Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Intel delays Broadwell chips to early 2014 due to production yield problems

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/15/intel-delays-broadwell-chips-to-early-2014/

We hope you weren't dead set on buying devices using Intel's Broadwell processors, as the company has delayed production of the 14-nanometer CPU line to early 2014. Fixes for early manufacturing defects didn't work as well as expected, CEO Brian Krzanich says, limiting Intel's ability to produce enough functioning chips. The setback shouldn't affect Skylake, Broadwell's successor. Still, it's not good news for a semiconductor firm that's scrounging for good news in an unforgiving PC market.

Filed under: Laptops, Tablets, Intel

Source: CNET

Square Cash lets you send money over email, now open to US residents

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/15/square-cash/

That Square Cash service that was unveiled as invite-only about five months ago? Well, it's officially open to the public. As of now, anyone can send cold hard cash to anyone else just with a regular ol' email address -- well, an address in the US, anyway. To send money, simply send an email to the recipient with "cash@square.com" in the CC field and the dollar amount in the subject line. If you and your recipient are new to the service, you'll both get an email from Square with a link to a secure website where you can enter in your debit card number. After that, those funds will be transferred in one to two business days. Once your debit card account is set up, any subsequent cash transaction will go through automatically. The service is absolutely free to send and receive, though you're limited to sending only $2,500 a week.

Though you only need email to send and receive cash, the folks at Square are also releasing a Cash app for Android and iOS that essentially acts as a shortcut to the service. Once you enter in the dollar amount in the app, it kicks you over to email to complete the process. Brian Grassadonia, Director of Products at Square, told us that Square Cash solves the problem that has historically plagued the status quo when it comes to peer-to-peer payments. "You no longer need to remember to log in to an account to send or receive money," he said, giving examples of friends dealing with a bar bill or parents sending money to their kids in college. "This is so easy and lightweight that any time there's an opportunity to send money, you don't have to think twice -- you just do it." The service is only available for US residents for now, though the company has said it's open to exploring opportunities in other countries in the future. So sorry, moochers, now there's no excuse for you not to pay your pals back ever again.

Filed under: Internet

Source: Square Cash, App Store, Google Play

Verizon's LTE boosted in 'major markets' by new frequency, hits 80 Mbps down

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/15/verizons-lte-aws-rollout-begins/

The prospect of faster LTE over AWS frequencies has made Verizon lick its chops since late 2011, and now it's finally starting to sate its speed-demon appetite. Big Red has confirmed to PhoneScoop that many of its "major markets" are now being graced with the fresh spectrum (Band 4, if you're curious), which is expected to boost bandwidth, help its infrastructure cope with growth and improve reliability. While the carrier didn't specify which areas are seeing the rollout, several reports indicate that the new frequency has arrived in parts of New York City. In particular, GigaOM reader Milan Milanovic has pulled down 80 Mbps on the new waves while in Midtown Manhattan, with uploads hovering around 15 Mbps. Of course, those speeds are sure to take a dive as more and more folks jump on the bandwagon. Milanovic says fellow network testers have seen Verizon activate AWS in Chicago and Los Angeles, but we've yet to spot speed test results for those areas.

Before you get too excited at the prospect of increased bandwidth, keep in mind that only handsets with the appropriate radios can surf the AWS band. However, Verizon says an update for phones sporting the right hardware, such as the Galaxy S 4, is due in the near future. There's no word on how quickly AWS will spread throughout the wireless telco's domestic empire, but we've reached out for a timeline and will update things here if and when we get one.

[Image credit: Milan Milanovic]

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Verizon

Via: Droid Life

Source: GigaOM, HowardForums, PhoneScoop

Sony VAIO Tap 11 review: meet Sony's answer to the Surface Pro

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/15/sony-vaio-tap-11-review/

Sony VAIO Tap 11 review: meet Sony's answer to the Surface Pro

It wasn't until I was in a meeting with Sony, getting hands-on with its holiday lineup, that I realized something: the company didn't have a proper Windows 8 tablet. Yep, that's right: for all the experimentation PC makers have been doing around Win 8, one of the biggest names in consumer electronics had never attempted a simple Windows tablet. Even crazier: Sony instead placed its bets on the slider PC, of all things -- a design that presents more than a few ergonomic challenges.

