Emerging Information Technology Review

Square system for card payments via mobile device

2011-02-08T06:52:00.000-08:00

There’s no debating that credit and debit cards are convenient, but typically the only places that you can use them are in businesses, or via the phone or internet. In 2009 the co-founder of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, set out to change that. He released a beta version of Square, a system that allowed mobile devices to receive card payments. A small card reader plugged into the device’s headphone port, and an app handled all the 1s and 0s. Two years later, Square is out of its debugging phase and available for general use.

The card reader is sent to users free of charge, and there are reportedly no activation, gateway, monthly, early termination or hidden fees, nor is a contract required to use the service. What there are are transaction fees – 2.75 percent + 15 cents for swiped transactions, and 3.5 percent + 15 cents for keyed-in transactions. These fees stay the same regardless of the amount of transaction, and are taken off as the transaction occurs, so no fee schedule is involved. The user pays nothing at all if they don’t use the service.

Article Source and Further Reading:
http://www.gizmag.com/square-system-lets-mobile-devices-take-card-payments/17769/

The anytime, interuptable universal intelligence test for people and computers

2011-01-29T02:27:00.000-08:00

Researchers have developed an "anytime" universal intelligence test – a test that can be interrupted at any time and continued later, but that gives a more accurate idea of the intelligence of the test subject. The test, developed by researchers working in Spain and Australia, can be applied to any subject, whether biological or not, at any point in its development (child or adult), for any system now or in the future, and with any level of intelligence or speed, making it ideal for evaluating the progress of artificial intelligence systems.

The principal researcher is José Hernández-Oralloof the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV), who along with colleague David L. Dowe of the Monash University, Clayton (Australia), have suggested the use of mathematical and computational concepts in order to encompass all these conditions. The study has been published in the journal Artificial Intelligence and forms part of the "Anytime Universal Intelligence" project, in which other scientists from the UPV and the Complutense University of Madrid are taking part.

Further Reading:
http://www.gizmag.com/anytime-interuptable-universal-intelligence-test-people-computers/17718/

Google showcases tablet-centric Android 3.0 Honeycomb OS

2011-01-10T01:17:00.000-08:00

There's no mistaking it: 2011 is the year of the tablet PC. There's something like a hundred of these things coming out in the next 12 months, following the trailblazing success of Apple's iPad. A significant number of them will be running Google's Android operating system and at CES it became abundantly clear why Google has been telling developers not to make Android 2.x tablets: because Android 3.0 has been in the works, specifically designed for tablets as opposed to smartphones. And while it's certain to suffer from a lot of the same device fragmentation issues that have plagued Android smartphones, there's no denying that 3.0 looks fantastic in these preview videos.

The tablet PC market is shaping up to look a lot like the smartphone market of the last few years; Apple has paved the way to mass-market success with its slick and highly functional iPad, and Google is preparing to join the battle late with a custom-designed, open operating system that will be used on a plethora of different devices.

Article Source:
http://www.gizmag.com/android-3-0-honeycomb-tablet-os/17522/

3 Milions e-book from Google

2010-12-14T02:02:00.000-08:00

It's been six years since Google announced its plan to digitize vast collections of literary works and make them available to view online. Now the search giant has launched a new eBookstore in the U.S. where users are able to get hold of more than three million digital titles, including the latest best sellers, recommended reads and lots and lots of classics. Google eBooks are compatible with numerous Internet-enabled devices and can also be read online via a free browser-based portal.

Since Google Books first launched in 2004, over 15 million works have been made digital, not just in the U.S. and not just in English. The project to make the information stored in the world's books accessible and useful online has digitized titles from over 100 countries in more than 400 languages. All of these will continue to be available via the Google Books page but a link to the newly launched eBookstore now also features.

Any Google eBookstore purchases - or free to read content such as Great Expectations and Gulliver's Travels - are stored in the cloud, hidden away behind a free password-protected account with unlimited storage.

Google offers automatic device syncing of titles you're currently (digitally) thumbing through, so if you read a chapter on an e-Reader in the morning but decide to pick up the trail on your smartphone's Android app or the eBooks Web Reader on your laptop at work, then the system will know where you left off and deliver the content from there.

However much you get through on your laptop will also be stored and when you take your Apple iOS device to bed for a few pages before sleep, you'll be presented with the story from the point you left it. Of course, for this to work, all of those devices will need access to the Internet but that's not really much of an issue in our modern, connected world.

In addition to grabbing new digital books from the new eBookstore, users can also purchase titles from participating members of the American Booksellers Association and store them in the same virtual library, alongside those bought from Google.

Google eBooks are compatible with a host of digital devices, including Apple's iPad, Sony's e-Readers and the Nook from Barnes & Noble.

