Techubbub

Amazon testing futuristic delivery system

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 12:06:00 +0000

Amazon is testing the “Octocopter”, an unmanned drone that can deliver packages weighing up to 2.3 kg within 30 minutes after placing the order. Can you imagine flying robots delivering goods right to your door? Can you?

I am sure for most people this looks like science fiction, but according to Chief Executive Jeff Bezos it’s not, and the service called prime air could start in five years and it will cover areas within a 10-mile radius of distribution centres.

Amazon is not the only company considering the idea of using unmanned drones for deliveries as Domino released a video of the “Domicopter” last year, I guess we will see our dinner and christmas presents flying across the city in the near future.

Robot rock band performs live in Tokyo

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 30 Jun 2013 21:44:00 +0000

It is expected that robots will replace human workers in the future; I have recently read an article about Moshe Vardi, an IT professor at Rice University claiming that it may happen by 2045 and it could put millions out of work permanently.

Some people claim that before the end of this century, 70 percent of today’s occupations will be replaced by robots and some jobs such as ballerinas, musicians, mathematicians, athletes, fashion designers, yoga masters, fan-fiction authors and folks are considered those that only humans will be able to do.

Well, I’ve got some news for you, Z-Machines, a band made up of 3 robots, Mach on guitar, Ashura on percussion and Cosmo on keyboard made their debut in Tokyo featuring Japanese group Amoyamo, so I guess this people were wrong about those jobs that can be done only by humans.

According to digitaltrends.com, the robotic band has been created by Yoichiro Kawaguchi, an IT professor at the University of Tokyo, and mechanical designer Naofumi Yonetsuka.

The band is composed of a 78 fingered guitarist fitted with 12 picks, an electronic octopus of a drummer who can wield 21 drum sticks and make a sound that, according to Yonetsuka, is "the equivalent of four people playing drums" and a keyboardist that can shoot laser beams from its eyes.

I don’t want to sound pessimistic but I would say it will be hard for musicians to compete against robots with these super abilities, and it seems to me that the replacement of humans by robots has already begun.

Astronauts wanted for Mars mission

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 13 May 2013 20:17:00 +0000

Mars one is looking to recruit people to be sent to Mars in order to set up a human colony, according to the company’s website the aim is to send 4 astronauts in 2023 and then 4 astronauts every 2 years after that, successful applicants need to take eight years of training before their launch. The colony budget is £4billion and the project is to be funded through sponsors and private investors.

The candidates must be intelligent, creative, psychologically stable and physically healthy, so if you think you meet the requirements and you want to become an astronaut you might want to apply, but there is one more thing, this is a one-way trip as the company claims once on Mars, there is no means to return to Earth. Mars is home. Still want to apply?

Well, you might think not many people are willing to live on Mars for the rest of their lives, I thought so too, but according to the Daily Mail the venture has attracted 78,000 applications from more than 120 countries (3,500 Britons).

Mars One CEO and co-founder Bas Lansdorp said in a statement: "With 78,000 applications in two weeks, this is turning out to be the most desired job in history."

I wonder if people want to leave earth due to the global financial crisis or if they are just looking for fame as it will be filmed for a reality TV show, I guess living in an uninhabited planet under constant danger forever will be the price of fame.

The world's most expensive iphone

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 18:51:00 +0000

What would you do with a rare black diamond? Well, according to CNN a Chinese business man “Joe” hired English craftsman Stuart Hughes who designs luxury mobile phone to replace his iphone 5’s home button with his family treasure, a 26-carat black diamond.

Hughes claims on his website that the device includes a solid 24-carat gold chassis, 600 white diamonds, and 53 diamonds that make up the apple logo on the back of the phone, and it took 9 weeks to make. This iphone is estimated to be worth £10 million ($15.3 million) which makes it the world’s most expensive iphone.

I would say it is the iphone with the world’s most expensive button considering that only the home button has an estimated value of $14.5 million, I wonder if this Joe guy is the kind of person who always loses mobile phones.

Rovio announces "Angry birds toons"

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 15:47:00 +0000

We first saw them in video games, then clothes, stationery, toys... Well, now the most famous birds in the world will get their own series, Rovio has announced last Tuesday on its blog “Angry Birds Toons” an all-new animated series coming on March 16^th.

