Tag Archives: Technology

RIM unveil BlackBerry PlayBook {Gadgets}

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BlackBerry makers RIM have unveiled their latest toy ‘The BlackBerry PlayBook’ and are pointing it squarely at the “let’s pretend it’s work but shh it’s actually fun” generation.

The professional-grade tablet boasts unmatched power and web performance. Perfect for either large organizations or an “army of one”, the BlackBerry PlayBook is designed to give users what they want, including uncompromised web browsing, true multitasking and high performance multimedia, while also providing advanced security features, out-of-the-box enterprise support and a breakthrough development platform for IT departments and developers.

“RIM set out to engineer the best professional-grade tablet in the industry with cutting-edge hardware features and one of the world’s most robust and flexible operating systems,” said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO at Research In Motion. “The BlackBerry PlayBook solidly hits the mark with industry leading power, true multitasking, uncompromised web browsing and high performance multimedia.”

Measuring less than half an inch thick and weighing less than a pound, the BlackBerry PlayBook, with its 7″ high resolution display is ultra portable. One of it’s main selling points is multi-tasking. Its performance is jointly fueled by a 1 GHz dual-core processor and the new BlackBerry Tablet OS which supports true symmetric multiprocessing.

Another of PlayBook’s big selling points is its “Uncompromised Web Browsing” with support for Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1, Adobe® Mobile AIR® and HTML-5, the BlackBerry PlayBook provides users with an uncompromised, high-fidelity web experience and offers them the ability to enjoy all of the sites, games and media on the web. For more than a decade, the mobile industry has worked to bridge the gap between the “real web” and mobile devices through various apps and technologies and, in fact, a significant number of mobile apps today still simply serve as a proxy for web content that already exists on the web. RIM are also encouraging developers and content publishers to work with them to develop applications and content.

The BlackBerry PlayBook features dual HD cameras for video capture and video conferencing that can both record HD video at the same time…possibly to capture the scene you’re looking at and the look of amazement on your face at the same time…and an HDMI-out port for presenting creations on external displays. The BlackBerry PlayBook also offers rich stereo sound.

For those BlackBerry PlayBook users who carry a BlackBerry smartphone, it will also be possible to pair the tablet and smartphone using Bluetooth. This means they can opt to use the larger tablet display to seamlessly and securely view any of the email, BBM™, calendar, tasks, documents and other content that resides on (or is accessible through) their smartphone. They can also use their tablet and smartphone interchangeably without worrying about syncing or duplicating data.

The BlackBerry Tablet OS is built upon the yummiest sounding operating system – the QNX® Neutrino® microkernel architecture. It’s been used in everything from planes, trains and automobiles to medical equipment and the largest core routers that run the Internet.

The Specifications and Key features of the BlackBerry PlayBook include:

  • 7″ LCD, 1024 x 600, WSVGA, capacitive touch screen with full multi-touch and gesture support
  • BlackBerry Tablet OS with support for symmetric multiprocessing
  • 1 GHz dual-core processor
  • 1 GB RAM
  • Dual HD cameras (3 MP front facing, 5 MP rear facing), supports 1080p HD video recording
  • Video playback: 1080p HD Video, H.264, MPEG, DivX, WMV
  • Audio playback: MP3, AAC, WMA
  • HDMI video output
  • Wi-Fi – 802.11 a/b/g/n
  • Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
  • Connectors: microHDMI, microUSB, charging contacts
  • Open, flexible application platform with support for WebKit/HTML-5, Adobe Flash Player 10.1, Adobe Mobile AIR, Adobe Reader, POSIX, OpenGL, Java
  • Ultra thin and portable:
    • Measures 5.1″x7.6″x0.4″ (130mm x 193mm x 10mm)
    • Weighs less than a pound (approximately 0.9 lb or 400g)
  • Additional features and specifications of the BlackBerry PlayBook will be shared on or before the date this product is launched in retail outlets.
  • RIM intends to also offer 3G and 4G models in the future.

It’s due to reach the UK for Apr 2011 [BlackBerry PlayBook]

Google Scribe wrote this for me {Technology}

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Google labs have been busy building their new toys so that us lot can spend more time doing fun stuff. Their latest offering is Google Scribe. Scribe automatically completes text so that you don’t have to. Sort of like the text prediction feature on mobile phones.
This entire article has been written entirely using Google Scribe which ironically enough, never suggests itself.

This probably reflects why the article has no structure and feels slightly out of character. Great fun tool if you’re stuck for words or if there’s something on the tip of your tongue. It does’t know as much slang or grammar as our writers yet so I won’t be replacing them anytime soon.

If you have a go then let us know what random sentences you get in the comments section.

