Global Cloud Robotics Hackathon! Hack Robots, Hack the Future

On the weekend of March 2nd to March 4th, a Global Cloud Robotics Hackathon will be held in several cities around the world. This initiative is born in Montreal, Canada where the main event will be held but other cities are challenged to participate and to show off their robot hacking skills.

What is a “hackathon”?
The word “hackathon” is a combination of “hack” and “marathon” and designates an event where hackers, makers and tinkerers from teams and get together for a short time (a weekend for instance) to create and hack technology. The most hard-core hackers code and build during the entire event without sleeping and only taking minimal breaks.

What is this “cloud” thing?
“Cloud robotics” refers to the use of web services (that run on the internet, a.k.a. “the cloud”) in order to make robots smarter. This hackathon is focused in catalyzing the creation of cloud robotics applications by using the MyRobots.com API, Android, and ROS.

Why participate?

Many reasons: It is a fun opportunity to hack and learn about cloud robotics, it brings roboticists to work with web developers and android programmers, and each team gets a FREE DFRobotShop Rover. If you want to be a hero in the robotics community and get started in the very exciting and emerging field of cloud robotics,

 Source : robotshop

Samsung’s Galaxy Note headed to AT&T on Feb

Got big pockets? Samsung’s Galaxy Note headed to AT&T on Feb. 19 for $300

 

Skinny jeans need not apply. AT&T announced today that Samsung’s massive 5.3-inch Galaxy Note — which was one of the most intriguing devices at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show — will be available in the U.S. on February 19 for $300 with contract.

The Galaxy Note occupies a weird space between smartphones and tablets, but for some it may just be the perfect balance of the two form factors. Pre-orders for the Galaxy Note will start on Super Bowl Sunday, February 5, and AT&T promises that the devices will arrive by February 17 for early birds.

The device features a huge Super AMOLED screen with a 1280 by 800 resolution (so it can play 720p HD videos at full resolution), and it also packs in support for AT&T’s LTE 4G network. The Note also comes with a stylus that Samsung calls the S Pen, which lets you take advantage of its large screen space to scribble notes and draw.

Given that the stylus has gone out of fashion in tech (unless you’re Nintendo), it’ll be interesting to see if Samsung’s advanced take on the tool can attract buyers.

Under the hood, the Galaxy Note is similar to most other modern Android devices. It features a dual-core 1.5 gigahertz CPU, as well as an 8 megapixel rear camera and 2 megapixel front-facing shooter.

Source : venturebeat

Orb booster is a sound investment

Orb's ideal setup for a home theater uses a mix of speakers for front, rear and center channels, matched with a separate subwoofer, in a collection that starts at about $800.

Now Orb has expanded its product line to include lower-priced packages designed for a wider range of situations. The targets include computers, gaming consoles, digital audio players and secondary TVs, like the one you might have in a game room or bedroom.

The Orb Booster package starts with a mini amplifier and a pair of Mod 1 speakers for about $400. Upgrade options include Mod2 speakers (double Orbs), a subwoofer (Orb offers four models starting at $138) and a variety of speaker finishes, including one called Hammered Earth.

The booster amp is a no-frills black box that's slightly larger than a paperback book. There's an on-off switch, volume buttons and a small remote, but not much else, like tone or balance controls.

The amp's best feature is its ability to handle multiple audio sources. The backside has four input jacks, two for standard red-and-white audio cables and two for stereo pin plugs. If you want to connect a TV, a computer, an Xbox and an iPod, the Orb's got you covered.

And the sound? The little globes do their usual job of delivering higher frequencies with clarity and precision. That's welcome help for compressed MP3 music files and the dialogue on movie soundtracks. The subwoofer will go to work in the basement on movies and games that have rich bass lines.

I tried the booster with a variety of inputs, including a tablet computer, iPod and a mobile phone and heard significantly better sound than what I get from a sound dock or amplified computer speakers.

Source : usatoday

Justin Bieber Unveils TOSY mRobo Entertainment Robot

Robot is part portable speaker, part MP3 player, part robot.

Plenty of press and plenty of autograph and photo-seeking parents were on hand at the CES Robotics TechZone today to take pictures and get autographs from Canadian pop star Justin Bieber as he unveiled a new dancing entertainment robot from Vietnamese robotics company TOSY Robotics.