There is one device that is conspicuously absent from the list of supported devices - Amazon's Kindle. Google has stated that it is open to supporting the devices but Amazon looks to be taking another route.

In a slightly adversarial move, the company has announced Kindle for the Web that will allow users to read the full Kindle books within a browser. Like Google's eBooks, the new Kindle portal will also allow the synchronization of the library across different devices.

Interestingly, Amazon has also stated that "Bookstores, authors, retailers, bloggers and other website owners will be able to offer Kindle books from their own sites, let their readers start enjoying the full text of these books instantly, and earn affiliate fees for doing so."

Reference:
[1]http://www.gizmag.com/google-launches-3-million-title-ebookstore/17220/

user tracking protection tool in IE 9

2010-12-09T18:46:00.000-08:00

Hot on the heels of a call for a user-controlled tracking prevention mechanism from the FTC comes news that Microsoft is introducing a new privacy feature to the next version of its browser - Internet Explorer 9. The Tracking Protection tool is aimed at helping netizens take control of online tracking from within the browser.

When you visit a website, you may assume that any information about your visit that's collected and stored by the website owners stays with them - but that's not necessarily true. These days, what you see displayed in a browser window is likely to be a patchwork of content provided by numerous other websites across the web. Each of these Third Party sites gets access to some of the information about you that's gleaned from the browser when you access the page.

Some of the hundreds of different sites you might pass through in the course of the week will inevitably use content that originates from the same source. These common sources will be able to see where you have been during your virtual travels and could use this information to generate user profiles.

There are instances when tracking information can be put to good use, such as allowing a shopping site to record purchase information. What's needed is some sort of balance between preserving the ability to have online privacy and the marketing needs of industry.

Microsoft has started the ball rolling with the announcement that the next version of Internet Explorer will feature a mechanism that will allow users to have some control over which third-party site elements within a web page are allowed to collect data about the user and which are not.

The release candidate version of IE9 will include a new opt-in mechanism called Tracking Protection Lists that will allow users to create allow and block lists for Third Party website content, somewhat like the anti-spam black and white lists now operated by most email clients. A user will be able to tell the browser which websites they'd rather not exchange information with and the next time they visit a website containing content sourced from that website, it will be blocked.

The list will remain active until the user turns it off and there will be the facility to publish lists for others to install and use. Users will also be able to install or create more than one list. The feature is still in development and is expected to evolve over time in response to the ever changing privacy debate.

A more detailed introduction to the new feature appears on the IE blog.

Article Source:
http://www.gizmag.com/microsoft-tracking-protection-feature-headed-for-ie9/17231/

Splashtop instant-access OS enters public beta

2010-12-04T15:20:00.000-08:00

For those of us who virtually live online, waiting around those few precious minutes for the system to boot into Windows, connect to the Internet and then present the browser is time wasted. For the last few couple of years, more and more new Windows machines have come pre-loaded with something that boots straight into our beloved online world. Splashtop is a browser-based operating system companion that allows users to get online in seconds after pushing the power button on. Now it's being made available for public beta download.

Splashtop was introduced in 2007 and has since found itself being pre-installed on millions of laptops and netbooks from companies like Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo and LG. It's a lightweight, web-centric operating system optimized for notebooks and netbooks that takes less than five seconds to load in and get users online.

Read More:
[1] http://www.gizmag.com/splashtop-os-now-available-for-beta-download/17159/

I-slate to bring tablet computing to rural India

2010-11-10T23:11:00.001-08:00

Computers have become an essential part of a child’s education, yet there are currently over 100 million Indian children who attend rural schools that don’t have electricity – no electricity means no computers. Recently, however, a group of organizations from several different countries put their heads together to create the I-slate, a low-cost, low-energy tablet PC designed for use in these schools that runs on solar power. In trials conducted so far, it appears to be a hit with the kids.

The I-slate – not to be confused with the early iPad prototype of the same name – was the result of a collaboration between Singapore's Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Houston's Rice University and an Indian nonprofit, Villages for Development and Learning Foundation (ViDAL). The project is being led by Rice’s Prof. Krishna Palem, who is also supervising development of the I-slate at NTU’s Institute of Sustainable and Applied Infodynamics (ISAID).

Palem stated that this is the first of a series of electronic notepads which will utilize a new type of ultra-energy-efficient microchip, that uses a fraction of the electricity consumed by conventional chips. The new chip, which is being developed by ISAID and the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology, makes it possible for the I-slate to run on solar power from panels similar to those used in hand-held calculators.

Prototypes of the computer were produced this summer, and tested with a class of 10 to 13 year-olds at a rural school near Hyderabad in August. They reportedly picked up on the technology instantly, and while they didn’t like the placement of the buttons, they enjoyed other features such as the scratch pad app. A second session of tests is scheduled for later this month.

