The world’s first algae-fueled vehicle, which is called the Algaeus, has started its long green drive across America. The car, a converted plug-in Prius outfitted with a nickel-metal hydride battery and filled with a blend of 5% algae and 95% gasoline from Sapphire Energy, set out from San Francisco yesterday and will take 10 days to make it to Washington, DC.
The group responsible for the Algaeus, the Veggie Van Organization, expects the car will only require 25 gallons of fuel to make the entire trip.
Sapphire Energy plans to produce two million gallons of algae fuel per year for the next two years with hopes of it becoming cost-competitive in the next few years at $60 to $80 a barrel. Sapphire wants to create a 10%algae blend for its future commercial products. They are also producing a million gallons of algae-based jet fuel this year.
Friday, October 2, 2009
NASA Is Running Out of Space Fuel, No Refills In Sight
So apparently, NASA needs this itsy-bitsy little thing called Plutonium-238 to make their deep-space rocketships go ZoOOOooOoOooM ZooOOOOoMM, but they're running out of it and need congress to drop $30 million to help make more.
NPR says that NASA has not made any new Plutonium-238 since the 1980s, instead opting to borrow from Mother Russia. And because they use up to 11 pounds of the material each year, it would take 8 years worth of production to begin satisfying demand again. But the requested $30 million from Congress is only a start—the full Plutonium-238 production program could cost up to $150 million.
Because it gets so cold in deep space (reaching absolute zero), spacecrafts traveling out that far need a fuel generating a lot of heat, so they can convert that energy to electricity. Plutonium-238 naturally generates a serious amount of heat as it goes through radioactive decay, so it's often the fuel of choice for these NASA adventures, such as voyages to Saturn and beyond.
According to a Johns Hopkins planetary scientist, NASA has enough Plutonium left to fuel the next Mars Rover mission, and maybe enough to test out some new power generators. After that, they need more scratch for more fuel. [NPR via MIT Tech Review]
NPR says that NASA has not made any new Plutonium-238 since the 1980s, instead opting to borrow from Mother Russia. And because they use up to 11 pounds of the material each year, it would take 8 years worth of production to begin satisfying demand again. But the requested $30 million from Congress is only a start—the full Plutonium-238 production program could cost up to $150 million.
Because it gets so cold in deep space (reaching absolute zero), spacecrafts traveling out that far need a fuel generating a lot of heat, so they can convert that energy to electricity. Plutonium-238 naturally generates a serious amount of heat as it goes through radioactive decay, so it's often the fuel of choice for these NASA adventures, such as voyages to Saturn and beyond.
According to a Johns Hopkins planetary scientist, NASA has enough Plutonium left to fuel the next Mars Rover mission, and maybe enough to test out some new power generators. After that, they need more scratch for more fuel. [NPR via MIT Tech Review]
Notebook laptops: Samsung N130 - New netbook
As September wears on, some companies are confirming the launch of new products. And Samsung is one of them. The company has announced to the public that an interesting and tiny netbook called Samsung N130 will be launched into the market shortly. This netbook will be remarkable: it will have an internal battery for an 11 hours estimated autonomy. That is a really high battery autonomy nowadays. The Samsung N130 has been equipped with an Intel Atom N270 processor and it will come with a 10.1-inch screen, resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels, WiFi connectivity, Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity, built-in 1.3-megapixel webcam (which is perfect for those people who like or need online video communications all the time), memory cards reader, and a hard drive with a storage capacity of up to 160 GB.
In addition, this new netbook also includes a GMA 950 video card, 3-cell or 6-cell battery (it is up to the user to select the most appropriate) and 1GB of RAM.
Lastly, other features include 3 USB ports, a VGA output, an approximate weight of 1.27 kg (2.8 pounds). The dimensions are 263.8 x 185.5 x 28.5 mm (10.4 x 7.3 x 1.1 inches).
In addition, this new netbook also includes a GMA 950 video card, 3-cell or 6-cell battery (it is up to the user to select the most appropriate) and 1GB of RAM.
Lastly, other features include 3 USB ports, a VGA output, an approximate weight of 1.27 kg (2.8 pounds). The dimensions are 263.8 x 185.5 x 28.5 mm (10.4 x 7.3 x 1.1 inches).
Best video game - PS3 3D mode will be available in 2010
Enough years have passed since the introduction of the technology that allows us to see 3D images on a screen. In one way or another, we know this technology is present in our world, but it has not had the impact on the society and exploitation that would have been expected to occur after its commercial launch. But that situation could change very soon since Sony has announced that all the games compatible with PS3 will have a new 3D mode.
Sony is trying a new strategy to attract new users. For that reason, the company is currently working to add 3D support for all of its available games for PS3. The transition should be taking place in 2010, according to Sony’s announcement. So, if Microsoft is pushing hard to reach its ambitious goals related to the Xbox 360, now Sony wants to change the users’ experience in a radical way (at least with the PS3 games).
We don’t know the exact specifications of the first version of this 3D mode, but some preliminary reports have confirmed that it consists of a process where the console sends 3D content by using an HDMI cable. That content is synchronized and the users will be able to see the 3D effects by using 3D glasses. So, we can get an easy deduction from this basic explanation: As usual, it will be necessary to use the traditional 3D glasses and, besides that, we will need a new TV that supports 3D (in case you don’t have one).
For now, the only thing we can do is wait for some reviews of this innovative technology, which hopefully will improve the way in which we enjoy our consoles. Maybe this will be the most important change in the video games industry during the following years. We’ll see. Apparently, 2010 will be the year of the 3D games.
Sony is trying a new strategy to attract new users. For that reason, the company is currently working to add 3D support for all of its available games for PS3. The transition should be taking place in 2010, according to Sony’s announcement. So, if Microsoft is pushing hard to reach its ambitious goals related to the Xbox 360, now Sony wants to change the users’ experience in a radical way (at least with the PS3 games).
We don’t know the exact specifications of the first version of this 3D mode, but some preliminary reports have confirmed that it consists of a process where the console sends 3D content by using an HDMI cable. That content is synchronized and the users will be able to see the 3D effects by using 3D glasses. So, we can get an easy deduction from this basic explanation: As usual, it will be necessary to use the traditional 3D glasses and, besides that, we will need a new TV that supports 3D (in case you don’t have one).
For now, the only thing we can do is wait for some reviews of this innovative technology, which hopefully will improve the way in which we enjoy our consoles. Maybe this will be the most important change in the video games industry during the following years. We’ll see. Apparently, 2010 will be the year of the 3D games.
BioLogic FreeCharge - Recharge your gadgets while riding a bike - Battery charger rechargeable
Well, the same principle used by a dynamo that generates electricity is now taken by Dahon (the world’s largest manufacturer of folding bikes), to create a new device that allows users to recharge electronic gadgets while they are riding a bike. The device is attached to the dynamo and its name is “BioLogic FreeCharge”.
It has a battery that is charged with the power supplied from the dynamo. Then, you can recharge your gadgets by connecting them to the BioLogic FreeCharge and using a USB connector that comes with this device.
We guess this charger will be useful to those who usually use a bike as one of their regular means of transport because it will provide an easy way to keep some personal gadgets charged (for example: cell phones and MP3 players).
Pentax digital camera: K-x, a novel DSLR with 12.4-megapixel CMOS sensor
As expected, Pentax doesn’t want to hang back while its competitors are constantly announcing technological advances. For that reason, the Japanese corporation has decided to introduce the Pentax K-x, a very modern DSLR that offers, as a main feature, the capability of recording high-definition video with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels at 24fps.
On the other hand, we find that this photographic camera comes with a 12.4-megapixel CMOS sensor, a maximum sensitivity of ISO 6400, 11 point wide angle SAFOX VIII autofocus system, and an image stabilizer.
The design of this camera is very attractive when compared to other cameras that have been made by Pentax recently. This way, we think the Pentax K-x will be a successful product because the great design is the perfect complement to its good technical specs.
Other features of this great camera include a 2.7-inch display, operation with AA batteries, and a still shooting speed of 4.7fps. Besides, it can capture up to 1900 shots before the batteries die completely.
Other features of this great camera include a 2.7-inch display, operation with AA batteries, and a still shooting speed of 4.7fps. Besides, it can capture up to 1900 shots before the batteries die completely.
Headphones that are motion-activated for Sony Ericsson mobile phone
There are built-in, capacitive motion sensors at the end of the headphones, which are able to automatically start or stop the operation of, for example, a cell phone. This is achieved by using a contact point sends a signal when a user puts or pulls the headphones in/out the ears.
When the user puts the headphones in his/her ears, the music can be listened to. On the other hand, it also allows to answer an incoming call if it is used as a handsfree with a supported cell phone. And when the user pulls the headphones out, the music will be paused or the call will be ended.
The MH907 headphones will be available in Europe first by the end of this week. They will cost 39 Euros (approximately US$ 57) and will come in two colors: black and yellow.
HTC Tattoo: Another Android phone with HTC touch LCD
On the webpage intended to give an overview of this new mobile phone, which is included on the official HTC website, we can read the following: “HTC Tattoo is all about you. It’s the first phone that can be customized inside and out. Decide how your phone looks, then decide what you want to look at. Texts? Twitter? Your photos? When you’re done customizing HTC Tattoo, you’ll have a phone that speaks loudly about who you are and what you’re into.”
