This summer has seen wearable tech get a major boost. The market is getting steadily populated with devices from major companies like Samsung, LG and Motorola with many more on the way. After tablets, wearables seem to be the next big thing. Google is putting its weight behind the Android Wear project to further encourage and integrate the Android ecosystem. Now Adidas will try its luck in the market with a simplistic device called the Adidas Fit Smart.
This is not the initiation of Adidas in the wearable tech arena. The company released the MiCoach Smart Run smartwatch last year. The Smart Run can be connected to the online miCoach account and you can track your progress online and plan ahead.
Adidas’s latest, the Fit smart will go on sale in August this year. The watch has the ability to track distance traveled, pace, calorie-burning and monitors heart rate. It can stand out against the competition because of the tracking infrastructure of the miCoach. Users who give up after taking a lot of effort to go out and run can use the personalized training abilities of miCoach and can be encouraged to keep going on. Its like having a personal trainer on your wrist.
On the design front the Adidas Fit Smart follows a minimalistic design. The display gives the most important specs like Pace, time, calories burned on the screen. There is a small LED strip that change color based on the intensity of the workout. The strap is made of soft silicone. The watch can also be synced to a smartphone with the miCoach app for your in-depth data analysis on the move.
The company will also face some serious competition from the iGiant or as it’s better known, Apple. The company is slated to bring its smartwatch sometime later this year. The main competition to this is the Nike Fuel band which in comparison to the Fit Smart saves you a 100 dollars. But the Fit Smart gives more functionality and is an all-round trainer and not just a data gatherer.
Overall the simplistic design and competitive price will be a benefit for the Fit Smart. It can make a good market for itself if the device excels in what it has to offer, thereby encouraging more minimalistic wearable technology.
Its time to get ready to unleash the adrenaline you had been patently hiding deep down. The moment you have been waiting for is right around the corner. Rockstar games blockbuster hit Grand Theft Auto Five (GTA 5) is now up for preorders.
The game has been upgraded for these new releases and there are a lot of graphical elements added to the game. These versions have increased draw distances, new wildlife, and better resolution overall.
Visual Renovation makes the game look even better.
Even the traffic and pedestrians have increased from the previous versions of the game. The makers promise a realistic feel of the elements like water, trees, the barren grounds now have grass elements. The game will render at the native 1080p.
GTA 5 is much faster and efficient as the game takes full advantage of the PC and new consoles graphical capabilities. The users will be able to take their game data from previous versions and start going forward in the new version.
With the release of the previous version of the game the makers were able to make a billion dollars in just 72 hours. Now with upgraded graphics and multiple additions the game will definitely be worth the prolonged wait for the gamers.
All three versions of the game are priced at $59.99 on GameStop. The release date has not been specified yet.
Nikola Tesla without a doubt was one of the greatest inventors of the 20th century. He is responsible for inventing the foundation for most of our present day technology. Stuff like Alternate Current(AC), Radio, remote controls radar, X-rays, and many more that we take for granted have benefitted from the brilliance of Mr.Tesla. Now two Russian physicists, Leonid and Sergey Plekhanov, are working to recreate his famous Wardenclyffe tower (Aka Tesla Tower) experiment which aims to transmit electrical energy wirelessly. They intend to do the experiment in the fall of 2014.
Technology has come a long way since the experiment was conducted by Tesla back in 1900’s. The original wood-framed tower was 186 feet (57 m) tall and the cupola 68 feet (21 m) in diameter. It had a 55-ton steel (some report it was a better conducting material, such as copper) hemispherical structure at the top (referred to as a cupola). Though his tower had only 2% efficiency and it never became completely operational, it was a brilliant thought none the less.
Flash forward to 2014, we now have better knowledge of science; have better equipment and material than 100 years ago. The researchers claim that they have tested their models on computer simulations and they have been successful. They state that the with their technology the 55 ton hemisphere can be scaled down to 2 tonnes.
For electricity generation the researchers say that an area of 316 by 316 kilometers, which is roughly 100,000 square kilometers, if laid with solar panels, can create more energy than the amount that is utilized by the countries around the world in one year. But here the fact is that the solar panels currently are expensive and not mass produced. Also the efficiency of the panels is still not up to the desired limits.
