THE TECH-LICIOUS

IBM Working On Electronic Blood For Powering And Cooling Supercomputers

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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The human brain is an amazing organ. It is thousands of times more efficient than the greatest technology out there at the moment. And what helps the brain to be at the top when it comes to efficiency is the network of blood vessels which transports both heat and energy simultaneously. IBM has plans to copy this innovative strategy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Called ‘electronic blood’, the fluid will be charged with an electrical current. The electronic blood will flow to a computer’s processor for providing energy and cooling the machine.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As you might know, all the supercomputers around today are quite huge. An example is the “petaflop” supercomputer. It is capable of doing one quadrillion operations per second but it measures about half a football field. The chips of the supercomputer have to be spaced out in its body due to the generation of huge amounts of heat.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is where the electronic blood will be a huge help. It will allow us to stack the chips of a supercomputer three-dimensionally and shrink the computer’s size drastically.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Chris Sciacca, spokesman for IBM Research, says, “It makes much more sense to have the chips stacked. What we want to do is to make water-cooled supercomputers of the future that are the size of a sugar cube”.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And another issue is that the supercomputers use up a lot of energy. <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2014/05/06/technology/enterprise/ibm-electronic-blood/" style="border: 0px; color: #42a2ce; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">CNN Money</a> says, “In the United States, data centers are responsible for more than 2% of the country’s electricity usage, <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032113008216" style="border: 0px; color: #42a2ce; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">according to researchers</a> at Villanova University. If the global cloud computing industry were considered to be a single country, it would be the fifth-largest in the world in terms of energy consumption”.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Since so much of heat is generated by the chips, cooling equipment have to be used to cool them up. But half the energy of the machine is eaten up by these equipment. So, if the electronic blood turns out to be an efficient cooling system, we could save a lot of energy.</span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- See more at: http://www.mobilemag.com/2014/05/09/ibm-electronic-blood-supercomputers/#sthash.FhBrCHRF.dpuf</span></span></div>

IBM Working On Electronic Blood For Powering And Cooling Supercomputers

The human brain is an amazing organ. It is thousands of times more efficient than the greatest technology out there at the moment. And what helps the brain to be at the top when it comes to efficienc…

17 May 2014

Broken phone signed by Rihanna fetches $66,500 on eBay

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<a href="http://i-cdn.phonearena.com/images/article/56218-image/Broken-phone-signed-by-Rihanna-fetches-66500-on-eBay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Broken phone signed by Rihanna fetches $66,500 on eBay" border="0" height="320" src="http://i-cdn.phonearena.com/images/article/56218-image/Broken-phone-signed-by-Rihanna-fetches-66500-on-eBay.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Talk about making lemonade out of lemons. Pop star Rihanna was attending an NBA Playoff game between the Clippers and the Thunder last week in L.A., when the person in the seat next to her asked if she would mind taking a selfie with him. Perhaps Rihanna was nervous about the game, or maybe she had too much popcorn butter residue on her hands. Regardless of the reason, she dropped the phone.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;">As it turned out, the person sitting next to Rihanna whose phone she broke, was L.A. Police Commission President Steve Soboroff. The law enforcement official decided to make the best out of the situation by having Rihanna sign the back of the phone. And then Soboroff did what any red-blooded person would do. He auctioned the phone on eBay.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;">The phone, which did work although it was sporting the cracked screen, sold for an incredible $66,500. Soboroff donated the entire amount to the LAPD Cadet program, and Rihanna even added an additional $25,000 of her own money. Overall, it was a great day for the LAPD.</span></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">Amazing how some ink can turn a $200 handset into such a valuable property.</span></div>

Broken phone signed by Rihanna fetches $66,500 on eBay

Talk about making lemonade out of lemons. Pop star Rihanna was attending an NBA Playoff game between the Clippers and the Thunder last week in L.A., when the person in the seat next to her asked if s…

