Saturday, July 26, 2008

Moore's Law Revitalized by 12-Nanometer Chip-Fabbing Invention [Chips]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/345642202/moores-law-revitalized-by-12+nanometer-chip+fabbing-invention

A year ago we reported on Intel's nifty technique for 22nm chip fabrication, which may extend the life of Moore's Law. Now MIT is reporting a new technique for optical lithography which should make 12nm chip manufacture possible, making for smaller, denser future chip tech.

By combining laser interference technology with a new "scanning beam" wafer technique, the team at the Space Nanotecnology Lab has demonstrated manufacturing of semiconductor wafers with 25nm detail. And it's easily extendable to 12nm. In the scanning technique, Doppler shifts affect the laser's ability to create accurate patterns, so the clever MIT guys synchronize the wafer under construction by oscillating the laser elements with 100Hz sound waves. Looks like that venerable old law will hold true for a while yet. [EETimes]


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Norman Foster Designs Yet Another Amazing Yacht We Will Never Enjoy [Love Boats]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/345753678/norman-foster-designs-yet-another-amazing-yacht-we-will-never-enjoy

This is the YachtPlus 40 Signature Series, a 134-foot ship designed by architects Foster + Partners. Unlike other superyachts, this one is not just a stunning rendering, but it's now being constructed in Italy and should be available to buy for a whole load of dollars in September. I would say at least 35 dollars. Even more. According to the manufacturers, its design offers more space than any ship in its class. Loaded with features, the interior looks as good as the exterior. Go ahead and drool.

Clearly, this was designed by an architect. Head to Dezeen for the full report.

Features:
- Unrivalled space and innovation captured in a visionary design
- Four Genuine Decks
- Full beam owner's cabin on main deck with forward facing windows leading to his and hers private balconies
- Four guest / VIP cabins below, aft two cabins convertible into one large family cabin
- Segregated crew access corridor between crew and guest cabins
- Accommodation for up to 8 crew
- Glass walled main saloon wth unrestricted 180 Degrees view
- Glass walled upper saloon with aft, side and forward views
- Extensive outer deck space, both forward and aft
- Expandable main deck aft
- Grand Staircase at transom
- Unrivalled open space, both inside and out, with unobstructed view
- Submergible beach deck
- Separate jet ski storage from tender
- Side launch of tender

If any of our readers have one of these (or similar) available for the summer, feel free to invite the Gizmodo crew to blog live from the deck. Or just me. [Dezeen]


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iPhone Apps We Like: QuickVoice Voice Recorder Is Great For Field Journos [IPhone Apps]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/346056458/iphone-apps-we-like-quickvoice-voice-recorder-is-great-for-field-journos

If you're covering an event and already carrying a huge gear bag with a laptop, camera, emergency Cliff bars and all the rest, QuickVoice is a welcome replacement for a standalone digital voice recorder. We like QuickVoice as a late addition to our favorites for its pause feature, which allows you to start and stop recordings without creating a whole new clip.

The only hitch is you can't email the clips out from the phone, but how often do you actually need to keep your quick audio notes? Just break out the headphones, transcribe, delete. Done. [Ed. Note: I love emailing the clips from my Olympus digital voice recorder so I can email them to India and have them transcribed overnight.] Quality and range won't match a dedicated recorder, but definitely get the job done—I was able to hear my voice well enough to transcribe talking quietly from the other side of a 12-foot room. There are a couple other voice recorders in the store, but at $1.99 we're liking QuickVoice. [QuickVoice, Our Favorite Apps, App Review Marathon]


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Flowlight: Like a Blackboard With Lasers [Concept]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/346070618/flowlight-like-a-blackboard-with-lasers

Precisely how the Flowlight would work is a little unclear, but the design page notes that a base station would focus a laser beam 100 times a second into a point in the space, creating small plasma points that glow in mid air. Users could then use the pen to draw and write, making doodles look like some sort of fantastic light show. It's kind of like a cross between and blackboard and a laser pointer—which would be extremely cool if the product actually existed.

[d-Vision via DVICE]


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Fujitsu Siemens' Amilo Mini gets spied on video

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/346194160/

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Hey, remember that teeny-tiny Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Mini we spied a few weeks ago? You do? Good, because we've just discovered video of the as-yet-unreleased device in action. According to the source, the device will be officially revealed at IFA this year, and will be priced around €300 to €400 ($475 to $634). It won't blow your mind, but if you've been hoping to see a short, quickly moving fly-by of an extremely diminutive laptop, here's your chance. Enjoy!