The physicists are currently looking for funds on indiegogo worth $800,000. They have claimed to have done thorough research of Nikola Tesla’s notes and calculations and state that Tesla’s science was going in the right direction. But some physicists disagree with the basic premise of the technology. They say that power goes out evenly in all directions and only a super small fraction can ever be captured again. It is like turning on a bare light-bulb and expecting to capture a useful amount of its light output from a mile away. But the Russian physicists seem confident of their plans and have opened all their research for investors to scrutinize.
The real reason to get excited about this technology is that researchers all around the world now are getting actively involved in energy research. The revival of Tesla tower, or even an inquiry into its effectiveness will enhance our knowledge about it. According to a new report in the past 10 years the number of countries with renewable energy policies has increased to 144 in 2014 from just 15 in 2005. That is a massive 10 fold increase and it shows the seriousness of the nations on the subject. Seems like the green energy revolution has finally begun.
Near Field Communication (NFC) got a lot of people excited, especially the ones working in the commerce field. It’s a great technology with lots of uses. Phones can make the wallet obsolete using this technology. Though, our phones can’t carry condoms and paper soaps so we will hang on to our wallets for a while. Now Magnetic communication which is still in the rudimentry phase will try to usurp NFC’s claim to wallets throne.
A group of scientists at the University of Oulu in Finland are experimenting with the prospects of using the magnetometer in the phone to send data. Magnetometers are used in smartphones for Compass apps. Using a system called Pulse, the researchers were able to send magnetically encoded data at a distance of 2 centimeters at 40bits/sec.
The researchers uploaded a video which showed their technique working on an Android phone. They were able to send textual data as well as a MIDI track over their connection. This technique will be great for confidential message transfers as it cannot be intercepted from a distance.
The data speed and distance might appear slow but that works in favor of the device. An NFC sensor works at a distance of 12 centimeters so if it can be wiped off in the line by malicious interests. Mobile payments can be much more secure with reduced proximity. They state that this can also be used in advertising. By having a tiny electromagnet on a street poster, advertisers can connect with consumers more interactively. Unlike a QR code, an electromagnetic transmitter will have the ability to have their data renewed.
There are several new studies going on around the world to get the best possible use of the components in the smartphones like the Barometer, Hall Sensor, Gyro Sensor, Finger Print Sensor, Gesture Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Accelerometer. Having multiple uses of these sensors will make the phones more efficient and help in bringing generational changes in now almost stagnant mobile phone development.
Google recently announced the shutting down of its Orkut service. After seeing a huge user base in Brazil and India, the social network just couldn’t keep up with the rapidly innovating competition. The social network service will officially shut down on September 30th.
Google will close the curtains on Orkut on September 30th
Orkut was the first social network that I laid my hands on and even on a 56000 bps connection; it was pure fun. Back in 2005, this was a better medium of interaction with friends with whom we could spend every waking moment with. It was a more interactive service than the dull telephone call,even though it did take 15 minutes to post a single ‘scrap’ (equivalent to fb’s wall post) on a friend’s profile. It was more interactive than Yahoo or MSN messengers which were staples of all internet connected computers of that era. Uploading or even viewing a single image was a night long affair which would skyrocket the phone bill and hence was meant to be avoided.
Social media has come a long way from my first encounter with it. The giants, Facebook and Twitter, have made their mark and cleared their competition while increasing their user base exponentially. Now one out of every seven human being has a Facebook account, and there are about six hundred forty five million users of Twitter worldwide. If Facebook were a country, it would have been the third most populous country in the world.
The Grand Daddy of Social networks has reinvented itself into a music heavy platform
The social media evolution began in 2003 with the inception of Myspace. Myspace created the foundation on which thousands of startups tried their luck on and Facebook ultimately won the game. Myspace has since had a new owner in Justin Timberlake, who has reinvented it in a music heavy flair.
Even social broadcast mediums like Blogger faced intense competition from micro-blogging revolution which came with Twitter. It took social interactions to a whole new level. With almost first person interaction with the who’s who of the world, it somehow brought an egalitarian aspect to the society.
The news media has also seen a major shift in information dissemination with the advent of social media. Now you don’t have to go find the news, the news finds you. Almost all major newspapers and media houses have their social media pages, and there is a predatory race to who could gather the most reach and most subscribers.
Erik Qualman in Socialnomics states that “Social Media is the biggest shift since Industrial Revolution.” He says that the four P’s of Marketing; Product, Place, Price, Promotion are now replaced by the 4 C’s of Digital; Creating, Curating, Connecting, Culture. Within our social media profiles, it’s clearly evident that digital marketing is now a major priority for companies around the world. An economy of “likes” is taking shape.