17 May 2014

Your Cellphone Could Be a Sonar Device

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<img alt="echolocation, sonar, ultrasonic, technology, invention, innovation, smart phones, mobile phones" height="425" src="http://i.livescience.com/images/i/000/053/869/i02/shutterstock_sonar.jpg?1371497853" width="640" /></h1>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Submarines have used sonar for decades. Bats and dolphins have used it for millions of years. And thanks to a little math, humans could soon be echolocating with their <span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxtnowrap" id="itxthook0p" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; bottom: auto; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-size: inherit; height: auto; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto; white-space: nowrap !important;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxtnowrap itxtnewhookspan" id="itxthook0w" style="background-color: transparent; border-color: transparent transparent rgb(0, 204, 0); border-style: none none solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; bottom: auto; color: #009900; display: inline; float: none; height: auto; left: auto; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px 0px 1px !important; position: static; right: auto; text-decoration: underline !important; top: auto; white-space: normal;">mobile</span><img class="itxtrst itxtrstimg itxthookicon" id="itxthook0icon" src="http://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px !important; bottom: auto; display: inline !important; float: none !important; height: auto !important; left: auto; margin: 0px !important; max-height: none; max-width: none !important; padding: 0px 0px 0px 4px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto; vertical-align: baseline !important; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;" /></span> phones.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), in Switzerland, experts in signal processing discovered a mathematical technique that allows ordinary microphones to "see" the shape of a room by picking up ultrasonic pulses as they bounce off the walls. The work was published in this week's edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Microphone echolocation is harder than it sounds. Ambient noise in any room interferes with the sounds used to locate the walls, and the echoes sometimes bounce more than once. There is also the added challenge of figuring out which echoes are bouncing off which wall. [See also: "How Bats Stay on Target: Bio Sonar"]</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bats have had millions of years to evolve specialized neural circuits to fine-tune their echolocation abilities, said Ivan Dokmanic, a doctoral researcher and lead author of the PNAS paper. He added that humans can echolocate too, though not as precisely. (Some blind people have demonstrated this ability.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One reason echolocation is <span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxtnowrap" id="itxthook1p" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; bottom: auto; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-size: inherit; height: auto; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto; white-space: nowrap !important;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxtnowrap itxtnewhookspan" id="itxthook1w" style="background-color: transparent; border-color: transparent transparent rgb(0, 204, 0); border-style: none none solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; bottom: auto; color: #009900; display: inline; float: none; height: auto; left: auto; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px 0px 1px !important; position: static; right: auto; text-decoration: underline !important; top: auto; white-space: normal;">easier</span><img class="itxtrst itxtrstimg itxthookicon" id="itxthook1icon" src="http://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px !important; bottom: auto; display: inline !important; float: none !important; height: auto !important; left: auto; margin: 0px !important; max-height: none; max-width: none !important; padding: 0px 0px 0px 4px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto; vertical-align: baseline !important; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;" /></span> for bats and humans than it is for<span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxtnowrap" id="itxthook2p" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; bottom: auto; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-size: inherit; height: auto; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto; white-space: nowrap !important;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxtnowrap itxtnewhookspan" id="itxthook2w" style="background-color: transparent; border-color: transparent transparent rgb(0, 204, 0); border-style: none none solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; bottom: auto; color: #009900; display: inline; float: none; height: auto; left: auto; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px 0px 1px !important; position: static; right: auto; text-decoration: underline !important; top: auto; white-space: normal;">computers</span><img class="itxtrst itxtrstimg itxthookicon" id="itxthook2icon" src="http://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px !important; bottom: auto; display: inline !important; float: none !important; height: auto !important; left: auto; margin: 0px !important; max-height: none; max-width: none !important; padding: 0px 0px 0px 4px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto; vertical-align: baseline !important; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;" /></span> is that bats and humans have skulls that filter the sound. Tracking where a sound originates is easier for humans because people's two ears hear slightly different things. This allows humans to pinpoint the origin of a sound.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">To enable echolocation in mobile devices, Dokmanic investigated the math behind echolocation. What he found was that it's possible to treat the echoes of sounds emitted by a speaker as sources, rather than as waves bouncing off of something.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's kind of like what happens when you look into mirror: Your eyes see a reflection, but there's the illusion that there's another person who looks just like you standing at precisely the same distance from the mirror.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That's what Dokmanic did with sound. He assumed that each echo was a source, and created a kind of grid, called a matrix, of distances. Using some advanced math, he was then able to create an algorithm that could group the echoes in the correct way to deduce the shape of a room.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">First, the team experimented with an ordinary room at the EPFL, using a set of microphones and a laptop <span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxtnowrap" id="itxthook3p" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; bottom: auto; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-size: inherit; height: auto; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto; white-space: nowrap !important;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxtnowrap itxtnewhookspan" id="itxthook3w" style="background-color: transparent; border-color: transparent transparent rgb(0, 204, 0); border-style: none none solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; bottom: auto; color: #009900; display: inline; float: none; height: auto; left: auto; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px 0px 1px !important; position: static; right: auto; text-decoration: underline !important; top: auto; white-space: normal;">computer</span><img class="itxtrst itxtrstimg itxthookicon" id="itxthook3icon" src="http://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px !important; bottom: auto; display: inline !important; float: none !important; height: auto !important; left: auto; margin: 0px !important; max-height: none; max-width: none !important; padding: 0px 0px 0px 4px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto; vertical-align: baseline !important; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;" /></span> to test whether the algorithm worked. It did, and their next step was to test their program in the real world. So they went to a cathedral and tested it there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"It was really the opposite environment," Dokmanic said, adding that unlike a controlled lab setting, a cathedral has a lot of ambient noise and the space isn't perfectly square.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The algorithm worked there too, showing that the echolocationscheme could detect the cathedral's walls.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"The innovation is in the way that they process the signal to calculate the shape of the room," said Tommaso Melodia, an associate professor of electrical engineering at the University at Buffalo who was not involved in the study.  </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Martin Vetterli, professor of communications systems at EPFL and a co-author of the paper, said that mobile phones could be used to locate people more precisely. One problem with getting anyone's precise location on the phone is that only certain frequencies penetrate building walls, so GPS signals are sometimes useless.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Moreover, GPS is not always precise — if there's a lot of interference,it's not uncommon for a phone to say it can't locate you more precisely than within a half mile. Wi-Fi could work, but it depends on the existence of a local network.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Echolocation partly solves that problem, because it can measure the distance from where a user is standing to the walls of an individual room, and send that more precise information to tell the network exactly where that person is located. Instead of knowing where someone is within a city block, you'd be able to see that he or she is inside a room of a certain size or is surrounded by walls that give an intersection a certain shape.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One other issue is the distance between two microphones on a<span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxtnowrap" id="itxthook4p" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; bottom: auto; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-size: inherit; height: auto; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto; white-space: nowrap !important;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxtnowrap itxtnewhookspan" id="itxthook4w" style="background-color: transparent; border-color: transparent transparent rgb(0, 204, 0); border-style: none none solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; bottom: auto; color: #009900; display: inline; float: none; height: auto; left: auto; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px 0px 1px !important; position: static; right: auto; text-decoration: underline !important; top: auto; white-space: normal;">mobile phone</span><img class="itxtrst itxtrstimg itxthookicon" id="itxthook4icon" src="http://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px !important; bottom: auto; display: inline !important; float: none !important; height: auto !important; left: auto; margin: 0px !important; max-height: none; max-width: none !important; padding: 0px 0px 0px 4px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto; vertical-align: baseline !important; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;" /></span>. Many mobile phones have two mics —the directional mic is used when it's pressed to your head while you're on a phone call, and the other is used for canceling out the ambient noise.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The two microphones on a phone calculate the distance by triangulating – measuring the small gap between when an echo reaches each microphone. The distance between the microphones is the base of a triangle, and the time difference between echoes' time of arrival tells you the length of the other two sides.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But these two microphones usually aren't very far apart on phones, so calculating the distance to a source that's far away is harder to do.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One solution, Vetterli said, might be to use people's tendency to walk with their phones in order to help echolocate walls more accurately.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Since you can't make phones much bigger, it is simpler to have the phone take measurements from more than one spot as the user walks with it, so the base of the triangle is longer, he said.</span></div>
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Your Cellphone Could Be a Sonar Device

Submarines have used sonar for decades. Bats and dolphins have used it for millions of years. And thanks to a little math, humans could soon be echolocating with their mobile phones. At the École Pol…

17 May 2014

A next level gaming machine

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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px;">Thermaltake has crafted a special edition Level 10 gaming station entirely from titanium to make you forget games co</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;">nsoles ever existed</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>PC manufacturer Thermaltake has announced a special edition version of its Level 10 Gaming Station model. If you're not familiar with the brand, they first came to market in 2009 as part of a collaboration with BMW Group DesignWorksUSA.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Here in 2014 though, this latest gaming station is so special that Thermaltake is only planning to release 500 of them.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>We're about to throw some serious specs your way because, aside from looking awesome, this gaming station can run any game under the sun without breaking a sweat.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The revamped special-edition model proves to be a big leap forward from Level 10 that preceeded it. Level 10 Titanium has been upgraded to six EasySwap HDD bays, to meet the expectations of high-end enthusiasts.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Other features include four advanced USB 3.0 ports that are compatible with all devices e.g. high-performance gaming mice, super fast hard drives, headsets ect.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Also, its asymmetric arrangements and horizontally facing componants prevent it from overeating, allowing you to play it for longer.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>There's a lot riding on this gaming machine as its predecessors in the Level 10 Series have won awards aplenty. But, the firm claims that the special edition Titanium model can take the series to a new peak.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Thermaltake will celebrate its world premier at Computex in Taipei on June 3, but will be available for pre-order from July prior to its official launch in September.</b></span></div>
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A next level gaming machine

