Li-Fi: Technology that Uses Light Bulb to Establish Internet Connection

A team of Chinese experts and specialists have successfully developed, and experimented an innovative way of gaining access to the Digital World of the Internet using the signals sent through the Light Bulb instead of Radio Waves as in Wi-Fi.

Scientists named it Li-Fi.

In case if you don’t know, Wi-Fi operates in the frequency range between 2.4 and 2.483 GHz. IEEE 802 (11a operates in the frequency range from 5.725 to 5.850 GHz. These are often referred to as the “2.4 GHz” and “5GHz” bands).

The term Li-Fi may not be new to many ears; in fact it is around since 2011, when Harald Haas had first used it in his TED Global talk on Visible Light Communicationon this very context.

The Li-Fi technology operates under the principle that light can be used to carry Signals as an alternative to traditional radio frequencies; it keeps serving as long as there is no blockage of any kind, between the Light source and a Computer.

Chi Nan, the I.T Professor at Shanghai’s Fudan University, who also leads the Li-Fi research team (which includes scientists from the Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences) have said that, “One-watt LED Light Bulb may establish an Internet connection for four Electronic Gadgets at once.”, she added that, “A light bulb with embedded microchips can produce data rate as fast as 150Mbps.”

The current tools for Wireless Signal Transmission is expensive and less efficient, said Chi.

“Millions of base stations have been established for strengthening the signals of cell phones, but most of the energy is consumed for their cooling systems. The energy utilization rate is only five percent” she explained.

In today’s world where two thirds of the total population does not have internet access, and places like Pakistan, China and India, where over billion people combined don’t have this facility; gaining access to the Internet by just turning on the Light bulb will be nothing less than a dream come true.

According to Chi,

“Wherever there is a LED light bulb, there is an Internet signal. Turn off the light and there is no signal”

More importantly, according to the experts, the development of a series of key related pieces of technology, including light communication controls as well as microchip design and manufacturing, is still in an experimental period and there is still a long way to go to make Li-Fi a commercial success.

Despite the fact that the Technology is still in the experimental period, Netizens should be excited to view 10 sample Li-Fi kits that will be on display at the China International Industry Fair that will kick off on November 5 in Shanghai.

Photo courtesy: Extremetech

Read More

GM to offer connected car, automated driving technology in 2016

GM to offer connected car, automated driving technology in 2016

By Ben Klayman

Reuters

DETROIT - General Motors Co (GM.N) will introduce in two years its first car that can communicate with other vehicles to help avoid accidents and ease traffic congestion, Chief Executive Mary Barra said on Sunday.
In the same time frame, GM also will introduce more advanced technology allowing hands-free driving in some cases, she said.
"I'm convinced customers will embrace (vehicle-to-vehicle) and automated driving technologies for one simple reason: they are the answer to everyday problems that people want solved," she said in a text of a speech delivered at a conference here.
Auto companies, academics and government agencies globally are working to develop cameras, sensors, radar and other technologies that allow vehicles and surrounding infrastructure like stoplights to alert each other about nearby driving conditions.

The industry is rolling out such features as adaptive cruise control, crash-imminent braking and semi-automated, hands-free driving like GM's 'Super Cruise' feature to make roads safer.
However, GM and other automakers have emphasized that even with hands-free driving, drivers will be responsible and need to maintain attention on the road. Meanwhile, Internet search company Google Inc (GOOGL.O) is working to develop fully autonomous vehicles.
The U.S. Department of Transportation has made developing connected car technologies a high priority, a view shared in Japan and Europe. And when cars can also talk to surrounding infrastructure, the gains will be exponential, Barra said.

However, she said commercializing a fully automated vehicle may take until the next decade.
Congestion causes urban Americans to travel 5.5 billion more hours and purchase an extra 2.9 billion gallons of fuel each year, she said, citing outside data.
In 2016, GM will sell a 2017 model Cadillac CTS sedan standardly equipped with vehicle-to-vehicle technology. However, the car can only communicate with similarly equipped vehicles and it will take time for the industry to introduce the technology broadly, GM officials said before Barra's speech.
They added that U.S. regulators still need to finalize requirements for these technologies and cyber security protections need to be developed.

Also in 2016, GM will roll out Super Cruise as an option allowing hands-free highway driving at both highway and stop-and-go speeds, as well as lane following, speed control and braking in a new, unidentified 2017 Cadillac model in a segment where the company does not currently compete.
GM did not disclose either feature's cost, or timing on offering them on the No. 1 U.S. automaker's other brands.

GM will introduce the connected CTS sedan and the unnamed Cadillac with the Super Cruise feature in the United States.
In 1956, GM showed the Pontiac Firebird II concept that included a system to work with an electrical wire embedded in the highway to guide the car. Three years later, the rocket-like Cadillac Cyclone concept boasted an autopilot system that steered the car, and radar in front nose cones that warned of a collision and automatically applied the brakes.

Barra said the U.S. Congress can help develop vehicle-to-infrastructure communication with funding in the next federal transportation bill.

She also said GM is joining the University of Michigan and the state of Michigan to develop vehicle-to-infrastructure driving corridors on 120 miles (193 km) of metro Detroit roadways. State officials said Ford Motor Co (F.N) is also part of the effort.

Read More

Computers reshaping global job market, for better and worse: Paper

Computers reshaping global job market, for better and worse: Paper

Reuters 

Automation and increasingly sophisticated computers have boosted demand for both highly educated and low-skilled workers around the globe, while eroding demand for middle-skilled jobs, according to research to be presented to global central bankers on Friday.
But only the highly educated workers are benefiting through higher wages, wrote MIT professor David Autor in the paper prepared for a central banking conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Middle- and lower-skilled workers are seeing their wages decline.

