Wednesday, March 20, 2013

EPFL mixes graphene and molybdenite to make very efficient, flexible flash memory

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/20/epfl-combines-graphene-and-molybdenite-for-super-efficient-memory/

EPFL combines graphene and molybdenite to create highspeed, lowpower flash memory

We've seen graphene chips, and we've seen molybdenite chips. What would happen if we combined the two? If EPFL's experimental flash memory is any clue, we might get one of the better blends since chocolate met peanut butter. The chip uses graphene's high conductivity for the memory itself, as well as for electrodes, but stuffs molybdenite in between to rapidly switch electrical states (such as what you'd see in write commands) while using little power. The hybrid is theoretically both faster and more power-efficient than conventional silicon designs, but that's just the start: the extra-thin nature of either material is better-suited to flexible electronics on top of shrinking the chip footprint. If there's anything at this stage that would sour EPFL's dreams of a storage utopia, it's time. There's no immediate mention of commercialization plans for the mutant memory, which could leave us stuck on silicon for awhile.

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Source: ACS Nano

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Send to Kindle buttons now available for web publishers and Wordpress bloggers

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/20/send-to-kindle-buttons-web-publishers-wordpress-bloggers/

DNP Amazon lets web publishers and Wordpress bloggers add Send to Kindle buttons to their sites

Up until now, if you wanted to send content from a website directly to your Kindle for later reading, you had to install a browser extension. Now, however, you don't necessarily have to if the site in question has implemented Amazon's new "Send to Kindle" button. Made just for web publishers and Wordpress bloggers, you can already see it on The Washington Post, TIME and Boing Boing websites. Publishers can design how they want the button to look to a certain degree via limited customization of the font, color, size and theme. Like all the other Send to Kindle shortcuts, all readers need to do is select the article they want to ship over, hit the button and they'll see it on their favorite Kindle reader, be it the app or the device. Site owners can head over to the sources below to see how they can participate.

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Via: PaidContent

Source: Send to Kindle for websites, Send to Kindle Wordpress plugin, Kindle Daily Post

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Wireless 'under the skin' prototype implant beams instant blood test read-outs to your smartphone

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/20/wireless-under-the-skin-implant-can-beam-instant-blood-test-re/

Wireless 'under the skin' module can beam instant blood test readouts to your smartphone

A new blood-testing subdermal sensor has been developed by a team of scientists in Switzerland. While that may not sound particularly notable, this half-inch prototype can instantly beam several health metrics to smart devices over Bluetooth, monitoring cholesterol, blood sugar levels as well as the impact of medical treatments like chemotherapy using five built-in sensors.

The device has already been tested on animals and while the researchers hope to begin testing soon on patients that would typically require a lot of blood tests and monitoring, the module is still several years from a commercial release. According to the EPFL's video, the sensor can even predict heart attacks several hours before they occur, sensing minute changes in the bloodstream ahead of time. We've 'implanted' the explanation after the break, but if you're looking for some more medical-minded specifics, head to the source.

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Via: BBC

Source: EPFL

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Amazon Whispercast for Kindle now lets organizations manage mass app distribution on Fire tablets

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/19/amazon-whispercast-for-kindle-bulk-app-distribution/

Amazon Whispercast for Kindle now lets organizations manage mass app distribution on Fire tablets

When Amazon introduced its Kindle Whispercast service back in October, it did so with the promise that '"bulk app distribution" would be coming soon for Fire tablets. Fast forward to today and that feature is now live, giving organizations the ability to push purchased applications from an administration account to all managed Kindle Fire tablets. Yes, that even includes BYOD devices, although those users will have to accept an opt-in prompt to participate. If your school or business already participates in the service, there's no need to take any further action -- the ability should be enabled right now. But if you'd still like to sign-up, you can do so at the source.

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Via: TechCrunch

Source: Amazon, (2)

Source: Jeremy Ng (Google+)

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