Advances in Computers thread

[ScienceRocks]

Circuit Scribe mixes art with electronics

A new company called Electroninks is seeking to make DIY electronics child’s play ... literally. Circuit Scribe is a roller-ball pen filled with conductive silver ink that enables the creation of circuits by simply drawing them.

The circuit-drawing pen first caught our attention back in 2011 during its research phase at the University of Illinois’ research lab of Professor Jennifer Lewis. Now Lewis, along with reactive silver ink wizard Brett Walker, has co-founded a company called Electroninks to produce and market the Circuit Scribe.

Circuit Scribe mixes art with electronics

 

[ScienceRocks]

Fumbling with USB plugs will soon be a thing of the past

USB plugs, as you know them, are about to change in the future. Despite a design that hasn't changed externally since its official release in 1996, people still end up plugging the wrong side in, then flipping it over to plug the right side in.

If Type-A (the full-size kind) and Type-B (the fat kind usually used by printers) and Micro-B (the ones used by mobile devices) and every other USB type in between have gotten the best of you over the years, then fear not, because a new kind of USB 3.0 — Type-C —is already being developed.

Fumbling with USB plugs will soon be a thing of the past | DVICE

 

[ScienceRocks]

Nonlinear light-generating zero-index metamaterial created

6 hours ago by Lynn Yarris

(Phys.org) —The Information Age will get a major upgrade with the arrival of quantum processors many times faster and more powerful than today's supercomputers. For the benefits of this new Information Age 2.0 to be fully realized, however, quantum computers will need fast and efficient multi-directional light sources. While quantum technologies remain grist for science fiction, a team of researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have taken an important step towards efficient light generation, the foundation for future quantum networks.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-12-nonlinear-light-generating-zero-index-metamaterial.html#jCp

 

[ScienceRocks]

Bluetooth group ushers in updated Bluetooth 4.1

21 minutes ago by Nancy Owano weblog

(Phys.org) —The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), the regulatory body responsible for the standard, announced on Wednesday its release of an updated version of the specification, Bluetooth 4.1. This is the first new update to the standard in nearly four years. Bluetooth has become a familiar and fundamental word in the vocabulary of device interconnectedness and "Internet of Things," as the technology standard that enables information exchange between wireless devices. Announced by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, Bluetooth 4.1 brings improvements, enablements, and developer support benefits. Also on Wednesday, Suke Jawanda, Bluetooth SIG chief marketing officer , blogged "Improving Usability extends the brand promise to consumers with an 'it just works' experience. This spec is engineered with several new features to make it work seamlessly with popular cell technologies like LTE, maintain connections with less frequent manual reconnection, and deliver a more efficient data exchange."

Read more at: Bluetooth group ushers in updated Bluetooth 4.1

 

[ScienceRocks]

Sleek new Lumus headset edges in on Google Glass' turf

The folks over at Lumus have had their noses to the grindstone in recent months as they prepared their newest AR headset for unveiling at next month's CES 2014. Looking at the images that we have of the stylish Lumus DK-40, that hard work seems to have paid off with dividends.

When compared to the wired, cobbled-together looking headsets we've seen from Lumus in years past, the DK-40 is practically a dream come true. Housed in a Google Glass-sized module on the right temple is an Android-running OMAP processor, a motion sensor, five-megapixel camera and a battery. The AR display is integrated right into the headset's right lens and supports 640x480 VGA resolution.

Sleek new Lumus headset edges in on Google Glass' turf | DVICE


Quantum dots with confined light holes could have applications in quantum technologies

(Phys.org) —Semiconductor quantum dots are being widely studied for their potential use in future quantum technologies. One of the reasons for their appeal is that they can confine quantum bits such as excitons and spins inside of them. In a new study, researchers have created a quantum dot that contains an exciton in the form of an electron bound to a light hole. The use of a light (as opposed to heavy) hole could enable the quantum dots to have specific advantages for quantum information technologies.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-12-quantum-dots-confined-holes-applications.html#jCp

 

[ScienceRocks]

“Superman memory crystal” could store hundreds of terabytes indefinitely

Recently, there have been advances in the area of digital data storage promising outstanding data density and super-long-term data storage. A new data storage technology developed at the University of Southampton can do both. Due to its similarities to the “memory crystals” used in theSuperman films, it has been dubbed the “Superman memory crystal.”