That is in part because as middle-skilled jobs dry up, those workers are more likely to seek lower-skilled jobs, boosting the pool of available labor and putting downward pressure on wages.
"(W)hile computerization has strongly contributed to employment polarization, we would not generally expect these employment changes to culminate in wage polarization except in tight labor markets," Autor wrote.
Any long-term strategy to take advantage of advances in computers should rely heavily on investments in human capital to produce "skills that are complemented rather than substituted by technology," he said.
Recounting the long history of laborers vilifying technological advances, Autor argues that most such narratives underestimate the fact that computers often complement rather than replace the jobs of higher-skilled workers.

People with skills that are easily replaced by machines, such as 19th-century textile workers, do lose their jobs.
In recent years computer engineers have pushed computers farther into territory formerly considered to be human-only, like driving a car.

Still, computer-driven job polarization has a natural limit, Autor argues. For some jobs, such as plumbers or medical technicians who take blood samples, routine tasks are too intertwined with those requiring interpersonal and other human skills to be easily replaced.
"I expect that a significant stratum of middle skill, non-college jobs combining specific vocational skills with foundational middle skills - literacy, numeracy, adaptability, problem-solving and common sense - will persist in coming decades," Autor wrote.

Autor, who has been studying technology and its impact on jobs since before the dot-com bubble burst, notes that some economists have pointed to the weak U.S. labor market since the 2000s as evidence of the adverse impact of computerization.

Such modern-day Luddites are mistaken, he suggested. U.S. investment in computers, which had been increasing strongly, dropped just as labor demand also fell, exactly the opposite of what ought to happen if technology is replacing labor.

More likely, he said, globalization is to blame, hurting demand for domestic labor and, like technology, helping to reshape the labor landscape. While in the long run both globalization and technology should in theory benefit the economy, he wrote, their effects are "frequently slow, costly, and disruptive."

Read More

Google to Spread the Web With $1B Worth of Satellites

It looks as though Google wants to accelerate its plans to hook up the entire world to the Internet by deploying a fleet of satellites. It already is working on a plan to deliver the Web via high-altitude balloons, but a satellite system would be more reliable and durable. Facebook is using drones in a similar effort, and Google recently bought a drone company it had shown interest in acquiring.

Google's eye on the sky seems wider than ever. The company reportedly is planning to spend at least US$1 billion on a project to bring Internet access to remote areas through satellites.

It is not yet clear whether the plan would augment or replace Project Loon -- Google's proposal to connect remote regions to the Internet through high-altitude balloons. However, the report suggests that Google hopes the plan will help it to overcome technical and financial hurdles that hampered similar projects in the past.

Lower Orbit

While the details of the scheme are shifting, the project will begin with around 180 small, high-capacity satellites that will have a lower orbit than traditional satellites and may expand from there, according toThe Wall Street Journal.

"The potential of the reported Google project would be to help ensure that the next generation of unserved Internet users comes online, said Charles King, principal atPund-IT.

"The fact is that often due to political folly and economic challenges, potential online access suffers. So it's both interesting and admirable that private concerns like Google, Facebook and others are investigating alternatives for creating the infrastructure necessary to support wireless Internet access," he told TechNewsWorld.

Hiring Spree

Google apparently has been hiring engineers from Space Systems/Loral to work on the initiative, which is being led by Greg Wyler, founder of satellite communications company O3b Networks. Wyler and O3b's former chief technology officer recently joined Google. Between 10 and 20 people are said to be working under Wyler.

The company is spending between $1 billion and north of $3 billion -- a price tag that will be affected by the final design of the network, further phases that could expand the number of satellites to double the initial number, and other factors.

Project Loon had the potential to build a network of balloons to cover the entire planet, Google CEO Larry Page said at a conference earlier this year, noting that balloons were cheaper and faster to build.

However, satellites can afford greater capacity and flexibility, while costs to build them appear to have dropped in recent years.

"I think the satellites will initially complement Project Loon," Laura DiDio, principal at ITIC, told TechNewsWorld. At first glance, satellites appear to be more robust than high-altitude balloons circumnavigating the globe, which could be knocked off course or downed by severe weather conditions. Satellites can also be impacted by an incident that might occur in space, but seem more substantial than a high-altitude balloon."

'Cheaper to Build'

"Balloons can more easily be shot down, typically have less range, and are more vulnerable to atmospheric conditions, but they are far cheaper to build and launch," said Rob Enderle, principal at the Enderle Group. "A typical developing country doesn't have the technology to shoot down satellites. They can execute Loon more quickly, but the satellite approach would potentially be far more strategic."

As part of the project, Google apparently plans to take advantage of developments in antenna technology, which can track multiple moving satellites. Some current antennas have no moving parts and can be controlled by software, which lowers maintenance and manufacturing costs.

"They want to increase their reach and do have a belief that every person in the world should have access to the Internet," Enderle told TechNewsWorld. "While they clearly have a revenue goal as well, I think in this instance, it is secondary -- given the audience -- to their goal of making people better informed."

Infrastructure Plan

Along with the somewhat noble notion of connecting people in remote regions to the Internet, Google's latest Internet scheme could be seen as part of tech companies' tussle to take over Internet infrastructure, largely bypassing the networks of telecoms.

Google has laid more than 100,000 miles of fiber-optic cables around the world, a report earlier this year indicated.

"Truthfully, Google's motives are a mix of altruism and pragmatism. They can bring Internet connectivity to remote peoples and portions of the globe and make a profit doing it. Sounds like a win-win to me," Enderle said.

Facebook and several other technology firms have teamed up to use drones to bring Internet access to people in remote areas through Internet.org.

After reports surfaced of Facebook's interest in buying drone maker Titan Aerospace, Googleswooped in to make the acquisition.

