Technology1
How about a transparent smartphone?
Mar 4th
If you’re contemplating why you’d even need a transparent smartphone, don’t bother thinking too hard for you do not actually need one. There would be many downsides to such a phone; think of how difficult it would be to find it especially if it were powered down, not to mention being literally “transparent” means everything you’re working on will be easily exposed to others. Yet, if you take a harder look at the subject, you’ll find that the state of being non-transparent, or let’s say opaque, is indeed the more fragile state to be in. Once transparency is possessed by nature, opacity can be obtained just like any other option under the menu, while this does not go vice versa. Polytron Technologies from Taiwan are developing a prototype device in a bid to make the transparent smartphone a reality.
There are two creatures that have the unique ability to extract pigment-free color directly from the quantum, so to speak, and those are butterflies and jellyfish. These two obscure yet magnificent creatures can do so through precisely configured scales or undulating cilia- tiny hairs that protrude from a larger cell. These bio-antennea are used to bling out a calculated photon whenever the distance between thee hairs corresponds to the wavelength of the illumination that strikes them. Sometimes when creatures are stuck in a cave, they instantly turn down their pigment production and thus losing all ability to express it even after a couple of generations have passed. This is all for a beneficial reason since light-absorbing melanins and carotenoids are metabolically expensive to produce and actuate into position.
Yet, if we take larger creatures, such as in our case Smartphones, there are tons of elements that arise to obstruct transparency. For instance, the lens of the eye ought to burn a non-trivial amount of energy just to sustain transparency. In order to transform a large scale device to a transparent one, the first thing you ought to do is consider the smaller parts that comprise it and making those transparent. While you might think this is rather obvious, you’ll have neglected the fact that it isn’t enough to just put those transparent parts together to achieve your goal. The most challenging task you’ll have is to gain a smooth variation in the refractive indexes across the sub components.
Nowadays we can enjoy a variety of transparent display options that are available, and new methods are emerging all the time. One way to achieve this is to coat two pieces of glass with transparent yet conductive material sucha s indium tin oxide (ITO), and sandwich a gel of polarizable molecules between them. Once an electric field is applied, the liquid crystal changes its alignment and becomes transparent or non transparent, adhering to the materials that are used.
The display is not the issue for the Polytron phone which flaunts an OLED-based liquid crystal device. The problem lies in the smaller components, such as the battery and the memory. Transparent lithium-ion batteries have been formerly introduced based on PDMS; a favorite polymer material that is often used in the life sciences to build transparent microfluidic sensors and Polutron plans to incorporate these kinds of batteries in future versions of the phone. Transparent speakers and touchscreens will also be used on both sides of the final product.
The new Model S, no not xperia, but Tesla!
Jun 25th
Tesla Motors Inc., the Silicon Valley electric vehicle startup led by entrepreneur Elon Musk, is rolling out its first mainstream car; The Model S.
Its first sports car was the electric Roadster, which was priced at $109,000 which explains why it hasn’t acquired the love of the mainstream market. However, if their latest model lives to its expectations, it might reinforce the whole EV industry.
Retail customers of the first eight models were happy to hear that their Model S would start shipping this Saturday at Tesla’s factory in Fremont, Calif. The company manager was also eager to announce that they already have 10,000 orders and shall deliver 5,300 this year and 20,000 next year.
Even though there are tons and tons of reasons to keep us skeptical about this new model, it seems like one exhilarating car to drive; with its 17-inch central console touchscreen (that so elegantly controls the sunroof), music, maps and above all of that, regenerative braking strength that capture the energy and let the wheels recharge the vehicle’s batteries, quite amazing no? what’s also fantastic about these brakes is their incredible ability to swiftly slow down once you have taken your foot off the gas pedal, regardless of the speed you’re driving at; hence less maintenance and smoother ride.
Tesla S has a lot of things going for it; for instance, going from 0 to 60 mph in a whopping time that is estimated at 4.4 seconds. Another performance advantage it has over many other sports cars is the low center of gravity it boasts. Yet another thing it has in its favor is its marvelous range of 265 miles in the high-end model (160 miles with the base model), what does this mean you ask? Well, basically this destroys the anxiety that you might be having of running out of charge before reaching your destination. All of this is owing to the vehicle’s enormous battery pack (7,000 lithium-ion cells) which accounts for it to weigh at 4,400 lbs- hence the low center for gravity.
