Google Android on Acer

It looks like Google is about to give Microsoft a run for their money on another front - the netbook. Both Acer and Asustek have adopted Android and will be releasing netbooks running Android next quarter:

Acer Inc., the world’s second-largest laptop maker, will release a low-cost notebook powered by Android next quarter, Jim Wong, head of information-technology products at the Taipei- based company, said yesterday.

We like competition, it keeps prices in check and stimulates innovation. Would you run a netbook running Android?

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Apple iPhone 3GS

Unless you were asleep all day you're probably aware of the big announcements from Apple at the WWDC 2009. While Steve Jobs was noticeably not present the new iPhone 3GS was announced, as well as a $99 iPhone 3G and a new 13" MacBook.

So what's the big deal about the iPhone 3G S? "Improved performance," better battery life, a better 3MP camera with video capability, voice control, and a compass. Wait...a compass?

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Invisible Gel Ink Pen

I have never seen or thought of this beautiful and fantastic idea as i never come across to need it.Thinking about this idea would surely drive you to the invisible world.

We use pen to write some crap or some important notes ( i don't do this ) on a piece of paper.But what if , u cannot see what you have written lately on it after sometime . Wouldn't that be amazing to use such kind of pens.

Coming all the way from the ThinkGeek this product exactly satisfies the laws i have discussed above and finds to more suitable to be used by the magicians and some investigation units.

• Magicians doesn't want people what they are doing and make it amazing.
• Investigators doesn't want the trackers know nothing what they are doing.

This is an ink gel pen which writes but disappears after 24 hours.Amazing!!! isn't that?Take a look at some of the shots of this innovative product.

This pen features a special gel ink developed by real KGB scientists during the Cold War (and made in Russia), that disappears completely. Because it is a gel pen, you don't need to press hard which prevents paper indenting. You'll notice the ink fading within a matter of minutes - and it will be completely gone within 48 hours. And not just faded - gone! Even UV scanners won't be able to detect that anything was ever written with the KGB Disappearing Ink Pen. Spies need the best (you need the best), and the KGB Disappearing Ink Pen is the best there is.

KGB Disappearing Ink Pen

• Looks like a normal pen, but the ink will disappear completely within 48 hours.
• Special ink formula developed by KGB scientists during the Cold War.
• Even UV light won't be able to find a trace of your writing.
• Made in Russia.
• Dimensions: standard pen size - approx. 6"

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IBM : For Building SuperComputer

Computers can calculate at speeds and scales that far outstrip what an ordinary person can manage, but they still aren't anywhere near as complex as a human brain. IBM and five major universities plan to change that through a DARPA-funded initiative designed to build a computer that can mimic the way the mind works.

IBM (NYSE: IBM) and five universities are receiving funding from a government agency to build a supercomputer -- but not just any supercomputer. They've been tasked with building hardware and software that mimics the human brain.

"There are no computers today that can even remotely approach the robust and versatile functionality of the brain," said Dharmendra Modha, manager of cognitive computing at IBM Research.

"The mind is a collection of mental processes dealing with sensation, perception, action, cognition, emotion and interaction," he told TechNewsWorld. "It can integrate senses such as sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell. And it can act in a context-dependent way in real-world complex environments in the presence of ambiguity, while requiring very low power consumption and being very compact."

Credits to : IBM

via : technewsworld.com

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Microsoft reveals Office2010 Secrets

The next version of Office moved a step closer to reality on Monday as Microsoft released an invitation-only technical preview of Office 2010.

However, the release of the software will be limited. Attendees of this week's Worldwide Partner Conference in New Orleans, as well as the recent TechEd show, will gain access to the desktop versions of Office 2010. Microsoft has also been taking sign-ups via its Office 2010: The Movie teaser Web site.

Also, it won't show off the program's biggest change--the addition of browser-based versions of Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and OneNote.

Those so-called Office Web Applications are being demonstrated on Monday, but the technical preview of the Web apps won't come until later this year. For consumers, Microsoft plans to make the browser-based versions a free part of Windows Live next year, but hasn't decided whether they will include advertising.

The applications, which run in Safari, Firefox, and Internet Explorer, are aimed at both expanding the number of Office users within businesses as well as holding the ground threatened by Google Docs and other Web-based productivity programs.

On the desktop side, Microsoft plans a broader beta of the software later this year, with a final release in the first half of 2010.

Much of what is in the technical preview of Office 2010 is not a shocker, given that a test version of the software leaked onto the Web earlier this year, although Microsoft is offering further details on what's in the product as well as how it plans to sell the new software.

In its last update to Office--Office 2007--Microsoft introduced entirely new XML file formats and a major shift in its interface to use a "ribbon" that shifts commands based on what the user is doing. Office 2010 is a set of less jarring changes, with Microsoft saying the goal was to make the basics better.