"I think their respective plans might be cooperative in the early planning stages and then diverge if and when the project actually takes off," ITIC's DiDio said. "At that point, Google will have to refine its goals to suit the individual usage models. But initially at least, I can see many people in remote locations wanting to use the same technology to connect to Facebook and Internet.org."

Connecting Those at Home

The implications of such ambitious projects stretch far beyond the developing world.

"There is tremendous potential If Google goes forward with its project to give unwired portions of the planet Internet access using small satellites," DiDio said.

"The impact and implications are enormous for both developed as well as developing nations. Location is a huge obstacle and impediment to Internet access," she pointed out.

"While it's unthinkable to city dwellers and suburbanites, there are still many rural or geographically remote areas in the U.S. with no connectivity," DiDio added. "According to the FCC's Eighth Broadband Progress Report released in August 2012, 75 percent or 14.5 million of the 19 million Americans that currently lack Internet access live in rural or remote areas where connectivity and broadband are unavailable.

"The biggest group of disenfranchised here in the U.S. are 5.1 million Native American Indians and Alaska Natives," DiDio continued. "The majority of Native Americans live on 324 tribal reservation lands -- many of which are rural and remote -- in the lower 48 states and Alaska, according to the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C. They are miles from any town or power grid, and many reservations lack electrical power -- which means no Internet connectivity. Imagine the difference this could make in their lives."

Read More

Software upgrades re-create old-school toys as smart playthings

 Software upgrades re-create old-school toys as smart playthings

LOS ANGELES — Balls. Dolls. Race cars. So dull.
How can good old-fashioned toys like these compete for children's attention when kids seem umbilically connected to their iPads?
 How about software-upgradable balls, dolls and race cars?

Established toy makers and entrepreneurs from outside the toy industry are creating a new generation of connected toys. Just as software updates pulse new life into years-old smartphones and tablets, so too for kids' playthings. Equipped with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, the toys can be customized, personalized and improved through the Internet to make them just as dynamic as tablets.
"The world of imagination coupled with your phone is the new reality for toys," said Adam Wilson, chief software architect at connected-toy maker Sphero. "Playing with plastic is just not enough today."

Sphero's pitch to parents is simple. No kid will be chasing after his or her iPad or tossing it like a Frisbee (well, hopefully). To get children to move more than their fingers and to hang out with friends, Sphero is offering toys juiced with software.
Sphero sells cylindrical and spherical polycarbonate toys controlled by smartphone and tablet apps that kids can race, light up, toss as a fetch toy or roll down the living room like a bowling ball. They start at $99.

If imagination alone doesn't lead to a cool use, Sphero provides more than 30 apps that interact with its products. One app turns Sphero into a measuring tape. Another, a digital hot potato. In games, the gadgets become controllers to be tilted and turned similar to waving a Nintendo Wii remote. Players also have the option of writing their own code and apps.

"We're at stage 1 of 150 stages to make a whole new experience for people," Wilson said.
Four years ago, he and fellow Sphero co-founder Ian Bernstein came together to develop software for robots. But the robots were too clunky to do anything fun with. Wilson and Bernstein branched into hardware development and produced a robot that was no more than a ball.

"It's a minimally viable robot, but it's a dot that can become anything," Wilson said.
In line with most of today's connected toys, new apps and software updates for Sphero are free. Consumers pay a higher price for the toy itself. But toy makers say the premium pays off since children so far have held on to them longer than traditional products.

Toys have been going high-tech in spurts for two decades as the cost of the latest consumer technology drops to a point where it can be included in typically inexpensive children's toys. But the latest wave is notable for two reasons: It's aimed at parents who fret about the downsides of iPad fixation, while leveraging some of the same technology inside smartphones and tablets to encourage more active play.

"The toy industry always reflects the culture at large," said industry analyst Chris Byrne. "We turn to technology a great deal for entertainment as adults, so it would make sense children would too."
Pramod Sharma, who as an engineer at Google developed a machine to scan copies of books, watched his preschool-age daughter Saanvi spend hours at a time on an iPad unless he stepped in.
Growing up, Sharma, 34, joined friends in building sandcastles and toy-block structures along the rivers of northern India. To give his daughter an opportunity to find similar camaraderie, he returned to his expertise in helping computers "see."

Sharma and a fellow former Google engineer developed an $80 play set called Osmo. Children place the iPad on a stand and affix a small mirror to the iPad so the camera can pick up on what's lying in front of the stand. One of three initial games revolves around tiny squares stamped with letters. Children must arrange letters to form the word for an on-screen image, and the screen lights up when the arrangement is correct.
Osmo's "computer vision" technology also has the smarts to recognize hand drawings and block shapes, with more to come, Sharma said. Since the software comes from the Web, it can be updated continually.

"I'm being careful not to discard anything that's been around," Sharma said of his Palo Alto startup's strategy. "We want to extend the iPad to make it more tactile and social."
In October, Sharma's company, Tangible Play, announced it had raised $12 million in venture capital. Two days earlier, Culver City toy maker Cartwheel Kids acquired Colorado startup Smart Toy.
"We really felt this groundswell of change happening in the toy industry," said Carly Gloge, who had been a Web designer before founding Smart Toy with her husband. "And we wanted to bring together a little tech company all built on software and one big company built on traditional toys with licensing."

Gloge and her husband, Isaac Squires, didn't have children of their own, but they still gravitated to the toy aisle at Target during every grocery trip. The couple, who built a video game on their first date, thought they could deliver more interactive toys.
They began with a stuffed animal, called an Ubooly, that parents could stuff a smartphone or tablet into. Powered by an app, the Ubooly becomes an imaginary friend that kids can touch and hold a conversation with. More than 20,000 people play with an Ubooly at least once a month, according to the company.