HTC Tattoo is a latest-generation mobile phone with a lot of great features. With this phone, you will be able to chat, write and send text messages, make tweets of 140 characters or less, and use all the widgets you want in a very accessible way in order to be connected to a wide range of online services. If you want to play games, you can do it too: You only need to go to the Android Market and download all the games you want to play.
Are you a music fan? With HTC Tattoo you can group your music collection by album and artist, or create playlists, so you will be able to listen to your stored music at any time without needing to make an endless search process… yep, every song will be within your reach with a very easy access point. The same thing applies to the photos. Besides, you will also be able to access your or your friends’ photo collections on Flickr or Facebook.
HTC Tattoo was designed to be an extremely user-friendly mobile device. The search button will allow you to find any person in your contact list in a fast and easy way, or find a specific e-mail in your inbox folder, or search on the web, or find a task / appointment in the calendar application.
Are you a music fan? With HTC Tattoo you can group your music collection by album and artist, or create playlists, so you will be able to listen to your stored music at any time without needing to make an endless search process… yep, every song will be within your reach with a very easy access point. The same thing applies to the photos. Besides, you will also be able to access your or your friends’ photo collections on Flickr or Facebook.
HTC Tattoo was designed to be an extremely user-friendly mobile device. The search button will allow you to find any person in your contact list in a fast and easy way, or find a specific e-mail in your inbox folder, or search on the web, or find a task / appointment in the calendar application.
New Fuji camera to take instant color photos
In sharp contrast with the Polaroid PoGo digital camera which has a built-in printer, the Instax Mini 7S uses the Fujifilm Instant Color Film “instax mini” with a size of 2″ x 3″. This film has an image area of 1.8″ x 2.4″, which is then developed as the finished photo.
Other features of the Instax Mini 7S include a built-in automatic flash system and an electronic shutter 1/60-sec. A LED exposure indicator shows how many pictures are left and the glossy film has a light sensitivity of ISO 800.
This new instant photo camera has a price of 96 dollars and a 10-pack of the Instax Mini film costs $20.
Camera cell phone: Samsung Trill R520 with a built-in 1.3-megapixel camera
Samsung has confirmed the rumors that arose some days ago. Specifically, the company has announced that its new mobile phone, which is called “Trill R520″, will soon be available in the United States.
The technical sheet of this mobile phone indicates it includes a 1.3-megapixel camera that allows users to take pictures and record video. Besides, it has digital zoom and a night mode.
In addition, other useful features are included, for example: Built-in memory of 1 GB, a slot to insert microSD/microSDHC memory cards, USB connection, stereo Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity, headphone jack (3.5mm), Global Positioning System (GPS), support to play music formats (MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+ and WMA), and a 2.2-inch TFT display.
With regard to the battery, the specs indicate that the Trill R520 has a Li - Ion battery (880 mAh) and it is supposed to offer up to 270 minutes of talk time and up to 300 hours of standby time.
In addition, other useful features are included, for example: Built-in memory of 1 GB, a slot to insert microSD/microSDHC memory cards, USB connection, stereo Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity, headphone jack (3.5mm), Global Positioning System (GPS), support to play music formats (MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+ and WMA), and a 2.2-inch TFT display.
With regard to the battery, the specs indicate that the Trill R520 has a Li - Ion battery (880 mAh) and it is supposed to offer up to 270 minutes of talk time and up to 300 hours of standby time.
LCD computer monitor: DoubleSight unveils some new Smart USB screens
DoubleSight Displays has unveiled a new line of LCD display screens which are called Smart USB monitors.
They are available in several versions: 7-inch, 9-inch, and 9-inch with webcam. Each LCD monitor is designed to work with any desktop or laptop computer with an USB port (a VGA port is not needed). And, by using a software called DoubleSight’s Display Link, the user will be able to connect up to six Smart USB Monitors to his/her existing PC.
Like most of USB screens, these screens require no video chipset. Besides, they work in both landscape and portrait modes.
You can buy these monitors by using the online DoubleSigh shop. The 7-inch monitor costs $ 139, the 9-inch one costs $ 169 and the 9-inch one with webcam has a price of $ 199.
The 7-inch monitor has a maximum resolution of 800×480, while the 9-inch version supports up to 1024×600 pixels. All the versions muster a 30ms pixel response time and are compatible with Mac OS X and Windows PCs.
They are available in several versions: 7-inch, 9-inch, and 9-inch with webcam. Each LCD monitor is designed to work with any desktop or laptop computer with an USB port (a VGA port is not needed). And, by using a software called DoubleSight’s Display Link, the user will be able to connect up to six Smart USB Monitors to his/her existing PC.
Like most of USB screens, these screens require no video chipset. Besides, they work in both landscape and portrait modes.
You can buy these monitors by using the online DoubleSigh shop. The 7-inch monitor costs $ 139, the 9-inch one costs $ 169 and the 9-inch one with webcam has a price of $ 199.
The 7-inch monitor has a maximum resolution of 800×480, while the 9-inch version supports up to 1024×600 pixels. All the versions muster a 30ms pixel response time and are compatible with Mac OS X and Windows PCs.
IBM takes on Google in business Web-mail market
BOSTON - IBM is introducing an inexpensive Web-based corporate email service that will compete with Google Inc's Google Apps, which has recently suffered several high-profile outages.
International Business Machines Corp will likely try to capitalize on the damage that those outages have caused to Google Apps over the past year. Last month millions of business users could not access email for almost two hours.
An IBM spokesman said on Thursday that the company will start selling its LotusLive iNotes next week. The lightweight email service will cost $36 per user per year, about 25 percent less than what Google charges for a more robust product.
IBM's offering does not have as many bells and whistles as Google's, but the technology giant could attract more customers because it has decades more experience serving the business market. Its products include Lotus Notes, one of the world's two most widely used email programs.
Google, on the other hand, generates the bulk of its revenue from advertisements placed on free search products targeted at consumers. It is just getting into the business of selling to businesses.
"The IBM brand will help a lot," said Forrester Research Inc analyst Liz Herbert.
iNotes will also compete with a Web-based email service from Microsoft Corp that costs about $120 per user per year, according to the software maker's website.
International Business Machines Corp will likely try to capitalize on the damage that those outages have caused to Google Apps over the past year. Last month millions of business users could not access email for almost two hours.
An IBM spokesman said on Thursday that the company will start selling its LotusLive iNotes next week. The lightweight email service will cost $36 per user per year, about 25 percent less than what Google charges for a more robust product.
IBM's offering does not have as many bells and whistles as Google's, but the technology giant could attract more customers because it has decades more experience serving the business market. Its products include Lotus Notes, one of the world's two most widely used email programs.
Google, on the other hand, generates the bulk of its revenue from advertisements placed on free search products targeted at consumers. It is just getting into the business of selling to businesses.
"The IBM brand will help a lot," said Forrester Research Inc analyst Liz Herbert.
iNotes will also compete with a Web-based email service from Microsoft Corp that costs about $120 per user per year, according to the software maker's website.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Sex robots for pleasure in the future
Robots of the future would be used for sexual purposes, believes a
leading scientist.
US robotics scientist Professor Rodney Brooks, former head of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab, said he had no reason to doubt that the technology would have ‘sexual drivers’.
"Every technology that we've had, there has been a sexual driver of it," the Couriermail quoted Brooks, a founder and former chief technical officer of lucrative US company iRobot, as saying.
"I mean, that's certainly true of photographs in the 19th century; and home video players were really driven by sex; and of course the web has been a major source of sex. Yeah, there will be (sexbots) but it is not specific to robots per se," he added.
The expert said the development of sexbots may take some time.
He explained: "There are two versions of it, I suppose. We accept that, yes, there will be robotic sex toys, remote presence sex where someone is controlling a robot and stuff. But there's also been some more outrageous stuff (predicted) – where people marry robots.
"Who knows what will happen in 300 years – you just can't predict – but it's not a burning issue guys. I mean, really."
But artificial intelligence researcher David Levy, who completed his PhD on the subject of human-robot relationships, told LiveScience: "At first, sex with robots might be considered geeky, but once you have a story like ''I had sex with a robot and it was great!'' appear in a magazine like Cosmo, I'd expect many people to jump on the bandwagon.”
Sexual pleasure (Getty Images) |
US robotics scientist Professor Rodney Brooks, former head of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab, said he had no reason to doubt that the technology would have ‘sexual drivers’.
"Every technology that we've had, there has been a sexual driver of it," the Couriermail quoted Brooks, a founder and former chief technical officer of lucrative US company iRobot, as saying.
"I mean, that's certainly true of photographs in the 19th century; and home video players were really driven by sex; and of course the web has been a major source of sex. Yeah, there will be (sexbots) but it is not specific to robots per se," he added.
The expert said the development of sexbots may take some time.
He explained: "There are two versions of it, I suppose. We accept that, yes, there will be robotic sex toys, remote presence sex where someone is controlling a robot and stuff. But there's also been some more outrageous stuff (predicted) – where people marry robots.
"Who knows what will happen in 300 years – you just can't predict – but it's not a burning issue guys. I mean, really."
But artificial intelligence researcher David Levy, who completed his PhD on the subject of human-robot relationships, told LiveScience: "At first, sex with robots might be considered geeky, but once you have a story like ''I had sex with a robot and it was great!'' appear in a magazine like Cosmo, I'd expect many people to jump on the bandwagon.”