Office 2010 sticks with the ribbon motif, expanding it to include many of the Office components that didn't get the interface the last time around. Office 2010 will also come in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions--a first for Office.

Word gets a collection of cool image effects that stem from the DaVinci Imaging Engine that was part of Microsoft's now-discontinued Digital Image Suite product. Word, as well as the other programs, gets a new "paste preview" tool that lets users hover over different paste options and see what their paste will look like before accepting that selection.

Excel gets a new feature called Sparklines, which are tiny graphs that can fit in a single cell of a spreadsheet. PowerPoint picks up video editing features as well as the ability to create a video of one's presentation, including voice annotations.

The Outlook e-mail and calendar program adds a conversation view feature, a la Gmail. Microsoft's feature goes further though, offering an "ignore thread" option which keeps a user from having to see a message string they are no longer interested in being a part of. It also has a "MailTips" feature that offers etiquette and security alerts before doing things as replying to a large group or sending a document outside the firewall.

To handle file tasks like saving and printing across Office, Microsoft has added a "backstage view" to each of the applications. It has also made it possible for multiple people to work on the same document simultaneously through co-authoring tools.

Microsoft is also simplifying the number of different Office bundles it sells. There will be three consumer versions. Office Home and Student comes with OneNote, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Office Home and Business adds Outlook to the mix, while Office Professional includes all that, plus the Access database and Publisher page-layout programs.

On the business side, Microsoft Office Standard, the standard package for volume licensing customers, includes Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Word, OneNote, and Publisher, with the last two applications being new additions to that edition. Licensing Office Standard also gives businesses the ability to host the browser-based versions of the software. The Professional Plus version adds Access, InfoPath, SharePoint Workspace (formerly Groove), and the Microsoft Communicator instant-messaging program.

Microsoft has yet to announce pricing for any of the products.

via : cnet.com

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Optical Transistor from Single Molecule

ETH Zurich researchers have successfully created an optical transistor from a single molecule. This has brought them one step closer to an optical computer.

Internet connections and computers need to be ever faster and more powerful nowadays. However, conventional central processing units (CPUs) limit the performance of computers, for example because they produce an enormous amount of heat. The millions of transistors that switch and amplify the electronic signals in the CPUs are responsible for this. One square centimeter of CPU can emit up to 125 watts of heat, which is more than ten times as much as a square centimeter of an electric hotplate.

Photons instead of electrons

This is why scientists have been trying for some time to find ways to produce integrated circuits that operate on the basis of photons instead of electrons. The reason is that photons do not only generate much less heat than electrons, but they also enable considerably higher data transfer rates.

Credits to : ETH Zurich researchers
via : sciencedaily.com

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Printable Batteries

For a long time, batteries were bulky and heavy. Now, a new cutting-edge battery is revolutionizing the field. It is thinner than a millimeter, lighter than a gram, and can be produced cost-effectively through a printing process.

In the past, it was necessary to race to the bank for every money transfer and every bank statement. Today, bank transactions can be easily carried out at home. Now where is that piece of paper again with the TAN numbers? In the future you can spare yourself the search for the number. Simply touch your EC card and a small integrated display shows the TAN number to be used. Just type in the number and off you go. This is made possible by a printable battery that can be produced cost-effectively on a large scale.



It was developed by a research team led by Prof. Dr. Reinhard Baumann of the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Electronic Nano Systems ENAS in Chemnitz together with colleagues from TU Chemnitz and Menippos GmbH. “Our goal is to be able to mass produce the batteries at a price of single digit cent range each,” states Dr. Andreas Willert, group manager at ENAS.

Credits to : Prof. Dr. Reinhard Baumann of the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Electronic Nano Systems ENAS in Chemnitz
via : sciencedaily.com

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Single Molecules are Conductors

Researchers from Graz University of Technology, Humboldt University in Berlin, M.I.T., Montan University in Leoben and Georgia Institute of Technology report an important advance in the understanding of electrical conduction through single molecules.

Minimum size, maximum efficiency: The use of molecules as elements in electronic circuits shows great potential. One of the central challenges up until now has been that most molecules only start to conduct once a large voltage has been applied. An international research team with participation of the Graz University of Technology has shown that molecules containing an odd number of electrons are much more conductive at low bias voltages. These fundamental findings in the highly dynamic research field of nanotechnology open up a diverse array of possible applications: More efficient microchips and components with considerably increased storage densities are conceivable.