Finally, though, Sony is giving the ol' slate form factor a shot: the company recently announced the Tap 11, a tablet seemingly designed to blow the Surface Pro out of the water. Like Microsoft's tablet, it has a kickstand, USB port, pen-enabled display and a thin keyboard case that attaches to the device magnetically. Unlike Microsoft, however, Sony is throwing in the wireless keyboard at no extra charge -- kind of a big deal considering Ballmer and Co. are selling the Type Cover for an additional $130. Even better, the Tap 11 starts at $800, undercutting the new Surface Pro 2 by $99 (and that's not even counting the keyboard). So, what's the catch?%Gallery-slideshow100615%

Filed under: Tablets, Sony

Article: Feds reportedly used phone database to track “burner” use

In HBO's The Wire, drug dealers rely on cheap "burner" phones, which are used for a short time and then thrown away, to thwart police efforts to record their calls. The idea of a temporary, anonymous phone number has also caught on in the app world as witnessed by investors' recent decisio...

http://gigaom.com /2013/10/14/feds-reportedly-used-phone-database-to-track-burner-use/

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IBM's Watson uses Jeopardy skills to become House-like medical diagnostician

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/15/ibm-watson-medical-diagnosis/

IBM's Watson hasn't been in medical school long, but he already has two jobs. Teaming with the Cleveland Clinic, Big Blue researchers have developed WatsonPaths, a diagnosis and education project, and Watson EMR Assistant, a tool for delving deep into medical records. WatsonPaths is the more ambitious of the two, drawing on question-answering skills acquired from its Jeopardy days to examine medical cases from all angles. It'll gather data from journals, texts and on-the-job training, helping doctors improve differential diagnoses and create better treatments. When first deployed, WatsonPaths will be used as a classroom training tool after physicians have decided what's wrong with a patient, but doctors can already see its real-world potential as a clinician.

Researchers are also taking advantage of Watson's natural language talents to scour medical records with the Watson EMR Assistant project. The goal is to analyze unstructured patient records -- which can easily pass 100MB over a patient's lifetime -- with "a deep semantic understanding of the content." That'll take a lot of the grunt work out of parsing such data, letting physicians more easily see the relationship between clinical concerns, lab results and medications in order to provide better care. Despite all that prowess, Watson will mostly remain a learning tool and research project pending further development at the clinic. If the researchers are thinking primary care, however, they may want to bump its people skills.

Filed under: Misc, Science

LG G Pad 8.3 coming to the UK, priced at Â£259

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/15/lg-g-pad-8-3-coming-to-the-uk/

We first got our paws on LG's 8.3-inch G Pad tablet back at IFA, today it's been confirmed that it'll be coming to the UK and Ireland. Brits who want a slice of the action can expect to pay around £259 for the privilege, while Irish buyers can snap one up starting within the next two weeks. LG reminds us this is only part of the broader global rollout, which will see it land in over 30 total markets by the end of the year. You might have to wait a little while longer, though, if you're done with the whole "flat" thing.

Filed under: Tablets, LG

Source: LG Blog

Monday, October 14, 2013

castAR augmented reality glasses hit Kickstarter with a clip-on that transforms them into a VR headset

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/14/castar-kickstarter-launch/

When Jeri Ellsworth and Rick Johnson were let go from Valve back in February, they didn't want to give up on the top-secret augmented reality project they had worked so hard on during their time as employees. So they obtained permission to carry on with it, formed a company called Technical Illusions, and went to work to create what they would eventually call castAR. Months later, at Maker Faire 2013, they revealed the projected augmented-reality system to the world. Comprising a pair of active shutter glasses, a couple of micro projectors, a camera module and a retroreflective surface studded with infrared LEDs, castAR certainly made an impressive debut. Yet, it was still just an early prototype weighed down by heavy glass elements and solid circuit boards.

Today, however, the team is finally ready to reveal the final product in its official Kickstarter launch. Not only is the design much lighter than what we saw in May, but it now has a very intriguing clip-on attachment that can essentially transform the castAR glasses into either true AR glasses that provide augmented reality without the retroreflective surface, or full virtual reality eyewear if you want a completely immersive experience like with the Oculus Rift. This essentially turns castAR into a three-in-one headset, and all in a relatively slim package. As castAR claims on its Kickstarter page, "you will have no need for any other head mounted display." Join us after the break for a rundown of the campaign, some insights from Ellsworth and Johnson and a preview of the device itself.

