THE TECH-LICIOUS

Electric scooter design that makes a hole lot of sense

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyQVw9g_4MXzuoGUgzZqpA3ekkEZGd3ut9xxyDe3Y1AxK6VcRKJ3APzUmi54oelUkaVYrFFwcvhsoKpKY5IbX4f2hyphenhyphenvhX782w_wdxtBLS5wQ0wWEcTAf9GB3JemVg6mCgmXSvsyIRli06c/s1600/p01cn248.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyQVw9g_4MXzuoGUgzZqpA3ekkEZGd3ut9xxyDe3Y1AxK6VcRKJ3APzUmi54oelUkaVYrFFwcvhsoKpKY5IbX4f2hyphenhyphenvhX782w_wdxtBLS5wQ0wWEcTAf9GB3JemVg6mCgmXSvsyIRli06c/s1600/p01cn248.jpg" width="400" /></a><u>Scooters are a firm favourite in the developing world – but they are 
noisy and polluting, and can be dangerously overloaded. One company has 
come up with a cleaner, safer option. </u></h3>
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<b>n many parts of the world, the scooter is one of the most popular 
ways to get around. City streets are crowded with the small two-wheeled 
vehicles, sometimes carrying one passenger, but often carrying two or 
more people, their children – and their cargo. Small motorcycles can be a
 vital form of transport for farmers to get their produce to market, or 
parents to get their children to school or medical care. So, drivers and
 their families, pets, livestock and boxes and bags often have to 
balance precariously on two wheels.</b><br />
<b>More and more scooters are taking to the streets of South American cities – <a href="http://blogs.worldbank.org/transport/concerns-over-the-growth-of-motorcycles-in-cities">faster than new cars, in some cases</a>.
 In many Asian cities they’re the dominant form of transport. They can 
be cheap to own and operate, and they can be faster than the car in 
congested cities. But scooters are also a source of urban pollution, in 
terms of both emissions and noise. Their small engines burn a 
combination of oil and gasoline relatively inefficiently compared to an 
average modern car, and <a href="http://world.honda.com/history/challenge/1975cg125/text/01.html">routine maintenance isn’t always carried out</a>.</b><br />
<b>They
 are also dangerous – even deadly. A scooter is designed for one, maybe 
two people. If it is loaded beyond that the centre of gravity is shifted
 higher and balance becomes much more difficult when weaving in and out 
of traffic.</b><br />
<b>Lit Motors, <a href="http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20130630-super-shrinking-the-city-car">a small company based in San Francisco, California</a>
 I profiled in my last article, believes it might have a solution. By 
going back to the drawing board and designing an electric scooter for 
carrying cargo, it has come up with a design that it says should be 
safer, more efficient, more useful, but no more expensive. These are big
 goals for a small machine.</b><br />
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<b>The first thing you notice when you 
look at the new cargo scooter is actually an absence, or a gap, in the 
middle of the machine. Right in the centre, approximately where the 
engine would sit underneath the driver, there is a square hole which can
 accommodate boxes up to 50x50x50cm (20x20x20 inches). The driver sits 
on a saddle right at the back. The total cargo capacity is estimated to 
be up to 90kg (198lbs), not including the weight of the rider </b><br />
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<u><b>All in the lean</b></u></h3>
<b>A key factor in the redesign was making the scooter electrically 
powered. The motor is placed inside the rear wheel, says Ryan James, Lit
 Motors’ chief marketing officer.</b><br />
<b>“That frees up the vehicle 
architecture to make it whatever we want it to be, and it also greatly 
simplifies the drivetrain making it cheaper to produce, cheaper to sell,
 and cheaper to the consumer,” he says.</b><br />
<b>Rechargeable batteries run
 along the base of the scooter, keeping the centre of gravity low, which
 is key to a stable, and therefore safer, ride. The batteries hold 
enough charge for around 50 miles, or 80km, and top speed will be around
 50mph (80kph).</b><br />
<b>The other standout part of the design is two handlebars, which seem to sprout out of the top of the bike. </b><br />
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<b>“We have a unique, tank-style steering,” James explains. There is one
 handlebar on either side, which instead of twisting around a central 
pivot, are pushed or pulled in tandem to move the front wheel. “Like any
 other two wheeled vehicle, when you’re moving you’re actually turning 
the front wheel very little. The turn is all in the lean.”</b><br />
<b>For the
 cargo scooter to have an impact, it will have to be cheap enough for 
people to afford it. So is it possible to get the price of an innovative
 electric bike that low?</b><br />
<b>“We think we can,” says James. “We went 
over to India a couple of years ago and conducted market research, met 
with three of the largest scooter and motorcycle manufacturers, and we 
were able to determine how much we could produce this for. We should be 
able to get this comparable with similar price-point scooters.” In 
reality that means a target price of around $5,000.</b><br />
<b>Early 
production will be determined by demand, according to the company. It 
says it is prepared to produce anywhere from 10 to a few hundred at its facility in San Francisco at first, and then increase 
the numbers. Longer term, the company may license the design to 
manufacturers around the world.</b><b>The cargo scooter is still very 
much in development stage, and I was shown an early prototype (see 
video). The company already has ambitious plans though. Their next goal 
is to make the scooter fold in half, so you end up with the two wheels 
much closer together, and the bike’s footprint halved.</b><br />
<b>“That will 
be really big in places like China, where the norm is not to leave your 
scooter locked down in the street, but to bring it up into your 
apartment with you,” says James.</b><br />
<b>Lit plans to release the machine later on this year – using a Kickstarter campaign, of course.</b><br />
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Electric scooter design that makes a hole lot of sense

