How to increase your laptop battery life

It is irritating to look for a power outlet to charge your laptop battery when you are on the move. Mobile computing has transformed in recent years with better materials, amazingly smaller chips and faster processors, although there isn’t much development in the pursuit of increasing laptop battery life. You must have had those unpleasant experiences of working on a project on your laptop, and your battery dies. Here are 15 some simple yet effective tips that will help you extract the maximum out of your laptop battery.

• 1. Always keep your computer in “stand by mode” when it is left idle for quite long time. To set the standby mode go to “control panel” , choose “power option” and select the “power scheme”, from there select the time you wish to wait until going for stand by.
• 2. Keep your network card disabled as computer uses lots of power to search networks.
• 3. Always close all the unnecessary programs as these also consume power.
• 4. Learn to control the programs that run from start up. You may not have any clue about these programs running in the background. Follow the start menu, click on “run” and type “msconfig” press “enter”. Now click the “start up tab” here select the program you wish to close and keep running.
• 5. Condition the batteries by completely draining it’s charge and then recharging it completely. Partially charging the battery reduces battery life.
• 6. Regularly deferment to arrange data, this results lesser time in fetching data from hard disk. You must know the quicker hard disk moves it consumes lesser power
• 7. If you aren’t going to use your battery for a while then charge them to 40% and keep them in a cool place. Lithium battery‘s average age is 2-3 years and with some care its life can be increased. A
• 8. Try to use updated softwares and new drivers as they tend to eat lesser battery.
• 9. Always use original adaptor with exact specification. Any mismatch could lead to over load and damaging battery.
• 10. Heat and temperature could cause battery damage slowly but surely, so never leave the laptop under direct sun , or in a closed car.
• 11. Pause the scheduled tasks when you aren’t sure about power supply. It may be a defrag or a virus scan, but always schedule them for a time when you are near a power outlet.
• 12. USB devices eat out a major chunk of battery power. Remove all the unused external devices like external mouse, Wi-Fi, external speakers, PC cards, Bluetooth and iPod.
• 13. Never leave CD/DVD in the drives, spinning drives drains power very fast.
• 14. Practice to desist DVD or any other external devices when battery is on; try to shift content to virtual drives like pismo file mount or virtual CDROM control panel or hard drive.
• 15. Well LCD screen is another big power drainer so set the brightness level to the lowest level possible for you to work on. This may not be necessary but I recommend you do this.

I hope you follow if not all, most of the tricks above and enjoy the battery life which you deserve.

New hunting technique to aid in search for Earth-like planets

The last time we did a story on extrasolar planets (or exoplanets) in October, 2009, there had been 374 planets outside our solar system discovered. As of June 28, 2010 that number had risen to 464. The numbers look set to get a further boost thanks to a new technique that allows planets – even down to the mass of the Earth – to be detected with relatively small diameter telescopes. For the first time, using the technique known as Transit Timing Variation (TTV), a team of astronomers from Germany, Bulgaria and Poland have discovered an exotic extrasolar planet with 15 times the mass of Earth in the system WASP-3, 700 light years from the Sun in the constellation of Lyra.

The vast majority of extrasolar planets have been discovered using the radial-velocity and transit methods. After originally being discovered with the radial-velocity method, in 1999 HD 209458 b became the first exoplanet to be seen with the transit method. The transit method involves observing the drop in the brightness of a star as a planet crosses (or transits) in front of it. The amount the star dims will depend on the size of the star and the size of the planet. This method is being deployed by the Kepler and Corot space missions in its search for planets similar to the Earth.

TTV was suggested as a technique for discovering planets years ago. Like the transit method, the new TTV approach is an indirect method. If a (typically large) planet is found, then the gravity of additional smaller planets will tug on the larger object, causing deviations in the regular cycle of transits. The TTV technique compares the deviations with predictions made by extensive computer-based calculations, allowing astronomers to deduce the makeup of the planetary system.

Discovering WASP-3c

In their search of the WASP-3 system the team used the 90cm telescopes of the University Observatory Jena and the 60cm telescope of the Rozhen National Astronomical Observatory in Bulgaria to study transits of WASP-3b, a large planet with 630 times the mass of the Earth.

“We detected periodic variations in the transit timing of WASP-3b. These variations can be explained by an additional planet in the system, with a mass of 15 Earth-mass (i.e. one Uranus mass) and a period of 3.75 days”, said Dr Maciejewski.

“In line with international rules, we called this new planet WASP-3c”. This newly discovered planet is among the least massive planets known to date and also the least massive planet known orbiting a star which is more massive than our Sun.

This is the first time that a new extra-solar planet has been discovered using this method.

The new planet appears to be trapped in an external orbit, twice as long as the orbit of the more massive planet. Such a configuration is probably a result of the early evolution of the system.

The TTV method is very attractive, because it is particularly sensitive to small planets, even down to the mass of the Earth. For example, an Earth-mass planet will pull on a typical gas giant planet orbiting close to its star and cause deviations in the timing of the larger objects’ transits of up to one minute.

This is a big enough effect to be detected with relatively small 1-m diameter telescopes and discoveries can be followed up with larger instruments. The team are now using the 10 meter Hobby-Eberly Telescope in Texas to study WASP-3c in more detail.

Eye telescope gets FDA approval

After five years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has finally given approval to an eye telescope that treats macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in the U.S. The Implantable Miniature Telescope (IMT) has been developed by VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies, Inc. as part of Centrasight, a new patient care system which treats end-stage age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

More than 10 million people in the USA alone suffer from macular degeneration, which is the leading cause of blindness in people over 55. Of those people, 1.7 million suffer from advanced AMD, for which there has been little or no medical answers up till now. AMD is a disorder of the central retina or macula, the part of the eye that enables the clearest and most distinct vision, fundamental to abilities such as recognizing faces. For many, central vision becomes blurred or completely dark, which impedes all daily activities. The visual impairment suffered in end-stage AMD, in which both eyes are in the advanced phase of the disorder, often leads to loss of independence and patient isolation.

The telescopic implant is designed to improve visual acuity by reducing the impact of the blind spot. The IMT, a device smaller than a pea, is surgically implanted into one cornea and acts to expand an incoming image onto the peripheral parts of the retina that are undamaged. Central vision is improved in one eye, while the other continues to receive information on peripheral vision for mobility and orientation.

The clinical trials were conducted at 28 leading ophthalmic centers and showed that patients achieved clinically meaningful gains in visual acuity and quality of life with the telescope implant. In fact, more than two-thirds of those treated reported notable improvement in vision. The commercial version of the IMT is called Centrasight and is in development by VisionCare Opthalmic Technologies, Inc.

It isn't a complete fix, however. The patient will need months of rehabilitation and occupational therapy to learn how to use the donut-shaped image the telescope provides. Some patients may not adapt well to the new vision, or might find rehabilitation too stressful. Additionally, some may suffer side-effects or damage to the cornea by the IMT. That said, the IMT is available in the USA now and can be implanted during a short thirty-five minute out-patient procedure through Centrasight. Patients should be greater than or equal to 75 years of age, with stable severe-to-profound vision impairment constituting statutory (legal) blindness.

VisionCare will conduct a post-approval study to monitor patient outcomes under commercial conditions. A second smaller study will follow clinical trial patients for an additional two years.