Filed under: Gaming

Source: Kickstarter

Imagination details Warrior P5600 CPU core, promises high speed in a small package

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/14/imagination-details-warrior-p5600-cpu-core/

After teasing us this summer, Imagination is ready to provide full details of its first Warrior CPU core. Its new P5600 design centers on the MIPS Series5 architecture, which brings performance upgrades like 128-bit SIMD (single instruction, multiple data) code support, hardware virtualization and numerous low-level optimizations. The design reportedly manages brisk 32-bit performance in a considerably smaller footprint than rivals -- a P5600 occupies about 30 percent less space than a "comparable" Exynos 5 Octa, Imagination says. It may be a long while before we see that speed in a smartphone, however. The company will start licensing the core this quarter, but customers still have to build processors and ship finished devices.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile

Source: Imagination Technologies

HTC One Max: Shiny Aluminum, 5.9-Inch Screen and a Fingerprint Scanner

Source: http://gizmodo.com/htc-one-max-shiny-aluminum-5-9-inch-screen-and-a-fing-1444746133

HTC One Max: Shiny Aluminum, 5.9-Inch Screen and a Fingerprint Scanner

HTC’s zapped its flagship One design with its embiggening rays, and scaled the One Max up to gigantic proportions. At 5.9-inches, it’s in that scary land where it’s either a really large phone, or a phablet. We’re not quite sure HTC knows what it is either.

LG G Flex curved smartphone revealed in press renders, will launch next month (update: 6-inch display)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/13/lg-g-flex-revealed/

LG has admitted that "bendable and unbreakable" smartphone displays are already in production, and we've heard plenty of rumors about a device known as the G Flex which features the new tech. Engadget has come across a trio of renders of the upcoming device, and we have learned from our sources that it will be coming out sometime next month -- pricing and availability (as well as hard specs) are as of yet unknown, however. As you can see in the images (above and below), the G Flex offers a curved display, but LG's version approaches it at a literally different angle from the Galaxy Round that was announced last week: instead of it curving from left to right, the G Flex goes orthogonally from top to bottom. We'll update you with more information and images as we get closer to the device's launch.

Update: Our sources have confirmed to us that the G Flex will indeed have a 6-inch display, as rumored previously.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, LG

LG G Flex curved smartphone revealed in press renders, will launch next month (update: 6-inch display)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/13/lg-g-flex-revealed/?ncid=rss_truncated

LG has admitted that "bendable and unbreakable" smartphone displays are already in production, and we've heard plenty of rumors about a device known as the G Flex which features the new tech. Engadget has come across a trio of renders of the upcoming device, and we have learned from our sources that ...

HTC launches One Max with huge 5.9-inch display and fingerprint scanner

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/14/htc-launches-one-max/?ncid=rss_truncated

The bigger the phone, the harder it is to hide. After a slew of detailed leaks, HTC is finally ready to announce the HTC One Max: an enlarged version of the original One that boosts the size of the 1080p LCD panel up to 5.9 inches while attempting to keep the One's classy aluminum look and feel. ...

ASUS ET2321 Haswell all-in-one flashes slim design, optional NVIDIA graphics

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/14/asus-et2321-haswell-all-in-one-flashes-slim-design-optional-nvi/?ncid=rss_truncated

ASUS AiO PCs have run the gamut from pretty versatile, like the dual-boot Transformer AiO, to pretty functional like the articulating ET2300. But pretty, period? Perhaps not so much -- at least not until a video of the above ET2321 popped up on the company's official YouTube channel. The ...

Friday, October 11, 2013

This Device Converts Ocean Waves Into Power

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/device-converts-ocean-waves-into-power-2013-10

RWP

A group of design engineers from Scotland have found a way to efficiently harness the raw power of ocean waves and convert that power into usable energy.

The design is one of the top 15 finalists for this year's James Dyson award.

This design is an improvement over other wave energy converters because it operates using hydraulics to maximize the amount of energy it harnesses from waves.

The device — called the renewable wave power (RWP) — is essentially a chain of partially submerged buoys that absorb the force of waves, then converts the waves into energy. The growing need for sustainable energy sources is the inspiration behind this design entry.

The design has undergone several tests in Lancaster University's wave tank. The unique hydraulic system allows the RWP to respond to changing ocean conditions. As the waves flow in, they move the buoys, which creates pressure as they bounce up and down. The pressure is stored in hydraulic cylinders, which can then be depressurized to create electricity.

wave energy.gif RWP is specifically designed to operate on the west coast of Scotland where, according to the designers, the rough Atlantic ocean has the potential to produce up to 70 Kilowatt-hours of energy per meter of coastline.

The energy readouts produced by RWP look promising, but it needs to be tested in the ocean to verify the results.

The James Dyson award is a competition between up-and-coming design engineers all around the world. The award includes an international winner, and a national winner from each country represented.

SEE ALSO: Say Hello To WAVE Energy!

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