Rumblings of the Bieber appearance could be heard throughout the TechZone yesterday, with many not believing that he would actually be showing up today. But hours before his 1:00 pm appearance, crowds started forming, many of them parents sent to the Robotics TechZone by their star-struck tweens. Bieber was joined in the unveiling by Ho Vinh Hoang, Founder and CEO, TOSY.

According to TOSY, the mRobo allows users to upload about 500 songs and select which tracks to play using a remote. When the music starts playing, mRobo will transform into a robot, growing a head, legs and arms. Although the mRobo is still in prototype stage, it’s expected to be available for sale in 2012 at a MSRP of $199.

Source : roboticstrends

PlayStation Vita Has its First 100,000 Seller

 

PlayStation Vita is still a ways from having a million seller. But it did reach a more modest landmark recently: its first 100,000 seller.

Not surprisingly, the honor of first six digit selling PlayStation Vita game goes to the game that has topped the Vita sales charts since launch, Hot Shots Golf 6. Dengeki Online, citing sales stats from its publisher ASCII Media Works, reports that Hot Shots now stands at 107,000 units sold.

Hot Shots Golf 6 has a way to go to match its console counterparts. The PlayStation and PlayStation 2 Hot Shots games were all million sellers, with the first entry selling over 1.7 million units. Hot Shots Golf 5 on PS3 saw a dip to 410,000 units.

Separate from ASCII's data, the top 50 from Media Create, our usual source for sales data, shows Hot Shots Golf 6 at rank 31 this week. Wipeout, the only new Vita retail release for the week, did not make it into the top 50.

Source : andriasang

iMac for Less

In this article you will find some ideas that you can follow in case that you want to purchase an iMac model for less. Before you make a final decision, you have to make sure that you know all the features and the technical specifications about the iMacs. These devices are considered one of the best all in one desktop devices and you can use them for many tasks. The iMac devices contain Thunderbolt, quad core processor which makes these devices faster and they also contain a FaceTime HD camera.

Thanks to this accessory you have the possibility to video chat with your friends and you can also make photos of your most important moments in your life. The FaceTime HD camera makes possible to make full screen video calls with your friends. For this process you have to download from the network the best social programs such as the Skype and many others.

Before you press the “Download” button, you have to make sure that you have selected the file which is compatible with your device’s MAC OS X operating system. Thanks to the Thunderbolt you can transfer data at lighting speeds because you can connect high performance peripherals to the USB port such as external drives. In case that you are interested and you want to find out more information about the iMac devices in general, my advice for you is to visit the Apple Company’s official website where you will find a detailed description about these all in one desktop gadgets. You have the possibility to purchase an iMac model with 1200$, but if you don’t afford it you can also look for iMacs for less. Don’t forget that the Apple multinational Company offers for the students and for the teachers different discounts because this is their policy to help the educational program. There is a maxim number which is admitted for buying the devices.

 Source : bindapple

'Call of Duty' Elite content launches broken down

Between now and September, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 players subscribed to the Elite online service will get 12 multiplayer maps, 6 cooperative Spec-Ops missions and two game modes.

The breakdown was revealed in a content calendar posted on the official Call of Duty website.

This week, publisher Activision released the first two "content drops" as part of the Elite subscription, which grants early access to downloadable content for the first-person shooter.

Here's how the calendar divvies up downloads:

February: Multiplayer map
March: Multiplayer map, two Spec-Ops missions
April: Two multiplayer maps
May: Multiplayer map, Spec-Ops mission
June: Multiplayer map, Spec-Ops mission, Game mode
July: Two multiplayer maps
August: Multiplayer map, Spec-Ops mission, Game mode
September: Multiplayer map, Spec-Ops mission

The calendar notes content and release dates are subject to change, so it's possible more downloads might be available.

Activision has not disclosed how it plans to distribute Elite content to PlayStation 3 subscribers. It's also not clear how all downloads will be packaged and released for all Modern Warfare 3 players. A content collection that combines "content drops" from January to March will arrive in the coming months.