The next version, arriving in fall 2015, has computer technology built in because the cost of the parts fell 50 percent during the last year, Gloge said. The toy can speak to children and even help them learn new languages without a Wi-Fi connection, but the Internet connection allows the toy's vocabulary to be updated every so often. The goal is to personalize the toys to match a kid's obsession.

"If a girl really loves unicorns, you can incorporate that by helping her save unicorns through learning math," Gloge said.
Wonder Workshop's Dash & Dot robots, Anki Drive race cars, Lego Fusion, Tiggly Counts and Crayola's Virtual Design Pro sets are among other hot connected toys, according to industry experts.
The potential for the market to take off is there. Activision Blizzard's Skylanders franchise exceeded $1 billion in sales in 2013. Skylanders action figures act as wireless hard drives for data about characters in a video game when attached to a special base station. On their own, the action figures are whatever a kid imagines.

Skylanders is a favorite of mostly boys, though. Next summer, Flairgameworld plans to release the first 16 inexpensive, small felt creatures that it thinks should appeal to the caring side of girls. When synced to a mobile app, the toys will let girls experience cultures across the world.

"It's a discovery product beyond just launching Google Maps," said Flairgameworld principal Christina Sfakianos. "Kids want to relate to something, and you can't create that emotional attachment with just an app."

Paresh Dave

 Los Angeles Times

Read More

Shunned by Adults, Smartwatch Companies Take Aim at Kids: Retail

Shunned by Adults, Smartwatch Companies Take Aim at Kids: Retail

Selina Wang
Bloomberg

July 14 (Bloomberg) -- With smartwatches drawing lukewarm interest from most consumers, some technology companies are trying a fresh approach: market them to kids.

LG Electronics Inc., VTech Holdings Ltd. and Filip Technologies Inc. have all developed high-tech watches for children, undaunted by the slow progress the industry has made in pitching the devices to adults. They’re betting that kids may be the ideal market for the gadgets, which can either keep tykes entertained or track their whereabouts. The watches can even teach a more old-fashioned skill: how to tell time.

While only about one in five grown-ups has interest in buying a smartwatch, kids’ models might be an easier sell, said Benjamin Arnold, an analyst at NPD Group Inc. They’re typically cheaper, for one. And versions that can track children have obvious appeal to parents, who live in fear of losing small kids at a park or shopping mall. At the same time, the technology has drawn criticism for adding yet another electronic distraction.

“It’s on their body -- it’s like they can’t get away from it,” said Tovah Klein, director of the Barnard College Center for Toddler Development. “It’s going to be much harder for parents to set boundaries and limits.”

VTech’s Kidizoom smartwatch, which goes on sale in the U.S. this month, is designed to entertain kids without being overwhelming. The $60 device doesn’t connect to Wi-Fi or cellular networks, and there’s only a limited number of applications. That puts it in a different category than devices from Samsung Electronics Co. or Apple Inc., which is said to be working on a smartwatch.

‘Wholesome Play’

The idea was to make something that’s easy for a child to use, especially for taking photos or videos, said William To, president of North America for Hong Kong-based VTech.

“This is purely designed for the child’s fun,” he said. “It’s educational, wholesome play.”

Other companies are focused more on the communication and location-tracking features than entertainment. LG is debuting a watch called the KizOn in its home country of South Korea this month. The device, aimed at preschool and grade-school kids, uses the global positioning system and Wi-Fi to pinpoint the wearer’s whereabouts. It’s slated to be unveiled in the U.S. and Europe later this year at an undetermined price.

“Children as well as the elderly are ideal customers for wearable technologies,” Jong-seok Park, head of LG’s Mobile Communications Co., said in a statement. “Wearables allow us to stay connected without the worry of losing a device or the inconvenience of having to carry a large item in a pocket.”

Preprogrammed Numbers

LG is targeting a market pioneered by Filip, a company that was founded in 2010 by Sten Kirkbak after he lost track of his son at the mall. Parents can program five contacts into the Filip watch, and an accompanying iOS or Android app on the parent’s phone can locate the child. Like the KizOn, which also can call preconfigured numbers, the device doesn’t give kids the full capabilities of a regular phone.
“If you look at the entire population -- the one group that is not connected today is kids,” said Jonathan Peachey, chief executive officer of New York-based Filip. “That’s crazy. Kids want to go out and explore, be with friends, and travel to and from school on their own without having to worry about how to reach their parents.”

Parents see a clear need for the Filip, while consumers are confused about the purpose of an adult smartwatch, Peachey said. “There are probably no parents who haven’t experienced losing track of their child,” he said.

Price Tag

The capabilities of the Filip come at a price, though. It costs $200, plus $10 per month for the service. That puts it in the same ballpark as a Samsung smartwatch, which can retail for $200 to $300. The Kidizoom, since it lacks a mobile connection, doesn’t have a recurring fee. Future generations of the VTech watch could add more features depending on demand, the company said.

Amy Stellitano, a 37-year-old nurse from New York, is one mom who doesn’t plan to buy an entertainment-based smartwatch. Her 16-year-old son has enough electronics as it is, she said.

“It’s just one more thing,” Stellitano said while shopping at a Best Buy Co. store. “When I grew up, we didn’t have all this stuff.”

A device focused on location tracking may have been appealing when her son was younger, though, she said. “Because you never know, especially in New York.”

As of last month, revenue from smartwatches has totaled less than $100 million since October 2013, though the market is expected to get larger this year, according to Port Washington, New York-based NPD.

The Pebble

The Pebble watch is one of the nascent industry’s highest- profile products, born out of the most successful project started out of the Kickstarter fundraising site. Still, it remains a niche product: a $150 to $249 device that people mostly use to see messages on their phones. Services and applications for adult smartwatches need to improve before the industry can gain momentum, Arnold said. Most people aren’t clear on why they would even need one.

