ($400) full-size tablet.



*iPad Air hands-on*



> We knew Apple&#8216;s full-sized iPad was going to get a significant refresh, and we weren&#8217;t wrong. The iPad Air takes the 9.8-inch screen of the fourth-gen iPad and wraps it up in a brand new, super-skinny casing; we&#8217;d usually take Apple&#8217;s &#8220;you have to feel it to believe it&#8221; commentary as hyperbole, but here&#8217;s one of those times that you only really get the wow-factor when you pick up the fifth-generation slate. Read on for some first impressions.



http://www.slashgear.com/ipad-air-hands-on-22302611/


----------



## ScienceRocks

*ORA &#8220;true augmented reality&#8221; glasses to ship in January*



> ORA, a wearable computer similar to Google Glass, was showcased today at GMIC San Francisco, the largest mobile tech conference in Silicon Valley. Optinvent, the manufacturer behind the wearable, is billing the headwear as &#8220;the only true AR smart glass&#8221; on the market. ORA doesn&#8217;t shy from looking clunky, embracing its necessary bulk with bold styling.
> ORA is unique in that it has two modes: a full AR mode and a dashboard mode. In full AR mode, ORA&#8217;s display appears directly in front of the wearer&#8217;s field of vision, a feature which Google Glass does not have. In dashboard mode, the display is positioned 20 degrees off center and nearer to the wearer&#8217;s periphery for a more Glass-like, glance-based UX.


ORA ?true augmented reality? glasses to ship in January - SlashGear


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Tesla Model S will get Android emulator and Chrome browser*



> At a conference in Germany today, Tesla Motors&#8216; CEO Elon Musk has revealed some upcoming plans for the auto maker&#8217;s popular Model S: an Android emulator and Chrome browser. This will work alongside the car&#8217;s snazzy capacitive touch-based dashboard control system, swapping out the current browser for Google&#8217;s offering and opening up possibilities for developers.
> 
> For those who are unfamiliar, Tesla Motors&#8217; Model S features a large 17-inch capacitive touch-based dashboard system rather than the tactile-and-touch systems found in many modern cars. Through this system, the driver can perform common controls for the vehicle that would otherwise be achieved with buttons and knobs, as well as other things like navigation and media.



Tesla Model S will get Android emulator and Chrome browser - SlashGear


I'd like to see voice command added to this...like; Left door, lock. Or maybe windows "down".

Now that would be cool


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Hand Motion 2.0 is Kinect® for iPhone and iPad*

by Motion Technology 




> Hand Motion 2.0 is an iPhone & iPad app that allows you to control your device with touch-less hand gestures. It is Kinect for iOS!
> What we do
> 
> Hand Motion 2.0 is changing the way people think about iPhone & iPad apps. With our app, anyone can control their devices with touch-less hand gestures. Think of it as Microsoft Kinect® built directly into your iPhone and iPad! Welcome to The Next Generation iOS app!
> 
> It uses HAND GESTURES detected via the built-in webcam in your device to control your iPhone and iPad.
> - Take Photos with waves of your hand!
> - Works via your webcam -- no additional hardware necessary
> - Works best from 1-4 feet distance from webcam



Hand Motion 2.0 is Kinect® for iPhone and iPad by Motion Technology ? Kickstarter



* Neurio: Home Intelligence*

by Energy Aware Technology Inc. 



> A revolutionary new technology that makes an ordinary home smart. Learn what's happening in your home, and teach it some new tricks!
> * UPDATE: SOLAR SUPPORT * Neurio can now monitor Solar generation! Check out the new Solar Package reward.
> * EUROPEAN COUNTRIES * Support us to our $115,000 stretch goal, and we will get CE certification!
> * Check our Kicktraq page, a nifty way to track Neurio's progress *




http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/energyaware/neurio-home-intelligence


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Auris skye adds Wi-Fi streaming to existing music docks*



> Many of the latest music players are launching with Wi-Fi for sharing music from a computer, iOS, or Android device. Perhaps you have an older model, and you still want to be able to take part in the wireless music listening fun. A new product called the Auris skye aims to bring such an experience to existing docks with a 30-pin connector.



Auris skye adds Wi-Fi streaming to existing music docks


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Field-effect transistors get a boost from ferroelectric films*

1 hour ago by Chelsea Whyte 


> (Phys.org) &#8212;As microelectronics get smaller and smaller, one of the biggest challenges to packing a smartphone or tablet with maximum processing power and memory is the amount of heat generated by the tiny "switches" at the heart of the device.
> 
> A complex metal oxide film &#8211; designed by IBM and University of Texas, Austin (UTA) researchers, and tested at IBM, the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) at Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) &#8211; could help reduce the voltage required to switch electronic signals, and thus the excessive energy they require. Their research is published in the October issue of Nature Nanotechnology.
> 
> "This project is to develop films that will allow us to decrease the voltage needed to make the switch flip in a nanotransistor," said Jean Jordan-Sweet, an IBM researcher at NSLS. "The emphasis is on trying to incorporate ferroelectrics into the industry standard silicon-based devices to increase the performance while reducing the need for more voltage."



 Read more at: Field-effect transistors get a boost from ferroelectric films


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Energy-saving Neurio power monitor tells you when coffee's ready*
Energy-saving Neurio power monitor tells you when coffee's ready | DVICE



> What if you lived in a home that could tell you when your toast was ready, turn on your favorite tune when you walk into a room or when your laundry had finished drying? No, I'm not talking about an episode of the Jetsons, because all of that is already possible with a little power monitor called Neurio.
> 
> Using a Wi-Fi power sensor and pattern-detection algorithms via a cloud service, Neurio does away with having to install sensors on each separate device in your home. The successfully-funded Kickstarter device monitors electricity usage in your home via its breaker panel to figure out how efficiently it is being used and detects where you can cut down in order to save on your next bill. Solar-paneled home owners can also track how much solar power is being generated at any time.
> 
> The Neurio can even connect via its included Wattson app to detect and tell you when you've forgotten to turn something off, which is perfect for paranoid, forgetful folk like me who think the stove's still on after leaving the house.The device has an open API that is compatible with SmartThings, IFTTT or Raspberry Pi to give users the ability to sync their appliances and setup triggers that alert them by sending them messages.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Patent shows Samsung's rival to Google Glass*



> A patent filing shows Samsung Electronics Co. is working on a device it calls sports glasses in a possible response to Google's Internet-connected eyewear.
> 
> A design patent filing at the Korean Intellectual Property Office shows a Samsung design for smartphone-connected glasses that can display information from the handset.
> 
> It said the glasses can play music and receive phone calls through earphones built into the eyewear's frame. It also gives hands-free control over the smartphone.
> 
> Reminiscent of the Google Glass design, Samsung's sketch shows a thumbnail-sized display over the left eyeglass. Google's eyewear has a tiny display over the right eyeglass that shows information and websites.



 Read more at: Patent shows Samsung's rival to Google Glass


----------



## ScienceRocks

*All-graphene computer chip could steer us past the 22nm copper and silicon bottleneck*



> In 2015 &#8212; now just over a year away &#8212; the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS), which is set out by the industry&#8217;s top experts, predicts that the copper wiring that connects together the billions of transistors in a modern CPU or GPU just can&#8217;t be miniaturized any further. The copper wires can only get so thin before the increased resistance and other manufacturing issues make them unworkable. Graphene, however, by virtue of its status as a wonder material, isn&#8217;t hindered by the same puny restrictions as copper and could theoretically scale down to just a handful of nanometers or less, allowing for the creation of computer chips that are orders of magnitude more dense and powerful, while consuming less energy.
> 
> Way back in 2011, IBM built what it called the first graphene integrated circuit, but in actuality it was more like a graphene field effect transistor (FET) and inductor connected together with other standard, CMOS components, such as plain ol&#8217; copper wires. Now a team at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) have proposed the first all-graphene chip, where the transistors and interconnects are monolithically patterned on a single sheet of graphene.


All-graphene computer chip could steer us past the 22nm copper and silicon bottleneck | ExtremeTech


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Review: Rhino Shield impact-resistant smartphone screen film*



> It was just a month ago that we reported on Evolutive Labs' Rhino Shield, a 6-layer transparent polymer film designed to protect smartphone screens. Not only is it said to ward off scratches and fingerprints, but it's also reportedly five times more impact-resistant than Gorilla Glass 2. Evolutive recently sent me a testing kit, so I could see first-hand just how tough it is &#8211; without endangering my smartphone in the process. Here's how things turned out ...
> 
> The testing kit consists of two pieces of Gorilla Glass 2, two Rhino Shield films fitted to those pieces, a block of granite (or something like it &#8211; I'm no geologist), a steel ball bearing, and a cardboard box with a built-in 15-cm (6-in)-tall "drop tower."



Review: Rhino Shield impact-resistant smartphone screen film


----------



## ScienceRocks

*LG unveils curved-screen smartphone*



> LG Electronics unveiled Monday a curved-screen smartphone, taking on rival Samsung in a niche market seen as a first step on the road to fully flexible products.
> 
> Despite its name, the "G-Flex" does not bend, but uses flexible OLED (organic light-emitting diode) to produce a curved six-inch display.
> 
> The model is "the best representation yet of how a smartphone should be curved," the president of LG's mobile unit Park Jong-Seok said, in a clear dig at Samsung.
> 
> Earlier this month, Samsung started retailing its "Galaxy Round"&#8212;a 5.7-inch (14.5 centimetre) handset with a display that curves from side-to-side to fit the contour of the hand.
> 
> The "G-Flex" is curved on the vertical axis in order to, the company said, "follow the contour of the face".
> 
> Curved displays are already commercially available in large-screen televisions offered by both Samsung and LG.



 Read more at: LG unveils curved-screen smartphone


----------



## ScienceRocks

UK researchers say they have achieved data transmission speeds of 10Gbit/s via "li-fi" - wireless internet connectivity using light.

 The researchers used a micro-LED light bulb to transmit 3.5Gbit/s via each of the three primary colours - red, green, blue - that make up white light.

 Li-fi is an emerging technology that could see specialised LED lights bulbs providing low-cost wireless internet connectivity almost everywhere.


EPSRC's Ultra-parallel visible light communications (UP-VLC) project is running from October 2012 to September 2016. The vision is built on the unique capabilities of gallium nitride (GaN) optoelectronics to combine optical communications with lighting functions, and especially on the capability to implement new forms of spatial multiplexing, where individual elements in high-density arrays of GaN based light emitting diodes (LEDs) provide independent communications channels, but can combine as displays. We envisage ultra-high data density - potentially Terabit per second per square millimeter - arrays of LEDs driven via CMOS control electronics in novel addressing and encoding schemes and in compact and versatile forms. 



 The tiny micro-LED bulbs, developed by the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, allow streams of light to be beamed in parallel, each multiplying the amount of data that can be transmitted at any one time.

 "If you think of a shower head separating water out into parallel streams, that's how we can make light behave," said Prof Harald Haas, an expert in optical wireless communications at the University of Edinburgh and one of the project leaders.

 Using a digital modulation technique called Orthogonal Frequency Divisional Multiplexing (OFDM), researchers enabled micro-LED light bulbs to handle millions of changes in light intensity per second, effectively behaving like an extremely fast on/off switch.

 This allows large chunks of binary data - a series of ones and zeros - to be transmitted at high speed.

 Earlier this year, Germany's Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute claimed that data rates of up to 1Gbit/s per LED light frequency were possible in laboratory conditions.
MicroLED light bulb Li-fi demonstrated at 10 gigabits per second in the UK and terabits per second per square millimeter is possible


----------



## ScienceRocks

*If Google Glass could do this, it would start a revolution*



> Taiwan's ITRI has a floating augmented-reality touch-screen system that would improve upon "Minority Report" technology, and it's ready to license it.
> The world portrayed by Tom Cruise and his slick, glove-manipulated holographic operating system in "Minority Report" has been inching closer to reality for some time now, and as the video below shows, it could come way ahead of schedule and be even cooler than Hollywood's original vision of the future.
> 
> Taiwan's nonprofit Industrial Technology Research Institute pointed me to the below demo of its new i-Air Touch (iAT) Technology, which is essentially an augmented-reality system that falls somewhere between the compact specs of  Google Glass and the original, bulkier virtual-reality systems of the 1990s. Unlike Google Glass however, it doesn't rely primarily on voice commands. Instead, it projects a virtual touch-based interface in the user's field of vision that appears to float in the air and responds to being "touched." Watch the video below for a better explanation -- a picture is definitely worth a thousand words in this case.



If Google Glass could do this, it would start a revolution | Cutting Edge - CNET News

Would be better if this would also use voice command. 




*Google Glass meets Oculus Rift in this awesome headset*



> Try as they might, not many developers can legitimately claim that their augmented reality (AR) tech has a leg up on Google's. One of the few that can is Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI). There, a team of developers have pushed their AR headset straight into the realm of virtual reality.
> 
> The headset is called the i-Air Touch and, as the name suggests, it allows for its wearer to actually reach out and touch the images projected before them. A pair of cameras, mounted atop the headset, track the user's hand motions and recognize when they've actually interacted with the virtual image.
> 
> The intended use of the headset is reminiscent of the way Elon Musk utilized the Oculus Rift and Leap motion controller to create his Iron Man interface. The difference, of course, is that this headset combines the two into a single, wearable device. The i-Air's glasses are also translucent, similar to Google Glass, meaning that you can feasibly wear them around town.




http://www.dvice.com/2013-10-29/google-glass-meets-oculus-rift-awesome-headset


----------



## ScienceRocks

*MultiTouch begins taking pre-orders for 84-inch 4K interactive display*



> Only a few weeks after attendees at the annual developer conference of Finland's MultiTouch Ltd got a first look at the company's latest MultiTaction monster, it's gone up for pre-order. Currently a working prototype, the new 84-inch unit is claimed to be the world's first fully integrated, 4K resolution interactive display.
> 
> MultiTouch Ltd expects to start producing the new MT840UHD model in mid 2014, and says that it will have the same fast response times as the current 42-, 46-, and 55-inch MultiTaction Cell Displays. A single 84-inch 4K multi-touch module can be set up as a table, or as a movable interactive vertical display courtesy of the included wheeled floor mount. Multiple units can also be stacked to create huge multi-touch walls.



MultiTouch begins taking pre-orders for 84-inch 4K interactive display


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Brain-wave analyzing Neurocam only records if you're interested*


> Smartphones have already simplified the task of taking high quality, quickly shareable pictures in a convenient package, but sadly, you still have to press a button to take a picture. Now, hands-free loving Japanese folk have come up with a wearable, headset like contraption called the Neurocam that analyzes brain waves to take pictures and video for you.
> 
> Using a proprietary brain-wave quantifying algorithm similar to those used in the Necomimi cat ears, the Neurocam only captures things that seem to interest you. By measuring the wearer's interest level from a scale of 1-100, all shown in real-time on an attached iPhone, Neurocam's bio-sensors start to kick into high gear at a score of 60.


Brain-wave analyzing Neurocam only records if you're interested | DVICE


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Artificial intelligence breakthrough: CAPTCHA 'Turing Test' is passed*



> A new software algorithm is capable of solving CAPTCHAs &#8211; a test commonly used in computing to determine whether or not the user is human.
> Vicarious, a startup developing artificial intelligence software, has announced that its algorithms can now reliably solve modern CAPTCHAs, including Google's reCAPTCHA, the world's most widely used test of a machine's ability to act human.
> 
> A CAPTCHA (which stands for "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart") is considered broken if an algorithm is able to achieve a precision of at least 1%. Leveraging core insights from machine learning and neuroscience, the Vicarious AI can achieve success rates of up to 90% on modern CAPTCHAs from Google, Yahoo, PayPal, Captcha.com, and others. This advancement, the company says, renders text-based CAPTCHAs no longer effective as a Turing test.
> 
> "Recent AI systems like IBM&#8217;s Watson and deep neural networks rely on brute force: connecting massive computing power to massive datasets. This is the first time this distinctively human act of perception has been achieved, and it uses relatively minuscule amounts of data and computing power. The Vicarious algorithms achieve a level of effectiveness and efficiency much closer to actual human brains", said Vicarious co-founder D. Scott Phoenix.



Artificial intelligence breakthrough: CAPTCHA 'Turing Test' is passed


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Virtual reality goes mobile as Oculus announces Rift for Android*

Virtual reality goes mobile as Oculus announces Rift for Android



> It's been over a year since the developers of the Oculus Rift raised almost US$2.5 million through Kickstarter, and it looks like they've been putting those funds to good use. Besides working on a consumer model of its innovative virtual reality goggles, the company recently revealed it has been developing a new headset especially for mobile devices running Android.
> 
> The brief announcement was made during Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe's keynote chat at the GamesBeat 2013 conference on Tuesday, Oct. 29, so details are still scarce.
> 
> &#8220;We have some exciting plans on the mobile VR side as [well as] the PC VR side,&#8221; said Iribe. &#8220;We&#8217;re really looking at hitting the consumer market. We&#8217;re very excited about what we&#8217;re seeing. Skeptical about how good mobile VR could be on such a small platform? It&#8217;s pretty incredible what [John Carmack has] been able to do.&#8221;


----------



## ScienceRocks

*MIT's 110-core Execution Migration CPU chip moves instructions to the data*


> Computer scientists at MIT have developed a 110-core CPU chip based on a new architecture in which, instead of bringing data across the chip to the core that happens to want it, the program is moved to the core where the data is stored. In practice, this new architecture reduces the amount of on-chip data exchange tenfold, along with cutting the heat and infrastructure demanded by conventional chip architecture.
> 
> You may have noticed that the rapid progress of computing power has become a bit sluggish in the past decade or so. While Moore's law is still intact, clock speeds have stalled at about 4 GHz, instead of the 50 GHz we would now have achieved based on historical rates of increase.



MIT's 110-core Execution Migration CPU chip moves instructions to the data


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Simplify, Organize & Pay with Loop*




> Securely Store and Organize all Your Cards (Payment, ID, Membership, Gift cards) with Your Phone... & Easily Pay at > 90% of retailers.
> 
> Loop simplifies life, with the World's 1st Mobile Wallet that Securely Stores all your cards and lets you use them at 90% of Retailers:
> 
> You'll love Loop because you can store and organize all your cards on your smartphones, and use them just about everywhere.  It simply works on 90%+ of merchants without them changing anything on their systems.  It is secure, convenient (less plastic to carry), cool, and it can help you find great deals from your favorite merchants.
> 
> Simply swipe in, or scan in all those cards in our wallets or laying around in drawers or pockets (payment, IDs, Membership and Loyalty cards). The LoopWallet doesn't get fatter with more cards loaded like our leather wallets do, and it can provide better interactions with participating card issuers and merchants that provide real-time data on balance, available credit and even deals and rewards. Loop is all about making life easier.


Simplify, Organize & Pay with Loop by Will Graylin & George Wallner ? Kickstarter


----------



## ScienceRocks

*NTT researchers entangle photons 300 kilometers apart using fiber optics*



> Japanese telecom giant NTT is concerned with more than routing phone calls &#8212; it is exploring the technology to enable a new kind of super-fast communication based on quantum mechanics. NTT&#8217;s recent experiments with quantum entanglement have reached a true milestone in the understanding of this phenomenon. A team led by Takahiro Inagaki at the NTT Basic Research Laboratories in Kanagawa has managed to keep two particles entangled over a distance of 300 kilometers through fiber optic cable.
> 
> Entanglement has been of huge interest to physicists over the years for its ability to seemingly transfer information simultaneously from one location to the other without actually crossing the space in between. Two particles that are entangled share the same quantum state, describing properties like spin, momentum, and polarization. Thus, observing one of the particles tells you about the other.


NTT researchers entangle photons 300 kilometers apart using fiber optics | ExtremeTech


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Meta's Spaceglasses promise mobile augmented reality*



> Physical and digital worlds collide when users wear Meta Spaceglasses. CNET's Sumi Das tried on a pair of the high-tech specs and offers a firsthand look at the technology that aims to take wearables to a new level.
> The founder of Silicon Valley startup Meta, Meron Gribetz, is less than impressed with today's gadgets.
> 
> "It's time to move on from boring, flat devices that haven't evolved," he recently told CNET.
> 
> Naturally, Gribetz has a suggestion for escaping our device doldrums: Spaceglasses, a wearable computing device in the form of beefy eyeglasses stuffed with sensors,  projectors, voice recognition technology and more.
> 
> The high-tech specs immerse users in a mobile augmented reality experience. Maps can be manipulated with your hands. When playing a first-person shooter video game you can quite literally become the shooter. Or imagine building a complex Lego structure and having the directions floating above the building blocks spread out in front of you.


Meta's Spaceglasses promise mobile augmented reality | Cutting Edge - CNET News



*Google Glass accessory store launches, mono earbud in tow*



> The extra mono earbud costs $50, according to leaked images of the accessory store. A clear shield, meanwhile, will set you back $75.
> 
> Google Glass users now have an accessory store where they can buy add-ons for their eyewear.
> 
> The Glass Accessory Store went live this week, offering just a few options for Explorers, according to user Nick Starr. An extra mono earbud will cost customers $50, while a clear shield will set them back $75. Google is also selling an extra cable and charger for $50.


http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-5...-accessory-store-launches-mono-earbud-in-tow/


----------



## ScienceRocks

*MAKO: Artificial intelligence that does everything!*




> MAKO is a multifunctional program that employs advanced user interface and voice input, it manages almost everything in your life.
> 
> MAKO Description:
> MAKO is easy to use and has been described as "The best speech recognition program on PC and Mac." MAKO has the ability to do anything you desire with just the power of your voice!





MAKO: Artificial intelligence that does everything! by Michael Ghandour ? Kickstarter


Utterly amazing voice online command.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Be-Bound app provides mobile internet access without 3G or Wi-Fi*


> Be-Bound is a new mobile app for Android that can uses text messaging as the means by which to provide internet access at very low bandwidths to mobile devices when there is little or no data connectivity available through a Wi-Fi or 3G connection.
> 
> &#8220;We started with a simple observation," says Albert Szulman, CEO of Be-Bound. "Everybody has faced connection issues, even in covered areas like the train, the subway, indoor or any other areas with low connectivity."
> 
> To overcome this, Be-Bound is designed to provide users with internet access wherever they may be through 2G networks. The Be-Bound app is free to download from Google Play with users paying for the service by topping-up with pre-paid credits called "Be-Miles."
> 
> According to Be-Bound, using the app is much cheaper than standard roaming costs and so is ideal for use when traveling abroad. It features built-in email, weather, news and Twitter functionality with the company claiming that it can even help users to save money on their existing mobile tariffs.


Be-Bound app provides mobile internet access without 3G or Wi-Fi


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Livescribe launches sleek new Bluetooth-enabled smartpen*



> Since the launch of the Pulse in 2008, Livescribe has continued to improve upon its paper-based smartpen technology in subsequent models. The Echo in 2010 brought a rounder shape and micro-USB connectivity and Wi-Fi connectivity was incorporated in the Sky in 2012. The latest addition to the line is the Livescribe 3, which boasts Bluetooth connectivity and iOS device support through a companion app.
> 
> The first thing you notice about the Livescribe 3 is that, more so than the previous models, the "smarts" are extremely well camouflaged so that is looks very much like a sleek, high-quality ballpoint pen.
> 
> Like all Livescribe smartpens, the Livescribe 3 works in combination with special dot paper to capture everything written via an integrated infrared camera. Through a Bluetooth connection to an iOS device running the Livescribe+ mobile app, the Livescribe 3 allows everything written to be instantly transferred to a connected iOS device's display. If not connected to an iOS device at the time of writing, notes will be stored in the pen's flash memory and transferred to the app when it is opened


.

Livescribe launches sleek new Bluetooth-enabled smartpen


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Transporter Sync puts external HDDs in your own private cloud*



> The market for cloud storage has ballooned rather quickly. Earlier this year, Microsoft announced that SkyDrive had hit the 250 million user mark and that was followed not long after by Dropbox announcing its 175 millionth user. The explosion in popularity of cloud storage has naturally led to increased concerns about security, however, creating an opportunity that Connected Data gladly exploited with its Transporter device and, now, the Transporter Sync.
> 
> In essence, the Transporter is an external hard-drive that connects to your home network and allows users to access their files online, forgoing the need to use a public cloud storage service. The Transporter Sync differs in that users attach their own separate external hard-drive upon which cloud properties are then bestowed. The Sync allows for drives of up to 4 TB to be attached and, as with its older brother, users can easily access their documents, photos, videos and music via Android, iPhone and iPad apps.


Transporter Sync puts external HDDs in your own private cloud


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Engineers develop real-time, 3-D teleconferencing technology (w/ Video)*


> (Phys.org) &#8212;Nik Karpinsky quickly tapped out a few computer commands until Zeus, in all his bearded and statuesque glory, appeared in the middle of a holographic glass panel mounted to an office desk.
> 
> The white statue stared back at Karpinsky. Then a hand appeared and turned the full-size head to the right and to the left. Yes, it was quite clear, Zeus really was pictured in 3-D.
> 
> And there it was from one computer work station on the second floor of Iowa State University's Howe Hall to another down on the first floor: 3-D teleconferencing that's live, real-time and streaming at 30 frames per second.
> 
> "Four years ago, this would not have been possible," said Karpinsky, an Iowa State doctoral student in human computer interaction who's been working day and night to make the technology a reality.
> 
> Part of the problem is the complexity of the technology, said Song Zhang, Iowa State's William and Virginia Binger Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, an associate of the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory and the leader of the 3-D imaging project.
> 
> "There are a lot of skills involved," he said. "You have to do programming, optical engineering, hardware, software and networking."



 Read more at: Engineers develop real-time, 3-D teleconferencing technology (w/ Video)


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Curved displays that spill over a smartphone's edges now possible*



> Curvy is the new tech trend &#8212; in the future, our smartphones could sport displays that aren&#8217;t limited to the confines of a bezel border. That&#8217;s because a new type of crystal-based material created by a company called SEL (Semiconductor Energy Laboratory) makes it possible to create side-roll and top-roll OLED displays that spill over the edges of a phone.
> 
> Called C-Axis Aligned Crystal, or CAAC, this flexible, lightweight and yet super-durable material won&#8217;t get damaged from bending.  In the past, amorphous oxide semi-conductors that were traditionally used were not always reliable or as bendable.  But at less than 100 microns thick, CAAC can be bent to a diameter of four millimeters, making it the &#8220;only technology that can display a picture on bent edges.&#8221;



Curved displays that spill over a smartphone's edges now possible | DVICE


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Microfluidic material breakthrough allows wafer-scale mass production of lab-on-chip* 


> Belgian nanoelectronics research center Imec and JSR, a leading materials company based in Tokyo, Japan, announce that they have successfully used JSR&#8217;s innovative PA (Photo-patternable Adhesive) material for wafer-scale processing of lab-on-chip devices. With PA as a key enabling material, imec has processed microfluidic cell-sorter devices, merging microheaters and sensors with wafer-scale polymer microfluidics. PA is a breakthrough material&#8212;a good microfluidic channel material and adhesive at the same time, suitable for wafer-scale processes and mass production.



http://www.rdmag.com/news/2013/11/m...h-allows-wafer-scale-mass-production-lab-chip


----------



## ScienceRocks

*HIV antibodies 'have potent impact'*


> A potential new HIV treatment has a "profound and unprecedented" impact on the virus, according to animal studies published in the journal Nature.
> 
> Potent antibodies were able to wipe a hybrid of human and monkey immunodeficiency viruses from the bloodstream of monkeys within days.
> 
> The findings could "revolutionise" the search for an HIV cure, say experts.
> 
> The US researchers said trials in patients with HIV now needed to take place.




BBC News - HIV antibodies 'have potent impact'


----------



## ScienceRocks

*NPL leads research project to help deliver 10x faster computer processing speeds*


> A new international research collaboration announced today will deliver highly accurate measurements of strain in materials at the nano-scale to drive innovation in next generation electronic devices. The European Metrology Research Programme's Nanostrain project brings together public institutions from across Europe supported by global industry leaders including IBM. A particular focus for the consortium is a class of materials (piezoelectrics) that change their shape in response to electric voltages. The project aims to advance commercial opportunities arising from controlled strain in nano-scale piezoelectrics including the development of the first Piezoelectric-Effect-Transistor (PET), a new digital switch with the potential to offer increased speed, reduced micro-chip size and lower power consumption.



 Read more at: NPL leads research project to help deliver 10x faster computer processing speeds


----------



## ScienceRocks

*NJIT researchers invent flexible battery made from carbon nanotubes*



> Researchers at NJIT have developed a flexible battery made with carbon nanotubes that could potentially power electronic devices with flexible displays.
> Electronic manufacturers are now making flexible organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays, a pioneering technology that allow devices such as cell phones, tablet computers and TVs to literally fold up.
> 
> And this new battery, given its flexibility and components, can be used to power this new generation of bendable electronics. The battery is made from carbon nanotubes and micro-particles that serve as active



 Read more at: NJIT researchers invent flexible battery made from carbon nanotubes


----------



## ScienceRocks

*helium-filled-harddrives*



> Data-storage company HGST has begun making a six-terabyte helium hard drive that has a 50 percent greater storage capacity and uses about 20 percent less power than conventional hard drives. The secret to this leap forward in performance? Pumping the drives full of helium.



Helium filled harddrives with 6 Terabytes and 20 percent less power usage than conventional drives


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Organic lights and solar cells straight from the printer*



> Flickering façades, curved monitors, flashing clothing, fluorescent wallpaper, flexible solar cells &#8211; and all printable. This is no make-believe vision of the future; it will soon be possible using a new printing process for organic light-emitting diodes.


 Read more at: Organic lights and solar cells straight from the printer


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Intel&#8217;s 14nm Broadwell GPU takes shape, indicates major improvements over Haswell*

Intel?s 14nm Broadwell GPU takes shape, indicates major improvements over Haswell | ExtremeTech


> Ahead of its 2014 launch, Intel has started open-sourcing the Linux driver for Broadwell&#8217;s GPU. Broadwell is the 14nm die shrink of Intel&#8217;s microarchitecture, and while the CPU side of things isn&#8217;t expected to change much, Broadwell&#8217;s GPU looks like it will be a broad (!) and significant reworking of the Intel HD 5000-series (Iris) GPU found in Haswell. This would seem to confirm that Intel is moving towards a modified tick-tock cadence, where the tick is a die shrink and the introduction a new GPU, and the tock focuses on the CPU side of the equation.
> 
> This weekend, Intel pushed 62 patches to the Linux kernel for Broadwell GPU support in Intel&#8217;s Linux DRM (Direct Rendering Manager) driver. There&#8217;s still a lot of work to be done, but the source code in these patches gives us some insight into what we can expect from the Broadwell GPU. In general terms, Intel&#8217;s Ben Widawsky, who works on Intel&#8217;s Linux graphics driver efforts, says that &#8220;Broadwell graphics bring some of the biggest changes we&#8217;ve seen on the execution and memory management side of the GPU&#8230; [the changes] dwarf any other silicon iteration during my tenure, and certainly can compete with the likes of the gen3->gen4 changes.&#8221;


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Tiny laser gives big boost to high speed data transmission*



> Phys.org) &#8212;High-speed communication just got a turbo boost, thanks to a new laser technology developed at the University of Illinois that transmits error-free data over fiber optic networks at a blazing fast 40 gigabits per second &#8211; the fastest in the United States.
> 
> 
> Milton Feng, the Nick Holonyak Jr. Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering, demonstrated the tiny, fast device along with postdoctoral researcher Fei Tan, graduate students Mong-Kai Wu and Michael Liu, and Holonyak, who is an emeritus professor. The team published its results in the journal IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.
> 
> As computation shifts into the petascale and beyond, processor speeds have outstripped transfer speeds, creating a bottleneck and hindering applications. Anyone who has tried to stream video over a dial-up Internet connection knows that the fastest processor won't help the file load quicker. And in the age of "big data" and cloud computing, there's a lot of information swirling among servers.




 Read more at: Tiny laser gives big boost to high speed data transmission


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Light vs heat: Fujitsu rebuilds server with silicon photonics*



> Fujitsu and Intel announced a significant step Tuesday toward replacing computers' electrical wiring with fiber-optic links: a version of the PCI Express data pathway that uses silicon photonics.
> 
> The two companies demonstrated Optical PCIe Express (OPCIe) to split a single server into separate modules linked by a fiber-optic connection. The approach lets the machine's central Xeon processors be separated from its storage drives and its Xeon Phi co-processors to avoid overheating problems.


Light vs heat: Fujitsu rebuilds server with silicon photonics | Cutting Edge - CNET News


----------



## ScienceRocks

*New transistor mimics human synapse to simulate learning*



> The human brain is a marvel of evolutionary craftsmanship with tens of billions of neurons firing away to make us the people we are. Each neuron can act as a single logical circuit, like a computer transistor, but there are several notable differences. Neurons in the brain act in concert as a massively parallel system, and can adapt to stimuli over time by strengthening and weakening connections &#8212; they learn. Scientists have been on the trail of computer learning on the software side for years by throwing more and more CPU cores at it. Now, a team from the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) is coming at the problem from the other direction. They are building a transistor that behaves like a neuron.



New transistor mimics human synapse to simulate learning | ExtremeTech


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Seagate spins up world's thinnest 2 TB HDD*



> Seagate, which purchased Samsung's HDD division in 2011, has begun shipping the world's thinnest 2 TB hard drive. The Samsung Spinpoint M9T, which comes in a 2.5-inch form factor, measures 9.5 mm thick, giving notebooks a bit more storage space.
> 
> While not as thin as Seagate's Momentus Thin and Laptop Ultrathin HDDs that are just 7 mm thick, both those drives top out 500 GB, while most 2 TB HDDs on the market stretch the calipers at 15 mm. The Spinpoint M9T's thickness makes it compatible with the 9.5 mm standard used by the majority of laptops.




Seagate spins up world's thinnest 2 TB HDD


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Harvard scientists develop a transistor that learns*


> In a development that may enable a wholly new approach to artificial intelligence, researchers at Harvard University's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have invented a type of transistor that can learn in ways similar to a neural synapse. Called a synaptic transistor, the new device self-optimizes its properties for the functions it has carried out in the past.



Harvard scientists develop a transistor that learns


----------



## ScienceRocks

*New framework for 3D tele-immersive social networking*

2 minutes ago 



> It's Friday night, you're exhausted after a long week in the office. You're not going to leave the house so you could either watch TV or spend a few hours catching up on your social networks. But how about doing both? Thanks to the EU REVERIE (Real and Virtual Engagement in Realistic Immersive Environments) project, you will soon be able to immerse yourself into a 3D online environment which lets you interact with friends and share common experiences together, in real time.
> 
> While the success of social networks has been proven beyond all doubt - with more and more interactions taking place online - such interactions are still a poor substitute for the real world. Users now want an online environment which allows safe and enjoyable collaborative interaction, bringing together realistic inter-personal communication with 3D media creation. The equipment is already available in our living rooms: 3D TV, Microsoft Kinect or the Nintendo Wii are progressively replacing the traditional mouse/keyboard experience. These devices are social media-enabled, and all they miss is a range of content creation tools able to bridge the physical/digital divide, making communication in social networks more reflective of how people interact in the real world. The possibilities are endless - taking your class on a trip to a realistic virtual model of the European parliament; taking part in competitions to build 3D reconstructed models; or participating in interactive and entertaining role playing games while inviting your friends to join through existing social networking channels.





 Read more at: New framework for 3D tele-immersive social networking


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Flipboard expands into personal shopping catalogs*

1 hour ago 



> Personal magazine creator Flipboard is expanding into shopping catalogs just in time for the holiday shopping season.
> 
> A tool released Monday will allow Flipboard users to display their gift wish lists and highlight their favorite products in a catalog-like format. The digital catalogs include links so the products can be purchased by anyone browsing through the selections on Flipboard's application for Apple Inc.'s iPhone and iPad, as well as mobile devices running on Google Inc.'s Android operating system.
> 
> Several merchants and websites, including Gap Inc.'s Banana Republic and eBay Inc., are distributing Flipboard catalogs.


 Read more at: Flipboard expands into personal shopping catalogs


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Physicists 'uncollapse' a partially collapsed qubit*



> Phys.org) &#8212;One of the striking features of a qubit is that, unlike a classical bit, it can be in two states at the same time. That is, until a measurement is made on the qubit, causing it to collapse into a single state. This measurement process and the resulting collapse may at first seem irreversible. (Once you open the box to find a dead cat, there's no going back, right?) But recently physicists have been investigating the possibility of "uncollapsing," or recovering the state of, a qubit that has been partially collapsed due to a weak measurement. The results could be used for implementing quality control in quantum systems.



 Read more at: Physicists 'uncollapse' a partially collapsed qubit


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Asus launches NFC-capable BT 4.0 earbuds*


> Asus has announced what is claimed to be the world's first Bluetooth 4.0 headset to feature NFC technology. The ergonomically-designed EB50N earphones support one-touch pairing with smartphones and tablets, feature full-range stereo drivers, and boast a long battery life.



Asus launches NFC-capable BT 4.0 earbuds


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Australia Post stamps presents with a video message*


> Email may have decimated snail mail, but luckily for postal services and couriers, packages aren't as easy to send as bits and bytes. This Christmas is likely to be another bumper year for presents being sent in the mail and Australia Post is providing gift-givers with the ability to attach a video message to their parcels.
> 
> When packaging up a gift for friends and family, the sender sticks the Video Stamp, which takes the form of a QR code, to their parcel and scans it with a special smartphone app. They are then prompted to record a personalized video message of up to 15 seconds, which the gift recipient can view on their smartphone by again scanning the stamp when the parcel arrives in the post.
> 
> Recipients can use any QR code reader app to view the video message for up to 90 days after the time of recording or, if they don't have a smartphone or tablet, they can log into a web page with the details sent with the stamp. They can also share the message on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ or send it in an email.




Australia Post stamps presents with a video message


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Google Glass gets music integration*



> Google's new Internet-connected eyewear will have music too.
> 
> The company said Tuesday music would be available on Google Glass by allowing wearers to use Google's online music services to listen to songs and identify music. Specially designed earbuds will deliver high-quality audio from the eyewear.
> 
> "Music is coming to Glass in several cool ways," a Google spokeswoman said in an email.
> 
> "Sound search can identify that song you're hearing but don't know the name of. All you have to say is 'OK Glass...what song is this?' and it'll name the tune for you.
> 
> "We'll also be adding a new voice command to Glass... that lets you access your tunes from Google Play Music or All Access."
> 
> The new earbuds are "engineered specifically for Glass to provide high quality sound," the statement said.



 Read more at: Google Glass gets music integration


----------



## ScienceRocks

*MIT group's shape display steps to new realm in interaction future (w/ Video)*



> (Phys.org) &#8212;The Tangible Media Group at MIT Media Lab have been working on a shape-shifting surface called inFORM where, as their video indicates, users interact with digital matter in interesting ways that go far beyond boxed-in interactions with a traditional computer. Outside MIT, observers have described their system not only as a shape display but as a shape-shifting surface; The team at MIT that is behind inFORM explain it as a "Dynamic Shape Display that can render 3D content physically, so users can interact with digital information in a tangible way. inFORM can also interact with the physical world around it, for example moving objects on the table's surface. Remote participants in a video conference can be displayed physically, allowing for a strong sense of presence and the ability to interact physically at a distance."


 Read more at: MIT group's shape display steps to new realm in interaction future (w/ Video)


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Toshiba ups capacity and speed of its FlashAir wireless SD card*


> Toshiba has updated its FlashAir wireless SD card with the FlashAir II, which, like the Eye-Fi and Transcend Wi-Fi SD cards, functions as its own wireless LAN access point to let users upload photos directly from their digital camera to a tablet, smartphone or PC.
> 
> The new card boasts Class 10 speed compared to the original model's Class 6 speeds, and is available with a maximum of 32 GB of storage, which is double the previous version.
> 
> The card's onboard wireless LAN chip supports access from up to seven devices simultaneously and allows photos to be uploaded to devices without an internet connection. It also boasts an internet pass-through feature that allows devices connected to the internet to access the card and the internet at the same time.



Toshiba ups capacity and speed of its FlashAir wireless SD card


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Quantum memory 'world record' smashed*


> A fragile quantum memory state has been held stable at room temperature for a "world record" 39 minutes - overcoming a key barrier to ultrafast computers.
> 
> "Qubits" of information encoded in a silicon system persisted for almost 100 times longer than ever before.
> 
> Quantum systems are notoriously fickle to measure and manipulate, but if harnessed could transform computing.
> 
> The new benchmark was set by an international team led by Mike Thewalt of Simon Fraser University, Canada.




BBC News - Quantum memory 'world record' smashed


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Samsung applies for patent on wraparound phone display*

Nov 18, 2013 by Bob Yirka report



> (Phys.org) &#8212;Samsung has applied for a US patent on a new type of wraparound display for a smartphone. According to diagrams in the patent, the wraparound would be more like single bends on either side of the main screen that take up part of the side of the phone. The result is a beveled look, where the bevel can display images and respond to touches just like the main screen.



 Read more at: Samsung applies for patent on wraparound phone display


----------



## ScienceRocks

*New research aims to teach computers common sense*

6 hours ago by Kevin Begos 



> Researchers are trying to plant a digital seed for artificial intelligence by letting a massive computer system browse millions of pictures and decide for itself what they all mean.
> 
> The system at Carnegie Mellon University is called NEIL, short for Never Ending Image Learning. In mid-July, it began searching the Internet for images 24/7 and, in tiny steps, is deciding for itself how those images relate to each other. The goal is to recreate what we call common sense&#8212;the ability to learn things without being specifically taught.



 Read more at: New research aims to teach computers common sense


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Fabricated nanoantennas used to produce high-resolution holograms*



> Holography is one of the more dramatic forms of photography, in which a three-dimensional image is stored on a photographic plate in the form of interference fringes. Researchers at Purdue University in Indiana have developed a different approach, in which a 3D image is stored in a structure of thousands of V-shaped nanoantennas etched into an ultrathin gold foil. The new approach dramatically shrinks the size of a hologram, potentially enabling photonic and plasmonic devices and optical switches small enough to be integrated into computer chips.



Fabricated nanoantennas used to produce high-resolution holograms


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Neptune Pine: Now THIS is a smartwatch done right*



> Samsung may have shot first with the Galaxy Gear, but its smartwatch is far from game-changing. Aside from being slow, clunky and limited in features, the Gear's biggest flaw is that it's a companion device, which requires a Bluetooth connection to a compatible smartphone. The Neptune Pine that recently smashed its Kickstarter goal is an actual Dick Tracy dream smartphone.
> 
> In development for over a year, the water-resistant Pine works without a smartphone. You can make and take calls, tap out text messages, listen to music and take pictures, just like you would on a smartphone. It works exactly like a smartphone, too: just pop in a micro SIM card and you're good to go &#8212; a smartphone now on your wrist.



Neptune Pine: Now THIS is a smartwatch done right | DVICE

Voice command is the life blood of the smart watch. I won't fucking deal with trying to type on one.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*
Goldee's smart light switch lights the way to smarter homes *



> Smart homes are slowly, but surely making their way into reality, and with them a whole swathe of smart gadgets. But what we think of when we imagine a truly smart home is one which will anticipate our needs and adapt around them. The makers of the Goldee smart light switch have taken your home's lighting and made it do just that.



Goldee's smart light switch lights the way to smarter homes | DVICE


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Circuit Scribe mixes art with electronics*



> A new company called Electroninks is seeking to make DIY electronics childs play ... literally. Circuit Scribe is a roller-ball pen filled with conductive silver ink that enables the creation of circuits by simply drawing them.
> 
> The circuit-drawing pen first caught our attention back in 2011 during its research phase at the University of Illinois research lab of Professor Jennifer Lewis. Now Lewis, along with reactive silver ink wizard Brett Walker, has co-founded a company called Electroninks to produce and market the Circuit Scribe.



Circuit Scribe mixes art with electronics


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Fumbling with USB plugs will soon be a thing of the past*




> USB plugs, as you know them, are about to change in the future. Despite a design that hasn't changed externally since its official release in 1996, people still end up plugging the wrong side in, then flipping it over to plug the right side in.
> 
> If Type-A (the full-size kind) and Type-B (the fat kind usually used by printers) and Micro-B (the ones used by mobile devices) and every other USB type in between have gotten the best of you over the years, then fear not, because a new kind of USB 3.0 &#8212; Type-C &#8212;is already being developed.



Fumbling with USB plugs will soon be a thing of the past | DVICE


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Nonlinear light-generating zero-index metamaterial created*

6 hours ago by Lynn Yarris 




> (Phys.org) &#8212;The Information Age will get a major upgrade with the arrival of quantum processors many times faster and more powerful than today's supercomputers. For the benefits of this new Information Age 2.0 to be fully realized, however, quantum computers will need fast and efficient multi-directional light sources. While quantum technologies remain grist for science fiction, a team of researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have taken an important step towards efficient light generation, the foundation for future quantum networks.



 Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-12-nonlinear-light-generating-zero-index-metamaterial.html#jCp


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Bluetooth group ushers in updated Bluetooth 4.1*

21 minutes ago by Nancy Owano weblog



> (Phys.org) &#8212;The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), the regulatory body responsible for the standard, announced on Wednesday its release of an updated version of the specification, Bluetooth 4.1. This is the first new update to the standard in nearly four years. Bluetooth has become a familiar and fundamental word in the vocabulary of device interconnectedness and "Internet of Things," as the technology standard that enables information exchange between wireless devices. Announced by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, Bluetooth 4.1 brings improvements, enablements, and developer support benefits. Also on Wednesday, Suke Jawanda, Bluetooth SIG chief marketing officer , blogged "Improving Usability extends the brand promise to consumers with an 'it just works' experience. This spec is engineered with several new features to make it work seamlessly with popular cell technologies like LTE, maintain connections with less frequent manual reconnection, and deliver a more efficient data exchange."


 Read more at: Bluetooth group ushers in updated Bluetooth 4.1


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Sleek new Lumus headset edges in on Google Glass' turf*



> The folks over at Lumus have had their noses to the grindstone in recent months as they prepared their newest AR headset for unveiling at next month's CES 2014. Looking at the images that we have of the stylish Lumus DK-40, that hard work seems to have paid off with dividends.
> 
> When compared to the wired, cobbled-together looking headsets we've seen from Lumus in years past, the DK-40 is practically a dream come true. Housed in a Google Glass-sized module on the right temple is an Android-running OMAP processor, a motion sensor, five-megapixel camera and a battery. The AR display is integrated right into the headset's right lens and supports 640x480 VGA resolution.



Sleek new Lumus headset edges in on Google Glass' turf | DVICE


*Quantum dots with confined light holes could have applications in quantum technologies*



> (Phys.org) &#8212;Semiconductor quantum dots are being widely studied for their potential use in future quantum technologies. One of the reasons for their appeal is that they can confine quantum bits such as excitons and spins inside of them. In a new study, researchers have created a quantum dot that contains an exciton in the form of an electron bound to a light hole. The use of a light (as opposed to heavy) hole could enable the quantum dots to have specific advantages for quantum information technologies.



 Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-12-quantum-dots-confined-holes-applications.html#jCp


----------



## ScienceRocks

*&#8220;Superman memory crystal&#8221; could store hundreds of terabytes indefinitely *



> Recently, there have been advances in the area of digital data storage promising outstanding data density and super-long-term data storage. A new data storage technology developed at the University of Southampton can do both. Due to its similarities to the &#8220;memory crystals&#8221; used in theSuperman films, it has been dubbed the &#8220;Superman memory crystal.&#8221;
> 
> Hard-drive memory has a useful lifespan of a couple of decades at best, as it is vulnerable to damage from high temperatures, moisture, strong magnetic fields and numerous kinds of mechanical failures. Because of this, companies and consumers alike are forced to upgrade their storage hardware every few years.
> 
> Researchers at the University of Southampton have created an extremely dense and durable memory that can store 360 TB of data on a single disc for an indefinite amount of time. The structure, which is made of glass, can resist temperatures up to 1,000° C (1,800° F) and would be perfect for creating portable data archives that can truly stand the test of time.


- See more at: ?Superman memory crystal? could store hundreds of terabytes indefinitely - Awescience.com


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Scientists jump the "air gap" with hidden acoustic networks *

Scientists jump the "air gap" with hidden acoustic networks



> It could be assumed that the most effective way to safeguard your computer against the threat of cyber attacks would be to disconnect it from all networks: wireless, LAN, network cards or the internet. However, research from the Fraunhofer Institute for Communication, Information Processing and Ergonomics (FKIE) has demonstrated a malware prototype with the ability to jump the "air gap" &#8211; meaning even that once surefire security measure might not be enough to ensure the protection of your computer.
> 
> Computer scientists Michael Hanspach and Michael Goetz conducted an experiment involving five computers which connected to one another using their built-in microphones and speakers to form an inaudible acoustic network. The data was able to be transferred from one computer to another until it reached one with a regular internet connection that was able to take the signal "outside."
> 
> The scientists selected a near ultrasonic frequency range which saw data communicated between the computers within a range of 19.7 m (64.6 ft), all without a connection to a central access point or router. Hanspach says the same technique might also be used to transfer data between smartphones or tablets.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Scientists demonstrate quantum phenomenon for the first time using a plastic film*



> For the first time, scientists at IBM Research have demonstrated a complex quantum mechanical phenomenon known as Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC), using a luminescent polymer (plastic) similar to the materials in light emitting displays used in many of today's smartphones.



 Read more at: Scientists demonstrate quantum phenomenon for the first time using a plastic film


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Sony reveals flash drive with full size and micro USB plugs*



> Even with a microSD card installed, snapping a new photo every few minutes or regularly adding to your mobile music or video library can soon eat up the available storage on your smartphone or tablet. You could dig through the box of cables to offload some files to a computer, or even use Wi-Fi or Bluetooth for your transfer needs, but now Sony has come up with another option. Its latest USB flash drives have a full size USB connector at one end and a micro-USB plug at the other.



Sony reveals flash drive with full size and micro USB plugs


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Revolv brings multiple home automation devices together*



> Once you start automating your home with electronic locks, lights, switches, and other components, the number of apps on your phone can multiply very quickly. Worse, it seems like you should be able to easily link their behavior together yet can&#8217;t. After all, if you want the lights to turn off when you leave the house, shouldn&#8217;t the thermostat also turn down? The Revolv home automation system and associated smart phone app aim to simplify things with one centralized control hub that promises easy setup, no additional support fees, and an evolving lineup of supported devices and features.



Revolv brings multiple home automation devices together


----------



## ScienceRocks

*PointGrab brings gesture control to home appliances*

At CES, the company plans to show its latest technology for controlling devices and home appliances by pointing your finger.


> With the Consumer Electronics Show just around the corner, PointGrab is trying to get ahead of the noise with pre-announcements of products that will make their debut at the Las Vegas event. In this case, they will make their debut in closed-door demonstrations by appointment and in YouTube videos demonstrating the concept.
> 
> The concept is compelling -- controlling devices from a distance with your hands. The company is unveiling two new versions of its gesture-recognition software, which now works with standard 2D cameras on consumer devices. Currently, Samsung, Lenovo, Acer, and other manufacturers have integrated the technology into their consumer devices such as TVs and PCs.



PointGrab brings gesture control to home appliances | Cutting Edge - CNET News


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Accidental Discovery Dramatically Improves Electrical Conductivity by 400-fold by simply exposing it to light.*

 [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlcpzLbSzrY]Accidental Discovery Dramatically Improves Electrical Conductivity - YouTube[/ame]



> Physicist at Washington State University (WSU) has found a way to dramatically improve conductivity in a crystal "400-fold" by simply exposing it to light&#8212;a discovery that has possible implications for future computers, particularly memory devices. The Filipina physicist at Washington State University has made the discovery that has opened doors for future computers, especially memory devices.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Atheer Labs brings Android into 3D augmented reality*



> Forget about cell phones, watches, and tablets, the metal and plastic objects that intermediate between the digital and physical worlds. In the future everyone wears 3D glasses and interacts in real space with virtual screens and objects using gestures and natural language. That's the future according to Atheer Labs, which is attempting to turn the vision portrayed in the above video into a reality.
> 
> On Thursday, Atheer Labs started an Indiegogo campaign to promote its new 3D, augmented-reality glasses platform.
> 
> Atheer's first goal is to build a library of apps to showcase the wearable computer. The effort to attract developers to the platform could be aided by having some preorders for its consumer device, the Atheer One. Atheer is aiming at the  Android community with its Development Kit, which takes advantage of existing Android APIs, and developers familiar with the Unity and Vuforia 3D programming environments.



Atheer Labs brings Android into 3D augmented reality | Cutting Edge - CNET News


----------



## ScienceRocks

*CEO and CTO talk about memristors, HP CTO confident of 100 Terabyte memristor drives by 2018*



> HP&#8217;s Discover event in Barcelona this week has focused heavily on its &#8220;new style of IT&#8221; mantra, which focuses on cloud computing, integrated data center offerings, and commercial PCs that try to bring the cool factor. But HP CEO Meg Whitman&#8217;s keynote Tuesday at the event offered a brief preview of where HP&#8217;s next &#8220;new style of IT&#8221; may be headed.
> 
> Taking a break from promoting the current lineup of HP Enterprise Group products, Whitman discussed a handful of technology areas where the company&#8217;s HP Lab is working on technologies the company feels will help shape technology in the future.
> 
> Up first, Moonshot cartridge servers are the only one of the innovations currently in-market today, but Whitman suggested HP has just tapped the surface of the high-density, low-power modular servers, saying that &#8220;no other company is taking on the data center the way were are.&#8221;
> 
> From there, Whitman moved into technologies that have not yet seen the light of the day, a high-performance, low-cost non-volatile memory technology called memristors, and its Photonics technology, which speed data transmission within an infrastructure by using fiber optics.
> 
> In five years, according to Fink, DRAM and NAND scaling will hit a wall, limiting the maximum capacity of the technologies: process shrinks will come to a shuddering halt when the memories' reliability drops off a cliff as a side effect of reducing the size of electronics on the silicon dies.
> 
> * The HP answer to this scaling wall is Memristor, its flavour of resistive RAM technology that is supposed to have DRAM-like speed and better-than-NAND storage density. Fink claimed at an HP Discover event in Las Vegas that Memristor devices will be ready by the time flash NAND hits its limit in five years. He also showed off a Memristor wafer, adding that it could have a 1.5 PetaByte capacity by the end of the decade.*
> Today a 3PAR StoreServ 7450 enclosure can have 240 solid-state drives, supporting a maximum raw capacity of 96TB raw capacity using 400GB SSDs. Now imagine 240 100TB Memristor drives in such a box: that's 24,000TB or 24PB.



HP CEO and CTO talk about memristors, HP CTO confident of 100 Terabyte memristor drives by 2018


----------



## ScienceRocks

*CES debut for Avegant Glyph "Virtual Retinal Display" headsets*



> What better way to take a trip in a personal virtual reality bubble, or sit down to a private movie screening on a seemingly enormous screen, than donning a head-mounted display? Unless you happen to be dressed as Geordi La Forge at a Star Trek convention though, wearing such technology does kind of label you a bit of a geek. The Glyph headsets are a little different. In non-video mode, the device just looks like some rather bulky headphones. The headband, however, can be pulled down over the eyes for an immersive escape. Rather than looking at an LCD or OLED display (or in some cases using an actual smartphone screen) through lenses, Glyph users have the video and game images projected directly on their retinas courtesy of a combination of special optics and millions of tiny mirrors. The first pre-production prototypes are currently being assembled in readiness for CES in a few weeks, ahead of a launch on crowdfunding platform Kickstarter.



CES debut for Avegant Glyph "Virtual Retinal Display" headsets


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Samsung integrating 'finger gesture' control into new Smart TVs*



> Samsung makes some of the best TVs on the planet. While Smart TVs have been on the rise for years, Samsung really upped the stakes with gestures and voice control in last year's models. For its next act in the Smart TV play, Samsung is fine-tuning its motion controls with a feature it calls "finger gesture."
> 
> Current Samsung Smart TVs with built-in gesture controls only support hand recognition. And while Samsung promised Kinect-like controls on its Smart TVs, the reality was the feature just didn't work very well.




Samsung integrating 'finger gesture' control into new Smart TVs | DVICE


----------



## ScienceRocks

*New circuit design allows for elimination of laptop charger brick*

18 hours ago by Bob Yirka report



> (Phys.org) &#8212;Power electronics maker FINsix Corporation has announced the development of what is being called the world's smallest laptop adaptor&#8212;one that is just a quarter the size of traditional models and just a sixth the weight&#8212;it comes as a standard wall plug, eliminating the "box on the ground" format so familiar to laptop users.



 Read more at: New circuit design allows for elimination of laptop charger brick


----------



## RoadVirus

Matthew said:


> *Samsung integrating 'finger gesture' control into new Smart TVs*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Samsung makes some of the best TVs on the planet. While Smart TVs have been on the rise for years, Samsung really upped the stakes with gestures and voice control in last year's models. For its next act in the Smart TV play, Samsung is fine-tuning its motion controls with a feature it calls "finger gesture."
> 
> Current Samsung Smart TVs with built-in gesture controls only support hand recognition. And while Samsung promised Kinect-like controls on its Smart TVs, the reality was the feature just didn't work very well.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Samsung integrating 'finger gesture' control into new Smart TVs | DVICE
Click to expand...


I can only imagine what the middle finger would do.


----------



## armada

RoadVirus said:


> Matthew said:
> 
> 
> 
> *Samsung integrating 'finger gesture' control into new Smart TVs*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Samsung makes some of the best TVs on the planet. While Smart TVs have been on the rise for years, Samsung really upped the stakes with gestures and voice control in last year's models. For its next act in the Smart TV play, Samsung is fine-tuning its motion controls with a feature it calls "finger gesture."
> 
> Current Samsung Smart TVs with built-in gesture controls only support hand recognition. And while Samsung promised Kinect-like controls on its Smart TVs, the reality was the feature just didn't work very well.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Samsung integrating 'finger gesture' control into new Smart TVs | DVICE
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I can only imagine what the middle finger would do.
Click to expand...


it will mute or change the channel when Obama appears on it


----------



## ScienceRocks

*New MRAM technology promises memorable consumer electronics experience*



> In his 2005 paper, Professor of Physics Johan Åkerman touted magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) as a promising candidate for a "universal memory" that could replace the various types of memory commonly found alongside each other in modern electronic devices. A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) has now developed a new type of MRAM that could see Åkerman's vision become a reality.
> 
> Currently, many devices pack static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), and Flash memory, with each offering their own particular advantages. SRAM is fast but volatile, meaning the data it stores is lost when the power is switched off. DRAM offers greater memory densities than SRAM and is cheaper, but is also volatile and needs to be refreshed periodically to retain information, making it more power hungry. Finally, Flash memory is non-volatile, meaning it retains data even when the power is switched off, but is still relatively expensive.
> 
> MRAM technology offers the potential of providing all the advantages of these three types of memory, with none of the disadvantages. It promises greater storage density, reduced power consumption, and would retain data without power. Although it has been under development since the 1990s, continuing improvements in Flash and DRAM have kept MRAM largely on the sidelines.




New MRAM technology promises memorable consumer electronics experience


----------



## ScienceRocks

*The Rise of the Levitating Mouse*


> Russian designer Vadim Kibardin has designed a levitating mouse for the computer. This may either sound like magic or science fiction, but Kibardin&#8217;s design is based on principals of basic ergonomics.
> 
> The repetitious movements of mouse work at the computer, if you&#8217;re a graphic designer or gamer, eventually lead to impaired movement and flexibility of your hand and wrist. If left untreated, the median nerve that manipulates most of your hand can pinch and become trapped, limiting mobility altogether.
> 
> Kibardin observed that Carpal tunnel syndrome, the effect of consistent stress on the median nerve, is a modern problem, especially for people who use computers for most of the day. His levitating mouse uses a system of magnets to float the object in a fluid space that doesn&#8217;t create as much resistance.
> 
> The levitating mouse frees the wrist from a stationary position to a flexible position, releasing the median nerve from extra tension.
> 
> FUTURE IMPLICATIONS
> 
> Magnetic technology has improved movement in a variety of contexts. Maglev trains move close to 400 miles per hour now. Computer hard drives have used magnets since their inception. Instead of designing tools that require stationary movement, the use of magnets can manufacture tools that work more fluidly with a mutual resistance that feels more flexible. It will be very exciting to see technology like the kind Kibardin used in more fields.



http://www.seriouswonder.com/rise-of-the-levitating-mouse


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Corning reveals antimicrobial version of Gorilla Glass*


> Last July, Corning announced that germ-killing glass for mobile device screens could be less than two years away. Well, things are apparently progressing quickly. Yesterday, the company unveiled its Antimicrobial Corning Gorilla Glass &#8211; although you can't buy a phone that features it quite yet.
> 
> "Corning&#8217;s Antimicrobial Gorilla Glass inhibits the growth of algae, mold, mildew, fungi, and bacteria because of its built-in antimicrobial property, which is intrinsic to the glass and effective for the lifetime of a device," says Corning Specialty Materials general manager James R. Steiner.
> 
> The material consists of Gorilla Glass 3 containing embedded ionic silver, which is known for its ability to continuously kill microbes over an indefinite time period. That extra ingredient reportedly has no significant effect on the mechanical, optical, or dielectric properties of the glass.



Corning reveals antimicrobial version of Gorilla Glass


----------



## Jose1

oooh, lots of new stuff I'd sure like to have my hands on ...


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Meta-hologram produces dual images and multiple colors (w/ Video)*

7 hours ago by Lisa Zyga feature



> (Phys.org) &#8212;Holograms have attracted wide attention for their ability to produce a realistic 3D image of an object by recording the object's light field and later reconstructing the light field on a 2D surface. Now researchers have fabricated a hologram using metamaterials that can produce dual holographic images of different colors on a single surface. The two images are generated by two orthogonal polarizations, while the colors are produced by the hologram's wide operation wave length range.
> 
> The researchers, Wei Ting Chen, et al., from institutions in Taiwan, the US, China, and Singapore, have published a paper on the meta-hologram in a recent issue of Nano Letters.



Meta-hologram produces dual images and multiple colors (w/ Video)


----------



## ScienceRocks

*The First Look at the New Oculus VR Prototype*


> Every time virtual-reality company Oculus brings a prototype of its Rift headset to a show, it takes another big step forward. And the prototype at this year&#8217;s CES may be the biggest leap yet.
> 
> Last January, Oculus arrived at its first CES with a degree of uncertainty. It hadn&#8217;t yet released the developer-only Rift headset it Kickstarted in the previous fall. In fact, few outside the company had even seen it. Programmer John Carmack had brought an early prototype to videogame show E3 that summer, but since then there&#8217;d been radio silence as Oculus&#8217; bare-bones staff worked heads-down on the developer unit. Last year&#8217;s CES was in many ways Oculus&#8217; coming-out party. As it turned out, plenty of people attended: the Rift snagged &#8220;Best of CES&#8221; awards from everyone and their mother (including WIRED, though our mothers weren&#8217;t involved in the voting).



The First Look at the New Oculus VR Prototype | Gadget Lab | Wired.com


----------



## ScienceRocks

*
Researchers create ultra-flexible electronic membranes*



The researchers authenticated the theoretical bending radius of 50 micrometers during experiments.



> According to a January 7 news release from ETH Zurich, researchers are developing electronic components that are slimmer and more flexible than before.  Amazingly, these new electronic components can even be swathed around a single hair without injuring the electronics.
> 
> &#8220;These new thin-film transistors adhere to a wide range of surfaces and adapt perfectly,&#8221; said Niko Münzenrieder, a post-doctoral researcher who helped to develop the electronic components in the lab of Professor Gerhard Tröster.
> 
> In Professor Gerhard Tröster&#8217;s Electronics Lab, scientists have been studying flexible electronic components for quite some time.  The objective is to interlace these types of components into textiles or apply them to human skin to develop inconspicuous, comfortable sensors that can monitor various bodily functions.
> 
> In the latest issue of the journal Nature Communications, the researchers describe their discovery of this new breed of thin-film technology.



Researchers create ultra-flexible electronic membranes | Science Recorder


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Coming Soon: Smart Glasses That Look Like Regular Spectacles*

Sunglasses made with nanoscale optical technology hint at a near future of inconspicuous head-mounted displays. 
By Mike Orcutt on January 9, 2014 

Smart Glasses, Without the Bulky Lenses | MIT Technology Review



> For all the hype around smart glasses, none of them actually look like normal glasses. But Vuzix, which develops wearable display technology for military and industrial applications, plans to change that this summer by releasing a pair of sleek wraparound shades that will let users see colorful images projected over objects in the real world.



*Fin gesture control ring makes your hand a Bluetooth controller*

http://www.dvice.com/2014-1-9/fin-gesture-control-ring-makes-your-hand-bluetooth-controller



> A small band of creative types have crafted what looks like your average fashion accessory. It's a ring with a little pinstripe down its center that evokes the look of a classic surfboard. but this ring isn't just for looks. It's actually a Bluetooth 4.0 gesture control device.
> 
> By precisely detecting its location across your palm and fingers, Fin can be used to send a number of differing commands to up to three separate connected devices. Control your smart TV, smartphone, car audio or even your gaming console with simple gestures. Current versions of the Fin can handle up to five different gestures per device, but those are developer units. The final version will hopefully be capable of much more. They're even being tinkered with to work as controllers for Oculus Rift, Google Glass and other headsets.



