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First rule of being a technology demo reporter: Never put yourself into a position in which your life will be in jeopardy should that said technology fail spectacularly.
So… you’ve got a brand-spanking new automatic braking system that you’re really excited about. You call together a little press party to show them how your new product could save thousands of lives and millions of dollars in property value each year. You pitch this to them by promising, “this will change everything.” — And then…
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What a difference a generation makes… In just a few short years, Acer has managed to successfully rebrand itself as the “King of Value” with a series of innovative products and forward styling at unbeatable price-points. It looks like their new line of S1 “Ultra-Thin” LCD displays will be taking that new reputation to the next level. We’ve only seen pictures and spec sheets on these new displays, but LED lighting, 16:9 aspect ratios, bountiful port options, low-energy operation and a ultra-slim 13mm depth for the smallest unit makes them damn tempting. SAN JOSE, Calif., July 26, 2010 – Acer America today debuts a new line of ultra-thin LED monitors that feature an eco-friendly, space-conscious design. The new S1 series displays combine the latest LED technology with a slim 13mm to 15mm profile, making them ideal for users with limited space for work or entertainment. |
For a while now I’ve been looking at getting a “hard drive dock” for my lab. I’ve gone without because it’s not too much of a trouble to hook up a 3.5″ or 2.5″ hard drive to one of my many enclosures, but a dock would make the process simpler, easier and much less prone to “data laziness.” (You know… not backing up or transferring data that you SHOULD because to do so would require those 10 extra steps to mount the drive in an enclosure.)
I’ve also wanted to review the new line of USB 3.0 devices. For those who haven’t heard of it, USB 3.0 is the latest revision to the Universal Serial Bus standard to be promoted by the USB Implementers Forum. The interface supports data transfer rates up to a theoretical 5 Gbps, and remains backward compatible with USB 2.0 technology (operating at USB 2.0 speeds). By comparison, today’s USB 2.0 operates at 480 Mbps — or 10 times slower. Unfortunately, almost no manufacturer has made USB 3.0 a standard part of their gear, so USB 3.0 products would be hamstrung by the lack of high speed adapters.
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Why do I bring up these two random pieces of uberGeek desire? — Well I just received an email from some folks at StarTech.com about their brand-spanking new SATDOCU3S USB Docking Stations that offer not only an easy way to dock a hard drive, but also include the adapter to let you experience USB 3.0 speeds. Game On! From the Press Release: StarTech.com, a leading manufacturer of hard-to-find technology and connectivity parts, today announced the availability of two variations of their SATDOCKU3S USB 3.0 SATA Hard Drive Docking Stations. The SATDOCKU3SP and the SATDOCKU3SE offer users USB 3.0 host connection options, including a 2-port PCI Express USB 3.0 adapter (SATDOCKU3SP) and 2-port ExpressCard USB 3.0 host adapter (SATDOCKU3SE) respectively. |
From the NY Times: After years in a status closer to science fiction than reality, the traveling wave nuclear reactor is emerging as a potential “game changer,” according to a U.S. Department of Energy official. It helps that the reactor is the product of a team of top scientists backed by the deep pockets of Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
This reactor (pdf) works something like a cigarette. A chain reaction is launched in one end of a closed cylinder of spent uranium fuel, creating a slow-moving “deflagration,” a wave of nuclear fission reactions that keeps breeding neutrons as it makes way through the container, keeping the self-sustaining reaction going.
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I can’t quite explain how excited I am by the partnership between Toyota and Tesla. Not just because I’m a big fan of uberGeek EV cars, but because Fremont, CA is my hometown and the shutdown of the NUMI plant was devastating. Under the partnership announced late today, the two companies will develop electric vehicles and components, including a Toyota EV driven by a Tesla drivetrain. Tesla Motors also will invest “a couple of hundred million dollars” retooling a shuttered Toyota factory to build the Model S sedan. |
The partnership gives Toyota — which until now has shown little public interest in EVs — access to proven EV technology and gives Tesla a crash course in engineering and building a mass-market car. That expertise will serve Tesla well as it scrambles to build the Model S, a car it keeps promising to have on the road in 2012.