The I-slate team is now planning to further develop the device’s hardware and teaching content, and to perform long-term academic tracking of students who use the computer.

“The research will not just help in the sustainability of our planet but the development of such sustainable, low-cost technologies will also help the poorer communities in the world to close the digital divide,” said NTU President Su Guaning. “It will be life-changing and it will help to improve lives.”

Reference:
[1] Ben Coxworth, http://www.gizmag.com/i-slate-tablet-pc/16900/

The upgradable, recyclable Bloom laptop concept

2010-11-05T20:01:00.000-07:00

It’s a given that we will one day be discarding our present laptop computers. It’s also a given that e-waste is currently a huge problem, that looks like it’s only going to get worse. While most of the materials in a laptop can be recycled, all of those pieces of glass, metal, plastic and circuitry are stuck together pretty tight, and require a lot of time and effort to separate. What is needed are laptops that are designed to be taken apart, for easy recycling – that’s why a group of graduate students from Stanford University made one.

As part of Stanford’s ME310 industrial design course, design software maker Autodesk asked the students to create an easily-recyclable consumer electronics product, using the company's software. What they came up with was the Bloom laptop, which can be completely disassembled by hand, in under 30 seconds, and in ten steps. By contrast, a traditional laptop requires three tools, up to 120 steps, and takes about 45 minutes.

Needless to say, this limits the number of computers that can be taken apart in one day, making the recycling of them less financially-viable. It also leaves the disassembly process in the hands of trained workers, whereas the Bloom can be taken apart by its owner.

A by-product of making the computer modular was the development of a detachable wireless keyboard and trackpad – a feature that allows users to type from wherever they wish, without having the screen right there in their face. Upgrading is also much easier, as users can just pop out the obsolete piece, buy a new one, then pop it in.

The ME310 students won Autodesk’s Inventor of the Month award for this October. They were assisted in the Bloom project by students from Aalto University in Finland.

Article Source:
http://www.gizmag.com/recyclable-bloom-laptop-concept/16853/

Detecting traffic violations using Mobile automated system

2010-11-02T03:29:00.000-07:00

In July of 2008, the European Union launched ASSETT (Advanced Safety and Driver Support for Essential Road Transport), a program aimed at reducing accidents caused by traffic rule violations. It involves a consortium of 19 partner organizations in 12 countries, but it boils down to one thing thing for European drivers – the police will be handing out more tickets. In order to cover a larger number of vehicles, while making things easier for officers and more fair for motorists, VTT Technical Research Center of Finland is currently testing a mobile system that monitors traffic and notes when infractions occur.

The current version of VTT’s system is contained within a small trailer, which can be towed and set up at any roadside location. Using automated surveillance cameras and a wireless network connection, it detects when drivers are doing things such as not wearing their seatbelts, speeding, and following other vehicles too close. It can also monitor road surface conditions, and calculate traffic emissions.

Information on offending vehicles is recorded and transmitted to a central database, but all other traffic footage is automatically deleted after one month.

The system is presently being tested in the Finnish city of Tampere. Once the testing phase is over, the technology could be implemented directly into police vehicles. VTT estimates that the system could be ready for commercialization by 2013.

Reference:
[1] Ban CoxWorth, http://www.gizmag.com/mobile-system-detects-traffic-violations/16789/

Playstation Phone

2010-10-28T22:42:00.000-07:00

Engadget has published the first unofficial pics of what appears to be the much-rumored PlayStation phone, which looks like the result of mating a Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 with a PSP Go.

According to the report, the (obviously) prototype device – codenamed “Zeus” – sports a touchscreen display in the 3.7 to 4.1-inch size range with a minimum WVGA resolution. On the front are four basic face buttons with a slider sporting the familiar PlayStation face buttons, shoulder buttons and a long multitouch touchpad in place of the analogue joysticks.

The phone also reportedly features a 5-megapixel camera and will be powered by a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8655 processor with 512MB of RAM and 1GB of ROM. Although there’s no Memory Stick slot, there is support for microSD cards. The prototype is apparently running Android 2.X but engadget predicts it will ship with Android 3.0 (Gingerbread) when released... probably in 2011.

Responding to calls that the images and details are fake, engadget is adamant its claims are true, saying the information comes from multiple, trusted sources including some people closely connected to the project.

There has been no official announcement from Sony – "Sony Ericsson does not comment on rumors, speculation or unannounced products."

Article Source:
[1] http://www.gizmag.com/playstation-phone/16758/

New Mozilla Customizeable Interface

2010-10-25T07:35:00.000-07:00

In the not-too-distant past most of those who wanted to get online would do so using Internet Explorer. These days though, we are somewhat spoilt by the number of different browsers on offer. But for some that's still not enough - we need to personalize our browser experience. Instead of just skinning a browser to fit in with a particular style or mood, Mozilla Labs is proposing stripping away the user interface (UI) layer altogether and replacing it with a flexible platform where a user can create a new UI using a little web technology savvy.