Fuck, I'd make it to control your house.  Imagine you're sitting at home and want to turn on the t.v or the lights? Point in that direction and flip your finger up or down.


*Archos unleashes bargain-priced smartwatches starting at $50*



> Archos has made a bit of a name for itself as a maker of discount electronics, but its newest creation is priced so far below the bar that its raising eyebrows at this year's CES 2014. The item in question: a smartwatch that will retail at only $50.
> 
> The bargain-basement smartwatch is actually one of three new smartwatches coming out from Archos this year, all of which are priced to sell. With Pebble and other smartwatch makers trending toward pricier, high-end wearables, its nice to see somebody looking out for the little guy. The $50 smartwatch features a 1.55-inch black and white LCD screen and a battery life of up to two weeks.



http://www.dvice.com/2014-1-9/archos-unleashes-bargain-priced-smartwatches-starting-50


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Iris scanner makes all of those pesky passwords obsolete*


Iris scanner makes all of those pesky passwords obsolete | DVICE


> Remembering passwords for all of your tech devices and accounts is a real pain. You can get a nifty fingerprint scanner built in to everything from your laptop to your iPhone, but those aren't usually considered secure enough to replace an old-fashioned typed password or PIN. Iris recognition is far more secure, but until now the technology has been too expensive for use outside of large corporations and governments, or on the fictional set of NCIS.
> 
> With the Myris eye scanner being launched at CES this week, you set up a profile containing all of your stored passwords, then teach the dongle to recognize your eyeball in a process that takes just a few seconds. From that point forward, you can use the Myris to unlock everything from your bank accounts and social networking sites to your tech devices themselves. The key is that because you no longer have to memorize a string of letters and numbers, you can change all of your passwords from something dumb but easy to recall like "letmein," to ones that are a little tougher to crack like "B(%$38SD59#?}GoAway," which is definitely not the DVICE admin login so don't try it.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*The hottest gadgets of CES: 3-D printers to 4K TVs*

The biggest gadget trade show in the Americas wrapped up on Friday in Las Vegas after swamping the city with 150,000 attendees. This year, "wearable" computing was big, along with various 3-D technologies, especially 3-D printing. 





> Wearable devices in the shape of smartwatches and head-mounted displays have been a staple of the show for a long time, but manufacturers were excited this year because the field is finally gaining traction with consumers. Fitness bands were a breakout hit last year. The 3-D printing section bustled with activity, and it was clear that even though most people won't be buying a printer any time soon, they may be enjoying 3-D printed products, such as jewelry, wedding cakes and dental braces, in the near future. Meanwhile, TV makers were heartened by the support they received for their new ultra-high-definition TV sets.
> 
> Here are some of the most notable products and services revealed at the show:
> 
> DRIVERLESS CARS&#8212;The state of the art in car electronics is in systems that eliminate or ease the task of driving. French company Induct demonstrated its Navia driverless shuttle, which putts along at 12.5 miles (20 kilometers) per hour on a pre-programmed route. It's intended for university campuses, airports and other locales with enclosed roads.



The hottest gadgets of CES: 3-D printers to 4K TVs


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Haloband brings smartphone functions to the wrist*



> From lifestyle monitors to UV detectors, recently we have seen an array of connected wristbands emerge to serve a variety of purposes. In a similar vein, the Haloband is designed to put the convenience of technology within arms reach, but does so by extending the functionality of a smartphone to your wrist.



Haloband brings smartphone functions to the wrist


----------



## ScienceRocks

*FLIR turns the heat up on smartphone thermal imaging*


> FLIR Systems, Inc. announced two new products at CES designed to put thermal imaging into the hands of consumers. The first is a new, consumer-level infrared thermal camera sensor, while the second is a slide-on attachment for Apple iPhone 5 or 5s smartphones that makes use of said sensor. Both could be used to locate lost pets in the dark, look for energy leaking from your house, or to watch for wildlife.



FLIR turns the heat up on smartphone thermal imaging


----------



## ScienceRocks

*With 3D Chips, Samsung Leaves Moore's Law Behind*
With 3D Chips, Samsung Leaves Moore's Law Behind - Forbes



> Samsung Electronics earlier this month began to commercially produce three-dimensional V-NAND flash memory chips capable of holding 128 gigabits of memory. And today the company showed off the first solid-state drives made with the chips see photo) at the Flash Memory Summit taking place in Santa Clara this week.


----------



## PainefulTruth

Matthew said:


> For the latest advances in computers, hard drives, ram, ect.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> TDK sets new hard drive density record, paves the way for 6TB HDDs
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> TDK sets new hard drive density record, paves the way for 6TB HDDs - TechSpot News
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Solid state drives are continuing to build momentum as a speedy and rugged replacement for traditional spinning drive. TDKs ongoing research into mechanical hard drives, however, suggests that we shouldnt give up on the legacy technology just yet. The company recently announced a new milestone that will increase recording density in future drives by 50 percent.
> 
> The team at TDK have managed to achieve densities of 1.5TB per square inch by improving the magnetic head and hard disk medium with help from Showa Denko K.K. In laymans terms, this new advancement will allow a single platter in a 3.5-inch desktop hard drive to achieve 2TB of storage. Add more platters to the mix and youre now looking at hard drives reach 4TB and even 6TB in capacity.
> 
> Perhaps even more interesting is the impact it will have on 2.5-inch notebook drives. TDK says these smaller form factor HDDs will be able to achieve capacities of 1TB. This will allow users that arent yet sold on cloud storage to have a larger amount of data on hand at all times without having to lug around an external storage drive.
> 
> TDK will be showcasing the new technology at CEATEC this week although volume production isnt expected to begin until sometime in 2014. At that point, one has to wonder just how far solid state drive technology will have come in terms of price versus capacity. This ratio has been the Achilles heel for SSDs thus far even as drives continue to be more affordable.
> 
> Click to expand...
Click to expand...


For real advances in computer science, quantum computers are the machines of tomorrow.  They'll make digital look like an abacus.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Silver nanowires form basis of new wearable, multifunctional sensor*

Silver nanowires form basis of new wearable, multifunctional sensor



> In 2012, Dr. Yong Zhu and a team at North Carolina State University created highly conductive and elastic conductors made from silver nanowires. At the time, Dr. Zhu said the conductors could be used to create stretchable electronics with applications in wearable, multifunctional sensors. Two years later, the NC State researchers have developed just such a sensor.
> 
> By sandwiching an insulating material between two of the silver nanowire-based conductors, the researchers were able to create a device with capacitance, or the ability to store an electrical charge. When the stretchable conductors are pushed, pulled or touched, the capacitance is changed. Measuring this change is what provides the device's sensing capabilities.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*HP Seeks Patent on Lip Reading Speech Recognition *



> Headquartered in Palo Alto, CA, the Hewlett-Packard Company is an American multinational corporation focused on developing products and software-based services for the information technology industry. Today marks the first time we have taken a look at HP patents and pending applications, having just added them to Companies We Follow.
> 
> The computer hardware manufacturer has been slightly beleaguered in recent years, and it was recently announced that it lost the title of world&#8217;s top personal computer manufacturer to Lenovo. Industry experts are optimistic that HP&#8217;s plans to renominate its entire board of directors for shareholder approval may help bring some much-needed corporate stability after a year in which HP saw one-quarter of its board change. The company may also make a grand re-entrance into the PC market with its unveiling of an Android-powered desktop to directly challenge Microsoft machines powered by Windows.
> 
> In today&#8217;s Companies We Follow column, we travel over to the West Coast to see what this Silicon Valley stalwart has been busy producing in its research and development programs. We&#8217;ve gone through the recent publications coming out of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to find the most intriguing HP innovations found in their patent applications and issued patents. In a world where the PC market has dwindled in recent years, Hewlett-Packard seems to be making strides to shore up its legal holdings for other technologies as well, especially imaging and printing tech, but the featured patent application today suggests HP has come up with software that can essentially read lips.




HP Seeks Patent on Lip Reading Speech Recognition - IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Patent Law


----------



## ScienceRocks

*South Korea plans 2017 5G service launch, will download an 800MB file in 1 second*


> In the US and across Europe more of us are beginning to enjoy a 4G connection to our smartphones and tablets. But the 4G market is still relatively young and it&#8217;s going to be a while yet before we class it as the norm. In South Korea, however, which has been running 4G as a commercial service since 2010, the focus is now firmly on 5G.
> 
> The aim is to roll out a 5G service by 2017, and have it available to everyone no later than 2020. In terms of speed, the difference between 4G and 5G is massive. An 800MB file typically takes 40 seconds to download over a 4G connection. On 5G that will be cut to just 1 second.
> 
> Such speed comes at a massive cost, though. A $1.5 billion investment is required to get the project off the ground, and the South Korean government is attempting to secure some of the investment from local companies with a vested interest in seeing 5G succeed. SK Telecom and Korea Telecom have been named as potential partners, but it is thought LG and Samsung may also help with the funding. After all, Samsung has already experimented with 5G and achieved a 1Gbps data transfer.



South Korea plans 2017 5G service launch, will download an 800MB file in 1 second | Mobile | Geek.com


----------



## ScienceRocks

*'Fastest ever' broadband passes speed test*


> The "fastest ever" broadband speeds have been achieved in a test in London, raising hopes of more efficient data transfer via existing infrastructure.
> 
> Alcatel-Lucent and BT said speeds of 1.4 terabits per second were achieved during their joint test - enough to send 44 uncompressed HD films a second.
> 
> The test was conducted on a 410km (255-mile) link between the BT Tower in central London and Ipswich.
> 
> However, it may be many years before consumers notice any effect.



BBC News - 'Fastest ever' broadband passes speed test


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Google integrates &#8216;OK Google&#8217; hands-free voice search into Chromium, prepares to add the feature to Chrome *



> google has integrated its &#8220;OK Google&#8221; hands-free voice search into Chromium. The new feature was added just two months after it first arrived as a beta extension for Chrome.
> 
> The addition was first noted by developer and Google open-source Chromium evangelist François Beaufort. He points to a Chromium code review with the following short description:
> 
> 
> [Hotword] Putting preferences under search for hotword service. Putting behind a flag. In order to test/see the new settings run chrome with &#8220;&#8211;force-fieldtrials=VoiceTrigger/abc/



Chromium Gets 'OK Google' Hands-Free Voice Search, Chrome Next


----------



## Politico

Cause knowing how to spell is just too much work.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Fin thumb ring gets gesture control in hand*


> From smart watches to smart rings, the endless wave of wearable gadgets continues to wash ashore some pretty intriguing ideas. Fin, a thumb ring designed to enable hand gesture control of smart devices, aims to not only offer improved connectivity, but to alter the way we interact with our favorite gadgets.
> 
> Fin wraps around your thumb and packs built-in sensors that allow it to track its movement in relation to your palm. In addition, it can also distinguish between each segment of your fingers and convert your palm into a numerical keypad. Gestures are then translated into commands for various devices that are transmitted via Bluetooth 4.0.
> 
> The potential applications of the device are many and varied. Examples provided by the company include adjusting the volume or changing channels on a Smart TV by swiping your thumb in a particular direction, acting as a game controller, or controlling your smartphone while driving.
> 
> With iOS, Android and Windows phone compatibility, the company is releasing an SDK (Software Development Kit) in the hopes of providing a foundation for developers to explore their own ideas for how Fin could be used.
> 
> The ring sports an LED indicator and runs on a lithium-iron battery that can be recharged through a Micro-USB port, with each charge providing a month of use, according to the company. It also claims the ring is dust proof and waterproof, with a rating of IP67.



Fin thumb ring gets gesture control in hand


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Cricut Explore could be the offspring of a printer and a paper cutter*



> If you're a crafter, then it's quite likely that you spend a lot of time cutting intricate designs out of materials like paper, cloth or poster board. While it certainly adds to the artistic merit of the project if you do everything by hand, the fact is that not everyone has the necessary manual dexterity &#8211; or simply the talent. Well, before too long, such people will be able to make use of the Cricut Explore electronic cutting machine.



Cricut Explore could be the offspring of a printer and a paper cutter


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Toshiba's smart mirror concept puts the future on display*



> Every now and then we get demonstrations of really innovative new technologies and concepts that almost no one has any chance of being able to own anytime soon. The best place to undergo this particular form of torture is at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. This year at CES, a really fantastic "smart mirror" concept from Toshiba fit the bill.
> 
> There was little information available on this novel idea, which brings the tech from countless late 1990s and early 2000s era science-fiction films to life. Simply called "Multi Display in Black Mirror," the concept combines the functionality of something like a tablet alongside your reflection.
> 
> The mirror was shown in two different environments: In a bathroom, where the reflective screen presents information to help you start your day such as the weather alongside data from connected devices like a personal fitness monitor; and in the kitchen, where the system can assist in finding, adjusting and preparing recipes, among many other uses.




Toshiba's smart mirror concept puts the future on display


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Intel's Jarvis is a smarter, faster Siri that works offline*



> When you ask Siri or Google's voice search a question, no matter how simple it is, they have to think about it for a second or two. As you likely know, those brief moments of tedium are spent sending your question to the mass-consciousness of supercomputers through the Internet and waiting for a reply. Depending on your cell coverage, it could actually take a while for these virtual assistants to get back to you, if they do at all. Intel decided to do something about the matter, developing a new virtual assistant capable of doing its job with or without the Internet.
> 
> Named after Tony Stark's iconic assistant, Jarvis is a virtual assistant encased in a Bluetooth earpiece. Intel first showed off a prototype of the headset at CES 2014. Jarvis is housed in a mobile processor within the headset that also boasts a speaker, a pair of microphones and a battery said to last "all day". When paired with your smartphone, Jarvis can create calendar events, set timers, play music, adjust settings and even open apps like Google Maps without the need for the Internet. To charge Jarvis at the end of the day, simply drop it in its wireless-charging bowl, as if it were your set of keys.



Intel's Jarvis is a smarter, faster Siri that works offline | DVICE


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Carbon nanotubes on heat sinks could drastically speed up CPU&#8217;s*




> Computer processors are notorious for overheating: ask anyone with a laptop. Internal fans can help, but the harder they have to work, the more annoyed we get at the bloody awful noise that they make. What we really need is a better heat sink, the part of your computer that attaches to the CPU to dissipate heat. Intel and UC Berkeley have teamed up to create a heat sink made of carbon nanotubes that is much more effective than what we're using right now.
> 
> Carbon nanotubes are handy in a variety of applications. These nanoscale tubes have many uses, including making x-rays safer, creating better holograms and even fighting cancer. They have great heat conductivity as well, but until now, there have been issues with getting them to stick to hot metal surfaces, like those on a CPU. The Intel/Berkeley team, though, found a solution. They bonded the nanotubes to the chip by using a thin layer of organic compounds. The results were astonishing: their experiment resulted in the carbon nanotubes pulling heat off of the chip six times more efficiently than a standard heat sink.



Carbon nanotubes on heat sinks could drastically speed up CPU?s | DVICE


----------



## ScienceRocks

*How much would an iPhone have cost in 1991?*

Amazing! Today&#8217;s iPhones have the same capabilities (and 





> more!)  than 13 distinct electronics gadgets, worth more than $3,000, found in a 1991 Radio Shack ad. Buffalo writer Steve Cichon was the first to dig up the old ad and make the point about the seemingly miraculous pace of digital advance, noting that an iPhone incorporates the features of the computer, CD player, phone, &#8220;phone answerer,&#8221; and video camera, among other items in the ad, all at a lower price. The Washington Post&#8216;s tech blog The Switch picked up the analysis, and lots of people then ran with it on Twitter. Yet the comparison was, unintentionally, a huge dis to the digital economy. It massively underestimates the true pace of innovation and, despite its humor and good intentions, actually exposes a shortcoming that plagues much economic and policy analysis.
> 
> To see why, let&#8217;s do a very rough, back-of-the-envelope estimate of what an iPhone would have cost in 1991.



How much would an iPhone have cost in 1991?-CICTP


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Intel aims to cut graphics power draw in chip*

Intel says a new graphics core can cut power consumption by 40 percent and increase battery life in devices
Intel aims to cut graphics power draw in chip - CIO.com



> IDG News Service (New York Bureau) &#8212; Intel has designed a new integrated graphics core that the company claims can improve the battery life of smartphones, tablets and laptops.
> 
> Graphics can be power hungry and the new power-efficient core, when paired with a CPU, represents a leap in bringing down overall power consumption on chips, said Intel researcher Divya Kolar, in a blog entry.


----------



## Politico

All these advances and they still can't keep Vista Media Center from freezing up lol.


----------



## jamesdeny

Nice Post


----------



## jamesdeny

Nice Post


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Intel CEO Brian Krzanich does a Reddit AMA, says Moore's Law will last at least 10 more years *



> I&#8217;m Brian Krzanich, and I have been the CEO of Intel Corporation since May 2013. I'm very excited to be here chatting with you today.
> 
> Today, I&#8217;m especially looking forward to talking with engineering students. I know how tough engineering school can really be, but it&#8217;s worth it. Here at Intel, we want to help you become the best engineer you can be, and we want to make sure you graduate from your degree program. We've built this site staywithit.org to provide resources and motivation for engineering students. We need you, and we&#8217;ll do what we can to support you along the way.
> 
> I'll get started at about 9am PT (Noon ET)
> *
> in my 30 years i think i have seen the forecasted end of Moore's law at least 5 or 6 times... so i tend to be a skeptic when people say it will end.. At any one point we can typically see about 10 years out.. with pretty good clarity in the 3 to 5 years and much less clarity 5 to 10 years.. but so far in that 10 year horizon.. we don't see anything that says it will end in that time frame..*



Hi Reddit! I'm Brian Krzanich, CEO of Intel. Ask me anything! : IAmA


----------



## ScienceRocks

* 
Google unveils smartphone with 3D sensors *

BBC News - Google unveils smartphone with 3D sensors




> Google has unveiled a prototype smartphone with "customised hardware and software" that enables it to create 3D maps of a user's surroundings.
> 
> The device's sensors allow it make over 250,000 3D measurements every second and update its position in real-time.
> 
> Google said potential applications may include indoor mapping, helping the visually-impaired navigate unfamiliar indoor places unassisted and gaming.
> 
> It has offered 200 prototypes to developers keen to make apps for it.
> 
> Google said its Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) unit developed the phone as part of a project called Project Tango with help from researchers at various institutions.
> 
> "We are physical beings that live in a 3D world. Yet, our mobile devices assume that physical world ends at the boundaries of the screen," the firm said.
> 
> "The goal of Project Tango is to give mobile devices a human-scale understanding of space and motion.
> 
> "We're ready to put early prototypes into the hands of developers that can imagine the possibilities and help bring those ideas into reality," it added.


----------



## jedi1412

TDS technology ?? i haven't heard it before...


----------



## jedi1412

I will search about it and will get back to this post.. Thanks


----------



## william the wie

How many possibilities are being covered?
Sonar: Passive or active
Lidar
Stereoscopic imaging.
And how good are the patents?


----------



## ScienceRocks

Most things can be 3-d mapped and I am pretty sure it is active as it sends out the signal.


----------



## william the wie

The amazing thing is how accurate passive sonar and video are in 3D mapping and given concerns about radiation and hyper or sub sonic sideeffects there are likely to be severe restrictions from the EPA about what mechanisms can be used.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Fujitsu develops NFC-enabled gesture-control glove*
Fujitsu develops NFC-enabled gesture-control glove




> There is an increasing amount of wearable technology being used in the workplace due to the benefits it can provide and the ease with which it can be integrated into existing working practices. With this in mind, Fujitsu has announced a glove-style device for workplace use that provides touch and gesture-based functionality for site operations.
> 
> Recognizing that smartphones and tablets are not necessarily suitable for some hands-on situations, the glove has been developed to allow users to keep both hands available while avoiding the possibility of other devices getting damaged or dirty.
> 
> The device has a contact sensor on the finger, and near field communication (NFC) tag reader allows users to touch the NFC tag of an object with which they are working in order to digitally identify it, with inventory control or the display of relevant information being possible applications.
> 
> The device is able to recognize gestures thanks to a gyro sensor and an accelerometer, including up, down, left, right, rotate left and rotate right, which Fujitsu suggests could be used to control a head-mounted display. Users might, for example, be able to scroll through an instruction manual shown on a screen while keeping both hands relatively free for use elsewhere.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Samsung's Galaxy S5: 5.1-in display, fingerprint scanner, and heart rate sensor*

Samsung's Galaxy S5: 5.1-in display, fingerprint scanner, and heart rate sensor



> At this week's Mobile World Congress, we're going to see lots of new smartphones, tablets, are wearables on display for all the world to see. But none of them are likely to garner nearly as much attention as the one Samsung just announced. After months of rumors, the Korean company's 2014 flagship smartphone is now official. Meet the Samsung Galaxy S5.
> 
> The GS5 has a slightly bigger screen than its predecessor (5.1-in to the GS4's 5-in), though it's still 1080p (1920 x 1080) resolution. That bigger screen leads to a slightly bigger phone, as well as an extra 15 g (0.53 oz) of weight. The GS5 continues Samsung's recent trend of launching its devices with the latest version of Android, as this puppy runs 4.4.2 KitKat. Along with a 2.5 GHz quad core processor, the 2014 Galaxy flagship also has a bigger battery: this time toting a plentiful 2,800.
> 
> Samsung also upped the ante on the phone's camera, with a 16-megapixel rear sensor. It records 4K video, and includes a feature called Selective Focus, that supposedly simulates the results of a high aperture lens by focusing on a subject and blurring its background.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Samsung's Gear Fit is a health-tracking band with a curved display*


> Apparently those two new Galaxy Gears that Samsung announced the other day weren't the entire story. Today the company announced its first fitness tracker, a wrist-based device called the Gear Fit4
> 
> Unlike the more watch-like Galaxy Gear series (which now includes two Tizen-based watches along with 2013's Android-based original), the Gear Fit has an elongated and curved display. That Super AMOLED screen measures 1.84-in with 423 x 128 resolution. The device is very light, weight in at just 27 g (0.95 oz). It has an interchangeable strap, which will be sold in black, orange, and mocha gray colors.



Samsung's Gear Fit is a health-tracking band with a curved display


----------



## ScienceRocks

*U.S. Army's AR headset to give soldiers Iron Man vision*



> Once upon a time, when you got your hands on a new gadget, you could be sure the military had a bigger, better version. It would seem that's no longer the case since BAE Systems has just announced the first Augmented Reality (AR) headset for troops in the field. With Google Glass and a veritable cornucopia of other AR headsets either in development or already available, you might have thought that the armed forces would have had its version of the tech years ago.
> 
> The headset is called Q-Warrior, and it is currently being field tested before troops get to don them. As you might expect, it focuses more on function and durability than your average headset. Q-Warrior is a single see-through display, which can be mounted securely onto existing military helmets, giving soldiers real-time data when they need it. On a basic level, Q-Warrior overlays data such as personnel tracking, hostile enemy detection and waypoint information over a soldier's field of vision like a video stream. It also includes enhanced night-vision and full-color feeds to and from other allied forces in the area, including aerial images from spy drones overhead.



U.S. Army's AR headset to give soldiers Iron Man vision | DVICE


----------



## ScienceRocks

*SanDisk breaks out 128 GB microSDXC card*

SanDisk breaks out 128 GB microSDXC card



> If your mobile smart device is as much of an entertainment hub or recorder of high resolution photo, video and audio as mine, then you'll likely find your onboard memory and microSD card storage filling up rather quickly. SanDisk has chosen the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, to announce some storage anxiety relief in the shape of the world&#8217;s largest capacity microSD card.
> 
> The new 128 GB addition to its Ultra microSDXC UHS-I memory card range has been designed for Android smartphones and tablets. It features 16 layers of vertically-stacked memory die, each said to be thinner than a human hair and boasts some rugged credentials, including being water-, temperature-, X-ray-, magnet-, and shockproof.


----------



## william the wie

We are well on our way to Eta drives being standard on desktops as well.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*New magnetic material could boost electronics*

BBC News - New magnetic material could boost electronics



> A highly sensitive magnetic material that could transform computer hard drives and energy storage devices has been discovered.
> 
> The metal bilayer needs only a small shift in temperature to dramatically alter its magnetism - a tremendously useful property in electronic engineering.
> 
> "No other material known to man can do this. It's a huge effect. And we can engineer it," said Ivan Schuller, of the University of California, San Diego.
> 
> He presented his findings at the American Physical Society meeting in Denver.
> 
> The material combines thin layers of nickel and vanadium oxide, creating a structure that is surprisingly responsive to heat.
> 
> "We can control the magnetism in just a narrow range of temperature - without applying a magnetic field. And in principle we could also control it with voltage or current," said Prof Schuller.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*D-Wave chip passes rigorous tests*
D-Wave chip passes rigorous tests



> With cutting-edge technology, sometimes the first step scientists face is just making sure it actually works as intended.
> 
> The USC Viterbi School of Engineering is home to the USC-Lockheed Martin Quantum Computing Center (QCC), a super-cooled, magnetically shielded facility specially built to house the first commercially available quantum computing processors &#8211; devices so advanced that there are only two in use outside the Canadian lab where they were built: The first one went to USC and Lockheed Martin, and the second to NASA and Google.
> 
> Since USC's facility opened in October 2011, a key task for researchers has been to determine whether D-Wave processors operate as hoped &#8211; using the special laws of quantum mechanics to offer potentially higher-speed processing, instead of operating in a classical, traditional way.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Wello iPhone case tracks heart rate, temperature, ECG, lung functions, plus blood pressure & oxygen levels*



> Health monitoring start-up Azoi has announced the availability of a significant product in the form of the Wello, a thin lightweight smartphone case embedded with sensors that measures blood pressure, electrocardiography (ECG), heart rate, blood oxygen, temperature, and lung functions to a high level of accuracy. The US$199 Wello case will be initially available for iPhone 4S, 5 and 5S, but for those who don&#8217;t have one of those phones, the case will still work with any IOS or android device which has Bluetooth LE functionality &#8211; you just won&#8217;t be able to use the case on your phone.



Wello iPhone case tracks heart rate, temperature, ECG, lung functions, plus blood pressure & oxygen levels


----------



## ScienceRocks

Samsung's own smart glasses could put AR keyboard on your fingers



> As good as Google Glass's voice recognition is, it's prone to failure, especially in noisy situations. Nothing beats a good keyboard or keypad. A Samsung patent filed in August of last year, but just made public, could solve the problem of typing for smart glasses.
> 
> Thanks to science fiction, we've all got this idea that anything that's projected &#8212; holograms, screens, or whatever &#8212; is futuristic. While infrared-projected keyboards have existed for years, they've been banished to basements for a simple reason: they're terrible.



Samsung's own smart glasses could put AR keyboard on your fingers | DVICE


----------



## ScienceRocks

*New research could help make 'roll-up' digital screens a reality for all*

2 hours ago 



> A study, published today in Nature's Scientific Reports identifies a new technology which could see flexible electronics such as roll-up tablet computers, widely available in the near future. So far, this area of electronic design has been hampered by unreliability and complexity of production.
> 
> Researchers from the University of Surrey worked together with scientists from Philips to further develop the 'Source-Gated-Transistor' (SGT) - a simple circuit component invented jointly by the teams.
> 
> Previously, they found that the component could be applied to many electronic designs of an analog nature, such as display screens. Through this current study, researchers have now shown that SGTs can also be applied to next-generation digital circuits.
> quasicrystalline
> SGTs control the electric current as it enters a semiconductor, which decreases the odds of circuit malfunction, improves energy efficiency and keeps fabrication costs to a minimum. These properties make SGTs ideal for next-generation electronic devices, and could enable digital technologies to be incorporated into those built using flexible plastics or clothing textiles.



New research could help make 'roll-up' digital screens a reality for all


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Microsoft's Illumiroom lives on as 3D browser with immersive 'web rooms'*

Microsoft's Illumiroom lives on as 3D browser with immersive 'web rooms' | DVICE



> Google isn't the only one working on futuristic ways to experience the web. A year ago, Microsoft revealed the Illumiroom concept, a projection system that uses Kinect to blur the virtual and physical world by extending content on a room's walls. The project never made it out of the prototype stage due to expensive costs, but we now know Microsoft hasn't scrapped it.
> 
> In fact, new details have emerged showing how Illumiroom's technology can be used to present web content in new immersive "web rooms." The premise of Microsoft's SurroundWeb 3D browser is still the same: there is a main display (HDTV) and additional information spills off onto its surround walls using projectors with sophisticated room rendering, object detection and natural user interfaces.


----------



## Politico

And still media center does not work.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Viewer interface for TV layers Web content for context*

Viewer interface for TV layers Web content for context



> (Phys.org) &#8212;In past years, the television was less fondly called the idiot box. Today the TV is more fondly being promoted as a potential informationalized box, signified by technology offered by a new device appearing on Kickstarter called InAiR. This is a piece of hardware that is made to serve as a viewer interface for the TV, whether you are watching on a 3DTV or 2DTV, pulling up relevant content from the Web and displaying it inline. The InAiR gadget comes in the form of a smart HDMI adaptor plugged into the TV and set top box. You could be getting a screen display of a space exploration event augmented by a supplementary sidebar from NASA or you could be viewing a global sporting competition supplemented by detailed data from an online site. The makers of InAiR, SeeSpace, are noting that with this device there is no more neck-straining in second screen viewing required, where the viewer looks up and down between laptop and TV screen, to see and learn. SeeSpace is referring to the device as delivering "augmented television." Viewers navigate information feeds with a single viewing experience.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*EyeGo adapters let you perform eye exams with a smartphone*

EyeGo adapters let you perform eye exams with a smartphone



> When it comes to thoroughly assessing the condition of someone's eyes, it's usually necessary to utilize large, expensive contraptions such as those found in an ophthalmologist's office. While that's OK in some situations, physicians in rural areas or developing nations might not have access to such technology. Additionally, emergency room personnel typically need information on-the-spot, ASAP. That's why two scientists from Stanford University have created the EyeGo system, which allows smartphones to do the job.
> 
> Developed by assistant professor of ophthalmology Dr. Robert Chang and ophthalmology resident Dr. David Myung, the system consists of two adapters that are simply added to an existing smartphone camera &#8211; one of them gets shots of the front surface of the eye, while the other focuses light through the pupil to get pics of the retina, along the back of the eye.
> 
> According to the university, EyeGo is designed to "make it easy for anyone with minimal training to take a picture of the eye and share it securely with other health practitioners or store it in the patient&#8217;s electronic record."


----------



## ScienceRocks

*World's first Passive House-certified pet door unveiled at Ecobuild 2014*

World's first Passive House-certified pet door unveiled at Ecobuild 2014



> Of the many new gadgets to help you go green that were on offer at London's Ecobuild 2014 last week, one of the standout innovations was from Petwalk. The company's new, highly-insulated, automated pet door lets pets move in and out of the house at will, without squeezing through small openings or knocking on a plastic flap. It opens and closes electronically without being pushed open by a dog or cat, or by anyone else. Once closed, the doors form a draught-free seal that conforms to Passive House standards for thermal exclusion. Petwalk also offers a range of sophisticated extras.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Sony and Panasonic announce successor to Blu-ray*



> During the last generation of video gaming, Sony added Blu-ray technology to its PlayStation 3. This resulted in games with more realistic graphics, unlike anything we&#8217;d seen before. Now, Sony, along with Panasonic, are hoping to make that experience even better, by announcing the successor to Blu-ray, called Archival Disc. Each Archival Disc will hold up to 1TB of data.
> 
> Now that most consumers are storing more of their data in the cloud, optical discs are becoming obsolete. We have our music on our phones. We keep our important documents in the cloud. And flash drives are an inexpensive and hassle-free way to carry other data. Although some video games have even moved to the cloud, their large file sizes make them more difficult to store and play that way, and that&#8217;s where Archival Disc will come in handy.
> 
> Archival Disc allows video games to have even more detail and more lifelike graphics. The extra storage would allow game developers to get as realistic as they want to, without needing to sacrifice details due to file sizes. Gamers benefit and everyone wins: we get games that look better than ever. These discs could also be used for game streaming services (like Sony&#8217;s upcoming Playstation Now). These new discs would make storing game data inexpensive and easy.




Sony and Panasonic announce successor to Blu-ray | DVICE


----------



## ScienceRocks

*NVIDIA launches all new GeForce 800M notebook graphics*

NVIDIA launches all new GeForce 800M notebook graphics



> NVIDIA has announced an update to its entire range of laptop graphics solutions. Known as the GeForce 800M line, the new GPUs provide a significant performance boost over the 700M series cards, and offer a range of new, built-in functionality.
> 
> Though the company has yet to provide specifics, the new GPUs offer between 30 and 60 percent more performance than their 700M counterparts, making them a significant upgrade over their predecessors.
> 
> In addition to the increased performance, the line also provides some new features. The first of these is a battery saving technique known as Battery Boost, that throttles the system&#8217;s hardware to achieve a user defined frame rate target. The company claims that by not constantly running the machine&#8217;s CPU, GPU and memory at full tilt while gaming, the new feature can provide &#8220;up to double the gaming battery life, automatically.&#8221;


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Flexible carbon nanotube circuits made more reliable, power efficient*

12 minutes ago 



> Engineers would love to create flexible electronic devices, such as e-readers that could be folded to fit into a pocket. One approach they are trying involves designing circuits based on electronic fibers, known as carbon nanotubes (CNTs), instead of rigid silicon chips.
> 
> But reliability is essential. Most silicon chips are based on a type of circuit design that allows them to function flawlessly even when the device experiences power fluctuations. However, it is much more challenging to do so with CNT circuits.
> 
> Now a team at Stanford has developed a process to create flexible chips that can tolerate power fluctuations in much the same way as silicon circuitry.
> 
> "This is the first time anyone has designed a flexible CNT circuits that have both high immunity to electrical noise and low power consumption, " said Zhenan Bao, a professor of chemical engineering at Stanford with a courtesy appointment in Chemistry and Materials Science and Engineering.



http://phys.org/news/2014-03-stanford-flexible-carbon-nanotube-circuits.html


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Entangling the atoms in an optical lattice for quantum computation*
7 hours ago 

Entangling the atoms in an optical lattice for quantum computation



> Nippon Telegraph and Telephone has proposed a method for generating a large-scale entangled quantum state of ultracold atoms in an optical lattice with high fidelity and short operation time, which becomes a resource for quantum computers. This result solves important problems toward the realization of a quantum computer, such as scalability of quantum bits and error reduction. This result paves the way for realizing a million-bit-scale quantum computing.
> 
> The research will be published online in Physical Review Letters on March 17, 2014, and was supported in part by Japan Science and Technology Agency, CREST.
> 
> The biggest challenges for realizing a quantum computer (Fig. 1 ) are obtaining a scalability of quantum bits and decreasing the errors. An optical lattice is a good candidate for solving these problems. In an optical lattice (Fig. 2 ), a single atom can be periodically confined in each site of the lattice with a distance of about light wavelength (< 1 &#956;m). Compared to other physical systems, an optical lattice promises to store many atoms in a very small volume and in a highly ordered manner, where atoms can serve as uniform and ideal quantum bits. An optical lattice clock (Fig. 3 ) is a promising application of this technology and has already been experimentally demonstrated. A special large-scale entangled quantum state (Fig. 4 ) among huge number of atoms can realize measurement-based quantum computation through individual atom measurements, which are more simple operations compared to quantum gates (Fig. 5 ). An optical lattice can compactly array many atoms, but no method has been established that can generate a large-scale entangled quantum state with high fidelity and short operation time, which are necessary for the realization of a quantum computer.


----------



## Uncensored2008

Matthew said:


> *NVIDIA launches all new GeForce 800M notebook graphics*
> 
> NVIDIA launches all new GeForce 800M notebook graphics
> 
> 
> 
> 
> NVIDIA has announced an update to its entire range of laptop graphics solutions. Known as the GeForce 800M line, the new GPUs provide a significant performance boost over the 700M series cards, and offer a range of new, built-in functionality.
> 
> Though the company has yet to provide specifics, the new GPUs offer between 30 and 60 percent more performance than their 700M counterparts, making them a significant upgrade over their predecessors.
> 
> In addition to the increased performance, the line also provides some new features. The first of these is a battery saving technique known as Battery Boost, that throttles the systems hardware to achieve a user defined frame rate target. The company claims that by not constantly running the machines CPU, GPU and memory at full tilt while gaming, the new feature can provide up to double the gaming battery life, automatically.
Click to expand...


Are they FINALLY going to catch up to AMD in the mobility space? 

We will see! Power consumption is always the issue with an Nvidia card, leaving them to put low performers in notebooks in an attempt to save power.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Experiment opens the door to multi-party quantum communication*

4 hours ago 



> In the world of quantum science, Alice and Bob have been talking to one another for years. Charlie joined the conversation a few years ago, but now with spacelike separation, scientists have measured that their communication occurs faster than the speed of light.
> 
> For the first time, physicists at the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) at the University of Waterloo have demonstrated the distribution of three entangled photons at three different locations (Alice, Bob and Charlie) several hundreds of metres apart, proving quantum nonlocality for more than two entangled photons.
> 
> The findings of the experiment, Experimental Three-Particle Quantum Nonlocality under Strict Locality Conditions, are published in Nature Photonics today.
> 
> Once described by Einstein as "spooky action at a distance", this three-photon entanglement leads to interesting possibilities for multi-party quantum communication.




Experiment opens the door to multi-party quantum communication


----------



## Delta4Embassy

Matthew said:


> *Experiment opens the door to multi-party quantum communication*
> 
> 4 hours ago
> 
> 
> 
> 
> In the world of quantum science, Alice and Bob have been talking to one another for years. Charlie joined the conversation a few years ago, but now with spacelike separation, scientists have measured that their communication occurs faster than the speed of light.
> 
> For the first time, physicists at the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) at the University of Waterloo have demonstrated the distribution of three entangled photons at three different locations (Alice, Bob and Charlie) several hundreds of metres apart, proving quantum nonlocality for more than two entangled photons.
> 
> The findings of the experiment, Experimental Three-Particle Quantum Nonlocality under Strict Locality Conditions, are published in Nature Photonics today.
> 
> Once described by Einstein as "spooky action at a distance", this three-photon entanglement leads to interesting possibilities for multi-party quantum communication.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Experiment opens the door to multi-party quantum communication
Click to expand...


Unfortunately no. Quantum entanglement doesn't allow for transmission of information as with communications. Whatever's going on functions as though the information's travelling faster than light, but sending real information would still be limited to c. According to our current understanding anyway.

Thinking of Star Trek's 'subspace communication' system though, if warp drive is ever demonstrated, I'd assume the first example would involve faster than light communication since presumedly compressing local timespace would be easier if only enough to enable a transmission of information through as opposed to big space vehicle. 

Or perhaps the hypothetical tachyons which we think exceed c are somehow warping space naturally to make it seem like they're travelling faster than light, when in fact they're just warping their local spacetime?


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Forget wearable tech, embeddable implants are already here *


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Nanoelectronic circuits that operate more than 10,000 times faster than current microprocessors*

Could revolutionize high-speed electronics, nanoscale optoelectronics, and nonlinear optics




> Circuits that can operate at frequencies up to 245 terahertz &#8212; tens of thousands times faster than today&#8217;s state-of-the-art microprocessors &#8212; have been designed and fabricated by researchers at National University of Singapore and Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).
> 
> The new circuits can potentially be used to construct ultra-fast computers or single-molecule detectors in the future, and open up new possibilities in nanoelectronic devices. For example, by changing the molecules in the molecular electronic device, the frequency of the circuits can be altered over hundreds of terahertz.



Nanoelectronic circuits that operate more than 10,000 times faster than current microprocessors | KurzweilAI


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Brain-inspired Microchips Simulate One Million Neurons In Real Time*


Brain-inspired Microchips Simulate One Million Neurons In Real Time


> By modeling a circuit board on the human brain, Stanford bioengineers have developed microchips that are 9,000 times faster than a typical PC. Called Neurogrid, these energy-efficient circuits could eventually power autonomous robots and advanced prosthetic limbs.
> 
> Bioengineers are smart to take inspiration from the human brain. It's a highly efficient information processor capable of crunching 100 million instructions per second (MIPS). Astoundingly, it only uses about 20 watts to power its 100 billion neurons. Today, our best supercomputers require a million watts to simulate a million neurons in real time (measured in terraflops). A standard desktop computer requires about 40,000 times more power to run and operates about 9,000 times slower.
> 
> The goal, therefore, is to produce information technologies with the power of the human brain. There are several initiatives underway that are working to achieve this goal, including IBM's neurosynaptic chips (and accompanying programming language), the University of Heidelberg's HICANN Chip, and brain-mapping initiatives like the European Human Brain Project.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Forget 5G &#8211; 10Gbps WiFi is coming next year*
10Gbps WiFi: 2015 Launch For World?s Fastest WiFi | BGR



> The 5Mbps, 10Mbps or even 20Mbps download speeds we see now are fast, and the 5G data speeds we have been promised down the road are even more impressive. But wait until you hear about the next big advancement in WiFi technology. WiFi is already much faster than any current-generation cellular network will ever be, of course, but the wireless standard&#8217;s limited range is a big barrier to its utility outside of homes and offices. In 2015, however, we can now look forward to WiFi that is exponentially faster than current networks and also has a much further range.
> 
> Quantenna Communications announced earlier this week that it will launch a new chipset next year that facilitates what it calls &#8220;10G Wi-Fi.&#8221; According to the company, this new solution will support data transfer speeds of up to 10Gbps and will have much further range than current widely used WiFi standards.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*"Neurogrid" circuit modeled on the human brain is the fastest, most energy efficient of its kind*

"Neurogrid" circuit modeled on the human brain is the fastest, most energy efficient of its kind



> A group of engineers at Stanford has developed an iPad-sized, highly power-efficient way of simulating a million neurons and billions of synapses for as low as US$400. The breakthrough could both help our understanding of the brain and help develop a new generation of bionic limbs that are controlled by the patient's brain in real time with little effort at all.
> 
> With its hundred billion neurons, the human brain, possibly the most complex object in the known universe, can fully operate our bodies on only 20 W of power. Our measly man-made microprocessors are still decades away from coming close, despite the fact that performance per watt has been increasing exponentially over the years,


----------



## ScienceRocks

*HoverCam Solo 8: The world&#8217;s first 4K, USB 3.0 document camera*

HoverCam Solo 8: The world?s first 4K, USB 3.0 document camera


> Pathway Innovations and Technologies has updated its document camera line with what's billed as the world&#8217;s first 4K, USB 3.0 document camera with full-motion video: the Hovercam Solo 8.
> 
> Building on the previous model, the Hovercam Solo 5, the latest model features ultra HD 4K resolution, full motion (30 fps) recording, high speed USB 3.0 connectivity and improved Optical Character Recognition (OCR) that allows scanning of documents into editable text.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*IBM's Watson can now debate any topic*

IBM's Watson can now debate any topic


> Watson, IBM's supercomputer made famous three years ago for beating the very best human opponents at a game of Jeopardy, now comes with an impressive new feature. When asked to discuss any topic, it can autonomously scan its knowledge database for relevant content, "understand" the data, and argue both for and against that topic.
> 
> Watson's DeepQA is arguably the world's best computer system at natural language processing by a wide margin, which is an extraordinarily complex field of artificial intelligence. Perhaps the major difficulty in understanding human language is the lack of "common sense" in today's computers. For all its number-crunching power, Watson cannot "understand" the questions it is asked, at least not in a traditional sense. The way in which Watson answers questions is closer to symbol manipulation than to the way you and I understand and process information, but the end results are often impressive.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*New York City wants its old pay phones to be free Wi-Fi hotspots*

New York City wants its old pay phones to be free Wi-Fi hotspots | DVICE



> A couple of years ago New York City launched a pilot program to see how well old pay phone booths could work as free Wi-Fi hotspots. While that initial trial only involved ten locations, apparently it has been a real success, as the De Blasio administration is now looking for an operator prepared to convert up to 10,000 of the old booths to 21st century technology.
> 
> The whole plan sounds like a no-brainer, as pretty much nobody except the local drug dealers is still using these yucky 20th century relics as phones, and the wiring needed to connect the booths to the local infrastructure is already there. Once converted, the booths will no longer function as regular coin-operated pay phones, although free calls to 911 or NYC's 311 general help line will still work.
> 
> Currently 9,133 of the phones are being operated under a franchise which expires in October, so this seems like the perfect time to make a bold change. The new Wi-Fi hotspots will be free to use, with advertising supporting their operation. The new operator will be required to pay the city $17.5 million per year, or 50 percent of advertising revenue, whichever is greater. Advertising dollars actually come from two different sources, because the pay phone booths can also be used for billboard advertising, much as they are today.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Forty-six transistors constructed on six CNTs is most complicated device of its kind to date*




> (Phys.org) &#8212;As silicon-based electronics are predicted to reach their absolute limits on performance around 2020, new technologies have been proposed to continue the trend in the miniaturization of electronic devices. One of these approaches consists of constructing field-effect transistors (FETs) directly on carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The resulting devices are on the scale of mere nanometers, although their fabrication is still a challenge.



Read more at: Forty-six transistors constructed on six CNTs is most complicated device of its kind to date


----------



## ScienceRocks

*MIT's tiny gesture-controlled apartment is brimming with tech*

MIT's tiny gesture-controlled apartment is brimming with tech | DVICE



> If you've ever moved to the big city, chances are you've seen your fair share of cramped living spaces. And if sci-fi has taught us anything, our cities are only going to get bigger and more cramped as time goes on. There are already so many of these mini domiciles, in fact, that a whole industry has cropped up to make them feel like home. As part of its CityHome project, MIT's Media Lab has thrown its much-vaunted hat into the ring. The result: a gesture-controlled armoire that just happens to come stocked with a whole apartment's worth of furniture.
> 
> The idea behind the CityHome project is to squeeze every last bit of functionality out of an apartment as small as 200-square-feet. To do this, the apartment has been equipped with a massive armoire called the RoboWall. Inside the RoboWall reside such essentials as a bed, a dining table fit for 14 guests, an expandable kitchen counter, and even a sizable office space. All of the furniture, as well as the apartment's lighting, can be controlled by either gestures or voice commands.
> 
> If you don't like the configuration of your RoboWall upon delivery, you can download lighting apps or personalize the furniture inside. You can even move the entire RoboWall from side to side to give you more room in either the bathroom or living room, depending which of your needs are most pressing.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Brain-controlled flight is now possible*



> Imagine this scenario: you step onto a plane and sit next to a pilot in the cockpit. There, the pilot has a funny-looking helmet strapped to his head. Although he never touches the controls, the plane begins take-off procedures and launches into the sky, where it proceeds to fly to its destination and eventually land. The pilot flies the plane with just the power of his mind. This might sound like something out of a crazy science fiction movie, but its actually now possible.
> 
> A group of researchers in Germany have proven brain-controlled flight is now feasible. But not only that, they discovered that brain-controlled flight is also much more accurate than you might think.



Brain-controlled flight is now possible | DVICE


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Unconditional quantum teleportation between distant solid-state quantum bits*

Unconditional quantum teleportation between distant solid-state quantum bits



> Realizing robust quantum information transfer between long-lived qubit registers is a key challenge for quantum information science and technology. Here, we demonstrate unconditional teleportation of arbitrary quantum states between diamond spin qubits separated by 3 m. We prepare the teleporter through photon-mediated heralded entanglement between two distant electron spins and subsequently encode the source qubit in a single nuclear spin. By realizing a fully deterministic Bell-state measurement combined with real-time feed-forward quantum teleportation is achieved upon each attempt with an average state fidelity exceeding the classical limit. These results establish diamond spin qubits as a prime candidate for the realization of quantum networks for quantum communication and network-based quantum computing.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Research team claims to have accurately 'teleported' quantum information ten feet*



> (Phys.org) &#8212;A team of researchers at Delft University in the Netherlands is reporting in a paper they have had published in the journal Science, that they have successfully used entanglement as a means of communication, over a distance of ten feet (three meters). Furthermore, they note, they did so with 100 percent reliability and without altering the spin state of the quantum bits (qubits) involved.



Read more at: Research team claims to have accurately 'teleported' quantum information ten feet


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Quantum phenomenon shown in $15m D-Wave computer*

BBC News - Quantum phenomenon shown in $15m D-Wave computer



> D-Wave claims it has built the first practical quantum computer, a type of machine that could solve complex problems faster than is possible today.
> 
> Scientists say they have shown that an effect called "entanglement" is present in eight units of quantum information.
> 
> Entanglement is a key step towards building a practical platform.
> 
> The results have just been published in the peer-reviewed journal Physical Review X.
> 
> D-Wave, based in Burnaby, outside Vancouver, has courted controversy with its claim to have built a practical quantum computer, a feat that was thought to be decades away.
> 
> In a tangle
> 
> Quantum computing exploits the strange physics of quantum mechanics, which takes hold at tiny (atomic or sub-atomic) scales.
> 
> The basic units of information in classical computers are called "bits" and are stored as a string of 1s and 0s, but their equivalents in a quantum system - qubits - can be both 1s and 0s at the same time.
> 
> But the qubits need to be synchronised using a quantum effect known as entanglement, which Albert Einstein dubbed "spooky action at a distance".
> 
> "This is the first peer-reviewed scientific paper that proves entanglement in D-Wave processors," Dr Colin Williams, director of business development at D-Wave, told BBC News.
> 
> "What's even more remarkable is that this is the largest demonstration of entanglement in any quantum, superconducting computing scheme so far," he said. "It's a big achievement for the field."
> 
> They also showed that the entanglement was stable, persisting throughout a critical operation of the processor.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Up close with Zeus, the first consumer all-in-one 3D printer, scanner and fax*



> 3D printing might be awesome, but so far it's mostly been the realm of design geeks and passionate tinkerers. The Zeus from AIO Robotics seeks to merge 3D scanning and printing with the push-button simplicity of today's consumer all-in-one printer/scanner/fax machines. In the process, the company also created the closest thing we've seen so far to the Star Trek replicator, with the added bonus of what you might call "ToIP" &#8211; Teleportation over Internet Protocol.



Up close with Zeus, the first consumer all-in-one 3D printer, scanner and fax


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Philips and Desso showcase digital LED carpet*
Philips and Desso showcase digital LED carpet



> Last year, Philips and Desso announced a partnership to develop a light-emitting carpet embedded with programmable LEDs. The companies chose the recent Clerkenwell Design Week to launch the technology in the UK.
> 
> The "light transmissive carpet" is much like normal carpet, but has LED arrays built into its underside that shine through to the top. Unlike a projector that displays content on a surface, the visuals cannot be blocked by people walking between the light-source and the display surface.
> 
> Philips and Desso suggest that the carpet could be deployed in places such as offices, hotels, conference centers and other public buildings. It can be used to display text or videos for purposes such as signage, providing visitors with information or simply adding to the ambiance of a space.
> 
> According to Ed Huibers, marketing and sales director at Philips Lighting, the concept for the LED carpet is based upon people's tendency to be guided by the floor when moving through a space and and to focus on sources of light.
> 
> The video below from last year shows the light transmissive carpet in action.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*10Gbps Wi-Fi: Huawei Successfully Tests Next-Gen Service*
10Gbps Wi-Fi: Coming in 2018 - Tom's IT Pro



> Huawei successfully tested 10Gbps Wi-Fi service in the company's Shenzhen lab. Huawei says the service will enable a new era of big data applications by using ultra-fast Wi-Fi technology that is 10 times faster than anything available commercially today.
> 
> The announcement indicated the 10.53Gbps data rate on 5GHz frequency bands was a transmission record for the Wi-Fi prototype and the increase in spectrum efficiency will make way for the next generation of Wi-Fi that could become commercially available as early as 2018. That projected date is a couple of years earlier than what Ken Hu, the company's CEO, predicted in August 2013 when Huawei began ramping up its research and development into fifth-generation mobile technology for commercial services by adding hundreds of engineers to develop the technology.
> 
> Huawei began researching next generation Wi-Fi in 2010 to look for ways to break the gridlock that standard Wi-Fi creates due to its limitations. The primary focus was to meet the demand for ultra-fast connectivity for the increase in smartphone applications that have a need for higher data transmission rates in densely populated environments such as enterprise offices, airports, stadiums, shopping malls and coffee shops.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*COMPUTEX: Intel unveils world's first 14-nanometer processor (update)*
2014/06/03 21:38:00



> Taipei, June 3 (CNA) Intel Corp. revealed Tuesday the world's first processor using the 14-nanometer technology, the Core M processor, designed for new 2-in-1 detachable gadgets that feature both very fast tablets and extremely thin laptops.
> 
> The new chip is used in the 12.5-inch Transformer Book T300 Chi detachable laptop from Taiwan's Asustek Computer Inc. that was showcased during a keynote speech delivered by Intel President Renee James at Computex Taipei, the world's second-largest computer trade show.
> 
> Touted by Intel as the most energy-efficient Intel Core processor in the company's history, the Core M processor is expected to be available on the market later this year, according to the world's largest chipmaker.



COMPUTEX: Intel unveils world's first 14-nanometer processor (update) | Tech | FOCUS TAIWAN - CNA ENGLISH NEWS
*
Teeny tiny PC fits on the head of an Ethernet port*

http://www.dvice.com/2014-6-2/teeny-tiny-pc-fits-head-ethernet-port


> If you like tiny things and being online thanks to them, then there's a new mini PC that you really should take a gander at. It's called the AsiaRF, and as PCs go it's pretty adorable. Supporting both Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectivity, this teeny little sucker measures just 1.06 x 1.38 inches and somehow still manages to run full Linux.
> 
> As well as its RJ45 Ethernet port, the AsiaRF sports both USB and mini USB ports, the latter of which supplies the unit with power. The mini PC is based on a Ralink RT5350 chip with 32MB of RAM and 8MB of flash. Adorable. Even more adorable though is this little PC's $15 price tag. For that price, you could pick up dozens of these little suckers.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Hologram technology coming to a smartphone near you soon
*
Hologram technology coming to a smartphone near you soon | DVICE



> To see the future of technology, all you have to do is pay close attention to sci-fi movies. Tablets, video conferencing, air gestures &#8212; these are all technologies that were predicted by films. So where are our holograms?
> 
> While recent hologram technology has helped bring deceased artists back to life, they require complex mirror and light systems, and cost a fortune to create. Our fantasies of holograms in our pockets &#8212; that is projected from smartphones, tablets and watches &#8212; has been but a dream.
> 
> A California company based in Carlsbad called Ostendo Technologies Inc., however, could hold the key to bringing that sci-fi fantasy into reality.
> 
> According to the The Wall Street Journal, Ostendo has developed a tiny Tic Tac-sized projector that can project visible 3D holograms without requiring dorky 3D glasses.
> 
> The Ostendo Quantum Photonic Imager "fuses an image processor with a wafer containing micro light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, alongside software that helps the unit properly render images."
> 
> And if you take The Wall Street Journal's word, it's not as fuzzy as the ones in Star Wars: A New Hope:
> 
> "Ostendo showed a working prototype: a set of six chips laid together that beamed a 3-D image of green dice spinning in the air. The image and motion appeared consistent, irrespective of the position of the viewer."
> 
> Compared to the iPhone's 326 pixels per inch Retina display, Ostendo's hologram technology can piece together 3D images with up to 5,000 pixels per inch. That's tack sharp.


*
Valve shows off the newest version of its Oculus-killing VR headset*


http://www.dvice.com/2014-6-3/valve-shows-newest-version-its-oculus-killing-vr-headset


> We already know that Valve has been developing a VR headset, and the company has been fairly forthcoming in sharing its Oculus-crushing vision for the thing. What we haven't gotten is a good look at the headset itself. At a recent Boston VR Bender, however, a few lucky folks not only got to see Valve's mythic headset, but they got to try it on.
> 
> One of the lucky few, Redditor user "jonomf" shared his experiences after the fact. The headset apparently produces absolutely no tracking lag and a very high frame rate. The unit's two screens combine for a resolution of 2,160 x 1,280 and the only disorientation jonomf reported was upon taking the headset off. Interestingly, he described the transition from the Valve headset back to reality as feeling fuzzy and distant, almost as if reality itself was a downgrade from the VR experience.
> 
> As the unit is still a prototype, we aren't sure if it will retain its interestingly long face, especially since the bottom half of the screens are seemingly out of view. Valve has also been working up some creative ways to use their new, better than reality itself, headset. For instance, when you're not actually up for gaming yourself, you will be able to take part in a "life-size Dota 2 VR experience" where you're a spectator watching heroes dole out destruction upon one another. There was also mention of a lag-free hardware solution that will help you turn any room in your house into a Valve-powered holodeck. Now that's a reality we could really get used to.


----------



## ScienceRocks

Intel aims to eliminate all PC cables in 2016





> Goodbye rat's nest! Intel says wireless power, docking and connectivity will form the basis of its post-Broadwell "Skylake" reference designs.
> TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Intel's post-Broadwell next-generation platform -- codenamed Skylake -- will lead to Intel reference designs that eliminate all cables from the PC, the chipmaker announced Wednesday.
> 
> On stage at the Computex show here, Intel's Kirk Skaugen, senior vice president and general manager of the PC Client Group, demonstrated wireless display, docking and charging features that will close the loop on the final few mandatory cables in the typical PC environment.
> 
> The high-speed WiGig standard will be used as the short range "docking" technology, instantly creating a connection to a screen and peripherals when a device is moved within range and then swapping back out to standalone usage by just picking up and walking away. WiGig delivers speeds of up to 7Gbps.
> 
> A truly wireless -- and potentially tangle-free -- PC has long been coveted, but the idea has been hampered by the practical need for connections with peripherals and the need for power. More recently, advances in areas such as wireless charging have made this more of a reality.



Intel aims to eliminate all PC cables in 2016 - CNET


----------



## ScienceRocks

E Ink broadens product mix, shows 32-inch display



> Mention E Ink, and most people familiar with the company name associate it with a product for e-readers, but the company has been spreading its wings to apply its technology in broader areas. Technology watchers see E Ink leading electrophoretic technology into still broader paths. This week at Computex, the company left distinct impressions in other areas. E Ink was in the news Wednesday on Engadget with a report from Zach Honig that an upcoming smartwatch model from E Ink could appear with full wraparound display; the smartwatch panel would stretch from one end to the other.



Read more at: E Ink broadens product mix, shows 32-inch display


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Google working on 3D motion-sensing tablet
*


> Google on Thursday revealed that is working on a tablet computer with 3D and motion-sensing capabilities in an effort dubbed Project Tango.
> 
> "The goal of Project Tango is to give mobile devices a human-scale understanding of space and motion," team member Johnny Lee said at a website devoted to the endeavor.
> 
> "Our team has been working with universities, research labs, and industrial partners spanning nine countries around the world to build on the last decade of research in robotics and computer vision, concentrating that technology into a unique mobile device."
> 
> The curtain on the project was pulled back as Google put out word it will soon put prototypes powered by Nvidia chips in the hands of developers interested in creating applications that take advantage of innovations built into devices.
> 
> The development kits can be used to make "apps" that track full 3D motion and recognize surfaces of things nearby, according to Google.



Read more at: Google working on 3D motion-sensing tablet


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Computer becomes first to pass Turing Test in artificial intelligence milestone,*
Computer becomes first to pass Turing Test in artificial intelligence milestone, but academics warn of dangerous future - Gadgets and Tech - Life & Style - The Independent



> The 65 year-old iconic Turing Test was passed for the very first time by supercomputer Eugene Goostman during Turing Test 2014 held at the renowned Royal Society in London on Saturday 7th June.
> 
> &#8216;Eugene&#8217;, a computer programme that simulates a 13 year old boy, was developed in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The development team includes Eugene&#8217;s creator Vladimir Veselov, who was born in Russia and now lives in the United States, and Ukrainian born Eugene Demchenko who now lives in Russia.
> 
> The Turing Test is based on 20th century mathematician and code-breaker Turing&#8217;s 1950 famous question and answer game, &#8216;Can Machines Think?&#8217;. The experiment investigates whether people can detect if they are talking to machines or humans. The event is particularly poignant as it took place on the 60th anniversary of Turing&#8217;s death, nearly six months after he was given a posthumous royal pardon.
> 
> If a computer is mistaken for a human more than 30% of the time during a series of five minute keyboard conversations it passes the test. No computer has ever achieved this, until now. Eugene managed to convince 33% of the human judges that it was human.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Overclockers push new Devil&#8217;s Canyon Haswell to 5.5GHz on air, 6.4GHz with LN2*
Overclockers push new Devil?s Canyon Haswell to 5.5GHz on air, 6.4GHz with LN2 | ExtremeTech


> Intel&#8217;s new Haswell refresh, the Core i7-4790K, is supposed to be hell on wheels for overclocking thanks to a new thermal interface material (TIM) and the addition of a number of capacitors to the bottom of the die to improve power characteristics. With its 4GHz base clock and 4.4GHz turbo, Intel has positioned the chip as the overclocker&#8217;s preferred solution &#8212; and a marked step up from the relatively anemic performance increases that Haswell offered in 2013. Now, at Computex 2014, a new team of overclocking enthusiasts have proven that the Devil&#8217;s Canyon core has legs with a 5.5GHz base overclock with air/water cooling, and a 6.4GHz overclock using LN2.
> 
> Between the two, it&#8217;s the air/liquid cooling that&#8217;s more interesting; using LN2 to hit high frequencies is a virtual given on any core. Here, the 5.5GHz hit implies that Intel has designed these chips with a new thermal interface that really does offer benefits over the old TIM material that choked off Haswell clocking by trapping too much heat on the die. It&#8217;s early days for Devil&#8217;s Canyon overclocking, but it does look good: With water cooling, the Core i7-4770K generally had a typical maximum overclock of around 5GHz. One enterprising soul pushed the core all the way to 5.6GHz, but it isn&#8217;t clear if that result was achieved by delidding the processor (removing the heat spreader and the poor-quality TIM).


----------



## ScienceRocks

*
Shatterproof screens that save smartphones*



> University of Akron polymer scientists have developed a transparent electrode that could change the face of smartphones, literally, by making their displays shatterproof. In a recently published scientific paper, researchers demonstrated how a transparent layer of electrodes on a polymer surface could be extraordinarily tough and flexible, withstanding repeated scotch tape peeling and bending tests. This could revolutionize and replace conventional touchscreens, according to Yu Zhu, UA assistant professor of polymer science. Currently used coatings made of indium tin oxide (ITO) are more brittle, most likely to shatter, and increasingly costly to manufacture.
> 
> Novel and cost-effective
> 
> "These two pronounced factors drive the need to substitute ITO with a cost-effective and flexible conductive transparent film," Zhu says, adding that the new film provides the same degree of transparency as ITO, yet offers greater conductivity. The novel film retains its shape and functionality after tests in which it has been bent 1,000 times. Due to its flexibility, the transparent electrode can be fabricated in economical, mass-quantity rolls.


Shatterproof screens that save smartphones | e! Science News


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Volvo reveals its take on Apple CarPlay for new XC90*



> Volvo has shown how it will integrate Apple CarPlay into its future infotainment systems by releasing details of the upcoming XC90's Sensus touchscreen setup.
> 
> The new XC90, which is set for a full reveal later this year ahead of a 2015 release, features a large central touchscreen in the dashboard that takes the place of most buttons for the car's interior controls. This central screen interacts with what Volvo calls its "adaptive digital instrument cluster," which replaces a traditional speedometer and rev-counter. A head up display also projects key information onto the windscreen, and the touchscreen is supplemented by wheel-mounted buttons.
> 
> The XC90 will be Volvo's first car to take advantage of CarPlay, and brings the ability to mirror the display of lightning-equipped iOS devices directly onto the dashboard touchscreen, as well as joining the trend for integrating apps like Spotify.
> 
> The software allows drivers to control their phone and music through Apple's familiar layout on the dashboard, and Siri is able to read text messages aloud and reply to them, as well as acting as a form of voice control for phone functions. Volvo has not released details about how voice control will interact with the non-Apple aspects of their Sensus setup.



Volvo reveals its take on Apple CarPlay for new XC90

This is cool! I'd like to see voice activation for locking the doors, rolling up or down the windows and starting the car.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Toshiba&#8217;s new MRAM cache could reduce CPU power consumption by 60%*

Toshiba?s new MRAM cache could reduce CPU power consumption by 60% | ExtremeTech



> You probably don&#8217;t spend a lot of time worrying about how efficiently the CPUs in your devices are caching data, but it keeps computer science researchers up at night. Caching is one of the few places we can realize significant power savings with the right tweaks, and that&#8217;s increasingly important as mobile devices continue to demand more juice. Toshiba says it has taken a big step in that direction by coming up with a new design for STT-MRAM (spin-transfer torque magnetoresistive random access memory). By replacing the traditional SRAM-based L2 cache on a processor with STT-MRAM, Toshiba believes CPU power consumption can be reduced by a whopping 60%.
> 
> Your CPU&#8217;s cache is used to store bits of information for faster access, preventing the CPU from needing to reach out to the main system memory for every little thing. Most modern chips have multilevel caches (i.e. L1, L2, and L3), but Toshiba focused on replacing the L2 cache with this new type of MRAM. L2 was the best target because it&#8217;s large enough to make a difference in performance, but small enough to still be fast.