These episodes will last each about 3 minutes and will be available online only. Rovio confirmed a Ukrainian TV channel will begin transmission of the entire series next month, according to digitaltrends.

I guess more TV channel will soon be interested in transmitting a series about these characters that became an international phenomenon, so it seems a matter of time before these funny birds turn into TV stars, and to top it off, movie stars as the company has announced before to be working on Angry Birds the movie, expected to be released in 2016.

Apple developing smartwatch "iwatch"

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 21:39:00 +0000

A few months ago I published a couple of posts Google Glass Project and

TshirtOS about wearable technology, well, this seems to be becoming fashionable; Techradar has been told wearable computing is the next big thing Apple is working on. This time the device is a watch obviously called iwatch.

At the moment there is no much official information but there are certainly some leaks circulating on the internet and the press; The Telegraph wrote that fresh leaks suggest that the device is far more advanced than previously thought and Bloomberg wrote that a team of 100 Apple staff headed by senior executives has been assembled to work on the product.

Some other rumours suggest that iWatch will incorporate a curved glass display which wraps around the users wrist increasing the potential screen-size. It will be able to connect with an iPad or iPhone to receive text messages, social networks and it might even make calls. It is likely to include a GPS sensor and could include a heartbeat monitor.

I wonder what is coming next, iglasses? ikeyring? ishoes? I would truly like to see this stuff.

The world's first bionic eye to go on the market

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 15:34:00 +0000

This reminds me of an American television series “The Six Million Dollar Man” about a former astronaut with bionic implants, I used to watch as a child. On Wednesday news.discovery.com posted that after years of research, the first bionic eye will soon be available in the United States. We may not see a bionic superhero saving the world, but it could certainly be the beginning of a bionic humans era.

According to Discovery this bionic eye, the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System, created by Second Sight Medical Products has already benefited 60 people in Europe and some of them were completely blind. "The way the prosthesis works (is) it replaces the function of the photoreceptors," Brian Mech, the California-based company's vice president of business development told AFP.

The system consists of 60 electrodes in the retina and a pair of glasses with a mini camera. Argus II is meant to benefit people with retinitis pigmentosa, unfortunately not everybody with this disease will be able to afford this bionic implant since Mech claimed "Argus II is already available in several European countries for 73,000 Euros (£61,800 / $97,500)" and he believes the price for the US would be higher, what makes me think of a bionic millionaires era?

Facebook releases self-destructing messages app

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 14:11:00 +0000

Facebook on Friday released the “poke app” for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. The new app allows users to log into their Facebook account and send pictures, 120-character messages and 10-second videos which will self-destruct after being sent within a set period of time (1, 3, 5 or 10 seconds). Users need to press and hold the message to see it, and once the message gets expired it cannot be retrieved by either party.

Facebook said in a blog post "With the Poke app, you can poke or send a message, photo, or video to Facebook friends to share what you're up to in a lightweight way"

"When time runs out, the message disappears from the app"

NASA releases video "Why the World Didn't End Yesterday"

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 16:18:00 +0000

The idea that the end of the world would take place yesterday was based on an interpretation of the ancient Mayan calendar which has a cycle of 5125 years that ends on 21 December 2012. However the world didn’t end and NASA released a video explaining why it didn’t happen.

Google launches Google Maps for iphone

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 18:33:00 +0000

After Apple launched its own maps app in September, the system was criticised by users due to blurry satellite images, missing towns, wrong location and misspelled landmarks. CEO Tim Cook offered a public apology and advised users to go to Google Maps through the mobile Web browser.

Cook wrote "We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers, and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better," Also he replaced the executive in charge of Apple’s mobile operating system.

Google on Wednesday launched the new Google Maps app for iphone which features 3D pictures, turn-by-turn directions and public transit maps. The new mapping tool became the most downloaded free app in Apple app Store just a few hours after its release.

Google wrote on its official blog "People around the world have been asking for Google Maps on iPhone. Starting today, we're pleased to announce that Google Maps is here, rolling out across the world in the Apple App Store,"

Samsung Launches Galaxy Muse MP3 Player

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 14:55:00 +0000

Samsung last week launched Galaxy Muse, a MP3 Player with Smartphone Sync Capablility that shares physical features and design aesthetics with the latest Galaxy smartphones. The new device measures 1.7 inches tall by 1.25 inches wide, weighs 0.48 ounces and comes with a built-in clip on back.