Scooters are a firm favourite in the developing world – but they are noisy and polluting, and can be dangerously overloaded. One comp...

WHEN INOVATION MEETS MOTHER LOVE

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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Most parents would do anything to help their children succeed, 
whether it comes in the form of sacrificing financially so they can get a
 good education, or just being present with them in the small moments as
 well as the big ones. No parent likes to be told their children can’t 
(or shouldn’t) do something other children sometimes take for granted, 
like walking down the road or riding a bike. But, sometimes when parents
 are told their children won’t ever be able to do something, such as 
walk normally, it becomes a catalyst for them to prove the doctors 
wrong.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>
</b></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Debbie Elnatan, from Jerusalem, is the mother of a little boy named 
Rotem who lives with cerebral palsy. At some point when he was younger, 
certain doctors told Debbie that Rotem shouldn’t ever walk or even 
crawl. Like any parent, she didn’t like hearing that kind of medical 
advice, and she eventually came up with an idea that would help her son 
to walk. <a href="https://shine.yahoo.com/author-blog-posts/her-son-couldn-t-walk-inventive-mom-lent-184800791.html" target="_blank">That idea is now fully revealed to the world in the form of the UpSee Harness</a>.</b></span><br />
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</b></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><img alt="Mom Creates UpSee Harness To Help Her Son Walk" class="lazy alignnone size-full wp-image-14454 data-lazy-ready" data-lazy-src="http://news.filehippo.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/13.jpg" data-lazy-type="image" height="454" src="http://news.filehippo.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/13.jpg" style="display: inline;" title="Mom Creates UpSee Harness To Help Her Son Walk" width="708" /></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>
</b></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Every Child Deserves To Walk</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>
</b></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>At first, she would just bend over and manually help Rotem to walk, 
but that just left her reeling with back pain of her own. Over time, she
 developed a special harness, now known as the Upsee Harness, that 
allows special-needs children to walk in tandem with one of their 
parents. Using a pair of “double sandals” along with a harness, children
 get to learn how to walk with Mom and/or Dad and they gain muscle 
memory which they otherwise wouldn’t.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>
</b></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><img alt="" class="lazy alignnone size-full wp-image-14455 data-lazy-ready" data-lazy-src="http://news.filehippo.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Screen-Shot-2014-04-07-at-12.09.29-PM.png" data-lazy-type="image" height="483" src="http://news.filehippo.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Screen-Shot-2014-04-07-at-12.09.29-PM.png" style="display: inline;" title="Mom Creates UpSee Harness To Help Her Son Walk" width="708" /></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>
</b></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>After a long process, Debbie was finally able to get her UpSee 
Harness released to the public – she stated that because investors 
thought it was such a small market they were wary of investing in her 
product. But that’s all changed now, and kids who have never walked 
before are getting to experience it for the first time.</b></span></div>

WHEN INOVATION MEETS MOTHER LOVE

Most parents would do anything to help their children succeed, whether it comes in the form of sacrificing financially so they can get a ...