“This is truly a breakthrough technology for AMD patients as their treatment options have been limited until now,” said Kathryn A. Colby, an ophthalmic surgeon at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston and Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School. “The clinical results from the pivotal FDA trial have proven we can place this tiny telescope prosthesis inside the eye to help patients see better and, for some, even to levels at which they can recognize people and facial expressions that they could not before.”

Results from the two U.S. clinical trials have been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals including Ophthalmology, American Journal of Ophthalmology, and Archives of Ophthalmology.

Via Singularity Hub

UK’s Taranis stealthy UAV unveiled

A prototype of England’s Taranis Unmanned Combat Aircraft System (UCAS) that we first covered back in 2006 has been unveiled for the first time by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD). Three and a half years in the making and the product of more than a million man-hours the concept demonstrator is designed to test the possibility of developing the first ever autonomous stealthy UCAV that would ultimately be capable of precisely striking targets at long range, even on another continent.

Named after the Celtic god of thunder, Taranis will be one of the world’s largest UAVs at about the size of a BAE Systems Hawk Jet. The aircraft will provide the UK MoD with experimental evidence on the potential capabilities of this class of UAV and help inform decisions on the future mix of manned and unmanned fast jet aircraft.

The demonstrator will have two internal weapons bays and, with the inclusion of “full autonomy,” the intention is for the craft to “think for itself” for a large part of any mission. However, BAE Systems says that should such systems enter into service, they will at all times be under the control of highly trained military crews on the ground who will also be able to remotely pilot the aircraft.

The Taranis project is an informal partnership of the UK MoD and industry partners including Rolls Royce, QinetiQ, GE Aviation and BAE Systems which is responsible for the project’s overall design leadership as well as providing stealth technology, flight testing and control equipment.

Speaking at the unveiling ceremony this week at BAE Systems in Warton, Lancashire, Minister for International Security Strategy Gerald Howarth said: “Taranis is a truly trailblazing project. The first of its kind in the UK, it reflects the best of our nation’s advanced design and technology skills and is a leading programme on the global stage.”

Initial ground-based testing commenced this year with the craft’s first flight expected to take place in 2011 on successful conclusion of the ground-based testing. However, on January 9, 2009 the MoD was forced to deny the Taranis had been flying near the site of a smashed wind turbine in Lincolnshire after locals claimed to have seen a UFO. Conspiracy theorists feel free to draw your own conclusions.

No mobile phone coverage? No worries, researchers put a tower in a phone

Unsurprisingly, the Australian outback doesn’t exactly boast the greatest mobile phone coverage in the world. But researchers down under have managed to make mobile phone calls in this remote landscape without the use of towers or satellites. Instead of relying on expensive infrastructure, the researchers created a mesh-based phone network between Wi-Fi enabled mobile phones that allowed them to communicate with each other.

The successful test was part of the Serval Project, led by Flinders University’s Dr Paul Gardner-Stephen, that aims to provide fast, cheap, robust and effective telecommunications in remote areas where conventional phone infrastructure isn’t cost effective or where the existing infrastructure has been damaged by natural disaster, war or terrorism.

The Serval Project – named after the problem-solving African wildcat – consists of two systems. The first is a temporary, self-organizing, self-powered mobile network for disaster areas, formed with small phone towers dropped in by air.

The second, and the one being tested in the outback, is a permanent system that requires no infrastructure and creates a mesh-based phone network between Wi-Fi enabled mobile phones, and eventually specifically designed mobile phones the researchers have called Batphones, that can operate on unlicensed frequencies.

Mesh networking

Mesh networking is a type of networking where each node (in this case each mobile phone) in the network can act as an independent router, regardless of whether it is connected to another network or not. It allows for continuous connections and reconfiguration around broken or blocked paths by “hopping” from node to node until the destination is reached.

The researchers have integrated existing mesh network technology developed by Village Telco using unlicensed spectrum with software they developed called Distributed Numbering Architecture (DNA). This software allows people to use their existing phone numbers to enable people to be contacted on numbers they know – something the team says is especially important in disasters.

Off the beaten track

Accompanied by an ABC news team the researchers headed to the remote desert of South Australia to ensure they were far from any mobile phone towers. Since the system relies on the phones’ Wi-Fi capabilities, range is an obvious problem and the tests were only able to transmit calls over a distance of a few hundred meters. But they say the range could be expanded to cover a larger area by adding small transmitters or more devices that relay the calls on.

Usefulness

The need for a decent concentration of devices within an area to provide an extended range suggests the technology probably isn’t overly useful as it stands for sparsely populated areas. But its potential in the area of disaster relief could be significant.

After the Haiti earthquake Ericsson deployed a “container based mini-GSM system,” which is essentially a portable mobile phone network, to enable mobile phone communications in the area. However, this took days and was expensive. The software being developed by the Flinders Universuty researchers could do the same thing but much more quickly and much more cheaply.

"With Haiti what was actually observed was that their mobile phone network and their landline phone network was essentially knocked out for the first 48 hours after the earthquake," Dr Gardner-Stephen told ABC News.

"What research has actually shown is that the vast majority of the response to a disaster is actually from the local people there, so if we can provide them with ease of communications as soon as possible after the earthquake, not 48 hours, not 72 hours but potentially minutes after a disaster, then we can help them to start rescuing people from rubble and generally rebuilding, maintaining law and order."

The researchers will now concentrate on increasing the range and improving the range of their system.

Via ABC News and crave

Bubble-bike: US$750 Electric three-wheeler

The Bubble Bike might look like the love child of a scooter and a Messerschmitt Kabinenroller, but it’s an ingenious response to the needs of Northern China and some of the more northern Asian countries where temperatures drop well below zero in winter and the roads get a liberal coating of snow and ice, making them not nearly as suitable for scooters and motorcycles as they are in summer. The recipient of a 2009 Red Star Design Award (China’s equivalent of the red dot awards), the three-wheel Bubble Bike sells in China for RMB 5000 (around US$730).

Low cost transport is imperative in many developing countries, and the Bubble Bike's price-tag makes it the only game in town if you want more than two wheels, or want to carry three people or a lot of luggage and keep them/it dry and warm.

Most importantly, the Bubble Bike is electric, meaning it recharges from a power point for a negligible cost and has oodles of grunt for getting up to its 45 km/h top speed. Now we understand that's not so fast by the standards of the big cities with lots of space that we're accustomed to, but it's plenty fast for urban running in the highly congested streets of China's megacities.

The Bubble Bike has a range of 100 km and takes between six and eight hours to charge from a standard household power outlet in its current configuration. The manufacturers are currently trialling alternative batteries which decrease the charging time to three hours and increase the range of the vehicle to 200 km, plus the cost of the Bubble Bike by several hundred dollars. I'm presuming those batteries are lithium ion but translation between the designer’s Shandong dialect and English was an issue, so I can’t be sure.

The biggest benefit of the bike is apparently roadholding. Bubble Bike's representative said that because the bike is very light and has three wheels and a low center of gravity, it really hangs onto the road. Given that its specifications and geometry are very similar to the Spira that I tried in Thailand last year I imagine that the handling would be similar (i.e. sensational).