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From Wired: The Motion Picture Association of America said its member studios would not authorize the early movie releases unless it won the ability to deploy Selectable Output Control. The reason: Analog video signals can easily be recorded, while digital video standards include a copy protection scheme that lets providers set a no-copy flag on the signal. Digital rights group, Public Knowledge, said millions of older televisions, including 11 million HD sets, would be affected, a number the MPAA disputes. Owners of those devices would not have the luxury of being able to view the latest theater blockbuster at home through video on-demand services. “The FCC is allowing the MPAA to control your television,” John Bergmayer, Public Knowledge staff attorney, said in a telephone interview. |
In a decision that could only be described as “disturbing” the FCC has granted studios the right to turn off certain outputs on set-top boxes. (You know… the thing that you plug your TV into for content.) — They aim is understandable, movie studios want to offer consumers the ability to watch first-run movies while they are still in the movie theaters (at a major premium of course) but before they pull the trigger on that convenience, they want to plug the “analog hole” that they say would allow viewers to bypass copy protection and record said movie. — It all sounds good (I mean, really… who USES the analog outputs on their cable boxes anymore?) until you consider the ramifications of such a decision.
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You can file this under, “It’s about flippin’ time!”
It seems that some smart spaceGeeks in the ESA are working with a German aerospace conglomerate to develop a space vehicle reentry system that does away with heavy ablative heat shielding materials in favor of a strong electromagnetic field. — Anybody who has ever taken an interest in spaceflight will know that reentry is second in potential catastrophic hazards only to liftoff (with its millions of pounds of propellants needed to throw a payload into orbit). As a spacecraft reenters Earth’s atmosphere at hypersonic speeds the heat generated from the friction between the falling craft and the increasingly dense molecules of the atmosphere will ionize the gas and generate beautiful, and deadly (Space Shuttle Columbia), plumes of plasma.”
From PhysOrg: “European space agencies and an aerospace giant are developing a new re-entry heat shield that will use superconductor magnets to generate a magnetic field strong enough to deflect the superhot plasma formed during re-entry of returning spacecraft.
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They plan to test the new technology by attaching a test module to a missile and using a Russian submarine to fire it into space.
As spacecraft re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere at high speeds super-hot temperatures are produced through friction. Traditional heat shields use temperature-resistant ablative coatings that burn off on re-entry, or tough insulating materials, such as the tiles used on the space shuttle. If the new magnetic shielding is successful it could be more reliable and make the craft lighter and easier to re-use, since it would reduce or eliminate the need for other shielding materials.” |
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All aircraft include a “tested to destruction” component of their certification. They need to know if the thousands of parts that make up a modern airliner can survive the extremes of airflight. Brakes are cooked, hydraulics are over pressurized, computers are crashed, struts crushed, engines FOD’d, tires blown-up among a plethora of “tests” that could reasonably seen as the airframe version of hell. However, among ALL the tests that make the techsadist within me laugh with glee, there is no test that is more insane than the “Wing Load” test. In this picture (click on the picture for the high-resolution version) a brand-spankin’ new Boeing 787 is held in a test apparatus as the wings are deflected up 25 feet, or 150% of their maximum load. According to the sensors and engineers on the floor, the composite wings are doing just fine. |
Now the only questions is…
When do I get to fly on one of these beauties!?
I just received an email from our friends over at PCTools.com about a new botnet that is targeting those who are flirting online through instant messaging. Dubbed “Flirt Bots” by the PCTools Malware Research Center these new threats work by monitoring chat rooms and IM channels, enticing lonely individuals into a conversation, and ultimately trying to get a credit card number to “make sure you’re over 18.”
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Here’s how Flirt Bots work:
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Here’s an interesting little tidbit… it seems that AT&T has been working with Sling Media to create a SlingPlayer application for the iPhone (and presumably for the upcoming iPad as well) that will allow SlingBox users to stream content from their Sling Media devices across AT&T’s 3G network. Apparently the new player differs from the one that has been available on the AP Store because it is optimized to conserve wireless spectrum. (Translation: Audio/Video quality trade off in exchange for the right to be broadcast over AT&T’s network.)
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What makes this interesting is that Apple has gotten into the habit of blaming every AP rejection or squabble on AT&T. With this announcement, made WITHOUT as much as a nod from Apple, AT&T is essentially throwing down the gauntlet and saying, “WE’RE giving customers what they want… if you reject this ap, it’s all on you. |
Hey Steve and Co…. the ball’s in your court.
From the Press Release: DALLAS, Feb. 4, 2010 – AT&T* today announced that its 3G mobile broadband network will support Sling Media, Inc.’s SlingPlayer Mobile™ app.
There’s no doubt that one of the reasons for this upgrade is some behind-the-scenes negotiations with Apple over the release of the iPad on the ATT 3G network. (Think: “Fix your damn network or the iPhone AND iPad are going to Verizon!”) As consumers we can only applaud any time a corporation decides to undertake a major capital expenditure project in hopes of improving service to their paying customers.