IREX DR800SG: The Flip Side of Digital Reading
Robert S. Anthony, PC World
Things got a little more crowded in the ebook reader market Wednesday as IREX Technologies, a pioneer in e-paper technology, rolled out its first consumer reader for the U.S., the stylus-driven IREX DR800SG.
The beige unit features an 8.1-inch e-paper display, a Qualcomm 3G wireless adapter which links to the Verizon Wireless network, and a different business and connectivity model than Amazon’s Kindle. The DR 800SG will be available for $399 from Best Buy starting in late October, said Hans Brons, CEO and founder of IREX Technologies.
The IREX DR800SG allows users to import new content both wirelessly and via a cable link with a PC. Users can view purchased content on other devices or import their own content from their PCs.
“We believe in openness," Kevin Hamilton, CEO for IREX in North America, proclaimed at the New York launch event. Noting the device has a Linux-based operating system, he added, “Our device is really a reading tool for people who love to read.”
The unit supports a number of open and DRM-based ebook formats, including the ePub format, and Hamilton noted that the company had partnered with Barnes & Noble to make it easy for users to purchase content with the DR800SG.
Instead of a finger-driven touchscreen, the DR800SG uses a magnetic resonance stylus, in part to maintain the brightness of the display, said Brons. He said the additional transparent touch layer needed to enable finger navigation would have decreased screen brightness by 15 to 20 percent. He noted that Sony’s Reader uses just such a touch layer, with the expected detrimental effect on brightness.
The slim unit has an intentionally plain design, with only a menu button, a long “flip” bar and a power and activity indicator light on the left side of the 10-ounce unit. The flip bar is pushed from side to side to page through ebooks or menus. Clicking is performed with the stylus or by pushing down on the flip bar.
“We tried to create an almost frameless design,” says Brons The color of the display and the hardware was meant to be “as neutral as possible.”
He added that while the device is ready for electronic ink based note taking, the application that enables the function wasn’t quite ready but would be added later as a free update. A color model is in the works for early 2011.
The edge of the unit is blank except for a power switch and a mini-USB socket. Installed in the battery compartment on the back is a 2GB SD Card, which can hold up to 1,500 e-books and can be replaced with a larger-capacity card.
Due to the sheer lack of buttons, the unit, which swivels in its book-like hard-cover case as if it was a leaf of paper, proved easy to operate. While the large icons for items like the eBook Mall, online newspapers and other items were easy to read and click, some of the smaller indicators, like the 3G connection confirmation icon and the battery icon, get lost somewhat at the bottom of the display.
Pages can be bookmarked by tapping the stylus on the upper right corner of the display. From there you can go to a list of bookmarks for easy navigation. Changing fonts or rotating the page was a matter of making a selection from a menu. Readability was good and, of course, got better with more ambient light.
Hamilton said that $9.99 had become a “de facto price” for ebooks but noted that users don’t pay extra for air time when downloading purchased content. He noted, however, that there may be airtime charges for future vertical business applications if they consume a significant amount of wireless bandwidth.
According to IREX, the unit should run for days on a single charge. Like other e-paper digital readers, the display consumes no power unity unless it’s refreshing a page, downloading content or performing other activity.
Hamilton says the advantage of having the IREX DR800SG available in brick-and-mortar stores like Best Buy will give it a key selling advantage over Amazon’s Kindle, which is available online.
Sep 24, 2009 1:39 am
Things got a little more crowded in the ebook reader market Wednesday as IREX Technologies, a pioneer in e-paper technology, rolled out its first consumer reader for the U.S., the stylus-driven IREX DR800SG.The beige unit features an 8.1-inch e-paper display, a Qualcomm 3G wireless adapter which links to the Verizon Wireless network, and a different business and connectivity model than Amazon’s Kindle. The DR 800SG will be available for $399 from Best Buy starting in late October, said Hans Brons, CEO and founder of IREX Technologies.
The IREX DR800SG allows users to import new content both wirelessly and via a cable link with a PC. Users can view purchased content on other devices or import their own content from their PCs.
“We believe in openness," Kevin Hamilton, CEO for IREX in North America, proclaimed at the New York launch event. Noting the device has a Linux-based operating system, he added, “Our device is really a reading tool for people who love to read.”The unit supports a number of open and DRM-based ebook formats, including the ePub format, and Hamilton noted that the company had partnered with Barnes & Noble to make it easy for users to purchase content with the DR800SG.
Instead of a finger-driven touchscreen, the DR800SG uses a magnetic resonance stylus, in part to maintain the brightness of the display, said Brons. He said the additional transparent touch layer needed to enable finger navigation would have decreased screen brightness by 15 to 20 percent. He noted that Sony’s Reader uses just such a touch layer, with the expected detrimental effect on brightness.
The slim unit has an intentionally plain design, with only a menu button, a long “flip” bar and a power and activity indicator light on the left side of the 10-ounce unit. The flip bar is pushed from side to side to page through ebooks or menus. Clicking is performed with the stylus or by pushing down on the flip bar.
“We tried to create an almost frameless design,” says Brons The color of the display and the hardware was meant to be “as neutral as possible.”
He added that while the device is ready for electronic ink based note taking, the application that enables the function wasn’t quite ready but would be added later as a free update. A color model is in the works for early 2011.
The edge of the unit is blank except for a power switch and a mini-USB socket. Installed in the battery compartment on the back is a 2GB SD Card, which can hold up to 1,500 e-books and can be replaced with a larger-capacity card.
Due to the sheer lack of buttons, the unit, which swivels in its book-like hard-cover case as if it was a leaf of paper, proved easy to operate. While the large icons for items like the eBook Mall, online newspapers and other items were easy to read and click, some of the smaller indicators, like the 3G connection confirmation icon and the battery icon, get lost somewhat at the bottom of the display.
Pages can be bookmarked by tapping the stylus on the upper right corner of the display. From there you can go to a list of bookmarks for easy navigation. Changing fonts or rotating the page was a matter of making a selection from a menu. Readability was good and, of course, got better with more ambient light.
Hamilton said that $9.99 had become a “de facto price” for ebooks but noted that users don’t pay extra for air time when downloading purchased content. He noted, however, that there may be airtime charges for future vertical business applications if they consume a significant amount of wireless bandwidth.
According to IREX, the unit should run for days on a single charge. Like other e-paper digital readers, the display consumes no power unity unless it’s refreshing a page, downloading content or performing other activity.
Hamilton says the advantage of having the IREX DR800SG available in brick-and-mortar stores like Best Buy will give it a key selling advantage over Amazon’s Kindle, which is available online.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
India launches satellite for ocean study
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- India on Wednesday launched a second satellite to study oceans.
The cube-shaped Oceansat-2 will monitor the interaction between oceans and the atmosphere, as part of climate studies, according to the country's main space agency.
The satellite, launched from India's southeast coast, carried six nanosatellites from European universities as auxiliary payloads, said the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). It also is equipped with two solar panels projecting from its sides, for generating power and charging batteries.
India says it has the world's largest constellation of remote-sensing satellites -- 16, including Oceansat-2. They produce images for uses such as agriculture, rural development, water resources, forestry and disaster management.
Wednesday's launch came less than a month after India terminated its unmanned moon mission about 14 months ahead of its programmed life of two years.
The mission -- Chandrayaan-1, which means mooncraft in Sanskrit -- had to be abandoned after it lost contact with the ground.
In 312 days, it completed more than 3,400 orbits around the moon before vanishing from radar, according to the space agency.
Chandrayaan-1 aimed to take high-resolution, three-dimensional images of the lunar surface, especially the permanently shadowed polar regions.
The craft carried payloads from the United States, the European Union and Bulgaria.
Earlier this year, the Indian government increased the federal budget for space research to about $1 billion from $700 millionSaksoft launches Veri-sens
Sept 23 :
Saksoft, a global software services company focusing on the BFSI segment, announced the launch of Veri-sens, a Ready-to-use, end-to-end Business Intelligence solution designed exclusively for the Banking and Financial Services Industry.
Saksoft, a global software services company focusing on the BFSI segment, announced the launch of Veri-sens, a Ready-to-use, end-to-end Business Intelligence solution designed exclusively for the Banking and Financial Services Industry.
The product is packaged into three modules providing ready to go portfolio performance reports and dashboards for Credit Cards, Retail Assets like personal loans, auto loans and mortgages and Retail Liabilities, and also the High Net worth Individual (HNWI) segment.
The company plans to expand its service offerings into the Business Intelligence space through similar specialised products and solutions for Mutual Funds, Small and Medium Enterprises and Insurance sector, said a Saksoft release.
Saksoft's Veri-sens framework is technology independent and can significantly reduce IT cost by leveraging upon existing infrastructure, proprietary tools, open source tools and the power of cloud computing.
Aditya Krishna, Founder & Managing Director, Saksoft Group said 'Saksoft has maintained its performance over the last few quarters and has significantly increased profit margins by 333% in 2008-09 fiscal. Saksoft is a specialist solutions provider in Information Management and offers a comprehensive suite of ready-to use reports and dashboards.
'Our product Veri-sens stands apart from other BI solutions available in the market because of its specialized domain-specific business intelligence framework which can be deployed across multiple business units and product lines. Veri-sens works with any Transaction processing solution and complements the operational reports available from these systems by meeting the analytical reporting requirements of senior and middle management. Over the next three years, Veri-sens will contribute to 10-12% of the company revenues.