In many ways, it's a scooter with a bit of protection, and there was some discussion amongst those of us looking at the machine whether there was adequate crash protection in comparison with a Western motor vehicle. One of those present contributed, "I'm sure it crash tests better than the scooter it will replace though."

Export inquiries on the Bubble Bike can be directed to the web site.

Fotopro’s fully adjustable flexible tripod with interchangeable feet

Chinese photographic accessory company Fotopro has developed a heavy-duty flexible tripod that has interchangeable feet. The Fotopro RM-110 is comprised entirely of adjustable joints and comes standard with four sets of feet: spiked, suction, rubber and magnetic. We’ve tried all four and they offer a stable mount on any surface, but particularly so on flat or metal surfaces - the suction cups and magnetic feet are capable of affixing so solidly they can handle the weight of even a middleweight pro video camera. We’re predicting the USD$60 RM-110 will become a standard fixture in the kit of every photographer and videographer.

A similar product, the GorillaPod, revolutionized photography. It offers amateur and professional photographers and videographers a portable, lightweight tripod that can adapt to just about any environment and facilitate shots that were often impossible prior to its invention.

I carry one with me almost permanently – whenever I have a camera, I have a Gorillapod. As a professional videographer said to me recently, as he produced one from inside his jacket, “the future of video reporting is the lone first person reporter and this is the camera crew of the future.”

I have used it for attaching cameras to cars, jet skis, motorcycles, telephone poles, and a few weeks back, hanging off the hand rail of a 63 story building. There are often places where the Gorillapod will enable you to put a camera in a place it couldn't previously have gone, or to steady a long lens or to do a dozen other things... making the impossible possible.

When I saw the Fotopro though, I knew I was about to become unfaithful to my trusty Gorillapod. Fotopro’s second generation flexible tripod, dubbed the RM-110 Spide (not "Spider"!), has adjustable joints which can be tightened with a screw driver so that they lock exactly where you want them. When you need to ensure the safety of your camera, let alone the stability of your shot, this will be very handy.

The swappable feet will offer a new dimension to the flexible tripod. The magnetic feet offered an incredibly stable platform, which required a large part of my not-inconsiderable bodyweight to budge. The suction feet will hold a heavy DSLR with a big lens rock steady. The others simply provide a stable footing on different surfaces - all together, they form an unbeatable combination. The RM-110 will be launched at the end of Q3, with an approximate retail price of USD$60 for the package, including the four sets of feet.

Google opens up App development to everyone

When Google announced this past Monday that the company would be releasing App Inventor, an app development tool requiring zero programming knowledge, a number of questions arose around the tech sphere. Would this lead to an explosion of Android apps? And if so, how are we supposed to filter through all the 'crapps' that are sure to enter the marketplace (Attention, World, I invented a word: crap+apps=crapps). Does this mark a turning point where programmers start to become obsolete?

From a business perspective, one question trumps all of those, of course: What's in it for Google? I suspect that the company's hopes for this new App Inventor tool can be read from how they have beta-tested it so far. It's all about schools, as the New York Times reported, "User testing has been done mainly in schools with groups that included sixth graders, high school girls, nursing students and university undergraduates who are not computer science majors."

Similarly, if you apply for access to App Inventor via Google's registration form, you're prompted with questions like, "What is your school or affiliation?" or "How do you plan to use App Inventor for Android? K-12 Classroom, University Course, or After School Program?"

Winning hearts and minds, and winning them early. A wise strategy indeed. If nothing else, it will allow wannabee developers to get their feet wet, which might lead them to dive into development even further.

I haven't even mentioned the abundance of people out there dying to make the next great iPad app, but without the coding skills to do so. It seems everyone and their dog wants on that boat, and more than a few will look to hitch a ride with the big G.

But in contrast to Google's more open policy, Apple runs a far tighter, more exclusive ship (a slick, aluminum-plated yacht perhaps?) with Jobs and company reserving the right to jettison any apps that don't meet their relatively high standards.

We'll just have to wait and see how this platform war plays out. However, Android's recent jump in market share combined with Apple's App Store woes might very well be keeping Steve Jobs awake at night.

Maybe that's why he's sending all those late night emails?

For those of you who'd like to see a simple demo of Google App Inventor in action, watch the following video:

Fast thinking flies to help build better robots

As anyone who has ever tried to swat a fly will know, the little beasties have almost impossibly-fast reflexes. It turns out, in fact, that they have a response time faster than that of any computer. If only we knew what their secret was, perhaps we could develop robots that could react just as quickly. Well, scientists at Germany’s Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology are working on it. Since 1956, a mathematical model has existed that accurately predicts how a fly’s brain will recognize and process visual movements. What hasn’t been understood is how the individual nerve cells interact to make that recognition and processing possible. Given that a fly’s tiny brain contains over 100,000 nerve cells per cubic millimeter, it would seem impossible to observe the reactions of any one of those cells. That, however, is just what the German scientists have done.

Usually, activity in nerve cells is measured by attaching electrodes to the brain. Advances in nanotechnology notwithstanding, it simply would not be technically possible to do that with a fly... not yet, anyway. Instead, the scientists introduced the indicator molecule TN-XXL into individual nerve cells of fruit flies. Changes in the luminance of the molecules indicated activity in the nerve cells.

The flies were presented with moving stripe patterns on an LED screen, while the select nerve cells were observed with a laser microscope. The scientists began by observing the flies’ L2-cells, which receive information from the photoreceptors of the eyes. While the photoreceptors reacted to increases or decreases in light intensity, it was found that the L2’s only reacted to decreases. They passed this information on to associated nerve cells, which calculated the direction of the stripes, then in turn passed that information on to the flies’ flight control center.

"This means that the information 'light on' is filtered out by the L2-cells,” explained Max Planck researcher Dierk Reiff. "It also means, however, that another kind of cell must pass on the 'light on' command, since the fly reacts to both kinds of signals."

Although the research is still in its early stages, the findings promise to have significant implications in developing robotic motion detection systems. The team plan to continue unraveling the mystery, on a cell-by-cell basis.

Long-endurance, hydrogen-powered Phantom Eye UAV unveiled

Unveiled earlier this week in St. Louis, Boeing's Phantom Eye will set a new benchmark in long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology when it takes to the skies in 2011. With a wing-span of 150-feet, the hydrogen-powered aircraft will cruise at 150 knots, carry up to 450-pounds and stay aloft at 65,000 feet for up to four days. Boeing calls it a game-changer, and plans are already in progress to build a bigger version that can remain airborne for 10 days.

The high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) Phantom Eye is powered by two highly-efficient, 2.3-liter, four-cylinder Ford Ranger truck engines that run on hydrogen and emit only water. Ford began working on this technology about a decade ago.

The Global Hawk UAV can fly non-stop for more than 30 hours and the solar-powered Qinetiq’s Zephyr has recorded 82 hours 37 minutes aloft. The Phantom Eye will surpass both these marks if it achieves its four day endurance goal, providing a long-term communication station above the battlefield and removing the need for having aircraft on the ground.

If the longer-term goal of ten days is reached, Boeing believes the need for global basing and supply chain of communications and surveillance aircraft can be eliminated. It's envisioned that three or four of these aircraft working together could provide 24-7 coverage of a site anywhere on the globe from a base inside the United States.