MICROSCALE-3D PRINTING

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inks made from different types of materials, precisely applied, are greatly expanding the kinds of things that can be printed.</h2>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>To show off its ability to do multimaterial 3-D printing, Lewis’s lab has printed a complex lattice using different inks.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Despite the excitement that 3-D printing has 
generated, its capabilities remain rather limited. It can be used to 
make complex shapes, but most commonly only out of plastics. Even 
manufacturers using an advanced version of the technology known as 
additive manufacturing typically have expanded the material palette only
 to a few types of metal alloys. But what if 3-D printers could use a 
wide assortment of different materials, from living cells to 
semiconductors, mixing and matching the “inks” with precision?</b></span></div>
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</b></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Jennifer Lewis, a materials scientist at Harvard University, is 
developing the chemistry and machines to make that possible. She prints 
intricately shaped objects from “the ground up,” precisely adding 
materials that are useful for their mechanical properties, electrical 
conductivity, or optical traits. This means 3-D printing technology 
could make objects that sense and respond to their environment. 
“Integrating form and function,” she says, “is the next big thing that 
needs to happen in 3-D printing.”</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Left: For the demonstration, the group formulated four polymer inks, each dyed a different color. <br /><br />Right: The different inks are placed in standard print heads</b>. </span><br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Bottom:
 By sequentially and precisely depositing the inks in a process guided 
by the group’s software, the printer quickly produces the colorful 
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>A group at Princeton University has printed a bionic ear, combining 
biological tissue and electronics (see “Cyborg Parts,” September/October
 2013), while a team of researchers at the University of Cambridge has 
printed retinal cells to form complex eye tissue. But even among these 
impressive efforts to extend the possibilities of 3-D printing, Lewis’s 
lab stands out for the range of materials and types of objects it can 
print.</b></span><br />
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</b></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Last year, Lewis and her students showed they could print the 
microscopic electrodes and other components needed for tiny lithium-ion 
batteries (see “Printing Batteries,” January/February). Other projects 
include printed sensors fabricated on plastic patches that athletes 
could one day wear to detect concussions and measure violent impacts. 
Most recently, her group printed biological tissue interwoven with a 
complex network of blood vessels. To do this, the researchers had to 
make inks out of various types of cells and the materials that form the 
matrix supporting them. The work addresses one of the lingering 
challenges in creating artificial organs for drug testing or, someday, 
for use as replacement parts: how to create a vascular system to keep 
the cells alive.</b></span><br />
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              <aside class="box-right text-left" style="height: 841px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>Top: Inks made of silver nanoparticles are used to print electrodes as small as a few micrometers.  </b></u></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><u><b>Bottom: As in the other 3-D printing processes, the operati</b></u>o<u><b>n is controlled and monitored by computers.</b></u></span></span></div>
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<u><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Left: Jennifer Lewis’s goal is to print complex architectures that integrate form and function.<br /><br />Right: A glove with strain sensors is made by printing electronics into a stretchable elastomer.</span></span></b></u></div>
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<u><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>In a basement lab a few hundred yards from Lewis’s office, her group 
has jury-rigged a 3-D printer, equipped with a microscope, that can 
precisely print structures with features as small as one micrometer (a 
human red blood cell is around 10 micrometers in diameter). Another, 
larger 3-D printer, using printing nozzles with multiple outlets to 
print multiple inks simultaneously, can fabricate a meter-sized sample 
with a desired microstructure in minutes.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>The secret to Lewis’s creations lies in inks with properties that 
allow them to be printed during the same fabrication process. Each ink 
is a different material, but they all can be printed at room 
temperature. The various types of materials present different 
challenges; cells, for example, are delicate and easily destroyed as 
they are forced through the printing nozzle. In all cases, though, the 
inks must be formulated to flow out of the nozzle under pressure but 
retain their form once in place—think of toothpaste, Lewis says.</b></span><br />
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<aside class="box-right text-left" style="height: 841px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><u>  </u></span></b></span><br /><img alt="" height="616" src="http://www.technologyreview.com/sites/default/files/images/tr10.3d.printing.6x948.jpg" width="948" /><u><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Left: The largest printer in Lewis’s lab makes objects up to a meter by a meter. <br /><br />Top: For such jobs, the printer uses a 64- or 128-nozzle array to speed up the process.<br /><br />Bottom: A test sample with a layered microstructure was printed in minutes using wax ink.</span></b></u><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Before coming to Harvard from the University of Illinois at 
Urbana-Champaign last year, Lewis had spent more than a decade 
developing 3-D printing techniques using ceramics, metal nanoparticles, 
polymers, and other nonbiological materials. When she set up her new lab
 at Harvard and began working with biological cells and tissues for the 
first time, she hoped to treat them the same way as materials composed 
of synthetic particles. That idea might have been a bit naïve, she now 
acknowledges. Printing blood vessels was an encouraging step toward 
artificial tissues capable of the complex biological functions found in 
organs. But working with the cells turns out to be “really complex,” she
 says. “And there’s a lot more that we need to do before we can print a 
fully functional liver or kidney. But we’ve taken the first step.</span></b>”</aside></div>
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MICROSCALE-3D PRINTING