Galaxy muse offers touch-sensitive controls, four GB of memory and it can play music up to six hours. Users have to install “Muse Sync app” to sync Galaxy Muse to their phones. The app is currently available on Google Play, marketplace or Samsung Apps, for Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2 devices only.

Kevin Packingham, chief product officer at Samsung Mobile said "The Galaxy Muse expands the Samsung Galaxy product portfolio to offer music on-the-go in a compact and lightweight player, with songs shared directly from our award-winning smartphones,"

"Muse is the latest example of Samsung delivering another outlet for content consumption across the entire spectrum of consumer electronics."

Skype to replace Windows Live Messenger

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 11:49:00 +0000

Most of 100 million users of Windows Live Messenger will be forced to switch to Skype as Microsoft this week announced that the 13-year-old Messenger will be retired by March 2013 and will be replaced by Skype, except in China.

Microsoft bought Skype for $8.5 billion last year and claims users who switch to Skype will get better support on mobile devices.

Tony Bates, president of the Skype division at Microsoft said "We want to focus our efforts on making things simpler for our users while continuously improving the overall experience.”

In a blog post Skype said “Now users just need to update to the latest version of Skype, sign in using a Microsoft account and their Messenger contacts will be there."

Apple launches iPad mini

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 00:17:00 +0000

Apple this week at an event in California launched a new tablet half the size of its existing iPad called “iPad mini”. The device is 23% thinner and 53% lighter than the third-generation, it is 7.2mm (0.3in) thick and weighs 0.68lbs (0.3kg). It features a 7.9 inch (20cm) display, a fast A5 chip, FaceTime HD and 5 megapixel iSight cameras, ultrafast wireless and 10 hours of battery life.

Phil Schiller, Apple's vice-president of worldwide marketing said “You can hold it in one hand, this isn't a shrunken down iPad, it's an entirely new design.”

"Others have tried to make tablets smaller than the iPad and they have failed miserably"

Microsoft reveals wrist motion sensor

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 17:59:00 +0000

Microsoft this week at the User Interface Software and Technology (UIST) 2012 conference unveiled a motion sensor “Digits” that users can wear on their wrists to track hand movement and orientation as well as finger motion.

“Digits” uses an infrared laser line, infrared camera, infrared diffuse illumination, and inertial measurement unit to recognise hand and fingers movements and recreate a 3d hand which replicates what the real hand is doing in real time. It could be useful to interact with mobile devices, replace a mouse or control games without touching the screen on tablets.

David Kim, a Microsoft researcher said “Ultimately, we would like to reduce Digits to the size of a watch that can be worn all the time,”

“We want users to be able to interact spontaneously with their electronic devices using simple gestures and not even have to reach for their devices.”

Amazon launches new Kindle Fire HD tablets

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Last week at an event in California Amazon has unveiled three new Kindle tablets, a new version of the current tablet and the Kindle Fire HD in two screen sizes, 7in (17.8cm) or 8.9in (22.6cm).

The upgraded version of the existing device is faster and has a longer battery; and it will cost £129.

The Fire HD models run a modified version of Google's Android operating system and they are powered by a processor made by Texas; They feature two Wi-Fi antennas, stereo speakers, Bluetooth connectivity, an HDMI port, a laminated touchscreen, MIMO (multiple-input and multiple-output) radio wave technology, an 11-hour battery life, a camera, new gaming tools and 16 gigabytes of storage. There will also be a 32GB version of the 8.9in HD device with 4G connectivity. The 7in Kindle Fire HD will cost £159 in the UK while the 8.9in Kindle Fire HD will be available in November. DNP9FQ5JWVYB

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said: "Not only does Kindle Fire HD feature the most advanced hardware, it's also a service.”

Bezos also announced the Kindle Paperwhite e-reader which will be thinner than the Kindle Touch. It will have 62% more pixels, a higher resolution screen, Backlit e-ink and eight weeks of battery life.