“It’s a product that we don’t yet have a problem for,” Arnold said. “It’s hard for me as a consumer to justify spending $300 to $350 on a device that tells me what’s going on with my phone.”

New product developments may help make the technology more popular, he said. In that vein, Google Inc. unveiled new smartwatches at an event last month, working with device manufacturers such as Samsung and LG. Apple, the maker of the iPhone, also is exploring a smartwatch, people familiar with the plans have said. Trudy Muller, a spokeswoman for Apple, didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Future Acceptance

While a minority of total consumers is interested in a smartwatch, more enthusiasm is coming from younger people, according to an NPD study on wearable technology. Among 16- to 24-year-olds, 30 percent say they are interested in buying such a product, while 25 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds were.

That suggests there may be less resistance to smartwatches in the future, which will filter down to the kids’ market, Peachey said.

“The more smartwatches that exist, the more that kids will see their parents come home with them on their wrist,” he said. “And the more that kids will want them as well.”

The typical 8- to 18-year-old in the U.S. already spends more than seven hours a day using electronic devices, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation report.

For parents, the challenge is striking a balance between that insatiable appetite for technology and the need for kids to think on their own, said Deborah Linebarger, associate professor of education at the University of Iowa. A smartwatch that functions purely as a tracking device could be beneficial by giving parents peace of mind and encouraging kids to play outside, she said.

“I don’t feel like we have to constantly entertain children,” Linebarger said. “There’s a real benefit to kids spending time being bored and figuring things out.”

Read More

Dubai detectives to get Google face-recognition technology

Dubai detectives to get Google face-recognition technology

Reuters

DUBAI - Dubai police plan to issue detectives with Google Glass hands-free eyewear to help them fight crime using facial recognition technology, a police spokesman in the wealthy Gulf Arab emirate said.

The wearable device consists of a tiny computer screen mounted in the corner of an eyeglass frame and is capable of taking photos, recording video and playing sound.

The spokesman confirmed a report in Dubai's 7 Days newspaper that software developed by Dubai police would enable a connection between the wearer and a database of wanted people.

Once the device "recognized" a suspect based on a face print, it would alert the officer wearing the gadget.

The gadget would be used in a first phase to combat traffic violations and track vehicles suspected of involvement in motoring offences. A second phase would see the technology rolled out to detectives, the spokesman said.

The U.S. Internet company said in a blogpost in May that anyone in the United States could buy the gadget for $1,500.

Dubai's decision appears in line with the authorities' determination to spare no expense in equipping the police.

Last year Dubai announced it would supply its police with $400,000 Lamborghini sports cars for use at major tourist sites. Dubai's deputy police chief said the vehicles were in keeping with the Gulf capital's image.

Dubai, one of seven emirates in the UAE federation, is staging a recovery from the financial crisis it suffered during the global financial crisis in 2009. The emirate recently announced several big projects, including a huge tourism and retail development with the largest shopping mall in the world.

(Reporting by William Maclean; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Read More

Microsoft Surface will be used in first NFL game tonight

Microsoft Surface will be used in first NFL game tonight

by Christopher White

Neowin

The NFL began their pre-season celebrations yesterday by inducting seven new players into the Hall of Fame, including two players from teams that kickoff tonight: Andre Reed of the Buffalo Bills, and Michael Strahan of the New York Giants. What will be different for fans watching the game tonight is that Microsoft Surface tablets will be visible everywhere on the sidelines and in the coaching booth. This is the result of a $400 million dollar, five year deal between Microsoft and the NFL.

The NFL is starting to emerge from the 20th century and Microsoft is helping them out with this by providing 25 Surface tablets to each team. Thirteen of the tablets will be used on the sidelines, with another dozen held by coaches watching the game from upstairs. SFGate reports that this is the first time that players will be allowed to use this type of technology during a game; previously they used fax machines to send pictures of plays down to the sideline, and these documents were stored in 3-ring binders for players to look through during breaks. With the new Surface tablet agreement, players will be able to look at full color plays and can display up to four images at a time.

The NFL isn't ready to open the lid on all of the technology quite yet though. For example, the Surface will be locked down to prevent players and coaches from watching video. In addition, there will be no Internet access available through the devices; the only network connectivity is via a secure private network that hooks all of the Surface devices together. According to the NFL, "we want to make sure the players are deciding wins and losses, not technology."

There's some other new technology that, while not as visible, will hopefully lead to a better game. These include RFID chips implanted in the shoulder pads so that coaches can know exactly where and how fast players are moving; wireless communication between the referees; and instant communication between the head referee and the instant replay officials in New York.

Read More

How Surface Pro + Xbox One helped a paralysed man to do more

How Surface Pro + Xbox One helped a paralysed man to do more

by Andy Weir

Neowin

Most of us take for granted all of the wonderful technologies that surround us, complaining when things aren't 'just so', or getting utterly exasperated at usability nightmares like how inconveniently a button is placed on the screen. But for some, using technology can be a genuinely excruciating experience, and even an exclusive one, with devices designed for the many often neglecting the needs of the few.
But just as technology can raise barriers that prevent some from accessing and using it, it can also smash barriers down to help make life that little bit easier.
In 2012, for example, we reported on a man who had used Microsoft's Kinect motion sensor to create a simple interface that his mother could use to write emails, after a severe stroke left her suffering with aphasia. Last year, we covered another innovation, in which simple Kinect-based games were being used to help stroke survivors in their recovery and rehabilitation, after losing some of their mobility.
Today, we share with you another example of how widely-available technology can be used to make life easier for those who need it most. Two years ago, 29-year-old Tyler Schrenk was in a diving accident, which left him paralysed from the neck down. Unable to use his hands, simple tasks like reading or switching on the TV became far greater challenges. Tools were available to help him read e-books or open his emails, but it would often take several minutes even to perform these tasks.
But things changed when Schrenk met Jose Blakeley, a Microsoft software engineer, through his church. Blakeley introduced him to the original Surface Pro, including Windows 8's speech recognition software, along with a voice-operated mouse and various other features to help Schrenk to interact with the system without needing to touch it.