"Phantom Eye is the first of its kind and could open up a whole new market in collecting data and communications," Darryl Davis, president of Boeing Phantom Works, said today at the unveiling ceremony in St. Louis. "It is a perfect example of turning an idea into a reality. It defines our rapid prototyping efforts and will demonstrate the art-of-the-possible when it comes to persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. The capabilities inherent in Phantom Eye's design will offer game-changing opportunities for our military, civil and commercial customers."

In coming months, the Phantom Eye technology demonstrator (which was produced in just 27 months) will make its way to NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center in California for ground and taxi tests before test flight get underway on early 2011. Boeing expects that the fist flight will last four to eight hours.

Boeing has developed the project in conjunction with Ford; Aurora Flight Sciences (wing); Mahle Powertrain (propulsion controls); Ball Aerospace (fuel tanks); Turbosolutions Engineering (turbochargers); the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency; and NASA.

The next wave in fashion: clothes made of sound-recording fabric

We all know of optical fibers, the filaments of glass that carry data in the form of light pulses and enable the high-speed global telecommunications networks we take for granted today. For the past decade, Yoel Fink has been working at MIT to develop fibers with ever more sophisticated properties which enable fabrics to interact with their environment. Fink and his collaborators have now announced a new milestone on the path to functional fibers – fibers that can detect and produce sound.

According to the MIT research team, applications for the technology could include clothes that are themselves sensitive microphones, for capturing speech or monitoring bodily functions (stop sniggering those in the back), and tiny filaments that could measure blood flow in capillaries or pressure in the brain.

Ordinary optical fibers are made from a “preform,” a large cylinder of a single material that is heated up, drawn out and then cooled. By contrast, the new acoustic fibers developed by Yoel Fink, an associate professor of materials science and principal investigator at MIT's Research Lab of Electronics, and his collaborators derive their functionality from the elaborate geometrical arrangement of several different materials, which must survive the heating and drawing process intact.

Piezoelectric plastic the key

The heart of the new acoustic fibers is a plastic commonly used in microphones. By playing with the plastic's fluorine content, the researchers were able to ensure that its molecules remain lopsided – with fluorine atoms lined up on one side and hydrogen atoms on the other – even during heating and drawing. The asymmetry of the molecules is what makes the plastic "piezoelectric," meaning that it changes shape when an electric field is applied to it.

In a conventional piezoelectric microphone, the electric field is generated by metal electrodes. But in a fiber microphone, the drawing process would cause metal electrodes to lose their shape. So the researchers instead used a conducting plastic that contains graphite, the material found in pencil lead. When heated, the conducting plastic maintains a higher viscosity – it yields a thicker fluid – than a metal would.

Not only did this prevent the mixing of materials, but, crucially, it also made for fibers with a regular thickness. After the fiber has been drawn, the researchers need to align all the piezoelectric molecules in the same direction. That requires the application of a powerful electric field – 20 times as powerful as the fields that cause lightning during a thunderstorm. Anywhere the fiber is too narrow, the field would generate a tiny lightning bolt, which could destroy the material around it.

Despite the delicate balance required by the manufacturing process, the researchers were able to build functioning fibers in the lab. "You can actually hear them, these fibers," says Noémie Chocat, a graduate student in the materials science department. "If you connected them to a power supply and applied a sinusoidal current" – an alternating current whose period is very regular – "then it would vibrate. And if you make it vibrate at audible frequencies and put it close to your ear, you could actually hear different notes or sounds coming out of it."

For their Paper, “Multimaterial piezoelectric fibres,” which appears in Nature Materials, the researchers measured the fiber's acoustic properties more rigorously. Since water conducts sound better than air, they placed it in a water tank opposite a standard acoustic transducer, a device that could alternately emit sound waves detected by the fiber and detect sound waves emitted by the fiber.

In addition to wearable microphones and biological sensors, applications of the fibers could include loose nets that monitor the flow of water in the ocean and large-area sonar imaging systems with much higher resolutions: A fabric woven from acoustic fibers would provide the equivalent of millions of tiny acoustic sensors.

Working in reverse to generate electricity

Like the fiber nanogenerator being developed at the University of California, Berkeley, the same mechanism that allows piezoelectric devices to translate energy into motion can work in reverse and could also be applied to the MIT fibers.

"Imagine a thread that can generate electricity when stretched," says Zheng Wang, a research scientist in Fink's lab and co-author of the paper along with Shunji Egusa and Chocat.

Ultimately, however, the researchers hope to combine the properties of their experimental fibers in a single fiber. Strong vibrations, for instance, could vary the optical properties of a reflecting fiber, enabling fabrics to communicate optically. One unfortunate consequence of the acoustic fiber technology could be the return of 70's-style "louder" clothing.

NVIDIA unleashes GeForce GTX 460 GPU

The GeForce GTX460 is NVIDIA's latest addition it its Fermi-class graphics processors. The company promises monster geometry processing power, life-like DirectX 11 gaming graphics and stereoscopic technology. A couple of hundred dollars will be enough to secure the NVIDIA GPU, but it might also be worth checking out overclocked third party developments.

Gamers are promised "the ultimate next-generation DX11 gaming experience" for under US$200 and one look at the GeForce GTX460 specifications should tell you why . There's 336 CUDA cores and 56 texture units, PureVideo HD performance and 3D Vision technology. NVIDIA's PhysX effects provide realistic gaming environment in a graphics processing unit with a 675MHz graphics clock and a 1350MHz processor clock.

NVIDIA is claiming up to four times the DirectX 11 tessellation performance compared to ATI's Radeon HD5830 in Microsoft's DX11 SDK Sub D11 Patch 31 test, which holds the promise of incredibly detailed and realistic visuals. There's OpenGL 4.0 support too and a maximum digital resolution of 2560 x 1600 with VGA coming in at 2048 x 1536 over dual slot DVI ports and a mini-HDMI port.

The price depends on the amount of onboard memory, with the unit containing a gigabyte of DDR5 RAM and a 256-bit memory interface costing US$229 and the GTX460 featuring 768MB of DDR5 and a 192-bit interface costing US$199, the latter being available immediately. Watch out for branded versions from ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, Zotac and a host of others though as proprietary tweaking in the overclocking department may well squeeze even more performance from this beast of a budget card.

Sony unveils world’s first consumer HD camcorder with interchangeable lens system

The interchangeable lens consumer-oriented HD camcorder Sony teased us with when it announced its NEX interchangeable lens digital cameras has now been unveiled. As previously revealed, the Handycam NEX-VG10 features the same Exmor APS HD CMOS sensor found in the NEX-5 and NEX-3 and will be able to share E-mount interchangeable lenses with those devices. Calling the NEX-VG10 the world’s first consumer HD camcorder with an interchangeable lens system, Sony says it enables users to capture images and videos with background defocus effects and shallow depth of field.

Interchangeability widens possibilities

The NEX-VG10 shoots Blu-ray quality 1920x1080 video at 24 megabits per second in AVCHD format and 14.2 megapixel stills with its DSLR-sized image sensor providing shallower depth of field to produce shots that help separate the subject from the background. Giving users the option of using a wide variety of lenses including fisheye, telephoto and wide-angled, the camera also seeks to unleash that inner De Milne. The camcorder comes bundled with an E-mount 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 OSS zoom lens, while additional E-mount lenses as well as an A-mount adapter that will allow the use of lenses used with Sony’s Alpha DSLR cameras will also be available at launch.