----------



## ScienceRocks

HP bets it all on The Machine, a new computer architecture based on memristors and silicon photonics


> HP, one of the original 800lb Silicon Valley gorillas that has seen much happier days, is staking everything on a brand new computer architecture that it calls&#8230; The Machine. Judging by an early report from Bloomberg Businessweek, up to 75% of HP&#8217;s once fairly illustrious R&D division &#8212; HP Labs &#8211; are working on The Machine. As you would expect, details of what will actually make The Machine a unique proposition are hard to come by, but it sounds like HP&#8217;s groundbreaking work on memristors (pictured top) and silicon photonics will play a key role.
> 
> In the words of HP Labs, The Machine will be a complete replacement for current computer system architectures. There will be a new operating system, a new type of memory (memristors), and super-fast buses/peripheral interconnects (photonics). Speaking to Bloomberg, HP says it will commercialize The Machine within a few years, &#8220;or fall on its face trying.&#8221;



HP bets it all on The Machine, a new computer architecture based on memristors and silicon photonics | ExtremeTech


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Review: Microsoft wants you to fire Siri*



> Watch out, Siri. Someone wants your job. Since it debuted on the iPhone 4S three years ago, Apple's Siri technology has been synonymous with the concept of a virtual personal assistant. But now comes Cortana, an intelligent assistant from Microsoft that's supposed to be much like Siri, only better.
> 
> Cortana is one of the key features of Windows Phone 8.1, the latest update to Microsoft's smartphone software that is beginning to show up in new devices. The feature is something like a combination of Siri and Google Now, the intelligent assistant technology built into Android.
> 
> Like Siri, Cortana can send text messages, search for information on the Web and launch applications in response to users' inquiries and statements. As with Siri, users generally don't need to use specific commands, but can talk naturally, as if they were speaking to a real person.
> 
> But unlike Siri, Cortana can also act like Google Now, providing information unprompted by a particular inquiry. Looking at your calendar, Cortana can tell you when you need to leave for a crosstown meeting in order to make it on time. And by knowing your favorite sports team, it can keep you updated on the results of its latest games without you asking for the score.
> 
> Microsoft has designed Cortana so that individual users can customize it to a much greater degree than they can Siri or Google Now. Inside a settings area, users can view and edit the information Cortana knows about them, such as the name of their spouse or their office address.



Read more at: Review: Microsoft wants you to fire Siri


----------



## mamooth

Heh. I like the nod to Halo. Cortana was the AI character in those games, and the phone-Cortana supposedly sounds a lot like Halo-Cortana.


----------



## ScienceRocks

mamooth said:


> Heh. I like the nod to Halo. Cortana was the AI character in those games, and the phone-Cortana supposedly sounds a lot like Halo-Cortana.



Hopefully it works a lot like the real Halo...Of course without hatred of humans 

*
New computer program aims to teach itself everything about anything*


> Computer scientists from the University of Washington and the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Seattle have created the first fully automated computer program that teaches everything there is to know about any visual concept. Called Learning Everything about Anything, or LEVAN, the program searches millions of books and images on the Web to learn all possible variations of a concept, then displays the results to users as a comprehensive, browsable list of images, helping them explore and understand topics quickly in great detail.


New computer program aims to teach itself everything about anything

*
Starbucks to get wireless charging stations for your smartphone*

http://www.dvice.com/2014-6-12/starbucks-get-wireless-charging-stations-your-smartphone



> You go to Starbucks for two reasons: to buy coffee (the "freshly baked goods" are almost always stale) and to use the free Wi-Fi. But soon, you'll be able to add another reason to go visit Starbucks: to charge your gadgets.
> 
> Two years after an intial trial run in Boston, Starbucks is teaming up with Duracell Powermat to install wireless charging stations in its coffee shops. Instead of hunting for a free outlet (I've never seen one), customers will only have to find a table with an integrated charging station and then place their compatible device on it to recharge it.
> 
> It sounds like a fantastic idea, not just to get more foot traffic into its stores, but to push wireless charging further along. But there's just one problem that could screw up Starbucks' wireless charging ambitions.
> 
> The charging stations Starbucks plans to install on the west coast this year and in stores in major cities in 2015 use the PMA standard, short for Power Matters Alliance. While the wireless charging standard is supported by Samsung, LG, AT&T, BlackBerry, HTC and Huawei, it's not compatible with Qi, the other wireless charging standard that a lot of other smartphones use. PMA is also incompatible with a third standard called Rezence, which is backed by Qualcomm and Samsung (yeah, Samsung backs two different standards&#8230.



I consider labtops, desktops, smartphones and smart watches computers...Along with AI.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*D-Wave confirmed as the first real quantum computer by new research*

ExtremeTech



> Ever since D-Wave arrived on the scene with a type of quantum computer capable of performing a problem-solving process called annealing, questions have flown thick and fast over whether or not the system really functioned &#8212; and, if it did function, whether it was actually performing quantum computing. A new paper by researchers who have spent time with the D-Wave system appears to virtually settle this question &#8212; the D-Wave system appears to actually perform quantum annealing. It would therefore be the first real quantum computer.
> 
> Up until now, it&#8217;s been theorized that D-Wave might be a simulator of a quantum computer based on some less-than-clear benchmark results. This new data seems to disprove that theory. Why? Because it shows evidence of entanglement. Quantum entanglement refers to a state in which two distinct qubits (two units of quantum information) become linked. If you measure the value of one entangled qubit as 0, its partner will also measure 0. Measure a 1 at the first qubit, and the second qubit will also contain a 1, with no evidence of communication between them.
> 
> Researchers working with a D-Wave system have now illustrated that D-Wave qubit pairs become entangled, as did an entire set of eight qubits.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Europe and South Korea will develop 5G together*


Europe and South Korea will develop 5G together ? Tech News and Analysis



> 5G is coming &#8212; slowly and hazily &#8212; and, having been a leader in 3G but a follower in 4G, Europe wants to be back at the forefront this time. But if that happens, it won&#8217;t get there alone: on Monday, the European Commission revealed a &#8220;landmark&#8221; agreement with South Korea regarding 5G&#8217;s development.
> 
> Under this strategic cooperation deal, Europe and South Korea &#8212; the home of major phone manufacturers Samsung and LG &#8212; will &#8220;work towards a global definition of 5G&#8221;, which should please those who ache at the mobile industry&#8217;s abuse of the still-nebulous term. They will also try to use the same spectrum for 5G and hew to other shared standards.
> 
> The Europeans and the Koreans will also work together on cloud and internet-of-things research, which are subjects that are pretty tightly tied with 5G. After all, mobile networks are starting to move into the cloud, and 5G will need to be optimized for all those connected sensors that lie on the horizon.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Vivint Sky promises easy home automation*




> SAN FRANCISCO &#8212; Easy-to-use home automation that can become essential to our daily lives is fast-becoming a holy grail for tech companies from Apple and Google and beyond.
> 
> On Tuesday, a relatively quiet player in the space, Utah-based home security and automation company Vivint, launches Vivint Sky. It's an update on Vivint's smart home hub with a slick capacitive touchscreen control panel at its heart that lets you control lights, thermostats and door locks and monitor video feeds from mobile devices and PCs in a simple interface.
> 
> More than that, Vivint's system promises to get to know you so that, say, if you consistently leave the house at 8 a.m. it can make suggestions about heating or cooling. It pairs with a companion app for Android or iOS devices.
> 
> You can also: Stream live high-def video from installed home-monitoring video cameras, or watch recorded clips via a Wi-Fi based DVR tool.
> 
> The app promises nearly instantaneous updates to any change in your home: If a locked door is unlocked, the app updates instantly and can send you a notification.



Vivint Sky promises easy home automation


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Domino's introduces a 'Siri' to take mobile orders*
3 hours ago by Candice Choi


> The Domino's pizza delivery chain on Monday plans to introduce a function on its mobile app that lets customers place orders by speaking with a computer-generated voice named "Dom," part of an ongoing to take business away from rivals and smaller pizza shops by offering more convenient ways to order.
> 
> The company, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, says the updated app for iPhones and Android devices will deliver a "human-like, conversational" experience, but notes that it will take some time to work out the kinks in the technology.
> 
> "It is not perfect," Domino's CEO Patrick Doyle said in an interview. "This is the sort of thing, like any other really new technology launch, you're going to learn, you're going to get better."




Read more at: Domino's introduces a 'Siri' to take mobile orders


----------



## ScienceRocks

*

Google's Project Loon edges closer to reality*


> The high-flying Wi-Fi balloons have gone from a far-fetched idea to delivering Internet access to a rural school in Brazil and tapping into LTE technology.
> 
> Campo Maior, like other small towns in rural Brazil, has little to no Internet access. The locals tend to roam around and even climb trees to hunt for mobile wireless signals. The search for Internet access at night is called "vaga-lume," or "fireflying," because the illumination of cell phones across the town looks like little blinking fireflies.
> 
> However, just a few weeks ago -- for the first time ever -- Campo Maior's local school had the Internet beamed directly into its classrooms. This immediate Web access wasn't due to new infrastructure or fiber-optic cables, rather it was coming from one of Google's high-elevation Wi-Fi balloons.



Google's Project Loon edges closer to reality - CNET


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Twelve24 ClockONE tells the time with E-Ink*

Twelve24 ClockONE tells the time with E-Ink



> The Twelve24 ClockONE is the world's first E-Ink wall clock. E-Ink is normally used in eBook readers such as the Kindle, but Twelve24 has used it as the basis for the ClockONE ... and with good reason, as E-Ink offers some advantages over more traditional displays.
> 
> The ClockONE features a simple, elegant design comprising four large digits reminiscent of a digital wristwatch. It's a whopping one meter wide (39 inches) and 35 cm tall (14 inches) but only 4 mm thick, which is about the same as a piece of laminated paper. It also only weighs 3.3 lb (1.5 kg), despite its size.
> 
> A magnetic wall-mounting system means the ClockONE is easy to fit and can be adjusted simply by tilting, with no spirit level required. It can also be mounted on top of a bookcase or wall unit, though with this price tag you won't want to risk it falling over and getting damaged.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Amazon's 3D Fire Phone has a tricorder capable of ID'ing all kinds of stuff*
Amazon's 3D Fire Phone has a tricorder capable of ID'ing all kinds of stuff | DVICE


> Amazon, the company that stocks practically everything, has slowly moved into consumer electronics over the years, first with the Kindle e-readers and Kindle Fire tablets. Most recently, Amazon added the Fire TV set-top box to its army and now it's adding the Fire Phone, its own smartphone.
> 
> An Amazon smartphone may seem ridiculous at first, but it makes sense when you look at the rest of its hardware lineup. The Fire Phone is yet another portal device that Amazon hopes people will use to access its streaming music and video services. Fire Phone will also act as a springboard to get people to buy more things from Amazon.
> 
> Let's take a look at the Fire Phone's hardware. It's pretty standard stuff: 4.7-inch IPS HD screen (1280 x 720 resolution) made from Gorilla Glass, 2.2GHz quad-core processor, Adreno 330 GPU, 2GB of RAM, 32 or 64GB of internal storage, 13-megapixel rear camera with f/2.0 aperture and optical image stabilization, 2.1-megapixel front selfie camera, stereo speakers and a 2400mAh battery. The OS is, of course, Amazon's FIre OS 3.5 which is built on Android.
> 
> Design-wise, the Fire Phone could be considered a "premium" device. Bezos spent a good chunk of his presentation fawning over the scratch-resistant glass display and rear, which are both made from super tough Gorilla Glass. Bezos also lauded Fire Phone's chamfered edges, and rubber bumper frame, which is supposed to absorb shock and shield against drops should you be clumsy enough to let it slip outta your hand.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Graphene quantum dot flash memories look promising for data storage*



> (Phys.org) &#8212;Today's commercial flash memories usually store data as electric charge in polysilicon layers. Because polysilicon is a single continuous material, defects in the material can interfere with the desired charge movement, which can limit data retention and density.
> 
> To overcome this problem, researchers have recently been working on storing charge in discrete charge traps, such as nanocrystals, instead of polysilicon layers. Since discrete charge trap materials have the advantage of preventing unwanted charge movement as a result of their lower sensitivity to local defects, they offer the potential for high-density flash memories.
> 
> Now in a new study, scientists have used graphene quantum dots instead of nanocrystals as the discrete charge trap material. The researchers, Soong Sin Joo, et al., at Kyung Hee University and Samsung Electronics, both in Yongin, South Korea, have published their paper on graphene quantum dot flash memories in a recent issue of Nanotechnology.




Read more at: Graphene quantum dot flash memories look promising for data storage


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Crossbar on the way to delivery terabyte on a chip nonvolatile 3D RRAM technology*

Crossbar on the way to delivery terabyte on a chip nonvolatile 3D RRAM technology



> Crossbar announced it had demonstrated pre-production 1 megabyte arrays using its patented 1TnR (1 transistor driving n resistive memory cells) non-volatile resistive RAM (RRAM or ReRAM) for read/write operations. The company feels this is a major milestone toward commercializing terabyte-scale memory arrays on a postage-stamp-sized chip.
> 
> * 1 Terabyte of storage on a single chip
> * 3D stacking on advanced nodes
> * 20X faster write than NAND
> 
> The true transformation to next generation high capacity storage systems will require a revolutionary new approach to solid-state storage devices and their interconnected processors.  This transformation will enable hundreds of terabytes, in a small form factor, to be accessed at high speed, high throughput and high IOPS (input/output operations per second), while consuming less power at lower cost. Many of these technical challenges have been overcome by Crossbar&#8217;s 3D RRAM technology, including:
> 
> * Cell physics &#8211; Traditional Flash memory materials wear out quickly after being accessed and rewritten too many times, leading to degrading performance, unrecoverable data loss and limited lifetime. RRAM solutions do not suffer similar wear-out issues due to the technology&#8217;s fundamental memory cell structure, based on metallic nano-filament in a non-conductive layer;


----------



## ScienceRocks

*ADT Corporation Launches Voice Control for Smart Homes
*

ADT Corporation Launches Voice Control for Smart Homes - July 2, 2014 - Zacks.com


> The ADT Corporation (ADT - Analyst Report), an electronic security provider, launched ADT Pulse Voice, a new application that integrates personal voice recognition into its existing home automation technology. This app provides greater safety and convenience to customers, as it can be programmed to respond only to select voices.
> 
> Home automation technology allows users to remotely control their home&#8217;s security, thermostat, lighting and appliances. The company&#8217;s innovative ADT Pulse Voice technology enables customers to log in and log out of the app using custom technology that recognizes unique voice signatures.
> 
> Users can log in verbally through an iOS or Android smartphone, and activate or deactivate their pulse security panel, control their home&#8217;s lighting, regulate thermostats, lock and unlock doors and check the status of their homes.
> 
> ADT Pulse Voice app uses a multi-layered identification process, which enhances security by permitting only registered members of a household to log in. Besides recognizing personal voice commands, the ADT Pulse Voice app also offers an auditory feedback feature to verify actions and system status for all of its connected devices.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Roll-up TV is 18-incher, expect 60-inch plus by 2017
*


> Mention "new curved or flexible displays" and that is quite enough to get all the media dogs barking. Thursday's news went further. LG Display announced two new 18-inch OLED panels: the first is a transparent display, while the second can be rolled up into a tube.
> 
> The press release stated, "LG Display, the world's leading innovator of display technologies, announced today that it has developed a 18-inch flexible OLED panel that is rollable as well as a 18-inch transparent OLED panel. "The company's 18-incher has a level of flexibility where, yes, one can roll it up into a tube. The flexible OLED panel has a high-definition class resolution of 1200 X 810 with almost 1 million mega-pixels. The panel's curvature radius is 30R. Darren Quick of Gizmag commented on the numbers: "Unlike the aforementioned 77-inch flexible TV that has a fairly limited range of changeable curvature, LG Display's latest flexible OLED panel boasts a curvature radius of 30R. This means the 18-inch panel can be rolled up into a cylinder with a radius of 3 cm (1.18 in) without the function of the 1,200 x 810 pixel display being affected."



Read more at: Roll-up TV is 18-incher, expect 60-inch plus by 2017


----------



## atglearning

I think this is definitely on the horizon for monitors-and am shocked it wasn't targeted to monitors FIRST versus TV.



> The Korean electronics manufacturer unveiled a new kind of big-screen display that is ultra-thin and rolls up, and it expects to put the tech into TVs by 2017.
> 
> Flexible displays have been around for years, but LG Display has taken the concept up a couple of notches with these two new 18-inch OLED panels, each with 1,200 x 800 resolution. Not only are they relatively large, but each can be rolled up tightly to a radius of just 1.2 inches without affecting the display at all.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*
 Self assembly of 15,000 semiconductor chips per hour*
Self assembly of 15,000 semiconductor chips per hour



> A first automated reel-to-reel fluidic self-assembly process for macroelectronic applications is reported. This system enables high speed assembly of semiconductor dies (15,000 chips per hour using a 2.5 cm wide web) over large area substrates. The optimization of the system (hour 99% assembly yield) is based on identification, calculation, and optimization of the relevant forces. As an application the production of a solid state lighting panel is discussed involving a novel approach to apply a conductive layer through lamination.
> 
> 
> This communication reports on recent progress towards a first implementation of a self-assembly machine that is based on surface-tension-directed-self-assembly. The reported assembly process is no longer a discontinuous small-batch hand-operated process but resembles an automated machine like process involving a conveyer belt and a reel-to-reel (RTR) type assembly approach with automated agitation. As a comparison, the assembly rate of conventional chip level pick-and-place machines depends on the cost of the system and number of assembly heads that are used. For example, a high-end FCM 10000 (Muehlbauer AG) flip chip assembly system can assemble approximately 8000 chips per hour achieving a placement accuracy of 30 &#956;m. Our current design achieves 15,000 chips per hour using a 2.5 cm wide assembly region which is only a factor of 2 better than one of the faster pick-and-place machines; scaling to 150,000 chips per hour, however, would be possible using a 25 cm wide web, which would be a factor of 20 faster. In principle, scaling to any throughput should be possible considering the parallel nature of self-assembly. In terms of placement accuracy our precision increase with a reduction of chip and solder bump size. Generally, it exceeds the 30 &#956;m limits for the components that have been used. Under optimized operational conditions, we achieved an assembly yield of 99.8% using the self-assembly process. As an application the assembly machine is applied to the realization of area lighting panels incorporating distributed inorganic light emitting diodes(LEDs)


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Monolithic 3D Integration of Carbon Nanotube Logic Transistors could provide a thousand fold power reduction for computer processors*



> The crystal ball is murky beyond the 7-nm node. Transistors made with carbon nanotubes as the channel material hold special promise because of the ultra-thin body of the carbon nanotube of about one nanometer while at the same time retaining excellent carrier transport properties. No other bulk semiconductor has this unique advantage, which allows the carbon nanotube transistor to scale to the shortest possible gate length.
> 
> Stanford's Philip Wong summarized the recent development of carbon nanotube transistor technology for digital logic. This includes: synthesis of fully aligned carbon nanotube on a wafer scale, device fabrication of high performance carbon nanotube transistors, 3D integrated carbon nanotube circuits, low voltage (0.2 V) operation of carbon nanotube transistors, compact models for circuit simulation, performance benchmarking of carbon nanotube transistor with conventional CMOS at the device and also at the full-chip processor level, and demonstration of circuits and complete systems.
> 
> Philip Wong described a theoretical 3D chip stack interleaving next-generation memory and logic technologies made with carbon nanotubes. Privately, he acknowledged the material still faces huge challenges before it is ready for practical use. Wong showed a "club sandwich" made from carbon nanotubes. It interleaved layers of resistive and magnetic RAM with logic layers made from 1D and 2D field effect transistors.




Monolithic 3D Integration of Carbon Nanotube Logic Transistors could provide a thousand fold power reduction for computer processors


----------



## ScienceRocks

*IBM invests $3 billion to extend Moore&#8217;s law with post-silicon-era chips and new architectures*


IBM invests $3 billion to extend Moore?s law with post-silicon-era chips and new architectures | KurzweilAI


> IBM announced today it is investing $3 billion for R&D in two research programs to push the limits of chip technology and extend Moore&#8217;s law.
> 
> The research programs are aimed at &#8220;7 nanometer and beyond&#8221; silicon technology and developing alternative technologies for post-silicon-era chips using entirely different approaches, IBM says.
> 
> IBM will be investing especially in carbon nanoelectronics, silicon photonics, new memory technologies, and architectures that support quantum and cognitive computing.
> 
> 7 nanometer technology and beyond
> 
> IBM researchers and other semiconductor experts predict that semiconductors show promise to scale from today&#8217;s 22 nanometers down to 14 and then 10 nanometers in the next several years.
> 
> However, scaling down to 7 nanometers by the end of the decade will require significant investment and innovation in semiconductor architectures as well as invention of new tools and techniques for manufacturing, IBM says.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*TSMC is finally making 20nm parts for Apple&#8217;s next-gen iPhone, iPad*

TSMC is finally making 20nm parts for Apple?s next-gen iPhone, iPad | ExtremeTech



> For years, analysts have reported on the shadowy negotiations between the world&#8217;s largest foundry, TSMC, and Apple as the two companies haggled and discussed the shape of future collaboration. Now, the fruits of that collaboration are finally moving towards the light of day &#8212; TSMC has reportedly begun volume shipments of 20nm silicon earmarked for Apple&#8217;s next-gen iPhone (and possibly iPad). The new chip, likely codenamed the A8, will be the first flagship part built at TSMC instead of at Samsung, and it&#8217;s a major coup for the Taiwanese company to have stolen the business from its Korean rival.
> 
> Exactly how much of Apple&#8217;s business is shifting to TSMC is still unknown. The A8 will be the first 20nm SoC available on the market; companies like Qualcomm aren&#8217;t expected to introduce their own 20nm hardware until 2015. That gap gives Apple first-mover momentum and it&#8217;s undoubtedly part of what the company paid for in its agreements with TSMC. It&#8217;s possible that this shift could spark other companies to move production to other facilities &#8212; companies that compete with Apple at TSMC could conceivably move business to Samsung or GlobalFoundries if they think the Taiwanese foundry won&#8217;t be able to keep up with demand.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Intel Corporation to Detail Its 14-Nanometer Process Technology in September*

Intel Corporation to Detail Its 14-Nanometer Process Technology in September (INTC)



> At the upcoming Intel (NASDAQ: INTC  ) Developer Forum in San Francisco, Intel is likely to make a number of interesting announcements around its future chips and accompanying platforms. However, this year investors will get a special treat as Intel will finally take the wraps off of its next-generation 14-nanometer manufacturing technology.
> 
> At long last, the cold, hard technical details surrounding transistor performance, gate density, and metal pitch will be unveiled. This will help investors build a much better picture of how Intel's 14-nanometer process stacks up against competing processes from Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE: TSM  ) and Samsung (NASDAQOTH: SSNLF  ) .
> 
> What will Intel reveal?
> The last time that Intel did a process disclosure was back at the 2012 Intel Developer Forum in September. Though many had hoped for a reveal of the 14-nanometer technology at some point during 2013, Intel kept its cards pretty close to its vest. The only real details we know are relatively vague performance and density metrics given in a slide at the company's 2013 investor meeting.




Intel Could Show Off 10-Nanometer Wafers This September

http://www.fool.com/investing/gener...d-show-off-10-nanometer-wafers-this-sept.aspx


> While some seem to believe that Intel (NASDAQ: INTC  ) may lose its manufacturing technology lead to the likes of Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE: TSM  ) and Samsung (NASDAQOTH: SSNLF  ) , reality is likely to be rather different. In fact, at an upcoming developer conference, Intel could show evidence that its lead is quite intact.
> 
> Intel launching first 14-nanometer products, demonstrating 10-nanometer?
> According to Digitimes, Intel will be launching its first 14-nanometer Broadwell products under the Core M brand at the 2014 Intel Developer Forum in September. As a quick reminder, Core M is a family of products intended for fanless clamshells and detachable/convertible 2-in-1 designs. The rest of the designs -- aimed at higher power and performance notebooks -- will roll out over the course of 2015.
> 
> More interestingly, though, is that Digitimes reports that Intel will demonstrate 10-nanometer wafers at the same time. We've known that Intel's chip teams have been designing on 10-nanometer for quite some time, so it wouldn't be farfetched for Intel to demonstrate a wafer of test chips.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*
A Wall Becomes A Collaborative Space*


Txchnologist


> Korean researchers are fine-tuning a display system that could upgrade collaborative work and play. The TransWall, being built at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology&#8217;s Design Media Lab, is a two-sided see-through touchscreen. It allows people to interact with it and each other, and provides audio and tactile feedback to users.
> 
> TransWall works through two projectors on each side of the device that produce images on a holographic screen film, which is sandwiched between two transparent acrylic sheets. A surface transducer attached to the displays makes the screens interactive. Its developers say the system is meant to facilitate interpersonal communication and gaming.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Project Adam: a new deep-learning system*


> Developed by Microsoft, Project Adam is a new deep-learning system modelled after the human brain that has greater image classification accuracy and is 50 times faster than other systems in the industry. The goal of Project Adam is to enable software to visually recognise any object. This is being marketed as a competitor to Google's Brain project, currently being worked on by Ray Kurzweil.



Microsoft Research shows off advances in artificial intelligence with Project Adam | Next at Microsoft


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Samsung, Google Inc.'s Nest Labs Unveil &#8216;Thread&#8217; Network For Smart Homes*

Samsung, Google Inc.'s Nest Labs Unveil ?Thread? Network For Smart Homes

Thread is backed by Silicon Valley's biggest tech titans. Will it catch on?



> Some of Silicon Valley's biggest names are betting that your home is about to get smarter. Google Inc.&#8217;s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Nest Labs, Samsung and six other manufacturers announced a new network designed to connect the Internet of Things on Tuesday. The group calls it &#8220;Thread,&#8221; and it spelled out Thread's advantages over existing wireless technologies.
> 
> Analysts expect modern &#8220;smart homes&#8221; to include a number of sensor-wielding appliances capable of communicating with each other and humans: Nest&#8217;s smartphone-controlled smoke alarm can notify a homeowner at work if it detects smoke, while Samsung Electronics&#8217; (KRX:005930) touchscreen refrigerator reads the latest tweets aloud to users during breakfast. And while Apple, Inc.&#8217;s (NASDAQ:AAPL) HomeKit may offer a central hub for all of those devices, it's not meant to keep them connected on a central network.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*BAE Systems announces Striker II HMD for combat pilots*

BAE Systems announces Striker II HMD for combat pilots


> This week at the Farnborough Airshow, BAE Systems showed off its latest Helmet-Mounted Display (HMD), the Striker II flight helmet. The unit not only provides digital, visor-projected night vision and tracking systems that are equivalent or better than current HMD systems, but it has also seen a weight reduction for greater safety and comfort.
> 
> The Striker II HMD is based on BAE&#8217;s Striker HMD system used in the Typhoon and Gripen fighters. BAE says that the Striker II is "platform agnostic" and integrates easily with a variety of platforms, including both digital and analog electronic displays.
> 
> The night vision system mounted inside the helmet makes the helmet lighter than previous units and lowers its center of gravity. This makes the helmet more comfortable (relatively) and puts less stress on the pilot&#8217;s head, neck, and shoulders resulting from the g-forces pulled during the tight turns that fighter planes are famous for. The system needs no manual configuration for day to night transitions and, along with the plane&#8217;s system and targeting displays, feeds into the integrated visor-projected system.
> 
> The high-resolution visor-projected system has a 40-degree binocular field of view with 1280x1024 resolution and an independent channel for each eye to provide 3D images. BAE says that the display has near-zero latency and is fully visible in day and night conditions.
> 
> In addition, the Striker II boasts new hybrid opto-inertial technology that constantly monitors the position of the pilot&#8217;s head even if optical tracking fails. So the plane&#8217;s computer always knows where the pilot is looking and can position symbols on the display accurately for high-precision target tracking and engagement.
> 
> "As the industry transitions from analogue to digital display solutions, Striker II brings a superior, fully digital capability to multiple platform types," says Joseph Senftle, vice president and general manager for Communications and Controls Solutions at BAE Systems. "Designed to address evolving mission requirements with advanced digital night vision technology, our new HMD was built to be 'future proof' and seamlessly adaptable to technology advancements in the years ahead."


----------



## ScienceRocks

*The world&#8217;s first photonic router*
A step toward building quantum computers 

The world?s first photonic router | KurzweilAI



> Weizmann Institute scientists have demonstrated the first photonic router &#8212; a quantum device based on a single atom that enables routing of single photons, a step toward overcoming the difficulties in building quantum computers.
> 
> A photonic switch
> 
> At the core of the device is an atom that can switch between two states. The state is set just by sending a single particle of light &#8212; or photon &#8212; from the right or the left via an optical fiber.
> 
> The atom, in response, then reflects or transmits the next incoming photon, accordingly. For example, in one state, a photon coming from the right continues on its path to the left, whereas a photon coming from the left is reflected backwards, causing the atomic state to flip.
> 
> In this reversed state, the atom lets photons coming from the left continue in the same direction, while any photon coming from the right is reflected backwards, flipping the atomic state back again. This atom-based switch is solely operated by single photons &#8212; no additional external fields are required.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Fundamental photoresist chemistry findings could help extend Moore's Law*



> (Phys.org) &#8212;Over the years, computer chips have gotten smaller thanks to advances in materials science and manufacturing technologies. This march of progress, the doubling of transistors on a microprocessor roughly every two years, is called Moore's Law. But there's one component of the chip-making process in need of an overhaul if Moore's law is to continue: the chemical mixture called photoresist. Similar to film used in photography, photoresist, also just called resist, is used to lay down the patterns of ever-shrinking lines and features on a chip.
> 
> Now, in a bid to continue decreasing transistor size while increasing computation and energy efficiency, chip-maker Intel has partnered with researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (Berkeley Lab) to design an entirely new kind of resist. And importantly, they have done so by characterizing the chemistry of photoresist, crucial to further improve performance in a systematic way. The researchers believe their results could be easily incorporated by companies that make resist, and find their way into manufacturing lines as early as 2017.
> 
> The new resist effectively combines the material properties of two pre-existing kinds of resist, achieving the characteristics needed to make smaller features for microprocessors, which include better light sensitivity and mechanical stability, says Paul Ashby, staff scientist at Berkeley Lab's Molecular Foundry, a DOE Office of Science user facility. "We discovered that mixing chemical groups, including cross linkers and a particular type of ester, could improve the resist's performance." The work is published this week in the journal Nanotechnology.



Read more at: Fundamental photoresist chemistry findings could help extend Moore's Law


----------



## ScienceRocks

*
Jibo the first family robot could revolutionize personal robotics by solving ease of use robotics like iPads for tablets and iPhones for smartphones *
Jibo the first family robot could revolutionize personal robotics by solving ease of use robotics like iPads for tablets and iPhones for smartphones



> JIBO, The World's First Family Robot, has raised $864,000 on Indiegogo and still has 26 days left to go on its crowdfunding campaign.
> 
> It is scheduled to be available by December 2015, Jibo will be capable of interacting with its owners; for now, it is just a prototype, but that could soon change.
> 
> Social robotics - that's the idea behind Jibo, and Cynthia Breazeal, an associate professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has worked in the field for years. Involved in MIT's Personal Robots Group, she has been focusing on developing the principles, techniques, and technologies for personal robots.
> 
> Breazeal and her team used simple approach towards designing Jibo.
> At first glance, the 11-inch tall robot -- with a six-inch base -- resembles more of a retro television than a 21st century robot. But rest assured, it will be loaded with all the amenities of current technology, such as Bluetooth and WiFi.
> 
> Come next December, Jibo is expected to be able to have the following capabilities that will allow him act as an assistant, reminding you of upcoming events; a storyteller, complete with sound effects, graphics and physical movements to boot; a photographer, noticing smiles to automatically take a photo; a messenger and telepresence avatar, allowing users to communicate; as well as act as an companion.
> 
> How JIBO Works
> Setup
> 
> * Follow JIBO's instructions to connect him to your WiFi network
> * Teach JIBO to recognize your face & voice
> * Learn what you can ask JIBO to do
> * Download the JIBO mobile app (Android & iOS) to connect JIBO to your mobile devices
> * Connect to Devices
> 
> Your JIBO Network can include:
> 
> * Mobile devices
> * Personal computers
> * Other JIBOs


----------



## ScienceRocks

*The birth of topological spintronics*



> The discovery of a new material combination that could lead to a more efficient approach to computer memory and logic will be described in the journal Nature on July 24, 2014. The research, led by Penn State University and Cornell University physicists, studies "spin torque" in devices that combine a standard magnetic material with a novel material known as a "topological insulator." The team's results show that such a scheme can be 10 times more efficient for controlling magnetic memory or logic than any other combination of materials measured to date.



Read more at: The birth of topological spintronics


----------



## ScienceRocks

*World's fastest supercomputer gets even faster*
World's fastest supercomputer gets even faster - Headlines, features, photo and videos from ecns.cn|china|news|chinanews|ecns|cns



> China's Tianhe-2, the world's fastest supercomputer, began an upgrade on Wednesday, said the National Supercomputer Center in Guangzhou, in south China's Guangdong Province.
> 
> The upgrade will continue till the end of Aug. or early Sept. and increase overall computing speed from 54 to more than 100 petaflops per second, said Yuan Xuefeng, center director. It is still able to handle high levels of analyzing, computing and processing during the upgrade.
> 
> Tianhe-2 was developed by the National University of Defense Technology and has been in commercial operation since April.
> 
> In 2015, a hardware upgrade will start, after which the "super brain" is expected to be completely powered by domestically made chips.
> 
> Tianhe-2 occupied the top spot for the third time in the biannual Top500 list of supercomputers at the end of June. Its computing capacity in one hour equals that of the whole population of China using calculators for 1,000 years.


----------



## Shanty

Whatever advances in computer technology there has been, it's all been washed away with the seriously shitty text corrector on my iPad.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*London mayor expected to say city will rock 5G by 2020*



> London mayor Boris Johnson this week will pledge to bring 5G to London in the next six years, reported The Telegraph on Monday. The pledge is part of a more extensive plan for London's infrastructure between now and 2050. The scheme is also part of a collaboration with the University of Surrey. Mayors of cities typically like to underscore something unique or superior about their place and in Johnson's case, he is emphatic about showing off London's full promise vis a vis digital connectivity. The delivery of 5G would also make London the site of the world's first major 5G mobile network deployment.



Read more at: London mayor expected to say city will rock 5G by 2020


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Researchers achieve 5TB-per-second fiber-optic network milestone*
Researchers achieve 5TB-per-second fiber-optic network milestone - SlashGear


> While you're busy pining away for Google Fiber, a group of researchers at the Technical University of Denmark have been busy putting it to shame. Trumping their last network milestone achieved back in 2009, the group has developed a fiber network that pushes more than 5TB of data per second through a single optical cable.
> 
> The network gives users speeds of 43Tbps, which works out to about 5.4TB per second. As the folks at Extreme Tech pointed out, such speeds would allow you to download a 1GB movie in 0.2 milliseconds -- or better said, in the blink of an eye.
> 
> The university -- henceforth called DTU -- is notable for many reasons, not the least of which was being the first to exceed the single terabit milestone, something that took place back in 2009. Though hard at work, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology set the latest record back in 2011 at 26 terabits, something that has persisted until now.
> 
> The speeds were achieved using a single-laser and single-fiber setup, with multi-core fiber being used to hit the faster speeds. While you won't be seeing these speeds in your home any time soon, it is an important milestone for ushering us closer.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Researchers eliminate need for external power in Wi-Fi connectivity system*

Researchers eliminate need for external power in Wi-Fi connectivity system



> One of the advantages of the "connected world" is that myriad different devices can interact with each other over Wi-Fi to exchange data, control equipment, and generally lay the foundations of the Internet of Things of the not-too-distant future. Unfortunately, on the downside, all of the Wi-Fi connections need power to operate, and this severely restricts the pervasiveness of this technology. However, researchers at the University of Washington have developed a system that they say eliminates the need for power supplies for these connections by using what is known as radio frequency (RF) backscatter technology.
> 
> The researchers claim that their prototype technology uses radio signals as a source of power and incorporates this in existing Wi-Fi infrastructure to deliver connections to the internet for devices. The power is sourced via RF Wi-Fi backscatter that exists as reflected energy whenever a wireless router or other radio frequency device transmits (similar to the technology found in RF ID tags, where the circuit remains dormant until radio signals on the device&#8217;s antenna create an induced voltage in the circuit to power the device).
> 
> In effect, the system scavenges power from the wireless transmitting devices around it to power battery-free devices and connect them to the Internet. Previous technological challenges in providing such Wi-Fi connectivity was that even low-power Wi-Fi consumes three to four times more power than can generally be wrought from Wi-Fi backscatter signals.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Tiny chip mimics brain, delivers supercomputer speed*



> Researchers Thursday unveiled a powerful new postage-stamp size chip delivering supercomputer performance using a process that mimics the human brain.
> 
> The so-called "neurosynaptic" chip is a breakthrough that opens a wide new range of computing possibilities from self-driving cars to artificial intelligence systems that can installed on a smartphone, the scientists say.
> 
> The researchers from IBM, Cornell Tech and collaborators from around the world said they took an entirely new approach in design compared with previous computer architecture, moving toward a system called "cognitive computing."
> 
> "We have taken inspiration from the cerebral cortex to design this chip," said IBM chief scientist for brain-inspired computing, Dharmendra Modha, referring to the command center of the brain.



Read more at: Tiny chip mimics brain, delivers supercomputer speed


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Researchers build first 3D magnetic logic gate*



> (Phys.org) &#8212;The integrated circuits in virtually every computer today are built exclusively from transistors. But as researchers are constantly trying to improve the density of circuits on a chip, they are looking at alternative ways to build circuits. One alternative method uses nano-sized magnets, in which the magnets possess two stable magnetic states that represent the logic states "0" and "1."
> 
> Until now, nanomagnetic logic (NML) has been implemented only in two dimensions. Now for the first time, a new study has demonstrated a 3D programmable magnetic logic gate, where the magnets are arranged in a 3D manner. In comparison to the 2D gate, the 3D arrangement of the magnets allows for an increase in the field interaction between neighboring magnets and offers higher integration densities.



Read more at: Researchers build first 3D magnetic logic gate


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Intel, Moore's Law Still Ticking With 14nm Broadwell Chips*
Chipsets & Processors - Products: Intel, Moore's Law Still Ticking With 14nm Broadwell Chips


> SANTA CLARA, CALIF. &#8212;Moore's Law keeps ticking along and Intel's latest batch of computer chips, processors code named Broadwell and designed for fanless systems like tablets and 2-in-1s, cram more transistors into a smaller, thinner package than ever before.
> 
> The key to Broadwell, which will first roll out in System-on-a-Chip (SoC) products dubbed Core M, is Intel's successful ramp of its next-generation 14-nanometer process technology for fabricating microprocessors. The chip giant has lagged a little bit behind its traditional, "tick-tock" pace in getting 14nm up and running, but Intel's Broadwell team on Monday announced that "Broadwell Y" parts are now being produced at volume at Intel fabs in Oregon and Arizona, with a third 14nm fab scheduled to come on line in Ireland in 2015.
> 
> Intel said the first products using Core M SoCs built by its OEM partners will arrive on shelves this holiday season. More PCs and devices using other upcoming Broadwell-based chipsets will show up throughout 2015, the company said.
> 
> Broadwell is being billed as a major step forward for Intel, and will perhaps have more impact than the typical Moore's Law-driven "tick," or die shrink, which is accomplished every couple of years in keeping with the company's product roadmap cadence.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Siri Co-founder: Speech Recognition Ready for Leap Forward*
Siri Co-founder: Speech Recognition Ready for Leap Forward - Forbes


> Speech recognition has been around a lot longer than Siri, but Apple&#8217;s dulcet-toned digital assistant helped bring the technology to a mass audience, and inspire futuristic visions like the one voiced by Scarlett Johansson in &#8220;Her.&#8221; Adam Cheyer, one of the co-founders of Siri (acquired by Apple in 2010), says speech recognition is poised to become more widely used and more sophisticated. We spoke with him at a recent Techonomy dinner in San Francisco. Improvements to speech recognition have happened &#8220;at a fairly linear rate&#8221; over the past 40 years, he said, but massive data collection is about to yield &#8220;the largest leap in progress &#8230; that the field has ever seen.&#8221; While Cheyer acknowledges that speech recognition is &#8220;just one tool in how people interact with computers,&#8221; he believes that seamlessly combining touch and voice interfaces will lead to new applications in fields like education and profoundly impact people&#8217;s lives.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*OTOY unveils holographic video, announces first commercial holographic display for early 2015*




> LOS ANGELES, Aug. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ Cloud graphics company, OTOY Inc., today marked a major milestone in the future of media and entertainment, unveiling a holographic video pipeline for content creators, including the world's first portable 360 holographic capture system and a cloud-based pipeline for creating and deploying holographic media to virtual reality and, in 2015, holographic light field displays. The pipeline enables holographic captures of real world people, objects, and environments, and one-click publishing of interactive holographic videos which are viewable on mobile devices and virtual reality headsets such as the Oculus Rift. Forthcoming next-generation light field displays being developed by OTOY will bring commercial freestanding volumetric holographic displays to market in 2015.




OTOY unveils holographic video, announces first commercial holographic display for early 2015 - BWWGeeksWorld


----------



## ScienceRocks

*
Samsung ditches all-plastic design with metal Galaxy Alpha*


> Get used to this look, you're going to see a lot of it
> 
> By Aaron Souppouris on August 13, 2014 05:03 am
> 
> After much speculation, Samsung has today announced the Galaxy Alpha, a smartphone with a metal frame. The Alpha is an ultra-thin (6.7mm) Android phone with a 4.7-inch 720p display, 12-megapixel camera, a fairly small 1,860mAh battery, and (depending on your region) a quad- or octa-core processor. It'll be available in September, but Samsung has yet to announce pricing.



Samsung ditches all-plastic design with metal Galaxy Alpha | The Verge


----------



## ScienceRocks

Computer Vision Just Took a Huge Leap: ImageNet 2014 Results Are In 

http://bits.blogs.ny...-more-accurate/

Quote

Accuracy almost doubled in the 2014 competition and error rates were cut in half, according to the conference organizers.
“This year is really what I consider a historical year for the challenge,” said Fei-Fei Li, the director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and one of the creators of a vast set of labeled digital images that is the basis for the contest. “What really excites us is that performance has taken a huge leap.”


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Humans would rather take orders from a robot boss than human boss*



http://www.businessi...s-bosses-2014-8


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Fraunhofer's Google Glass app detects human emotions in real time*

http://www.gizmag.co...-emotion/33568/


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Skully Motorcycle Helmet Not Quite Iron Man, But A Taste Of Our Augmented Reality Future*







Quote



If Tony Stark designed a motorcycle helmet, it might look a little like Skully.

Sleek black (or white) with an aerodynamic fin. A visor that changes tint at the touch of a finger. A rear 180-degree camera surveying the road behind and beside the rider and streaming the video through a display in the front. Voice command? Of course.

Riders can check blind spots or get directions without turning their head or taking their eyes off the road. A connected smartphone sends incoming calls to the helmet’s earphones or makes outgoing calls by request. Tunes? Yes, of course. Just ask.


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Nanoscale metallic nanoparticle arrays can create super high resolution holograms for information storage and 3D displays *


> Holograms made of tiny particles of silver could double the amount of information that can be stored in digital optical devices, such as sensors, displays and medical imaging devices.
> 
> Researchers from the University of Cambridge have developed a new method for making multi-coloured holograms from a thin film of silver nanoparticles, which could greatly increase the storage capabilities of typical optical storage devices.
> 
> The interference produced by the interaction of light with the nanoparticles allows the holograms to go beyond the normal limits of diffraction, or the way in which waves spread or bend when they encounter an opening or obstacle.




PNAS - Plasmonic nanoparticle scattering for color holograms


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Sony unveils new flagship Xperia Z3 range at IFA *
By Ben Coxworth
September 3, 2014






> Another big reveal at IFA 2014 today ... Sony has released details on its new flagship Xperia Z3 mobile electronics range. It includes a standard Z3 smartphone, a smaller Z3 Compact model, and the Z3 Tablet Compact. Among other things, all three devices are waterproof to a rating of IP 65/68 – this means they’re not just splashproof, but can actually be submerged


.  Read More


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Hands-on: Samsung Galaxy Note Edge *
By Will Shanklin
September 3, 2014
30 Pictures





> There was never any doubt that Samsung would pull back the curtain on the Galaxy Note 4 today. But the company had a little something extra up its sleeve as well: a Galaxy Note variant with a wrap-around display. Meet the Galaxy Note Edge.
> If you want the short version, the Galaxy Note Edge is basically a Galaxy Note 4 with the right side of its screen sloping around the edge of the phone.
> 
> ... but that isn't _entirely_ the case. First, the Note Edge has a smaller screen: 5.6 inches, next to the Note 4's 5.7-incher. It's also a smidge lighter, with a bit less capacity in its battery.
> 
> But that's splitting hairs, as the big differentiator – and _the_ reason to buy the Edge – is that wrap-around display. As you see in our hands-on images, this isn't a right angle, running onto the _side_ of the phone, per se. Instead, the right side of the phone bleeds off into a slope – and the screen follows.


 Read More


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Sony unveils its Action Cam Mini *
By Ben Coxworth
September 3, 2014
10 Pictures





> And you thought Sony’s existing Action Cam was small ... Today at the IFA 2014 electronics trade show in Germany, Sony introduced its Action Cam Mini. By moving the GPS function out of the camera and into an accompanying wrist-mounted remote, the company has shrunk the camera to two-thirds the size of its predecessor.


 Read More


----------



## ScienceRocks

*The computer thread is also being used for t.vs, smart phones, electrics in general...*



* China's TCL announces quantum dot enabled 55 inch OLED TV that will one third the price of comparable OLED TVs *


> TCL announced a quantum dot enabled 55-inch full-gamut 4K UHD [3840 x 2160] TV with a manufacturer’s suggested retail price at one-third the cost of comparable OLED color televisions. The QD (Quantum Dots) plus LED television shatters the prohibitively high price barrier of OLED TVs which provide consumers with a richer color viewing experience.
> 
> TCL is the world’s third best-selling television brand, and QD Vision is the leading manufacturer of quantum dot optical components for HDTVs and other LCD products. The new TVs will initially be available in China, followed by additional worldwide availability.
> 
> Most mainstream LCD TV designs have had to sacrifice color quality, typically only delivering 60-70% of the NTSC color gamut standard. Color IQ is capable of delivering 100% of the NTSC color gamut, and works with all major LCD applications, including LCD TVs, LCD monitors and other displays, providing both superior color performance and high system efficiency.




The quantum dot component is mounted in the LCD backlight unit in front of blue LEDs (as opposed to white LEDs used by other manufacturers such as LG), according to Matt Mazzuchi, vice president of market and business development for QD Vision.


----------



## boedicca

My new computer has a Cup Holder and a Foot Pedal!

Woohoo!


----------



## ScienceRocks

*First graphene-based flexible display produced*


> (Phys.org) —A flexible display incorporating graphene in its pixels' electronics has been successfully demonstrated by the Cambridge Graphene Centre and Plastic Logic, the first time graphene has been used in a transistor-based flexible device.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The partnership between the two organisations combines the graphene expertise of the Cambridge Graphene Centre (CGC), with the transistor and display processing steps that Plastic Logic has already developed for flexible electronics. This prototype is a first example of how the partnership will accelerate the commercial development of graphene, and is a first step towards the wider implementation of graphene and graphene-like materials into flexible electronics.
> 
> Graphene is a two-dimensional material made up of sheets of carbon atoms. It is among the strongest, most lightweight and flexible materials known, and has the potential to revolutionise industries from healthcare to electronics.




Read more at: First graphene-based flexible display produced


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Windows 9 to Launch as “Windows”: More Confusion than Ever*



> The closer we get to the public launch of Windows 9 preview, the more speculation emerges on the changes that Microsoft could make to its operating system.
> 
> There’s no doubt that this was quite a busy week for Microsoft enthusiasts and despite the avalanche of phones that came out at IFA 2014, more information on Windows 9 made some wonder whether the software giant is indeed heading in the right direction or not.
> 
> In addition to feature changes, new additions, improvements for the desktop and for the Modern UI, a revised look, and others, Microsoft is also pondering a change supposed to make things simpler for customers across the world.
> 
> The company might drop its numbering system for new Windows releases, and instead of Windows 9, Microsoft might instead go for just “Windows.”



http://news.softpedi...er-457865.shtml


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Intel launches first 14-nanometre processor for thin fanless PCs*

Intel has launched a generation of processors with the smallest transistors ever featured in a commercial product.

[...]


> The tech offers improved computing power and better battery life, according to Intel.
> 
> The firm has managed to make the physical size of the Core M 50% smaller and 30% thinner than that of the equivalent last-generation Haswell chip, which featured 22-nanometre (meaning billionths of a metre) transistors.
> 
> The firm said manufacturers would now be able to produce "razor-thin" fanless tablets - less than 9mm (0.35in) thick - without having to opt for a less powerful option, such as a rival ARM-based processor.



http://www.bbc.co.uk...nology-29066210


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Apple Watch is the long-rumored iWatch *
By Eric Mack
September 9, 2014
23 Pictures





> It's official. Apple is making a smart watch called simply "Apple Watch," but you're going to have to wait for the opportunity to pay at least $349 for one until early next year. If the Apple Watch works as well as the company claimed during its lengthy unveiling on Tuesday, it just may be worth the wait.
> 
> Like the existing watches that run Android Wear or the Pebble or Samsung's Tizen-powered watches, the Apple Watch starts with the basic capability of being able to check your phone's notifications and the time, but then it adds functionality that goes far beyond what's been done before.
> 
> Multiple infrared and visible light LEDs on the back of the watch work to detect a pulse rate, which then interact with Apple's own health and workout apps to create what Tim Cook calls a "comprehensive health and fitness device." Case in point is the new health app that tracks steps, heart rate and active calories, just for starters.
> 
> The other big smart watch innovation on the Apple Watch is actually quite small. In fact, it's the little rotating button on the side of the watch that also functions as a control that Apple calls the "digital crown." Turning the digital crown allows you to zoom in on photos or to scroll through selections like the scroll wheel in the center of a mouse. It's a novel but simple addition typical of Apple that now seems an obvious choice after seeing it in action.
> Read More


----------



## ScienceRocks

*SanDisk SD memory card 'largest ever'*


12 September 2014



> Memory specialist SanDisk has created an SD card with 512 gigabytes (512GB) of storage space - the highest capacity ever released.
> 
> The card, which is the size of a postage stamp, will go on sale for $800 (£490).
> The launch comes a decade after the firm released a 512-megabyte (MB) SD card with one-thousandth of the space.
> Experts believe SD cards could eventually hold up to 2 terabytes (TB) of data, about 2,000GB.
> The new card is aimed at film-makers shooting in the high-quality 4K format.
> The 4K format - which is four times the resolution of HD - requires large file storage. Depending on compression, a single minute of 4K shooting will typically take around 5GB of storage space.
> "4K Ultra HD is an example of a technology that is pushing us to develop new storage solutions capable of handling massive file sizes," said Dinesh Bahal, vice-president of product marketing at SanDisk.
> The SD card format is one of the most widely used standards of flash storage, popular with digital cameras, camcorders and other mobile devices.
> While camera types, resolutions and settings vary - a 512GB card could potentially hold around 30 hours of HD video.






http://www.bbc.co.uk...nology-29175093


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Cryogenic on-chip quantum electron cooling leads towards computers that consume 10x less power*



http://www.extremete...-10x-less-power





> "Cryogenic on-chip quantum electron cooling leads towards computers that consume 10x less power.
> 
> Researchers at UT Arlington have created the first electronic device that can cool electrons to -228 degrees Celsius (-375F), without any kind of external cooling. The chip itself remains at room temperature, while a quantum well within the device cools the electrons down cryogenic temperatures. Why is this exciting? Because thermal excitation (heat) is by far the biggest problem when it comes to creating both high-performance and ultra-low-power computers. These cryogenic, quantum well-cooled electrons could allow for the creation of electronic devices that consume 10 times less energy than current devices, according to the researchers.
> 
> What, you may ask, is a quantum well? In essence, a quantum well is a very narrow gap between two semiconducting materials. Electrons are happily bouncing along the piece of semiconductor when they hit the gap (the well). Only electrons that have very specific characteristics can cross the boundary. In this case, only electrons with very low energy (i.e. cold electrons) are allowed to pass, while hot electrons are sent back from whence they came. (If you’re technically minded, the well is created by sandwiching a narrow-bandgap semiconductor between two semiconductors with a wider bandgap – it’s basically the quantum equivalent of the neck between the two bulbs of an hourglass)."


----------



## marc09190933

Hello friend. I just got a industrial grade SD card from RENICE. The performance is amazing with 70/64 MB/S  read/write speed.And they're now presenting some free CF, SD cards and SSD to Twitter followers Renice on Twitter We will giveaway USB 3.0 SSD CF and SD cards to celebrate our National Day of China. More info http t.co VxIBkTJ41k Renice giveaway RT


----------



## marc09190933

Hello friend. I just got a industrial grade SD card from RENICE. The performance is amazing with 70/64 MB/S read/write speed.And they're now presenting some free CF, SD cards and SSD to Twitter followers Renice on Twitter We will giveaway USB 3.0 SSD CF and SD cards to celebrate our National Day of China. More info http t.co VxIBkTJ41k Renice giveaway RT


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Intel Opens Door on 7nm, Foundry*

Rick Merritt
9/11/2014 07:45 AM EDT


> Intel believes it can drive Moore’s Law down to 7 nm even without long-delayed advances in lithography. It also gave its most detailed look to date at its foundry service for sharing its chipmaking prowess, including a description of a new low-cost alternative to 2.5D chip stacking it has in development.
> 
> “My day job is working on [research for a process to make] 7 nm [chips and] I believe there is a way without EUV,” said Intel fellow Mark Bohr, responding to a question after a talk on Intel’s new 14 nm process.



http://www.eetimes.c...?doc_id=1323865


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Ultra-fast ‘phase-change materials’ could lead to 1,000-times-faster computers*



> Replacing silicon, new ultra-fast “phase-change materials” (PCMs) that could eventually enable processing speeds 500 to 1,000 times faster than the average laptop computer today — while using less energy — have been modeled and tested by researchers from the University of Cambridge, the Singapore A*STAR Data-Storage Institute, and the Singapore University of Technology and Design.
> 
> PCMs are capable of reversibly switching between two structural phases with different electrical states — one crystalline and conducting and the other glassy and insulating — in billionths of a second, increasing the number of calculations per second.
> 
> Also, logic operations and memory are co-located, rather than separated, as they are in silicon-based computers (causing interconnect delays and slowing down computation speed), and PCM devices can function down to about two nanometers (compared to the current smallest logic and memory devices based on silicon, which are about 20 nanometers in size). The researchers have also demonstrated that multiple parallel calculations are possible for PCM logic/memory devices.
> 
> Achieving record switching speed
> 
> The researchers used a new type of PCM based on a specific chalcogenide glass material that goes further: it can be melted and recrystallized in as little as 900 picoseconds (trillionths of a second) using appropriate voltage pulses.
> 
> PCM devices recently demonstrated to perform in-memory logic do have shortcomings: they do not perform calculations at the same speeds as silicon, and they exhibit a lack of stability in the starting amorphous phase.
> 
> However, the Cambridge and Singapore researchers found that, by performing the logic-operation process in reverse — starting from the crystalline phase and then melting the PCMs in the cells to perform the logic operations — the materials are both much more stable and capable of performing operations much faster.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*BT claims 1Gb fibre broadband speed boost*


> BT is claiming to have made a "big breakthrough" with fibre broadband, which could see homes and businesses see speeds rise to 1Gbps (gigabit per second).
> 
> A trial of so-called G-Fast technology has managed download speeds of 800Mbps (megabits) and upload speeds of 200Mbps.
> 
> The trial is significant because it utilises existing technology.
> 
> BT has been criticised for its continued use of copper lines.



http://www.bbc.co.uk...nology-29360758


----------



## ScienceRocks

*D-Wave CEO: Our Next Quantum Processor Will Make Computer Science History (Video)* 



> Things get weird at the atomic scale.
> The rules of classical physics governing the objects we can see and touch break down. Particles can occupy two places at once or connect across vast distances, conditions known as superposition and entanglement (or what Albert Einstein dismissively described as “spooky action at a distance.”)
> Scientists have explored for decades the theoretical possibilities of applying quantum mechanics to computing. But D-Wave Systems has been working to push the field into the practical realm, using an approach known as “adiabatic quantum computation.” The Burnaby, British Columbia, company, founded in 1999, released what it describes as the first commercial quantum computer in 2010.
> Conventional computers deal with binary bits of information, 1s or 0s. But a quantum computer manipulates what are known as qubits (or quantum bits), which can be 1s and0s at the same time, leveraging the power of superposition. Such a machine depends on entanglement as well, performing many operations on the same data simultaneously.
> No one can really say for certain where those helpful distant qubits are operating. Theleading bet among physicists is the many-worlds interpretation, which would suggest quantum computers offload processing to parallel universes. (No, seriously — read this!)


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Ultra-low-energy-consuming transistors and circuits*




> European project E2SWITCH is developing new electronic systems with ultra-low energy consumption, based on tunnel FET (TFET) heterostructures for switches (transistors) and circuits.
> 
> The idea is to design that will be built on silicon substrates but designed to operate at voltages that are up to five times lower than those used in mobile phones, while reducing thermal dissipation.
> 
> Transistors and circuits based on lower voltages result in reduced energy expenditures compared to current CMOS technology.


----------



## ScienceRocks

A new approach to on-chip quantum computing





> Commercial devices capable of encrypting information in unbreakable codes exist today, thanks to recent quantum optics advances, especially the generation of photon pairs—tiny entangled particles of light. Now, an international team of researchers led by professor Roberto Morandotti of INRS-EMT in Canada, is introducing a new method to achieve a different type of photon pair source that fits into the tiny space of a computer chip.





> The team's method, which generates "mixed up" photon pairs from devices that are less than one square millimeter in area, could form the core of the next-generation of quantum optical communication and computing technology. The research will be presented at The Optical Society's (OSA) 98th Annual Meeting, Frontiers in Optics, being held Oct. 19-23 in Tucson, Arizona, USA.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Microsoft’s ‘RoomAlive’ transforms any room into a giant Xbox game*



> When Microsoft first demonstrated its IllumiRoom research project at CES last year it generated a huge amount of attention ahead of a next-generation Xbox unveiling. A video showed off a projection system that was linked to the Xbox to extend games from a TV to nearby walls, and appeared to be more than just a concept demo. It turned out that IllumiRoom was "just research" after all, but Microsoft is back this year with IllumiRoom 2.0: RoomAlive.
> 
> 
> 
> RoomAlive builds on the familiar concepts of IllumiRoom, but pushes things a lot further by extending an Xbox gaming environment to an entire living room. It’s a proof-of-concept demo, just like IllumiRoom, and it combines Kinect and projectors to create an augmented reality experience that is interactive inside a room. You can reach out and hit objects from a game, or interact with games through any surfaces of a room. RoomAlive tracks the position of a gamers head across all six Kinect sensors, to render content appropriately.
> 
> 
> 
> RoomAlive’s video projectors and Kinect combination is far too costly and large for living rooms right now, but Microsoft is imagining a future where this technology will be smaller and low-cost. Sony has created similar virtual reality experiments in the past, but Microsoft’s system can automatically detect the floors and walls of the room to let the system work anywhere. "There’s still lots to explore with RoomAlive as a gaming platform," explain’s a Microsoft Research spokesperson. "We envision a future where games can use physical objects as part of the game."





http://www.theverge....rojector-system


----------



## ScienceRocks

EmTech: Qualcomm Working to Build Artificial Intelligence Into Smartphones


> Future smartphones will be able to understand what you’re taking photos of and recognize faces, says mobile chip maker Qualcomm. Researchers at the company are working to make a powerful new approach to artificial intelligence known as deep learning a standard feature of mobile devices.
> 
> Smartphone camera apps often have “scene” modes to get the best shots of landscapes, sports, or sunsets. Qualcomm has created a camera app able to identify different types of scenes on its own, based on their visual characteristics. That could lead to phones that can choose their own settings without having to send or receive data over the Internet.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*This device lets you charge your phone just by walking around or working out*



> Yesterday I noted a portable battery charger that needs only 5 minutes to get enough juice for a full iPhone 5 charge and today I found one that’s a polar opposite: It takes almost all day just to top off this battery, which only provides another 3 hours of run-time for a phone. There’s one more big difference, though. This device, dubbed the Ampy, doesn’t need to be plugged into a wall charger at all. Instead, it uses your own kinetic energy.


----------



## ScienceRocks

Australian researchers make epic leap in quantum computing research



> Quantum computing is something of a brass ring in the field – ultra-fast computers that run on very little energy. Unfortunately, one barrier has been the accuracy of qubits, the building blocks that process quantum data. Thankfully, two teams of scientists from UNSW in Australia may have cracked the code– they’ve developed two different qubits using silicon that process data with an accuracy of 99%.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*New records bring super-powerful quantum computers closer to reality*




> In what are claimed to be new world records, two teams working in parallel at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Australia have each found solutions to problems facing the advancement of silicon quantum computers. The first involves processing quantum data with an accuracy above 99 percent, while the second is the ability to store coherent quantum information for more than thirty seconds. Both of these records represent milestones in the eventual realization of super-powerful quantum computers.
> 
> Each of the teams produced two types of quantum bits (the vertical and horizontal polarization of an electron representing the binary state of 1 and 0 – known as qubits) in their research. One qubit, developed by the team led by Professor Andrew Dzurak, using an "artificial atom" produced in a MOSFET (Metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor), and the other, developed by the team led by Associate Professor Andrea Morello, used a "natural" phosphorus atom to develop their qubit.
> 
> In both cases, keeping qubits in their fragile quantum states long enough to use them to store information and accurately read the results whilst ensuring that tiny error rates don’t quickly add up when millions of computations are performed, are integral factors in creating future quantum computers and the accuracy of the quantum algorithms that will drive them.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Samsung accelerates wi-fi speeds*
BBC News - Samsung accelerates wi-fi speeds



> Samsung claims to have found a way to make wi-fi data travel five times faster than it does currently.
> 
> It said its engineers had overcome two significant technical problems that had restricted the transfer of data at well below its theoretical limit of 4.6Gbps.
> 
> If the technology lives up to its promise, it would mean a 1GB file could be transferred in less than three seconds.
> 
> Experts said it could take time for the tech to be built in to gadgets.
> 
> Slow start
> In a short statement, Samsung said its engineers were working on wi-fi that operated in the 60GHz band.
> 
> Current wi-fi systems use 2.4 and 5GHz bands, and some can operate at speeds in excess of 1Gb per second.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Google building TV that changes shape and size*



> If you're sick of flat screen or curved TV screens, Google may be working on something you might be interested in.
> 
> The company is reportedly building a modular TV screen that can be rearranged into different shapes and sizes, according to The Wall Street Journal.
> 
> Google is said to be developing a display comprised of smaller screens that plug together like Legos to form a single image.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Transparent Tablet Concept- The Touch of Reality Features*



> The innovation world is getting emotional progressions, and these progressions are getting to be speedier in this new century. May be something astonishing is sitting tight for us within a brief period of time. As an ardent enthusiast of sci-fi and cutting edge motion pictures, I have constantly longed for owning a transparent machine or tablet. It looks just as my fantasies are at long last working out as expected. In 2002, Minority Report turned out and totally knocked my nerdy socks off. From that point forward I have frantically been longing that somebody would make a transparent tablet. I’ve seen my offer of transparent telephones or tablets till now, however every new one still astonishes me. A sample is the slate made by Thomas Laenner, who envisioned an advanced tablet with a transparent show and increased reality characteristics. It would seem that Thomas Laenner is a genie, in light of the fact that he is conceding my wish. From sources we came to realize that Thomas Laenner has officially begun to envision around a transparent showcase advanced tablet which peculiarities increased reality characteristics. The pictures posted here reflect his creative energy.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Google tests ultra high-speed wireless Internet technology*







> Google is seeking FCC permission to test new technology which could marry the speed of Google Fiber to wireless services.
> 
> In an application to the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Monday, the tech giant requested permission to conduct tests in California across wireless spectrums. Of particular interest, as noted by Reuters, is a rarely used millimeter-wave frequency that is capable of transmitting vast amounts of information across the air.
> 
> According to the publication, the tests could signal the creation of the base technology for use in high-speed, wireless connectivity — part of Google's plan to extend its reach in the Internet service provider industry. If so, this would obliviate the need for underground cables or fiber. A fast broadband service beamed into our homes could act as an extension to Google's slowly expanding Fiber service, which offers up to one gigabit in upload and download speed — but laying the groundwork is a slow process.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Samsung’s new Wi-Fi technology will download a movie in 3 seconds*



> Samsung has announced plans to set new standards for Wi-Fi devices that allow downloading a full-length movie in just 3 seconds. That is something. It means the Wi-Fi network’s data transmission speeds will reach 575 Mbps, a big leap that is almost 5 times faster than the current internet speed standards in use today.