Thermaltake has crafted a special edition Level 10 gaming station entirely from titanium to make you forget games consoles ever existed PC manufacturer Thermaltake has announced a special edition ver…

16 May 2014

iPhone 6 could come with super-Retina screen

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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1b1b1b; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Apple is testing a new, higher resolution display for its upcoming iPhone 6 in order to complete with the flagship Android handsets.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The <a href="http://www.t3.com/news/iphone-6-release-date-rumours-features-and-news" style="color: #1b1b1b; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">iPhone 6</a> could come with a resolution of 1704 x 960 if the report is accurate. That resolution would allow <a href="http://www.t3.com/apple" style="color: #1b1b1b; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Apple</a> to increase the pixels per square inch, while retaining the current 16:9 aspect of the<a href="http://www.t3.com/reviews/iphone-5-review" style="color: #1b1b1b; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">iPhone 5</a> and <a href="http://www.t3.com/reviews/iphone-5s-review" style="color: #1b1b1b; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">iPhone 5S</a>.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>It is unclear if both of the rumoured iPhone 6 models will receive the new, higher resolution – or just the larger <a href="http://www.t3.com/news/iphone-6-release-date-rumours-features-and-news" style="color: #1b1b1b; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">5.5-inch iPhone 6</a>. If that is the case, it may be 2015 before the higher resolution makes it to phones.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The report adds that the increase in resolution is unlikely to see the size and positioning of icons change. However, it will add more screen space, meaning that we could see another column and row of apps added to the home screen – especially on the larger iPhone 6.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Apple is known for testing out several different resolutions before settling on one. As such, we’ll take this news with a pinch of salt until Apple announces anything.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>It’s likely we’ll get a hint of what Apple has in store next month at WWDC. It’s highly likely that Apple will give developers the heads up a resolution change is coming – if it does, that will be the first solid signal a higher resolution iPhone 6 is inbound.</b></span></div>
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iPhone 6 could come with super-Retina screen

Apple is testing a new, higher resolution display for its upcoming iPhone 6 in order to complete with the flagship Android handsets. The iPhone 6 could come with a resolution of 1704 x 960 if the rep…

16 May 2014

Oculus Rift, three Kinects effectively bring an entire human body into a virtual world

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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ever wanted to put yourself inside of a video game? It’s now possible to dynamically represent your entire body inside of a virtual world, and this monumental task can be accomplished with off-the-shelf hardware. With three first-gen Kinects and an Oculus Rift dev kit, a developer by the name of Oliver Kreylos has hacked together a true VR prototype that actually makes you feel like you’re in a computer-generated world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">By placing three <a href="http://www.extremetech.com/tag/kinect" style="color: #b1700a; text-decoration: none;">Kinect</a> sensors in an equilateral triangle around his room, Kreylos is able to generate a live 3D model of his body from the raw video data. By sidestepping the Kinect’s processor-intensive skeletal reconstruction, this visual representation is extremely low-latency. When you put on your <a href="http://www.extremetech.com/tag/oculus-rift" style="color: #b1700a; text-decoration: none;">Oculus Rift</a> and hold your hand to your face, Kreylos claims that your brain immediately registers the limb as your own.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the video embedded above, you can see this system for yourself. The 3D projection of Kreylos in the virtual world is blurry and covered in visual artifacts, but that apparently doesn’t break the illusion. While he hasn’t done exhaustive research regarding the neurological aspects of this system, Kreylos theorizes that the low-latency motion capture achieved with the Kinect cameras helps the brain effectively jump over the <a href="http://www.extremetech.com/tag/uncanny-valley" style="color: #b1700a; text-decoration: none;">uncanny valley</a>. Regardless of the visual fidelity of the virtual world, it seems that lag is what really makes or breaks the illusion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Keep in mind, all of this is being done with relatively modest gear. In a post on his blog, the developer explains that this entire demo is <a href="http://doc-ok.org/?p=965" style="color: #b1700a; text-decoration: none;">running on a Linux box</a> with a 3.5GHz Intel Core i7 CPU, 8GB of RAM, and an Nvidia Geforce GTX 770 GPU. He’s also using the low-res Kinect cameras from the last generation, so imagine how much better this could look with the newest model. With three HD cameras and a few months of polish, this could potentially mean big things for affordable VR training, improved teleconferencing, and immersive games.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It’s easy to shrug off this three-camera rig as an impractical solution, but this is a really solid first step towards solving the problem of full-body VR. The Oculus Rift and <a href="http://www.extremetech.com/tag/project-morpheus" style="color: #b1700a; text-decoration: none;">Project Morpheus</a> are impressive prototypes, but they’re far from complete packages. If we want full-fledged <a href="http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/181454-virtually-perfect-the-promise-of-virtual-reality" style="color: #b1700a; text-decoration: none;">virtual reality in our future</a>, we’re going to need to account for a lot more than just neck movement in our simulations. We need to think bigger than just head-mounted displays.</span></div>
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Oculus Rift, three Kinects effectively bring an entire human body into a virtual world

Ever wanted to put yourself inside of a video game? It’s now possible to dynamically represent your entire body inside of a virtual world, and this monumental task can be accomplished with off-the-sh…

16 May 2014

ATM’s Could Soon Spray Thieves With Hot Liquid Chemicals

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It seems like I’ve seen a lot of news items lately regarding ATM’s getting robbed all over the world. While they may seem like a pretty tempting target for criminals since they don’t fight back or give them any “real” trouble, ATM’s might not be so simple to break into in the future. It turns out that ETH Zurich out of Switzerland has been coming up with some pretty unique methods to stop ATM’s from getting broken into. In short, they want the machines to fight back.</div>
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And just where did they look for their inspiration? From nature of course. More specifically, they looked at bombardier beetles, which are able to cause a small gas explosion when it thinks a predator is closing in. They thought, “Why can’t we do that same thing when an ATM feels threatened?” And so, that’s what they’re trying to do. They’ve created a certain kind of film layer that when it gets broken releases hydrogen peroxide and manganese dioxide. And, when those two chemicals mix together, they would be sprayed at a temperature of around 80 degrees onto the face of the unsuspecting criminal.</div>
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Along with getting a bit of a burn to the face, any of the money that was stolen would also be dyed by the chemicals. The chemicals would also be able to be tracked thanks to nanoparticles found on the dyed money.</div>
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Who knows if and when we will ever see this technology implemented all over the world, but if it ever does happen, I can imagine the number of ATM thefts dropping drastically.</div>
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I don’t know how you feel about this type of defense measure, but I think it’s a pretty genius idea. Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!</div>
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ATM’s Could Soon Spray Thieves With Hot Liquid Chemicals