Source : usatoday

Supercomputers Take a Cue from Microwave Ovens

 

"Clouds modulate the climate. They reflect some sunlight back into space, which cools the Earth; but they can also act as a blanket and trap heat," says Michael Wehner, a climate scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). "Getting their effect on the climate system correct is critical to increasing confidence in projections of future climate change."

In order to build the breakthrough supercomputers scientists like Wehner need, researchers are looking to the world of consumer electronics like microwave ovens, cameras and cellphones, where everything from chips to batteries to software is optimized to the device's application. This co-design approach brings scientists and computer engineers into the supercomputer design process, so that systems are purpose-built for a scientific application, such as climate modeling, from the bottom up.

"Co-design allows us to design computers to answer specific questions, rather than limit our questions by available machines," says Wehner.

Source : sciencedaily

Bosch Hard At Work On Sparkless Ignition HCCI Engine

A few years ago sparkless ignition or homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) in gasoline engines was all the rage, with a number of major automakers including General Motors, Daimler and Volkswagen all investigating its benefits.

Since then, not much has been heard of the technology whereas hybridization and full electrification of the vehicle has grown in popularity.

It appears HCCI technology still has a bright future as automotive supply giant Bosch, together with a number of partners and a $12 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, is working on a commercially viable HCCI engine.

HCCI works by achieving combustion with only compression of the air-fuel mix rather than using a spark plug--something that diesels already do. However, in gasoline engines designers are faced with a number of challenges.

The biggest challenge of HCCI in gasoline engines is controlling the combustion process. With spark ignition, the timing of the combustion can be easily adjusted by the powertrain control module, with control of the spark event. That is not possible with HCCI's flameless combustion.
The mixture composition and temperature must be changed in a complex and timely manner to achieve comparable performance of spark-ignition engines in the wide range of operating conditions. That includes extreme temperatures--both hot and cold--as well as the thin-air effect of high-altitude driving.

To overcome this, designers could use an engine that uses gasoline but switches between spark ignition and diesel-style compression ignition when required, reports (subscription required).

If successful, Bosch estimates that a gasoline engine with HCCI and existing technologies such as turbocharging and stop-start systems could be up to 30 percent more fuel efficient than a conventional engine of the same performance.

Its first prototype engine will be a 2.0-liter GM Ecotec unit fitted with a supercharger, a turbocharger, direct fuel injection, a stop-start system, variable valve timing, and HCCI compatibility. Researchers hope their prototype will be as powerful as GM’s 3.6-liter V-6 but with the 30 percent target for a reduction in fuel consumption.

Unfortunately, the technology still appears to be in its early days as the prototype engine won't be completed until some time in 2014, meaning any commercial release may not appear until closer to the end of the decade.

Source : motorauthority

BlackBerry maker co-CEOs step down

The RIM founders will be replaced by Thorsten Heins, a chief operating officer who joined RIM four years ago from Siemens AG, RIM said.

The Canadian company turned the e-mail smartphone into a ubiquitous device that many could not live without, but U.S. users have moved on to flashier touch-screen phones such as Apple's iPhone and various competing models that run Google's Android software. RIM has suffered a series of setbacks and has lost tens of billions in market value.

RIM said last month that new phones deemed critical to the company's future would be delayed until late this year. And its PlayBook tablet, RIM's answer to the Apple iPad, failed to gain consumer support, forcing the company to deeply discount it to move the devices off store shelves.

Many shareholders and analysts have said a change or sale of the company has been needed, but the sudden departure of the two founders wasn't expected despite their promises that they would examine the co-CEO and co-chairmen structure.

Balsillie and Lazaridis have long been celebrated as Canadian heroes, even appearing in the country's citizenship guide for new immigrants as models of success. They have headed Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM together for the past two decades.

"There comes a time in the growth of every successful company when the founders recognize the need to pass the baton to new leadership. Jim and I went to the board and told them that we thought that time was now," Lazaridis said in a statement.

Lazaridis will take on a new role as vice chairman of RIM's board and chairman of the board's new innovation committee. Balsillie remains a member of the board.

"I agree this is the right time to pass the baton to new leadership, and I have complete confidence in Thorsten, the management team and the company," Balsillie said in the statement. "I remain a significant shareholder and a director and, of course, they will have my full support."

