Consumer
Smart agriculture: Using intelligent system to improve age-old farming techniques
February 22, 2013 12:23 pm | by Eurekalert! | News | CommentsClimate change, population growth and increasingly scarce resources are putting agriculture under pressure. Farmers must harvest as much as possible from the smallest possible land surface. Until now, the industry confronted this challenge with innovations in individual sectors: Intelligent systems regulate engines in order to save on gas, for instance. With the aid of satellites and sensor technology, farming equipment can automatically perform the field work; in doing so, they efficiently distribute seed, fertilizer and pesticides on the arable land.
1 week and counting: Don't cut the research that fuels the US economy
February 22, 2013 12:12 pm | by Eurekalert! | News | CommentsWASHINGTON, DC – With only one week left before sequestration is to take effect, America's research community sustained its call for an end to the across-the-board cuts to discretionary spending that will severely restrict the nation's ability to invest in the basic scientific research that drives innovation and produces economic growth.
NYPD, Microsoft create crime-fighting technology; city could make millions in business deal
February 22, 2013 9:02 am | by COLLEEN LONG Associated Press | News | CommentsA 911 call comes in about a possible bomb in lower Manhattan and an alert pops up on computer screens at the New York Police Department, instantly showing officers an interactive map of the neighborhood, footage from nearby security cameras, whether there are high radiation levels and whether any other threats have been made against the city. In a click, police know exactly what they're getting into.
SD college tests fingerprint purchasing technology
February 22, 2013 8:57 am | by AMBER HUNT Associated Press | News | CommentsRAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) -- Futurists have long proclaimed the coming of a cashless society, where dollar bills and plastic cards are replaced by fingerprint and retina scanners smart enough to distinguish a living, breathing account holder from an identity thief.
The greatest use of (bus stop) technology ever
February 21, 2013 3:13 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Blogs | CommentsCompanies often struggle with how to incorporate new technology in a useful way, but Qualcomm knocked it out of the park this week with their new bus stop surprise. Qualcomm, a company that specializes in wireless technology, decided that they could use the combination of smart phones and boredom at bus stops
Transceiver chipset enables the development of low-power, high-data rate solutions for true mobile devices
February 20, 2013 4:41 pm | Imec Inc., Panasonic | Product Releases | CommentsImec, in collaboration with Panasonic Corporation (Japan), has presented at the IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC2013) a 60GHz radio transceiver chipset with low power consumption, that delivers high data rates over short distances.
Microsoft made mistakes in early mobile strategy: Bill Gates
February 20, 2013 3:52 pm | News | CommentsMicrosoft Corp Chairman Bill Gates said he was not satisfied with the company's pace of innovation over the last few years, and that it had mishandled its early mobile strategy. "We didn't miss cellphones, but the way that we went about it didn't allow us to get the leadership. It's clearly a mistake," Gates, Microsoft's former CEO, said in a rare interview with CBS.
Future science: Using 3-D worlds to visualize data
February 20, 2013 2:38 pm | by CARLA K. JOHNSON AP Medical Writer | News | CommentsTake a walk through a human brain? Fly over the surface of Mars? Computer scientists at the University of Illinois at Chicago are pushing science fiction closer to reality with a wraparound virtual world where a researcher wearing 3-D glasses can do all that and more.
Researchers create semiconductor 'nano-shish-kebabs' with potential for 3-D technologies
February 20, 2013 9:01 am | by Eurekalert! | News | CommentsResearchers at North Carolina State University have developed a new type of nanoscale structure that resembles a "nano-shish-kebab," consisting of multiple two-dimensional nanosheets that appear to be impaled upon a one-dimensional nanowire.
Microcontroller provides high 72-MHz operating speed
February 19, 2013 4:36 pm | Nuvoton Technology Corporation America | Product Releases | CommentsNuvoton Technology Corporation announces the launch of NUC123 series, a new 32-bit Cortex-M0 microcontroller with USB 2.0 Full Speed devices and a 10-bit ADC. The NUC123 series provides the high 72MHz operating speed, large 20KB SRAM and 8 USB endpoints which make it powerful in USB communication and data processing.
Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day
February 19, 2013 4:18 pm | by Polygon Solutions Inc. | Blogs | CommentsOn February 21, 2013, women engineers, along with their male counterparts, will engage and mentor as many as one million girls around the country during National Engineers Week Foundation’s 12th Annual Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day.
Paint Your Pizza turns MS Paint scribbles into ugly-looking pizzas
February 15, 2013 10:34 am | by Jason Lomberg, Technical Editor | Blogs | CommentsI never thought I’d say this, but I’m nauseated by pizza – this after taking a gander at Paint Your Pizza, a crowdsourcing site that allows you to turn amateur artwork into quasi-edible Neapolitan creations. I stress quasi-edible because I don’t think I could stomach any of these custom-designed "pizzas."