inks made from different types of materials, precisely applied, are greatly expanding the kinds of things that can be printed. ...

Shape-Shifting Touch Screen Buttons Head to Market

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<u>An iPad accessory launching later this year will bring transparent 
morphing buttons to the device’s screen to aid touch-typing. </u></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>As they peck out text on the featureless glass surface of their phone
 or tablet, some people still mourn the passing of the physical 
keyboard. Now technology is heading to mass production that can offer 
the best of both worlds: a featureless surface for watching video and 
buttons that rise out of it when you need to type.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>That technology was developed by startup <a data-ls-seen="1" href="http://www.tactustechnology.com/" target="0">Tactus Technology</a>,
 which uses tiny fluid-filled channels and elastic blisters to make 
buttons rise up from a device’s screen and then disappear without trace 
when they’re no longer needed (see “<a data-ls-seen="1" href="http://www.technologyreview.com/demo/508106/a-shape-shifting-smartphone-touch-screen/" target="0">Demo: A Shape-Shifting Smartphone Touch Screen</a>”).</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Electronics manufacturing giant <a data-ls-seen="1" href="http://www.wistron.com/" target="0">Wistron</a>
 has now modified equipment at one of its factories in China to produce 
touch-screen panels with the shape-shifting technology inside. Wistron 
is one of the world’s largest electronics manufacturers; it’s made 
devices for brands including BlackBerry, Apple, and Acer. The company 
also recently became an investor in Tactus.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>The first fruit of the
 tie-up will go on sale later this year in the form of a protective case
 with Tactus technology inside for Apple’s iPad Mini. The design 
includes a transparent screen protector that covers the front of the 
device. However, sliding a mechanical control on the side of the case 
raises up a transparent set of buttons or guides on the screen 
protector, over the touch keyboard, to make typing easier. Sliding the 
control back will cause those buttons to melt away, leaving a clear, 
smooth pane of glass.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>“Users will still type on the screens as 
they do today, but with better performance, confidence, and 
satisfaction,” says Tactus CEO Craig Ciesla.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Tactus won’t reveal 
the exact design of the case launching this year, or of a similar one 
slated to launch next year. Nor will it say which brands are behind 
them. But it did let <i>MIT Technology Review</i> try out an internal prototype case for the iPad Mini with the same basic design.</b></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Sliding the control on the left pushed fluid into a set of guides 
that rose up between keys on the virtual keyboard. That they were ever 
there is discernable only by a close examination of the screen protector
 in the right light. But the panel feels noticeably less smooth to a 
finger swiping the surface.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The guides provide physical feedback 
when the fingers don’t directly hit a key, something that’s lacking on a
 typical touch screen. In a few minutes of testing, it seemed to help my
 fingers learn how to hit their targets better. Tactus says it has been 
testing different-shaped guides but won’t say which the first products 
will use.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The relationship with Wistron could lead morphing 
buttons to appear in tablets and other devices. Tactus has demonstrated 
both a prototype seven-inch tablet with its technology fully integrated 
into its display and an off-the-shelf tablet modified to include the 
technology. When the buttons are built into a device in that way, their 
movements are driven by a small electric pump. On the demonstration 
prototypes, the buttons automatically pop up when the keyboard appears.</span></b><br />
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</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">“We are only at the beginning of what we expect to be a multiyear 
partnership, where the Tactus solution will be brought to multiple 
markets, starting with mobile computing,” says Ciesla. He says the two 
companies have begun working on the design of products and prototypes 
for carriers, electronics brands, and retailers. One project is a 
notebook-style device that has a second, morphing screen where the 
keyboard would usually be.</span></b></div>