Source : usatoday

New Skyrim patch coming, will actually fix stuff

  

Bethesda has announced that a major update for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is currently undergoing testing on all three platforms. Version 1.4 is expected to be finalized next week and submitted to Sony and Microsoft for certification.

The patch will finally address the PlayStation 3 memory issues which have plagued the game since its launch on November 11, 2011. I want to say “better late than never,” but then again I don’t have the game for the PS3. I imagine most players will just be glad to actually be able to play the game now, and all will be forgotten by the time the next unfinished Bethesda game is sold to millions of eager beta testers.

There are also a slew of other issues, including a number of broken quests and bugs, which are being remedied. I’ll just come out and say it: this is the version of the game that Bethesda should have released, but I suppose 1/20/12 is not nearly as cool-sounding as 11/11/11…

Source : venturebeat

iPod Mini Cases

In this article you will find some information about one of the cutest and easily portable music devices named iPod Minis and the tips that you have to take in consideration in case that you want to remove your iPod Mini’s case. These little gadgets were designed by the famous Apple multinational Company and they were released firstly from all the iPod models including iPod Shuffle, iPod Nano and iPod Touch. In 2004 the iPod Mini models were discontinued in order to make way for the new released iPod Nano model.

If you still have one of the iPod Mini versions and you don’t know the tips that you have to take in consideration in order to remove its case in order to replace some of the internal parts you have to prepare a removal tool which makes your work easier. First of all, it is important to know that you have to remove your iPod Mini’s case carefully because you might damage it.

For this process you have to insert the removal tool into the gadget’s plastic panel which you will find easily at the iPod Mini’s top side and you have to easily pry it off. You will also find two little screws that you have to disconnect using the Philips screwdriver. Then you have to insert the removal tool underneath the plastic part situated at your gadget’s bottom side. You have to pop it off until you will see the silver guard. The second tip is to pull the guard out of your portable music device and unplug the orange ribbon which is located at your iPod Mini gadget’s bottom side. In order to unscrew the screws situated at your iPod’s case you have to use the Philips screwdriver. If you want to change some of the portable music device’s internal components you have to use your index finger. If you want to find out the other iPod Mini user’s methods of removing the gadget’s case all you have to do is to register at the Apple Discussions Forum and talk with them virtually.

Source:bindapple

Ultrabooks

 

We’ve seen a lot of tablets last year, with the increase of demand for tablets among the student groups around the world, huge giants like Lenovo and HP are stepping forward to manufacturing Ultrabooks for the techies and people who just cant get enough performance out of their portable computers. Okay, lets hold on for a second right here. What exactly in the world is an Ultrabook? Ultrabook are the new notebook computers that are promising  enough to fill the gap between lightweight laptops and tablets. Ultra books are extremely thin, as thin as a paper !! Okay that wasn’t funny, Ultrabooks are less than 20 millimeters, or 0.8 inches which is quite unbelievable when you consider the following features.

 High-powered, low voltage processors  Long battery life (A few hours more than an average laptop)  Near instant-on and instant-resume capabilities  Fast storage  Additional RAM  Larger screen sizes

Okay now comes the worst part, despite the fact that you are reading this with an open mouth, the price of Ultrabooks are “Ultra” high too, approximately 1000$ when compared to 600$ for a high end Laptop. For what its worth, since Ultrabooks are new in the market, they need some time for the prices to eventually come down to an expected 600-700$ mark by the end of the year.If you are one of those who just cant wait, then consider purchasing the following Ultrabooks which i highly recommend.

 Toshiba Portege Z835  Samsung Series 9  LG X-Note Z330  Asus Zenbook UX31

Source:coolpctips

Nano Research Could Impact Flexible Electronic Devices

 

The research by scientists at North Dakota State University, Fargo, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) could one day impact flexible electronic devices such as solar cells and wearable sensors. The research also provided a promising young high school student the chance to work in the lab with world-class scientists, jumpstarting her potential scientific career.