Seasoned developers can of course modify the UI on many browsers now. Much of what you see in Firefox for instance - the browser chrome - is implemented using a technology called XUL (XML User Interface Language). XUL can be tweaked and twisted to great effect by coding veterans but other potential creative talents might find it hard work. Mozilla Labs has therefore launched a new experiment codenamed "Chromeless" that looks to open up certain sections of a browser to anyone familiar with standard web technologies like HTML, CSS or JavaScript.

The current implementation of the experimental platform brings together a number of Mozilla developments to present the would-be UI developer with a blank canvas running on an XULRunner application. But instead of loading XUL, the main part of the application is an HTML file with extra privileges, such as the ability to access JavaScript modules. This is intended to give the user the opportunity to create a custom browser UI in about the same time as it takes to write a web page.

Mozilla Labs is currently at the pre-alpha prototype phase where the application is capable of loading an HTML page and rendering a browser UI. Anyone wanting to get involved in the experiment is invited to download the source code and instructions from the Chromeless website and start tweaking. Feedback can then be given to the team through the Mozilla Labs Group or by using the #labs tag on irc.mozilla.org.

Specific application programming interfaces (API) that cater for more meaningful UI construction, and the integration of security features to keep Internet content contained within a restricted zone have been penciled in for the next stages of development. The final part of the experiment will be to wrap it all up in a set of development tools "to make it easy to get started with remixing the browser."

Article Source:
Paul Ridden, http://www.gizmag.com/mozilla-chromeless-custom-user-interface-experiment/16717/

virtual tour guide in a pair of glasses

2010-10-21T09:40:00.000-07:00

At this year's CEATEC conference in Chiba, Japan, Docomo previewed the AR Walker augmented reality application that uses a tiny display screen mounted on a pair of glasses, rather than on a mobile phone screen like Layar or other AR apps. While the AR Walker application is not by itself anything new, being able to see annotations of the world around you without having to view it through a mobile phone's camera display is. Docomo has come one step closer to the fictional augmented reality glasses that anime fans might remember from the TV series Dennou Coil, where children wore glasses to view virtual objects superimposed over the real world.

The glasses don't come without some inconvenience however, because they must be connected to your mobile phone upon which the AR application in running. The result is a cumbersome mess of wires, though I should clarify the project is still in the experimental stages.

For the company's walking tour demonstration at CEATEC, the application was operating on Docomo's Windows Mobile based HTC phone, which was then connected to a pair of glasses. I had to stand in a sort of "mock Kyoto" for the demo, comprised of three big screens displaying the street view: one to the front, and one on each side of me.

Through your right eye on the glasses' QVGA display (320x240) you can see an animated mushroom, Docomo's mascot Docomo-Dake, who guides you on your way. Our demo took us through the streets of Kyoto, and the AR annotations explaining the environment were prompted according to which direction you faced. When you look up in the sky, the eye display shows you weather information. Look to the right and you see details of the restaurant on the right-hand side. Off to the left you'll see an annotated view of the inn on the left.

Article Source:
http://www.gizmag.com/docomos-ar-walker-is-a-virtual-tour-guide-in-a-pair-of-glasses/16579/

world's first general purpose computer to life

2010-10-18T03:15:00.000-07:00

Charles Babbage was the quintessential "man ahead of his time". In the mid 19th century the English mathematician and inventor developed the concept of a programmable computer and designed complex, steam-powered calculating engines that were never completed during his lifetime. One of these machines – the Difference Engine – was successfully constructed using Babbage's original plans in 1991 and now programmer John Graham-Cumming is on a mission to build a working replica of a second, more complex computing machine known as the Analytical Engine.

Babbage invented the first Difference Engine in 1821. Designed to perform mathematical calculations, the machine would have been made up of 25,000 parts, weighed 15 tons and stretched to 8 ft in height – so portable isn't a word that would apply. Babbage worked on a prototype which was never completed, but some parts of his early attempts to construct the machine survived and are on display at the Museum of Science in London.

Reference and Further Reading:
[1] Noel McKeegan, http://www.gizmag.com/babbage-analytical-engine-replica/16669/

next gen graphing Casio calculator

2010-10-12T03:02:00.000-07:00

A quarter of a century after introducing the world's first graphing calculator, Casio has announced its next generation model that's been designed to deliver graphs and statistical data as they appear in color textbooks. The PRIZM gets a new, modern body design, offers high resolution color graphics and gives students the opportunity to plot graphs over background image curves and then discover the math functions used to create them.