Instagram and Vine have grown because of their simplistic and swift approach
But this has also had some drawbacks. Because of the massive overload of information, the average human attention span is at seven seconds, in comparison, a Goldfish has 8 seconds of attention span. This is the reason why services like Instagram which are swift and efficient have been able to consolidate a faithful following. Apart from these, unscrupulous elements have found a whole new ecosystem to exploit naïve and unsuspecting victims. Fortunately lot many nations around the world have started talking about regulations for social media. These laws should be directed towards upholding freedom of speech while protecting privacy concerns to be efficient.
The death of Orkut does raise some questions on longevity of the social media ecosystems. The companies that have constantly read the user demands and have innovated with it have succeeded. It is this reason that we see Mark Zuckerberg signing up multi-billion dollar acquisitions. Mobile is where the game is to be played in the future and Whatsapp, Snapchat have fast become interaction medium between friends and acquaintances.
Google can create a new revolution with its wearable technology.
For Google, which has struggled to offer a winsome social network experience, this is an opportunity to either start afresh or start anew. Google is at an advantage to take some risks right now considering it is the leader in the mobile OS business. Its hardware platforms like Android Wear, and Google Glass provide it an opportunity to experiment and innovate. In the era of portables and identical looking operating systems, the world is looking constantly looking for the next big thing. It is for the future to see if it emerges from a giant as the iPod did from Apple or from an unknown garage workshop like in the case of Facebook.
Flying saucers were an integral part of our 20th century pop culture. Movies like “The Day the Earth Stood Still” initiated our obsession with the rounded spaceships of unknown visitors. They also inspired a million hoaxes and countless imaginative tales of anal probes. But now NASA has made its own version of this Science Fictional travel medium to further transport capabilities to Mars.
The test program, called the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD), was put into an evaluation phase over the last weekend and it came out with flying colors. The test was done at the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii.
Retrieving the craft from the Ocean
The LDSD is an important technology to look forward to. The successful landing of the one tonne Curiosity rover using the rocket powered Sky crane set the precedence for this craft. NASA realized that the future missions will try to get even bulkier equipment on board and if the current plans of forming a human settlement on Mars have to succeed, they need to find a way to deliver payload efficiently and cost effectively.
The LDSD, along with the Supersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (SIAD) was tested in the Stratosphere at the heights 36.58 KM above the earth surface where the winds are as thin as Mars. In the stratosphere, the LDSD payload underwent a rocket-powered trajectory to reach supersonic speeds. After this the deployment and optimum functioning of the inflatable decelerators were tested. This was followed by the recovery of the balloon and test vehicle in the ocean.
The Test Plan
NASA intends to use atmospheric drag as a landing solution, thereby saving rocket engines and fuel for final maneuvers and landing procedures. The technology for bigger spaceships will be bulkier to assist the massive crafts with landing capabilities. As the name suggests the craft is deployable at supersonic speeds and can bring the speed down for safe landing.
Mars is a complicated environment for landing spacecraft’s. As it has a thin atmosphere, the parachutes need to be massive. Airbags and rockets have been used for past missions, but they would not be that efficient with larger payloads.
The Dream of Human Mars mission got a bit closer to reality with this LDSD test
This was the first of the three tests for the LDSD technology. There will be two other devices which will be tested later. As the mission dates for the audacious plans for landing humans on Mars is drawing closer, NASA intends to attain flight level maturity in the coming two-three years.
After having ruled the electronic industry for the last many decades, the silicon circuits finally have a partner in Carbon Nanotubes. Researchers at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering have published a paper in the journal Nature Communication. They have figured out the technique that could make more flexible and energy efficient circuits.
The result can be achieved by combining carbon nanotube thin film transistors with other thin film transistors. This resultant hybrid could even replace silicon as a transistor material for electronic chips. These carbon nanotubes are more transparent, flexible, and are processed at a lower cost. Also, they will help to make a new generation of flexible devices too.
The process involves the integration of carbon nanotube (CNT) thin film transistors (TFT) with thin film transistors comprised of indium, gallium and zinc oxide (IGZO). The IGZO gives strengths to the nanotubes where they lack; CNT is not energy efficient; IGZO’s integration gives it that ability and also helps it to increase battery life.
Lead electric engineering professor Dr. Chongwu Zhou calls it “the perfect marriage” almost like Yin and Yang.