[Google Scribe]

Printed Clothing {Style}

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Film’s going three dimention happy at the moment so it’s no excuse for fashion not to follow suit. The uses of 3d printing are still being explored and designer-researchers are producing 3d printed textiles and clothing.

The emerging technology, which uses ultraviolet beams to fuse layers of powdered, recyclable thermoplastic into shape, leaves behind virtually no waste. Its localized production and one-size-fits-all approach also racks up fewer travel miles, requires less labor, and compresses fabrication time to a matter of hours, rather than weeks or months.

Designer Jiri Evenhuis, in collaboration with Janne Kyttanen of Freedom of Creation, were among the first to toy with the idea of using 3D printers to create textiles. “Instead of producing textiles by the meter, then cutting and sewing them into final products, this concept has the ability to make needle and thread obsolete,” Evenhuis has said.

3D printing has the “ability to make needle and thread obsolete,” says designer Jiri Evenhuis. 

A decade later, designer-researchers like Freedom of Creation in Amsterdam and Philip Delamore at the London College of Fashion are cranking out seamless, flexible textile structures using software that converts three-dimensional body data into skin-conforming fabric structures. The potential for bespoke clothing, tailored to the specific individual, are as abundant as the patterns that can be created, from interlocking Mobius motifs to tightly woven meshes.

Freedom of Creation’s 3D textiles are currently display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

3D Printing Process: ‘The FOC Punch Bag’ from Freedom Of Creation on Vimeo.

[via ecouterre]

Thinner Lighter Cheaper Kindle {Electronics}

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The next generation Kindle is available to pre-order on Amazon.co.uk. Oooh look at it, it’s thinner, lighter, cheaper, less glaring and generally better than the last one. And it comes in one non-patronising colour…graphite. I love the photo’s they’ve taken of it, posing with a pencil, some fruit and a woman.

There’s two versions available, the £109 version with wi-fi connectivity or the £149 version. with free 3G wireless.

Here are the stats:

  • All-New, High-Contrast E-Ink Screen
  • Read in Bright Sunlight – No glare
  • New and Improved Fonts – New crisper, darker fonts
  • New Sleek Design – 21% smaller body while keeping the same 6″ size reading area
  • 17% Lighter – Only 241 grams, weighs less than a paperback
  • Battery Life of One Month – A single charge lasts up to one month with wireless off
  • Double the Storage – Up to 3,500 books
  • Built-In Wi-Fi – Connect at home or on the road
  • Books in 60 Seconds – Download books anytime, anywhere
  • 20% Faster Page Turns – Seamless reading
  • Enhanced PDF Reader – With dictionary lookup, notes, and highlights
  • New WebKit-Based Browser – Browse the web over Wi-Fi (experimental)

The 3G version also has:

  • Free 3G Wireless – No monthly payments, no annual contracts

The e-book readers are available for pre-order for release on the 27th August. Pre-order a wi-fi Kindle (£109) or 3G Kindle (£149) for my your early Christmas present.

Blackbox C18 Hits UK and Cancels Noise {Tech}

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London – Blackbox, announced its arrival in the UK with the launch of its Blackbox C18 earphones, the first available product from its range. Designed for commuters, travellers, music and fitness fans, and retailing at £69.99 (RRP), the C18 also provides over 50-hours of battery life, with airline adapters, luxury carry pouch and lanyard. Also available from the range is the ipod and iphone specific i10

Active Noise Rejection (ANR) technology, provided by Phitek Systems, a global leader in electro-acoustic technologies and active noise-cancellation, is a unique patented technology that virtually eliminates disturbing background noise. It works by intelligently measuring the noise field in the ear, before calculating and reintroducing an ‘anti-noise’ response, resulting in near silence by continuously adapting to the prevailing noise conditions.

Prior to its launch in the UK, the Blackbox brand has seen great success in Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

One of my favourite games to play with noise-cancelling earphones is to put them in your ears, don’t hit the play button on your mp3 player, get a packet of crisps, put a crisp in your mouth and CCcrrrrUUnch!! Try it, it’s great fun.

The Blackbox C18 earphones are available to order now from Amazon.com and Play.com

Researchers create the first synthetic self-replicating living cell

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Researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute published results yesterday describing the successful construction of the first self-replicating, synthetic bacterial cell. They’ve christened it Mycoplasma mycoides JCVI-syn1.0 (I like to call it Mike). Working from that idea that “In essence, scientists are digitizing biology by converting the A, C, T, and G’s of the chemical makeup of DNA into 1’s and 0’s in a computer. But can one reverse the process and start with 1’s and 0’s in a computer to define the characteristics of a living cell?”; Venter calls it ‘the first self-replicating species we’ve had on the planet whose parent is a computer’.