'Our future product roadmap for Veri-sens is to look at technology advancements and addition of new products and business areas to the Veri-sens product family.'
Veri-sens offers pre-built data models, industry standard computational engines and more than 150 pre-built reports and dashboards which help businesses identify, manage and overcome key strategic challenges across multiple functional areas.
'We wanted to extend our core service offerings to customers in India. High costs, high complexity and long gestation period are some of the concerns in the industry, while deploying a new Datawarehouse and Business Intelligence solution. With Veri-sens, we have shrunk the deployment time by at least 50%. In fact Veri-sens can be useful to audit an existing data warehouse or build a warehouse from scratch with a very powerful ETL logic. Veri-sens has an established data model and Key Performance Indicators built by domain experts that can be readily used by the business users', said N K Subramaniyam, Executive Director, Operations and Technology, Saksoft Ltd. 'This business intelligence solution will allow customers to make more informed business decisions, reduce credit risk and respond faster to opportunities and threats.'
According to Gartner, by 2012 organisations will allocate at least 40 per cent of the total IT budgets for business intelligence. With Veri-sens, Saksoft continues to deliver powerful, affordable and easy-to-use solutions with a comprehensive suite of ready dashboards and reports that can immediately address a company's most critical business needs. Veri-sens BI solutions can be used across various levels of the organization from front-line customer service representatives to business analysts and senior executives.
Business intelligence has become one of the top most technology priorities. IDC predicts that by 2013, companies will increase their spending at the rate of almost 10% in this sector. Investments are likely to expand in the areas of production reporting, spreadsheets and ad hoc queries, in the range of about 45- 50 % as compared to the last fiscal.
--IBNS
Yahoo to kick off new branding campaign
By Alexei Oreskovic
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc said it would kick off a $100 million branding campaign next week as the No. 2 U.S. Web company seeks to revive growth and redefine itself under Chief Executive Carol Bartz.
The global campaign, "It's You," comes a few months after Yahoo said it would outsource its search technology to Microsoft Corp.
The deal with Microsoft remains on track to close in early 2010, Bartz said during a news briefing in New York on Tuesday to introduce the marketing campaign.
Bartz declined to comment on recent reports that Yahoo is seeking to sell certain businesses such as Zimbra, a provider of business email and calendar services that Yahoo had acquired for about $350 million in 2007.
Yahoo is also seeking as much as $500 million for its small business Web hosting group, sources told Reuters on Monday.
"Most of our assets are very core to the company. Those that aren't, where it makes sense we will sell and where it makes sense we will shut down," Bartz said.
Yahoo's collection of websites were the second most visited Internet properties in the United States in August, behind Google Inc, according to comScore. Yahoo also faces growing competition from a new crop of social networking websites such as Facebook, which recently announced it reached 300 million users.
"The company needs to reinvigorate their brand. Maybe this is kind of a first step in that," said Kaufman Brothers analyst Aaron Kessler.
Yahoo executives on Tuesday promised more product launches such as the redesigned version of its Internet homepage that incorporates third-party websites like Facebook.
The multimedia campaign will be launched in the United States next week, in the United Kingdom and India in October, and other countries next year.
Yahoo shares fell 14 cents at $16.90 in late-afternoon trading on Nasdaq.
Wed Sep 23, 2009 12:48pm IST
New computing tool may help scientists create tastier and longer lasting tomatoes
Scientists have developed a new computing tool that could help scientists predict how plants will react to different environmental conditions in order to create better crops, such as tastier and longer lasting tomatoes.
The tool will form part of a new 1.7 million pounds Syngenta University Centre at Imperial College London, which will see researchers from Imperial and Syngenta working together to improve agricultural products.
Scientists are keen to develop new strains of crops such as drought resistant wheat and new pesticides that are more environmentally friendly.
However, in order to do this, they need to predict how the genes inside plants will react when they are subjected to different chemicals or environmental conditions.
According to Professor Stephen Muggleton, Director of the new Centre from the Department of Computing at Imperial College London, "We believe our computing tool will revolutionize agricultural research by making the process much faster than is currently possible using conventional techniques. We hope that our new technology will ultimately help farmers to produce hardier, longer lasting and more nutritious crops."
The researchers have developed a prototype of the new tool, which they are currently testing.
It can analyze in a matter of minutes, instead of months, which genes are responsible for different processes inside a plant, and how different genes work together.
It uses a type of computer programming that relies on 'machine learning', a set of sophisticated algorithms that allows a computer to 'learn' based on data that it is analysing.
The researchers said that the tool will recognize complex patterns in that data to find 'nuggets' of information about plant biology that might previously have taken months or even years to find.
The 'machine learning' ability of the new tool means that researchers can develop an understanding of different plants even when they are lacking information about some aspects of their inner workings.
Previously, mathematical modelling of a plant's behaviour has been time consuming and difficult because without all the information about a plant, the models have been imprecise.
For the first project using the tool, scientists will look at how different genes affect the way a tomato's flesh hardens and tastes, and how the fruit's skin changes colour from green to red.
The researchers hope that this will enable them to develop new tomato strains that are tastier, and that redden earlier and soften later so that they can be transported more easily to market. (ANI)
Washington | September 23, 2009 2:16:42 PM ISTDiamonds could help devise the ultimate MRI probe
Posted On :23-Sep-2009 02:59:10 Source :Indo Asian News Service
Washington, Sep 23 (IANS) Diamonds, a woman's best friend, might also turn out to be the patient's good friend as well.
Work done by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on quantum computing, it appears, has more immediate application in medical science.
NIST theoretical physicist Jacob Taylor envisions diamond-tipped sensors performing magnetic resonance tests on individual cells within the body, or on single molecules drug companies want to investigate - a sort of MRI scanner for the microscopic.
Their finding that a candidate 'quantum bit' has great sensitivity to magnetic fields hints that MRI-like devices to probe individual drug molecules and living cells may be possible.
The candidate system, formed from a nitrogen atom lodged within a diamond crystal, is promising not only because it can sense atomic-scale variations in magnetism, but also because it functions at room temperature.
Diamond, which is solidified carbon, occasionally has minute imperfections within its crystalline structure. A common impurity is a 'nitrogen vacancy,' in which two carbon atoms are replaced by a single atom of nitrogen, leaving the other carbon atom's space vacant.
Nitrogen vacancies are in part responsible for diamond's famed lustre, for they are actually fluorescent: when green light strikes them, the nitrogen atom's two excitable unpaired electrons glow a brilliant red.
The team can use slight variations in this fluorescence to determine the magnetic spin of a single electron in the nitrogen.
Spin is a quantum property that has a value of either 'up' or 'down,' and therefore could represent one or zero in binary computation.
Reading a quantum bit's spin information - a fundamental task for a quantum computer -has been a daunting challenge, says an NIST release.
But the NIST team demonstrated that by transferring the information back and forth between the electron and the nuclei, the information could be amplified, making it much easier to read.
Microsoft developing new tablet PC device
SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp is developing a small tablet-style PC to rival a similar product that may be launched by Apple Inc, technology blog Gizmodo reported on Tuesday.
The booklet-shaped device, called Courier, is in the "late prototype" stage of development, Gizmodo reported, without identifying the source of its information.
Microsoft did not immediately answer a request for comment.
The Courier device has dual 7-inch (18 cm) screens that are touch sensitive and can be used in conjunction with a stylus, Gizmodo reported.
Apple has long been expected to launch its own tablet PC -- essentially a large version of its iPhone -- but has so far announced no plans to do so.
Jude Law's drag film 'RAGE' going straight-to-mobile phone
London, Sept 23 : Jude Law's quirky stint as a drag artist in the low budget experimental flick, Rage, will make a record of sorts when it is released directly on cellphones.
Film enthusiasts will also be able to text in their questions about the feature.
Helmer Sally Potter is unsure how it will work out for the movie, but is willing to give technology a chance.
The Sun quoted her as saying: "We don't know how this is going to work, especially since it is the first ever feature on cellphones. We're making it up as we go along and taking the plunge and the risk.
"There's so much terror in the film industry at the moment about piracy, people stealing your idea and making money off of it; and the only way I found of dealing with that is to say, 'Here, have it.' If you keep looking over your shoulder, you don't trailblaze.
"It's not necessarily a great money spinner. At the moment I'm in debt but the great advantage of being in debt means you've got nothing to lose."
Potter also disclosed her reasons for casting Law as a cross-dressing Minx, a role she earlier planned for a woman.
She said: "When I first wrote the part I was imagining it would be played by a woman and I suddenly realised one day it would be infinitely more interesting to be played by a man.
"I immediately thought of Jude because he has been accused, so to speak, of being too beautiful.
"That gave us incredible material to work with and we had discussions about that when we were working on it. We worked together on the looks and spent quite a bit of time with make-up, hair and costume tests until we found the character."
Rage will be released in London next week.
--ANI
HP introduces SkyRoom
California: HP established a new category in videoconferencing with the introduction of HP SkyRoom - affordable, high-definition videoconferencing software that offers live, real-time collaboration for instant face-to-face meetings with no subscription fees.