The NDSU/NIST research team, led by Erik Hobbie, Ph.D., is working to determine why thin films made from metallic single-wall carbon nanotubes are superior for potential applications that demand both electronic performance and mechanical durability. "One simple reason is that the metallic nanotubes tend to transport charge more easily when they touch each other," said Hobbie. "But another less obvious reason has to do with how much the films can flex without changing their structure at very small scales." 

Results from the study are published in ACS Nano. 

The team includes NDSU graduate student John M. Harris; postdoctoral researcher Ganjigunte R. Swathi Iyer; Anna K. Bernhardt, North Dakota Governor's School attendee; and NIST researchers Ji Yeon Huh, Steven D. Hudson and Jeffrey A. Fagan. 

There is great interest in using carbon nanotube films and coatings as flexible transparent electrodes in electronic devices such as solar cells. "Our research demonstrates that the flexibility and durability of these films are intimately linked to their electronic properties," said Hobbie. "This is a very new idea, so hopefully, it will generate a new series of studies and questions focused on the exact origins and consequences of this effect." 

Source:farsnews

Akai releases MPC Fly for iPad

We already knew Akai was refreshing its legendary MPC range, but the newest member to the family -- the Fly -- has to be about the cutest. It kinda looks, initially, like a knock-off MPC novelty case, until you realize those pads are real, and that software on screen is legit. The case-and-device approach seems a smart idea, so it feels like one unit -- it even juices your slate when you charge its built-in battery. The trade-off is an extra two pounds of weight, and almost an inch of thickness. Somewhat lighter is the app which rocks effects, a sound library, sampling, supports WIST (Wireless Sync-Start Technology) and works on any iPad -- but you'll need a second-gen tab to use the hardware. Before you bemoan that this is some sort of cash-in, the whole idea is that you can lay down ideas on the (ahem) Fly, and pick them up later back in the studio. If you want to see more, drop some bass over the break for a video. 

Source:engadget

Playstation Vita Sales In Nosedive After Strong Japan Debut

The Playstation Vita handheld system, unveiled at E3 last year, went on sale just before the holidays in Japan. It saw serious sales: around 325,000 units (500,000 by Sony’s reckoning) were sold in its opening week. Naturally numbers tend to drop after the initial rush, and the next week saw healthy sales of around 72,000. But The numbers kept decreasing, and it is now reported that for the week ending January 15, the new device sold only 18,361 units, not including online sales. That’s less than the PSP.

Other games systems like the 3DS and Wii also saw big drops in the post-holiday season, but for a brand new system like the Vita to drop to sub-20,000 numbers so quickly isn’t a good sign.

Could it be a lack of quality games, something that hamstrung the 3DS’s early days? Or perhaps people are waiting on the inevitable bundles when the device makes its debut in the US with high-profile titles like Uncharted?

Whatever the case is, it’s still too early to be calling the Vita a loser. The fact is it has a lot going for it, and it’s a long play by Sony, not a cash-in. The PS3 was slow to take off, and is now intermittently leading console sales. In two years, will the Vita be topping the 3DS? Or will it have the same fate as the PSP, simply not recognized as a mainstream gaming machine? I hope that’s not the case, because the Vita has more potential than the 3DS to be a mainstream gaming device.

February 22nd is the date to look forward to. It may be that the US launch will reinvigorate the flagging handheld, but really it won’t be until later in the year when buying habits have returned to normal that we can draw any conclusions.

Source:techcrunc

Japanese scientists fear spacecraft blueprint stolen after networks penetrated by virus

The Japanese space agency has admitted that a computer virus may have stolen sensitive information from their networks - including blueprints for a spacecraft. 

Hackers could sell on the information or blackmail the space agency for its return. A terminal connected to networks belonging to the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) was infected with a Trojan. 

Data that could have been revealed includes email addresses, system log-in information and, crucially, the specification and operation of the H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV). 

 

Known in Japanese as the Kounotori, meaning White Stork, the HTV is used to ferry equipment to astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

The 10m module can carry up to six tons of cargo, launched from the Yoshinobu Launch Complex at the Tanegashima Space Centre, southern Japan.

JAXA fears the blueprints for the module were stolen after they found one of their computers was infected with a Trojan-type virus. 

JAXA's engineers said in a statement they noticed the computer was acting oddly last August and disconnected it from their networks. 