It didn't take long for Schrenk to get the hang of things, but it did need some improvements and customisations before it worked properly - his respirator, pump and air conditioner all generated such noise that they created interference with his voice interactions. But the two men came up with a solution, and Blakeley attached the Surface Pro to Schrenk's wheelchair along with a Koss C100 microphone connected to the tablet, to help pick up his voice commands.
After that, it was all smooth sailing. "I can do a lot more of the things that I used to do before," Schrenk says. "I can handle more of my own stuff." From reading e-books and working in Microsoft Office, to browsing and searching the web, the set-up has given him far more freedom to stay connected and to engage with the digital world. "If nothing else, the Surface opened my eyes," he added, "and I realised the possibility of doing much more than just occasionally checking my email."
Beyond just the Surface, Schrenk has since purchased an Xbox One, and with its Kinect voice control integration, he can now watch television shows and movies with ease. "It's cool," he says. "I was able to use it out-of-the-box without any upgrades."
Since forming his friendship with Blakeley and being introduced to the Surface Pro and Kinect on the Xbox One, Schrenk has now enrolled in computer science classes, and hopes to eventually find employment as a programmer. "I just don't want to have my injury stop me from achieving my dreams and aspirations," he said, "and technology is giving me a way to continue on with my life."

Japan to Offer Subsidy on Fuel Cell Cars to Promote the Technology

Japan to Offer Subsidy on Fuel Cell Cars to Promote the Technology:

Reuters

Japan will offer at least 2 million yen ($19,700) in subsidies for fuel-cell vehicles, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said according to media, as the government and Japanese carmakers including Toyota Motor Corp join forces to speed up the introduction the vehicles.

The subsidy would mean that consumers would pay about 5 million yen for Toyota's fuel-cell sedan, which is set to go on sale by the end of March 2015 and priced at about 7 million yen.

Abe, who visited a hydrogen station and test-drove fuel-cell cars on Friday, vowed to back the technology through subsidies and the purchase of the cars by government agencies.

"This is the car of a new era because it doesn't emit any carbon dioxide and it's environmentally friendly," Abe told reporters. "The government needs to support this."

Abe's growth strategy promotes the use of hydrogen energy and fuel-cell cars, which use hydrogen as fuel and run on electricity from cells that combine hydrogen with oxygen and emit only water vapour and heat, though some carbon dioxide is emitted when hydrogen is produced from hydrocarbons.

Honda Motor Co is also set to start selling its fuel-cell vehicle in 2015.

Both the government and many industry experts reckon the technology could take decades to become widely used partly because of the costs of building up infrastructure of hydrogen fuel stations.

Read More

Honda's pedestrian-detecting technology is coming to cars this year

Honda's pedestrian-detecting technology is coming to cars this year

Mariella Moon

Engadget 

Loyal Honda fans, crisis averted. You don't have to switch to Subaru, Volvo or Ford if you want their anti-collision technology, now that the Japanese automaker has officially announced its own. The company has just launched a new and enhanced driver-assistive system called "Sensing," which, true to its name, can sense vehicles and pedestrians that might be blocking your way. Using a radar hidden in the front grille coupled with a camera on the windshield, the system can detect whether you're in danger of colliding with another vehicle or a person crossing the street. It then gives you both audio and visual warnings if so, gently applies the break if you still haven't after a while, and then brakes hard in your stead if you're thisclose to running somebody over or smashing against another car.

Other than that, the system can also make sure you're driving in the middle of the lane, as well as recognize traffic signs and show them on the infotainment display. Honda's Sensing technology will launch alongside the newest Legend luxury sedan (known in the US as the Acura) before the year ends, though the company promises to load it onto more models in the future.
Source: Honda

Read More

What can you do with a satellite the size of a small box of tissues?

What can you do with a satellite the size of a small box of tissues?

Elizabeth Lopatto

Quartz 

Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev throws Chasqui-1 away from the ISS, launching it into space.Video from space.com; gif by Elizabeth Lopatto

The Chasqui-1, a Peruvian satellite released into space on Aug 18 by a Russian cosmonaut on a spacewalk, measures 4 inches by 4 inches by 4 inches—not very much larger than a standard Rubik’s Cube—and weighs just 2.2 pounds. It’s mission: to take photos of Earth in both visible light and infrared.
The satellite (Chasqui means “messenger” in the Quechua language spoken by the Inca) is designed to give the National University of Engineering in Peru experience with emerging satellite technology, according to NASA. It will also broadcast on the amateur radio frequency, letting anyone with a ham radio tune in to learn about the mission. Watch the video of the launch here.
Chasqui-1 was built using CubeSat technology, developed by California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and Stanford University’s Space Systems Development Lab. CubeSats minimize the cost of creating satellites by using commercially-available technology, and have been used by high schools and universities as educational tools; they allow engineering students to design, develop and test a real satellite and its ground components.
They’re classed as nanosatellites, and are often tacked on to other missions because they are so tiny. A fleet of CubeSats was launched from the ISS earlier this year.
Other nanosatellites in orbit mostly exist to test new technology in navigation, propulsion, and energy. Some satellites, like Quakefinder’s Quakesat, carry out their own missions; Quakesat is meant to monitor earthquakes. And NASA launched GeneSat to study how the bacteria E. coli grows in space. The capabilities vary based on what experiments the satellites are meant to perform, but they are all small and cheap to build and launch—costing as little as $150,000.