It seems like I’ve seen a lot of news items lately regarding ATM’s getting robbed all over the world. While they may seem like a pretty tempting target for criminals since they don’t fight back or gi…

16 May 2014

"CUE" A PORTABLE DOCTOR

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Cue examines a droplet of saliva or blood to calculate a digital measurement of your health</div>
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Not so long ago, self health monitoring was largely limited to weighing ourselves to see how a diet was going and sticking a thermometer under our tongue to see if we were getting sick. For everything else we went to the family doctor. That was in the past. Technology has put health and fitness monitoring firmly in consumers’ hands. Starting with pedometers in the 1980s and progressing to the myriad <a href="http://www.gizmag.com/tag/fitness/" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1e8dd7; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">wearable fitness trackers</a> flooding the market today. The grip has just tightened again with Cue – a device that allows users to run medical diagnostics from the comfort of their own home.</div>
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<a href="http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_lrg/cuelabathome-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Cue in carrying case" border="0" height="213" src="http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_lrg/cuelabathome-6.jpg" width="320" /></a>Testing for five key health indicators; inflammation, vitamin D, fertility, influenza, and testosterone, Cue is claimed to be the most advanced consumer health product available to date. While these seem to be an interesting bundle of self-tests to release a product with, developers identified them as the most common tests run by general practitioners (GPs) in the US and say more tests will be rolled out in the future.</div>
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Tests are undertaken at home by taking a small sample and loading it into a testing cartridge, which is in-turn loaded into the Cue sensor unit. Sample types vary depending on the test being undertaken, with influenza requiring a nasal swab, testosterone a saliva sample and blood for the rest. These samples are placed on a wand that is loaded into a cartridge engineered with the chemistry and microfluidic design needed to prepare the sample for Cue to test. The wand remains locked in the single use cartridge for disposal. with the Cue’s composite microfluidic system and biosensors converting the biological sample into digital information.</div>
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This information is transmitted to a companion app for iOS and Android devices via Bluetooth 4.0, with the app then offering ideas on how to improve health. These come in the form of diet plans and suggested activities like going to the gym, running and walking. Suggested activities can be tailored to the user's interests and can be combined with activity data from existing <a href="http://www.gizmag.com/tag/wearable-electronics/" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1e8dd7; text-decoration: none;">wearable devices</a>.</div>
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<a href="http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_lrg/cuelabathome-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Cue tests for five key health indicators; inflammation, vitamin D, fertility, influenza, a..." border="0" height="212" src="http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_lrg/cuelabathome-5.jpg" width="320" /></a>"We created Cue as a tool for people who are interested in connecting with their health in a much more direct, intuitive, and powerful way than ever before," says Ayub Khattak, Cue founder and CEO. "People can now keep daily track of measurements that used to be available only on a yearly or bi-yearly basis. We brought together the best minds and spent over four years creating the most advanced consumer health product we have ever seen."</div>
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Two interesting functions are the fertility indicator and the flu map for influenza alerts. The fertility indicator gives women looking to conceive a "try now" alert based on the measurement of Luteinizing Hormone, which is produced by the pituitary gland and regulates fertility. Meanwhile, the flu map tracks the spread of influenza in your local area but seems to be reliant on the widespread take-up of Cue to be effective. That aside, it is an interesting concept of cloud health monitoring.</div>
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"We worked to make sure that Cue delivered meaningful Information in a way that can be understood without a medical degree," says Clint Sever, Cue founder and Chief Product Officer. "The result of this approach is a product that opens up an entirely new world of possibilities for understanding and improving our health."</div>
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<a href="http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_lrg/cuelabathome-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="The flu map tracks the spread of influenza in your local area " border="0" height="320" src="http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_lrg/cuelabathome-1.jpg" width="239" /></a>While the creators of Cue are adamant they are not trying to replace the need for doctors, the DIY testing unit certainly empowers the user and frees us from the queues of the infected and sickly often encountered at the average GP. And while visiting a doctor regularly can be time consuming and rather expensive, the convenience of Cue does come with a price tag of US$20 for five cartridges. If used on a daily or even weekly basis would quickly add up. The influenza tests are slightly more expensive at three for $30, but wouldn’t be needed as regularly.</div>
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The Cue unit is available for preorder at $149, with shipping set for the (Northern Hemisphere) Spring of 2015. The full commercial release will follow shortly after at an expected retail price of around $300.</div>
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The Cue promotional video can be viewed below.</div>
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Cue examines a droplet of saliva or blood to calculate a digital measurement of your health Image Gallery (8 images) Not so long ago, self health monitoring was largely limited to weighing ourselves …

16 May 2014

Australian telco demonstrates world's fastest LTE-A networking speeds of 450 Mbps

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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Australian telco Telstra says it has demonstrated “live network speeds of 450 Mbps” with LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation technology (Image:<a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=99991559" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1e8dd7; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Shutterstock</a>)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">LTE or "Long Term Evolution" is the standard that most of the world takes for granted as 4G, but its reign at the top of the wireless tables is set to be eclipsed by its successor – LTE-A, with the A standing for "Advanced."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">4G networks often deliver speeds several megabits faster than many ADSL2+ networks, some of which struggle to pump out even 6 Mbps speeds, even though they’re rated at a theoretical maximum of around 20 Mbps – something you’ll only see if you’re quite close to your local telephone exchange.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Meanwhile, an iPhone 5s I’m using on Telstra’s existing 4G network just pumped out speeds of 13.18 Mbps (after boosting straight past 20 Mbps before slowing back down), with an upload speed of 14.06 Mbps, after quick testing with the Ookla Speedtest.net app.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But faster speeds, as always, are on the way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Although Telstra announced that it had already trialed another LTE standard known as LTE-B (B for Broadcast) back in October 2013, which the company says allowed it to demonstrate “that it’s possible to use one stream of data, to deliver the same content to multiple users [with LTE-B capable devices] – keeping the rest of the network free for other customers”, the big news today centers around the company's latest LTE-A trial.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Using a combination of spectrum at 1800 Mhz and 2600 MHz, Telstra says it has demonstrated live network speeds of 450 Mbps with LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation technology. While this falls well short of "hundreds of times faster" than 4G speeds that Samsung is aiming for with "5G" technology, Telstra's lab test speeds are reportedly three times faster than the 150 Mbps speeds other 4G networks in Australia claim as their theoretical maximums, or a whopping 8,000 times faster than the old fashioned 56 Kbps modems we all used around 15 years ago.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Telstra worked with Ericsson to aggregate two new 4G Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD) channels of 20 MHz bandwidth, each on the 2600 MHz spectrum band, with existing 20 MHz 4G on the 1800 MHz band. A prototype engineering device was used to create "three simultaneous side-by-side paths for the data to travel through to the operational core network."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Unfortunately, for Australian readers anyway, Telstra says that "deployment to customers remains a few years away" and that the "typical speeds achievable at a commercial level will be lower in practice."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Telstra notes that the tests show it can "carry a huge amount of future traffic demand shared across many users" – something telcos in other countries are sure to be eying with interest, presumably with the intent to replicate and even better the 450 Mbps speeds achieved.</span></div>
</div>
</div>

