Saturday, February 07, 2015

Even Our Balloon Animals Will Soon Be Made By Robots

Source: http://gizmodo.com/even-balloon-animal-clowns-will-soon-be-replaced-by-rob-1684302198

Even Our Balloon Animals Will Soon Be Made By Robots

DARPA's ATLAS is an impressive feat of robotics engineering, but despite representing the bleeding edge of automatons, it's slow and clumsy when it comes to doing anything on its own. A better way to make a robot as skilled as a human is to simply put a human in complete control of it, manipulating it remotely like a puppet from a safe distance. That's what RE2 Robotics thinks is the best approach, and watching the robot arms it developed make a balloon animal is pretty convincing.

Read more...

Read More...

Friday, February 06, 2015

How the Silk Road Trial Set a Dangerous Legal Precedent

Source: http://gizmodo.com/how-the-silk-road-trial-set-a-dangerous-legal-precedent-1684208875

How the Silk Road Trial Set a Dangerous Legal Precedent

The Silk Road trial is over. A jury found Ross Ulbricht guilty on all seven charges, including money laundering, drug trafficking, and the "kingpin" charge. That's not just bad news for Ulbricht, who faces life in prison. His trial has set a dangerous precedent, which could allow law enforcement to gather evidence illegally.

Read more...

Read More...

How This Tiny Colorado Startup Plans To Dethrone Gore-Tex

Source: http://gizmodo.com/how-this-tiny-colorado-startup-plans-to-dethrone-gore-t-1684266703

How This Tiny Colorado Startup Plans To Dethrone Gore-Tex

For nearly 50 years, Gore-Tex has defined rainwear. But now, thanks to an innovative new process that builds water resistance straight into any item of clothing, Voormi is aiming to end that domination. Here's why their material keeps you so dry.

Read more...

Read More...

The first Ubuntu phone arrives next week, but there's a catch

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/02/06/ubuntu-phone-launch/

It's been a long time coming, but finally Canonical is ready to release its first Ubuntu phone. After teaming up with Meizu and BQ almost a year ago, we're getting a (sort of) new handset from the latter; it's actually a repurposed version of its Aquaris E4.5, a mid-range smartphone that normally ships with Android. The new "Ubuntu Edition" keeps all of the same hardware, which is nothing to write home about. It has a 4.5-inch, 540x960 resolution display, a 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek Cortex A7 processor, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage. For shutterbugs, there's also a 8-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 5-megapixel snapper on the front. At €169.90 ($195), the specs are pretty unremarkable.

Where Canonical and BQ are hoping to break the mould is with their software and sales strategy. Taking a page from the playbook of Chinese firms such as Xiaomi, the first Ubuntu handset will be sold, at least to begin with, through a series of online flash sales. The first of these is next week and a handful of European carriers will be offering special SIM bundles to early adopters. But here's the bad news: BQ currently has no plans to sell the phone outside of Europe. Canonical has stressed that it's still "actively working on a US device strategy" and that its flash sales are a deliberate move to target early adopters.

You might be thinking that this all sounds a tad underwhelming. After all, the Ubuntu Phone platform was first shown off more than two years ago, and since then we've seen Canonical attempt to crowdfund its premium Ubuntu Edge smartphone. That campaign ultimately came up short though, and last year Meizu and BQ's Ubuntu phones missed their target 2014 launch window. Nevertheless, Canonical is adamant that its mobile OS can have an impact. The software experience is certainly unique, and the company's work around Scopes -- categorised home screens that aggregate content from multiple sources -- sets it apart from iOS and Android. "We are going for the mass market," Cristian Parrino, VP of Mobile at Canonical says. "But that's a gradual process and a thoughtful process. That's something we're going to be doing intelligently over time -- but we'll get there."

Filed under: ,

Comments

Read More...

A photo of Samsung's next Galaxy phone may have leaked, and it has a crazy curved screen

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-galaxy-s6-leaked-photo-2015-2

GalaxyS6Leakkorea

It looks like Samsung plans to release multiple different versions of its Galaxy S6, including one with a curved screen just like the Note Edge. Photos obtained by CNET Korea reportedly show five different variations of the phone, which is scheduled to be unveiled on March 1.

Two of the phones in the image are covered with cases, so it's difficult to tell what they look like. Samsung usually releases a more durable version of its flagship phones called the Active, so it's possible that one of those devices is the Galaxy S6 Active.

The photo lines up with previous leaks we've seen so far. It looks like Samsung plans to use a smooth, polished back for the S6, unlike the dimpled rear panel and glossy plastic it's used in the past.

The curved edition looks almost identical to the Galaxy Note Edge, which has a secondary display that curves around one edge. It looks like the curved Galaxy S6 is only rounded on one side, which would contradict earlier reports that suggested it would curve on both sides.