----------



## ScienceRocks

A Circuit That Breaks Records, Runs At One Trillion Cycles Per Second



> The Pentagon's advanced concepts research wing has attained a crucial technological milestone by building the world's fastest integrated circuit. Clocking in at a full one terahertz, it's 150 billion cycles faster than the previous record. The stage is now set for some unprecedented new technologies.
> 
> DARPA, along with its partner Northrop Grumman, has been working on this for years. Nearly a decade ago they hit the 670 gigahertz (GHz) range. Then in 2012 they demonstrated a 850 GHz integrated receiver, an achievement that hinted at the plausibility of developing a 1 THz version. The researchers were looking to take full advantage of the untapped high-frequency band beginning above 300 GHz — the point at which wavelengths are less than one millimeter. But developing the 1 THz circuit proved to be elusive owing to the inability to generate, detect, process, and radiate the necessary high-frequency signals.


----------



## longknife

Thanks for posting these informative items. Most are way beyond my skills but are most interesting.

Thanks you


----------



## ScienceRocks

*TU/e-researchers demonstrate record data transmission over a specially fabricated fibre*

27 October 2014



> *Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) in the Netherlands and the University of Central Florida (CREOL) in the USA, report in the journal Nature Photonics the successful transmission of a record high 255 Terabits/s over a new type of fibre allowing 21 times more bandwidth than currently available in communication networks. This new type of fibre could be an answer to mitigating the impending optical transmission capacity crunch caused by the increasing bandwidth demand.
> Our data hungry society*Due to the popularity of Internet services and emerging network of capacity-hungry datacentres, demand for telecommunication bandwidth is expected to continue at an exponential rate. To transmit more information through current optical glass fibres, an option is to increase the power of the signals to overcome the losses inherent in the glass from which the fibre is manufactured. However, this produces unwanted photonic nonlinear effects, which limit the amount of information that can be recovered after transmission over the standard fibre.



TU e-researchers demonstrate record data transmission over a specially fabricated fibre


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Breakthrough in molecular electronics paves the way for DNA-based computer circuits in the future*



> In a paper published today in _Nature Nanotechnology_, an international group of scientists announced the most significant breakthrough in a decade toward developing DNA-based electrical circuits.
> The central technological revolution of the 20th century was the development of computers, leading to the communication and Internet era. The main measure of this evolution is miniaturization: making our machines smaller. A computer with the memory of the average laptop today was the size of a tennis court in the 1970s. Yet while scientists made great strides in reducing of the size of individual computer components through microelectronics, they have been less successful at reducing the distance between transistors, the main element of our computers. These spaces between transistors have been much more challenging and extremely expensive to miniaturize – an obstacle that limits the future development of computers.




Read more at: Breakthrough in molecular electronics paves the way for DNA-based computer circuits in the future


----------



## ScienceRocks

Tiny microfridge could be installed directly on future chips to help cool qubits or other detectors



> Cutting-edge electronic cooling devices work by having hot electrons tunnel from a metal to a superconductor, carrying heat with them. A new design, which has a “drain” for removing hot particles in the superconductor, has cooled a micrometer-sized metal slab from ∼150 millikelvin (mK) to a record temperature of less than 30 mK. Devices based on this scheme could potentially be installed directly on a chip for cooling qubits or ultrasensitive low-temperature detectors.
> 
> The basic structure in these electronic coolers consists of two NIS (normal metal-insulator-superconductor) junctions. When voltage is applied, relatively high-energy (hot) electrons flow out of the metal and into one superconductor, while lower-energy (cooler) electrons flow in from a second superconductor. Using this technique, previous work has been able to cool a small metal piece from 100 to 40 mK. However, the scheme’s cooling potential is diminished by heat leaking back into the metal, in particular, from hot “quasiparticles” (electron-hole pairs) that reside in the superconductors.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*New research lights the way to super-fast computers*



> New research published today in the journal Nature Communications, has demonstrated how glass can be manipulated to create a material that will allow computers to transfer information using light. This development could significantly increase computer processing speeds and power in the future.



Read more at: http://phys.org/news...super-fast.html


----------



## ScienceRocks

Artificial intelligence is now affordable. Use it to work smarter



> I’m barely old enough to have been taught how to find content the old way – using library directories and the Dewey Decimal System. Things changed quickly during my middle and high school years. By the end of it, I could do almost all my research from one starting point:
> 
> In college we were encouraged to be more rigorous, leveraging directories of research papers, like JSTOR and ProQuest — but more and more of my bibliographies were dominated by URLs rather than page numbers. The internet has grown to give us all the information we need, accessible in seconds.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Microsoft rolls out Skype for web browsers*



> Microsoft on Friday released a test version of Skype that lets people make Internet calls from web browsers, eliminating the need to install special applications.
> 
> "It's perfect if you prefer using the web rather than an app: perhaps you're sitting at a computer that doesn't already have Skype downloaded," Microsoft said in a blog post.
> 
> "Or maybe you're on the go and using an Internet cafe or hotel computer whilst on vacation where you can't download Skype at all."
> 
> Skype for Web will be available to a small number of existing users at first and will be rolled out globally in the coming months, according to Microsoft.


Read more at: Microsoft rolls out Skype for web browsers


----------



## ScienceRocks

*MIT can now use E. coli DNA to store up to 455 exabytes of self-replicating data per gram*
MIT can now use E. coli DNA tape recorders for living and replicating data storage ExtremeTech



> DNA microchips can now encode arbitrary digital information at a density of over at 700 terabytes per gram. That number could be pushed much higher, theoretically even as high as 455 exabytes per gram. Cold hard storage capacity like that is great, but what if that kind of power could be integrated with something more alive — something like a single cell, or for that matter, integrated into every cell.
> 
> Researchers at MIT’s Synthetic Biology Center have just succeeded in writing multiple analog streams of real-time environmental data into the genetically transformed hardware of a distributed population of bacterial cells. Corresponding author Timothy Lu is calling their new technology a “DNA tape recorder” because the data can be written, erased, and rewritten into virtually any location within the genomes of the cell population. These memories are not only stored for the collective lifetime of the population, but can be passed on from generation to generation.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Nvidia’s Tesla K80 dual-GPU offers 24 GB graphics memory *
By Chris Wood
Nvidia s Tesla K80 dual-GPU offers 24 GB graphics memory
_November 17, 2014_


> The Tesla K80 offers twice the power of its K40 predecessor
> 
> Nvidia has unveiled its latest graphics offering in the form of the Tesla K80 dual-GPU. The new card, which is designed for professional applications, doubles the performance of its K40 predecessor, and packs some impressive specs including a full 24 GB graphics memory.
> 
> The first thing to note about the K80 is that it’s most certainly not designed to sit in a gaming rig. While its high-end specs might make it look like the perfect fit for a top-tier desktop PC, it’s actually designed for more serious uses. The card is geared towards difficult computational tasks that make use of high performance computing (HPC) applications, common in fields such as quantum chemistry and astrophysics.
> 
> According to Nvidia, the K80 offers 10 times higher performance than the fastest CPUs on the market when it comes to engineering and science applications. In terms of specs, it offers dual GPUs, each packing 12 GB GDDR5 RAM, for a total of 24 GB graphics memory. There are 4,992 CUDA parallel processing cores on board, allowing for 480 GB/s memory bandwidth. It’s also compatible with the company’s GPU Boost technology, which is designed to scale the GPU clock, increasing performance with specific professional applications.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*IBM developing 150-petaflops supercomputers for national labs*


> _*New "data-centric" architecture deals with Big Data by embedding compute power everywhere data resides*_
> November 14, 2014
> 
> IBM today (Nov. 14) announced that the U.S. Department of Energy has awarded IBM contracts valued at $325 million to develop and deliver “the world’s most advanced ‘data-centric’ supercomputing systems” at Lawrence Livermore and Oak Ridge National Laboratories to advance innovation and discovery in science, engineering and national security.”
> 
> The world is generating more than 2.5 billion gigabytes of “big data” every day, according to IBM’s 2013 annual report, requiring entirely new approaches to supercomputing.
> 
> Repeatedly moving data back and forth from storage to processor is unsustainable with the onslaught of Big Data because of the significant amount of time and energy that massive and frequent data movement entails, IBM says, so the emphasis on faster microprocessors becomes progressively more untenable because the computing infrastructure is dominated by data movement and data management.
> 
> To address this issue, for the past five years IBM researchers have pioneered a new “data centric” approach — an architecture that embeds compute power everywhere data resides in the system, allowing for a convergence of analytics, modeling, visualization, and simulation, and driving new insights at “incredible” speeds.



*IBM OpenPOWER Systems: greater than 100150 petaflops*


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Artificial intelligence is now creating its own magic tricks*



> You might not have to be a professional magician to come up with clever tricks in the near future. Researchers at Queen Mary University of London have developed artificial intelligence that can create magic tricks (specifically, those based on math) all on its own. Once their program learns the basics of creating magic jigsaws and "mind reading" stunts, it can generate many variants of these tricks by itself. This could be particularly handy if you like to impress your friends on a regular basis -- you could show them a new card trick every time without having to do much work.


----------



## ScienceRocks

Google’s internet-beaming Project Loon can now launch up to 20 balloons per day


> Project Loon, Google’s high-speed *internet-beaming **balloons* bringing connectivity to remote areas, now has an ability to launch up to 20 balloons per day. According to a *Google+ post*, this is possible because the autofill equipment has improved and the time to fill the balloon has come down under 5 minutes.
> 
> The balloons can now last up to 10 times longer in the stratosphere, than they did in 2013 and a lot of them have lasted over 100 days – with 130 days being a record. According to the post, the amount of air taken to fill up one Project Loon balloon is equivalent to filling up 7000 party balloons and that took a lot of time. But with the advanced autofill method that process has been sped up.


----------



## ScienceRocks

http://gizmodo.com/s...cule-1661571223


> An international team of researchers has managed to turn a single molecule into a flash storage device. The whole device is actually three molecules. Two of those hold the hold electrons that act as storage, and they live inside of the third, a nanometer-wide metal oxide molecular cage. For this particular experiment, the researchers used tungsten as the cage and selenium trioxide molecules holding extra electrons for the storage.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*India Set to Beat US as Largest Internet Market*

November 20, 2014 at 9:12 am


> Buoyed by strong growth in Internet consumption on mobile devices, the number of people online in India is forecast to touch 302 million by the end of this year, overtaking the US as the second-largest Internet market in the world.
> 
> According to a report by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB International, the number of Internet users in India is expected to grow 32 percent to 302 million this year from 213 million at the end of December last year.
> 
> The Internet user base in the country is further estimated to grow to 354 million by June 2015.



http://www.exactqas....nternet-market/


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Researchers Announce Advance in image-Recognition Software.*

Two groups of Scientists, working independently, have created artificial intelligence software capable of recognizing and describing the content of photographs and videos with far greater accuracy than ever before, sometimes even mimicking human levels of understanding.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/18/s...ugh-in-content-recognition-software.html?_r=3


----------



## ScienceRocks

*DARPA creates first 1THz computer chip, earns Guinness World Record*



> DARPA, the US military’s R&D division, has been awarded a Guinness World Record for creating the world’s fastest solid-state chip, clocked at one terahertz — or 1,000 gigahertz, if that’s easier to digest. DARPA’s chip handily beats out the previous record holder, which was only capable of a paltry 850GHz. Computers and radio systems that operate up in the terahertz range have some very interesting and powerful properties, from the creation of hand-held tricorders and security scanners, through to wireless networks that are hundreds of times faster than 2.4 and 5GHz WiFi.
> 
> Still, the creation of transistors that are capable of switching at 1,000GHz, however, is exciting. This doesn’t mean that you’re going to magically start seeing computers that operate in the 1THz range — the power requirements and heat dissipation would be utterly insane — but we can at least begin to sketch a roadmap towards a future where everything from computers, to networks, to surveillance and medical imaging are supercharged way beyond what is currently possible.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Low-cost 2D-printed ‘paper electronics’*
_Could make health care and other uses more accessible_
_November 21, 2014_



> An international team of scientists has developed a fast, low-cost way of making low-cost medical electronic touch sensors by printing conductive silver nanowire inks directly on paper, using a 2D programmed printing machine.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Intel promises 10TB+ SSDs thanks to 3D Vertical NAND flash memory*

_November 21st, 2014 at 5:54 pm - Author: Anton Shilov_



> At present solid-state drives with extreme capacities are very expensive and even the best of them cannot match high-capacity hard disk drives for nearline storage applications. However, thanks to the evolution of NAND flash memory in general, and 3D vertical NAND (3D V-NAND) in particular, the situation may change soon and SSDs with 10TB or higher capacities will become reality.
> Intel Corp. revealed at its Investor Meeting 2014 event this week that in the second half of 2015 its joint venture with Micron Technology – Intel Micron Flash Technologies (IMFT) – will start mass production of 3D vertical NAND flash memory chips with up to 256Gb (multi-level cell, 2-bit-per cell) or 384Gb (triple-level cell, 3-bit-per cell) capacity. 3D V-NAND flash memory chips will feature 32-layer vertically stacked cell arrays that are “interconnected” using four billion through silicon vias (TSVs).


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Intel roadmap update: Skylake on track for 2015, will debut alongside Broadwell-K*
Intel roadmap update Skylake on track for 2015 will debut alongside Broadwell-K ExtremeTech


> Intel has unveiled new details of its product roadmaps for 2015 and beyond, and it’s now clear that the company is pushing Skylake full steam ahead, despite Broadwell’s exceptionally late arrival. Intel now expects to introduce a bevy of 14nm products based on both architectures in 2015, with additional 14nm Atom hardware replacing Bay Trail as well.
> 
> First, a bit of a mea culpa is in order — I initially predicted that Skylake could slip into 2016 based on the Broadwell delay and the unlikely prospect that Intel would launch multiple architectures within the same year. It’s now clear that the company does intend to go this road, though it’s still possible that it will arrange its introductions in a manner that doesn’t leave Skylake overwriting just-launched Broadwell hardware.
> 
> *Desktop and mobile*
> Here’s how the introduction is going to happen, courtesy of ZDNet:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Core M (Broadwell’s ultra-mobile flavor) is already shipping in a few early devices and will ramp up through the end of the year. By this coming spring, it’ll have branched out and taken over the product stack Haswell currently occupies, with fifth-generation refreshes for the entire laptop/convertible market. In the back half of 2015 we have new budget product launches, including Braswell (more data on that in a moment), and finally Skylake with its new architecture on 14nm.
> 
> That’s it for Intel’s official statements. According to WCCFTech, Intel will also launch new desktop parts next year, with a Core i7 5000 unlocked CPU (Broadwell-K) and a second set of desktop SKUs dubbed the Core i7-6000 family, or Skylake-S. Broadwell-K is reportedly compatible with the Z97 family of chipsets that are already shipping, while Skylake-S will require a new motherboard.
> 
> Broadwell is the 14nm refresh of Haswell, with a die shrink and a handful of minor improvements to the CPU, but not much more. Skylake, in contrast, is the full architecture refresh — so what are its (rumored) features?


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Computer equal to or better than humans at indexing science*
*4 hours ago by David Tenenbaum *







> In 1997, IBM's Deep Blue computer beat chess wizard Gary Kasparov. This year, a computer system developed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison achieved something far more complex. It equaled or bested scientists at the complex task of extracting data from scientific publications and placing it in a database that catalogs the results of tens of thousands of individual studies.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "We demonstrated that the system was no worse than people on all the things we measured, and it was better in some categories," says Christopher Ré, who guided the software development for a project while a UW professor of computer science. "That's extremely exciting!"
> 
> The development, described in the current issue of _PLoS ONE_, marks a milestone in the quest to rapidly and precisely summarize, collate and index the vast output of scientists around the globe, says first author Shanan Peters, a professor of geoscience at UW-Madison.





Read more at: Computer equal to or better than humans at indexing science


----------



## ScienceRocks

*The Internet Of Things Is Reaching Escape Velocity*



> The frenzy around the Internet of Things (IoT) should be reaching its final countdown.
> 
> There has been a period of extraordinary activity in the IoT space since this original attempt at charting the ecosystem for TechCrunch.
> 
> While the Internet of Things will inevitably ride the ups and downs of inflated hype and unmet expectations, at this stage there’s no putting the genie back in the bottle.
> 
> The IoT is propelled by an exceptional convergence of trends (mobile phone ubiquity, open hardware, big data, the resurrection of AI, cloud computing, 3D printing and crowdfunding).


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Global Internet Population Passes 3 Billion Mark*



> The global Internet population has come a long way but still has much further to go, with less than half the world connected.
> The global population of Internet users topped the 3 billion mark as of June, according to the latest data from Internet World Stats.
> That's up a healthy 26% from June 2012. In 2000, the early days of the Internet boom, just 361 million people were tapped in.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Engineers take big step toward using light instead of wires inside computers*


> Stanford engineers have designed and built a prism-like device that can split a beam of light into different colors and bend the light at right angles, a development that could eventually lead to computers that use optics, rather than electricity, to carry data.
> They describe what they call an "optical link" in an article in Scientific Reports.


----------



## ScienceRocks

US Developing An Exascale Superconducting Supercomputer


> "Computers based on superconducting logic integrated with new kinds of cryogenic memory will allow expansion of current computing facilities while staying within space and energy budgets, and may enable supercomputer development beyond the exascale


----------



## ScienceRocks

*How will the 5G network change the world?*



> The global race is on to develop 5G, the fifth generation of mobile network. While 5G will follow in the footsteps of 4G and 3G, this time scientists are more excited. They say 5G will be different - very different.
> 
> If you're thinking, "Great, that's the end of my apps stalling, video faltering, and that everlasting load sign," then you are right - but that's only part of the story.
> 
> "5G will be a dramatic overhaul and harmonisation of the radio spectrum," says Prof Rahim Tafazolli who is the lead at the UK's multimillion-pound government-funded 5G Innovation Centre at the University of Surrey.
> 
> That means the opportunity for properly connected smart cities, remote surgery, driverless cars and the "internet of things".


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Storing quantum information for 30 seconds in a nanoelectronic device*


> The spin of an electron or a nucleus in a semiconductor naturally implements the unit of quantum information—the qubit. In addition, because semiconductors are currently used in the electronics industry, developing qubits in semiconductors would be a promising route to realize scalable quantum information devices. The solid-state environment, however, may provide deleterious interactions between the qubit and the nuclear spins of surrounding atoms, or charge and spin fluctuations arising from defects in oxides and interfaces. For materials such as silicon, enrichment of the spin-zero 28Si isotope drastically reduces spin-bath decoherence. Experiments on bulk spin ensembles in 28Si crystals have indeed demonstrated extraordinary coherence times. However, it remained unclear whether these would persist at the single-spin level, in gated nanostructures near amorphous interfaces. Here, we present the coherent operation of individual 31P electron and nuclear spin qubits in a top-gated nanostructure, fabricated on an isotopically engineered 28Si substrate. The 31P nuclear spin sets the new benchmark coherence time ( over 30 s with Carr–Purcell–Meiboom–Gill (CPMG) sequence) of any single qubit in the solid state and reaches over 99.99% control fidelity. The electron spin CPMG coherence time exceeds 0.5 s, and detailed noise spectroscopy indicates that—contrary to widespread belief—it is not limited by the proximity to an interface. Instead, decoherence is probably dominated by thermal and magnetic noise external to the device, and is thus amenable to further improvement.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Rewritable paper*



> Chemists at the University of California, Riverside (UCR) have fabricated a novel rewritable “paper” process in the lab, based on the color-switching property of commercially available chemicals called redox dyes.
> 
> Printing is achieved by using ultraviolet light to photobleach the dye, except the masked portions for the text on the paper. The prototype rewritable paper can be erased and written on more than 20 times with no significant loss in contrast or resolution.
> 
> The rewritable paper does not require additional inks for printing, “making it both economically and environmentally viable,” said Yadong Yin, a UCR professor of chemistry, whose lab led the research. “It represents an attractive alternative to regular paper in meeting the increasing global needs for sustainability and environmental conservation.”


----------



## ScienceRocks

*New cheap NFC sensor can transmit information on hazardous chemicals, food spoilage to smartphone*
*2 hours ago by Anne Trafton *




The MIT researchers' wireless chemical sensor. Credit: Melanie Gonick


> MIT chemists have devised a new way to wirelessly detect hazardous gases and environmental pollutants, using a simple sensor that can be read by a smartphone.
> 
> These inexpensive sensors could be widely deployed, making it easier to monitor public spaces or detect food spoilage in warehouses. Using this system, the researchers have demonstrated that they can detect gaseous ammonia, hydrogen peroxide, and cyclohexanone, among other gases.
> 
> "The beauty of these sensors is that they are really cheap. You put them up, they sit there, and then you come around and read them. There's no wiring involved. There's no power," says Timothy Swager, the John D. MacArthur Professor of Chemistry at MIT. "You can get quite imaginative as to what you might want to do with a technology like this."





Read more at: New cheap NFC sensor can transmit information on hazardous chemicals food spoilage to smartphone


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## ScienceRocks

* Cicret wristband turns your arm into a touch screen *
By Stu Robarts
December 8, 2014



 


> With wearables gaining some traction, smartphones and tablets are by no means the only mobile devices around nowadays. Now, though, Cicret is looking to take things a step farther and turn your arm into a smartphone.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Seagate’s first shingled hard drives now shipping: 8TB for just $260*
Seagate 8217 s first shingled hard drives now shipping 8TB for just 260 ExtremeTech



> Seagate, using its new shingled magnetic recording (SMR) technology to cram more data into fewer platters, is preparing to launch an 8TB hard drive priced at just $260. For that low-low price (just over 3 cents per gig!) you get a three-year warranty and very low power consumption — but certainly not performance. This 8TB drive is all about long-term storage and backups — pair it with a new SSD like the Samsung 850 Pro or 850 Evo and you’d have a very flexible, cost-effective storage setup.
> 
> First, the speeds and feeds. This is a new range of hard drives that Seagate refers to as Archive HDD, where performance is eschewed in favor of reliability and power efficiency. There will be 8TB, 6TB, and 5TB models, and they’ll all come in Standard and Secure flavors (the Secure drives have a hardware encryption chip). The drives all spin at 5,900 RPM and have a 128MB cache, with an average read/write throughput of 150MB/sec (190MB/sec max). There’s a three-year warranty, and a fairly high MTBF (mean time between failures) of 800,000 hours.


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Vivo X5Max takes thinnest smartphone crown *
By Chris Wood
December 10, 2014
4 Pictures


 


> Chinese smartphone maker Vivo has unveiled its latest smartphone, the X5Max. The handset has a stainless steel construction and high-end internals, but distinguishes itself by offering the thinnest build we’ve ever seen on a smartphone.
> 
> Vivo may not be one of the biggest names in mobile, but its 4.75 mm (0.19 in) build makes it the thinnest smartphone on the market. By comparison, the also-thin iPhone 6 measures in at 6.9 mm (0.27 in) – 45 percent thicker than Vivo’s new device.
> 
> Interestingly, the handset is powered by a 64-bit Snapdragon CPU, but runs a skinned version of Android 4.4 KitKat. The recently launched 5.0 Lollipop flavour of Google’s mobile OS is the first to support 64-bit processing, meaning the X5Max won’t be able to take full advantage of its chip unless Vivo pushes out an update somewhere down the line.
> 
> The X5Max is a sizeable handset, carrying a 5.5-inch 1,920 x 1,080 Super AMOLED display with 400 pixels per inch (PPI). The custom Android skin, which the company calls Funtouch, mimics the look of iOS 8, including quick settings that launch by swiping from the bottom of the screen (like iOS), as opposed to Android's swipe down from the top.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Is this a path to quantum transistors?*



> Physicists at the University of Michigan (U-M) and several other universities have discovered or confirmed several properties of the compound samarium hexaboride (SmB6) at low temperature that raise hopes for finding the “silicon” of the quantum era.
> 
> In an open-access paper in the journal Science, the U-M researchers say they provide the first direct evidence that samarium hexaboride (SmB6) is a “topological insulator” — a class of solids that are believed to conduct electricity like a metal across their surface, but block the flow of current through their interior.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Leave your wallet at home, Iowa is implementing digital driver’s licenses*

*Leave your wallet at home Iowa is implementing digital driver 8217 s licenses ExtremeTech*


> Here in the United States, we’re quickly hurdling towards a future where all you need to carry with you is a smartphone. No cash, no credit cards, and now no driver’s license needed. The state of Iowa will soon be releasing a dedicated app that will effectively serve as a complete replacement for the traditional plastic driver’s license, and other states will likely follow suit. Both police and airport security will accept this new digital license, so feel free to leave your wallet or purse at home.
> 
> Starting next year, this digital driver’s license will be an option for all Iowa drivers. It’s currently unclear as to which platforms will be supported, but it’s a safe bet that iOS and Android will be the priority. Will Windows Phone and Blackberry users be left out in the cold? That still remains to be seen, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see them get snubbed. Of course, Iowa will continue to issue old-fashioned plastic licenses, so even those of us without smartphones will still be able to properly identify ourselves.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Microsoft lets US shoppers pay with Bitcoin*
*40 minutes ago *


> Microsoft began Thursday letting US shoppers at its online Windows Store pay with digital currency Bitcoin.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Bitcoin, traded in at market value through a partnership with payment processor BitPay, could be used to add money to Microsoft accounts that provide funds for buying games, music, video or applications for Xbox consoles or computers powered by the US technology titan's Windows operating systems.
> 
> "The use of digital currencies such as Bitcoin, while not yet mainstream, is growing beyond the early enthusiasts," Microsoft Universal Store corporate vice president Eric Lockard said in a blog post.




Read more at: Microsoft lets US shoppers pay with Bitcoin


----------



## ScienceRocks

* HP Linux++ OS for Memristor servers 6 times the power and 10 times smaller than current computers *
HP is planning to have working prototype of The Machine [memristor memory and logic and onchip optical networking] should be ready by 2016.


> HP wants researchers and programmers to get familiar with how it will work well before then. They aim to complete an operating system designed for The Machine, called Linux++, in June 2015. Software that emulates the hardware design of The Machine and other tools will be released so that programmers can test their code against the new operating system. Linux++ is intended to ultimately be replaced by an operating system designed from scratch for The Machine, which HP calls Carbon.
> 
> The main difference between The Machine and conventional computers is that HP’s design will use a single kind of memory for both temporary and long-term data storage. Existing computers store their operating systems, programs, and files on either a hard disk drive or a flash drive. To run a program or load a document, data must be retrieved from the hard drive and loaded into a form of memory, called RAM, that is much faster but can’t store data very densely or keep hold of it when the power is turned off.
> 
> HP plans to use a single kind of memory—in the form of memristors—for both long- and short-term data storage in The Machine. Not having to move data back and forth should deliver major power and time savings. Memristor memory also can retain data when powered off, should be faster than RAM, and promises to store more data than comparably sized hard drives today.
> 
> HP’s simulations suggest that a server built to The Machine’s blueprint could be six times more powerful than an equivalent conventional design, while using just 1.25 percent of the energy and being around 10 percent the size.








I am amazed.


----------



## ScienceRocks

http://www.newscient...ml#.VInZjdLF_To




> _A New Scientist investigation reveals Google's grand plans for its quantum computer, as well as the first hints about what's really going on under its hood._
> 
> *THEY* could be the most powerful computers in the world – so perhaps it's no surprise that the biggest internet company on the planet is testing one out.
> 
> Last year Google purchased a quantum computer from D-Wave Systems in British Columbia, Canada, currently the only firm claiming to sell chips powered by exotic physics. However, this claim is controversial; some say D-Wave has yet to fully demonstrate its chips' quantum capabilities. Now a New Scientist investigation reveals Google's future plans, as well as the results of its recent tests to address the quantumness controversy.
> 
> In theory, quantum computers offer a huge advantage over ordinary PCs. Regular computers code information in binary bits that are either on or off – 0 or 1. But a quantum "qubit" can be both at the same time. This could let quantum machines crunch through certain problems, like searching a database, at blistering speeds even compared to a supercomputer. Such zippy calculation is an attraction for companies like Google that deal with large volumes of data.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Samsung and Apple team up on 14nm, chips expected in 2015*
Samsung and Apple team up on 14nm chips expected in 2015 ExtremeTech


> The will-they-won’t-they dance between Apple and TSMC was a long-running tech story years before it became shipping reality. After reported test runs on 28nm and a long negotiation process, TSMC finally won Apple’s business for its brand-new 20nm node. This lock, however, appears to be short-lived — Apple and Samsung are reportedly planning a launch on Samsung’s 14nm technology later this year.
> 
> A new report from Korea IT states that Samsung began manufacturing on Apple’s new A9 SoC yesterday, which would fit an introduction timeline for later next year. Samsung had previously given guidance that it expected to begin 14nm production in the near future, but hadn’t specified whether or not it would win back Apple’s business.
> 
> The longstanding litigation between Apple and Samsung often seemed to suggest that the Cupertino-based smartphone manufacturer might abandon its Korean foundry altogether, but the benefits of the new process node apparently outweigh lingering mutual dissatisfaction over rounded corners and design elements. Samsung’s foundry business took a hit when Apple shifted its A8 orders to TSMC, but cutting the 20nm node altogether appears to have paid off.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Project Loon works with France's space agency to develop next-gen balloons*
Project Loon works with France s space agency to develop next-gen balloons


> Project Loon has come a long way since Google X started working on it in 2011: its balloons can now stay afloat for 100 days, for one, and it has recently gained a partner carrier in Australia's Telstra. Now, France's space agency, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), has revealed that it's been collaborating with the semi-secret lab for a year now to take this moonshot to the next level. Apparently, the agency is helping Mountain View analyze data from ongoing tests, as well as design its next-gen floating hotspots. Google, on the other hand, will help CNES conduct long-haul balloon flights to the stratosphere.
> 
> "No single solution can solve such a big, complex problem. That's why we're working with experts from all over the world, such as CNES, to invest in new technologies like Project Loon that can use the winds to provide Internet to rural and remote areas," said Mike Cassidy, the Google VP in charge of the project. CNES has a long history researching stratospheric balloons (50 years, according to its announcement post) and continues to release around 20 per month.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*The bracelet that turns your ARM into a touchscreen: Cicret projects emails, videos and games onto skin*




> From Apple’s forthcoming smartwatch to the Fitbit, there is fierce competition to get consumers hooked on wearable devices.
> 
> And soon there will be a bracelet that turns your skin into a touchscreen using a tiny built-in projector.
> 
> Wearers of the of the Cicret bracelet will be able to check an email or watch a film that’s projected onto their forearm, and control the picture by using their skin like a touchscreen.




Read more: Cicret projects emails videos and games onto skin Daily Mail Online 
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Researchers combine logic, memory to build a 'high-rise' chip*
*3 hours ago *



> For decades, the mantra of electronics has been smaller, faster, cheaper. Today, Stanford engineers add a fourth word - taller.
> 
> At a conference in San Francisco, a Stanford team will reveal how to build high-rise chips that could leapfrog the performance of the single-story logic and memory chips on today's circuit cards.
> 
> Those circuit cards are like busy cities in which logic chips compute and memory chips store data. But when the computer gets busy, the wires connecting logic and memory can get jammed
> 
> The Stanford approach would end these jams by building layers of logic atop layers of memory to create a tightly interconnected high-rise chip. Many thousands of nanoscale electronic "elevators" would move data between the layers much faster, using less electricity, than the bottle-neck prone wires connecting single-story logic and memory chips today.
> 
> The work is led by Subhasish Mitra, a Stanford professor of electrical engineering and computer science, and H.-S. Philip Wong, the Williard R. and Inez Kerr Bell Professor in Stanford's School of Engineering. They describe their new high-rise chip architecture in a paper being presented at the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting on Dec. 15-17.
> 
> The researchers' innovation leverages three breakthroughs.
> 
> The first is a new technology for creating transistors, those tiny gates that switch electricity on and off to create digital zeroes and ones. The second is a new type of computer memory that lends itself to multi-story fabrication. The third is a technique to build these new logic and memory technologies into high-rise structures in a radically different way than previous efforts to stack chips.
> .





Read more at: Researchers combine logic memory to build a high-rise chip


----------



## ScienceRocks

Skype's newest app will translate your speech in real time


> Microsoft’s Skype software will start translating voice calls between people today. As part of a preview program, Skype Translator makes it possible for English and Spanish speakers to communicate in their native language, without having to learn a new one. It sounds like magic , but it’s the result of years of work from Microsoft’s research team and Skype to provide an early working copy of software that could help change the way the world communicates in the future.
> 
> Skype Translator Preview works on Windows 8.1 or preview copies of Windows 10, and it works by translating voice input from an English or Spanish speaker into text and translated audio. An English speaker will hear a translation from a Spanish speaker, and vice versa. Microsoft previously demonstrated the technology working between English and German, but Spanish will be the only language outside of English that will be initially supported during the preview.


----------



## ScienceRocks

Stanford researchers are building layers of logic and memory into skyscraper chips




> Skyscraper chip researchers' leveraged three breakthroughs.
> 
> 
> 1. a new technology for creating transistors, those tiny gates that switch electricity on and off to create digital zeroes and ones.
> 
> 
> 2. a new type of computer memory that lends itself to multistory fabrication.
> 
> 
> 3. a technique to build these new logic and memory technologies into high-rise structures in a radically different way than previous efforts to stack chips.
> 
> 
> "This research is at an early stage, but our design and fabrication techniques are scalable," Mitra said. "With further development this architecture could lead to computing performance that is much, much greater than anything available today."
> 
> 
> Wong said the prototype chip to be unveiled at IEDM shows how to put logic and memory together into three-dimensional structures that can be mass-produced.


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Ford's Sync 3 in-car comms system is like a smartphone on the dash *
By Stu Robarts
December 15, 2014
13 Pictures





> Ford has announced an updated version of its Sync in-car communications and entertainment system. The automaker says the new version has an improved smartphone-like interface, along with better performance and speech recognition capabilities.


----------



## ScienceRocks

http://www.technolog...system-in-2015/



> The main difference between The Machine and conventional computers is that HP’s design will use a single kind of memory for both temporary and long-term data storage. Existing computers store their operating systems, programs, and files on either a hard disk drive or a flash drive. To run a program or load a document, data must be retrieved from the hard drive and loaded into a form of memory, called RAM, that is much faster but can’t store data very densely or keep hold of it when the power is turned off.
> 
> HP plans to use a single kind of memory—in the form of memristors—for both long- and short-term data storage in The Machine. Not having to move data back and forth should deliver major power and time savings. Memristor memory also can retain data when powered off, should be faster than RAM, and promises to store more data than comparably sized hard drives today.
> 
> The Machine’s design includes other novel features such as optical fiber instead of copper wiring for moving data around. HP’s simulations suggest that a server built to The Machine’s blueprint could be six times more powerful than an equivalent conventional design, while using just 1.25 percent of the energy and being around 10 percent the size.


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## ScienceRocks

* Nest thermostat gets Google app integration, can now be controlled by voice *
By Nick Lavars


 


> Google paying US$3.2 billion for smart thermostat company Nest gave an indication of the company's vision for the connected home Now, almost a year later, the company has integrated control of the thermostat with its Google smartphone app, letting owners control their Nest via voice commands and enabling location-based services.


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Continental's "infrared curtain" could add multi-touch functionality to cheap cars *
By Ben Coxworth
December 19, 2014
2 Pictures


 


> Although touchscreen controls are appearing in the dashboards of an increasing number of vehicles, they're still not something that one generally associates with economy cars. That may be about to change, however, as Continental has announced an "infrared curtain" system that could allow for inexpensive multi-touch functionality in any automobile.


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## ScienceRocks

*Researchers build room-temperature memory that doesn’t need a current to retain data*




> All modern computer memory works on basically the same principle — an electrical current is used to change the charge state of a cell. That charge state is then “read” by the memory controller. Whether we’re talking about NAND flash or RAM, this basic property is identical between them. Now, researchers at Cornell have announced and demonstrated a device based on bismuth ferrite that can store data and retrieve data without needing an electrical current to do so. The implications of such a room-temperature breakthrough could be profound — a long time from now.
> 
> Magnetoelectric memory is attractive precisely because it removes the electrical currents that currently (pun intended) account for a substantial fraction of power consumption in a system. If the DRAM or cache subsystems could draw less electrical power, total device battery life would increase. The impact of shifting to alternative ferroelectric or magnetoelectric memory systems could be substantial — more than equal to the traditional gains of adopting new process nodes.





Researchers build room-temperature memory that doesn 8217 t need a current to retain data ExtremeTech


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## ScienceRocks

* Baidu Deep Speech system 81% accurate in noisy environments compared to 65% for best commercial systems*
Arxiv - DeepSpeech: Scaling up end-to-end speech recognition
Baidu Deep Speech system 81 accurate in noisy environments compared to 65 for best commercial systems



> Baidu researchers present a state-of-the-art speech recognition system developed using end-to-end deep learning. Our architecture is significantly simpler than traditional speech systems, which rely on laboriously engineered processing pipelines; these traditional systems also tend to perform poorly when used in noisy environments. In contrast, our system does not need hand-designed components to model background noise, reverberation, or speaker variation, but instead directly learns a function that is robust to such effects. We do not need a phoneme dictionary, nor even the concept of a “phoneme.” Key to our approach is a well-optimized RNN training system that uses multiple GPUs, as well as a set of novel data synthesis techniques that allow us to efficiently obtain a large amount of varied data for training. Our system, called DeepSpeech, outperforms previously published results on the widely studied Switchboard Hub5’00, achieving 16.5% error on the full test set. DeepSpeech also handles challenging noisy environments better than widely used, state-of-the-art commercial speech systems.
> 
> In restaurant settings and other loud places where other commercial speech recognition systems fail, the deep learning model proved accurate nearly 81 percent of the time. Commercial speech-recognition APIs against which Deep Speech was tested, including those for Microsoft Bing, Google and Wit.AI, topped out at nearly 65 percent accuracy in noisy environments. Those results probably underestimate the difference in accuracy, said Baidu Chief Scientist Andrew Ng, who worked on Deep Speech along with colleagues at the company’s artificial intelligence lab in Palo Alto. His team could only compare accuracy where the other systems all returned results rather than empty strings.


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## ScienceRocks

* Samsung reveals 34-inch curved ultra-wide monitor *
By Dave LeClair
December 22, 2014
3 Pictures


 


> Samsung, a company generally regarded as one of the best display manufacturers out there, has just announced an impressive-looking 34-inch curved computer monitor. The company has already released an abundance of curved displays, including its giant 105-inch curved model.


----------



## ScienceRocks

AT&T Builds an Assistant App with Social Skills


> Virtual assistant apps, such as Apple’s Siri or Google Now, focus mostly on providing factual info such as search results and flight times. A new assistant called Contax, developed by researchers at AT&T, tries to be more genuinely “personal,” by actively helping you organize your social life.
> 
> Contax analyzes your call logs and text messaging patterns to work out your most important relationships. The app then uses that information to reorganize your address book, and actively suggest, for example, that you should call or text your tennis buddy like you do every week the day before your game.


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## ScienceRocks

*Resistive RAM nears launch: Still the most likely candidate to replace NAND flash*

By Joel Hruska on December 22, 2014 at 2:58 pm
Resistive RAM nears launch Still the most likely candidate to replace NAND flash ExtremeTech



> It’s been a while since we checked in on Crossbar, the next-generation memory company working on a NAND flash replacement. The company’s resistive RAM (RRAM or ReRAM) technology stores data by creating resistance in a circuit rather than trapping electrons within a cell. Now, the company has announced that it’s moving towards commercializing its designs. That means it’s proven that it can build hardware at existing foundries and can seek vendors to bring solutions to market.
> 
> There are several intrinsic advantages to ReRAM as compared to NAND flash. NAND has limited endurance, its lifespan degrades as process nodes shrink and cells become smaller, and the amount of error-correction required at each new node is steadily increasing. Performance gains have slowed since clocking NAND faster also tends to cause it to degrade, and the bulk of improvements are now delivered by improving either the NAND controller or the system interface — not the underlying performance of the NAND itself.
> 
> ReRAM solves many of these problems. Unlike NAND, it doesn’t need to be erased before its programmed, and it’s much faster than NAND by multiple metrics. It also consumes less power — Crossbar claims that NAND requires 1360 picojoules per cell to program, while RRAM cuts this to just 64 picojoules per cell. Programming power is just one aspect to overall SSD power consumption, but the company also claims that its technology supports storing two bits of data per cell (analogous to MLC NAND) and can be stacked into 3D layers.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The company also claims that its technology can be used to reduce the complexity of the microcontroller itself — a significant potential advantage as this is one area where complexity and cost have been increasing as the task of flash management becomes more complicated.
> 
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> 
> NAND controller design vs. RRAM controllers
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Commercialization of consumer hardware, however, remains some time away. Crossbar has demonstrated that its designs can scale up into the terascale, but that doesn’t mean it’s ready to bring products at that density to market.
> 
> The firm is now licensing to ASIC, FPGA, and SoC developers, with samples arriving in 2015. Early expected target applications are the embedded and low-level applications shown in the chart above, where very little storage is required and low-power operation is essential.
> 
> One thing that hasn’t changed is the long-term roadmap for actual NAND flash replacement. Here’s where the realities of economic scaling come home to roost. Samsung, Intel, Micron — these companies have invested tens of billions of dollars into NAND production, and they aren’t going to shift to a new standard on a dime. For all that the tech industry likes to pride itself on rapidly adopting the latest and greatest technology, the truth is far different — the most successful products in computing are those that extend previous work in a cost-effective manner. Come-from-behind overtake maneuvers are actually quite rare, which is one reason why storage mediums tend to live for decades even when faster solutions are available in the market.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Right now, 3D NAND flash (Samsung calls it V-NAND) will drive the market from at least 2015 to 2018. That doesn’t mean we won’t see RRAM in consumer or enterprise applications — the market has snapped up more-expensive NAND flash solutions that leverage standards like PCI Express or the upcoming NVMe, particularly when these products can enable faster response times for high-frequency stock trading or other latency-critical applications. RRAM may not “feel” much faster than NAND, but it has the potential to provide better response times at latencies that matter to computers, and that’s enough of a reason for certain segments to adopt the equipment.
> 
> Earlier this year, we covered advances in other NAND flash replacements, such as phase change memory (PCM). These designs have demonstrated substantially improved performance compared to NAND, but also face significant scaling challenges and cost concerns. RRAM uses conventional CMOS hardware and can operate at scales down to 5nm. NAND flash, in contrast, isn’t expected to scale below 10nm on even the most optimistic roadmaps, and it’s not certain it will even get that low.
> 
> 3D NAND will extend this further by allowing companies to step back up to higher nodes (Samsung’s current V-NAND is built on 40nm process technology). It’s not necessarily fair to call that a stopgap when it could slap 5-10 years on NAND scaling, but it’s still a long-term functional limitation. We’re going to need to replace flash with some alternate form of memory in the long term if we want to continue to improve power consumption and scale compute capability upwards, and right now RRAM looks like the most practical near-term option.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Samsung starts mass production of industry's first 8 gigabit LPDDR4 mobile DRAM*
*6 hours ago *


> Samsung Electronics announced today that it has started mass producing the industry's first 8 gigabit (Gb), low power double data rate 4 (LPDDR4) mobile DRAM based on the company's leading-edge 20-nanometer (nm) process technology. LPDDR memories are the most widely used "working memory" for mobile devices worldwide.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "By initiating production of 20nm 8Gb LPDDR4, which is even faster than the DRAM for PCs and servers and consumes much less energy, we are contributing to the timely launch of UHD, large-screen flagship mobile devices," said Joo Sun Choi, Executive Vice President of Memory Sales and Marketing at Samsung Electronics. "As this major advancement in mobile memory demonstrates, we will continue to closely collaborate with global mobile device manufacturers to optimize DRAM solutions, making them suitable for next-generation mobile OS environments."
> 
> The new 20nm 8Gb LPDDR4 offers twice the performance and density compared to 4Gb LPDDR3 which was based on 20nm-class process technology. The new 8Gb LPDDR4 chip allows a 4 gigabyte (GB) LPDDR4 package to be created.
> 
> Samsung's 4GB LPDDR4 package was chosen as an Honoree of the 2015 CES Innovation Awards in the Embedded Technologies category. In winning this award, Samsung became the only company that has won CES Innovation Awards for three consecutive years with its mobile DRAM solutions, as the company's 2GB LPDDR3 and 3GB LPDDR3 were honored in 2013 and 2014, respectively.
> 
> Due to an I/O data rate of up to 3,200 megabits per second (Mbps), which is two times faster than a typical DDR3 DRAM used in PCs, the new 8Gb LPDDR4 can support UHD video recording and playback and continuous shooting of high-resolution images with over 20 megapixels.




Read more at: Samsung starts mass production of industry s first 8 gigabit LPDDR4 mobile DRAM


----------



## ScienceRocks

* HP's new Chromebook 14 offers high-res, touch-enabled display *
By Chris Wood
December 24, 2014
4 Pictures


 


> HP has announced a new model in its competitive Chromebook 14 line. Bearing the same moniker as the existing machine, the new notebook offers a higher resolution display over its sibling, as well as touchscreen functionality and increased memory and storage.
> 
> Priced at US$300, the existing Chromebook 14 represents a solid value for money proposition while providing one of the larger screens you’ll find on a machine running Google’s Chrome OS. The new version (which will be sold alongside the existing model) doesn’t make any changes from a design point of view, but ups the ante behind the scenes, offering a more expansive 4 GB of RAM and 32 GB of onboard flash storage.
> 
> The increased memory should help to keep things running smoothly, and more storage is always welcome (though it’s augmented by the standard 100 GB Google Drive cloud space), but it’s the system’s display where you’re likely to notice the biggest difference. Not only has the resolution been upped to 1,920 x 1,080 (giving it 157 pixels per inch), but it’s also a touchscreen.
> 
> Elsewhere there's a Nvidia Tegra K1 processor powering things and HP is claiming the same 8 hour battery life as the existing model.


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## ScienceRocks

* Fastest Internet in the world is in Minneapolis with 10 gigabits per second *
Next Big Future Fastest Internet in the world is in Minneapolis with 10 gigabits per second




> US Internet announced Tuesday that it will use that network to offer 10-gigabit-per-pecond Internet speed, which is among the fastest Internet service available today. That’s 400 times faster than the average download speed in Minnesota, 25 megabits per second, according to Ookla, an Internet diagnostic firm.
> 
> The Minnetonka firm, US Internet, offers fiber-optic service to about 30,000 households in southwest Minneapolis.
> “The fastest Internet in the world is going to be here in Minneapolis starting this afternoon,” said Joe Caldwell, co-CEO of US Internet. “We’re talking about a game-changing speed.”
> 
> The service will cost $400 per month, Caldwell said. The company already offers 1-gigabit-per-second service for $65 per month to the same 30,000 households west of Interstate 35W, and plans to expand its network east of 35W, mostly to neighborhoods south of Lake Street.
> 
> The upstart US Internet hopes to take business away from Comcast. First it must bury fiber-optic cable next to sidewalks in dozens of neighborhoods around the city. The smaller firm recently dropped the price on its 1-gigabit service from $114 per month to $65 per month.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Speech Recognition Better Than a Human's Exists. You Just Can't Use It Yet *


> "A year ago, we were doing a benchmarking, and our conclusion was it was not yet possible to do that. That's all changed, and our company has doubled down entirely around voice, primarily because of these improvements we've seen," Tuttle says. "You're going to see speech recognition systems that have human or better-than-human accuracy become commercialized."
> But first, a quick history lesson: Two and a half years ago, researchers from Google and the University of Toronto published an influential paper about using "deep neural networks" to model speech in computers, and followed this up several months later with another paper resulting from a collaboration with Microsoft and IBM. This led to what Google engineer Jeff Dean describes as the "biggest single improvement in 20 years of speech research."
> The findings resurrected a decades-old invention around digital neural networks. The technology tested well in the 1980s at predicting and analyzing large fields of data, but performance was hindered by the wimpy speed of computers at the time. Neural networks only became a viable option recently, following a massive speed-up in computer processing and in the development of new software approaches.


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## ScienceRocks

*Samsung Tips Curved All-in-One, 'Blade-Thin' ATIV Book 9*

By Brian Westover
December 30, 2014 03:08pm EST
Samsung today unveiled a new all-in-one desktop with a curved display and a new ATIV Book 9.









> Samsung may have scaled back its PC lineup in 2013, but it's not out of the game by any means. Ahead of CES, the tech giant today unveiled a new all-in-one desktop with a curved display and a new ATIV Book 9.
> 
> *Samsung ATIV One 7 All-in-One*
> The Samsung ATIV One 7 is a 27-inch all-in-one PC. Its display curves gently around the user, providing an immersive viewing experience. The AIO desktop boasts an Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 1TB hard drive.
> 
> The 27-inch display is curved, wrapping the 1,920-by-1,080 display around the user for better coverage of the full field of vision. Two built-in, 10-watt speakers pump out Dolby sound, while an HDMI-in port lets you connect an external video source.


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## ScienceRocks

*Samsung Gear S review: This smartwatch can fly solo*
Samsung Gear S review This smartwatch can fly solo


> During my time with the Gear S, my left pocket, which almost always contains some kind of smartphone, has been completely empty. That's because, like your phone, the Gear S has its own SIM card, data connection and phone number. Every other smartwatch I've reviewed requires a Bluetooth connection with your phone, but the Gear S can fly solo when you want it to.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That isn't to say that the Gear S will _replace_ your smartphone. In fact, not only does it require a phone, it requires a very specific kind of phone: a Samsung Galaxy running Android 4.3 or higher.
> 
> What separates the Gear S from other smartwatches is that it not only pairs with a phone over Bluetooth, but also over the Internet. So your phone can be sitting in Los Angeles, while you and your watch are in New York, and you'll still be able to send and receive texts, emails and phone calls on your wrist.
> 
> Right now you're probably thinking "hey, I didn't spend hundreds of dollars on my phone just to leave it sitting on a charger all day!" And that's a fair point. But the Gear S is one of the few wearable devices that gives you the option. Even if it's just for the occasional jog or trip to the store, this is a smartwatch that lets you leave your phone at home.
> 
> With or without a nearby phone, the Gear S lets you take and make calls, send and receive text messages, and reply to and receive emails (though, annoyingly, you can't compose a brand new email). Also it uses your phone's number for calls and texts, so you won't need to worry about giving anyone a separate number for the Gear.



Needs voice command or I don't see a huge share of the market going to it.


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## ScienceRocks

* LG announces 34-inch 21:9 UltraWide gaming monitor with AMD FreeSync *
By Dave LeClair





> LG has just announced that it is going to be showing off a monitor at CES 2015 that could have PC gamers drooling. The company is presenting an ultra-wide monitor with AMD FreeSync, a feature designed to create smoother motion while gaming


.


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## ScienceRocks

*All of Samsung's new smart TVs run Tizen, stream TV to your phone*





 by Richard Lawler |  @Rjcc  | 2hrs ago







> This summer Samsung showed off prototype HDTVs powered by its homegrown Tizen OS (pictured above and in the gallery), and things have apparently progressed far enough for the company to go all-in on the software next year. While Tizen hasn't taken over on phones or smartwatches yet, Samsung says every one of its 2015 smart TVs will be based on it. So what can the TVs do? Other than run PlayStation Now for cloud-streamed gaming, they can stream TV to Samsung mobile devices that are nearby. It uses Bluetooth LE to detect devices in range then WiFi Direct for the connection, and can work even when the TV is off. Samsung demonstrated a Google TV once upon a time, but it apparently isn't into helping the folks from Mountain View push Android in the living room. We should get a better sense of how the new platform works, including a revamped Smart Hub UI, next week in Las Vegas -- see you in 2015.


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## ScienceRocks

*Samsung announces a curved-screen all-in-one and its thinnest laptop yet*
Samsung announces a curved-screen all-in-one and its thinnest laptop yet







 by *Dana Wollman* | @danawollman | December 30th 2014 at 3:00 pm






> We hope you like super skinny laptops, because you're going to be seeing a hell of a lot more of them in 2015. Samsung just took the veil off its new ATIV Book 9 Ultrabook, which comes in at just 0.45 inch thick and 2.09 pounds. That's insanely compact for a 12.2-inch machine and indeed, it's the thinnest and lightest notebook Samsung has released yet. (Given Sammy's history with razor-thin laptops, that's saying a lot.) Like so many other slim machines that have come out lately, the Book 9 uses one of Intel's new Core M processors, which were designed specifically to allow for skinnier designs.


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## ScienceRocks

*Samsung Gear VR vs. Oculus Rift DK2*
By Will Shanklin
Samsung Gear VR vs. Oculus Rift DK2
_January 1, 2015_

19 Pictures




> Gizmag compares the features and specs of the consumer-friendly Gear VR and developers-only Oculus Rift DK2
> 
> Image Gallery (19 images)
> In our product comparisons, we line up consumer gear and do our best to help you make up your mind ... but this one is a little different. The Oculus Rift Development Kit 2 (DK2) isn't a consumer product, but there could be value in seeing how the Samsung Gear VR, a virtual reality headset that _is_ a consumer product, measures up with it. Read on for Gizmag's features and specs comparison.
> 
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> View all
> *Consumer product*
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> 
> In case we didn't hammer the point home hard enough yet, the Oculus Rift DK2 isn't meant for consumers (since it's made for developers, you can't even do basic things like return it if you aren't happy with it). And while the Gear VR is being sold to the general public, it earned that asterisk, as Samsung is branding it as an "Innovator Edition" for early adopters and (it too) developers.
> 
> Modern virtual reality is still laying down its roots, hence all the developer-focused gear we're seeing here. But it's also one of the most exciting new technologies we've tried in some time, due to its incredibly immersive nature. It sounds cliché, but you really do have to try it yourself to get it.
> 
> *Software*
> 
> 
> 
> If you're Samsung, and you want to get into VR on the ground floor, who do you turn to? You turn to Oculus VR, that's who. The young company (now owned by Facebook) provides the software for the Gear VR, as well as the SDK for the Rift development kit.
> 
> *Host device*
> 
> 
> 
> Neither headset is a standalone device, though the Gear VR looks like one. You'll need to slide a Galaxy Note 4 inside of it, to provide its screen, processing and ... well, pretty much everything but its lenses.
> 
> The Oculus Rift DK2 (and the upcoming consumer version) instead connects to a PC, opening the door to more advanced games.
> 
> *Wireless*
> 
> 
> 
> On the other hand, relying on a smartphone gives the Gear VR the advantage of being wireless. The Oculus Rift is wired and tethered to the PC.
> 
> *Connections*
> 
> 
> 
> Want some more specifics on that connection? Okay then, the Note 4 slides into a micro USB nub in the Gear VR headset, while the Rift connects via USB and HDMI (or DVI-D) cables.
> 
> *Overheating*
> 
> 
> 
> This is a big disadvantage for the Gear VR. VR games put a lot of strain on the Note 4, and it heats up pretty quickly – often going into underclocked (lower performance) mode after just 20 minutes or so.
> 
> We have some tips on delaying the Gear's overheating (or you could just put it down and take a 5 minute break every 20 minutes or so), but it's going to be a regular consideration when using the headset. If you fancy long, uninterrupted VR gaming sessions, then you might want to wait for the consumer Oculus Rift.
> 
> *App sources*
> 
> 
> 
> The ways that you get apps on each platform correspond with their mobile vs. desktop natures. Like mobile devices in general, the Gear VR gets apps through one store (in this case, the Oculus Home app on the Note 4). And like PCs in general, the Rift development kit can run any compatible app you install on your PC.
> 
> *Field of view*
> 
> 
> 
> The DK2 has a slightly wider field of view than the Gear VR.
> 
> *Display size*
> 
> 
> 
> The displays inside the headsets each measure 5.7 inches diagonally. Of course the Gear VR uses the Galaxy Note's screen, but in a way the Rift does too: it has a Galaxy Note 3's screen sitting inside.
> 
> *Display resolution (per eye)*
> 
> 
> 
> Because of that Note 3 screen in the DK2, it's noticeably less sharp, with 1080p overall resolution (or 960 x 1080 per eye). If we had to bet, we'd put our money on the first consumer version of the Oculus Rift having a Quad HD Note 4 screen inside.
> 
> *Display type*
> 
> 
> 
> Both displays use AMOLED technology, with deep blacks and rich colors.
> 
> *Positional tracking*
> 
> 
> 
> Just to avoid any confusion, both headsets respond to your head movement: turn your head all the way around, and you'll see everything in your 360-degree environment (it wouldn't really be virtual reality if you couldn't, would it?).
> 
> But the Oculus Rift adds an extra dimension. It includes a tiny camera that you can set near your PC or monitor, which tracks when you move forward or backward. This lets you "lean in" to zoom in on parts of your virtual environment.
> 
> The Gear VR only tracks your head's rotation, not leaning.
> 
> *Latency*
> 
> 
> 
> Latency describes how quickly the headset can respond to head movements (older Oculus Rift prototypes would get blurry when you moved your head quickly). Both of these devices, though, are capable of very clear <20 ms latency.
> 
> *Adjustable focus*
> 
> 
> 
> Both headsets have built-in wheels that let you adjust the focus, to make your virtual environment look as clear as possible for your eyes. The Rift includes two separate pairs of lenses: one for normal or slightly near-sighted users, another for more near-sighted folks.
> 
> *Glasses underneath*
> 
> 
> 
> Many people can get away with wearing glasses underneath the Oculus Rift DK2. You can't wear glasses with the Gear VR, but its adjustable focus range is wide enough that most people should have no problem finding a clear setting without using any prescription lenses.
> 
> *Built-in controls*
> 
> 
> 
> The Gear VR has a trackpad, back button and volume controls on its right side. With the Oculus development kit, you'll need to use your PC or an accessory.
> 
> For both headsets, you'll want to use a controller for any serious gaming. Any controller that works with your PC should work with the Rift, while many Android-compatible Bluetooth controllers will work just fine with the Gear.
> 
> *Speaker*
> 
> 
> 
> The Gear VR headset itself doesn't have any speakers, but if you aren't wearing headphones, you'll hear audio played through the Note 4. For the best experience, though, you'll want to plug in some headphones or earbuds.
> 
> *Release date*
> 
> 
> 
> The biggest reason that the Rift lags behind the Gear in display resolution is that it's an older product. Oculus still hasn't announced a launch date for the consumer Oculus Rift, but many believe that will happen sometime this year.
> 
> *Price*
> 
> 
> 
> At US$200, the Gear VR is cheaper, but of course you'll need to have a Note 4 (typically $700 full retail, $300 on-contract) to use with it. And, in case we didn't already stress it enough, the Oculus Rift DK2's pricing is mostly irrelevant to anyone that isn't a developer. At most, maybe it could be hinting at what the consumer version will eventually cost.
> 
> For more, you can read our full review of the Gear VR, and our hands-on impressions of the Oculus Rift Crystal Cove prototype (which the DK2 is largely based on).




Here is the full review of the gear... Samsung Gear VR review Oculus goes mobile


I've made up my mind that the second thread possible within the next few months will be named, "advances in computers and tech".


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## ScienceRocks

*US Supreme Court moving to digital filing system in 2016*





 by Terrence O'Brien |  @TerrenceOBrien  | 14hrs ago







> The Supreme Court of the US has stuck stubbornly to its ways. No cameras in the court room, a paper filing system, those robes... which are _so _last century. That may begin to change over the next couple of years however. In a year-end report released Wednesday night, Chief Justice John Roberts said that the court would begin accepting electronic filings as early as 2016. The court will have to first develop the system, then it will be rolled out in stages. At first paper documents will be used as the default, but those represented by attorneys in the court will also have to file the same documents electronically. Once that trial proves successful, digital documents will become the default for everyone. Though, paper filings will still be required. As Justice Roberts explained in the report, "Unlike commercial enterprises, the courts cannot decide to serve only the most technically-capable or well-equipped segments of the public... the courts must remain open for those who do not have access to personal computers."


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## ScienceRocks

CES 2015: Will this be the year of 4K TV?



> IRVINE, Calif. — Is this the year 4K TV finally takes off with consumers?
> 
> Analysts thought it would happen in 2014, but it didn't happen, mostly due to the high prices of most the TVs. They're called 4K because they offer 4,000 pixel resolution, or about four times the resolution of 1080p high definition. You might see them marketed as "Ultra-HD."
> 
> This year analysts believe 4K will start to resonate, and we will see the results of this at the Consumer Electronics Show, which gets under way in Las Vegas this weekend.
> 
> There will be many more 4K models available, and they will be much cheaper, says Richard Doherty, an analyst with the Envisioneering Group.


----------



## Iceweasel

I doubt 4k TVs will take off anytime soon. Eventually yes, but the transmission over the net or satellite ain't there yet.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*WeMo Beefs Up Smart Home Lineup With Four New Sensors*







> Right now, piecing together a smart home, your very own domicile outfitted to perfectly fit your life, is a confusing cobweb of wireless standards, compatibility, and brands—lots and lots of brands. But the first step into this brave new connected world is just giving your home awareness, and that's what Belkin WeMo's new sensors, just announced at CES, are all about.
> 
> WeMo's philosophy isn't radically different from other stalwart smart home competition, primarily Samsung's own home automation arm SmartThings. Similar to what SmartThings introduced with its massively successful Kickstarter in 2012, WeMo offers a similar piecemeal approach to giving your house or apartment, whether brand new or decades old, a few more IQ points. WeMo already offers bunches and bunches of smart switches and plugs that can let you control sprinklers, lights, televisions, or whatever through WeMo's free app. These four new sensors improve WeMo's currently limited smarts to offer awareness of not only what's going on in your home but also the people who are living in it.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Oh Hell Yes: A Phone With Glasses-Free 3D and Joysticks Built In*








> The Obox W3D looks a little but like a PSP at first glance, but inside it's a completely different beast. Running Android 4.4, the W30 isn't just a gaming device, it's also an actual phone. It's best tricks have nothing to do with that though, and the leading one is a glasses free 3D screen.
> 
> With a front-facing, eye-tracking camera, the W3D is able to tell exactly how you're looking at it, and the effect is pretty convincing. From straight on, 3D images pop right out nicely, and thanks to that tracking, you don't have to hold the phone completely still to make sure they don't disappear. You have to turn it something fierce before the illusion breaks.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Ring wearable gesture device hands-on*

Ring wearable gesture device hands-on - SlashGear


> Ring is a wearable smart device that connects to your smartphone with Bluetooth. It wirelessly allows you to make gestures in the face of your phone to launch apps and perform certain functions. At CES 2015, we've seen this device do several things - take a photo, launch a basic music app, and even Tweet. Users are invited to work with the gestures already built in to the Ring controller app or to create their own and connect to apps like Facebook, Evernote, and Yo. And you know what that means - IFTTT connectivity as well.
> 
> This device connects with Bluetooth. You can have it several meters away from your smartphone and still use it, but the company recommends you stick within 2-meters for optimal functionality.



*Seagate reveals wireless, ultra-thin, and personal cloud drives*
 Adam Westlake   |   Jan 4, 2015
0





> Data storage firm Seagate has just announced three new personal storage products that will be on display this week at CES in Las Vegas. All three are hard disk drives, but offering unique features and with different purposes in mind. First up is the Seagate Seven, an ultra-thin hard drive for easy portability; then there's the Seagate Wireless, another portable device, but meant for wireless connections with smartphones and tablets; and finally the Seagate Personal Cloud, a device that can automatically back up your computers and make content accessible by multiple devices throughout the home.




* Avy Android-powered smart speaker pumps up the jam *
By David Szondy
January 4, 2015
26 Pictures


 


> Tablets, smartphones and the like are a boon to people who like their life to have a soundtrack, but for all their advanced computing power, they often lack in the audio department – especially when earphones aren't an option. The result is often an inelegant combination of devices with add-on speakers making up for the mobile devices' lack of audio oomph. The Avy Smart Speaker, which makes its debut at CES 2015, is designed to combine an Android-based tablet with a Hi-Fi system for the audiophile.


----------



## ScienceRocks

Unlock your front door from anywhere on Earth with Kwikset: http://gizmodo.com/unlock-your-front-door-from-anywhere-on-earth-with-kwik-1677439403…


> Unlocking your front door from a smartphone app isn't a terribly new idea, you can even electronically send keys to people you want to have access to your home while you're away. But Kwikset is updating its Kevo Bluetooth front door lock with new hardware that lets you lock or unlock your front door from anywhere on earth you have mobile data on your smartphone.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Parrot RNB 6 brings Android Auto and CarPlay to any ol' car*
No, you won't need a new car just to get Android Auto or Apple's CarPlay. Parrot's RNB 6 head unit will add both to any car you like.
Parrot RNB 6 brings Android Auto and CarPlay to any ol car - CNET


> LAS VEGAS -- The dashboard is getting smarter, and smartphones are playing a huge part of making it happen. At this point, most manufacturers have pledged support for either Apple's CarPlay or Google's Android Auto, two systems that will bring the power of their mobile operating systems to the dashboard, but do it in a safe way that won't be too distracting.
> 
> But, if you have an older car, your options have been few. Pioneer's NEX line has added CarPlay, but now Parrot is getting in on the game too, adding support for both Apple's and Google's solutions to its upcoming RNB 6 head unit.