This will be a boon to flexible technology
As mentioned earlier, there are enormous practical applications of this form of circuitry. Technologies like including digital circuits, Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs), radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, wearable electronics, and flash memory devices will get a huge boost with this kind of circuitry. Even heads-up displays on vehicle dashboards like the one that was seen in Mission Impossible 4 will also be a possibility. Medical sensors can also be upgraded with this innovation.
The applications are unlimited, just like the silicon circuits created the modern economy of the last century, the Carbon Nanotube can be the technological revolution that this century deserves.
About 71 per cent of the Earth’s surface is water-covered and the Oceans hold 96.5 per cent of that. It is an alien place for us. We’ve had more people go in space than the depths of the earth’s ocean. So oceans have largely been unexplored territories, mostly explored by submarines, but an Iron-man-like Atmospheric Diving Suit (ADS) called the Exosuit, hopes to change that.
The underwater arena, mainly the oceans, are not meant for the human body. As the pressure increases significantly underwater, issues like decompression, sickness and nitrogen narcosis may indeed cause fatal harm to the deep sea divers.
Scuba suits are helpful for maximum distance of 40 meters (recreational limit). Anything below that is the extremely dangerous for average folks, and you need professional training and diving equipment to dive deeper. The world record for a diving depth stands at 318 meters, but a lot have perished before reaching this point.
The Exosuit will greatly evolve the oceanic research process
The Exosuit, designed by Canada based Nuytco Research Ltd. is a kind of personal submarine. It has motorized thrusters whose controls are placed in the foot, They help the diver to hover through the ocean as bird scouting for prey. As the motion controls are in the foot, it frees the divers hands for work. The suit has motorized arms that help the diver to grab the desired objects. Its articulated joints help provide maximum flexibility to the diver. The Aluminium shell helps to keep it lightweight.
This pressurized suit can practically support a mission running as long as 50 hours. It will give archaeologists or other researchers the ability to spend extended periods underwater while physically analyzing samples. It is powered by an umbilical cord connected to the ship that also has voice and data link. It also has a “rebreather” which expels carbon dioxide and purifies the air inside the suit.
Like a spacesuit, it has multiple backup safety features. In the case of an emergency, the suits battery can cut power to everything except the thrusters and a communication system which keeps the diver in touch with the support staff. Its HD camera also helps the support to access the surroundings.
The suit was tested at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Massachusetts. It will be used in September of this year to explore the 2000 year old shipwreck of Antikythera. The ship is famous as an astronomical calculator called the Antikythera mechanism was recovered from it the last time. The scientists hope to find more archeological treasures from this two century old wreck.
ADS like Newtsuits are already used by Navy
The Exosuit is not the first of its kind. Its elder sibling, the Newtsuit is already being used at ocean drilling rigs, pipelines, salvage jobs, and photographic surveys and many Navy’s around the world. Hopefully, the Exosuit will be used mostly for exploration purposes.
This technology once inducted in research will help to ease up the process of oceanic data collection. A physical researcher will be much more accurate in finding samples that a robotic envoy which may not be as efficient. The Exosuit and technology will help unearth a lot of knowledge about the ocean which is waiting to be uncovered. Its a good time for Science.
Go-Pro’s and Drone technology has made it super easy for regular or professional adventure sports enthusiasts to film incredible footage. Now two campaigns on Kickstarter are seeking pledges towards making a Personal Autonomous Drone. These Drones are programmed to track the subject continually without any pilot directing it. It can take the Go-Pro experience to a whole new level.
In the first glance, it would just appear like a plastic kids toy. But once you power it on, you will have a kickass drone which will follow you while you do some badass stunts. The device is portable and sturdy. The makers claim that the AirDog can face any challenge, like pelting rain, freezing temps, massive waves. Basically, it’s unstoppable.
The Craft is controlled by the AIRLEASH (aptly named) which is a wrist worn controller which tells the AIRDOG where the person it is filming is. All the user needs to adjust their altitude and distance preferences and press “Take off,” they are good to go. The drone performs in-flight calculations to correct its flying pattern, and points the camera at the user wearing AirLeash. The AirLeash is waterproof so you can easily take it into a wave.
AirDog uses a Physical tracker and smartphone to exactly map the subject
It gives a lot smoother aerial shots than a remote operated drone. It uses a Go-Pro camera on 2-axis Gyro stabilized gimbal so you can be rest assured of the footage quality. When not using it like a drone, fold it up, and you have a Steadicam.