Bezos said “It will have a touchscreen and be lit with a fiber-optic lighting system that has been in development for four years “

Paperwhite will be released in October in the US.

Apple unveils new iPhone 5

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 22:15:00 +0000

Apple today at an event in San Francisco unveiled the new iPhone 5 which is 18% thinner and 20% lighter than the iPhone 4S and made of glass and aluminium. It has a larger 4-inch screen which allows users to see five rows of apps.

The new iPhone 5 will run IOS 6 operating system and features a faster processor called the A6, an 8MP camera which has a better low-light performance and faster image captures, a new "Lightning" connector which is 80% smaller than the old 30-pin dock connector and 4G LTE connection. It also includes a full-screen version of the Safari web browser and an improved version of the Siri voice-control system.

Vice president of marketing Phil Schiller said: "iPhone 5 is the best phone we've ever made."

iPhone5 will be available on September 21 in the United States.

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 launched at IFA 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 17:17:00 +0000

Samsung this week at IFA (one of the world's largest consumer electronic event) in Berlin has unveiled the new Samsung Galaxy Note 2 “phablet”, a hybrid between a phone and tablet.

The new Samsung device runs on Google's latest Android operating system Jelly Bean and features a 5.5-inch screen, an 8MP camera on the rear with an LED flash and a 1.9MP camera on the front with HD video recording, 2 GB RAM memory, a 1.6 GHz quad-core processor, WI-FI, HSPA+ and 4G LTE connectivity, USB 2.0, Bluetooth 4.0 and a 3,100mAh battery. Also it includes the S Pen stylus which is thicker and uses a new Air View feature.

“Last year at IFA, we launched the Galaxy Note, which opened a new category of smart mobile devices. This year, again at IFA, we are delighted to introduce the Galaxy Note II, which will encourage users to unleash their creativity.” Said Simon Stanford, Vice President of Telecommunications and Networks, Samsung UK and Ireland.

It will be available in Marble White or Titanium Gray colour, the release date is set as October in the UK.

Facebook sued for stealing Timeline idea

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 21:04:00 +0000

The Chinese company Cubic Network claims Facebook has stolen its Timeline feature which allows people to tell the story of their lives in chronological order. The Chinese start-up founded four years ago claims they launched the same layout in 2008 and is suing Facebook for potential patent infringement. Mark Zuckerberg is believed to have attended a talk about the Timeline feature held by Xiong Wanli, the founder of Cubic Network at Stanford University.

Facebook unveiled its own Timeline feature in 2011, three years after Cubic Networks, at F8, the social network’s annual developer’s conference. Zuckerberg said at the conference: “Millions of people curate stories of their lives on Facebook every day and have no way to share them once they fall off your profile page; we have been working on Timeline all year; it’s the story of your life and completely new way to express yourself.”

Timeline has just been made mandatory in the UK, some users are not happy with the forced change due to the radical departure from the previous layout and the way members show their personal information.

TshirtOS: the world's first programmable T-shirt

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 15:23:00 +0000

Whiskey maker Ballantine’s and the London-based clothing company CuteCurcuit have developed “TshirtOS”, the world's first wearable, washable and programmable T-shirt which could announce a new era of wearable digital technology.

This prototype features a 1000 RGB LED screen, a USB port, two headphone sockets, an accelerometer, a built-in camera which according to its makers will be the smallest in the world, measuring 2.5 by 2.9 by 2.5 millimetres; and Bluetooth that allows TshirtOS to connect to your Smartphone to share Twitter and Facebook updates as well as Instagram pictures. Also it will be able to play music and videos.

Peter Moore, global brand director said “The T-shirt is the original canvas of self-expression. Whether you wore the Smiley Face, Che Guevara or Frankie Says Relax, your favourite T-shirt tells the world something about you. Ballantine’s has taken that thought and made it bigger.”

Kuratas: the world's first giant boardable robot

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 18:05:00 +0000

The boardable robots era has come; the Japanese company Suidobashi Heavy Industry on Sunday in Tokyo at the Wonder Festival unveiled a 13ft combat robot called “Kuratas” which can be controlled from inside as well as remotely via 3G. Engineers Wataru Yoshizaki and Kogoro Kurata have been working on the robot since 2010, the company also released a video where the pilot Anna gives step by step instructions of how to operate the Kuratas.