Casio's new PRIZM (fx-CG10) graphing calculator's outer shell now benefits from a more modern, mobile phone-like appearance. Above the rows of input buttons is a high resolution 82,944 dot, 3.7-inch color LCD screen that's said to offer a textbook-like display. There's 61,440 byte program and 16MB storage capacity and the power consumption of 0.6W is claimed to translate to 140 hours of use on four AAA-sized alkaline batteries.

Casio has included something called the Picture Plot function which enables "students to experiment by creating their own graphs over pictures of real-life scenes, and then understand the functions from the graphs that they created on their own." Once the graph has been plotted over any one of 55 types of color images of real-life curved shapes such as the parabola of jets from a water fountain, the student can then perform regression calculations to help them understand what math functions were used to generate the graph overlay.

The PRIZM comes pre-loaded with 40 images which can be used in eight of the calculator's 15 applications and also features a Color Link function that matches spreadsheet values to colors used in graphs to help students better understand changes in trends and values.

The 0.81 x 3.52 x 7.42-inch (20.57 x 89.4 x 188.46mm) graphing calculator has a USB 2.0 port for hooking up to Casio's GREEN SLIM data projectors for display to the whole class or direct connection to a computer to allow students to share calculations using Casio's manager software.

Casio says that the PRIZM will be available from January 2011 for a suggested retail price of US$129.

Reference:
[1] Paul Riden, http://www.gizmag.com/casio-prizm-color-display-graphing-calculator/16625/

high performance, low power usage e-display

2010-10-07T04:54:00.000-07:00

According to University of Cincinnati electrical and computer engineer Jason Heikenfeld, there are two types of electronic devices: things such as e-readers, that require little power but have displays with limited performance, and devices such as smartphones and laptops, that display bright, full-color moving video, but that guzzle batteries. After seven years of development, however, Heikenfeld and collaborators from Gamma Dynamics are now presenting a new type of electronic display. They claim that their “zero-power” electrofluidic system combines the energy efficiency of the one type of device, with the high performance of the other.

Article Source:
http://www.gizmag.com/zero-power-electronic-display/16589/

Open Web Concept Phone with Vrtual Keyboard

2010-10-01T20:24:00.000-07:00

As laptop computers continue to shrink in size and mobile phones become more and more powerful, can it be that long before the two merge into a device with the portability of a mobile phone and the functionality of a laptop? While it is just a matter of time before the power of a fully-fledged PC can be crammed inside a device the size of a mobile phone, our fingers aren't getting any smaller so overcoming the problems of interacting with such a small device will require some creative thinking. Creative thinking like that of designer Billy May who has come up with a mobile phone concept called the “Seabird” that is designed to address some of the frustrations people face when using such physically small devices.

May developed the concept phone as part of Mozilla Labs’ Concept Series, which asked people to share ideas and develop concepts around Firefox, the Mozilla projects and the Open Web as a whole. In early 2009, May, who also came up with the Hindsight concept glasses, developed a throwaway concept for an “Open Web Concept Phone”. In response to community feedback on that concept he developed the Seabird that explores what an Open Web phone might look like and how one would interact with it.
Virtual keyboard

The popularity of standard 3 x 4 keypads has declined as the popularity of smartphones has increased and the capabilities of mobile phones have expanded, to the point where QWERTY keypads – be they physical, such as those found on a BlackBerry, or onscreen, such as those found on the iPhone – are now the norm. Still, the size of these miniaturized keyboards is less than ideal, which is why May has opted for a full-sized QWERTY keyboard using a couple of in-built pico projectors.

Article Source, and Further Reading :
http://www.gizmag.com/seabird-open-web-mobile-phone-concept/16475/

Clip-It USB Drive from Verbatim

2010-09-26T05:25:00.000-07:00

Just when you thought that there was no way a Flash drive could be made even more useful, Verbatim turns one into a paperclip. Its new Store 'n' Go Clip-It USB Drive will be available in 2GB and 4GB storage capacities, providing a clever way to send digital multimedia files together with printed documents.

For many businesses, the move towards a paperless office is a slow and difficult one. No matter how many forms and documents are moved online or sent out in digital format, there's a very good chance that a large slice of the communication pie still involves the movement of pieces of paper from A to B, and quite possibly back again. Bridging the gap between the world of paper and a new digital era is the Clip-It USB Drive from Verbatim.

Article Source and Further Reading:
http://www.gizmag.com/verbatim-clipit-flash-drive-paperclip/16465/

the power of speech for charging Mobile phones

2010-09-21T04:55:00.000-07:00

In the search for alternative energy sources there's one form of energy you don't hear much about, which is ironic because I'm referring to sound energy. Sound energy is the energy produced by sound vibrations as they travel through a specific medium. Speakers use electricity to generate sound waves and now scientists from Korea have used zinc oxide, the main ingredient of calamine lotion, to do the reverse – convert sound waves into electricity. They hope ultimately the technology could be used to convert ambient noise to power a mobile phone or generate energy for the national grid from rush hour traffic.