Additional features include optical image stabilization with Active Mode, silent auto focus and iris control, twin accessory shoes as well as offering more advanced videographers and photographers the option to manually tweak settings such as aperture and shutter speed. The camera doesn’t have any internal storage so images are stored to Memory Stick and SD (SDHC/SDXC) cards. A 3-inch swivel Xtra Fine LCD screen that features TruBlack technology and a pivoting electronic viewfinder should makes it possible to keep an eye on your framing at both high and low angles.

Audio

On the audio front the NEX-VG10’s Quad Capsule Spatial Array Stereo Microphone combines signals from four separate omnidirectional capsules, which Sony says delivers clear stereo audio with a highly directional response. There is also a jack for adding an optional external mic, plus a 3.5mm input and 3.5mm headphone jack for audio monitoring.

The NEX-VG10 comes equipped with an NP-FV70 battery that is good for around 155 minutes of continuous recording, while an optional NP-FV100 battery can record more than five hours of continuous video.

The announcement of the NEX-VG10 coincides with the 25th anniversary for Sony’s Handycam line this month. When it lands this September for around US$2,000 it looks like a present well worth waiting for.

Map of all Google data center locations

Data Center Knowledge recently published a “Google Data Center FAQ”. As most other web geeks, we here at Pingdom tend to find this kind of information quite fascinating. We have extracted some interesting tidbits, and also used the information to construct a map with all current and under-construction Google data center locations that are known today.
So how many data centers do Google use, and where are they?

Google data center locations

If you include data centers that are under construction, Google has 19 locations in the US where they operate data centers, 12 in Europe, one in Russia, one in South America, and three in Asia. Not all of the locations are dedicated Google data centers, since they sometimes lease space in other companies’ data centers.

Above: Google data centers world wide.

Above: Google data centers in the USA.

Above: Google data centers in Europe.
We have created a map you can explore over at Wayfaring.

How much does Google spend on data centers?

According to Google’s earnings reports, they spent $1.9 billion on data centers in 2006, and $2.4 billion in 2007.
Google unveiled four new data center projects in 2007. Each has a cost estimate of $600 million, which will include everything from construction to equipment and computers.

Google’s criteria when selecting locations for data centers

• Large volumes of cheap electricity.
• Green energy. Focuses on renewable power sources.
• Proximity to rivers and lakes. They use a large amount of water for cooling purposes.
• Large areas of land. Allows for more privacy and security.
• The distance to other Google data centers (for fast connections between data centers).
• Tax incentives.

Above left: Google’s first production server. Above middle: Google’s The Dalles data center in Oregon. Above right: Close-up of a Google server rack.

What’s up next?

Google has been looking at sites in Asia, such as Taiwan and Malaysia. There are also reports of a possible data center in Lithuania (Eastern Europe). Google is even more secretive about their US locations, but they have bought 466 acres of land in Blythewood, South Carolina.

Google secrecy

Google has made it difficult both to find out where they keep their data centers and how many they have. One big reason for this is that almost all IP addresses that Google uses (and there are a lot of them) are listed to their Mountain View, California address, so just looking at IP addresses (with IP WHOIS or IP-to-location databases) won’t help you figure out where their data centers are or how many they have.
In addition to this, Google usually seeks permits for their data center projects using companies (LLCs) that don’t mention Google at all, for example Lapis LLC in North Carolina and Tetra LLC in Iowa.
Since Google tends to be quite secretive about their data centers in general, the information we have presented here most likely isn’t 100% complete.

Find out more

Check out the excellent Google Data Center FAQ over at Data Center Knowledge for more details and information.

Windows 7 SP1 Beta Now Available for Download

Windows 7 SP1 Beta Now Available for Download

As expected, Microsoft today at its Worldwide Partner Conference 2010 has announced the public availability of Windows 7 SP1 Beta, and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta for users running the final RTM version of the respective operating systems.

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta helps keep your PCs and servers on the latest support level, provides ongoing improvements to the Windows Operating System (OS), by including previous updates delivered over Windows Update as well as continuing incremental updates to the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 platforms based on customer and partner feedback, and is easy for organizations to deploy a single set of updates.
Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta will help you:

• Keep your PCs supported and up-to-date
• Get ongoing updates to the Windows 7 platform
• Easily deploy cumulative updates at a single time
• Meet your users’ demands for greater business mobility
• Provide a comprehensive set of virtualization innovations
• Provide an easier Service Pack deployment model for better IT efficiency

In order to download and install the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta you must currently have a Release to Manufacturing (RTM) version of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 already installed.

Like most of the Service Packs for Microsoft Windows, this one follows in the same direction, containing all the security and recommended updates that you would usually receive through Windows Update. Available in both 32 and 64 bit versions, Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 doesn’t offer any new features except for tons of security, stability and bug fixes. The greatest beneficiaries of this release are said to be Windows Server 2008 R2 users.

Windows 7 RTM was announced back in July 2009. It is publicly available since the official launch, which was held on October 22nd 2009.
Download Windows 7 SP1 Beta from TechNet Evaluation Center
Download Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta from TechNet Evaluation Center
Check out our Windows 7 Center for the complete coverage on the latest client version of Windows. [via TheNextWeb]

Microsoft Kin gets canned

Microsoft's spiritual successor to the Sidekick, the Kin, has been canned after a mere 48 days on the market, and will not be launched in Europe. The news comes after recent rumors that a mere 500 units had been sold.

It's been a disastrous quarter for Microsoft, with the loss of Robbie Bach and J Allard (the man who convinced Bill Gates to spend $2 billion creating the Xbox) from the Entertainment & Devices division, and the cancellation of the decidedly buzzworthy Courier tablet project.

The official statement is as follows:

"We have made the decision to focus exclusively on Windows Phone 7 and we will not ship KIN in Europe this fall as planned. Additionally, we are integrating our KIN team with the Windows Phone 7 team, incorporating valuable ideas and technologies from KIN into future Windows Phone releases. We will continue to work with Verizon in the U.S. to sell current KIN phones."

A Verizon spokeswoman told BusinessWeek that the Kin is "is still an important part of our portfolio," though one has to wonder, as marketing a phone for tweens with a compulsory $29.99 monthly data plan is a bad idea, whether the plan includes unlimited data or not.

It does make sense for Microsoft to fall back to a unified strategy for Windows Phone 7. Windows Mobile has dropped from a 23% market share to well under 10% thanks to heated competition from Apple's iPhone and Google's Android platform, and if executed correctly, WP7 could put Microsoft back in the game. It has been built from scratch, and includes Microsoft's best-in-class Xbox Live Arcade platform from the Xbox 360 console, which will finally give Apple a run for its money as the "fun phone".

'Robofish' makes friends with biological cousins

Scientists seem to like the idea of robotic fish, and why not? They have all sorts of potential applications including exploration, pollution-detection, communications, or just for quiet contemplation. A team from the University of Leeds, however, have created a robotic fish that can do something no previous effort has laid claim to – fool other fish into thinking it’s one of them.