Continue reading Fujitsu Siemens' Amilo Mini gets spied on video

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Fujitsu's Lifebook U2010 gets new pics, specs

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/346353304/

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We've caught a few glimpses of Fujitsu's Lifebook U2010 in the past, but now we've got a whole handful of new shots of the crazy-versatile device, plus some fresh video and actual, honest-to-goodness specs. According to a Vietnamese forum, the miniature laptop / tablet will feature an Intel Atom CPU (at 1.6GHz or 1.8GHz), a 5.6-inch 1024 x 768 display, an 80GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM, a 3G radio, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, and will weigh 680 grams (about 1.5 lbs). No word on a street date or regions for the device right now, but the price is said to clock in around a hefty $1300.

[Thanks, Aki]
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Dell explains NVIDIA GPU issues, throws out BIOS updates to help

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/346529373/

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So yeah, quite a few NVIDIA GPUs have been acting up. Nothing new there. However, Dell's attempting to help its laptop owners out by making a few notable BIOS updates readily available for download. Apparently the issue "is a weak die / packaging material set, which may fail with GPU temperature fluctuations." In order to combat the problem, Dell's BIOS flashes "modify the fan profile to help regulate GPU temperature fluctuations," though the Round Rock powerhouse only promises that the updates will "help reduce the likelihood of GPU issues." Hit the read link and give it a go -- it can't hurt... we hope.

[Via Electronista]
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Friday, July 25, 2008

Globalization: Some Numbers

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/AVc/~3/341359645/globalization-s.html

I've been thinking a lot about the global internet lately.

Here are the May comScore numbers for total Internet audience

Worldwide - 853mm (up 10% from 772mm last year)

North America - 185mm (up 4% from 178mm last year)

Europe - 240mm (up 8% from 223mm last year)

Asia - 323mm (up 14% from 283mm last year)

Latin America - 63mm (up 19% from 53mm last year)

Middle East/Africa - 43mm (up 23% from 35mm last year)

As is typically the case, the smallest markets are growing the fastest. But a couple other things stand out to me. Asia added 40mm Internet users in the past year. Europe added 17mm. Latin America added 10mm. Africa and the Middle East added more than North America.

It's as Fareed Zakaria says "the US isn't declining, but the rest of the world is rising".

And I'll end this brief post with a link to Pascal Zachary's article in the New York Times about technology in Nairobi, Kenya. If you, like me, are thinking about the global reach of technology and the Internet, then you should read it. This paragraph is telling:

Still, Nairobi is home to a digital brew that invites optimism about its chances for creating unusual innovations. The city has relatively few wired phone lines or networked personal computers, so mobile phones are the essential digital tool. Four times as many people have them as have bank accounts. Text messages are far more popular than e-mail. Safaricom, the dominant mobile provider, offers a service called M-pesa that lets customers send money with text messages. Nokia sells brand-new phones here for as little as $33.

The numbers at the top of this post are for computers (PCs) connected to the Internet. They would look very different if they were total internet connected devices (PCs + mobile phones).

When we went out to raise a second fund at the start of this year, we told our investors that the Internet was getting more global, more mobile, more social, more intelligent, and more playful.

Those are all big trends, but the first two are tightly linked and very powerful as Pascal's article points out.

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Drinking From A Drop

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/yankodesign/~3/343737692/

DROPPA is a carafe designed to bridge the gap between form, function, and space. It expands the feeling of liquidity out of an object that looks like a water droplet frozen just at the moment of impact. It’s organic and extremely architectural. The top of the drop is actually the cup by where you invert the stem to pour water into. 

Designer: Ozgur Onal

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'Improve' Great Works of Art by Adding in Gadgets [Photoshop Contest]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/344826225/improve-great-works-of-art-by-adding-in-gadgets

For this week's Photoshop Contest, I want you to insert gadgets or modern technology into famous works of art, be they paintings, drawings or photographs. A pretty straightforward challenge, but I'm looking for some real quality this time around. Don't just slap a photo of a Bluetooth headset on the Mona Lisa. Make it look like it's part of the painting. Come on, I know you've got the chops.

When you have your work of art perfected, send it to me at contests@gizmodo.com with gadget art in the subject line. Only JPGs and PNGs, please. Name your file FirstnameLastname.jpg using whatever name you want credited on the site. I'll post the winners in the Gallery of Champions next Tuesday. Get to it!


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