As depicted in the conceptual rendering above, there's a plan to rent the electric bikes in numerous locations throughout a city, where a rider could take a bike one-way, dropping it off near a destination in a different part of town.
The scooter's not bad looking, either. If you like this, wait 'til next year, when the group will be rolling out a foldable electric car. [InfoSync and Technology Info]
These kids messed with the tracks of their local express train and got it to go off its normal tracks. I don't want to spoil this video for you, so just watch it. Trust me, it's worth it. It's another one of these great videos in the spirit of yesterday's flying car clip, of which I cannot get enough.
The design uses a SATA interface and is only 4 mm thick. Micron claims the advantages of such a design are the small size and the ability to line up multiple drives next to each other. In addition, this design requires no wires or attaching the motherboard with screws, reducing the risk of the SSD becoming disconnnected or loose inside a computer. While this product is nowhere near ready for market, Micron says they would need to work with an OEM or someone who can offer a compatible computer solution. [Micron]
According to Rambus, graphics and game consoles will push memory bandwidth needs toward 1TB over the next 4-5 years. Rambus believes that they can achieve the 1TB goal in that time frame using a multi-chip array. There is no doubt that the need will be there sooner or later, but whether Rambus can succeed in this time frame remains to be seen. [Rambus via Electronista]
For one, it shows that using Intel processors or ones with similar architecture as benchmarks "just is not good enough anymore." Cracking cryptographer will probably get faster all around as well, which should ultimately drive stronger cryptography with better implementation. Though they haven't tried it yet, by using a technique similar to Folding@home with distributed loads, the cracking power could obviously be increased exponentially.
All of that said, I just think it's funny how it's emphasized over and over again how "simple" Cell's architecture is, after Sony's spent all this time telling us how complex and awesome it is. [PC World]
Technology Platform to be Trialed in 2008
BASKING RIDGE, N.J. - Verizon today announced plans to develop and deploy its fourth generation mobile broadband network using LTE - Long Term Evolution - the technology developed within the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards organization. The selection of LTE provides Verizon and Vodafone - joint owners of U.S.-based Verizon Wireless - with a unique opportunity to adopt a common access platform with true global scale and compatibility with existing technologies of both companies.
Verizon and Vodafone have a coordinated trial plan for LTE that begins in 2008. Trial suppliers include Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia-Siemens, and Nortel. These suppliers, along with others in the world community, have contributed significantly towards development of the standards in 3GPP. Discussions with device suppliers have expanded beyond traditional suppliers such as LG, Samsung, Motorola, Nokia, and Sony Ericsson, as consumer electronics companies anticipate embedded wireless functionality in their future products.
Working within 3GPP, Verizon and Vodafone, as well as a broad group of infrastructure suppliers, device suppliers, and technology companies from around the globe, have advanced the standards to enable a technology that will deliver unprecedented wireless broadband service for high performance mobile computing, multimedia, and consumer electronic devices and applications. The technology is designed to deliver mobile data networks with higher speed and throughput performance, lower latency, global roaming, and improved efficiencies.
Today's LTE announcement builds on Verizon Wireless' technology leadership as the first company to launch high-speed wireless broadband service in the United States using CDMA Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) technology. Its data innovation and leadership have been marked by the introduction of new multimedia handsets and innovative applications such as V CAST Music, V CAST Video, VZ NavigatorSM, V CAST games, e-mail, Internet access, and picture and video messaging on a variety of devices, including handsets, PDAs and laptops.
Richard Lynch, executive vice president and chief technology officer of Verizon Communications observed that "while this next generation technology will be exciting to develop and deploy, it comes at a time when we are adding record numbers of customers to our existing CDMA2000 1x and EV-DO networks. We relish the challenge of preparing for the time when our customers start demanding such 4G capabilities, while continuing the expansion and operation of our existing technologies for many years to come."