An investigation found the machine was infected with a virus, which was removed, before the terminal was returned to use. 

But computer security experts kept it under observation and, at the beginning of January, they discovered evidence that a different virus had collected information from it.

They also discovered that the computer, under the influence of the virus, had sent out information between early July and early August last year. 

JAXA's engineers have since changed all the passwords for the systems affected and launched a fresh investigation into the scale of damage caused by the security breach.

A statement released by the agency said: 'We sincerely apologise over such trouble, and we will promptly address the following measures while strengthening our information security in order to prevent any recurrence, as we gravely regret this incident.'

The revelations about the JAXA leak follow a run of similar cyber-assaults against corporations and government agencies in Japan. 

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries last September aknowledged it had fallen victim to hackers, while in October the Japanese parliament confirmed it had been hacked.

Source:dailymail

One-Third of Car Fuel Consumption Is Due to Friction Loss

There are 612 million cars in the world today. The average car clocks up about 13,000 km per year, and in the meantime burns 340 litres of fuel just to overcome friction, costing the driver EUR 510 per year.

Of the energy output of fuel in a car engine, 33% is spent in exhaust, 29% in cooling and 38% in mechanical energy, of which friction losses account for 33% and air resistance for 5%. By comparison, an electric car has only half the friction loss of that of a car with a conventional internal combustion engine.

Annual friction loss in an average car worldwide amounts to 11,860 MJ: of this, 35% is spent in overcoming rolling resistance in the wheels, 35% in the engine itself, 15% in the gearbox and 15% in braking. With current technology, only 21.5% of the energy output of the fuel is used to actually move the car; the rest is wasted.

source:sciencedaily

Amazon Kindle Fire

You might wonder what this is doing at the top of our list when it's quite clearly already out - heck, we've even already got an Amazon Kindle Fire review on TechRadar. But it's only out in the USA so far, so for the UK and the rest of the world, it remains a gadget for 2012.

So what's got us so excited about the Kindle Fire? Our review called it "a brilliant media consumption device that doesn't break the bank", making it "perhaps the best gadget bargain of this era".

We'll be interested to see what video streaming options and other content it launches with outside of the US, and it'll be fascinating to see if it spurs tablet adoption with its relatively tiny price.

source:techradar

Samsung announces Galaxy S II WiMAX for Japan

Adding to the litany of Galaxy S II models comes another one. This one is exclusive to Japan and has WiMAX onboard and will be sold through au by KDDI.

The Galaxy S II ISW11SC has a 4.7-inch Super AMOLED HD display with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels, 1.4GHz dual-core Qualcomm QSC6085 processor, 8 megapixel rear camera with 1080p video recording, 2 megapixel front camera, 16GB internal memory, expandable memory, Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0 and NFC.


Source ; gsmarena

The new iPad 3

What can we expect from the new iPad 3?

Retina Display, HD screen or AMOLED screen?
A Retina Display may be be one of the features Apple is preparing and that would be very appreciated by all the fans. But there has been rumors (and reports from Digitimes) that Apple is looking to provide screens capable of displaying higher image quality than the iPad 2.Some conversation with Samsung executives may also have happens what indicates the  possibilities of an AMOLED screen…

Higher resolution
In the opinion of FBR Capital Markets analyst Craig Berger, the iPad 2 Plus (or iPad 3) will have a much higher resolution display than the iPad 2. Apple shell increase the device’s pixel density and bump the device up to 2.048 x 1.336 resolution (the actual one has 1.024 x 768 resolution.)

An NFC chip and a Thunderbolt port
Apple has shown interest in the Near Field Communications that may be included in iPad 3 and also on the new iPhone 5. Thunderbolt port are also expected in the Mac computers, so…

More storage and a SD card slot
Much more than the 16/32/64GB storage options of the iPad 2 is expected.