Piezoelectrics are materials capable of turning mechanical energy into electricity, and can be substances as simple as cane sugar, bones, or quartz. Much research in this field has been focused on transforming the movement of a person running, or even the impact of a bullet, into a small electrical current, but although these advanced applications are not yet available in consumer products, scientists have been using piezoelectric materials in environmental sensors and speakers for years.

The Korean researchers were interested in reversing this process however. "Just as speakers transform electric signals into sound, the opposite process – of turning sound into a source of electrical power – is possible," said Young Jun Park and Sang-Woo Kim, authors of the article in journal Advanced Materials.

Piezoelectrics create an electrical charge under stress, and thus zinc oxide, the main ingredient of calamine lotion, was bent into a field of nanowires sandwiched between two electrodes. The researchers subjected the sandwich to sound waves of 100 decibels which produced an electrical current of about 50 millivolts.

On average, a mobile phone operates using a few volts, and as a normal conversation is conducted at about 60-70 decibels it's clear the technology falls some way short of being genuinely useful yet, but the researchers are optimistic that given time they can improve the electric yield. They hope future applications could include mobile phone charging from conversations, or sound-insulating walls near highways that boost the national grid using energy generated from rush hour traffic noise. However, with the increasing popularity of near silent electric vehicles there might be a decreasing window of opportunity for that particular application.

By Tannith Cattermole, Article Source:
http://www.gizmag.com/mobiles-powered-by-conversation/16417/

Wireless Recharging Technology

2010-09-14T20:51:00.000-07:00

We're all aware of how annoying a tangled mass of electrical wires can be. Fortunately, a research effort from Fujitsu is tackling the problem at its very source. During a conference held in the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers at Osaka Prefecture University, the Japanese electronics giant announced a major step in developing a wireless recharging technology that can work simultaneously with multiple portable devices.

Researchers have been struggling with wireless electricity for some time now, and have come up with a number of different possible solutions, most of which are only at a prototype stage because of technological hurdles that can't be circumvented. As far as wireless charging goes, the two most popular solutions are electromagnetic induction and magnetic resonance.

Electromagnetic induction works by creating a magnetic flux between a power-transmitting and a power-receiving coil. While this is a promising technology for some applications, and particularly for recharging electric cars, it also seems to lack some flexibility since it only works over short distances, and the power transmitter and power receiver need to be in alignment for the system to work properly.

By contrast, the magnetic resonance method appears much more versatile, as it can transport electricity from a single transmitter to multiple receiving devices over a range of several meters and regardless of the relative position of the two ends.

While better in theory, the development of magnetic resonance has been hindered by practical design issues: a number of factors — parasitic capacitance, external magnetic fields, even the batteries in the device to be charged can influence the magnetic fields and drastically decrease the charging efficiency. Furthermore, the smaller the devices, the more they are subject to external influences, making this technology particularly hard to incorporate into mobile phones.

All these issues can be sorted out by properly designing the charging system, but the process takes time. In fact, the development of wireless charging for portable electronics has so far been hindered mainly by problems associated with design and analysis of the systems themselves.

What the Fujitsu researchers developed is essentially a sophisticated simulator that takes into consideration the coil model and the magnetic resonance conditions. This tool can guide manufacturers' decisions in setting the parameters of the wireless chargers in such a way to maximize the charging efficiency for multiple transmitters and receivers even for devices, such as mobile phones, that used to be problematic because of their small size.

The tool, which reportedly reduces design time by a whopping factor of 150, was used to design a compact power receiver and to manufacture prototype mobile phones with built-in wireless charging. The mobile phones can get charged from anywhere within the transmitter's range, reaching 85 pecent efficiency.

Fujitsu said it will use this technology to develop wireless charging systems for mobile phones and other portable devices, which should hit the shelves in 2012. The company is also looking to apply the technology for power transmission between computer chips and to provide mobile charging systems for electric cars.

By Dario Borghino, Article Source:
http://www.gizmag.com/fujitsu-wireless-magnetic-resonance-recharging-technology/16365/

iPad rides shotgun thanks to car mount from Thanko

2010-09-10T16:46:00.000-07:00

Released this week, Thanko's Car Laptop Holder for iPad is a twist on the company's Car Laptop Holder from a few years back. We have to admit that the method of attachment is not the most elegant, but if you're a driver who needs an iPad in the cab then this might be for you. Just make sure you don't have the WiFi iPad, otherwise you'll probably be hanging out in the garage or parking next to Starbucks all the time.