Other than a new design, the Galaxy S6 is expected to come with a sharper 5.1-inch screen that packs 577 pixels per inch, a new mobile payments system created by Samsung, and a fresh version of Samsung's TouchWiz software that's more basic and similar to stock Android. We expect to learn more next month.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Why Bethany Mota Has A Legion Of 10 Million Fans Waiting For Her Next YouTube Video








Read More...

Canon's latest super-zoom camera packs a 40x lens and a low price

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/02/05/canon-powershot-sx410-is-elph-350-hs/

Canon PowerShot SX410 IS

Canon is determined to leave no camera niche uncovered, it seems. Just a month after it kicked out an avalanche of PowerShot point-and-shoots, it's back with two more that fill what few holes are left. The SX410 IS super-zoom is the darling of the two, and improves on the still-young SX400 IS with an even longer-ranged 40x stabilized lens and a sharper 20.2-megapixel sensor for a modest $280 -- slightly more than the $250 SX400, but arguably a better deal if you just have to get up-close photos. There's sadly no WiFi or NFC, though, and you'll have to be content with recording 720p movies. The SX410 IS should hit shops in March.

The PowerShot ELPH 350 HS, meanwhile, is more of a straightforward replacement for last year's 340 HS compact cam. You'll still get a 12x stabilized lens, 1080p video, WiFi and NFC, but you now have a higher-resolution 20.2-megapixel sensor to bring out more detail. The 350 HS will arrive in April, and its $210 price makes it ever so slightly more expensive than its predecessor.

Edgar Alvarez contributed to this report.

Canon PowerShot ELPH 350 HS

Filed under: ,

Comments

Source: Canon

Read More...

Canon teases the PowerShot G3 X, its next premium point-and-shoot

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/02/05/canon-powershot-g3-x/

If you're into high-end compact cameras, you'll have another one to choose from soon -- we just don't know how soon. Interestingly, Canon has revealed that it is working on the PowerShot G3 X, but the company wasn't willing to share many details about it. What we do know, however, is that the G3 X point-and-shoot camera is slated to feature a large (for its size) 1-inch CMOS sensor with a 24-600mm (35mm-equivalent), 25x optical zoom lens. The company says this model will fit right between the G1 X Mark II and G7 X, as it looks to expand its offerings for people who want a well-specced, premium compact shooter. Canon's calling this a "product development announcement" for now, but we'll know more about the G3 X at the CP+ imaging event in Yokohama, Japan, next week.

Filed under: , ,

Comments

Read More...

Thursday, February 05, 2015

drag2share: Scientists build silicon transistor just one atom thick

source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/02/05/scientists-build-silicon-transistor-just-one-atom-thick/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

Silicene

Step aside, graphene, "silicene" is the trendy new nano-material in town that could one day supercharge future tech. Scientists have created the world's first transistor out of the silicon-based material, and it's a mere one atom thick. Unlike its much-maligned graphene cousin -- which has yet lived up to its vast potential -- silicene is a much more interesting material for computer scientists. Thanks to the silicon base, it can form "band gaps" necessary for transistors, which could one day lead to faster chips that consume less power.

The feat came as a surprise to many observers, despite the fact that the "chip" only lasted a few minutes to due its instability. Up until recently, silicene was only a theoretical material and nobody expected a transistor to be built from it anytime soon. But the team succeeded by condensing an atom-thick layer onto a block of silver in a vacuum, then sealing it with alumina. Afterwards, they peeled away the silicene material from the silver block, leaving thin layers of silver and aluminum as protection. Scratching away portions of the silver resulted in a rudimentary, but functional transistor.

Up until recently, silicene was only a theoretical material and nobody expected a transistor to be built from it anytime soon.

The scientists plan to hone the process to create longer-lasting, functional chips in the near term. However, there's still some serious barriers, given the instability of silicene in the real world and difficulty in working with it. But as one scientists said, "The major breakthrough here is the efficient low-temperature manufacturing and fabrication of silicene devices for the first time." That's still quite a feat, but whether it leads to useful gadgets or not is a wide open question.

[Image credit: Argonne National Laboratory/Flickr]

Read More...

Here is every state's favorite word to use in online dating

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/here-is-every-states-favorite-word-to-use-in-online-dating-2015-2

your states favorite word to use in online dating 1417538846.78 8681423

Image created by @IdeasFisherman.

SEE ALSO: Man misses once-in-a-lifetime moment because he's too busy texting

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This Flying Car Is Real And It Can Fly 430 Miles On A Full Tank








Read More...

How all Apple patents connect to Steve Jobs visualized

Source: http://sploid.gizmodo.com/visualization-shows-how-almost-all-apple-patents-connec-1683782594

How all Apple patents connect to Steve Jobs visualized

Like a game of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, these interactive maps show the relationship between all the inventors listed in Apple's patents and its Wizard of Oz: Steve Jobs—the big red dot. He's connected to almost every patent and team, from industrial design to hardware to user interfaces to music to security.