I want voice controlled windows, heat and locks. Heck, I want that for my room with the heater and lights!


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Nvidia's new 'superchip' for mobile is the Tegra X1*
Nvidia s new superchip for mobile is the Tegra X1 Android Central


> The folks at Nvidia have been working hard over the last couple of years to blur the lines between their desktop class GPU architecture and their mobile GPU architecture, and at CES this year the company wants to show off how they have raised the bar. Their latest achievement has been dubbed the Tegra X1, bringing with it the power of Nvidia's Maxwell GPU. Just like last year, Nvidia hopes to prove that mobile devices powered by Tegra can visually compete with game consoles.




*NVIDIA DRIVE CX brings a digital cockpit computer to your car*
_ Jan 4, 2015_
NVIDIA DRIVE CX brings a digital cockpit computer to your car - SlashGear








> This week NVIDIA is bringing the heat to the car industry with the NVIDIA DRIVE CX. This is a digital cockpit computer made with the NVIDIA Tegra X1. It's able to roll with 16.6 million pixels maximum resolution - more than one display - extremely dense displays, that is. With Drive CX, NVIDIA will be powering the future of mapping, creating a digital cockpit, and making the smart infotainment system in your vehicle all the more smarter in the near future - in a wide variety of vehicles.
> 
> In just the same way NVIDIA works with game developers to make the next generation of gaming graphics a reality without forcing them to understand all the ins and outs of the technology they're using, NVIDIA's DRIVE CX has a developer program that works with car makers.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Drive Studio, as it's called, (as a reminder,) is Pushing the boundaries of what a car can do with graphics and media control via NVIDIA comes from this new system.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> NVIDIA gave examples of what's possible with their system onstage at CES 2015. This system is able to work with full 3D graphics and graphics that replicate what we've seen in games over the past several years. Lighting around a car in a 3D mapping system. Live moving graphics without a hitch.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> NVIDIA DRIVE CX Cluster - the entire collection of abilities shown off in full glory by NVIDIA before they're brought to final vehicles.
> 
> Dynamic route creation, full-screen extra-sharp graphics, and utilization of advanced graphics the likes of which we've only otherwise seen appearing on NVIDIA graphics card-toting PCs and mobile devices. We'll see more of NVIDIA's automotive adventures later this week - stay tuned!


----------



## Flopper

Matthew said:


> For the latest advances in computers, hard drives, ram, ect.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> TDK sets new hard drive density record, paves the way for 6TB HDDs
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> TDK sets new hard drive density record, paves the way for 6TB HDDs - TechSpot News
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Solid state drives are continuing to build momentum as a speedy and rugged replacement for traditional spinning drive. TDKs ongoing research into mechanical hard drives, however, suggests that we shouldnt give up on the legacy technology just yet. The company recently announced a new milestone that will increase recording density in future drives by 50 percent.
> 
> The team at TDK have managed to achieve densities of 1.5TB per square inch by improving the magnetic head and hard disk medium with help from Showa Denko K.K. In laymans terms, this new advancement will allow a single platter in a 3.5-inch desktop hard drive to achieve 2TB of storage. Add more platters to the mix and youre now looking at hard drives reach 4TB and even 6TB in capacity.
> 
> Perhaps even more interesting is the impact it will have on 2.5-inch notebook drives. TDK says these smaller form factor HDDs will be able to achieve capacities of 1TB. This will allow users that arent yet sold on cloud storage to have a larger amount of data on hand at all times without having to lug around an external storage drive.
> 
> TDK will be showcasing the new technology at CEATEC this week although volume production isnt expected to begin until sometime in 2014. At that point, one has to wonder just how far solid state drive technology will have come in terms of price versus capacity. This ratio has been the Achilles heel for SSDs thus far even as drives continue to be more affordable.
> 
> Click to expand...
Click to expand...

I just replaced my primary hard drive with a solid state drive.  The performance improvement was amazing.  The windows load time at start up went from 40 seconds to 5 seconds.  Most programs load almost instantaneously.  The only wait time I really have is on the Internet.


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## ScienceRocks

The faster the better,,,,Hp suppose to come out with a computer that comes on and loads as fast as you turn it on.


*Dacor unveils voice commands for its Dual-Fuel Ranges at CES*

*Dacor unveils voice commands for its Dual-Fuel Ranges at CES - CNET*


> LAS VEGAS -- Dacor seems to be making a habit of pushing the smart capabilities of its ovens forward at CES. In 2013, it embedded an Android tablet into their wall oven to allow for cloud-assisted cooking assistance and in-depth controls. In 2014, it expanded the reach of this high-tech Discovery IQ line to Dual-Fuel ranges and updated the app to allow remote control from your Android phone. Now, in 2015, the premium appliance maker will add voice control to the mix.
> 
> iOS users will also get to join the fun via the Dacor IQ Remote app compatible with "any smart phone or tablet." Designed for the Discovery IQ Dual-Fuel Ranges released earlier this year, tech-happy cooks can turn the oven on or off, change settings, set timers or switch on oven lights all by simply speaking to the Dacor IQ Remote app once the update goes live this spring.


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Samsung's first portable SSD punches above its weight *
By Adam Williams





> Samsung has unveiled its first ever portable SSD at  CES 2015, the SSD T1. Likened by the firm to the size of a business card, it weighs in at just 30 g (1 oz), and boasts transfer speeds of up to 450 MB per second and a maximum capacity of 1 TB.


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Toshiba announces high-end Portégé Z20t convertible with 17 hour battery life *
By Chris Wood
January 6, 2015
10 Pictures





> Toshiba’s Portégé Z20t convertible is designed to take on heavyweight offerings like the Microsoft’s Surface Pro 3 and Lenovo’s Yoga line. It’s targeted at business users, and offers a premium, fanless design and extensive battery life.
> 
> From budget tablets to high-end notebooks, there’s a huge variety of hardware form factors available to Windows users in 2015. Toshiba latest offering sits in the most versatile category of the lot, offering both tablet and laptop functionality.
> 
> Open up the new Portégé Z20t convertible and you’ll find a 12.5-inch 1,920 x 1,080 display, equating to 176 pixels per inch (PPI). That’s not quite as pixel dense as the 12-inch Surface Pro 3’s 216 PPI, but should be sharp enough for most users. It’s also an IPS panel, meaning viewing angles should be solid.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Wireless power system charges devices up to 20 feet away*
Wireless power system charges devices up to 20 feet away ExtremeTech



> A plethora of firms are racing to develop a feasible method for delivering power wirelessly, but thus far the best we’ve managed are short-range standards like Qi and PMA. A company called Energous is on hand at CES with a demo of its new wireless power system known amusingly as WattUp. It uses a mix of Bluetooth and RF to combine the convenience of wireless power with the security of a wireless network. If it all pans out, WattUp could juice up your phone from up to 20 feet (6.1 meters) away.
> 
> The heart of WattUp is a hub that’s basically a powerful RF transmitter station. Devices that want to receive power from the hub announce their presence via Bluetooth 4.0. WattUp then uses that connection to direct the wireless power signal to the device. It operates in the same unlicensed spectrum as WiFi, which makes me wonder about possible interference in busy wireless environments. Assuming the connection holds, though, the WattUp signal is absorbed and converted to DC power in the phone or tablet by a receiver chip.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Virtual reality comes to the desktop, thanks to HP and Zspace*
Virtual reality comes to the desktop thanks to HP and Zspace ExtremeTech


> The first time I donned a pair of special glasses and picked up a wired stylus to enter a virtual reality was over 25 years ago. It required extremely expensive hardware, and only allowed for a simple, low-resolution, experience of machining a part on a virtual lathe. But we were all sure that practical applications were just around the corner. It has taken much longer than most of us predicted, but with its new Zvr display, HP is bringing to market a practical and useful VR tool for educators, scientists, and other professionals that need to have accurate, simulated interactions with computer-generated models.









> The heart of the Zvr (if you’ll forgive the pun) is a special-purpose display from VR startup Zspace, which incorporates four cameras for head-tracking, a fully gyroscopic stylus that allows for both precise pointing and true 3D manipulation of objects, and a 3D display that uses special glasses. HP is also offering Zview software for the sharing of 3D content suitable for use on the Zvr.
> 
> I got to use the Zvr to manipulate a model of a human heart, and was able to quickly and easily select different portions of the heart, and move it around simply by twisting my wrist — the way I would if I were actually holding it in my hand. The result was an experience that felt natural, and was also precise enough that I could imagine how powerful it could be as a learning tool for fields that require a detailed understanding of complex physical objects, such as anatomy or mechanical engineering.


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## ScienceRocks

* Hands-on: Augmented and virtual reality come together in Sulon Cortex *
By Will Shanklin
January 6, 2015
10 Pictures


 


> Are augmented reality and virtual reality mutually exclusive? One ambitious startup, Sulon Technologies, doesn't think so. Though it's still early days for the company's standalone Cortex AR/VR headset, it's managed to merge immersion and augmentation in some pretty fascinating ways. We spent some time with a prototype at CES 2015.


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## ScienceRocks

* E Ink set to make a big splash in interior design *
By Adam Williams
January 7, 2015
1 Comment
5 Pictures





> We've already reported on E Ink's surprising versatility, but during this year's CES the company revealed plans to move into the interior design space with its prototype Prism film. While it's early days yet, the tech could create dynamic walls that change color and display animated patterns.


----------



## Flopper

Matthew said:


> * Samsung's first portable SSD punches above its weight *
> By Adam Williams
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Samsung has unveiled its first ever portable SSD at  CES 2015, the SSD T1. Likened by the firm to the size of a business card, it weighs in at just 30 g (1 oz), and boasts transfer speeds of up to 450 MB per second and a maximum capacity of 1 TB.
Click to expand...

When I worked  with mainframe computers, 40 years ago, an IBM 3370 Direct Access Storage Device had about .5GB  of storage, cost about $35,000 and was the size a washing machine.  A TB of data would cost about 70 million dollars and would fill a warehouse.  At this rate of progress, in 40 years, it will probably fit on the head of pin and cost .50 cents.

We've come a long way and hopefully have a long way to go.

IBM Archives IBM 3370 direct access storage device


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## ScienceRocks

*Quantum hard drive breakthrough*
*11 hours ago *





Writing quantum information onto a europium ion embedded in a crystal. Image Solid State Spectroscopy Group, ANU


> Physicists developing a prototype quantum hard drive have improved storage time by a factor of more than 100.
> 
> The team's record storage time of six hours is a major step towards a secure worldwide data encryption network based on quantum information, which could be used for banking transactions and personal emails.
> 
> "We believe it will soon be possible to distribute quantum information between any two points on the globe," said lead author Manjin Zhong, from the Research School of Physics and Engineering (RSPE).
> 
> "Quantum states are very fragile and normally collapse in milliseconds. Our long storage times have the potential to revolutionise the transmission of quantum information."




Read more at: Quantum hard drive breakthrough


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Google's translation app will soon turn speech into text on the fly*





 by *Jon Fingas* | @jonfingas | 3 mins ago
Google s translation app will soon turn speech into text on the fly






> Converting unfamiliar speech to text in Google Translate is currently an awkward affair: you have to start a recording and wait until a moment after you're done to find out what the other person said. That's not exactly living up to the dream of a _Star Trek_-like universal translator, folks. However, the _New York Times_ understands that Translate is about to get considerably smarter. Reportedly, an updated version of the mobile app (coming "soon") will automatically detect speech and translate it right away. All you'd really have to do is hold your phone up with the app running -- important if you'd rather not go through a song-and-dance routine just to find out where the washrooms are.


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## ScienceRocks

*Restaurants will soon take any mobile payment at the table*





 by Jon Fingas |  @jonfingas  | 18hrs ago






> Sure, your local drug store or theme park may let you buy things with your phone at the counter, but what about paying at the table in your favorite restaurant? Never fear, as Verifone will soon have you covered. Its upcoming Payware Mobile e355 wireless terminal lets stores accept any mobile payment you have, wherever you happen to be. It'll take Apple Pay, Google Wallet and other NFC tap-to-pay transactions, and the design is meant to accommodate as many device shapes and operating systems as possible. You may never have to break out your credit card just because the shop can't handle your new phone.


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Toshiba introduces Encore 2 Windows 8 write-on tablets *
By Chris Wood
January 12, 2015






> Toshiba’s new Encore 2 Write tablets are designed to provide high-precision, digitizer pen input without breaking the bank. There are two sizes of the Windows-based device available, which offer mid to low-range specs across the board.


----------



## ScienceRocks

* QBee smart home system combines home entertainment, monitoring and more *
By Chris Wood
January 12, 2015
5 Pictures





> QBee, from Taiwan-based company Askey, is an all-inclusive connected home package that offers both a central, connected media hub alongside a sensor-packed camera and numerous smart switches. It’s capable of everything from remotely switching on an appliance to monitoring the temperature and light levels in your living room.


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## Steven_R

Matthew said:


> *Google's translation app will soon turn speech into text on the fly*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> by *Jon Fingas* | @jonfingas | 3 mins ago
> Google s translation app will soon turn speech into text on the fly
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Converting unfamiliar speech to text in Google Translate is currently an awkward affair: you have to start a recording and wait until a moment after you're done to find out what the other person said. That's not exactly living up to the dream of a _Star Trek_-like universal translator, folks. However, the _New York Times_ understands that Translate is about to get considerably smarter. Reportedly, an updated version of the mobile app (coming "soon") will automatically detect speech and translate it right away. All you'd really have to do is hold your phone up with the app running -- important if you'd rather not go through a song-and-dance routine just to find out where the washrooms are.
Click to expand...


I wonder just how well this technology will deal with dialects or even just regional slang. Castillian Spanish versus Cuban Spanish for instance, or English to French to Quebecois to Haitian patois newspaper articles. I also wonder if something like this will mean fewer people in business bother learning a foreign language if a "universal translator" is available.


----------



## longknife

*Microsoft ends free support for Windows 7*








Today is the day that Microsoft ends free support for its ageing Windows 7 operating system, despite the majority of PCs around the world still running it.


Glad my new one has 8.1. But, the question is, how long will MS give free support for that?


Story @ Microsoft ends free support for Windows 7 - Telegraph


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Nest adds integration with Automatic connected car adapter *
By Nick Lavars





> Nest Labs has added integrated support for Automatic's Connected Car Adapter to its smart thermostat. The partnership will enable those that own both devices to program the climate of their home based on the location of their vehicle.


----------



## ScienceRocks

http://www.militarya...telligence.html



> U.S. intelligence experts are trying to reverse-engineer the algorithms of the human brain by blending data science and neuro science in attempts to make rapid advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence.
> 
> Officials of the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Agency (IARPA) in Washington issued a broad agency announcement for the Machine Intelligence from Cortical Networks (MICrONS) program to advance theories of neural computation.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*5G could be used for real-time holographic video, says UK’s Ofcom*



> Seeing as we barely know what 5G is supposed to be just yet, spelling out its use cases is a bit of a rocky job. According to Ofcom:
> 
> The spectrum… could support a variety of uses, ranging from financial trading and entertainment to gaming and holographic projections, with the potential to support very high demand users in busy areas, like city centres.
> 
> A picture on that page depicts a vision of real-time holographic video communications. Well, this is five years into the future after all, and whatever 5G is, it will likely have a lot of bandwidth to play with.


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## ScienceRocks

* Prototype system paves way for huge, glasses-free 3D displays *
By Colin Jeffrey
January 19, 2015
5 Pictures


 


> Using red/blue filters (anaglyph), polarized (passive) or LED shutter (active) glasses are relatively simple ways of creating a 3D effect. Creating 3D pictures without viewers having to don any form of eyewear is a little trickier and is made even more so if you want really big 3D effects for a sports stadium or a billboard. To help address this, Austrian scientists working at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Vienna) and the company TriLite Technologies have developed a new kind of display just for this purpose that sends beams of light directly to the viewers’ eyes via a laser and a sophisticated mirror system.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*HTC's M9 flagship phone reportedly coming in March alongside smartwatch*


> HTC has already begun the hype cycle for its next flagship smartphone by teasing its March 1st Mobile World Congress event, and now Bloomberg has some more details on what might be in store. The follow-up to the HTC One M8 is indeed codenamed M9, the news service reports, and features a similar design to its predecessor with gold, gray, and silver color options.
> 
> The rear-facing camera is said to weigh in at a hefty 20 megapixels, but that doesn't mean HTC is abandoning its UltraPixel concept entirely; the front-facing camera will reportedly use the larger pixels, which should make for better low-light selfies. The M9 will run on an eight-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor; includes Dolby 5.1 audio technology; and comes with Sense 7, HTC's latest Android skin, according to Bloomberg.



http://www.theverge....twatch-mwc-2015


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## ScienceRocks

* Germanium ferroelectric gate could extend Moore's law past 2028 *





Universal memory replacing DRAM, SRAM, flash and nearly every transistor in a computer may result from their successful fabrication of a ferroelectric gate over germanium channel material, according to researchers at the University of Texas (Austin). Their successful ferroelectric gate stack holds the hope of extending Moore's Law beyond...
Read more »


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Google aboard as Musk's SpaceX gets $1 bn in funding*
*1 hour ago *




The SpaceX Dragon cargo craft is pictured just prior to being released by the International Space Station's Canadarm2 robotic arm on May 31 to allow it to head toward a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. Credit: NASA


> The private space exploration firm SpaceX said Tuesday it had secured a $1 billion investment that could help founder Elon Musk's plan to build a satellite Internet network.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The latest round of funding comes from Google and the financial firm Fidelity, which will own some 10 percent of the company.
> 
> The statement offered no details on plans for the funds, but Musk has said he wants to build a network of satellites to deliver the Internet around the globe.
> 
> The plan could conceivably tie in with Google's efforts to bring the Internet to underserved parts of the world.
> 
> In November, the billionaire entrepreneur behind Tesla Motors and other ventures confirmed that he is working on a web of small, low-cost satellites that could provide wireless Internet around the world.
> 
> Musk said in a message last year on Twitter that SpaceX "is still in the early stages of developing advanced micro-satellites operating in large formations."


----------



## ScienceRocks

Watch Live: Microsoft's Windows 10 Event


> After a business-centric sneak peek at Windows 10 last fall, Microsoft today will show off the consumer-focused features expected in its new operating system.
> 
> Microsoft execs like CEO Satya Nadella are expected to take the stage in Redmond to demo features from the consumer version of Windows 10. Things kick off at 9 a.m. PT/noon E.T.; watch the event live in the video above or on Microsoft's website.


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Microsoft HoloLens: An AR headset that makes you see 3D holograms in your living room *
By Will Shanklin
January 21, 2015
5 Pictures





> With virtual reality capturing imaginations during the last couple of years, it's easy to forget about augmented reality. But Microsoft has spent years cooking up its own take on AR, and it's ready to bake the technology into Windows 10. Much like how the Surface was introduced alongside Windows 8, Microsoft has its own holographic AR headset to launch with the new Windows.


----------



## ScienceRocks

* First germanium-tin semiconductor laser directly compatible with silicon chips *
By Colin Jeffrey
January 22, 2015
2 Pictures


 


> Swiss scientists have created the first semiconductor laser consisting solely of elements of main group IV (the carbon group) on the periodic table. Simply, this means that the new device is directly compatible with other elements in that group – such as silicon, carbon, and lead – and so can be directly incorporated in a silicon chip as it is manufactured. This presents new possibilities for transmitting data around computer chips using light, which could result in potential transfer speeds logarithmically faster than possible with copper wire and using only a fraction of the energy of today’s integrated circuits.


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## longknife

*Lenovo's Horizon 2s: A real advance in portable, tabletop computing*








This it it! No tower. A laptop/desktop!


What do you call a tablet that’s large enough to serve as your desktop computer? A Lenovo Horizon 2s. What do you call a battery-powered all-in-one that’s small enough to carry? A Lenovo Horizon 2s. What do you call a computer that lies on the table and offers an engaging experience for two or more people? Atari Pong! Or, the Lenovo Horizon 2s, of course.


Read more @ Lenovo s Horizon 2s A real advance in portable tabletop computing PCWorld


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Fully transparent, rollable electronics built with a graphene/carbon nanotube backbone*




> The coming age of wearable, highly flexible and transparent electronic devices will rely on essentially invisible electronic and optoelectronic circuits. In order to have close to invisible circuitry, one must have optically transparent thin-film transistors (TFTs). In order to have flexibility, one needs bendable substrates.
> Both flexible electronics and transparent electronics have been demonstrated before, but never rollable electronics that are also fully transparent at the same time.
> This has now been achieved by a team of researchers in Korea, who have successfully built rollable and transparent electronic devices that are not only lightweight, but also don't break easily.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Google to launch wireless service this year*



> The Wall Street Journal is corroborating this story with a report that makes this sound like a done deal. The Journal mostly focuses on the Sprint side of things, saying the MVNO agreement with Google went all the way up to the Sprint and Softbank CEOs. Apparently Sprint was worried it would be "letting a rival into the gates" by dealing with Google, but a clause limiting Google's customer base calmed the company's fears.
> 
> Reports about a rumored Google wireless service are cropping up again. The Information(subscription required) is reporting that Google plans to resell Sprint and T-Mobile services as a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO).


----------



## ScienceRocks

* What's new in the latest Windows 10 technical preview *
By Brian Burgess
January 26, 2015
11 Pictures





> Microsoft is continuing development of its latest desktop and mobile operating system, Windows 10, and revealed some more details at a media briefing last week. Here's a look at some notable new features and design changes in the latest build of the desktop OS.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*New microprocessor claims 10x energy improvement*

By Joel Hruska on January 26, 2015 at 2:49 pm








> As power consumption has become one of the most important metrics of CPU design, we’ve seen a variety of methods proposed for lowering CPU TDP. Intel makes extensive use of dynamic voltage and frequency scaling, ARM has big.Little, and multiple companies are researching topics like near threshold voltage (NTV) scaling as well as variable precision for CPU and GPU operations. Now, one small embedded company, Ambiq Micro, is claiming to have made a breakthrough in CPU design by building a chip designed for subthreshold voltage operation — with dramatic results.
> 
> Ambiq’s new design strategy could be critical to the long-term evolution of the wearables market, the Internet of Things, and for embedded computing designs in general — if the company’s technology approach can scale to address to a wide range of products.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Google Fiber set to launch in four more US cities *



> Google is set to announce the expansion of its Google Fiber internet service to four new cities, _The Wall Street Journal_ reports, with the details of the new rollout coming in the next few days. According to the publication's sources, the company will start to offer the one-gigabit broadband network in Atlanta, Nashville, and in two cities in North Carolina — Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte.




http://www.theverge....leigh-charlotte


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Broadlink announces S1 affordable smart home kit *
By Dave LeClair
January 27, 2015
7 Pictures


 


> The prices of smart home devices are slowly reaching a point where they're affordable, but BroadLink is aiming to bring said functions to users at a price that is truly within the comfort zone of the masses. Its DIY smart home kit, called SmartONE (S1), is available for less than US$50.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Scientists give graphene one more quality – magnetism*
By Ben Coxworth

_January 27, 2015_





A diagram of the magnetized graphene (Image: Shi Lab, UC Riverside)


> Graphene is extremely strong for its weight, it's electrically and thermally conductive, and it's chemically stable ... but it isn't magnetic. Now, however, a team from the University of California, Riverside has succeeded in making it so. The resulting magnetized graphene could have a wide range of applications, including use in "spintronic" computer chips.
> 
> While other groups have previously magnetized graphene, they've done so by doping it with foreign substances, and the presence of these impurities has negatively affected its electronic properties. In this case, though, the graphene was able to remain pure.
> 
> Led by professor of physics and astronomy Jing Shi, the UC Riverside team laid a sheet of regular graphene down on an atomically smooth layer of magnetic yttrium iron garnet. That material then simply magnetized the graphene as it lay against it. Yttrium iron garnet was used due to the fact that certain other magnetic materials could disrupt the graphene’s electrical transport properties.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*FCC raises broadband definition to 25Mbps, Chairman mocks ISPs*

By Joel Hruska on January 30, 2015 at 1:25 pm
13 Comments



> The FCC voted to greatly increase its definition of broadband service, from the previous definition of 4Mbit down and 1Mbit up to the new standard of 25Mbps down and 3Mbps up. According to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, this move reflects the tremendous growth in consumer data consumption, the growing popularity of services like Netflix, and the need to create a future-proof standard that won’t be obviated in a handful of years.
> 
> Wheeler also pointed out that consumer demand for 25Mbps service is robust, with 29% of Americans currently opting for that tier of service, up from 7% in 2011, and that many companies only certify lower-end plans as minimally effective or efficient for users. Netflix, for example, recommends a minimum of 5 Mbps for HD quality and 25MBps for 4K service. With VoIP services and 4K streaming coming on fast, US consumers are going to demand higher-end services for the foreseeable future.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Comparing the original iPhone to the iPhones 6 and 6 Plus*
By Will Shanklin

_January 30, 2015_


> 19 Pictures
> 
> 
> Gizmag takes a look back at the original iPhone, to see how it compared to today's models
> 
> Image Gallery (19 images)
> Normally we compare smartphones to help you make the best buying decision. But this time we're going to line up the original 2007 iPhone with Apple's latest handsets, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus – because, hey, isn't it fun to see how far we've come?
> 
> *Release date*
> 
> 
> 
> We're looking at more than seven years of mobile evolution here, so adjust your expectations accordingly.
> 
> For some pop culture perspective, the number one Billboard song when the first iPhone hit store shelves was Rihanna's "Umbrella." The number one movie at the US box office was _Ratatouille_.
> 
> *Size*
> 
> 
> 
> If you want an illustration of how smartphones have changed in the last 7+ years, look no further. The original iPhone is tiny even compared to the iPhone 6 – and next to the 6 Plus it's downright puny.
> 
> Another standout spec is just how ridiculously thick that first iPhone was. It's 63 percent thicker than the 6 Plus, and 68 percent beefier than the iPhone 6.
> 
> *Weight*
> 
> 
> 
> Despite being a much smaller device, the original iPhone is 5 percent heavier than the iPhone 6.
> 
> *Build*
> 
> 
> 
> You could say that the three things that best describe Apple products today are "light," "thin" and "aluminum." Back in '07, the company only had one out of three covered.
> 
> ... though, even then, the first iPhone's backing had a plastic bar on its lower end. For its next two iPhones (3G and 3GS), Apple went all plastic. For the two after that (4 and 4s) it used a glass back with stainless steel edges. From late 2012 to today, it's been all aluminum.
> 
> *Colors*
> 
> 
> 
> Apple didn't start offering different color options for iPhones until the iPhone 3G arrived (you had the option of buying strange black front/white back options). You couldn't buy an iPhone with a different _front_ color until the white iPhone 4 arrived in early 2011.
> 
> *Display (size)*
> 
> 
> 
> Here's another visual that tells us a lot about the evolution of smartphones. The original iPhone's screen was 60 percent as big as the iPhone 6's – and only 44 percent as big as the iPhone 6 Plus'.
> 
> This is one change that didn't happen so gradually though. Apple stuck with the first iPhone's 3.5-in screen until late 2012, and even then it was still a relatively small 4 inches. These latest models gave us by far Apple's biggest leap forward in screen size.
> 
> *Display (resolution)*
> 
> 
> 
> Those were some pixelated devices we were staring at in 2007! Apple didn't give us the "Retina Display" (Apple's branding for "sharp enough that most people won't notice any pixels") until mid-2010.
> 
> *Cameras*
> 
> 
> 
> All the first iPhone got you was a 2 MP rear-facing camera. At the time this was considered pretty solid for a phone camera, but you wouldn't want to snap any pics with that sucker today.
> 
> Front-facing cameras didn't start showing up until the iPhone 4 in 2010. Today the iPhones not only have much higher-resolution sensors, but they also have dual-LED flashes, good low-lit performance and, in the case of the iPhone 6 Plus, Optical Image Stabilization. That's a lot of ground covered in less than eight years.
> 
> *Battery*
> 
> 
> 
> This original iPhone was only rated for about 6 hours of internet use. Today's iPhones are rated for up to 10 hours over 3G or 4G networks and up to 11 hours over Wi-Fi.
> 
> *App Store*
> 
> 
> 
> It's easy to forget, but the App Store didn't launch until 2008, after this first iPhone had already been around for a year. It did receive the update then, but for that first year, early adopters were limited to web apps (remember those?).
> 
> *Chip*
> 
> 
> 
> Apple didn't start naming its custom system-on-a-chip hardware until the "A4" found in the iPhone 4. With the first iPhone, we had to rely on teardowns – which told us that it was running a custom Samsung-made processor (620 MHz, but underlocked to 412 MHz).
> 
> *RAM*
> 
> 
> 
> When's the last time you saw a mobile device with 128 MB of RAM? Even most smartwatches today have 4x that.
> 
> *Storage*
> 
> 
> 
> Apple did a bit of a shuffle here during its first year. The iPhone launched in 4 GB and 8 GB options, but the 4 GB model was discontinued a couple months after launch. The company then added a 16 GB option in February of 2008, five months before the second-generation iPhone (3G) launched.
> 
> *Mobile data*
> 
> 
> 
> Blazing-fast 3G speeds (_ahem_) were still a year away back in 2007. For that first year, iPhone owners were limited to painfully slow ~2G speeds.
> 
> If you're too young to remember 2G, try driving through rural areas until your phone shows "Edge" in its signal bar. Those are the painfully slow speeds iPhone early adopters paid for.
> 
> *Touch ID*
> 
> 
> 
> Well, considering the original iPhone didn't have 3G data, an App Store or a camera that would be remotely usable by today's standards ... no, it didn't have a fingerprint sensor.
> 
> *Software*
> 
> 
> 
> Interestingly, Apple branded the first version of iOS as "OS X." It did share a core with the Mac's operating system, so in a way this made sense ... but a year later Apple re-branded the iPhone (and iPod touch) software as "iPhone OS."
> 
> It wasn't until after the iPad launched in 2010 that Apple started calling it iOS – retroactively making that first iPhone's software known as iOS 1.0.
> 
> This first iPhone ultimately maxed out on iOS 3.1.3, released in early 2010, a few months before the iPhone 4 launched. If you still have one of these first-gen iPhones lying around, that's the software it will be running today – and forevermore.
> 
> *Starting price (on-contract)*
> 
> 
> 
> Holy cow – this is what happens when you're an early adopter and the innovation you're trying to buy has no direct competitors. Apple and AT&T were charging an insane US$500 for the first iPhone – _with a two-year contract!_ And that was only for the 4 GB version: at launch, the 8 GB model cost $600.
> 
> When Apple ditched the 4 GB model a couple of months later, the 8 GB iPhone got dropped down to a somewhat more reasonable (by today's standards) $400 – also with a two-year contract.
> 
> *Starting price (full retail)*
> 
> 
> 
> And in case you're wondering, there was no option to buy that first iPhone without a contract. Reports from back in '07 say the 8 GB iPhone was selling for around $1,000 on eBay and Craigslist.
> 
> Going back to the original iPhone would be a pretty unbearable experience today, but we still can't overstate how much of a breakthrough it was. Even before the App Store arrived, its multitouch interface was a mobile innovation like no other, ushering in the modern era of smartphones – all of which owe an immeasurable debt to Apple's thick, slow and pixelated $500 on-contract handset.


----------



## ScienceRocks

http://www.slashgear...-free-31366926/



> Google Earth Pro builds on the amazing functionality of Google Earth with even more powerful tools. Some of the most compelling features of Earth Pro include:
> Advanced Measurements: Measure parking lots and land developments with polygon area measure, or determine affected radius with circle measure.
> High-resolution printing: Print Images up to 4800x3200 px resolution.
> Exclusive Pro data layers: Demographics, parcels, and traffic count. Spreadsheet Import: Ingest up to 2500 addresses at a time, assigning placemarks and style templates in bulk.
> GIS import: Visualize ESRI shapefiles (.shp) and MapInfo (.tab) files.
> Movie-Maker: Export Windows Media and Quicktime HD movies, up to 1920x1080 resolution.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Dwave Systems will be commercially releasing a new 1152 qubit quantum annealing system in March 2015*
 Next Big Future Dwave Systems will be commercially releasing a new 1152 qubit quantum annealing system in March 2015
Dr. Colin P. Williams [CPW], Director of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships for D-Wave Systems provided answers in an email interview with Nextbigfuture. 


> 1. How is Dwave doing with the 2048 qubit system ?
> 
> [CPW] D-Wave is making fantastic progress in fabricating ever-larger processors. In fact, *we will be releasing our new 1,152-qubit “Washington” processor in March of this year*. So we’re all very excited about that. However, size (i.e., qubit-count) is *not the only aspect of the processor that has been improved*. We have also *lowered the noise and stretched the energy scale of the qubits* (making them inherently more quantum mechanical), and *we have strengthened our ability to create chains of qubits (making it easier to program the processor by locking qubits* together to change the effective topology of the chip). Our initial performance tests have gone really well, and we are *seeing some very exciting performance from the new processor*. We are now perfecting new benchmark problems and new performance metrics that more clearly showcase the innate capabilities of the Washington system. These studies, and more, will be rolling out later in the year. So stay tuned for that.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Raspberry Pi 2 unveiled with faster processor and more memory*

2 February 2015











> A new budget-priced Raspberry Pi computer has been unveiled, offering child coders and others a faster processor and more memory than before, but at about the same price.
> 
> The Raspberry Pi 2 Model B is roughly six times more powerful than the prior version, the Model B+, according to the British charity behind it.
> Previous versions of the kit have been widely adopted by schools and enthusiasts across the world.
> But the Pi faces increased competition.
> Another UK-based firm, Imagination, recently released a bare-bones computer of its own, and the Arduino, Intel Galileo, Gizmo 2, BeagleBone Black and Hummingboard also form part of a growing list of rivals.
> The Raspberry Pi 2 makes two major changes to the previous version, while leaving other components unchanged:
> 
> The CPU (central processing unit) is now quad-core rather than single-core. That means it can be programmed to use more of its cores to offer extra computing power, or made to use fewer to help save power consumption - useful if running as part of a battery-powered contraption. In addition, the Cortex A7 processor now runs at 800MHz rather than 700MHz
> The board now features one gigabyte of RAM (random access) memory, double the amount that was previously included
> As before, owners will need to add their own keyboard, a MicroSD card containing a copy of the Linux operating system, and television/monitor-connecting cables in order to start programming. Enclosures bought for earlier models will also fit the new one.
> "We think it's about six times more powerful for most applications," Eben Upton, founder of Raspberry Pi, told the BBC.
> "This means this is really a PC now.
> The kit - most of which is manufactured at Sony's factory in Bridgend, South Wales - costs £22.85/$35.



http://www.bbc.co.uk...nology-31088908


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Memcomputers: Faster, More Energy-Efficient Devices That Work Like a Human Brain*


> When we wrote the words you are now reading, we were typing on the best computers that technology now offers: machines that are terribly wasteful of energy and slow when tackling important scientific calculations. And they are typical of every computer that exists today, from the smartphone in your hand to the multimillion-dollar supercomputers humming along in the world's most advanced computing facilities.


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Jaasta keyboard has e-ink keys that change their symbols *
By Stu Robarts
February 4, 2015
7 Pictures



 


> The speed at which you can work on a keyboard is limited by how well you know your keyboard shortcuts. One new keyboard, however, is seeking to eliminate the need to memorize such shortcuts. The symbols on the keys of the Jaasta e-ink keyboard change to match its current use.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Samsung expected to manufacture 14nm chips for Qualcomm, Apple, possibly Nvidia in 2015*
*Samsung expected to manufacture 14nm chips for Qualcomm Apple possibly Nvidia in 2015 ExtremeTech*

By Joel Hruska on February 4, 2015 at 1:41 pm
20 Comments







> When Samsung and TSMC laid out their next-generation manufacturing plans, the two chip companies decided to pursue very different goals. TSMC opted for a 20nm half-step node that would shrink die sizes but retain conventional planar silicon, while Samsung decided it would leap straight for 14nm manufacturing and introduce FinFETs directly after the 28nm node. Now, that decision to skip 20nm altogether is paying dividends for the Korean manufacturer — it’s hitting its 14nm stride while TSMC is still ramping 20nm, and expecting to sign multiple new customers (and a few old ones) because of it.
> 
> We’ve previously discussed how Apple was expected to move manufacturing back to 14nm at Samsung after using TSMC’s 20nm node for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, but new information suggests that companies like Qualcomm and Nvidia are ramping hardware there as well. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard rumors of Samsung fabbing for Nvidia, but it’s been several years since they last cropped up. Nonetheless, the timing makes sense — TSMC’s 20nm node ultimately offered fairly incremental gains over 28nm. Its 16nm FinFET node will offer a much larger improvement, but won’t be available for volume production until 2016. given the inevitable lead times between the beginning of volume production and commercial shipments, we can expect Samsung to have a 9-18 month lead over its rival (depending on the exact components and cost structure for the parts).


----------



## ScienceRocks

Intel Expects to Launch 10nm Chips in 2017

http://wccftech.com/...unch-10nm-2017/

"It’s becoming increasingly difficult every year to keep up with Moore’s law"


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Canadian Government annouces Wi-Fi through TV Airwaves for Rural Areas*



> Industry Minister announces new measures to bring "super Wi-Fi" Internet services to Canada
> 
> Spectrum is the oxygen that fuels our smartphones, tablets and wearable devices. It is a valuable but finite public resource that must be allocated in a way that benefits Canadian consumers foremost. Recently, the Government of Canada has been exploring new ways to access additional spectrum by using portions of television airwaves that are not being used in particular areas of Canada. This unused television spectrum is known as TV white space (TVWS).


----------



## ScienceRocks

*IBM updates Watson with five new features, now better than ever*
IBM updates Watson with five new features now better than ever ExtremeTech


> IBM Watson, a cognitive computer that rose to fame by competing on Jeopardy, is doing much more than beating Ken Jennings these days. On IBM’s Bluemix cloud computing platform, registered developers can integrate Watson’s brainpower into their apps. And as of this past week, IBM has added five more features to the Watson Developer Cloud. From speech-to-text to image analysis, devs can now accomplish even more with Watson.
> 
> In a blog post, IBM vice president Jerome Pesenti details five new Watson services available on Bluemix. Speech-to-text, text-to-speech, visual recognition, concept insights, and tradeoff analytics join the Watson Developer Cloud. Combined with the eight existing services previously made available by IBM, there are now 13 different Watson-powered services on offer. It’s certainly not a turnkey solution for game show success, but there are countless possibilities in healthcare, businesses, and hobbies alike.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Energy-filtered cold electron transport at room temperature* 


> Previous studies by others have demonstrated that it is possible to suppress electron thermal excitations, and thereby obtain low-temperature electrons, by utilizing discrete energy levels present in quantum dots (QDs)9, 10, 11. If electron transport is made to occur through a discrete energy level, it can serve as an energy filter (or thermal filter) as only those electrons whose energies match the discrete energy level are allowed to participate in the transport. This has been experimentally demonstrated using double QD systems, in which the first QD adjacent to the source electrode serves as an energy filter, passing only cold electrons to the second QD9, 10, 11. In a similar manner, it has also been demonstrated that the discrete energy levels or superconducting energy gaps can be utilized for quantum cooling of electron gases through energy-selective electron tunnelling12, 13, 14, 15, 16. Until now, studies have been focused on obtaining ultralow sub-Kelvin electrons and investigating their novel phenomena when the entire system is cooled to cryogenic temperatures, typically less than 1 K


----------



## ScienceRocks

*AMD, Nvidia both skipping 20nm GPUs as TSMC plans $16 billion fab investment, report says*

By Joel Hruska on February 10, 2015 at 4:26 pm
7 Comments
AMD Nvidia both skipping 20nm GPUs as TSMC plans 16 billion fab investment report says ExtremeTech







> Two interesting pieces of news regarding fabs and foundries today. First, TSMC is planning a $16B mega-fab installation at the Taichung science park in Central Taiwan. The planned investment would be even larger than the expected growth in fab costs through the 10nm node and suggests that TSMC is sending a message to its rivals at Samsung, GlobalFoundries, and to some extent, Intel — the company is willing to spend whatever it takes to regain its lost ground and grow its market share.


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Phorm adds a disappearing tactile keyboard guide to the iPad mini *
By Ben Coxworth
February 12, 2015
3 Pictures


 


> Three years ago, California-based startup Tactus Technology unveiled a pretty nifty prototype – it was a touchscreen which featured clear round buttons that could rise up over top of the characters on a mobile device's virtual keyboard, giving users the tactile sensation of using a physical keyboard. When not needed, however, those buttons flattened down and the screen became entirely smooth again. Now, that prototype has become a product known as Phorm, designed for use with all versions of the iPad mini.


----------



## ScienceRocks

* E Ink comes to fashion with the Tago Arc bracelet  *
By Chris Wood
February 13, 2015
6 Pictures


 


> Tago Arc is an E Ink fashion accessory that can be customized to look exactly as the user desires, and never needs to be charged. It connects to a smartphone companion app, allowing the wearer to create their own designs, or purchase from a library of images.


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Swyp aims to replace all your plastic cards with one that's electronic *
By Chris Wood
February 13, 2015
1 Comment
4 Pictures


 


> Over the last couple of years we’ve seen a number high-tech cards that aim to slim down your wallet, all offering pretty similar functionality. The Swyp Card is the latest to make a bid for your hard-earned cash, promising to condense your wallet into a single metal card that stores info from debit, credit, loyalty and gift cards.


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Neptune Duo flips the roles of smartphones and smartwatches ... for some reason *
By Will Shanklin
February 17, 2015
4 Pictures





> Will smartwatches ever replace smartphones? And, if so, how will we play _Candy Crush_ and watch Netflix or Sling TV on the go? Neptune, the company behind the ridiculously oversized Pine smartwatch, is back with a new device that tries to answer that question.


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Review: Zeiss VR One virtual reality headset (for iPhone 6) *
By Will Shanklin
February 18, 2015
10 Pictures


 


> Any company that's been making lenses for 169 years is probably good at adapting. So perhaps it makes sense that German company Carl Zeiss AG (better known today simply as "Zeiss") didn't waste time jumping into the new frontier of virtual reality. Gizmag has been playing with the company's VR One headset for the iPhone 6 – read on for our review.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Analogue quantum computers: Still wishful thinking?*


> Traditional computational tools are simply not powerful enough to solve some complex optimisation problems, like, for example, protein folding. Quantum annealing, a potentially successful implementation of analogue quantum computing, would bring about an ultra-performant computational method.
> 
> A series of reviews in this topical issue of EPJ ST, guest-edited by Sei Suzuki from Saitama Medical University, Japan, and Arnab Das from the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Kolkota, India, focuses on the state of the art and challenges in quantum annealing.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*New Haptics That Can Trick Your Sense of Touch Could Be Crucial to Smartwatches and Virtual Reality*



> The offices of Immersion in San Jose, California, may be the touchy-feeliest place I’ve ever been. The walls of one conference room are lined with tablets, smartphones, smart watches, and other gadgets that all have the ability to stimulate your sense of touch.
> 
> I’m here to experience technology that can go far beyond the sometimes annoying buzzing that passes for touch feedback today in devices such as smartphones. Immersion and other companies are beginning to roll out a new wave of more real haptic feedback techniques. They could enhance our smartphones and tablets, and become crucial to new gadgets such as virtual reality headsets and smart watches. Apple has positioned haptic feedback as a central part of its smart watch, to be released in April, boasting that it will get your attention with what feels like a light tap on the wrist, not a crude buzz.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Intel: Moore's Law will continue through 7nm chips*
Intel Moore s Law will continue through 7nm chips PCWorld



> Eventually, the conventional ways of manufacturing microprocessors, graphics chips, and other silicon components will run out of steam. According to Intel researchers speaking at the ISSCC conference this week, however, we still have headroom for a few more years.
> 
> Intel plans to present several papers this week at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference in San Francisco, one of the key academic conferences for papers on chip design. Intel senior fellow Mark Bohr will also appear on a panel Monday night to discuss the challenges of moving from today's 14nm chips to the 10nm manufacturing node and beyond.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Silicon Nanofibers could boost lithium battery energy density by ten times*



> The need for more energy dense and scalable Li-ion battery electrodes has become increasingly pressing with the ushering in of more powerful portable electronics and electric vehicles (EVs) requiring substantially longer range capabilities. Herein, we report on the first synthesis of nano-silicon paper electrodes synthesized via magnesiothermic reduction of electrospun SiO2 nanofiber paper produced by an in situ acid catalyzed polymerization of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) in-flight. Free-standing carbon-coated Si nanofiber binderless electrodes produce a capacity of 802 mAh g−1 after 659 cycles with a Coulombic efficiency of 99.9%, which outperforms conventionally used slurry-prepared graphite anodes by over two times on an active material basis. Silicon nanofiber paper anodes offer a completely binder-free and Cu current collector-free approach to electrode fabrication with a silicon weight percent in excess of 80%. The absence of conductive powder additives, metallic current collectors, and polymer binders in addition to the high weight percent silicon all contribute to significantly increasing capacity at the cell level.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*5G speeds exceeding 1000x current (network capacity) 4G standards, to deploy in San Francisco*


> About a year ago, Artemis Networks CEO Steve Perlman said his startup was working on technology that could make your smartphone's internet connection 1,000 times faster than it is today. Now that technology is finally making its debut in San Francisco.
> 
> Artemis Networks announced that consumers in San Francisco would be able to purchase a SIM card from the company's website that allows phones to connect to the pCell network.
> 
> Because Artemis Networks has a partnership with Dish, the company will be using a certain block of Dish's spectrum for pCell's deployment in San Francisco.
> Because the pWaves are so small, they can be placed practically anywhere, unlike cell towers. The idea is that numerous pWaves could be placed around cities to blanket an area more accurately than can traditional towers.
> 
> Although pCell could be used as an alternative to a traditional cell carrier in San Francisco, Perlman described the release as a sort of "showroom" for what pCell could do. He wants to work with larger carriers in the future.
> 
> "What we're trying to show is this thing's getting out there," he said. "Carriers are very interested to see how it performs."


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Fiber internet popping up in Michigan, offering speeds 100 times faster than cable*



> *The fastest Internet connections available to Michiganders are coming from small Michigan companies you've probably never heard of.*
> In 2011, Ann Arbor was vying with cities around the nation to get the first installation of Google Fiber, a connection that was faster and better than anything around. The city lost, but what once took an Internet giant to accomplish is now being done by small companies in pockets across the state.
> *What it is*
> Fiber internet runs on a fiber-optic line. That's a different material than most existing cable and direct service line connections, which run over copper. Fiber is capable of running at much higher speeds than connections that come over copper fiber.
> Speeds offered to residential customers in Michigan via fiber connections vary, but reach at least 1 gigabit.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*CenturyLink exceeds initial estimates, expands Seattle gigabit Internet to five more neighborhoods*



> CenturyLink is declaring its initial Seattle rollout of gigabit broadband Internet service a success, and is beginning work to expand it to five more neighborhoods.
> 
> Last August, CenturyLink committed to bringing the high-speed access to 35,000 Seattle households with an announced launch in Ballard, Beacon Hill and West Seattle. By December, the gigabit service was available to nearly 22,000 customers in Ballard and West Seattle.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*AT&T is bringing gigabit Internet to Prairie Village and Fairway*





> In another mark of broadband competition in the Kansas City market, AT&T announced Wednesday that it plans to sell super-speed Internet to some customers in Prairie Village and Fairway.
> 
> That news come 10 days after the telecom giant announced it would challenge Google Fiber in the market by selling Internet speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second in Kansas City and its largest suburbs.
> 
> Gigabit speeds are almost 100 times faster than what’s available to most American homes. Some neighborhoods in the Kansas City area now have such hookups available from three competitors: AT&T, Google Fiber and Consolidated Communications.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*5G cellphone wireless speeds of 1 terabit per second done in the lab across 100 meters and will publicly demo in 2018*


> 5G speeds of 1Tbps have been achieved during tests at the University of SurreyProfessor Rahim Tafazolli, director of the 5G Innovation Centre (5GIC) at the university explained that the 5GIC has been working on new technologies to support 5G services, which have been instrumental in producing the 1Tbps results.
> 
> “We have developed 10 more breakthrough technologies and one of them means we can exceed 1Tbps wirelessly. This is the same capacity as fibre optics but we are doing it wirelessly,” he said.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Unlocking your door might soon be as easy as 'open sesame'*

25 February 2015




> Kids and adults alike have long jokingly said "open sesame" in the hopes those magic words might literally open doors. Dheera Venkatraman, a grad student at MIT, might be the first person to make the words actually work.
> 
> Venkatraman built an app called "Sesame" for Android Wear that lets him talk (or shout) the words "OK Google, open sesame" into his Android Wear smartwatch. The watch then sends a signal to his hacked-together Internet-connected door lock to unlock the door without a key.




http://www.cnet.com/...as-open-sesame/


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Start-up Leia to demo Star Wars-inspired hologram display technology next week*



> U.S. start-up Leia is demonstrating its 3D holographic display technology at Mobile World Congress, promising a chance to see what mobile holography is all about.
> 
> Demonstrations of future technologies are among the more exciting exhibits at Mobile World Congress, and Leia looks sure to wow visitors at this year’s edition, which starts on Monday in Barcelona.
> 
> Leia’s goal is to make the company’s technology cheap and compact enough to be integrated into smartphones and other mobile devices. It can be used to produce imagery”that floats above the screen” and that users can interact with, founder and CEO David Fattal said in a presentation last year.
> 
> Potential applications include maps with buildings that pop out or games where a ball comes out the screen, according to Fattal.


----------



## ScienceRocks

* SanDisk crams 200 GB into the world's highest capacity microSD card *
By Nick Lavars
March 1, 2015






> With all the high quality snaps, audio and video that we fill our mobile devices with these days, it doesn't take much to for the onboard storage to hit capacity. But SanDisk has just introduced a new microSD card designed to provide a little more storage breathing room. The SanDisk Ultra microSDXC UHS-I card, Premium Edition, packs a whopping 200 GB of storage capacity, while retaining the same diminutive microSD form factor.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Samsung S6 Edge with curved screen unveiled at MWC*


> Samsung will sell two versions of its next flagship phone, one of which has a screen that curves round its sides.
> 
> The Galaxy S6 Edge uses the feature to provide a quick way to stay in touch with select contacts, and to alert owners to important information.
> 
> It will be sold for a higher price than the standard S6, which otherwise has the same specifications.



http://www.bbc.co.uk...nology-31645426


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Previewing The Machine*



> Both Fink and Whitman harped on the fact that what most of an operating system is doing these days is shuffling data in and out of various layers of storage, and HP intends for the Machine to have one layer as a universal memory pool, eliminating the need for various layers of disk and flash memory in the hierarchy. Presumably the processors in the SoCs in the Machine will have their own main memory – but perhaps not. Fink did not elaborate on that. But what he did say is that a rack of Machine modules would have 1 PB of memory, and that HP could envision up to 160 racks all linked together using the photonics fabrics to have any compute node in the system to be able to address any byte anywhere in those 160 racks in under 250 nanoseconds. He added that HP has “line of sight” to photonics that can deliver 6 Tb/sec of bandwidth on a single piece of fiber optics, and that if you wanted to do that with copper, you would need a bundle of wires about the size of a large dinner plate and it would require thousands of times more energy to pump the signals through it compared to the fiber. The memristors have a switching speed on the order of picoseconds, by the way.
> As you might imagine, the new architecture of the Machine will require some changes to the operating system. In fact, just as HP is throwing out a lot of the storage hierarchy in the Machine’s design, researchers at HP Labs are right now gutting the Linux operating system for servers and its Android variant for clients of all the unnecessary code used to manage storage layers. This, he explained, was why it was called the Machine in the first place. It is not intended to be the basis of a server or a laptop or a smartphone, but rather used in all of these, and in fact, when he held up the memristor prototype above, he said we should consider this as the basis of a future smartphone that would have 100 TB of capacity on it and store our entire lives.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Qualcomm's ultrasonic 3D fingerprint scanner could one day give passwords the finger *

2 March 2015


> Right now, your secure fingerprint scanner is only as good as the integrity of your skin. If your digit is too hot or cold, slicked with lotion or sweat, that reader may not accurately pick up your prints.
> 
> Doesn't sound good, does it? That's what the Snapdragon Sense ID 3D fingerprint scanning technology Qualcomm announced at Mobile World Congress aims to address. It uses acoustic ultrasonics -- sound, basically -- to capture your print in just about any state of being.
> CNET went to Qualcomm's headquarters in San Diego for a demo of what it's like and what you can do. Before I get into that, though, here's why you should care about sound-gathered prints to begin with.




http://www.cnet.com/...anner-hands-on/


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Ikea unveils phone-charging furniture at MWC*

By Zoe Kleinman Technology reporter, BBC News


> Furniture giant Ikea has unveiled a range of furniture fitted with wireless charging spots for mobile devices.
> 
> The Home Smart range will initially include lamps, bedside tables and a coffee table as well as individual charging pads for any surface.
> 
> Ikea has used the wireless charging standard QI, which is also supported by Samsung in its latest handset, the S6.
> 
> Environmental group Friends of the Earth urged caution over the recyclability of such products.



http://www.bbc.co.uk...nology-31693088


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Prototype Fujitsu smartphone unlocks with the blink of an eye *
By Colin Jeffrey
March 2, 2015
3 Pictures





> Most smartphones require some sort of password or pattern input to unlock them, whilst some have voice print recognition, and a few – such as Apple's iPhone 5S and Samsung's Galaxy S5 – even use fingerprint scanning. But Fujitsu claims to have gone one better by introducing iris pattern recognition on its latest prototype smartphone on show at Mobile World Congress (MWC).


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Inside Project Loon: Google's internet in the sky is almost open for business*



> “Good news,” says Katelin Jabbari, Google X’s communications chief. “It’s about to explode.”
> 
> We’re several hundred feet in the air, inching our way along a wooden walkway tucked high into the rafters of the massive hangar at Moffett Federal Airfield, where Google’s most outlandish and secretive division has been testing new prototypes for Project Loon. Below us, a pair of huge balloons sway gently on their tethers. Engineers are racing around them like ants.
> 
> Loon is being built with the audacious goal of beaming internet access down to the most remote parts of the planet, using specially equipped balloons that kiss the upper edges of Earth’s atmosphere.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Samsung stuns the world, shows off the world's first 10nm FinFET tech*


> The International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) has just kicked off in San Francisco, where Samsung has just unveiled the world's first 10nm FinFET technology. Samsung Electronics Semiconductor Business chief, Kim Ki-nam teased the future for Samsung when he took the stage.


----------



## ScienceRocks

http://mashable.com/...arrier-service/



> Following nearly a year of rumors, Google confirmed on Monday that it plans to offer talk and data plans to customers.
> 
> Sundar Pichai, senior VP at Google, said on stage at Mobile World Congress during a presentation that the company is working on a wireless service on a "small scale."
> 
> Pichai outlined how the company aims to bring web connectivity to some of the 4 billion people currently without Internet access. Later this year, it will launch its first fleet of solar-powered drones into the sky as a part of its Project Titan program, he said.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Researchers develop the first-ever quantum device that detects and corrects its own errors*
*3 hours ago by Sonia Fernandez *





A photograph of the nine qubit device. The device conists of nine superconducting 'Xmon' transmon in a row. Qubits interact with their nearest neighbors to detect and correct errors. Credit: Julian Kelly


> When scientists develop a full quantum computer, the world of computing will undergo a revolution of sophistication, speed and energy efficiency that will make even our beefiest conventional machines seem like Stone Age clunkers by comparison.
> 
> But, before that happens, quantum physicists like the ones in UC Santa Barbara's physics professor John Martinis' lab will have to create circuitry that takes advantage of the marvelous computing prowess promised by the quantum bit ("qubit"), while compensating for its high vulnerability to environmentally-induced error.
> 
> In what they are calling a major milestone, the researchers in the Martinis Lab have developed quantum circuitry that self-checks for errors and suppresses them, preserving the qubits' state(s) and imbuing the system with the highly sought-after reliability that will prove foundational for the building of large-scale superconducting quantum computers.





Read more at: Researchers develop the first-ever quantum device that detects and corrects its own errors


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## ScienceRocks

* iSkin stickers could be used to control mobile devices *
By Ben Coxworth
March 4, 2015
2 Pictures





> While a wrist-worn smartwatch may be easier to access than a smartphone that has to be retrieved from a pocket, the things certainly have tiny screens. That could make them rather difficult to use for certain tasks, particularly ones where a larger interface area is needed. Well, that's where iSkin comes in. The experimental system allows users to control mobile devices using flexible, stretchable stickers that adhere to their skin.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Black phosphorus improves optical communication for chip interconnects*




> University of Minnesota researchers have found that an ultrathin black phosphorus film — only 20 layers of atoms — allows for high-speed data communication on nanoscale optical circuits. Black phosphorus is a crystaline form of the element phosphorus.
> The devices showed vast improvement in efficiency over comparable devices using graphene.
> The work by University of Minnesota Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Professors Mo Li and Steven Koester and graduate students Nathan Youngblood and Che Chen was published Monday March 2 in Nature Photonics.
> Chip-makers are attempting to cram more processor cores on a single chip, but getting all those processors to communicate with each other has been a key challenge for researchers. So the goal is to find materials that will allow high-speed, on-chip communication using light.


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## ScienceRocks

* Android 5.1 brings HD voice, dual SIM support and more *
By Will Shanklin





> It's been more than four months since Android 5.0 Lollipop launched alongside the Nexus 9 tablet, and today Google officially announced the first (somewhat) significant update to it, Android 5.1.


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Apple Watch ships April 24, 18k gold Edition starts at $10,000 *
By Will Shanklin
March 9, 2015
2 Comments
6 Pictures





> While the new MacBook may have been the freshest news out of Apple's "Spring Forward" event today, the main focus was, as expected, on the Apple Watch. The company broke down more details on pricing and release.


----------



## ScienceRocks

* New MacBook is neither "Air" nor "Pro," but brings the best of both *
By Will Shanklin
March 9, 2015
3 Comments
11 Pictures





> A MacBook Air redesign has been a long time coming, but today Apple delivered. No longer "Air," the new notebook is simply called "the new MacBook," and it looks like a big step forward for the product line.


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## ScienceRocks

*Glasses-free 3D display is made with tiny spherical lenses*



> One of the most common methods of creating the illusion of 3D is the autostereoscopic display, which is based on parallax: each eye is presented with a slightly different angle of a scene. Often this is done with many tiny microlenses, each projecting a small amount of light. Although this method has many advantages and is already being used in commercial products, such as the Nintendo 3DS, its narrow viewing angle is still a problem for expanding its use to larger displays.
> 
> In a new paper published in IEEE's _Journal of Display Technology_, researchers at Chengdu Technological University and Sichuan University, both in Chengdu, China, have addressed the narrow viewing angle problem by replacing the flat microlenses with microsphere lenses. They have built a prototype that demonstrates that the larger curvature of the spherical lenses increases the viewing angle from 20-30° to 32°, with a theoretical viewing angle of up to 90°.




Read more at: Glasses-free 3D display is made with tiny spherical lenses


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## longknife

Didn't link but saw articles where the new Apple Watch on has a *3 hour battery life!!!*


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## ScienceRocks

* Lyte to release Full HD video glasses *
By Stu Robarts
March 11, 2015
7 Pictures





> Fitness and fashion enthusiasts will have a new way to capture their lives later this year. British tech firm Lyte is releasing a new range of video-capturing eyewear. Fashion Glass and Sports Glass versions of the shades will be available.


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## ScienceRocks

* Review: Eyefi's Mobi Pro card can wirelessly send your RAW photos *
By Simon Crisp
March 12, 2015
15 Pictures





> Eyefi wireless SD cards have made it possible for cameras without built-in Wi-Fi to transfer images sans wires since 2007. However, the firm's recent Mobi cards forwent more advanced features in the name of simplicity and smartphone connectivity. The new Mobi Pro card promises to be just as easy to use, but also boasts higher-end features in a bid to appeal to enthusiast and professional photographers. We spent a bit of time with the Eyefi Mobi Pro ahead of its release to check it out.


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## ScienceRocks

*IBM to demonstrate first on-package silicon photonics*
*IBM to demonstrate first on-package silicon photonics ExtremeTech*


> One of the most tantalizing next-generation technologies that could dramatically reduce system power consumption and improve bandwidth is silicon photonics. This method of chip-to-chip communication uses silicon as an optical medium, and transmits data incredibly quickly with far better power consumption and thermals than traditional copper wires. Now, IBM is claiming to have advanced the technology a significant step by integrating a silicon photonic chip on the same package as a CPU.
> 
> To-date, silicon photonics has been a major research area for HPC and exascale computing operations, where the technology is seen as essential for the long-term progress of supercomputing.








> As this chart shows, hitting one exaflop (a goal DARPA head Bob Colwell thinks is unlikely in any case) will require far more bandwidth and much higher efficiency. We need photonic links that can offer orders of magnitude more connectivity at 1 mW per gigabit of bandwidth and at a cost of 2.5 cents per gigabit as compared to $10 today.


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## ScienceRocks

*China's Alibaba shows off pay-with-your-face technology at IT fair*
*1 hour ago by Romain Fonsegrives *




The founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group, Jack Ma, speaks during the official opening of the CeBIT technology fair in Hanover, Germany on March 15, 2015


> China's Internet tycoon Jack Ma, founder of giant online merchant Alibaba, gave a glimpse of the future when he demonstrated a new e-payment system using facial recognition at the CeBIT IT fair in Germany.





Read more at: China s Alibaba shows off pay-with-your-face technology at IT fair


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## ScienceRocks

* New optical fiber material could pave the way for computers that "think" *
By Dario Borghino
March 16, 2015
2 Pictures





> Researchers at the University of Southampton and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore have found that fiber optics can be used to build low-power, high-bandwidth artificial neurons that mimic their biological counterparts. Used inside a properly designed chip, this technology could lead to computers that think and learn like a human.


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## HenryBHough

When IBM sold out the pc line to China it unleashed inventiveness in ways never dreamed possible.

Recently one privately owned Chinese company was about to market an injectable computer but abandoned it when market research showed the limo liberals who could afford it would prefer one in suppository form.  They were already accustomed to getting their information out of each other's asses.


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## ScienceRocks

*Nvidia’s 2016 roadmap shows huge performance gains from upcoming Pascal architecture*

By Joel Hruska on March 17, 2015 at 4:29 pm
0 Comments



> At Nvidia’s keynote today to kick off GTC, CEO Jen-Hsun Huang spent most of his time discussing Nvidia’s various deep learning initiatives and pushing the idea of Tegra as integral to the self-driving car. He did, however, take time to introduce a new Titan X GPU — and to discuss the future of Nvidia’s roadmap.
> 
> When Nvidia’s next-generation GPU architecture arrives next year, codenamed Pascal, it’s going to pack a variety of performance improvements for scientific computing — though their impact on the gaming world is less clear.
> 
> 
> Let’s start at the beginning:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Pascal is Nvidia’s follow-up to Maxwell, and the first desktop chip to use TSMC’s 16nmFF+ (FinFET+) process. This is the second-generation follow-up to TSMC’s first FinFET technology — the first generation is expected to be available this year, while FF+ won’t ship until sometime next year. This confirms that Nvidia chose to skip 20nm — something we predicted nearly three years ago.


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## ScienceRocks

*Real-time holographic displays one step closer to reality*
*9 hours ago *




Rendered schematic of holographic pixels in operation showing switching states. Credit: Calum Williams


> Researchers from the University of Cambridge have designed a new type of pixel element and demonstrated its unique switching capability, which could make three-dimensional holographic displays possible.
> 
> Real-time dynamic holographic displays, long the realm of science fiction, could be one step closer to reality, after researchers from the University of Cambridge developed a new type of pixel element that enables far greater control over displays at the level of individual pixels. The results are published in the journal _Physica Status Solidi_.





Read more at: Real-time holographic displays one step closer to reality


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Samsung can put 128GB of storage in your low-cost phone*






 by Jon Fingas |  @jonfingas  | 5hrs ago







> Just because you're not splurging on a top-of-the-line smartphone doesn't mean that you have to settle for a tiny amount of storage. Samsung certainly thinks that way -- it just announced a 3-bits-per-cell flash memory chip that promises 128GB of storage in "mass market" (read: more affordable) mobile devices. It's based on the plain eMMC tech you see in most phones instead of the fast UFS format inside the Galaxy S6, but you probably won't complain about the speed when it can still read sequential data at a very respectable 260MB per second. The one catch? There's no word on when it'll be ready, so you may be waiting a while before you're carrying a budget phone with more drive space than some laptops.


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## ScienceRocks

* Amazon cleared to put its delivery drones to the test *
By Nick Lavars
March 19, 2015






> It's been more than a year in the making but it seems that the regulatory wheels are beginning to turn on Amazon's bold plan for drone delivery. The FAA has today granted the online retailer permission to start testing its unmanned aircraft as part of its Prime Air initiative. It does come with its share of caveats, however, so don't expect a box set to be plonked down on your doorstep anytime soon.