The huge touchscreen can be used for more than just control the sunroof; it can be used to update the vehicle in the instance that anything went wrong with the car, Tesla can use the car’s 3G to fix it remotely. Its maintenance policy is similar to that of the Roadster, in that they would come to customers rather than the other way round (however, we do not know how beneficial this would be in the case that Tesla gains in demand).
Still, even with all of these incredible enhancements, the two biggest elephants in the room remain; the price tag and that long road trip with no EV charging stations on the way.
The Model S start at $54,700 and range to $105,400 which is, let’s face it, quite high. If we take a look at the Nissan Leaf which is half its price, has only sold around 30,000 vehicles since 2010. Tesla might be aiming too high with its goal of selling 20,000 by 2013.
Do not be misled and assume that this is just another conventional sedan; oh no it is also a luxury car! Even though Tesla has cheaper models to be introduced in the foreseeable future, however the Model S is not one of those for it’s in the same range as a BMW or a Lexus.
As Franz Von Holzhausen, chief designer at Tesla, explains: “supposed to be an approachable, stylistic, high-design vehicle, but not one that is so quirky or weird it would only appeal to early adopters. “
To view the whole gallery, click here.
Well, we only hope that Elon Musk’s dream would one day be realized and that we would comprehend that electric cars can indeed be better than any gasoline-powered one.
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Apple might be looking out for us, by cloning us!
Jun 24th
It seems that Apple take pollution seriously when it comes to our environment, however, we do not know how true that is when it comes to polluting one’s personal profile!
This Tuesday, Apple was granted a patent that allows it to legally publish lies for the sake of privacy.
It seems that in this fast paced world of ours, everything we do can be tracked down through a simple search on one of the many social networks that we use. The patent includes a method to increase one’s privacy through the generation of fake online profiles. So if, let’s say, you were on “Big Brother” anytime soon, you can rest assure that the paparazzi will have a bit of hard time to document your genuine actions; the patent goes as far as generating fake actions on your behalf in fields that do not necessarily reflect your actual interests.
“Any network eavesdroppers, which are performing dataveillance on a principal, are polluted by the transactions that are in fact divergent from the true principal’s areas of interest,” the patent says. “In this manner, data collection is not prevented; rather, it is intentionally polluted so as to make any data collection about a principal less valuable and less reliable.”
Apple discovered the secret to crowd-pleasing; amplified privacy. Last year, Apple has implemented this enhanced privacy through the limitation of third-party data-collection that is meant for advertising. One concrete example is the “do-not-track” browser header in OS X Lion. Its Safari browser also defaults to blocking cookies from third-party websites, a feature Google cushioned as means of resolving conflicting user preferences.
Apple’s privacy approaches have also received improvement due to the controversy over its storage of exposed location data on the iPhone and of iOS developers’ use of the UID identifier as the key to date profiles of iPhone users.
The latest patent comes with an ironically apt typo; in the document it actually says “Litter Brothers” instead of “Little Brothers” in one of the sentences. The typo pertinently unveils what the patent actually does; means of polluting electronic profiling for the sake of combating invasive date collection.
While we do not know if Apple will ever implement this patent in any of its future products or not, however, from the looks of things and from our instincts to defend ourselves against invasive tracking, it is quite probable that such measures will no longer be looked at as absurd in the future.
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From kicks to kilowatts; meet the new Soccket!
Jun 20th
How would you fancy if your favorite electronic gadget could be charged by the world’s favorite sport? Well, you might not have to imagine for long thanks to a group of Harvard students.
With millions of soccer enthusiasts all over the world eagerly awaiting the final stages of Euro cup 2012, we’re quite confident that their television sets shall be occupied for the majority of the next couple of weeks. On the other hand, with the ever increasing cost of living, those exact millions of enthusiasts shall spend the rest of their impending future trying to pay off the unreasonably high electricity bills just for the sake of keeping their lights on!
A group of Harvard students have taken it upon themselves to attempt to solve these issues with the new innovative Soccket; a soccer ball that is meant to be kicked through the air in order to grasp otherwise wasted energy that is inaugurated by forces drilled onto the ball during play.
So how does this ball actually work you ask? Well, it is waterproof, sturdy and does not require to be inflated. It implements inductive coil technology which involves having a metal coil and magnetic slug that goes forwards and backwards. This motion powers a motor, and the electricity is then stored in an on-board battery.
An AC adaptor is suitably put behind one of the panels of the Soccket so as to allow a multitude of appliances to be powered in such a manner. The quintet which is made up of : Jessica Lin, Julia Silverman, Jessica Mathews, Hemali Thakkaras and Aiva Presser, had conceptualized a better use for this ball and which is to charge mobile devices as well as power lights.