Shape-Shifting Touch Screen Buttons Head to Market

An iPad accessory launching later this year will bring transparent morphing buttons to the device’s screen to aid touch-typing. As th...

Android 4.5/5: Release date, rumours, features, news and pictures

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxIB1UhvEWR3N-GN0UTkAW5L0HQcjCPrY-mtHSULLrfCSgtUa4AP9W9zLqRckcVWoUU908RfhHEmQz7s-lQzwaOfAjLGinPc-00gbUQpbUY1aZ4rRXA__aw_F4G7OmCNfRW7wR0s7BQOon/s1600/new-android-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxIB1UhvEWR3N-GN0UTkAW5L0HQcjCPrY-mtHSULLrfCSgtUa4AP9W9zLqRckcVWoUU908RfhHEmQz7s-lQzwaOfAjLGinPc-00gbUQpbUY1aZ4rRXA__aw_F4G7OmCNfRW7wR0s7BQOon/s1600/new-android-5.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><u><b>he next version of Google Android is nearly upon us. But will it be the 
long awaited Android 5, or another minor update in the form of Android 
4.5?</b></u></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> <a href="http://www.t3.com/android">Android 5</a> was expected to be released last year, but with the arrival of <a href="http://www.t3.com/android-kitkat">Android 4.4 KitKat</a>, those hopes were dashed. But will we see the next version of <a href="http://www.t3.com/google">Google</a>’s mobile operating software this year? And if we do, what can we expect?</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">We’ve rounded up everything we know about the Android 4.5/5 below.</span></b></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Android 4.5/5 release date</span></u></h3>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>The current version of Android – 4.4 KitKat – was officially unveiled last September and debuted on October 31st with the <a href="http://www.t3.com/reviews/google-nexus-5-review">Google Nexus 5</a>.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>So
 the big question now is, when will Google launch the next version of 
Android? If we had to predict when Google unveil the next version of 
Android, we’d put our money on Google I/O in June.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Google’s
 annual developers conference has been used to launch new version of 
Android in the past. This year’s event takes place in San Francisco 
between June 25th and 26th.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Going on previous trends, if 
Google does unveil the next version of Android at the event, it could be
 a month before it becomes available. Which leads us nicely on to the 
question of which phone will it debut on?</b></span><br />
<h3>
<u><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Android 4.5/5 phones</span></u></h3>
<b>One
 of the big questions is which phone will debut the next version of 
Android. Currently, the only rumours going around about Nexus hardware 
is about a the <a href="http://www.t3.com/news/google-nexus-8-release-date-rumours-features-and-news">Google Nexus 8</a> and <a href="http://www.t3.com/Google-Nexus-10">Nexus 10</a>. We doubt Google would debut the next version of Android only on a tablet.</b><br />
<b>That
 brings us to the big question of which model will be updated. Will it 
be the Nexus 5? We simply don’t know. What we do know is that is likely 
to be made by HTC, so expect a smartphone based on the <a href="http://www.t3.com/reviews/htc-one-m8-review">HTC One (M8)</a>.</b><br />
<b>As
 for when it will appear on other smartphones, Google has made a point 
of telling smartphone makers to speed up deployment to their existing 
handsets.</b><br />
<b>Android 4.4 KitKat has seen one of the slowest 