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## ScienceRocks

*Progress towards error correction in quantum computers *
Next Big Future Progress towards error correction in quantum computers


> The Google and UCSB researchers showed they could program groups of qubits—devices that represent information using fragile quantum physics—to detect certain kinds of error, and to prevent those errors from ruining a calculation. The new advance comes from researchers led by John Martinis, a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who last year joined Google to set up a quantum computing research lab.
> 
> Much quantum computing research focuses on trying to get systems of qubits to detect and fix errors. Martinis’s group has demonstrated a piece of one of the most promising schemes for doing this, an approach known as surface codes. The researchers programmed a chip with nine qubits so that they monitored one another for errors called “bit flips,” where environmental noise causes a 1 to flip to a 0 or vice versa. The qubits could not correct bit flips, but they could take action to ensure that they did not contaminate later steps of an operation


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## ScienceRocks

*Scientists invent new way to control light, critical for next gen of super fast computing*
*15 hours ago *





Honeycomb like lattice, which bends light. Credit: UCF


> A device resembling a plastic honeycomb yet infinitely smaller than a bee's stinger can steer light beams around tighter curves than ever before possible, while keeping the integrity and intensity of the beam intact.





Read more at: Scientists invent new way to control light critical for next gen of super fast computing


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Group creates light-emitting electrochemical cell for use in textiles*



> A large team of researchers in China has developed a type of light emitting electrochemical cell (LEC) that can be woven into fabric material. As the team notes in their paper published in the journal _Nature Photonics_, their cells can be used to create wearable electronics. Henk Bolink and Enrique Ortí with the University of Valencia in Spain, offer a News & Views piece on the work done by the team in the same journal issue.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ever since the development of OLEDs, researchers have been hot on the idea of using them to create wearable electronics, such as clothes that light up like an LED screen. But OLEDs proved too difficult to weave into fiber, which led researchers to LECs, which are essentially OLEDs with salt added to overcome some of the limitations of OLEDs. In this new effort the researchers in China have found a way to create LECs that are both strong enough and flexible enough to allow for weaving into textile fabrics.




Read more at: Group creates light-emitting electrochemical cell for use in textiles


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## ScienceRocks

* DuoPad adds touchscreen-like functionality to existing PCs *
By Dave LeClair
March 24, 2015
4 Pictures





> With Windows 8, and continuing into Windows 10, Microsoft has created an OS with a bit more of a touchscreen focus. As a solution, many computer makers are selling laptops and all-in-ones with touchscreens, but what about users who already have a computer? The DuoPad trackpad aims to bring a touchscreen-like feel to PCs in a way that is surprisingly cool.


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## ScienceRocks

* Leap Motion teams up with OSVR for motion-controlled virtual reality *
By Will Shanklin
March 25, 2015
2 Pictures





> Virtual reality is in an odd place right now. Countless companies are competing to one-up each other, adding features and upgrades to supposedly make their headsets stand out … but most of them are unreleased products. It's essentially unreleased beta hardware duking it out to score public perception points (and, by association, woo developers). Leap Motion and Razer's OSVR took the latest step in that game today.


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## HenryBHough

Intel has come up with a chip so powerful and so tiny that it can be built into an entire computer the size of one of these:






Small enough that liberals can easily abandon their tower cases, even laptops and simply insert their computer where it will work best - right up close to their brain!


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## ScienceRocks

*OSVR dev kit to carry optional faceplate with Leap Motion tech*
*1 hour ago by Nancy Owano 

*






> "3D Output Meets 3D Input," said Leap Motion, the software and hardware company focused on 3D motion-sensing technology, in its Wednesday announcement. Leap Motion and OSVR (Open Source Virtual Reality) announced that the OSVR Hacker Dev Kit will have an optional faceplate with Leap Motion's hardware and software embedded. OSVR, founded by Razer, is described as an "ecosystem" to set an open standard for Virtual Reality input devices, games and output. The kit is scheduled to begin shipping in June but developers can pre-order the HDK and the OSVR faceplate with Leap Motion through the OSVR web store in May.





Read more at: OSVR dev kit to carry optional faceplate with Leap Motion tech


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## ScienceRocks

* Olio aims for a more luxurious (and more expensive) brand of smartwatch, with the Model One *
By Will Shanklin
March 26, 2015
8 Pictures





> It looks like Pebble wasn't the only company to come up with a past/future based smartwatch UI. San Francisco-based startup Olio has its own take on a time-based wearable, with its sharp-looking new Olio Model One.


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## ScienceRocks

*Facebook's Laser Drones Could Bring Internet To 5 Billion People*
CBS Local  - ‎4 hours ago‎



> SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - Facebook showed off plans to provide internet to billions of people around the world using a solar-powered laser drone.


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## ScienceRocks

* Intel and Micron announce 3D NAND production, open gates to 10TB SSDs *
By  Matt Smith  —   March 26, 2015


> Capacity has always been an issue for solid state drives: Each chip is expensive, and there’s limited space on a drive to contain them. Recently, Samsung has tackled the problem with V-NAND, or vertical NAND, which stacks memory for greater storage capacities. Intel and Micron are getting into that game as well, and the solution they’ve come up with, called 3D NAND, is even denser.



Read more: Intel and Micron announce 3D NAND for 10TB solid state drives Digital Trends 
Follow us: @digitaltrends on Twitter | digitaltrendsftw on Facebook


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Google Working on Project to Let You Receive and Pay Bills Directly Inside Gmail*

Google Pony Express May Let You Receive Pay Bills Directly in Gmail Re code


> Google’s mission to organize the world’s information is now targeting your physical mailbox.
> 
> The company is currently working on a project that will allow Gmail users to more easily receive bills in their email inbox instead of their mailbox. Called Pony Express, the service also is designed to let people pay their bills within Gmail, rather than having to go to a telecom or utility company’s website to complete a payment.
> 
> Those details are outlined in a lengthy document viewed by *Re/code*. The new service is scheduled to start in the fourth quarter, according to the document. It’s not clear whether Pony Express is a code name or one that’ll be used if it comes to market. A Google spokeswoman declined to comment.


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## ScienceRocks

*Google Working on Project to Let You Receive and Pay Bills Directly Inside Gmail*

Google Pony Express May Let You Receive Pay Bills Directly in Gmail Re code


> Google’s mission to organize the world’s information is now targeting your physical mailbox.
> 
> The company is currently working on a project that will allow Gmail users to more easily receive bills in their email inbox instead of their mailbox. Called Pony Express, the service also is designed to let people pay their bills within Gmail, rather than having to go to a telecom or utility company’s website to complete a payment.
> 
> Those details are outlined in a lengthy document viewed by *Re/code*. The new service is scheduled to start in the fourth quarter, according to the document. It’s not clear whether Pony Express is a code name or one that’ll be used if it comes to market. A Google spokeswoman declined to comment.


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## ScienceRocks

*Google Working on Project to Let You Receive and Pay Bills Directly Inside Gmail*

Google Pony Express May Let You Receive Pay Bills Directly in Gmail Re code


> Google’s mission to organize the world’s information is now targeting your physical mailbox.
> 
> The company is currently working on a project that will allow Gmail users to more easily receive bills in their email inbox instead of their mailbox. Called Pony Express, the service also is designed to let people pay their bills within Gmail, rather than having to go to a telecom or utility company’s website to complete a payment.
> 
> Those details are outlined in a lengthy document viewed by *Re/code*. The new service is scheduled to start in the fourth quarter, according to the document. It’s not clear whether Pony Express is a code name or one that’ll be used if it comes to market. A Google spokeswoman declined to comment.


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## ScienceRocks

*Google unveils 'stick' computer with Asus*
*1 hour ago *






> Google and Taiwan's Asus are launching a "computer on a stick" which can plug into a display to turn it into a PC.
> 
> Google said in a blog post that the Asus Chromebit would be arriving mid-year with a low price tag.
> 
> "Smaller than a candy bar, the Chromebit is a full computer that will be available for less than $100," Google said.
> 
> "By simply plugging this device into any display, you can turn it into a computer. It's the perfect upgrade for an existing desktop and will be really useful for schools and businesses."
> 
> The statement offered no other details on the device, but Google also announced its lowest-cost Chromebook laptop computers at $149 in partnership with Chinese electronic groups Haier and Hisense.
> 
> With a display of 11.6 inches, the Haier computer is being sold through Amazon and the Hisense PC through Walmart.




Read more at: Google unveils stick computer with Asus


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## ScienceRocks

*Intel quietly launches 14nm Braswell, Bay Trail’s successor*
Intel quietly launches 14nm Braswell Bay Trail s successor ExtremeTech


> Intel has quietly launched its first 14nm Braswell cores this week. These new 14nm chips are the successor to Intel’s 22nm Bay Trail-D (meaning the Celeron / Pentium flavor of Bay Trail) and will target ultra-mobile systems and low-end desktop PCs. Just as Broadwell is a die-shrink of Haswell, Braswell is Bay Trail’s die shrink — which means the 14nm “Airmont” CPU core inside the SoC isn’t expected to offer dramatically new features or other capabilities compared with its predecessor. Increased efficiency, lower TDPs, and better thermals are the order of the day. Intel’s Cherry Trail, which will debut later this year, will offer the same silicon in a tablet power envelope.
> 
> According to CPU-World, the new chips will ship in 2-4 core configurations. The big change to Braswell is the inclusion of Generation 8 graphics support. Its Bay Trail predecessor’s GPU technology was derived from Ivy Bridge at a time when Haswell was already shipping. This means that Braswell skipped the Haswell graphics generation altogether — Intel has effectively standardized its graphics capabilities between its Atom and Core product families.


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## ScienceRocks

*Scientists create quick-charging hybrid supercapacitors*
*19 minutes ago by Shaun Mason *




The new hybrid supercapacitor developed at UCLA stores large amounts of energy, recharges quickly and can last for more than 10,000 recharge cycles. Credit: UCLA California NanoSystems Institute


> The dramatic rise of smartphones, tablets, laptops and other personal and portable electronics has brought battery technology to the forefront of electronics research. Even as devices have improved by leaps and bounds, the slow pace of battery development has held back technological progress.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Now, researchers at UCLA's California NanoSystems Institute have successfully combined two nanomaterials to create a new energy storage medium that combines the best qualities of batteries and supercapacitors.
> 
> Supercapacitors are electrochemical components that can charge in seconds rather than hours and can be used for 1 million recharge cycles. Unlike batteries, however, they do not store enough power to run our computers and smartphones.



Read more at: Scientists create quick-charging hybrid supercapacitors


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Microsoft's Project Spartan web browser *
By Brian Burgess
April 1, 2015
7 Pictures





> Microsoft promised a new streamlined web browser in Windows 10 that will effectively replace Internet Explorer. It's codenamed Project Spartan, and the first version is now available in the latest build of the Windows 10 technical preview. Here's a look at what to expect.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Samsung Galaxy S6: Early impressions*
By Will Shanklin
Samsung Galaxy S6 Early impressions


Image Gallery (11 images)


> The Galaxy S6 is Samsung's most aggressive step forward yet in the mobile space. Though we aren't ready to publish our full review, we have some early thoughts on our experience of using the GS6.
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> View all
> We've seen some outstanding smartphones in the last six months or so – to the degree that a solid all-around phone like the HTC One M9 felt like a disappointment. We're still forming our impressions of the Galaxy S6, but we can assure you that "disappointing" isn't going to be on the list.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The Galaxy S6's build is both an exciting step forward and a little concerning. It's beautiful: made of glass on the back and aluminum on the sides. To compare it to the Galaxy S5's build (with its dimpled plastic back and plastic sides) would be a joke. On a design level, it's in a completely different echelon from every other mobile product Samsung has made.
> 
> But its aluminum edges, particularly the top and bottom (above), look _a lot_ like those of the iPhone 6. Its front and back, mind you, look nothing like Apple's flagship. It's more the rounded edges, along with the placement and styling of the charging port, headphone port and speakers that look _very_ iPhone 6-esque.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The Galaxy S6 is pleasantly light in hand, especially for a premium phone. The screen size isn't enormous – this falls well short of being a phablet – but the 5.1-in screen is still 18 percent bigger than that of its rival/muse, the iPhone 6.
> 
> The screen quality is nothing short of outstanding. We've seen several Quad HD displays in the last year, and they all look awesome. But none of them were crunched into a display this size. Its 577 pixels per inch density is off-the-charts. Prepare your eyes for what's probably the best mobile display they've ever seen.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Comcast speeds past Google Fiber with symmetrical 2Gbps service*



> Comcast may be evil incarnate in some ways, but it’s also rolling out some seriously fast hardware. Today the company announced that 2Gbps fiber service will be available to 1.5 million Atlanta customers beginning this month. Called Gigabit Pro, Comcast claims it’s the fastest available in the country for home users, and will deliver 2Gbps both down and up.
> 
> That puts it ahead of Google’s own 1Gbps symmetrical fiber service — or AT&T’s in Kansas City, if you let them spy on you for the privilege of paying them for their own product. Google plans to roll out its own service to 34 new cities in 2015, although we’re still waiting for _someone_ to launch gigabit fiber in big ones like San Francisco, New York City, Seattle, and Boston.
> 
> “Gigabit Pro is a professional-grade residential fiber-to-the-home solution that leverages our fiber network to deliver 2 Gbps upload and download speeds. We’ve spent a decade building a national fiber backbone across 145,000 route miles of fiber” in advance of the launch, the company wrote. It adds that the new service will require professional installation, and that the company plans to reach 18 million homes by the end of the year.



Comcast speeds past Google Fiber with symmetrical 2Gbps service ExtremeTech


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Drexel University library installs new iPad rental vending machine*
 Lindsey Caldwell   |   Apr 2, 2015
0





> In a partnership with the Free Library of Philadelphia, Drexel University is launching an iPad vending machine for students and local residents. The last time most of us went to the library was in our student days in college. Even then, the quiet atmosphere was more attractive than the stacks of books. Librarians are acquainting themselves with the fact that students are still reading, but much of it is coming from digital sources and sitting in an uncomfortable chair at a library desktop computer isn't going to cut it, when it comes to digital literacy.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Computers that mimic the function of the brain*
*2 hours ago by Amanda Morris *





GB migration. Credit: _Nature Nanotechnology_ (2015) doi:10.1038/nnano.2015.56


> Researchers are always searching for improved technologies, but the most efficient computer possible already exists. It can learn and adapt without needing to be programmed or updated. It has nearly limitless memory, is difficult to crash, and works at extremely fast speeds. It's not a Mac or a PC; it's the human brain. And scientists around the world want to mimic its abilities.
> 
> Both academic and industrial laboratories are working to develop computers that operate more like the human brain. Instead of operating like a conventional, digital system, these new devices could potentially function more like a network of neurons.
> 
> "Computers are very impressive in many ways, but they're not equal to the mind," said Mark Hersam, the Bette and Neison Harris Chair in Teaching Excellence in Northwestern University's McCormick School of Engineering. "Neurons can achieve very complicated computation with very low power consumption compared to a digital computer."





Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-04-mimic-function-brain.html#jCp


----------



## ScienceRocks

*WiFi Calling offers coverage for UK homes, small offices*
*30 minutes ago by Nancy Owano weblog*






EE on Tuesday announced the launch of WiFi Calling to make calls and texts available in every home and small office in the UK. The launch could have a positive economic impact on productivity. This, said the company, will benefit over 4 million people across the UK who lose connection in at least one room in their home. Research carried out by ICM on behalf of EE in March (a poll of 2,000 adults) found almost one in ten people have one room or more in their home where they have no mobile connectivity. This increases to 15 percent for people in rural and semi-rural areas.


Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-04-wifi-coverage-uk-homes-small.html#jCp

Time for America to do this.


----------



## ScienceRocks

Instagram adds new color tools for tweaking photos
By Emily Price







> Now you can get a bit more creative with your Instagram photos thanks to two new creative tools: Color and Fade. The feature is available now for Android users, and will be headed to iOS in a few days.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*At Least One State has a (Fiber) Backbone: Connecticut To Become First 'Gigabit State'*


> Talk about your labor-saving, productivity-enhancing inventions — dozens of Connecticut towns are now on a path towards installing wholesale fiber networks connecting all homes and businesses. And those flinty Yankees won’t be paying for the installation of these open access networks themselves, because fiber, with its predictable up-front cost and steady returns, is an excellent longterm investment for private companies. Meanwhile, any ISP will be able to use these networks to sell service directly to homes and businesses.
> 
> Result: world-class connectivity at low prices for Connecticut residents in towns across the state — including in rural areas where getting online is a struggle. As Elin Katz, the Consumer Counsel of the State of Connecticut, puts it, “It’s like building the road — and anyone can drive their cars on it."



Hopefully it makes it to Oregon soon.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Research team develops 'smart' window*
*8 minutes ago by Evan Lerner *




This illustration shows how a full-sized “smart” window could switch from transparent to an opaque pattern, via a motorized stretcher hidden in the frame. Credit: Jenny Sabin


> Commonplace as they are, windows are an important piece of technology. Beyond architectural aesthetics, a building's ecological footprint depends heavily on how its internal light and heat are managed. With this in mind, researchers from around the world are trying to make windows "smarter" by tailoring their properties to be more responsive and finely tuned to changing needs.





Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-04-team-smart-window.html#jCp


----------



## ScienceRocks

Review: Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
By Will Shanklin
April 8, 2015
16 Pictures





> In our review, we picked the Galaxy S6 as the best smartphone you can buy today. But how does its curved-screen sibling fit into the picture? Join Gizmag, as we walk you through the minor – but stunning – differences in the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Graphene looking promising for future spintronic devices*
*2 hours ago *



Enlarge
The researchers fabricated the spintronics devices at the Nano fabrication laboratory at Chalmers University of Technology. From left: Saroj Prasad Dash, Venkata Kamalakar Mutta and André Dankert. Credit: Oscar Mattsson


> Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology have discovered that large area graphene is able to preserve electron spin over an extended period, and communicate it over greater distances than had previously been known. This has opened the door for the development of spintronics, with an aim to manufacturing faster and more energy-efficient memory and processors in computers. The findings will be published in the journal _Nature Communications_.





Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-04-graphene-future-spintronic-devices.html#jCp


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Tape storage milestone demonstrates record in areal density of 123 billion bits per square inch*
*37 minutes ago *


> FUJIFILM Corporation announced that in conjunction with IBM, a new record in areal data density of 123 billion bits per square inch on linear magnetic particulate tape has been achieved. This breakthrough in data density equates to a standard LTO cartridge capable of storing up to 220 terabytes of uncompressed data. 220TB is more than 88 times the storage capacity of the current LTO Ultrium 6 tape. A tape of this size can preserve the human genome of 220 people on a single cartridge. This is the highest capacity storage media ever announced, including HDD, BD and solid memory NAND flash. This is the 4th time in less than 10 years that Fujifilm and IBM have accomplished record breaking storage capacities on tape.





Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-04-tape-storage-milestone-areal-density.html#jCp


----------



## ScienceRocks

DARPA strengthens lines of communication with digital close air support system test
By David Szondy
April 10, 2015
3 Pictures






> Since the First World War, airplanes have acted as Close Air Support (CAS) for infantry, though it's been a rocky marriage marked by poor communications and difficult teamwork. DARPA's Persistent Close Air Support (PCAS) project aims to improve coordination between air and ground forces by means of a digital system that works up to seven times faster than regular paper maps and voice radio instructions, and with greater accuracy.


----------



## ScienceRocks

SkyOrbiter internet drone completes maiden test flight
By Stu Robarts
April 10, 2015
8 Pictures






> A Portuguese company that wants to use drones to provide internet access to offline areas of the world has completed its first test flight. Quarkson plans to use solar-powered SkyOrbiter drones that will stay airborne for weeks, months or even years at a time and will fly at altitudes of up to 22,000 ft (6,700 m).


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Electrical control of quantum bits in silicon paves the way to large quantum computers*


> A UNSW-led research team has encoded quantum information in silicon using simple electrical pulses for the first time, bringing the construction of affordable large-scale quantum computers one step closer to reality.




Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-04-electrical-quantum-bits-silicon-paves.html#jCp


----------



## percysunshine

.

Nostalgia is fun;

Dark Roasted Blend Early Supercomputers A Visual Overview


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Intel, Cray to collaborate on $200M supercomputer deal*
Intel Cray to collaborate on 200M supercomputer deal ExtremeTech


> Cray has announced it’s entered a massive deal with Intel to build a new machine capable of reaching up to 180 petaflops. Current peak performance of the Tianhe-2, the most powerful supercomputer on the planet as of last November’s Top500 list, is just 54.9 petaflops. The massive new system will be built at the Argonne National Laboratory and are part of a joint collaboration between that facility, Oak Ridge, and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
> 
> The deal in question is actually for a pair of systems. The flagship supercomputer, Aurora, will be based on Cray’s “Shasta” architecture and will integrate Intel’s HPC framework. In practice, this means Xeon processors as CPUs and the successor to Knights Landing, Knights Hill. Little is known about Knights Hill — it isn’t expected until 2017 at the earliest, with a 10nm process, likely a modified Atom core (the upcoming Knights Landing will use a tweaked version of Intel’s 14nm Airmont).


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Researchers enhance spintronics using graphene*'

Researchers enhance spintronics using graphene ExtremeTech


> It’s become increasingly clear in recent years that current methods of scaling and developing next-generation computer processors aren’t capable of restoring historic trends. While work continues on extending current technologies, many researchers and corporations have turned their attention to alternate methods and concepts for computing. One such alternative is spintronics — and while it’s proven exceedingly difficult to adapt for computer processors, new data suggests graphene might hold the key to solving some of these problems.


----------



## ScienceRocks

DARPA wants to make software obsolescence obsolete
By David Szondy
April 11, 2015






> One unfortunate fact of modern life is that functional new software becomes non-functional old software with depressing regularity. For most people, this means predictable episodes of frustration, but for the US military, it's a more serious problem. DARPA's new Building Resource Adaptive Software Systems (BRASS) project aims to take a major shot at avoiding this obsolescence by developing software systems that can still operate properly a hundred years from now.


----------



## ScienceRocks

* IBM sets new tape storage record *
By David Szondy
April 13, 2015
6 Pictures





> For many people, tape memory is a dead technology found only on reel-to-reel computers in old 1960s movies. However, it’s still a major storage medium and a new breakthrough by IBM Research and Fuji Film has produced a low-cost particulate magnetic tape with a record density of 123 billion bits of uncompressed data per square inch, which represents 88 times more capacity than 2012's LTO-6 tape cartridge


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Samsung, Nvidia may collaborate on 14nm GPUs — but on what type of silicon?*

*Samsung Nvidia may collaborate on 14nm GPUs but on what type of silicon ExtremeTech*



> Samsung’s foundry is having a darn good 2015. The Samsung Galaxy S6’s Exynos 7420 is the first chip built on the 14nm process, and early reviews suggest that the company’s decision to wait for its own homegrown solution instead of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 paid off. With multiple companies, including Qualcomm and (it’s rumored) Apple itself tapping Samsung for their 14nm needs, the manufacturing arm of the Korean giant is set to have a banner year. It’s natural, therefore, to see a headline talking up an Nvidia-Samsung GPU collaboration and think “Hey, that could totally happen.”
> 
> According to the Korea Times, Samsung has won a contract to manufacture GPUs for Nvidia. That publication quotes a source as saying: “The latest agreement between Samsung and Nvidia is another positive factor lifting Samsung’s logic chip business unit. The timing looks good as increased foundry customers justify the Korean chip giant’s moves to find new revenue sources.” The source then goes on to claim that the deal is worth “a few million dollars.”
> 
> It’s possible that this is a translation error, or that the deal in question is merely for early pilot production. But we believe a Samsung-Nvidia deal is dubious for several reasons. In addition to the low dollar value specified in the Korea Times story — “a few million” dollars would barely pay for initial design work, much less any major product ramp — there are questions of timing and fundamental process suitability.
> 
> *Which 14nm node?*
> Samsung has two 14nm nodes: 14nm LPE and 14nm LPP. 14nm LPE stands for “Low Power Early,” and promises improved power consumption and performance, but the cream of the crop will arrive later, with 14nm LPP (Laser-Produced Plasma) and a further 15% improvement. Critically, however, both of these are low-power nodes with a specific focus on SoCs and IoT (Internet of Things) types of devices. To date, no manufacturer has announced that they intend to build a high-power product on a Samsung process node, and Samsung has no experience in building that kind of hardware.
> 
> Now, one might ask — what about GlobalFoundries? GF, after all, has at least some limited experience in building GPUs thanks to its work on Kaveri, Carrizo, and socketed Kabini. It also knows something about building chips that consume up to 140W thanks to its CPU work with AMD. While all these things are true, they don’t change the fact that GloFo’s 14nm process technology is a straight-up port of Samsung’s work — GF’s own 14nm-XM tech is off the table and under the rug.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Electrically controlling quantum bits in silicon may lead to large quantum computers*
*April 15, 2015*
*[+]*




> A UNSW-led research team has encoded quantum information in silicon using simple electrical pulses for the first time, bringing the construction of affordable large-scale quantum computers one step closer to reality.



*A video camera that powers itself*
Could lead to a future self-powered digital watch with camera?
*April 15, 2015*
*[+]*




> A prototype self-powered video camera that can produce an image every second of a well-lit indoor scene has been invented by a research team led by Shree K. Nayar, T.C. Chang Professor of Computer Science at Columbia Engineering.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*IBM creates a research group to test Numenta, a brain-like AI software*


> IBM has established a research group in San Jose, Calif., to work on what could be the next big thing in artificial intelligence software. This news came on April 8 after 100 people were assigned to the project, according to the MIT Technology Review. The IBM team will work on algorithms created by Jeff Hawkins, founder of Numenta.
> Hawkins spent time creating a theory to explain the inner workings of the human brain, and then applied the concepts to a software blueprint. His algorithms operate in a network, aimed at recreating the behavior of repeating circuits of about 100 neurons in the brain. These neurons can be found on the outer layer of the brain in the neocortex.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*OWC Envoy Pro Mini SSD USB released, 120GB to 480GB*
 Lindsey Caldwell   |   Apr 16, 2015
0





> Other World Computing (OWC) launched its latest collection of thumb-sized solid state drives (SSD) today at an industry trade show in Las Vegas. OWC's Envoy Pro mini SSD utilizes a USB 3.0 port and can run on Mac, PC or Linux. The biggest point that sets SSD drives apart from traditional USB drives is the transfer speed. This OWC model can sustain speeds of up to 433 Mb/s and has a max speed of 500 Mb/s.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Mobile wallets more popular in Sub-Saharan Africa than anywhere else*







 by Mariella Moon |  @mariella_moon | 4hrs ago



> In Sub-Saharan Africa, mobile wallets are a huge deal. While it's been that way for years, the World Bank's latest Global Financial Inclusion database gives us solid details on just how prevalent they are in the region. According to the report, 12 percent of adults (64 million) in the area have mobile wallets or what Africans call "mobile money accounts," which aren't connected to banks. Half of those people have traditional bank accounts, but the half rely solely on their phones for their financial needs. It seems to be especially popular in Kenya, where 58 percent of adults access their money through a mobile device.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Startups put digital technology in the grocery aisles*
*1 hour ago by Kathleen Gallagher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel *



> Mike Hansen, a resident of this small, southeastern Wisconsin town, got a computer six years ago but has yet to set up an online connection.
> 
> Hansen, however, has started borrowing an iPad from the service desk at a nearby Piggly Wiggly store to do his weekly grocery shopping.
> 
> The attraction: an app the grocer makes available to its customers. It gives them savings and loyalty points while they're shopping and provides valuable data to the grocer and product manufacturers.





Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-04-startups-digital-technology-grocery-aisles.html#jCp

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-04-startups-digital-technology-grocery-aisles.html#jCp


----------



## ScienceRocks

*DARPA Cortical Modem connects brain directly to computer for 'electronic telepathy and telekinesis'*




> A brain-computer interface has been developed by the US Defence Research Projects Agency (DARPA) that is capable of laying a heads-up display over a user's natural vision.
> The "cortical modem" also holds the potential to cure sight loss and enable "electronic telepathy and telekinesis" according to noted futurist Peter Rothman, writing for H+ Magazine.
> While still a long way from production, the direct neural interface (DNI) chip would be shaped like a coin, around 1cm wide, and could conceivably cost as little as $10 (£6.50).
> As outlined at the Biology is Technology conference in Silicon Valley last week, the interface provides a direct link between the brain and an external device or software through manipulation of the visual cortex.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*In 2017, Norway will be first country to shut down FM radio*

April 19, 2015


> Norway will shut down FM radio in the country beginning in 2017, Radio.no reports. The Norwegian Ministry of Culture finalized a shift date this week, making it the first country to do away with FM radio entirely. The country plans to transition to Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) as a national standard.





http://www.theverge....d-fm-radio-2017


----------



## ScienceRocks

Camlet Mount connects a smartphone or tablet to your DSLR
By Emily Price
April 19, 2015
13 Pictures






> The integration of cameras in smartphones and tablets has seen many become accustomed to the oversized viewfinder provided by such mobile devices. But such devices can't compete with dedicated DSLRs or mirrorless cameras when it comes to image quality and features, which is why Vancouver-based Camlet Products and New York-based IC Art NY have created the Camlet Mount to connect a mobile device to your camera.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Chipless tracker could transform barcode industry*
*18 minutes ago *






> Barcodes on packaged goods could soon be a thing of the past with the rapid expansion of chipless tags, and Monash University researchers are at the forefront of developing this technology.





Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-04-chipless-tracker-barcode-industry.html#jCp


----------



## longknife

Matthew said:


> *In 2017, Norway will be first country to shut down FM radio*
> 
> April 19, 2015
> 
> 
> 
> Norway will shut down FM radio in the country beginning in 2017, Radio.no reports. The Norwegian Ministry of Culture finalized a shift date this week, making it the first country to do away with FM radio entirely. The country plans to transition to Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) as a national standard.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.theverge....d-fm-radio-2017
Click to expand...


Digital Audio Broadcasting - all over Europe and Asia. Why not here in the USA or Canada or Mexico? Are we falling behind on this? Or is it something the FCC is blocking?


----------



## ScienceRocks

longknife said:


> Matthew said:
> 
> 
> 
> *In 2017, Norway will be first country to shut down FM radio*
> 
> April 19, 2015
> 
> 
> 
> Norway will shut down FM radio in the country beginning in 2017, Radio.no reports. The Norwegian Ministry of Culture finalized a shift date this week, making it the first country to do away with FM radio entirely. The country plans to transition to Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) as a national standard.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.theverge....d-fm-radio-2017
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Digital Audio Broadcasting - all over Europe and Asia. Why not here in the USA or Canada or Mexico? Are we falling behind on this? Or is it something the FCC is blocking?
Click to expand...



We don't have the political will to do such things...It would take a government that was willing to do it. Certain anti-government people would go wild.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Netflix Is Betting Its Future on Exclusive Programming *


> “We’ve had 80 years of linear TV, and it’s been amazing, and in its day the fax machine was amazing,” he said. “The next 20 years will be this transformation from linear TV to Internet TV.”
> 
> Netflix shares soared about 25 percent last week on news that it had added a record 4.9 million subscribers in the first quarter of 2015, bringing its total number of paid streaming subscribers to 59.6 million. The company beat expectations for growth and gave investors reason to believe that it still has much more room to grow.
> 
> “Think about the simplistic equation: More good content equals more viewing, more viewing means more subscribers, more subscribers means money to spend on more programming, which means more subscribers,” said Rich Greenfield, an analyst with BTIG Research. “It is a virtuous cycle.”




Make more science programs and stay away from bullshit!


----------



## ScienceRocks

Sony's Xperia Z4 flagship is a slight spec bump over the Z3
By David Nield
April 20, 2015
3 Pictures





> We've already seen Samsung's and HTC's high-end handsets for 2015, and now Sony has joined the party. The Xperia Z4 offers a small specs bump and a similar design to last year's Xperia Z3, as well as a front-facing camera designed to make your 'selfie' shots the best they can be.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Now You Can Download Your Google History—Or Better Yet, Delete It*

2

Sean Hollister and 23 others





> You can now download your entire Google search history to your computer. Sound neat? That’s what I thought at first. And then I realized there were dangerous things in my search history—things way worse than my taste in porn.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*AT&T finally brings its gigabit internet to Chicago's suburbs*






 by Edgar Alvarez |  @abcdedgar | 1hr ago






> Back in October of last year, we learned about AT&T's plans to launch its 1Gbps fiber network, GigaPower, in cities like Chicago. And today, more than six months after the original announcement, the company's finally flipping the switch in some areas of The Windy City -- including Elgin, Oswego, Plainfield, Skokie, Yorkville and other "surrounding communities." The U-Verse gigabit internet will be available as a standalone service _and_ as a bundle with a cable or phone package, with prices ranging from $90 to $150 per month, depending on your selection. If you're not in any of the aforementioned zones of coverage, fret not -- AT&T says it will be expanding the service across Chicago later this summer.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Sony’s new sound bars, receivers tout 4K support, Google Cast*
 JC Torres   |   Apr 20, 2015
0






> These days, speakers are just as sophisticated and talented as the TVs and components they are connected to. What's more, they are no longer simply tethered by wires and cables and have become part of a growing connected family of appliances. Today, Sony is adding six more members to that family: four sound bars and two AV receivers. Boasting more than just high-quality audio components that Sony is known for, these audio products also bring along the ability to play protected 4K content as well as support for Google's hottest streaming feature, Google Cast.


----------



## ScienceRocks

New invention expands Wi-Fi bandwidth tenfold
By Colin Jeffrey
April 21, 2015
3 Pictures






> The vast range of Wi-Fi-enabled devices available today means that anyone could have several personal electronic devices all trying to connect to a network simultaneously. Multiply this by many hundreds of people in a busy public place with Wi-Fi connectivity and this often means that available bandwidth is greatly reduced. To help address this problem, researchers at Oregon State University claim to have invented a new system called WiFO that incorporates infrared LEDs to boost the available Wi-Fi bandwidth by as much as ten times.


----------



## ScienceRocks

Wearable electronics forecasts smartwatches passing activity trackers in popularity in   






> The NDP Group projects that 2016 activity tracker ownership will have peaked at 32 million in 2016 while nine percent of US consumers will own a smartwatch. The eventual decline of the activity tracker is part of larger trends around miniaturization and ubiquity. Smaller, cheaper chips can be integrated into more products and clothing, “enabling...


----------



## ScienceRocks

Oomi smart home system needs no smartphone
By Dave LeClair
April 22, 2015
6 Pictures






> Let's face it, there's no shortage of smart home systems designed to connect everything in your home and make things easier to control. For example, both the Ninja Sphere and Revolv have recently made waves. With so many launching all the time, it takes a lot to make one stand out, but Oomi has found a way to make everyone stand up and take notice. It's promising to redefine the smart home by taking the smartphone out of the equation, and by making it quick and easy to set up and get going.


----------



## ScienceRocks

Haptics system could transmit emotions via users' hands
By Ben Coxworth
April 22, 2015






We've already seen interactive technologies that create smells or tactile sensations on command. Now, however, British scientists have developed a system that they claim can be used to make users experience specific _emotions_ – and it does so without even touching the person.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Google wants to turn your home’s walls into screens* 




> Right now, staring at the walls is synonymous with boredom, but what if technology could transform them into more than just load-bearing structures?
> 
> A patent awarded to Google on April 21 suggests that day is coming. The search-engine giant has outlined a projection system that can display images on a painted wall, using photo-reactive paint, according to Quartz. It may not sound remarkable at first, but when you consider the fact that a standard wall could be turned into a digital display, it all becomes a bit futuristic.
> 
> The projector would emit a beam of light that produces a “theme,” according to Google’s patent. When the light hits the wall, the paint would change into something similar to a screensaver or desktop wallpaper. A computer or smartphone would be used to control the technology. The wall itself would work like “e-ink,” changing only when the user projects a new image.





Read more: http://www.digitaltrends.com/home/google-gets-patent-to-turn-walls-into-screens/#ixzz3Y5FN1ees 
Follow us: @digitaltrends on Twitter | digitaltrendsftw on Facebook


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Google launches its own mobile telephone service*


> Google said Wednesday it was launching its own US mobile wireless service, with considerable potential savings for customers using their devices at home and for international travel.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*New e-paper can be written on like a whiteboard*
New e-paper can be written on like a whiteboard


> By repurposing and updating an e-paper technology from the 1970s, researchers from the University of Tokyo have created a cheap but tough new electronic display that can be written on with a magnet. This new e-paper could be used in low-cost, lightweight electronic whiteboards as well as traditional classroom blackboards, and its creators hope that it will eventually reduce our dependence on real paper.
> 
> The e-paper came about by modernizing a technology created in the 1970s called "twisting ball displays." The twisting ball part of the name comes from how bicolored microparticles move around on an elastic silicone sheet when sandwiched between two parallel electrodes. The particles change color and exhibit different charge properties in each hemisphere, and this causes them to rotate in the same direction as the electric field. If you change the direction of the voltage, the display changes color.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Graphene champions the next generation 3D display technology*


> Moving holograms like those used in 3D science fiction movies such as Avatar and Elysium have to date only been seen in their full glory by viewers wearing special glasses.
> Now researchers at Swinburne University of Technology have shown the capacity of a technique using graphene oxide and complex laser physics to create a pop-up floating display without the need for 3D glasses.
> 
> Graphene is a two dimensional carbon material with extraordinary electronic and optical properties that offers a new material platform for next-generation nanophototonic devices.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Team develops faster, higher quality 3-D camera*
*49 minutes ago by Amanda Morris *




Enlarge


> When Microsoft released the Kinect for Xbox in November 2010, it transformed the video game industry. The most inexpensive 3-D camera to date, the Kinect bypassed the need for joysticks and controllers by sensing the user's gestures, leading to a feeling of total immersion into the game. Microsoft sold 8 million Kinect units within 60 days, making it the fastest-selling electronic device ever.





Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-04-team-faster-higher-quality-d.html#jCp


----------



## ScienceRocks

*New WiFi system uses LED lights to boost bandwidth tenfold*



> Researchers at Oregon State University have invented a new technology called WiFiFO (WiFi Free space Optic) that can increase the bandwidth of WiFi systems by 10 times, using optical transmission via LED lights.
> 
> The technology could be integrated with existing WiFi systems to reduce bandwidth problems in crowded locations, such as airport terminals or coffee shops, and in homes where several people have multiple WiFi devices.
> 
> Experts say that recent advances in LED technology have made it possible to modulate the LED light more rapidly, opening the possibility of using light for wireless transmission in a “free space” optical communication system.


----------



## ScienceRocks

Hands Omni haptic glove lets gamers feel virtual objects
By Richard Moss
April 27, 2015
5 Pictures






> While virtual reality has progressed leaps and bounds in the past few years, with motion-based inputs and a plethora of promising VR headsets close on the horizon, our ability to actually feel what we see in virtual worlds remains limited – especially in the consumer space. But a team of engineering students at Rice University is trying to solve this problem with a haptic glove that lets you feel virtual objects and environments like they're actually there.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Affordable, Light-Speed Supercomputer One Step Closer*



> An affordable supercomputer which works at the speed of light, can fit on a desk, run on a domestic power supply and help solve some of humanity's biggest problems is one step closer to becoming a reality.
> 
> Speaking exclusively to Newsweek, the company behind the development of an optical processor, Optalysys, has announced a working prototype, which uses laser-beams refracted through liquid crystal displays to compute mathematical functions at light-speed.
> 
> However, the prototype model isn’t hitting supercomputer speeds just yet - it’s currently just a little more powerful than a Playstation 3. Optalysys plans on delivering processors that are more powerful than today’s fifth fastest computers by 2017, which will be used  for projects requiring the analysis of vast amounts of data, ranging from weather forecasting to genome sequencing. By 2020 it wants to deliver a computer 500 times faster than the current fastest in the world, Tianhe 2.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Optalysys prototype proves optical processing technology will revolutionise Big Data analysis and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)*



> Cambridge UK optical processing business Optalysys Ltd, has announced that they have successfully developed a demonstrable prototype that can process mathematical functions optically in a scaleable, lensless design.
> 
> Optalysys optical processing systems will “turbo-charge” existing computers by performing processor-intensive tasks at much faster rates and with a significant reduction in energy consumption. The prototype is portable and has a footprint similar to a desktop computer. The technology has the potential to achieve Exascale processing levels by 2020.
> 
> Optalysys CEO, Dr. Nick New, explains. “Until now, meaningful optical processing technology has been impractical for a number of reasons. Advancements in liquid crystal technology now permit numerical data to be dynamically entered into an optical system at high speeds and resolutions. Several additional breakthroughs by the Optalysys team have resulted in a patented lensless design which is easily aligned to within a few microns.”


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Novel polarization forms promise to radically increase data speeds*

_*New technique allows data transmitted on a single laser beam to be scaled to terabits or even petabits*_



> As the world’s exponentially growing demand for digital data slows down the Internet and cell phone communication, City College of New York researchers may have just figured out a dramatic new way to increase transmission speed.
> “Conventional methods of data transmission [that] use light … are being exhausted by data-hungry technologies, such as smart phones and cloud computing,” said Giovanni Milione, a PhD student under City College Distinguished Professor of Science and Engineering Robert Alfano, who led the pioneering experiment conducted at the University of Southern California with collaborators from Corning Incorporated, Scotland, Italy and Canada.
> “So we came up with an unconventional method.”


----------



## ScienceRocks

Sharetable "desktop" computer puts a PC and a second screen inside your desk
By Richard Moss
April 29, 2015
6 Pictures





> Sharetable is all about simplifying interactions around a computer. Instead of having two people grappling for control, with awkward exchanges of mouse and keyboard and adjustments of screen position, it's designed to let two people work together more elegantly. Its approach is, in essence, to mirror or extend the screen across two displays on the same desk. But there's more to it. For starters, the computer is embedded in the desk. And so is one of the screens.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Scientists achieve critical steps to building first practical quantum computer*


> IBM scientists today unveiled two critical advances towards the realization of a practical quantum computer. For the first time, they showed the ability to detect and measure both kinds of quantum errors simultaneously, as well as demonstrated a new, square quantum bit circuit design that is the only physical architecture that could successfully scale to larger dimensions.



Layout of IBM's four superconducting quantum bit device. Using a square lattice, IBM is able to detect both types of quantum errors for the first time. This is the best configuration to add more qubits to scale to larger systems. Credit: IBM Research



http://phys.org/news...al-quantum.html


----------



## ScienceRocks

Apple Watch review: Elegant, delightful ... and completely optional
By Will Shanklin
April 29, 2015
25 Pictures






> After more than two years' worth of rumors, the Apple Watch is finally here. As the company's most closely-watched launch in five years, can it follow the Sasquatch-sized footprints of the iPod, iPhone and iPad? Join Gizmag, as we review the Apple Watch.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*HoloLens promo video gives a glimpse of early prototypes*




 by Richard Lawler |  @Rjcc | 3hrs ago







> During Microsoft's Build 2015 event earlier today it displayed a "Closer look at the hardware" promo video for its HoloLens AR headset. It's the normal fluff and info we're expecting about augmented reality, but as _RoadtoVR_ points out, there are a few brief glimpses at earlier versions of the headset in there too, plus a look at the current unit blown apart so you can see what's inside. They're similar to the Google Glass prototypes we saw during its run up to the Explorer model, and give us an idea of how hard it is to shove all that hardware into something that might fit on a human face. Of course, it doesn't bring us immediately closer to Windows Holographic experiences in real life, but until we get our hands on one just appreciating the headset's history and technology will have to do.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*3 atom-thick transistor promises ultra-thin electronics*




 by Andrew Tarantola |  @terrortola | 5hrs ago






> Researchers from Cornell University announced a breakthrough in transistor technology in the latest issue of the journal, _Nature_. The team has reportedly developed a novel and highly efficient method of producing an experimental material known as transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD). TMD is an exceedingly thin (but highly conductive) film, which makes it useful in many high-tech applications -- everything from solar cells to flexible, wearable gadgets -- but also makes it a huge pain to produce in appreciable quantities. That is, until now.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Apple and IBM team up to deliver 5 million iPads to Japanese seniors *


> Apple and IBM, along with Japan Post, announced a new initiative that will see Japanese seniors receiving 5 million iPads in the second half of 2015. The program will initially launch in Japan.





Read more: http://www.digitaltrends.com/#ixzz3Yv4QLqal 
Follow us: @digitaltrends on Twitter | digitaltrendsftw on Facebook


*Charter Cable may follow Verizon with slimmed down bundles, offer Netflix direct *


> Charter Cable CEO Tom Rutledge says he's open to offering Netflix and other streaming services to the company's subscribers, and is also considering adding slimmed down TV bundles to bring back cord cutters.





Read more: http://www.digitaltrends.com/#ixzz3Yv4e0flh 
Follow us: @digitaltrends on Twitter | digitaltrendsftw on Facebook

*We played architect with Microsoft's staggeringly surreal HoloLens prototype  *
Product Review


> Microsoft reaffirmed its dedication to HoloLens at BUILD 2015 by letting users experience live demos with a prototype that looks exactly like that shown on stage. We went hands on…



Read more: http://www.digitaltrends.com/#ixzz3Yv4kgXtI 
Follow us: @digitaltrends on Twitter | digitaltrendsftw on Facebook


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Microsoft demonstrates new HoloLens prototype, talks up dedicated Holographic processor*
*Microsoft demonstrates new HoloLens prototype talks up dedicated Holographic processor ExtremeTech*

By Joel Hruska on May 1, 2015 at 3:13 pm







> Microsoft unveiled new prototypes and details of its HoloLens project this week, and the new technology looks like it could have a profound impact on how we use computers in the future. Like the Oculus Rift, the HoloLens system is headset-based, but that’s where the similarities end. Where Oculus Rift creates entire 3D realms to explore (virtual reality), HoloLens is meant to create holographic overlays over existing objects and structure in the real world (Augmented Reality).


----------



## ScienceRocks

*What are HDR TVs and why is every manufacturer selling them now? *


> While 4K UHD is all the rage these days, the addition of more pixels isn’t the only way to make your TV sing. HDR, or High Dynamic Range, just might be the coolest new feature in TV land, and we’ll tell you all about it.





Read more: http://www.digitaltrends.com/#ixzz3ZA056wtI 
Follow us: @digitaltrends on Twitter | digitaltrendsftw on Facebook


----------



## ScienceRocks

*HoloLens Is No Gimmick*




> Today, Microsoft demonstrated how far its augmented-reality HoloLens wonderland project has come. In fact, it cemented HoloLens’s place as one of the most exciting new technologies we have—just in ways that you may never actually see.
> 
> When HoloLens debuted in January, the use cases Microsoft proffered were largely domestic; you could build (Microsoft-owned) Minecraft worlds in your living room, or have conversations over (Microsoft-owned) Skype with far-flung friends who felt a few feet away. Even WIRED’s behind-the-scenes look back then mostly comprised games and other low-stakes living room interactions. While a broad range of industries and institutions have use for augmented reality, Microsoft spent the bulk of its HoloLens introduction emphasizing the device’s consumer potential.









HOLY SHIT!!!!


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Multicolor meta-hologram produces light across entire visible spectrum*
*15 hours ago by Lisa Zyga feature*



Enlarge
The multicolor meta-hologram is made of a pixel array consisting of aluminum nanorods of different lengths that produce different colors of light. Credit: Huang, et al. ©2015 American Chemical Society


> (Phys.org)—There are many different ways to generate a hologram, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. Trying to maximize the advantages, researchers in a new study have designed a hologram made of a metamaterial consisting of aluminum nanorods that can produce light across the entire visible spectrum, and do so in a way that yields brighter images than other methods.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Memristors Helping to Build a Better Computer Brain*



> Computers are still quite a ways from mimicking and being just as efficient as the human brain. Our minds are capable of learning and adapting to situations without programming, storing limitless amounts of data, and making computations at fast speeds. It's also much more efficient than any laptop or desktop (try 20 Watts). The brain is a wonder of computational power, and engineers want to replicate it by creating a better neural network.
> Mark Hersam from Northwestern University's McCormick School of Engineering explained the idea in a press release:
> "Computers are very impressive in many ways, but they're not equal to the mind. Neurons can achieve very complicated computation with very low power consumption compared to a digital computer."
> A team of engineers, including Hersam, have recently taken a step forward in creating a computer that mimics the human brain. Enter memristors, a resistor with the ability to remember (in a manner of speaking).


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Optalysys optical computing technology will underpin next-generation weather forecasting in a €4m project led by the ECMWF*



> Cambridge UK optical processing business Optalysys Ltd, has announced that it is part of a major collaboration project known as ESCAPE, led by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) and involving 10 other organisations.
> 
> The European Commission has favourably evaluated the proposal for ESCAPE for a €4m grant through its Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme. The grant is subject to final confirmation by the Commission expected at the end of June 2015.
> 
> The aim of ESCAPE (Energy-efficient Scalable Algorithms for Weather Prediction at Exascale) is to develop world-class, extreme-scale computing capabilities for European operational numerical weather prediction (NWP). It will do this by defining fundamental algorithm building blocks to run the next generation of NWP on energy-efficient, heterogeneous HPC architectures. The project will pair world-leading NWP with innovative HPC solutions, fostering economic growth, EU business competitiveness and job creation.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Printing silicon on paper with lasers*



> Printing electronics has led to application areas formerly which were impossible with conventional electronic processes. Solutions are used as inks on top of large areas at room temperatures, allowing the production of fully flexible circuitry. Commonly, research in these inks have focused on organic and metal-oxide ink materials due to their printability, while these materials lack in the electronic performance when compared to silicon electronics. Silicon electronics, on the other hand, only recently has found their way in solution processes. Printing of cyclopentasilane as the silicon ink has been conducted and devices with far superior electric performance have been made  when compared to other ink materials.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Microsoft Surface 3: Early impressions*
By Will Shanklin
May 6, 2015
3 Pictures





> Microsoft has really picked up its Surface game in the last year. First the Surface Pro 3 took a big step forward, and now the Surface 3 brings many of the same principles to a smaller and cheaper device. Read on for Gizmag's Surface 3 early impressions.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Oculus Rift consumer version gets a release window: Mark your calendar for Q1 of 2016*
By Chris Wood
May 6, 2015
2 Pictures





> Oculus VR just pulled back the curtain for a peek at the long anticipated consumer version of its Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. The updated hardware will be available to consumers in Q1 of 2016, with pre-orders starting before the end of the year.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*New chip architecture may increase qubits in a future quantum computer*



> Researchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute and Honeywell International have developed a new ion traparchitecture (using ions trapped inside a vacuum chamber and manipulated with lasers) that could increase the density of qubits in future quantum computers.
> The GTRI/Honeywell approach uses new microfabrication techniques that allow more electrodes to fit onto the chip. The design borrows ideas from a type of packaging called a ball grid array (BGA), which is used to mount integrated circuits.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Optalysys prototype proves optical processing technology will revolutionise Big Data analysis and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)*


> Cambridge UK optical processing business Optalysys Ltd, has announced that they have successfully developed a demonstrable prototype that can process mathematical functions optically in a scaleable, lensless design.
> 
> Optalysys optical processing systems will “turbo-charge” existing computers by performing processor-intensive tasks at much faster rates and with a significant reduction in energy consumption. The prototype is portable and has a footprint similar to a desktop computer. The technology has the potential to achieve Exascale processing levels by 2020.
> 
> Optalysys CEO, Dr. Nick New, explains. “Until now, meaningful optical processing technology has been impractical for a number of reasons. Advancements in liquid crystal technology now permit numerical data to be dynamically entered into an optical system at high speeds and resolutions. Several additional breakthroughs by the Optalysys team have resulted in a patented lensless design which is easily aligned to within a few microns.”
> 
> The prototype demonstrates optical derivative functions – mathematical building blocks commonly used in complex engineering model simulations such as weather prediction and aerodynamic modelling. It also performs correlation pattern matching used in Big Data analysis such as DNA analysis and financial modelling.
> 
> The prototype achieves a processing speed equivalent to 320 gigaFLOPs and, because it uses light rather than electricity as the processing medium, it is incredibly energy efficient. Now the principles of the approach have been proven, Optalysys is ramping-up the processing capabilities of the technology.











More news on this front from others



*Optalysys technology will underpin next-generation weather forecasting in a €4m project led by the ECMWF*



*Optical Processor to Boost Speed, Reduce Energy Demands of Genome Research*



*Optalysys Develops Prototype Optical Processing System*



*Optalysys completes 320 gigaFLOP optical computer prototype, targets 9 petaFLOP product in 2017 and 17 exaFLOPS machine by 2020*


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Researchers create first neural-network chip built just with memristors*
*3 minutes ago by Bob Yirka report*



Enlarge
A memristive neural network. The cartoon depicts a fragment of Prezioso and colleagues’ artificial neural network, which consists of crossing horizontal and vertical wires that have memristor devices (yellow) at the junctions. Input voltages …more


> (Phys.org)—A team of researchers working at the University of California (and one from Stony Brook University) has for the first time created a neural-network chip that was built using just memristors. In their paper published in the journal _Nature_, the team describes how they built their chip and what capabilities it has.





Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-05-neural-network-chip-built-memristors.html#jCp


----------



## ScienceRocks

*VoxieBox Displays 3D Images Just Like R2D2’s Message From Princess Leia*




> Voxon, chosen out of the Hardware Alley to do the ‘wildcard’ pitch during TechCrunch Disrupt NY, demonstrated a truly amazing technology today. Imagine the scene from Star Wars where Princess Leia is projected in 3 dimensions recording a message to Obi-Wan Kenobi. Well, Voxon’s VoxieBox product does just that.
> Its unique combination of hardware and software, developed over 30 years of tinkering in a New York garage, literally ‘prints light’ in three dimensions, not unlike the way a 3D printer would print in plastic. But this does it thousands of times a second, thus tricking the human eye into thinking it’s seeing a 3D image, thanks to their proprietary algorithm.
> The VoxieBox does not require goggles or glasses to view the image, meaning it’s extremely user-friendly. Because you can display any image (moving or still), you can thus move and revolve around objects and see an object from many different angles, collaboratively.
> Furthermore, the VoxieBox could be used in classrooms, allowing children to manipulate, for instance, a blood cell in biology classes without being exposed to dangerous materials.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions*

8 May 2015


> Windows 10 is going to be the last major revision of the operating system.
> 
> Jerry Nixon, a Microsoft development executive, said in a conference speech this week that Windows 10 would be the "last version" of the dominant desktop software.
> 
> His comments were echoed by Microsoft which said it would update Windows in future in an "ongoing manner".
> 
> Instead of new stand-alone versions, Windows 10 would be improved in regular instalments, the firm said.


http://www.bbc.co.uk...nology-32658340


----------



## ScienceRocks

*IBM's Watson supercomputer strives to be jack of all trades*
Watson already has won a major TV game show, is looking for a cure for cancer and has ambitious gastronomy ambitions including devising a recipe for chocolate-beef burritos.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Fixstars announces six-terabyte Solid State Drive*
*39 minutes ago by Nancy Owano weblog*



Enlarge


> The world's first 6TB Solid State Drive (Fixstars SSD-6000M) is accepting orders and it will be shipped to customers in the United States in late July. That's the news from Fixstars, which has announced a 2.5" SSD with a capacity of 6TB. The announcement on Thursday said it was the world's largest 2.5-inch SATA SSD. The Fixstars SSD-6000M will use 15nm flash memory packed into a 2.5″ form factor. Read speeds are expected to be up to 540MB/s and write speeds of up to 520MB/s for sequential access.





Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-05-fixstars-six-terabyte-solid-state.html#jCp


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Generals will be able to direct battles using new Minority Report-style technology including 3D goggles and even virtual reality contact lenses*



> Military generals will be able to direct battles and explore disaster zones in real time, which could radically alter the way battles are fought.
> Rather than standing on the front line, commanders can order the deployment of troops from a portable command centre small enough to fit inside a briefcase.
> The technology will enable generals to see the surroundings for themselves as 3D images pop up on virtual screens showing live footage from drones above the battleground.
> In addition, computer-generated advisers are on hand to offer tactical advice.
> They system also provides users with interactive gloves resembling those seen in the 2002 film Minority Report, where three mutants foresee all crime before it happens.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Samsung Gear VR for Galaxy S6: Early impressions*
By Will Shanklin
May 11, 2015
5 Pictures





> The Oculus-powered Samsung Gear VR is our pick for the best virtual reality experience consumers can have today, but it has some limits – including overheating issues and the fact that it only works with the Galaxy Note 4. But now you can buy a new version of the Gear VR that plays nicely with the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge. Read on for Gizmag's early impressions.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*QromaScan scans and tags photos with an iPhone and your voice*
By Simon Crisp
May 11, 2015
4 Pictures





> QromaScan is a simple scanning setup which might mean you finally get around to digitizing and organizing those boxes of old photos you've got gathering dust in the attic. The system, which is currently seeking funding on Kickstarter, combines the camera and voice recognition of an iPhone, with a green-screen lightbox to make it quick and easy to produce digital files of printed photos.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Researchers try to improve smartwatch typing with two new keyboard concepts*
By Antonio Pasolini
May 12, 2015
3 Pictures





> Wearable devices are becoming more prominent, but, apart from voice control, they don't usually offer many ways of entering text. We have seen the ZoomBoard keyboard as one possible solution, as well as large, curved screens that use smartphone-like keyboards. Now a team of researchers from the Universitat Politècnica de València and the University of Stuttgart have developed two tiny QWERTY soft keyboard prototypes that supposedly allow users to enter text more easily into their wearables.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*The $9 CHIP is real computing in a tiny form*
By Heidi Hoopes
May 12, 2015
8 Pictures





> From the company that brought us Otto, the gif-capturing camera, comes CHIP, the US$9 computer. Its endowments of 1 gig processing, 4 gig storage, and 512 MB of RAM would only be average, were it not for the price, and the fact that it's ready-to-go despite its svelte stature – small enough to fit on a Post-It note. As with Otto, the company is seeking funding on Kickstarter and is also offering PocketCHIP, an enclosure to turn CHIP into an affordable smart device with touchscreen and keyboard.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Yes, 10-core smartphones will be a thing in 2016*

Quote


> When MediaTek first launched an octa-core mobile processor back in late 2013, many folks -- including Qualcomm -- called it a gimmick, but said feature has since become quite popular amongst device manufacturers, to the point where Qualcomm eventually had to come up with its very own octa-core offerings. Just to stay one step ahead of others, MediaTek is now prepping the launch of a deca-core aka 10-core chip dubbed the Helio X20, which will succeed the octa-core Helio X10 (MT6795) that's already powering HTC's Asia-only One M9+ plus several upcoming Chinese flagship phones. MediaTek is sampling its new chip in Q3, and the first commercial devices to use it will arrive as early as end of this year.
> While ten cores may seem an overkill, the 20nm Helio X20 is actually more about its "Tri-Cluster" architecture that consists of two 2.5GHz Cortex-A72 cores, four 2GHz Cortex-A53 cores and four 1.4GHz Cortex-A53 cores. So basically, on the CPU side the Helio X20 is very much a Helio X10 with two more Cortex-A72 cores, but with the original eight Cortex-A53 cores running on slightly lower speeds.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*IBM’s silicon photonics technology aims to speed up cloud and Big Data applications*

*First fully integrated silicon chip to use high-speed pulses of light instead of slow electrical signals*

_May 12, 2015_


> IBM announced today (May 12) what is says in the first fully integrated silicon chip to use high-speed pulses of light instead of slow electrical signals over wires. That means the chip will be able to move data at rapid speeds and longer distances in future computing systems.
> The silicon photonics chip is wavelength-multiplexed, meaning it can transmit multiple wavelengths of light. IBM says they will soon be able to start manufacturing 100 Gb/s optical transceivers. This will allow datacenters to offer greater data rates and bandwidth for cloud computing and Big Data applications.


----------



## ScienceRocks

IBM develops cost effective silicon photonics for 100 Gb per second communication in cloud servers, datacenters, and supercomputers
 




IBM announced a significant milestone in the development of silicon photonics technology, which enables silicon chips to use pulses of light instead of electrical signals over wires to move data at rapid speeds and longer distances in future computing systems. For the first time, IBM engineers have designed and tested a fully integrated...


----------



## ScienceRocks

*LG Unveils Proof-Of-Concept .9 Millimeter-Thick OLED Display [Paper-Thin Electronics]*



> LG Display, the screen-making subsidiary of LG, is dedicated to OLED panels, and it has unveiled an impossibly thin television to prove it.
> 
> At a press event in its home country of Korea on Tuesday, LG Display showed off a "wallpaper" proof-of-concept television. The 55-inch OLED (organic light-emitting diode) display weighs 1.9 kilograms and is less than a millimeter thick. Thanks to a magnetic mat that sits behind it on the wall, the TV can be stuck to a wall. To remove the display from the wall, you peel the screen off the mat.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*
Moore's Law Keeps Going, Defying Expectations*

“For the first 20 years I couldn’t utter the term Moore’s law. It was embarrassing,” the 86-year-old visionary said in an interview with New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman at the gala event, held at Exploratorium science museum. “Finally, I got accustomed to it where now I could say it with a straight face.” He and Friedman chatted in front of a rapt audience, with Moore cracking jokes the whole time and doling out advice, like how once you’ve made one successful prediction, you should avoid making another. In the background Intel’s latest gadgets whirred quietly: collision-avoidance drones, dancing spider robots, a braille printer—technologies all made possible via advances in processing power anticipated by Moore’s law.

Of course, Moore’s law is not really a law like those describing gravity or the conservation of energy. It is a prediction that the number of transistors (a computer’s electrical switches used to represent 0s and 1s) that can fit on a silicon chip will double every two years as technology advances. This leads to incredibly fast growth in computing power without a concomitant expense and has led to laptops and pocket-size gadgets with enormous processing ability at fairly low prices. Advances under Moore’s law have also enabled smartphone verbal search technologies such as Siri—it takes enormous computing power to analyze spoken words, turn them into digital representations of sound and then interpret them to give a spoken answer in a matter of seconds.

Another way to think about Moore’s law is to apply it to a car. Intel CEO Brian Krzanich explained that if a 1971 Volkswagen Beetle had advanced at the pace of Moore’s law over the past 34 years, today “you would be able to go with that car 300,000 miles per hour. You would get two million miles per gallon of gas, and all that for the mere cost of four cents.”


----------



## ScienceRocks

*The production of 10 nm chips are expected to commence by 2016*



> Samsung’s plans for domination are looking highly ambitious. After refusing to incorporate Snapdragon 810 in its flagship duo and choosing to produce its own custom core, not to mention that the next SoC present in Galaxy Note 5 is reported to be Exynos 7422, 10 nm node production is the next objective that Samsung intends on completing. The production of 10 nm chips are expected to commence by 2016 and while the company might be leading from the front with its superior 14 nm FinFET process, TSMC has set its eyes to overtake Samsung in the 10 nm production race.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Stereolabs' ZED camera delivers long range 3D vision*
By Francis X Govers III
May 28, 2015
4 Pictures





> San Francisco-based Stereolabs has launched a new 3D camera that promises to deliver high quality 3D image capture at a less than astronomical price. The compact, lightweight ZED 3D vision sensor can measure distances out to 20 meters (65 feet) and work indoors and out, making it a strong candidate for applications such as large-scale architectural scanning and obstacle detection for self-driving cars and unmanned drones.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Is This the First Computational Imagination? | The ability to read a description of a scene and then picture it has always been uniquely human. Not anymore.*



> Imagine an oak tree in a field of wheat, silhouetted against a cloudless blue sky on a dreamy sunny afternoon. The chances are that most people reading this sentence can easily picture a bucolic scene in their mind’s eye. This ability to read a description of a scene and then imagine it has always been uniquely human. But this precious skill may no longer be ours alone.
> 
> Anyone thinking that these kinds of imaginings are far beyond the ability of today’s computing machines will be surprised by the work of Hiroharu Kato and Tatsuya Harada at the University of Tokyo in Japan.
> 
> Today, these guys unveil a machine that can translate a description of an object into an image. In other words, their computer can conjure an image of an external object not otherwise present. That’s a pretty good definition of imagination—in this case of the computational variety.
> 
> For sure, these computer imaginings are simple, sometimes confusing and often nonsensical. But the fact they are possible at all represents a significant step forward for computational creativity.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Project Jacquard hands-on: Google's crazy/brilliant idea to make touchscreen clothing*
By Will Shanklin
May 30, 2015
10 Pictures





> This year's Google I/O gave us Android M and updated Google Cardboard, along with free and unlimited photo storage. But it wouldn't be Google if there weren't also some moonshots in there. We go hands-on with one of them, Project Jacquard.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Asus' ZenWatch 2 will be available in two sizes*
By Chris Wood
June 1, 2015
6 Pictures





> It may have only been a little over six months since we reviewed the original ZenWatch, but Asus is already back with a second generation of its wearable. The ZenWatch 2 has a similar design to its predecessor, but offers significant customization over two different case sizes.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Asus's new AiO and Transformer Book pack USB-C ports*
By Chris Wood





> Asus has outed a bevy of new hardware at Computex 2015, including a brand new all-in-one and an updated Transformer Book hybrid. The Zen AiO offers an attractive design and compelling specs, and both systems offer USB Type-C connectivity.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*HGST's helium-filled HDD offers a world-first 10 TB of storage*
By Nick Lavars
June 9, 2015
3 Pictures





> We first caught wind of HGST's high capacity hard drives in 2012, when the company claimed it could boost storage capacities by 40 percent by replacing regular old air inside the drive enclosure with helium. The Western Digital subsidiary stayed the course, producing a helium-based 6 TB HDD in 2013 and 8 TB model in 2014, and has now continued the upward trend with the world's first 10 TB hard drive.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Engineers create a computer with a water droplet processor*
By Colin Jeffrey
June 9, 2015
6 Pictures





> From driving water wheels to turning turbines, water has been used as the prime mover of machinery and the powerhouse of industry for many centuries. In ancient times, the forces of flowing water were even harnessed to power the first rudimentary clocks. Now, engineers at Stanford University have created the world’s first water-operated computer. Using magnetized particles flowing through a micro-miniature network of channels, the machine runs like clockwork and is claimed to be capable of performing complex logical operations.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Microsoft Surface Hub launches in September, starting at $6,999*
By Chris Wood
June 10, 2015
3 Pictures





> Microsoft has released pricing and availability information for its enterprise focused Surface Hub, announced back in January of this year. The hardware is pitched as an all-in-one solution for collaboration in meetings, consisting of a large display, active stylus, and a host of sensors and connectivity options.