HP SkyRoom is based on video and image communication technology developed in HP Labs, the company's central research arm. Elements of this technology were used by NASA's Mars rovers to transfer high resolution images back to earth. HP SkyRoom is the only videoconferencing tool to offer real-time collaboration for up to four people over a standard business network for $149 - less than the cost of round-trip airfare from San Francisco to Los Angeles.
Until now, companies have had few options for videoconferencing - expensive enterprise telepresence systems or Internet freeware tools that strip out the subtleties of human interactions and don't allow for the sharing of rich media content such as video and computer-aided design manipulation.
SkyRoom will be included as a standard feature 'at no cost' on select HP business desktop and mobile workstations and for free for a trial period on many upcoming HP premium business PCs and notebooks. HP SkyRoom can be used on workstations or PCs from Dell, Lenovo or Sun that meet minimum technology requirements. Companies now have the power to change the economics of travel and reduce their carbon footprint while preserving the value of personal human interaction.
"Finally, video meetings with genuine eye contact and natural human interaction are as easy as starting an instant messaging connection. It takes business productivity and collaboration to a completely new level when we can connect people around the world in a day via HP SkyRoom and let them get home to family dinner and bedtime stories - without the wear and tear of travel," said Jim Zafarana, Vice President and General Manager, Workstations, HP.
Using HP SkyRoom is as easy as beginning an instant message conversation. Users simply click a contact to connect, which quickly initiates a live SkyRoom session. Another click shares the desktop or rich media content and participants are instantly collaborating. During an HP SkyRoom session, information is transferred at a rate of four times faster than the blink of an eye.
HP SkyRoom is available worldwide pre installed at no cost on the HP Z800, Z600, Z400 and xw4600 workstations. Select premium business PCs and notebooks due out from HP in the coming months will include a 90-day trial of HP SkyRoom, which will be available for purchase thereafter. Customers using current HP workstations, desktops, notebooks or non-HP systems can purchase HP SkyRoom for $149 at HP's website.
HP SkyRoom is based on video and image communication technology developed in HP Labs, the company's central research arm. Elements of this technology were used by NASA's Mars rovers to transfer high resolution images back to earth. HP SkyRoom is the only videoconferencing tool to offer real-time collaboration for up to four people over a standard business network for $149 - less than the cost of round-trip airfare from San Francisco to Los Angeles.
Until now, companies have had few options for videoconferencing - expensive enterprise telepresence systems or Internet freeware tools that strip out the subtleties of human interactions and don't allow for the sharing of rich media content such as video and computer-aided design manipulation.
SkyRoom will be included as a standard feature 'at no cost' on select HP business desktop and mobile workstations and for free for a trial period on many upcoming HP premium business PCs and notebooks. HP SkyRoom can be used on workstations or PCs from Dell, Lenovo or Sun that meet minimum technology requirements. Companies now have the power to change the economics of travel and reduce their carbon footprint while preserving the value of personal human interaction.
"Finally, video meetings with genuine eye contact and natural human interaction are as easy as starting an instant messaging connection. It takes business productivity and collaboration to a completely new level when we can connect people around the world in a day via HP SkyRoom and let them get home to family dinner and bedtime stories - without the wear and tear of travel," said Jim Zafarana, Vice President and General Manager, Workstations, HP.
Using HP SkyRoom is as easy as beginning an instant message conversation. Users simply click a contact to connect, which quickly initiates a live SkyRoom session. Another click shares the desktop or rich media content and participants are instantly collaborating. During an HP SkyRoom session, information is transferred at a rate of four times faster than the blink of an eye.
HP SkyRoom is available worldwide pre installed at no cost on the HP Z800, Z600, Z400 and xw4600 workstations. Select premium business PCs and notebooks due out from HP in the coming months will include a 90-day trial of HP SkyRoom, which will be available for purchase thereafter. Customers using current HP workstations, desktops, notebooks or non-HP systems can purchase HP SkyRoom for $149 at HP's website.
By siliconindia news bureau
Wednesday,23 September 2009, 15:10 hrs
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Acer Gemstone
Acer Gemstone: New Affordable Notebooks
Acer will unveil new affordable multimedia notebooks by the end of this month. The Gemstone lineup will get new multimedia notebooks in two 15.6-inch and 17.3 display screen sizes. Of the three new Acer Gemstone notebooks, two would be sub $600 (Rs. 29,300 approx.) Aspire AS5536 and Aspire AS7735Z are available in U.S. today onwards. Aspire AS5739G, equipped with Blu-ray drive, will be made available by end of this month for $749.99 (Rs. 36,600).
Apart from that, the notebook adds 3GB DDR2 667MHz memory, 320GB SATA HDD and has ATI Radeon HD 3200 series graphics card. A dual-layer DVD-Multi drive and WLAN with 802.11 b/g/n support is also included. This notebook is priced for $479.99 (Rs. 23, 400 approx.).
While the 17.3-inch Aspire AS7735Z features 2.0GHz Intel Pentium T6400 with 1MB L2 Cache and 800MHz FSB support. This notebook packs in 4GB DDR3 1066MHz memory, Intel GMA 4500MHD, 250GB SATA HDD and dual-layer DVD-Multi drive. Like the Aspire AS5536, this model too supports 802.11 b/g/n wireless Internet standards. This notebook is available for $599 (Rs. 29,300).
Another Gemstone notebook Aspire AS5739G, carrying Blu-ray drive, would be launched by the end of this month in U.S. The Aspire AS5739G has 2.1GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T6500 with 2MB L2 Cache and 800MHz FSB. Packing 4GB DDR3 1066MHz memory, this notebook has Nvidia GeForce GT130M graphics with 1GB video memory. Also, the WLAN 802.11b/g/n support and other features like Bio-protection fingerprint solution and PowerSmart key have been added. This notebook would be sold at price of $749.99 (Rs. 36,600).
Source:Techtree.com
MINI 3i - Dell's Chinese phone
Yesterday, the first reports of Dell's Chinese handset came into light. Though it was just speculation, although from a credible source. A day later, we have more information about the handset.
More on this as soon as the news is out! Oh, and lest we forget, the phone might be announced during the "middle" of the month. We're approaching the middle part in a few days! Therefore, it might just be a week or so away!
Gscreen Computers - DUAL SCREEN LAPTOPS
US Firm Plans Dual Screen Laptops
Now this is quite something! A US based company, Gscreen Computers, is readying a dual screen laptop that might go on sale sometime later this year. The laptop will consist of a main display and a slide out expandable display, which will give the laptop huge screen real estate.
Each of the screens will have a 1280x800 pixel resolution (which might be too low by today's standards) and will measure 15.4 cm. However, the widescreen effect should more than make up for this.
Dual screens apart, the laptop is as "normal" as a laptop could be - save for the specifications, which is not bad at all. The base version will ship with the following configuration Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 @2.26GHz, 4GB RAM, a 320GB hard disk. As for the graphics, it might either pack in a Nvidia GeForce 9800M GT or a Nvidia Quadro FX 1700M - both with 512MB memory.
The only concern with this laptop may be its power hungry requirements and it is likely that it will ship with a 9-cell battery to give it a decent backup time. When launched, the laptop is expected to cost around $3000. It will run either Windows XP or Vista, although it makes sense to ship this one with Windows 7 installed.
Canon New PowerShot Cameras
Canon Launches Six New PowerShot Cameras
Canon has announced six new PowerShot cameras meant to offer diverse photographic options. This new range includes a G-series PowerShot, three from the ELPH line, and two in the lightweight category compact digital cameras.
1.)
The cameras are Canon PowerShot G11, PowerShot S90, PowerShot SX20 IS, PowerShot SX120 IS, and PowerShot SD980 IS and SD940 IS Digital ELPH Cameras.
Features
All of the new cameras feature Optical Image Stabilization and use the DIGIC 4 Image Processor, meant to offer higher performance levels, improved signal processing speeds and enhanced image quality.
They also offer the 'Smart AUTO technology' that tracks moving faces and 22 different shooting situations (up from 18 previously) by identifying the surroundings to help ensure proper lighting and focus.
Select new PowerShot models also have the ability to shoot 720p High-Definition (HD) video, utilize the PureColor System LCD and a PowerShot Digital ELPH camera will now have a touch screen user interface for easy navigation through images and menus.
The G11 features a variety of shooting modes and is compatible with EOS accessories. Designed for those looking for a pocket-sized camera with SLR functionality, Canon said that this camera is aimed for people who love to capture landscapes and professional portraits.
Key features:
• 10.0 megapixel High Sensitivity System, 5x Optical Zoom lens with Optical Image Stabilization. Additionally, a 28mm (equivalent to 28-140 mm) wide-angle lens helps to get large groups into one shot at events such as a family reunion.
• A 2.8-inch vari-angle PureColor System LCD, new to the G-series, meant for easier on-camera previewing and reviewing of images from nearly every angle, while still incorporating the optical viewfinder found on previous models.
• Two mode dials for adjusting ISO and exposure compensation, and a full range of shooting and recording modes, including RAW + JPEG for ultimate creative control when editing images.
Scheduled to be available in October, the PowerShot G11 Digital Camera retails for an estimated price of $499.99 (approx. Rs. 24,319) in U.S.
2.)
The PowerShot S90 comes with a High Sensitivity System sensor in addition to a 28mm wide-angle f/2.0 lens to help produce sharper images in low-light situations, said Canon.