Read more...

Read More...

New Iron-Aluminum Alloy Is Strong and Light as Titanium, 10% of the Cost

Source: http://gizmodo.com/new-iron-aluminum-alloy-is-strong-and-light-as-titanium-1683920338

New Iron-Aluminum Alloy Is Strong and Light as Titanium, 10% of the Cost

The best materials are, by and large, the most expensive: carbon fiber, diamond and scandium all have properties to lust for, but an eye-watering price tag to match. Now, material scientists have tweaked an iron-aluminum alloy at the nano-scale to make a material that's as strong and light as titanium, another expensive material, but just a tenth of the cost.

Read more...

Read More...

drag2share: This Is What Wikipedia Looks Like Imagined as a Galaxy

source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/vip/~3/Hbr5D2nF5Bw/this-is-what-wikipedia-looks-like-imagined-as-a-galaxy-1683921800

This Is What Wikipedia Looks Like Imagined as a Galaxy

It may look like some kind of holographic AI, but this is actually Wikipedia's 100,000 most popular articles in 2014, mapped out as a galaxy.

Read More...

Olympus Air A01 Turns Your Phone Into a Lens-Swapping 16 MP Shooter  

Source: http://reframe.gizmodo.com/olympus-air-a01-turns-your-phone-into-a-lens-swapping-1-1683948845

Olympus Air A01 Turns Your Phone Into a Lens-Swapping 16 MP Shooter  

Olympus just announced a new Japan-only product that mimics what Sony did last year with their QX line. It's a camera sensor and lens mount that's controlled completely by your smartphone. The Air A01 uses a hot 16 megapixel micro four-thirds sensor and is compatible with all lenses for that system.

Read more...

Read More...

With video in mind, Olympus introduces the E-M5 Mark II

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/02/05/olympus-om-d-e-m5-mark-ii/

The original OM-D E-M5 has had a great run since being announced roughly two years ago, but it's time for an upgrade. Accordingly, Olympus is taking the wraps off of the E-M5 Mark II, a Micro Four Thirds camera that aims to go head to head with the likes of Sony's recently released A7 II and other similar mirrorless shooters. Olympus says that the second-generation E-M5 isn't here to replace its flagship OM-D camera, the E-M1 -- though it very well could, at least on paper. And even though it is very similar in looks to its predecessor, the E-M5 Mark II brings enough internal changes to make it a worthy successor. For starters, it packs a redesigned 16-megapixel Live MOS sensor, coupled with a TruePic VII image processor, an upgraded 81-point autofocus system, a 40-megapixel high-res shot mode, a 3-inch (articulating) touchscreen and WiFi.

Where the E-M5 shines, however, and how it differentiates itself from the first model, is with the video-focused specs it features. This time around, Olympus has added support for 1080p shooting at 24/25/30/50/60 fps; it can handle up to 77 Mbps bit rate at 30 fps, which is great news for those of you who are into that sort of thing. Naturally, the company betting big on its in-body five-axis image stabilization system to help with video -- this is similar to what's found on the Sony A7 II, with Olympus emphasizing that it was the one to pioneer such technology. What's more, photography-wise, the E-M5 Mark II, which is dustproof and splashproof, has a max ISO of 25,600, a 9 fps sequential-shooting mode (with focus locked) and a battery rating of 470 shots.

The OM-D E-M5 Mark II will be available, in black and silver, later this month for $1,100 (body-only).

Meanwhile, if you already own the top-of-the-line E-M1, you should expect to get a firmware update over the next few days, which Olympus says is due to enhance the camera's overall performance and bump its sequential shooting support from 6.5 to 9 fps.

Filed under: ,

Comments

Read More...

Olympus Air is a lens camera that pairs with your smartphone

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/02/05/olympus-air-lens-camera/

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

We knew it was coming, but it's finally here. Not to be outdone by Sony, Olympus revealed last year, during Photokina 2014, that it was working on a lens camera of its own. And now we're starting to learn more about it. Meet the Olympus Air, the company's first attempt at this type of remote device. Aside from being able to connect with your iOS or Android smartphone wirelessly, the Olympus Air has a 16-megapixel Live MOS sensor and can take up to 320 shots on a charge. Interestingly enough, Olympus is pegging the Air as an open-platform camera, since the company does plan to allow third-party developers to create applications for it.

In addition to that, Olympus says the Air is capable of producing "SLR-quality" images and can hook up with any Micro Four Third lens. Unfortunately, the company is only bringing it to the Japanese market for the time being, but we wouldn't be surprised to see it make its way to the US in the near future. There's no word on pricing at the moment -- however, we do know that it'll be up for grabs in the Land of the Rising Sun next month.

Filed under: , , ,

Comments

Read More...