The computer-controlled replica, dubbed Robofish, is a plaster cast model of a three-spined stickleback fish. It has an acetate tail, and is painted to match the stickleback’s natural coloration. A rigid clear tube runs from its underside to a magnet. When placed in an aquarium, that magnet sits against the bottom glass, and is drawn to a corresponding magnet on the outside of that glass. By moving the outside magnet with an electric motor, the team was able to create the illusion of an independently-swimming fish.

The model was placed in a tank with either single sticklebacks, or groups of ten. In both cases, it was programmed to “swim” along a set path at a speed slightly higher than average, to see if it could coax other fish out of the tank’s refuge area, and into a 90-degree turn. While the researchers initially wondered if Robofish’s lack of stickleback odor would be an issue, it turned out not to be a problem.

Individual fish followed the model most readily, although even the groups took to it pretty quickly. Interestingly, though, the longer the real fish had been in the tank, the less likely they were to follow their phony leader. "Because Robofish moved faster and without stopping and tended to be at the front or on the edge of the shoal, the other fish saw it as bold and definite in its actions, which encouraged them to follow," said PhD student Jolyon Faria. "The fish were more easily influenced by a bolder member when they were nervous in new surroundings. Once they'd got used to the tank, they moved round quite happily to explore the tank, rather than moving in unison as they did at the start."

It was also noted that the fish closest behind Robofish was always the first one to follow it into the turn, regardless of how close behind it was following. This apparently addresses a long-standing question in the field of group dynamics – is a leader’s effect on a group influenced by how physically-close that leader is to the group? This experiment would seem to indicate not.

The Leeds team believes that knowledge gleaned from robotic fish could be used in the field of freshwater and marine environmental management, to predict migration routes and the effects of human interference. Given Ms. Faria’s observations about the stickleback experiment, however, it looks like they could also teach us something about ourselves.

Buy your own Tron Lightcycle: US$35,000

The lightcycle scene was probably the most memorable part of an absolutely jaw-dropping movie when Tron was released back in 1982. One of the first films ever to use the kinds of computer-generated special effects that later become commonplace, it was a glimpse into a whole new world that left an indelible impression on most that saw it. Now, as Disney prepares to release Tron Legacy, a sequel some 28 years after the original, the lightcycles are back and looking meaner than ever. Built by the same guys that did the memorable Batpod replica, the new lightcycles feature massive dual hubless wheels, carbon fiber/fiberglass bodies and all the lashings of neon that you'd expect. And there's going to be five running models built - all of which are now up for sale on eBay. Check it out!

The lightcycles are to be built by Parker Brothers Choppers, each will be individually numbered from 001 to 005, and each will come with a different color neon highlight. Only five will ever be built.

Buyers can specify what size combustion engine they want, or use a high-powered electric motor to really get in the digital swing of things. Special tires are being made up to fit the enormous 22" x 12" hubless rims - and the manufacturer, Hoosier, will make additional tires available if you wear the originals out - because these lightcycles are being built for street use, not just to be shown.

They're selling for US$35,000 apiece, which is a bit of a steal for something so technically challenging to build - not to mention something that will cause extreme whiplash for the general public, and a stack of dry-cleaning bills for any geek that sees it.

See the eBay auction for more details.

Robotic devices help stroke survivors regain movement

It's a long time since The Six Million Dollar Man graced our TV screens; indeed, many Gizmag readers may be too young to have heard of Steve Austin, the Bionic Man. Bionics and robotics have come a long way in the past few years, and while we're not yet creating bionic men and women, we can at least claim to make people "better, stronger, and faster." A robotic hand and bionic leg undergoing clinical trials at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center (NYPH/CUMC) are two promising neurorehabilitation devices that are helping stroke survivors regain movement in affected limbs by rewiring neural pathways.

Stroke is one of the top three killers in the developed world. Of those who survive, hundreds of thousands are left with devastating disabilities such as the loss of movement in an arm or leg, and the accompanying loss of freedom of movement they had taken for granted. Not so long ago these disabilities were considered incurable and therapy often focused on training people to use their "good side."

Fortunately, research has provided new insights into the brain and its ability to reorganize or "rewire" itself by forming new neural pathways which bypass damaged areas - the science of neuroplasticity. Neurorehabilitation harnesses the principles of neuroplasticity, and has produced some remarkable improvements in survivors of stroke and other brain damage.

Trials like those being conducted at NYPH/CUMC involve patients in repetitive movements that promote motor learning and neuroplasticity in affected limbs.

Amadeo Robotic Hand

The Amadeo, developed by medical engineering company Tyromotion, is the first device to focus specifically on hand rehabilitation and allows the patient to move each finger individually. The mechanism mimics the hand's natural grasping movement, making the patient's hand move with it. The range of motion and the force can be exactly adjusted to the patient's needs.

After attaching the finger tips to the finger and thumb carriages, patients move their fingers along small tracks to a set endpoint in an automated sequence. Patients can be actively or passively involved, and motor control and strength are increased over time.

Lauri Bishop, a research physical therapist in the Department of Rehabilitation and Regenerative Medicine at NYPH/CUMC says, "Traditionally hand rehabilitation has been done by having patients practice movements like buttoning a shirt. The robot makes this process more efficient. It also makes it easier to track a patient’s progress."

Tibion Bionic Leg

The Tibion is a thigh-to-ankle device worn during therapy to help patients get their stroke-weakened leg to work with their unaffected leg in walking, climbing stairs and getting in and out of chairs.

Sensors in the patient's shoe and the Bionic Leg collect data that is fed into a computer to determine what the patient is likely trying to do, and essentially customize the sensor network to the patient's way of walking. The Bionic Leg can be configured to either assist or resist the patient's movements, and therapists can progressively reduce the level of support provided until patients are able to move confidently without it.

"Prior robotic devices for helping patients improve their gait involved either therapists or robots moving the affected leg while the patient was suspended over a treadmill," says Ms. Bishop. "This bionic leg requires the patient to put weight on the affected leg, and to try to take steps on their own. The device isn’t a prosthesis, it simply supports the patient while our therapists help them teach new areas of their brain to replace the stroke-affected areas that normally control leg function."

Dr. Joel Stein, director of the Rehabilitation Medicine Service and Physiatrist-in-Chief at NYPH says, "The devices systematically help restore neural pathways for crucial movements like walking and gripping. By doing so, patients can regain freedom and independence and move on with their lives."

The hospital is seeking people who have been recovering from a stroke for six months or longer, who have difficulty with hand functions or mobility, to take part in the clinical research trials. If interested, email Lauri Bishop or call (212) 305-6095.

Just 12 teams remaining in Automotive X PRIZE

Things are heating up in the Automotive X PRIZE with just 15 vehicles representing 12 teams from 6 countries left in the competition. Nine teams were eliminated during the Knockout Qualifying Stage, which took place at the Michigan International Speedway from June 20 to 30. Ultimately, vehicles in each of the three classes will have to exceed 100 MPGe (miles-per-gallon equivalent), meet emissions and performance requirements, and complete on-road challenges in the fastest time possible, if they want to win their share of the US$10 million prize.