Read More


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Interactive "holographic" tabletop platform Holus heads to Kickstarter*
By Richard Moss
June 10, 2015
10 Pictures





> In the future we'll all be sitting around a box in the middle of the room, rather than a TV in the corner. Canadian startup H+ Technology thinks so, anyway. H+ has created a see-through tabletop box called Holus that presents a tiny three-dimensional digital world you can interact with


----------



## ScienceRocks

*June oven knows how to cook your dinner and helps with the shopping*
By Stu Robarts
June 10, 2015
4 Pictures





> If you can't cook toast without burning it then pay attention: help may soon be at hand. The June Intelligent Oven is a computer-based countertop oven that's aimed at letting anyone produce restaurant-quality meals. It can recognize food, cook to preference and help plan the shopping.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*NRAM’s Time Is Here, Says Startup Nantero*


> one of 10 top startups to watch in 2013. Schmergel said progress working with systems and device companies prompted Nantero to come out of stealth mode. He said NRAM is ready for commercialization and high-volume production, and that the company is sampling 4Mb high-yield memory chips, with the NRAM process installed in in seven production CMOS fabs.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Samsung targets retailers with Mirror and Transparent OLED panels*
By Darren Quick
June 12, 2015
2 Pictures





> Transparent and reflective displays might look cool, but in terms of the home, their applications are limited. However, bricks and mortar shops looking for some technological wizardry to get shoppers through the door are a different proposition. So it should come as no surprise that Samsung chose this week's Retail Asia Expo 2015 in Hong Kong to unveil the first commercial use of its Mirror and Transparent OLEDs.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Deep Learning Machine Beats Humans in IQ Test
Computers have never been good at answering the type of verbal reasoning questions found in IQ tests. Now a deep learning machine unveiled in China is changing that.




			Just over 100 years ago, the German psychologist William Stern introduced the intelligence quotient test as a way of evaluating human intelligence. Since then, IQ tests have become a standard feature of modern life and are used to determine children’s suitability for schools and adults’ ability to perform jobs.

These tests usually contain three categories of questions: logic questions such as patterns in sequences of images, mathematical questions such as finding patterns in sequences of numbers and verbal reasoning questions, which are based around analogies, classifications, as well as synonyms and antonyms.
		
Click to expand...

*


> *
> It is this last category that has interested Huazheng Wang and pals at the University of Science and Technology of China and Bin Gao and buddies at Microsoft Research in Beijing. Computers have never been good at these. Pose a verbal reasoning question to a natural language processing machine and its performance will be poor, much worse than the average human ability.
> 
> Today, that changes thanks to Huazheng and pals who have built a deep learning machine that outperforms the average human ability to answer verbal reasoning questions for the first time.*


----------



## Judicial review

Matthew said:


> *Deep Learning Machine Beats Humans in IQ Test
> Computers have never been good at answering the type of verbal reasoning questions found in IQ tests. Now a deep learning machine unveiled in China is changing that.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Just over 100 years ago, the German psychologist William Stern introduced the intelligence quotient test as a way of evaluating human intelligence. Since then, IQ tests have become a standard feature of modern life and are used to determine children’s suitability for schools and adults’ ability to perform jobs.
> 
> These tests usually contain three categories of questions: logic questions such as patterns in sequences of images, mathematical questions such as finding patterns in sequences of numbers and verbal reasoning questions, which are based around analogies, classifications, as well as synonyms and antonyms.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> *
> 
> 
> 
> *It is this last category that has interested Huazheng Wang and pals at the University of Science and Technology of China and Bin Gao and buddies at Microsoft Research in Beijing. Computers have never been good at these. Pose a verbal reasoning question to a natural language processing machine and its performance will be poor, much worse than the average human ability.
> 
> Today, that changes thanks to Huazheng and pals who have built a deep learning machine that outperforms the average human ability to answer verbal reasoning questions for the first time.*
Click to expand...


It hasn't challenged me yet.  Still it trial stage...


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Researchers develop the first flexible phase-change random access memory*


> Phase change random access memory (PRAM) is one of the strongest candidates for next-generation nonvolatile memory for flexible and wearable electronics. In order to be used as a core memory for flexible devices, the most important issue is reducing high operating current. The effective solution is to decrease cell size in sub-micron region as in commercialized conventional PRAM. However, the scaling to nano-dimension on flexible substrates is extremely difficult due to soft nature and photolithographic limits on plastics, thus practical flexible PRAM has not been realized yet.
> 
> Recently, a team led by Professors Keon Jae Lee and Yeon Sik Jung of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at KAIST has developed the first flexible PRAM enabled by self-assembled block copolymer (BCP) silica nanostructures with an ultralow current operation (below one quarter of conventional PRAM without BCP) on plastic substrates. BCP is the mixture of two different polymer materials, which can easily create self-ordered arrays of sub-20 nm features through simple spin-coating and plasma treatments. BCP silica nanostructures successfully lowered the contact area by localizing the volume change of phase-change materials and thus resulted in significant power reduction. Furthermore, the ultrathin silicon-based diodes were integrated with phase-change memories (PCM) to suppress the inter-cell interference, which demonstrated random access capability for flexible and wearable electronics.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Estimates put Apple Watch sales at 2.8M in US, 17% bought extra band*


> We've heard several comments from Apple recently, including Tim Cook himself, about how the company is more than "thrilled" with how well the Apple Watch has been selling, however we've yet to get any official numbers from Cupertino. Slice Intelligence, a research firm specializing in digital commerce, on the other hand, have said they estimate that 2.79 million units of the wearable have been sold in the U.S. in its first two months of availability.
> 
> Slice's previous estimate reports put close to 1.5 million U.S. orders placed on April 10th, the day pre-orders began, and 2.5 million orders through late May. Also interesting is that Slice believes 17% of buyers also picked up an extra band for the Watch, with the black Sport Band being the most popular option, followed by the more up-scale Milanese Loop.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*World’s thinnest light source made from graphene*
Can be integrated into chips, paving the way to atomically thin, flexible, and transparent displays and graphene-based on-chip optical communications
*June 17, 2015*





Illustration of light emission from electrically biased suspended graphene (credit: Young Duck Kim/Columbia Engineering)


> The first on-chip visible light source using graphene as a filament has been developed by a team of scientists from Columbia Engineering, Seoul National University (SNU), and Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS).
> 
> The scientists attached small strips of graphene to metal electrodes, suspended the strips above the silicon substrate, and passed a current through the filaments to cause them to heat up. The study was published in the Advance Online Publication (AOP) on the Nature Nanotechnology website.
> 
> “We’ve created what is essentially the world’s thinnest light bulb,” says James Hone, Wang Fon-Jen Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Columbia Engineering and coauthor of the study. “This new type of ‘broadband’ [works at near-infrared-to-visible-range wavelengths] light emitter can be integrated into chips and will pave the way towards the realization of atomically thin, flexible, and transparent displays, and graphene-based on-chip optical communications.”
> 
> Creating light in small structures on the surface of a chip is crucial for developing fully integrated “photonic” circuits that do with light what is now done with electric currents in semiconductor integrated circuits. Researchers have developed many approaches to do this, but have not yet been able to put the oldest and simplest artificial light source — the incandescent light bulb — onto a chip.



World s thinnest light source made from graphene KurzweilAI


----------



## ScienceRocks

*BBC develops 'mind-control TV' headset for iPlayer app*
*http://www.bbc.co.uk...nology-33163593*

18 June 2015
From the section Technology





In tests, some people found using the control easier than others


> If you think controlling your TV with your mind is the stuff of science fiction, think again.
> 
> The BBC, in collaboration with tech company This Place, has developed a way people can select programmes using a cheap, brainwave-reading headset.
> 
> The headset works with an experimental version of the BBC's iPlayer on-demand platform.
> 
> Users can turn on and operate the app by concentrating or relaxing their minds.
> 
> "It's an internal prototype designed to give our programme makers, technologists and other users an idea of how this technology might be used in future," said Cyrus Saihan, head of business development for the BBC's Digital division.
> 
> 
> In the first trial, 10 BBC staff tried out the app and were able to launch iPlayer and start viewing a programme via the headset, he said.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*5G network speeds officially defined as up to 20 gigabits/second by ITU, demo in 2018 at Olympics*




> The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has agreed on the definition of fifth-generation (5G) networks, a key technological requirement and its schedule to commercialize the technology by 2020.
> The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said Thursday it sent a 12-member delegation to an ITU meeting in San Diego, and succeeded in reflecting the nation’s suggestions on the international agreement.
> “The vision for the 5G network and its global standardization schedule has been agreed based on our suggestion. This has shown that Korea is leading the world’s mobile communication technology and related policies,” a ministry official said. “We will beef up international cooperation to have the agreement approved without any problems.
> The ministry said the union has decided to define 5G as a network which is capable of transmitting data at up to 20 gigabits-per-second. This means that users can download one ultra high-definition movie in 10 seconds.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*First quantum dot monitor to hit US retail shelves this summer*



> We’ve been hearing a bit more about quantum dot technologylately, and now Phillips has released the world’s first quantum dot monitor. The Phillips 276E6ADS sports a 27-inch screen with full HD resolution. The monitor utilizes Philips Color QS Vision IQ, which is optimized to provide vivid colors and more realistic images. Quantum dot technology is a semiconductor nanomaterial that forces the electrons to move only in three spatial directions, along the x,y, and z axis, supposedly providing an image that is completely stable and uniform.
> Philips have partnered with QD Vision, which produces nanomaterials that dramatically improves color quality in televisions and other types of video display technology. Color IQ, QD Vision’s trademarked design, is a semiconductor nanocrystal technology that precisely emits light to produce more vibrant blues, greens, and reds. LCD TVs and monitors with Color IQ usually exhibit a more dynamic range of colors and can show the true natural palette encoded in the picture.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Graphene wrappings could boost chip speeds by up to 30 percent*



> A typical computer chip includes millions of transistors connected with an extensive network of copper wires. Although chip wires are unimaginably short and thin compared to household wires both have one thing in common: in each case the copper is wrapped within a protective sheath.For years a material called tantalum nitride has formed protective layer in chip wires.Now Stanford-led experiments demonstrate that a different sheathing material, graphene, can help electrons scoot through tiny copper wires in chips more quickly.
> Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a strong yet thin lattice. Stanford electrical engineer H.-S. Philip Wong says this modest fix, using graphene to wrap wires, could allow transistors to exchange data faster than is currently possible. And the advantages of using graphene would become greater in the future as transistors continue to shrink.
> 
> "Researchers have made tremendous advances on all of the other components in chips but recently, there hasn't been much progress on improving the performance of the wires," he said.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Will Pebble smartwatch be able to compete with Apple and Google?*


> Time's a ticking for Pebble. As the Palo Alto, Calif., smartwatch maker recently started sending the latest model of its phone-connected watches to those who helped fund its development, analysts cast doubt ...


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Virtual reality set to boom with Oculus and Morpheus, but challenges remain*
The promise of virtual reality is that it will transport you to new worlds: Putting on a headset is like stepping into a portal to the unknown.


----------



## ScienceRocks

Imec presents successors to FinFET for 7nm and beyond   







> At this week’s VLSI 2015 Symposium in Kyoto (Japan), imec reported new results on nanowire FETs and quantum-well FinFETs towards post-FinFET multi-gate device solutions. As the major portion of the industry adopts FinFETs as the workhorse transistor for 16nm and 14nm, researchers worldwide are looking into the limits of FinFETs and potential...



Read more »


----------



## ScienceRocks

Dwave commercializes 1152 qubit chip but there are 2048 physical qubits so some chips will have more than 1152 qubits active
 




D-Wave Systems, the world's first quantum computing company, announced that it has broken the 1000 qubit barrier, developing a processor about double the size of D-Wave’s previous generation and far exceeding the number of qubits ever developed by D-Wave or any other quantum effort. This is a major technological and scientific achievement...


----------



## ScienceRocks

Flashristors: Getting the Best of Memristors and Flash Memory




> A team of researchers at Bingöl University in Bingöl and Bilkent University in Ankara, both in Turkey, reported on 12 June in _Applied Physics Letters_ that they’ve developed a 'flashristor,' a device that combines both the properties of a memristor and a flash-memory cell. Unlike existing devices, the memristor effect in their flashristor is not a local effect (such as a change on an atomic scale in crystalline structure), but a distributed effect in a larger area of the device, explains Aykutlu Dâna, one of the paper’s authors.  “This way you can switch on and off with a high precision and repeatability,” he adds.


----------



## ScienceRocks

Desktop computers Graphic Processing Units now 1000 times faster than in the year 2000.



> Nvidia GeForce2 Ultra which became available 15 years ago was able to process 8*10^9 floating point operations per second (8 Gflops), had 64MB of 7.36GB/s DDR memory and costed 500$. It was the most powerful card of the last year of previous millenium and was made with a 180 nm manufacturing process.
> 
> New AMD Radeon R9 Fury X is able to process 8.6*10^12 flop/s (8.6 Tflops), has 4GB of 512GB/s HBM memory and costs 650$. It's the most powerful single GPU card right now and it's made with a 28 nm manufacturing process(which is used since 2012).


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Nanowires could be the LEDs of the future*


> The latest research from the Niels Bohr Institute shows that LEDs made from nanowires will use less energy and provide better light. The researchers studied nanowires using X-ray microscopy and with this ...


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Google says its speech recognition technology now has only an 8% word error rate (Down from 23% in 2013)*



> Google today announced its advancements in deep learning, a type of artificial intelligence, for key processes like image recognition and speech recognition.
> When it comes to accurately recognizing words in speech, Google now has just an 8 percent error rate. Compare that to 23 percent in 2013, Sundar Pichai, senior vice president of Android, Chrome, and Apps at Google, said at the company’s annual I/O developer conference in San Francisco.
> Pichai boasted, “We have the best investments in machine learning over the past many years.” Indeed, Google has acquired several deep learning companies over the years, including DeepMind, DNNresearch, and Jetpac.
> Deep learning involves ingesting lots of data to train systems called neural networks, and then feeding new data to those systems and receiving predictions in response.
> The company’s current neural networks are now more than 30 layers deep, Pichai said.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Artificial neuron can communicate the same way as a human neuron*

*Researchers build a fully functional neuron by using organic bioelectronics*


> Neurons are isolated from each other and communicate with the help of chemical signals, commonly called neurotransmitters or signal substances. Inside a neuron, these chemical signals are converted to an electrical action potential, which travels along the axon of the neuron until it reaches the end. Here at the synapse, the electrical signal is converted to the release of chemical signals, which via diffusion can relay the signal to the next nerve cell.
> To date, the primary technique for neuronal stimulation in human cells is based on electrical stimulation. However, scientists at the Swedish Medical Nanoscience Centre (SMNC) at Karolinska Institutet’s Department of Neuroscience in collaboration with colleagues at Linköping University, have now created an organic bioelectronic device that is capable of receiving chemical signals, which it can then relay to human cells.
> “Our artificial neuron is made of conductive polymers and it functions like a human neuron”, says lead investigator Agneta Richter-Dahlfors, professor of cellular microbiology. “The sensing component of the artificial neuron senses a change in chemical signals in one dish, and translates this into an electrical signal. This electrical signal is next translated into the release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine in a second dish, whose effect on living human cells can be monitored.“


----------



## ScienceRocks

Finally we will get free gigabit Wi-Fi everywhere and of course it will come from Google
 






> Larry Page had announced last month that Sidewalk Labs (a new Google company) would focus on improving city life for everyone by developing and incubating urban technologies to address issues like cost of living, efficient transportation and energy usage.Sidewalk Labs announced it would be leading the acquisition of two companies behind New...


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Superfast lasers create a hologram you can touch, feeling "like sandpaper"*






_Digital Nature Group
A close-up of a hologram by the Digital Nature Group's femtosecond laser._





> The halls of science fiction are well-decorated with dreams of holograms—Jules Verne introduced holography to literature in 1893 with The Castle of the Carpathians, and how else would we know that Obi-Wan was Leia’s only hope?
> 
> Now, researchers at the Digital Nature Group(DNG) have found a way to use lasers, mirrors and cameras to create three-dimensional, interactive holograms comprised of tiny points of light called voxels.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*The first true free air plasma hologram that is safe to touch*





> Lasers, plasma, and humans don’t mix well.
> In a new paper, however, researchers say they’ve created a laser-induced plasma display that is safe to touch. The key breakthrough? The team found that by reducing the length of the laser bursts from nanoseconds to femtoseconds—or a mere millionth of a billionth of a second—they could avoid causing damage to the skin.
> Though still in the research phase—the necessary equipment is bulky and the images produced are small (no more than 8 cubic millimeters)—the resulting system, dubbed Fairy Lights, is still pretty magical.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*D-Wave Systems breaks the 1000 qubit quantum computing barrier*


> D-Wave Systems has broken the quantum computing 1000 qubit barrier, developing a processor about double the size of D-Wave’s previous generation, and far exceeding the number of qubits ever developed by D-Wave or any other quantum effort, the announcement said.
> It will allow “significantly more complex computational problems to be solved than was possible on any previous quantum computer.”
> At 1000 qubits, the new processor considers 21000 possibilities simultaneously, a search space which dwarfs the 2512 possibilities available to the 512-qubit D-Wave Two. ‪”In fact, the new search space contains far more possibilities than there are ‪particles in the observable universe.”
> The new processors, comprising over 128,000 Josephson tunnel junctions, are believed to be the most complex superconductor integrated circuits ever successfully yielded.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Researchers introduce new layered semiconducting materials as silicon alternative*


> When the new iPhone came out, customers complained that it could be bent -- but what if you could roll up your too big 6 Plus to actually fit in your pocket? That technology might be available sooner than you think, based on the work of USC Viterbi engineers. For many decades, silicon has been the heart of modern electronics -- but as a material, it has its limits. As our devices get smaller and smaller, the basic unit of these devices, a transistor, must also get tinier and tinier. Bottom line: the size of the silicon transistor is reaching its physical limit. As silicon devices are based on what is called a top-down cutting method, it is increasingly difficult for silicon to be made even smaller. Consumers also demand phones to be lighter, faster, smaller, more flexible, wearable, bendable, etc. Yet silicon is also rigid -- one can't bend your smart phone or computer. These physical limitations have driven the race for new materials that can be used as semiconductors in lieu of silicon.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*IKEA plans to present smart kitchen that tells you how to cook*



> Known for its innovative concept and monitoring trends in the development of technology, IKEA has decided to make smart furniture . Their Concept Kitchen 2025 with the help of technology Turns various "gadgets" and plug-ins that aim to preserve both time and other resources. The star of their concept is definitely a "Table for living".
> 
> The clever kitchen table has a camera equipped with a projector that can be displayed on your desktop,this smart table can also scan recipes and ingredients that you brought from the market give suggestions and ideas for the specialties plus can make lunch plan. But this is not all that IKEA has provided for the modern kitchen of the future. You see more on the video attached.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*This "smart mirror" is the future of high-tech homes*

*Displays social media, news, weather, etc.*

Why check your smartphone in the morning when all your notifications from the night before are displayed on your bedroom mirror?
It’s not science fiction. A team of Purdue University students has integrated a monitor into a mirror that displays the time, weather, traffic, bus routes and your class schedule all on the same reflective surface.
The invention, called MirrorMirror, employs facial recognition technology to display personalized information relevant to the user, including Tweets or Facebook posts. Its open source framework ensures the mirror is compatible with other household technologies, such as wireless thermostats, door locks and light bulbs.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Researchers build first working memcomputer prototype*
(Tech Xplore)—A combined team of researchers from the University of California and Politecnico di Torino in Italy has built, for the first time, a working memory-crunching computer (memcomputer) prototype. ...


----------



## ScienceRocks

*LG's AIT touch panels to usher in lighter, thinner notebooks*
By Chris Wood - July 6, 2015  2 Pictures 



LG's display subsidiary has announced that it will begin mass producing notebook displays using Advanced In-Cell Touch (AIT) technology. The application of the tech, which does away with the dedicated layer for touch sensors you'll find in conventional panels, should lead to some of the thinnest and lightest notebooks yet.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*BBC unveils 'Micro Bit' - a pocket-sized computer to be given to every 11-12 year old in the UK for free*


> The BBC has revealed the final design of the Micro Bit, a pocket-sized computer set to be given to about one million UK-based children in October.
> The device - which features a programmable array of red LED lights - includes two buttons and a built-in motion sensor that were not included in a prototype shown off in March.
> But another change means the product no longer has a slot for a thin battery.
> That may compromise its appeal as a wearable device.
> An add-on power pack, fitted with AA batteries, will be needed to use it as a standalone product.
> The BBC's director general Tony Hall said the device should help tackle the fact children were leaving school knowing how to use computers but not how to program them.
> "We all know there's a critical and growing digital skills gap in this country and that's why it's so important that we come together and do something about it," he said at a launch event in London.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Black Phosphorus: Alternative to Silicon for Future Electronics*



> In 2004, researchers at the University of Manchester, UK, isolated and explored the remarkable properties of graphene, a one-atom-thick layer of carbon.
> Since then scientists have rushed to investigate a range of other 2D materials. One of those is black phosphorus, a form of phosphorus that is similar to graphite and can be separated easily into single atomic layers, known asphosphorene.
> Black phosphorus is the second known elemental allotrope with a layered crystal structure that can be mechanically exfoliated to atomic layer thickness. Unlike graphite and graphene, black phosphorus is a semiconductor in both bulk and few-layer form.
> “To lower the operating voltage of transistors, and thereby reduce the heat they generate, we have to get closer and closer to designing the transistor at the atomic level. The toolbox of the future for transistor designers will require a variety of atomic-layered materials: an ideal semiconductor, an ideal metal, and an ideal dielectric. All three components must be optimized for a well-designed transistor. Black phosphorus fills the semiconducting-material role,” said Dr Szkopek, who is the senior author of the paper published in the journalNature Communications.


----------



## ScienceRocks

IBM achieves 7 nanometer chips using EUV lithography and strained silicon germanium
 





IBM Research today announced that it has produced the semiconductor industry’s first 7nm (nanometer) node test chips with functioning transistors. The breakthrough, accomplished in partnership with GLOBALFOUNDRIES and Samsung at SUNY Polytechnic Institute’s Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (SUNY Poly CNSE), could result in the...


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Iris adds HUD tech to existing cars*
By Ben Coxworth - July 10, 2015  3 Pictures 





> Despite concerns that they may actually make driving_less_ safe, heads-up displays (HUDs) could eventually be standard equipment on most cars. In the meantime, what happens if you want the technology in your existing vehicle? Well, you might be able to install an Iris HUD system in place of your driver's-side windshield visor.


----------



## ScienceRocks

Laser boosted femtomagnetism could enable hard drives that are ten thousand times faster
 
Lasers boost the femtomagnetism effect to enable read and write data without causing the thermal effects which would inevitably slow down the process.


> Researchers have been using laser pulses to directly modify the amount of the interaction among the atoms to increase the exchange energy without necessarily altering the magnetic structure of the material.
> 
> Remarkably, this happens in a time interval well below the nanosecond, as the material response is almost entirely exhausted within the duration of the laser pulse, less than 100 femtoseconds in the experiment (1 femtosecond is one millionth of one billionth of a second ).


----------



## ScienceRocks

Omnidirectional Free Space Wireless Charging Developed, currently with charging of 30 smartphones at the same time
 






> The simultaneous charging of multiple mobile devices at 0.5 meter away from the power source is now possible under the international electromagnetic field guidelines. Mobile devices, such as smartphones and laptops, have become indispensable portable items in modern life, but one big challenge remains to fully enjoying these devices: keeping...


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Fastest-ever flexible diode provides 'last missing piece' needed to realize bendable phones*
(Phys.org)—While there are hints that Samsung and LG are developing flexible phones that can fold, roll up, and even be stretched into larger screens, there are still some obstacles to overcome before such bendable phones ...


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Apple iPod touch (6th-generation): Early impressions*
By Will Shanklin - July 16, 2015  6 Pictures 



Yesterday Apple released a new iPod touch – the first since 2012 – and we have one of them in-house. Read on for our early impressions.


----------



## ScienceRocks

Samsung Mobile's Note 4 is right on schedule to see a successor.




Samsung Galaxy Note 5: The specs, release date, price we're likely to see
It's the time of year when rumors and leaks rear up about Samsung's next stylus-wielding phablet. Here's everything we know, we think, or we suspect so far.
cnet.co


----------



## ScienceRocks

*On the way to breaking the terahertz barrier for graphene nanoelectronics*




> A team of scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPI-P) discovered that electrical conduction in graphene on the picosecond timescale -- a picosecond being one thousandth of one billionth of a second -- is governed by the same basic laws that describe the thermal properties of gases. This much simpler thermodynamic approach to the electrical conduction in graphene will allow scientists and engineers not only to better understand but also to improve the performance of graphene-based nanoelectronic devices.
> 
> The researchers found that the energy of ultrafast electrical currents passing through graphene is very efficiently converted into electron heat, making graphene electrons behave just like a hot gas. "The heat is distributed evenly over all electrons. And the rise in electronic temperature, caused by the passing currents, in turn has a strong effect on the electrical conduction of graphene" explains Professor Mischa Bonn, Director at the MPI-P. The study, entitled "Thermodynamic picture of ultrafast charge transport in graphene," has recently been published in Nature Communications.
> Graphene -- a single sheet of carbon atoms -- is known to be a very good electrical conductor. As a result, graphene finds a multitude of applications in modern nanoelectronics. They range from highly efficient detectors for optical and wireless communications to transistors operating at very high speeds. A constantly increasing demand for telecommunication bandwidth requires an ever faster operation of electronic devices, pushing their response times to be as short as a picosecond. "The results of this study will help improve the performance of graphene-based nanoelectronic devices such as ultra-high speed transistors and photodetectors" says Professor Dmitry Turchinovich, who led the research at the MPI-P. In particular they show the way for breaking the terahertz operation speed barrier -- i.e. one thousand billions of oscillations per second -- for graphene transistors.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Spintronics just got faster*


> In a tremendous boost for spintronic technologies, EPFL scientists have shown that electrons can jump through spins much faster than previously thought.
> Electrons spin around atoms, but also spin around themselves, and can cross over from one spin state to another. A property which can be exploited for next-generation hard drives. However, "spin cross-over" has been considered too slow to be efficient. Using ultrafast measurements, EPFL scientists have now shown for the first time that electrons can cross spins at least 100,000 times faster than previously thought. Aside for its enormous implications for fundamental physics, the finding can also propel the field of spintronics forward. The study is published inNature Chemistry ("Sub-50 fs photo-induced spin cross-over in [Fe(bpy)3]2+").


----------



## ScienceRocks

> _The system, which is still a prototype, can also adjust and widen the headlight beam at road junctions and roundabouts to help drivers navigate at tricky junctions._
> 
> 
> _The headlights work alongside a screen inside the car that is designed to give drivers additional warning by highlighting potential hazards in a yellow box_
> 
> 
> There's a commercial on tv right now about driving at night “200” at a time.” My reaction is – only 200” I think the high beams on my Xterra reach out further than that. Anyhow, this would be a huge advance in safety.




Read more: Ford develops smart lights to detect pedestrians cyclists and animals at night Daily Mail Online


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Memristors linked into neural network arrays*


The secret is to build thin stacks of the same old oxide memristor material as before (aluminum and titanium) — only this time, use a low temperature sputtering process that enables monolithic three-dimensional integration. A memristor, named for ‘memory-resistor,’ has an electrical resistance that depends on the history of the current that has flowed through the device — namely, how much current and in what direction. In general, the more current that goes through it, the easier it will travel through in the future. When power to the device is turned off, it ‘remembers’ its most recent resistance value until power is turned back on.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*New computer program first to recognize sketches more accurately than a human*
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150721081638.htm


> Researchers from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) have built the first computer program that can recognise hand-drawn sketches better than humans.
> 
> Known as Sketch-a-Net, the program is capable of correctly identifying the subject of sketches 74.9 per cent of the time compared to humans that only managed a success rate of 73.1 per cent.
> 
> As sketching becomes more relevant with the increase in the use of touchscreens, the development could provide a foundation for new ways to interact with computers.
> 
> Touchscreens could understand what you are drawing enabling you to retrieve a specific image by drawing it with your fingers, which is more natural than keyword searches for finding items such as furniture or fashion accessories. The improvement could also aid police forensics when an artist's impression of a criminal needs to be matched to a mugshot or CCTV database.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Nourish creates daily nutritional supplements based on users' needs*
By Ben Coxworth - July 27, 2015  4 Pictures 





> While some people take off-the-shelf supplements, others use products that are formulated to their own unique nutritional needs. According to the folks at Boston-based startup FitNatic, however, that's still not specific enough. Their Nourish device keeps track of its user's states of health and fitness, then serves up nutritional supplements that are custom-blended on a daily basis.


----------



## HaShev

IBM nano tubes and drive to store mass amounts of data in the least space possible is a mission that will truly help their other ventures particularly memory brain transfer which  even Google is now admitting is not so far away.


----------



## ScienceRocks

Intel's new storage chip is 1,000 times faster than flash memory



Intel and Micron present a new paradigm of non volatile flash-like memory 1000 times faster and 10 times denser than nowaday flash memory. "Now in production" are the words you can read in the press note, although, according to some tweets, a joint Utah Intel-Micron factory is to produce it. Let's hope that in short term

UPDATE:  Supposedly, initial capacities will be 128 Gb (16GB) and should arrive at some point in *2016*

They use a resistive behaviour with no transistors.


I wanted to show an image of the chip structure, but I don't know why I'm not allowed to. Here is the link:



http://cdn.thinglink...10/scaletowidth


And here is the link to the keynote.

http://newsroom.inte...mory-technology


----------



## ScienceRocks

* IARPA funding on improved Quantum Computer Qubits and Quantum error correction *







> IARPA is seeking innovative solutions for the Logical Qubits (LogiQ) Program. LogiQ intends to build a logical qubit from a number of imperfect physical qubits by combining high-fidelity multi-qubit operations with extensible integration. The LogiQ Program is envisioned to begin 1 February 2016 and end by 31 January 2021. Current quantum...


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Google's Project Loon balloons to cover Sri Lanka with internet access*
By Nick Lavars - July 29, 2015  4 Pictures 



Bringing internet to remote regions by sending internet-enabled balloons into the stratosphere sure sounds like a wild idea, but it's about to become a reality for the resident of Sri Lanka. The government of the island nation has just announced a partnership with Google that will bring affordable high-speed internet access to every inch of the country using the company's Project Loon balloons.


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## ScienceRocks

*Connecting artificial intelligence with the internet of things*


*With the two technologies set to meet, lines between sci-fi and a high-tech new reality continue to blur. Industry experts see no reason to be fearful*




> It’s no secret tech luminaries like Elon Musk and Bill Gates worry about humanity flirting with disaster though a digital version of the Icarus myth – in our case, the power of artificial intelligence being the sun that eventually burns our wings.
> Even so, not every futurist or technology pioneer is quite so alarmed that our experiments with AI might confine us all to dystopian doom.
> John Underkoffler – the chief executive of Oblong Industries, better known as the guy who created the futuristic gesture-based interface in the movie Minority Report – is one such thinker. He founded Oblong Industries in 2006 as a first step to bringing ideas like the Minority Report interface into the real world, which means he knows as well as anyone where the bounds of sci-fi end and a high-tech new reality begins.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Sri Lanka to be first country in the world with universal Internet access*


> Sri Lanka may soon become the first country in the world to have universal Internet access. On July 28, the government of Sri Lanka signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Google to launch Project Loon, according to Sri Lanka Internet newspaper ColumboPage.
> Google is providing high-altitude balloons, using the standard telco high-speed 4G LTE protocol, according to Project Loon project lead Mike Cassidy, in a video (below), “so anyone with a smart phone will be able to get Internet access. … “Since launching a handful of balloons in New Zealand at our Project launch in 2013 we’ve flown millions of test kilometers around the world trying to learn what it will take to provide connectivity to everyone, anywhere, with balloons.”
> Project Loon began with a pilot test in June 2013, when 30 balloons were launched from New Zealand’s South Island and beamed Internet to a small group of pilot testers, Google notes. … “Looking ahead, Project Loon will continue to expand the pilot, with the goal of establishing a ring of uninterrupted connectivity at latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere.”*
> “In a few months we will truly be able to say: Sri Lanka covered,” said Sri Lanka Foreign, Telecommunications and IT Minister Mangala Samaraweera.
> Long-time Sri Lanka resident and telecommunications pioneer Arthur C. Clarke would be proud.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Microsoft at Gamescom 2015: The Xbox One will soon be able to replace your DVR (and more announcements)*
By Chris Wood - August 4, 2015  7 Pictures 



Microsoft had a lot to say for itself at this year's E3, outing a host of new hardware, games and features. Well, it turns out that Redmond held back some big announcements for its Gamescom event in Cologne, Germany.


----------



## ScienceRocks

New memory technology is 1,000 times faster
Intel and Micron unveil 3D XPoint, a new memory technology that is 1,000 times faster than NAND and 10 times denser than conventional DRAM.


----------



## ScienceRocks

* All optical communications could become over ten times faster with optical transistors 5000 times faster than silicon *






Researchers have created a new "plasmonic oxide material" that could make possible devices for optical communications that are at least 10 times faster than conventional technologies. In optical communications, laser pulses are used to transmit information along fiber-optic cables for telephone service, the Internet and cable television. Researchers..


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Could the new Intel Micron 3D Xpoint be a breakthrough form of Phase Change Memory ? *





Ron Neale, Independent Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing Professional speculated on what the technical basis is for the new class of computer memory 3D Xpoint. 3D Xpoint has 128 gigabit array memory chips which is non-volatile (does not electricity to retain memory) and has 10s nanosecond read latency. Volume production at a fabrication...


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Electro-optical modulator is 100 times smaller, uses 100th of the energy consumption*



> Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a modulator that is a 100 times smaller than conventional modulators, so it can now be integrated into electronic circuits. Transmitting large amounts of data via the Internet requires high-performance electro-optic modulators — devices that convert electrical signals (used in computers and cell phones) into light signals (used in fiber-optic cables).
> Today, huge amounts of data are sent incredibly fast through fiber-optic cables as light pulses. For that purpose they first have to be converted from electrical signals, which are used by computers and telephones, into optical signals. Today’s electro-optic modulators are more complicated and large, compared with electronic devices that can be as small as a few micrometers.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*‘Plasmonic’ material could bring ultrafast all-optical communications*


> Researchers at Purdue University have created a new “plasmonic oxide material” that could make possible modulator devices for optical communications (fiber optics, used for the Internet and cable television) that are at least 10 times faster than conventional technologies.
> The optical material, made of aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) also requires less power than other “all-optical” semiconductor devices. That is essential for the faster operation, which would otherwise generate excessive heat with the increase transmission speed.
> The material has been shown to work in the near-infrared range of the spectrum, which is used in optical communications, and it is compatible with the CMOS semiconductor manufacturing process used to construct integrated circuits.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Cheap, power-efficient flash memory for big data without sacrificing speed*


> There’s a big problem with big data: the huge RAM memory required. Now MIT researchers have developed a new system called “BlueDBM” that should make servers using flash memory as efficient as those using conventional RAM for several common big-data applications, while preserving their power and cost savings.
> Here’s the context: Data sets in areas such as genomics, geological data, and daily twitter feeds can be as large as 5TB to 20 TB. Complex data queries in such data sets require high-speed random-access memory (RAM). But that would require a huge cluster with up to 100 servers, each with 128GB to 256GBs of DRAM (dynamic random access memory).
> Flash memory (used in smart phones and other portable devices) could provide an alternative to conventional RAM for such applications. It’s about a tenth as expensive, and it consumes about a tenth as much power. The problem: it’s also a tenth as fast.


----------



## ScienceRocks

* China will upgrade supercomputer to 100 petaflops in 2016 instead of 2015 with applications like genomics and scramjet combustion *





System designer for the multiple iterations of the Tianhe machines, Dr. Yutong Lu, revealed that the Tianhe-2 supercomputer will be receiving its upgrade in 2016. However, due to the trade restrictions, they won’t be boosting their supercomputer with more Xeon Phi cores. Rather, the novel architecture they developed will deliver the system...


----------



## ScienceRocks

Samsung announces 16TB SSD

Not just the world's highest capacity SSD, but the world's highest capacity drive of any type. The PM1633 uses Samsung's new 48 layer V-NAND, itself a technical tour-de-force, and represents a new thrust in flash storage beyond performance: capacity.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Samsung Pay will work with most US credit card readers starting in September*
By Chris Wood




Samsung's new payment service, imaginatively named Samsung Pay, is set to arrive in the US next month. The service is designed for friction-free adoption, and will work "practically anywhere", making it easier for customers and business to use.

Read More


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Researchers create soft, weavable LED fibers for truly flexible wearable displays*


> Electronic displays for integration with clothing and textiles are a rapidly developing field in the realm of wearable electronics. However, flexible LEDsdesigned to form part of an elastic or deformable coating for clothing or apparel – even displays specifically designed to be directly bio-compatible – still rely on a hard substrate on which to layer the appropriate electroluminescent material. Now researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have created a fiber-like LED that can be directly knitted or woven to form part of the fabric itself.
> "Our research will become a core technology in developing light emitting diodes on fibers, which are fundamental elements of fabrics," said Professor Choi, head of the research team at the School of Electrical Engineering at KAIST. "We hope we can lower the barrier of wearable displays entering the market."


----------



## ScienceRocks

*LG shows off impossibly thin television*


> Big-screen televisions have been getting thinner and thinner, while they get bigger and bigger.
> Now, LG has come up with what some are calling an impossibly thin television.
> Under the division LG Display, the electronics company showed off a "wallpaper" concept television recently.
> It has been making the rounds at tech shows around the world, including back in May in New York City.
> It is less than a millimeter thick, weighs just over 4 pounds and is made of OLEDs (organic light-emitting diodes) CNET reported.
> It sticks to the wall thanks to a magnetic mat. To move the TV, you just peel it off the mat.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Kat Walk omnidirectional VR treadmill lets you walk, jump, and sit freely*
By Stanley Goodner - August 13, 2015  5 Pictures 



Virtual reality headsets, such as the Samsung Gear VR, are becoming more commonplace as manufacturers augment hardware, researchers improve technology, and designers create more virtual experiences. But if you want full-body virtual immersion, treadmills are one way to go. And the latest omnidirectional treadmill, the Kat Walk, provides greater freedom of movement with less constraints.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Samsung shoots for the phablet limelight with the Galaxy Note 5 and S6 edge+*
By Chris Wood - August 13, 2015  8 Pictures 



So far, Samsung's 2015 top-tier smartphones have impressed, offering great build quality, stunning looks and great cameras. Now that we're heading towards the end of the year, it's time to turn to the phablet side of things. Gizmag is on the ground at the launch event in New York with the company outing two new smartphones – the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 edge+.


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Google Research Boosts Deep Learning Detection with GPUs *





GPUs are being used in neural network training and for near-real time execution of complex machine learning algorithms in natural language processing, image recognition, and rapid video analysis. Pedestrian detection is one of those areas where, when powered by truly accurate and real-time capabilities, could mean an entirely new wave of...


* Reprogrammable optic chip has complete flexibility in processing of photons and is a pathway to quantum computing *





Researchers from the University of Bristol in the UK and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) in Japan, have developing an optical chip that can process photons in an infinite number of ways. It's a major step forward in creating a quantum computer to solve problems such as designing new drugs, superfast database searches, and performing...


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## ScienceRocks

*Researchers develop optical chip that can process photos in infinite number of ways; chip could complete tasks and solve problems beyond the scope of today's supercomputers*


> Researchers from the University of Bristol in the UK and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) in Japan havedeveloped an optical chip that "can process photons in an infinite number of ways". Thanks to this capability it is a possible contender to replace the general purpose computer microprocessors we use today in our PCs. Due to the possibilities opened up by quantum computing, such chips could complete tasks and solve problems that are beyond the scope of application of today's most powerful supercomputers.
> A University of Bristol press release says that its fully reprogrammable chip brings together previous quantum experiments and will be able to "realise a plethora of future protocols that have not even been conceived yet". The chip design will facilitate quick and easy testing of quantum science theories and quantum computing experiments.
> Project leader Dr Anthony Laing explained "A whole field of research has essentially been put onto a single optical chip that is easily controlled. The implications of the work go beyond the huge resource savings. Now anybody can run their own experiments with photons, much like they operate any other piece of software on a computer. They no longer need to convince a physicist to devote many months of their life to painstakingly build and conduct a new experiment." This ability was demonstrated by the research team as reportedly they "carried out a year's worth of experiments in a matter of hours".


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## ScienceRocks

*DARPA sees future in vacuum tubes*
By David Szondy - August 15, 2015  1 Picture 



In today's world, vacuum tubes or radio valves seem as dead as high button shoes and buggy whips, but DARPA sees them as very much the technology of the future. As part of a new program, the agency is looking to develop new tube designs and manufacturing techniques for use in tomorrow's high-powered communications and radar systems.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*The Promise Of 5G*



> The evolution of personal communication has fundamentally altered the everyday lives of most people on our planet. Armed with a smartphone connected to a seemingly infinite ocean of information, entertainment and applications, many of us cannot remember a time when we weren’t dependent on our mobile devices and networks for most of our daily needs.
> In fact, the latest smartphone models can help us read this article while downloading a file, chat with a colleague on Skype, check our email and use an app to make dinner reservations — and even prepare driving directions to the restaurant.
> But they would be useless and pretty dumb without the true brain, which resides deep in the network of the carriers. The network and the data centers that contain it are the true brain of any complex operation.
> Not long ago, most carriers only provided voice and text services using 2G networks. But the ability to be in communication anytime, anywhere and with almost anyone transformed our society in ways we’re seeing all around us today.


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## ScienceRocks

*Helping Siri hear you in a party*

*A device that emulates the brain's “cocktail party effect" and could be built into future smartphones*


> Duke University engineers have invented a device that emulates the “cocktail party effect” — the remarkable ability of the brain to home in on a single voice in a room with voices coming from multiple directions.
> The device uses plastic metamaterials — the combination of natural materials in repeating patterns to achieve unnatural properties — to determine the direction of a sound and extract it from the surrounding background noise.
> “We think this could improve the performance of voice-activated devices like smartphones and game consoles while also reducing the complexity of the system,” said Abel Xie, a PhD student in electrical and computer engineering at Duke and lead author of the paper.


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## ScienceRocks

*Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+ vs. Galaxy S6 edge*
By Chris Wood - August 17, 2015  28 Pictures 





> Last week, Samsung added an all-new phablet to its smartphone lineup in the form of the Galaxy S6 edge+. In a lot of ways, the standard S6 edge and new edge+ are different sizes of the same handset, but let's look at the ways they break off from each other.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*New internet routing method allows users to avoid sending data through undesired countries*


> Censorship is one of the greatest threats to open communication on the Internet. Information may be censored by a user's country of residence or the information's desired destination. But recent studies show that censorship ...


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Snake skin-inspired steel could lead to better hard drives and more*
By Stanley Goodner - August 18, 2015  4 Pictures 





> When it comes to human phobias, snakes are frequently found toward the top of the list. But despite the negative reputation, these reptiles make up an important part of our ecosystem while exhibiting some very unique biological aspects. The way snakes move across surfaces is pretty incredible, and Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have figured out how to potentially use that feature to enhance hip prostheses, computer hard disks, or smartphones.


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## ScienceRocks

*Google launches OnHub, its vision of the ultimate router*
By David Nield - August 18, 2015  4 Pictures 





> The humble home router may not have the same kind of buzz associated with smartphones and tablets, but when you think about the role it serves, it's still a very important bit of kit. Google today announced its very own take on the router: Called OnHub and built in partnership with TP-Link, it's designed to provide a secure, simple internet experience for everyone.



Read More


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Intel’s Reinvention of the Hard Drive Could Make All Kinds of Computers Faster*

*A new kind of hard drive available next year will be able to move your data many times faster than the best today*



> The speed at which data storage can operate has become a bottleneck on the performance of computers – limiting what they can do for us.
> Computers from laptops to supercomputers could get a major speed boost next year, thanks to a new kind of hard drive developed by Intel. Intel Optane drives, as they will be called, are based on a new way to store digital data that can operate as much as 1,000 times as fast as the flash memory technology inside hard drives, memory sticks, and mobile devices today.
> The first Optane drives won’t be that much faster than today’s data storage. An early prototype shown by Intel at its annual developer conference in San Francisco on Tuesday was only about seven times as fast as a top-of-the-range flash disk drive available today. However, even that level of performance could have significant effects on the capabilities of consumer and corporate computers, and Optane drives may perform better by the time they hit the market in 2016.
> The sluggish speed of data storage compared to the pace at which processors can work on data has become a significant bottleneck on the capabilities of computers. Several large computing and chip companies have invested heavily in promising new data storage technologies, but none has yet borne fruit. Intel’s Optane drives are based on a technology called 3D Xpoint, developed in collaboration with the memory chip company Micron.
> Intel says the technology is affordable enough that Optane drives will be made available next year for uses ranging from large corporate data centers to lightweight laptops. Rob Crooke, a general manager on Intel’s memory project, predicted that they would improve gaming, supercomputers, and data analysis. “We expect to see breakthroughs in personalized medicine, in business analytics to allow companies, cities, and maybe countries to run more efficiently,” he said.
> The flash memory chips that are the fastest way to store data today use a grid of clumps of electrons trapped on silicon to represent the 0s and 1s of digital data. A 3D Xpoint chip instead has a grid formed from metal wires layered over one another; data is stored by using electricity to change the arrangement of atoms inside material trapped at each junction of the grid. Just like flash, 3D Xpoint chips hold onto data even when powered down. They can’t currently store data as densely, but Intel says the Xpoint grids can be stacked vertically, providing a route to storing more data on one chip.
> Intel hasn’t released much more detail about 3D Xpoint, but its basic design is similar to what’s at the heart of an ambitious project by Hewlett-Packard to use devices called memristors to create faster data storage and new computer designs (see “Machine Dreams”). Other large companies as well as startups are working on similar technology (see “Faster, Denser, Memory Challenges both DRAM and Flash”). However, progress has been slower than anticipated and Intel is the only company promising complete hard drives on the market next year. After difficulties with its own memory technology, HP recently scaled back its memristor plans (see “HP Puts the Future of Computing on Hold”).


----------



## ScienceRocks

*IBM scientists develop brain inspired chip*




> Scientists have developed a brain inspired computer chip which mimics the neurons inside your brain.
> The chip consumes just 70 milliwatts of power and can perform 46 billion synaptic operations per second.
> Since 2008, scientists from IBM have been working with DARPA's Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics (SyNAPSE) programme.
> They have developed the chip, or processor called TrueNorth, which is claimed to be efficient, scalable, and flexible non-von Neumann architecture using contemporary silicon technology.
> TrueNorth has 5.4-billion-transistors with 4096 neurosynaptic cores interconnected via an intrachip network that integrates 1 million programmable spiking neurons and 256 million configurable synapses.
> It can be tiled in two dimensions through an interchip communication interface and can be scaled up to a cortexlikesheet of arbitrary size.
> The chip has been fabricated on Samsung's 28nm process and claimed to be IBM's largest chip in terms of transistor count.
> During the simulation of complex recurrent neural networks, the chip consumes less than 100mW of power and has a power density of 20mW / cm2.
> IBM fellow Dharmendra Modha said: "Unlike the prevailing von Neumann architecture -- but like the brain -- TrueNorth has a parallel, distributed, modular, scalable, fault-tolerant, flexible architecture that integrates computation, communication, and memory and has no clock.
> "It is fair to say that TrueNorth completely redefines what is now possible in the field of brain-inspired computers, in terms of size, architecture, efficiency, scalability, and chip design techniques."
> The chip can be used in many applications that use complex neural networks in real time including multi-object detection and classification.


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## ScienceRocks

*Smart light lets you control your environment*
By Lakshmi Sandhana - August 19, 2015  3 Pictures 





> What if the light in the room could sense you waving your hand as you enter? And what if it responded by introducing minute light changes that instructed your smart coffee machine to switch on? Researchers at Dartmouth College have developed a sensing system called LiSense that aims to make the light around us "smart." Not only does it use light to sense people’s movements, but it also allows them to control devices in their environment with simple gestures, using light to transmit information.


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## ScienceRocks

*Samsung Galaxy Note 5 vs. iPhone 6 Plus*
By Will Shanklin - August 19, 2015  29 Pictures 



Comparing the Galaxy Note 5 to the iPhone 6 Plus isn't completely fair, as Samsung's phablet is hot off the press while Apple will likely have a new model out next month. But nevertheless here's our breakdown of the two popular mega-phones.


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## ScienceRocks

* Potentially a very big deal - Dwave 2X 1000-2048 qubit quantum annealing system becoming faster than classical computers *








> Nextbigfuture has covered the 28 page benchmarking paper and the developments, applications and algorithms for the Dwave systems. Highlights * the Dwave system is broadly 15 times faster than commercial multi-core solvers * the Dwave system can be 600 times faster * Dwave is doubling the number of qubits every year or two * there are over...





* Dwave Systems 1000+ qubit system available, faster than regular computers with 15-600 times speed up over classical solvers *







> DWave announced their 1000+ qubit quantum annealing system Dwave announced the general availability of the latest generation of D-Wave quantum computers, the D-Wave 2X™ system. With 1000+ qubits and many other technological advancements, the D-Wave 2X will enable customers to run much larger, more complex problems on the system. In addition...






​
*A new design for an easily fabricated, flexible and wearable white-light LED*


> Researchers from National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan have created highly flexible, efficient white LEDs with potential use in wearable displays and non-flat surfaces, such as curved and flexible television screens. While .


.


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## ScienceRocks

*Startup Knowm combines machine learning, quantum computing via memristors*


> Startup Knowm's has a combo 'Anti-Hebbian and Hebbian' (AHaH) machine learning approach using memristors (others use one or the other, but only Knowm uses both at once) thus allowing the customer to define their own specific learning algorithm using the same building blocks.
> 
> "Knowm’s AHaH computing approach combines the best of machine learning and quantum computing via memristors," Chief Executive Officer Alex Nugent told EE Times in advance of the company's unveiling today. "Our neuromemristive processors use a low-level instruction set that can be combined in various ways to achieve any number of learning algorithms."
> 
> Many researchers take the “let’s decode the brain!” approach and want to simulate the brain on massive computer clusters. While this will most certainly provide insights into how the brain works, they will eventually be faced with the reality that that their simulations will not be able to compete on power, density and speed with other approaches that have addressed the issue directly.
> 
> Knowm has taken a different approach, which is to build a chip that doesn’t necessarily emulate a brain but instead provides adaptive-learning functions at a foundation ‘physical’ level and consequently beats other approaches on power and density.


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## ScienceRocks

*Russian Scientists Claim Artificial Intelligence Breakthrough*



> Researchers in Russia claim to have made a major step towards the goal of artificial general intelligence (AGI). They have created an "artificial medium of natural intelligence - physical model, capable of self-learning."
> 
> The international team of scientists at a laboratory based in Tomsk State University in western Siberia have created a device that could be an artificial carrier of a natural mind, able to learn and react to the environment, according to a press release.
> 
> The system was built based on mathematical and computer models of the human brain states the head of the effort, Professor Vladimir Syryamkin. "After that it was designed radio-electronic device comprising perceptrons. It is capable of handling various information (video, audio, etc.) Now we are working to establish the basic system robotic system, which is an intelligent control center.
> "In the end, an artificial brain should be analogous to the biological model," the main developer of the system, Shumilov Vladimir said. "We have a tremendous amount of work, but a very important step has been taken - we were able to reveal the secret of brain neural network. In our physical model, as in the human brain, the formation of new neural connections and damping existing. In humans, it is the process of forgetting."
> 
> This physical model is capable of self-learning and life experience.


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## ScienceRocks

*Intel watchers await more details about Skylake chip*
Intel watchers have been keeping their eyes and ears open for any definitive news about its new platform Skylake. Flocking to San Francisco for the chip giant's annual IDF developer event on Tuesday, there were expectations ...


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## ScienceRocks

*Landlines (remember those?) can now go mobile with Voice Bridge*
By Stanley Goodner - August 24, 2015  4 Pictures 



With so many new consumer gadgets going the way of wireless connectivity, it can be easy to forget about entire subsets of products that still use cables. Though landline telephones aren't as feature-packed or exciting as smartphones, they are still critical for businesses and homes everywhere. With the Swissvoice Voice Bridge, users will be able to combine the best of both worlds by taking landline calls on mobile devices.

Read More
*Could a hydrogen-powered iPhone be in the works?*
By Eric Mack  2 Pictures 



For decades we've been promised that hydrogen fuel cells will revolutionize our lives, but it always seems to be around the next corner. But that hasn't stopped one UK company from pursuing a near future in which iPhones and other devices are completely disconnected from the electrical grid and instead use embedded fuel cells to power themselves for a full week between recharges.


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## ScienceRocks

*Microsoft Prototypes A Keyboard Cover With E-Ink Display*



> Tablets have became the right tool for finishing the work properly. In order to make the difference between slate and laptop bigger, Microsoft Applied Science made a new prototype device called DisplayCover: a cover for keyboard that can house an e-ink touchscreen display. Thanks to 1,280 x 305 resolution screen, you will be provided with access to app shortcuts and will be able to handle navigational touch gestures and accept stylus input as well. With the stylus feature, you will easily be able to handle things like signing document and scribbling notes based on the demo video. Provided that you would like to use an app such as Photoshop where you need to access the tool palettes constantly, you can move them at the top of the keyboard so you can have more of your tablet’s space at disposal.


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## ScienceRocks

*DARPA CRAFT Program Aims for Affordable Designer Circuits that Do More with Less Power *





Demand for specialized integrated circuits for military electronics continues to surge exponentially with no end in sight. Systems that synchronize the activity of unmanned aerial vehicles; real-time conversion of raw radar data into tactically useful 3-D imagery; and instant access to high-resolution sensor feeds on the battlefield are only...


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## ScienceRocks

*Facebook has a billion users in a single day, says Mark Zuckerberg*

For the first time over a billion people used Facebook on a single day, according to company founder Mark Zuckerberg.

The "milestone" was reached on Monday, when "1 in 7 people on Earth used Facebook to connect with their friends and family", he said in a post.

Facebook has nearly 1.5 billion users who log in at least once a month, but this was the most in a single day.

The company gained its billionth user in October 2012.

It was founded in 2004 by Mr Zuckerberg while he was a Harvard student.



http://www.bbc.co.uk...canada-34082393


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## ScienceRocks

*Eight-Layer 3D IC Wafer Stack Containing Active Logic*



> Today at the IEEE 3DIC conference, Tezzaron Semiconductor and their manufacturing subsidiary, Novati Technologies, announce the world’s first eight-layer 3D IC wafer stack containing active logic.
> The transistor and interconnect densities per cubic mm are far higher than achievable with 2D 14nm silicon fabrication, promising to accelerate high-performance computing and put Moore's Law back on track, potentially saving the industry billions of dollars.


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## ScienceRocks

*Quantum computer that 'computes without running' sets efficiency record*



> Due to quantum effects, it's possible to build a quantum computer that computes without running—or as the scientists explain, "the result of a computation may be learned without actually running the computer." So far, however, the efficiency of this process, which is called counterfactual computation (CFC), has had an upper limit of 50%, limiting its practical applications.
> 
> Now in a new paper, scientists have experimentally demonstrated a slightly different version called a "generalized CFC" that has an efficiency of 85% with the potential to reach 100%. This improvement opens the doors to realizing a much greater variety of applications, such as low-light medical X-rays and the imaging of delicate biological cells and proteins—in certain cases, using only a single photon.
> The researchers, led by Prof. Jiangfeng Du at the University of Science and Technology of China and Prof. Liang Jiang at Yale University in the US, have published a paper on the high-efficiency counterfactual computing method in a recent issue of Physical Review Letters.
> "The main keys to achieving high-efficiency CFC include the utilization of exotic quantum features (quantum superposition, quantum measurement, and the quantum Zeno effect), as well as the use of a generalized CFC protocol," Du told Phys.org.


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## ScienceRocks

* Nest Announces 3rd Generation Nest Learning Thermostat *

*Published on* September 1st, 2015 | _by Joshua S Hill_

Nest has announced that it is upgrading its flagship Nest Learning Thermostat with a 3rd generation version of the pioneering home energy management tool. The new Nest Learning Thermostat will feature a sleek new design with [&hellip...


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## ScienceRocks

*Intel debuts 6th gen Core processor family at IFA 2015*
By Paul Ridden - September 2, 2015  2 Pictures 





> Intel says there are over 500 million computers in use today that are at least 5 years old, frustrating users with slow wake-up times, the inability to wander away from a wall socket for very long and sluggish overall performance. Today at IFA 2015 in Berlin, the company introduced its new 6th generation Core and Xeon processor families that promise 2.5x faster performance over what was available 5 years ago, 30x better graphics and 3x the battery life.


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## ScienceRocks

*Seagate packs 2 TB of storage into 7 mm-thick laptop hard drive*
By Darren Quick - September 2, 2015





> When it comes to data storage capacity, too much is never enough. But Seagate is doing its best to sate people's craving for gigabytes on the go by announcing the world's highest capacity 2.5-inch hard drive. Equaling the 2 TB capacity of the Samsung Spinpoint M9T that the company unveiled back in 2013, the new drive is 2.5 mm thinner than that unit, stretching the calipers to just 7 mm.


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## ScienceRocks

*Quantum computing will bring immense processing possibilities*




> The one thing everyone knows about quantum mechanics is its legendary weirdness, in which the basic tenets of the world it describes seem alien to the world we live in. Superposition, where things can be in two states simultaneously, a switch both on and off, a cat both dead and alive. Or entanglement, what Einstein called "spooky action-at-distance" in which objects are invisibly linked, even when separated by huge distances.
> 
> But weird or not, quantum theory is approaching a century old and has found many applications in daily life. As John von Neumann once said: "You don't understand quantum mechanics, you just get used to it." Much of electronics is based on quantum physics, and the application of quantum theory to computing could open up huge possibilities for the complex calculations and data processing we see today.
> Imagine a computer processor able to harness super-position, to calculate the result of an arbitrarily large number of permutations of a complex problem simultaneously. Imagine how entanglement could be used to allow systems on different sides of the world to be linked and their efforts combined, despite their physical separation. Quantum computing has immense potential, making light work of some of the most difficult tasks, such as simulating the body's response to drugs, predicting weather patterns, or analysing big datasets.
> Such processing possibilities are needed. The first transistors could only just be held in the hand, while today they measure just 14 nm – 500 times smaller than a red blood cell. This relentless shrinking, predicted by Intel founder Gordon Moore as Moore's law, has held true for 50 years, but cannot hold indefinitely. Silicon can only be shrunk so far, and if we are to continue benefiting from the performance gains we have become used to, we need a different approach.


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## ScienceRocks

*Squishy transistors: a device concept for fast, low-power electronics*




> An international team of researchers from the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), IBM the University of Edinburgh and Auburn University have shown that a new device concept - a 'squishy' transistor - can overcome the predicted power bottleneck caused by CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) technology reaching its fundamental limits. Moore's law predicted that the number of transistors able to fit on a given die area would double every two years. As transistor density doubled, chip size shrank and processing speeds increased. This march of progress led to rapid advances in information technology and a surge in the number of interconnected devices. The challenge with making anything smaller is that there are fundamental physical limits that can't be ignored and we are now entering the final years of CMOS transistor shrinkage. Furthermore, this proliferation is driving an increase in data volume, accompanied by rising demands on energy to process, store and communicate it all; as a result, IT infrastructure now draws an estimated 10 % of the world's electrical power. Previous efforts have focused on remediation by reducing the amount of energy per bit. However, soon we will hit a power barrier that will prevent continued voltage scaling. The development of novel, low-power devices based on different physical principles is therefore crucial to the continued evolution of IT.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Wacom Bamboo Spark creates digital copies of written notes – no special paper required*

 Ben Coxworth 
September 3, 2015
 9 PICTURES 



If you want a smartpen – which digitizes your handwriting and transmits it to a computer or mobile device – you currently have your choice of models including the Neo Smartpen N2, the LiveScribe Sky or the Orée Stylograph. All of those pens, however, require you to use special paper that's unique to that particular product. By contrast, Wacom's just-announced Bamboo Spark system works with a non-electronic pen and whatever A5-sized paper you've got on hand.

*Samsung Gear S2: Hands-on*

 Chris Wood 
September 3, 2015
 14 PICTURES 



Samsung's newly announced Gear S2 smartwatch is instantly appealing. It offers a compelling combination of touch and physical controls, a sharp colorful interface and two distinct flavors of hardware. Read on for Gizmag's full hands-on impressions.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Ricoh ups the resolution of spherical photography with Theta S*

 Simon Crisp 
September 3, 2015
 12 PICTURES 



With faster lenses, larger image sensors and increased resolution, the new Ricoh Theta S, which was launched today at IFA 2015, is a decidedly more grown-up version of the quirky spherical camera. The new model can shoot more detailed spherical photos, and its 360-degree videos are now recorded in Full HD 1920 x 1080 at 30 fps (frames per second).


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Intel invests US$50 million in quantum-computing research*

Intel announced today (Thursday Sept. 3) an investment of $50 million and “significant engineering resources” inquantum computing research, in a 10-year collaborative relationship with the Delft University of Technology and TNO, the Dutch Organisation for Applied Research.
“A fully functioning quantum computer is at least a dozen years away, but the practical and theoretical research efforts we’re announcing today mark an important milestone in the journey to bring it closer to reality,” said Mike Mayberry, Intel vice president and managing director of Intel Labs.
Infographic: Quantum Computing
The Promise of Quantum Computing By Intel CEO Brian Krzanichg


----------



## ScienceRocks

*5G technology to 'transform the world': Huawei vice president*



> Speaking at the 29th meeting for "Telecommunications and the Digital Economy" in the Spanish city of Santander, he highlighted Huawei was backing the new technology "because it will help us overcome the challenges which cannot be fully faced with existing technology", Xinhua news agency reported.
> SEE ALSO: Sony Xperia Z5 vs Sony Xperia Z5 Premium: Which Is The Best?
> Ji on Thursday said Huawei was "playing a leading role in the definition and promotion of 5G in the world and had contributed actively to the 5G ecosystem".
> He added 5G would allow for new applications, while allowing for new business models and even new industry, although needing massive investment from companies looking to develop it.
> SEE ALSO: Sony Shines At IFA 2015: Top 6 Devices Launched
> "Only in this way can we understand the shared needs for 5G networks in all vertical industries. We should let the needs of business lead the elaboration of the rules surrounding the innovation in technology and convert the 5G networks into the key factor for the future industrial revolution," said Ji.





* Printable holograms will enable holographic lens telescopes and smart windows *








> Researchers have developed a method for printing optical holographic lenses that could greatly simplify their fabrication. Because the method can be performed quickly and easily, it could potentially be used by astronauts to print lenses while in space for holographic lens telescopes. While current holographic lens fabrication methods are...


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Intel 6th generation core processor for triple batterey life and 2.5 times better performance *







> Intel Corporation introduced the 6th Generation Intel® Core™ processor family, the company's best processors ever. The launch marks a turning point in people's relationship with computers. The 6th Gen Intel Core processors deliver enhanced performance and new immersive experiences at the lowest power levels ever and also support the broadest...


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Verizon to start testing 5G in the U.S. in 2016*





> We usually talk about seeing "5G," the next big jump in mobile data speeds, coming online around 2020 or later. But Verizon Wireless says it's ready to start testing its next generation network in 2016.
> 
> The largest wireless carrier in the U.S. is teaming up with Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Ericsson, Nokia, Qualcomm and Samsung to develop and test the technology in sandboxed environments at the company's "innovation centers" in San Francisco and Waltham, Massachusetts as well as launch field trials next year.
> 
> "5G is no longer a dream of the distant future," said Verizon Executive Vice President Roger Gurnani in a statement. "We feel a tremendous sense of urgency to push forward."