adoptions of a new version of Android – despite to pushes from companies
 like HTC to get it out within 90 days of its release. Even Android 
JellyBean was ahead of the curve than were KitKat is today.</b><br />
<b>The <a href="http://chitika.com/insights/2014/android-by-device-type">latest figures from Chitika</a> suggest that only 10 per cent of Android smartphones are running Android 4.4 KitKat.</b><br />
<b>In
 other words, you’ll probably have to buy a new phone to get your hands 
on it anytime soon, despite Google’s protestations to smartphone makers.</b><br />
<h3>
<u><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Android 4.5/5 features</span></u></h3>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Reports
 have been flying around for a while now that one of the biggest 
additions to the next version of Android will be Google Babble.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Android
 Geeks reported last year that the service would debut on Android 5.0. 
When Android 4.4 KitKat was announced, there was no sign of Babble 
suggesting that Google may have held it back.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Babble is 
the codename for Google’s cross-platform service that will bring 
together all of its chat services, including Talk, Hangout, Voice, 
Messenger, Chat for Google Drive and Chat on Google+.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Last
 year also saw a couple of image leaks that suggested that Babble was in
 testing. However, 12 months later, there has been no sign of the 
service. So could we see it arrive with the next version of Android?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>We’d
 say so. Cross platform messaging is big business at the moment. 
Facebook’s £11 billion acquisition shows how important it is for 
advertising giants and Google is the biggest of the bunch.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Other
 features are likely to include more fitness apps and ways for 
developers to tie in devices. Chances are the next version of Android 
will launch around the same time as <a href="http://www.t3.com/reviews/google-glass-review">Google Glass</a> becomes available to the public and <a href="http://www.t3.com/news/google-reveals-android-wear-os-for-smartwatches">Android Wear</a> devices hit the shelves.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>We’d say this one’s almost a certainty.</b></span><br />
<h3>
<u><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Android 4.5/5 look</span></span></u></h3>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>In the middle of April, a <a href="http://www.techradar.com/news/software/operating-systems/is-this-what-the-icons-in-the-next-version-of-android-will-look-like--1242481?ns_campaign=t3-house-links&ns_mchannel=hl&ns_source=t3.com&ns_linkname=0&ns_fee=0">screenshot leaked</a> purporting to be of the next version of Android. It shows a clear overhaul of the look of Android – including new icon designs.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>According to the leak, the design is being referred to as “Moonshine” within Google itself.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>But is it genuine? We’ll have to wait to find out.</b></span><br />
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Android 4.5/5: Release date, rumours, features, news and pictures

he next version of Google Android is nearly upon us. But will it be the long awaited Android 5, or another minor update in the form of An...

SAMSUNG GALAXY GLASS(A COMPETITOR OF GOOGLE GLASS)