The Knockout Qualifying Stage consisted of several events. They included:

• A technical inspection, wherein vehicles were inspected for road safety, and to check that they matched up with the teams’ original design submissions
• An on-road fuel economy test, in which vehicles were subjected to a number of driving conditions, and had to get at least 67 MPGe and less than or equal to 300 grams per mile of CO2 emissions
• An on-road range test, in which Alternative Class vehicles had to travel at least 67 miles (134 for Mainstream Class), at an average speed of 55mph, on a single charge and/or tank of fuel
• A dynamic safety test, wherein the vehicles were assessed for 0-60 acceleration, braking, accident avoidance, highway acceleration, and lateral acceleration

The next step in the X PRIZE is the Finals Stage, running from July 19th to 30th, where the top finalists for each class will be decided. The 12 teams that will be competing include:

Mainstream Class

• Edison2, Charlottesville, Virginia (two versions of their combustion-engined Very Light Car will be competing against one another)

Alternative Class - Tandem

• Commuter Cars, Spokane, Washington (Electric)
• Edison2, with a third version of the combustion Very Light Car
• Spira, Carrollton, Illinois/Banglamung, Thailand (Combustion)
• X-Tracer, Switzerland (Electric)

Alternative Class - Side-by-Side

• Amp, Cincinnati, Ohio (Electric)
• Aptera, San Diego, California (Electric)
• Li-ion Motors, North Carolina (Electric)
• RaceAbout Association, Finland (Electric)
• Tata Motors, Coventry, UK (Electric)
• TW4XP, Germany (Electric)
• Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington (Gas/electric)
• Zap, Santa Rosa, California (Electric)

Gizmag will be on the ground in Michigan during the Finals Stage to bring you up-to-date information on how the competition is progressing, along with a closer look at some of the teams.

The winners of the competition will be announced in September, with the winner of the Mainstream Class taking home US$5 million, and the winners of the two Alternative classes splitting the rest of the prize money.

In the meantime, updates on the standings can be found on the Automotive X-Prize site.

New eco-marathon for energy-efficient light aircraft

A new annual competition in Vichy, France will take place for the first time this July in order to develop and bring attention to sustainable energy-economy in the motorized ultralight aircraft (ULM) industry. Calling to mind the wacky inventiveness of the Red Bull Flugtag, the Eco Marathon ULM aims not to achieve furthest flight through human power, but with the least possible fuel. Competitors will undoubtedly hope to amaze more than amuse.

Two categories are open; the first aimed primarily at students and institutions is to produce a radical or free-thinking prototype; the second aimed primarily at manufacturers, is to produce a more conventional serial model suitable for mass production that demonstrates their latest applied research. Both traditional and alternative fuels can be used, or a combination of two in a hybrid model, and although the event calls itself an “eco-marathon” the winner will not be judged on length of flight, or by time – the objective is not to beat speed records or to arrive first, it is to consume the smallest quantity of energy by flying a known distance.

Yuneec E430 electric aircraft

At first reading there is only one rule – that the aircraft must comply to the French ultralight regulation – and organizers hope this lack of restraint will allow for greater creativity. However further reading reveals a few other requirements – an on-board radio must be in constant communication with ground control, parachutes are mandatory, plus an on-board GPS is required to track and record the rectangular flight plan over 12km. Time, distance and speed will all be recorded, as well as electricity consumption. Additionally aircraft sound level and CO² emission will be measured and rewarded. The competitor must run the course three times, and an average taken of two flights. The deciding factor will be kilojoules counterbalanced against the ratio between empty weight and gross weight following a full refuel.

In addition to the air marathon there will also be a static “Trade Fair of Driving Energies” to showcase the use of renewable energy sources applied to automated vehicles. Exhibitors, competitors and manufacturers will explain their technical choices for submission, and publicize their products.

The Eco Marathon ULM, managed by the Vichy Ulltralight Club and the French Fédération (FFPLUM), will take place on July 9th, 10th and 11th 2010 at the Vichy Charmeil aerodrome in Vichy, France. It is hoped that the event will serve to encourage innovation and new thinking in the field of fuel-efficiency and the future of modern transport, to promote results of research within the industry and raise awareness of technical careers, and to improve environmental efforts in terms of energy consumption and atmospheric emissions.

Microsoft InstaLoad lets you insert batteries in any direction

For batteries to work, they need to go in the right way. It's one of those fundamental rules that we all pick up from an early age, but Microsoft has just announced an innovation that turns all that on its head – literally. Known as "InstaLoad" battery installation, the technology allows you to insert a battery without having to worry about positive and negative polarity. That's idiot-proofing of the highest order!

InstaLoad is designed to save time when using portable devices that need regular battery swaps and would have obvious benefits for (the many) poorly designed gadgets out there that require a microscope to see the polarity diagram.

Microsoft says that "unlike existing electronic solutions designed to address battery-polarity installation, InstaLoad is a mechanical invention that does not drain battery power or require expensive electronic circuitry."

The contact system is suitable for most devices that have barrel-type compartments and use CR123, AA, AAA, C or D size batteries (disposable or rechargeable).

Microsoft is licensing the patented battery contact design and Duracell is among the companies looking to make use of the technology.

Idiot-proofing cracks aside (I know I've managed to put batteries in backwards many times), there is also clear benefit here for people with hearing, vision or learning disabilities. Microsoft has recognized this and is offering a royalty-free license program to suppliers and manufacturers of accessibility devices.

“We believe the InstaLoad feature can make a difference in the lives of those people who need and use these products on a daily basis,” said Rusty Jeffress, corporate vice president, Specialized Devices & Applications, Microsoft.

Finally: motorcycle headlights that look around the corners

You can't accuse BMW motorcycles of lacking gadgets - with the latest and greatest Beemers packing quickshifters, traction control, integrated ABS and all sorts of other goodies, they're right at the pointy end of the pack. But as great as those features are, this one's so forehead-slappingly obvious and excellent that frankly it's a disgrace that nobody else has beaten the Bavarians to it. The (optional) Adaptive Headlight technology on the upcoming K1600GT finally solves one of the most annoying problems on pretty much every motorcycle - by tilting the headlight according to your lean angle, to light your way around a corner as you turn it, instead of having to ride into blackness. Bravo!

The problem is simple enough - to run a road-legal headlight, you have to cut off the top half of the beam using a suitable reflector so you don't blind oncoming drivers, giving you a flat lighting horizon when you're vertical. But when you dip into a corner and lean the bike over, that lit-up area tilts with you, and if you're turning left, the left side tilts downward until you're basically unable to see through the corner, like so:

It's not just annoying, it's a real safety factor if you do a lot of night miles. So BMW deserves unreserved praise for coming up with its Adaptive Headlight system, that senses your lean angle and uses a tilting reflector to aim the beam the way you're leaning. Hence:

Apple admits error with iPhone 4's signal strength indicator

Apple has announced that for years, iPhones have been using a “totally wrong” formula to determine how many bars of signal strength they are receiving. The company recently made the discovery after receiving complaints about sudden drops in signal strength, from users of the new iPhone 4. As it turns out, the signal strength itself wasn’t dropping – instead, the phones had initially been displaying the signal as much stronger than it actually was. In a letter issued to iPhone owners, Apple stated, “Their big drop in bars is because their high bars were never real in the first place.”