*Samsung has a 4K Blu-ray player coming in 2016*

 Chris Wood 
September 8, 2015
 5 PICTURES 





> Samsung's new player supports 4K Blu-ray playback, giving users more to watch on their glossy new panels. The product, which was announced at the IFA show in Berlin, will also support upscaling and streaming services.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Philippines to Roll Out Nationwide Free Wi-Fi Service by 2016*


> The Philippines is planning free Wi-Fi services to half of its towns and cities this year and nationwide coverage by end-2016, limiting the data revenue prospects for Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and Globe Telecom Inc.
> The free Internet service will cost the government about 1.5 billion pesos ($32 million) a year and will be available in areas such as public schools, hospitals, airports and parks, said Monchito Ibrahim, deputy executive director of the Information and Communications Technology Office.
> “If subscribers move to using free public Wi-Fi, telecoms may need to lure them into getting higher-end services,” Ibrahim said in a Sept. 4 interview in Makati City, referring to the country’s two main phone companies. The government’s “focus is on areas that absolutely don’t have access.”
> 
> The new service is expected to push data charges lower in the Philippines. Access to the Internet costs about $18 a megabit per second in the country, more than three times the global average of $5, according to research firm International Data Corp. or IDC.




I wish we could do this!


----------



## ScienceRocks

* As Expected Apple Unveils iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus *





The Apple iPhone 6S will be available in silver, gold, rose gold and space grey. The Apple 6S Plus returns with a 5.5-inch display. Both boast a new glass that's "incredibly durable," says Schiller. Apple confirms 3D Touch, a new way to interact with the phone. It's pressure sensitive, so it will read your inputs based on how hard or soft...


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Samsung will double the memory of high end smartphones to 6 Gigabytes *







> Samsung Electronics announced that it is mass producing the industry’s first 12-gigabit (Gb) LPDDR4 (low power, double data rate 4) mobile DRAM, based on its advanced 20-nanometer (nm) process technology. The newest LPDDR4 is expected to significantly accelerate the adoption of high capacity mobile DRAM worldwide. The 12Gb LPDDR4 brings...


----------



## ScienceRocks

*HandyCase lets users operate mobile devices from both sides*

 Stanley Goodner 
September 9, 2015
 4 PICTURES 





> Despite the rapid advancement of smartphones and tablets, accessory makers continually find new ways to enhance the mobile device experience. No longer are cases and covers just for rugged protection, as many provide additional features on top of that. Handscape is set to change how people interact with devices. The company's HandyCase is designed to let users operate touchscreens with fingers set behind the device.


----------



## ScienceRocks

* World's First Compact 300 GHz Receiver for Wireless Communications of Tens of Gigabits per Second *







> Fujitsu Limited and Fujitsu Laboratories announced the development of the world's first 300 GHz band compact receiver capable of high-speed wireless communications at a rate of several tens of gigabits per second. Radio signals with a frequency greater than 100GHz, called the terahertz band, allow for increases in usable frequency range...


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Functional carbon nanotube integrated circuits: a breakthrough*

*Dealing with environmental degradation*


> Northwestern University engineers say that have finally found the key to practical use of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in integrated circuits. Individual transistors made from CNTs are faster and more energy-efficient and reliable than those made from other materials.
> The problem. But making the leap to wafer-scale integrated circuits (a microprocessor typically has a billion transistors) is a challenge. The process is incredibly expensive, often requiring billion-dollar cleanrooms to keep the delicate nano-sized components safe from the potentially damaging effects of air, water, and dust.
> And researchers have struggled to create a carbon nanotube-based integrated circuit in which the transistors are spatially uniform across the material, which is needed for the overall system to work.
> The solution. Now Hersam and his team have found a key to solving all these issues: newly developed encapsulation layers that protect carbon nanotubes from environmental degradation


----------



## ScienceRocks

*MIT researchers unveil new approach that could help enable chips with thousands of cores*



> Researchers from MIT have unveiled the first fundamentally new approach to cache coherence in more than three decades, a memory-management scheme that could help enable chips with thousands of cores.
> In a modern, multicore chip, every core — or processor — has its own small memory cache, where it stores frequently used data. But the chip also has a larger, shared cache, which all the cores can access.
> If one core tries to update data in the shared cache, other cores working on the same data need to know. So the shared cache keeps a directory of which cores have copies of which data.
> That directory takes up a significant chunk of memory: In a 64-core chip, it might be 12 percent of the shared cache. And that percentage will only increase with the core count. Envisioned chips with 128, 256, or even 1,000 cores will need a more efficient way of maintaining cache coherence.
> At the International Conference on Parallel Architectures and Compilation Techniques in October, MIT researchers unveil the first fundamentally new approach to cache coherence in more than three decades. Whereas with existing techniques, the directory’s memory allotment increases in direct proportion to the number of cores, with the new approach, it increases according to the logarithm of the number of cores.
> In a 128-core chip, that means that the new technique would require only one-third as much memory as its predecessor. With Intel set to release a 72-core high-performance chip in the near future, that’s a more than hypothetical advantage. But with a 256-core chip, the space savings rises to 80 percent, and with a 1,000-core chip, 96 percent.
> When multiple cores are simply reading data stored at the same location, there’s no problem. Conflicts arise only when one of the cores needs to update the shared data. With a directory system, the chip looks up which cores are working on that data and sends them messages invalidating their locally stored copies of it.
> “Directories guarantee that when a write happens, no stale copies of the data exist,” says Xiangyao Yu, an MIT graduate student in electrical engineering and computer science and first author on the new paper. “After this write happens, no read to the previous version should happen. So this write is ordered after all the previous reads in physical-time order.”


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Terahertz breakthrough opens pathway for 100x faster Wi-Fi*


> There isn’t much worse than a slow, buffering Wi-Fi connection, but all that could end thanks to the development of terahertz wireless networks.
> A group of researchers has just reported a breakthrough in communications technology that could open up more research on wireless networks capable of providing connectivity at 100x the speed of what we’ve got today.
> Hailing from Brown University, the researchers have cracked a way to create multiplex terahertz waves – making it possible for separate streams of data to be sent through the waves – for the first time.
> The process is crucial to developing a communications system that is capable of replacing microwaves in our mobile and Wi-Fi networks, which are increasingly having to handle more data.
> Daniel Mittleman, one of the Brown University researchers who worked on the project, said that his team is building a prototype terahertz network to further experiment with the tech.
> “Any terahertz communications application is going to need some form of multiplexing and demultiplexing,” Mittleman said.


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## ScienceRocks

Zuckerberg says ‘Dislike’ button is finally coming to Facebook http://www.talkandroid.com/265117-zuckerberg-says-dislike-button-is-finally-coming-to-facebook/…


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## waltky

Matthew wrote: _Radio signals with a frequency greater than 100GHz, called the terahertz band..._

A terahertz would be 1000 GHz...

... possum workin' on hookin' up a linear accelerator to his computer...

... should push out a couple o' gazillahertz.


----------



## longknife

Matthew said:


> Zuckerberg says ‘Dislike’ button is finally coming to Facebook http://www.talkandroid.com/265117-zuckerberg-says-dislike-button-is-finally-coming-to-facebook/…



Now if we could only get a Dislike button here!!!!!


----------



## ScienceRocks

*World's first 8K TV to go on sale next month*

 Chris Wood 


 2 PICTURES 





> Sharp's 8K TV tech was on show at CES 2015 earlier this year, but until now it hasn't been available to buy. From next month, the company will begin taking orders in Japan for the first ever commercially available 8K TV. The panel, which offers a resolution 16 times that of Full HD, will enter the market at an eye-wateringly high price point.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Angee automated home security system doubles as a personal assistant*

 Antonio Pasolini 
September 18, 2015
 8 PICTURES 





> The relentless march of technology has helped make home security systems a more affordable option for homeowners, while the ubiquity of home wireless networks has helped extend their capabilities and ease of use. San Francisco-based startup Angee Inc. is looking to take things a bit further by adding some computer smarts to create an automated security system that is portable and doubles as a personal assistant.


----------



## ScienceRocks

* China will have two 100 petaflop supercomputers in 2016 and they will use domestic chips*


> Within the next 12 months, China expects to be operating two 100 Petaflop computers, each containing (different) Chinese-made processors, and both coming online about a year before the United States’ 100 Petaflop machines being developed under the Coral initiative In a separate move to acquire mastery of microprocessor technologies, China’s state owned Tsinghua Unigroup has made a bid to acquire US semiconductor manufacturer...


----------



## ScienceRocks

* European Union 5G-Xhaul program to develop 10 gigabit per second cellular data by 2018 *








> Xhaul aims at developing an adaptive, sharable,cost-efficient 5G transport network solution integrating the front haul and backhaul segments of the network. This transport network will flexibly interconnect distributed 5G radio access and core network functions, hosted on in-network cloud nodes,through the implementation of two novel building...
> Read more »


----------



## Muhammed

PoliticalChic said:


> Matthew said:
> 
> 
> 
> For the latest advances in computers, hard drives, ram, ect.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> TDK sets new hard drive density record, paves the way for 6TB HDDs
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> TDK sets new hard drive density record, paves the way for 6TB HDDs - TechSpot News
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Solid state drives are continuing to build momentum as a speedy and rugged replacement for traditional spinning drive. TDKs ongoing research into mechanical hard drives, however, suggests that we shouldnt give up on the legacy technology just yet. The company recently announced a new milestone that will increase recording density in future drives by 50 percent.
> 
> The team at TDK have managed to achieve densities of 1.5TB per square inch by improving the magnetic head and hard disk medium with help from Showa Denko K.K. In laymans terms, this new advancement will allow a single platter in a 3.5-inch desktop hard drive to achieve 2TB of storage. Add more platters to the mix and youre now looking at hard drives reach 4TB and even 6TB in capacity.
> 
> Perhaps even more interesting is the impact it will have on 2.5-inch notebook drives. TDK says these smaller form factor HDDs will be able to achieve capacities of 1TB. This will allow users that arent yet sold on cloud storage to have a larger amount of data on hand at all times without having to lug around an external storage drive.
> 
> TDK will be showcasing the new technology at CEATEC this week although volume production isnt expected to begin until sometime in 2014. At that point, one has to wonder just how far solid state drive technology will have come in terms of price versus capacity. This ratio has been the Achilles heel for SSDs thus far even as drives continue to be more affordable.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I just checked....my computer seems to be held together with nuts and bolts....not thread.
> 
> 
> I may have gotten a newer one than you.....
Click to expand...

The problem is much  more likely to be hat your computer does not even know who the heck you are.


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## ScienceRocks

*Sony’s Project Morpheus is now PlayStation VR*

by Mark Walton - Sep 15, 2015 10:15am BST

Sony's Project Morpheus is no more. The virtual reality headset, which is due for release in 2016, has been rebranded as the slightly less sci-fi PlayStation VR, Sony announced in Japan today. Name change aside, no changes appear to have been made to the headset itself, which was already a much sleeker unit than competitors like the HTC Vive.

http://arstechnica.c...playstation-vr/


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## ScienceRocks

*55-inch rollable TV prototype to be unveiled by LG*



> Imagine going into some consumer electronics retailer, asking the employee there to roll you one TV. It may sound ridiculous, frivolous and even offensive, but LG thinks otherwise.
> The Korean manufacturer is working on a new OLED display of 55 inches that can bend or roll without damage. The rollable TV will be introduced at the International Consumer Electronics Show (ICES) in January 2016.
> 
> Many of you will think that this technology is useless and why would we roll the TV? But what if you need to move your TV somewhere? Or have a weekend for example and want there to watch movies on larger display. The possibilities are unlimited, and the ideas of their application can only be widened. In the video editing business, this display can be very useful. A rollable display will be portable, and will have sufficient size for the director and camera operators to have a nice view of what is being recorded at the moment.
> Unlike existing curved televisions, LG’s rollable TV could create an easy-to-carry tube that could be carried as easily as a briefcase, and be installed wherever customers want to watch programs.
> The device is still a prototype, meaning that it won’t be going into commercial production anytime sooner than 2017, although we suppose the possibilities for such a display could be endless.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*3D Computer Chips Could Be 1,000 Times Faster Than Existing Ones*

Quote


> A new method of designing and building computer chips could lead to blisteringly quick processing at least 1,000 times faster than the best existing chips are capable of, researchers say.
> The new method, which relies on materials called carbon nanotubes, allows scientists to build the chip in three dimensions.
> The 3D design enables scientists to interweave memory, which stores data, and the number-crunching processors in the same tiny space, said Max Shulaker, one of the designers of the chip, and a doctoral candidate in electrical engineering at Stanford University in California.
> 
> Reducing the distance between the two elements can dramatically reduce the time computers take to do their work, Shulaker said Sept. 10 here at the "Wait, What?" technology forum hosted by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the research wing of the U.S. military.
> *Progress slowing*
> The inexorable advance in computing power over the past 50 years is largely thanks to the ability to make increasingly smaller silicontransistors, the three-pronged electrical switches that do the logical operations for computers.
> According to Moore's law, a rough rule first articulated by semiconductor researcher Gordon E. Moore in 1965, the number of transistors on a given silicon chip would roughly double every two years. True to his predictions, transistors have gotten ever tinier, with the teensiest portions measuring just 5 nanometers, and the smallest functional ones having features just 7 nanometers in size. (For comparison, an average strand of human hair is about 100,000 nanometers wide.)
> The decrease in size, however, means that the quantum effects of particles at that scale could disrupt their functioning. Therefore, it's likely that Moore's law will be coming to an end within the next 10 years, experts say. Beyond that, shrinking transistors to the bitter end may not do much to make computers faster.


----------



## ScienceRocks

* 3D Carbon nanotube chips with processing and memory interwoven in layers can achieve over 1000 times compute speed and they havea demo chip*






> DARPA Risers Max Shulaker (Stanford) explains his ongoing research into enabling much faster, lower-power microchips. He spoke at DARPA's "Wait, What?" forum on Sept. 10, 2015. 3D carbon nanotube chips could lead to blisteringly quick processing at least 1,000 times faster than the best existing chips are capable of. The 3D design enables...



*Physicists break distance record for quantum teleportation*


> Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have "teleported" or transferred quantum information carried in light particles over 100 kilometers (km) of optical fiber, four times farther than the ...


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Oculus Connect 2 Day One: Revisiting Lucky, Henry and Oculus Touch*

 Will Shanklin 
September 23, 2015
 8 PICTURES 



Oculus' annual developer conference is underway, and before the company tells us what's new tomorrow, it's giving us all a refresher course on some demos we've seen before. We have a few thoughts after Day One of Oculus Connect 2.

Read More


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## ScienceRocks

*The first consumer-focused Samsung Gear VR will cost $99, launches this November*

 David Nield 
September 24, 2015
 5 PICTURES 





> At the Oculus Connect Developer Conference today, Samsung SVP Peter Koo announced a new Samsung Gear VR headset designed to give millions more users their first taste of VR: it's compatible with any 2015 Samsung smartphone and it costs just US$99 (half the price of the _pre-consumer_ Gear VR Innovator Edition headsets).


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Advanced memristors are a pathway to affordable human scale neuromorphic artificial general intelligence *







> It may be possible to create neuromorphic human-level Artificial General Intelligence within 5 to 15 years for 30 to 100 thousand dollars, of marginal cost using memristors. The extreme complexity of the human cerebral cortex,featuring in particular ~10^14 synapses, makes the hardware implementation of neuromorphic networks with a comparable...


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Oculus demos $99 Gear VR in push for mainstream virtual reality September 25, 2015 at 9:30 am *
A number of Oculus and VR-related announcements broke yesterday — here’s your quick roundup.





*This AI algorithm can match the average American on real SAT questions September 25, 2015 at 8:28 am *
The amazing new GeoS AI can look at the exact same questions you do, parse them like you do, and answer them — just as well as you do.


----------



## Moonglow

Matthew said:


> *The first consumer-focused Samsung Gear VR will cost $99, launches this November*
> 
> David Nield
> September 24, 2015
> 5 PICTURES
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> At the Oculus Connect Developer Conference today, Samsung SVP Peter Koo announced a new Samsung Gear VR headset designed to give millions more users their first taste of VR: it's compatible with any 2015 Samsung smartphone and it costs just US$99 (half the price of the _pre-consumer_ Gear VR Innovator Edition headsets).
Click to expand...

Now I have to get my son one...


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Zuckerberg, Gates make bid for universal Internet access*


> Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates on Saturday threw their weight and resources behind the goal of bringing Internet access to everyone in the world by 2020


----------



## ScienceRocks

*All-optical permanent on-chip memory paves the way for faster, more efficient computers*

 Colin Jeffrey 
September 27, 2015




A new non-volatile optical memory has been created by researchers working at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the universities of Münster, Oxford, and Exeter. Utilizing innovative phase-change materials to store information, the new device promises to significantly improve processing speeds by effectively eliminating the existing bottleneck of having to convert optical signals into electrical signals for storage and then back again for transmission.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*New Chromecast, Chromecast Audio want to stream everything for you*

 Eric Mack 
September 29, 2015
 6 PICTURES 



On Tuesday, Google announced that it has sold over 20 million Chromecasts the past few years and now hopes to sell more by launching an improved second generation HDMI streaming dongle alongside a streaming audio-only version. The company introduced the new Chromecast and the Chromecast Audio at its big media event alongside new Nexus phones and a new Pixel convertible tablet.


----------



## ScienceRocks

Nanotube Electronics Could Be Operational Sooner Than Expected



> Silicon transistors have become dramatically smaller in the last decades following Moore's Law - the observation that the number of transistors per unit area doubles every two tears. However, silicon transistor technology is approaching a point of physical limitation.
> 
> With Moore's Law running out of steam, shrinking the size of transistors - including the channels and contacts - without compromising performance is a research and manufacturing challenge. Carbon nanotube technology could lead to much smaller transistors and keep electronics and computing devices on the Moore's Law of exponentially decreasing size and thus increasing performance. However, as devices become smaller, increased contact resistance for carbon nanotubes has hindered performance gains until now.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*First 8K computer monitor expected this week October 5, 2015 at 7:30 am *
The first 8K monitor is reportedly ready to roll, but there are unanswered questions about its capabilities.


----------



## ScienceRocks

> "What we have is a game changer," said team leader Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor and Director of the Australian National Fabrication Facility at UNSW.
> 
> "We've demonstrated a two-qubit logic gate - the central building block of a quantum computer - and, significantly, done it in silicon. Because we use essentially the same device technology as existing computer chips, we believe it will be much easier to manufacture a full-scale processor chip than for any of the leading designs, which rely on more exotic technologies.
> 
> "This makes the building of a quantum computer much more feasible, since it is based on the same manufacturing technology as today's computer industry," he added.





Read more at: http://phys.org/news...uantum.html#jCp


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Microsoft HoloLens "Project X-Ray" demo aims to inspire developers*

 Eric Mack 
October 6, 2015
 6 PICTURES 





> Microsoft's ambition to take over your living room was more evident than ever at its new hardware event Tuesday in New York where the company demoed "wearable holograms" made possible by its HoloLens augmented reality setup. The brief demo showed how any living room can transform to an alien battlefield with the headset.
> 
> The HoloLens team demonstrated probably the most advanced use yet that we've seen of the wireless, untethered, fully self-contained system as a gaming device with something called "Project X-Ray."
> 
> Wearing the HoloLens and holding something similiar to a Wii Remote, the demo of what Microsoft calls "mixed reality gaming" showed alien (as seen through the first-person view of the player wearing the headset) enemies emerging from holes in the walls but moving within the confines of the actual room - around furniture, for instance.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Microsoft re-ignites the PC wars with Windows 10 Surface Book and Surface Pro 4*

 Eric Mack 
October 6, 2015
 14 PICTURES 





> Microsoft may have launched the second world war of computing on Tuesday with the unveiling of a powerful new Surface Pro 4 tablet and Surface Book, two new convertible devices that make us feel like we're back in the 1990s world where Mac vs. PC was the only conflict of note.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Facebook to provide free internet to Africa with satellites starting in second half of 2016 *






Facebook is teaming up with the French satellite company Eutelsat (ETCMY) to launch a satellite that will provide internet access to people in sub-Saharan Africa. The satellite will launch next year and service will start in the second half of 2016. It will reach 14 countries in West, East and Southern Africa. Facebook will use the satellite...


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Google Loon is almost perfected and Google plans to scale Globally ASAP *





Google has “almost perfected” its Loon balloon technology, with the first deal with operators set to be announced “hopefully very soon”, Wael Fakharany, regional business lead for Google [x], revealed this morning in Cape Town, South Africa. “For the last two years we have almost perfected the technology, it’s time for us now to scale in...


----------



## ScienceRocks

* IBM wants to commercialize silicon brains with Deep learning for smarter phones  *





In August last year, IBM unveiled a chip designed to operate something like the neurons and synapses of the brain. Now IBM has begun work on a next generation aimed at making mobile devices better at tasks that are easy for brains but tough for computers, such as speech recognition and interpreting images. “We’re working on a next generation...


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Chattanooga Implements World’s First Community-wide 10 Gigabit Internet Service*

*EPB*
*Chattanooga, TN (October 15, 2015)* –


> Chattanooga, known as “Gig City” for being the first in the United States to build a community-wide fiber optic network capable of delivering 1 gigabit (1,000 Mbps) Internet speeds, announced today that municipal utility EPB Fiber Optics is now offering the world’s first 10 gigabit (10 Gig) Internet service to be made available across a large community-wide territory. Unlike point-to-point commercial installations, which have been possible for some time, EPB’s 10 Gig service is now available for access by every home and business in a 600 square mile area through Alcatel-Lucent’s TWDM-PON broadband technology.
> 
> Alcatel-Lucent’s pioneering new solution is the world’s most advanced ultra-broadband technology because it delivers the scalability to offer up to 10 gigabits per second Internet speeds across a community-wide network. The 10 Gig residential service is available everywhere in EPB’s service area for $299 per month with free installation, no contracts and no cancellation fees.


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Real technology to mimick the Star Wars Force or Fictional Telekenesis *





Combining gesture interface, augmented reality and virtual reality interfaces, drones, power beaming, beam forming, robotics, magnetic levitation and sonic levitation would enable people to mimick the Star Wars Force or Fictional Telekenesis. Drones with speakers would be able to get into position to provide sonic leviation. Power beaming...


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Google Loon will provide internet service to Indonesia in 2016 *





Following 17 million km of test flights across jungles, mountains and plains, Project Loon has signed agreements with three mobile network operators - Indosat, Telkomsel and XL Axiata - to begin testing balloon-powered Internet over Indonesia in 2016. Currently, only about one in three of Indonesia’s 250 million residents is connected to...


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Oculus-powered consumer VR arrives later this month, as the Gear VR goes up for pre-order*

 Will Shanklin 
November 10, 2015
 5 PICTURES 



When Oculus VR and Samsung announced the consumer Gear VR at Oculus Connect in September, they promised that it would arrive before the Black Friday shopping frenzy begins. Today they made good on that promise, putting the mobile virtual reality headset up for pre-order with a November 20 ship date.


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Google planning a ‘watershed’ quantum computing announcement for December 8 *







> According to Steve Jurvetson, venture capitalist and board member at pioneer quantum computing company D-WAVE, Google has what may be a “watershed” quantum computing announcement scheduled for early next month. This comes as D-WAVE, which notably also holds the Mountain View company as a customer, has just sold a 1000+ Qubit 2X quantum computer...


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Quantum computer coding in silicon now possible*
A team of Australian engineers has proven—with the highest score ever obtained—that a quantum version of computer code can be written, and manipulated, using two quantum bits in a silicon microchip. The advance removes ...


----------



## ScienceRocks

*'Power Over Wi-Fi' named one of the year's game-changing technologies*
University of Washington engineers have developed a novel technology that uses a Wi-Fi router—a source of ubiquitous but untapped energy in indoor environments—to power devices.


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Low cost compact solid state LiDAR *





Quanergy Systems, Inc. will introduce in early 2016 the world’s first solid state LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) sensor for self-driving cars for less than $1,000 per car, it was announced today at the Los Angeles Auto Show’s Connected Car Expo. Quanergy’s solid state LiDAR sensor, used for autonomous vehicles, contains an integrated...


----------



## ScienceRocks

This Is Samsung's Crazy New 128GB RAM Chip






Fast broadband for all by 2020 pledged by David Cameron

Quote

7 November 2015










> All UK homes and businesses will have access to "fast broadband" by 2020, David Cameron has pledged.
> 
> The PM is to introduce a "universal service obligation" for broadband, giving the public a legal right to request an "affordable" connection.
> 
> It would put broadband on a similar footing to other basic services such as water and electricity.
> 
> In 2010, the coalition government promised the UK would have the best superfast broadband in Europe by 2015.
> 
> Then, in 2012, a pledge was made by then-Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt that the UK would have "the fastest broadband of any major European country" by 2015.
> 
> He defined high-speed broadband as offering a download speed of greater than 24 megabits per second (Mbps). Communications regulator Ofcom defines it as 30Mbps.





Fast broadband for all by 2020 pledged by David Cameron - BBC News


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Stretchable, programmable keyboard is tailor-made for wearable tech*

 Eric Mack 
November 28, 2015
 2 PICTURES 





> Most of the keyboards we're familiar with are actually rather complicated pieces of hardware, usually invlolving springs and wiring for dozens of keys, but scientists at the University of Auckland in New Zealand have developed a streamlined, programmable keyboard using a soft, flexible and stretchable type of rubber known as a dielectric elastomer.




*Samsung Gear VR review: Almost an Oculus Rift, no PC required*

 Will Shanklin 
November 27, 2015
 11 PICTURES 





> In just three years, virtual reality has gone from a curiosity (sparked by a crowdfunding indie startup called Oculus VR) to a new category of consumer product that many consider to be "the next big thing." Never one to shy away from such things, Samsung has partnered with Oculus to launch the first consumer VR headset that matters. Meet the groundbreaking Gear VR.


----------



## longknife

*Light-bending microchip could fire up quantum computers*










I have absolutely no idea what all of this means. Only that is has something to do with making computer stuff faster.



Read more @ Light-bending microchip could fire up quantum computers | Fox News


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Japanese scientists create touchable holograms*



> A group of Japanese scientists have created touchable holograms, three dimensional virtual objects that can be manipulated by human hand.
> 
> Using femtosecond laser technology the researchers developed ‘Fairy Lights, a system that can fire high frequency laser pulses that last one millionth of one billionth of a second.
> 
> The pulses respond to human touch, so that – when interrupted – the hologram’s pixels can be manipulated in mid-air.
> 
> The touchable hologram, which is being experimented with at the Utsunomiya University Center for Optical Research and Education, uses a laser provided by the university to the researchers.



Read more at Japanese scientists create touchable holograms | NewsDaily


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Researchers demonstrate world's first 5G, 100 to 200 meter communication link up to 2 Gbps*
* December 1, 2015 by Daniel Kane *



Shown here is the Keysight equipment used for the 60-GHz 802.11ad and 5G link measurements with the UCSD 64-element wafer-scale phased array, including the M8190A arbitrary waveform generator, E8267D PSG vector signal generator and the …more


> Keysight Technologies, Inc., in collaboration with electrical engineers at the University of California, San Diego, has demonstrated the world's first 64 (8 x 8) and 256-element (16 x 16), 60-GHz silicon wafer-scale phased-array transmitter with integrated high-efficiency antennas for Gbps communications at 100 to 200 meters. With this demonstration, Keysight and UC San Diego have proven that a 5G communication link is not only possible, but can deliver record performance.





Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-12-world-5g-meter-link-gbps.html#jCp


----------



## ScienceRocks

* MIT boosts 3D imaging resolution 1,000-fold which will help 3D printing and driverless cars *







> MIT researchers have shown that by exploiting the polarization of light — the physical phenomenon behind polarized sunglasses and most 3-D movie systems — they can increase the resolution of conventional 3-D imaging devices as much as 1,000 times. The technique could lead to high-quality 3-D cameras built into cellphones, and perhaps to...


----------



## ScienceRocks

*LifePrint brings photographs to life by embedding video within prints*

 Stanley Goodner 
December 3, 2015
 3 PICTURES 





> A picture is worth a thousand words, so the saying goes. But how many words is an image that springs to life with sound and moving video when viewed through a mobile device worth? LifePrint has launched a wireless portable printer and companion app, designed to print and share photos enhanced with augmented reality technology.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Facebook rolls out live streaming video service*
*Facebook rolls out live streaming video service - BBC News*

4 December 2015



> Facebook has begun rolling out a new feature on its social network which allows users to stream live video.
> 
> A select group of celebrities and high profile users have been able to use the service for several months.
> 
> Live streaming via mobile phones has become one of the big technology trends of the year, with Twitter-owned Periscope and Meerkat proving popular.
> 
> Last year, Amazon paid $1bn for live streaming game site Twitch.
> 
> Initially Facebook's live video feature will be available only to a small percentage of people in the US and will be limited to iPhones.
> 
> The tech giant said that "over time, the company plans to bring it to all users" but it did not give specific timescales.


----------



## ScienceRocks

* New ARM Cortex A35 processor will be more powerful and energy efficient then predecessors *








> The ARM® Cortex®-A35 processor is ARM’s most power-efficient application processor capable of seamlessly supporting 32-bit and 64-bit code. The Cortex-A35 processor marks the beginning of a new family of ultra-high efficiency application processors from ARM. The Cortex-A35 processor uses an efficient 8-stage in-order pipeline that has been...


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Google Finds Dwave Quantum annealer is 100 million times faster than a classic single core computer and discusses scaling and improving quantum computers *







> During the last two years, the Google Quantum AI team has made progress in understanding the physics governing quantum annealers. We recently applied these new insights to construct proof-of-principle optimization problems and programmed these into the D-Wave 2X quantum annealer that Google operates jointly with NASA. The problems were designed...


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Multi-purpose Symbisa sensor looks to fast track the Internet of Things*

 Nick Lavars 
December 9, 2015
 4 PICTURES 





> Ceiling fans, thermostats, mailboxes and light fittings. It seems that no matter which direction you look in a smart home of the future you'll find a connected appliance interacting with its environment in one way or another. These smart devices generally feature hardware that's been carefully designed with a very specific purpose in mind, but what if there was more of a "one-size-fits-all" solution? British company Hanhaa is looking to offer inventors an easier route to the so-called Internet of Things, with a multi-purpose sensor kit that can be adapted to various tracking or monitoring applications within minutes of breaking open the box.



*Mid-air holograms that respond to human touch*

 John Anderson 
December 9, 2015
 6 PICTURES 





> Researchers from Tsukuba University in Japan have created holograms that respond to human touch. Involving femtosecond lasers, which can stimulate physical matter to emit light in 3D form, the research could eventually lead to the creation of holograms that humans are able to interact with.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Small Massachusetts Town Offers 2 Gigabit Internet For $75/Month*



> As Comcast rolls out its superfast 2 gigabit fiber service for $300/month — not to mention upwards of $1,000 in startup costs — yet another municipally owned broadband service is offering similar service for less money.
> 
> ===
> CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story stated that LeverettNet was offerign 2Gbps speeds to customers. In fact, the speeds to the home have remained at 1Gbps (same as Google Fiber), but backbone improvements have been made. We apologize for any confusion.
> ===
> Leverett is a small town of fewer than 2,000 residents in the western half of Massachusetts, not far from Amherst. It is also the home of LeverettNet, a town-owned fiber network.
> Even though 81% of the Leverett population is already served by LeverettNet, which offers residents broadband access at 1 gigabit per second, same as the top current speed of Google Fiber, and many times faster than the top speeds offered by the only other player in town, Verizon.
> So with faster speeds come higher prices, right? Apparently not in Leverett, where customers who bundle in phone and Internet will soon see a $5/month drop in their bill.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Deep-learning algorithm predicts photos’ memorability at “near-human” levels*



> Researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have created an algorithm that can predict how memorable or forgettable an image is almost as accurately as humans — and they plan to turn it into an app that subtly tweaks photos to make them more memorable.
> For each photo, the “MemNet” algorithm — which you can try out online by uploading your own photos — also creates a heat map that identifies exactly which parts of the image are most memorable.
> “Understanding memorability can help us make systems to capture the most important information, or, conversely, to store information that humans will most likely forget,” says CSAIL graduate student Aditya Khosla, who was lead author on a related paper. “It’s like having an instant focus group that tells you how likely it is that someone will remember a visual message.”
> Team members picture a variety of potential applications, from improving the content of ads and social media posts, to developing more effective teaching resources, to creating your own personal “health-assistant” device to help you remember things.
> Part of the project the team has also published the world’s largest image-memorability dataset, LaMem. With 60,000 images, each annotated with detailed metadata about qualities such as popularity and emotional impact, LaMem is the team’s effort to spur further research on what they say has often been an under-studied topic in computer vision.
> The paper was co-written by CSAIL graduate student Akhil Raju, Professor Antonio Torralba, and principal research scientist Aude Oliva, who serves as senior investigator of the work. Khosla will present the paper in Chile this week at the International Conference on Computer Vision.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*HoloLens development edition is coming in 2016*


> Microsoft is focusing on developers, not the general public, for the latest in HoloLens events and announcements. The good news for the public is that, in doing so, the conversation is shedding light on what is behind HoloLens ..



* Race to vastly better annealers, powerful universal quantum computers which will transform machine learning into quantum learning *







> Google has a team led by John Martinis to develop better quantum computers. They will be competing not only with whatever improvements D-Wave can make, but also with Microsoft and IBM, which have substantial quantum computing projects of their own. But IBM and Microsoft are focused on designs much further from becoming practically useful....




* New Air Force 3.1 Petaflop Thunder Supercomputer helping develop hypersonic vehicles and railguns *







> The Air Force Research Laboratory officially presented its latest supercomputer acquisition in a ribbon-cutting ceremony Dec. 14, 2015. The Thunder supercomputer is part of the DOD High Performance Computing Modernization Program. It joins two other large systems -- Spirit and Lightning -- already located at the center. The Silicon Graphics...


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Giant enhancement of magnetic effect will benefit spintronics*
* December 21, 2015 by Lisa Zyga feature *



(Top) perpendicular and (bottom) parallel magnetic anisotropy. Credit: Yang, et al. ©2015 American Chemical Society


> (Phys.org)—Researchers have demonstrated that coating a cobalt film in graphene doubles the film's perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA), so that it reaches a value 20 times higher than that of traditional metallic cobalt/platinum multilayers that are being researched for this property. In a material with a high PMA, the magnetization is oriented perpendicular to the interface of the material's layers. High-PMA materials are being researched for their applications in next-generation spintronic devices, such as high-density memories and heat-tolerant logic gates.
> The researchers, Hongxin Yang, et al., have published a paper on the giant PMA enhancement in a recent issue of _Nano Letters_.





Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-12-giant-magnetic-effect-benefit-spintronics.html#jCp


----------



## ScienceRocks

*X-ray vision? New technology making it a reality for $300*
* December 22, 2015 by By Scott Eisen *




In this Nov. 19, 2015, photo, MIT researchers Emad Farag, left, and Fadel Adib walk through a room with chairs as a screen displays how RF-Capture is tracking their movements through the wall behind them, on the MIT campus in Cambridge, …more
X-ray vision, a comic book fantasy for decades, is becoming a reality in a lab at MIT



Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-12-x-ray-vision-technology-reality.html#jCp


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Scientists create world's first biologically powered computer chip*

 Lynda Delacey 
December 23, 2015
 2 PICTURES 





> The dream of melding biological and man-made machinery is now a little more real with the announcement that Columbia Engineering researchers have successfully harnessed a chemical energy-producing biological process to power a solid state CMOS integrated circuit.




*Transport for London tries out e-ink signage*

 Stu Robarts 
December 23, 2015
 4 PICTURES 





> E-readers are already prolific on London's public transport – and now the same tech is being built into the transport infrastructure itself. Transport for London (TfL) is trialling e-ink digital displays to provide passengers with travel information. Maps, timetable and arrival times are shown in real time.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Engineers demo first processor that uses light for ultrafast communications*


> Engineers have successfully married electrons and photons within a single-chip microprocessor, a landmark development that opens the door to ultrafast, low-power data crunching.



*Virtual reality is finally here, yet still has a ways to go*


> With the launch of Samsung's Gear VR headset a few weeks ago, virtual reality for the masses is finally a thing. Now comes the next big challenge: Who, exactly, will care?



*Electromagnets promise precision finger-tracking for VR environments*

 Nick Lavars 
December 23, 2015
 2 PICTURES 





> Expected some time in the new year, the consumer launch of the Oculus Rift and Touch controllers soon after are set to open immersive new worlds for VR explorers. But how we interact with those worlds will continue to evolve long after the first headsets are strapped on. Offering a glimpse into the future of these input devices, one alumni of Oculus' research division has developed an electromagnetic sensor system that tracks fingertip movements, should you need to say, stop and play a piano or create an oil painting during your VR travels.


*Icaros fitness machine powers your workouts with virtual reality *

 C.C. Weiss 
December 23, 2015
 10 PICTURES 





> Munich-based startup Icaros GmbH has a new way to motivate people to exercise more. Its somewhat intimidating fitness system blends the physical world with the virtual world, making you the protagonist of your own video game while working key muscles up and down your body. The company hopes the system will motivate folks that have come to avoid the gym like it's radioactive. Gimmick or a viable modern spin on exercise?


----------



## ScienceRocks

*New half-meter record for quantum superposition at macroscopic level*


> (Phys.org)—A team of researchers working at Stanford University has extended the record for quantum superposition at the macroscopic level, from 1 to 54 centimeters. In their paper published in the journal Nature, the team ...



*  Print Share/bookmark Carrier-mediated ferromagnetism in a magnetic topological insulator *







> A group of researchers in Japan and China identified the requirements for the development of new types of extremely low power consumption electric devices by studying Cr-doped (Sb, Bi)2Te3 thin films. At extremely low temperatures, an electric current flows around the edge of the film without energy loss, and under no external magnetic...




*Optoelectronic microprocessors shown to dramatically reduce chips’ power consumption*
High-performance prototype built using existing chip manufacturing means chipmakers could now start building optoelectronic chips
*December 28, 2015*





> Rsearchers at MIT, the University of California at Berkeley, and the University of Colorado have produced a working optoelectronic microprocessor, which computes electronically but uses light to move information — using only processes found in existing microchip fabrication facilities.
> 
> Optical communication could dramatically reduce chips’ power consumption, which is essential to maintaining the steady increases in computing power that we’ve come to expect.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Underwater haptic feedback glove gives users "dolphin power"*

 Ben Coxworth 
December 29, 2015
 3 PICTURES 





> Rescue workers searching flood sites have a unique challenge – they need to know what's under the water, but invariably that water is going to be very murky. Well, that's the main scenario for which the IrukaTact was created. It's a submersible haptic feedback glove that lets users "feel" what's below the surface, without having to dive down to actually touch it.



*i-Blades smartcase aims to make smartphones "smarter"*

 Aaron Heinrich 
December 29, 2015
 5 PICTURES 





> As great as today's smartphones are, two of the biggest problems with them continue to be battery life and memory. Silicon Valley start-up i-Blades is out to change that with its smartcase technology, that it says can boost battery power up to 10 times and memory by up to 1 Terabyte.



*Updated Google Glass pops up on FCC’s website*
Updated Google Glass pops up on FCC’s website | ExtremeTech


> The FCC isn’t where most people go for leaked product photos and pre-release information, but every now and then a few tidbits slip out of the government database. Today is one such day — if, at least, you’re a fan of Google Glass and interested in how the platform has evolved since Google unceremoniously canceled it. There hasn’t been much to say about Glass since then, and while Google insisted the program wasn’t canceled, it wasn’t falling over itself to reveal anything of note about it, either.
> 
> The FCC’s website has new high-resolution images of Google Glass 2.0, and there’s a number of subtle changes between the original version and the new model. The new model can apparently fold (there’s a hinge in the image below).


----------



## ScienceRocks

*BMW to present AirTouch gesture-controlled interface at CES *

 Aaron Turpen 
December 29, 2015






> When the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) opens on January 6 in Las Vegas, Nevada, BMW will be showcasing a Vision Car featuring a new gesture-controlled interface called AirTouch – no touchscreen or control knob required.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Can you download me now? NY payphones become Wi-Fi hot spots*


> Operator, won't you help me replace this call? A 9-foot-tall, narrow structure installed this past week on a Manhattan sidewalk is signaling a plan to turn payphones into what's billed as the world's biggest and fastest municipal ...



*Google moves to open source version of Oracle's JDK*


> Google is moving away from its implementation of Java application programming interfaces (APIs) in Android N, the next version, and to OpenJDK, the open source version of Oracle's Java Development Kit (JDK). ReadWrite is ..



*Human-machine superintelligence can solve the world's most dire problems*


> The combination of human and computer intelligence might be just what we need to solve the "wicked" problems of the world, such as climate change and geopolitical conflict, say researchers from the Human Computation Institute ..




*New DFG grant proposal for a software quality control able to stand the test of time*





> For a software to be maintained in an optimal condition, as well as in track of any necessary updates and innovations, it needs to be kept in check constantly. This...




*Rumored Google-Ford Deal, Low-End Robocars, and Tesla’s Backslide*

By Brad Templeton
ON Dec 23, 2015
| Artificial Intelligence, Robots, Tech





> Yahoo Autos is reporting rumours that Google and Ford will announce a partnership at CES. Google has always said it doesn’t want to build the cars, and Ford makes sense


----------



## ScienceRocks

​
*LG Display: Expect display rollable like newspaper at CES*


> Anyone following tech stories from month to month will recognize LG Display as those tech people focused on "bendy" and "rollable" displays, bolstered by the company's aggressive attention toward novel organic light-emitting .




*Oculus to start taking virtual reality headset orders*


> Facebook-owned Oculus VR will begin taking orders for its Rift virtual reality headsets on Wednesday, as the doors of Consumer Electronics Show gadget extravaganza officially open in Las Vegas.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Oculus Rift costs $599, adds Remote accessory, ships March 28 to 20 countries*

 Will Shanklin 
January 6, 2016
 7 PICTURES 





> High-end PC gaming has never been a cheap endeavor, and the same goes for high-end, PC-based virtual reality. Oculus Rift pre-orders kicked off today, and the headset is priced at the upper end of our prediction window, for a healthy US$599.



*VW's e-Golf Touch gestures to the future of compacts*

 Stu Robarts 
January 6, 2016






> As well as displaying its BUDD-e concept at CES, Volkswagen has unveiled a new version of its e-Golf electric compact. VW says the e-Golf Touch is one of the world's first compact cars with gesture control. It also offers wireless charging, electronic voice amplification and personalization options.




*Nanowalls for smartphones*


> Researchers at ETH Zurich have manufactured transparent electrodes for use in touchscreens using a novel nanoprinting process. The new electrodes are some of the most transparent and conductive that have ever been developed.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Hands-on with the intriguing Avegant Glyph headworn personal theater*

 Will Shanklin 
January 7, 2016
 8 PICTURES 





> For the third straight CES, we sat down with Avegant, makers of the Glyph personal theater. With the Avegant Glyph just about set to start shipping to the public, what we found was a much more polished headset, about to launch in a world that may need some time to warm up to it.




*i-Blades smart cases will deliver on-the-go entertainment*

 Aaron Heinrich 








> i-Blades and IdeaNova Technologies have announced a video distribution and playback system designed to give media companies and movie studios an "on-the-go" entertainment delivery mechanism for mobile device users. The mobile content platform will allow anyone using the i-Blades smartcase's "content blades" to store up to 100 HD-quality, DRM-protected, feature-length movies, then view them on a smartphone using the IdeaNova INPLAY technology.



*An 18-inch video display you can roll up like a newspaper*
*January 6, 2016*





> LG is creating a buzz at CES with its concept demo of the world’s first display that can be rolled up like a newspaper.
> 
> LG says they’re aiming for 4K-quality 55-inch screens (the prototype resolution is 1,200 by 810 pixels), _BBC_ reports.
> 
> The trick:  switching from LED to thinner, more-flexible OLED technology (organic light-emitting diodes), allowing for a 2.57 millimeter-thin display. One limitation: the screen… read more


----------



## ScienceRocks

* World's First real time wearable language translator will be smaller than imagined Star Trek universal translator*





A portable device has a button and a speaker. One person speaks into Ili while holding down the button; after the user stops speaking, the speaker relays the message in the chosen language. (Right now, Ili only supports English, Chinese and Japanese, but its parent company, Logbar, has promised more will be available in the future.) Version..


----------



## ScienceRocks

* Rollup TVs and displays are very near commercialization *







> LG Display has been working on its fully flexible screen for some time now and they revealed displays that can be rolled up at CES. The screen can be rolled up and scrunched around, and the display is full HD. The BBC was shown a 18 inch diagonal display. LG says they're aiming for screens that are 55 inch and beyond. At that size they...



LG finally showed us the roll-up TV it’s been teasing for years



​*Palm-sized $79 computer targets emerging-nation needs*
It is a spherical computer that costs $79, is packed with a fair amount of what the Internet has to offer—and fits in the palm of your hand.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*PlayStation VR hands-on: A mid-ranged alternative to the Rift and Vive*

 Will Shanklin 
January 11, 2016
 7 PICTURES 





> Of the three big (non-mobile) VR headsets, PlayStation VR was the one that had the lowest profile at CES 2016. We did stop by Sony's booth for a demo, though, and have some new impressions on where it currently stacks up.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Rambus will work with Microsoft to create memory system for next generation quantum computers*







> Rambus Inc., the chip technology intellectual property vendor, is working with Microsoft Research on future memory requirements for quantum computing. Rambus (NASDAQ: RMBS), Sunnyvale, Calif., confirmed just before the holidays it is collaborating with the software giant (NASDAQ: MSFT) on memory systems for next-generation quantum computing..






*Google dives into virtual reality with new division *







> Alphabet Inc.'s Google is focusing on virtual reality and moving the head of its product management team to run the new effort. Clay Bavor, the vice president of product at Google since 2005, has taken on the title of vice president of virtual reality, according to Bavor's Twitter profile. Bavor is no stranger to taking on big jobs at Google....




*New DARPA Chips Ease Operations In Electromagnetic Environs*







> Enhanced situational awareness could come from new chips that can sample and digitize battlefield radiofrequency signals at blazingly fast rates Competition for scarce electromagnetic (EM) spectrum is increasing, driven by a growing military and civilian demand for connected devices. As the spectrum becomes more congested, the Department...


----------



## longknife

*Tablet for the Blind!*






This is awesome. It opens a whole new world for all those who can't see well. And it may be a lot cheaper than current models. Read the story @ 'Braille Kindle' will make reading easier for blind people


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Nvidia 8 teraflop deep learning supercomputer for self driving cars*







> NVIDIA is applying its deep learning prowess to enable autonomous vehicles. The GPU vendor launched NVIDIA DRIVE PX 2, an autonomous vehicle development platform powered by the 16nm FinFET-based Pascal GPU, the named successor to Maxwell. Like last year’s DRIVE PX, the next-gen development platform targets NVIDIA’s automotive partners, a...





*First all-antiferromagnetic memory device could get digital data storage in a spin*




> If you haven't already heard of antiferromagnetic spintronics it won't be long before you do. This relatively unused class of magnetic materials could be about to transform our digital lives. They have the potential to make ...


----------



## ScienceRocks

*The world’s biggest SSD has arrived: 13TB January 14, 2016 at 4:32 pm*



> Fixstars has just shattered the record for SSD drives, with a 13TB monster. While it’s not for everyone (and the five-figure price tag is a bit much for most), it’s the largest single SSD ever manufactured.


*AMD’s first ARM-based processor, the Opteron A1100, is finally here January 14, 2016 at 2:27 pm*



> The new Opteron A1100 packs eight Cortex-A57 CPU cores, with each pair of cores sharing a 1MB L2 (512K effectively allocated to each chip). An 8MB L3 cache backs the entire CPU cluster, and the CPU supports both DDR3 and DDR4.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Technology IBM Watson CTO: Quantum computing could advance artificial intelligence by orders of magnitude*​


> Combining the vast processing power of quantum computers with cognitive computing systems like IBM's Watson will lead to huge advances in artificial intelligence, according to a C-level executive at the US software giant.
> Speaking to IBTimes UK at the recent Hello Tomorrow conference in Paris, IBM Watson's chief technology officer Rob High said there was a "very natural synergy" between cognitive computing and quantum computing, revealing he hoped to one day see Watson run on a quantum system.
> "I'd love to see a quantum Watson," he said. "IBM Research is actually working on next generation computing. I can't say exact numbers but a [quantum Watson] would be orders of magnitude more powerful than systems that are currently being used.
> "Besides the obvious that both cognitive computing and quantum computing depart substantially from the classical forms of information computing, the biggest synergies lie in the realisation that increasingly sophisticated reasoning strategies employed by cognitive computing are going to require increasingly powerful and efficient underlying computing architectures."
> IBM's Watson supercomputer first rose to prominence in 2011 when it became the first computer to beat human contestants at the US gameshow Jeopardy!​


----------



## ScienceRocks

*Graphene tunes in to new frequency*


> The fascinating electrical properties of graphene have allowed University of Manchester researchers to open up a new area of technology using terahertz lasers.
> This could vastly improve scanning systems, replacing X-rays, and also dramatically increase internet bandwidth.
> Terahertz technology exists on the electromagnetic spectrum between microwave and infrared frequencies. The benefit of using terahertz lasers instead of X-rays is that they can accurately scan materials without causing damage.
> Highly-sensitive scanners for sensing minute defects in manufactured drugs, or detecting concealed weapons at airports could become more accurate and much safer for frequent use using the new technology.
> Terahertz lasers are similar to X-rays in that they are invisible to the naked eye but are far safer in comparison by being non-destructive and non-invasive.​




A quantum leap in processors?



> The fastest supercomputers are built with the fastest microprocessor chips, which in turn are built upon the fastest switching technology. But, even the best semiconductors are reaching their limits as more is demanded of them. In the closing months of this year, came news of several developments that could break through silicon’s performance barrier and herald an age of smaller, faster, lower-power chips. It is possible that they could be commercially viable in the next few years.
> 
> In December, Google and Nasa announced that for problems involving nearly 1,000 binary variables, ‘quantum annealing’ significantly outperforms a classical computer – more than 108 times faster than simulated annealing running on a single core computer. The researchers think they’ve found a quantum algorithm that solves certain problems 100 million times faster than conventional processes on a PC.​


----------



## ScienceRocks

*More info surfaces on HoloLens battery life, field of view*



> This month HoloLens made news and comments about its battery life were sprinkled with words such as "disappointing" and "not great." The writers were referring to revelations about battery life for the anticipated device, ...




*ODG's smartglasses are like a high-end Android tablet for your face (hands-on)*


 Will Shanklin 
January 19, 2016
 4 PICTURES 





> For the second straight CES, we spent some time hanging out with Osterhout Design Group (ODG), makers of the most badass smartglasses this side of Hololens. ODG's glasses are still aimed primarily at enterprise customers and developers (and priced accordingly), but if or when they eventually become full-on consumer products, there's a pretty good chance you're going to want a pair.


----------



## ScienceRocks

*NutriRay3D uses laser light and your phone to count calories*


 Ben Coxworth 
January 21, 2016
 3 PICTURES 





> There are already plenty of apps that let people estimate how many calories are in the foods they're eating. However, most of these programs require users to either guess at their portion sizes, or actually weigh the food. That's where the University of Washington's NutriRay3D comes in. It's a smartphone device/app combo, that uses lasers to ascertain how many calories are sitting on the plate.



*GESTOR - air mouse, presenter, smart TV scroller*

by *Gestor Devices Inc.*
*What is Gestor?*

GESTOR - air mouse, presenter, smart TV scroller


> What is Gestor? First of all - it is an air computer mouse! Why air? Because you can use in without any surface. Just pick it up, touch the first, lower control ring with any of your fingers, it becomes operational, and you can move a cursor on your computer screen by tilting Gestor up or down, back and forth. You can use it with any computer and any device that supports a traditional USB mouse.
> How is it different from any other wireless air mouse? Well, there is more than just a computer mouse and it looks very cool, don’t you think?


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## ScienceRocks

*Open-source GPU could push computing power to the next level*​

> Binghamton University researchers have developed Nyami, a synthesizable graphics processor unit (GPU) architectural model for general-purpose and graphics-specific workloads, and have run a series of experiments on it to see how different hardware and software configurations would affect the circuit’s performance.
> Binghamton University computer science assistant professor Timothy Miller said the results will help other scientists make their own GPUs and “push computing power to the next level.”
> GPUs are typically found on commercial video or graphics cards inside of a computer or gaming console. The specialized circuits have computing power designed to make images appear smoother and more vibrant on a screen. There has recently been a movement to see if the chip can also be applied to non-graphical computations, such as algorithms processing large chunks of data.



*Knowm's new memristor improves efficient AI processors*​


> Knowm, a startup launched only six months ago, has announced this week that two new variations on the Knowm memristor are available for purchase. Knowm is also selling raw device data that can be used by researchers to develop their own memristor models.
> Memristors are an electrical component that, much like the synapses in the brain, can remember previous connections. Neurons learn by sending pulses through synapses, which strengthens the neural pathway, or not sending pulses which causes the synapses to atrophy. In a memristor, the neural pathway is emulated through resistance – an electrical connection that is used frequently will have a lower resistance; one that is rarely used will have a higher resistance. Knowm’s memristors can learn and retain information based on characteristics of data flow, data frequency, and current.​


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## ScienceRocks

*The New Infinadeck Lets Users Explore Immersive Virtual Worlds*​


> The Infinadeck isn’t your grandma’s treadmill. In fact, paired with a VR headset, you can explore immersive new worlds–kind of like the holodeck in Star Trek. Meet the world’s first commercially-viable omnidirectonal treadmill– meaning you can walk on it in any direction. The treadmill reacts to the user’s movement to keep them safely in the center. The Infinadeck is also equipped with a customizable support system that straps comfortably around the user’s waist and keeps them secured.


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## ScienceRocks

*Ultraresponsive touch devices up to 100 inches on diagonal in size enables new applications*







> Cima NanoTech, a developer and manufacturer of transparent conductive film solutions, is has large ultra responsive large touch screens. SANTE® ProTouch™ module is the industry’s first high performance projected capacitive (pro-cap) solution for large format touch screens that can be mass-produced in high volumes. With ultra fast response...


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## ScienceRocks

*The Teslasuit Allows You to Feel Sensations from the Virtual World*

The revolutionary Teslasuit uses electro muscular stimulation and features an array of highly sensitive sensors that allow the wearer to literally FEEL virtual reality

The Teslasuit Allows You to Feel Sensations from the Virtual World


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## ScienceRocks

*AI beats European Go champion but the exciting aspect is how it trained itself to get better and can play many other games*



> The first classic game mastered by a computer was noughts and crosses (also known as tic-tac-toe) in 1952 as a PhD candidate’s project. Then fell checkers in 1994. Chess was tackled by Deep Blue in 1997. The success isn’t limited to board games, either - IBM's Watson won first place on Jeopardy in 2011, and in 2014 our own algorithms learned to play dozens of Atari games just from the raw pixel inputs. But one game has thwarted...


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## ScienceRocks

*New Form of Matter Holds Promise for Ultracompact Data Storage and Processing*
_ Futurism/Roy Kaltschmidt
New Form of Matter Holds Promise for Ultracompact Data Storage and Processing_
*In Brief*


> A new form of matter, in which electrical charge swirls in "polar vortices", has been observed in a ferroelectric material. The discovery holds intriguing possibilities for advanced kinds of memory and processors that take up far less space.
> 
> A new form of matter, in which electrical charge swirls in “polar vortices,” has been observed in a ferroelectric material.
> 
> Notably, ferroelectric materials display unique electrical or magnetic properties, as such, the discovery holds intriguing possibilities for advanced kinds of memory and processors that take up far less space, and could also “rewrite our basic understanding of ferroelectrics,” according to the researchers who observed them.



*'Star Wars' and the coming holographic cinema revolution*
*Why watch a film when you can be in it?*




Joseph Volpe , @jrvolpe
01.29.16 in AV

 'Star Wars' and the coming holographic cinema revolution
 


> "AR is going to hit us like a big bang," says ILMxLab creative director John Gaeta when I ask him whether augmented reality, as that holographic technology is known, has been undervalued by the public and press. "We're just trying to point out right from the beginning that there will be a form of AR that will be as hi-fidelity as the cinema that you see at some point. I can't say what year that'll be. But at some point, we'll have intimate holo-experiences with performance and things like that."




*Google plans to beam 5G internet from solar drones*
*Project Skybender is experimenting with millimeter-wave radio transmissions.*
*Google plans to beam 5G internet from solar drones*


> *Google has a new top secret project by the same team that brought us Project Loon, according to The Guardian. It's called Project Skybender, and it aims to deliver 5G internet from solar drones. Mountain View has reportedly begun experimenting with millimeter wave-based internet in Virgin Galactic's Gateway to Space terminal at Spaceport America in New Mexico. Millimeter waves are believed to be capable of transmitting data 40 times faster than LTE and could become the technology behind 5G internet. DARPA began working on an internet connection based on it for remote military bases in 2012.*


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## ScienceRocks

*Expect Samsung to reveal the Galaxy S7 on February 21*

 Will Shanklin 


 2 PICTURES 



If you follow annual patterns in the tech industry, it was already a no-brainer that Samsung would reveal the Galaxy S7 at Mobile World Congress later in February. Today the company made it a bit more official, teasing "the next Galaxy" launch on February 21.


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## ScienceRocks

*Android Wear 1.4 brings new gestures, speech-to-text messaging, voice calling February 5, 2016 at 1:00 pm *


> While Google’s Android blog post doesn’t specifically identify the release number, other Google sources have verified the update is Android OS 6.0 and Android Wear




*The story of Job Simulator – the absurdly fun VR sandbox for Oculus Rift, PlayStation VR and HTC Vive*

 Will Shanklin 
February 5, 2016
 6 PICTURES 





> Sometimes all virtual reality needs to do to blow your mind is put you in a well-polished sandbox and let you screw around. Owlchemy Labs has mastered this art, with the upcoming title _Job Simulator_ that will launch later this year alongside the Oculus Touch controllers, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR. We sat down with CEO Alex Schwartz and CTO Devin Reimer to chat about the game's origins and striking a balance between progression and free-for-all mayhem.



*The HTC Vive isn't limited to perfectly square rooms*
*The HTC Vive isn't limited to perfectly square rooms*
*Not even a slightly trapezoidal space will spoil your VR fun.*


> I'm not gonna lie: I was jealous when I heard that my colleague Sean Buckley got to play _12_ virtual reality games in Seattle last week. (He even moaned about it later.) I got to try "only" four on the Vive Pre at HTC's Taipei headquarters. But that's OK, because in the end I also had a blast -- to the point that I ended up running around the room, high on adrenaline. Not even the zombies in _Arizona Sunshine_ made me do this much exercise. As I sat down to recuperate afterwards, I caught up with one of the key execs on HTC's VR team to learn about the Vive's setup process and what other features are in the works.


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## ScienceRocks

*  Google’s AI is Scheduled to Compete Against the Highest Ranked “Go” Player in the World *


> Google's AlphaGo technology will take on the top-ranked Go player in the world. The match, which will be shown live on Youtube, could have major implications for the AI company.



*  Replacing Your Login Password With A Brain Scan  *


> Researchers have developed a system that can match unique brain scans to individuals, generating a potential replacement for passwords, fingerprint scanning, and facial recognition.


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## ScienceRocks

*  3D NAND flash chips will mean 3.5 TB SSD the size of a pack of gum and over 10 TB for 2.5 inch SSDs *







> Intel’s solid-state drives could be poised for a big jump in capacity and speed with new 3D flash chips coming from Micron. Micron, which makes the flash in Intel’s SSDs, has started volume shipments of its 3D NAND flash chips. The chips could lead to SSDs the size of a pack of gum with more than 3.5TB of storage and standard 2.5-inch SSDs...



* World data transmission speed record of 1.125 Terabits per second *







> A new record for the fastest ever data rate for digital information has been set by UCL researchers in the Optical Networks Group. They achieved a rate of 1.125 Tb/s as part of research on the capacity limits of optical transmission systems, designed to address the growing demand for fast data rates. Lead researcher, Dr Robert Maher, UCL...




* How Univision is beating the competition to 4K sports streaming *
This week, the network showed off its first live soccer game in Ultra High-Definition.
How Univision is beating the competition to 4K sports streaming

*Google’s rumored standalone VR headset may employ Movidius chips February 12, 2016 at 1:28 pm *
Google is rumored to be taking the plunge and developing a standalone VR headset, possibly using a VPU from startup Movidius.

 
*AMD is supposedly planning a 32-core CPU with an eight-channel DDR4 interface February 12, 2016 at 10:30 am *


AMD may be planning a new 32-core server CPU once Zen launches — but whether that’s a good thing or not depends on whether its an Intel bunker buster, or an attempt to compensate for weak per-core performance. Right now, it could be either.

*New satellites could bring 1 terabit of internet bandwidth to remote regions February 12, 2016 at 7:30 am *
The next-generation satellites from ViaSat could have more bandwidth than the 400 communication satellites already in orbit.


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## ScienceRocks

*Meta Unveils Incredible Augmented Reality Headset at TED*


> Redwood City-based Meta showed its latest AR glasses live on stage at TED in Vancouver.
> The Meta Two was demonstrated live by CEO Meron Gribetz with a person-to-person “call” showing a hand-off of a 3D model from a holographic person. Gribetz’ perspective was shown through the glasses as he reached out and took a model of a brain — a 3D hologram — from the hands of a colleague he saw projected in front of him.
> “We’re all going to be throwing away our external monitors,” Gribetz said.
> Gribetz’ talk focused on the idea that “you” are the operating system. His roughly 100-person company is attempting to tap into a more natural way of interacting with information and the people around us, rather than sitting behind a computer terminal or hunched over a little rectangle of light. Instead, Gribetz sees everyone wearing tiny strips of glass in a few years.
> “Living inside of Windows scares me,” he said of the current paradigm.



* Microwave quantum tuning fork could lead to Quantum Information Processing and enhanced magnetic resonance devices *







> Researchers have switched an intrinsic property of electrons from an excited state to a relaxed state on demand using a device that served as a microwave “tuning fork.” The team’s findings could also lead to enhancements in magnetic resonance techniques, which are widely used to explore the structure of materials and biomolecules, and for...



*Leap Motion opens door to reach into virtual worlds*


> California virtual reality startup Leap Motion on Wednesday opened a door for makers of games or other applications to literally touch virtual worlds.


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## ScienceRocks

*Mitsubishi Electric's "aerial display" projects images into mid-air*

 Ben Coxworth 
February 18, 2016
 2 PICTURES 





> As soon as the year 2020, you may be seeing advertising or other imagery floating before you. That's when Mitsubishi Electric hopes to have its "aerial display" technology perfected and commercially available. Already, it's capable of displaying images measuring up to 56 inches (142 cm) diagonally, hovering in the ether.



*Will smartphones in 2021 bend and flex like a paperback book?*

 Chris Wood 
February 18, 2016
 2 PICTURES 





> Whether it's the curved edges of Samsung's Edge devices or Apple's 3D Touch, smartphone manufacturers are always looking for ways to provide users with novel experiences. Now, researchers at Queen's University's Human Media Lab have taken this to another level, creating a prototype device called ReFlex, with a flexible display and advanced tactile feedback.



*  New hardware to lower cost of expanding up to 10 Gbps fiber-to-the-home *








> The cost of deploying fast fibre connections straight to homes could be dramatically reduced by new hardware designed and tested by University College of London researchers. While major advances have been made in core optical fibre networks, they often terminate in cabinets far from the end consumers. The so called ‘last mile’ which connects...




* First Internet delivering Google Loons launched in Sri Lanka *







> Google's balloon-powered high-speed Internet service known as 'Project Loon' began its first tests in Sri Lanka Monday ahead of a planned joint venture with Colombo, the country's top IT official said. One of three balloons that will be used in the trials entered Sri Lankan airspace Monday, the Information and Communication Technology Agency...


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## ScienceRocks

*Hands-on with the LG G5, the first modular flagship smartphone*

 David Nield 
February 21, 2016
 10 PICTURES 





> Gizmag is in Barcelona at this year's Mobile World Congress, where we're off to a flying start: LG's brand new LG G5 flagship for 2016 brings with it some eye-catching specs, a new modular design and a host of accessories including a 360-degree camera and a virtual reality headset.



*HTC Vive costs $799, goes up for pre-order on February 29*

 Will Shanklin 
February 21, 2016
 3 PICTURES 



W





> e expected the HTC Vive to cost a bit more than the Oculus Rift, since it includes its motion tracking controllers in the box (the Rift's Touch controllers don't launch until later this year). That suspicion was confirmed today, as HTC announced the consumer Vive for a whopping US$799.




*Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge hands-on: Two sizes, more curves, blazing fast*

 David Nield 
February 21, 2016
 12 PICTURES 





> Samsung just announced its two flagship phones for 2016 and we've been putting them through their paces on the show floor at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Our first impressions? These two have the power and the style to give Apple another run for its money over the next 12 months.



*Smartphones to replace cards at bank machines*


> Here's another use for the smartphone as it invades daily life: in place of your debit card at your bank cash machine.




*Virtual reality promises to transform film*
Chris Milk stepped onto a TED Conference stage and took the audience on an awe-inducing trip into the future of movies.

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One of the main areas of strength for capitalism is tech!  Not so much lab science but it rules in electric toys like above.


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