drag2share: Squid extract bridges human / machine divide, cyborgs to become very real

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/21/squid-extract-bridges-human-machine-divide-cyborgs-to-become/

If we ever manage to capture a live giant squid, researchers at the University of Washington are going to have a field day. Enterprising minds at the institution's materials science and engineering department have discovered a use for chitosan -- an extract made from squid pen or crab shells that could lead us down a cybernetic road to human / machine interfaces. The team incorporated the organic compound into their field-effect transistor prototype, and effectively created the first protonic circuitry "that's completely analogous to [the way] an electronic current" can be manipulated. Naturally, the silicon-based tech isn't ready (or safe) for implantation into humans just yet, but could one day be used to control biological functions, sending on / off commands to our bodies. So, maybe we won't have to fear that robot apocalypse, after all. You never know, give scientists ample time to fully flesh this advancement out and Spielberg's next great cinematic, sci-fi opus could wind up becoming a cyborg rom-com. Stranger things have happened folks.

Squid extract bridges human / machine divide, cyborgs to become very real originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Sep 2011 17:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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drag2share: Samsung releases AT&T Galaxy S II kernel source far in advance of the phone's release

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/21/samsung-releases-atandt-galaxy-s-ii-kernel-source-far-in-advance-o/

Whoever's cranking out the kernel source in Samsung's headquarters has some serious aspirations. Cooking it up for the Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch the day it was released was a rather snappy process, but the manufacturer's managed to one-up even itself by pushing out AT&T's version a full week and a half early. Talk about an exciting deal for developers, who now have a sizable head start ahead of the Galaxy S II's October 2nd launch. Not too shabby, right? Let's see exactly what those with the know-how can build in the meantime -- we predict customization options aplenty by the time the phone's officially stocked on store shelves. How early can we expect to see the kernel for T-Mobile's Galaxy S II? Hard to say, but for now you can grab the kernel source at... well, the source below.

Samsung releases AT&T Galaxy S II kernel source far in advance of the phone's release originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Sep 2011 18:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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drag2share: 'Monster Cat' 30,472-core supercomputer can be yours for $1,279 an hour

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/21/monster-cat-30-472-core-supercomputer-can-be-yours-for-1-279/

Nicknamed after the magical "Nekomata" cat of Japanese nightmares, Cycle Computing's monstrous new supercomputer can now be yours to rent for the low price of $1,279 an hour. By fusing together the face-melting power of 3,809 eight-core Amazon AWS Elastic Computer 2s, the company was able to create the world's 30th fastest computer with 30,472 processor cores and 27TB of memory -- primarily used for complex modeling rather than Facebooking. Components of the beast hide out in three of Amazon's EC2 data center lairs located in California, Virginia and Ireland, and communicate using HTTPS and SSH encrypted with AES-256 to keep its secrets safe and secure. Compared to the company's previous 10,000-core offering ($1,060 / hour), the new version is far more powerful and minimally more expensive, mostly because it uses spot instances (where customers bid on unused EC2 capacity) rather than pricier reserved instances. Good on you Cycle Computing, not everyone has access to a Jeopardy champ.

'Monster Cat' 30,472-core supercomputer can be yours for $1,279 an hour originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Sep 2011 19:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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drag2share: Samsung SHV-E120L comes out of the development dark, is the Xtina to LG's Britney

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/21/samsung-shv-e120l-comes-out-of-the-development-dark-is-the-xtin/

Brothers from another mobile mother, or just a case of copycat syndrome? We'll let you be the judge, but from the looks of this latest leak, Samsung's SHV-E120L could be sharing some of the LG LU6200's special spec sauce. Outed over on Cetizen and iNews24, the full breakdown of the device's innards point to a dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 4.7-inch 1280 x 720 HD display, 2 megapixel front-facing / 8 megapixel rear camera, 1GB RAM, 16GB of onboard storage, WiFi, Bluetooth and NFC. We've seen conflicting reports as to the exact version of Gingerbread that'll ship on the phone, with Android 2.3.5 in the running. As for the handset's radios, its purported MDM9600 Gobi chipset indicates tri-mode LTE, HSPA and CDMA compatibility. Sammy's super-sized smartphone could hit South Korea later this month, or in early October -- if the passable English in that Google translation can be believed.

Samsung SHV-E120L comes out of the development dark, is the Xtina to LG's Britney originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Sep 2011 20:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink PocketNow  |  Cetizen (Translated), iNews24 (Translated)  | Email this | Comments

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drag2share: LG Optimus EX bound for South Korea, still won't pay alimony

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/21/lg-optimus-ex-bound-for-south-korea-still-wont-pay-alimony/

Despite its rather curious name, the LG Optimus EX (aka the LG SU-880) just might be your soulmate -- provided you live in South Korea. The 9.5mm device appears ready to take SK Telecom by storm with a 1.2GHz dual-core CPU (with no indication of make or model), Android 2.3, 4-inch WVGA TFT-LCD display and five megapixel camera; it's also said to be coming in black and white varieties. We admit, it's not the type of spec sheet that induces a large amount of salivation, but we imagine many will be seduced by the new device -- if the price is right, that is. No word on pricing or availability yet, but we'll hopefully know more once we get officially introduced to the new handset.

LG Optimus EX bound for South Korea, still won't pay alimony originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Sep 2011 22:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink PocketNow, MovePlayer (translated)  |  Popboy (translated)  | Email this | Comments

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