If you are a control freak and don’t prefer a fully automatic, there is also an optional manual remote control. You can also use a combination of Auto and Manual modes to get that perfect shot. The drone uses GPS signals to map out its environment thereby preventing itself from running into trees and other obstacles.
The bundled in smartphone app provides professional adjustments to the flight path of the Drone. The app can be used from the iPhone as well as an Android phone. With it, you can control the distance, height, and angle.
You don’t even need to worry about running out of battery mid shoot and falling off grid into unreachable spots. The craft finds its way back to the takeoff spot and lands there. The landing is completely automatic.
Specs of the AirDog:
• Durable and weather resistant construction
• 10-20 minutes flight time depending on flight speed
• Interchangeable 14.8 V, 4000mAh, LiPo batteries
• Wind resistance up to 28 knots (14 m/s)
• Top speed, 40 mph (software limited)
• AirLeash range up to 1000 feet (300m)
• Operational ceiling, 3000 meters above sea level
• Weight 3.08 lbs (1.4 kg). 3.96 lbs (1.8 kg) with battery
AirDog is attracting a lot of attention on Kickstarter, as in the morning the project had 15 backers but by the time of posting it had reached 166. It also reached halfway to its target of USD $ 200,000/- standing at $120,000 with 39 more days to go.
The Hexo+ looks more like a full-fledged professional camera drone with 6 propellers. It is controlled using a smartphone app. Unlike the AirDog there is no wearable tracker (AirLeash), which might be the biggest issue with it.
Hexo uses the app to find subject
It is faster that the AirDog as its top speed is at 70 Kilometers per hour for the duration of 15 minutes. HEXO+ could therefore be beneficial for high speed sports enthusiast like Skiers, mountain bikers, snowboarders and motocross athletes.
This project has also received massive support as it stood at above a whooping $300,000 of its pledging goal of $50,000 with 29 more days to go. One of the reasons for this surge is that they have promised to deliver live video feedback if they crossed $250,000.
Armed with GPS sensors and command module in the smart phone, the drone is capable of constant, totally autonomous following of its subject. A smartphone dependency of the Hexo+ to communicate might cause it some issues. They use the MAVLINK protocol which helps to smoothen the communication between the phone, the drone and the camera gimbal.
The Drone constantly tracks subject using GPS, Sensors and mobile App
Specs of the HEXO+:
General
• Dimensions: 62 x 52 x 12 cm
•Total weight: 980 g – 2.2 lbs Drone
•Hexacopter design with 30° tilt propellers
• Speed range: up to 70 kmh – 45mph
•Flight time: 15 min with 3S battery, gimbal and GoPro attached
Flight controller
• Filming distance range: up to 50 meters
•Auto take-off and auto landing
• Trajectory anticipation
•Video target locking*
•GPS + onboard sensor position tracking
•Processor with MAVLINK protocol
Gimbal
• High performance 2D brushless gimbal
• Easy attach/detach from drone body for transportation
• GoPro mount
Both these products look promising and will probably start a whole new revolution in action sport shooting like the Go-Pro did. It is also great for athletes who want to observe and review their performance. With the serious interest shown by Kickstarter backers for both these projects, it’s evident that pretty soon we can see them flying all over the place.
If you are asking what Bing is? Well, it’s Microsoft’s search engine that you use when you don’t have Google, so no one uses it. Sometimes it is used by people who use the Internet Explorer but they too mostly use it to reach Google. However, Windows Phone users tend to use it often.
Microsoft hopes to change that this Football season, the search engine intends to use its prediction technology to predict the results of the matches. These predictions might be useful if you are in a fantasy league or just betting your hard earned cash on the matches.
The technology took a test run during this season of The Voice and American Idol and Bing claims to have correctly predicted the fate of contestants in each week, as well as the winner Caleb Johnson. Now it’s time to put its might to test in the biggest game, which is watched the world over.
Bing states that it makes the predictions made on the tournament based on a variety of models. The algorithm behind the scenes evaluates the strength of each team through a variety of factors such as previous win/loss/tie record in qualification matches and other international competitions. It analyses the margin of victory in those contests and adjusts it factors like home field advantage or proximity of the team to the gaming venue (other South American teams).
Instant player profile and relevant info is provided
Even the playing surfaces (hybrid grass), game-time weather conditions, and other such factors being counted. In addition to this, the search engine also analyses the ‘wisdom of the crowds’ based on the search results and predictions made by football fanatics online.