Key Features:
• A 10.0 megapixel High Sensitivity System with a 3.8x Optical Zoom and Optical Image Stabilization.
• A customizable control ring for easy access and operation of manual or other creative shooting settings.
• A large 3.0-inch PureColor System LCD.
• Full range of shooting and recording modes, including RAW + JPEG.
Scheduled to be available in October, the PowerShot S90 Digital Camera retails for an estimated price of $429.99 (Rs. 20,900 approx.).
3.)
The latest additions to the SX-series are the PowerShot SX20 IS and PowerShot SX120 IS.
Canon PowerShot SX20 IS Digital Camera
Key Features:
• A 12.1 megapixel sensor with a high-powered 20x wide-angle Optical Zoom lens and Optical Image Stabilizer to help reduce camera shake and achieve magnificent images whether up close or far away.
• The ability to shoot superb 720p (30 fps) HD video with HDMI output to share high-quality videos of memorable moments with family and friends.
• A 2.5-inch vari-angle PureColor System LCD allowing for easy on-camera viewing of images and menus at nearly every angle while also having a viewfinder.
• AA batteries for easy power-up and replacement.
Scheduled to be available in September, the PowerShot SX20 IS Digital Camera retails for an estimated price of $399.99 (Rs. 19, 450 approx.).
4.)
Key Features:
• A 10.0 megapixel sensor with a 10x Optical Zoom lens and Optical Image Stabilization.
• 3.0-inch LCD.
• AA batteries for easy power-up and replacement.
Scheduled to be available in September, the PowerShot SX120 IS Digital Camera retails for an estimated price of $249.99 (approx. Rs. 12, 154).
Canon PowerShot SD980 IS and SD940 IS Digital ELPH Cameras
The stylish ELPH brand from Canon will now offer a camera that has a 3.0-inch touch panel PureColor System LCD.
Canon PowerShot SD980 IS Digital ELPH Camera
Key Features:
• 12.1 megapixel sensor, 3.0-inch touch panel PureColor System LCD.
• 720p HD video shooting capabilities plus HDMI output connector for playback of video and photos on HDTVs to share with friends and family.
• A 5x Optical Zoom lens with an ultra-wide 24mm lens, plus Optical Image Stabilization.
Scheduled to be available in October, the PowerShot SD980 IS Digital ELPH Camera retails for an estimated price of $329.99 (Rs. 16, 050 approx).
5.)
Featuring:
• A 12.1 megapixel sensor, 28mm wide-angle lens with 4x Optical Zoom lens and Optical Image Stabilization offering versatility when shooting in the field.
• 720p HD movie shooting capabilities plus HDMI output connector for easy playback of video and photos on an HDTV.
• A 2.7-inch PureColor System LCD with a wide viewing angle.
Scheduled to be available in September, the PowerShot SD940 IS Digital ELPH Camera retails for an estimated price of $299.99 (approx. Rs. 14, 585).
Is it Time to Bid Goodbye to VoIP?
Just as the Department of Telecom, or DoT , has taken a call to bury IMEI-less handsets that could play into the hands of terrorists, reports suggest that your untraceable Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP services may not live very long too.
Reportedly, India's Intelligence Bureau (IB) has instructed the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to block all Internet telephony services in and out of India till DoT can devise a method to track such calls.
According to the report, "In the absence of Caller Line Identification (CLI) parameters of calls landing from abroad, it's next to impossible to identify the country of location of the caller. The calls passing through the VoIP/IP route contain inadequate parameters rendering it impossible to trace the actual callers. As DoT had conveyed that it is not possible to mandate transmission of CLI from abroad, IB has approached DoT to block such calls till a technical solution is found."
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommended the lifting of restrictions on Internet telephony in the country in August 2008.
As per TRAI, there are around 34 companies providing VoIP services in the country. If the block is implemented, it is likely to disrupt the habits and businesses of many.
Source: Techtree.com
Halo 3 ODST
Halo 3 ODST hits Indian market on Sept 22
Good news for gamers. Halo 3 ODST, the most awaited gaming title of the year drops on September 22 in India.
For the first time in the history of gaming entertainment in India, Microsoft Xbox 360 and PVR cinema have teamed up to host the most exciting console gaming night in New Delhi on September 22 .The event is expected to serve as a platform for gamers to come together and play their favorite game on 35 mm screen.
The "Halo" franchise is an award-winning collection of properties that have grown into a global entertainment phenomenon. Published by Microsoft Game Studios, the "Halo" franchise of games is exclusive to the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system and the games are optimized for the Xbox LIVE online entertainment network.
Halo 3: ODST's tale focuses on the legendary ODSTs or "Orbital Drop Shock Troopers" as they drop into the ruined city of New Mombasa, looking for clues behind the Covenant's catastrophic attack on the city. With exclusive new maps and the chance to play online on Xbox LIVE, the world's biggest gaming social network, Halo 3: ODST offers endless enjoyment.
Source: India Syndicate
For more details log on to
Halo 3 ODST
SAMSUNG PIXON 12
Samsung Pixon 12 makes Indian debut
All you megapixel fans out there rejoice! Here's one more ego booster for you all if your now "standard" 8 megapixel camera count did not seem "good enough". To satiate the needs of your kind, Samsung has (finally) announced the Pixon 12 (M8910) in the country, complete with phone functionalities and a touchscreen.
If you were starting to get worried about the lack of enthusiasm (from the victims to whom you were showing off, of course) for your current 8 megapixel phone, getting the Pixon would be a mighty good idea. Apart from boosting your ego, it will also make your pocket lighter by 29k. Not a bad price for getting to say, "I have the most megapixelled (yeah, we made up that word) phone in the country". Indeed, not bad at all!
If your audience is even mildly geeky and understand that image quality is not just about megapixel count, you can divert his attention to the other impressive features of the phone - like the 3.1-inch AMOLED touchscreen (don't tell him it's resistive) that renders 16 million colors at a bedazzling resolution of 480x800 pixels. As the last resort, you have the Touchwiz UI, which will make the phone look cooler than it actually is. The video recording part might be a let down, however, (especially if you own the Omnia HD) But hey, it still records stuff at 720x480 pixels at a very decent 30 frames per second - which is just below the Omnia HD'S 1280x720 pixel HD resolution.
Coming back to the camera, the Pixon 12 has a wide-angle lens (there you go N86 owners) and with autofocus, xenon and power LED flash all integrated, the Pixon's attempt to replace that digicam of yours becomes more serious. Oh and you get all those snazzy software enabled modes to play around with as well - smile shot, face detection, image stabilization and the likes.
Moving away from the camera, the Pixon 12 also supports 3G, GPS, A-GPS, and all the other wireless connectivity options one can think of (IrDA is dead, so please don't!). When you are tired taking pictures, you can use the FM Radio with RDS or tinker with the TV out functionality as well. Thank Samsung for including a TV Out cable for this one. While the paltry 150MB of internal memory might seem insufficient, you can always use the microSD slot to add a 16GB card and relax.
The Pixon 12 is now here and can be yours for the aforementioned price of Rs. 29,990. Once you get this one, do make an occasional phone call or send a text - just to make it feel "complete".
Source: www.techtree.com
Zuma's revenge demo for PC
If you haven't heard about Zuma, then it's time to start afresh and take a look at the Zuma legacy. The game is about a frog shooting colorful marbles out of its mouth. Zuma's Revenge is an iteration of Zuma with refined graphics for this classic color ball-matching game. The demo of this game is available from its official site and can be played on Windows or Mac based systems.
In the Zuma's Revenge Demo, the player gets to play stone frog idol Zuma. Gameplay has been refined a bit with sliding and hopping. The frog rotates itself around an axis, moves horizontally or vertically. The objective of the game is to shoot the marbles with matching color before any of them reaches the skull.
The sequel takes the player into a new Polynesian setting which is ruled by the angry god and final boss of the game, Zhaka Mu.
Features:
-Take on the tikis in four game modes: Adventure, Challenge, Iron Frog and Heroic Frog
-Explosive power-ups including three new shots
-New gameplay includes lily-pad hopping, slide-aiming, and more
-Save stats in the Tiki Temple
Popcap offers this full game for $19.95 (approx. Rs. 960).
Monday, August 3, 2009
Nanotube-Powered X-Rays
Tiny electron emitters inside an x-ray generator could improve medical imaging and cancer therapy.
Carbon nanotubes are at the heart of a new x-ray machine that is slated for clinical tests later this year at the University of North Carolina (UNC) Hospitals. The machine could perform much better than those used today for x-ray imaging and cancer therapy, say the UNC researchers who developed the technology. They have shown that it speeds up organ imaging, takes sharper images, and could increase the accuracy of radiotherapy so it doesn't harm normal tissue.
 |
| Capturing the heart: In a new scanner, carbon nanotubes fire electrons instantly to generate x-rays. This gives sharp, high-resolution pictures, such as this one of a fast-beating mouse heart. Credit: Otto Zhou, University of North Carolina |
Conventional x-ray machines consist of a long tube with an electron emitter, typically a tungsten filament, at one end and a metal electrode at the other. The tungsten filament emits electrons when it is heated to 1,000 degrees Celsius. The electrons are accelerated along the tube and strike the metal, creating x-rays.
