Sunday, April 21, 2013
Black HTC One peeks out of AT&T and Sprint web stores, promises to be available soon
Alt-week 4.20.13: NASA's Space Shop, nature's needles and 30 years of cellphone bills
Alt-week takes a look at the best science and alternative tech stories from the last seven days.
The natural world offers up some ingenious biology that is only possible through many, many years of evolution. Other ideas, well, they come about through good old-fashioned brain power. We've got examples of both in this edition. Naturally. This is alt-week.
When you're in the Space business, you're pretty much already at the forefront of the technology game. NASA, however, is looking to the maker community -- especially 3D printing -- to encourage a breeding ground of new engineering creativity. The agency's Ames research centre has a "Space Shop" which already uses advanced metal-cutting and milling tools for prototype development, but recently, 3D printing has become an increasingly important part of that process. NASA believes that the ability to quickly experiment with real working prototypes (rather than digital simulations) is a vital step in effective design, one it hopes will encourage its young engineers to bring their ideas to the table. This is all land-based at the moment, but NASA is already working with a third-party to develop a 3D printer that's suitable for space missions. You can see the Space Shop in CNET's video below. Warning, there's a "rocket science" pun right at the beginning.
In a world full of synthetic materials and digital data, it's easy to forget that mother nature was really the first science geek. Her latest influence can be seen in a new surgical patch, inspired by a marine parasite. The patch will hold skin grafts more securely than current methods (like surgical staples) thanks to microneedles that mimic those found on the Pomphorhynchus laevis worm. The patch's tiny needles pierce tissue easily, with minimal damage, before a releasing a hydrogel that swells under the skin to keep it in place. The new technique results in a grip up to three times that of staples, and as there are no chemicals involved, also removes the risk of allergic reactions. The researchers even claim there's potential for even more benefits, including a dissolving version for internal use, or using the hydrogel as another vehicle for drug administration.
It was just this month we saw the 40-year anniversary of the first ever mobile phone call. This week marks another important milestone, 30 years since the firstcommercial cellphone call. Bob Barnett, former CEO of Ameritech (that developed the network the call was placed on) recounts how AT&T passed up the opportunity to develop a mobile network believing there to be limited demand for such a thing. Which, as we know, turned out to be something of a gross underestimation. What was the first commercial call like? Well, we could tell you that it took place in Chicago, and was between Barnett and the grandson of Alexander Graham Bell. Or, you could jump on the video below, and see it unfold for yourself. Details of the number of bundled minute it used, however, remain unclear.{Tech-Wolfs}
Saturday, April 20, 2013
NVIDIA May Launch GeForce 700 Series GPUs at Computex 2013
New graphics cards from Nvidia could be set for a summer debut.
Summer is just around the corner, and with it is the Computex computer expo in Taipei, Taiwan. Are you wondering what the event will introduce to the computing world? So are we, and word on the web is that Nvidia is planning to launch its next generation desktop GeForce 700 Series graphics cards at Computex. In addition to pushing the performance envelope, the GeForce 700 Series is said to be in response to AMD’s aggressive game bundles.
We all know that the main reason to buy a graphics card is to improve game performance (or for design work), but for those on the fence in which direction to go, AMD has been tempting upgraders with its Never Settle software bundles consisting of AAA titles.
According to Fudzilla, Nvidia has seen enough and isn’t about to let AMD wrestle a larger share of the desktop GPU market than it already has. As such, the GeForce 700 Series might even launch ahead of Computex, the news and rumor site reports, though we’re skeptical Nvidia will be quite that ambitious. We’re also reluctant to get our hopes up of a summer release, as previous rumors pegged the launch to take place in 2014 sometime after the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), but we’ll cross our fingers nonetheless.
As for the actual hardware, most assume the GeForce 700 Series will be based on a refreshed version of Nvidia’s 28nm Kepler architecture.{Tech-Wolfs}.
Inhon Tablet has fold-activated CPU boost
Inhon first attracted attention with its amazingly thin Blade 13 laptop, a 13-inch laptop that weighs in at less than 2-pounds and is only 0.39-inches thin. According to the folks at Engadget, following very closely on the laptop’s heels is the Inhon Tablet, which has an optional keyboard that immediately makes one think of the Surface. The tablet will be launched in Taiwan at an unspecified date.
It’s a rather unique concept – when folded, the device looks and functions like your average everyday tablet running Windows 8. It is portable, and can be used with a stylus, for example. There are bound to be times, however, when you need to do something more hardware-intensive than a tablet can handle. Instead of switching to a laptop or desktop, the Inhon Tablet has a built in sort of Turboboost mode.
On the half of the tablet/laptop hybrid that doesn’t hold the screen, there’s said to be USB 3.0 and Mini DisplayPorts, as well as a cooling fan that is exposed when the device is opened up. As such, the increased cooling is used in conjunction with a TurboBoost of the processor (overclocking?) that gives users a big jump in processing power.
Because it can no longer be used as a tablet once it is unfolded, the Inhon Tablet can be used with an optional accessory that looks very similar to a Touch Cover, functioning as both a trackpad and a keyboard. When it hits shelves, the quasi-tablet will be priced between NT $29,999 and NT $39,999, which is roughly $1000 to $1300 USD.