The search engine provides match statistic and player profiles for all the teams.
Bing might just win a lot more users if it starts getting the games right. Predictions could be something that could give it a competitive edge over Google that Bing has been trying to find in a long while.
There have been men who conquered massive lands. There are men who broke the facade of ignorance and opened the world to a new understanding of the world. There have been men who have brought massive socio-economic-political changes for the masses. Almost every generation past has had the opportunity to get an encounter with greatness, men like Buddha, Newton, Darwin, Faraday, Gandhi and many more have had the ability to think of the greater good. Just when we thought the ages of the greats are gone, our generation got its hero and he is Elon Musk, the owner of the electric car company Tesla Motors.
The Roadster is the best looking and performing EV in the world
Tesla motors is a pioneering institution. It has breathed in a new life into the Electric Vehicle (EV) technology and thereby creating a true alternative to the obnoxious gas emitting, fossil fuel vehicles we use presently. The company’s first car, the Tesla Roadster was the first EV to have a range of 320 KM in a single charge; with a top speed of 201 Km/h (yes you read that right). The company released a Sedan called the Model S which is one of the best looking sedans out there. There is also the sexy Model X which is a SUV-Sedan hybrid.
Yesterday, Tesla became the first car manufacturer to open all its patents for anyone to use, for free. The technology Elon and his team strived so hard to achieve, almost reaching a point of bankruptcy and affecting his personal life.
Elon Musk inside the Astronaut capable Dragon V2
Elon wrote in his blog titled All Our Patent Are Belong To You that “we feel compelled to create patents out of concern that the big car companies would copy our technology and then use their massive manufacturing, sales and marketing power to overwhelm Tesla. We couldn’t have been more wrong.” This is rather true even 6 years after the release of the Tesla Roadster, no big company is making any major strides or even showing interest in the EV technology. Just about 1% of the Cars on the roads are electric.
He also stated that Tesla’s competition isn’t the small handful EV manufacturers, but the mega car companies who still insist on manufacturing dirty cars. These fossil fueled cars are the case of environmental changes like the recent increase in obnoxious gases in Delhi.
The most significant aspect of this story is that it directly questions the validity of patents. Patents were a great way of giving recognition to people who have created something out of the ordinary; innovators. But slowly the system has degraded into a means to enrich intellectual property lawyers and corporations. In this kind of situation smaller players can’t innovate because the bigger companies hold patents on miniscule features. The system that was supposed to encourage innovation is now the biggest hindrance in the development of our technology.
EV’s like the Nissan Leaf are still not efficient enough like their gas powered competitors
While major companies are working on how to make hybrid cars, something that makes the environmental types and the petroleum giants happy, Tesla has decided to take them all on. With these patents you can design your own electric motor with Tesla efficiency. The best part, as the motor is tiny, once you retrofit your car, you can have an extra boot space where that huge combustion engine used to be. Tesla has also successfully beaten some of the best cars in overall performance.
We now know for a fact that global warming is the single greatest threat to our existence. We also know the reason for it is us and our expenditure of non-renewable fossil fuels. Elon has also put massive investment into the Solar City project which provides energy services to homeowners, businesses, and government/non-profit organizations. In just one hour the sun gives more energy than is needed by the entire humanity in an entire year. Solar should definitely be the highest priority of every business and government.
Luckily for India the present government is planning to ferociously expand solar power in India with a target of reaching 400,000,000 people by 2019. It has also promised to give every home at least ‘one light bulb’s worth of electrification’ via solar, as well as deploy solar-powered agriculture pumps.
Elon’s Space X is the most successful private space enterprise.
Elon is also the founder of private space company Space X which has now got a NASA contract to service the International Space Station. The company recently showcased the Dragon V2 spaceship which is capable of carrying astronauts. He also wants to have a Mars mission to give humanity a second planetary home as a plan B.
Tesla Motors is a phenomenal company and it truly upholds the name of the greatest inventor of the 19th Century, Nikola Tesla. Most of us don’t even know his name but he has greatly affected our lives in many ways. We can ramble on and on about his greatness, but we’d rather you watch this awesome video.
More and more manufacturers need to use Tesla’s ingredients in their cars and switch to EV technology as soon as possible. It will take at least 20-30 years from now to a majority electric vehicle economy. For this, first and foremost tough regulation have to be placed on gas giants and EV manufacturing should be subsidized by the governments across the world.