One electron instead of two: Most stable molecules have a closed shell configuration with an even number of electrons. Molecules with an odd number of electrons tend to be harder for chemists to synthesize but they conduct much better at low bias voltages. Although using an odd rather than an even number of electrons may seem simple, it is a fundamental realization in the field of nanotechnology – because as a result of this, metal elements in molecular electronic circuits can now be replaced by single molecules. “This brings us a considerable step closer to the ultimate minitiurization of electronic components”, explains Egbert Zojer from the Institute for Solid State Physics of the Graz University of Technology.

Credits to : Researchers from Graz University of Technology, Humboldt University in Berlin, M.I.T., Montan University in Leoben and Georgia Institute of Technology
via : sciencedaily.com

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Samsung's New 45nm Processor

"Today's ultra-competitive consumer electronics market demands rapid performance upgrades and effective cost reduction to continue its expansion," said Dr. Kwang-hyun Kim, Senior VP of Sales and Marketing at Samsung Electronics’ System LSI division. "Our S5P6440 application processor is specifically designed with those objectives in mind to offer substantial improvements in CPU performance at low power, high quality graphics capability, and lower system BOM cost. CE device manufacturers using S5P6440 can offer exciting new products such as next generation PND to the market in a timely manner."

Samsung's S5P6440 is based on an ARM1176 CPU core which runs at either 533 MHz or 667MHz clock speed. The CPU core and all on-chip hardware accelerators and peripheral interfaces are connected through a 64-bit AXI bus running at 166MHz, allowing ample input/output bandwidth for handling the multiprocessing requirements in real-life applications.



Samsung Electronics announced today the latest in its popular, ARM11 series of application processors, the S5P6440. Designed using Samsung’s advanced 45nm low power CMOS process technology, the S5P6440 offers a low power, high performance, and cost effective solution for consumer electronic products such as personal navigation devices.

The S5P6440 features 2D graphics acceleration hardware that is compliant with the OpenVG application programming interface (API) standard. The OpenVG API standard enables advanced graphics functions such as alpha blending for transparency effects, anti-aliasing for sharper graphics, and vector graphics support for scaling without loss of image quality. Utilizing this graphical capability, devices implemented with the S5P6440 can offer a vivid graphical user interface that greatly enhances the user experience.

Credits to : Samsung
via : physorg.com

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Metal Muscles for Robotic Bats

Robotics is one of the most interesting sciences in the world for both the one who uses it and the one who experiences it.Making artificial muscles is very important chapter for making of the robotics come to life.

The researchers have been putting their dreadful efforts in making the artificial muscles for the robots.I even read somewhere that U.S were making fly-sized robots which fly and function as spies.For the making of that fly-sized robots one has to make artificial muscles.

George Bunget at North Carolina State University made a demo Robo-Bat which uses metal muscles.The skeleton of the robotic bat uses shape-memory metal alloy that is super-elastic for the joints, and smart materials that respond to electric current for the muscular system.



Tiny flying machines can be used for everything from indoor surveillance to exploring collapsed buildings, but simply making smaller versions of planes and helicopters doesn't work very well. Instead, researchers at North Carolina State University are mimicking nature's small flyers - and developing robotic bats that offer increased maneuverability and performance.

Credits to : George Bunget at North Carolina State University.
via : physorg.com

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Way for Quantum Computers

Quantum computers have been the most better imaginable computers in the speeds it can operate.As it uses light as the energy for transferring information the speeds are tremendously high.But there was no predominant way to control the way the bits operated for the processing to take place in a quantum computer till the physicists have come up with a new path.

Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology had overcome a hurdle in quantum computer development,for formulating a viable way in which the single bits can be manipulated in the quantum processor while not disturbing the information stored in the neighbors.The use of polarised light to create magnetic fields finds a promising way for the quantum computers to operate without any problem.



The optical lattices uses the lasers to separate Rubidium atoms for use as information bits in the neutral atom quantum processors.These quantum processors are the devices which the researchers are developing into full fledged quantum computers. NIST were able to isolate and control pairs of the Rubidium atoms with polarized light , a highway which would make the concept of quantum computers come into reality.

Credits to : Physicists at National Institute of Standards and Technology(NIST)
via : physorg.com

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NanoPillars : Solar cells

Solar energy is one of the free energies which the nature is providing us and the scientists and researchers are trying to efficiently use the solar energy. The researchers at the Berkeley has found out a new way of making solar cells which would be cheap,energy efficient and also flexible.

The researchers at the U.S department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of California at Berkeley have come up with a way to fabricate solar cells from low cost and flexible materials.This new design grows up optically activated semi conductors in an 2D arrays of vertical Nano-pillars which were measured to be a billionth of a meter.

Aluminum substrate forms a forest of Cadmium Sulfide nanopillars and also serves as a bottom electrode.Embedded in a clear cadmium telluride and a equipped with a top electrode of copper and gold forms an inexpensive and efficient solar cell.

Credits to : US Department Energy & University of California

Via : physorg.com

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