Australian telco demonstrates world's fastest LTE-A networking speeds of 450 Mbps

Australian telco Telstra says it has demonstrated “live network speeds of 450 Mbps” with LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation technology (Image:Shutterstock) LTE or "Long Term Evolution" is the standard …

16 May 2014

A Smart Watch Controlled by Twists, Tilts, and Clicks

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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 24px; line-height: 30px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A movable smart-watch screen makes it easier to read a map or play a game</span></span><br />
<a href="http://www.technologyreview.com/sites/default/files/images/twistable.watchx299.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://www.technologyreview.com/sites/default/files/images/twistable.watchx299.gif" /></span></a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 2rem;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The first time I tried out a smart watch with a touch screen, I quickly went from feeling excited to feeling clumsy. Tapping or swiping the small display on my wrist often failed to yield the response I expected. It might have been the quality of the screen, but it may have also been simply that the screen was too small and my fingers too big.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Touch screens have largely obliterated clickable keyboards and scrolling buttons or wheels on smartphones in favor of tapping, swiping, pinching, and flicking. Yet when it comes to smaller gadgets like smart watches, they’re not always the best way to access information, and other methods like voice recognition still aren’t that reliable either.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A <a data-ls-seen="1" href="http://chrisharrison.net/index.php/Research/Smartwatchface" style="border: 0px; color: #206f96; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="0">project</a> at Carnegie Mellon University suggests a better way to control these new gadgets: allowing users to physically tilt, click, and twist the watch’s bezel, the area around the screen. This could make it much easier to do things like set up appointments, play music, or navigate a map on the tiny display.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 14px; line-height: 2rem; margin-bottom: 3rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“It’s not that these watches aren’t fast enough or even have enough battery life—it’s that we can’t get the input and output good enough,” says <a data-ls-seen="1" href="http://www.chrisharrison.net/" style="border: 0px; color: #206f96; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="0">Chris Harrison</a>, an assistant professor of human-computer interaction at Carnegie Mellon University, who worked on the project with several colleagues.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 14px; line-height: 2rem; margin-bottom: 3rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The group built a prototype device and presented a <a data-ls-seen="1" href="http://chrisharrison.net/projects/smartwatchface/SmartWatchFace.pdf" style="border: 0px; color: #206f96; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="0">paper</a> detailing it at the recent <a data-ls-seen="1" href="http://chi2014.acm.org/" style="border: 0px; color: #206f96; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems</a> in Toronto.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 14px; line-height: 2rem; margin-bottom: 3rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Harrison says the researchers tried to adhere to certain rules when making the prototype: it shouldn’t feel cramped to use, and users shouldn’t have to lift their fingers from the screen while using it. A 1.5-inch display sits in front of an ARM processor, and two Hall-effect displacement sensors measure movements of the screen along two different axes. This allows for clicks, tilts, pans, and twists. The watch is connected to a laptop running software that processes the user’s interactions and runs an app that is shown on the watch face.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A video posted by the group (see below) shows a wearer interacting with a number of demo apps on the watch: clicking and twisting to set an alarm; tilting to pan across a map and twisting to zoom in; twisting and clicking to control the video game Doom, which researchers modified to run on the device.</span></div>
</div>

A Smart Watch Controlled by Twists, Tilts, and Clicks

A movable smart-watch screen makes it easier to read a map or play a game The first time I tried out a smart watch with a touch screen, I quickly went from feeling excited to feeling clumsy. Tapping …

15 May 2014

worlds lightest electric bike motor

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<a href="http://www.gizmag.com/velological-worlds-lightest-e-bike-drive/31976/pictures" id="hero_link" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #1e8dd7; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="The Velogical Velospeeder rear rim motor system" height="297" src="http://images.gizmag.com/hero/velospeeder.jpg" style="border: none; clear: both; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" title="The Velogical Velospeeder rear rim motor system" width="530" /></span></a><div class="pic_caption" style="background-color: #444444; border-top-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; color: #eeeeee; height: auto !important; margin: 0px; min-height: 30px; padding: 5px 5px 10px; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Velogical Velospeeder rear rim motor system</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.gizmag.com/velological-worlds-lightest-e-bike-drive/31976/pictures" id="gallery_link" style="background-color: transparent; color: #f36031; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Image Gallery</a> (6 images)</span></div>
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<a href="http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_lrg/velospeeder-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="The small motor system is barely noticeable on the greater bike" border="0" height="212" src="http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_lrg/velospeeder-1.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Friction drives like the <a href="http://www.gizmag.com/rubbee-electric-bicycle-kit/28406/" style="color: #1e8dd7; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Rubbee</a> provide a lighter, simpler option for transforming a regular bicycle into an e-bike. Velogical's all-new Velospeeder makes the friction drive even lighter. The compact e-drive solution weighs under 4 lb and allows for seamless switching between e-assist and manual riding. The company claims it's the lightest and smallest bicycle e-drive (soon-to-be) available.</span></div>
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<a href="http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_lrg/velospeeder-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_lrg/velospeeder-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="The Velospeeder e-drive puts out up to 600 watts and weighs " border="0" height="320" src="http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_lrg/velospeeder-2.jpg" width="240" /></span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Cologne-based Velogical builds rim dynamos for powering bike lights, and at first glance, that's what the Velospeeder looks like. However, it's actually a sized-down e-drive that offers up to 600 watts of power and 29.5 lb.ft (40 Nm) of torque. At 3.5 lb (1.6 kg) for the entire package, it comes in much lighter than other e-drive kits. The current iteration uses a 92-Wh lithium-polymer battery that provides up to around 12.4 miles (20 km) of e-assist. Velogical says that the battery is light enough to carry a spare and easy to swap.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The dual Velospeeder motors mount to the seat stays of a traditional bicycle frame, where they transfer power to the rear rim by way of their polyurethane rings. A toothless drive system on a smooth metal rim sounds ripe for slippage, but Velogical says that the dual swing-axle design of the drive keeps the motors in optimal contact with the rim at all times. In this way, the Velospeeder is able to efficiently apply pressure and power the wheel at start and slow speeds, but also decrease pressure during faster speeds, preventing unwanted braking and wear effects.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="The Velospeeder features twin motors" src="http://images.gizmag.com/inline/velospeeder-3.jpg" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One advantage of a lightweight e-drive is that it doesn't add a brick-ton of weight to the bike, freeing up easier manual pedaling. The most recent Velospeeder design makes it easy to switch between manual and electric-assist riding. When the rider powers the motors on, they automatically adjust to contact the rim at the same time. When the rider shuts the motors off, they adjust off the rim, freeing up natural wheel spin.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Velospeeder is in the prototype stages and was revealed at the Spezialradmesse last month. Velogical has put 4,000 km (2,485 miles) on its Velospeeder-equipped test bike, in a variety of weather conditions, and reports that the there is no noticeable wear on the rim. The company plans to continue testing and optimizing the system before moving to start distribution next year. It will be selling the drive to bicycle manufacturers for installation on new models and bike shops for retrofitting, but it does not plan to sell directly to consumers as it does with its dynamo.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Velogical doesn't have a polished video yet, but the short clip below shows how the Velospeeder applies torque to the rim and shuts off to allow natural spin. Velogical told us that one of its next steps will be working on the noise level.</span></div>
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worlds lightest electric bike motor