However, with the mad media blitz that ATT has made over the past few months I can’t help but wonder if we wouldn’t already be a good way to fixing ATT’s crappy 3G network if they hadn’t wasted so much time and money on trying to convince us that their network wasn’t really crappy.
From CNET: AT&T said Thursday that it will invest an additional $2 billion in its network in 2010 to make sure it keeps up with the growing demand from new smartphones and other 3G data devices, such as the Apple iPad, on its network.
During its fourth quarter 2009 conference call, Chief Operating Officer John Stankey said AT&T plans to spend between $18 billion and $19 billion in 2010 upgrading its wireless and backhaul networks to handle the onslaught of new traffic. This is roughly $2 billion more than the company had invested in the previous year.
From CNN: The full-body scanning technology being adopted and discussed since the attempt to take down a passenger plane on Christmas Day is under attack from privacy advocates who call it a “virtual strip search.”
The controversial technology, first used in a U.S. airport in 2007, can find hidden objects that metal detectors can’t.
“The advanced imaging technology enhances security because it can detect both metallic and nonmetallic threats hidden on a passenger’s body,” TSA spokesman Greg Soule said.
Privacy rights groups are wary of movements to impose the anatomically revealing technology on all travelers as a primary screening method.
“Obviously we have a concern because it’s a virtual strip search that is terribly invasive,” said Michael German, policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union.
I like the ACLU. I don’t always agree with them, but they stick to their guns and have done more good for this country than most people will ever know. When we lose our minds as a collective society and are willing to toss away our civil liberties for a vague promise of security or revenge, the ACLU is generally there to remind us that a liberty without freedoms is nothing more than thinly disguised fascism.
However, I believe that in this case, the ACLU is wrong. Dead wrong.
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FLO TV is starting a big push to make their service THE hot item for the 2009 holiday season. They’re pitching a “dedicated device that will let TV lovers watch their favorite news, live sports, children’s programming and entertainment on a dedicated device for mobile TV viewing.” — Sound cool, but the question is… what exactly does that mean? From what I can piece together from their website, it looks like this is actually an announcement for two products. The first is a service that works over ATT or Verizon to deliver TV programming over a cellular network. The second product is a dedicated CDMA-based 3G device that will do a combination of streaming and content storage in a touch-screen enabled device. |
Both the service and the device seem like pretty cool pieces of technology, but there are some details about both that are still a little vague. — For example…
Has there been a real-world test of performance over the ATT 3G network? (Seriously, ATT has made the iPhone unusable in most major cities. Does it have any hope of delivering large media streams in any usable fashion?) Is the FLO TV WiFi enabled? Is it REALLY going to cost $250 and $9.00/month?
I like the idea of the tech, but I think they’re going to have to prove their technology and improve the price if they want to get any traction.
I’ve got a love-hate relationship with solar charging product. On the one hand, the very idea of being completely “off-the-grid” and power independent could evoke a new level of ecoSmugness from even a prius-driving, carbon-neutral, vegan survivalist. On the other hand, the reality of solar has very rarely measured up with its promise: clouds cover the sun, panels don’t perform at nearly their rated capacity, chargers and batteries are inefficient, and then there’s this little thing called, “night.”
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Well recently our friends over at Horizon Fuel Cell sent me an announcement for one of their new products that just might shake me from the solar blues. Horizon, known for their hydrogen fuel-cell technologies, has released the Sunbox USB. This self-contained solar charging system is much like many other solar units that we’ve seen over the years with one difference: it doesn’t promise great charging rates or maximum efficiency, but rather sells itself for disaster recovery, emergency relief and remote recreational activities. |
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It’s an oft-lamented fact in the tech world that the batteries which power our gadgets and gizmos have not followed Moore’s Lawand expanded their capacity to match the demand of an ever-increasing array of power-hungry devices. Quite simply, we’ve having a hard time squeezing more power into small spaces and what successes we do have in creating high-density batteries are tempered by side-effects like exploding batteries and heavy metals.
Well… what if the next battery for your device wasn’t actually a battery?
From ars technica: “Schindall, who had spent some time away from academics, explained that during his first stint at MIT, a capacitor that could hold 350 Farads would have filled the whole stage. Before he returned, someone working on fuel cells had accidentally produced the first ultracapacitor. Now, with refinements, he was able to walk on stage with a 350 Farad ultracapacitor that was about the size of a D battery. The current generation of devices use activated carbon to hold charges, as its highly complex topology creates a lot of surface area across which charge differences can build up.