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<b>Earlier this year, a <a href="http://www.t3.com/samsung">Samsung</a> executive was quoted as saying "The new smart glass to be introduced by Samsung is a new concept of <a href="http://www.t3.com/wearable-technology">wearable device</a> that can lead to an exciting culture of communication.</b><br />
<b>“The smart glass will present our aim to lead the new market with proven capability.”</b><br />
<b>But does Samsung have what it takes to beat <a href="http://www.t3.com/Google-Glass">Google Glass</a>? Here’s what we know so far… </b><br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<u>Samsung Galaxy Glass Launch Date</u></h3>
<b>If rumours are to be believed, the Samsung Galaxy Glass will
 be unveiled at IFA 2014. The massive tech fair runs from September 5th 
to 10th in Berlin.</b><br />
<b>According to a <a href="http://www.t3.com/news/samsung-to-launch-google-glass-rival">story ran</a> by the Korea Times, a source within Samsung said that the tech giant will show off its smart glass gadget at IFA.</b><br />
<b>However,
 unveiling a product isn’t the same as launching. Samsung has a habit of
 unveiling gadgets up to two months before they actually land.</b><br />
<b>That
 said, we can’t see it launching it in November; it’s likely it will 
want to capture as much of people’s Christmas shopping money as 
possible. As such, we’d guesstimate Samsung will likely launch it either
 late September or early October.</b><br />
<b>But an immediate launch? We doubt it</b><br />
<u><br /></u>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<u>Samsung Galaxy Glass Looks</u></h3>
<b>In the middle of April, <a href="http://www.t3.com/news/samsung-galaxy-glass-glimpsed">details of a patent leaked</a>. Significantly, the patent included an image of a device now widely believed to be Samsung’s smart glass.</b><br />
<b>According
 to the patent, the display will be made from “a transparent synthetic 
resin material". In addition, it will offer “wearable augmented reality 
and real life experience of being able to listen to a variety of 
sources”.</b><br />
<b>It isn’t the first pair of smart glasses the 
company has filed a patent for. Last year, the company filed designed 
for a device that looked more like traditional eyewear.</b><br />
<b>That patent was filed in South Korea early last year, though it only came to light in October.</b><br />
<b>Dubbed
 “sports glasses”, they had a translucent or transparent frame, side 
buttons and a panel at the front that appeared to hold a camera and a 
heads up display.</b><br />
<b>Unlike the latest patent, the sports glasses were wired, suggesting that they weren’t a standalone device.</b><br />
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<br />
<b> It’s currently unclear if the latest leak is a standalone device, or one
 that would connect to a smartphone in a similar way – albeit through 
Bluetooth/NFC rather than a wire</b><br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<u>Samsung Galaxy Glass Name</u></h3>
<b>Quite where the Glass moniker came from, we’re not quite 
sure. We’ve looked around for an answer, but couldn’t really find one. 
Our best guess is that someone referred to it as Samsung’s Glass and the
 name stuck.</b><br />
<b>Chances are it won’t launch with either the word Galaxy or Glass in it.</b><br />
<b>Samsung
 has been slowly moving away from the name Galaxy for all of its devices
 aside from its tablets and smartphones. Its most recent smartwatch and 
fitness gadgets have adopted the name Gear.</b><br />
<b>We’d be very surprised if Samsung didn’t follow this naming convention and go with the name Samsung Gear “Glass”.</b><br />
<b>Equally,
 we’d be very surprised if Samsung stuck with the name Glass for its 
headset – if that’s what it was ever called. The reason for that is 
simple – if a little boring. Because that’s what Google has called its 
smart headset.</b><br />
<b>Personally, I think the closest we’ll see is something like Samsung Gear Smartglass.</b><br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<u>Samsung Galaxy Glass Price</u></h3>
<b>How much will Samsung’s Galaxy Glass cost? The honest answer
 is we don’t have a clue. However, there have been hints dropped by 
Samsung over the last couple of months.</b><br />
<b>In the interview with The Korea Times, the <a href="http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/tech/2014/01/133_150500.html">executive said</a>
 Samsung is keen to get first mover advantage. It’s also likely to use a
 similar strategy with Google as it has with Apple – undercut.</b><br />
<b>So
 while we don’t have any firm – or slightly unfirm – figures, what we 
can do is look at what Google is likely to do with its own Glass 
headset.</b><br />
<b>Currently, Google sells its Explorer edition 
Glass headset for $1,500 (£892). It has said that it will reduce that 
price tag when the consumer version comes out. However, it hasn’t said 
by how much – only that it would be “significantly less” that what it 
currently sells for.</b><br />
<b>As such, we really wouldn’t be surprised if Samsung’s own version came in at an absolute maximum of £400.</b><br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
 </h3>
</div>

SAMSUNG GALAXY GLASS(A COMPETITOR OF GOOGLE GLASS)

Earlier this year, a Samsung executive was quoted as saying "The new smart glass to be introduced by Samsung is a new concept of w...