The Velogical Velospeeder rear rim motor system Image Gallery (6 images) Friction drives like the Rubbee provide a lighter, simpler option for transforming a regular bicycle into an e-bike. Velogical…

15 May 2014

Solar roads that could power the entire U.S. are on the horizon

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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A company is raising crowd-sourced funds to turn the U.S.'s roads into giant energy farms.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="3029874-slide-panels-only" height="400" src="http://sciencealert.com.au/images/stories/3029874-slide-panels-only.jpg" style="height: 400px; padding: 3px 0px; width: 600px;" width="600" /></span><div class="image-caption-600px" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.1em; padding: 0px; width: 594px;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Image: Solar Roadways</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">According to their <a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/solar-roadways#home" style="color: #4c5398; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none;">Indigogo page</a>, a company called <a href="http://www.solarroadways.com/intro.shtml" style="color: #4c5398; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none;">Solar Roadways</a> want to cover every highway in the U.S. in thick LED-lit glass solar panels.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There are around 30,000 square kilometres of roads in the U.S., so if their plan is successful, the energy-generating potential is huge - in fact, is every paved surface was covered with their solar panels, they would produce more energy than the U.S. consumes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Solar Roadways' hexagonal solar panels can generate enough power to light the road, melt ice and snow, and send leftover energy to cities.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The was first presented in 2010, but now the founders Scott and Julie Brusaw have actually set up a working prototype in a parking lot outside their lab in Idaho. And it works</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The tempered glass panels not only generate energy sustainable, they also offer a superior road surface to traditional materials - they're around 1.5cm thick and withstand fully-loaded tricks and even 113,000kg trucks driving over them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And although they're glass, the surface isn't slippery and won't ever get iced-over as it's self-heating. It will also be able to show road markings and send up-to-date traffic messages to drivers through the inbuilt LED lights, and won't ever get potholes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Even cooler, if rest stops or parking lots were paved with the solar panels, they could offer charging stations for electric cars. In the future, the Brusaw's think electric car users might even be able to charge the cars directly through the road as they drive - which means they'll never have to stop.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So what the hell are the downsides?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Well, the system would require a trench down one side of the road to hold power cables,<a href="http://www.engadget.com/2014/05/09/solar-highway-indiegogo/" style="color: #4c5398; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none;">Engadget reports</a>. But this isn't necessarily a bad thing as it could also be used to store cables for a future high-speed data network. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And because each panel is wired, it makes repairs extremely easy. When one panel becomes faulty, the others around it let a repair person know their location.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Perhaps the main downside is that the project is expensive. The company is currently trying to raise $1 million to do more testing and refine their current product, as well as paving some smaller roads and parking lots. They'd need a lot more money if they wanted to pave the entire U.S. road system.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But when you compare that to the price of relying on fossil fuels, maybe it's not that steep.</span></div>
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Solar roads that could power the entire U.S. are on the horizon

A company is raising crowd-sourced funds to turn the U.S.'s roads into giant energy farms. Image: Solar Roadways According to their Indigogo page, a company called Solar Roadways want to cover every …

14 May 2014

A complete overview of i phone 6 leaks(hardware,specs,design,software)

