Computing
High-tech product announcements this fall
October 22, 2012 4:23 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsIt's high season for consumer electronics. Manufacturers of various gadgets are unveiling their holiday lineups. Add to that products surrounding a new version of Windows coming out Friday. Here's a recap of the announcements so far: — Sept. 4: Microsoft Corp. releases the first major update to...
Early Look at Windows 8 Baffles Consumers
October 22, 2012 12:40 pm | by PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer | News | CommentsThe release of Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system is a week away, and consumers are in for a shock. Windows, used in one form or another for a generation, is getting a completely different look that will force users to learn new ways to get things done.
Analysis: Most companies won't be early adopters of Windows 8
October 22, 2012 9:44 am | by Bill Rigby, Reuters | News | CommentsThere was once a time when the launch of a new Windows operating system was a huge deal for the technology departments in many businesses. Not anymore. Microsoft Corp's release of Windows 8 on Friday is likely to be a non-event for most companies -- and some experts say many may never adopt it.
Video-sharing applications put users in the picture
October 22, 2012 9:43 am | by Natasha Baker, Reuters | News | CommentsText messaging is fast and efficient but a new video-sharing application aims to put users in the picture. The London-based company Six3 has launched a new video-sharing app by the same name that will enable users to send short video messages as easily as sending a text. Whether it is a business traveler
Google, Samsung to sell Chrome laptop for $249
October 18, 2012 9:52 pm | by MICHAEL LIEDTKE - AP Technology Writer - Associated Press | News | CommentsGoogle is dangling a low-priced laptop computer in front of consumers as rivals Microsoft and Apple prepare to release their latest gadgets. The lightweight computer unveiled Thursday will sell for $249 and is being made in a partnership with Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., which also makes...
ORNL study confirms magnetic properties of silicon nano-ribbons
October 18, 2012 8:45 am | by Eurekalert! | News | CommentsNano-ribbons of silicon configured so the atoms resemble chicken wire could hold the key to ultrahigh density data storage and information processing systems of the future. This was a key finding of a team of scientists led by Paul Snijders of the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Living Voters Guide adds fact-checking for 2012 election
October 17, 2012 4:24 pm | by Hannah Hickey- University of Washington | News | CommentsWhen facing a difficult choice, many of us turn to that old standby: the pro-con list. A University of Washington project takes election pro-con lists to the next level, moving them online and allowing voters to work together to draft points – brief arguments for or against...
Expanded connectivity platform includes media module and development kit
October 17, 2012 11:35 am | Microchip Technology Inc. | Product Releases | CommentsMicrochip Technology Inc. announced its latest-generation SMSC JukeBlox® Wi-Fi® connectivity platform, featuring the JukeBlox 3.1-AAP (part # JB3.1-AAP) Software Development Kit (SDK) in combination with the new CX875 Wi-Fi Network Media Module. This platform expansion delivers highly integrated
element14 drives the Raspberry Pi revolution forward
October 17, 2012 10:58 am | News | Commentselement14, the first collaborative community and electronics store for design engineers and electronics enthusiasts announced its continued partnership with Raspberry Pi with the launch of a new 512MB board version of the revolutionary, credit-card sized computer...
System-on-chip family suitable for dash-mounted sound-system control panels
October 17, 2012 10:37 am | Stmicroelectronics | Product Releases | CommentsSTMicroelectronics has revealed the industry’s first full-digital audio-amplifier system-on-chip family suitable for use in dash-mounted sound-system control panels in the car. Class-D amplifiers achieve about 80 percent higher energy efficiency than analog class-AB amplifiers.
Effort to mass-produce flexible nanoscale electronics
October 17, 2012 9:08 am | by eurekalert! | News | CommentsCase Western Reserve University researchers have won a $1.2 million grant to develop technology for mass-producing flexible electronic devices at a whole new level of small. As they're devising new tools and techniques to make wires narrower than a particle of smoke, they're also creating ways to build them in flexible materials and package the electronics in waterproofing layers of durable plastics.
Google opens window into secretive data centers
October 17, 2012 8:57 am | by MICHAEL LIEDTKE, The Associated Press | News | CommentsGoogle is opening a virtual window into the secretive data centers where an intricate maze of computers process Internet search requests, show YouTube video clips and distribute email for millions of people.The unprecedented peek is being provided through a new website unveiled Wednesday.
NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center opens: First science begins
October 16, 2012 9:15 am | by Eurekalert! | News | CommentsThe NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center (NWSC), which houses one of the world's most powerful supercomputers dedicated to the geosciences, officially opens today. Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and universities across the country are launching a series of initial scientific projects on the center's flagship,
EU regulators ask Google to change privacy policy
October 16, 2012 9:08 am | by SARAH DiLORENZO AP Business Writer | News | CommentsEuropean regulators have asked Google to clarify its new privacy policy and make it easier for users to opt out of it because of concerns that the web giant may be collecting too much data and holding it for too long. France's data protection agency led a European investigation into Google's new unified privacy policy.
Making a layer cake with atomic precision
October 15, 2012 10:21 am | by EurekAlert! | News | CommentsA team has used individual one-atom-thick crystals to construct a multilayer cake that works as a nanoscale electric transformer. Graphene has been isolated for the first time, potentially revolutionizing diverse applications such as smartphones, ultrafast broadband, drug delivery, and computer chips.
Reports: Apple to reveal smaller iPad on Oct. 23, taking on Kindle and Nook
October 15, 2012 8:18 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsApple Inc. is set to reveal a smaller, cheaper version of the iPad at an event on Oct. 23, according to several reports published Friday. The reports from Bloomberg News, Reuters and the AllThingsD blog are based on unnamed sources "familiar with the plans." Apple Inc. hasn't said anything about a smaller tablet, a concept company founder Steve Jobs derided two years ago.
Mindspeed to attend 2012 China Small Cell Symposium
October 12, 2012 11:56 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsMindspeed Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: MSPD), a leading supplier of semiconductor solutions for network infrastructure applications, today announced that the company will address processor demands and small cell base station solutions during the 2012 China Small Cell Symposium in Beijing...
Making Sudoku puzzles less puzzling
October 12, 2012 10:38 am | by EurekAlert! | News | CommentsResearchers feel that their analog algorithm of Sudoku puzzles can potentially be applied to a wide variety of problems in industry, computer science and computational biology. Toroczkai and Ercsey-Ravaz have proposed a universal analog algorithm which is completely deterministic, always arriving at the correct and quicker solution to a problem...
The 10-letter keyboard that will make your head hurt
October 11, 2012 4:50 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsThe ASETNIOP keyboard is one of those things that may be great for future generations but will have a tough time integrating itself into the current workforce. The keyboard works on the premise that the traditional setup for typing is structurally inefficient, and you really only need 10 buttons to type
A tactile glove provides subtle guidance to objects in the vicinity
October 10, 2012 12:14 pm | by EurekAlert! | News | CommentsResearchers at HIIT and Max Planck Institute for Informatics show how computer vision-based hand tracking and vibration feedback on the user's hand can be used to steer the user's hand toward an object of interest. A study shows an almost three-fold advantage in finding objects from complex visual scenes...
Off-line switcher IC family features line-compensated overload power protection
October 10, 2012 9:47 am | Power Integrations | Product Releases | CommentsPower Integrations introduced the TinySwitch-4 family, the latest generation of its industry-leading TinySwitch series of off-line switcher ICs. Featuring line-compensated overload power protection, TinySwitch-4 devices dramatically reduce the maximum overload power that can be delivered into the load over the entire AC input voltage range.
Software integrates process management infrastructure, expertise, and ecosystem support
October 9, 2012 2:56 pm | Product Releases | CommentsYokogawa Electric Corporation announces FAST/TOOLS R9.05, the latest release of their web-based real-time management and visualization software. The FAST/TOOLS SCADA suite delivers a comprehensive solution that brings together their process management infrastructure, expertise, and ecosystem support for greater efficiency and improved operational agility.
Prevent accidents by making your backseat disappear
October 9, 2012 11:16 am | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsCrunch. That’s the last sound you want to hear when you’re backing up your car. It is scary. It is alarming. It is NOT a good sound.It’s the reason dashboard cams were invented. Unfortunately, the embedded cameras only show a small portion of what’s behind the car, and accidents still happen.
Computerized osteoporosis detection
October 5, 2012 4:44 pm | by EurekAlert! | News | CommentsA computerized approach to examining patient bone X-rays for diagnosis of osteoporosis could side-step the subjectivity associated with visual examination, allowing for much earlier diagnosis to be made, therefore giving patients the opportunity to be treated more successfully.
Hi-Fi single photons
October 5, 2012 10:37 am | by Eurekalert! | News | CommentsMany quantum technologies—such as cryptography, quantum computing and quantum networks—hinge on the use of single photons. A trade-off between photon source settings and detector specific requirements allows the generation of high-fidelity single photons