Instead of a single tungsten emitter, the UNC team uses an array of vertical carbon nanotubes that serve as hundreds of tiny electron guns. While tungsten requires time to warm up, the nanotubes emit electrons from their tips instantly when a voltage is applied to them.
The researchers presented work on their nanotube scanner at the meeting last week of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine.
Physics and materials science professor Otto Zhou cofounded a company called Xintek in Research Triangle Park, NC, to commercialize the technology. Xintek has teamed with Siemens Medical Solutions to form a joint-venture company, XinRay Systems, which has developed the prototype system that will be clinically tested this year.
Taking clear, high-resolution x-ray images of body organs is much easier with the new multi-beam x-ray source, Zhou says. Conventional computerized tomography (CT) scan machines take a few minutes to create clear 3-D images using x-ray. "Because the radiation is coming from one point in space, the machine has to move the [electron] source and detector around the object," Zhou says. The x-ray emitter fires while the tube moves. The motion of the heart and lungs can blur images, so a CT scanner takes hundreds of pictures that are synthesized to reconstruct a 3-D image.The new machine, by contrast, turns multiple nanotube emitters on and off in sequence to take pictures from different angles without moving. Because the emitters turn on and off instantaneously, says Daniel Kopans, director of breast imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital, the system should be able to take more images every second. This faster exposure, Kopans says, should reduce blur, much as a high-speed camera captures ultrafast motion. Zhou and his colleagues have been able to take breast images at nearly twice the resolution of commercial scanners, using 25 simultaneous beams in a few seconds.
Fast, real-time imaging will in turn improve cancer treatment. "State-of-the-art radiation therapy is highly image-based," says Sha Chang, a professor of radiation oncology at the UNC School of Medicine who is working with Zhou. Pictures of the tumor area are taken so that radiation can be focused on the tumor, sparing the normal tissue surrounding it. But since today's scanners are slow, Chang says it isn't possible to take 3-D images and treat the patient at the same time. "Using the [nanotube] x-ray imaging device allows [us] to collect 3-D imaging while we're treating the patient, to make sure high-dose radiation and heat [are] delivered to the right place," she says.
The clinical test results will determine if Xintek can enter the medical-imaging market. Meanwhile, the company is also selling its nanotube emitters to display manufacturers. Companies such as Samsung and Motorola are making displays based on nanotube emitters that promise to consume less power than liquid-crystal displays or plasma screens while providing the brightness and sharpness of bulky cathode-ray-tube TVs because they work on the same principle: shooting electrons at a screen coated with red, green, and blue phosphors.
Xintek's imaging technology is also proving useful for research on laboratory animals. It can take sharp cardiac images of mice, which is hard because of their rapid heartbeats. Zhou says that biomedical researchers at UNC are already using the system and are installing a second unit at the medical-school research facility.
How to Land Safely Back on the Moon
A hazard-detection system promises safe landings for next-generation lunar explorers.
Engineers at the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory in Cambridge, MA, are developing a guidance, navigation, and control system for lunar landings that includes an onboard hazard-detection system able to spot craters, slopes, and rocks that could be dangerous to landing craft. In the Apollo missions of 40 years ago, astronauts steered the lander to a safe spot by looking out the window; the lander itself "had no eyes," says Eldon Hall, a retired Draper engineer and one of the original electronics designers for Apollo's navigation computer.
Engineers at the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory in Cambridge, MA, are developing a guidance, navigation, and control system for lunar landings that includes an onboard hazard-detection system able to spot craters, slopes, and rocks that could be dangerous to landing craft. In the Apollo missions of 40 years ago, astronauts steered the lander to a safe spot by looking out the window; the lander itself "had no eyes," says Eldon Hall, a retired Draper engineer and one of the original electronics designers for Apollo's navigation computer.
That meant there were some close calls with Apollo, says Tye Brady, the technical director for lunar landing at Draper, who demonstrated his team's automated-landing and hazard-avoidance technology at last week's celebration of the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11. "They were really close," Brady says, "and one- to two-meter craters are deadly. You don't see them till the last minute." Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong had to steer past a field of rocks that didn't show up on any recon photos beforehand, and Apollo 14 landed at a precarious tilt with one footpad resting about a meter away from a crater.
The new navigation and guidance system is being developed for NASA's Altair lunar lander, which is scheduled to land on the moon by 2020 as part of the Constellation program. The project is headed by NASA's Johnson Space Center, with support from other NASA research facilities in addition to Draper Laboratory. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory recently completed a field test of the sensors and mapping algorithms, and it plans to begin full systems tests in May 2010.
Brady says that the best image resolution today, such as the cameras on the orbiter now circling and photographing the moon, cannot resolve smaller holes or boulders at projected landing sites, even in smooth, well-lit areas--which aren't the targets for NASA's future landings. Altair aims to land capably at any site on the moon's surface, and the lunar terrain will vary. For that, Brady says, "you need real-time hazard detection" to adjust as you go.
Draper's system will use LIDAR laser technology to scan an area for hazards like craters or rocks before the lander touches down on the moon's surface. Raw data from LIDAR is processed and assembled into a 3-D map of the moon's surface, using algorithms developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. One advantage of using LIDAR is that "it's the only type of sensor that measures the 3-D shape of what's on the ground at high resolution and from high altitude," says Andrew Johnson, the JPL lead for the hazard-detection system. That allows the system to build a terrain and elevation map of potential landing sites onboard the spacecraft, but from high enough up that there is time to respond to obstacles or craters at the landing site.
Landing in a pinch: Draper Laboratory’s simulated guidance, navigation, and control system prioritizes landing sites (areas 1, 2, 3, 4) in this representative display. Astronauts may designate a first-choice site or default to site number 1. Hazards such as boulders and craters are highlighted in red for real-time decisions about safe landing sites.
Credit: Draper Laboratory
Once the map is built, the system designates safe sites based on factors like the tilt angle of the surface, the distance and fuel cost to get to a site, the position of the lander's footpads, and the crew's margin for safe distance from hazards. Based on that information, the navigation system presents astronauts with a prioritized list of three to four safe landing sites. The astronauts can then designate any of the sites as first choice, or if they are incapacitated, the system will navigate the lander automatically to the first site on its list.
The ability to land autonomously will enable both crewed and robotic missions to land safely, Brady says (while Apollo's lunar module had an automatic landing mode, it was never used). In addition to NASA's Altair, the system could be integrated into vehicles landing on near-Earth asteroids, Mars, and other planets, or used with other lunar vehicles built by private groups.
Another advantage of using LIDAR, Johnson says, is that it works under any lighting conditions. To deal with light at the moon's equator--where a "day" is equivalent to 14 Earth days, and a "night" lasts 14 Earth nights--Apollo missions had to be timed exactly, with just one launch opportunity per month, so NASA could control the craft's exposure to light and heat. But because lighting conditions are more varied and extreme at the moon's poles, with patches of light and dark from the shadows of mountains and deep craters, it will be difficult for astronauts to see to navigate. LIDAR allows the craft to "land at night, or in shadowed regions, because the light is provided by the LIDAR sensor, not the sun," Johnson says. With real-time hazard detection, he says, the launch and landing limitations of Apollo won't apply to future missions.
The challenge for a landing system, says Brady, is getting everything to happen in about 120 seconds, including hazard-detection scans to get the data, human interaction for site approval, and then hazard-avoidance maneuvers and touchdown. His team has developed a simulator to create realistic image maps of the moon's surface, in addition to using computer code from NASA for the guidance and navigation portion of the system. So far, about 20 astronauts have sampled the Draper simulation. "They're good at going slow and easy, and they're very patient," Brady says. "They do a good job relying on the system." That's a long way from the early days when the Apollo astronauts "wanted to fly the whole thing themselves," Hall says.
The Draper team continues to develop high-fidelity models of LIDAR and terrain maps, while coordinating with NASA's crew office to determine the best way to display information for astronauts. They aim to have the technology ready by 2012.
A Better Way to Shoot Down Spam
Junk mail can now be identified based on a single packet of data.
New software developed at the Georgia Institute for Technology can identify spam before it hits the mail server. The system, known as SNARE (Spatio-temporal Network-level Automatic Reputation Engine), scores each incoming e-mail based on a variety of new criteria that can be gleaned from a single packet of data. The researchers involved say the automated system puts less of a strain on the network and minimizes the need for human intervention while achieving the same accuracy as traditional spam filters.
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| Credit: Technology Review |
Separating spam from legitimate e-mail, also known as ham, isn't easy. That's partly because of the sheer volume of messages that need to be processed and partly because of e-mail expectations: users want their e-mail to arrive minutes, if not seconds, after it was sent. Analyzing the content of every e-mail might be a reliable method for identifying spam, but it takes too long, says Nick Feamster, an assistant professor at Georgia Tech who oversaw the SNARE research. Letting spam flow into our in-boxes unfiltered isn't a sensible option, either. According to a report released by the e-mail security firm MessageLabs, spam accounted for 90.4 percent of all e-mail sent in June.
"If you're not concerned about spam, I would suggest you turn off your spam filter for about an hour and see what happens," says Sven Krasser, senior director of data-mining research at McAfee. The Santa Clara, CA, company provided raw data for analysis by the Georgia Tech team.