Lighter
A carbon fiber case would be a way to get some advantage, using this lightweight material.
At least a dual, mas possibly a quad-core processor

A better camera and flash

Source:theipad3

Apple's 2012 tablet

We could fill this article with what Apple's supposedly got in the works for next year, but since they're all officially fictional until the moment Tim Cook walks on stage and reveals them to the world, let's not get too wrapped up in them. Rumours of an iPad 3 with a Retina display are stronger than ever, and it's fair to say that we'd be drooling all over a tablet with a screen as highly detailed as the iPhone 4S's.

iPhone 5 rumours persist too, though at this point we suspect it'll be called something else, since it won't be the fifth iPhone. A thinner design with a larger, possibly edge-to-edge, screen is supposedly the order of the day, which will be unusual, but we'd love to see if Apple can pull it off.

And then there's the Apple TV. No, not the Apple TV you can buy now, the new Apple iTV television set that's supposed to be in the works. Of course, it's hard to say how good an Apple TV would be from a visual point of view, but we like the sound of a TV with AirPlay and iCloud built in, with Siri functionality as a remote control option.

source:techradar

Scientists Present Their Concept for a Wireless Bicycle Brake

Reaching 99.999999999997 Percent Safety: Computer Scientists Present Their Concept for a Wireless Bicycle Brake

 

The cruiser bike is more similar to an Easy Rider motorcycle without an engine block than it is to a traditional bike. However, looking at the straight, elongated stem, it is readily apparent what makes the newly developed system so special. The bicycle has neither a protruding brake lever to control the front brake, nor a brake cable snaking down the frame.

But the wireless bicycle brake represents much more than just an academic gadget to the scientists. Professor Holger Hermanns, who holds the chair of Dependable Systems and Software, and who developed the wireless bicycle brake together with his group, explains: "Wireless networks are never a fail-safe method. That's a fact that's based on a technological background." Nonetheless, the trend is to set up wireless systems that, like a simple bicycle brake, have to function all the time.

"In the field of the future European Train Service, for example, concrete plans already exist," Hermanns reports. Furthermore, he says that train and airplane experiments are far too sophisticated, and could even endanger the life of human beings in case of malfunction. Therefore, the Saarland computer scientist's mathematical methods should now verify the correct function and interaction of the components automatically. "The wireless bicycle brake gives us the necessary playground to optimize these methods for operation in much more complex systems," Hermanns adds. Therefore, his research group examines the brake prototype with algorithms that normally are used in control systems for aircraft or chemical factories. As a result, they found out that the brake works with 99.999999999997 percent reliability. "This implies that out of a trillion braking attempts, we have three failures," Hermanns explains and concludes: "That is not perfect, but acceptable."

source: science daily

Kilobots Are Leaving the Nest

Called Kilobots, the quarter-sized bug-like devices scuttle around on three toothpick-like legs, interacting and coordinating their own behavior as a team. A June 2011 Harvard Technical Report demonstrated a collective of 25 machines implementing swarming behaviors such as foraging, formation control, and synchronization.

Once up and running, the machines are fully autonomous, meaning there is no need for a human to control their actions.

The communicative critters were created by members of the Self-Organizing Systems Research Group led by Radhika Nagpal, the Thomas D. Cabot Associate Professor of Computer Science at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and a Core Faculty Member at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard. Her team also includes Michael Rubenstein, a postdoctoral fellow at SEAS; and Christian Ahler, a fellow of SEAS and the Wyss Institute.

Thanks to a technology licensing deal with the K-Team Corporation, a Swiss manufacturer of high-quality mobile robots, researchers and robotics enthusiasts alike can now take command of their own swarm.

One key to achieving high-value applications for multi-robot systems in the future is the development of sophisticated algorithms that can coordinate the actions of tens to thousands of robots.

"The Kilobot will provide researchers with an important new tool for understanding how to design and build large, distributed, functional systems," says Michael Mitzenmacher, Area Dean for Computer Science at SEAS.

"Plus," he adds, "tiny robots are really cool!"

The name "Kilobot" does not refer to anything nefarious; rather, it describes the researchers' goal of quickly and inexpensively creating a collective of a thousand bots.

Inspired by nature, such swarms resemble social insects, such as ants and bees, that can efficiently search for and find food sources in large, complex environments, collectively transport large objects, and coordinate the building of nests and other structures.

Due to reasons of time, cost, and simplicity, the algorithms being developed today in research labs are only validated in computer simulation or using a few dozen robots at most.