Engineering Newswire 25: Drilling holes in Mars
February 14, 2013 4:12 pm | Videos | CommentsThis week on Engineering Newswire, we're drilling holes in Mars, talking into our shoes, and driving robots with moths. This episode is brought to you by Smalley Steel Ring Company, the exclusive manufacturer of Spirolox Retaining Rings and Smalley Wave Springs for more than 50 years.
Stores are tracking your every move
February 14, 2013 2:11 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Blogs | CommentsWhen you walk into a store, you basically expect that you’re going to be recorded on a security video and surreptitiously watched by sales associates lest you decide to steal anything. But did you ever stop to think what information the store is gleaning from your cell?
Retrofitting an old-school game controller with a USB interface
February 14, 2013 12:25 pm | by Parker Dorris and Greg Posey | Silicon Laboratories Inc. | Blogs | CommentsPlaying retro-style, side-scrolling computer games from indie developers with a keyboard and mouse just doesn't feel right. The 16-bit sprite animations, simple player controls and synthesized audio all harken back to the days when game consoles couldn’t deliver photorealistic graphics and lifelike gaming experiences.
Engineering Update #4: Robots driven by moths, recycling Nike & Nokia, and a hacking kit that flies
February 14, 2013 9:52 am | Videos | CommentsIn the latest episode of ECN 's Engineering Update, brought to you by Mouser Electronics (http://www.mouser.com): In case you were looking for a more dramatic way to steal competitive data or hack Facebook accounts, a build-it-yourself quadrocopter, called Crazyflie, is now available.
Engineering Newswire 23: I Am Iron Woman
February 13, 2013 2:31 pm | Videos | CommentsToday on Engineering Newswire, brought to you by Interpower, the premier supplier of power system components for worldwide markets, we're crafting magic arms, building Tony Stark's cyber-weapon, and 3D printing for the BioCurious. This episode features...
Engineers weigh in on best energy management tactics
February 13, 2013 9:28 am | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Blogs | CommentsWe know ECN readers have varied and valuable opinions – now here’s a great opportunity to showcase them. Send us an answer to the question below and if we think yours is the best, we’ll feature your response in the April print issue. Plus, you’ll get a $15 Starbucks gift card simply for sharing your thoughts.
Apple iWatch rumored
February 13, 2013 9:21 am | Videos | CommentsThere's always been rumors of an iWatch, for some reason, and the rumors got stronger. I thought things were going the way of Google Glasses but I guess watches are the way of the world now?
New technologies deployed to counter the threat of GPS jamming
February 13, 2013 9:17 am | by Eurekalert! | News | CommentsThe first profile of the perpetrators of GPS jamming on British roads will be presented today alongside research results that confirm it is these small device, available online for as little as £30, rather extreme solar weather, which poses the greatest threat to navigation and timing signals in the UK.
What Walter Cronkite thought 2001 would look like
February 12, 2013 3:41 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Blogs | CommentsPredictions about future technology are always interesting. Sometimes, the prediction is pretty mainstream, like a mobile phone. Other times they’re a little more ambitious. I’m still waiting for my flying car. But one thing is always guaranteed: Predictions about the future are always fun to watch decades later — particularly if they star Mr. Walter Cronkite.
Beer: The next great alternative energy source
February 8, 2013 10:10 am | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Blogs | CommentsForget solar power. The future of energy is beer power. I’m not talking about beer goggles that make you feel like you can invent the perfect form of alternative energy ... but actually using beer to power a brewery. The Alaskan Brewing Co, is located in Juneau, Alaska...
Engineering Update #3: Watson, Nano Batteries, 3D Chips, and Mission: Impossible Gets Real
February 7, 2013 1:42 pm | Videos | Comments"Watson," no, not Sherlock's sidekick, but the famous supercomputer who beat the world's best human at Jeopardy, is going back to school. IBM is sending the Watson system to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, so it can improve its "thinking" skills. Because making robots more human always works out just fine.
EU to order banks, energy firms to report cyber attacks
February 7, 2013 8:44 am | by Ethan Bilby, Reuters | News | CommentsAround 42,000 firms in the European Union, including airports, banks and hospitals, would have to inform regulators whenever their computers are hacked, under a proposed EU law to be published on Thursday.The law could set a global precedent for safeguarding critical infrastructure against digital attacks that have hit companies...
New York defends its "Amazon tax" in court
February 7, 2013 8:43 am | by Nanette Byrnes, Reuters | News | Comments(Reuters) - Major online retailers Amazon.com Inc and Overstock.com on Wednesday told a New York state court that they should be allowed to not charge state sales tax. The case, in the State of New York Court of Appeals, represents one of the first legal tests of recent "Amazon taxes" meant to make online retailers start charging state sales taxes.