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With
 its August/September release date fast approaching, the usual bevy of 
iPhone 6 design and hardware leaks are flowing thick and fast. With the 
pressure on Apple to innovate in the mobile space, and Android (and 
Samsung) continuing to steal away market share, the iPhone 6 will need 
to be seriously impressive on multiple fronts — which could be 
difficult, considering this may be the first iPhone designed without 
help from Steve Jobs. As usual, there’s an utterly insane number of 
iPhone 6 hardware and design rumors, spanning everything from multiple 
screen sizes (up to 5.5 inches!) to close integration with an upcoming 
(and still unannounced) iWatch smartwatch.<br />
Read on for our iPhone 6
 hardware leak and rumor round-up. We’ll do our best to point out which 
leaks and rumors are most likely to be true, and which are probably just
 wishful thinking.<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_182299" style="width: 650px;">
<a href="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/13980843316_43a7189aa8_o.jpg"><img alt="iPhone 6 concept render, next to an iPhone 5S" class="size-large wp-image-182299" height="480" src="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/13980843316_43a7189aa8_o-640x480.jpg" width="640" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text">
iPhone 6 concept render, next to an iPhone 5S. The render was made by <a href="http://www.martinhajek.com/iphone-6-with-a-twist-ehm-curve/">Martin Hajek</a>, based on the various rumors and leaked cases. The image at the top of the story is from Hajek as well.</div>
</div>
<h3>
iPhone 6 design</h3>
Like
 last year, there are again insistent rumors that there will be more 
than one iPhone 6. This time, instead of a cheaper model, hardware leaks
 suggest that we could be in for a couple of iPhones with different 
screen sizes (4.7 and 5.5 inches to be exact). Other leaks suggest that 
these new iPhones could be very thin, too — perhaps as thin as 6mm. 
(Will the iPhone 6 be called the iPhone Air? Who knows.)<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_182300" style="width: 650px;">
<a href="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/iphone-6-dummy-colors.jpg"><img alt="iPhone 6 dummies, in a range of colors" class="size-large wp-image-182300" height="445" src="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/iphone-6-dummy-colors-640x445.jpg" width="640" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text">
iPhone 6 dummies, in a range of colors</div>
</div>
One
 leaked photo, pictured above, appears to show some iPhone 6 design 
dummies. It’s generally unwise to infer too much from early prototypes 
like these, but it does suggest that the iPhone 6 will be larger (4.7 
inches) than the iPhone 5S, have a more rounded design, and come in the 
same three colors (champagne, silver, and space gray).<br />
<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_182292" style="width: 650px;">
<a href="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/iphone-6-dummy-curved.jpg"><img alt="Will the iPhone 6 have a curved display?" class="size-large wp-image-182292" height="426" src="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/iphone-6-dummy-curved-640x426.jpg" width="640" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text">
Will the iPhone 6 have a curved display? [Image credit: <a href="https://twitter.com/SonnyDickson/status/464441572352749568/photo/1">Sonny Dickson</a>]</div>
</div>
There was also another dummy design with a <a href="http://www.extremetech.com/tag/curved-displays">curved display</a>,
 but again, we shouldn’t read too much into these dummy designs. Still, 
if we can draw one correlation between all of these dummies, is that 
they’re mostly much larger. It seems fairly likely that there will be at
 least one iPhone 6 with a larger, ~4.7-inch screen.<br />
When it 
comes to the iPhone 6′s construction and materials, aluminium — like the
 iPhone 5S — seems likely, again with some kind of different 
material/texture at the top and bottom. We also <a href="http://www.extremetech.com/computing/181990-apple-secures-exclusive-sapphire-glass-production-for-the-iphone-6-and-beyond">expect sapphire glass to play a role in the iPhone 6</a>
 — though the latest estimates suggest that sapphire glass is still a 
bit too expensive to cover the entire front of an iPhone. There’ll be 
the usual sapphire glass camera cover and fingerprint sensor, at least.<br />
<h3>
iPhone 6 hardware specs</h3>
As
 far as hardware specs go, we don’t know a whole lot about the iPhone 6.
 If there is indeed a 4.7- or 5.5-inch screen, the display will probably
 pack more than the 1136×640 resolution found in the iPhone 5S. Stepping
 up to 1920×1080 would be the most likely resolution, but Apple might go
 for something crazy — like 2560×1440 — to retake the Retina 
resolution/PPI crown.<br />
The fingerprint sensor will still be there, 
of course. I doubt the underlying hardware will change much (it’s 
already far superior to other sensor designs, <a href="http://www.extremetech.com/computing/177204-samsung-galaxy-s5-hands-on-gimmicky-but-still-the-best-phone-money-can-buy">like the one found on the Galaxy S5</a>). We will probably see some changes on the software side of the equation, in iOS 8 (but more on that later).<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_179478" style="width: 310px;">
<a href="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/apple-a7-soc.jpg"><img alt="Apple A7 SoC" class="size-medium wp-image-179478" height="165" src="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/apple-a7-soc-300x165.jpg" width="300" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text">
Apple A7 SoC</div>
</div>
There
 will almost certainly be a new A8 SoC in the iPhone 6, but there’s no 
hard data on what specs the chip might have. Both the A6 and A7 were big
 departures from previous Apple SoCs, but I’d be surprised if the A8 
continued that trend. As we’ve covered previously, <a href="http://www.extremetech.com/computing/179473-apples-a7-cyclone-cpu-detailed-a-desktop-class-chip-that-has-more-in-common-with-haswell-than-krait">the A7 is a beast of a chip</a>,
 with a lot of performance gains to be realized by turning the clock 
speed up. In Intel chip release parlance, I’d expect the A8 to be more 
of a “tick” than a microarchitectural overhaul “tock.” I’d expect the 
iPhone 6′s CPU to be clocked at around 1.5GHz, and perhaps to feature a 
new or tweaked GPU, but otherwise it’ll be mostly unchanged.<br />
Finally,
 the camera: The iPhone 6 will almost certainly have a new, advanced 
camera — but the rumors don’t seem to agree on what form that camera 
might take. Apple recently hired Nokia’s camera engineer Ari Partinen, 
but that’s more likely to have an affect on the iPhone 6S or 7. Apple 
received an optical image stabilization (OIS) patent, and it’s about 
time that the iPhone gained OIS (Nokia and HTC have had OIS tech for a 
while now). You can count on there being a bigger or better imaging 
sensor, too — not necessarily more megapixels, <a href="http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/151334-beyond-megapixels-the-future-evolution-of-smartphone-cameras">but bigger and better pixels</a>.<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_182295" style="width: 650px;">
<a href="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/iphone-ios-8-healthbook-app.jpg"><img alt="iOS 8 Healthbook app" class="size-large wp-image-182295" height="565" src="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/iphone-ios-8-healthbook-app-640x565.jpg" width="640" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text">
iOS 8 Healthbook app [Image credit: 9to5Mac]</div>
</div>
<h3>
iPhone 6 software specs</h3>
The
 iPhone 6 will almost certainly be released with iOS 8, which itself 
will almost certainly be unveiled at WWDC at the beginning of June. 
Where iOS 7 featured a massive design overhaul, iOS 8 is expected to 
return us to Apple’s usual <em>modus operandi</em> of gradual evolution.
 The biggest addition is expected to be a new app called Healthbook, 
which is all about collating data from a variety of sensors — on the 
phone, but also presumably from external devices like fitness bands and 
smartwatches — to help you track your health and fitness. If there is an
 iWatch in the offing, expect it to integrate tightly with Healthbook.<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_182297" style="width: 650px;">
<a href="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/maps-transit.jpg"><img alt="Maps in iOS 8" class="size-large wp-image-182297" height="566" src="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/maps-transit-640x566.jpg" width="640" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text">
Maps in iOS 8</div>
</div>
Apple’s
 Maps app is also expected to receive some love, including clearer 
labels and the addition of public transit directions. Following its 
acquisition of Beats, something may occur on the music front as well.<br />
Overall,
 then, the biggest change you can expect with the iPhone 6 is a larger 
screen — but even then, given how resistant Apple has been to increasing
 screen size, I still wouldn’t be surprised if the iPhone 6 debuted with
 a normal 4-inch screen. It’s not unusual for a hardware company to try 
out dozens of prototypes before settling on a final design. These leaked
 images could easily be of early prototypes that Apple has since 
dismissed.<br />
But then again, the market clearly wants large-screen 
devices, and unless Apple has something groundbreaking to release — like
 an entirely new product — then pandering to the market with a 
larger-screen iPhone is probably a good idea. Just as Apple trialed a 
“cheaper” device with the iPhone 5C, the company could quite easily 
release two versions of the iPhone 6 — one with a 4-inch screen, and one
 with a larger screen. (I don’t buy the rumors that Apple will release <em>two</em> large-screen iPhones.)<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_182303" style="width: 650px;">
<a href="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/iphone-6-5s-concept-side-by-side.jpg"><img alt="Another iPhone 5S vs. iPhone 6 (concept) image" class="size-large wp-image-182303" height="480" src="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/iphone-6-5s-concept-side-by-side-640x480.jpg" width="640" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text">
Another iPhone 5S vs. iPhone 6 (concept) image</div>
</div>
Apple
 usually unveils its new iPhones at a special event in September, but 
there’s a rumor that it might move that forward to August this year. In 
either case, we’ll know more once WWDC rolls around and we comb through 
iOS 8 looking for iPhone-related strings and variables — and then, after
 that, it should only be a couple of months until we see the iPhone 6 in
 the flesh. Depending on how you interpret the scripture, the iPhone 6 
might also be the first iPhone designed without input from <a href="http://www.extremetech.com/computing/93914-the-technology-legacy-of-steve-jobs-former-ceo-of-apple">Apple’s late co-founder Steve Jobs</a>.
 He was apparently working on the “next two iPhones” prior to his death 
just after the iPhone 4S was announced. Whether that means the 5 and 5S,
 or the iPhone 5 and 6, we’ll probably never know.</span></span></div>