Elon was the inspiration behind Robert Downey’s Iron Man
Elon’s superpower is that his endeavors are inspiring for the people of the world and that makes him a real superhero, no wonder he is the real life inspiration behind Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark from Iron Man. He also did a cameo in Iron Man 2.
Only time will tell how this massive open innovation will affect our future.
The world’s greatest Cup is up again for grabs and the entire planet just got a serious adrenaline hit. The sponsoring companies are leaving no stone unturned to get maximum visibility in this controversial yet most watched edition of FIFA World Cup 2014.
Here are the Fifa World Cup ads from prominent companies which are making the football fever fly high:
1. Nike
Football’s existence is under threat. It just had a corporate takeover and there has just been an attack of the clones. Our favourite sport is ruined and the greatest footballers now have to do odd jobs to survive. The Original Ronaldo decides brings them all together to save a game that has been their collective passion. Sometimes in life you just have to Risk Everything.
The Verge has reported that Microsoft is in the process of inducting Kinect features in its next Windows phone, code named “Mclaren”. The Mclaren was introduced to the world through phone tripsters EVLeaks.
The phone will be a successor to the Lumia 1020 and will boast propriety technology like 3D touch and Real Motion. These features will assist in interaction with the phone without actually touching the display.
Kinect is now integral to the Xbox experience
Kinect was reveled at the 2010 E3 conference. Kinect made sense on a large screen system like the Xbox. Its features which made technology invisible was appreciated by people. The question that everyone seems to be asking is whether a phone version of Kinect will actually have some benefits or will be just another gimmicky add-on.
Some of the reported features include the ability to answer a phone call by just bringing it to your ears or cutting a call when the phone is dropped back in the pocket. The phone can also be put on a table to start an speakerphone conversation. These features have to be utility based or else they will end up as the Air Gestures in the Samsung phones.
The phone will also be fitted with pressure sensing instruments on the sides to detect changes in grip. They want to make external buttons completely obsolete. One of the way this can be used is gripping the phone can power on the device. Even the Camera can be zoomed in and out just by doing the usual pinching motions near the device.
These features were originally intended to be used on the Windows 8.1 powered Nokia Goldfinger phones. This phone is now being pushed back for a later release, while the Mclaren is being given priority. This is one more way in which Microsoft is pushing the Nokia name off the edge. Some have said that Nokia’s innovations are being stripped for profitable parts in Microsoft’s research labs.
The new UI will be inspired by Zune Mixview
The phones will also have a tiny UI renovation with the Kinect induction. When pointed above a tile it will open multiple floating tiles. This is inspired by the Zune Mixview. The tech makes sense on a big screen where there was minimum learning curve, but in a small screen it will be a whole different story. Microsoft would have had to go back to the drawing board to make the technology featurable on a handheld device.
Now as these are still leaks and we’d have to wait for the device to come in our hands before we comment on the functionality of these features. This of course will be a good experiment to look forward to. Microsoft Xbox’s Kinectic abilities suit it well for a home entertainment system, but it has to take some real efforts to convince people that hovering fingers over your phone is as good as having a touch response.
Sorry, the kid inside me just wanted to get his emotions out. If you were close to me when I heard the news, you would have lost your hearing for a while, like my fellow mates did. Now this is what me and my kind have been waiting for. Z-man is in the house!
With Z-man everyone can get the Spideman experience.
The Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has created a pair of paddles that lets anybody climb glass walls. You can’t shoot webs though, so maybe this may be closer to what Tom Cruise used to scale the massive Burj Al-Kalifah in Dubai in Mission Impossible 4.
With the Z-man, a 99 KG climber was able to climb and descend a 7.6 meter vertical glass wall. In one trial the climber carried 22.6 KG’s of extra weight too.
The inspiration for the design comes from the Gecko. Geckos are cute little lizards who come in all kinds of colors and have an annoying voice which gives them their name. Come to think of it, they are pretty self-obsessed calling out their own names all day long. Listen to this and tell me it’s not annoying to hear:
Coming back to the how they inspired DARPA, is their expertise in climbing almost any surface in the world. They have tiny bristles on their feets called Satae which give them the ability to stick on anything they desire from living room walls to even the walls of International Space Station. This adhesive property doesn’t need any kind of liquid and is also self-cleaning. It can literally balance its entire body on one toe. This ability is present in almost 60% of Gecko species.