Hard-drive memory has a useful lifespan of a couple of decades at best, as it is vulnerable to damage from high temperatures, moisture, strong magnetic fields and numerous kinds of mechanical failures. Because of this, companies and consumers alike are forced to upgrade their storage hardware every few years.

Researchers at the University of Southampton have created an extremely dense and durable memory that can store 360 TB of data on a single disc for an indefinite amount of time. The structure, which is made of glass, can resist temperatures up to 1,000° C (1,800° F) and would be perfect for creating portable data archives that can truly stand the test of time.

- See more at: ?Superman memory crystal? could store hundreds of terabytes indefinitely - Awescience.com

 

[ScienceRocks]

Scientists jump the "air gap" with hidden acoustic networks

Scientists jump the "air gap" with hidden acoustic networks

It could be assumed that the most effective way to safeguard your computer against the threat of cyber attacks would be to disconnect it from all networks: wireless, LAN, network cards or the internet. However, research from the Fraunhofer Institute for Communication, Information Processing and Ergonomics (FKIE) has demonstrated a malware prototype with the ability to jump the "air gap" – meaning even that once surefire security measure might not be enough to ensure the protection of your computer.

Computer scientists Michael Hanspach and Michael Goetz conducted an experiment involving five computers which connected to one another using their built-in microphones and speakers to form an inaudible acoustic network. The data was able to be transferred from one computer to another until it reached one with a regular internet connection that was able to take the signal "outside."

The scientists selected a near ultrasonic frequency range which saw data communicated between the computers within a range of 19.7 m (64.6 ft), all without a connection to a central access point or router. Hanspach says the same technique might also be used to transfer data between smartphones or tablets.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Scientists demonstrate quantum phenomenon for the first time using a plastic film

For the first time, scientists at IBM Research have demonstrated a complex quantum mechanical phenomenon known as Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC), using a luminescent polymer (plastic) similar to the materials in light emitting displays used in many of today's smartphones.

Read more at: Scientists demonstrate quantum phenomenon for the first time using a plastic film

 

[ScienceRocks]

Sony reveals flash drive with full size and micro USB plugs

Even with a microSD card installed, snapping a new photo every few minutes or regularly adding to your mobile music or video library can soon eat up the available storage on your smartphone or tablet. You could dig through the box of cables to offload some files to a computer, or even use Wi-Fi or Bluetooth for your transfer needs, but now Sony has come up with another option. Its latest USB flash drives have a full size USB connector at one end and a micro-USB plug at the other.

Sony reveals flash drive with full size and micro USB plugs

 

[ScienceRocks]

Revolv brings multiple home automation devices together

Once you start automating your home with electronic locks, lights, switches, and other components, the number of apps on your phone can multiply very quickly. Worse, it seems like you should be able to easily link their behavior together yet can’t. After all, if you want the lights to turn off when you leave the house, shouldn’t the thermostat also turn down? The Revolv home automation system and associated smart phone app aim to simplify things with one centralized control hub that promises easy setup, no additional support fees, and an evolving lineup of supported devices and features.

Revolv brings multiple home automation devices together

 

[ScienceRocks]

PointGrab brings gesture control to home appliances

At CES, the company plans to show its latest technology for controlling devices and home appliances by pointing your finger.

With the Consumer Electronics Show just around the corner, PointGrab is trying to get ahead of the noise with pre-announcements of products that will make their debut at the Las Vegas event. In this case, they will make their debut in closed-door demonstrations by appointment and in YouTube videos demonstrating the concept.

The concept is compelling -- controlling devices from a distance with your hands. The company is unveiling two new versions of its gesture-recognition software, which now works with standard 2D cameras on consumer devices. Currently, Samsung, Lenovo, Acer, and other manufacturers have integrated the technology into their consumer devices such as TVs and PCs.