In contrast, the design by Nagpal's team allows a single user to easily oversee the operation of a large Kilobot collective, including programming, powering on, and charging all robots, all of which would be difficult (if not impossible) using existing robotic systems.

So, what can you do with a thousand tiny little bots?

Robot swarms might one day tunnel through rubble to find survivors, monitor the environment and remove contaminants, and self-assemble to form support structures in collapsed buildings.

They could also be deployed to autonomously perform construction in dangerous environments, to assist with pollination of crops, or to conduct search and rescue operations.

For now, the Kilobots are designed to provide scientists with a physical testbed for advancing the understanding of collective behavior and realizing its potential to deliver solutions for a wide range of challenges.

Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation and the Wyss Institute.

Source :Science News

T-Mobile Debuts The Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G

Just two years ago, everyone at CES was asking one question: Where are all the Android phones?

If anybody asked that same question this year, they’d be met with blank stares and guffaws. This show has been jammed with Android phone after Android phone since before it even officially started.

The latest one off the line is T-Mobile’s Galaxy S Blaze 4G (bit of a mouthful, eh?), which is the third device to play friendly with T-mobiles 42Mbps HSPA+ network — which, by the way, just saw a bunch of expansion.

Alas, while it’s nearly 3 pages long, T-Mobile’s announcement of the Blaze 4G is pretty light on details. So far, the only things we really know about it are that it’s 42Mbps HSPA+ compatible, that it has a dualcore 1.5Ghz Snapdragon CPU packed inside, and that it’s shipping “later this year”. No price, no specific launch date, and a bunch of specs left mysterious for now.

Meanwhile, T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network saw a bit of expansion, with the 42Mbps network rolling out in 12 new markets and their slightly less speedy 21Mbps network finding its way to 9 new spots. Alas, the announcement also fails to mention.. which regions these are. We’ll update this post as soon as we find out.

T-Mobile also mentioned that they expect to receive AWS spectrum in 128 markets as a result of their deal with AT&T falling through.

Source:techcrunch

Android 4.0 tablets

You might wonder what Android 4.0 actually brings that Android 3.2 doesn't offer now, but the answer isn't as simple as a list of better features. In our Android 4.0 review, we found that the big steps forward is in the little things. It's much more streamlined, and more easy to use, and that's vital for making it seem as appealing as the iPad to those who don't care about hardware specs.

But more than that, we want to see what it inspires in the tablet manufacturers. We see all sorts of different app choices, custom widgets, hardware differences and philosophies from the different companies making Android tablets, and we can't wait to see what Ice Cream Sandwich brings out of them.

Source:techradar

iPod Touch 8GB

Thanks to these gadgets you have the possibility to take with you your favorite songs wherever you go. Beside listening to your favorite music you can even play games and watch videos on them. In case that you want to keep unauthorized users away from your iPod Touch, my advice for you is to set a pass-code that only you will know. In most of the cases after a period when you don’t use your portable music device, the system will automatically go in sleep mode.

In order to unlock an 8 GB iPod Touch screen, you have to type in the empty field a four digit pass-code. Sometimes happens that you forget the password. What have you do in this case? All you have to do is to restore your portable music device to factory settings. For this process you have the possibility to choose between two options. One of them is to unlock your iPod Touch with the pass-code and the second method is to unlock it without the password. In the first option’s case you have to simply tap the bezel button on your portable music device’s screen and you have to slide your finger against the arrow bar. When appears the field, you have to simply type the four digit password. In the second method’s case you have to connect your iPod Touch to the computer. For this process you will need the USB cable. After the system recognizes the connected portable music device you have to open the iTunes program on your notebook.

Source ; bindapple

ASUS - Ultrabooks that get it right

With Intel's push to make Ultrabooks - MacBook Air-like ultrathin laptops with speedy SSDs - the next big thing, we're seeing many of the big companies come out with their attempts. Some of them have been very good, but there's always a niggling problem making them imperfect, such as keyboards that are too small and uncomfortable, or dodgy trackpads.

No company has nailed it yet, but we're sure that one will next year, and that's what we're excited for: a super-thin, super-light PC that offers all the quality of the best normal laptops, but without the weight and size. Someone will get it right soon, and that will be a hell of a laptop.

Source:techradar