The team analyzed 25 million e-mails collected by TrustedSource.org, an online service developed by McAfee to collate data on trends in spam and malware. Using this data, the Georgia Tech researchers discovered several characteristics that could be gleaned from a single packet of data and used to efficiently identify junk mail. For example, their research revealed that ham tends to come from computers that have a lot of channels, or ports, open for communication. Bots, automated systems that are often used to send out reams of spam, tend to keep open only the e-mail port, known as the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol port.
Furthermore, the researchers found that by plotting the geodesic distance between the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of the sender and receiver--measured on the curved surface of the earth--they could determine whether the message was junk. (Much like every house has a street address, every computer on the Internet has an IP address, and that address can be mapped to a geographic area.) Spam, the researchers found, tends to travel farther than ham. Spammers also tend to have IP addresses that are numerically close to those of other spammers.
Dean Malmgren, a PhD candidate at Northwestern University whose work includes identifying new methods for identifying spam, says he finds the research interesting. But he wonders how robust SNARE will be once its methodology is widely known. IP addresses, he notes, are easy to fake. So, if spammers got wind of how SNARE works, they might, for example, use a fake IP a
The Georgia Tech researchers also looked at the autonomous server (AS) number associated with an e-mail. (An AS number is assigned to every independently operated network, whether it's an Internet service provider or a campus network.) Knowing that a significant percentage of spam comes from a handful of autonomous server numbers, the researchers decided to integrate that characteristic into SNARE, too.
The end result was a system capable of detecting spam 70 percent of the time, with a 0.3 percent false positive rate. Feamster says that's comparable to existing spam filters but notes that when used in tandem with existing systems, the process should be far more efficient.
"Consider SNARE a first line of defense," says Shuang Hao, a PhD candidate in computer science at the Georgia Institute of Technology and a SNARE researcher. Each of the characteristics in the SNARE system contributes to the overall score of an e-mail. So far SNARE has been implemented only in a research environment, but if used in a corporate setting, the network administrator could set rules about what happens to e-mail based on its SNARE score. For example, e-mail that scores poorly could be dropped before it even hits the mail server. Hao says this can save considerable resources, as many companies have a policy that requires they retain a copy of every e-mail that hits the server, whether or not it's junk. Messages with mediocre scores could be further assessed by traditional content filters.
Hao is currently helping Yahoo improve its spam filter, based on what he's learned developing SNARE. He says that Cisco has also expressed interest in the work.
"It is fairly clever in the way that they combine a bunch of data that's cheap to use," says John Levine, president of the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email and a senior technical advisor to the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group, a consortium of companies involved in fighting spam. "On the other hand, I think some of their conclusions are a bit too optimistic. Spammers are not dumb; any time you have a popular scheme [for identifying spam], they'll circumvent it."
The research team will present their work on SNARE at the Usenix Security Conference next month in Montreal. In the future, Feamster hopes to able to apply their findings to other computer security problems, such as phishing e-mails, in which the sender pretends to be from a trusted institution to con recipients into divulging their passwords.
ddress close to the recipient's.
HP Announces Digital Print Network Service
In an attempt to tap the growing opportunity of personalized digital printing in the hospitality sector, HP India has announced a digital print network service to educate corporate, hotelier, and printing organization. The move is aimed at addressing the industry's requirement of highly personalization solutions, and to have larger business share.
While offering more insight on this, Puneet Chadha, director (imaging solutions business) of HP India's Imaging and Printing Group said, "Today more than 90% of printing solutions in hospitality vertical is dominated by off-set printing and single digit being driven by digital printing. Digital printing fulfills the four key needs of hospitality sector, such as personalized printing, short run and on demand printing and environment friendly."
"The domestic hospitality sector is expected to see investment of over $11 billion in the next two years with 40 international hotel brands making their presence felt in India by 2012," he added.
Hospitality and many other sectors are gradually opting digital printing to produce marketing collaterals and direct mailers to menu cards, photo merchandise, calendars, personalized itinerary and check -in cards.
While offering more insight on this, Puneet Chadha, director (imaging solutions business) of HP India's Imaging and Printing Group said, "Today more than 90% of printing solutions in hospitality vertical is dominated by off-set printing and single digit being driven by digital printing. Digital printing fulfills the four key needs of hospitality sector, such as personalized printing, short run and on demand printing and environment friendly."
"The domestic hospitality sector is expected to see investment of over $11 billion in the next two years with 40 international hotel brands making their presence felt in India by 2012," he added.
Hospitality and many other sectors are gradually opting digital printing to produce marketing collaterals and direct mailers to menu cards, photo merchandise, calendars, personalized itinerary and check -in cards.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Radiation Therapy for Moving Targets
Researchers have combined two devices for real-time tumor tracking and treatment.
Normal tissue often gets caught in the crossfire during radiation therapy. Damage is caused by the high-energy beams of radiation used to kill tumor tissue--particularly when the patient's breathing causes the tumor to shift.
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| Odd couple: A prototype device combines a magnetic resonance imager with a linear accelerator, two technologies that ordinarily interfere with each other. The blue cylinders facing each other are the imaging magnets. The metal circle visible to the left at the back is a magnetic and radiation shield that protects the accelerator’s waveguide. Credit: University of Alberta Cross Cancer Institute |
To better track a tumor's position in real time and adjust the radiation accordingly, researchers at the University of Alberta in Canada have combined a linear accelerator with a magnetic resonance imager. Today in Anaheim, CA, at the annual meeting of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, researchers will present evidence that a device that combines these technologies can accurately track and irradiate a moving target.
Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays from a medical linear accelerator to damage tumor tissue and treat nearly every type of cancer. In the United States, half of all patients with cancer receive this form of treatment, which typically requires 10 to 15 sessions lasting from about 15 to 30 minutes each. In order to make sure the entire tumor is irradiated, doctors have to irradiate a margin of healthy tissue around it, which leads to side effects including nausea, pain, and skin-tissue damage. In between sessions, the healthy tissue regenerates, but the tumor does not. One way to minimize the side effects is to lower the radiation dose and increase the number of sessions, sometimes to as many as 35.
"We would like to decrease the margins and increase the radiation dose, in order to control the tumor better without side effects," says Gino Fallone, director of the medical physics division at the University of Alberta department of oncology.
Another challenge is posed by tumor movement during treatment. Tumors in the lungs and the prostate especially may move by about two centimeters during treatment. Current radiotherapy deals with this challenge by combining the radiation source with a computed tomography (CT) scan. This helps doctors reduce damage to healthy tissue, but CT scans are not very good at showing soft tumor tissue, and they are too slow to track tumor movement in real time. Fallone's group has turned to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which provides crisp pictures of soft tissues such as tumors, in the hopes of doing better.
Until now, it hasn't been possible to use MRI to guide radiotherapy. This is because MRI machines and the linear accelerators that supply high-energy x-rays for radiotherapy interfere with each other. MRI uses a strong magnet and pulses of radio-frequency waves to excite and read a signal from protons in the water molecules inside soft tissues in the body. Medical linear accelerators also use radio-frequency pulses, in their case in order to accelerate electrons through a waveguide toward a metal target. When the electrons hit the target, high-energy x-rays come out the other side; these x-rays are then aimed at tumor tissue. If these two machines are in the same room, the magnetic field from the MRI interferes with the waveguide, preventing the electrons from being accelerated, and the radio-frequency pulses from the linear accelerator interfere with the imager's magnetic field, degrading picture quality.
To combine the technologies, the Alberta researchers had to reengineer both components. "The whole machine is designed differently," says Fallone. Special shielding is employed. And instead of using a high-strength magnetic field generated by superconducting-wire coils, as in clinical MRI, the machine uses a weak permanent magnet. The weak magnet interferes much less with the accelerator and is smaller and less expensive to operate. This December, Fallone's group published the results of imaging studies that showed it was possible to generate MRI images while running the linear accelerator without interference.
The weak magnet imposes a different challenge, however: the image quality is much lower. So researchers at Stanford University are working on computational methods for getting the necessary information from these lower-resolution images. "Diagnostic MRI requires a very high image quality, but for radiotherapy you don't need to see the tumor in exquisite detail," says Amit Sawant, an instructor in radiation oncology at the Stanford School of Medicine. "You can afford to lose [image] signal, and still get enough information to know when the tumor is moving." What's important to see during radiotherapy, says Fallone, are the edges of the tumor.
Fallone and Sawant will present initial results of image-tracking studies done with the prototype combined device at the conference in Anaheim. Sawant's group will describe imaging software that allows the machine to acquire five two-dimensional MRI images per second--much faster than conventional MRI. The Stanford researchers increased the imaging speed by decreasing the imaging area and using a technique called compressive sensing. When images are stored, about 90 percent of the data is thrown out; using compressive sensing, it's possible to acquire only the most important 10 percent of the image data in the first place.
Fallone will present results demonstrating that such real-time guidance can be used to redirect the prototype device's x-ray beam. "So far, only CT has been available for image guidance," says Bhadrasain Vikram, chief of the clinical radiation oncology branch of the National Cancer Institute's Radiation Research Program. "It's exciting that [MRI] is becoming available to start asking whether it can provide more accurate information." Better guidance for radiotherapy, says Vikram, might speed up the treatments or even "cure some cancers you can't cure today."
But before the system can be tested on patients, the researchers caution that the image-acquisition process needs to be sped up even more, so that it's possible to make 3-D images. The device will also need to be tested on animals. Fallone estimates that human tests are at least five years away.
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