Read More

Microsoft is working on phones with a full week of battery life:

Microsoft is working on phones with a full week of battery life:

Smartphones are crammed full of incredible technology, with some of the devices on sale now boasting features such as octa-core processors, Quad HD displays, and amazing cameras. But one component of smartphone technology - the one that powers each and every device - seems to have hardly advanced at all over the years: the battery.

Users have come to expect the need to recharge their smartphones every day, and perhaps even more frequently for those who use their devices more intensely than others - but is this as good as it gets? Microsoft thinks not, and its researchers are aiming to develop the means to ensure that smartphones can routinely enjoy a week's worth of battery life.
Ranveer Chandra (above), senior researcher for mobility and networking at Microsoft Research, says that the problem comes down to the fact that the density at which batteries are able to store energy has only doubled over the last fifteen years, whereas the pace of development in other components has been far greater. But what is the solution?

Chandra told the MIT Technology Review's Digital Summit this week: "You can't just wait for the best battery technology to come along. We can make a lot of progress because systems today don't use battery intelligently." With this in mind, Microsoft has focused its research on exploring ways not to revolutionize the battery itself, but to make the power consumption of a device more efficient using existing battery technologies.

One option currently being developed is to create devices that replace a full sized Li-Ion battery with two smaller ones. The idea is that one of them would be optimized for high power usage tasks, such as gaming, while the other would be tuned to release a much smaller current, for when the phone is on standby in a  pocket, or performing only the least power-hungry of operations.
Chandra explained that devices on sale today are optimized for an 'average' of these two extremes, which makes them inefficient at releasing the exact amount of power needed on demand. By adopting this twin-battery approach, his team has built prototypes that could ultimately lead to improvements of up to 50% in battery life.

Software optimizations are also being explored, with some of the group's research efforts having already been infused into existing products, including the Wi-Fi power management in Windows 8, and the Power Monitoring tool for Windows Phone developers that helps them to built more energy-efficient apps.
These are merely a couple of examples of what Microsoft has been working on, of course, and the company will be exploring many more options and ideas besides these. Chandra added that this research will likely prove helpful in the development of wearable devices too, which could be especially useful to Microsoft as its development efforts continue on its upcoming smartwatch.

For now, these efforts remain confined to laboratories and prototypes. But if Microsoft succeeds in developing the means to extend handset battery life to the point where ordinary users can expect a full week between charges, the fruits of its research could well have a significant impact not just on its own future devices, but for the wider industry.

Read More

Apple working with NXP for pay-by-touch technology in new iPhone: FT

Apple working with NXP for pay-by-touch technology in new iPhone: FT

Reuters

Apple Inc is working with Dutch chipmaker NXP Semiconductors NV to add secure near-field communications (NFC) technology into the next iPhone, which would enable smartphone users to pay by touch, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with Apple's plans.
NXP will provide the secure near-field communications chips that will allow an iPhone to connect with payment terminals or ticketing systems, the daily reported. (http://on.ft.com/VRN8xK)
NFC technology allows a smartphone to communicate wirelessly with other devices by tapping them together.
Apple has invited media to a "special event" in its hometown of Cupertino, California on Sept. 9, when the iPhone maker is expected to unveil the latest versions of its best-selling smartphones.

Read More

IBM to spend $3 bn aiming for computer chip breakthrough

IBM to spend $3 bn aiming for computer chip breakthrough

IBM announced plans to pump $3 billion into an overhaul of computer chip technology to better meet modern demands of "Big Data" and computing pushed to the Internet "cloud."

The New York-based technology veteran hopes to leave behind the silicon long used in computer chips for a material that could ramp up power while shrinking processors to molecular levels.
Services and programs are increasingly being hosted at data centers in the Internet cloud, and companies are keen to mine and quickly analyze mountains of data available in the Internet age.
But chip technology is hitting limits in regard to improving speed, size, power-efficiency and other features, according to IBM.

The company said the money will be used over the next five years to beef up research teams in areas including carbon nanoelectronics, silicon photonics, new memory technologies, and architectures for quantum and cognitive computing.

"In the next ten years computing hardware systems will be fundamentally different as our scientists and engineers push the limits of semiconductor innovations to explore a post-silicon future," said IBM Systems and Technology Group senior vice president Tom Rosamilia.

IBM maintained there is urgent need for new material to power chips of the future along with "new computing platforms to solve problems that are unsolvable or difficult to solve today."
Among IBM goals is to emulate the processing efficiency of the human brain.

"Businesses are entering a new era of computing that requires systems to process and analyze, in real-time, huge volumes of information known as Big Data," IBM said.

Read More

China targets own operating system to take on likes of Microsoft, Google

China targets own operating system to take on likes of Microsoft, Google

Reuters

SHANGHAI - China could have a new homegrown operating system by October to take on imported rivals such as Microsoft Corp, Google Inc and Apple Inc, Xinhua news agency said on Sunday.
Computer technology became an area of tension between China and the United States after a number of run-ins over cyber security. China is now looking to help its domestic industry catch up with imported systems such as Microsoft's Windows and Google's mobile operating system Android.
The operating system would first appear on desktop devices and later extend to smartphone and other mobile devices, Xinhua said, citing Ni Guangnan who heads an official OS development alliance established in March.

Ni's comments were originally reported by the People's Post and Telecommunications News, an official trade paper run by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
"We hope to launch a Chinese-made desktop operating system by October supporting app stores," Ni told the trade paper. Some Chinese OS already existed, but there was a large gap between China's technology and that of developed countries, he added.