Of course, drivers should always keep distractions to a minimum and one of the benefits of Thanko's solution is that it mounts on the passenger side (note that the pictures are from Japan, which has right-hand driving). The installation process looks a little tedious, as the kit is essentially an arm system that affixes to the rails underneath your passenger seat – though it's certainly a more favorable solution than some clumsy suction cup or windshield mounts on the market. The arm measures about half a meter (about two feet) and the angle can be adjusted in three places to create the best viewing position.

By Rich Martin, Article Source and Further Reading:
http://www.gizmag.com/ipad-rides-shotgun-thanks-to-car-mount-from-thanko/16323/

The Elonex 710EB eBook

2010-09-06T20:41:00.000-07:00

The Elonex 710EB eBook with full color screen first outed in April this year has now reached pre-order status with a UK availability date of July 31. The 7-inch e-Reader uses an LED backlit LCD display rather than e-Ink, benefits from wireless connectivity, will double up as a photo viewer or media player and has an 8 hour battery life.

When contacted, Elonex said that the final technical specifications are still in a state of flux prior to an end of the month UK availability slot but the 710EB eBook is known to sport a 7-inch LED backlit LCD touchscreen display at 800 x 480 resolution. The current configuration shows an M10 processor with integrated graphics processor, 802.11b/g wireless connectivity and micro-USB and HDMI wired connectivity.

The 7.67 x 4.72 x 0.66 inch 710EB eBook's easy to use touch controlled interface runs on the Android operating system with proprietary Elonex overlay. At the time of writing there's 128MB of system memory and a gigabyte of onboard storage which is expandable via microSD slot to accommodate around 60,000 color eBooks, digital magazines, newspapers, interactive books, comics, cooking books, travel guides and so on. The device supports a number of reader formats including ePub and PDF, benefits from adjustable font sizes for reading comfort and will auto-rotate when appropriate.

Article Source and Further Reading:
http://www.gizmag.com/elonex-710eb-color-touchscreen-ebook/15714/

Apple updates iPod lineup and adds social networking to iTunes

2010-09-02T05:12:00.000-07:00

Apple’s September 1 event saw the announcement of updates to the entire iPod line with the sole exception of the iPod Classic. The iPod touch gains the same high resolution Retina display and A4 chip found on the iPhone 4, along with FaceTime video calling, HD video recording, 3-axis gyro and iOS 4.1, all packed into a new slimmer, lighter form factor. There’s also a completely redesigned square-shaped iPod nano with a multi-touch interface and a redesigned iPod shuffle that sees the reintroduction of clickable “ring” buttons.
iPod touch

Apple’s iPhone without the phone includes most of the features introduced on the iPhone 4, including Apple’s A4 chip, 960 x 640 pixel Retina display, front-facing camera and mic for making FaceTime calls over Wi-Fi to fellow iPod touch or iPhone 4 users, HD video recording, 3-axis gyro and iOS 4.1. The only major difference hardware-wise – aside from the phone functionality – is a lower resolution still camera – 960 x 720 pixels to the iPhone 4’s 5-megapixels.

Recognizing the touch’s popularity as a games console Apple has introduced Game Center, which lets users challenge and play friends or be matched automatically with new opponents. Gamers can also showcase their scores and achievements and check out which games their friends are playing.

The new touch is smaller and lighter than previous models and the iPhone 4, measuring 4.4 x 2.4 x 0.28 inches (111 x 58.9 x 7.2mm) H x W x D, and weighing 3.56 ounces (101g). A single charge will provide up to 40 hours of music playback or seven hours of video playback. It will be available from next week in 8, 16 and 32GB capacities priced at US$229, $299 and $399, respectively.
iPod nano

The new iPod nano sees a new square design that is nearly half the size and weight of the previous generation. Featuring a polished aluminum and glass enclosure with built-in clip the nano is now only slightly larger than the iPod shuffle with the front surface dominated by a new multi-touch display replacing the previous models’ click wheel.

Article Source, and Further Reading: http://www.gizmag.com/apple-updates-ipod-lineup/16218/

Mining Mood Swings on the Real-Time Web

2010-08-29T23:28:00.000-07:00

This article reveals a startup provides free access to real-time data from the social Web.

By Erica Naone

Many companies are turning to social-media sites to gauge the success of a new product and service. The latest activity on Facebook, Twitter, and countless other sites can reveal the public's current mood toward a new film, gadget, or celebrity, and analytics services are springing up to help companies keep track. Social-media analytics startup Viralheat, based in San Jose, CA, is now offering free, real-time access to the data it is collecting on attitudes toward particular topics or products. One of the first customers for this new service--called Social Trends--is ESPN, which plans to use Social Trends to show live popularity rankings for different NFL teams.`
Live data: This widget shows current sentiment toward competing Web browsers.
Credit: Viralheat

Viralheat uses natural-language processing and machine learning to sift through Twitter, Facebook fan pages, viral video sites, and Google Buzz posts to determine the Web's collective sentiment toward everything from popular browsers to Pepsi to Steve Jobs. The company sells its data and analytics service for a monthly fee, but CEO Raj Kadam says that Social Trends will provide a free way to people to access data the company is already collecting. When a paying customer asks Viralheat to track a particular term, they have the option to share that information publicly. Kadam says that about 70 percent of users agree to share this information.