Even though we do not know how excited American soccer fans will actually be by the idea of a ball that could charge their iPhone, the quintet aspire their invention serves a more purposeful mean.
In many developing countries, due to the fact that electricity is a mere luxury, reliance on kerosene lamps has led to numerous health problems.
The World Bank estimates that breathing the fumes created from burning kerosene indoors equates to the harmful effect of smoking two packs of cigarettes a day.
Burning kerosene for lighting also generates some 190 million metric tons a year of carbon dioxide emissions, according to recent estimates — the equivalent emissions of about 38 million automobiles.
Thus, soccer often captivates near-religious attention from the vast majority of such poor population. These devoted people not only show up for every single match and idolize the big names of this sport, yet they also spend long hours practicing the game whenever they possibly can. Hence, the Soccket could be employed to obtain energy from such spontaneous soccer games that could then be used to actually power lights or heat sources.
It’s definitely more than just your typical ball isn’t it? Apparently Bill Clinton thinks so as well. Check out the video below to see for yourself:
Yet, on a more realistic note, the question is related to the technological components of this ball and how they actually affect the performance of the ball. The added weight caused by the device’s magnet might turn off many prospective players, making it highly unlikely to be actually adopted as the preferred alternative. Think of it, would you risk a head concussion for the purpose of keeping the lights on in your house?
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Google Wallet byebye; Hello Apple PassBook!
Jun 14th
Google Wallet fans brace yourselves; Apple has once again prepared a shocking come back with its very own iOS 6 PassBook app , that is so simple yet so appealing.
Google Wallet’s Predicament
Let us explore the mobile-payment situation here in America; if you’ve ever tried to use your phone for means of buying goods or services at a retail store you probably know what a difficult task that is! Of course, if you are a Google fanatic, you can use their very own Google Wallet on one of their many Android devices out there. However, you will notice the very short list of participating vendors that are out there.
We are not trying to belittle Google by any means, for they are quite audacious to take on such an endeavor. However, NFC (Near Field Communication) has been a major hindrance in the way of their success. Whether the problem is infrastructural, political or even financial (since their only partner is Citibank MasterCard), all we know is that fewer than 1 percent of the phones sold today have NFC chips embedded which is probably not what Google aimed for.
How will Apple change the game?
While Apple’s Passbook hasn’t been officially even released yet, but from what we can tell, it bypasses the major drawbacks of Google Wallet, particularly NFC and limited payment methods. Its sole purpose is to serve as a collector and repository for receipts, loyalty cards, and boarding passes from other retailers’ existing apps.
Infrastructural and static hardware limitations are transcended through relying on software and QR codes. The Passbook is also more versatile in the sense that apps can be added from vendors you already trust; Apple might spin this in their favor if they charge a cut to be a listed store within the PassBook app.
One major impediment is out for Apple though; this app cannot function is the store is not equipped with the special laser scanners that are built to read Smartphone screens. If we take a step back and think this through, we realize that if a store already has a retail app, then chances are it has already invested in the required infrastructure.
For now, we have to wait and see how it all goes down but our money will be definitely on a software-centered mobile-payment rather than one tied to hardware, Google listen up.
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Now, you can also be Spider-man!
Jun 13th
Great news for those of you that are out to become the next Spider Man! Yes, you read it correctly; while we cannot promise laser vision or shooting spider webs all over, you can get excited about the ability to vertically climb any wall, be it glass, rock or even stucco.
Thanks to the “Ascending Aggies” team from the Utah State University, we can have a live, hands on experience of this innovative new technology, while the rest of the world has to wait four more weeks for the actual new “Spider-Man” movie to come out in theaters.
The Personal Vacuum Assisted Climber (PVAC), a project developed by a team of 15 mechanical and aerospace engineers, and led by Dr. Steve Hansen, is basically a vacuum motor that powers two suction paddles.
As frivolous as this idea may sound at first, it might actually benefit the military and the Air force quite substantially; the problem soldiers are facing nowadays when climbing a vertical wall is usually with the first man, who weighs approximately around 48 pounds, and has to secure a rope winch once on top in order for others to climb on using the existing technology, i.e. vertical ascenders. The rope itself weighs around 25 pounds so you can imagine the difficulty of this task.
The PVAC is supposed to solve this issue, with its two suction pads, vacuum pack assemblies and a support system. So how do these components actually work to perform the required task you ask? Well, the vacuum pack assembly generates sufficient suction to permit the pads to work, while the support system aids the climber since it is there to support his/her weight, hence making the whole climbing experience much easier.