The scientific team headed by Drs. Craig Venter, Hamilton Smith and Clyde Hutchison spent 15 years working on the first synthetic bacterial cell. Always conscious that the work they were doing was monumental; throughout the course of this work, the team contemplated, discussed, and engaged in outside review of the ethical and societal implications of their work. JCVI say “The ability to routinely write the software of life will usher in a new era in science, and with it, new products and applications such as advanced biofuels, clean water technology, and new vaccines and medicines.”

The genomes were designed on the computer, chemically made in the laboratory and transplanted into a recipient cell to produce a new self-replicating cell controlled only by the synthetic genome.The team have also designed and inserted what they’ve called watermarkes into the cell that don’t create any proteins but contain a hidden code. These are specifically designed segments of DNA that use the “alphabet” of genes and proteins that enable the researcher to spell out words and phrases. The watermarks are an essential means to prove that the genome is synthetic and not native, and to identify the laboratory of origin. Encoded in the watermarks is a new DNA code for writing words, sentences and numbers. In addition to the new code there is a web address to send emails to if you can successfully decode the new code, the names of 46 authors and other key contributors and three quotations: “TO LIVE, TO ERR, TO FALL, TO TRIUMPH, TO RECREATE LIFE OUT OF LIFE.” – JAMES JOYCE; “SEE THINGS NOT AS THEY ARE, BUT AS THEY MIGHT BE.”-A quote from the book, “American Prometheus”; “WHAT I CANNOT BUILD, I CANNOT UNDERSTAND.” – RICHARD FEYNMAN.

Scanning electron micrographs of M. mycoides JCVI-syn1

Incase you’re worrying that the new cell’s going to escape into the outside world JCVI say that “researchers will be able to engineer synthetic bacterial cells so they cannot live outside of the lab or other production environments. This is done by, for example, ensuring that these organisms have built in dependencies for certain nutrients without which they cannot survive. They can also be engineered with so called “suicide genes” that kick in to prevent the organism from living outside of the lab or environment in which they were grown. ”

The potential for this research and the next steps for JVCI’s researchers are exciting. “The team is now ready to build more complex organisms with useful properties.  For example, many, including scientists at SGI, are already using available sequencing information to engineer cells that can produce energy, pharmaceuticals, and industrial compounds, and sequester carbon dioxide.”

Venter maintains that it’s not a second genesis as they’ve not created life “from scratch” but as they’ve used an existing cell; they’ve created a new species. This new cell has around 1 million base pairs into a coherent genome.  By comparison, the human genome contains more than 3 billion pairs, so don’t don’t worry about synthetic mammals any time soon.

[JCVI]

Preview; Blackberry OS 6

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Blackberry makers Rim have released a video revealing their new Blackberry operating system “OS 6”. I’ve tried to gather as much information from the video as possible but I’ve had to mute it as too much “boom, boom, pow” could probably hypnotise you. If it doesn’t then they’ve recruited gyrating, guesturing and tie straightening dancers to finish the job. 

 
In case you were like me and got distracted; here is what I’ve gathered:
Features multi-touch for touchscreen but OS 6 will be available on both touchscreen and keypad phones. It looks to be more intuitive and has a customisable home-screen with different pages accessible by flicking in different directions.
Scrolling also features “Rubber-banding” which I presume means that when you accidently scroll a little bit too far it boings back. I could be wrong.
It also features pop up menus showing the functions that appear to be short-smart-shortcut menus with big icons.
 
The graphics are slicker and they appear to have integrated youtube into the OS.
Media Player gets a makeover and features an album “cover flow” style music organizer so you can flick through the album artwork and click on them to play.
 
The new inbox is basically the same old familiar inbox except with bigger icons to differentiate between email, twitter, facebook etc. messages and it also includes integrated RSS feeds. From what I can tell; emails now support image thumbnails.
 
The universal search looks quite handy searching contacts, calender, emails, Internet, social feeds etc all from one search bar on the home-screen.
There’s a new app for intergrating multiple social feeds to ensure you can never ever ever escape!!!
 
It also includes the Web-Kit based browser (better than the current one with widgets, fast panning and zooming and full HTML5 support and tabs)
 
It’s thought that it might be available from July but it’s not yet known whether current handset owners will be able to update their firmware to the new OS.

IBM Researchers create cute teenytiny 3D world map

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And it’s so small that 1,000 of them can fit on a salt crystal!

It measures 22 by 11 micrometers and is etched onto a polymer surface. Mount Everest is about 64 nanometers high.

They’re hoping the technology could be used for nano-scale electronics and medical devices.

IBM scientist Urs Duerig says in a company video that “It’s like the ancient Egyptians chiseled their stuff into stone plates. Here we have the analogue, but on the nano-scale,”

 httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ9J0EYUlhg