Geckos incredible ability to climb any surface was the inspiration of Z-Man
The military had one major issue with climbing technology. It’s old, really old. Ropes have been used by combatants for thousands of years and are still being used today. A bit of investment in these would have made life easier for thousands of warriors, instead of making useless and extremely expensive Nuclear weapons.
Z-man takes inspiration from the natural forces and with the help of nanotechnology and bio mechanics to give Gecko-like ability to humans. There will also be everyday uses of the technology. This can be used by Glass cleaners in offices around the world. DARPA is working for more consumer intergration of the technology too.
Z-man currently is a work in progress and it will take a while to fully induct the technology in the armed forces. This might be a boon during urban combat.
If we get technologies like this right, we can handle situations like a Chitauri Invasion without the Avengers. But yes can we please have real life Avengers already? Come on DARPA, why don’t we have a real-life Captain America or Spiderman already?
A Russian supercomputer named “Eugene Goostman” was able to fool researchers and make them believe it was a 13 year old boy. The computer was able to beat the Turing test by fooling 33% of the researchers. The Turing test assess the Human like behavior of an Artificially Intelligent system (AI). It is an important story to know as there will be multiple kinds of comprehensions and speculations in the readers mind.
“Eugene” was created in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It was invented by software development engineer Vladimir Veselov and software engineer Eugene Demchenko. The computer was tested along with four others at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom.
First and foremost let us rest assure you that Skynet or HAL 9000 haven’t been created yet. This is actually the next step in the evolution of computing. Some scientists like Kevin Warwick, visiting professor at the University of Reading, hold the view that rather than being an accomplice in cyber-crime, the system can actually help in solving cyber-crimes because it understands human perspective.
So now that you are relieved that Terminators are not going to show up, lets take the story further. The Turing Test was invented by the father of modern computing Alan Turing. He created the first model of a general functions computer. This was the base of computers and now smartphones like the one that you are reading this article on. The invention was called the Turing machine.
Alan Turing: The Father of Modern Computing
Turing was one of the real heroes of World War 2. He was a British mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, computer scientist and importantly a philosopher. He cracked the German enigma code which helped the Allied forces win the war. And guess how was he honored for this achievement? he was prosecuted and chemically castrated for being a homosexual. This is the perfect example of how moronic archaic beliefs hamper with real progress. Turing died in 1954 due to cyanide poisoning (a likely suicide). There is a lot they can be blamed for, but at least the British government had the good sense of declaring an Official Public Apology in 2009 and a posthumous pardon in December of 2013 (doesn’t solve anything but better late than never.)
Alan Turing also formulated the Turing test for understanding Artificial Intelligence. It is a test to determine the ability of a computer to think or exhibit intelligent behavior akin to a real human being. The test lets the volunteers ask certain questions to access the human behavior in 5 minutes and if the researchers can’t specify if the answers are from a Human or a computer, the computer wins.
Euguene must have done heavy prep to score 33%
The Russian Supercomputer, “Eugene” was able to beat the Turing test by a very narrow margin; it needed 30% to pass while it scored 33%, becoming the first computer to do so. It is not an easy feat to achieve as the test was curated by independent auditors.
Our present day way of living, our economies, a massive tech sector job market can all be attributed to the likes of Alan Turing who dared to dream in an oppressive era. While we use our computers and smartphones, we unknowingly keep the legacy of Alan Turing alive. There is also an important lesson to learn here; our judgment of people shouldn’t be based on their personal affiliations and choices but rather be on their proclivities and talents.
Jarvis might be closer than you think.
Eugene is the first to beat the Turing’s test but hopefully it will encourage others to create better AI computers. With this experiment, in a way we have created Life, though digital, but still a conscious life. While we can debate if this can lead to a utopian or dystopian future like the sci-fi movies, the fact remains that Alan’s machine has brought invaluable advancement for our civilization. So working towards a futuristic technology should be a priority for all. Maybe with the lessons we have learnt from the movies, we would be able to perfect a JARVIS instead of a HAL-9000.
Adidas’s latest, the Fit smart will go on sale in August this year. The watch has the ability to track distance traveled, pace, calorie-burning and monitors heart rate. It can stand out against the competition because of the tracking infrastructure of the miCoach. Users who give up after taking a lot of effort to go out and run can use the personalized training abilities of miCoach and can be encouraged to keep going on. Its like having a personal trainer on your wrist.