Social Trends uses this information to provide a widget that can be embedded on a blog or website showing the sentiment around particular terms. These widgets stay connected to Viralheat's data stores through an application programming interface (API) and are updated as the company collects more information. Viralheat believes the tool will be particularly useful for news sites wanting up-to-date infographics and for bloggers who want to track trends.

Anyone can create a Social Trends account and then search for terms they'd like to follow, although the company doesn't have data for every possible term. The system lets users create charts tracking a single term or comparing several terms. Kadam says that Viralheat is able to open up live connections to its data because its infrastructure can handle working with large amounts of information. Viralheat custom-built its software and hardware and optimized it for the analysis it needed to do. For example, it created a Web crawler that can sift through data on the Web and manipulate it as it is collected.

Kadam says his company isn't worried that its free offerings will decrease the number of paying customers. Social Trends widgets only offer a snapshot of the data that paying customers get access to (72 metrics instead of just five metrics), he says.

Viralheat is not the only company offering to mine Web users' sentiments toward particular topics or companies. Alec Go, a Stanford University graduate student who created the "Twitter Sentiment" analysis tool, says there are dozens of sites offering such services. But he notes that many commercial analysis packages are closed off from public access.

Experts agree that sentiment-analysis tools are becoming increasingly significant as companies try to stay on top of the discussions happening across the Web. "Companies have a love-hate relationship with social media," says Ed Chi, who is area manager for the Palo Alto Research Center's Augmented Social Cognition team. These companies recognize that social media can spread a message faster than anything else, he says, but they're also aware that it can easily get out of control.

Chi believes that eventually companies will need to track sentiment as part of a comprehensive public-relations effort. Future platforms could classify topics being discussed, suggest possible responses, and analyze a company's message to determine how likely it is to go viral. "Sentiment analysis will be a component of a much larger dashboard," Chi says.

Article Source:
http://www.technologyreview.com/web/26105/

Scandisk postage-stamp-sized integrated SSD

2010-08-25T06:28:00.000-07:00

Ultra-thin tablets, laptops and other mobile devices could be set to look even slimmer with the development of SATA solid state drives no bigger than a postage stamp. SanDisk's new integrated SSD (iSSD) device is just 0.072 inch (1.85mm) thick, tips the scales at a mere 0.029 of an ounce (0.83g) and is currently available in sizes up to 64GB. It's not the fastest SSD solution currently available but hey, it's got to be the smallest.

Before you start breaking open those jars of pennies, the iSSD is only being made available to selected manufacturers for evaluation at the moment. But with just 0.629 x 0.787 x 0.072 inch (16 x 20 x 1.85mm) dimensions and capacities currently ranging from 4GB (the lightest at 0.029oz/0.83g) to 64GB (0.045oz/1.3g), it may not be too long before consumers are being offered capacious, ultra-ultra-thin mobile devices where external storage is thought of as an additional extra rather than an operational necessity.

Article Source and Further Reading: Here

Kogan eBook Reader

2010-08-23T06:45:00.000-07:00

Kogan Technologies has launched a 6-inch eBook reader into the Australian market at a price of just AUD$189 (less than US$170 at time of publication). Around a third of an inch thick and weighing 228.8 g, the eBook Reader boasts good readability in bright sunlight via an 800 x 600 E Ink screen along with simple navigation system and long battery life.

Included with the reader are 1500 free eBooks, most of which are classics by authors as Arthur Conan Doyle, George Orwell, Mark Twain and Charles Dickens. Also included are several titles tailored to the Australian – it is great to see that Henry Lawson’s The Romance of the Swag is included.

Kogan’s eReader will sync with Adobe's Digital Editions software for managing eBook libraries and will support some 16 eBook file formats including EPUB, HTML, PDF, TXT, RTF files. It features six different languages (English, Italian, French, Russian, Dutch, and German); a battery life of 10,000 page turns, a leather carrying case, earphones, USB cable, and charger.

The unit runs on the Linux operating system and has 2GB of in-built memory, which can be expanded to 32GB with a SDHC memory card.

The AU$189 price tag has raised the bar for competition within the Australian market. It slightly undercuts Kobo priced at AUD$199 and is roughly AUD$50 cheaper than the Kindle after shipping costs.

Article Source and Furthere reading : here