A complete overview of i phone 6 leaks(hardware,specs,design,software)

1inShare With its August/September release date fast approaching, the usual bevy of iPhone 6 design and hardware leaks are flowing thick and fast. With the pressure on Apple to innovate in the m…

14 May 2014

Lean Skateboard initiates sure turns with tilting, multi-link wheels

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The Lean skateboard</div>
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At first, the term "Lean skateboard" seems like it could refer to any board. After all, pretty much every skateboard relies on a leaning action for turning. Usually that turning is controlled by the rubber bushings in the trucks, but the Lean replaces the standard truck with a multi-link truck that allows the wheels to tilt into the turn, which the Lean's creator claims adds power and stability.</div>
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<li style="float: left; height: 105px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px 7px 5px 0px; padding: 0px;"><a class="image" href="http://www.gizmag.com/lean-skateboard-multi-link-wheels/31791/pictures#1" style="background-color: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); color: #1e8dd7; float: left; margin: 0px 7px 0px 0px; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="The Lean Board trucks include an adjustable spring rate" src="http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_tn/leanskateboard-0.JPG" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" title="The Lean Board trucks include an adjustable spring rate" /></a></li>
<li style="float: left; height: 105px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px 7px 5px 0px; padding: 0px;"><a class="image" href="http://www.gizmag.com/lean-skateboard-multi-link-wheels/31791/pictures#2" style="background-color: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); color: #1e8dd7; float: left; margin: 0px 7px 0px 0px; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Evolution of the Lean Board " src="http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_tn/leanskateboard-1.jpg" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" title="Evolution of the Lean Board " /></a></li>
<li style="float: left; height: 105px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px 7px 5px 0px; padding: 0px;"><a class="image" href="http://www.gizmag.com/lean-skateboard-multi-link-wheels/31791/pictures#3" style="background-color: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); color: #1e8dd7; float: left; margin: 0px 7px 0px 0px; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="The Lean skateboard's large 120-mm wheels provide more stable riding over cracks" src="http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_tn/leanskateboard-2.JPG" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" title="The Lean skateboard's large 120-mm wheels provide more stable riding over cracks" /></a></li>
<li style="float: left; height: 105px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px 7px 5px 0px; padding: 0px;"><a class="image" href="http://www.gizmag.com/lean-skateboard-multi-link-wheels/31791/pictures#4" style="background-color: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); color: #1e8dd7; float: left; margin: 0px 7px 0px 0px; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="The Lean Board is available for pre-order on Kickstarter" src="http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_tn/leanskateboard-3.jpg" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" title="The Lean Board is available for pre-order on Kickstarter" /></a></li>
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"I love having big wheels on a skateboard because they allow you to go faster without compromising the smoothness of the ride," explains Lean designer and Pramash LLC founder Enzo Prathamesh Shinde. "However, the problem with having big wheels on a regular skateboard is that it raises its center of gravity, producing a higher risk of tipping over while making sharp turns. This makes big wheels particularly not suitable for downhill."</div>
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To get past this inherent design problem, he developed an alternative truck. The sprung four-bar linkage trucks allow the wheels themselves to tilt when the rider leans into a turn, which is meant to create quicker, smoother turning and prevent the wobble and rollover risk introduced by the larger wheels. By making the board easier to turn, it is purportedly more responsive to the rider, providing a tighter, more fluid connection with the ground below, similar to surfing or snowboarding.</div>
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<a href="http://www.gizmag.com/lean-skateboard-multi-link-wheels/31791/pictures#6" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1e8dd7; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="The four-bar multi-link system gets the wheels leaning into your turn" src="http://images.gizmag.com/inline/leanskateboard-5.jpg" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" width="529" /></a></div>
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Of course, the average skateboard wheel isn't designed to tilt, so Pramash has developed a spherical design for the Lean's 120-mm wheels. The company says that each wheel has the ability to turn in three dimensions thanks to each wheel having its own individual axis that moves in a conical shape. This design lets the wheels lean and rotate smoothly at the same time.</div>
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The Lean Skateboard's design also has a low center of gravity, which enhances its handling and control. The bigger wheels, meanwhile, offer faster speeds and roll more easily over cracks. The spring in the trucks can be softened for quicker turning or hardened for a stable, high-speed ride.</div>
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<a href="http://www.gizmag.com/lean-skateboard-multi-link-wheels/31791/pictures#8" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1e8dd7; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="Testing the Lean Board " src="http://images.gizmag.com/inline/leanskateboard-8.png" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" width="530" /></a></div>
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After working through several prototypes, Pramash has landed on the final design and is moving toward production. It's turned to kickstater in an effort to cover the initial tooling and manufacturing costs. A pledge of US$215 gets a set of truck and wheel hardware, which you can mount to your own deck. The company says that the trucks are designed to fit standard boards, but some board shapes may cause mounting issues. A complete board starts at the $275 pledge level. Estimated delivery is October 2014.</div>
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The Lean Board is far from the first spin on skateboard wheel design we've seen, a fact we were reminded of by the mention of snowboard/surfboard-style feel. Many other designers have attempted to give the skateboard a more fluid feel with elements such as surfskate rotating trucks and aris carving wheel<br />
<img alt="The Lean Board trucks include an adjustable spring rate" src="http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_lrg/leanskateboard-0.JPG" /></div>
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</div>

Lean Skateboard initiates sure turns with tilting, multi-link wheels

The Lean skateboard Image Gallery (14 images) At first, the term "Lean skateboard" seems like it could refer to any board. After all, pretty much every skateboard relies on a leaning action for turni…

14 May 2014

Google Glass now available for anyone in the U.S. to buy

Google Glass now available for anyone in the U.S. to buy

If you want to buy Google Glass, today is your lucky day Image Gallery (3 images) Have you been chomping at the bit to buy Google Glass, but just couldn't snag an invite? ... anyone?? Okay, well, I'm…

14 May 2014

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