PointGrab brings gesture control to home appliances | Cutting Edge - CNET News

 

[ScienceRocks]

Accidental Discovery Dramatically Improves Electrical Conductivity by 400-fold by simply exposing it to light.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlcpzLbSzrY]Accidental Discovery Dramatically Improves Electrical Conductivity - YouTube[/ame]

Physicist at Washington State University (WSU) has found a way to dramatically improve conductivity in a crystal "400-fold" by simply exposing it to light—a discovery that has possible implications for future computers, particularly memory devices. The Filipina physicist at Washington State University has made the discovery that has opened doors for future computers, especially memory devices.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Atheer Labs brings Android into 3D augmented reality

Forget about cell phones, watches, and tablets, the metal and plastic objects that intermediate between the digital and physical worlds. In the future everyone wears 3D glasses and interacts in real space with virtual screens and objects using gestures and natural language. That's the future according to Atheer Labs, which is attempting to turn the vision portrayed in the above video into a reality.

On Thursday, Atheer Labs started an Indiegogo campaign to promote its new 3D, augmented-reality glasses platform.

Atheer's first goal is to build a library of apps to showcase the wearable computer. The effort to attract developers to the platform could be aided by having some preorders for its consumer device, the Atheer One. Atheer is aiming at the Android community with its Development Kit, which takes advantage of existing Android APIs, and developers familiar with the Unity and Vuforia 3D programming environments.

Atheer Labs brings Android into 3D augmented reality | Cutting Edge - CNET News

 

[ScienceRocks]

CEO and CTO talk about memristors, HP CTO confident of 100 Terabyte memristor drives by 2018

HP’s Discover event in Barcelona this week has focused heavily on its “new style of IT” mantra, which focuses on cloud computing, integrated data center offerings, and commercial PCs that try to bring the cool factor. But HP CEO Meg Whitman’s keynote Tuesday at the event offered a brief preview of where HP’s next “new style of IT” may be headed.

Taking a break from promoting the current lineup of HP Enterprise Group products, Whitman discussed a handful of technology areas where the company’s HP Lab is working on technologies the company feels will help shape technology in the future.

Up first, Moonshot cartridge servers are the only one of the innovations currently in-market today, but Whitman suggested HP has just tapped the surface of the high-density, low-power modular servers, saying that “no other company is taking on the data center the way were are.”

From there, Whitman moved into technologies that have not yet seen the light of the day, a high-performance, low-cost non-volatile memory technology called memristors, and its Photonics technology, which speed data transmission within an infrastructure by using fiber optics.

In five years, according to Fink, DRAM and NAND scaling will hit a wall, limiting the maximum capacity of the technologies: process shrinks will come to a shuddering halt when the memories' reliability drops off a cliff as a side effect of reducing the size of electronics on the silicon dies.

The HP answer to this scaling wall is Memristor, its flavour of resistive RAM technology that is supposed to have DRAM-like speed and better-than-NAND storage density. Fink claimed at an HP Discover event in Las Vegas that Memristor devices will be ready by the time flash NAND hits its limit in five years. He also showed off a Memristor wafer, adding that it could have a 1.5 PetaByte capacity by the end of the decade.
Today a 3PAR StoreServ 7450 enclosure can have 240 solid-state drives, supporting a maximum raw capacity of 96TB raw capacity using 400GB SSDs. Now imagine 240 100TB Memristor drives in such a box: that's 24,000TB or 24PB.

HP CEO and CTO talk about memristors, HP CTO confident of 100 Terabyte memristor drives by 2018

 

[ScienceRocks]

CES debut for Avegant Glyph "Virtual Retinal Display" headsets

What better way to take a trip in a personal virtual reality bubble, or sit down to a private movie screening on a seemingly enormous screen, than donning a head-mounted display? Unless you happen to be dressed as Geordi La Forge at a Star Trek convention though, wearing such technology does kind of label you a bit of a geek. The Glyph headsets are a little different. In non-video mode, the device just looks like some rather bulky headphones. The headband, however, can be pulled down over the eyes for an immersive escape. Rather than looking at an LCD or OLED display (or in some cases using an actual smartphone screen) through lenses, Glyph users have the video and game images projected directly on their retinas courtesy of a combination of special optics and millions of tiny mirrors. The first pre-production prototypes are currently being assembled in readiness for CES in a few weeks, ahead of a launch on crowdfunding platform Kickstarter.