He said he hoped domestically built software would be able to replace desktop operating systems within one to two years and mobile operating systems within three to five years.
In May, China banned government use of Windows 8, Microsoft's latest operating system, a blow to the U.S. technology firm's business which raised fears China was moving to protect domestic firms. Microsoft is also under investigation for anti-trust violations.

In March last year, China said that Google had too much control over China's smartphone industry via its Android mobile operating system and has discriminated against some local firms.
Mutual suspicions between China and the United States over hacking have escalated over the past year following revelations by Edward Snowden that U.S. intelligence planted "backdoor" surveillance tools on U.S.-made hardware.

The U.S. Justice Department, meanwhile, indicted five Chinese military officers in May on counts of extensive industrial espionage.

Ni said the ban on Windows 8 was a big opportunity for the Chinese sector to push forward its own systems, but that the industry needed further development and investment.

"Creating an environment that allows us to contend with Google, Apple and Microsoft - that is the key to success," he added.

Read More

Apple's Cook stresses need to make workforce more diverse

Apple's Cook stresses need to make workforce more diverse

By Christina Farr

Reuters

 

SAN FRANCISCO - Apple Inc on Tuesday released a report on employee diversity, and its numbers are similar to those of other Silicon Valley companies, prompting Chief Executive Tim Cook to say there is still work to be done.

The employee survey comes on the heels of recent reports from technology companies Google Inc and Twitter Inc, but it is unique in one significant way. It alone is accompanied by letter from a company CEO, in which Cook stresses the company's commitment to being "innovative in advancing diversity."
Blacks and Hispanics make up about 18 percent of Apple's workforce, a ratio that is about triple of those of most other tech firms. Nine percent of its workers did not disclose their ethnicity.

Apple breaks down the numbers into three categories: leadership, technology and non-technology. The technology category, which is 80 percent male, includes Genius Bar employees and engineers.
The numbers include its large contingent of store management employees. Apple runs 254 retail stores in the United States and 427 globally, according to its most recent quarterly report.
"As CEO, I’m not satisfied with the numbers on this page," he wrote. "They’re not new to us, and we’ve been working hard for quite some time to improve them."

But Cook noted that Apple's definition of diversity goes beyond traditional categories such as race and gender. "It includes personal qualities that usually go unmeasured, such as sexual orientation, veteran status and disabilities," he wrote.
The diversity reports have spurred a national debate about the lack of diversity at Silicon Valley's tech companies and how to improve the ratio. At Google, some 70 percent of employees are also male, and 61 percent are white. Twitter's overall employee population is 70 percent male and 59 percent white.
While Apple's numbers are similar to those of its competitors, some experts say that the company is a step ahead of the rest.

"Apple will do everything it can to make their workforce look more like the population they serve," said Fred Sainz, vice president of communications and marketing at the Human Rights Campaign. For 13 years running, the HRC has awarded Apple a perfect score on its corporate equality index, which rates American workplaces on LGBT equality.

After taking the reigns, Cook promoted Cuban-American Eddy Cue to a leadership role at Apple, and brought on former Burberry chief executive Angela Ahrendts. The company also recruited Lisa Jackson, the first African American to head up the Environmental Protection Agency, to run its environmental efforts.
In recent years, Apple executives have spoken out publicly in support of a variety of social and environmental causes, including diversity, accessibility and human rights. Cook made an appearance at the San Francisco Pride Festival for the first time this summer to cheer on thousands of employees and their families who showed up.

Read More

AP Using Robots For Journalism Starting In July:

AP Using Robots For Journalism Starting In July:

Brianna Valleskey

Benzinga

The Associated Press announced Monday that it will begin using automated technology to write company earnings reports next month.
A vast amount of reporters' time and resources is spent on producing approximately 300 earnings reports each quarter, AP Managing Editor Lou Ferrera said in a company blog post. Automated technology, on the other hand, could produce 4,400 short earnings stories (150-300 words) in the same time period.
“We believe technological automation will be a part of many businesses, including those in media,” Ferrara said.

Look and feel human

The AP will be teaming up with Automated Insights, a North Carolina-based tech company that uses algorithms to turn raw data into stories that look like human writing. Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and AOL (NYSE: AOL) founder Steve Case have also invested in the company.
Automated Insights will use data from Zacks Investment Research to generate the content.
Automated Insights Vice President of Sales & Marketing Adam Smith told Benzinga that the algorithm takes data sets and mines it for patterns, trends and correlations. It also looks at the user and the user's history.
The algorithm then pulls those insights out and organizes them based on what's most important for the user.
“What makes Automated Insights different from other code-deciphering services is that it has the ability to tell a story like a human, using narrative prose,” Smith said.

So robots are writing stories now? (http://t.co/kXFAzxDjMd) Whatever happened to robots cleaning our homes and doing our laundry? #rosie
— cb (@chrisbowerbank) June 30, 2014

Beyond baseball scores, know if you are reading a person or machine? RE:Associated Press Automates Earnings Stories http://t.co/EJMC6peT8Z
— Michael (@mstevensrev) June 30, 2014

This isn't the first time the AP will be using the automated technology from AI. Last football season, the media organization introduced an automated NFL player ranking that includes automated text descriptions of player performances.

Maintaining structure

This transition won't eliminate jobs, Ferrara said in the blog post, but rather free journalists from data processing and grant them more time to do in-depth reporting and analysis of the data.
“Instead, our journalists will focus on reporting and writing stories about what the numbers mean and what gets said in earnings calls on the day of the release, identifying trends and finding exclusive stories we can publish at the time of the earnings reports,” Ferrara said.
Smith said automated technology can augment traditional reporting of things like weather, travel, sports or finance by letting journalists focus on the investigative side of things.
“As humans, our expertise is to add color and context,” he said.

2014 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

Read More