Here is a video showcasing a climber in action, but be warned, it might be a little loud:
The only problem with this vacuum pack is that it is extremely noisy; in fact, its sound pierces your ears just as much as your regular household vacuum does. Hence, making it that much more difficult to subtly penetrate a building, unless of course, everyone inside it have regular vacuum wall cleaning service.
Nevertheless, it seems the Air Force thought the project worthwhile, since they gave the Aggies $100,000 to continue development.
So, the next time you witness a man climbing a wall, don’t get too excited, it just might be your average J.I.Joe.
Looking for a simple, elegant backup solution?
Genie Timeline 2012 is a new version of the number one continuous data protection program Timeline 2.1. It offers the first metro style user interface; enhanced performance, and added features. Like us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter for the latest news.
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Google; a new visual dictionary!
May 29th
Have you ever wondered what it would be like if we’d place the 21,000 words found in our everyday dictionary with their visual equivalent assembled from whatever shows up first for each word in Google’s image search? Apparently UK artists, Ben West and Felix Heyes, were also intrigued to find out as well; hence the birth of ‘Google’.
The visual dictionary, so appropriately named, is a 1240 page behemoth of JPGs, GIFs and PNGs in alphabetical order.
“We used two PHP scripts my brother Sam wrote for us,” says Ben about the process in an email.The first one takes a text list of dictionary words and downloads each image in sequence, and the second lays them out into columns and outputs a PDF.” The PDF was then printed into a beautiful book – handbound, thumb indexed pages held together in a marbled paper hardcover, the golden Google logo clearly oblivious to whatever internet monstrosities it may contain.
Ben and Felix are currently looking into having a small run of softcover editions of Google printed to sell. To sign up for a copy and to see more work by the two go to Ben West and Felix Heyes
So why would should we bother with this new lexicon? Ben says that it ultimately is whatever you make of it; unfortunately we live in a day and age of shrinking attentions spans, collective media lethargy and hindrances of reference books as opposed to the convenience of Google.
So, if a picture is worth a thousand words (or, better yet, a billion dollars) let’s see just how much this visual dictionary will be worth.
Looking for a simple, elegant backup solution?
Genie Timeline 2012 is a new version of the number one continuous data protection program Timeline 2.1. It offers the first metro style user interface; enhanced performance, and added features. Like us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter for the latest news.
>Follow @Genie9backup
Poke to unlock; the next Facebook phone?
May 28th
Well, the Olympics haven’t even started yet, but it seems as though the long jump competition is already off to a kick start. Facebook has certainly captivated headlines recently, with its $1 billion Instagram purchase in April, its sudden comment-censorship in May and of course the much deliberated IPO just last week.
However, with the latest unveiling of a camera app for the iPhone , as well as a universal app store (https://www.facebook.com/AppStore) it’s becoming rather clearer that Facebook is heading in the unsettling direction of the Mobile phone platform.
The New York Times says the social network has hired six hardware and software specialists with iPhone experience with the aim to get a Smartphone to market by next year.
“Mark is worried that if he doesn’t create a mobile phone in the near future that Facebook will simply become an app on other mobile platforms,” said an anonymous Facebook employee in an interview with Nick Bilton.
This attempt is marked as the company’s third at actualizing a Smartphone into its core business; initial rumors in 2012 put the Fb Smartphone on the spot, yet the company deviated from mobile development, ostensibly due to the realization of just how difficult it actually is to plunge into building mobile hardware.
The fact that Facebook’s mobile experience can be accounted for as novice, this rumor might be a bit too farfetched, at least for now. For starters, for this to actually work out, Facebook would need to find a suitable partner to manufacture the physical device, while improving their current mobile apps excessively. Having a set of core apps, when all is said and done, is not enough; they ought to be popular, and with the not so rave Facebook-mobile app reviews, this might be a bit difficult to achieve. Sure, Facebook would have a great advantage leveraging its strengths to make a superior contact list, but it’s doubtful that will excite enough people to get on board with a Facebook phone.
What’s next? Fb TV most probably, so that everyone will be able to enjoy social updates and sitcoms.
Looking for a simple, elegant backup solution?
Genie Timeline 2012 is a new version of the number one continuous data protection program Timeline 2.1. It offers the first metro style user interface; enhanced performance, and added features. Like us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter for the latest news.
>Follow @Genie9backup