CES debut for Avegant Glyph "Virtual Retinal Display" headsets

 

[ScienceRocks]

Samsung integrating 'finger gesture' control into new Smart TVs

Samsung makes some of the best TVs on the planet. While Smart TVs have been on the rise for years, Samsung really upped the stakes with gestures and voice control in last year's models. For its next act in the Smart TV play, Samsung is fine-tuning its motion controls with a feature it calls "finger gesture."

Current Samsung Smart TVs with built-in gesture controls only support hand recognition. And while Samsung promised Kinect-like controls on its Smart TVs, the reality was the feature just didn't work very well.

Samsung integrating 'finger gesture' control into new Smart TVs | DVICE

 

[ScienceRocks]

New circuit design allows for elimination of laptop charger brick

18 hours ago by Bob Yirka report

(Phys.org) —Power electronics maker FINsix Corporation has announced the development of what is being called the world's smallest laptop adaptor—one that is just a quarter the size of traditional models and just a sixth the weight—it comes as a standard wall plug, eliminating the "box on the ground" format so familiar to laptop users.

Read more at: New circuit design allows for elimination of laptop charger brick

 

[RoadVirus]

Samsung integrating 'finger gesture' control into new Smart TVs

Samsung makes some of the best TVs on the planet. While Smart TVs have been on the rise for years, Samsung really upped the stakes with gestures and voice control in last year's models. For its next act in the Smart TV play, Samsung is fine-tuning its motion controls with a feature it calls "finger gesture."

Current Samsung Smart TVs with built-in gesture controls only support hand recognition. And while Samsung promised Kinect-like controls on its Smart TVs, the reality was the feature just didn't work very well.

Samsung integrating 'finger gesture' control into new Smart TVs | DVICE

I can only imagine what the middle finger would do.

 

[armada]

Samsung integrating 'finger gesture' control into new Smart TVs

Samsung makes some of the best TVs on the planet. While Smart TVs have been on the rise for years, Samsung really upped the stakes with gestures and voice control in last year's models. For its next act in the Smart TV play, Samsung is fine-tuning its motion controls with a feature it calls "finger gesture."

Current Samsung Smart TVs with built-in gesture controls only support hand recognition. And while Samsung promised Kinect-like controls on its Smart TVs, the reality was the feature just didn't work very well.

Samsung integrating 'finger gesture' control into new Smart TVs | DVICE

I can only imagine what the middle finger would do.

it will mute or change the channel when Obama appears on it

 

[ScienceRocks]

New MRAM technology promises memorable consumer electronics experience

In his 2005 paper, Professor of Physics Johan Åkerman touted magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) as a promising candidate for a "universal memory" that could replace the various types of memory commonly found alongside each other in modern electronic devices. A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) has now developed a new type of MRAM that could see Åkerman's vision become a reality.

Currently, many devices pack static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), and Flash memory, with each offering their own particular advantages. SRAM is fast but volatile, meaning the data it stores is lost when the power is switched off. DRAM offers greater memory densities than SRAM and is cheaper, but is also volatile and needs to be refreshed periodically to retain information, making it more power hungry. Finally, Flash memory is non-volatile, meaning it retains data even when the power is switched off, but is still relatively expensive.

MRAM technology offers the potential of providing all the advantages of these three types of memory, with none of the disadvantages. It promises greater storage density, reduced power consumption, and would retain data without power. Although it has been under development since the 1990s, continuing improvements in Flash and DRAM have kept MRAM largely on the sidelines.

New MRAM technology promises memorable consumer electronics experience