"The company's move toward a 4G network is driven by our vision of pervasive wireless Internet connectivity and mobility," said Lynch. "Customers want to be truly untethered with advanced communication devices that provide functionality comparable to today's wired networks - whether it's downloading or uploading video, gaming, downloading their favorite music, or social networking. They want to be able to communicate in new and innovative ways whenever and wherever they choose around the globe. A number of factors are setting the stage for our 4G network migration; most importantly, our view of customers' evolving appetite for more information, entertainment, and functionality, combined with an increasing customer expectation for easy access, high speed, easy handling, and seamless mobility. With a host of new devices and applications, and a particular focus on embedded wireless in virtually every piece of electronics you buy in any store, we believe LTE is the best technology with global scale to deliver on the promise."
"Vodafone is delighted to be working alongside Verizon in the development of LTE technology, and we're looking forward to assessing the results of the joint engineering trials. We fully support Verizon's decision to select LTE as their next generation wireless broadband solution," said Steve Pusey, Vodafone's global chief technology officer. "We expect LTE to form a key part of Vodafone's future technology strategy, and the prospect of moving towards a common platform with Verizon Wireless is an attractive long-term goal. LTE will build on the capabilities of Vodafone's 3G broadband High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) network technology, which is available across the entire Vodafone 3G footprint."
"Today's 4G announcement, coupled with our Open Development initiative announced earlier this week present a major growth opportunity for Verizon Wireless," said Doreen Toben, chief financial officer of Verizon. "Fourth generation's higher data speeds will usher in a new era of wireless applications and appliances, all of which can benefit from connecting to the nation's premier wireless network."
The upstream magic—where cable is so sorely gimped right now—is going to remain hobbly, at least at first. And it's not 'cause Comcast is incompetent (for a change). As "a reflection of the status of upstream channel bonding technology" we won't see upstream on steroids until deep into 2008 or even 2009. Consequently, while downstream's getting a Rosie O' Donnell plumping with initial offerings in the 20-50Mbps range—what Verizon's offering now—upstream speeds still aren't going to stack up, dulling the competitive edge DOCSIS 3.0 was supposed to bring against fiber.
That means The Flash is going to stay ahead of Quicksilver for the foreseeable future, since by 2009 Verizon's GPON-based FiOS will probably cover the majority of its footprint, allowing them to flip a switch to out-juice whatever cable's got by then. [Broadband Reports]
When you search for the same keywords again, you'll continue to see those changes. If you later want to revert your changes, you can undo any modifications you've made.But your poor tastes/opinions won't screw everyone.
The system only works within browser...for now...meaning that your opinions will not affect other users. Of course, if such a system were deployed in a widespread fashion, we're guessing Google would aggregate data trends to alter search results over time for better relevance.
And would such a system be better? What do we trust more, man or machine? Or sweatshops full of children adding "Nike.com" to every query result? [google via theregister]
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Apparently Blockbuster Video is wooing mobile device makers in an attempt to make mobile video content consumption a little easier on the consumers. While no names were specifically mentioned, Blockbuster CEO James Keyes did say that they were in talks with virtually all major handset manufacturers. We've no clue how the vids will be delivered if this gets off the ground, but wouldn't be too averse to downloading flicks on the device if the file size -- and data tariffs -- could be kept sane. Mr Keyes went on to say that he's started watching films on his BlackBerry thanks to a little technical help from a Blockbuster employee and from Jim Balsillie, co-CEO of Research in Motion. Of course, we're sure the technical help mentioned didn't have anything to do with DVD Decrypter and the illegal copying of DVDs, right guys?Read
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If your smartphone came with a built-in GPS receiver, you can choose to just overlook Google's latest technology, but if your mobile is among the 85-percent (or so) out there lacking an integrated GPS module, listen up. The search giant has revealed new software (dubbed My Location) that enables non-GPS-equipped phones to be pinpointed within three miles of their actual location. Google is claiming that it can provide "neighborhood-level" data, and that pressing "0" while in the app will enable users to skip the task of entering in a starting address when looking up directions. Notably, the system is not set up to collect phone numbers or any other personal details, and for those still paranoid, it can indeed be switched off. Currently, the tracking database still has a few gaps to be filled -- namely locales in Europe and all of China / Japan -- but Google could very well use the location data to eventually provide targeted ads to those who use it.Read
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