While some people had previously blamed the reception problem on users’ hands blocking the 4’s integrated antenna, Apple maintains that it’s a software formula issue, and one that has apparently been present since the first iPhones came out three years ago. The company stated that within a few weeks, the problem will be fixed with a free software update for its 3G, 3Gs and 4 models.

Full text of Apple Letter:

Letter from Apple Regarding iPhone 4 Dear iPhone 4 Users,

The iPhone 4 has been the most successful product launch in Apple’s history. It has been judged by reviewers around the world to be the best smartphone ever, and users have told us that they love it. So we were surprised when we read reports of reception problems, and we immediately began investigating them. Here is what we have learned.

To start with, gripping almost any mobile phone in certain ways will reduce its reception by 1 or more bars. This is true of iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, as well as many Droid, Nokia and RIM phones. But some users have reported that iPhone 4 can drop 4 or 5 bars when tightly held in a way which covers the black strip in the lower left corner of the metal band. This is a far bigger drop than normal, and as a result some have accused the iPhone 4 of having a faulty antenna design.

At the same time, we continue to read articles and receive hundreds of emails from users saying that iPhone 4 reception is better than the iPhone 3GS. They are delighted. This matches our own experience and testing. What can explain all of this?

We have discovered the cause of this dramatic drop in bars, and it is both simple and surprising.

Upon investigation, we were stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong. Our formula, in many instances, mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength. For example, we sometimes display 4 bars when we should be displaying as few as 2 bars. Users observing a drop of several bars when they grip their iPhone in a certain way are most likely in an area with very weak signal strength, but they don’t know it because we are erroneously displaying 4 or 5 bars. Their big drop in bars is because their high bars were never real in the first place.

To fix this, we are adopting AT&T’s recently recommended formula for calculating how many bars to display for a given signal strength. The real signal strength remains the same, but the iPhone’s bars will report it far more accurately, providing users a much better indication of the reception they will get in a given area. We are also making bars 1, 2 and 3 a bit taller so they will be easier to see.

We will issue a free software update within a few weeks that incorporates the corrected formula. Since this mistake has been present since the original iPhone, this software update will also be available for the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G.

We have gone back to our labs and retested everything, and the results are the same— the iPhone 4’s wireless performance is the best we have ever shipped. For the vast majority of users who have not been troubled by this issue, this software update will only make your bars more accurate. For those who have had concerns, we apologize for any anxiety we may have caused.

As a reminder, if you are not fully satisfied, you can return your undamaged iPhone to any Apple Retail Store or the online Apple Store within 30 days of purchase for a full refund.

Via: Apple.

First-ever human-powered Canada-to-Hawaii crossing postponed for a year

Canadian adventurer Greg Kolodziejzyk's planned attempt on the world’s first human-powered Canada-to-Hawaii crossing has been delayed. Kolodziejzyk, who has set previous records for human-powered land and water travel was to embark on the two-month trip this week in his custom-built fully-enclosed pedal-powered kayak named WiTHiN. Unfortunately, however, he encountered some difficulties with the boat that couldn’t be fixed in time to make this year’s departure window.

WiTHiN’s problems became apparent during two four-day shakedown trips on British Columbia’s protected coastal waterways, and on its large Lake Okanagan.

According to his blog, Kolodziejzyk’s first concern was the possibility of broaching (capsizing sideways) when drifting while he slept. Although a larger rudder and added weight in the stern were supposed to encourage the boat to turn downwind while drifting, he found that WiTHiN still had a tendency to turn sideways to the wind - and into the oncoming waves. “On ocean swells of 6 to 10 feet or more and the odd breaking wave, with winds from 15 to 20 knots, I think that I would capsize and roll - over and over” he stated. He has since added a horizontal wing to the rudder, in hopes of alleviating the problem.

His next concern involved the deployment of the drogue - a device that is towed underwater behind the boat, making it easier to control in rough weather. Kolodziejzyk realized that standing up and opening the pilot hatch to manage the apparatus, especially in storm conditions, would be “suicidal”. He now has a system for deploying the drogue from inside the boat (pictured below).

Excessive rolling was also an issue, as was the bow’s tendency to pierce into and submerge under waves. As these were mostly noted on the lake, Greg hopes that they won’t be as pronounced on the larger, smoother swells of the ocean. That said, he also readily admits that he needs more experience pedaling WiTHiN on overnight, open-ocean trips. To that end, he is currently in the midst of ten days of sea trials, following the beginning of the route he would take from British Columbia to Hawaii.

Hopefully, everything will be worked out in time for his planned attempt at the crossing next year. In the meantime, he will continue working on WiTHiN, rebuilding funds, and perhaps brainstorming over two of his proposed upcoming adventures - a human-powered snowmobile crossing of Greenland, and a human-powered caterpillar crossing of the Sahara Desert.

Red Bull Stratos team gets closer to supersonic freefall attempt

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• Buy your own Tron Lightcycle: US$35,000
• Microsoft Kin gets canned
• Fischer MRX: the quest to build the next great American sportsbike
• Terrafugia Transition flying-car cleared by the FAA
• Silicon breakthrough brings quantum computers a step closer

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AERO GIZMO

Red Bull Stratos team gets closer to supersonic freefall attempt

By Ben Coxworth
17:32 July 2, 2010

3 Pictures

Later this year, Felix Baumgartner will put on a pressurized space suit and helmet, climb into a capsule suspended beneath a balloon, ride 120,000 feet into the earth’s upper atmosphere, then jump out and – before deploying his parachute – try to break the speed of sound while in freefall. That’s the plan, at least, for the insanely-dangerous Red Bull Stratos event. If successful, it will constitute the world’s highest manned balloon flight, highest parachute jump, and fastest and longest freefall. The team conducted three important tests in the last week of May, that they just released the details of this week. What those tests entailed would probably be hair-raising enough to last most of us a lifetime.

The first two tests took place at the Sage Cheshire Aerospace Center in Lancaster, California. There, with the capsule hanging from a crane, Baumgartner practiced his step-off. “We had no idea what’s going to happen to the capsule as he slides the seat forward, climbs out and steps off,” said Aerial Strategist Luke Aikins. “We were worried that if the capsule moved, he wasn’t going to get a good exit, but it’s pretty stationary. So we were able to eliminate those issues.”

The next step involved a space-suited Baumgartner doing bungee jumps from a crane basket suspended 200 feet in the air. The purpose of this test was to let him get a feel for controlling his forward rotation as he stepped off. After several jumps, he appeared to have mastered the technique.

Finally, again in his suit, Felix made a series of high-altitude skydives. Objectives of this test included perfecting his step-off, assessing how different body positions affected controllability, observing how the suit deflated upon descent, and trying out a new chest pack unit that can be moved to one side when Baumgartner needs to spot his landing site. Everything, apparently, went smoothly.

If the name Felix Baumgartner sounds at all familiar, that’s because he’s the same guy who jumped out of a plane with a set of wings on his back and glided across the English Channel, back in 2003. The Red Bull Stratos team, however, insist that their event isn’t just a stunt. “You’ve got a lot of companies that are vying for the role of being the commercial space transport provider for tourism, for upper atmospheric science, and so on,” said Medical Director Dr. Jonathan Clark . “These systems, particularly during the test and development phase, need a potential escape system, which we may be able to help them provide with the knowledge we gain.”