Teardown looks at what goes into making an ultra-cheap cell phone
Over at the Bunnie Studios blog, a $12 cell phone purchased from the Mingtong Digital Mall was given a complete (and relatively simple) teardown to see what exactly goes into making such an inexpensive cell phone. Unlike the ultra-cheap handsets that are available through various carriers, such as prepaid’s Net10 and Tracfone staples, the $12 cell phone – which has no name – is completely unbranded and unlocked.
As you can see from the pictures, this is about as basic of a cell phone as you can get; it looks like a toy, almost as if it came in a child’s playset or a novelty store. It is a fully functional cell phone, however, that isn’t tied to any carriers, services, or stores. Likewise, the blogger says that the $12 price tag is for a single unit, not a bulk discount rate, and that it isn’t priced as part of any sort of promotion. Just an ordinary, very cheap cell phone.
Word has it the actual construction price of the cell phone is in the single digits, meaning you’ve probably spent more on a movie ticket than it cost to make a simple cell phone. As the blogger points out, the cell phone without a name is less than half the price of the Arduino Uno while offering quite a bit more (relatively speaking) in terms of hardware. Such a conundrum prompted a teardown.
Opening the cell phone was as easy as popping its plastic apart, revealing a nearly connector-free board harboring a MediaTek MT6250DA and a Vanchip VC5276. Says Bunnie Studios, volume pricing for the MediaTek is less than $2. There’s a battery soldered to the board, as well as a Bluetooth antenna and a backlit keypad. While the teardown didn’t entirely solve the mystery of why it is so cheap, it was an intersting look nonetheless, showing that, in a perfect world with the right contacts, a simple cell phone without any plan subsidization or other factors can be assembled for about the cost of your last meal.{Tech-Wolfs}.
Chrysler will take substantial loss on every Fiat 500e sold, says CEO
Chrysler‘s CEO Sergio Marchionne stated yesterday in a speech that the manufacturer will lose approximately $10,000 for every Fiat 500 electric vehicle it sells, something he used to demonstrate that electric motors are not – at least presently – the solution to government-mandated fuel regulations. He discussed his concerns regarding present regulation efforts and the reality of EVs.
As we reported over the weekend, Chrysler will be releasing the Fiat 500e vehicle in California only for a price of $32,500. Because it is an electric vehicle, consumers will be able to take advantage of a variety of credits, rebates, and incentives to drop that price lower, making it more attractive. Likewise, Chrysler receives some subsidies that lower its overall financial burden, yet even after them, the manufacturer faces losing thousands on every vehicle that sells.
The CEO says that governments should be looking towards regulations that don’t side with any particular type of technology, such as electric vehicles. He then went on to discuss the inevitable consolidation of manufacturers in the auto industry, with car makers having to sell in excess of 6 million cars every year and at least a million units per platform due to the cost of developing them.
Said Marchionne: “A number of governments around the world including the U.S. have provided incentives for consumers to purchase plug-in electric vehicles and have provided direct incentives to manufacturers. My fear is that regulators are rushing precipitously into embracing electric vehicles as the only technological solution.”
{Tech-Wolfs}.
{Tech-Wolfs}.
This weekend's Lyrid meteor shower: Four iOS apps that can help you watch it
If you're a meteor maven or stargazer, this is the weekend for one of the year's best meteor showers, the Lyrids. The Lyrids come to maximum strength April 21-22, which for those of us in North America means late Sunday night and early Monday morning. The shower is caused by the Earth passing through the orbit of space debris left by a comet, and usually dazzles viewers with 10-20 meteors per hour from a point in the sky close to the bright star Vega in the constellation of Lyra.
How can iOS help? Well, there are a lot of astronomy apps that will point you in the right direction using the compass and elevation sensors, and give you some background on meteors and their origins. Here are some of my personal favorites that should come in handy this weekend:
Star Walk (US$2.99) has some info on the Lyrids shower, and best of all it will show you where to look in the early morning sky. You don't have to know a thing about astronomy; Star Walk uses the iPhone sensors to point you in the right direction.
Distant Suns ($9.99 for the most advanced version) is another favorite. It doesn't list the meteor shower on its event notifications, but you can easily select the constellation Lyra in the app and the app directs you on where to look for the shower. Like Star Walk, Distant Suns provides a striking display of the night sky. There is a free, lite version available for download as well.
Pocket Universe ($1.99) also has a beautiful display, and while the app mentions the Lyrid shower, it doesn't provide any details. You can use the program to orient you towards Lyra.
Sky Safari ($2.99) is an excellent astronomy app and star chart, but it's completely silent about the meteor shower. Like the other apps, since you know that the shower is in the constellation of Lyra, it will point you to the proper area of the sky for possible viewing.
If you are just getting started in amateur astronomy, Star Walk is your best bet. It seems the most friendly app for events like this meteor shower, and the Lyrids shower is on the events list in that app along with additional information. You're just a tap away from finding that point in the sky where the most meteors appear to be coming from.{Tech-Wolfs}.
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