Kuratas has 30 hydraulic joints which can be moved by the pilot using Motion Sensor technology, the diesel-powered robot weighs 4.5 tonnes and includes two humanoid arms and four wheeled legs, and it can run at a top speed of 10 km/h.

Kuratas is inspired by Japanese comic book “mecha”, it features a "shot-proof" armour and a futuristic weapons system which includes two gatling guns capable of shooting 6,000 BB bullets a minute, which fire when the pilot smiles; Suidobashi call this "the smile shot", and a Lohas launcher, a rocket launcher that fires water plastic bottles.

The rumoured price tag is $1 million (£637,000).

Apple releases latest version of its Mac operating system

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 17:48:00 +0000

Apple on Wednesday has released OS X Mountain Lion, the latest version of its operating system for Mac computers, which includes features already implemented on its mobile devices.

The operating system introduces iCloud internet storage service which allows users to connect their emails, contacts and calendars across several computers, iPhones and iPads. Another important feature is iMessage which enables users to send messages, photos, videos and documents to anyone on an Apple device running iOS 5, too.

Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing said "People are going to love the new features in Mountain Lion and how easy it is to download and install from the Mac App Store."

Among other features the new software allows users to share information on Twitter through an app available on the Mac App Store. It also includes a notification centre which collects user activities such as an email, a message, a software update, a calendar alert and makes it accessible in one spot.

Mountain Lion is available to download from the Mac App Store and will cost £13.99.

New virus spreads on Facebook

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 18:55:00 +0000

Trusteer discovered this week a new Citadel malware which is spreading on Facebook to ask users for a donation to a fake children’s charity, the scam aims at stealing user’s credit card number.

The malware infects the computer and inserts itself into the Facebook session to display a pop up which prompts charity donation and asks for the credit card information when users log into their Facebook accounts.

There are different versions of the scam text depending on the country and language including English, Spanish and German.

Google declares war on Mexican drug cartels

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 11:01:00 +0000

Eric Schmidt, Google's executive chairman recently visited Mexico’s most violent cities where civic leaders asked him for help. This week at a conference on international crime in California, Schmidt said “They were looking for a universal hammer to protect them. For me the answer was obvious. It was technology.”

Experts claimed at the conference that Drug-dealing organizations run money laundering networks that handle an estimated $25 billion a year in drug profit and often use more sophisticated technology than law enforcement such as mapping software that tracks the location of police from high-tech control rooms, remote control submarines and military-grade rocket launchers.

The Google proposal is create an anonymous network through which citizens can safely report cartel activity without fear of retribution and create community web platforms to identify how individuals are connected to each other, to bank accounts and even to corrupt government officials.

Google claims that empowering the Mexican people with technology should produce a step forward in the fight against the drug cartels, and that's a good thing.

Ashton Kutcher plays Steve Jobs

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 18:59:00 +0000

Ashton Kutcher looked exactly like a young Steve Jobs in a series of photos taken in Los Angeles as the two and a half men star will play the Silicon Valley visionary in one of two films that chronicle the life of the Apple co-founder, titled "Jobs: Get Inspired".

“Jobs” started filming this month with scenes in the actual garage where Jobs first started assembling Apple computers, and will focus on the 30 most important years of his life, from 1971 to 2000, when he became the CEO of Apple for a second time.

Producer Mark Hulme says he chose Ashton to play Jobs because he can embody the character not only physically, but mentally too, and can handle the “psychological complexity” of the role.

"jOBS" is expected to be released in theaters at the end of this year.

Eggasus, the future of transportation

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 11:48:00 +0000

Eggasus is a three-wheel mobility scooter powered by an electric motor that is located in the front wheel, it is fully enclosed and zero-emission. This prototype has been created by Eggasus which has not yet announced official specs and claims it has been researching for decades on alternative urban transportation.

The egg-shaped electric vehicle has a futuristic exterior design, a top speed of 25 mph and a range of 50 miles per charge. According to the California-based company it is a “completely unique, quiet, futuristic personal transportation device”.

It can be pre-ordered for $5,000 and there will be a discount on orders of 12 or more.